• Our software update is now concluded. You will need to reset your password to log in. In order to do this, you will have to click "Log in" in the top right corner and then "Forgot your password?".
  • Forum moderator applications are now open! Click here for details.
  • Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.

[Other OPEN] Persona: Memory's Wake [M] (IC)

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022
.​
OOC //
Persona: Memory's Wake

I am thou, and thou art I...

Start Date: Monday October 29th, 2029

School began nearly two months ago, and things have slowed into the normal pace of homework and tests. There was a little scare at the beginning of the year regarding a girl going missing, but she was miraculously found four days later, unharmed. She has slipped into a particularly nasty case of SRAD, which has put a strain on her friendships, but is otherwise unharmed. Still, this mystery disease hitting your own school has been a source of unease for many.

Another normal day has passed. Or, at least, what can be called normal for you. What happens while you sleep is a different kind of normal entirely.


The static is deafening.

New Messages from: REGENT



Hey, what are you doing here?!

This is not the place for a nap!

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Get somewhere safe!

Shit... Find somewhere safe and hole up. I'm coming for you.

No new messages

[h1][/h1]
Someone should really turn that noise off...

Loctation: ???
Special Conditions: Persona is sealed (No knowledge of Personas)

You awake in a daze, far from the bed you fell asleep in. The first thing you can feel is the crunch of sand against your body as you stand up, causing a pile of black colored sand to fall off of you. All around you is what appears to be ruins of what you could call a city. If cities were made out of massive thorn piles in the shape of buildings. Thorns and black sand stretch as far as your eyes can see, and the void where the sky should be letting light through spiderweb like cracks. But the bigger threat has to be the creatures leaving the building.

The creatures are taller than you and made almost entirely of what looks like dried thorns. Their "face" is covered entirely by a stone mask and they move in a shambling motion. Each movement causes a thick black liquid to seep through the spaces between the wood and onto the ground below. Although it appears to be a form of plant, the creature(s) follow you with a predator's gaze, but it seems to not want to actually step into the clearing you landed in.

Your phone buzzing alerts you to new messages from an unknown source. Your phone seems to have had a messenger app installed, but not one you've ever heard of. CogniChat. According to the notification, you have one message from a "Regent".

Wherever this place is, it's probably not best to stick around.​

Enemies:
Bleeding Dryads
Power compared to you: Colossal (This Shadow would have no trouble crushing you)
Type: Curse, Physical

Goal:
Survive until you wake up.

Fun Stuff:
The Dryads are actually much faster than they let on. They still move unnaturally, however.
If you have something you want to ask Regent, feel free to ping me to get an answer. Best place to reach me is the discord (don't actually log in much here unless I need to do something).
 
Last edited:
865
Posts
13
Years
  • Age 38
  • Seen Feb 24, 2024

e2Dyvniw_o.jpg

Claire Auron - A Strange Awakening


Claire groaned as her eyes slowly began to flutter open. Her head hurt with great intensity, as if she had had a baseball bat slam down into her noggin repeatedly. Her mouth was dry, with a sandpaper-like texture brushing up against her tongue as she slowly managed to pull herself up into a seating position.

"I guess I stayed up a bit too late doing that last bit of the reading assignment last night..." Claire muttered to herself as she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes. "I'm so thirsty too... I feel like I haven't had anything to drink in forever..."

A final yawn escaped her lips as Claire properly began to take a look at her surroundings. The brown-haired girl was expecting to see those pale blue walls that she had had in her room since she moved in with her grandparents, offset by the exquisite white and gold dresser and shelves... What she saw was nothing of the sort, however. Claire's eyes went wide as she found herself not comfortably seated on her bed, but rather on a patch of rough, black sand. There were no calming blue walls or ornate furniture to be seen within her peripherals. Rather, she found herself staring in abject shock at buildings that looked as if they had been hit by a combination of tornadoes and bomb explosions. Many of them were destroyed beyond all belief, save for maybe an occasional jagged edge or rusted piping that seemed to be protruding from the black, scratchy sands.

"What... where the hell is this?" Claire stammered out, slowly climbing to her feet in the process. There was no response to her question, though. Outside of what could best be described as a low, howling wind and what the girl could best describe as the sound of static from an out of tune radio, the area around her was deadly silent. "...Hello?! Is anyone out here...?!"

Still no response. Wherever she was, it was becoming clear to Claire that she was completely alone. Before she had too long to mull over this sudden realization however, a familiar sounding "ding" managed to reach the ears of the brunette. Glancing around in surprise, her emerald-green eyes drifted down to her feet to spot her phone resting on the ground beside her. She quickly knelt down, scooping the device out of the ebony sand to ensure that no further damage (if any at all) had actually occurred to it.

"Well... at least that seems to have went well," Claire sighed in relief. "Well... save for the fact that I don't have much of a signal..."

Claire began to fiddle with her phone, swiping through the screens to ensure that the device was in fact undamaged. As she did so, the girl suddenly received a notification. It was from an application she had never seen before and sent from someone she had most certainly never heard of before. To say that the teenager was mildly intrigued would have been an understatement.

"CogniChat...? Regent...?" Claire mused aloud. "What in the world is all this about...?"

Under most circumstances, Claire would have just shrugged such an event off. After all, she had a particular friend in gymnastics who liked to pull little pranks as this. It would not have surprised the girl in the slightest bit if this was another one of Emily's little jokes. Still, Claire found herself curious as to what the contents of this message, as well as the application itself, were all about.

New Messages from: REGENT



Hey, what are you doing here?!

This is not the place for a nap!

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Get somewhere safe!

Shit... Find somewhere safe and hole up. I'm coming for you.

No new messages

[h1][/h1]
"What in the..." Claire whispered, a concerned look on her face as she spoke. "What kind of joke is this supposed to be...?"
 
Last edited:

Skystrike

[i]As old as time itself.[/i]
1,641
Posts
15
Years

Joshua Rivers

[h1][/h1]​

Date: Monday, October 29th, 2029
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown





A dazed Joshua sat up as eyes slowly opened. His vision was blurry, like wearing someone's glasses that weren't meant for him, and his entire body was in great pain, like a truck had collided with him. The boy placed one hand into the sand in an attempt to push himself to stand up, but his legs buckled and sent him slamming into the dark sand, sending grains of it scattering everywhere. Joshua let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes, trying to clear up his vision.

"Man... next time I won't stay up so late playing video games..." he groaned, as his vision became less and less blurry. "Feels like I got ran over..." Once his eyes cleared up, a terrible sight came into view. No longer was he in his neat and tidy cream-colored room. Black-colored sand replaced the brown carpet of the room. The dresser, desk and other furniture in his room was now replaced with what seemed to be devastated ruins of a city—if overgrown, pointy thorns wrapped around to mimic the shape of city structures count as being part of a city. The thorns and sable sand seemed to go on for miles, with no end. This time Joshua stood up successfully, brushing off the sand off of himself. The scenery change seemed to accompany a clothing change, as the pajamas he went to bed in the night before was replaced with the blue polo shirt and black jeans he wore during the day.

"What in the... what is this place? Am I dreaming?" Joshua moaned, breaking the dead silence of the area. As the question left his lips, it mixed with the low groan of TV static in the background. It became apparent that he was the only person here, perhaps. Admittedly, that's the way he'd usually want it, but something about being alone here was different. Something wasn't right here... He decided to ask another question, even though no one answered the last one. "What the hell is going on here?"

"This has to be a dream... no real place like this exists, at least not that I know of..." Joshua said, mostly to reassure himself. There didn't seem to be any visible exits, and so the teenager decided to do the only thing he could think of doing: moving forward. He began trudging through the pitch black sand. The thorn buildings and sand seemed to go on forever, the scenery unchanging. Joshua wondered just what happened to ruin this city and turn it into such a post-apocalyptic setting. After what seemed to be a mile or so—the teenager doubted if he was actually going anywhere—he nearly jumped a foot when he saw an unbelievable sight: giant creatures, constructed entirely of dark, dried thorns, coming out of the thorn "buildings". They seemed to move quite awkwardly, as if walking was a struggle for them. Joshua took a few steps back.

"The hell are those things!?" Joshua shouted, his voice cracking. That proved to be a mistake, as one of the thorn giants turned their gaze towards him, a stone mask covering its face. Even through the stone mask, Joshua could feel the stare piercing his body. The brown-haired teenager froze in suspense, thinking that perhaps its like some animals where if you don't move, they won't attack. The giant continued to bore holes into Joshua, but made no moves. Eventually, it gave up and turned away from Joshua, shambling in the other direction. He continued to remain tense until there was a vibration in his pocket, eliciting a yelp from the teenager. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the object that vibrated, his black phone.

"How did I forget about my phone...?" Joshua said. It didn't seem as if it was going to be of any help, as there seemed to be no signal here. What piqued his curiosity was that he had a notification from a "CogniChat" app. He had no recollection of installing such a program—it certainly wasn't there the night before. Was this a prank? Joshua ignored the app temporarily and began checking out other apps, many of which practically required the internet to access. He turned his attention back to the peculiar CogniChat application, having received a message from a "Regent".

"'Regent'...? Never heard of them. I wonder how they got my phone number, though..." Ordinarily, he would just ignore messages from people he didn't know, but maybe this Regent had something important to say in this dream world. After all, they seemed pretty important, with their name being "Regent" and all. And there was another problem, too: he shouldn't have been able to receive messages like this. The teenager opened the app and read Regent's message, intrigued.

New Messages from: REGENT



Hey, what are you doing here?!

This is not the place for a nap!

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Get somewhere safe!

****... Find somewhere safe and hole up. I'm coming for you.

No new messages

[h1][/h1]
"No ****... It's not like I came here willingly..." Joshua hissed at his phone. This Regent wanted him to run somewhere safe, but where? The whole area was inhabited by those thorn creatures.

 
Last edited:

MurkMire

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c
910
Posts
12
Years


5688-713674891.jpg

Lucien Mallory


Ungh... my body feels like it was plucked out of my bed, and into a harsh desert...

The feeling of sand blown against his face made him start to wake up. A young Lucien struggled to open his eyes, struggling to wake up. His eyelids fluttered, they weighed heavily. However tired he was, he could tell something was severely off. Even if he did dream a lot, none of them would end up so... strange. He opened his eyes, and eyeballed his surroundings.

"Wha.... What is this?"

He rose, but realized he was covered in black sand, making him brush it off quickly. It was a clearing of this dark sand that he sat in. Though, it didn't take him long to realize the even more bizarre world around him.

Towering vines of thorns and bramble that looked strangely like a city. Varying sizes of these thorn-ridden structures, and a broken, twisted sky. It looked as if it cracked in the pattern of spider webs, allowing small rays of light to cascade the decrepit city. What was even more alarming were the creatures that shambled around.

Hastily, Lucien rubbed his eyes, and gave himself some light slaps across the face. But still, the scene remained. Even more, some of the shambling creatures were awfully close to the sand that he sat on. Lucien could only stare in abject terror, yet realized they could not cross the threshold of the black sand.

They were strangely tall, and made to look like crude, wooden scarecrows. They even have stone masks for faces. And with every move they made, black sludge seemed to fall out of every crevice.

They hissed, and garbled angrily, making Lucien feel uneasy. He shuffled closer to the center, when he felt his phone vibrate. Eyes widened, he scrambled for his phone.

New Messages from: REGENT



"Regent... what is this?"

He tapped the icon, and a voicemail played. Lucien held it close to his ear. A panicked, scrambled message played.



Hey, what are you doing here?!

This is not the place for a nap!

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Get somewhere safe!

Shit... Find somewhere safe and hole up. I'm coming for you.

"What the hell is going on?! N-no way... where can I even hide?" Lucien could feel beads of cold sweat, dripping down his face. His eyes twitched, thinking how real everything felt.

 
Last edited:

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022

Evan Zhang


"Umm, can you turn that light back off." How rude for people to just walk in and turn on lights. Not to mention that loud TV. He may not be a light sleeper, but even that was a little too much for me. "Is the thermostat cranked up?"

And then his brain finally started to make sense of what he was feeling. First off, his covers were gone. Secondly, that heat felt more like the sun beaming down on him than an overactive heater. Finally, he didn't remember his bed being so crunchy and uncomfortable. He slowly opened his eyes, and then shut them again in record speed. There's no way anything that he just saw was real. It was something like that sleep paralysis phenomenon; he just wasn't done dreaming.

A second look only caused his stomach to drop. Sure, he was tired earlier, but he would probably remember passing out in a sea of oddly-colored sand. Buildings also happened to make sense in the normal world, and last he checked the sky wasn't about to shatter and fall on him.

Luckily his phone was right next to his head. No sense in running into danger when he could do what he always did when he had a question: search the internet for answers and call someone who knew what the hell was going on. His notification light told him that someone was already reaching out to him. Sure, he didn't know who exactly "Regent" was, but his friends did change screen names from time to time in the various chat apps. He also didn't recognize CogniChat, but on the list of weird shit that was happening to him, an app he didn't recognize was probably not even in the top 10 at the moment.

Unfortunately, Regent didn't seem like the most helpful right off the bat.

Conversation with REGENT:

[View older messages]


Hey… can you tell me where I am at least?​

Where you are is a little difficult…

I mean, nearby major street would help. I don't think 10th street was having the apocalypse today, but I haven't checked the news.​

Why don't you focus less on the snark, and more on not dying to a monster?




Now he mentions the monsters.

Sure enough, there was a somewhat large crowd of murderous tree people gathering around him, and his birthday is still a while away. Well, they seem to have murderous intent. They seemed to have a little trouble with their feet, which took away from the imminent danger feeling and put a whole lot more into the "what the actual fuck is happening" pile.

He wasn't a huge horror movie buff, but he's seen the classics. Sitting around while they're circling you was about the second worst idea he could have in this scenario. The first, as always, was existing in a place with monsters.

Without a second thought he began booking it towards the nearest alley, path, whatever, he could see. Hopefully outrunning them. As is all the best laid plans of mice and men, things very fucking quickly went awry. These things were *fast*. Sure they looked like they were one step away from collapsing into a heap, but they were making record pace.

What he really needed now was the alley system not to suddenly turn into a dead end.


 

Miningsilver

Dungeon Explorer
43
Posts
6
Years
Bill Pearlstein||17||11-B

???-???

Haunting Dreams

Bill was called from his sleep by his phone, it vibrated intensely from newly received messages.

Huh… my phone? When did I…? Crap!

Bill's eyes flew open upon his realization of having fallen asleep, he can't be late for anything! But his eyes lay not upon the desk he probably fell asleep at, nor his room, but to an almost nightmare-ish landscape.

The rough grains of sand beneath him spread out over the area, looking almost like a blackened ocean. There were what appeared to be buildings in the distance made out of nearly unnatural material. If he had to describe everything around him it would be unnatural.

"What the heck…? Where is this?" Bill finally whispered, his throat felt dry. His phone vibrated once more in his hand as he slowly rose up, bits of sand falling off his brown coat that rarely saw the resting place of a drawer. He looked at his phone to see who would be attempting to contact him, his parents don't message him and he doesn't know that many people in the first place.

Unlocking his phone, the first thing that caught his attention was an app he had never heard of before. Listening to most people during school to hear what's new generally kept him up to speed with popular things, but even then, he hadn't heard of this CogniChat before. It seems this is where he was getting messages from. They were from someone named Regent.

New Messages from: REGENT
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey, what are you doing here?!

This is not the place for a nap!

Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun. Get somewhere safe!

****... Find somewhere safe and hole up. I'm coming for you.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No new messages

Alarm bells began ringing in Bill's head, clearly this Regent knew the place was dangerous, but where is there to hide? He slid his phone into his coat pocket and looked around the area. What would he need to hide from anyway?

Then his eyes caught sight of what could really only be described as a monster. Creatures made from dried thorns and faces seemingly covered, or made of, stone. They shambled along in an almost impossible fashion.

Sweat rolled down the side of Bill's face, the way these things moved, the vibe they gave off, it felt nothing short of terrifying. It felt like their mere presence could crush him, almost like the weight of reality seeped into this place just to torment him.

If this Regent guy says I should hide and that this is not good, then I should be inclined to believe him. I shouldn't be out here in the open then, so… Ugh, don't tell me…

His gaze scanned the entire area, and the only thing that he could really 'hide' in would be in the city, if it could be called a city. It was more a mass of thorn ruins, but it seemed he had no other choice, those things were starting to make their way towards him, and shockingly quick.

Ok, no choice, run.

And run he did, as soon as he saw the creatures gaining on him quickly, he realized just straight up running wouldn't cut it.

Those buggers are fast! I've gotta get stuff between me and them!

He may not be the fastest runner, but he has read a book or two that contained chases in them, and that's one thing that makes sense, keep things between you and the hunter. He turned a corner of a 'building' and found himself inside of another 'building', he scanned quickly and caught site of a window, sure it wasn't completely clear of thorns, but he had no choice, he could hear the creatures coming closer.

So, he ran more, reaching the window he scrambled through it as fast as possible, but his right foot got caught on the edge, causing him to fall through, scratching his left shoulder. The pain shot through him as he picked himself up, he held his right hand to the injury to try and numb the pain. But he still had to keep going. A brief thought went through his head as he ran before it quickly dissipated.

Truly the most dangerous game, no?

Turn after turn after window. After going through a second window Bill got a small scratch on his leg, nothing major, but it stung to the ends of the Earth.

When will this… nightmare… end?

Panting heavily, Bill turned another corner and ended up meeting the worst thing possible.

A dead end.

"No. No no no no no. This can't be!"

Clutching his left shoulder, he turned to face the direction he came from, only to be greeted with the next worst thing possible. Those creatures were right there, blocking the only route to safety. Bill cursed under his breath as exhaustion caught up to him. His legs shook as he backed up towards the thorn wall behind him, each breath hurt his lungs, and his sweat burned his face as it crawled down. The thorn monsters were getting closer, and he wasn't willing to test their reaction speed and run past, perhaps he has just enough adrenaline to…

He never really had the time for extracurricular sports or outdoor activities, so he doesn't have incredibly strong muscles, but in desperation, he decided to give something a shot. He turned and gripped the edges of some larger thorns of the wall and attempted to climb it.

Attempted being the key word, he could barely get a foot off the ground before he lost his grip and fell onto the coarse sand of the area as the monsters grew ever closer, looking to almost savor watching a cornered prey.

Bill felt his exhaustion reaching him even further, he couldn't even stand up any more, and the pain was getting to him, he could feel his thoughts losing the sort of wild focus of danger and instead being almost like falling asleep.

No… This can't be real… I can't…

Focus…

Focus…

 
Last edited:

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022

October 30th, 2029

Morning comes, and with yet another day of school. You're safe and sound in your bed, odd dreams aside. Whether you saw something or not, the dream still feels a little too vivid. But you're probably overthinking it.

Back at school things seem normal, and the whispers are the same as they've always been.

"Oh, isn't that the girl with the memory problem? I didn't think she still went here"​

"SHIT! My homework is on my desk. I'm so fucked."

"... yeah he's throwing a Halloween party at his house tomorrow. Plus there's that one on the weekend..."​


Sounds like the stories are the same as they've been for months. Weirdly enough people are still talking about the incident from the start of school. Although she was found safe it seems she barely remembers anything anymore. Many people keep their distance out of fear of SRAD, but there hasn't been any cases you've heard of someone being outright hostile... at least, not that you've heard of.

Plot Bunnies:
Spoiler:


Added to the NPC database:
Spoiler:


 

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022

Evan Zhang


A sense of vertigo and a thud welcomed Evan back to the real world. The back of his head was wracked with pulses of pain, making it hard to even think right now. He wasn?t bleeding, right? Okay, at least he didn?t make a complete idiot of himself, with his inability to wake up like a normal person.

Well, at least being in pain was better than being skewered by a monster. In a dream of course. The only monsters he knew of in real life he at least had a friendly relationship with. He?d probably have a head start if they started wanting his blood.

Thankfully he managed to beat his alarm clock this morning. Days like that were usually a good sign. He wouldn?t be in a rush, he wouldn?t forget anything, and the usual disruptors of his peace like to toe the line of being late a little too often. Well, at least one of them did?

The bus ride was quiet enough to spin his nerves a full 180 degrees. Normally beating the alarm was a good sign, but was beating his head on the ground a good one? The bus ride should be a chaotic time with a conversations and at least one person loudly having a phone conversation. The fact it was, dare he say, peaceful was a omen in and of itself. Whatever was going to happen today couldn?t be good.

Outside the school gates he almost found his inner peace once again. He was being silly, this was a normal day. Where?s his prided optimism? This rut was affecting him worse than he thought.

Inside the gate he realized his place in the world. He knew nothing. He was a small fish in a big pond, and his neighbors happened to be sharks. The fact he lasted so long was nothing short of a miracle. But even miracles run out, and now the hunters could smell his metaphorical blood. Before he could see the bringers of his own ruin he was surrounded.

?Hey, I have a large favor to ask. We need to borrow your camera.? The line was cast, and they expected him to greedily chomp down on the bait. Alison Warwick, the Demon of the Film Society, had him in her grasp. Short stature and her short, but wavy red hair only hinted at the true evil held within her. This was a woman who would eat you alive if you let her; just the phrase ?sure, I can help out with the movie? sealed your fate. The worst part was that he alone could have prevented this and kept her the kind and innocent girl she once was. The taste of power she got from the first film was enough to corrupt her very being. This kind of threat had to be dealt with swiftly and decisively and with no mercy to the human she used to be.

?Sure, which one??

?I want the VM1850.?

?Dammit, that one?? Evan sighed. Out of his cameras she had to ask for the most expensive one. ?I wouldn?t mind just handing you the X600 or the K7-C, but you know I?ll have to be there to at least supervise you.?

And he probably played into her secret plan based off how she smiled. ?That?ll be fine. It is a nice camera after all. Plus I think you want to be there for this one.?

?Hell yeah you do.? The specter behind him finally decided to do more than sit around and block his retreat. He?s surprised he didn?t see her earlier; paint splattered clothes and the mass of curly hair was usually hard to miss. Then again, Viv always managed to slink into the crowd somehow. ?You see that thing I finished last night??

?You mean that sci-fi looking gun model, that was a prop?? The three of them began to actually make their way towards the building. The last heat of summer was finally dying out and making way for a cool autumn breeze, and the trees in the courtyard were just starting to change colors.

?Yeah, saw some show, wanted to make something like it. Showed my plans for it to Ally and she wanted to use it.?

?It even still functions as an airsoft gun too,? Ally said, almost as proud as Viv. Then again, she always liked being able to use her friend?s creations as props.

?Years of pushing for something sci-fi and you tell me we don?t have the props for it. As soon as I leave the Cinema Society you all decide to make one. I?m a little hurt you know.? He wiped a fake tear, trying his best to look heartbreaking. Based off the dumb look Alison gave him it probably looked more weird than sad, but at least Viv got a laugh out of it.

?Maybe she?s just trying to pull you back?? Viv smirked, but somehow he got the feeling it wasn?t entirely a joke.

?Yeah right,? Alison countered, ?we?re better without him. Don?t need 5 hours for the ?perfect take??.

?I guess you don?t need my camera after all, by the sound of it.?

?Skip out on us Zhang, and I break your kneecaps.?



 

Skystrike

[i]As old as time itself.[/i]
1,641
Posts
15
Years

Joshua Rivers

[h1][/h1]​

Date: October 30th, 2029
Time: Morning
Location: Home (Regency Park)





The next few minutes of the dream were a blur for Joshua and he could remember none of it. He had made it back to his room safely, it seemed, although that didn't stop his body from feeling like someone used it like a punching bag. Perhaps that dream was more real than he thought...? Something like that shouldn't be possible, though. The intensity of his body pain made him almost consider cutting class, but then he ran the risk of being caught by his father's wife, and then he'd have to explain what he was doing at home too, and ?I'm in pain because of a surreal dream? wouldn't cut it then. So the teenager decided to suck it up, fight an uphill battle against grogginess, pick up his phone off the nightstand next to him, and check his phone to see that his alarm had gone off nearly forty-five minutes ago.

It was enough to jolt Joshua awake. Luckily the rest of the Rivers had already gone to school or work, so he was able to slip outside and onto his bike. The next minutes were a race the against the clock from Regency Park to St. Dominics. Joshua thought he wasn't going to make it?he had gotten up almost an hour late, after all?but luck seemed to be on his side today. Once he made it to school, he made sure to chain up his bike and headed up the front gates. There were still students out and about, talking with their friends, sharing the latest gossip. Others were heading to their classes, as class would be in session soon. As he walked inside, he couldn't help but feel everyone was staring at him?like they could see through him and his true feelings. In reality no one gave a crap about his presence, but that didn't stop him from feeling like everyone had X-ray vision or something. Joshua staggered up the stairs?his body was still killing him, probably should've taken some ibuprofen before coming to school?and advanced to 11-B, his homeroom class. It hadn't been thirty seconds after sitting down at his desk and taking out his phone before the first annoyance of the day showed up to bug him.

Date: October 30th, 2029
Time: Morning
Location: St. Dominic's High School (Midtown)





?S'up, dude?? a familiar voice beckoned to him Joshua turned his head towards the voice. A tall, lean fair complexioned teenager with black hair approached him and put his arm around Joshua, which he quickly shoved off of him.

?Hi, Matt,? Joshua said begrudgingly. Tall with wavy black hair, fiery crimson color eyes, and slightly muscular, Matthew Brenner was, well, someone who spent less time on his homework and more time around the girls of the class.

?So, hey, Josh. Didja get my text last night??

Last night. Last night was such a blur that it made his head hurt even more just thinking about it. ?Er, yeah, sure,? he mumbled.

?Great! Alright, lemme the math homework before the teacher comes in.? Matt said, hand outstretched. Just as Joshua thought, all Matthew wanted to do was copy his homework. Matt was more of a leech attached to a vulnerable host than anything. And all he did was give into it, although he didn't understand what it was. Maybe his charms worked on more than just girls. Joshua began ruffling through his backpack, and that's when one of his fears came to be realized: in his rush he'd completely forgotten his homework. So much for a lucky break. Matt shifted uncomfortably, glancing at the clock.

Joshua looked up at him with a slight smile on his face. ?Sorry, Matt. Looks like I forgot it at home.?

?Damn, man... I was really counting on you to help me out this time,? Matt groaned.

?Well maybe next time instead of looking up girls' skirts you can spend your time looking up formulas on Google like I did,? Joshua quipped.

?What??

?I said, 'I'll try not to forget next time.'?

Matthew had fully picked up on Josh's snarky remark, but decided to ignore it. He never understood what always had his friend bothered, but moved onto the next subject. ?Yo, did you hear? Some senior's throwing a Halloween party tomorrow,? Matthew said, now leaning on Josh's chair. ?You should come with me. We never do anything together.?

?Maybe because you haven't gotten the point yet,? Joshua muttered. ?No, I don't think I can go. Family plans and stuff.?

?Pshh, lame,? Matthew said. There was a brief silence for a moment, before Matthew looked down at Joshua's arm and noticed a red bruise on his left arm. It looked awfully large, like someone had punched the stuffing out of him. ?What happened to your arm?? Matthew asked, motioning to Joshua's uncovered left arm. The brown haired teenager looked down at his arm, and quickly covered the bruise up, having noticed it for the first time. That hadn't been there last night. Did he get it from that dream, which, he remembered, he decided was just a dream?

?Uhhhhh... fell off my bike getting here. Y-Yeah, that's it.? Joshua stammered. ?Hey, shouldn't you be getting to your desk now??

Matt glanced at the clock. ?Ahh, crap! She'll be in here any minute!? He quickly ran to the other side of the room to take his seat. As the first period bell rung and the homeroom teacher came inside, Joshua sat in a slump and put his head down on the desk. First those dreams, and now this mysterious bruise on his forearm. What did it all mean, and what was in store for him?

?Why don't we start out by reviewing the math homework? Joshua, I see you're already bored of the class. Why don't you start out by doing the first problem on the board??


 
Last edited:

Miningsilver

Dungeon Explorer
43
Posts
6
Years
Bill Pearlstein||17||11-B

Morning – Home (Midtown)

Daily Life…?

Bill's eyes flew open, his senses coming back to him as he tried to figure out what happened. He was back in his room, sitting at his desk with a notebook in front of him, full of notes and memos. Almost like nothing happened.

"Was that just a dream…?" He asked himself. Despite apparently sleeping for a couple of hours, he felt exhausted. He saw his phone resting next to his notebook, plugged in and fully charged, he unplugged it and checked the time, he still had half an hour until his alarm went off.

Under a normal day Bill would wake up, finish any left-over work, get ready and leave for school. But today was clearly not going to be like that, since he's awake now, perhaps he could get some work done now, then spend his usual work time organizing? He looked around his desk, it was a mess of papers, pencils, and other school items.
Pushing some random papers aside, Bill grabbed a pencil and finished off his notes, he continued writing until his normal alarm went off. Shutting it down, he picked up his notebook and grabbed his bag sitting next to him, fitting in all his school necessities. Papers, pencils, books, and whatever else he needed. Once everything was in, he looked to his desk.

"Oof. Yeah, I should really clean this all up… Is that from last year? Ugh." Bill quietly spoke to himself, organizing papers, putting everything away. After a short time, his desk was reasonably better off, it wasn't spotless, but it would have to do. He grabbed his bag, phone, and wallet and walked out of his room, preparing for the day ahead.

Morning – School (Midtown)


After a quiet walk, with Bill stuck in the depths of his mind, thinking on assignments, wondering what happened in that dream, and what it all meant, he finally arrived at school.
Walking through the building to class, he passed a girl looking at herself with a pocket mirror. As he passed, the girl turned her mirror to watch where she was going. The mirror turned to him, showing his… reflection? It was a very brief moment, but something about it was off, he couldn't catch a full glimpse, but something about his reflection was off. It was just a flicker but…

Why is that bugging me so much? What was that?

Bill shook his head and continued on to class. As he sat in his seat and got his stuff ready for the day, his thoughts wandered. It felt like today was going to be a long day.
 

MurkMire

[font=special elite][color=#FF3399]Toxic Terror[/c
910
Posts
12
Years


5688-713674891.jpg

Lucien Mallory


Morning/Home (Downtown)

Ungh... quite a nightmare.

Lucien stirred from his bed, stretching with a heavy groan and parting his hair out of his eyes. His aunt called from her study, "Hey kiddo, gotta get going. School's about to start." "Augh, you're right! Sorry!" He just heard her laugh, as he hastily got ready by running to the restroom. Pulling off his clothes, getting ready to take a shower, he noticed after removing his shirt... a wound.

He stopped, cold in his tracks. It looked odd. Not natural by any means. He'd know if he caused something like this to himself. "Kiddo!" His aunt's call snapped him out of his stupor. Careless as it may be, he had to worry about getting to school.

~

All dressed, and ready to go, Lucien went to see off his aunt, Alice Mallory. She ran the local clinic in the Downtown district, quite a reputable doctor. She had green eyes, and black hair. She dressed in a gothic fashion of green and black, but looked beautiful.

"Hey kid, I was starting to worry you got lost in the mirror." She poked his forehead, making Lucien chuckle. "No, I uh... I guess I just spaced out." Alice gave Lucien a hug, and said, "Don't worry, kiddo. Life for you will get better here. As your new guardian, I'll do what it takes." Lucien felt at ease, knowing his aunt was just what he needed to feel safe again.

He hugged her back, and ran out the door.

~

He hastily walked to school, hoping to not only get that dreadful nightmare out of mind, but the wound as well. It bothered him deeply. He wanted to think, and think, and think over it. However, he snapped himself back to reality, realizing he almost made a wrong turn. "I'm tired... too tired for school. But, I gotta go...."

But still, lingering in his ever occupied mind, was the image of the sudden wound. He pressed on it, only to feel a stinging, ridiculous pain. It made him wince, but now, it made him extremely careful about running into anyone or anything.

~

Morning/St. Dominic's High School (Midtown)

Lucien sat at his deck, looking outside the window like the typical thinking individual. Out at the waking world, and how everything looked so... normal. The dream, now, was but a faint memory. He couldn't quite recall it after thinking about so many other things.

What was this wound from? How did it appear? Is this another dream?

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glare so piercing, it wiped away his train of thought. His eyes darted to where they were coming from, but... it was just his reflection. Staring back at him, just as confused, and scared.

I... I know I saw that glare.

Lucien thought this to himself, as he felt a chill creep across his spine.

I do not think I'm doing well... something just isn't right. I know it....

Lucien's mind began to wander off, as he stared at his reflection in the window.

 

PastelPhoenix

How did this even happen?
453
Posts
8
Years
  • Age 29
  • Seen Nov 20, 2022

???
It's a warm day. The void above radiates heat onto the black sand bellow, giving it that pleasant summer feel. If it weren't for the lack of sun, trees, or anything else resembling a fun summer day, this could be considered almost pleasant.

Too bad you're back in god know's where. This time without a bunch of shambling monsters or fucked up plant buildings.

In fact, you seem to have found yourself outside a manor of some sorts. It bears a resemblance to the hoity-toity houses off the extravagantly wealthy. At least, how everyone makes out their houses to look like. Pointy roofs, circular tower-like bits, and way too many windows. Also, it's like 10 times bigger than it should be.

Shame the place is in disarray. The garden has overgrown the paths and threatens to overtake the house next. A few windows have been boarded up, broken for some reason. Strangest of all, it seems barricaded for an extended siege.

"How many times do I have to get rid of you?" You finally notice a woman, or maybe girl is more appropriate, shouting from one of the larger balconies. She looks your age, and with a face you swear you've seen before. She's also heavily dressed up, seeming more doll than person at this point.

"I'm not letting anyone in until he's back. That's the last warning. You have five minutes before I send the guards out again."

Well... Seems like you've met another crazy person here. And this one seems just as helpful as the mysterious texter.

Speak of the devil, your phone just went off.

New Messages from: REGENT



So... you don't seem to be the most safety minded. I would think you would stop coming here by now.

Whatever. Meet me in the courtyard. It's kinda in the middle of the building. You should be able to sneak your way there, these guys are pretty blind until you piss them off.

I think we're overdue for a chat.

No new messages

[h1][/h1]
That was still... unhelpful. At least they aren't yelling at you this time. Wherever these guards are, they appear to be late. It might be time to head inside?

Enemy List:
Spoiler:


Goals:
Summon Persona

Notes: I'll leave when and in what circumstances you summon your Persona up to you. As before, summoning a Persona involves your own diary from the Velvet Room showing up, and you must tear a page from it.
 
Back
Top