To Love and Health [Phoebe's Awakening]

Even in the night, Vista Life was filled with the breath of life. Too much to do, so many things to be seen, and information untold to dig up and send streaming through the network that connected the city together. There was always something going on in this part of the city both night and day, a hustle and bustle that went on irrespective of whether the light that lit the city was solar or electric.
Even still though, things quieted as dark fell over the district, the sounds more muted and the streets more bare the further away you got from the centres of life in this place. Despite the lamps that lit the street and the promises of the government, it was harder to feel safe in the dark in these days of turmoil where terrorists had become so brazen as to openly challenge the government in one of its strongholds.

There were far more terrifying things then terrorists lurking the dark, however...

Sure the night was exciting but Phoebe had no such place she could really go. Not only did she, a responsible school girl had her own obligations, but she wouldn't even be let out at night... not only just cause of her sister. But where she was now.

Phoebe looked at the city lights from her hospital room window. She was dressed in her usual one color teal pajamas as she looked out at the window in one of the hospital rooms on the 10th floor. Part of her treatment required certain overnight stays for monitoring. She had one of her treatments earlier that day, and now was just resting. Her head hurt less now, but she still felt dizzy.

Along with her, an older woman sat beside her in her bed, while Phoebe had a small table with her books beside her.

"Sister... when do you think I can come back home with you?" she asked. "I am grateful to go to school but I am really feeling bad being couped up here."

The older woman, smiled kindly and patted Phoebe on the head. "I'm sorry, Phebs, but the docor said they need to keep an eye on you. Its only for tonight. And besides, I don't want to leave you alone when I'm at work."

Phoebe felt sad as she rarely saw her sister anymore. With the exception of school where she attended college classes, she was always working. She wasn't stupid, she knew that since their parents death, she had become the sole supporter for both of them and Phoebe's condition wasn't helping her.

She didn't bring it up, cause all it would do would result in yet another fight.

"I promise, next weekend we will go somewhere nice for dinner. But I have to do this... When you grow up, you will understand." she said sweetly.

There was a pause there. Phoebe knew deep in her heart she never would have that chance.

Having enough, Phoebe closed her textbook. She memorized most of her language homework anyway, and just wanted to rest for the time being.

"Just don't work yourself so hard. Okay, sister?" she asked, hiding a lone tear that fell down her face.

Her sister, Yuna, rose from her chair and gave Phoebe a kiss on the head. "I'll come to see you in the morning. Be good with the nurses okay? I don't want to hear you snuck out again. Good night..."

As her sister left the room, she heard the rustle and bustle briefly outside in the hospital. She looked out at the city, as beautiful as a sky of stars. She had longed to see the country side and stars again, like she did when she was little with their parents.

The world was passing her by if she didn't act... but what could she do?

For now she just rested, her stuffed animal cat, Mr. Mew, for company.

She lied back and rested, hoping not to be disturbed by any more hallucinations or disturbances in her head. The doctor said she had to rest to have better chances in the future.

But she didn't want to spend her short life stuck in bed either...

She glanced at the city, then to her stuffed cat. "What do you think, Mr. Mew?" she asked. She held the cat up, pretending to hear the whisper of the cat. A soft giggle came to her as she made up her mind.

Despite her sister's warning, she decided to maybe go out for some fresh air. Carefully, she slipped on her slippers, and checked the door. There were no doctors around, so she decided to try and make a small 'break for it'. She would only be gone a few minutes and try to look near the gardens outside the hospital...

What could happen?

The gardens weren't that far, but they were far enough. A delectable morsel, out on their own and unable to protect themselves...all they needed was to be drawn out a little more.
A sweet song started to filter into the senses of the young girl, barely perceptible and yet swelling in her mind with its alluring tones. Phoebe would feel a little twinge of pain in her head, but it was drowned out by the beautiful tones that called to her, pulling at her past the gardens and down to the alleys nearby. Every step closer made the pull more intense, the beguiling tones seeking to pull her through a cramped and winding path.

Those who already held power would feel no such bliss, though. The tense energy they would feel in the air would be both familiar and foreboding to them...

Phoebe entered the small back yard gardens of the hospital. She had avoided being seen by the doctors and had only wnated to take a moment to enjoy the air and smell of the flowers. They breathed differently at night and made her feel less couped up. Even for her own good, she had spent more time in the hospital than she wanted to and needed to get some time out.

However, as she sat on one of the small walls of the flowerbeds, she soon heard an alluring song. The song was familiar-- and a voice that seemed to call to her. Her eyes widened as she recognized the song. A lullaby-- one of the few she remembered from her mother.

"M... mom?" she asked, impulsive in her reaction.

Her head throbbed for a moment, making her cringe. Tears ran down her head at the thought. "No... not now... why?" she groaned, worried it was her brain now responding poorly for going out so soon.

However, she began to walk-- thinking she was going back inside, but she was soon lured out further into the alleys that lined along the buildings. Her breath became ragged as she fought to try and control her headache. Normally after a treatment, she would be fine... but not it was suddenly spiking on her.

Was her time coming even closer than she thought. NO! She didn't want to die yet! There was still so many people she wanted to meet and get to know before she went!

Despite the pain and lure, her walking was unhindered as she entered the dark of the city, unaware what was luring her.

The voice was too much like it-- and perhaps, just perhaps... was her mother coming to welcome her... to give her final hours comfort?

Hospitals always made Nadia feel melancholy. Lots of people were afraid of them, because they were a monument to mortality. You couldn't spend much time in a hospital and not be reminded of the fact that someday you would perish from this world. Nadia was standing in the gardens near the hospital, having been unable to stay couped up inside her apartment today, especially after what had happened the other night in Little Tokyo. She had spent most of the day roaming around outside of her home district. It was a rare day when Kaska was watching the store for her.

Now, settled against a park bench between two once-colorful bushes which had deadened at the start of winter, Nadia looked up at the pale white building and contemplated her life, and it's eventual end. The end which had seemed so close at hand drifted farther. It wasn't as easy to see as it once was...or as comfortable a thought. There were people she'd be leaving behind now. People that for whatever reason would miss her if she disappeared. It had been hard to swallow at first, but now it swelled in her heart like an expanding balloon, threatening to burst.

Soft rustling sounds disturbed her perfect serenity, and Nadia's dark eyes snapped into attention. She didn't move, only waited, until she saw the figure of a familiar girl striding through the gardens. The girl was in plain pajamas and slippers, as if she had just taken a stroled not far from home, but there were no homes around here. Standing, Nadia gently padded along the grass toward the girl, following. She had meant to simply greet her, but now she was moving further away. There was a sound...a low intense feeling that rattled Nadia's bones in a familiar way. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. Despite herself, she was smiling. The excitement of the other world was setting in. But if it was going to happen here, she had to hurry to make sure Phoebe was safe. Who knew if the girl had any sort of power on her own. She'd be perfect pray.

Isabella cursed her sloppiness as her steps left behind small clicks that echoed through the emptying streets. Had it been her decision, she wouldn't be out this late, but alas, she'd messed up, and that needed correctly. Her steps were brisk, carrying her forward with purpose until she stopped in front of a mailbox.  One hand rose up to pull her trenchcoat open slightly, while the other reached in and pulled out an envelope, the bottom edge of which showed slight outward. The blonde slipped the envelope in, a small sound audible as the USB drive rattled around slightly. Well, now that's done... Just a good week and some late.

Her hands slipped into her pockets as she resumed walking, the older woman opting to take a different route than the one she'd use to get here. At least it wasn't a long walk, just a couple of blocks. She soon found herself passing by a hospital. It was good to have one so close, and while Isabella was certainly happy that such a place of advanced medical treatment was available, she couldn't help but feel an old ache coming back from merely being close to one. Her right hand pulled out of its pocket, and rose up to her left elbow, her grasp a bit more firm than had been her intention. By looks, it was all normal, but to the touch, the difference was undeniable. The transition from the smooth give of natural muscle tissue to the unyielding heft of metal and plastic was abrupt and jarring. Yet a simple shell could hide that.

She hadn't stopped walking, even as he attention was drawn inward. But then something drew her attention. A low rustling that brought her senses to high alert, and an uneasy feeling that overcame her. Had one been observing her face directly in that moment, they would witness a small red glow in her left pupil. She could make out a figure in the dark, pale skin contrasting against dark hair, the former visible even in the dying light. Whatever the sound was, it was coming from the gardens she by now had been passing. Was someone outside at this hour? At first Isabella considered simply ignoring it, and was already walking away, when something, a gut feeling, made her change her mind.

The figure she'd spotted was already walking away, but to where? No time for such questions. Isabella would turn, and step into the park, ignoring the intended paths and instead just walked right through the bushes and shrubs. The sharp clicks of her heels would vanish as the hard pavement beneath her feet changed to yielding soil. Her pace was again brisk, and soon enough she'd close the gap between herself and the figure that she was almost certain of the identity of the figure. "Nadia?" Was the only thing she said, being sure not to raise her voice too much.

Trinity had taken to wandering that day, going to places where her friends had liked to go from what they had told her about themselves, thankfully her work at the shop was done for the day anyway so there was really nothing to worry about, well she had a concert she needed to practice for, but honestly she was sure she would be fine without practice at least one time, besides she didn't have any new songs to prep or new dance moves to practice since it was meant to be a request concert where people put in requests for their favorite songs before the concert started, so it was all going to be the stuff she was already well versed in.

Though through her wanderings the time had gotten away from her as her siblings all talked in her head and she simply let her feet take here to where they wanted to go, though now, the sun had set and it was dark out, and as she was just becoming aware of that fact and was thinking on going home she felt it.

It was a feeling she was quite familiar with, it was a feeling she had felt before, only now it wasn't causing a massive pain in her head, her eyes scanned around and she spotted a girl wandering around in her Pajamas...she also spotted two people she knew, and she simply walked after the three people, in the direction she sensed that feeling from, she knew what was going to happen, it had happened to her after all, and she was going to make sure this girl was safe, it's what Selenus, Tatsui, and Gabe would have done, so she didn't see a reason why she shouldn't do it now that they had all been taken from her.

The intensity of the sound rose with every turn toward the source, until the alleys opened out to a derelict space between buildings longed abandoned and deemed unsuitable for living. In among the wastes, shadowy forms hovered, incomprehensible to Phoebe's eye. As the girl came into view, the sound died down, and the figures spoke to each other in words that made her head pound.


"Ik̶r̨, du̢u ̕ou̕ihk. ͜Oui l̷y͘h́ ryj͞a drec͟ ̷uh̶à."

As one of the strange masses starts to glide forward, agony swells in Phoebe's mind, a crystallisation of pain that drove jagged shards into her head. Twisting, writhing, tearing pain wracks her brain as something laid long ago starts to take root and blossom. As the pain reaches its peak, a burst of agonising clarity washes over her mind, and she finds herself able to see the things before her for what they are as they retreat back to get their distance.


"Oh, it's one of these ones...well, no problem for us."

As the trio following Phoebe make their way onto to the scene, something screams out in the young girl's mind for release, to be set free upon the world...

The sound and pain began to intensify as she fell to her knees. The voice of her mother's singing faded to only incomprehensible murmurs and growls. She began to see the shadows and shapes.. the pain in her head growing to a migrane that was driving her crazy. "GHAAAAAA!!" she screamed, gripping her head.

This was it, she thought, her death by the cause of her tumor. She knew it would come. A painful death-- but she died herself. She kept herself in tact. If she had to die, she would do so knowing it was indeed HER there. As the shadows closed in and the pain soon felt like it was gonna crack her head in two...

... the voice died down to a single, calm voice.

"Poor fated child, cursed by a fate most unkind upon your shoulders..."

A throb radiated through her entire body as she felt the pulse of her life suddenly skyrocket-- the opposite of her death. Her head ache began to lessen but still pound as she tried to fight off the feeling.
Light began to form around her, taking the soft glow of what appeared to be chains-- and a figure rose up behind her-- a woman-like being with a blindfold, flowing hair and gown that graced her like a gentle ghost.

"Fate has been most unkind, and tears you in two. To die before you yet to live, or live a hollow shell of your former self. Both roads deplorable... But you do not believe in your heart of hearts that is the only way, or else why would I be here? " the woman's voice spoke, trying to comfort the in-pain girl as she crumbled to the ground. ""Tell me, do you accept this path? Accept your fate?."

Tears streamed down Phoebe's face as she struggled to comprehend what was happening. The strangers who came after her, willing to help-- would hear the ghost's words... seeing how much turmoil the child was in.

"I... I... I won't! I want to stay as me, and I want to live!" she cried out.

The moment she did and opened her eyes, her eyes now glowed yellow with the power of her awakened state. The light grew more intense, now taking the form of chains-- but that wound completely around her young form.


"Yes. Let your resolve help you find the answer... to Face your grim fate and make it your own. I am thou, thou art I... " the spirit said softly vanishing into the chains that encased the young girl. " May these blessed eyes see the truth, and in turn allow you the power to overturn the fate of those you love. "

Ragged breath came from her as she felt the presence of the voice resonate with her heart, the pain still in her head but like a thron she could pull out. She felt the shackles around her body, constricting her arms tight against her chest. She pulled and strained, but they wouldn't give... till she took a breath, and her mind finally cleared...

"P..Per..." Wind began to churn around her as she tugged with all her might. ""Per...SONA!! "

Her cry followed by the sudden snap of the chains as her body broke free-- and a blast of light eclipsed her and her scream, enough to even startle the demons and even visible from afar as it reached up into the air.


The light soon faded, revealing her to the demons and the people who followed her-- some she knew, some she didn't but would soon be those she could count on.

Phoebe was now surrounded by a sphere of serene, magic light. Inside, her clothing changed as she now wore a black coat and hood-- covered head to toe in black. She seemed to hover in the sphere, her hands to her side in an ascendant pose. The wind blew her hood back, showing a black blinder over her eyes with a magic eye symbol there. More noticeable... was the Persona.

Her Persona had completely encased her in the sphere, her form shown as a same woman as before, now above the sphere. She resembled a fortune teller with her hands graciously over the orb. Like Phoebe, the woman was blindfolded too, marking her a traditional attire that came of an Oracle in ancient times.

Soft gasps escaped Phoebe, both confused and at peace... her head no longer in pain as if she had banished the pain away on her own.

I don't care if I die... I will do so staying as myself. No surgery, or life will change that... Please... I don't want to lose those that mean the world to me! her thought seem to resonate with the others. Psychic power.

The first thing Nadia saw were the demons that came out of the shadows to pray on her new friends. She almost didn't see Isabella as she came up from behind her. She looked over her shoulder to the woman, a serious, nearly blank expression on her face. "Perfect time, Veritas." She said with a small nod.

It was then that she saw Unison approaching too. Nadia nodded at the girl as well, before turning to see the swell of energy. Her mouth opened in a moment of surprise before she pushed forward. So...Phoebe had the power as well. It was just as well. Nadia extended a hand out to her side as she moved forward. Her mask appeared in the hand, and as she placed the mask on her face, black feathers fluttered around her, giving way to her terrorist attire.

Springing over a downed trash can, Nightingale landed beside the sphere that held Phoebe...their newly awakened ally. "Don't panic, everything will be okay. We're here to help." Nightingale looked to the girl with a broad, charismatic smile that would clash with anyone's understanding of the more calm and reserved Nadia.

To the demons she would narrow her eyes, and point, Summoning her slender and chained persona behind her. "As for you, leave now, or face oblivion."

Ground Wire Heels:

Relevant Str/wk:

It was indeed Nadia. Or Nightingale, as the context soon proved necessary to call her. Isabella saw the demons before she could recognize the girl. Why wasn't she moving. It was with the scream of pain from the girl that the older woman that she realized, she was in pain. Was it? "No, it can't be."

It didn't matter one way or the other, as Isabella willed her mask to her hand, her coat and left forearm appearing to ignite in heatless blue flames as she placed the golden faceplate over her face. Pieces of golden material manifested around her limbs, alongside a large green gem floating over her left forearm. The armor would fall into place against her form like puzzle pieces, while the gem impacted against the forearm, dispelling the blue flames to reveal her full attire underneath. A thin strip of light slid across her eyes, manifesting the visor of her mask to finish the visual transformation.

And she was moving, closing the gap between herself and the girl before the,. Just as a strange figure appeared behind the girl, Veritas realized that she could recognize the girl. "Pheobe..." She spoke in whisper, hardly even mouthing the words behind her unmoving mask. And then it happened. With a flash of light, it was done. She had awakened to this power. To this power, and this curse. Yet it was different from the other Personae she'd witnessed during her short career. Pheobe was inside it.

It didn't matter. It was a small detail. What was important right now was the demons who sought this young girl for whatever it is demons actually did with their prey.  Just as Nightingale had done, she broke into a sprint, coming around the other side of the sphere in which the girl was enclosed. Veritas raised her right hand, and placed it upon the surface of the sphere, her head turning as she sought out to make eye contact. That done, she would let go, before a knife manifested in her left, which she brandished toward the two vile demons.

"I will not let you touch this child." She would state in a flat vice, eyes glaring out at the demons from under a furrowed brow. She could feel a soft whir start up in her left ear.

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Trinity had stayed back, out of sight for the most part, until she could see exactly what was going on, and as she seen the girl get confronted by demons her eyes turned purple and gave off a very faint glow, she then raised her to cover her eyes as she walked forward, as she brought her hand down her mask appeared on her face, and from it the rest of her outfit seemed to grow and strap around her body replacing her clothing, each belt growing with a different gentle glow as it wound around her body, Then the large robe seemed to simply Fade into being onto her, covering her with it's semi transparent warmth.

By the time her mask was on, the others had finally noticed her and she walked towards them, the others ran, but Unison simply walked calmly towards the group, chains swirling around her and as they did they seemed to lick together in front of her with a large padlock locking them closed, a padlock she simply touched and it unlocked itself and the chains opened. Her pawns Marching out of the mass of chains to her sides and around her as she walked to the front of the group and looked at the demons "No...Nightingale We don't think they want to leave....Not if they are like the ones we met on a night like this.....no....We believe they had planned to feast on the girl..." he tone was different then the one Unison usually had, at least different to how it was when they met her before.

"Come then demons.....try to take this girl.....lets see how you handle someone that can fight back..."

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action:

A dark cloud blots the light before it can spread, and a strange apparatus clatters to the ground in front of Phoebe.
For the demons' parts, they don't seem to care.

The more blatantly inhuman of the demons sneered at the opposition presented. "All a bunch of cocky brats, aren't you? I think I'd prefer to see you girls on your knees."

The other just smiles as they serenely float in the air. "Crass as they are...I think I have to agree with my companion."



"Or don't. We'll be having our way whatever you do."

Incubus - Level 8:

Succubus - Level 8:

Stats :

Phoebe felt a bit confused to find people she recognized and those she didn't. But it wasn't through site since it was consumes... it was something she just knew... even sensed. Something happened as the weight in her mind seemed to lift now that this 'thing' was surrounding her. She wished to show her gratitude for coming to her, but something else got her attention.

Despite her eyes blindfolded, she could see everything clearly-- even more so as glows and powerful sensations even from afar. Like her senses had been dialed to 20. As she looked to the female succubus demon, her attention narrowed in on her. The aura that radiated off her allowed her to see something... as if she could see beyond the demon's shape.

"I... I can see... I can sense their aura. " Phoebe spoke, her mind hearable as she was contained within the sphere of the woman. With a bit of focus, she delved deeper. "Fortuna!"

It was via the power of her Persona she soon sensed it. She could see all aspects of the Succubus' power, including their vulnerabilities. It just came to her as if fed right into her mind.

"Please be careful! The woman-demon... she has powerful magic capabilities. " she said, attempting to inform her new friends of the dangers before them.

With the power of Fortuna, she could perceive the energies of not just the demons but her new friends, and all around her.

(Action: Full Analysis on Succubus. Awaiting results. -15% discount on cost due to strength)