[ Sharon sets her pastry down on the butcher paper it came wrapped in and pulls out her Omni. It takes just a few moments before she finds the video she wants to show him. The moment she pulls it up and presses play, she passes the crystal to him.
It starts with a view of Riteior's church from that city but there's something wrong there. The sky is painted in shades of deep red and burgundy and though it's clearly the day, the sun is enshrouded in dark ominous clouds. It almost feels like the beginning of some found footage in a horror movie but, thankfully, the shakey cam is almost nonexistent.
In the video, Sharon walks around the church, zooming in on the impressive stained-glass paintings. There are images of Riteior. He looms tall, his rib cage jutting out, glowing from within with shards of bloodstone. She gets the facade of the building and then returns to the front to open the massive, double doors.
Inside, it's a mess. The pews are skewed and off-center and leaves crunch underfoot. She picks up a fallen book and flips it open, running a finger across a word she recognizes. "Pthumerian," she says aloud and then points to another, "Riteior." Because she's, at least, learned the translation of those two words from others.
And then the video focuses on the back of the church. On a door that seems to leak a pulsing, red light. She crosses the threshold and opens it. It's an old nursery. The cribs have long since fallen apart and parts of the ceiling have given way, the sky is visible, but it's the glowing hole in one of the walls that hold anyone's attention. Without much preamble, she steps over a few toys and crosses through the light.
It's disorienting because it seems as if she's crossed back into the same room but mirrored in every way. She jerks the camera up at the holes in the ceiling to reveal the soft, grey hues of a normal sky and then it comes to a very sudden end. ]
I'll send you the others. I got a couple hours of footage at least. I don't know if it'll reveal anything but I'm sure you might see things I didn't.
[ As the video plays, Light watches with the intensity of a detective studying a crime scene. The book scene is especially relevant, and he makes notes of it for later. ]
I spent a lot of time in the library. The other town was old, and we didn't have translations, but we made a little progress. We'll see if we can do the same with that book.
[ He has a feeling that there's a lot to uncover there. There's still so much mystery to solve.
Light doesn't hate it. ]
Thanks.
[ With a smile, he passes along the crystal. ]
But you should be careful. If you're always this helpful, I'll be tempted to hire you.
Yeah, a friend of mine was able to recognize one of the languages, and taught me a few words, but I can't fucking remember what it was called. Like... [ Her brows stitch together in a look of concentration, gaze distant for a moment as she tries to pull up the appropriate memory. ] Adamic, I think it was. [ Some old, dead language she knows nothing about.
At the gratitude, she shrugs and pockets the crystal, a silent sort of 'no biggie'. But that next bit has her raising her brows up. ]
Hire me? [ The words pitch upward, not unopposed. ] For what? What is it you do?
A detective agency? [ She squints him over and then nods. All right, yeah, she can see that for him. ] Well, if there's something you think I might be able to help you out with, I'd be happy to. I'm always looking for more ways to fill my time in this place, Light.
[ She fills her time up so she doesn't have to sit alone with her thoughts. ] Were you a police officer or something back home?
Free of charge, huh? You are so lucky I'm not someone to take advantage of something like that. [ She's just teasing, something that seems to come naturally to her. ]
Kinda impressive there, Light. What made you interested in being part of the NPA?
You're underestimating my judge of character. I've known you since you were a child, after all.
[ Setting down his sandwich from the latest bite, he chuckles. ]
My father is Chief of the NPA, and I always admired him.
[ He does know that suggests his connection helped him, but only to those who don't know Soichiro or Light. Even as his father, Soichiro wouldn't help someone unqualified, and Light has proven himself many times over. ]
When I was 16, I was able to help them solve a couple of cases, and that cemented my passion.
Haha. [ She says with a roll of her eyes but it's good-natured, verging on warm. In a way, he's not wrong. Still, as the conversation continues, her eyes go wide with surprise before they settle, impressed. ]
16? That's pretty young to get involved in crime-solving. [ It could be a case of nepotism but Light is clearly intelligent. She remembers all the books on his shelves, the book on his couch, and if he was solving crime, well... He's one smart cookie. ] Do you have a favorite case you've solved?
I picked up some clues from the news report so when I showed I could be helpful, they let me in on the case. I was only allowed a few before I joined the force.
My favorite case... it's a little complicated. The first one at 16 felt really good.
[ He smiles at the memory. ]
It showed I could help. I never doubted it, but to solve something real instead of hypothesizing based on news reports feels very different.
My favorite case after... it would be because of the person I managed to get behind bars. That makes it a darker story.
The alternative would be my dad trusting his 16-year-old son could do better than the men working for him and bringing me in. It'd be pretty insulting without some kind of justification.
[ Light looks at his food. It's hard to say, but... ]
I don't think someone learns to be so prepared without some stories of their own. In my case, I don't get to come into the story until after someone's been hurt.
[ Sharon gave a grim nod of understanding. ] That sounds like a lot of pressure. If you do your jobs right, you win. You don't, more than just you will lose.
There's a lot of stress, but when you manage to catch someone, you know you've helped more than a single person, too. On lower levels, you'll get cases that involve someone who might have only hurt one person with no plans to hurt someone again, but for the case to make it to my desk, they don't plan to stop so they have to be stopped.
It's different here. I've spent more time catching cheating spouses or employees that have stolen from work.
[ He nods to the food. ]
I still get to solve mysterious, and I do enjoy that part, but this was a nice break.
It's gotta be a trip to go from big cases to shit like that. [ Yeah, there are other mysteries, like the one they're currently chewing on, but she can't imagine it compares. ]
I'll probably revisit the city sometime in the coming months. You wanna tag along? See that otherworld for yourself before we find a way to stop Riteior and seal away that place for good?
[ Sometimes, a second pair of eyes reveal something that was hidden before. ]
I would normally promise to do my best to keep you safe during the visit, but you'll brush me off and remind me that you're capable of caring for yourself, so I'll skip that step.
[ He offers a small smile in return before returning to his food. ]
We don't usually get a chance to see the way somebody has changed since they were a child without seeing the in-between. I'm not saying you're better or worse than I expected, but you didn't seem interested in fighting before.
If it helps, I didn't learn most of this shit back home. [ She wasn't willing to impart to him just how bad Alessa's life had gotten just days after her meeting with Light or how it's defined Sharon's whole life since and always will. ] I ran into some trouble my second month and realized I couldn't just survive here on what I knew back home. I needed to be better.
It's probably happened to a lot of people out here. If they come from worlds without magic or danger, it's a culture shock. Even though I'm in law enforcement, I'd never had to fight a monster. Not a literal one.
But I'm not sure that was the case with you. You said that you could do things like me even before you came here.
[ She falls quiet for a long moment, lips pursing. ]
It was mostly the same for me. Sure, I was born with psychic powers, but that... [ Hm. ] I hadn't met anyone with anything like magic before I came here. [ That took a long time to adjust to. ] You can imagine how isolating that experience is for a kid. Especially a kid born into a religious cult that prided itself on its past for burning witches alive.
I think it would be insulting to say I can fully imagine, but I know it would be hard. I've seen what happened to kids born into religious cults even if they didn't have psychic powers.
[ Thankfully, not so much in Japan. Still, he's done case studies from other countries. ]
Most of them don't have a very easy time trying to become a part of society. They're used to thinking of everybody else as outsiders.
It was kind of the opposite for me. I've had trouble becoming part of society because I feel like an outsider. [ She shrugs. ] Doesn't help that I've spent most of my life on the run from said cult and living under a variety of aliases so I couldn't get close to people until I wound up here.
Still feel like an outsider but... It's not as bad.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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It starts with a view of Riteior's church from that city but there's something wrong there. The sky is painted in shades of deep red and burgundy and though it's clearly the day, the sun is enshrouded in dark ominous clouds. It almost feels like the beginning of some found footage in a horror movie but, thankfully, the shakey cam is almost nonexistent.
In the video, Sharon walks around the church, zooming in on the impressive stained-glass paintings. There are images of Riteior. He looms tall, his rib cage jutting out, glowing from within with shards of bloodstone. She gets the facade of the building and then returns to the front to open the massive, double doors.
Inside, it's a mess. The pews are skewed and off-center and leaves crunch underfoot. She picks up a fallen book and flips it open, running a finger across a word she recognizes. "Pthumerian," she says aloud and then points to another, "Riteior." Because she's, at least, learned the translation of those two words from others.
And then the video focuses on the back of the church. On a door that seems to leak a pulsing, red light. She crosses the threshold and opens it. It's an old nursery. The cribs have long since fallen apart and parts of the ceiling have given way, the sky is visible, but it's the glowing hole in one of the walls that hold anyone's attention. Without much preamble, she steps over a few toys and crosses through the light.
It's disorienting because it seems as if she's crossed back into the same room but mirrored in every way. She jerks the camera up at the holes in the ceiling to reveal the soft, grey hues of a normal sky and then it comes to a very sudden end. ]
I'll send you the others. I got a couple hours of footage at least. I don't know if it'll reveal anything but I'm sure you might see things I didn't.
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I spent a lot of time in the library. The other town was old, and we didn't have translations, but we made a little progress. We'll see if we can do the same with that book.
[ He has a feeling that there's a lot to uncover there. There's still so much mystery to solve.
Light doesn't hate it. ]
Thanks.
[ With a smile, he passes along the crystal. ]
But you should be careful. If you're always this helpful, I'll be tempted to hire you.
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At the gratitude, she shrugs and pockets the crystal, a silent sort of 'no biggie'. But that next bit has her raising her brows up. ]
Hire me? [ The words pitch upward, not unopposed. ] For what? What is it you do?
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[ Light couldn't leave the job behind even when coming to a new world. ]
Most of our jobs aren't as exciting, but even the natives have a lot of everyday questions.
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[ She fills her time up so she doesn't have to sit alone with her thoughts. ] Were you a police officer or something back home?
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[ She seems to know this world and how to handle herself. Those are important qualities. ]
And I'll do the same for you. Free of charge. [ Since Sharon has been nothing short of helpful the entire time, and she's even treating him today.
Her question receives a nod. ]
Or something. Have you heard of the NPA? It's roughly the Japanese equivalent of the FBI, if you're more familiar with them.
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Kinda impressive there, Light. What made you interested in being part of the NPA?
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[ Setting down his sandwich from the latest bite, he chuckles. ]
My father is Chief of the NPA, and I always admired him.
[ He does know that suggests his connection helped him, but only to those who don't know Soichiro or Light. Even as his father, Soichiro wouldn't help someone unqualified, and Light has proven himself many times over. ]
When I was 16, I was able to help them solve a couple of cases, and that cemented my passion.
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16? That's pretty young to get involved in crime-solving. [ It could be a case of nepotism but Light is clearly intelligent. She remembers all the books on his shelves, the book on his couch, and if he was solving crime, well... He's one smart cookie. ] Do you have a favorite case you've solved?
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My favorite case... it's a little complicated. The first one at 16 felt really good.
[ He smiles at the memory. ]
It showed I could help. I never doubted it, but to solve something real instead of hypothesizing based on news reports feels very different.
My favorite case after... it would be because of the person I managed to get behind bars. That makes it a darker story.
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I'd be up for a dark story if you're up to telling it sometime. I am all grown-up and I can handle dark now. [ She's joking, grin cheeky. ]
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[ Light looks at his food. It's hard to say, but... ]
I don't think someone learns to be so prepared without some stories of their own. In my case, I don't get to come into the story until after someone's been hurt.
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Everyone's got some fucked up stories, especially here. [ A weighted pause ] Just hurt?
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[ He's on a national level, after all. While that still covers some larger heists and such, it more than often deals with death. ]
More often than not, to make it to the NPA, we're dealing with grieving family members. If we do our jobs right, it stops at that family.
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It's different here. I've spent more time catching cheating spouses or employees that have stolen from work.
[ He nods to the food. ]
I still get to solve mysterious, and I do enjoy that part, but this was a nice break.
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I'll probably revisit the city sometime in the coming months. You wanna tag along? See that otherworld for yourself before we find a way to stop Riteior and seal away that place for good?
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[ Sometimes, a second pair of eyes reveal something that was hidden before. ]
I would normally promise to do my best to keep you safe during the visit, but you'll brush me off and remind me that you're capable of caring for yourself, so I'll skip that step.
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[ He offers a small smile in return before returning to his food. ]
We don't usually get a chance to see the way somebody has changed since they were a child without seeing the in-between. I'm not saying you're better or worse than I expected, but you didn't seem interested in fighting before.
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So. [ A shrug ] I became better.
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It's probably happened to a lot of people out here. If they come from worlds without magic or danger, it's a culture shock. Even though I'm in law enforcement, I'd never had to fight a monster. Not a literal one.
But I'm not sure that was the case with you. You said that you could do things like me even before you came here.
[ When she was still a child. ]
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It was mostly the same for me. Sure, I was born with psychic powers, but that... [ Hm. ] I hadn't met anyone with anything like magic before I came here. [ That took a long time to adjust to. ] You can imagine how isolating that experience is for a kid. Especially a kid born into a religious cult that prided itself on its past for burning witches alive.
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[ Thankfully, not so much in Japan. Still, he's done case studies from other countries. ]
Most of them don't have a very easy time trying to become a part of society. They're used to thinking of everybody else as outsiders.
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Still feel like an outsider but... It's not as bad.
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just a warning that this topic is getting kind of heavy
lemme know if anything makes you uncomfortable!
very few things are; i just wanted to warn you <3
ah! appreciate it!