The figure who called herself ‘Enenma’ smiled softly before speaking…
”Due to my other duties, I wasn’t able to work for Lord Wuguan to my fullest potential which was why I decided to quit my job working here” the woman in gray answered with, again, another smile.
(Fair warning : Both of you are unfamiliar with my actual style of roleplaying, so I’ll be explaining it in the easiest way I can)
(With all these characters popping up and things that are mentioned, not all of them are important to the ‘main story’ but most actions will be essential if you want to unlock a special interaction, a new ending to the story, and so on. As I do not have a fixed ending, everything you do has an impact on which ending your character gets, keep that in mind)
Koki made a small noise of victory, she had guessed somewhat correctly. "Cool, I like your smoke? Is it real or an illusion to cover your face? Do you sleep with it on? Do you sleep at all?"
The woman in gray was taken aback at first by the questions shot her way but decided to answer them in the end.
”It is smoke. It is very real and I have a personal reason as for why it is covering my eyes. Yes and yes” the woman answered in a calm manner, not at all showing an aggressive tone or action.
(I thought those spirits were called Enenra)
"That's really awesome Miss Enenma!" Koki smiled widely, her mouth open just a bit but closed afterward. She didn't want to bother the woman with more questions than needed.
(I thought those spirits were called Enenra)
(Thank you for pointing that out! No, that was not a spelling mistake. I purposely did that for a particular reason which you will find out soon :D [Long story short, play on Japanese words :P])
The woman tilted her head with a bright smile.
”Well, Koki, how do you like it here in this mansion? Perhaps it’s not exactly like home but… I want to know what you think of it” the woman asked and gave her own opinions. On her cheeks, streaks of red started to show and glow. They were in a beautiful, almost mystifying pattern.
"Erm, well, it's very big. The place where I lived was about the size of my room here, my siblings and me lived there." She started. "It's pretty?" Koki supplied, shrugging. She wanted to seem nice to the adult, hopefully she could stay here or anywhere in this place that wasn't with mean people.
The lady nodded.
”Well… sorry to break it to you but we’ll have to get into business” the woman stood up and stared off into the misty land of the afterworld.
”I am here to bring you to your ‘working place’ where you will spend most of your day…” the woman explained.
Koki nodded and straightened her back, coughing a bit of blood than wiping it away before it was visible. "Okay! Lead the way and I'll follow you, miss!" She exclaimed, clearing her throat to get rid of the cough.
Ryuusei had his head turned away when the blade came down, cringing a little at the sound of the iron cutting through flesh and the thud the head made on the floor.
Meaning of existence? He's asked himself this question many times. What was the meaning of his existence?
Living life at it's fullest? What life? Until now, he'd been way too busy ensuring his and his family's survival, with no time left for other things.
The meaning of fullest? He only lived for seventeen years, how was he supposed to know what that meant?
Satisfied with what he has? What did he have? Last time he checked he was dead, with nothing remarkable in his book. A deep sigh escaped his lips, as he looked up to the lord walking towards the sword on the pedestal. He'd done nothing big with his life, nothing at all. Aside perhaps, from helping a few people in need.
Those last words echoed in his head for a few seconds, making him realize something. He had done something big with his life. The lives he'd changed, the smiles he brought, all of these may have not meant a lot to him personally but it was a huge deal to others. That thought alone helped comfort him in a certain measure, bringing peace over his troubled thoughts.
Yes. He was satisfied. Even if it was just the thought that he'd helped change a life, he was satisfied with it
(regarding the name thing, did u mash up 'enenra' with 'enma'? cuz thats the kind of vibe im getting.)
(i was also wondering if in the future there'd be a moment with them sharing ghost stories. There's plenty of new japanese urban legends :">)
The woman nodded and started to walk out of the garden. Her pace was constant, a slow but not an unnaturally sluggish speed.
The place where she was headed was quite a large building with decorations of stone statues of many different spirits. It was not very far from the fourth court but it was hard to see due to the mist. The woman in gray opened the door for Koki as she gestured inside.
The lord picked up the sword and unsheathed it. He was unsatisfied with what he had even if he had more than others, to him it was not enough. He knew what he had to do. The lord took a deep breath…
.
.
—Pierce
.
.
The blade went through the man’s stomach. Blood came flowing out and staining the floors, giving out an unpleasant image.
(That would be correct! :D)
(Perhaps, I’ll have to see where I can slip that in first though)
The woman nodded and started to walk out of the garden. Her pace was constant, a slow but not an unnaturally sluggish speed.
The place where she was headed was quite a large building with decorations of stone statues of many different spirits. It was not very far from the fourth court but it was hard to see due to the mist. The woman in gray opened the door for Koki as she gestured inside.
Koki tilted her head and looked around the outside for a moment before entering, peering around as her eyes adjusted to being in a different room. Large building, statues… She was trying to figure out anything but figured it was better just to go with it.
Ryuusei watched the lord commit seppuku, even if it wasn't in the normal ceremonial way. Even though he internally cringed at the sight, he held his ground, watching the scene with a stern face. He was no stranger to death, nor did he fear it; but watching people die by their own or someone else's hand, it still made him shiver.
He felt like he somehow understood the lord's decision. He'd heard it from his father that rich people who were actually satisfied with what they had were very rare. Being a lord didnt always mean being happy - sometimes, the more you wish, the less you have
The woman in gray started leading Koki into the deeper halls of the building. She stopped at one point and turned towards the nearest door.
”Here is where the portal to the human world is at” Enenma stated, gesturing to the door.
”Hey hey… who do you think you are? I’ll help you answer that…” a voice originated behind Ryuusei as a hand grabbed onto his shoulder ”… a monster, that’s what you are…” the voice faded as well as the realistic hand which crept on his back.
”Where do you belong? Oh you know… any place but this human world…” the same voice spoke up, now in front of Ryuusei. It was not an illusion or so it seems, two gloved hands were actually in front Ryuusei. They were floating with no one in actual control of them.
The same voice laughed before everything went silent.
”Please… someone…” a young voice came behind Ryuusei.
”Someone… anyone…” the figure was a kneeling one with clothes torn and burnt, face with bruises and blood.
”PLEASE SAFE ME!! ANYONE!!! PLEASE!!!” the boy had cried out before he shouted and screamed into the dark which surrounded him.
”THERE’S A MONSTER!!! IT’S IN ME!! PLEASE!! SAVE ME FROM IT!!” the boy shouted out again with tears down his face, his voice growing crisper by the moment.
”I’M NOT A MONSTER!!” the boy shouted out before he broke, going back into a loud crying state which was followed by a scream into the dark void around him. The screams of the boy echoed around Ryuusei.
”I’m… I’m a human…”
Koki frowned and nodded, thinking. "Would my appearance turn back to normal if I went into the human world? Or would my hair, eyes, and hands stay the same? Would I seem solid there or like a ghost?"
The woman in gray shook her head.
”You will be invisible, but you’ll be able to touch certain things. Those things being living things” the woman answered.
Koki seemed to deflate.
"Oh… Will I be able to check on my family? I need to make sure they're all right." Her voice was so hopefull, she really care about her siblings.
”Definitely, you can even stay with them if you have free time but they won’t be able to see you though” the woman assured with a small nod.
”Don’t worry, your first mission doesn’t start until tomorrow” the woman in gray restated before Koki was to make some false conclusions as to what she supposed to do.
Koki nodded in response, looking thankful. "Alrighty then! What do I need to do today?" She was cheerful like her mood had done a full 380 turn. Her smile was wide and her eyes were shining with excitement.
The boy could feel his heart skip a beat the moment he felt a hand touch his shoulder. These were supposed to be illusions weren't they? They weren't supposed to be able to touch him, were they? Or was this the creature that created these illusions? Those disembodied floating hands were starting to creep him out. Just what kind of amulet did the judge use on him?
He could feel cold sweat dripping on his back when the young figure appeared, sobbing loudly. It broke his heart not being able to help the poor boy, even if he had been real. He wasnt an onmyoji, he could not exorcise demons even if he wanted to; still he would have wanted to soothe him, to do anything to stop the boy from crying. This trial was really trying to break him
The woman in gray shook her head before smiling.
”Today there’s no work or training, you can explore the place if you’d like to or if you would prefer it, you can head back to the mansion to take a rest” Enenma claimed.
Soon, the image of the sobbing and broken boy disappeared as the blackened room slowly faded as well, transporting Ryuusei back into ‘reality’.
”Alright, you’re done…” the tenth judge stated, setting the amulet down.
”Any questions on what had just happened?”
Ryuusei was still a little shaken by the events but other than that he was ok. He put down the knife and got up from the chair, his body a little stiff.
"Uum, yes, i'd like to know what some of those things meant.."
”Clarify what are those some things?” the tenth judge asked as he touched the knife and slowly picking it up. He fidgeted with the knife a bit whilst waiting for Ryuusei’s answer.
The woman in gray shook her head before smiling.
”Today there’s no work or training, you can explore the place if you’d like to or if you would prefer it, you can head back to the mansion to take a rest” Enenma claimed.
Koki thought for a moment before tsking at herself. "I'm sorry, I forgot to ask if you were the Judge I was going to be working with. I'm sorry."
The woman in gray shook her with a smile.
”Lord Taishan, the seventh judge, is currently doing some work in heaven and will be back tomorrow morning” Enenma answered. She turned towards the hall.
”A little fun fact, the two female judges; Lord Wuguan and Lord Taishan were the ones who built this place” the woman added.
"Okay! Thank you, ma'am!" Koki hummed in response, giving a thumbs up. "I'm going to explore a little bit if that's alright miss!" It seemed Koki was much more expressive with women than she was with men.
"Who was the sobbing boy?" he asked, feeling the cold sweat on his back. "And the lord who took his own life. Why wasn't he satisfied? And the voices and the hands, who were they? What exactly does that amulet do?"
He knew it was a lot of questions, but he just couldn't help himself.
Normally he would not have paid attention to those things, brushing them off like illusions meant to test him. But the words that were used, and the fact that those ghostly hands had touched him made his skin crawl and also curious about what had happened.
The smoke covered woman nodded and let Koki go her way.
There are four doors deeper into the hallway; one red, one blue, one black, and one white.
(You may into only two after this, meaning you’ll have to choose carefully. Each room will contain different things which can influence what will happen after this story arc)
”If you are talking about the sobbing boy in the last scene, he’s a tortured boy who was taken into prison and forced to believe that he had a demon inside him… this resulted in the boy being afraid of himself… the scene you saw was moments before the boy started cutting himself, wanting to get this false ‘demon’ out of his body… he soon died of blood loss” the judge answered with a sigh. He gestured his index finger a bit.
”I’ll change the topic to the voices and hands first. The voices were from the cult members who tricked the boy while the hands were of the boy’s own father who was a member of the cult. It is said though… that the boy’s brother managed to escape before the cult members caught him and it was said that the bloodline of this poor boy is still running through time…” the judge turned back to face Ryuusei as he sheathed the knife.
”The lord… I don’t know the true identity of that lord but from what I can tell, one’s greed couldn’t be contained and so it came out as sociopathy towards oneself”
