destinystrings | 06 - Lessons of Poison

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06 - Lessons of Poison

Who: Yamato Hotsuin and Hitoshura

demifemme
Where: Capricorn District
Summary: Yamato experiments with Shura - not that she knows that. It's rare when you get to observe a human turned demon up close!
Warnings: Um, none, I think.

It took a while, but eventually Yamato managed to negotiate some form of schedule with Hitoshura about the promised lessons. It seemed a bit strange that someone like Yamato would go out of his way to do such a thing, but truth was he was extremely curious about Shura. Her personality was a bit bizarre to him, and he wasn't sure how to handle it, but it wasn't every day he got to interact and observe a human turned demon up close.

What effects would it have? What advantages would there be? Would she be able to learn magic in the way humans do? Or could she only learn through the parasitic magatama?

Lots of questions to be answered!

So he decided that they would meet up in the Capricorn district. Wide open spaces with no buildings to damage and no people to maim if a spell went wrong...it was a perfect place to practice magic. This was where Yamato was waiting, beneath the shade of a large tree - although he had an umbrella as well to protect him from the rain. He hadn't expected it to rain today, but he was hardly going to change the time.

There was a saying after all...if it ain't raining, it ain't training.

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Shura arrived a few minutes later, jogging, Jack Frost umbrella in hand. Days were shorter around this time of year, so she was already in full markings, although this time around she was wearing a bra and a red Hello Kitty shirt in addition to her usual shorts and shoes.

She stopped by Yamato and bowed. "Sorry, I think I'm late."

Yamato glanced over at her, a faint, disapproving frown gracing his face. "You are," he said, his tone clipped. "By about fifteen minutes. No matter. You can make up for it by putting in full effort into today's lesson."

Although Yamato was expecting that anyway so. Don't fail him, Shura.

Ergh. She didn't expect Yamato to be so crossed. Probably better not to bother him about how her markings appearing had freaked out a little boy and she had to apologize to the angry parents for a long time...

"Nothing but my best efforts, promise! Where do we start, teacher?"

"A good question," Yamato hummed, idly turning the umbrella in his grasp. The rain was a fine drizzle at this point, but the sort that got you wet within minutes. Thankfully his coat was thoroughly waterproof, and would take something like a rainstorm to soak him through, even without the umbrella.

"First order of business would be to see how attuned you are to your spiritual energy. Perform a spell or ability that requires some concentration, but nothing too strenuous, and I will see how it flows through you."

Yamato was good at sensing the flow of spiritual energy (he had to be to utilise the Dragon Stream, after all), but the last few times he had been with Shura when she cast her spells was in a high stress battle situation. Not good observation time.

Nothing too strenuous? But Shura only had endgame level spells... After a few seconds of thinking, she settled on Spiral Viper. No need to waste too much energy, and it fit Yamato's requirements.

"All right, got it."

She turned sideways from Yamato, aiming at empty air. She took in a deep breath as he skin darkened, making the green edges of her tattoos appear that much brighter, energy coursing along with their light, focusing on her third eye. A large circular beam of greenish light fired from it as she exhaled slowly. Her skin then returned to normal, and the surge of energy from her body and her horn especially vanished.

Yamato observed closely - enough so that a passerby would probably declare him to be a pervert to stare so intently at a woman. Yamato was thoroughly fascinated though. It appeared that her tattoos were a pathway for her spiritual energy to flow through, which was somewhat interesting. Usually spiritual power cycled through the body internally, it for Shura, it was external - or rather, the pathways were external. It masked whatever happened within her. Yamato would have to have specialised equipment and possibly a vivisection or two to understand what is going on when she cast magic.

He doubted Shura would be willing to be cut open for curiosity's sake though.

"I see... interesting... tell me. What do you feel when you channel your energy like that?"

Shura would rather not be sliced up, thanks.

"I feel warm. I feel stronger, too. It's a good sensation." She nods. "I feel like the edges of my markings are bigger and pulsing, as if my blood was going through them. And it's like I'm more conscious of the presence of my magatama at the same time. It's... watching. In its parasite way."

Yamato nodded thoughtfully. "It seems that your markings are external pathways for your spiritual power to cycle through," he began. "This is quite unusual, since spiritual energy normally moves within a person internally - which is why when someone is overloaded by it, they normally die through internal bleeding, burns, or simply exploding."

Just like Io after channelling Lugh. Messy, messy business, that.

"We will see if this affects how well you can learn and cast spells. Now then, I believe I said I would teach you how to heal yourself of poisons and the like, correct?"

Shura nodded. "I hope I won't explode, then. That'd be bad for my world. And you." If he got caught in the blast, it could be nasty. She smiled regardless after that. "Ready to learn!"

Yamato uttered a soft snort of laughter. "Hrhn. Right, well..."

He lowered his umbrella, closing it and resting it against the trunk of the tree. He needed his hands for this, and a bit of rain never harmed anyone. He adopted a near serene expression, pressing his hands together before him.

"Firstly, we have to channel our spiritual energy through our bodies. You are able to do that without using it to cast a spell, aren't you?"

All right, time for serious work to begin. Shura hooked her arm around the handle of her umbrella and nodded firmly. "I think so."

Unlike Yamato, however, she didn't take on a serene pose or anything of the sort; instead, she flexed her muscles, pressing her hands firmly together, and the glow of the edges of her markings grew brighter.

Edited 2012-11-18 02:32 (UTC)

People channelled their energy differently, so Yamato didn't comment on her flexing and physical tensing. He could feel his own spiritual energy buzz beneath his skin, and he realised it had been a while since he had simply meditated or practised with it. JP's had taken a large chunk of his time, the Invasion had been so frantic he didn't have an opportunity to, and coming here the...thought hadn't occurred to him.

He made a mental note to put some time aside to meditate sometime in the evening, trying to ignore how sharply aware he was of a 'gap' somewhere behind his breastbone. The Dragon Stream had been a large part of the Hotsuin Clan, and to have it removed far enough that he couldn't feel it anymore, well, it felt like a void had been left behind.

He could deal with it.

"Now. Demonic plays a large part in casting magic," Yamato murmured, his voice level and soft. Ahhh yes, he really missed meditating. "Words have power, and with Demonic, one can use words to shape the intent of their spiritual energy. I won't get into details. I have a feeling you would simply tune it out or forget."

Details weren't necessary anyway. This was observation to see how Shura used her energy. He opened his eyes, watching her keenly. "The words are different for everyone, which makes learning magic the old way so difficult. You wish to cure poison, purge it, eliminate it - use whichever words you feel matches the personality of your spiritual energy."

That was not very nice, Yamato. Even if Shura would probably forget, she was curious to know how she worked regardless.

Anyway, Shura had a good idea how to word this already. She knew well the 'personality' of her spiritual energy: it was a force of annihilation, a power that longed to destroy and create voids.

"ϣϥϞϪЂ ϪϮ!"

She felt her magatama do a somersault in the back of her head and her markings flashed brighter, but nothing else happened. Maybe because she was not poisoned?

Yamato would give her the theory on it later after finishing his observations. Shura was such an anomaly, she probably worked differently to how demons and humans worked. Humans utilised magic differently to demons, even if they aped how demons used their spiritual power.

He narrowed his eyes when Shura's markings flared, his own spiritual power buzzing more excitedly at the pulse of power ebbing from the Demi-Fiend. He breathed out slowly, lowering his clasped hands and stepping over to her. The rain was hissing into steam around them, their spiritual energy heating up the air, although he was somewhat oblivious to it.

"I see..." he murmured, circling her slowly, maintaining his own flow of energy. "You have grasped the basics of it. To see if you really have the foundations of it, I can poison you and you can try again. It is better motivation to learn quickly, as well."

Shura chuckled as she relaxed and rubbed the base of her skull, just above her horn. Their combined energy evaporating the rain was a welcome relief, warming her up.

"You have some way to motivate people. But sure, go ahead. I too want to know if I can do it."

Yamato looked mildly amused. "People are more likely to learn new skills if their lives depended on it."

It was how Yamato learned as well. He had to keep up, because the Hotsuin family wouldn't've hesitated to leave him on the side of the road as they continued their march forwards. He stopped before Shura, reaching out his hand to place it over her chest - just above her heart. Don't worry, he ain't copping a feel.

~~he's gay after all~~

"ᵴᵿᶗᶔᵳҐ ԅԇӌᶌᵽ," he purred, feeling his spiritual energy rush down his arm in a warm pulse and into Shura's chest.

The energy stung when it entered Shura, and immediately she felt the pain and nausea associated with being poisoned. "Ugh..." she bent forward a bit, clutching her chest. Right. The spell. Taking deep breaths, she stood straight again, pressing her hands together to focus her energy.

"ϣϥϞϪЂ ϪϮ!"

As suddenly as she had begun feeling sick, she felt better... except for her magatama, which she could feel trashing violently at the base of her skull.

Yamato stepped back when he successfully poisoned Shura, slipping his hands into his pockets as he allowed his spiritual energy to calm and return to their natural flow within him, the rain beginning to drizzle on him once more.

Shura cast the spell again, and it appeared to work - except that Yamato could sense something malevolent pulsing within Shura, deep beneath the flow of wild and powerful energy flowing through her markings. He frowned and took a curious step forwards. Was that the magatama? Parasitic demons were hard to understand, but perhaps it wasn't reacting well to this style of learning...?

"How do you feel?"

"Not too good," Shura admitted, reaching for the back of her head. "My magatama often does that after I learn a new skill... the result could be good or bad if I don't stop it." She tried to remember. Did Marogareh tend to heal her or curse her? Dammit, it had been so long, she could not recall...

"I see, how curious..." Yamato murmured. He didn't sound concerned, rather, extremely fascinated. "Upon learning a new skill it either punishes you, or rewards you. Surely it would reward you more often than not?"

"All my magatamas have different personalities... some believe in overcoming obstacles to become even stronger, and URK!!!"

The edges of Shura's markings turn a worrying shade of purplish red, not unlike a fresh, deep bruise. She clutches her chest, doubled over as if in pain, knees buckling.

Yamato took a cautious step back when Shura doubled over in pain, keenly watching her reaction. The energy flowing through her markings felt tainted now - a sharp, metallic edge that made him wrinkle his nose and turn his head away slightly, even though his gaze remained on her.

That wasn't poison...

"Fascinating..." Yamato mused aloud, "it seems your spiritual energy has become corrupted in some way. The magatama is the source of this?"

Shura had to catch her breath before being able to answer Yamato. Fuck, cursed in a foreign world with no Lady of the Fount anywhere...

"The magatama is a spirit of misfortune. It can inflict terrible curses..."

"What happens during these curses?" Yamato inquired, moving forwards warily. He tugged on the hem of his glove to make sure it was on securely before reaching out, his fingers pressing against one of her markings. The tattoos were blazing hot, seeping through the fabric of his gloves in near burning levels.

Definitely corrupted. He could feel his own spiritual energy tug at it reluctantly, and he hurriedly moved back when a bout of nausea struck him in the stomach.

"Perhaps Prayer would help..." It was probably similar to the curse that prevented healing energies from taking affect. Prayer or Amrita usually cursed it.

"At random moments, I lose control of my own powers and they turn against me." She carefully got up again and titled her head up, offering her burning face to the soothing cold of the rain. "Demons of misfortune and malevolence are drawn to me as well." She sighed.

"Normally, I have to have the Lady of the Fount heal this curse, but, she's not here... it's worth a try." She's pretty sure it won't work, but it's better than doing nothing.

Yamato wasn't sure who the Lady of the Fount was, but there was rarely anything Prayer could not heal. He slipped his phone out of his pocket - this required the crutch of the Demon Summoning App; casting high level spells like Prayer without it would exhaust him to the point of passing out.

He tapped the command for Prayer, healing energy washing over Shura.

Shura felt the soothing energy healing the energy she had used for the Spiral Viper, but that was about it. The edges of her markings remained that worrying colour, and she still felt the fever of the curse inside her.

"Sorry."

"Hmm..."

Yamato stowed his phone away, and then moved to circle around Shura with open curiosity. "So normal healing spells won't work on it. The Lady of the Fount usually cures you, you said? Who was that?"

Shura watched Yamato circle her. "The Lady of the Fount is the guardian of the healing fountains in my world. She knew upon seeing me that I had a magatama in me... she's the one who told me about the curse, and how the waters of her fount could wash it away. It was healing much more powerful than I had even seen. It could even revive the dead..."

Yamato was intrigued by such power. The ability to revive the dead, to cure all ailments... one could only dream to have such ability, and not even the Dragon Stream, a power of limitless potential, could achieve such a thing.

"How could you contact this Lady of the Fount?" Yamato asked, stopping before her. "Could she be summoned?"

Shura shook her head. "If only I could go back to my world... I'd only have to walk to a Fount and everything would be settled by a bath and a little help from the Lady." Because of course, Shura bathes naked with her equally naked demons. It's good for bonding.

"Any demon can be summoned, if you have the right ritual," Yamato sniffed, "We just need to research a little, that's all."

"I'd be forever grateful if you could summon her," Shura said, forcing herself to smile despite the pain.

"Then we shall begin our research now," Yamato ordered, turning away and picking up his umbrella. He pushed it open and rested the shaft against his shoulder, lifting his free hand to comb through his damp hair. "We will go to the library and see if there is anything mentioned about her in there. This would be easier if I had access to JP's records, but, no matter...Come."

Yes, he's dragging you along for happy research times.

Shura didn't feel very good, but if that helped her get the Lady faster... She reached for her umbrella that had fallen on the ground when suddenly her hand veered around and she punched herself hard on the nose without warning. She fell flat on her ass in surprise, nose bleeding.

"What..."

"................."

Yamato stared.

"Why...did you punch yourself in the face?"

Edited 2012-11-19 21:59 (UTC)

"I didn't!" Good thing her shirt was red. "I just had a thought about Marogareh being a dick and he took control on my fist!" In fact, he did it again. Shura barely had time to catch her fist with her other hand.

"I have never heard of parasitic demons assuming such control over one's nervous system..." Yamato muttered to himself, watching Shura struggle in keeping her fist from striking her face once more.

"...shall I paralyse you? You will be able to move, but it should hopefully make it difficult for, ah, Marogareh in possessing your limbs."

Yamato had probably never seen a parasitic demon that could entirely reshape the body of its host and make a nest for itself near the cerebellum after digging a high through the back of the host's throat.

"No, I... I got this," she said, lowering her arms. "Let's just go search for a way to summon the Lady." She got up and wiped her bloody nose, sniffing painfully.

"If you're certain," Yamato said, giving Shura a piercing look. If she wished to be repeatedly punched in the face by her own possessed fist, he won't get in her way. This was actually rather interesting to him, in a way. He would like to observe it for longer.

With one last look at Shura he began striding off, expecting the female Demi-Fiend to trail after him.

"If she is as powerful as you say she is, we will most likely have to pay a powerful price to summon her."

For now, Shura summoned her giant Kodoma and had him cast Dia on her face before she took off after Yamato, Rowdy Avatar Kodama floating hurriedly after her.

"And my money's all back home..." She was all too familiar with the concept of summoning demons for a price.

Yamato chuckled. "Not only money. Depending upon the demon, we would also need a large amount of magnetite and possibly organic sacrifices," he explained. "Some demons have specific requirements, such as needing a skilled dancer to summon them forth, or one with extreme physical beauty. Demons and spirits are fickle beings."

"Wow," Shura said as she dismissed her Persona. "It was never so complicated in my world... usually I gave money, healing items and an answer to a philosophical question." It probably helped that her world was full of magatsuhi and thus no magnetite was needed to summon anyone.

"There are different rules depending upon the world, I've found," Yamato said thoughtfully. "Where I am from, we managed to simplify the summoning process through the proxy of the Demon Summoning App. We had Demon Auctions to bid on demons we wished to possess, or even purchased them through a compendium. However, even then, there are still some picky demons..."

He chuckled abruptly. "Excuse me. I'm talking too much. We should hurry."

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06 - Lessons of Poison

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I am a horrible person, part infinity

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