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Post by mugenginga on Apr 14, 2012 9:10:16 GMT -5
Yuugi frowned at Izanami's dodge of his question, and didn't look inclined to move until he looked towards Souji. Something about Souji's expression made him drop his defiant stance and he gave a small smile before looking towards his friends. An observant person would notice Atsuro was included in that "friends" bit. His smile widened a bit, "C'mon, Seta-kun's gonna be okay now!"
Atem had looked up at Yuugi's pass over, a faint smile of relief on his features as well. He headed out after Yuugi with the group from Domino City. Ryoji looked somehow vulnerable, still disbelieving, as he looked at Souji sitting up. He only came out of it when Minato spoke on the way out. He looked startled before chasing afterwards, pausing at the door for a moment before looking back towards Souji, worry tinging his features still. He managed a weak smile despite it, "I'm glad... you're okay..."
Izanami waited until everyone was out the door before closing it behind them, standing there until she heard the footsteps fade. She walked back over to Souji and was setting herself down into a sitting position with her knees forward when Souji coughed. Her frown was barely visible on her features, but she settled down into the position after only a small hiccup amd before Souji spoke.
"No, it wasn't, although you were closer to that as well than you realize," Izanami stated. One couldn't tell from her tone she'd been sobbing minutes earlier, and there wasn't even redness in her eyes to indicate it on her face, "That... mask over it, its why I couldn't tell how far you were until near the end."
She regarded him seriously, "I didn't sense anything enter the shrine, with you or without. Which means that whatever took you was here to begin with and able to mask its activities from me. The only thing I can imagine to fit that is the honden."
She was talking rather matter of factly about things now. The worry that edged her voice was so faint no one in the group previously would be aware of it - possibly even Amaterasu. If she thought Souji could, it didn't show anymore than anything else.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 15, 2012 2:19:23 GMT -5
For how torn up she'd been merely minutes ago, Izanami appeared to have regained her composure rather quickly. It was the incredibly faint edge of worry in her voice that told Souji that she hadn't, not quite yet. Not that he'd expected her to go back into business mode so quickly after he'd nearly just died.
He shook his head when Izanami said that the honden might have been responsible. "I was in a dream for most of what happened," Souji said. "In the dream, there were two paths I could take. And at the end of the one I ended up taking was what looked like the inside of the honden. There's something in there, but I don't think it's malevolent. It was trying to help me."
"Would it be possible for something to enter the shrine without you knowing?" he asked. "People were coming and going from here all day during the festival. It could have piggybacked on one of them."
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 15, 2012 2:30:45 GMT -5
Izanami's frown was slight, but Souji would feel rather the judgment about as he pointed out that it wasn't the honden, but something inside of it. She had not implied otherwise. She patiently waited for him to continue, but blinked and her slight frown deepened at his suggestion.
"The energy you were putting off was nothing that came into the shrine during the festival, which was over a week ago besides. Gods and spirits came and went, but none without my knowledge," she stated flatly. She paused for a moment, looking away as if deep in thought. She looked towards Souji with a perplexed expression, "No, that's not quite the case. That Abrahamic demon had something of that presence about him, as did that amulet your Egyptian friend wore."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 15, 2012 2:43:19 GMT -5
A week? He'd been out for a whole week?! It felt nothing like that... more like it had only been a day.
Abrahamic demon... so that meant Abel. He was still holding onto the Millennium Items for Yuugi, then. Souji thought back. A presence like that around the Millennium Items... The problem was that Souji knew very little about the Millennium Items. If they had something to do with his illness, he'd have to ask Yuugi about it.
"I don't know much about the Items. The only way I'll be able to tell if they have something to do with this is if I ask my friends," Souji said.
His gaze moved past Izanami and to the chair in the corner, where a blanket was still draped over one armrest. Souji doubted that Izanami had been sleeping there, because he doubted that she actually needed sleep, so that meant...
"Where's Teddie?"
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 15, 2012 2:50:09 GMT -5
Izanami didn't say anything as Souji's features darted with surprise. Her expression remained neutral as he informed her that he didn't know much of the Items. Knowing that the energy was associated with a specific thing meant he had more knowledge of the matter at hand than her. She followed his gaze when it moved to the chair and turned back to him when he asked his question.
"Back in his world. He was wasting away here, refusing food. I surmised his condition related to being a in a world not his own for too long," Izanami stated. She leaned forward and made to guide Souji back down into a laying position. If he fought, he'd find she had a stronger arm than she looked, "It's not important right now. You don't have the benefits I do in this form, and I will not have you taking ill again."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 15, 2012 22:27:55 GMT -5
Teddie, refusing food? The only time Souji could see that bear doing anything of the sort was when he was worried about someone... and Teddie probably had been worried about him all week. He felt responsible for Teddie's condition, even if it didn't quite make sense. He'd been out of that world for long periods before and he'd never ended up like this.
It was just as he was moving to get out of the futon that Izanami pressed down on his chest and forced him back down. She had a stronger arm than he'd expected.
"He's one of my friends. He's important to me," Souji stated. He didn't move against Izanami again, though, if only because she had a point. He was still pretty exhausted, even with the fact that he'd woken up. Being out for a week with a fever did that to you.
He sighed. "One last question. You knew all along that I had a soul, didn't you?"
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 15, 2012 22:43:07 GMT -5
Izanami didn't look at him as he objected, although for a moment an expression of willingness to make her point clear flashed across her features. It faded quickly when Souji sighed in resignation. She was carefully grabbing the blankets (or one of them. She didn't seem inclined to bury Souji in them now that he was out of the woods) to pull up over his chest when he asked his final question. She hesitated for a moment, expressed by a jerk in her pull. Silence followed as she finished adjusting the blanket. She straightened up and looked at Souji with a troubled expression.
"If I said no, it would not be the truth, but neither would be saying yes," she closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head softly, "Our understandings of souls was always different. Humanity has always tried to make a clear cut case of it, but it's never been so simple," she opened her eyes and looked down at him, "I suppose you could say I wasn't sure? Perhaps I didn't think it mattered. I would not deny that if you cornered me with such a challenge. You were the one that always put such value on a single existance, no matter who that existance might be, Izanagi-sama."
She sighed, "The straightest answer I can give you is I could not be sure until you, Souji-san, were almost gone. Without that certainty... a single human life never weighed as much as the necessity of a god."
She sounded almost as if she were trying to convince herself.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 16, 2012 22:54:55 GMT -5
Souji fell silent. He rolled over onto his side and pulled the blanket Izanami had been in the middle of pulling onto him over his body. He wasn't quite sure what to say in response to Izanami. Maybe he was just too human to understand souls as she did, because it sounded like a fairly clear cut thing to him. Either he had one or he didn't.
But it had never stopped him before, she was right about that. He still felt somewhat messed up, even now.
Finally he said, "I wasn't sure until the end either. As far as I knew, I was just a soulless shell."
He shifted under his blanket. "It's very easy to give in to death when you believe that you're useless."
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 18, 2012 22:13:36 GMT -5
Izanami looked started as Souji turned over, effectively taking the blanket out of her light grasp. She faced his back with a worried and annoyed frown. The annoyance faded as Souji stated he'd thought he was just a shell... and returned at his last statement.
"You are a fool," she said under her breath, loud enough to be heard by Souji alone even if they'd been in a silent crowded room. There was an expectant silence afterwards, as if there was more to be said. Instead one could hear the shifting of fabric as Izanami leaned over and moved a bit of stray hair out of Souji's face, unable to see them because of the angle, "You have never been useless."
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