[JANUARY INTRO LOG | WORLD TWO]

[spellbindmods]

Who: All coven members, especially new folk!
Where: In and around the new world’s apartment building where the coven is staying, as well as the rest of Shehui
When: Day 160
Open/Closed: Open to All
IMPORTANT: While some prompts are newbie exclusive, all characters can tag this intro log!

How did you get into this building? This apartment room? What the fuck is going on? Let's refer back to this page for a semi in-depth, wow so detailed, explanation of your current situation. You'll also have a letter slipped under your door with some explanation about your whole coven situation, as well as info that explains you have magic now! And yet what kind of magic is conveniently left out. Are you up to speed? Great. Now, here's the question of the hour: what are you going to do about all this? A ▢ If you're the sensible sort and want to explore your new digs before slinking around Shehui, you're in luck! You've got easy access to your apartment, and it's luckily not on lockdown right now. Feel free to check out your room, raid the fridge -- oh, and saying hello to your roommates should also be on your to-do list. B ▢ Let's say that hanging out with these people is a little overwhelming...that's fine! There are plenty of things to do in the apartment building without interacting with roomies! There are vending machines to prop up, a leisure floor that contains a totally vacant air hockey table and a nice garden to relax in. C ▢ But ah, there's also venturing outside! Out front is the job board, which is a nice place to hit up if you're looking to add to your currently fat but depleting credit account. The problem is that the jobs are currently disappearing quickly, and those around you aren't giving you such nice looks. This apartment building is a known problem area at this point, and your signet doesn't do anything to settle their fears.

D ▢ With new year's week coming to an end, the residents of Shehui are feeling more celebratory than somber now. A lot of businesses are closed in order to enjoy themselves and ring in the new year the right way. A lot of restaurants and bars are currently offering specials, from free drinks to cheap food in order to pull in the holiday crowd. If you're looking to meet people and socialize in Shehui, this is the best way to do it. E ▢ Also because it's the post holiday season, stores are trying to push out the rest of their overstock merch. One item of note that's being peddled quite often is a cell phone. From tiny flip phones to the latest Orange product, cellphones are a necessity in this modern society. Get yours right now and begin texting right away! There are a few social apps that are installed, so you might be lucky enough to connect with another coven member! They also have Redmolar capability, which will automatically allow you to text those with phones in the area. Maybe send some mysterious stranger texts? F ▢ While you're hustling around Shehui, you may realize that the telepathic messages get stronger -- perhaps the new coven members are near? In general, you may be subject to telepathic messages about current Shehui goings on, random thoughts or requests to meet up at so-and-so location. A.K.A. let's utilize that telepathy...it may not last forever! G ▢ Because the week of remembrance is still going on, flowers are littering the streets, though most of them are dead. Bunches of flowers are being sold, and flower fortunes are a popular activity during this part of the holiday. There are fortune tellers on the street who will give you your flower of the year, but it's more fun to have them read with one another! There are digital cards that you can buy that will allow you to read fortunes on the go -- simply tap the screen of the card and your flower will be decided. Not happy with your choice? Too bad! It won't randomize to something different, no matter how hard you try. H ▢ While a lot of Shehui citizens are trying to avoid the coven members like the plague, a small alien child isn't so much concerned with who helps her, just as long as someone does. She accidentally left her house's door open and her five new kittens are suddenly missing! Where are they? Who knows! But she'd certainly like some help looking for them. I ▢ As the day winds down, snow falls on Shehui for the last time this season. The government is getting rid of their supplies that create the festive weather. This is old hat for older coven members, but for newbies? You better enjoy the snow while you can. After an hour or so, it piles up enough to truly be utilized for merriment...this also means that it's pretty easy to get snowed in if you happen to be in a building during the snow fall, which also creates some interactive opportunities. J ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

[osuni]

[Okuni definitely looks surprised, even though she had considered it as a possibility. She's not so much bothered as she is immediately curious.]

Your circumstances? What do you mean? You can't say just that and leave it alone, Juju!

[SHE MUST KNOW, JUJUBEANS]

[bulletbiter]

[ JUJU........................................................ ]

It's complicated. [ - is his first response, but then he remembers that this will probably egg her on more and has to resign himself to providing an answer. Plus, she knows one of his secrets. ]

It is better for me to be away from my world than within it.

[ She probably can't read much from his face yet. ]

[osuni]

[Juju truly knows her too well... Okuni would like to think she knows him too -- but his face is perfectly expressionless, so she thinks back on when she first met him.

The way those strands of hair had disintegrated in her hand. It gives her a piece of the puzzle, but the rest of it stays blank. Better? To be in a completely different world?]

Better how?

[He probably expected that, he already knows that she's nothing if not persistent.]

[bulletbiter]

[ Please free him from this awkward questioning... he doesn't want to be here. It's like an exact replay of their first meeting, so he'll just pull out his Conveniently Crafted Excuse (tm): ]

I bear a curse that will have repercussions on my home. To be away from it annuls the danger to them. [ But not to himself, apparently.

He's usually not a good liar but this is a rehearsed half-truth so he can pull it off. What might give Okuni a clue however is telepathy - there's a wisp of static coming from his vague direction, faint but perceptible. ]

1/2

[osuni]

[That makes Okuni pause in her relentless juju-inquisition -- a funny look crossing her face. She almost looks disturbed, which looks uncharacteristic coming from her, especially since her facial expressions range from AMUSEMENT to BOREDOM.

because like "a curse that will have repercussions on my home" sure sounds very, very familiar to her.

She doesn't doubt the truth of it. Though the static does make her wonder if, perhaps, this just another piece -he's giving her -- instead of the whole puzzle.

But maybe she doesn't need him to actually say it. Maybe she can just think of her home and connect the dots that way.]

[osuni]

So they're safe, but you still have the curse.

[It's not like leaving Oumi would have saved Baren. It would have saved Oumi, but Baren would still have the scales -- would still bear the risk of turning into a monster. She smiles!!!!]

I see! I think I understand. Curses aren't a new thing to me, after all.

[bulletbiter]

[ Why is she so.... cheerful about this? It's a stark contrast to the mischievous twinkle that she's always pursued him with. He's not sure how to feel. ]

And... you're just okay with it?

[ It's good that his practice in restraining the Singularity also allows him to screen most of his thoughts. Why doesn't she run, if she understands? ]

[osuni]

[Okuni looks thoughtful at this question, for once not immediately leaping to punkshittery.]

I suppose some people find curses frightening or awful to be around with, but... I don't think of them the same way. That's the sort of narrow-minded thinking that I detest the most!

[It's true that she and Baren are cursed -- but she'd never love Baren any less for it. It's just a part of them by now.]

And anyway, I met you when you were already cursed, yes? So you're still the Juju I know. The annoying, stiff and totally honest sort of person who wouldn't stab me even if I told everyone about your hair. There's no point in judging you for your circumstances when I already know who you really are.

[bulletbiter]

[ She speaks with the same slightly haughty air that she's been always using, yet he can tell that she's letting her sincerity show for once. If she's able to be so free in not judging others, then she has probably been on the receiving end of it before. Only someone who has suffered will understand.

Perhaps this is why she continued to pester him despite how no-fun he was. ]

But I could have hurt you. [ This probably makes less of sense to her, but he's keenly reminded of those who chose to stand by him... whom he had sent away for their own safety. A man who had committed inhumane acts should atone for his sins alone. ] The curse is not as strong here, but the danger still remains.

[ The reason why he's often by himself, both out of habit and out of fear of killing someone else. ]

[osuni]

[Ah, so that's the kicker.

How terrible could this curse be, if it made him want to hurt people? Especially when Julius seemed to be so against that particular crime.

The answer? Quite terrible, indeed.

There's no visible expression of Okuni's sympathy on her face, since sympathy would mean that she'd pity his circumstances... and what kind of person would she be if she judged someone's circumstances just like that -- those circumstances that made Julius who he was.]

I suppose you could have. But I'm quite strong. [stronger than her brother, at least.] Anyway, I'm not the type of person who'd die so easily, nor would I put it against you if you did manage to hurt me. So my choice would be the same -- to simply stay by your side.

[this is veering dangerously close to dere...]

So I can kick you back to your senses if your curse makes you hurt anyone else, of course!

[bulletbiter]

[ Her words sound familiar. It's much the same as what his team had told him, when they met for the last time. Look where that got him, though. The truth came through too slow, too late.

Julius closes his eyes, exhaling slowly through a half drawn-out sigh. ]

I knew you were a good person. [ Even if she'll deny it afterwards. It's enough to soften his tone. ] When I was here the previous time, there was someone who promised to take me down just in case.

[ Given her personality and the amount of bite she's capable of dishing out, it seems a request best given to her than someone else. Only a person who went through the same ordeal would understand the need for sacrifice. ]

Would you really? [ Kill me if I stray? ]

1/2

[osuni]

[She's just about to pointlessly argue the "good person" statement there too, but instead, she falls silent. Her eyes try to bore into Julius's, because that's

a request no one would take lightly, in offering or accepting it, and she can tell enough about what he's asking that he doesn't have to really say it out loud. What else could "take me down" possibly mean?

...Fate sure was a strange thing. Here she was in another world, meeting an entirely new person, and these same duties have found their way back onto her shoulders.

"Would you really?"

Would she really? It was an apt question. ]

[osuni]

[ It's less like she's debating over whether or not she would, and more like she's trying to determine how Julius would feel about that. But it's hard to decipher feelings from gaze alone. ]

Yes.

[ She inclines her head, looking neither tired or hesitant. She'll be honest here, as she always is. ]

If you think there's a chance, then I'll take care of you.

[bulletbiter]

[ Julius' eyes tell nothing but resolve. Quiet acceptance, without a hint of fear. Once a God Eater takes up the oath, they sign their lives away to die. That was just how it is.

Somewhere within them is a spark of gold - or maybe, it was just a trick of the light. ]

Then... thank you, truly. I can be more at ease, knowing this. [ He smiles - a small smile, but genuine nevertheless. ] I can only be killed in a single way. I shall prepare you a tool to use.

[ Of course, she deserves an explanation. Such things of death and killing a friend aren't easy for anyone to handle, so he hopes she will understand. Taking a deep breath, he lets his expression settle to something suitably somber. ]

Decades ago, monsters appeared on the Earth, in my world. They consumed all that was in their path. City walls, firearms, not even the strongest weapons we could use could stop them. So we named them the Aragami, beings of godlike and terrible strength. They could only be defeated by one of their own kind, naught else. To give humanity a fighting chance, some of the survivors chose to take the essence of the Aragami into themselves. Thus we could wield weapons and drive them from our homes. Yet, to take their spirit would mean that one runs the risk of turning into a beast.

[ Thus the need for care and maintenance. A God Eater would fight until they fell in battle. Five, ten years for the most part. ]

Should someone transform... then it is the duty of their teammates to put them out of their misery. Here, I have no one who can do that for me. No one, but you.

[osuni]

[She's glad he trusts her enough to tell her why, but that's about the extent of it.

She can't be glad of anything else -- of a world where Julius had to make that choice to save everything he knew. Because at least the Kumou twins hadn't had to choose to become vessels, that had been pure chance, even if they did end up choosing a lot of things that ultimately isolated them. So, in a way, Okuni can understand having to take up a hard choice, but...

That was more than a hard choice.

Her eyes flash in dismay as she listens, but that's also the extent of which she'll show her emotions. This is a world that Julius has had to live with the entire time...]

I see. I was a little arrogant when I said I understood earlier. ...Yours is a curse you accepted. [a burden willfully undertaken... She understands better now.]

Still, my answer's the same, Julius. I'll use the weapon you give me.

[She doesn't want to.... but sometimes life just doesn't work that way. And better it was her, someone Julius trusted enough to tell her the reasons, then a random bystander.]

Until the day when you decide to take it back.

[rather than, "the day when you lose all your humanity" because really

if he's still alive, then there's always a chance.]

[bulletbiter]

[ For better or for worse, God Eaters were the last hope of humanity. Horrible things become acceptable when the alternative is even worse. So in this way, Okuni need not feel bad - because their circumstances were different. Assuming they were the same isn't something he can fault her for. ]

All of us understood the consequence when we signed ourselves into this life. Even if it is terrifying... we wanted to protect our homes. [ Not 'our families', because most of them are already dead. Most of that most were killed by the Aragami. ] It feels less of a burden when we had friends to share it.

[ Yes, you're his friend now. Accept it. ]

I was about to turn, once. But they didn't lose faith in me, so I was able to keep my sanity. Thank you.

[osuni]

[Homes...

That's worth anything, Okuni thinks. Protecting home was worth a life. Her life, and apparently Julius's for his own world. She could understand that very well.]

Hmph, [Okuni huffs, turning away so that Julius can't see her TSUN EXPRESSION.

It works, but it also doesn't, because her ears are a telltale red. Truly, an effort was made here.]

Helping you is the least I can do. [since they're FRIENDS] I had a duty of my own, so I can understand yours.

[Though it was only her brother and her against the whole world.]

[bulletbiter]

[ even if she hides her expression, he can still understand. And he won't call her out on it this time, because it feels like that's one of the important things to her dignity.

No human can be truly unfeeling. ]

If you were to share my burden, then I would take yours as well. You have my word.

[ He can never return to his world, but he could go to another's. It feels a little selfish to have given her this task and not do anything in return... ]

[osuni]

[THANKS FOR NOT CALLING HER OUT, this way Okuni doesn't have to beat a speedy retreat. She does, finally, turn back around to regard Julius.]

Aren't you adding to your burden if you take some of mine?

[She already knows what he's going to say though, juju2pure]

[bulletbiter]

[ INDEED he's so predictable ]

You're adding to yours by taking some of mine. It's only fair.

[ There, smite him for his diligence or something. Still, he's actually smiling. It's very slight, as if he's almost forgotten how to do it - most of the emotion is in his eyes.

Which are... just the slightest bit gold. ]