|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 15, 2009 18:49:59 GMT -5
(OOC: Didn't fit in the title... Invite Only - Not only must you have excellent Persona 3 and 4 knowledge, but you need a damn plausible reason for why your character could be in the TV World. Ask me or FF, we can discuss it)
Atem had said nothing while the four male teenagers sat outside the hotel. Actually, it had been one large awkward silence the whole time. It was what Atem had expected when Souji insisted on coming. It really wasn't the worst part of it. The worst part was the look his partner was trying in vain not to give him.
Atem closed his eyes, wishing something that simple could block out Yuugi's gaze. Yuugi had realized it, apparently. He knew he wasn't acting like this out of anticipation for a fight. He knew it was because he'd already hit the point of grieving. He wanted to talk to Yuugi about it, but he wanted to wait for Minato to be gone. No need to dredge up the emotions in front of the teenager that was about to sacrifice his life for the greater good.
Yuugi wasn't just concerned for Atem, either. It was the largest part, but Yuugi was actually also annoyed at Atem. The former Pharaoh had thrown in the towel already, he was just passing the time until Minato died. Aside from Atem, Souji had the closest bond with Yuugi. And Minato was likely to absorbed in what he was about to do to notice it... but Yuugi actually looked a bit irritated. His COMP was on the table they were around, sitting open. Yuugi had been rather compulsively checking the time. If Minato was going to die, which he refused to accept until it happened, they shouldn't be spending their last hours like this!
It's a great thought... Yuugi told himself, But it's not like you're doing anything to help the situation. Why won't someone just say something!?
The awkward silence had gone on for a few hours. It was already 11:45 PM. Yuugi got a bit more irritated looking... before much longer it would outweight the concern in his face.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 18, 2009 3:34:17 GMT -5
The facts were these: Minato was throwing himself to die. His Death Clock read 1, according to Yuugi. So something was going to happen. And Souji was going to help Minato do it.
That was the main part that had led to the awkward silence between Minato and Souji. The fact that Souji was going against his values and helping Minato kill himself. Yuugi and Atem? No saying. Those two had their own problems. Lover's quarrel, maybe?
Chuckling to himself at the thought, Souji pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. "11:45," he said. "We should probably move outside of Tartarus' gates. Just in case."
Minato pulled himself off the wall he had been leaning on up until now. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. Tartarus doesn't just appear, it has to grow."
Souji scowled. Minato was much too accepting of his fate. Even with a week to mull it over, he was too accepting of it.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 18, 2009 4:45:25 GMT -5
(OOC: XDDD "Lover's Quarrel" indeed. XD Oh lord I'm exalting you just for that. XD)
Atem nodded, saying nothing as he stood up. Yuugi took in a breath and closed his COMP before standing up as well. He couldn't come up with anything to say. Well, anything that could be said in front of Souji and Minato. He'd never thought he'd think this, but he actually missed sharing a body with Atem at this point. He could have talked to him without the others hearing.
Atem kept his gaze focused straight ahead, which meant he wasn't giving eye contact to Minato, Souji, or Yuugi. He could feel the irritation coming off his partner, but just like Yuugi he knew they couldn't talk about this in front of the others. His face set new records for stoicism, even one as observant as Souji wouldn't be able to read it. The only reason Yuugi could was the bond the two shared.
At 11:58, Yuugi had finally had enough, "We need to stop this!"
Atem looked mildly startled, drawing out of his own thoughts and looking at the shorter teen. Yuugi shook his head as all eyes fell on him and continued to speak, "If Minato-kun has to die," Yuugi emphasized the if a bit more than he meant to, "then we shouldn't stay quiet like this! This is going to be our last hour together, right! Can't we at least talk!?"
Atem looked pained and looked towards Souji and particurlarly Minato for their reactions. He was proud of Yuugi for finally speaking his mind, but no matter what he said one part stood out above the others. "Last hour together". The Death Clocks could be changed, true... but Minato was making the choice to die. And he was going into it with full knowledge and a peaceful world around him. Atem had sealed himself after a huge fight that cost the lives of his closest friends... it was different. He admired Minato's courage for this, and wondered if he would have the strength to do the same.
Yuugi was fighting back tears as he spoke. Minato was probably going to die. The chances of him living were probably less than 1%. He had to get this out while he had the chance... he'd regret it if he didn't.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 18, 2009 16:52:54 GMT -5
Souji closed his eyes as Yuugi spoke. Damn, those two really knew how to say it so it hurt. And of course, it was obvious Yuugi was hurting just as much as Souji was about this whole thing. Only Yuugi was having a harder time holding back his emotions, obviously.
Still, Souji was having a hard time finding words after Yuugi spoke. And then, the clock hit 12:00.
There was a loud rumbling from behind the group. Souji and Minato turned around at the same time as various conglomerations of buildings rose up around the hotel. It was time.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 18, 2009 17:02:55 GMT -5
Yuugi tried to push away the feelings of guilt as he saw Souji's expression. He couldn't back down from this. It hurt, but it had to be said. Before Souji had a chance to respond Tartarus awose in conjunction with the onset of the Dark Hour. Yuugi jumped back at the display. He'd never been this close when the tower rose, it would have been a sight to see in less depressing circumstances.
As Yuugi hopped backwards he managed to trip over one of his own legs. He crashed to the ground, and Atem seemed to sense the shorter teen had fallen. He hadn't made a noise and Atem had been focusing on the tower... their bond was showing itself again. He was at Yuugi's side before the teen landed. He winced at the unexpected pain and looked up to find Atem's hand extended towards him. He looked embarassed and took the former Pharaoh's hand. He reached into his back pocket where the unexpected pain had been and widened his eyes. He pulled out K1's wallet and looked at it sadly.
Atem smiled painfully and looked back at the group, "He's right. It's time to go up but we can talk while we're there. Minato-kun, you're ready for this, right?" It was meant as a rhetorical question. Yuugi unsheathed his blade and put K1's wallet back in his pocket. He'd return it when they got back.
He looked towards Minato and Souji. Minato knew what he was doing here, he'd have to take the lead. He also wanted to see Minato's reaction towards the comments. Just one hour til what Minato thought was inevitable. They needed to talk on the way up. Yuugi sentimentality shone in his next thought. He wanted the chance to commit Minato's voice to memory. He wished he'd had the foresight to get a picture of the teen... unless a miracle happened, it was to late now.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 19, 2009 1:23:14 GMT -5
Minato didn't give any kind of response to Atem's question, but he did unsheath his own sword. "Let's go. We don't have long to do this." After all, an hour wasn't that long of a space in time, Souji thought bitterly. Minato sighed and lead the way up to the tall double doors of Tartarus.
Upon entering, Minato's gaze went to the Velvet Room door, and then travelled around the room, barely resting on that strange TV. That was one persistant hallucination.
Or so Minato thought, until Souji said, "That wasn't here before," and pointed to the TV.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 19, 2009 4:47:20 GMT -5
Atem gave a very slight nod. It was entirely possible to miss it. Yuugi rubbed where he had impacted when he fell and nodded more firmly. Atem had seemed to hesitate when Minato asked if he and Yuugi wanted to come along. Yuugi chastised himself internally. It was because the former Pharaoh had known he'd be acting like this.
Atem fell into position beside Souji, and Yuugi took up the rear, creating a diamond-like formation as they briskly walked into the building. Atem noted Minato's eyes wander to the empty space to the side of the room - Yuugi had caught Souji do that once back when they came here for the first time, he remembered. In one of those deductive leaps characteristic of the pharaoh, he surmised it had something to do with what Minato had called the "Wild Card". Too many things matched to call it a coincidence.
Yuugi noticed the television along wtih Souji. He looked at it for a moment, "...Even if others came here, I don'[ think they'd have lugged a TV in. Besides," Yuugi pointed with the sefet, "It looks like its floating there - Only something that belongs in Tartarus would do that, right?"
Yuugi was referencing the way it seemed to hover in the maze-like miasma that formed the outer "wall" of Tartarus. There was an energy that actually made it a wall, but beyond that was what appeared to a be an infinite labyrynth of sorts. Yuugi was right. The televesion seemed to be held up by the energy and floating because of it. It was solid, it didn't bob or anything. But it did take it rather outside the realm of ordinary.
Atem however, was more concerned with Minato's look of surprise. And not at the television, he'd been annoyed when he saw it first. No, at Minato's attempt to conceal the shock when Souji had pointed it out, "Does it have to do with the TV World? Souji, I know they both involve shadows, but is that possible?"
Well, if it was possible might rely on Souji's knowledge of mythology. The chaos in his world had been orchestrated from a distance by the goddess Izanami. If he knew Greek mythology, he'd know Nyx was a powerful goddess. So yeah, there was a connection that could be made thanks to meddlesome goddesses. But he had killed Izanami... then again, Minato had thwarted Nyx. And Izanami had probably surfaced in Souji's thoughts more than a few times since realizing the fog had returned to the TV World...
(OOC: I've beaten the true ending of P4. Go all out with inside references and such. XD)
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 20, 2009 16:12:53 GMT -5
Souji thought about it for a second. Even though Izanami was defeated, her influence still remained on the world. The TV World was evidence of that, and from what Minato had said, this tower had been the abode of the Shadows when the Dark Hour had existed in his world. And Teddie had said that the other side had always been there.
"I'm thinking it's a link to the Other Side, the TV World. When Izanami created her portal into the other side by making the Midnight Channel, it's possible that a portal manifested in Tartarus too, allowing a link to the home of the Shadows," Souji said. "But it wasn't here the last time we came here... why would it appear now?"
This was highly suspicious. But before Souji could voice any more thoughts on the matter, Minato spoke up.
"I think I got it working again... it wouldn't turn on the first time, but it's working now," Minato said. While Souji had been talking, he had wandered over to the teleporter. To be frank, Souji thought it looked like a urinal.
"How far up will it take us?" Souji asked.
"It looks like the ones further up are still activated, so all the way to the topmost one. We'll just have a few floors to go up after that," Minato said.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 20, 2009 16:24:37 GMT -5
Yuugi paused. Izanami? That name was familiar somehow. But the knot his emotions were in prevented him from coming up with anything beyond that. Really, Izanami was to the Shinto pantheon what the titans were to the Greek. Completely integral, but often overlooked. Yuugi's family weren't really religious. He went the the shrines and such, but it as a matter of standard Japanese society. The other factor was that "Izanami" sounded suspicously similar to "Izanagi" - So she was probably connected to mythology somehow, maybe the sibling of Izanagi or something.
He wished they'd brought up Isis or Bast. Both he and Atem could have easily figured that out - Atem because he came from a time the gods were worshipped, Yuugi because he'd developed an interest in Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology from his time with Atem.
He looked back at the group as Minato stood up from fiddling with the terminal. He was chastising himself. If he wasn't so concerned about what they were going to do, he probably could sort through his thoughts more. Atem was still looking at the television. Even through his "game face" it was clear it bothered him. He shook his head and turned back towards Minato as the teleporter came back to life. It looked like some cheesy sci-fi movie prop to him.
"Minato-kun, how quick will this happen? Once you get up there, what do you have to do in order to become the Seal?"
Yuugi glanced towards the former Pharaoh, thankful for the question. Atem was fishing to see exactly how Minato would die - If Yuugi read him right, it was so he would know when to say his goodbyes. Atem would probably just remain quiet and give a thumbs up to the teen. Yuugi knew he'd be more emotional - It was just his basic personality.
In any case, it seemed the Ancient Egyptian teenager wanted an answer before they moved forward.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 20, 2009 20:33:17 GMT -5
Minato looked down. "I don't know. The last time I attempted this was when the Fall was already in process. But the last time it happened, I rose up into Nyx herself, and summoned the Universe... it's a Persona that's part of a Tarot of its own. When I summoned the Universe, I used its power to seal away Nyx. And really, I should have died then and there. I just hung on because I made a promise to my friends to meet them on our graduation day." He looked up. "Let's not talk about that right now. We don't have long to reach the top, remember?"
Souji nodded, but it was just to make Minato feel better. While they only had 50 minutes at most now, Minato could still explain on the way. Suddenly, Minato turned toward the group.
"We'll have to be especially careful as we go through Tartarus. There's no way back downstairs on any of the given floors. You have to take a teleporter to go down at all, and the teleporters only go to the bottom floor. Not only that, but the floors above here are all mazes. And some of the floors will separate us. Without Mitsuru's special communicators, we have no way to find each other again as we go through Tartarus," Minato said. "If we get separated, we meet at the stairs, got it?"
Souji nodded. "Understood."
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 20, 2009 20:39:05 GMT -5
Atem nodded, and not just for the "comfort" factor. Not for that at all, really. Minato was right, they were on a time limit. Yuugi tried to hide his depression with focus, but it didn't go well. He wiped his eyes with his sleeves, making a bit more of a point of it than necessary. He was pretending to rub his eyes from sleepinees, but it was apparent he was fighting the tears. Atem looked pained and walked up to Yuugi.
"If you don't want to go, we can go back now..."
Yuugi shook his head with an adamance that surprised Atem, "No, I'll be fine," he turned to Minato, "I understand, Minato-kun. You should go first, though."
(OOC: You can have them teleport up now. Don't forget about why they won't be able to reach the top. X3
And do I smell me some seperation foreshadowing...? XD)
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 20, 2009 21:02:10 GMT -5
Minato nodded and walked over to the teleporter once more. He put his hand on it, and closed his eyes. And suddenly, in a flash of light, he disappeared.
Where he reappeared was where he remembered fighting Jin. There were a couple floors between here and Takaya's floor... and then then the top. Out of morbid curiosity, he wondered if Takaya's body was still there. No, the shadows had probably finished it off.
"Gross," Minato said out loud.
"What's gross?"
Minato jumped as he wheeled around. Souji was stepping out of the teleporter. Dang, Souji was really good at sneaking up on them today. The silver haired teen looked around. "It's so bright here. Is all of Tartarus like this?"
Minato shook his head. "Only this block. The lowest block looks like the inside of my school, the one after that looks like some kind of... purple cathedral, I guess, and so on."
"How far between here and the top?"
"Two, three floors if I had to guess."
"Good. That won't take us any time at all. Tartarus is a maze, right? No doors?"
"Why are you asking about doors?"
"Just wondering."
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 20, 2009 21:10:16 GMT -5
Atem and Yuugi materialized within seconds of each other. Yuugi's eyes got wide at crystalline structure. This was way different than the floor. Atem kneeled down for a moment and felt the floor. It felt like crystal too. He stood up and walked over to Minato. Yuugi had already rejoined the teens.
"This place is... kind of pretty..." Yuugi said. It would be beautiful if they weren't there to send Minato to his grave. At least Yuugi had the good sense to not say that.
"Don't let your guard down because of it. We're going forward, correct?" Atem asked. He planned on having Yuugi just ahead of him. He'd let Souji take up the rear though. Fact was, Minato and Souji were far stronger in terms of their Personas. It would be foolhardy to take a position that he or Yuugi could be easily attacked from. He wanted to make sure he stayed next to Yuugi, though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 20, 2009 21:22:23 GMT -5
Minato nodded. "Stay together." He walked forward and led the way up the stairs.
Before, Souji had been confused when Minato had said that Tartarus could separate them, but once he went up the stairs, he realized what Minato had meant. There was something at the top of the stairs that separated one floor from another, and it wasn't the ceiling. It was more of a light barrier of sorts. When Souji reached the next floor, he turned around, and saw that the stairs were gone. This floor resembled the previous one, but it was more mazelike. The last one had been rather straight forward.
Once Yuugi and Atem joined them, Minato ran forward, he was in a battle stance, and was keeping an eye out for any shadows. While he could sense them, sometimes he couldn't see them, even in this bright room. Souji followed after as Minato led the way through Tartarus. Already he could see a nearby shadow, and it immediately turned its sights on Minato. Looked like one of those Maya types so common in the Dark Hour. Minato turned around as it approached, and Souji rushed forward, slashing into the shadow first with his katana before it could hit Minato.
Looked like battle time.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Nov 20, 2009 21:28:46 GMT -5
And cause shadows rarely attacked alone, the mayas setting new records for this kind of thing, there were others. Yuugi hit one with his sefet, but it was clear he was the least experienced on the field when it came to this kind of fighting.
Atem crushed Temu's card and let off a Zionga at a Shadow approaching Minato. They did seem to be focusing on him... even though Temu and Nefertum were by far the weakest Persona, at least they were Persona. Minato was the one who would need the most shielding - He couldn't summon his. Something the shadows seemed to sense.
Yuugi summoned Nefertum as soon as he got an opening and the two made their way towards Minato. He had picked up on the same thing Atem had, the shadows really were focusing on him. The basic layout put Souji a bit away from the group, Atem somewhat close to Minato, and Yuugi between the former Pharaoh and the blue haired teenager. The shadows were, however, tougher than he had expected. He had the feeling his attacks weren't doing much.
Maybe we shouldn't have come.... we're only in the way... for once Yuugi's insecurities weren't showing through. It was thanks to how hard he was focusing on the fight.
|
|
