september dungeon.

[citta]

SEPTEMBER DUNGEON

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→ 9/3 Lockdown

With the heat wave having calmed down, the nights are cool despite the warm summer days, quiet, save for the buzzing of insects and the murmurs of those wandering the streets late into the night. After a month of festivities, the town has gone into a peaceful respite— one that's broken at the stroke of midnight, the wind picking up and drowning out all other sound with howls that pierce the air as if the town itself were screaming. The sliver of moon in the sky offers barely enough light to act as a guide, but the winds are frigid and strong, drawing all that gets caught in the gust towards the heart of the town: the lake.

Some time after Lockdown begins, the Shadows start to emerge from the lake, the same blobs of inky black dragging themselves out onto the surface. These Shadows do not show their true form, intent on entering the town and scouring homes for... whatever they're searching for... Over the course of the month until the dungeon is cleared, a sickness seems to settle back over the town, complaints of chills and bouts of sleepiness culminating into lethargy so severe that people stop responding and cannot care for themselves, a familiar pattern of zombies and disappearances until the boss is dealt with.

Despite the winds, the surface of the lake remains eerily still, a perfect mirror reflecting your face until touched, reflection warped by ripples. Around the perimeter of the lake are the occasional posts staked into the ground with the written warning to stay away from the water, but during Lockdown, there are no townspeople to come rushing forward to shoo you away, so... will you take the risk and plunge into the depths, or turn around and leave?

→ 1st Floor

The lake is chilly when you first step into it, showing nothing past the surface but inky darkness during the night. But once your entire body is submerged, your vision suddenly clears up to reveal a brightly lit lake, the water lukewarm as if it were daytime and the sun is shining directly overhead.

The lake is as wide as ever, sides cut out with Minecraft-level blockiness, and at the bottom, a mere fifty feet below the surface, a dark hole has been cut out from the rest of the stone floor, just large enough for a single person to fit through. Sunken and scattered across the floor lie rusted excavators, drills, a bulldozer with its door shining a bright Velvet Room blue, shovels and pickaxes, swords and shields and battered pieces of armor, and the occasional skeleton that falls apart at the touch, flesh and ligament long since picked clean.

And then there are the Shadows.

IKU-TURSO
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
As if the poisonous waters weren't bad enough, these rotting Shadows carry a vile and toxic cloud of water wherever they go. Staying too close to them will result in swimmers becoming immediately posioned, causing them to feel severely nauseous and sick to their stomach. These Shadows reach out with their slimy webbed hands and drag any poisoned victims to the depths of the lake with the intent on burying them in the murky sands. If you don't die first from the poison, you'll suffocate from the sand instead. As a result, it's advised to attack these Shadows from afar or to avoid them outright, if you can. Poisonous slime and ragged horns can be collected as loot.

AMEMASU
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Light
Once you come across an Amemasu, your only option is to either defeat them or run away. These giantic creatures take up entire invisible hallways of the maze and can unhinge its jaw to swallow humans alive. In fact, that's mostly how it attacks; by eating whatever that gets in its path. Unfortunately for it and luckily for everyone else, this creature's sight is not very strong and can only detect moving objects. If you stay perfectly still in these waters, it may completely ignore you. Of course, you'd still have to figure out how to get around this hulking Shadow through the tight corridors of the maze, but surprise attacks will be easier to land, so long as it doesn't catch you moving first. Large scales that shine in the light can be collected as loot.

The Shadows glide through the water as if it were nothing more than air, but for everybody else, swimming in the lake is as slow and cumbersome as ever. Despite the unnatural stillness and clarity of the water, unseen currents flow all throughout the lake and can easily drag you off course if you're caught in them, and invisible walls are set up throughout the area like the most annoying maze in existence where you can't see anything. The walls and the currents confine the Shadows in predetermined routes, but the same goes for you if you try to navigate the maze, crossed paths unavoidable. The walls can be shattered, at the risk of the glass shards getting caught in the currents and slicing you and all your friends up in the process, but seem to be what redirects the currents in the first place.

The longer you stay in the water contemplating how to get down to the hole at the bottom of the lake, the sicker you start to feel; the townspeople were serious about their warnings, and the poison lingers even after you leave the water. Also, most of you can't breathe underwater and have a minute or however long your lung capacity allows. Haha. Good luck.

With a bit of patience, good luck is what comes on the morning of 9/4, when a passing crow swoops down and sets a polished aquamarine charm directly on each character's head. The charm is in the shape of a feather, thin and easily broken if you're not careful, but having it on your person allows you to breathe underwater so long as the charm is intact. Unfortunately, it comes with the downside of having a song stuck in your head, the same way you can't get rid of the music in the Velvet Room, until you're out of the water again. Maybe this is incentive enough to get to that hole as quickly as possible.

As of 10/28: The glass maze inside the lake has been shattered, although shards of glass still float within the water, and the currents have also stopped. During Lockdown, the first floor appears twice as large as the lake normally is, and outside of Lockdown, there is a huge rift spanning the floor of the lake.
As of 10/31: The lake has been purified, and swimming in the water no longer makes people feel sick.

→ 2nd Floor

After reaching the hole at the bottom of the lake and passing through a series of twists and turns, you're spat out onto solid ground and crisp fresh air, refreshing after the pressure of the water and the lingering poison. The ground is solid ice, and whether you kept your clothes on or stripped for the swim, you're in for a miserable time in these sub-zero temperatures unless you dry off quickly, bundle up, and find a way to warm yourself up. This floor doesn't offer much: every direction you look is an expanse of white, almost blinding in the way the sky and the ice share the same lack of color, a complete whiteout with no visible horizon, no borders or end to the world.

With the lack of traction on the smooth and slick ice, it's easy to fall and difficult to brake, unless the terrain is altered to make travel possible. The ice is thick, difficult but not impossible to break, but the temperature is so cold that attempts to melt the ice has the water quickly refreezing. You'll need to find a reliable way to get around, though, seeing as the emptiness is broken up by the Shadows that roam the area, congregated together at the center of this world.

ONIKUMA
Type Shadow	Resists Ice, Physical	Weak None
When you feel the ice shaking underneath your feet, an Onikuma is nearby. These Shadows walk upright on their hind legs and are the very defintion of tanks. They're incredibly strong and a single swipe from their enormous paws is enough to knock an average human out. With their thick fur and skin, they can take an insane amount of damage before they even fall. Without any apparent weaknesses, they are a force to be reckoned with. Luckily, they're solidtary creatures so groups will only have to fight them one at a time. When it's close to dying, it will let out an ear-piercing roar. All those who don't immediately cover their ears will fall under a debilitating rage spell and begin to lash out wildly at both friends and foes. Unlike normal rage ailments that eventually fade away, the only way to recover from this particular affliction is to use a status-healing spell/item (if you're lucky) or to simply knock out the affected person (if you're unlucky). Indescrutible claws can be collected as loot.

ARCTOS
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Fire
Unless you come across one that wears an Obon lantern around its neck, these wolf-like Shadows are difficult to spot without a keen eye. Their pure snow-white fur easily blends in with the white expanse of their surroundings and they move silently across the ice. If you don't pay close attention, you may find yourself surrounded by a pack. These creatures employ a series of ice-related attacks to freeze their prey in place and to single out the weakest links in a team. They never attack individually, choosing to group together on a single enemy with the hopes of overpowering them. Furthermore, their protruding fangs hold a powerful charm spell that can cause their victims to confuse these Shadows as their allies while perceiving their actual team members as the enemies. A single nick from their fangs is enough to do the trick and when they realize they're up against an opponent that they cannot defeat head-on, they resort to turning their enemies into their allies and attacking them when their backs are turned. Fangs with the ability cause charm and small round gems that heal any status ailment one time each can be collected as loot.

A closer look reveals them to be fighting one another, limbs and heads torn off to splatter black gunk onto the icy ground, only to reform as another Shadow to throw themselves into the fray all over again. Some of the Shadows are carrying lanterns— the same ones hung around town during Obon, with family names etched into the sides and in danger of being dashed into the ground or swallowed whole by the Shadows as they fight. For those who had hung their own lanterns, you might recognize the one for the friend or family of the departed, sent off to rest in this very lake— only to get no rest as they're fought over by the Shadows.

At the center of all things is another hole carved into the ground, where the mass of Shadows is the densest, the most violent, and the most prone to hit you with stray spells that mess with your mind and your vision, turning friend to foe with the illusion that those teammates standing beside you are now Shadows about to rip out your throat. Keep an eye on your friends, along with your enemies.

As of 10/28: Sleet rains constantly on this floor.

→ 3rd Floor

Jumping down through the ice pit, you fall into the darkness and eventually spat out again, this time onto dirt and fallen leaves. The air is blessedly warm and dry again, spots of sunlight filtering through the thick canopy above your head and illuminating the dirt path at your feet. A quick look around reveals the area to be the middle of a forest, with you standing on a wide path surrounded by trees packed together to form a loose wall. One end of the path has been overrun with bramble, the other direction clear.

Visible over the treetops above the blocked end are spires of a castle, and nothing is stopping you from stepping off the path and pushing your way through the bramble and the trees. Except for the razor-sharp leaves and blades of grass that can slice through fabric and skin at the lightest touch, and the thorns hidden in the undergrowth that make you itch like hell when you're pricked, causing your vision and your mind to go hazy in a matter of minutes. Setting the forest on fire will also release these toxins into the air, making you and everybody in the immediate area lethargic, mind numb and difficult to concentrate.

If you choose to continue along the open path instead, you'll get to enjoy a nice stroll for a couple of minutes before the peace is interrupted by a rumble in the background, the mountains behind you falling apart with a landslide racing towards the castle. If it reaches the castle before you do, the rocks are impossible to move or destroy, and you'll have to come back another night for the dungeon to reset and get a second chance. But you'll make it if you stick to the main path and ignore the handful of off-shoots temping people astray; either way, you'll have to make quick work of the Shadows, or find a way to contend with the forest itself to create your own path.

WARAJI
Type Shadow	Resists None	Weak Physical
These tiny creatures, standing only a few inches high, are more of a nusiance than anything else. They're less interested in fighting you and more interested in just making life really annoying. They come out from the bushes and run around wildly with their arms over their heads, hoping to trip anyone that gets in their path. They also reach out with their sharp chicken-like hands and claw at unsuspecting ankles before they retreat back into the bushes with glee in their single eyes. Unfortunately, trying to traverse through these bushes to get your revenge on these despicable minions will be near impossible as these bushes take on the same dangerous properties as the other living green life on this floor. However, if you're really that determined to get proper retribution, you can just wait until they come back, silently screeching like little demons, and simply step on them. They're incredibly weak and once you're not taken by surprise anymore, you can easily just kick them away. Loose pieces of straw rope can be collected as loot.

USHI-ONI
Type Shadow	Resists Dark, Light	Weak Fire
Similarly to the Onmoraki Shadows from the previous dungeon, these rotting Shadows can be smelled miles away before you even see them. Fortunately, they like to keep their distance so their smell is mitigated, but unfortunately, this exact same distance allows it to avoid being easily killed. It uses a wide range of magic-based attacks but primarily focuses on bless and curse skills. It uses one of the many talismans hanging off its body to throw at their enemies and to keep a wide space between itself and others. With its sharp claws, it easily climbs up the side of trees, resting just underneath the razor-sharp leaves, to further increase this distance. Fortunately, it can be easily killed by using a simple fire spell, but be careful not to burn down the tree as well. The fire will spread quickly and release those terrible toxins into the air. A tattered black cape and talismans that cause light bless or curse damage can be collected as loot.

At the end of the winding path stands the castle, a mirror image of Castle Ouma complete with a large black bear(?) snoozing in the middle of the room, the corner of a door cut into the stone floor and visible beneath its front paws. This bear(?) is a light sleeper, lifting its head the moment anybody crosses the threshold into the room and staring down the intruders with glowing, golden eyes. It seems uninterested in fighting, let alone moving, and any attacks on the bear are reflected and returned double, as the bear(?) turns into stone, immovable and indestructible no matter how hard you try to move or break it. Again, another way to screw you and everybody else over for the rest of the night, with the bear(?) shaking itself free of its stone prison by the following night. You'll have to get it to move somehow, if you want to get to that door.

As of 10/28: It will constantly raining on this floor, although the rainfall is light.

→ 4th Floor

Hot. Hot hot hot hot hot.

It's even worse than the heatwave of last month, this oppressive heat that makes breathing difficult and the ground shimmer with a heat haze that ripples across the entire floor with temping puddles of water that aren't there. You find yourself in a rural town like Hirajiro, with empty buildings and empty streets save for the Shadows that patrol through the streets. They're fewer in number than in the other floors, but are much larger than the rest, stronger than the rest, more dangerous, and give chase immediately when somebody crosses their line of sight, unrelenting until they either catch their prey and engage you in battle.

The ground buckles easily when you walk, steam escaping from the cracks as if the stone path were sitting on top of a pool of magma threatening to break apart and melt into the molten rock below. With the sky painted a deep orange-red but missing a sun to beat down on the world below, there is no shade cast from the buildings to offer reprieve from the heat. Along the lakefront, a dozen long, wooden storehouses line the perimeter, with piles of gold and precious metals visible through the open doors, each storehouse guarded by a pair of Shadows on high alert for the faintest sound or smallest movement, and a F.O.E. lurking within one of the buildings to deal with any intruders who slip past.

WRATH
Type Shadow	Absorbs Fire, Physical	Weak None
Underneath their semi-transparent skin, a hot fire burns within these hellish creatures and smoke seeps through openings of their exposed skulls. They gallop through the area, always on high alert and ready to charge at the slightest noise it hears. There are fewer of them in the main town, but they're far more prominent across the lakefront, guarding the storehouses and its treasures. Almost unsurprisingly, they use fire to dispel their enemies, breathing out hot flames. If you, for some godforsaken reason, choose to use fire right back at them, it will only heal them. Less surprisingly, if you also try to use any physical attacks, you'll find that they have no effect against them. For some reason, it only heals them as well. Perhaps they're masochists. Regardless, these Shadows aren't something that you want to fight. Their powerful legs make them fast persuaders and it'd be hard to lose them in a chase so it's best to just steer clear of these Shadows a keep your head low. Horns and sharp ribs can be collected as loot.

ELDRITCH
Type F.O.E.	Nulls Fire, Dark, Physical	Weak None
Lukcily, this singular F.O.E. can only be found if you were to venture into a particular storehouse. It sits silently in the air, waiting for any thieves to steal the treasure within, and when a foolish intruder enters, it locks the door to prevent any last-minute escapes. It's relentless in its curse-based attacks, leaving absolutely no room for a counter, and inflicts a powerful fear status ailment, causing the victim to suddenly become terrified of death. It will beat its victims to near-death before tossing them out of the dungeon, leaving them battered and injured, but hopefully smart enough not to reenter its domain...

And at the center of town, the lake has been drained, fire burning in a deep cavern filled with poisonous gas. Any wind used to blow away the gas only temporarily clears the area until more gas seeps out from the ground below, and serves to fan the flames that lick the rock all the way down to the bottom where a large slab of stone sits, much like the one at Castle Ouma. Instead of four slots, however, there are sixteen: a ring of eight small circles at the center, with a second ring of eight surrounding the first. Of the sixteen slots, ten have already been filled, in no particular order, with shining golden coins.

The toll to pass is six golden coins, and the boss awaits beyond.

As of 10/28: Heavy thunderstorms pour rain down on the floor, quelling some of the flames and especially at the cavern at the center of town, but while the humidity of the other floors have lessened, it remains 122°F/50°C with 100% humidity on this floor.

→ Mod Notes

⬥ There are multiple ways to deal with the dungeon, from clearing out the floors to make them more accessible, getting to the doors to the next floors, and obtaining the coins needed to face the boss. Players are encouraged to come up with their own solutions and may run their plans with the mods in the top level below to discuss results.
⬥ There is no scheduled IC/OOC date for when the boss battle with be posted. In order to access the boss, all six coins must be retrieved and reported to the mod top level below, after which the top level for the boss will go up. Sign-ups for teams is done below.
⬥ To determine the outcome of the boss battle, a minimum of 10 threads across the entire player base from this post is required, with a maximum of 2 threads turned in per player, containing at least 5 comments from you, and may not overlap with coin threads. Threads may involve battling, healing, exploring, discussing, etc as long as the characters interact with the dungeon in some way. Please report your threads in the mod top level below. They are due by the end of the month.
⬥ When knocked out in the dungeon, characters black out and wake up the next morning lying by the lake, fully soaked regardless of what floor they were on and will have chills for the rest of the day unless healed sooner.
⬥ Curing of poison can be hand-waved as provided by the Velvet Room attendants if the character visits them in the Velvet Room accessed from the first floor or outside the dungeon. They will be offered dokudami tea, which has a very pungent odor akin to fish but will cure them of poison, and a warm blanket. It seems like the music has changed since everybody was here last and everybody is required to sing the line "Every day young life Ju-ne-su!" before they're allowed to leave.
⬥ This month, the full moon occurs on 9/13-9/15, and Personas may behave strangely and disobey orders. This is an optional mechanic.
⬥ As of 10/28, floors in this dungeon see constant rainfall. As of 10/31, the lake has been purified and no longer poison people both during Lockdown and outside of it.

Comments

[reveilation]

[ Be friends with your Persona already /:

Kido definitely holds on tight, forehead pressed against the small of Terry's back because she doesn't think she'll ever get used to flying like she's on some sort of jet fighter without seat belts. She doesn't need the mental image of plummeting straight towards the ground even though she knows there's a hole down there they're headed towards and they're not going to slam right into the ground and break their spines.

And then she's hit with a burst of warm air as they arrive on the next floor, and she almost lets go when she opens her eyes to all this green that'll probably be little more than a blur if they're going to immediately race off towards that castle. ]

[overstrain]

[ Haha, yup. Brace yourself for dragon zooming part 2 as Vassago flies low, somehow avoiding most of the sharp nature knives in the process and Terry covers for Kido as they go as much as he can. They eventually get to the castle before the rocks cave in and Vassago finally slows to a stop. Terry only suffered minor injuries and puts the fang back into the backpack. ]

Okay, we're here.

[ Unlike the second floor, the shadows on the third floor are only annoying or distant, so flying past them isn't much trouble at all. ]

[reveilation]

[ GREAT, Kido's eyes are getting closed again as she smothers her face in Terry's back to keep herself from screaming. It's like a roller coaster except they're much more likely to fall and die! Awesome!!

She gets off as soon as they land, legs weak and heart pounding and making a mental note that next time she'll walk by herself. ]

Thanks...

[ She summons Nekogami to heal up any of the small cuts Terry got from the trees, and pats her Persona on the head, keeping him out and on guard. ]

So, where's that bear you were talking about?

[overstrain]

[ She asked for a quick way!! Next time, Terry will just hurl himself into the crowds of Shadows to kill them battle royal style if she says she wants to walk.

Terry points at the bear over yonder. It already looks like it woke up. ]

I've never seen one with gold eyes before. If I go touch it, it'll turn itself into a rock. It didn't try to hurt me. It's like...

[ ... ]

Minato, but as a bear rock.

[reveilation]

[ A quick way out of antarctica, maybe!! A forest like this would've been nice to take a stroll in, until Kido learns about the knife leaves and poisonous everything. ]

...One: I don't understand the analogy, and two: why would you touch the bear?

[overstrain]

Because it's really lazy. All it does is look at us and eat when it's fed food.

[ That's only one of his impressions of Minato anyway. ]

Oh, and that it has gold eyes like him. I'm pretty sure you can go pet it and it won't do anything.

[reveilation]

That's what a bear does. Anyways, you're banned from touching the bear.

[ Can she do that? It's a wild animal, Terry, you can't just go up to it and pet it, that's how Ryoji lost his hand. ]

[overstrain]

[ She says to the occasional bear killer... Terry finds this ironic, but doesn't really agree to what she says by staying quiet about it. ]

I already touched it though.

[ can't be tamed ]

[reveilation]

[ lmfao never tell her about the bear hunting ]

You're banned from doing it again. Why would you think that petting it is a good idea in the first place? You said it likes food, right? That should've been enough to get it to leave.

[overstrain]

The bear is like a lazy cat. It just lays down and it expected to be fed food from where it is.

[ Maybe Kido can understand that comparison. ]

Anyway, I can't move it when it turns to stone, but if it doesn't move, we can't get to the next floor...

[reveilation]

[ She understands the comparison, but again, it's a bear, and it might make more sense to compare it to a lazy lion than a lazy house cat.

Like a cat...

This is a stupid idea, but Kido's tired. She crouches down in where she is and snaps her fingers. ]

Here, bear...

[ Here, kitty, kitty, get up and move. Work for your pets. The bear stares and refuses. ]

[overstrain]

[ Terry squints at this, but when the bear refuses, Terry zooms in closer to the bear. He won't touch it, but he gets close and he hopes to use the cinnamon smell to his advantage, since he heard that bears have sensitive noses. The longer he stays in place, the stronger the scent will be and maybe that will drive the bear away...? ]

[reveilation]

[ The bear growls at Terry and so does Kido. ]

Hey! What are you doing?! Get back here!!

[overstrain]

I'll be fine, Kido. Just stay there, okay?

[ Though Terry is all too ready to zoom away in case the bear attacks, he stays in place as much as he can for the cinnamon scent to get even stronger. ]

[reveilation]

[ Like hell she's going to stay there. The bear is too busy squinting its golden eyes at Terry, so she takes advantage of its attention being elsewhere to make herself invisible to it and march straight up to the two of them. ]

At least tell me what your plan is before doing it. Bears are dangerous and you said you couldn't get rid of this one, right? It doesn't die?

[overstrain]

It just doesn't get affected by anything I do, because it turns into a rock if I try to touch it. I dunno about dying, but... I guess?

[ Terry looks back at the bear. He's already aware that he has Absorb Phys somewhere, so he won't be too worried if he gets smacked around, if the bear catches him in the first place anyway. ]

[reveilation]

If it turns into a rock when touched, that's more of a reason not to pet it isn't it...?

[ Unless Terry's like this, where Terry is Souji.

The bear stares at Terry. It hasn't blinked this entire time, nor has it moved much other than lifting its head and looking around. It doesn't seem to care much for cinnamon either, but in the moments that pass, the words

blood sacrifice

float through Terry's head, no voice attached, just the words in a thought. ]

[overstrain]

[ That post is one of my favorites of all time. Bless this crossover. He'd totally slap that bear if he could.

Terry looks at the bear, then at Kido, and looks over at himself, slowly as if he's possessed.

Hm. ]

That's weird...

[ Terry wonders why he'd think about blood sacrifices all of a sudden. It doesn't seem like the appropriate place to be thinking about them either. Unfortunately, it's just a day in the life where sometimes random things pop up in his mind and he either pays attention or ignores it completely, so he doesn't think of it as abnormal.

Do Shadows bleed, is his next thought, which is weird because he already knows the answer to that question. There are no animals around either, so does that mean...

...

He looks over at Kido. Perhaps his blue eyes have gotten a little clearer, more pale. ]

[reveilation]

It's weird, right? There's probably berries or something in the forest that it usually eats. We should head back and see.

[ Kido's still looking at the bear, too busy frowning at it and circling around it to catch the look in Terry's eyes. If the same words had run through her mind, she doesn't show it, and the bear makes no indication of noticing her either as she crouches next to its side and runs a hand over the door underneath the bear.

blood sacrifice

The words get a little... more. Not louder, just larger, more prominent, insisting. ]

[overstrain]

[ Terry shoves a hand into his pants pocket and gets closer to the bear. Last time he attempted to move the bear, it turned to stone. If he touches it now, will it turn to stone again? If he takes out the knife from his pocket, will he be able to stab it this time without worrying about repercussions because if it turns into stone what kind of blood sacrifice can he even perform there is no one else here capable of bleeding other than him, Kido, and the bear there is nothing nothing there is absolutely ▓▓▓▓▓ he can do this without failing because if he does he can't fathom what he will have to do next just what if he would have to do something so unthinkable that he would never forgive himself for there will always be ｃｏｎｓ▓ｑｕｅ▓▓ｅｓ aaaaaAAA▓▓▓▓▓▓▓AAAHHhhhh

▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓









He attempts to bring the knife onto the bear's head. ]

[reveilation]

TERRENCE!

[ Kido launches herself forward to grab Terry's wrist the moment the glint of that knife catches her eye, because the second stupidest thing after petting the bear would be to stab it point blank. Bears are bulletproof? They would definitely be knife proof, and even if Terry can survive getting batted around by the bear, Kido's right here and would get caught in the rampage.

The bear merely stares up at Terry, unblinking, its entire body slowly turning into stone regardless of whether the blade hit. And just before the tip of its toes become rock, there it is again:

blood sacrifice

And then silence. ]

[overstrain]

[ A cold sweat runs down the side of Terry's head. He doesn't fight Kido when she grabs his wrist either--instead, his grip on the knife becomes weak and it drops, clattering onto the floor. His eyes are wide and full of disoriented fear. His knees give out and he collapses too while panting, staring at the floor as he tries his best to regain his composure. It feels like his every fiber of his being is being crushed under something like a car compactor. ]

Ah...

[ He looks up, his voice quiet. ]

It turned to stone after all...

[reveilation]

[ Lucky Kido doesn't get stabbed in the foot, though we could've had blood sacrifice that way and maybe the bear would have left. Too late now.

She lets go of his wrist when he falls, and then kneels down in front of him to take his hand instead. Yeah, it turned to stone. Yeah, it was stupid and expected. You can't solve everything by stabbing. What was he even thinking? Kido wants to yell lots of things at him, but the look in his eyes makes her stop. ]

What's wrong?

[overstrain]

I couldn't... think straight. It felt like some pressure was building up in my head, something about compulsory actions...?

[ Well, he remembers what that word means at least. ]

It felt... so straining, like I just had to stab something. Something needed to bleed, and it wasn't going to be you and me, so there was only the bear, but then I got too scared of what would happen if it turned to stone, because it wanted a lot of blood, and I don't want to hurt you or stab myself--

[ It just sounds like mindless rambling now. ]

[reveilation]

[ Yeah, this is... pretty hard to follow, and Kido presses the back of her hand to Terry's forehead, because maybe he caught a cold since he's not wearing his jacket, and now he has a fever and he's going insane. ]

It probably wasn't a real bear. All the animals disappear during this time, remember? But it's okay. You're fine. It's probably just you being antsy because we can't kill this thing like we can do to get through everything else.

[ Can't solve this floor by slaughtering all the Shadows!! What do they do now. ]