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31_days2009-09-17 12:04 am
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2009-09-17 12:04 am
[Sept. 17] [Suikoden III] Darkness Into Knowledge
Title: Darkness Into Knowledge
Day/Theme: Sept. 17, 2009 "splintering the night"
Series: Suikoden III
Character/Pairing: Dios, Atsuji, Minh Komatsu
Rating: PG
He went inside and looked around, feeling a certain amount of trepidation coming over him once inside the cathedral. It looked cheery enough from the outside, but within it was as overwhelmingly impressive as any other cathedral of its age and size. A few old women turned their heads toward him as he approached a priest polishing the statues inn the front of the building. There was no reason he should have to feel so awkward here just because he wasn't a local. It was a place that should be open and welcoming to anyone. Dios wasn't about to tolerate such idiocy from himself, so he picked up his pace and approached the priest. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Father Stephen?"
Atsuji's hand never left the carved head of St. Orial of the Waters even as he turned half around addressed his visitor's query. "Stephen's away on business for Bishop Sasarai. It's a little unusual if you ask me- I mean, what does someone like Sasarai need Stephen for business-wise? He doesn't have a very advance grasp of theology, he has no magical talent, the man barely knows how to read a letter of Harmonian... That said, I've never met a more agreeable person in my life."
Dios had a feeling he was going to have to do his best to politely tame this man's chatty ramblings to get at the information he sought without wasting anymore time. " Umm, thank you. So you don't know where he went?"
"Not in the slightest." St. Orial's hair was practically shining by this point. She was going to have a golden halo by the time Atsuji was finished.
"Then can you tell me where I can find Bishop Komatsu?"
"He's across the courtyard in the office. Don't worry about bothering him, I don't think he's doing anything important. Just business as usual."
"Thank you. I'll be off then," Dios nodded politely before striding off in search of the next possible link in the chain. Minh Komatsu was reserved and cautious, but he had obviously authorized Stephen's time away and he was a member of the Counsel, after all. Chances were good he would know something. ...But would he tell it?
At this hour, the light was shining straight through the high stained glass of the cathedral, coming in one side and back out the other. The courtyard between the cathedral itself and the office and rectory was composed of a small flagstone path and two benches surrounded by a lively garden of fuchsias and ferns standing in the shade of several tall, slim trees. The lush spot of greenery was transformed into a mosaic of gradually shifting color by the deep reds, blues, purples, and yellows of the stained glass filtering light down onto the plants as they rustled softly in the warm breeze. The door of the office was propped open with a chair to let the outside warmth rush in and invigorate the ailing bishop. He had been sickly his entire life and to a certain extent his health had hindered his career, but he wasn't one to complain. He had come a long way from being a nameless infant abandoned on the steps of a church. Now, in his late fifties, he seemed to be faded slowly toward his inevitable demise. The sun stung his pale and sensitive skin, but the breath of summer gave him the energy to keep valiantly toiling away.
"Good afternoon," he greeted Dios as the military man entered the dim office. "Is there something I can do for you?" He couldn't say he knew Dios' name or exactly what his position was, but he knew this was a man who worked for Sasarai. Like Olia, Sasarai had a memorable entourage.
"I don't seem to be able to get in contact with my bishop, to tell the truth," Dios began. He had decided an honest approach was the best tactic when speaking with Komatsu, although if it were possible, he was going to skirt the topic of his slight suspicions. Best to play it calm and cool- innocently. "And, well, I heard that Stephen had gone off with him somewhere, so I thought you might be aware of their whereabouts, Your Excellency."
"Actually, Stephen was a little vague about it." One of Komatsu's thin black eyebrows quirked up, indicating that this might only have just struck him as odd. Perhaps it was because there was nothing much to be suspicious of about Stephen. "But he never asks for any vacations and it's been quiet around here, so I didn't press him about it. I believe they were headed off to the northeast, to the coast."
"This just gets stranger and stranger," Dios mumbled. "Of course, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about and it's no fault of yours, Excellency. Thank you for everything." He was prepared to let it go with that. His investigation seemed to have run into a dead end and any other leads would be elusive at best. How far did he have to chase the matter? It was probably nothing but a normal trip and a simple oversight on Sasarai's part.
"But the northeast..." Komatsu said to himself, puzzling over the matter himself as thought something about the idea, or at least the uncertainty of it, troubled him. "This would be a bad time to visit the northeast..."
Dios paused in the doorway. "Why is that?" He looked over his shoulder to see Komatsu pale even further. His complexion was a sickly shade of eggshell white.
"There have been some...troubling reports out of White Crest," the bishop relented slightly. His comment had put him into a tight place and he didn't want to lie outright, especially not to a government employee. (After all, there was a good possibility Sasarai would unveil the truth to this man later on and Komatsu would not look very good.)
"Civil unrest?" Dios suggested the first touchy subject that came to mind. He quickly saw that he would've been preferred over Nika and Stephen to tackle such a problem and began to offer other potential dilemmas. "An international incident? Famine? Disease?"
It was not difficult to know when he had hit upon the truth from the way Komatsu winced. "The situation should already be under control. And I certainly hope Sasarai is having nothing to do with it."
As much as Dios hoped the same thing, he knew now exactly what his bishop was up to: some whole-hearted attempt to provide relief he was not necessarily well-equipped to give. Sasarai was predictable too, in his own peculiar way. "What's the location?" Dios asked, dropping all pretenses toward dancing around the subject.
"The island of Viela." Komatsu sighed. "But-" he added, trailing off weakly. Clearly he had a natural tendency to think of one last thing to say and immediately regret starting to say it. Dios turned the full force of his piercing storm blue eyes onto the shrunken form of the ailing Counsel member. "But...a very persuasive form of quarantine has already been imposed. Even if he went there, I doubt Sasarai was able to enter Viela. No one who was involved in the job is the type to bend regulations, even for Sasarai."
"Thank you for telling me all of this." Not that you wanted to, he added to himself. He'd learned all he was going to here. Now it was time to process this information and decide how he was going to us it. As he left Riverway, he found that he felt rather helpless. At least when he'd been seeking out information, he'd had a plan and a cohesive strategy for carrying it out. Now, he had nothing but the barest sort of information. He had been left behind to wait anxiously while Sasarai did something reckless. Did he dare follow? Or did this mean Sasarai trusted him to be patient? ...Why couldn't life just be more straightforward?
Day/Theme: Sept. 17, 2009 "splintering the night"
Series: Suikoden III
Character/Pairing: Dios, Atsuji, Minh Komatsu
Rating: PG
He went inside and looked around, feeling a certain amount of trepidation coming over him once inside the cathedral. It looked cheery enough from the outside, but within it was as overwhelmingly impressive as any other cathedral of its age and size. A few old women turned their heads toward him as he approached a priest polishing the statues inn the front of the building. There was no reason he should have to feel so awkward here just because he wasn't a local. It was a place that should be open and welcoming to anyone. Dios wasn't about to tolerate such idiocy from himself, so he picked up his pace and approached the priest. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Father Stephen?"
Atsuji's hand never left the carved head of St. Orial of the Waters even as he turned half around addressed his visitor's query. "Stephen's away on business for Bishop Sasarai. It's a little unusual if you ask me- I mean, what does someone like Sasarai need Stephen for business-wise? He doesn't have a very advance grasp of theology, he has no magical talent, the man barely knows how to read a letter of Harmonian... That said, I've never met a more agreeable person in my life."
Dios had a feeling he was going to have to do his best to politely tame this man's chatty ramblings to get at the information he sought without wasting anymore time. " Umm, thank you. So you don't know where he went?"
"Not in the slightest." St. Orial's hair was practically shining by this point. She was going to have a golden halo by the time Atsuji was finished.
"Then can you tell me where I can find Bishop Komatsu?"
"He's across the courtyard in the office. Don't worry about bothering him, I don't think he's doing anything important. Just business as usual."
"Thank you. I'll be off then," Dios nodded politely before striding off in search of the next possible link in the chain. Minh Komatsu was reserved and cautious, but he had obviously authorized Stephen's time away and he was a member of the Counsel, after all. Chances were good he would know something. ...But would he tell it?
At this hour, the light was shining straight through the high stained glass of the cathedral, coming in one side and back out the other. The courtyard between the cathedral itself and the office and rectory was composed of a small flagstone path and two benches surrounded by a lively garden of fuchsias and ferns standing in the shade of several tall, slim trees. The lush spot of greenery was transformed into a mosaic of gradually shifting color by the deep reds, blues, purples, and yellows of the stained glass filtering light down onto the plants as they rustled softly in the warm breeze. The door of the office was propped open with a chair to let the outside warmth rush in and invigorate the ailing bishop. He had been sickly his entire life and to a certain extent his health had hindered his career, but he wasn't one to complain. He had come a long way from being a nameless infant abandoned on the steps of a church. Now, in his late fifties, he seemed to be faded slowly toward his inevitable demise. The sun stung his pale and sensitive skin, but the breath of summer gave him the energy to keep valiantly toiling away.
"Good afternoon," he greeted Dios as the military man entered the dim office. "Is there something I can do for you?" He couldn't say he knew Dios' name or exactly what his position was, but he knew this was a man who worked for Sasarai. Like Olia, Sasarai had a memorable entourage.
"I don't seem to be able to get in contact with my bishop, to tell the truth," Dios began. He had decided an honest approach was the best tactic when speaking with Komatsu, although if it were possible, he was going to skirt the topic of his slight suspicions. Best to play it calm and cool- innocently. "And, well, I heard that Stephen had gone off with him somewhere, so I thought you might be aware of their whereabouts, Your Excellency."
"Actually, Stephen was a little vague about it." One of Komatsu's thin black eyebrows quirked up, indicating that this might only have just struck him as odd. Perhaps it was because there was nothing much to be suspicious of about Stephen. "But he never asks for any vacations and it's been quiet around here, so I didn't press him about it. I believe they were headed off to the northeast, to the coast."
"This just gets stranger and stranger," Dios mumbled. "Of course, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about and it's no fault of yours, Excellency. Thank you for everything." He was prepared to let it go with that. His investigation seemed to have run into a dead end and any other leads would be elusive at best. How far did he have to chase the matter? It was probably nothing but a normal trip and a simple oversight on Sasarai's part.
"But the northeast..." Komatsu said to himself, puzzling over the matter himself as thought something about the idea, or at least the uncertainty of it, troubled him. "This would be a bad time to visit the northeast..."
Dios paused in the doorway. "Why is that?" He looked over his shoulder to see Komatsu pale even further. His complexion was a sickly shade of eggshell white.
"There have been some...troubling reports out of White Crest," the bishop relented slightly. His comment had put him into a tight place and he didn't want to lie outright, especially not to a government employee. (After all, there was a good possibility Sasarai would unveil the truth to this man later on and Komatsu would not look very good.)
"Civil unrest?" Dios suggested the first touchy subject that came to mind. He quickly saw that he would've been preferred over Nika and Stephen to tackle such a problem and began to offer other potential dilemmas. "An international incident? Famine? Disease?"
It was not difficult to know when he had hit upon the truth from the way Komatsu winced. "The situation should already be under control. And I certainly hope Sasarai is having nothing to do with it."
As much as Dios hoped the same thing, he knew now exactly what his bishop was up to: some whole-hearted attempt to provide relief he was not necessarily well-equipped to give. Sasarai was predictable too, in his own peculiar way. "What's the location?" Dios asked, dropping all pretenses toward dancing around the subject.
"The island of Viela." Komatsu sighed. "But-" he added, trailing off weakly. Clearly he had a natural tendency to think of one last thing to say and immediately regret starting to say it. Dios turned the full force of his piercing storm blue eyes onto the shrunken form of the ailing Counsel member. "But...a very persuasive form of quarantine has already been imposed. Even if he went there, I doubt Sasarai was able to enter Viela. No one who was involved in the job is the type to bend regulations, even for Sasarai."
"Thank you for telling me all of this." Not that you wanted to, he added to himself. He'd learned all he was going to here. Now it was time to process this information and decide how he was going to us it. As he left Riverway, he found that he felt rather helpless. At least when he'd been seeking out information, he'd had a plan and a cohesive strategy for carrying it out. Now, he had nothing but the barest sort of information. He had been left behind to wait anxiously while Sasarai did something reckless. Did he dare follow? Or did this mean Sasarai trusted him to be patient? ...Why couldn't life just be more straightforward?