Dearly Departed

"You need to be faster! Your enemies won't let you have all the time in the world to hit them." Kaori coached as the clearly tired, young girl looked at her with fatigued eyes. Up till now she was training to use her psychic abilities for simple things like lifting plates and five kilogram weights, and focusing almost exclusively on it. The reason she'd gone haywire and killed her guild was that her mind wasn't strong enough to counter her magic, and a single drop of darkness was all it took to make her lose control. While she was training her mind and getting more control over her emotions, her body was always static to allow her more time to focus. Now that she was beginning to practice controlling magic, she was finding out that it wasn't just 'pool up some mana and fire it randomly' but rather it involved a great deal of physical ability that she was no longer accustom to. Much to her fortune however, a loud scream from outside the guild hall had interrupted the practice session. "Dammit, can't people go a single day without screaming bloody murder!?" Kaori exclaimed out of annoyance. The guild was still in the transition phase since they acquired a new territory, and people in Hargeon still wanted to be unruly asses to each other. Kaori looked at Lillith, who looked like she needed a nap anyways and let out a sigh. "That's enough for now Lil. Why don't you go take a rest and we'll continue later on." to which Lillith replied by going to Ikuchi and having him carry her.

The sound had come from outside the guild hall, though, Kaori knew not how far. The answer had came as she arrived at the main entrance where Hebisha was wrapped around a cloud of steam that Kaori could only guess was their eccentric new guild member, Lirix. She approached, vanishing and reappearing inside the steaming ring just after Hebisha had asked what was wrong. While Lirix had turned to steam, he was still a being with a tie to destiny who had his own fate. He had a past, a present, and a future- one of which Kaori could read like a book. Kaori's ruby eyes glowed bright violet as she read his past, she also projected what she saw onto the outside world so Hebisha and Lirix could see as well. She went back far enough for him to scream just before getting the letter, and then was able to read it for herself by seeing it through his eyes. Her eyes then ceased glowing, the projection faded and Kaori looked towards the young boy. "If your friend is dying we can still help him. I have a ship we can use to get to the Cursed Lands, but from there we'll be on foot. My crew's safety is my top priority, so that's as far as I'm letting them go. The alternative is taking a train to the nearest town and walking from there, or walking from here... either way it'll take a while." If Lirix took the option of using Kaori's ship, Kaori would tell them that she's parked at bay P-42 and then she would vanish from sight. The ship would have plenty of room for Hebisha on the deck if she wanted to come along, but Kaori would go with whichever option Lirix and Hebisha decided on.

Kaori was in the helm performing the systems check with Salty, the helmsman, to speed up the take off process. She saw the boy running across the marina and flinched when he slammed into the hull of the ship. The hull that he hit was made of metal so it was unlikely to be damaged, but undoubtedly Lirix would be feeling that hit later on. He recovered quickly enough and ran onto the ship, shouting and screaming frantically. At this point Kaori had gotten used to him being eccentric and expected that sort of behavior from him. She hadn't spent much time around the boy, but she'd seen enough to know what he'll most likely do next. "Thrusters online." Kaori said and flipped a switch and the lacrima in the ballast that kept the ship afloat began screaming like jet engines, making the ship lift into the sky. "Sails online." Kaori said, flipping another switch and causing the two massive sails at the back of the ship to open up, catching the breeze and moving forward. "Take off successful, ship's yours." she said to the old man at the wheel before backing away from the controls. Kaori looked at the deck on say the boy curled up against the railing with Hebisha towering over him. Hebisha grew up in the wilds, running from humans and everything else that tried to kill her- mostly humans. Kaori was probably one of the first people she met who didn't have any fear of her even after seeing her lower... three-quarters. Kaori didn't see an expression on her face but she knew that Hebisha would be scolding the boy for being in despair. While she was used to death, being the main cause of it most the time, Kaori knew what it was like for westerners to be faced with it. There is no honor in death to them, only pain.

Kaori vanished and appeared near Hebisha and Lirix, not bothering to try and comfort him. Instead, she looked at Lirix with firm eyes. "Lirix Marano." she said in a sharp tone that sounded more like a mother addressing a son who was in deep shit. "Look me in the eyes." she commanded, glaring down at him. "This is the world you live in. It's harsh, unforgiving, and very unfair. You've got a chance at saving your friend, but you're taking the time to cry instead of planning what you'll do." Kaori then kneeled down, getting on his level and softening her expression. She spoke in a gentler tone saying "We'll be at the edge of the Cursed Lands in twenty minutes. I'm sure your friend would rather you show up looking like a badass instead of a teary, dripping mess." Kaori then stood up and looked out across the sky expanding before them. "I'm going to tell you how to win in this world... Keep fighting, even when you've lost." Kaori then walking away, saying she was going to the armory to get a few things. The ship's speed began picking up, but the winds on deck didn't change much at all. None of the rooms on the lower decks were prepared for guests, since their departure was on such short notice. Since the trip was only twenty minutes or so, they wouldn't really need them anyways and there being no clouds it was a nice day to stay outside anyways. Kaori however needed to get her equipment and other 'assets' in order in case things got a little too wild.

Kaori was in the hull of Recon One surrounded by weapons and armor that ranged from the primal swords, bows, and spears to the highly advised rifles, snipers, and mountable guns. She was standing over a circular table that had a light shining through it onto a convex glass to display the world below it. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, letting her mind connect with the celestial spirit world. The room went completely dark for her and when the color returned she was standing in the middle of her ten spirits, Charlotte, Jediniah, Captain Scarlet, Mammoth, Captain Iron Fist, Ira, Query, Izanami, the ninja named Ninja, and Angra Mainyu. Kaori pinched the bridge of her nose while letting out a groan, the toll the situation was taking on her being fairly high. "You know it's probably too late, right?" Scarlet commented. "That kid's already given up hope, little shit's probably going there just to make sure his buddy is buried properly." Izanami added while crossing her arms over his chest and taking a more relaxed position. Charlotte raised her hand before speaking with a soft tone, asking "I-if I may speak... Ummm... this affliction seems to be similar to Mister Jediniah's in nature. Uhmm... n-not t-to sound rude." "Nah, it's good." Jed replied, knowing that Charlotte didn't mean to offend him by calling his zombified state an affliction.

Kaori looked at the zombie pirate and spoke up. "Come to think of it, you never did tell us much about your... condition. Is this actually the same? If so, then wouldn't his friend remain sentient after turning?" Jediniah leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "They're not the same. This..." he lifted a patch of skin that released a sickening sound from being pulled right off the meat and then put the patch of rotten skin down "...this wasn't the result of some hellscape curse. I made a contract with a demon. Turned me into a right powerful pirate with a crew that couldn't be killed my any mortal man. In exchange we were damned to be caught between life and death, our bodies a corpse but our souls still attached. The flesh rots and we suffered the punishment of having to smell ourselves daily. Once that lad turns, if he hasn't already, he'll be a mindless corpse. Best let his pal be the killer, give the kid some closure." "Deal with the devil... guess it wasn't the kind you wanted." Scarlet said in a somewhat sassy tone. "Aye." Jediniah replied. "Kaori found you in that cell alone. What happened to your crew?" Aquarius asked, setting the issue at hand aside for the moment. "Made another deal with a different demon. Got them all turned normal again, died a long time ago from old age or pirate stuff. Demon made me stay this way, it was a fair price to pay." "No worries Jed. Your new crew's gonna be alive for a while, and there's no demon involved this time." Kaori said and looked at Query. "Any chance you could fix this one?" Kaori asked. The spirit was more powerful than any of her other ones, able to warp reality itself. "If Darren is dead when we arrive I won't, but if he's still alive I will." Kaori nodded, saying that was fair enough.

The mind space shuddered, letting Kaori know that they arrived and it was time to get going. Kaori walked over to the wall and grabbed an assault rifle from the wall, an item known as a "Bullpup Multirole Combat Rifle" or BMCR for short. She also took a katana and placed it on her left, just in case things got too hairy. The rifle was a semi automatic, using 5.56 piercing rounds with a combination reflex-ACOG sight on it and topped off with an extended clip and suppressor- perfect for zombie fighting. Kaori highly doubted that she'd need the extra rounds, but that didn't stop her from grabbing three extra magazines from a nearby shelf and stuffing them in her satchel. Kaori would be holding the rifle at port arms while exiting the ship since she knew that Salty wouldn't land in the middle of a hot zone unless Kaori ordered him to, which almost never happened. It wasn't long after the three entered the forests of the Cursed Lands that they came across enemies, ones that were particularly weak at that. Lirix had turned into mist almost immediately, something that obscured Kaori's line of sight quite a bit and made it so she couldn't see the ghouls that were approaching. Luckily, Hebisha had used her tail to take care of them, leaving only the ghosts.

The ghosts were much easier for Kaori to deal with since ghosts had emotions that zombies didn't, and Kaori could feel those emotions. Kaori used her magic to imbue the rounds in the magazine and the one in the barrel with holy fire magic, each being the equivalent of an incendiary round and being extremely destructive to the ghosts. Kaori tracked the first one and ended it before doing the same to the second and third. Kaori was having a hard time with seeing and it made her uncomfortable since the last time she was here she ended up fighting a zombie dragon, and she'd much rather avoid doing that a second time. Her body took on a white glow as her Atronach ability was activated, absorbing Lirix's spell and putting an end to the bothersome effect while also restoring a very small amount of magic power. "Sorry for doing that Liri, but it was a bit difficult for me to see." Kaori would say after the action, her tone being fairly calm. Kaori's iLac buzzed in her satchel and she pulled it out to read the message she'd just received. She then looked at Hebisha and then Lirix and announced "It seems we're quite close to that shack your friend's hiding out in. There was a heat signature inside, but it was weaker than it should've been. I advise moving quickly before his condition gets worse."

A shadow was cast over Kaori's eyes as she saw Lirix begin turning to steam. The knowledge of his friend being relatively close wasn't enough to make him move, it had made him so terrified that he became even more useless. Kaori had seen this once before and it was sickening... Kaori was born into a clan where you got used to killing someone or you got used to being dead. You either learned to fight or you learned to get your ass beat every single day. Kaori was slaughtering entire fields of enemies when she was half this boy's age, and he had the audacity to show the same weakness that she had never once had... Lirix would quickly regret this decision. Hebisha had slithered off, deciding to continue with the task at hand, something that showed that she was far more merciful than Kaori. For Kaori, the face that Lirix didn't move his ass meant that his friend wasn't worth saving, which means that he had just wasted Kaori's time, the time of her entire ship, and the time of a certain benevolent lamia... "Unforgivable..." Kaori said in a low tone, her ruby eyes beginning to glow slightly.

Kaori raised her hand with a shuriken inside it and supercharged the item to give it an extremely high electrical voltage, similar to a lightning bolt but on a lesser, less deadly scale. While water didn't conduct electricity in its purest form, Lirix had absorbed sea water earlier which was full of salt, which made it so it would easily conduct electricity and send every last volt through his body regardless of the mist form. "Stop your fucking bellyaching right now!" Kaori would shout, the level of annoyance in her voice equalling anger at this absurd child's lack of balls. She would be keeping the shuriken in Lirix's cloud until he decided to calm himself down and materialize. The pain caused by Kaori being hit by it was of little concern to the ninja. Kaori was more than strong enough to take her own attack, she'd been hit much harder and by much more dangerous things than this.

If Lirix materialized, Kaori would glare at him and say "You've insulted me more than enough times today Lirix Marano! You're spinelessness is an insult to the time and resources that I've already used on you, as well as the time that Hebisha has spent. You're given a Wizard Saint, a ship, and a guild mate to help you- yet you cry like an infant. You're told that your friend is still alive, and reasonably close by- but you don't begin moving, you stay your ass right there. I will not have my time wasted. Your age is of little concern to me, I've been slaughtering people three times my age in droves, when I was half yours! You have two options... Get the fuck moving, or stop wasting my time." Her tone was harsh, condescending, and highly pissed off at Lirix. Kaori no longer cared for his feelings, she had no time for raising children that were already grown to be infants.

If Lirix didn't materialize, OR if he stayed in his mist form for whatever reason, Kaori would turn her back and say "Your friend will die, and it's entirely your fault." before walking away. She would be walking in the opposite direction, leaving the Cursed Lands entirely and getting on her ship. Hebisha's desire to help him, even if he was being spineless, meant that she would have to arrange her own transportation back. Either way, if Lirix refused to push on and be a man, Kaori had nothing more to say to him.