[OPEN] 12/3 IN MY RESTLESS DREAMS, I SEE THAT HOSPITAL

[flowerclips]

THE HOSPITAL

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→ 12/3 LOCKDOWN

On the same night of the first snowfall in Hirajiro, a cold gust of wind blows through the town when the Lockdown begins. Although early, it appears that this may be the final dungeon that will contain the Daitengu. After all, the only reason a new dungeon appeared every other month was because the Daitengu was always defeated so late. Now that Yashiro-no-Shugosha has been killed, it only makes sense that a new dungeon has appeared immediately the following month.

Following the wind, it leads to the Hirajiro General Hospital. The dark windows are locked shut and reveal nothing but pitch darkness inside the building. The front doors are ajar and they give a loud unpleasant squeal when pushed open. This is it. It's the final dungeon. It should be the end, right?

Rei is no longer found in town.

→ FLOOR 1 - THE PEDIATRIC WARD

Descending the stairs to the first floor, a large sign attached to the wall reads "THE PEDIATRIC WARD". Underneath it, a rusty but otherwise colourful sign reads "NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAY". With nearly half of the lights on, even with their erratic flickering and the nauseating pale blue hue that they give, it's easy to see the floor's surroundings. As appropriate for its name, bright and cheerful colours paint the walls, although parts are stained and chipped off, and giant stickers of various different animals line the hallways, albeit falling apart and torn. It's eerily silent, asides from faint sobbing that comes and goes from nowhere, but stepping with too much force on the chipped tiles will cause them to break and send a piercing cracking sound that echoes throughout the floor. If anyone is foolish enough to ignore the earlier warning sign and begin to run, a Shadow will seep through the fractures of the floor tiles.


ICHIMATSU
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
Attracted to loud sounds, these doll-like Shadows pop out of the ground and act as a physical stop for runners. If they're bumped into, even with the slightest touch, they let out a loud rattle that is followed by disgusting squelching. The doll begins to rise higher and higher until it takes a completely new form and reaches out with its arms to swipe and grab hold of Persona users. If caught, they pull their prey into their bodies and suffocate them in black rotten mud. If the runners are fortunate enough not to bump right into the Ichimatsu, it will simply let out a laugh then shrink back into the ground, awaiting the next time someone tries to break the rules. A broken Ichimatsu doll and mannequin arms can be collected as loot.

Although the ward is littered with doors, only a select few will open. A majority of doors are either locked, broken, or barricaded from the other side. Three will creak open for entry.



DOOR ONE


The first door leads to a pitch dark room. Any source of light is immediately rendered useless, only illuminating no more than what the source occupies. Before anyone can leave, however, a pair of invisible hands reach out and pull the intruders in, shutting the door behind. In the complete darkness, multiple hands push everyone seemingly further and further away from the exit until it's impossible to tell where it is. Left might be right and forward might be backwards. In the pitch dark, it's difficult to navigate, especially as the shoving is nonstop and inconsistent enough to prevent any preparation to fight back.

Numerous voices echo throughout the room, seemingly garbaged all together, but those with careful ears will differentiate four voice: the first, a woman, speaks about not needing a second child and that a second child is unwanted; the second, a man, rejects fatherhood and wants nothing to do with the unwanted child; the third, a man, refuses responsibility for another man's child and refuses to acknowledge them; and the fourth, a girl, spits venom about a bastard child and that she'd never be sisters with one. These voices become louder and louder the further somebody is pushed into the seemingly endless void. Escape or rot here until the Lockdown ends and spits you back out.


DOOR TWO

The second door leads to a long hallway with childish drawings and paintings lining the walls. The soulless eyes of the artworks seemingly follow those who wander down the hall, but when glancing at them, their eyes look away. Finally reaching another door at the very end, it reveals an arts and craft room. Small circular tables with matching chairs line the area, each littered with used crayons and markers, but nothing is up on the walls. Chipped and bleached paint covers them, leaving them empty, but for a single crude drawing in the center of the room. On closer examination, it's a crayon sketch of a blue monster. After staring at the picture, it begins to take a life of its own and form a new Shadow.



BLUEBELL
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
The hands and arms rip through the sheet first. Then its head. Then its entire body. The demon stands tall at seven feet and immediately moves to stomp on any nearby prey. By holding either the Persona or its user under their heavy feet, it rips and chews its victims with their sharp fangs before unhinging its jaw to swallow them whole. Stay behind and fight or run out of the room and down the hallway. It'll chase behind at an alarmly fast pace, but stop the moment it approaches the main exit. It slams itself against the door a few times, causing it to rattle, but eventually, it stops. It seems as if it cannot escape from this hallway. Sharp fangs and eyeballs the size of dinner plates can be collected as loot.

DOOR THREE

The third door leads to a playroom, containing numerous amount of toys. Upon entering, the door makes a loud audible click. Trying to turn the handle is fruitless as it has now been locked from the other side. Faint footsteps running away from the door can be heard from the hallway, but before anything could be done about the situation, the room is plunged into darkness. A grandfather clock rings out a chime before a thundering voice speaks.

"Oh, you silly little girl, did you lock me in? Did you forget that I know you hid a key in here?"

With every ten seconds that pass, the grandfather clock rings louder and louder until it becomes physically painful to listen to. Search around the room and find the key needed to unlock the door. Physically breaking it down is impossible as it is impervious to all kinds of attacks. The key is the only way to escape and looking through and in all the different types of toys will take time. It simply comes down to luck and, if by chance, someone takes the rabbit doll with "NIKO" written on the bottom foot and rips off its head, an old bronze key will be found. Use the key and unlock the door to escape, but for the unfortunate ones, once the clock strikes twelve times, they're simply trapped. The room falls into silence and the Doctor appears. Using its large clamps, it grabs hold of characters and laughs.

"Haha, you naughty children. Patients are not allowed to leave their rooms."

Those caught by the Doctor are then immediately knocked out before being dragged to the third floor...
The entrance to the second floor is locked with heavy bars that make it impossible to break down. A key is needed to open the gates and a simple lockpick won't suffice. For the fortunate ones who have found the key in the rabbit doll in the third room, the same key will work on the gate. The door swings open and allows passage to the next floor.

→ FLOOR 2 - THE ONCOLOGY WARD

The second floor is marked with another rusty sign that reads "THE ONCOLOGY WARD". Underneath it, another sign is posted that says, "SHHH, SILENCE PLEASE". Unlike the previous floor that was filled with colourful, abliet faded and dated, walls, the oncology ward is bleak and plain. Only a quarter of the lights are on, still taking on a sick pale blue hue and flickering without any sort of pattern, and paints the floor with a despressing outlook. In addition, unlike the previous floor that was devoided of wandering Shadows, two different types of enemies lurk down the hallways.


NOPPERA-BO
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
Although they're technically two separate Shadows, the patient and nurse are often seen together. If one is found alone, the other is not far behind. In fact, a majority of these Shadows travel together in groups, comprising as few as four or as many as twelve. Although they slowly lurch down halls and into rooms, they become extremely fast when reacting to sound. Even a tiny whisper will capture their attention and they will immediately track down the source. Should they find an individual, they use their vast numbers to grab hold and drag the captive to the third floor. Any sort of struggling is faced with an injection from the nurse that drugs characters to sleep or toxic fumes from the patients that render characters paralyzed. Syringes with drugs that cause sleep and give a boost of energy can be collected as loot.

Once again, the exit to the next floor is barred and nearly all of the doors in this ward are unaccessible. All, but three, refuse to budge due to either being locked, destroyed, or barricaded.



DOOR ONE


The first door leads into a regular private room with two beds that are laid side-by-side. It's a plain and empty room, but setting foot inside will cause the door to suddenly close. Standing in front of the exit is now a new Shadow, one that's surprisingly very human, with her hand on the lock.



YUKI-CHAN
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
A young girl, no older than nineteen and dressed in a hospital gown, stands in front of the now-locked door. With brown hair tied in a braid and thrown over her shoulder, she approaches with a hammar in hand. "You won't leave. You'll never leave. With extraordinary strength, she'll pin down the closest person with the intent of hammering their hands with nails into the floor. Anyone who interferes will be dragged away by another Yuki-chan. From the shadows, more and more Yuki-chans appear until the room nearly reaches max capacity. Using their fearsome strength and numbers, they pin down intruders and proceed to nail every part of their body into the ground. They can't be reasoned with and they will not stop until there is not a single spot left that they can't stick a nail into. Hammers and metal nails can be collected as loot.




DOOR TWO

The second door leads to another plain room with two side-by-side beds. Yet again, the door will be locked from behind and cannot be broken down. Searching for clues will reveal a short book about senbazuru: one thousand origami cranes. It details that an ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. As a result, those who fall seriously ill are often the recipients and/or creators of a senbazuru. Tucked in between one of the pages is a single crane that has already been folded, but flattened in the book. Looking through the drawers of the room reveals thousands of origami paper with instructions on how to fold cranes.

If it isn't obvious, a thousand cranes must be created in order to escape from the room. Whether they're perfectly folded or clumsily made, it does not matter. A thousand birds must be made and if characters succeed before they are kicked out of the dungeon or starve to death, the door will unclick and open. Just like the wish given after the creation of the senbazuru, absolutely nothing happens.

DOOR THREE

The third door leads to yet another empty room with two beds. On the bed furthest from the door, next to the window, a plastic ring lies on the pillow. A bronze key is tied to the toy with a string and by examining it, it appears to unlock the gate that leads to the third floor. However, the moment the ring and key are picked up, a dark shadow appears behind the holder.



JUON
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
This dark shadow has no defining features. Only comprised of black scribbles, this void simply moves to engulf characters in its embrace. Surprisinly fast, it swallows entire beings and puts its captive's mind through overwhelming feelings of despair and agony. As their minds go through their worst nightmares, infected characters will move on their own and proceed to attack others in the room. Those who are trapped under the shadow's influence will only return to normal after either being forcefully removed, being knocked out, or the Shadow being defeated. Nothing can be collected as loot.

Those with the key may proceed down to the third floor...

→ FLOOR 3 - THE SUGERICAL WARD

With a sign that marks the floor as the "THE SURGEICAL WARD", another sign underneath reads, "NO OUTSIDE OBJECTS". Before proceeding into ward, a small weight sensor is placed on the last step of the stairs and on the right, a garbage chute is affixed to the wall. Only those who throw everything asides from the clothing their back will be allowed to go through the gate. After disposing of everything, including their omamoris, the door will open and allow for visitors to go through.

Out of the previous floors, the surgical ward is the darkest one so far. Only a handful of lights are on, though these take on a sickly yellow tint and hardly flicker. In addition, the floor abandons the previous layouts and takes on a completely open concept with only two doors: the entrance and the exit. Large plastic sheets hang from the ceiling and the air is hot and sticky, filled with a terrible odour that is a mix between blood and rotten flesh. Occasionally, loud ear-piercing screams will be heard throughout the floor and those who were unfortunate enough to be captured on the previous floors, they will be brought down here for their operation.


THE DOCTOR
Type F.O.E.	Nulls Physical, Dark	Weak Light
The captured will be strapped to an operating bed with an overly bright light hanging over them. The Doctor parts the plastic sheets and stands before the bed, speaking in a thundering voice. "Don't worry, you're in good hands. I'll fix you up." Those who have been captured together or roughly around the same time will be placed in beds next to each other while the Doctor operates on one patient at a time. Cutting open his patients with various medical tools, he pokes and prods inside. He pulls and snips at organs, saws off limbs, drains the blood, and performs any sort of "surgical procedures" that he can get away with. Even if the straps have been pulled apart, the Doctor's large imposing size makes it difficult to resist. With the strength of a F.O.E., the Doctor will not submit to simple, weak attacks and with various medications in his pockets, he can heal himself at any given moment. Occasionally, the Noppera-bo nurses will come to his aid and fight alongside with him. It is best to avoid him rather than fight, though for the ones already captured... there's not much else to do, but scream.

As tempting as it is to rescue those who are undergoing the Doctor's cruel operation, without any omamoris or weapons, it'd be impossible to take him down. The best solution is to navigate through the floor while not attracting the attention of the Doctor or his nurses. When the F.O.E. isn't operating on a character, he'll tear apart various Shadows instead, occasionally throwing out pieces or entire bodies when he's finished. Nurses will roam the area to wheel in new patients strapped to beds and take the dead bodies out.

In each corner of the floor is a waste pile, containing dirty clothes, discarded surical equipment, and the occassional body part. Digging through them will prove fruitless as none of them will contain the key to the exit. The more daring ones who come to take a closer look at the Doctor, whether from the operating table or from the sidelines, will notice a string tied around the Doctor's ankle. The string holds a lock of hair wrapped around a bronze key. Grab this key and escape before the Doctor catches on.

→ FLOOR 4 - THE MORGUE

The final stairway has no lights. Going down the stairs will be a cautious task as there is no indiciation on where the end is, but upon reaching the bottom, a single light just barely shines on the last door. All the belongings that have been thrown into the chute from the previous floor lie by the door. Bolted to the front of the entrance, a metal plate reads "THE MORGUE" and a note is taped underneath it.

"To Niko-chan, please rest in peace, Yuki."

The final key is taped behind the note and can be used to open the door. Upon entering, the area reveals an oversized morgue with multiple lockers, each containing the name of every character in Hirajiro, including Rei's. On a gurney in the back of the room, Rei(?) sits in the back with Ananke, rabbits resting in their laps.

There is nothing else in the room.

→ ICHI NOTES

⬥ Characters who die in this dungeon may either wake up in the morgue and in their respective locker or thrown out of the dungeon once the Lockdown ends.
⬥ The level of gore and severity of the Doctor's operations will be left up to the player's discretion.
⬥ The Doctor may appear randomly throughout the floors, wandering around and looking for new patients. He may be fought but it will be difficult to kill as he will heal or retreat if he needs to.
⬥ Throughout the first three floors, ghosts of Rei may be found. On the first floor, she will appear as a young child. On the second floor, she will appear as a teenager. On the third floor, she will appear as a teenager, but with a shaven head. All three versions of Rei will never face the characters and immediately run away, fading into the darkness, if chased. Occasionally, she will scream and attract the attention of Shadows. If quietly followed without an attempt to capture her, she may lead to the correct areas that will contain the keys.
⬥ If your character really wants to get through an inaccessible door, just let me know and I will create a new horror scenario for you. I cut out a lot so I am filled with ideas for all these gremlins...
⬥ The top-level to speak with Shadow Rei will be unscreened once at least one character manages to get through the third floor and down to the fourth. Please let me know when that happens.
⬥ This dungeon will last until 12/14 at the latest. Please indicate dates in your top-levels to keep track.
⬥ Threads from this log may be used for the dungeon requirement for AC.
⬥ Have fun! Don't die.

Comments

12/11

[reveilation]

[ It doesn't take a lot of convincing to get Kido back into the dungeon if she knows the Shadow was the one who asked everybody to come in the first place, rather than having to seek somebody out who'd much rather be left alone and is actively running away. She's still nervous. She's still trying to think things through— how to get her thoughts and feelings across without dying in the process, because in a world that wants her dead again and again and again, she can't just take that lying down anymore.

Next time she dies, she's never going to wake up again. Not here. Not anywhere else. Maybe that's peace and happiness, but for Kido, it's just plain terrifying.

She comes to the hospital with just her omamoris, and a goho-m in her pocket. It'd be nice if she were able to go ho-m with Rei again too. ]

[flowerclips]

[ It would be nice if Rei could go ho-m with Kido... a part of Niko does want to stay and be with her family, that's why she's still here and hasn't left. However, so much of her just wants to give up and leave. Toki convinced her that she shouldn't drag others along if they really don't want to go, so she has decided that she should just leave on her own, but now there's doubt. With the proposal then the talk with Terry... she's not sure what to do and how to act on Rei's behalf. That's why she wanted to talk with everyone and hear what they have to say before she makes her final decision. ]

[ So she waits, still sitting on the bed with her legs dangling over the side and her hands lightly gripping the edge. When Kido enters, she turns her head. ]

... hi, neechan.

[reveilation]

[ What if Kido just turned around right now so she doesn't mess everything up lmao I was going to say that if Kido had to do any actual convincing, Minato would have been better off doing that than her, but she just has to not screw up, okay... ]

Hey. Tokidoki said you wanted to talk with everybody. I'm glad I got another chance, after you told me to go away.

[ She walks inside slowly, until she's beside the bed and can take a seat on it too, next to Niko. ]

We never really talked, huh? When something bad happened, we were there for each other, but we just... agreed to never talk about things. So it got like this. I'm sorry.

[ It should have been different a long time ago. Dying together inside the lake dungeon, they never talked about it. All the bad things that happened, they never talked about it. They held each other and let each other cry themselves to sleep, but they never talked. She never knew how much all of this ate Rei up inside. ]

[flowerclips]

[ With how small the bed is, it may be a tight fit for the two of them to sit on it, but even if their shoulders touch, Niko doesn't move. Sorry, Kido is going to have to deal with the lack of a personal bubble. Just like she did with everyone else in this new room, she doesn't look up when Kido speaks. She's here to listen and hear what they have to say before she makes her final decision. ]

... it's okay. I understand. It's easier to ignore the bad things by not talking about them, isn't it?

[reveilation]

[ That's fine. It's hard to look at each other when you're sitting side by side anyways, so Kido doesn't think much about it. She just keeps her eyes down at her hands resting on her lap. ]

Yeah, it is. A lot of bad things happened that I never talk about. I thought... as long as I survived, and it doesn't happen again, there's no point in ruminating over it. I had to move on.

[ Bad things happen no matter what. She can't fool herself into thinking otherwise. ]

I used to think of happiness as an end goal. "We'll defeat the snake and be happy." "We'll get our sister back and be happy." "We'll bring our family back together and be happy." That's not how it works. I'm happy sometimes, I'm upset other times. It's never one way or another forever. You know that too, right?

[flowerclips]

Mm...

[ She does know that. That's how life should work, where it has its ups and downs, but Niko can't say that much about her original life and her limbo life. As for her Hirajiro life, it has been a wild rollercoaster where she was up high, enjoying life for a brief moment before it plunged downwards. Lately, it has been mostly going downwards. ]

But what if it's almost always one way? And when you finally get the other way, it doesn't last for very long? It's tiring, having to hold onto a life like that.

[reveilation]

Yeah, it's really tiring.

[ She laughs, something in between a laugh and a sigh, because it's really fucking tiring and she's also tired. She's been tired. But she always tried to believe things would get better, because there was no other option. ]

I have a brother, Kano, who always complained about that, actually. He always said that god must hate us, because every step of the way, every time we attain a little happiness, it's stripped away from us. So you know what he decided? He decided to keep on living and create happiness himself, all out of spite.

[ She scoffs at this, but her expression turns fond, thinking about her dumb brother who would always smile for her, who would always piss her off but let her yell at him and punch him because if he didn't, she would never talk to him again. He was always there bridging the gap. He was always there pestering her, and making sure she was never alone. He was always looking out for her, and she gave him so much crap and never thanked him for it. ]

...The three of us— him, me, and Seto— we all lost our biological families very young. We were taken in by another family, and we lost them all too. Then I died, and Kano too, and we left Seto behind... my family is always being torn apart and I don't want that to happen again here. It's my selfish wish that you stay with me. Even if we're always being let down, I want to create enough happiness to offset that, and make it worth living again.

[flowerclips]

[ She hasn't interacted with Seto for various meta reasons, but also because he arrived while she was still under an ego death, so she doesn't know that he's here. She can kind of tell who enters her dungeon and generally where they are, but she can't tell who they are if she doesn't know them, so in her mind, Seto is left back at home. ]

[ She remains silent the entire time that Kido speaks and continues to say nothing for a few seconds afterwards. ]

I understand... Rei would like that too, but she's so afraid of losing that family that she thinks that it's better to disappear before she can even experience that pain. That's why I'm here, to help her since she can't bring it to leave on her own.

[reveilation]

Everybody else will experience your pain in your stead, though.

[ It's selfish. Maybe Niko doesn't care. Kido's own Shadow didn't care how many people she hurt or how deeply, so long as Kido were kept safe. Shadows are like Personas: they're meant to protect. Kido's selfish too. ]

You're so scared because you care so much, don't you? That's why Rei isn't here... It's what she wants, but not like this, at least. It was the same with me and my Shadow.

[flowerclips]

[ Being a part of Rei, she also shares the same memories. She remembers what Kido's Shadow was like, how she wanted to cut off her family, but she never saw the conclusion. Rei fell into her ego death immediately after the incident with Terry and she never got to know the resolution. ]

Why did you choose to remain? What made your Shadow submit?

[reveilation]

[ Why, indeed? It hurts a little, thinking back to her own Shadow, of all the things she said and all the things she did, how shaken her Shadow was after what happened with Terry and how she'd dug her heels in twice as hard, convinced twice over not to let anybody get close because it hurts so much more to be turned on by somebody you love, compared to a stranger. ]

...I was scared of being alone. My Shadow tried so hard to keep me safe so I wouldn't die anymore, so I wouldn't have to go through the grief of losing my friends and family anymore. But more than anything, I was scared of being alone. I didn't want to give anybody any more chances, because I knew I would be let down in the end, but... Akira and Sasuke came, and asked for another chance. They couldn't guarantee anything. It's impossible to guarantee anything. I gave them another chance and took a leap of faith because...

[ Because she's stupid. Even after everything that's happened, being shoved to the ground again and again and again, no matter how many times she's let down, she still clings to something as unreliable as hope. ]

I can't stand being alone. I never want to be left alone. I'd rather suffer with the people I love, than be happy all on my own.

[flowerclips]

[ All of Kido's ring closely to Rei's thoughts and feelings with similar reasonings. They really are sisters, aren't they? Niko stays silent for longer than normal after Kido finishes talking and then she looks up at her. ]

... I see. Thank you, Neechan, for speaking with me and telling me about your experience.

[ She then reaches out and places her hand on top of Kido's. ]

I think I'm close to a decision. Would you please leave me alone until I call everyone back?

[reveilation]

[ Kido sighs, placing her other hand over Niko's so that it's sandwiched between both of hers, and gives it a light squeeze. ]

Yeah. I hope you decide to come home, and we get to talk a lot more. Not just about the bad things, but about all the good things too. There's so many good things.

[ She pulls her hands away, gives Niko one last hug, and leaves. ]