[What will Sayaka see? Good question. She sees more bird people, middle-aged and battle-worn, visibly scarred and in white and magenta uniforms, sabers at their hips and deep violet lanterns in their hands. She also sees Jordi in a similar but slightly more modern uniform walking in the same halls they occupy, the only fish in a "sea" of feathers... and the distrustful and outright hostile gazes that he draws from them. Some talk to him-- but this is only a visual memory, so she hears nothing from it-- body language showing irritation, clearly angry that he's wandered a little too close with the way he moves back in a skittsh manner and smiles apologetically. A long, and umcomfortable memory. She's fortunate that because of this, she's not active in the battle, and Lumen does not have time for her.
He's busy, anyway. He sees Richard cleansing and while he's too late to put a stop to that, he puts Richard to Sleep in an attempt to prevent him from doing more in the near future. He notes that Yoon is healing others and striking the algae-- which doesn't affect it at all, and they still have to go back to the drawing board about handling the algae-- and knows he has to punish that venture. He casts a damaging spell at Yoon (16) to deal with him but it seems he's used up all of his energy on that. Which means everyone else is catching him at his weakest.
Celeste, Arven, and Joshua get ignored, which is certainly a boon to them, though Mabosstiff gets a sneering little hiss with all his teeth bared. Argenti, Fray and Sunrise? He tries to handle them all, but misses every single spell (8, 1, 5), even at point-blank range, but all he gains from trying anything with them is more bruises, more wounds (ow, his goddamn jaw, thanks Argenti). He even attempted to try for Haruka, but missed that too (6). Safe to say, he's not doing well right now.
Soujuurou definitely has a big hand (no pun intended) in putting him down though, and really putting him down, though he manages to fire off a retaliation against Soujuurou (12) just before he hits the ground. He's not fine right now.
Except...
The algae is now touching the lantern's enclosure. The lantern has dimmed slightly. Lumen's eyes widen, and he takes a long, deep breath as he grips his harpoon with a tight enough grip even with his injured arm and swings with more practiced motions to deter (or punish) anyone who wants to take advantage of him as he slowly stands up. It's clear he has gotten a little boost... and there's chittering and slithering coming from the darker parts of the control room.]
[ Ah. He is in so much pain. He's definitely not in great shape and has taken a significant amount of damage - he cannot fight back right now even with the Media he casts on himself. That heal, however, wasn't for his own sake.
It's for Celeste, who will get his Despair cleansed for the next round. He can cast it, even as he falls to his knees with Robin Hood hovering beside him. ]
[He literally is Forgetting that he has a Persona, so he can't do shit here right now but!! Aaron will at least run over a little to check on Yoon when he sees him fall to his knees.]
Something in Sayaka's face falls when she sees what she does. It's like being on the outside looking in, really--it's a feeling she knows from trying to find a place in the world, though certainly not to the extent that Lumen does. To be the only fish in a sea of feathers, an other in the face of a majority, that loneliness--
Sayaka doesn't know Jordi, but she can only imagine that it's crushing. Has crushed him. Has destroyed him completely and utterly, if it's driven him to this point.
It's perhaps with this that Sayaka attempts something different.
She puts her knife down, and she looks toward Lumen with a calm expression. No weapon, no magic, even Atropos looks a little surprised.]
...Lumen-san, could I ask you something? I...realize that this could fall on deaf ears, and if that's the case...I understand. I think. We've been trying to attack for a while.
[Sayaka's determined when she speaks, her voice calm and gentle.]
Is this...revenge? Are you attempting to get back at the people who've hurt you--not just here in this battle, but...over the years, for the pain you've suffered? What you've endured alone...?
[Sayaka tries, very gently, to plead, or to at least try and understand more about what's made him this way. (16)]
...We don't want to shed more of the blood of your kind here. We really, and truly don't. We don't know what it is you're planning to do here, but...
Is it going to be worth it? Your grandfather, your parents--you said that this lighthouse was originally theirs, right? And that you're doing something different...
...Is this what they would have wanted for you?
[If this bites her in the ass, so be it. She'll take some of the heat off of the others. But she's seen his pain, and she wants to at least attempt to understand it. And she stands firm.]
Haruka doesn't super appreciate having his mind fucked with (but what else is new?), but he also doesn't appreciate the increased Spooky Noises. That's not a good sign, and the last thing they need is for Lumen to summon in monsters that don't splatter themselves to death. They also don't need for the lantern to go out—but the algae can't be stopped by anything they can do...
He does still have the oddly heavy umbrella, which...]
Ugh, this is such a bad idea...
[But it's not like anything will be gained from standing around, so he's going to dart towards the lantern with the umbrella in hand. He's not entirely sure what to do with it, but he's going to open the umbrella once he reaches the enclosure. Maybe it has some sort of magical property or it's just an umbrella gun or something.]
[The Despair saps more and more of his energy the longer he sits with it, gaze on the floor, mind sinking away into the kind of darkness the flickering light of the lantern can't touch. People are getting hurt around him, and it still doesn't seem to matter. They've all been struggling so hard, railing against a force that keeps sweeping them away like the tide.
And then the algae encroaches further, grows and twists over the floor, under him for the most part, but some winds over his hands, creeps up his legs on it's seemingly unstoppable forward crawl.
The despair is replaced, momentarily, by an ache, a need.
It might be dragging him under the tide, but there's blood in the water.
Fingers curl in the algae, nails scratching at the floor beneath as he pushes himself up just enough to get his feet under him, just enough to be able to launch himself at Lumen, with full, clear intent to grab him only to falter as soon as he's off the algae (4), collapsing to the floor at his feet and desperately clutching at his cloak on the way down.]
[Oh, crap, Celeste is still stuck in the algae. Now that Arven's managed to peel himself off the floor, he makes a run for it to assist...only for this to happen.]
C-Celeste...?!
[There's the hunger debuff and then there's whatever this is.]
[He's not sure if this is better or worse than the scary hunger.]
You're... [He doesn't have time to be afraid of whatever that was. His fear over Celeste being in danger wins out.] You're too close to him! He's gonna hurt you worse!
[He wants to try to get to him- be some kind of distraction for Lumen so Celeste can get away. But Mabosstiff puts a stopper on that, gripping hard into his pant leg with his teeth and growling.
Arven tugs back in defiance to no avail. He looks down at Mabosstiff, desperate.]
But...!
[No. Mabosstiff needs to keep his family safe, and Celeste surely wouldn't want Arven getting hurt in his place.]
[Ah. He's worrying him. He should probably try to move, but... what's the point? He is close to him, but it wasn't like moving away would let him do anything more effective to him.
[And that's just scratching the surface of why, in this moment, in this Despair, he thinks it would be more than okay for Lumen to take out all his anger, all his pain on him.
And, disconcerting words aside, Mabosstiff is right. As terrible as he's feeling right now, he'd feel worse if anyone got hurt trying to help him. So there's just the tiniest, briefest quirk to the corner of his lips at the pokemon's actions.]
[ soujuurou goes down with the hit, stumbling back into the algae and finding himself stunned with the intense hunger that takes over him. it reminds him of home, in a way, both nostalgic and frustrating all at the same time. he can’t want, he shouldn’t want, he musn’t want, he must be pure and obedient but he simply cannot—
somehow, he pushes through it. with exhausted limbs, he pulls out the bangle from his pocket, holding it out for lumen-jordi. ]
Wait…before you kill us. [ since that’s clearly what he wants to do here, no matter how much soujuurou protests. ] What is this thing for anyway?
[ he's never doing one of these things again, this really sucks.
the lantern goes dimmer and there's so much chaos around here that it's not helping his confuse brain, but the entire atmosphere and everything is ominous as heck and he just gets the gut feeling that something shitty is about to go down.
the algae is closing in on the enclosure, and while haruka is working on using the umbrella for... whatever it is, he's going to go for the tried and tested route, blasting the tile right in front of the lantern with a makouha to scorch it. it worked on one tile, but, at what cost--? ]
[ Sunrise is leaving the talking to other people who have a better idea of what to do than she does. For now, she's going over to grab hold of Richard and pull him away from the algae, though considering how short she is compared to him, it's more like she's dragging him.
...She's also trying to shake him awake since she's a little reluctant to resort to slapping him, but it probably won't work. ]
[He can't use his Persona and Richard's earlier attempt at damaging the floor with a physical attack seemed to be a wash, so he can't exactly help block off the algae's path right now. But what he can do is try to keep Jordi's attention by moving up and attacking while the others do their thing.]
Not doin' so great now, huh, asshole?!
[He'll do his best to get around to Jordi's side so he can avoid the rest of the algae mess and go for a stab into the man's thigh (14).]
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COMBAT, ROUND 7
He's busy, anyway. He sees Richard cleansing and while he's too late to put a stop to that, he puts Richard to Sleep in an attempt to prevent him from doing more in the near future. He notes that Yoon is healing others and striking the algae-- which doesn't affect it at all, and they still have to go back to the drawing board about handling the algae-- and knows he has to punish that venture. He casts a damaging spell at Yoon (16) to deal with him but it seems he's used up all of his energy on that. Which means everyone else is catching him at his weakest.
Celeste, Arven, and Joshua get ignored, which is certainly a boon to them, though Mabosstiff gets a sneering little hiss with all his teeth bared. Argenti, Fray and Sunrise? He tries to handle them all, but misses every single spell (8, 1, 5), even at point-blank range, but all he gains from trying anything with them is more bruises, more wounds (ow, his goddamn jaw, thanks Argenti). He even attempted to try for Haruka, but missed that too (6). Safe to say, he's not doing well right now.
Soujuurou definitely has a big hand (no pun intended) in putting him down though, and really putting him down, though he manages to fire off a retaliation against Soujuurou (12) just before he hits the ground. He's not fine right now.
Except...
The algae is now touching the lantern's enclosure. The lantern has dimmed slightly. Lumen's eyes widen, and he takes a long, deep breath as he grips his harpoon with a tight enough grip even with his injured arm and swings with more practiced motions to deter (or punish) anyone who wants to take advantage of him as he slowly stands up. It's clear he has gotten a little boost... and there's chittering and slithering coming from the darker parts of the control room.]
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It's for Celeste, who will get his Despair cleansed for the next round. He can cast it, even as he falls to his knees with Robin Hood hovering beside him. ]
...
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Hey! You still with us?
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It's gonna take a lot more than that to take me out.
[ Which is kind of true...! He's a little more frail than Aaron and Celeste, but still managing to be a tough cookie, apparently. ]
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Heh. Then I'd better not be carrying you outta here when we're finished with this shitshow.
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[ Aaron has probably tanked more hits but listen, he's gotta quip back... ]
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[narrator: and then aaron was dragged out by a teenage girl]
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[ Can he drag Aaron? Probably. But it'd take a lot of work...shhhh. They'll both be getting dragged out of here though smh ]
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[ Does Sunrise need to pull you to safety too... ]
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[ Probably. He might need the assist next round, but we'll see!! ]
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[ Nts buff Yoon the next round, especially if he gets further bullied by scary fish man.
That said- ]
I cannot seem to wake Mr. Richard up. [ Short of smacking him, but she's reluctant to do that to her roomie unless she has to. ]
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[ He used his cleanse, and also...well. He's doubling over a little bit. Ganba, Sunrise! ]
Shake him hard enough and he might wake up.
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[ But Sunrise will try and support Yoon, nonetheless. ]
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Something in Sayaka's face falls when she sees what she does. It's like being on the outside looking in, really--it's a feeling she knows from trying to find a place in the world, though certainly not to the extent that Lumen does. To be the only fish in a sea of feathers, an other in the face of a majority, that loneliness--
Sayaka doesn't know Jordi, but she can only imagine that it's crushing. Has crushed him. Has destroyed him completely and utterly, if it's driven him to this point.
It's perhaps with this that Sayaka attempts something different.
She puts her knife down, and she looks toward Lumen with a calm expression. No weapon, no magic, even Atropos looks a little surprised.]
...Lumen-san, could I ask you something? I...realize that this could fall on deaf ears, and if that's the case...I understand. I think. We've been trying to attack for a while.
[Sayaka's determined when she speaks, her voice calm and gentle.]
Is this...revenge? Are you attempting to get back at the people who've hurt you--not just here in this battle, but...over the years, for the pain you've suffered? What you've endured alone...?
[Sayaka tries, very gently, to plead, or to at least try and understand more about what's made him this way. (16)]
...We don't want to shed more of the blood of your kind here. We really, and truly don't. We don't know what it is you're planning to do here, but...
Is it going to be worth it? Your grandfather, your parents--you said that this lighthouse was originally theirs, right? And that you're doing something different...
...Is this what they would have wanted for you?
[If this bites her in the ass, so be it. She'll take some of the heat off of the others. But she's seen his pain, and she wants to at least attempt to understand it. And she stands firm.]
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This sucks.
Haruka doesn't super appreciate having his mind fucked with (but what else is new?), but he also doesn't appreciate the increased Spooky Noises. That's not a good sign, and the last thing they need is for Lumen to summon in monsters that don't splatter themselves to death. They also don't need for the lantern to go out—but the algae can't be stopped by anything they can do...
He does still have the oddly heavy umbrella, which...]
Ugh, this is such a bad idea...
[But it's not like anything will be gained from standing around, so he's going to dart towards the lantern with the umbrella in hand. He's not entirely sure what to do with it, but he's going to open the umbrella once he reaches the enclosure. Maybe it has some sort of magical property or it's just an umbrella gun or something.]
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And then the algae encroaches further, grows and twists over the floor, under him for the most part, but some winds over his hands, creeps up his legs on it's seemingly unstoppable forward crawl.
The despair is replaced, momentarily, by an ache, a need.
It might be dragging him under the tide, but there's blood in the water.
Fingers curl in the algae, nails scratching at the floor beneath as he pushes himself up just enough to get his feet under him, just enough to be able to launch himself at Lumen, with full, clear intent to grab him only to falter as soon as he's off the algae (4), collapsing to the floor at his feet and desperately clutching at his cloak on the way down.]
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C-Celeste...?!
[There's the hunger debuff and then there's whatever this is.]
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Regardless, he does look up at hearing his name, but the look in his eyes has shifted back from frenzy to an unsettling emptiness.]
Arven?
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You're... [He doesn't have time to be afraid of whatever that was. His fear over Celeste being in danger wins out.] You're too close to him! He's gonna hurt you worse!
[He wants to try to get to him- be some kind of distraction for Lumen so Celeste can get away. But Mabosstiff puts a stopper on that, gripping hard into his pant leg with his teeth and growling.
Arven tugs back in defiance to no avail. He looks down at Mabosstiff, desperate.]
But...!
[No. Mabosstiff needs to keep his family safe, and Celeste surely wouldn't want Arven getting hurt in his place.]
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No, he was right where he ought to be.]
That's fine, I... deserve it, don't I? I hurt him, badly.
[And that's just scratching the surface of why, in this moment, in this Despair, he thinks it would be more than okay for Lumen to take out all his anger, all his pain on him.
And, disconcerting words aside, Mabosstiff is right. As terrible as he's feeling right now, he'd feel worse if anyone got hurt trying to help him. So there's just the tiniest, briefest quirk to the corner of his lips at the pokemon's actions.]
Good boy... keep him safe, alright?
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What're you saying?! You're doing what you gotta to save him! To save everyone!
[There's only one way out of this nightmare, after all. They need to defeat the source.]
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[ soujuurou goes down with the hit, stumbling back into the algae and finding himself stunned with the intense hunger that takes over him. it reminds him of home, in a way, both nostalgic and frustrating all at the same time. he can’t want, he shouldn’t want, he musn’t want, he must be pure and obedient but he simply cannot—
somehow, he pushes through it. with exhausted limbs, he pulls out the bangle from his pocket, holding it out for lumen-jordi. ]
Wait…before you kill us. [ since that’s clearly what he wants to do here, no matter how much soujuurou protests. ] What is this thing for anyway?
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the lantern goes dimmer and there's so much chaos around here that it's not helping his confuse brain, but the entire atmosphere and everything is ominous as heck and he just gets the gut feeling that something shitty is about to go down.
the algae is closing in on the enclosure, and while haruka is working on using the umbrella for... whatever it is, he's going to go for the tried and tested route, blasting the tile right in front of the lantern with a makouha to scorch it. it worked on one tile, but, at what cost--? ]
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...She's also trying to shake him awake since she's a little reluctant to resort to slapping him, but it probably won't work. ]
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Not doin' so great now, huh, asshole?!
[He'll do his best to get around to Jordi's side so he can avoid the rest of the algae mess and go for a stab into the man's thigh (14).]