| Feet in the Water; [Eri, Toru, Ami - Ask First] | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 30 2013, 12:23 AM (382 Views) | |
| The One True Nobody | Nov 30 2013, 12:23 AM Post #1 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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This thread is connected to a Bedlam thread requesting accompanyment to the ruins, and as such takes place at roughly six-thirty in the evening. --- Eri's car is not worth describing. It was simply a car, nothing but a simple car, comfortable, an ordinary car and the product of an ordinary family's ordinary salary from an ordinary job. No one could possibly have expected this vehicle to be bound for the entrance of a secret underground complex full of monsters born from human thought, and yet, there it was: rolling up one of the wider dirt roads in the mountains, until finally it came to a stop exactly where Maki Yamada had parked her own car two nights before. The blonde woman at the wheel turned the key, cutting the engine, and then she sighed. "Well, we're here," she said. "Quite," said the silver-haired man in the passenger seat, throwing his door open and swinging his legs over the side. Toru Motou, his hair tied back in a ponytail and his clothing quite ordinary and practical as it usually was during ruins trips, looked a bit odd carrying a wooden cane with him, but as he had explained on the way, his last trip into the ruins had ended with him taking a nasty spell to the foot, courtesy of the Reaper. His foot had not regained all of its feeling yet, and he was doubtful it ever would. The jounalist stepped out of the car, leaning on the cane. Eri likewise stepped out, and then she opened the back door, smiling at the slight, black-haired teenage girl who had asked to accompany her today. "Alright, so: both of us are new at this, so we're here for the same reason," she said. "Let's not overdo it, alright? Motou-san, if I might ask..." She added this over the top of the car, stepping aside to let Ami out. "How long does it usually take for the... Reaper... to find a group of Persona-users?" she asked. "Far too short a time for any dedicated exploration efforts, given the size of the place," Toru said with a hint of frustration in his tone. "But, long enough for a handful of battles. We should be in and out before it's a problem. Given the level of your power and the state of my leg, it's advisable to not go too far from the entryway anyway." The journalist cast a look down at his leg, his expression going flat. Of course, he had potent Light and healing magic, but in this state it would be his Persona doing most of the fighting. Fortunately, neither of these two had ever seen Raphael in its un-wilted state, so they would have no reason to see the changes in its appearance as significant... |
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| Aqua | Nov 30 2013, 12:53 AM Post #2 |
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"Hrm, um. Right. Charinko-San" Ami spoke up softly in response to Eri's comment, slipping out of the car before turning around and practically jumping halfway back in to get her sword. Buckling on the belt that the sheathe was attached to she silently hoped they wouldn't question her possession of the weapon. It seemed like more often than not, a persona user acquired a weapon of some sort, legal or not, either in the ruins or through more mundane, if not usually legal, means. "So we're just. Going a bit into it to fight a few shadows and then right out? That doesn't sound too bad" She cleared her throat, speaking up slightly. Motou-San? ...Do you know if I would be able to sense the reaper coming with analysis or not? I mean, that would be nice... I-if worst comes to worse. To be able to run away sooner..." She had been surprised to realize that she was by far the youngest in the group. she had assumed that "Penelope" was asking for someone older because she herself was younger, able to drive but not yet graduated, not that she had been looking for a peer as opposed to a child. Still, hopefully Ami would be useful and not annoy the older woman or something. |
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| The One True Nobody | Nov 30 2013, 02:04 AM Post #3 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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"Don't even try it," Toru said sharply, the moment Ami asked about scanning the Reaper. "The moment you detect it, turn your ability off and just tell us what direction it's coming from. The Reaper is far too powerful to analyze; attempting it will cause you a great deal of pain." Eri paused in surprise, keys in her hand. A moment later, she turned to Ami and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about the Reaper," she said. "My daughter tells me we will hear it before we see it. All we need to know about it is that we have no chance of killing it, so the only choice is the run no matter what it can do." She removed her hand and shut the car door, and the pressed a button on her key-ring--the locks all clicked shut. Then she pressed another button, and the trunk popped. Walking to the back of the car, Eri opened the trunk all the way, and reached inside, producing her own weapon... a long wooden pole with a sharp, metal implement on the end. It was a shovel. Toru quirked an eyebrow at the woman as she held the shovel beside her and shut the trunk. As she walked around the car toward the entrance, the journalist said, "That is one of the more viable improvised weapons you could have chosen, ma'am, but... are you sure it isn't too heavy for you?" At this, Eri paused, looked back at Ami and tilted her head to the side, signalling the girl to keep her distance, and she stepped away from the other two. Once she was clear, she gripped the shovel tightly in both hands... and a strange shimmer of magic passed over it, almost like a heat-haze. She then easily lifted the weapon and gave it a wide swing, halting it partway through as if it were made of hollow plastic, and swinging it in the other direction, halting it again and thrusting it forward as if into the belly of some invisible monster. "My Persona possesses Gravity magic," she said evenly. "I can make it lighter." "A lighter weapon means less damage when it hits," Toru noted. Eri straightened up and looked at Toru as if to say not to insult her intelligence. "Only for however long it stays lighter," she said, and then she moved to walk to the entrance, looking to Ami and beckoning the girl to follow. Toru nodded to show he understood, and followed behind, drawing from inside his jacket a shining, silverish, rose-etched revolver and holding it pointed skyward. "Then if we are all ready," said the journalist, "let us enter the ruins... Yukimura-san, if you would lead us toward the first small group of Shadows you can find, that would be helpful. I am not a third-tier user, but my Persona is significantly more powerful than either of yours. With me here, you shouldn't have to worry about any of the Shadows in this part of the ruins." |
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| Aqua | Nov 30 2013, 06:59 PM Post #4 |
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"Alright... I will." The girl shrank back a bit from the admonation, but she didn't seem all that perturbed beyond that, and let out a small smile at Eri's weapon, surprised by the shovel. ...Ok so there were a lot of improvised weapons too. Oh, they were ready to get going? "Right. I'm ready." Concentrating, she let her mask fade into reality in her hand, keeping it ready before walking towards the ruins. Entering, she placed the mask over her eyes. "Persona..." "I am thou, thou art I." Ami's persona faded into view, smiling gently, with a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Right... so..." The girl's as glazed over a bit as she let her vision spread out over the area around the group for a moderate distance. Hrm, too many. Oh, that group should work. She nodded, pointing down the hallway. "There are a few over that way. I think they're probably down a side passage or in a room though. Once we get closer I'll probably know for sure. I think there are three of them. If we go the other way it would be a lot harder, I think there are like a dozen of them all grouped up..." |
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| The One True Nobody | Nov 30 2013, 08:57 PM Post #5 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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Despite having known about Personae for quite some time, and now having one of her own to call out at will, Eri Charinko still found herself gazing in wonder at the beautiful, winged figure of Leanan Sidhe as it solidified before Ami, and worked its magic, expanding the girl's perception outward, searching... searching... And then, Ami spoke, so softly that Eri almost didn't hear. She looked in the direction that Ami had indicated, off to the left, or rather, the southwest. From the look of it, Ami was directing them along an outer path, the very border-edge of the ruins. "Then we have a target," Toru said with a mild grin, stepping forward. He walked with a surprising speed for a man with a cane, but there was no mistaking the odd way his injured foot moved: if it came to running away, Toru wouldn't be able to do much on his own. Eri nodded, and said, "Thank you, Ami-chan." Then, she turned, and walked toward the entryway. The dark and gloom of the ruins caused Eri to pause as she entered, an involuntary shudder running down her spine as her eyes swept the corridor just inside. Toru paused, frowning slightly, looking left, and then right. He noted the mildew on the walls and ceiling to the left, in the direction opposite where they were going. "Ah," said the journalist softly. "I thought I recognized this entrance. I confuse them sometimes, but, this is where the Reaper chased us out. Well, no sense dwelling on it... this way, then." Toru proceeded to walk quickly down the righthand hall, his cane thumping softly on the floor with every other step. Eri looked left and right before following, wondering how that man could even begin to tell one part of this place from the others. And indeed, there was nothing at all distinctive about this corridor, or about any of the door... ...And then, Toru slowed to a stop, placing a finger to his mouth. The path split in two directions from here: one, the path forward, just kept going, and the other direction led left, and then turned back in the direction they'd come from. But at the point where it turned, if Toru's memory served, there was a large corner-area with some old chairs along the walls, a busted-down vending machine, and an utterly ransacked presentation room behind two large, wooden double-doors. And he could hear footsteps. "Yukimura-san, would those be our Shadows?" Toru asked. Eri tensed beside him, her grip on the shovel tightening pointlessly as she sucked in a slow, quiet breath, trying to ready herself. Her Persona... her... Persona... Oh! Her Persona. But she needed her mask to use it fully, right, right... As Eri quickly summoned the black wedding veil and set about putting it on, Ami would have ample time to scan the creatures milling about in that corner-area. Two of them appeared to be identical Chilling Spooks, but one, around which the other two slowly circled, stood out from the rest, and would feel distinctly more powerful... |
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| Aqua | Nov 30 2013, 09:54 PM Post #6 |
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"Yes. One second." She focused on them, a dimly glowing circle appearing underneath each shadow as she analyzed the one in the middle, and one of its two companions. Looking at them, she began speaking more confidently, to an extent. There were only the three of them in the ruins, and this information needed to be clear. "Two chilling spooks, weak against fire and lightning, but they absorb ice. And.." She exhaled sharply, looking at the larger creature incredulously. "Beachcast Hero. Reflects light, nulls water, resists Physical, fire, and force... It's weak against darkness and lightning, but that's it..." Shaking her head and looking a bit worried, the girl looked up at the two adults. "Ready?" |
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| The One True Nobody | Dec 2 2013, 05:56 PM Post #7 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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"Reflects light," Toru repeated softly. "So my most powerful spell is useless against that one... it would probably be best if you let me take one of the other two Shadows, those 'Chilling Spooks,' and the two of you focus on the Beachcast Hero. My only options are Light magic--a Hamaon spell--and physical attacks." Toru set the cane against the wall and held out one hand, and gave his wrist a flick. The porcelain, rose-encrusted mask appeared in his hand, and he placed it against his face. Once he'd taken up his cane again, he added, "My Persona looks a bit disturbing; please do not be alarmed. Appearances aren't everything, after all. Are you ready, Charinko-san?" Eri nodded sharply, and prepared herself. "I'll start by casting a slow-down spell on the--Beachcast Hero? What kind of monster could that be...? ...You, Ami-chan, can you attack with magic after I do that? We'll leave the other two Shadows to Motou-san unless they make a move to attack us." And with that, Eri stepped out into the hall and quickly walked down it. Toru followed, moving cautiously to keep his cane from thumping on the ground and giving their approach away. The lighting in this hall was dim; from a distance, Toru and Eri could barely see the three monsters, but those monsters could certainly see them in return. The two Spooks, which looked like balloons with translucent blue sheets draped over them, ceased their lazy drifting around their muscular companion and turned in unison toward the approaching humans. The third Shadow, a nearly-nude, bronze-skinned and the mask it wore, that grinning mask, turned and stared at Ami as they approached, stared, just stared. Toru summoned his Persona the moment the Shadows came into view: Raphael materialized, but its armor and wings were as rusted and wilted as they could possibly get, now. The journalist kept his face impassive, and directed the angel to swoop forward on its now-rotting, featherless wings, thrusting its hand out to cast Hamaon on the leftmost Spook. As the blaze of light magic hit the Shadow, Toru set his can against the wall and took his gun in both hands, attempting to line up a shot on that same Shadow. The light magic washed over it, leaving a bleached-white splotch over the surface of the blue sheet, and it retaliated with a shot of its own: hovering so that the bottom of the balloon faced Toru, the Shadow produced a popping sound, something like a gunshot, but Raphael swerved to intercept just in time. The attack struck the Persona's chest--it flickered and vanished, and Toru felt every iota of its pain keenly in his own body. Snarling and gritting his teeth in an attempt to ignore it, he managed to sight down on the balloon and fired a shot: BANG! ...and the balloon beneath the sheet popped, the sheet fluttered to the ground. While this went on, the second Spook swooped through the air, and then--suddenly halted. Just as Penelope materialized, casting its Sukunda spell over the Beachcast Hero, a flash of dull blue light that would slow its movements and perceptions, the surviving Spook halted instantly in midair and the sheet covering its body violently fluttered: a blast of cold ice-mist shot through the air at Eri, who yelped, leapt backward pointlessly, and took the hit full-on... Cold. Burning cold. So cold that for a moment, it felt as though her insides had frozen along with her outsides, even though this level of ice magic wasn't quite powerful enough to achieve that, even with her weakness to it. Eri gasped, and nearly dropped her shovel, backing away, putting her arm up over her stomach where the spell had hit... shuddering, not just from the cold but the pain, too... she opened her mouth, to articulate this agony, but she couldn't. She could hardly force herself to breath evenly at that moment. Only when all was said and done did the Beachcast Hero do anything at all. When it did? It flexed its muscles, and then flexed again... a most bewildering choice of action, which might have been why the sight of it carried a Bewilder enchantment aimed at Ami. Or maybe it was just pointless flexing and the Beachcast Hero was one of those idiot Shadows that did that sort of thing. Edited by The One True Nobody, Dec 6 2013, 09:10 AM.
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| Aqua | Dec 6 2013, 09:33 AM Post #8 |
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"Right, sounds like a plan. I can cast a wind spell. Go ahead." Unfortunately for her, before she could strike at the shadow, its "attack" was successful, and Ami found herself mildly unsteady and relatively defenseless against any incoming attacks. "what the..." Still, relatively speaking, it wasn't the worst of afflictions, and she certainly wasn't completely crippled or anything. Ami waited a brief moment to steady herself slightly, and raised her hand. "Garu!" Not too long after Eri's attack, she struck with her own magic. Leanan Sidhe called forth a small whirlwind of wind that hurtled down from above towards the beachcast hero. "Are you alright Charinko-San?" She called out, looking to the older woman in concern as she shook her head and attempted to re-orient herself. "That looked like it hurt..." Edited by Aqua, Dec 6 2013, 01:01 PM.
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| The One True Nobody | Dec 6 2013, 01:46 PM Post #9 |
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"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
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The Beachcast Hero might have charged down the Persona-users immediately, but Ami's wind spell buffeted it backwards, denting its bronze skin on contact, buying the Persona-users a few moments of time. Toru gritted his teeth, noticing Eri's strong reaction to the ice magic--it seemed they'd had the bad luck of running into Shadows that could target her elemental weakness right off the bat... The remaining Spook seemed to have caught on as well, for its sheet fluttered just as the other's had and a blast of cold air shot out, again targeting Eri. The woman let out a cry of alarm, stumbling sideways-- "No!" snapped Toru, directing Raphael to intervene. The wilted angel swooped in, placing its body between Eri and the spook, taking the full force of the spell. Through his sympathetic connection with his other self, Toru felt the cold burn keenly, and grunted, restraining the urge to clutch at his torso, keeping his aim steady... ...But that was when the Beachcast Hero managed to get its feet underneath it again, and rushed forward, leading with his elbow. The journalist, eyes widening in alarm, turned his gun on the charging Shadow and fired, but the shot missed. The muscular creature drove its arm into Raphael's armored stomach, and despite the fact that such an attack shouldn't have felt so direct if there were physical armor to impede it, Toru felt the full force of that Bash attack driven into his own stomach. Coughing and gaggng, the journalist doubled over, falling to one knee and almost dropping his gun... Raphael flickered like a damaged hologram, and then blinked out of existence. Eri found herself standing mere feet away from the bronze bruiser, who straightened up, flexing its muscles and taking a step forward-- "No, no, no--Persona!" yelped Eri, gripping her shovel with both hands and swinging it at the monster's head. There was a loud thunk as the shovel hit, stopping the Beachcast Hero in its tracks but not actually staggering it, but in her panic, Eri had forgotten to apply Gravity magic to the weapon. The shovel swing was ungainly, and not nearly as powerful as it could have been... ...mostly because Penelope re-appeared beside her and cast Gry upon the Beachcast Hero at that same moment, a distorted ball of gravity forming around the monster's torso for several moments, holding the monster in place, pulling inward with crushing force. Its fingers, previously balled into firsts, snapped outward with the pain of it, but the spell lasted only a few seconds before ending. A few seconds, during which Ami would be free to attack as well... |
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| Aqua | Dec 7 2013, 07:54 AM Post #10 |
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Well this was going far less smoothly than previously anticipated, the ninja winced as she noticed Eri nearly get blasted by another ice spell, only for Toru's persona to leap into the way. Still somewhat disoriented, Ami still had the presence of mind to see the opening, the shadow held in place by the gravity spell. She darted forward nimbly, half jumping into position in between the Beachcast Hero and Toru as her hand hovered over her blades hilt, her mouth in a thin line of absolute concentration.. "Persona!" This time she infused the weapon with the wind magic directly, drawing it forth in a powerful wind infused slash. Not content to stop there, she brought the blade down in a slightly weaker attack from above, and finished with a vicious diagonal uppercut in hopes of pressing the offensive before the shadow could recover from the onslaught. Every motion she made during the maneuver was fluid and controlled, the technique of someone who knew quite a bit about what they were doing, in contrast to her reserved, timid mannerisms before the battle started, she seemed to be just going straight for the kill. Then she glanced backwards for a brief moment, the image of concern. "Um... Motou-San, are you going to be ok? That looked pretty bad..." |
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