Day 27: Library

[not_rly_fai]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close

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[1imited_edition]

Ah, more time amongst her lesser cousins. Reinforce was supposed to meet that interesting Nobody-person, but she left it to Larxene to find her. She wouldn't skip library-time for anything.

Last time she'd just been cavorting around the stacks, at least until she'd run into that disrespectful little girl, but that was done. Now it was time for the slower, more refined enjoyment of actually reading them.

She picked the first title to catch her eye, which was as it happened the Divine Comedy. The others needn't worry about her haphazard method of selection. She'd get to them soon enough~

[divineglutton]

The goddess hadn't spent as much time as she'd have wished with those she had already met before.

Indeed, it had been several nights since she had last seen Reinforce, and as the goddess wandered into the library, she decided to stop for the girl and make sure that everything was all right. At the least, Reinforce seemed physically well, but that wasn't the whole story- if anyone knew about how a pleasant exterior could hide a festering wound, it was Okami Amaterasu.

So she walked up to Reinforce... then paused. If she was reading, then it would be rude to interrupt, wouldn't it? Such a dilemma for the mother of all!

[1imited_edition]

Fortunately Amaterasu's magic was as distinctive as ever to Rein, and her approach registered unmistakably. Even if her vision began and ended with the words on the pages before her, there was no way she could miss or mistake it. The page atop her index finger idled mid-flip, and her eyes brightened as they rose to meet the goddess'.

It wasn't the word Rein would have chosen, but she was very much a fangirl for this one.

"Ah, Amaterasu..." She began, then paused for a second as the sudden thought intruded that she might better have waited for the other to speak before addressing her, or at least used a title or some more formal greeting or done something more than address a god (and one deserving of the title) as though she were no more than a casual acquaintance. But she already had, so there was nothing to do but continue on. At the very least she should not be staring slack-jawed at her while she tried to backpedal. "How have you been?"

Sad that it was a question that bore asking even to such a being.

[divineglutton]

Indeed, it was saddening that Amaterasu could be asked such questions; she who had fought against the source of all darkness was now only as strong as any mortal.

But despite that, Amaterasu smiled as Reinforce looked at her, relieved that the other woman had interrupted her reading and not recognizing the pause for what it really was. "I'm fine," she assured, "and I hope you are, too."

Worry was not a familiar feeling for Amaterasu, but the doubt that wanted to gnaw at the back of her mind when she spoke to Rein was close to it. She knew that there was something there, something beneath the surface... but it didn't feel like a demon. No, she had been reminded of exactly what a demon was like. Rather, joy bubbled up, and she couldn't help but clap her hands as she was reminded. "Ah, wait, I'm better than fine! I found other gods like me last night!"

[1imited_edition]

"I'm... well." In truth, her duty leading her away from Raine was causing her some distress, but the fact that Raine seemed willing to accept it made it a much smaller worry than it might have been. And in the library, amongst her kin, all her troubles seemed to recede somewhat.

"Other gods?" Rein blinked, attention drawn back from her own problems in a flash. She knew about Homura and the Shinigami, and to her they did not qualify as 'like Amaterasu.' It was good news/bad news in the same way the arrival of all the new patients was, but on a much larger scale. Whole cosmologies had potentially been disrupted, and their captors' power was displayed once again... but allies of great quality had been gained. As usual, her curiosity predominated.

"What are they like?"

[divineglutton]

For Amaterasu, it was only good news; for in her own cosmology, all of the gods had been killed, and she alone had remained- this was like being able to see friends again when all hope had long died.

"Let's see... there's Byakko, first of all. He's the Guardian of the West, and he's very friendly- a lot like how I remember him to be. But I'm sure that he's still a very strong warrior; I hope that I'll get to fight alongside him soon. And then there's Kurikara RyuOh; he's... mm..." Amaterasu's delicate features creased into a frown; in olden times, this god was unquestioningly loyal and very strong. In this time, he was strong still, but... he was with that demon... In the end, Amaterasu simply said, "He's not quite like I remember, but he's still very strong."

She just wished that she knew what had made Kurikara act the way he had. It was very confusing, and rather hurtful for the goddess.

[1imited_edition]

There were bound to be variations between worlds even on beings with the primal natures of gods, Rein supposed. She couldn't help but be suspicious of that frown amidst so much elation, though, so she decided to prod Amaterasu gently on the topic.

"How is he different?"

It would be terrible if the goddess were to be harmed by members of some darker version of her own pantheon. Homura's description of his amoral, dystopian heaven came disquietingly to her mind. Better that Amaterasu have the chance to voice any concerns she might have, and be aware of them.

[divineglutton]

The goddess didn't mean to make another worry, but it was something that she couldn't really help.

At that gentle prompting, the goddess sighed. How to put it? It was just a suspicion, a nagging feeling at the back of her mind... yet to her, it was a voice that she'd learned to trust, the instincts that had saved her life and many others besides. "He is... worn. He's a god of fire, but something's dampening that fire. And he never used to associate with demons before."

Amaterasu wasn't sure what she disliked more; how Kurikara had acted the night before, or that demon. If she saw him again, and Waka or Kurikara wasn't there to step between them, she was sure she'd purify him then and there.

[1imited_edition]

"Demons? There are demons here?" An alarming thought. The demons that Amaterasu had described, purely malicious, were not something one would want amongst the populace. Their captors, at least, were predictable. Agents of destruction within their ranks could undo them all.

She could only hope that there was some kind of misunderstanding, that whatever entity Amaterasu detected had somehow registered as... unholier than it was. Could at least see reason and cooperate against their captors, as some of the other more unsavory beings here were...

[divineglutton]

Alas, however; to the goddess, a demon was a demon, no matter what they might act like.

"There is," she affirmed, "at least one demon, and just as insolent as all the others had been. But Kurikara accepted him, stood up for him... I never thought he'd do that!"

The goddess growled as she spoke, suddenly pacing back and forth to help her thoughts. She hated staying in one place as it was, now she just wanted to move and do something. Either to talk with Kurikara, or with Byakko, or... or to purify that demon and be done with it! It was her divine duty to scatter darkness wherever it appeared, and that one had been as dark as she needed to know. But if Kurikara wanted to protect him, then what could be done?

[1imited_edition]

"Do you know why?" Rein pressed on. Her worry, warmth, and inquisitiveness... all were real, but...

But she felt that she was walking a dangerous path. Gods and demons, creatures of absolutes... it would be easy for her to misstep around them. She believed deeply in the possibility of redemption, and that had the potential to both alienate Amaterasu, and leave her vulnerable to manipulation by this demon.

But humans were still all she really knew, so the best she could do was try to resolve this as she would between humans, and learn as she went along. And she did mean to try to resovle it. Whether or not this 'demon' was as bad as Amaterasu assumed it to be, she felt she should do something to aid the goddess, ease her confusion...

Betrayal was a painful thing.