AThousandCurses

Strange Gospel: A Heavily Persona-Inspired Urban Fantasy RP

So this was it. This was how they were going to die. The grip he had on the object in his hand tightened as Yuichi stared down the monsters. In the expanse of his mind, Yuichi is what led him up to this point. Was it from quitting baseball? Did he not study hard enough? Was it because he was too cowardly to look his teammates in the face? Though before he could think more, everything changed in a blur.

White that all the eyes could be in front of him. Darkness above with glistening stars that shined brightly. In front of him was a girl sitting on a velvet chair. A smile had graced her face before she went on about the misfortune. Yuichi couldn't help but feel repulsed by every word that this girl said. It was as if she was mocking him for being unlucky. It brought him back to his thought process before everything broke down.

At the end of the day, it all came down to luck. He was lucky to be talented in baseball. Yet, he was also unlucky for getting into a car crash. He was lucky that his grades weren't unrecoverable. Yet, he was unlucky for being bad at academics. Luck. Unluck. Luck. Unlucky. The concept made him furious. An uncontrollable, unseen factor in his life that seemingly determined how he lived. He hated the word luck. It was his own efforts that he succeeded in baseball. It was the driver's fault for crashing into his parent's car. His grades were okay, to begin with. The only reason why he was bad at academics was that he neglected to hone that skill.

Something within Yuichi tore him up inside. Suddenly, Yuichi found himself crouching down and grabbing his shoulder. Something sprouted from his back. An appearance of arm ripped itself out of Yuichi's back. A black substance was sprayed everywhere as it emerged to push against Yuichi's back. And then another arm splurted out more blood before it, too, began pushing. Suddenly a head emerged from Yuichi's back. Its screams, mixed with Yuichi's own, became a cacophony of pain and rage.

Finally, it shot out of Yuichi's back. Yuichi was dry heaving before he finally took a look beside him. What stood beside him was a ghastly figure that was adorned with armor. Shadows made it hard to perceive the figure, but the creases of the armor gave an outline to what the figure looked at. At that instant, when they met eyes, Yuichi felt a connection with the unknown armored figure. It was him, and he was it. Together, they would unleash what they had kept deep down for so long.

Expedition to Isekai

"Well, that was unfortunate. But hey! At least we found water in the end." Shun cheerfully said as they returned to their base of operations. The entire ordeal was uneventful, with no mishaps happening along the way. They didn't find any monsters, and they got to look around the surrounding area. It was a little disappointing but also a relief that nothing had happened during all of that. If more than one monster came up to them, Shun wasn't sure if Masato and her could protect Masami and Kunio while fighting them off.

Right, Masato. What she had said probably tipped him off more than anything. While she wasn't going to apologize for what she said, Shun understood Masato's sentiment. They were in a dangerous environment with a variety of unknowns that could potentially kill them all. It wasn't like she wasn't unaware of it. After all, she was responsible for Yuudai getting tackled into the burning truck. But now everything was fine. They'll get through this, and all survive in the end. It wasn't like they were going to die. Plus, everybody would be weirded out if she didn't act like how she is now, wouldn't they?

Though for, Shun was semi-aware that she was currently in denial about their situation. It was to protect herself from the fact they were so far from home. Would she be able to see her mom? Her father? She wanted to run up and give them the biggest hug that her arms could afford. She wanted to ride Satoshi-chan around and experience the breeze flowing through her air. There were so many things she wanted to do when she returned back to the real world.

That wasn't all. Denial was to protect herself from the guilt of everything. The guilt from having Yuudai protect her from the wolfbear. The guilt from nearly piercing Ayana's head with a steel pipe. The guilt of trying to be herself. Everything seemed to be on a tight string that was going to snap at any moment. Not to mention that the water they obtained might not even be safe to drink, so did they even make progress?

"Well, you know, they say. Rome wasn't built in a day. If we return back later, I bet we'll-" Shun stopped all of a sudden. "Uh, actually, I'll be right back for a moment. Here, Kunio, bring my backpack to camp, will you? I need to use the restroom." Without waiting for Kunio's response, Shun shoved her bag containing the water into his arms before disappearing off into the woods. It wasn't long before she came to a stop at a nearby tree.

Shun led against a tree and began vomiting out the contents of her stomach. She heaved as it spilled out of her oral cavity. Once her body seemed satisfied, Shun leaned against another tree and began panting. The concussion wasn't going away. Shun thought that if she gave it enough time, then maybe it'll be able to solve itself. After all, her wounds were healed after the fight with the wolfbears. Though perhaps it was wishful thinking. Pulling her legs together, she rested her head against them and took deep breaths. They would get out of this together, no matter what.

Persona ~ Alone at Sea (PERSONA WITH A BOAT 𓊝)

Katsumi Yoshino

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character info
Name:

Katsumi Yoshino

Arcana:

Temperance

Birthday:

June 8th

Appearance:

To Katsumi, she doesn't have attractive traits. Standing around 5'4 feet tall and having a healthy skin tone, there isn't much to talk about her appearance. She stands confidently and always has a grin that sometimes seems fake. From how she walks and carries herself, pretty much everybody can tell she's acting the part rather than being the part. Her eyes hide the single truth that she keeps to herself.

Despite this, Katsumi's fashion sense is on point with what kind of expression she's going for. If she wants to give off that 'smart glasses girl,' vibe, her attire will be prim and proper. She wants to be a ball of energy? Her clothes are slightly loose and she's not wearing her jacket fully.

Reputation:

Katsumi Yoshino is a complete weirdo. From the way she acts to the way she talks. She carries herself in an odd manner and tries to grab everyone's attention. It's like watching a circus grow a pair of legs and start performing tricks. People laugh at her or think she's dumber than a bunch of bricks. Regardless, everyone takes her as a walking joke half of the time. If someone is friends with her, it usually means that person is desperate for companionship.

She can be extremely obnoxious at times. From not respecting any personal boundaries to sounding like an idiot at times, there's no telling when the show will stop. At times, her antics would get on people's nerves. That being said, there are a rare few instances when Katsumi stops being an annoyance, but it only happens every blue moon.

Background:

A girl born into a family that owns a manga publisher company. Despite being raised as the daughter of said company, Katsumi didn't exactly have that much interest in it at first. She didn't grow up spoiled and ended up playing with kids around her age. Naturally extroverted, Katsumi hung out with her friends without a care. Every day seemed endless, and studying was an unfortunate, necessary hassle.

Though as people grew out of their childlike interests, Katsumi didn't. Wanting to stay true to her fantasies, she kept playing around in middle school. Unfortunately for her, society frowned on such eccentric behaviors. Her teachers scolded her, her parents reprimanded her, and her fellow peers often ostracized her for being weird. It was the first time she was at a loss over being not accepted.

That is when Katsumi found her lord and savior. Manga. Manga had saved her and restored her faith in humanity. She found warmth within each page of literature and became content with herself. That, of course, wasn't true at all. The steamroller known as reality often crushed down her walls every time. Still, Katsumi felt happy for a time. Even if she didn't have friends, she has 2d characters she could relate to.

Eventually, when she reached the age to enter high school, Katsumi's father sent her onboard. He intended to make her have connections in the future so that their company could thrive. It was a new page for Katsumi's life. A place where she could restart her social life. But, life is never easy.

Misc. :

Despite wearing glasses, Katsumi doesn't need them to see.
No matter what, her bag usually has at least one manga inside it.
Under an online alias, Katsumi writes very bad web novels for people to read.
Katsumi has a strange sixth sense whenever she is mentioned.
Surprisingly, Katsumi is enrolled into the mathematics class.
Whenever she gets stressed, Katsumi often cleans up her room or 'studies' her manga to calm down.

---

persona info
Weapon:

A katana. I am not joking.

Persona:

Circe

A witch of the sea and daughter to the titan Helios. Odysseus encounters her on his travels during the Odyssey. She would turn him, and his crew into pigs were it not for Hermes. Circe falls in love with Odysseus and advises on his journey.

In comparison to Katsumi's height, Circe is smaller than her. Being around the size of a voodoo doll, Circe could fit into the palm of Katsumi's hand. Wielding a twig as her wand, Circe's form resembles that of a witch. She also lacks an apparent mouth, but her eyes that are like lines convey all kinds of emotions.

Moveset:

As the daughter of Helios, Circe has a multitude of fire spells that she slings at her enemies. A dangerous inferno that smothers all into a lovely flame. As a witch, Circe has multiple debuffing spells that weaken her opposition.

Expedition to Isekai

When will this concussion go away? Shun felt like throwing up like how Masato did a few hours ago. The sense of loss came in and out at strange intervals. Shun felt fine when she got out off the bus and fought the wolfbear, but when the calm came is when the concussion started to come back. The student leaned against a tree and took periodical deep breaths. If there was to recover, this small period of time would be enough to gather her bearings.

When the wolfbears had either run off or died, everyone regrouped quickly as they could. Tsubaki came over and helped out Yuudai. For Yuudai, Shun could only pray that he recovers from his injuries. They were only middle schoolers, and Shun was sure they didn't know, just like herself, any medical knowledge. As of right now, Tsubaki was most likely the one who would be taking care of the injured. She reassured both Ayana and Shun that they would be alright. They had found a temporary base if it could even be called that, and they had finished discussing what they should do.

For her, she found herself looking for a water source along with Kunio, Masami, and Masato. They could live five days without food, but they couldn't last a day without water. That was what she remembered anyways. Additionally, Shun was feeling quite parched. Fighting a wolf bear inside a burning truck didn't exactly do her wonders for her thirst. Smoke and heat clogged her senses as she exchanged blows with an animal that was probably twice her mass and height. It would have felt exhilarating but Yuudai...

No, Yuudai was fine. He was going to recover and stand back up on his two feet. What she needed to focus on was the conversation at hand. Masami suggested finding some sort of water vein in the ground. Shun didn't exactly understand how that worked. Why would water be in the ground? Though Masami seemed confident and she belonged to a priest household. Maybe priests had a spiritual affinity for ground that had water trapped in them?

The other option was trying to find a river or lake, which was suggested by the resident fisherman student Kunio. A river or lake would be far more sustainable than what Masami suggested. However, that did bring up the question. How were they going to find a river, and how far was it? The question of how they would go back to the temporary camp was left unsaid, but Shun was sure they'd find a solution. Hopefully, the trees and foliage weren't too thick.

"I agree with Kunio!" Shun said as she raised her hand. "I think digging up for underground water would be boring, so let's go around and find a river!" While she sounded like her usual self, there was a tinge of stress underneath her movements. "Plus, it would be good to explore the forest, wouldn't it?" They had to do it eventually, so they might as well look around. Along the way, they might find something useful or even find whatever Masami was looking for.

"I wonder what the water would look like?" Shun pondered aloud to herself. "Maybe the water here is purple instead of the clear blue! Oh, oh, maybe the fish can walk on land! That'd look weird, right?" Man, she was getting excited over exploring this place. However, her mindless rambling did bring up more questions. Would the river really be safe? If the monsters they encountered were abnormal, then what lurked in the waters of the river? There was only one way to find out.

"Let's just go find one of those weird animals! Since they're alive, they must require water too. We'll track one down and follow it until it leads us to a body of water!"

@Yankee

Expedition to Isekai

Shun stumbled out of the bus as it slowly started to break apart. Her butt fell onto the hard dirt ground. Unfortunately, it didn't go down in a blaze of glory, but thinking about dramatic exits would be the last of her worries. "Ayana! Get the bastard and get out!" Shun yelled at the top of her lungs. If she provided any more help, Shun was sure she could only hinder Ayana more than help. Her little pipe-throw attack nearly skewered her classmate's head.

Ayana could handle herself. If she was crazy to bite a monster from another world, then she was crazy enough to kill it with sheer willpower. Right now, someone else needed her urgent attention. Yuudai. Shun immediately got up and ran over to the unconscious young man. Kneeling down to the young man, Shun began to check on the upcoming poet.

"Yuudai! Yuudai! Wake up! Can you hear me!" Shun yelled at the unconscious man. Turning him over, she winced as she realized how much of a poor choice it was to throw the heavily injured student out of the bus to help Ayana. Shun had to pray that she didn't cause any more damage than earlier. Upon checking, there were a variety of injuries and blood from Yuudai's battered body. A wave of relief washed over her as she felt something.

"He still has a pulse!" Relief washed over Shun as she felt for it. It was faint, but that meant that Yuudai was still alive. All she had to do was perform first aid. However, there was a problem with this. The first was that Shun wasn't sure how to perform first aid. The school taught her the bare basic, but she wasn't entirely familiar with the procedures. After all, what were the chances of applying first aid in a real-life situation?

The second problem. First aid implied that the patient, Yuudai, would get immediate medical attention and be rushed to a hospital. Hospitals didn't exist in a portal, and even if there were, Shun didn't have the reception to call them. Masato might know what to do, but judging by the screamings in some distance away from the bus, he seemed preoccupied with the wolfbear.

"I should get you away from the bus at least..." Shun muttered to herself. While fearful of causing more damage by moving around, she didn't have much of a choice with an aflame bus right next to them. That didn't include the other potential monsters around.

She picked up Yuudai and moved him further away from the fighting. Somewhere out of the way of the fighting and hiding Yuudai's body. From there, she tried the best she could to tend to his wounds. There were burn marks and other injuries that she didn't know how to tend, but there were some wounds that she was able to treat. Ripping up her sleeves, she bandaged Yuudai as best as she could. Hopefully, they weren't infected. Shun had to pray that things couldn't get any worse for her classmates and herself.

"Ugh..."

The sound of Yuudai stirring startled Shun. Immediately, she stopped working on bandaging and leaned over. "Higasa! Are you alright?" Her shouting probably didn't help as Yuudai immediately winced at coming to a loud sound immediately after awakening. Though his eyes focused on her.

"Shun? You're okay? That's a relief." A rough cough erupted from Yuudai, which Shun immediately reacted too.

"Yes, I'm okay, don't talk anymore!" With that her brain focused on taking care of her injured classmate." Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." His eye lit up but before he could recite a poem, Shun covered his mouth with her palm. The last thing she needed to hear for her psyche was the raspy, coughing voice of Higasa trying to make a poem on the spot.

Strange Gospel: A Heavily Persona-Inspired Urban Fantasy RP

Yuichi jumped at the sound of broken glass. The student turned to see in the corner of his eye a humanoid woman, if he could call it that, burst through the windows. Words failed to described its figure, but Yuichi could perfectly what he felt at that moment. Fear. "The backdoor." Yuichi suddenly the said. Then with a sudden surge in volume, "GET TO THE BACKDOOR, NOW!" Yuichi screamed. Whatever that that thing was, it wasn't human. They didn't know what it could do, but he had a feeling that they didn't stand a chance at fighting that thing.

Pushing Karou behind him, Yuichi brought up the nozzle of the fire extinguisher. Release the pin, aim it at the monster, and press it down. A gush of foam immediately shot out of the fire extinguisher. The convenience store's front was engulfed foam, which would act like a temporary smokescreen for them to use. "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" After the fire extinguinsher seemly ran out of foam, he threw the exntugisher into the foam and turned to follow classmates.

What the hell was that thing? Whatever it was definitely wasn't human. They needed to get out of the area and try to find another place to hide.

Expedition to Isekai

There was a momentary lapse of surprise when her punch sent the wolfbear skyrocketing up into the ceiling of the bus. It created a dent in the shape of its form as gravity took the creature back down. The surprise soon turned into courage as she realized somehow that she had a chance to beat the creature. Confident shouldn't be confused with foolishness. "Ah!" Before she had a chance to react, the wolfbear went back to retaliate. Its claws nicked her face when she barely managed to avoid it but failed to avoid the headbutt.

"You think that's going to scare me!" She cried back. This was for Higasa. She went back in. Doing her best to bob and weave from the bear's massive claws, Shun managed to land a few punches. They weren't strong like the first, but they were doing enough to have an impact on the creature. Though, it always ended the same. Again, Shun was repelled by another of the bear's attacks. She slid back and gritted her teeth.

In the corner of her eye, she spotted Higasa. She couldn't tell if he was breathing or not, but there was still a chance that he was still alive. If she managed to survive a headbutt from this abnormal beast, then maybe there was a chance that he could have survived as well. While it was a stretch, foolish optimism was all Shun had going for at the moment. At the very least, she'll get Higasa out of this boss alive.

Though when Shun was about to go in for round three, she heard a familiar voice from behind her. A figure came in fast, sliding beneath both Shun and the wolfbear. "Todokawa!?" That mysterious figure was, in fact, Ayana, and she wasn't playing around. Immediately as she managed to get behind the wolfbear, she jumped onto its back. It reminded Shun of a spider that had managed to find its way onto an unsuspecting person's back. Except Ayana was far deadlier than any spider out there. She immediately bit down on the fur of the wolfbear.

Shun knew that she needed to help Ayana. Even with her strength, Shun was too inexperienced to properly utilize her newfound strength against her opponent. The same must have applied to Ayana as well. But as she went to help gang up on the bear, she heard Ayana's muffled voice. "You can't beat that thing by yourself, Todokawa!" Shun shouted back, though she looked down at where Yuudai lay right beside her. Another crisis went down in Shun's head.

Help Ayana, or Help Yuudai.

The motorcyclist gritted her teeth and pulled Yuudai up with ease. "Get out fast! The bus is gonna blow?" The trickle of gasoline finally made itself noticeable to Shun's nose. Running to the back entrance of the bus, she stopped for a moment. "I'm sorry for this, Yuudai!" 'Gently' as possible, Shun tossed Yuudai outside of the bus and turned back around. Hopefully, she didn't cause any more external injuries. Looking back at Ayana and the wolfbear, she made a quick decision. Shun grabbed the nearest object and pulled it out. It was some sort of pipe, but that was more than enough for this situation. "Todokawa! Heads up!" Stomping her foot down, she raised her arm.

Then release. The sharp iron pipe soared through the air. It aimed straight at the bear's head.

Expedition to Isekai

Ah. I guess this is it for me.

Shun thought to herself. The jaws of death are coming to take her life. Time seemed to slow for her as the beast charged right at her. Her vain attempts to blind it were rendered moot, and the beast was faster than any living organism she'd ever witnessed in her life. So, this was what a monster from a portal was like. A beast that couldn't be described in any human values. Faster, stronger, and most likely more intelligent. The strength in her hand had never felt so weak before. There wasn't a way to avoid this. It would end with her in that beast's stomach.

Thoughts of her family flowed through her head. They always warned her about getting herself into a dangerous situation. Things like, "You have to be more careful, Shun," and, "We're just worried, Shun. Can you please stop what you're doing?" In all fairness, their words had merit. They were doing their jobs as parents, loving and caring for their children. Shun never listened to them, but she did love them as well. It was a shame that she couldn't talk to them one last time.

Satoshi-Chan as well. Her moped that she's had for a couple of months. It would have been nice driving her child around the town one last time. The breeze flowed through her hair as she left a trail of dust behind. Perhaps she would have let one of her classmates, Higasa maybe, experience that wild feeling that made her heartbeat. Too bad that Satoshi-chan would probably be left to rust now that her mother was dead.

Right, her classmates. Hopefully, they would be able to get out of this alive. While she didn't pay much attention to them, they were people she had known for almost a year. When she died, Shun hoped that they'd be able to get over her death quickly. Being the reason for people lagging behind was depressing. It'd be nice if Higasa wrote a poem about her death. Shun was curious about what he could muster.

Well, goodbye, guys.

Shun's eyes closed as she braced for impact. However, it did not come from the two-hundred-pound beast from her front. It came from her side. "Ah!" Shun screamed aloud. Her body tumbled onto the grass along with her fragile branch. Shun's barely had enough time to open her eyes to see Higasa fly inside along with the wolf bear inside of the smoking bus.

For the first time, she froze. "H-H-Higasa?" Shun's voice spoke. It was the first time her voice came at a lower pitch and the first time she stuttered. Higasa had pushed out of the way and took the wolf bear in her stead. In the corner of her eyes, she saw multiple students darting off in different directions of the forest. Some were even vainly trying to subdue one of the bears, piling on top of the bear to wrestle it onto the ground.

Why didn't he run? This would have been the perfect time for Higasa to run away along with everyone else. Why did he have to save her? She didn't ask to be saved, but neither did she want to die. Shun's briefly thought about the time on that rainy night. It was so dark outside that she accidentally crashed into a railing when her bike hit a big rock along the road. Her arms and legs were scraped, and she felt like she had somehow twisted her ankle. Then Higasa came. He helped her up and offered her shelter on his family's farm. While it was quite stinky, Shun had always felt touched by that act of kindness.

Despite her previous pessimism about their chances of death being extraordinarily high, Shun refused to believe that Higasa was dead. Her heart burned with unknown heat. Something had turned on the ignition in her body. Was it rage? Was it anguish? Either way, that goddamn six-eyed bear was going to pay for it. "Higasa!" Shun screamed aloud. Immediately getting back on her feet, she immediately rushed to enter from the back of the bus herself. Her body felt nimble, her muscles felt like they were bursting with strength, and her senses felt like they were taking in things that were unknown to her.

She felt like she could take on the world.

But most of all.

Shun felt like she could mutilate that goddamn bear.

Climbing up to the door, Shun spotted the bear straight ahead of her. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Without any thought, her body flew straight at the bear. Shun had no weapon in her hands, nor did she have a plan to take down the bear. Well, if her plan involved one action, then. "HAAAAAAAAA!" In one movement, she stomped right in front of the bear, and her body turned. With all of her momentum, she threw a punch at the bear.

Strange Gospel: A Heavily Persona-Inspired Urban Fantasy RP

Well, Kauro had a sense of humor. The words of jest helped Yuichi lighten up in the bizarre situation where death was an evident possibility. It was still beyond him how Kauro was still calm, but it was probably best if one of them stayed level-headed. The Cashier and himself weren't doing too well, seeing as they were sweating enough to fill buckets. Moreso, the Cashier rather than himself. It seemed like the Cashier was taking this worse than him. Maybe because he was stressed out from working at his part-time job? Yuichi had a few friends that often complained about customers at their workplace.

"Hmmm," Yuichi grunted at Kauro's reassurance. He could agree with Kauro on that sentiment.

A high pitch scream came from outside of the store. Yuichi's eyes darted toward the sound, and he raised his arm in preparation to throw the object at whatever was coming at them. Fortunately, it seems that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, a student splatted right in front of them. Yuichi paled at the sight of the now corpse. This student came from the same school as them judging by his uniform. Did that mean that they were going to end up like that as well?

The Cashier's voice snapped him out of his shock. He seemingly shared the same sentiment as well. "It'll be alright. We'll get out of this alive." Yuichi said with the strongest voice he could. The taller male placed his hand on the Cashier's shoulder to reassure him, just like Kauro had done to him earlier. They would get out of this. Dying wasn't an option.

"Then we either say here or leave." Either option didn't sound too entirely great. The Cashier at least had a key for the store, but the convenience store didn't have too many places to hide without any windows. "Then we should move, shouldn't we?" Yuichi finally stated after a moment of contemplation. "We don't know if there's anyone else who will come to help us or if this will all end eventually." Then Yuichi brought up his phone. "Maybe the app will help us? If it brought us here, maybe we can try to find a way to make it bring us back."

Expedition to Isekai

Shun jerked up at the sudden sound of branches being crushed and the sound of heavy footsteps. The only one who was relatively interacting with the environment was Rin. The middle schooler turned her head around, earning a faint hit of nausea from turning too fast, and saw what was happening. A bear with multiple eyes was attacking Rin. Maki tried to help by throwing a kick at the bear, but Shun had other problems to deal with.

Mainly dealing with a bear that was coming both at Yuudai and her.

"Higasa!" Shun shouted out in a warning. Her hand grabbed a fist full of dirt and threw it at the menacing beast's eyes. She needed to attract its attention. If anything, she hoped that the beast wasn't dirt immune. Unless the eyes were dirt-repellant, Shun thought that at least she could blind the beast. "Hey, you four-eyed teddy bear! Over here!" She screamed to get its attention.

A feeling of catharsis washed over her as she stared at the monstrosity. Now that she had a good look at it, the mutant bear looked incredibly cool. Her classmates might think otherwise, but perhaps this was going to be the time of her life. The chances of her dying were high, but she had already accepted those terms. The world wasn't some sort of manga where they could overcome everything through the usage of an author's pen. If Shun was going to die, then she would make the most of it.

Shun took a few steps back from the bear and backed up closer to the flaming car. On the way, she picked up the longest branch she could find and dragged it against the floor. "You want more! I can make a nasty dirt pie, dung face!" She needed the right opportunity. If she had tried hard enough, maybe she could have collided with the bus and attack it with the branch. While it seemed like a stupid idea, Shun was welcoming to such ideas.