towerofanimus | They've called her down and forgot why they wanted to

Characters: Ryoji, now in Nyx Avatar form, and you!
Setting: Some variations, take your pick
Format: I'll match your choice
Summary: Five years since Nyx was called down and the damn humans still won't die! So she's reduced to trolling.
Warnings: Likely violence and discussions about death.

[Staircases by the dormitories]

Someone that looks like Ryoji is standing on one of the floor landings, looking up to see how many flights are visible. He appears to be lost in thought, and his form appears to be shimmering a little, going transparent and then visible, and transparent again. Despite this, Ryoji doesn't seem to be afraid or panicked. He just keeps looking up and up, like he's seeing something that isn't there...

And then, suddenly, two pairs of enormous, feathery wings erupt from his back, his hands (now raised) are covered in long white gloves, and then, when he turns... his face...

It's a white mask, something that you may have seen in plays back in the Greek times. There's a wide smile and holes for the eyes... but there are not eyes to see, just dark, consuming blackness.

Persona users will be happy to see that Ryoji's still staying his normal size, but the rest of him is still extremely unsettling.

[Floor 47/other monster floors]

Ryoji, now revealed to be Nyx, spends a lot of time on the more dangerous floors. Who really knows why? Perhaps to be with her own kind, perhaps to look for a way to control them, or perhaps to destroy them, find something to end if this world won't. Nyx can be seen on the forty-seventh floor, whispering at the curtains, and then nodding, seeming to understand. If she hears anything from the nearby staircase, she'll be off to investigate, exploring some of the other monster-infested areas.

[Cafeteria]

Nyx usually avoids this place until the evening, when she's so bored that even the monsters seem monotonous. She then takes a seat in a far corner, watching as everyone comes and goes, occasionally tormenting them. She'll whisper something too quiet to be heard yet still unsettling, or she'll invade your mind, discover who you've seen die before your very eyes, maybe project a nightmare of that to you or to another. Or maybe she'll just stay silent, but give you the strangest urge to go leap from the Tower's ledge.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You do not remember, then? Such a pity. My host would be hurt if there was even a fragment of him left. But I suppose all he wanted was for people to live on...

[If Oz looks away from the bizarre face for a moment, he may notice that the clothing of this figure's look exactly like Ryoji's, besides the white gloves.

[He had been so distracted by the face and wings that he hadn't taken the time out to look at this being's clothing yet. When he does, it doesn't take him long to place it. His smile thins, just barely.]

I think I would remember a face like that. [If this is his roommate and not some trick of the tower, it's still not a Ryoji he's ever met before. Between his steel-trap memory and the vague things he had heard when Ryoji first woke up, he's already starting to piece things together.] May I have a name to go with it?

...Nyx. The goddess of darkness and mother of Shadows.

[She goes silent after that, certain her title will speak for itself. The power and terror behind that single name is overwhelming to most in her world.]

[The fear and feeling of being overwhelmed doesn't particularly reach him, considering he doesn't have any equivalent to Nyx in his own world, unless the Core of the Abyss could be considered as such.

Still, it's enough to know that this person is not good news. His brow furrows.]

Are you the one responsible for upsetting him? [Ryoji, he means; their first interaction is relatively fresh in his mind.]

He and I are now one in the same. If anything, he is responsible for upsetting himself.

[Nyx sounds harsh, but she's not lying. Ryoji was just as upset at himself as he was at his mother.]

That isn't really an acceptable answer, is it?

[From his perspective, at least. He doesn't know enough about Ryoji to know how much guilt he holds, but he certainly doesn't like the idea of the person he seemed so afraid of pushing all of that blame onto him. Not when he had been so desperate to avoid whatever fate this thing apparently brought about.]

It is acceptable to me. And to him. He feared himself before fearing anyone like me.

Even if he feared himself first, isn't it you actually capable of causing damage? [He takes a cautious step from the stairs, brow creasing.]

You do not remember him telling you? He had explained all of this to you. He is Death itself. His very presence in the world and in all other worlds causes everyone to come to the time where they must accept everlasting peace. It was he who summoned me down, asked me to listen to the cries of the world, the cries for death. And I came.

Humans, however, would likely see this as damage.

[She sounds amused by the ridiculousness of humans. They never seem to understand, do they?]

[That has him looking acutely concerned. What she's said is bad enough, but it's the first part of her statement that rings alarm bells for him.]

He never— No, that isn't something he's ever told me. I would have remembered. [And judging by his tone, he isn't certain that it's something he believes anyway. He doesn't trust this stranger that's taken Ryoji's place, who speaks for him.]

You do not remember, and you do not believe.

[Just a simple statement to show Oz that she can read his thoughts so easily, before continuing.]

You must not hide from the truth any longer. He wishes to see you again, in the afterlife.

[She attempts to delve in once more. If the 'memory' of Ryoji's transformation does not terrify him, then perhaps something else will.]

[In the afterlife, she says, and his jaw sets at a stubborn angle.] What do you mean by that?

[As far as her display of mind-reading goes, it doesn't ring any alarm bells since, to him, those are both things that seem like they'd be obvious. But he does notice that something's amiss in the next few seconds, which halts his steps immediately.

It won't take much for her to get past the surface and just beneath it are quiet whispers of uncertainty, self-deprecation and loneliness. She may catch the fleeting memory of a tall, distinguished-looking man, may hear a voice say "it would have been better if he was never born"—

If she tries to read any further than that, however, she'll find herself hitting nothingness, like reels cut from a record. She might be able to tell that there are memories in that emptiness; oppressive and ominous and taking up a great deal of room, but completely obscured even from himself. It's a presence (or lack thereof) that would leave most normal people feeling extremely anxious.]

What else would I mean? When you die, he will come to lead you to your eternal peace.

[Well, isn't that intriguing. There isn't much at all for Nyx to work with, but that's actually more intriguing. He's forgotten a great deal, as much as her host had at one point. What in the world could be hidden in there? She wants to dig deeper, try to pry away the covers obscuring those thoughts from the world... but no, she'll wait a while longer. Perhaps he'll discover it on his own.]

Maybe then, when he comes to take you, you will not be alone. No one else will leave you, and no one else will hate you. You will grant their wish of not existing. Ryoji would be happy to spend time with you again.

["Your sin is your very existence."

It's another memory that will ring loud and clear as soon as she finishes speaking, and he's looking just a little paler than he had been when he first stepped onto the floor.]

...Are you saying that he's some ferryman for the dead? Even if that is the case, I won't accept the idea that he would be happy for something like that. Not him. How could he accept that when he had been so scared? [His words sound surprisingly steady when he speaks, even though his posture is a little defensive. What she had said shocked him, after all, but he has stubbornness in spades. He'll grit his teeth and push through this with the idea that he's facing an "enemy" of Ryoji's, though it's impossible to deny that somewhere, a part of him is in agreement.]

You could call him that. He is Death itself. He is the one that ensures all people meet their fate at the proper time, and the one that takes their souls where they must be taken.

...He may have been afraid at one point, but now, he feels no fear. He does not feel anything any longer. And with me, he will work to ensure that no one feels distress any longer. We are here to bring peace, end all sins and all existence.

[that determined set of his jaw only seems to become more prominent.]

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but ending everything isn't exactly the most agreeable way to go about achieving peace. Isn't there a time and place for everything, including the end of life?

The time and place has come and gone years ago, yet people refused to accept the fate they had desperately called down moments before. Do you not understand? I am only hear to carry out my duty, that of giving humans what they wish for.

They've called her down and forgot why they wanted to

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