destinystrings | Paradisus Perditaque

Paradisus Perditaque

Paradisus Perditaque

☢

What: Closing Arena Ceremonies
Where: Aries Arena & Televised
Summary: 1/24/10AC
Warnings: This could get serious...but who knows.

The last week and a half had been, at best, an insane blur of lights, colors, Persona and celebrations.

And while your own victories have been appreciated by the population, you are, after all, Visitors. No playing in the main competition. Not even proper brackets, you were just lucky to be allowed to be IN the tournament as a main show at all! It was a great honor, and you should accept it as such.

That's show business for you.

The main news that had been on everyone's lips was that the longtime champion, Blue Sky Dragoon, had been beaten by his long-time rival, Royal Red Lion for top honors this year. Red Lion (real name Bunrakuken Karube, although they couldn't say that in public due to the new rule this year) had created the biggest upset since the event's creation ten years ago. For him, it was a monumental victory, as it meant he would be, more or less, the hero for the city for the next year. For Blue Sky Dragoon, it meant his reign of five years had finally come to an end.

Needless to say, the second place contestant looked rather bitter as he was ushered into the podium for the main division.

In the end, there had been no interruptions. The entire Games had gone off without a hitch. Your efforts had been appreciated during the course, however, and you were all invited for the final closing ceremonies. Kiyoshi Suou was still on alert, unwilling to relax even a little.

For the most part, closing ceremonies were trivial, and, dare we say, boring. The energy from the tournament had been slowly declining, and by the third national song and a kabuki reenactment of the final battle between Dragoon and Lion, most were trying not to doze off.

And yet...you...as Visitors. There's a strange feeling around you. It's not the lack of energy from the civilians, no.

Something isn't right.

Unfortunately you can't prove that and you can't stop what's going on but...you can try looking around. But you should probably be as discreet as possible, all things considered. While you can't just search the arena during the ceremony, there is still the underbelly of the stadium, athletes you could talk to, policemen on the job...

...it's like trying to finding a needle in a haystack.

[OOC - Alright timeline of events: Tonight is going to be just mingling, assessing the crowd and seeing what you can find. Create closed or open posts, or just watch the show and comment between yourselves. We have some NPCs that can talk with you (anyone who has an NPC, or was given NPC info for this log are free to have them be around), or you can talk amongst yourselves; this is, after all a celebration, although an apparently boring one.

Once this post is done, there will also be a mod post going up with a few additions about what is going to go down tomorrow, and some announcements! Our tentative hour for the main event will be the 24th at 6-7PM EASTERN tomorrow. Be there!]

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Nick is about as discreet as you can get. All of his monitors are invisible to the naked eye.

Not that it had been easy to recruit all of them. Some of them had very specific conditions they needed fulfilled if they were going to be spending time in the waking world looking for this sort of thing. Others had been more than willing to help out against those Anoli jerks.

Some of them were even "Anoli jerks" themselves in life. Nothing like a final fuck you, he supposes.

He stands casually, trying to look focused on the events at hand, while waiting for some sort of spiritual contact...

Dark Pit hadn't let his bow out of his hands since he arrived at the closing ceremonies. He had been on edge ever since being ushered to his contestant's seat, something making the pit of his stomach churn in irritation. He excused himself as soon as he got the chance, ducking out and looking for a quiet place high up in the stands to watch and observe.

Besides, if he needed to snipe one of the Anoli, it was better if he was as high up and out of the way as possible.

He shouldn't be surprised that he was followed.

Nor should he be surprised that his "quiet" place was disrupted by the sound of someone yelling and tripping over something. He shouldn't be surprised, considering who followed him.

"I'm okay!!!"

[Nikolai was very glad that the tournament had gone off without a hitch. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, he'd spent it from a vantage point with a sniper rifle, in case any violence occurred from the supposed terrorists. Towards the ends of the ceremonies, though, he'll take a break and stop in to see how things are going on the ground level. He's surprised to find things seeming a bit tense, but he can't seem to put a finger on it. Good thing he at least has his pistol hidden on him, if he can't get back to his rifle in time...

As not to raise any suspicious, he'll casually approach people, and ask an innocent question to see what's up.]

How are the ceremonies going?

Nothing out of the ordinary yet. [ Aside from his bigass self. ]

If that changes, I'll probably be near the action. And I'm easy to spot.

Loken stands ready, glowering at the cloud, his armor a dull grey in the various and varied lights of the stadium, watching from a high bleacher where he stands all alone, his foreboding presence scaring the locals off a bit. His techno-artificed eyes are scanning the whole place, though. Thoroughly.

As someone who could tell when things weren't right in a large crowd of people (thank his nation senses for that), Ludwig strongly disliked this feeling of something being off. He folded his arms and gazed out over the crowd, trying to pick out if something strange was happening. He was in something of a foul mood due to this unsettled feeling, and his deep frown gave him an intimidating aura as he loomed over a section of the crowd (well, okay, maybe he didn't loom over all of them). Something had to come up...

Huh. That wasn't so bad, actually, except for that girl who threw her underwear onto the stage. That one case had given him enough of dealing with girl's underwear for ages. But all in all, it was a pretty exciting competition. Apollo, even though he was having a bit of trouble admitting it to himself, actually had a good time. The fights were interesting to watch, even though he still didn't really know much about Personas.

However, something strange was going on. Apollo's bracelet was reacting when he looked a whole bunch of different places. Granted, maybe that was just a side effect of the large crowd, but maybe someone was hiding something... if only there was room to object here!

"Aaaaand welcome back to the Hinoto-Ri Daily News, your favorite post-apocalyptic news network. We provide the information you need to know, rain or shine, demons or Anoli, 25 hours of the day, 7 days of the week. I'm your host, the always easygoing, always ka-ju-a-ru, Tomokazu Tokudome."

The man speaking into the camera takes a moment to flash a blindingly white smile that lasts a good five seconds. Rather a lot of hair-flipping goes on simultaneously.

"We return now to live coverage of our Annual Hinoto-Ri Persona Grand Prix, winding down now into the fourth hour of the closing ceremonies. Our esteemed mayor is rumored to be giving a final speech following this last performance, but don't change that channel when he's done; here at the Daily News, we have exclusive post-Prix interviews with our new champion, Royal Red Lion, and of course, fan-favorite Blue Sky Dragoon. We've been listening to the polls and your voice has been heard - three questions submitted by our Hinoto-Ri viewers will be asked of each of these arena champs, starting with... with, uh."

The reporter squints at his notes for a moment.

"Starting with... a question about that... timeless classic making the rounds, 'The... Ju-nes Invasion'. Hm. Haven't gotten around to reading it myself, but I'm sure our champs will have some scintillating responses for us."

"Now as I'm sure our viewing public is aware, this year's Persona Grand Prix marked the first time that our Visitors have been allowed to participate in the festivities; recognizing concerns from the folks in town about rushing last-minute arrangements, the Grand Prix committee graciously arranged a smaller Visitor's Exhibition Cup. From the sound of it, it was a rousing success; I could hear the screams from the studio. Rumors abound that our Visitors could very well be allowed to participate in the tournament proper at next year's event."

At this point, he suddenly sidesteps in front of someone to put his arm around their shoulders and flash another winsome smile at the camera. Unfortunately, that someone is you.

"Now I have with me here one of our Persona-wielding Visitors themselves - Just say a few words about your experience this week to our viewing audience, will you? Smile!"

The microphone is shoved into your face.

"I say old chap, I have heard word from my fellow undead that you are a medium?"

Nick blinks. Huh, he doesn't remember this guy in the recruits. "Yeah, that's me. Can I help you with something?" He says this quietly, so as to not overtly weird out the nearby civilians more than strictly necessary.

Yukiko was only heading back to her seat when some stranger decides to grab her and put her in front of the camera. And so sudden! Before she can ask, the microphone is in her face and everyone is staring right at her.

Oh God.

Why did you grab her, she wasn't part of the prix go bug them! It doesn't look like he is going to let go any time soon so pretty much...Yukiko's stuck.

"Well...I really enjoyed it. It was my first time seeing a persona battle like this before."

Someone...please get her away.

Edited 2013-01-24 05:11 (UTC)

Actually, he was a bit surprised. He was more focused on the fact that things were obviously about to go down and he needed to be ready, and didn't notice that Pit got out of his seat and followed him. So when he looked up from swapping out the Silver Bow for his personal staff, and all of a sudden there was white and brown and a loud exclamation, it caught him completely off guard. He let out a yelp, falling from his perch in a shower of surprised black feathers and landing on the ground with a loud thud.

Dark Pit was back up quickly, though; he slapped a hand over his source material's mouth, gritting his teeth.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he hissed a whisper out, letting his hand up just enough to let him answer... hopefully softly.

Those pearly white teeth flash brilliantly as the reporter beams down at his captive ~~victim~~ interviewee. The hovering camera he operates maneuvers around to automatically search for the best angle; for a few moments, there is a distinctive whirring sound as of a lens focusing.

If there is a television anywhere in the vicinity, Yukiko will see her face magnified so it fills the entire screen.

"Not only that; those free-for-alls were something to see! You know, our Visitors bring in more than just a lovely face and a floor-dropping smile - " Here he winks amiably at Yukiko. " - but you might just change the face of Persona battling with the skills you bring in! We at Hinoto-Ri Daily News certainly look forward to the latest developments. Of course, Persona duels are entertainment Hinoto-Ri bred and born, so don't think you'll be defeating our Red Lion anytime soon!"

"Oh, but tell us - Anyone you were rooting for in particular?"

"I wanted to see what you were doing," he responds--thankfully softly. "Sorry!"

Something's wrong.

It's a gut instinct - a feeling of dread settling in her stomach and anxiety churning in her mind. And if nothing else, Zelda trusts her intuition.

Quietly, she excuses herself from the stands (despite how rude it might be to do so during the closing ceremony) and finds a relatively secluded place to hide out in for a moment. There's a brief flash, barely distinguishable from a reporter's camera, and then the Princess is no more. Her royal image is replaced by an androgynous, cowled figure, and she slips into the shadows like water, searching for the source of her anxiety.

Eventually, she makes her way to the entrance of the place where the competitors were taken before their battles. A few well-thrown Deku Nuts should do the trick for any guards standing nearby, and with any luck, she'll be able to sneak backstage...

Edited 2013-01-24 05:22 (UTC)

"Isn't that obvious?!" Dark Pit hissed out, fighting against the urge to facepalm as he removed his hand from the other angel's mouth completely.

"Yeah, but..."

But there are finer details one misses when one chooses not to follow someone to a super secret location, such as I Had Nothing Better to Do, Hey Cool We're In The Same Room Together (An Event of the Likes That Has Never Happened), and It's Really Obvious What You're Doing Anyway But I'm Asking Because I'm Nosy and Obnoxious :3!

"...I wanted to help!"

"No."

There's a very loud, "Go away," at the end of that, but Dark Pit doesn't actually say it.

The reporter feels more like a viper than what his actual job is supposed to be. Ever since that group back home wanting to publish a degrading story about her inn, Yukiko has been very leery about his type. What's worse is that he winked her.

That's pretty creepy.

Then he asks about who she rooted for during the tournament. That seems easy.

"I wasn't just cheering on for one person: I know several who competed."

"I promise I won't get in your way. I'll let you fight on your own if it comes to that!"

So, what do you do when you're walking along, trying your best to stay out of the public eye, when suddenly, somebody unexpectedly grabs you so that you can appear in front of television for everyone and anyone to see?

Completely freeze up and act like you're about to have a nervous breakdown right at that very second, of course!

Sam stammers, eyes darting between the interviewer and the camera while his mouth hangs open like he's a surprised fish. "I....I-I...um...oh god, erm..."

Looks like someone's camera shyness is cranked up to a million.

Loken may be foreboding, but nothing knows fearlessness quite like a small child.

"Mister, are you wearing a trash can? 'Cos you kinda look like you're wearing one."

Edited 2013-01-24 05:36 (UTC)

"Then go to the other side of the stadium."

Dark Pit let out an irritable noise, climbing back onto his perch on top of a small outcropping and laying out prone.

The ghost adjusting its hat before speaking.

"Well it seems that there's been a wee lad crying in the nearby facilities. As one of the head ghosts of the Stadium, and a little word of mouth from some of my friends, I would hereby formally petition your aid in helping me figure out why this is happening."

Yes because clearly this was incredibly important.

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Paradisus Perditaque

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Be very, very quiet; he's hunting terrorists ((yes it's open))

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open

Re: open

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If you want Apollo to notice a nervous tic, let me know.

Interviews! Open.

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what the hell? as in ilu~

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this is the best thing and i'm sorry

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