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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Aug 27, 2012 20:01:22 GMT -6
Isn't as romantic as one would think.
The first thing that Shinji was aware of when he woke up was that he had a headache. It was something that he had been used to since he had left SEES. A six-pack of beer, and somewhere where the cops wouldn't catch him.
But as far as he remembered, he hadn't been drinking last night. But his head was pounding. His eyes hurt, his head hurt, his entire body hurt, and he smelled the faint scent of--
Wait, was that sea water?
Shinji's eyes snapped open as he realized that he was face-down in sand. He pulled himself up off of the ground, and saw only sand. In the distance, he heard the sound of waves rushing in and then back to see. He blinked, reaching up to brush sand off his face.
"The fuck?"
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Aug 27, 2012 22:21:25 GMT -6
Akihiko woke to the sound of Shinji's voice but kept his eyes closed, unable to decide if he was still dreaming. When they had lived together at the orphanage his sleep had often been disturbed by an irritable Shinji but that had been almost a decade ago. Hearing his best friend first thing in the morning was disorienting to say the least.
Wait, this was morning, wasn't it? Akihiko suddenly realized he didn't have any idea what time or even what day it was. Man, what the hell happened to me that I don't remember anything from the night before he thought, finally forcing himself to open his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't just dreaming or imagining, Shinjiro was right next to him although he was already sitting up and looking around, clearly also very confused about their current situation. Akihiko realized that he wasn't ready to do the same quite yet. His body still felt heavy with sleep. But there didn't appear to be any immediate danger in staying where he was. The air smelled faintly of salt and he was reminded of past S.E.E.S trips to the beach. Why were they at the beach? It wasn't even summer. But running a hand through his short mussed up hair comfirmed it. This was definitely a beach and he had sand in his hair and probably in some other far less desirable places. Great.
Akihiko reached over to grab whatever part of Shinjiro was closest to him. He wound up fisting a hand in that ridiculous oversized jacket. Pulling on it ineffectively he let out a frustrated sigh and asked,
“What happened last night?” Is this what a hang-over feels like, he wondered.
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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Aug 28, 2012 10:18:57 GMT -6
Shinji immediately tensed up as he felt something grab and tug weakly at his jacket. Years of living on the streets would fill you with paranoia like no other. However, once he turned his head, he realized that it was just Akihiko, pulling weakly at his jacket, and asking him—what on Earth had he just said? What did happen last night, anyway?
“Fuck, Aki,” he said, his breathing now having calmed down along with his heart rate. “You scared me,” he said.
Shinji was on his hands and knees, staring out at a far off, and unfamiliar horizon. The sun was just now coming up over the water, and he could see a vast ocean stretched out before him. Seabirds shrieked in the distance, but he couldn't hear anything that was giving him a clue of where he was. No people talking or laughing, no motors or other electronic noises...and the way everything smelled was off. He couldn't smell smoke, or smog, or the smells of snack stands revving up for the day. All those familiar smells of civilization were gone. It smelled too clean, and he didn't like it.
Not to mention his head was pounding. Was Castor acting up again? Shinji's an entire body tensed up and he immediately reached towards his jacket, his hands digging in his pockets for his suppressants.
“No, no, no, shit,” he mumbled, looking down as he dug through his pockets and found nothing. “No, no, no, god-fucking-dammit,” he hissed under his breath, before he realized that Akihiko was there, and he needed to compose himself, and quick. He closed his eyes, and breathed in deeply through his nose, before pushing himself down into a sitting position on the sand.
“Man, Aki,” he said, shaking his head and rubbing the sleep and confusion from his eyes. “I have no fucking clue...about any of this shit.”
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Post by The Pantheon on Aug 28, 2012 18:31:48 GMT -6
 Something had been lurking in the shallow water offshore, watching the pair of Dreamwalkers on the beach. To the untrained eye, it looked like a collection of corals or perhaps an exotic species of jellyfish. But it was easy enough to pick out the glowing blue eyes in the midst of dark blues, bright pinks and purples. Two of the coral formations were actually horns. The leviathan lifted its head just above the water's surface much like a crocodile with the majority of its serpentine body below the water. It appeared to be watching and waiting. |
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Aug 29, 2012 23:09:51 GMT -6
Akihiko wasn't panicking yet and he wasn't sure why, maybe he still wasn't convinced this wasn't a dream and he wasn't about to wake up alone in his own bed. Or maybe he was just grateful that if this was reality that Shinji was here to watch out for him if he let his guard down. It was clear from Shinji's reaction to Akihiko tugging on his jacket that he was now more paranoid than ever and while that made him useful as an extra pair of eyes to have on the alert, it also made Akihiko flinch. He still had trouble thinking about the change in Shinjiro since the incident.
Lately Akihiko had been unable to keep Shinjiro from running off and the handful of times that he'd tried to talk to him in the past couple of months had been met with smart-assed Shinji backtalk. Their friendship which used to come so easily had recently become a tricky balancing act. So as crazy as it sounded, being transported to a strange and potentially dangerous new location might have been the best thing that could have happened to both of them. Even if it kills us, thought Aki, realizing that this was exactly the kind of attitude that always bothered Mitsuru. Risk as a means to an end. Sure it was an extreme way of looking at the world but that was probably why he liked it.
Once Akihiko finally sat up the first thing he noticed was that they were much closer to a large body of water than he'd thought. But it was just after dawn and he had difficulty seeing anything beyond the shore because of the intense glare of the sun reflecting on the water. There didn't appear to be any boats in the distance. Akihiko felt himself beginning to feel distrustful of how they appeared to be so wholly alone but he couldn't trace the feeling to anything logical.
He was about to mention his suspicion to Shinjiro when he noticed that his friend was searching for something in his coat's many pockets. Cigarettes maybe? Akihiko couldn't remember whether or not Shinji smoked now though he thought he recalled the stale smell of cigarettes on his breath the last couple of times they'd spoken. While he did worry about Shinji's health, there was something about that smell that seemed to suit him.
Distracted watching a frantic Shinjiro, Akihiko forgot his instinctive wariness for the moment and instead asked the first reasonable question that came to mind.
“Do you think this has something to do with the Dark Hour?”
Maybe they were still back home and the appearance of their surroundings had just altered due to...well he didn't know why or how and wasn't even going to attempt to puzzle it out. Where the hell was the Chairman or Mitsuru when you needed them?
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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Aug 30, 2012 7:59:09 GMT -6
Shinjiro had still been rooting around in his pockets like some desperate, paranoid creature, when he finally heard Akihiko talk, snapping him out of his frantic search. He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling and exhaling calmly, to try and dissipate the frantic beating of his heart, and his racing thoughts. It only worked a little, but it was better than nothing, he thought.
“I don't...I don't fucking know,” he said. His breathing was a little heavy, but now he had stopped searching in his pockets and was staring at Akihiko. The Dark Hour was capable of doing all sorts of things, and he knew he had slept through the last one—what if someone had moved him during the Dark Hour? But this far? To such an isolated place? And without him waking up and noticing? Sleeping on the streets would make you paranoid—while Shinjiro had once been a heavy sleeper, now anything would rouse him.
But maybe it wasn't someone else. Maybe this was another effect of the Dark Hour, transporting them to some completely different place. Something twisted in Shinjiro's stomach. If that was true, then SEES was completely unprepared for this. They barely understood the Dark Hour, let alone all of the effects that it could have.
“What else could it be though, right?” he said, this time a little less shaky. “Hell, Aki, Kirijo and the Chairman barely understand the Dark Hour at all. Maybe this is just somethin' that just...happens during the Dark Hour.”
He felt stupid, letting all his thoughts loose like that, but he was around Akihiko, and no one else. Akihiko had been his best and only real friend for as long as he could remember, and Shinjiro didn't feel that he needed to constantly keep the walls up around him. That had changed with the incident last October, but now was different. Now they were both confused, and scared. Or at least Shinjiro was. Akihiko was stupidly unafraid of anything. He would probably take this as another training challenge, or some stupid shit like that.
“What was the last thing you remember doin' before we woke up here?” he said, trying to puzzle out what had happened, and what might have lead to them waking up in such a strange place.
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Aug 30, 2012 22:30:33 GMT -6
If our surroundings really are result of the Dark Hour then maybe it isn't so strange that we're the only ones around, thought Akihiko. Normal humans probably wouldn't be affected or rather they wouldn't notice the changes. However, if this was taking place during the Dark Hour there was a good chance that they would be attacked by Shadows. Akihiko reached for his Evoker out of instinct and –
“Shit.” He felt like he was imitating Shinji's frantic search from earlier. He wondered if that was what Shinji had been looking for though he had his doubts that Shinjiro still carried an Evoker. For the first time since he'd opened his eyes, the severity of their situation was beginning to sink in. Akihiko had never been able to successfully summon his Persona without the use of an Evoker though he'd heard of cases where under extreme mental stress those with the potential were able to invoke without one. Still, I'm far from defenseless, Akihiko thought looking down at his hands. These should serve me just fine.
“Don't have my Evoker on me. Shouldn't be too much of a problem though.” He was trying to sound reassuring even though he knew there was a good chance that any of his weak attempts to make their circumstances sound favorable would just piss Shinjiro off.
He thought about Shinji's question. When he first woke up his mind had been in a complete fog but now if he thought about it he could remember a few vague details about the previous day. He got up and started to pace, hoping the motion would somehow help to jog his memory. It didn't but he did feel better now that he was moving around. He was however getting warm pretty quickly walking back and forth on the beach under the now risen sun. The sweater vest would have to go.
“The last thing I remember I was sitting on my bed. It was a Sunday and it was raining outside and...actually I think you were there with me.”
Yes, he was almost positive that Shinjiro had been with him in his dorm room. That Shinji had come to visit him instead of having to be tracked down in some shady alley way. Saying it aloud, it almost sounded as unreal as being mysteriously transported to a deserted beach. What a strange day.
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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Aug 31, 2012 6:41:32 GMT -6
Shinji hadn't even thought about his Evokecr—he was pretty sure he had given his to Kirijo when he left—and as far as he was concerned, he never wanted to see the damn thing again. But then Akihiko had to get all stupidly reassuring, which only made Shinjiro groan and roll his eyes. It was just like Akihiko to be stupidly overconfident.
“You damn adrenaline junkie,” he growled. He was still sitting down on the sand, watching Akihiko pace back and forth. There was something in his motions, something that showed he was worried. He may not have realized it, but Shinjiro spotted it in a second. A small part of him swelled with pride, that he got to see Aki so vulnerable, but he quickly squashed that part and buried it under all the other feelings he had about Akihiko.
He stared up at Aki as he related the last thing that he remembered, and snorted. “Yeah, sure, right, Aki—” he said, not believing that he had really gone to the damn old dorm and sought Akihiko out. Lately, these days, he wanted less and less to do with SEES, with Tartarus, the Dark Hour, shadows, but most importantly, he wanted less and less to do with Akihiko. He kept feeling things when he was around him, things that he hadn't felt before. His stomach would twist into knots, he would feel his whole body heat up...it was weird, is what it was. Besides, he would have hated to sneak past Kirijo and all the othe—
“Actually, y'know,” Shinjiro said, staring up at Akihiko. “You're right. I remember I managed to get in without any of the others seein' me...and you complained that I was soaked and tried to get me in some dry clothes. Then you played video games and...I think I fell asleep,” he said.
Well, with that part of the mystery solved, Shinjiro felt like he should have been able to be a little more at ease.
He wasn't.
He stood up, slowly, and brushed some of the sand from his pants and coat. “We shouldn't stay here,” he said. “We ain't got no clue where we are or what we're gonna find. I think our best option is to keep movin'.”
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Sept 1, 2012 13:18:11 GMT -6
What had Shinji just called him? Adrenaline junkie.Huh. That may be true but there was something about the way Shinjiro said it that bothered him.
“Don't call me that. You make it sound like I'm some kind of pervert.” So he got a littled worked up by the prospect of a good fight. That didn't make him a total deviant, right? Sure there'd been a handful of times when he'd ended a work out wanting to...
Christ, what the hell am I thinking? Akihiko knew he shouldn't let himself continue this train of thought right now. He needed to stay alert. He liked to think that he was usually pretty good at making himself focus on what was important without getting distracted by typical teenage boy impulses. Now what was it Shinji had been telling him about the previous day?
That's right, he said that he remembered coming to see Aki at his dorm room. Which meant their stories matched up. Akihiko thought that seemed like a good sign. Maybe they were one step closer to figuring out what had happened to them. Either way, he was glad Shinjiro thought it was a good idea to keep moving. He'd been just about to suggest that and he knew from experience that it was hard to convince Shinjiro to do anything he didn't want to do. Agreeing on a plan of action from the outset would save them a lot of trouble.
“I agree. We should probably try to move inland, look for some sign of civilization. We're going to get tired pretty quickly if we stay out in this heat.” Akihiko could already feel the sweat starting to soak through his shirt and he'd only been pacing back and forth for a few minutes. He took off his red sweater vest and gloves, hoping that would make him more comfortable. He couldn't believe Shinji was still wearing that enormous peacoat. How wasn't he burning up?
"You should take off your jacket. Just looking at you is making me feel hot."
...Wait that sounded bad. Maybe Shinji wouldn't take it that way, Akihiko tried to tell himself. Yeah right. He's not gonna let me live that one down.
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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Sept 1, 2012 17:38:02 GMT -6
Shinji was staring out at the sea and the rising sun as Akihiko took off his sweater vest and gloves. He was about to say something, to suggest where they would head when the next thing Shinji said completely stopped his mind in his tracks.
It was bad enough that Akihiko now wasn't wearing that red vest and gloves, and that Shinji could see the beads of sweat glistening on his forehead, and then he had to go and say something awful like that? For a moment, he wondered if that was what Akihiko meant—had he meant it in that way? Akihiko wasn't the type of person to usually think things over before he said them, so he could have...accidentally said it or something. But...for God's sake, didn't Akihiko realize what that was saying?
Probably not. Shinji tried to calm down his thoughts, and took in a slow, deep, calm breath, trying not to let what Akihiko said get to his head. He turned and stared at Akihiko, not actually saying anything. His eyes were narrowed in a glare, but he kept his mouth shut.
“So,” he said. “Let's get a move on,” he said, not addressing anything that Akihiko had actually just said to him.
Before he could say anything else, or stop Akihiko from saying anything equally ridiculous, a noise caught his attention. There was a noise out in the direction of the water. Something besides just the sound of the tide going in and out. It sounded like something moving in the water. Something splashing. Something big.
“Wait,” Shinji said. “There's somethin' in the water.”
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Post by The Pantheon on Sept 1, 2012 18:33:52 GMT -6
Oh, so she'd been spotted by the pair of Dreamwalkers on the beach. It was about time though she knew that the rising sun would likely have obscured her from their view up until now so she shouldn't think too harshly. She lifted her head above the water's surface, causing most of the corals to lie flat along her skin. The coral horns still stood up however, giving her head definition. Since she'd been spotted, perhaps she should give them a proper welcome to Eden. The least she could do. She swam closer, her snake like body moving through the water effortlessly. Eventually, she reached sand and slithered along, having no legs. "Welcome to Eden, Sleepers." Water announced. "I am called Water." |
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Sept 2, 2012 21:07:34 GMT -6
In the old days Akihiko was sure Shinji would have given him a hard time about that last comment but now he just looked uncomfortable for a few moments and then pretended like Akihiko hadn't just said something stupid without thinking. He wondered if asking Shinjiro to take off his coat was too sensitive a subject to even joke about anymore.
There was a chance Shinjiro was self-conscious about the way his body looked. In spite of the giant coat, Akihiko had still managed to notice that over the past few months Shinji had lost quite a bit of weight. Probably wasn't eating right, though given his situation that couldn't really be helped so it's not like Akihiko could lecture him. Still, Akihiko tried to meet up with him for ramen on occasion though Shinji never let him pay.
He was feeling bad about unintentionally making them both aware of the way so many things had changed when he heard Shinjiro's warning and saw that something huge had broken the surface of the water. Thankfully now that the sun was lower in the sky, he was able to get a good look at the creature that was approaching them. It looked like some sort of water snake? It definitely didn't look like anything he'd ever run into on any level of Tartarus but his hands were already up in fists out of instinct.
“Get back!” He wasn't sure if he was telling Shinji to take a step back away from the monster or yelling at the thing itself to keep away.
The strange creature was talking to them which made Akihiko think that it couldn't be a Shadow, at least not like any Shadow he'd encountered yet, though nothing it said meant anything to him. Eden? Sleepers? So wait, did this mean that they were still asleep? The creature told them it was called “Water” so at least I wasn't so far off with my “water snake” guess, thought Akihiko. It hadn't tried to attack them yet but that didn't mean they could assume it wasn't an enemy. Akihiko decided to try to communicate with Water. Since he could understand what the creature was saying, he figured it must work both ways.
“You aren't making any sense. Who are you? You said that you're called Water but...are you a Shadow?”
He wasn't sure if a Shadow that could talk would deny being a Shadow or would even know that was the word that humans used to refer to them but Akihiko always favored the most direct approach.
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Post by Shinjiro Aragaki on Sept 3, 2012 19:06:29 GMT -6
What the hell was going on? First a dragon...water...snake thing had slithered up on the beach. Then it had spoken to them. Called them...what was it? “Sleepers”? And said they were on some place called Eden? Shinjiro's mind was moving at a hundred miles a minute, trying to process everything that was going on, but Akihiko had stepped up and already shouted...something. He wasn't sure whether he was being told to keep back, or if Akihiko was trying to keep the creature away. Then he asked the thing whether or not it was a Shadow.
Shinjiro had been suspicious of this place, but from what he had just heard, it didn't sound like this was a consequence of the Dark Hour. It didn't sound like they were even in Japan. Or even on the planet Earth. He was now even more confused than he had been when he woke up on the beach.
Slowly, and without concern for what Akihiko might say or do—so long as he didn't go in, fists blazing—Shinji took a step forward, towards Akihiko, and towards the strange, long, reptilian thing out on the sand before him.
“Yeah, what he said,” to the dragon before him. “What are you? Where are we? What happened?”
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Post by The Pantheon on Sept 9, 2012 20:50:18 GMT -6
"A shadow? Oh don't be ridiculous, dear." She stated in a laughing tone. "I am a dragon. One of the Pantheon of Eden no less. As I've said before, my name is Water and that is what I am responsible for. You don't have anything to fear from me." She blinked her glowing eyes with what appeared to be coral eyelashes. "You are on Eden. We're not completely sure how the process works but you both were chosen to come here. You went to sleep like you have countless times before in your own world, in your own bed, and then you woke up here." She explained gently. "You're what we call Sleepwalkers. Dreamers and Dreamwalkers also apply though." She added. "I know it's a bit hard to accept but you're kind of...stuck here for awhile. But don't despair. Try to enjoy yourselves here. It might not be as bad as you think." |
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Post by Akihiko Sanada on Sept 10, 2012 0:56:13 GMT -6
A dragon? Had he heard that right? Well whatever it was, it still seemed suspicious to Akihiko and he wasn't about to let his guard down around the beast just yet, even if wasn't attacking them outright. On the other hand, Water was the only sentient being they had encountered so far and was providing them with vital information about their surroundings. Assuming the dragon was to be believed, it sounded like they had been transported to another world entirely.
That didn't sound like a Dark Hour phenomenon but Akihiko wouldn't rule out the possibility, if only because he didn't know how else to rationalize any of this. She had said something about being “chosen” to come to this world and he wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that both he and Shinji were Persona-users.
At the moment however, the only part of Water's exposition that really sunk in was the last part. They were stuck here. Of course Akihiko couldn't accept that as fact which was partially why he didn't want to completely place his trust in this creature. Maybe the dragon was lying or just plain wrong. There had to be some way for them to return home.
“You said we'd be stuck here for 'awhile?' What does that mean? After “awhile” will we be able to go back to our world?”
He didn't feel like anything had really been answered yet. The words “Dreamers” and “Dreamwalkers” meant nothing to him and only made him feel even more confused than before Water had started talking. Akihiko wondered how Shinjiro would react to all of this new information. He was having difficulty reading Shinji's current expression but if he had to guess, his friend was probably thinking something along the lines of “How the hell did I get myself into this?” Unfortunately he didn't have an answer to that question so instead he made a weak attempt at a joke.
“Man, this is one hell of a dream we're having huh?” At least we're having it together, thought Akihiko, though he'd never say that aloud. Shinji would be quick to call him on his sentimental bullshit.
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