recolle | OPEN POST ♞ SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS

Entry tags:

persona 4: souji seta

OPEN POST ♞ SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS

WHO: Souji and youuuuuuuuuuu
WHERE: Literally everywhere
WHEN: All of Oct
WHAT: Mystery Food X, depressing nonsense, 193819 Shadows, all that good stuff
WARNINGS: Mentions of child death and abandonment

ONE

It begins on a mountaintop. The sun is low and there's a chilly breeze. The benches are empty, the trees sway ominously with the wind, and there's no one in sight. It's absolutely deserted. It's something straight out of a horror movie waiting to happen and there's this sense of feeling that something is just... watching you.

There doesn't seem to be anyone around, though, and the only thing that stands out in this abandoned area is a large plate on one of the benches. Sitting on the plate is a large shapeless blob, seemingly changing colours from pitch black to bright purple to disgusting green. Even without approaching it, a foul sweet and sour smell emits from it and fills the entire mountaintop. A visible purple odour hoves over it and it... it almost seems whisper something. It's hard to hear and it sounds like the wind playing tricks but if one can listen carefully, it sounds like it's saying...

"e͏̺͎̮͚͔̳a̭̘͍̮̪͓̤a̲̲͚̲̗̮͇a̙̖̭͇̪a̗̯̫̼̖̗̝a͞ṭ̛͍̳̝̟ͅ ̱̠̬̙m̤̝̞̤e͇̹͍.̶̫̹̖͎̬̪̳.͎̹̬̦̘.͏̹̣.͟.̟̳͔̺̠̪"

No sooner than after decrypting that strange whisper, a hand suddenly shoots out and grabs onto your shoulder. When turning around, phew, it's only Souji, so it's all good. He looks... rather pale and grim, though.

"... don't... try it...."

TWO

The second nightmare takes place in an apartment with two bedrooms. At first glance, it looks like your average small home but when explored, it becomes clear that this apartment is devoided of any personal touches.

The essentials are there, such as the couch in the living room and a fridge in the kitchen, but everything is at the bare minimum. The walls are devoided of any personal photos or art, there is no decorative furniture, and nothing to give any clues as to the kind of person who lives here. The entire apartment just has a lingering feeling of emptiness.

Exploring will open up the master bedroom. It's just as empty and devoided as the rest of the apartment. Opening up the second bedroom reveals a child's room, though one could only tell that it belongs to a child by the size of the bed. Unfortunately, it's just as baren as the rest of the apartment. Not much more could be explored though, not with Souji standing right in the middle of the room.

"..."

He seems pretty absorbed into staring at the small desk pressed up against the wall that he doesn't even notice that someone else is here. Maybe try calling out to him or give him a nudge?

THREE

In the thick fog, it's hard to tell what's right in front of you. Sometimes, you can only tell that someone is nearby when they nearly run into you. That someone is Souji and oh boy, he's brought company. They are any of the following:

A: Asshole cupids who will fly around and try to shoot people with their asshole arrows. One of their moves has a 40% chance of confusing its target but don't worry, it's weak to ice so just grab the ice cubes from your drink and chuck it at it. That'd do the trick.

B: Gross balls with absolutely no concept of personal space who will float around like the gross things they are and lick... everyone and everything... this one is weak to electricity so does anyone have a taser?

C: A goddess who doesn't handle divorce well and will hit you with... well, absolutely everything. Fire, ice, electricity, wind, almighty damage, she's got it all. She even has an attack that has a 30% chance of silencing everyone so hope you know sign language.

D: Same goddess but with a bad hair day and bad everything day. She is ten times worse than goddess 1.0 because her attacks are way worse. She now has 13 arms to all smack you with and has an attack that will instil fear in one person with a 100% chance but the best part is when she uses Thousand Curses. Did you ever want to find out what it's like to have a bunch of hands from the underworld suddenly wrap themselves around you and try to drag you down? Then this is your chance. Unfortunately, no one can really be dragged into the underworld but it'd sure be a nice scare!

Before dealing with them though, Souji uses one hand (the other occupied with a katana) to grab onto your character's arm to try and drag them along.

"Keep moving...!"

FOUR

Maybe rather than Souji bumping into you, maybe you'll bump into him instead. Hunched over and down on his knees, Souji is barely visible at eye-level and combined that with the fog, it's easy enough to honestly trip right over him. He wouldn't even budge when he's bumped into or anything. In fact, he's almost non-responsive, only focused on the person in front of him.

Standing with him is a young girl, no older than six or seven, dressed in a hospital gown. One of her hands is taken into Souji's, his knuckles white from how tightly he's gripping it but she doesn't seem to be in pain. In fact, she just stares down at him with a blank expression and stays silent.

Souji stays just as quiet and he won't move or react to anyone unless they actually call out for him or touch him on the shoulder. All he does is just kneel there and hold onto this little girl's hand like there's nothing else in the world.

WILDCARD

Anything is game! PM me or toss me a private plurk at

northpaws if you want to do something outside the above options or to discuss anything! Still on hiatus but will try to (very) slowly tag when I can and will be replying with action tags!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[All Ragna wanted to do was a late groceries shopping and now that he's stuck navigating through this thick-ass fog, he kinda regrets his decision to leave the apartment. It's not like he doesn't know which way to go, but all of this is a little... unnerving, to say the least. He could swear he saw some movement with the corner of his eye, but tells himself it's just the combination of light and fog. What else could he run into at this hour, anyway? Reassured, the man continues walking down the street towards his home.

And then he lets out an undignified shriek when he almost walks into a familiar figure.]

You?! [No, not Yu,, it's Souji.] What the hell are you─

[He cuts himself off, noticing Souji isn't the only new arrival; however, the weird shadow approaching them from doesn't look exactly... human.

Ragna drops his groceries bag, eyes widening at the monstrous form in front of them.]

What... the fuck is that supposed to be?!

[ souji is panting hard by the time he runs into ragna and he takes ragna's hand into his own. he will drag him if he has to ]

Let's not find out! C'mon!

[ and right as souji says that, izanami-no-okami sends a maragidyne towards them. large walls of fire suddenly rise around them and maybe just barely hit or miss either one ]

[Ragna blinks, the sharp pull on his hand serving as a reminder that standing here and staring in awe-slash-horror at the... thing is not a smart idea; as such, he follows Souji's lead without complaining for once.]

Tell me this is another one of those nightmares─

[Because he'd really like to wake up right now. Their escape seems to come to a sudden halt when they find themselves surrounded by walls of fire, Ragna cursing under his breath and jumping back when the flames graze his shoulder. That felt all too real for his liking, and while Ragna can't say he's never had vivid dreams before, this doesn't seem to be the case this time.]

... Guess not, then. Any ideas?

[He's not entirely sure if what he's learned back in August would allow him to fight something this huge, especially if it can use some sort of magic. Ragna bites his lip, trying to ignore the oddly loud heartbeat echoing in his ears and figure out a solution that would let them get out of this alive.]

Hold on.

[ souji lets go of ragna's hand, lifting his now free hand into the air. a blue tarot card falls and he crushes it, summoning izanagi-no-okami above him. souji doesn't even have to say anything, just flicking his hand across and large blocks of ice appear, encasing the walls of fire before breaking apart and taking out the fire. izanagi-no-okami still remains and souji keeps his sword held up in case izanami-no-okami does anything else ]

This is definitely not a nightmare. You should get out of here and run as far as you can.

[The unexpected appearance of Izanagi-no-Okami startles Ragna a little, but then he realizes it's not unlike the monsters Minako summons to fight with. His eyes widen in surprise when it puts out the fire with no visible effort whatsoever. Does everyone around these parts know how to summon cool shit that battles for you except him or what?]

What, I'm supposed to leave you here?!

[The idea upsets him more than he would've thought, and he belatedly realizes it shows in his sudden yelling at Souji. Ragna may be an asshole, but to leave someone in peril and run with his tail between his legs... even if he doesn't really have a way of making himself useful.]

Just 'cause I don't like you doesn't mean I want you dead, y'know.

[... Disregarding the fact he's the one more likely to die if he stays here than Souji, um.]

[ souji knows that ragna's not the type to run off but he had to try and besides, he's not sure if he can actually defeat this shadow. he's only started getting back his personas a few months ago and he has absolutely no training in how to use a sword. he's overmatched and the both of them need to retreat ]

But--!

[ before he can even finish though, izanami-no-okami attacks again. are you ready for sudden bolts of lightning now, ragna? because here they come :( ]

[For what it's worth, he really kind of is ─ between one of the enemies back in August shooting magical lightnings at him and remembering that annoying little girl doing the same, he's beginning to think he might have a lightning rod attached or something. He manages to avoid the worst of it on instinct, but he's certain he won't be able to keep up with it for long, and the monster sure doesn't look like it's getting tired anytime soon. Shit. They really need to come up with a different plan because arguing about who gets to run away and who stays behind isn't gonna do them any good─

That would be a logical thing to do, but since this is Ragna, he's gonna continue arguing just because. Yeah.]

Don't "but" me, you little─

[Once again, he stops mid-sentence, though this time Izanami-no-Okami isn't the reason. Hell, it's almost weird that in the presence of something this ominous he could still find time to worry about something else, but here it is: the feeling of approaching danger and overwhelming sense of dread.

Or maybe it's just the fact he's finally noticed the stubborn heartbeat that has been getting louder and louder in his ears doesn't quite match his own, or that it's now joined by a low growl in his head.]

... Hey.

[If Souji looks at Ragna right now, he might notice small, black spots forming on his skin and quickly growing bigger. The man draws in a breath, trying to calm himself (and ignore the dull pain in his right arm, which suddenly feels oddly numb ─ almost like it's not even there). He has absolutely no idea what any of this means, but it's probably better Souji isn't around to find out.]

I think you should be running away.

[ with izanagi-no-okami out, it's able to block most of the maziodynes for souji and being strong against electricity, it leaves little lasting damages to both the persona and its user. at this point, souji decides that he shouldn't keep on defending but he should now attack. without saying anything, souji commands for izanagi-no-okami to go forth and use a megidolaon on it. during this commotion though, he figures this is a good time for them to make a break for it but when he turns to look at ragna, he sees all those black marks ]

You--

[ just what the hell is going on? ]

Are you hurt?! I'll heal you--

[ he stops as izanagi-no-okami suddenly slams to the ground just by them, slapped away earlier by izanami. the megidolaon has barely left a scratch on her and without proper story-mode items, there's no way he can defeat her now ]

[Ragna doubles over in pain, falling to his knees. He pays little attention to Izanagi-no-Okami and Souji's efforts, quickly becoming aware that something is terribly wrong with him. As the blackness spreads across his skin, his eyes flash with red color and his teeth seem to grow larger, sharper. Not unlike an animal, he thinks to himself.

The fog appears to accumulate around him, growing denser and darker. Suffocating, the most Ragna can do is extend his arm (the fingers of which are slowly beginning to resemble claws instead) to prevent Souji from coming any closer.]

I told you... GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HERE!!

[His scream turns into a deafening roar that fills the air and continues to echo through the night as the dark mist surrounding Ragna turns solid, giving form to a giant, black, eight-headed dragon-like monster.

Ragna is gone, and where he once stood, the Black Beast has appeared.]

[ this is... far more than souji has ever thought would happen tonight when he stepped out of his house. he has never seen something like this before and he doesn't even know where to start. he steps back as ragna tells him to but he doesn't run. instead, he just watches in shock. ]

Ragna!

[ in this moment, izanami-no-okami uses this opportunity to use a thousand curses on the black beast. dozens of black and cold hands appear beneath the creature, latching on tightly before attempting to drag it below, past the concrete sidewalk and to the world underneath. unfortunately for izanami, her thousand curses spell isn't as effective as it normally is (a fog apparition of the real goddess could never match to the real deal) and with enough movement or strength, the black beast should be able to get out of the curse's grip easily ]

[When Ragna comes to, he immediately notices everything feels off. His vision is a little weird, but more importantly, it's like he's kind of... disconnected from his body, for the lack of better explanation. Like it doesn't really belong to him anymore; like it won't obey him. He still manages to catch the sight of Souji with the corner of his eye, feeling a sense of relief to see him unharmed by... whatever the hell just happened.

Souji yelling Ragna's name draws the attention of one of the beast's heads, which then leans in dangerously close to inspect him, letting out a snarl. It's only when Izanami-no-Okami's attack connects that it gets distracted, throwing its head back with a howl. Enraged, the Black Beast throws the hands off itself, escaping the goddess' grip.

(It occurs to Ragna the whole thing should bother him more, but really, he can barely feel the curse's effect; as things are, it's barely tugging on his sides.)

Freed from the curse, the beast lashes out at Izanami-no-Okami, catching two of her many arms between its teeth and ripping them off her body.]

[ as all this happen, souji can only step back and watch everything unfold (he froze when one of the beast's head leaned in towards him but he didn't move - this is... still ragna underneath everything, right?). unlike the original izanami-no-okami, this one doesn't say a single word or lets out a sound as two of her arms are ripped from her. instead, she pulls back, seemingly unbothered by the loss of her limbs and she calls upon her next attack: agneyastra. large meteor-like boulders materialize in the air and hurl themselves at the black beast. ]

[As the boulders rain down on the beast, it lets out loud howl. It's hard to tell if it's caused by pain (does it even feel any? Ragna sure as hell doesn't, at least not at the moment), but even if that was the case, the attack doesn't seem to have left much visible damage. It does, however, establish Izanami-no-Okami as a threat to it, making it even more aggressive than before. One by one, all of the Black Beast's heads lash out at the fog-created goddess, biting, pulling, gnawing on and ripping parts of her body to shreds.

All of this is surreal. Just a few moments ago, Ragna was barely capable of avoiding some of her attacks, and now? He's fighting her head-on, somehow. Frankly, he's so baffled by this turn of events he can't even find it in himself to question how it's even possible.]

[ izanami-no-okami goes down silently and although she puts up a fight at first, attempting to use her many arms to try and escape from the beast's grasp but eventually, her struggles cease and she fades away back into the fog. souji can do nothing but just watch in horror but he stays where he is, grounded. after a long prolonged silence, he speaks again ]

...Ragna?

[As the last remains of Izanami-no-Okami dissipate into the fog between the beast's teeth, it turns its multiple heads slowly, scanning the area until it catches the sight of Souji. It moves forward, eyes fixed on him, watching the young man closely with what could be interpreted as interest...

Or perhaps it's just hungry.

"What the...?"

Ragna has been just as horrified by the way the goddess was defeated, but now that he (?) turns his attention back to Souji, his blood runs cold. If he managed to do that to the monster there, then─ No. No, he'd never. He wouldn't want nor try to actually hurt Souji.

Is "he" really still in charge here, though?

"Are you stupid?! Don't just stand there! RUN!!"

But his voice won't reach him. Instead, the Black Beast lets out a thundering roar as it bares its fangs at Souji before one of its heads charges straight at him.]

( from here )

[ souji has been dealing with his own nanako-related nightmares and even after seeing her every single time he stepped out (he's been out at least five times now), it was hard for him to keep it together. every time he sees her, even thinks about her, it's yet another reminder that he failed to protect her. that he failed to keep her safe and that he failed to hold onto the last bit of a family he wanted so badly to keep and when he hears her screaming and spots yu chasing after the hospital bed, he feels his heart tearing into two. ]

[ he chases after his twin and his running slows down into a walk when the heart monitor flatlines and he suddenly feels like he wants to throw up. he silently approaches yu from behind and he reaches out, grabbing onto yu's hand, gripping it tightly. he doesn't say anything. there's nothing to really say to make this better. this is their fault and they have to accept it ]

( from here )

[ souji hasn't been awake for much longer than yukiko and he's only been wandering for a few seconds before yukiko calls out to him. he hasn't put on his glasses just yet and he doesn't have his sword on him so when he slowly approaches, he just puts his hands up ]

It's just me.

[ he'll put down his hands once yukiko sees that it's him and not some kind of shadow ]

So you woke up here too...

[Yukiko breathes a sigh of relief at a familiar voice, rushing closer.]

Yeah it's just me.

[She gives him a weak smile, gesturing to the fog all around them.]

You have any idea where we are?

[ he looks around as she gestures and then back at her, shaking his head ]

No, I woke up here just a few minutes ago but it reminds me of that world inside the TV, with all this fog.

It reminds me too.

[She shivers a little and plants her feet firmly, looking around at the whole space they're in.]

No place to go but forward though, I suppose. Ready?

Ready.

[ he nods and they can start walking into the fog and wherever it takes them! ]

Do those glasses help? I've seen us wearing them in my memories whenever we were inside the TV.

I...think so?

But honestly I need glasses to see very far anyway.

[Just going to keep walking, but she is a little nearsighted.]

I wonder if we'll get them.

[ souji looks around in his pockets to see if he has his glasses as well and he actually does find them in his overshirt's breast pocket. he puts them on and wow, it... does actually help. hm, it's definitely like the tv world... but before he can focus more on that, he turns his head towards yukiko ]

"Them"?

[ does she mean... ]

Glasses?

[She frowns a little bit.]

The ones we wear in the TV world? What else would I mean?

( from here )

Tatsuma!

[ suddenly, a burst of fire comes from behind tatsuma and heads straight to the group of hornets, engulfing them in flames. then without warning, someone grabs onto his hand, pulling him as far away as possible from this area. when tatsuma looks, he'll see that he's being dragged by souji, who has only been awake in this nightmare for just a few seconds before him. obviously, souji has no clue what's going on and without any idea on where he is but that doesn't matter. he knows danger when he sees it and like hell he's going let anything happen to tatsuma while he's here ]

[His eyes widen in clear surprise as someone who shouldn't be in this memory appears, and he is successfully dragged a few steps before he's able to react.]

Souji-?!

[The girl scowls, hunching to reach for her right arm and squeezing it. Larvae fall from her sleeve, only to rapidly mature through the stages into the same hornets from before.

But the flames aren't the only thing to oppose her. A tall student in an orange shirt, a spiky-haired boy in uniform, and another dark haired student jump to their feet. From among the fleeing student archers, one girl only readies her bow.

The sight of them has Tatsuma pulling back.]

I can't leave them.

[He still doesn't know who they are, but... If they're staying to fight, he has to as well. Because if nothing else, he knows at the very least--

Those people are his friends.]

[ when souji feels tatsuma resisting, he stops. he looks towards where tatsuma looks off to and although he doesn't know who these people are or what their relationship is to tatsuma, he understands the sentiment of not wanting to leave anyone behind ]

... all right.

[ he lets go of tatsuma's hand and nods. he doesn't have his sword but he knows that his personas work here so he can hold his own ground right now ]

Be careful and don't do anything rash. Stay with me.

[He nods, forming fists. Oddly, there's an unfamiliar click as he does so; he wears navy blue gloves over his hands, and metal gauntlets over those that have been shaped to form the faces of dragons, the mouth clinking open with the motion.

With one glance to make sure Souji can follow, he makes his way down the bleachers. It is, however, unfortunately slow - the honet girl begins rapidly growing extra appendages, including a long, insect-like arm.

"Sakurai-san, you were always so nice... You'll give me your right arm, won't you?"

Her voice is disjointed as she speaks, and the arm lashes out, grabbing the archer by her arm and dragging her in. As she does so, her body jerks grotesquely as translucent wings pull themselves out of her back--

Tatsuma grimaces, leaping down as quickly as he can, but he's far, far out of range - he won't be able to catch her before she beats her retreat at this rate.]

[ seemingly at the last moment, a being quickly flies from behind tatsuma and it grabs onto the archer's other arm. it holds her in place, keeping the archer in the middle as some type of tug-o-war, but it turns its head towards tatsuma and waves its free hand at him. at this, tatsuma should feel a sudden surge of energy flowing through him ]

You're powered up, Tatsuma!

[ with a power charge granting tatsuma a 250% boost in physical attacks, he could probably do some real damage there ]

[It causes the girl to cry out in pain, being dragged between the two forces, but help is soon on the way. He feels that extra power coursing through him, and with only a short grunt of confirmation, he leaps over the last remaining bleachers and right to the center of the field in a jump that certainly isn't possible for any ordinary human.

He hardly seems to pay in any mind however, one arm wound back midair, just in time to punch right through the insect arm as he reaches her. The archer is released from her grip just as the hornet girl gives a horrific screech of pain, those wings beginning to buzz as she takes to the air. Her gaze remains on the archer, sharp with hatred - but for now, she makes her retreat.

Or at least, an attempt at one. There's a few scattered words traded among the students - the dark haired girl checks in with the archer to ensure she's okay even as the guys take off after the hornet girl, all displaying that same inhuman speed and power as they easily leap over onto the rooftops.

"Come on, Tatsuma!"

He pauses in place, looking back to Souji. As much as he wants to follow them to help, he's not about to leave the other behind, either.

He reaches out a hand.]

Souji!

[ sraosha fades away as the archer returns and souji looks off to where the horent girl makes her escape. seeing the other students display such acts of inhuman feats doesn't take souji by surprise (nothing really does anymore) and when they call for tatsuma to follow, souji looks to him. there's a feeling of happiness and relief when tatsuma extends his hand to follow and souji immediately takes it. he's not sure if he can keep up with the others but if he has to, he could summon kohryu to give them a ride. for now though, he'll see how he manages. ]

[As it turns out, Souji won't need to worry about that at all.

He already figures Souji won't be able to keep up. Which is why, in the interest of helping with that...

He'll go ahead and simply pick Souji up, the motion effortless as he quite literally sweeps Souji off his feet.]

Hold on.

[And hopefully Souji does so, because when Tatsuma takes off after the others he does so with the same crazy speed and strength, leaping hard enough to clear the rooftop - and the spaces between the rooftops, as he follows the others in pursuit of the hornet girl.]

( from here )

[ unlike most people who are trying to get out of the fog, souji has chosen to stay out when he can. he has a power that can help other people and if he can help even escort someone without them getting attacked by monsters or other things in the fog, then he will gladly spend his evenings doing that. ]

[ he's been briskly walking, trying to keep an eye out for anyone or anything but when he hears that voice, he stops. that... that sounds like his partner but no, it's... ]

... you're not Yosuke.

[ souji stops where he is and he looks straight at the shadow. he's tense and he's on his guard. he remembers this. he remembers what this shadow is like and he takes a step back. ]

[ Now this is someone he knows very well...better, in fact, than Yosuke himself truly realizes. The fact that Souji is able to pin him down right away isn't at all surprising. If anything, it causes the Shadow to grin, cocking his head to the side as he shifts his weight to one hip as well. ]

Ruinin' the surprise already? Well, I can't say I'm that upset, but you are looking a little tense around someone who's supposed to be your "partner".

[ at times like these, souji wishes that he brought out his sword for this moment but he's confident enough in his persona abilities by now that he thinks he could possibly hold his ground. he just keeps his distance while staying on guard ]

You're a Shadow. You're not him.

[ guess who doesn't know what shadows really are ]

[ Looks like someone's going to get a schoolin' from Yosuke, this time. Or, you know, the Awesome Yosuke. ]

Oh really?

[ The Shadow takes a step closer, letting himself catch more of the light. ]

If I wasn't, how else would I know about that stupidly anticlimactic memory we share about the station in Okina? Or about when you, me, and Chie fell into the TV together for the first time in the electronics department?

[ as yosuke approaches, souji doesn't move. he stays where he is ]

You must have some way of learning about him. Of learning his memories.

Sure I do. Patented method.

[ He leans in close. ]

It's called BEING him. I thought you got that part already?

[ as yosuke leans in, souji continues to stand his ground. his hands twitch, ready to push the shadow away if he has to or to raise his hand to summon a persona, but he stays calm and collected ]

... what do you want?

[ ignoring yosuke's question by asking his own ]

Just your acknowledgment.

[ He doesn't give Souji anymore space, gaze suddenly intense. ]

That's what I always want from you, Souji.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OPEN POST ♞ SPOOKY SCARY SKELETONS

3D, just like the movies

can souji drag ragna to a 3d movie about ghosts

OVER HIS DEAD BODY (which is soon probably)

taking selfie with ragna's dead body ( ˘ ³˘)♥

so basically https://i.imgur.com/iPPt7lB.png

LMFAO SHIT DID YOU DO THIS

guilty as charged c:

i am just so glad for this. this is so beautiful

i'm always here to photoshop shitty life choices

bless you and photoshop for giving the world and me this

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

i can't wait to die

ii-a

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAhuSDRIDHE

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

one AWESOME yosuke

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject