The Meeting [Open to All]

[Luka Kurokawa]

Luka paced back and forth within the room that they had reserved for this important occasion. She glanced at the clock every so often, then to the large table that was set up by the restaurant. A sizable amount of food was piled up all around, ready for the people who would be showing up. At each chair was also a large binder filled with info about what seemed to be officially dubbed 'Shadows' and 'Demons.' It went into detail about the 'Dark Hour' and the portals that led to the 'Dark World.' Much of this information had been compiled from various other people she and Akira had spoken to while exploring. Though, a good chunk of the info seemed to be given by the Blonde Woman who ran a bounty shop. When she had visited, Luka had even gotten an 'Evoker' to use. If anything, she didn't really need it. But it was nice to have around. However, not only did she get an Evoker for herself, but for anyone who needed one that showed up today. After all, the blonde lady did say they were free.

The rest of the info listed what they knew about 'Personas' and 'Persona-Users.' It even listed a compendium of known skills Personas, and the enemies they had faced, had. It listed attributes, info about weaknesses, resistances, nullification of damage, and so forth. There was information on where to find the blonde lady, the services she offered, and any other info she gave. Finally, it had extensive warnings about what they suggested not doing. This included using their Persona in public, revealing information about this incident needlessly, and naturally, any repercussions that might result from abusing their power. Repercussions that may or may not be issued by other Users.

Surely, they had done enough preparation, right? She glanced over at Akira who helped her put this whole meeting together. The two of them put in the reservation for this room at this restaurant, ordered enough food for around twenty people, prepared binders full of information, and called everyone they were in contact with to meet them here for a large-scale meeting to discuss what was going on around here. Luka was wearing her casual attire that she wore when exploring. She felt a bit tacky wearing what her mom made her wear normally. The clothes stood out too much. Plus, she didn't need more people recognizing her.

She gazed at her phone once more. It was around the time that they asked everyone to show up. She didn't expect everyone to get here on time. Hell, she didn't get answers from some people. It worried her a bit over what may have happened to them, but she didn't dwell. Their meeting was about to begin in hopes of organizing their efforts towards the answers regarding what was going on around here. They should be showing up any minute. She spoke to the only other person in the room before helping herself to some chips. Might be good to get her fill of food now, just in case she had to do a lot of talking. Honestly, they had ordered food in the hopes that they could bring in more people to share their information. They already had a sizable amount of information, but what if they could gather more? Plus, they would be helping anyone who didn't really know much in the first place.

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[Lucretia Odovacar]

It was the afternoon, long past when any sane person should be sleeping.  Yet, Lucretia was sleeping soundly on the keyboard on the desk in her tree house.  She had spent the night compiling her notes, taking one last thorough examination of the four areas she knew of with the weakest creatures and was working her brain hard to find any connections she could.  It was extra important to her to be prepared for today because some users had scheduled a meeting to share everything they had discovered so far.  While her attempts to discuss this supernatural phenomenon with the other users hadn't gone well yet, she still wanted to be a part of this meeting, if only to get everyone in the right mindset.  The why or how wasn't important yet.  Those were both fairly abstract things, and they couldn't possibly be understood without understanding what was happening first.  Thus, finding the exact rules of this supernatural phenomenon was the most important thing right now.  What should be done after would be much more clear then.

Around three hours before the meeting, an alarm went off on her computer.  It jostled her awake; she was sure she would never get used to the sudden loud noise an alarm makes.  It took her a moment to shake her grogginess and realize what was going on, but once she did she started transferring all of her notes to her glasses computer.  Sadly, this had to be done manually, as scanned images of her notes would likely fill up the whole thing before she scanned them all.  It was a very small computer and was not meant for that amount, or that kind, of data.  It took her awhile to transcribe it all.  She was just thankful she could do it all in Italian rather than needing to figure out what to say in Japanese.  These were her notes, she could translate them for everyone else once she got there.  It's not like anyone would ever see this text.

Lucretia wanted to look decent, but she didn't feel the need to look perfect.  She just ran a brush through her hair real quick and tied it into a loose ponytail with a bit of rubber coated wire she had laying around.  She just decided to keep the clothes she typically used for exploration on rather than changing.  They consisted of some khaki pants with extra pockets roughly sewn onto them, and a basic black turtleneck.  It was a little hot for this weather, but that was fine by her.  She preferred being a little warm.  She only got a few hours of sleep, so there would be some dark rings around her eyes, but that was fairly normal.  Everyone had seen her like that by now, so she didn't feel the need to worry about it.

It didn't take long for her to find the place.  All she had to do was look for Luka really and then follow that beacon.  The place looked nice enough, nicer than she was expecting even.  Was this being funded by an adult?  It seemed odd that a person her age could afford an all you can eat buffet like this.  She grabbed a few veggies (with no seasoning) and started nibbling on that.  She was a little hungry, but if she ate too fast she'd just look weird.  There weren't many people here yet, not that she minded.  It gave her a chance to pick a seat in the shade, out of the way of the windows, and to organize her notes.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan opened the door to the meeting room and immediately checked for familiar faces. He started to smile slightly when he saw the blue-haired girl, the healer, and the Italian girl. I'm in the right place, that's for sure, he thought to himself. He then noticed the food. His mouth started watering at the sight, but he begrudgingly looked away. It would be rude to start eating before everyone made it to the party, and it was quite obvious that not everyone was there yet.

He had decided that, while over-dressing was an issue he wouldn't need to be concerned with, under-dressing might be. As such, he decided to add a light jacket to his normal ensemble of jeans and a tee. He knew he still might stick out like a sore thumb, but he hoped it would be a touch less likely. When he arrived, though, he saw that he had worried for nothing. Apparently, the theme was to simply come in what one wore to explore. As he stepped inside, he let loose a quiet sigh of relief.

He went over to the blue haired girl, who was the closer one of the two hosts. He gave a slight bow. "It's a pleasure to be here," he said. "And its good to see you in better circumstances than last time." He then went over to the healer boy and repeated his actions. Then, convinced he had shown the proper etiquette, he went over and sat in one of the corners by the windows, that way he could keep an eye out for whoever was showing up and so he could see the entire room.

[Elizabeth Jemm]

Eliza was feeling slightly nervous. A meeting with all of the people who had Persona. Or, at least, they were all invited. As she came to the door, she was astonished by how quiet it seemed. Of the three reasons she thought of for it being so deathly quiet, none of them really appealed to her. First, she could just be early. Not so bad, but it makes a person seem desperate. Secondly, she could be the subject of a prank. That would be horrible, but not really unexpected. After all, she didn't have any friends. Besides, there seemed to be just as many kids as adults. Eliza wouldn't put it past them to try something like that. However, there was a third option. The group could all be in there, but they could just be the really dark, grim sort of people who don't know how to look on the bright side of things.

With a deep breath, she opened the door. She saw that the closest option was probably the first- there were only a few people there. She started to smile but stopped herself. She wasn't told if this meeting was about something good, bad, or simple information. Instead, she gave a small wave. The only person she recognized was the Italian girl, but she hoped that she wouldn't be the only one by the end of the meeting.

She moved over towards the back of the room and sat down. She wasn't interested in the food as much as figuring out as much as she could, as well as finding out who would make for a valuable ally.

[Ariane Ivers]

When Ariane had gotten the text from Akira, she didn’t know what to expect. The idea of being able to get more answers sounded wonderful, on one hand. On the other, who knew how many other people would be there. Fighting alongside a bunch of people was one thing. Usually, you were all more concerned with not dying to pay much attention to anyone else. In a social setting things were much different. While she wanted more people to be there so she could possibly learn that much more, Anne was definitely dreading it.

Still, it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to growing up. As annoying as it may be, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. After all, with some of the creatures she had just fought, this should be child’s play.

The redhead didn’t get much sleep nowadays, and considering she usually woke up early anyway she had been up hours before they were supposed to meet. As anxious as she was, by the time it was actually time to leave her loft was spotless, the ferret’s fed and their cage clean. Looking at the clock, she sighed. If she left now, she would still probably be pretty early. She didn’t want to be the first one there, but as long as she was somewhere in the middle of the group she’d be happy with that. After gathering everything she had; notebooks, evoker, terribly goofy doodles of the creature’s shes fought; anything that might seem useful to the group, she headed out the door.

Mostly dressed as she usually did, Ariane at least opted to wear somewhat fun clothing. You know, since she hopefully wouldn’t have to worry about any monster attacks ruining a perfectly good shirt. Her hair was done up in it’s usual complicated braids; her T-shirt was black and pictured cartoon ferrets sleeping in different, progressively sillier, positions; and she was wearing a usual pair of blue jeans and her heavy brown boots. Her outfits were usually pretty much the same, and today’s was no exception. She was pretty sure it wasn’t expected to be a black tie affair, anyway.

Once she finally arrived where she was told to meet them, Anne was surprised to see the small group that had gathered already. Akira was there of course, along with the swordswoman she had met before, Lucretia, Tristan, and the other healer from before. She was impressed with the fact that she at least vaguely knew the ones who were there. What was also impressive was all the food they managed to gather for all of them. Sure it meant that there should indeed be quite the group, but at least they were feeding her.

Waving to the group, she grinned. “Hey, nice to see you guys while we’re not fighting for our lives. How’ve you all been?” As she spoke, Anne worked her way to a slightly out of the way seat that put her back to the wall and took it. She didn’t grab any food, not yet. There would be time to do that later.

[Akira Nakajima]

To say that funding for a room reservation and orders of food was a bit much for Akira was not too far from the truth. If you were being misled, at least. Honestly, the arrangements were child's play. He didn't even abuse his power to arrange it. Honestly, his colleague- dare he call her “partner” outside of the idoling business?- didn't even need to chip in, but the less attention he drew to himself, the better. The expenses? Not even a stick of gum, after he up-traded for a few days. He'd have to be careful about how much he did that was related to expenses, though. He didn't need anybody bothering him about his means. Least of all Luka.

The young man was dressed casually, yes, but his casual was also “good”. Black jeans with minimal signs of wear and tear, white button-up dress shirt, and leather jacket, half-zipped, composed his primary attire. Accessories included his boots, which fed into his pants legs, and a pocket watch. The prior was a pair of black, general wear boots. They had built-in ankle protection, and were designed for comfortable wear as well as running in various “mild” terrain. The watch wasn't actually out, but it had, on occasion, popped out when a quick time-check was in order. It looked ornate, but it was really just an old-cheapy. It was a gift he had received, though, so he had no qualms with keeping it on him and using it. It just rarely saw use during “those times”.

They- being he and Luka- had prepared binders filled with what information they had personally verified, ranging from civilians, to Users, to enemies and their respective “habitats”. While it was far from a comprehensive report, it was definitely better than nothing. After the battle with the ogre- which was a bitch, by the way- it was definitely a good idea to try to spread out the information as much as possible. Luka commented on the time before munching on things. Akira only nodded after checking that pocket watch. He had not touched the food ordered yet. Honestly, he didn't really plan to outside of socializing's sake. His diet was especially sensitive.

And then people finally began to flow in. Not all at once, mind, but more a trickle. Like someone had left the faucet on slightly when rushing out of the bathroom. First was the scanner he had fought alongside- if it could be called that, considering his timing- with that other young man. Next was Tristan, who had fought with him against the fairy beings, then later on against the ogre and trolls. He bowed in response, returning the sentiments with a smile and a slight chuckle. One had opted to nibble, much like a rabbit. The other opted to ignore food altogether. Perhaps the food was simply going to end up a waste, for the most part? Well, he'd find a use for it later, if so. Then the first unknown appeared. Whether it was Luka's or one of the other's acquaintances was beyond him. He offered a similar wave in response before gradually shifting towards a chair. And, finally, Anne appeared.

”Perfectly fine without strange things trying to hit me with hammers.” Akira responded with a pleasant smile before relaxing in a chair. While they were likely to get others, he believed that it would be fine to go ahead and start. They had no guarantee that others would come in a reasonable time. Keeping that, and the others' schedules in mind, the youth opted to get the show on the road. Worst-case, he'd just have to reintroduce himself if others appeared later. For the most part, he doubted anybody had information he and Luka had failed to compile already, so the binders would have served plenty as a “speed-up” course. In the event that new, unknown information had appeared, then they could create a revised report with that information.

”Well, I hope others will show up, given time, but I think it would be a good idea to start our little meeting. We can always take some time to speed the others up, if need be. In any case, let's give a short round of introductions. On my part, it's pleasure to meet those of you I haven't had the chance to speak with before. My name is Nakajima Akira. I'm a student in high school and, more recently, a “healer” during these events that have been going on. My primary hobby is reading. I'll be in your care.” He lightly bowed in his seat before gesturing towards Luka.

[Yuuki Honda]

It's been more than several weeks since he had been to a dinner that he himself did not put on last. Yuuki resolved to make himself look as good as he could be, rummaging through his wardrobe for a good tux or something. But, all of them either looked too fancy to bring to a party or they were worn during one of his concerts. Yes, he bought his own suits for performances, not wanting to appear as though he didn't take the art seriously by wearing those gaudy outfits they would provide him with. Said gaudy outfits were shoved into one of the lower drawers, so he'd never see them again.

"Eeeh." Making these sorts of decisions were hard, but he sucked it up and picked up a hanger. Upon putting all of the pieces together, he'd be dressed in a simple tuxedo sans a tie or a bow. The coat was left open, however, to keep a certain degree of easiness. It still looked too fancy, and who was he even trying to impress? An alarm rang behind him. It was too late to change into something less formal no matter how adept he was at changing his clothes.

Once he reached the location, he checked his phone. Unbelievable; he was running late. A closed fist bonked on his forehead twice, ashamed of this offense of his. Punctuality was a necessity with these sorts of engagements. The door opened again, the black-and-white suited young man emerging from it like that awkward penguin from one of those images with the letters. Everyone dressed so much less than he did, and he blushed in his embarrassment.

He wandered into a seat and looked around. He recognized a few of the faces here, but there were some fresh, new ones. Using his left hand, Yuuki stripped from his suit jacket, left his seat, and came back with a plate full of food. It would be rude to refuse. He would make a few quick glances between Luka and Akira, squinting and pushing his glasses up as if he was about to say something. The two looked... familiar? He didn't know why he'd think that, but the former pianist shrugged and stared back down at the plate full of food.

"You know, it is good that we're assembling like how we are. This whole thing we've been thrown into seems like a teamwork sort of thing." The obvious statement was presented, and he shut his mouth to listen to the others. Introductions were introduced, beginning with the Nakajima girl, immediately after he re-seated himself. Sucks to be late, otherwise he would have had time to socialize more. This crowd seemed an interesting one, and it's pretty cool that everyone looked around his age.

Yuuki winced in pain as he had another one of those moments where he'd suddenly be in pain. But, he was so used to such happening during this time of the day that he followed it with a smile while he rubbed at his right hand under the table. Then, though maybe a little more visibly, he popped open an orange container and put upon the palm of his hand a pill. He slid it down his mouth and gulped up half of his water glass.

[Lucretia Odovacar]

"I am Lu--Odovacar Lucretia.  My magic mostly does information gathering, but it is also okay at healing.  It is able to find enemy abilities, including their strengths, weaknesses and magic, as well as find people I have scanned before easily.  I am a high school student.  I am good with computers and machines.  I can take apart and figure out how most work."

For once she spoke out loud to the other users.  It almost felt weird.  Lucretia was interested to see what everyone could do.  Not with their persona, she already knew what most of them were capable of there, but their non-magical skills.  It was important to figure out exactly how everyone fit together, and not just for combat.

She continued nibbling on her veggies and looking around the area.  There were less people than she was expecting here.  She was pretty sure there were at least half a dozen more users out there.  It'd be a shame if they didn't show up.  As she scanned the area, she noticed something odd, and was honestly ashamed of herself for not seeing all of them sooner.  There were a lot of guns on the table.  Weren't they illegal in Japan?  She didn't really care that they were illegal, it would actually be very useful to have them, but it seemed risky to have so many.  And to leave them out in the open like that.

"Why are there guns here?  Is it okay to have that many in plain sight?"

[Luka Kurokawa]

Slowly, people began trickling into the room. Luka could recognized all of them except the pink-haired girl and the boy who seemed much too overdressed for the occasion. Suddenly, she was a bit less worried about wearing the clothes her mother usually got for her. Even so, she'd still opt to wear her battle attire. As far as the new people went, she figured they were people Akira had met. That, or people Ru- the scanner girl found. Either way, people were piling in. The number of people that managed to attend wasn't exactly what she was hoping for, be she imagined some people might be coming later. Either way, she greeted everyone as they came. In the mean time, she began filling her plate with food. It would seem they wouldn't have a shortage after all. She wouldn't be eating too much, if only to maintain her diet though.

In the meantime, Akira began to speak now that they had a decent amount of people. It was probably better to start now rather than to have everyone wait. He gave a simple introduction before passing it off to her. Likewise, my name is Luka. My persona doesn't have any offensive or support abilities, so I rely on weapons. I like to practice swordplay in my free time. She opted to not mention the part about singing and dancing, or being an idol for that matter. She kept her whole introduction short, if only to keep it moving. Though, she would be explaining a few things of her own and answering questions if she could. One such question had already been presented in regards to the guns that were on the table. Luka figured this question would come up relatively quickly.

These are evokers. I'm not sure who made them, but the blonde woman that we detailed in this binder hands them out for free. As such, we took the liberty of taking a few to give to you all. Naturally, we also put directions of where to find her during the Dark Hour. They can be used to summon your persona like normal. Apparently some people had problems summoning them the normal way, so this is an alternative. Likewise, they can simply be used as a cosmetic option. As for how they work. . . Placing the evoker to her temple, Luka pulled the trigger. With a strange crackle, her persona Ame no Uzume appeared. It faded almost immediately after, as it actually had no abilities to use. Anything like that should work, so long as you aim at the head. Suffice to say, they weren't guns, nor were they illegal. Well, Luka didn't think they were, anyway. Like I said, you're all free to take one if you want. Are there any other questions regarding what's in the binders or otherwise? She said that as she grabbed some more potato chips. They would keep this meeting rolling as needed.

[Takumi Fujioka]

Takumi certainly wasn't expecting to get dragged into this incident so soon. But that seemed to be exactly what was about to happen today. The young man was just eating his usual dinner, convenience store ramen, while walking down the road. He seemed like he was in a bad mood judging by his expression, but that's simply how it was by default. He was just heading home to do whatever it was he needed to. He honestly couldn't remember, nor did he care. Naturally, he didn't feel like lingering past twelve, else he'd need to walk through those creatures again. What a pain. If anything, it was an extra hour of sleep to him. Which was good, considering how tired he had been lately.

It was while he was walking and eating that he spotted something in front of him. A young girl with some strange creature with her. Honestly, it reminded him of those creatures during the night. Maybe more of something made by Lovecraft? It was a bit of a horrific sight, quite honestly. Takumi simply kept walking while eating his dinner, up until she passed him. He was pretty good at keeping a straight face, not that he needed to try that hard. At which point, the young man hesitated. He was left with two options over where to go. He could either continue home and pretend he never saw that, or he could pursue this girl to see what he could find out. There was no way this girl wasn't involved in this incident somehow. If anything, Takumi had no clue if he could even trust that person. For all he knew, they could be participating in some sort of death game where you have to kill the other people with their own special creatures. It took the boy a minute, but in the end, he tossed out his empty ramen cup and followed the girl to wherever she may be going.

He had questions that he could hopefully get answers to without any confrontation. Eventually, his tailing led to a simple restaurant where she entered into a reserved room. Trying his best to not look suspicious, he peered into the room. Naturally, he'd be avoiding sight from everybody in the room. There only seemed to be two other people in there right now, but there was something odd. Why were there guns? What were those binders for? Bringing some distance between him and the door to avoid suspicion, the boy stopped and pondered. There were a few possibilities. The kids all seemed to be younger than him, but why did they have guns? He ruled out the Yakuza or some other underground crime syndicate as a possibility; for now. Could they all have this strange power? As he thought that, even more people came in, and were greeted. Like the ones in the room, they were young looking. What was the likelihood of them all being classmates? No, there was still some visible age difference in those who were showing up. Still, why the guns and binders?

Remaining inconspicuous outside the room, Takumi began to listen as the boy who was in the room before began to speak. . . . Healer? Strange things? Well, he could already rule out them being familiar with each other going by his words. In fact, this seemed to be some sort of meeting organized with the purpose of gathering or relaying information. So, these people didn't know much about the situation either? By this point, the man had little doubt that this meeting was in regards to the happenings of the 25th hour. Luckily, he managed to pick up on a few facts listening on this. The supposed hosts didn't actually meet all of these people. If anything, it seems like the two of them each invited people they knew. Takumi certainly wasn't invited, but then again, that didn't stop him once he realized what he could get away with.

Yo. I made it. He spoke in such a natural straightforward manner before sitting down in a chair and gathering a huge plate of food. Naturally, he began helping himself. He hadn't had real food in such a long time. All the food he had usually was convenience store noodles. As he ate though, he listened while pondering what he had seen. That girl shot herself in the head to produce her own persona? More importantly, why were all these people getting nice looking ones!? His eye twitched slightly as he considered his Slime. While eating, he pocketed the 'evoker' for himself and began reading everything in the binder at an astounding speed. Fumu. This certainly explained a lot of things. So, there was this much information already found? He probably would know all of this already if he bothered exploring. But something was still worrying him. Everyone had different abilities, but why could he suddenly not attack anything? Even these people who focused as healers could still harm the enemies. What a pain. Though, the bright side was that 'growth' was possible. Growth, being stronger skills and so forth. Interesting. He could probably stick around a little longer before anyone actually realized that he wasn't actually invited by anyone. More importantly. . . he needed to eat at much of this food as he could and hopefully save some of it for later. While he did that, he could listen in on the information these kids found. This was much easier than doing it himself.

[Mitsuki]

It took a while for Mitsuki to decide whether she should go here or not. At first that was because she didn't know any of these people. But then again, this was most likely connected to the recent disappearances that were happening around Tokyo. So eventually she decided to go, and she wouldn't have to cook and get food for one day, so that was nice bonus. She was on time, but didn't had a lot of time left. She wore normal clothing, not her uniform and not some kind of bad clothes she used for fighting. A decent black skirt that went down till just bellow her knees and a lose white shirt with a black vest over. Her handgun was still in a holder at her belt, maybe a fight could break lose. With these guys, or whatever they were involved with you could never know. 

She listened for most part of the meeting at first. Not saying a lot. There were some people she knew, but she didn't knew the name of anyone. Most of them seemed to be younger than she was, like they still were in high school. Everyone from the ogre fight was here. Mitsuki was really worried over the guns the highschoolers had with them. In a land like this with it's heavy weapon restrictions it was a wonder anyone even had one unless it was like a job for hers. She really wanted to ask where they got all those guns. If these were illegal she would have now choice but to confiscate them all. Which she really didn't wanted to do since these guys could also do a lot of good with them. So she gave them the benefit of doubt and at least give them a chance to explain. 

one of the girls demonstrated how to use the guns. Basically a way to use their persona in case it didn't work like it normally should. "I see, and these evokers can't be used like a normal gun, can't they?" She asked the girl that explained how they worked. She probably wasn't going to take one. Can't afford to mix them up and using her accidentally mistake her evoker for her real gun.

[Ariane Ivers]

“See?” Ariane started with a chuckle, “Sometimes that’s about all you can hope for in a day.” While she settled in, even more people began to arrive. It looked like it certainly would be a full party. A couple more mildly familiar faces, and one she had never seen before. That was to be expected though, after all. They had already gone over the fact that there were quite a few users, and there was no way she had seen them all already. The one she had seen in the fight against the Dino seemed to have dressed up much more than any of them, although considering her silly clothing it wasn’t hard to do in her case. Otherwise, it seemed everyone else just dressed casually too. Hey, maybe that was casual for him. She wasn’t going to judge.

Either way, introductions went around and Anne patiently waited her turn. Once it finally got to her, she raised a hand and casually waved it in greeting. “Hey, nice to see there’s a good group of us crazies involved in all of this. I’m Ivers Ariane, and I specialize in… well, putting out damage, I guess. My persona can increase my agility pretty handily, and I think it works to use on others too. I just haven’t had the chance to test it. Other than that, while not always reliable, my luck has gotten me through my fair share of tough situations. Outside of this mess, I work at a greenhouse, and am sort of a ‘Jill of all trades’ when it comes to hobbies.”

After her introduction was done, the inevitable ‘what were those things’ question was prompted towards the Evokers on the table. It seemed as though they had managed to coerce the woman she met before into giving them quite a few, which could prove useful. While the blue-haired girl explained what they were used for, Anne quietly used the opportunity to get a plate of her own food. She knew what the Evoker was for, after all. May as well take the chance to get some of the food everyone else was gladly taking advantage of.

Once her plate was filled, she retook her seat and took a bite of it. When the woman that was there during the Ogre battle spoke, Anne shook her head. “Nope, thank goodness. Trust me, I made sure of that well before I started using one myself. I can’t do much fighting against those things if I go and off myself, after all.” Going silent, she sheepishly looked back to the girl seemingly running the show. She didn’t mind giving her input, but she felt a little bad for possibly interrupting their conversation too. Sometimes the words just came out before she shut herself up.  Still, for some reason however that girl was looking at the guns bothered her.  Anne couldn't help but scrunch her nose a little; it was as though the blonde was looking at them like a disappointed parent.  She had seen her use a gun herself in that fight, who was she to judge?  Besides, considering they were literally fighting monsters that were trying to kill them, she was pretty sure being annoyed by guns was the least of their problems.

[Kate Minola]

Kate had a day off from the library and instead of staying home and just playing video games or vegging out in front of the TV, she'd gone to the archery range to practice. While most such establishments in Tokyo dealt with the Japanese art of kyudo, the one she applied to had a relaxed owner who had no problem letting her use a small portion of the range to practice western archery when there wasn't much of a crowd.

Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. Things she thought she'd forgotten and tricks that were vague memories came back to her after a few shots. Her accuracy had gone down a bit over the years but by the end of today's session she was consistently hitting the center of her targets in clusters. She had to work on her hand speed. There was a time when she could fire about seven arrows in under a minute. She had to get back to that level.

Her phone suddenly buzzed in her back pocket and sheepishly she retrieved it, shifting the weight of her practice bag to her other shoulder. She had a little trouble reading the japanese text but she got that it was Anne, the girl she had met the other night; she was texting Kate about a meeting of other Persona-Users in Tokyo and suggesting it would be good if she attended.

Kate had to agree. It would indeed be prudent to meet with other... would someone call them fortunate or unfortunate? On one hand, they were granted these strange powers. On the other hand though, they could all easily get friggin' killed because of these. Anyway, it would be wise to meet with these other people and see whether she could be of any use and exchange whatever knowledge there could be had. She didn't have much in way of info except perhaps some half-baked theories but then again, theories are a good starting point and the entire purpose of theories is to get reshaped or dismissed as information comes in.

She turned around and headed the other way, consulting her phone's blessed GPS to guide her to the restaurant this meeting was to take place. When she got there, she was a little intimidated; the place looked rather nice and she was in casual (if always stylish) dress and carried a lumpy bag containing a bow, arrows and training equipment. But she bravely went in and inquired about a meeting, and was helpfully pointed to a certain section. She saw them and immediately knew this was the right place. Somehow everyone just looked the part of a rag-tag team of people who were thrust into a situation like this.

Taking a deep breath to digest those butterflies, she bravely walked up to them and nodded to Anne in greeting. Ah, she saw some other familiar faces.

"Hello everyone," she said, painfully aware how accented and sometimes choppy her Japanese was. "I'm Kate Minola. I would say I'm happy to see there are others like me but seeing as what our situation is like and how we could easily get killed, I'm not certain that is correct. But I am glad I am not alone, I guess."

She was a bit concerned to see that so many of them were kids but then again, that's how life felt like doing things. You just had to roll with the punches. She grabbed a plate, put some finger food on it and took a seat with her training bag well under the table to not bother anyone.

"I haven't been doing this for very long," she said and eyeballed the folder, which she picked up with interest. "But from what I can see here, what I've experienced lines up with you info," she carried on, flipping through it. "I haven't quite discerned yet what my 'specialty' is or the full extent of my... Persona's abilities. But as she carries a shield almost as big as herself I suspect her to be a defensive entity, but she can still deliver considerable hits. Me, I've got training in archery. I just need to find some better equipment."

She made a point not to talk about the guns on the table. She had seen Anne use one of them and they appeared to be what summoned her Persona. Kate had no use for it, her Persona came with a... magical card that brought her forth at a mere touch. With that, she put the binder down and looked around, taking in the appearance of the other people present and waiting for any questions anyone had for her.

[Lucretia Odovacar]

Strange blonde woman?  Lucretia raised her eyebrows, and quietly grabbed a binder.  Her eyebrows stayed up and her expression somehow got flatter as she read.  So this woman wanted to help them, but wouldn't tell them anything and would just act like a coy asshole at every chance?  She sounded like she would be of dubious use; probably not useless, but not someone that could be relied on.  Great.  It made sense that Lucretia never found her though.  She planned her excursions into the other worlds thoroughly, so there was never any need for a...magic train.  Well, at least she could understand why she was simply called a strange person.

Once she finished reading about this strange woman, she put the binders back in their place and pushed up her glasses.  She still wasn't quite sure how to feel about all this.  The strange woman did give them a gift though: a device that could summon personas out of someone.  Lucretia was a little better with electrical equipment, but the inner workings of non-electric devices were not outside her expertise.  If there was enough for everyone to have one, and if some people already had one, then there was no shame in taking one to tinker with right?  Lucretia grabbed one of the many not-guns, pulled out her small toolkit from one of her many pockets and started dismantling it.  She was very interested in seeing what was inside of it.

A few more people showed up, a couple of which she didn't recognize.  Lucretia scanned the ones she met before.  There was no harm in summoning her persona in the normal world because everyone that could see it wouldn't be freaked out by it, so she had long since stopped worrying about that.  Beyond that though, she just listened.  It looked like there was a wide variety of skills here.  That was good to hear.  It was becoming difficult for her to figure out anything herself, so some help would be great. 

Lucretia was a little bit preoccupied with her new toy, so she didn't speak.  This was just too interesting to not focus on.

[Tristan Carter]

Tristan had been paying attention, but he was more focused on the people arriving than anything. He recognized the majority of the people who had arrived. However, there were a few people who he didn't know. For instance, the pink-haired girl and the guy who announced his arrival. Tristan found the announcement suspicious, but he supposed it was nothing too serious. After all, maybe the guy was just an attention hound.

The young man stood up and went to get some food. After all, everyone else seemed to be digging in. He got a moderately sized plate before turning to the hosts. "Thank you for the information and the option for summoning my Persona," he said with a smile. He went to go sit down, but stopped and turned towards the others in the room. "Oh, by the way, I'm Tristan. My Persona, Odysseus, has access to multiple types of magic. Most of it is damage-based. As for me, I'm a third-year in high school, I can cook fairly well, and I like taking walks."

He then proceeded to his seat. He decided that his best course of action would be to keep an eye on everyone. Lucretia seemed focused on dismantling the evoker, everyone else was slowly introducing themselves, and there seemed to be new arrivals every moment. Tristan knew he had no chance of remembering everyone's name, but he could at least learn their faces and voices.