First Arcana: The Awakening

[sukeban]

Characters: Yuko and whoever runs into her
Setting: Starting at 2-15, then exploring the first block.
Format: Action, unless you'd rather prose it up
Summary: Yuko wakes up in a strange place with no idea how she got here, because apparently it was her turn to do that this time.
Warnings: None to start, added as they come.

2-15/Dorm hallway
[This was some kind of mistake. Yuko couldn't just take some cut and pasted note essentially saying, hi, the world is gone, enjoy your stay, at face value. She wouldn't have slept through that, at least not in such a way that she would have, y'know, survived. Her first instinct, after crumpling the letter and tossing it aside, was to find answers.

The first place she opted to look? The halls of the dorm levels, checking all four for whatever information she could find, whether from her fellow captives or otherwise.]


Floor 3
[Beyond the dormitories, themselves lit about as well as a typical survival horror game, the power was dead, and light was at an absolute premium, so after the first floor, she had backtracked to the elevator, using the MP3 player Yosuke had given her as an impromptu flashlight. The presence of a library immediately caught her interest - if there was anything to be learned about this place, logic said she'd find it here. As she scans the backlight of the portable music player across the shelves, however, her hope visibly gives way to disappointment.]


Floor 6
[For every question that was left unanswered by the first five levels of the tower, several more were promptly raised by the sixth. There was no sign from the fourth floor windows that this was remotely possible, and Yuko could think of only one place that would so defy geometry, to say nothing of the fog outside... but even that was impossible. They'd purified that place, and this one, pun not intended, was wrong on far more levels. The least of those, perhaps, was how friendly the various woodland creatures appeared not to be. She'd give a token look around, but it seemed best not to linger.]


Floor 10
[It was like standing in the middle of the ocean. If she'd seen something like this anywhere else, she'd be in awe of its beauty. All sorts of marine life floated through the gravity-defying waters. Some, Yuko recognized, some was impossibly alien. For a little while, she pauses her search, simply to admire her surroundings. Wherever she was, this place fascinated her.]

Comments

2-15

[justabitcreepy]

[Hey, roomie. Guess who just got hit with that piece of paper? Yep. The nearly invisible goth chick huddled in the corner. And guess who's not very happy about being violently assaulted with recyclables? The nearly invisible goth chick, yes.]

Please don't throw things.

[While being extra careful not to look at her roomie - because, knowing her luck, mysterious roommate #1 is incredibly radiant - Sunako tosses the paper back.]

[sukeban]

[Well, she is sorry, but violently? She didn't have that much contempt for wood pulp.]

Sorry, didn't see you there.

[Luckily for Sunako, no one looks good when they first wake up, let alone when they do so in strange places they don't remember visiting. Catching the balled-up note in one hand and casting it in a different direction, looking first this time around, she calmly approaches her new roommate, not seeing any immediate threat to her safety, at least not from her, and takes a seat in front of her. R.I.P, personal space bubble.]

So, completely random question here, buuuut... you wouldn't happen to know exactly where the hell we are, would you?

[justabitcreepy]

[It was so violent Sunako may never recover.]

Oh.

[There's still a little radiance seeping out of Yuko, but not enough to case Sunako to flip her shit. Plus, having a book entitled 'MEDICAL HORRORS' in her lap also helps keep her calm. As well as amused. But mostly calm. Although having her personal space bubble utterly annihilated is a little annoying, but her space bubble is massive, so almost nobody can go a day without piercing it.]

You read the note, right? It explained things.

[sukeban]

[If I just took every note like that at its word, I'd be dead right now.

It's the first thought that crosses Yuko's mind, and unbeknownst to her, probably the answer that would most please Sunako. Instead, she opts to go with the second thing to occur to her, fingering idly at the collar around her neck.]

I did. I found it to be a little light on details. In fact, it never mentions where we are. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I asked, right?

[She's always irritable in the mornings, don't sweat it.]

Dorm

[papadojima]

*On the floor just above hers, one of the dorm room doors is open. One of the signs on the door reads "Ryotaro Dojima", and if Yuko peeks in, she'll find her uncle lying in bed with the window of the room open. He's still wearing the white astronaut suit given to newcomers.*

Being rule 63 is suffering

[sukeban]

[He'll notice that she hasn't changed out of her own jumpsuit, either, though she has a jacket over it in case she needs to make use of the pockets.

It wasn't the first familiar name she'd come across. In fact, a door bearing Yosuke's name was right across the hall from her room, albeit with no sign of his presence. This, however, was different, if no less unexpected.]

Dojima-san!

[She didn't even bother to knock. The emotion of finding a familiar face in this wretched place took over, and she rushed in and wrapped her arms around her uncle for the first time in the longest hour and a half of her life.]

Thank god you're safe...

*patpat

[papadojima]

URGH! *The sudden hug didn't help his queasiness or his ribs, but he wrapped an arm around the figure hugging him, recognizing that familiar grey hair.* I'm glad to see you too... *and that's when it hit him. The hair was longer than usual, much longer, and the body pressed against his didn't feel like a boy's...* ... Yu?

[sukeban]

[Well, if the fact that her voice sounded like that gas station attendant, or possibly an older Nanako, didn't clue him in, that'd probably do it just as well. She lets go and pulls back to look him in the eye, slightly confused at the apparent use of a pronoun in lieu of her name.]

...Yeah, me. Are you alright? Have you seen any of the others?

Floor 10

[hero_of_smiles]

[Cross is going to wander into the Aquarium room, moving his the light of his flashlight around. When the beam of light hits a girl he raises an eyebrow.]

Uh, excuse me? Mind telling me where I am?

[Maybe she could explain this place to him.]

[sukeban]

[Alas, he was asking the wrong person. She noticed the light right off, and turns to face him just before he points the flashlight at her. It's a decision she immediately regrets, as the beam hits her square in the face, something made that much worse by the darkness that preceded it. Calmly, she motions for him to point it down, for heaven's sake.]

That's what I'm trying to find out, sorry to say. Still got nothing on my end.

[hero_of_smiles]

[Oh, he's getting her in the face, he can tell cause she's signalling him to move it from her face or she's trying to play charades. In any case he moves it downwards and steps towards her.

He does look disappointed though, when he finds out that she doesn't even know.]

So I'm guessing you haven't been here long either than? 'Cause nothing's all I got too.

[sukeban]

[She nods.] A couple hours, more or less. I don't have a watch or a cellphone, so I couldn't say exactly.

[She glances up, as the parts of the walkway not illuminated by the flashlight are slowly covered by an even deeper shadow than before. A whale shark - far larger even than whale sharks usually grow - swims harmlessly over their heads, close enough that one could reach up and touch it, which is exactly what Yuko does.]

Pretty amazing, though, isn't it?

Yesss let's do this. Floor 6

[imperialsun]

[Good. Finally. The pull of a familiar Persona around. About time too, Naoya was starting to become angrier at the tower lately and he could use another of the leaders around considering how everything was getting worse and worse and...

...wait.

Wait.

When he arrived to the floorest floor he realizes this wasn't Yu at all. At least he thinks? Oh. Oh no. What if... ابن الـ what if they had been testing on them and he was...خرة...no Naoya you shouldn't be getting this angry or swearing like that. Stop influencing him like that, Amon-Ra. He manages to stay calm outwardly despite everything and the louder voices in his head, but asks in a very typical Naoya way;]

Yu?

[sukeban]

[A male voice comes from behind her, too monosyllabically to tell whose, though the one syllable carried enough meaning to draw a response, if not necessarily the meaning she thought it carried.]

Yare, yare. Why does everyone keep calling me "you?" I have a name, y'know.

[If she knew how tired the joke was, or that it was a joke at all, she wouldn't keep doing that, but alas. She turns to face her latest visitor, only to realize that she has never seen him before in her life. She's a little disappointed, but the fewer people here she knows, the more at ease she'll be that they're safe elsewhere.]

...Oh. Er, sorry, I think you've mistaken me for someone else.

[imperialsun]

[He was about to explain what he actually meant before she went on. So she wasn't Yu, even if her entire presentation gave him uncanny-valley vibes. She was pretty too no wait why was he thinking about that. Definitely had a Persona too, from the way Amon-Ra was reacting. This was strange...]

I'm sorry as well, I thought you were Yu Narukami. You could be his twin sister.

[Twins...he idly rubs his earring thinking of his own dead twin brother, his expression softening as he points to himself.]

My name is Naoya Toudou.

[sukeban]

[Oh. Well, that explains that whole thing. Some guy named Yu.

...Wait. Yu Narukami. Could be twins. Ho-lee shit. Her eyes go wide at the realization that Dojima wasn't going mad after all - something she should have been happy about, but instead left her incredibly unnerved.]

Oh, er... yeah, mine is... well, it's... it's Yuko. Yuko Narukami.

[Floor 3]

[pitythefool]

[Adachi hasn't learned too much about this place since his arrival, but hey. He's a detective. That's gotta count for something, right?

And at least he's armed against whatever threat he may run into...

...or he might just accidentally run into Yuko as he rounds a corner. D'oh.]

[sukeban]

[Well, why not? There's only almost six feet of her standing there, it's easy to miss her. She lets out an "oof!" before turning to face her new best friend.]

Ah, sorry, I didn't hear you coming-

[Of course, when she turns the listening device on his face, you could almost hear a pin drop well across the library. Whether he recognizes her or not, she knows him very well, and she isn't about to take his presence lightly.]

So. You really are here.

[pitythefool]

Ah, that's okay, I wasn't---

[...Huh. She sure is talking like she knows him, but he doesn't appear to recognize her at all. The dim light doesn't really help matters much, either.]

...Er, yeah. I guess so. I mean, I didn't really choose to be here, but...

[He squints through the darkness to try and see her more clearly. Still no clue who she is.]

Floor 10! /latest

[death_awaits_you]

[ Yuko is not the only one who enjoys this floor. Ryoji enjoys coming here sometimes to watch the fish, and so that is exactly why he is here now! Fish watching~

Though when he sees someone else wandering through, he has to come see! And also issue a warning if it's someone new... one of the fish with the pointier teeth has been jumping between waters, snapping at things today. ]

Hello there!

[ And oh, it's a girl~ A pretty girl, in fact, so Ryoji is sure to keep right on smiling. ]

There are a lot of pretty fish in this sea, but none seem quite as lovely as you~. But I hope you'll be careful - some of the fish here bite a lot more than they're supposed to!

Never too late :3

[sukeban]

[Man, what was it with people coming up behind her here? She turned to face the source of the voice, which it appeared was a young man, about her age. Cute, and quite the charmer, but the scarf struck her as somewhat tacky. If this was the floor she'd go to to take her mind off things, it seemed somehow appropriate that she meet him here.]

It'll be fine. I've handled some pretty big fish before.

[And since she can do flirty with the best of them, she approaches, sashaying forward like a perfect tease.]

But I do appreciate the bait you're laying out. Makes me almost sorry to tell you I've already been hooked~.

[death_awaits_you]

Aww, well - even if you're already in someone else's net, that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right~?

[ Even rejected from the start, he remains undaunted in his cheer! He'll be sad if you tell him his scarf is tacky, though. He holds out a hand to her. ]

My name's Ryoji Mochizuki.

1-15

[kickymeat]

[Chie tends to lurk the dormitories, still wanting to find Yukiko, but knowing she's not likely to. For now she's taken aback by a familiar grey head of hair.

The school uniform possibly being worn by Yuko also helps make Chie wonder so much.] ...Yu?

[sukeban]

[Though the encounter comes at the end of a long day of exploring, Yuko hasn't taken the time yet to change, still in the same jacket/tower-provided jumpsuit combo. If anything, it hides her figure, as she gives the top floor a final once-over. She might also notice that she's got the headphones, a very familiar-looking pair at that, to go with the MP3 player by this point, some peppy J-pop band or another playing at max volume as they hang around her neck.

When she hears Chie's voice, she spins on her heels almost immediately, the excited smile on her face dampened only slightly when she remembers it's not the Chie she knows, that fact being the only thing stopping her from running up and hugging her on the spot, opting for an almost half-hearted wave instead.]

Heya.

[kickymeat]

[She just owlishly blinks again. Trying to place what is different with the other teenager.]

You- let your hair grow out longer? [Clearly missing the obvious due to the suit and one word response.]