destinystrings | Reveal the Never Found Now

Entry tags:

Reveal the Never Found Now

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.

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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?"

"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.

That sounds like some pretty complicated stuff, but dimensional travel seems like a pretty impressive ability in general. To think that he's also doing it so long as Phantom Girl keeps him in tow is something else!

"Oh, I see! So it's not like some magical spell or something... It's still amazing though! So...you can move completely into another dimension from this one, then?"

"That's right. ...We call it the '4th Dimension' just because humans live in 3, but that's probably not the right science-word for it at all."

She comes to a stop now and brings him up so they're hovering together in mid-air, side-by-side.

"You want a guide to the city while we're up here?"

"I guess that makes sense..." He nods thoughtfully, but as he's brought up alongside of her, Soujirou is quickly distracted by the view. It was always so different beholding things from such a high vantage point, and the sight usually proved to be amazing.

"...I wouldn't mind that at all, if it's no trouble."

"Alrighty. ...Welcome to Phantom Girl's Super... Amazing, uh, SuperTours, now serving the city of Hinoto-Ri."

That went better in her head.

"OK, you know where the apartments are by now, right? Libra and Pisces. Two of the bigger buildings in the city." She'll point them out. "They're connected by a teleporter or something on the roof."

At least it amuses Soujirou enough for the attempt, and he laughs a little despite Phantom Girl's hesitation.

"I'm actually staying in the Libra apartments," he says as he glances between the two buildings as his tour guide points them out. "I think I heard something about the teleporter, but I haven't tried it yet! Sounds very convenient though!"

"Right. So if you draw like a straight line in between..." She'll move her finger in a horizontal motion. "You cross Leo and Virgo. Leo's where Town Hall is and Virgo is where you go if you need to buy anything. They're the areas closest to the center of the city, so they're generally the safest. The demons come in around the outskirts - the other wards. ...If you haven't noticed the theme yet, they're called things like Pisces, Sagittarius, etc., etc. Capricorn is next to Pisces over there."

A point.

"...Let's head over that way. It's a wide open field, so fighting is easier there."

He nods as he pays close attention as Phantom Girl continues to explain. "Ah, I guess that makes sense," he says, stroking his chin with his free hand. "Is there anything beyond the outskirts of the city?" From what he recalls of the map of the place, there really hadn't been any details past the main boundaries of Hinoto-Ri.

The theme hasn't been a difficult one to figure out, though. Soujirou gives the girl a nod as she points in the suggested direction. "All right. You're driving, after all."

"The other areas are pretty touristy. Scorpio's for art, Cancer is for technology... They've all got their specialties."

Phantom Girl and Soujirou will rapidly glide off in the direction she had pointed earlier.

"Alright, going down. I can show you around everything after this - the 13th Hour is only an hour, so we'd better get this done first."

Sounds like a lot of exploring he'll have to do, definitely! It could wait though, especially given Phantom Girl's reminder. "Oh, that's right, huh? I almost forgot about the time!"

Right. Find some demons, tour city later.

((Heya! Did you want to have an actual fight or just handwave some stuff?))

They'll drop to the ground now, and as promised, it is indeed generally a large, open space apart from the copse of trees off in the distance.

"OK, so... what can you usually do, Personas and demons aside?"

((I always love fights! But I'm fine with handwaving if that'd be easier for you!))

Even before they set foot back on solid ground, Soujirou is looking around, inspecting the area for anything that might have noticed their arrival.

"Well... It's a little unusual. I was stuck in a game world, although it wasn't really a game any more. Everything was quite real! So I guess that's all transferred to here for me. I'm a level 90 samurai, but that probably doesn't mean very much here. I'm good with a blade or two- and usually I act as tank for damage."

Phantom Girl stares at him for a few moments with an expression of vague disbelief before giving a slow nod.

"O....kay then. Just so you know, I don't think real fights work quite the same as video game fights. ...Or maybe they do. It's not like anyone would actually know. ...Besides you. Um."

A slight pause before she gives a shrug.

"OK, so. Demons. Basically, you just have to figure out their weak points - I guess it's sometimes commonsense stuff like ice monsters probably don't appreciate being set on fire and things like that."

((OK, I can NPC something then! Next tag!))

     Soujirou flashes her a smile. "I know. That's part of why I wanted to test things out. I wanted to see if the way I learned to fight has carried over. Obviously here there's no menu screens or health bars, but my weapons are still real, so maybe my skills will as well."

     That he's found himself able to move around at all in his full armor is a good indication enough that this is his body from Elder Tale, the body of an Adventurer. Just don't die here, he reminds himself, his smile turning slightly grim.

     What Phantom Girl outlines next is pretty basic, but he nods as he listens. "Got it."

((Yaay~! \o/))

"We can try and find something simple to start off wi -- "

She is interrupted by a sudden flurry of wind that smacks her into the ground from her floating position and totally messes up her hair.

"Oooor not. Not works, too. ...........Ow."

"Hmm~ Now what's a nice boy like you doing with something like her?"

Something drops in gracefully from the sky and casually sends another wind spell gusting towards Phantom Girl.

"There are dangerous things out here, you know?"

Edited 2014-02-20 04:23 (UTC)

     -where had that come from?? Soujirou turns immediately, the sound of metal ringing sharply as he draws his blade. He lifts his head at the figure that descends.

     A girl? No, not just a girl. Checking a status window isn't an option here, but the samurai watches her carefully. Attacking his new friends isn't cool at all, but then neither is hitting them again while they're down!

     "Phantom Girl- watch out!"

"Wow. Hey look - it's a Medusa." The second wind spell surprisingly goes straight through Phantom Girl without seeing to have any effect whatsoever. She picks herself up and turns back to the Moh Shuvuu.

"You know. One of those things that are so ugly you turn to stone."

"Oh! You little brat...!"

A flurry of icicles follows, flying straight through Phantom Girl. ...As before she shrugs it off before yawning in an exaggerated fashion.

"Must be some sort of old hag Medusa. Can't even cast spells right anymore."

Phantom Girl gives Soujirou a meaningful glance at this point - hopefully he would understand to attack while she was distracting it.

Edited 2014-02-20 04:54 (UTC)

     He blinks, briefly surprised at what happens, but it doesn't take him long to figure out what's happened. Still, it's good to see that the girl isn't hurt.

     Catching that look from Phantom Girl, Soujirou gives her a nod as he grasps his blade in both hands. He makes his move, slipping quickly towards the Moh Shuvuu.

     "I'd have asked you to apologize, but it doesn't seem like you're sorry at all," he says as he slashes his weapon at the demon.

Between the two of them, they could probably take care of this pretty quickly, but Phantom Girl will back off at this point. She figure she'll step in if he's really in danger, but if the point was to awaken his Persona...

The Moh Shuvuu shrieks at the sword slash from behind before whirling about with another flurry of ice.

"Failure of a human! How dare you...!"

Soujirou hops back, bringing his sword up defensively as he's blasted by the icy barrage. Despite the cold sting, he smiles, waiting for the moment it breaks before he charges the Moh Shuvuu again.

He drives the hilt of his sword towards her throat as he murmurs, "Lanias Capture-" turning the sword around to slash downward without waiting to see if the spell silencing skill would take effect.

As Phantom Girl had predicted, the damage the sword inflicts doesn't seem to be as strong as it ought - the demon shrieks again, then flips back a few feet and sneers.

"Lost little boy... It's a shame you have such a handsome face..."

In the blink of an eye, Moh Shuvuu has disappeared - it's quite clear where she's gone as she bites down on Soujirou's neck from behind in the next second.

"Soujirou!"

Dammit. She hadn't accounted for teleportation.

That's a slightly disheartening detail to realize, and Soujirou doesn't need health bars to tell him his blade isn't doing nearly as much damage as he could normally expect. It isn't completely useless, but- Wait, where did she go?

He senses something off but a little too late, and just before he can turn, the samurai feels teeth sinking into flesh. "--!"

The Moh Shuvuu exults as she lifts away from Soujirou, her lovely face becoming more twisted and bestial as she speaks. Her mouth -- her beak is stained with blood.

"Such tender life in you..."

She rears back now, ready to crack open Soujirou's head!

     It hurts...

     "Kyokuchō...I think....I'm going to die here..."

     Isami's words ring in his mind, a blur of memories rushing in accompaniment. His guild members staring in shock, in fear. The city Guard, its massive blade raised to strike Isami down- the sharp, cold pain that followed as it nearly cleaved Soujirou in two as he sought to protect her.

     "Injuries and pain are real. This world is real..."

     His own words, back when he realized that not everyone was so eager about being in the actual world of Elder Tale than merely a game. When he had learned that Isami was afraid to fight, and he had been enthusiastic in seeking real combat. He had thought nothing of it until that point. Elder Tale was a world he knew. Even when revival from death was an uncertainty, he didn't think twice to sacrifice himself for his guildmates. He would do anything to protect them, his precious friends...

     Their tears when they came to meet him at the cathedral... They had thought that they might have lost him forever. He came back, then, and their tears were of joy, not of sadness-

     I could die here.

     That thought chills him like a glacier sliding down his spine. He can barely feel the warmth of his own blood that runs down his neck, the pain a dull throb, but still very real. He stares up almost numbly at the Moh Shuvuu, stares past her at a world he can't reach. Time seems to drag the seconds impossibly long.

     If I die, will I go back to them? ...or will I disappear forever?

     That horrible bloody beak is coming down towards him, but he feels incredibly sluggish. He doesn't need his overskill to tell him where that strike will hit.

     The girls will be sad. Nazuna will be angry with me again...

     The rules are different here. These demons are different than goblins or even dragons and trolls. His focus sharpens suddenly, eyes widening as that bloodied beak is that much closer.

I don't want to die.

     It's like something bursts. The air around Soujirou feels like it contracts, then suddenly expands and shatters as a form coalesces above him. Its silhouette is slender, a spindly humanoid, its head resembling a helmet with the longish face of a traditional kitsune mask. Twin blades swing upwards to intercept the Moh Shuvuu, the blades themselves being the crimson thing's own arms.

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