reveilation | IC INBOX

It's pretty difficult, yeah... I think most people would say they're capable of anything, but working their way towards that still counts as improvement.

[ Isn't that how it is? Anybody can do anything, as long as they put their mind to it, or something idealistic like that. ]

[ something something I can do anything if I keep at it

RO considers that, but it seems like she views hers and that differently. ]

I suppose.

[ She won't argue with that. ]

I still feel as if I'm a step behind, so I feel that I need to make up for it by doing more things in the place of someone else. [ It's a very "my teammate is slacking off so I need to pick up the slack" kind of mindset she has right now. ]

Ha, well... We're all sort of stumbling our way through everything going on here, but that's why we should stick together, make up for one another's shortcomings.

[ When will Kido have a gang she can walk around with and have them do everything while she sits around being the figurehead boss? Why are both my characters like this, actually, I was trying to get away from my usual character type and instead it's like I'm playing two Minatos. ]

[ rip card... at least that's only few things in common like kido wouldn't hesitate to punch someone while minato doesn't feel like doing anything, period. ]

It would be nice if we were all coordinated in a team...

[ They're not fond memories, but RO thinks about her mission team.

...

Her canon is not a happy place, but it sure felt like she belonged there. ]

Kind of hard to coordinate at all when most people don't have phones or another way to contact one another. And... actually, I don't think they'd work when it gets all dark anyways, since nothing else does.

[ What they need is a Navigator who can beam thoughts into people's heads. Seto could probably do something like that. Maybe RO with her microphone yelling across the dungeons is the best they've got. ]

[ That actually sounds so viable that-- ]

I can yell commands across the floors if we require coordination of that level.

Really? It gets pretty noisy in there. Are you able to shout on top of that?

[ Especially when there's already a lot of screaming going on in the dungeons sometimes, when there's an OP tengu boss beating the crap out of everybody and no one knows what to do. ]

I believe so...

[ She unhooks the megaphone's clasp and grasps it by the handle. She has a default loud voice to begin with, so that on top of the megaphone might as well make someone go deaf real quick if they happened to be standing next to her.

Megaphone!! Her handy tool. She definitely feels at home with it and looks like she's adjusting the settings. ]

[ Kido looks rather surprised, because she only imagines megaphones being carried around by movie directors or drill sergeants or something. ]

That would do the trick... How loud can you get?

[ She asks, while preemptively putting her hood up and clamping her hands over her ears. ]

[ She might as well be a drill sergeant if everyone will allow her to take lead... Once she sees that Kido has blocked her ears, she sets the megaphone to its MAX settings and faces away from Kido as she yells into the megaphone in the form of her debuff skill: Mental Shock.

That sure scattered all the flying animals as far as the eye can see--that was definitely loud. ]

[ Kido lets out a shout that gets drowned out by RO's, her voice so LOUD Kido can almost feel it. So many crows take off from the trees, it looks like a black cloud hanging above the forest for a moment, and the cloud seems to be getting larger. The crows are coming. They're angry. ]

[ ... At least the crows have an attack debuff on them now. RO is not dumb enough to tackle all those crows at once, so she pulls Kido with her further inside the shrine where there is a contained shelter with doors behind the offertory box and closes the door when they're both inside. ]

... My apologies. I didn't expect the crows to be...

[ There? Outraged? Living in the trees?? She doesn't know what to say at the surprise of it all. ]

[ At least they'll be indoors when the crows attack..... ]

No, I didn't think this would happen either, or I wouldn't have asked you to do it.

[ Granted, Kido knew the birds live in the forest. She had just doubted RO could be loud enough to wake so many of them all at once. ]

Should we just wait it out...?

[ The crows nearest the shrine are already here, divebombing at the door with angry caws while others come in to settle down on every available inch of shrine space.

Kido (by which I mean me) makes a mental note to grab one of the feathers before she leaves. This wasn't how I imagined Kido would get an ordinary crow feather, but I'll take it. ]

[ With how rowdy the crows are, there are bound to be some feathers lying around. RO will also pick them up because she also needs some. ]

I believe they'll run out of energy some time soon since they are all worked up, so it should be best if we stay inside for the time being.

[ That's... probably for the best, but how are the crows supposed to run out of energy when they're just sitting around cawing every once in a while? It's daunting, having hundreds of thousands of eyes trained on her, the familiar anxiety building up from the pit of her stomach that makes her want to squeeze her eyes shut and curl in on herself until she disappears.

She breathes out. Well, why not? ]

Come on, let's find a place where none of the birds will be able to see us. Then we can leave.

[ Oh. RO thinks Kido is talking about her ability, so she nods. A condition... hm. ]

I can divert most of their attention if we need more coverage regarding that with my Persona.

[ She looks around... there's a storage box in here. ]

... That looks too small for both of us.

[ That's exactly what she's going for, using her ability to get this out of this place, so Kido nods, staring down at the storage box and unable to see it fitting more than just herself and maybe RO's arms. All she needs is something to draw the birds' attentions for a split second, and they can disappear from the world. ]

Alright, we'll do it that way. I'll stay close to you, and as soon as the birds are focused on something else, we should leave quickly and get out of here.

[ RO nods. ]

Leave it to me.

[ RO makes sure to stay close to Kido and grasps the ID hanging from the lanyard around her neck to take a hold of the slotted omamori into the card slot, summoning Astraea outside of the shelter. Astraea gets to work quickly and grabs a pebble from the ground and throws it at the flock of crows. ]

[ The flock of crows take off with a cacophony of angry cawing, some of them taking to the skies and some of them rushing at where Astraea stands— it's enough, though, for Kido's eyes to flood with red, pulling her hood to shield them out of habit, and standing slowly, watching the crows as she steps out of the shrine and back out into the open. None of the crows turn her way. ]

Great job distracting them. It looks like it caught everybody's attention, so let's head out. We still have to check out the castle, but... it might be a good idea to stay away from the shrine for a while.

I agree.

[ RO bends over to pick up some feathers while Astraea continues to distract them, running away when some crows start charging at her and eventually disappearing once she's out of range. ]

The castle shouldn't be much further.

[ Kido nods, splitting her attention between the path at her feet and the crows milling around behind them. It's convenient, she thinks, that the paths from the shring to the castle to the town are all still there and visible, despite the fact that nobody else from town ever comes out here. Maybe it's been trampled over so much, nothing can grow in the packed soil, she doesn't know.

But seeing the castle come into view before her shakes the thoughts out of her mind, and she cranes her neck a little, looking up at the sight of it all. Like somebody had used up all their budget building two floors and then half-assed the rest so that it's liable to fall over at the slightest touch. ]

Whoa... You weren't kidding.

Yes, I don't understand how it became like this, but I didn't get an answer for this either. There were no signs of construction to repair the structure and it would have been evident from the town if they had supplied the materials for such a thing. Neither of them were evident, so it's... strange.

[ Sometimes she doesn't feel like she's sane with all the magical things she's been spouting. ]

[ Yeah, there's nothing that comes to mind for Kido besides magic bs either, even as she enters the castle and holds an arm out for RO to stop for a second while she looks around for bears.

No bears, but seeing "CASTLE OUMA" scrawled across the wall on top of the throne makes her scoff. ]

You'd think whoever rebuilt the castle would've scrubbed that off. Where's the ofuda door you were talking about?

The stone that I placed the ofuda in is... there.

[ RO leads Kido to the center of the castle. One of the ofuda has been turned into stone with three more slots looking pretty identical. Guess it kinda looks like a door. ]

Nothing much happened other than it glowing in a blue light.

[ It... kinda looks like a door. Like one of those cellar doors on the side of houses that lead down to some protective bomb shelter but all Kido can think of is how the dungeon at the school just kept leading them down and down and down. ]

Why couldn't it have been normal keys? At least those we could pick open... But let's see what we can do about this.

[ Nekogami comes out, fur over his shoulders bristling, and blasts the door with dream needles. None of them make a dent, and some of them bounce back toward them. Haha. ]

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