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Persona: Fallen Paradise (RPG Thread, PG-13)

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
XVI - Alistair Blake
Jasmine Cafe
5:45 AM, Saturday 21 July


As Alistair bustled back and forth, making Jannike's coffee, he listened to the music playing on the radio half-heartedly. In truth, his thoughts were on the mysterious world which Jannike had just proven had in fact been real. What did it mean? What if from now on every time they fell asleep, they would go there and have to fight for their lives? And what if someone died there? Was it all just a strange dream, or would he see a grieving family, torn apart by a death they could know nothing about?

Subway through the dark,
Carriage through the park,
Taxi down the street,
Get out and use my feet,
Don't matter much to me,
What it is that I do,
As long as I'm comin' home to you,


Frowning slightly on the thoughts he was having, he glanced up from the coffee, back to Jannike. She was on her phone, talking to someone. He wondered if it was Carina, or the mysterious other girl. One of the others who had been there last night. Did they remember too, remember fighting so desperately? Remember the knight who had fought at their side, and the beautiful nymph who had healed their wounds?

He sighed softly. What was it all? That world, the pillar of darkness, Mordred, the nymph at Carina's side, it all made no sense. And their only lead was that cryptic message from Margaret. Watch for the door. But which door? How would they know?

Oh, oh, oh,
As far as I can see,
You're the only one,
The only one who can get to me,
Like a hijacked plane,
Or a runaway train,
Or a speeding bullet,
There's no stoppin' this,
I left my heart in Metropolis,


Picking up the completed coffee, he carried it through the tables to Jannike, setting it down on the table next to her. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, as she was still on her phone. Finally, he retreated back to the counter, gazing out past her onto the street. The sun was beginning to light up Misty Springs at last, banishing the shadows from between the buildings as it crested the mountain peaks around the town. Misty Springs always came out of darkness later than most places. The sun had risen at about four elsewhere, but only now did it begin to reach over even the shortest peaks to illuminate the town. Late dawn and early dusk was something the town knew well, it was a constant of their lives. In the winter, it wasn't uncommon to have perhaps six hours of direct sunlight in a day, if that.

Still, it wasn't a horrible town, he reflected. He could probably live happily here, there were nice people, and his job at the cafe wasn't particularly hard or dull. It was just...

"You aren't my son!"

His eyes darkened and he regarded the counter's black surface, drawn to the dark memories now, trying to put them aside. It had been months since the last incident. He had stayed out of the way, clinging to the house's shadows and escaping as much as he could. Getting up at five in the morning to come tend to the cafe was just normal in holidays and on weekends, it was an escape route as much as anything. It provided an equilibrium. He stayed out of the way and left his dad to his own thing. It didn't always work, but it was good enough. In any case, just another year of high school, and he could get away. Move out of the mountains, go somewhere else, somewhere new. There were cities within fifty miles, big, bustling cities full of noise and people. Full of life and new experiences. And even in the economy of the times, somewhere there'd be a job, even if the president hadn't solved everything by then, or if the other guy had come in and started a war like people said he wanted to.

Brought out of his musings, he looked back up from the counter, gaze now turning to Janna. He wondered briefly what she thought of it all. What she thought about him, the mysterious person who had taken charge the night before and fought desperately at their side. As he looked, he wondered if they might have to go back, and fight side-by-side once again. He remembered what she had said as he walked away to make her coffee.

"Heh, I think I could make a good partner too, y'know, love? I mean, I did wake up from that...not a dream...and live after all."

He smiled. Maybe, if they had to go back, they'd still endure. After all... it wasn't just them. It was Mordred too. But that puzzled him. He had reached into himself already, focusing to try and draw out what he had called on the night before. But he met resistance, the being within the sea of his soul eluding his reach. What had been so easy, if desperate on that beach was impossible in the real world. Was it something to do with that place? Would a... Persona only appear there? He could only wonder. Perhaps Margaret would have the answers, if they ever found that door and reached her once again.

IX - XVI

IX - Matthew Smith
Matt's House
5:50 AM, Saturday 21 July


Groaning as the sun pierced his blinds to stab his eyes, Matt arose. His hair was a mess, his sheets and duvet wrapped around him from his tossing and turning. As he awoke, it returned to him. The beach. Those people. The halberd. The monsters. He found himself in confusion. Had it been a vivid dream? Had it been real? He vaguely recalled those faces. Not just from the dream, but from town. He had glimpsed them through the shutters and curtains sometimes, or seen them around town before he had left, younger, but still recognizable even seven years and more later. Seven years in which so much had happened.

"Leah..." He looked to that beautiful, smiling image of her. All he had left. A pale, cold substitute for the woman he had loved so dearly, so much. It hurt to acknowledge that. That everything he had of her was nothing compared to her. Her soft, chiming laughter rang out through his memories, and he felt her kiss on his cheek, and it stabbed his heart to feel it.

"Matt! Come on, wake up, Matt! We're gonna be late for the society!"

He slumped back into his pillow.

"Aw, Matt, you messed up here. Hyperion was the Titan of Light, not Helios." She smiled dazzlingly, chuckling. "It's alright. Just keep it in mind, okay."

"Yeah, sure," he smiled. "Just a silly mistake I guess."


A sigh escaped him. It was so cold, this room. This bed. It wasn't big, made for only one person, but over time he had grown used to waking up with the warmth of her body close to his. And then one day, he had woken up and she wasn't there, and from that moment on he had been forced into a world of nightmares and pain, where the one he loved most was confined to the cold hard earth, and all he had left paled in comparison to losing her.

"Leah! Leah...!" He burst through the doors, but they were all shaking their heads and she was on the bed, so stiff so unmoving so pale. "Leah!" Wild-eyed, he looked at them, all of them, demanding answers, demanding her safety.

All he got was an apologetic silence.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he moved to her bedside, looking at her. The blood was soaking her skin, dying her white shirt that terrible red. The wound was visible from where the doctors had cut away her shirt to reach it, leaving only scraps of white cloth behind to be consumed in red. His gaze moved up, to her chest. His eyes fixed to her, pleading for the rise and fall which would indicate breathing. But there was nothing. Her lips were slightly parted, but no air passed through them. Her eyes were shut, her skin already so pale.

"No... please..." he gasped out, a whisper so quiet it almost seemed he were dying too.

"I'm... sorry," a doctor offered. "We did everything we could, but... it was just too late. There wasn't enough time. We're so sorry..."

He slipped down, falling to his knees, tears now beginning to fall. "Leah..." His body shook, the sobs already tearing him, heart cracking and breaking. Someone fell to his side, wrapping him in comforting arms, pulling him close, but despite their warmth all he felt was ice and pain, a spear of grief which thrust into his heart and stuck there.


He was weeping just from the memory as he rose, staggering through to the bathroom, tearing away his shirt and boxers and stumbling into the shower. Slamming the cubicle door closed, he buried himself under the burning spray, losing himself in the heat which washed over his skin, letting his tears vanish into the tide from above. He slumped against the wall, too apathetic to do much else. The memories clawed themselves up, bringing him to grief as he remembered.

"No... please..."

(The song from Alistair's portion of the post is Metropolis by Owl City, which I fully recommend, as IMO it's one of the best from his new album.)
 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
XIII. Jannike Mortensen
Jasmine Cafe
21.07.12


"It's fine, I just said the cupcake part so it wouldn't look suspicious... Well anyways, I had a strange dream last night... I was on this Island with Diego, you know, my brother's old friend? The guy who never leaves his house and a girl I didn't know. We were at some giant island, with a giant field of blades. We had harpies attack us, and some women saved me... Then a man appeared and said he was a resident of something called the 'Velvet Room, his name was Theodore. Does anything of that ring a bell to you?" Alyssa started talking. Jannike listened to every word she spoke. Field of blades, Harpies...Theodore...Diego? Jannike sighed at the mention of his name. Who the hell dreamed of Diego anyway? What Alyssa described however, was something...different from what she encountered.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Did you say Diego? Damn, that ham actually entered your dreams?" She replied, massaging her forehead in between her brows. She remembered the recent prom, when Diego tried to ask her out. She had declined, and never regretted it. Though she wasn't in love with Blaine, a friend she knew she could be comfortable with was better than...an acquaintance who turned her off.

"Anyway, field of blades? No, not at all., I was at a beach with weapons instead, full of huge-*** ants that bite hard. Plus, I heard no Theodore guy, only some lady named Margaret. Velvet Room is a 'yes' though, definitely. Woman? Can you tell me what exactly this woman looked like? I saw a badass dark knight near Alistair and some hot blue lady near Carina. Do you mean something...like that?" She continued, before looking around her. Though there were only a few people around her, quite a number of them were looking at her with strange, puzzled looks on their faces. She groaned inwardly. She forgot to keep it low again.

"Hey, Alyssa...let's bring this to text messaging. Some people here are looking at me like I should be going to some mental asylum or something..." She murmured, before hanging up. Looking at the table, she saw that her dark roast had already been served to her. Taking a sip, she looked up at Alistair. Two people...two people had experienced a strange world, though different in Alyssa's case. It felt so real...and so different at the same time. She flexed her arm again. The slight, dull pain still lingered, and she knew she did not feel that pain before she slept.

After Jannike finished up, she stood up and took her cup to the counter, standing in front of Alistair.

"Alistair...I just got off the phone with Alyssa from Cosgrove's. Guess what...weird experience and the 'Velvet Room' too. Except...she mentioned a field of blades and harpies instead...and some Theodore dude. Coincidence, or not?" She said, looking at him in the eyes as the tried to keep her voice low enough for nobody else to hear.
 

Kiruria

La Melancolie Noir
OOC: Okay, I just skimmed over the thread. I'm still kinda lost, but I think that's mostly because I'm still unfamiliar with the characters and all. And I finally decided to give Shin's hometown a name.
IC:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shin Megami Tensei
Streets of Misty Springs, ~6AM


Despite the fact that it was summer, the streets of Misty Springs were as cold and dark and misty as ever in the morning. Emphasis on the misty part. Shin was not used to such weather: just on the other side of the mountains, in the city of Apollo in which he lived his entire life before moving here just a year ago. He remembered how odd it felt those many days when walking to school, when he could barely see his feet and about fifty feet of his surroundings in every direction on several mornings. Back in Apollo it was clear on most mornings and most days, and dry as well, given the mountains tended to hog all the rain. On this morning there wasn't as much mist as there was in the colder months, but it still gave an almost eerie feel to the town. Especially considering it was a much less crowded place than Apollo usually was.

As Shin drove down the street in his very-new-looking black BMW, thoughts about school entered his mind. He recalled yesterday, the final school day, which, aside from the fact that he was graduating, was quite uneventful. On that final day, he had just slipped quietly away as classmates everywhere cheered, walking away as if high school was but a stepping stone on the great path of life. And to him it was. Late in the school year he had applied to Apollo State University back home, where he would attend in pursuit of a business degree. He was a little upset that his shenanigans with other students in his final year dropped his grades enough to make him no longer qualify for honours, but he still did have hope. His classes would be starting in mid-August, so his letter of acceptance would be arriving hopefully within the next week, and then he would have to start worrying about moving into the dorms over there.

Ugh, dorms. Shin didn't like the idea of having a roommate, especially given he was not used to sharing a room at all, having no siblings while he was growing up. And chances were that his roommate would be some loser he didn't like, right? Well, he decided that now was not the time to be worrying about such things. It was impractical. His father used to say that time spent worrying about the future just takes away time that could be spent on productivity in the present. A concept that was especially vital in the business world, though plans for the future still did have to be made. And Shin did have plans. He had the same plans ever since he was a little kid. Go get a good education, enter the auditing industry like his father, enter his father's company, rise up in the business, replace the aging CEO. Every night before he went to bed, he was silently sure of this in his mind, if only for a brief moment (though he used to think about it a lot).

So far, Shin liked the quiet atmosphere this morning. For once he was grateful that Misty Springs was a small town, for it was much easier to have peace and quiet. Very few people were out and about this early in the morning, especially on a Saturday, making the traffic non-existent. It took him less than ten minutes to reach the Jasmine Cafe, where he decided to go for breakfast that morning. After all, it was too hectic back at his house. A bunch of his relatives had come over to visit for the weekend, all to attend his graduation ceremony. This even included a few of the ones from Japan. The only other time there were this many family members in the house was during Christmas. So this morning, Shin was finally glad to be by himself.

After parking his car, Shin walked in, his straight black hair still a little damp from the shower he took earlier, his usual fancy blue coat protecting his body from the still-chilly weather. As he did so, he found himself feeling unusually dizzy and worn down. He had felt the same way when he just woke up, though he could swear that he got a good amount of sleep last night. Anyway, there at the counter was Alistair, one of the usual waiters of the place, talking to a goth girl he thought he could swear he saw recently, but wasn't sure. He had only been here a few times anyway, and those times were usually after school.

Without a word, Shin held up his index finger as he passed by the waiter, indicating he was the only person in his party. As usual, he took a booth by the window, and immediately pulled his laptop out of the case hanging over his shoulder as he scanned the menu. It was his first time ordering breakfast here, but it still didn't take very long for him to decide.

"I'll have a ham and egg croissant, with a side of fruit, and also a cup of coffee, just black is fine," said Shin when the waiter came by.

On his laptop he did the usual stuff, checking his email, looking over news articles, checking the stock values on the mutual fund he had just stored some money in, etc. He also thought about checking the Apollo State University schedule, to decide on which classes he wanted to take in his first year there. But as the sun came out and a reflection of that goth girl from before appeared in the window, a thought nagged at the back of his mind...

It was a dream he had last night. He was flying with a blue butterfly, and passed by someone in a butterfly mask... Which was strange, because he didn't really care for butterflies that much. They were pests lmost as much as flies were. And then, apparently he was on some sort of beach, one that was surrounded in mist, and there were weapons sitting in the sand. Then a shadow came and he went to hide in the trees. Something landed on him, he heard many people's voices, he saw a glimpse of a magnificent city... In short, it was a very weird dream. But, like any other dream he had in the past, he regarded it as unimportant. Dreams, after all, he knew to be merely the result of the brain trying to comprehend the random electrical discharges that happen during sleep. In this way, they were not really supposed to make any sense. And who was Shin to worry about a dream? No matter how frightening or strange a dream was, it wasn't real. He would just wake up and everything would be fine. Those who waddled in dreams and took them seriously... they were nothing more than lunatics as far as he was concerned.

At that point Shin heard the goth girl speak again, saying something about a "velvet room" and a field of blades, and harpies as well. Heh, more pointless nonsense, Shin thought as he adjusted his little round red-tinted sunglasses. It was all just... wait, harpies? Now he remembered. A harpy had appeared in his dream last night too--yes, that was what landed on him. And then there was a light of some sort that dispelled it somehow... he couldn't remember the details.

Shaking his head, Shin returned to his breakfast, taking another bite of the croissant sandwich he ordered. He couldn't believe he was letting his thoughts rest on a stupid dream. That damn goth girl was reminding him of it. Heck, even Alistair was, for some reason.
 

Pir8Heart

ƸӜƷ
XVIII - Aika Ichigawa
The floor


tek50268a6b927327183952.png

Aika Ichigawa woke up. Rather, she woke up for the second time today.

After falling flat on the floor once again, a magical space-time portal door appeared out of thin air. Rather inconveniently, it was on the opposite side of the island, where Lilly was supposed to be. Tilting her head a bit, she saw the up-side down image of a blue-clad man, with pale blonde hair a similar shade to Aika's. His attire made her think he was something of an elevator attendant. After introducing himself as Theodore, he gave a small speech to the fours, using words such as Shadows to describe the fish demons, and something about a commander. Anyway, Theodore made it clear that it wasn't safe on the island, and offered the door as an escape route. Which would've been helpful, if Aika could get up with a broken ankle and hip. She didn't remember who, but someone definitely helped her up and helped her to the door. Shortly after she woke up, she stared at the ceiling with total concentration, her hip and ankle searing with a twinge of pain. As if she had actually sprained her hip and ankle. did that mean that ridiculous, that radical cast of characters was...

No, perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her. It could've been that she convinced herself that she had sprained both places, due to the dream she just had. In her head, as she attempted to convince herself that the pain wasn't there, she slowly noticed that the soreness was gradually fading away. "Good morning... Dolly?" her wolf plushie was nowhere to be found. Locating on the floor to her right, she crawled out of bed and slid onto the floor, ignoring the blanket still wrapped around her. And once she reached for her wolf plushie... she fell alseep.

And now, we're here. Now, Aika was on the floor next to the bed, still wrapped up in her blanket. GizELLE appeared to be sleeping on the other side. Since she didn't want to disturb GizELLE's slumber, she gave a small "Good morning." to her sleeping mother, and decided to tell her wolf plushie about the dream she had. "... And then someone helped me up, I don't remember who, and we all walked through the space-time portal. The end!" Aika gave Dolly the wolf a short squeeze, then unzipped the zipper on her stomach and turned her inside-out again. Back to Dolly the sheep.

A small rustle of fabric could be heard from the other side of the bed, followed by a person rising upward,

"Fugaaaaaaah... Oh, g'mornin', Aika."

"Good morning." Not wishing to look at GizELLE's "morning face", she turned her head towards the small dresser in front of her. The small alarm clock on top of it read 5:02. "Five 'o' two." she repeated to herself.

"F-Fiiive?" GizELLE the proceeded to... slam her face against the bed. "Mhthrfhhhhhhhhhh-" Aika couldn't make out what GizELLE was saying, but the next moment, her mom dragged her down the hallway, then into the bathroom. "GizE-" as she tried to ask GizELLE what she was trying to do, her face was met with a multitude of dresses.

"Justchangeintooneofthem,willyou?Hurryhurryhurryyyyy!" GizELLE's voice sounded like someone accidentally pressed the fast-forward button on a VCR as she ran off. She seemed to be in some sort of hurry, but Aika couldn't think of what it could've been. Letting her eyes fall to one of the dresses, she set to work on changing out of her outfit. Finally, she could take off those annoying contacts.

tek504d6ff0095522258440.png

A bus stop, outside some office

"Senna."

Earlier, Aika had noticed that the Brazilian bombshell was nowhere to be seen in her own house. It was probable that Senna went out without telling GizELLE, but just in case, she decided to ask her mom.

"Senna? Oh, she's in the next town over. Y'know, she needs to make preparations for your next job." An awkward silence ensued, as Aika's eyelids shifted by a micrometer.

"..."

"C'mon, what's with the face? I promise we'll be here for a while. In the meantime, you need to promise me you need to make more friends, oki?" GizELLE offered her pinky to her daughter, who nonchalantly shook it with her two fore-fingers. Aika soon resumed to watching cars passing by. "Oki, we also have to make sure to keep up the good work. Modeling's practically second-nature to you by now, right? Just be natural." Unsurprisingly, not many cars passed by the rather dismal office building. "Hey, are you even listening?" Blue car, yellow car, red car that almost ran her over; one by one, she counted them as they drove past the bus stop. She could still count the cars that passed by on both hands.

Seeing as her daughter wouldn't respond anytime soon, she decided to look for something that would catch her attention. Eventually, she settled on the dress she was wearing."No, did I make it too short? Or maybe she's outgrown it. What a shame, I really liked this one..." Aika could tell that GizELLE was talking about her dress, and she appeared to agree with her. Deciding to give herself a quick glance, she couldn't help but feel that this was felt a bit too... airy; not that there was breeze down there or anything. If she hadn't tucked Dolly under her left arm, she might've felt that her sleeves were rather loose. "Aiikaaa, how many times do I have to tell you not to carry that thing around? It completely throws your outfit out of balance." Aika Attention Grab Combo, activate. Outcome;

"Thing?" Success. "Mama, don't hurt Dolly. She can hear you, you know." Aika retorted in one breath.

"Aika, we're not going to have this conversation again."

"Yes, we are. Say sorry to Dolly."

"Aiikaaaaa!" her only silent reply was holding up Dolly in front of her. "Ghh, fine... Terribly sorry, Dolly-chan~." she finally gave in and patted the sheep plushie's head. "Just, you don't ALWAYS have to bring her with you, Aika. It throws the entire outfit off-"

Thud.

"...Aika?" GizELLE slightly grimaced as the young girl fell asleep on her shoulder. Lightly shaking her awake, she told her daughter that she had some important business to take care of. Aika, being half-asleep, heard something about modeling before she fell asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So you can just stay here, okay? Stay put!" GizELLE put her hands in front of her like she was about to fire an Aura Sphere... except she didn't, and turned towards the building. Now, Aika and Dolly were all alone on the bus stop. With nothing to do.

"Dolly, don't you think this road looks rather bland?" Bored out of her mind, she poured some imagination into her plushie companion. "I mean, the only thing making it look slightly cool is this creepy mist. Speaking of which, it's misty. Isn't that cool?" Already, she had run out of things to talk about. Thus, as she decided to sit in silence for a moment, she was able to notice the sun's warmth piercing through the cloudy sky. "It's faint, but... it's really sun, right?" she continued as Dolly reached her arm towards the sun; or perhaps she saw past the sun.

Rather quickly, her arm's strength diminished significantly. "Hu... h? Are you, *yaaaawn*, okay, D... Doll... " Lowering her arm and hanging it downward... she feel asleep. And it only took 18 seconds.

(OOC: SOOO, I won't have Aika interact with everyone just yet. If anyone wants to pass by her or 'accidentally' wake her up, be my guest.)
 

Blivsey

DATA_ERROR
XVII - Louise Henrietta DuBois
DuBois Residence
21.07.12 - Saturday Morning


Louise tensed up as Leo's speech accelerated. He related everything back perfectly - the snake monsters, the strange weapons, all of it. She definitely wasn't going crazy. That much was good. But at the same time, this meant that in one night, they had traveled instantaneously through space against their will to fight impossibly monstrous creatures made out of living stone, probably breaking at least a dozen laws of the known universe in doing so.

And that was very, very bad.

Louise's mind was still racing with the implications of what she had gotten into when Leo asked her a direct question. She only caught the last half properly, but it sounded like something about her shoulder. Probably an inquiry as to her injury. Her gaze shifted to the spot where she had been bitten as she answered, "I'm okay. It's strange - it still hurts a little, but the wound is gone." She furrowed her brow. How did that even work, really? This made no sense. Neither of them had the faintest clue what was going on, by the sounds of it.

Oh, right! There were others involved, too! She had recognized a face or two, but couldn't place names to them at all. Being new to town would do that. But that meant that - even the unfamiliar ones probably lived in Misty Springs. Even if they couldn't understand or affect what was happening, wouldn't it be best for them all to at least stay in contact? Between the five of them, they might be better able to prepare themselves, provide emotional support, do anything at all that might help. Besides, she should probably thank the other who had helped her out...

"There were three others, yes? They are probably in this town, also. We should find them." Louise paused briefly, then suggested, "...It would be better if we split up and look. I'll tell you if anything happens. Is that okay?"

The conversation wrapped up quickly form there, with just brief reassurances and farewells before Louise hung up. It seemed like her day would be spent searching. Best not to accept Diego's offer, then. Any other day, she would love to go hiking, but right now bigger things were on her plate. She flipped her simple phone back open, thinking of how she might most politely decline, but stopped as she saw something unexpected.

A message? Huh. She must have missed it earlier.

It was from Diego. Even better, it contained something she hadn't been expecting - a full explanation of what he had been talking about last night. Louise had been too sleepy during the call to bother translating most of it, which seemed to be a grave mistake. She had heard that he had a dream involving Krystal and Alyssa. He had actually said something about a dream world, and how he and and a handful of others had fought off otherworldly monsters with strange weapons and magic.

The same "dream."

Louise's eyes widened. So... this was happening to others, too? And if, how many others had been caught in the same predicament last night? Ten? A hundred? And she hadn't even seen anything about the others using magic, themselves. Had that happened while she was nearly blacked out? What else had she missed? This situation was developing alarmingly quickly. Having not even ended her conversation with Leo three minutes ago, she threw him a quick message.

Diego says it happened to him too. Talking to him now.

And so she did. Without even thinking, she had already dialed. A dozen different ways to bring up the topic of last night, none of them appealing, flashed through her head before she heard him pick up.

"Um, hi, Diego. So..." she started. God, how was she supposed to just ask about this? Perhaps it was best to do it in person? "When do you want to go? Hiking gets harder around mid-day."
 

DVB

Philosopher Knight
I- Diego Vendrix
Outside of Cosgrove's
Early Morning, Saturday 21 July


As Diego was waiting outside, he got a call. It was Louise. Looks like she got his messege after al. He picked up and heard her out.

"Um, hi, Diego. So..." she started. There was a then a brief moment of awkward silence before she then stated: "When do you want to go? Hiking gets harder around mid-day."

"We can meet around mid-morning and maybe we can even a picnic. We can talk about what happened and walk around and such," Diego said to her. It was about 6 AM. He figured an hour and a half to prepare seemed good enough.

"So how about we meet at the base of Stardust Trails at say 7:30? So we have an hour and a half to prepare. Do we both bring food or just one of us?" Diego asked her. While he awaited her answer, Diego began wondering what was the plan for today. Besides the possible picnic, he also has to practice wielding a claymore. This would be hard but he could probably find a stick that would be of smiliar size and weight he could try and practice with.

Diego wondered how Krystal was. He hoped she was feeling well. He was still thinking of what happened. Something deep in his mind told him this was not a one-time thing...

It was just the beginning...
 
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storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
(Gonna timing fiddle a little and say Alistair served Shin before Janna came over)

XVI - Alistair Blake
Jasmine Cafe
6:00 AM, 21/7/2012


"Alistair...I just got off the phone with Alyssa from Cosgrove's. Guess what...weird experience and the 'Velvet Room' too. Except...she mentioned a field of blades and harpies instead...and some Theodore dude. Coincidence, or not?" She said, looking at him in the eyes as the tried to keep her voice low enough for nobody else to hear.

"...the same place?" Alistair murmured. "That's... does that mean it was real after all? Different details but the same place from the sound of it..." He looked at her, honestly looking a little scared and freaked out. "What... what does it mean?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the person he had just served. What was his name again? Shin, wasn't it? He had some odd surname too if he remembered right. Why did Shin seem almost... familiar? There was something about him, something different.

He turned back to Janna, thinking. "Once I finish work, we should go and see her. Talk to her about it... did she mention anyone else being there with her?" He paused, considering. "Theodore... could he be connected to Margaret somehow...?"
 

GoldenHouou

antagoonist
VII – Danijela “Dani” Cernik
Group I
Mysterious Seashore


The strange creature didn’t answer her. At least, Dani was pretty sure he didn’t; she couldn’t really make out her surroundings anymore. Everything was blurry, and she was pretty sure she had slumped back down at some point. Damn it. She could only barely hear words from somewhere afar. A… woman? What did she say? She couldn’t hear. Probably nothing important anyway. Something about Personae…

Just then a soothing feeling overtook her, and her world started to clear. The pain she was experiencing was washed away, and she found herself gasping. She saw a blue light surrounding her, and as she stood up, she realized there was a blue woman there, glowing in the same azure light she had seen from the corner of her eye earlier.

“Wha… what the hell are you?” She gasped, “Thorny’s girlfriend? The hell is your problem, I said I didn’t need help and I fucking meant it!”

Cursing and dusting herself off, Dani stood back up and flung her bat over her shoulder. It seemed like the ant bastards from earlier were all gone. Huh.

“Hah! Knew we’d beat those losers,” Dani grinned to herself, only to notice a swirling back cloud in the distance. The words that had eluded her earlier were now much clearer, even if her side and back still hurt. It wasn’t the intense, burning pain it had been a while ago, but she definitely didn’t feel like getting hit anywhere near the wound’s vicinity again in a while. She wasn’t bleeding though, and that was all that mattered. She could endure a little pain, no problem.

The strange woman was still spouting some weird nonsense about them being chosen and some stronger “Shadows” or something coming to get them if they didn’t go through some glowing door of light right now, but Dani hardly paid attention. She had already set her sights on the darkness in the horizon, closing in on them every second. Thousands of eyes stared down at her from the depths of the hurricane,but she just stared back.

“Bring it.”

She was just about to lift her bat from her shoulder and start running face-first into the cloud when she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder.

“Wha-“

“Come on, sugar, through the door. Live to fight another day and all.”

Sugar?!

A flash of light, and Dani had to close her eyes.

Danijela’s room
Morning


Dani jolted to sit, her hair a mess and her pillows gathered throughout the room. She was sitting on the floor, and as she yanked her blanket away she realized her head hurt. Damn it, felt like someone had hit her over the head with something. Ugh.

Wait a minute, where was-

Dani stood up, looking around frantically. She was ready to pounce at anything hat moved, but after a minute or so of turning around and glaring at everything she saw, she finally calmed down and concluded that she was alone. The ants were gone, as were the two women and the waite- yeah, the three women she had fought alongside with. Had that been a dream? Her side still stung, but she couldn’t see any injuries. Maybe she had just fallen on her side or something?

“Yeah, right, like floor could hurt me that much. That shit had to be real. Otherwise I’d never dream of that fucking loser in the café shop or… or of that random lesbian who…” Dani found herself blushing at the mere memory, and quickly shook her head. Ugh, she had to wash her face. In acid.

Shaking her head, she started to gather her bed sheets from the floor and contemplate what to do now. The obvious choice was to go to the café and beat the living shit out of the waitress dude, but she wasn’t sure if she… knew the way there anymore. She was never good with directions. Then again, wasn’t like she had anything else to do. She hadn’t even gotten to keep the baseball bat.

“Fucking stingy dream…”

Street
Still Mornin’


Dani placed her hands on her hips and grunted. She looked left and she looked right, and she repeated the action about a dozen times, but to no avail. Freaking small towns. She knew how to get around in metropolises, because there was always something interesting around and she remembered all the important places. But small towns like this? She never bothered to pay attention to anything. She probably should’ve. Would have saved her a lot of time.

Cursing under her breath, Dani continued to stomp in a random direction. The mist wasn’t helping at all. It was like some fat rhino mammoth had farted a freaking cloud over the town. It sucked. She couldn’t see shit, and there wasn’t even anyone around to ask directions from.

Just then, she noticed she had arrived at a bus stop. Huh. They actually had buses here? Would they be able to take her where she needed? She figured asking couldn’t hurt. 'Sides, she really wanted to rest her legs a bit. So, sighing, frustrated, Dani walked to sit and wait for the bus to arrive, only to flinch the second she laid her bottom down.

She was pretty sure, she… had just sat on someone.

“What the fuck?!” Dani growled as she jumped and spun around, ready to punch the hobo in the face, only to… realize it was a little girl. Who probably wasn’t a hobo. Dani blinked, as it seemed like the girl was fast asleep.

She was cute, looked like a doll.

And the plushie she was holding? Even cuter. Dani wanted it.

Looking around to make sure there were no witnesses to the crime she was about to commit, Dani tiptoed back next to the girl and reached for the sheep. There was a slight, cat-like smile on her face, much different from her usual grins.

"Come here you little sheepie~"
 

Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
V - Lillian "Lilly" Silverstone
Silverstone Residence
Early Morning, Saturday


Lilly just couldn't get back to sleep after waking up from that bizarre dream, no matter how hard she tried. It didn't help that Leo turned the lights on and had to start making noise. So she sat up in her bed, and with a sigh she reached over to the nightstand to put her glasses on. It was funny though, despite being a dream, a part of her had actually enjoyed fighting all those monsters and watching them get angry when they got hit on the head was funny. It felt invigorating, reminding her of an RPG. Too bad it was just was nothing more than electrical charges going off in my brain as I sleep. She couldn't help but feel that it wasn't fair that one girl got some magic goddess lady, whatever... to help her though. Why didn't the rest of us get magic people to come to our aid. It would've certainly been a lot more helpful than a mere Chakram.

She put these thoughts out of her head, and looked at the clock. Since it was still much too early for her to be up, especially on a Saturday, she opened a drawer, a pulled out a blue Nintendo 3DS. She turned it on, and went to it's web browser to check for new posts in the RPG forum she frequented. Trying to post from a mobile device wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but it's not like she could on a computer at this time of the day anyway. After waiting a few moments for the page to load, she saw that only one RPG she was in had a post. And she sighed when she saw who it was from. There was this one guy on the forum that seemed to get some kind of sick pleasure from writing horribly graphic death scenes. Killing off your character is fine, if you were into that kind of thing, but describing someone getting gutted horribly is not approiate for a PG -13 game. She'd given him all kinds of warnings about this before, saying that the RPG's had ratings for a reason, but it doesn't stop him. Being a Moderator, she had to do something before other trolls came on and did the same thing thinking they could get away with it. So, she deleted his post, and gave him a three point infraction for posting inapproriate materials. The process took it's time, seeing as she wasn't on the computer, but eventually the infraction was dealt.

---

After spending some time browsing the internet from her 3DS, the smell of something cooking reached her nose. This meant only one thing, Leo was making breakfast. So, she got out of bed, and made her way to the kitchen. When she got there, she found a plate full of waffles. She also saw her brother talking on the phone while pacing around the room looking quite worried. She wondered what he was talking about, but quickly put the thought aside figuring it was none of her business, and went to get a plate.

XIX -Leonardo "Leo" Silverstone
Silverstone Residence
Saturday Morning


After getting off the phone with Louise, it looked like he had recieved a message while he was on the phone. Upon checking the contents of the message, it turned out it was from Diego, who described a very similar dream that Louise and himself had. Wait... could that mean others could be involved? shortly after, he had gotten another message from Louise saying she had also recieved a message from Diego, saying what he had already said to him. Leo wondered if that was the case, then who else, and how many people could be involved, and what kind of madness they had been dragged into. He then remembered that Lilly mentioned having a strange dream last night. Could she have also been involved? He immediately shot Louise a message back.

"Yeah, he sent me the same message. I think my sister might be involved too. I have to ask..."

He put his phone in his pocket, as Lilly sat down at the table, and was about to put a forkful of waffles into her mouth. Leo sat down in the chair in front of her. "Hey Lil, you mentioned having a strange dream last night. Did it involve monsters, weapons... other people, magic?"

"I told you, I hardly remember it." She said as she put the food into her mouth.

"Other people are experiencing the same thing, me included. There's some very stuff going down and..."

Lilly interupted him in the middle of his sentence. "Seriously? You sound like a character in an RPG I'm in. While it would be totally awesome if it were true, I doubt random people in town are being taken to a magical world through their dreams to fight some kind of ancient evil. It just doesn't happen in real life."

"Then how do you explain Louise, Diego, and I having the exact same thing happening to us?"

Lilly shrugged, "Maybe you're all just crazy..." and took another bite of her waffles.

Leo sighed and lowered his head. This wasn't going to get anywhere.

---

Street
Still Morning


After finishing his breakfast, Leo decided to take a walk, or rather a roll, through town by himself for a bit. He put his shoes on, put weight on his heels, and zipped off. He promised to be back later to take the girl's out some place when it was a more reasonable hour.

When he got outside, he saw exactly why this place was called Misty Springs. The Mist made it difficult to see very far in front of him. With a shrug, he continued rolling along, skating around in random directions. He'd brought his iPod with him, and he had earbuds in his ears, and was listening to music. Maybe he'd discover a new place in this small town he hadn't been to before, or meet someone new.
 
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Ysavvryl

Pokedex Researcher
VI: Carina
home, early Saturday morning


“Oh, you're up early,” Carina's mother said, coming into the kitchen.

“I know,” she said, nodding. “Got up and couldn't get back to sleep. Want me to make you some eggs?”

“That'd be good, thanks.” She checked the kettle before setting the water to heat up for her coffee. “Are you going to be going back to mowing lawns for the summer?”

Well, she hadn't planned on much to do during this time. But, it'd be good to build up some money for school supplies when she went to get a degree in the fall. “Probably. I should go check up with some of my old customers.” Then she grinned and clenched her fist. “Hey, you think I could get a sword for cutting grass this year? Cause that would be awesome!”

Her mother laughed. “But more tiring and less efficient. Still, that would be memorable.”

They chatted over breakfast, then Carina decided to go ahead and leave to walk around town. While her mother thought she'd be checking up on lawns to mow (which she would be doing anyhow), she could have the chance to run into one of the others. It was probably a dream, but something about it kept up a quiet nagging in her mind to check and see. She probably wouldn't know for sure until she figured out the door.

Before she went out, she double-checked how she looked. She had brushed her hair, shaved, and put on a little it of make-up. For today, she had a simple pink dress with a knotted white belt, a white silk scarf around her neck, and black shoes. She went back to her room to get a two of the white lily clips, one for her hair and one for her belt. She had found that plain hairclips and silk flowers made for good versatile accessories. After adding a pink princess watch to keep track of time and checking what was in her white purse, she headed out the door.

Maybe it was an effect of being a boy, she didn't know. But she liked mowing lawns. It was an enjoyable chore and some of the folks around would pay good money for a reliable helper. Of course, she didn't usually look like the sort that be working a lawnmower, especially because she wore dresses and skirts a lot. But, she never had trouble with getting caught on things. It helped when she wore skirts with hemlines above the knees (and it helped that she didn't mind using the angle of eye candy to get new lawns to mow).

After checking up on a couple of neighbors to see if they wanted to hire her again, she spotted one of the others from the dream in the misty streets. It was that other girl, the one with the red hair. She was standing by the bus stop, looking at a little girl who was sleeping on the bench. Now that was an odd scene. Around here, there weren't many homeless people and the older residents might take in a child of that age who was on the streets. Maybe she was a runaway. But, she didn't have a bag and she wore a nice blue dress (if a little oddly shaped; must be some high fashion deal), making the younger girl an unlikely runaway. Maybe the redhead knew the girl.

They hadn't noticed Carina, due to being asleep or being in the usual morning mist. The kid was asleep, so she really shouldn't bother... oh, but it would be such fun! Maybe if she did some quick talking, she could smother over the rudeness of potentially waking the kid in order to have some fun with the other teen. Carina grinned and moved quietly into position.

“Heya, sugar!” she said in a bright cheery voice. “Now don't be startin' a fight here and now. You don't want to disturb your little buddy there. Besides, I'm a lover, not a fighter; I ain't lookin' to cause trouble.” She smiled and offered a handshake. “Course, I seen you around but I don't know your name, so I guess I'm gonna have to keep callin' you sugar until you tell it to me. I'm Carina.”
 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
OOC: Of course, Janna fails to remember that Alyssa self-delivers the cupcakes. XD It's early in the morning...what do you expect? XD She's no Nodoka after all. XD

XIII. Jannike Mortensen
Jasmine Cafe
6:00 AM, 21.07.12


"...the same place? That's... does that mean it was real after all? Different details but the same place from the sound of it... What...what does it mean?" Alistair murmured in reply, also keeping his voice low. Jannike shook her head slowly.

"Maybe it isn't a dream at all. Just so weird how random people suddenly get strange dreams that are the same in essence, like the so-called gods of luck and dreams are drunk and probably screwing with us or something... Well, I kid, but now that Alyssa makes three...this looks less like a coincidence, love." She answered, playfully smirking a bit, before focusing once more. She then saw Alistair's eyes look elsewhere and looked momentarily to where he was looking at, before turning back to face Alistair. From what she caught, it was another boy at the cafe, this one dark-haired and rather...regal-looking. Jannike blinked...did Alistair see the boy in his dreams too?

"Once I finish work, we should go and see her. Talk to her about it... did she mention anyone else being there with her?" Alistair said, asking about whether Alyssa had remembered anyone from the dream.

"Yeah...she mentioned that Diego dude, a guy who she claimed never left his house...I don't know how she knew that if the guy never did leave in the first place, and a girl she doesn't know...apparently. Yeah, she did mention those three." Jannike replied, enumerating what Alyssa had told her, laughing nervously when she came to the part about the guy who never left his house. She had heard rumors, but she never, ever saw said guy in person.

So, Alyssa is secretly a stalker, huh?

"So yeah...I guess we can go see her later and ask...whatever the hell this really means. Any of those three Alyssa mentioned ring a bell to you? If any of them makes four, five or even six...then we got some serious shit on our hands." She finished, hoping that Alistair had any of their numbers...even just one. To make sure, however...she whipped out her phone and texted Alyssa.

Alyssa, do you happen to know Diego's number or the other guy's? Need them ASAP. -Janna

"By the way...that knight that showed up next to you...and that blue babe Carina summoned...how the hell did you guys make them appear?" She added, looking up from her phone as she faced Alistair once again.
 
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Blivsey

DATA_ERROR
XVII - Louise Henrietta DuBois
DuBois Residence
21.07.12 - Saturday Morning


"We can meet around mid-morning and maybe we can even a picnic. We can talk about what happened and walk around and such," Diego proposed. "So, how about we meet at the base of Stardust Trails at say 7:30? So we have an hour and a half to prepare. Do we both bring food or just one of us?" Louise nodded before reminding herself that Diego would never be able to tell from the other end of the line. Stardust Trails left things pretty open-ended as far as where they could end up going - she'd probably be able to handle just about any of them with little trouble, but she had no idea what terrain Diego might be up for. She'd also have just enough time to whip a lunch together if she wanted, as well as change into something more substantial than her current lazy morning attire. She could make it just fine!

"No, I'll bring lunch," she said. "See you there, then? Great."

Before Louise had even pocketed her flip-phone, she was already rummaging through the fridge, trying to give herself ideas. Anything that she could make out of the ingredients in front of her. Well, anything vaguely lunch-like, at least. And she could think of a couple already. Eggs, mustard and vegetables were moved to the counter. The cupboards produced vinegar and spices. Her feet moved her back and forth about the kitchen, assembling the various components with swift, precise motions. All were recipes which she had executed dozens of times. Her mind was at ease here - cooking was as familiar to her as anything else, and already things were being set in motion to address last night's inexplicable events. Humming a familiar tune to herself, she went back to grab milk from the refrigerator when an ingredient on the bottom shelf caught her eye.

Hmm, what if we added that?

Come to think of it, a few things about her mother's recipes seemed rather roundabout, and a bit simplistic in some cases. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to make a few adjustments here and there. All success was bred from experimentation, after all! Feeling a new sense of daring, Louise began to add entirely new things to her works in progress, now completely following her own rhythm and rhyme. Yes, just combine these steps... maybe add a few components here and there... add some seasoning...

Though she was cutting it a touch close, Louise managed to finish everything up on time and pack it all neatly into a pair of matching containers, one blue and one pink, although she regrettably didn't have time to taste-test any of it. She packed these in turn into her backpack, now empty of school supplies for the summer, and changed herself into more practical clothing for a hike: white shorts, a pink top, and leather hiking boots. As she was tying her hair back into a short ponytail, she noticed the sheep Diego had given her in the mirror. Grinning, she turned and skipped over to it, tucking the doll neatly into her bag so that just its head was showing. Hmm... she really needed to give it a name. And decide on its gender. Hmm...

"What do you think, Jack?" she asked, turning to a snowman-like teddy bear perched on the shelf above her desk.

...No response. Typical.

Louise snatched up her bag and headed out the door, the only one in the house awake and not in the shower. Luckily, Misty Springs was a small enough town that half an hour of walking could get her most places where she needed to be in town, and within twenty minutes she had arrived at the entrance that they had agreed on, having had no luck in spotting the others from last night during her walk. She checked her watch - she had arrived ten minutes early. Sighing, she set her backpack down at the base of a nearby tree to wait. Upon looking around lazily for some sort of animal to watch (nothing but birds this near to the trail-head, she looked upward and thought this would make a good climbing tree, and then, why not?

With a running start from fifteen paces off, she managed to scale the first five feet with little difficulty, plant her foot on a knot, and get a firm grasp on the nearest branch on the first try. The bark was a bit rough, but that just made it easier for her to hold on as she hoisted herself upward, finding a perch about fifteen feet off the ground. Turning to look away from the entrance, she found that she could see for most of two blocks in any direction. She briefly considered hiding herself for fun, but as her pink shirt would likely put a stopper in that plan, she decided to just watch and wave him in, instead.
 

DVB

Philosopher Knight
I- Diego Vendrix
Stardust Trail
21.07.12 - Saturday Morning


"No, I'll bring lunch," she said. "See you there, then? Great." Diego had heard she would be bringing food. At the same time, he wondered what she would bring. He was not fond of egg salad or salas with dressings though light vinagrettes were all right. He did not wish to be disrespectful, but he might as well prepare something light...

He smiled as he knew what to make. He hoped she liked them.

They were croissants. Large, warm and buttery and filled with a chocolate filling.

Having made them before, he put it in a small sack which he put in his backpack along with a few bottles of water and a first aid kit. Diego had decided to change his attire.

He was wearing some rugged toe-shoes that his brother had sent him for his birthday. In the military school, there were chances to have a part-time job or somewhat in the town it was in. Diego also wore some blue jeans and a gray t-shirt. On the front was the large alternate yin-yang symbol. Instead of being a duality, it was a triality of black, white and gray. Outside of the symbol were the words describing them, on the white was "Aether", on the black was "Nether" and on the gray was "Void".

Diego had arrived a few minutes early at Stardust Trail. It was named for it being somewhat dusty and much like of plateaus where one can see the vast starry skies like the American MidWest. He had been approaching the entrance before noticing the French girl on a tree.

He waved back to her as he had a smile on his face. Diego also couldn't help but notice how attractive she looked in her attire.

When they began their trek up, it was a bit quiet at first. Then Diego was the first to speak. "Who was with you regarding that bizarre dream? I was in a group of 4 with Alyssa, Krystal and Matt. There were also all these weapons around. One that drew my attention was this claymore," Diego said before waiting for her response.
 

storymasterb

Knight of RPGs
XIII. Jannike Mortensen
Jasmine Cafe
6:00 AM, 21.07.12


"...the same place? That's... does that mean it was real after all? Different details but the same place from the sound of it... What...what does it mean?" Alistair murmured in reply, also keeping his voice low. Jannike shook her head slowly.

"Maybe it isn't a dream at all. Just so weird how random people suddenly get strange dreams that are the same in essence, like the so-called gods of luck and dreams are drunk and probably screwing with us or something... Well, I kid, but now that Alyssa makes three...this looks less like a coincidence, love." She answered, playfully smirking a bit, before focusing once more. She then saw Alistair's eyes look elsewhere and looked momentarily to where he was looking at, before turning back to face Alistair. From what she caught, it was another boy at the cafe, this one dark-haired and rather...regal-looking. Jannike blinked...did Alistair see the boy in his dreams too?

"Once I finish work, we should go and see her. Talk to her about it... did she mention anyone else being there with her?" Alistair said, asking about whether Alyssa had remembered anyone from the dream.

"Yeah...she mentioned that Diego dude, a guy who she claimed never left his house...I don't know how she knew that if the guy never did leave in the first place, and a girl she doesn't know...apparently. Yeah, she did mention those three." Jannike replied, enumerating what Alyssa had told her, laughing nervously when she came to the part about the guy who never left his house. She had heard rumors, but she never, ever saw said guy in person.

So, Alyssa is secretly a stalker, huh?

"So yeah...I guess we can go see her later and ask...whatever the hell this really means. Any of those three Alyssa mentioned ring a bell to you? If any of them makes four, five or even six...then we got some serious shit on our hands." She finished, hoping that Alistair had any of their numbers...even just one. To make sure, however...she whipped out her phone and texted Alyssa.

Alyssa, do you happen to know Diego's number or the other guy's? Need them ASAP. -Janna

"By the way...that knight that showed up next to you...and that blue babe Carina summoned...how the hell did you guys make them appear?" She added, looking up from her phone as she faced Alistair once again.

XVI - Alistair Blake
Jasmine Cafe
6:00 AM, 21/7/12


"A guy who never leaves his house..." Alistair murmured, recalling. Afternoons spent by that house, tossing stones in the hopes of coaxing him out. Sometimes curtains twitching, a glimpse of a pale face. "No... I don't have their numbers. I don't really know either of them, especially the one who never leaves his house." He paused, considering. More people... others who had been there? If it wasn't just a dream, what did that mean for them? All of them. What if they went back, and those things were waiting for them?

He pondered her second question. "Well... I was just... desperate. Knocked down, too hurt to keep fighting... I was sure I'd... die. And then there was a voice in my head... speaking to me." He remembered the words, murmuring them. "I am thou, and thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I come. I am Mordred, harbinger of calamity." He paused. "Then, this card appeared in front of me... I smashed it, and he was just there. I don't know if the same happened to Carina..."

He considered for a moment. "There was this word. When I was looking at him... the knight, Mordred. I just... knew the word. What he was... what the girl with Carina was." He recalled it instantly, wondering about it. "That word, it was... Persona." Just saying it, even now, chilled him. It brought a sense of the supernatural, of something deep within them. Something from deep in the soul, called forth as a guardian.

"I don't know... what it means," he confessed. "But those two with us last night... they were there to help... to protect us." As he spoke, the radio played out, pouring out the songs from the CD still placed within it.

I'm a silhouette, askin' every now and then,
Is it over yet?
Will I ever smile again?
I'm a silhouette, chasin' rainbows on my own
But the more I try to move on,
The more I feel alone,
So I watch the summer stars,
To lead me home,


He sighed softly. "I don't know. What does it... all mean? There's so much we don't know about that place... those Personas... those things we fought." He looked at her. "And if we have to go back... what then?"
 

Pir8Heart

ƸӜƷ
XVIII - Aika Ichigawa
Bus Stop


tek504d6ff0095522258440.png

Aika was woken up by an ass. Quite literally.

After her arm slowly drooped down past her and she fell asleep, some bitch decided to sit down on her. After a womanly voice screamed something along the lines of "The fuck?!" the pressure on Aika's legs immediately vanished. Whether or not sitting on her was intentional was rather debatable, but all she cared about was that someone's butt bade Dolly's face a bit lop-sided. Hypothetically; she couldn't see the sheep plushie's face at the moment, seeing as her eyes were closed. For the meantime, she decided to keep them that way, in case her gaze met "something round".

(OOC: I just have to say, Good God that entire first paragraph XDD)

There was the sound of shuffling feet, probably the lady looking around for something. Perhaps she was waiting for a lady friend? Then,

"Come here you little sheepie~.'

Aaaaaand she was a sheep-napper. Closing her eyes with more-than-full force, she clutched her furry companion a bit tighter. Seemingly Impossible Situation #17; Getting mugged by a mysterious woman at a bus stop. Her luck seemed to have been much better in the dream. It wasn't like she could summon the silver maiden in real life, could she?

"Heya, sugar!"

Instead, a rather unexpected saviour made an appearance; not that she could see any of this, seeing as her eyes were shut tight out of fear. Surprisingly, this second lady had a rather rich southern accent. Aika hadn't expected Misty Springs to be even the tiniest bit diverse. The southern girl went on in her authentic southern accent, her tone seeming to imply that she didn't realize Aika was about to be robbed. The only thing she could make out of her speech after her entrance was "I'm Carina." Now that danger was now absent, she decided to open her eyes to check on the both of them.

The first voice probably came from the fiery red-head stationed in front of her, tilted towards the southern man.

Wait.

This person definitely sounded like a lady, but it was so very clear to Aika that this Carina certainly had a package. Perhaps it was a quirk that caught on during her modeling years. Apparently, you can tell a lot from a person's body structure and poise. Still, she was rather confused by this ladyman. Judging by the shape of xeir shoulders, arms etc., you could say xe was a man in that aspect. Xer mannerisms, however, were completely off the mark. Without the slight muscle tone in some places, this person could certainly pass for a lady. And this predicament made Aika rather confused, not realizing she was looking at Carina perhaps a bit too intently. Dolly soundlessly made a descent to her feet as she was distracted.

"U-Um..." It slipped out of her mouth almost too casually. "What are... hm... ... ..."
 

Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
@Ysa, GH, and Raiden: I hope you don't mind if I have Leo join your group. :p
---
XIX - Leonardo "Leo" Silverstone
Saturday Morning, July 21 2012,
Streets/Bus Stop


Leo continued skating through town as the music from his iPod was blaring.

♪I got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine.
I got a love and I know that it's all mine. Oh, oh, oh, oh
Do what you want, but you're never gonna break me.
Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me. Oh, oh, oh, oh.♪

As he rolled through town, he couldn't help but notice the lack of people. It sure is empty around here...

Or, at least it seemed that way. It wasn't long before the boy passed by a bus stop. He noticed few people were gathered there, moreso than usual. Seeing as he knew one of them, he figured he'd stop by and say hello. He put weight on his heels, and skidded to a halt. Causing the wheels in the soles of his shoes to fold into his shoes. He walked over to the bench as he pressed the pause button on his iPod, and pulled the earbuds from his ears so he could hear properly. "Hey, Cari. You're up early. Are you having a party and forgot to invite me?" He asked with a chuckle "So, who're your friends?"

As he took a step foward, he felt something soft underneath his feet, and he was sure it wasn't dog poo he had stepped on. So, he looked down, and saw he had accidentally stepped on someone's sheep plush. He immediately gasped, and picked it up. "Omigosh! I'm so sorry!" He gave the doll a hug, squeezing it tightly. If it had actually been alive, the poor thing probably wouldn't be able to breathe. "I didn't mean to do that!" Then he let go of the doll, and looked at the blond girl wearing a blue dress that was sitting on the bench, who happened to be the closest person. "Is this by any chance yours?"
 
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Kiruria

La Melancolie Noir
Shin Megami Tensei
Jasmine Cafe, 6:00 AM


Shin was about a third of the way through his croissant, and was still waiting for his plain black coffee to cool down. He hated burning his tongue. Absolutely hated it. It produced such an annoying sensation and made everything else not taste as good. Arrgh. Only problem was, he never bothered to order coffee any other way than just black. After all, to him, cream and sugar always masked coffee's ever-so-slight nuances in taste. Any yet many people did not like the dry, bitter taste. Shin did. It was way better than having dessert to drink, at least. But the coffee was still too hot, and he didn't want to place an ice cube in it to dilute the taste, so he just waited, fiddling with the little capelet that matched his deep blue coat, brushing croissant crumbs off his lap, glancing over the news article on his laptop.

While doing all of these, Shin heard bits of pieces of the conversation between Alistair and Janna. For a while it was unimportant stuff, asking where friends were and whatnot, but then he heard this:

"Well... I was just... desperate. Knocked down, too hurt to keep fighting... I was sure I'd... die. And then there was a voice in my head... speaking to me."
Alistair was mentioning the dream again. Shin knew it.
"Then, this card appeared in front of me... I smashed it, and he was just there."

A card? Wait a minute... Shin remembered seeing a bunch of cards appear in front of the other people in the dream. He didn't really pay attention to who these people were, but this was a weird coincidence. And why was Alistair talking about the dream as if several people were experiencing it at once? That phenomenon was just a myth. What were the chances that people could be having the exact same unconscious thoughts while sleeping? They all had different thoughts in their minds, after all... unless there was something about the workings of the mind Shin didn't know about. He wasn't a neurologist after all. After a bit of thinking, he dismissed this as mere coincidence.

"That word, it was..." Alistair continued. "...Persona."

Shin's heart skipped a beat. And he had no idea why. There was just something about that word... But what meaning did it have, and why did it grab his attention so?
Persona...
A term merely pertaining to one's self. Also the Spanish word for person. It was a perfectly mundane term, nothing hocusy-pocusy or anything. Yet it sounded so mystical...
Persona...
His lips mouthed the term. He remembered... he had also been repeating this word just when he woke up this morning. But why?

Uncertain, Shin decided to Google the word on his laptop. But all he found was more mundane meanings of the term. The Internet was not helping at all. He did see an ad on the side for tarot readings, interestingly enough, but he knew better than to click on ads.

"Urrgh, what's with this Persona? And tarot cards?" Shin muttered a little bit more loudly than he intended, leaning back in his seat and tilting his head upward. After breathing a sigh, he leaned forward again, taking a sip of his coffee that was by now just the right temperature.
"Nonsense, that's what it is."
 

GoldenHouou

antagoonist
XII – Cesaire Moreau
Group II
Cavern


Cesaire wasn’t sure exactly what happened after the black lightning died down and the strange, hooded creature disappeared. He could make out a woman appearing out of nowhere and explaining that they were special in some way, as well as telling them to flee and “watch for the door”… whatever that meant. The creatures that had showed up to help them had been referred to as Persona… and that was as much as Cesaire cared to listen. The rest just went right over his head as he limped through the door of light with the others.

His room
Morning/Midday


Cesaire woke up like any other morning; he didn’t. He slept in late, only opening his eyes and forcing himself out of bed when he really, really had to use the bathroom. He sat up slowly, stretching his legs carefully – seemed like his body still hurt from… whatever the hell had happened last night. Well, at least the pain meant it hadn’t been a dream, though he kind of already figured that out. He shook his head and stretched his neck, mumbling to himself as she slid off the bed.

“Still alive, even after a trip down to Hell. Being alive thousands years from now starts sounding more plausible by the minute. Ugh…” Cesaire blinked, cursing under his breath as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the disgusting light pouring into his room past his curtains. From the looks of it, it was past midday. Not that it mattered; it wasn’t like he had anything to do during the day anyway.

“Watch for the door, huh?” He repeated to himself as he started his trip to the bathroom. His leg still felt sore and he limped, though more out of habit than actual need. As he walked, he made sure to look each and every door he passed through (which only meant about two, but hey). What door were they supposed to look out for? Where would it lead them? Back into the nest of those snakes? No thanks.

Cesaire made a mental note to use windows from now whenever entering anywhere, just in case. Wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before.

~

“The hell? Again?!” Cesaire growled, eyes fixed on his laptop’s screen. He had been infracted for killing his character again? Why the hell? It was his character, wasn’t he supposed to do whatever the hell he pleased with it? Death wasn’t ‘inappropriate material’ as the moderator had put it. It was one of the most natural things in the world. Even if… the cause of death was an axe to the chest. Hm. Maybe that was the problem? The axe?

Fine, next time he'd use an icicle through the skull. He heard people died from that a lot, and it made a nice mess of their brains.

Cesaire pushed himself away from his table and turned around in his chair. He didn’t feel like writing a post today, not when his last one had been so coldly deleted. The moderator had no idea how much work was put into that wall of text. How much research on human organs and what happened when they were brutally torn apart and just…

“Whatever,” Cesaire finally mumbled and stood up, contemplating what to do now. He didn’t really want to go back to sleep, there was nothing to do online… he stood around for a while, an idea slowly creeping into his mind. He wanted to test something, see if it worked.

Walking into the middle of his room, hands in his pockets, Cesaire looked around. The room was quiet and dim, so every nervous breath the man took was audible. Would it work? What the hell would he do if it did?

He drew in a breath and tried to concentrate on… something. He tried to fish up an emotion from within himself. Any emotion’d do. Just… just something to hold onto as he closed his eyes.

“Persona!” He shouted after a moment of silence, much the same way as he had back in the cave. His shout echoed from the walls, but as he opened his eyes… nothing. No reapers or skeleton horses or unnatural lighting. Even his pitch black cat still kept sleeping comfortably in his basket, not bothering to move a whisker.

“Tch, should’ve known,” Cesaire muttered, a bit disappointed. Whatever the thing that had appeared was, it was something out of the norm. Something strange, new, and mysterious; something with the potential to make him interested, to make him care. To make him feel. But, as it turned out, it was probably just a one-time deal. Either that, or it only worked back there in Hell.

Well, at least for him. Who had that other guy been? The one with Astaroth? Had he tested it out yet? Did he know something more about these… Personae?

Guess there was only one way to find out.

Streets
Midday


As Cesaire walked the streets towards Ian’s house (he had remembered the name after a short brainstorm session), he couldn’t help but think what had happened to the three others in the cave. Where were they? Were they alright? Well, he didn’t particularly care about the other two, but Nodoka had better come out there alive. The woman owed him, no way he’d let her off the hook this easily. She wasn’t allowed to die ‘till she had given him those free lessons and made sure he passed his exam.

Cesaire was throwing his phone in the air and then catching it again as he walked, contemplating on calling her. He wasn’t good at phone conversations, but it wasn’t like he had to talk to her for long. Just a quick ‘oh, you picked up, good, you’re alive, tomorrow at five, my place, I need more history tutoring, bye’ would suffice. So why was it so hard to just… up and call her? What was he afraid of? That she wouldn’t answer? That she was… dead like his little sister and-

Cesaire smashed his thumb down on his cellphone’s screen, looked up her name, hit the call button and slammed the cell against his ear with a grunt.

There, wasn’t so hard, was it?

“Now you better pick up or else,” Cesaire muttered icily, one hand in his pocket as he continued his walk.

---

VII – Danijela “Dani” Cernik
Busstop
Morning


The readhead grinned, silently reaching ever-closer to her goal; the adorable sheep doll still tightly in that little girl’s hold. Only an inch, two at most, and she’d reach the toy’s hand. She could almost feel the soft, fluffy fabric in her fingertips, and then… then she busted in with a cheery shout of: “Heya, sugar!”

Dani retracted her hand and stood straight like she had just hit her hand on a hot stove. Holy hell, what the fuck was she doing here? What if she saw her trying to grab the plushie? Out of all the people in the world, that chick was one of the last she’d ever want to show her softer side to. So Dani turned slowly, warily, the glare she was giving off containing small traces of uncertainty.

“Now don't be startin' a fight here and now,” the woman said as Dani turned, probably having noticed the murderous look she was giving off. “You don't want to disturb your little buddy there. Besides, I'm a lover, not a fighter; I ain't lookin' to cause trouble.”

Dani tilted her head, still glaring at her carefully. She didn’t mention the sheep… could it be she hadn’t noticed?

Hah, ‘course she didn’t! I’m good enough a thief to cover my tracks. What the hell’s that lover business got to do with anything though? This chick’s so… fucking random. And acting like we’re friends.

Just then Dani was offered a hand to shake.

“Course, I seen you around but I don't know your name, so I guess I'm gonna have to keep callin' you sugar until you tell it to me. I'm Carina.”

“I… I didn’t ask for your name!” Dani growled, taking one step backwards. She was being so familiar with her that who knew when she’d leap in for a… a hug or something. Didn't all ridiculously cheery, familiar people like those? Maybe the handshake was a trap.

“And just so you know, that little… bitch there-“ Dani pointed a finger at the cute little girl, hoping she didn’t hear the way she addressed her, “Isn’t my ‘buddy’. And neither are you so piss off! And… and tell that fishface you conjured to stay the hell away from my case, I can handle myself just fine!”

For a while she thought of just leaving it at that and walking away with a huff, but then she figured it’d be better to just… give out her name. What was the harm? Anything was better than sugar. So, facing away and folding her arms, Dani mumbled only half-audibly: “Name’s Danijela.“

She turned back to the girl, a little red as snarled, her voice loud once again. “But that still doesn’t make us friends. And so, don’t you dare even think about hugging me, because I will punch your face in! Got that, you piece of shit? And I’m not falling for your trap either!” Dani announced, almost proud as she slapped the offered hand away.

Just then, another cheery idiot rolled in the scene, saying something that made Dani cringe.

“We are NOT friends, god fucking damnit!” Dani instantly retorted, a bit flustered. The guy didn’t listen though. Why didn’t anyone listen? Did she have to start speaking with her fists again? ‘Cause she was totally up for it if that’s what it took.

The guy picked up a plushie – the plushie and started to… talk to it. Dani just stared. Damn, did she look as ridiculous as he did when she talked to various cute things? She sure hoped not, otherwise she might just need to kill herself. The guy went ahead and offered the doll back to its owner who Dani only now noticed was awake. It was like a hammer to the head for Dani. How long had she been awake? Had the girl seen what she was about to do? Did she need to silence her before she blurted it out to these two idiots?

Damn it, and she had just wanted to get to the café to kick a guy in the face. Why did things have to get so difficult?
 

Ysavvryl

Pokedex Researcher
VI- Carina
bus stop


D'aww, Leo was so sweet... and the Danijela girl so sour. And the younger girl was staring at her (must be because her outfit was so pretty today; the girl was dressed as cute as a button too, although she could use more accessories). Not only that, but Danijela's statement about not falling for traps was unintentionally hilarious, making Carina smile even though she'd gotten her offer of a handshake slapped away. She really should just step out of the way, but the fun of a friendly fight was just so tempting.

“Ain't much of a party, but we could always change that,” Carina said to Leo's statement. “Anyhow, yeah, you're right,” she glanced at the red-head. “We ain't friends. Not yet. But through one thing or another, I have a feeling that we ought to address that issue.” She grinned again. “This is Danijela the Dragon; she's something fierce, let me tell you. But there's always a soft spot to a dragon you know. I'm sure she thinks the sheep plushie is adorable too. And Dani, this is Leo, the sunniest guy you'll ever meet. You got to make friends some time, and he's a nice place to start. As for this little princess in blue, I'm not sure who she is. You doing all right, kiddo? This is a pretty safe town and all, but you ought to head back home if you got up too soon. Me and Leo could walk you back if you want.”

She expected Dani to run off after that threat to punch her in the face... or hoped she'd do that and not make real her threats to punch somebody. Especially in front of the girl. Carina was pretty certain that Dani would win in physical combat.
 

Liltwick

Just your Sleepy FIzzy Mod
OOC: About Frikin' Time. Yggdra Took WAY to Long to post >_>
XI- Alyssa H. Lovelock
Cosgrove's
Early Morning


"Wait a minute, wait a minute. Did you say Diego? Damn, that ham actually entered your dreams?" Janna Replied, her thoughts obviously remembering something.

"Anyway, field of blades? No, not at all., I was at a beach with weapons instead, full of huge-*** ants that bite hard. Plus, I heard no Theodore guy, only some lady named Margaret. Velvet Room is a 'yes' though, definitely. Woman? Can you tell me what exactly this woman looked like? I saw a badass dark knight near Alistair and some hot blue lady near Carina. Do you mean something...like that?" She continued, before looking around her. Though there were only a few people around her, quite a number of them were looking at her with strange, puzzled looks on their faces. She groaned inwardly. She forgot to keep it low again.

"Hey, Alyssa...let's bring this to text messaging. Some people here are looking at me like I should be going to some mental asylum or something..." She murmured, before hanging up.

Alyssa hung up, and then hear Knocking on the Bakery Door

"COMING!" She yelled as she started to read Janna's text.

Alyssa, do you happen to know Diego's number or the other guy's? Need them ASAP. -Janna


Sadly, I do not. Let's see... This women looked liek a Valkyrie, she had long, flowing blond hair and a dress that seemed to be imbued with roses. She had a rapier that seemed to have rose thorns etched into it, and a rose on the hilt. She also had a necklace containing Hemlock in it... I also said a werid word before she appeared. I said 'Persona'. Did Alistar say that word? Did he summon the knight by crushing a card? Let's see, a women you say? I think I recall Theodore saying he wasn't the only resident of this so called, 'Velvet Room'... Hmm, Bring me those people who summoned those thing,s yourself, and Nodoka. I'm thinking that we might have the research this... This is interesting... Well, see ya soon! <3 Alyssa She responded to Janna with all of her thoughts on the subject.

She then opened the door to see no one there. Alyssa then sat down, eating another Breakfast Cupcake. She checked her phone to see if she had any new messages
 
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