White Light (me and FF only)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato shook his head and walked in. He figured he might as well. Though this place still reminded him way too much of the Velvet Room.

As he walked in, he noticed someone wearing a beret step out of his room for a second before catching eye of him and going back in his room. And-- Wait, wait, was that a tail?!

Inside her room Palette was working on a painting. Not that she'd had another vision, it was more it helped her concentrate. Though day by day she was seeing this latest one come true. That kid out there had to be it. After all, there couldn't be that many people with blue hair in the world, right?

Obviously, Palette didn't watch much anime.

Eriol was staring at Minato, which creeped Minato out a bit. What was up with this doll?
Eriol turned his head toward Yuugi and Atem. "...You're both here... And you're not a ghost anymore." He pointed at Atem.

Minato raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Eriol had already gone back to cleaning.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi looked nervous. He had recognized the doll from before. Atem looked rather intently at Eriol for a few moments before shifting his focus to whatever Himitsu had so hastily covered up. Himitsu chose to leave Eriol be for the moment and walked forward towards Minato. The angle meant she was standing right next to him. Yuugi opened his mouth but paused. He didn't want to interuppt the woman and it seemed like she had something important to say. Atem was making a point of not looking at her. It wasn't the old lady from before, but she seemed to have a similar power around her. He would have said the same if she hadn't obviously been such a different age.

"It seems things have gotten bad, then," she stated to Minato. She turned her head towards Yuugi and Atem, "Kaini and the Kimuras are in the back room. I assume that is why you are here? You were with Keiichi that day you came to the shop."

Atem glanced at her, but rather than speaking he chose to shift his focus to Minato. He and Yuugi had warned the teenager, he wanted to see how he would react. She knew just as much more than she should as the old lady had. He realized there was a level of resemblance. A descendant? Yuugi had been about to go towards the room indicated but paused. Atem saw reason to stay here.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato turned to face Himitsu, assuming a slightly defensive stance as he did so. "What do you mean by that?" He asked. He hastily added, "Are you all trying to tell me something? You've all been acting weird..." Especially her... what was that thing she hid so quickly when we came in? A notebook? He stepped back a little bit and looked toward where the notebook had been hidden. Trying to regain his composure, he placed his hands back in his pockets.

She reminded him way too much of Igor... it was a bit scary. A female Igor, maybe? Did the females not have the long noses or something? Well, that would explain Elizabeth enough.

He stepped back from the rest of the group, and walked over toward the counter. It was fairly obvious something was up with Minato by this point. After uncovering the notebook, he opened it, and then almost immidiately paled and stepped back.

[mugenginga]

Himitsu said nothing, trying to read the teenager. It was a bit odd, she rarely ran into individuals she had this much trouble reading. It wasn't an effect of the Wild Card. The silver haired teen from before had not been this hard to read. It was likely a trait of this particular individual. She was thrown off guard by the "you've all been acting weird" statement. You've all? Who else was he referencing. As such, she didn't know what he was doing when he approached the counter. By the time she did, there was no time to stop him. Well, perhaps that was fate as well.

Atem had a feeling he knew what Minato was doing, and stepped back to grant him the room to do so. Yuugi stood there looking awkward. He turned a bit and smiled at Eriol with a slight wave. He didn't know what had happened to the doll since their last meeting, but he seemed to be doing better. Atem's posture changed a bit as Minato stepped back from the notebook. Himitsu walked over and grabbed the corner. Minato still held onto it.

Atem angled himself so he could see the sketch. It wasn't the most incriminating thing in the world. The corner had what appeared to be a Shadow, and there was a faceless male figure on the front. Something was spattered over it, and hastily but well drawn chains covered the entire image. By itself, it meant nothing. In the shop of this woman... he had to once more wonder how much she knew.

"I think you know more what I mean than I could clearly express. Please give the sketchpad back to me," Himitsu stated.

"Who are you?" Atem said. It was almost cold, and contained not even the slightest traces of trust.

Kaini kept his position. Either Yuugi and the others hadn't noticed him, or they were choosing to ignore him. Now that he got a clear look at Minato, he realized that the figure on that drawing ever so slightly resembled him. At the time it had made no sense, and before he could see the written words Himitsu had always shown up and taken the notebook away. But he remembered what Palette had said. Blue hair?

"Is he... the one that prophecy mentioned? Blue hair and Death's chains...?" Despite having not read it recently, he roughly remembered the prophecy. The first and last parts he hadn't focused in so much on. He wondered if maybe he should have tried harder to get a look at the text.

Himitsu's head jerked to the side, and her grip on the edge of the notebook tightened. The expression on Kaini's face indicated he hadn't meant to let such an enormous cat out of the bag. But the teenager in front of her would have a better grasp of Death than Kaini could possibly realise. And he'd used the word prophecy, which always tended to create issues. Atem took a more aggressive stance. From Minato's revealed backstory... and Thanatos. He had called that Persona as Death. Yuugi seemed surprised that Kaini had shown up.

"What's going on...?" he asked. An awful lot was happening at once. He wondered if they'd have to fight to protect Minato. Atem had the cards still, he'd given them to the Egyptian teenager so he wouldn't have to summon his Persona. It didn't seem wise to summon Nefertum here. He'd stopped carrying around that sword, something he was now wondering the wisdom of.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato didn't let go of the notebook, and looked up at Himitsu. "Prophecy? Is there some kind of prophecy about me that I don't know about?" He looked down at the notebook before looking back up at her. "It's written in this notebook, isn't it? Is that why you don't want me looking at it?"

It was bad enough that it looked like someone had drawn him in there, and that mention of Death. Now there was some prophecy about him too.

Eriol walked over. "Please stop, sir. We don't wish to cause any harm."

Minato ignored the doll and tugged harder on the notebook. He was being rather persistant.

[mugenginga]

Himitsu narrowed her eyes. She thought she might understand his feelings. Knowing a prophecy was the best way to avoid it, right? But many a universe had proven that knowing a prophecy was the best way to cause it to come true. One often meets their destiny on the road to avoid it and all that. Her hand tightened on the edge of the notebook for a moment, but then she suddenly let it go. It was not an attempt to knock Minato off balance. She had decided that perhaps it was better for him to know what it said.

She got flashes of inspiration of that sort from time to time. She didn't claim to know what ripple in the cosmos, be it of one universe or many, that caused her to change her mind, but she had learned to listen. She pointed at the notebook.

"The words are on the next page," she stated. She had gone from trying to prevent him from reading it to encouraging him? "Eriol, it will be alright. Thank you for trying to help," and she turned towards Atem and her eyes flicked towards the cartouche, "Ahtemu, is it? Or do you use a more modern variation for pronunciation? I apologize if my grandmother's words set you on edge. She means no harm in her pranks. I share her name, I am Motomeru Himitsu, although most call me Mitsu."

Atem narrowed his gaze. She had read the hieroglyphics on his cartouche, "Atem. I didn't ask for your name, I asked who you were."

Mitsu nodded, "I suppose you would be willing to tell a stranger who you really are as well, then?"

"H-how... I mean... you...?"

Himitsu turned, "I see you have inherited the artifact..."

It seemed she had put Minato out of her mind for the time being. Atem didn't think this woman meant harm, but she knew far too much. Kaini walked towards Himitsu, and even though her back was turned to him she held up a hand with her pointer finger up. She had seen him staring at Minato, and had a feeling it had to do with his at ready COMP. She would discuss it with him later. Kaini looked annoyed, but stopped a few steps away from where Yuugi was standing.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato silently flipped to the next page of the notebook, looking over the words written there. "...The shadows of the blue hair's past are brought up again... blaming himself, he throws himself to be sacrificed..." He paled. How the hell?! He hadn't told anyone about his plans! Not even Souji, who he'd told practically almost everything else about his past. And that last line about the chains of Death weakening again... Yeah. That was the whole reason he was "sacrificing" himself in the first place. Though he was at least going to wait until after K1 had recovered, but not too long after that. He had to do it before the Nyx Avatar fully formed again. They couldn't wait until the Fall was already in process. Not again.

He slipped the notebook into his jacket when he was sure Himitsu wasn't looking and turned back to the rest of the group, his hands once again in his pockets.

Eriol, however, had not missed Minato taking the notebook. If Minato did not return it, he would be forced to make Minato return it by... force.

[mugenginga]

Yuugi was having trouble coming up with words. He remembered back when they had come to the shop for the first time. Himitsu hadn't seemed to know much beyond that the then Puzzle hid power. But the way she was addressing Atem meant she had at some point figured things out. However, Minato looked like he was teetering on the edge of panic. Himitsu stepped to the side as if she had known Yuugi was going to walk forward. She did not, however, miss Minato pocketing the book. Now just wasn't the time to say something.

"Are you alright, Minato-kun...?"

Atem glanced around the room. As it was, Kaini was the only one he didn't want to say who he really was, or at least had once been, in front of. He had the feeling Himitsu already knew. Kaini had mentioned a prophecy, so it was possible she was an oracle of sorts. He remained quiet, and Himitsu knew she had to speak now or risk Minato leaving. And Eriol didn't seem like he'd take the theft well. He had heard Minato reading the words, but chose to say nothing. There were times when one's life was the only way to prevent a disaster. He knew that all too well.

"If you want the image and prophecy that badly, I request that you at least pay for it. It is twenty-five dollars. I would be glad to get the conversion rate for you if all you have is yen," Himitsu stated. It was actually a mark up from what she had payed for it, but she did own a business after all, "I will not allow you to steal from me, no matter what your purpose in this production may or may not be."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato had been about to say something when the price of the drawing had been brought up. That was way too much for a small drawing like that!

"I don't want it that bad!" He stuttered out. He walked over to Kaini and pushed it into his arms. "Here. Part of it's about you."
That was sure to get on Himitsu's nerves, but Minato felt that Kaini had a right to know. He turned to Yuugi and Atem. "Let's just do what we came to do and go."

[mugenginga]

Kaini looked startled as the drawing was shoved into his hands. He looked at the words and paused. Well, the lamb and sinner part had seemed significant but nothing clearly stated it was about him. He had no intentions of going the matyr, either, "What are you talking about?" he said. It wasn't that he didn't believe Minato, after all it had been transcribed after he showed up at the shop. But Minato's conviction meant he knew more.

"Minato, don't answer," Atem said rather quickly. If there had been any doubt before, he knew now that Kaini didn't know the identities of Keiichi and Naoya's souls.

Yuugi looked towards Kaini, "Are K1-kun and Kimura-san okay...?"

Himitsu nodded, "If you would like to see them they are in the room to the back. Their condition has not improved, but I am sure Minato-san has already informed you it would not have."

Again with the clearly showing she knew more about Minato than any sane person would be comfortable with. Yuugi hesitated and glanced at Atem, who nodded.

"We'll trust you on that point," the truth was, Atem had returned to being a little freaked. The only person with this level of getting inside one's head he had ever met had not possessed that ability naturally. But it was almost like Himitsu was reading the minds of the group. With this shop, it was not impossible that she was.

Kaini seemed to expect Minato to answer him. Himitsu would not stop it if it occurred. Minato's unexpected arrival meant that she had perhaps been trying to keep too much of a chokehold on destiny. The only way for things to balance back out would be to let those involved in the plot act as they wished. She waited for the reactions of those in the room.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato hadn't expected much. Upon walking into the room and seeing K1 and Naoya like this again for what felt like the umpteenth time, he still felt a twang of pity, but not as much as when he'd first seen them like this. He supposed it was because he'd seen so many of the Lost over the year Apathy Syndrome terrified Port Island. He pulled an unopened bag with some melon bread in it out to feed to them. They probably hadn't been fed since they got there this morning.

"I'm sure they're tired of melon bread by now," said a voice. Minato turned around and saw that the weird person with a tail was sitting next to him. How had he missed them walk in? Strangely enough, this person, despite looking like a boy, had a girlish voice. It was like Naoto, only without the "boku" usage. In fact, somehow, Minato could tell this person with the tail was speaking English.

"How do you know they've been eating melon bread?" Minato asked.

"Let's see... they smell of it, they've got melon bread crumbs all down their fronts, I found a melon bread wrapper in their pockets, yeah, I'm fairly sure that even comatose they're tired of it," Palette said. Minato's eyes glanced to the "tattoo" around her eye, and then to the paint down her front.

[mugenginga]

Kaini looked decidedly annoyed. Minato had just walked past him, completely ignoring his question. He glanced at Atem, who had moved forward a bit so he could keep his eyes on Minato. He hadn't said anything about the odd creature that had gone into the room. This Island had shown that there were non-humans just as active as humans. The creature seemed to be human in terms of sentience, so he let her be. Kaini looked towards Yuugi and held out the notepad.

"What was he talking about?"

Yuugi shook his head, "It's nothing. Minato-kun, maybe you should have asked if they've been fed?"

Kaini turned and saw what Yuugi was referencing, "Hey, you're going to make them explode! They've already eaten this morning!" he said.

Himitsu was grateful Minato had ignored Kaini's question. She reached out and tapped Kaini's shoulder. He held out the notepad, surprising her that he knew what she meant. She took it carefully and closed it, "You are welcome to stay as long as you like, but I request that you remain away from here tomorrow."

She'd finally figured out when he was going to arrive. Atem glanced at her, but said nothing. She seemed serious about something. Yuugi looked sadly at Keiichi and Naoya. There really didn't seem to be anything they could do. They both seemed well enough cared for. Kaini didn't know the identity of Naoya's soul... how would he react if he did.

"You don't plan on answering me, do you?" Kaini said. He seemed annoyed. Minato knew something about his brother and cousin that he wasn't telling him.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato shook his head. "You'll find out soon enough anyways." If K1 doesn't try to kill him first, anyways. He checked the time on his mp3 player and turned to Atem. "Hey, I've gotta go. I'll see you guys back at the apartments tomorrow, okay?"

It was getting late, and while it wasn't quite dark yet, he wanted to go do some things around town before he stopped by Tartarus. He hadn't found any alternate entrances to the Velvet Room yet, so that was his best bet for now.

Eriol looked up. "Please come again soon."

[mugenginga]

Yuugi nodded, and saw Atem was heading after Minato a bit quicker than he'd expected. He bowed politely towards Himitsu, but didn't head out just yet.

Atem caught up with Minato as he went outside, "Minato-kun, hold up."

Yuugi was respecting his boundaries, it seemed. He wouldn't make Minato stay and listen to him, but he wanted to tell him something. The inclusion of an honorific was new. Apparently Atem's opinion of the teenager had shifted, and it was for the positive...

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato turned around to face Atem. His hands were still in his pockets, so he looked somewhat awkward with the way he'd turned.

"Yeah?" Minato asked. He actually wouldn't have answered normally, but the honorific was new. It must be important.