571/Asakusa Shrine

Asakusa Shrine
Date of Scene:	08 October 2023
Location:	Asakusa Shrine
Synopsis:	Naru follows a police officer acting strangely at the Asakusa Shrine, at the same time as the Sailor Senshi and the Princess of Sarek dispatch youma next door. The officer is not who he appears to be...
Cast of Characters:	Jadeite, Naru Osaka
Tinyplot:	Midnight Tokyo

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Jadeite has posed:
    The 'police officer' has wandered off away from the main shrine. He had some weird oblong shape in his hand, which could have been a smart phone or something... But given everything going on right next door with the youma Warlord, and magic flying around, and Senshi in battle, anything could potentially be suspicious. Out of place police with strange black crystalline-looking object in hand, who is ignoring all the noise and instead looking around before sneaking away? That's probably somewhere on somebody's bingo card.

Naru Osaka has posed:
It seems to be on Naru's bingo card, at least somewhere.

Naru is curious enough about .. well everything.. but about the police officer acting oddly to trail him. If it's legit a police officer, she'll apologize later, but for the moment, she's trying to be quiet and inconspicuous as she trusts his focus upon the crystal to have him not pay attention to her.

Naru is trying not to listen too closely to the battle, nor to how things are going in the other room, keeping her focus on where this police officer might be going with that.

Jadeite has posed:
    Once Naru is far enough away that the sounds of battle are barely audible, the officer having gone down some stairs, away from the Asakusa Shrine, a man's voice speaks from directly behind her. "You really should be more careful about what you stick your nose into."

    This would probably be the moment when the bad guy knocks out or abducts the too-curious-for-her-own-good investigator/street urchin/rookie/pet cat/whatever. Instead, the police officer is just standing there, hands on his hips, frowning at the schoolgirl. "It's dangerous to be wandering around alone."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru glances over her shoulder at the voice just behind her and then turns her attention back to the 'police officer' who is standing there frowning at her.

"Clearly I should be perfectly safe. I am with the police, after all." Naru points out very reasonably as she evaluates if there's actually anyone behind her, and what the 'police officer' might be carrying.

Jadeite has posed:
    "There's many things that aren't what they seem in Tokyo these days..." the officer says vaguely as he eyes Naru up and down. Finally, his features shift and morph into those of Jadeite. "I'll let you off with a warning this time. But if you actually wanted to speak to someone you thought was a normal police officer, wouldn't you typically call out to them instead of sneaking behind them or peeking around a corner? By the way, I was scanning for auras because of everything going on at the other shrine, so I sensed you. Others may have similar abilities and be even less friendly than I am."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"A normal police officer would also have been evacutating people, rather than roaming around with a crystal." Naru points out with a nod vaguely to what Jadeite is holding.

"And yes.. there is /so much/ weird in Tokyo these days." Naru can't argue there, especially as both of them are part of the weird. Perhaps in very different ways and senses, but part of the weird nonetheless. "Thank you for not killing me. I appreciate it."

It's a phrase that on the face of it could be used sarcastically, but Naru's tone and mannerisms seem utterly sincere.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite just stares back coldly as he says, "I don't recall saying I had decided not to." Several tense seconds pass, while he almost visibly seems to be mulling over the pros and cons. Eventually, he turns and heads back towards the Asakusa Shrine. "There are people who would get in my way if you died. Until those people are no longer my problem, I probably will not personally kill you." Sailor Moon, on the other hand...

    He continues wandering around with the black crystal in hand, constellation glyphs flashing and scrolling by under its surface.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru just arches a brow at him at his comment. She is alive, therefore he had, at least to that point, decided not to kill her. Possibly there's a 'yet' involved, but right then, she was not dead. And she could be. Of that she has few illusions.

Naru does not follow him, while she is notorious for being unreasonably curious, she is not actively suicidal. She got a good look at the crystal at least, and those glyphs flashing and scrolling under its surface.

But a mundane couldn't of seen those, right?

Jadeite has posed:
    He calls back, when he realizes Naru isn't following him (that's good. She isn't suicidal. Excellent.), "I'm not going to explain what I'm doing here. Some things are best left untouched. This is one of them. You can tell your friends what you saw. You're going to do it anyway unless I erase your memories, and at this point you've probably had them rewritten so much I'd risk undoing someone else's handiwork if I tried to tinker around in your head." He doesn't know this for a fact, but with how often Naru has been the victim of youma attacks, someone has had to do some hypnotic damage control, right? Maybe Sailor Moon's cat, which apparently has magic powers and can talk, in addition to very sharp teeth and claws.

    Sailor Moon's cat...

    Jadeite pauses and starts to wander back in Naru's direction, eyes on the crystal, as if following it back towards her. "There are some dangerous things happening at shrines. I'll tell you that much. That's why I suggest you avoid coming near them for a while. Again, because if something happened to you, it could be blamed on me."

Naru Osaka has posed:
"I didn't ask what you were doing here." Naru points out as he calls back to her. She didn't follow him, but she didn't immediately run away either.

Her mind must be just a mess of forgetting things, she's a mundane, right? Clearly.

"If you're the one doing the things at shrines, then it would be rightfully blamed on you, wouldn't it?" Naru asks with a little quirk of her head. "I do appreciate going to shrines to get some peace and relaxation, it's not unusual for all sorts of people to visit shrines."

Jadeite has posed:
    He gives a tight, sarcastic smile to Naru, like, 'Yes, I know you didn't ask, I'm being preemptive'. It's very immature. "Your life expectancy will be longer if you stick to studying for a while, is what I am trying to say. Besides, your room mate would probably have a heart attack if you went missing again." He mutters something about he also had nothing to do with rescuing her so don't thank him, he isn't going to be implicated in wasting Dark Kingdom resources on something so insipid as rescuing one person from an Obsidian agent like some kind of traitor.

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru is quiet as she just stands here, considering him, the crystal too, but mostly him. She nods slowly, as if coming to some conclusions as she pauses there. She doesn't reply on extending her life expectancy, but she does take a slow breath in and lets it out as an equally slow breath out. Centering herself, taking that moment as Jadeite's comments linger between them.

"I will not wish you well, we are not currently playing for the same team, but I hope no extra harm comes to you." Naru comments quietly.

Jadeite has posed:
    He pauses when he nears Naru, and looks back at her with an unreadable expression as he listens to her. "I receive your words in the spirit they are intended." He puts the crystal away in his pocket. "So please take mine the same way: Everything is broken. It can't be fixed, it can't be saved, and I don't even think the ones trying to break things further, or burn the whole world down, truly appreciate just how deeply unhinged the foundations of everything are. The next time you speak with Sailor Moon, tell her that the fatal wound was struck long ago, and what's left is just the rotting carcass. I'm not going to come out of this alive. You're not going to come out of this alive. None of us are. When a Death Goddess and a Moon Goddess fought a war, we were the ones who lost."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru is tiny, without powers, and she stands looking up at the Dark General calmly. "None of us are getting out of this alive." A statement that both of them can agree on.

"But I still hold onto hope on just how much life we might have between now and then." Naru nods to him. "Everything is pretty broken, I can't argue there either." She takes another of those slow breaths. Slow inhale and held a moment and a slow exhale.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite shakes his head slowly. "I am aware of stress fractures throughout space-time. There will be earthquakes, storms, tidal waves, wild fires... All of extreme scale in a very short time period. The moment the next 'entity' pushes into this world, it's going to collapse. And I think that will happen soon. The Dark Kingdom isn't going to rule it. No one is. It's covered in the scars of previous battles, and the decay goes all the way to the core. We're all just delaying the inevitable." He looks away as he realizes the sounds of battle have ended. He can only sense Senshi over there now. His green eyes are almost pleading as he turns back to Naru and says, "Let. It. All. Burn. It will hurt less for all of us."

Naru Osaka has posed:
Naru listens, watching Jadeite as she does. Considering him as well as his words as he speaks all sorts of doom and gloom. The scars and pains of the world, soon to be shared with them all. She follows his gaze and then turns back to him. "I'm sorry that you've lost ..." She pauses. "Everything."

There's so much in that everything. Hope. Faith. Trust.

Everything.

Jadeite has posed:
    Jadeite stares back at Naru as she speaks those words. Seconds that feel like minutes pass. "You will too." he says finally. It's not a threat or prophecy, just a deadman walking, speaking a certainty. Suddenly there's a Shadow behind his eyes, rolling over his features sourcelessly, and he is back to being all ice and sharp edges. "You won't be allowed to walk free a second time. Stay out of this." he hisses. Then he disappears in a flicker of red light.

    That... Was probably the bad thing that Hematite has been trying to save his friends from. Hearing about it is one thing, but... Seeing how it can totally erase everything human in someone and just completely supplant their individuality... No wonder Hematite is scared.

    Everyone should be.