In Nomine: the Pacific War (IC)

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Noda-san has caught the misdirection and plays it through. She walks over to Fukui and touches his arm. "This young guy wants to know about Betje. Did you ever hear that story?" His expressions says no, he hasn't. "The Dutch fellow, with lots of questions, back in the 70's?

"We get enough Dutch people I can't remember them all."

"He spoke Japanese, and he loved to hear about the gods."

Fukui shrugged; he is too young to know any of that. Corat, however, is visibly uncomfortable and, perhaps in an effort to put him at ease, Fukui remembers something. "There was an angel back in the 70's but he only passed through here. He was notable only in that angels were not common here. How they knew he was one...?"

"An angel...?" Ryuki gives Noda-san an enthusiastic nod, but she plays it poker-faced.

Corat wants to leave but he wants to watch, like a horrible train wreck unfolding in front of him.

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

"No, I don't know him." He's still not happy about this, and it's clearly triggered some kind of internal warning system.
...
Noda-san answers, remembering a story as old ladies are wont to do. "It was less the gods and more the spirits--kami can mean either one really. He asked about the jizos first, the little children statues, and we explained about how they honored children who died young who would protect travelers. And then he asked if others stayed around to protect people, and we talked about ancestors, and how some of the gods might have been distant ancestors like the first emperor Jimmu. And he said--it was sweet and naive at first--that we should live good lives so that when we were worshiped as ancestors that we would be good gods. Kami--he spoke some Japanese."

Corat blanches. Ryuki's brain is on overdrive, putting this together with what he already knows. "Blasphemy," he says quietly, "allowing apotheosis. Kevin said you were an ex-con, and the air marshals don't let ex-cons on planes with weapons. But wow...if this was you...was that you?"

"I don't remember, so I don't know if it was me." Corat's a bit defensive, even with his old friend and recruit.

Originally Posted by Puck

Mitch... As they walk towards the castle, he falls back to speak with Corat, " my friend, what troubles you? You seemed very disturbed when you heard about the traveler they had some time ago, who asked about the spirits and gods. Does he remind you someone?"

((OOC I realize that yet again I've been inconsistent with names. Noda-san and Nodi-san are the same character.))

"No he doesn't, and really that's the problem. Tadatoshi asked if I'd ever been to Fukuoka, and now this lady has confused me..." he remembers, seraph, and a friend, "this lady has connected me with this Betje Janssen. And the very name gives me the shivers. I have no memory of my time in Japan whatsoever, except for the vaguest memories of being picked up by Judges when I was coming off a bus. Almost nothing after that until I joined with Michael's Corps. I lost Forces, and then when Laurence removed the Discord there were memories lost there too." He realizes this sounds whiny and shifts tone, changing the subject slightly. "He doesn't remind me of something so much as triggers an emotion. But the facts match, assuming I was the only angel at that place and time." Which, he implies, is unlikely.

[Puck]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

((OOC I realize that yet again I've been inconsistent with names. Noda-san and Nodi-san are the same character.))

"No he doesn't, and really that's the problem. Tadatoshi asked if I'd ever been to Fukuoka, and now this lady has confused me..." he remembers, seraph, and a friend, "this lady has connected me with this Betje Janssen. And the very name gives me the shivers. I have no memory of my time in Japan whatsoever, except for the vaguest memories of being picked up by Judges when I was coming off a bus. Almost nothing after that until I joined with Michael's Corps. I lost Forces, and then when Laurence removed the Discord there were memories lost there too." He realizes this sounds whiny and shifts tone, changing the subject slightly. "He doesn't remind me of something so much as triggers an emotion. But the facts match, assuming I was the only angel at that place and time." Which, he implies, is unlikely.

"Ah, I had forgotten or simply not realized that you had lost forces. That makes sense. But ignoring that for a moment why would it bother you that you were indeed this Janssen fellow? Do you fear that he or you rather, did terrible things that you've now forgotten?"

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by Puck

"Ah, I had forgotten or simply not realized that you had lost forces. That makes sense. But ignoring that for a moment why would it bother you that you were indeed this Janssen fellow? Do you fear that he or you rather, did terrible things that you've now forgotten?"

"Mitch, he was picked up by Judges, so he apparently did something to warrant their attention. And, if what Noda-san says is accurate, and there is no reason why it would not be, then we have the reason. What I want to know is how they knew..."

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Corat blanches. Ryuki's brain is on overdrive, putting this together with what he already knows. "Blasphemy," he says quietly, "allowing apotheosis. Kevin said you were an ex-con, and the air marshals don't let ex-cons on planes with weapons. But wow...if this was you...was that you?"

"I don't remember, so I don't know if it was me." Corat's a bit defensive, even with his old friend and recruit.

"Spoken like a seraph."

"Spoken like a Judge."

"Ooooh, snarky." Kind of odd seeing these two argue, though certainly in all these years they must have.

Originally Posted by Puck

"Ah, I had forgotten or simply not realized that you had lost forces. That makes sense. But ignoring that for a moment why would it bother you that you were indeed this Janssen fellow? Do you fear that he or you rather, did terrible things that you've now forgotten?"

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"Mitch, he was picked up by Judges, so he apparently did something to warrant their attention. And, if what Noda-san says is accurate, and there is no reason why it would not be, then we have the reason. What I want to know is how they knew..."

The implications of this disturb Ryuki. "That's a very good question--were they just tailing him on principal?"

Corat's still perturbed. "Quite possible, with Judges and Windies. And why are you so fascinated with this? What is your stake here?"

Ryuki catches the subtext and doesn't like it. "I am not angling for a promotion, if that's what you mean. My reasons are quite selfish. I want you unassailable."

Curiously,Mitch and Kane both pick up this. Because he's projecting it. Both statements are true, despite their apparent contradiction. He's tied his own fate to this angel. Glen and Sunae might gather it if they remember the size of Ryuki's ego.

Fukui steps in. "You are speaking very frankly." He nudges your attention to Noda-san, standing at a polite distance but likely hearing everything. Fukui lowers his voice just enough to exclude her. "Who you describe, might be more than one angel, but there can not be many. Whoever he is, he is our hope for peace, even if he does not remember, if he still has his courage. And we need peace. You see that." His phrasing is inelegant and he hopes he's gotten his point across. "I will help as I can."

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

"Who you describe, might be more than one angel, but there can not be many. Whoever he is, he is our hope for peace, even if he does not remember, if he still has his courage. And we need peace. You see that." His phrasing is inelegant and he hopes he's gotten his point across. "I will help as I can."

"Corat, the fact that the name elicits an emotional response proves you have a stake in it. Whether or not you remember is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you are needed right here, right now. You ran from one fight, I won't let you run from this one."

The way she says it and the way she looks at him as she says it leaves no doubt that she is very serious.

"We have other loose ends to tie up, that is true. But those aren't as important to me right now."

[Puck]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"Corat, the fact that the name elicits an emotional response proves you have a stake in it. Whether or not you remember is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you are needed right here, right now. You ran from one fight, I won't let you run from this one."

The way she says it and the way she looks at him as she says it leaves no doubt that she is very serious.

"We have other loose ends to tie up, that is true. But those aren't as important to me right now."

Mitch taps his fingers together thoughtfuly "We do have a Norse god running around keep in mind, and while I am curious as to how and why Judgement arrested Corat in his former Role we may need to put it on the back burner for now."

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

(Translating for Fukui) We are very thankful that you stopped the attack. But..... It is a battle in a war that is not ours. And it was fought at this castle and in dreams. We have so few avenues to keep our people alive, and now they are soiled. How may we show our gratitude? (and thus, it is implied, balance the books and go back to life without celestials around here?)

To the group...

"He says they are thankful we stopped the attack, but this is a war that isn't theirs. He is worried about the safety of his people and he would like to reward us and he would like us to leave them be."

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"Corat, the fact that the name elicits an emotional response proves you have a stake in it. Whether or not you remember is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you are needed right here, right now. You ran from one fight, I won't let you run from this one."

The way she says it and the way she looks at him as she says it leaves no doubt that she is very serious.

"We have other loose ends to tie up, that is true. But those aren't as important to me right now."

Originally Posted by Puck

Mitch taps his fingers together thoughtfully "We do have a Norse god running around keep in mind, and while I am curious as to how and why Judgement arrested Corat in his former Role we may need to put it on the back burner for now."

Fukui looks between the two, thinking what to say or maybe just putting the words together to say it. Noda-san, the old lady, seems practically bursting with stories untold. "Well, we do owe you. And the demons did use our peoples' dreams to attack us. If this is the same angel, I might persuade the kami to work with you. He would be a trusted ally. We could talk through dreams to our people to find this Norseman. It would not make us any friends with the Norse, but it might with the angels." He looks to you all for agreement, and Ryuki is emphatically on board. Corat is letting Noda's smiles warm him, just a bit.

"Of course," Fukui says with a shrug, "if the Norseman just taking a shoreleave he will soon grow tired and return on his own." To Sunae, the wink and nudge are fantastically obvious, to the others you can still see it. "If he has a purpose, maybe not."

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Fukui looks between the two, thinking what to say or maybe just putting the words together to say it. Noda-san, the old lady, seems practically bursting with stories untold. "Well, we do owe you. And the demons did use our peoples' dreams to attack us. If this is the same angel, I might persuade the kami to work with you. He would be a trusted ally. We could talk through dreams to our people to find this Norseman. It would not make us any friends with the Norse, but it might with the angels." He looks to you all for agreement, and Ryuki is emphatically on board. Corat is letting Noda's smiles warm him, just a bit.

"Of course," Fukui says with a shrug, "if the Norseman just taking a shoreleave he will soon grow tired and return on his own." To Sunae, the wink and nudge are fantastically obvious, to the others you can still see it. "If he has a purpose, maybe not."

Sunae bows to him

"Fukui-san...thank you for your generous offer. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate any aid you could provide in this matter."

She then straightens and looks at the others

"We should go. I don't want to give the Demon a chance to escape, unless we still have a chance to take down the Habbie?"

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

"Of course," Fukui says with a shrug, "if the Norseman just taking a shoreleave he will soon grow tired and return on his own." To Sunae, the wink and nudge are fantastically obvious, to the others you can still see it. "If he has a purpose, maybe not."

"I doubt that the Aesir would be cutting deals with Baron Samedi just to let some schmuck visit the fleshpots of Earth."

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

Sunae bows to him

"Fukui-san...thank you for your generous offer. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say we appreciate any aid you could provide in this matter."

She then straightens and looks at the others

"We should go. I don't want to give the Demon a chance to escape, unless we still have a chance to take down the Habbie?"

Glen smirks. "Black Shuck has his scent now. We can find him and kill him at our leisure."

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Glen smirks. "Black Shuck has his scent now. We can find him and kill him at our leisure."

"I say we do both. For all we know, he's trying to open the way for the others to get here. Perhaps Fukui-san's allies can help discover their plan?"