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!
  

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[cirquedesang]

[ I | Wake Up ]

[So the other shoe has dropped, huh? The world has become dark and twisted and there's a buzzing in his head, a thrumming in his veins that feels awful and exhilirating all at once.

The adrenaline before stepping on stage.

The railing of his beast against his mind.

The twinge of panic in the face of danger.

Everything in him is telling him to give in, to step over the edge, to trust in instinct and muscle memory and action over thought, and yet he continues to stand on the precipice, unwilling to throw himself into the void beyond.

Nothing like a hard shove to send you over the edge.

An Angel swoops in. There's a bright flash of white light. Celeste himself is knocked back, tumbling and skidding over the ground.

Red and black energy pulses as he gets to his feet, hand to his chest. Already airborne, wide silk ribbons wrap tight around the Angel. A spotlight falls on her.

The moment he pulls his Persona forth from his chest, the ribbons unravel, whipping the monster to the ground and leaving her in a quickly dissipating, crumpled heap, spotlight fading along with the ribbons themselves.]

...Bit on the nose, isn't it?

[ II | Get Up ]

[Even the dorms are distorted, too? Sure, he supposes that makes sense, to a point, but... the initial fighting had been rough, and if it was constant from now on, it'd no doubt get to be exhausting.

But their little RA is waiting for them, with snacks and waters, and, while he does doubt that they'll be any good for him, he does dare to try one of the cookies and--

Raspberry?

And he feels... fine? Not like he's going to immediately have to find a corner to vomit in?

Anyone watching him will see him immediately brighten up and look at the rest of the cookie in his hand like it's just worked some kind of miracle.

...Okay, technically, by the way he physically feels better, it has, but that, somehow, isn't the biggest surprise, here.]

[ III | Get Out There ]

[What? You wanted to just... go back? When there are demons out there to rough up for. You know. Reasons, I guess.

(For "fixing the world and going home" reasons, but we can pretend that's not important, or something.)

No, instead of heading back immediately, after gathering up some refreshments to take along, Celeste can easily be found lingering by the front doors of the spookified dorm, waiting to join up with anyone else who plans on heading back out into the fray.]

[ IV | Wildcard ]

[Anything else? Come to me!]

ii

[incompletely]

[ Tenn sees that, and he's half expecting Celeste to expire on the spot, but he doesn't. He looks...fine? Hm, he's gotta be sure, though. It'd be troublesome to take care of a sick roommate... ]

Do you feel alright?

[cirquedesang]

[Luckily for Tenn, his expiration date hasn't come up just yet...!!]

I feel... fine. And that's the strange thing, isn't it? There's some kind of magic in these snacks...

[incompletely]

What kind of magic?

[ He's wondering if it's magic that Céleste can feel. ]

[cirquedesang]

[Unfortunately, he doesn't have the ability to sense magic outright (wrong clan for that...) but... it doesn't take much to make assumptions!]

I... can't be entirely sure. I simply have to hope I will continue to feel fine even after leaving this place.

iii

[fullmoonmutt]

[ After Eli is tired of sulking in existential dread or yelling at the divine help, he's making tracks for the messed up city again, slamming the door open and storming out with violence in mind, lots of violence. At least now he has targets for it that deserve it.

However, he pauses when he sees Celeste from the corner of his eye, lingering outside the building as he is. ]

What? You needed some fresh air or something?

[ Which is funny since the guy probably doesn't breathe, right? ]

[cirquedesang]

[Sometimes one needs to sulk in existential dread and/or yell at the divine help, it's fine, we all do it.

But with Eli stomping out, Celeste does push off the wall and does look like he has every intention of going with him off to who knows where.]

No more than you.

[Because clearly you didn't come out to get some air, right?]

You're off to fight more of those things, right? I thought you were smarter than to go alone.

[fullmoonmutt]

[ Celeste is right. He should be smarter than that! His being right only irks Eli, and he glares at the vampire before continuing into the streets. ]

Well, good thing I'm not alone, and I have a fucking stupid beast as a soul buddy or whatever the fuck people are calling these shitty demons we all pulled out.

[ He won't tell Celeste not to tag along, but he will be irritated by it the whoooole way. ]

[cirquedesang]

[We like irritated. Irritated is kind of endearing, actually, so, yeah, we're tagging along.]

A lot of people got beasts. I doubt that's as poor a reflection on you as you think it is.

[fullmoonmutt]

It's not the same!

[ He's right, but... ]

I got some horrible hell wolf! If I had gotten a stupid cat or something unrelated, then it'd... it'd be different!

[cirquedesang]

Would it?

[Because, honestly, he could see Eli being just as upset at getting a cat of any sort.]

You didn't get a werewolf, which would have actually been worse, right?

wake up

[umurice]

[Here comes one teen running from another direction, a large hare dressed like a soldier hopping right behind him as though emphasizing the speed he was running. He hits a sudden break when he sees him, the hare following his movement and tilting its head along with him.

An honest one, that's for sure.]

Ah, you already defeated it!

[cirquedesang]

...Did I?

[It had all happened so fast... though, looking around it seems like everyone else is going through similarly chaotic "awakenings" of their own, so it shouldn't be as much of a surprise as it is.]

If only that was the only one.

[umurice]

... No, I can feel more hostile beings nearby, so we should probably escape soon.

[The question is... how?]

We could probably fight them, but I do not know how many are around... A lot. What are they?

[cirquedesang]

Escape to where, exactly?

[It's not like they can just go back from whence they came or anything, like that...! There's more creatures that way, and besides, everything's gone odd.]

As to what they are... your guess is as good as mine.

[There doesn't seem to be much in common between ooze creatures, noodle dogs, and bondage angels, but the one thing that is certain is they're all hostile.]

ii

[goei]

[Izou is still covered in demon blood because what do you want him to do, take a shower in the fucked up evil version of the dorms??? He watches Celeste have his transcendent experience eating the cookie and immediately has to quip;]

It's just a cookie, damn. Ya look like you've never eaten a sweet before.

[cirquedesang]

[So we're not rolling for frenzy on demon blood, luckily for Izou, but goodness gracious, the shade.]

I haven't.

[Is he lying, Izou? Can you read through the deadpan response?]

[goei]

[Mods saved me from being a vampire victim by deciding the monsters don't have regular blood.

That said I think he probably healed himself from Fuyu's stabs, but he probably still has (mostly) dried blood on his clothes from it if that's a problem for Celeste.]

Haah? No way. Even a guy like me's had a sweet or two before.

[cirquedesang]

[Mods may have saved you, but you couldn't save yourself... and dicebot didn't help.]

It's just been so long, I can't--

[And turning to face this (rude) guy, he's hit with the strong scent of dried blood and the stark reminder that tasty little cookies don't actually have much substance and it's been way too long since he's had anything fresh, so. You know.

Just going to move in as fast as possible to bite one of those freshly-healed stab wounds, my guy.]

[goei]

[WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO FOR THE TENDER AREAS!!! ARE YOU GONNA EAT THE SCAB??? AT LEAST SEXILY BITE HIS NECK ASSHOLE!!!!

Anyway, Izou doesn't react fast enough to stop him because how could he have forseen this, but he does pretty quickly start hitting Celeste on the head with the arm he's NOT biting.]

Oi oi, what the hell is your problem!? Get offa me, ya leech!

[cirquedesang]

[FRENZY MAKES YOU GO FOR THE SOURCE. SEXY NECK BITES ARE FOR WHEN EVERYONE IS THINKING STRAIGHT.

Though, like, if Izou wants sexy neck bites, he can ask. We can do sexy neck bites.

...Anyway, getting whacked and getting yelled at notably does not do anything except make him bite a little harder and also try to grab Izou's wrist... rather unsuccessfully, ending up with them both swatting uselessly at each other for a good couple minutes until finally he does let go and step back.

If his eyes are a little bit unfocused, no they aren't.]

Not... how I thought biting someone here would go...

[Maybe someone would have had pity on him for having to rely on gross, cold fridge blood? Or there'd be a fling sometime? Not. You know. All this.]

You may want to sit down.

ii

[cleansewithfire]

[ Oh, what a reaction to a cookie. So of course Sunrise is curious and has to ask: ]

What does it taste like?

[cirquedesang]

[Oh. Huh. What... does it taste like? Sure, the initial thought was raspberry, but... was it? It's been so long since he's tasted anything, it's hard to tell...

...But can't let on about that all that easily, so-]

Raspberry. Ah, I just usually don't eat sweets, you know?

[Because that totally explains the reaction, yep.]

[cleansewithfire]

[ Sunrise is none the wiser, but unfortunately(???) for Celeste, she has another question that is possibly more difficult to answer: ]

What does raspberry taste like?

[cirquedesang]

[...It is more difficult to answer, but he doesn't mind. It gets him thinking for a minute, then;]

Each one tastes a little bit different. Some are sweet, and others are tart, but... hm. I suppose it's difficult to describe other than that, because it's usually used to describe other foods.

[Another nibble to the cookie...]

This tastes like that, but also... it's light and airy, like it wants to melt on my tongue, and it's tart when it does.