[02] [open] nemesis identified

[usarinpa]

Who: Mizuki and YOU [open]
Where: The wilderness, a ways from Aldrip in an out-of-the-way little cave (Not Lorentia)
What: In which Mizuki finds out she's been alone all along.
Warnings: Spoilers for AI, IDK—will add if any become relevant.

[ There are thin tire tracks starting at the inn that head out and away from Aldrip today. Curious, isn't it? Were they there before? Have you even seen a motorbike here in Aldrip since you woke up here?

If you're keen to find out, you will follow a trail that is just long enough to make you wonder whether you should turn back. Keep with it, however, and you will find yourself at a small cave nestled in the mountains, the opening of which is surrounded by trees. ]


👁️ i. He was the Universe

[ Perhaps you'll see the bike first. It sticks out like a sore thumb. But walk a little further and inside the cave, there's Mizuki, asleep on the cave's dirt floor.

Her hair is messy with sleep. There is a hair piece that sticks out against her cyan locks, standing out almost as much as her bike does in the wilderness. In her hand is an empty, decorated box with a note attached that wouldn't look out of place in a trash can, as it is. Meager remnants of the few good things that have happened to her here, now that she can't go back.

A subtle, unpleasant odor lingers in the air, reminiscent of a wet dog or wild animal that's no longer there. Somewhere beside her sits her pipe, and at her waist, there is her holstered Evolver. ]

👁️ ii. Ought to Know

[ Alternatively, the trail is still going. Eventually, footprints start to appear in the dirt next to the tire track, suggesting that Mizuki has started walking. Catch up to her, you'll find that her back is to you and she is dragging her bike alongside her.

Why? ...Well, technology continues to be fickle, apparently.

Watch her for long enough and you'll see her stop and try to start it again. Instead, there's that all too familiar, insufferable buzz that makes her cover her ears. Her mouth opens, like she's groaning, but the noise that escapes, if there had been any, is easily swallowed up by the rustling of leaves and the buzzing of insects.

Once that passes, she can be seen pulling out a piece of parchment from her pocket—a map. ]

▶ ooc/wildcard

[ Due to trauma, Mizuki will be aphonic/unable to speak temporarily! Sorry about that. She will still be writing things in the dirt or on the back of her map, probably, and if I feel it's appropriate, I may give her back her voice midthread.

Enjoy the introduction of her shiny new bike, and please feel free to reach out via PM, on the Discord, or yammdere for plotting/ideas! Thank you! ]

Comments

[twelfthsong]

[ All of it, how her mother may not really be her "mother", the lack of love that his woman with a missing eye felt towards Mizuki, and the infamous "him" again ring through his mind. None of those things are what he focuses on however. He cannot solve an answer to leaving here yet, nor can make up for a mother's love, but he can at least focus on what he sees in front of him.

His eyes spot her shaking hands and there's another nudge of her emotions towards the calming sort. Tugging and morphing the emotions of others isn't something he tends to do on principle. It feels underhanded, a little icky to use one of the words that he'd heard Clara's students use, and frankly he doesn't care for it. But here he knows it's a suggestion meant to do more good than any ill intent or harm. ]

Do you want to talk about what happened?

[usarinpa]

[ "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

The voices echo in her head. First, it's the voice of a woman, soft and gentle in nature, and then it's the voice of a man. Ironically, he appears identical to the sinner, though the Doctor may or may not make that connection yet. He is rough around the edges, always tried to appear softer than he really was, which she never liked.

But somehow, he became family. ]

No. [ ...A beat. She winces. ] Yes. I don't know.

[ Luckily for the Doctor, she doesn't have to talk about it. He will get it in bits and pieces, like an old black and white film that plays in his mind, punctuated with static. It is muted, because perhaps she's chosen to black out all of his awful taunts, but he is clearly sneering. They are both engaged in some sort of confrontation. The very bike she is lugging appears as a backdrop, and on the ground, there are the remains of a vase shattered amongst wilted flowers.

And speaking of backdrops, the Doctor may recognize the location as Aldrip's inn. ]

[twelfthsong]

[ His brain has always been great at puzzles. Normally he relishes in them, but there isn't the same joy here that he would usually take in putting something like this together.

The black and white montage is quickly fitted together in his head. He hasn't seen the man that she's fought with in Aldrip, but he knows the inn well enough having spent more than enough in between time there. The shadowy figure behind her fear and anger suddenly had a face. It wasn't a Aldrip native but that seemed rather unlikely to him since not a hair or a feather seemed ruffled and out of place.

To say what he sees is concerning feels like a little bit of an understatement, something sour growing in the pit of his stomach. ]

The man I saw is someone you know from home, I suppose. But it feels like he wasn't like this before your arrived.

[usarinpa]

[ Before she arrived?

Mizuki doesn't know what he means by that. She perks up with curiousity, and she thinks of asking, but instead, she just grits her teeth. There's another brief scene where Mizuki can be seen, playfully offering a bouquet to him while wearing that accursed blue scarf before everything shatters like glass on a TV screen. ]

That's because he's not who he says he is.

[twelfthsong]

So he lied to you. Why?

[ Sometimes his bed side manner completely flies out the window. But there's pressing matters here and Mizuki, while she's still not speaking, is at least here and safe with him. ]

[usarinpa]

[ Because he's a shitty person.

Because something is literally wrong with him.

The Doctor is free to pick his poison. Mizuki herself can't really say for certain, and she certainly can't speak for Saito Sejima. Maybe she doesn't even want to know why—what does it matter? ]

To push my buttons, put me back in a bad place.

[twelfthsong]

Language.

[ The chide is nothing more than a reflex at this point. He doesn't quite mean anything by it and understandably, she isn't in a good place mentally.

There's another moment of silence before he speaks again. ]

I don't have the full details, but it's probably worth noting that if you came from a bad place you arrived at a better one. He doesn't have that power over you. You do.

[usarinpa]

[ 'Language'? Is he really gonna try to scold her right now...?

He's not her real dad, and if he was, he'd probably up and leave, too. Maybe that'd be good for him. She tries not to think about that, however, and everything he sees from Mizuki's mind will be washed in a red tint. Red like blood, red like anger. ]

I know. [ Frustration mounts. She tightens her fist. ] I know I do... But I don't really know if things are better here.

It's been weeks, and I still don't know how to get home. Home, where he's dead. Where he can't hurt anyone ever again.