One Piece, Two Piece [NPC Emmilene]

    Really, why did the portals have to be holes in space? Why not doors or something, y'know, easier to climb through? Because, seriously, tall people and tiny round spaces just don't mix. At all.

    Julian bit his tongue to withhold a foul curse as he found himself momentarily stuck. Damn, either he got taller or the portals got smaller, because this thing was harder to get through than he remembered. Had it really been that long since he'd been here that he forgot something like this? // Note to self: practice climbing through windows before coming here-! // Despite the protesting in his back (he'd never been that flexible), Julian ducked down a bit lower, narrowly missing the edge of the portal as he popped his head through to the other side. Phew, that was done. The rest was just a simple matter of pulling his other leg into the underground room.

    God, that was way harder than it should've been. Straightening and pulling his shoulders back so they popped, Julian did a quick once over of his body, checking for any pain. ...Nope, nothing. No damage from traveling to parallel universes. Next step was to check his pockets and make sure nothing got lost. ...Yup, all clear. Everything was well and accounted for--Oh! His hand shot to his ear, fingers probing the edge for the piece of jewelry Emmilene had given him. A relieved smile flitted across his features as the cool metal met his skin. Good; the last thing he wanted was to lose that. Now that that was all taken care of, he could get down to business.

    He should've been back a while ago, in retrospect. But he got so caught up in solving everything as quickly as possible that he drove himself practically insane going 'round and 'round in circles with his thoughts. That was no way to solve an issue. No way at all. Puzzles should be looked at calmly and considered at every angle. He might've been on the right track earlier by snooping around here for useful information. No better time to pick up the trail again, right? Wasn't like he had another place to go for clues or anything else helpful. Well, nothing related to supernatural stuff, anyways.

    So, first things first on the itinerary: find Emmilene. At the very least, he could pick up that gadget she was talking about. With this in mind he started to head out of the room, trying to remember which turns took him to the girl's room.

    // Hm...? // Who---oh. A guard. Stopping in his tracks at the sound of the voice, Julian turned to face to the man, offering a single nod of affirmation. It was still a little strange to be recognized on sight--especially by people he'd never even met--but he was starting to accept it as somthing that would happen whenever he'd come visit. Really, it was kinda nice; people were more likely to help since he was their "champion". A nice, useful perk, actually.

    This could've been a stroke of luck in more ways than one. He'd yet to seen personas in action. Maybe this was his chance to learn a little something about his own abilities. Smiling widely, the teen suffed his hands in his pockets. "Thanks, that'd be great." was all he had time to say before the guard began walking off, forcing Julian to trail along or risk being left behind to find Emmilene on his own. ...Yeah, he'd take the first choice.

    Every time he came, he was able to add a little more to the mental map in his head. Whether this was an intentional way to get him to memorize the layout of this place or not, Julian appreciated it. Learning a piece at a time had always worked better for him than trying to remember everything at once. ...Well, then again, most people learned that way, so he wasn't exactly special in that regard.

    After being led to a small room ith a window through which he could see the woman he'd been looking for, he nodded in thanks to the man before focusing on the little match going on inside. He'd been trying to keep some semblance of calm and poise in his expression, but he coudn't help but widen his eyes at what he saw. Holy shit. This was what personas were capable of? Could his do the same thing as theirs? Did he really have the same power? Man, he knew this stuff was real, but seeing things like that really made the concept hit home.

    It was kinda amazing how long they could keep the whole thing going. It must take a lot of energy to keep those personas out, considering how big they looked. And they were basically magic, right? If his games were to be trusted, magic took a lot out of a person. Maybe those two had been working with their powers for so long that they'd built up a kind of...endurance? He'd have to try to summon his persona again soon and try to work up to their level somehow.

    Julian tried to make out some of what Emmilene was saying to the combatants who just wrapped up their match, but without sound, it was almost pointless to try. Wasn't like she made really obvious gestures while she spoke either, so trying to guess her message was a waste of time. Oh well. It couldn't be straight out bashing, since neither of those two looked particularly bothered. Must be some general tips or pointers or whatever.

    Finally Emmilene herself came out, taking a moment to thank his escort before focusing back on him. With a slight shake of his head and a bright smile he said, "Don't worry, I just got here. Your men were pretty prompt in bringing me here. They do their job well." Thinly veiled compliment? Absolutely. "I've been alright. And you? How's everything here?"

    Julian stayed quiet as Emmilene spoke, nodding his head here and there to show he was being attentive. It was understandable that some people were getting a little anxious; war wasn't, as far as he knew, a walk in the park. The fact that it didn't seem to be ending anytime in the very near future couldn't be too comforting either. But like always, Emmilene was going above and beyond what was required of her to bring everyone some sort of comfort. Really, you had to hand it to her; she was a good leader and a pretty decent person.

    "Not yet. I tried summoning it on my side, but nothing happened." Oh yeah, he remembered that day. It had been kind of disappointing, actually. But at least he was lucky that he'd been home alone; otherwise, he was sure Matthew would have wondered why his son was yelling all sorts of weird crap. ...Yeah, Lady Luck was kind that day. "Good plan. They looked pretty good from this angle, though." Not that that meant she should stop training, of course. You were only as strong as your weakest link. If she thought they had a ways to go, then they better get to practicing, right? // ...Shit, what does that say about me? // He hadn't summoned his persona at all. Was he their weakest link? ...Damn, that didn't sit well at all.

    Julian grinned at the girl and shook his head lightly. "Don't worry, I get it. You're doing your best, and it'd be great to see everyone do their best. I think if you keep up that attitude, things'll work out."

    "Weapon?" Julian's eyebrows rose up lightly. Was he supposed to have one? That's the first he'd heard of it. "No, can't say I have." Emmilene seemed surprised that his persona hadn't worked over in Azores. That couldn't be good. Wasn't his persona supposed to help him save Azores from something? If he couldn't summon it, what good was this power Emmilene had given him? Did he actually still have it? ...Geez, maybe he should've had Emmilene write a list of things to know about personas. Then maybe he wouldn't be a little worried about all of this.

    Her logic was sound. Her suggestion was good. If it wasn't for the "moment" in her schedule, he'd have said yes immediately. But thinking about how much the girl had to do made him hesitate for a moment before he smiled lightly and asked, "If you're sure, it'd be great if you could show me a few things. Or I could watch that class of yours 'n pick up a few things." He had some time, so sticking around for that shouldn't be an issue. Besides, she was right; if there was a time he needed his persona, it'd really suck if it turned out he couldn't use the thing or was really bad at controlling it. Best to get some type of training, right?

    ...She'd have to bring up the investigation, didn't she? It was still annoying that he hadn't found out much (despite trolling the internet and keeping eyes and ears open for anything remotely related), but at least he wasn't angry about it anymore. He took a breath before folding his arms and exhaling heavily. "No. I've looked around at places on my side, but I haven't found anything new. Nothing helpful, anyways." At one point, Julian had the idea to try looking in one of the other portals besides the ones in Penecia. But that idea had been immediately scratched out. He wasn't an idiot. Going in alone was probably the absolute worst decision he could make. If something less than friendly was on the other side, who would know he was in trouble? Worse yet, who the hell would come and help? No one he knew could see the portals, much less jump through them. So until he found someone else on his side to help him with all of this information gathering, there wasn't much he could do.

    Huh...might've been nice to know that a little sooner. Here he was thinking he'd be completely useless if paranormal things happened, and here it turns out that that's not quite the case. "Its properties surpass that of normal weapons"? Did that mean that if his weapon was a gun, it'd shoot bullets faster, or if it was a knife it'd cut better? ...Well, he'd find out soon.



    He'd, uh...kinda forgotten about the blue doors. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he vaguely remembered Emmilene mentioning that "helpful people" could be found inside. Why didn't he remember that sooner? It would've saved him looking like an idiot right now. Trailing his gaze to the ground as a dusting of pink settled on his cheekbones, Julian tried to reign in his floundering emotions and think of a decent reply that wouldn't annoy the girl standing in front of him. After a few seconds he cleared his throat awkwardly. "S-Sounds like a good idea. I'll check it out."

    He let Emmilene talk for a while longer, eventually shoving his embarrassment aside long enough to look at her face. By the time she was finished, his features had regained their original color and his expression lost the hint of despair it'd possessed earlier. Alright, weapon, weapon. Did he just need to think of it? Or channel something? Or say something? Maybe just do what felt right...? ...Well, his weapon, his rules.

    Brining his hand up experimentally, the dark-haired teen stared at his palm and began to slowly close his fingers into a fist. The action was stopped, however, as cool metal slid along his palm. For a moment, he saw silver and black, twisting and curling outwards. Then it abruptly stopped. Where he'd seen movement was now a silver shining blade, glinting in the hallway lights. Julian twisted the handle of the knife with his fingers, glancing over the weapon before looking back at Emmilene with a small smile. "How's this?"

    "Huh? Uh, no, I-I'm fine." Well, at least she wasn't making fun of him for forgetting or anything. ...Did she confuse awkwardness for being sick? Huh...well, a blessing's a blessing, right? Composing himself as well as he could, Julian focused back on the conversation.

    So maybe he could use this thing on his side? He glanced over the blade thoughtfully for a moment. Being able to summon one could come in handy. If it ever came down to it, he'd have an ace up his sleeve in a fight. And if he sent it away, the authorities couldn't get on his case for unlawfully carrying a weapon. ...Huh. His lips curled upwards in a grin at the thought. Oh yeah, he could definitely get used to this.

    Julian followed Emmilene as she beckoned him into the room. // Nice setup. // Not the fanciest place, but it was kept clean and sparsely furnished so the people inside would have more than enough room to practice in. While he looked over the space, he kept an ear open, nodding lightly once the girl finished her instructions. Hopefully this attempt would turn out better than his last.

    Doing what just felt right worked pretty well for the knife in his hand, so maybe he should try that again. Before he knew it, his free hand had dipped into his pocket and pulled out his iPod. Well, of course that would feel familiar; he carried this thing with him practically everywhere. But the display wasn't his normal "insert your 4-digit pass-code" screen. Instead, all that showed up was a single flashing butterfly icon on a completely black background. Well, that was weird enough. Maybe he was on the right track here. After gazing at the thing for a moment, his thumb tapped the screen once.

    The icon looked like it was sucked into the blue light that suddenly blared from the face of the device. Julian squinted against the glare, turning his mouth down in a light grimace. Geez, this thing was bright. For a second, he thought he might have screwed up somewhere. Maybe the icon had nothing to do with his persona? Maybe his instinct or whatever failed him? Would his iPod still work after this?

    A weight settled itself on top of the teen's head, gently twisting his neck until he came face to face with dark purple eyes surrounded by grey skin. Vaguely aware that the blue light in his peripheral vision had faded, Julian kept his eyes locked on that of his persona's, meeting the searching gaze. After a few seconds, the figure released its hold on the boy's hair and stood at its full height, idly twisting the buttons on its vest with unkempt nails as it faced Emmilene. Then its--well, his would probably be better, since Julian's persona seemed to be male--cheek twitched a few times until an unsure and rather sad attempt at a smile was made.

    Laughing lightly under his breath, Julian looked back at Emmilene with a grin. "What's next?"

    He guessed she'd say something like that. She did mention sparring earlier, after all. Besides, how else was he going to practice? Wasn't like there were drills or anything you could do with personas to get better, right? Combat was, as far as he could tell, pretty much the only way to improve. So why not start now?

    "Heh...she suits you." Julian grinned, watching Emmilene summon her own persona. Both had the same sense of confidence about them, along with a type of...elegance might be the word. Of course, if personas were an "other self" like Emmilene said, no wonder there would be some similarities.

    Fight with the intent to kill? For a moment, Julian gazed at the girl dubiously, wondering if she really meant to say that. Fighting with deadly intent usually led to a lot of accidents. Not to mention that if he actually managed to kill her, this whole place would become hostile in ten seconds flat. Running from soldiers and guards hell bent on vengeance for their leader was not on his agenda. ...Maybe she just meant to give it his all. That was a better idea.

    "Thanks." A bright grin crossed his face as he shifted the knife to a backhanded grip. He'd always been pretty lucky, but another blessing from The Lady couldn't hurt, right?

    The teen trained his gaze on the pair near the center of the room, his eyes flicking back and forth every few seconds so as to watch both of them. When they didn't move for a few moments, he took it as a sign that he was meant to start things off. "Ready to have some fun, Jak?" He raised his knife-bearing hand to his opposite shoulder, keeping his arm across his chest in a defensive position. The grin he'd worn only a few seconds earlier was replaced with tight-lipped concentration.

    His persona gave a feral grin and replied in a soft voice barely loud enough for him to hear, "Always."

    With that Spring-heeled Jak sprang forward, leaping through the air at Emmilene with fingers crooked. He'd attempt to land practically on top of her, slamming both hands onto her shoulders and digging sharp nails into her. Regardless if he was successful or not, Jak would take a large leap back before bounding around to the other side of Emmilene and Maut, keeping the pair between him and Julian.

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