cetana | [Open] From the Shadows

Entry tags:

[Open] From the Shadows

[The first day the dungeon appears, Sasuke doesn't get far in his attempt to check it out thanks to his inability to breathe underwater. Fortunately, the day after is when he receives the feather-shaped stone bequeathed by a crow, kept on hand because although he doesn't know what it does, all gifts from the crows in this world seem to be important somehow.

It's once he's returned to the Velvet Room for the day that he begins to hear it. A voice in his head he can't block out, calling to him.

"She's here. She's really, really here.”

“She can finally lock everything away."

He leaves Kurou behind in the Velvet Room, shutting the door behind him in spite of the cat's cries. Lucky him he's already outside once he's out the door, heading once again to the dungeon, puzzled, yet no less determined. It's a surprise when he's able to breathe underwater, but not at all unwelcome given the situation. The rest of the journey, he spends trying to be as stealthy as possible, avoiding fights in favor of speed.

And so, he eventually makes it to the forest on the third floor. Or at least, what was once the forest.

Instead, the floor is shrouded in darkness, countless drawers appearing to form "walls" in a slowly spinning spiral. However, a quick examination proves they are no more than illusions, all centered around one person:

Himself.

Indeed, a golden-eyed Sasuke stands in the midst of it all, completely unperturbed by the surroundings. It's enough to make the real one stop in his tracks, staring in confusion.]

Who-?

"Yuusuke was right, you know."

[He gapes at the- illusion? Impostor? Before replying flatly:]

What-

"You're such an idiot. No, worse than that."

"You're nothing."

[OOC details about this can be found here! The attendants will also be letting people know that Sasuke’s disappeared, if a reason to venture that deep is needed - or if they just want to talk with the attendants about what's going on.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ This whole place is terrible because Kido's not really a fighter and this shadowy ghost thing is terrifying and all she had planned to do was punch Sasuke in the face and drag him home, but now this.

There's really no plan on her end, but to bring Nekogami out and cast bufula, pillars of ice bursting through the ground to break up the battlefield. If they hit, they hit hard, and if they don't, Kido uses the ice as cover to duck behind and hide her presence from the Shadow, keeping Nekogami out and doing his thing because he's too far away to hide. ]

[The form flutters out of the way as the two make to attack, perfectly fine with staying on the other side of the pillars and away from Kido.

It's not like it needs to see her to send Maeiha for both of them.]

[ Terry regains his composure. He can still see those pale hands, but he swallows in an attempt to suppress his fear and orders Vassago to unleash multiple Psiodynes at the Shadow even after he gets hit with Maeiha. Curse spells feel so... gross... He can't really shake off the feeling either. ]

Kido, can't you put it to sleep?!

[ Can monsters sleep?? She rarely ever uses Dream Needle because it makes her feel like crap and being cursed already does that, but maybe it'll be best to save her magic for when either of them are dying and they need to be not dead. She doesn't like it because it's a direct line of fire from Nekogami's open maw to the Shadow's side, needles quick and sharp but don't do a lot of damage. That's okay, though, it just needs to prick in order to work, while Kido darts off to the other side opposite of where Terry and Vassago are, trying to keep the Shadow between them so they don't get cornered. ]

[The Shadow does flinch at the onslaught, dodging only getting it so far - but now its attention is on Terry, pale hands and all as it sends a focused set of Eiga spells at him in return.

Kido seems to be getting by undetected - or maybe uncared for - for the moment.]

[ The dragon stands tall and roars, flying right at the Shadow with its claws in an attempt to inflict fear with Terror Claw and to use Life Drain by biting onto it. Terry has an easier time dodging single target attacks than Vassago, seeing that he can still move around quickly. His movements are still a little slower than usual, probably maximizing at 50mph rather than the usual 80mph, because the pale hands still unnerve him. ]

[ Kido won't question being ignored; this is perfectly fine for her. She keeps an eye on things while Nekogami zips around the area, passing straight through the pillars of ice as if they don't exist, and continues its barrage against the back of the Shadow's head any time he can get into position. He's not a very versatile Persona in terms of attacks, but he's very fast, and very strong, and he can take a hit. Kido isn't as worried as she probably should be, mostly just waiting for the thing to fall asleep and for Vassago to get close enough to bite its head off and end this. ]

[Eventually a needle finds its mark, and Vassago finds its prey, catching her in its grasp.

Sasuke gives a sharp gasp as she's attacked head on, arms wrapped around himself as he fights to stay on his feet in the midst of all this. His mind's a jumble, and he wants nothing more than to run, run, run away from all of this, to hide away until everything was forgotten again, until everything just disappeared like it should.]

[ When Terry sees Sasuke almost curling up like that, he didn't think the Shadow would be transferring damage onto the user as well like it did with regular Personas. It makes him hesitate and he tries to call Vassago back, but he's still tearing at the Shadow with his teeth and claws. ]

Vassago, wait! Stop attacking!!

[ The dragon continues its onslaught despite what Terry says. ]

[ lmfao Sasuke's going to die, because Kido doesn't realize it either, never having seen Sasuke's Persona for what it is and so she doesn't differentiate this Shadow from any of the other ones she's ever fought. With Vassago pinning the Shadow down like that and restricting its movements, Nekogami switches back to Bufula again, a much stronger attack piercing through the ground and freezing anything the ice touches. ]

[I can't believe Sasuke's dead, good job team.

He doesn't cry out as his Shadow continues to bear bite after bite, claw after claw, topped off with a frozen spike piercing through it. But there is a rather distinct thud as his knees hit the ground, collapsing not for the first time in this world.

They might want to do something about that before they really do end up with a corpse on their hands.]

Kido! Make Nekogami stop!

[ He's gonna hope she does, because Terry's suddenly alarmed even further when he sees Sasuke collapse. Vassago sure isn't stopping even after numerous telepathic commands, so Terry has no choice but to rush in there and kick his own Persona off Sasuke's Shadow. He put in so much power behind the kick too and Terry definitely... doesn't feel the damage?

...

Oh.

Right.

He has Absorb Phys. All he managed to do was make Vassago back off, but that's good enough for him. The dragon doesn't charge back in, but he does roar defiantly. Terry doesn't have time for that right now and he gets out the life stone that he got from the Attendants back then and throws it at Sasuke's leg. Maybe it'll hurt the least. ]

You need to accept that thing before it gets worse, Sasuke! Don't go dying out already!!

[ Kido looks up in time to see Terry stone Sasuke, wtf...

Nekogami backs off but doesn't disappear, parking himself in front of the Shadow that he doesn't trust to start attacking again, and casts three Dias in quick succession for each person here so nobody dies.

That thing tried to kill us, Terry, what are you talking about, how could anybody accept that?? ]

[Healing helps, thanks for not murdering him today, Kido. Between the dia and the life stone, he's able to get back up into a crouch, but he still looks- afraid?]

But it's...

[It's everything he hates about himself. His weaknesses, his failures, every part of him he despises, every bit he wishes would just disappear.]

[ At this point, Kido and Terry are essentially holding Sasuke's Shadow hostage while Sasuke needs to think of a good reason to accept all of his life's negativity into him right now. It probably put Sasuke on the spot really badly, but Terry doesn't know how else to deal with this. Thinking isn't his strong suit and violence carries him through whatever he deals with at the moment, but he understands, at the very least, that this is essentially the harder part. ]

Not everything... is your fault.

[ Things suck. People suck. But not everything is their fault and Kido knows that very well too; the person she hates more than anybody else in the world has a spark of humanity in him too, and she can't forget that.

She walks over to Sasuke, and sits down next to him since he's in no condition to shove her aside and she can easily snap his arm anyways, probably. ]

Are all those things he said, things you thought about yourself...? Not everything is your fault, and not everything is true, either.

[She's correct in her assessment of him, even as he goes right back to avoiding her or Terry's eyes.]

...You don't know all the things I've done.

[All the things he's screwed up beyond repair.]

I'll never be able to make up for it all...

You have time!

[ He's not going to outright say that he knows all the things Sasuke has done, even though he knows some of the things that happened through pinpointing. He's not patient enough to pry answers out of Sasuke through his mouth. ]

Some things are out of your control! You can't help it when things happen--isn't that what you think? All the bad things that happen to you, you just shrug it off and think "it can't be helped", so why can't you do the same when it's the other way around?! You need to find some balance in there! And you have your entire life ahead of you to figure that out!

Yeah. That kind of pisses me off, you know? "I'll never be able to make up for it all," so you give up and don't bother trying.

[ Kido is not as nice about this, I'm so sorry. ]

Shitty people do shitty things, but they can get better. Accepting your bad traits is one thing, but there's no point in stewing in them. More important is: what are you going to do about it?

[She sure isn't, and he winces.]

...Is there anything I can do?

[Like he said, he can't make up for it. And like she said, when it's too hard, he just gives up.]

... That's something you'll have to figure out on your own, Sasuke.

[ He thinks back to what the Attendants told him. Haha, thanks guys. ]

It means more when you arrive at the answer yourself, doesn't it? You'll have friends that will support you too. Instead of locking things away, you can share your problems. Sure, we don't have solutions to all problems--nobody is a solution dispenser, but sometimes having a person who'll listen is good enough.

When things get too hard, you'll always have someone to lean on. You have Kurou too, don't you?

[ Sasuke: what can i do?
Terry: idk, you're on your own, bro

At least he's understanding why the Attendants are so evasive about this sort of thing, why they didn't just storm in here after Sasuke and put his Shadow into the ground. Kido sure hopes that Terry means what he says, and applies it to himself too and shares his problems, because she's looking at him more than she does Sasuke, and she's going to hold him to all of that.

But, with a glance towards Sasuke, she has to suggest this: ]

A good first step will be accepting that Shadow. Think you're up to talking to it? Terrence and I will be here.

[She won't be the only one looking at Terry, because at the mention of "locking things away" he's definitely giving Terry a sharp look.

Did he read that, too...?]

...I can try.

[He sounds so, so reluctant, though.

By now, his Shadow once again resembles him instead of a ghost, though its eyes are still golden in color. Are the other Personas going to give it some breathing space, or are we still ready to fight it again?]

[ Vassago definitely looks like he's itching for round two, but Terry won't have it. He doesn't have any more healing items on him and he wouldn't want to strain Nekogami for all the Dia spells. Terry is standing near Sasuke's Shadow though, but it's mostly to get in Vassago's way of attacking the Shadow even more.

Also why are you two staring at him... this is Sasuke's Shadow thing, not his. ]

Yeah, we'll be here. Do your best.

[ Nekogami goes back to sitting on Kido's shoulders but he's also ready to shoot the Shadow down at any given notice. Kido is also ready to punch the Shadow in the face if it starts spewing any bs.

Ganba, Sasuke. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject