IZOU'S PALACE

[goei]

KYOTO BAKUMATSU PALACE
You find yourself in historical Kyoto at night. The city is shadowy and beautiful, elegant but hostile. It's a sophisticated city, but you don't belong there and it knows it. Everyone knows it. You are being watched.

Worst of all, a terrible demon haunts the streets of this powerful capital city.

Eli Walsh, Kirumi Tojo, Still Sunrise, Argenti, Yi Sang, Celeste, Mafuyu Asahina, and McGillis Fareed, do you dare journey into hell?

 

♪♪♪

Comments

FINAL RESULTS

[goei]

[As Celeste slams Shadow Izou to the floor with Admit One, he yelps in pain before once again sinking into the shadows.

However, once he does, All the doors slam open as the hot rooms cool to room temperature, and in the main room the torches have gone out, leaving the room cold, some corners even icing over with frost as all the fires and heat seep away.

In the center of the room, Shadow Izou is curled on the ground, pitiful and weeping. The straw hat and mask are gone, revealing his face and a faint scar encircling his neck. In a voice that is pitful and soft and yet echoes loud enough for everyone to hear where he is;]

Why I wasn't good enough? I tried my best… what'd I do wrong? Takechi sensei… Ryouma… Why'd you leave me behind? Why?

[It is up to you to decide how to defeat Shadow Izou: Demon of Kyoto.]

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Welp, the boys no longer have to plan when the door slams open on its own accord. Eli hears crying. Crying? ]

...aw no, is that him again?

[ Yeah, that's familiar crying. That's Izou crying and whimpering away. Eli turns about face and exits the Crushing Hell room to take a look. ]

Aw, geez, did he really have to start crying? [ That's muttered mostly to himself as he leaves the door behind to approach. ] C'mon, mate, those two are long gone, and you're still here. You can't hang onto what they did.

[goei]

[LISTEN THAT WAS ONE OTHER TIME DONT ASSIGN HIM CRYING AND WHIMPERING.]

I wanted ta just be mad at them forever. Ta hate 'em for it. But Ryouma won't even let me. Soon as we got summoned together he said he deserved it and I could hit 'im if I wanted.

What else do I got ta hang onto? Huh?

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Summoned toget... oh, yeah. He's some spirit thingy. ]

Was that all he said, or did he apologize? 'cause you died for their cause. That's the least he could do. I really hope you socked him good, too. I don't care if he's your pal; even friends need to have their heads knocked about sometimes, you know?

Re: FINAL RESULTS

[beathollow]

...

( she's not sure she has the right to anything. but...

he's hurting. it's obvious now, but even before then, when she'd lashed out towards his own arrogance (his own self-harm) she's known.

after a moment, mafuyu crouches beside him. )

It's lonely. Fighting against the perception of others who refuse to change, and not being able to meet your own goals... isn't it?

[goei]

[Izou tenses up when Mafuyu crouches, but when she doesn't reach out for him, he doesn't lash out.]

I don't even got any goals. I jus' did what I was told.

[beathollow]

... Thats how I've been living, too. And I'm not... happy, like that. I don't think you were, either.

We can't change the past. But we can change how we continue to live, can't we? And... you're still here, despite everything. You can change that, even if it's just... something small.

[vogelfrei]

[ Well. That is... anticlimactic. McGillis feels kind of deflated as he steps back into the main room to get a good look at Izou - the thing that is part of Izou, the crying adult child.

You just weren't strong enough part of him wants to say, but that's not going to be helpful and he knows it.

Instead, let's try for this. ]

What was the use of waiting for their approval? If you want something, you'll have to admit it openly and carve the path to it yourself. Obediently listening to what others demand of you is only going to hold you back.

[goei]

... All I wanted was to be useful. I wanted to help. I never understood all the complicated stuff they were talkin' about with the revolution.

[He curls up even tighter.]

You don't gotta tell me I'm pathetic 'cause I already know.

[vogelfrei]

[ It is genuinely pathetic. Izou won't hear any disagreement from McGillis here. The self-pity almost makes him feel sick.

But everything the others are saying gets to him a little because he was the person to do all this to someone else before. And he knows what that man did about it.

He died at his hands after all. He died trying to wipe his tears away. And as such, being the man who betrayed a friend and the man who still died looking at him like he's the sun in the sky-- He has some idea of this situation, of what Izou can be. He thinks. ]

And what do you want now? Do you want to forget about the people you once chased after, or do you want to chase even harder, until they have no choice but to look at you with the eyes they've been averting all this time?

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti immediately changes his stance to a non-battle one...he is not going to attack his dear friend like this. ]

...You did the best that you could have done. I firmly believe this.

I consider their own actions abominable in the end, no matter their achievements, and though I understand that they were important to you as well, they should have cherished you like you did them.

[ At least, that's his point of view. ]

That they didn't was no awful reflection on you - rather, it was an indication of their inability to appreciate the hard-working good friend they had in their midst, among other things.

[vogelfrei]

[ taking mild poison damage in the background ]

[goei]

It ain't that black and white, Red! We were changin' the country! Ryouma was real important for all of that. There wasn't anything he could've done ta help me when I got arrested.

It's easier ta try an' be angry. He even said I should be! Gave me a free hit on'im when we got summoned. But he didn't betray me! He didn't have a damn choice.

It didn't help. I don't wanna kill my friend. I knew all that! But I still- I still!
[He doesn't know how to feel. And that makes him sad and angry and confused!!]

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti closes his eyes. It isn't like he doesn't understand, because he does, in different ways.

...Of course he would know killing friends was difficult. Not because of it being common knowledge that it'd be that way for others. But, in a way, he supposes it means he should have some insight into Ryouma's perspective. Not because of having to change a country or something like that - rather due to differing circumstances...

At the same time, though, he hates it.

...He doesn't bother lying to him. So he tells him straight out. ]

I don't believe I have to like what he did, even so. Though, I will admit that matters do seem complicated. That there were factors contributing to all of this that may have it all muddled.

...Even so, you were belittling yourself all the while, Izou. I understand your feelings are complicated on the matter, but perhaps what I wish to have you know - to realize - that I cannot believe that any of what happened was due to you not being enough.

A man like you deserves more than that, at the least. Even from yourself.

Even if what happened hurt. I believe you are worthy of respect - of camaraderie, and that will never change.

[kandata]

[Kirumi arrives a tad later than the rest, because she has to take the time to heal herself. Once she's not so hurt, she comes closer, seeing Shadow Izou there]

You are being too harsh on yourself. You yourself know Ryouma was never disappointed in you. You did well.

[True, that other shadow didn't really have much kind stuff to say, but Ryouma did!]

[goei]

[That just makes him cry more, sorry. He is feeling shrimp emotions.]

... Yer just sayin' that. You dunno for sure if I was any good.

[kandata]

I may not know if what you did was as good as you or others might have hoped for, but it is never as bad as you think it is. One's head and heart have a way of making this sort of matter be bigger than it actually is.

[Not that they're baseless feelings, really, but one's perception can exaggerate them, sometimes]

[cirquedesang]

[Ah. Some part of him is glad that the beating doesn't have to continue, that Izou is... starting to come back to himself.

Even if he has to rip his heart open and be painfully honest, first.

The doors to hell are open, and now it's time to ensure Izou doesn't slam the doors to his heart shut.

So he steps over to Izou carefully and kneels on the floor next to him, trails fingertips feather-light over the scar around his neck until he can cup his chin in his hands and make Izou look up at all of them.]

They didn't deserve you, Izou. You don't have to force yourself to move on, if it is not in your heart to do so, but have pride in your loyalty and stand tall.

[goei]

[Izou flinches away from the touch, though he does keep his head turned up... for now.]

I don't care about who do or don't deserve shit. I followed them 'cause I wanted to.

[cirquedesang]

[And for now, he'll stay present, let there be ease of contact whenever Izou relaxes enough to no longer flinch away, let it look like an accident, if that's all his pride will allow.]

Good.

[There's resolve in that statement. It's something to build on, to stand on, if Izou can find the strength to do so - and something in the present to pull himself up by.]

And what is it you want now? Right now, in this second. Don't try to think about your answer - you've said you're not good at thinking, anyway, and I'm not entirely sure I believe that, but... thinking is pulling you down, right now.

[Izou might not be an intellectual, but that didn't mean he was incapable of becoming lost in his thoughts - especially thoughts as dark as he'd been allowing himself to wallow in.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ For a moment, Sunrise finds herself reaching up to touch her neck without even thinking about it, and when she realises what she's doing she lowers her hand. She sets her rifle down on the floor, and then approaches. ]

...You have a lot of regrets, Mr. Izou. [ Which is perhaps stating the obvious, but she feels the need to say it still. ]

[goei]

No shit.

[He sniffs, but all of the discussions have at least given him a small modicum of composure.]

It sucks.

[cleansewithfire]

It is an affliction of living. [ She says this plainly, like it's a fact. ]

...I do not think that whether or not you were "enough" would have changed what happened. [ Because even Izou seems to understand on some level that Ryouma wasn't (still isn't?) disappointed in him. Sunrise also instinctively grasps how that can throw a heart into further turmoil, too. ] And...I know some regrets cannot ever be resolved. But would you still wish to try?

[idealitas]

[ Hell follow the rest when he hears and sees the open door. Oh. This is rather unexpected.

But... this is also constructed from the depths of Izou's psyche. Yi Sang approaches with a soft voice with sympathy. ]

It's clear from this place that it matters very much how people saw you during these times.

Please... Izou. Unchain your heart from the regrets of your past. I am sure you can move forward and find your own worth, apart from the expectations you could not meet.

[goei]

Yeah? What th'hell makes you so sure I can? After I managed ta make this whole nonsense place from how much I fucked up.