>>@ENTERTHEDRAGON | @ALL

[ryuji]

Anyone else getting a massive wave of culture shock? It's totally kicking my ass right now. I got a nice little gig set up here above a bar, but the catch is I gotta work. But yeah, people are coming and going like crazy around here. Weird outfits, weird hairstyles. Seeing everyone go crazy about freedom is pretty freakin' cool. Nobody needs some stuffy old dude sittin' in a golden high chair sucking his royal thumb and giving out orders all the time.

Not gonna lie, I've seen some pretty big palaces before, but I totally wanna raid the hell out of Versailles.

So anyway, is it like this all the time when you guys get a new mission? I've never been to Paris before, but I kinda know what it looks like from pictures back in my own time? Universe? Good luck getting your head around that shit, it's way too deep for me. I was all excited to see the Eiffel Tower, but apparently it's not gonna exist for like... a hundred years.

Comments

[lonelywar]

[Maybe for now, at least...

But, no, it's for the best that this one couldn't find any proper infiltration gear, whatever that might entail. Ashitaka can breathe a sigh of relief.]

@ENTERTHEDRAGON I am sure you will have plenty of opportunities in the future to sneak into guarded buildings. I wouldn't be surprised if COST required us to do something like that.

[It's what he's doing right now. Sort of. Ryuji might've been a better fit — subterfuge is basically on the opposite end of what Ashitaka is good at.]

@ENTERTHEDRAGON I have encountered the same problem.

By this point I allow others to assume me to be Chinese. That seems to make more sense to them, and I wish to avoid any more questions they might have.

[He doesn't know where they are geographically, much less why that makes more sense to the other guards, but he isn't really going to question it. Because, from a heavily secluded village as he was, he only had vague ideas of the world outside. Even trying to formulate specifics for Japan would be difficult, with his upbringing.]

[ryuji]

@BOARING Okay. That makes a lot of sense... guess I'll pass off as Chinese for now.

Here at the tavern, usually people are too fired up to care either way, to be honest. As long as they get some ale and get the chance to bitch about the government, it seems like anyone here kinda fits in.

[He'll have to pull Ashitaka aside and show him some pictures on his cell phone. It's not the same as having the real thing in front of you, but, at least it'll explain a little bit about what the future holds.]

[lonelywar]

@ENTERTHEDRAGON If it is something that will quiet their questions, I believe it is a good option.

[He's so hopelessly lost in the culture shock of both the European continent and being thrust several hundred years in the future that agreeing to whatever is easiest for them to believe was best for him also.]

@ENTERTHEDRAGON That dissent is widespread, then. I have even heard many among the guard at the palace speaking of such things, more brazenly than I would've thought.

Their fervor does seem to be a good distraction from our inability to fit in, though.

I've also found you can leverage their belief in the equality of man, if necessary.

[Please be gentle, Ryuji. Suddenly being introduced to a cell phone might overwhelm Ashitaka completely. ): ]

[ryuji]

[Ashitaka, you pure, beautiful soul. :(]

I come from a time where this sorta stuff spread all over the world. It took a while, but most countries wound up adopting the "freedom for all" policy.

What sucks though, is that people are still people. Even when we have all these rights, and even if we're not fighting to take back our liberties from kings or queens, they end up getting taken away by corrupt adults who don't give a shit about the world or all the hard work it took to get here.

Being here's taught me at least that much.

[lonelywar]

[It seemed noble, when he first mentioned it, though Ashitaka knew that there had to be a caveat coming, even if in the form of "what sucks though..."]

That is disheartening to hear.

I am not well-traveled, but from what I had seen, how commonplace it was to resort to spilling blood to achieve what one wanted was troubling. I have even met people I respect do such a thing, for they believe they are doing it for a just reason and that that reason washes away the blood from their hands.

You're right. It is a corruption inside them, a demon that blinds them to the pain they cause and pushes them forward.

I still haven't found a way to drive it out from them, however.

[ryuji]

[He's saying some really deep stuff. Ryuji reads it a few times. Decidedly, he thinks he wouldn't mind hanging out with this sort of person. He's not that interested in history or myths or folklore, but someone with that much experience about the hearts of human beings...

He feels like they could compare notes. He's stolen enough of peoples' wicked desires to know what they look like, what corruption physically feels like. It's like a poison that takes root right at the core of a person's soul.]

I know a way.

... I READ THIS AND REALIZED MANY THINGS AND NOW IM VERY EXCITED

[lonelywar]

[Ashitaka blinks, slowly, considering not only the darkness that he had observed within the hearts of San and Eboshi but also the evil that their conflict had driven to attack the land of his birth, at long last to where it was coiled, muzzled but not defanged, tangled with his own soul.

Immediately:]

How

I LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING

[ryuji]

You steal their heart.

MMMMME TOO

[lonelywar]

[Now it's Ashitaka's turn to take a moment, considering, lightly confused.]

Can you explain how this is done, and also why it would help?

[ryuji]

Ah shit... I ain't the best at explaining this stuff. My teammates were way better at it.

Imagine if you had something inside you that was a really, really twisted desire. Inside your head, you build up a place to keep it safe and locked away. You don't even know you got this messed up thing tinkerin' around inside you, right? But you're also in there, trying to keep it safe because it's what makes you, you.

You go to that place, we call it a palace, and you take that desire. We call 'em treasures. When it's gone, so is the corruption. The person fesses up all to the shitty things they did and has a change of heart.

[lonelywar]

[He can't even begin to understand how such a thing would be possible, but... if it were, it would be incredible. He wonders of what San and Eboshi held within themselves, what defenses they built around it. He had seen shadowed vestiges of them, though he had had no ability to affect them internally, only struggling to inhibit their actions.

But that brought up another question: was it right to change something fundamental about a person? Was it not simply robbing them of their ability to change themselves? As much as it fascinated him, Ashitaka felt troubled at the thought. Perhaps it was not the same. Their desires had seemed understandable—to provide for those forgotten, to defend the final land of the gods—but it had been how they went about it that had convinced him of their corruption.]

I... believe I understand. Whatever it was that was distorting that person and forcing their cruelty, you take out. It is only regrettable that the person could not come to such an internal decision themselves.

[There is a pause as he continues not continuing, but...]

What if the distortion in a person's soul was placed there by something else? Would you still be able to remove it?

[ryuji]

[It was the same moral problem that all of them faced when they made the decision to become thieves. Their hand was forced by circumstances outside of their hands, but still- he remembers back to all those TV shows that were rambling on about how what the Phantom Thieves were doing wasn't justice.

Ryuji still held onto the idea that it was, though.]

Yeah, that's... pretty much it.

It is kinda regrettable, but if you think about it... most people don't go so extreme that they can't hear their inner conscience, y'know? When it gets to be so bad that you have a palace, there's nothing else to do. They're going to keep manipulating and hurting others, so the best thing you can do to save them is to cut it out of 'em.

Usually they've gone too far. We did have someone once, though. She wanted her treasure stolen, and we took it. So... yeah, I mean. Take it for what you will. I ain't a bad guy, here.

[Something else? What's that mean?]

I dunno. The rules are kinda fuzzy about everything.

[lonelywar]

[He hadn't meant to call his character into question. He amends this fairly swiftly:]

If you also weighed these concerns, I would not think that you would seek to abuse such a power.

I have also encountered people who would not listen to reason. I wish that I had such an ability at that time. Perhaps things would have turned out differently.

[Even if it had done something as small as force them to at least listen to him...

But the other claimed to have stolen from the heart of someone willing. Ashitaka hesitated once more. He knew from his experience of having a gunshot wound mended by the Great Forest Spirit, and yet it leaving behind his mortal curse, that he should not get too hopeful. But even more information about it would be useful. What he had to go on was so limited.

After a moment:]

Would you be able to tell if a person had something that could be stolen?

[ryuji]

[It's in the past already, but someone who became close to all them had ultimately done exactly just that- abused that power with such malice that it moved the needle for just how deep Ryuji defined a person as "evil." That's the problem with any special ability. Yielding it however you like is.. well, it's bad. And in certain cases leads to death. People who manipulate others into doing what they want are despicable, but people who think that they're just in killing them instead of trying to stop them are disgusting.

He's not entirely dense to the way that this conversation is going. Ryuji's not the brightest person out there, but he has a good deal of emotional intelligence. And the way Ashitaka starts to question him, he figures there was some regret in his past that's compelling him to find out more. He's okay with it- in his past, he couldn't talk about these things openly for so many reasons. And it sucked, because he wanted to be a hero.]

All I need is a name.

[lonelywar]

(ooc: I spent half the day trying to think if I should include "of the Emishi/formerly of the Emishi" but based on interview information I don't think it would really be part of his identity at this point... strokes my chin. regardless I leave it up to you what you want to find since it's ryuji's power [as I try to dig up all my p5 knowledge from months ago] but if you are interested in my input I would say... something is certainly There)

[He wrestled with similar struggles. The mark of the demon was a blight on him, but it also proved itself a boon in many ways. Ashitaka had always been a capable hunter and warrior, should the need arise, but with the strength the mark gave him, he could fight like a monster. It was a constant temptation, especially in a place such as this, with its living undercurrent of strife and violence. He had to constantly tell himself to give in to the hatred that Nago had imprinted upon him would do nothing, solve nothing - just like how, if he had killed Eboshi that day, it would not have stopped or solved that conflict either.

Still, he was curious. Curious if what he was plagued with was in a similar vein to what Ryuji was familiar in dealing with. He knew, however, that if he asked, it would reveal something that, up until this point, he had kept to himself. He did not think that knowledge of the demon's mark on him would endanger him or others, but... it had never seemed applicable to mention.

After another moment's consideration, his curiosity gets the better of him.]

My name is Ashitaka.

If you could search my name, I would be grateful to you.

[ryuji]

[Small issue. He needs his phone.

He'll have to talk to the commander about this.]

I'll keep ya posted.

I gotta have the app in order to make it work.

Hey... I know it ain't my right to ask this sorta stuff... but, do you think you'd get a hit?

[lonelywar]

[Ashitaka has no idea what a phone or an app is but he just assumes it's whatever magic Ryuji would use to make this work (close enough?).]

Thank you.

If it works as you have described, yes, I believe so.

[Unless he fell through some sort of loophole, as his affliction was something placed on him, not something that was a piece of his own personality.]

[ryuji]

We don't normally go and take jobs like this, so if you do end up getting a trace in the app, I gotta ask you to come clean about everything and tell me wassup.

Goin' in there is really weird, and you never know what you're gonna face. Not knowing anything about it is kinda like sending troops off into a blind battle.

But, it's cool. We got time. I definitely wanna help you out.

[lonelywar]

[The reply is... takes a bit longer to respond. He makes a fair argument, particularly since this is a favor he is offering to do him, but Ashitaka hasn't mentioned this topic to anyone here yet. It's not necessarily taboo. He had bared the mark to Eboshi, and San had witnessed its corrupting power on him as well.

He isn't sure why he'd wanted to hide it. Maybe because, here, its looming threat on his life wasn't nearly as pressing of an issue. He could almost pretend it wasn't happening - if not for the occasional reactions from the mark itself.

But no. He couldn't ignore it. It was his burden to bear.]

I will tell you whatever you want to know.

I ask this of you because I bear a curse. I am not sure if I can remove it here. I wonder if what you are able to do could affect it.

[ryuji]

[Ryuji's not bothered by the delay in response. He fills the time up with other small, menial tasks at the bar he's working at. It's simple, repetitive, and not very difficult work to do, so when the crowds die down, he makes sure to check later that night and read (re-read) Ashitaka's message to him.]

You're cursed?

[Oh, shit.

That brings on all sorts of questions.

Like.

What if he is in the Metaverse? What if it spreads to other parts of it? He doesn't care too much for the collective cognition of the world since it's kind of... meh, take it or leave it, but the prospect of meeting Ashitaka in the Metaverse with it? What if he's not strong enough to actually do something about it?

He idly grabs his skull mask and starts to look at it.

He has to be strong.]

Well, no matter what the hell it is, I'll steal it. How the heck did you get cursed to begin with?

[lonelywar]

Yes.

[He hadn't known such a thing was even possible before it happened to him, and if the old wise woman had needed to consult the bones, surely she had never seen anything of its like in her life as well. But the war humans had declared upon the gods was new, as was its echoes reaching out as far as the hidden Emishi village Ashitaka once belonged to.]

COST has provided me with something that keeps it at bay, so if it is too dangerous for you, do not risk yourself.

[But, ah, yeah. That's a bit of a story. So Ashitaka, without a hint of arrogance, simply sends:]

I killed a god.

It had once been a god of the forest, corrupted into a rampaging demon by a ball of lead lodged within its body. It threatened my village, and so I killed it. In its anger, it cursed me before it died.

[ryuji]

Yeah. Gods are kinda assholes.

[lonelywar]

[Not the language he would've used, but...]

Some that I have met certainly are difficult to deal with.

[The Great Forest Spirit had brought him back to life, but not removed his curse? And Moro had threatened to kill him if he came back to their clan's den... definitely a mixed bag.

But, wait, hold on -]

You have had dealings with gods also?

[Others he had spoken to here had only talked of them in the abstract, thinking Ashitaka strange when he talked frankly of dealing with them in earnest.]

ashitaka you look like a pumpkin

[ryuji]

[Sorry, he's a vulgar boy.]

Yeah. One that seriously deserved a kick in the balls.

He was toying with the world and wanted to control all of humanity's desires.

[Said so casually. Him and Ashitaka will have to compare notes one day.]

don't judge him for his fashion...

[lonelywar]

Most of the gods I encountered would be content to rule over their own lands, should they not have been interfered with.

From what you have described of this god, it sounds like it deserved such treatment.

[Again, coarser language and methods than Ashitaka would use, but... he respects Ryuji for it, in a way.]

Is such malevolence from gods typical in your world?