and maybe today we'll be fine

[beathollow]

Who: Kenkou and You
When: September 7th-September 10th
Where: Kenkou Dorms
What: we're being fine! so fine. probably. (not at all.)
Warnings: Familial abuse, regicide, hallucinations, various ailments of the mental health, frostbite, various ailments of being in the cursed with sick house, more tba

( we freed the kitchen, but can we free ourselves?


no. )

Comments

[brokenlance]

[he smiles, though it’s a little thin]

What’s important is that we all survived to tell the tale. It’s kind of you drop by - I’m sure you’re still getting your bearings of the place.

[demonvinegar]

[ actually this is part of his 5-step plan to getting people to like him and also shizun to talk to him more ]

It must be a very interesting tale... do you want to sit down? [ furi: go sit down so I don't feel too bad pestering a man with broken legs with questions ]

[brokenlance]

I suppose I should. Though these crutches give me my mobility back, it does tire me out quite quickly.

[he will sit on the couch’s armrest though. it’s easier on him to lower himself down and get back up when the seat is higher up]

You may call me Azure. Have you decided on a name to go by, for yourself?

[demonvinegar]

[ hesitates. his eyes darkening for just a moment... before he gives a congenial smile. ]

It's Gehou.

[brokenlance]

[…hm.]

Gehou… does it have any deeper meaning?

[demonvinegar]

The name was given to me by someone very important to me.

May I ask how you broke your leg?

[brokenlance]

[oh being named by someone important to you, that sounds nice <- ignorant thoughts]

Ah. Well, it was pierced by a pair of scissors wielded by the evil spectre in the kitchen. The force of it drove the blade quite deep.

[demonvinegar]

[ it is nice. it sounds very nice doesn't it. ]

A scissors-wielding evil spectre... [ he tries to recall if any of Shizun's books mentioned something like that. not off the top of his head. ]

A ghost? Or a demon? ... exactly how, and why, did your class come to fight something like that in the first place?

[brokenlance]

Quite simply, we were called to action. It may be that Kin'un will be summoned to do the same in the near future.

I lack the expertise to say exactly, but my guess is that it was a ghost. After all, it was invisible.

[demonvinegar]

[ some demons can be invisible, but he does get the sense that Azure wouldn't know the difference. nevertheless he nods. ]

So it was one of those "trials" I've heard of? How did you and your class manage to pass?

[brokenlance]

We freed the head chef from the bloody spectre’s grasp. I cannot say for sure if it was destroyed in the process or simply vanished - at any rate, it is no longer among us.

[demonvinegar]

But how did you defeat the spirit? Does someone in your class have access to spirit cleansing abilities?

[brokenlance]

Not that I know of…

In truth I cannot make sense of it. It seemed as though the spectre was readying a second wave of attacks even after we had exhausted its ammunition. Then Tiger Lily sustained extreme damage in freeing the head chef and - it seemed to disappear after that.

[demonvinegar]

... so could it be that after freeing the chef, the spirit disappeared on its own? Because you passed the "trial".

[brokenlance]

When you describe it as such... it makes it sound like the trial was one set by an outside force, rather than the spectre acting on its own.

[demonvinegar]

[ ... he folds his arms, canting his head to the side as he thinks ]

I have only just arrived here, so of course I don't know very much about this school and how it functions. Nor have I had the opportunity to speak to any of the spirits here. But when I was told this was a "school" I expected to find teachers. Someone to guide us and teach us.

I'm told there are no teachers here, but "trials". These trials... are they possibly trying to teach us something?

[brokenlance]

[Thinking...]

The last trial we were all forced to participate in was a 'test of courage'... but the voices that guided us spoke not in an instructional way, and but more in the manner of retelling a ghost story for children. I suppose one could glean lessons from any kind of story, but it did not feel like moralizing.

[demonvinegar]

[ look at us thinking so hard with our limited braincells ]

I've had experience with demons in the past, and their practices could be considered... untraditional. I wouldn't be surprised if spirits were similarly radical in their teaching methods.

[brokenlance]

[they're overheating]

Unconventional? How so?

[demonvinegar]

Well for one, they consider rotten human flesh a delicacy.

[brokenlance]

[his expression darkens...]

How fitting for such foul, twisted creatures.

[demonvinegar]

[ ah... yes, normal good people tend to have this reaction don't they. ]

Foul and twisted... maybe so.

They also tend to be colder towards their disciples and even their own flesh and blood. While they do still want to leave behind a legacy, they have more of a detached attitude towards relationships. Their world is harsh and unforgiving, and treating each other with gentleness and kindness may as well be setting themselves up to die.

[brokenlance]

[the way he's describing them...]

Forgive me, but you seem to be describing them as though they have social customs. Some form of community.

[are they not akin to rabid beasts???]

[demonvinegar]

... where I am from, they do. They have families. They have long proud lineages, and legacies they wish to pass on. Just like humans they experience hatred, fear, desire, even love.

Still, they're regarded as monsters. Many prey upon humans, and many more prey upon each other. And for that they are considered evil beyond redemption.

[brokenlance]

[this is a lot to take in...]

You paint a picture that is truly foreign to me. To be capable of such higher emotions, and yet - they cannot let go of their drive for predation?

Is there no desire within them to live peacefully?