Complete Private Stars of the World: Ekaterina

[Pandora*]

Stars of the World: Ekaterina

Eien no Taiyō

The Eien no Taiyō, or "Eternal Sun" rests far from the nearest shore. The sky filled with stars lit by a dense moonlight.

A full moon tonight.
A full moon illuminating the eternal sun.

Tonight, within the belly of a star lies a gathering of legislative digestion. Upon the deck however? A snake slithered around a azure director.

Just another gathering of many of the world's most powerful. Specifically those whom the ships owner, an elderly Japanese political donor who also held connections with Nexus Corp and the Japanese underworld. The Owari, a clan that returned to prominence since the end of WW2 grew into a Hydra far more powerful than could have happened in perhaps another reality.

A band plays for the few scattered guests. Tonight less than the usual were invited due to certain special meetings occurring tonight. While not the only place used by the Himiko no Kotodama organization led by the Owari. It was a popular one for Orobuchi Hebi. The Wakagashira of the Owari Syndicate.

"He had his wife assassinated and disowned his child, exiling her to another country. There are some Russians with blood as venomous as the Kumichō. A shame it is such a rare find. Although there can only be one land suited for a new Yamatai... or so Kumichō would say."

A water poured a fresh glass of Sake... of the "Absolute 0" variety. An offer was made for the other guest at the table. A gloved hand rejected that offer.

"But he also showed sympathy for his granddaughter didn't he? Superstition cuts both ways... especially when so much emotion is put into it."

"The Kumichō doesn't need to implant emotional suppressants into the family like your company now does. The Owari are strong enough."

"Ahahahah, It's completely opt-in! It makes for better security! The militaries of the third world love the idea and we are always testing our own products first *taps the horn on her head*. You know the future is inevitable. You traditionalists can't hide from the march of progress! The technology that brought Unity to the world is just the beginning. Nexus will weave it all together! *Wink*"

"*Sigh*.. At times I wonder if I'm actually talking to the right person. Regardless ...the call was made already. Tonight the Hydra of the Owari will twist along the Russian underworld. Remember you owe me, Inheritor."

"Arigato Oro-kun! The N.R. has been difficult since word spread that we offered a better deal to the I.R.C.. Some people make my work harder and I would prefer to avoid using the same method every time."

A voice interrupted them.

"She should arrive soon."

Hitomi Aki grows quiet for a moment then rises from her chair. A untouched plate of food and drink remains.

"You look eager to depart."

"Of course. My work requires me to gogogo!"

The gentle hum of her private Nexus developed plane kicks on from somewhere on the yachts' deck. Although it was nowhere in sight.

"I have work in, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, the list goes on and on I'm afraid. Nexus is bringing the future to all corners of the globe after all. Always on the forefront!"

 

[Eva]

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Alexandrova​

Ekaterina's Residence

The woman, still steaming from the extremely hot shower she took minutes ago, walked into the study room in her bathrobe. To her opposite was a man, sitting in her usual chair, hidden in the darkness of the night with only one corner lamp shining.

"It's been a while, Katya."

Vladimir Alexandr, the Great White Serpent. The massive entrepreneur and powerful figure of the underworld gave a small, warm smile to his daughter. "Seven months, twelve days to be exact, Father." Katya sat down on the guest chair on the other side of the desk as the man chuckled. "Are you having fun with your friends on that upcoming project?"

For a while, silence. The old man understood before letting out a small sigh, "That's not what this talk is about, is it?" The white-haired woman nodded exactly once, passing him a tablet with information on it. It didn't take long for the hardened businessman to recognize Eien no Taiyō.

"I see," Another sigh, he placed down the tablet to look at his youngest child, still a girl in his blue eyes. "You know there's a reason why your brothers and I don't involve you in our family business." Even sometimes the temptation to go outside the garden is too much.

"Because I have my mother's face?" A blessing and a curse.

Partially true, but not the one he's trying to tell her. "No, because we love you." Even the ruthless Vladimir was helpless when it came to his own daughter. "I'm not telling you not to go, but just know that it's a place you can't just walk out without a cost."

"I understood well, Father. I'm bringing Vasily with me, don't worry." Katya stood up, giving him a slight bow before proceeding to leave the room as she was to leave for the ship straight away.

"You might ask why I didn't go there?" She stopped, head turning back slowly toward her father in the shadows. "I just don't like pretentious people," He laughed, referring to the type of people on board there.

"Neither do I. But I want to see the world."

Eien no Taiyō

After being cleared for landing, the sleek black helicopter touched down on the helipad. Of course, the person being transported was known beforehand. The daughter of Alexandr stepped out in her white formal shirt, blood-red tie, and black suit hanging on her shoulders.

To her right, following suit was Vasily, her trusted right-hand man, who looked around the premises. It was uncomfortable for him, having to serve as a lone security without any weapon. Katya assured that nothing of the sort was necessary.

"Any of those faces familiar to you, lady?"

"Trivial." The clacking sound of her high heels echoed on the deck as she proceeded to where she was told upon initial entry. "The notable ones are going to have their eyes on us. Relax."

@Pandora*

 

[Pandora*]

Stars of the World: Ekaterina

Eien no Taiyō

"The notable ones are going to have their eyes on us. Relax."

"Konbanwa."

The eyes of Orobuchi found a silver star in his orbit. The man's monotone tongue rang out breaking even the band's song for a moment. Before the flow of the night resumed.

The man was tall even while sitting, exceedingly so for a Japanese man. No bow, no nod of the head. The simple act of a greeting was enough to show he offered a hint of respect if only for this woman's family. The second in command of the Owari only bowed to the Kumichō.

A path seemed to form for the Russian and her aide. Even though Orobuchi was not the official owner of this vessel, it was as if all knew who held the true power and to not interfere. This was something a certain lawyer would not learn yet, being left in the darkness below.

It was never a matter of being secretive. It was a matter of standing.

"Well what do you know?! I suppose I do get to meet your guest. Just a peek at such a attractive lady before I skedaddle. Ahahaha!"

"Ekaterina Vladimirovna Alexandrova, Excellent. This is..."

The hum of the unseen grew, it seemed to add a bass to the band, the music faded into the noise of life, even the 1% that dwelled here were but dim sparkles compared to the true Stars of the World. Even if such stars were blind to their own shine...

"My name is Hitomi, Hitomi Aki."

The woman chirped, completely ignoring any sense of hierarchy that seemed to be established.

"You have lovely hair, this quickly maturing woman has just started counting her inevitable whitening, I hope to wear such a shade with a ounce of the confidence you have!"

Two men approached. Their faces cold as ice. Even the Wakagashira's stoic manner felt like a mug of warm cocoa in comparison.

"Ma'am. Your flight is ready."

"Of course, of course. Please as you were!"

Hitomi passed by the daughter of Vladimir.

"A shame. But I'm sure we will meet again. Business or pleasure. Perhaps Shakhmaty? Sadly, work calls. The hustle of corporate management in our modern era."

"A scatter brain like me just feels like I'm everywhere at once sometimes."​

As she walks off, a boy holding a silver suitcase waits for her. He watches the wealthy people through his distinct eyewear.

"..."

"Silly child. You should be waiting at the plane. Let's go now."

"Well then. A seat? Drink? Your companion I believe is unnecessary for this. Unless..."

A smirk as his eyes narrowed ever further..

"You are, uncomfortable without him?"

The area where Hitomi had sat was completely cleared, leaving a plain table cloth and empty glass behind.

Orobuchi raised his hand and two his men wrapped ta arm around each of Vasily's arms.

"Vladimir will receive what he needs, and we will get what we want. Patomskiy Crater is in sight."

Unless Vasily created a stir, he would be "dragged" away. The Wakagashira continued.

The band picked up even more and yet only one word, one name was needed to reveal what might be coming.

"I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu .Let's cut to the chase. Do tell. Do you understand why you are here? We could accomplish what I sought without you being here. Yet here you are. You, specifically @Eva."

Panic?
Confusion?
Anger?
Indifference?

What can a baby White Snake show the eyes of the Dragon?

 

[Eva]

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Alexandrova​

"Konbanwa."

It doesn't take much to just look at his attire and how he presented himself to know that the tall man was the Wakagashira of the Owari. Orobuchi Hebi, maybe? Never seen or known the man, but that name sure got passed around the underworld a lot.

"My name is Hitomi, Hitomi Aki."

Hitomi Aki, of the Nexus. Certainly not a face she had expected on board the Eien no Taiyō. Her own investigation into what happened to VRS hadn't progressed yet, and she couldn't exactly link that back to Nexus. But it doesn't take a genius to just look around the ship and get a spark of inspiration.

She came and went just like that, without Katya even muttering a single word back to her. Her business wasn't with the eccentric woman, but apparently with the representative of the Owari.

"Unless you are, uncomfortable without him?"

She just looked back at Vasily without giving a response to the Japanese, nodding exactly once for him to understand and just exhale; the Father has no eyes on her right now. The bodyguard didn't fight back as he scoffed while the two men 'dragged' him away.

Some think the snake is nothing without her fangs.

"I can walk on my own, thank you."

Things actually turned out better than she thought. One last look at her right-hand man as he went off into the distance, Katya turned towards the cleared table, muttering, "Your best wine," as she got into a seat on her own.

"Do you understand why you are here? We could accomplish what I sought without you being here. Yet here you are. You, specifically @Eva."

"I think you'd have anticipated to learn that uttering that name changed absolutely nothing." Perhaps the disappointment was hers, knowing it took this long for someone to use that name against her, despite the woman making zero effort to hide and distance herself from the game.

"Free will is a dangerous concept."People can say whatever they want, but the decision to leave the garden was anyone's to make. "I'm precisely here because I want to be here."

The man had this suffocating aura. Just being in his presence would make any lesser men tremble. But fear is a fundamental emotion that she doesn't have.

"Not on behalf of the Nexus, not on behalf of the Owari, and certainly not on behalf of my family." Her crimson eyes maintained strict contact as she muttered the words slowly. It is not a statement; it is a symbol of regard. "That is, unless you just see me as my Father's little girl, Wakagashira-san." Not any slight tone of disrespect or contempt in her voice.

"You should know which fruit not to pick." Not breaking off her line of sight into his deep eyes, Katya relaxedly leaned back, waiting for the wine to be served. She knew he wouldn't waste her time.

"Then, the order of the business."

@Pandora*

 

[Pandora*]

Stars of the World: Ekaterina

Eien no Taiyō

"You should know which fruit not to pick."

"It is not for me to decide which to pick. The Kumichō has his ways and I shall unleash the Hydra to bring him all the blades he wishes. The ones that emerge from that accursed game world. The few that develop their Expertise as if possessed by some virtual yōkai. Those are who we require. Those are who we want complete dominion over. "

The wine fills the glass before the waiter walks away.

"Then, the order of the business."

A slight smile over the man's face. The snake tattoo almost seemed to slither with joy over such challenge to his authority. Gaijin or not, unlike a certain lesser man below, Orobuchi Hebi was unfazed by such things.

"Seeing you can take the venomous truth so well... For some time now, there have been exceptions in what the VRSA had first discovered in their investigations involving this "Terrasphere"."

The Wakagashira continued to discuss topics that few ears could hear without finding themselves in a federal prison without any hope of bail.

"While explained away as natural neurological response, in certain exceptional circumstance, it is being referred to as T-Bleed. Or as we prefer, the unlocking of the dormant dragon, Mezameru. For some, even as an Asura, which is brought via the interaction with the virus like Dissonance in that game. Even rarer are those that continue to draw the air after infection."

He eyed her. From what he was told, she should be able to put the dots together. There have been many Russians trying to stick their hands too close the Hydra's fangs. As if Katya or even another behind her sought the secrets they knew not the depths of.

"The young in particular are useful. They can be molded, both within and outside of the cursed game. Several upcoming star athletes that have broken lofty records are examples of those benefiting from the Mezameru. They rarely live very long as the game claims many unfit for it's gifts."

No maps, no documents, nothing but words for Katya's ears. How much of this venomous truth is simply venom?

"The Kumichō sees this as the natural world rejecting the advancements artificially placed upon it. This is why he gathers those who survive. Those that are likely to grow for us. Like you, you can stand on your own and discover how small your well is Ekaterina-san. However it would be the Owari that will show you that path."

...and now the Hydra offers the snake maiden a seat in it's writhing mass.

"How much will you surrender to learn of the secrets that even your father cannot grasp? Do you fear the role of Kushinadahime without Susanoo to come for you?"

 

[Eva]

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Alexandrova​

She took the glass of wine that had been poured for her, swirling the deep red liquid once, twice. Her gaze remained locked on Orobuchi, unflinching before the weight of his presence or his mythological parallels.

She didn't expect the findings of how effective skill cultivation through the game to spread so rapidly, and even for the Owari to have this much information. With how much information he was willing to disclose to her, as much as she already knew about those, it means that everything was true.

"It is fascinating. A shortcut for those who were born with their eyes closed." After taking a sip, she placed the glass down on the table with a soft click, the sound sharp and clear amidst the ambient noise. "Straight out of science fiction, building your own army of super-soldiers of countless feats." She joked, but the deadpan delivery made it seem like a weird commentary.

"How much will you surrender to learn of the secrets that even your father cannot grasp? Do you fear the role of Kushinadahime without Susanoo to come for you?"

It took her one or two seconds longer than she would have normally responded, showing that even Katya needed to consider. On the other hand, access to a lot of answers she had been seeking.

But then, being handed the key without walking the journey. All of it becomes meaningless.

"An interesting choice of fable, Wakagashira-san. But you misunderstand my role; I have no need of a Susanoo." The Russian closed her eyes for a moment, one long inhale as countless outcomes were being calculated inside her head. Can't believe she had to meet with someone as menacing as her middle brother; that one was clearly out of her prediction.

The Wakagashira does not back down; it is she who needs to climb up. No one wins without a gamble.

The crimson pair of eyes opened shortly after.

"This wine," she says, gesturing to the glass, "is a Château Margaux, 1996. An excellent choice. However, it was decanted precisely fifty minutes ago. At this specific humidity and barometric pressure, the peak window for this vintage is thirty-five minutes. It is now beginning to oxidize. It suggests your sommelier was unexpectedly dismissed or distracted."

Katya didn't stop. For this gamble to succeed, she needed to keep pushing. She needed more; not to be a pawn in the game, nor a cog in the machine. The snake of Eden deserved a place among the eight heads of the Orochi.

"Whatever those lost lambs needed to cultivate so hard in the game, I was born with it. I do not need it whatsoever." It is a demonstration not of a trick, but of a perception so profound. Knowledge and talent, things that most people only have one of.

"You speak of the frog in the well. But perhaps the true well is the 'Terrasphere' you are so focused on, while the real world, the great ocean of infinite variables, is all around you." She stated, eyes not breaking contact with Orobuchi. "The question is not what I will surrender to you, but what you are prepared to offer for a partner."

Through sleight of hand, a business card appeared between her fingers, which she proceeded to place on the table. On it, nothing but her full name and a personal phone number.

The last part of the gamble.

"A partner, an equal."

@Pandora*

 

[Pandora*]

Stars of the World: Ekaterina

Eien no Taiyō

"Whatever those lost lambs needed to cultivate so hard in the game, I was born with it. I do not need it whatsoever"

"Naive. You speak from ignorance."

The woman made an attempt to showcase her natural talent. She knew her wiine preparation. Although the meaning was certainly deeper it still missed the point. Limited to the expectations of the ignorant.

"You speak of the frog in the well. But perhaps the true well is the 'Terrasphere' you are so focused on, while the real world, the great ocean of infinite variables, is all around you."

"Those words would please the Kumichō to a point However it denies the reality of the world. If we required analysis of this nature then we would not require Terrasphere. We could rely on the natural world. ...it is not so simple. Not for us. Not for you."

"A partner, an equal."

The audacity of this gaijin woman was starting to pierce the heavens!

"You have yet to even hear my name and you reach your hand so deep."

He swept the card off the table as if it was nothing but a paper weight. It was time to bite down and bring this baby snake to heel. Or toss it aside to rot.

"I am Orobuchi Hebi. I do not need your contact Ekatrina-san. You will work with us because you must, because you know that the truth will render all the power you think you have irrelevant. The tools we wield... the real world you cannot see. With this, there are no partners. Only family. Only Owari. ....We will return your companion of the night to you. "

"Our chance to meet again hinges on your ability to understand your current place, and how much you can please the Kumichō to reach the privileges you desire. Until then you will have nothing. You will know when and if your services are required. If you have not developed the true skills we seek. You may continue to dwell in your well as the world suffocates you."

"Wakare."

Stars of the World: Ekaterina Complete!

Welcome to Himiko no Kotodama route!
There will be threads in real life during S5 that continue these plotlines. The option to rp request certain npc in real life, based on route, will also open up at some point. Until then, just do as you like, and remember to build some good Life Skills!

If you need any significant assistance with how to rp something specific to this route on your own, dm me on Discord.​