Gathering the Group - Part 2 [Cyrus/Alvin]

It had been four hours since Cyrus had met with Danielle and there were roughly four hours left until that night's meeting, and Cyrus had just realized there was no way he was going back to sleep after his little... encounter with Attendant Gemini. After changing into his favorite getup (A pair of dark blue jeans, work boots, a dark red undershirt and his leather trenchcoat) he decided to go on a stroll, but realized he was forgetting something.... the article was done, he had already taken a shower, changed his clothes... Something was off.

After a while of pondering, Cyrus finally remembered. He had promised Alvin that he would attempt to introduce him to the group, but... it was a little too late for that, considering they were meeting in four hours. An idea came to his head: He could probably get acquainted with everyone else in the meeting itself, even if it was a little rude to come uninvited.... though he guessed it wasn't "uninvited" if he invited him.

Cyrus took his phone from his pocket and dialed the number Alvin had given him when they first met just in front of the late ferris wheel. After a few rings, he was redirected to voicemail.

"Alvin, it's Cyrus. If you're hearing this we need to talk as soon as possible, the group I told you about is having a meeting tonight at seven and I might be able to "smuggle you in" per se, but we'd have to discuss some things before that. Come meet me at the ruins of the ceremony plaza as soon as you can, I'll be waiting for you."

Once he'd done that, he walked all the way to the site where he and the others had fought that giant robot. It was in complete shambles, but there was something... charming about the atmosphere when compared to the state it was in before. Considering that the intense adrenalin of battle and the soothing tranquility of silence and a cool breeze both took place here brought a smile to Cyrus's face.

He noticed something far off on the other side of the plaza, or rather, someone. It was Danielle! Cyrus walked over to her, although she didn't seem to notice him as her attention was engrossed in a notepad.

"Well, isn't this convenient." His british voice causing Danielle to look up from her notepad. "Hey again. I was going to rendezvous with a friend here before the meeting, and then I saw you. I suppose this spot just sort of seemed appealing to come back to for the both of us. This friend I'm talking about is also a Persona user, and I thought maybe he'd be a valuable ally when it comes to defending Eirini, this will certainly make discussing things easier." He finished.

(Now that work's done, time to reply!)
While Alvin's phone rang on his desk, he was wrapping up his sword practice. He chose to wield the Emblem, as nobody was nearby to see him. The wooden dummy he set up had a shield set in front of it. Alvin lowered his stance, ready to practice a technique his father showed him a while ago; The Defense Buster.
Alvin sprang up into the air, bringing the sword down on the dummy's helmet. He then swung his sword back and cut off the short "legs" of the dummy, struck the head with his handle, and then striking the shield, causing it to fall away. Seeing the success of his work, Alvin wiped the sweat off his forehead and went back to his room.

Noticing that his phone had one voicemail, he decided to see who was trying to call him.

"Alvin, it's Cyrus. If you're hearing this we need to talk as soon as possible, the group I told you about is having a meeting tonight at seven and I might be able to "smuggle you in" per se, but we'd have to discuss some things before that. Come meet me at the ruins of the ceremony plaza as soon as you can, I'll be waiting for you."

That's right! Cyrus did say he was going to find the time to let him meet the group members. Realizing that it was almost a quarter past 3, Alvin nearly bolted out of the door, giving a farewell wave to his father before jogging back to the town center.

It looked like war wreaked havoc on the town center. Stalls were smashed, sidewalks blown apart, and even the Ferris wheel was toppled over! Alvin took a moment to look in worry at what these creatures had done to their town, silently relieved the same had not been done to his house.

Off to the side, on a nearby bench, Alvin noticed Cyrus sitting on the bench with a young woman in military garb. Was this one of the Users that fought the behemoth in the town center? Alvin casually walked up to the two. Should they notice him, the young woman would notice a young boy with chestnut brown hair in a light brown coat trot over to them with an eager smile.

"Sorry I didn't get your message in time, Cyrus. I was out practicing my swordplay when it went off. But, hey, I'm here now!"

He then walked closer to the lady, extending his hand with an excited expression.

"You're one of the users, correct? My name's Alvin Armonia, and well, I'm a user too. With, uh, different circumstances."

Cyrus looked forward into the ruins when he heard a familiar voice call out to him and Danielle.

"Sorry I didn't get your message in time, Cyrus. I was out practicing my swordplay when it went off. But, hey, I'm here now!"

"Well hell, that was fast! I wasn't expecting you to show up for another fifteen minutes or so!" He commented, pleasantly surprised.

"Alvin, this is Danielle. She's the one who'll be hosting tonight's meeting."

After the two greeted each other and Alvin sat down on the bench with them, Cyrus got into a more comfortable position and got ready to listen.

"Hm? What do you mean exactly? Care to elaborate?"

Cyrus butted in, slightly worried that Danielle might get the wrong idea. "From what I understand he was awakened by a persona user with long black hair, glowing yellow eyes and wearing a bow on her head. Strange headwear if you ask me, but hey, what do I know about women's fashion?" He chuckled.

"Thanks for bringing him. The more, the better."

"It's "The more, the merrier", but whatever. Don't thank me, thank him for showing up."

So her name was Danielle. Alvin took the time to examine her, keeping the details in the back of his head; if he was going to work with her, it would be better to remember her name at least. Danielle kindly offered him a seat between her and Cyrus, so he kindly accepted, placing his messenger bag at his feet.

"Well hell, that was fast! I wasn't expecting you to show up for another fifteen minutes or so!"

"Well, soon as I got the message, I ran over here. Didn't want to leave you two waiting for long."

They returned to the topic at hand.

"Hm? What do you mean exactly? Care to elaborate?"

"Well, as you probably noticed, I didn't fight with you two at the festival. I was outside looking for my sister when the attack dropped. Next thing I knew, we were running from these mechanical creatures in hot pursuit. There was some casual looking guy that just came out of nowhere and tried to distract them for us. Then... some girl in black and white attire crashed down from the air and blew the monsters to bits with some golden beam attack. Her Persona, though, seemed different. It looked like a masked man with golden eyes made entirely of white butterflies. I just looked at it, and... a voice rang in my head.

Nevertheless, we took the chance and ran home. Thankfully, the creatures didn't seem to stretch out to our place. We live on the very outskirts of town, near the forest. Kelsia made a beeline for her bedroom and hid under the bedsheets while I stood guard at the door. At some point, I felt something come over me, and I guess I fell asleep or something. I had some sort of dream, and nex thing I knew, there was a blue tarot card on my chest. I crushed it, and my Persona appeared. That's about all for now."

After the explanation, she touched on his experience with the sword.

"You practice swordplay, eh? Alright."

"Yep. Learned it from my pops himself. He was in the military a few years ago. He could handle firearms just fine, but when it came to melee combat, the dude was practically unmatchable. He's made a name for himself around the colony."

"What can you and your persona do?"

At this, Alvin opened his messenger back, revealing to Danielle a large quantity of notepads, jars, and animal books, and grabbed a green notebook. Flipping through the pages, he found the spot where Aslan detailed to him the skills he was capable of using. They listed "Maragi, Cleave, Media" with the words "Courageous Light- Aslan Pow." and "Defense Buster- My Pow." scrawled below it. He handed it over to Danielle, allowing her to read them.

Seeing the two become quick friends brought Cyrus genuine satisfaction; a feeling he'd been lacking as of the last few days.

"Oh, right! Danielle, I almost forgot! I made sure that the twins are going to be present in tonight's meeting! They uh.... may or may not have committed unlawful entry, but let's not focus on the details. Point is, with Alvin, War and Peace we have... like, what, seven people present? Assuming your friend, the one with the red sword, shows up. I'd say that's a pretty good number."

"In regards to that woman... If she's who I think she is, then yes, I've met her before. Her name is Philia..."

When Danielle said this, Cyrus noticed that her expression was somewhat troubled, like hearing that Alvin had met this Philia had brought concern to her.

"Danielle...? Should we be concerned about this woman?"

In regards to that woman... If she's who I think she is, then yes, I've met her before. Her name is Philia..

So her name was Philia... Alvin was unsure at first, but that name seemed familiar. He certainly didn't have the time to ask her for her name. Her only words to the two were certainly negative, calling them idiots for trying to defend themselves without proper weapons. Suddenly, he remembered what Philia said that day.

Philemon, destroy them!

"Hey, um, guys. Does the name Philemon mean anything to you? That's what I heard Philia call the Persona I saw. Plus, you know, is Philia usually blunt with her words?"

"Well, I'm no swordsman myself, but I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve from my military training. I take it your father is a soldier as well, Alvin?"

"Well, he's off duty now. He served in the military for six years, then left to raise a family with his sweetheart. He's still keeping his sword sharp. He even offers to instruct others to fight with a sword. He's taught me some pretty awesome techniques. Even one where I can break through an opponent's guard even with a tower shield!"

Hearing Cyrus mention two individuals named War and Peace, Alvin's glance suddenly shot to Cyrus.

"War and Peace? Are those members of the group? Who else managed to bring down the behemoth?"

"Hey, um, guys. Does the name Philemon mean anything to you? That's what I heard Philia call the Persona I saw. Plus, you know, is Philia usually blunt with her words?"

Wait hold on, what?

Cyrus thought back to his previous conversation with Attendant Gemini.



"The god Philemon, the one who we serve under, takes everything about you and awakens your psyche to a persona..."



"Uhhh... War and Peace said something about serving under a god called "Philemon", I just shrugged it off as superstition, but... if this Philia's persona could be described as god-like, then she may be much more powerful than I anticipated."

Cyrus checked the time, it was starting to get late and he STILL had stuff to do. He quickly adjusted his clothes and stood up.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two have become quick friends, I should get going to buy those snacks I promised to bring to the meeting. Alvin, it's being held in the Tennfjord manor at seven, I hope to see you there."

Cyrus waved at both of his friends before pocketing his hands and walking off. There were lots of things to do.

"Uhhh... War and Peace said something about serving under a god called "Philemon", I just shrugged it off as superstition, but... if this Philia's persona could be described as god-like, then she may be much more powerful than I anticipated."

Wait... God?! That thing was a god? True, the power that thing possessed was unlike anything Alvin had seen thus far. but it felt... off. As if what he saw was only an image, a fraction of power. Alvin mulled it over in his head.

"Well, I'm glad to see you two have become quick friends, I should get going to buy those snacks I promised to bring to the meeting. Alvin, it's being held in the Tennfjord manor at seven, I hope to see you there."

"Alright, see you then. Thanks for introducing us."

As Cyrus stuffed his hands in his pockets and made his way out of the area, Alvin glanced at his watch. There was still a few hours before the meeting, so Alvin planned on heading home to let his parents know he would be out and buy some birdseed for his windowsill dish. He turned to Danielle.

"Ms. Danielle, do you need anything else from me? Otherwise, I'll be heading out. But, before I go, can you point me to where that Tennfjord manor is?"

"I guess I'll see you at the meeting then. Stay safe."

After committing to memory the details of where to find the manor, Alvin pushed himself onto his feet and began to wander towards the road heading home. Before he left, Alvin turned to Danielle.

"You too, Danielle. I'll do my best. I won't let anything else harm the colonies."

Alvin broke eye contact with Danielle and ran down the road, an excited grin stretched across his face.

"Looks like my time's come to defend the colony. Now, how am I going to convince the family to let me fight with these guys? ...Eh, Dad'll understand."

[Alvin has left the area.]