[You go... uh, somewhere?] * Asanjya is in her room, surrounded by her books. She looks even more perturbed, and her hair is twitching madly. * Chie knocks on the door to her room. "Asanjya? Can I come in, or do you wanna be alone?" As you will. That's *not* a real answer. Look, if there's something I can help you out with, I'd be glad to, but you gotta give me details. This Lucifer thing's got me more bothered than Asahara. * Chomei nods. "Rightfully so too, in my opinon." * Chie blinks and looks over her shoulder. "Hey, when did you get here?" * Asanjya says "Ten days" through the door. Ten days? Right after you. Wait, ten days? Ten days from the sixth. The sixteenth. Are you coming in or not? * Chie opens the door. "Yeah, that was getting silly. Okay. Ten days." Where do we have to be, and what do we have to do? And why didn't you tell them that? Because I just found it. Also, I trust Kaira about as far as Xaphan could throw her. I don't know where we have to be yet. Or what, precisely, we have to do. I know the ritual to manifest Lucifer completes on the sixteenth. So that's how long we have to work. Point. The less Kaira knows, the better. So how can we find out what we need to do? Got any books I could look through, or is this all esoteric summoner stuff? I also know that to complete the counter ritual, we require the Star Orb. But... *they* have it. I mean, that's the whole problem. If they didn't have it in the first place, then they couldn't summon Lucifer. * Asanjya hands Chie a moldy tome. Look for references to the star orb. * Chie sits, carefully puts the book on her lap, and starts paging through. Good gods, she's researching. Will wonders never cease? * Chomei shrugs and steps in as well, looking over Chie's shoulder at the book in case she misses anything. (It's written in Japanese. She's so thoughtful.) (Yeah, that would help a lot. ;p) * Asanjya turns pages. Xaphan flutters overhead, and her hair twitches. * Chie flips through. "So far, no luck." ( You people sure keep me busy @_@ ) (It's because we care. ^^) (^_^) It do be often tedious. I think I have something. * Asanjya pauses. "Cursed Olde Englishe ... ah?" Or, at least, what you were talking about earlier. Mm, let me take a look. Hang on a sec! * Chomei peers over Chie's shoulder, but doesn't bother actually getting *closer* to the book. * Chie sighs. "No, this really isn't anything you haven't mentioned already." Repeat it anyhow. Okay. The Star Orb allows entities that can't stay on earth for long the power to do so. It's how the Et'Ada gods could stay, and it's how Lucifer can stay with full power. I mean, there's nothing stopping him from popping in now and then, but he doesn't have access to his full power. So to bring the entity to earth, you use the Star Orb in a ritual. The ritual starts ten days before the full moon. * Asanjya nods. She's frowning. What if we screw up the ritual? Well, uh, apparently once the initial phase, there's not much you can do about it. It's just a matter of waiting. However, there *is* a counter-ritual that you can perform with the three orbs. It's... * Chie looks and the books again and actually snickers. "Oh boy." * Asanjya 's frown deepens. "This bodes poorly.": ... Right. What is it? A naked virgin has to hold the three orbs while sitting in a pentagram surrounded by candles. And they have to pronounce this... you know, I have no idea how you'd even say it. * Chie holds the book out to Asanjya and points to the passage in question. Pleasant. * Asanjya looks at the passage. Oh boy. (And, yes, the gender of the virgin is non-specific. Either will do.) Higher Demon. What's it say? Or is this not a good thing to translate? ( Roughly, "IdunwannaDIE!") The first part of it reads, "Orbs of three power to me grant, destruction do I intend to avert." It goes on in that vein. Is there anything about pledging your soul away? Nothing so crude. Anything not-so-crude we should be aware of? Mmmhmm, what's up with it then? Powerful rituals requires power to draw upon. Anything you cannot draw from the world around you is supplied from within. So basically, whoever does this ritual could die if they don't have enough spiritual power? Such risks are always present in magic. But as you can see, the ritual does not mention such a risk. I'm still wonderin' what the catch is. Aside from getting the Star Orb, which is catch enough. It sounds like a rather... limited ritual. ( The catch is you gotta be naked :P ) (To save the world? It's not a bad tradeoff.) ( Oh. ) The catch is admitting one is a virgin. ( Ok. When you do the ritual, 50 demons appear and take pictures. ) (Wait, what?) ( How 'bout now? ^^ ) (Brett, please.) ( Do you want the lamb sacrifice after all? >.> ) Which means I suppose it falls to me. What's the big deal about admitting one's a virgin? * Asanjya pauses. "On second thought, I suppose it falls to me anyhow, unless someone would care to learn to pronounce High Demon." * Chomei nods. "That's why I was thinking you'd end up doing it." * Chie shrugs. "Sounds like the easiest way. Sorry, Asanjya, but the world thanks you." No matter. Does it specify a location? Lemme see... location, location... Four walls and moonlight. That's all it says. At least it's nothing new. So if we have four walls and moonlight, we're okay. Now. How do we inform the others without informing Kaira? So basically, our problem is getting the Star Orb. And that. That is also a problem. * Asanjya muses. Because I don't think she's leaving any time soon. Dammit. We will cycle the guard. You two return and send Rei and Maria here. Then they will send Lazar. I think they're probably still talking, and I don't think Kaira's going to let Rei out of her sight. Or possibly vice versa. Then Lazar and Maria, and we will inform Rei as we can. * Chomei nods. Are you sure you don't need any more research done? I'd be happy to stay here and help with that. If you like. There's not too much that needs to be done beyond this, and I am worried about lessening the guard. Okay. Then that's what I'm gonna do. * Asanjya nods, takes the book, and begins reading very carefully. You don't have another book, do you? I'm not sure I want to be there with Lazar, Rei, and Kaira in the same room. I have many paperbacks. * Chie looks at Asanjya's collection. (Yay, scifi!) Hmm. * Chie stands up and stretches. So, do we have any idea where the Star Orb is now? * Chomei looks over and snags up a random book, reading. Can we use the other orbs as a sort of locator? I will look into it. You mean like... Like some kind of radar? * Chie nods. * Asanjya turns the page. "No." They don't work that way, then? No. Nor is any other way explicitly mentioned. I will work on somehting. There's gotta be a way an artifact of ultimate power can be located. Doesn't it give off some sort of vibes, or something? ( It's in Mesopotamia. But you can't find it unless you're a student of ancient culture. ) * Asanjya looks up at Chomei. She's not happy. "I believe I already said I will work on it." If it did that, though, it'd attract the wrong sort of people really easily. So, okay, I see why it wouldn't. Mmm, point. * Chomei isn't paying too much attention to Asanjya. (She stabs him!) * Chie pokes Chomei in the arm. "Maybe we should finish up here?" Mmm? Oh, yeah, sure. We can... uh... discuss this. Before going and getting Maria and Lazar. * Chomei nods to Chie and puts the book back. Thanks, Asanjya. Just let us know when you need us. * Asanjya nods and turns pages. See ya later Asanjya. * Chie heads back into the hallway and to the others. * Chomei heads after Chie! * Chie knocks on the door again. "Asanjya?" Yes? They're planning on leaving for Asahara tonight. As in *now*. Good for them. I hope they have fun. Any way I can get you to change your mind? To infiltrate an Asahara facility? Well, it's not so much the infiltration that we'll be useful for so much as the possible taking care of stuff when things go wrong. And things *will* go wrong. The only possible way to do so would be to tell me that Kaira requires the blood orb. In which case either she signs a blooded contract, or it never leaves my hand. Hang on a sec. Asanjya? Kaira's not around at the moment. (Silence!) Fine, whatever. Do what you want. I suck at this sort of thing anyway. * Chie leaves. * Rei knocks on the wall. "Hey, Asanjya! You alive in there?" Yes. Good. Can I come in? 'Cause even if you say no, I'm gonna come in anyway, so it'd really be easier for both of us if you say it's cool. As you will. * Rei opens the door and steps in. She looks at Asanjya. "What do you want?" Excuse me? You're the one who's all up on negotiating with people. I figure it's gotta extend to humans. Or half humans, or quarter humans, or whatever the hell I am. What do you want? I want a guarantee your deranged mother isn't going to become powermad and screw me out of the remainer of my life. * Rei looks at Asanjya for a long moment. She seems to be considering something. Okay. Got one of those contracts lying around? I'll sign with you. * Asanjya frowns slightly. "I expected that, actually. What terms are you proposing?" Well, gee. You always say that we're kinda bad at this negotiating thing, so I'm not entirely sure what's fair terms. * Asanjya ponders for a brief second. You serve half my term with me if we lose the orb and cannot recover it. * Rei blinks. "Really? You're not making me take your place altogether?" You _are_ a friend. * Rei blinks again. "Well, uh..." Pause. "Wow. Thanks. You'd think I'd get used to hearing stuff like that by now." Okay, that's more than fair. What do I have to do? * Asanjya proferrs a contract. She scribbles a few lines, pricks her finger with the other end of the pen, and signs on the dotted line. "Same." She hands the contract to Rei. * Rei takes the contract and the pen, reading through (and demonstrating an ability to search for fine print). She finishes, pricks her finger on the pen with a little wince, and signs on the second line. * Asanjya rolls up the contract and tucks it away. Let's go. * Rei nods, taking a moment to suck on her pricked finger. She heads back out to the others. * Asanjya follows.