estoria | ( OPEN )

It's more than just unbefitting, Lord Zihuan.

[He intoned gravely, using his general manner of politeness as a shield to put some distance between them.]

While I'm sure you don't care one way or the other about Kou's military secrets, I can't say the same about the general public. It's a hazard to my country, and to my brother's and my own safety.

[Ah, military secrets. Practically speaking, secrets don't stay secrets if you blab them even if they don't affect anyone in the colony]

Then we must figure out what just happened and why I should see your brother and your family in funeral procession as if I was there, before any of those secrets become known to people on the street.

I can assure you that I have no abilities like this, at all. It was not my own doing.

[Secrets were the lifeblood of any strategy-- and he couldn't have them getting out like this.]

I believe you-- you've neither the tools nor the capacity for something of this calibur, from what I've seen. And none of the magicians from Kou, Sindria or Magnostadt have arrived here from what I've seen. Additionally, the Company didn't see fit to provide me any tools beyond Dantalion's Vessel, and I'm certain the same can be said for my brother.

[He settled in somber silence, and took another sip of his tea.]

This is not a battle I had wished to fight in this land.

[He can't help but look into his teacup]

Eliminating something in our food and drink...it could still be in the air. Or from one of your housemates. Or, the technology. Yet nothing has recently changed that I have seen. It has been some days since people went missing, could it be connected?

I doubt it, but...

[A quick glance on the floor, and his eyes lighted upon the scraggly tail feathers of the spectral bird that had started following him around. He had been pretending to ignore it once he noticed that people spoke of pets that others couldn't see, but he knew he couldn't discount anything. ]

Speaking plainly, Lord Zihuan-- have you been experiencing hallucinations of any sort lately?

Hallucinations...

[now that he mentions it, Cao Pi lifts his head and immediately shoots a glance to where he last saw the white figure of the goat. It's not there, now, it has wandered along the back of his seat and over to the center of the room, still occasionally shooting him mournful looks. He hasn't yet really looked at it, but now that he meets its gaze, Zihuan almost has to kick himself for dismissing his tagalong.]

There is something following me. I put it out of mind, figuring it to be more of the usual shenanigans...

I thought the same, to be honest. The little creature seems mostly harmless...

[Ah, but that line of thinking had been naive. Koumei silently kicked himelf for discounting such an oddity that no one else could see, particularly if the Company's involvement had anything to do with this.]

But that isnt much of a detail to go by, considering that we can't interact with them in any way. Still....it's unsettling.

If there's no way to find a correlation, we may have to stay in our quarters for a while.

Little? What creature do you see?

[he wants to be sure of this before drawing conclusions]

A bird. What do you see?

[for a moment he hunts around, verifying that the only bird he sees is the CYbuddy, and then shoots a side-eye at the figure now standing over by the kitchen door]

It appears to be a goat, now that I look at it straightly.

Hmm. The fact that they differ in that respect tells us nothing.

[There was a mild edge of irritation in his voice, as if he had been hoping for a clue that might lead them to the resolution of this particular mystery.]

You cannot see it, though. [and he, in turn, can't see the spectral bird, that goes without saying] What shape they take is less important than their nature - creatures which can only be seen by the individual. Though, I doubt how creature-like they are, the one I see appears like a white shadow.

No, I cannot-- hence why I've not been making a big commotion about the bird, unlike some people in town.

[A certain young man spouting off very loudly about his new pet cat over the Network came to mind. He hadn't said a word then, and he wouldn't now.]

Mine also appears like a white shadow. I'm not one to believe in frivolous stories, but I'm certain my youngest sister would compare it to a ghost...were she here with one of her own.

Ghostly animals... [there's a healthy bit of scorn in his tone. Given other experiences here he can't exactly say that spirits and ghosts and gods are nothing because clearly, in this world, they are, but he still has his personal opinions.]

Perhaps I can no longer ignore their presence, if it can lead to strange effects. Having someone else's memories thrust upon me is rather unsettling.

My humblest apologies for playing a part in that-- although, frankly, a funeral procession is the least of the problems I've seen.

[Like the bodies of the soldiers who shed blood on the soils of his birth being impaled upon a tree. Like seeing captured women and children-- the famillies of the fallen soldiers-- being sold off as slaves.

Like fears of magical weapons being deployed from the other side of the continent. Like preparing an army of the undead, so that the bodies of his countrymen can never be defiled by the enemy ever again.]

..Perhaps, this may be a good time to stay inside a while. Summers are often a droll and uncomfortably humid time.

[he shakes his head slightly There is no need. It can hardly be said to be your fault in any way. Else, I would have to apologize for spying into your personal past.

[SIGH. Stupid ghost animals. And why a goat?]

It hardly feels like it. It seems as though the weather hasn't changed at all. Never mind that there is never any rain, it feels quite the same as the spring. I wonder.

The southern reaches of the Empire can have a climate quite like this-- although the lack of rain is curious.

[To be frank, he was expecting there to be a monsoon-like season. Clearly his theories were biased and flawed.]

[modern technology, man, it just doesn't go with ancient thinking]

I am sure it has everything to do with the Company and their control of the colony. At the same time, it is unnatural. [and he frowns again in displeasure, just thinking of it] At least, I have done enough reading to finally determine what month it really is. Without the stars and the moon to tell, it has been...interminably frustrating learning this simple information.

Yes, it has been. I've not bothered with the conversions, since I doubt they will apply very well to the world I hail from...but, given the similarities between our countries, it does make me curious. What have you found in your studies?

Perhaps not, but it does offer some sense of familiarity. And, I admit, I wouldn't mind knowing when the better festivals should be properly observed. [waving a hand in the air, idly] This 'July' people speak of, corresponds roughly to the sixth lunar month. That means I've missed Duangwu, and Qingming, but at least the latter is of no consequence because my ancestors' tombs are not here.

Though, I wonder now if the appearance of ghosts corresponded with that time in the calendar...

[So Zihuan's country also followed the lunar calendar, Koumei thought. They could indeed rely on eachother when it came to calculations of this sort, if that was the case.]

It would make sense. Even if they aren't our direct ancestors, they're still spirits that deserve to be honored in their own right. I personally can't help but wonder what happened during their lifetimes, because there are ways to become corrupted enough that you can never join your ancestors, even in death, where I come from.

Such things are always sad to see.

Perhaps. I had always taken the existence of spirits and the curses they can lay on their unfaithful descendants as mere superstition, but in this world, the rules may be different.

[lookin' at you over there, spirit-goat]

Either way. I expect ghost animals to be less of a burden than ghosts which chant murder at you all day and night. Whether we have to do something to send them to their rest or whatnot, I can't say.

Perhaps we should just treat them with the same respect as we would the dead in any other situation?

But that still doesn't resolve the problem of our memories meeting like they did.

No, it doesn't.

[he looks down around his feet, not that he can see the spirit-bird, but he has to wonder]

Was it proximity? Did I touch it, somehow?

[and now he's actually tempted to suggest experimenting. Hey Koumei where's your brother, let's make him walk through a goat...]

I'm...honestly not certain where the little bird is right now, [Koumei admitted, running a hand sheepishly through his hair as he peered around the room for it.]

Normally the little one is close by...

[Without so much as a request for pardon, Koumei dipped his head down to peek under the table-- only to find that the little ghostly bird had settled somewhere near his feet.]

Ah. That explains our problem. It's been here the whole time.

( OPEN )

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