Shin Megami Tensei Persona: Dissonant Strain (Private RP)

[NeoAC]

"What is this place?" Shiori couldn't explain the presence she was feeling. It was obvious this place was nothing special, it probably should have been bulldozed a while ago.

She clutched the bat tightly with her right hand. There was almost a hum in the air, like that before a big concert, before the band comes on to play. It was the feeling that something was approaching. She held her flashlight close. She should probably leave, and yet, there was something inside her, that felt she had to go farther, despite the darkness. She continued along the tracks, into the tunnel.

 

[PresqueVu]

Satoshi took in a deep breath then scurried after her staying as quiet as he possibly can be. He had to hear more. Had to know more. Right now he thought Hikaru was about the coolest damn person on the planet and couldn't wait to see what she did next, where it led him.

 

[Cinnonym]

Eber fired back,

If you say so. But I do not mind carrying you. :)

------

Shiori:

You wander so far in that you can't even spot the light from the tunnel entrance when you turn around. Things skitter and slide, but turning the flashlight on them reveals nothing.

Kurado crouched in the darkness; if Hikaru knew what he was doing, she'd probably break his arms. His methods might be a little less than conventional---but they would produce results. With a wordless shout, the briefest image of the demonic chimera flickered in the distance and a raging blast of fire surged through the tunnel towards Shiori.

 

[NeoAC]

Shiori's eyes opened wide at the flash of light she thought she saw in the darkness. When it started getting larger though, she immediately took off in the opposite direction.

She flashed her light around, trying to find something she could duck into, and she got lucky. There was an indent in the old walls; a power box? an old fire escape? a place where a column fell? It didn't matter right now. She took off at full speed towards it, the fire in the distance getting bigger and closer. Her lifetime spent in athletics paid off as she was able to go full speed towards it, gravel flying as she ran. She dropped her flashlight but held onto the bat for all it was worth, which was a lot.

She reached the indent and pressed herself inside it, it was a tight squeeze but she made it work. The rush of flame went flying by her, she could feel the back of her neck getting tanned as it whooshed by.

In a second, it was gone. She timidly stepped out of the crack, not wanting whatever caused that flame to notice that it's barbecue wasn't ready. She looked back towards what she thought was the way she came. She couldn't tell anymore, the flame was gone, it was dark again. 'Damn it, I would drop the flashlight. Go me.' She crept along in the darkness trying to get out while avoiding another flamethrower.

 

[ShadowFolk]

Kumiko grinned at her phone again. This guy was cute...very. And he was perfectly capable of carrying his own weight. He also didn't take crap from anyone...worth it.

Who says I have to be hurt to be carried?

 

[Cinnonym]

An excellent point...

Eber smirked at his phone and closed it, rolling over to watch whatever was on the TV with only half of his attention span. He'd have to remember that "fact" for later.

------

He could guess that she was still there; usually burning people scream more. Chimaera's strength coursed through his body and he directed the power downward, ripping up the floor of the tunnel and twisting the tracks. It swung out toward the girl in a wave. This time he followed... If she managed to avoid it again, he'd follow-up with his fists.

 

[NeoAC]

Shiori heard a pounding noise. Whatever was the cause of that fireball, it was obviously still there and still after her. She tried to run, but before she could, she was thrown skyward. It was if the ground itself had been lifted, like a tsunami, and she got swept up in it. The gravel pieces flew into her, cutting up her jacket, her arms, her jeans. She grunted as she shielded her face, trying to avoid the flying debris. She felt as if she was hanging in the air for a minute before she came crashing back down to Earth. She slammed into the ground hard, letting out a loud cry of pain. She didn't hear a snap, that was good, but there was pain all over her body.

Crawling on the ground, Shiori tried to move, but the pain was overpowering. She vainly looked up, looking for anything that could help her, but there was only the darkness that looked so familiar from last nights dream. The pressure was there too.

"Ugh," she grunted. "That....that.....ugh..."

She collapsed back down on the ground, and yet the presence inside was still pulling her towards the source of her pain. "What....what is this....what are you......who.....who are you?" There was silence, but she could feel the presence trying to guide her. "Nuh......Ma'at?"

What happened next was almost surreal for Shiori, it felt like something inside her just broke free. She looked up and there was a woman standing there, couldn't have been much older then herself. She was dressed in robes from a far gone time, holding a rod and some weird piece of metal. There was a long feather in her hair, blue as the sky. There was an aura around her, a glow, that was almost soothing. She looked down at Shiori, it almost looked like she was smiling?

Ma'at looked into the darkness behind Shiori and suddenly lightning shot out from her hands towards the darkness. It sounded like something was hit. After that though, the woman vanished. When she did, Shiori got up, it felt like she was whole, like she was perfectly fine. Still a bit confused over what happened and not wanting to tempt the fate that brought her this miracle, she picked up her bat and took off the other way, hoping the tunnel's exit was not far away.

 

[Rosen2012]

"Anyway," Kojiro put down his phone tired of waiting, "As long as you're here I wanted to talk to you about the other side of that portal. I want to go back." He gave a firm nod. "Not without preparing of course! We'll need rope. We can probably get some from the gym storage room."

He took out a peice of paper and started scribbling something down, "But there's a whole other section over there. Like a factory, or some sort of plant...I didn't see anything running,b ut I didn't feel alone. I don't think its a a prat of the real world."


-----

Takuya and Styx stayed behind the book shelves just tot eh side of Kojiro and Rin's table. "A portal? ...Real world?" He muttered to her as they stood spying on the two juniors. "Seiya is taking them there...How insulting."

Styx grumbled in agreement. But through in her own way of handling Seiya' deceit. "No no, that is not needed...Seiya will take us. And if she does not we will go without her." That seemed like an acceptable answer. But still how bothersome that the underclassmen knew more about what was going on than him. Still, they did not seem as...close to theirs as he and Styx.

"I wonder why...they seem to be only half awake...you're always awake. Is it just because we are always awake?" Styx hissed something that could have passed for a happy notion. Takuya wasn't sure why Styx was always active. It seemed only Menaka was the same way, always awake. Though much more contained within Seiya. Styx definitely showed Takuya as if she was truly walking the halls. But Kojiro and Rin...gave off the presence of a persona. But they were not here right now.

"Let's keep listening, Styx."

 

[Cinnonym]

"Guh!"

Ma'at's lightning struck Kurado square in the chest, knocking him back several yards. When he picked himself up off the ground, Shiori was shooting past him for the platform. At least she was leaving, that was half the point... The other half had been to see what her Persona was like. Interesting.

------

Shiori:

You successfully escape the tunnels intact. It's early evening now, and though you get the notice of several pedestrians, no one stops you. Once you stop running and the adrenaline leaves you, exhaustion settles in--not in your muscles, but weighing heavily on your mind. You feel as though you've woken from another restless sleep.

 

[NeoAC]

Shiori rested her hand against the wall, leaning on it for support. She had made it out of the tunnels, exhausted but alive. "That.......That was totally not what I was expecting," she huffed out to herself.

With her safety relatively secure, it gave Shiori a chance to reflect on what exactly just happened. That thing down there, it was probably responsible for all those deaths she saw in the paper. But she survived it, almost without a scratch thanks to that woman.

'Ma'at. That was her name. She came out of nowhere and saved me. And she came when I was down. The presence that urged me to go on into those tunnels, it was gone now. Was that her? But why would she want to be down there? And why is she so attached to me in the first place?'

Shiori shook these questions from her tired mind. There would be time to think about this later. She felt like she was going to collapse and fall asleep right there in the street. She returned her bat to its resting place on her shoulder and slowly made her way back to Akaito.

 

[Daren58]

Rin gave a small nod. Honestly she was still unnerved by the portals. The fact that they'd have to go down the slime tunnel to get there only made it worse. "I um don't mind trying to explore it. But we should be careful. There's no telling whats on the other side, be it shadows or other surprises we don't know about yet."

 

[Rosen2012]

Kojiro gave a nod, "Of course. We'll be careful. Specially since Seiya couldn't reach me when I went through it...maybe the AMPs aren't strong enough to communicate through that goop."


---

Takuya forwned. 'AMPs? Shadows....More terms I'm only grasping at explanations for!' He kicked the book shelf. "Come on Styx, let's go play."

He emerged from his hiding place and walked up to the the juniors, "Ah, Kohai." He stopped at their table. "Busy studying for class? Or perhaps," he rolled his head to the side, "A study date?" he could feel Styx's clammy hands as she leaned over his shoulder, finally excited to do something more than just watch. Takuya crossed his arms and eyes Kojiro and Rin.

"Ishikawa-kohai, I understand that things between Mizushima-kohai and you ended on a volatile note...And that after such an explosive and public dismissal of your obvious shortcomings that you would seek to lower your standards." He glanced at Rin, "Well at least your making an effort to bring up your less than glamors grades in this affair."

----

Kojiro's mouth opened to greet the student council president but it quickly clamped shut with anger. God, how could one person be such an asshole all of the time! He must practice at this shit, there's no way he just thinks these insults up on the spot... He turned to Rin and frowned.

They'd have to sit here and listen to him or else he'd send them to detention.

 

[Daren58]

Rin could feel the mood in the air turn sour right away as Mori came over. She didn't like him or the way he acted, and the fact that he was the student council president only made it worse. She glanced nervously from Mori to Kojiro, hoping he'd know what to do.

 

[Rosen2012]

Kojiro saw Rin glancing at him, 'She wants me to stop him...Ugh, but there's nothing I could say to stop Mori without it coming back on me. Not without Seiya here...'

He turned his head to the student council president, "Um, yes, Mori-senpai, Rin is helping me study math and in return I'm helping her with English." He gave a small nod, "Your speech really inspired us at the start of the year... Isn't that right, Rin?"

Kojiro turned to the girl across from him and eyed her to agree so Mori would move on faster.

 

[Cinnonym]

Hikaru texted Takuya just as Kojiro's sentence finished:

Can we meet?

 

[Rosen2012]

Takuya was ready with his second round of insults when his phone buzzed. Only two people ever called him, Grandfather and Seiya. And he was not expecting his grandfather to call him, so-

He pulled out his phone and text back:

 Of course. Meet at my room. I'll be waiting.

"Can it, Isihkawa." Takuya put his phone in his pocket, "I have someplace better to be. Enjoy your little date." He spun around on his heels and walked out. Styx moaned and ratteld a shelf as they left. She did not want to see Seiya.

"Pipe down. This will prove to be more entertaining. I promise."


-----

Kojiro wasn't sure why Mori suddenly left, but he wasn't going to question it. "Thank god! He has someone else to go torture!"

 

[Daren58]

Rin gave a sigh relief and found herself nodding in agreement to Kojiro. She didn't understand why Mori was like that. "I suppose he does. But um do you think we should try questioning Seiya-sempai on what else there might be down there?"

 

[Cinnonym]

Slipping into the boys' dorms wasn't difficult for her; she waited somewhat impatiently for the Student Council president to arrive, a small bag in her hands.

 

[Rosen2012]

Kojiro gave a nod to Rin, "Its worth a shot. Though I have not clue if she'll answer us fully or not..." He sighed and shrugged.

"Oh well, I guess Isoroku's not coming...May as well do some school work while we're here." he opened up his books again, "Care to really help me with my math work?"


-----

Takuya walked back at a steady pace to his room. The entire time Styx paced around him. Hissing at other students, knocking books out of hands, clawing at plants and skirts, and emitting a cold clammy air. "Truly? If this is how you are going to behave every time I go to see Seiya we will have issues."

He walked into the boys dorm determined to ignore his other half. But being ignored just enrages her further. No one in the halls was safe at this point. Styx's presence even knocked a student down the stairs in the dorms. However Takuya did nothing to stop her. He let her run wild.

Honestly, he thought the results of her actions were amusing.

 

[Daren58]

Rin gave a small laugh and pull out her own books. "Of course, just show me what your having trouble with and I'll do my best to help you." She considered talking further about the tunnels and that factory but decided it could wait until next time.