i will burn my dread

[miseris_socios]

Who: Everyone!
What: Welcome to the Dark Hour!
Where: In the Strega warehouse.
Warnings: Possible blood and gore, Persona 3/general SMT-level disturbing topics, possible violence (knowing this group). Will edit if needed.


[When he first wakes up, Ken finds himself lying on a bed. That in itself isn't so unfamiliar, but this one has dents where it should, the shape of a small body pressed into it over weeks and months, and the sheets are soft and scratchy in just the right places and -]

[Oh no. He sits up and pulls himself out of bed, reaching almost automatically for Koromaru but... he's not there. Of course not. He'd been expecting the Tower, but this is worse, because they're not here because this is his Heart, not theirs, and because -]

[No. He has to think of what to do. He grabs the dangpa that Shinjiro made him and the copy of Gae Buidhe that Diarmuid gave him, strapping them onto his back. He needs to stay defended in this place, no matter what - the last Heart taught him that much.]

[The familiar pressure of the Dark Hour doesn't bother him, but it's worrying. It should be gone now. They won. It's over. Even in his Heart, it shouldn't be around. But it is, and there's a brief flare of panic before -]

[No. He needs to get going. The puzzles aren't going to find themselves.]

Comments

[miseris_socios]

[That makes him sit up. ... The voice sounds like Yu, but the words...]

Because we have to. Because I have to.

[Psychoradiation. It's that, or it's something close to that, and he pulls himself to his feet, raising his voice.]

Don't listen to them!

[hesmypuddin]

[Harley doesn't look at Sasuke, though his reassurance helps a little only in that they might all be going crazy instead of just her. Still, she half turns, dropping her nutrition bars and water bottle and ignoring as it rolls across the floor, because that last voice...]

Mistah J? [Only this isn't her Heart, so why?? She shifts her weight from foot to foot, looking increasingly uncomfortable with this situation. Her gaze darts to Ken as he speaks, just as another familiar voice...] Pammy? [... whispers to her from everywhere and nowhere. She tries to focus on Ken, a round of all too familiar, spine tingling laughter echoing around her.]

How is this possible? This is yer heart, not mine... [Seriously, wtf?! She wasn't expecting to hear them... to hear him.]

[worldkeys]

[ The voices will continue to assail Harley the entire time she's here, jeering at her, accusing her in various ways of how unhelpful she is.

It might be best to not listen, just as Ken has told her, but can she? ]

[not_that_sasuke]

[-?]

Mister J?

[Who's that? He'd heard the voice, of course, but it hadn't sounded like anyone with a name like that.]

[hesmypuddin]

[Unfortunately, even though she's been advised as such, ignoring the voices is far harder for Harley than you might expect. You see, she hears them quite a lot of the time, so this really isn't anything new. BUT, being ever constantly in the background like that doesn't mean she doesn't notice them... it doesn't mean they don't slowly grate and chip away the stronger exterior.

Why is she bothering? This isn't her Heart and if she just gave up and died, she'd just be back in the Hub when all was said and done, right? The voices continue to nag at her, though Mistah J's is the strongest and most persistent of them all and she turns to stare at the paintings. She can't tell where the voices are coming from, but there is familiar sting beginning behind her lids. She wasn't really making this harder on everyone, was she? She hadn't meant to...]

This ain't right... [She's holding the mallet, but there is no foe to fight that she can see.] Mistah J needs me... he needs me... I can help here an' then get back home! [Couldnt she? She doesn't sound too convinced.]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken runs after her, going to grab her by the arm.]

Come on. I don't know if they're real or not - they're just voices, though. It might be psychoradiation or it might not be. Either way we need to get through all of this quickly, or we're just going to end up worse off.

[not_that_sasuke]

Psychoradiation?

[What the hell is that supposed to be? Though he doesn't dwell on it for long - with Harley in this state, it looks like they'd better get a move on.]

Then we need to go. Ken, can you make any sense out of all this?

[hesmypuddin]

[Harley falls still when Ken grabs her arm, eyes still a bit wider and red-rimmed than they'd been when this all started. She tries to pull herself out of the headspace the voices have landed her in, focusing on what she'd heard initially.]

Does what they said matter? At the beginnin'? One'a one an' three inside? [She swallows, trying like hell to focus. She points at the pictures, and please don't notice the shake of the mallet she's clutching in her hand.]

Can we please go?

[miseris_socios]

I don't know.

[He nods, and attempts to lead her along. He doesn't know where they're going, but at least moving their feet might help.]

This... kind of looks like the art gallery in the Tower. There'd be a lot of different paintings... kind of like this, actually. It was quiet, at least.

[hesmypuddin]

[Harley laughs, leading where Ken tugs her without any resistance.]

Well, there are certainly all kinds'a paintings down there...

[She exhales softly and nods.]

Let's go check 'em out an' see if we can get outta here.

[worldkeys]

[ Maybe, maybe not. There's a pause. ]

What I'm saying is, there's nothing to fight for here. You just need to get home. You just have to get through this. Just... hang on. Please.

[ Another voice. This one sounds like a young woman's. Very familiar to him as well. It sounds... strained. Tired. Exhausted. Worried. All of those things. ]

Ken... I don't want you to be the one that ends up in this situation again. I have failed. I'm always failing. ... I'm sorry. How much time have you... spent here? How much time will be spent here? I miss you. And I hate this place. The smell. The feeling... please. Come back home. I would rather... disappear, then...

[ It cuts off, echoing away. ]

[miseris_socios]

[He calms down slightly, trying to push through, but - ah.]

No... Chidori... it's okay. You didn't fail... I'm... I'm the one who did, I should have looked harder... I'll find every world where there's one of you guys, and... I'll find a cure, I promise... there's got to be something...

[He needs to get through this. He needs to get home, to the members of Strega who are still there, who worry even if they don't understand what he went through.]

[worldkeys]

[ The voices will seem to come from one painting in specific, if he cares to continue moving further inside. It looks like a hospital scene, but it's hard to tell what's going on. It's horrific looking. Blood, places where it shouldn't be. It probably reminds him of things past.

Most of it is blocked by the silhouette of someone standing in the foreground wearing a white lolita dress, oddly untouched.

If he doesn't find the painting, he'll only distantly make out their voices, but if he is close to the canvas, he can faintly hear the bleeps of a heart monitor. ]

Do you think he can hear us at all?

I don't know. This isn't like before. I don't... know if we can do anything.

... Please come back. We lost him, and we almost lost that moron. You don't... have any right to be doing this to us.

No one back... there knows anything. ... I'm sorry.

... Are you his guardians? Or his family? I've heard of this before, you know. It's kind of like Apathy Syndrome, they say. It's called ▒▒▒░░▒▒▓▓░▊▓▒.

[ The last bits are indistinguishable, and all that can be heard are the sudden, garbled screams and wailing moans of another human being. The girl in the painting suddenly, realistically, clutches her head and it will split open, a familiar monster crawling its way out of her body and setting everything aflame with shrieks. The painting becomes charcoal, a solid, black canvas. ]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken draws close, reaching out to touch the canvas, but the shrieks make him stop. He jerks his hand away and -]

Medea!

[The sight makes his stomach flip, and he reaches out to try to grab the painting, to tear it from the wall, but it's all black and she's in pain and he can't do anything because it's a painting and it's not real but he reaches out to try to scrape his fingers against the painting, a sob loosing from his throat as he does.]

Chidori! Chidori, I'm here!

[800isenough]

[Nope nope nope someone's got to stop the smol!!

The racket was a welcome break from all the whispers, but the moment Liao sees what Ken is about to do, he's just going to dash forward, try and grab Ken.]

Control yourself!! What you see here is merely a reflection of your heart, it is not real!

[miseris_socios]

[He struggles against Liao, but at least doesn't try to attack him. He knows he's right, but it still hurts. It sinks in after a few moments, and he slumps in the giant man's grip.]

I won't let her or the others die like that. They deserve better.

[He'll find a cure. He has to. He can't accept that they're just going to die like that.]

[Even if... Minato and Minami had sacrificed themselves against Death and the Night... even if the others in Strega thought death wasn't something to be afraid of... the unfairness of it all stings.]

... Sorry.

[No. He's got to harden his heart against his Heart.]

[800isenough]

Death is impartial. It is not a matter of fairness, but of fate. All that is within man's grasp, is to fight against such a fate to the bitter end.

[Now that Ken's stopped struggling, he'll let the boy down. His grip might've been a bit too strong, and Ken will find that his arms ache a little where Liao had grabbed him.

But that stern expression of his softens a tad when Ken apologizes.]

It's alright. This room will deliberately show all the weakness in your Heart. You must strengthen your will against them.

[miseris_socios]

... Trust me, I know that better than a lot of people. We fought Death itself - or a portion of it, at least.

[The ache in his arms isn't so bad. At least it's something to focus on.]

I think... this place is just going to get worse. The Tower always does.

[800isenough]

Knowing isn't the same as acceptance. [Which in his view, seems to be Ken's problem. But now that Ken seems alright he'll take a step back.]

Will you be able to handle the next levels of this Tower? [Because the last thing they need is Ken breaking down like Hinata and Sasuke did, even before they reach the World Key.]

[miseris_socios]

... I can handle it. I've handled a lot from this place before. I'll get through it again.

[The others aren't here, though, and it's an absence that weighs on him. Sure, some of these people are okay, but it's not the same.]

[hesmypuddin]

[Harley is far quieter than she has been to this point, the voices still calling to her and questioning everything about her; making her question herself. However, she walks up behind Liao and Ken, ready to move onto the next section.]

So... Did we find anythin' here or was it all just a delightful mindfuck? [Even her tone is sedated.]

[miseris_socios]

... We'll be fine. Let's get going.

crawls out of the ground late with ruanabucks. or something.

[hopedout]

[ Belatedly: ]

... Oi, Ken. I found this note, earlier. Do you recognize the handwriting?

*sips* mmm delicious tears

[miseris_socios]

[He blinks in surprise and takes the note.]

... I think it's Yu's.

[One of the paintings might be fake... he's watching...]

If you see one with someone with a birdlike beak, multiple arms, and scalpels... that might be it. That's... Jason.

[worldkeys]

[ There is no reply, and the voices he heard previously are now dead silent. The painting remains as it was: burned. However, throughout the Gallery, he will smell blood and signed flesh. ]