Follow the Sound (Yuri Forsin)

[Anders]

If it wasn't one ghost then it was the other...If his mind hadn't been swirling with the thoughts of his impending doom, Anders might have conjured some theory about madness and ethereal social dynamics. Just as he had made some progress with Yuri, he had lost his footing with Fubuki. Of course his scholarly pursuits were now the last thing on his mind, anyway. Right now, he just wanted to be out of this room.

Fubuki's power was not a surprise to him, he had felt all of it when she saved him from Yuri's wrath. He only realized that the notion that he might be able to avoid any triggers with Fubuki was unfounded. Sure, she was the most powerful ghost he had ever come across and there was much to learn, here, but the reality was this: it simply wasn't worth the risk. Inviting a situation to which one could react was one thing. Trying to avoid the cascade of events that would lead directly to one's death was something entirely different. Anders had let himself linger in a situation where his only option was to predict the actions of a crazy person.

He had let his scholarly obsessions cloud his judgment and now he desperately wanted out of here. "Funny," Anders morbidly mused in silence. "I suspected that I might need to get out of here. I should have listened to my better judgment."

Anders had absolutely no sense of loyalty to the nuit. It was simply survival. Though this was a chance meeting, Anders would have sought out Fubuki anyway; it was not for apathy, it was for self-preservation that Anders had no qualms about revealing Isolde's identity. Furthermore, he didn't feel the compulsion to qualify her decision. Anders was not Isolde's ambassador and he wasn't going to act as such in front of the psychotic personality which had manifested before him. He wouldn't explain that it was only because Isolde cared or because she had wanted the best for Fubuki.

"Her name is Isolde, she is a nuit." Most importantly, Anders felt that he needed his answers to be as short and as bland as possible. He had to give Fubuki as little, as possible, to use as emotional fuel for a reaction. There was a fine line between curt and brief and Anders would have to walk this line unswervingly. Without sounding rude, he wanted to answer Fubuki's questions and say nothing else.

There was another concern here, a terrifyingly obvious one. Fubuki could, just as easily, kill the ethaefal for the cowardice of revealing Isolde's identity. Whether through a contempt for disloyalty or just sheer madness, she could always turn right around and slay him after his response. This could all be some sort of sick, confusing test in her disturbed little mind.

His skin turning shiny with worrisome, anxious beads of sweat and his breaths growing betrayingly shallow and rapid, he tightly closed his eyes...winced and answered Fubuki's charge.

[Yuri Forsin]

"Hmm? Al...alright then Miss Kouri." Nodding briefly to the ghost girl, Yuri set the parchment neatly on the ground for now. It seemed the song will have to wait, as the atmosphere once again got tense in the apartment. Just like last time, she turned so quickly and suddenly. Since Yuri had his turn of being enraged and on the insane side earlier, it now appeared to be Kouri's turn. Yuri found himself smirking as he watched Kouri approach Anders, a reaction from his darker side. Kukuku... that Spiritist thought he was making progress with us did he? How wrong he is. Just one wrong word or phrase was enough to set off Kouri's insane side, and Yuri found himself maliciously enjoying the scene unfold. That was, for only a few moments as the musician ghost's initial deranged enjoyment gave way to his kinder and more reasonable nature. Taking a second look at the scene, Yuri immediately became concerned. If Anders did not answer correctly, things could turn bad. Remembering how Kouri had stopped Yuri from hurting the Spiritist mere chimes ago, the ghost felt a twisted sense of irony in the current situation. Now, Yuri had to stop Kouri before she injures or even kill the Ethaefal in her current state of mind. But, he felt little real sympathy for Anders; if the Spiritist was assaulted by Kouri, the knights would be on them, but that was it. Blinking to Kouri's side, Yuri gave the currently endangered Anders a mocking glance, shaking his head as though disappointed in the Spiritist. Once again in Kouri's hold, the Ethaefal now looked especially powerless. Yuri silently lipped to Anders, "Wrong move my dear Spiritist." Once Anders briefly answered, Yuri crouched down next to the Ethaefal and ghost girl. There might be a chance his answer was not enough. Smiling calmly at the two, Yuri turned to Kouri with a firm gaze from his vivid green eyes, "Miss Kouri, you yourself said if we hurt this man things will turn messy, so I ask that you don't hurt the pathetic Spiritist please." The ghost did not care he just insulted Anders right then, honesty is the best policy is it not? Now turning to Anders, the pianist ghost once again shook his head mockingly at the Ethaefal. "Again you are in Kouri's hands, you really must choose what you say more wisely." Especially with Kouri, which Yuri had learned from their first meeting. "Now! I hope we can start composing the lyrics, right Miss Kouri?" Trying to ease the situation, the ghost gave both Anders and Kouri a cheerful grin. The question now, would things end smoothly?

[Fubuki Kouri]

Fubuki Kouri "Hssss... ihihihihi~" Kouri hissed very much like a Viper Dhani, befitting her glowing crimson reptilian eyes and her slithering white hair strands. Anders seemed to finally realize that even though the situation was friendly and light-hearted earlier, Kouri was still the one in power. The current situation would go as she wished it to go. Oh? Ehehe, shiny~ Kouri noticed the Eth's skin was subtly... glowing of sorts, Did all Ethaefal shine when terrified? Kouri would ask Madame Tsukiko about it later perhaps. "Her name is Isolde, she is a nuit." Right on the nail on the head, Kouri's assumption was on the spot after all. "Madame... Isolde..." That Nuit, the Nuit who was poking around in her business. She even dared to consult a Spiritist of all people without her consent. Kouri liked the Nuit for her friendliness, but her cowardice and stuttering nature annoyed her; and now with this deliberate 'back-stabbing' act, Isolde was really stretching Kouri's hospitality. She would confront the Nuit about this later. Kouri noticed her ghost friend blinked next to her, she tilted her head to regard Yuri but hospitality was the last thing on her mind right now. She narrowed her eyes "You're right, if only this was only in the Woods... I could just kill him and leave his corpse to the wolves..." Kouri admitted Yuri made a right point. Kouri floated down and faced Yuri, her mood disturbingly shifted to her cheerful one as her curiosity was satiated. "Sure~ Ehehehe~" She extended a tendril and grabbed Yuri's parchments, bringing it to in front of her. "La la la~♪" She tested some of the notes with her voice. "So~ Hmmm~ I know...." She started giving her ideas to Yuri, fitting it with his song tune.

[Anders]

Anders dropped his head in upsetting, exhausted, unexpected resolution. Two strikes and two undeserved chances to keep living. It was time to go. He silently took a second to stop himself from shaking and find the courage to move.

With Fubuki now interested in Yuri and his music, Anders moved toward the door. Not stealthily, boringly. He couldn't afford the risk of being caught trying to "sneak" anywhere. Maybe being caught doing so would mean nothing. Maybe it would mean the third and final strike. There was no way to accurately speculate and he didn't need to take yet another risk. His gait was quiet but not overly so as he moved for the door of the apartment.

His hope was that the two ghosts had simply...lost interest. Fubuki certainly seemed to be a ghost caught up in her momentary passions, if her interest was held strongly enough, for the moment, than the spiritist surmised she wouldn't care about him one way or another.

And certainly, music held some sort of obsessive fascination for the other ghost; Anders didn't think that his departure would be more interesting, to the second ghost, than working on his craft.

Anders felt far from confident and he felt nothing less than absolutely terrified. Still, in this high intensity, flustering, imperiling moment, he thought that he might just have a chance to get the petch out of this tiny apartment.

The ethaefal was suddenly glad that he had informed the knight of Isolde's two valued ghosts. Certainly there were spiritists out there who could help Fubuki find peace but he didn't know of any in the city of Syliras. He couldn't think of anyone highly skilled enough (and willing) to work with Fubuki to resolve her anchor. Dusting, voiding, exorcism or manipulation would be a pitiable fate for Fubuki but she was too dangerously to be wandering the streets of Syliras!

[Yuri Forsin]

At the very least, it appeared that the current situation in the apartment has ended peacefully, though there was still an ominous foreshadowing of the future. Hearing Kouri's desire to kill the Ethaefal if he ever ventured into the Bronze Woods, Yuri could only feel an infinitesimal sense of worry; hopefully Anders never ventured to look for Kouri, hopefully... but why would Yuri care? As if he really cared for whatever the Spiritist got himself into, it was none of his concern. Yet, lingering in the back of Yuri's mind, was the ever increasing concern for Kouri's state of mind, and to an extent his own. It was only a matter of time before Kouri did something that would bring the attention of the Knights, and also before Yuri relapsed into a raging madness. No, that won't happen... ever. With Kouri back to her bright personality after hearing Anders' answer and already singing the notes out, Yuri gladly floated down in front of her. Thankfully, now the two could start on working with the song. Taking a moment to listen to Kouri's singing voice, he couldn't help but smile upon hearing it. "You've got a very nice voice Miss Kouri, very nice..." Yuri beamed a complimenting smile at her; she probably knew that she had a wonderful little voice. A sweet, innocent, and haunting voice all at the same time; it was exactly what the song needed! Listening the ghost girl's ideas for words, Yuri smiled gently and nodded in agreement. "Oh that does sound like a good idea Miss Kouri! Now, if we put that in with this..." The pianist ghost began putting out his ideas to see if they could combine with Kouri's. As two cheerfully discussed about the song, Yuri's mind was put at ease. Music always had a calming effect, and it could be even seen as an anchor on Yuri's sanity. The melody ever so steadily began gaining words to go along with it, much to Yuri's delight. At this rate, the song could be finished in half a bell or so. "Hmm... I wonder if we should add something about ghosts in the song... what do you think Miss Kouri?" Turning to look brightly at Kouri with his question, the pianist ghost did not even notice the slow walking of the Spiritist towards the exit. Anders was far from the top of his mind; the song was top priority at the moment, and Yuri could hardly bother with worries about the Spiritist. Not when he had a composition this close to completion!

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Anders Skill Points Earned Interrogation 3 XP Spiritism 2 XP Observation 2 XP Investigation 1 XP Lore Earned Appeasing the Psychopath Yuri and His Hate for Spiritists Kouri, and Her Mania The Girl From Isolde's Warning Survival Over Loyalty Learning From Mistakes Other Shenanigans: Kouri Skill Points Earned Materialization 2 XP Soulmist Projection 1 XP Lore Earned Yuri Who Can't Kill Anders, Curious Spiritist Isolde's Been Talking Threats For Information Escalating the Situation Other Shenanigans: Comments : Sorry for the wait, and PM me with questions or concerns.