Primal Force, More Like (Party of 3; Seiji, Luka)

[Akira Nakajima]

Didn't take much to get a young man going on to a merry adventure. If, you know, that young man were back in the feudal era. People did odd things at the drop of a hat back then. In the present day, there was still a good number of oddities in that vein. Fortunately, though, Akira wasn't doing that sort of thing. No, rather than an adventure of self-exploration, or some equally awful nonsense, the boy was instead doing obligatory research and investigation regarding the oddities of the area. After awakening to the power of Hayagriva, his Persona and his ride there in that alternate dimension, the boy had become fully aware of those odd little portals. This was his first major expedition. Was it dangerous? Certainly! Was it necessary? Of course.

The boy had decided to venture into the abyss while dressed normally. It sounded contradictory, but the blue jeans he wore were both loose enough to be comfortable, yet snug enough to not present issues. A plain white dress shirt covered his torso, but he wore a light leather jacket over that in hopes of lessening his damage intake in the event of an engagement. At the very least, it was for peace of mind. His right hand rested on Hayagriva's neck. Despite never having been trained in the art of horseback-riding, riding his Persona didn't seem to give him any issues. How fortunate. In his left hand, he gripped his spear very lightly. It wasn't going to slip, but he definitely had enough slack to switch about, if needed.

As Hayagriva pranced forward through the plant-ridden park, the boy shook his head. He'd seen Yoyogi Park before. This was laughably bad. Roughly what could be expected from removing humanity from the equation for a few years or decades. And the entities there? Not squiggly black mush, but fairies. It was like he stepped into a fairy tale of sorts from the West.

[Seiji Dalton]

Something was pulling Seiji towards the park. A feeling welled up in his gut that was very similar to the one he first felt when he awakened to his new powers.   His first encounter with shadows, demons, or whatever those things were caught Takeda and himself unaware. He'd barely escaped with his life and now he was getting ready to march right back into places that could only be described as hellish. Strangely, Seiji decided to wear his school outfit while he journeyed into the unknown. The uniform of his school was much more expendable than, say, the clothes bought by his parents or given to him as a gift. He could always buy more.

Hidden within Seiji's medicine cabinet was a bastard sword. Takeda had been weirded out by the request considering what people usually associated bastard swords with. People always thought of claymores and that was all wrong. The bastard sword was essentially just a longer longsword. Seiji managed to hide it under his uniform well enough as he stepped out of the house. The power he'd felt when his Persona first emerged was good. He felt like he could do anything. Figuring out whatever was going on would be a breeze. Of course, going at it alone wasn't the smartest move. Takeda had work early in the morning so he was left alone. Alone to handle whatever this world could throw at him.

Navigating the streets, he felt a pull coming from many seemingly mundane places. There were things lurking there. Dark things. Things ready to tear him apart. Whether because of actual sensing abilities or sheer instinct, he knew that things lurking beyond the darkness of certain areas were simply beyond his ability. So, he moved until he came to an area that didn't give off that same sense of foreboding. Hopefully he wouldn't die horribly. No. No way. That wouldn't happen. It would be too anticlimactic if he got killed before the prologue was even over. That wasn't how the stories went.

Eventually, he came to a park. It was one of the more popular destinations in the area or so he had been led to believe. It was at this point that Seiji's legs started carrying him on their own. His body seemed to know where to go for what he wanted. At some point, he closed his eyes and emerged into an odd dreamscape. It was like the park as he'd seen it a few moments ago, but more feral and wild. Nature had gotten to stretch its legs and the overgrowth was appreciative. Suddenly, Seiji felt much less like a random schoolboy. Suddenly, he was a boy out of a fairy tale caught out in the big, dark forest. Pulling his bastard sword out of its hiding spot, he held it close and carried on. He didn't know how to get back, and he wanted to explore it just a little further.

Off in the distance, he saw a sight that took him by surprise. He saw what could only be another person. And a person riding a horse at that. He didn't understand the relationship between animals and this new world, so he supposed it could work. He felt like approaching this person might be the best move at present. "Excuse me." He called in a voice devoid of tone, whispered yet loud enough to carry across the distance between them. Seeing the Asian features of the other person, he chose to speak in Japanese. "I'm very surprised there's another person here. I expected more beasts to come and try to take a bite out of me." The night was still young. There probably would be something that attempted to chomp his head off, and sooner rather than later. His instincts half told him to not trust anything here, but the only other person he'd seen under these circumstances was Takeda and he hadn't tried to kill him, so he was willing to give this stranger the benefit of the doubt. As of yet, his Persona remained unsummoned and would probably stay that way until danger decided to rear its head.

[Luka Kurokawa]

She was a lone warrior. Roaming a deserted battlefield in the dark of the night. She wore a pair of torn jeans that were exceptionally easy to move around in, as well as a a comfortable but mostly snug shirt. Around her neck was a thin red scarf that only trailed a bit down her back. It was a little chilly after all. On her back was a sheathed katana. Well, it wouldn't exactly be so menacing once she drew it. Mostly because it's made of wood. But even still, the girl felt like a lone warrior ready to embark on her first grinding session. This is what Shishou had been training her for! At least, that's what she told herself. Setting off even further into the city, the girl managed to reach a park. She had been here before, she thought. But this place seemed a lot different.

This wasn't the same place as the one where she fought the squiggly things. There were youkai here, much like the ones her Shishou spoke of. She seemed to sense activity within this park. Was this another effect of her persona? With that on her mind, the girl continued on, in search of a good hunt. Instead though, what she found were two regular humans. Well, regular enough at least. Drawing her sword, Luka silently approached the duo with superb speed. When she reached them, she analyzed them rather quickly. There was no killing intent. Nor did they feel like hardened killers. These people were certainly no threat to her. Instead, something inside her told her they were a bit like her. I see. Narrowing her eyes at the both of them in a serious manner, she began to come to a few conclusions. These people were certainly armed and at least one had a persona. They were not working together, at least from the looks of it. They didn't seem much different than her in terms of power, either. With a sigh, the girl sheathed her sword. Guess I'm not the only one here. In a way, Luka felt a little disappointed. But at the same time it was nice that she could run into people while she was out at night. She looked over the two people for a second. One seemed to be riding her persona while the other. . . had a very large sword. Maybe he was really strong? Either way, they were quite out of the ordinary just by being here. More importantly, what now? She was trying to hunt youkai; not meet people. She was wasting her precious grinding time!

[Satanick]

Behold! Enemies!

Gandharva
Null: Wind
Resist: Fire
Weak: Ice
Skills: Garula, Maragi, Assault Dive, Makajam

Banshee
Null: Ice
Resist: Dark
Weak: Fire, Light
Skills: Bufula, Mudo, Dormina, Tarukaja

Spriggan
Resist: Physical
Weak: Light, Dark
Skills: Fatal End, Viper Smash, Agi

[Seiji Dalton]

From out of nowhere, a second person emerged. Seiji almost drew his sword when she emerged with her own weapon drawn. A wooden sword. Does she do kendo, too? Seiji mused. "A second stranger. Here's hoping two more passerbys will show up so we can have a full adventuring party. Well, full if the makers of this game are generous." Looking up at the boy on the horse, he opened his mouth to speak further when he heard the sound of something moving behind him. Seiji didn't have as much time to practice with his weapons as he liked but he was good enough to draw the sword in a fluid motion when he turned. Three creatures were emerging from the darkness around them. Damn. They'd gotten themselves surrounded.

Steeling himself, Seiji fell into a battle stance with both hands on the hilt of his blade. "I will be mad if either of you die. More people means more answers about what's going on." Before Seiji, a blue card appeared out of nowhere. "Persona!" He said with uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Taking a quick step forward, he cut the card with his sword and a small knight emerged with surprisingly little fanfare. The knight to be fell into position. From their position, the other two combatants could probably see that it seemed to be a bird's talon that held the shield in its right hand in place. Wart flew through the air and slashed wildly at the creature immediately in front of Seiji.

If someone had pressed him for a description of the thing in front of him, Seiji would probably use the words 'big' and 'green' several times. The lumbering fae creature took the hit and seemed to laugh at the Persona before Wart lunged over to another of the demons. This one seemed to have its face covered. It howled in pain at the injury and trailed after Wart as he made his way to the third creature. This one almost looked handsome. While Wart was doing his wild slashes at the creatures assailing them, Seiji himself slashed at the lumbering green thing. Despite its size, the creature was nimble and the blows he landed were glancing at best. It seemed this one was resistant to physical attacks.

What amazed Seiji most here in the heat of battle was how well Wart was responding to his commands. The animal knight was more like an extension of himself than a proper ally. Was that what Wart meant by the cryptic 'I am thou' line? The Spriggan, as he decided to call it, began lumbering towards him and unleashed a mighty slashing blow of his own with the claws on the end of its fingers. It swiped down and Seiji felt a blow that should have kill him merely take the breath out of him. Stumbling, he fell to one knee and Wart flew forward, shield in front of him, to protect Seiji. "Is that the best you've got? I bet that Shinai the girl is using would hurt me worse than that." He taunted as he stood up. The teenager steadied himself and went to attack him again. Wart went to slash as well and they left a brutal double gash on its front.

Of course, it didn't seem like enough to kill the creature, but it knocked it off of its feet for a moment. Wart followed this up by attacking the other two enemies again. He heard a scream of anguish before the long haired demoness began howling at the top of her lungs. A flash of light resonated from the Spriggan and Seiji felt like he was in for a world of pain as it managed to regain its footing. He had to finish one of these things off. A numerical advantage would do them a world of good. "Come on, Wart. To me." Wart didn't respond, obviously, but it obeyed his command as they both did the trick from before on the Banshee. Unfortunately for Seiji, a long stream of darkness emerged from her throat right as the two blades cut into her. The darkness choked him briefly before dissipating.

There had been times in Seiji's life where he'd thought that he'd felt pain. Those times were nothing compared to this. The darkness that the banshee caused to roll over him had nearly sucked all of the life out of him. Looking down at his skin, he suddenly seemed much paler. But he didn't want to show weakness in front of the other two. Again, he was on his knees and gritting his teeth. "Steady. Steady..." He muttered to himself while wobbling to his feet. "I could use some help here, you two." He muttered. Wart seemed to be fading out of existence already. This was only his second battle with the Persona and already he was overstretching himself. The Spriggan began lumbering towards him.

It'd take a miracle to save him now. Or some heals.

[[Turn report!
Wart used Gale Slash on all 3 enemies twice!
Seiji attacked the Spriggan with his level 1 bastard sword twice!
Seiji slashed at the Banshee!
Wart used Gale Slash on the Banshee!
The Banshee managed to cast Tarukaja on the Spriggan!
The Spriggan used Fatal End on Seiji!
The Spriggan used Mudo on Seiji!
The Banshee was defeated!
Seiji is on his last leg!]]

[Akira Nakajima]

”Hoho?” The sound, or exclamation depending on observation, that came from Akira suggested a slight bit of amusement. He had run some tests shortly after gaining Hayagriva's power, but he had never managed to figure out anything conclusive. Finding this stranger, wielding that awfully big blade, here did explain a few things. He wasn't the only one with access to this “world”. Additionally, this young man probably had a Persona, too. ”You'd be the first I've seen that wasn't a monster. Consider the surprise mutual.” While he was intrigued, his tone was awfully neutral. Almost painfully so. With the arrival of none other than Kurokawa Rukako, though, he had to stop himself from outright calling her a liar. No plans to fight a demon lord, huh?!

”I have my own set of questions. Try not to keel over, either, stranger.” Fixating the other male, then Ruka, with his gaze, the boy gauged them both. An orb of blue and red shifted about before he looked to the enemies. Maybe it was an assholish mentality, but Akira opted to refrain from jumping in at first. Instead, he took the chance to watch the swordsman fight. It gave him an idea of how decent that youth was, while also letting him gauge the threat of fighting the monsters- the fairies- directly. The boy handled himself well, sure! But he just engaged three enemies of unknown power simultaneously. Not the sharpest blade in the armory.

”Discretion is what you could use. Hayagriva, Media.” While the boy and his horse began to intercept the incoming attacker, the horse emitted a healing aura. It washed over all three of the humans there, despite the lack of need other than the boy. Well, he hadn't had time to fine-tune the usage yet. By the time the horse was within range, Akira had shifted to the side of his mount and, with a grunt, he launched himself at the bulky, cloaked behemoth. He met an amazing amount of resistance despite his momentum, and the spear's blade probably only barely penetrated the giant's flesh. Clicking his tongue, the boy drew the spear back, taking a blast of fire directly. Good thing about that resistance to fire.

With a quick duo of thrusts, the boy kept the giant preoccupied. Meanwhile, Hayagriva let off a second Media. That should have, for the time being, taken care of the wounded warrior, not to mention covering Akira's own mild burns. The boy steadied himself. The giant was getting ready to punch him, it seemed. That just wouldn't do at all. In a bout of surprising accuracy, Akira thrust the tip of his spear directly into the giant's eye. Resistance or not, the eyes tended to be a valid target on most things. The giant's fist slammed into the ground next to the boy. That would've hurt, had it connected. Good thing it didn't.

Yanking his spear free, the boy turned and steadied himself before distancing himself. The giant was in a bit of a foul mood after losing an eye, flailing and swinging wildly like that. It'd probably be best to hold off on engaging it while it was still flailing. Instead, he lobbed his spear at the other, lankier opponent. Somehow, it lodged itself into the thing's chest, and it fell over from the attack. Hayagriva had returned to his side. Mounting his Persona again, he rode over to the new spear-holder before letting Hayagriva's hooves pin the fairy-thing to the ground. With neither mercy nor consideration, the boy yanked his polearm free before rapidly “poking” the thing. Wind, fire, and some other thing surged out. The demon was doing what it could to resist.

Akira's offensive abilities were low, all considered, but when the opponent was pinned to the ground and being turned into a spear's pin-cushion, things worked out. He imagined Ruka could handle the half-blind giant. It wasn't like it was a fresh fighter by that point, even if it did seem especially sturdy. With a final thrust, it seemed Akira managed to take down the Gandharva. Could've been better. Could've been much worse, too. A little sweaty and smelling of ash, the panting boy had finished his load of the work.

[Luka Kurokawa]

With a stern expression, Luka turned to the side, noticing the incoming groups of enemies. It seemed that the boy with the sword opted to run in first swinging away. More than that though. . . he did indeed have a persona. The surprising thing though, was that it could attack as well. She would see not a moment later that the other boy could actually heal with his persona. Was she the odd one out? Did personas normally have skills? Luka had a complicated face at this realization. Either way, she opted to hold her ground and wait for an opportunity to attack. She wasn't about to go near a kid swinging around such a sword when she didn't even know how good he was with it. The same went with the other boy, sure. But a spear is much more controlled than a sword.

By the time Luka was ready to jump into battle though, everything was more or less taken care of save for a heavily wounded and partially blinded giant. It seemed they saved the most powerful enemy for her; albeit, ready to fall over. The boy with the sword went in head first and nearly got himself killed. What the hell was he thinking? The other boy managed to heal him at least before going in and taking out a second enemy.

Luka sighed. This certainly was nothing like she had in mind. Sheathing her sword, she silently ran into battle. Her eyes were set on that hulking mass. It was sufficiently beaten up from before even if it resisted most of the attacks. As she ran up to the enemy, she picked the perfect spot to strike that would have the most chance of knocking it down. Reaching the enemy's immediate area, she struck the center of the enemy with her fist moving it back slightly. It wasn't enough unfortunately. The giant opted to attack her back, of course. Fortunately, it was a glancing blow as Luka managed to dodge most of the attack. She could still feel a slight sting in her side though. The best part about this was where her dodge put her. Directly underneath the giant, Luka jumped upward, performing an uppercut on the enemy. Striking the head, the enemy lifted upwards slightly before falling over with a loud thump. With a smirk, the girl turned back around and decided to go explore on her own. It would be much better that way, she figured.