Scion – Petro Campaign – Session 22
This account was originally found on Livejournal, I am not the original author—I am just a fan of the journal and have found reading it on livejournal clunky to navigate and rife with errors/instability (such as having to refresh multiple times due to the page in questions becoming unavailable often requiring multiple refreshes. The original post can be found here, published by DJ-Yomi, and was published on Apr 4th 2008.
Ah, Japan. It’s been awhile since I’ve been here, and I’ve really only been a time or two in the past. I’ll need to remedy that. For one thing, I need to introduce Echo to the Izumo region. There a lot of legends and myths associated with that part of Japan, so I’m sure she’ll love it! Plus, Japan has loads of creepy legends that I need to explore. The darkness of Yomi is very much alive and thriving ni this nation, even if most people don’t realize. And of course Tokyo and Osaka are both big stops on my upcoming tour (Keiko’s been working out the final arrangements while we’re here, and in fact she’s going to be traveling separately from the rest of us so that she can check out the clubs where I’ll be performing). I’m so excited!
Anyway, I think we’re planning on catching a bullet train from Shikoku (where we are now) to Tokyo to follow up on a lead, but if so, we’ll deal with that tomorrow. For now, I thought I’d kick back in my hotel room and update my journal.
So, our latest “mission from the gods” came from Amaterasu and Raiden. They contacted Ray and me and asked us to get everyone else together at my house on Red Mountain. It’s a good thing I’ve been able to renovate and expand that house a little. It’s a nice little resort home now—very stylish. Even so, the place was packed when everyone was there. The place is big enough—if a bit crowded—for me, Echo, Dahlia, Quinn, Kimiyo, Keiko, Sera, Amy, Tabby, and Robin (though usually my entourage stays in their townhouse in Boston). Add Adam, Anna, T-Bone, Elisa, Pierre, Ray, and all ten of Ray’s followers to the mix, and that’s what…26 people?
We made it work, though. I guess it really wasn’t any different than having a small house party, except that I had to put most of those people up for the night. Ray went off on his own, of course, and T-Bone and Dahlia went to a hotel for some privacy. Ray’s followers ended up staying in Dahlia’s room. She wasn’t really happy about that, but I didn’t have any other choice.
You know, Adam asked my shikome a very interesting question while we were waiting for the gods to arrive. He wanted to know what it was like being a shikome. Amy explained that it was delightfully liberating thanks to the almost complete removal of her inhibitions. Robin said that it was like being on crack all the time. I think Tabby was kinda shocked that Robin actually knew what being on crack was like, but I found the conversation fascinating. ^_^ I’ve actually felt like they do before…I feel that way when I unleash the power of the curse in order to turn a new shikome. But I don’t really remember the sensation very well once it fades…
I can’t tell you how tempting it is to indulge myself with the taint again, especially after being reminded of what it feels like. Sigh. On the one hand, it makes me even more reluctant to get rid of it, but on the other, it reinforces the fact that I should get rid of it. Ah well. That’s an issue for another day. I can’t do anything about it right now.
Anyway, Amaterasu and Raiden came by to speak with us. Raiden wanted to get pretty rowdy, but my godmother kept him in line, thankfully. You know, it’s odd. Ray’s a big show off, and I used to think he was a chip off the old block. But he’s actually pretty different from his father. And that’s a good thing. ^_^
It turns out they wanted us to go to Shikoku in Japan and check out a strange disturbance there. An abandoned shrine has become the lair of titanspawn, and they think something big might be happening in the area. We aren’t the first group they’ve sent; there were two others, both of which have disappeared. If whatever is going on there has already claimed the lives of that many scions, it must be dangerous.
As it turns out, the Amatsukami turned to us because we’re the strongest band of scions they have access to. Even so, Amaterasu was concerned, and urged us to be cautious. Mostly, we’re just supposed to find out what going on, but if we can deal with it, we will. Unfortunately, Amaterasu and Raiden weren’t able to give us much information. All they could really tell us was that the Underworld was quite disturbed in the area. To make matters worse, some sort of powerful beast is rumored to be prowling about, stirring up specters. Needless to say, we’re going to be approaching this one carefully until we know more.
Amaterasu also mentioned that the previous groups had been in contact with one of her scions, a manga artist named Oyamada Hinako (illustrator of the famous shojo manga Flowers for Boys). She had given the first group a place to stay while they were investigating, but the second group only briefly contacted her. Amaterasu was worried about her, but also worried that she might somehow be involved in what was going on. After all, she was the last scion to deal with both the other investigation teams. So we agreed to keep our guard up around her.
Amaterasu did mention that one of the lost scions was a child of Izanami (later learned that she wa s agothed-out redhead named Corinne). My mother is very agitated about the loss. I get the impression that she doesn’t really have many scions, so losing one of her children must really hurt. I mean, of course losing a child hurts, but not all the gods seem to care that much if a scion or two ends up as maggot gourmet. Anyway, the thought that I’ve lost a half-sibling saddens me, not the least because it seems to have upset my mother. If she hasn’t had properly funeral arrangements, then I’ll have to make sure and give her a proper send-off to Yomi.
This reminds me, of course, that I still haven’t gotten around to contacting the other daughter of Izanami Pierre told me about recently. She’s living near Chicago in Haven, Illinois. Pierre said she was an anti-social goth girl mortician who seemed to take after mom pretty closely. I need to get in touch with her before I begin my tour…^_^
Anyway, after Amaterasu and Raiden left and everyone else was settled in for the night, I went to the garden behind the house and visited the grave marker I erected there for Oiwa. I summoned her and we discussed the mission briefly. She wants to help, but it will be dangerous for her since the specters at the temple can corrupt other ghosts. Knowing that Izanami is upset over the issue and might have insights Amaterasu and Raiden didn’t, I asked if there were any way I could consult my mother before heading to Shikoku. Oiwa recommended against it. She warned me that if Izanami knew I was going to Shikoku, she’d stop me. She’s already lost one scion, and she doesn’t want to lose me.
Oh yeah, I should also mention that when Oiwa showed up, Echo rushed up to her and gave her a big, affectionate hug. They’d had a big argument last time they were together (see my previous journal), and they’ve never really gotten along well…so I was quite taken aback. So was Oiwa. Whatever got into Echo, I think it has to do with her motherly instincts. She sees Oiwa as my daughter, after all, and thus as her own step-daughter, I guess. I suppose this display of motherly affection is a side effect of her desire to have a child…
Anyway, even if my mother’s desire to keep me safe is completely practical on her part, I was still touched. I’ve never felt anything like motherly love from Izanami, but I’d like to think that she feels a real affection for me and that our relationship isn’t just a matter of my usefulness to her. I still hope to get to know her better as time goes on. Persephone’s a good mentor, but I think there’s a lot I can learn about the Underworld from my mother too. Her relationship with it is more…personal…than Persephone’s, I think.
Sigh. I hope she’s not angry with me for coming to Japan. I don’t want to displease her…but I think I’ll be safe enough (Ray’s here, after all ^_^).
T-Bone arranged a private flight to take us to Shikoku, and we landed in Nankoku (Kochi prefecture). The flight was uneventful, though I gave my shikome some sedatives to keep them calm during the flight. After getting hotel rooms, I went to the beach with Echo and Pierre to take a quick stroll to soak up some sun and recharge my spirit a little. And then we got to work. After all, jet lag has no meaning when you don’t have to sleep for weeks at a time.
As we left the airport, however, I realized that I was causing quite a disturbance. People just couldn’t keep their eyes off of me. The attention seemed natural. I mean, I am unbelievably beautiful ♥ ^_^. But I didn’t want that much attention, and besides, I’m really, really trying not to become too arrogant about my appearance. So I willed myself to fit in better, and, well, I changed. I was able to manipulate the image that I showed to others so that I looked like a young Japanese woman. A very beautiful Japanese woman with a hint of goth, no doubt, but not “me” and not the sort of beautiful that causes the world to stop as I pass by. It was a bit shocking, actually. But very convenient.
We decided not to contact Hinako at first. If Amaterasu’s fears are true and Hinako can’t be trusted, then there was no reason to give her any chance to warn our enemies that we’d arrived. Instead, while Keiko and the girls took the shikome to a large local temple to soak up some culture, the rest of us (minus Ray’s followers) we went straight to the shrine to check it out. It was located in the forest behind another, still active temple. As we hiked down the overgrown path to reach it, we came across an old woman sitting on a bench. She warned us away from the shrine, and obviously knew that there was something wrong with the place, but we couldn’t tell whether she was trying to help us or keep us away from something she was protecting. T-Bone used his magic to figure out that she was a powerful being…and we soon discovered that she was an inari-kitsune (protective fox spirits). Good news for us, huh? ^_^
We continued toward the temple, but didn’t get far before the more perceptive of us (Adam and Elisa, to be exact) noticed that we were walking in circles thanks to some sort of the illusion. As we stopped to get our bearings, we were surrounded by many, many fox-headed kitsune (Adam says there were really only about 10 or 20, but it sure felt like there were more! Kitsune illusion is so enigmatic!). They again warned us away from the temple, but we needed more than a warning to turn us away. We needed information.
We spoke to the fox spirits at some length about what awaited us in the temple. They said that the place was crawling with specters that could vomit up a blackish ichor that poisons and corrupts ghosts, drawing them into the clutches of the titans. Yuck. >_< The shrine also houses a powerful oni, but the oni, it seems, is nothing but bait to draw in scions. Once the scions have visited the shrine and the titanspawn there have witnessed their power, specters trail the scions away from the temple, spying on them and probably bringing other titanspawn down on their heads. Ultimately, it looks like the shrine is just a big scion trap. There’s probably more going on than just that, but for now, that’s as much as we really know until we follow up on some other leads we’ve uncovered. They also mentioned some sort of white-cloaked being…but we have no idea what that’s all about.
We thanked the kitsune profusely and agreed to avoid the shrine for now. I mean, there wasn’t much point in killing the oni there if it would just be replaced with another one almost immediately. I did take some of my followers back to the forest later that evening (after we’d talked to Hinako) and left a bunch of red bean buns there for the kitsune (fox spirits love red bean buns even more than Quinn does do! And yes, red bean buns are one of Quinn’s guilty pleasures. ^_^ But, ummm….red meat buns are one of Tabby’s guilty pleasures).
Next up we went to visit Hinako. She is a very pretty, somewhat shy woman, and she was surprised to see us. Our sudden appearance put her on guard; she was obviously nervous about something. As she invited us in and we began to question her about the other scion, I made an executive decision to basically overpower her will by revealing the full extent of my divine beauty. It worked. She melted, and as I talked to her, she pretty much answered all my questions without really hiding anything, as far as I could tell. In retrospect, though, I may have played my hand a little too soon. She was making eyes at Pierre before I demanded all her attention. Maybe I should have let him do the questioning?
Anyway, T-Bone and I talked with Hinako for some time while the others investigated the house. Hinako was really helpful, even though she initially tried to hide some things. I think she did so more out of fear of what we’d think of her than anything else. We also figured out that her cats are bakeneko, and while I distracted Hinako, the others questioned them. Essentially, this is what we learned:
Hinako hasn’t had much to do with the other scions’ investigations. She just gave them a place to stay. She doesn’t get out much, and most of her legend has come from the popularity of her manga. She said that she didn’t know what had happened to the other scions who had stayed with her. Adam wasn’t entirely convinced that she was telling the truth, so he, Ray, Anna, and Elisa went out to the yard behind the house to investigate. They found places where two bodies were buried—the corpses of scions who had stayed with Hinako. Ray summoned the kami of the tree in the yard, and learned that the scions had been killed by two monstrous cats—powerful bakeneko or maybe nekomata. They weren’t Hinako’s cats, though her cats did watch the murders. When Adam asked about that, they said that they didn’t get involved because they knew they weren’t a match for the others…and I think they were telling the truth. It seems their job is mostly to protect Hinako, after all, and for whatever reason, she wasn’t the one in danger.
The tree kami also described Hinako’s reaction to discovering the bodies. She was at first terrified, but then she collapsed into manic laughter. That was the first clue we had that specters were involved, and then when I saw one lurking about watching us, that cinched it. Apparently, the titanspawn have been keeping an eye on her, and her cats told us that, much to their dismay, one of the specters occasionally possessed Hinako. Hinako doesn’t remember anything about being possessed, though (and that’s probably a good thing, since she’d done some naughty things while possessed >_<).
I let Ray know about the specters, and he used his warding powers to expel them from the house and ward it against their intrusion for at least a couple of weeks. The bad news is that we didn’t have anyway to destroy them, so they’ve almost certainly run off to report our presence.
While I was conversing with Hinako, she got a call from a friend, a woman named Sayuri who lives in Tokyo and writes the stories for Hinako’s manga. Adam’s perceptive enough to hear both sides of the conversation. He informed us that Sayuri kept trying to convince Hinako to get away from home and come to Tokyo to visit for awhile. She was very insistent, so much so that it seemed suspicious. We’re not sure whether Sayuri was trying to get Hinako away from the dangers lurking in Nankoku or was luring her into some sort of trap, but in either case, she seemed like a good lead to follow-up on, so I got her address and contact information from Hinako. We’ll be paying Sayuri a visit in the next day or so, I imagine, unless something else comes up to demand our attention.
Let’s see…the only other really interesting thing I learned is that Hinako’s grandmother was a rokurokubi. Hinako obviously has youkai blood, which is cool. What’s more, the cats told us that Sayuri is also probably a rokurokubi. I’ll definitely have to bring Quinn and the girls along to speak to her. Hopefully she’ll feel more comfortable among her own kind.
I think we’re all a bit worried about Hinako’s role in all of this. She doesn’t seem to be consciously cooperating with the titans, but it’s obvious they’re somehow using her. And with powerful bakeneko on the prowl, maybe with a super-powerful nekomata at the center of things, or maybe that mysterious white-cloaked being the kitsune mentioned…well, I have a feeling that there’s a lot more going on here than we’ve seen so far.
After we finished up with Hinako, we went back to the hotel to relax a bit before catching a train the next morning, and I met Sera and my other girls (including Tabby’s coterie) there. As I think I mentioned before, they were visiting one of the main temples in the area to soak up some culture. But they had news for us. Sera noticed quite a few nopperabo wandering around the temple, mostly in a touristy group, but a few on their own. She didn’t know what they were up to, but it was suspicious enough that we decided to check it out.
Ray, Anna, Adam, Pierre, and I headed back out to the temple with Sera and the girls. Ray’s followers stayed at the hotel, and Elisa and T-Bone…well, I’m not really sure what’s up with them, but when we contacted them about going to the temple, they said something major had come up for them, and that they were leaving. Just…all the sudden. Weird. They didn’t tell us anything more than that, but they’re gone now, and no telling when they’ll be getting back. >_<
But back on track. In short, when we arrived at the temple we were confronted by a group of nopperabo priests and a rather stern youkai woman dressed in a long coat and wearing a scarf that hid the lower part of her face. She seemed to be acting as a guardian for the temple. She told us to leave, while the others watched the priests, I spoke to her long enough to get a better handle on what was going on. Apparently the youkai in the area are really worried about the dark things happening around them, and they’re gathering at the temple to seek refuge from the bakeneko and specters. The temple guardian (whose name is Chiaki) told us that we were targets (which we knew) and that they didn’t want us bringing trouble to the temple. So she was pretty insistent that we leave.
Even so, she did at least tell us what she knew. The bakeneko are to blame for much of the badness going on, and it has something to do with a dangerous white-cloaked being. Other than that, she knew very little, only that she needed to protect the other youkai. She also seemed to think that the bakeneko were using Hinako somehow, but didn’t know to what end.
We left after that, but I have a feeling we’ll be going back. After all, it seems like things are pretty bad in Shikoku, and we may need the backing of the youkai to resolve whatever’s going on. Convincing chiaki and the others to help instead of hide might not be easy, but I can be pretty persuasive.
You know, I wonder what type of youkai Chiaki is. ? O_O ?
I have assumed my Japanese visage again. It just makes it easier to get around here, especially in the company of a bunch of obvious foreigners. I’m actually getting used to seeing myself looking…different…but when we go back to America, I’ll just have to adopt my own appearance again…maybe toned down a few notches to make interacting with the rest of the world a bit easier.
Anyway, I think Echo and I are going for a swim in the hotel pool, so I’ll have to write more later.