Bleu Chess

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

April 11th / Tuesday / Morning

Dormitory B

RING! BEEP!

Dai groaned and burrowed his face digging deeper into the pillow. His alarm clock had just blared to life; its noisy disturbance was enough to make it vibrate against his desk. His flip phone only added to the growing ruckus with its insistent ringing. While his phone was as dead as a corpse all night long – probably due to that strange world – it only resulted in having all that backlog of messages from his fellow acquaintances to come flooding in this morning. At least he hoped that the message was from yesterday. If any of them came from this morning, there’s going to be a long, long chat on their schedules.

RING! BEEP! BEEP!

BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!RING—

“AAAAAAH, SHUT UP.” Dai threw his covers to the side, slamming his hand against the button of the alarm clock, before he grabbed the phone and tried to suffocate it with his pillow. He shot his device with a half-hearted glare. “I’M UP ALREADYYYY.”

As the blurs around his vision became clear and the noise quieted down, the young man slowly took notice of a bow and arrow that had been tossed aside callously to a corner. A brown bag that did not belong to him was next to the weaponry. He took a deep breath at the sight, unsure as how to go about this whole situation. Personae, shadows, an upcoming calamity; this is hardcore surreal stuff, things that can only be made from dreams and nightmares.

Dai ran his tongue against dry lips. Hesitantly, he spoke, summoning a bit of his will. “P-Persona…?” He raised his eyes and bit his lips. Suddenly, a mask materialized over his face and, out of the corner of his eyes, Stuart Little sat on top of his desk, twisting its little blue scarf between it paws. The creature looked up, smiled, and waved.

“…Hi.” The tension in Dai’s shoulders lessened as he waved back to his Persona.

Within a few moments, his mask faded away along with the mouse. Dai rubbed the palms of his fist against his weary eyes and flopped back into his bed. As expected, it wasn’t a dream. Saito is probably missing his bag right about now.

April 11th / Tuesday / After School

Track & Field Club

Other than the fact that geography class was cancelled, the school day has been uneventful. The track and field team was out on the field. Like any start to a new school year, the club was a mere meet-and-greet today along with a few try-outs for those who want to enter school competitions. In all honesty, athletics were not his thing with the slight exception to archery. The drama club and the music club was more in tune with his preferred niche; unfortunately, the drama club won’t meet until tomorrow and he didn’t have much interest investing in the mastery of musical instruments. With nothing else to do, Dai decided to branch out a bit, opting to give track a shot, when one of the students thrust a flier into his hands in hopes of recruiting new members for track and field. Well, how could he say no? Who knows when that skill could be useful – especially if it comes to running from a calamity?

After a few stretches, Dai stood at the starting line, tapping the tip of his right shoe-spike against the tartan track. As the other runners started to get into position, he copied their form and crouched. Soon, the man in black and white stripes raised his toy gun.

BAM!

> Gained 2 points. Add 2 points to the Lover Arcana Compatibility Rank. Two more points until next Rank.

Central Building Hallway

As Dai wandered the school grounds, stretching his arms above his head, he felt oddly refreshed from taking a shower after a good exercise. Three hours had passed since his time at track and field. There was more than plenty of time to kill - time that he needed to spend on sending those texts back to his acquaintances. A few people messaged him about Sasaki’s hospitalization and Dai quickly texted them the story that Kazuo had used; fortunately, it wasn’t the type of news that got people gossiping. With Kazuo’s excuse, people assumed it was nothing more than an accident and went on to better rumors.

With his flip phone in hand, Dai pressed a wide variety of buttons, catching up with the usual gossips, as he walked through the halls. He managed to avoid collision well enough without once looking up from his screen. It wasn’t until he finally looked up when he paused mid-step. He blinked several times and quickly backtracked a few feet. He opened his mouth to speak, but soon closed it. After a few moments of silence, Dai flipped his phone shut.

“Hello, rosebud, need a hand?” Dai asked with a small smile as he crouched next to Bride who was merely sitting on the ground, gently touching his cheek. He winced lightly as he spotted the wound somewhat covered by the boy's fingers. "Ouch, what happened there?" He frowned a little at the sight before he reached into Saito’s bag that he had been lugging around all day and pulled out the last bottle of iced coffee. The drink was still cold, dripping with condensation. He wasn't sure it could heal anything in this world, but it could be used for something else.

“Here, press this against your cheek.” Dai held out the cold drink to Bride. “You know, someone as lovely as you shouldn’t be sitting on the ground. Wanna go to the nurse’s office? Or how about you and me go someplace quiet to get you fixed up?” He grinned and winked playfully at the last part. He then waited patiently for his classmate to answer.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Dai:
4 hours left
¥4000

STONES

There was a tremendous ruckus that brewed about as Aloe failed in his attempt to wake Nel. The changeling huffed in annoyance which was followed by a disappointed click of his tongue. Still nothing. Maybe a stronger strike will do? ? In one swift moment, Aloe raised his hand higher as his grip on a bundle of the lady’s shirt held her steady.

“Itsy-bitsy, bitsy spider, come to eat you all up!” The magpie cried out, flapping its wings.

His hand pulled away at the last second as Aloe fixed the magpie with a glare. Confusion reflected on his expression as though he was thinking through a riddle. “Spider? What— OUCH!"

At that very moment, something bonked him on the head. Luckily, it wasn't enough to knock his out yet it still hurt. He growled as he whipped around... only to paused. He reached down to pick up a gun. For a moment, he stared at the weapon until the noise grew even louder than before.

Peering over the bushes, the scene was enough to draw curses from him. Kettle was down near a white column, not moving an inch. There a gigantic stone beast after one of his traveling companions with a lady-spider – a Jorogumo, wasn’t it? – that was about to cut off the bone-y creature’s escape path. Just what is that Jorogumo doing? She is an ally, is she not? He saw her as part of the traveling pack when he had lagged behind. Although, the red in her eyes weren’t there before… A gem shone brightly in her hands. Slowly, his eye widened, the magpie’s words slowly sinking in.

Crap, what was he suppose to do?

It wasn’t long before the ground trembled a few feet away from where they sat and caught his attention for a moment. A section of grass shifted. In slow cranks and grinding metal, a hole revealed itself in small increments. Hidden within it was a staircase that descended into darkness. No matter how well his eye could adjust to the darkness, he couldn’t see the bottom.

His gaze flickered from the hole to the approaching spider lady and finally to the fallen Clavic. The gun felt heavy in his hand. Aloe grimaced. He wasn't sure what was in that hole, but it seemed to be the only option if they wanted to live.

With a sharp intake of breath, Aloe rushed out of the thicket, leaving Nel behind. With adrenaline pumped into his system, he shortened the distance that separated him and Clavic. He grabbed onto the fur that Clavic wore and pulled the being up; the gun he held shook unsteadily as his aim kept switching between Lila and the stone beast.

“Creature of bones, there’s a staircase along with a girl hidden behind those bushes. Take her and go down!” Without waiting for the poor creature to recover, the young man pushed it toward the shrubs, ignoring whatever bones that may fall out of it. He turned his gaze over to Leon. “Young hunter, come!”

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

Man, that's a good bargain. Dai is willing to go there if anyone else is up for it.

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

They did it. They finally did it.

The freaky monster was finally defeated!

“Ah man! Good work, everybody!” Despite all the sweat and sores and aches that gathered on his body, the defeat of Colossal Maya was enough for Dai to cry out in joy. Tired yet exhilarated, he held himself steady by bending and pressing his hands against his knees. His heart pounded heavily against his chest as he gasped for breath. The floor looked black and cool. Man, wasn’t it tempting to just collapse onto the ground?

As a man of temptation, Dai would’ve taken his chance if it weren’t for the sudden appearance of a rather decorative blue door. It was intricate in its design and glow a dim light that matched its color. It was hypnotizing to look at. “And that is sooooo not suspicious,” he burrowed his eyebrows as he straightened his back. When Kazuo spoke that the door was a way out, Dai casted the guy a glance and shrugged.

Not long after the door’s mysterious appearance, Shiro bid them a farewell and asked for their names. “I’m Dai. Dai Kumura. It’s nice to meet you, dream boat.” The blond grinned and gave a friendly slap on Shiro’s shoulders as he walked toward the blue door. “Thanks for the help! If this isn’t the last time we see each other, then let chat next time!”

As Kazuo opened the door, Dai winced. The light was so bright, casting them into blue…

The Velvet Room

Blue. There was even more of that color than the sea itself. From the books to the floor to the ceiling, the only thing that stood out was a strange man with a humongous nose. No, not an exaggeration. It was pretty long. Er… Noticing that he was staring rather rudely at the stranger’s nose for a while now, Dai quickly shook his head and focused on the guy’s words.

“Errrr… Contract?” Dai frowned in a mixture of concern and suspicion. That didn’t sound good. Contracts are a big no-no. He was pretty sure he didn’t have pen in hand when he summoned his hovering mouse thing. “Dude, can I see this contract? Or tell what this contract entails? It’s kinda unfair that…”

Trailing off, Dai continued to listen at the stranger’s – Igor’s – explanation which didn’t explain much of anything except brought up even more questions. A velvet blue key suddenly materialized. With great hesitance, and swearing under his breath that he'll be back for answers, Dai grasped the item.

School

“Woah…” Dai blinked several times; the dim lights in this new place was far brighter compared to the upside-down Nichibotsu. As the fuzziness that gathered at the edges of his sight faded away, he realized that this place was strangely familiar… it was the Koden Academy.

He glanced behind, staring at the blue door that was very much like the one they had entered in the other world. Wait, isn’t that the same door to the library? Didn’t that ring some bells about something? It was almost as if the wheels in his head turned. Dai gaped at the realization. No way, could it be that… A voice drew Dai from his thoughts as Johnathan began to speak.

“Dude, the world we just walked through was strange. You’re the last thing we’ll be running away from. I think it’s safe to say we accept you and your spooky self. I hope you do the same for us – you know, accepting us and all.” Dai let out a nonchalant shrug, showing that he wasn’t at all bothered. Honestly, the reveal of people’s dark sides wasn’t that big of a deal to him – his hobbies of rumors and gossips did more than enough to make him tolerant of such existence; although, not in such a way where his classmates were literally spewing out their shadows - but he couldn’t help but speak up since Johnathan looked as though he needed to hear proof of acceptance.

“Which building is that?” Dai squinted at the building that Gruffydd vaguely gestured at. “I’m crashing over at Dorm B.”

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

Dai counted his blessing just as he managed to duck in time for the inky arm to fly over his head. Saito wasn't so lucky as two arms hit the poor guy all at once. Luckily, not only did Saito held on, but he also managed to heal Gruffydd before the last bottle of iced coffee could be used.

Dai tossed an appreciative grin at Johnathan and Saito, finally able to breathe easy now that someone was finally acting as support. Spamming the boss with its weaknesses and beat downs were all good - hell, he wasn't complaining about that - but its attacks were doing a number on them. Welp, no need to heal now. Dai dropped the drink back into the bag before he drew his bow and arrow. Three full all-out-attacks and the monster was still going. Geez, how much longer will they have to keep beating this thing down?

"Persona!" Once again, his mask appeared and Stuart Little hovered before him. This time a column of light flashed onto Gruffydd - the light was weak enough not to blind the foreign student yet strong enough to be noticeable (Tarukaja). Gruffydd would feel a surge of strength, increasing any damage he dishes out by 20% for the next three turns.

------------------------------
Dai
HP: 65/65
SP: 36/55

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

@Happy Go Lucky


Drink up, comrade, and live!

From Bleu's post: "Hell, if he has to bend to this world’s logic, then this world has to play by his logic as well!" A key detail about this world ;)

@Blu

Seriously? Wow, I just thought Dai was just going through some kind of nonsensical rants. xD But that's a pretty interesting aspect about the shadow world though.

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

After the group kicked up a dust storm as they rained beat downs after beat downs onto the shadow, Dai quickly backed away to gain some distance. Soon, the dust cloud faded away and the young man assessed the situation. Nearby, the foreign exchange students - Johnathan and Gruffydd – were not looking so hot. In fact, they looked halfway near death, mauled from the heavy attack that the many-armed monster handed out earlier.

The backpack shifted on his shoulders. If Dai could smack himself without doing heavy damage, then he would do so right now. Crap! How could he forget? Reaching into the bag, he felt a cool dampness against his fingers. There were two bottles of the caffeine-filled drinks in there. Maybe, just maybe, the caffeine would be enough to jolt the wounded some energy…

…Okay, maybe that made no sense, but if a magic spring ran by a fairy could exist as well dead shadowery corpses spewing from the mouth of his teammates, then Dai has every right to make his own logic. Hell, if he has to bend to this world’s logic, then this world has to play by his logic as well!

He stared at the item and gazed onto his teammates. Suddenly, the drink felt heavy in his grip. Oh crap, who does he throw it to first? Both of his classmates were in pain and they were good people – even if one did smack him with a shovel; although, understandably possessed. One has the monster’s weakness while the other could heal.

Oh wielder of the backpack, how heavy thy duty is. Dai made a face while he made a mental note to give the bag right back to Saito. The guy seemed level-headed enough to prioritize, and hopefully more knowledgeable on when to use these items on who. Dai was a person of feelings and instinct; logic is not thy middle name. It just didn’t feel right to heal someone just because of their usefulness since both of them have their strengths as far as he could tell. Welp, here goes nothing. Time to suck up and decide.

“Heads up, hot stud! Drink!” Dai ran a few feet and tossed the bottle of iced coffee over to Johnathan. From the looks of things, the guy looked as though he couldn't risk to take another hit.Once the drink is used, Johnathan would feel a surge of energy, recovering 30 HP and 10 SP.

Dai fumbled with the backpack once more while he kept an eye on the monster, a bow in one hand just in case. Hopefully, the Welsh student could hold out and stay alive until he could get this stupid coffee out or if someone used their healing mojo on the guy.

--------------------------------------
Dai
HP: 65/65
SP: 51/55

STONES

@Darcs Awesome, thanks!

Welp, time for me to work on a post.

Persona Ø (Accepting 1 Player)

Everything went about like the speed of light, and after what happened today so far, he wasn't sure if he could muster up enough surprise to see a fairy in a store selling some kind of spring. It was too bad they got kicked out before he could test the waters – both metaphorically and literally. He really wanted to hug that Trish fairy like no tomorrow. She was was just so adorable! Although, there was a nagging feeling he’ll be deep in debt like the newly-named Shiro Usagi if he ever did.

As Dai rubbed the bruise forming on the back of his head – while throwing a curse right back at that fairy who got a mean throw for something so cute – his mood instantly brightened when Kazuo hugged Minto and saw the feminine boy flushed red with tears peering from his glistening eyes. Whoa, Kazuo got the skills. Dai stood, dusted himself off, and walked over to the transfer student who has his back turned. Whether the guy was did that out of embarrassment or something was hard to tell, but nevertheless Dai poked Kazuo’s cheek and grinned. “Niiiiiice.” He then winked, and whether it was implying something or not was up to Kazuo to decide.

Dai turned on his heels and took off after the bunny, a playful grin on his face; although, that enjoyment didn’t last long. Shiro was suddenly thrown out of window. Before Dai could yelp his surprise and concern, a terrible… Thing appeared.

“HOLY CRAP, IT’S BIGGER. WAS IT LIKE THAT BEFORE?” He knew it was stating the obvious, but it was kinda hard not to gaped at the six-armed monstrosity that held Sasaki by its creepy sides. He could've sworn it was much smaller the last time they saw it drag Sasaki away, but then again, it was rather fast and quickly flashed away from sight before they could get a good look. It didn't make it less horrid though. Heck, the closer he got a look at it, the blond couldn’t help but cringe. The strange entity whipped its arms to and fro like aggravated snakes and made sounds that were similar to disconnected joints and sacks of flesh crashing into each other. Grown men would scream on sight. The only thing that kept him from screaming like a little girl was his male pride and the exposure to this world - like getting attack by his fellow classmates. Yeah, he got a bit of a grudge with that event.

Was it bad to say that Sasaki was fortunate enough to be unconscious so she wouldn't stare at the horrendous thing?

Quickly, Dai ignored the shakes in his hands and whipped out his bow and arrow; although, he nearly stabbed himself with the pointy weapon when he had the sudden need to face palm. Saito fell. He fell. How could you miss hitting something that HUGE? Nevertheless, the blond tossed Saito a concern glance and aimed his projectile.

That monster may be gigantic with Dai being small and insignificant, but he needed to fight. He has to try. If the others could muster the courage to do this, then so could he.

“Show him what we got! STUART LITTLE! AQUA!”

A surge of power came forth. Dai gasped as a mask suddenly formed around his face. Where the heck it came from was a mystery all on its own. It felt strange as it rested against his cheeks yet it felt both warm and familiar. It belonged; even if Dai couldn't see the mask itself, he knew what it was – a mask of a mouse.

[Rolled 17]

Stuart Little appeared in a brilliance of light that quickly faded away. With a blue cape that bellowed with the non-existent wind, the mouse raised his little pin needle, and with an attack that is not of his size, a giant column of water crashed heavily onto the enemy, dealing 45 Water damage.

-----------------------------------------------------
Dai
HP: 65/65
SP: 51/55

W&T: FT RP!

@Raijinslayer It's rather strange, but I trust Haruna it'll serve as some kind of plot point (maybe...). At least it gave people something to talk about and something for Niti to be frustrated over since he can't remember what the heck happened.