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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

[ N...no, he doesn't. For him, somebody who doesn't like running around unless he has to, Personas are very convenient. But sometimes it is easier if he just slashes a Shadow apart with a sword because it's less tiring than Personas in the long run, and that's probably what Mondo is getting at. ]

It's more dangerous 'cause you can die, but nothing says you can't join in on the fight. Even if it's just your fists— sometimes, all it takes is a good punch to knock down a Shadow. You just gotta be unafraid to throw yourself in there. And have a good team as backup, so you can heal one another.

[ Unfortunately, Mondo doesn't think all that brightly, he just wants to Fight. He's not all about commanding people to do all the dirty work for him. Plus, Komainu's been working hard, he can't keep relying on him! ]

Huh. We can do that?

[ He's died before, what's one more time? ]

I should try it next time, then.

[ If he were to be given a choice, he'd love to fight with fists the most, but he'd also like to use some skills he picked up in Wonderland. ]

Say, you said you can provide shit, right? Can it be anythin'? Like a handgun?

[ y'all stop dying.......... ]

Mm, yeah, we can make guns. But, for a price: the material required, and... whatever I feel like asking for at the moment.

[ Which could be anything from telling him a bad joke to raising persona stats to buying him a burger, idk ]

Do you want one? ...Do you need one, if you're going to fight with your fists?

Fair. I'll do it. Whaddya want me to do?

[ He probably won't get too weirded out since he already knows Minato is weird... ]

ーYeah, well. I wanna fight close range and long range. I learned how to handle a gun in the place I was in, I don't wanna forget it.

Okay, first you need to get a firearm license.

[ He wants to trust Mondo, but also it's a gun haha. ]

Second, three pounds of steel, and I can take care of the rest of the material. Third...

[ hm, hmm, what does he feel like having ]

Can you build me a motorcycle?

Aah? I gotta get one? Can we even get one here?!

[ For someone who looks pretty haphazard, Arisato's surprisingly proper... Anyway. Steel, huh? ]

Can it be any kinda steel? No preferences?

[ He's pretty impressed though, don't that mean Arisato can make a gun by himself? ]

...Heh. Sure, I can do that. [ He's yet to actually suspect anything because Wonderland Arisato would have known about his self-built motorcycle in a passing. ] Oh but, I wanna see ya makin' the gun!

Yeah, then you won't get in trouble if somebody sees you with a gun at home.

[ I googled it and apparently it takes months to get a firearm license in Japan but we'll just say that the process is much simpler here because it's a small town and people go out to hunt bear or deer or whatever in the forest sometimes. ]

Any steel is fine, since it'll be melted down anyways. Can't watch me make it, though. I'm shy.

[ lmfao no he is not, he just doesn't like people watching ]

...Fair. I'll do somethin' 'bout that.

[ Laughs thanks Orinyan that sounds perfect. ]

Aah?! What kinda bullshit's that? There ain't no way yer shy!! [ He squints. Arisato's mysterious but shy isn't the word Mondo will use to describe him. ] What, you got somethin' bad you'll get in trouble with if someone's watchin'?

[ A slow smile grows on Minato's face, amused at being called out so confidently and he's tempted to keep it at that instead of giving Mondo a straight answer. But in the end, he just shrugs. ]

Nah, but it's boring. Magic bullshit, not like how you can build bikes.

Yeah? I've never seen anyone do magic stuff, tho'. It won't be boring for me!

[ Someone's not taking the hint. ]

I can't do magic, after all... Who knows, maybe I can learn somethin'.

[ A part of him wishes he could use magic. Persona doesn't count, because that's their power not his, even if they're a part of him. Plus, creating stuff with magic sounds super neat to him! ]

[ Persona magic counts!! But Minato won't say that, because he gets what Mondo means. ]

...Fine, you can watch. But it'd better be a cool bike, okay? With fire decals on the side. That'd be cool.

Neat!

[ He instantly snorts though, hearing Arisato's request. ]

Whoa, didn't know you're the passionate kind, Arisato. Fire decals, eh? I can do that. [ That's not the image he had on him so it's a pleasant surprise. ] Ya can watch me build the bike in return. That way you get to pick on the details too. Right?

[ Doesn't he look passionate? Always quiet and slow and still, more like oozing magma than blazing fire.

The fire is in his eyes, the way they light up at the prospect of getting to see new things and watching people do what they love to do, it's a spark that's hard to miss with the way Minato's always looking down or to the side, but it's there. ]

Yeah, it'd be really cool. It's a lot, so... Thanks, Mondo.

[ Well... that's very true, it's always the calm ones.

Mondo catches a glimpse of it, simply because he's one to look at people in the eyes when he talks, but... what Arisato says next surely makes his eyes swim freestyle. ]

O...? Ou... [ There's a tint of pink on his cheeks, because he totally didn't expect getting thanked??? It's the feeling when someone so cool suddenly deres at you, even if it's not really a dere in Arisato's case... ] Y, yeah, count on me. I'll make it super cool! You gotta name it when I'm done, tho'.

[ Minato appearing cool to anybody is a hilarious thought, but he can be that sometimes. He can thank people genuinely and he can smile genuinely, and then the illusion is broken when he stares up at the ceiling to think of a name and his expression goes right back to the dumb blank one he's fond of wearing. ]

...........Elizabeth?

[ He's just going to assume it must be a female Western name.

[ Despite the dumb blank face Arisato's pulling, Mondo actually likes that name quite a lot. Dammit, he feels a bit annoyed how effortless it seems for Arisato to come up with the name, and he doesn't really wanna admit it but-- ]

O... ou, not bad. Elizabeth the fiery girl, eh? You've got some inspiration from somewhere?

Hmm... It just sounds like a cool name.

[ Like Queen Elizabeth. Minato's European history knowledge is pretty terrible, but he thinks she might have been one of those monarchs with a bloody reign. Really cool. And besides, it's—

...He shuts his eyes for a moment, lips pressed tight together, and then the moment passes and he's looking at Mondo again. ]

It's a good name, right?

[ Mondo would respond to what Arisato said, but he noticed that slight moment. Maybe it's just him, but he'll ask just in case. ]

...You good? Headache?

I'm good. Just remembering stuff...

[ But his head does hurt, and his heart does a little too, with the sudden awareness of a person who'd been a huge part of his life and he'd somhow forgotten her. ]

My memory's not too good- it gets like that when you live for too long, I guess. But sometimes I remember stuff. People. And it comes suddenly, like this.

...Huh. So ya weren't kiddin' when ya said ya've been around for couple hundred years?

[ Mondo doesn't quite believe it, but he doesn't think Arisato's pretending about this either. Remembering people, huh. That happened right after they talked about 'Elizabeth'. That means... ]

Y'mean ya used to know someone called Elizabeth?!

[ Wtf... was Arisato living in America before??? ]

Yeah. One of my six girlfriends.

[ Is he joking? Who knows, he doesn't follow up with anything else. ]

[ oh my FUCKIN GOD ]

Yeah, yeah. That's funny.

[ Mondo hasn't heard Arisato talk all host club dude like yet, so he just waves it off. ]

...I didn't know ya can make that kinda jokes too.

[ Arisato and girlfriend???? He can't imagine it. ]

[ Minato laughs, softly and under his breath. Because, yeah, it's pretty hard to imagine when Minato gives off a selfish vibe most of the time, any consideration he has for people kept as an undercurrent like he's trying to keep people from noticing. ]

It's Souji's bad influence.

[ Now that guy, you can easily imagine having six girlfriends and telling bad jokes at the same time. ]

[ Mondo wouldn't say selfish, but he definitely is like a cat, going on his own pace, as he will. It's not something that Mondo entirely dislikes... but then again he's extremely biased and Arisato racked up good boy points back in Wonderland so. ]

Seta's? [ He's... so different to the Wonderland one Mondo doesn't even know what to think. ] I won't be surprised. He was showing off his legs like nobody's business. [ To be fair, Mondo was too. ] Does he do that kinda thing all the time?

[ Thank you Wonderland Arisato for racking up all those points so Minato can steadily chip away at them while he's here. ]

His legs? Hm... I've seen them a lot, so maybe he's happy to have a new audience.

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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