piratejournal | 001. voice

Entry tags:

001. voice

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[These anomalies are beginning to irritate him. That, and the mental debating whether or not he should even accept them as reality in the first place.

~~Unfortunately for Motochika~~ he's inclined to ask about the aforementioned person he's apparently spoken to. Maybe Mitsunari can seek new information from the man in question. Something to bolster (or discredit) Motochika's claims.]

This man, Motochika. Is he yet another pirate with deplorable taste in companions?

[Well. In fairness, a 'similar life' could mean anything.]

[He'll shrug that one off for now.]

Not a pirate, though I do question his judgment in who he chooses to surround himself with. When I say he's led a life similar to mine, I mean it in more ways than I'd like. He too is Motochika, the man who conquered Shikoku, a captain of his own ship who sails his own seas. I don't understand how such a thing is possible, yet I can't deny that it is. I've even met him face to face and he doesn't begin to resemble me, but there are many aspects of our life that are the same.

[No amount of time passing will lessen how much it vexes him.]

What does it mean? That there could be other men calling themselves Mitsunari Ishida gallivanting about this place, too?

Why the devil isn't any of this making sense?!

[All he knows is that there had better not be a second Ieyasu to contend with. One is already unacceptable.]

It makes no more sense to me than it does you and I've had months to think on it. There are no other Mitsunaris that I know of, though that doesn't mean we'll never see one. There are, without a doubt, two Motochikas, though. One of whom sails with a Mitsuhide that the Demon King we know of would never have taken on as a retainer.

[This one would have fainted dead away if he'd so much as seen Azuchi Castle from a distance.]

[It's been a long time since he's been bothered to think about Akechi Mitsuhide in any capacity. Not since long before Hideyoshi's death, certainly. As a result, he can't place the name at first, though he's never been good with names to start with.

At last he recalls the man, and what a distasteful individual he was.]

How different could they be, if they are both Akechi Mitsuhide?

As different as a black night in winter and a sunny spring morn and I choose my words deliberately on that one. The Mitsuhide I've come to know here is a fragile, emotional creature who needs the Motochika of his world to hold his hand to so much as face the world around him. You needn't concern yourself with either of them or their crew of milksops.

[Perhaps he exaggerates, but not by much.]

You... are indescribably daft, Motochika! How can you heed those dissimilarities and still consider them both to be the same person? Is a simple shared name proof enough to convince you?

[Alternate selves, how do they work?

He hasn't forgotten the myriad other reasons he's upset with Motochika today, but he can't help taking a moment to voice his bewilderment at all this.]

I agree that I fail to see any similarity, but I believe there are a few between the other Motochika and myself. Enough that I'll take his word for it when he names his companion as Mitsuhide.

[Please don't make him tell you about the time Mitsuhide brought up that nickname. It was part of what convinced him that he was indeed dealing with people from some strange alternate world, but Mitsunari really doesn't need to know about it.]

[Mitsunari makes a frustrated sound.]

Fine, then. Let us assume he is actually Mitsuhide, and that this second Motochika is just that.

Ultimately, what do I care?

It does not explain the original issue: the events you claim to remember that I do not!

[The time for learning about that nickname may not be now, but someday, Motochika. Someday.]

[You're making him think, Mitsunari. This isn't really his specialty.]

In a way, I believe it does. Perhaps, somehow, they happened in my life, but not yours. What actions do you recall me taking?

[He takes a second to recall.]

...Seeking revenge against Ieyasu, you expressed an interest in making an alliance with the Western Army. I went personally to that fortress of yours in order to confirm your intentions, and then took you on as an ally, if against my better judgment.

Do you remember otherwise?

I do. That was something I considered, but I chose to seek out Sa-- Magoichi's aid first.

[Could it be that such a small thing could change so much?]

Had I not spoken to her, I may well have done just as you said.

And after speaking with Magoichi, you went to Osaka.

...

Did you encounter Yoshitsugu there?

[His voice is oddly quiet, and it sounds as though it's possible there's a wrong answer to this question.]

I spoke to the One-Eyed Dragon and confronted Ieyasu before Magoichi told me what she had learned of Motonari and Yoshitsugu's plan, but upon receiving word from her I did indeed travel to Osaka and I met with Yoshitsugu there. Why do you ask?

[He's not sure what to make of that tone, but he's answered the question honestly.]

What became of that meeting?

[What he means is...]

Did Yoshitsugu come to harm?

He fell by my hand, Mitsunari. I will not lie to you and say otherwise.

[The Mitsunari he'd spoken to had been quick to accept his explanation on that day, quick to accept that Yoshitsugu had been feeding him lies. Surely he must have had some suspicion deep within his heart, no matter how much he considered the man a trusted advisor.]

He wished me to be an accomplice in his villainy, to corrupt my soul and leave me as twisted as he was by tricking me into slaying a man I consider a true friend. I would have none of it.

[Mitsunari is thoroughly unsure how to react to this revelation. If Motochika isn't mistaken about Shikoku after all, then how can he object to his actions? Wouldn't it all mean that Mitsunari himself had been betrayed, too? It's true he'd been suspicious of Yoshitsugu from time to time...

But those uncertain thoughts were always overshadowed by the simple desire to trust him. And even now, Mitsunari direly wants to have faith. If they were in Osaka, it would have been much easier to stomach the truth, but waking up in an alternate world doesn't do much for a person's clarity of mind. Especially not if that person is Mitsunari.

He doesn't snap or fly into a rage. He just sounds deeply unhappy, deeply conflicted.]

You slayed someone I considered a friend, Motochika.

Edited (whoops, icon) 2014-02-24 06:32 (UTC)

I know, but in doing so I saved many a life, especially if it is as it seems and that East and West would have met on the battlefield if I had not.

[It's not so different from what Ieyasu was faced with when it came to Hideyoshi, but he dares not bring that up now. Even he has enough sense to know that.]

The Mitsunari I know forgave my actions and the Motochika you know did not perform them, so perhaps we should set this aside for now.

[It's something better addressed later, face to face and without the confusion added by Mitsunari's sudden appearance in this world.]

That is easier said than done.

[But if he can't make up his mind what to think, even he can see it would be best to put some other thought to the forefront. Besides, he doesn't really want to consider something like Yoshitsugu's demise any more than is absolutely necessary. Even if that demise might have been warranted. Especially so.

In lieu of that depressing matter, there are still the rest of the timeline discrepancies to consider.]

--What of Motonari?

[He never liked Motonari, doesn't really care if the man's dead in Motochika's memory or not, but his actions are relevant to the discussion.]

He fell at Itsukushima without a single word of remorse for all that he had done. His anger at my words before I struck him down was perhaps the only emotion he ever summoned from his cold, black heart. None will mourn him.

[Before long, none will even remember him. Motonari had no room in his heart for others and so no other hearts opened to allow him to find a place within them.]

He was never anyone's ally but his own, so surely his loss is of no matter to you.

May that snake's corpse rot where it lies.

[Shikoku or no Shikoku, he feels he deserved his fate by virtue of being simply untrustworthy.]

Once you killed him, what did you do then?

I begged Ieyasu for his forgiveness for having doubted him, which he readily granted. I turned my back on Itsukushima then and I've not looked back since. It was my intent to honor my fallen men and rebuild Shikoku, but I've found myself interrupted by this nonsense.

[Nonsense which has no end in sight, he might add. There are days when he wonders if he'll ever see his beloved island again.]

[And there again is the biggest point of contention for Mitsunari.]

What's nonsense is your disgusting emotional attachment to Ieyasu. He ought to be lying dead next to Motonari.

At the end of the day they are both complete and utter lowlifes! That does not change even if we assume Ieyasu did not have a hand in your land's destruction!

[Not wholly convinced that Ieyasu is lacking in culpability, Mitsunari might be coming across like something of a conspiracy theorist.]

He has never wronged me or mine and regardless of what you may think, I know him to be a good man.

[He won't voice his thoughts on the matter of Hideyoshi. His only experience with the man was having to fight him off after he'd had the audacity to think he could take Shikoku from its rightful owner. He hadn't been terribly impressed by the big gorilla.]

I'd advise you to belay your quest for revenge while you remain here. Save that for your own world where it will have meaning.

[Especially considering death isn't even permanent in this accursed place.]

So long as his actions do not affect you, it doesn't matter what manner of evil he engages in, is that it? Why did I expect any better of you?

[It's time to resort to cold words and insults once again. You would think he's got a quota to meet.]

Furthermore, why is it that you and everyone else feel compelled to share your opinions on the way I conduct myself?! I will tell you what I told Magoichi Saika: I have no interest in your "advice"!

[Voice]

seadevil - 2014-03-01 01:45 (UTC) - Expand

[Voice]

curseking - 2014-03-02 05:53 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only