Shinigami's Manor. (Shinigami's Entry)

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Mitsuko bit her lip. "We should have asked Nymphia to stay with us... But I suppose she must have a team to get back to. The diamond sorceress will also be busy... We are on our own. The both of them were not worried about Shinigami, though. We need more allies who can trust her.". Shinigami understood the sentiment at least but it was a waste of time to think about what could have been. "Nothing you can do about that now... Besides, you still have the humans here. They don't look too bad.", she told her as she started to use a more proper soap to wash Jumi's back. Mitsuko nodded, moving closer still to hopefully help with Jumi. "Jumi is right, though. We will be fine...", she replied, having to consider what they had.

Shinigami still didn't quite feel used all of this yet but she played along, wondering how far she'll make it. Could the predictions of her mother be true? Or will these two somehow find a way to help her fit in? Her face showed that she had some thoughts about it but while Mitsuko noticed, she thought best not to ask what was bothering her. The fox had her own nature and life style. She just needed time to adapt. For now, Mitsuko focused on Jumi instead. "When we're done, let's head to the library... I'd hate to make Umi wait long for us. Besides, I wonder what Nall is doing... I just hope that everything will be fine.". There were reasons to be worried but Mitsuko too was trying to adapt to this life. Only Jumi was used to it.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

In a worst case scenario they could try to contact Nymphia, but Jumi had figured she would have volunteered to do more, if she had been capable of helping them long term.  She had not wanted to try to pressure Nymphia into helping.  For the time being, it would be the three of them, after they left the temple.  She let Shinigami continue to wash her, Mitsuko could join in, if she wanted.  She was finding it quite enjoyable either way.  “It is worth a look, hopefully we will find something to help with Shinigami, but it is just impressive to visit.  Might also give us unexpected help with your problem or some other unexpected useful information.”  It was not impossible they might have some information about that goddess after Mitsuko, whether that, Shinigami, or something else, Jumi was hopeful they could find something useful there.

That was the best starting point.  More likely to give them something they could use than trying to pray to that Maxim or hoping the temple had some sort of artifact or something else that could help them, but Jumi would try/hope for those too if needed, she would not rule out sources of help here.

[Warning]

Mitsuko gave a satisfied nod, figuring that doing it like this was the best for now. While the fox was busy with her body, she went to help with Jumi's legs, which were out of reach for her anyway. "Alright... We have a plan. And you're right, I'd never have been able to visit this place before... Lenneth however, well... Only Shinigami fought her and lived. I doubt she would have killed that girl, though. Whoever she is...", she said while thinking. Shinigami sighed, trying to focus on her task not to let herself be upset. "...She was lucky but for a pet sized human, she is quite strong. That spear of hers packs a punch. I doubt she defeated my mother, though. I would not want to be facing her scythe.", she said, half annoyed about it.

Mitsuko wondered, however. "Who is she, really? I mean, she showed quite a lot of power and even appeared to Jumi while she slept. She can't really be... Death, can she?", the valkyrie carefully asked. The fox would be the only one to know more if anyone and Shinigami saw no reason right now not to trust the two, not knowing that Umi might still be there to hear or not. "She names herself Death, in your language. Whether she is what she is or not, she did bring me to life. The relics I had were also her of her creations. What about it...?", she asked, not being sure about what Mitsuko had in mind. The school girl turned to the fairy, "...Could she simply be a magical girl? Maybe what she did was only magic.", she questioned.

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

The question of what Shinigami’s mother really was had been weighing on Jumi’s mind since they met in the dream.  Death seemed as good as answer as any, the woman did not seem easy to classify as anything she had previously encountered, and while she had next to no experience with gods, she was not sure that really worked as a description either.  She quietly listened as the other two talked but was thrown off guard by Mitsuko’s surprise question.

”I don’t know what she is, but I have a very hard time imaging she is one of us.  Especially if she was able to stand up to an apparent goddess one on one.  That is a power level unlike any Magical Girl I ever heard of.  Alexandrine is the strongest one I know of or heard of, but I can’t see her fighting gods successfully, especially by herself.  I would be a lot more worried about a goddess after us, though if another one is helping us, even just in the background and through that sword, I’m not too worried, as long as we are careful.”  Fighting actual gods was something out of the ordinary even for Magical Girls, Jumi could not think of another time she heard of it.  But while she was cautious, refused to be reckless, she was not really scared, convinced they could handle it.

[Warning]

Mitsuko remained calm while thinking about what she was told. "We don't know what happened between them, though. Lenneth has not come after us yet but we don't know if she really left us alone or not. About her powers, though... What she did to Shinigami was real but what if it was only magic?", she begged the question, in hope to get answers. The fox sighed, looking annoyed but decided to play along. "If you really want to know, I only know her as Death. She has many books you would not want to put your nose into, though. She called it forbidden knowledge and she needed souls to do whatever she was doing. When I woke up, I was in that basement...", she explained, revealing a little more details about herself.

Mitsuko blinked, looking at the two of them but only got more curious. "The one that was sealed...?", she asked, remembering that magical barrier. "Jumi... The manor, the books and the dark magic. A-also tentacles... What if we were wrong about her?", she queried quietly, leading to Shinigami making a sound of annoyance. "She never told me what she worked on. All I know of the manor was that it was my home... It also was hers.", the fox told the two while her hands slowed down only to let go of Jumi altogether. Mitsuko's jaw dropped a bit as she was starting to understand something. The real question that she had then was... What really happened there? Or what did Jumi really see while she was trapped in sleep?

Edited Tuesday at 07:56 AM by Warning

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

For all the years of experience Jumi had as a Magical Girl, the experience at Shinigami’s home was rather unique.  She was still not completely sure what happened, especially at the end.  “I’m not making any assumptions, but I never heard of a Magical Girl who wanted souls, not even the Broken Girls.  As much as you hear people talking about selling souls to demons, that doesn’t really happen in a literal sense as far as I know.  They might be able to corrupt your soul, but few if any keep them after death.  Invading dreams isn’t really a thing either, other than succubi and incubi, and she sure did not seem Ike a succubus.”  She was just rambling now, comparing her knowledge of things to her impression of Shinigami’s mother.

But was Mitsuko’s thoughts leading to something more specific?  Something she had not considered?  She was not sure.  “I don’t know what was in that library, though probably less appealing than the one here.  But what, are you getting some sort of new idea?”  Let Mitsuko’s mind wander, see where it was going, not distract it with more rambling.  That might be interesting.

[Warning]

Mitsuko listened, realizing she really didn't know much about magical girls. However, that still made her wonder if that was impossible. "Right... I guess that it really is not my place to say... Still. While Death may exist in mythology, it also does not exist in a literal sense. Although, I suppose demons from hell should not exist as well but Death just sounds over the top, you know? I think that magic doesn't have any limit but I don't think I can use animated shows as evidence. Shinigami said that the manor was also hers. You wanted to know who it belonged to. What if that was the answer to it? She also said that a beast was sealed in the basement but she also was brought to life there.", she said while the fox looked away, quiet.

For some reason, right now, a lot was coming together for her. She wouldn't pretend to know more than she did but some pieces of the puzzle started to make sense. A manor was large enough to hide a secret or two. "Jumi, I can't shake a bad feeling about this... What if we found something we were not supposed to? What if someone knew her?", she asked, wondering if maybe there was more to it. Then, she eyed Shinigami and paused before she finished washing her friend. "I'm sorry... I just thought that this may help us find something. I still trust Shinigami... But... I don't think it's over...", she commented before she went quiet. Shinigami, being behind Jumi, didn't say a word either, relaxing, looking to be in thoughts.

Edited 34 minutes ago by Warning

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Jumi had considered the possibility it was not over with from the start, wondering if ‘death’ really was done with her.  She was inclined to trust Shinigami on the subject, who knew more about her than anyone else.  But she was not going to ignore Mitsuko’s concerns.  “Well, I can’t say what is or isn’t impossible when it comes magic, power, whatever.  I can only speak from what I have seen and heard of.  Can only imagine it would take something truly special to get past a certain point.”  In theory, maybe there was no limit, but as far as Jumi could tell individuals had their own point they could not go past.

”I honestly don’t have a real good idea what was happening at the end there.  What I was seeing or  what I might have seen I could dig deeper.  It was not exactly a demon’s work, but did not feel very human either.  There are aliens out there too, can’t forget them, but it really did feel like that either.”  She was not sure if she was helping, but she was still figuring things out too.

Talk of the beast again, whatever that was.  Probably best they did not find out.  Maybe Mitsuko was getting close to figuring something out, but Jumi could only guess what it might be.  “The dream at least felt like something that should not have been found.  But we can’t take that back.  Best we can do is maybe see if there is something in the library here that would help.  Someone that knew her though, what did she ever have any guests?”  She shifted the question to Shinigami.  It was a big house, but Jumi would have been surprised it had people showing up other than Shinigami, her mother and whatever creature was locked up there.