Dread of the Grave

(My my, people have really been feeling it with the mun intro tag today! Might as well join the bandwagon.

Name is Marina, she/her, 26 years old, med school graduate currently doing PhD in pharmacology. My main interests are When They Cry, Ace Attorney and Kagerou Project. At the moment the latter is the strongest, which is why I haven’t been very active on Battler lately - as I’ve been RPing Shintaro Kisaragi (my mun faceclaim, btw) in another group.

I’ve been in Citta since 2015, got Samejima from Senyuu, Satoko Houjou from Higurashi, Maya Fey from Ace Attorney and Shintaro as previous characters I’ve played. At the moment, Battler is my only guy in Isola, though, as I don’t have the energy currently for multiple muses here.

Enkidu had encountered video games with the help of Gilgamesh, and they had enjoyed them a fair amount. They were not nearly as engaging as real life activities. Still, it seemed like Battler had something up his sleeve.

“That sounds complicated. If there is anything that I can do to help, please tell me.” Though they doubted they’d be much use.

That Battler would have to agree with. “I dunno if there is anything. Well, I mean... it’d help knowing your specs in terms what how much resistance I must put into the game so it won’t break. ...Then again, I think that simply basing it on what Beato and I can do should cover most possible scenarios for this sort of thing.”

bakerstreetdetective‌:

As one by one the people exit the cart. Holmes spotted a pale face red hair young man. The suit suggest someone who from a well off family as something in Holmes memory click.

Ah it’s his next door neighbor. Holmes didn’t meet the young man yesterday. But he did heard the young man crying from the cabin RIGHT next to him as Holmes take out a vial of oil in his inner pockets.

It’s a combination of mint and other herbs that help deal with motion sickness. Holmes while not a doctor himself, do have a best friend who is as Watson use to carry one of these little vials with him to deal with cilents who can’t handle fast moving vehicles.

Holmes made a vial for sentimental sake as he hand it to Battler

“I have a  doctor friend who have this remedy for motion sickness. Now come along my man. The game is afoot! We have a case to solve.”

The two man finally arrive at the scene as the murder was…..gruesome to say the least.

Continuar lendo

(...Eh? The game is-)

“H-Hey, what are you doing- Stop pulling me like that!”

No matter how much Battler protested, however, the detective kept up with his carrying. He grabs the vial offered to him, which does exhale a nice smell. ...His problem might not be specifically motion sickness per se... but it does help him calm down.

It calms him down enough to finally grasp what the hell this guy is trying to pull with him.

“Hey, who told you I’m in the mood to play detective with you, Sigerson-san? All you’re doing is putting two big targets over our heads for the murderer to attack us at - if they are even still in the train!”

“DID SOMEONE SAY MARRIAGE?!?! Why, yes, I’m the happy husband of the most wonderful witch in the universe, so I can safely claim that, if you find the right person for you, marriage is a source of utmost joy and happiness!!”

       ‘Witches’… If he hadn’t already heard of ‘Song Magic’, or really any of the terms on Ra Ciela, he’d have been more than a little confused. Really, he had that entire experience to thank for this entire conversation. Prior to his time helping Ra Ciela, Takuya mostly only focused on studying computer science, while dabbling slightly in other studies. But as he learned more about the nature of the world he was interacting with, he found himself wanting to learn more. And more, and more, and more–until eventually, he found he was learning far more than he ever expected.

       It was nice when it came to his own personal studies, but caused a few problems when he’d caught himself answering a test question relating to his world with something pertaining to wave science…

“What?” That was probably a dumb response, given he’d caught most of what that offer implied. Still. “Um… Sure, I don’t see a reason to turn that down.” 

       What exactly he’d gotten himself wrapped up in, he honestly had no idea. Though, if he was being honest, it was interesting. This guy was interesting. The conversation they’d just had was interesting. 

       And… He had a feeling he could learn a lot from talking to this guy more.

“Very well. Brace yourself, then, because we’re going to a school excursion!!”

Battler summons several golden butterflies, enough to cover both his and Takuya’s fields of vision. It’s as if reality itself is being swallowed by the swarm, until the sky and the earth themselves are consumed in gold.

And once they are gone... all that is left is darkness.

That is, until something starts to glow faintly closeby.

It’s a small glass like fragment of some sort. It emits a curious light, whose color is hard to describe. But it’s not lonely. There is one, two, three, five, ten, fifty, one hundred...

Truly, so many. It’s like floating in space, seeing all the stars shine in the distance. Space by itself is pitch black, however. If Takuya can retain his sense of sight, he’d see what seems to be a purple background, swirling amorphously and carrying the fragments in it aimlessly.

1980′s huh? Hard to believe someone so far into the 20th century could feel so displaced, but he supposes technology must be advancing rapidly…Wouldn’t be so different from his own time, in that regard.

“So it’s video and sound… Sounds incredibly lifelike.” From his perspective, telephone lines were just now being added to Japan, and now all of a sudden he’s in a time where audio and video mingle together! He can only imagine how immersive seeing a scene play out on a television would seem… Especially with the marvels of today’s technology. ”Then I think I’d like to experience this ‘television’ for myself, sometime… I think perhaps there is one in my housing?” 

As impressed as he is, however, this conversation isn’t about television- It’s about the Lodestar. The information he’s been provided with about this particular topic will enough, for now.

“Anyway, now that I’ve got a handle on what television is, do you mind explaining what a holographic map is? Naturally I know what a map is, but I’ve never heard of one being ‘holographic’ before.”

… Nor does he understand why technology would even need to be introduced to something a simple as a map, but he will withhold judgement on that matter until he has a true understanding of it.

“Yes, there should be one. Our captors have installed TVs on all residential areas for foreigners like us.”

He’d assume that most native houses have TVs too. It’s simply an ubiquitous item of modern urban life. ...It’s funny to think about how that was not true not too long ago.

“I could tell you about the nature of holographs, ooooor I could actually show it to you!”

From his pocket, Battler pulls out a crystal like object, inside of which there seems to be a sort of map like icon. He smashes it with his hand, and after he opens his palm... a 3D map of Spirale City suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Awwww shiiiiiit, you read right through me~.” Words comes out with a chuckle. What can he say, Romanus loves food of all kind, he ain’t picky!  Maybe a little, he doesn’t eat all of his vegetables, but he won’t tell anyone that. Once the orders are given and Romanus pays, he’s given one of those electronics that alerts when your food is ready. All they have to do is sit down and wait for the buzzer to go off to let them know. 

Turning his attention to Battler when he asks a question, Romanus hums in thought before answering, “I guess you can say I am experienced. I’ve lived a long time and seen things, my mother was also pretty sickly so I learned a lot of my medical knowledge through that.” As he sits down, he sighs heavily, “I wish I had the abilities like you guys did. Steven apparently can heal wounds with his spit, ya know? There’s a lot of interesting ways to heal someone. All my healing is by using  my hands and tools.” There’s a short pause and he’s leaned properly against his seat if only to get comfortable. His back was killing him. “I thought it would be a good idea. We don’t have a hospital or even a clinic here I don’t think. Least I didn’t see one. We’ve had a lot of….you know, situations where people get hurt so why not?”

“A lot of the people who sent in their application when the hospital opened up had things in common. Wanting to help people and help them be happy…I want that too.”

“Ah, yeah. A peculiar way to heal, but hey, if it works, why complain, right?”

God, he is now imagining what if Endless Magic required one’s saliva to work. That would have made the games... strange, to say the least.

He lays his elbows on the table and uses his hands to sustain his head. “I’m sure there are actually hospitals and clinics spread around. No big city works without those. But this area of Cotes, in particular, did have a lack of such services, last time I checked my Lodestar.”

▄▀  — The teleportation felt different to what Nabor was used to, less potential to fall apart and more like walking on air. Yet, he lands gracefully, fingers in a tight fist as he hears the frustrating echoes of the crowd eb away. Peace. Good.

But the answer he’s offered is less than appreciated, empty of hope and certainty. Ambition was useless if it had no direction, worse if it required friendships. “Our captors are strange, if it’s sociability they want.” Yet for all the defeated sigh that crosses his lips, he offers the stranger a nod. His disappointment wasn’t for the stranger’s efforts, after all. “…Thank you, for rescuing the carriage, and for your help. If it’s ‘making friends’ they want, then…”

He wasn’t sure what he’d do, really, as isolated as he preferred to be, but ambition still burned regardless. “I’m sure you’ll want to return to the attention back there. I apologise for pulling you away from it.”

“Wait, what? And go back to being prodded back and forth by a bunch of ceaseless reporters?! Oh, no, I’m more than fine from having gotten away from them!”

Didn’t Nabor notice how uncomfortable Battler felt like before they escaped the scene? This whole thing has been stressful enough for him. He wants to relax! That requires going home, eating treats and cuddling with his wife.

Seriously? Apparently they had had it easy until now, seeing as the other teams were starting to come out of the woodwork. Kanon briefly wondered if they even had anyone else on their team. And where were they? Surely they started near themselves…. It would be a little unfair, otherwise. But, Kanon had no idea how these digital games were set up, so perhaps this was a normal occurrence.

“Watch your back..” Mm, she got it. 

She stood near him as he took aim, admiring the ease at which he handled the weapon- only for a short moment, however, as she spotted the other player as they spotted them. It was a weird stand off, the split second of registering that each other had made eye contact before immediately moving to whatever goal they had decided in that split second. There was nothing she could use as a barrier to shield from the other’s attack, and they were definitely attempting to take the shot.

“Incoming!” She called to Battler, knowing she was probably too late in her warning for him to take action instead. 

Kanon crouched, sweeping her right leg out in one fluid motion that kicked up dirt and dust surrounding them. If she reacted in time, the light from the enemy’s “gun” would never reach her current partner, dispersing uselessly in the dust.

One shot and another adversary down! Their score increases swiftly, thanks to Battler’s precise shot.

“Yatta!! That was a good shot- Uh?!”

He barely has time to celebrate, though, thanks to the dust that suddenly covers his view. He is clearly confused about this, but once he sees a ray of light almost hitting him, he manages to process it.

⚡  Battler is right, and Zenitsu knows. But that doesn’t really make it all better. If only he had more stamina. How his stance has changed in the face of danger over the course of these past months surprises himself, though. There used to be a time where he would’ve gladly agreed to sit around and wait, as long as that meant to be out of danger. But now? He has grown stronger because of his friends at home and the friends he found here, no doubt about it. He sighs and as he slumps back down, he can feel his limbs hurting from exhaustion. A familiar feeling, as this isn’t the first time he exhausted himself beyond his limits.

“I just wish there was more I could do. Not being with them in times like this doesn’t feel right. But I’ve done all I could do.” And that’s what matters— right? “Thank you. I promise I’ll return when I feel rested enough.”

Battler’s expression relaxes, once it seems like he managed to get across to Zenitsu. It’s definitely noble that he wants to go out for help, and there should be nothing wrong in letting the boy out once he is recovered.

“Well then. I’ll go back to looking for people out there. Situations like these leave everyone exhausted. See ya soon, Zenitsu-kun!”

In a matter of seconds, Battler dissolves into golden butterflies and goes back to the conflict zone.

-------------------------------------

It’s been a number of hours since then. Battler has come back and forth between the streets and the Academy’s building, always bringing at least one more person to the establishment. So far things seem to be doing okay here.

Eto curled her lips inward, doing so in order to suppress a giggle. She was enjoying herself, yes, both at her own jokes and Battler’s attitude toward them. Was he really serious? He truly seemed to be. A magic pen that transformed a heroine… it sounded like some sort of anime, it was almost a cute idea.

“Hmmm! What a novel idea…”

“Can your magic truly make something like that? Ufufu, if it could, it sounds like you could be in one of those stories about magical girls.”

Such stories of hope, friendship, and magic were hardly her cup of tea, but Eto figured that Battler enjoyed them more than she did. In a place like Spirale, characters from similar stories were bound to pop up anyhow.

“Hoh, of course it can! Magical charms might not be my specialty, but something that only changes your appearance shouldn’t be too hard to pull off!”

Now, he’d imagine that a pen adorned in the exact same way as he’d see in magical girl shows would likely not match Eto’s ‘vibe’, per say. What could he use as an object that would match her better...?

“Ah! I know!”

With a snap of his fingers, Battler creates a cape and hood piece of clothing. It looks pretty similar to Eto’s current dress.

She’s not gonna lie, she didn’t think Battler would use the endless magic this way. It’s not unwelcome, but a pleasant surprise. But she also can’t lie that the kisses on her feet tickle her. There’s a giggle that slips past her lips as Beatrice rests her head on the first Battler’s shoulder. He’s definitely one this round. He’s quite triumphant actually. There are no complaints from her.

❝ I hope I’m a little more than cute. I hope I’m a bombshell, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous actually. I didn’t cultivate my looks and personality over a thousand years for nothing. ❞ She’s looking up at him now expectantly. She’s fully expecting him to rise to the bait and shower her with all sorts of compliments.

An ego stroke never hurts after all.

Oh, he takes the bait, hook and line. There is a big grin on his face as he caresses her shoulders. “You are all that and much, much more. My sexy, amazing, sensational wife whom I love lots and lots!!”

While he delights himself in all the cuddling, the second Battler, now done with her foor, begins to move his trail of kisses through her lower leg. Each centimeter of her tibia is covered in kisses, all while he massages her calf. They’d be getting sweet kisses soon, don’t worry.

@ingoldentent liked for a starter

∃【☝✌💧❄☜☼】 ─  Money flowed better, now, but whether it flowed made little difference when Gaster found his pocket empty at the end of a shopping journey, face pressed against a sweet store and whimpering over the treats inside. Ah, but he forgot to budget for a treat today, and while the long walk with grocery bags in his arms left him tired, he’d have to carry on empty handed anyway. That didn’t stop him from staring, of course. “Ah, just a handful of dust,” he grumbles, fumbling for his phone. Yet, all that greeted him was empty numbers on a too-bright screen, and he whined pitifully against the window.

You gotta learn how to budget more carefully, Gaster. Working at the Academy should give you more than enough money to indulge in sweets without too much difficulty.

Speaking of the Academy, if it isn’t the money man himself walking down the street! It’s a wonderful sunny day, after all. And if you can teleport, wouldn’t you move to whatever place in the city made you feel like enjoying the weather the most? Besides, he knows of a sweet store around here with treats that would make a pleasant surprise for Beato~.

Oh, but who is that one, languishing in front of the window in dismay? Why, it’s none other than Gaster!

Something like this setting would be a normal and mundane place for most people. Some may even find it disgusting and want to go home. Sayo didn’t feel that way, though. 

This place reminded her of the time she spent with George back then. Those happy moments where she could live without feeling shame… It took her back to that time. She stiffened up, and then relaxed. Like a puppy being taken to it’s new home.

“It’s nice. I… Like it here. It reminds me of the time I spent outside of the island- as little as it was. It makes me…” Ah, this feeling… Is it…? “… Calm. Thank you for taking me here.”

Battler is glad to hear that. A gentle smile spreads on his face in response. If Sayo feels calmer, that would greatly ease the difficult conversation he will need to have with her.

...Speaking of which, it’s time for him to begin said difficult conversation.

“...So.” He clears his throat. There is a menu on the table, which he pushes to Sayo. If anything, he assumes that she would feel more comfortable with the option to hide her face.