lapidarius | soulgemmed inbox

...If you give me her number, sure.

You're going in, right?

...yeah. As long as someone else is stupid enough to risk it, then I should be there too. Since I'm the one who pointed them in that direction to begin with.

[Taking out his notebook, he wrote down Sachiko's number and tore out the page to hand over to Pokey.]

Aside from the rest of these notes, I've told everyone as much as I know. So if I end up dying--or worse, shattering--at the very least I won't be taking anything vital with me on that front.

[Pokey reaches out and takes the number and, for a moment, just looks at it.]

...I can't.

I know I should. That if there's a chance, I should. But I can't go in.

[And he feels so torn between being a coward and like it's the right decision. And so much of him wants to fight the idea it's the right decision.]

I just. I keep thinking about how much the cost is if, if things go too bad in there and.

I'm sorry.

Don't.

[He folded his hands on the table, fingers neatly interlaced--that way, they wouldn't shake if he dared to try contemplating how bad this situation really was.]

You've done nothing you need to apologize for. In fact, you're doing the right thing--I need you handling things on ground level the best that you can. [He sounded as steady as a leader trying to delegate should have spoken. The only real giveaway as to how uncertain he felt was in the slightly spreading crystals in the house that reflected his own expectations and mental landscape.]

I trust you. And I trust you to keep your head screwed on well enough to deal with a losing situation as best you can.

[That shouldn't sting. The trust shouldn't sting. But in part it does. Part of him wells up, wanting to shout how he did screw up. At a point that was important, he let his anger get the best of him and one of those girls suffered because of it. Because of him. There is shit he has to apologize for.

But right now, at the moment, he'd have to hold on to it. Now wasn't the time to mention it. Hell. He didn't know if there'd ever be a time to mention it.

He just nods his head a little.]

...Right. I'll do what I can, if worst comes to worst.

...I was talking with Diarmuid a bit ago. I'm going to be honest. I'm pretty sure that the person that sent the kill order on Kagaku is Kyuubey.

...

[And apparently, that caught him so off guard that Kakyoin's entire trail of thought derailed and several wayward emeralds popped like bubbles, leaving nothing but a brief sparkle of dust behind.]

You what.

The way he communicated. It's like back in July when he was talking to us over the televisions.

Likely, he's not testing his luck after getting caught the last time. He probably sent what he could to us as covertly as he could to make sure the message got through.

I'm not saying it definitely is. Just that it fits how he talked to us before.

But...if it is him, then why-

[This didn't add up with what very, very little they knew of Kyuubey. What stake did he really have in all of this?]

It does make sense, looking at the method of communication itself. But I don't understand what he could have to gain here. It's not like he's helped us much before, save for that one time when we lost our memories.

...Unless...that was Yamashita's work, too? And for some reason, whatever she's doing is causing him trouble?

I don't know.

[He shakes his head a little.]

It'd help if we had a better idea how many parties are actually at play in pissing about with us. Far as I'm concerned, not much reason to think she wasn't responsible for that. And-

[He closes his eyes, thinking on something.]

...When I talked to him, I asked him if why he didn't tell us about witches. He told me that we weren't meant to fight them. That they weren't supposed to be here, and wasn't it better that we were fighting Nightmares.

He didn't say it explicitly, but thinking on that? I'm thinking he actively doesn't want this Witch crap going on. Here, at least.

[Kakyoin listened in silence, thinking carefully before forming a response. If Kyuubey didn't want Witches in Nyoi-cho, and Yamashita was working to create them, then-... Something occurred to him, and he flipped through his notebook again.]

'January- A batch of magi has appeared in town all of a sudden. Is Kyuubey hoping to reclaim this place?'

I think...I overestimated what Yamashita is responsible for here. The city's barrier and the Nightmares...those aren't her or anyone she's working with. If this theory holds and what you're saying is right, then all of that has been Kyuubey from the beginning.

The way magi and Soul Gems work within this barrier is completely different from the rules of the world outside of town, we know this for a fact. Witches don't--shouldn't form within its range, and barring the interference from that fake Witch's flood, I'm sure the Doll's never would have manifested at all.

We had already theorized this city was an experiment for some unknown purpose, but it's not Yamashita's. It's Kyuubey's.

Continue to work under the assumption that it was Kyuubey trying to contact us? Yeah. That'd make sense.

So looks like we are, for sure, caught in a battle between two groups. And at least we have a good idea who they are.

Gonna admit. Didn't see wanting to be on the cat's side coming when I started this.

You're telling me. I don't doubt for a second that he's miles from anything resembling benevolent, but if that goddamn cat is the lesser evil here...

[He trailed off, glancing down at his own handwriting.]

...I don't know what his goal is, but at this point I'd rather have a thousand Nightmares than even one Witch.

Amen to that.

I don't know if we're going to end this soon. But at least we have an idea on how to end part of it.

Yeah. I just don't know what else to do about it except for the worst idea imaginable.

Don't worry.

While you're working on the worst idea, I'll be up here. Keeping it real and helping the second worst along.

I know you will be. Thanks--I'm glad I can rely on you.

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