An Unexpected Nap [Marina]

[Shizuka Konaya]

Shizuka hadn't slept this good in a long time.  It was as though she was transported into a silent land, completely free of any distractions.  She had a vague sense of there being something wrong, but nothing was going to wake her up at this rate.  However, eventually the spell faded and she began to regain her senses.

Last she remembered she heard some noises outside, and went to investigate as usual.  She blinked groggily and started sitting up.  Her gun was a short distance away from her, which was unusual, and she couldn't hear any unusual noises anymore.  Shizuka rubbed her eyes; just what happened here?  She crawled over to her rifle, and picked it back up, and then began taking in the scene around her.

The moment she saw the other person everything clicked.  They were probably attacked, and one of them put her to sleep somehow.  If they could fling fireballs, then a sleeping spell didn't seem that out of the question.  She met the other person's eyes, and then her eyes widened as she started piecing together what probably happened.

"O-Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," she bowed her head.  "You just fought off whatever was here while I was sleeping didn't you?  I'm so sorry you had to do that and I was too busy being useless to help..."

[Marina Mikami]

Marina was currently looking at their surroundings, making sure no other shadows would take them by surprise. She wasn't sure how long the girl would be asleep for. It was kind of frightening to think that the shadows could do that, now that her adrenaline rush was over and she could actually start to process what had happened. If she hadn't been around...what would have happened to the poor girl? The thought sent a shiver down her spine. If sleep spells were possible, it was scary thinking about what else the shadows could be capable of.

After a few more minutes, she heard stirrings. She turned towards the girl and it looked like she was finally starting to wake up. Thank goodness. Marina let out another sigh of relief. The girl seemed like she was okay. After a moment or two of gathering her surroundings, the girl suddenly bowed and apologized to her. Marina gave her a soft smile. "It's alright. I'm just glad I was here to help you," she told her, trying to reassure her. "Everyone has moments of weakness. You just got unlucky today." Marina opened up her parasol and held it above herself, starting to twirl it absentmindedly. She felt much more relaxed, now that the girl was up and moving.

Realizing she hadn't introduced herself, she decided to do so. "I'm Marina Mikami. You can call me Rina or Rini if you like," she told the girl with a smile. Her expression then changed to one of concern. "Do you need help heading home? I wasn't sure if you lived nearby or not and didn't exactly want to leave you sleeping on the ground here by yourself." Hopefully, the girl wasn't too far away from home. Then again if she was out here with a rifle, she might have been able to take care of herself better than Marina thought.

[Shizuka Konaya]

"B-But what about you?  Are you alright?"

She seemed to be moving around fine at least, but it seemed unlikely that she got into a fight with those monsters and came out completely unscathed.  Those things generally took like four or five really good shots to kill (with few exceptions), so even if she was pretty good at fighting, they likely got some hits in.  She wasn't carrying any weapons either, didn't look well armored or anything like that.  The only thing she was carrying was a flimsy umbrella.

"O-Oh, I'm Shizuka Konaya," she said as s he pulled herself to her feet.  "It's nice to meet you!  I live um, just over there," she pointed at her front door.  "I just hear sounds outside, so I just head outside to fight off anything in the area.  I haven't strayed too far from my family's apartment."

[Marina Mikami]

Marina gave a reassuring smile as the girl showed concern for her. "Yes, I'm fine. I can heal myself. I took care of my injuries already," she explained to her. It was true for the most part. Her arm still hurt a bit, but nothing too serious. Nothing to worry the girl over or make her feel worse about not having been able to help. The girl introduced her self as Shizuka and she apparently only lived a few feet away. That was a relief at least. She hadn't been too far away from home. "It's nice to meet you too," she told her with a smile.

Apparently Shizuka only ventured out around her apartment, hearing noises outside. Quite brave of her really, especially since she seemed new to all of this. Newer than Marina herself at least. "You are lucky this area has weaker shadows. Other areas have more difficult foes than what appears here," she told the young girl. "You seem relatively new to all of this. Is that a fair guess?"

[Shizuka Konaya]

Shizuka tilted her head slightly at the idea of healing.  It took her a moment to realize exactly what she meant.  She meant the kind of healing that just made wounds disappear as though they were never there right?  Given how much magic was going around here, and the fact that the last person she ran into was able to use it, it seemed like the most likely explanation.  Shizuka's eyes widened, and a large grin appeared on her face.  She didn't forget about what just happened, she was just very interested in this magical phenomenon.

"So, you used magic right?  What'd it feel like?  How'd you do it?  Um..." she thought for a moment.  "I suppose all this is fairly new.  I think I've been coming outside for about...a week, and then just stayed inside for about a week before that."

[Marina Mikami]

At the mention of healing Shizuka's expression changed from apologetic to one of wonder. Marina didn't really blame her, after all who would have ever thought anything they were dealing with could ever be possible? From the sound of it Shizuka was relatively new to all this. Not that Marina had really been dealing with this for that long either. She nodded in acknowledgement of how long Shizuka had been dealing with shadows, lost in thought. Mostly due to curiosity of how long other people she had met had been using Personas. That was a question for another time.

It was then Marina realized Shizuka had asked her how she was able to heal. "Its hard to describe," she said after a moment. "Everyone I've encountered, including myself, uses something called a Persona to use their different abilities." She wasn't sure how to exactly describe what a Persona was. She was still confused as to why that name had popped into her head whenever she thought of Apsaras. "Here, I'll show you," she said after another moment or two, figuring it was the easiest way. She then summoned her persona, the blue woman appearing behind her. "Mine is called Apsaras. I can't exactly explain how I know....the name just kind of popped into my head when she first appeared," she explained. Or at least explained as best she could.