Scion – Petro Campaign – Session 23
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 20th 2008.
Okay, I’ve finally gotten a bit of a breather. Not a lot of time to write this entry…so it may not be as detailed as some. Our trip to Japan continues to be exciting. Maybe a little more exciting, since there really hasn’t been a lot of time to stop and catch our collective breath. Seriously we’ve been pretty much on-the-go since we arrived.
The last thing I covered was our short trip to the temple where the youkai were seeking refuge and where we met Chiaki, who at the time was stubbornly determined to have as little to do with us as possible. [My last entry had a late revision that covers those events in the last several paragraphs, so if you haven’t done so, go check it out. ^_^]
After that, we returned to the hotel. Everyone went out on the town except for me and Echo (weird, huh?). Even Adam and Anna went out, which would be really sweet if Anna weren’t such a psycho. But you know, even that’s kinda loveable in a way. I mean, look at Tabby, Amy, and Robin. ^_^ As I said in my last (revised) entry, T-Bone and Elisa had to leave for some mysterious reason, and Keiko was in Osaka, where she’s finalizing the arrangements for my tour. That left Echo and me at the hotel with my girls, who decided not to take the shikome out for the evening. Probably a good call.
So Echo and I went for a nice long swim in the hotel pool after I finished updating my journal. We mostly had the place to ourselves since it was so late, which was perfect. It was so relaxing. After our swim, as we were on our way back to our room, we ran across a tenjo-name, a tall, sinewy, draconic-looking youkai with a long tongue that it uses to do what it loves most – lick ceilings. Yeah, there are some weird youkai, but most of them are actually quite sweet when you get to know them (and those that are actually a bit creepy are all the sweeter for it. ^_^).
Though he was initially timid, he warmed up to us quickly when we began to talk to him. His name was Peropero (which is actually pretty funny, since that’s the slang Japanese onomatopoeia term for “lick”). Once he learned who we were, he excitedly told us that the belongings of several of the previous group of scions (who had been murdered in the hotel) were in a nearby storeroom, and showed us where it was. I called up Adam, thinking his skills as a P.I. would be useful. I didn’t know that he was out with Anna at the time…so breaking away from that to rendezvous with me really wasn’t an option… Anyway, Echo and I had to go it alone. Fortunately, I’ve learned a few things from Quinn (who is far more streetwise than I am ^o^) and jimmied open the lock on the storeroom door.
There wasn’t anything inside…except a trap. A couple of heavy, sharp, guillotine like blades nearly cut me in two, and probably would have if Peropero hadn’t pulled me out of the way. In a thunderous bolt of lightning, Ray was suddenly at my side. His guardian powers warned him of my danger and let him teleport to my location instantly. Pretty hand, huh? It’s like having an instant bodyguard whenever you need him. I’ll have to be more careful. While I like having Ray around, I don’t want to run the poor guy ragged! ^_^
Anyway, aside from the trap, there was nothing else there. Peropero didn’t have anything to do with the trap; that much was clear. He was just trying to be helpful. But it seemed like the store room was a dead end. Then Ray remembered that Anna and Adam were superb trackers, and so we called them up again and got them back to the hotel in short order. We also called Pierre, but he seemed to be neck deep in giggling women and told us that unless we really needed him, he’d stay where he was at. He’s such a pimp.
Anyway, I fetched my shikome (leaving Dahlia, Quinn, Kimiyo, and Sera with a little peace and quiet for the rest of the evening), and we headed out to follow our newest lead. Anna was easily able to follow the trail left by whoever had set the trap. It led to a nearby lake. As we approached, specters began shadowing us, watching. As we descended a tree-covered hill towards the lake, however, more specters closed in on us. When we got too close, they attacked, sweeping in and trying to possess each of us.
Most of us were able to summon the willpower to fend off the specters…all except Anna. She was promptly possessed and leveled her hatred toward Adam. But before we could even react to that, another threat presented itself…a ginormous human skeleton (a legendary creature known as a gashadokuro) lurched out of the lake and attacked.
You know, I’ve seen really cool traditional artwork of a gashadokuro, and even in old ukiyo-e prints and ink paintings they looked scary. But seeing the real thing was not something I’m likely to forget. It was delectably terrifying, and one of the coolest looking monsters we’ve ever fought. I mean, the gods don’t usually make creepy quite so big! It must have been something like ten or fifteen times as tall as any one of us!
It was a hard fight, and even Ray seemed like he was briefly in trouble when the gashadokuro grabbed him…but then he turned the tables on it and threw the titanic corpse across the hill. I ordered my shikome to attack it as well, and through sheer ferocity they managed to hurt it a bit before Ray unleashed his fury on it and finished it off. I’m so proud of them! ^_^ And I think Robin kept a bone fragment she cut off and is going to have it carved into a magatama for a pendant.
While Ray, Adam, and my shikome were fighting the gashadokuro, I took care of Anna and the specters (all but one of them, which made a pest of itself by trying to possess other members of our team during the fight). First, I revealed my divine beauty, compelling the specters (including the one in Anna) to just stop and stare at me. Then I called Pierre, filled him in on the situation, and asked if he could use his cheval powers to move in and kick the specter out of Anna. He pulled himself away from his lady friends long enough to send his spirit out to help Anna, and by the time Ray was finishing the gashadokuro, Anna was back to herself again.
All in all, the fight demonstrated the fine degree of teamwork our group can muster when we try. I used to complain about how we didn’t always get along very well…but actually we seem to have become pretty close-knit over time. We’re still a bit dysfunctional, but we seem to make a damn good team despite that. I wonder if the hints of tension in our group actually strengthen us somehow?
Anyway, we were able to rescue the gashadokuro’s skull, which shrunk to human size. I’ve heard legends of how such skulls will wail when specters are close if a lit candle is placed inside, so we kept it and I think Ray gave it to his followers, which is a good call since they’re basically defenseless against specters, and this at least gives them some advanced warning.
The trail we’d been following didn’t end at the gashadokuro. It led into the water, where we found the zombified corpse of a hotel worker – no doubt the trap-setter. In a search for more clues, I summoned the man’s ghost, but found it had been turned into an ichor-drooling specter. How morbid…both his body and his soul kinda got zombified!
Ray summoned the kami of the lake, who was really glad to be rid of the gashadokuro. The kami told us that a bunch of cats, some of which walked on two legs, had come to help dispose of the body. They carried off the deceased scions’ belongings. And as they did so, they sang a chilling song of bloodshed and moonlight. That was the first indication we got that they were plotting a ritual of some sort.
We thanked the kami for his help, and Ray fished the body out of the lake and, at my request, tossed it to my shikome. They deserved a reward for their efforts against the gashadokuro, as we discussed what to do next, they gleefully feasted on zombie flesh. Ironic, huh? Anyway, it was nice to be able to give them some positive reinforcement for change. They really like it when I show them praise and affection, and I like doing nice things for them when I can.
Still, we didn’t waste any time, and continued to follow what leads we had. Adam and Anna cooperated to track down the cats who had been walking on two legs while the rest of us followed, ready for trouble. It didn’t take long for us to find them at an old house in the middle of the city. I hung back with my shikome while the others crept forward to investigate the place (I’m not very sneaky, so I know I’d probably botch it if I went with them). What they found was intimidating, to say the least. The house held something like ten powerful bakeneko, two frighteningly strong nekomata, and a few specters.
That was enough to give even us pause, especially with T-Bone and Elisa missing, so we retreated, regrouped, and got Pierre to rejoin us. We decided that it was too risky to assault our enemies directly this time (I was so glad that the others agreed with me for a change). We needed to at least deal with the nekomata individually if possible. As we were trying to plan our next move, though, one of Pierre’s ghosts (which he had set to watching Hinako) arrived with a troubling report.
Apparently, it had witnessed Hinako eating a foul concoction of blood, bone marrow, specter ichor, and other nasty things. It was in her milk carton and she’d poured it into her breakfast cereal (guess she likes western-style breakfasts) and eaten it without batting an eye. Gross. >_< It seemed obvious that she didn’t know what she was eating, like there was some sort of illusion masking the carton’s contents.. This pretty much confirmed our suspicions that the bad guys are trying to use her, not kill her (not yet, anyway). They’re trying to taint her, probably to use as a sacrifice in this ritual they’re planning.
We realized we needed to get Hinako to safety as soon as possible, and the best place to keep her safe while we traveled to Tokyo to speak with Sayuri was the temple where the youkai were hiding. So we went there again and confronted Chiaki and the monks.
Since I’m basically the group’s spokesperson, I talked to them and explained the situation and the danger. I told them that hiding would not solve the problem, and that they would have to help us oppose our mutual enemies if their home, and perhaps all of Shikoku, was to be saved. Chiaki seemed unconvinced, but one of the leading nopperabo monks understood the wisdom of my words and agreed to let us secret Hinako at the temple. In exchange, we agreed to do what we could to bolster the temple’s defenses. Ray strengthened the wards he’d placed the first time we were there, and our followers remained behind to help safeguard the place.
Unfortunately, we had to hurry with our preparations. The youkai at the temple told us that the nekomata had already dispatched two bakeneko to Tokyo to kill Sayuri. We’d have to get Hinako to the temple as soon as possible, and wouldn’t be able to wait for the bullet train the next morning. It’s a damn good thing Ray, Adam, and Anna have flying mounts!
Without wasting any time, we rushed to Hinako’s house and roused her from her sleep. We filled her in on the basics on the way to the temple, and once she was safely in the care of the youkai and our followers, we flew off to Tokyo. I rode with Ray on Chase Nimbus, his dragon. It was invigorating, if a bit frightening, to be soaring through the sky so high on the back of such a magnificent beast.
About halfway to Tokyo, Ray asked me an interesting question. He asked what my marriage to Echo meant to me. It was a difficult question to answer, but it led us into a pretty deep conversation about Echo. We talked about the reasons I love her so much and about my insecurities over her rather promiscuous nature. I talked a bit about how I’m trying to deal with that, in fact, and how I feel that I need a man to fall in love with as well, someone to provide the balance and stability that Echo just can’t. Maybe that makes me as promiscuous as she is…but I don’t think so. In any event, my feelings are pretty confused over the whole issue.
I’ve been flirting with Ray off and on for awhile now, and so I decided to more-or-less tell him that I’m seriously interested in him. His response was…typically enigmatic. I got the feeling he was turning down my romantic overtures, which isn’t really something I’m used to (well, there’s Adam, but that’s a special case). Even so, he was really sweet to me, and told me that no matter what, he’d be there for me.
I can’t even describe how heartwarming that was despite the rejection…and I’m not even sure it was a rejection. I just held onto Ray tightly with my head resting against his back for the rest of the trip, enjoying his presence. I don’t think I’m going to give up on him yet, but for now, I’m just glad he’s here.
Anyway, when we finally arrived in Tokyo and found Sayuri’s address, Adam and Anna noticed a car parked across the street from her apartment building. A fairly powerful supernaturally endowed man sat in the driver’s seat and watched as we entered, but made no move to oppose us. We kept our guard up, but didn’t approach him. We had other things to worry about.
Sayuri was in, and she was worried about Hinako (she must really be in love with Hinako because her apartment was filled with pictures of her). Once we convinced her to let us in, we explained the situation, and Sayuri filled us in on what she knew. She’s been having terrible nightmares recently, and the things she dreams often comes true. According to her nightmares, a terrible ritual is being prepared in Shikoku, and Hinako is in danger because of it. The ritual is meant to summon a powerful evil spirit…the White-Cloaked being we’d already heard about. Sayuri also told us that she’d seen a dark mountain in her dreams. That’s where the ritual was to take place. She feared that Hinako was to be the sacrifice they were going to use to summon the spirit. All of that matched up pretty well with what we’d already figured out and explained why they were trying so hard to taint poor Hinako.
We needed to get Sayuri to safety as quickly as possible, so we asked her to get her things ready to go. As she was doing so, though, a bakeneko appeared in Sayuri’s window. Ray was on it like a shot, and chased it from the apartment before it could attack. Adam followed Ray to investigate the streets below, while Pierre and Anna remained with me and Sayuri.
Just after Ray and Adam left, there was a soft knock low on the apartment door. It was a bakeneko…one of Hinako’s bakeneko, in fact. By this point, we were pretty sure they were allied with the evil cats. It implored us to let it in, saying that it wanted to help.
After some deliberation, we agreed to let it in and hear it out. After all, with Anna, Pierre and I protecting Sayuri, she was fairly safe. The cat, whose name is Techou (Captain Paws), explained that while he had been involved in the evil doings of the other neko, he didn’t want to hurt Hinako anymore. To some degree, he’d been forced to help by Hinako’s other cat, a more powerful bakeneko named Mittens-chan (gods, this so surreal >_<). Mittens-chan was the bakeneko who had helped Techou become more than a simple housecat. He wanted out, and so he’d come to tell us what he could to help Hinako before he went into hiding.
He confirmed most of our suspicions, and though he didn’t know where the mountain was, he told us that it was called the Mountain of Resurrection. We’ll have to ask the youkai about it. Maybe they can help us find it. Techou seemed very sincere in his desire to help Hinako, and so we managed to convince him to stick with us and do what he could to right the wrongs he’d helped commit. If he proves that he’s truly repentant, then he’d make a good guardian for Hinako in the future, so I’d like to give him a chance to redeem himself. He was willing enough, if frightened of Mittens-chan and the nekomata leaders, Chaser and Nyan-nyan.
About that time, Ray and Adam showed up with the unconscious body of a bakeneko in its cat-man form (we killed the creature before leaving, since we couldn’t exactly leave it roaming around to fight us later). And they brought a couple friends too. The first was Oda, the man from the car outside. He’s a pretty powerful nopperabo agent of Izanagi who was assigned to protect Sayuri. He was more than willing to go back to Shikoku with us to help fight the bakeneko. The second was an old friend of Ray’s, a powerful sumo rikishi (sumo wrestler) named Ryu-no-Maru. He’s a scion of Ryujin, the dragon king. He’s so charming! And apparently incredibly strong too. He seems to be a wise and dedicated individual, so I’m sure his help will be valuable in Shikoku.
So, with two new allies, a repentant enemy, and Hinako’s would-be rokurokubi lover in tow, we flew back to Shikoku and the youkai temple, hoping to get there before our enemies make their move.
Once we get back, I intend to try and galvanize the youkai into action. For one thing, we’ll likely need their help to protect Shikoku. It’s their home, and they should help to protect it. Even if we could deal with the current crisis on our own, the youkai can be valuable allies in our future struggles against the titanspawn. Plus, I feel a kind of kinship with the youkai. Maybe it’s because five of my best friends are youkai, but I think it also has to do with the fact that like me, they are creatures of darkness but not necessarily creatures of evil. In that sense, they kind of embody the same balance of darkness and light that I do. It would be awfully nice to gain their support as I follow the path toward my own divinity.
Anyway, I rode back with Ray and Sayuri, and I carried Techou too. On the way, I talked at length with Sayuri, and learned more about her relationship with Hinako. I felt bad for her since her love for Hinako is unrequited. Right now, though, she’s just really, really worried about her. To take her mind off that, I got her to talk about her past a bit, and learned a lot about her. She’s a pretty interesting individual, and like Sera, she’s not a natural youkai. She became a rokurokubi when she stole a toy from a temple as a child and then refused to return it. Now she’s basically addicted to lamp oil, which she has to steal from temples in order to sate her cravings. She said she used to be really angsty and bitter about being a rokurokubi, but now she’s completely cool with it. I know how that is. Back when I didn’t really know what I was or why I seemed like an outsider, I was pretty depressed and angry all the time too. But once I was awakened to my divine potential and came to peace with who and what I was, I became a lot happier. That’s why I’m basically a perky goth instead of a mopey goth. ^_^