recolle | [Closed] I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night...

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[Closed] I sung of Chaos and Eternal Night...

WHO: Penelope Raban, the esper Mateus, and an (un)fortunate few.
WHERE: The streets of Recolle, Recolle Woods, and Kumou Shrine
WHEN: January 12th to January 15th
WHAT: Penelope has regained the demonic summon Mateus that she cannot control without a fight. Mateus flees, seeking to gather support for the inevitable conflict between them and to hurt the people close to Penelope.
WARNINGS: Violence against people and animals, blood, possible gore, potential mentions of ritualistic sacrifices. Other warnings may be added, so please assume this log will involve any number of unpleasant things.

In the early evening outside of Wiffle Waffle, something stirred, and bystanders reported that it seemed just a touch more chillier than normal. Shouts were heard, the resonant crash of steel against steel, and a deep, rasping laugh but few people got a clear picture of what was going on. It wasn't anything to worry about, probably, even if a young woman was spotted limping to her car and driving off like a maniac. Just someone who fell, probably.

Others may have noticed an enormous shape slinking off into the shadows too, but that was just a guy carrying an old Christmas tree. Probably.

I. January 12 to January 14, Streets of Recolle.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, nothing happened. The creature expected that it would very likely be met with immediate pursuit, but when it wasn't that gave it time to think. Slulking from alley to alley, Mateus considered it's surroundings in bewilderment, maddened by its failed attempt at freedom. It knew only what its summoner did, and the deluge of information took time to process.

Traveling outside the city was simple enough, and surrounded by the cold of Recolle Woods it found a place to build into a stronghold. A shrine with a certain kind of energy to it worked quite nicely, giving it an opportunity to call forth minions.

It needed more support though, and it needed it badly if it wanted it's freedom. Fortunately, this new place seemed a likely place to find the gullible and foolish, those with more ambition or desire than caution. People with darkness in their hearts, the wicked or the misguided. These were people it could use.

The darkness helped, masking its movements and making it easier to study potential allies. Moving with an unnaturally graceful gait for its ungainly form, the esper followed at a distance...weighing and measuring, trying to get a feel for who to approach. When it does, it calls out first in a voice as cold as a glacier, and as dry as a desert. Just a greeting, always delivered from a particularly dense patch of shadows, concealing itself at first.

"Why...hello there," it rasps, "...I was wondering if perhaps we could speak..."

II. January 13 to January 14, Streets of Recolle.

When dawn came, Mateus had come to several conclusions, and chief among them was that it would need to attract its summoner's attention somehow. To draw her in, to keep her off balance, and get her to come in upset. Easier prey, that way, and what better way to draw in a self righteous mortal than to play on her sense of loyalty. Discovering who she held dear was simple enough, they reeked with the girl's scent, and those become its first targets. Others as well, those not allied with the girl, but those who might carry word of the attack back to her.

Skulking, stalking, moving from shadow to shadow, Mateus observes and waits. The attack comes on suddenly, a streaking blur of cold rippling out of a shadow, a demonic form rising up from a snow drift or out of the mouth of an alley. The esper shrieks something unintelligible in a gutteral tongue, and then...

"Where is Penelope?!" before attacking with an arm, its trident, or a spell. Defend yourself, run, or perish!

III. January 14, Recolle Woods/Kumou Shrine.

As the third day arrived, Mateus had decided that staying within the bounds of the city was less than wise. It could not continue these forays into a confusing tangle of concrete and lights, and if it attacked many more people it might draw the eyes of a mortal militia. So into the forest it goes, waiting to see if its labors to attract Penelope are successful.

While out in the forest, though, it hardly remains idle. Humans that visit the Kumou shrine or who are out in the woods are both potential targets or potentially approached if they have a suitable amount of darkness in their hearts. A rustle of leaves, the tinkling of ice crystals, and a sudden deepening of shadow are all that announce its presence.

Individuals it seeks to bargain with will be greeted with a simple "Greetings..." while those it intends to attack will hear only a battlecry before being struck with a shock of freezing cold...

IV. Contact Pen.

If your character wants to contact Penelope after a thread about being attacked, this is the place to do it. Post deal threads involving action with Pen I will reply to in the original thread.

V Any Day, Wild Card.

If there is a specific scenario you'd like to play, or a different set up to being approached or attacked, then feel free to write your own prompt and I will respond with Mateus accordingly. If you want to do a group thread, as some of you guys have mentioned, just leave me a note of who is participating in the subject line as well!

I'm perfectly fine with whatever you want to do, but if you feel the need to get in touch with me OR just have any general questions, please hit me on Plurk.

intercession. Reference art linked above courtesy OperatingThetan.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Oh. Being bound to another is one of those concepts he wouldn't have thought about unless faced with a monster, or a spirit, or whatever otherworldly creature Mateus is. Initially, Minato thinks to the Personas bound to him, of how he can wrench them from his soul to fight for him and yet he's never stopped to ask if they wanted to sever ties. If they asked him, he wouldn't know how.

But then, his thoughts turn to his grandparents, of how he'd severed the ties himself in order to leave and find his own way. It was tough back then, and he wishes he'd gotten helped, or thought to seek it. ]

I see. Being bound against your will isn't fair to you at all. I want to help. How can I help?

[Mateus breathes in, chest swelling almost gratefully, and the chill in the air abates slightly. Almost furtively, it bites its lip, an attempt at seeming somewhat nervous.]

I need to speak with the person who bound me. I need to sever our bond, but I need her here to do it.

[Breathing out slowly, it tilts its head away from Minato, looking for all the world dejected and hurt. A plaintive edge enters its voice, a need for something.]

I do not think she will come willingly. Do you think, perhaps, you could bring her to me? If you do, I...I can reward you. Once I'm free, I can find some way to repay you, but her bindings restrain my power.

[ Even without the offer a reward, Mateus would have already provided him the very simple happiness in being able to help somebody. But a reward from— a monster? a god? he knows nothing about Mateus and has never been in the habit of asking about people's lives— and he thinks to his Personas again, how they provide him power, aid whenever he calls, a constant bond that makes him feel as if he were never alone. He wonders if Mateus' relationship to this person is anything like that. ]

A name, or a description. I could try to find her. If I talk to her, though, and tell her all that you said... I think she would come willingly.

[ After all, she has no reason not to trust Mateus, and neither does Minato, from everything that he's been told. ]

[Mateus hums thoughtfully, rolling its head back and forth in thought. It doubts that she would. She knows better. She absolutely knows better. But it can't hurt to give this human a glimmer of hope that she might.]

Penelope, I believe. Penelope Raban is what she goes by.

[It leans down, placing a frigid hand on Minato's shoulder and nods gratefully.]

Bring her to me. Willing or no. When the spell is broken, I'll use my power to give you the power to help people. [Which is what he seems to want...]

Pen?

[ He's so taken aback by the name being one he recognizes, that he doesn't flinch or throw Mateus' hand off his shoulder like he would for anybody else who suddenly touches him. Pen is— a friend- he remembers how he'd hesitated in believing in even after being taken into her home for Thanksgiving... but a friend. She would listen, he thinks, if he could properly explain.

If.

If only Mateus could grant him that power right now, the inner strength to believe in himself and the ability to properly convey his intentions and explain. ]

Ha... If you could really grant me strength, I'll thank you. But I'll do my best to talk to her. Will you be waiting right here?

[Mateus nods, smiling gently. It does seem to think that its managed to win him over, and that is the goal.]

I take it you know her.

[A statement of fact, and not a question. It caught the recognition in his eye. Curious thing, that.]

But no. I will be at the shrine in the forest. Kumou, I believe the sign reads.

[The creature waves a hand, and a small bundle of ice crystals appears in its palm, pulsing with a soft light. It glitters and drifts towards Minato, growing larger and larger until it's roughly the size of a beach ball.]

Take this. My Ice Azer. It will guide you back to me. And help you if things go...poorly.

[ How easy was it to win Minato over...? As easy as him offering information, nodding to confirm that he knows Pen. He isn't close enough friends, he feels like, that he can just knock on her door and chat— it'd be much simpler if he could just walk Mateus up to her front door? harder to deal with the whole not-good-with-light thing, though. ]

The Kumou shrine, right...

[ Silently, Minato holds his hands out to reach for the Ice Azer, as if he's not sure what to do with it and plans to carry it in his hands if it doesn't follow him around or shrink down into something more manageable. ]

[The little thing jumps to his hand, immediately shrinking down to the size of a tennis ball. A soothing, pleasant feeling washes over Minato as it touches him, and he'll feel...stronger. Physically stronger, bolstered by a little bit of magic.]

I shall be waiting. Thank you...

[The creature slithers back into the darkness then, seeming to vanish from sight.]

[ He's surprised by the feeling, like taking a breath of fresh air on a crisp autumn day, but he's too late to ask anything more before Mateus disappears. The Azer tells him two things, though: 1) Mateus really is magic, and 2) his magic is the sort that grants people strength. For Minato, a lot of what he wants is that— strength to go about his day without the constant fatigue, strength to stand on his own without people worrying about him or needing to protect him.

For this little taste of strength, he takes his phone out of his pocket right there in the alleyway, and drafts a message and sends it to Pen. He asks if she's at home right now, or if she has free time tomorrow. He's got something to show her, and could use somebody to talk to. ]

[Pen messages him back quickly enough, stating that she is indeed home and if he needs her, that he's welcome to come by. No problem. Tonight, or tomorrow, whenever he wants to come. She'll always take time for friends.]

[ If she's home, he decides to make the trek there, setting the meeting time later tonight, he tells her with a more exact time, so that he can go home and grab his bow or something to use as light when he walks over. Maybe he'll grab something for Mr. Fluffernutters too so that he's not coming over empty handed.

Whenever he gets there, he sends Pen another text saying that he's outside. ]

[Pen responds by opening the door and heading out onto the porch. She's accompanied by Tons, acting as her lantern. The little monster waves a hand at him, and Pen does as well.]

Yo. What's up, Minato?

[ Oh... Minato turns his attention over to the Tonberry first, waving back at it before doing the same for Pen. Meeting other people's summons are always a weird feeling, like he's not sure whether to consider them like pets or wild animals or whatever the hell a Persona is supposed to be, what he is in relation to them. Is the Tonberry happy being a lantern carrier? He has no idea. ]

Hey, Pen. ...Have you been able to summon anything else recently? [ He touches a spot on his chest, at the base of the sternum. ] I was able to summon two of mine, recently, but...

[ He doesn't think he wants to, ever again. ]

[Pen stoops to scoop up Tonberry, who coos softly and nuzzles her cheek, a bit like a pet or a very strange baby. It settles into her arms easily enough, and both of them focus on Minato. Pen steps down off the porch with a wary look, her stance shifting slightly to hold Tons more loosely.]

I didn't know you could summon anything at all, though.

[Eyeing him askance, she frowns.]

And yeah, I have. How did you know?

Yeah, only found out a couple days ago.

[ He knew there were things inside him, but actually drawing them out required a desperate situation and his sister's evoker. Summoning his Personas knocked him out completely, and he's sure that he his Personas could speak to him, they'd be vying for freedom too, just like Mateus. ]

I met one of yours. Wants to speak to you, and I think it'd be good for you to listen.

[Pen listens quietly, though Tonberry starts to squirm a bit so she sets the little guy down and takes a seat on the steps. Looking up at him, both eyebrows shoot up, something akin to concern reflected in her eyes. He'd talked to the thing? She knew it was different than the Yahri she had, significantly so, but she'd been a little frightened to go after it after it attacked her. But if it was approaching people...]

...Okay. So, you spoke to it. What did it say?

[No denying it was her's, obviously. But like hell is she going to go speak to it on her own, even if someone she thinks is pretty okay says so. Minato's shown himself to have some strange tastes, after all.]

[ Minato remains standing, feeling in his coat pocket the ball of ice that numbs his hand and gives him resolve, though he wishes Mateus were here to speak to Pen in person. Nothing to do but to say the plain and simple truth, though. ]

It wants freedom. Can you help?

[ "Please help." But it's still a question, because unsummoning to return a monster or spirit back to one's soul is one thing, but releasing is something completely different, and may not be entirely possible. ]

No.

[It's a simple word, but Pen's voice is flat and hard, an edge entering it. It wants freedom, but what would that entail? She does not know what the creature is, not completely, but it had actually frightened her, and it had scared Tonberry too. That was something that she hadn't seen before, in any of the misadventures she'd had since he turned up in June. She had a feeling that it was more like Freya's Eidolon, though that was not her place to say, not to an outsider.

To say nothing of the awareness of it in the back of her head. A malevolent presence, one that required real effort to shut out right now.]

No, I won't. I don't think letting it loose is a good idea.

[ There's a beat before her response sinks in. Minato wasn't expecting a "Yeah, okay, let's do it! and everybody lives happily ever after" sort of reply, but he wasn't prepared for so such a definite no. There was a lack of fear or concern with which he'd regarded Mateus, but now, speaking with Pen, his lips thin into a slight frown. ]

Is it so bad...? Freedom is something people- creatures- everybody deserves to have. Keeping it chained down after bringing it into the world doesn't sound fair.

[Penelope leans back on her hands, looking up at him. Studiously, she listens, lets him say his piece, and then she snorts. Her eyes narrow slightly, shoulders beginning to tense slightly.]

Implying that I somehow gave birth to that thing? No, Minato.

[She straightens from her hunch, pushing herself more upright on her arms, and inhales deeply. Since they are getting a little philosophical though, perhaps she should answer a question with a question? That does seem the thing to do. And there is one she wants him to think about.]

Do criminals deserve freedom? Do the wicked deserve to be free to do as they please?

Edited 2018-01-14 22:10 (UTC)

[ Maybe not giving birth, but the reason it's here in this world has to do with her, and she has at least that little bit of responsibility for it, he thinks, leaning back and shuffling his weight from one foot to the other as Pen straightens up.

Criminals and the wicked... The answer she's looking for and the answer on the tip of his tongue are both nos. But before he yields to that, that begs another question. ]

How do you know it's a criminal, that it's wicked?

[ How does Minato know it's not? He doesn't. He doesn't know anything but a name and a request and even those might be false— but there's a possibility that they aren't, that Mateus just wants to live out the rest of its life in peace and quiet and if Minato has to play devil's advocate, he will. ]

[Pen fixs him with a dark look, the shadows created by Tonberry's lantern giving her face a much less friendly cast than normal. The question was fair, yes. And if he was playing devil's advocate then she'd need to explain, anyway.]

The creature attacked me the instant I summoned it. That has not happened before.

[She resists the urge to stand, to blow him off and go inside. That would be easy enough, but Minato was a friend, and he needs to be informed.]

I've had a sense of it, ever since then. A...feeling, I guess, that it wants to hurt me. And I do not think that something that quick to act in violence is going to treat anyone else any differently. Hell, did you get a look at it? It has someone...or something...tied to it.

[That does not sound like something that this world needs to have loose in it, not to her. Far, far from it, in fact.]

If I were brought into a strange world all of the sudden, I might be scared too. [ Fear leads to violence, lashing out at anything close or who might be responsible, both of which point towards Pen, from Mateus' point of view. ] It talked of wanting to go home... And spoke courteously towards me.

[ So he had no reason to disbelieve anything Mateus said, lacking a normal fear response or even just common sense when it comes to things like monsters he's just discovering could be both ally or foe. All he has to work off is the one encounter that he had, which he thinks is just as valid as Pen's encounter. Towards Minato, it was amiable, and that's what he was back. ]

It stayed in the shadows, so I couldn't get a good look at it. But why should appearances matter...?

[Of course it did. A little exasperated, Pen rolls her eyes, a hint of anger flaring up inside. How could he be so stupid? Seriously, a shadowy figure talking about freedom. What kind of person does he think she is, anyway?]

Because half of it is a woman's body, chained to something else. I guess, lots of arms and limbs. A parasite or something. Doesn't exactly strike me as something that values freedom to me, but what about you?

[Heat has seeped into her tone, anger not quite held back.]

[ Maybe he really is just stupid for wanting to believe in anybody and everybody, but the look he returns is set neutral, voice exactly the same. ]

If I were born with extra arms, would we not be friends? You can't understand somebody if you refuse to talk to them.

[ Just talk. He could bring Pen down to the shrine, set up a whole bunch of light in order to keep Mateus away, if that'll get Pen to feel a little safer. He's still optimistic that he can make this work. ]

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does he have his bow with him, by the way?

yep! o7