DECEMBER EVENT PT 2

[citta]

DECEMBER EVENT PT 2

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→ 12/15 - 12/31 A Persona December...

The year is now winding down, but it only gets busier throughout town as people hustle about paying off debts, mending relationships, and cleaning the clutter out of their homes to have a fresh start to the new year. The staff at the hospital is especially busy rearranging some of the units, seeing as the foundation to the hospital seems to have cracked a day or two before, the entire building at a slight angle where one side has sunk into the ground, with blame placed on the freezing ice breaking apart the ground below the hospital and deeming parts of it unsafe. Rows and rows of potted plants surround the hospital like a miniature garden, while around the marketplace, small potted plants are placed on either side of each shop entrance ward off evil spirits and keep them from entering. In the neighborhoods, white paper strips tied across straw ropes get hung over each house's front door for the same purpose— for the houses without such traditional New Year's decorations, like the Black Cat house and the neighboring clubhouse, the townspeople offer to help supply and put up the traditional decorations so evil spirits will be kept out of the town, and good tidings will be invited in for all in the new year.

It's too bad they do nothing to ward off the Shadows that crawl out of the dungeons at night, the snow and the ice unable to deter the small black blobs that squeeze under doors and invade the buildings during Lockdown. Perhaps the weather is to blame, getting increasingly colder towards the end of the year, but people start to fall ill until most of the townspeople sport masks over their noses and mouths to prevent catching colds. On the 21st, the public bathhouse celebrates the winter solstice by offering a greatly discounted entrance fee, enticing people to enjoy the customary yuzu baths with cut citrus floating in the hot water to draw in good luck and good health, but even this tradition does little for what might be the worst flu season to have hit the town in years. The symptoms are largely the same: it starts with chills and a fever, then heavy sweating and insomnia that makes it impossible to fall asleep, coupled with the deep aches and pains that seem to seep right down into the bones. People are left weak and tired, and while some are lucky to not get any sicker, others take a turn for the worse and lose consciousness completely, rushed over to the hospital where tests are being done to determine what sort of illness this is and what the most effective treatment may be. There is no effective treatment. The people who get sick aren't recovering. Those Persona users who are already in ego death catch the illness easily and do not have the strength to fight it off, falling unconscious and prompting the townspeople taking care of them to send them to the hospital to be better looked after and supported— the last of their days spent as pain-free as possible.

Christmas Eve comes and goes, largely a couple's holiday spent quietly with loved ones, but it's only quiet due to the number of people who had to be hospitalized. Crispy fried chicken and fluffy Christmas sponge cakes topped with strawberries and cream go on sale on Christmas day, but the shelves remain full with the lack of people well enough to celebrate. Fear and suspicion run rampant, talk circulating around town that the gods are angry and they must be appeased, while a smaller but more vocal number of people begin to speak out about disaster having been striking the town almost every month no matter how much they've been praying to the gods. Traditional decorations get torn down in fits of anger and frustration, spiteful townspeople scorning the gods for doing nothing to protect the town, while others try to pacify them, wanting to keep the peace and warning the hellions that these are the exact actions that cause the gods to forsake the town in the first place. There's talk about how the bad weather and waves of illnesses started in the summer, fingers pointed at the strangers that had moved into town since then, and eyes seem to be on the Persona users as they walk through town: quick, furtive glances at times, blatant staring at others. Children are more brazen, tugging at their parents' hands and pointing out the weirdo standing on the roadside talking to cats, or the girl with the large firearm strapped to her back, or the large orange dragon they saw flying towards town from the mountains. The adults shush the children, telling them it's rude to point and that they shouldn't get involved with foreigners, pulling them away from the people who have been living amongst them all these months, now deemed outsiders.

→ 12/28 Happy birthday, Toki

On the 28th, an earthquake rolls across town early in the evening, lasting five minutes with aftershocks being felt throughout the night. When it first hits, the quake takes the power down with it, the entire town plunging into darkness for a solid hour, the emergency generator at the hospital trying to kick in but a fuse blows and catches fire, the explosion small but located in the basement that shakes the building hard enough that it starts collapsing even further, the staff rushing all the patients out of the hospital before the entire building crumbles and burns to the ground. For the next hour, the only light that can be seen is the flames engulfing the hospital building until they finally die down come midnight. Right when the clock strikes twelve, an aftershock hits and causes the fissure at the bottom of the lake to widen, the ice cracking and the water level dropping by several meters as mud and rock get shaken loose and turn the crystal clear water a dark, turbid brown. It triggers an avalanche in the mountains, the peaks opposite the castle on the other side of town crumbling and smothering the forest beneath with rock and snow. Electricians work hard through the night to get the power restored, the power finally coming back on with the rising sun at dawn to shine light on the destruction.

Over the next few days, the townspeople work hard cleaning up around town, inspecting buildings for damages, and trying to get a clinic up and running in the small community center for hospital patients in need of treatment. There weren't many patients to begin with, but many are now unconscious, suffering the chills and pains of what now clearly isn't the flu. Groups of townspeople scavenge the ruins of the hospital for medicine and medical equipment they're able to salvage, while others make their way through the forest to scour the mountainside for herbal medicine. While they're careful to avoid the landslide, rumour starts to circulate amongst the elderly townspeople of a shrine up in the mountains from centuries ago, before an earthquake had hit and buried the passage up to the shrine, leaving it abandoned once travel was determined to be too hazardous. Investigating the landslide, it's soon realized that the rock has fallen to reveal the start of a path carved out of the mountainside, the previous blockade having been knocked loose by the recent earthquake. If the boulders are cleared away and the path is made safe enough to travel, it may be possible to reach the shrine and restore it, but efforts cannot be spared at the moment. The town comes first. The lives and safety of the people come first.

Some of the townspeople continue to pray to the gods, while others lose faith and can only rely on themselves, their knowledge and their labour. No matter how hard they work, resources are scarce and no cure to the illness can be found. The first person to fall unconscious closes their eyes and dies on the 29th. Slipping away from ego death, Kokichi Ouma takes his last breath on the 30th. Ryoji Mochizuki passes away on the 31st. Neither of them ever wakes up again, not here, and not at home.

At midnight on the 31st, the deep, rich tone of the bell slowly ringing at the shrine in the forest can be heard all throughout town, welcoming everybody into the new year.

→ 1/1- 1/2 Best wishes in the coming year

Without a proper shrine in Hirajiro, many of the townspeople visit the town hall on New Year's day, paying respects at a kamidana located inside, standing in front of this private, miniature shrine with bowed heads, thanking the gods for seeing them through another year and praying that the next year will bring good tidings to the town that so desperately needs it. They welcome family members who have travelled all this way in order to visit, all claiming to be from different towns and cities that do not exist in this world where there is only one town, but this time, murmurs in the background voice confusion. Children ask their parents why they never go out to see their family from out of town, or how come they never see airplanes fly overhead or trains run through the mountains, or how do they have seafood if there's no ocean? They are quickly shushed and told not to ask silly questions, but dissatisfaction and resentment build amongst the youth, who are always told to keep their heads down and noses out of people's business, to not talk to strangers and to not play in the woods. Though wary now of the Persona users who frequent the path, several children are seen sneaking into the forest at times, teenagers and young adults soon to follow, and by the second day of the new year, some of the townspeople can be seen staring at the castle, marvelling at its existence, and making their way up the steps to the shrine, all while wondering to themselves how long these places have been here, right under their noses.

The number of people who are aware of the shrine in the forest barely number several dozen out of the hundreds of other townspeople, but they sweep the snow off the steps and clean up the shrine, burning incense and leaving offerings to this new god with no name, asking it to help save the town now that they can no longer trust the old gods to do so. At the center of the shrine grounds, a young man stands by a large metal box, asking people to return their old omamoris to be burnt and to buy a new one for the new year, gesturing to a small table next to him filled with omamoris of different colours, a black crow stitched in each corner and gold embroidery denoting what each charm grants blessings for: good health, wealth, relationships, etc. Alongside the omamoris, another box rests on the same table that contains omikujis, with a small tree standing behind the table for people to tie the paper fortune to if they draw one with bad luck.

Every single paper fortune reads bad luck.

For these two days, Minato and Souji can be seen at the shrine wearing men's kimono, standing off to the side and talking quietly with one another, feeding the crows, greeting the Persona users, and handing them New Year's envelope of money if they haven't stopped by to pick them up yet. Have they made their New Year's resolutions yet? If they're willing to share, both Attendants are curious about hearing them; said out loud, one becomes accountable for such promises, and if they are able to keep their resolutions... well. The first month is always the hardest. The Attendants just give a small tired smile and say that they will revisit the resolutions upon completing the final dungeon. Make them good ones.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Starting from this point forward, permadeath will be an option for characters dropped from the game, alongside the ego death state. For players with previously dropped characters who would like them to permanently dead, please contact the mods so an official list may be kept on the taken page. Note that characters who undergo permadeath may not be apped back into the game, and ICly will not be sent home. More information about the change in death mechanics will be revealed as the plot progresses.
⬥ The shrine in the mountains will be accessible on 1/3 when the new dungeon log goes up. More information will be given at that time.
⬥ At the shrine in the forest, characters have the option of returning their Persona omamori and purchasing a new one. Please respond to the toplevel below with their decision. Responses are due by 1/3, and more information about the consequences will be given at that time.
⬥ Characters also have the option of making a New Year's resolution and telling the Attendants by reporting it to the toplevel below. What will the mods do with these? Haha! It's a mystery.
⬥ As of 12/11, the music on the Velvet Room has changed in hopes that the characters stop fucking up in 2020. Ganba, friends.

Comments

[infiltrationtools]

I. 12-15/12/20

[This treatment is not new for Akira, and it doesn’t take him long to catch on. Even though he still looks an acts (more or less) like someone who grew up in Hirajiro, he’s still been put into the Strangers camp by virtue of associating so much with the rest of them.]

[The Persona users haven’t done anything wrong. But just like before, just like in any small town, the rumour mill continues to churn and people are eager for someone to blame in this time of loss.]

[So if you see Akira around town, or pretty much anywhere in public, he’ll be acting even more closed off than usual, and has also taken to wearing Joker’s coat outside for extra protection from the cold. This also has the side effect of extra strange appearance to the villagers. If an adult stares at him, he’ll stare directly back into their eyes, hoping they’ll lose their nerve from the direct confrontation. Usually they do, but it’s not earning him any points with the villagers.]

II. 12/30

[In the small part of the clinic dedicated to those who have fallen to ego death, you’ll find Akira on this day. After finding out about the first death yesterday he came back to check today, and… it happened faster than he thought. He can’t even go in to see them, because of the rampant sickness inside the rest of the clinic, so he’s standing out in the lobby.]

[”I’m very sorry,” says the nurse, with impressive bedside manner despite clearly being uncomfortable talking to and about the outsiders. “Kokichi Ouma passed away this morning.”]

…Again?

[The nurse doesn’t understand, so she stares at him and says nothing. Akira gives a quiet, hollow chuckle.]

Well, I guess no one’s stepped forward to handle burial, right?

[“Not yet… it was only a few hours ago.”]

Of course not.

III. wildcard

[Those who frequent the Milky Rose Café may notice that Akemi’s appearances have become less and less common, and when Akira is on shift it’s usually as the Butler (whose name is also Akira). The Butler is cold and distant but with an obviously fabricated soft spot for whatever guest he happens to be engaging with; Akemi requires a lot of energy, and as the month wears on, Akira finds that he has an easier time maintaining the Butler for six hours on end.]

[He can also, of course, be contacted for the purposes of buying tools, and taking advantage of the baths on the 21st while keeping to a quiet corner. The closer it is to December 25th, the more clipped he is in his engagements, so keep that in mind if you want to choose a date.]

i. 12/17

[reveilation]

[ Hostile glares aren't new for Kido either, but this time there's no concrete reason for it and it just makes her mad. She's not as bold as Akira to glare right back at whoever stares at her, wishing she had the nerve but instead she just keeps her hood up and her eye ability on at all times so nobody can see her to give her dirty looks.

She steps in front of Akira to intercept eye contact the next time he's about to get into a staring contest with another townsperson, her eyes bright red under the shadow of her hood and the townsperson not noticing her at all— he blinks in confusion, and isn't able to see Akira either. ]

Don't... Has anybody given you any trouble?

[infiltrationtools]

[He's sick of it. He's completely sick of it, and he doesn't care if they think he's rude anymore. These places are all the same.]

[Her interception succeeds. The townsperson, probably with no higher opinion of the strange disappearing boy than before, turns away and goes about his business.]

Depends on what you mean by trouble.

[No one's verbally threatened him, but they're all looking at him. Probably talking behind his back, too.]

[reveilation]

[ It feels like she can't breathe until that other person leaves the two of them alone, and Kido casts her eyes to the side with a small frown. ]

Anything more aggressive than this, I guess. At work, or around own...

[ Though a confrontation like that is already very aggressive, just eye contact, considering how the townspeople were before. It's not like they were ever greeted with open arms, but they were accommodating and easygoing and suddenly a switch flipped. ]

I just don't want to make any trouble with them while we're on their turf. Where you headed somewhere? I can make it so they'll completely ignore us, so let me walk with you.

[ It's a bandaid over the problem, but it's good enough for now. ]

[infiltrationtools]

You always get shitty comments at work.

[When he's playing Akemi, anyway. Once he had someone talk about the strange crossdressing men to his own face, because the woman didn't recognize him out of the maid costume.]

So far... people are thinking something, but no one wants to be the one to start something.

[And therefore Akira makes himself the one to start something. What exactly they have grievances about is less clear. Still, he moves close to Kido and makes no attempt to get out of her concealing veil.]

I was going to see if there was anything interesting at the occult shop.

iii. 12/21, bathhouse

[yokeye]

[The quiet corner Akira chose won't be quiet for long, because it's also where Toki happens to get into the bath. He'd probably come with Terry and Rei, and who knows what either of them are doing at the moment. Toki's general bathhouse plans used to be loitering in the women's bath and flirting, but it's no longer something he does. He slowly slides into the water near Akira and waves in a random direction.]

Hello~!

[It's not a greeting directed at Akira in particular, but anyone in the vicinity.]

[infiltrationtools]

[Considering how closely they live to one another, I'm assuming that Akira knows what happened by this point.]

[So he looks slowly over at Toki and just says,]

Hi, Toki.

[It's clearly Akira's voice, and he tries to make it loud enough that Toki can hear over the generalized din of the bathhouse, but he sounds either weary or half-asleep from the warmth.]

[yokeye]

[I'm assuming everyone knows too.]

Akira~!

[Toki picks up on the weariness, but he can't really tell what emotion that tone goes with. Just that something is off or maybe it's disinterest. But Toki is a social creature, and he only moves closer.]

So~, how have you been~!?

[He probably talked to Akira like yesterday, but things change so fast.]

[infiltrationtools]

[Everyone comes to the baths because they're weary, right? Or because they live in an attic and don't actually have a shower for over a year so they have to use the public ones.]

Ah, alright. The cold weather always does me in, but this place helps.

[The cold weather is only a fraction of what actually does him in, but it's a convenient scapegoat for polite bathhouse conversation, and also very much true; he doesn't like the cold.]

What about you?

ii

[laconism]

[Similar to Akira, Red has gradually been becoming more closed off as the month goes on as well, except for him, it continues even after Christmas is over. He completely stopped running his half of their craft market table after the 21st, although he did bake one last time for the Christmas party whenever that happened and bought presents for everyone because he at least wanted to continue trying to raise everyone else's spirits, but it hasn't... really done anything for his own at all.

Kokichi's situation certainly hasn't been helping, either. Red has known since the night he first fell ill that he wasn't going to make it thanks to Espeon, though he didn't know when Kokichi would pass. He didn't bother inquiring that far. He has a bad feeling after hearing about the first death though, so he agrees to go with Akira to check on him at the clinic, and it turns out it was justified. Kokichi is gone now. Forever.

He remains silent by Akira's side while he talks to the nurse, gaze downcast and fist clenched. Eventually, though, he speaks up in a flat voice.]

I'll handle it. If that would be okay.

[The townspeople are tired of dealing with these pesky outsiders anyway, right?]

[infiltrationtools]

[Bold of you to assume he stops after the 25th. That's just the day that gets to him the most.]

[Akira is standing there, falling back into silence as Red starts to take over, and he finds himself seething. Of course if no one came to claim Ouma and Mochizuki then they would probably just be dug a shallow grave in the woods somewhere, or their bodies disposed of some other way. It's more than the others got, but it doesn't change the fact that Ouma — at least — was saved by the whim of this fucking bird only to die again.]

[Like toys. Cosmic playthings.]

[If Red wants to handle the talking, Akira will gladly let him.]

[Meanwhile, the nurse seems a little surprised by Red's offer, but agrees to it nonetheless. She gives him the phone number of a person in town who frequently coordinates these kinds of things.]

[laconism]

[Red feels your anger, Akira. He really does. Nevertheless, he remains completely diplomatic, looking up as the nurse offers him the phone number. Taking the slip of paper she hands him with the number written down, Red stares down at it for a moment before he folds it and sticks it in his pocket.]

Thank you. I'll give them a call later. Is there anything else I need to do?

[Fill out any paperwork or whatever? This is his first time formally dealing with a dead person, so.]

[infiltrationtools]

[There is in fact paperwork to do, and the nurse fumbles a little with the computer as she goes to print out the relevant documents.]

[It's not too terribly long, so she clips it all together with a pen for Red and directs him to have a seat in the waiting room and fill everything out. Akira, clearly with a lot on his mind but saying none of it, is just going to follow wherever Red goes.]

12/18

[toybombs]

[Yeah, she's not really a fan of all the attention either. Her hair makes her stand out, unfortunately.]

Mu... They're not very subtle, are they?

[infiltrationtools]

['Mu'...]

They're getting braver as their mob gets bigger.

[And the Persona-users only continue to fall into ego death.]

[toybombs]

As long as we can prevent a full on riot...

[She can't kill any of these people. She just can't. If she does, she might lose.]

Maybe I should look into volunteer work.

[Though there's also a chance they'll just suspect her anyway. That's what led to the Blade Children mess in the first place, after all.]

[infiltrationtools]

[Akira's not turning his gun on unarmed innocents, even if they're constructs. No matter how much he feels like he wants to sometimes.]

We might be able to find someone who's... perpetuating this.

[Damage control before the "did you hear"s get out of hand.]

12/20

[not_that_sasuke]

[Sasuke's been able to avoid most of the stares thanks to his plain appearance and the fact that he regularly goes around in clothes purchased in the village. His own warm coat is from Hirajiro, so he doesn't really turn any heads unless he's obviously interacting with those who are more obvious.

That aside, he's really got to talk to Akira finally. So when he sees an adult watching Akira and getting a stare back, he clicks his tongue and Kurou shoots out from who knows where, chasing another startled cat into the man's legs and providing ample distraction. Hopefully Akira's got enough sense to notice him as he tries to make eye contact from behind the man, nodding in the direction they should go. It's down a fairly clear little road with no other villagers around, so it should be a peaceful walk, helped by the fact that the cats are running in the opposite direction.]

[infiltrationtools]

[Wait is this a wild cat fight... oh, no, it's Kurou. Akira does notice Sasuke looking at him, and breaks his gaze off from the villager — who is now cursing the animals.]

[With his hands in the pockets of his big stupid coat, Akira turns and starts walking down the indicated road, waiting for Sasuke to catch up. They've had ample time to talk to one another about many topics, so all he expects is that Sasuke found something important. Perhaps a plot clue, or a baby kitten.]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Sasuke keeps his head down once Akira gets the message, although it's not really necessary anymore - the villager is much more occupied with the hissing cats by now, especially since Kurou's baiting the other one into slamming into flower pots and other such items on edges of the street before bolting.]

-Are you okay?

[infiltrationtools]

Yeah, I'm fine.

[This is nothing new for him, and his tone of voice suggests that.]

Thank you for getting me out.

[windbreakers]

[ Seto, being who he is, picks up a second job at the cafe as a butler. He's not brave enough for the maid outfits so he takes a minimal part-time status whenever an extra butler is needed. He's been scheduled a few times when he can see Akira right when either of them is coming in or leaving with no chance to talk, but this time, they've been scheduled for the same day and the same time so they both finish together. ]

[ In the break room, Seto approaches Akira with a smile. ]

I don't think I introduce myself. I'm Seto.

[ They live in the same house so they probably have seen each other around there as well, but Seto is often out all the time that he's hardly at home to properly greet everyone. ]

[infiltrationtools]

[Seto is one of those people who Akira has spoken to only on the most basic matters of the house, and even then, only for a couple of minutes. He knows Seto's last name but not his first, and the only personality trait Akira can give him is "nice". Because he is clearly nice. He's a pleasant, affable, outward-facing person.]

[Akira never went out of his way to get closer to Seto, but since he's approaching first, sure. Let's do it.]

Ah, hey.

[Akira was sitting in the break room on his phone, in the Butler's uniform today, scrolling idly. He sets it in his lap.]

You're right. I'm Akira Kurusu; good to meet you.

[Very polite. Very closed off.]

[windbreakers]

[ "Nice" is certainly a good way to describe him. Always going around with a smile, always looking like he's doing just fine. ]

Nice to meet you. Are you done for the day?

[infiltrationtools]

[Some people are just... perfectly unremarkable, Akira thinks, and then immediately reminds hiimself that's a really shitty thing to say or think about someone. Besides, he doesn't know the dude at all.]

Yeah, I am— are you?

[The implication being, they can walk home together. It's not long enough that it would become insufferable.]