The fourth judge nodded and gestured to the fridge.
”Get as much as you need” the judge stated, taking note of Koki’s swollen eyes.
The sixth judge sighed as he snapped his fingers. When the sound echoed in the room, a black and white feather fan appeared in his hand. He wafted heavily at Kaito once…
The winds was strong, almost pushing Kaito down, but when Kaito reached for his face, his bruise was gone, his jaws could move normally as if nothing had happened. He turned to the judge.
”What… how…?” the man was in shock… as you would when a gust of wind healed you completely without you feeling anything out of the ordinary.
”My weapon’s signature is literally called Healing Winds, what do you expect them to do?” the judge asked hysterically as the fan disappeared into thin air.
Kaito bowed deeply once.
”Thank you my lord” the man sincerely thanked the man for his actions.
”Please stop doing that, like I told you back at my court… think of me as a friend and not someone more superior than you. I get very uncomfortable with you bowing every time I do something for you” the sixth judge turned away, hiding his face in the court’s shadows.
The eighth judge laughed a bit at the sixth’s reaction to Kaito’s bowing. Clearly, these two judges were the more friendly ones.
Ryuusei was able to show a bit of a smile, after Kaito's jaw was healed by the judge's fan. He was starting to feel comfortable around the sixth judge as well, seeing his demeanor and disliking of the honorific title - not many people would act like that, so this was quite the rarity.
"Where to now, my lord?" he turned towards the eight judge.
The two judges turned to each other.
”Would Taishan be at her court now?” the eighth judge asked as the sixth shook his head.
”Alright, to the tenth court then” the eighth judge stated as the sixth judge went with the flow. The purple uniformed judge lead the way outside, towards the court which looked like a medium-sized castle covered in mainly cyan and turquoise.
”That was amazing wasn’t it?” Kaito who was walking beside Ryuusei, behind the two judges brought up, touching his face again. He was still in shock at the fact that the sixth judge had healed him with wind.
"Mn, it was." he answered, managing to get out another small smile. He himself wasn't that surprised about it, he had known that deities and anything not human could do many things, including healing through unnatural ways. He checked his hands as well, noting they too had been healed, so he thanked the sixth judge mentally as he followed the other two men
The fourth judge nodded and gestured to the fridge.
”Get as much as you need” the judge stated, taking note of Koki’s swollen eyes.
Koki murmured out a small thank you and headed to the fridge, pulling it open and jumping to grab some ice from the tall ice shelf. She gave a small sigh as she put the ice to her eyes, she knew the best ways to get down swelling eyes, though they usually weren't from crying.
Before entering the tenth court, Dushi (the eighth judge) knocked on the door. The person who answered was a male in a cyan western suit, red necktie, and a bright polygonal mask covering their entire face.
”Ah… Lord Dushi, Lord Diancheng… good evening, what can I do for you today?” the officer asked.
”Is Zhuanlun free right now?” the sixth judge asked as the officer turned around. Turning back to the judges, he answered…
”Yes, but you might have to wait a bit, he is getting changed” the officer answered as he looked behind the judges.
”Ah… you have visitors, in that case please—“ the officer opened the doors which revealed the sparkling decorations and beautifully laid patterns of the first room to the eyes of the visitors ”—follow me” the officer started to guide them into the waiting room where a miniature waterfall made of crystal was flowing and bringing the room a better aesthetic.
”Please wait for about five minutes…” the officer bowed subtly once as he left the room, closing the door gently on his way out.
The fourth judge headed to the doors that connect the kitchen to the garden.
”Wait a bit alright?” she said to her guest who was waiting outside… however, through the window it could be seen that it was strange how the guest did not dress like any of the judges and did not act like the judges. She was in a fully gray yukata and some of her features were covered with thick smoke.
Ryuusei was at first a little stunned by the new officer's appearance - he did not recognize the style of the clothing, nor was he used to the bright color. Probably different fashion sense, he told himself, as he walked after the others. His eyes wondered on every wall and every single possible thing in the room, inspecting curiously the things around - the crystal fountain, of course, caught his attention the most.
Koki hummed a bit as she popped one of the ice cubes into her mouth and chewed it a bit, waiting for it to numb her mouth. She peered through the window and gave a wave and crinkled her eyes with a small smile.
Soon after, a figure walked in. He was in a cyan colored hoodie and a pair of modern ripped jeans. He had clear turquoise colored eyes, wavy and spiky black hair, and… a lance strapped to his back. He looked tired and possibly on the brink of sleeping.
”Purpose of coming here?” the tenth judge turned to ask the sixth and the eighth judge as they turned to each other.
”Your trail” they answered in unison as the tenth judge realized that there were two other figures in the room; Kaito and Ryuusei.
The female figurine outside turned to Koki though her eyes were covered with smoke. She smiled kindly as she waved back, chuckling a little.
Upon seeing the tenth judge, Ryuusei was even more confused. He now knew that his clothes were similar to the ones the other people he was with wore, yet he didn't understand why was the man wearing things with tears in them. Perhaps he'd gotten into a fight earlier with something or someone, and that's how the tears were made; yet the pants looked new, like freshly out of the wardrobe, no signs of a fight. So why was he wearing something that looked like it belonged in a dumpster?? He had no idea.
The lance caught his eye next, its silvery shine like a star on the polished blade. Must have been very sharp as well.
He gave a respectful bow to the tenth judge while the other two judges spoke.
The tenth judge turned to Ryuusei a bit before turning back to the other judges.
”You two are sure that they can handle it?” the tenth judge asked while the sixth and the eighth gulped. The question was one they didn’t expect to come from the tenth. Usually, these trials aren’t horrifyingly difficult, there are ways to maneuver through them all… but this question suggested that it was going to be difficult.
The tenth judge changed his question, he turned to Ryuusei and Kaito.
”Do you two think you can handle my trial…?”
"It's a trial meant to test us. If we are fit, we will pass it." Ryuusei answered, trying to maintain his calm composure. In the end, that's what the trial was for, to test their strengths for the future job they had to fulfill. If they were fit enough, they would pass, if not, they would fail and would have to train more to make up for what they did not know.
The tenth judge nodded before he looked up at the two visitors, eyeing them one at a time.
”Well… my trial can be preformed by only one of you at a time so… who wants to go first? Reminder though, this can leave you scarred forever if you’re not mentally prepared for what’s to come…” the tenth judge warned again as his eyes gave out a bright shine.
Ryuusei felt a knot form in his throat. Mentally scarred forever? Just what exactly was this trial? Thinking about it better, he realized that working as a spirit to help humanity live a better life implied they could potentially witness some really messed up things that might break them - that's what this trial must be about, testing their inner strength. Completing this one most likely meant they all possessed a stable mind able to take almost anything - which in turn meant they were ready to proceed with their training.
"I understand." he replied, taking in a deep breath. "I ask for your permission to go first."
The tenth judge turned to Ryuusei and nodded.
”I allow that… now please… follow me…” the tenth judge started guiding Ryuusei towards the deeper parts of the court.
Opening the door to the room the trial was set in stood only five objects; a wooden chair, a wooden table, a lit candle, a cyan colored amulet, and a knife. The room was given light to by a single candle that was on the table.
”Please take a seat and grab the knife tightly… do not let go of it… the trial will begin once I use this amulet’s magic on you…” the tenth judge mentioned, gesturing to the seat and closing the door.
(Sounds like one of them midnight games)
Upon being given the instructions, the boy nodded, walked to the chair, grabbed the knife from the table and sat down. He wasn't sure what to expect in this trial, so he mentally prepared himself for anything.
He was a tad bit nervous about what was to come, but he could not allow himself to lose his security in this very moment. The words once spoken to him by his former teacher began circling around in his head, as they always did when he felt he needed support. They always helped him calm down and regain his stability, so right now they were just as effective
The tenth judge nodded as he started singing an old poem which triggered the amulet…
Everything around Ryuusei became pitch black and the tenth judge seemingly disappeared.
”You’re a mistake” a voice resonated behind Ryuusei, no one was in sight.
”You messed up… you killed us all” another resonated from his side.
”It’s all your fault…” one came from above him.
”You’re not worthy enough to claim anything as your own…” another from below him, again with no one in sight.
The echo went on and got louder, some of them saying things at the same time… until it went silent.
”Why…” a young figure was on his knees, crying in front of Ryuusei.
The female figurine outside turned to Koki though her eyes were covered with smoke. She smiled kindly as she waved back, chuckling a little.
Koki breathed on the window then wrote in the vapor: "May I come outside?" She was efficiently distracted from the nightmare by meeting a new person, so that was nice.
The first voice almost made him jump out of his skin with surprise. It was so close and he could have sworn he felt a breath on the back of his neck, making his hairs stand up. Soon, more voices picked up all around him, all blaming him for their deaths - he was less creeped out at the moment, but just as unsettled. The moment of silence that followed was extremely eerie and felt like forever, until the young figure appeared before him, sobbing.
He initially wanted to jump out of the chair, away from the figure yet, the many ghost stories he listened to in his youth stopped him from jumping to his feet - he was most likely surrounded by some kind of vengeful ghosts, so leaving the chair was not a good idea.
(slanfksnvon I'M SO SORRY I LEFT BUT I'VE BEEN CRAZY BUSY
I think it might be best if I leave though. This is moving a little too fast for me to be able to keep up with school and hockey(I have practice every night kdnaoscn k i l l m e). I feel really bad for just up and leaving, but I don't want to continue to either be left in the dust or drag the RP back.)
The new figure gave a faint smile then a small nod, suggesting a ‘yes’. The door opened fully ob its own, surprising the fourth judge a little.
The young figure did not turn his face to Ryuusei, rather he sobbed on his own, louder as time went on. Another figure came into the scene, a grownup man.
”What did I tell you?! Stop disobeying my orders!!” the man shouted to the boy, grabbing the young one by his collar and throwing him to the ground.
”If you’re going to be like this, maybe I should just kill you for all I care about!” the man announced, getting out a blade and was about to slice off the boy’s head.
(slanfksnvon I'M SO SORRY I LEFT BUT I'VE BEEN CRAZY BUSY
I think it might be best if I leave though. This is moving a little too fast for me to be able to keep up with school and hockey(I have practice every night kdnaoscn k i l l m e). I feel really bad for just up and leaving, but I don't want to continue to either be left in the dust or drag the RP back.)
(That’s fine, real life activities and duties come first after all, I understand that. Anyhow, it’s been fun having you along and I do respect your decisions. Thanks for taking interest in the roleplay! :D)
