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[open] there will always be a tomorrow

DUNGEON INTERLUDE

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→ 10/16 Lockdown

As of the lockdown phase on the 16th of October, Terrence Nowell has gone missing. He seems to have vanished without a trace--the trace of the cinnamon smell that he always gives off is nowhere to be found. Something is a little different about this Lockdown period. Despite how it's the middle of the month, a strong and powerful wind will flow towards the residential area, where it leads people to a very dark alleyway that's hard to see through. The wind seems to stop at an open sewer hole that's still draining whatever water that's left around it, but it seems that there's less water here than everywhere else. Was that there before? No, but it's there now, and it'll be there every time Lockdown occurs. Watch your step, lest you fall in... For those who don't like following the wind, they'll find themselves battered in the head with the occasional flying cats. Given enough time during the lockdown, these cats will pretty much infest every corner of Hirajiro with all their incessant meowing and rainbow trails as they fly around. Though, of course, they'll always be gone when Lockdown is lifted.

→ 1st Floor

If you dare to venture into the sewer hole, whether you fell in or took the ladder on the way down, you'll eventually find the floor that is covered in thick smoke. It can't be blown off due to the sheer amount there is. Luckily, the Velvet Room portal is right there at the foot of the ladder for easy access. The sky appears to be blue, but the weather feels strangely stagnant for some reason. The scenery might as well be some rendition of candyland, with lots of sweets everywhere used as building structure, a long path made of taffy over the small hills that doesn't seem to stick onto your shoes, lollipops for trees, cotton candy for bushes... you get the idea. You can try to eat the sweets, but they all taste like dusty metal and don't break off. It seems like a relatively happy place, but once you start looking for the stairwell that leads to the next floor, you can't seem to find it.

Things aren't always what they seem to be...

SOMNIUM
Type SHADOW	Resists NONE	Weak NUCLEAR
In the vast candyland, perhaps you'll be lucky enough to come across a fox-shaped shadow that has a mask over it with the chime of a bell. These are very small, quick, annoying to hit and very evasive. If your Persona's agility can surpass 10 or above, you'll be able to catch it or cast an AoE spell to cover for your lack of speed. It's fairly weak, so it'll most likely be killed in one or two shots. Only one will appear on the entire floor at a time. They respawn 5 minutes after the death of the previous one. More details below. Small yellow bells and black fox masks can be collected as loot.

MORSUS
Type SHADOW	Resists WIND	Weak FIRE, LIGHT
So, those flying cats that you saw? Once you kill a Somnium, the illusion breaks, revealing their true forms as bat-like Shadows. They come to attack in swarms, only casts Life Drain and Spirit Drain, and often perform those two skills all at once to suck the the majority of life and spirit out of a target in one go. Dangerous. They are also easy to kill, but you better have your AoE spells handy or you might get overwhelmed with sudden loss of HP and SP from sheer numbers. However, the above only applies when the illusion is broken. When under the guise of nyancats, they only smack people by running into them. Small clear pouches of sparkling rainbow glitter (as nyancat) or torn bat wings (as bats) can be collected as loot.

Once the illusion is shattered by killing a Somnium, the characters will realize that they had been walking through occasional giant puddles of blood on the ground when the smoke clears from the ground, the sky is red, and all the little structures of candy were wrecked buildings akin to a post-apocalyptic setting. However, the illusion rebuilds itself after five minutes of the fox shadow's death, turning the entire floor into candyland again with flying nyancats in which characters are forced to go hunt for the respawned Somnium again. It's a very vast floor.

During the five-minute window of the broken illusion, characters will be able to find the entrance to the stairwell to the next floor. When the illusion returns after five minutes, the stairwell entrance disappears and reappears in a different location when the illusion is broken again. That's not the only problem with the stairwell...

To get to the next floor, each character has to answer a very personal and guilt tripping question that will make them feel absolutely terrible after. The barrier will come in the form of an invisible wall that cannot be broken until the answer is given. The answer doesn’t necessarily have to be objectively true, but it can’t be a lie. The question will be announced out loud in the nearby characters' heads, but it will be addressed to the character themselves when asking. If in a group, the walls are stacked upon each other and each wall will break after everyone present in the group has answered their own personal questions. If everyone in the group hasn't answered their questions in five minutes, it's back to fox hunting for you guys.

The wall only needs to be broken once by a character. It won’t reform the next time they come back to the dungeon.

→ 2nd Floor

On the next floor, you will be greeted by the red sky, even darker than the previous floor's. You stand on a very sturdy white square pillar, about 20ft x 20ft in size. When you look forward, you can see similar huge square pillars alternating in white and black that have risen from the void, all apart at a set distance away from each other, but it's very clear that you can't make it by jumping. To get to the stairwell to the next floor, you either need to have some method of air transportation to get to there safely, or take the intended method.

The intended method from getting to pillar to pillar is kicking a can off the corner of the pillar, which makes a transparent skinny bridge to the next pillar that disintegrates very quickly over time. Only one person can cross a bridge at a time, unless you want to risk having people fall into the void. The can respawns at the same corner after the previous bridge fully disintegrates.

Those who fall off the pillars will fall unconscious and wake up in the exit of the dungeon (next to the sewer hole) with 1 HP and 0 SP and inflicted with a Forget debuff that lasts 15 minutes. Players have the choice to make their character forget whatever they want along with their Persona being skill sealed, whether that’s an important body function like breathing or a precious memory, or something trivial like what they ate for dinner last night. They’ll regain whatever they lost 15 minutes after waking up.

BLACK RAVEN
Type Shadow	Resists WIND	Weak ELECTRICITY
Remember me? These pesky Raven Shadows are back, lanterns and all. They mostly move together in huge flocks now instead of being separated. They shoot gusts of winds in an attempt to blow characters off the pillars or stick to their usual divebombing tactic. They sometimes flock around Alt-Vassago. Feathers and lanterns can be collected as loot.

ALT-VASSAGO
Type F.O.E.	Nulls PHYSICAL	Weak LIGHT
This strange demonic being riding a gator are on top of every black pillar. He is the F.O.E. of this dungeon. At first, he will only move to push the characters off the pillars. However, if you attack it, whether it hits or misses, it inflicts a Rage debuff on itself and ferociously attacks you and try to push you off. A single physical hit from it will probably knock you out in one shot if your endurance is 9 and lower. It has a ton of HP, so it's best to avoid the fight entirely and quickly move to the next pillar. However, if you need to buy some time, please take advantage of its messy rage debuff to lure and trick it into falling off the pillar. There will be one minute until the next one respawns on the same pillar, so you better get off the pillar fast. It also has a tendency to repeat "kill them all" in a very creepy voice when under the Rage debuff.

NOCEO
Type SHADOW	Repels LIGHT	Weak DARK, WIND
These smog shadows take on a humanoid shape, but their forms fizzes out often like static. They move slow like aimless zombies and stick together in hordes and respawn very often. They constantly have smog coming out of where their mouths are supposed to be. They're also very weak, but tends to cast Brainwash debuff very often so the characters can fight for them. They also tend to make a hideously loud emergency siren sound when dying or falling off the pillars. They're also bunched up a lot in the last several pillars before the stairwell to the next floor. Maybe flying was a better option after all. A small, black, still-beating heart can be collected as loot.

Just like the first floor, this stairwell has an invisible wall as well. Same things apply here, except you have all the time in the world... too bad you're on the same black pillar with all the Noceos and one Alt-Vassago. Better tell your friends to hurry it up before you get brainwashed or killed.

→ 3rd Floor

Once you finally arrive at the third floor, there is only a blinding, narrow, white room. It feels more accurate to say it might be a slightly wide corridor. It may be difficult to see, because of the absence of color on the walls. However, there is blood everywhere on the floor. The source is a humongous, tipped over blood container off to the side. The room reeks of the smell. Shadow Terry is at the opposite end of the room with his gold eyes and behind him is a low cage where the real Terry is trapped in with his powers sealed. There is no trace of the cinnamon smell whatsoever in this room. There seems to be another door behind where the Shadow is, marred with plain visible scratch marks with little blood here and there.

There's also a familiar melody (0.25x speed) for those who have heard it before that seems to echo, almost as if fading away, but it never quite leaves.

Shadow Terry tends to look slightly different than the Terry everyone knows aside from his eye color. He has a sharper look, but right now, it's hard to see. He's kneeling next to the cage that Terry is trapped in and quietly cries. When Shadow Terry hears you coming in, he turns to you, looking a little desperate from where he is when he sees you for the first time.

"Please help. I want Terrence to accept me."

→ Notes

⬥ There will be a time limit on subduing the Shadow. Terry needs to drink blood to extend his lifespan, which he hasn't done in a while, so characters will only have until the end of the 23rd (IC and OOC, 11:59PM EST) before Terry falls into a pseudo-death coma state. If characters manage to subdue his Shadow before that happens, they'll have a chance to persuade him into accepting the Shadow. There will also be a chance that Terry won't accept it, depending on how the persuasion goes. A new top-level will go up on the 24th if the Shadow hasn't been accepted by then. A note on any late Shadow interactions are here!
⬥ Since Shadow Terry and Dark Vassago are hard to deal with, characters are encouraged to fight, retreat, and try to fight them multiple times.
⬥ Since IC dates are very important, please include them at the start of each thread when posting under the Shadow thread.
⬥ Threads from this dungeon post can serve as Dungeon requirements for AC.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[You would think - hope, even - that someone would learn. And he does in fact learn a few things, like what Terry's Shadow is like, and how Terry's Shadow also wields the very thing that he's weakest to.

This doesn't stop him from making his way through the dungeon the instant he's able once more, feeling the quiet concern of his Persona, yet also her determination to try to do better this time, that he might suffer less.

Once again he stands before the door, cracking it open without fully entering. How are we doing today, Terrys?]

[ It's been some time after dealing with Leon, so Shadow Terrence managed to calm down a little. Another day, another death. Terry looks absolutely miserable in the low cage. If Sasuke notices the amount of blood in the container, it looks like it's been drained a little since he came here last time. Shadow Terrence is lying down on top of the low cage, looking at the ceiling, so he's not looking at the door this time.

But Dark Vassago is here to greet you.

Hello. :) Here's a God's Hand. ]

Edited 2019-10-15 20:55 (UTC)

[Is it flying out the door, because if so he's just going to dodge behind the goddang door.]

[ Shadow Terrence nor Dark Vassago's movements are restricted to solely the third floor, so if Sasuke has to dodge, he's basically forced into the third floor room because all those God's Hands are coming from all directions except the room lol

Shadow Terrence sits up and gets off the low cage. ]

☁ Looks like you came back after all. How was it?

[Well, he was going in one way or another, so this might as well be happening.]

-We really can't die here. Not permanently.

[He never even made it to the hospital.]

Even if I die here, I can keep coming back. But... that means none of us can escape through death, either.

☈ Did you hear that, Terrence? You were right. People just get revived like how death is a slap on the wrist! Aren't you glad...? Now I can kill anyone and everyone who comes here and you won't have to be so worried. Besides, now they can all understand how you feel... to an extent, anyway.

☁ You must have rested at the Velvet Room, huh? Your head exploded like an orange and you look fine. It took him a week and a half to get his heart organ in working order. Probably because his healing rate is ass.

[ Meanwhile, Terry looks so unhappy that Sasuke is back and alone. Didn't you learn from your last visit?! He looks absolutely Concerned. Dark Vassago is dismissed with a wave of the Shadow's hand. ]

[His eyes narrow slightly at that... wonderful description of his death. Thanks, Shadow Terry. His expression doesn't much change as Vassago vanishes, because he's sure that it could return at any time - not that the Shadow really needs it to kill him again anyway.]

...Yeah. You can kill me anytime you want. There's no way I could beat you.

[He's at least that self-aware. He didn't bring anyone with him because he knows they'd never win, and if it's just him who loses, it's only him who has to deal with the consequences.

He doesn't even know what to do here. Only that nothing will be gained from leaving Terry with his Shadow.]

Will you at least give me time for those apologies this time?

[ Shadow Terrence never really cleans the place, seeing as there's no point to. Sasuke's eye is probably somewhere in the pool of blood from how he crushed it last time too, and it's that he slightly kicks to Sasuke's direction. ]

☁ If you end up saying something I don't like, I'll shoot you on the spot.

[ He has eight kouha arrows and a bow in his hand after he picks it up from the floor.

Ganba, Sasuke. ]

[Can he dodge one arrow? Maybe. But eight? Yeah, no.

But then again, he was resigned from the start that he wasn't making it out of here alive. So instead, he turns to Terry.]

...Sorry. You're... probably going to see a lot of me. [Getting killed.] You've been helping me with everything from the start, but I have no idea how to help you with this. All I know is I can't leave you to face it alone.

[If he's rejected it this long, how's that supposed to change?]

...We can't escape it with death. We can't get out of this world, either. There's no way to just leave our problems behind. So...

[He can't help it. His gaze slides briefly to the Shadow again, waiting for the onslaught to begin.]

No matter how many times it takes. Let me help you.

[Even if this ends in a shower of arrows...]

[ At the end, there is no rain of arrows. Shadow Terrence only holds the arrows and bow in his hands, but never took the position to nock any arrows.

Terry lifts his head to look at Sasuke when he comes closer. ]

... But there are people who turn into zombies. What about them...?

[He tries not to breathe out with relief, because he doubts it would be long-lived anyway. Alright, he's still got time...]

Is that what you want?

Edited 2019-10-16 01:16 (UTC)

[ Honestly? No. Terry would want to die as himself, and turning into a zombie is not being himself. Though he can't really think straight with the muddled pain and trauma of watching his friends die with the additional scene of watching Kido being charmed by his own Shadow at her death. Brutal. He can't really focus. But one thing that really sticks out is when Sasuke says that there is no way to leave their problems behind. That's what Shadow Terrence picked up too, and that's the biggest reason why he doesn't get shot on the spot.

Terry curls his hands into fist again, and buries his face into his arms on the floor of the cage. ]

No... I don't want that... but I don't want to do this. I don't want to die as someone else...

What do you mean by that? Dying as someone else.

[He knew Terry was hiding things from him and... he did nothing. Because that was easier, doing nothing, because he's useless, because he couldn't do anything even if he tried-

Except Terry's the one who stood by him through his own Shadow, Terry's the one who's helped him time after time after time. Sasuke owes it to him to try, even if his own brain is screaming that he'll just die, he'll just die and die and die again, useless.

He supposes he has Yuusuke to thank, that he can actually stand here as calmly as he is.]

[ Yuusuke was actually good for something!! /s ]

I was... supposed to be a replacement.

[ If Sasuke remembers that awkward turn of events in the forest with the music box. ]

They wanted me to be like who I was replacing, down to personality. They couldn't do anything about what I was made with, but I was important. I was supposed to replace a war leader candidate.

[ Yeah, this bumbling idiot who like brute forcing his way through literally everything and doesn't know what the slightest complex words mean was supposed to be that. ]

That--

[ Terry means the Shadow when he says "that" and it doesn't even take a second for Shadow Terrence to ready his bow, nock the arrow, and shoot it at Sasuke's foot. It's only a single arrow, so it's very possible to dodge.

Perhaps he meant that Terry should watch what he should say instead of Sasuke. ]

[He probably overreacts honestly, springing away from the arrow like he expects many more to follow - because he does.

Okay. So that probably wasn't on him. So it's because he referred to the Shadow as "that?"]

Is your Shadow... what you're supposed to become?

[He's trying to piece it together, but there's so many fragments missing, all he can do is try to reach for more and hope he doesn't die in the attempt.]

... Yeah.

[ Shadow Terrence lowers his arms, returning them to the original positions while spinning one of the arrows between his fingers while we waits. ]

They trapped me in a room for a year. It looked like this.

[ This expansive white of nothing and the blood container off to the side is pretty much a mirror image. He sure hates being in here. ]

They forced me to listen to audio diary entries of my original. I had to listen... and try to become like that person. It drove me insane. Saying that he did a bunch of shitty stuff is only the tip of the iceberg. I didn't want to be like that. Even when I broke the device it was playing from, it kept going... and going... and going...

[ Terry quietly takes a deep breath. In the short moment of silence, the music box tune continues to slowly play in the background. ]

... I memorized it all. It was all I could hear for a year.

[His eyes narrow again, this time a mix of sympathy for Terry and distaste for... well, everyone who put him through that.

It's almost funny. He found comfort being contained in the darkness for two years, but Terry only found torture in this room of white for one.

After a short pause as he mulls it over, he turns to the Shadow again.]

Do you want him to become the person they were trying to force him to be?

[Some part of this seems weird, compared to Sasuke's Shadow. The things his Shadow said were all just parts of him he already had, even if he tried to pretend he didn't. But if Terry's Shadow is made up of the parts of himself he won't acknowledge...

Aren't they already part of him, too?]

I... I was fine being who I was! Even if I was a clone, I could be different! I don't have to be the same as him! Why do I have to acknowledge something that wasn't supposed to be a part of me in the first place?! Why should I have to accept something that was forced on me?!

[ Shadow Terrence wants to bite down on his bottom lip, because the rejection really hurts, no matter how many times he's been through this. He only clenches his jaw while smiling, trying not to show that it matters to him. He's angry, and he's violence prone.

Shadow Terrence nocks three arrows in a vertical position and fires them all at once, aimed at Sasuke's leg, solar plexus, and shoulder. ]

[He tries to dodge, and nearly manages it, but an arrow still catches his shoulder even as he leaps. It does less damage than it could have with a direct hit, but it still hurts.

Good thing he's used to pain. He brings his opposite hand up to staunch the flow, giving little reaction otherwise.]

Terry, can you just let your Shadow talk? Just listening to what he has to say isn't going to turn you into him right away, is it?

[His own Persona appears behind him, her hands briefly brushing his shoulders the way a parent might briefly hold their child. But only just. She steps back, a dark blot upon the white, observing.]

Edited 2019-10-16 03:24 (UTC)

☈ What do you think I've been doing for the past several days?

[ Shadow Terrence resumes spinning another arrow between his fingers. He has four more kouha arrows. ]

☈ No matter how much I talked, he wouldn't listen. He told me he'd never forgive me, thankful that I finally have a human shape so that he can tell me to go to hell face to face, which is funny, because afterlife doesn't exist for me nor him.

[ He laughs, but it's full of disdain. ]

[...So this is what he needs to help with, huh?

He looks between Terry and the Shadow, pensive. If Terry lashes out again, will he end up dead?

...And if he did, would Terry just blame himself even more?]

...Terry. I need you to let me talk to your Shadow.

[ Before Terry can say anything, Shadow Terrence interjects-- ]

☁ I'm listening.

[ He's not going to let an opportunity like this pass and at this point, he's tired of hearing Terry beg for him to spare their lives. ]

So am I. I want to hear what you think.

Do you really want him to become that other person he's so worried about? Is that really the only option?

[His body is tense and ready to dodge, for all the good it might do him. By now the cut on his arm is no more, and it leaves him free to lower his hand again, to use his arms as needed for balance.]

[ Shadow Terrence smiles sweetly. He can see that Sasuke is so tense, but he doesn't let go of the bow and arrows. Sasuke can stay tense for a while longer. It only makes him want to tease him, but he'll do his best to refrain. ]

☁ I never said I was the other person. Accepting me won't turn him into his original, but he thinks otherwise. He knows himself best, aware of how pathetic and weak he is. He'd be nothing without me.

...Yeah. You're already a part of him, aren't you?

[Even if he won't acknowledge it...]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 10/16 Lockdown

→ 1st Floor

→ 2nd Floor

→ 3rd Floor

→ Notes

10/19 Death Death Death

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