come_sailaway | I still got rage inside [open]

I still got rage inside [open]

Who: Natsuno and you
What: After the trial, Natsuno throws himself into new research and discovers new ways to de-stress
When: First half of January
Where: Everywhere
Warnings: None yet

Feel solid on the outside but you're boiling at your core (Library)

[While Natsuno was focused on figuring things out since day one, he never tried to investigate what kind of being the captain was. He told himself he didn't care about what their captor is or what his reasons are, only about getting out. However, the trial made it abundantly clear that the captain's nature and reasons do matter, so Natsuno needs to get over himself and look into it.

He spends hours in the library each day. Natsuno's taken over an entire table, books laid open or stacked around him. They are all fantasy stories, fairy tales and myths from different cultures and even children's books, which he got for the illustration. He's completely absorbed in research, occasionally writing down notes:

Contracts, bound by decided set of rules. Exact words, lies by omission?

Demon
Elf
Live in communities

There's also a small drawing of a humanoid figure, all black except for the eyes, which are drawn in orange sharpie - an approximation of the creature who emerged from the captain's body after the desert race in August. Natsuno will figure out what ot is even if he has to go through every single page in this damn library.

Depending on who you are, he might cover the notes when you approach.]

Greater suffering becomes such things as joy (Arcade, shops and all around)

[When he's not busy with research, he's doing arts and crafts - an unusual sight, since he usually watches movies or broods with his headphones to pass the time. Perhaps you run into him in the arcade, sitting in a pile of prizes and glass shards from the claw machine he just smashed, going through items until he decides on a reddish-brown cat plush. As an afterthought, he grabs a yellow plastic bracelet and puts it around the plush's neck.

He can also be found in sundries, looking at swimming goggles, or picking out the most obnoxious, clashing prints from the Tommy Bahama. Or maybe you find him in Sand Dollars, cutting out the fabric and attempting dress up the plush cat with the help of a stapler.

If Rita's insisting on doodling purple Catsunos, he can make a Purrita. Surely giving her a handmade gift will prove how much he's NOT embarrassed by the whole thing.]

And happiness is fleeting when you're bleeding on the floor (Wildcard)

[Hit me! or ping

sillysymphony or sillysymphony#3435 for plotting]

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[ Dimitri recognizes this boy. From the diner, with the flamethrower. Hard to forget. He'd been at the resort, too, but Dimitri hadn't caught his name.

No time like the present, then. Dimitri stops his approach when Natsuno looks up, settling his weight nonthreateningly onto his back foot. ]

Apologies if I'm disturbing you. I saw you at the meeting, but I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Dimitri.

[ ... a quick bow, because that habit runs deep. ]

[Ah yes, Dimitri. Darcy's friend, had some rage issues back at the desert, argued with Ava during the resort meeting...

And was slaughtered by Skulduggery for being too strong.]

Yuuki. You're not disturbing.

[He puts down his copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.]

Did you want something?

Yuuki. Pleasure to meet you.

Nothing significant -- I've been checking on those who were involved with the trial. And those who were present at the meeting prior to the murders. [ Dimitri inclines his head, an unspoken 'what can you do?' ] I was relatively less affected, so I'd like to offer any support I can.

Though I am interested in what you're working on. [ In a lowered voice, ] That's a drawing of the Captain, isn't it?

[I was relatively less affected is a weird way of saying I was beaten to death, but Natsuno isn't going to point that out. Not his place to comment on how people choose to handle things.]

I wasn't hurt, so. I'm fine.

[He really isn't. He's furious with Jade and it'll be a long time before he stops seeing Clarke's brutalized body whenever he closes his eyes. He has an excellent poker face, though.]

It is the captain, [He replies, lowering his voice in turn.] I'm trying to figure out what he is.

[ Dimitri is, psychologically speaking, better-equipped to cope with his own brutal murder than the mind games of an investigation and trial. He's self-aware enough to know this is a bad thing, but as long as it's an advantage he might as well make use of it. ]

How do you mean, 'what he is'?

[ Dimitri gestures at a nearby chair. ] Do you mind if I sit down?

[He nods, a 'go ahead and sit' gesture.]

I mean what kind of creature he is. I don't know how much you heard about the trial, but - after what happened, it's important to understand.

[ Dimitri does sit, glancing over Natsuno's notes as he does. ] I was under the impression he's a sorceror or wizard of some sort. [ Fucking wizards. ] There's a, a cabal of shapeshifting sorcerors in my world -- they don't look anything like that, [ Dimitri points at the drawing again, ] but I hadn't ruled it out. You think there's more to it?

[ He wrinkles his nose, lost in thought. ] Though I do recall ... something I was told during the truth rain. By Darcy and Skulduggery, admittedly, but -- according to them, the Captain himself doesn't know what he is. One of his goals in this whole endeavor with us is to find out.

That was some months ago, of course. I wonder if he's worked it out since then.

I think there's more, yeah. The captain knew the killer was part of Skulduggery, and that he could destroy it, but he was too much of a coward to do what's needed so he set up the trial to make us force his hand. Turns out that once rules are established, the captain has to obey them no matter what. Humans can decide they don't play by the rules, but he can't.

[Indeed, there's a chart next to the drawing, and the books have been sorted into three distinct piles.]

Remember the Salamander island? Skulduggery and a few others went to get something for him. [Is the expedition common knowledge? Whatever, like the people who kept horrible secrets deserve anyone protecting them.] I'm pretty sure he remembered what he is after that. How his village was invaded and he was sold to slavery.

After the island ... yes, that makes sense. [ And Skulduggery had laid out the binder with that very information not long after ... ]

I'd guessed that the trial was required to harvest power for whatever working the Captain wanted to perform on Skulduggery. If he arranged it to force his own hand ... [ Dimitri growls. ] Cowardice, yes.

[ Something's ticking in his mind. It isn't relevant to the issue at hand, but it's there, the whisper of a clockwork set in motion. ]

The legends of my world don't seem to have much overlap with others. I know what a demon is, and I've heard a little of the True Fae, but what's a genie?

[Harvest power... yes, that does make sense. The captain didn't want it to happen, but once the trial was set in emotion, he might as well have used those emotions.]

They're spirits of fire and air. There's a famous story about a genie who's trapped in a lamp and grants wishes to whoever has it. They're like magical servants to those who summon or bind them.

Fire. Hm. Maybe that's why everything apart from the winter resort has been so Goddess-cursed hot.

... that does make sense. People will raze mountains for rumors of gold and steel. They'd do terrible things to command a power like that. [ Dimitri shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, then shakes it off. ]

[ Looking at the chart again, ] Faeries are known for abducting mortals into their own domain. Demons may, but they require a contract. Did the Captain create this place? What sort of power could? -- I don't expect you to have an answer, just thinking aloud.

Genies do live in deserts...

[Back to the chart, though.]

He created the ship and all the realities we visit. The thing is that he's been doing this for a long time, trying to become a god. So I don't know if the power to create this place is innate or something he learned.

[ If he had to get kidnapped to a mad sorcerer's hell ship, couldn't it have been a cold-weather sorceror? ]

[ Dimitri nods thoughtfully. ] Except the island. Which means he can bring the ship to harbor in real worlds.

That was when Jenny returned, too, wasn't it? She's a goddess herself, she might know something about the matter.

Jenny is a goddess of storms, though. She's more like a natural force than the kind of god the captain wants to be, and I think she's been using his kind of magic to sail through realities.

You've got a point, though. It's worth asking her. I don't know why she ended up on that island.

Mm -- and the Captain wants to be the absent, omnipotent kind, I imagine.

Though that's more or less what he is, here. Could be, if he wasn't compelled to meddle more directly. He could just be that kind of sadist, or motivated by boredom, [ or loneliness, ] but ... perhaps it's a part of the magic, or at least some of his rituals. A trial needs a judge; a competition needs an opponent.

If he's constrained by his own rules -- even more so than we are -- then he must know that can be used against him.

[Natsuno nods. Dimitri makes a good point.]

He's the closest thing this reality has to a god, but - it's not complete, is it? A true omnipotent god wouldn't be bound be any rules, because he makes all of them.

[Dimitri is also correct about the rules being used against him.]

That's why we have to be careful. He would do anything for freedom. If anyone tries to bind him and fails, it'll be a disaster.

[ A sharp look. ]

I'm sure many would wish to. I'm sure some have, across the voyages.

I must tell you now -- [ Dimitri twitches, pinches the bridge of his nose momentarily -- ] I will act against any plan that involves binding him, regardless of its chances of success. His slavery is not an acceptable solution.

Good, then we agree.

[Natsuno doesn't give a crap about the captain, but his power shouldn't fall into anyone's hands. As far as he's concerned, the only choices are freedom or death - ideally, freedom for them and death for the captain.]

Can I count on you to speak against it, then? Whatever we find, I'd rather to convince the others to drop that idea before we share it.

[ Freedom or death. Accepting anything else -- re-enslaving the Captain for their own purposes -- will kill any part of Dimitri that deserves to be saved. ] Absolutely. Whatever else, we cannot allow that to happen.

[ "Suppose that's your only option," says his stepmother, not unkindly. "You'd let us suffer, for his sake?"

There will be another option. There must. ]

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I still got rage inside [open]

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