reveilation | IC INBOX

[ 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. ]

[ At least RO has always been quick to react--pulling Kido out of harm's way first and dodging the needles herself. Thankfully, it wasn't much that she needed to dodge in the first place. Phew. ]

Perhaps... he can try to make an ofuda shaped ice in the slot...?

[ Kido hisses out a breath of relief as Nekogami turns and gives the pair what would've been a sympathetic look except he sort of has soulless void eyes so it's hard to tell. ]

Yeah, why don't you give it a try?

[ Nekogami doesn't have that sort of intricacy, but he does cover up the entire door in a slab of ice that has to have filled all three slots, but nothing turns to stone and nothing glows bright blue and nothing happens. ]

I guess it'd be too easy if we just found something to plug up the hole.

It was worth a try. It seems that the door is impenetrable unless we get the remaining three ofudas.

[ If Nekogami can't bust the door open, RO doubts Astraea can either. She crosses her arms and inspects the door, but she can't find anything else that's weird about it. ]

It would be better if there was a magic sonar ability that someone could use...

[ Kido runs her hands over the ice as well, but while the cold feels good in the summer heat, there's nothing much they can do about it for now, besides leaving it alone to thaw. ]

I know a guy who might be able to help, but I don't know what else we can learn about this thing.

[ She raps her knuckle against the ice, but the sound is dull, like there's no hollow space underneath the door at all. Maybe it's because of the ice. ]

I see. If you can figure out anything about this stone, please let me know. But as far as I know, this is where we'll be stuck for some time unless we can dig up anything new.

[ Hm. ]

I will also try to research the significance of the ofudas in the meantime. This castle as well, if I can find anything...

Sure. I'll ask him about the ofuda and castle too, in case there's anything important about them.

[ She is not going to remember to ask though because she keeps getting distracted by leaves ]

Have you been doing all your research in the library? I wonder if there's anyone in town who would know about those things, since folk tales and the such aren't always written in books, let alone published.

[ Those damn leaves... ]

Is that so... that doesn't sound like a relative safe way to store information, but I suppose it's more a cultural custom. I will be sure to ask around for that as well.

[ It's less information and more... well, never mind. ]

Great, thanks, RO.

[ Research isn't really Kido's strong suit, but while she would leave it at that, there's also the nagging thought of how she's always pushing different tasks on RO, and she steps back from the door on the ground to look about the castle, squinting a little at the Velvet Room door, and then to RO. ]

Is there anything else you're looking into that you need help with? If I can't help, I might be able to point you towards somebody who can.

[ RO thinks about that for a moment, mentally running through a list to see if she actually needs help with anything. ]

In that case, I would like to request information of where I can find rations that are very high in carbs, cheap, and preferably small. I had attempted burgers already, but it doesn't seem to be enough.

[ That's... very specific, and Kido gives her a weird look for it. ]

Do you have to eat?

[ Isn't she a robot? Is this an insensitive question... ]

I could probably make something a little healthier than burgers, that you can carry around, if you let me know what you like.

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