Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): In the Shadows of the City - Chapter 3: ______ Festivities

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko sat heavily down, still trying to get her head around things. Mom in a hospital? Why hadn't father called? Kids dead? Demons?

Her watch chimed again, and she ignored it. Instead she asked Sayoko, "Is my dad okay?"

Another time, the watch tried to get her attention, and Sachiko released all her tension and fear in a sudden explosion as she started wildly pushing its buttons.

"Shut UP!" she shouted at it. "I have to hear this!" She kept messing with it, trying go turn the damn chime off.

[Justin OOC]

Sayoko nodded. "Few of you are warriors, but you will become one."

She was about to answer Galiana but chose to respond to Sachicko. "He is alive, though injured. Barring another attack, he will survive his wounds." The watch was still beeping though at a a lower volume.

She looked to Gali. "I know this because I've chosen to fight back, to aid you all in this. This isn't their first time attacking mankind, or even Japan. Heroes have always risen up. This time, humanity no longer has the strength it once did, and I decided drastic measures needed to be taken."

"I am no demon, and I will not tell you what I am. That is part of the conditions for my being allowed to help you. If you learn my true nature and give it voice, then I will be forced to depart, and you will be left to do as you would, without benefit of my knowledge, or aid."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku listen in and wonders how long this has happen? How many times has this battle wage on? Probably more so then what could be known to one being. Plus how could this relate to their present situation. At least they knew this was not the first time. That gives him some hope that this could be won.

"So what is our next objective. What is going to happen tomorrow so we can do something about this? Plus what can we do that following night?" Kohaku asked.

[Karren Gaunt]

"We survive their attack, find out what they value that we can take from them, and start taking it from them until they give up and stop attacking us. Until they kowtow and show us honest respect or they're all dead," came the quiet, stone hard voice of Akemi Amara from the corner, tears trailing down her face, reciting an overheard lesson rather that composing a sentence of her own. Mother dead? how many of her Father's men died for the... the demons to get Mother? Oh, Kami.

She shuddered, fighting to keep down the hysterics without surrendering to comforting, thoughtless darkness. She couldn't afford thoughtlessness. She was better than that. The Yakuza Heiress had to be. Focus. Focus on the five questions that explain everything. Yes. "Who are we fighting, Mitsuragi-San?"

[Fiona Warner]

Anne stroked her chin, keeping an eye on Gali still, knowing she shouldn't try to restrain the headstrong girl, yet her bedside manner implores her.

"It is all well and good, but Gali you moving around will work against you with that wound. You need a hospital right now. Please, lay back down."

She put aside the rage in her heart... Taro... gone...

"Sayoko... all we need is somewhere to start. If we are going to fight this tide back to it's basin we need to know exactly what we can do."

She massaged the bands on her wrist. "I can imagine... these came to me not only as something passed from Mother to Daughter, but something that tends to go where it needs to be... isn't it?"

She nodded to the rest of the group. "Let's put it all on the table then between us." She said, hovering. "What exactly can we do? Sayoko has her secrets. Seems she is a agent for the other side in the conflict... probably fighting against what just killed people important to us. If they sent Sayoko to us to help us, then we should listen to her advice. But what do we bring to the table? I know I can fly, and I can raise a shield and fire off bolts of energy. The shield and blasts are tied to my bands... but my flying I create with my mind."

"Trust will save us, everyone."

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko goggled at Anne.

"Wait. Wait wait WAIT wait wait wait WAIT." She pointed a finger at her. "You can FLY, and shoot ENERGY and you're hiding in HERE while monsters kill people and put my family in the hospital?! Galiana can't do any of that and she risked her life going outside! If I could do that, I'd be carving a path to the hospital right now!"

She reached over to the little box by the door where umbrella handles poked out. Only what she grabbed by the handle and hauled out was a baseball bat.

"I don't understand ANY of this...none of it makes sense. But our friends and families need us. That's all I need to know."

Sachiko glared at Sayoko. "You say you want us to be warriors, and cower in here? I think you and me disagree on what the word 'warrior' means! We'll never learn to be warriors if we learn to have coward's hearts!"

[Justin OOC]

"Because most of you have no idea what your gifts truly are, or how to use the items you have been given."

"Your watch is a wonder of technology that surpasses most. Anne's abilities are linked to her bracelets. Ayami posesses several unique items. and you've already seen Tezara, Shinji's Servant. Could you fight your way through? probably. It would take all of you, and summon the demons to you almost immediately in numbers greater than you all can handle."

She remained totally calm. "That you grab a bat, which will have utterly no effect, as opposed to selecting something from your watch's modes which would have real effect, does prove my point. You have the spirit for this, not the training yet, and we don't have the time for it either.We have tonight, and tomorrow, to plan and at least come to know what we can do, and then we will have to fight, in teams."

She looked at them all. "Tezara and I could fight off many foes but they would devote more just to killing us. One of you is a match for a scout, but seldom will they be alone now. No one goes anywhere alone now. In a weeks time their main force will move up, and the Nights here will be the substance of nightmares."

[SalmonMax]

"Well then tell us what to do!" Sachiko demands, shaking the bat at her. "Obviously we can't just stand around here and let that happen!"

[z004]

Ayami had sunk to the floor, her mind simply blanking out from the stress, horror, and loss of the night. Hanashiro-san, dead? Please, God, let this be some bad dream from ice cream too near to bedtime. Something. He can't be dead!

Sh snapped out of her fugue when her name was mentioned and frowned at Sayoko and Anne. "I don't...I mean...I can't do anything. Not like...," she motioned to Anne, "like that." Her brow drew together in confusion, "And I don't own anything like your bracers....at least, I don't think so. I've never seen....I mean...."

The poor girl was obviously confused and flustered, and drew her knees to her chest, blinking back more tears, "I don't understand."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku wonder. Was he truely any strong. His abilities from what he knew were not that powerful. A bit dangerious, but not anything to really kill anything in a single strike. Plus he wonder if he was missing something as well. He needed to know more about what he could bring to the table. Plus why was he chosen? "So what do you know of us and what we can do?"

[Fiona Warner]

"Everyone... It is obvious we all have something that others would consider... unnatural. Abilities that when we bring them together could face the threats that now consider us dangerous. But we barely know what we can do." Anne returns to her feet. "I'm not that fast of a flier and I damn sure don't get practice with my blasts. I know my force-field works, but I sure as heck have not had to use it enough so I know it's limits."

"I would be more than happy to go out there and avenge our friends and family, but dammit... I would be mince out there. We all know it."

There was a awkward pause for a moment. "We have to put our trust in Sayoko if we are to survive."

"Taro wouldn't want me throwing my life away in a vainglorious attempt at avenging him. I don't think we would serve the same."

She sighed leaning on the wall she had punched. "We're all damn ignorant of the world we're about to step into. To be honest... I don't think many of us will still be around a month from now. We have to be prepared to face that fact."

"Ayami..." She walks over and kneels next to her. "...I don't understand, either, but I need you to be strong. We all need to be strong for eachother."

There wasn't any egotism in her expression, she was genuinely concerned for everyone there.

[Justin OOC]

Sayoko nodded. "You all have amazing powers humans do not have. Some of you know and can use them, others cannot. you each do possess items of great power that can do things. I suggest we start with each of you that do know your power relating what you and your item can do, within your understanding. I can shed some illumination for those who don't know, but in that Ayami, you will be most helpful. especially the mirror you carry in your purse."

[SalmonMax]

"The only thing superhuman about me is my good looks, intelligence, and skill," Sachiko protests. "Now, if you're handing out super powers, I'll be first in line. I have a list of the ones I want around here somewhere..."

She starts patting her pockets, as if she kept a thing like that on her person just in case some wizard or omnipotent being appeared before her someday at random, offering magic powers. Which, for all she knew, might happen.

[AceWildcard]

"My powers are not that great. Persides being able to see the spirits and such, I can do harm to them as well as living beings." he said in a clam tone. He had not know if he could do more. He wanted to anyways.

[z004]

Ayami frowned at Sayoko, her mind grabbing onto inane details of the conversation instead of dealing with the death and destruction of the night for the moment. She stood up and retrieved her purse from the front hall closet, where it had been hanging with her coat, and fished out the small golden compact mirror once she was sitting back with the group. She handled it gingerly, never having brought it out in front of others before because she hadn't wanted to answer the questions curious children would ask. It looked antique but well cared-for, not a single discolored spot or encroaching bit of patina despite the ancient design. She worried at with her fingers, frowning at Sayoko again.

"How..," she trailed off, clutching the mirror, then started again. "How is my m- my compact going to help?"

Her eyes widened at Ace's revelation, wondering just what she'd been pulled into with all of her classmates suddenly revealing strange powers. Her mind flitted back to the collections of items and blood she'd found earlier in the week and the feeling of wrongness. about it. She'd known it was evil, but she wasn't a miko....did that mean she was like the others, but just hadn't been smart enough to figure it out before now?

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko slapped her forehead at Ace's words, echoing aloud Ayami's private questions.

"What is this, am I the only one who didn't get super powers?! Come on!" She looked at Sayoko. "We can fix this, right? You have radioactive bugs or chemicals or serums or whatever, right?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"Don't be a child, Mizuki-San. If our... protector had a way to mass empower us against these creatures, we'd be no more targeted than everyone else is at the moment," cut in Amara harshly, "Nor would she be explaining any of this to us if her 'sleep spell' is typical of how her kind deal with keeping 'normal people' in the dark about an outside context threat like this. They probably don't want the chaos disturbing some status quo that they profit from."

She pushed herself to her feet, eyes squeezed to angry glaring slits, anger aimed at everyone and everything including herself, "But as long as she's in the mood to talk... What Are We Fighting?"

[Fiona Warner]

Anne leaned against the wall. "The sleep spell was probably more for the benefit of the other party guests so they don't end up getting themselves killed in a panic, Amara." Anne said. Drinking the situation in.

"It's a normal goal in a crisis situation for any civilians to be properly secured in one form or another in a special operation before the operators can take charge. By having any civilians out of the way of the operators, they can do their work without putting them at risk."

"It's simple logic if you think about it for a moment. Had to play the role of a civilian in several training exercises with our bodyguards. Just so I would know what to do if I was with my father on some trip when terrorists or pirates or something attack."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku remain quited as he listen to the others. "So what do we all do power wise?" Kohaku asked point blank to Sayoko. He figured it was best to clear everything up on who could do what.

[z-Galiana]

Gali had remained silent. She was thinking. It was clear that the human was out of the bag and while that would mean she might be able to get away with revealing her secret, she didn't think so. Still, her leg hurt a lot and wouldn't get better until she shifted. And if there were more demons...

"Fuck it." The words were spoken in crude, heavily accented English, because they were the most appropriate words that Galiana could think of at the moment. She ripped her bandage off, drawing a sharp cry from Anne. Ignoring her, Galiana wiggled out of her shirt, then undid her bra and dropped it. With everyone watching, her shorts and underwear hit the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Sachiko asked. "This isn't that kind of -"

Her classmate stopped talking because Gali was shifting. Her body changed rapidly, and she sprouted black and silver fur. Once fully changed, the cat stretched and hopped up on the couch, curling up with her wounded leg extended. Gali gave them a look that dared them to make a comment, then began to properly clean the wound, wrinkling her nose at the taste of Anne's medicine.

[Justin OOC]

"You're fighting demons. Little ones right now, the big ones are feasting in shinjuku, and of course the worst of them still sleep beneath Fuji and the bay. That won't last though, and when they finally awaken, if we are unsuccessful, a Darkness will befall Japan, and then the entire world."

"We will all be dead, should that happen though, and it will no longer be our problem." Then Galiana shifted. "Well for starters, Galiana is a Shapeshifter, and a rare one at that. Most cannot do anything except use one form or the other, she can use any aspect of either form freely, a highly useful gift." She looked to Shinji. "You have a contracted Servant, an Entity of great power who you hold sway over. The strength of your bond is powerful and allows her to do more than she normally could."

She looked to Anne. "She can fly, and her bands give her other powers, turning her into a human jetfighter as I understand the current lingo."

Looking at Kohaku she nodded. "You can slay spirits, something many cannot do."

When she turned to Ayami she nodded. "You are chosen and blessed by Amaterasu, her holy power courses through you, and you have access to the various abilities of a Generalist Shrinemaiden, weaker to be sure than normal, but more versatile. The compact you have has a special power, the ability to show the true nature of anyone reflected in it."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku was surprised at that. He figured he just had the power to affect things. He realised he could have harm if not kill spirits. That surprised and frighten him to an degree. He wonder if he could do more. "This is interesting." he said softly. "So what now? I mean what are we to do now?"

[SalmonMax]

"What about me?" whined Sachiko. "There's gotta be something! They came to my house! Am I secretly an alien? My parents never TOLD me I was adopted..."

She paused, eyes narrowing.

"But it would explain a lot."

[z004]

Ayami blinked, her eyes going wide as she fumbled with the mirror; the spring caught and it popped open. She swung it around, catching most of the other in a quick arc before settling on her palm, facing Sayoko. She glanced down, tense and frightened by what she might see, but too curious not to look.

[Justin OOC]

Physically, Sayoko sighed. "OF course you use it on me first. This generation has so little trust. Thank God I got better terms."

in the mirror, Ayami saw a beautiful Wolf, with scarlett markings around her eyes and down her back. The tail and paws were wreathed in holy flame and a radiant beauty shone from behind her eyes. She could feel the power of the reflection, the girl before her seemingly possessed none of it, not in it's primal state, not like the the wolf in the reflection.

"Well, now that that's out of the bag, perhaps you should turn it on Sachiko and the others, to see their true forms as well Ayami." She wasn't happy, that much was clear, and she looked to Kohaku. 'Once it's done, I will tell you of our enemies, and how to kill them most effectively."

[AceWildcard]

"Of course. I can wait, since I have nothing better to do." Kohaku said gently. He was afraid. What would the mirrior reveal on him if shown. He did not think pray would help him.

[z004]

She blinked, swallowed, kept from pitching to the side as the world started spinning again, then carefully turned the mirror so that each person had a chance to see themselves and be seen. Everyone except her.Holy powers? I'm a miko, a shrine maiden? Was my mother a shrine maiden, too, then?

Her hands were shaking by the time she was done and she was pale and dizzy again.

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku was too afraid when he saw her started being dizzy and move the mirror all over. He decided to close his eyes. He did not want to look at himself. He did not want to know what was deep in himself. It was partly due to fear, but also he partially fear that maybe it reveal his past more so then anything else.

[Fiona Warner]

Anne was afraid now... what would she see in the mirror? Was she... was she lying to herself?

"Why am I thinking I don't want to look in that mirror?"

[Karren Gaunt]

Amara made her way over to the circle and crossed her arms impatiently waiting her turn with the 'magic mirror', outwardly stoic and trying to convince herself that she cared much more about the prospect of *finally* getting an answer to the 'how do we stop them?' question than whatever hidden facet of herself got revealed here tonight. The Yakuza heiress believed with all her heart that she was her Father's daughter, worthy of earning a place in his world with it's warts and all and not just some protected flower like her Mother was... had been. The mask faltered for a heartbeat at the prospect of proving otherwise, of being spared her Mother's fate just because she was invited to a party, before recovering. Because protection granted by something other than your own prowess could be taken away. Like it had tonight.

She would never be so helpless, for herself and everyone worth protecting in her life.

[SalmonMax]

Never the type to introspect, Sachiko did look at the mirror rather automatically when presented to her. She didn't really NEED a reminder of how awesome she was, but she wasn't tired of being reminded of it either. Besides, once the thing with the mirror was done with, they could all move on to a more important topic; her.

[Shosuro Toshi]

Shinji didn't mind looking at the mirror. To be honest, whatever he could bring to the equation ultimately came from Tezara. The pact he'd made with her, which supposedly was an asset, but his Servant was the one who could do things - which bitingly made him wonder what was the point of him doing anything other than letting her work with the others?

What could possibly be there in him which he could use for himself?

[Justin OOC]

Of everyone present, Tezara didn't look into the mirror, and actually reached out to close it. "I cannot allow that. I am Forbidden from revealing myself to anyone at this stage. Doing so would revoke my Contract, and cause my master undue and serious harm."

For each of them they saw something different. Anne was like a futuristic starfighter, mastering the skies. For Sachiko, it was an aura of power, but one that flickered all the colors of the rainbow, indicating different effects governed by some factor, and of course the watch, it shone with golden light a tool of infinite utility Akemi saw herself alone, her foes unable to touch her, and her powerful will capable of harming those near her.

Shinji saw himself, a wellspring of power with Tezara behind him and further, a larger pair of glittering golden eyes.

"There now that we're all enlightened, I suggest we discuss any unique items you have about your person, if you have any at home. We need to plan to retrieve them and go somewhere isolated tomorrow. We can train you and see if we can actualize the powers you've all seen in yourselves. Then we begin taking back the night."

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko immediately quieted on seeing her reflection, and spend a few blessed minutes eyeing her watch and her own hands in awe, before starting to bug Ayami to get another look in the mirror.

"Lookit," she cooed at her own image, even touching the glass as if verifying it wasn't a mirage. "Lookit the colors. It's so pretty..."

She might have gone on like that all night if Ayami hadn't had enough and taken the compact back.

With almost visible effort, Sachiko tore herself away from herself long enough to ask, "I still don't know what it all means though. I mean...not to be mean, but there must be a meaning to this, know what I mean? You've got magic powers...so do some of us...demons and monsters? And some of my GUESTS are DEAD!"

Saying this reminded her of it, and she grabbed the hilt of her baseball bat again.

"I can't let that go by. What do I have to do?"

[Fiona Warner]

Anne closed her eyes. Then they flickered with rage when she opened them.

"Dammit Sachiko!" She growls. "These creatures of the night are interested in you, alright! It's all of us! Busting up this party was just a insignificant part of their overall plan. We are a resource to be harvested, like oil or gold or even water. We are a commodity. Goddamn Duracell batteries I wager. Why do you think they showed up? It's because we all are here at one spot in one place in a unprotected residence with just those wards seperating us from becoming those thing's damned happy meals!"

She takes off her vest and tosses it aside. "I'm all for training... I'm all for finding out just what I can do. If anyone here is afraid... if you don't think you got what it takes... the rest of us can protect you, but stay out of our way and keep where we can protect you. Otherwise the time for crying is over!"

When she stood there, with her bands glowing again and the forceful nature of her stance was laid bare, everyone knew Anne was ready to follow the road. "No more fear. No more hiding. No more murders. Tonight we declare war against the night... against the damned... against those very things that killed our friends. I always thought I would be defending my country... my home... someday. Looks like that someday is now and my homeland is our reality! Courage isn't not having fear, it's being afraid and doing what you gotta do anyways! Either help us and not get in the way or step up... because god hates a coward."

Anne's clenched fists told the story. She was going to avenge Taro. She was going to avenge her fallen classmates and she sure as hell is ready to begin her war. But she needed an army. And Sayoko was her General. "We have food here for the rest of the night at least... eat up. Drink up. The caffeine will keep you awake. At morning... we put Sayoko's plan into action."

"You have me, Sayoko. To the end."

In the chaos, she saw Gali had changed. "Wha... well... at least you're on our side, right, Gali?"

[z-Galiana]

Gali watched all the confusion and drama from her position, curled on the couch. At Anne’s words, the feline finally rose, engaging in a leisurely stretch. Muscles rippled smoothly under silver and black fur, creating a well of silence as the humans in the room had a uncomfortable moment of discomfort. Galiana was a predator and the legends of man-eaters that were just a little too smart popped into several heads.

Hopping off the couch, Gali unintentionally displayed that he leg was healed. Her distinctive fur had even grown back to cover the former wound. She joined the rough group of kids and said, “My hide is on the line, too. I would be foolish to try to do it alone – if Sayoko isn’t lying.” Coming from a cat’s mouth, the oddly accented Japanese sounded bizarre but also right.

Mismatched eyes, a cold blue and warm gold now, settled on the strange girl with too much knowledge. “You seem to know much about our situation. I know this might offend, but you seem to know too much, and I distrust that. I am not Anne, to fall into your lap purring because you seem to have treats in your hand. You are leaving us little choice, another action which sits poorly with me.”

Her tail was twitching and her uneven gaze was bordering on a glare. “And cats do not follow dogs.”

[Fiona Warner]

Anne nodded. "I would have to agree... but given our circumstances and if Sayoko wanted all of us dead we are all within easy reach and all she would have to do is drop those wards. I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, Gali."

Ever the warrior diplomat.

[z-Galiana]

"Oh, I agree she doesn't want us dead." Gali's tail was twitching a bit harder now and the ice-and-fire glare was even more apparent. "What I'm concerned about is what she does want from us. None of this is to say I won't help. I will. I understand that I need you to survive. But I want to know what you want from us. Is your survival tied into ours? What is your game?"

[Justin OOC]

"What i'd really like is for all of you to relax, and rest because it's going to be a busy day, right after we identify your artifact items."

She looked at Galiana. "I won't be your leader, I prefer advisor. I'm not permitted to engage in combat unless I'm attacked directly, at least until certain conditions I cannot reveal are met. Even your Mirror will not divulge those."

"ideally what I want is for you all to survive, fight and triumph, and seal away the evil that's threatening to take over Japan, and then the world." She sighed. "I have no reasons to lie to any of you, just plenty to omit things, especially pertaining to myself."

"You can choose to leave at any time Galiana, I won't interfere. if you do though you will be alone, and at least until daylight, that is not what you want to be. These are just the little ones, looking for food, people of higher spiritual power, this includes all of you. The demons that follow will be nastier, and far more lethal."

She shook her head. "And more numerous. It's my hope that we can beat them back hard enough, fast enough that we can find their nests, during daylight ours, where they can't defend themselves. Sadly, to be here with you now, I had to trade many advantages I had away."

"This isn't about me, it's about all of you, and humanity, and your right and will to survive."

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko was torn away from her frank awe at how MUCH Anne liked to talk for a moment by her sudden urge to rush over and pet Galiana because a talking cat, even a big one, was so cute!

Miraculously, the conversation shifted quickly enough that she was caught up in it again before she could do that.

She looked back at Sayoko and shrugged, still holding her bat.

"Nothing I've heard has answered or changed my question. What. Do. I. Do?"

She wasn't interested in speeches or questions right now. She just wanted to do something to start down the long road that would lead to her A) Getting cool powers like cattery or flying and shooting and stuff, as well as B Showing that she was a good hostess by avenging the murders of her guests.