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

[fivenareff]

Whenever's best for you. Just name a time and place.

[He'll address the rest later. Some of it he doesn't mind disclosing, but not where anyone can read it.]

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?!]

sorry! I've been sick but I wanted to pick this back up

[new_toys]

[Holtzmann still does not seem to be taking this terribly seriously, but she arches a brow at Trip's latest line of protests, glancing from him to Lampent and back again.]

She's your friend.

[Just, like... pointing that out, here.]

it's okay, I was very slow and bad with keeping up too, plus got work to do! ;3;/ I love backtags!

[shootaro]

I know that, Lampent's my partner, I accept that ghosts don't work by human ethics or moral codes! [He snapped, then looked bewildered.] —and I know I'm not good either. Adults usually tell us to stop, not... encourage destruction?

[Then again, Holtzmann feels very different from any other adult of a reasonable position of power he's met thus far.]

I thought you'd put the brakes, give us a lecture about morality or whatever.

If you wanna blow this place up, I'm fine with it, I've done worse— well, not destroy a temple bad, but we kind of. Led a large-scale attack [—incompehensible mumbling—] with soul-scorching fire.

[After that tangent that went exactly nowhere, he shrugged.]

Just be careful not to release some ancient evil, Lampent says the place is cursed by a strong, vengeful spirit, a lot worse than this lady, so taking anything more out of this place is gonna be hard.

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.

not as recovered as i thought but thank you for the pm /o\

[new_toys]

[Holtz's smirk widens slightly. Adults usually tell them to stop, he says?]

I'm not that kind of adult.

And it is a haunted temple -- haunted being an important key word there.

[She clicks her tongue thoughtfully, eyeing the temple.]

We could try the urn first.

it's okay, take your time! - it doesn't happen all at once

[shootaro]

Right!

[Justified destruction and killing is (regrettably) something he's very familiar with, so he just might like her yet.

On a less morbid note, he certainly appreciated that she wasn't condescending or coddling in any way, because he hated that sort.]

Let's give it a shot.

[So, with renewed confidence, he decided to walk into the temple, Lampent floating close by as his trainer produced another, small red-white ball, pressing the button to expand it to fill his palm.]

If you need a shield, my Frillish can do it.

[More ghosts? More ghosts!]

[new_toys]

[His what? What the hell are these names? She gives him a quizzical look.]

Gesundheit.

[She turns a dial on the side of her proton gun, setting it humming back into life.]

Fair warning: this can get a little... [She considers her phrasing.] ...loud.

[shootaro]

I did not sneeze. [Rude, Holtzmann!] Frillish is another of my partners! Come on out, Frillish!

[And in a flash of white light (please don't fire the gun just yet, that's not the ghost we're after!), a tall, very large jellyfish-like monster emerged. With frilled tentacles and an ostentatiously wide, frilled collar and even a little crown, it looked rather like a fairy tale prince crossed with a giant jellyfish with blue eyes and red sclera.

It also appeared to float... swim(?) in the air?]

[new_toys]

[Pokewhaaaaat? It's enough to render even Holtzmann nonplussed. She stares at the thing, jaw going slack with surprise.]

...but maybe not as loud as that.

[boundinblood]

[She grew up learning all about the creatures of the Fade, of its properties and its dangers. The core of her skills depends on it. It keeps her enemies at bay and her friends in good health. It makes her a force to be reckoned with and the subject of superstitious fear. It is the entire reason she could not grow up among the normal population of Thedas, and everything Trip is saying has flown in the face of everything she has ever known, while still sounding just similar enough she's not convinced it isn't the same.

Unfortunately for Trip's patience, using a spirit's energy for power is not a flattering ability. She hasn't forgotten he said he had a partner that he has not yet named.]

And how do you do this, seal a soul away in the Fade and leech away its energy?

[shootaro]

And why should I tell you?

[He does not like her, safe to say.]

[shootaro]

[It drifts, tentacles fluttering, propelling itself up against the pull of invisible water now and then, as if swimming in place...]

Frillish is quite silent, actually, unless he's laughing.

[It laughs, yes. Of course.]

Don't touch any part of it roughly and definitely don't hit it with that gun of yours, unless you want your abilities sealed. Its Cursed Body locks any attack that makes physical contact.

So, if you were to kick it, until I recall it, you will lose the ability to kick. Your... weapons might lose the ability to fire or whatever it does if it hits Frillish. Or just go off-target all the time.

It's bred for overwhelming power and inducing helplessness.

[He sounds quite proud of the way he trained his creepy little friend, who's been staring, unblinkingly, at Holtzmann the entire time.

All this chatter might be drawing the attention of unseen others inside, however... a heaviness descends on their shoulders.]

[new_toys]

[Oh, she notices. Even locking eyes with the giant jellyfish, she notices the sudden change in pressure. She sniffs the air, oddly enough, then moves towards the temple door with a frown.]

I'm all about the incredibly dangerous mad sciencing, and kudos to you for picking it up at such a young age, buuuut can we put a pin in that?

[shootaro]

[Well, he certainly doesn't see it as such and makes a face, but nods. They had more urgent things to focus on, right now!]

Do you think the door will open? [He seemed to anticipate it sealing itself off, but— it might just fling itself open!

Inviting, right?]

[boundinblood]

Because if this partner of yours is a demon, you could be in more danger than you realize!

[Her tone is sharp with worry, rising slightly in panic. She already had to kill one child who fell victim to a demon and nearly had to kill the other. She doesn't want to repeat that. There is no victim more innocent than one who has not had a chance to learn better about demonic contracts.]

[new_toys]

Maybe.

[She's still edging towards the door, still sniffing the air. There's a distinct scent to ghosts, she and the other Ghostbusters have long since discovered. The whole place smells ionized right now, so it's hard to pick out any one place that might be more or less so, but it can't hurt to have another kind of ghost-detector at play.]

Shoulda brought the spinny one...

[Which would have been an actual ghost detector, which would have been nice. Without it, she approaches the door with gun in hand and guard high.]

I had a hard time replying for some reason, sorry for the wait ^^:;;;;;

[shootaro]

Wait, how many do you even have?

... do you make all of them?

[And, as expected, they now get a warm welcome.

And by warm, I mean the door swings open and bright, red fire comes pouring out and everything is awash with firelight.

He nearly jumps before trying to quickly stamp out the flames licking at his feet, although Trip's reaction is quite understated (he hardly makes a sound!), although Lampent watches it all rather detachedly and only tap its trainer's shoulder, forcing him to stop panicking at least for a second to give the fire a closer look.]

... hey, this isn't even hot...

[An illusion?]