Week 2

[linkupmods]

WEEK 2

WAKE UP, GET UP, GET OUT THERE.

Saturday rolls around and characters may see that there are notices from Mina, saying that everyone will be taking a trip at noon sharp on Saturday, and to have their weapons. Whether characters pay this heed or not, they will in fact hear a ding from their phones at noon, their screens glowing a sunset red with the word "TRANSFERRING..." the only thing to be seen. And then, just like that –

You all enter.

The new world before you can be described in one word: twisted. It doesn't feel great, but it doesn't feel extremely awful, either, depending on how you look at it – it's a distorted version of the already grim city that you've been brought to, and you are specifically in the shopping district. Everything seems to be darker shades of red, yellow, and purple, if you can see it through the haze ominously floating about.

That feeling of something stirring in your chest seems to grow stronger, more potent, burning with the desire to be let free…

…and you, all of you, are surrounded. Various monsters and demons are threatening to attack you, looking at you like you are their prey. That's because you are…but you don't have to be for long. The moment that you engage in battle with them, no matter who strikes first, is the moment your emancipation begins.

Welcome to your awakening.

You feel a surge of energy rush to your palm – for some, it burns like a fiery blaze. For others, it sparks with electricity; perhaps wind circles around it, or a mysterious frost begins to blanket it. Maybe you have a mysterious pink aura around it, or a bright turquoise light; a dark, sinister glow or a calming light. Whatever the case may be, it drives you to place your hand over your heart.

You latch onto something. It is not your chest, it's not your heart, but it's something deeper than that, something from your being. You pull, you drag it out, and there is no bloodshed or any sort of pain, only a very bright light and some struggle as you unearth what is within. You finally, finally feel free as a new part of you literally stands before you. Say hello to your new friend: Your Persona.

Your new skills feel intuitive, and you feel like you can navigate them well enough to at least try to survive. You don't need to question how or why you understand them just yet; all you need to do is let yourself experience your power, and you'll stand a chance.

And with that, it's time to fight.

(Note: Weapon attacks will always deal Phys damage, but Phys spells will naturally do more than just whacking enemies with your weapons. Go wild, dodge, parry – combat is more freeform here than it is in Persona, so play this out however you'd like.

Furthermore, you'll be able to see everyone's cool Personas! You just won't be able to really interact with them directly.)

???

(Picrew by ~danidoninha!)

After the battle, there's the sound of a whistle. Turn your heads towards the source, and…huh? A cat?

"Alright, newbies, it's time to roll out."

…And it talks???

She says it with a scowl on her face, and soon, she leaps up – poof, and suddenly, there is a cat train in front of you. Weirdly enough, this cat is the one driving it. How did she summon the train…who knows.

"Get in, unless you wanna get your asses kicked!"

And sure enough, she's right, because there seem to be more enemies flocking towards you. She will drag you all in whether you like it or not.

SAFE AREA.

And, after a quick ride on the cat train, you find yourselves back at the dorms! ...Kind of. Much like the rest of this alternate world, it’s distorted in shape, though there’s none of the haze you saw when you first arrived. It seems this area, at least, is safe - characters would be wise to note it as a location to base any Nekyia operations out of in the future.

Mina is also here! She looks, quite frankly, relieved to see everyone show up alive in the train. The train, by the way, is gone, because it seems like your mysterious cat friend is now back to her…first…form? And seems to be on her way out. Back to Mina, though:


“Thank goodness... Okay, um, app hiccups aside...

Welcome to the Nekyia - the world of the unconscious. As you can see, the unconscious version of the city is, um... Very, very messed up. The more commissions you complete, the more connections you forge, the more bonds you repair, and the more Shadows you take out will help return the Nekyia to normal - and with it, the real world!

The people of this world don’t have the power to summon Personas... You’re the only ones who can save this city from the influence now. So please...

Help me fix this city from the inside-out!”

Mina has also set up a folding table set up with divinity cookies and water bottles from “Ambrosial Water Co”, judging by the labels. Characters who partake in these proffered snacks will find them rejuvenating - literally. Using a Persona’s abilities takes spiritual energy, but these snacks replenish one’s energy to full again with a single bite or sip. Any characters who want to try venturing back into the thick of the Nekyia today are free to take some with them, but do take care! Mina is only providing snacks for today, and after this characters will need to monitor their energy levels on their own.

Characters with further questions may ask Mina and she will do her best to answer! You can also try to catch the mysterious cat from earlier, too.

To go back to the real world, all characters need to do is press the "RETURN?" button on their phones. Much like the "TRANSFERRING..." message, this is the only thing on their screen.

All phones will now have a Nekyia app that will enable them to come in and out of the Nekyia at will.

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your Week 2 event log!
• Here is your promised Persona debut. Fighting is very flexible, so please just thread the fights in whatever format you'd like.
  
• A reminder for those of you who have gotten their Level 10 skills: These do not unlock ICly until Week 3, starting on 8/17.
  
• As always, please let us know if you have any questions! Enjoy!
  

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

[vogelfrei]

1. Safe Area

[ Well, wasn't that something? McGillis is a trained soldier and further accustomed to making quick calls in unreasonable situations, so he takes to Persona combat like a fish to water. Anyone who's watched him fight has seen him call forth a ferocious giant wolf and might have heard him call out the name 'Fenrir!' to command him.

Now in the safe area, he looks perfectly calm and barely out of breath. Nothing of the unhinged bloody man that arrived here is left. McGillis as he is now is meticulously styled and extremely level-headed. He has even obtained some business casual clothes in place of the Hawaiian shirt he wound up wearing for the first two days!

Catch him by the snacks, turning over a cookie in his hand thoughtfully. He looks darkly amused. ]

So the other shoe finally dropped.

[ That was more to himself, but noticing someone nearby, McGillis will turn to whomever approached. ]

I wonder how those 'Personas' were picked.

[ (Feel free to answer either of this thoughts, or just note his in-depth observation of that cookie.) ]

2. Dorms - Garbage Pickup Day

[ It is the early morning of designated garbage pickup day!! McGillis is always an early riser, but today he is an early riser with a purpose. The purpose is carrying out a big plastic bag containing what some may recognize as the bloodied pilot suit he was wearing on arrival. That's going out into the garbage, baby!

But it's not the only thing he's carrying. Once he's put the bag down, his focus goes to the metal mask in his hands. There is a bullet stuck right in the forehead of it. McGillis looks at the mask, frowning. And looks. And looks.

.... you can probably find him here for about half an hour, standing in front of the garbage and staring at that thing. ]

3. Dorms - Floor 2 Showers - At Night

[ McGillis has never been seen showering during the daytime. Or early evening. Or when anybody is using the showers at all. But if you happen to be a weirdo who goes showering on the second floor sometime past midnight, you might catch McGillis in there and you'll be able to wager an easy guess as to why he's not keen on being seen shirtless in public. There's a big coffin-shaped black metal box implanted in his spine.

Noticing someone coming in, McGillis tenses up briefly but then accepts his fate. No need to try and cover up his back like some blushing maiden. He just gives a slim smile and a nod in greeting. ]

I'm surprised anyone would come here at this hour.

[ Also McGillis is extremely muscular, if that's a thing your character would be interested in, I guess. ]

4. Wildcard

[ If you want combat shenanigans, come at me for those, too! I'm not doing a prompt for it, but like. McGillis has a gun and a big-ass wolf, what more do you want from life! Alternatively if you have daily life ideas, hit me with those as well!! ]

2

[swordthatsmilesback]

[Chihiro walked by here before, mostly restless because of these new, uncertain circumstances, but the next time he walked by...]

[Ah. That guy is still here, huh.]

...

[What to say...]

You don't have to throw that away if you don't want to.

[vogelfrei]

[ ... well, that's awkward. He'd been hoping that going out this early would mean having some time to himself. How unfortunate that other people here also have the sensible habit of being early risers.

This does break his meditative mask-staring though and he instead turns to face Chihiro. ]

I'm aware - it's deciding on whether or not I want to that is giving me difficulty. An issue of sentimentality.

[swordthatsmilesback]

...What sort of sentimental are we talking?

[He glances back to the object in question. A....helmet?]

The kind that gives you good memories...or bad ones?

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis considers this for a moment. He really doesn't need to talk this through with anybody at all, but maybe giving someone else's probing at least a bit of consideration will help him sort out his own feelings better than being frozen in front of the dumpster would. ]

Bad memories of a good friend.

[swordthatsmilesback]

Bad memories, huh...

[He's silent for a moment, pensive.]

Are they the kind of memories that stop you in your tracks, or make you move ahead?

1

[kandata]

They all seem to be mythological figures of some kind. Perhaps it is based on some sort of alignment with their circumstances.

[She bases this on her own Persona, at least]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis begins fiddling with his hair again, which is back to being styled perfectly for having one strand of fringe available. Small comforts! ]

That certainly appears to be the case for me. Fenrir is my family's crest animal. Can I ask about the connection in your case, or is that too personal?

[kandata]

I believe I understand mine, although I do not like the implications.

[Mostly because some guy called Nick was very rude]

Are you familiar with the tale called 'The Spider's Thread'?

[vogelfrei]

[ It takes McGillis a short moment of thought, but he nods. ]

An East Asian folk tale about a sinner attempting to escape hell by climbing a single spider's thread.

[ McGillis is far enough in the future that it being a short story rather than a folk tale is knowledge that is entirely lost to him. ]

I believe in the end his own selfishness prevents his ascend to salvation.

[ He does not like that story much. ]

[kandata]

That's correct. Such is the tale.

My Persona is called Kandata -- the sinner himself.

[Not only it's bringing terrible memories given what happened to her right before she found herself in this world...the thought her Persona is meant to imply something about her is very insulting, she finds.

And not entirely wrong, but there's no way she's going to admit that]

[vogelfrei]

[ Oh dear. ]

That is one unfortunate insinuation.

[ And it does make him wonder about just how much similarity there truly is between Kandata and Kirumi. She certainly appears to be more than meets the eye. ]

You mentioned an alignment with circumstances as well. If you're not comfortable sharing, given the nature of the tale, that is fine by me, but I'd be curious about the closeness of the connection.

[kandata]

...I died before coming here. Climbing a rope towards a salvation that was a lie all along. The fall killed me.

[She sure doesn't appreciate the reminder of that, present in the name of her Persona. In a way, maybe it's for the best it doesn't seem to be...visible, she supposes? Kirumi is sure if it were to be visible, it'd remind her of that or of other sins in some other way]

1

[imperiosity]

[Aaron's here more for a drink than the cookies, but he'll take one at random anyways and pop it into his mouth before washing it down with a gulp of water. As far as he's concerned, having a little snack in-between fights was par the course, so he doesn't think much of the refreshments even if he does notice that McGillis seems to be musing at the cookie instead of eating it.]

About time, too. But would it have killed that dumbass to give us more of a warning?

[vogelfrei]

[ The 'about time' gets a nod from McGillis. He relates. Sitting here doing nothing but quaint little task had been making him antsy. ]

I've been wondering about that. In the most benevolent interpretation, warning us would have put us in more danger. The beings we summoned seem to have been brought forth by a sense of being threatened - if we'd been over-prepared, it might have impeded the process.

[ A beat. ]

But also we're all being shepherded by a single novice prophet who doesn't know what she's doing. So who can say.

[imperiosity]

[It's an interesting theory for sure, but there's a snort after McGillis finishes saying his piece.]

Yeah, you'd be giving that girl way too much credit if you believe she actually thought things out that far. [Although...] Then again, if that deadbeat goddess was the one who told her to do it this way, then maybe I could see it.

[After he's gotten those snide remarks out of his system, his expression turns to something a bit more considering as he crosses his arms, lost in thought.]

Summoning them because we feel threatened, huh... not like it'd be the first time something like that's happened, so I guess it wouldn't be that far-fetched.

[vogelfrei]

[ The snide remarks are good for both of them, McGillis smiles hearing them. As much as he is aware that he owes Braphine his life, he's not inclined to be grateful just yet. This whole set-up has felt like a joke since the first moment and it hasn't become much more respectable even with a few layers of facade peeled away. ]

That is good to hear, because I'm working off pure theory rather than any true experiences. Summoning a beast from my own heart is something that sounds straight out of fiction to me.

[ Not that he doesn't appreciate the dramatics, but his Persona isn't Bael so what's the point-- ]

[imperiosity]

[f for mcgillis' bael-less persona protag life... can't pimp that ride no more]

See enough weird shit and you just get used to it, I guess. Still, way to make it sound cheesy as all hell, dude.

[Like, he heard the 'I am thou thou art I etc etc' speech already, so he knows McGillis isn't really wrong, but hearing it said with a straight face from a grown man is kind of cringe!!]

That make us the heroes from some kid's comic book then?

[vogelfrei]

[ Wow, don't call him cringe. He just has whimsy in his heart!! .... or so we presume. Let's not interrogate this too deeply. ]

Try and tell me you don't see the resemblance in the set-up.

[ If he wasn't so mad at Braphine, McGillis might even enjoy this set-up outright, rather than just being mildly amused by it. ]

The beasts of our soul, the forging of connections, even just the plain goal of 'saving the city'... We've been cast in a very straightforward little story, seemingly.

1

[fullmoonmutt]

Tch. They're just more demons with a fancy name. We shouldn't rely on them.

[ Eli ended up being caught off-guard back during that initial tussle and it's left him in a foul mood ever since. Sure, he was shaken out of it quickly enough and tore into the attacking creatures with enough skill for it soon after, but it doesn't change the panic he felt when that... thing... popped out of his, what? Heart? Soul?

So, Eli is quite the opposite of McGillis. He's ruffled and agitated and not necessarily interested in approaching anyone apart from, well, this giant of a guy. For that, there's a reason. He saw that wolf. It wasn't too far off from his own Persona, although Garm had been red and sporting a spiked collar instead. ]

No fucking clue to how they were picked but yours was a wolf. Why?

[ Angry wolfboy wants to know. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis almost laughs at them being called demons, but nobody here would be equipped to understand why he finds the idea of fighting alongside a demon to be particularly amusing. It doesn't matter anyway, since this place has seen fit to forgo giving him the 'demon' who's power he truly craves. Bael has not chosen McGillis this time and he is trying to not be dismayed about it.

Eli's approach is very forward to the point of rude and McGillis finds it charming. He smiles thinly. ]

The easiest explanation would be that the wolf Fenrir is my family's crest animal.

[ He can think of a long list of other reasons as well, but he's not going to lead with them. ]

I saw that you have a wolf as well - do you also have a pre-existing connection to the animal?

[fullmoonmutt]

A family crest? What are you, some rich guy?

[ If Eli's rudeness is charming, then prepare for the most charming asshole in the brand new Persona gang because there is no sensible verbal filter in sight here. ]

I do, but not because of family or anything like that. To wolves, anyway. I don't know what a Garm is or whatever that thing was calling itself.

[vogelfrei]

I suppose you could say that, yes.

[ McGillis perpetually feels in-between when it comes to class, but functionally 'some rich guy' just about cuts it. Moooving on. ]

And I can help you with that - Garm is from Norse mythology, the same as Fenrir. He is the guardian of the underworld, while Fenrir is a being that helps bring about the apocalypse. Some scholars assume Fenrir and Garm to be the same entity, but that's not the widely spread position.

Looks like we're matching.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Eli isn't even in the mood to make fun of a rich guy, amazing. He lets that go with barely an acknowledgment since the rest is far more interesting and not in a good way. ]

I doubt we got anything else in common other than having shitty-ass wolf demons. [ Maybe? Probably? Look, Eli doesn't know, but he can't help but doubt it at first glance. ] So Garm is some kind of hellhound, huh? That's the last thing I needed...

[ It's a problem. Eli doesn't specify why, but his tone makes it clear enough. ]

Doesn't that bug you? What does it say about you if you're summoning something that brings about an apocalypse?

[vogelfrei]

Not really.

[ It's just one of many meanings he could assign to bringing forth Fenrir here, and it's not an unfitting one depending on which person you ask. ]

In some schools of thought, the destruction of the old is necessary to build something new. I choose to think of it that way - the power to start anew.

[ He doesn't actually want to destroy everything so much as return to what he perceives as 'true values' from the past, but at the current rate of corruption maybe those are the same thing. ]