(no subject)

[thousandcurses]

Characters: Izanami and YOU!
Setting: The graveyard
Format: Starting in commentspam, but I will shift!
Summary: Izanami is a goddess of death. It's only natural she care for the graves that have appeared.
Warnings: Izanami is her own warning.

[A graveyard. Perhaps it's only natural she care for it. She can't serve as the goddess of Yomi here, but she can make sure the graves remain tended. So she's slowly making her rounds today, humming an old song as she dusts off graves and disposes of any dead and withered flowers brought up from the meadow floor. She's easily approachable, and may even seem like a ghost with her pale coloring! Do you dare approach?]

Comments

[risingshepard]

[More like she'll probably get the chance to approach someone else.

Shepard is there, staring at one of the newest graves to be added to this grim place--that of the Amagi heiress that recently vanished without a trace. This, when she'd only just started talking to her--fate has a really spectacular sense of timing, it seems...]

[thousandcurses]

[Izanami approaches--she's here to tend to the grave, after all. How ironic.]

Did you know Amagi-san?

[risingshepard]

...For only a while, yeah. Hard to believe she's already gone.

['One more name for me to keep fighting for, as long as I'm here.']

[pitiedthefool]

[> Yes.]

[He knew this floor was either a cruel trick by the admins, or a reality he didn't want to face... but right now he didn't really care.

The tombstones of three Amagi Yukiko, Arisato Minako, Arisato Minami,, Cecil Harvey, Lina Inverse, Kirishima Eriko, Narukami Yuko, two Satonaka Chie, Teddie, Ventus all had fresh flowers on their graves. Hell, even Adachi-san had one (one he was sure to ask Jun about; he still despises his Lust Social Link, but he didn't have a high enough Jackass stat to disrespect those who were gone outside of flipping them off metaphysically).

The one who'd placed the flowers there was just looking up from placing two on the grave of Dojima Ryotaro when he noticed the familiar presence. It figures that she'd be here, really.]

...

[Yu straightens after whispering something ('I'll keep her safe in this hell, oji-san.'), giving her a nod. ...They needed to talk, thus, he quietly approaches. After all, she likely already knew he was here.]

[thousandcurses]

[Yes, she was aware. She finishes dusting off an older grave and then turns to him as he approaches. Naturally, she has left her shawl in her room today.]

Good morning, Narukami.

[pitiedthefool]

[Naturally. It only made sense, considering.]

Morning, Izanami- [...Funny. He must have gotten used to his voice being a similar, eerie blend of his own and Izanagi's last month. Irk.] It's been a while.

[Considering he did his best to avoid most for half a month... oops?]

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya enters the graveyard, eyebrows raising at the presence nearby. He doesn't say anything yet, though - simply goes over to one of the graves whose names have faded and takes out a cloth, starting to dust it off. He lingers over the space where the name has blurred, and takes particular care when dusting that part.]

[Her path should lead her nearby soon, in any case. But he also has work to do.]

[thousandcurses]

Someone you know?

[Perhaps sooner than expected. She'll stand quietly, watching him. If he is here to pay his respects, she'll keep her distance.]

[crouching_sin]

[He looks up and chuckles.]

No. But that doesn't mean that they should be forgotten.

[fusedstars]

[Hei had come back to put flowers on the graves he knew of. Only for Lucy however. When it came down to it, he knew for sure she was dead, having said such words. Why lie to his face about that? Even if they hadn't talked much, he knew the other her, the clone he loved.

And so he came here again, though passed by Izanami, noticing what she was doing.]

Have you taken it upon yourself to tend to the graveyard?

[thousandcurses]

I am a goddess of death. It is only natural I tend to graves, is it not?

[She belongs with the dead, being dead herself. An odd conundrum. Still, she's working while speaking.]

[fusedstars]

Do you know for sure if each one here is dead though?

[justiceinheaven]

[Her brother had been completely against Nanako coming up here at all, and he probably would have panicked if he ever found out she came alone. Still, she had heard that Teddie and Yukiko had vanished from the Tower, before she even had a chance to see them... and if they vanished, then that had to mean...]

[Still, she was pretty brave (not to mention lucky) to come this far on her own, but graveyards were still pretty creepy for a seven year old. She huddled in on herself as she walked between the headstones, trying to pick out the names of friends as she passed.]

[thousandcurses]

[And it's with good reason he didn't want her here. Izanami takes not of her immediately and rather quickly comes to her side, walking beside her.]

A child such as yourself shouldn't have to face such a thing as death.

[She'll offer a hand, subtly. She won't take you away just yet, because that's just mean. But she will offer her strength. Death isn't new to her, after all.]

[justiceinheaven]

[Nanako near jumped out of her skin when the woman spoke, having not heard her approach. She looked up to her, a bit uncertain, but... not really all that scared? She was very pretty, and kind of resembled her brother...]

I just want to say goodbye to some friends.

[She looked down at the offered hand, unsure; she did not seem like a bad person, but...]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

[Labrys could be found with her knees pulled up to her chest, sitting quietly beside the grave marked 'Yukiko Amagi' and rubbing at her eyes every so often.]

[thousandcurses]

[Oh, Labrys. :c She's sorry Yukiko left.]

You knew Amagi-san?

[It seems a lot of people did. Which just makes it all the more depressing.]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

She's a friend a' mine, yeah.

[ex_depaysement502]

[It was strange, to see a grave for herself here-or the other her, however you wanted to say it-but who then could say they got to visit their own grave? Such a rare opportunity must be savoured, even if the place is odd.

The singing catches her notice, and when she sees the woman, Juliet rises, drifting closer until she can observe what she's doing.]

You sing beautifully. I'm sure they appreciate it.

LET'S GET THIS STARTED.

[thousandcurses]

[That earns a small smile. Izanami will stand from the grave she'd been tending, some skeletal hands quickly retreating to under her kimono. Hey, she needs some help to do all this.]

I do not doubt it. Though I suppose a lullaby isn't something you should sing for those who have passed.

[ex_depaysement502]

If it suits, why not? There may be souls that linger, that need a song to coax them into their sleep lest they be too frightened to move on.

[That was why death had a human face, wasn't it? Not some grim reminder of your mortality but someone who could be the stranger on the street. Someone who could be there.]

I am so sorry, this turned into a novel...

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch finds himself lingering on this floor often enough, himself. Sometimes it was only a quick stop during the day, sometimes he remained for a few hours. It was a strange atmosphere - logic told him that either it made no sense, or someone, probably Ruana, had grown tired of them and simply failed to revive them.

But the inextricably human part of him saw the suggested mortality of proven immortals, and, for the first time in centuries, said, I could be here too, someday. Like a dormant muscle stretching for the first time, it was an awkward, out of place feeling. But it was also, in a strange, eerie way, refreshing and uncomfortable entwined into one emotion.

There wasn't anyone mourning here today, not yet, at least. That was what he usually did here; approach those who were grieving and offer what comfort he could give. He and grief were well acquainted, after all.

Speaking of grief, there was something he hadn't done. Enoch kneels by a grave reading Ryotaro Dojima, one that happened to be in Izanami's path. He thought he would grieve when he first saw his name here. He thought it would be like the multitude of other deaths here. The man had saved his life, after all, and gone to the trouble of seeing to his needs when he couldn't. But this wasn't Earth, and the absolute rules that would tell him Dojima had died had proven to not be so absolute. He couldn't bring himself to believe he was really dead. So instead of "goodbye", his message was:*

Thank you. I'll do my best to look after your family in your absence.

It's all right.

[thousandcurses]

[Dojima is not someone she met. However, she knows enough about who he is to Yu. So when she sees Enoch kneeling there, she keeps her distance.]

You knew him? ...I suppose it only natural he make many an acquaintance.

[firstofthefallen]

It's always seemed odd to me. To care for the dead.

["Louisa" wasn't here before, but she sure is now. And she does dare approach. In fact, she's wanted to have a talk with you since the whole Shadow incident, but she'll set that bit of business aside for now.

At the moment, she simply stands behind Izanami, watching.]

Even if they should hear, it does little good. The world belongs to the living; it always has, and always will.

[thousandcurses]

[Oh, hello, Lucifer. 8| Yes, she's aware it's you. And she's not happy with what you say.]

You know very well I am quite aware of that.

[Hello, dead woman you're talking to. She will stand then and curtly move on to the next grave.]

However, just because someone is dead doesn't mean they shouldn't be cared for.