We're all Mad here [Dungeon]

Well, it seemed he wasn’t the only one pondering the oddness of the team set up, but even so he wouldn’t say anything on the matter as his mismatched eyes drifted around the area To the comment about loosing up, he would take note of Maria doing her best to relax; however, unlike her he would remain serious enough. He wasn’t stressed...far from it to be precise. He just didn’t show his emotions to the world when it came to this sort of thing. He kept them locked away tightly, leaving his mind focused on the situation at hand. He honestly didn’t see the point of loosing up just for the sake of fun on a job….and probably wouldn’t  see it unless something happened to change his perspective in life. A thing he did not think would happen soon.

Was the only response she’d get from the young man as he looked off to the side, his expression one of slight defiance. He was stubborn about changing his ways, but at the same time wasn’t going to start fights out of the trivial either. Noah was bit more vocal than himself, but summoned up his feelings well enough with his words. Even so, he would remain quiet only looking over at the group when Claire and Lisa left. Once they were gone, his eyes would drift over to Maria briefly catching her eye as she seemed to look back at them all for some reason or another. He’d tilt his head at this slightly wondering what the look was for; however, he would dismiss it as everyone seemed to be focus on moving out now.

“Right,” he would say before moving to fall in step with the others. It looked like they were going to finally be moving into the mad world beyond. Though he wondered...once they were in it would they be okay? This world was created by the mind of another, so would that mean said person would have control of the world beyond, right?...And if so did that play into the mind games of mention earlier? He would ponder this a bit and then hearing Noah’s question, he would answer.

“I wouldn’t doubt she has eyes here...or maybe even some ability to control this place if she created it,” he would begin as he looked around the area they were in. “After all, in order to be a good hostess she’d have to ensure her guests not only remained entertained, but when tea is served not be late for the party she has has handed invites out for....” he would say before falling silent again as he followed behind the group. He just hoped that since they were a larger unit and pretty much walking through the front door that their target would have eyes only for them as they moved. Provided they could make enough of a ruckus to keep their hostess busy....

Action:

Maria knit her brows together in disapproval at the behavior Shiina and Noah were displaying, but mostly it was to the former. She really wanted their little organization tonight to work well together without having to worry about each member bickering with each other. After all, tonight this operation was not only to capture the Psyche Terrorist, it was to rescue the hostage as well. In order to pull this off, it required a cohesive amount of teamwork that can get them through any task and hardship tonight. This kind of exchange made her wonder if it was possible for them to get through. Despite feeling the tension, Maria continued to try to keep calm and tried to keep the situation under control.


Damage control was all she can do right now, as weak as it was. It was taking all she could to not allow a bit of her frustration to leak out. She continued to meander down through the path with the team. The nun kept her eyes peeled, trying to stay attentive for anything out of the ordinary. Then again, this whole place was hardly normal either. It brought a slight chill through her spine at the otherworldly bowels of the labyrinth. It wasn't like Maria was going to complain, this wasn't the time for it, of course. Though it didn't mean that she was going to keep her mouth shut when Noah wanted to talk about the mission. A lot of her teammates agreed that she was likely watching their every actions, it was quite the disadvantage.

"It's always to safe to assume that you are always at some form of a disadvantage. You never know what the enemy has in store for you," Maria didactically replied while continuing onward, "There's a reason why hubris has been the cause of failure and loss... Just like five years ago."

It should be needless to say what she meant about that time. The Eternal Divide has caused many to lose everything. Maria was definitely no exception. Conversation aside, she soon noticed there seemed to be some green clouds in the way. "We'll need to pass through, hold your breath everyone. We have no idea what the gas does."

Following her own advice, Maria started to walk through. Maybe it wouldn't do much to help, but it could alleviate some of the issues brought up by the clouds.

Movement:

While Haru’s mood was slightly rebellious, it seemed that everyone had something to say in regards to Claire’s comment. A bit surprising, but proving two points. One you cannot tell someone how to behave or judge them for being serious and two...maybe they were a bit tense, but not because of the mission itself, but rather clashing personalities. As his small frown faded and he watched the group, Maria’s words only further proved this train of thought. She wanted everyone to get along and yet...was her words not going to cause a bit of friction?

His mismatched eyes would close as a bit as a very faint smile came to his face as the counter from Noah came. Well then question answered, though he did have a point. They all did in a way. They were each individuals and while being peaceful was nice and all, he found that sometimes letting things simply flow good or bad was the best way to let people figure out for themselves what worked and didn’t work for them around people. Sure the path might not always be right, but then again whatever was? If you couldn’t fall, how could you grow? A shallow point of view maybe, but one that seemed to be pretty broad in life these days.

Regardless, he would agree with Noah’s last comment. “Mmm. A chat at a later date wouldn’t be a bad idea,” he would say as his eyes reopened. His tone was soft and very relaxed considering his early behavior. It seemed the more time he spent around these folks the more comfortable he became. This did not equal trust yet, but at least he was okay with working with them and maybe even actually settling to know them a bit better. Small steps for a later date. For now it was time to move out.

He would follow the group, lagging a few paces behind as he did so keeping his position as rear guard, but making sure to stay near enough be able to hear any chatter that came about. Speaking of chatter Noah’s question seemed to spark quite a bit of it didn’t it?

As he listened, he would give a light nod at the words floating about. “Perhaps she will choose for us or perhaps she will let us choose our own tea. There are many possibilities of what our hostess may or may not do and unfortunately we may very well end up in her hands if we don’t play our cards right. Even so, a little risk is never bad. Keeps the game fresh for both sides,” he would say his words calm though the small smirk that came at the last part of his words would make one wonder what was really going on his mind. He wouldn’t reveal the secret and quite frankly the smile would soon fade as five years ago was brought up.

“Yes things like that tend to bring many things down and while this scale is indeed smaller than before, I am sure it will be equally maddening,” Haru would say as his mind briefly went back to the past. Yeah...back then he had barely got away with his life...and now those same creatures could be here along with who knew what else. Well...at least he was smarter than back then and could fight back so maybe...just maybe it would be alright in the end.

Speaking of risks....

So you see there was this green gas like cloud ahead of them, right? And Maria, see she wanted to just go through it saying hold their breath in and all because they needed to pass. He understood the need to hurry, but throwing all the eggs in one basket before testing to see if said gas was even deadly? This was the most baffling thing ever. So much so he actually would stop as he eyed the gas suspiciously.

“Don’t you think it wiser to have someone test it before doing such a....” he would trail off as she and Noah seemed to just waltz in. He would sigh slightly to himself as he watched this. Honestly...this was just a bit mind numbing. They didn’t know what the gas was and yet they just wandered into like it was okay to do, so. Whether this was bravery or foolishness he could not tell and clearly didn’t have time to ponder it either. They were getting ahead.

“Tch! So much for that,” he would grumble to himself before shifting in his spot to move forward. He honestly wished they would’ve sent one person in...perferably himself. That way they wouldn’t have to worryabout everyone facing something horrible or even worse death. It would’ve taken time, but at least if one person could survive it they would have the proof they needed to not be too worried about the cloud being toxic... but since no one was on that line of thought, he supposed he had no choice, but to follow. He couldn’t exactly afford to get left behind now could he…

Action: :

Maria wasn't surprised that holding their breath would fail to do anything substantial in the first place. But nothing ventured nothing gained, right? Then again, it wasn't like she had that kind of mindset. She lacked a complete sense of life preservation in the first place due to her earlier preparation before becoming a Cadet. And her complete lack of experience in this whole thing didn't help either when compounded with the urgency to get this mission finished so they could save the possible hostage. Perhaps, Claire was right. She was being too up-tight.

The only boon they got is they were able to see the form of what looked like a cat before passing out. Upon waking, they were back. But Maria noticed entrance was gone. Normally one would be panicking right now.


The mantra that was hammered into her very grey matter echoed in her mind, it was a reminder. One that allowed her to empty herself even more so. This was going to be the last mistake she'd ever make. And her mind and heart hopefully clearer this time unless Alice did something to her. But, she doubted her own resolve could be fabricated so easily anyway. Though it did make her wonder what happened to Lisa and Claire.

Movement:

He had misgivings about just rushing ahead into the green fog and while his gut and logic told him to stay, he had ignored his gut and against better judgement had followed the group in. The moment he did….he regretted it. The gas wasn’t a deadly poison. No death would’ve probably been the merciful thing in comparison to what happened. It didn’t matter if breath was held or not, the moment he stepped into the gas, he felt his mind threatening to break as something crawled in and tried to shatter him. He struggled to keep control, but was quickly losing. In that madness, he recalled seeing a strange cat. Recalled it speaking in a female voice and mentioning some odd words before the power given to him by the Queen cut through the swirl in his mind and ceased the madness. It ended it; however, just as quickly as he found calmness again, he blacked out. His body collapsing to the ground.

“.......”

He wasn’t sure how long it was before his senses came back to him. All he knew was one minute he was in darkness and the next, he was waking up back at what appeared to be the beginning of the place they had entered. A bit groggy still, he’d sit up a bit blinking sleepily before shaking his head to refocus.

Pushing himself up a bit more, he’d see that Maria was back on her feet and like before was telling them to move out. However, unlike before he didn’t immediately follow as he pushed himself into a crouching position before moving to check on the rest of the group. He would check on Shiina and Athena first to see if they were alright and if they were, he would let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention to Maria and Noah as he got to his feet.

“Why are rushing and where too again?” he would ask, his tones slightly annoyed as he gave light frown at this lack of planning and instead randomly going to places. He would take note how Maria at least seemed eager to move on not really bothering to check on anyone. It was a trivial thing perhaps, but after taking a blow like that some cautious should be in play, no? Even on a time limit, they needed to stay alive if they wanted to succeed. Regardless of his disapproval of the rush or behavior, his eyes would wander over to Noah, taking note he was looking at something.

Following the look, he would blink as he took note that their exit was gone. His eyes would narrow at this.

“Are we really going to be okay?" he would grumble lightly those near by being the only ones that could hear this comment. Regardless of the concern, he would watch as Noah moved to follow Maria. Deciding to just be more careful this round, he would move to follow the pair making sure that everyone was together before heading forward. As he trailed behind, he would agree with Noah.

“Yes caution is needed here as I don’t think we will get luckily again if we were to make another error like that,” he would state not exactly angry with the whole situation, but just a bit more cautious than before. As for that second comment…

“That is a high possibility. Just as it is possible that our target may have been even more prepared for us than assumed. I am not sure, but I think our target may gotten a tip about us from someone. That cat mentioned a “he” telling it that we were….not so clever. Depending on who this "he" is and how the cat got the information...this may be a bigger problem than we thought…” he would say before falling silent pondering that. Who was this “he” and how did they have information on them? He wasn’t liking where this was going...

Perhaps the two male Cadets' concerns weren't completely off the mark. It was understandable that they wanted to be careful after what just happened and she can't blame them. Another mistake could cost them, but Maria was taught it was better to keep the mind and heart empty enough than allow fear and doubt stand in her way. However, it would become extremely worrisome that even her weapon spoke against her. Her visage barely seen through the gleam on her gun.


Maria grit her teeth at the familiar voice from the weapon that only she could hear. This was the first time Andraste spoke after the battle with the demon last night. Maria only silently bore the guilt for the decision she made. Perhaps she jeopardized the mission. But there really was no way to know that until they move onward. She had wished there was a way to communicate with Lisa and Claire right now, to check if they were able and to check on their status. Perhaps they were the ones that brought them back here? It was hard to tell, but they will have to find out somehow. Though now she had to deal with the party's morale as well and it wasn't going great admittedly. The look on Shiina's face and possibly Jinguu's behind its mask didn't bode too well.

"We're heading to a different direction this time. We clearly don't have a means of protection against that gas there, we'll have to see what the other side has," Maria responded to the two men, "Illusions, accomplices, or not, we don't have much of a choice, but to move forwards."

The options were quite limited from the start. Maria looked back towards Shiina with a faint look of curiosity,  "If you have something that you wish to try, then by all means. It would help to have one concern dealt with as we continue forward."

She wondered what Nyarlathotep's Wild Card would do. She had a Persona of her own just like the others, which was great since it would make her feel more of a reject compared to every Persona User in the Cadets. Eventually she came to a halt. Demons. Her blood starting to boil...


...and then stopped rumbling. She couldn't be here to sate her own hatred, Maria knew this. An innocent life was at stake, she knew this. The Forgotten breathed deeply through her nostrils and had a cold determined look on her face.

Movement:

It was true Haru was moody and was bit leery of simply following the leader anymore. Now did this mean he was dumping the blame fully on Maria? No. In fact, he wasn’t trying to do that all. After all, they had a choice to stay back if they wanted, but they had all taken a step forward despite better judgement. To be honest, he was more frustrated at himself and while he didn’t approve of simply brushing it all off and moving forward without thinking, he wasn’t necessarily hating on Maria either. He was just expressing his concerns and asking to slow down rather than rush ahead again without figuring out what they would do even options were limited. Was that really so much to ask?

Honestly this was starting to give him headache. They were supposed to be a team and yet...apparently they were better at throwing daggers at each other. As he heard and watched everything around him, he would take everything in turn before responding.

First Noah…

“Smartass? If that is how you view it then, I suppose I am; however, with my statement I wasn’t getting after her for the mistake that occurred. In the end, it was our choice to move forward. Not hers. So I do not blame her for my own action. As for my question, I was trying to do just that. Discuss a plan rather than move forward without one; however, it appears stating opinion or concern makes me...have a stick up my ass was it? Though I don’t know how you figured that simply because I became moody about something,” he would shaking his head lightly at that. The remark wasn’t appreciated. Even less so considering the other did not know him or the way he thought at all, but even so the words were not spoken in a manner to start strife. He was simply stating his opinion while placing a foot down at the same time. He by no means wanted to start fights, but words like that could not be ignored by the idol, who much rather have clear cut lines than play a game of running around the bush would folk when it came to such matters. Would it help matters? Probably not. They would all need a bit of work outside of the job to fix this problem, but that was a matter for another time.

Despite disfunctions and questioning how they all ended up on such a mission so soon before even getting to meet or know each other better, the idol would run a hand through his hair pausing as he watched the glare that was given from Shiina to Maria. To this he would his shoulders would slump a bit. Oh boy..

“That face doesn’t suit you,” he would say his tone gentle as he glanced over at her with a faint smile. “As much as you may not like what occurred, let’s try not to fight so much. At least that is a point we can all agree on, no?” he would ask her, remaining gentle all the while. He wasn’t trying to win favors here, but rather trying to ease some of the tension in some areas. They couldn’t continue to do this if they were going to survive or succeed right? They needed to work together. He could only pray the others could see that and in turn maybe turn whatever this was around.

Maybe throwing them together like this was actually a test in itself...to see if they could actually pull together as a team rather than tear themselves apart.

In any case, once he was done there his eyes would turn to Maria he had noticed that face she pulled earlier.

“Maria, don’t take what is said too hard. Like it or not, we are in this together, so we will make this work somehow,” he would tell her a sign, he really wasn’t getting after her to begin with. As for her words on what they were doing....

“Mmm. I suppose so,” was all he said after hearing what was said. Well at least if they learned from mistakes, then perhaps things would turn out better.

Regardless, he walk along side Shiina as they moved and in turn would catch her words.

“Hm? Try something? What do you wish to try?” he would ask before falling silent to see what came of that. Unlike Maria he wanted to hear what was about to happen rather than flat out agree to letting it happened without first knowing what "it" was to begin with. Whether, he got an answer or not, the situation would change as Maria and Noah mentioned a demon ahead.

Demons...he wasn’t exactly fond of them, but perhaps this round wouldn’t be so bad in a crowd. As the first two moved into position, he would glance at the two ladies in the group giving them a light nod before he moved to take his place not at the front lines, but somewhere in the middle.

“Let’s be careful with this,” he would say as he settled into his position as his soul bound appeared in his hand. Keeping his posture relaxed yet proper, he would watch to see what would occur next as he kept an eye on everything.

Information Box: