mythmaking | (no subject)

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[It's a cloudy mid-morning on THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, and the town is bustling as always. Many people are quite excited about the second batch of new arrivals; though they're not getting quite the celebration the first round got, they still might find themselves being greeted by bizarrely friendly folk.

Out of place is a number of geese scattered around town, each with their own little messenger bag packed full of rolled up parchment. They're putting the papers up all over, on fence posts and market stalls and storefronts, even stuffing them into mailboxes and leaving them on benches. Each paper is nearly identical, with large, blocky font and the occasional inky feather mark.

LOST
SEVERAL ITEMS OF GREAT IMPORT

SOMEONE HAS STOLEN FROM OUR HOMES THE FOLLOWING THINGS

ONE GOOSE-SIZED NIGHT CAP
THREE TEACUPS (PINK AND YELLOW FISH PRINT)
EXACTLY SEVEN AND A QUARTER LEFT SOCKS
AN APPLE CRUMBLE

IF FOUND PLEASE CONTACT
ADELICIA VON FARTHINGTON (THE FIFTH)
AT THE NORTH BANK OF THE LAKE

If stopped, the geese will be more than happy to talk at great length about how terrible this all is. Strangely, there appear to be a few other people and animals poking around as though looking for something, or acting a bit sullen for such an otherwise joyful day.]

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[He follows her a bit solemnly, wondering if he should really tell her. It was quite a long story, and by the almost audible wince from him when the library doors open, probably something to do with books.

Juraku Bookstore... they found the Black Samurai there, didn't they? Hikaru told them to go...

...He still hasn't figured out how Hikaru managed to know their names without even asking.]

It's... rather long. But I can tell you. [He's not sure where to look in the library, or where to start looking because it's an ocean of Things He Shouldn't Touch.] Firstly, in Mikado, there used to be a caste system- the wealthier Luxurors and the Casualries who worked at the fields. Every year, a Gauntlet Rite is held, where those the age of 18 would go. It was compulsory for male Luxurors, but optional for Casualries and females.

You put on a Gauntlet- this, in fact. [He points at his Gauntlet. Burroughs was still present, but couldn't exactly deal with demons.] If it shines for the wearer, then, they become a Samurai. The job of a Samurai is kept a secret from the public, but it is actually the eradication of demons.

I was a Samurai, myself.

[Naoto decides to sit down at one of the tables. It would be easier for him to explain a long story if they were more comfortable. From the way he described it, it was that caste system Europe employed in the Middle ages; and yet, he was called a Samurai after the ceremony? Curious...]

[She takes a look at his Gauntlet, an eyebrow raised. Strangely advanced technology for a feudal period.]

... Demons, you say. Go on.

A few days after my induction, there was an attack on Kiccigiorgi, a Casualry village. The Black Samurai- in reality, the demon Lilith- turned the Casualries into demons using books.

[There's an odd feeling in his words from 'The Black Samurai' onwards. Something that's trying to be polite but also venomous.] Most books in my country were about fairy-stories or tales of its founding... nothing like the 'Literature' she brought to the Casualries. She said that the anger the Causalries felt towards reading the books and their living condition turned them into demons... but she is a demon herself, so I don't exactly trust her word.

[There has to be something else going on...!] She fled into the Underground- where the demons came from, and where we fought to keep them cordoned off. But she escaped to an area deeper than where we were permitted to go. But due to her actions, we were given an official order to find and imprison her.

...Me and my fellow prentices went into the Underground, where the Unclean Ones of legend were supposed to inhabit. We managed to reach the city of the Unclean Ones, where she was hiding- Tokyo.

[She's still following. It's bizarre to say the least; knowledge does lead to unrest and revolution maybe, but turning into demons? Something strange was going on. Lilith... ironic since that was the demon Eve became after eating the fruit of knowledge.]

[Naoto is nodding along... until he mentions Tokyo being underground. 'Unclean Ones'?]

Tokyo's underground in your world? Was that due to the demons? [Though, she doesn't understand how being underground exactly protects them from demons.]

Edited 2014-01-12 03:47 (UTC)

Yes... Tokyo was underneath Mikado. The entire kingdom was built on the ceiling above Tokyo, in fact. [Being underground is just a convenient way to hide things, most likely.]

I don't know why Tokyo is underground- but for the 1500 or so years the kingdom existed, it was always underground. Yet, the people of Tokyo claimed the ceiling has only existed for 25 years... it's most likely the work of demons, or something powerful altering time.

[WELL FOR ONE THE ENTIRE CEILING IS ONE BIG DEMON but he doesn't know that.] To the people of Tokyo, demons appeared 25 years ago, and the ceiling not long after. I'm not... entirely sure why. [He never really sought out the answer.] We were focused on finding Lilith, and we did. But since she was a demon, even after being executed, she simply returned.

We were then ordered to save three people trapped in Shinjuku National Park, as well as kill Lilith in Tokyo. The three people turned out to be the Archangels Uriel, Raphael and Michael... the Archangel Gabriel was disguising as a nun named Gabby.

Before we knew that, we found Lilith and tried to kill her again. And... [He trails off for a moment, and stiffens up- like he's looking over his shoulder.]

[The more he speaks like this, the more she's definitely sure some greater being is at play. Like the Midnight Channel becoming reality because of Izanami. Demons appearing in Tokyo; she wonder what year that was precisely for them and why. Still, the world works in mysterious ways. From that one movie on the Devil Summoner, they're always present like Shadows, but invisible except to a select people.]

... So, are you trying to say the Apocalypse basically occurred? [He's looking over his shoulder.] Nothing's going to happen should you continue to speak.

[...It's less of the lack of security, and more of some weird feeling of guilt.]

Something to that extent... but the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado was still formed. [Basically, angels dabble in a lot of bullshit.]

...When we found Lilith again, one of my friends- Walter- decided that he wouldn't kill her. He started listening to what she said... and ultimately decided to work against the Archangels.

Instead of killing Lilith, he was coiled around her finger and had the gall to say he was doing it out of free will. He opened the Gate to the Expanse, letting thousands of demons loose into Tokyo, with the plan to reduce Mikado to the same shambles we found Tokyo in.

[He doesn't look too happy anymore.] ...My friend Flynn went with me to slay Lilith, and we stumbled upon Walter opening the Gate to the Expanse. We were pulled in as well, and strange beings called The White showed us two different worlds, before urging us to reduce the world to nothing. I refused, of course, and I appeared in Shene Deque- where the Archangels were.

Well, that could be part of the Book of Revelations. When the war between the Kingdom of Heaven and Satan is to be waged, only the righteous would be saved. Those who did not follow His words would be left behind and trapped in the middle of the war.

[Facing your Shadow and the Goddess of Death makes you need to research rather out there topics to continue protecting humanity. As long as it doesn't interfere with protecting humans from each other. Still, this is his story and it sounds very chaotic.]

What happened when you came before the Archangels?

[...That sounds... vaguely like something Jonathan heard before.]

The Archangels said the only way to bring peace back to the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado and kill the demons plaguing it was to... [Pause.] Annihilate Tokyo.

...They said the Demon Lord Lucifer had resurrected in Tokyo, and time was of essence- or the people of Mikado would be faced with demons of all forms. And they needed to bring forth God's Chariot, Merkabah, to face Lucifer. If they were all to fuse with a son of man chosen by the Lord, then, Merkabah would come into being.

[...Yeah.]

[Naoto looks... disturbed by that course of actions. However, that is his world and not hers. She's to protect Japan from Shadows and any other entities looking to grant humanity's 'wish'.]

So, you became the chariot?

Yes.

...And that meant death.

[Jonathan definitely doesn't blame Naoto if she's disturbed.

He tries to piece things together- a bit pathetic, how he can't even tell the whole story of his own world- and maybe tried to forget about the notion of what happened to everyone else? But now that everything was over, there was no way he could go back and ask now, right?]

Hm... If you've gone through all that, your endeavors to protect Mikado most likely succeeded. Still, were it possible, would you have saved the world above and below?

[Standing up, Naoto calls for a maid to help get the books she mentioned earlier. One will be Hansel and Gretel of course, if Jonathan would like a refresher on the tale. A few others would be some tales commonly edited that he may be familiar with and that atlas she was talking about. His world sounded similar so no need to go searching for anything complex.]

If you're willing to learn something new, we'll begin with these. Our world sounds similar enough with the differences being no Mikado or demons. Of course, that word is subjective. [She sets the books on the table as does the maid] Since Hansel doesn't become a demon or creature of any kind, there's no harm.

If it were possible, of course I would! The people of Tokyo were just as human as the ones in Mikado. [But the Archangels' word is law...

...He doesn't regret what he did, though. (Or rather he can't regret it.)]

Alright, then... that's good. [Unfortunately, Hansel also has no magical powers and an inconvenient new-found fear of anything containing sugar, but that's literally a story for another time.] What does your world contain?

Hm... [Then he isn't a bad fellow, just... swayed by law easily. Still, even they can be wrong.]

Nothing unusual as far as typical things go. Cities, towns, country sides... [She has the atlas open, going to Japan. She stops on a page with the islands and oceans around] Of course, other countries as well. Tokyo itself is one city in Japan and that city one in thousands more. People live their daily lives often with a job, children and young adults attend schools, there's nothing particularly stand out about it. Still, we form our relationships, make our choices, and suffer consequence - good or bad - should they come.

[The world Naoto is showing him just looks so... big. It sounds... relatively normal. Just like the life of someone in the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, probably still with the class gap, but still. Like what his life could have been something like, if he didn't become a Samurai and Lilith didn't show up. If Gabby didn't have to let go of her disguise after decades and the Archangels didn't go forward with the complete cleansing of Tokyo.]

Nothing unusual sounds good. [He says that simply, the atlas lying on the table. So... is her world really in a different time, or a completely different world? If the White could do that...]

There's been something I've been wanting to ask. Are our worlds in a different time...? Or... completely fractured?

From the sound of it, your Kingdom was on its own timeline. Since Tokyo still existed, time continued since whenever your city was built above. However, maybe due to your angels, twenty five years to Tokyo was almost 1500 years for Mikado.

[Flipping through the atlas, stopping on Europe.] The year I come from was 2012. If any God is showing their wrath upon humans, it isn't the Christian or Catholic one.

Anyway, this is Europe. They were the ones who mainly utilize the Gregorian calendar. Many Eastern countries used the Lunisolar calendar. The adoption of a new calender in Japan didn't occur until the late 1800s as they modernized during the Meiji Period.

[...Well this is going to be a bit hard to remember. So different time periods isn't exactly it? Or maybe it is. This is gonna be confusing.]

I suppose that is possible... [Since Tokyo was in a state of complete chaos, the angels probably wanted to steer clear from anything that reminded Mikado of that place.] What do you mean by 'isn't the Christian or Catholic one', though?

[This is like learning history again. Except it's all a different world. Or time. Thousands of years of history he never knew? Sounds about right.]

[He'll have to expand his mind a little to understand it all.]

Well, Christianity and Catholicism are two religions practiced in the world. They believe in one God. However, there are other religions such as Judaism and Islam with their own God, angels, and religious figures. Parallels can be drawn between them, but they're just a few examples of Monotheistic religions.

In Japan, however, the first religious teachings were Shintoism, a Polytheistic religion where there were multiple gods, spirits, and demons. We moved to Confucius and Buddhist teachings which really didn't have gods or a God. Monotheistic religions were introduced as Japan slowly came out of isolation. Though Western religions are common now, citizens still follow many old traditions associated with the first religion, integrating it into new practices.

[The closest thing he knows about multiple religions is the demon information Mido provides in the Cathedral of Shadows! Well, at least those make a bit more sense now.]

...The demons I fought against... not all are demons, are they? The Demon Summoning Program recognized angels and demons as the same, with gods and deities... [Blink.] Sorry. But if there are multiple religions, does that mean all of them are true? [HE'S SEEN ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THAT.]

Depends on how you want to look at it. They're both beings that influence the world and humans, but there's never a definitive good or evil between them. In reality, they act on human desire and the strongest will can shape the world. For example, the angels followed you and your friend's desire to preserve Mikado. Of course, a consequence was sacrificing Tokyo. A positive outcome for a pure nation that followed their words, but negative for those who opposed.

[She taps her chin.] In a way...

[...No definitive good or evil...]

[-well THAT'S finally being registered into his head. So he just blinks a bit and begins to understand that Walter did believe he was doing good, even though Jonathan didn't...

...and all the demons were also demons but some did talk some sense, like Kuebiko...]

I see... [He's just... gonna call all of them 'entities' now, his head hurts.]

You did say your world sounded similar enough, though. Did you have control over... entities? [That sounds odd to say the least.]

[She really doesn't mean to do that. It happens as a side effect sometimes.]

... You could say that. I'm not the one to explain in whole as I was the last to arrive when the events began to occur, but... what I do know, it would only be fair to tell you.

It's fine. I can't exactly explain my world in whole, either. [Have fun with 4 endings!]

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and last post before i disappear for 5 days on a camping trip farewell

See ya later

aaaand back

Welcome back!

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1/3

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