exsilium | [Video] Monster Warning

[Kousuke appears on the screen, covered in dust and sweat and blood. If you look closely, you can see the trails his tears have left in it. But he gives a wan smile anyway. Anyone who's seen his real smile could tell what a pale imitation this one is.]

Uh... Hey, hey everybody. I'm Kousuke Nitoh. I, uh. I'm calling you on my way back from the outskirts of town. I gotta tell you something important...

[He sighs heavily, leaning up against the wall of a half-ruined building.]

There's a monster in town, a Phantom. It, uh, well, the easiest way for me to explain it is that it... killed Haruto.

[He looks immediately despondent, having said those words. He quietly repeats it.]

Haruto's dead. The Phantom stole his body, and it's walking around lookin' like him. So if you see him, don't talk to him. Phantoms usually don't kill people, other than the ones they're inside... But he'll try to feed off your despair.

[He starts walking again, looking around awkwardly.]

It's my responsibility to kill him. I gotta do this. But if anyone could help me keep people back while I fight him, or like... Just help me out. I have to deal the final blow, though. My life kind of depends on it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, that's kind of how we kill them. They can also use magic, too, so watch out. Dragon's got elemental powers. Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind.

Noted. [But she doesn't sound impressed or scared. ...Still she quirks a quizzical eyebrow.] Dragon? ...You mean the Phantom?

Edited 2013-07-05 15:08 (UTC)

Yeah. All the Phantoms are mythical beasts. They come from people called Gates when they despair. If you can overcome your despair, overcome your Phantom, you can be a wizard.

[He swallows.]

That's how Haruto got to be one. But there's a chance you could get overcome again, which is what happened. Dragon killed him and took his body.

A wizard? What kind of wizard?

I'm sorry for your friend. I take it the only way to bring him back is to kill the Phantom, right?

The only kind there is in my world, I guess. We use magic to change into an armored form and then fight with magic. And also hand-to-hand.

I think so. I don't think that Haruto is technically gone until his body's gone.

I see. You use spells?

You shouldn't worry too much about his body. As far as I know the Initiative can re-create it as it was when he was first brought here.

Yeah. Our spells are channeled through magic rings.

That's kind of a problem, cos if they take him right back from where he was... Well, the reason people turn into Phantoms is cos they're lost to their own despair. The reason Haruto despaired doesn't just go away. I better make sure they don't do that.

[He wipes his face slowly, thinking.]

I gotta talk to the Initiative guys about that. I don't want him to come back only to have this happen again.

[Rings that channel magic? Well if there are some rings that can protect you against magic, it makes sense that there'd be some that channel magic. It's more discreet than wands at any rate.]

You might be overestimating their abilities there. But I guess it's worth a try.

Yeah... But they owe me.

[His countenance darkens.]

They owe him. This whole thing happened cos they sent him off on a no-win mission and didn't tell him til he came back. All the people he thought he was protecting got killed right after that, and they wanted it because it made things work better than them dyin' when they sent Haruto to protect them!

[His voice gets increasingly fierce and angry.]

They owe us all. I'm afraid it hasn't made them any smarter so far. [Or more useful.]

I dunno why they're treating us like such crap when they're the ones who brought us here in the first place!

[He sighs.]

I wasn't mad at them before, but man... They really don't care about us, do they?

[She shrugs. She can't blame him for being mad at them.] I don't know. And honestly I don't care if they do. I just wish they'd look like they know what they're doing instead of giving us the impression we're all risking our lives for nothing here.

...Or they should just have left us alone in the first place.

Yeah. I mean, I wish they did, now. But even a crap situation like this can turn into an opportunity if I try hard enough. So I gotta do that.

Thanks for keepin' an eye out for me. The network says your name's Raven? Thanks, Raven.

I wish you the best of luck with that, then. [It's said in the most deadpan way, though it's still sincere.

A nod.] Yes. That's my name. [She's never bothered to hide it.] No problem. As far as I understand it this Phantom needs to be stopped as quickly as possible. [So it's in her best interest too.

A pause.] If the Initiative fails at helping you, contact me.

Thanks. Yeah, he needs to be stopped. And I'll stop him.

And, uh. Okay. I guess if you can help there's no reason not to let you.

[No reason... Except they've just met. So either he trusts people easily, or he has a good feeling about her, or he's really desperate to save his friend. Probably the last one.

She just nods one last time and ends the feed.]

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