Nightshift 34: Outside the Institute - West

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Leaving the shadow of the institute, the shinigami headed westward toward the looming mountains. The ground quickly sloped upwards, rocky and uneven, but the footing was solid. She continued her train of thought, expanding on the description she'd given Signum about being trapped in a gigai.

"Imagine a boiler running fairly hot that has a malfunctioning pressure valve, where only small bits of steam are released through the valve from the sheer force of the pressure inside, constantly putting stress on the main body of the reservoir," she described. "The main body is somewhat malleable and it tries to compensate, but doing so weakens to overall structure, creating stress in places not reinforced to handle such intensity."

This was why, Momo believed, the shinigami experienced the physical injuries they do whenever they use kidou. She just called it spiritual backlash because it softened the implications behind it.

Comments

[blazing-general.livejournal.com]

Signum nodded. "I know what you mean. It isn't common, but that kind of injury can occur in magic users." Well, they weren't exactly the same, but the nature of Hayate and Nanoha's afflictions had been similar, insofar as the body was damaged by overdrawing mana.

The knight spoke slowly, watching the rocky ground around them carefully. One would tend assume that the inside of the institute was more dangerous than without... but she couldn't rule out a final line of defense, or other dangers not linked to their captors at all.

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

There was fog laying in the air. It wasn't enough to hamper visibility by much, but it did add to the eerie silence of the surroundings. Even in the middle of the night, shouldn't there be sounds of typical wildlife? Momo was finding it a little creepy.

"What I think is happening when I use kidou is that I'm forcing reiatsu through those weakened places in this gigai but the general structure of it as well as the limiter is working as an opposing force against it," Momo stated. "Hence the injuries just from accessing my reiatsu."

She climbed up on a rocky outcropping and surveyed the area. "Seated officers rarely spend more than a day or two in a gigai and vice captains and captains almost never do unless it's absolutely necessary. The unseated, with their weaker reiatsu do not suffer the problems I do."

Still seeing nothing, she looked over at Signum. "Tell me... when you aren't under this limiter, do you have the ability to sense the general strength level of those around you?"

[blazing-general.livejournal.com]

"I can sense magical reserves. It was important for my original duties." Signum replied, referring obliquely to the Guardian Knights' dark task of collecting magic for the Book.

She wondered where this was heading... that sense was of little use here, and she suspected her abilities were very different from Momo's in their technical aspects. If Momo hoped to make use of it she was likely going to be disappointed.

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo nodded. "I can sense spiritual strength normally, though I can only pick up on the other shinigami here. I was just curious," she said, jumping down from the outcropping.

"Most likely, our senses are tailored differently, so if we break free of the limiter, we will not be able to sense each other, despite the incredible strength of your spirit," she added on.

She theorized that if they started breaking range of the limiter, if that was even possible, their senses would return first and possibly give them a heads up. Since that didn't seem like it would be helpful, given what their individual senses are, the shinigami decided to warn her friend about what would likely happen once the limiter was broken.

"That being the case, if this body suddenly goes up in bright pink flames or there's a flash of a large fire bird over top of me and I disappear, don't be alarmed. Just look up." Her brow furrowed. "I think you'll still be able to see me."

[blazing-general.livejournal.com]

Signum nodded, her usual ability to accept the matter-of-fact discussion of such fantastic topics with equanimity having apparently returned to her.

"I will probably remain as I am," the knight told Momo... and felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air as she considered whether there was any other possibility. "Unless I return to the Book..."

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo's brow furrowed deeper. "Book? Oh... you mean Reinforce-san." She was now trying to picture Reinforce as a book. She was having some issues accomplishing this, but if she thought about her as a zanpakuto she could manage to do so in a roundabout way. The strain appeared in her face for a moment before she nodded to herself.

"I thought you were free of her. Was I wrong in that assumption?"

[blazing-general.livejournal.com]

"She gave us independence, so that we would survive her death, but..." Signum shook her head.

"That would only slow her down, not stop her. She doesn't need any kind of special connection or advantage to reverse what she did. In truth," the knight's voice wavered slightly, "I can't oppose her at all."

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo stopped and looked at Signum. There it was again - that fear the knight did a good job of hiding. Momo had a few ideas as to how preventing Signum from going back to the Book could be done, but she had no idea if they would work and the option she was fairly certain would work she didn't ever want to do. Even so... just as she had a hard time equivocating Reinforce to being a book, she had just as hard of a time thinking of her as evil.

"I won't claim to understand anything concerning her, but my gut tells me she wouldn't force you back into a life of servitude to someone you have no wish to serve," Momo replied simply. She didn't think Signum would appreciate any reassuring, so the shinigami's voice held none of that, just her personal opinion.

"My gut has been wrong many times, my captain being a prime example of that, but I've met Reinforce-san and she's so... nice. She tried to do good. A part of me wants to have faith in what I saw."