soul_campaign | [16: July 25th, Noon

[It's already past 100 degrees out, so the video catches Kanji in his usual form-fitting sleeveless tops. He's bruised in several places and bandages are stuck on exposed skin every which way to cover up where beaks and claws had broken skin, but the Meister looks a little more tired than anything else. He runs an upper arm over his forehead to mop up a bit of sweat.]

S'dry heat, I know, but it's still hot as balls out--

[Oh. Shit. The red light's on a little sooner than he thought. Well then. Enjoy your colorful comparison, if you can call it that.]

Uh, sup? ...So it's done. Took down our witch, and we got ourselves another Deathscythe runnin' around. But somethin' went wrong after the witch soul was absorbed, so we had to stay in the clinic for a couple days until Naoto stabilized. Whole lotta power rushin' around in the soul beats the shit outta you. Yeah. Who knew? But...

[He turns the device to look over his shoulder. The detective's on the couch in the apartment living room, testing commands against Watson, the rottweiler pup, who is madly wagging his tail and making huffing noises as he sits, lies down, speaks and so on. Camera's back to the owner, who for the moment is still a little distracted by the scene.]

...We're all good, I think. Gotta check back in a day or two for the all clear, but... shit...

[He tightens his jaw and keeps himself as cool as he can be. But he's not looking at the camera and there's the slight tinge of pink across his face, betraying the demeanor just a little.]

I'm jus'... r-relieved, y'know? I thought I fucked up somehow. So I guess consider this a heads up for the guys out there gettin' close to their last few souls: Keep an eye on your partner. Don't let up.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh uh- Last night, yeah. They held us up a little longer than we thought, so...

[He blinked and thought a moment.]

...Yeah, m-maybe. That salve ya made a while back was pretty damn good. The docs missed somethin' stingin' on her back, but if there's somethin' I could use that'll ease up the pain while I keep it bandaged...

[A nod.] Sure, I can mix a batch of it tomorrow. Is it a cut or just a scrape? Strange that the doctors would miss it...

Is she okay otherwise?

Mm, I'd have done exactly the same.

The Weapon has to actually fight the Witch's soul, in order to absorb it?

[This is the first time he's heard it put that way.]

We're... we're not sure, actually. The soul put markings on her back, and the docs figured she got new tats, so they ignored 'em. I got a tattoo a few years back, so I've been treatin' it like that to help with the discomfort.

Markings on her back? Is that supposed to be normal in these cases? I can make the salve but I can't say that I've ever tried giving it to someone for a new tattoo before. Or even know how to take care of one in general...

What I'm told's that bein' a Deathscythe changes your weapon form, soups it up a little. So I dunno... maybe this is part of it.

That's how the docs put it. The Sway of Magic they got's real unstable, but pretty powerful. So I guess it's like tryin' to wrestle a magic crocodile.

[A pause.]

...Shit, that didn't make sense at all.

Changes the Weapon form? I never heard about that before... Does Naoto turn into a different type of Weapon than before then?

Congrats. Did her Weapon form change at all?

We haven't tried makin' her transform yet. Will try that soon. Oh yeah, man, I have a question! Do body changes happen too? Like markings?

Nah, not like that. But they get fancier-lookin', like an upgrade.

You should. It will be interesting to see if the Witch soul altered her form a bit. Not for me; I was just blinded by my success and achy because of the beating I took to get it. Otherwise, Sephiroth suffered little obvious physical changes like markings. Why?

The Witch we took down had some tattoos, and after the soul was eaten, Naoto got a couple on her. The stinging she describes sounds the same as when I got the one I have on my arm, so I've been treatin' it the same with bandages and stuff. The doctors weren't worried about 'em, thought she got inked up before the mission, but I figure she should get 'em checked just in case.

Oh. I see. And all of this happened when she absorbed the witch's soul? But how you had to stay in the clinic afterwards makes me wonder if this is really safe...

[Even if it was supposedly the way things were here and Lezard never reacted badly to any of the souls he'd consumed, the idea of Weapons absorbing souls for power always seemed a bit uncomfortable.]

I was worried like hell for the last few days, wondering the same thing. But... she's bouncin' back. The way I'm seein' it, I think the power from the 99 souls help ya control the last one.

Maybe that's why it's always in that order to make a Deathscythe.

I wouldn't worry. Every witch affects each Weapon differently I would say. If Naoto wants notes to compare, she should talk to Sephiroth. Of course, now that you two are Deathscythe, we should do a mission together. We can compare notes.

[An eyebrow goes up a bit at that.] Is a witch's soul really that strong? But I'm glad she's recovering.

And what about you? Are you okay, Kanji? [She had the impression Naoto might not have been the only one who needed to be in the clinic...]

They patched me up while I stuck around to keep an eye on her. I'm sore, but it ain't gonna kill me.

[But he nods.] Hell yeah a witch's soul's strong! You see the kinda damage they do. All the powers we got comes right from the soul in this world.

Hell yeah! I'm down for note-trading. But I'll run the idea by her to talk to Sephiroth. Deathscythe to Deathscythe!

[But if he wanted to be honest, Sephiroth was scary as hell.]

And I'll tell Sephiroth to play civil.

[He knows most peoples opinion of his partner after all.]

[There's a small frown and she shakes her head.] I haven't directly seen a witch other than that one with the lion. [She's only heard stories secondhand and that's why she's been somewhat doubtful about how dangerous they are.]

But feel free to take some more days off until you're completely recovered.

Heh, it made sense to me.

The other ninety-nine souls... What you said before seemed to imply the Witch's soul would try to take them for itself? Or at least keep then out of the final battle.

[He stares at Kanji pointedly.]

Would you rather have a Naoto-style celebration?

Thanks, but I ain't gonna need much longer. Everybody still needs their buttons fixed n' skirts mended, y'know?

...H-hell no!

I mean, we gotta do somethin' big, but if Naoto catches wind of it, she'll hole herself up at work or somethin' to dodge. And she's hard as hell to hide shit from.

[A sigh, a ruffle of his hair.] Detectives...

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[16: July 25th, Noon | Video]

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