Scion – Petro Campaign – Session 48
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 3rd 2009
As incredible as it sounds, we have the ghost of Little Boy. Pierre, Miko and I are headed to the Shrine of Ise (accompanied by my girls and Ray’s perky oni follower Konoko and my youkai friends Rakushinpu and Taro) to purify both the bomb and Miko. Ray, Adam, T-Bone, and Elisa opted to head to Hashima Island, a small, abandoned island that off the coast of Nagasaki that happens to be an important nexus of ley lines. It seems Hinako’s group (minus Hinako, who’s meeting me at the Shrine of Ise) met their match with some of the titanspawn defending the dragon lines, and if we’re going to successfully weaken Pika Don, we’re going to have to go help them out.
So, in other words, we’re splitting up to cover more ground. Ray was concerned about me, afraid that Miko might seize her chance once he’s gone. But I assured him I had things well in hand. I’ve got Miko wrapped around my finger, and besides, Pierre’s with me. Still, it’s nice that Ray sent Konoko, and it’s good to know that he can come to my aid if I need him.
But let me back up and tell you how we got Little Boy. It was actually much more straightforward than I thought it would be. That’s not to say it wasn’t without its dangers, though. The trip into the Poison Sun Ward was dangerous. So dangerous, in fact, that Adam very nearly died, and probably would have without my timely intervention.
Before going into the Poison Sun Ward, I took the others to see my half-sister Miyako to ask her about the dangers we might face there (she’s been to the ward before). She wasn’t happy with our intrusion. Hell, she looked like she wanted to melt into the shadows to escape. But thanks to Ray’s courtesy, she timidly told us what she knew, about the dangers of radiation, the irradiated dead, and dangerous skeletal entities that she called “glimmermen.” It turned out to be pretty helpful!
Speaking of Ray’s courtesy, by the way, I think Miyako actually respects Ray! As much as she respects anyone who’s still alive, anyway. He was very polite to her, and I honestly think it was his diplomacy that put her at ease. He even gave her an origami zombie! That was to die for! I gotta get him to make me one too! ^_^ Anyway, as we left, she showed him more courtesy than I’ve ever seen her show anyone aside from mom. I guess Ray’s just got a way with the ladies, even sourpusses like Miya-chan (she hates it when I call her that, so I really shouldn’t, but I guess I’m just feeling playful ^_^).
I also had a long conversation with Tabby about the issues plaguing the shikome. She was understanding, and in the end I was able to convince her that it was best for me to place Audrey in command of the shikome, except for Robin, who of course is Tabby’s responsibility given their upcoming marriage. That will leave Tabby free to stick close to me, traveling with me even while I leave the other shikome behind. Hopefully this will help alleviate some of the bitterness simmering between the shikome over Tabby’s dominance.
Tabby also wasn’t happy to learn that I’m keeping Miko with me for the time being, but once I explained my plans, she grudgingly admitted that it was for the best.
After we talked to Miyako and I’d had my discussion with Tabby, we headed into the Poison Sun Ward. It was distinctly unpleasant. The whole places was a blasted landscape that fused the ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together in a twisted mockery of both. The radiation felt like it was burning through me constantly. I could almost feel my divine ichor being poisoned. Like Miyako described, the radiation seemed to react to our divine blood, affecting us more strongly because we’re demigods. >_< Despite being less powerful, Miko had an easier time dealing with the radiation simply because she’s not as divine. Fortunately, most of us were able to withstand the degenerative effects long enough to get in and out again, and those who might have had trouble (like T-Bone and maybe Elisa) were actually the safest since they had mastered an aspect of darkness that let them become pitch black silhouettes that absorbed the light and the radiation harmlessly. Pretty cool, huh?
But the radiation wasn’t the only challenge. Many of the dead there were awash with greenish flames of radiation, and they tried to infect us with the nuclear fire as well. They weren’t too difficult to deal with, but they were frightening…and strangely pathetic. I felt sorry for them.
To avoid the flame-enshrouded ghosts, we took to the roofs of the blasted landscape for a time, but even that wasn’t safe, because spirits that possessed the ruined structures themselves attacked us at every turn. Maybe the most horrifying thing for me, though, was a warped, maddened monster made of the fused-together bodies of six shikome who had been trapped in the area when the Poison Sun Ward appeared in Yomi. Somehow they’d managed to survive that way ever since… Poor girls. (T_T) They couldn’t get to us on the roofs, but we decided to stop and put them out of their misery.
Once the shikome beast had been slain, the shikome’s ghosts appeared, released from their cursed state. They were frightened and confused without any idea of what was going on or what had happened to them. It was apparent that we couldn’t just leave them there. The Ward would irradiate and sicken them, turning them into more specters or something worse, so for the rest of our journey, it was my job to shepherd them, calm them, and keep them from getting scattered or running away in fright until we finished our mission and could escort them out of the Ward.
As we neared the center of the blasted cityscape and the resting place of the ghost of Little Boy, we were challenged by five of the glimmermen Miyako warned us about. They were gigantic black skeletons bathed in fiery green radiation. Miyako had warned us that they had a tendency to explode when badly wounded, hurting their foes and healing each other, so we tried to defeat them as quickly as possible.
Pierre and I stayed out of the fight, taking shelter in a nearby alley where we could keep the shikome ghosts out of the line of fire and could protect them from any other spirits that tried to attack. It was a tough fight…tougher than I thought it would be. Adam was badly hurt by the glimmermen’s searing radiation. In the middle of the fight I had to bolster him with a long range “shot through the heart.” In other words, I shot him a blown kiss, which protected him from the worst of the damage long enough for him to flee the combat. Once he got back to where Pierre and I were, he loudly claimed that next time he had a chance to avoid a fight, he was going to do just that instead of needlessly risking his neck. Works for me. ^_^
After the glimmermen were defeated, we found our way to the park at the center of the city, where the ghost of Little Boy lay. It seemed safe enough, but Adam warned that some great beast, possibly made of the rubble itself, lurked underground, waiting for us, and more of the hostile dead lurked about to stop of from getting the bomb. T-Bone, however, paralyzed the beast with his powers of chaos, and while it lay restless beneath the surface of the park, Ray used the wind itself to lift Little Boy and draw it to us like a Jedi out of Star Wars. After fighting our way out of the park we made our way to the exit with Little Boy and the shikome, Pierre carrying the massive bomb.
The shikome that opened the gates and let us out of the ward were cautious but respectful, and I turned the ghosts of their fallen sisters over to them so that they could settle them into life Yomi. We didn’t linger long in Yomi after that. In fact, we pretty much headed out through the main entrance into Izumo. And waiting for us there were Rakushinpu (the jorougumo spider woman I met when running with Storm’s crew) and Taro (the konaki-jiji I also met with Storm’s crew). Rakushinpu was in human form guiding a pram that carried Taro. They’d been sent by Maneki to tell us that Hinako’s crew (minus Hinako, who’s waiting at the Shrine of Ise) had run into trouble fighting titanspawn on Hashima Island. They didn’t actually request help, but it was pretty clear that if they were to successfully block the flow of chi through those vital dragon lines to keep Pika Don weak, they’d need our help.
So like I said before, we split up. Pierre, Miko, and I are on our way to Ise, while the others go to reinforce Ryunomaru, Maneki, and Kazumi against the titanspawn on Hashima Island.
And hopefully, but the next time I write, Miko will be purified and back in Amaterasu’s good graces. ^_^