[o5] ♪ Death's icy breath.

[fractus_animus]

Characters: AU Minato Arisato & people, then later AU Jin Shirato and more Persona users.
Setting: Early Afternoon on July 3rd, toward the afternoon/early evening; all over-ish -> cathedral.
Format: Action. Prose will be far too slow for this, sorry.
Summary: Minato goes crazy thanks to finding his sister gone and falls victim to a certain Cerulean blood's mind control.
Warnings: If you confront Minato after a certain point, your character WILL have a VERY HIGH CHANCE of dying! Here is the OOC info post. Feel free to backtag into forever if you like once I get this up.

[ The floors he visited had begun to ice over. Anyone who wandered near where Minato was would find it almost unbearably, bone-chillingly cold.

In fact, the walls froze around him as he walked, searching.

For what?

People. People he thinks he can... 'fix'. Or save. Perhaps his inability to do so during their time in the Pods had gotten to him.

... He had Thanatos, didn't he? Why not listen? Why not let him go? After a month of enduring Thanatos and Samael's persistent voices, he no longer had any desire to be what he now viewed as cruel. Killing people was a niceness, here. Surely, it was nice. A kindness. They'd thank him. Even if they didn't realize it. Dying was better than that. It would be better to die. If he killed them, with Thanatos, then perhaps they'd stay dead. Perhaps they'd no longer suffer...

... He was prepared to do it by whatever means, and however much pain had to be caused. Pain was good, too. Pain told them they were people, you see? That they had personalities...

Yes, he did like people.

He liked them enough to freeze them slowly and let his Persona rip them apart... ]

[ OOC: LET ME GET THE COMMENT HEADERS UP for the sub threads first, then you can reply. POSTING DONE, go reply to the sub threads and have fun. :) Be sure to verify a location on the first one! Some responses may be from deatharcana, by the way. ]

Comments

BEFORE FINDING JIN: ANYWHERE

[fractus_animus]

[ Please be sure to give me a location.

Your character is LEAST LIKELY to die here and might just get to hear a Crazy!Minato rant or rave or whatever. ]

rolled a d38, got Floor 11

[beknightedheroine]

<sub>[Walking past rainbows, waterfalls, and upside-down flowers was something of a way of re-acclimating to the tower - it was weird, but not in an altogether upsetting way. You could even say she was finding the visit here pleasant.

(Well, that sure was going to last.)

Sayaka felt a chill down her spine before she saw him - a real chill from the cold, not the sickened ones she'd had all too many of. Presently, she realized those mysterious flows of water she'd been admiring a few minutes ago were all frozen in place, like time had decided to stand still here and now. Turned from flows to floes, as it were.]</sub>

awesome |D

[fractus_animus]

[ He is followed by the sound of chains and heavy breathing, which seems to fill the entire room, somehow.

Jin wasn't on this floor, it seemed, but--that was okay. Someone else he knew was, instead.

Blue-gray eyes set on Sayaka's back, before she even turns around. There is only a brief moment of pause as he holds his Evoker and his Pistol, one weapon in one hand, summoning tool in the other.

He smiles. It's not... right.

He bends quietly over to glance at one of the frozen flowers now left in his wake. He wasn't quite letting Thanatos out freely until he was sure he would need to... ]

... Sayaka-san.

[ ANSWER CAREFULLY because you might be in peril otherwise. ]

after all of the other threads, Art Gallery/Floor 22

[morituramfides]

[He couldn't take this. He couldn't. A month of not hearing Moros' threats and forecasts, a month of silence, a month without real emotions, a month without his pills-- and now it was all flooding back to him and he couldn't take it anymore. He'd tried. He'd taken the suppressants, he'd try to deal with it again like he had before-- forget about everything that happened last month, not think about anything but right now-- but he couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't. Three days was already torture.

Jin hadn't had any destination in mind when he began moving; just move, just do something to try and keep himself occupied, keep Moros occupied, try to focus on anything else like he'd done for years, but it just wouldn't work. Nothing was working. So he had collapsed on the floor when he got to the Art Gallery, sitting under a painting that depicted judgment day, and clawing at the sides of his heads with his eyes squeezed shut.

He just. Wanted it. To stop.]

sup bro

[deatharcana]

[ ... Finally he found him. Finally, FINALLY, he'd found Jin--he could... get his help. ]

... There you are.

[ Quietly, Minato bends his legs and leans down over Jin, his hands cold like ice as he places a single hand on the other teen's. His touch here is gentle and... caring. ]

You spent all that time doing things against your will, right? So... why are you torturing yourself like this? Let him go. Get back at them. Fighting yourself won't fix anything. ... Even if we kill people, they'll just come back... and if they don't? They're better off for it.

Or... are you going to let Moros ruin what's left of you... and waste it?

/combo-breaks the blue hair group, RNG says Floor 20

[sageprincess]

[As Minato passes Floor Twenty, he might just notice a certain Hylian princess sitting along the edge of the Tower. Not close enough to risk falling off, of course, but just near enough that she might have a full unbridled view of the sky. It's an odd place to relax, but, well.

... The people of Skyloft revered Hylia, right? Maybe staring into the sky would help trigger something. Besides, it's not like she's staring at a flat, unmoving painting - every once in a while, there is a thundering BOOM and a flash of colored light in the sky. Fireworks, for some reason.

Suddenly the sun stops feeling warm, the moisture in the air begins to condense into fog, and Zelda senses the unforgettable gut-wrenching presence of Death. She turns, slowly rising to her feet to face it and--]

Minato.

[It's hard to pin down a single emotion in that one word. There's anxiety, uncertainty, bitterness...

... And sympathy. He is not the only one who has lost someone important.]

God I feel so bad for this.

[deatharcana]

[ ... Zelda. Oh, it would be so easy to just push her to her death right here and now, but--some part of him... has to say this. Perhaps it's the distance outside the Tower, but-- ]

... For what it's worth. I'm sorry. That hasn't changed.

[ But then there's a pause as some part of his mind is snapped back to... somewhere else--

Do you recall Nabooru, Zelda? Because if you know anything about it...

The feeling you are getting now? It is a lot like how she was controlled. Like someone is possessed. Not that it's different from Minato, but it feels more like someone else is standing there, instead of him.

His eyes tell that well enough. There's a sort of... ODD look to them. More blue-tinted than usual, somehow.

He stands silently, before raising his Evoker to his head. ]

Floor 19 - Library

[crescent_mirror]

[Okay, so being new in the tower is nice and all, and Maya makes her way around. It's a shame that her Adult Party from Eternal Punishment isn't here, but whatever. She sucked it up, and wanders about to explore.]

...

[Artemis screams bloody murder in her mind, making Maya blink repeatedly before looking around. Something was afoot. Something wasn't right. And unfortunately, Maya knew that this wasn't her reporter's instinct - a cold air made itself known as Maya tried to concentrate in spite of Artemis' warnings.]

WOW I AM GOING TO FEEL *TERRIBLE* ABOUT THIS????

[fractus_animus]

[ ... This is probably the worst introduction they could potentially ever have, Maya.

Especially considering someone is presently about as crazy as the people who became JOKER'd.

His hands slide along the bookshelves as he walks, a trail of ice following him.

The sound of a gunshot echoes not too far from Maya's present position and then what could only be described as the worst, most tortured-feeling, abnormal Persona you have literally ever felt is summoned, and the entirety of the library freezes over in one single hit. ]

Floor 24

[warriorscribe]

*His body is just then beginning to wind down from the pain of having a Darkball try to tear him apart from the inside, helped along by the adrenaline of a couple other battles on the way here.

Why is he fighting monsters in the daytime? Simple: Enoch is deliberately trying to find monsters. A specific monster.

What he doesn't expect as he comes down the stairs from the meadow floor is to find the floor half-covered in ice. The cold invigorates him, but without his armor, he's even colder than he'd normally be. He hunches his shoulders and starts trying to carefully continue down the stairs without slipping off them.*

[fractus_animus]

[ He'd been expecting that, honestly. It's why he froze things. People couldn't get away quite as easily... ]

Hey.

[ His arrival is kind of strange and wordless, and there's a very strange smile on this boy's face. ]

... You should be careful. You know, you could die if you fell down enough of those stairs...

[ He says that like he relishes the idea. ]

Floor 10; Aquarium

[complementing]

[It's a quiet day, and Minako feels an oppressive mood weighing down on her in light of recent events. Exercise has always helped her before, so she's on her way to her room to pick up her volleyball, walking slowly down the hallways.

She passes by the tenth floor, pausing when a flash of scales catches the corner of her eye. Watching the fish here has been a pleasant past-time before, so it makes her pause. Maybe she could spend some time here before playing volleyball.

And then she freezes-- because the whole aquarium has frozen over too. The glassless tanks of fish have been reduced to columns of ice, several fish frozen in mid-jump.]

Who-- who did this?

[fractus_animus]

[ There is the sound of a gunshot nearby, but then everything is quiet, until... he steps out from the frozen aquarium, and he instead glares at Minako. ]

Why is it...

[ The ice is following him and Thanatos floats into view, having already been called upon. ]

... That you're here, but she's gone?

Floor Twenty-Two (Art Gallery)

[moontothetide]

((ooc: I'll take "kicked around but able to limp/crawl away" for 100, Alex. If it comes to a fight. Is that okay? If it comes to it, have a spellbook.))

[Tara knows she shouldn't linger on this floor, but the paintings have always held some element of twisted fascination, for her. It doesn't help that they're all exquisitely done, even as they depict work of horrific brutality.

So she's standing, hands behind her back, rocking slightly on the balls of her feet as she regards a portrait of a bat faced woman in a room of hanging corpses. It's a slightly mesmerizing piece - every few seconds reveals another hidden detail. She wishes it didn't, wishes it wasn't quite so intricately done, because then she might be able to tear herself away. As it is, there's a feeling settling into her head that's very similar to the feeling she gets when she loses focus on the floor-that-isn't.

The sound of Minato's footsteps are, therefore, a welcome distraction. The sight of Minato, when she manages to turn and see who it is, is even more so. Tara brightens, and gives him a little wave.] Minato? Hi. It's, um, nice to see you again.

IT WILL PROBABLY COME TO THAT...

[fractus_animus]

[ His footsteps are deliberate and stop when he hears Tara speaking.

... She would probably make this too easy. Though Tara may note it is getting awfully cold in here. ]

... These paintings are disgusting. What do they think they're accomplishing by imprisoning people here with implications left and right in the form of art, anyway?

[get_bent]

[It ws just being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but looking over, the guy gave Kanji the chills. He knew who he was but...there was something off. Wrong. His hand was already tightening on the chair he was holding as he spoke.]

You alright?

[fractus_animus]

[ Oh, he is most definitely in the wrong place. There is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever as Minato smiles. It's a very plastic smile, too; unreadable. ]

... Ah. One of the people I was hoping to find. I need to apologize, after last month. I failed pretty spectacularly to do my job, didn't I?

WITH JIN: AT THE CATHEDRAL

[fractus_animus]

[ ooc: YOUR CHARACTER WILL DIE IF THEY TALK TO HIM HERE. Or they will be brutally mauled.

Also, Minato has moved all the pews in the Cathedral; there is now a giant, open area in which to fight, and the entire place is frozen over. ]

I changed my mind 8| You saw nothing.

[knightime]

[Dave was back to wandering through the tower, mostly to investigate the different floors and see what was around. It was a good way to waste time and the tower was actually pretty cool when there weren't monsters. He had one of his swords on himself at all times anyways, so he was at least armed.

He had been on this floor before though, and he distinctly recalls everything not being quite so...frozen.

Dave took careful steps around until he walks into the open area.] Pretty sure it wasn't like this last time I was here.

DAMN TIME TRAVEL

[fractus_animus]

[ And standing in the middle of the cathedral are two figures. The first one is Minato. He glances at Dave for only a brief moment, considering, before several bullets are sent in his general direction.

Testing the water, so to speak. ]

MAYBE JUST A SEVERE MAULING? idk

[miseris_socios]

[Something's wrong. He can't find Jin, he can't find Minato, and Nemesis is oddly quiet. There's a whole weird feeling of tension, so he goes to try to seek them out.]

[And he finds the cathedral, with the entire place frozen, and he stops, stepping into it with his Evoker in one hand and spear in the other.]

Minato? Jin?

that depends on how horrible you want to make this

[fractus_animus]

[ Minato is legitimately shocked when Ken wanders into his trap; not the person he'd been expecting (he wanted to do that the easy way, just knock him out and then...), but oh well. It was kind of too late for that, he figures.

The words go unheard due to the floor's odd ability at muffling them, however.

He shouldn't be here, he'll get in the way when he's trying to off the other people... what to do. Ken is inherently weak to Darkness, he could always...

No, some part of him won't do that just... yet. Not yet. So he gets up quietly, his own weapons still in hand, and walks towards the boy. ]

MINATO IS TAKEN DOWN: CATHEDRAL

[fractus_animus]

[ For all those involved in the Purse Owner cast/who commented, this will be after all the other threads! ]

Let's get this party started, huh.

[pitiedthefool]

[Kanji was dead, as were several others if not horribly injured. After the stress of the last month, it didn't take much to make Yu snap. Killing one of his own and injuring one of the others? That was one of the fastest and easiest triggers to show just how cruel an avatar of hope could be when pushed to the edge. Then to find out what they did to Ken of all people...

'Is this really how it has to be?'

The would be the second time he would have to face someone he vaguely trusted. It's almost pathetic how it's becoming a Thing. Perhaps he simply trusted others too easily? Or... maybe there was something else, because none of this seemed right.]

[...]

[Guess who's back, Strega? And this time, he brought a party and both a bus stop sign and his sword. Yu isn't kidding around, anymore.]

Let's

[evokingfool]

[He heard the news from Yu. Why wouldn't he, when it's the other Minato who went around and harm people? Kill people? The tower's bad enough with the admins' games and he suspects this is a result of that.

It's sad that it comes to this. Facing "himself" (but still not him, their lives are different) and stop this.

His armband's on as always. In circumstances like this, it's vitally important for him to wear it. Minato of SEES isn't Minato of Strega.]