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Who; Mitsuru+OTA
What; Story and wandering
Where; Network and Market
When; August 19th and later
Warnings; None at the moment

A. Network Post

I heard a story once quite a long time ago that took place in the Mannenji temple in Iwamizawa. The story is allegedly about the haunted Okiku doll, a doll with hair that actually grows as if it were alive. According to those that tell the tale the doll belonged to a child named Okiku who sadly passed away. The family had desperately wished to bury their child with the doll but it wasn't allowed. The doll was instead placed on an alter meant to celebrate the life their daughter had lost.

Strangely though, the doll's hair began to grow. That was not the only strange occurrence that the doll would produce though. Some would claim that they began to dream of the doll and when they awoke it was there, watching them. Lights began to flicker, thuds could be heard throughout the home, and a strange small voice could be heard calling out in the night.

Eventually the family gave her to the Mannenji temple to take care of, hoping this would calm her. It's done quite the opposite though, instead it seems her powers are growing and it's alleged that she invades even the dreams of the priests. Giving them, and any who come to see her, terrible nightmares. There's even been claims that she's begun to sprout little baby teeth inside her porcelain mouth.

Fascinatingly enough it's become a popular, and well known, tourist attraction. Though I've never been and I'm not certain why I felt the need to share this...

[ What a strange thing to be going around.... ]

B. Log

Mitsuru was exhausted. Not that she particularly wished to admit to that to anyone. In fact, she was trying her best to completely avoid admitting any such thing to anyone. For starters, admitting to it would be admitting to the strange nightmares she'd been having that seemed to directly reflect the story she'd found herself compelled to tell. Admitting that would also mean admitting to the fact that she could have sworn she'd awoken several times lately to see that exact doll she'd been describing sitting near her. Each time she was certain it's hair was longer and it looked more...human. Even worse than that was the general feeling of malice that the doll brought with it.

Mitsuru wasn't afraid of ghosts but...

Well, perhaps it was putting her just a bit on edge. Though, she tried her best to convince herself that she was just imagining things, it was only due to the long hours she was working without taking proper breaks. Or proper care of herself at all. It certainly couldn't be that her story had brought some haunted doll to this place could it?

She sighed and let out a large yawn as she walked out of the tavern. The exhaustion had almost completely crept up on her as she started the trek towards her building, yawning along the way and not paying close enough attention to anyone else that might be walking. If she happened to bump into someone she dipped her head in an apology.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't see you there."

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"It seems we always end up in that situation don't we? Where we can only hypothesize or theorize about potential similarities." she sighed and shook her head. That was a rather frustrating aspect about this place, it truly felt sometimes as though they knew absolutely nothing about it and made no headway in figuring anything out. "I can't imagine what would be gained by stories coming to life..." she tapped her hand on her hip thoughtfully as she considered it. "Perhaps a cautionary tale about how harmful stories can be when they're spread without consideration?" That seemed like quite the stretch though.

"You have? Oh...I'm so sorry..." Though even she realized how ridiculous it was to blame herself for this. "I had thought it was my mind at first as well but they became more and more frequent. Frequent and unsettling. I haven't been able to figure out what to do about it either..."

“It does seem as though a pattern presents itself…” Yusuke mused thoughtfully, and it wasn’t a good pattern either. He had to wonder, though, what indeed could be gained from all of this. “I cannot begin to guess myself. It doesn’t seem as though anything is particularly useful in bringing them to life. They seem to range from benign to outright dangerous, depending on what story was shared…” Glanced around at the streets thoughtfully. It did seem that the dangerous side of the scale was weighted on a little more than the benign… Or perhaps everyone simply was more aware of the darker stories than those of a lighter nature? His had been more annoying than anything, a troublemaker that couldn’t do much harm but certainly made a nuisance of itself. “If that’s the case, I would think the stories would be purely dangerous ones? Perhaps it’s something less about teaching a lesson…”

It just seemed like pure chaos, though. Whatever reason there was for this, Yusuke couldn’t fathom it.

He shook his head a little. “No need to apologize, my friend. It seems as though we had little control over this. It’s as though the stories were plucked from our mind and forced out into the world against our will, after all.” Just like the last thing that happened, and he wasn’t blaming her for that either. “My own story caused quite a lot of trouble as well. It was terribly frustrating… There wasn’t even a way to put a stop to it, so much as waiting it out and trying to minimize damage.” Which was even more annoying, not being able to actually resolve the problem his story had caused.

“I would say based on my own experiences, it surely isn’t all in your mind. I’ve… Noticed it getting worse in the last few nights myself. I had wanted to ask you more about your story, just to see if I was imagining it or not.” Folding his arms, he waved slightly for a moment with his own fatigue. “It has made for some interesting art pieces, though… So it’s not all bad.” He offered an awkward smile. Of course, he would at least find some silver lining in all of this.

“That's the part that bothers me the most. The randomness of it all. How could something so completely random have a point?” Which then led her to wonder if it was just another unfortunate mistake made by those Aspects that so rarely seemed to actually show themselves. She shook her head. "Perhaps it's just an accident. Something the ones in power here tried to do only to fail." It would hardly be the first time, though there was no denying how utterly irritating that idea was. If that were the case then there was absolutely nothing they could do about the situation.

"That part is equally frustrating. It felt as though there was an actual entity imposing it's will but there was nothing I could find. Artemisia's primary skills lie in combat, but she has some ability to sense things. Nothing like Fuuka, but I should have been able to find some sort of clue..." All she could think was that she simply hadn't tried hard enough. It was possible her own exhaustion had caused her to be less on point than she might usually be. Or, as much as she hated to think of it, it might truly just be beyond her capabilities. "I can imagine how frustrating those little things coming to life must have been. I hope you were at least successful in trying to minimize damage."

She sighed and then gave a tiny smile along with a shake of her head. "I suppose I'm at least glad I was able to contribute to your creative process then." A small benefit she supposed? "From what I recall of the story, the nightmares only got worse for those that lived there until they decided to place the doll in the temple's shrine with several seals of protection around it."

“If it is such a case… I suppose we may never know, given how rarely we hear from them.” He mused to himself, he knew they said they owed him a favour after what happened during the prior fall when the mirror portals started popping up… But admittedly the teen wasn’t sure what one would ask of them given how things seemed to turn out. “If not something they’ve done, then it may be something else that they themselves are unsure how to address.” He added, frowning lightly. Not that speculating over it ever got them anywhere, either. It was truly vexing sometimes. He wondered what they got up to all the time, to be in the public eye so infrequently.

Yusuke offered a firm nod of agreement, before rubbing an eye lightly and pushing a strand of hair aside. He didn’t know much of Fuuka or her ability to find things, but he believed in Artemisia’s capability. If Mitsuru thought the persona should have found something, then it should have! “I had wondered myself if anyone else may have had luck in pinpointing whatever entity might be causing this… But if you have not, and no one else has come forward? It does not bode well for getting a handle on the situation.” It seemed quite like all they could do was deal with the trouble born of their stories until everything calmed down or wore off.

… If it did, which was not a pleasant thought.

Yusuke offered a tired smile at the comment. “Indeed, even some good can be found in this odd situation! I shall be sure to share for opinions should I finish the series of paintings I’ve begun.” He shouldn’t be so optimistic, but it is something worth noting! It isn’t all bad…! He hummed, though, to hear that. “So if we’re to have any peace at this point… We must get our hands on the doll ourselves and find a way to seal it in a shrine.” Sounds easier said than done… But it was a plan! “I wonder if there is anyone here who might have experience with sealing entities such as this away, if we do find it.”

“I do greatly wish we had more opportunity to speak with them. Though," she heaved a heavy sigh. "I should hardly be surprised adults are so unwilling to discuss things with us frankly and honestly." It was like that back home, why would it be any different here? In most cases she'd be a bit less willing to be so pessimistically blunt, but a combination of the story and her exhaustion made her a bit more open.

"Perhaps there's nothing else we can actually do. At least not about the root cause of this predicament." Which added to an overall mounting feeling of frustration that she felt as though she were climbing against. There was absolutely denying that she was considerably frustrated with not being able to nip this at the root cause. Mostly because it left them with one solution and one solution only: deal with the things conjured by the stories.

She gave him an equally tired smile in return, clearly appreciative at his ability to be so optimistic. It was truly impressive how much passion he had for his craft, so much so that she often envied him to some extent. "I think finding the doll might not be intensely difficult. I'm fairly certain I've seen something like it moving around. Perhaps this place has embellished on my own story to grant it movement outside of a specter form?" If that were the case it would certainly make things easier than if it were simply an unmoving doll they'd have to hunt down all while trying to deal with a spirit of some kind as well. If the doll came to them that'd be quite a bit easier...

"Now that is quite a good question. I'm not entirely certain if I know of anyone..." Perhaps Waver might know something, but other than him she wasn't quite certian.

“That much is true, certainly…” It was hard to deny that it was unsurprising, and certainly seemed to be the way of things in any world… But… “Though at least it seems less to do with our age and more to do with the fact that they don’t seem inclined to make public appearances in general.” Yusuke wasn’t sure if that necessarily made things better, but perhaps they could at least be glad they weren’t being ignored due to their age.

The teen didn’t much like the idea that there may have been nothing they could do to put a stop to whatever had caused all of this month’s woes in the first place. Not that all of them had been terrible… But enough of them had ranged from inconvenient annoyances to utterly dangerous that it would be far better to prevent more people from being compelled to share stories that would come to life. “I hate to think that there may not be, that all we can do is ‘wait and hope it passes,’ but it does start to feel as though it might be so.” Considering the amount of people with varied talents and realms of knowledge, one would think if it were possible to stop it at the root… someone would have by now, right?

It was good to hear that their search to deal with the doll itself might not be too impossible for them to manage compared to the daunting idea of getting to the root of what had caused it in the first place. “Perhaps? It does not seem strange to think it would take a normally inanimate object and use a spirit to give it life…” He tapped his chin lightly, going over the few dreams he’d had since he heard Mitsuru talk about the doll. “I found it odd, but a few times that I woke up I had thought I saw it… But I thought it simply because I hadn’t woken up properly yet.” Perhaps the doll was drawn to the bedsides of those who were asleep?

“Hm… That will have to be something we ask around about then, if it becomes necessary!” He knew there was a mage who had made a deal with Ren, but Yusuke himself had never met the man. Something of a recluse around the harbor, by the sounds of it... Then, Yusuke mused, there was Illyana. The woman seemed to know quite a lot about magic, so that was two people to keep in mind!

“It's my experience that most people don't like admit when they don't know things. It seems they don't know... a considerable amount of things." In that regards she couldn't help but wonder if their hesitance to speak with them came from a place of pride. It hardly mattered though, there was little they could do about it.

"There has to be some solution." She refused to accept anything other than that. "I've had success against much more hopeless situations than a doll." Like the absolute end of the world with doomsday cults. See, the situation could be quite a lot worse, couldn't it?

"I had thought the same...." she shook her head. "Two people isn't a large sample size, however I think it might be safe to hypothesis that we did actually see the doll..." Well, that was something. "It's possible that it's power works in proximity, the closer it is the easier it is? If that's the case we could use that. One of us could watch while the other sleeps in an attempt to catch her. Once we've caught her we can..." Figure that out once they got there....

Yusuke hummed at the proposed idea. It sounded reasonably easy, if not slightly risky. There could be unknown factors concerning the doll, but they did have to try something… Otherwise they may never have a proper night sleep again until the doll got what it wanted (not great) or it disappeared when whatever strangeness affecting the city was at an end (also not great).

“It wouldn’t be hard to set up, and it seems like a reasonable step to take towards catching it.” The teen agreed with a soft nod, though he didn’t like the ‘cross that bridge when we get to it’ energy to when they caught the doll. “Let us try it and see what we can do. Even if we only work out a little more concerning the doll’s behavior and abilities, it’s a step towards dealing with it.”

With a thoughtful tilt of his head a moment later, he continued. “Do you have anything we might use to trap the doll if it does appear in physical form? We may want to find something on the way.”

"Having a plan at all is affected preferable to floundering in the darkness." At the very least it made her feel considerably better to have some semblance of a plan. It wasn't much but it was better than the nothing she'd had just moments ago.

"I'd be willing to be the one to stay up." Because of course she'd volunteer for that. Did it occur to her that they could just fake one of them being asleep? No. No it did not.

"Hmm... something to trap it in...I have a large clothes hamper. Would that do?

To be fair to Mitsuru, it hadn’t occurred to Yusuke either at the moment. They couldn’t be blamed for not coming up with the idea to fake being asleep, given they weren’t at their best at the moment. It even made sense to him for one of them to sleep, in case the doll was only drawn in when someone dreamed about it. “Then I suppose that means I shall be the one to take a nap if you are to stand vigil for the doll. I suppose the sooner we do this, the sooner we can reclaim a proper sleep in general.”

Because he was quite sure that Mitsuru needed it as much as he did. She looked like she hadn’t slept in ages.

“A hamper? Given the doll's size, I believe that should do nicely if it’s in solid condition!” He agreed lightly, stifling a little yawn.

"Unless you have any outright objects to taking a nap," she replied with a small smile that could almost be considered teasing. Mitsuru may not have always been the best at engaging in teasing but she did try now and then! Sometimes she had more success than others, however she did feel confident that this time she had done quite well.

He wouldn't be wrong with his assumption that she did indeed need sleep herself, but in her own mind she was responsible for this. It was ridiculous of her to think that, but it was simply the way it was.

"Wonderful, then we have a plan."

“Hardly. I’m a champion at napping, as it were.” He responded with a smile. Whether he realized she was teasing or not, he seemed to find it in him to respond in a lighter tone as well. Gesturing with a little less flourish than usual, he considered the next steps. “Let us spring our plan into action, and catch ourselves a haunted doll!” He ended with a little bow before straightening and looking in the direction of the housing.

“I shall let you retrieve the hamper and meet once you’re ready?” Yusuke asked with a little tilt of his head, realizing they should probably make sure they had everything set and ready for when the doll made an appearance.

"Even after all I have seen, I had never imagined hearing something such as that," she shook her head. "Though it does remind of a storytime that a friend gave..." Junpei's believe it or don't was certainly brought to mind here. Perhaps she'd have to tell Yusuke about that eventually! now was certainly not the time though.

She gave a sharp nod. "Certainly. I won't be long, perhaps thirty minutes."

“Well now you have, and you shall witness it!” He responded with an attempt at a lighter tone, though he paused as Mitsuru continued. “I should like to hear that story sometime.” He added, though recognized now was not necessarily the time for it.

For now, though, he let her go to collect their doll-containment-unit. “I shall be waiting for your return, then.” He agreed, and true to his word, he was where he was expected to be once Mitsuru had retrieved the hamper. Half asleep already, sitting in a chair.

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