17th Cinder: For whose sake?

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

[ To say that the last little kink in Mayfield's existence was disturbing and frustrating for Shana is to be understating it. So, in lieu of any more useful release activity, like hunting Rinne or Crimson denizens, Shana is trying to eat herself rotund. (Given her contract with Alastor being in full effect, this is rather unlikely, but she'll give it a good go regardless.)

As such, Shana is eating in multiple places throughout town. ]

First Location: The Park [ Shana is eating melon bread on a bench, several discarded wrappers sitting beside her, and rather less cute eating noises can be heard as she busily digs in. ]


Second Location: The School [ Shana is eating the tasteless lunch provided by the drone lunchladies with rather ferocious gusto, and woe to anyone who dares steal her food. ]


Third Location: Home [ Shana is continuing the quasi-compulsive eating at the dinner table, taking huge portions even of Wilhemina's less-than-stellar (And less than edible cooking without complaint]

Phonecall, filtered from drones and the town authorities, as well as the smiths.

Mou! Did we learn anything at all this time? I mean... we know now their system is imperfect, but we still don't know what powers the mechanism of resurrection anymore, unless someone saw them fix it. Did anyone manage that?

Comments

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

I'm still here, aren't I?

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Gesturing with his bandaged left hand. ] Sure, that counts for something, but that's not what I meant.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

What did you mean then?

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

I mean after you got droned. Things were hectic and I never found you to see what happened, since once that machine blew up, things went to Hell.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

.... I don't like thinking about it, honestly.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

Hm. Well, I can't blame you there. [ Touma put his elbows on the table and his chin on his hands. ] Mainly because thinking about it gives me a headache. But I do have one question...

What's with the flames? [ Point blank. Esper abilities are nothing to him, but that looked and felt like something completely different. Manipulating her appearance like that wasn't anything he thought possible. ]

I am the hero of backtags.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

... I'm a flame haze, of course. The most powerful one, actually. My contractor is the God of destruction, the Flame of the Heavens, Alastor.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Touma stares openly in ignorance and disbelief. ] Huh? "Contract"? "God of destruction"? What is a "flame haze"?

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

A protector of the balance between the human world and the crimson world, of course.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

Crimson world.

Right.

[ It's really hard not to stare at her like she's a crazy person. The only thing keeping him from doing that is recalling how Stiyl had powers over fire, and the way she looked with that sword in her hand. Maybe there's enough there for him to give her the benefit of the doubt — one shouldn't go around undermining the validity of the backstories of allied characters so early in the story, after all. ] No wonder you were so pissed off at that machine.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Yes... I thought it was holding all the power of existence from the drones. [ She looks very sad for a moment. ]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

You've got to stop throwing out terms like that without giving me a glossary page. What sort of power is that?

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Well, I guess the easiest way to explain it is that it is kind of like life force, and I use it to power my abilities. Of course i don't need to eat humans, unlike a Crimson Denizen, because I have a Lord of the Crimson realm inside me.

[ Well, it was a good try anyway, touma. ]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Agape. ] I-inside you?

Well, it's good that you don't have to eat people. I wouldn't let something like that slide. [ Yes he is saying that straight up to a girl that is smaller than him but probably has more power in her pinky finger than ten of him. Wanna fight about it? ]

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Mou, people die every day from Crimson denizens consuming them. I just have to keep them from displacing reality. Its a part of the food chain, almost.

But... it doesn't have to be that way. If the Denizens behave.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

That's not something that I learned in Biology. [ Scratching his head again. ] ...are they here? Those denizens you mentioned.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

No, just two Flame Hazes. Myself and Wilhemina Carmel, who lives with me.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ Whew. ] That's a relief.

[ A blink. ] So wait, there's more of your kind? Er, with your job, I mean. [ Wow, that was almost insensitive. ]

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Here? No. In Misaki city, where I live, there are 3 of us, and there are a great deal of Flame Hazes throughout the world.

[ SHe doesn't seem to notice the possible insensitivity. ]

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

[ He whistles. ] Damn. All that just sounds kind of crazy to me.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Really? Well, what is your world like then?

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

For starters, supernatural things and magic aren't supposed to exist. [ Though they totally do, apparently. Vampires, alchemists, summoners, girls with untold volumes of books in her head, espers... ]

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

Of course not! That's why they have to hide them away. We do the same thing, using Torches and Fuzetsu.

[punch_illusions_get_harem]

...right. Only I don't think it was anything like that, but that might just be because I lived in a city where science was the order of the day and I think anyone trying anything funny like that would have a lot of people out for them.

[enpatsushakugannouchite]

That's weird too...