It was about time for Tomoe to take leave of Hosenka. He'd stayed there a while, and there wasn't much else to be done left. He'd continue the murder mystery another day, as Weirdlock would no doubt have some way of finding him and letting him know when a lead came up. For now, he needed to move. Perhaps he would head for Magnolia? An interesting town, some nice sights to see, pubs to crawl... and the home of his former and first guild since he entered Fiore. There was nostalgia at the mere thought of it, and he wanted to make use of his new spell anyway to get there quickly and efficiently.

"Ah, but wait...", Tomoe muttered, realizing there was one place in Hosenka he hadn't visited yet; one major landmark still remained.

Hinoki Theater, renowned as the grand establishment owned by one Masami. A former comrade, but perhaps still a friend regardless? Masami had left good enough impressions that he wouldn't be a blood sacrifice - not yet, anyway. The bad blood needed to be purged from Fiore before the good, assuming all went according to plan. Out of curiosity, Tomoe decided it wouldn't hurt to take one last stop before leaving the Joyan-inspired town for a while. Maybe Masami would be there? And if he was, there... wasn't too much to talk about, really. Probably. Nothing that would be openly said just yet. Nevertheless, there didn't need to be a reason to simply catch up on things.

---

WC: 250/600 [Instant Transmission to Magnolia]

As Tomoe approached he could feel disdain, and perhaps fear? Both were reasonable normally, but he had never seen these people in his life. Had his reputation grown to such a sorry state? There was simply nothing for it. As far as anyone was concerned, Tomoe was Tomoe. If that was too much for people for whatever reason, so be it. He'd been doing a lot of thinking and soul searching, and while he hadn't found his answer, he'd certainly found a lot of souls. Found them, and... well, the rest is history. Nobody knew of his rituals and altars yet, but in time it'd be inevitable, unfortunately. That was simply the kind of world he wanted: one of love and peace, where everybody could be happy under HER rule. But for now, he was a simple ronin who had recently abandoned his guild. Word would likely spread fast, but definitely not instantly. Where did Masami stand on things?

Oh, right, Masami was there! It had been a while. The Joyan drew closer, and stopped a few feet away from his former comrade with a comfortable and relaxed disposition. "Oi. How's it been, kid? You been comin' along on your training alright? Last I saw ya, you were out of breath from a single sword thrown your way!", Tomoe spoke plainly and casually about such things while letting out a laugh, clearly still seeing Masami as a pupil of sorts despite the decent amount of time that had passed since last they met.

"But, I dunno. Somethin' about ya seems different since last time. Dunno how, or why, or anythin', but how've things been?"

Tomoe put his hands on his hips with a curious look, wondering what Masami had gotten up to since they last talked. He'd try to keep up everybody he once knew, especially people who had previously trained under him; well, if his actions could be considered as having 'trained' Masami in the past.

---

WC: 577/600 (Instant Transmission to Magnolia)

Most of the pleasantries were skimmed over in Tomoe's mind when he heard things about deities and demons. Those were both tough subjects to the Joyan, as there was no way he would allow Masami to be corrupted by false idols that claim themselves to be deities. At the same time, Masami's mention of a demon soul... it was brief, and the kid had cut himself off, but Tomoe was a perceptive one despite his usual demeanor. Whether he liked it or not, those were things he picked up on quickly. If he were more connected to HER, an eldritch being would overtake him and an aura of despair would surround him, but no such thing existed for him at the current moment. At the same time, getting angry would not result in anything productive. He wasn't angry at Masami, but he did know that the boy would likely need education in his future.

It'll need to wait, though., Tomoe thought as he looked at Masami and nodded in understanding as the boy explained his recent activity - Tomoe had more pressing matters to attend to, such as an answer to his raging question.

The question in question? How can I best become HER puppet? How best to serve? And how can I cut myself off from my weaker self once and for all?, were the thoughts that swirled around him since departing Penumbral Guard.

Truthfully, that meant it was multiple questions. Despite this, they all arrived at one conclusion: he needed to find a way to become HER servant and bring about the new world. Yet, Masami was right there, so he'd need to find a way to suppress these thoughts - and so he did. He'd been becoming a man of many faces since acquiring the ability to do so, and that combined with his need to hide his existence as a cultist meant that Masami would only see the face of a cool yet warm individual looking back at him, completely unaffected on the outside by the rage for the words 'deity' and 'demon' he had heard seconds prior.

"Well me... Masami, I need to tell you something. It's important. But... I don't think we should talk about matters here."

Tomoe's appearance and mannerisms became that of someone facing conflict, eyeing the other people that were nearby and backing away. This wasn't a place to discuss anything of importance. This was Masami's turf, and that meant he'd be safe here. Safe wasn't what was important at the moment. It needed to be somewhere neutral, yet still somewhere they could be that he was more familiar with. Somewhere like...

Magnolia.

He placed a hand on Masami's shoulder and his fingers on his forehead, looking as if he was trying to pop a pimple or something to any unsuspecting outsiders. He seemed deep in thought on what he was about to say to Masami, counting the seconds in his head.

1...

2...

3...

4...

5!

At that, Tomoe and Masami would vanish instantly from sight and from the world. Traveling through some kind of wormhole, galaxies and stars all around them, and ending with a brilliant white light. At the end of it, and in a moment that in truth was an instant, the two would find themselves in Magnolia. Right in the middle of the town, they had traveled miles in an instant. It was the first time the crimson cutthroat had made use of the spell, but Instant Transmission worked perfectly.

He would take a step back from Masami and go back to his relaxed expression. "Sorry, bud. There are things I need to take care of before I catch up with ya fully, but uh. I figured this would be a good place for now. I've got stuff to figure out right now, a flame to re-ignite, but you get comfy here and I'll be back in a jiffy. Them Fairy Tail guys are nice, so ya could talk to 'em while you're here. I got some treasure to find out here, and then some people to see."

Tomoe did truly happen across a treasure map lately, pointing to Magnolia itself as the area to find what he was looking for. Came with a hint that pointed towards Fairy Tail as the first place to look, so he'd need to spend a bit of time around here before anything else could happen.

"I'll catch ya later, buddy."

With a salute, Tomoe was off on his way in search of fortune. All things considered, Masami was now someone on Tomoe's list of interests. Between demons and deities... when they'd meet again soon, there would need to be way more spoken between them than a simple exchange of pleasantries.

---

WC: 600/600

- EXIT TO MAGNOLIA -

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