Recuperation [Rita & Hyde]

    "Invading shadow"? What was that supposed to mean? As far as Julian could tell, the shadow they fought wasn't invading anything except maybe a dozen or so comfort levels on his part. Before Julian could do much more than raise an eyebrow questioningly, Hyde barreled on, effectively getting back on track before any questions could be asked. Well, Hyde said he got his missions via text too. Maybe they both got the same mission and he just hadn't looked at it yet.

    "We didn't find anything except a few fights, and the only thing that did any talking was us." Julian responded. After a moment, he'd look between the two before asking a couple questions of his own. "Mind filling me in on this...'mask shadow' and...'awakening'?" The shadow part he understood somewhat. Somewhere, sometime, Hyde and Shino--Rita, actually--had fought one together. What didn't make sense was that it spoke. He figured shadows weren't capable of speech, except for shrieks and wails and the normal cacophony you'd expect from monsters. ...No, wait, Hyde said they saw a girl. Instantly, Emmilene flashed through his mind, but he dismissed the idea. She'd never come over to this side unless it was important; she had too much to do on her side, too many people to look after. And what did he mean by "awakening"? The way Hyde was using it made it seem like an event or something; was it something he should be aware of? Even if it wasn't, he'd prefer to know, just in case.

“Hmmm…” Hyde was thinking about a good example that could explain what he meant about equipment. “Well, I would say that there are things that could help you in a pinch, but it’s not really a one-time use. As long as you have them on you, they could really help you out.  Like…tearless loafers! Yea! I have a pair!! Surprisingly, you are much quicker on your feet when you are fighting a shadow when wearing those. I guess that some of this equipment has some conditions to them, but they are still useful.”

Hyde would let Rita explain to Julian what happened, he as happily listening to the story as if it was some hero fairytale. However, Hyde would have a surprised and delusional look on his face when Rita mentioned the shadow wall.



“Now Now, let’s not get too picky. They strategically removed me, thinking that you guys would be weak without my help. However, you sure as heck proved them wrong. “ Hyde would then turn back to  Julian. “ You don’t remember me mentioning to you those mass awakenings?  I think I did when we played basketball.

“Hyde would then sigh  as he got back into a thinking position on the bed. “Alright, maybe  it was a but of a dead end, but we should keep our eyes open on that girl and continue to get stronger.  By the way, you might not know this, but the rest of my friends saved those two kidnapped girls and stopped Lewis Rhodes,  you want me to get into that for a little bit?”

    Oh...that. Hyde did mention a fight going down where he awakened to his persona, but based on what Rita said, Julian was pretty sure those two were separate events. So they both awakened to their personas because of a fight? ...Guess that made him the odd one out. "...You got stuck behind a wall?" fixing his silver gaze onto the redhead, a wry little smirk worked its way onto Julian's lips. He couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice, nor did he try to. It was a funny image, and entirely plausible. Besides, it would do him some good to laugh at something. Still grinning, Julian woud shake his head lightly at Hyde. "No, you told me about a different fight where you awakened to your persona. This one is news to me."

    ...Wait. Wait. Hyde and his friends were the one to take down Rhodes? That's...kind of important information. And Hyde failed to mention this earlier...why? "I'd definitely like to hear more about that. But first," the teen held up one hand, moving it slightly in a "come back" kind of gesture, "this girl you saw at the gym fight. What did she look like? What did she say?" Since stumbling upon this whole supernatural thing, this was the first time Julian was getting any hard facts. Hell, this was the first time he'd ever been able to really talk with other people about the whole thing. It made him understandably eager and more than a little excited. Finally, this whole situation would become a little more clear, and maybe be solved soon enough. Hell, maybe he'd even find a way to help the other side of Penecia soon enough. ...Actually...should he tell these two about that...?

Hyde would start to think about the question that Julian just asked, as well as the image of that girl. “Give me a second. “ Hyde would then close his eyes and think about that particular “Awakening” a bit more. ““ Green eyes, a light brown color of hair, yellow vest with a purple scarf, a dark peach color of shorts, black stockings with a black and white diamond pattern, and I think it was a white longsleeve shirt she was wearing under the yellow vest. She had an indication of witnessing everything that happened, as well as disappearing when we tried to chase her. I thought she was a reporter or something, but that’s how she looked. Now, onto the juicy stuff.”

Hyde would then proceed to pass on some valuable information from the debriefing to Rita and Julian. “Well, it’s a good thing you know Sharaku, we know each other as well. I’m sure he had your contact information, might as well have you all converse among eachother. But anyhow…” Hyde would make a small cough and continue to explain.

“ My friends managed to successfully rescue Rinna and Lune as well as capturing Lewis. However, there were complications. After defeating Lewis, they met the presumed mastermind behind all of this. A Caucasian woman with long red hair favoring a robe with a hood. This woman was able to extract Lewis' power and was quite powerful herself. We learned that Lune might not be the person that Lewis was tasked to find, however it could still be. We know she is looking for someone, and needs that person to advance her plan. Also she tasked us to explore the alternate worlds if we want to save our own world. Evidently in order to save our own worlds we must find secrets which should prevent the merge or whatever she has set up from occurring. I believe whatever she did the portals put us on a timer, though she mentioned a few things of interest. She mentioned having to "lay low", I do believe we are not the only ones pursuing her I think there might be something else. The last fact of note that I can recall is that her brother is in one of the alternate worlds, perhaps he can help us in some way. He lives in a disgusting world according to his sister...not exactly sure where that is, but I have a guess. Foiling her plan is our main objective, and moving us in the right direction, that is all we need. We need leads about the secrets of those worlds, and we simply need to find out how."

Hyde would then take a deep breath and sigh after opening his eyes. “ And that’s everything based off of memory. This isn’t all fun and games, were being timed.

    Light brown hair and green eyes were traits shared by probably half the people in Azores. The clothes described sounded pretty flashy, but he doubted this girl would be wearing the exact same ensemble every day; best to keep that in mind, just in case, but not rely on that. "Looks like a reporter" was a little vague (Was it because she was carrying a camera? Was it her demeanor? Was it something she said?), but at least it was something. Now he had something to look for at least. For a moment, Julian considered asking for clarification on what he meant by "indication of witnessing everything", but seeing as how the redhead jumped ahead so eagerly, he figured it best to sit on that for the time being.

    Throughout the debriefing of what Hyde's friends had accomplished and all that they'd learned, the teen kept silent, focusing his gaze on the ground and mulling over each fact until he was certain he wouldn't forget any of it. All of this was important, all of this was relevant. Throwing away any of it was like throwing away pieces of one of the most complex puzzles he'd ever come across, and what idiot would do that?

    Julian took a deep breath, letting the weight of the words sink in before he looked at the two in front of him. "Alright then. Seems like we should probably start poking around in some of the other worlds, learn what we can, and make it fast." After a brief pause, he'd ask, "Have either of you gone through a rift and found people on the other side?" It might've seemed like a strange question at first, but it was a decent bridge into telling what he knew about Penecia. It might not be much, but information was information, and he might as well fork what he knew over if he was going to be working with these people.

“Disgusting world? Well, that lady proved to be quite the sociopath, as well as arrogant. The alternate world that her brother could be in wouldn’t necessarily be disgusting, it could be reverse psychology as to what “Disgusting people” in personality, would consider disgusting. The opposite perhaps? Anyway, we might as well check all of them, up for it?

Hyde would then proceed to answer Julian’s question. Yes I have, Alternate penecia, there was a beautiful girl that served as a resistance leader. When I jumped in the portal, security demanded to see my persona. When they examined it, I was permitted to go through. There is currently a war going on against another group of people that could very well be considered the bad guys of what we are. I promised her that I would find some help , in hopes that she could help us with our problem if we are able to bring that war to a close. As for Alternate San Malarus, everyone there Is on a witch hunt for persona users, they will literally kill you. You should be careful over there, it had something to do with some red storm. Anyway, take that warning seriously. And that’s all I know.

    For a moment, Julian was a little shocked to hear that Hyde had already gone into alternate Penecia. Well, more so that he'd met Emmilene already. How long had she known about Hyde? Was this a recent development or had he gone there multiple times? He shook his head lightly to refocus himself on what Hyde said about this alternate San Malarus. It was a little scary to think that in another version of his home, there was a chance he'd get called out and killed. In other worlds, having a persona was common knowledge (or so it seemed based on what Mason had told him). What had happened over there to warrant such behavior...? "I see. And do you know what this 'red storm' is?"

    Julian would let Hyde answer the question and give Rita time to ask any of her own before he spoke up again. "You got the jist of what's going on in the other Penecia, I guess. You didn't get everything though." He leaned forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. "Over there, their world was destroyed by war. A fight between gods, actually." ...God, he sounded almost crazy to himself. But he might as well spit all he knew out. "Even though everything's been demolished, the war's still going on. The girl you met, Hyde--her name's Emmilene. She's one of the champions. The other side--the 'bad guys,'" he glanced at Hyde for a brief moment, "they have one too. Apparently, each god--the ones who started the war in the first place--saw that the war wasn't going anywhere. Now, it's mostly a competition between both sides to see which champion gets killed first." That's really what it boiled down to in the end, wasn't it? Either Emmilene or that other champion would die, and then their war would be over. "Right now, that side has their hands full with the war. On top of that, all the guards, soldiers, and anyone else over there--except for Emmilene--can't see the rifts, even if they have a persona. They're pretty much blocked from our world, and Emmilene wouldn't think of leaving her world until the war is over. I think we can say that, right now, we're on our own." Julian fixed Rita and Hyde with a solemn gaze for a second. "Trust me, while it might seem like a good idea to settle that side's issues and gain a little more support, we're on a deadline. They're not. We can't afford to waste any time right now, not until we find something more concrete on this woman you're talking about, Hyde, or that girl you met in the gym, or any of this." Normally, he wouldn't push an issue quite this hard, but Emmilene once told him that whatever was going on in Azores was more important than her war; more important than a war started by gods. That  was enough to made him a little more insistent than usual.

The red storm is some crazy event that killed a lot of persona users. I don’t know why on persona users are trying to prevent something that kills persona users, by killing persona users. Just leave that world alone.” Hyde would listen to the exchange and scratch his head. “Well, the secret does involve the other worlds. We need to find out this woman’s connection and see if anyone would know who her brother is. Most of all we need a name, we are kind of stuck. But anyway, we should split up and check out some worlds other than san malarus. We should also sharpen our skills, there might be another mass awakening that we would stumble upon, it might even be luck that most of the kids out age lived through such traumatic experiences. In case a group isn’t so lucky and we can help them, it’s best to be strong. “

Hydewould then go into his mini fridge and pull out a bottle of water. “Anyway we should work together to solve this. I don’t want us to lose our world either. Also, be careful with the missions, there is so much that we don’t know about the alternate worlds that they could be sensitive to whatever we do. That’s how I got caught in the red storm mess, there was a mission to fight the boom boxer. I’m thinking its just a chance to showcase my skills and get stronger, the crowds went insane and bloodthirsty. I had no clue about the red storm, even though my persona was my only means of defending myself.

    "You're right, we shouldn't ignore it. I'm trying to say don't let their problems become your priority." he'd reiterate. "If we can help them in the process of fixing Azores, great, but we need to get our world sorted out first." Maybe he'd come off so strong that his core message got a little convoluted. No matter. This should set the record straight. After all, what help were they going to be to another world if their own home ended up in the same situation? It almost seemed...hypocritical, if you could call it that.

    Hyde made sense too. More training with Jak definitely seemed like a good idea, and he was more comfortable with the thought of venturing into the other worlds for that purpose now that he had at least two people he could call on in case he needed help. Splitting up to cover more ground...that was a good thought too. They just needed to be careful-

    ...What? Julian felt his face scrunch in mild confusion at the redhead's story. Who the hell was the "Boom Boxer"? And crowds? Did Hyde attract a crowd with that fight? ...That was kind of stupid. No, not kind of, really stupid. "Well, I think we know which place you won't be investigating." He propped his chin in one hand, flashing the redhead a wry smile. "I've been to Alternate Penecia a few times. They know me over there, and so far they trust me. I can ask around over there." The teen's face clouded over as he thought for a moment. There were seven islands in Azores, if he remembered correctly, and he would assume each island had a counterpart. Seven places to look into further... "I wonder how many of the other worlds have people actually living there." he mused aloud. "The world we went into today was pretty barren. Well, unless you count the shadows roaming around." All of the worlds needed to be looked into, right? Well, the populated worlds were a little easier in that respect; you just needed to ask around, do a little digging. In the shadow-only ones? They'd probably have to explore every inch of the place just to find something, if anything. "I think it'd be best to group up in the ones where we know we'll be fighting. Then at least we have some support in case something goes wrong."

I can’t make any promises Rita. If things go bad and having a regular weapon isn’t enough, magic is the way to go. And when I say magic, I mean we would have to use our personas, especially if we were randomly attacked by shadows while we were over there. But I will promise that I won’t have it out randomly unless I absolutely need it. It is ours, it exists for us to use in case we need to protect ourselves or save others that can’t do what we can. That’s what I think a persona is for….” Hyde said those words with a sense of finality to them, he wasn’t going to budge on his ideas as to what a persona was for so easily.

“But I haven’t been anywhere else; it’s about time that we start covering some ground. Also, I feel as if we covered a lot today. Be careful around Ariston Rhodes, he might have some kind of power to him or something. We don’t know if it was just Lewis, or the two brothers were both involved in some kind of way. It’s just an assumption though, so don’t take it to heart, but we still got to be careful and protect each other. I’m only saying this because I care about you guys, don’t relax so easily. “