Letter Bee

Persona - The True Self

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru nodded at Ryan's refusal to be sketched, saying, "All right; I'll find something else to do." And with that, he observed as Shizuka looked spectacular, Mako and Sato went off to get shaved ice, and Kanna be more at ease. Oh, and Ryan offer to help Matt up. This group really was an anime-style Nakama, and he felt himself growing closer to them. Maybe he had jumped the gun when he had assumed they all disliked him. Drawing closer to Kanna, the young man would say:

"Greetings. Kanna, right? My name is Samuru Amakusa; I wasn't there for when the others 'recruited' you. How are you and how are you holding up?" Samuru then, on impulse, began sketching the clear blue sea, as well as the sky above. He then smiled as he began to work his pastels. "It's so nice to see the others happy."

A mischevious smile on his face, before the young man whispered, "Say, want to go see what Rui is doing? He is our leader, after all, and he saved us. But, and no offense, he looks like a generic nice guy, with any hidden depths concealed very well. It'll be fun; we can discover his interests, how he interacts with others, and perhaps even give him a surprise gift once we see what he'd want. Or we can just ask him upfront; that works too. So, what do you say?"

Samuru planned to do it anyway; Kanna or no Kanna. But it would be more useful to have a friend beside him than not, right?

@Sho Minazuki@floodtalon@Tenma Tendo

Dialectic 0: Beyond Man

In the shadows of dusk, the crowds milling before the Palace of Troy were a motely group; the urban poor standing together with merchants, craftsmen, and smallholder farmer-soldiers newly-come from the country. They held up placards and posters, illustrated with prize woodcuts from the printing-houses. And leading them were the Church of Rights, whose clergy were preaching before the masses about the evils of slavery. But President Paris Mattson knew that the real issues were not about the imaginary spiritual duty to keep men freed and paid, but rather about power, about opportunity. He knew that the prime strength of the aristocratic class that had been gaining power for a century and a half was slave labor, and that if it was undermined, then it would not be able to crush the other sectors of society underfoot.

These aristocrats had also led the Republican Empire into a war with the 'Kingdom of Nittany', when they had promised that the nation would not go into war with their equals, or would win if they did. Well, the first promise was unfulfilled while the second was arguable; victories had been won in battle, but the war as a whole had been a draw. An expensive, bloody draw.

President Mattson had successfully avoided blame for war and compromise, but his advocacy of slavery enabled his enemies to tar him with the same brush they had painted his warmongering peers. To them, the class that had profited from slave plantations, mines, and workshops was one and the same, a threat to their 'rights and liberties'. Which they were; he'd grant them that. But they were people of no wider vision anyway.

Making his way to the balcony of the marble building - this was not a ruin from before the Fall of Man, but something new, built by the indentured before their class lost the last of their rights - the middle-aged man, clad in a fine silken uniform, his hair curled and powdered white, faced the hostile gathering of humanity. He was proud that they were at least not a mob. The President then cleared his throat, and said, in as loud a voice as he could:

"Greetings, Citizens of the Republican Empire. As your duly-elected leader, the one tasked with sheperding this great nation, I have good news." His heralds, given a copy of his speech beforehand, would say those words as well from the other balconies and towers of the structure. Nevertheless, it was important that he appeared to have memorized what he had to say beforehand. President Mattson then continued.

"It is with great pleasure, that earlier today, the Congress of the Republican Empire of Troy...has decided to ratify the Treaty of Peace with the Kingdom of Nittany!" Whoops of joy greeted the air at that, as the crowd threw their hats into the air, even as the sunset continued to vanish over the horizon; already, torches were being spread around to light the area. "Our troops will be returning home, prisoners will be exchanged, and a new era of peace and understanding begins!"

The President smiled as the crowd was satified for a moment, but he knew that the circle had to be squared, that commitments to reducing slavery had to be made. Even better if these were seen as a prelude to more abolition, instead of a delaying tactic for the aristocracy to regain power.

"But now, we turn towards other business; business of morality. Of late, there has been agitation against the institution of indentured servitude directed against criminals and debtors, and it is admitted that there are abuses within the system." The crowd slowly grew silent at that. "So, in the very same session of the Congress that ratified the peace treaty, we have signed a new law; the Law of the Free Womb!" A moment of incomprehension and hope.

To the crowd, the President and his heralds elaborated: "From now on, all children born to those who have been indentured since this day of proclamation will not share their parents' status; they are free! This applies to pregnant women captured from raiding tribals and bandits; their children are free as well!"

The applause was immense; wilder than expected. But the President was now able to withdraw back to the building, satisfied. He was not going to let go of the source of his wealth so easily; the temproary weakness of the aristocrats due to the war will be reversed by the very nation they had made war against. For one of the provisions of the peace with Nittany was that he was going to marry a distant relative of his', a lady, to one of their nobles' sons. This would hopefully lead to more ties, more wealth, and a chance for the aristocracy's fortunes to rebound...

Worlds Apart

Ascot saw Tristan tensing in fear, and he walked over to place his hand on the man's shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said with surprising strength, "we just don't have to do as she says when it is something obviously dangerous. In fact, we can actually flee; it's not as if she can stop us, considering the fact that she would have forced us here if she wanted to. Anyway, my name is William Ascot; what is yours'?"

Tristan felt like one of those people who hurt deep inside, with a haunting past. One of those people you needed to stay away from while at the same time wanted to hug. Ascot liked him already. Not that it stopped him from noticing Saffron's presence; he was a regular at Johnny's, after all. Withdrawing his hand and going over to the other young man, Ascot gave his most winning smile, then continued:

"Hey, Saffron. Nice to meet you outside of work. You look hungry and tired; I wish we'd brought something to eat while going here - my sister is with me, although I don't think her bag has any food. And, well, if what the Ghost Girl says about Iriss is true; we'll have to do more hard work foraging." He sounded ridiculous. But...True Reason accepts everything that exists, even if it cannot explain it. "Anyway, whether she's right or not, I think we should run off. Yes, I think we should run off, back to safety."

He then faced the Ghost Girl, "Sorry, but we are leaving. If you could have stopped us before, you would have done so by now. We are also not listening to your wiles; but we may keep the masks you gave us." Ascot dangled the mask he had been given. "We are not going to play your games, Ghost Girl."

"Zoe," Ascot turned to her, "let's go, and perhaps drag away those who are least willing to leave." A look at Koda.

"Hey, sciency guy!" He tried to be as brash as he could, "stop asking questions; we need to evacuate this place!" Then a turn to Michael, Kate, Smokey, and the rest.

"We are in a subway, and whether she is real or not, the Ghost Girl - or mass hysteria for the more skeptical - has led us here. This is also the middle of the night and the most dangerous time for people. So I think we should go back to our homes, and do whatever we want with the masks," He braced himself for opposition. "I, for one, am not going to die or be stuck for what could be multiple days somewhere else." People will just laugh at me, or greet my words with skepticism because I am so young. I should not expect a vote of confidence, to be followed.

More bracing for opposition. More expectations of having to fight so that people can see what was so self-evident. More moments of guilt and self-loathing for when he did get something wrong. It had happened before. He trembled.

Ascot looked at Zoe, knew she would always support him within reason. But he didn't want a crutch. He braced himself again; the lack of support was coming in 3...2...1...

@Daft Monarch@Redward@MechonRaptor

Worlds Apart

((Collab between Letter Bee and Daft Monarch))

The moon was bright at this late hour, the air cool as it blew. But the boy only barely noticed it, keeping only enough attention not to bump into the fire hydrants and dumpsters. He was absorbed in his quest, driven by fear and a little hope. And so, Ascot walked on towards the subway, the mask hot to his touch, invisibly burning with unnatural power. But despite that, the urgency given by the voice had faded, and the boy began questioning his course. As the subway drew into sight he looked towards Zoe, finally answering her questions:

"I heard a voice in a dream, telling me to go to the subway. I then woke up with this mask in my hand," he held out the gold-and-white object. "I know, this sounds crazy and scary, but...Zoe, I'm scared."

"We're strolling through the alleyways of Lightbridge at near enough midnight, and now you say it's because some dream voice told you to catch a train?" Taking a moment to internalize this information she let out a sigh, softly shaking her head, albeit with a smile. Will wasn't a liar, not in her experience, so something absurb must have happened to have him spouting this fun.

The pale gold mask held up before her was no cosplayers DIY costume, that much was clear. Reaching out to run a finger across it's surface she suddenly stopped, eyes wide, as a jolt of trepidation stayed her hand. That feeling again, but this time it had really raised her hackles. Hand withdrawing to rub her forehead, Zoe took a moment to calm down. Or at least tried. Her body demanded action.

"Alright. I'm feeling weird enough today that I can go along with your story. That said, this is, indeed, super fucking weird. You know that right?" Zoe smiled, making eye contact with her sibling as she reached out to grab his free hand. Giving it a squeeze she continued, "look, the way I see it, we can do one of two things. We could go home, watch a movie and leave all of this behind us. Done. Or we keep going, face this demon of yours. The subway right?" Turning her head to the looming subway entrance she finished "we're right here, bud. This is the sub travelling the c-route. Good a place as any. It's your choice, smart guy."

A nod from Ascot as he said, "Let's move forward; I don't think this business would go away if we ignore it. Do you have a flashlight?"

"Course I do! Have I ever let you down before?" she quipped, freeing an arm from her rucksack to let it swing down to her side before unzipping and reaching blindly in, feeling for the compact torch she knew lurked at the bottom. For a brief moment she felt something hard brush against her fingers, accompanied by a strong static shock. Her hand shot out the bag in surprise, a short but decriptive chain of expletives finding their way off her tongue.

Shaking her hand as the shock dissipated, Zoe gave the offending bag an evil eye. She placed it on the floor and unzipped it fully, getting a better look.

"The... fuck?"

"What's the matter, Zoe?" Ascot asked, going to his sister's side and looking into the opened bag. His heart chilled at what he saw there.

"You... This isn't yours? You didn't put it in my bag?" she asked, brain glitching out. Nestled at the bottom of the rucksack among a half finished bottle of water, small knife, torch and various other inner city necessities rested a serpentine aquamarine mask, reflective silver horns and spines adorning it.

Claim it. Keep him safe.

That was when her brain gave up, her fight or flight instinct peaking overwhelmingly, freezing her in place for what seemed an eternity, but was merely moments. As her whole entire life would dictate, her subconcious chose to fight. Fight by confronting the problem. Noticably dazed Zoe knelt down, reaching once more into her bag and grasping the polished visage. A faint charge shocked her again, milder; she hardly twitched.

Wha... I. What is... this? On claiming the mask, withdrawing it and standing up again, a tangible, sublime thread wove it's into her soul, slowly but increasingly siphoning away the unnatural hypertension that had been driving her mad all day. Zoe released a long sigh of relief, one she hadn't known she was holding. The sigh tapered into a soft but genuine giggle of happiness. Right before their eyes the mask came to life, seemingly in reaction to the transfer of emotional energy. The empty, darkened eyes filled with a blanket of swirling clouds, pale and mercurial, darkening towards the center. Faint golden blue tendrils of electricity arcing throughout the evershifting clouds emitted the barest flicker of light in the darkness between the siblings.

Zoe tore her gaze away from the fascination in her hands to to meet her brothers eyes. The sudden, welcoming gift of inner peace lent her confidence and a strange willingness to let fate do it's worst. Grabbing her flashlight she picked up her bag, shouldering it again as she straightened up. Turning bodily towards the subway, she held out the torch, motioning for Will to take it. The mask by her other side tingled in her hand.

"I really hope your brain can figure this one out Will. For some reason, I don't think we're getting out of it."

Ascot nodded. "True reason accepts all that exists, even if it cannot explain it." He then took the torch. "I know enough stories to know that this might be the start of something great, something grim, or both. The masks must have some special significance, and we must keep them at hand...along with your Krav Maga skills." A thought. "I don't think we're going to be alone in getting these masks. We may have...partners waiting for us in the subway."

So, with torch in hand, he went onwards, entering the area...

Zoe just rolled her eyes with mirth, making a show of cracking her knuckles before following, always keeping two steps behind him.

@Redward

Dialectic 0: Beyond Man

I might not be able to play tomorrow, supposing the IC starts then.

Worlds Apart

@Daft Monarch@Redward, feel free to have Ascot arrive at the subway with the rest.

Worlds Apart

@Redward, I'm here.

Worlds Apart

<You are weak,> William Ascot dreamt of a voice calling out to him in the night. <Bullied in school, an abrasive presence on your 'Internet', arrogant and rude when not dealing with people face-to-face.> The darkness in his dream lifted as gold and white fire slowly lit themselves at the edges of his vision, crawling inwards to the centre. <Slothful, lacking attention to give yet always craving it; you want greatness yet are unwilling to put in the perseverance that is needed to take it.> The tone of the voice changed, as if appraising him. <You will have to do.>

Then the gold and white fires began to burn, enveloping his face and head with excruciating, yet purifying, heat. He can feel what was so base about him burn away for the present, his soul bared to this presence, every secret revealed. All that had concerned him before; bullying in real life and being aggressive online, all seemed petty, which was what they were.

<Wake up.> And Ascot found his eyes opening, gazing at the familiar cieling of his room. In his right hand, he held a mask, a mask of gold and white; the same colors of the flames in his dreams. The voice came from it, continuing, <Change from your pajamas. Put on clothes proper for going outside. Go to the Subway; my bretheren and yours' await.>

Ascot shuddered, but decided not to oppose this mysterious supernatural voice. As the young man got up to change, his mind was already working on figuring out the most likely course of events; it was a shame that fiction had to be his guide. Nevertheless, he can gather that this was a beginning of a quest, and quests were things he knew by heart. Will plot ideas be played straight, or deconstructed here? He didn't have enough information to reach a conclusion.

Once the boy changed, he decided to make a detour to Zoe's room, before knocking on the door. Not too loud, of course, but enough to wake his sister up. Once the door opened, and Zoe asked him what was up (and perhaps noticed his change of clothes), William would ask her:

"Zoe? I cannot sleep. Can we two go on a trip outside? I'm sure Mom won't have to know." Mom; a kind, sweet woman who nevertheless had a core of steel deep inside. A fit partner for their father, the brave soldier and breadwinner. "Please, Zoe? It won't be for long."

The boy held on to his mask all the while, feeling it slowly burn as the...entity inside grew impatient. Or was it impatience? Ascot was too focused on his sister and trying to persuade her that he might not detect anything amiss in her room at present...

@Daft Monarch@Redward

Persona - The True Self

Samuru Amakusa

Samuru withdrew his handkercief at Ryan's refusal, glad the other kid was in a better mood.

"All right," he said, his spirits becoming slightly better as well. "Well, if you need any help -" He then noticed Kanna hiding behind the trash can, and was going to wave him over before Shizuka pointed him out to everyone. Speaking of Shizuka, she and Matthew looked like a fine couple...same for Mako and Sato; he had been surpised when he had seen they were an item. He wished them well.

Everyone seemed to be doing fine, especially Rui and the two other...leaders (?) of the group. Pausing to check his beach equipment, Samuru smiled as he saw that yes, he was as prepared as he was back in the old days at Nagasaki, with sunscreen, trunks, tanning lotion, and snacks. Oh, and a sketchbook and art supplies (pastels were the best) and iPod.

This was going to be a great day.

Sadoami Beach

Kazuki and Megumi; Rui's friends. Samuru was tempted to ask Rui about what was up with them, but decided not to prod. Instead, he went to one of the changing areas, where he quickly changed into a red speedo; he couldn't help but like the color. Coming out at the same time as Ryan, Samuru would raise an eyebrow at the scars, but decide not to prod. Instead, in response to Ryan's question, he brought out his sketchbook, and said:

"I sketch; pastels are underrated nowadays. Actually..." a smile at that; "want me to sketch you? I'm only as good as an average art class student, but I think I can make a passable picture."

@Sho Minazuki@Takaru@floodtalon@Sen

Kingdom Hearts: The Lights of the Multiverse Redux [No Longer Full]

Anyway, a stronger direction and more forward planning; all the PCs coming from the same world would be great, then?