Post-15 Strangers CMO!

[superstylishsquid]

For post-round shenanigans with Alastor, including renting his services as a multiversal taxi. People who wanted to keep in touch would have been told the proper pronunciation of his name to draw his attention from wherever he may be.

Comments

cw animal harm, infernal imagery, themes of mind control, chainsaw man manga spoilers, bad greek

[yesorwoof]

((This does not take place in main 15 Strangers postgame continuity but rather an alternative WCB R5 Epilogue scenario for casual fun. And serious character exploration!))

[Not a lot of people set foot inside Makima's two-story Tokyo apartment. Even fewer have seen the inside of her home office. Thus she has gone overboard with the flames in the lamps and the wall-mounted shelves of grimoires. It's a good thing the filing cabinets don't take up too much floor space, as she's had to move even the swivel chair she sits in beside her desk against the back wall of the room. (There's a red landline phone and no computer. Very 1990s.) A full-grown boar takes up a lot of space, barely fitting on the black cloth on the floor within the summoning circle of red chalk. There's blood on his tusk, and a gnaw mark on the right flank. She remembers the fracas over the lamb Kira found, and so this sacrifice will go over better than a rabbit, Makima thinks.

Now for the hard part. After being cut off from her reincarnations the first time, accessing six thousand years of Control Devil memories has never been the same. Makima has to focus her worldwide surveillance on the revivalists in Greece, the priests who remember the ancient rituals. An invocation of Chronos is what she can get in a pinch, to listen to and carefully repeat. That he might be able to hear her... that she knows she can't hear him, there's something he can do that she definitely can't... The knowledge makes her blood boil. She chills it. Makima knows that this is the only option she has left.]

Ω Ἀλᾰ́στορ, σε παρακαλούμε, καθιέρωσε το εδώ στο χώρο.

O Chronos ALASTOR (vocative!!), beseech to designate our time SPACE as future HERE.

[Makima summons Varatha and the two prongs of the spear gore the heart and throat of the boar.]

[superstylishsquid]

[The sacrifice isn't truly necessary to reach him, but it is a nice bit of encouragement to answer. As much as he has ready access to pre-butchered meat, that has the blood drained from it before it even leaves the slaughterhouse, and so isn't quite as valuable to him as something so freshly slain. It's enough, then, to convince him to answer Makima's call...and the full ritual eases the process. The circle flares with light, violet electricity crackling over it as the boar sinks into the ground with an effect that almost looks as though the floor beneath it has become an opaque liquid. A few moments pass, and then the floor ripples again as a pair of horns emerge, and then the rest of the devil, wings spread as though carrying him on an impossible updraft. Though he has other clothing these days, the outfit he's chosen for this visit is the same spandex from the ship, now layered with a breastplate, pauldrons, and a helmet that wouldn't look out of place on a Greek soldier if not for the visor of red glass across his eyes.]

Well...there's a voice I didn't expect to hear call my name, especially not with a full invitation and offering.

[yesorwoof]

Always with the theatrics...

[Makima sits there with her hands (all two of them! thanks again Eva!) folded in her lap as she watches Alastor magically rise up. She hadn't really known exactly how it was going to happen so she's looking closely but presents a facade of disdainful indifference. If he's absorbing the animal somehow or took it back into his own realm for later, she supposes that's less of a distraction.

(For both of them. She really does hope Alastor doesn't realize that. After all, that was always one of the easiest things for Makima to control.)

Likewise she's wearing the same Public Safety Devil Hunter uniform as was usual on the ship, now without the wear and tear. Makima should probably start with something other than what her suspiciously circular eyes drill in on.]

So nothing but the name was really necessary? I'm glad you at least appreciate the effort.

[So used to mind games that she really did overlook something that simple. Well, she got the job done. Seeing that the surreal effect of Alastor's entrance did not actually cover him in any kind of goo, Makima seems fit to take an invitation and hand it to him.]

You won't be surprised that I had absolutely no other choice. Did you know about this?

[superstylishsquid]

Drama's a weakness of mine, so sue me.

[He shrugs and lets his feet touch down on the now solid floor. The light fades from the runes, and the electricity dies down to nothing.]

The effort on your part did make it easier, so I guess I should thank you for that. The name just gets my attention, the rest has been on me with most other people.

[He takes the invitation and reads it over, then frowns and shakes his head.]

First I'm hearing of it, though I have been a bit busy. More interdimensional kidnapping?

[yesorwoof]

Using your energy?

[Interesting... Alastor might even dare to speculate this expression is a relative of her "devil lore nerd" face. She didn't listen for too much detail about reserves of mana or whatever powered the spells that he couldn't use while they were under Eva's tampering on the Gigantic. Makima is still feared strongly, her individual self and the concept that corresponds to her. That's her "power level" that's the biggest deciding factor in confrontations. Perhaps Alastor can relate to that more than she thought. At least Makima didn't bother him as much as he could have by summoning him in a way that demanded a large effort. She starts chattering again, getting into the cinematic details.]

Then perhaps it's possible to reverse the process and make it harder for someone to be taken. Wards, perhaps. That's what I want. I think we can work together on that common goal. [She shrugs.] Brain-kun and Akane-chan were taken to represent just one of several groups. It's sweet that Heart-kun was found along the way, but a little much. I didn't want to step away from my work for too long, so I'm still getting ahold of the full ramifications.

[superstylishsquid]

Using my energy, yeah.

[Energy, mana, magic. The specific terms aren't important, especially since he's already thinking about her suggestion. If the Gigantic wasn't just an isolated incident, then it does make perfect sense to look into ways to protect people.]

Wards to make it more difficult to leave a specific area are pretty common, but they fall short of what we'd need in a number of ways. Still, spatial manipulation magic is one of the areas I'm good at, so I think I can help you figure out something on that front. It won't be easy, but it should be doable...

[The light of his eyes sharpens, giving the impression of him focusing intensely on Makima.]

Especially for two powerful devils after the same thing.

[yesorwoof]

[Makima is listening thoughtfully as he mentions the limitations they may be facing. It's true - she considered ringing the summoning circle with herbs or salt but saw the hostility of it. For them to travel freely within their environments, from the house to the corner store and so on, a single binding circle won't do at all.

Before she starts giving voice to all these ideas, he says that. Makima tucks her head down just a little bit. The angle of her bangs and eyelids obscures the chicks in her irises a lot. Nothing can dull the amber of her eyes, a color not unlike the candlelight.]

Alastor-kun, what you're suggesting doesn't make any sense. Roland-kun had the power of true sight. He could see the form Ritsu-chan had in her heart. What did he see when he looked at me?

[She's just... insistent in her youthful, flat voice. Even though she shouldn't bother with the denial unless there's some kind of fear.]