PER is SON dead A

[twilight_keeper]

Now I get it, it really was them. That perverse-looking old man was talking about them! Suzumori watched in awe as his two newly founded friends exercised their power. From his seated position, it was almost as though he had front row seats to the greatest, most surreal, and somewhat frightening from both ends, show on earth. His eyes flashed with something called inspiration, recalling the strange words in his head from minutes ago.

I am thou...
Thou art I...

But something was holding him back. A sense of realism? Concealed cynicism? A physical limitation?

No.

That wasn't it at all. What bound him to his position, and therefore lack of internal strength to accept the sights before him was far simpler than that. A basic lack of trust. He had seen something that no human should need to, a revelation if you will. Yet he hesitated in his own mind. Trust wasn't a factor to him when it came to dealing with others. What he didn't trust was himself.

"DAMN IT!!!" Something like a dark miasma encircled him, forcing him to rise out of his wheelchair. His eyes streaked with murderous intent. The Tower called him. Destruction seeped into the fibers of his soul, and rushed forth from his mouth...

"PERSONAAAAAAAA!" Wrapping the chain around his neck and body, he tightened the reigns on his own self-made bindings until he bled. Rising behind him was the large skeletal figure that was his mind's mask. Protecting him from his own lack of trust and understanding. The figure rose up, showing its terrifying visage.

"I am Aeshma… He who hoists the sail of rage and fury to cross the sea of blood. From the sea of thy blood I come forth... I charge you with being my cruel helmsman."

Crying out in what seemed to be an inhuman call, he screamed with the wail of the banshee, and a torrent of water, like a tidal wave surged forth, crushing the final creature under its cruel embrace. With the strength of his rage subsided, Suzumori Gau lurched forward, and fell to the floor, nearly unconscious.

[KiteXX]

With the final enemy gone, Kei rushed the door and pulled it shut, despite the immense heat of the door. "So..." he panted looking at Alain., "about that steak..." he froze when he saw Suzumori crash into the ground. "Suzumori? Suzumori-senpai!" He rushed to where he lay, and tried to get him back into the chair. "Did you bring any water?" He asked Alain. "Dammit...we should head back with him in this condition."

[twilight_keeper]

Excessively short of breath, Gau rose up with help from Kei, and slumped back into his chair. "I-I a-m okay..." he pulled in a long breath and held it in for a bit, like he was trying to avoid drowning, then exhaled. "I will be... fine. Just.. let me catch my breath."

He remained nearly motionless for a short while, then rose his head up, to motion that he was indeed, alive and conscious.

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

Alain panted as the two before him also summoned what Suzumori seemed to call a Persona. Hecate disappeared when Kei slammed the door shut, Alain fell to his knees, a bit exhausted, watching the coin he tossed fall before him. “I didn't bring any water...” Alain whispered breathlessly. 'Damn, Kei didn't forget the steak...' Alain found himself laughing as he grabbed all the coins on the floor in two balled fists and jammed them in both his pockets, noticing the lack of the knife he'd placed there before. “Suzumori-sempai is in no worse condition than either of us.” He stood and sighed, “And yeah yuck it up, I owe you two a steak dinner, but we still don't have a clue as to why Takai-san decided to jump out that window. And all we got was a flurry of other questions, like what the hell was all of that?” Alain's knees were trembling, as was his entire body. Whatever that was, it was exhausting.

[KiteXX]

"I don't know, but we shouldn't tarry here. Let's talk about this at school tomorrow. I want to know more about this...Takai person before jumping into any reason for his suicide." Kei sighed about Alain's lack of water, turned Suzumori's wheelchair, and began to push him towards the exit. "Whatever happened... let's discuss it during lunch tomorrow. For now, we should just...get somewhere safer."

[twilight_keeper]

"If it was even a suicide to begin with." Suzumori muttered in a low voice. "But regardless, I agree we should not dally around this place too much longer. I tire, and I assume the two of you do as well." He pulled himself together finally, standing up and folding his chair up once more, preparing to face off against his mortal foe once more, the tyranny of stairs.

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

“I'm not opposed to going home at all...” Alain looked down at his palm, the regalia was still there and be bit his lip, 'How the hell am I going to hide this?' Alain slid his hand to his head and grabbed his silver streak. “Remind me about the dinner thing later this week.” Alain said and stood by Suzumori as he faced off against the stairs. “Sure you don't want a piggyback ride Suzumori-sempai? Kei-san was looking might strong out there. I'm sure he'd love to support your weight, and I'll even throw in your wheelchair for him.” He laughed and played with his hair. “He'll hold the wheelchair in his hands and have you on his back.” Alain burst into laughter and climbed a few steps up, “I'm hoping that food cart is still open.”

[KiteXX]

Kei climbed the steps slowly, taking extra care not to fall this time. As he neared the top, he peeked out to ensure that nobody was there, and, there wasn't. There was a change however. The 'maintenance' door that was locked, was now wide open, a glowing ornate blue door was in the middle of the room.

Kei grimaced, but it seemed as though he was being pulled toward it. He couldn't help himself, as he pulled the door open, suddenly reality changed around him

He was non the plane again, sitting in the same chair he had last time. But Igor had not come to greet him. Yet.

[twilight_keeper]

Doing combat with the evil stairwell was a trying effort, especially after the last situation. Finally making the ascension, he reached the climax of the stairs to realize that Kei was nowhere to be found. He searched about halfheartedly, more due to exhaustion than lack of care for his associate. After coming up short, apparently missing the maintenance door entirely, he called back to Alain, "I do not seem to see Hyuka-san anywhere" then added in after a short pause, "You do not think that he left without us do you?"

He spent a good deal of time searching with his eye, but perhaps the lack of depth perception clouded his ability to make any kind of headway in this manner. He listened intently for any sign of movement, but found nothing but the soft hum of the electrical equipment and buzz of the lighting system that purveyed throughout the subway tunnels. It seemed to him no amount of effort he could contribute at this point could help locate the missing member of their three-man band.

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

Alain clutched his chest, clearly far too out of shape for strenuous physical labor. He laughed and shook his head trying to keep his breath. “He probably went to change himself after what just happened...” Alain said with a hint of sass in his voice, hiding his annoyance. “Just give him a minute or so...” Alain covered his face and leaned against a pillar provided by the station. “I really wish I brought that water haha...” 'Crap I'm short on breath... I wonder if my persona reflects that... she's just a little girl... uggh... Personas are masks of our true selves or some jazz, but she was lending me her power, we made a pact, that's different right?' “Suzumori-sempai, I forgot to mention, you never used your weapon!” Alain peered at the stun stick in amusement.

[twilight_keeper]

Gau flicked the baton out and let loose the chain, spinning it around himself rather dexterously. After striking a somewhat fabulous pose, he cocked his head to the side and stated; "I did not think I needed to at the time, or rather did not believe it would be effective. What, do you want me to show you how it works?" he spoke somewhat deviously and off-model for his usually matter-of-fact personality he seemed to give off all of the time.

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

'Showoff.' Alain thought flashing an empty smile, finally able to move. “I'd rather you didn't...” Alain held out his hands in compliance and took a few steps back. “If you shocked me with that, I'd be the one who had a potty malfunction.” A few steps and after a quick scan the only logical thing left was the maintenance door they'd seen earlier, that for some reason now had a soothing blue hue. “Hey Suzumori-sempai, you think Kei-san...” He pointed toward the door, “Chased the rabbit? That's what he's been doing all night after all...” 'That door was definitely locked prior-tense... I personally checked the door. Not like the lock where we made an assumption... I touched it, I know I did...' “The door seems weird right?”

[twilight_keeper]

"You are not about to go chasing the rabbit as well are you? If Hyuka-san likes to get himself into horrible messes due to curiosity, that means not that you should follow suit. However..." finally taking note of the oddity of the door itself and its obtuse blue hue, he noted something that probably should have been mentioned a while ago; "does this not seem familiar? I believe I entered through a door of this very nature inside the school at one point."

He poked at the door quizzically. The door did not react, as expected. He did seem oddly drawn to open the door and explore the contents therein, but fought the urge to do so immediately. After a moment of genuflecting, he rose his voice towards Alain. "Do you want to try it? We could end up separated, things are not exactly making sense this evening..."

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

“Never would I ever chase a rabbit down a hole.” Alain said carefully making sure to sound whimsical and musical as he let the words leave his lips. He laughed until Suzumori mentioned the familiarity of the door, 'I think... I remember this from a dream... this feeling.' “Well I don't know about the school, but I had a dream about something like this... but then again I had a dream about Kirijo-sensei and that hasn't happened yet so...” Alain weighed an imaginary scale as Suzumori poked the door.

“You know as well as I do that this door is different. And while we would never chase a rabbit, we've got to chase Kei-san. That being said let's exchange contact info now. If I'm in there and you aren't I'll try to contact you, and vice-versa.” Alain offered his phone number, at this point his disbelief was suspended so high above his head he couldn't believe he had any at this point. “Beside the door should be locked so anything passed this point makes as much sense as fighting masks with blobs on 'em or summoning the Queen of the Moon to shine light on the aforementioned masks.”

[twilight_keeper]

Gau slipped his phone from his pocket and sent a short mail to Alain to confirm his number, sending his own in the process. Quickly taking notice of the hesitation in the other's voice, he moved to open the door. "Do I take that as a measure of confidence? It does sound like you are volunteering to go in next; first." he made an exaggerated gesture like what he believed a butler would make holding open a door for his master.

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

Alain confirmed the number and saved Gau Suzumori as a contact in his phone, afterwards placing his phone back in his uniform's pocket. “I don't know where you sense confidence from in my voice but let me assure you there is not.” Alain teased and grabbed the door handle, “Ignorance and obfuscating stupidity are my domains of specialty.” As he touched the door he felt more inclined than ever to enter and turned to give Suzumori a smile, “But since you seem so adamant on me going in first, I think I might Suzumori-sempai, tell my dad I love him!” he teased once more entering the space and finding himself upon an entirely blue airline. “This is... not what I expected...” Alain reached for his phone instinctively, but forgot why, the room had some effect on his actions.

[KiteXX]

Kei turned and almost collided with Alain. "Ah...you're...why are you here?" He rubbed his temples in frustration. "Today just gets weirder. He held up his phone, but it read 'No Service'. "Wait..did you follow me through the maintenance door?"

[Haseo{Terror of Death}]

Alain dodged Kei smoothly for someone with no athletic ability, shaking his head, “I could ask you the same you know Kei-san, but since I'm a nice guy I won't...” 'Also because I want to know where I am or why I'm here as well...' He searched around the room for answers and chuckled as Kei asked him if he followed him through the door. “No way, I just thought this was the rest room, little did I know I took a turn at plane instead of just going straight.” Alain raked his fingers through his hair and walked toward the front of the cabin, “In all seriousness Suzumori-sempai and I lost you and we figured you'd be in the least sane place for a human to go. A plane in a train station.” Alain flashed a cocky smile, obviously having his fun at this point.

[KiteXX]

"Is that not where it belongs?" Kei laughed lightly. "I've been here before...A man...igor I think, was piloting." He sighed. "I'm totally insane. I would have said there's no way this is possible, I mean a dream is one thing, but this kind of shiz doesn't happen IRL." He sighed and turned to Alain. "I'm trembling...With anticipation."

[twilight_keeper]

Suzumori rolled in through the maintenance door shortly afterwards, most likely the least shaken at this point by entering a big blue plane through a door very much firmly planted on the ground. Not much was going to surprise him at this point, lessed further by the fact that he walked into this very spot from his classroom door earlier that day.

"Oh, so the two of you did not get zapped into oblivion by the powers that be. That is reassuring. So, the plot thickens. Where exactly is this place anyway? Dream or reality? Mind, or matter?"

His words seemed to echo the thoughts of the plane in general, as though that was a line reserved for someone who actually lived there. The wheel-bound boy felt just slightly off-put by that sentiment, and decided to brush it to the back of his mind for the moment.