001. voice

[curseking]

Why, exactly, should I waste my time running around in search of an imaginary, wish-granting gem?

[The disgruntled voice you're hearing belongs to Mitsunari Ishida. As haranguing townsfolk has ultimately gotten him nowhere, he's finally taken a look at the apparently magic journal he woke up with. The accompanying note from "Scurvey Dog" has cleared up a couple of things, but the answers aren't quite what he wanted to hear.]

I detest pirates, I detest this absurd place, and all I "wish" for is to know one thing: where I will find the man known as Ieyasu Tokugawa.

For the sake of Lord Hideyoshi, inform me of his whereabouts at once!

[Clearly someone isn't in the mood for smalltalk. There's no "thank you for your time" after this message or anything. That's that.]

Comments

[Voice]

[seadevil]

[Forgive this poor bastard for being from a timeline where he did his level best to make everything better and more or less succeeded and thus having no idea what he's getting into with all of you and your red route angst.]

Ahoy, Mitsunari! It seems we're all gathering now. So be it then, especially if it bolsters my crew a bit! You'll find Ieyasu and I on the Katabami.

[To be quite honest, he's been a bit worried about how Mitsunari has been doing back home without him to stop in and check on him now and then. Is he sleeping? Is he eating enough? You can't just tell a man to live his life and not make sure he's keeping up his end of the bargain, after all.]

[Voice]

[curseking]

[You might be able to hear the terrible sound of Mitsunari's brain short-circuiting.

Indeed, Motochika's cheer is met with sheer disbelief.]

Motochika! Why is Ieyasu amongst your crew?!

[He won't be sleeping much with this on his mind...]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

Eh? Why wouldn't he be? We cleared up our misunderstanding long ago and he forgave me my foolishness. You can't have forgotten so quickly.

[Despite multiple exposures to the strange way this world works with regards to time and space, it still hasn't occurred to him that maybe this isn't the same exact Mitsunari he knows. It's never occurred to him to compare notes with Ieyasu over what's happened in their respective lives.]

[Voice]

[curseking]

Misunderstanding? What was there to misunderstand?!

If anyone here has forgotten anything, it's you!

[The confusion only builds. The last they spoke, Motochika had wanted Ieyasu dead. What, Mitsunari wonders, could have possibly happened to change that?

But at least there's the information he's been looking for: he now knows that Ieyasu is here, and where he can find him.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

[No, it really seems to be you, Mitsunari.]

I've forgotten nothing. Ieyasu never wronged me as I thought he had. Surely you remember? It was I that told you, after all, of Motonari and Yoshitsugu's machinations. I understand it was a bitter pill to swallow, but I thought you'd come to terms with it.

[Voice]

[curseking]

What are you talking about?! Are you implying that Yoshitsugu has done something wrong?!

[An uneasy realization strikes him. Could Motochika be referring to Shikoku...?

Motonari he can definitely imagine being involved. He never liked him for a reason. But Yoshitsugu? Never!]

Let me warn you: you are not believe a single word that comes out of Ieyasu's mouth! He will lead you astray!

[Voice]

[seadevil]

It was Sayaka's information and their own admissions that revealed the conspiracy. Do you truly not remember? What's happened to you? Have you not been eating properly? Sleeping enough?

[Yes, Mitsunari is a little unhinged, but not this mad, or at least he didn't think that was the case. Has something happened during the time Motochika has been stuck in this accursed place?]

[Voice]

[curseking]

Do not patronize me, pirate.

Saika herself has no idea what you're talking about! I will not stand for you to spread these malicious lies!

[Mitsunari figures that he must be lying, or at least somehow mistaken. Otherwise, it would just be too awful.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

[It really was that awful, which is why Motochika isn't sure how to answer.]

I can assure you they aren't lies, Mitsunari. I know what I've lived through, even though it seems no one else does. I had not thought this place we've found ourselves in could complicate things to this extent, but I fear that it's the same magic that's confounded me before finding an especially cruel way to confound me yet again.

[Voice]

[curseking]

[He can hear the earnestness in Motochika's words, and it puts him further on the defensive.]

Allow me to ask this! Where is your proof of all this? Why should I trust you over Yoshitsugu?

Yoshitsugu, may I remind you, did not feel so free as to invite Ieyasu of all people aboard his blasted pirate ship!

[Voice]

[seadevil]

All I can offer you is my word and you can take what you will of it. I know there's bad blood between you and Ieyasu and it's not for me to make apologies for him, but he's done me no wrong. In fact, he had it in him to forgive me when many a lesser man would not have and for that I am forever grateful to him.

[Motochika truly is nothing but earnest. He knows a reconciliation between Ieyasu and Mitsunari may not ever be truly possible, but if he could at least get them to co-exist...]

[Voice] 1/2

[curseking]

[A little switch goes off in Mitsunari's head, and his anger proceeds to skyrocket.]

Enough! You are an absolute fool, Motochika, like all the others he's won over! I am sick and tired of constantly hearing about the good, virtuous man he's supposed to be!

If that creature were so kind and forgiving, he would not have killed Lord Hideyoshi to begin with!

If Yoshitsugu and Motonari truly masterminded the events at Shikoku and not Ieyasu, then--

[Voice]

[curseking]

[And just like that he's caught off guard, hit by a terrible realization.]

--Then why does your anger not also reside with me?

[Voice]

[seadevil]

You knew nothing of it, yet you were willing to take responsibility for it and offer up your life. You're an honorable man, Mitsunari, and an honest one. I can bear no ill will towards you.

[He had been quite impressed then, when he had brought Mitsunari's blade to rest but a hair's breadth above the man's head and his gaze had not wavered even slightly. He has no doubts as to his character.]

[Voice] /threadhop

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

[Hearing Motochika's voice is a bittersweet thing right now. She has not met with him since the fall of the Toyotomi, and, in the chaos of all of that, she knows little of what he's been up to. One thing she did know of, though, was his alliance with Mitsunari. She would have been willing to overlook that as long as he wasn't openly hostile towards her current contract holder, but with him telling Mitsunari exactly where to find Ieyasu? Not promising.]

You've just told Ieyasu's location to the man that wants nothing more than to kill him. Explain yourself, Motochika.

[She will give him a chance to do that much. But in the meantime, she's off to try and find the Katabami before Mitsunari does.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

What?! Since when?! I thought I'd settled that mess! It was on intelligence you yourself gathered, Sayaka, so what explanation would you need from me?

[What on earth is going on here? His head is starting to hurt.]

[Voice]

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

Intelligence that I gathered? What are you babbling about? I haven't heard a single thing that would cause Mitsunari to let go of his grudge, not to mention that we're on opposite sides. Even if I had such information, I wouldn't simply give it away to the enemy, especially to one that I haven't even seen since the fall of the Toyotomi. And do not call me by that name, especially here in a public space!

[This really isn't the conversation she wants to be having now that they've finally, but this is seriously uncool, Motochika.]

[Voice]

[seadevil]

What the devil...

[Has everyone gone mad?]

Was it not you who told me that Motonari and Yoshitsugu were the ones who sought to use me as their puppet?

[If she hadn't truly known that, at least the men themselves had confirmed it.]

It was on your word that I acted! I know my own mind to be clear and I know what I remember, so don't try to deceive me!

[Voice]

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

Did I not just say that we hadn't met once during this war?

[Someone has clearly cracked their head here, and it isn't Magoichi.]

Though it does not surprise me that they would attempt to use you, I did not know anything about that before this moment. All of my manpower was focused on fulfilling our contract with Ieyasu. There was no one available to learn of their schemes.

How did you come about this information? Did you receive a message from someone claiming to be me? And you still have yet to explain why you apparently think that Mitsunari can coexist with Ieyasu.

[Voice]

[seadevil]

You gave it to me in person and I think by now I know you well enough not to be taken in by an imposter. You were under no such contract or you would have told me as much when I asked for your aid. [Instead of just punching him in the head for no reason.] I know full well what happened and I don't see what you gain from denying it or trying to make me think myself to be going mad. It was Motonari and Yoshitsugu's plan from the start to engineer the conflict between east and west for their own ends and it fell to me to put an end to it. To be used as he was by someone so close was almost more than Mitsunari could bear and he sought to take the blame on his own shoulders, but I denied him the chance and gave him his life to live instead. With his and my eyes opened and my own peace made with Ieyasu, why should I not believe that he'll be able to put his desire for revenge to rest as well?

[Voice]

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

That's the point, Motochika. I don't have anything to gain by making you even more of a madman. You're bad enough as you are. But the fact remains that I did not do what you say I did and have no idea why you think I did it when I could give you a detailed account of what I was doing instead.

[She pinches the bridge of her nose. While this journal has quite the potential as a tool for gathering intel, it does suffer from the fatal flaw of not letting her just punch some sense into Motochika.]

Because Ieyasu was still responsible for the death of Hideyoshi? I find it unlikely that Motonari and Yoshitsugu were responsible for that. Mitsunari is an emotional man, and betrayal is the greatest of sins to him. He will not let go of Ieyasu's actions simply because it wasn't the only betrayal that he faced.

[Voice]

[seadevil]

Perhaps not, but without Yoshitsugu pouring poisonous words in his ears and driving him further into madness, perhaps he'll be able to find it within himself to put it behind him. He's a good man and I have faith in him.

[For Motochika, this is how simple things are. Ieyasu may speak of bonds, but it's Motochika who truly believes in them.]

[Voice]

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

... Such a simple worldview will be the death of you, Motochika.

[When it comes to bonds, Magoichi has seen so many broken that she knows better than to rely on them, even if she herself would never break the ones she's made. Ethics are the better choice, overall, sticking doing what is asked and leaving it at that.]

But I suppose that's why I'm around, to keep that from that from happening when you find that good men do not always do the right thing.

[Voice]

[seadevil]

[So what if it's simple? It's a perfectly good worldview and it's suited him just fine, thank you. There was a time when he questioned it, but Ieyasu had been innocent after all, so why change how he thinks now?]

Say what you will, Sayaka, but I'll not change my heading.

[Voice]

[blackbirdgunsmoke]

I didn't expect it. Changing your choices because of such a simple conversation is a sign of a weak-willed man, something I know you aren't. Just... keep it in mind. I do not wish my job to be any more difficult than it already is.

[She might unhesitatingly leap into fire if it was to drag him out of it, but she would much rather him not play with it in the first place.]