Let Him Live (Rei no Kaado)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Naoto hadn't even had to move anything as another folder opened up on its own. It seemed the laptop was reacting on its own to their decisions. She frowned as she read the paragraph, and then looked over toward Adachi, Yuugi, and Atem for a moment. The beggar in the scenario presented had focused on those three for some reason. The people Bakura had the most emotional attachment to in this world, most likely. That was the only reason she could see that Adachi would have been included.

Souji looked toward Atem. "I don't like this, it seems suspicious. Why would a beggar in an game like this just hand over something like that?"

"We won't know what it does unless we take it, though," Minato said.

Adachi took a step toward the board and then looked toward Yuugi and Atem. "We should ask if they know anything about Bakura." It was really the only thing he could think to suggest at this moment.

[mugenginga]

The beggar frowns at the conversation going on in front of him. He almost seems to stick his nose up in the air over it.

"I'll have you know I'm no beggar! I make a far more honest living than that! Its your choice if you want to take my help or not."

The beggar looks like he is getting up. However, he pauses as Adachi speaks. He takes a step back, as if fearful of Adachi, but speaks in the same haughty voice as before.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother looking for him. He doesn't want to be rescued."

"Hey, you son of a bitch! If you know where Bakura is, tell us!"

"Jounouchi-kun, calm down!" Yuugi shouted. He looked at the group, "The game is reacting to us in real time! Everyone just calm down!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"Yeah, what he said!" Kanji yelled. He looked toward Yuugi as he spoke, grumbled, and stepped back.

Adachi narrowed his eyes as the computer relayed what the beggar said back. "Where is he."

"Adachi, don't do anything rash!" Souji yelled. Adachi was glaring down at the game board.

"I don't care if he doesn't want to be rescued! I have to find him! Now where is he!" Adachi yelled.

[mugenginga]

The beggar gives a confused look towards Yuugi as he mentions a game. It is quickly followed by one that makes it clear he thinks your party is insane. However, as soon as Jounouchi yells, he seems to look a lot more dangerous. He seems ready to fight both Jounouchi and Kanji when Adachi steps forward. Something very much like fear is on the man's face.

Suddenly, another display popped up on the screen. There wasn't really a chance to react to it, and in half a second of scrolling numbers and letters another came up.

Beggar: 1d20+5, 18
Yuugi: 1d20, 10
Atem: 1d20-5, 6
Anzu: 1d20, 9
Jounouchi: 1d20+1, 14
Souji: 1d20, 15
Adachi: 1d20+2, 19
Kanji: 1d20+1, 16
Naoto: 1d20+2, 17
Minato: 1d20, 14
Uzume: 1d20+1, 16

Due to initiative rolls, Adachi is the only one able to react before the beggar. The beggar has shown clear signs of being about to run in fright. What does the group do?

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi blinked at the screen. He didn't know what that meant by "initiative rolls", but if he could move first, he was going to move first.

"I grab his arm and stop him from running away, that's what I do!" Adachi said. "Dammit, please, just tell us where Bakura is!"

[mugenginga]

Beggar: 1d20+2, 16
Adachi: 1d20, 17

Adachi is able to grab the beggar and shout out his question. The beggar looks terrified out of his mind and begins to talk very quickly.

"He trapped himself in some ruins! Its at the opposite end of the desert, that's all I know! Please don't send the wrath of the gods at me!"

Atem's eyes widened as the beggar "spoke". He jerked his head towards the table, feeling his head swim as he did so. Dammit, he needed glasses but he didn't want Souji off his game. Yuugi looked unsure what to do with the words of the NPC either. Anzu just looked confused. Jounouchi was the one who got anything out.

"Hey, what the hell! Wrath of the gods!?" Jounouchi growled, "I'll take that guy from Adachi and threaten him until he talks!"

Jounouchi, it is not your turn. As a result you forfeit your next turn. More action will be taken if you insist on acting out of turn again. This is the same for everyone else. Please wait your turn.

Jounouchi opened his mouth to argue back, but a memory suddenly hit. His eyes widened and the teenager actually closed his mouth. Anzu and Yuugi had both looked stunned as well. Atem looked in pain, but one could see him glare. There was quite clearly something they knew about that most of the group wouldn't be able to. Yuugi was the one to clear things up first.

"Everyone, don't do anything other than talking unless its your turn!"

He wasn't clarifying why. Minato would probably realize.

(OOC: In terms of who can act if you actually want your characters to follow and their observant enough to remember: Adachi, Beggar, Naoto, Kanji + Uzume (same time), Souji, Minato + Jounouchi (same time, so Jounouchi would act after you ended the post with Minato when following), Yuugi, Atem, Anzu. Course nothing says they have to act in turn. XD)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Minato's eyes widened as what Yuugi meant hit him. "Yuugi's right, don't do anything out of turn. You'll get penalized, and trust me, you don't want to get that penalty!"

"What is the penalty?" Naoto asked. She had a feeling that had been why Jounouchi had shut up, and why Atem and Yuugi had reacted like that.

"....Well, if I remember right... it was getting your soul sealed in one of those lead figurines."

Souji grimaced, while Kanji looked like he was freaking. Uzume didn't react. She was still staying out of this.

Naoto turned toward Kanji and Uzume. "You two can act after I can, followed by Souji-sempai, then Minato, Yuugi, Atem, and Anzu. Jounouchi, you would have been able to go when Minato did, but because your turn is forfeit, you can't move."

Naoto looked over the screen at the board. "I turn to the beggar and ask what he means by the 'wrath of the gods.'"

[mugenginga]

Yuugi nodded towards Minato, "At least, that's what it was before. I don't know if it would be any different. This isn't quite the same..."

Of course it wasn't. Last time, the actions had been taken by Dark Bakura. This time, they were being taken by Bakura. Or his suppressed emotions. Was he really so adamant about not being rescued he would hurt people to get his way about it? Yuugi didn't think that was the case, but he was sure the white haired teenager would seal them off until he was killed...

The beggar shakes his head, but seems quite aware he won't be able to get out of Adachi's grasp. He turns his head towards Naoto as the question is asked. He looks very pale, but he responds.

"Yo-you don't know?! I can't answer, he might hurt me!"

Atem closed his eyes and spoke after taking a deep breath, "Does it have to do with Adachi's version of Izanagi?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi raised an eyebrow. The man was afraid of him, and and it might have something to do with his version of Izanagi?

"I'm not going to hurt you," Adachi growled. He looked away. "I just want to save Ryou."

"Not like we'd let ya get hurt by this guy, anyways," Kanji said. He got an amused smirk as he put a hand on Adachi's shoulder. "I, uh... I pull Adachi away from the beggar." And with that he shoved Adachi away and into the wall.

Adachi glared. "Anything for an excuse to beat up on me, huh..."

Uzume didn't even look at the board. "I pass. Do whatever you all want."

[mugenginga]

“Adachi-san, are you okay!?”

Kanji had actually done rather well with how he threw Adachi. The man didn't run into anyone. Yuugi looked concerned for a moment, and had taken a step towards Adachi when he paused. If the game was reading their actions as what they were actually doing, checking on him probably counted as an action. He frowned and gave an apologetic look towards the man.

“That means...” Anzu looked to be counting on her fingers, “Seta-san is next, right?”

“I hate waiting...” grumbled Jounouchi.

Kanji is able to throw Adachi off the beggar, who crashes to the ground now that he is no longer being held up by his collar. The man hits the ground. The strength of the force causes him one hit point of damage. At his current level, it is little more than a scuff. Souji is next.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"I'm fine," Adachi said, and got up off the ground. He wasn't actually thinking about whether that could be counted as an action or not.

Souji appeared to be deep in thought about what he was going to do next. He decided to continue off of Naoto's question before. Atem had mentioned Adachi's version of Izanagi before, and now he was curious about it. "I help the beggar up. What did you mean by the wrath of the gods?"

"Hey, where's those ruins you said Bakura was at?" Minato asked. They still needed to help Bakura before the fog came on the other side.

[mugenginga]

”I told you, I can't answer that! I'm probably in enough trouble as it is!”

The beggar jerks his arm away from Souji as soon as he is on his feet. He looks like he still wants to run. He glares at Minato as he asks his question.

“I don't know exacts. Other side of the desert. This is just what I heard, okay?”

Yuugi hesitated. He wasn't used to just describing what he was doing. In a roleplay, it was one thing. But this “game” blurred the lines of reality and fiction. He bit his lip for a moment before speaking.

“I take a step towards the beggar, showing my hands to show I mean no harm,” Yuugi stated, “Adachi-san won't hurt you, he's just concerned about Bakura-kun. Please, can you tell us why you're so frightened?”

“You still haven't answered my question. Is there a connection between Izanagi and why you're afraid of Adachi?” Atem looked towards the computer, "Consider that my turn."

"Uh... I'll, um, pass..." said Anzu. She really wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.

The beggar hesitates for a moment. He is still extremely nervous about Adachi. He doesn't like the presence of Atem nor Yuugi either. However, after a glance over his shoulder he talks.

“I believe the term of your land is magatsui no kami, the evil gods...” he winces as he speaks, as if he expects to be smitten where he stands for saying as much as he has.

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Adachi looked more than a bit pissed off. It was because of his version of Izanagi? What Seta's little group had called Magatsu Izanagi? Then he looked pained. This place had been made from Bakura's suppressed emotions, so did that mean that Bakura was that afraid of him in truth?

"We're wasting time. We have to find Ryou, now!" Adachi said loudly. He paused. "I start walking to the ruins Ryou's trapped in!"

"Adachi, we--" Naoto stopped and shook her head. "Never mind. As much as I dislike to say it, Adachi is right. We need to get going." But even still, that comment about the "evil gods" and the similarity to Magatsu Izanagi's name, plus the odd amount of autonomy the Persona had been expressing concerned Naoto.

"Well, alright, let's go already, then!" Kanji said. "Man, this feels so weird," he added under his breath.

"...I pass again," Uzume stated.

[mugenginga]

As soon as the opening arrives, the beggar is gone from the group's site, disappearing into the crowd. With the group's decision to cross the desert and Uzume's choice of passing, the group splits up once again...

And then reality shifted. That is to say, they were standing in the TV World version of Bakura's bedroom one second, and were in the middle of a desert the next. Once the potentially sickening scene shift occurred, the group would be able to realize the area they were now in resembled the scenery outside of Yuugi and Atem's world. The only things remaining for the main group was the board, the computer, and each other... worth not was Uzume wasn't there at all. The figures were all near the back of the board, the one furthest from the computer, minus Uzume's, who wasn't visible at all.

After several days of travel, the group finds themselves nearing the other end of the desert. In the distance, one can see what looks like the ruins of an ancient city. Most of it is buried beneath the sand. Since this is not an encounter, the group is free to take actions in any order they wish until it is time to roll initiative again.

At the edge of the ruins appears to be a worn sign. The writing is in hieroglyphics. The only members of the party who could read it are Atem.

Yuugi: 1d20+1, 17
Naoto: 1d20-5, 12
Souji: 1d20-5, 10
Minato: 1d20-5, 4

Yuugi would also be able to figure out some of the letters.

Atem gracefully collapsed as the transition happened. The pain in his forehead spiked and he quite honestly missed about half of what the computer read off. Yuugi had run over to him before even waiting to hear about the adjusted scenery. This caused extremely worried expressions from Jounouchi and Anzu, who both clearly wanted to run over to Atem as well.

“Atem!”

“I'm... fine, Partner...”

“You are not!”

----------

Back in the bedroom like world, Uzume was the only one left. Uzume's figure had transferred to now being on the edge of the board. None of the other figures were visible.

Due to your choice to not remain with the group, you have had the past few days to yourself. What have you been doing?

(OOC: The writing at the ruins is not Ancient Egyptian if you look at it. It looks like a bunch of random vaguely-hieroglyphic like symbols. However, those of the group that can read it would be able to read it as if it was.)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Souji had blinked as the scene changed. Minato had just about tripped. Naoto's eyes widened, and Kanji was freaking out. Adachi was pretty well weirded out himself, but the moment he heard the sound of something thump on the sand behind him, he turned. Looked like the Pharaoh had collapsed from the fog and the scene transition.

Souji looked over at Atem, and then over at Adachi. Suddenly, he plucked Atem's glasses off of Adachi's face. Adachi blinked as his vision flooded with fog, and gave Souji an angry glare.

"Hey! I need those to see!" Adachi yelled. Souji groaned and pulled his own pair off before tossing it at Adachi. Adachi caught them and put them on his face, this pair not fitting quite as well as Atem's had.

Souji went over to Yuugi and Atem. He held out Atem's glasses. "Here. It's the fog, that's what's hurting him. With how thick the fog is, he's straining himself too much."

Naoto was observing the situation for now. After they made sure Atem was alright, they could examine the signpost.

--------------------

Uzume hadn't blinked as the others suddenly disappeared. In fact, she felt she had a better understanding of this game than any of the humans did, and she'd never played it. As the computer spoke, she gave a "hmph".

"I have been waiting for his majesty Abel to give me more orders," Uzume stated. "As it is, I'm stuck with these humans so I can take them out of this world once they rescue Bakura Ryou."