Shinigami's Manor. (Shinigami's Entry)

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Umi led the short way to the door, large, stone, covered in gems.  It had no handle or knob.  She put her hand on it, the gems glowed, and the door slid open as if it was light and easy to push.  She stepped inside let the others follow, numerous shelves with many rows of books stood in front of them.  Many sizes, most in elaborate covers, many showing their age.  Some were one of a kind.   It was a large enough collection to deserve to be called a library, far too much for a few people to read everything quickly.  “Take a look, see if anything sticks that you might want to know.  To help with the current problem, or anything else you might want to know.  I will look as well.”

Jumi was not completely surprised by Shinigami’s offer.  Was happy she was considered cute.  Of course she hoped to have another round of that experience, and honestly would be happy to let Mitsuko watch.  This sort of thing got her worked up, but that would have to wait for later.  For now she just followed into the library.  “Not my first time in here, but it has been a while, and I’ve only looked a little in the past.  No idea what we might be able to find.  Look for any titles that stand out.  They are reasonably well sorted.”  There was no catalogue or guide though.  Just labels on the shelves indicating various subjects.

[Warning]

Mitsuko entered the library first, being with Umi at the time. At the sight of the shelves, she gave an impressed look as she wondered how they were going to do this. "It's larger than the manor's library. I suppose we just need to find anything that may help us.". As Jumi and Shinigami joined them, she looked at the two. "Hmm, perhaps we could try and find anything we can about Lenneth. I know Nall also spoke of Althena... With who they are, they might be easy to find if it's here. For Shinigami or that girl, it might be harder.", she told them before she started going. Shinigami didn't seem to mind having to dig some books but she eyed Jumi. "I'll do what I can. If I see something, I'll tell you.", she said before she moved.

Mitsuko went by what labels she could find. A lot of the subjects were interesting but unless they wanted to be there for quite a while, it was best make better use of their time. She knew some mythology and folklore that she studied at her school but where to start first was still quite the question. Anything regarding gods would be a first good attempt, even if the gods involved were not any deities known by japanese cultures. How much information did this library have was yet to be found. Something regarding divinities attracted her attention to one shelf but now, the issue was to find if these would speak of the ones she looked for. "I'm going to be here for a while...", she said quietly before she started checking books.

Shinigami, on her side, was not exactly a good reader and so her experience with a library was pretty limited. She was a fox born to kill or at least fight. Besides, she barely knew of Lenneth so her only hope was to search about something related to herself or the girl claiming to be "Death" if anything of it even existed. Would humans even have written about that? With this amount of books, chances were she would find more nonsense that she didn't understand than a piece of information giving her answers. She was not going to complain anyway. Heading to the shelves then walking between them, she gave a look at the books and tried to see if anything picked her curiosity. Anything that may feel familiar or magical.

Edited June 12 by Warning

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

Jumi could only guess what they might find here.  She did not know how wide the selection of materials was, bough it was not a general library.  Demons, monsters, gods, Magical Girls/Knights things like that and she assumed history of Hikaru’s family/the temple, maybe a degree of the area in general.  She walked to one of the shelves and began walking down it, looking it over.

”Take your time.  Hopefully we can find something relatively quick, but it is a lot to check.”  She was hopeful they could find something today, head home before things were over, but they did have the option of the guest rooms, if more time was needed.  “Anything about ‘Death’, Lenneth, or just maybe helping Shinigami live among humans.  Can’t read the whole library, but if you just seem something that looks interesting, could probably take a bit to read it too.”  They were here for something important, but could probably relax a little, if necessary read a little of something else to break up the tediousness of checking,

[Warning]

Mitsuko heard Jumi from where she was, half busy looking at the books as well. "...It's not very easy. I am used to how a library functions but the books here are oddly sorted. What is the pattern...? And if a book about one of these existed, where would it be?", she asked while keeping her eyes on books. Where she was, there were some about names even she didn't know about but obviously, a book would not easily be titled Lenneth or Althena. Could a book about Valhalla even exist? At this point, Mitsuko wasn't sure what to believe anymore. The world of magic had shattered some beliefs that she had about what was real and not real. Secrets she may never have known about without becoming one of them.

Depending on how quiet the library was, an unpleasant sound may faintly be heard as they went around searching, sounding like quiet whispers mixed with dark energy vibes. The sound did well to make Shinigami's ear twitch but when she stopped to look around, the sound seemingly stopped. Jumi or Mitsuko may also have heard it. The fox thought it only was her imagination at first and kept walking to the other end of the shelf. The sound made itself heard again however as Shinigami moved but became a little more persistent. It was not loud enough to be clear and whatever it said was undefinable but the source was clear if they listened. A book closest to Jumi in range emitted a strange glow, marked as ጋቹልፕⶴ.

The name written from top to bottom would be symbols she saw in her dream, on the wall scriptures that depicted a godly form of sort. If she went closer to it, the whispers would feel stronger around it. Shinigami herself seemed bothered by the sound enough to be slowly attracted to the place but Mitsuko had stopped moving on her side but wasn't approaching yet. "Anyone hears this...? This can't be normal to this library, is it...? It gives me the creeps. Being alone here makes it so much worse...", she just said, looking around her nervously but not daring to move toward where the sound came from just yet. As much as she wanted to keep searching for books, the sound was a bit too distracting for her to do so.

Edited Monday at 03:19 AM by Warning

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“It is a very old library, sorted in our fashion, for good or bad.  In truth, even I do not know every book in here.”  Umi replied to the point on sorting, while trying to look in places she thought might be helpful.  She paused as she felt…something.  Something unwelcome?  She was not certain, but she was troubled by any power that could sneak into such a place.  She closed her eyes, concentrated, tried to figure it out.  But without luck so far.  She whispered prayers of exorcism, on the chance it was something demonic.  Better not to take the chance.  She would not be surprised if Hikaru noticed it and made his way over.

Jumi twitched at the sound.  Was this familiar?  Was it the same?  She was reminded of the whispering during the dream, but hoped it was not related.  She noticed the glow.  Wondered if she should move towards it.  Would the noise get worse or go away?  With some hesitation, she walked towards it.  “…There might be something here….”  She kept her eye on the book, in case the glowing faded, which seemed natural.  She did not believe any of these books were supposed to have glowing titles.  Though she was not thrilled about the implication.

[Warning]

The book did not seem to be affected by any counter prayers but seemed to react to who approached it. Shinigami herself saw her fur glow slightly unnaturally with the book. At this point, the whispers and dark magic energy didn't really stop if no one touched it. They didn't seem to speak anything clear, if they even spoke any language they knew. Mitsuko didn't like the sound but as she heard Jumi, she started coming around toward them. "Well, isn't that special...? A book left behind by her, maybe? Or did this appear here by magic? I don't believe in coincidences.", Shinigami said snarkily, staring a bit at it before she spoke again, "ጋቹልፕⶴ.", she said shortly, making the book shake slightly, its whispers quieting down.

Mitsuko arrived after, to notice what was happening. Shinigami's fur gave a faint glow that didn't mean anything as light. If anything, that was some of her dark magic that reacted to the book still glowing itself. If the book wanted them to find it somehow, this was equal to a neon sign. "...What is this doing here?", the valkyrie asked, confused about why this place would have a book reacting to the fox like it is. Unless Shinigami was right and some magic or witchcraft was at play. "Well, you found it, you touch it...", Shinigami then said to Jumi with a grin. Even if she didn't mean malice, her state right then was not inspiring confidence. Still, she looked curious. "I will do it if you don't want to, Jumi.", Mitsuko proposed.

Edited Wednesday at 03:34 PM by Warning

[SataiRolePlayingGuy]

“I heard something like this in the dream…I think…not sure if it is exactly the same.  That word, it was in the strange room too.”  Was that woman, Death, or whatever, involved in this?  Trying to show she still had some interest in claiming her or whatever?  Jumi did not know.  But it seemed more like this was her issue to deal with, she was not going to make Mitsuko deal with it.  “I don’t rule out coincidences, but this does not feel like one.  If it is connected, I should be the one to do it.”

Umi had moved closer, as Jumi spoke.  Neither of them were quite certain what to expect when the book was touched.  Ideally the sound outs just go away and they would be given a chance to read.  But Jumi prepared herself for any surprises as she reached over and touched the book, and if nothing unexpected happened, would pull it out.

[Warning]

The book didn't exactly react upon being touched alone nor did it feel like anything but a book. Mitsuko still kept her eyes open, ready to do anything if something happened. Shinigami however did not seem to know what to expect, looking as curious as she was herself. Most likely, she had no idea what the book was about or if she did, she certainly hid it well. Only once the book was finally pulled out of its shelf, did it suddenly react and open with the pages flipping fast. Once it stopped, a drawing appeared on the pages that the book stopped on. The drawing was almost the same as the one Jumi would have seen on the wall in her "dream", a creature floating with the title "ጋቹልፕⶴ" written above the drawing.

This time however, the shape took a more definite form, resembling like a tribal drawing of Shinigami with her fluffy tail. Three objects were drawn around her shape, showing the three relics that she once had discarded back at the manor. Finally, words that first were in her language appeared nearby the drawing, magically translating for Jumi: "Three relics of death, bound by forgotten rite, did quicken the unborn goddess, she who bringeth end and silence. Only one marked by the shadowed art may wield the rite, and awaken that which slumbereth beyond death. Should the relics be unmade, the goddess of death shall not perish, but walk as mortal, bound to sorrow and breath.", the writing then finished.

Shinigami only blinked as she tried to read the converted magic words. Mitsuko seemed to grasp some of it, silently opening her mouth in awe or shock. Whatever this meant for the fox, she was not sure if it was good or bad. Soon afterwards, the magic faded to leave the book blank but also Shinigami's fur back to normal. "...Does this mean what I think it means?", Mitsuko then asked Jumi, her eyes unable to not look at Shinigami a little. The fox's gaze met with Mitsuko's for a moment then turned to Jumi before she sighed, "Will one of you give me an explanation or will I have to bite one of you to get it?", she then asked in a playful manner, as she looked lost since she couldn't read the words that they saw.

Edited 4 hours ago by Warning