Divine Triangle (Rei no Kaado)

[mugenginga]

Why was she doing this. Why in the name of all that was sacred and corrupted was she doing this?

The woman most knew as Mana Tadoru was walking down the street. She was wearing a winter sweater loose enough that most of her shoulders were exposed. It was probably at least one size too large and grey in color. Underneath it was a black tanktop. She was small chested, but it was hard to tell for her sweater. Her pants were jeans that actually fit rather than being too tight, rather well worn. She had somewhat worn looking tennis shoes on with a blue and black color scheme.

Her long stringy silver hair fell down around her shoulders, and a few clumps went down the large collar of her sweatshirt. Her eyes were a somewhat odd shade of red, but it wasn't like crazier combinations were seen on the Island. She was walking at a somewhat fast pace, almost as if she were running just a bit late for someone. She didn't seem all that aware of the world around her.

She knew why she was doing this, of course. She could hide behind being curious as to how both her brother and his avatar had survived, but that wasn't the bottom line. If it was just that, she might have been content to stay at the Shrine. Now, his current avatar had far more free will than was standard, and had used it to manage to not be pushed away. And.. she scowled. And he reminded her of Izanagi before she'd died in the fires of the birth of Kagutsuchi... the one that hadn't broken his word and abandoned her in Yomi. She wasn't stupid enough to deny that she might be growing attracted to the one named Souji Seta, but damned if she would admit it out loud.

The whole point was, she was going to confront her brother and his avatar. Izanagi still being there meant it was easy enough for her to find him. They were both gods, they both had auras and saw no reason to hide them most of the time. They were also siblings and former spouses (that thought merited another scowl. Former only because Izanagi was an idiot), so there was a bond that went beyond mere divinity as well. She knew she'd run into him soon, and chastised herself for fussing over her appearance. Next corner she turned, she'd probably run into one of them... and she wasn't sure which one she wanted to run into more.

How old was she, anyhow? Sixteen mortal years? She sighed.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Things were going to hell. That was the best way to describe everything that had happened lately. It had started with when Minato had ended up in the TV World when he went to go and try to make his seal, and it had ended with Ryoji turning into the Nyx Avatar. Or at least, that's what Souji was hoping it ended with. He was hoping something would go well for them for once. At least he'd managed to get a job.

Right now, he was on his way back home, since he didn't really know what else to do. He didn't really have to work until stupidly early tomorrow morning, and Minato didn't really want to be cheered up right now. So for now it was just Souji and Izanagi.

And Izanagi had suddenly woken up as he sensed someone getting close.

What? What's going on?

Her.

Souji turned a corner to come face to face with a silver haired woman with red eyes. He'd recognize her anywhere now.

"Izanami," Souji growled. "What do you want? Come to throw me into Yomi again?"

He was definitely still bitter over that.

[mugenginga]

Well, she should have expected that. It wasn't like any of the impressions she had given the teenager as her true self had been good. He'd been convinced she was spitefully against the world. She had tried to toss him into Yomi due to his position as her brother's host. So all in all, she should have expected it. And she wasn't the type to show her stomach when she was annoyed. So it was returned with a scowl.

"So you did remain. Izanagi must be going soft," she growled.

Yeah, not really conducive to the real reason she was there. She was an abrasive woman, no doubt about it, and she didn't handle being annoyed well. Of course, there was the other reason as well. She doubted Izanagi could pull out over half his powers with the current state of things. If that many.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji's scowl matched Izanami's at this point. It wouldn't have been too hard to believe they were siblings, what with their similar appearances and expressions. Considering Izanami's relation to Izanagi, it was a rather fitting thought.

"I had to fight for my right to live," Souji growled back. "You really didn't help in that regard. I nearly died because of you and Izanagi."

Souji wasn't really helping with what Izanami had come to do. In fact, it was entirely likely this was going to break out into another fight.

[mugenginga]

Izanami scoffed, "At the end of the day, it was his choice. The fact that he isn't exerting effort to keep you suppressed now says he plans on letting you stay two years from now as well."

She let out an annoyed sigh and crossed her arms. This wasn't going well, so she might as well move onto option number two. She had no doubt Izanagi was listening in. There was something to be said that he wasn't taking dominance, too. Well, she didn't want to talk to him anyhow. She looked away and spoke without a growl.

"I assume you're already aware of Nyx's actions in regards to her avatar."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked away. Damn, she had to bring that up. Of course she did. He took a moment to speak after that.

"Yeah. I was there," Souji said. I was the one who let him walk out that door. At the end of the day, that was what it boiled down to. Even with what Yuugi and Atem and all of them said, it boiled down to the fact that he'd been the one to let Ryoji go. Ryoji might not have left that night if he'd held his ground. Maybe Ryoji knew it was coming, but there was a large implication that Ryoji had only changed because he'd given up, not because of any preset point in time.

He looked back at Izanami. "What's your point?"

[mugenginga]

Izanami noted that it seemed to upset Souji. And it was more than the fact that Nyx's avatar had gone. That was to be expected, although humans (close enough) were sometimes fools about things like that. He was there, so it was possible he'd seen it happen. The form Death had taken in regards to emotions had been pushing things a bit long, at least if the Fall that had visited Souji's world had been any indication.

She dropped her glare by quite a bit. Almost seemed concerned as it took a fair few moments for Souji to look back at her. Her expression hardened again as Souji returned eye contact.

"I have a feeling Izanagi can't do anything to help you..." she paused and went back to glaring, but it didn't seem directed at Souji as much as the situation, "Or your friends in the current situation."

She was definently leading into something.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji broke the eye contact again. "And you can? I dunno if you've noticed, but we're all going to die in a couple weeks or so. And that includes you."

[mugenginga]

Izanami's right hand twitched. For a moment she'd been about to facepalm. Her scowl deepened. Was he really that stupid. Surely at least Izanagi understood where she was going with that. She'd insulted her brother well enough, after all.

"No, anyone in this dimension or the many connected to it will die thanks to the domino effect," she stated, "Are you so dense as to not understand what I'm saying? I'm offering to save you and your little group. Not all the dimensions I'm attached to connect to this one."

That probably more than got Izanagi's attention. Izanami wasn't what one would call altruistic, at least not after the incident in Yomi. She bore grudges rather hard, and was now offering to save Souji despite his connection to Izanagi. Something was definently up. Her tone when she mentioned Souji's friends had been a bit condascending both times. It was. She was only including them in her thoughts because of Souji's attachment to them. Due to their relationship both past and present, Izanagi would know something was definently up and it was related to Souji most of all.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji looked back at Izanami. She was offering to save him and his friends? Souji was getting the feeling she was only offering to save everyone else from the Fall because of him.

It also definitely caught Izanagi's attention. There was definitely something up, and based on her mannerisms, it was related to Souji. Despite the fact that he was connected to him in several ways. Izanagi scowled as he realized, and Souji stumbled forward as Izanagi tried to take control of the situation. Souji put a hand on his head as he stumbled, and only removed it once he was sure Izanagi wasn't going to try anything else.

"I can handle this, Izanagi," Souji mumbled. He looked back over at Izanami, and he had a slight smirk. "Sorry, Izanami, but I'm going to have to turn you down on that one. I refuse to run from this."

To be honest, Souji was quite a bit curious as to why Izanami was offering to save him now. She certainly hadn't been all too eager to before.

[mugenginga]

Izanami looked annoyed. She clenched her teeth and looked away, her scowl managing to deepen again. Of course she should have expected that, Souji was her brother's avatar. She just stood there steaming for a few moments before turning back towards the teenager. She hadn't missed Izanagi's attempt to take control, either. It had been when the annoyance started. Izanagi could, at any time, force Souji down or decide to let him go at that all important birthday. And she didn't want that to happen.

"It's a hopeless fight. If you insist on it, I can pull you out at the last moment," she said, actually making effort to control her tone, "I doubt Nyx will have her avatar kill you, just knock you and your friends out so they are out of the way. You can't want to die."

She was really pushing it. By this point Izanagi was probably amused, disgusted, or both. He'd already come upon the correct suspicion, after all.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji didn't know why Izanagi was feeling disgusted, but he was getting a large feeling of absolute disgust from the god. He was ignoring Izanagi for now as he answered Izanami.

"Of course I don't want to die. But I refuse to believe that Ryoji's gone," Souji said. "And I refuse to go down without fighting back. You told me that I was fighting for something useless once before, too. I seem to recall that ended with you being beaten."

With Izanagi's help. How much of Izanagi was in that Persona, anyways? Trick question, Souji thought to himself. That was probably the only reason Souji could stop Izanagi from getting rid of him; whatever Izanami had done to develop his Persona summoning abilities had weakened Izanagi, at least in this incarnation.

Souji still thought it was odd that Izanami was trying to save him. Finally, Izanagi got tired of how oblivious Souji was being and spoke up.

She's in love with you, Izanagi growled. He made no effort to hide the message from Izanami. Souji stepped back.

What?!

[mugenginga]

Izanami's entire face seemed to twitch as Izanagi spoke. She opened her mouth to object, but caught herself. She wasn't some mortal, she wasn't anywhere near the twenty years (give or take) this form appeared to be. She had a better handle on her emotions than that, and it was pointless to argue Izanagi's point. Although he hadn't had to say it so bluntly. There was a difference between love and attraction, after all. She hadn't tipped the scale just yet. Then again, Izanagi probably knew her best. There was a chance that, even after all these years, he could tell things just before she could.

Of course, Souji reacted in a predictable but crushing way himself. His face had an expression of being broken and he'd taken a step back. Izanami clenched her fists together and glared into Souji. That was really the only way to describe it considering Souji's status as Izanagi's avatar. It would be a bit creepy for Souji, even knowing the situation. Nothing like having your soul glared at. She ground her teeth together from the clenched jaw and jerked her head away. She needed to move on with the conversation.

"And are you saying you're going to let yourself die if you're wrong!? Fuck, maybe you're right, but that doesn't change that if you're wrong you will die! I'm offering you an alternate option! If you want to take it to the wire, fine, but let me save you! Stop being so damn stubborn!"

She had reached almost screeching by this point. Oh, she was more then a little pissed by the way Izanagi had handled the situation. She hadn't directly confirmed or denied what Izanagi had said, but her emotions had pretty much gone directly south at the speed of light after what he'd said. She was working to control her emotions, but Izanagi had definently hit a sore spot. In any case, people were beginning to take notice of the encounter.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji took another step back as Izanami glared into his soul. That was a fair bit creepy. She was glaring at him but... not. Souji was grateful when Izanami jerked her head away. Even knowing she'd been glaring at Izanagi, it hadn't been pleasant.

And now knowing why Izanami was trying to save him so badly thanks to Izanagi's probably intentionally tactless handling of the situation, Souji was having a hard time thinking of Izanami with the same cold dislike he usually did. At least he was managing to stay calm somewhat, even if his face certainly didn't look calm.

"If that's what will make you happy, then fine," Souji said stubbornly. "But I'm not going to like it."

Izanagi had started moving from disgusted to just as pissed as Izanami was. The only reason he wasn't forcing Souji out again was because there were too many people watching on now. Izanami and her screeching had attracted too much attention.

[mugenginga]

Izanami's stance changed as Souji gave her permission. She paused with her mouth open, looking as if she had been about to object to whatever Souji's argument was... except he hadn't argued. She blinked a few times and a bit of the tension left her body. She straightened up and let out a sigh of relief as she refocused on Souji.

"I didn't say you had to," she stated, still sounding a bit riled up but no longer all that angry, "I can wait until after what people seem to have taken to calling Apathy Syndrome sets in if you prefer it... thank you for not forcing me to do it without your permission."

For a moment, she'd seemed almost sympathetic. And then she'd blown it with the comment at the end. The comment that pretty much stated she would have taken Souji after he succumbed to Apathy Syndrome and been unable to fight it. She gave a glare to one of the people still staring at them and the people moved on.