Reveal the Never Found Now

[swordsaintseta]

Who: Soujirou Seta, OPEN
Where: Libra Ward
When: February 4th, the 13th Hour
Summary: Another world to get used to- better train!
Warnings: N/A


     It only made sense to him that if he was expected to fight and protect others in this city, then he had better figure out if there were any differences in doing battle here. The most obvious way to go about it was to experience it firsthand, even though he was sure that his guild members would have objected to his doing so alone.

     Still, Soujirou wouldn't be able to deny the slight thrill he felt in preparing to venture out at night. Even though he probably appeared oddly dressed in his full battle equipment, he was comfortable in it, as he felt a Level 90 Samurai should be. He had no problems walking around like this, especially given that Adventurers already had a much better stamina than they would have had in the Old World.

     He wasn't even sure he'd find anything around this Ward, and it wasn't as though the guide that Kotoha had shown him had said much about demons other than that they were around this mysterious "13th Hour." He doubted they had particular respawn points...

     Pausing, Soujirou had to laugh at himself as he realized he was slipping into game-thinking again. He tapped a knuckle against his head with a sigh. "I guess even with the surroundings being so different, I still can't help but think I'm in a game," he said to himself, glancing down at his gear with a muted smile.

     Not a second later, the easy expression had faded as he tensed, his hand slipping to one of the two katana sheathed at either side of his waist. Was that a noise, just now? The skies had long since turned that strange if not disturbing shade of red. At the very least, the samurai knew he wasn't the only one out here.

Comments

[phantom_envoy]

"I mean, it's hard to say." She gives a slight shrug in response. "You might run into something horrible or you might find some fairies out trying to pull pranks on people. It's been a little rough since the big clash a few months ago, so you probably want to be careful."

"I'm guessing you probably don't have your Persona yet, either."

[swordsaintseta]

     Unpredictable, in other words. Folding his arms, the samurai nods thoughtfully. "So kind of like going into any new zone for the first time," he murmurs to himself. He tilts his head at Phantom Girl. "What kind of big clash?"

     Not that being careful wasn't already a given, but he smiled a touch sheepishly in response to the following assumption.

     "Well no, not yet. I thought I'd figure that out how my fighting abilities have transferred over first."

[phantom_envoy]

"How do I say this..."

She seems to muse to herself for a moment or two.

"Do you watch any movies at all?"

[swordsaintseta]

     "Hm?" He peers at her curiously before offering another bob of his head. "Well, not recently, but I definitely have watched movies before."

[phantom_envoy]

"You know how like, maybe a quarter of the way or halfway through action flicks, the bad guys make this ominous announcement about something and then everything goes haywire and the rest of the movie is about fixing things and finding the enemies?"

Phantom Girl pauses for a moment.

"......oh god i sound like bouncing boy."

[swordsaintseta]

     The nodding continues as he listens. "Mn, kind of like the main conflict, yeah?" Soujirou asks before he falls silent as the girl pauses, head tilting.

     "...Bouncing Boy?"

[phantom_envoy]

"Yeah so that was a thing that happened." Another nonchalant shrug. "Don't think too much about it. He hasn't really popped up since then, and it's been like, three months already."

"...Bouncy's a friend of mine from home. Don't worry about it."

[swordsaintseta]

     "...eh? A movie? -or...the whole mess thing, ah! I see!" He drops a fist into a palm. And with the girl's dismissal on the subject of this Bouncing Boy, Soujirou lets it go. Interesting names they seemed to have. Some kind of superheroes, maybe?

[phantom_envoy]

"Anyway. Demons. And Persona. ...Until you unlock yours, you're probably gonna find that not much you do is going to be helpful. It's kind of a thing about being here."

[swordsaintseta]

     "It really makes that much of a difference..? Hmmmm...."

     Another world, another set of rules. It should have really sunk in when he'd first arrived, but he supposes he'd been overexcited about things again.

     "...I guess I haven't really considered things as much as I should have, again," he admits, smiling wryly as he glances down.

[phantom_envoy]

"Buuuuut!"

Phantom Girl assumes a vaguely facetious expression of glee.

"The way you unlock your Persona is by exposing yourself to mortal danger! Isn't it nice how things work out that way?"

[swordsaintseta]

     Blinking, Soujirou looks up once again, a brow quirking at the expression that's crossed the girl's face. He's a little puzzled by it, because obviously it doesn't quite match up with what she says.

     Yet, it doesn't take him another second to smile again after he considers that.

     "I guess it can't be helped. It's the same with just testing your mettle in general, isn't it? You won't know how well you fair in battle by standing on the sidelines."

[phantom_envoy]

"This place is less testing your mettle and more testing your patience sometimes. Trust me."

Phantom Girl floats up into the air a little bit again.

"Basically, you fight a demon, you get halfway to getting killed, and your Persona will spring out. It's kind of a thing."

[swordsaintseta]

     "Oh."

     He watches as she begins to flow. That's such a neat trick!

     "-wow, that's...pretty drastic. Will it really happen that way? I've died once in game already, but since this isn't Elder Tale, I don't think I'd revive if I did so, here..."

[phantom_envoy]

"Uh..." She blinks. "...Yeah, I don't know if any of us have ever died here, actually, but I'm pretty sure that's not happening. Don't worry. I've never seen it not happen."

Then again she's only seen it like once or twice, so.

[swordsaintseta]

     See that smile, Phantom Girl? That's the trusting smile of someone that's completely at ease because he believes you.

     "I'm glad to hear that no one's died here, though. Well, I guess we'll see how things go tonight."

[phantom_envoy]

Phantom Girl would never let anyone down. Totally legit reassurances here.

"You want me to follow you around for a little bit or do you think you're good?"

[swordsaintseta]

     "I wouldn't mind the company. It's more fun doing this sort of thing with other people anyway, don't you think?"

[phantom_envoy]

"Bonding through demon-slaying? Sure, why not."

Phantom Girl will reach down towards Soujirou.

"OK. If you want to come with me, we should look around for something you can manage. No giant hellspawn from beyond the abyss or anything."

[swordsaintseta]

     He holds his hand up out of reflex as she reaches for him, even if he's not sure how this is going to work. Wait, are they going to fly, then?

     "Ah, are there such things around here?"

[phantom_envoy]

"You'd be surprised."

They are indeed going to fly! Bizarrely enough, when Phantom Girl grabs his hand, Soujirou will suddenly feel quite weightless.

"OK, so rule 1 - don't let go. Rule 2 - don't scream, no matter where I'm flying. Work for you?"

[swordsaintseta]

     It's too obvious a feeling not to notice. Soujirou gasps quietly, wondering what's just happened. He lifts his head to look up at Phantom Girl again, nodding. Simple enough instructions. At least she'll be happy to know that he doesn't get very easily startled.

     "...got it!"

[phantom_envoy]

Phantom Girl grins and pulls him up.

"Here we go, then. Don't let go!"

She goes slowly, at first, making sure he's comfortable. They rise up into the air and soon, they're about ten stories up.

"See, if all I could do was fly, I'd just be... Bird Girl, I guess. But the flight's actually just because of my real power - I don't live entirely on this dimension."

[swordsaintseta]

     Nodding again, the samurai watches as she begins to ascend, and then, of course, he looks down. "-whoa..!" he breathes. "This is a lot different from riding a gryphon..." They haven't even gone anywhere except up, yet, but he can't help but feel a little excited.

     "Your power?" Soujirou looks back at Phantom Girl. "What do you mean?"

[phantom_envoy]

"Well. It's not really a power. All of my people can do it. We move between dimensions since we're not from the same one that humans are from - what's happening now is that we're in the space between dimensions, where I can move around however I want."

Comic books had strange explanations.