The almighty persona play thread

A chill shot down her spine at the voice emanating from the crea- no, being. It obviously wasn't a creature, it had sentience - and the ability to communicate.

Shit. She hadn't expected this.

"Holy shit you can spe-" she started, then froze and began again, "Uh, okay, so um... y-yeah, my name's Hikaru, and... w-well, y'see, Mister...?" she trailed off, realizing she didn't know the being's name. "...a-actually, I... might I ask yer name, sir?"

The being continued to stare, a mixture of malice and curiosity dance on it's single eye. The room seemed to darken and the air more oppressive before it responded.

"I have many names given to me, though none to call myself." It stated, with a matter-of-fact tone. "I am known as Death, Reaper, Joker, Mortis, and many more, though for myself, I know not what my true name is."

"Now answer my question." the being said in a deeper tone

"WHY DO YOU CALL!"

"GAHFUCK!" she yelped, jumping at its booming question. She had to look like Dorothy in front of the Wizard right now. Fuck, at this point she was half expecting him to ask her to go kill the Wicked Whateverthefuck of the West. And considering the powerfully dark atmosphere that had taken over the room, she wouldn't question it if it told her to kill her own damn mother.

"W-Well, y'see, Mister... Mr. Reaper, sir..." she chuckled nervously, just barely able to force her way through the sheer terror she felt just looking at the thing, "H-Honestly, w- I didn't really mean to- see, there were these things outside, and we were fighting them, and your box here just kind of appeared, and... well, heheh, call me Pandora, apparently, a-at least at first, but then there was this real menacing chain noise and I thought to myself, 'hey, that chain noise wasn't here when the box was open' and so I opened the box and, uh... heheheh, here we are, it seems." At this, she makes a subdued sweep of the area around her, just a shrug with outstretched hands, really. After her explanation, she stood quietly, shuffling in her spot. This was an authority figure she wasn't interested in challenging.

Not in the goddamned slightest.

"While your story explains little, your thoughts bring more to knowing with whom I speak..." it said, its tone between both mock, humor, and emptiness.

"I have no need for you to kill your mother, nor any witch. I have a simple request, a deal."

"Let me free, and I will slay the shadows currently attempting to break into this dwelling we reside in."

Hikaru shrunk a bit as the Reaper called her out on her thoughts. Well then. That was... well, at this point she probably should have expected that. Although, considering the Reaper's presence, thinking of anything embarrassing wasn't really a problem. Thinking at all was getting a bit easier, now that she knew it wasn't going to immediately kill them.

She paused for a moment at its proposal, however, then began to cackle wildly. "Pfffft, bahahahahaha! Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? Wow, I ain't got no fuckin' problem with that in the damned slightest!" her cackling subsided as she exhaled a deep breath she found she had been holding for a while now, "Hoo! Holy shit, thought you were on their side for a while there. Load off my chest, tell you tha-" she turned, catching sight of the others once more. She trailed off, then turned back and, with a nervous chuckle, jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at the students behind her. "-er, heheh, well, actually... I'm with them, so, ah... to be honest I should probably ask them about this - a-although I'll tell ya right now, ya got my vote." She held up her hands and chuckled nervously once more, before turning to the others and making a sharp 'the fuck are you waiting for' gesture.

Lance was understandably skeptical but at the same time the old adage about gift horses being looked in the mouth came to mind. 'Free him and he'll take on the shadows... I get the feeling that somehow that will come back to haunt us at a later date, but... it's also much preferable to him ventilating our heads.'

"I'm of the mind that the enemy of my enemy is a begrudging ally, at least for a time. While I'm sure our omnipotent guest harbors no true ill will towards those things out there he's offered to take them out... I don't see a problem with that myself..." He made sure to stand as non-threateningly as he could, no sudden moves, no overly energetic gestures, but he had relaxed from his previous position of 'Don't Move A Muscle.' He looked to the others for their own responses, a look of concern on his face.

Evan's stance relaxed a bit, now that he was no longer ready to run for his life.  He considered the offer.  It was obviously a trap.  Either way, they'd regret their decision, most likely, you can't just make deals with this sort of strange entity and expect everything to just work out for the best. It'd be too easy that way..  But, looking at the thing standing in front of them... Maybe it was best for them to fall for the trap that didn't end with him on its bad side.  He paused, and nodded to Lance and Hikaru, slowly moving his hands away from his set of knives.  "I... suppose that is mutually beneficial, so I can see no reason not to..." he said, his voice still filled with trepidation.

Hikaru turned back to the Reaper and gestured to the rest of the group. "Pffft, well, there ya have it, Mr. Reaper, sir!" she exclaimed, chuckling nervously in front of the wildly intimidating being. "Let's do this thing!" She paused for a moment, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Erm, well, actually... how do we do this thing, if I may ask?"

Shrine near campus


"M-my apologies, great one, but I have d-d-dire news." the shadow said, cowering before his masters presence. He couldn't believe that the trap that had been set up for each of them at the Princess' layer had backfired! Not only did they escape, but they managed to destroy her as well!

"It is okay, my pawn. Not everything goes according to plan. How were we to know she would accidentally cause one of there number to relive the past and snap himself free of her hold?" the Voice said. As the voiced hovered there, he contemplated what else his favored pawn had to say.

"A-as I was saying, sire, but they released the Reaper from his prison, the amount of shadows he destroyed, I-I..." The shadow began to bawl hysterically. How was he too know what such a being was capable of, or the fact that now it roamed free to take any soul it desired? "Continue, I must know all of the happenings." 

The shadow shook itself out of its fit and after a deep breath, continued. "Apparently they also have made contact with one of the teachers at the school who knows about Nightfall, and can summon it at will. His name was Edoshaka, or was it Ewojima, no, wait, it was Edogawa!" At this, the voice cringed, not only had they found a new ally, but such a powerful one was a force to not trifle with, he would have to be more careful. Though at least he wasn't the worst person they could have found....

Lance woke up slumped against the wall next to his computer, the bottle long since re-capped and set aside. At least he'd had the wherewithal to close the thing and not waste precious... He had a problem. At least, that's what he would catch for this one. Sure he had a problem, but the headache and upset stomach made him care even less. He stood up, clutching his head in his hands, and trudged down the stairs still dressed in his clothes from the night before. There was actually still a residual fog in his head at this point - he must have still been somewhat drunk. He paid no heed to the number of stairs he traversed, he paid no heed to anyone that wasn't persistent, and trudged to the kitchens to grab a glass of water. He'd been at this gig for a while now, he knew what he needed.

"Last night..." He muttered under his breath. "nnh. whatever." He grabbed a glass from the cabinets and ran some water into it, taking a drink and recoiling for a second. He wasn't paying attention and set it to hot water. Pouring it out he drew a glass of somewhat cool water, knowing that pure cold water would just make matters worse, and took sip after sip. Whatever happened last night at this point he couldn't bring himself to think about. It had to be some hell of an experience to bring about the morning after.

Ivan stretched as he walked into the kitchen, nodding to Lance as he reached into a nearby cupboard and grabbed a bowl. After a few moments of searching, he found his target in the fridge and pulled out the carton of eggs, near empty but for a sad trio. Ivan stared at it for a moment, before walking to the stove and began to make eggs, the luscious smell of cooking yolk filling the kitchen.

As though searching for the sent like a blood hound, Yurt works his way into the kitchen, making a sniffing noise as he slid across the floor. After a few more moments, he slides over to Ivan's foot, before attempting to climb the cupboard and pulling himself onto the counter top. As he finally made sure he was secure, he slowly spread out and began to make a soft snoring noise, nearly sounding like a puppy or cat.

"Hey, spread word to anyone else in the dorm that I'm going into town later and need some people to come along." Ivan murmured over to Lance before scooping out most of the eggs onto a nearby plate, while putting the remainder in the bowl he used to crack the eggs and put it next to the sleeping blob.

Hikaru sat up, bleary-eyed, and stretched, then put a hand to her forehead. Damn, that shit was strong. Yurt may have taken most of it, but she still ended up feeling a bit of the aftereffects, it seems. She gathered her things and went down the stairs, glancing into the kitchen as Ivan spoke of town. Hrm. She hadn't been there before, and she'd probably be free this afternoon. Why the hell not?

She headed for the door, her hand hesitating by the handle. Her face screwed up into a frown, and she turned on her heel, trudging up the steps once more - this time to the boys' floor, wandering down to a certain room and knocking on the doorframe.

This is bad, the boss is going to be REALLY mad... The shadow crawled out from under a piece of masonry that got knocked over during the female's escape. She didn't seem terrible, it felt bad it couldn't let her free, but boss would have been even MORE upset.

Not to mention that the other user's seemed to have awoken a guardian at the school. The boss is not going to like this report at all, though at least they managed to get one of their more powerful members in the crossfire....

A few hours later...

"FUCK!" Hikaru shouted, "This blasted ankle hurts like hell." The rest of the group looked on with nervous glances to each other, not sure what their next course of action would be. After meeting up with Lance and Hikaru on their way back to the dorm, they learned about the events that had transpired in the town and recounted their own story as well about the guardian. Hikaru was less than amused when she heard that they went to the clock tower at school and not the one in town to look for her, even though the ambulance had taken her to town.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open as a group of men in suits walked in, each was carrying a pistol and ear piece. In the middle of the group was an older man dressed in similar attire and a female who looked like a doctor from the smock and mouth cover. The older man looked at the group of guys and then to Hikaru before giving orders in clipped Japanese. Two of the four guards placed themselves between Hikaru and the others, while the other two guarded Hikaru. The doctor and the older gentlemen walked over to Hikaru, the doctor pulling out a few small tools while the head of the group whispered in her ear, only loud enough for her to hear. After a few minutes of confusion, questions, and silent guards, there was a loud pop! and the guards ranked up around the doctor and the head and left the building with not a single word more, except for a glare from Hikaru to the mysterious man...

Hikaru was furious. Not her normal level of silly everyday furious, either. A heavy silence followed her as she stood up shakily, stiff from her impromptu medical assistance, and immediately after getting her footing grabbed her phone, dialing a familiar number and speaking in the same clipped Japanese the men had spoken in.

<<I want to talk to my father. NOW.>> the rest heard as she ascended the stairs, still seemingly in relatively manageable pain, although whether they understood her words or not was questionable. After a few minutes, of which there was no noise coming from the stairwell (which in itself was a bit disturbing, considering the person involved), she returned, just as silent, but seemingly even more furious than before, things in hand.

"I'm going to class," she said through her teeth, limping out the front door and slamming it shut behind her before anyone had the chance to stop her - or indeed, even respond.

Lance's brow furrowed the moment the people burst through the door. He was about to mention something in a sidelong comment when he heard the japanese and his heart stopped for a second. 'Shit, is this Kiri-' his thoughts were interrupted by the posse brushing past and over to Hikaru, performing emergency sprain-wrapping, and rushing right back out again. What started as a look of worry turned to a sort of puzzled bewilderment, then finally to exhausted acceptance. 'Of course one of my classmates is just as well off as I am, why wouldn't they be? we all fight monsters on a daily basis, we're being jerked around by some sociopath... thing... and to top all that off I'm placed in a classroom full of potential rapists that want me for my body because i'm too damn good looking. yippee for me.'

Lance spun on his heels and ran up to his room to get his things wordlessly. He walked right back down the stairs afterwards, stepped out the door, and closed the door softly behind him. He continued down the path to class, but his head was not in it. 'Why am I still doing this? These people hardly know me. I've been dragging myself through hell, and these guys have been...' he sighed softly. 'that night...' he grabbed the sides of his face and took a deep breath. 'I suppose I wasn't the only one suffering. Maybe I should tell someone? Maybe... but...' he ran face-first into something and fell backwards on his side with a grunt. Great, and now he looked like a total moron.

Evan stares, having watched the entire exchange.  He couldn't help but be a little bit concerned about Hikaru.  A little.  He glanced down at his bowl of cereal, which had gotten soggy in the time that he had been watching, quite forgetting to eat for a while.  He finishes is reluctantly, pausing to murmur under his breath.  "Mmmph.  There's gotta be a better way to go about this, instead of just waiting for them to cause havoc..."

He pauses as he watches Lance leave. He could just walk out right now and leave these people. Hell, he had some money saved up, he could just get a bus and drive off, to anywhere else. It wouldn't be so bad, and his life wouldn't be in danger. Why should he care? After all, he doesn't owe anyone anything.

He sighs, setting his bowl aside and gathering his things for class.

"O-OhmygoshIamsosorry!" Lance heard in a stream of words as his brain regained its bearings. He noticed it was the student coucil prez/former drama club president. The latter put him in a slightly more foul mood. "I'm sorry, Lance, I was just enjoying the view of the campus from here, I should have moved out of your way..." She said, collecting her belongings. "When we aren't having to worry about freak accidents and disappearances, the school seems so open and safe. Especially during sunrise and sunset, the sun hit the school just right and it looks amazing."

After her last comment, she looked at Lance, helped him up, and then patted herself down. "Sorry, I'm rambling. Don't mind me." She began to walk down the bridge to the school, before turning and facing Lance. "I thought I heard you mention something about suffering or telling someone, maybe not, but I am the president, so feel free to talk to me if you need to!" With that, she turned and headed across the bridge.

Lance regarded her with a slightly wary look on his face, but once she started speaking of her fixation with the school at sunrise he took a quick second to glance in the direction she was looking previously. She was right in a way... the light did dance off the school in a pretty interesting way... He let off a small sigh, and then she mentioned overhearing something. He tensed up almost imperceptibly. Had he been muttering under his breath? He really needed to get a grip... And then he thought back to the discussion the group had regarding their cards. The Lovers Arcana... He thought to himself. Maybe he didn't need to rely solely on the others for help...

She was turning to walk away, it was either now or never. Could he do this now?

"Sabina." His voice faltered for a moment, almost cracked. He screwed up his concentration and willpower to avoid breaking down for the time being and refixed his gaze on her eyes as she turned to face him mid stride. She hadn't been expecting him to respond so quickly, and that tone of voice... there was no mistaking there was something important going on.

"Lance?" She responded, her face dropping from one of neutral happiness to one of concern. She thought she could see his eyes starting to water. He had to make this quick.

"I... I think I'd like you to escort me to the Principal's Office. I've... I've been keeping to myself about something for so long at this point, I don't trust myself to finally come to terms with something without someone there to help me." If the situation was any different she might have dropped her jaw, but she kept her look of incredulity to a minimum and nodded wordlessly. Lance shook his head, swallowing thickly to fight back tears.

"I'm sorry... I should warn you here and now, that this is going to be big... I wouldn't blame you if you walked away after I actually got through this... I just need some help in the here and now, I think."

Earlier...

Hikaru walked to class with a small limp. Even if she wouldn't admit it, that doc definitely did the trick, what ever it was. She was halfway across the bridge before she even realized the note attached to the strap of her purse. After a quick look around to make sure no one was playing tricks on her, she opened the note.

Dear Hikaru,

It has come to our attention that school has become rather difficult for you, what with your ankle, your friends, and the shadows. On here is a one time use phone number, if you call this number, you and your friends will have immediate assistance against the shadows. Though our connections are strong, they are finite, use this wisely. Also, your mother and I wish you luck and much love,
Father

Hikaru quickly entered her number into her phone and huffed. At least they remembered I'm alive, Hikaru thought as she walked along, her cheeks a little red. Before entering the class, she quickly ran to her locker to grab another pencil. As she opened the locker, she found not only her pencil, but a book as well with a note on top.

Sorrie bout rippin up yer buk. It woz not rite of me. I hope you liek dis one insted! I ave 2 go fer a while and I iznt shure if I can see you again....
Yurt.

As Hikaru finished the horrible English note in sloppy hand-writting, she looked at the book. It was a copy of Tentacle girls, the complete collection.

"...shit."

Hikaru's eyes watered.

"...shit!"

She banged her fist on the neighboring locker.

"SHIT!"

That little fucker. He was a goddamned shitstain, and he was irritating as fuck. So why was she getting sad over this? Who fucking knows, she thought, maybe because the little guy... actually cared about her? In all honestly, upon reflection... he was interacting with her like she would interact with people she wanted attention from, people she thought as-

It took nearly all of her stubbornness and willpower to fight back the tears threatening to surface. She dried her eyes, put on her most stoic face, and grabbed the book out of her locker. She paused, however, and flipped it open. Taking a bright pink pen out of her bag, she wrote on the inside cover, 'You're not as much of a shitstain as I thought, Yurt,' then folded up the note and tucked it in the first page, using it as a bookmark. She stowed the book in her bag and, with a deep, emotionally-stabilizing breath, limped off to class.

Sabina looked at Lance, her eyes held what seemed like either pity or sadness. She nodded and walked over to him, put her arm around him and started to help him along. Thankfully there were few people outside the school who noticed them walking into one of the doors on the side of the main building.

After navigating a flight of stairs, they reached the principal's office. The door simply read, 'Principal Erik Juner'. It seemed relatively normal inside, the desk was a large mahogany and had a vast array of baubles and papers on it. The secretary said he would be back momentarily, so Sabina sat him down on one of the chairs while she looked out the large window behind the desk. The silence was thick, but not uncomfortable, more of a reassuring silence. After a few moments, Sabina turned and looked at a small deck of cards on the desk. She flipped the top card of the deck over, revealing an orb with a crown and flowers blooming around it. "Huh, the Empress, I've never been one for fortune telling, but these are nice cards." Her attempt at small talk was commendable, and silence continued for a moment before the door swung open and a man in about his early 50's walked into the office and sat behind his desk after shaking Lance's hand and nodding to Sabina.

"So, Lance, I hear you need someone to talk to." Principal Juner started as Sabina slowly turned to leave the room. "What's on your mind?"

Lance stared at the floor for what felt like a long period of time. He had to do this, he had to say something at long last and get this over with, but he couldn't bring himself to simply say it. He fiddled with his hands, never lifting his head to meet the principal's gaze. Sabina was sitting next to him before as well, and he almost regretted reaching out like he had. It was so much to level on a near stranger... but he for once felt like someone genuinely cared instead of getting attached to his family name.

Then his mind started wandering back to that accursed night. His experiences in the midnight world didn't help his rather fragile emotional state either. He knew he couldn't talk about that particular experience (who in their right mind would believe him?) but something had to be done. His mind wandered for a split second and the card that flipped over suddenly clicked with him. The Empress Arcana. Didn't they talk about some of these cards in the past? Did they go over the Empress Arcana? He couldn't place it, and time was ticking away. He took a breath and pressed onward.

"... W-well, sir... um... It's... uh... it's hard for me to say..." he swallowed thickly, his throat starting to cramp and burn. "The reason... the reason I transferred here..." He looked over at where Sabina was previously. How would she have reacted? Another deep breath. "The reason I transferred here is because of something that I've been keeping to myself for years now. In my first high school I was... well... I was raped." He couldn't stop the tears from forming and falling at this point. "I tried so hard to just get over it, to be strong and keep going. I figured it anybody was going to do something about it it was going to be me..." He took a steadying breath, which only helped a marginal amount, and continued the actual story.

"It was prom night. These three girls, they took a uh... shine to me, and they wouldn't take no for an answer. They cornered me in the bathroom and... well... the details aren't important beyond that. The day after I spoke with the guidance counselor at the school... and they told me that I was mistaken. Long story short beyond that I moved from school to school... I found one reason or another to leave once someone started getting close... i just couldn't handle it."

"I'm not sure what I'm doing coming forward with this so far into the future... maybe I just needed to see if the rest of the world was just as crazy as that night seemed. Maybe I just needed someone to listen. I find it... difficult... to trust in others in my class... They don't need all this heavy crap in their lives. they have their own lives to lament... right?" He sighed softly.

"It's frustrating feeling so pitiful with no real way of reaching out, sabotaged by your own mind. Friends need to know that I'm okay, and since I'm not okay I just don't have friends. Something has to give, and i'm a little too greedy for it to be me, you know what i mean?" He shifted like he was going to stand to leave, but he was still invested in hearing any response the principal offered.

Principal Juner looked at Lance for a moment before saying, "It was the right thing to come to me, Lance." The principal leaned forward so that he was about halfway across his desk. "I'm not saying this just because I am the principal. Things like this need to be discussed with someone, usually someone close to you, though sometimes life has it be someone you don't know and you instead make a bond." The principal gave a small nod over Lance's shoulder.

Sabina was standing there next to the door, her face downcast, so that Lance couldn't see her face. "She came in as you started to talk, but out of respect she didn't want to disrupt your line of thought. It's okay, Sabina, tell him how you feel." At that moment, Sabina lifted her head up to reveal her face as a stream of tears and walked over and embraced Lance. Her embrace was warm, though Lance could feel her tears pouring down his shirt. He was speechless that she was so upset over someone else's problem.

To think that someone could openly care so much was a thought that never crossed Lance's mind.

The two sat in silence, content not to move. The principal leaned back to a comfortable position before picking up the card sitting apart from it's deck. After a moment of contemplation, he looked up to Lance and the slowly recovering Sabina. "Empress, hmmm, seems about right." He shuffled the deck once and drew again, "It's a hobby I picked up back when I was about your age." He looked at the card once and smiled, before looking directly at Lance. "The Lovers, though I think this card may have been a little late, it seems you have picked your path. Now you just have to walk it..." With that the Principal stood up and handed Sabina a tissue before walking out, but not before whispering into Lance's ear, "Good friend's are hard to come by, don't discard them."

After a few seconds, Sabina stood up and wiped her eyes. "Good thing I didn't have make-up on yet, I would be so embarrassed." She smiled and turned to leave the office before turning back to Lance, "I'm here for you if you ever need me, even if Drama club is cancelled for the year." At that she turned and left the room.

Lance went to stand up when suddenly his head seemed to have tremendous pressure on it and he heard a voice say.

Thou art I, and I am thou. Thou hath forged ties to the Empress arcana.

As Evan walked outside, looked around, seeing the sun cresting its way up into the sky. He sighed and thought about how long it would take if he left for town now to get to a bus stop to get himself the hell out of here.

It wouldn't be hard He thought, I could just leave now and never have to worry about these damn problems anymore... He stepped down from the door onto the sidewalk and turned to face the school, when he noticed a freshmen standing on side of the fence next to the drop that fell into the river that fed to the Pacific. He couldn't hear what the boy was saying, but he was definitely mumbling something to himself.

The boy turned and noticed Evan standing nearby by. His eyes widen as he turns back towards the drop....