The passive effect of resistance you could get if you became a troll. But since your mind and soul remains humanish, you can't really use any of the active abilities that would require more than biology.Originally Posted by Malorius
The passive effect of resistance you could get if you became a troll. But since your mind and soul remains humanish, you can't really use any of the active abilities that would require more than biology.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
I just realized that the things I voted for would make for a pretty neat combination. First of all there's the maximum speed build by stacking the speed boost with gravity reduction to reduce his body and equipment weight and make him even faster. With those two he'd be really fast in fusion while still maintaining a decent weight to not get thrown away by everything. Although I'm not sure how much of an issue that would've been outside of fusion anyways. This combined with his movement training across the previous years would make for an already pretty amazing combo or so I think anyways, but after that vote closed it was possible to further this movement. So I imagine in fusion he'd be like a speeding train that rams into his opponents.
Sure step sounds like it could also be abused in a different way. From what Alf said it forms a platform under the user to prevent the them from falling, but if it's made to be enabled at will (or if it's like that to begin with) then he could make "platforms" mid-air allowing for insane mid-air mobility thanks to being able to jump multiple times as long as his prana holds out. So with this the "train" transforms into a rocket that crashes into his enemies.
The only huge con I see is that lower gravity would be disadvantageous if he's ambushed or taking hits outside of fusion and a little in fusion as it impacts his tanking potential. Anyway I'm just just thinking out loud, don't take this as me complaining or anything it's not meant like that.
[x] Give a full accounting of his current skills and capabilities, leaving nothing out.
Dude's going with restricted gear inside an AoG temple (where your chances of dying increase exponentially as you go down) and you want to hold back information to your one and only ally? Hm, doesn't seem like a great move imo. If indeed there's not much reasons to reveal the details about the mantle, there's even less incentive to omit that when Elesa is someone who might actually have some tips about how to best exploit your shapeshifting item.
Besides Shinji already proved to be willing to trust Ramona and Elesa, why would you even consider doing a 180 degree on that at this point?
Choice 367: [x] Give a full accounting of his current skills and capabilities, leaving nothing out
Choice 368: Elesa nods, having listened to Shinji's recitation of his skills and capabilities, up to and including what Zelkova was capable of, and a demonstration of his ability to shpeshift using the mantle.
"Impressive for someone of your age, though I get the feeling that some of those talents aren't quite your own," she comments with a faint smirk. "Now, how about that callsign? Might come in handy if you're ever in disguise, and don't want to refer to yourself by your actual name."
"...is one really necessary?" he groused, shaking his head. "It's not as if I plan to run into other people."
"Maybe not, but who plans to have things go wrong?"
"...fair enough," the boy sighed. "How about...oh, Merlin?"
The American Champion just stared at the boy, wondering if he understood the purpose of such an alias.
"And calling yourself Merlin wouldn't away the fact that you were the British Champion to anyone listening?" she snarked, with Shinji flushing in embarassment as he looked down. "Try again."
"Lancelot?" he hazarded. Surely, the name of the Knight would be less known than that of the great magus of Camelot, though Elesa seemingly didn't agree, as she made a face.
"...calling yourself what the press already do is not good practice either, by any stretch of the imagination. Try again, or I'll suggest something, like oh, Outis or...Perseus, one of the monster slayers of Greek Myth."
Shinji felt something inside him resonate with her suggestion of Perseus, as if some part of him was happy to respond to it, as if felt more right than something else.
Still...would it really suit him?
"Look, it was just what I happened to have on my mind," he mumbled instead. "Though Perseus doesn't sound too bad."
"We could also call you something else," the blonde remarked with a quirk of her lips. "Like oh, Atlas, the titan that bears the sky on his shoulders. Or LeShin, like your fashion label."
"...you...you know about my fashion label?!" the boy all but screeched, rather taken aback by the random comment. How much did she know about him? And was her comment about Atlas just an innocent suggestion...or was there something more to it?
"Of course. I'm a model, after all," she quipped with a disarming smile, though Shinji only felt unnerved.
What will his callsign be?
[ ] Outis
[ ] Perseus
[ ] Atlas
[ ] LeShin
[ ] (write-in)
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; August 6th, 2018 at 06:11 PM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
As a joke I propose Wakame or even better Naked Wakame, although that's out of character for him to suggest because it'd be referring to his recent embarrassment. Still would be a fun nod to a series that actually doesn't exist in their time yet. Given how most of the participants probably don't have or would even use the internet is seems unlikely that anyone but Ayaka would get who's meant with wakame.
Perseus from the list, though. And really he should tease her back as if Merlin is any less subtle than his fashion label that he sorta advertised already.
Last edited by Malgos; August 6th, 2018 at 06:25 PM.
I have two suggestions. 1st is just use the servent classes as code names. So Shinji would be Rider. It has meaning but does not give any accurate information to anyone.
But I would prefer if we just go with Mycenae, the greek city that Perseus founded. A greek town name is not going to clue anyone to anything as they are fairly random especially if Elesa gets a greek town name as well but has a connection for us. And I can see Shinji getting the name coming to mind for him from his servant without realizing it. The best code names that tell nothing about the person or gives clues to what they can do.
[X] Mycenae
[X] Mycenae
I am a bit iffy of using Perseus, it is so blatant
Most of Elesa's suggestion is her poking fun at Shinji, so making our own seems more right to me.
[X] Mycenae
Yeah, playing this girl's games is going to be "fun". Meh, Shinji's inferiority complex can take the beating.
Why are we even doing this. Guys, callsign is supposed to hide the identity, not to ironically expose it.
[x] Write-in. Ulysses.
I like Odysseus. He was a piece of shit, like most other Heroes, but at least he was a pretty intelligent bastard. Something something Shinji the Battering Ram. Also, pretty misleading for anyone with an inkling to our Demiservant secret. His legend is so extensive it can be used to hide almost anything we pull off (short of the Mirror Shield I guess).
Better to use numbers, but that's not cool enough, I guess. My Chuuni soul can't accept it.
Because he was willing to trust them just with his life, which is far from a full trust. Because Shinji's character is not set in stone, it's something we shape with every vote. Because not telling all your moveset is not the same as "180 degree" here. We would have told her everything relevant anyway, remember?Besides Shinji already proved to be willing to trust Ramona and Elesa, why would you even consider doing a 180 degree on that at this point?
Btw, don't equate Elesa and Ramona. Absolutely different levels of risk involved.
Last edited by Malorius; August 7th, 2018 at 08:35 AM.
Choice 368: [X] Mycenae
Chapter 90. Call me Ishmael
Not for the first time, Matou Shinji found himself at a loss for what to do next. He’d returned to the central chamber of the shrine, finding it much as it had been when he’d last visited it, save that using Zelkova’s senses, he noticed more details, like the bowl-shaped depression on the altar and how there were things like runes carved beneath the surface of the walls.
‘I guess the nuckelavee’s presence and pollution blinded me to all of this before,’ he mused, though even seeing all of this gave him little idea of what to do next.
The only thing that had come to mind was to offer his blood to the altar, given that if this were a shrine, some kind of offering would no doubt be appropriate, and the last time something like this had come up, back in the forest of Shiretoko during his journey to obtain a familiar (which seemed like a lifetime ago at this point), he’d done the same.
‘Let’s hope this works,’ he thought, taking advantage of the fact that his tunic was still soaked from his injuries, and wringing out the bloody mix of blood and rainwater into the bowl, hoping there would be some kind of reaction.
…and as it happened, there was, with a quiet, almost mechanical humming filling the air and the carvings on the platform in the corner lighting up, one by one, until the surface was covered with liquid light.
‘Now what?’ he wondered. Something seemed to have happened, but now did he step into the light, or—
Before the boy could do anything, something just appeared on the platform: a shadowy figure in a skintight catsuit, with a gas mask and hood concealing her – and it was definitely her – features, and wisps of shadow obscuring the edges of her form. The figure turned towards him with eyes glowing a deep azure and took a step forward, with the boy scrabbling backwards instinctively, only to stumble and fall to the ground as—
“Heh…”
—the person doffed her hood and pressed something like a button on the side of the mask, with it retracting into the collar of the suit to reveal her face.
'What the...'
That is, the face of one Elesa Labelle, who seemed coolly amused, if significantly more dangerous and predatory than she usually did.
‘Then again, given that she normally pretends to be a vapid model, this isn’t a particularly difficult feat.’
"Ah, there you are Matou," she remarked, as if her just appearing like this was some everyday occurrence. She looked him up and down, frowning. "You seem a bit worse for wear."
Shinji blinked, his mind beginning to work again as she spoke.
“Well, yes…” he managed, blinking. ‘How did she just…?’
Whatever she’d done, it hadn’t been apparition, since there hadn’t been a sound. Was it something like flow-walking? And what was with that outfit she was wearing, one that seemed…uncommonly suited for stealth operations, as opposed to the sundresses and gowns she figured.
“Any details you can tell me?” she asked, stepping off the platform entirely, with the runes shifting from a brilliant gold to dull amber as she did.
"Hit by an exploding tree," he managed stiffly, getting to his feet with as much dignity as he could manage in this secluded room. "Not having armor doesn't help in this...storm," he finished lamely. Remembering that she’d looked him over, he returned the favor. "A problem you don't seem to share."
“I won’t say that clothes make the operative, but they certainly help,” Elesa agreed, her lips curving upwards just a hint. The young woman chuckled as she reached down to a now visible pouch at her waist, retrieving a few items. “Speaking of which, I found some things you can use.”
She walked over to him, and showed him what she held: several plastic-wrapped packages containing black-blue garments.
"These are...?" he asked, not daring to hope…
"Basic gear for... American agents," the young woman replied. “I’d forgotten I had a spare set among my supplies, since I usually use my personalized set.” She gestured at her outfit, with Shinji nodding. “These are standard issue, and I think the self-fitting enchantments on them should be intact, since they’ve never been worn.”
“…and they are?” he asked, holding out his hand, as she pressed the packages into them.
“Shirt, trousers, and trenchcoat,” Elesa responded, her lips quirking into a bit of a smirk. “I hope you don’t need underwear? Because unless you like wearing panties…”
Shinji’s cheeks flushed as red as vine-ripened tomato.
“Ah, no, that, uh…that won’t be necessary,” the boy answered nervously, swallowing. “Um, so what does this gear do?”
“Well, it is designed with anti-ballistic and anti-magic properties by default, but it can support some additional customizable options,” she explained. “Why don’t you change into them, and I’ll help you set up the features you want after we make sure they fit?”
“Change…right here?!” the boy exclaimed in shock, taking a step back.
“…you can step out into the hall if you’re not comfortable changing in front of me,” Elesa allowed, shaking her head. “Just come back after so I make sure it won’t choke you to death or something.”
“C-c-choke me to—“
“I’m kidding.”
Muttering under his breath, the boy took the garments and walked out of the room, where he could change with at least a bit of privacy.
‘Zelkova, could you keep her company while I figure these out? And make sure she doesn’t…come over here and embarrass me?’
‘Of course, Master.’
As it happened, perhaps there was no need for him to dispatch his familiar on distraction duty, as the model didn’t take a single step outside the room, giving Shinji the chance to change into his replacement gear in peace.
It was remarkably…light, and the fit was perfect with the boy almost feeling like he wore nothing at all. His range of motion was preserved, his posture was supported, there was no chafing at all – this was a well-crafted garment.
'And if this is basic gear, then Labelle’s stuff must be superior...'
Such was only reasonable to assume, anyway, given that she was the American Champion. Well, one of the American Champions, technically, which made him wonder if Ramona had such gear or not, and if she did, why she hadn’t revealed her possession of it.
‘There's more going on here than I'm aware of in this competition. I'm pretty sure of that. All I can do is not be a burden and fulfill my contracts.'
With that in mind, he stepped back into the room, where Elesa was chatting with Zelkova about the limits of astralization, organic vs inorganic amplifiers, and something about dampening magical signatures.
She broke off as she saw him come in, and eyed him approvingly.
“Not bad. Seems like everything is still in good working order, at least,” the blonde commented, walking over to him and placing a hand on his shoulder, with the closeness of her making the boy swallow. “Let’s get the customized features sorted, shall we?”
“Well…what are the options?” Shinji asked, with the young woman nodding.
“For basic enhancements, the armor can boost your strength or speed, decrease your weight, provide a measure of low-level healing, or use prana to enhance its existing physical and magical resistance,” Elea explained. “While you’re free to choose whatever you’d like, though realistically, two is the limit for this level of equipment.”
“Ah. How…?” he wondered aloud.
After all, if she was capable of making these sorts of modifications on the fly, that meant that either meant Elesa was the most proficient enchantress he'd ever known, or that the armor itself had been created with mutability in mind, so that anyone who knew how to access its governing functions could change out its enhancements.
‘That would be quite a bit more complicated than mass producing armor with more permanent enchantments.’ Especially for basic gear. ‘Unless…’ Was this perhaps magitech, like what Atlas used? He hadn’t been aware that American practitioners utilized such things…
“Classified,” the young woman said diffidently. “Now, your choices?”
“…speed enhancement and physical damage resistance, please,” the boy answered after some thought, with the American nodding and moving behind him, her hands doing something with the material as her fingers brushed his back in odd patterns, almost making him gasp as he felt prana flowing into the garment – no, through the garment, into what felt like conduits – or circuits.
"Mm, so you have abilities that you cannot take advantage of without added speed then," Elesa mentioned as she worked. "Perhaps perception or cognitive abilities.”
“…has anyone ever told you that you’re too clever for your own good?” Shinji half-joked, only to be met with a sobering reply of “Yes, but they tend to die soon after.”
“You also wish to protect yourself from physical injury – I suppose that’s wise, since you cannot always be in a state of spiritual fusion." She took her hands off his back, the flow of prana ceasing as she did, and walked back into sight. "Well, that’s taken care of. It’s certainly not as good as specialist gear, but it should be good enough for your current needs.”
"Certainly better than nothing," Shinji conceded, shaking his head. "Thanks." He paused. “Mind if I test this out a bit first?”
“By all means,” Elesa said permissively. “Just come back afterwards, or I shall be quite…displeased.”
“Well, neither of us would like that, now would we?”
Once more, the boy walked into the hallway, only this time, instead of changing into something else, he broke into a run, skidded to a stop, tried throwing some punches and running up a wall.
‘Huh…well, I’ll be damned…’
To his surprise, it worked just as promised, increasing not only his movement speed, but the speed of his attacks. That, and when he had Zelkova throw a rock at him, the projectile failed to pierce the material, with the strength of the blow seeming weaker than it should be.
‘I’m still not sure how this stacks up to the two layer combination of enchanted underarmor and wyvern-hide armor I had before, but this is…far better than I expected.’
Especially for so-called basic gear.
He commented as much when he walked back inside, with Elesa just chuckling from where she was leaning against a wall.
“Well, as I said, its basic gear for American agents,” she explained, shaking her head. “It’s not as if every student gets gear like this. Just the ones that qualify for field ops after going to the Graves Institute.”
“Ah,” Shinji remarked, finding that reply singularly unhelpful. “Well…thanks. It’s more than I expected, really.”
"Of course," the other responded simply, waving off his gratitude. "You pledged yourself to assist me, so it is only fair that I make sure you have what you need to make the best use of your abilities."
"...what a surprisingly generous viewpoint,” he drawled.
"Maybe from a magus' point of view," Elesa countered, a quip which wasn't far from the truth, as most magi worked on their own or – in the event they took apprentices or accepted the aid of associates – expected them to excel without outside assistance. "But then, neither of us are magi, Mister Matou. But back to business, let’s finish getting this set up, shall we?"
"...didn't you just do that?" the boy questioned, taken aback.
"I enabled the basic enhancement, yes, but the gear can support one, more advanced, ability,” came the cool response.
"Oh?" Shinji asked, intrigued despite himself – and wondering what sorts of dangers American agents faced if this was standard gear. "Like what?"
"Oh you have some options,” the young woman said off-handedly. “A mind-shield, which helps counteract the effects of fear auras, charm effects, or the like,” she mentioned, raising a finger. “An emissions control module which absorbs any stray prana you release, hiding your magical signature and presence. A combat stim package, boosting strength and speed enormously for a short period of time—"
"—at what cost?" Shinji cut in, as this stim package sounded too good to be true.
"The cost of having your strength and speed...debilitated afterwards, for a timeframe proportional to how long you needed the boosts and the degree of boost you needed," Elesa noted with a shrug. "This isn't Magic, you know. You can't get something from nothing."
"...fair point," the boy conceded, thinking that while such an option was tempting, he’d probably end up overusing it and killing himself. ‘Too dangerous.’ "Anything else?"
"The sure-step mod is one of other popular ones," the American Champion continued, glancing over at the boy’s feet. "It provides you with firm footing, so long as you have prana to spare.”
“…that doesn’t sound too impressive compared to the others,” Shinji found himself saying. “I mean, a good sense of balance and never stumbling is nice and all but—“
“I mean that say, in the event you step off a cliff and onto empty air, there will be something supporting you,” Elesa interrupted, with Shinji’s eyes going wide. “Most people who use it keep it around for emergencies, but there are some who will take advantage of it to reach places they otherwise would find inaccessible, spawning platforms under their feet and such."
“Huh.”
The last bit of functionality sounded much like something Pansy could do with runes, but...based on a different foundation, perhaps, and automatic as opposed to something that had to be triggered. He knew that what Pansy – and presumably Lockhart – did was most useful when in motion, as it could use convert kinetic energy into prana and back, but he had no idea of the mechanism at work here. Nor did he think he’d get any answers, even if he asked, after his query about customization was met with a simple “classified.”
Besides, she was being more than generous with what she was offering already, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to piss her off.
"Anything else that might be useful?” he asked instead.
"Well, a few choose the photothaumaturge mod, allowing them to convert light into prana, so they can recharge their reserves more easily, though the efficiency of isn't particularly high," the American Champion remarked. "And since we’ll be going into an underground area, where there isn’t much light to be had…”
She trailed off, though Shinji had more than gotten the point.
In truth, most of these were temping, but…
“What would you recommend?” he questioned. Clearly, she was a bit more experienced than he was when it came to this kind of thing, so he figured he should defer to her wisdom.
“On this island? Probably emission control,” Elesa replied, with Shinji nodding. “Most of the beasts here are sensitive to magical energy in one way or another, especially the ones underground. Some use it instead of sight, even.”
“Ah, so if you can hide your signature, you’d be almost invisible?”
“Basically.”
“Sounds good. I’ll take it,” Shinji decided, with the blonde nodding in approval as she stepped towards him again, this time reaching out to brush his chest, his hips, and his sleeves, before stepping back.
“That should be functional – you can have your familiar test it, if you want,” the young woman noted.
‘Zelkova, can you see my prana through what I’m wearing?’
There was a pause, and then…
‘I cannot, Master. If I was using only magical senses, you would be effectively invisible, except for your head.’
‘My head?’ he repeated, before realizing that it wasn’t covered.
“Perhaps you should use the hood tucked into the coat?” Elesa suggested, with Shinji sheepishly doing so.
‘I can no longer sense you magically, Master,’ the kodama dutifully informed him.
Shinji found himself fairly impressed by this, and said as much to the American Champion, who for her part, just said that there was nothing to thank her for, since she wasn’t the one who’d created the gear.
“Still, there is something I’d like from you in return,” she noted, gesturing for him to take a seat as she tossed him a ball of something wrapped in leaves. “Pemmican,” she said by way of explanation. “Thought you might be hungry. Though, while you eat, I’d like to know what you're capable of, so I know how to make the best use of you during our time together." Elesa commented. "Feel free to share as much or as little as you'd like, but be aware that the more you share, the better I can ensure we both come out of this alive."
‘Given the circumstances…’
Hiding his abilities wouldn’t really do him any good, so he decided to give a full accounting of everything he was capable of, leaving nothing out. This included Zelkova’s capabilities for independent action, how many ofuda he had and what they could do, his living wand’s ability to change length, and of course, the newfound shapeshifting abilities he’d gained thanks to the mantle.
"Impressive for someone of your age, though I get the feeling that some of those talents aren't quite your own," his blonde commented quietly. “Thanks for all that, it should help me out quite a bit.” There was a beat and then… “There’s just one more thing.”
“What is it?” the boy asked, his voice almost a sigh.
Elesa’s eyes crinkled ever so slightly in amusement.
"It occurs to me that for the purposes of our collaboration, I may as well give you a call-sign, so in case anyone stumbles upon us talking, they won't immediately know that it’s you."
"As if they couldn't tell just by looking?" Shinji retorted, looking down at himself. How many young Japanese boys were there in the Championship anyway?
"In your new gear? Especially if its dark and your mask is up?" the American questioned. "Or say, if you were wearing someone else’s form? No, they couldn't."
"...is one really necessary?" he groused, shaking his head. "It's not as if I plan to run into other people and let them discover who I am."
"Maybe not, but who plans to have things go wrong?" Elesa countered. “That, and if we do run into other people, it’s easier to use an alias you’re familiar with rather than one you’re making up on the spot.”
"...fair enough," the boy conceded. His counterpart did have a point, and it would be foolish of him not to admit that. "How about I call myself, oh…Merlin?"
The American Champion’s response was to break into laughter, a sound which made the boy feel quite small inside as he saw the incredulous expression on her face.
"And calling yourself Merlin wouldn't give away the fact that you were the British Champion to anyone with a brain?" she snarked, with Shinji flushing in embarrassment as he belatedly realized that Merlin, indeed, was a poor choice.
"Lancelot?" he hazarded. Surely, the name of the Knight would be less known than that of the great magus of Camelot, though judging by Elesa’s pained reaction, she didn’t exactly agree.
"...calling yourself what the press already do isn’t good practice either, by any stretch of the imagination.”
"Look, it was just what I happened to have on my mind," he started, but trailed off at seeing the exasperated stare she fixed him with. “I’ll try again.”
“Please. Or I'll be forced to call you oh, Outis or something,” she grumbled. “If I’m feeling charitable, maybe Perseus, the great hero of Greek Myth whose might came mostly from his equipment."
Part of Shinji felt stung by her comment, though another part of him responded warmly to the suggestion, as if it felt right to be called that. Even so…
"Perseus doesn’t sound terrible, but…”
"We could also call you something else," the blonde remarked with a quirk of her lips. "Like oh, Atlas, the titan that bears the sky on his shoulders. Or LeShin, after the fashion house. Yours, if I’m not mistaken."
"...you...you know about my fashion house?!" the boy all but screeched, rather taken aback by the random comment. How much did she know about him? And was her comment about Atlas just an innocent suggestion...or was there something more to it?
"Of course I know about your fashion house,” she quipped with a disarming smile, though the expression only left Shinji feeling unnerved. “I'm a model, after all."
“Oh. Right.”
It was true, after all, that if someone had looked into his background, they'd probably be able to connect him with the Fashion House that he'd launched earlier this year, especially with the way he'd given the Tri-Wizard Champions samples of his first products as a form of advertising.
And if he was going to be working with Elesa for long – and he would be, so long as the contract held – the boy knew that he couldn't let her teasing shake him too badly. So if she wanted him to suggest an alias...
"...how about Mycenae?" he suggested, as a vision of a town came to mind.
"The city founded by Perseus, who gave its name to a period of Greek History?" Elesa commented. "I suppose it’s not a terrible suggestion, though we don’t usually use cities as callsigns."
"Well, what's your callsign then?" he asked, a little miffed that nothing he was saying was meeting with the older girl's approval. "What do you call yourself when you're...dressed like this?"
He gestured vaguely at her skin-tight catsuit, which frankly gave him nowhere safe to look, as it left very little to the imagination, despite covering her completely.
"Heh. I was wondering when you'd ask," the blonde commented with some amusement. "When I'm out on...field operations, I go by Nyx."
Nyx. The Goddess of Night, one of the primordial beings in Greek Myth, mother of sleep and death, consort to Darkness. A being of exceptional power and beauty who was feared even by Zeus, the King of the Gods of Olympus.
"...did you choose that yourself?" the boy wondered aloud, a bit taken aback. "Because it seems a little..."
"Presumptuous?" Elesa supplied, her expression seeming somewhat more fierce than before as she showed her teeth. "Perhaps, if I'd picked it out. But I did not. I was given the title by my mentor, Ananke."
"Ananke?" Shinji echoed, his brow furrowing as he tried to recall where he'd heard the name. It sounded familiar, but… "Who – or what – does that mean again?"
"Ananke, in ancient Greek religion, is the personification of inevitability and necessity," the model explained, glancing off into the distance, her expression almost…wistful. "The mother of the fates, who governs over the doom of man and god alike." Shinji was startled to see Elesa smile after that, her expression almost…tender, before it shifted back to something more neutral and the young woman sighed. "It is an...apt title for her, admittedly."
"Ah." That was all the boy could really think to say. "Did she choose her...?"
"No. It was passed down to her from the previous Ananke," Elesa remarked, eyeing the boy. "Or so I am told anyway. Those days were long before I became part of the moonlit world."
"...what I'm getting from this is that callsigns are usually chosen by someone else, not the person who uses them."
"Generally, yes," Elesa admitted. "Usually by someone who has worked closely with you. It isn't considered good form to give yourself a callsign, usually."
Shinji blinked.
"Then why are you asking me to choose one?" he demanded, finding the entire situation odd.
Did she just not care about good manners in this sense? Did she think he wasn’t worth the effort of giving a sign to?
"No, because you started suggesting things, and I wanted to see how your mind worked, and what your first instinct was when it came to choosing an alias," the American Champion explained, shaking her head. "The truth is, I haven't known you for long enough to really have a strong impression for you, and it’s not as if you'll be going by whatever is gets picked after our adventure, so it’s not as if it matters if we follow the usual forms, right?"
The boy frowned as he heard this.
"...even so, I'd feel more comfortable if we did things properly,” the boy insisted vehemently, prompting Elesa to raise an eyebrow. “I may be young and…inexperienced compared to you, or most of the other Champions on the island, but I don’t want you to just dismiss me because of that.” His voice grew quiet as he continued. “Or because I’m a bit…impulsive.”
“Is that so?” the model murmured, seeming to look at him properly for the first time. “If you insist, I suppose I can give you a proper callsign, though you may not like it much.”
“By all means,” he agreed. “Choose what you will.”
Privately, some part of him was still hoping for Perseus, but…
“Then I will call you Ishmael,” the American Champion intoned, with Shinji looking up, already trying out the name on his lips.
“Ishmael?” Shinji repeated. The name sounded familiar, but… “Is that…is that a character from Moby Dick?”
“Heh, I’m surprised you know it,” the American Champion remarked. “But yes. Ishmael is the narrator of Moby Dick, who experiences, but does not fully understand, the adventures he has been on. A man whose nature is in flux, a man who encounters things beyond his understanding, yet keeps an open mind. A man who is changed by his experiences and who seeks to understand how he has changed.”
Shinji had to admit that this sounded somewhat like his own situation, though…
“There’s something else, isn’t there, about Ishmael?” he said aloud. “I mean, it doesn’t just come from Moby Dick, right?”
“No, it doesn’t just come from that novel involving a superweapon of a Divine Beast,” Elesa agreed, her smile widening just a bit as she saw Shinji start at the last term she used. “It’s a Biblical name.”
“Ah. And what’s the significance of the name?”
“Ishmael was the son of Abraham by his Egyptian servant Hagar,” the young woman explained. “It was said of him that he would achieve greatness in his youth, yet his name has become synonymous with exile, as he was banished to the wilderness and stripped of his birthright after verbally mocking Isaac, Abraham’s favored son.”
Once again, Shinji felt a shiver go down his spine at how similar this character’s story was to his, in how he had once been seen as a hero in Britain, and yet how as he had increasingly found himself at odds with Harry, Britain’s favored son, he had been marginalized, sidelined, his reputation torn to shreds by those he had called his countrymen.
“Anything else?”
“Well, both the character from the Bible and the one from the novel were miraculously rescued when all seemed lost,” Elesa remarked lightly. “The Biblical character by being granted water in the desert, the narrator by being plucked from the water after the destruction of his ship.”
And when one accounted for how Elesa had rescued him from what would have been certain doom otherwise…
“Heh…hahahahaha…”
Laughter welled up inside of him, bubbling forth from his lips. Cleansing, healing laughter. Laughter at himself, laughter at the world, laughter at…everything in a way. For a time he could do nothing but laugh at the absurdity of it all, at how someone who had barely interacted with him understood him and his story better than those he had once called brothers.
‘This…this is…’
He kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing some more – not quite hysterically, but not far from it, with Elesa merely waiting until he’d finally calmed down after some indeterminate amount of time.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, looking up from a sandwich she’d apparently taken out of her pouch and had begun to munch on while he was otherwise preoccupied.
“It..ha…you…haha…I uh…” Shinji took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. “It’s just…you say you don’t know me,” the boy managed finally, with a rueful chuckle. “But that name…that character…he might as well be me.”
“So, then, Matou, what you’re saying is…?”
“Call me Ishmael.”
Choice 369: With all this settled, Elesa asks if Shinji has anything he needs to do, or anything he wants to suggest, before they head off to their explorations, as once they set out to wherever they are going, it may not be possible to take care of things on the surface before they finish.
When he asks how they will go with the rain still coming down fiercely, she merely says "the way I came," and leaves it at that, assuring him that the rain will be no problem.
What does Shinji say? (choose one)
[ ] He would like a night to rest and to rebuild some of his ofuda stash
[ ] He would like to try and recruit someone else into their party (Lestrange)
[ ] He wants a briefing about where they're going
[ ] Nothing, he's ready to go
[ ] (write-in)
Last edited by alfheimwanderer; August 7th, 2018 at 09:07 PM.
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[x] He wants a briefing about where they're going
[X] He would like to try and recruit someone else into their party (Lestrange)
Because a team of two is hardly an adventuring party. Build that team.
Seriously, Lestrange wants potion ingredients right? And Shinji and Elesa are going to come across some rare stuff in this, so might as well get Lestrange to reap the rewards. She adds quite a bit of power to the team. And as long as Lestrange is willing to sign an NDE to not expose the parties secrets found out by the adventure I think Elesa should not have an issue with this. There is the side benfit of causing Lestrange to not being wandering around on the surface for Mischa to extract revenge on.
It is not like we are asking Lestrange to hang around the pair for the rest of the time. I am sure she can go back to doing her own thing when she wants to.
[ ] He would like a night to rest and to rebuild some of his ofuda stash
Lestrange can most probably help us, true, but will it help her? This adventure of ours will take a lot of time and effort, which is detrimental to participation in the competition. Any ingredients we incidentally stumble upon will not be a good replacement for a focused search with a plan in mind, simply not worth it. And, unlike in Shinji's case, Rachelle's main goal here is to win. Do we really want to burn through the goodwill we have collected? We will have a use for every ally abroad when the war starts - but that's a meta concern, mostly.
Also, we have promised to help her and bring any ingredients that can help her anyway, so there is that. The arrogance pride of White Knight, anyone? How can we come and ask her for help instead, with only a promise of nebulous rewards?
[x] He wants a briefing about where they're going
As much as I weep over another lost batch of ofuda, we cannot create any relevant amount of them in the span of one day, not compared to the (wasted) work of last weeks. And we had a good night's rest just a few hours ago.
Information will help us to forge ahead more or less prepared now. Let's get to it already.
Last edited by Malorius; August 8th, 2018 at 02:27 AM.
.
.[x] He would like a night to rest and to rebuild some of his ofuda stash
I hate to tie this up again, but in thinking about making Ofuda, really its for the best for Shinji to have Elesa give a briefing so that Shinji KNOWS what he is facing so that he can make Ofuda that will be useful rather than just making whatever. More importantly I think Shinji really needs to know what he is about to face. We might know what we are getting ourselves into...its high time Shinji gets told the details of what he signed up for.
I heavily doubt that this briefing is going to stop Shinji from realizing afterwards he should call up Lestrange for help and/or making Ofuda for the operation. We can likely still do one of those actions. Just with the addition of having intel beforehand.
Change vote to [X] He wants a briefing about where they're going
Choice 369: [x] He would like a night to rest and to rebuild some of his ofuda stash; [x] He wants a briefing about where they're going
Choice 370: And so we're back to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and the wonderful affairs going on in Wizarding Britain. Please prioritize the viewpoints you'd like to see for each.
Final TriWizard Event POV
[ ] Fleur Delacour
[ ] Viktor Krum
[ ] George Weasley
Britain POV
[ ] Lucius Malfoy
[ ] Gilderoy Lockhart
[ ] Pansy Parkinson
[ ] Harry Potter
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Viktor Krum
Really any champion works viewpoint works for me but I figured I might as well vote for the person we have seen very little of. If for no reason to watch him try to take on the other two in a more direct competition.
[X] Gilderoy Lockhart
The man of mystery. I am rather curious about just what he is currently up to and/or planning for the future.
[x] George Weasley
The consequences of our actions interest me greatly. What's his current state of mind? Better than that other twin, I hope.You were my brother, George! I loved you!
Ah, to remember the Stone Cutters of old.
[x] Gilderoy Lockhart
Watching a professional adventurer at work is always a pleasure! Unlike all the pretentious wannabes we usually deal with.
I quite dislike the POV of enemies so Malfoy is out. (Well, POVs of different characters in general because it ruins the intrigue of actual interaction with them.) I still want to be surprised by at least some of his plans when they come into fruition...
- - - Updated - - -
...Shinji is a very needy sidekick, it seems.[x] He would like a night to rest and to rebuild some of his ofuda stash; [x] He wants a briefing about where they're going
Last edited by Malorius; August 9th, 2018 at 01:07 AM.
Reply With Quote
