The Velvet Room.
Touma
looked as the light shone upon him as several cards mixed together. The Wild
Card managed to get a new Persona, as he finished the Devil’s social link with
that evil cat, he himself called Metsu because of how chaotic it was. He still
couldn’t believe he had to help him get a girlfriend. I know I don’t do drugs, but I was sure I got high with something with
that.
Now, he had
a new, shiny Persona, Mephistopheles, of the Devil Arcana. Touma was surprised
with how much of a stereotypical demon he looked like, but couldn’t complain.
He remembered how he discovered his first and favorite Persona,
Hermod. He remembered he was also behaving like an asshole those days.
Mirror World.
It was weird. First he
wanted to try out the new, open the mirror portal power he had, but forgot
several things.
One, the bokken he got
from a delinquent he unwittingly ticked off.
Two, he was still in
public, even if he was in an alley.
And three, the others
were still close. He planned on going home and give it a look. But he didn’t
count on him showing up.
“Hey!” Oh, yeah,
Tsubasa Akaba. Fun kid, a show off, but aside from being a bit annoying, Touma
didn’t have anything against him. Even if he more or less brushed him off
yesterday. But the boy helped him with the punks, so he should be thankful.
“Thanks for protecting
Maki, Kori” The musician said.
“It was nothing,
Akaba-kun, but I have to thank you for covering my back” Touma said with a
small smile. After the incident, he hadn’t been too friendly, but he genuinely
appreciated it.
“No problem, I am
awesome like that” Touma rolled his eyes at that, but put on a mirror on his
pocket. Touma walked away and decided to try and go home. But Tsubasa grabbed
his arm.
“Now, I got a lot of
questions to you. Where do you live? How long have you known Maki? What kinda
music do you like?” He asked with a smile.
“I live in the Kanzuki
departments, I know Maki since we were children, and I am more of a rocker,
happy?” Touma tried to get away, but Tsubasa still tried to talk to him.
“Yesh, could you be
colder, man?”
“Haven’t had easy
weeks lately, so please, don’t cause me trouble”
“Stop being such a
grump, man” Tsubasa laughed, but neither noticed that the mirror fell from Touma’s
pocket, a black figure was shown, and a portal started to open. Touma noticed,
that he and Tsubasa were distorting.
But it was too late.
“Akaba, leave!” Touma
said, but Tsubasa was distorting too, and couldn’t get away.
“What the hell?!” And
both disappeared. The mirror was all that was left.
The new world was… empty. It only had black
and purple as far as the eye could see, a black fog like thing was in the air
and made it hard to breathe, the floor made it seem like they were standing on
an abyss, and, all in all looked quite desolate.
Touma groaned, as he
got up. The landing hadn’t been good and he landed head first. Looking around,
he found his bokken, his backpack was still on his back and Tsubasa…
“Akaba!” Touma ran to
the other, sprawled out boy who was about as dizzy as himself.
“What happened?”
Tsubasa said, looking around, looking closer to snap on the second.
“Something opened a
portal to another world, which I planned to check out later, alone” That nearly
caused a heart attack on the other kid.
“What?!”
“I am planning to find
how to get out of here, but, please keep it together” Touma was trying to keep
it together, but it took Tsubasa had to take a couple minutes to do so. After
that, they started to walk. Touma proposed to search for an exit. They tried
their cell phones, but they blacked out, same with Tsubasa’s watch and music
player. That’s something they have to check later.
Unable to handle the
overwhelming silence, Tsubasa started to talk.
“So, how do you know
about this place?”
“I found I could open
a portal on the mirror yesterday. Planned on giving it a look, but it opened on
its own, and well…”
Tsubasa nodded.
“And
what do you like to do?” Touma decided to just keep talking, it got his head
out of this mess.
“Practicing kendo,
videogames, and music mainly, but I enjoy a quick read from time to time”
“It’s obvious you know
your way with the sword, and what kind?”
“Music, rock mostly,
the odd pop and techno as well”
“Same here, I want to
be a star someday, I want to hit it big” Tsubasa smiled, but Touma saw
something in his eyes.
“Good luck with that”
“So, why did you
move?” Touma tensed at that, but talked.
“Family reasons”
Tsubasa didn’t press, because the blunette might hit him if he did.
“How about you?”
“I like music, I play
several instruments, I dance and sing, besides archery and building models,
it’s relaxing, and always wanted to do parkour” Tsubasa’s smile seemed more
real. Genuinely loves music, but doubts his chances
to be a rockstar, or his own skills in general.
“Ya know, you aren’t
so bad once you lighten up”
“Hope so”
“So, it’s true that
you beat twenty yakuza last year without a scratch?” Touma rubbed his head at
that.
“That’s just gossip,
there were just five, I got a scratch and only later I knew they were Yakuza”
The next half an hour
was rather quiet, but the tension between the two disappeared.
Touma, however, noted
that Tsubasa was having issues breathing, and started looking sick. Touma
didn’t feel that good, but he was enduring better.
“We have to hurry, you
don’t look good”
Touma started hearing
some creepy noises, a strange hissing surrounded the boys, the healthier boy
grabbed the other and sprinted as fast as he could away from there.
“WHAT THE HELL!”
Tsubasa yelled.
“We gotta get outta
here” Touma whispered. He didn’t want to meet the local wildlife, whatever it
was.
Didn’t get too far
before running on a wall. Something that looked like a giant Viking drakkar
appeared in front of them, and both boys decided to go in as the noise became
louder.
“This is messed up”
Touma didn’t respond. The place looked way bigger than it should be, like it
was a manor or something like that, and aside from shields and other weapons
higher than they could possibly reach, it was rather barren.
The figures were
already on them, Touma could make out a vague bat shape, with fangs reminiscent
of a shark, with wings and its body had a prism form. Tsubasa was taking deep
breaths, trying to get ready to fight as Touma took a kendo stance. An
ear-piercing screech echoed through the ship, as the Flying fangs got close to
them, Tsubasa tried to kick one of the three beasts away, but was knocked away
by a wing strike, leaving the boy on the floor. Touma could barely block two
bites, but seemed to lose focus by the second.
I am thou… Thou art I
One of the Flying
Fangs went after Tsubasa, nearly sure spelling his doom, and Touma’s too. Both
boys will die and no one will ever find them.
No.
Something ignited in
Touma, as his courage appeared. He refused to die, he won’t die, not before he
found a way out of here and saw his family again. And there was no way in hell
he would let Akaba die either, not on his watch. With speed he didn’t know he
had on him, the blue haired boy was in front of Tsubasa.
From the sea of soul I cometh.
“Persona!” Touma’s
body was surrounded by a blue flame as it formed a mirror behind the boy, and
over the surprised magician. A figure started to form, a towering man, of about
7 feet tall floated behind Tsubasa, it had long, messy blonde hair, covering
one of its eyes, which were icy blue, and the only feature on its face. It was
wearing a dark blue/purple biker ensemble with a cape the same color, and gold
accents. To complete the image, it had a big, one edged sword. The world’s
pressure disappeared from Touma’s body, and he felt stronger than ever.
“I am Hermod of the
Star Arcana”
“No way” Tsubasa
muttered as the newly awakened Persona user started his beatdown.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, that was one awesome moment, of course, it
was ruined by Tsubasa’s shadow appearing. But he managed to win the fight, and
Tsubasa faced himself. It would have been better if it didn’t nail him in the
gut before, but beggars can’t be choosers.
“I want people to like me, yes, but that’s not
why I am a musician, I am one because I love it, and it’s true, I don’t know if
I have a shot at making it big, but I’m going to try with all I’ve got, only
that way I won’t regret anything, now, get up, if you are me, you know I won’t
take things lying down”
After that,
they met a very weak figure that called herself Hela, and claimed to rule over
the other world, but her powers were stolen. Obviously they didn’t take her
seriously, but she let them out of the world, so she wasn’t an average being. That
story ended up being true, and now she formed part of their little group, as
“Helen Hale”, even if her backstory was very shaky (Hana might have recourses,
but completely creating an entire life is very hard, not to mention teaching
her everything about the real world and basic math, English, science and
British History, as they had to make it as if she was a foreigner), and she
gained the power of a Persona, Hel, of the Death Arcana.
Now, he
felt like writing again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, at this point you would have awakened your
power and had your first encounter with the Shadows and you met your Persona.
You would notice two things, one is its rather strange (but vaguely human in
most of the cases) shape. And the other, its mythological name.
Now, similarly to Shadows, Personas (the power,
the term is Personae) have their origin on psychology, where it’s referred to
as "a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression
upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual”.
Essentially, it’s the you that everyone sees and you use to protect you from
others. As the cover on the shadow, what shows on both would most likely be
very different, but you got to find how to reconcile both sides of yourself, in
order to live happy and face the challenges ahead.
There may be several ways to get your powers.
Perhaps a shady supernatural guy will appear
in front of you (not Igor, he is shady, but not evil), and do something
seemingly harmless to you (a tap to the back, a handshake come to mind), you
could instantly reveal your power on a dangerous shadow attack, or someone could
invent a device that lets you summon them (a friend had that theory, but I’d
rather steer people away from that, if I learned something from movies is that there are things men shouldn’t play
with), or you had that power and somehow it activated. Never mind how you got
it, for from now on, they form a part of you, and can summon it at will, at
least in presence of Shadows (given the nature of the power, it could,
theoretically be summoned when faced with the supernatural, so let me know if
you could summon it if you were ever attacked by a vampire), but on other
circumstances, it will need something more to appear.
They are more often than not named after some
mythological creature like Pegasus , a god like Athena, a hero like Cu
Chulainn, even devils like Satan (hope no religious fanatic sees them, lest he
had a heart attack).
As the definition tells you, your Persona is,
basically, you, your other self, based on a myth that fits you (I am still
waiting for a Santa Claus Persona, but hope you have better luck, buddy). And
its powers will most likely fit both of you, such as a Zio using Raijin or an
Icy Poseidon (don’t complain, it is the closest thing there is to water).
Each persona is represented by Arcana, showing
what kind of role they had on their myths and the powers they had on occasions
(the mages go with the Magician, just an example).
And, yes, they look rather surreal and in many
cases unlike their original looks from the myths, but it’s part of you, so I
guess it’s a compromise and it’s better to just roll with it.
Now, I know it may come as something to worry
about, since as a Wild Card you can change your Persona at will, those changes
could cause an identity crisis, but remember, you are you, your values and priorities may have changed because
of your secret death-defying lifestyle, but the most important things are still
there.
Now, there are two (or three, depending on how
you look at it) types of Persona: Combat-Type, Scanner-Type and hybrids.
Combat type Persona are the most common, they
have the effect, as long as they are active of increasing your strength, speed
and endurance to superhuman levels (notice how you now can take tornados, cut
horrible giant monsters in half and dodge lighting? That’s why).
Their powers are divided in eight different
types (at least I have seen eight, you are alone on the others): Physical,
Fire, Ice, Lighting, Wind, Light, Dark and Almighty.
Physical attacks from a Persona are rather
straightforward, as they use physical attacks such as impaling, cleaving or
bashing the enemy. It seems to hold a special energy when doing it, but they
can also tussle with the bigger shadows without them. These attacks take a toll
on your body, so it’s better you don’t abuse it and keep a healer close, since
abusing physical attacks will drag you closer to the grave on prolonged
combats.
Fire is the element of willpower, those who
have this element are quite motivated and determined to reach the end goal. It
shows in the Agi spells, and they look like a strong burst of fire, scalding
every enemy on the way.
Ice, as the representative of Water, is the
element of Emotion, people of this element have emotion as the main motivation
of what they do, and many wear their hearts on their sleeve, even if not very
expressive. Ice is a dangerous element, as it has a chance of freezing enemies
and turning them into sitting ducks, more vulnerable for physical attacks.The
Bufu family is the most common Ice attacks.
Lightning is a substitute for Earth and thus,
stands for steadfastness. The people of this element have to stand strong and
be stable for their beliefs and are rather driven. It also has a special, not
too common effect called shock, which is the electric counterpart to freeze.
Wind, or air, is the element of communication.
People of this element tend to feel the need to reach out for others and
communicate, talk. Tornados are the most obvious method to attack with these
skills, mainly because I doubt shadows need to breathe, so we are back to
giving them a beating.
Light is the element of order, and it’s
associated with masculinity, but women can have it too. Light is a two edged
weapon, as it is rather unlikely to hit, but if it does, it is a one-hit kill.
It’s wielded very often by the more angelic Personas, just for you to know.
Darkness is the element of chaos and
femininity, even if some men can have it, and since we might not be on the same
side in the order/chaos debate, I’m going to withhold my opinion on the matter.
Like light, is one game of roulette of a wasted shot or an OHK. The Personas of
Darkness are associated with death and demons, not always but often enough.
Almighty is something of a Holy element, even
if it’s represented with a hazard sign. It is a very powerful attack element,
as nearly no enemy can resist it and hits harder than the rest, but it takes a
lot more energy to use, so count the bullets.
Darkness, Light and Almighty are, in theory,
more powerful than the rest of attacks, but all have downsides. Dark and light
both have a low chance to hit (30-50%) and in a fight you want something more
reliable, besides, they simply don’t work on the more powerful shadows. And, as
Almighty spells are something of a neutral element, it isn’t particularly
effective against most enemies and takes a lot to cast them, so they aren’t
really practical.
Now, there are several ways both Personas and
Shadows react to certain spells: Weak, Strong, Null, Absorb and Reflect.
If an enemy is weak to an elemental attack, it
does extra damage, and it is able to stop an enemy for a moment, giving you a
free shot, don’t waste it.
If it’s strong, your attack is weaker, but it
still does damage, so it is good for finishing a battle.
Null is complete immunity, that attack won’t do
anything to your foe, so don’t even bother.
Absorb, aside of not letting the enemy being
damaged by an attack, it heals them, so it is a big no-no.
And reflect makes the attack bounces back to
your face.
There are spells to modify those, so make sure
to use them wisely.
There also status effects, which will cause you
a lot of trouble, I will tell you later.
Now, there are the Scanner-type Personas, these
don’t have offensive attacks, but they have the ability of scanning the enemy,
figuring out how strong they are, their weaknesses and strengths, what attacks
it has, among other things. And let you know when there are particularly
powerful shadows, letting you get the drop on them. Besides, they will drop
some assistance, giving you a power bonus or the odd barrier to save your life.
They also work as something of a supernatural
GPS, they can give you the layout of the dungeons you visit (believe me, it’s
impossible to remember every single floor and its quirks), and let you know
where the important things are (treasure chests, staircases). Not to mention
let you keep communication with your team when separated, and bail you out of
the dungeon after a rough battle.
One note of the Scanners is that, well, they
aren’t made for fighting, and they are essentially mission control, and will
feel somewhat useless, as they are basically watching you and the rest of your
team getting the stuffing beaten out of you, so try and provide the adequate
emotional support before it becomes a big problem.
And the hybrids are Personas that would
normally be combat type, but have some limited scanner abilities. While they
aren’t as good as Scanners, they will do well on a pinch, but their reach is
limited and sooner or later will stop working, at which point you will need a
Scanner and the hybrid will come in and fight on the frontlines.
An interesting matter is your special power,
the Wild Card. I don’t know if it’s something you get from birth or you are
chosen to wield it, but once you have this power you gain the skill to wield
multiple Personas, of different Arcana and create new ones by fusing the old
ones. While your selection may be small at the beginning, but as your bonds
with your friends become stronger, you will gain even stronger beings.
The fusion process is made in the Velvet Room,
and Igor is the one in charge of it. He is the one who does it, every Persona
is in one card, and Igor takes them and in a ritual they disappear and a new
one appears. The number of Personas you can fuse at once is variable, as it can
be anywhere from two to twelve, but you should first register them in the
Compendium, which your assistant keeps, which lets you recover any older
Persona, in case you ever need it for a fusion on the future, or any other
reason. But it will cost you a few yen, don’t ask why an all knowing, vaguely
human being who lives in another dimension needs money, because I don’t know.
Once the fusion is complete, the Persona
receives a bonus, giving it more powers, based on how much you have advanced on
the respective social link.
But the fusion is not perfect, and a fusion
accident may occur, you had the recipe, thought you get everything right, yet
you got something completely different. I guess even supernatural fortune
tellers can make mistakes.
There is another interesting thing, as most
people only have one Persona, but that Persona can transform, evolve, in a way.
Since you and your Persona are one and the same, any emotional growth you have
will be reflected on your Persona. To your teammates, that will happen at a
turning point in their lives, if the Social Link reaches its highest level,
effectively solving their main issue, or otherwise something big that causes an
important change on them.
Now, there is something you should know. Since
a way to gain a Persona is facing your shadow self and accepting yourself,
there is also a negative way to it. The positive way would be accepting you are
flawed and striving to be better, overcoming them. And the other is,
essentially, succumbing to your inner darkness and becoming the very same
monster Shadow Selves can be. Even evil people can have the same power of
Persona you have, even if not a wild card, but they are corrupted versions of
the power you and most good guys would have. Even so, the same rules apply to
both you and them, so make sure to use what you learned.
The second point is that you and your Persona
are linked, you will feel any damage your Persona takes, so beware if it’s ever
impaled through the skull or something, since it is quite unpleasant. Likewise,
you have the same strengths and weaknesses as your Persona, even if you are
stronger than normal.
And as a final note, beware one Persona, Mara.
Just, don’t use it. Once you see it, you’ll know why. If you don’t want your
friends looking you like a freak, fuse it to create something else, or simply
don’t create it.
I always check this guy on DA, and this seemed something that must be said after the last massacre, so yeah....
So, I found this one, thought to share it. Credit to it's authors and to Disney for the original song.
http://www.freedomwall.info/post/5736476/end-war-madeleine-albright-says-deaths-of-500-000-iraqi-children