[She tenses in surprise when Mars wakes up, her eyes darting to the sides of the bed as she makes a quick decision of just how far she might be able to book it out of here before Mars realizes there's someone else here.
(Not far, she reasons logically, and internally she sighs.)
So now what did she do?
Apparently she doesn't have to do much because the hand taking her own snaps her back to reality. She stares blankly at their joined hands, hesitating, before her fingers curl uncertainly.]
Ah-- [Yuri blinks and stares openly, the tops of her ears going red, but now's hardly the time to get lost in a pretty girl's eyes. Mars reminds her of Hisoka, firm and reassuring, a memory of arms around her shoulders and murmured pleas in her ear to keep living, to hold on just a little while longer and giving her a place in the world again.]
I'm not-- Afraid. Exactly... [It's sort of a lie. She wishes she knew how to cry again because it feels like it'd relieve some of the guilt she feels, but instead she pulls her gaze away from Mars' and examines the bedding like it's suddenly very interesting.]
I... I'm sorry. If you hadn't tried to help me, you wouldn't have di-- [It feels strange to say it and her voice catches oddly, but with mild frustration at herself (really, Yuri, you were living on a mountain full of ghosts who'd died from suicides, and you're getting worked up over this?) she continues on] Died. They needed you.
It’s not your fault. And it’s not something you need to apologize for. Yuri. I helped you because it was the right thing to do. I couldn’t ask you to send all those spirits by yourself, and what killed me would have gone through my defenses and gotten me even without me helping them. It was hostile and I was stupid enough to forget to ward against other kinds of attack. I made a mistake. [She pulls away enough to give Yuri a very stern look.]
And I did the right thing. So did you. Those boys are alright. [She smiles wryly.] One of them is Merlin, you know. The Merlin, King Arthur’s personal wizard, only younger. If anyone can find a way out of there safely? It’s him. So don’t worry. About them, or me, or any of it.
[A swallow.]
Seriously. This isn’t the first time I’ve died. It’s alright. I really am okay. Honestly, I feel better than when I went in. What about you? Anything hurting?
[You'd think she'd be used to being Hero Speech'd at after hanging around people like Rock Lee, but you'd be tragically wrong. She's a bit baffled by the extent Mars is going to to reassure her-was she really worth that effort? Clearly Mars seemed to think so, and Yuri felt a twinge of... Something. A desire to live up to standards being set by people who clearly saw more in her than she really did herself. Even someone who'd only known her for a couple of hours.
That Merlin, huh? She'd expected someone much older with a huge beard and all, but the 'only younger' part explains that. Everyone started out young, even wizards of legend.
They would be okay. They'd have to be. And hadn't their own revival proven that even if it went wrong, it'd still be okay in the end? Something like that. Still...]
They're going to have a hard time without us... [Boys... She's not very confident in them doing this on their own, but it's not serious. She's sure they will be alright and have some information to bring back. Hopefully.] At last Yu-san is with them. He seemed level-headed. [Someone like Hyoubu on the other hand not so much.
They might be doomed.
Yuri's eyebrows furrow slightly (not the first time she'd died? Here, or back home? Or both?) and she shifts her weight a little to take stock of how her body responded.] I'm alright. A little stiff, and tired-- like when you nap for too long and don't really want to get back up. But I don't think there's any side-effects from... dying and being revived. [Some people did though, so she's relieved to have been spared that.]
[Well, in fairness, Lee isn't a shoujo heroine and the kinds of things he preaches aren't anything like the kinds of things Mars might. The young-seeming woman just meets Yuri's eyes openly and without reservation. Letting the girl go, Mars rises to her feet and stretches almost lazily, popping her neck and rolling her shoulders to shake off the weight of several days of inactivity.]
They're boys. Of course they will. But I have faith in them. Yu as well, though he's a bit thick-headed at times too. [There's a look to the door, and then a quick shift of energy within Mars...and she's replaced by Rei. Shorter, in a plain red sundress, with a less commanding aura. She's still lovely, strong seeming, and possesses the same eyes, but the pressure that pervaded whatever room she was in was gone. The weight of the divine lifted, Rei Hino shakes out her hair and smiles genially.]
It doesn't seem like it. [A beat.] You'll do me a favor and keep my identity secret, Yuri-chan? [A bow, because she assumes that she can trust the girl, since they did die together and all.] My name...my real name...is Rei Hino.
[Yuri lets out an amused huff at Rei's commentary about the boys, but she doesn't have a chance to say anything in response before Rei's transforming back.
She remains sitting on the bed, staring wide-eyed in surprise at the reveal.] I-- Uh. [Words, Yuri, use your words. She blinks and quickly nods her head] Of course! I won't tell anyone, Hino-san.
I already introduced myself before, but... I'm Yuri Kozukata. [She finds herself staring t Rei for a long moment, just sort of marveling at the transformation.] May I ask... What was that? Who is 'Mars' then? [Besides, obviously, some alter ego of Rei's]
[Rei laughs at the word choice and pats Yuri on the cheek.]
Rei. Rei-chan, if you feel like being formal. Anyone who stands with me like you did can dispense with formalities. [She means it, too. Yuri is still not uchi, but Rei is more than alright with being addressed differently, given the circumstances of their meeting.]
Mars is a little complicated, but the simplest explanation is that she's who I was in a past life. The Goddess of Flame and War, guardian of Mars, and the ruler of that world. I'm her reincarnation, born on Earth, in Tokyo.
I... [Yuri huffs a quiet noise of amusement.] Yeah, I guess that's true. [Formalities sort of go out the window when you die with someone and all.] ANd you can just call me Yuri, then.
[Her eyes widen almost comically large at the explanation. A goddess? So was... was Rei a goddess of a sort too? And a queen of Mars on top of it? Rei certainly had the looks for it, Yuri would admit, and it felt a little strange to think of herself on a first-name basis with someone like that. Who was like that. Is?
Rei was right, this is complicated.]
Oh. [Is all she manages as she sorts through it in her head.] Is that why you were able to exorcise the spirits? Does that come with being a... reincarnation?
Fair enough, Yuri. [Rei's gotten more used to dropping honorifics here in Cerealia. Some people have earned the right, others have just fought beside her enough, and some of them are...like Illidan Stormrage...too alien to apply Japanese values to.]
That's not entirely it. I'm an onmyouji and a miko. I grew up in a shrine, and I've had spiritual and psychic powers all my life, even before I awakened as Sailor Mars. They are mine, but everything I can do with fire, and my other abilities? Those are from her. [She shrugs.] When I've changed, they're amplified though. I think she was also a spiritualist, but I don't know for certain.
[Yuri listens and hums in understanding; hr situation had been much different, and she hesitates when the question is turned around on her.
She frowns, considers how to answer (what should she say? How much?) before deciding that, again, dying together entitled Rei to knowing the truth. Or as much of it as Yuri could figure out anyhow.] The mountain I lived on had a long history of miko that lived on it; they were pretty important to the religion of the area. [She pauses but decides it's not relevant enough to go into details about that right now]
There was... [How does she describe this] A disaster of sorts, a massacre. THe miko all fled and the ones that did and survived settled in the villages around the mountain. I'm a descendant of theirs' I think, since I have their same powers.
But... I didn't really know about it until a year or so ago. I was... in an accident. And afterward... I guess the trauma triggered something... Because suddenly I could see and hear all these things and no one knew what I was talking about. [Which was traumatizing in and of itself] I'm still learning about it all, I guess.
So, your bloodline is tied to this specific school of...I guess it's probably Onmyoudo as well. Spiritual magic from our homeland, if the term is too archaic. Miko and Kannushi both used to practice that sort of thing. [Psychometry included, though Rei wasn't get good with that, herself. Not yet, anyway.]
That's actually sort of fascinating. Where exactly is this mountain? What prefecture?
Most of the miko are long gone now, and the shrines and the mountain sort of... fell into disrepair. [She hesitates and clarifies, a tad reluctantly (if only because it always sounds a bit crazy to say, though she's found most people accept it more readily here).] Cursed. The whole mountain was cursed. Anyway, I'm afraid I don't know a whole lot about it except what I've been able to find out on my own.
It's called Mt. Hikami, in Gifu Prefecture. [And possibly supposed to be Takayama?? It's a little unclear, thanks fatal frame.] I don't think you'd know it-- I haven't met anyone who does, I think it might exist only in my world. It's...a pretty infamous suicide spot now...
Cursed. [Rei mouths the word quietly, listening to the tale with some contemplation. That tracked, when something traumatic happened around a temple, the kami in the area usually lashed out or grew dark, and that made suicides a pretty common thing in those areas. In a rural area where that was the main shrine? That made even more sense.]
I'm not familiar with it, no. Gifu prefecture isn't a place I've really been to though. It's hard to travel outside Kanto all that often, right now.
[Given school, graduation, random monster attacks...]
It sounds, forgive me for saying it, like an interesting mystery. I...know it might sound strange and probably a little morbid, but I'm the outsider and that sort of thing is what I deal with regularly. [She lets herself shrug.]
You're still learning about your powers? May I ask what you've learned to do?
[The corner of her mouth twitches, a hint of a smile and she shakes her head] It's alright, i think it's interesting too. I'd been unraveling the mystery when I arrived here. I was going to try and break the curse, but... [She spreads her hands to indicate the place around her. 'Then I came here.']
It's interesting. I liked learning about the mountain and its history, the religion and the rituals... I don't know if it had an official name, but it revolved heavily around the water of the area. [Yuri doesn't talk about it too much normally, but Rei's someone who might actually understand it all better than most of Yuri's other friends. It's nice to open up to someone about it all, ad Yuri realizes just how much she's been dying (haha) to talk to someone about it.]
They're called kagemi and mitori. Hisoka--my teacher--her powers were weaker than mine, but she knew the kagemi techniques enough to pass on teaching them to me. I guess it's basically the same thing as psychometry-- being able to see an objects secrets by handling them and all. But I can also use an object to track who or what it belongs to. Hisoka made a business out of finding lost items and people using it. Even if I just have a picture of someone, I can track them down.
Mitori is... [Yuri trails off uncertainly, plucking at some loose strings in the blankets, eyes darting over the patterns for a distraction. At length she continues, tone reluctant] A bit like reading minds. Well, I say 'a bit,' but... I can read someone's thoughts, their emotions... Their memories. I have to touch them though, I can't do a true 'mitori' yet [i.e. actually just 'glancing' with her eyes alone] but it's what helped me with the spirits there. Touching a spirit lets me exorcise them, while also taking on their memories-- their sins and their secrets and everything. Their pain. I take that on, and then they can move on.
...It's what the miko on the mountain did. They'd watch people commit suicide and take on that pain so their souls could 'properly return to the water.' A way to die on their own terms without the stigma of suicide.
[Well, that's all well and good then. Rei can appreciate the other girl's curiosity, and it honestly only raises her esteem for Yuri. She smiles all the more warmly as the other seems to really open up, grateful for that. A lot of people seemed to want to close themselves off here, but it was clear that she had made an impact (hah) on Yuri, even though they'd only known one another for an hour or two of real time. She can even understand the reluctance, and absolutely relate to Yuri in that way.
And because of that, Rei reaches out to touch the hand playing with the blankets, opening the channel to her own emotional state. It's calm, collected, even a little bit pleased. This hadn't been so bad, after all.]
Shadow-Reading and Glancing, if I remember the English words right? Or does it use different kanji? [But setting that aside, Rei shifts her attention on the ceiling, laying back down on the bed to study the lines in it. A focusing exercise, to recenter herself. Because Yuri, she thinks, might be the first person to really understand what it's like to be Rei as a child.]
You don't need to worry about anything from me, Yuri. I...can read emotions and surface thoughts as well. Memories too, sometimes, but only if the subject is willing. It's, ah...difficult at times, isn't it? [For the first time, she seems to crack, eyes a little tired, almost haunted.] I couldn't control it when I was a child. I still can't, sometimes, unless I transform. It used to give me terrible migraines. And nobody liked being around me. Heh. Except birds.
[She shakes her head, eyes flicking back to Yuri's face.] It sounds like those shrine maidens were very, very brave, and incredibly selfless. Like you. It's...noble.
No, that's right. [She had the potential to do a true glance, she knew that much; Ouse had all but confirmed it. It was... scary. Before coming to this place, she hadn't wanted it at all despite Hisoka's reassurances and guidance. She wanted to be normal again, to get her friends back, her life back.
Here, she'd been training it on her own, taking jobs tracking lost items for people, all on her own. She was actively trying to use these powers now, to help the people she's come to call her friends.]
I'm still learning to control it too. When... When my powers first appeared, suddenly I could hear what people were thinking-- what they were really thinking and feeling about me. I... pushed away everyone. I Was so scared. I dropped out of school and ran away... [And fully intended on taking her own life just to make it all stop, but she doesn't go into that part. So she understands, really understands, and gives Rei's hand a comforting squeeze.
Yuri shakes her head.] It's different now. People don't think I'm so strange here-- compared to a lot of other people, I'm practically normal again. [She smiles thinly, like it's a joke (because it sort of is, sort of isn't).
Brave? Selfless? Noble? Yuri's eyes go wide and she blushes furiously, shaking her head] That's not-- I was just-- [Just doing a brave and selfless thing by taking on all those ghosts' pain?] It was... the right thing to do. I could help, so of course I would...
Well, yes. Here, even I'm fairly normal. [It is a joke, but honestly it's not a very good one, if Rei's smile is any indication. She accepted her duty years ago, and found purpose and a reason to use those powers, but it seems like Yuri didn't. Not until now, in Cerealia.]
And see, that's the kind of thing a noble, selfless person would say. I know a lot of people with powers like ours. And a lot of people wouldn't do that. I saw what you were willing to do. You were ready to take in all those ghosts, and...I suppose experience all those deaths...and you didn't ask for a thing in return.
[Rei leans closer, embracing Yuri a little bit more tightly.]
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(Not far, she reasons logically, and internally she sighs.)
So now what did she do?
Apparently she doesn't have to do much because the hand taking her own snaps her back to reality. She stares blankly at their joined hands, hesitating, before her fingers curl uncertainly.]
Ah-- [Yuri blinks and stares openly, the tops of her ears going red, but now's hardly the time to get lost in a pretty girl's eyes. Mars reminds her of Hisoka, firm and reassuring, a memory of arms around her shoulders and murmured pleas in her ear to keep living, to hold on just a little while longer and giving her a place in the world again.]
I'm not-- Afraid. Exactly... [It's sort of a lie. She wishes she knew how to cry again because it feels like it'd relieve some of the guilt she feels, but instead she pulls her gaze away from Mars' and examines the bedding like it's suddenly very interesting.]
I... I'm sorry. If you hadn't tried to help me, you wouldn't have di-- [It feels strange to say it and her voice catches oddly, but with mild frustration at herself (really, Yuri, you were living on a mountain full of ghosts who'd died from suicides, and you're getting worked up over this?) she continues on] Died. They needed you.
[They hadn't really needed her.]
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And I did the right thing. So did you. Those boys are alright. [She smiles wryly.] One of them is Merlin, you know. The Merlin, King Arthur’s personal wizard, only younger. If anyone can find a way out of there safely? It’s him. So don’t worry. About them, or me, or any of it.
[A swallow.]
Seriously. This isn’t the first time I’ve died. It’s alright. I really am okay. Honestly, I feel better than when I went in. What about you? Anything hurting?
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That Merlin, huh? She'd expected someone much older with a huge beard and all, but the 'only younger' part explains that. Everyone started out young, even wizards of legend.
They would be okay. They'd have to be. And hadn't their own revival proven that even if it went wrong, it'd still be okay in the end? Something like that. Still...]
They're going to have a hard time without us... [Boys... She's not very confident in them doing this on their own, but it's not serious. She's sure they will be alright and have some information to bring back. Hopefully.] At last Yu-san is with them. He seemed level-headed. [Someone like Hyoubu on the other hand not so much.
They might be doomed.
Yuri's eyebrows furrow slightly (not the first time she'd died? Here, or back home? Or both?) and she shifts her weight a little to take stock of how her body responded.] I'm alright. A little stiff, and tired-- like when you nap for too long and don't really want to get back up. But I don't think there's any side-effects from... dying and being revived. [Some people did though, so she's relieved to have been spared that.]
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They're boys. Of course they will. But I have faith in them. Yu as well, though he's a bit thick-headed at times too. [There's a look to the door, and then a quick shift of energy within Mars...and she's replaced by Rei. Shorter, in a plain red sundress, with a less commanding aura. She's still lovely, strong seeming, and possesses the same eyes, but the pressure that pervaded whatever room she was in was gone. The weight of the divine lifted, Rei Hino shakes out her hair and smiles genially.]
It doesn't seem like it. [A beat.] You'll do me a favor and keep my identity secret, Yuri-chan? [A bow, because she assumes that she can trust the girl, since they did die together and all.] My name...my real name...is Rei Hino.
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She remains sitting on the bed, staring wide-eyed in surprise at the reveal.] I-- Uh. [Words, Yuri, use your words. She blinks and quickly nods her head] Of course! I won't tell anyone, Hino-san.
I already introduced myself before, but... I'm Yuri Kozukata. [She finds herself staring t Rei for a long moment, just sort of marveling at the transformation.] May I ask... What was that? Who is 'Mars' then? [Besides, obviously, some alter ego of Rei's]
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Rei. Rei-chan, if you feel like being formal. Anyone who stands with me like you did can dispense with formalities. [She means it, too. Yuri is still not uchi, but Rei is more than alright with being addressed differently, given the circumstances of their meeting.]
Mars is a little complicated, but the simplest explanation is that she's who I was in a past life. The Goddess of Flame and War, guardian of Mars, and the ruler of that world. I'm her reincarnation, born on Earth, in Tokyo.
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[Her eyes widen almost comically large at the explanation. A goddess? So was... was Rei a goddess of a sort too? And a queen of Mars on top of it? Rei certainly had the looks for it, Yuri would admit, and it felt a little strange to think of herself on a first-name basis with someone like that. Who was like that. Is?
Rei was right, this is complicated.]
Oh. [Is all she manages as she sorts through it in her head.] Is that why you were able to exorcise the spirits? Does that come with being a... reincarnation?
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That's not entirely it. I'm an onmyouji and a miko. I grew up in a shrine, and I've had spiritual and psychic powers all my life, even before I awakened as Sailor Mars. They are mine, but everything I can do with fire, and my other abilities? Those are from her. [She shrugs.] When I've changed, they're amplified though. I think she was also a spiritualist, but I don't know for certain.
What about you? Where did your talent come from?
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She frowns, considers how to answer (what should she say? How much?) before deciding that, again, dying together entitled Rei to knowing the truth. Or as much of it as Yuri could figure out anyhow.] The mountain I lived on had a long history of miko that lived on it; they were pretty important to the religion of the area. [She pauses but decides it's not relevant enough to go into details about that right now]
There was... [How does she describe this] A disaster of sorts, a massacre. THe miko all fled and the ones that did and survived settled in the villages around the mountain. I'm a descendant of theirs' I think, since I have their same powers.
But... I didn't really know about it until a year or so ago. I was... in an accident. And afterward... I guess the trauma triggered something... Because suddenly I could see and hear all these things and no one knew what I was talking about. [Which was traumatizing in and of itself] I'm still learning about it all, I guess.
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That's actually sort of fascinating. Where exactly is this mountain? What prefecture?
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It's called Mt. Hikami, in Gifu Prefecture. [And possibly supposed to be Takayama?? It's a little unclear, thanks fatal frame.] I don't think you'd know it-- I haven't met anyone who does, I think it might exist only in my world. It's...a pretty infamous suicide spot now...
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I'm not familiar with it, no. Gifu prefecture isn't a place I've really been to though. It's hard to travel outside Kanto all that often, right now.
[Given school, graduation, random monster attacks...]
It sounds, forgive me for saying it, like an interesting mystery. I...know it might sound strange and probably a little morbid, but I'm the outsider and that sort of thing is what I deal with regularly. [She lets herself shrug.]
You're still learning about your powers? May I ask what you've learned to do?
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It's interesting. I liked learning about the mountain and its history, the religion and the rituals... I don't know if it had an official name, but it revolved heavily around the water of the area. [Yuri doesn't talk about it too much normally, but Rei's someone who might actually understand it all better than most of Yuri's other friends. It's nice to open up to someone about it all, ad Yuri realizes just how much she's been dying (haha) to talk to someone about it.]
They're called kagemi and mitori. Hisoka--my teacher--her powers were weaker than mine, but she knew the kagemi techniques enough to pass on teaching them to me. I guess it's basically the same thing as psychometry-- being able to see an objects secrets by handling them and all. But I can also use an object to track who or what it belongs to. Hisoka made a business out of finding lost items and people using it. Even if I just have a picture of someone, I can track them down.
Mitori is... [Yuri trails off uncertainly, plucking at some loose strings in the blankets, eyes darting over the patterns for a distraction. At length she continues, tone reluctant] A bit like reading minds. Well, I say 'a bit,' but... I can read someone's thoughts, their emotions... Their memories. I have to touch them though, I can't do a true 'mitori' yet [i.e. actually just 'glancing' with her eyes alone] but it's what helped me with the spirits there. Touching a spirit lets me exorcise them, while also taking on their memories-- their sins and their secrets and everything. Their pain. I take that on, and then they can move on.
...It's what the miko on the mountain did. They'd watch people commit suicide and take on that pain so their souls could 'properly return to the water.' A way to die on their own terms without the stigma of suicide.
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And because of that, Rei reaches out to touch the hand playing with the blankets, opening the channel to her own emotional state. It's calm, collected, even a little bit pleased. This hadn't been so bad, after all.]
Shadow-Reading and Glancing, if I remember the English words right? Or does it use different kanji? [But setting that aside, Rei shifts her attention on the ceiling, laying back down on the bed to study the lines in it. A focusing exercise, to recenter herself. Because Yuri, she thinks, might be the first person to really understand what it's like to be Rei as a child.]
You don't need to worry about anything from me, Yuri. I...can read emotions and surface thoughts as well. Memories too, sometimes, but only if the subject is willing. It's, ah...difficult at times, isn't it? [For the first time, she seems to crack, eyes a little tired, almost haunted.] I couldn't control it when I was a child. I still can't, sometimes, unless I transform. It used to give me terrible migraines. And nobody liked being around me. Heh. Except birds.
[She shakes her head, eyes flicking back to Yuri's face.] It sounds like those shrine maidens were very, very brave, and incredibly selfless. Like you. It's...noble.
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Here, she'd been training it on her own, taking jobs tracking lost items for people, all on her own. She was actively trying to use these powers now, to help the people she's come to call her friends.]
I'm still learning to control it too. When... When my powers first appeared, suddenly I could hear what people were thinking-- what they were really thinking and feeling about me. I... pushed away everyone. I Was so scared. I dropped out of school and ran away... [And fully intended on taking her own life just to make it all stop, but she doesn't go into that part. So she understands, really understands, and gives Rei's hand a comforting squeeze.
Yuri shakes her head.] It's different now. People don't think I'm so strange here-- compared to a lot of other people, I'm practically normal again. [She smiles thinly, like it's a joke (because it sort of is, sort of isn't).
Brave? Selfless? Noble? Yuri's eyes go wide and she blushes furiously, shaking her head] That's not-- I was just-- [Just doing a brave and selfless thing by taking on all those ghosts' pain?] It was... the right thing to do. I could help, so of course I would...
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And see, that's the kind of thing a noble, selfless person would say. I know a lot of people with powers like ours. And a lot of people wouldn't do that. I saw what you were willing to do. You were ready to take in all those ghosts, and...I suppose experience all those deaths...and you didn't ask for a thing in return.
[Rei leans closer, embracing Yuri a little bit more tightly.]
That's the textbook definition of selfless.