The Hikawa Shrine, for Seth, is a place of peace, a place of nostalgia. A place he seldom comes to, to pray and make wishes. He stands before a board, with a wish written down on a piece of paper, which he skims over.
Moment's pass and, finding what he wrote to his liking, the sign being a faint, sad smile, he grabs a pin and places it upon the board, his breathing becoming heavy from holding back emotions.
"Hello, mom", he whispers to himself.
Lacrima has many reasons to be here. One is more recent. 'How to lock away an evil tome for a long time'.
Does she want to be here? No. No she does not. Just stepping on properly hallowed ground is not having a pleasant effect on her. This isn't like the church in town. No, This feels..
She feels unwelcome.
Like a force is telling her politely to 'get out'. She ignores it, because it is not doing more than that, at the moment.
She's invited Jiaying along, in case she begins to go crazy-go-nuts while she risks coming here perhaps. Or perhaps Jiaying is coming on her own account.
She walks past the place, where people pin charms. And there's Seth. He's posting something.
She gravitates towards him and peeks over his shoulder. "Hello, Seth-kun." she says.
"How are you?" she asks.
"Are you asking for good luck?" she asks.
Jiaying Maki has no such reservations about the place. She's been here a few times. She's respectful, but she's far too familiar with the other sorts that come here too so it takes some of the mysticism away.
That said, she is looking at the statues again, her usual ritual of seeing if she can wake up any statue inhabitants. After her initial bouts of poking at things, she joins Norie in the shrine proper, spotting a familiar face. She doesn't say anything though, not right away at least. She doesn't think it's polite!
As for the tome, she's still insistant on burning it.
Maybe it's the fact that he's so focused on what's in front of him, so much at peace in this place, that he doesn't have a snappy reaction when he hears Norie's voice. Instead, still looking at the board, he first replies with a simple, 'No'.
A moment's pause. Then, comes the ellaboration, "Well, not just, at least. I'm wishing for my mother to be safe on the other side, and asking the kami to watch over my sister, to keep her safe."
Finally, he turns to Lacrima, "Hello, Norie-chan." He notices Jia is about as well, so he too greets her, "Hello, Jia-chan."
Lacrima head tilts. "Ah..." she says quietly as she thinks a little to herself.
"My brother... used to be bring me here. When I was smaller. He'd make silly wish charms for me. Embarrassing things." she says.
She head tilts. "Have you been okay?" she asks. "Has anything bad happened yet?" she asks.
She looks back at Jiaying and back at Seth. "Seth-kun was told to watch for dark influences." she says. "By a Miko here."
Jiaying Maki tilts her head left, then right, then left at the comment that a Miko wanted them looking for dark things. "Around here, that warning may as well be, "Watch for the sunrise." She shrugs, making her way over to the other two. "Or do they mean here specifically? Because I'd think that they'd have that under wraps. Maybe I could go fishing for something though." Beat, "I like fishing." Another beat, "Fish. I like fish."
She waves to Seth after, "Which one? Do you do the Western kind of deity? You're praying here so probably not." There's a brief moment and she asks, "Nevermind."
"Nothing wrong with wishing for something", Seth replies. "Especially if your wishes are selfless." He shrugs, "Have I been okay?", added with a hint of irony in his voice. "Oh yes, I've been fine. Every day or so, I have to dodge the occasional disturbance by dark influences; I seek to avoid them, but somehow, timing is just right to have them rain down when I'm around. Not a strong enough umbrella, I tell you."
On the subject of deity, he says to Jiaying, "I'm a Shintoist, Jia-chan."
And there's, a little off in the distance, a figure that looks at the three. More like staring, actually.
A figure only Jia can see.
Lacrima makes a note. Jiaying likes fish. There will be frozen fish in the freezer the next time Jiaying looks into the Manor's refrigerator. Not breaded. But frozen keeps better for long periods than fresh.
Lacrima can't see the figure.
She does purse her lips a bit. "Of course you like fish, Jiaying, you're a fox. I bet you like fish and chickens and lots of stuff like that." she says.
She head tilts back at Seth. "I don't know Seth." she says quietly. "When a miko makes a prediction, there may be no way to escape it. It may be better to embrace whatever than run from it and delay the inevitable." she says softly.
"I spent the good first few months of being what I am fighting it, and all it did was make me miserable. Not that I am not miserable now. But I am less miserable than I was in the past." she says softly.
Jiaying Maki looks to Seth and says, "Huh." is about all she offers to his comment about being Shinto. The figure off in the distance doesn't actually get her attention. What, she lives with a poltergeist and two others, not to mention a vampire and horror of horrors, a nerd. Stretching out, standing on her toes she shakes her hands out after and asks, "So what dark things have you had to dodge then?"
Looking to Norie after, she asks, "Eggs and chicken, fish sometimes. Chicken's better though. I've made no efforts to hide that though, have I?" She points to Norie and shakes her head. "None of that, destiny is a joke because everyone should have a choice, a chance." She then leans forward and pokes Norie, "And that's because you have friends who help, not because you do what it thinks you should."
Seth Locke looks at Lacrima. "I do believe said miko told me 'stay away from dark influences'; this means they can be avoided, somehow." He adds, "And wouldn't embracing whatever mean giving up?" He shrugs, "I can't afford that. I got too much at stake, here."
To Jia, he replies, "Well, let's see... Shadows, or Wraiths, or whatever you call them, crazy lady who turned a whole theme park into candy land, plus minions... Very vivid nightmares on a constant basis, one of which curiously had this unicorn girl and her dog helping me out..." He shrugs, "And did I happen to mention how my mother got infected by something over ten years ago and tried to infect me in turn before committing suicide?"
The figure off in the distance blinks and shudders, and all of a sudden is a lot closer; it's a woman, dressed in purest white, but on the area of her chest is a red spot, of blood spilled.
Lacrima looks at Seth as he talks about her mothing trying to 'infect' him and she frowns and purses her lips. "Infect...?" she asks as she head tilts. "What was.. she sick with..." she asks softly.
Suicide?
She purses her lips with a deeper frown. "Wraiths are nothing. There's many people like that who want to hurt others for fun." she scowls.
"I only hurt others because I need to, to feed." she snaps.
Jiaying Maki doesn't at all regard the ghost of what she's guessing is a murdered Miko. She might go about finding out the story though, but that's a ghost she won't mess with, what with holy ground and the supernatural may not mix too well. Besides, what's one ghost with visible wounds when she's lived with one as long as she can remember at this point.
Looking to Norie, she tilts her head curiously, "Do you have an idea about them?" Before running her fingers through her hair and tugging it into a loose ponytail. It was getting in the way!
"The official version? Cancer. The unofficial version? Something that defies common comprehension." He shrugs, "Unless cancer makes you thirst for other's... energy..." As his voice pauses, his eyes are falling upon Norie. "...Not entirely unlike you."
And this figure? It finally comes to settle beside Seth, a bloodied hand laid on his shoulder; ghostly blood is dripped where her hand touches, unseen by Seth and Lacrima.
Seth sighs, "Well, as poetic justice, why don't you hurt those who would harm others? This way, the good people of Tokyo could all sleep better at night." A moment's pause, "Provided, of course, you don't unleash any hounds of hell like last time."
He looks to Jia. "I guess Wraiths are pretty nasty, to drain people of emotions until nothing is left is an emotionless shell." He shrugs, "That's all I know..."
Lacrima frowns. "Wraiths? Creatures that feed on emotion. They like turmoil from humans." she says softly. "They have something to do with Puella Magi-- they drop... things they need." she says softly. "I don't try to mess with them. I like having what little I can still feel. Thank you." she says frankly.
She frowns and looks to Seth and blinks. "Are you saying she was a vampire...like me?" she asks curiously, blinking a bit. "You. You will tell me specifics. Now." she says matter of factly.
"--and don't give me that spiel. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find 'people who deserve it'?" she asks. "Like sure, sometimes you want a steak sandwich, but you'll need to settle for the taco bar because everywhere else is closed." she huffs.
She obviously can't see the ghost. She'd probably had asked Jiaying about it.
Jiaying Maki continues to disregard the ghost, it's not doing anything bad it seems like and being creepy isn't really a deal breaker for a huli jing. Head tilting to the side, then to the other she says to Norie, "I wonder if I can just grab a wraith and jam it into a tag." Beat, "I could sell it to them. Information or just pocket money." Beat, "Or just give it to them, not that I've met them." She finally just shrugs it off.
Arms crossed, she says flatly, "Locke, that's the same mindset that- nevermind." Looking past Seth to the ghost again, she asks, "If the hounds get out, someone has been messing wit- that shouldn't happen again." She says, turning to look at Norie.
The american boy quickly looks at Jia, "Nevermind what?"
To Lacrima, he clears his throat, "Well, this is all stuff that happened when I was six, but I do remember my mother grabbing me by the neck and jab a finger into my...", he touches this chest.
At this point, the ghost is glaring at Lacrima. There's a slight twitch of her hand on Seth's shoulder...
...And he's stopping to take his hand over to said shoulder. "My shoulder is a little sore, today...", he remarks.
Lacrima can't see the ghost so she doesn't respond to the glaring. She frowns. "I see." she says. That doesn't sound like anything that she's encounter before. She head tilts and wonders a little as she eyes Seth's chest when he points and then looks over to Jiaying.
"Doesn't sound like anything I know..." she says softly. "Dunno if that's good or not."
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "Nothing I can think of. Unless he's dead too, get me a chicken and some yellow paper and we can find out." She says that flippantly like it's a joke. Mostly. The shoulder comment gets an annoyed look and she says flatly, "Stop or I'm stuffing you in a tag." Like she's the sort not in the mood to deal with an angry ghost. Though it may be the locale again. There's a moment's thought, then she focuses on Seth again. "You're alive right?"
Seth looks at the snappy reark from Jia about stopping, and he doesn't get it. "I, uh... Stop what?"
Still to Jia, he frowns. "Am I dead...?" He smirks at that question, now looking between the two girls. "Well, my heart is still beating..."
He just can't say for how long, though...
Lacrima head tilts a bit as she purses her lips. "She's asking if you're undead." she says. "Like me." she nods. She head tilts. "Jiaying who are you talking to?" she asks...
"You're not...stuffing me in a tag?" she asks with a series of blinks.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "Not like her. More traditional. Are you a-" there's a moment of Chinese, then she just mutters. "If I throw rice, will you count it? Holy water and burning? That sort of thing!"
She looks to Norie after and says, "If I didn't stuff Sora in one, because that would have been hard anyway, I'm not stuffing you in one. One of the shrine's priestesses apparently died and haunts the place."
Seth Locke looks at Jiaying, and blinks. "Wait... Are those classic references to vampires you're talking about?" He chuckles, "Well, no! That never happened!"
The spirit looks at Jia's retorts, and is shaking her head when 'miko' is referenced. She points to Seth's written pleas on the board, and a picture above those pleas. The picture shows an asian woman holding a baby, with a young western child by her side.
It's the same woman that rests her hand on Seth's shoulder.
Lacrima frowns. "She asked me the same things when she found out about me." she says. "It was silly. Nothing like that works on me." she says softly. She head tilts and looks back to Jiaying. "I think it's traditional Chinese ghost traditions. Or something." she says.
"Is that right?" she asks softly to Jiaying.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "Closer to zombie than ghost I think." She shrugs and adds, "Seriously though, are you a zombie? She's a vampire, not a big deal." To her at least. What's one more creepy crawly thing. She fiddles around in her bag and draws forth a blank piece of charm paper and fountain pen and begins to work on something, occasionally watching her surroundings. "Easy way to find out."
The ghost's actions get a shrug, "Not one ofthe shrine's apparently. Still, if she doesn't let go, I'm going to get another charm out and the local priestesses can chase me around for a bit. Or the other fox would be better. Far."
First, vampire. Now... a zombie? In response to this insistence, Seth is now kinda leering at Jia. "Why, yes. I go about shambling for brains, but I prefer them stewed with soy beans and pineapple with a Dom Perignon." Beat. "Plus my thriller dance is awesome. More coordinated than most humans."
Add as a sidenote, it's amazing he says this with a straight face until the very end.
Then, he cuts back to the moment, "Before you want to jump to those conclusions, how about we focus on what can immediately be tested by simple examination?" He extends an arm. "Fell my pulse, check my temperature."
Lacrima frowns. "Those things can be faked. I know this for a fact because when I'm in 'disguise' I have a 'pulse' and a 'temperature' above freezing corpse." she says matter of factly. "It helps me blend in. Otherwise. Doctors ask questions." she says matter of factly.
"Easier that way for everyone." she says softly with a series of nods.
"But I think you'd know if you were a zombie." she says frankly.
Jiaying Maki looks to Seth and says, "You had a ghost or something worse fishing around in your chest." There's a pause and she asks, "What does he mean beans and soy beans? Who's Dom?" She then shakes her head and mutters to herself in Chinese before reaching out to try and stick the charm to Seth. He wants to be all touchy about it.
Looking to Norie, she nods and says, "What she's saying. I can also do some pretty neat things. So I'd rather just find out!" She's keeping it simple. She's also eyeing the ghost closely
"It's a sarc...", the boy's about to finish the sentence. But then...
A charm is pinned against his forehead. He remains silent, now, unmoving.
A moment passes, and still nothing.
Until the moment where he sighs, and motions to take the charm away from his forehead. "I think this habit is starting to get annoying. Seriously, the miko at this shrine has done this sort of thing before."
For what it's worth, the talisman did do something; the ghost lookes surprised for a moment, then blinks out of the area, as if it never was ther in the first place.
Lacrima head tilts and watches with a bated breath when Seth stands still and---
Nope. He's clean. There's a sense of relief there, slightly from Lacrima, though it isn't strong at all. She head tilts and does a little mental sweep of Seth. Mainly, maybe to confirm for herself...
No..he's clean. But...
She seems perplexed a moment as she looks over to Jiaying and then to Seth.
"Seth-kun, have you been feeling tired or wrong recently?" she asks curiously.
"Your energy levels are much lower than the last few times we've met." she says.
"In a big way." she says.
"Have you been attacked recently...?" she asks.
"I know I didn't feed on you... ever." she says quietly.
Jiaying Maki tilts her head to one side, then the other as she pulls the tag back and after a moment's consideration, slides it into her sleeve. She'll keep it for later, just in case. You never know when you'll run into a raging jiangshi creating problems after all! There's a beat then she sighs, that would be yellow and red and, maybe she used the wrong spell. It didn't stick though. Oh well.
"He was being harassed by the miko, don't care what it was pointing at." There's a pause, a shrug and a reply, "And I don't care what someone else did, I haven't tested it myself, so I wanted to test it. Why would they test you anyway?"
"I was tested", replies Seth, "because the miko believed I was an evil spirit after she got a vision, apparently relating to me..."
When Lacrima says this, Seth's look turns pale, "W-wha...?"
He closes his eyes, as if he's just been deeply hurt in his pride, his hands curling into fists.
"I have to go", he says. "I'm sorry, but I have very important stuff to do today still, and it can't wait any longer."
And with that, he hurries down the path leading outside the shrine.
Jiaying Maki shrugs and says, "She sounds like she was messing with you. I don't put any trust in most holy sorts, bad history there." She twirls her finger and adds, "Not that I wouldn't give them a fair chance." as she heads the other way, seeming to enjoy the lack of company as much as she enjoyed Norie's company earlier