WEEK FIVE MINGLE

[grigori]

nerak: week 5 mingle at your service

25 Remain

Waking up this morning will reveal some unfamiliar surroundings. While Camebit had an autumnal chill in the air, things are a little different, now - the air is frigid, and waking up is an adventure, considering you are swaddled to the nines and cozied right up to your roomie of the week (where you have one, anyways). Everything around you is made of ice and packed snow, fogged glass and porcelain, and it is freezing. Who thought this was a good idea? Even the brisk chill of Camebit in the skies above everything was more forgiving than this! This isn't a transition! Whose manager can you speak to..?

About that.



You have to trek out of the lodging, and over into the building made of actual wood and stone, to actually see your Watchers of the week. They're all dressed in their full cloaks again to combat the chill, even in this building, although both Rameel and Satariel are standing much closer to Yomiel than they usually do - much like they had in Ahnkeen, actually.

"Good morning and welcome to Nerak! If you've ever wondered what it was like to stay at an ice hotel, then you're in luck!" Rameel says with moderate flourish as they make sure to keep close to Yomiel—their daemon currently not found anywhere near them as they make the announcement. Looks like they're without their black box of musical wonders this morning.

While the other two Watchers press close, Yomiel's daemon has wrapped itself around their neck like a polecat scarf. Warm. Arm cradled gently against their chest, they pause to glance at Satariel before greeting everyone. "Try to be careful. The ice can get slippery, especially when you're all looking like that and leaving a mess everywhere you go." Whatever that means.

Satariel seems a little more subdued than usual but offers everyone a smile, daemon bear-shaped against their back, large head peering around at everyone while they take in the travelers that come to join them here in the hotel lobby. Their cloak is completely closed around them - not even the front of their dress can be seen, and they're clearly holding it tightly shut. "Please be nice to the hotel staff - if I catch any of you being rude to them, I'll kick you clear across the tundra before sticking you in their outdoor 'jail' for timeout. We're guests, but they're working hard to accommodate us, alright?"


With the new week, travelers will find that they no longer the adorable animal features they did in Camebit, but something much less cute. Injuries from their pasts have come back to haunt them, major or minor, and they cannot be healed. The good thing is that they don't seem to hurt or really take a toll on the travelers at all - at least, not until they're touched, and then both you the other will feel the pain from the moment the wound was inflicted. This effect lasts all week.

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Comments

[aono]

So uh. Yukio sent me a letter but he forgot that I can't understand his cryptid talk.

[Cryptic, Rin.

But he shows a letter to the group:]

Regarding the conflict in our world: If Lucifer, King of Light, fought Astaroth, King of Rot, which demon should you support for the safety of Assiah? Assume for a moment that Sir Pheles, King of Time, does not exist. Consider all options. If you have trouble with this homework assignment, you can ask others for help.

['all' is underlined three times btw.]

[senjinrouha]

...

You don't have to support either of them if they both suck?

[aono]

That's what I wanna say! But I don't know if that's what Yukio means.

[senjinrouha]

From the way you're describing them, they all sound like they suck. But he's implying you should be supporting someone, a demon or I guess in this case, an angel, for the safety of humans?

[aono]

I thought that was supposed to be Mephisto! That damn otaku is a piece of shit but he's actually helpful sometimes.

[booksleeves]

[Oh, hmm.]

Um. Is he trying to get you to remember something that actually happened? Are you familiar with Lucifer, King of Light and Astaroth, King of Rot and Assiah? I think he's trying to suggest there's a third option, and trying to jog your memory of what it might be?

[aono]

Astaroth tried to gut me with a knife before my powers woke up. He's an asshole and Rot is horrible and will kill people quickly.

But Lucifer is even worse. You think he means well but his nice words hide dangerous things.

...also Assiah is just another name for the Earth where humans live. Gehenna is where the demons live. I guess it's hell?

[booksleeves]

Mm, so they are both awful choices. You wouldn't want either to win.

[Hmm. If that's all he meant, though, surely he would have just said that.]

What if, rather than try to think of what Yukio-san meant, you tried answering the question honestly? If you were in that situation, what would you do?

I might consider . . . letting them weaken one another with their fighting, so we can do away with whichever manages to survive.

[aono]

That...honestly isn't a bad idea. Maybe that's what he means?

-oh yeah! Since I'm fire, I'd have an advantage over Astaroth. Fire beats Rot. Dunno if that changes anything.

[booksleeves]

[She tilts her head.]

I'm not sure that exactly applies to this situation, but perhaps it's still the right way to think of it. If there's one that we have an advantage against, that's the one we would want to win. . .

[escardos]

Oh um...

[ ehhh ]

That's like... demonology stuff? My Professor taught us a bunch about the Kabbalah and stuff. I think Assiah is kind of like...the human realm? It's, uh, the Earth, I think! So I think he's asking which Angel would you support for the safety of humanity? And to think really hard...you don't have to support either of them.

[ a pause... ]

Either that or your brother got really into Dungeons and Dragons. 50/50.

[aono]

That's like asking "do you want a slice of pizza or to get slapped in the face" you know.

[escardos]

No, it's like "do you want a slice of pizza that has been poisoned with cyanide or do you want to get slapped in the face by a bear" and you say "actually, I just want to go to the movies".

[perfectdistance]

[What's a movie?]

[aono]

Can we feed the cyanide pizza to the bear?

[rerouter]

Hm... Why don't you walk us through what's happening in your world? If he's specifically referencing that, it must be something both of you know, but it just isn't immediately obvious to you.

blue exorcist spoilers

[aono]

Uh...well, Shima's older brother just got married...they have a baby on the way too. And then Yukio and I just turned 16 like a few days before we showed up here...

[Thinking...thinking...]

...oh yeah! Lucifer is running the Illuminati to...actually I don't know what he's trying to do exactly, but it's probably bad because he gives off terrible vibes and the Illuminati tried to use zombies to kill us all. And they keep showing up to steal demons here and there for something.

Oh, and a portal to hell just opened up and now there's a shitload of demons everywhere and it's kinda bad right now. I don't know who did THAT one though.

[veraltwin]

[Rin we are going to have a talk about how to tell a coherent narrative at some point.]

[aono]

[He fails most of his classes unfortunately, this is normal for him.]

[rerouter]

[...

She's. Nodding along. Smiling politely.]

I see. Give your friend's brother my congratulations, okay? [It was irrelevant? But proud of them!] Anyway... Why not backtrack a little, Rin? Yukio presented a clear scenario. If the King of Light fought the King of Rust, which demon would you entrust the safety of your world to? Of course, the King of Time isn't an option. He doesn't exist in this scenario. So, who does that leave us with beside the first two kings?

[aono]

Uh...honestly they're both shitty and I wouldn't trust either of them. I'd rather just beat them both and not have to deal with them.

[yueshen]

[ mii music.mp3 ]

... why are there so many kings...

[ why does christianity get even MORE confusing ]

[aono]

They're all, like...Satan's kids I guess? And they're all good at a different kind of magic. Dunno why they're called kings though.

[yueshen]

...I see.

[ he doesn't. ]

At any rate, I agree with Susato's assessment - that there must be a third path where you choose neither.

[aono]

Don't you have any insight into this?

[He's not directly calling XL out for his religious knowledge, but he kind of is.]

How would you deal with two demons trying to destroy the world?