[Other FULL] [M] Persona: Memory's Edge (IC)

[PastelPhoenix]

.​

OOC //

Persona: Memory's Edge
​

I am thou, and thou art I...

Start Date: September 3rd, 2029

Classes begun roughly two weeks ago. No doubt for many of you St. Dominic's has felt... different. Many students had to find a new group to call themselves a part of. The walls and floor are squeaky clean, unsullied by years of wear and tear. Most of the staff seems happy with their new job, despite some of their eccentricities.

Things can continue to be as boring as they always have.

After a long Monday, with the teachers now fully into teaching mode, you can finally rest your eyes in bed and let yourself drift off to sleep.

​

​

You're falling...

New Messages from: VICEROY​

Kid...

Hey kid!

Get up and move.

I don't know how you got here. But you're not safe.​

​

No new messages

[h1][/h1]
Why is it so hard to concentrate?

​

​

​

???

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. All around you is what appears to be ruins of a city, sand, and massive thorn bearing vines. The thorns weave in and out of the buildings, and the ruins themselves sometimes flicker between the desecrated state they are in now and various stores on Gabbro Plaza. The general layout of the square itself seems the same, as far as you can tell. Perhaps most worryingly is the giant thorn that reaches impossibly far into the sky, as well as the shadowy figures sulking about, just out of sight. As you catch sight of one of them, you notice it seems oddly humanoid. Jet black with large, pointed ears and a short snout, the creature seems to not mind the massive amount of thorns around it. Just out of the corner of your eye it seems like they flicker and become one with the shadows they sulk in.

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 "Viceroy".

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

Enemies:
Shadowy Beast-Man
Power compared to you: Colossal (This Shadow would have no trouble crushing you)
Type: Physical, Almighty

Goal:
Survive until you wake up.

Notes: You can type more messages to Viceroy, but they'll just tell you to get out of there. Doesn't matter what you ask. What a jerk.

Reiterating, your personas are sealed right now. You don't know what they are, can't use them yet.

This should hopefully be real short.

A regular school day and plot breadcrumbs start next.

Accepted players:
L'Belle's Rodger Herberts
Magnificent Magilou's Claire Auron
Star Arcana's Misty Washington
Skystrike's Joshua Rivers
Ozymandias' Benjamin Paige
Orbital Pudding's Estelle Beatriz Santiago
Junier's Toru Miki
Fen's Aiko Winchester-Inoue
Ech's Tory Lauren
and my Valeria Kylsey.

 

[Skystrike]

Joshua Rivers

​

Date: Monday, September 3rd, 2029
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown

The last thing I could remember was... falling. Lots and lots of falling. Dreams like that, I've had plenty of them before, where you just fall for the whole time and wake up when you're about to hit the ground. But this time, it was different. I opened my eyes, rubbing what seemed to be... sand... out of them?

...Eh? Where the heck am I? was my first thought. The next thing I did was grab whatever was around me. What I picked up was grains of sand, which easily slid right back out of my hands.
I stood up and got on his feet, listening to the crunch of the gritty sand underneath me, confirming that I seemed to be surrounded by tons of sand.

This definitely wasn't my bedroom.

Before I had a chance to observe my surroundings, there was a vibration in my right jean pocket--wait a second, my pockets? I looked around and down at my body. Blue polo shirt and a black pair of jeans. Somehow, I'm wearing what I wore to school yesterday. I'm not sure how that happened, perhaps it's because this is a dream--

The vibration became for frequent, erratic. Someone really wants my attention, don't they? I took my phone out of my right jeans pocket and the first thing I noticed is that it wasn't displaying the time, which was certainly odd. What really caught my attention, though, was a notification for an app called "CogniChat", an app I've never seen or heard of before. I had half a mind to just delete the thing, but apparently, I had one new message. I decided to check it and see what it said:

Kid...

Hey kid!

Get up and move.

I don't know how you got here. But you're not safe.​

So, I'm definitely not meant to be here, which only makes this situation more confusing. My mind was racing with questions. I'm not safe? Who is this Viceroy? And... I don't remember installing an app called CogniChat. Is this even a dream? I took a deep breath in an attempt and clear his mind and focus, but no matter what I tried to calm down, it didn't help with all of the questions flying through my head at a hundred miles per hour. Alright, alright, alright, let's focus on where we are, and why this place is so supposedly dangerous, I thought. Perhaps that would give me some perspective. I pocketed his phone and looked around at my surroundings. Whatever this place formerly was, it was completely devastated. It seemed like some kinda' destroyed city, with vines entangling the ruins of crumbled buildings. The sand covered the ground like a blanket, enmassing the entire ground, with no signs of anything else forming a surface to walk on.

What the hell happened here? Was a thought I had. As I was looking around, I caught something flickering in the corner of his eye--one of the ruined buildings. I spun toward it on the spot and barely saw a glimpse of a hardware store fade into visibility before returning to the ruined state the building was originally in. Just what the hell was going on here? Is it destroyed or not? What sent this place into the state it is now? These were just only questions I had about this bizarre place. I was already having trouble concentrating to focus on leaving this place when I took notice to a giant, sky-piercing vine, and the shadows skulking around it. They seemed to have a humanoid shape—were they humans? Maybe I could ask one of them about what in the world is happening here...

No. This is a dream. It doesn't matter what I do. That was what my thought was, and yet... everything about this felt so real. This wasn't the first time I had some weird, realistic dream like this, though. A while ago, I had a dream that involved signing a contract... No, that doesn't even compare to this. The air was suffocating and environment, desolate. I felt like I was in some kind of impending danger, and the message from that Viceroy person, telling me that I'm safe, wasn't exactly a good sign either. I've got to get out of here, I told myself. And then, I realized something: maybe that Viceroy guy knows something about getting outta here. Alright, Mr. Viceroy. Maybe you have some answers... I took my phone back out, this time opening the CogniChat app. I sent a message to that Viceroy person:

How do I get out of here?​

It didn't take long for Viceroy to with a message:

You must get out of here, at all costs!​

So obviously, this guy either didn't know how to help me, or didn't want to help me. So much for that idea! Alright, calm down... it's just a dream... you'll be fine... I reassured myself. That Viceroy dude told me to leave, but gave me no means to do so. I decided to take a look around to see if I could find any way to escape myself. As the world around me shimmered between being ruined, and having the appearance of that plaza back and town, I drifted over to one of the ruined buildings. A store one minute, a shadow of its former self next. Perhaps I could...

When the ruined building seemed to look like a store, I tried to open the door of the store, but to no avail. My hand just phased back through it, as if I was a ghost or something. Is this switching back and forth like some kinda... image? The shops wouldn't be any help, so instead I turned my attention to the giant, towering vine in the distance. Who the hell would let something like that grow to such a gargantuan size?

I probably shouldn't approach it, but...

But of course, against my better judgment, and the message sender's warning, I trudged through the sand to get a clearer view of the towering vine. As I got closer to the vine, I noticed it was lined with thorns, and got a better look at the features of the humanoid shadows. They were pitch black with large, pointed ears and a short snout. They seemed to not mind being around the sharp thorns of the gigantic vine.
Those things were far from human. They wouldn't be able to help me at all. They probably didn't understand how forlorn and desperate I felt, or the desire to leave this place. They might've even liked this place. I tried to remind myself that maybe this was just a dream, it sure as hell didn't feel like it. This world was in ruins and he seemed to be the only person left in it. Stuck in some monster's den.

And there was no escape.

"Damn it!" I uttered loudly, more loudly than I planned to. Breaking the silence was a mistake, as the air changed, becoming more tense. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. That feeling of imminent danger became more real. And then I froze, and one of those damn creatures were not more than five feet away from me. I didn't make a sound nor did I move, instead choosing to stare it down, waiting for its next move.
The beast-man's next move was to fire a bright blue light at me. Time slowed down. I saw it emit that light, but I didn't think about moving out of the way out of it. It was quite a brilliant light...
Oh, crap!
Time returned to normal and now I could feel the heat emanating from it. My legs began working and finally received the message that, in order to survive, they need to get me out of there. I began running away the light and the beast-man, but the gritty sand slowed down my movement as he had to pull his feet up out of the sand with every step.

Why did I have to wear sneakers for this?

The light that the beast emitted was indeed dangerous, as it plunged into the spot he was standing in before and flung the sand there in all directions. I pushed myself as hard as I could away from the giant sky-rending vine, but a look behind him gave way to the fact that this seemed to have agitated the beast-man, as it was now following after him.

If I wasn't in danger before, I was definitely in danger now. The beast-man could easily crush all of my bones with his arms, and that blast of light it emitted could've wiped me off the face of the planet. If there was any time for a way out to present itself, now would be nice! I continued running, forcing myself to pick up the pace despite the sand's effect on my running. The ruined world seemed to go on forever, though, and the beast-man only continued to pursue me.

I've gotta... get... away... I thought to myself, but my body disagreed. I had to stop and take a breather after what felt like running for at least twenty minutes straight. Maybe that shadowy beast-thing had given up by now.

Bad move. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up again. Dread washed over me as I turned around. The beast-man was behind me, apparently way more in shape than I.

"This is a dream! A damn dream! You can't hurt me!" I shouted in a shill scream to the beast, although not even I believed my words anymore. This was all too real. This destroyed world was going to be my grave, and no one he knew would ever hear from me again. I tried to run again, but I was frozen in terror.

It was the same hopeless feeling I had felt before...only this time, he was unable to prevent what would bring him to his death.

The shadow beast-man swung down its arm upon me, and as I could only look on as the arm's shadow casted upon the sand grew larger and larger, I could only think about where everything went wrong, and how I ended up in this world.

It was curtains for me.

 

[forg]

Estelle Beatriz Santiago
| September 3rd, 2029 |​

From deep slumber the young woman began to rise, face buried in the sand. The soft cushions, velvet pillow, and warm blankets were nowhere to be felt, prompting her to shuffle to find the lost comfort. But it was futile.

Her hands dug into the sand, exploring the unexpected sensation of particles flowing between her fingers. "Mmmmph mph... mmm." Unable to find a comfortable position, Estelle sat up in disappointment. One eye cracked open whilst the other was being rubbed on, mouth open wide to release a hearty yawn. She sang out the exhale, arms stretching, but only for a cough to crawl amidst it.

She proceeded to twist her torso, lips releasing a satisfied Ah~<3 upon every crack of the spine she felt.

The view beyond didn't process at first, eyes scanning the environment she awoke in. Fingers scratched her scalp to calm the itches until the sudden realization of her situation at last set in.

...

Where the hell was she?

"...my god." A gasp escaped Estelle upon the sight of the scenery before her. Flickering buildings, thorny vines, and the phenomenal protrusion that broke through the sand and ventured into the baby blue sky stood before her. Hard to fathom that her mind could conjure such an environment. What had she been doing before she slept? Was the day that tiring?

She froze in place, arms supporting her otherwise flimsy body ready to collapse. "... but it doesn't feel like a dream... It doesn't," she attempted to reason, barely audible voice squeaking.

Estelle clumsily stood up, arms flailing about to keep her balance. "This uh... this doesn't feel like a dream... uh." The sight of the thorny vines left her uneasy, gulping at the thought of the pain that could result from them. Her scarlet, penguin-themed pajamas would tear like paper upon contact with those lethal objects. They were her favorite too.

The wind lifted particles of sand to dance, her right arm slightly shielding her eyes.

From the corner of her eye the cellphone came into view. Panic set in that instant, body dropping and hands scrambling for her dear device. She brushed whatever sand was still on it, fingers feeling for any cracks and clinging particles. But the sun became too much, screen practically unreadable due to low brightness. "Shit, this is what I get for always having it on low." No angle or self-made shade could solve this. "Really hope it's not broken... pa would get mad," she mumbled in worry, constantly blinking from the sun reflecting off the cell screen.

In the far horizon the humanoid figures brood sullenly, intimidating silhouettes often blending against the shadows around them. At first Estelle was oblivious to their presence, but an accidental glance at one made her freeze in place.

She remained paralyzed in place for minutes on end, skin growing pale from their discovery. Her arms embraced her small figure in defense, unable to budge from fear.

While shelter seems comforting, reaching one doesn't seem plausible to the woman - those creatures do not look the least bit humble. She didn't want to risk getting into any enemy radar, yet she also debated staying where she stands like a sitting duck.

Her hands squeezed the cell, paranoia worsening - heart beat quickens, eyes dilating, breaths become uneven and erratic. Soon her head began to feel heavy, a little cramp beginning to form within her abdomen. "Noooononono not here not now," she let out in a whisper, scolding herself with arms tightly wrapping around her abdomen. These symptoms were precursors to a fainting spell and she knew them well.

At last Estelle began to move, making her way to the closest building, or piece of ruins, as quietly as a mouse. Upon the sight of one of those creatures her pace would significantly slow, picking up once she believed they didn't detect her.

Halfway through her journey her knees buckled, a small yelp forced out upon impact. Instantly her gaze shifted towards the dark creatures, legs limp as noodles.

But they didn't give her any heed.

"I... guess I wasn't that loud-" A soft growl emanated from afar, interrupting her train of thought. "...shiiiiiit shit shit." Without thinking Estelle began to crawl out of sight. Her movements were choppy and feet slightly disturbed the trail being left behind. It wasn't the best job but it will do.

She paused upon the embrace of the ruins' shadow, confident they would forget of her voice were she out of their peripheral vision. Yet little did she realize one beast-man had begun to meander her way.

With shade at her disposal the contents of her cell were unlocked and explored. Despite the lack of signal a message had been received. It was coming from an unrecognizable app.

Kid...

Hey kid!

Get up and move.

I don't know how you got here. But you're not safe.

Terrified, Estelle attempted to contact anybody she could possibly think of, but it was met with failure every time. Not one soul could reach her ethereal location. And not that she could blame them, afterall, this was a dream. Soon she'll wake from her slumber and get to telling others of what she experienced, and that's only if she could recall it.

The ruins behind her warp from the different states. She didn't trust herself to find shelter in them, afraid of being warped or killed within seconds. Perhaps neither could occur and it's simply her overstimulated imagination taking hold. But regardless Estelle isn't going to find out anytime soon.

Sounds from every direction instilled more fear into the young adult, her body already curled on instinct. Whether it was simply sand coursing through the landscape or dragged footsteps more than likely from the beasts, Estelle locked herself away from reality. That is, if she could call it such.

In due time she drew in the necessary courage to lift herself on to her knees, body turned to peek over the broken piece of ruins that had been shielding her from the creatures beyond.

But what she saw wasn't the twisted landscape.

It was the man-beast.

Her eyes locked with the creature's, the space between them flickering between air and a wall that once stood there. With every flicker Estelle begged for the creature to disappear along with the desecrated ruins, but it would faithfully remain there.

It slowly lowered its upper body, head seemingly phasing through the wall as if it were a hologram. Her body refused to move, turned to stone from utter terror. Thoughts dissipated, eyes dilating upon the sight of its approaching figure.

Like a plate of food she remained, an easy target for the enemy whose jaws opened wide. Saliva dripped from their fangs, landing on Estelle's pale facial features.

Nothing. She couldn't do... anything. Horror had taken a hold of her being, her fight-or-flight response practically non-existent. Not a blood-curling scream or shriek was released, lips never parting. Instead her head was tilted back, eyes fixated on the descending set of jaws.

She could do nothing.​

​

 

[Ozymandias]

Benjamin Paige - ???

​

Rising from his slumber, Benjamin woke in a daze, grogginess fogging his mind. Something seemed off. There was no alarm ringing him awake, no warmth from the blankets that should have been wrapped around him, all he felt was a dense grit against his entire body.

"What the hell…?"

As the haze in his mind began to fade, the young man found himself covered in sand. Scrambling quickly to his feet, a shower of coarse grains fell from him, back to the piles on the ground from which they had come.

Scouring his surroundings for any source of normality, he found none. Around him were the ruins of a city, buildings in states of half decay. The ground was entrenched in piles of sand and massive thorn bearing vines wrapped their ways throughout the landscape.

This has to be a dream Ben thought to himself. But he knew in his heart that this couldn't all be in his mind. He could feel the burning sun above him, the rough sand beneath his bare feet. This was real.

As a sense of dread began to wash over him, he felt a buzz come from his pocket. His phone! Of course, he could just call someone and find a way out of whatever hell hole he had somehow managed to stumble into. Frantically pulling the device from his pocket, Ben couldn't stop himself from trembling out of fear. Wherever this place was, it didn't seem like the safest place in to be.

Opening the phone he immediately dialed 9-1-1. Without even a single ring, the line disconnected. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, but dialed the number again to only achieve the same result.

This can't be happening Ben's mind scrambled to find a solution to the problem, when he noticed something different about his phone. On the homescreen was an app he had never seen before. "CogniChat" seemed like a pretty sketchy program, but it had a notification which sparked all the hope that he needed.

Opening the app, he found that there was a single message from someone named Viceroy.

"Kid…

Hey Kid!

Get up and move.

I don't know how you got here, but you're not safe."

All sense of hope that the notification had given him was gone now. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this place?

Shifting his gaze from the phone in his hands, Ben scoured his surroundings once more. It remained unchanged, except for a figure he could make out amongst the ruins. Elated to find someone else, the young man shouted towards the figure, waving his arms back and forth.

It seemed to get their attention, causing them to start moving towards him.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, the spark of hope returned to him. But as it approached, he could start making out the figure's features, or lack thereof.

This was no human. While humanoid in figure, the creature was a jet black shadow with large pointed ears and a short snout. And it was making its way towards Ben.

The sense of hope once again gone in an instant, he started sweating profusely, heart beating out of his chest. There was only one thing to do. Swiftly, he turned around and sprinted in the other direction.

Years upon years of constant running had gifted him with the stamina of a marathon runner and the speed of a sprinter. Benjamin had always thought that all those years of training were for the big leagues of soccer, but ultimately it would be for this, his own survival.

Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the distance between him and the shadow growing. The hope was back again. This was it. No one could ever catch him.

Then suddenly a blue flash of light shot out from the figure. Approaching Ben with ungodly speed, his vision faded into a bright blue light.

 

[PastelPhoenix]

Making it prettier later.

Valeria Kylsey

A Dream of ???​

An irritating feeling washed over Valeria as a sudden heat hit her body. Opening her groggy eyes, the first thing she saw was sand. Lots of sand. At least it explained the irritation. Picking back up her fallen glasses, she was finally able to properly appreciate the situation she was in.

Wherever her dream took her, it appeared to have been through some kind of nuclear war. Various buildings stood damaged beyond recognition, and a thick layer of sand had swept over the place. More importantly, there seemed to be some kind of creatures lurking around. She could barely get her eyes on them before they would appear to sink away into the shadows.

Slowly picking herself up and brushing a decent amount of sand off herself, Valeria began to slowly walk into the middle of the area. If something was going to grab her, she wanted to see it coming. What she least expected was to be floored by a building of all things.

The building has apparently changed shapes of all things. For a few moments it looked brand new, not a decrepit ruin. Even worse, she had an awful feeling that she had seen that very building before.

Was that the god-damn Trak-Bank building? Her mind said no, but her instincts said it was. Her dad had complained to much about the company going back and forth on the design for her not to remember it. But why is it so messed up?

Realizing her phone was lying on the ground, she grabbed it and noticed she apparently had some notifications. Although the app and person were unfamiliar, the actual message was simple enough, she had to run. Normally unsolicited advice was of dubious quality, but a simple look at the monsters around her was enough to decide that strange advice was better than whatever this creature was liable to do if it caught her. Just before she could start her dash to safety, a shock of long, dark hair flew between two of the buildings. It was only the briefest of sightings, but it looked an awful lot like one of her classmates.

"Shiiiiit, you just had to make things complicated." Sighing and adjusting her path to take off after the girl, she grabbed a small plank of wood next to her just in case. Taking off in a sprint towards the buildings the girl ducked behind, the shadows seemed to react to her actions and began staggering towards her. She kept a steady pace, weaving between buildings and making sudden turns to avoid the monsters. After just a few turns with no sign of the girl she decided it was time to admit defeat. Hopefully she would be okay, since she apparently could out run both the monsters and her would-be help.

Now all that mattered to Valeria was getting somewhere safe herself. The center of the square seemed the best bet; the monsters didn't appear to like to leave the shadows. Following a rough mental map, Valeria continued to race down the alleys. What sounded like bricks falling distracted her for a brief second, and after turning a corner blind she found herself colliding with something solid.

A black blur of fur blocked the vision of the rest of the alley. The central plaza seemed like an oasis of safety just beyond the tall figure. Luckily it seemed just as confused by the sudden impact as Valeria, and an ache in her hand reminder her that she was armed.

Taking a wild swing, she made contact with the beasts shoulder. Joy quickly turned to horror as the board just disintegrated upon impact, degraded from rot and the elements. Her weapon was now merely a small hunk of wood, and the creature barely seemed to have noticed it was even hit at all.

Scratch that, it looked a little offended that she expected the board to even work.

Before she could turn tail and run, a powerful black claw grabbed her by the jacket and raised her up to eye level. Although it didn't exchange a single word, its message was clear. You shouldn't have done that..

Flailing her legs, Valeria failed to find any purchase on the ground below, but a quick brush of her foot against the creature's leg gave her an idea. Swinging herself back as far as she could, she prepared a last effort kick. Swinging forward, she felt her foot connect with the creature's hip. Although the creature didn't buckle as she planned, it did flinch a little from the impact. Scoffing at the human in its claws, it tossed her to the side as if she were a piece of garbage. Right towards the Plaza.

Reeling and spinning from the sudden impact with the ground, Valeria desperately crawled as fast as she could towards the opening. She couldn't look back, it would cost too much time. She felt something brush past her foot, barely unable to get a hold of her, and she moved faster than she even thought possible.

Collapsing onto the cracked surface that she can only assume was once the paved stone that surrounded the fountain, she blacked out.

 

[Star Arcana]

Misty Washington

And so it begins...

The sun poked out from behind the curtains, or so Misty thought. She could almost feel the bright rays nagging her eyes to open, for her slumber to end. For a few moments, she stayed still on her back, trying to ignore the light and let sleep claim her once again.

"Wait, what?!"

She snapped her eyes open in a slight panic, her gaze darting to the left, where her alarm clock should have been. Instead, she was greeted by the sight of sand, lots and lots of sand. At first, Misty figured she must be dreaming of the beach, but after sitting up and getting a better view of the area, that notion was defeated. Instead of the sea, she was surrounded by ruins. Verdant, thorny vines snaked out of the doorways, windows, and broken walls; this place was abandoned a long time ago.

Misty picked herself up, making sure to brush off the grains of sand that clung to her skin and clothes. Her eyes followed the greenery, which lead to a massive thorn, which seemed to pierce the sky and reach into infinity. It reminded her of Jack and Beanstalk, but before she could reflect upon that thought, a flicker caught her attention. The ruin that had stood to her side just a moment ago was now a fuzzy version of a modern storefront. It wavered, reminding her of TV when the reception was poor, and turned back into the ancient building it had been originally. This was getting stranger by the second...

Again, her thoughts were interrupted, this time by the vibration of her phone. Shocked, Misty realized she was indeed wearing her purse, and that her cell was inside. Quickly unzipping the handbag, she reached for her sliver phone and noticed it indicated there was a new message.

"Weird," she thought silently; the message had been delivered through an app she'd never heard of, CogniChat. There was no way she'd installed that on her phone, and the girl rarely let others handle the device. It had been quite some time since she'd shared her cell, and besides, there was no way stepsis would text her at...

... the time was not displaying, and neither was the date.

The thought of a cellular virus certainly crossed her mind, but Misty figured it was worth checking the app before coming to conclusions. Just as long as he hadn't gotten her new number...

Kid...

Hey kid!

Get up and move.

I don't know how you got here. But you're not safe.

And the second she finished reading, the atmosphere shifted. The ruins felt more ominous, there was an air of tenseness now. Even the shadows grew more menacing, and Misty swore they were alive now, humanoid silhouettes sulking about before blending into the darkness.

Getting out of here before this dream went full nightmare mode was, as Viceroy suggested, the best option. She may not have known who this person was, but that advice seemed sound. However, the problem boiled down to a simple word, how? As far as her eye could see, this place continued on forever with no clear exit in sight. Trying to open the doors when the shops flickered in proved useless, and each time they came to sight, Misty swore they were familiar, adding to the eeriness.

"Perhaps they know how" she whispered hoarsely, her throat dry from the desert heat, as she typed in a response.

"Is there an exit?"

A few moments passed, and then the reply

"You must escape immediately"

Misty sighed softly, figuring they must not have understood her correctly, so she decided to clear the confusion

"I intend to, but I don't know how. Could you tell me where I can find the way out?'

Again, the wait was very short.

"You must escape immediately"

Misty sighed, with a sharper edge this time. She doubted trying again would yield new results, and found herself a little worried about her situation. Perhaps this was the point where she should pinch herself, Nan always said that would wake anyone up from unpleasant dreams. It was worth a shot, at any rate. However, before she could put her plan in motion, an terrifying shape grabbed her attention.

It was some sort of man-beast, reminding Misty of the werewolf from the old Harry Potter movie. It was more horrifying then any dog she'd ever seen, and her heart was already beating a little faster. "Stay calm, hide, run," she repeated, taking a few slow steps backward, away from the shady figure. Unfortunately, the mantra was broken when the beast turned her way, its piercing eyes starring right through her soul.

"AIIIEEE, NOOOO"

Let's just say screaming at the top of her lungs and running away didn't convince the werewolf monster to turn away and continue its business. Instead, it lunged toward its new target, phasing in and out of existence, always closing the distance with each reappearance. When Misty dared to turn and look, she let out another piercing yell, noting how much it was gaining on her. There was no way she was getting away; her lack of athleticism was already slowing her pace and the creature showed no signs of backing off.

Teary-eyed, Misty finally collapsed in the sand after a few more minutes. Her stomach was churning and the nausea was almost overwhelming; both the anxiety and exertion were taking their toll. However, the curly-haired girl could only think of the werewolf, as she watched it close in on her, it's sharp teeth exposed and soulless eyes fixed on her. Misty couldn't even muster another scream as it make it's final leap...

 

[PastelPhoenix]

September 4th, 2029

And just like that, it's over. The events pass on like a bad dream, and you're safe and sound in your own bed. Part of it still feels real though… it was much more vivid than a normal dream.

Back at school things seem normal, but the whispers are a bit worrisome.

"Did you hear about that girl?"​

"I can't believe someone went missing over the weekend!"

"Her friends say something was wrong, but she didn't tell anyone…"​

If the faculty is worried about this, they sure are hiding it well. Occasionally a teacher seems a little off put, and the principal did the announcements himself today sounding a little tired, but they carried on as they always have. News about clubs, recruiting for the various sports teams, general announcements and homework. It all seems a little… surreal.


Potential Happenings:

Spoiler:

You try and dig a little deeper into the rumors.
Not all your bumps and scratches were limited to the dream.
For a brief second the mirror flickers, and your reflection isn't quite your own.
Anything else you think would be interesting... or just have a normal school day.

​

​

 

[Songbird]

[07:02] Viceroy Regent! Guess what I've got, you dirty rotten thief!
[07:05] Viceroy @Regent
[07:05] Viceroy @Regent
[07:05] Viceroy @Regent
[07:05] Viceroy @Regent

---

[07:05] Regent STOP PINGING ME I DON'T CARE

---

[07:06] Viceroy Telling you anyways. I got servants! And lots of em!

---

[07:06] Regent Typical Viceroy.
[07:04] Regent Quantity over quality.

---

[07:07] Viceroy They're all pretty awesome if you ask me.

---

[07:07] Regent I didn't ask.

---

[07:07] Viceroy Don't know what they can do yet
[07:05] Viceroy But it's probably awesome.

---

[07:08] Regent Do you ever shut up?

---

[07:12] Viceroy I thought you'd want to know about this.
[07:10] Viceroy After all I fully expect you to try some underhanded tactic to steal the fruits of my labor.

---

[07:12] Regent After Margrave chewed me out for last time?
[07:10] Regent Not worth it.

---

[07:13] Margrave I'm still here, you know.

---

[07:13] Regent Shit

---

[07:14] Viceroy While you're here, how is your servant Margrave? You still only have the one, right?
[07:12] Viceroy Or was it two? I forget.

---

[07:14] Margrave Please tell me you're not really going to call them that.

---

[07:14] Viceroy Course not, I'm not stupid.

---

[07:14] Regent I beg to differ.
[07:13] Regent But how is she doing, Margrave?

---

[07:16] Margrave She's doing wonderful, thank you. She's come a long way since I first found her.

---

[07:16] Regent And what about the other one?

---

[07:16] Viceroy She still doing that "sleepwalking" thing?

---

[07:16] Regent …

---

[07:17] Viceroy What?
[07:17] Regent You dumbass.

"Will you wake up already? We're going to be late because of you. And get out of my bed!"

 

[forg]

Estelle Beatriz Santiago
| September 4th, 2029 |​

The dream gnawed at her the entire morning like an unresolved itch. It felt too real, too... vivid. From the plethora of sleep cycles she's gone though in her life, rare is it the dream whose details do not fade after a few hours upon waking. They stuck to her. Clinging. Estelle can recall the texture of the lukewarm sand, the dizzy spell that took place, and the surreal image of the scenery.

Heart pounds loudly once her mind stumbles upon the last few seconds of her dream. No... nightmare. It was a dreadful thing. Horrific.

Every aspect and detail of the nightmare had been messily jotted down on a piece of paper now safely tucked away under her pillow. It was far too embarrassing to speak about to her family, seeing as how she rarely experienced nightmates. Much less wake up in sweats. Years had passed since she last took a hot shower so early in the morning.

"Un-freaking-believeable," she had begun to muse, slithering peanut butter on to a newly-made toast. Fresh from the toaster. "It's not like the phone's stuff can just disappear like that. Right?" She paused at the thought, butterknife deep in the peanut butter jar. Alas she could not dwell further, forcing herself to accept it as a nightmare and no more.

Estelle breezed through breakfast, small chat, and gathered her materials for the school day.

And then she was dropped off. Despite the lovely family conversations and car trip, the dream remained etched in her mind. Did it mean... anything? Did it represent... something? Nothing a quick internet search can't fix.

Quickly she hopped on to her cellphone, surfing the web for dream interpretations. At first she had hoped somebody, at some point in time, experienced a similar dream, but it appears not. As a result she broke it into pieces; evil shadows, lost in a desert, ruins covered in vines.

...the shadow is the dark side of my nature. Well. Having found her morning spot amongst the sleuth of high schoolers, Estelle began to quench her curiosity. Or something omninious that you know will happen soon... uh. Hm. I guess? No... not really. Unfortunately the research had proved to be futile, only leaving her perplexed with the plethora of interpretations that can be made from her vague searches.

...but the young woman couldn't help but read more into her dreams, always curious about another's thoughts and opinions on the matter. It killed her free time that would have otherwise been dedicated to studying or reading articles.

"Did you hear about that girl?"

A content Estelle sat on her own on dirty benches whose dark colors were running, revealing the dull, silvery glow underneath. Feet to her left a group laughed in hysteria, hands slapping about like overexcited seals. To her right a couple displayed an affectionate show, ignorant to the environment around them. Fortunately for Estelle she has grown accustomed to it all, no longer perturbed or annoyed by the mesh of noise around.

Yet she couldn't help but overhear the conversation taking place behind her.

"Hey, did you hear about that girl that went missing?" There was a shuffle of feet and a gasp, obviously faked.

"Oh my gosh yes, wasn't that this past weekend?" responded the owner of the faked emotions. Estelle can only assume she was only participating in hopes of getting the latest scoop opposed to showing any tinge of worry for the stranger.

"Yeah, and even her friends knew something was up," a deep, male voice added. "But I bet she's doing it for attention. Bet."

School progressed as usual. Despite the circulating rumors and news that Estelle was rather baffled her own family had yet to stumble upon, nothing felt out of the ordinary. She wished not to interrupt and seem like a nosey individual to others, thus she never learned more of the subject.

That is, until her good friend Maria at last arrived. Her curly, chestnut brown hair bounced with every step, her convincing smile that only Estelle knew was no more real than her friend's colored eyes - ocean blue contacts to disguise her light brown. It made Estelle itch for contacts of her own, but in the end she couldn't bring herself to display something false as small as eye color.

Half-lidded eyes and unkempt hair indicated an all-nighter. "Heeeeey! What's up?!"

"Hai, good morning!" Estelle greeted with enthusiasm. "Did you, uh, stay up studying?"

"Yeah." It came out after a sigh, fingers relieving an itch on her forearm. "Soooo tired Estelle, and Nena wanted to watch Disney movies too, so I couldn't focus." The notorious Nena. Maria's littlest sister. Spoiled, stubborn, bossy, and filled with a seemingly endless source of energy. The few times Estelle had visited her house had been a nightmare due to that child.

"Pffft, you're Maria, I know you'll do great. You were in the top five percent in the last school. I bet you're higher here," Estelle complimented, the last coming out as a whisper.

"Stop it, I'm not that good. I wanted to be better-"

"Better? Haha... hahaha, I was in the top twenty percent. You're way ahead of me. I wish I was that smart-"

"Estelle," she interrupted, growing annoyed. What followed was one of her long speeches that touched upon confidence and self-worth. Not that Estelle was bothered, on the contrary, she appreciated the time Maria puts into their friendship. Rarely does Maria have time for a social life outside of school.

"So, heya, did you hear about a girl who went missing last weekend?" Estelle had asked amidst Maria's stories, curiosity bubbling inside. She received a small gasp in return.

"Yesssss, I did! I really hope they find her, her parents must be very worried." Frankly, the stranger's patents never crossed Estelle's mind. As sad as it is to say, it was gossip and the thrill of such topics that pushed her to dig down some more. "It would make me so pissed if she ran away without telling anybody. Remember Zerrine from middle school?" Yes. Yes she remembered, as well as the story prior and after her absence. The runaway ended up returning pregnant, pleading for help due to her boyfriend unable to sustain a family of his own.

Nothing new came out of Maria of the case. Not that she was surprised either. All she knew was the gossip circling the peers. Nothing more. It would require thorough research from the looks of it, seeing as how nobody has mentioned the case being on the news.

Eventually Maria and her parted ways, leaving Estelle to succumb to her active imagination.​

​

 

[Fen-Fen]

Valerie Kylsey and Aiko Winchester-Inoue

The time ticked away at an increasingly slow rate. Valeria knew that actually watching the clock was making her perceive it slower, but she couldn't help it. There was a nagging feeling deep in the pit of her stomach, and it had been there ever since Aiko walked into their first shared class. That girl she saw last night was the splitting image of her in retrospect, and she wanted to know why that dream out of all dreams is the one she decided to appear in. Finally giving into her frustration she ripped out a spare sheet of paper and jotted down a quick note.

I need to talk to you.
Meet me in room 113 after class.​

Folding it into something obvious enough for Aiko notice, but not too obvious for everyone involved, she interrupted the tangent about the Roman Empire the teacher fell into yet again.

"Excuse me, may I go to the bathroom?"

"Huh?" The teacher muttered, feet firmly in reality again. "Ah, Valeria. That's fine."

Standing up and feeling glad to finally stretch her legs, she made for the door while taking a detour right by Aiko's desk. After confirming that the teacher had turned back towards the board to write the next part of the lesson, she flicked the folder paper onto her target's desk while passing. Confident that she didn't overshoot, she stepped out into the hall.

As Aiko sat there, half listening to the teacher's droning about the Roman Empire, how significant it was to ancient times and other boring stuff like that, her sense of monotony was interrupted by a note that was plopped onto her desk. At first, she thought it might have been one of her friends who wanted to tell her some salacious gossip about someone, but was surprised to realize that it was Valeria. What would she want with her?

As she opened the note, Aiko was left confused. Talk about what? Aiko hardly even knew Valeria, let alone enough to have something to talk about. From what very little she knew, she was that one kid that was goody two shoes and played...what was it? Cello? Violin? But what the hell. Maybe it was some interesting piece of gossip or something like that, though she hardly seemed the type to do that sort of thing.

Turning her attention away from the slightly intriguing note, she yawned. This lecture was not doing any favors in keeping her awake, especially after that really intense dream she had last night. The ruined landscape of Havencross, that weird demon thingy... Aiko felt and involuntary shiver go down her back.

Waiting in the empty classroom was a special kind of hell. Valeria had some doubts that Aiko would actually show at all, she did pass a weird note to someone she barely knows. Worse yet would be Aiko showing up with her usual flock of friends. This was a private chat, damn it. Her heart skipped a beat as the doorknob turned, just be Aiko, just be Aiko.

Her little prayer was answered when only one girl crossed the door's threshold. She was alone! Now honestly came the hard part. She was going to have to talk to this girl and somehow convince her that she wasn't crazy with what she was about to say.

"So... Aiko. Had any interesting dreams lately? I know you were in mine last night." Smoooth.

Tilting her head, Aiko looked at Valeria and said, "Come again?"

"Something weird happened when I went to bed last night." Deciding that showing was probably better than telling in this case, Valeria lifted up her shirt just high enough to show her side and the massive bruise running down it. "A giant dog like creature picked me up and threw me in my dreams last night. This bruise is where I hit the ground. Anything that could cause a bruise this bad should have woken me up, but I woke up safe and sound to my alarm clock. Weirder yet, you were there. I saw you running away from them too."

Aiko started shaking her head. "What?! A-a dog like creature?" She gripped her arm as she was taken aback by the description of her dream. It couldn't be.

"Look, if this is some kind of joke you're trying to pull on me..." Even as she said that aloud, it sounded a lot more like she was trying to convince herself than anything else.

"What kind of joke involves me beating my side into ground meat?" Valeria suppressed her desire to smile at the girl's poor attempt at convincing her. She began to rhythmically tap her fingers atop the desk she was standing next to subconsciously. tap-tatap-taptap-tap... tap-tatap... "Look, maybe it's the pile of alien movies I watched as a kid, but nothing we saw was normal. Buildings don't just flicker like that. You don't just wake up with ripped clothes and wounds. I just want to know what the hell happened to us.

"You already know I got fucked up by those things. What happened to you?"

She really wasn't lying. She was in that strange dream, and for whatever reason they were both in it. "Well...I guess there's no purpose in playing coy now. Yes, I did have a dream with that weird world. I didn't see you, though. Though to be honest, everything was kind of a blur, so I just thought that the dream was me and some made up people. That beast was going for me too, but I blacked out before I could really feel any pain."

"Damn. Lucky, I had to make up a story about me tripping down some stairs to excuse the fact I can't do much with the left half of my body. Weirdly enough I only saw you there, but then again I did chase after you."

Hopping on the desk and wincing a bit from the sudden fire in her side, she pulled out her phone. She absentmindedly unlocked it and flipped through a few pages of apps, frowning to herself at when she reached the end. "I suppose you had your phone too. Did you have anything weird with it? I couldn't use it like I normally would... I only had some kind of chat app. I can't find it now either.

"Is it weird that that's what confuses me about all this? Well... it's all confusing, but... y'know. Slipping to another dimension and getting the shit kicked out of me by a shadow werewolf is one thing, I have some proof of that. I know at least two other people were there, but the only proof I have of that is gone."

Aiko could only numbly nod. She was right. It was so strange and surreal, and it was only by Valeria confronting her and talking about her experiences that it started to dawn just what they were getting into. "Why us? Does this mean we're some kind of freaks or something?"

"Freaks?" Valeria's eyebrows raised a bit at the girl's own conclusions. "Interesting idea. In a way, maybe? Then again that probably means a lot more to you than it does me. If you think you saw other people there then it may spread further than either of us know.."

"Bah," she blurted out and punched the desk, sending a wave of pain up her side again, "I wish I was able to see anyone else in there. I don't think this is something we should just share."

"What makes you think that it isn't just us?"

"How likely is it that out of all the people in the world, this happens only to two unimpressive high school kids. There's got to be more." Getting an idea, Valeria reached into her pocked and produced her phone. "If this happens again we should meet up give me your number so we don't have to play pass the note again."

"Umm...okay." This was one of the weirder days that she's been through. Within the span of literally minutes she gets the number of some stranger she shared a dream with. Had this been any other situation, she would have brushed it off or think that she was slipped something. Nonetheless, she exchanged digits with Valeria.

 

[Skystrike]

Joshua Rivers

​

Date: September 4th, 2029
Time: Morning
Location: Rivers' House

At the crack of dawn, Joshua woke up in a cold sweat. As if nothing ever happened, he had returned to his bedroom, and was once again wearing his pajamas instead of what he wore to school yesterday, and more importantly, it seems like that monster hadn't turned him into a pile of bones and guts. Light flooded from the bedroom window, indicating that the time of day was around dawn now. Letting out a sigh of relief, he checked his phone. That mysterious app had disappeared from his phone—good riddance, he thought—but one after another, problems arose. The surreal dream had apparently kept him sleeping for too long, as he saw the notification for his usual morning alarm went off nearly an hour before he awoke. Aww, crap! My father will kill me if he finds out about this! was the thought Joshua had. After all, his father's words on the day that he told Joshua that he would be attending St. Dominic's were "please try to not mess this up." His words were one of the many thoughts that Joshua had been thinking about lately, wondering why his father would say such things to him considering the teenager had always been a decent student.

The next few minutes involved Joshua fumbling through his drawers and closet preparing for the boring school day ahead of him. As he was in the bathroom performing usual hygienic activities, looking in the mirror as he did, the mirror flickered and shimmered, and for a moment, his reflection was more sinister-looking than before.

Joshua blinked. Was he imagining things, or... maybe he was still dreaming?

When he opened his eyes, his usual reflection had returned. He chose to brush it off as himself still being tired—despite what recent occurrences might suggest—and went downstairs. His stepbrother and stepsister had already left for school like responsible children, something that Joshua couldn't exactly say he was being right now. He took solace in the fact that Clara, his stepmother, wasn't home at the moment, as not only would he have to explain why he got up so late, he would have to interact with her in the first place. Joshua had made it a point to avoid that woman as much as possible after she offended him by talking about his past and treating him as if he was different because of it. Clara would bring it up, often using it as a reasoning for why she did something Joshua didn't like. Just thinking about her made him quite irritated. He snatched his backpack from beside the front door of the house and made a mad dash to St. Dominic's.

Date: September 4th, 2029
Time: Morning
Location: St. Dominic's High School

By some stroke of luck, Joshua somehow wasn't late to class. He noted that he also wasn't late to listen to gossip that the other students were spreading around. As he walked through the hallway nonchalantly, he listened in to their gossip. Joshua did this quite often usually, as he learned that gossip keeps high school students well-informed—often more informed than adults themselves.

"Did you hear about that girl? The one who just up and, like, disappeared?" a female voice with a Valley Girl accent whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, she went missing over the weekend, didn't she? Ooh, that's kind of scary!" another female voice responded. "Where do you think she went?"

"I dunno. She probably ran away from home or something. Her friends knew something was wrong but didn't say anything. Some friends, huh?"

"If even her friends didn't care enough to say anything, maybe her 'problem' isn't much of a problem at all..." a skeptical male voice added in to the conversation.

"What are you saying? Would you go and, like, tell someone else about your friend's problems?" the Valley Girl responded.

It seemed as if that's what everyone was talking about today. A girl suddenly going missing, and her friends saying nothing about her problems. What really confused Joshua was that it didn't seem like any adults were particularly miffed about an event. People don't just go and vanish, so why don't authority figures in the school seem worried about this?

"Hey, what's that on your arm?!" a feminine voice called out to him

Joshua spun around on the spot as a short girl that looked like she was in tenth grade was suddenly beside him. She had dyed her hair a turquoise blue, and Joshua had half a mind to tell her how hideous it looked, but he held his tongue... for now. She was gawking at his right arm for some reason.

"Oh my god, that bruise is HUGE! Where'd you get it? Did you get into a fight?" she asked him. But she didn't wait for an answer. As if the arm's owner was just a toy, she called over her friends. "Hey you guys! Come look at this!"

Bruise? I don't have a... Joshua looked down at his arm and saw a football-sized splotch of red on his arm. He pulled away his arm from the girl in surprise and covered it up with left hand in a futile attempt to cover up the bruise, but to no avail. The girl's friends were already here. It seems like

"This guy's arm has a huge bruise on it!" the bright haired girl told her friends.

"Maybe he got into a fight!" one of her friends responded.

"Or maybe his parents are beating him!" Another girl said.

"Or maybe... it's related to--"

"Don't you four have a missing girl to gossip about somewhere else?" Joshua spat out. He then quickly walked away from the foursome before they had a chance to respond. That bruise... it had to have came from the dream! The mark on his arm changed everything, he now had some kind of proof that that dream did happen.

Who was he kidding? That's not the explanation people would accept. They would faster accept a story about child abuse than a story about some kid getting crushed inside of a surreal dreamscape. He continued to keep the bruise covered up with his left hand. Tired of listening to students inside the school spread wild and sometimes raunchy rumors about why that girl would go missing, and just plain tired in general, Joshua went outside to spend the remaining time before class, where he found that the situation outside wasn't much better. Aside from fellow students generally being absentminded about the environment they're in, the rumor spreading about the girl who had gone missing only continued to spread. At this rate, that girl might become known for more than just 'mysteriously going missing'.

Joshua plopped himself down on an open bench. They were quite dirty and worn-out, but as long as no one bothered him, he would be okay. Being nosey and investigating that missing girl problem would have to wait, as he had his own problems to take care of right now. Maybe she did run away like Valley Girl's friend said.

While sitting on the bench, He glanced over at another bench and saw a girl with ivory-colored hair, although her eyebrows told the truth about her real hair color. The glance he took turned into a stare as he looked at her facial features. For some reason, Joshua felt like he had seen this girl somewhere—was he in the same grade as her? He recalled seeing her in a few of the same classes as him, so that must be it. No, he felt like he had seen that girl more recently than that. The feeling gnawed at him as he tried to figure out where she was from, and he moved his left hand off of the red splotch on his right arm, exposing it to the world once again. That is when his self-consciousness caught up with him and he swiftly turned away from her, hoping she didn't notice Joshua looking her up and down. He instead turned his attention to his phone, and thought about telling some of his online friends about the dream that happened last night. But they would most likely think it was just that—a dream. Realizing that telling someone at the moment was futile, he sighed and turned off his phone.

 

[L'Belle]

Rodger Herberts - School Life

"Rodger! Rodger! Wake up!" His mother was screaming to him from behind his door. "If you're not answering, i'm coming in!" Rodger's mother opened the door and woke Rodger up. "Rodger! What's the matter? Normally you're up way earlier! You overslept!" This was Rodger's cue to immediatly jump up and put on his clothes. He then ran out of the room. "Muahaha! I won't be too late! I'll just use my supernatural abilities to get to school on time!" Rodger even skipped breakfast, since he was veeeery late. But.... why is Rodger up so late? Normally, he is up before he even should be up. It must have been that dream he had... Rodger can't make sense of it at all. Which is quite unusual for him.

While walking to school, he heard 2 boys in front of him.
"Heya, did ya hear about that one gal?" a guy with a country accent spoke.
"I did! She just up and disappeared all of a sudden. Is that even possible?" his friend spoke back.
"Well, I think she got kidnapped! There ain't any other explanation!"
"And do you have proof of that?" The guys just kept chatting on. Rodger thought to himself: "Disappeared? Ha! Looks like this girl has made contact with satan, and has ascended to hell!" It was hard to keep his grin to himself.

When he arrived at school, he went straight inside. No need to linger around. He overheard a couple talking.
"Disappeared? That is so scary! I don't want to lose you!" The girl seemed to be very close to her boyfriend. "Don't worry Baby, I won't disappear. I'll be yours, always." Rodger quickly moved on. He doesn't believe in love. It's all fake to him. A stageplay. Quickly, the bell rang. Time for classes. This was going to be a long day..

 

[PastelPhoenix]

"Ah, so you're back." Susan greeted you without even looking up from her book. Somehow you ended up back in the library when you fell asleep. Another dream?

"I guess it is time for you to benefit from your contract," she said, saving her page with a bookmark and placing the book back down. "Wouldn't be fair for you to do all that work for nothing in return.

"Sometime in the near future your own diary will return to you. When that happen you must tear one of the pages out. I know, destroying a book seems like such a crime, doesn't it? But let your memories free, and they will guard you in turn."


​

Fading back into reality, you find yourself outside of what appears to be a large victorian manor. The sky is the same as what you experienced just last night, with that strange town center and the shadowy creatures. The building itself looks poorly maintained, with an overgrown garden and crumbling facade.

Before you can do much to leave the door opens, revealing a red-haired girl roughly your age. She's dressed in a Victorian era dress and stands with perfect posture. What's most striking about her is her eyes, which have a piercing yellow iris to them.

"More visitors?" The girl asks, staring a hole into you. "I didn't call for any, and I am not accepting anyone right now. Come back when my father is home. Escort them out, Servants."

Shadows stretch along the ground and seem to physically pile together before the entire pile bursts into a being with pitch black skin wearing medieval armor and pointing a very real spear at you. Right as you are about to meet your untimely demise, a familiar book appears before you as your head starts ringing.

New Messages from: VICEROY​

Kid...

Hey Kid.

Found yourself in trouble already?

There's a garden in the middle of this place that's safe. Meet me there and I can start to explain a few things.
​

​

Enemies Present in this Region:

Spoiler:

Bat O' The Wisp
Power Compared to you: Miniscule
This shadow appears as a bat-like creature the size of a small dog. Instead of a normal head it has a brazier like object lit with a blue flame. Tends to swarm.
Type: Curse, Ailment
Weak: Bless

Sadistic Maid
Power Compared to you: Medium
French style maid with pitch black skin hidden. Face is hidden behind a simple white mask. Speaks sweetly despite her actual words being dark in tone. Occasionally pairs with other Shadows.
Type: Ice, Physical
Weak: Fire

Flighty Butler
Power Compared to you: Low
Suited butler with pitch blank skin and a blank mask. Seems to not care about the battle either way. Often pairs with others.
Type: Wind, Heal
Weak: Elec

Scheming Nobleman
Power Compared to You: Low
Mask is ornate and jeweled. His words are hollow, and praises only come from him when it helps him get ahead. Always found with other shadows.
Type: Buff, Debuff, Psy
Weak: Nuke

Animated Armor
Power Compared to You: High
A walking suit of armor. It's sword seems to long for the rest of its body, and the shield lies forgotten at its side. Only pairs with the Nobleman.
Type: Physical
Weak: Elec

Cannon Crew
Power Compared to You: Massive
How they got this thing inside is the question. Always found alone.
Type: Fire, Pierce
Weak: Ice

No new messages

[h1][/h1]

​

​

Accompanying OOC post coming as soon as I type it.
Viceroy's message comes whenever you feel is best.
Inside is a large and dusty, but seemingly normal manor. It seems much larger inside than you would think, however.
Feel free to PM me or ask on discord if you have any specific questions for Viceroy.

 

[Skystrike]

Joshua Rivers

​

Date: September 4th, 2029
Time: Night
Location: Rivers' House

The rest of the day proved to be peculiar, but uneventful. The teachers in all of Joshua's classes seemed to gloss over the fact that a girl had just disappeared without a trace, and whatever reputation that girl had before was quickly being replaced by rumors born from gossip. Joshua was disinterested in it all; any questions about what he thought about the missing girl—if there were any, if it looked like anyone were to approach him, he would put on a scowl in hopes of scaring them away—were met with a snappy "Don't you have somewhere else to be? Away from me?" or a jab at the person trying to talk to him. On one occasion, though, he was asked about what he thought happened to the girl. A twinge of sympathy he felt for the girl led him to say "I don't know what happened to her, but what I do know is that she doesn't need to come back to her name being smeared in mud." His words were stern and laced with a bit of concern. The teenager's feelings did not seem to be shared as he was left alone, having successfully changed the topic of gossip and laughter from the missing girl to himself. The day left him quite tired, and he had the intention of avoiding his stepmother by hiding in his room, but Joshua decided to ask someone a little bit more closer to him about the missing girl. When Joshua was sure he was alone with his father downstairs, who was reading some case paperwork, he made his move.

...Of course, it was still awkward between father and son, so Joshua and his father Jeremiah sat down facing opposite of each other in silence. A long, smothering silence. Jeremiah was not sure how to get his son out of his shell and be the energetic, upbeat person he once knew. The seven years they had spent apart had changed Joshua for better, or for worse, and he believed that this was partly his fault for focusing on his job and his relationship with his new wife instead of being there when his son needed him most. He had told Clara about what happened with Joshua in hopes that she would know where he was coming from and to treat him delicately, but perhaps she was a bit too delicate. Jeremiah needed to do something to address that, but realized that jumping into that topic right now would blunder everything. So, he decided to break the ice with a different topic.

"....How's school?" Jeremiah began with, as generic of a question as it was.

"It was fine," Joshua responded, although he was glad that was with his father opened with; it gave him a chance to ask him about the missing girl.

"Just fine? How are you liking St. Dominic's?"

"It's okay."

Silence. This conversation was going nowhere, fast. Might as well get to the point and wrap this up, Joshua thought.

"Dad, have you heard about a girl going missing recently?" he asked.

"..Briefly. She was a student at St. Dominic's, wasn't she?"

"I wouldn't know for sure."

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't know for sure? With the way information spreads with high school students, I wouldn't be surprised if someone knows where she lives by now. Weren't your friends talking about it all day?"

Joshua glared at his father, got up from the opposing couch, and went upstairs, leaving Jeremiah all by himself. Jeremiah sighed; it was going to be a hard time to mend their broken bond.

Date: September 4th, 2029
Time: ???
Location: ???

Joshua awoke to find himself in a library. The walls were lined with bookshelves, all of them containing blue books—no, the diaries--that matched the wallpaper and carpet of the room chained to the bookshelf and held down by a golden lock.

He had been here before. And, just like before, he could not speak.

That librarian from before—the one with thick glasses, and deceptively blonde short curly hair, seemed to be engrossed in a book she held. Joshua wondered if she would notice him or if he would be locked into this dream for the remainder of his sleep. But without even looking up, the librarian spoke to him.

"Ah, so you're back." Susan spoke, her soft voice filling the room. "I guess it is time for you to benefit from your contract," she said, saving her page with a bookmark and placing the book back down. "Wouldn't be fair for you to do all that work for nothing in return."

What work? is something Joshua wanted to ask, but he had no choice in the matter. He would have to save his questions for a future date.

The librarian turned towards him. "Sometime in the near future your own diary will return to you. When that happens you must tear one of the pages out. I know, destroying a book seems like such a crime, doesn't it? But let your memories free, and they will guard you in turn."

Oh boy, more cryptic crap. As if I needed more of that in my life...

Then the landscape around Joshua became blurred and melted away into the dark. He closed his eyes for this part, and when he opened them again, he nearly jumped a foot. The dream had taken him back to that strange, reverse version of Gabbro Plaza. And those monsters that had tried to destroy—no, had tried to murder him before were still there, lurking in the background, their giant shadows a constant reminder of the night before. Joshua looked down at his right arm, another reminder of what he experienced the other night was real. And it was happening all over again.

"How the hell do I get myself into these situations?" he said, disgusted. Although he sounded disgusted on the outside, the teenager was doing all he could to not scream or break down into tears or anything that would explain how distressed he was—showing emotion like that was something he forbid himself to do. But coming back to the place where he nearly died last time struck a chord inside him. Was he going to die this time? Joshua decided to address the mansion in front of him. The very worn, falling apart manor in front of him. Surrounding it was an overgrown garden, as if the owners of the manor had stopped caring about how their garden looked. Or perhaps it was just the way people who are into Victorian manors like their gardens.

"Do people actually live here?" Joshua apprehensively approached the manor, its crumbling facade unwelcoming. Well, it's better than hanging around out here. Anything's better than that, actually... He trudged out of the perpetual sand onto the doorstep and knocked on the door. Maybe he could give the owners of this place a few choice words about leaving their ten feet man beasts unchecked to attack any unassuming seventeen-year-old. The owner of the manor answered the door, although she looked a little too young to own and maintain such an expensive building. Though, she did look like she lived in it. Her head was covered in red hair; her body in a long, flowing dress. Wearing it looked quite uncomfortable to Joshua, although who was he to judge what kind of dresses the rich liked to wear? Then his eyes met her eyes. It was unlike anything he's ever seen before; her irises were a striking yellow able to bore holes in any person. And that's exactly what she did as she looked at the unwanted visitor, clearly annoyed.

"Ummmmm... Excuse me. Did you know there are ten foot man beasts lurking outside that have no qualms about killing people? Could you keep them on a--"

Joshua's sarcastic-but-really-seriously-do-something-about-this-problem speech was cut short by the girl speaking to him. "More visitors?" she said, clearly irritated by yet another person knocking on her door. "I didn't call for any, and I am not accepting anyone right now. Come back when my father is home. Escort him out, Servants," she finished, hand waving him.

More visitors? Are there other people here? "No, really, I just wanted to complain about those... okay, this isn't working. Just tell me how to get out of here, okay? Or at the very least, let me in! Those damn shadow beasts will end up killing me if I get too close and sticking around out here is too dangerous!"

But the girl had no response—or rather, she allowed her 'servants' to do all the talking. Shadows from inside the manor slithered along and gathered at the doorstep. With a yelp, Joshua backed off the doorstep and watched as the shadows piled together and eventually explode into a pitch black skin and wearing medieval armor. Joshua found himself at the end of a very sharp spear point. Ask someone for help and they sic their damn knights on you. Who has personal knights these days anyway? Well, all right then. I can deal with this, he tried to reassure himself.

The knight wasted no time lunging at him with the spear, and he jumped backwards and fell into the sand, getting off with being grazed on his left arm by the spear and narrowly avoiding more fatal damage. This situation was all too real. This place really was going to he where he dies if he didn't do something. But what could he do? He didn't have any weapons--

Joshua's thoughts were interrupted by the knight coming over and trying to stab him while the laid in the sand. He rolled over to avoid the spear stab and got on his feet—lying on the ground only left him vulnerable. Just his luck, another mass of shadows slithered over and formed second lance wielding medieval knight. Both knights approached Joshua, and in a desperate attempt to get away, he tried to kick sand into their eyes—if they had any behind their masks. It worked about as well as he hoped, the knights flailed for a moment trying to get the sand out of their masks. The teenager took this chance to escape.

As he ran away from the knights, there was a vibration in his pocket. As he ran he took a quick peek at his phone to see the notification. He stopped when he saw who it was from and where it was from.

New Messages from: VICEROY​

Kid...

Hey Kid.

Found yourself in trouble already?

There's a garden in the middle of this place that's safe. Meet me there and I can start to explain a few things.
​

​

Joshua shifted uncomfortably. First of all, didn't that app delete itself last time? And, so far, the only human he met in this world was a bit... unfriendly, to put it lightly. Trusting someone else would be a tough order. But it wasn't the first time this 'Viceroy' had tried to help him, even if it was telling him the obvious. He began to scout out for an entrance for the garden when current problems caught up to him—or rather, slammed into him. Joshua landed on his rear and looked up to see who the attacker was, and it was none other than a third Lance-Wielding Knight.

"Oh ****!" he panicked, and began backing up. However, the clank-clanking of the armor of the two previous knights behind him sent shivers down his spine. Joshua stood up as he was surrounded by the three knights. End of the line, it seemed. The first knight placed his lance directly at Joshua's throat; a wrong move could be fatal. This is it, isn't it? These knights are going to finish me off. I can't do anything to stop them... I... I should accept my fate... I can't do anything to stop anybody. I never could. I have no control whatsoever in this world. I... even when I was needed most... I couldn't do anything...

A glimmer of hope appeared before him in the form of a diary, its spine bearing the name "Joshua Rivers." He briefly heard Susan's soft voice in his head, replaying something she said... "Sometime in the near future your own diary will return to you. When that happen you must tear one of the pages out. … But let your memories free, and they will guard you in turn."
The diary awaited Joshua's hands. He snatched it out of the air and flipped through the pages of the diary. Goosebumps formed on his arms as he realized that his entire life was recorded in this diary. His flipping became more frantic until he got to a certain page.

July 20th
That man... I hate him. I hate him! He hit Mom... I tried to tell her that he wasn't good... I saw him stealing from her before... and he wasn't particularly nice towards me either... But I... I hate myself more. I watched her stumble back in recoil and I didn't do anything. I just watched... and stared. I'm so hopeless. I can't protect my mom... or myself... I'm useless... no, people are just evil!​

Reading that entry made Joshua tear up. For the first time in seven years, he began crying from remembering that day. It was the first time he saw how brutal people could really be... and how useless he saw himself as. And he hated it. It was why he became... a loner. Someone who couldn't stand to be around people. This one event... it changed him for the worse. And that is why he tore that page out of the diary. As he held it, it became extremely hot, like how it felt to touch a dish that had recently came out of the oven. Joshua tried to drop the page but it as if glued to him it seem permanently affixed to him now, no matter how painful the scorching heat that the paper was radiating felt. A sharp pain suddenly struck his head and he sunk to the ground. Despite his vulnerability at this point the knights did not attack him.

My... my head! My ****ing head! Joshua felt like his head was being repeatedly bashed in with a metal baseball bat, like his head was splitting in two. The pounding and ringing in his head continued. The ringing in his ears only increased, and then a man's voice—deep and in a whisper, and slightly taunting, spoke to him. The page only continued to increase in temperature as he spoke.

"All you do is dream of one day being able to find your hope and fight back... When you will you decide to make that reality? Thou who has suffered for seven years... will it take thine own death to force your hand? Or will you fight back against everything and everyone who stands in your way?"

Beneath the ringing and head pounding, something clicked within Joshua, something he wished he had realized years ago. The voice took on a slightly pleased tone.

"Yes... Thou art ready to accept the past and use it to propel you into the future. The future in which your dreams are a reality! I am thou, thou art I... Thou who bears the burden of the past, thou who never forgets..."

The head pounding and ringing grew in severity as the voice from inside him increased in volume. Joshua clutched his head in a vain attempt to stop the pain but to no avail.

"Thou who is now willing to make thine past yours... Suffer no more! Do not dream about revenge—stand up and ravage anyone who defies you!!"

The head-splitting pain was at its peak now. Joshua let out a pain-laced Hyraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!! as the diary page he held in his right hand became enshrouded in blue flame. Despite clearly being on fire, the page was now very cold to the touch, contradicting its appearance. Once the diary page was completely encased in flame, it leaped from Joshua's hand and encircled him, forming a six-foot protective wall around him and prompting the lance-wielding knights to stop surrounding Joshua, lest they got burned. The teenager stood up on his feet; he would never allow that hopeless feeling to come over him again. He now had a way to fight back against anything that got in his way. The blue flames rejoined and rearranged into a humanoid shape, a wispy, dark blue spirit with horns that seemed to be covered with stars like the night first took form, its tail trailing off. Then all at once the flames dissipated to reveal a shaman's robe, complete with a hood and lined at the bottom with a red frill. At the shoulders and thighs were markings that were similar to an eye, only more stylish. The being towered over Joshua, its long legs reaching to the ground.

The ringing and the migraine had finally subsided, and a new feeling washed over Joshua. It was not hope, but power, the ability to change his fate. Is this what it felt like to be in control again? He faced his adversaries, which, only moments ago, he was powerless against. But now, with this new power, that had all changed. A smile spread across Joshua's face, beginning to realize just what kind of situation this had became. The knights seemed to have gone through a change of their own, now resembling butlers more than knights, a dramatic change. They seemed less aggressive now, but being together seemed to make them slightly less reluctant to fight. One of them raised their hand and created a gust of surprisingly sharp wind where Joshua was standing, shredding his clothes a little. He recoiled from the pain but it wasn't enough to stop him. A headache began to form—perhaps caused by the wind attack?

"Morpheus! Destroy them!" he called. The being's name had came from deep inside him, like a long lost memory that is suddenly able to be recalled. The Persona heeded his call, and using a three-fingered hand, shot a beam of blue flame at the butler that attacked him. On contact with the butler's pitch black skin, the beam encased the butler in ice and then shattered into a million shards, disintegrating the butler. The new power seemed to come with heightened senses, as he dodged a wind gust magic attack from the butler behind him. Its failed attempt at an attack was responded to with another ice shard attack from Morpheus. Finally, Joshua turned his attention to the final butler. This time, instead of using the ice beam attack, the Persona covered the butler in a purple light. This left Joshua temporarily open to attack, and the butler took advantage of it, attacking him using wind again. While the wind attacks didn't hurt individually, taking two of them already proved to be quite dangerous, his clothes more shredded and visible cuts on his skin. The headache from before had became more intense, not quite as intense as the pounding during the summoning, though.

"Finish it!!" Joshua shouted, and Morpheus obeyed, finishing off the butler with another ice attack. The butler seemed to disintegrate more violently, though—did the purple light have to do with that? Regardless... he had survived. He wasn't going to die. It was all thanks to this new power.

Thank you, Morpheus! he thought, and turned around, and was surprised to see that Morpheus had vanished. He felt that power lurking inside him still. Indeed, Morpheus was now a permanent part of him. With the butlers dispatched, he made his way to the center garden to meet with Viceroy. Although he was thankful for the power, it also added onto a growing list of questions he had. What did I just do? What is this place? What the hell is going on? Are there really other people in this world? Perhaps this Viceroy would have answers for these questions, or he perhaps he'd be unhelpful as the first time he came to this world.