Scion – Petro Campaign – Downtime 6
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 Nov 2nd 2008
It’s been awhile since I’ve reported in. After the whole Daitokuji thing, I kinda needed a break, and there’s been a lot to do. I have another album in the works, a baby on the way, and a house to settle into. Ray and Adam have also built houses here on Red Mountain. Theirs are a little closer to the town itself, and Ray’s is more like a castle, of course. Adam claims his is able to fly…and he tried to convince me to install that option in my house too, but I declined. Adam can be a little weird sometimes, but then again, that’s could be said of any of us. ^_^
Ray also arranged for some security forces to help watch over things. I told him that my shikome did a good job of doing so without help, but he seemed to want more…mundane security. They all seem to be people with a grudge against the titans, or who at least know about them, so that’s good. Even so, I still feel like things are getting a bit crowded on Red Mountain, especially with that oni girl Ray found. Don’t get me wrong, I like Konoko a lot. She’s perky and fun. ^_^ But it’s a good thing there are some nice grounds surrounding my house to give me that sense of privacy. Echo’s not happy that Ray lives so close by now, but she understands the wisdom of consolidating our holdings on Red Mountain.
I do hope Ray’s people are willing to let my shikome continue dealing with most of the zombies. They enjoy it so much, and besides, it lets them feed on more socially acceptable corpses than the other option. ^_^
Anyway, I do have some exciting things to talk about. The coolest thing that’s happened is that I have a new house, built near where the old one was. After we dealt with Daitokuji, the gods sent a work force of dwarves and other craftsmen to rebuild our houses to our specifications, so I finally have my dream home! It’s incredible! The exterior has a really modern, futuristic look, but it’s all black. There are huge windows that let in lots of light, and at night the interior lights shine out and look so beautiful. It really expresses the whole interplay of darkness and light that’s my personal metaphor! There’s an indoor pool and an outdoor pool, and even though it took some doing, about half of the house is underground. So while the upper portions let in plenty of sun, we can also enjoy the dark, cozy recesses of the earth. Of course, the whole thing, above and below ground, is extremely well-decorated. The upper floors are light and airy and spacious, with lot of white and lighter colors, while the underground is dark yet classy. We left one stone wall open (cleaned up, smoothed out, and decorated, of course) so that it would be easy to access Echo’s luxurious subterranean sanctum from inside the house. I paid a lot of attention to the lighting while I was designing it, so it actually has the feeling of a really classy club. I love it!
Here, check out these pics! ^____^ [[Pic linked to a photobucket which no longer worked]]
They also built a secondary house for Dahlia, Quinn, Kimiyo, and Sera. Keiko has rooms in my house since she’s my PA, but I thought it would be nice (and would give me, Echo, and our daughter) more privacy if most of my followers had their own place.
And, by the way, Red Mountain is becoming more and more of a terra incognita. The place has really become ours. Most people find it a bit creepy, of course. I mean, it really is kinda like living on Silent Hill. But I like the fact that we live on the site of a portal to the Underworld. The tragically dark history of this place gives it a lot of personality, don’t you think? ^_^
That was definitely the coolest thing that happened to me, but there was another really big event. To give you some background, let me fill you in on the way my mother died (what a lead in! >_<). See, when Izanami gave birth to Kagutsuchi, a powerful fire kami, she was killed, burned from the inside out by his birth. That’s how she died and became queen of Yomi. Kagutsuchi was shunned by the gods (and by some accounts killed by Izanagi), and so he became a titan.
Well…now that I’ve begun maturing into a goddess, he’s taken an unwholesome interest in me. He showed up when I was surveying the grounds on which my new house was being built. He told me that his first and fondest memories were the stench of our mother’s roasting flesh and the sound of her agonized screams, and that he longed to torture and burn me as he did our mother so that that he could enjoy those sensations again. That’s when I knew who I was facing. I tried to flee even as Tabby moved to defend me, but I wouldn’t have been able to escape, not on my own.
Then Ray appeared. Kagutsuchi attacked him with searing flames that left him writhing in agony, but not before he threw up an unseen shield that protected Tabby and me from the boiling water that Kagutsuchi threw at us (that would not have been fun. Then another Ray appeared in a thunderous bolt of lightning, and a split second later, Sam arrived. Both of them had sensed my danger and came to rescue me! ^_^ But I was terribly confused by the fact that there were two Rays, and I was terrified that Kagutsuchi had killed the first one with his fire.
Then the first Ray pulled himself from the ground and screamed, and the sky opened up in a torrent of rain, hail, and lightning. Raiden’s demonic face appeared in the clouds. When the momentary storm had passed, Kagutsuchi was gone, and the first Ray, the one who had been burned by the fire, had been replaced by Raiden.
It turns out the first Ray was Raiden, who had sensed what was happening and knew that Kagutsuchi, in addition to wanting to torture me in flames, wanted to kill Ray. He’d come to rescue us and keep two of his favorite scions from being slain. I was incredibly grateful. I couldn’t do anything about his wounds…they were beyond my power to heal. But Ray, Sam and I got him back to my house (the shikome’s house, really, since that’s where I was still staying at the time).
Shortly after we got back to the house, a messenger kami from Amaterasu arrived to make sure everything was okay. Ray was angry, and asked where he and the Amatsukami had been a few minutes earlier when Kagutsuchi was there. It was touching to see how concerned he was for his father. The messenger explained that they hadn’t expected Kagutsuchi to show up and try anything, but now that they know he is interested in me, they’ll keep a closer eye on him from now on, so it won’t be as easy for him to pull a stunt like this again. That put my mind at ease. Before the messenger left, though, I asked him to convey word of Raiden’s valiant self-sacrifice to Amaterasu and the other kami, and to make sure that my mother received word of it if possible. There’s no doubt Raiden saved my life. I owe him a great deal. I can see where Ray gets his sense of valor and devotion. ^_^
Oh, and I should also note that Raiden says my mother doesn’t produce many scions, and that I’m the first that has become a demigod of my power level (that’s one reason Kagutsuchi came calling). I gotta admit, that makes me feel pretty damn proud. I might not be as similar to my mother as Ray is to Raiden, but I think she’s pleased with me all the same. ^_^ Which reminds me. Next time I’m in Yomi, I need to check in on my half-sister, Miyako. From what I’ve heard, mom withdrew her to Yomi to take a personal hand in her training. I hope she’s doing okay.
In other news, Audrey has found a niche among my shikome with surprising ease. I was worried she and Tabby would be at each other’s throats constantly, but after a week or so of hating each other (and a few beat downs by Tabby), they’ve actually become friends. I took Audrey to see the Dark Mother, so she’s an elite shikome now. She’s taken to the supernatural very well, and seems quite pleased with the turn her life is has taken. She’s not whiny anymore, and she doesn’t act like a spoiled brat. Instead, she’s sharp and clever. She’s more socially adept than the other shikome, so I feel more comfortable taking her into situations that require a bit of social grace. And she takes better care of her appearance than the others do…not that the others are slovenly or anything. Audrey just has more class, even as a shikome. That’s why I’ve made her my attaché. She’ll be working with Keiko a lot in that regard. Tabby’s still my bodyguard, of course.
Like most of the shikome Audrey is obsessed with me, but I’m used to that. I was a little shocked when Emilie pointed out that most, if not all of my shikome rely on me as a major part of their self-concept, but in thinking about it, I realized it didn’t really bother me. I tend to have that affect on people…I mean, just look at my lovely wife. ^_^ And it’s comforting to know that the shikome are so devoted and loyal.
One thing about Audrey, though. I can see a lot of myself in her (which might be why Anna seems to hate her so much). I mean, she has grace, wit, and charm, and she’s not afraid to use her charms to get what she wants. I didn’t make a lot of the bad choices she did, but then again, I didn’t have a rich, overprotective father or grow up in a town where the spirits are constantly using people to fight a war of morality. In any event, I do get along fairly well with Audrey, and so does Echo. We’ve all become quite close. And since Audrey’s actually very good at controlling other people, I’ve placed her in charge of managing and commanding the other shikome. Even though she’s the new girl, the others don’t seem to have too much trouble with that since she’s an elite. Plus, after Tabby beat them up the first few times they challenged Audrey’s authority, they’ve fallen into line.
Speaking of Tabby, I’m trying to find some way to help her out. See, she and Robin have always been really close. I mean, sure, Tabby sleeps with Kaori and Audrey (and probably the other shikome too) all the time, but she’s in love with Robin. She has been for a long time. She uses the Blood Flower Pendant to give Robin a clearer head a lot. And I think Robin, in her way, loves Tabby too. She certainly gets angry enough when Tabby dotes on any of the other shikome. But Robin…she’s kinda sociopathic, so she’s having a hard time returning Tabby’s feelings. She wants to. She’s told me so. And she’s upset that she can’t. When I see how much it hurts Tabby, I want to cry.
Tabby’s talked about proposing to Robin, and I think Robin might accept. But if they’re going to formalize their relationship, I think Robin needs to actually be able to love Tabby. And I’m pretty sure she would if she weren’t sociopathic.
I need to ask T-Bone about this. He knows about mental illness, right? Maybe he knows of a way to help Robin. If he can do that, I’d be so happy. And so would Tabby. ^_^
As for my other followers, they’ve been doing well, though Quinn only recently returned from visiting her mother in California. That’s a story all its own. She sort of disappeared one day without telling me where she was going. Dahlia said she’d gone to visit her mother, but when she wasn’t back in a week or so, I gave her a call. She told me that her mom needed her and that she’d be staying with her for quite awhile, but I could tell that she wasn’t being completely honest with me.
It didn’t take long to get her to tell me what was up. It turns out she’s pregnant. I can’t really go into who the father is right now. It’s complicated. But, like Tabby, poor Quinn has run up against an unrequited love situation, and quite frankly, I don’t know how to resolve it. I need to talk to the father and get a better gauge of his feelings on the matter. Aside from all of that, though, I’m really happy for Quinn. She seems happy about the child too, but it’s hard to tell for sure because of her other worries in regard to the pregnancy.
Sorry I can’t go into more detail. I need to talk to a couple people before I blab any more of Quinn’s secrets. I guess it’s just another challenge on my path to becoming a goth love goddess (among other things). ^_^
Echo’s pregnancy is coming to term, of course. It won’t be long now before I’m the mother of a beautiful oread daughter. We still haven’t quite settled on a name yet, but we have a few we’re considering. Echo also said that if she eats a lot of gems of a specific color while she’s pregnant, it’ll influence our daughter’s eye color. I think that pale rose-colored eyes would be absolutely beautiful (plus, pink is one of my two favorite colors, the other being black), so I managed to get a good deal on a bunch of pink zirconium diamonds. They’re cheaper than real diamonds, and Echo says they’ll work just as well.
I can’t wait to see my beautiful daughter! ^___^
I have to admit, though, I’ve been a feeling a little out of sorts over the whole pregnancy thing. I mean, it feels really, really weird to be a mother but not pregnant. I almost feel like the child isn’t really mine. Rationally, I know that’s foolish, and emotionally, I feel a deep attachment to the child already. But still…I feel somehow detached. I guess it’s just hard for me to feel like I’m really a mother when I haven’t actually been pregnant or given birth to the child. I wonder if guys feel like this? Or is it different for them because, not being women, they expect a different for of experience during a pregnancy?
It’s also made me a bit sad, because I’ve come to realize that if I remain faithful to Echo (which I really, really want to do, even if I can’t help myself form being flirtatious or subjecting myself to temptation…) I may never get a chance to bear and give birth to my own child. I’ve been a little depressed thinking about that, but not for long. Not with the joy of my soon-to-be-borne daughter filling my life right now.
Anyway, Echo’s sympathetic. As soon as Echo goes into labor, she’s going to use her mastery over health and human fertility on me so that I can be the first to nurse our daughter. I’m looking forward to forming that bond with our child right off the bat. ^_^ I think it will really help all of this feel real.
Well, I’d better go. Echo’s complaining because our IP address has been blocked from editing articles in Wikipedia. She got banned for “internet vandalism” after she kept revising the entry on herself…