Aurrorian

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

@AwesomeZero5 Here is another Persona RP I just joined: roleplayerguild.com/topics/182580-per…
Spots filling up for each Arcana, so join soon.

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

@Penguin King There is a another Persona RP under the Casual Interest Check section starting up. Sorry but guess we are officially dead.

@Jangel13 Yeah by now I have learned how to numb the feeling of disappointment in dead RPs. :(

Persona ~ The Beholder [Interest Time!]

Guess I will RSVP since my last Persona RP died.

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

Well if this is dead, I take the blame for being lazy and not writing new posts for my character, rather just bunching together old ones into monster, harder to read paragraph posts. If we want to restart for the second time, I'll consider creating a new character since I was satisfied with my old one, but not to the extent that it couldn't invite new players to interact with.

So...while this RP was in limbo I finally finished writing the next chapter of my Persona fan fiction. It started as a fan idea for Persona 6 that I wrote an initial draft for 2 years ago, but quarantine gave me time and inspiration to add on to it again. The writing quality is thus quite different and I need to update the initial version, but criticism is welcome either way. Here is the link if you want to check it out: fanfiction.net/s/12918066/A-Persona-look

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

Sorry for awkward post order, can just assume I posted last. Pushing the pace because I want to get back to the point we were in the original RP.

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

Present Day

I sign in at the administrative office, then a secretary leads me towards the counseling office, where I introduce myself to the sole counselor of the entire school. A bit curious that a private school has little budget for no more than one, and the dark circles under their eyes shows the load they have to carry. But one statement by them unexpectedly clarifies the true pressure they face,

"I appreciate the help from you and your organization, Angela. It's...the recent case surrounding this school, the Death Husband. Students just keep coming to me with their fears, and for comfort if their classmate went missing."

My heart skips a beat. Of course, I remember now hearing the school name before on the news. My mind instantly flashes to Raven, and I wouldn't be surprised if my own eyes darkened in intensity. But, this isn't Blood Eye, and I can't let my past trauma cloud my exchanges with the inevitable students that arrive for counseling later today.

A scream in the distance probably makes everyone in the room break into a sweat. The secretary tells me to wait inside while they confirm the situation, so I do until a flurry of movement later outside, I notice the secretary in the main office across the hall urgently dialing the phone. I use the bathroom excuse to leave the counselor, and after meandering close enough to confirm the call was indeed for emergency services, I hurry off in a vague direction I think the scream came from.

I don't ascend to another floor of the large school building in case I get called back, but the closer to the location I get the more I could tell it was somewhere above. I stand unsure of my agency in the hallway, classrooms to either side and definitely opposite the direction of the bathroom, when the bell rings. Immediately, someone with two distinctly spiky hair growths bursts out of a classroom door and sprints for the staircase, followed by two other students trailing them in succession. Considering it broke the usual pattern of the rest of the students filing out of their classes in a steady stream towards their next class, I could draw the nearest conclusion as to what they shared in common with me at the moment.

"Raven would've been brave confronting a murderer like that. At least, I think she was with Blood Eye..." I mutter under my breath before moving again with the crowd. The tide directs me towards the stairs so I go with it, catching a glimpse of one of the three earlier students before finally following them under my own volition. I end at an unusually quieter spot on the second floor sparse with students, except for the three grouping around a door down the hall. I slowly approach them and peer through the doorway into what appears to be a music room.

"Um, excuse me, are students supposed to be up here?" I ask, before realizing my dumb question.

Persona: The darkest light

Bump again for room left in the first round of posting, but join soon!

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

Present Day

Even now, Mom insists on getting up early to make me breakfast. This is after I showed her all my self taught cooking skills from living in a dormitory my four college years, not that I could discern her criticism of it through that ageless glower. It's been a year since I graduated from the local university and moved back home, drawn into Mom's embrace again like our tied blood relation strings us both.

At least my workplace is closer than needed for a car ride. My job has been simple so far, sitting at the computer recording inventory of all our donations, and manning the front desk for any visitors inquiring about the services our charity provides. Sometimes I've been assigned as an assistant for whomever Boss entrusts recent hires to, so I follow senior case workers to beneficiaries in the community in order to distribute goods. And the pay's good enough for one more year before I head off to earn my master's degree. If there's any regrets to be had, my resume might gain little traction from even fibs like "Assistant Case Manager" or "Inventory Specialist," paid for costs of opportunities farther from my hometown.

As I walk by the church, reflecting on my sources of dependence, I remember something I lost instead in one of them.

Past Winter

When the funeral procession began for Raven Harlan I hadn't been present, mentally. I barely shuffled up the aisle in time with other attendees, my eyes dipped towards the feet of the coffin bearers. They were especially fixated on one bearer's purple high tops partly tucked under their slacks, still clashing with the surrounding black ensemble. I was wondering whether to express penitence for Raven myself as someone nudged then pulled me to my seat.

My body knelt in prayer for the Office of the Dead while my mind continued to wander. That moonlit night, I hadn't hidden nor taken Raven's necklace, not until the police arrived and collected it themselves as evidence. Presumably it was returned to the Harlan family after the investigation, in its broken, renounced state. Should I be praying for Raven's redemption, or would that even be respecting my willful friend's dying wish? With the times I skipped church myself while in college, I would need to reassert my own wavering faith first, already divided and tested among other significant figures in my life.

The only hint I had gotten from Raven before of any dissent, was once playing basketball against her. She suggested allowing me to make a quick prayer before she could contest my shots. I naturally retained my limited finesse, and we had stopped playing together once Raven wanted stronger competition. And now, she who once dared to overcome any larger challenge, I had found in some dark alley left for dead by everyone, even me.

I opened my eyes slightly glancing side to side, and I noticed her mother in an opposite pew, face under a veil. Her family sat beside her, and judging by their various states of bowed to near upright heads not all of them were religious. It occurred to me the one coffin bearer among them wearing the purple shoes might have done so out of pragmatism.

Father Harlan, himself in brilliant white vestments, proceeded to preach about the unknown journeys people must take after having arrived at every known destination. And one by one as some others rose to their feet in acknowledgment, offering their own thoughts and prayers, I realized most everyone except me was believing the same thing. Raven was still with them in spirit, on another path parallel to theirs. While I, I had just felt alone in the darkness since that night. No other light could shine brighter than the one I used to feel with Raven. The void beside me wouldn't be filled by anyone else.

Between then and preparing for today, I had thought of composing my own prayer to Raven and for Him to have mercy. But now I didn't want His light to shine upon me and bless me with any presence. I was alone and lost the only presence that I witnessed possess the individual drive she had, but she had still left me an example of strength. Perhaps it was this strength that separated us after high school, and I should cherish it as her parting gift.

I held back a bitter smile for hours, up to the Final Commendation and Farewell. As the coffin was treated with holy water and incense, suddenly the church doors opened from behind, and a man rushed down the aisle towards the altar. Raven's mother nearly lifted her veil to witness with the rest of us, this man trying to open the coffin lid and pleading Raven's name, before Father Harlan shoved him away then two other priests escorted him back outside.

The interruption had little impression on me though. Father Harlan announced that the Rite of Committal at the cemetery would be restricted to family only, before officially ending the funeral service. I became conscious of Dad tugging my sleeve and Mom frowning at me, as we made our way to the reception afterwards.

It was just my luck to meet an old "friend" and their family, as mine took aside hers for a chat. I had only joined her clique in church and school back then out of social necessity, and though there were some genuine people I liked hanging out with, she hadn't been one of them.

"Hey Angela, been a while. I'm...sorry for the loss, knowing you and Raven were close back then."

"Yeah hey...well you know, trying to move on by being here."

"Oh definitely, I wouldn't want what happened to her for anyone else."

"Uh yeah..."

"...So, are you done with university? Got a job?"

"Mm hmm, I work here at the charity now actually."

"Oh cool, I'm just starting out as an entrepreneur. And I found a boyfriend."

"Well, guess that's better than living with parents."

"Can't beat the free room and board though."

"I actually cook for them, dinner usually, since I got used to it in college."

"Oh, so you can cook..."

Her boyfriend swooped in, "A friend of my girlfriend is a friend of mine. We can invite you out to eat sometime, if you want--"

"I can cook too."

"Uh, sure babe..."

"Thanks, but I'd like some alone time for now. Wouldn't want to add to your list of needs for each other," I cut in, my "friends" then looking at each other in confusion.

"Thought so," I finally let go my smile.

Present Day

Boss got straight to the point for today, and I simply nod at this unprecedented turn of events. Me, finally trusted to act by myself for work, not only that but to do some counseling? I essentially shadowed my seniors in the previous cases we worked, looking over my shoulder while they did the talking. Now this is no chance to mess up, Angela.

Recalling my college courses, I think about how textbook my approach should be, balanced against what my peers had indirectly taught me in the field. Most of the clients we interacted with were adult heads of household however, their children or wards usually away from home like at school. It hits me then that Boss may have assigned me to counsel at a school, because I would be closer in age to the students compared to my coworkers. I clap my face in reassurance as my ride share pulls up, and minutes later I arrive at Kage Private High.

Persona: Darkest light (restart)

@Jangel13 I don't feel like rewriting any of my old posts so I'd like to keep her as the counselor lol

Persona: The darkest light

Bump because we are restarting, so new characters are absolutely welcome! New thread:

roleplayerguild.com/topics/182251-per…