Curiosity Killed The Cat [Esra/Pendleton Awakening]

Exp Gained:

The demon gave one last howl before meetings its end. It was utterly destroyed by the combined efforts of the Psyche Terrorists. In the distance above, someone was applauding them. It was hard to tell whether it was out of amusement or sarcasm. But...

"Not bad, but all of you have a long way to go. If any of you wish to know more about your abilities or perhaps nurture them, the Platinum Playhouse in the Backlights District is one place to try. You'll soon learn these demons are the last thing you should be worried about. I wonder how you'll all thrive? Ha ha..."

Then there was silence, signalling his departure. Now the party was all on their own.

As soon as the demon was gone, Pen slumped against a wall, barely staying standing. His grip on his sword loosened, and it fell, hitting the ground with a loud 'thud' before vanishing. "What's wrong with ME? A lot of things." Pen shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that should have killed me. I don't know why it didn't. I am SO sorry I didn't stay dead." Pen shook his head. And then The Psyche Terrorist spoke. And it chilled him to his core. Were they just given a...recruitment offer? For the PSYCHE TERRORISTS? "Right...well." He sighed. "...Maybe I'll look into that." Pen mumbled. After all, that one HAD just saved him. Maybe they weren't all bad. "...Anyone else here in the least bit interested in what he had to say?"

Esra looked cautiously at the two costumed figures she did not know, they had helped. Yet she did not know them, or trust them. It didn't seem like they were going to attack so with a breath she felt the knife disappear from her hand as she ran towards Pendleton. The voice from above stopped her in her tracks for a moment, that didn't make any sense. Some guy watching them, twisting to see she frowned. How convenient that he was here, did, whatever this was to them and the demon appeared? No, he caused this or at the very least did nothing to prevent it. Was this why people were disappearing? That most people died when this happened?

Shaking her head Esra walked right up to in front of Pendelton and squatting down placed her hands under his armpits. Like he was a child she picked him squarely up off the floor and looked him dead in the eye. "It's a bad idea." Her tone was tight, her eyes rather blank rather than angry, her face hidden by the mask. "If you don't agree with them, do you think they'll just let you go? If you do, do you think you will ever go home again?" Esra honestly felt that walking in blind was the worst possible thing they could do. What had it gotten them so far? Ambushed by a monster in an alleyway and an offer to join some terrorists?

Backing away from Pendelton Esra turned around, "Who are you, why did you help us?"

After the defeat of the beast, Lui twirled his blade in his hands before sheathing it as it disappeared. After hearing the first big break in his case to find the Psyche Terrorists in days, he beamed brightly from behind his mask. Finally, he could get the answers he was looking for. However, when it came to Esra and Pendleton, neither seemed to pick up on his identity as of yet. While Esra tried dissuading Pendleton from joining the terrorists, Lui decided to stay as the knight character he had set up.

"Ha! That foe was menacing indeed, but we turned the tables on him right away. How fortunate my partner and I were to find you two. Shirokishi's ice kept that troll rather slipped up, correct? As for why we rescued you...

I couldn't let innocent civilians be killed by these things. I don't mind demons so long as they learn who not to attack. I planned on stopping by my usual spot, but that friend of yours began snooping on my business. I tried warding him off with threats, but it looks like he ignored those. Soon as I overheard his plan, I knew I had to be more direct. Thankfully, looks like I found what I was looking for. Now, as for my identity... I won't tell you.

I plan on joining these terrorists to discover the true dark beings that live in this place. This town is corrupt enough without these demons, and I'll be finding out the truth. So, I'll make you a deal. If you come with me to join the terrorists, you'll be able to discover my identity. Otherwise, no deal. And I would advise telling Lui NOT to look for me anymore. You two already got your masks, so the government won't hesitate to finger you as terrorists."

"Notre Dame? Will you be accompanying me to this Playhouse?"

Pen thought for a long moment, leaning against the wall. "...I'll go with you to the playhouse." Pendleton decided. "Sorry, Esra but...this thing? The...PERSONA...it really doesn't like me, and it REALLY hates you. And if I don't figure out how to control it...well. I'll just die anyway. The city'll just call us Psyche Terrorists anyway, won't they?" Pen sounded tired, as he walked over to join The Knight. "...besides. The terrorists will likely know where I can get more of...these..." He looked at the pills in disgust. "...I'm absolutely terrified right now, but I...I need to do this. If I thought there was any other way around this, I'd gladly tell this...Knight...person to shove off."

No, no, no. She had seen all of this before, this road. When she was seven years old she saw the same choice in front of her, she picked the wrong one. Even if it seemed right and just, the only choice, it was wrong. That path lead to the person she became, the person she spent the rest of her life running away from. He wanted to make that wrong choice, the one that would lead to him killing people, because he felt he had no choice. She was the one that brought him here.

Esra stared at him, cold, angry, a sucking down at the back of her throat, a welling that she wanted to cry. He wasn’t dead, just stupid.

“Don’t,” Her voice cracked, “I know where this goes.” Clutching her fists her nails dug into flesh, “It seems a good idea, the only one. You give up making your own choices and you trust other people, even if it seems good. They almost killed everyone, you trust them more than me? You don’t think we can work this out together? That you even need more of those, things,” Pointing floridly at the pills, “That there is no one else that can help?”

That his Persona hates her, her’s hated her as well, so what? “I don’t care who hates me. I’ll fight the whole world if I have to, I’ll find a way to look after myself. You too, if it stops you making this mistake. Please,” Her eyes flashed from cold, scared, fearful.

“You,” Distraught anger flushed through her as she redirected herself towards the knight, “I don’t care who you are, I’ll find out even if you never tell me. You are a fool if you think it wise to trade corruption for a foul shadow even you barely know and dragging him along?” He could easily be behind all of this, just to lead the gullible into something worse. She had no way of knowing the rules of this world, who was to say they didn’t gain power by killing people that could do what they did? Or that he wouldn’t lead them directly to the Cadets for breaking the rules.

Finally looking forlorn, silhouetted alone against the street lights, “Won’t you at least consider the options? Wallace?” She hadn’t used his name before, not ever.

Pendleton gave a tiny huff. "You think I like any of this, Dean?" He asked, eyes narrowing behind his mask. "I don't WANT to be a goddamn criminal, you know? But I do have to! You're the one asking me to throw away my freewill, here, you know. I'm trying to join on my own. No-one's making me, besides myself. You on the other hand ARE trying to make my decisions for me." He shook his head. "I'm going to ask you nicely to leave. But I don't think you're actually going to listen." He sighed, his sword reappearing in his hand. "...I don't WANT to fight you, Esra." He shook his head again. "But if you get in my way, I'll...I WILL win. Because I have to." He growled. "It's not a matter of trusting them more than you, Dean...it's a matter of trusting them more than Boogeyman."

"You, you don't think I can look after myself? That I can't deal with whatever that thing in your head says it wants?"

A knife flickered into existence as her right hand flicked across her eyes. She wasn't crying. "You don't understand anything about me!"

If the little idiot she had been was standing in front of her right now before she made this same choice, she'd do the same thing. Part of her knew that she needed to use this weapon, that fists would not be enough against a sword. The irony of this weapon being the same as the one back then, wasn't lost on her. Nor was the pain tearing at her heart. That didn't matter, she needed to be punished, she needed to hurt.

There was a good ten meters between them, where Pendleton had started to walk away from her. To the right trash cans in front of a brick wall, to the left, just a brick wall. Four meters to play with between the two, a roomy alleyway. Esra took a breath and dropped into a street fighting stance, mindful of the shotgun strapped to her right thigh. She didn't think Pendleton had ever been in a fight before, no need to get stupid though. She just had to make him rethink what he was planning, all she needed was time. The way he went on about this Boogy Man, if she could defeat it. That was all she could think of.

Right hand grip on the knife she watched his sword, she had to get inside its reach to stop him. Both of them were hurt from the battle before, she could do something about that before this began, "Melpomene!" A white shroud enveloped Esra for a second before vanishing.

If he came at her, she'd try to parry the blade near the hilt, moving out of the way. As for his persona, she didn't know how to deal with that yet.

Dia | Recovers a small amount of HP (30%) to one ally. | 4 SP | Tier 1
Action: Defend

Status:

Passives:

"Dean...all you're proving right now is you're a shallow girl who only cares about herself." Pen huffed, adjusting his mask. "If you're so desperate to stop me...then you're going to have to do more than just talk" Pen took a deep breath, gripping his sword tightly with both hands. "I get that you can't understand the situation I'm in...but at this point, you're giving me no other option but to fight you...come forth, Boogeyman." Pen ordered. The Persona appeared behind him, eyes narrowed at Esra. "Freeze her to the core." A small ball of Blue Air appeared in Boogeyman's hand, before it Froze into a solid chunk of ice. It rose out of the Persona's hand, before pointing itself towards Esra, and firing.

Action:

Stats:

Music(?):

He wanted to be serious, tut. Maybe it was this persona thing, making him think there was no other option. This was not the person she had spoken with yesterday, not to her. With only the smallest taste of combat moments before she could barely put together what to do. She had to fight on her terms, not his, that mean.

The ice that shot at her, the ice he ordered. They should have been killed before, that giant sword, something about her was different here, and him. It was just ice, just flying through the air. Baseball.

Esra sprang forwards, a sprinting start and took the chunk of ice hard in the shoulder. A gasp escaped her but it only hurt, enough that she saw far more clearly what was in front of her. A white cloak surrounded her once again as she closed the distance, that pain ebbing away a little. Her right foot lead, blade out in her right hand. It didn't dart forward, it didn't thrust into his ribs. Instead she swept her left leg forwards, a solid stance as her left fist clenched. It had been a while since she had punched someone but hadn't forgotten. Aiming at the right side of his head, not the first time she had hit someone with glasses either.

As long as she was close, that huge sword would be extremely limited, "Man up Pen!"

Dia | Recovers a small amount of HP (30%) to one ally. | 4 SP | Tier 1
Action: Punch Attempt

Status:

Passives:

Frost Bite if 1,2:

"Me man up? Are you even listening to yourself here?" Pen asked. "Face it Dean, you're just mad at yourself because you can't bully me anymore. Look, we both knew it would come to a decision like this, in the end. After all...you threatened to kill me from the start." Before she could reach him, Pen would summon Boogeyman again. Though this time There were two balls of Ice in his hands, and both were far larger. Boogeyman spun, letting the air out. As it his the ground it immediately froze into a barrier surrounding Pen...one that would still damage Esra if she was unlucky enough to not be able to stop in time. "A punch? You have a demon and a knife at your disposal, but you use a punch? Honestly..."

Attack:

Stats:

Esra twisted as she punched, falling backwards as the wall of ice licked up and over Pendleton, cheat. His words hurt more than the asphalt did, sitting there, glowering at the wall of ice. "I had to trust you with my life," He didn't get it did he, "I never trust anyone, you are showing me how little you cared." Throwing herself to her feet Esra clenched both fists, "Go ahead."

A ball of white cloth flicked back into life over Esra, this time not shrouding her in its mercy. The barrier kept her out, it also kept Pendleton inside. The gap in the top, the Persona fired into once, twice. She couldn't see how he could doge it, locked in there.

Kill Rush 8% HP | Tier 1 12*1.15 = 13 Twice

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