Training Exercise #1

[harmonizenpc]

Who: Persona-users, ensemble NPC cast
Where: The lab, ???
When: Monday, April 24th, "critical thinking" class time.
What: Trying out the headgods.

Class today was, it seemed, going to be a little different.

Yachiyo had finally replaced Suwa, for one, but more importantly, she'd ushered the lot of them to the lab: "Today will be your first training exercise" was the only information she'd offered, providing little detail beyond making sure everyone had their Evokers.

The whole group was there today, aside from Sekimiya and the medical trainees, but it was the military pair who'd mostly stood by during the Awakening who took center stage today. Their dress blues had been replaced with what appeared to be some sort of full-coverage body armor. The woman's even included a helmet, albeit a peculiar-looking metal one whose visor was currently up, revealing her grinning face. The man wore a strange, bulky device on his right arm, trailing wires that ran up to a pair of goggles currently perched on his forehead.

Both had rifles slung across their backs, and what appeared to be blades--no Evokers these, but honest-to-goodness live steel--at their hips.

"Looks like we're finally getting introduced!" The woman seemed remarkably cheerful, considering what they were about to likely be doing, but she watched them all with eyes as sharp as a hawk's. "I'm Corporal Komatani Konoe, and this is Major Araragi Mitsurou. We'll be in charge of the practical side of your training."

The man--Araragi--inclined his head politely. "I look forward to working with you all."

Comments

[allisnothing]

Haruka heard the soldiers disappear through and then, after a while, someone else without a word.

She stood there a bit longer, head subtly turned in Hazama's direction, listening a bit longer. She took out her phone and quickly tapped out a text and promptly sent.

And then she felt ahead with her cane as she followed after.

[burningbow]

There definitely seemed to be something interesting with the whole premise that caught Mirai's attention - so he was following behind Komatani, staring at her demonica suit. There were also the weapons. He tried standing behind as many of the people as possible as he felt safer at the rear.

He wondered if those weapons were going to be used, although they would almost certainly would be. Quietly he had watched the shadowy hologram in class and rested his chin on his hand, shrugging as it glared at him and ran. Then the hologram had vanished without a trace.

So they could move then, he thought, eyes still on the demonica suit. He did not particularly look like he wanted to be there, either.

[harmonizenpc]

What was there was almost certainly not what the group might have expected.

Now there was the vertigo, the sense of strangeness, the peculiar energy they'd felt before--less intensely unpleasant now, but still noticeable--but it was no world of warped colors that awaited them. A field of knee-high grass stretched out before them, the color too vivid a green to be anything familiar. Neither sun nor moon was in sight, and the sky was tinged with a red far different from any earthly sunset.

To the south, it began to thin out, and the gleam of what seemed like it could be water was faintly visible on the horizon. Not far to the north was a dirt path, meandering off to the northwest to some large structure, too distant to make out any detail.

There was some equipment already set up there, though nothing whose purpose could readily be divined, aside from a number of shadow-shaped wooden targets scattered about.

Komatani greeted them cheerily, taking in the whole thing with a broad sweep of her arm. "Welcome to your training grounds," she said, her voice plenty audible but oddly hollow through the helmet.

[burningbow]

Mirai took the time to orient himself and stooped down to pluck a handful of grass. That funny feeling - the sickness - wasn't so bad when he forced himself to focus away from it. A glimpse of the red sky almost brought it back till he told himself it was like looking at the heavens.

They were a splendid place, rather filled with self-important gods who needed knocking down a peg or two. He wanted to bring them down from there on to the earth.

So he stood observantly and rolled the blades between his fingertips, acutely observant of what was happening around him.

[rulebook]

Ryuta followed along obediently with the rest of the group. Stepping through the strange dimensional door without hesitation, he braced himself for whatever they had in store for today's lesson. That odd sensation from before returned once more after stepping through, now easier to manage than before.

Whatever he was expecting, a field of grass was not it. He looked around the otherworldly plain in idle curiosity and minor shock to see such a quiet looking area in what he thought would be a hostile environment. Ryuta examined the terrain as he awaited further instruction.

[fassade]

They entered into a field, the unpleasant sensation from the awakening present all around them. It wasn't as bad as last time, however, and Chloe's jaw clenched in almost paranoia. She didn't trust the people in charge here, not one bit. A part of her irrationally and illogically thought that this just might be a trap, but she reminded herself that these people needed them. They wouldn't do anything like that until they were certain they were disposable... and she thought she might be able to figure out by then if it ever came to that.

The ridiculously tall girl carefully looked at Komatani, her expression both grim and guarded. It was quite obvious what this place was to be used for, so she waited for the Military types to instruct them further on what today's 'lesson' would be.

[harmonizenpc]

It seemed like everyone was in, so Komatani stepped up to start the instructions; such as they were.

"This is as safe a spot as you're going to find here. We've set up a perimeter to keep out the shadows, so all you need to worry about is not hitting each other with the shinmen."

She waved toward the array of targets, fairly well spread out to avoid that precise problem. "The guys in the lab coats tell me that once it's out, controlling it is just like moving a muscle. You'll know what it can do, now that you're gonna be more conscious for it."

She clapped her hands together, the sound resonating dully. "All right, get to it! I know you're tempted, but try not to hit anything but the targets, all right? Don't push yourselves, go at your own pace."

Horaoku had come in behind them, and was fiddling with the pile of mystery equipment with a practiced hand.

[allisnothing]

Haruka listened, but she seemed more interested in the atmosphere and area around them. She felt the grass at her knees and her head tilted upwards.

It didn't feel too bad, compared to the last time.

Haruka couldn't see the targets but she stepped forward. Might as well get it over with? And she hadn't gotten too much of a feel for Inugami before anyway.

She pulled out her sword but instead of jabbing it to her chest, she placed it to her wrist and sliced vertically.

Despite the assurance it hurt less as it went on, it still really hurt. She gripped her arm and cried out, her knees shaking a little but she didn't fall this time. Again, the words came on their own, as though some automatic instinct inside her was pulling it out, "Persona."

And in a blue light, Inugami appeared at her feet - her red eyes flashing at the adults briefly with displeasure as she let out a harsh growl. However, as Haruka belatedly remembered to use her cane to get her balance back, she almost felt like there was another limb she hadn't been aware of till now. But pulling on it came naturally-

-And she felt a warm, furry, reassuring body back up a little, catching her. Despite Inugami's growls and snarls, it whimpered and nuzzled against her. Haruka couldn't help but smile and reach forward to scratch her ears, which her Persona leaned into.

[burningbow]

Something stirred in the reaches beyond Mirai's mind.

There, beyond the conscious thoughts, waited a crimson snake, long and thin, lithe and hard, coiled and erect, and also extremely hungry. It had been quite some time since the time he had fed it last. It's tail vibrated and shook his thoughts all upside down, simply because he was uncomfortable; he was wanting to feed it all these people rather than accept their help instead.

So his eyes were turning to Horaoku-sensei quite slowly. Then he smiled quite nicely. A dangerous gleam came into his eyes, and he was flexing his hand. Clearly he intended to engorge himself at the other man's expense - for he was not so cruel that he couldn't feed it some more.

He coiled his fingers tighter around his Evoker and found himself getting to the unpleasant task of waking it up. Now the space behind his eyes began to fill, not with rising fear but unbridled rebelliousness. Then he was acting swiftly and thrusting the Evoker at his stomach, stabbing, cutting and sweating. He was struggling, but his Persona came, forcing its way into the world to circle its body around him tightly, like a ball puffed with air.

He had been keeping a wary eye on his handlers. Now he saw them in a different light, not in the figurative sense of the world but the literal. He stood in the middle of Varsavarti's coils and communed with it - which he felt was like being alone in the darkest woods at midnight.

Varsavarti was saying there was nothing remarkable about this man. And at that point he whistled to himself as he realised what he could do with this power.

"... Wow."

[suiseimushi]

For a few long moments, Kisa simply clutched the Evoker to her chest, feeling the beat of her heart faint against her knuckles, and the metal, warm from her body heat, in her hand. It was so hard -- the pain was far too fresh in her mind, and something inside her just locked up, fearing the feeling.

But she had a duty. And...

Her hand lowered, and the blade flashed to life. Before she could register what she was doing, before she could stop herself, she clutched the hilt with both hands, dropped to her knees, and plunged it in deep.

She gritted her teeth against the pain in her stomach and dancing behind her eyes, but feeling a faint breeze against her cheek, she looked up and her eyes met a golden glow.

Benzaiten.

It almost made the pain worth it; it was enough, at least, to coax out a faint smile.

Her hands were still clutched tight around the Evoker, but she could still move the apparition -- like moving a muscle, just like Komatani had said. With a thought she moved Benzaiten towards the nearest of the targets and --

Garu!

-- with a strum of the shinmen's lute, a swift wind picked up the flimsy wooden thing and tossed it a good several yards into the air.

[heirofkobe]

Taue had been quiet for most of the proceedings, a rarity for him, but this much, at least, he felt deserved some degree of seriousness.

Whatever his qualms about the motivations of this academy, this was combat -- something that would keep him safe, and so his usual aloof demeanor was replaced by something akin to quiet focus.

His Evoker was drawn, the light blade humming softly as he turned it against himself, stabbing the blade inward and then wincing at the side-slice needed to bring forth...

"George Washington."

The first President of the United States was there, in all of his glory, and Taue tried to concentrate, through the pain, guiding the honest surveyor towards the targets.

It took Taue a few minutes to come to grips with his skill set, instinctively realizing that there was only one thing he had that could actually hurt the target -- or anything, for that matter.

"Magna."

A stalagmite came forth from the ground, impaling the wooden target and shattering it into several pieces, as Taue looked on, suitably impressed.

[allisnothing]

Hearing the others summon their Persona and spells go flying, Haruka's head turned intently towards where they were aiming, Inugami's head following. She didn't know exactly where things were but at the same time, she could almost feel where it was.

Inugami, however, seemed to know exactly where things were. She stepped away as Haruka drew her hand back, and Haruka's eye lids fluttered as she absorbed that sense of 'feeling' through Inugami.

It felt like her mental map was filled in by things remotely. It was a strange feeling....not bad, just different.

She lifted her hand at one of those points.

Devour

Inugami blurred forward.

She barely touched the ground as she sped across the tall grass and around obstacles until she reached one of the wooden targets. She leapt and turned her head as she ripped it in half with her teeth with a solid CRUNCH.

[rulebook]

Seeing the others summon their individual Persona and demonstrating their abilities made Ryuta all the more excited to use his own. Carefully watching how the others used them, he felt he had a basic understanding of what to do next. He drew out his Evoker from his belt and activated it in one smooth motion. Now came the difficult part. The hurtle before the goal, as it were.

In one fell swoop, he sliced his left arm, the light blade passing through easily. The all too familiar pain rushed from his arm to his head, sending a wave of agony and power to his core. From the depths of his mind, he heard a voice. The voice pushed through his mind, demanding it's release, and forced it's way out of Ryuta's mouth. "Raguel!"

Blue light enveloped both Ryuta and the bronze, mechanical angel. It observed the area and the people before it, it's emotionless gaze finally falling on a target some distance away. Ryuta struggled at first, but regained his strength once more. Another word popped into his mind, less forceful this time. It felt more like a suggestion rather than a demand.

The word passed through his lips, commanding the angel to act out his will.

"Hama."

With a raise of it's hand, Raguel summoned a small circle of light around the target before it. The circle then shone with a brilliant light, completely erasing the wooden foe. Nothing remained after his assault as any sign of the target was completely destroyed.

[fassade]

She didn't want to do this. She would go so far as to say she reverse wanted to do this. The German watched as, one by one, her peers summoned their shinmen. She noted details about the ones that she hadn't seen before, so namely everyone's but Kisa's. Some of them seemed very fitting. Mirai's, for one. The fact that it was some sort of snake didn't surprise her. Haruka's as well wasn't too much of a surprise, hers being a canine form as well.

Chloe stood there and watched for a while, cursing the day that she had come to this godforsaken school. There really was no way of getting around it though, was there? There was no way out. With a grim and vaguely unsettled look, the tall girl brought the evoker to life. The heat came off it in small waves, just like last time. They said it got easier with time, right?

"Garmr."

After plunging the blade into her chest, she could confirm that it did not feel any easier. If anything, it felt worse. Everything was immediately on fire and she let out a small grunt that sounded somewhere between a wheeze and a sound of pain. The German fell to one knee as the ground opened up in front of her once more, the demonic form of her persona clawing his way to the surface. Once arrived, she noticed something she hadn't beforehand... the image of the bloodied beast flickered and wavered. Her connection to him felt weaker even... she couldn't quite explain it. Even so, she did her best to direct the beast to attack one of the targets.

"Cleave..."

She said, her voice coming out as a slight rasp. Garmr obeyed immediately, leaping at one of the targets and cleaving through it with the bone blades that jutted from the skull he wore like a helmet. As he circled back towards Chloe, the German reached out a hand to pet the beast and the image flickered more at her touch.

In her mind she heard a small whimper, and she understood it but at the same time was boggled by it. What was wrong...?