poly_chromatic | [#11 (video/text)]

((Backdated to April 2nd.))

[Video/filtered from Kimihara Himeno & Tohru Honda]

[Wherever Nobori is, it is very dark, making it difficult to see much of him. One arm is carrying his sleeping Pokemon, Chandela, whose fire does not burn as brightly as it usually does. As for Nobori himself, he doesn't appear half as enthusiastic about his announcements as usual, looking quite visibly drained, even in the low light. His face is gaunt and his hair looks much thinner. It appears as if the man somehow tripled in age overnight.]

... we apologize most sincerely for the delay. [His voice also sounds weaker, not as loud and clear as it normally is.] The previous month's new arrivals:

[text]

1. Utsuho Reiuji
2. Johanna Mason

[text/private to Luke Valentine]

Mr. Valentine, does nothing die here?

This is an urgent matter. I await your reply.

[text/private to Gabriel]

Madame Gabriel, could you tend to a Ghost?

This is not a joke. I foolishly overworked my partner in my haste and it is now in dire need of attention. There are similarities between the animals you deal with and Pokemon, so I am confident in your abilities. I await your reply.

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[She looks weary herself, but her eyes light up when the creature speaks.]

A youkai! It's a lamp youkai! I thought there weren't any here at all!

Hi Chandela! Sorry I called you a thing.

A— youkai? [That initially bewilders him, before making him laugh.] People once referred to them as bakemono as well. These creatures are called Pokemon in my time.

Yes, it seems such creatures are very uncommon here...

[Chandela waves the flames on the end of one curling black arm, in an approximation of a wave.] Shan~! [She doesn't mind so much, now that she got an apology.]

What sort inhabit your world, Madame?

Bakemono, that's, uh, hold on a second, let me ask the device what that means again...

[She switches him off a moment, then the feed comes back on.]

Oh, okay, those are youkai; we have those where I come from. I guess you could call me one, since I'm a raven but I look mostly human a lot of the time. I can change shape between my disguise and my raven form. Not really a disguise if people know, huh? But it makes them take me more seriously, and I like having thumbs.

[She demonstrates in a flash of golden light, changing into a four-foot raven with a burning red eye in its chest. After making a quick circle in the air, she lands and turns back again. Suddenly the large black wings on her back and the eye on her chest make sense, although the arm cannon still sticks out.]

Pokemon. Huh, okay. I wish there were more; she's the most familiar person I've seen here.

My world is Gensokyo. It's in Japan, but we have a big barrier and no one can get out. I work in Hell, for my master Miss Satori, and I keep the fires hot so the evil spirits are always burning. I wonder who's doing my job now that I'm gone...anyway, most of the people there are youkai, all kinds. You name it, we've probably got it! Also gods, vampires, oni, all kinds of non-humans, and then there are a few humans. Humans have a hard time, because everything else likes to eat them.

Edited 2013-04-08 04:10 (UTC)

[He watches the display appreciatively, looking very impressed. Even the facts of her duties don't dampen his enthusiasm. Chandela looks even more interested!]

Chandela hails from the spirit world. It sounds like your worlds have a lot in common! Aside from Ghost Type Pokemon like Chandela, there are also malicious spirits and yurei of all sorts there. Her type can tear portals to access it, so they can move freely between their world and ours.

I would imagine a place like your home would be very difficult to live in for a human... Chandela, too, feeds on human souls.

Oh, that sounds like our Netherworld! That's where the okay spirits go, the people who aren't either really good or really evil. Hell is part of the spirit world, too, but we're not ghosts. We're more of demons, I guess, because our job is to make sure that the souls are tormented in the fire because of how evil they were. I'm so glad to see other people who get what's going on and know what we are!

[She's thrilled to bits now, so much she's almost bouncing.]

Ghost type, huh? Miss Satori talks to a ghost named Lady Yuyuko whenever there's a problem with souls, like the time a couple hundred years ago when we stopped getting as many as before. Anyway, Lady Yuyuko is a yurei, like you said you've seen. Normally we all can just walk back and forth to the surface -- er, I'm not allowed to leave, but Orin has to, to get the bodies -- but I can't find the entrance to Hell here. Luke said there wasn't one.

Can Chandela get us to the Netherworld? I think I could get home from there! And even if she can't, can we be friends? I can catch humans for us! I don't need the soul, so you can have it.

[Her eyes are lit up now, big and round and red-orange.]

[Most would find the excitable cheer she talks with about tormenting wicked spirits disturbing or confusing at the very least, but instead, Nobori simply smiles at her enthusiasm. He is a vengeful man and he keeps the company of a perpetually cheerful creature who also consumes spirits in fire. He cannot judge her for it.]

Yes, I am afraid my Chandela has had no luck in creating portal to the spirit world here either. [Chandela looks a bit disappointed at that, but nods in agreement. His own smile fades.] It would appear that the so-called Deities have taken every measure to prevent us from leaving this place of our own volition, whether by direct or indirect routes.

[Now the idea of being friends, Chandela likes very much!] SHAN-shan~! [Her fire glows brightly, crackling excitedly, before Nobori places a gloved hand on her back to steady her. She brings the flames down to a manageable size, looking briefly up at her own master, before looking again to the screen.]

We both would like that very much, Reiuji-sama.

Hunting humans will not be necessary. Larger animal souls work just as well... and death here is hindered by a strange impermanence, so Chandela would not benefit from these false deaths. [And only a fraction of a human spirit is not enough, as he has discovered not too long ago by offering up a good portion of his own life force.]

Yeah, I guess I can stick to animals. Humans are tastier, especially when they're fried up in the fires, but if they can't...

[The gears are turning, ever so slowly. She's not so quick-thinking, is she?]

...Wait. Wait. Hold on. Go back a bit.

We can't die here?

Edited 2013-04-12 00:58 (UTC)

[A very strained polite smile at "humans are tastier," because he's still human himself, despite the company he chooses to keep, and fried human flesh doesn't sound at all appealing to him. Consuming the spirit and leaving the body whole is more within his comfort zone.

At her question, his expression is somber again.] Indeed.

The Deities here have control over life and death.

We are prisoners of this place and cannot leave unless they permit it. We do not even have the freedom to die. Those who die here, return shortly after. I do not know if our tracks diverge here based on our differing natures, but it would not surprise me if they have you bound as surely as they have me.

Did you not notice a change in me from when I made that first video and now? [It was apparent to others, if not to her. He will explain:] There are no roaming spirits for my partner to consume in this place, so I gave her half of mine until we had a whole animal substitute.

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[1/2 -- video; sorry for the delay! ^o^;]

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