001 [voice | CALL | un: ghostprince]

[shootaro]

[CALL]

[The call begins with the sound of something flapping incessantly, as if blown by very rough winds. It soon settles into eerie howling. Pleasant!

It's not entirely a creepy silent call, though, and soon enough, a cool and quiet, young-sounding voice that's a bit hard to place, filters in:]

—one hear me? Sorry, the wind picked up.

I'm going to check out the temple.

Will anyone else be coming? I won't be needing your help [—rude.] I'm asking for your safety. I don't advise sneaking up on my partner and I, unless you don't consider your soul valuable.

[End call. Not so much as an introduction! He thinks he owns the place, doesn't he?]

Comments

voice; un: wouldyouknowmore

[story_and_teller]

Oh, that's very sweet of you, but you need not worry on my account.

voice; un: ghostprince

[shootaro]

Why, you haven't got a soul to worry about?

[The sarcasm's a reflex, sorry, but he isn't taking this lightly. He sounds very annoyed.]

I'm not kidding. Back off.

[story_and_teller]

Nah, got a soul. I'm just not too worried about it. It takes a bit more than your average Ancient Evil Thing to bother me.

[Since, you know. God of chaos and all that.]

[shootaro]

... so you know this from past experience or is this just a hunch you've got?

[Because that's a pretty important distinction.]

[story_and_teller]

Past experience, of course. I'm a sorcerer.

[shootaro]

Does... does such a thing really...?!

[He paused for a moment (his voice was going childishly high!), then spoke again:]

Prove it. Not in a malicious way, I'm just curious and want to verify what you... mean by that, exactly.

[story_and_teller]

[See on the screen: A request to accept video from wouldyouknowmore.]

Turn on video, and I'll be happy to show you.

voice; un: ironiclabcoat

[new_toys]

[THAT USERNAME. THAT HOWLING. Holtzmann sounds intrigued.]

I'm on my way there.

[shootaro]

Wha... th-that was a direct warning not to!

[Sorry if his voice went up an octave, it does that. He's getting very frustrated with these people...!]

When a sign says no trespassing or no swimming, do you intentionally do the opposite?!

[new_toys]

Was it?

[shootaro]

It was! [So frustrated!]

Unless you're someone else with a special, super-protected soul or whatever!

[new_toys]

Buuuut now I'm not sneaking up on you.

[Point: Holtzmann?]

[such hope, such faith

[shootaro]

Honestly... [What an aggravatingly childish woman.] Do you promise not to touch any will-o'-wisps, hitodama, onibi, or whatever else you might call blue ghostly flames?

If you don't, I'll have to restrain you. [Do not push him to that, he has a giant snake and ghost jellyfish that curses anything it touches and secretes a poison that can numb you senseless.]

text; UN: galeas

[fivenareff]

What exactly will you be doing to my soul if I do sneak up on you?

Hypothetically speaking.

[shootaro]

Something unspeakable. Vaguely reminescrnt eternal damnation.

Hypothetically speaking.

[Sorry, he's pretty secretive.]

[fivenareff]

It's obviously not so unspeakable if we're speaking of it now.

[shootaro]

[Oh, this is childish, but... he thinks it was pretty funny too.]

Maybe. But it's still a secret. You better hope you never find out. [The wording's more playful and casual now.]

Do you think the way you talk about something changes its nature or were you just belng a comedian?

[fivenareff]

It can't be both? Something like this, I think your threat would be better off if you were less vague, but in general? Of course how you speak of something changes its nature.

[shootaro]

I'll keep that in mind. Next time I threaten someone, I'll be sure to let you know. [Did he ask for advice giving threats? No, but this is great. He's getting curious about him, so he'll keep asking questions.]

Sounds like you speak from experience. Do you threaten people a lot?

Interesting, name an example.

voice; un: wardenka

[boundinblood]

[Ohhh no. No, no, no. Two possessed children is already two too many, and that's exactly what this sounds like. Most children don't threaten souls. Granted, demons don't really do that, either. Not so directly. But it's cause for alarm all the same.]

You sound a little young to be exploring dangerous temples and threatening souls.

voice; ruuude and also, h i!! ;3;/

[shootaro]

[Threatening..? Oh, that's what that sounds like. He sighed a little.]

Might be hard to believe, but I'm threatening no one's soul today. That was a warning. The wrong soul might get drawn in by accident.

... uh? I'm ten. I got my Pokemon training license at the usual age. I'm an adult.

[From that huffiness, you can practically hear the pout.]

voice; ah, worldbuilding discrepancies...

[boundinblood]

"Drawn in?"

[Oh Maker, it's even worse - this is a mage or someone with some object of soul-binding capabilities far too young to have mastered them...]

And what is it that you're trying to bind, to what, and for what purpose?

voice; sooo many

[shootaro]

Lady, what?!

[She had completely the wrong idea! And what's all this talk about binding?!]

I'm not doing whatever you think I'm doing!

I'm trying to exorcise a dangerous spirit so it doesn't get anyone hurt or killed, okay?

[VERY terse. Is she going to stop accusing him now?!]

voice; even video game logic fails

[boundinblood]

[...What? In what universe do you not defeat a spirit by beating it up???]

That's not exorcism! You need to destabilize its presence and either kill it or force it back to the other side of the Veil! Binding it to an object will keep the danger at bay, but someone could accidentally release it. Maker knows I've been the unlucky soul to find one of these things enough times to know...

voice;

[shootaro]

... [A VERY loud, long-suffering sigh. Noisily dragged out for effect, probably.]

It's not—

Listen. It's not being bound. No cursed objects here.

The soul will be fated to endless wandering in the spirit world, on the other side as you put it, don't worry.

But the spirit, the matter, the spiritual energy is what we'll use up. It's not being bound, would you just listen to me and stop acting like you know everything?!

[He's getting very frustrated and his voice is turning quite childishly high. After taking a moment to regain composure, he continued, more quietly, sounding tired and uncomfortable with the amount of information he had to divulge.]

... the energy will be used up, like fuel, okay? Nothing will remain here. Trust me. This isn't the first time.