07 - The Most Dysfunctional Golden Trio

[drakenguard]

Who: Yamato Hotsuin, Shura demifemme, and Naoya meaningdies
Where: Aquarius District: The library!
Summary: Continuation of this insanity. Shura's cursed and keeps punching herself, Yamato's trying to research while said distraction is happening, and oh look, uncomfortable conversation alert via Naoya.
Warnings: This is going to be so awkwardly dumb.

The walk to Aquarius was thankfully not that painful, considering it was in the pouring rain and Shura's Magatama was in a rather irritable mood. They did have to stop every so often, whenever Shura walloped herself in the face hard enough to send her on her ass, but Yamato suffered the stops and starts in dignified silence.

Of course by the time they did reach the library, it was almost closing time. An hour or so to gather their much needed information? Yamato worked with less.

So now the pair were seated in one of the tables in the far corner, already with enough books to build a fort on the table. Yamato had shrugged out of his coat, having it draped on the back of his chair, and was just in his shirt and tie, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, even if he kept the gloves on still.

"I don't suppose you can remember anything about the Lady of the Fount that leans towards a specific religion or mythology, do you?"

Comments

[drakenguard]

Yamato's eyes scanned down on the index. "Are you certain you cannot say anything else about her? Veiled and naked are not exactly defining features..."

Well, if she is a Lady of the Fount, then she would have links to fertility and healing, which does narrow the scope a little bit more, but there were many benevolent Goddesses of healing.

[demifemme]

"Is white skin a defining feature? Like, alabaster white." That probably just eliminated many African goddesses, among others.

[meaningdies]

There was someone else in the library this late. Someone who blinked a bit in surprise at the strange duo. Clearly the demon was injured, so he cast a Mediaharan on the duo before stepping forward with a novel in his hands.

"Shouldn't you two be heading home soon? It's quite late."

[drakenguard]

"Not particularly. Demons, or rather, goddesses come in varying colours-" Yamato paused when he saw someone approach, and he stiffened up slightly when he recognised who it was. Especially when he felt the purr of a spell prickling the air -

Healing magic. He relaxed a fraction, but Yamato was obviously on the defensive as Naoya approached, settling back in his seat as he watched the man from beneath his eyelashes.

"...Naoya," he said flatly. "What are you doing here?"

Seemed like he wasn't psychotic anymore, but, Yamato was a cautious fellow, and he still remembered you almost killing him. Jerk.

[demifemme]

Shura, on the other hand, was much happier to see Naoya, remembering him as a fellow God-hater. She was even more happy once he had healed her, sine the library had a big NO PERSONA sign on the door.

"Thanks, Naoya!"

[meaningdies]

"It's no trouble. You shouldn't go about injured like that."

He turned to look at Yamato. His memories were still vague from the incident, but he did clearly remember some of what happened.

"Finding books to read. Relaxing. You know. Things you do in a library." Idiot. He leaned over to look at what books they had open.

"Researching something?"

[drakenguard]

Yamato's eyes narrowed, catching the hidden mockery, and was half tempted to childishly drag the book under the table just to inconvenience Naoya. He stifled such petty urges though, and simply moved to close the book with a resounding 'thud'.

"Perhaps. Nothing you will be interested in."

[demifemme]

Shura looked between the two men. Awkward... What the hell had happened here?

[meaningdies]

"On the contrary, I think you'll find that mythology is always of interest to me."

He sat down in an empty chair at the table, placing his novel next to him.

"You're still angry about the scorpions, I see. I do hope you realize I wasn't entirely under my own control."

Going after Remiel was all him, but it was Remiel.

[drakenguard]

Yamato just sniffed, turning his face away from Naoya with an expression of utter disinterest. "To be angry over something like that would be a waste of energy - not to mention immature. I am simply busy with other matters."

He opened the book again, back to the index, and pushed it towards Shura. "See if any of the names are familiar to you," he said, his tone clipped.

[demifemme]

Shura looked at Yamato, surprised, then discreetly rolled her eyes. Way to be a petulant child, Yamato.

"Have you ever heard of a goddess or a demon called the Lady of the Fount, then, Naoya?" she asked as she read down the index. She wasn't going to not speak to Naoya just because you were mad, Yamato.

[meaningdies]

He chuckled at Yamato's reaction, and then nodded. "Neither a goddess nor a demon, precisely, but the first that comes to mind is Laudine, also known as the Lady of the Fountain. You'll want to look at the Three Welsh Romances as well as Yvain the Knight with the Lion."

Basically, you're looking in the wrong mythology.

[drakenguard]

Yamato paused at that, and turned slightly to pull one of the books out of the small pile he had amassed on their desk. He was frowning slightly as he flipped open the book he had snagged on British folklore, a bit irritated that he had simply dismissed it because Shura said that the Lady did not have an English accent.

Although, Laudine was Welsh, or French - or even German, depending which rendition Shura's Lady of the Fount came from. So accents were rather shaky things to base assumptions on.

"If I remember correctly, Laudine's spring caused storms, rather than healing," Yamato murmured to himself. He was still Not Speaking to Naoya, but he wouldn't allow pettiness to get in the way of his research.

actually he would considering in game he was prepared to let everyone die unless Hiro told him to summon the dragon stream because doki doki ugh yamato pls. but this time he was prepared to be semi-mature

[demifemme]

"I've never heard of the name Laudine, but if her fountain is meant to create storms, it's not really what we're after..." She sighed, right before Marogareh slapped her cheek hard enough to leave a handprint. "OW! I wasn't even thinking this time!"

[meaningdies]

"Tch. It's the first Lady of the Fount I can think of, though there may be some in more obscure mythology."

Probably not, though. Not with that title, at least. He stared at Yamato though, and reached out to snatch the book from his hands.

"Stop acting like a child. Why are you contracted with Remiel, anyway?"

[drakenguard]

Yamato was distracted by Shura smacking herself, half-turning to the woman and allowing Naoya to snatch the book from his hands. He turned back around to level a nasty glare in the programmer's direction for it, tilting his jaw up slightly in a obstinate gesture.

"...I don't believe it is any of your business to know the reasoning behind my contracts," Yamato said, his voice dropping to subzero, "And neither is it the current topic of discussion."

[demifemme]

"You two can argue all you want after my curse is lifted," Shura grumbled, holding her stinging cheek.

[meaningdies]

Naoya rolled his eyes at Yamato. "We'll talk about this later."

Turning to Shura again, he sighed. "What sort of curse is it, anyway? I'm somewhat experienced in researching ways to break curses."

[drakenguard]

Yamato sniffed irritably, settling back in his seat in a clear sulking posture as he regarded Naoya and Shura's interaction with narrowed eyes.

"--..." Nope. No. He isn't going to say anything. HE IS TOO BUSY BEING A SULKY CHILD.

[demifemme]

"It's a curse from my magatama. It's a spirit of misfortune, so sometimes it curses its host for... shits and giggles is my guess." That earned her another punch.

"That was not me doing it."

[meaningdies]

"I imagine not." He just sighed and cast another healing spell. "Is there any way of reasoning with it? Or does it simply seem to do this with no clear reason?"

[demifemme]

"I, uh, don't think he can be reasoned with... I mean, he doesn't even really talk. And he doesn't feel like he's unhappy to make me suffer. I was just learning how to cure Poison with Yamato, and it cursed me."

[drakenguard]

Yamato grunted quietly, not appreciating being talked about as if he weren't there.

"The only thing that can break the curse is the Lady of the Fount," Yamato muttered irritably. "Hence the research. Prayer does not work, and I doubt any other healing spell would work either."

Of course, a bit of elbow grease and indepth investigation could reveal another way of curing it, but he doubted Shura would willingly allow herself to be vivisected - or at the very least, the Magatama might not.

[meaningdies]

"In... teresting..." He's never heard of that before. He slides the book back to Yamato and picks up one of the other ones, starting to flip through it.

[demifemme]

"Gotta love Lucifer's workmanship," she grumbled, picking at the Hinduism index.

[drakenguard]

Yamato rested his cheek on his knuckles, his gaze dropping down to the book as he flipped it open. "If we cannot find any more information on her, perhaps we should resort to visiting the Velvet room when it next appears. Perhaps she exists as a Persona."

[meaningdies]

"That might work. They're likely to know more about it."

He turns to Shura and looks contemplative for a moment. "You said this was Lucifer's doing?"

[demifemme]

"I think the magatamas are Lucifer's doing, yes. I dunno f it's right or wrong, I just know he's the jerk who stuck it in my head."

[drakenguard]

"Probably for some nefarious scheme," Yamato said, his tone bored. "Or maybe he thought it would be entertaining. Lucifer is an unpredictable being."

Which was dangerous considering his strength...