Fandom (Dead) Family and Purpose (DanMachi inspired RP)

[That Lass Over There]

"And if all this is supposed to be about me learning when to call it quits and run, then sorry to say that I believe "quitting" and "dying" are one and the same word!"

Akemi forced herself to kneel on her broken leg, raising her katana in one more act of defiance characteristic to Far Easterners.

"I'd sooner fight to the end then just lay down and accept death like a coward!"

Adelie allowed the girl's tirade to go uninterrupted, letting Akemi get out all her thoughts and feelings. At the very least, the honesty was convenient and telling, though the elf did seem to have a bit of a frown on her lips as she resumed walking toward Akemi. "... Miss Kurama, setting those bones to be healed without issue will be difficult if you continue to put weight on them. Let us call this match here and start a different approach."

Adelie exhaled as she walked, mist falling out of her mouth for a few seconds before thinning and dissipating, the fog that had been flowing around her body gone. Once the harmful aura had fully disappeared she took one large step and sat next to Akemi, crossing many feet of distance in an instant. A clumsy punch thrown with surprisingly fast reaction landed square on Adelie's cheek, but the elf only turned her head back with barely any discoloration on her face and got to work. With firm hands she pushed Akemi to lay on the ground, and showed her a pouch full of potions that was about to be put to work so that she would hopefully get the idea. She also offered Akemi a cloth ball to bite onto, though she offered no verbal explanation of why.

"Allow me to be clear in that I do not look down on the resolve to die. But I do resent that you have just, indirectly or not, called men and women that have sacrificed themselves protecting what they valued 'cowards'. There is no cowardice in running away to save your life if you plan on doing something with it. And there is nothing noble about dying without achieving anything, when nobody will remember you for it." Adelie punctuated her words with as gentle of a touch as she could manage, pressing on Akemi's leg in many odd, painful manners before tying a dagger's scabbard to the leg in an impromptu splint. The work was unpleasant, but relatively swift, the elf seeming to be very practiced with this sort of rough medical treatment.

Finally, Adelie offered Akemi one of the potions, gesturing her to sit up and offering an arm to help with that. "Right now, Goddess Badb only has you. Your life is yours to handle, but I hope you will not leave her alone." As she spoke, the elf's frown seemed to deepen, telling what she thought of Akemi's words and performance. "When you face a force that is beyond you, I hope you will be smarter than many before you."

 

[Aron the Aron]

"Allow me to be clear in that I do not look down on the resolve to die. But I do resent that you have just, indirectly or not, called men and women that have sacrificed themselves protecting what they valued 'cowards'. There is no cowardice in running away to save your life if you plan on doing something with it. And there is nothing noble about dying without achieving anything, when nobody will remember you for it." Adelie punctuated her words with as gentle of a touch as she could manage, pressing on Akemi's leg in many odd, painful manners before tying a dagger's scabbard to the leg in an impromptu splint. The work was unpleasant, but relatively swift, the elf seeming to be very practiced with this sort of rough medical treatment.

"... I'm done with running away, Adelie-san. Those who run away-geh!- are merely choosing to give up." Akemi was not a fan of Adelie's opinion, slapping the offered arm away to sit up on her own. There were so many things wrong with Adelie's train of thought; the idea that the value of what someone could do with their life if they ran was wrong. There was no honor to be had, no amount of good that could come out of running away. Problems weren't solved by running away, they were solved by tackling them head-on!

"There is cowardice in saving yourself, especially if it means condemning someone else to die in your place. No amount of good you do afterwards would ever absolve you. If there's no point in fighting, then why bother doing anything? Why bother living? " Akemi pulled out the saya that was clumsily stuck under her obi, and her eyes naturally wandered to her katana. The edge was dirtied and dull, and the tsuka was caked under a thin layer of dust that needed to be removed. She could still see her faint silhouette in the jet-black reflection...

---

"Akemi-chan... 助けてください。"

---

... before she slammed it back into the saya with a resounding *clack* and hum.

Finally, Adelie offered Akemi one of the potions, gesturing her to sit up and offering an arm to help with that. "Right now, Goddess Badb only has you. Your life is yours to handle, but I hope you will not leave her alone." As she spoke, the elf's frown seemed to deepen, telling what she thought of Akemi's words and performance. "When you face a force that is beyond you, I hope you will be smarter than many before you."

"No force is beyond anyone if they have the will to overcome it... It's only a matter of the means and time they're willing to expend." With the offered bottle still in-hand, Akemi struggled to get up. She had to use her sheathed katana as a cane again to fully stand up, avoiding the temptation to put some weight on her mended shin. "Any force greater than me will learn what it means to be overcome. They'll break before I do."

 

[That Lass Over There]

"... I'm done with running away, Adelie-san. Those who run away-geh!- are merely choosing to give up." Akemi was not a fan of Adelie's opinion, slapping the offered arm away to sit up on her own. There were so many things wrong with Adelie's train of thought; the idea that the value of what someone could do with their life if they ran was wrong. There was no honor to be had, no amount of good that could come out of running away.

"There is cowardice in saving yourself, especially if it means condemning someone else to die in your place. No amount of good you do afterwards would ever absolve you. If there's no point in fighting, then why bother doing anything? Why bother living? " Akemi pulled out the saya that was clumsily stuck under her obi, and her eyes naturally wandered to her katana. The edge was dirtied and dull, and the tsuka was caked under a thin layer of dust that needed to be removed. She could still see her faint silhouette in the jet-black reflection before she slammed it back into the saya with a resounding *clack* and hum.

"No force is beyond anyone if they have the will to overcome it... It's only a matter of the means and time they're willing to expend." With the offered bottle still in-hand, Akemi struggled to get up. She had to use her sheathed katana as a cane again to fully stand up, avoiding the temptation to put some weight on her mended shin. "Any force greater than me will learn what it means to be overcome. They'll break before I do."

"I see." Adelie's bandaged head followed Akemi's movements as the girl stated her thoughts and opinions. "I believe there may be a misunderstanding, but regardless, it is clear that my thinking is incompatible with your own at the moment and that as such I have nothing I would be able to teach you. I apologize for my failure to provide education as was intended." Adelie inclined her body in a bow, almost like a partial dogeza, before lifting herself up.

"And, now that I have failed my duty as a teacher, my first and foremost duty to you, Miss Kurama, is as a clinician."

---

The sound of a page turning greeted Akemi as she woke up, Miach flipping through an unlabeled notebook in candlelight. It closed as she started to shift in the covers, though, and the deity's caring gaze turned to her before he deeply bowed his head in proper far eastern form. "Akemi, I have to apologize. I knew that Adelie is quite hot-headed, but I never imagined that you two would be so incompatible... Unfortunately, she is the only one of my children left I could ask to look after you. She's done her best as my right hand after taking up the position."

Miach lifted his head after his apology, staring into Akemi's eyes with an uncertain expression. "And - as her deity - I must ask... Please, do not judge her harshly. She is trying to look after you in her own way, and that girl has been through many things herself. It may have been too much of me to ask from her while she herself is still healing..." Miach shook his head, then gave a weak smile to Akemi. "It is my hope that even if you two cannot get along, you can still seek us out for help and shelter whenever you might need it. That is what friends are for."


obligatory "I LIVEEEE AGAIN!"

 

[Aron the Aron]

The splitting headache that came with the bruise was the first thing Akemi could feel within the realm of consciousness. The dull throb ringing her skull was akin to having a bell chime overhead, leaving more than just her poor braincells rattled as her senses returned to working order. She was lying down... Weird, Akemi didn't remember heading off to bed. In fact: Akemi didn't remember stopping her practice at all to begin with! The last thing she remembered was getting thoroughly thrashed by Adelie, and then having to sit through some very wrong statements about life and the dungeon...

"I see." Adelie's bandaged head followed Akemi's movements as the girl stated her thoughts and opinions. "I believe there may be a misunderstanding, but regardless, it is clear that my thinking is incompatible with your own at the moment and that as such I have nothing I would be able to teach you. I apologize for my failure to provide education as was intended." Adelie inclined her body in a bow, almost like a partial dogeza, before lifting herself up.

"And, now that I have failed my duty as a teacher, my first and foremost duty to you, Miss Kurama, is as a clinician."

Just thinking back on Adelie made Akemi's expression of confusion muddy into a frown of dislike. She'd prove Adelie wrong; she had to. Choosing who lives and who dies was wrong, Akemi especially would be the first to challenge the notion, and she would break it first before she'd dare let it break her.

The sound of a page turning greeted Akemi as she woke up, Miach flipping through an unlabeled notebook in candlelight. It closed as she started to shift in the covers, though, and the deity's caring gaze turned to her before he deeply bowed his head in proper far eastern form. "Akemi, I have to apologize. I knew that Adelie is quite hot-headed, but I never imagined that you two would be so incompatible... Unfortunately, she is the only one of my children left I could ask to look after you. She's done her best as my right hand after taking up the position."

Miach lifted his head after his apology, staring into Akemi's eyes with an uncertain expression. "And - as her deity - I must ask... Please, do not judge her harshly. She is trying to look after you in her own way, and that girl has been through many things herself. It may have been too much of me to ask from her while she herself is still healing..." Miach shook his head, then gave a weak smile to Akemi. "It is my hope that even if you two cannot get along, you can still seek us out for help and shelter whenever you might need it. That is what friends are for."

"... 済まない , Miach-sama. I won't learn... I can't learn a lesson that's so... wrong..." Akemi clenched her fists together; already she was missing the sense of security and completeness that came with carrying her katana around. "I won't turn my back if it means someone dying. Nothing can be stronger than you if you have the heart and will to overcome it... Anyone who says otherwise... Anyone who chooses to give up and accept the fate given to them..."

The figurative storm over Akemi's head threatened to envelop the entire room. The vast canyon that kept Akemi and Adelie apart on a fundamental level had grown nigh-insurmountable... It was clear that Akemi's core beliefs would run headlong into Orario's reality. Either Akemi would break, or she would do the impossible, and break the dungeon first.

 

[That Lass Over There]

Just thinking back on Adelie made Akemi's expression of confusion muddy into a frown of dislike. She'd prove Adelie wrong; she had to. Choosing who lives and who dies was wrong, Akemi especially would be the first to challenge the notion, and she would break it first before she'd dare let it break her.

"... 済まない , Miach-sama. I won't learn... I can't learn a lesson that's so... wrong..." Akemi clenched her fists together; already she was missing the sense of security and completeness that came with carrying her katana around. "I won't turn my back if it means someone dying. Nothing can be stronger than you if you have the heart and will to overcome it... Anyone who says otherwise... Anyone who chooses to give up and accept the fate given to them..."

The figurative storm over Akemi's head threatened to envelop the entire room. The vast canyon that kept Akemi and Adelie apart on a fundamental level had grown nigh-insurmountable... It was clear that Akemi's core beliefs would run headlong into Orario's reality. Either Akemi would break, or she would do the impossible, and break the dungeon first.

Miach sighed, shaking his head slowly so his hair did not go in disarray. "Is this what she meant by 'a misunderstanding'?" The God mumbled to himself before looking back up at Akemi, likely trying to come to some sort of vision of what happened. "I'm not asking you to learn it. Whatever you understood her words as, it's fine if you disagree. I'd just like it if you could understand that what she says comes from a long career of Dungeon delving cut painfully short." Miach looked past Akemi for a moment, staring into the distance with a difficult to read expression. "And I'd like you to consider one thing. If you choose to die in the Dungeon, then where would that leave Badb?" Silence hung in the air after his words, ones that carried a lot of weight for such a soft voice.

Miach shook his head again, standing up from the barebones wooden chair beside the bed Akemi laid in. "Speaking of, she came back while you were asleep. I'm afraid she won't let us have any sleep ourselves until she sees you, so would you mind if I let her in? At least to let her know that you are okay." He pointed to outside the door, and now that he had mentioned it, there was a very faint snoring noise coming from just outside the room. It wasn't very difficult to imagine the sort of hell the ever-energetic Badb may have unleashed on hearing how the practice went.

 

[Aron the Aron]

Miach sighed, shaking his head slowly so his hair did not go in disarray. "Is this what she meant by 'a misunderstanding'?" The God mumbled to himself before looking back up at Akemi, likely trying to come to some sort of vision of what happened. "I'm not asking you to learn it. Whatever you understood her words as, it's fine if you disagree. I'd just like it if you could understand that what she says comes from a long career of Dungeon delving cut painfully short." Miach looked past Akemi for a moment, staring into the distance with a difficult to read expression. "And I'd like you to consider one thing. If you choose to die in the Dungeon, then where would that leave Badb?" Silence hung in the air after his words, ones that carried a lot of weight for such a soft voice.

The leveled glare towards Miach spoke a thousand words for Akemi, and thousands more were spoken by her silence. She wouldn't be cowed by the low blow to her conscience, and she let Miach know that she'd stand by her own words and beliefs until the bitter end. If she had to fight tooth and nail to bring everyone home safe and sound, then so be it. If she had to die to save everyone, so be it. She would break Orario's way of life before she let it break her.

Miach shook his head again, standing up from the barebones wooden chair beside the bed Akemi laid in. "Speaking of, she came back while you were asleep. I'm afraid she won't let us have any sleep ourselves until she sees you, so would you mind if I let her in? At least to let her know that you are okay." He pointed to outside the door, and now that he had mentioned it, there was a very faint snoring noise coming from just outside the room. It wasn't very difficult to imagine the sort of hell the ever-energetic Badb may have unleashed on hearing how the practice went.

"... Go ahead, Miach-sama... I have a feeling none of us will sleep otherwise..." Badb had likely thrown a fit during the gap in Akemi's memory (and consciousness), and... actually...

"How did I get here...? I last remember being in the courtyard practicing..."

 

[That Lass Over There]

Miach had just turned to open the door to the room when he heard Akemi's question, to which he turned around with a hand on the back of his head and a nervous smile. "See, that's what I had been asking you to forgive her rashness for..." Miach paused for a moment, possibly trying to think of a nicer way to put the truth, but with a sigh admitted defeat as he realized that the events of this night were not soon to be smoothed over.

"Adelie is used to battlefield medicine, so if an Adventurer in shock or otherwise stubbornly refuses the treatment, she is trained to knock them out and administer treatment before further injury can be incurred. It's standard practice in the Dungeon." He paused there, but not long enough to allow a retort, else he not get to finish. "She determined that you had stopped reasoning with her, so she knocked you out so that you wouldn't permanently damage your leg before it was healed. Potions are not miracle workers, and if bone shards are in the wrong place when you heal, you could be permanently disabled. Remember that when using them in the Dungeon."

"Ah." Seemingly, the mention of potions had reminded him of something else as well, as he walked around the bed that Akemi was in to a table with a tray of medical tools, towels, and a bag that seemed to be for wrapping around the waist or a leg. Miach picked the bag up and kneeled down next to the bed to show it to Akemi with the latch open - inside were six potions of a light blue color rather than the orange liquid that had sloshed in the potions Adelie was giving her in their training. "These are the lowest quality of Healing Potion, so they can't heal bones or deep or large gashes with just one, but they should be able to keep you going in the dungeon long enough to get home. For future reference, they're 400 valis a bottle, but these are gifts." He set the bag down on the bed and reached down and picked up Akemi's katana from the floor, setting it next to her. "And this... Adelie had said it seemed special to you, so she left it on the bed with you. I suppose it must have fallen off some point in the past while."

After fixing that, Miach silently waited for a moment to see if Akemi had anything else to say, but the girl remained silent with a moody look fixed at nothing in particular so he finally left the room, and after a raised voice outside Badb burst into the room. Hair disheveled where her head had laid against the wall and looking a bit worse for wear after being out late at night and then trying to stay awake, she looked a little silly standing there staring at Akemi. Well, she stood and stared for a second, before coming really close and poking and touching everywhere asking if it hurt and if she was okay.

It took many assurances to assure Badb that she was okay before the storm settled and the Goddess seated herself where Miach had been, next to Akemi. "So what even happened? I know higher tier adventurers can be rough, but I thought you would be offered healing since Miach's a softie... Apparently it was a difficult procedure to put your leg back, though Miach said that might have been partly on that brute's perfectionism."

 

[Aron the Aron]

Miach silently waited for a moment to see if Akemi had anything else to say, but the girl remained silent with a moody look fixed at nothing in particular so he finally left the room, and after a raised voice outside Badb burst into the room. Hair disheveled where her head had laid against the wall and looking a bit worse for wear after being out late at night and then trying to stay awake, she looked a little silly standing there staring at Akemi. Well, she stood and stared for a second, before coming really close and poking and touching everywhere asking if it hurt and if she was okay.

It took many assurances to assure Badb that she was okay before the storm settled and the Goddess seated herself where Miach had been, next to Akemi. "So what even happened? I know higher tier adventurers can be rough, but I thought you would be offered healing since Miach's a softie... Apparently it was a difficult procedure to put your leg back, though Miach said that might have been partly on that brute's perfectionism."

The mention of her leg made Akemi pause from voicing her thoughts and glance down to the covers that concealed her below her hips. If Miach was telling the truth, then Adelie had rendered her unconscious before mending the break she was responsible for. The Far Easterner didn't register any excruciating pain from the offending limb, and turning the covers over revealed her legs were stripped bare of clothing; her black suneate were missing, as were her tabi and zōri. The question of where her legwear were aside, they looked none the worse for wear. Adelie was as good at healing wounds as she was making them, if nothing else...

"... Adelie-san broke my leg as a part of a lesson she wanted to teach me..." Akemi could at least appreciate that Adelie was not one to leave any inflicted harm without due mending, but she still refused to acknowledge, let alone agree with her views. "... I refused the lesson on basis of personal belief; I won't learn a lesson that teaches me to be no better than a monster... I won't."

The katana resting on her lap felt all the heavier when Akemi pulled a sliver of its black edge free to breathe. The katana and saya alike had been dirtied thoroughly with plenty of dirt and dust still speckled along their surfaces; Akemi would need to spend some time later to properly clean and possibly sharpen the edge back if Adelie did any damage. It was a tough blade forged to last a thousand battles without wear, but that didn't mean she could just neglect it...

"... I won't forsake another's life to protect my own..."

 

[That Lass Over There]

Badb's half-lidded eyes grew more open as she watched Akemi's careful examination of where her wounds had been, and her explanation of events. She sat still, listening to every breath Akemi took with not a sound of her own. Silence let Akemi voice her opinions, her thoughts and feelings, and no gentle reprisal like Miach's reminder came. Neither did a comforting hand, those remaining folded on Badb's lap as she listened to the mortal girl and peered through her. The golden eyes of the Goddess practically glowed like an animal's in the dim light of the room, innocent of thought or judgement.

"... I won't forsake another's life to protect my own..."

"Okay."

It was a softly stated acknowledgement from the Goddess before she closed her eyes, not a single emotion on display as the deity leaned back in her chair. That she didn't simply affirm Akemi's thoughts and morality was perhaps its own statement, another affirmation that her mentality was not one expected or with a place in Orario. It wasn't a dismissal or nudge against her absolutist way of thinking, though, perhaps the only such response she might find in this foreign place. Certainly, the first time she had received anything like it in response to her ideals so far.

 

[Aron the Aron]

"Okay."

Akemi knew Badb was being polite; the simple words told the Far Easterner enough to form an idea of Badb's own opinion, and Akemi decided that she didn't like it one bit.

Had Orario so utterly ruined the concept of human compassion that she was the anomaly for being unwilling to sacrifice a friend or companion? The more Akemi dwelled on the thought, the more her knuckles whitened against the milky tsuka-maki of her katana. She hated that notion, she despised it with all her being, and she was beginning to despise Orario if such a callous way of thinking and living was the accepted norm.

"... I know you have a lot to say Badb-sama." She didn't bother hiding the scorn she had for the inevitable rebuke against her personal philosophy. "Is wanting to keep the people around you safe wrong? Is it such a foreign concept in Orario that the first lesson someone tries to teach me is to abandon people to die if it means I would survive?" She didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer the Goddess had. "What kind of city let's its people be no better than the monsters they fight?"