[player plot] Kagerou Daze

[suddenlybees]

WHO: OTA, some prompts semi-open per sign-ups
WHERE: Side A: Outlands, Side B: Daybreak
WHEN: Forward dated to May 23
WHAT: See details here
WARNINGS: Death and dying, and everything that comes along with it
NOTES: In your toplevel, please note whether you're playing on side A or side B! The plot will ICly take place from May 23-24, and players can continue to sign up throughout the month, partnered with an NPC student. Characters who do not sign up are still free to get involved with Side B prompts, so your character does NOT have to die to play with this plot. For any further questions, please direct them here. I will be NPCing Saeru and posting with kazokun

i. dawn, 5/23, open to all
[ The faintest of tremors runs through the ground. For a campus situated in the mountains, this may be scary, but hardly unexpected— if the tremor did not come with a surge of mist, black fog hissing like steam under pressure, filtering out from cracks in the pavement just outside of Theater Lenormand.

> Investigate the source, and potentially discover more about what happened, and what to do about it. There will be people who would need the help. ]

ii. throughout 5/23, closed to side A/B
[ It happens swiftly, quietly, without fanfare. Perhaps you're just minding your own business, waking up and seeking out breakfast, yawning and sidestepping before you crash into another student passing by, when there is suddenly a knife in your side, a twist and white hot pain. Perhaps you're hurrying to class, hear the shatter of glass, and make the mistake of stopping in place to look; you don't even know what fell on you, just that it was falling fast, it was heavy, and it was deadly. Perhaps you've caught wind of the rumors by now, suspicions circulating around a certain boy who is always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Avoid the boy, they say, he's bad luck. But maybe you mean to seek him out.

> Initial deaths can be played out or handwaved; let me know here if you want Saeru in a thread, otherwise feel free to NPC them yourself! ]

iii. 5/??, Kagerou Daze, closed to side A
[ You remember dying. At least, you think you died. It's hard to tell, because in the midst of a blink, the world dissolves around you and rebuilds itself into something... familiar. Maybe not familiar by sight, but the uncanny familiarity is still there, nudging at fears and worries long buried. What happened? Is there anybody here? How do you get out...

> Create your own world and make your escape! Once your character escapes from their world, they will find on their possession a small iridescent stone. ]

iv. 5/24, Daybreak Academy, closed to side B
[ What happened? You remember... dying? There was somebody else with you, you're sure of it, but they're nowhere to be seen. It could be hard to tell for some, but thick, clotted blood or a glance at your watch may be hints that 5-10 minutes have passed since you were last aware of things. Maybe you hit your head, because there's a faint hissing sound whispering at the back of your mind, like white noise, easily ignored.

There is no immediate or glaring indication that a Snake lies dormant in you, unless you're naturally attune to such things. The new power you've been granted may also come instinctively or not, a gift from the Snake housed within you.

> Have fun with your new powers! It was worth it, watching your friends get killed, right? ]

misc, not a real prompt.
[ For Side A characters who keep the stone on them after their escape, it grows steadily hotter the closer they are to their Side B partner. Once both partners meet and touch the stone at the same time, please let me know here!

For Side B characters, a toplevel regarding the final Saeru fight will be posted sometime on 5/15, to allow for investigation and IC discussion before confronting the daemon. ]

Comments

[foolishjustice]

There's an incredibly powerful, and fucking terrifying Shadow in the real version of this place. It doesn't normally appear on this floor, and it doesn't feel like it's appeared yet, but I can always tell when it's coming for me by the sound of rattling chains.

[He...looks paler now than he did right after he was shot.]

[hippocarnival]

[Foreboding.] Did you fight it, or are we just... going to run?

[foolishjustice]

Last time it caught up to me, it fucking wrecked me in the time it took to find an escape route. Fortunately, it moves slowly, so we should be able to avoid it as long as we don't get cornered...

[hippocarnival]

So keep moving. Got it. [He's extra alert, though, keeping an eye on where they can run and trying to hear where it's coming from.]

[foolishjustice]

Especially if the air turns tense. I can fucking feel it when the thing's on the same floor as me.

[It seems to be coming from ahead, but it's distant and echoing. There's no telling exactly where it's from...]

[hippocarnival]

Are you feeling it now? [Is it getting closer as they go ahead? It's so hard to tell, the way everything echos.

He looks down at the hilt and tries to... will the rest of it into form. Come on, be a sword.]

[foolishjustice]

[A blue blade of light, shaped like that of a saber, extends from the hilt.]

Not yet. When it's nearby, the lighting turns red.

[They've now come to a large door with a weathered '1' painted on it, chained shut...]

[hippocarnival]

[Ooh... Yuya turns the blade a little as he inspects it.]

Red light, okay.

[Hm... Yuya pulls on the chains, trying to see if they're not locked properly.]

[foolishjustice]

[They are locked, but they also feel fairly light, and not particularly sturdy. A solid hit should be able to break the links.]

It's a little odd that we haven't seen any of these before now. This is probably the way down...a good hit from a strong Persona usually opens them.

[hippocarnival]

A strong persona... [He looks up at Robin Hood.] That means you, right?

[foolishjustice]

[Robin nods and sets Akechi down. The Persona backs off, then draws and sets an arrow. It hits right where the chains cross, and the door opens as soon as the bindings fall off. On the other side is another boarding station, with a staircase leading down.]

That's our path deeper in.

[hippocarnival]

More subway... [Yuya squints in. This isn't the most assuring scenery.

He waits for Robin Hood to pluck Akechi back up before heading down the stairs, sword raised. As if he even knows how to use it, he's probably holding it wrong.]

[foolishjustice]

The next floor should be safe, but...

[The rattling is getting louder and closer as they go down.]

[hippocarnival]

I don't think anywhere is really safe. [He worries over his lip. But they don't have a lot of options, do they? Down they go, though Yuya tries to take the lead.]

[foolishjustice]

[The next floor looks like a slightly more warped version of the first one, the sound of chains still rattling in the distance. The air looks and feels normal, but the whispers in the wind sound even more stressed.]

...We should hurry. From this block down, Death appears if I stay too long on one floor.

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya nods, speeding up a bit. He's not persona, though, and he has physical human limits.] Is death the reaper, or something else?

[foolishjustice]

I call it by both names...if we see it, you'll know why.

[hippocarnival]

[He hopes they don't see it... but they'll probably see it.

Yuya's shoulders tense up further, but he presses on as long as Akechi does.]

[foolishjustice]

[This floor has just as many dead ends as the last. Akechi swears each time they run into one, and the rattling has grown slightly louder by the time they find the stairs down. Luckily, the general Shadows are still fleeing at the sight of Robin Hood.]

Dammit, still no personal Shadows...maybe we should try cornering one of the general ones. They don't know as much, but they can still talk.

[hippocarnival]

But they run away as soon as they see you... maybe I should try going ahead? [Get one to stop and then maybe Akechi can ambush them to get them to talk.]

[foolishjustice]

These floors are full of dead ends. We'll be in deep shit if the Reaper catches us in one of them, but the same thing applies to things running from us.

[hippocarnival]

[Makes sense. Yuya glances around before pointing at one.] There, let's chase that one.

Nat 20 on how well this goes, when low roll would've been Reaper attack...

[foolishjustice]

[He nods, and directs Robin to corner it. As it cowers in a corner, the Persona trips it, causing it to explode in a burst of black and red that reforms into three blobs of goo. The blobs seem to be shaking in terror.]

No eat me! Me no taste good!

Ah, these ones...I was hoping for something a little more articulate.

Time to be bullies

[hippocarnival]

[Oh. Yuya raises his hands.] We don't want to eat you. We just have some questions. Like, where we are and how to get out?

[Look, he's making do with what they did find.]

[foolishjustice]

[The blobs look between each other, then one slowly oozes forward.]

This maze of fear. Exit somewhere, but must fear not easy to escape. Must find way past fear, then scared person can go.

Maze of fear...? Of course. Everything that's been wrong since I got here...the Yakuza attack, the whispers, the Reaper always being close, even not having a place to stop and rest down here...it's all shit I worry about.