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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Mar 21, 2011 21:44:31 GMT -5
Minato frowned at Izanami's explanations. In truth, he had a vague memory of a shrine like that, but he'd never been able to investigate, always spending all of his free time studying. If her words were right she wouldn't be able to investigate it... meaning that only a human could.
"So I guess I'll have to investigate further myself," Minato said. He groaned. "I don't know where else to start but your shrine... you said you had places even you couldn't go, right? You think your shrine is one of those Alaya Shrines?"
Souji gave a wince at Teddie's shaking of his shoulder, and groaned before opening his yellow-colored eyes. He stared at Teddie uncomprehendingly. "Teddie...? Why are you here...?"
Atsuro was officially confused because hey he'd never seen Souji with those eyes or that voice ever. Being the newest addition to the group was such a fun thing.
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Abel's expression remained flat. By strategic definitions, Atsuro and Kaido had been weak links. They were better dead. It was probably better that Cain didn't learn anything else.
"Indeed," Abel said. He looked around at the festival. "I'm honestly quite bored of trying to search down Hitoshura, especially since I suspect he's left the festival. Cain, why don't you go make good use of your form and play some carnival games?"
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Post by mugenginga on Mar 22, 2011 2:48:49 GMT -5
(OOC: LOOK FF I POSTED BEFORE I WENT TO BED SO THERE. XD)
"I've never seen the shrine as anything but what it is, and when it first arrived it was rather dilapidated. But there has always been a presence here," Sayuri sighed, "I can let you into the honden. The only thing that concerns me is it appeared normal for at least some of your group before, back when Souji-san kicked the door in."
Teddie jumped as Souji's eyes opened. They were yellow again, which if the reactions of his friends both past and present had been any indication, was not a normal human eye color. His eyebrows angled down and he looked ready to cry.
"Sensei, j-just stay awake! Get ahold of yourself I don't want to lose you!!"
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Cain raised an eyebrow at Abel, missing his implication for half a second. He frowned slightly to show he disapproved of the order masked in an insult but did end up giving a shrug. He took a step to the side and was walking forward before he paused and turned towards Abel.
"For all the jokes you wish to make about this 'form', do know that adults aren't fond of telling children anything," Cain said, his tone far more cutting than his words. He didn't wait for a response and continued on.
"You..." Seth hesitated, before shaking his head, "You seem in a better mood. Did something happen?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Mar 22, 2011 22:13:23 GMT -5
((OOC: THE CRAZY WOMAN THREATENING YOU OVER THE INTERNET IS PLEASED.))
Abel shook his head at Cain as the boy ran off without waiting for a response. Seth managed to get out his question upon Cain's exit, but Abel didn't answer it immediately.
"It seems Cain isn't familiar with the saying 'children are to be seen, not heard'. He could gain a great more information just by hiding and observing than talking to adults." He shook his head again and turned toward Seth. "I guess I am in a better mood. I met with Yuugi, and he gave me some advice."
He paused. "Thank you for not telling Cain that Atsuro is still alive."
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Minato sighed as well. "Yeah, I remember it looking normal before, too. That's part of what's confusing me... still, I can't help but feel that has something to do with things." He looked toward the room Souji was supposed to be sleeping in. "After all, it was after we broke into there that things started going to shit like this."
Souji only looked confused at Teddie's words and sat up. He was obviously drowsy and having a hard time keeping himself awake. "I'm... not dying Teddie... and I'm not berserk either... I don't know what's... wrong..." He gave another wince of pain.
Atsuro only continued to frown at the situation. He didn't know what Souji was talking about. Berserk? That wasn't all that uncommon of a term, but somehow Atsuro had a feeling it had some greater meaning.
"Just... let me rest, Teddie. I'll be fine if I can re--"
It was at that moment that the last of the energy keeping the false Souji in this world dissipated from his body.
One would expect that such a thing would have caused Souji to immediately disappear or fade away. Instead, Souji felt a feeling not unlike being torn apart at the seams. His entire body was filled with a burning pain, and he couldn't move. That tearing pain was unlike any pain Souji had ever felt; even his fight with Nyx Avatar had not hurt quite this much.
What the world outside Souji's mind saw was him flicker like a bad television signal before he began to scream and the flickering began to increase in intensity. It was not really all that unlike the moments when Ryoji had nearly lost himself due to Death trying to take control. In Souji's case, though, it wasn't Death. Instead, the form flickering over Souji's was that of Izanagi.
Atsuro jumped to his feet and ran over to Souji, attempting to grab him by the shoulder. "Souji! Hey, what's going on!"
Izanami wouldn't get a chance to answer Minato, because not long after Minato had said his part, Souji had begun to scream, and whatever conversation they'd had was immediately dropped. Minato ran into the room where the others were gathered, and his eyes widened upon seeing that Souji was beginning to flicker. Amaterasu and Koromaru were both on their feet, with Koromaru barking rather loudly at Souji. And rather noticeably to anyone who could sense that was that the light sense of Izanagi there had been in the room was now replaced with that of a strong Shadow.
"Souji! Get a hold of yourself! Souji!" Minato yelled. Souji didn't seem to be able to hear anyone in the room...
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Post by mugenginga on Mar 23, 2011 21:09:19 GMT -5
Seth didn't dare a smile, but one did have to remember the man almost never smiled anymore. He gave a nod when Abel explained why he was in a better mood, listening but not reacting to what he'd said about Cain. The thing was, Cain knew things like that, and if he was observing... he looked over to where Cain had gone, only to look back when Abel thanked him.
"Of course," Seth said, sounding more curt than he wished. It really bothered him how calm Abel was... while still insisting Hitoshura would die. And Cain seemed to see something more there than any of them could see. Seth looked towards the bench and said nothing. Chats were not something Abel and Seth were exactly known for, after all.
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Sayuri gave a firm frown as Minato said that. Well, one didn't go around kicking in the door's of gods' figurative houses and expect things to go peachy keen afterwards. She didn't, however, say anything in response to it. Ryoji had stayed out of the conversation, because he really couldn't think of anything to contribute to what was being said.
Meanwhile, Teddie pulled back a bit as Souji set up, his hands hovering over Souji's shoulders as he gave the teenager a concerned look. He looked ready to catch Souji if he fell over, and his face was plastered with worry. And then Souji began to flicker. Teddie reached out to grab him and his hand passed straight throguh, causing the blond to jump back and look at his hand as if it was some sort of foreign object. He jerked his head up and saw the form that was flickering over Souji.
"Give him back!" Teddie shouted, presumably at Izanagi. He sounded angrier than Teddie was known to, and it was in fact a little creepy, "Stop messing with Sensei!!"
Sayuri had bolted into the fairly crowded room as soon as the presence in the area had changed. Given how fast things happened, that meant this was about half a second before Minato moved and she managed to get in just ahead of the blue haired teenager. Ryoji's surprise at how things had more or less exploded put him at the back of the group, as he'd had an extended pause of shock. The room Souji was in was too crowded to hold all of them though, so Ryoji simply stood in the doorway, staring on with disbelief. This... wasn't a normal death, by any means. What the hell was going on?!
Sayuri moved forward and attempted to grab Souji's wrist, "Izanagi, pull yourself together!"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Mar 23, 2011 22:07:37 GMT -5
Abel was not all that surprised that Seth didn't continue the conversation. The man likely didn't consider it very proper to do so anymore. He moved over to the bench and sat down on it, not oblivious to the lingering energies from Hitoshura. He let the barrier drop and turned toward Seth.
"Seth, tell me. Do you think we have a chance of winning this war?"
It was a strikingly honest question, particularly from Abel, who had danced around the question ever since he had taken the throne. Now he felt calm enough to actually ask the question he'd feared asking before, when he'd still been human.
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It really was chaos. The room was filled with people who didn't have half an idea what was going on, there was a loud barking Persona using dog, and Souji was screaming in pain as his body flickered between Izanagi and Souji. Koromaru continued to bark at Souji until Amaterasu came up and grabbed Koromaru by the scruff of his neck. The wolf pulled Koromaru to the side and ran up to Souji's side.
"S-Something's... tearing me apart..." Souji managed to gasp out. When Izanami grabbed his wrist, a spark of electricity moved through his body, and Souji let out another scream. The spark was clearly a reaction to Izanami's touch, and would shock anyone who had been touching him (or trying to, due to his partial intangibility) at the time.
Minato whirled on Izanami. "What the hell's wrong with him! This isn't how he's supposed to die, is it?!"
Atsuro didn't move. He didn't know what to do with this, and his spiritual senses were rather limited. Just enough to sense large amounts of demons, and that was about the same amount of spiritual sense most humans had anyways. Amaterasu wasn't moving either, but it was obvious the wolf was waiting for something. Actually, she was thinking...
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Post by mugenginga on Mar 24, 2011 2:05:55 GMT -5
Seth looked startled at the question, and glanced at where Hitoshura had been sitting by reflex... which happened to be right where Abel was sitting. His eyes glanced down so that he was looking at Abel's feet. Could they win? Honestly, he didn't know. He didn't know if it was possible to win this kind of thing, but...
"I think we can hold it at bay," he answered honestly, "But winning? Hi... that is, I'm pretty sure worlds have been destroyed in the conflict, and it still carries on. So I don't know. I think we can prevent YHVH from total control, though..."
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Izanami jerked her hand back as the spark jolted through her system... although it wasn't the pain (she'd felt worse) as much as Souji's agonized shout that her initial touch had seemed to cause. Teddie's eyes were wide and terrified, but after seeing what happened to Izanami he wasn't sure he could touch him. He was stuttering a bit, clearly trying to form something comprehensible, but it wasn't going well.
Ryoji, on the other hand, had taken a step back. There... there wasn't anything they could do here. Didn't stop him from looking worried and terrified, especially as Minato continued to freak out. That division between forms... he was a bit far back and at a weird angle to look at Souji, but that didn't stop him from trying. It only lasted a moment before he jerked his head towards Izanami, shouting out his question roughly parallel to Minato's.
"This isn't just Izanagi taking him over, right?!"
Izanami jerked her head towards Minato, completely ignoring Ryoji, "I don't know I can't get a reading on his avatar or him! Everything's haywire, like some kind of bad radio signal! And he's... he's not dying!"
Which could easily be interpreted as denial, but one had to remember what Izanami represented... and if an avatar/human... thing of a Shinto god didn't fall under the jurisdiction of her underworld, it was a wonder what possibly did.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Mar 28, 2011 22:14:34 GMT -5
Abel gave a solemn nod at Seth's answer. He looked away from Seth so that his brother could not see his face before answering.
"Somehow I thought that was the case," he said. "I had--" He shook his head. "--plans for what I was going to do once YHVH was defeated and repelled from our world, but somehow I knew that would be too easy."
He hung his head for a moment, and then stood up, his expression bemused. "Well, that's enough of that. I don't think it'll be long until the main event starts. We should watch it. I never did get a chance to see a real duel when I was human."
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Minato stared helplessly at Souji. The flickering was getting worse, and it almost looked like the Izanagi form was overtaking Souji's own. And the worst part was he had absolutely no idea what was going on. Izanami couldn't even get a good reading on him. Minato got the very distinct feeling that if she did get a reading on him, it would only be when his form stopped changing.
There had to be something. Anything he could do. Hadn't Igor told him stuff before?! Those had to be clues toward something!
"You're already aware that Personas are embodiments of the masks one wears to face life. But those masks are not invincible. And when one refuses to wear but one..."
And then Minato thought back. To when they'd been to the shrine before, when Souji had first discovered his identity as Izanagi.
"She then yelled at me that she didn't choose the Persona, it chose me... and then... She called me Izanagi..."
"...I have nothing to do with you and Izanagi."
"Shut the hell up already... I told you, I don't want anything to do with your stupid quarrel with Izanami."
"...This isn't Souji," Minato breathed. "It's his Persona!"
He ran forward and grabbed Souji's shoulder. His hand tried to pass through and he had to pull his hand back so that it wouldn't sink into Souji's body. He shook him a bit.
"Souji! Concentrate on everything you can remember about yourself! Your friends, your family! Remember who you are!" Minato yelled. Souji winced and looked up at Minato, and for a moment the yellow faded from his eyes. It came back a second later. At this moment, it appeared Amaterasu had enough and ran forward, knocking Souji to the ground. She stood on top of him and pressed a paw to his forehead. The wolf glowed with a bright light, and the flickering abruptly stopped.
"...the pain's going away," Souji breathed. Amaterasu turned to Izanami.
I think I managed to briefly stabilize him. My power was born from Izanagi's, so I thought that perhaps I could temporarily help him, Amaterasu said. She looked back down at Souji. At the very least, he's stopped screaming.
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Post by mugenginga on Mar 31, 2011 20:23:24 GMT -5
Seth found himself tilting forward to try to get a look at Abel's turned face, but he caught himself. He shook his head and straightened up as Abel mentioned plans... it made him frown a bit. All of them had probably had plans before things went to hell (literally, he thought with a sour expression), but he hadn't really considered what he'd do afterwards.
He looked startled as abel suddenly stood up. He gave an awkward placating smile when Abel mentioned "when he was human" and nodded. He headed after Abel as he moved towards the main area, but he paused and looked back at the bench. If Abel looked back at that point, he'd see Seth close his eyes as if trying to will away some thought, before turning back towards Abel and catching up.
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Amaterasu had knocked Minato to the side to get to Souji. Ryoji had seen the trajectory and moved forward, but his catch hadn't gone quite as well as was probably intended and while he stopped Minato's fall, it was more by being something for Minato to land on. He sat up, rubbing his head, and looked over at Minato, too overwhelmed by the situation to get the question out if Minato was okay. It was pretty clear in his eyes, though.
"Sensei...?" Teddie asked, his breath short. Something really dangerous had just happened. The bear was simple, not stupid. He looked at Amaterasu as she... uh... was talking to Izanami he thought? He couldn't really tell.
Izanami had both her hands to her face, and it looked like she wasn't daring to breath. She came to her knees after Souji stabilized, seemingly from shock. She looked at Amaterasu for a moment before turning to Minato.
"You know what's going on, then...?"
Honda had kind of backed into a corner during the whole mess. WIthout anyone to punch, he didn't exactly feel useful here. He looked at the group and decided to just keep his mouth shut. Not like he could say anything worthwhile or that his owner forgot he was with this group...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 3, 2011 1:45:13 GMT -5
Minato landed with a thump on top of Ryoji, and had to work to push himself up without causing any more unnecessary injuries. This turned out to be rather difficult due to how he'd landed. When he looked back toward Souji, the flickering had stopped. He turned back toward Ryoji. "Th-Thanks..."
Souji gave a few heavy breaths and clutched his chest. His clothes were practically plastered to his body by sweat. He didn't know what had just happened. He'd felt his body destabilize, fade, distort, and revert over and over again. He felt like this feeling should be familiar somehow. Like he'd seen it happen to someone else in the past. Someone in this room. Why couldn't he remember who?
Another spark of electricity passed though his body, and Souji gave a grunt before doubling over in pain once more. However, his body didn't begin to flicker again. Still, he didn't dare move, at risk of causing anything else to happen. He was so tired.
"...I've got a few ideas," Minato said to Izanami once he got himself pulled off of Ryoji. "I didn't realize what it was... until I remembered what I managed to worm out of Igor."
Souji slightly turned toward Minato. "You talked to Igor?" Minato gave a nod.
"Souji, I don't know how to say this..." Minato sighed. It was best to just come out with it. "But I don't think you're you. Not the proper you, anyways. Just... something born from when you were denying that you were Izanagi. And something happened that's causing you to lose your proper form in this world..."
Understandably, Souji didn't take this info well. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" He stared at Minato, and when Minato's expression didn't change, buried his face in his hands. "You have to be kidding. Please say you're kidding." He gave a broken laugh. "No... no, this can't be right. Not after all that mistaken avatar business and fusing with my memories and..."
He gave what sounded like a small sob. Amaterasu pressed up against him.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 8, 2011 11:13:29 GMT -5
Ryoji gave a kind of confused smile at the thanks. He was confused, but the smile came from Minato seeming to be okay. He'd helped Minato get up as much as he could, but he really just ended up being in the way more. Minato actually managed to step on his scarf, but he held in the "gack" so that Minato could get stabilized before pulling his scarf back.
Izanami had a concerned expression that served as a veil to a very serious one as Minato mentioned he had ideas. She turned away from Minato and tried to help Souji stabilize himself when Minato explained that Souji wasn't Souji. Izanami gave a puzzled look towards Minato, but it was cut short as Souji shouted at him. Izanami drew back in surprise at his reaction.
Honda gave a cough into his fist and straightened up as Souji began to cry, "Not... him? Uh, assuming that's the case, then where would he be?
"It's my fault..." Izanami said in a low voice to Souji. She shook her head, her expression pained and serious, "Not just because I couldn't see who you were. I didn't... I still don't understand Persona..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 11, 2011 21:56:08 GMT -5
Souji didn't look up. So this as all because Izanami didn't understand Persona? This was why he was like this? He didn't even know what the hell he was anymore!
Minato sighed and shook his head. He turned toward Honda. "I have no idea. But..." He turned toward Izanami. "You mentioned those Alaya Shrines before. I think your honden is one... and the real Souji is somewhere inside there."
Souji turned toward Minato. "...why do you say that?"
"Because nothing like this started happening until after Kanji kicked that door in," Minato explained. "I think somehow you got split off from Souji... er, Souji." He looked pretty confused himself.
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 13, 2011 20:08:14 GMT -5
Izanami had a displeased frown at Minato's explanation. So Souji was being torn apart/wasn't Souji/whatever because the group had been idiotic enough to barge into some sacred ground? She looked back at "Souji" and her expression softened. She wanted to say the group deserved whatever they got, but that would be saying Souji had. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"Do you need access there then? I can provide a key, but I'm not sure what you'll find..." She looked at Amaterasu, but didn't speak in Japanese as she addressed the wolf, instead choosing divine, * "I would prefer the entry to remain until after the festival. Is that possible, or is... this Souji too short on time?" *
Teddie looked worried, "If he isn't Sensei, then....?"
Honda was scratching his head, "I swear the whole "dark personality" thing made more sense than this. At least they were in the same damn place..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 13, 2011 22:05:34 GMT -5
Minato turned toward Teddie, a concerned expression on his face. "He's... part of Souji, I guess. I don't really understand it."
"I'd appreciate if you'd actually talk like I'm here, thanks," Souji grumbled.
Minato looked toward Izanami and pulled out his Velvet Key. "I think my own key might work, actually. It worked before when making a portal to the Velvet Room... But I think it only took me there because that was where I needed to be."
Amaterasu looked up at Izanami. I'll remain with him and keep him stable. He should last until after the festival so long as I remain here.
"Aw man, we're gonna miss the rest of the festival?" Issun sighed. "Maan, I wanted to see that duel thingymerbobber."
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Post by mugenginga on Apr 16, 2011 2:52:14 GMT -5
Teddie frowned. The only comparison his mind could bring up was... all wrong. Souji seemed like Souji, not some screwed up suppressed emotions thing. He looked a bit hurt as Souji grumbled and looked back at him.
"S-sorry, Sensei!" Teddie blurted out, "It's just.... confusing..."
Honda's eyes widened as Issun spoke, and he managed to cut off Sayuri as she was about to speak, "Aw crap, I almost forgot about that! Yuugi and Jounouchi would have my heads!"
Sayuri sighed, "Go ahead and go watch that event. I don't think its smart for any of you to be mucking around the honden with it this crowded, anyways. Souji-san... should be fine," she glanced at Issun, "And I am quite sure someone here can take you. It isn't as if Amaterasu has no means of communication with me in the room."
Ryoji had a pained frown, "I think I'd know more about Persona if I could remember things right..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Apr 18, 2011 20:18:12 GMT -5
Souji shrugged it off. "It's okay, Teddie... I'm confused myself." His expression returned to the disgruntled one, and he turned away from the group.
Issun's expression brightened, and the small man jumped from Amaterasu's back up onto Teddie's head again. "Alrighty then! Ammy, I'll be back after the event!"
Minato frowned, but didn't say anything in response to Ryoji. They wouldn't have been able to avoid this back then, anyways, since Ryoji hadn't had any memories of his true self.
Atsuro turned toward Honda. "We should get going then, so--" A very loud song in what seemed to be badly pronounced English began to play from Souji's pocket. The source was revealed as Souji pulled out his cellphone.
"...Hello?" A small pause, and a frown from Souji. "I don't think my physical condition's any concern to you." After another few seconds, he sighed and held the phone out to Atsuro. "It's for you."
Atsuro's face drained of all color. There was only one reason someone would call Souji's phone asking for him. He hesitantly took the phone from Souji and held it up to his ear with both hands. They were very noticeably shaking.
"...yes?" he asked nervously. "I... I understand. I'll be there tomorrow. Yeah... goodbye."
He snapped the phone closed and sighed, looking down toward the ground as he did so. The expression on his face would be rather familiar to Honda, the only one among their current group who had seen him over any lengthy period of time in the past week.
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