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AUGUST EVENT PT 2

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→ 8/13-8/15 Obon Festival

Lanterns start to dot the streets, hung by the front door of each house who still have an able body to hang them. From there, the lights spread outward, neighbors visiting neighbors with lanterns in hand and prayers in their hearts that the light will be enough to guide the spirits of their ancestors home, enough to heal their loved ones and bring the health and energy back into town.

The first day of Obon passes in silence.

On the second day, the oppressive heat starts to lift, skies clear with a cool breeze that passes through the streets and rocks the lanterns at each door, which opens as people trickle out onto the street. By late afternoon, the entire town is alive with chatter and laughter, the townspeople bustling about to get their late start in setting up the festival stalls and the large stage set on the lakeside in front of the school. Some of the missing have started turning up again, with claims of having recovered from illness or returned from a trip, and more than that, visiting relatives are introduced to one another despite no car or plane ever seen entering or leaving the town. With most businesses closed for the Obon holiday, the second day is spent catching up with one another, making last-minute purchases and renting yukata, and finishing preparations so that both the spirits of their ancestors and those who have become well enough again may celebrate with all in full. By the end of the night, everybody has returned, the town restored.

Loud drumming can be heard the morning of the third day, taiko drum performances starting early and lasting late into the evening. The steady beat fills the air no matter where in town you are, but standing right in front of the stage, it can be felt in your chest, as if the entire town's hearts beat as one. Though less compared to during the tanabata festival, stalls are set up for Obon and largely consist of games and shops selling toys and trinkets, food stalls focusing on small treats rather than meals. With the taiko performance in the background to keep the rhythm, folk dances are held on the stage and in the parks and are open to anybody, participants being pulled in from the streets to join the circles to dance. Traditional clothing like yukata can be seen worn by almost everybody, from young children to great-grandparents, as they gather around the lake at sundown to say farewell to the spirits. Lanterns are lit and sent off into the lake, where they gather at the center and burn bright until there's nothing left to burn, and the town settles into warm, sleepy darkness.

When night falls and the townspeople begin to clean up, retrieve the lanterns, and go home, the breeze picks up a little, soft and cool, cutting paths throughout town much like the freezing gusts of winds that first Lockdown night. Rather than to the schoolhouse, however, the wind gently nudges you towards the forest, towards the edge of forest blocked by caution tape to keep people out of scorched earth and blackened trees. Only one lantern is left untouched, hanging on a tree branch just before this forest fire site, fallen trees cleared out to widen the path, that leads into the forest.

Soon, the full moon hangs high in the sky, shining its light straight down onto the castle ruins below.

→ 8/15 Castle Ruins and the Shrine

Carried along by the breeze that winds through the streets and blows down this path, finding your way through the forest becomes simple, and soon the trees part to reveal the castle ruins hidden away inside the forest -—at least, what used to be castle ruins. The changes come unexpected and instantly, in a blink of an eye during the day for those who still live in the castle, and a sight to behold for those who haven't returned in a long time until tonight.

Entering the castle reveals a repaired foundation and pillars which stand whole again, stairs to the second floor still broken but with all the rubble underneath cleared away, the air inside the castle no longer choking with dust. In the main hall, red candlesticks line the perimeter of the room, the glow of fire illuminating the murals that have shown up on previously blank walls, images faintly visible under a layer of yellow mildew. If you carefully scrub them clean, they depict a small village surrounded by farmland, a familiar lake at the center, flocks of crows adorning the skies with one large crow standing on the peak of the mountain overlooking the town.

At the center of the castle's main hall, a mother bear and two cubs can be seen snoozing in the middle of the room, sleeping next to a meter-by-meter square that has been cut into the stone ground. If you can get the bears to leave or are brave enough to approach without waking them up, you will see that hinges on one edge suggest it to be a door, but there is no handle and no way to lift the panel, nor can the door or the surrounding area be damaged no matter how hard you try. Upon closer inspection, there are four impressions on each corner of the door matching the size and shape of the ofuda received as a reward for defeating the dungeon boss, currently in RO's possession. Placing the ofuda on one of the slots causes the edges of the door to glow bright blue for a second before the light disappears, and the ofuda turns to stone, just like the door and the castle around them. Nothing more seems to happen after, the other three impressions remaining exactly the same.

All throughout the night, the candles burn along the perimeter of the hall, one hundred in total that cast the room in warm light. Whether you remember the fortune teller's words or are simply chatting with one another and catching up on all that's happened during your time here, each time a story is shared, a light blows out, leaving the castle dimmer and dimmer as the night goes on. The darker it gets, the more restless you begin to feel, Personas becoming more agitated and prone to lash out as the clock ticks closer to midnight. Those who choose to take a walk to the shrine to cool their heads find that the shrine looks different from before too, revealing unbroken steps, a thoroughly swept floor, stone lanterns whole instead of crumbled and broken, and the water basin filled to the brim with clear water that almost seems to sparkle in the moonlight— a far cry from how broken down the abandoned shrine appeared just a month before. There's still work to be done, however: in particular, the sign- restored and painted over in pure white so that it looks almost new- still displays no name. The paint is still a little wet, so perhaps somebody is just waiting for the paint to dry...

The night seems to drag on, but as long as people keep talking, no matter where they are in the castle or at the shrine, the candle lights continue going out until they count down to zero.

→ 8/15 Welcome to the Velvet Room

When the last of the candles go out and the castle plunges into complete darkness, a bright blue light begins to shine from beside the throne, taking on the form of a doorway set into the wall. Without fanfare, two figures step out, the taller with silver hair and a kind face, and the other with golden eyes that peek past long bangs to squint at everybody inside the castle. ...The latter immediately turns around back through the doorway to leave his partner to explain things to everybody here, who takes a seat on the throne as if he belongs there all along. If you have questions, come talk to this guy; but otherwise, there's nothing stopping you from going through the doorway to follow after the other one.

This isn't the only doorway that opens up: blue light shines between the pillars of the torii at the shrine, and similar doorways appear scattered throughout town to replace your bedroom door, the bathroom stall in a store you've run into for an emergency, set into the wall in an alleyway where there was no door before, even at the first floor of the school dungeon if for whatever reason you're there. Regardless of which door you enter, stepping through any doorway brings you into a small room, a bowl of fresh fruit and a bottle of some sort of non-alcoholic mixed drink in a bucket of ice sitting on the table in the middle of the room, two chairs flanking the table and a plush velvet couch against one wall. The ground shakes and rocks as you look around, curtains pulled aside to reveal inky blue darkness, spots of light floating past the windows out in the distance like stars. Each person arrives in their own room, a placard with their name and arcana set on the door labelling it theirs.

Down the end of the hall, the door opens up into a brightly lit lounge, wide windows set along the walls although the landscape outside remains as dark as ever. The lounge is filled with chairs and couches covered in the same blue velvet as the rooms and music seems to fill your entire being rather than just your ears. Passing through the door at the end of the lounge brings you to the conductor's cab where a young man sits, changed out of his costume into a more formal uniform in dark blues with a train engineer cap pulled low over closed eyes, slouched far back on his seat with his feet up on the control panel. Despite all that, however, the train simply zips along, the rail just barely visible from the front window of the cab. The attendant tilts his head your way, looking rather irritable, silent until you speak first.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ As a reminder, characters are more likely to lose control of their Personas around the time of the full moon (8/15) but this can also occur at any time, especially with internal conflict and during Lockdown. This is an optional mechanic. Personas will also temporarily disappear once the character enters the Velvet Room.
⬥ The two Velvet Room assistants will have their own top-levels below for those who wish to speak with them in this log, and they may be contacted at the NPC contact page at any time as well. The NPC contact page will serve as an "IC inbox" for the characters to freely interact with the attendants to ask questions, receive and fill requests, hang out, etc. Please read this page carefully for more information about accessing the Velvet Room.
⬥ While each attendant may have individual requests for those who ask for them, they will also give tasks for the characters as a whole. These general requests will be listed on the NPC contact page at the beginning of each month. Successful completion of a request will earn characters rewards, and there is no time limit for completion.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ... ]

Sorry, what I meant was... Nekogami is standing between you and me so I can't get any closer. He's hissing at me a lot.

[ :( He didn't mean to fling you in the sky with the Hybrid, Nekogami. ]

[ ...She really can't see what she's doing, but since everything else is quiet all around her, she straightens up and walks towards the sound of Terry's voice, hand slightly outstretched until it meets the cool, soft fur of her Persona when he feels like being solid.

Nekogami purrs, and Kido just sort of narrows her eyes at Terry's general direction, although she's probably staring at his ear or something off-centered. ]

He seems fine... [ Must be something Terry did, that the Persona's picking up on but she can't. ]

What'd you do?

[ ... ... ...

Hm. ]

Nekogami was caught by a Hybrid, so I tried kicking it off, but Nekogami got caught in its talons... so...

I'm sorry.

[ Terry's punishment is that thread with Minato and Souji. ]

Is that what happened...? [ Kido frowns, rubbing at the back of her head. Sure is a bump there, right where her occipital lobe would be, probably. ]

Alright, cat, go home. [ Nekogami gives Terry the stink eye, but properly unsummons itself. ]

Vassago doesn't have any fire spells or anything, right? Maybe if we can get to the next floor, we can find a torch and bring some light back here so people can see, otherwise it'll be dangerous with all these monsters running around.

[ That's... karma overload...

Terry blinks when Kido finishes talking. He squints a bit and walks a little over to the side with quiet steps. He wonders... ]

... Kido, I need you to seriously answer this question, okay? Where are all the feathers?

[ He's holding out a fistful of feathers out in his left fist, plain for Kido to see. ]

Uh... Do you mean over where you punted that Hybrid? I was trying to get the feathers from it.

[ Yeah, she's just staring into empty space, not even looking at his hand. ]

[ Terry's heart feels like it just sunk into the depths of his stomach. Kido's answer pretty much confirmed what he was thinking, and he didn't want to be right...

A raven tries to divebomb at him, but Terry is in an awful mood right now, so he snatches the raven, tears out a bundle of feathers, and throws it at the ground with so much force. There's a fissure on the ground now--pretty loud too. That sure is a dead raven shadow... The only reason he displayed such brutality in front of Kido is because she can't see right now.

He quietly breathes in, stuffs all the feathers into his pockets except one of each and walks up to Kido, putting both feathers into her hand. ]

Here. These are what you came for, right? Let's leave this place.

[ Well. She sure is heading the sounds of battle, though there's no much in the way of screaming and explosions or anything like that, and it's over quick as a flash. Without being able to see what's going on, Kido just makes sure to stand as still as possible so she's not in the way of anything, and is surprised when she feels the softness of the feathers in her hand, having to bring her other to run over the length of them to realize what they are. ]

Whoa, are these the feathers? I'm surprised you can even see in the dark like this. It's like you're a cat.

... It's not dark, Kido.

[ Terry holds her free hand so that it'll be easier to guide her to the exit. ]

Vassago doesn't breathe fire either, but he won't need to. This place is same as ever.

[ ... ]

You're probably blind.

[ ...What a terrible joke. What was that thing she used to say all the time with her gang? "Blindfold Complete" or something like that, but rather than feeling like something's slid over her eyes, it feels like being doused with a bucket full of freezing water, numb and painful both at the same time. ]

There's... no way, right?

[ She lets the feathers fall from her hand, bringing it back up to the back of her head. It can't be permanent. Her hand goes to the front of her face, at the corners of her eyes. There's nothing wet- blood or tears or otherwise- it's not like she'd hit her head hard enough that her eyeballs detatched and that's why she can't see. ]

Nekogami and I were just about to grab one of the Hybrid's feathers, and then the lights went out. That's all that happened...

[ Terry bends over to pick up the feathers that Kido dropped. This time, he doesn't return them to Kido. He decides that he'll give them to her later... if it even matters at that point. ]

I saw you were lying down on your back on a sheet of ice. You probably hit the back of your head, which is affecting your vision. We can get you to the doctor first thing in the morning.

[ Terry doesn't even know if he's right or wrong, but that's the only logical explanation he has at the moment. ]

You're not bleeding or anything, right...?

[ She shakes her head, which promptly makes her dizzy so she cuts that out. ]

No, I don't... think so? You'd probably know better than me if I'm bleeding anywhere.

[ Everything hurts, but that's more because of the damages Nekogami accrued than from fighting the Shadows directly. If there's any internal bleeding, that'd be bad, because she doesn't know if Terry would be able to tell. Emergencies during Lockdown really suck, huh? Nothing a hospital can do until the hour's over. ]

[ Terry's pretty sure diagnosing an internal bleeding requires medical tests that he has no idea how to conduct. The best he can do is do what he can now. ]

I'm gonna touch the back of your head to check.

[ Just a warning so that Kido doesn't get startled. He moves Kido's hood back and tries to feel around the back of her head for anything wet. ]

[ Kido stands still, head slightly bowed as she lets Terry check her head— even with the warning, she startles a little, because suddenly feeling anything in the darkness is kind of creepy.

Nothing wet at the back of her head, and even with her hood up over half the time, her hair remains dry and smooth. The bump at the back of her head is hard to miss, with the way her shoulders jolt a little when it's touched, but if she's got any brain injuries, it's inside and not out. ]

[ Damn, Kido. What's your hair regimen... Terry withdraws his hand and puts the hood over Kido's head. ]

There's no blood, but there's a bump on your head. We should get that checked too...

[ Terry sees a Hybrid run in their direction, so he just punts it away with full force when it gets too close. Another shooting star in the sky... ]

Let's get going. There's no point staying here anymore.

[ It helps if you don't die and/or sleep in the woods all the time.

Every time a Shadow gets punted away, Kido turns to the sound and— ]

You're not going to pick up what they drop?

[ MONEY, TERRY. She can't afford eye surgery either?? ]

[ HEY... some things can't be helped okay!

Terry shrugs even if Kido can't see it. ]

They don't always drop something.

[ He can't tell her that Vassago still refuses to come out and that Terry is the one that's actually doing all the work... haha........... ]

Besides, getting you to a safer place is more important. I'm not gonna leave you here.

[ Some of those things can probably be helped a little bit...

Kido makes to rub at the back of her head, a nervous habit of hers that she catches before she actually does it, because she'd better not mess around back there, and instead stuffs her hand into her hoodie pocket. ]

Alright... I guess home would be the best place? I'd have to trouble them to take me to hospital in the morning, though.

[ Is Terry still living in a park or something?? She can't even ask to stay where he lives haha ]

Geez... I'm always troubling you about this or that, so I'm sorry about this.

I said I'll always be there for you if I can, right? So don't worry about it. I can come pick you up in the morning too if you don't want to bother them.

[ It's better not to touch the hobo life, Kido... just live with your good things. Anyway, Terry starts leading Kido to the exit, opening the door and--

... fuck, he forgot about these stairs. They're so long too. ]

Kido, there are stairs ahead...

[ Kido hums something in response, still debating whether she should just live the hobo life for one night and just sleep on the streets outside of the hospital or something. Since it's midnight, she only really has to not get mugged for six or seven hours. That sounds doable— more than the stairs, anyways, which she immediately stubs her toe on despite the warning.

Wow, fuck stairs. ]

[ He warned you about those stairs, man...

Looks like it can't be helped. Fuck stairs. Terry's gonna carry Kido bridal style and go up the stairs without warning this time. It would take way too long otherwise.

It doesn't take that long to reach the top, but he's internally debating whether he should keep carrying Kido like this or just let her down. ]

[ Kido screeches in Terry's ear with the surprise of being suddenly lifted off the ground, and it isn't until she finds her hand squishing against Terry's cheek that she realizes what's happening and that they aren't getting attacked by some silent Shadow or something that could exist on the stairs.

With a groan, she loops her arms around the back of Terry's neck so she can have some semblance of hanging on instead of the mortification of being carried, and also so she can continue shouting at his collarbone to fill the silence. ]

Stupid, that's something you should warn me about...!!

[ What if her instinct was to clock Terry on the side of his head with her fist or something, then they would both fall down the stairs and split their heads open ]

[ He can take many more hits without feeling like death, so it's fine!! Totally. ]

Sorry, but I think I just went deaf because you screamed in my ear...

[ But her arms looping around the back of his neck actually feels nice while carrying Kido like this. He didn't expect it to happen and he's actually kinda flustered by it lol

But his mood is suddenly a lot better though. ]

I'll scream in your other ear next time to balance it out...

[ Thank god Kido can't see his dumb smiling face like this, because this isn't the situation for it... She can't even tell the difference between going upstairs and being on level ground again, so it's whatever ]

Please don't. I like being able to hear what you say.

[ Right. There are still Shadows outside during Lockdown too. His hands are full, so he'll just keep kicking them out of the way lmao ]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 8/13-8/15 Obon Festival

→ 8/15 Castle Ruins and the Shrine

→ 8/15 Welcome to the Velvet Room

→ MOD NOTES

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