piratejournal | [voice]

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gan ning

[voice]

So, uh. Kind of a weird question. For everybody.

Any of you other crews that placed in the race and got prizes...did any o' you guys get half a map, by any chance? Figured I'd check with the others before I start huntin' the locals down.

Tell me somethin' interesting. I got a lot on my mind and a hell of a lot of open ocean between me an' a state of complete inebriation on Deesuko Ballia. Be better to fill it with stupid chatter, eh?

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Anything interesting, huh? I've got stories to tell if you want to hear them. Hm!

[hmm, a new voice]

If it's an interesting story. Give it a shot.

Well, there was a violin player that longed to make his name known forever, but he was poor and only known in his town. His desire was so great though that he attracted the attention of a demon, who promised him that if he played a song of its creation on a specific violin that his dream would become reality. That man didn't care what price he had to pay, so the deal was made, sealed within his eye. A powerful song was born that came to be known as The Devil's Trill, for only a master of the violin could play it.

The violin was passed down by the demon to other violinists that longed to make their name known, and every time they were compelled to play the Trill, they lost a piece of their soul to the demon. None of them cared about the price to be paid, so the demon claimed many a prize. Then, by chance, a played had an accident and died. Before the demon could claim his prize though, the contract went missing from the man's eye. The man's eyes had been given to a young man that was going blind, and by a stroke of luck, whether good or bad, he was a young, poor violin player...

[He paused a moment.]

Is it interesting so far?

It's weird, that's for sure. That sounds like a long way to go to get somebody's soul...

When it comes to demons, they enjoy toying with their food before consuming it. That tends to be a disadvantage when people that know them better come along to stop them. They are creatures of bad habits. Hm...

Anyway, the innocent violinist struggled against jealous rivals, but his talent was best by far. His heart was pure, and he could not help feeling guilt for the original owner of his new eyes' fate. In search of their next of kin, he met the man's only family, his daughter. Their meeting was not by chance, and the two became good friends. When his own violin was destroyed by his enemies, the child gave the musician her father's violin, the very violin the demon had given him. With the contract and violin in the same possession once again, the demon only had to find a means to kill the young man to claim his promised prize.

However, after the young musician nearly gave in the demon's torment, two guardians came to save him from the gates of Death. They had been sent from the afterlife to stop the demon from taking his soul. After drawing out the demon using the violin as bait, one of the guardians engaged the demon, nearly destroying him completely. Unfortunately, the demon possessed the injured guardian just before its body perished. Try as the guardian might, the demon overtook him and tried to kill the musician once again. His plan failed though because the other guardian sensed his presence.

The battle between the guardian and demon came to the afterlife, where the possessed guardian caused massive destruction as he hunted for the child of the previous violinist. His prize was the child that could see demons, blessed by Heaven. The remaining guardian had hidden her in the afterlife, but the demon had combed its host for information. While the demon faced off against the guardian, within, the other guardian struggled to regain his body. It wasn't until the pure-hearted young man called to him that the battle turned against the demon at last. He was forced out of the guardian's body, but before he could harm any more, he was destroyed in a final attack from his former host, a massive explosion...

The demon was gone, but the blessed child was lost as well. In the end, the musician returned to the world of the living. He picked up the demon's violin, and he played The Devil's Trill in honor of the fallen, the lost, and the guardians he would never forget.

...huh. Wow. [quietly impressed]

Afterlife's really as lively as they say, then.

It has it's moments. Hm-hm!

Did it get more interesting for you in the end?

It's a lot to wrap my head around, yanno? Things aren't like that where I come from. Although...I suppose that ain't totally true, after bein' in a demon dimension myself.

A demon's dimension? Were you trapped there?

Yep. Destroyed him twice and we were still trapped there. At least till I got yanked here, so I guess the only way out is for some other jerk to want you in another world.

Twice huh? Sounds like you had a stubborn one to deal with.

Though how did you get there in the first place? Was there a gateway or a portal of some kind?

Shyeh, if only it were that easy. Orochi did it himself - there were earthquakes and then the whole sky went dark, and next thing we know he's ripped up whole chunks of our kingdom and some other lands and brought 'em to his world.

Sure, havin' familiar places like Hefei and Jianye around wasn't so bad, it wasn't like here where everything is different. But they weren't in all the right places, and there's weird castles in between 'em.

Oh wow! That's pretty intense, and you say you've been trapped there ever since until you were brought to this place? The person pulling the strings here must be powerful indeed...

Huh. Hadn't really thought of that. But for Davy Jones to be even more powerful than Orochi - and Orochi's so damn powerful it takes an army of mystics to even face him? Shit.

So Davy Jones really is the person that brought us here? I wasn't too sure about that when I first arrived, but I supposed someone that has been here longer would know better than myself. I wonder...

Where I'm from, only demons and gods hold power like that.

That's what everyone and everything says. I don't think there'd be a huge month-long race in his honor where the damn ghost shows up himself if he wasn't behind at least somethin'.

Sounds like quite the character. I'll have to keep on my toes then, huh?

Uh huh. If you can fight, you better get ready to fight.

The ghost ship passed right by us at the end of the race. Gave me chills like I ain't never got even starin' down hordes of demons.

I have some combat experience, but I'm not sure how good it will measure up right now. I'd have to test it. Thanks for the heads up though.

Have you ever looked death in the face? That can be pretty unsettling, too...

Nah. There's been about a hundred times when I've felt like I wasn't gonna leave the battlefield alive. Death has a thousand faces and half of 'em are Wei or Shu soldiers. It don't bother me much. There's things worse than gettin' killed.

Yeah... You have a point there.

[Dying and waking up in an Afterlife court room was unnerving.]

You must be a seasoned soldier then. Can't say I have much on you in that regard. You must have seen a lot before that demon snatch you up, too.

Damn right I have. Gan Ning, styled Xingba, general of Wu.

Not that a hell of a lot of people around here even know where that is or anything, but sometimes it's fun to throw my title around.

Hm! You much have little trouble in these waters than. I doubt I do know the origin, but the words sound kind of familiar. Chinese maybe? I have some friends from there... sort of...

[How did you explain the Chinese district of Gensoukai?]

I've heard people call it that before, though that's not what we call it. So sure, we'll go with that.

What do you call it? I like to learn about people and respect their heritage. In a place like this, I can image it's all some people have to hold onto to keep them sane.

I know some that don't even know that about themselves.

[Voice]

youhearthebells - 2014-09-07 00:39 (UTC) - Expand

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amethystsregret - 2014-09-07 00:44 (UTC) - Expand

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