8424/Sacrifice of the Dead

Sacrifice of the Dead
Date of Scene:	25 October 2021
Location:	Central Park (Shinto shrine)
Synopsis:	Demona prays in desperation. Inari sends Saeko to listen to her request. A sacrifice is made, and a breath of life is given.
Cast of Characters:	Susan Sullivan, Saeko

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Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona walks through central park to the place specified. She finds the Inari shrine tucked right where it was described to her. She moves to it and kneels down. "Hey," she says at the shrine. "I know most faiths don't accept worship from those such as me, but do you think you could help a sister out? Please? I don't really know what I'm doing, here. How am I supposed to pray to you?" She pulls out her phone and starts googling, trying to figure out how to do it 'right'.

Saeko has posed:
Technically speaking, for a Tenko to appear to someone in the past it was only the most devout invocations of a priest or priestess...or those most in need. In Saeko's case? She'd been a little more deliberately flexible in the interpretation, and she leaned in the second rationale.

There was no flare of light, no booming voice or smoke and wind...just a scent on the breeze of sweet flowers and seemingly 'life' itself...and a quiet giggle.

She knew Demona, or at least of her, and as the fox spoke up from behind the woman she wasn't diguised as a human. Instead her tails, ears and those 'whiskerlike' markings on her features were on full display.

"Close enough."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona stands and looks at the other woman. "Oh!" she says. "Hi!" She seems at a loss. "Are you...are you a goddess?"

Saeko has posed:
A laugh from her lips, the kitsune shakes her head, floating lightly into the air and then touching down. Arms crossed under her bust, those tails waver behind her form as she moved. "I am a Tenko, a divine servant of the goddess Inari...perhaps closer to what some might consider a 'demigod', but such words are not quite accurate either."

A shrug, she leans forwards, tilting her head to the side. "I have not seen this sort of curse in a very long time..."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "It's not exactly local," the Jiangshi notes with a nod. "I was wondering...could you guys make me live? I mean...it's probably a little harder than just adding life to the mix, but...gods, you know?" She looks a bit bashful as she addresses the fox girl. "That's kind of what I'm here about. I promised a friend of mine I'd try."

Saeko has posed:
"Mairin," Saeko muses, smiling a little as she moves to talk a lazy circle around Demona, the clad in that red revealing yukata and seeming to assess Demona's, looking deeper than the surface even from the corner of her eye. "She attempted to make an offering on your behalf but...this is not how that worked. After all, such things usually take a offering of meaning, depth and importance. To bring forth such a blessing from Inari was usually for the most respectful, practiced and devout after all..."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. "She told me there would be an offering," she says. "She didn't tell me she tried on my behalf, but that's between me and her or you and her. Anyway, I already know what I want to offer." She holds up a key fob with two long, vehicle keys dangling from a ring affixed to it. "My van is my whole life. It is everything I own, my whole life's savings--it is everything to me."

Saeko has posed:
"Your very own...kingdom," Saeko muses, lips quirking to an expression of amusement at some humor likely making more sense to herself rather than something she expected Demona to know of. Seemingly, it was important enough, Saeko nods her head, folding her hands in her lap and reclining back. Seemingly floating, the tails fan out around her almost forming a throne as she considers Demona.

"Are you certain?" she speaks softly, "what comes next for your life may well be...unexpected." A pause, those eyes that held an amber light danced with something else, brighter and almost radient blue-white.

"Make your prayer, speak clear what you wish..."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Demona nods. She kneels down and drapes the keys to her van over the little altar. She closes her eyes and clutches her hoodie over her sternum with both hands. She wants this, but she's clearly nervous about it. "Please," she tries. "Please give me my life back."

Saeko has posed:
A wish made it wasn't, Saeko and Inari both were not some 'genie'. Whatever Inari might decide worthy, such a blessing would not be passed on by the Tenko without offering. A prayer invoked, a personal sacrifice offered into the embrace of the Amatsu-kami...it was closer to the traditions than Demona might realise. And there was power in it, a power that manifested in the glowing 'kitsunebi' that engulfed the keys and likely the van itself elsewhere...and was mirrored in the light that danced around Saeko's form and blazed in her eyes to the point of nearly losing all color and detail.

She steps down from her invisible perch, moving closer toward Demona and reaching out a hand to cup the hooded woman's chin. She's drawn close, closer still until the kitsune touches her brow to the Jiangshi's own...and the light flows from between her lips to the other woman's own. A breath of life given, a warmth and sensation that dances down the nerves and alights heartbeat once more.

Life, but what would become of it? That was for the woman to discover for herself.

The light is blinding, overwhelming...and then it's gone, along with the Kitsune herself, leaving only a scent on a swirling breeze.