KENOMA - cw: mention of beheading

[hundredpower]

[With Howl's revival, Barnaby can turn his attention to another pressing issue: Makoto's whereabouts. It's somewhat ironic that Barnaby would be helping the demons who dragged him back to Achamoth against his will, but as he understands it now, they were simply doing him a favour in doing so. On top of which, J had helped rescue him from the battlefield when he was gravely wounded in the battle against the Sanctifier, and he is one to repay his debts.

So with that warped logic in mind, he begins by investigating Achamoth, and after a few days, has made enough progress to report his findings via communion.]

This is Barnaby. I've been investigating M's disappearance, and I have a clear idea now of who took him.

[He sounds weary. He's had little room for respite in well over a month, and current events mean he won't for a while yet.]

There were eyewitnesses who described a half-horse woman, carrying a head while fleeing the city after the raid. I haven't found any evidence of any mutilated Achamite corpses, so I think it is safe to assume the head belonged to M. The culprit, of course, could only be Hayame.

My leads ran out there, so she must have teleported or used a portal to get away. But I hope, at least, that some of you may be able to use this information to narrow down the search.

Comments

[lachtara]

Has there been any coordination on his retrieval?

[hundredpower]

I've been working with J for my investigation efforts. If anyone else wanted to coordinate with us, I'm sure he would be grateful.

[He doesn't actually know how many close allies M has amongst the Kenoma besides J who might be invested in finding him. The downsides to keeping to himself for most of his stay with the Kenoma, he supposes.]

[lachtara]

I will help with what I can, but not seem an inopportune time to leave the city. Do you have others that may venture outside the city to retrieve him? More than just the two of you.

[ Hopefully this would not turn into an assault on whatever city the Pleroma resided in. ]

[fallingsand]

A centaur... took M's head?

[ He only vaguely recalls the Pleroma everyone shared information on. He sort of recalls a horse person. ]

W-wait, does that mean he's. Dead?

[hundredpower]

Apparently, his head is able to persist even when separated from the rest of his body. He is still very much alive.

[So... Enjoy that gruesome mental image, Bruno...]

[fallingsand]

His head is... able... to... [ Oh boy. That's. ] I have, uh. I don't actually know how to react to that? Not great but also. Not being dead is good?

[ He has no idea, seriously. This seems equal parts good and bad and also horrifying. ]

[hundredpower]

[There's a note of agreement from Barnaby. He'd be more surprised if someone new here treated this as normal.]

Yes, it is good, but I imagine it must also be very painful. The sooner we're able to find him, the better.

To that end, do you have any suggestions?

[fallingsand]

...geez, and here I was supposed to test this out on weather or something first... um. I mean, not really? I could try and, uh, locate him. His head.

[ Definitely would have to specify or he would just get visions of M's body chilling wherever J is keeping it. ]

Or more like try and locate where it will be.

[hundredpower]

You have the power of prediction, then?

[fallingsand]

That's... yeah, actually? It's that whole future sight kind of deal.

[galdorleod]

[ Well, this is one way to find out that M is missing. ]

Is that all she has? His head?

[ and not his Shard? ]

[hundredpower]

Unless she separated the two, his head should still be with his shard.

There's no evidence to suggest he has been dissipated or his shard destroyed, yet; J has possession of the rest of his body.