345/A Shared History

A Shared History
Date of Scene:	01 September 2023
Location:	Pikarigaoaka Ward
Synopsis:	La Crima and Noroima meet and discuss some things.
Cast of Characters:	Norie Okana, Miho Aiuchi

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Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima... hunts the night!

Or rather, she hunts humans in an alleyway, hesitant. It's true. a Magical Girl gave her energy recently. But eating everyday is a thing she has to do, even if she had to go on a buffet spree the other day to rectify the energy shortage made by fighting the witch.

So today's meal is a man, throwing their trash out in the back of a flower shop. It smells like dead flowers here.

La Crima doesn't care for the smell, it's when the man comes to throw out the garbage that she strikes from a shadow, moving fast from behind to touch the man and drain his energy, sending him spiraling towards the ground...

La Crima deploys a dark tendril from her being to slow the descent so the man's head doesn't hit pavement, gently laying him in a... well dignified heap as she can manage. She looks down at her hands and sighs, flexing them a little.

"Alright..." she says quietly.

"I think that'll be enough for today..." she says quietly. Just the one. That's a good night for her. Only needing to do it once.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima is sticking to the shadows.

    When she's out and about in henshin, she's either in the Dusk Zone wondering where to even start on repairing Castle Noroima, or trying to find physical or magical evidence of Witches. (The other way is to look for odd news reports that seem Witchy, but she can do that as Miho from the comfort of her bedroom.)

    Of course, the magical girls aligned with the Light aren't the only ones who can sense when there's a vampire draining energy. She pauses, does an about face, and glides over. La Crima might even sense her approaching before she arrives.

    Noroima regards the vampire gently setting the man down. Not a bad sign, that. She shoots the vampire a catlike smile. "Heyas!" she says. "You doing all right after ... y'know ... the freaking Witch Labyrinth?"

    (With the first Noroima, everything was a performance, and sincerity was hard to come by. She'd never used this kind of persona, but it's certainly more catlike than foxlike.)

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima is happy to be about to leave when she senses something, she gasps and her first sense is that a youma is approaching and well, the man is unconscious. She doesn't want to fight a creature. She would prefer they remain in the dusk zone. Home.

But it turns out not to be a creature and it turns out to be...

To be...

"Erm."

What was her name again?

"Witch Labyrinth. Is that what that place was called?" she asks. She tilts her head up. "I've only heard this name..Witch in passing." she says. "From uh. Another magical girl. I guess. I don't... never got her name." she says quietly.

"Names." she intones. "Um. La. Crima." she says. pointing to herself. Remembering she never fully got it out during the fight.

"You... are...?" she asks, rather sheepishly.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima nods. "Yep!" she says. "It's kind of complicated, but you've got the gist of those sort of Witches now." She drops down to land in front of La Crima, peering at her in a way that's more catty than catlike. "Hmmm. Maybe you don't have 'his' memories, then," she murmurs. She shrugs, and jerks a thumb at herself. "I (atai) am the Cat-Witch of Darkness, Noroima! There was a fox-witch by that name a few centuries ago, and I've inherited her name, powers, and purpose." She clenches her fist, producing a brief shadowy aura, and her sleeve falls just far enough away to reveal the jade bangle around her wrist. "... A-and her appearance, kind of thing."

    She glances around -- and not just with her eyes, either -- before focusing back on La Crima. "Maybe we oughta move a ways away from here before we talk," she says conversationally, pointing upward. "You left this guy out so he'd be found by someone who could take care of him, right?" She rises a few feet back off the ground.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima sighs and floats upwards as she crosses her arms and lets herself float to the nearby shorter building's rooftop. She takes a few tip toes across the rooftop as she looks to Noroima. "What do you mean. Don't have who's memories?" she asks as she narrows her eyes.

"Ah.." she says. "That name. is Familiar. And I don't know why." she says. Even more suspicious of Noroima as she has a seat on the edge of the building, looking out towards the road. She sulks.

"Sorry I was so. Angry. During the whole. Thing with that. Thing. I don't believe in killing creatures. But." she shifts.

"I couldn't reason with whatever that was." she says.

"Riven-senpai was happy with what I brought back thought. So That was okay with me." she says softly. Though she doesn't smile at the concept. She sighs a little.

"Sounds like we both 'inherited' powers." she snorts a little. "I only know what I know through dreaming..." she says quietly.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima follows La Crima, landing on the roof in front of her. She doesn't respond to the questions at first. "I don't know a 'Riven-senpai'," she says finally. "I'll assume I don't need to warn him that there's a potential danger from the Grief Seed you left with ... but, of course, the source of the information about the danger is decidedly ..." She makes a face. "... unreliable."

    She chuckles, staring up at the sky. "Where to begin ..." She switches to her more formal register. "'Inherited' is certainly one way to put it." She shakes her head. "You and I (warawa) belong to a magical category called 'Accursed'," she says. "Or, well, that was the first Noroima's name for us, at least. If I'm guessing correctly ... you are subject to the curse which transformed you into a vampire; I carry 'the spirit of Noroima', as well as a Fiend Curse (mazoku no noroi) which she used to grant herself immortality, though it hasn't affected me yet." She taps her forehead. "I have direct access to her memories and personality by directly channelling her spirit."

    She looks back at La Crima. "One of her contemporaries was a vampire called Poderoso," she says. "They were rivals for a particular set of dark artifacts called the Shadow Jades, you see. She didn't know him that well, but ..." She shrugs. "... if her understanding was correct, the vampire curse gives its bearer a name, in accordance with how it would make them feel, and he was given the name 'Poderoso', meaning 'powerful'. Rather an awful person, too."

    She points at La Crima. "And you don't just have the same curse as him," she says. "I can practically smell his energy within you. At the water tower, I almost mistook you for him, before I saw you."

    ... She leaves the obvious questions unstated, about what 'La Crima' means, and how she got the curse.

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima listens softly. "Accursed?" she asks softly as she listens. "I just call myself a vampire. People understand 'vampire' better." she says as she snorts. "I have the immortality. I'm pretty sure. I'm not solid. Not at my most basic form." she says. "But you've already sae that during the fight." she says. "It just... I needed so much energy after that fight." she says with dread. "Enough I attracted too much attention."

She takes a sharp breath, as she wilts in place. "That name I know. And that. I know." she says. "I dream of him. And his life. I'd rather not discuss it. But it's how I learn my abilities. Or what I can do. What I', capable of. And what I'd rather not do." she says.

"I wish I didn't need to...touch...to drain. I could control it then. Maybe."

"Right now. It's never a good idea to just touch me unless I see it coming." she says. "Makes life hard at home." she winces.

"But. Erhm. Shadow Jade?" she thinks to a recent post in the Obsidian BBS and purses her lips.

"Why would you want those?" she asks. "It sounds familiar, but..."

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima nods. "Yes, I was just referring to the broader category that encompasses both of us," she says matter-of-factly. "I'm currently still human, but I will become a Fiend, once I'm sufficiently satisfied with where I'm at."

    (It's ... a bit of a lie on Miho's part -- the truth is that she's getting anxiety about it, and doesn't want to be a fourteen-year-old forever -- but this relative stranger who gained his powers doesn't need to know that "Miho" exists.)

    She nods, frowning grimly as La Crima describes her situation. "Yes," she says. "That ... does not sound like a good situation at all." She actually winces slightly when La Crima reveals that she called attention to herself. "Oh dear. I hope the magical girls didn't hurt you too badly." She hesitates, wondering whether to suggest leaving her home ... and Miho holds that back.

    At the question about the Shadow Jades, she makes a face. "Oh, you know," she says, switching back to the more catty tone. "Ultimate power and stuff, if you got all of 'em! The trouble is, for some reason ... the first Noroima decided to use this 'ultimate power' to transform herself into a gargantuan monstrosity of a fox, named Curse Devil Akunoroi." Her tone suggests that she thinks this is the stupidest thing she's ever heard. "Aaaaand that's how she got her spirit sealed into a bangle which ended up in my hands!" ... There's a hint of nostalgia in her voice as she says that last part.

    And then she hesitates, and frowns at La Crima. "Uh ... trouble is, Akunoroi still exists in the Dusk Zone, and it seems to want me, and it doesn't care how much destruction it causes. You might wanna warn any others you know who wield the Darkness ..."

    She hesitates, as if she's not sure she wants to say what comes next. "... and there's a chance that we might need to team up with the magical girls in order to destroy or capture it." (She doesn't actually want to capture it, but she wants to leave her options open, and she'll have to spin this somehow.)

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima frowns a little and tersely say. "It's always the same. Attack me for a bit. Find out why I'm draining energy. Then they offer it. And. It feels. wrong. Taking offered energy." she says quietly.

"Oh. So. Power." she silks a little, her interest waning. "I don't want power." she says quietly. "I'm sure I'm plenty powerful as I am. And there's abilities I don't know yet." she says.

She looks at Noroima and frowns. "Well that's no good. I'm lucky Podoreso was killed. Somehow. I'm just like. An Echo." she snorts.

She rolls her eyes. "It's always teaming up with....the sparkleskirts." she mutters. "I don't wanna help them. In all honesty." she admits. "They just kill most creatures. Without thought or care. If I had my way. I'd find a way to return them to the Dusk Zone." she says quietly.

"I..I like to pet them." she says, with a soft, huffing blush to her face. "Do they let you pet them, Noroima?" she asks curiously.

"Besides. Nothing can fix me. I want my emotions back. I want. My body back. I want. Me back." she says quietly. "Too many wishes. Not enough wish granters...."

"Sounds like you're a piece of a puzzle Akunoroi wants to complete. If she wants you."

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima goes silent for a moment. She looks like she's managing not to wince at the word 'sparkleskirts'.

    Then, in a quiet voice in the more formal tone, she says, "So you've felt it, too. That ... instinctive feeling of enmity for the forces of the Light." She smiles faintly, and chuckles. "Not that I needed any further confirmation that the ancient battle between Light and Darkness is still going strong -- or perhaps stronger, given just how many magical girls there are." She shrugs. "I will say that it is possible to become genuine friends with them, if they ever offer friendship. But if you'd rather not, that's fine too."

    She turns, and stretches. Miho's desire to help people comes to the surface ... "You know, the first thing that comes to mind is that I could possibly try to give you the Fiend Curse," says Noroima. "The first Noroima certainly wasn't obligated to drain people's energy." She grimaces. "Of course, the second thing that comes to mind is that it was created to be cast on one particular human, not a vampire. I'd have to redo it from scratch, and I don't know the first thing about your curse."

    And then La Crima pinpoints the Akunoroi issue. Noroima smiles. She most certainly does not react in surprise at how quickly La Crima figured it out. "Yes," she says. "Akunoroi was created to house Noroima's spirit, so to speak, and I have Noroima's spirit right with me. I don't know how sapient Akunoroi is -- or why it's capable of moving on its own -- but I'll certainly have to add negotiation to the list of options, if that proves to be possible." She makes a face. "Not that one might expect the magical girls to agree to it, of course."

    She looks La Crima up and down. "Do you know if it's possible to get into contact with others on the side of Darkness?" she says. "The first Noroima only encountered one magical girl of the Light -- her nemesis, Jade Witch Wonder --" There's that faint tone of nostalgia again; almost as if she wasn't just a nemesis. "-- but in the present it seems that there are so many, I'm starting to wonder if I might need to form alliances."

Norie Okana has posed:
"Friends?" she asks. "No. They just want to 'fix you' from this 'darkness' and then when they can't. Then what?" she asks lowly. "Then they'll try to destroy you, no doubt. All magical girls want to do is to treat me like a shark in a tank. Feed me so I don't eat the other fishes." she scoffs.

"That's all it is." she says silently. "I've never met one who said 'oh, it's fine what you are. Let's be friends'" she says.

"They hear my story and it's always. 'I want to fix you.'" she says quietly.

"I can't be fixed." she says.

She rolls her eyes. "No thanks. I don't need another curse on top of my currently existing one. But thank you for the offer." she tries to say, trying not to snark. Which she achieves, mostly. She sighs and trails off.

"Oh. uh. There's... a group. Obsidian. Riven-senpai..." pause. "Riventon. Is the one who pointed me to them. Now I work for him. Nominally. Uhm. I mean. I accidently bumped into Riven-senpai..."

She produces the business card with Riventon's name and number and offers it quietly. "Here. Uhm. I'm sure he can point you towards the right people. Just say I sent you."

"My name uh. Carries no weight whatsoever. For the record." she says as she holds out the card.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima ... practically doesn't react to La Crima's comment on friendship. "Mmmm. Yes, that's the instinct I was referring to," she says noncommittally. They only just met; there's no need to try to shove in further nuance, or to bring up the offers of friendship she received from the Light. She needs to find out more about the ones who made the offers, and anyway, "a sorceress who took up dark magic" is clearly a different kettle of fish from "a creature of darkness", from the Light's perspective. "Seriously, though," she says. "The first Noroima lived a long life, and through her experience, I can see that whatever instincts you have are probably going to point you to whatever's best for your situation."

    She chuckles, though, at the comment about the curse. "Right, that's the other problem," she says dryly. "I meant more in terms of replacing one curse with another -- the Fiend Curse is considerably less obtrusive to one's mundane life -- but no, you're right. You're right. You're already Accursed, you don't need any further complications."

    She looks La Crima upside down. "Well, for what it's worth, I can accept you for what you are," she says. "In the end, Dark and Light are still opposed, and when it comes to the battle between them, you and I are on the same side by default. I would like to be an actual friend, though," she adds.

    She accepts the card. "Obsidian ...? Y'mean like the corporation?" she says, switching to the catty demeanor. "Heh, sweet. Arright, thanks for the info!" She grins, and winks. "Careful, though, I'm a little bit ambitious!" She chuckles. "But, uh, yeah, I'll get in touch when I can. Thanks!"

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima eyes Noroima. "Just be polite to Riven-senpai. He's helped me a lot. Only one of my few friends." she says softly, handing the card over fine. She has Riventon's number in her phones already. She sighs as she listens softly.

She sulks a little and grumbles. "I'm more closer to one of those creatures than a person." she says softly. She rolls her eyes. "-and when they can't fix me. Then what?" she asks.

"Do you know how insulting it is to wear who you normally are as a disguise?" she asks, she snorts. She gently huhs a little. "Yes. Like the company. I was surprised too." she says softly. "Riven-senpai is letting me study dark energy and the dusk zone with him. I'm hoping to give names and things to the creatures there!" she says, her tone turning more neutal as she talks about this, from the sadness and depression. She must like this topic.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima nods. "Yep, yep," she says. "I guess my point in that last part was more ... you should trust your own instincts. You know them better than I do! And right now, they're telling you that you can't be friends with those of the Light." She shrugs. "I certainly don't see anything wrong with your reasoning right now, either."

    She makes a face. "You're right," she says gently. "I don't really know what it's like, 'pretending to be yourself'." She looks down at herself expressionlessly. "I mean, again, you know yourself better than I do." She lets out a soft sigh, but there's clear sympathy there.

    She glances over towards Mitakihara in the general direction of Obsidian Tower, gears turning inside her head. There's a whole organization of Dark Energy-users, it extends greatly beyond La Crima and her friend, it's something the size of Obsidian ... (Even Miho can't find room to misinterpret what it means ... or perhaps this is a time of day when the stopped clock happens to be correct. There was a bit of a leap there.)

    The forces of Darkness, as a category, are organizing as a group.

    She finds this fascinating. Even if she didn't need alliances, she wants to confirm it at least.

    But, of course, she doesn't let it show on her face. She shrugs, and smiles when she hears La Crima go from 'bad' to 'neutral'. "Good to hear you've found something agreeable to do!" She gives La Crima a catlike smile. "I'm gonna make a point of looking up the fruits of your research, maybe incorporate it into my own stuff!" Another shrug. "And who knows? Again, I have a lot of knowledge, so I might even be able to help you with understanding the dark energy end of things!" ('Dark Energy' wasn't a term the old Noroima was familiar with, but it's obvious from context what it means.)

    She stretches. "I should probably get back to my own stuff," she says. "Oh, and yeah, I'll definitely be polite to Riventon-san when the time comes, yeah." She smiles at La Crima. "Uh, really, though. I'm glad I met you here, and I do hope we can work together at some point!"

Norie Okana has posed:
La Crima frowns a little. "I mean. It's complicated. I don't like talking about it. Honestly." she says. "It's complicated. Existentialism. Stuff." she says quietly as she sighs and closes her eyes. She shifts a bit uncomfortably, but manages to keep her neutral demeanor. Neutral seems to be as good as she manages to get.

She shifts a bit again. "Alright. Maybe we'll see each other around then. uh. Do you uhm?"

"Do you wanna share phone numbers?" she asks, looking down a little... "Sorry. Maybe you don't wanna share yours..." she says quietly. Regardless, she'll share her number if desired, otherwise, she'll let Noroima leave without incident.

Miho Aiuchi has posed:
    Noroima quickly considers the offer of exchanging contact information. On the one hand, she's badly in need of friends, even outside of Obsidian ...

    But on the other hand, revealing Miho's phone number doesn't seem like a good idea for Noroima to do.

    "I'm a bit between phone numbers at the moment," she says. She doesn't even think of lying; after all, La Crima is still a stranger. Ideally, nobody will know that Miho Aiuchi and Noroima are the same person. "But once I have something ... reliable, I'll be sure to call you up." Yes, she knows what to do. One business phone, which she'll buy from Obsidian. One for use as 'Noroima' outside of work, which she'll buy from a competitor.

    Having accepted La Crima's number, she smiles. "Thank you," she says. "I'll be seeing you around, then! Ta-ta, now!" She turns around and waves one hand, and flies off into the air, back towards where she'd originally been heading when she sensed La Crima's energy drain.