Longing For Lauderdale

Joshua never hung around Azores for long. But he had some interest of the area around since he had something of a tourist mindset two years ago. Malstu Island was a place he wished he had time to hang out at, but the Primordials and his personal matters held him back for two years. Who knew that he'd come here for the first time again?

Nevertheless, they finally made it. And perhaps... they'd finally meet Rinna.

Azami followed behind Joshua with curiosity in her eyes. Was this really that the white tomb the entity had been referring to? It seemed there was only way to find out.

Joshua didn't mind the water below his feet very much. It was hardly anything dangerous as far as he was concerned. But... something was wrong. There was something dangerous that lurked in these ruins. Did they make the wrong decision?


He continued towards the entrance with anticipation creeping up his spine.

The unpleasant sound of water sloshing underneath her feet brought an irritated scowl to Azami's face. She sighed and grumbled something under her breath about wet socks though ultimately she was too focused on the task at hand to waste time dwelling on something so unimportant. As she drew closer and closer though something began to feel... off. The air carried an unusual, suffocating heat to it and the atmosphere grew heavy with dread which mercilessly weighed down on her shoulders. Something was here; something that she had met before and, for whatever reason, didn't feel too eager to meet again.


Unfortunately for the presence Azami had no intention of backing down. Shooting a determined glare at the entrance, she'd continue toward it without another word.

There was trepidation in Joshua's heart. He didn't know what to expect as the steps continue to descend into the earth. There were many thoughts flying haphazardly inside his brain, but they eventually stopped when the stairs also were cut off. With the darkness coming in, he considered taking out his cellphone and use its illumination to somehow see where else they could keep trying to go.

But there was a light. In that light, there was finally the goal. At first, he didn't recognize her.


There was some joy as for the first time he began to smile genuinely. But... Ariston's words began to ring in his head as he continued to examine her. There was sorrow that began to leak inside his heart. How long has she been here? The entire two years? What for? Why all of this? And why did she disappear? There's so much he couldn't understand and wanted to ask.

But while these things continued to circulate through his mind, he noticed someone familiar. Someone that he actually got along with two years ago and that someone who crashed through his house like a meteor. He whispered, "Nozomi..."

He looked around to see where he could land. Joshua needed to get closer. But seeing how they were two stories high, he needed a way to get down. Yamato-Takeru was summoned from his psyche just as he grabbed Azami and Simon by their hip, "Hold on tight."

The Tainted Persona summoned wind to carry them off the ledge and safely got them below towards a hard rock floor with some cracks, as if they were from the result of some forgotten battle. Joshua had Yamato-Takeru finally and gingerly put them on a safe area on the floor before dismissing it. He let both Simon and Azami go once they got their bearings.

Action:

Stats:

The visible stars above them shined brightly, but they did little to part the darkness as they descended further and further into the tomb. Were it not for the torches scattered around the area it would be difficult to continue moving forward, but those few glimmers of light managed to prove sufficient for the group. Beyond that, however, they also managed to confirm something -- there was someone down here. After all, those fires had to be lit by someone. Confidence began to swell up inside as Azami as she pushed onward and when she spotted the woman at the bottom her lips curled into a smirk. Nevertheless she remained on guard. She could still sense the presence lurking within the tomb and, worryingly enough, it seemed to be near Rinna too. "This doesn't bode well... I need to be careful." She thought to herself as she stood there silently contemplating the situation. Her eyes danced around the mysterious girl's surroundings finding nothing of particular interest.

...that was until they landed on Nozomi. "N-Nozomi?" She muttered in a baffled, perplexed tone. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be in the Other Worlds, wasn't he? Something Alphonse said echoed through her mind at that moment: something about Zachary potentially possessing Nozomi's body. Mentally groaning, Azami would shake her head in frustration. If they had just stuck around a bit longer to swap information like she had wanted...

Well, whatever the case, this was good. She may have had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she at least knew that Isla or Zachary actually getting their hands on that thing would only spell trouble. Her tense expression eased just a tad bit and she studied the body closely for a moment before suddenly feeling someone grab hold of her hip. "What the hell are you---" Azami instinctively let out a flustered objection, but as she moved her eyes from Nozomi to Joshua she caught a glimpse of the staircase and paused. Reluctantly she did as instructed and placed her arms around him holding onto the boy as tightly as she could until she felt the wind part and her feet touch the ground.

For a brief moment after Joshua released her she fell silent. She stood there with her gaze fixated on Nozomi's body during that time, but after Joshua spoke up once more she'd look away from it and turn her attention to Rinna. This whole situation left her feeling uneasy, but she covered it up well with a forced smile which radiated a fake yet powerful warmth. Azami knew she couldn't be like her counterpart in the Other Worlds; she was far from a people person, after all. But she could at least pretend to be someone like him. "Hey. You're Rinna, right? Don't worry. We don't mean you any harm. I'm Azami, this is Simon, and I trust you recognize Joshua here." The Wild Card spoke slowly in a gentle, comforting tone. "This is a pretty nice place you've got. It might be in need of a few renovations though." She gestured toward the staircase above and let out a soft laugh. A joke -- something to cut the tension a little.

Azami considered taking a step forward, but she decided against it. Advancing toward Rinna right away didn't seem like a good idea, so for now she'd keep to her current spot and await some kind of response. All the while her face would remain covered by that same mask: a kind, inviting, almost motherly expression.

Relevant(?) Strengths and Weaknesses:

When he saw her head tilt towards the broken electronic, he knew this was why she wasn't answering anyone. But why? Why all of this? It was like she wanted to stay here all alone and to be forgotten. Hearing her tell them to leave and seeing her leave slowly made him to begin forming fists, but of course he wouldn't leave now. Joshua came all this way for her. There was a genuine look of concern on his face.


He was starting to feel emotional now. The Child didn't struggle to keep them down yet. They haven't boiled over to the point where he couldn't keep them down, it was all so he could continue to restrain "that" inside of him. But seeing her this dismissive of them from the get-go started to hurt. After jumping into the shithole that was Standasen and messing around in that shitstorm in Lunapa, he really wanted to stray away from all of this drama. Joshua had no investment in any of this pissing contest between a hegemon and an insurgent. But he continued to dredge through the bullshit for her.

"Why are you cutting yourself off from every-- H-hey? You alright?" Joshua noticed her eye twitching and the air being seemingly thickening. Something was happening and he didn't like it.

Azami studied the situation quietly. To an extent she could sympathize with Joshua, but at the same time she couldn't blame Rinna for distancing herself from him. Getting too attached to people was something best avoided -- Joshua's sudden emotional outburst was proof enough of that. If he wasn't careful he could very well end up making the situation worse. Part of her was tempted to try and convince him to calm down, but for now she'd avoid commenting on the issue. She didn't want to lose favor with him and, more importantly, she suspected that trying to tell him how to handle and express his emotions would just get him even more worked up.

As she stared at Nozomi's body she continued to think about just what it was doing here. The woman began to recall a few of the times that she had been ripped from this world and placed in another: a sunken ship, a strange white room... Though she had passed from one world to another people around her always seemed to react as though she had simply fallen asleep. So that meant her body was still there, right? Azami dwelt on her hypothesis and took a few seconds to collect her thoughts. Then she looked to Rinna with the same saccharine, convincing grin from before and shook her head. "No, no... I'm afraid you're mistaken Rinna. Us three are your only guests. Nozomi Kichida isn't here -- he's in the Other Worlds. That's not him: it's simply his body." She paused. Her false smile grew alongside her anxiety and she narrowed her eyes slightly at Rinna as she began to follow-up on her previous statement. "I suppose that's not entirely correct though... You have one other guest, don't you? Or have you somehow failed to notice that presence lurking within here?"

Azami was already on guard and the twitch in Rinna's eye only fueled her preexisting caution further. At this point she was more or less ready for a fight, but hopefully it wouldn't come down to that. Though at the same time there was a part of her that felt... eager? If she could somehow consume that presence and its power then it'd no doubt prove largely beneficial to her cause. Nevertheless, she wasn't going to charge headfirst into battle like a fool. She had little knowledge of what Rinna was capable of and, beyond that, she couldn't help but feel a degree of worry over Joshua's loyalties.

"Old Man? I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. I can assure you, however, that we didn't come here on a recruitment drive... or, at the very least, that's not one of the main reasons that brought us to this place. Anyway," she pointed to Nozomi's body, "why don't you tell us what that's doing here? You seem awfully protective of it."

Relevant(?) Strengths:

There was a pit sinking inside his stomach and at the same time, he felt something fall and crash inside him. Joshua just blankly stared at her at first, then he started to feel some kind of white hot rage. There was a part of him that didn't want to simply accept this. He just couldn't. Losing what he had in his life, Joshua didn't have much to hold on to. There was a part of him that wanted to have a reason to exist in this world...


He could hear him whisper from behind. It was a voice so familiar and yet so hated. That pit was getting wider and scarily deeper. It was becoming more convincing and seductive, something that told him to give it all up. He couldn't right now, but it was getting tempting the more this conversation was continuing.


"Don't you put me on the fucking same level as that Power Ranger fuckhead and that Blonde Cunt. Do we really matter that little to you in the first place? Ariston? What about Lune? She doesn't matter either?" he growled at her as he mentioned the two former Prime Users, "Don't give me the "I felt like it" bullcrap like some dismissive emo-cunt who hasn't grown out of her teenage years. Did you get this pathetic after camping out here like some anorexic cave goblin?"

This wasn't what he expected, at all. Joshua wanted to see Rinna like two years ago. There was more energy and vibrancy in her. She was willing to take things on head-on. Always so courageous and always ready to fight against what the World had against her. There was something about it that he really came to respect and maybe more. But maybe he misunderstood her this whole time. Out of everything in this World... that scared him the most, even more than what overwhelming power Nesoi had.

It was that fear that began to unloosen these temporary fetters he had put on himself earlier. Slowly, but surely, they were beginning to slack. Inside, he would begin to stir. Joshua had hoped that they were temporary in that he'd finally found a new sanctuary. But perhaps, that wasn't going to happen.

Joshua continued, spurred on by his ire and the familiar white beginning to form on the fringe of his hair, "We went to that shithole in Standasen looking for you. Simon did everything he could to look for you in these two years. Even when Ariston didn't bother to tell us shit at fucking all. Lune probably teamed up with that shithead Zachary for information on where to look for you. All of us actually fucking give a damn about you. You at least could have the decency to tell us what the hell happened and why you decided to make this your grave.".

Then he stopped to look down at his feet and paused for a moment. Joshua clenched his fists tightly. Finally, he spoke.

Azami's voice would interject and cut him off mid-rant. The false smile and fake warmth she emitted had disappeared entirely following Rinna's mocking gesture and in its place was a cold, distant frown and a brewing indignation visible within her crimson eyes. "Either the Rinna you knew is dead or she never existed in the first place. No matter how much you yell, or cry, or scream you'll never be able to change that fact. If we're truly the same then deep down you already know that."

The Wild Card's attention turned to the subject in question and she'd sigh in exasperation. There was still some stress she felt about the situation, of course, but it gradually became overwhelmed by an abundance of other emotions. Closing her eyes and shaking her head from side to side, Azami's eyelids would open to reveal a dangerous yellow glow which had been concealed underneath. If her general demeanor wasn't a clear enough sign that Rinna was starting to piss her off then this would almost certainly make it obvious. "I don't really know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't as much of a dumbass as you. Let me try and explain the situation here for you before you do something you'll REALLY regret: I'm Azami Aihara. I'm a weirdo among weirdos -- I can use multiple Personas and I'm currently the sole thing keeping our little world from being gobbled up by the Core. Long-story short, Nozomi and I have met multiple times throughout this calamity and we're currently working together. I'm an independent party in this whole civil war business, I don't trust the thirteen one bit, and I'd really appreciate it if you could unbunch your panties and answer my fucking questions before I have to start breaking every single bone in your body one by one."

"We don't have to be enemies Rinna. And trust me: you don't wanna be my enemy. You can't afford to kill me because if Azores goes bye-bye then so does you and everyone else in it. You said you're trying to do something decent, right? Well I am too. So just answer my questions. There's no logic to attacking your own life support. Even if you don't believe a word I'm saying, why start an unnecessary fight and risk that body getting injured in the crossfire? Use your head Rinna or else you're gonna go from being a dumb bitch to a dead one."

Azami was ready for combat. Maybe her words would get through to the girl and they'd be able to avoid conflict, but the woman was certain that Rinna would either instigate a fight or force one by continuing to ignore the questions directed to her. Perhaps that was the pessimism talking though.