Avengers Assemble (D11, LA)

[Susumu Yakumo]

Dressed casually like the day before, Yakumo prepared herself for the people that had been invited over.

On the table she placed the four wrapped objects the monks of Kyoso had given her, and she was going over her own notes of what they had learned the past days. She knew she was so out of her depths, dealing with Gaki and what-not, but... this was something she had to do.

"Father, I have your strength. I will win..." she murmured, finding herself almost praying to remind herself of the strength she had.

[Yoritomo Seika]

Seika knocks before entering, confident in the space of the high-end hotel but a little uncertain of exactly what she's getting herself into. Sakura has told her it's about the anonymous sufferer of spiritual possession whose cure Seika had tried to help her research a couple of days ago, but at the time, a solution had eluded them both. Now it seems like Sakura's comrades have figured it out, and it involves the Desolation somehow, too--a place Seika has been wildly curious about almost since landing on this planet.

Oh, and Kumohime is wrapped up in the middle of it somehow. Seika's really not sure how that would have happened.

"Hi, Susumu-san," she says with a nod as she enters the suite, the busyness of her mind at the moment no doubt obvious from her expression.

[Kuni Koyuki]

Standing in front of Yakumo's door, Koyuki doesn't announce her presence right away. Staring at it like it was some foreign thing she almost psyches herself put but finds that rise in her chest and quashes it. Closing her eyes she breathes in a deep lung of fresh air, holding, and on her long slow exhale opening her eyes with renewed determination.

Don't stop, or you'll topple over. Head up straight kid, you're an idiot but you're a brave idiot. Means you're at least coming back to us, I'm glad you're back.

Koyuki raises her comm and sends the message, Here.

Moments later, the door answered, she's brought in behind Seika. Offering each of the women their respective greetings that suffer a great deal for the importance of the task.

"What are we doing?" she'd ask. Eyes set on Yakumo to lead the way forward as it was.

[Susumu Yakumo]

For Seika's first visit to this particular suite, it was an impressive sight of the luxury one could buy on the World of Dreams with enough money. Families lived in smaller space on the planet, without even coming close to amenities and luxuries that was on hand here. Everything was kept neat and tidy, and separate doors led to what was likely the bedroom, bathroom, and a closet. A short staircase led up to a loft with a balcony, where there even was a miniature garden for the guest to enjoy, with a couple of plants and a little pool.

"Yoritomo-sama," Yakumo bowed respectfully to the smaller but more important woman. "I'm... relieved, really, that you wish to join the efforts." It seemed they had done right in trusting her, as it seemed she knew something about the sword. Not far behind was Koyuki, and Yakumo let her in as well, just merely assuming that the ping on her communicator was the Crab's arrival. It was almost imperceptible beneath the makeup, but the Spider seemed to have the marks of a cut or a slash on her chin.

"Ah... I suppose we can start at the beginning, mhm?" the Spider took a moment to guide them over to the table with the four relics, still wrapped and covered. "There seems to be nefarious spirits at work here," she began, "one of them responsible for the death of the Lord Magistrate's wife, and possibly responsible for the devastation that created the Desolation a year after."

From her notes, Yakumo produced the report that had kicked everything into high gear, as she wasn't sure if Seika had been told of it before, but if she was going to join them into the Desolation, Yakumo believed it was only fair that she was given a clear picture of it all.

"Yoritomo-sama seemed to know about this sword well, and other sources I inquired with supported what you shared with Hotaru-san."

Black Swallow
Presumed to be forged sometime between 21st and 22nd centuries, Black Swallow is 32 inches long, its hilt wrapped in sharkskin. While blade has been photographed with several tsuba, most recent shows a stylized swallow spreading its wings. The blade has belonged to Mineichi's family for at lest 700 years, possibly even longer. The blade is famous for having been wielded in second War of the Worlds by Admiral Bayushi Rokusaburo who commented seppuku with the very blade. Having belonged to many an auspicious characters and having been forged almost thousand years ago, the blade is considered to be awakened - though not particularly potent when compared to more older or more well known swords. On the other hand, Scorpion are rather secretive about such things. For the last eight years the blade has belonged to Bayushi Mineichi who has born in on duty - drawing it in anger several times.

"I was also able to find some more about these... spirits. I'm not a priest or a monk, so I'm no expert, but this seems to extend beyond mere Gaki to me. Trouble is, I don't think the Scorpion would want to do anything about it if we were to report it to them. I think the one whose half lingers around the Lord Magistrate might manipulate him enough to prevent anything from being done about it. Also, Miya Nishida-sama told me that this sword, Black Swallow, had been found - and a shugenja had examined it and found no spirit there... so it would seem that it's on the loose now, unbound by the blade like they believed in their report."

Ketsuyoku, an ancient spirit born out of madness of bloodshed - fear of slaying people out of sheer uncontrollable fury. Ketsuyoku is affiliated with three other such spirts, Haiso (Rout), Kurayami (Darkness) and Ranshin (Madness) - all born from fears of the first men, all potent gaki that hunger for fear or mortals. These spirits have not been known to possess people.

Yakumo was keeping herself focused and steady as she went through all this. "And these spirits, at least one of them, appeared to me in a nightmare I had the other day, a terrible creature out in the Desolation. In my nightmare, I was pulled out there to somewhere where nothing moved, not even insects - who seemed frozen in time. I saw a large broken tower, half destroyed I think by the disaster that made the Desolation. There, I saw a shimmering portal, I think it was. A portal of sickly pink shimmering light in the air. And this being stepped through it, surrounded by pink vapors. She... it touched me," Yakumo brought a hand to her chin, "and it said that I belonged to them just as he does. No doubt, the Lord Magistrate, I think. When I awoke, I had this cut on my chin with fresh blood."

"When I spoke to the monks of Kyoso's Shrine, one of them seemed certain that this was a gaki - and for some reason, they want me as well." There was a strong sense of determination in the tall Susumu. "And I have no idea of just sitting around and waiting for them to come grab me. My presence might lure them out, though they might not come if they think it's too much of a risk for them. So I'm going out there myself, in hopes of putting an end to this. But... I can't go alone."

She looked intensily to the two women. "I'm not going only for myself, but to do the right thing and put a stop to this. The Shrine of Passion has entrusted me with a few of their relics, to aid in stopping this creature, but I cannot do it alone."

With that, Yakumo unveiled the four items. A sword, a radiant firearm, a lantern, and a pendant.

[Yoritomo Seika]

"Whoa. That's one hell of a cover-up." The classified report is a short read, which gives Seika plenty of time to boggle over it. "Shiiiitt. The local lords have been burying a lot of trouble for later on this planet, huh? Possessions, murders, lost souls burned up for spell fuel... damn, what a mess."

It's exactly as she'd said to the ronin Akuta the other day, Seika thinks--no matter how skillfully you conceal your problems, hiding doesn't make them actually go away. You can bullshit other people, you can even bullshit yourself. But you can't bullshit the universe. As an Air-aligned shugenja, that was a lesson you either learned early or learned hard, and Seika had picked 'early.'

"So... these." She leans in for a closer look at the four artifacts, her brows knitting a bit as she notes the Dark Fortunist motifs in their decorations. "They're supposed to have power against these gaki?" This isn't her first ancient nemuranai rodeo, but if anything that only makes her take the artifacts more seriously.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"Yes... Miya-sama did tell me about those glimmerstones too." It seemed to make even the songstress mad too - people hating on the Spider for name and heritage no matter what they did in this life or the next to prove themselves more than that, but sure, let the Scorpion get away with using actual souls for fuel. And they dare to call us the evil ones lacking in honor...

Disgusting is what it was.

"Somewhat. This sword, Yoake, was made to strike down the foul and unholy. The monks assured me that it can harm even beings who are invulnerable to all weapons and magic, and hurt them quite deeply," she said as her hand reverently moved the sword so the others could see it better, her gloved hands then moving over to the firearm.

"Crabdeath. It belonged to a Daigotsu commander, and was specifically made to fight the kind of enemy the Spider often face - of the spiritual kind. Its design has incorporated powerful prayers to the fire kami within, from what I understand, making it more powerful... though it also burns through energy faster than a normal radiant weapon." The weapon seemed to have quite powerful spiritual condensers, ready to coax out more of the kami.

"This lantern", Yakumo paused over it for a moment, "... Lantern of Sacred Light." The name seemed fitting, as it seemed to have some of that blessed light of the sun that Seika was probably innately familiar with. "It's light can be focused on a person to protect them from darkness, or at evil spirits to burn them with the purifying power of the sun. Though it is an old relic, so its power flux can be a bit... unstable, I'm told. Not dangerously so, but it sometimes burn through its energy so fast and deplete its reserves, which can only be restored by the light of the sun."

"Lastly, this is the Crystal Star." The pendant seemed wrought with pure celestial energies for the shugenja. "Similarly to the lantern, it protects the bearer against evil spirits, and fortifies their will and determination."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"So we fight," she comments idly, stepping forward to look over the artifacts and finding her attention drifting toward the blade. One glance to the others present she finds no reason not to commit to the feeling she has for the blade, the subtle connection between it's duty and her own. Yet they were so far apart in the hands which wielded them. With a similar care for reverence she'd lift it into hand, and examine it further with careful attention to it's detail.

Thoughts drifting to that idea though, fight. There's the flickering of emotion that causes her to look to Yakumo for a moment and focus on her. Just for a few seconds of time before she turns her attention and focus back to the blade in hand.

"Just another gaki to kill, at the end of the day. I've killed lesser threats of their like in my time before. Today won't be any different," she says with a particular edge to her tone.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo caught the focus on her briefly, but she herself committed to the focus she needed on this. "I've never been in a fight, so... yeah, I'm going to do what I can. I could use this lantern, to help, as I don't think you could wield a gun and this relic at the same time."

A small grimace formed on her face at that thought of how easily some of them could be ruined. "These are given to us by Kyoso's Shrine for this specific task - they are to be returned afterwards no matter what."

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Much as I would not mind slighting the shrine of the Dark Fortunes," she says, that little edge of too-serious-sounding there. Koyuki gives Yakumo a look, on that sorta conveyed the only reason she was being a little abrasive was the idea that she may have needed to be reminded. Which, too, possibly wasn't fair. Still, she breaks it with the lighter, "But I would not disappoint you for that, Yakumo. You will, however, be free to return them yourself when you return. If you don't, well- I failed. I don't intend to fail," she says with that steel of confidence as she looks over the sword once more and then sets it down again.

[Yoritomo Seika]

"I'm a decent shot," Seika volunteers. "And yeah, of course, things like these belong in a shrine. Emergencies excepted."

She doesn't quite touch the relics, her hand floating just above them. "Can I?" They don't seem corrupted, anyway. And Kyoso, despite her origins, is... one of the less bothersome Dark Fortunes to Seika's mind.

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo only briefly narrowed her eyes at Koyuki's remark on the Dark Fortunes, but let it slide.

"I'm not much of a fighter or shooter myself, only having the basic skill with either..." it seemed the weapons were best suited for the other two. "Yes, of course, Yoritomo-sama." She gestured for Seika to be free to examine the relics. "You are both priests, after all."

[Yoritomo Seika]

Seika picks up the lantern and inspects it more closely. "Well. Here's hoping this is the kind of power we need." She spares a glance for Yakumo. "Why do you think they want to get you, anyway, Susumu-san? I wouldn't've guessed that gaki are into pop music."

[Susumu Yakumo]

"I..." Yakumo bit her lower lip, slightly messing up the pink makeup there. "I am not completely certain, but... if I were to guess, maybe because I touched the realm of the dead briefly as a newborn. Or that I have had a sensitivity to ghosts of a sort since then, as I seem to have some of my own hanging around me."

The Spider diva seemed a bit sheepish at having to admit it. "I'm not sure. I've often heard voices of sorts of what I think are my deceased mother and some others for... almost all my life, I think? They're the reason why I realised something was seriously wrong here, because often when I would be around the Lord Magistrate, those voices would be terrified and cowed of something. It would seem they're scared of this gaki from the report." Of course she realised this could sound pretty whack and insane coming from most people, but she imagined that these two would have heard wilder things just these past two weeks.

"... If I were to tell my superiors among the Spider about this, and about the gaki wanting me specifically, I doubt they'd let me go out there."

[Yoritomo Seika]

Seika sets the lantern down again, carefully. "But you're going anyway, huh?" she asks, brows arching quizzically.

[Susumu Yakumo]

"I am."

She said those words with a sense of finality, but realised she probably had to clarify.

"I feel I have to. Not only because these voices are pressing me to confront this creature that dares to try to claim me, but... I know where to find them, I think, and I'm pretty sure my presence will lure out this gaki. Me just strolling up there accompanied by a couple of others? I think that has a better chance than marching in a squad of soldiers." Gloved fingers fidgeted slightly, the only sign of her own nervousness. Yakumo might be a spoiled, bratty diva, but she was also stubborn and once she made up her mind she was determined to see it through.

[Kuni Koyuki]

"Having a Kuni is better than a squad of soldiers anyway," she adds, without that air of confidence that one might expect from such a claim. Which was what made it sink in a little more. Koyuki wasn't quite here to overinflate the ego of the Crab, Kuni, or herself. Nope, that idea was simply the truth of it far as she was concerned. Was probably accurate too.

"I won't give you a speech about why you shouldn't do this stupid risky thing. You know. I'll just be there to make sure you get back," she says, pausing and then looking to Seika. "Both of you."

[Yoritomo Seika]

Seika's painted lips quirk a bit. "Appreciate it." She's now moved on to examining the pendant.

"And, well, this won't be my first razorfin rodeo, either," she adds, though honesty compels her to qualify that with, "It'll be at least the third. Maybe... number two-point-five. But anyway."

She puts the pendant down and picks up the gun, testing its balance in her hand.

"So, do you think this'll help your friend the Magistrate? Or is the poor guy just going to... stay like that?"

[Susumu Yakumo]

Yakumo's look to Koyuki showed her appriciation for having the Kuni with them. She trusted Seika who seemed to have a good sense of doing what was right, but Koyuki she also trusted with her life for this.

"I... hope so. If we're no longer concerned about a possession, but rather that a gaki is manipulating him or something, then I hope vanquishing said gaki will help solve the problems." She swallowed nervously at the idea of going out to fight something most people wouldn't even want to face. "Gaki can sod off back to wherever they're from and stop bothering the living."

[Kuni Koyuki]

Gaki were hardly ever Koyuki's primary concern, but they were damn near close. Mandatory spirit realms studying for her when this whole sordid affair was over, that much was certain. A thought interrupted by returning to the moment. Getting the look from Yakumo still warms her, just the same as it has always come to.

Life was a complicated mess, wasn't it.

"This is what I live my life for," she offers, glancing to Yakumo on that final comment. Including Seika with a glance. "Gaki are hardly the main threat, but- they aren't one I care to ignore. So, tonight we deal with some rowdy gaki but.. for now?" she asks, and looks between both women.

"As one who has faced this type of threat before. If there are no more preparations we can do, I have only one suggestion. Relax. As much as you can, and get what affairs might plague your mind in order. You don't want to be distracted while you stare death in the face. You want no regrets," she offers, and then takes a sobering moment to breathe.