/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I LOVE CRUDE OIL!!!

(unrelated snippet. Saw a term I used in the past used in the Patchy piece—'Old Magic'—decided to expand a bit upon it. 0 correlation with actual lore)
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I tense up, the shiver in my spine and the taste in the air a thorn in my good humor. All the fucking time this ha—

"Ms. Tetsu, is everything okay?" Chen asks from the other side of the checkers board—weird thing I got from the Korindou, but fun, although the rules are all over the place: how the hell am I supposed to differentiate kings, queens, and whatnot if all the pieces look the same?!

"Nothing much, Kitten, just felt the taste of Old Magic—keh, Gran Yukari is too shy to say hello?" I feel Ran looking at us from the stove, Anon mimicking the movement. They exchange a look, Ranni nods, and they resume cooking—geez, who they think they're fooling...?—though; Chen looks totally confused. Oh? "Didjan't Ranni ever taught you about Old Magic?"

Chen denied with the head, eyes big with expectation before moving her knight... or was it the queen?

"Seriously, Ranni?" I ask with a grin, and Ran glares at me. Heh, I can see why she might think Chen shouldn't learn about this—it's the same reason why she left the Animal Realm to begin with—but to deny a bakeneko information about what may or may not course her blood? Mathematical genius, yes. Good with people? Meh... "You see, Kitten, magic as a whole—and danmaku by extension—was created by people. Youkai, moonies, humans—whatever. It was created by beings with souls and empathy, love, and care, ya know? The things that make you feel all warm inside."

It was impossibly cute that, at the end, she looked at Anon and Ran cooking together.

"But intelligent life have been around for, what? 50 thousand years? 100? Life has existed for much longer than that, and life itself generates energy, which is then converted into magic." I move a piece on the board, and my grin takes on a nostalgic tone. "Before faith that created gods and stabilization, the world was pure rage. Soulless creatures in a world without any gods or religion, living to kill and killing to live, to create more of themselves, to get killed, and so on—all of that for billions of years straight, non-stop."

Chen looked like she tried to wrap her head around the idea; "What's a billion?"

"Take 1, Chen, and add 9 zeroes before it." Ran said from the counter, the bakeneko still frowning—Anon giggled.

"It's a REALLY big number." I said, and Chen made a soft 'oooh...'. Man, I have to visit more. "Unlike us, the idiots creating that magic in the past couldn't really use it, so it just lingered on the world, unknown and forgotten, like fossils, relics of the past... Though some of us—especially habitants of the Animal Realm—can feel it; taste it—normal youkai and people, though, have to be born geniuses or study it for an entire life—and just one person ever," I smiled, exposing sharp teeth. "Actually ate it."

"You?!" I raised my chin in pride, moving my knight—gah, no, that's the bishop! "Wow… what did it taste like?"

Ah, the taste. "It tasted good. Very good." Like sipping on wine made from the first ever grape. However, my attention goes to the frown that has possessed Chen's face; thoughtful is the word. I look at Ranni as the bakeneko thinks, the kitsune seeming unsure, and I huff, annoyed. Never a good idea to hide things from kids, Ranni, never a good idea—when they discover omissions, they seek answers.

Best if they come from a trusted source.

"But... you said you felt the taste here?" There it is. I nod a bit, moving the right piece this time. Man, fuck checkers. "Is Yukari…?"

"She's one of the few I've ever seen with a power that draws from that old well of magic, and it's a mystery no matter how you see it—the teleportation is one thing, but those eyes..." There's no need for more words; the mention is enough.

I see her tails dropped, a tinge of fright behind her pupils. "Is this Old Magic... evil?" Oh. That's unexpected.

The slight pulse of Old Magic told Yukari didn’t expect it either.

"Nah," Chen looked relieved. "It may have been born from billions of years of rage, but it's magic with no sides, no lies. Only honesty, as its single source before it was drowned by souls was will to survive: animals fought to survive, and no one was unwelcomed in the cycle of life—for this reason, many also call it Nature magic—not magic of beauty and duels, Danmaku, but magic of survival, rage and—"

"Oh, I win!" Chen suddenly spoke, my eyes bulging. What the—

I look at my checkmated king, having left it alone behind three paws on the back rank, no way to protect it against an excited Chen's rook. "I win! Ran, Mr. Anon, I won!"

"Ah, are you fu—" Before I can even finish my sentence, two pairs of eyes are glaring at me and promising terrible things. These two, geez... "—friggin' kidding me..." I censor myself.

The glare stops, and Chen commemorates her victory.

I huff, smiling, a peak of Old Magic nearby fading. Tsc, that nosy hag...