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[namuthing]

Make pretty later maybe? Probably not

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[sticksandbonesmods]

As Genya looks for something within the halls of Shadow Milk Cookie's library, something tugs at the back of his mind. The energy feels stranger than usual for a magical laboratory, which is really saying something, isn't it?

It tugs and regardless of if he's aware of it or not, he starts walking.

A whisper tickles his thoughts.

Genya...?

[namuthing]

[Genya had come here for a reason. Shadow Milk Cookie might not be a demon, but he was apparently a threat. It was his duty to investigate, right? Especially after everything Elder Faerie had said. Not that Genya has found anything particularly untoward. Beyond an obnoxiously glittery quill clutched between the fingers of his left hand, things had been... fine?

Until he heard the voice. It was familiar but not, like something he had forgotten. No wonder he had moved toward it, even as his own stomach turns over with nausea. Whose voices had slipped so easily from his mind? He didn't want to know, did he?

But his steps carry him onward all the same. He had a duty to carry out, no matter how tired he was, or how terribly this place had worn down his mind.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Genya are you there...? My sweet boy...

How fortuitous that he goes unnoticed. The call seems to be coming from the basement, enticing and cold. As he investiages the door to what is hopefully a cleaned up lab for the forbidden magic, the whispering grows louder. There's more. His siblings asking where he is, are they playing a game? Its dark and cold, where are you, Genya?

[namuthing]

Genya's heart rises in the same breath that it sinks. Had it really been so long that he'd forgotten the sound of his mother's voice? His siblings?

"Mom? Mom, I'm coming - " His throat tightens as he mumbles his siblings names, he lays his hands against the door, pressing inward as he steps into the lab.

Everything feels wrong, and he feel so powerless in the face of it. It's just like that night, like coming upon his mother's broken body and Sanemi's bloodied hands. Like then, he feels so weak, little more than a trembling child.

But he isn't. The feather in his palm practically quivers, a murmur to remind him of just what he's capable of.

His teeth rip at the fibers of the feather before he thinks about it, feels his body crack and shift as he swallows. Glittering blue dances at the corners of his eyes as he steps further and further in.

"I'm here, I'm here. 'm sorry I took so long."

[sticksandbonesmods]

It's dark and cold in the laboratory, but everything in his vision blurs save for one thing: a door. It shouldn't exist, shouldn't work- it feels more like a painting or a sculpture than an entrance to what should not be entered...

But it's there.

All the whispers grow so much louder.

I'm here, Genya. I'm here. Just open the door.

[namuthing]

Some part of Genya knows that he shouldn't. Demons are tricky things — and their arts even trickier. Even if that weren't the case, the months he's spent in this place should have conditioned him better for something like this. But those voices? He can still hear the words they said the night they all died, but he can't remember their voices.

Not like this.

The wards in front of him were meant to hold out anyone and everyone, but they had a master. He was their master, as far as the magic was concerned. And as he lifts his hand to claw through the wards, they tear away like paper.

His fingers find the door. Something in the back of his mind, a voice more like a growl than anything, tells him to stop being a fucking idiot. Genya ignores it in favor of pulling as hard as he can.

[sticksandbonesmods]

There is no physical door. And yet, it opens. The cavern is dark, cold as ice and smells... like a garden.

There's a low, feminine voice.

"Poor dear. You didn't stand a chance. But perhaps this abomination against my domain... can grant me an opportunity."

Out steps a woman far taller than anyone else he's ever seen, dressed in black, like she's attending a funeral and a garden party in the same day. She smiles kindly, crouching down to pet Genya's hair.

"I thank you, child, for allowing me a chance to investigate this pocket. ... Oh, but you may wish to flee. The warden will be here soon."

And like that, a green mist knee-high spills into the Grove, and the woman vanishes.

[namuthing]

A chill immediately runs down Genya's spine. He takes one step back, then another, before staring up at the creature that's entered the room. She looks... kind enough, but at the same time, that isn't his Mom immediately in front of him. For all intents and purposes, it feels like yet another trick, and more than anything, he just wants to scream.

But uh, he has more important things to worry about. The second she pats his head, all hell seems to break loose, and his head simply topples from his shoulders. Panic surges through him, knowing full well that something like that should have absolutely killed him. He makes a note to ask Shadow Milk what the fuck is wrong with him -

Before noticing that he isn't as alone as he might have thought.

"... Mom?"

[sticksandbonesmods]

Its her. But not exactly- she didn't wear foreign clothes, after all. But she smiles softly, lovingly, all the same... up until his head topples off, where she shrieks a little and frets as he's clearly- alive? And yet- oh, this is very worrisome-

Genya... oh goodness... you've really struggled lately, haven't you? And I wasn't here... I'm sorry...

[namuthing]

[Even if she looks different, it's still his mother. His poor mother who... died before understanding any of this. From his vantage point in his own damn hands, Genya has the decency to look apologetic. He shifts his stupid head into one hand, before waving her off carefully.]

I-it's okay, Mom, really! This is - it's - [How does he even begin to explain.] I'm okay. And you're - you're okay too? How are you here?

[Actually now that he's thinking about it...]

You are here, right? I could hug you if I wanted?

[jesterlies]

[somewhere behind him a portal opens up. Two people step through and then very suddenly everything grows dark, the shadows slowly overtaking eveything.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

His mother smiles, wrapping her arms around him. There's not a lot of give, but he can feel something present, even if it's so, so very cold around him.

Oh, sweetheart... this is the door to the realm of our Lady Death. All will be here someday. I am still... ... I am not the life you remember, but you are still my sweet boy. And I love you.

... And then the portal opens.

The ghost woman holds Genya to her protectively, unwavering.

[namuthing]

[As much as Genya might decry himself for being weak, he has a good sense for danger. It doesn't surge up as he sinks into his mother's embrace {though not before shoving his head back on his damn shoulders}, but the longer he lingers there? That's when dread begins to pool within his gut. He tastes something akin to berries, with an undercurrent of something floral, and knows that he's in deep shit. He turns sharply, whipping himself in the face with own sparkly blue hair as he tries to make out what's in front him.

{He still has to hold it in place with one hand, unfortunately.}]

S-stay back.

[His free hand falls to his hip, where he pulls out his gun.]

Don't touch her!

Entry trauma time 2 electric boogaloo

[infinitemist]

[ Spending time with Senjuro had helped some. It at least helped him rationalize what he saw. But of course understanding didn't make it sting less, it only made the pain easier to bury.

He had other issues to contend with, though. He'd gotten patched up after throwing himself at those brambles and aggrivating all of his injuries, but the healers would inevitably be pretty mad. So for now he's huddled in the inn's main room holding a bloodied cloth to his mouth and focusing on his breathing. ]

[namuthing]

[Genya's become a creature of habit since arriving. He runs a quick patrol in the morning, then goes to the rec center to work out, before coming back to clean up and fuck off for the rest of the day. He's on that return journey when he just happens to catch sight of Muichiro, and all of his plans go out of the window.]

H-hey, what the hell? What happened?

[He scrambles over to Muichiro, all while looking around for a threat.]

[infinitemist]

I found out firsthand that arriving here gives the resident forest creature license to mess with me.

[ He coughs softly, adjusting his breathing. internal bleeding is lovely to deal with.
He's... attempting to be blasé about his description, as though minimizing it would make it hurt less. ]

It decided to dangle my brother in front of me and made him say rude things and leave.

[namuthing]

Shit.

[So eloquent. Genya doesn't need much more than that. His first brush with the Forest had been pretty much the same. He pads on over, then gives Muichiro a once over.]

I can help you clean up. I mean. If you want. I have some bandages in my room, I mean.

[He's a little worried about that coughing, though.]

Unless you think the clinic is better?

[infinitemist]

Currently avoiding the verbal lashing I'm going to get for tearing my wounds back open.

[ C'mon Genya, surely you've been there. ]

The external wounds aren't really all that bad, but if you want to, I don't mind.

[ He has come to realize that being Genya's friend includes him fretting. It's sweet. ]

[namuthing]

Better than keeling over from the actual lashing you got, y'know. Dying here sucks, even if you come back from it. [As he's recently learned. But he doesn't dwell on that. Instead, he snorts.] Kinda sound like Kocho, don't I?

[She always got so huffy with him about his own injuries, after all.]

Just wait here, yeah? And don't like... die, or anything. I'll be back.

[He skitters off before Muichiro can really say anything. Don't mind the way his shoeless self slides a little on the hardwood. It's fiiiine.]

[infinitemist]

I'm not going to die on you again that easily.

[ His tone is quite soft, really. Even if Genya doesn't remember right now, he can't imagine what Genya must have felt watching him get chopped to pieces like that. Though, likely his focus was on Sanemi.

Either way, Muichiro stays put while Genya scrambles for his room. It's really not all that urgent. His breathing technique is preventing things from getting any worse, but he thinks its nice. Someone caring about him like this is nice. ]

You're going to slip running around like that.

[namuthing]

Shuddup!

[He calls the word over his shoulder as he disappears, but there's no real malice to it. And by the time he's back with a little first aid kit, a bowl of water, and a clean towel, any resulting grouchiness is long gone.

He hasn't forgotten what Muichiro said. Honestly, it's a bit wild to Genya that he can talk about his death that easily. But hey, maybe it's how he's coping.

Either way, it's still on his mind as he settles down, crosslegged, in front of Muichiro and motions for him to pull his hand away.]

Still not all that convinced I wasn't holdin' all of you back in that fight. Really, I'm surprised I wasn't the one dyin' on you.

[He had thought that Muichiro's words had implied as much but... maybe he can hold out that hope.]

[infinitemist]

[ His own death was never something that worried him overly much. He'd been willing to put it on the line since before he became a Hashira, and he's perhaps a bit reckless in the pursuit of saving lives. It's the deaths of others that bother him. ]

You didn't hold us back, Genya. Your ability to gain powers depending on what you eat was pivotal in stopping Upper Rank One. The demon art you got made it so that Kokushibo couldn't use his own at some point.

[ He does lower his hand and shifts a bit closer so that Genya can see easier.

... there are rather angry marks circling his arms in certain spots, but other than being tender, there's not much to be done about them. Those at least are mostly healed. ]

[namuthing]

Blood demon art?

[He's never been able to manage that. He's gotten a hell of a lot stronger, and even managed to merge his thoughts with Akaza once in this place, but being able to develop a full on art? That seems impossible.

But then, Muichiro definitely wouldn't lie to him, not when it came to something like that.

He keeps quiet as he uses the wet towel to dab away any dried blood. The marks are also noted with a bit of a frown but... they're healed and not what he's here for so...

Eventually the towel is lowered, and he goes in with a bit of disinfectant.]

Might sting. Sorry.

[infinitemist]

It's fine.

[ Disinfectant really does not compare to the way his wounds felt when they were fresh, but he knows Genya's just being nice. ]

Mm. You shot at him while I was holding him still, and trees started growing out of him and rooted him in place.

[ Meaning Genya was mostly a ranged attacker both for the element of surprise and... to hopefully keep him safe from retaliation. ]

[namuthing]

[Even if he knows they've both sustained a hell of a lot worse from their fights, he's still gotta be polite.]

Man. Who woulda thought I had it in me. [His snort sounds more than a little incredulous.] Especially going up against Upper One? Pff.

[He wonders how proud Sanemi would have been. Or how proud his master was. He'd helped them when they needed it most, just like they had done for him for countless years.]

'cept... Guess that was pretty scary to see, up close like you were.