mp_strikinglyblessed (
mp_strikinglyblessed) wrote in
spirits_and_such_offices2023-09-12 10:29 pm
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Chapter 4: Cutting Algae Part One
Texting was a pretty neat function. It was widely adopted by every teenager except the one he, Reigen, had so generously gifted a phone to do it with. Mob was diligent to a fault about picking up his calls, but texting? Still a work in progress. Mob was getting better, though. After all, how else was Reigen supposed to give him a heads up about big jobs before the end of the school day? Excepting the occasional friendly lunch break chat.
That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.
Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.
'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?
That was of course assuming the phone was still intact. After their chat last night, Reigen wasn't so sure. It wasn't like Mob made a habit of texting him first.
Reigen squinted at the clock on his second-hand laptop he'd just replaced the shattered one with. 12:05PM. He had found a decent deal on one in a flea market but there was something off about the graphics. Parts of the screen were always slightly out of frame and most of his day had been spent trying to uselessly dink with the display options until it was righted, but instead he just ended up with a resolution that was too small.
'Ugh. New laptop, and if we're really unlucky, a new phone? I'll just garnish it...' Reigen pulled out his phone and fired off a text to his pupil. You didn't get washed away, did you? Your phone's still working, right?
no subject
"I've been thinking...there's quite a bit of similarity between prayers and curses. Don't you think so, Mob?"
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
The wind suddenly whipped at them as they emerged from the windbreak of the trees to the coast. It was still a walk over a large rock shelf before they got there but the castle was suddenly well within sight. Reigen took a deep breath — the smell of the seaweed was especially strong. They kept walking and the form of it manifested bit by bit through the sea mists. The closer they got, the louder the crashing waves did too. The tide was low but from the way it battered the rocks the threat of it rising and sweeping away any wanderers was clear.
“You know…despite it’s infamy, this castle inspires a sense of protection and duty in many people from the village. Let’s tread respectfully.”
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Kona-Zanshō Castle. There, in the mists, it had snuck up on him somehow.
It stood as the stormy coast's lone sentinel, rising up out of the rock, it's base carved from stone. He tilted his head far back to assess it from it's base to the tallest tower, silhouetted against the sun. Reigen was struck by how isolated it felt--it was like everything else around it had been eroded. Usually castles of this type had beautiful complexes surrounding them, but there were only faint vestiges of what once was.
The swooping roofing--the shikoro-buki, named for their resemblance to samurai helms--framed the windows that looked out in every direction. 'Like eyes', Reigen thought.
no subject
Mob reached out with his psychic powers, trying to penetrate the field of emotion he felt beyond it. It pierced through and was struck with a wave of anger as
"And angry," he added. "That's kind of strange, isn't it? Usually the sadness is buried beneath the anger. I don't think I've ever felt it the other way around."
Mob may not have the slighest clue about the emotions of other humans. Spirits were always easier for him to read.
no subject
no subject
no subject
"Of course. We're not going to do anything unnecessary. Once we find the source of the unrest, we'll resolve it. That's all." Reigen began his ascent up the the south facing-wall on the rocky foundation, step by step. The winds whipped at them harder the higher they got. Not only that, did the air feel thinner? That was absurd, of course. They weren't that far above sea level. Reigen tugged at his collar once when they reached the top to face the gate. Then, he walked through--and suddenly overcome with a sense of vertigo, he took one step back right out.
no subject
no subject
no subject
"I don't feel anything."
no subject
no subject
"Maybe I should go in first."
no subject
Luckily, the sense of dizziness was faint, then it was nothing at all. 'Heh.' As if some musty old castle could get the better of him for long. He turned his light on and shined it at the floor first--yeah, it was steady-looking--and then at the rest of the room. It was an antechamber, but notable was the scaffolding. So, that restoration fund was going somewhere...slowly.
The next thing his light fell on was a lot more attention-grabbing. Fusuma paintings greeted them, and he approached one to get a better look. Every one depicted a red-crowned crane. Despite the faded linework, the red at the top of their heads was as striking as a fresh drop of blood.
no subject
"I'm not sure which way to go," Mob said, though his feet continued to carry him forward. "Do you have a map? I might have an easier time if we're closer to the building's middle."
no subject
Finally, he peeled his eyes away and lead the way down to the Great Hall. It was there that the sense of grandeur now long-gone really sunk in and he had to pause to take it all in. The light caught shapes and carved out shadows. What he could see right away were the elaborated grid ceilings and silhouettes of the paintings on the walls. The floor was raised after a certain point, which was surely where the reigning shogun sat. Reigen fixed his light on that spot to catch glimpses of the tokonoma--the way the art and architecture came to frame whoever sat there was fascinating. Even after centuries had passed, the effect it had on him spoke to the castle's power.
'Sorry I called you musty,' Reigen thought. He was drawn to one wall in particular where the door had fallen through, and down that way was another hall. For whatever reason, without saying a word, he was immediately compelled to venture into it. Candles flickered to life wherever he passed, but he didn't even pause to look.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...