intro

[wasjustascratch]

Characters: Jin Uzuki (AU2 wasjustascratch) and OPEN
Setting: Room 1-16, Floor 12, Floor 3 library
Format: starting prose but with change
Summary: Jin is new in the tower and explores
Warnings: Angry sister alert?

Room 1-16

Waking in this room, unable to move. For a moment, Jin thought he was dead again but once he died again, he couldn’t come back… could he? It reminded him of when Wihelm had first appeared to him and offered this chance to him, the chance to become a Testament and help him, help Shion. He’d leapt at it. But Wilhelm wasn’t here. He confirmed that when he found his body under his control and sat up, looking confused over his garment and the collar. A collar he attempted to remove before eyeing the letters.

Letter that ended up in a crumbled mess on the floor before burning with from a fire ether. He typically didn’t use fire ethers but this was fitting. So very fitting. He couldn’t believe it. How could he still live if the universe was destroyed? It was ridiculous. Save someone more worth saving. Like Shion…

Going to his trunk, he changed quickly into a black suit and long jacket sans the gloves. A moment later, he quickly hung his katana in his belt after a quick inspection to ensure that it wasn’t damaged. And then he left. For now he was just a regular man exploring the tower, not a Testament.

Floor 12

Jin found himself simply standing on this floor, looking at the stars as they die, watching color vanish and lights explode from dying planets. Studying the phenomenon. He didn’t expect the Lower Domains collapse to be anything like that. Imagining it as death in an instant, everything and everyone ceasing to exist in the same moment. Not even the time to wonder what was happening.

Floor 3

Well now, this was a place he could be comfortable. He’d often browsed through his grandfathers old collection of printed books. Jin had, oddly, always found the past far more interesting that anything his own time had to offer. His family found it strange. He didn’t change anything for them but he didn’t let himself become lost in the past, that was the difference they never seemed to comprehend.

Now he was comfortably seated in the library with several books around him and one opened on his lap, already about a third of the way through it.

Comments

[tohko_amano]

Tohko knew what the alternative was..and even though she didn't know the specifics about being a Testament, she knew what was at stake. What Wilhelm's goal was.

"The alternative..is pretty terrible..but that doesn't mean the second option isn't pretty bad too. So, don't hesitate to take up that offer."

She then smiled nervously. "Oh..but you didn't have to do that. It's not that hard for me to just grab stuff and take it to people. I've done that before. Don't worry about it."

[wasjustascratch]

Perhaps later he'd ask her about how she knew so much about all of this. Things were kept pretty tight-lipped even among the Testaments, after all.

"I promise, I won't." And he wouldn't. This tower would probab;y bother him more than most things back home might.

"You must get quite a bit of exercise. Here, take a seat and rest a moment."

He was quickly out of the seat and encouraging her to take it. With a smile, he took a hold of the pen and paper then and sketched out a connection gear.

[tohko_amano]

Of course, if he wanted to ask now, Tohko wouldn't mind telling him. Tohko nodded at his promise. "Good. I know that I'm a simple book girl, but I wouldn't mind helping if I can."

Tohko got a little flustered when the man offered her his seat, and she waved her hands, hoping that her body language read that she was fine.

"Oh, you don't have to do that! Really, I'm alright. A bit of exercise isn't going to kill me. Besides..I may need it, seeing as I'm not that strong physically."

Tohko motioned for him to sit down before looking over his shoulder as he drew a connection gear. While it looked pretty cool, it was unfamiliar. "Huh..that looks like something out of a science fiction story. It's really neat! But..they don't exist where I'm from."

[wasjustascratch]

"I've learned that no one is a simple anything."

He'd once thought Wilhelm was simply a CEO. He'd thought his sister was simply a little girl. He'd thought a lot of things were simple and later discovered that they were anything but.

"If you aren't strong physically, you need to know your limits. I'm guessing you went all the way to the dorms and back. There's quite a few floors between here and there. A little rest won't hurt."

He handed her back her things and smiled, remaining standing. He actually didn't need to sit, it was more out of habit than anything these days.

"It's used by nearly everyone in my time. Both for communication and working."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and smiled. This Testament was stubborn..but he seemed nice. Even though he technichally didn't need to sit, he could have sat down anyway and enjoyed the feeling of it. So, she took back her notebook and pen, and sat down in the chair.

"I suppose a little rest wouldn't hurt. Thank you..you're pretty kind. But..out of curiosity, what is your time? I know your from the future, but I haven't managed to find out what year."

She wasn't going to address the fact that he said she wasn't a a simple book girl. She wasn't sure what his reaction would be, so it was probably best to wait.

[wasjustascratch]

He may be dead but he certainly hadn't lost his manners. And he had always been pretty stubborn, anyone could attest to that.

"Testament or not, I'm not cruel like the others. Let's hope you never have to meet Voyager or Albedo. And I'm from the year T.C. 4768."

He'd have to learn about the book girl bit sometime. It'd be interesting to say the least.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded. "'Azazello' was pretty nice too..but who are Voyager and Albedo? I haven't heard of them yet."

Tohko paused when she heard the year that this man, Wilhelm, and 'Azazello' came from. "No wonder I don't know about this technology. I'm from 2006 A.D. You're from two thousand years in the future!"

While Wilhelm had been pretty quiet about how the future went, maybe this man could tell her about it.

[wasjustascratch]

"Azazello?"

Jin took a moment then to think of how exactly one would describe the black and white Testaments. He certainly didn't like either of them but how to explain without bias influencing his words.

"Voyager became a Testament a century or so before I was born if I remember right. He was a cyber-terrorist, I believe, a murderer. Albedo is a U.R.T.V., U-DO Retro Virus, and a bit of a sadist. He gets a kick out of ripping his limbs off for others to see."

Maybe that was a bit much, he thought a bit too late. Now he just watched her quietly for a moment before going on.

"We stopped recording time in A.D. in 20XX, so it's closer to four thousand years."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded and scratched her head sheepishly as she explained.

"Ah, sorry..the Brown Testament wouldn't tell me his name, so I've just been calling him 'Azazello', since I learned what he actually was because he understood a reference I made to The Master and Margarita."

Tohko sighed at the descriptions of Voyager and Albedo. She could handle them, but it wasn't like she enjoyed knowing that they were like that.

"I see..they're pretty horrible people then. However..as long as they fit the bill and go along with Wilhelm, he'll make them Testaments." She sighed again..but her eyes widened when she heard how far into the future this guy actually was.

"Four thousand years..that's amazing!"

[wasjustascratch]

"Ah, I see. I don't know a Brown Testament, so he wouldn't be from the universe I come from. I wonder why he wouldn't give his name..?"

Food for thought later, once he had time to relax from a hectic first day.

"They are, yes. Not people I make an effort to spend time with. Not unless Wilhelm requires us to work together."

Heheh, he never expected a reaction like that.

"I imagine things are very different in my time than yours."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded. "So you wouldn't know who he actually is either. And he probably did it to protect himself, in case anyone else from his universe drops by. And I don't blame you..I wouldn't want to spend my free time with people like that either."

Tohko smiled and nodded again. "Which explains the technological differences as well as a few other things. Tell me, how is Earth doing in the future? Do humans still live there?"

Tohko, loving science fiction stories, was curious.

[wasjustascratch]

"Unfortunately. I'm sure I'll find out while I'm here. We can't exactly avoid each other forever, we'll know what we are even if we look normal."

A bit inconvenient, probably, but only if they're actively try to avoid each other. And as far as Jin knows, they wouldn't have any reason to avoid each other.

And then her question about earth...

"Earth is gone. It was abandoned several thousand years ago and lost. We call it Lost Jerusalem now. No one can find their way to it."

[tohko_amano]

"Right..it's impossible to hide what you actually are to each other. At least, that's what I think."

At Tohko's eyes widened in shock. "What?! Why did you abandon it? How did you lose it? What happened? Did.."

Tohko tried to calm down, tried to think of reasons why Earth would be abandoned and lost.

"Did someone try to ascend to U-DO again, and, in his fury and fear, did he start destroying Earth?" It sounded like something similar to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. She hoped it wasn't. She hoped it was something better.

[wasjustascratch]

"I don't know much about what happened then, a lot of details are lost. If there was someone here from the Immigrant Fleet, you could ask them."

Technically, Jin was descended from them but he obviously didn't agree with them, Ormus or U-Tic. And it was a bit strange having someone not even from his universe no so much.

"As far as I'm aware though, nobody has tried to ascend to the realm of god since the Ancient Lost Jerusalem era."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and scratched her head, trying to calm down. "Right, right..I'm sorry. I forgot for a moment that Wilhelm managed to stop anyone else from ascending."

Tohko sighed again. So this guy didn't know either..she wasn't surprised that the details were lost, but that not even Wilhelm had told his workers everything. Then again..that's how you could deal with dogs. Keep them tightly chained up and only let them out when you feel like it.

"What is the Immigrant Fleet? Is is a group that fled from the Earth..or somewhere else?"

[wasjustascratch]

"They claim to be guardians of the Zohar, a relic that was on Lost Jerusalem in ancient times. They have a unique connection to it and to others that were descended from them."

He's ridiculously distantly related to Margulis... Ugh. He knew this but thinking about it was awful.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded. "I see..what is the Zohar? I haven't heard of it before."

[wasjustascratch]

"It's a large column of gold, shaped like a cross, used to power Relics of God. Most people never heard of it, s it isn't surprising you don't know it. Sometimes it's called Marienkind."

[tohko_amano]

Marienkind? Mary's kin?! If that were so, then..

"..I see. I don't know what the Relics of God are, but..I guess that means that the Zohar can control Anima in some way?"

[wasjustascratch]

"No, it can't. Only Animus can control Anima. That's why Mary's awakening is so important in my time. In any Recurrence, in fact. It is important though. To everything."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and nodded, scratching her head. "Right, right..I know. I apologize. When you said 'Marienkind', I thought of Mary's kin. I made an incorrect assumption again. I'm sorry."

Tohko sighed and tried to clear her head. This was important. Hadn't she promised herself not to make stupid mistakes like this earlier, in her chess match with Wilhelm? She had to hold to that promise.

[wasjustascratch]

"You don't have to apologize. The Zohar is needed for Zarathustra, which is necessary for Eternal Recurrence. And that cannot be done without Animus, Anima and the Maiden of Mary."

His sister. Jin does smile though, a bit.

"It's all a bit complicated and a lot of things have been in the process of happening for thousands and thousands of years. It's alright to make a few mistakes with information here and there."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko gave a small smile when at those words.

"Ah..so that's why some people call it Marienkind. I knew that Zarathustra, Mary, and Shion are needed for the Eternal Recurrence and that Wilhelm modified Zarathustra..but what does the Zohar do all by itself? I don't know much about it."

Tohko then sighed again and scratched her head. However, the smile didn't leave her face. "I suppose so..however, if I make too many mistakes, I might overlook something that might help with a new solution, and not be able to look it over with Wilhelm, if he leaves this Tower soon."

[wasjustascratch]

"He... He mentioned that Shion was the maiden?"

Give him a moment. He kind of feels protective over Shion still, so it's weird having anyone know her part in all of this that isn't chaos, Wilhelm or the other Testaments.

"The Zohar is a portal between the Higher Domain and the Lower Domain."

He paused for a moment.

"You're working with him?"

[tohko_amano]

Tohko nodded at his question, looking a little puzzled. "He did..do you know her personally?"

Tohko let him have his moment, not quite sure what was bothering him. Was she a good friend of his? A family member? Since she didn't know, and since this Testament wasn't going to let her know right now, she moved on to the next question.

"Ah, I see..I'm guessing that when people of modern times found the Zohar, they had no idea what it was, and experimented with it, which ended up unleashing the portal, which proved fatal to the Earth in the end."

Tohko still wasn't quite sure how though, if U-DO hadn't been involved. However, her eyes widened when the man asked if she was working with Wilhelm.

"No way! I'm..I'm not a Testament, and I'm trying my hardest not be become a simple pawn on his chessboard. However, he was the first person from these sorts of universes that I met, and when I heard about the Eternal Recurrence, I promised to find a different solution, since I'm not a huge fan of the idea of history repeating itself endlessly. While I haven't been able to find one yet, I'm not giving up just yet.

While all my idea have been shot down so far, I'm still looking for a hidden puzzle piece, some overlooked footnote that will give me a different solution. Since Wilhelm was the first person I met, I ran my first ideas by him, and since he knows more about his universe than anyone else, I'm planning to keep running ideas by him. So I don't work for him."