That Pesky Little Issue of Guilt

[misery_hates_company]

Who: Misery. First half is private, second is OPEN.
Where: Misery's apartment in Libra; later, the library in Aquarius
Summary: When your conscience begins to resurface in your dreams, the simplest answer is to simply cut the problem off.
Warnings: Violent flashbacks
[PRIVATE. A Dream...]

"Miserable little creatures, aren't they? Living pointless little lives in pointless little ways, never once caring about anything besides their simple little needs. Useless."

***The creatures approach their front lines
Their massive forms bringing down soldier after soldier
into bloody messes
Such warriors were once called 'berserkers'
But for them, perhaps 'victims' is a better term***

"But see, look how much more useful they are once they eat the red flowers! No more pesky thoughts, no more 'peaceful desires.' Just pure bloodlust. The perfect soldier. Don't think, just destroy."

***The mechanical men came and destroyed
Their only target was the one who controlled
But nobody told them which of the creatures were his
and which were their own
The blood ran through the fields, the ponds, the caverns***

"And this crown lets me use those tools. A truly marvelous gift, don't you think? It's really a shame you never got to use it yourself, but... well, there are worse situations to be in, don't you think?"

***destroy destroy destroy destroy***

"Oh, absolutely Master!"

------
[PUBLIC; THE LIBRARY]

That man had been right about one thing, at least; the creatures weren't worth caring about. They WERE aggravatingly simple, and she'd hated every one of them. Why she was dreaming about them now of all times was a mystery.

No... maybe not so much. Maybe dear "Uncle" wanted to make sure she remembered the cost of that power, made sure she would never get to use it freely. She hadn't even ASKED for that power. Not anymore. And now she was getting dreams, and uncomfortable... feelings.

Bothersome. She won't be able to move into the future if the past keeps nipping at her heels.

She'd have demanded someone else on the comp to give her information, but it'd be tantamount to a confession. So she decided to bite the bullet and go to the library, hoping for texts on some of the demons. Any demons.

Dream demons.

After all, diseases needed cures.

Comments

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

In the library, a bespectacled girl was rather stereotypically poring over a haphazardly organized pile of books. By convenience of fate - or just the coincidental fact that Latooni was naturally interested in learning about the other residents of the city and was too cautious to talk to them directly - most of said books were about demons.

Latooni looked up from her reading table when she heard someone approaching, blinking a couple of times to refocus her vision. "Sorry," she said in a polite library whisper, "did you need one of these books?"

[misery_hates_company]

She eyes the titles. Damn, there's a lot of them. It's hard to say which one will give her the results she's looking for. "Depends. Are any of them worth anything at all?" she asks. No sense in reading vapid, pointless materials.

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"Some of them seem to be folklore, and I don't know how accurate that is. The more modern books are probably more useful for the demons around the city, but I wanted to get a basic idea first," she said, pointing to a small pile of newer hardcovers supplemented by plastic-covered magazines.

[misery_hates_company]

She tsks. "Don't go writing off the folklore too much. Sometimes they get things right that people whose head is too stuck in this high-minded 'science' rubbish have fly right over their heads." She flits over to the piles, browsing. "Though I wonder how many of them have actually manifested."

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"What's wrong with science?" Latooni asked. She wasn't concentrating too hard on the question, more focused on absorbing information about things she'd seen around here. Especially the fairies.

[misery_hates_company]

"Science gets too caught up in the technicalities. In what they think is supposed to be 'logical.' Logic has no place in the understanding of the supernatural. It just gets in the way of things." She begins flipping through the books.

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"But without empirical analysis, how can you understand something at all?" Latooni continued, entirely earnestly. She meant no disrespect to magic, she was just curious.

[misery_hates_company]

She smiles slightly condescendingly. "Oh, dearie. You just KNOW. That's all there is to it. Of course, there's something to be said for the wisdom of the ages."

Inwardly, she's conflicted. THAT MAN had been all about 'empirical analysis.' But there's something about this woman that feels more honest, more... innocent, in a way. Then again, sometimes the innocent ones are the most potentially dangerous.

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"Just knowing...so, you know how it works intuitively, and studying it just helps?" she asked, a little nonplussed - she can tell when someone's being condescending, after all. "I guess there are things like that even in my world, but even people without powers like that try to understand them."

[misery_hates_company]

"Exactly! How do you think folklore evolved? Certainly not by putting it under the knife. In fact, sometimes thinking too hard about it just makes things WORSE." For example, sometimes it makes you want to try to find ways to tap INTO things, and that almost never ends well.

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"Hm..."

Well, there was that whole thing where Psychodrivers were constantly having terrible things happen to them and getting mind-controlled For Science...

"You're saying people need to leave things alone, because analyzing something too much can hurt people?" she wondered aloud, suddenly slightly shocked at herself for saying analyzing something was bad. There was a difference between data analysis and 'putting something under the knife', though...

[misery_hates_company]

"Exactly. Digging too much into what ought not to be dug into, plowing through in research past all reason. I've seen it all, and it all ends up being rather ugly, you know." She scowls, and puts the first book aside. "Worthless."

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

Latooni offered one of the more eldritch-seeming books she had near her, trading it for a magazine from within the last nine years. "I have to agree. Studying the world is all well and good up to when you start hurting people. Is that the only way to 'study' magic, though?"

[misery_hates_company]

Oh my, this looks promising. She begins reading through it. "It's the best way, so I haven't really bothered with any others! You either have it or you don't, I find, and I quite certainly have it."

Gee, way to be humble, Misery.

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"I wonder if TK-users back home would be better off if people had the same attitude...," she wondered aloud, going back to flipping through the magazine. Oh look, more of those little ice fairies.

[misery_hates_company]

Misery isn't sure what she's talking about, and doesn't particularly care. Someone else's life isn't her concern. "Hmm. This one shows promise. Perhaps I shall take it to consult it further." She looks at the rest of the pile. "Anything else of worth?"

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"That depends what you're looking for," she said. "Most of the recent writings are speculation about what has or hasn't appeared in the city, or attempts to 'interview' demons during the new moon."

She flipped another few pages. "Oh, and I think the Jack Frosts have a fanclub. Or had one at some point."

[misery_hates_company]

"Oh my, that must end well. I wonder how many corpses the publishing companies have to bury in those attempts? Ho ho ho."

She raises an eyebrow. "A fanclub. Really. Some people really will swoon over ridiculous things, won't they?"

[ineedthemforanalyzing]

"Well, they are...," Latooni trailed off, trying to think of the word. "Infectiously cute, I guess?"

[misery_hates_company]

"...I suppose."

The Mimiga are cuter But who cares about that sort of thing, really.

[otakuro]

For once, Atsuro is wandering Hinoto-Ri without being trailed by one of his demons. Even a demon summoner needed time to himself sometimes for the important things in life... Which is why Atsuro is in the library scanning through the magazines with a frown on his face.

"...All these books and not a single copy of Famitsu."

He wanders away from the magazine stacks with his nose buried in what appears to be a suitable equivalent, glancing up when he realizes he's about to walk into someone.

"Oh. ...Hey! How's it going?"

[misery_hates_company]

She blinks. Ah, the boy. She tries her best not to light up a bit. Damn it all.

"I should ask the same of you! I'm surprised you're up and walking after that show at the tournament. Ho ho ho." Part of her intends that to be cutting, but she can't seem to make it sound more like a gentle mocking. "Me, I'm just looking up a few things... although perhaps you might be able to help me, since you ARE the resident expert."

[otakuro]

"Hey." Atsuro assumes a slightly sulky expression at that greeting. Misery had obviously missed the part where he had allowed Neku to win by the slightest of margins because of his magnanimity and kind-hearted nature. "C'mon, give the doctors some more credit. I bet they've seen way worse."

He snaps shut the book in his hands and allows it to drop to his side. "So you've got a question about potions, huh? Just add some chocolate chips, that's what I always say!"

[misery_hates_company]

Ho ho ho. Your annoyance only makes her stronger. "Yes, I suppose the fact you still have your limbs is a plus." She smirks.

Eyebrow raised. "I'm afraid you're getting potion making mixed up with baking again. This is MUCH less frivolous." Well okay, to HER anyway. "I'm interested in demons associated with dreams."

[otakuro]

Atsuro blinks for a few moments at the stated request. "I've got a compendium of the elements these things are weak to, not a... mythology reference book." ...Not that he knew nothing about demons associated with dreams - Every Japanese person in the world knew of at least one, anyway.

"Anything specifically? I know there's a Greek god of dreams, and I think people used to think bad dreams were caused by like, succubi or something. And there's the baku, of course."

[misery_hates_company]

She tchs a bit. She doesn't want something to CAUSE bad dreams... Hmm? "What about the 'baku?'" she asks.

[otakuro]

"Japanese youkai." Atsuro sounds slightly relieved that she's asking him about this one. He could only really take blushing for so long before his capillaries started bursting. "'Baku' is the word we use for tapir now, but we named the tapir after the youkai since they sorta looked alike. The actual monster came from China, I think."

He pauses for a moment or two to try and recall the stories about bakus and dreams more specifically. "They... eat dreams. They feed off of nightmares. Most people think this is a good thing, since I'm guessing you stop having the dreams once they get eaten. Kids who have nightmares still ask for bakus to come help 'em out - their parents probably teach them that so they don't come crying in the middle of the night."

[misery_hates_company]

"I see... fascinating." And ridiculously perfect. "And there are no known downsides to this... unique diet?"

[otakuro]

"Mm..." Atsuro folds his arms over his chests and scours his mind for a few moments. "Not... that I can think of. I feel like I want to say your spiritual energy gets drained or something, but I'm probably confusing that with the, uh. Succubi. I guess the worst that could happen would be going without dreams forever, but as far as youkai go, that's pretty harmless."

He's also probably confusing it with Pokydex entries. Nothing ever came without a price, but this seemed to be one of those symbiotic kind of things.

"So... I'm guessing this isn't intellectual curiosity or anything."

[misery_hates_company]

"Intuitive, aren't you? As a matter of fact, a client was interested in something that could quell bad dreams." The client being her, of course. "I think maybe this creature might have something I need for such a potion."

[otakuro]

"H-Hah... They're pretty much unanimously liked, right? I think the baku spleens like staying inside the bakus." Atsuro seems to take this at face value, laughing a bit apprehensively. "Why don't you just ask it to swing around at night if you find one? You'd be doing it a favor, too."

[misery_hates_company]

"...Perhaps. Though it depends on whether or not it's as FRIENDLY as the legends say, hmm?" She snorts. "Goodness, and you were the one offering up a nuisance demon of yours' vocal cords."

[otakuro]

"Eh. No one likes kawauso, anyway." Atsuro nods sagely to himself. "I don't know if they're friendly, but it's not like you're asking for a favor or anything. It's an easy meal." Another brief pause. "...That's assuming they're actually here in the city. You might want to ask some of the actual residents if they've seen them around - this seems like a Japanese city, so they should know what you're talking about."

[misery_hates_company]

Ugh. Being social. On the other hand... "Mmm... I think I may know where to ask." That interesting little detective agency, for instance.

[otakuro]

Atsuro seems to have had a different thought. "You can try the guy who works in the science labs. I think he has the highest knowledge to grouchiness ratio."

[misery_hates_company]

"Ah. Yes. Perhaps." Pfft. Science. What's it ever done for HER?

[otakuro]

"Good luck - let me know how it goes. If you need to try another dream demon, I'll, uh. See what I can do about digging up more old Japanese legends."

Amaterasu would probably know, right?

[misery_hates_company]

"Oh my, aren't you useful? I'd be most appreciative." Nice. The word is NICE, Misery.