Make Her a Member of the Midnight Crew

[stoppedwatch]

Who: Alice and Sakuya
What: Dungeon Crawling
When: Backdated to Late December
Where: The Dungeon
Rating: PG-13, violence

[11:55pm. Sakuya was waiting at the appointed time in the appointed place as Alice had specified... she'd stayed indoors the past week during the dark hour and instead focused on learning the city during the day, but there was only so much to see when the monsters weren't afoot. Going alone seemed foolish though, so she'd arranged to meet with the only person she knew, even if they weren't that particularly close.

So now she waited, seconds ticking by in the dark, moonlit night on the countdown towards midnight.]

Comments

[grand_guignol]

[Alice nodded a greeting, then doublechecked to make sure she had her length of razor wire secure but at the ready, and her small bag of healing supplies stocked.]

Okay. The game plan is fairly simple. I'll take point and direct, and till your Persona wakes up, I'll take point on magic. I can take anything that's weak to ice or weak to magic in general.

...don't laugh when you see her. She looks nothing like me.

[stoppedwatch]

[There she was. Sakuya nodded in kind, already having checked her own knives while waiting]

I'll try to keep that in mind.

So where do we go from here? Is there any particular area the monsters can be found, or...?

[11:58... the purported "change" would be soon...]

[grand_guignol]

[And the clock strikes. When it does, the world changes completely. The moon becomes a yellow-green color, anyone who was out and about and not a Persona-user was encased in a coffin, and blood stained the streets and buildings. Alice takes a deep breath.]

At this point? To your right, 3:00. I'll take the one on the left.

[Alice closes her eyes, and when she opens them, a woman in pink and orange appears behind her.]

Parvati, Bufu!

[Ice comes shooting from the woman's fingertips, damaging the nearest Shadow.]

[stoppedwatch]

[Sakuya had seen it from her window a few times, but it was breathtaking to watch out under the pure moonlight, to suddenly see the moon change hues and the whole world change, on a level that's so very tangible in the cool night air, much more so than from the hotel room.

And then they're there, the strange, dark creatures... Sakuya's knives are out in a flash.]

Alright.

[She only gets a glance at Alice's Persona, putting it in the back of her mind for now as she turns her attention back on the shadow. As it charges forwards, she throws some of her knives, the silver stabbing into it and slowing it down a little, though hardly halting its approach. That gives her the opening she needs to close the distance though and slash at with another knife.]

[grand_guignol]

Good, you're doing great --

[Alice doesn't get her words out. She casts another ice spell, then breaks out her wire, cutting clean through the monster's head. One down, now let's see if more come out, hm? Oh, and they do. She recognizes this one from the night the hotel was invaded.]

-- try it. That one there, the one with the blue face. Close your eyes and focus. I've got your back.

[stoppedwatch]

[She winces as the shadow lashes out, cutting into her arm, but she soon forces her knife deep into its chest, dispatching it.]

That one?

[She turns an looks at it... well, might as well try. Closing her eyes, she focuses, not sure what she's feeling for... and ends up centering on that spot in her center where she usually feels it. Time. It hasn't really been there, since she came to this place, faint, muffled, like she was no longer connected. And yet...]

...something there.

[grand_guignol]

[Alice tosses a healing potion Sakuya's way as the monster dies.]

Yes. That's one like the one that attacked me when Parvati awoke. You can do it. I have your back.

[And between the wire, her healing kit, and her ice spells, she does.]

Good. Focus on it. Feel it.

[stoppedwatch]

[The maid catches it, then closes her eyes again - she'd use it later. Instead, she concentrates on that feeling, holding it tight, letting it fill her... and a word, half unbidden, half attempting to reach out:]

Persona...!

[And there's a sudden rush, a feeling of that power unwinding inside her, like the hands of the clock suddenly springing to life and turning until it was bigger than herself, bigger that her physical body, coalescing into form behind her.]

Chronos.

[grand_guignol]

It's perfect.

[And nothing could have suited Sakuya any better, Alice thought. She cleared a path of the surrounding monsters, leaving the big one for Sakuya to handle.]

It's all yours, Sakuya. Do it.

[stoppedwatch]

[Raising her knife hand, she pointed at the enemy]

Cleave.

[And simply by willing it, this creation, this summoned creature, this persona flew forwards, dashing through the cleared lane and slashing upwards with its handful of knives, scoring into that blue mask with a pure, metallic ring.]

[grand_guignol]

[That's the last of this round. Alice knows there will be others, but it's quiet for now. She pulls two cans of juice from her bag, handing one to Sakuya.]

We have a minute before things get crazy again. So. Congratulations on waking him up. How do you feel?

[stoppedwatch]

[There's a sense of victory in taking down that foe, in finally succeeding in summoning her Persona... and then a sudden tiredness and the figure disappears, her shoulders slumping a little.]

Good. A little tired, but good.

[She takes the can of juice, sipping at it before remembered the potion from before. She'd learned about those earlier, but it was her first time using it... it tasted strange.]

So we just have to... will it, like that?

[grand_guignol]

The first few times. It eventually comes a lot easier than that. The longer you use it, the more it feels like it's at your fingertips.

[Alice looks around, making sure they're still safe, and sips at her drink.]

It drains you the first few times. It's both a shock to the physical system and to you mentally. Take a rest for now. You'll need to summon again eventually tonight, but I won't push you harder than you need.

[stoppedwatch]

I see... what a strange magic.

[She smiled a little. She'd always considered the puppeteer of the forest to be somewhat aloof, but it seems she could be friendly if they were working together...]

Thank you.

[grand_guignol]

It is. I thought I had a handle on slave-type magic, thanks to my dolls, but it's entirely different. It comes from a different place.

May I say your Persona suits you perfectly? It's a reflection that makes sense. Mine...not so much. It's pretty, but I don't quite get it.

There's no need to thank me. We're the only two here from Gensokyo - no. The only two intelligent ones from home. We have to stick together.

[Alice smiles. They really do make a good team, she thinks. And she might be a bit aloof, but she was learning to open up, little by little.]

Okay. Let's go a little further in, when you're ready. I think I see another group of Shadows down that alley.

[stoppedwatch]

Well, it's colorful, at least? Perhaps there's some deeper meaning than just its appearance; I know that Chronos is a name long tied with time.

[She raises an eyebrow at the addendum about intelligence]

Are there others? I must have missed them.

[The maid nods and finishes her juice, offering to take Alice's can as well before dumping them in a nearby trash can.]

Ready when you are.

[grand_guignol]

There's a color connection. Parvati is a Hindu goddess normally clothed in white. All the visible spectrum mixing to make it.

Ah, and I meant the little ice fairy that lives by the lake near the Scarlet Devil Mansion. You see what I mean about her intelligence...

[Alice nods and stands, brushing off her skirt.]

Do you want to try taking point, or shall I?

[stoppedwatch]

Oh, I see. I have to admit, I'm not to familiar with that religion.

[A small laugh] Yes, I see...

I'll try taking point... it seems my persona is more suited for melee combat anyway, at the moment at least.

[grand_guignol]

I had to do the research myself. I still don't entirely get it, but we'll see how it goes with time, I suppose.

[She chuckles.] You see what I mean.

All right. I don't think we have anything to worry about, but I have healing stuff just in case. So, let's do this.

[stoppedwatch]

[Smiling and giving a nod, Sakuya took the lead, heading down the alley Alice had indicated. It wasn't long before she spotted the group the puppeteer had mentioned... at least in these narrow confines, it would be harder for them to surround them.

She started by throwing her knives, but it soon became clear that it would take more than that, and more importantly, her supply of throwing knives was very limited without her powers...

Well, might as well...]

Chronos!