Ryuusei moved over to a chair close to him, not too far away from Kaito, but not too close either as to not bother the other. He waited patiently, his pose straight and graceful, maintaining his calm appearance - deep inside however, he was eagerly waiting for food to arrive. It didn't have to be much, just enough to fill his stomach - on a side note, he had thought that being dead meant he no longer depended on food to survive before remembering that spirits and ghosts did indeed eat - usually human flesh.
The Crimson Lantern Festival | Chinese and Japanese Influenced Roleplay | Closed
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The male officer came back with a tray of food which he set in the middle of the table; five pieces of steaks which were cooked to around medium to medium well and layered with sauce, presumably pepper, the dish beside the meat was a mount of tempuras that range from shrimp, sea bass, salmon, and several vegetables like pumpkin, sweet potato, shredded carrots, and so on.
The male took the tray back and came back with more food. This time he went from seat to seat, setting down two bowls each with lids on. He then opened the lids, one was revealed to be rice with dried seaweed on top, the other was almost boiling hot miso soup.
The last dish that came to the table was a plain white dish with homemade cookies from the male and the female officers.
”Please enjoy” the male gestured to the food on the table as he went back to the kitchen.
(The utensils are already on the table)
As soon as the food arrived, Ryuusei was taken aback by the sheer amount of goodies placed on the table. It felt like a banquet held by a rich lord, with some types of food he'd never seen before in his life.
He controlled his urge to just dig in right away and snatch whatever was close to him, instead picking a few things he found interesting and starting with those. The food was absolutely excellent, making his mouth water even more
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Kaito had his chopsticks in his hands, he turned to see Ryuusei in joy. He admittedly accepted that the food had made him salivate much more than it should have, added to that, the temperature of the food was perfect for the type of food it served to be.
There was a question that was stuck on his mind though.
“My lord, may I ask—“ the black haired man turned to the judge as he raised a brow, biting down on the fried fish “—despite how great the food taste, where do the ingredients come from?”
(man, im so hungry rn lol)
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(Before we continue, I would just like to say…)
(Happy Halloween~ mwahahahahah—)
(Altrince proceeds to choke)
The judge raised a brow before swallowing and answering…
”Similar to how you end up here, dead animals’ spirits are sent here and become physical” the judge answered surprisingly easily.
Kaito nodded to the man’s answer as he continued with his own meal. The fried food was possibly the food he liked the most on the table, he’d have to ask the officer about the recipe when he gets the chance.
(Happy halloween huehuehue)
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The first judge set his chopsticks down before he turned to Ryuusei and Kaito.
”I guess I can tell you two first about what’s happening tomorrow” the judge mentioned, sighing softly once.
”You will all be working with one of the ten judges all day. All of you will work with different judges in different courts, meaning you will have to witness different kinds of punishment in each court, of course, you have only seen the interior of my court and Wuguan’s so… you don’t really have an idea of what the other courts look like but you’ll have to choose nonetheless” the first judge stated.
”One thing first, I won’t be able to take any of you in as I’m usually very busy, I do apologize but despite that, you still have nine other people to choose from… even if you don’t know most of them” the first claimed with a small apologetic tone.
”Honestly, it’s also just a randomization at this point so…” the first judge laughed nervously.
(Choose a number ; two to ten)
Ryuusei paid attention to the judge, one small bowl of rice in one hand, chopticks in the other. Right now, the situation sounded like they would be aprenticing under different judges. They had only met roughly half of the entire judge cast, so it would be a little hard to decide, given they had no idea what the other judges were like.
(Uh, i think i'll go with 8?)
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Kaito hesitated a bit before he set his chopsticks down and…
“My lord, would it be alright if I’ll go with the sixth judge…?” The man asked with a bit of restraint. Honestly, he would have gone with the second, third, or fourth judge if it wasn’t for the fact that he wanted to know what the other judges were like and if he was being true to himself, he wanted to go to the fifth court… but perhaps that shouldn’t be ideal.
”That is most definitely allowed… the other gentleman?”
"I… I think i'll choose the eighth judge."
He had no clue what the person was like, no one had said a single thing about them, yet he chose the number eight, mostly because that was his lucky number.
He was curious to meet the other judges as well, so picking one that he had not been introduced before was a good step in that direction
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The first judge nodded as he took a mental note of this information.
”Heard someone chose me…?” a new voice originated from behind the two men.
Kaito turned towards the sound and at the new figure who he didn’t notice before.
How long has he been standing there… the black haired male thought in confusion.
The figure had messy medium lengthened ghost white hair which covered both of his eyes except for their silvery irises which shined through the strands of hair, he wore a sharp golden and dark amethyst colored uniform decorated with a translucent lavender colored cloth cape. He had a chilly and cold vibe surrounding him. He went over to Ryuusei, stood behind him and…
”Greetings, I’m Dushi… the eighth judge…”
(I like dis dood, his description sounds gucci. Are they gonna be apprenticing or something under these judges? and when do they get their final outfits? ovo also, white hair gang yaay :'D \o/)
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(It’s going to be the first part of their training, basically following the working schedule of the judges, and regarding the uniform… that will be included in the second part of the training)
(Yuss)
Ryuusei turned to look at the eight judge, giving him a polite head bow, not taking his eyes off the other's face. He wasn't surprised by the sudden appearance anymore, as he was already comfortable with the idea that they were spirits and could do whatever they pleased.
From the looks of it, training under this man wasn't going to be easy
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The eighth judge eyed the first judge without any emotion whatsoever.
”When’s the ideal curfew for these people again…?” the white haired judge asked.
”Eleven, why?” the first judge asked as the eighth judge looked back down at Ryuusei.
”When you’re done with dinner… meet me at my court… it should be easy to spot, the tallest building around here with an amethystine and golden color…” the eighth judge stated as he walked out of the dining room.
Kaito was having shivers down his spine. That eighth judge did not made him feel safe around the man. He slowly picked up his chopsticks and continued with his meal.
person_off
Deleted user
Koki fell asleep quickly, her mind dropping into a dream. It was pleasant first, a nice day on the beach near a few cliffs. She was watching her sister and older brother playing in the water as she remained on the beach, laughing at their antics. However, a long rumble shook through the earth where she was sitting. Her siblings ran out of the water, yelling at Koki to get out of the way of the cliff, which started to crumble at the top. She couldn't move and was crushed, her spirit seems to float out of her body as her family tried to dig her out, both siblings crying hysterically. Outside of her dream, random objects started to appear in her room, flickering in and out of sight.
(aww poor babu)
Ryuusei nodded as the man left, returning to his food quietly. The eight judge really promised a rough apprenticeship, given his attitude and cold demeanor, but he didn't mind. After all, he was going there to train, not on a vacation trip. He was more than used with hard work, so he really was not worrying about what awaited him.
As soon as he was done, he put down the chopsticks, thanked for the food, and headed out for the eight judge's court, like promised
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The outside of the mansion was still misty as ever but thankfully, the eighth judge had mentioned what his court looked like; the tallest of the ten courts which one of them definitely stood out in the height category.
Heading inside, spirits in complete white and tied to chains were walking in a line towards the staircase where at the top, stood a black and golden table with the judge behind it like the first and fourth court.
There was a platform that stood at the middle between the bottom of the staircase and the top of it where only one spirit stood.
”Murder… what was your purpose of killing that someone…?” the man atop of the staircase asked the spirit on the platform coldly.
”I… It was self-defense my lord, I promise! I did nothing wrong!!” the spirit in chains on the platform argued.
The eighth judge kept silent and turned to one of his officers, saying something silently.
The officer nodded and handed the eighth judge a set of papers…
”Alright…” the eighth judge sighed ”… since you are telling the truth and that it is self-defense, you are only charged the sentence of accidental murder, 5 years in the afterworld, that’s it” the judge handed the file back to the officer as the spirit got down on his knees, crying.
”Thank you my lord… Thank you…” the spirit managed to speak out before he slowly stood up and was guided by the officers to walk towards the exit doors which were on the same level as the platform.
”NEXT!!!” the judge shouted out as another spirit got on the platform.
It seemed as if the judge didn’t acknowledge Ryuusei’s appearance. The spirits in line were all sobbing, crying, sweating and were all clearly shaking in fear. The spirit on the platform wasn’t so different, though the same reactions, it was to a much higher degree.
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(I’m gonna have to do something with Koki XD)
After observing the line of terrified spirits, Ryuusei turned away, feeling a little sorry for them; it was only normal for them to be afraid of the judgement, as it could decide their fate and even send them to eternal torment had they commited heavy enough sins.
Given the judge didn't seem to notice him, he walked silently to the side and waited patiently. His previous life had taught him it was very rude and possibly very dangerous to disturb a lord whilst they were busy, so out of habit, he just stood to the side quietly waiting until the judge would finally acknowledge him.
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A masked officer walked over to Ryuusei.
”Master Ryuusei, please follow me. Lord Dushi will be with you after these people’s fates are decided fairly” the officer mentioned as he started to walk towards a painting and walked right passed it.
Being called "master" gave him a few chills but also a somewhat warm feeling in his chest. It felt nice to be treated nice for once in his life. He nodded and began walking after the masked guard, as silent as he had walked in, as to not disturb the judge.
Judging from the length of the line, he was going to have to wait a bit
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Behind the painting illusion was a large well-decorated room with several decorations; golden lanterns, furnitures like structures built with purple jewels presumably amethyst, a dark carpeted floor which was soft even if it only touched the bottom of Ryuusei’s shoes.
The masked officer gestured to the comfortable dark lavender colored looking couch by the wall.
”Please make yourself comfortable… there are drinks, sweets, and snacks that way if you want them…” the officer gestured to the right of himself ”…and if you need assistance, I’ll be there” the officer gestured towards the spiral stairs before he walked up it.
Ryuusei nodded once more as a response to the guard's explanations. Once he was left alone in the room, he looked around for a bit, exploring the room with his eyes, curiously inspecting the structures. He still felt like what he was seeing seemed like something out of a fever dream.
He circled the room a few times before finally taking a seat on the purple couch, at one of the far ends of it, like trying to make himself as small as possible
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(Back at the mansion…)
”Master Koki…” the male officer knocked on Koki’s door softly as he called her name.
”Someone is here to tell you about tomorrow’s schedule” the man stated as he knocked once more.
After some time, the eighth judge came back in with his hair messier than before. He sighed heavily once before he made his way to the couch. His face showed no emotion whatsoever… well, the half of his face which was revealed that was.
”How do you like this room…?” the man started to ask, seemingly trying to break the ice.
"Ah, it's… very pleasant, my lord." Ryuusei replied politely, his hands lightly squeezing his knees.
Truth was he did like the colors and the decorations of the room; they were expensive looking, yes, but they were still worth admiring.
The judge seemed a little tired, so it was in Ryuusei's best interest to not step on any wrong strings, just to be on the safe side; he didn't know this man as well as the other judges and knew nothing of what to expect, so it was best to be cautious
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The judge nodded softly once before he reached into his pocket to get… something. It was a rubber band. He gathered his messy hair which blocked his eyes and tied a short ponytail behind his back. The man’s eyes were finally shown clearly; as silvery and glittery as they were, they also looked dangerous. With his hair now tied up, his face was revealed to Ryuusei.
”Let’s just get straight to the point… Oscar!” the judge called out as the male officer who guided Ryuusei into the room came down the stairs.
”Yes my lord?” the officer bowed as he spoke out.
”Bring me the item I told you to prepare…” the judge mentioned as the officer nodded and went over to a covered table. He picked out somethings which were tied by a white cloth, the things inside were moderately light but some parts were definitely sharp.
The judge started to unfold the outermost cloth, revealing a set of uniform. The uniform was a white and gray uniform that was designed similarly to Dushi’s (the eighth judge’s) uniform.
”Get changed first, I’ll have to test you on a few simple things and it is completely fine if you don’t pass any of them… I just need to know how much I’ll have to train you” the judge stated without much emotion but his voice gave out a sense of care.