ten-faced, cetana version.

[overstrain]

I - 11/17: early morning, torii dimension (locked to Sasuke)

[ Terry had been a zombie for several days, and in complete stasis, despite the numerous wounds he was bleeding from that have never healed. It doesn't look like he's been bleeding while here though and he finally opens his eyes for the first time in days. ]

Where am I...?


II - 11/17: afternoon to evening, town

[ Terry lost all his memories. Good thing he and Orien met up. Maybe Sasuke also relayed the basics to him too. Either way, Orien got him a fresh set of clothes after Terry cleaned himself in the bathhouse. He's no longer a bloody mess. Orien is being a good tour guide and telling Terry where everything is, what he did, etc. Orien is treating this like Terry has been leading a normal life here. Don't fuck it up. He has glasses on too, since Orien brought that over as well. ]


III - 11/18: morning, torii (locked to Sasuke)

[ Terry regains all his memories. Everything. It takes so much not to lash out and he's started to feel desperate after experiencing the events on the 17th. He hides in the forest and revisits the torii. Please let him in. ]


IV - 11/19: lockdown, fear floor (limited to 2 people)

[ It's a ruined city. If you've seen Terry's memory floor previously, you'll see that it's the same city as before. However, there is no ongoing destruction. Everything has already happened. You'll see three people: Terrence, who stands at a distance from the other two, Terry who seems shell-shocked by something, and... another Terry? It's Shadow Terry, making a reappearance, grabbing a hold of Terry's collar and yelling at him.

It's a mess already. There's a reason this is the fear floor. ]


V - 11/23-25: black cat house, around town

[ A) Black cat house: There is a big, fluffy samoyed dog in the crane room that's looking down at the 30+ cats and petting them with his paw.

B) Around town: And now there's a big fluffy samoyed dog prancing around town that's petting cats again. Some cats have mixed responses to the petting. If he sees you, he'll give a short howl before staring at you. His omamori is completely hidden in his poofy fur, but if you dig through his fur, you'll see a glimpse or the usual red-brown that peeks through all the white. It's like a collar with a name tag... without the name. ]


VI - 11/28-29: around... town

[ Terry woke up inside Toki's body and he is having such a bad time. You can most likely find him lying down on the ground somewhere in town for one of many reasons. ]


wildcard

[ The following is a summary of what's happening to Terry:

11/17: complete mem loss
11/18: semi mem loss
11/19-22: shadow terry
11/23-25: samoyed terry, lose sense of direction
11/23-27: petting cats
11/28-29: switch bodies with toki

For any questions or anything else, contact me by PM or celenza ! ]

Comments

[laconism]

[Red finds that he likes the cafe much better like this. Maybe it's because the atmosphere is a lot less cutesy. Maybe it's because of all the hot guys in suits. Maybe it's both.

Anyway, since Terry isn't pretending to be a girl this time and clearly doesn't recognize Red, he's going to say it right now.]

It's Red. Long time no see, Terry. [Just drops that bombshell so nonchalantly...] Are you still offering the chat service?

[overstrain]

[ Terry tries so hard not to lose his customer service face, but the facade drops for two seconds before he puts it back on. He smiles. ]

Yes, long time no see, master.

[ Sorry, Red. It's work stuff. ]

We do still offer the chat service, so I'll lead you to your table, if you'll follow me...

[ Terry leads Red to a table with a nice view, but still secluded in case he wants to talk. ]

What would you like to order aside from the chat service?

[laconism]

[It's cool. Red is proud of him for getting back into character so quickly. He also very much appreciates the secluded table. He takes a quick look at the menu before answering.]

I'll have the omurice and a cup of green tea, please.

[overstrain]

Understood. Allow me to get your order out soon~

[ Terry goes to the back to place the order. It doesn't take long to come back out with Red's order and he places it neatly and almost soundlessly onto the table with the silverware. After he's done neatly setting up the table, he sits on the seat opposite to Red's. The customer service smile stays on for a few seconds, before it drops, but it's still a smile. ]

You... really grew since I last saw you. How old are you now?

[laconism]

[Red just chills until Terry gets back, thanking him for the meal and then allowing a small smile to appear on his face as well once Terry turns off customer service mode. Despite everything, Red honestly missed him so, so much.]

Twenty-eight. This, uh... happened to me in a single night a little over a week ago, but from my perspective, I went home for thirteen years.

[overstrain]

Oh, wow. That must have happened to you too... it's happening to a bunch of people now. It's kinda worrying.

[ Terry looks at Red as if trying to gauge something. ]

You seem so different, but I'm really proud of you.

[laconism]

[Red looks surprised at the news that this has happened to other people besides him. Everyone else has looked the same to him??]

Thank you. Who else has this happened to, though?

[overstrain]

[ That gets Terry to think for a moment. ]

I know it happened to Kido and me...

[ ... ]

I guess it's not a bunch after all.

[ Number of Persona users isn't a "bunch" in the first place, so Terry feels like he was deceived by his own words. ]

Anyway, I dunno about Kido, but I was away for thousands of years. I stopped keeping count after ten thousand.

[laconism]

[?!?!]

Thousands?

[Red knows about Terry's powers by now, but he doesn't know about the whole demigod clone thing, so that's a big shock to him.]

You're joking, right?

[overstrain]

It's just an estimate. You remember Orien, right? The talking snake. He'd give you a better number on that, since he actually keeps track and does math and whatever.

[ It's a worse number. ]

A lot... happened in that time, but I want to hear about you. What happened while you were away?

[laconism]

[So he's not joking, then. Wow. Red will definitely ask the talking snake for more deets next time he sees him.]

Well...

[A lot happened to him too, so man. Where does he even begin. He's going to have to explain some background context too since he never told Terry anything about his past, so he takes a moment to prepare himself and sip his tea before he speaks again.]

When I was younger, I lived on a freezing cold mountain teeming with powerful and hostile wild Pokémon in Johto for, uh... reasons, so I ended up back there. I hadn't minded living in that kind of environment before, but after the time I spent in Hirajiro, I felt... really lonely. Upset and frustrated that I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to anyone, and worried if you all would end up making it safely back to your homes too.

I had cut myself off from my family and only friend, and I was convinced that they all hated me for abandoning them. My friend and I were going through other issues before I cut off contact with him too, so... thinking that I had nowhere else to go and not having the courage to make amends or re-enter civilized society on my own, I just stayed on that mountain and wallowed in my own misery. My Pokémon were pretty depressed to see me like that too and tried their best to take care of me.

But about a year later, my friend finally found me. He tried to convince me to come home, but I refused. Despite the tension between us, he kept coming back and bringing care packages from our family. Our relationship gradually started to get better again, and eventually I finally gave in and went home with him to see everyone. They were all so overjoyed that I came back... and I ended up sticking around while they helped me get back on my feet and rebuild my self-esteem.

Eventually I started traveling around with my friend again, competing in Pokémon battling tournaments, meeting new Trainers and reuniting with ones I met a long time ago. Just last year, my friend and I were recruited to run a brand new Pokémon battling facility in Alola, so we moved there and have been doing that ever since.

[That covers just about everything. He tried to condense it as much as he could and left out miscellaneous details, but it still ended up being long... He finishes it off with one last weary sentence.]

And... now I'm here again.

[While Terry absorbs all that information, Red will take the time to finally start eating his omurice.]

[overstrain]

[ Terry only knows bits and pieces about Pokemon from what he learned in Hirajiro, so it does take some time to process the information. ]

Were you happy with how your life turned out?

[laconism]

Yeah. Really happy. It's bittersweet being back in Hirajiro... but the sweet part, getting to see you and the others again, definitely made it worth coming back.

[He's getting the hell out once they get that door open and deal with the Kotengu though. At least then he'll be able to say goodbye properly to everyone.]

[overstrain]

I'm glad you ended up with a happy life, Red.

[ And that Red will probably fight his hardest to go back to that happy life. That's what Terry will assume, and he can't help but smile. There's someone who wants to go back so strongly, because they had a happy life back home. It's nice to hear. ]

I hope you'll be able to hold onto it...

[laconism]

[Terry says that like he doesn't have a happy life himself... Maybe Red is reading too much into it, but that would be especially understandable considering everything that's been going on with him this month.]

Thanks. I'll make sure that I do.

[On that note, this is a good time to shift into the other topic Red wanted to discuss. He speaks in a gentle, concerned tone.]

By the way, um... I heard about everything that happened this month involving you. I'm not here to give you a hard time about it; I'm sure you've gotten enough shit from others and yourself already. I just want to check in with you.

I know you apologized to Akira yesterday. What about Kido? How are things going with her?

[overstrain]

It's fine. I talked to Kido first, after all... since we live together.

[ Red lives with Akira, so Terry isn't all too surprised to hear that Red knows about his issues all month. His smile drops. ]

I have a lot of things to atone for, whether I've been forgiven or not.

[laconism]

...Yeah.

[You sure do, buddy. But—]

You don't have to go through this alone, though. If you're having a hard time and need some advice, if you want to vent, or just want a distraction — anything at all, please don't ever be afraid to come to me. I'll always welcome you with open arms.

[He'll even do that literally whenever Terry needs a hug.]

You helped me out so much when I was younger, and you're one of the most important people in this town to me, so I want to do everything in my power to help you too.

[overstrain]

Red...

[ Terry looks up to see his face and looks a little flustered. Despite how people kept telling him that he's not in this alone, he sure felt alone anyway. So when Red says it without admonishing it right from the get go, he feels better, and more willing to accept his offer. He ducks his head to wipe a tear from his eye. The makeup is not waterproof. ]

Thanks. That... that really means a lot to me. I've been dealing with a lot, so... um.

[ Hm. ]

Do you have a phone now? I can give you my number.

[laconism]

[Red smiles slightly with relief, happy that Terry accepted his offer. He was kind of afraid he wouldn't.]

Not yet, but that's the next big thing I'm saving up for, so write it down for me anyway. That way I'll have it when the time comes.

[Fortunately he'll only have to wait three more days, anyway.]

Until then, uh... if you need me but can't find me or don't have time to look, just call out to me in your head. Espeon will hear it and help me get to you as quickly as possible.

[overstrain]

Are you sure? He seems kinda...

[ Not so friendly with Terry. Either way, he gets out paper from his notepad, scribbles his phone number, and hands it over to Red. The manager catches a glimpse of this and stares at Terry, to which he quickly resolves with, "he's a friend, please don't think of it as anything" because the maid cafe is not a hookup lounge. He sighs of relief when the manager leaves. ]

Anyway, thanks. I'm glad you're here, Red. I heard you helped a lot during the Daitengu fight too. I'm proud of you.

[laconism]

Don't worry, he'll understand that he'll be in very big trouble if he ignores you.

[Red will make sure of that. He stares innocently at the manager himself as he takes Terry's number, nodding in confirmation of Terry's words. He promises he's not some horndog, future boss... Then he turns his attention back to Terry once the manager is gone.]

Nah, I didn't do that much. It was the others and my Pokémon who did most of the work.

[overstrain]

Still... I'm sure you had a role to fill.

[ Unlike Terry, who wasn't even there at all. He keeps Sasuke's words in mind that even though they did get through the Daitengu without him, it's not as if they don't need him anymore, when destroying things easily might as well be the only benefit of bringing Terry along in the first place. He's no good with words when it comes to negotiations, and it really shows. But he can't help but to feel that it was a good thing that he wasn't there anyway. ]