shattered 3

[19:58] <~Kroked> Subaru: Rumiko Kazumi , you have both watched as Ryuutaro rushed and grabbed the spear that must be what Nate refrenced
[19:58] <~Kroked> he is now, frozen in a trance like before
[19:59] <Subaru> "So, looks like he has that one covered."
[19:59] <Kazumi> "Im not the best at giving bad news.. but shouldnt someone other then him have done it?"
[19:59] <Subaru> "I'm sure he'll be fine."
[19:59] <Rumiko> "Such an idiot, running in without thinking like that"
[20:00] <Subaru> "Well, that's what got us to find Nathan in the first place."
[20:00] <Subaru> "You can trust him!"
[20:00] <Subaru> "Probably!"
[20:01] <Kazumi> "Ok.. so which ones do we touch next?"
[20:01] <Subaru> "Dunno, you guys can choose yours."
[20:01] <Subaru> "I'm looking at that fancy looking European one with the gold guard thing."
[20:02] <Kazumi> "What about you, Rumi?"
[20:03] * Rumiko looks about at the weapons
[20:03] <Rumiko> "Umm...this scythe here looks...interesting."
[20:05] <Subaru> "Kinda looks like part of a music note, but it's too creepy for my tastes."
[20:07] * Rumiko nods absentmindedly
[20:07] * Rumiko walks up to it and hovers her hand above the weapon
[20:07] <Rumiko> "S-shoud I?"
[20:08] <~Kroked> Rumiko: you get an odd feeling fromt he weapon
[20:08] <~Kroked> it's.... forboding, it makes your skin crawl
[20:09] <Kazumi> "You sure about that Rumi? It looks.. mean.."
[20:09] <Subaru> "I'll grab it if we can get thirds."
[20:10] * Rumiko glares at the weapon, as if to intimidate it back
[20:10] <~Kroked> roll initimidate
[20:12] <Rumiko> )roll 1d100+15
[20:12] * Demonbot --> "Rumiko rolls 1d100+15 and gets 65."
[20:13] <~Kroked> it is not cowed, in fact, you find yourself taking an unconcious step backwards from its retaliation
[20:15] * Rumiko shudders and steels herself before reaching out to touch the handle
[20:43] * Rumiko hesitates before touching the handle and thinks better of her decision. Maybe she should be a little more prepared before confronting such a dark aura.
[20:43] * Rumiko instead reaches for the sabre



[20:46] <Stephen> ((bgm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYXR_XM2Wg))
[20:49] <Stephen> The scene is cloaked in a darkness, silencing practically all color but that which shifts before you in a faint, uniform pattern. A rush of noise like a waterfall hits you from every direction.
[20:51] <Stephen> You feel stinging pain across your exposed skin as sand is kicked up in every direction. You come to realize you are standing in the middle of a vortex of sand, that is practically solid in its consistency.
[20:53] <Stephen> You instinctively stumble up what seems to be a mound of sand, as it is sucked away from beneath your labored steps across it.
[20:53] <Stephen> As you come to the top, the density of the sand flying around in the vortex begins to thin out.
[20:57] <Stephen> Someone is laying, half-buried in by the sands one arm extended out, holding an unidentified object. A sheath attached at the waste protrudes from one of the piles of sand covering the figure.
[20:58] <Stephen> The vortex is closing in, and the island of sand you're on continues to be eroded away.
[20:58] * Rumiko hurriedly attempts to dig the person out of the sand
[21:00] <Stephen> You find that he is face down in the sand, apparently unconcious, but body still moving in a slow breathing rythm. The object he is holding by a small handle, is grasped tightly for someone apparently passed out. Something tall and loud is balanced at its tip.
[21:00] <Stephen> And very narrow.
[21:02] * Rumiko shakes the person "Hey. Hey, guy. Wake up."
[21:08] <Stephen> Rather than looking to his savior, with a strained motion, he lifts his head, sand seeming to pour from his mouth as he takes a breath almost loud enough to hear in the turbulence, to look at the object he is gripping. As soon as it meets his eyes, his whole body suddenly spasms to motion and a saber is drawn and brought down like a club on the object, all in one culvulsive swing, with the blade coming within inches of your face.
[21:09] <Stephen> In the split second it does, a discomforting oppression weighs down on your soul. If your eyes were not being pelted with hundreds of grains of sand, you might feel a single tear coming to your eye. Then the blade hits and everything changes.
[21:13] <Stephen> The shifting wall encircling you, reducing the platform to a size just big enough to contain yourself, has ceased to move. The only source of noise comes from the middle of the now cramped isle of sand, where the stream vertically emitted from the object instanly changes to become unstable, changing thickness and angle across random segments according to no pattern.
[21:14] <Stephen> The object is firmly clutched close to the man's body, where he holds the blade to it as if he meant to puncture it.
[21:14] * Rumiko looks about in wonder at the sand, then turns back to the half-buried person "A-are you alright?
[21:15] <Stephen> Before he even has an oppurtunity to acknowledge, he, his sword and the lamp dissappear into a wall of sand that hits you with bone-crushing force and sends you straight into a concussive sleep.
[21:17] <Stephen> You awaken, eyes shut, lying on your back.
[21:17] <Stephen> A dull ache resounds through every inch of your skeleton.
[21:18] * Rumiko attempts to move her head to look around, trying to keep the pain to a minimum
[21:20] <Stephen> You open your eyes to a deep, dark purple canvas, decorated by magnificent rivers of luminous flowing colors. Greens, yellows, blues, and colors you're not even sure exist in the natural world.
[21:21] <Stephen> They appear to dwarf any clouds in both size and grandeur, that you've ever seen, and their actual size is incomprehensible to you.
[21:23] <Stephen> After absorbing the brilliance of the painted heavenly sphere, you turn your head sideways, dragging the back of it through sand.
[21:23] * Rumiko simply stares, speechless
[21:27] <Stephen> A man lies stretched out parallel to you, taking in the sight just as you were. The features of his face are rough and hewn, as if chiseled by the very biting winds of desert storms. His dark bron hair appears to have grown unruly past his shoulders, as does that around his chin and lips, and he wears an odd covering that covers the top of his head and back of his head.
[21:28] <Stephen> Whether the sword is present or not is unknown to you, as the the sheath is worn on the side opposite of you.
[21:28] <Stephen> About his hand, there is no sign of the lamp.
[21:28] * Rumiko lets out a rough "H-hello?" through her dry, scratchy throat
[21:30] <Stephen> He replies with a loud raspy cough, his chest heaving with the noise, but does not raise a hand to his throat. You can almost make out a mist of sand above his mouth.
[21:31] <Stephen> His eyes remain locked on the sky above him. "Beee. Hold," staggering the syllables in an unusual way.
[21:32] <Stephen> His voice is grainy and coarse, like a layer of thick sand.
[21:38] * Rumiko sits up, grunting through the pain. "Are you alright?"
[21:38] * Rumiko scratches the sand from her long hair and looks around. "What...what is this place?"
[21:38] * Rumiko looks up following his gaze in the direction the man is looking.
[21:39] <Stephen> "A desert. Now."
[21:40] <Stephen> On taking a second look, you see that the ribbons of light are actually openings to something beyon the sky.
[21:43] * Rumiko attempts to get a better look at the opening
[21:44] <Stephen> The light is much too brilliant for you to properly focus your eyes on it.
[21:44] <Stephen> Though it is beginning to dull, and more of the sky is being reclaimed by the dark purple one would expect to see on a night like this.
[21:50] * Rumiko asks "So, um...who are you? Are you another one of the people who fought Omega?"
[21:52] <Stephen> "The man in the desert with the lamp and the sword. What I was."
[21:53] <Stephen> You hear sand sift next to you. He's sitting up now.
[21:54] <Stephen> "That other question."
[21:58] <Stephen> He leans over you, propped up on one arm, and looks down at your face with cobalt eyes.
[21:59] * Rumiko averts her eyes, her face going slightly pink "W-what?"
[21:59] <Stephen> He opens is mouth, a number of times, like a fish trying to breath air, before furrowing his brows in frustration, and answering with a simple, exasperated "yes."
[22:00] <Stephen> He returns to his former sitting position.
[22:01] <Stephen> "Another sight awaits you should you choose to rise."
[22:02] * Rumiko sits up, "What do you mean?"
[22:03] <Stephen> He raises both arms in front of him like a zombie, fingers outstretched, pointing ahead of where the two of you are seated.
[22:03] * Rumiko's gaze follows his fingers
[22:04] <Stephen> You realize that just a meter from your feet, is the rim of an enormous depression in the sand, stretching almost as far as you can see both ahead of you and side to side. Behind it, you can make out mountain-sized heaps of sand.
[22:06] <Stephen> "Our defeat was not certain. Our future held hope."
[22:06] * Stephen he stands up and extends a hand to you
[22:07] <Stephen> You notice that his sheath is missing the saber
[22:09] * Rumiko watches, unsure whether she should grab his hand or not
[22:11] <Stephen> He gestures "come here" with the extended hand
[22:12] * Rumiko follows after him
[22:12] <Stephen> He raises you to a standin position
[22:13] <Stephen> "Our failure meant the end of everything. Yet here we stand. Somewhere in memory under the signaling sky."
[22:14] <Stephen> Nothing but unusually flat desert can be seen behind you, or to either side of you. The depression and sand heaps seem to be the only geographical features around.
[22:16] <Stephen> The depression is more like a crater, with steep slopes, and what might be solid ground at the bottom.
[22:18] <Stephen> If there is, it can't be wider than a meter.
[22:21] <Rumiko> "Isn't this place...supposed to be a world of your own design? Why do you choose a wasteland like this?"
[22:24] <Stephen> "This world was not of my own design. The choice I made to bring this event about is only relevant to a universe that has long been erased."
[22:24] <Stephen> He seats himself along the rim of the depression.
[22:26] * Rumiko looks down into the pit, lost in thought. After a moment, she asks "So is there any hope for you? Are you like your companions? Can you live on in another?"
[22:26] <Stephen> And gazes into it.
[22:31] <Stephen> "My body is gone. All of this is gone. The hope too."
[22:32] <Stephen> "But maybe I do live on."
[22:32] <Stephen> "Is that what brought you here?"
[22:34] <Rumiko> "Sort of. My friends and I are looking to...fix this whole mess, if we even can. We've found your companions and friends and they've offered us their power to help us.
[22:36] <Stephen> "There is power here that you have seen for yourself. Go forth as you would."
[22:36] * Rumiko tilts her head slightly. "I'm...not sure I understand what you mean.
[22:38] * Stephen feels for the sword that is not present in its sheath and turns his head back and forth to look for something
[22:41] <Stephen> "Epicenter of erosive erasure envelops enigmatic inventory."
[22:41] * Stephen kicks some sand and watches it slide down the slope to the bottom of the funnel
[22:49] <Stephen> "It's down there."
[22:52] * Rumiko hesitantly makes her way into the pit
[22:54] <Stephen> You try and keep your balance going in, but the thin layers of sand slide across each other in a way that causes you to lose your shaky footing in about half a minute. You roll the rest of the way down and hit solid rock fairly hard, completely disoriented.
[22:55] * Rumiko shakes her head, trying to get her bearings straight
[22:57] <Stephen> The gashes in the sky have been sealed to the point of being large holes projecting shifting spotlights of various colors across the interior of the crater.
[22:57] <Stephen> As they move across the sand, they leave a trail of vibrant color through it.
[22:59] <Stephen> You are standing on a stone slab, a dinky looking sword is at your feet. The thing is in miserable shape, with a clear warp and several dents along its edges.
[22:59] * Rumiko reaches for the sword
[23:00] <Stephen> You grasp the sword by its worn grip.
[23:04] <Stephen> The lights moving across the sand simultaneously freeze, but not before having smeared the interior of the crater with a spiraling torrent of color.
[23:11] <Stephen> As you pick up the sword, a discomfort takes your wrist as you try to handle its cumbersome, misweighted length. The most effective means of handling turns out to be dragging it. The lights remain frozen, as if in anticipation. It's almost ominous.
[23:12] * Rumiko pulls the sword along as she tries to drag it out of the pit, keeping an eye on the sky's strange activity
[23:15] <Stephen> The ascent seems unreasonably brief compared to the long tumble you took. As you drag the sword along, the colors form a wake behind it. You reach the top, having left a clear trail towards which the colors flowed towards. There, Stephen is waiting and gives you a quick look over.
[23:15] <Stephen> "You didn't find it?"
[23:15] * Rumiko looks down at the sword, then back up to Stephen, confusion upon her face
[23:15] <~Kroked> redact that
[23:16] <~Kroked> you walk out of the pit, and as you make it to the top the light in the sky swirls about... and begins to decend, it swirls around and envelops you and the blade, you watch as time seems to flow backwards for the weapon, nicks dissapearing the weapon becoming les and less war, and engravings like flame appearing upon, once it reaches the peak of it's >
[23:17] <~Kroked> condition, the engravings glow, and fill with a flickering blue flame as the light show around you fades
[23:20] <Stephen> "The lamp was there. Where is the lamp... it was there..."
[23:21] * Stephen gets on his hands and knees and frantically crawls along the ground in an undignified display
[23:21] * Stephen completely ignores Rumiko's presence
[23:22] <Rumiko> "Hey, what's missing? Are you alright?"
[23:22] * Stephen scuttles down into the pit without a response
[23:22] * Rumiko raises an eyebrow
[23:23] <Stephen> He has clearly lost it. You have no reason to remain here.
[23:24] <~Kroked> the world around you begins to fade
[23:24] * Rumiko frowns as she watches him. She readjusts her grip as she watches Stephen fade away



[23:36] <Subaru> "So.....that European looking sword looks nice."
[23:37] <Subaru> "Like the kind of thing the main character of an RPG'd use."
[23:38] <Kazumi> "Go for it Subaru, I really have no idea which one to pick next... Ill just look around some more."
[23:38] <Subaru> "Well, see ya after this I guess."
[23:38] * Subaru walks over and grabs the sword by the hilt.
[23:38] <~Kroked> the world fades as it has before
[23:39] <~Kroked> BGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70VlAyEUXYM
[23:42] <~Kroked> As witht he others, images, memories pass by, but... this one's different. you watch images of a young american child pass by, his eyes are wide, and his head still needs a bit of growing into, but... he's normal. You watch his childhood fly by, a completely extraordinary person, a bit solitary, sometimes contrary, but kind. he grows up, and becomes a man, >
[23:45] <~Kroked> Wide in the shoulders, and what seems to be a permanant light beard, returning shortly after he shaved even. he made friends, lost friends, had good times, and bad ones as well. he had his problems, but they were by and far that of a normal person, nothing like the others, he graduated highschool, and moved across the country for college, to New York City.>
[23:47] <~Kroked> Than, as if completely on accident, or maybe a whim of fate, his life changed when he, and his friends, walked into a carnival tent. Strange things happen the reflection of a friend came to life and acted like him, and when his friend denied it, it became a horrible monster. The Man was knocked out by the beast, and woke to find himself on a large stage, >
[23:50] <~Kroked> faced with a mirror image of himself, one who knew his every fear, his every insecurity, knew every fault, every vice, and mocked him for it, when his friends finall found him, his will was already near broken, he just a normal man after all, he wasnt some storybook hero, it was than, the doppleganger pulled its ace. The man's greatest vice, the thing he >
[23:51] <~Kroked> hated and feared most about himself, and said it in front of his friends, the man broke, denying the thing, which merely laughed, and transfigured into a large turtle, with the feet and head of a lion. The man could do nothing but cower in dread as he watched his friends, even with what they heard, come to his aid, and defend him, using some kind of strange>
[23:53] <~Kroked> Power.... The power, he learned afterwards, was the Power of Persona. with the help of his friends, he faced, and excepted this other him, and it, in turn, became his persona, a facade with which one faces hardships, a sword and shield in times dire. After that, things only got weirder and weirder. his friends got pulled into some kind of cult, than learned >
[23:55] <~Kroked> that the supernatural was real, and being hidden by a special group. from there, they attempted to find out what to do next, only to be sucked to a different world by powers unkown, where they spent 2 years in a land not unlike the medeival era of europe. they returned after defeating a false king, to find no time had passed in there world, and went on to >
[23:57] <~Kroked> face an evil threatening to devour the city. After the conflict, no rest was to be had, a she was immediatly drawn into another conflict. the evil wanted revenge, and while he and the others visited normal friends, he tried to disturb and worry them, and revert there personae back to shadow. The man and another held on, but his best friend... he gave in, >
[23:58] <~Kroked> and his shadow, no, twin shadows, built from twin fears, attacked, they failed to defend him, and he died, but the man... he refused to give up. With all there power.... witht he true nature of the world, there had to be a way. thus, they discovered a test, one they pursued and took, only for it to be meddled with by the evil, causing them to fail. Sensing >
[00:01] <~Kroked> the disparity, they were given another chance, a last gamble, one final difficult test, they fought, and this time, succeeded, the evil, which had tried once again to cause there failure, was defeated, and each of them gifted an artifact, as an act of goodwill by those who gave the test. after, life was peaceful, he went to a town where the supernatural was >
[00:02] <~Kroked> common, and for a time, he and his best friend, revived, but changed slightly lived together. than one day, after finding an old antique weapon of a type he was unfamilliar, he decided to test it, only to find a new journey thrust upon him, the Mantle of traveler, forced to leave his friend, without even a goodbye, never to be able to return, he wandered for>
[00:03] <~Kroked> years, until he came across a young girl and a fairy, they traveled together, and overcame many obstacles, which lead to a much bigger adventure, one to save not just that world, but every world, together, they and many friends, including the one he left behind fought... and lost
[00:05] <~Kroked> You find yourself in the living room of a decent sized apartment, fairly high up from what you can see out the window. The apartment itself looks as if some kind of tornado ran through, it's an absolute MESS
[00:05] <Subaru> "Dear GOD that one was long."
[00:06] <~Kroked> the Man in the memories lays on the couch, legs crossed arms behind his head. he turns to face you when you speak. "Sorry about that."
[00:06] <Subaru> "Ah....ya heard that....Sorry bout that, just didn' expect it to be so much longer than the other ones."
[00:07] <Subaru> "So.....d'ya know Philemon or something?"
[00:08] <~Kroked> he shrugs, staring aback at the ceiling "I only met him fleetingly, once. Spent more time whith a guy named Igor.... You know Philemon?"
[00:08] <Subaru> "Well.....there are these games I liked....and well......"
[00:08] <Subaru> "Ya ever heard of Persona 4?"
[00:09] <~Kroked> "...You had the Persona Games too in your world?" Josh give a small smiless chuckle "I used to love those games"
[00:09] <Subaru> "Yeah.....kinda too bad 5 never got to come out..."
[00:10] <~Kroked> "I was ok witht hat, felt like I /lived/ through it personally"
[00:10] <Subaru> "You don't look like the guy in the trai-.....sorry."
[00:11] <Subaru> "Anyway, my friends and I heard what happened and are gonna try ta help fix things."
[00:12] <~Kroked> THIS get's his attention, and he sits himself up and faces you "Wait, what? Are you... are you /sure/?"
[00:12] <~Kroked> "I mean... he wiped a good 19 of us out"
[00:13] <Subaru> "Well, I'm in here with ya right now aren't I?"
[00:13] <~Kroked> "And than completly shattered... everything"
[00:13] <~Kroked> "...yeah, you are."
[00:13] <Subaru> "All of ya fought knowing that ya could die too, why is this any different?"
[00:14] <~Kroked> he gives a sort of sad smile "... I /would/ say it's really different... but ya know, I'd probably say and do the same thing in your place."
[00:14] <~Kroked> "Whats your name?"
[00:14] <Subaru> "Even that first group've friends ya had rose up to the challenge even though ya guys were jus average students."
[00:15] * Subaru crosses her arms and puffs out her chest, "The name's Sorakado Subaru, nice ta meetcha!"
[00:17] <~Kroked> "I'm Josh, Josh Kroke. And I'm sorry you even have to do this."
[00:18] <Subaru> "Oi!"
[00:19] <Subaru> "All of ya guys keep saying 'sorry you guys need to do this,' or 'are you sure you want to fight.' We're here and we want to save everything for our sakes as well!"
[00:20] <Subaru> "So instead of wasting yer breath on that apology and doubt, believe in us and wish us luck!"
[00:20] <~Kroked> "...yeah, Yeah I guess so huh? A little late to mope right? Might as well do what I can now. So, how can I help you? I don't have much, but, I can give you whatever you think might help"
[00:22] <Subaru> "Got anything that'd help a girl who knows kung-fu?"
[00:22] <Subaru> "Wait.......If I get a Persona......Would I be Chie?"
[00:22] * Subaru 's eyes seem to light up
[00:23] <~Kroked> Josh snorts "I guess you could be."
[00:23] <~Kroked> "...but you know, I'd be careful about asking for that"
[00:24] <Subaru> "Eh, what's the worst that could happen? I wear my heart on my sleeve afta all."
[00:24] <Subaru> "What ya see is who I am, that's how Sorakado Subaru lives!"
[00:25] <~Kroked> he shrugs, "I can;t really pretend to know you, but. I can;t grant you a persona, I'm not Philemon. I can give you the potential, and I might be able to draw out a shadow... but after that, it's up to you and your friends to face it together."
[00:26] <Subaru> "Wouldn't have it any other way!"
[00:26] <~Kroked> "I know you say you're an open book... but everyone has things they hate about themselves, things they dont want others to know, or hate about who they are... just try not to be underprepared."
[00:26] <~Kroked> "It's... not a fun experience"
[00:26] <Subaru> "Plus I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I gave up the chance ta get onea them."
[00:27] <Subaru> "Oi oi, what did I say about that mopey stuff? Believe in us! Believe in the chance at victory!"
[00:28] <~Kroked> he smirks and shakes his head  and walks up to you, and ruffles your hair "You're  a good kid. I think it's ok to trust in you"
[00:28] <~Kroked> "Remember, though, i doubt i need to tell you. You're friends are your greatest strength, never forget that"
[00:28] <Subaru> "Can ya do me a favor though?"
[00:29] <~Kroked> he raises his eyebrows "Oh yeah? Sure, if I can"
[00:29] <Subaru> "If we fix this, and I exist in whateva Earth yer from, ya gotta buy my idol CD."
[00:29] <~Kroked> he just kind of... stares for a moment, than bursts into loud booming laughter
[00:30] <Subaru> "Hey! I gotta help with mah family's bills somehow!"
[00:31] <Subaru> "It should be undah the name, 'Hokuto-chan'."
[00:31] <~Kroked> after a bit he wipes tears from his eye's, and still grinning widely gives a thumbs up "Yeah, you bet I will. Now good luck" he holds out his fist, offering a fist
[00:31] * Subaru pounds hers against it.
[00:32] <~Kroked> you feel a warmth enter you, and the scene fades
[00:32] <Subaru> "Thanks, and see ya later Senpai!"
[00:32] <~Kroked> end