773/Halcyon Days

Halcyon Days
Date of Scene:	16 November 2023
Location:	The Book Nook
Synopsis:	The Kiseru Lady has something to show the Arbiter, just down the yellow brick road.
Cast of Characters:	Kiseru, Kyouka Inai

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Kiseru has posed:
    The Kiseru Lady calls up Kyouka. The back of the shop this time around is just a yellow brick pathway through a room painted completely black. Not a void, or anything. Just... The walls, floor, ceiling, inside of the door, everything except the yellow brick road, is painted black. But still very much physically real and there. And at the end of the road is the door to the 'back room', which today has stairs on the other side, leading down.

    The fact she isn't there waiting for Kyouka, and seems to be expecting the Arbiter to just navigate her own way down some sketchy stairs is peculiar, but, you know. She's the Kiseru Lady. Everything about her is peculiar. And the sound of her cursing and machinery being worked on makes it clear that she's down there too, not waiting in the rafters like some kind of spider person.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Although Kyouka doesn't exactly trust the Kiseru Lady- let's be specific here, she trusts the lady to be faithful on her business deals, it's more that she doesn't trust her to have the same sorts of goals and priorities that Kyouka does- she finds that when she gets a call it's usually worth her while to go see what it's about. Whether it's something of interest to her of its own merits, or something she'll want to avoid, it's always better to know than to not know- which is why she has yet to turn down an invitation from the Kiseru Lady.

    She makes her way along the path, through the door, and down the stairs. She's taken off her sunglasses, having them tucked into the pocket of her leather jacket as she descends, grey eyes glancing about to locate her hostess. "Knock knock." She calls out, for lack of any actual door to use to alert to her presence.

Kiseru has posed:
    At the base of the stairs is another room, this one painted completely white, with a huge set of bronze doors (modelled after Rodin's sculpture, titled 'Gates of Hell', only roughly three times larger than the original article, at 18 meters high, 12 meters wide, and 3 meters deep. There also seem to be a great many more than the 180 figures contained in Rodin's version) standing free in the open space. The Kiseru Lady is wearing a red striped t-shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of bronze flats as she tinkers with some mechanism in the side of the gates.

    "Welcome, welcome," she calls out lazily. "Thank you for coming. This is something that has been long in coming. A special treat. A reward for us both for all of our hard work." She turns to look at Kyouka. Kiseru has gray eyes too, but not that fiery red hair.

    "They don't actually lead to Hell or anything like it, that's just an aesthetic choice on the part of the designer. I've been trying to get them operational ever since they came into my possession though."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka has long since stopped being surprised by the weird things she finds in the back rooms of the Kiseru Lady's shop. Despite just being used to weird shit in general, every trip around here has been different in some very unusual ways. So it's not with surprise or incredulity she looks around the room, more with interest, some curiosity. The doors are eye mistrustfully, perhaps wondering if they are closed for a reason.

    "Are you sure they don't lead to Hell? After all, you haven't gotten them open yet." She states, pausing a good distance away. "I mean, one doesn't make an aesthetic choice like that for no reason, do they?"

    She gives a faint chuckle, more wary than actually distressed by the doors, hands landing in her pockets. "Forgive me if I'm cautious about taking unearned rewards.. though you've piqued by curiosity, at the very least."

Kiseru has posed:
    "Relatively certain!" she respond chipperly regarding their destination. "Rodin was paid for the design he did. This is based on that. So, perhaps a similar situation. Either way, they are mine now, and I have modified them according to my wishes." She gives a bright smile. "If it helps at all, just think of them as a giant set of Maltese Falcons, shaped like doors." Kyouka Inai, well-known for being cultured and knowledgeabe of western culture, undoubtedbly will understand this reference.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Whatever you say." Kyouka, who definitely gets the reference and isn't just pretending, responds as she waits where she is. "So these are going to take us somewhere, are they?" Well, she can teleport, so theoretically even if they end up somewhere she doesn't want to be she has a method of escape- though it's far from foolproof. Her teleportation does have a limited range, after all, and rather requires one to know where they want to go to.

Kiseru has posed:
    "Absolutely not. I have far too much work to do to go traipsing off into the unknown." Kiseru responds, putting a large wrench over one shoulder. She looks back to the gates. "They bring certain things to us." A grin as she turns and tosses the wrench aside to clatter on the floor. "In this case, it will bring us the past."

    A hand is placed against the seam where the gates meet. There is some metallic sound, followed by a fluid one a few seconds later, as Kiseru's blood, presumably, drips out of the fresh wound on her palm. "Not going back too far, so that should be enough," she says loftily while licking up the black fluid that oozes from the slice in her palm. Gross.

    The sound of machinery coming to life follows thereafter, and then the grinding of the doors as they open. It should just be the rest of the room on the other side, but rather predictably they are not. Instead, heat, chemical fumes, smoke, and infernal light pours our more and more as the crack of the doors parts. So much for not leading to Hell!?

    There's definitely fire, burning buildings, a ruined street lined with rubble... But it still looks like Earth. Japan, even, based off the few instances of legible writing. Kiseru just walks in once the gates open fully. "Don't worry. It's just a memory. It can't hurt you." she calls back over the roar of the flames and the sound of things exploding loudly in the distance.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "You know, the past and I have a rather fractious relationship." Kyouka says, dryly. "I prefer to leave it where it is, by and large." Still, she doesn't stop Kiseru from opening the doors, nor does she appear particularly distressed at the method used to do so. A little blood never hurt anybody- it's a lot of blood you need to worry about.

    She does hesitate for a moment before following the Kiseru Lady through the doors, however- even if its an illusion or memory and not real, being able to teleport is not necessarily going to get her out of whatever place the doors lead to. An unpleasant place, by the looks of it, even if it isn't 'real' in the present day.

    After a moment though, she sighs and walks forward and through the doors. Because curiosity killed the cat, as the saying goes. It might not kill the Arbiter, but maiming is certainly a possibility.

Kiseru has posed:
    Despite the acrid smell of various industrial chemicals mixing with smoke to create a truly toxic gas, it isn't as bad as it should be if it were real. It doesn't asphyxiate for one thing. It also isn't as unpleasant. More like a vaguely disagreeable odor lingering around. A perfume that is not quite one's type. Likewise, the overwhelming heat that can turn flesh crisp and black that roiled forth originally is quite subdued now. About on par with a summer's day while standing in the shade. The same for the harsh glare of the fires, and the loud noises... Venturing inside has made it all feel much more like a well-done theatrical production of some kind.

    Would it have been so if Kiseru hadn't warned it was 'just a memory'? Magic theory for brain-nerds. Not really relevant right now.

    Say, where did Kiseru go, anyway?

    The voice of a teenaged girl calls out, "I am over here, Arbiter!" There's some girl with black hair in a pixie cut, gray eyes with red eyeliner, a Chinese-aesthetic outfit predominantly of red and black, accented with gold... "The Kiseru Lady, version 1.0, at your service." she pretend-curtsies cheekily, before stepping off a pile of flaming wood, through the smoke, and landing on the street. Even with the similarities, if she hadn't introduced herself, it would have taken some effort to pair the mature Kiseru Lady to this young lady before Kyouka. Meaning this is a Henshin. Meaning the Kiseru Lady used to be a magical girl too.

    "April 11th, 2003. A fireworks factory that sufffered a little accident of the incendiary sort." She plants her hands on her hips and turns her head to look up at the towering buildings that bellow out smoke and flames from their many windows. Still rather hellish, all told. Despite that, the young Kiseru seems rather taken with the place, as she turns around and around looking at everything. "Just like I remember it." she mutters.

    Then she takes a single step and quickly sails through the air to land nearby. "Welll.... What do you think?" she asks playfully.

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka wrinkles her nose at the odor and the heat, but indeed appears largely unaffected by either. She pulls her sunglasses back out of her pocket and slips them on though, as if to protect from the harsh orange glare of the flames. She call of her name (well, title) causes Kyouka to turn her head, and regard the suddenly-younger girl standing in front of her.

    As with most things thus far, she does not appear particularly surprised- she is, by nature of her job and demeanor, and observant person. The idea that the Kiseru Lady had been a magical girl in her youth, while certainly not known, was certainly well within the realm of possibilities she had considered. Not surprised, but interested, as she has been thus far in general.

    "I was not quite two years old in April 2003." She says, with mild humor. "I hope I'm not also reduced to the way I was." A quick glance down at herself reveals that this does not appear to be the case.

    At the question of what she thinks, a brow is raised as she glances around. "I think you must have a reason for showing me this. It doesn't appear like a particularly pleasant memory you'd want to return to just for kicks."

Kiseru has posed:
    "Ah, yes. One of my best friends died on this night. I helped to recover her body from the midst of this mess." she explains. "But that's not important. What's important is this..." She holds up a hand, and flames wreathe it. Then she points and a massive blast of fire erupts from her fingers, slamming into one of the already-burning buildings, and exploding against it enough that it begins to teeter and fall with its weakened structure further compromised. She looks at her hands gleefully, unconcerned as the tall building topples and smashes down some distance behind her, sending forth more of the same unplaeasantness that defines this memory.

    She looks up at Kyouka. "With the right preparations, one can return to one's youth, and regain one's old powers. Perhaps it is only temporary, but..." She puts her hands behind her back, and her weight on one foot as she tap-taps the street with the steel-toed shoe on her other foot. "...That might be a release of sorts for you. A way to tap into what you once were, on your own terms, without having to truly go back to that time period, and all the associated complications. Ah, I was Flamebringer back then, by the way. In this form, at least. I doubt you'll have heard of me. The conflict I was part of is already over."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Momentarily sympathy crosses Kyouka's face at the mention of a friend having died, even if Kiseru herself does not display much in the way of grief. "I'm sorry to hear that." She says. "I've lost friends in the line of duty, myself." More than one, and some of those losses still haunt her to this day- some more literally than others. She watches the display of power, brow quirked in what might be question or admiration- impossible to really say.

    "I see." If she's excited by the prospect, it's subdued excitement, although she definitely sounds contemplative... as if considering the possibilities. "So you;re saying that if I wanted to, I could use this device," A general gesture towards the door. "To return to a time in my past and... act as my past self?" She frowns, considering. "I assume the past can't actually be altered, since it's just a memory and you're not actually returning to that point in time. But are you stuck simply re-enacting events as they occured?"

    She also shakes her head, adding, "Unsurprisingly, records of past magical girls and conflicts are pretty sparse. The Veil and the Fade conspire to destroy our history. A shame in more ways than one."

Kiseru has posed:
    Flamebringer nods along to the sympathies and sharing of past pain, before answering the questions in order. "To the best of my knowledge, it is a revisitation, not an alteration. It is not traveling through time, but it is also not just an illusion either. It brings memories from the realm of the mind out into the physical world, or whatever this qualifies as. However, this is my first time using it myself. It is entirely possible that there are factors yet to be discovered that could let one share in another's memories as one's past self -- though I recommend against assuming infant form, yes -- or to create an entirely new scenario based upon one's memories... But one's original memories should remain intact either way. I, for instance, do not remember this discussion, or you being there during the original event. I am not rewriting my memories by being here."

    The magical girl sighs. "Truly, what a wondrous device. And we've only just begun to plumb the depths of its potential. I will make sure you have access to it whenever you desire. Though, there is a price to pay to open these doors, it is not one that will be paid to me." She holds up her hand. No sign of a wound, but she has been returned to her youth. "Still..." Flamebringer turns so that her back is to Kyouka, and looks off into the distance. Perhasp seeing if she can spot her friend's body. "It would be interesting if there was some way to carry the effects within these gates outside of them, wouldn't it? Even if only temporarily. To be able to be your old self again, to fight alongside other magical girls... To fight back against the Fade, and to defy the Veil. It might even be possible to break those limitations entirely. Just imagine all that we could learn. All that we could teach. We've lost countless generations of our kind because of this seemingly arbitrary magical law. What threats are we facing now that we have already faced before, and don't even know about it?"

    Flamebringer lets those words hang in the air, before turning about, and smiling. "Well, do let me know if you want to make use of the Gates. I will make the necessary arrangements. I can produce doors to and from my shop in many places. Setting up one that leads directly here and back out again, without having to travel all around, is entirely within my power. Perhaps one of your business cards could serve as a medium in some fashion, so that you don't even have to talk to me at all."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    Kyouka absorbs all this information with a pensive look on her face. Her eyes are hooded, not looking at anything around them in particular but rather processing the information and the possibilities that are presented to her. "I see." She murmurs after a moment, glancing around again, then returning her gaze to Flamebringer.

    "What's the price then? A little blood? Or is there something more.. significant? I'm not about to offer my hand to that thing without details." She's a cautious one, always has been... but that's why she's still alive. At the notion of carrying the effects of the device back to the real world, she makes a considering noise. "I'm not saying that doesn't have a certain appeal, but I'm not sure I believe it's possible. If the rules were so easy to break, don't you think more people would have broken them?" She chews her bottom lip, clearly thinking about it, turning to look around the flaming landscape once again. "Even if it were, I have.. oaths and agreements which may not play nice with such a loophole." She gives a faintly sour laugh. "I'm not particularly nostalgic for the past, you know.. most of it I think I'd rather forget."

    "That said... there's certainly a lot of interesting possibilities in a device that lets you review.. re-experience memories. Especially if you can bring other people with you, which you clearly can." She indicates herself. "I appreciate your offer but.. are you sure you're not going to demand some usage fee? It doesn't seem like you to offer something like this up for free."

Kiseru has posed:
    Flamebringer shakes her head, with a rueful smile. "Just some blood. I think it may cost more blood the further back one goes, but considering this was a twenty-year jump and all it did was cut my palm a little bit, it is a negligible price to pay. As for me? I directly benefit from any progress you make in finding a way to reclaim our old powers. I keep my usage of Dark Energy to a minimum for a reason, and rely on conventional magic whenever possible, even if it has to be through tools such as this. I would, of course, love to be able to abandon that power entirely."

    She starts walking towards the still-open Gates leading back to that white room and single staircase heading up. "So, consider it as a mutually beneficial situation. I cannot speak to your oaths and agreements, but I have a vested interest in breaking cosmic laws and beings into many tiny pieces. Especially if it means no more children being sent to fight and die for concepts they barely comprehend."

    As soon as she is back outside, she is Kiseru again. Flamebringer sloughs off of her like a curtain of ashes, which in turn disintegrate into wisps of black that vanish entirely within seconds.

    "I'm not in the position I am because I choose to be either, Kyouka." she says, as she stands there in casual modern clothing, older, but still so young-looking. She is speaking to the Arbiter like an equal. Like just another person. Without their fancy titles and roles. "It's just the best position I could manage that would let me find a way to take back what was stolen from me."

Kyouka Inai has posed:
    "Mmm." Kyouka's reply is noncommittal on the information of the price. "I see. So you want to use me as a guinea pig." Her tone is sardonic, the statement both undeniably true and yet said in a way which indicates she's at least somewhat joking. There are benefits to be seen here, for her, even if they aren't quite the ones the Kiseru Lady might anticipate.

    She turns and follows back through the gate, back into the 'real world' rather than the remembered one. "I'll consider it." She says, wary of making promises, but clearly interested in this device and what it can do. Maybe skeptical about its ability to restore her powers but not willing to write off the myriad possibilities a device used to look into this past like this could offer.

    "Sometime you'll have to tell me about this 'vested interest' of yours." Kyouka says, sounding mildly amused as the Kiseru lady returns to her previous, more familiar state. "I always thought you were all about business and left the more esoteric concerns like morality and righteousness to those of us with a conscience." Again, the tone makes this less insult and more mild ragging.

    She sighs, running a hand through her hair. "Well. Thank you for showing me this. It gives me a lot to think about at the very least, and whether it can restore old powers or not there are... applications for a device like this that could be very useful. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again with regards to this, one way or another."

    She offers a smile. "Until then, I'll be in touch. Thanks." And she turns to head back up the stairs.

Kiseru has posed:
    "My name was Rika, by the way," Kiseru calls up as Kyouka ascends the stairs. "Rika Sumimoto." She doesn't need a reply. She just wanted to share. It's important in a relationship between equals.