Since other scene is being finished in email, I'll start description here. [Date: Later in the evening of Friday May 7, 2004 in Maine.] [Satoshi has called four friends, and talked to three, who displayed varying mixes of confidence, caution, and encouragement. All three wished they could be there with him, but there's an ocean seperating them and the only teleporter wasn't among the ones he called (not to mention the hosts of challenges intercontinental teleportation may bring in.] [The night are is cool and crisp. He can easily pick up any remaining sundries on the way there. The tower awaits.] [Start!] * @Satoshi has his duffel bag full o'stuff with him. He does make a stop to buy a couple of bottles of Gatorade. The Tower awaits. [The hilly street is largely empty, though a few store fronts are lit up and customers are visible milling about. The tower building itself is largely shut down for the night, but Satoshi has a key, so no matter there. * @Satoshi will stop once he gets to the building and send a quick e-mail to the group minus Taki that says, "Hey, I'm at the Tower, and I'm about to go in and start things. I'll let you guys know when I'm done." There. Now all that's left is to go in and start. [Once he's ready to enter, the key works fine and he's been adequately instructed on any security systems. Even with a light or two on, long shadows fall over the art deco interior of the lobby.] * @Satoshi takes a look around as he walks over to the elevator. It's kind of eerie, but he's feeling okay right now. [The elevator takes a moment to acknowledge the button press, but apparently was already in the lobby. The doors open.] * @Satoshi fights the urge to take a look around before he steps on. Forward. He's going forward. And downward/upward, depending on your perspective. [The journey is quiet, lobby is as he remembers it, undisturbed. A portion of the skyline of nighttime Bangor is visible through the window.] * @Satoshi is glad to see that nothing seems to have been disturbed. He glances out the window only briefly, to see the world turned upside down, before turning on his lantern and heading for the storage closet where the diagram awaits him. He may need to move some boxes off of it first. [So there are. But nothing that remotely challenges his strength.] * @Satoshi moves boxes! It's easy for him. He sets them down in the main lobby before going back to survey the diagram. [The diagram Wataru provided is a straightforward circle with evenly spaced candles.] * @Satoshi looks at the five candles on the outside, the five candles in the center, and pulls out his ruler. He gets to work moving the inside ones to the outside, and then trying his best to evenly space them. * @Satoshi lets himself slip into his best game mindset, when he's on the ice and everything is clear and he knows where to be and what to do. Trust your gut, Wataru said, and he's actually feeling it. Those candles are *perfectly* spaced, and when the time comes to pick up the chalk and complete the lines, the lines are straight. He steps back and looks at it and actually feels really good about this. He's going to go into it with what he thinks is probably the best layout possible. [All that remains is lighting the candles.] * @Satoshi pulls out the matches from the bag. He sets the lantern down outside the circle, and then steps inside. He starts with what he thinks is the northern candle. He doesn't really know if that's true or not, but it seems like the way to start. Carefully, he goes from candle to candle, switching matches as he needs to, making sure not to scuff any of the chalk lines. Finally, all ten candles are lit. He takes one last look at the circle, then very carefully sits down. This is it. It's happening. * @Satoshi takes a deep breath. <@Satoshi> I'm ready. [The lights flicker for a moment, losing focus. Tokyo's is in blotches with a bit of a fish-eye effect. Glancing from the painting to the actual subject, Tokyo's night sky is laid out before you from a different tower reversed.] [Your stripped seersucker suit is nicely complimented by a salmon scarf, if you say so yourself. The jacket and scarf aren't just for show, it's a little cool up here tonight.] [Every now and then, you think your paintbrush may have a bit of glow, might just be a reflection, and it seems the sort of thing that focusing too hard on might destroy. Also, it's a bit hard to focus, as the Emperor keeps pacing around the room, dragging his bag of salt. The sound of the elevator descending seems to have sped up his pace a bit.] [What do you do?] * @Satoshi looks away from his canvas for a moment, to the Emperor. It's important to keep focus, and this is distracting. He can't slip into the mindset that... things felt *right* a minute ago, didn't they? [The Emperor, who can't be more than twenty, has set down his bag briefly to flash a lantern down to his two confederates doing similar work on the ground at the World Reversed. He'd warned you that this isn't really the best night to be up here, but even the partial glyphs that you can see from your perch have been interesting. You can't make out much of anything about the two down there though, aside from the fact that one seems to have a shiny crown of some sort.] [You're not sure if an oxford shirt and slacks are de rigueur for rituals these days, though he wears them well. Also, to be honest, you've never quite had the courage to wear one of those tall shinto priest caps, so you can hardly blame anyone else for not doing the same. * @Satoshi ponders including the glyphs in the painting. They really are fascinating. But then he'd have to keep the finished work here. An upside- down Tokyo can be explained as all sorts of metaphors. The glyphs, not so much. Also, he questions everyone's fashion choices here, even if the shirt and slacks do look nice. [As the Emperor gets back, nearly finishing the pattern he's been working on, the doors open. A tall, green eyed and silver haired young man stands with a smug expression. He's got a lit cigerette in his right hand and shades on, inside. Nice jeans and a hip shirt, sure, but trying just a lot too hard. In another year, he'll probably have a trenchcoat or something. He calls out, "Please pardon my interruption," in formal Japanese.] [The elevator isn't directly visible from wear you sit, but his reflection shines in a few of the interior window.] * @Satoshi is beginning to wonder exactly what he has stumbled into. Still, art waits for no one, and this night felt important when he came here. He turns to look at the man, as ignoring him entirely would be rude. * Emperor keeps working, near done with the salt, "My answer hasn't changed. This generation will choose its own leaders, not bow before someone based on claims to raw power or right of rulership." His choice of words seems a little stilted, even for a button up guy. He's pointedly keeping his eyes on Sho but his words don't just seem for his benefit. These supposed virtues were handed to you on a platter. They'll not stand when a storm comes. * Sho snaps his fingers and there's a blinding flash of light followed almost immediately by a deafening crack. A lightning bolt has crashed through the floor of the lobby. The emperor yet stands, hair suddenly standing on end and there is a disturbing scent in the air.] * Emperor tosses the salt bag, "You're too late, Magician. We must finish this." And on that nonsequitar, the young man charges Sho, knocking him into the elevators whose doors close behind the two of them. * @Satoshi turns so that his back is not to the elevator, and tries to look out the window to see what the ones outside are doing. [They seem to have hurriedly finished things and are flashing a signal in some unknown code back up. The pattern is a little imprecise, but stand complete in the exterior. * @Satoshi thinks that staying inside the salt circle for now is the wisest move. Especially if it's two Majors fighting out there. But... they're sending a signal, and The Emperor isn't here to receive it. [The elevator can be heard descending and producing other sounds you can't clearly identify. The pattern up here stands not quite complete. The Magician appears to have chosen his timing well.] * @Satoshi looks at the pattern. How complex is it? He's an artist. He can surely finish a pattern. [Not that complex, as you go about doing that and study the pattern, would you care to read a sitch, Satoshi?] [There's a mix of Shinto and Western influences here, four sub- circles and a central one. As you finish it, the ritual salt grain begin to cast prismatic light, both in the lobby and in the corresponding outer city. You can also see where the Emperor had earlier made a mistake and corrected it, not in a naturalistic manner, but as if he were working from instructions. Your attentiveness also means that you are immediately able to identify the source of a horrifying sound as a figure is ejected from the elevator, only half-way down the tower.] * @Satoshi hopes that's the Magician. He's afraid that he's wrong about that, though. But at least the circle is finished. (Didn't he finish it already?) He stands his ground for now. He'll be safer here, and besides, the only way out is through that elevator. [Looking over, one of the figures beneath has rushed to that side of the building. Keeping your wits about you, you can see that person the ground is making some show of power, some platform of light, you can't tell much more than that because the building begins to shake, mightily. Glass shattered, piercing your painting. You're able to leap back in time, but the shaking isn't stopping.] * @Satoshi did not think that tonight was the night the world was going to end. Apparently, this just might be it. He looks around for something to shelter underneath. [He finds something, as light coils and flame up around the Tower which seems to be alternatingly destroying and remaking itself. Unfortunately, the cover from above does little good when the section you're standing on collapses, leaving your hurtling from the heights to towards the ground of the world reversed.] * @Satoshi can only let out an "oh" before he's falling, plummeting towards the ground below/above him, all sense of direction lost. He'd never really given much thought to his own mortality, but this was certainly not the way he'd expected to go. [Satoshi can feel some part of him especially troubled by these heights, but the immersion is shockingly complete. The fall is interrupted though, a pentale platform suddenly appears beneath you. It's not enough to hold your weight and gives way immediately, but is then replaced by another one a few meters below, and another, and another. Twisted and buffeted during the descent, you can see above the coils completing their ascent but the peak of the tower reversed engulfed in flames.] * @Satoshi feels his descent slow (good, dear lord, this is why he hates heights) and feels a sort of... satisfaction? He may just live through this, and he may have just managed to help save some part of the Tower. Could The Magician have really destroyed it? He doesn't know. He looks downward, trying to catch a glimpse of his savior(s). Obviously there's a Pentacle among them. [By the time you reach the ground you're slowed, but it's still a rough landing. There's a great deal of pain, a kid with long greasy hair, the source of the platform runs towards you as you pass in and out of consciousness.] * @Satoshi lifts his head. It's all he can manage to do, and barely even that. [Perhaps only a momnet later, perhaps longer, two people stand above you, the long haired pentacle, crying, and an adult woman in a patterned white kimono with a shiny crown decked with flowers. She speaks, "Someone must have talked. Did anyone come to you expressing fears, seeking comfort, just some sense that things might get better soon?" The young man hangs his head. "It's over. We've lost."] * @Satoshi squints at the woman. Is she addressing him? Who is she? [The woman silences her companion with a stare. She sits and lays out a tarot spread, and then another, and then another, dealing as if she had at some point been a croupier and has any number of decks up her long kimono sleeves. "It's over when you give up. Not before." On the fourth reading she almost growls at a confluence of cards and gathers them up in disgust. She then walks back to you. ["Lie back, I can restore your body to what it was a few minutes ago, but that won't help you if there's anything still embedded in it.] [And Satoshi, not Masaru but Satoshi, recognizes her, as Masaru again fades from consciousnes.] * @Satoshi says, almost in a whisper, "Mom?" [The ambulance screeches up to the curb, burning rubber, at the foot of the unreversed Tokyo Tower. The door slams open and you see a young woman in cream capris and a mauve faux-leather jacket step out, cursing floridly. She throws her two-tone shades on the driver's seat and rushes over to you, high heels clicking on the pavement, high red-gold ponytail whipping behind her. "Fuck," she says, seeing you. She shoots a glare to the woman in the white kimono. "What happened?"] * @Satoshi can barely focus. Oh good. An ambulance. This is... * Natsume speaks, "The Magician found out somehow and struck first. I lost the Emperor..." Their conversation is hard to focus on and you can only catch snippets, "trapped in liminal spaces" and then a little later "may be our only hope." [The woman's fists clench and unclench as Natsume speaks, lacquered nails digging into her palms. She looks at you again. "And what's with this kid?"] [You don't stay awake for the answer. When next you awake, the sound of the siren stirs you after haunting your waking dreams. The new arrival is driving the ambulance, the long haired pentacle sits up with her. There's yet another young man, with a bent nose, wearing a jersey, and despite an athletic build in an ashen-faced state of shock. He's not saying much as the older woman leans next to you. "Child, stay with me. All of our fates rest on you tonight.] [The new arrival looks somewhere between fourteen or fifteen, if you had to guess.] * @Satoshi wants to object that he's not a child, hasn't been for some while, but decides it is not wise to argue with his savior, particularly if fates - or Fate - is involved. But the boy looks familiar. He's not sure why. He doesn't like sports or violence. [The driver is steely-focused on getting them to their destination, and doesn't look happy about it. Her knuckles are white on the steering wheel of what has to be a stolen-ass ambulance.] * Natsume gives an explaination about the Magician. All rings true, though either she may not know that Sho is possessed or may not be sharing. Either way, his danger is well established at this point. "The cards say he can still be defeated, and," She lowers her voice, "This young man is part of that. The highest profile part. But he has not yet come into his power. So if you were the Magician and you had no scruples, what would do?" * @Satoshi looks at him. He looks so scared. (I'm trying to be brave.) "I... am afraid that... your life is in terrible danger." ["No shit, Sherlock," the driver contributes.] * @Satoshi frowns in the direction of the rude woman. Ouch. Even frowning hurts. He watches the boy to see how he reacts. [Past Satoshi looks over to Masaru as if seeing him for the first time. He nods, slowly.] <@Ardweden> [The greasy-haired Pentacle, who at this point you realize is about the same age as the broken-nosed, shell-shocked kid, is in the passenger seat. He's ignoring all of this as he cries, muttering to himself in words you can just barely make out. "He's dead, he's dead. I think I... I think... oh gods. He's dead."] You can help, Ace of Wands, yes? You don't need to kill, to fight, or even put your life on the line. But, if you are willing to share your card, we can stop this from repeating itself. * @Satoshi looks at the woman. "Share my... what? How does one share their card?" * Natsume lets out a long breadth. "Death. Proper name, not end of one run through the cycle. Masking one Arcana's traits or powers with anothers. In this case, all we need is a false identity. And, therafter to cover up any tracks. If no one knows, the cards won't show anyone as a lead." [The driver sighs in unconcealed exasperation. She leans into a sharp turn, the ambulance lurching. "Will you stop fucking blubbering?" She snaps at the Pentacle. "Jesus. Where do you find these people, Nat." She glances in the rear-view briefly, trying to catch the World's eye, but she seems occupied with the busted-up painter kid...] <@Satoshi> And what becomes of me? <@Satoshi> Do I remain the Ace of Wands? <@Ardweden> [The Pentacle lets out a shout at the sudden turn, clinging to the 'oh shit' handle (so properly named). "I'm sorry!" he cries, which is probably the opposite of what the driver wanted.] * Natsume glances back at Temperance, "Leave the child be. This was his first." * Natsume looks back to Masaru. "You will retain your identity. We'll be sure you retain a suggestion to be circumspect with your card, a good habit in any event.' [The driver's jaw clenches, but she leaves him be. She changes lanes, easing her way through the parting traffic at a red light. Ambulance for the win!] * The bent-nosed kid looks up. "You don't have to do this." * Natsume sighs, "I should disclose, I am rather biased in seeking to ensure this one's survival. But I keep my bargains." * @Satoshi looks at him. "And if I do not do this, what happens to you? No. I've witnessed enough today. I will help you." [There is more healing to be had, time slips by again. And there is now an elderly woman, thin eyebrows outlined via make up, carefully making her way into the back of the ambulance.] [The woman in the mauve jacket is now sitting with her back pressed against the wall, in the back of the parked vehicle, watching warily.] * Natsume formally greets her, apologizing for the late hour and suddenness of the call. "What we need is simple, you create a second apparent Ace of Wands. You forget what job you were called to do. But you leave this ambulance with another lifetime to enjoy." Aren't we polite? Spare me. Youth first and you've got a deal. Can you take me back before? * Natsume keeps her polite expression. "It's a risk. I'm curious to find out myself." You get the sense that this particular curiousity is not benign, "But in case aging before you stole your copy of that body causes you to vanish entirely, I'll need you to perform your job first." * @Satoshi is confused. Very, very confused. And smart enough to keep his mouth shut right now. It's a shame he'll never get to paint this scene. It's surreal. * Temperance is getting antsy. She looks between the people in this increasingly crowded ambulance. * Death grumbles. "Another time perhaps. Fine. Do it. Twenty two. One childhood is enough." [Past Satoshi watches agog as Natsume touches the woman and the years fall away. Wrinkles fade. A wig falls off as she stands taller. Hair goes white to grey to dark black, but remains short and patchy. Despite that, she is by any accounts a beautiful woman at the end of the process. And one clearly recognizable to present-Satoshi as Saki, a few years older, if such a thing were possible. Except her eyes do not hold the surface anger or the hidden compassion of the woman he knew.] I suppose it's at least familiar now. * @Satoshi gasps, then winces. <@Ardweden> [The Pentacle is openly staring. Well, that's a reasonable response.] * Death looks over to Masaru, "Well, I have no desire to spend time with any of you people. I suppose I should say something encouraging to you two, and all that. But pass. Join hands." * @Satoshi reaches his hand out to the boy. "Before we do this... may I ask who you are?" [A tiny crease appears between Temperance's groomed brows as she watches. Her eyes keep turning to Satoshi, and then away, as if she's trying not to look at him, and failing.] [But now all attention is on him, so she stares more openly.] * Past Satoshi, "Watanabe Satoshi. I don't know how to thank..." [As Satoshi speaks, Death waits for no man. She touches both of your heads and red lines of power form and connect you two. This wasn't what you expected, not at all.] [And the vision suddenly ends.] [The sound of the surf is what comes to you next, crashing on the shore not too far from where you balance on your board. The setting sun edges the approaching red-and-white Ford pickup in gold and turns the sand pink. The pickup parks above the beach; you see the driver's side door open and a familiar woman step out, but before you can acknowledge her, the wave you've been chasing swells beneath you, lifting you up...] [End!]