Julian's Hollow Shell (Prime Awakening)

    Honestly, what was he supposed to expect on the other side of that door? The message that the Velvet Room had left for him had been so vague. "Something that concerns Julian". Right. His imagination had wrestled with the concept for such a long time, generated so many different possibilities and situations that, in the end, it basically shut down, leaving him with almost no expectations and a peculiar sort of wary calm that seemed to numb him to the whole adventure. That feeling somehow stuck around even after he'd stepped into the club and slowly surveyed the area.

    He'd barely taken more than a couple of steps forward before he heard crunching and clinking against the floor. Pulling his foot back, the teen blinked, the momentary panic fading into confusion and mild disgust as he looked to the floor. // God this place is a mess... // What the hell happened here? A fight? Ugh, there was garbage everywhere.

    // ...? // Wait a second...

    Julian lowered himself onto his haunches and ran his fingertips over the cracked earphone he'd stepped on a moment ago. He used to own a pair just like these. Well, until they went missing a month or so ago. There was no way he'd misplace that fluorescent green circuit-board pattern. His eyes trailed along the floor, sifting through the junk scattered around nearby. He recognized the buttons from a control pad, a heavy link of chain, wheels, shredded playing cards...

    Before he had much time to dwell on why these things looked familiar (although he had his suspicions), a voice crackled out from somewhere. A speaker? He wouldn't be surprised if a place like this had one, no matter how disarrayed it might be by now. But the voice didn't have that mechanical quality a loudspeaker or intercoms usually gave. This one was...just loud, but almost faded.

    Julian kept his silver eyes on the ground as the voice spoke. Occasionally he tilted his head or closed his eyes for a moment, but otherwise was perfectly still for the duration of the message. There was no doubt that little blurb was for him. This was his door or whatever, right? He might as well listen and try to figure out whatever the hell was going on.

    After the voice was done, Julian stayed still, crouched on the floor. So..."he" was a coward willfully and looked down on others, but had some sort of...complex? No, that wasn't the right word...maybe fear? "He" was afraid of people? Afraid of...himself?

    // ...Well, that was poetic. //

    He smiled slightly to himself before standing fully and turning to the girl who he'd asked to come with him. "Looks like we're going to need to explore a bit. Be on your guard, okay?"

    With that said he looked around the room before walking over to the wall in front of him with three doors. There were a lot of paths he could take, it seemed. One, two...six doors, all in all. In the end, though, he needed to pick one and go. Sitting around would accomplish nothing. Julian exhaled heavily through his nose before holding his hand up and tightening it into a fist, his knife appearing in hand before the ction was completed. Once Daemon was back in his grasp, the cool metal somehow a little mollifying, he opened the door to the left, peeking into the hallway cautiously before stepping out and walking down the hallway...

Movement:

That day had started out pretty normal, at least by Mae's standards. She had been sleeping for quite a while that morning, and if it wasn't for Julian's text message waking her up, she probably would've kept on sleeping for a while longer. Yesterday had been a long one for the teen, as she had been running errands for her mother for 6 hours straight, getting the scene and everything ready for her concert. Now, the pinkette stood outside the Velvet Room, a slight hesitation keeping her hand from opening the door. // Come on Mae... He asked specifically for your help, so turn the handle already! // After a long internal struggle, Mae finally opened the door, and entered the Velvet Room, where Julian waited for her. He had explained everything through his text message, so Mae didn't say anything aside from a casual "Hey, Julian" with a nervous smile on her face, before the two entered the new door inside the room...

----------------------------------

A... Club? Or at least, it looked like one... A very shabby club, at that. Glass shards from broken wine bottles and various trashed objects littered every inch of the floor. "Yeesh... What is this place?" She said quietly, inching her way closer to Julian a bit nervously. This place scared her. Much more than Alternate Penecia or that desert ever did... What were they going to find in here? Well, she couldn't bail out now. Julian had trusted her enough to bring her here... And besides... she could finally help him out. Repaying him finally for saving her life. Would this be enough?

Mae looked curiously at the small object Julian had picked up. An earbud? Were Julian's possessions scattered across the floor along with the glass? Maybe... After all, this was HIS domain, no? Or at least... a part of him owned this place. "Y-yeah... I'm ready." Mae said nervously, before summoning her Naginata and followed slowly behind Julian. "So... Do you have any clue as to why this is a club of all things?" Mae asked while she tip-toed carefully over the glass shards... It would seem there were a number of doors around them... What each of them hid from the two teens was anyone's guess, but Mae doubted it would be anything pleasant. After all, this place gave her the creeps. But at least she wasn't alone here. And that was more than enough to keep her going.

Movement:

    "Maybe because I go to one a lot?" the teen ventured with a light smile and a shrug. Why out of all places this one was a club, he had no idea. If it wanted to play off of a place that was close to him, they could've chosen that arcade in San Francisco, or his house in Ohio, or even the amusement park where his dad worked. Who knows who or what chose this and why? Maybe they could ask if they found the person behind all of this.

    Julian put out his arm and held Mae back when the snakes came into view. He glanced at her and gave her a meaningful look, signalling her to be quiet. // Maybe we can go around...no, there's a door there... // If there was anything Julian learned from history books, tactical games, RPGs, and practically every single movie under the sun, it was that if there were monsters in front of a door, it meant that what lay behind it was important. Maybe the source of that voice, or some answers...?

    Steeling himself, Julian leaned close to Mae, whispering to her, "Alright. We need to get to that door, and these things are stopping us. Looks like we're going to fight." He hated to have to fight so soon, but you have to do what you have to do, right? He reached into his pocket and pulled out his iPhone, tapping the persona app. "Don't worry. I'll take care of them; just watch my back, alright?" After looking back at her with a reassuring grin, he faced forwards just as black fog was dissipating, revealing a blinking Jak who glanced around before catching eye of the enemy.

    "Jak."

    The demon rushed forwards without further prompting, leaping as high as the ceiling would allow before nearly crashing into the snakes, his hands a blur as he ripped at the shadows' scales with a sadistic cackle that drifted through the halls.

Stats:

Attack:

Damage:

Miss Chance for Amorous Snake 1:

Miss Chance for Amorous Snake 2:

Critical Chance for Amorous Snake 1:

Critical Chance for Amorous Snake 2:

Passives:

"That seems like a very... flimsy reason for making this place a club. But oh well. Whatever's the reason behind it has something to do with you." She figured as much anyway. After all, the door to this place wasn't here when she had visited the velvet room earlier that week... And considering Julian's text to her, her assumption was fairly correct. "Wait... You go to a club? I didn't know you liked that sort of stuff..." Mae gave Julian a gentle, playful shove on his shoulder before moving on.

Of course... It was never easy was it? "Just our luck huh? And snakes too, of all things. Just... Ew." Well, judging by the red masks they were wearing, they were obviously Shadows. Which meant she was going to have to fight them, huh? Her grip around her Naginata tightened, as the blue magician card appeared in front of her. With a single swift swipe with her soulbound weapon, the card was smashed to pieces, summoning her Persona. "Alright. You know what to do, right?"


Qilin's voice would reach them both. She was really concerned, and with all right to be too... Unknown territory and everything... "You know I am, Qilin."

Stats:

Passives:

Actions:

Forumotion for some reason deleted the numbers I used for the hit/miss and critical randomizers, so I'm re-rolling here:

Miss Chance for Amorous Snake 1:

Miss Chance for Amorous Snake 2:

Critical Chance for Amorous Snake 1:

Critical Chance for Amorous Snake 2:

    Phew...alright, that was taken care of.

    For a moment, Julian debated on keeping his persona out and about for the time being. If there were more shadows, it would be better to be on guard just in case. Besides, there was no telling what lay behind that door they were about to go through. Might as well be ready for anything. After coming to this conclusion, Julian put his electronic back into his pocket and turned to Mae. "You okay?" It wouldn't be a good idea to press on if one of them was seriously injured. He'd wait until he received an okay before giving her a nod and walking over to the door at the end of the hall.

    // Alright, what's behind door number one...? // Cautiously the teen reached out and grasped the doorknob, turning it and slowly pushing the door open. When it was cracked, he'd peek into the room and check for signs of motion. Then he continued pushing the door open before it he finally stepped into the room, glancing around for another door or something new.

"I'm okay! How about you?" Mae asked as Qilin floated down beside her. "I didn't really do much... But I can heal us if necessary..." Mae fidgeted slightly in place before she followed Julian, slowly. The door opened up, and the two entered the room. What could be waiting for them inside...?

Stats:

Movement:

    His silver gaze immediately fell on the figure in the room. Automatically he tensed, glancing around for another door or some way out. ...Damn, no dice. The only way out was through the door they came out of. But should they leave now, or try and figure out if this was the source of his voice from earlier...?

    The couple seconds he hesitated apparently seemed too long to fate, and so the choice was made for him.

    "Dad?" he muttered under his breath. His features twisted in confusion and shock with a heaping dose of trepidation mixed in. His dad shouldn't be here. He couldn't be here. Matthew was back in Penecia, working on some gadget or improvement to the park, tinkering like he always did. At least, he should be....Could he...have fallen in...?

    ...No.

    Matthew didn't talk like that.

    Matthew sure as hell didn't act like that.

    Matthew would never be so heartless or stinging or even just damn unsupportive of him.

    This wasn't his dad.

    Julian's grip on Daemon tightened so much that the handle of the knife teetered between it's liquid and solid states for a few seconds before solidifying again. His free hand curled into a fist, his short nails actually digging into his palms and leaving burning little crescents. His features, once coiled with hurt, smoothed until he appeared almost eerily calm; that is, unless you looked closely and could see the tightening of his jaw as he very nearly ground his teeth. Was this how this damn world was trying to test him? By turning things from his life into shit copies of themselves, spewing out little empty thoughts he had? Was this his fucking test?

    Well then, by all means, challenge fucking accepted.

    "Don't call me that."the teen's voice was low, controlled, but a thinly veiled edge could be plainly heard. He took a deep breath before looking over at Mae and carefully resting a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, Mae, but I can't let this slide. Would you mind backing me up again?" He'd glance at her for confirmation. If she seemed upset in any way, he'd give her a small, terse smile. "Don't worry. I'm fine. And you will be too. I promise I won't let this thing hurt you."

    With that being said, Julian stepped forwards and stood in front of Mae, readying himself in a stance that had grown all too familiar as he narrowed his eyes at the thing. "What was that you were saying about my death? I'd like to see you try."
    As if on cue, Jak scrambled from the doorway and loomed behind Julian, resting his slender hands on the teen's shoulders as he peered at "Matthew" with a wry little smirk. "Oh, I dearly hope you do. It much more fun, don't you agree?"

Stats:

Action Taken:

Passives: