The Strange Truth [Dungeon Traversal]

As the message stated, there would be a straight path underneath the Dysfunctional City. It stretched down to a large golden door that seemed to shine so bright it illuminated the entire pathway. Though there were no Shadows to be seen, it was safe to say Limbo would bring its loyal guardians to its side when danger arrived. However for now, Elizabeth would be standing at the entrance, near the red door that led into Limbo. In her hand was her Persona Compendium, and on the ground beside her was what appeared to be a bag. Limbo didn't seem to see her as a threat to attack. That, or no Shadows wanted to be wiped out by the strange woman in blue. No matter the reason, Elizabeth stood off to the side while humming to herself. Her golden eyes looked down the pathway that seemed to resemble a cylinder, or an old service tunnel to a city. The ground was damp and the walls were covered in grime. The only saving grace to the tunnel was the beautiful golden door that stood so defiantly towards the end. Though Limbo was an artificial world, it didn't mean it held no beauty. Elizabeth was rather new to the world, but she had a certain understanding to what was lovely and what wasn't. Having her liberty from the Velvet Room gave her a new look upon life.

Dungeon Map & Key:

The red door which served as the gateway into Limbo emitted a red glow, which started to intensify, until with a flash of reddish light a single figure appeared on this side of the two realms. It was a young man named Ejji Reiguu, and he seemed to be the first to answer the call of the attendants. Coming straight from his time off the Academy, he was dressed appropriately to the situation. Covering his torso was a black jacket, with a shirt underneath which served to protect him from the cold weather. On his legs were a pair of warm dark-blue trousers, on his feet a pair of black boots and finally a pair of fingerless gloves.

As soon as Ejji arrived on the other side he summoned his Okatana to his left hand, where he would hold it for the rest of his time here. Danger and peril were sure to follow on this journey and he was ready for it. The Reiguu heir looked around, making sure that he examined his surroundings before jumping head-first into the dungeon. It seemed only he and Elizabeth he guessed, one of the attendants, were present for now. Ejji had no doubt though, that others would soon follow. Ejji had a theory that messages such as this were sent to all those people involed with the Pesona business, since Tsurinai Naito had appeared to help Genji before. He would simply wait for their arrival before venturing forth. It was the wise thing to do.

Being not without manners, and even though still suspicious of the attendants Ejji would take a few steps towards Elizabeth and give a slight bow of greetings and acknowledgement.

"Greetings, Attendant-san." he began after a second. "I'm sorry, but you must be Elizabeth, am I right? I hope all is well."

Ejji did not know if any conversation would follow, as seen with both the nice Yu and that other male attendant, but it was worth a try, at least. There was almost always time to be civil, and besides if he wanted to get to know the attendants better - he would need to speak with them, so now was as good a time as any.

The crimson light from the red door of limbo would bathe the clearing as the silver haired Naito made his way onto the scene. With his arms crossed, he took his confident stride forward without dealing with the one named Elizabeth or the other Kizuna student there. Standing at the edge, before traversing through the dungeon, Naito would tilt his head and look towards the golden light down the way. "It's about time I got information about this place. It's right down there, correct?" The silver haired boy spoke to himself, even if out loud. It looked far too easy from where he stood and he knew, from his first excursion within Limbo, that this world was full of surprises. One second you could be standing in the center of a street, and the next you're surrounded by monsters with the sky looking to swallow you into an endless prison. Even something such as this was dangerous to simply walk down. How many traps could be lurking in the grime and dark? This question plagued Naito's mind, as he took his signature stance and pinched his chin between his index finger and thumb. "Chance of success alone is lowered below satisfactory. How troublesome... " The student raised a hand to the side of his head, while the other went down to rest against his side. There was alot of work to be done here. There was no option to turn and run when the truth was straight ahead. Literally...

Turning towards the one who was most likely Elizabeth, Naito would raise a brow. "I suspect you are Elizabeth? This truth behind the door. Will it tell me who's been tossing the people into this world?" His tone, though blunt, wasn't as rude as he used to be. It was more neutral. Not condescending, but not the greatest thing in the world either. Naito was still curious in the Velvet Room's involvement in this mystery, but seeing how they saved his life they did warrant abit of trust out of him. Atleast more trust than the other Persona users who were suddenly popping up back to back. Who was to say this wasn't all some clever ruse ran by someone he actually knew and thought he saved? Maybe Naito was simply over thinking things at this point. He hadn't lived in Ueitawa long enough to know exactly where to start looking for clues regarding the culprit behind these crimes. Most likely it wasn't someone who he had saved before. But until he found clues, everyone was a suspect which was why he didn't wish to group with anyone as of yet. Being back stabbed was not on the agenda...

When the three arrived onto the scene, Elizabeth would give them all a bow in greeting. "Hello, my name is Elizabeth. Today, I am here to inform and assist." Raising her head, the young woman would look towards the rather abrupt one that began to ask her questions right off the back. "Ah, yes. You must be the one my sister informed me of. Naito-kun, straight to the point. If that's correct, then this one must be Ejji-kun. I do not recall who this other one is." Her attention shifted over to the last to arrive as she tilted her head in slight confusion. Turning back to Naito, she would address his questions. It was her job, after all. Her purpose. With a smile she began. "A piece of the truth rests behind the door, yes. However, the whole truth is scattered amongst various dungeons such as this. In total, there are nineteen dungeons, each more sinister than the last. How exciting!" She seemed to be enthusiastic as she spoke of the circumstances.

"Oh! I have almost forgotten!" The woman in blue would kneel down to the bag she brought with her. Reaching in, she would remove three pairs of glasses. One dark blue, one silver, and one dark green in frame. "My brother William wished for me to give you these. He says as long as they are on your person, you should feel rather invigorated! Simply amazing! I wonder if I'll ever get such a pair of spectacles!..spectacles? special?..Specs?" The woman confused herself for a second before pushing past the thoughts. Standing, she would hand the blue pair to Ejji, the Silver to Naito, and the green to Genji. Once this was done, she walked back to her original position.

Items Received:

"I'll remain here to overlook your progress through the dungeon ahead. If you are concerned or need answers, simply address me and I will attempt to inform you. However, even my knowledge is limited." Once again, the woman would bow to the three who entered the dungeon.

OoC: Genji exit your other topic or this one before proceeding to post

The Velvet Room attendant Elizabeth turned out to be not at all how Ejji thought she would be. The girl seemed so much like any ordinary human, if not a little bit too enthusastic... and even cutely so. The snow-haired young man had to remind himself that she was something not of the human world though, so not to get attached or anything, as it could prove to be dangerous. Although... could a cute girl like her truly be evil? Could he really suspect her of anything? Perhaps only as a tricked follower of a skilled manipulator, but he was going to far in his conspiracy theories and it was time to return to the task at hand.
He had to supress a small blush at his name being used with such a familiar suffix at their first meeting, but seeing as she did the same for Naito - it meant she probably used those for almost everyone.

With a simple nod of thanks Ejji took the set of glasses presented to him. He began examining them, noticing with a degree of pleasure that they were his favourite color. The glasses themselves seemed to be as ordinary as any other, except for their stylish appearance. With two smooth motions Ejji flicked them "open" and put them on. As Elizabeth had said - they surely didn't feel like normal glasses... in fact Ejji never felt so invigorated in his life. It was a strange notion, and within a split second the decision was made - he would wear them in Limbo. Definitely. These belonged to him and if their color was any indication, were made specifically for him and added to his style.
He could wear them out of Limbo too, although he would not do so in public, more as a precaution against being recognized as a Persona user, if any other such people would have similar glasses.

Ejji pushed the glasses up with two fingers and raised his head a bit. "These are quite remarkable." he looked over at the golden light in the distance and then back to Elizabeth. "Please, pass my thanks to their maker."

Then Ejji would make a few steps away, adjusting the collar of his jacket, as he prepared himself for what was to come. Elizabeth would not follow, and truthfully enough she had done enough by simply giving these gifts to them - he would not press for anything. Ejji turned to his companions.

"Let us go then, if you are ready." his eyes then moved specifically to Naito, to add a bit more. "And you, Naito, since you insist on being not part of the group." Ejji decided to leave any coments he had to himself, and just left it at that. He also dismissed any worries Genji shared with them - if all they did was worry about what lies ahead no one would get anywhere. Ejji was all for taking initiative.
Ejji would move ahead with the rest when they did.

Items Obtained:

Spoiler:

That was all the answer he needed from the white haired attendant. If only a portion of the answer was behind such a door, he'd still put in an effort to grasp it. Nodding to himself, he'd accept the glasses the woman gave him. Examining them with his eyes, he didn't particularly trust her enough to put them on. So instead of doing it first, he watched the others. Ejji was the first to put his own, and seeing how he wasn't killing over, Naito would do the same. With a flick of the head, his silver hair would be moved to the side so he could placed the glasses upon his face. He immediately felt a change in strength when he put them on, which caused his health to tilt to the side. "Amazing... This William must be rather impressive when creating objects. I suppose this makes up for his lack of enthusiasm when dealing with people." The silver eyed boy would give a nod towards Elizabeth, resembling a notion of some respect for her. "Give him my regards. And thank you aswell. Those of the Velvet Room have been helpful in this slightly irritating task at hand." As Naito begin to make his way forward, he'd hear Ejji's voice. Of course he didn't turn to look at the source, but he did listen to the words. Once again he used "us" but this time he made sure to refer to Naito separately.

The silver haired student would extend his right hand so his blade and scabbard form within his grasp. He'd continue to walk forward without looking back towards his classmates. "Yes, I suppose we have the same destination. Though seeing how we are not grouped together, don't expect me to slow down or lose any sleep waiting on you. I can't afford to, if someone truly is throwing people in this world on a whim." With that said, Naito took off in a light jog and left the clearing. His goal were the golden doors at the far end of the pathway, yet he made sure to stay prepared just incase. After his first journey into Limbo he knew the Shadows were always watching and waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Last time he remained near the door as to keep some sort of lifeboat if things went sour. Now being in the center of their playground without a reliable way back to the entrance made him quite cautious. So cautious, his eyes couldn't seem to settle on the reality of the situation. How strong would the shadows be? At the end of the tunnel, was there a chance something would be awaiting them? What if this truth wasn't an inanimate object like he previously imagined? What if it was something else?

Distance Traveled:

Elizabeth watched the three young men make their way into the dungeon ahead of them. Leaning back against he wall, she'd open her Persona Compendium and begin to flip through the pages. It was a shame she could never join in the fun of such rigorous activities! Her master, with his rather long nose, wouldn't allow such behavior from an Attendant of his. Though, Justine got to have fun, so why couldn't she? A double standard perhaps? Oh well, her fun would come one day. For the moment she would simply hum the Velvet Song to herself. It had been some time since she visited her old home.

Meanwhile, the three began their journey into the cavern. The moment they stepped inside, the tunnel seemed to groan out of anger. Messages began to appear on the walls all written in blood red liquids. "GO BACK." "TURN BACK." They all meant the same thing. Limbo didn't want them there, and this would be its only warning before it became hostile. The Shadows were on standby, and they were ready to encounter those coming into their home. These three Persona-users would find out the hard way that the deeper they went into Limbo, the stronger the enemies. Coming down into the bowels of the world would be their downfall without a stern will and unfailing determination.

Ejji gripped his sheathed sword tighter as the ominous messages appeared before the group of three. It seemed that Limbo was a realm with vicious intelligence, or the inhabitants simply had some form of control over their surroundings. Whatever the case - their presence was known and trouble would soon follow. At that moment Ejji had felt a trecherous desire to turn back his head and check if anything happened to cut off their exit, or if Elizabeth would give some kind of reaction, but that was just for a moment. Ejji kept his head straight, and his eyes quickly roamed all ove their surroundings. He watched the walls, the ceiling, the floor - everything, for any case of danger arising.

"Stay sharp." was all Ejji would say, not making any more attempts at a conversation. He was not the type to talk when nervous, or simply to fill in the silence with useless chatter.

There was nothing else to do but press forward. Ejji was not going to retreat for no reason and he certainly was not afraid to face their supernatural enemy. He could purify this darkness.
The tunnel itself did not hope improve his mood. It was dark and a sure feeling that the group was unwelcome here was almost physically felt in the air. The white-haired young man also noted that this Limbo world seemed to have a broad range of different locations, all of which seemed to have a few things in common though. They were dark and shadowy. The only real difference here was the golden light that bathed the tunnel with illumination. Ejji could not really tell what awaited them in the future.

The dungeon could prove to be a challenge to not only their strength, but in return they could obtain a clue to move forwards with their investigation. Although the word "investigation" was not exactly right, since they had barely even touched the surface of this whole matter. Though Ejji had to guess he felt like a lot of time passed, simply because of the stress of his awakening and from battling Genji's Shadow.
The Reiguu also wondered what kinds of enemies they would meet here. He doubted all the shadows were as strong as the one he faced before, but there was a possibility that what he faced for now was only the weakest of them. There really was no way to tell this, and the only way was to deal with these things as they came. Ejji was not frightened though - retreat was always an option if things got out of hand.
Ejji walked on.

Naito sneered to the side at Genji's comment, as he continued forward into the hell hold. "Don't overestimate your own strength because of your Shadow's display. All of our Shadows were that strong; it has nothing to do with you venturing into Limbo now. That little battle is child's play when compared to this. Where as then, we only had to fight one enemy and once it was defeated we were through. Now here we have multiple enemies, and once we're done fighting a few, we still have more to go without our energy recovering. So you stating your Shadow wasn't taking any hits and your healing is above ours literally means nothing to me right now. Just stay focused and try not to die. I didn't bring any body bags." His words were blunt and too the point. There was no reason to beat around the bush when it came to a situation where his life was in danger. "And the reason why I'm so hesitant when it comes to teaming with you is simple. It has nothing to do with me being above you, or just not liking you. Ejji's weakness to certain skills are my weakness aswell. I won't risk death more than I have too, and with me teaming with him the chance of such a death is extremely high. So in layman's terms, me working with you both causes more harm than any good. After this excursion, I recommend not working together again unless there are others present that will fix such a weakness. And even then, I'd recommend splitting into squads, not just one team, because not even you will be able to cover us both in the middle of combat." With the explanation out of the way, Naito would let out a short breath before increasing his speed forward. In truth, that was partially a reason why he didn't want to be teamed with them. Another was the previous fact he didn't know them well enough, and that one of them could possibly be an enemy in disguise. It was possible, wasn't it? Naito didn't know enough about the world yet to rule it out completely.

When the blood written letters started popping up on the walls, Naito would let out a disgruntled noise. In his calm, yet blunt voice, he'd make a quick reply under his breath. "Safe to say Limbo is a woman. It's on its period." Such comments was unbecoming of an Emperor, so he made sure to keep it to himself so the others didn't hear. After all, he had to keep his image above the Average Joe of society, right? "If we are going to be forced to work together just this time, I'd suggest abit of strategy during combat. Maybe someone should save up their inner strength for healing moves if a party member is low. Since you seem so confident in your healing capabilities, perhaps you could be such a person, Genji." The silver haired student would look over his shoulder at the two with bland eyes. "And Ejji, since you're potent at burning things... Then I guess burn away till your hearts content. My Persona is more of a physical fighter, but I do have one area of effect move to support with if things get too hectic here. Telling by the gloom and doom messages, we're probably about to deal with enemies up ahead."

Naito's Stats and Distance:

Well wasn't this just a grand day. It seemed those traversing Limbo were more at each others throats than focused on the tasks at hand. The strange world would take advantage of this, as a tar like substance began to leak down from the ceiling infront of them. The black ooze would fall to the ground and immediately take the form of their enemy. Two globs formed into a human sized hand with a head where the wrist were located. Behind them, another black substance would erupt from the earth like a volcano, forming that of what appeared to be an eagle with a golden mask. The three users would now be surrounded with two enemies infront of them, and one enemy behind from the way they came. With these enemies infront of them and behind them, the group would be temporarily blocked from pushing forward into the dungeon, or pulling back to the exit.

The Venus Eagle would begin the combat by using its Sukukaja to raise dancing hand number one's agility for three turns. The moment this occurred, the hand would dash off towards Ejji and initiate a regular attack. However, with the boost in agility, it would raise itself and literally slap the snow white haired boy twice before retreating back amongst his group. The final Shadow would snap its fingers and cast a mabufu to strike all the members of the opposing team.

Dancing Hand 1:

Dancing Hand 2:

Venus Eagle:

As expected, the enemies did not wait long until appearing to attack the group of travellers. Ejji expected many things to show themselves - horrible monsters and demons, ready to tear and rend with claws, spikes and maws with rows of sharp teeth, but instead the creatures that came out were... comically disturbing. Actually, Ejji would laugh at their appearance if not for the fact that the floating hand-creatures attacked. One doing a double slap and the other using an ice-based attack.

Enemies were both at the front and back.

Ejji cursed, uncharacteristically. "Bastards." and proceeded to summon his Persona. His right hand to his side, he shattered the blue card that appeared above it and felt the familair sensation. "Persona!" Amatsu-Yarikami appeared above him, spinning the spear in it's hand and thrusting it upwards, unleashing flames upon all their attackers using a spell called Maragi.

So it began.

Ejji's Stats and Actions:

Spoiler:

Naito gave a slightly annoyed sigh. "Being too uptight about a situation of life and death will distract us? Have you never heard of the saying that fear makes man stronger than they've ever been. This tension could be the saving grace of this expedition." The silver haired student would even look towards Genji anymore. His fellow student struck a cord earlier, and there was a bit of resentment left within Naito. Though, he didn't have time to deal with this, as the strange land began to make its move. And ooze like substance started to surround them and took the form of Shadows. They looked odd however. Almost pathetic. But when they initiated their attack, and their power was witnessed first hand by the silver haired perfectionist, he knew that even the weird enemies were still capable of being dangerous.

After taking his damage, he'd let out a grunt of annoyance and stand his ground. They seemed to be focused on Ejji at the moment, which would be a problem. If he fell, then things could get troublesome in the long run. Especially since no one had any revive skills to his knowledge. No matter, Naito would picture his tarot card and his head, and slowly it would float before him. "Obey my command!" Grabbing the hilt of his blade with his left hand, he would slice forward and cut straight through his card. "Jinmu-tennō!" In that moment his Persona would erupt from his subconscious and take action. Lifting its blade into the air, it'd call down a flurry of bolts down upon each enemy to deal moderate damage. Once the attack was performed, the Persona would subside within him once again. Naito praised his Persona, something he never did to actual people, as he spun his blade with the flick of his wrist and sheathed it back within his scabbard. "Ejji, stay on your toes. These losers had to do a cheap shot to even stand a chance here!"

Naito Stats: