SPOOKY HAUNTS AND TRAILS » OPEN

[maskreant]

WHO: the infamous nasty crimeboy, Akira Kurusu, and you!
WHERE: Places in Recolle
WHEN: Spooky Month of October
WHAT: EVENT STUFF and mundane stuff if it comes up. if you would like to plan anything, hit me up via halloway or hei#2323 on discord.
WARNINGS: Persona 5 spoilers for last boss battle and late-game conspiracy unveiling. Will update when necessary!

NOTE!! You can leave an empty comment with the subject header of your choice or even RANDOM for something unlisted/miscellaneous (lighthearted) and I'll write the prompt. For nightmares, it may skip around and make no sense very much like how actual dreams are.

nightmares

[ When you enter the dream, you're engulfed by darkness until you hear a deep and unfamiliar voice. It speaks in a language you are most comfortable with. ]

The contract has been sealed...

You have agreed to provide the Trickster support
in his journey to oppose fate and seek change.

CASINO
It's filled with a variety of gamblers from talking fish to actual people. Shadows are also gambling? But they're aggressive due to their mass losses. There are several elevators and it seems like the treasure is on the VIP level.

If you choose to enter the CASINO, you may appear outside of the structure or on the first floor in costume and mask. Akira will accompany you in his Joker outfit.

VELVET ROOM
Are you a prisoner? Or a keeper? You can stand behind the bars with Akira, withstand the abuse and rebel alongside him, or on the opposite side—ushered by two wardens and a man with an elongated nose to carry out discipline. Rehabilitation is important.

If you choose to enter the VELVET ROOM, you may appear inside or outside the cell. Your attire will change into prisoner wear or officer uniform respectively.

MEMENTOS (SPOILER)
In the city of Recolle, you notice there's something strange. People walk past the blood red rain and the towering skeleton pieces. The irrelevant become forgotten. The forgotten vanish. Is it your hand that's disappearing? Or is it Akira's?

If you choose MEMENTOS, you'll be in your normal attire or in your underwear. Whichever your character feels less attractive in if you want. Once again, Akira is beside you.

CODE CREDIT

fog

[ Akira has been having a hard time with his nightmares. Some of them he remembers bits and pieces (all useless), but he's thinking a jog in the ungodly time where the thick fog rolls in is a good idea? Unfortunately not... He ends up running away from one of these three tormentors in his pajamas. What's with his luck?

As he looks behind him, he crashes into someone. Sorry. ]

TWIN WARDENS (SPOILER)
Their names are unknown to you, but they're two girls with silver hair with a single golden eye (an eyepatch covers the other). As attendants of the Velvet Room, they have this ethereal aura to them, even menacing as they shoot various skills into the fog.

"Come back here, inmate! You can't hide forever!"

"You're only delaying the inevitable."

IMPERIOUS ANGEL (SPOILER)
An angel appears with an abstract body shape. Wings scaling wide and halo spinning over its head, it spreads its several hands that hold instruments. With the rise of the triangle, the angel rings it with a clear ding. In a matter of seconds, a flash of light magic strikes near.

"I am what humanity desires. Why oppose me?"

You can hear the sneer in its voice.

GOLD PIGGER
This silver piggy bank may seem cute, but it's also massively large and rolls without end. What does stop it from rolling are valuable items. Throw something expensive and it'll take a break to appraise it with a series of oinks. The one in control is a half-fly guy throwing out some mad rhymes.

"Yo yo yo! You think you can just walk into my neighborhood and disrespect me like that, dawg?"

CODE CREDIT

wildcard

[ THROW ME WHATEVER! Baby haunts from the new ghosts or even the Retrospec Maze! Even anything normal. ]

Comments

[maskreant]

[ Maybe someone's playful date? It's kinky, isn't it? Akira is on the run, but luckily Mako pipes up loud enough for him to come to a full halt instead of crashing right into him. His heart is racing and staying still only makes him antsy. ]

Yeah. We can't stay still for too long.

[ Sorry, but he's going to manhandle you and grab onto your wrist so they can bolt. It takes only five more step before they hear the pair of voices again. They're, unfortunately, louder and clearer. It means they're right on their heels. If Mako turns back, he'll see two gold eyes that shine through the fog.

"You think an accomplice is going to help you?! You're dumber than I thought!" This time, it's fire that flies past them, barely missing.

"The relationships you've cultivated... In the end they were all for naught." ]

[browbeater]

[please don't get him into your kink circle, Akira...

But hey, look, someone else with golden eyes. that's cool. He quickly picks up on the fact that they need to run, but there are a lot of questions, especially since Akira didn't really give him any sort of explanation before grabbing him to run. And if there was one thing he learned from August: he was pretty bad about running away from a fight.

Oops.]

What's going on? Who are those girls?!

[maskreant]

You can say they're my executioners.

[ Mako?! Please move. Akira is doing his best to tug him along, but the other guy is a built police officer that towers him. The girls are fast approaching with their small gaits, one already tapping her riding crop into her other hand to show this is Serious Business.

"Your friend is just as dumb as you. That just makes our job easier."

"Indeed."

With the flip of a page of her book, something pierces the air—it's a bullet. ]

[browbeater]

[holy shit. Was that a bullet? Mako covers his head, and then finally follows Akira's tugging. What was with this fog and the crazy creatures of people...? He doesn't glance back for now. If they have bullets, it's more important to find cover.

He's scanning everything and finally there's an alleyway to turn into.]

Akira, this way!

[he still had a lot of things to answer for, but for the moment? Mako didn't want another bullet headed his way.]

[maskreant]

[ The biggest cognitive bullet in Mako's damn life that luckily misses them. It's a warning shot that would have grazed them if they didn't swerve off course. It's strange when your friend doesn't find flying elements of nature a threat, but a speeding bullet very much one.

Either way, he follows Mako and when the bullet ricochets off the gravel to who knows where, he leads him to hide behind... Let's pick out a car. Cars are good cover. He's going to stay quiet because those footsteps are drawing close.

This is risky, but it'll reward them plenty if the girls assume they sped ahead in the fog.

"Caroline... Did we lose them?"

"Wh-what?! Of course we didn't, Justine! There's no way they could escape!"

"But I don't see them."

"You must be blind in that single eye of yours! They just ran ahead, obviously. He may be the Trickster, but he's also a failure."

"You also only have one eye, Caroline."

"That isn't the point!!!!"

While they are questioning Akira's intelligence, both twins technically only have half a brain... So they continue to walk forward until their footsteps fade out. They're safe. For now. Letting out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders drop as he slumps against the car. ]

[browbeater]

[he exhales, and then glances at Akira in complete incredulity. Why were they running for little girls? Why were their bullets? What the hell was going on? He risks a glance over the car, just to make sure they're gone. And then he looks back at Akira, motioning with his head.

They've got to get out of that fog. Who knows when they'd get back?

And the look he gives him as he stands up to find some true cover says that he's got more questions. For now, though, he wants inside a building, or something. Somewhere more safe than this.]

[maskreant]

[ Stop asking questions with your eyes, Mako? Akira can't handle it only because he doesn't know what you're trying to say. At least he understands the gestures and follows after Mako. If they stick around in the fog, they'll only last as much as their stamina.

He doesn't want to go through an interrogation, but it's better than being chased by little girls. There's a small cafe that seems to be open for some reason. It odd how most of Recolle doesn't bat an eyelash to everything happening.

When they enter, Akira BRACES HIMSELF. ]

I could go for some coffee.

[browbeater]

[it's a good thing Akira said something, because it causes him to pause, and really take stock of how stressed out he looks. As much as he has questions... especially with the word "executioner" being thrown about, he could wait for a couple of minutes to let the sense of danger really pass.

So, he settles for a frown, and then]

What do you drink? I'll buy.

[maskreant]

[ Bless... Akira has stalled the interrogation a bit longer with free coffee. His eyes almost sparkle at the offer since he wasn't expecting it as utter bliss washes over him. Looking back to Mako, he just looks

so

happy.

As happy as a guy can be without looking like a giddy idiot because he's a silent protagonist. He's beaming. You get me. ]

I would like a mocha macchiato...

[ He wants to indulge. ]

[browbeater]

[it's only delayed. delayed. Not put off forever. But, he nods. What self-respecting cafe wouldn't have a mocha macchiato? Besides, he... needs to set his nerves at ease, especially after the sound of the gun really hits him. This gives him a chance to step away and get whatever is in his system... out of it.

But... honestly, that was the best reaction he's had in weeks.

Ordering the coffee's fine. And holding them is enough-- hell, the slight paleness could be chalked up to it being cold and the very beginning of cold season. who knows.

But he offers the macchiato to Akira, and hides behind his own coffee for a bit.]

[maskreant]

[ Akira is just as quiet, sipping his coffee in utter bliss before he expects the storm. However, as time passes in this golden silence, it starts to become... How would he say it? A tad bit concerning. Lifting up his gaze from his cup, he steals a glance at Mako.

You're not looking so good, buddy. ]

Thanks for the drink. [ They can start off wit that— ] Are you all right?

[browbeater]

[he glances at him, and then back at his coffee. He... just finishes it off, rather than answer the question immediately.]

Yeah-- guess the excitement got to me for a moment. [a white lie.]

Who were those girls? You called them your executioners but that doesn't make sense.

[unless it's Phantom Thieves stuff, but he doesn't want to say so until Akira notes he's okay with talking about it there.]

[maskreant]

[ Akira isn't an expert at people, but there's something about how that answer is delivered that makes him doubt... It isn't the time to pry, so he gives Mako that solace as he sips his coffee some more. ]

They are attendants in my memories... There's a blue room and I visit only to be a prisoner in one of their cells, but they aid me in "rehabilitation". They also fuse Personas for me.

[ Quiet, he still doesn't know about a certain part of his life. He's not sure if it is all metaphorical or if it's literal. Is he an actual criminal? Does he really have a record? Or is that the path he paves for himself and that's what it's trying to convey? ]

In a recent memory, I failed the "game," so they're ordered to execute me.

[ ... ]

I haven't told anyone.

[browbeater]

[he sips his coffee as he explains. The explanation wasn't exactly helpful, but... He had a feeling,]

You don't remember what the game was, do you?

[Since he barely remembered anything about his past life. He wouldn't be surprised if that was the same for Akira. Which made those girls... even more unsettling, in retrospect.]

[maskreant]

[ He has a feeling it has to do with a certain memory he received during his first month here. When the world changes drastically—a place where it rained blood, where skeletons towered along skyscrapers, where... People started disappearing. Quiet, he keeps it to himself.

He can't talk about this. He doesn't want to let it drowning his thoughts, so he just laughs a bit. ]

Not sure. Maybe they meant my life or something?

[ He shrugs. ]

[browbeater]

The game of your life?

[he sounds a little dubious, and also maybe... concerned, honestly. Akira, what was your life? Unless this was just a joke, designed to shake him off that questioning. Mako leans back in his chair, and folds his arms across his chest, giving him a concerned look, but he's not questioning it just yet.

Honestly, who knows.]

Is this something Ann's going to remember...? I mean,, one of your [phantom thieves]... Er... You know.

[maskreant]

The girls? I don't think so.

[ Because for all he knows, he's the only person that even goes to the Velvet Room in his memories. There are others in Recolle, but... It seems to be special. For him, a special hell. ]

... I don't know about the rest.

[ He's less keen on that, but doesn't voice it. Instead, he sips more of his coffee before something catches his eye. With a squint, he toggles on the Third Eye and ah... The familiar voices are distant.

Looking at Mako, he uses his hands to indicate that the girls are back. Two fingers, then gestures movement from the east. One finger, points to him and Mako, then the back of the coffee shop. ]

[browbeater]

[He's about to ask more, but then he sees Akira's mood shift. He pauses and then glances at the door, and then at his hand motions. It wasn't particularly hard to understand what he was getting at, but the reasoning was still a little lost on him.

Then they're close enough for him to hear.

Fair enough.

He nods, and pushes his chair away from the table subtly. They don't needs to talk to get out of there. And less likely they'll find them.

Unless there's another way they're tracking Akira. He's honestly not sure.]

[maskreant]

[ Annnd they're out of the coffee shop. He's not sure if these apparitions are just haunting their minds or if they're really around, but he doesn't want to take that risk for once. When they duck back into the fog, his lips purse almost about to say something.

They can't speak.. And texting would definitely tunnel-vision them into a screen. It's time to communicate in hand signs.

THE BEST HE CAN with his experience in charades, he asks Mako if he lives nearby. We'll go with two fingers walking, mundane things you would do at home (sleeping, brushing teeth, tracing a makeshift roof), and then point to Mako. ]