Hunting the Missing Links (Party of three; view notes)

[Akira Nakajima]

It was around noon on Sunday that the youth had made another trip into the corrupted version of Yoyogi Park. It was not the first trip he had made, nor would it be he last. Akira made it a point to remain on foot, though Hayagriva trailed behind him. The duo of boy and horse, both acting to maintain a degree of stealth in the sunlight of that alternate world, kept low and hugged walls. The boy had found that, barring other Users, stealth made the best ally. He certainly wouldn't be recruited as a spy anytime soon, but he was developing a few skills as a result of his covert methods of engagement.

For the time being, given the nature of the park, he had opted to keep dressing lightly. While it wasn't quite jungle-like in terms of humidity or heat, it was still uncomfortable to go in while heavily dressed. Sweat, among other things, made clothes like that a bother. His gray vest and black jeans kept his clothes on the light side, and the materials of the vest ensured he wouldn't get too warm. Sweating and whatnot was mitigated by the sleeveless state of the vest, which greatly improved the circulation of air. He still utilized that spear as his weapon of choice, though. He'd need to upgrade sooner or later. A stronger tip, maybe a sharper edge for cutting. A reinforced shaft for hitting would also be a good idea to implement later on. Regardless, those were ideas for later. As it stood, Akira and Hayagriva, as well as the spear, were a suitable party for the enemies that could be found at the park. It was just a matter of how many.

Keeping low, the boy pressed the left side of his body against a wall, keeping a vigil on what was ahead. His spear was in his right hand this time around, and angled in a manner that allowed him to pivot and thrust if necessary. Getting a good grasp on the area ahead was necessary. Couldn't go running into a nest of fairies, oh no.

Notes: This is an explore that's open to two others, provided it fills within a reasonable amount of time. However, I'd like to ask that people that Akira has explored or socialized with do not pop into this. I'm aiming to get new people in to his circle of acquaintances. Thank you.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan found himself going back to the dark world's version of the park. He wasn't sure why, certain as he was that he might find something in the museum. Still, he was walking in the wrong direction. He was dressed in his typical dark tee, blue this time, and jeans. Not that this really occurred to him as important anymore. 

He had started climbing the trees to kill the time before the creatures attacked. He was certain now that it was the monsters that started the battles, always searching out those that infringed upon their territory. It still wasn't smart to wander around in the open, in case there were swarms of them seething just beyond where he had ventured. He was sitting in one of the trees when a flash of light caught his attention. It appeared to be a metal blade, which Tristan had yet to see on any of the monsters. Intrigued, yet still wary, Tristan readied his blade before calling out.


"Hello?" he asked, trying to be quiet yet trying to make his voice carry. "Excuse me. You are a human, right? I'm not sure about what you've encountered, but sneaking around seems to be pointless. The monsters always seem to track us down." With a swift movement, so as to not think about how high he was falling from, Tristan dropped from the tree branch and approached the metal he had seen. "I'm Tristan, by the way."

He couldn't quite see the person, but he still felt somewhat nervous. His recent conversation with Lucretia in his head made him somewhat wary of other people with the power of Persona. Still, it would be better to get to know as many of the others as possible. Who knew what the future held in store?

[Valentin Ulyanov]

Valentin whistled to himself, kicking each leg out to make every step long and exaggerated. In his left hand he swirled his hat around in a circle around his bony finger in a slow, lazy motion. Today had been boring. Nobody stopped by the office so he decided to be a little more proactive in seeking out marks. Behind him a slender young woman with silver hair followed along, hands folded over her navel while her glazed eyes focused on the back of her master's shoes. "Find anything interesting yet, pet?" He glanced back over his shoulder with a crooked smile, only to shrug with a loud sigh when she didn't respond. "Ah, you're no fun Devushka."

Despite the heat, the man seemed to be at ease wearing a full three piece suit. Perhaps he was simply cold blooded. His gaze trailed over the park, not detecting anything particularly out of the ordinary... in a word, it was boring. Valentin hated boring. He cupped his hands around his mouth and lifted his chin towards the sky, "HEY! COME ON OUT, UBLYUDOKS!" When nothing seemed to happen after a moment, he shook his head. "Skuchnyy, skuchnyy, skuchnyy!" He flicked his hand, prompting the woman to get down onto all fours so that he could hop onto her back as if she were a footstool. "AHO! AHO AHO AHOOOOOOOO!"

He leaned back further and further with each howl, until he was nearly bent over backwards, at which point the howls were replaced with a snorting laughter, raising his arms and curling his fingers while letting out a mad cackle, clearly unconcerned with the danger that he was putting himself in, to say nothing of anyone else who might be in the area...

[Satanick]

Nice doubles.

High Pixie
Null: Lightning
Resist: Wind
Weakness: Fire
Skills: Zionga, Mazio, Garu, Media

Elf
Null: Wind
Weak: Fire
Skills: Garu, Lullaby, Recarm

High Pixie
Null: Lightning
Resist: Wind
Weakness: Fire
Skills: Zionga, Mazio, Garu, Media

Elf
Null: Wind
Weak: Fire
Skills: Garu, Lullaby, Recarm

[Akira Nakajima]

To say that the world was quiet would have been a lie. One had to listen figure out where an enemy might have been, and when a single, focused sound created ripples through the sound space, it immediately disrupted any attempts at listening for movements. First a greeting, then a challenge of his tried and true methods of division and subjugation. Then a rather deep thump reached his ears. Had they been higher up? A flicker of his eyes and the boy found himself somewhat dubious. What? Had this stranger- this Tristan, apparently, which was no doubt another Western name- actually been in the damn trees? That was reckless. Exceedingly dangerous, even. Still, it seemed he had found a human. Slowly, he began to stand straight, keeping his spear leveled while letting his gaze seek out the human. It was roughly when he saw the other that another sound ripped through the air space. His eye twitched. Didn't seem to be Tristan, but somebody seemed to be calling for those things.

And it was working.

”Introductions and methods will have to wait, it seems.” The boy commented to Tristan. ”For now, I'm Akira.” Short and to the point, the boy would have likely seemed blunt and unsociable elsewhere. Though, considering that a small crowd of fairies and elves had appeared, what could he really take the time to talk about? The boy clicked his tongue, and, as though he had trained his Persona or otherwise treated it like a horse, Hayagriva shifted forward and lowered its body. The boy hopped right on and leveled his spear. He lightly gestured at Tristan before charging right through the middle of the monsters' ranks. The result? Spells flew from either side and at the other. Limited effectiveness, maybe, but it was a good way to get the ball rolling.

Focusing his efforts on one of the fairy-pixie-shouldn't-livies, the boy thrust his spear at the small entity, the blade nearly size of the thing's torso. Though he only clipped it, it was effectively a deep gash on the thing's body. In response, he took a powerful full-frontal blast of lightning. He circled it, narrowly avoiding a wind blast from the elf, before thrusting his spear into the fairy's back. It twitched and flailed, clearly in pain but not dead. They were durable, if nothing else. It was when the fairy began to spark that he clicked his tongue, though. The fairy, slowly and twitchily, was reaching for the tip of the spear. It was going to use the weapon to conduct the attack at him. Considering the amount of metal in the shaft, that was very bad. Rather than keeping hold, he leveled his spear and looked to the elf that was about to use another wind spell. Smiling, he lobbed the spear at the elf. The tip penetrated her shoulder and effectively sandwiched the fairy between elf shoulder and spear guard. Truly a daring lifestyle, and one that burned others. Literally, as the lightning from the fairy's attack effectively spread into the elf by means of conductivity. A two-for-one special, really.

While the spear was retracted by the elf, the fairy gradually slipped from the blade, falling to the ground in a limp mass. The boy had, during that period, closed in and snatched the shaft of the spear from the elf. Hayagriva half-circled the creature in a sort of gallop-hop. The elf began to sing. For a brief moment, Akira felt a sense of drowsiness, but it quickly faded. A failed status attack, then? Either way, the boy, during on the horse's hops, thrust his spear downward. The elf wasn't in the best shape after a pseudo one-two punch from him and the lightning of the fairy. Add another spear thrust to the equation, and the elf was in pretty horrid shape. As though aware of that, the elf created an orb of light and threw it at the fallen fairy. Akira clicked his tongue as the midget's crumpled form began to stir with activity again. Focusing one more thrust on the elf, he ended its life before steering Hayagriva away for a moment.

However, he wasn't retreating. He was taking a moment to have Hayagriva use Mediarama. The white steed emitted a powerful wave of healing energy that washed over him, naturally, and even reached as far as Tristan. It wasn't really apparent that the other human needed support, not at that moment, but if the youth had taken a hit or two, that'd help him out. All that remained for Akira was the zombie-fairy. And figuring out who the hell it was that shouted and attracted the monsters. . .

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan waited a second for a reply before hearing something completely unusual: a person actively calling for the creatures. Well, this is an odd pairing. Someone who tries to hide and gain the advantage, someone who tries to attract the creatures, and someone who knows that it won't matter ether way, he thought to himself with a smile. And, sure enough, creatures started coming after them. The person Tristan first approached, a boy who introduced himself as Akira and would be memorable for his eyes, quickly rose to the challenge and dispatched one of the fairy-things and an elf. Sadly, the elf brought back the fairy as it died, leaving another, albeit weakened, enemy to contend with.

Tristan summoned Odysseus, shooting a ball of darkness at the undead fairy before it had a chance to attack Akira. Summoning Odysseus again, Tristan turned to the other elf and, on whim, set it ablaze. The elf shrieked in agony, graciously providing Tristan with information about its weakness/ "Akira," the young man said to his companion. "I'll get these last two. Do me a favor and find the guy who was calling them, and shut him up before more come."

Tristan, not paying enough attention to see if Akira obliged or not, watched as the fairy healed the elf. The fairy can heal, the boy thought to himself, but the elf can revive. It would probably be best to take it out before the fairy. Decided on a course of action, Tristan had Odysseus speed him up just in time to dodge a blast of wind from the elf. He responded with another blast of fire, which killed the elf. He then turned to the fairy, which attacked him with a strong bolt of lightning.

He recovered quickly, and summoned Odysseus to attack with another blast of fire, which the fairy also seemed to be weak to. It attacked with a bolt of lightning again, only this time Tristan dodged. He summoned Odysseus again, this time to slash down with his sword, cleaving the fairy in two.