Marisa Kirisame/Yama1

<>Ambiance<> Never a dull day at the ministry of right and wrong, but for one person in particular the income of souls had the usual pause as Komachi had gathered more. Thus, Shikieiki had a moment of respite, which she decided to spend first organizing papers, and now over a nice dish of sake to herself. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu poured herself a dish of the maple sake she had acquired, and a fine sake it was, and breathed a heavy sigh as she relaxed back in her chair. She knew it was only a matter of time before some new souls would be brought in, but it was times like this she was somewhat glad to not be governing over the outside world. She contemplated going out into Gensoukyou, to see if there might be anything--  --for her to do there, but really she knew that she'd probably get caught up in lecturing /someone/, perhaps that black and white mage, and then she'd be late coming back. She shook her head at the notion and took a gentle sip of her sake. <>Ambiance<> There's a slight sound of fluttering wings somewhere in the distance.. * Reimu_Hakurei Finally arrives at the Gensoukyou precinct of the Yama's palace, having had to fill out all sorts of paperwork and waited in line for hours and hours only to fill out another set of paperwork, she is understandably annoyed.  Gods, who even designed this system--...wait. Ugh, whatever, where do I go from here...? * Reimu_Hakurei looks around, doing her best to go off of the rather cryptic instructions she recieved from a passerby.  Uhhh....this way. * Reimu_Hakurei guesses, heading down the long corridor, each footstep echoing loudly in the nearly bare walls of the palace, no doubt alerting anyone further down to her presence. Eventually, she reaches the end, giving a sigh of relief as she reads the sign on the giant door that seems to belong to the Judge of Paradise.  It's about time. * Reimu_Hakurei then knocks on the door, cringing slightly at how loud even something like that was in the still, dead air. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu cringed even more so at the knocking, having hoped the footsteps would walk on by. With another sigh, she sets down the dish of sake and straightens her posture. Yes, come in. She folds her hands on her lap, awaiting to see who it was disturbing her rest. * Reimu_Hakurei opens the with a bit of effort, seeing as how it's...well, a pretty big door, but she eventually slips inside, letting the door slide itself shut behind her. With that, she takes a deep breath and steps forward, brushing off her dress before looking up at the Yama.  Excuse me, but I have an important favor to ask you...    * Reimu_Hakurei does look pretty tired, actually, all the time it took her to get to this point is probably plain to see at this point. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu narrows her eyes at the shrine maiden, not really having ever been the most pleased with her. However, she sets that aside and takes a deep breath, her eyes closing for a moment before opening once more in a neutral regard to Reimu.  ''An important favor, you say? That's awfully strange. If I recall, your protocol usually follows the lines of showin up, throwing ofuda around, and then asking questions... regardless, what might this 'important favor' be?"     (( showing* ))      Well, it's that, uh...Well, Marisa died. On top of that, it was an unlawful death in accordance to the spell card rules, as far as I know. In order to keep Gensoukyou in line, I sort of need people to help out. Yeah...If you could grant Marisa another life or whatever, I would really appreciate it.     * Sariel lands somewhere outside, shaking her wings a bit and causing blue-silver feathers to scatter all about. She ponders the correct way to go about this, lost in thought for perhaps a minute, before starting inside. Thankfully, she won't be too delayed or dismayed by paperwork.      (( Sariel came into Shikieiki's study? ))      ((She's outside, she'll be coming in in a bit. Outside-outside.)) * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu was silent for a few moments, her gaze fixed on Reimu as a frown comes over her face. ''Well, I cannot say I'm too awfully surprised... The life of a thief usually ends in a thief's death. I'd almost assume that the existence of such spell card rules would only further her thinking she could get away with such transgressions...'' She shakes her head, bringing up her arms and crossing them.--  I don't know if Marisa's....habits matter here. What matters is that Marisa is an important asset for Gensoukyou's stability.  ((Whoops, sorry about that, go ahead and finish your post. :x)) * Sariel starts inside, navigating through the ministry without too much trouble. She takes her time, though, in no real hurry.  ''See, no. Marisa, sure, is someone who helps you in /your/ job. She does not maintain the border, she is not a shrine maiden. She's a witch, and a thief at that - thieves cause trouble, even if they do eliminate youkai from time to time in dangerous and unorthodox ways. Regardless... The glaring issue here is that you are asking me to return a soul to life because an internal law was broken, yes?  Well, I'm asking you to return her because she's important to Gensoukyou's stability. I dunno if you'd want there to suddenly be a huge spike in work for you to do because Marisa isn't around to protect the humans when I can't.     ''More work or not, that's the duty of a Yama. It's not about if I want more work or not, it's about the laws of death, which are far higher than the spellcard rules that I am not obligated to enforce. What's more, this would be passing judgement and reincarnating a soul I've not even any custody of. If I did, and her death was not when it was supposed to be, then she'd be put back proper anyway.' <>Ambiance<> There's a gentle knock on the door. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu hears the knock and calls out, I'll be with you in just a moment.  Yes, of course.. <Reimu_Hakurei> Ehhhh. Isn't it your job to judge based on the total amount of good a person's done compared to the total bad? All it takes is a tiny bit more good than bad to pass the test, from what Yukari's told me. Marisa shouldn't be dead, so you should fix it. You're in charge of Gensoukyou's afterlife and all that. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> ''It is my job. If she's good or not, she'll go to the proper place. That's nothing to do with this, as the normal reincarnation cycle is sixty years. As for "shouldn't be dead"... well, were that the case, I hardly doubt she'd be dead, would she? <Reimu_Hakurei> Hey, hey. Just go ask the shinigami when she was supposed to die. * Reimu_Hakurei sighs, crossing her arms in annoyance. She was actually fairly knowledgeable as to how the afterlife works...sort of. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "That still requires a soul, you know." <Reimu_Hakurei> Mmh, we have the soul, we just need to be able to shove it back into her body. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> ''... You have the soul?'' <Reimu_Hakurei> Yeah, we have it for safe keeping. Wouldn't want Marisa's phantom to go causing any trouble. So can you do it or not? We have the body and the soul, just no way to connect the soul to the body again. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> '' You have the soul... and Sariel has not gone to collect it proper? Rather, you have it, and you did not pass it on to either her or Komachi?'' <Reimu_Hakurei> That's counter productive, if we let her cross the river, then she would go into the reincarnation cycle, and that's not what we need right now...    <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "She would go to Higan, wait for me to grab her and judge her, and then she'd be on her way. That. Is. The proper. Way." <Reimu_Hakurei> Ugh. If you judge her, aren't you just going to send her off into the reincarnation cycle? * Sariel is getting a little concerned from what she can hear of the conversation on the other side of the door. She's tempted to knock again, but that would probably be disruptive...    <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "If she was destined to die the way she did, then yes. If she wasn't, then this conversation is needless.     <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> For all I know, and no I will talk take your word on this, she's the one who could have broken the rules first - or done something to warrant her being killed. If the spellcard rules actually had anything to do with the fight, then why would she be dead if they're properly enforced? Moreover, were these arbitrary rules created to keep /you/ alive?''     <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> (( weren't* ))     <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> (( I will not take your word* ))     <Reimu_Hakurei> Ehh? No, the spellcard rules are essentially to prevent youkai from destroying Gensoukyou with their power. I don't have any such problems against youkai, they usually do their best to avoid me altogether. But in any case, if you're not going to be cooperative, I can find a different way to bring back Marisa. * Reimu_Hakurei huffs, having little patience for such a pointless conversation. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "No, you're not. You don't have that authority. The most I can allow you to do is speak to the youkai of boundaries you're so close to and then she can fill out the proper paperwork if she so desires. Otherwise, Marisa's soul will be judged properly by my hand. If it's not acquired by either Sariel or Komachi, or brought to me by you, then I will personally come to get it myself.    <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> This is non-negotiable, Hakurei Reimu.     <Reimu_Hakurei> More paperwork...? Wait, why can't I fill that out?...Not that I particularly want to, but...     <Reimu_Hakurei> It'd be way easier than trying to get a hold of Yukari, she's probably going to sleep for another few months.     <Sariel> .. If we're going to talk about me, can I at least be in the room, please?     <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> You lack any real sort of power in the Celestial Beauracracy, is why. Whereas Yu-- Ah, is that you then, Sariel? Then please, do come in.'' <Sariel> Thank you. * Sariel pushes the door open gently, before shuffling over to seat herself. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu nods to Sariel in greeting and acknowledgement, returning her hands to her lap. ''Hello, Sariel. I assume you've been listening, then? Have you any input? Perhaps, even, why Marisa's soul has not yet been retrieved?'' <Sariel> Yes.. as for that matter.. I've not found her soul during my travels of Gensoukyou as of late, which have been impeded only faintly by my own personal matters.. * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu frowns again, having only just reverted to a neutral expression too... Though, it seems less out of anger, though. ''I see... is everything alright, then?'' <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> (( Scratch that. "I see... Is everything alright?** ))    <Sariel> It's nothing of particular concern. I'll speak to you of it once you are done with Hakurei-san here.     <Reimu_Hakurei> Paperwork is far too much trouble, especially if I have to bother Yukari to do it. What about a spellcard battle instead? If I win, you fix Marisa up without the paperwork. If you win, I'll give you Marisa's soul for judging without any further negotiation. Does that sound fair?     * Reimu_Hakurei knows this is pretty risky, but Reimu can't think of many other other solutions, and aside from that, this sounds like something with a time limit. Besides, if she can beat just about everyone else in a spellcard battle, the Yama should be no different.     * Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu turns her regard back to Reimu, eyes narrowing as a twinge of anger shows clear on her face. She responds, in a much sterner voice than before. That's quite some nerve, Hakurei, to believe that I would allow the laws of life and death to be overturned just by some petty duel. If you wish to fight me over such a thing, then there are no spellcard rules. It is a crime directly against the-- <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> --Ministry of Right and Wrong.'' <Reimu_Hakurei> Is that right? But you had a duel with me over my 'sins'. Are you saying that you broke the law way back then? <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> ''A duel. Not a battle. One that I hoped would lead you away from your sins. Sadly, that seemed not the case. However, that was the past, and this is now. That was a spellcard duel, Gensoukyou law. This... this is law absolute. <Sariel> Ah.. oh dear, we're certainly getting ourselves into something deep, aren't we...? <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> ''It certainly needs not be this way, but apparently the Miko here insists..."    <Reimu_Hakurei> This is the same thing! Last time we fought, it was over my own so-called sins, and this time it's for someone else's. What's the difference? Surely my willingness to fight for Marisa must show /something/.     <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "It... It's not even about her sins. It's about the fact that she has died. When someone dies, they get collected by an angel of death, get passed to a Shinigami, wait in Higan, get judged, and then that is where their sins come in. Your willingness to fight for her, if anything, means she'll have a safe trip over the Sanzu.'' <Reimu_Hakurei> It sounds to me more like you're trying to hide behind your authority. But like I said, if you aren't going to be cooperative, I've better places to be. * Reimu_Hakurei pauses for a moment to hear any response to this...    <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> "I'm not hiding behind my authority, I'm invoking it. This is the law of nature, not my own - I merely enforce it. Now, you can either be co-operative yourself, or I'm going to have that soul retrieved one way or another. What will it be, Shrine maiden?" <Reimu_Hakurei> We'll see what happens; I don't have any promises for you. * Reimu_Hakurei then turns on her heel, apparently taking her leave from the palace. <Shikieiki_Yamaxanadu> I will have to trust you won't make me resort to having a Kishin called into this situation, Hakurei Miko. * Reimu_Hakurei raises a hand as she walks away, waving it dismissingly <Reimu_Hakurei> Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want. * Reimu_Hakurei then leaves the room, starting back down the corridor she came from. Although, before she leaves, she does glance in Sariel's direction for the first time since she arrived, but that's about all there is to that since the angel can't see. <Sariel> ...