1529/Berry Nice Church Chat

Berry Nice Church Chat
Date of Scene:	29 May 2016
Location:	Pikarigaoka - Old Church
Synopsis:	Norie calls Ikiko to come talk about her condition, about Ikiko's condition and drink Strawberry Juice Drinks.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, Ikiko Hisakata

---

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana sends a text to Ikiko Hisakata. It says: 'Please meet me in the church. I want to talk to you.' it says.

Norie Okana is more Lacrima than Norie right now, her hair is long, purple- along with her eyes- and her skin is pale. She hasn't shifted into the pretty dress-- remaining in her normal, floral buttoned shirt, with the red skirt and stockings and shoes.

She's walking along the perimiter of the chuch, stepping she seems to be staring into stained glass windows--- squinting, trying to see if she can't see beyond them. The content of the stained glass windows don't seem to be a bother to her.

Something about this is familar again but she just shakes her head and walks back to the middle of the aisle of the church after a bit and sits down.

With her, she has a white bag from a local convience store up the road just on the edge between Mitakihara and Pikarighako. It appears to be filled with things.

She removes a can of some sort of red berry drink, that smells like Strawberry and Cherries of some sort- opening and begining to consume it.

She appears to be waiting patiently.

On her left wrist is a new item, it's a bangle, inset with a combination of Midchidian runes and other odd runes that don't appear to be midchidian. It doesn't glow or meance, it just remains on her wrist.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata arrives with a small bag of high-energy snacks -- they're tasty, and with Norie's condition the last time they met, they might help as a pick-me-up afterwards.

Still, the text was for her, and not Ayana, so maybe it's not something about careful draining of energy. Only one way to find out...

"Hi!" Ikiko calls as she enters the church. She blinks a little at Norie's appearance, but just mentally shrugs and walks forward. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner; were you waiting long?"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana mmphs around the can and lowers it. She waves and motions to the spot next to her in the pew. "Hello, Ikiko-chan." she says softly. She places the drink to her lips again and takes another swallow as he places the empty can into her bag. She pulls out another can and offers it politely to Ikiko. "Here. If you want it." she says.

She waits, one way or the other, but continues to talk. "Thank you for coming. I've been wanting to talk to you about some things." she says softly.

She head tilts. "Well first, how is Ayana-chan doing?" she asks softly. "I've been waiting for her to get back to me. I've seen her once since then though. I had questions for her." she says softly. "She gave me answers. That's about it."

"I think I've made some decisions. Ayana said she was going to talk to you. I don't know if that's happened yet. But I wanted to talk to you too on the same issue..." she says gently.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Well, if you're offering..." Ikiko murmurs as she sits down, accepting the can with a nod of thanks. She opens it and takes a sip -- definitely tasty, although not an expected combination.

"Ayana's okay, although she's been having trouble with a cousin of mine," she finally mentions. "Or rather, my cousin has been having problems with her supposed boyfriend, and she's been taking it out on Ayana. So, Ayana's been having a lot on her mind, but she has mentioned a few things to me."

Ikiko takes another drink, then looks inquisitively at Norie. "So, what part did you want to talk to me about?" she asks.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana frowns. It's easy for her to frown. "I talked to her a bit about that. I talked a bit about her relationship with you, too." she says softly. "I don't know if I can feel love. I asked her how you two fell in love. She said something about your locket, and a bond. You two are lucky. I wish I could have something like that happen to me." she says softly.

She looks down. "I only really know how to feel sometimes because I remember what it felt like..." she says softly to herself. "I never really felt.. in love before. So I guess I'll never know." she admits softly. "I dunno. Maybe I will. It's so confusing." she says with a frump.

"Right.." she mutters. "That's now why I brought you here, to whine." she takes a soft breath. "I don't think I want to be human again..." she says softly. "I was confused for a long time. I wanted to be normal..." she says. "...but..." she says. "When I stopped fighting the voice. Things got really easier. I don't need to drain as much. I don't feel super frantic all the time. I don't feel 'normal'- but things feel 'right'." she says.

"...do you understand that..?" she asks softly.

"...I'm sorry. It's really hard to explain." she says.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata gives Norie a small hug. "It was basically living all of each other's emotions as one accelerated rollercoaster of a flashback, and it was really disorienting at the time, but thanks," she smiles.

There's a faint look of disappointment on Ikiko's face when Norie mentions not wanting to be human again. "Well, that's your choice," she shrugs, taking another sip of the drink. "But I do understand your feeling, even if I haven't had to make that choice myself."

She gives the vampire another hug. "Still, just because you have a legacy that others find monstrous doesn't mean that you have to live up to it," the diluted werewolf points out. "It's what you do with the abilities you've found yourself with that makes you a hero or a villain."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana frowns. "I can't be a hero." she says flatly. "I tried to help a friend... and all I did was attract more youma with my dark attacks. I'm a liability if anyone uses a positive energy attack. They burn and hurt me- like I'm being burned alive." she says.

"I drain energy. I try to keep to creepy boys at the moment. A friend helps me finds those." she says curtly. "But that's all I can do." she says.

"There's only two people who understand me. Ayana-chan and Riventon-san." she says softly. She motions to her bangle. "Riventon made this for me. It's an inhibitor. It slows down my energy usage- in theory. I just got it yesterday-- it's still being worked on." she says. "He promised to help me, and he is!" she says softly.

"Ayana-chan is helping me too. Gonna teach me how to drain energy more conservatorly hopefully." she says softly and looks down.

"I know those two don't like each other and why." she says.

"But..." she shakes her head. "If I can bring my energy usage down. If I can drain easier...." she says.

"Things will be more right!" she says.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata pats Norie's back. "Somehow I doubt that the world is going to run out of creepy boys," she remarks with a hint of a smile.

At the mention of the Riventon-crafted inhibitor, Ikiko eyes it warily. "Well... he's skillful at what he does, I'll give him that," she replies with a slight grimace. "Hopefully it'll help you with what you're trying to do with it!"

A recent bit of conversation pops into Ikiko's head. "Oh! Speaking of Ayana teaching you, she told me recently that she was able to get in touch with a friend of hers that might be able to teach you more," she recalls. "I think she was planning on talking with you about it the next time she met you, basically just bringing it up and seeing what time would work for you."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana eyes lights up. "Oh! Tell her to call me! We can set it up!" she smiles a bit. She's cold to the touch, she has a hard time reciprocating hugs, but she tries. She sighs a bit. She does purses her lips. "Creepy boys who try to pick up young girls in clubs, yes." she says matter of factly.

She head tilts. "Ikiko, how do you deal with being a wolf?" she asks softly.

"I mean. You have it easier than me and whatever's happened to me at least." she says softly. "Why is that?" she asks. "You don't seem to loose yourself or anything. Do you?" she asks.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"Will do!" Ikiko beams. The reciprocated hug is a bit awkward, but the sentiment behind it does help.

She ponders Norie's question for a few moments. "I think it has to do with the specifics of my lycanthropy and the Lycan Locket," she finally replies. "Normally, a werewolf has a full human soul and a full wolf soul inhabiting the same body. Being that crowded means that they eventually go mad, and seek outlets for the excess of soul. Biting helps with that, but it only transfers half of the wolf soul into the victim. Since each half can regrow into a full soul, that results in there now being two werewolves, and that's how the lycanthropy normally spreads."

Ikiko idly fingers her locket. "In my great-grandfather's case, he was using a soul-amplifier when he fought the werewolf," she continues. "He was bitten, but the fragment of wolf-soul was too outnumbered to cause him problems, and when he took off the locket the wolf soul was shrunk proportionally with the rest of his soul, leaving it much too small to grow into a full soul. That touch of wolf was apparently passed down through the generations, and while it does have some influence, I'm much more human than wolf."

She gives Norie a shrug. "I think it had some influence on me the first time I henshined, but that was an accident caused by inadvertently activating the Lycan Locket as I was starting to fall asleep. I thought it was a dream at the time, and just went along with the logic of dreams... but I wound up discovering that I was still awake, and had managed to transform!"

Another sip of the drink. "My henshins after that were much more deliberate, and while I listen to my lupine instincts for hints and agility and that kind of stuff, overall I'm in control." A pause for thought. "Well, other than growling at enemies when I'm really mad at them, but that's minor."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana listens intently. "So... you're a little bit werewolf, but not completely, and that locket let's you express it." she says softly. She nods. "--and it's passed down in the family. Okay." she says softly. She head tilts a little as purses her lips. "So you're in control. That's good." she says.

"I..." she bites her lip. "Ayana-chan said I should tell you my story. What I know." she says softly. "If I tell you... can I trust you?" she asks softly as she looks intently.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I'm kind of having to learn as I go, since the locket wasn't used since my great-grandfather beat the werewolf decades ago," Ikiko admits. "But yes, that's about the size of it."

She gives Norie a nod. "I'm not one to talk about the problems of others unless the person gives me persmission to," she states. "If you tell me your story, I might be able to find things that might help."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana takes a deep breath. "Sometimes I have dreams. One of these dreams are... I dream about the 'being' that had this power before me. I know there was another." she says. "I've seen a vauge timeline of his life- but I do not know when it happens- or over the course of how long. I know it takes place in Spain." she says softly.

"A man wanted power. So he used a ritual to summon power into him. I don't know the specifics of this ritual. He turned himself into a Vampire of sorts. Like I am. Like me, the power named him. Poderoso. Or Powerful. He wanted the power- so it named him as such." she says softly.

"I know after this he obtains power over something. I'm not sure. I often dream of a picturesque manner- with walls and designs like in here. It's why I feel 'safe' here, I guess." she motions. "It reminds me of these dreams." she says.

"Through these dreams, I learn things. How to throw dark energy. How to float if I want. How to control my transformation and disguise. How to teleport. How to feed. Things like that. It's how I learned." she says.

"Sometimes I have a dream still about such actions." she says. "Though the last I had was five months ago, when I learned how to hypnotize someone." she says.

"Eventually, I get to his death. He was strong. He could 'resist' purification outright- and apparently, someone had enough of him. They used... a necklace." she motions to her neck. "To seperate his power from his body. This caused him to-- well. 'die'? Vaporize. Turn to dust. Like. Someone knocking over a sandcastle, really." she says.

"I don't know anything after that. All I know is. The necklace makes it here and I guess whatever seal it had broke and it latched to me as it's new owner. It turns me into this, and it names me 'Lacrima'..." she says disdainfully a little. "...because it knows it'll make me sad." she says. "I vaugely know how to use the necklace for my own purposes. I can use it to store energy-- like a canteen, so I tend to keep a little in there, for an emergency." she says. "The necklace isn't important to my current existence otherwise- but I keep on me for obvious reasons." she says curtly.

She crosses her arms and looks down. "So that's what I know." she says softly.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata listens attentively, taking the occasional sip of the drink. "Huh," she says when the story comes to a close. "Well, now I know what you know. Thank you," she smiles.

A name, a place, and some details about the previous owner's defeat -- it might not be much information, but at least it's a start towards finding out more about the necklace's history. And Ikiko might be able to look some of it up, if it happened to be recorded in the annals of the Curse Hunters.

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana nods. "If you learn anything... please let me know." she says softly. "Knowing more would help." she says softly. She looks down again uncomfortably. "The voice hasn't been bothering me since I started taking it's advice. I still talk to it occasionally, but only when I'm in the Dusk Zone, or the occasional dream. It doesn't goad me anymore though." she says.

She opens another can of berry drink and begins drinking as she closes her eyes while she does this.

"...Sleep is strange for me now." she admits. "I know I need it. But it's strange." she says. "Dreams... and omens." she mutters.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata tilts her head; if her phantom ears were more visible, they'd be perked up. "What kind of omens?" she asks. "Even if they don't seem to be related to your necklace's past, knowing about the omens might still come in handy for other things."

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana shakes her head. "Bad feelings. Sometimes I dream of shapes that seem familar. I can't tie anything to something important. It's like how places like this make me comfortable or I'm grasping for a feeling I can't quite understand." she says. "Riventon-san says I should question these feelings and my 'voice' often." she says.

"I guess I can ask the voice what it is. But I have a feeling I won't get an answer. I don't think it's an entity." she says. "or truly a being. I wish I had a name for it. It used to be that..."

"I'd talk with it in my head. Like. In my old voice. How I /remember/ how I used to sound--- then it'd argue with myself." there's a soft uneasy pause. "I haven't heard that voice at all since I gave in." she says more honestly.

"I...guess I make it sound like I gave up. I dunno if that's the case. I don't think of it as giving up. Just accepting a truth I kept pushing away. It costs me a lot of energy to 'be Norie', I had to work very hard to 'be normal'-- and it was causing massive energy drains and causing me to act spastically, because when I'm in 'emergency mode' I'm wide eyed and panicy. But.. no one else I know has to 'spend energy' to be themselves- or try very hard to be normal." she says. "Even people like Riventon, who can freely be themselves or- who they 'really are'." she says.

"So I dunno about Omens, or the things I see or the odd feelings I feel sometimes about places or the voice. I just..."

"Is it okay to 'just be Lacrima'?" she asks. "To accept that? That whatever Norie was is just a disguise I wear? Even though I still also feel like I'm Norie...?" she asks silently.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
There's a long pause as Ikiko considers this. "I'd almost say that you're both Lacrima and Norie," she finally remarks. "Lacrima is what you are -- an energy vampire with other dark powers -- and Norie is who you strive to be: a person with concern for others, who tries to protect their friends and not feed too fiercely while trying to survive."

She gives the vampire an encouraging smile. "Even if your dark powers limit how much of a hero you can be in a fight, I'm sure that you can be Lacrima and still be a good person, thanks to your inner Norie-ness," Ikiko beams. "And who knows -- maybe someday you'll discover something that you can uniquely do that helps to protect people!"

Norie Okana has posed:
Norie Okana wraps her arms around herself. "I don't know if I can be both." she says softly. "I guess that makes sense." she mutters. "But I guess I'll never really know one way or another unless the voice tells me. But-- I'll try thinking of it that way. If the voice starts nagging at me... I'll try something new." she says.

"The voice never... puts me down?" she asks. "Like it doesn't chide me for--- drinking or eating even though I don't need to. Or helping someone that's fallen down. Or letting a chance to feed go if I don't need to feed at all." she says.

"So I'll try that." she nods matter of factly.

She softly leans over and gives Ikiko another hug. "Thanks for listening Ikiko. I hope we don't need to fight someday." she says, letting go fast.

"I just. Wanted to talk to you. About things. Because Ayana said I'm better off talking to you about some of this." she says. She takes the empty cans and places them into her bag.

"Um, I won't take up any more of your time." she says gently. "Do you need someone to see you home or will you be okay?" she asks gently. "It's probably gotten late outside. I think I'm going to walk home today, instead of teleporting. I want to think a little, about what we talked about." she says.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata hugs back, then finishes her drink. "I should be okay getting home," she smiles to Norie. "And in a pinch, I could always turn into Tsukiko and make my way home that way."

She gives the vampire another hug, and one more encouraging smile. "I hope I was able to give you something helpful to think about! And I'll pass the word on to Ayana about getting you in contact with that other teacher," she remarks before heading towards the door. "Take care, Norie!"