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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

[Well, the time has come. Rio heads once more into the dungeon, making her way through solo until she finally reaches the door. Zashiki Warashi is behind her with one charm; she's got two. The gun is loaded with the clip full of sedative bullets. The stone Minato gave her for a quick escape is in an easily accessible pocket.

Alright Mr. Shadow, what kind of mood are we in today?]

[ On the way up the stairs, Rio would have to step on the blood that's running down the stairs that's leaking from the third floor. It's an inch high and never solidifying. Still gross, even if someone is used to the smell.

Shadow Terrence is lying on his back on top of the low cage with his legs dangling off from his knees. If anything, he doesn't seem murderous right off the bat. He's humming "You Are My Sunshine" while completely ignoring the tune in the background. Everybody has been dying to the music box tune all this time.

Whether he notices Rio behind the door or not, he doesn't show any signs of it either way. ]

[Oh, how nice of him to sit there unmoving for now.

What happens if Zashiki Warashi tries Marin Karin again?]

[ Whether it's successful or not, there doesn't seem to be any change in Shadow Terrence's behavior as he continues to hum the song and looking up at the ceiling in the same position. ]

[We're off to a fun start. Cautiously, she walks inside, gun currently pointed at the ground, but surely she can get it up again quickly enough if she has to...]

[ He raises his legs up a little to sit up with the momentum when he swings them down. Shadow Terrence smiles over at Rio and waves. ]

☀ You're back. I thought I told you not to though?

Some people sent me to try again. Minato also told me to tell him- [and now, she's looking over at Terry] -that he's a dumbass.

[She'll actually say that in English for him, too.]

I'm here to try to help.

[ Terry is inside the low cage as usual, but he already curls up into a ball. Shadow Terrence is indeed inflicted with Marin Karin, but it doesn't mean Terry himself is. However, the familiar sensation of being hit with a brainwash debuff makes him want to vomit already because he remembers the hacksaw end very, very clearly. So the remark about him being a dumbass pretty much bounces off, but the Shadow Terrence cheerfully laughs at that. ]

☀ He is though. I'm glad he understands.

☀ And you too? What can I do for you today?

[Ahhh, this is already so much more pleasant. She'll keep her guard up, but making friends is definitely heartening.]

The truth is, everyone asked me to help, but nobody really explained it that well. Could you tell me why he isn't accepting you, and what all of that entails?

I know he's dumb, but I really need to bring him back alive, so it would be nice if you could leave him alone for now.

[And actually, she'll toss a Diarama at Terry again, too.]

[ Despite the Diarama, Terry continues to be a curled up ball in the low cage on his side. Maybe the lingering effect of the brainwash debuff is still getting to him. Shadow Terrence in the meantime, looks pretty glad to divulge the details while still sitting on the low cage. ]

☀ He's not accepting me because he thinks I'm the aspect that was forced onto him because there were people who kept trying to force him to be like someone else, because he's immortal fodder.

Are you? And what aspect is that?

[We'll deal with the immortal fodder part later.]

☀ He's a replacement. He's supposed to be replacing his original, but he ditched all that and ran away.

[ Shadow Terrence is still under the debuff, but there's a certain malice that drips from his tone. Terry is still in the cage, not responding to anything his Shadow is saying. ]

[She frowns, moving closer to the cage even as she continues talking to the Shadow.]

A replacement... you mean like a clone?

[This sounds like some sci-fi bullshit, but then, that's been most of her experience here.]

☀ Is there anything you'd like to ask...

[ It wore off. ]

☈ ... before I get really mad?

[ He has that charm knife in his hand now and he looks pissed.

++++++++++++ ]

[Zashiki Warashi's going to go for another Marin Karin, but if he starts moving her way, she's going to shoot.]

Why are you both so difficult?!

[ At least this time, he's ready to hit the bullets away if he can, like how he did it with the charger cord. ]

☈ You don't even care about him, so why are you here?

Because people asked me to, and even if I die, I just come right back anyway.

[The risk is worth the reward, basically. Zashiki Warashi looks extremely unsure about all of this, continuing to try to charm Shadow Terry. Please don't hurt her person!]

But none of them gave me any useful information, so I don't even know where to start!

[ Even though the Marin Karin fails this time, Terry still feels the attempt roll off and hits the invisible wall within the cage with his fist after uncurling. ]

Stop that! No more! I had enough... No more of that... please...

[ Shadow Terrence still sits on the cage and lowers the knife, putting that and the knife on the cage and sighs. ]

☈ Keep using that skill. He hates it. He'll probably hurl if you use it enough.

[ Be a torture technician, Rio. ]

[Oh, that actually got a reaction from the non-Shadow one. Interesting!]

Then could one of you please explain things to me without trying to kill me?

[It's honestly a small ask!]

☈ Why should I make it easy for you? Make me.

[ Shadow Terrence is pretty much goading Rio to using Marin Karin again just to make Terry suffer. It's either that or Terry fesses up himself, which is pretty much a win-win for Shadow Terrence anyway. Terry knows that and he's scowling with whatever energy he has left. How else would a person feel if they only had enough strength to live for one or two more days and knew that they were dancing in the palm of someone's hand? He grits his teeth anyway. ]

... I was supposed to be a replacement for my original. He was supposed to lead a war between demigods. People tried so hard to make me be like him because they were desperate for someone like him to lead them. That... thing...

[ He glares while glancing up at the cage where his Shadow is. Shadow Terrence only looks exasperated. ]

... is supposed to reflect a part of what my original was supposed to be like. Why should I have to accept something that was never mine in the first place?! Anyone else would hate something that they're forced to take despite not wanting it at all!

Because I'm trying to help you, and you're a part of his ego, right? So it'll benefit you to work with me to get this dummy to understand.

Don't you have at least a little self-preservation instinct?

[C'mon now. And then, to Terry:]

He's "supposed to?"

[ Shadow Terrence laughs a little, but doesn't say anything about it, because he finds this too ironic. He finally gets off the cage, brings several weapons with him and heads for the door. ]

☈ You should tell that to him, Rio. I'm going to go for a walk.

[ This is Shadow Terrence flouncing, because frankly, he doesn't want to deal with Terry rejecting him again. His existence is supposed to get stronger with each rejection, but it hurts more. ]

☈ I'll be back later.

[ And with that, he's out the front door, not harming Rio in the process. Wow! Pleasant. Terry remains silent the entire time as his Shadow makes his way to leave. ]

[You know what? She actually kind of prefers this, because now she doesn't have to split her focus between making sure the Shadow isn't attacking and trying to verbally kick the non-Shadow's ass in gear.

She watches as he leaves, nodding at Zashiki Warashi - keep watch and Marin Karin if he comes back. With that in place, she actually gets right up by the cage, crouching on the ground so they're more level - but also so she can still spring into action if needed.]

...Now that he's gone...

You're scared of becoming something you don't want to be?

[ For the past several days, having to constantly confront this hideous white room, having his friends killed, and facing what he doesn't want to the most have absolutely taken a toll on him. What's one more, he thinks, as he continues to spill the guts of what his insecurities and worst fears, laid out for everyone to see. Disgusting. He's disgusting.

But maybe it's the fact that Rio isn't one of his closer friends, that makes it easier to spill. ]

... One time, I said that I'd rather die than accept Vassago because of what he represented. I didn't want to be like my original. He was a brutal douchebag that stopped at nothing from killing whoever whenever he wanted and he was happy about it. I spent... all my life in trying to avoid being like him--not even one thing. If I accept even just one thing, all the resolve I built up for years will have meant nothing. I can't even die here. I'll have to live with this forever.

[ Terry lowers his head so that he doesn't have to look at Rio. He buries it into his arm, caked with dry blood all over. ]

That's why I didn't want anyone to come here. It's useless. I would have been fine if nobody came.

[She listens in silence as he spills his guts, metaphorically this time. And...

And it's actually a little more similar than she expected. Strangely so; the only people she could ever empathize with properly were the other Blade Children, because they were all in the same boat from birth. But she mostly dismisses it for now, because it's not the time to be worrying about any of that. Instead...]

That's an overly simplistic solution, isn't it?

People with anger problems can say they don't, but it doesn't matter what they say if they attack someone in the streets. [People with violence problems can swear they aren't like the other Blade Children, but it doesn't matter if they're driven to kill anyway.] You can't deal with it properly unless you face it head on. Acknowledging there's a problem to begin with is how you make sure you can mitigate it.

[Or at the very least, try.]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 10/16 Lockdown

→ 1st Floor

→ 2nd Floor

→ 3rd Floor

→ Notes

10/22 I GUESS SHE HAS TO SURVIVE THIS TIME...

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