Folklore and Fact: Mystical Artifacts Week 12 [Thurs/2nd Period]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

The display screens were flashing through a slideshow of mirrors this morning, but the students may or may not have been more inclined to notice the man at the front of the room with Sakura: a cocky-looking Sephiroth wannabe figure in a long black coat with an white collar, who was leaning back against the wall crunching away at a raw stalk of celery with apparent relish.

Sakura looked like she was trying very hard not to cringe every time he bit into the celery, but for all that she did appear to have some glimmer of genuine affection for him.

"Good morning, class," she said. "As I mentioned last week, this is my colleague Eiji Takaoka. He currently heads the SGS Rescue emergency response program, but the reason he's here today is to talk with you about his experiences in his previous occupation. How this is relevant to our discussion of mirrors as unique artifacts will become apparent shortly."

Eiji sighed and sat down on one of the benches at the front of the room, then produced a bell pepper and a turnip from somewhere in his pockets and started juggling them lazily. "Sakura-san, can't you cut to the chase for once?"

"For you, Takaoka-san? Never."

Getting a jibe from Sakura appeared to actually throw Eiji for a loop, if the fact that he promptly dropped the turnip was any indication. "Same old Sakura-san."

"Eiji," she said quietly, in a voice that implied You are driving me dangerously close to an ice cream sundae, and don't think I won't make you buy, "this is my classroom and my course, and I still outrank you. You will adhere to protocol while you're here."

Eiji rolled his eyes good-naturedly and fell silent, choosing instead to produce a red bell pepper from one of his pockets and juggle that along with the turnip, pausing every so often to take a bite out of one or the other.

"Mirrors," Sakura continued, ignoring him with practiced ease, "have played a pivotal role in folklore and literature for centuries. Consider the commonly held superstition that breaking a mirror means seven years of bad luck. They can be weapons, as with the shield Perseus used to defeat Medusa. Many disciplines of magic use them to scry. There are mirrors that have been said to reflect the true nature or desires of the onlooker. And there are mirrors that also function as portals."

She turned and glanced toward Eiji before opening the lockbox on the table to reveal a fairly innocuous-looking round mirror that had been shattered. "Takaoka-san, would you care to explain?"

"I thought you'd never get around to it, Sakura-san." Eiji jumped to his feet, giving her the kind of smirk that could be described as deliberately infuriating, and picked up the mirror, spinning it in his hands before showing it to the class, then placing it back on the table. "This mirror was once a portal to the Ashu dimension. The Ashu are a race of demons who existed and evolved parallel to humans, and it's said that many of the supernatural events described in history are actually their doing. That's partly true. Most of the Ashu were sealed away into their own dimension, but sometimes a few of them would get loose in ours. That's where my family was important. The Takaoka clan is . . . was . . . they call us the 'Ashu watchers.' Our job is to guard the world against the Ashu's return, and banish or destroy them whenever they appeared. I traveled with my father and learned the Takaoka Way from him, and . . . well, it's a dangerous job, and eventually I took over from him." As he spoke, Eiji grew more solemn, almost trailing off quietly at the end.

Sakura glanced around thoughtfully at the class; she seemed to be waiting for the right moment to speak.

Taking a bite out of the bell pepper Chairman Kaga style, Eiji continued, "I first met Sakura-san and the rest of our comrades when they were on the quest for this, the Hundred-Demons Mirror. It worked through blood sacrifice -- perform the proper ritual and spill the blood of an innocent on the mirror, and it opens the portal to the Ashu dimension. As you can see it's shattered now, and useless, but two of the most dangerous Ashu came through it before we could break the mirror."

That was when Sakura spoke. "But Gai and Rei aren't the only two Ashu in our dimension, are they, Takaoka-san?" Eiji tensed visibly and turned to her with a furious look on his face. Sakura gave him a grim nod and said quietly, "Remember what I've told you about the students here?"

His fists still clenched, Eiji nodded and looked grudgingly at the students. "No. They're not. My mother was Ashu." He turned and glanced back at Sakura, who held his gaze for a moment, and added, "But she truly loved my father . . . and me. I'm no longer ashamed of my heritage. It doesn't stop me from doing my job, though!"

"No one doubts that, Takaoka-san," Sakura said calmly as she sealed the Hundred-Demons Mirror back into its box. "And your job is what I asked you to talk about today. Class, for the rest of the period, Eiji will answer any questions you may have about the life of an Ashu watcher."

[OOC: Class Info Post. OCD is up!]

Comments

Sign In [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised a mirror that reflected your deepest desire?

Re: Sign In [FaF, Week 12]

[sensethevisions]

Briana Winstridge, The Damn Stones Of Power and very many pretty boys

Phoebe Halliwell -- Happiness and safety for those I love

During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

Talk, take notes, boggle about Eiji's vegetable fetish.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[sensethevisions]

Briana was bored and antsy. She really wasn't interested in taking notes on some lecture she wasn't even going to pay attention to later.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine watched today's lecture rather intently.
Anyone who juggled foodstuffs was entirely alright in his book.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Pippi was munching on an apple herself. Iron Chef America Style

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

A flustered and breathless Dawn slid into her seat a split second before the bell rang and fumbled for her notebook and pen for the first few minutes of the lecture.

Eventually she calmed down enough to take notes. Mostly.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[likethegun]

Sam was distracted by Dawn until Eiji mentioned demons. Then Eiji and Sakura had his full attention.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[saltandammo.livejournal.com]

Dean made a face at the mention of portals -- he'd had enough of portals to last him a lifetime, thank you very much.

When the talk turned to demons and a family of demon hunters though, Dean's attention became riveted.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[multiplez]

Z's notes seemed to focus on Eiji's vegetable fetish and the implications thereof more than mirrors.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[water-wonder.livejournal.com]

Tori listened intently and took notes every once in a while. She was impressed at the juggling. That was cool.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[neurotic-witch.livejournal.com]

Chris kept looking around the room, wondering where his brother was. It's not like Wyatt was an excellent scholar, but it was unlike him to miss classes and not call Chris to let him know what was going on.

Re: During the Lecture [FaF, Week 12]

[fh-kyochan.livejournal.com]

Kyo stared wide-eyed as Eiji spoke. When the demons were mentioned, he began scribbling furiously. Maybe there was information that he could use.

Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

He's still eating that raw bell pepper and turnip. At least it's not an onion this time.

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[strongestgirl.livejournal.com]

Actually, munching on raw onion is quite delightful.

Pippi raised her hand.

"Does your heritage have any advantages that you use in your work?"

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

"Do you feel guilty when you hunt Ashu, because of your heritage?"

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[likethegun]

"Has your heritage caused you any trouble with other demon hunters? Or with other people you've worked with?"

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[multiplez]

"Does either side of your heritage grant you any special powers besides wanting to be Sephiroth when you grow up?" Z asked.

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[dark_slippy_thing]

"A mirror being used as a gateway from one world to another? It all seems a little farfetched to me." Valentine leaned back and eyed the broken mirror for a moment. "How did it work?"

Re: Talk to Eiji [FaF, Week 12]

[fh-kyochan.livejournal.com]

Kyo raised his hand. "How did you manage to break the mirror?"

Talk to the TAs [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

When they ping in.

Re: Talk to the TAs [FaF, Week 12]

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn was there.

Talk to Sakura [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

I know at least one person will be. Heh heh heh.

Re: Talk to Sakura [FaF, Week 12]

[sensethevisions]

Finally, class was over and Briana made her way up to the teacher. "Professor Sakura?"

OOC [FaF, Week 12]

[blossomsofice.livejournal.com]

Sorry about this going up a few hours later than usual . . . I'm moving early next week and it's been insane, urgh.

Eiji will also be around in a townies post later today for anyone who wants to pester him outside of class.