[EVENT] On the first day of Christmas...

[vrdr_mods]

Winter has been drawing in for quite a while, and even here, Christmas is inescapable. What's going on?

The day before

Snow is falling... all around. It's a freezing cold evening, and the air is still—except for the blizzard outside. Will you stay home in the warmth, watching the snow fall and the frost form on the windows? Or will you head out into the whirling night? Visibility is next to nothing, but you'll probably be fine... as long as you don't go too far.

The next day

Snow has fallen! It lies everywhere you look, inches-deep, from Tokyo to Mikage-cho. The air is still, and the sky is a clear, wintry blue. Doesn't look like it's going to warm up any time soon. But that means a snow day. You'll be fine, as long as you wrap up warm. Do you want to make a snowman sledge, skate or ski? Waterways are frozen solid, and if you can get to the right store, you'll find the equipment you need. Or maybe you want to keep it closer to home, with snowmen tea-tray sleds and snow angels? Just try not to kill any rivals or near-rivals with a snowball.

Snow also drifts gently from the ceiling of the Velvet Room, fading before touching the floor. Festive, unseen sleigh bells clash unnervingly with the usual elegiac piano melody. Igor watches on with his trademark knowing smile—the festivities are just beginning....

In Iwatodai Mall, Inaba Shopping District, and Station Square, there are Jack Frosts around the place, along with chilly-looking Pixies, Onmoraki, and many other assorted demons. They have large sacks, or toolboxes, or planks of wood; they work merrily in hard hats, and whisper and giggle amongst themselves, and watch you as you pass. What could they be up to?

Christmas trees now stand in all the open spaces, hung about with baubles and lights. Illuminations are up, too, on every building, across every street, between streetlamps, you name it. More urban areas, like Tokyo or Sumaru, are as dazzling as you'd expect. But it isn't just the real world—all cognitive zones are suddenly hung with countless tiny lights as well. Probably not a good sign.... then again, the inhabitants seem strangely reluctant to fight you.

Comments

[midnightmaiden]

"Yeah, I noticed it's kind of like Mementos. Shadows aren't too big of a problem. The real trouble was getting out." She titters, just a teensy bit sheepish. "I guess there's some kind of time limit? I was only able to get out when it was still night outside, and I kinda forgot to bring a Goho-M with me."

In her defense, she was curious at first!

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"Mhm. At one am the Dark Hour is over." Makoto tells her. She mentions that the shadows aren't an issue. "Do you have a Persona then?" Since that was the only way that she'd be able to fight them off it would be the only logical explanation...

...right?

[midnightmaiden]

"Yep! I've got Cendrillon with me, and I can keep Shadows at bay pretty easily. The enemies aren't the problem so much as getting out in time..." Ehehe... That's the tricky part. It's such a big place! "Plus, I don't even know where that Akechi-senpai is. All I know is he has to be in there somewhere, and he's not able to leave on his own."

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"He can't leave on his own?" Well Makoto would really not want this girl to go in Tartarus on her own. He wasn't really a navigator but he knew where the teleporters were and the Shadows would defer to him if he entered there.

"...I'd like to go with you if that's alright. I'm not a Persona user but I am pretty familiar with Tartarus."

[midnightmaiden]

"There's something wrong with him. His Shadow got separated from him, and apparently anything related to Personas and cognitive spaces causes problems for him." She did ask her Akechi, so that helps with her understanding, at least. "I think what might be happening is that because Tartarus is in a constant state of being a cognitive space, he can't perceive anything there..."

Which is worrying. Very, very worrying. "Um, not that I'd say no to a little help! I just think it's important to know what's going on."

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"Separated?" Makoto hadn't heard of that, but people didn't have Shadows either. So there was something weird about that. He supposes he'll know soon enough. "Do you know roughly what floor your friend is on?" If he can't perceive Tartarus he can't have wandered very far.

[midnightmaiden]

"Not exactly. The tower's really big, and I'm not as skilled of a navigator as—" She has to stop herself. "Well, I mean, I can get by, but it's really hard to pinpoint someone when I've only met his Shadow. I just hope he's okay, because if he doesn't have his Personas anymore, then he can't protect himself."

[nyxavatarmakoto]

So she had a navigator that she wasn't in contact with at the moment. "I might be able to help find what floor he's on, but I'm not gonna make any promises," he assures her. The least he can do is make sure that she doesn't get herself hurt.

[midnightmaiden]

"As long as it's not too much trouble! I'm sure you have your own business to deal with, but I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't help." There's still so much she has to learn. Spending so much time lost in that tower may have taught her some things, but it sure left a lot unclear.

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"Not really." Makoto's kind of been vibing with the delay of his inevitable death. Or the death of everyone he knows and loves, whichever comes first. It's something that he'll definitely have to face at some point but he's happy to help other people with their issues before himself. It's probably a bad habit of his.

[midnightmaiden]

"Well, if you're sure." She smiles brightly. This boy seems kind of quiet, but that's okay! Some people are just more introverted. "Oh, I'm Kasumi Yoshizawa, by the way! If we're going to be working together, we might as well know each other's names."

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"Nice to meet you Kasumi. You can call me Makoto." It probably would be good to know each other's names so if for some reason the Shadows did separate them it'd be fairly easy to find each other again.

[midnightmaiden]

"Nice to meet you too, Makoto-san!" And nice to talk to someone who doesn't fill her with the same doubts as that Shadow. That was creepy. "Honestly, I'm so used to seeing other versions of Akechi and Ren-senpai that it's pretty refreshing to meet someone new!"

[nyxavatarmakoto]

It was sort of a weird compliment, and he doubted that it would be nice to meet him when she found out he was a Shadow...but he'd take it for now and gives her a small smile. "I heard there was a lot of those two around, I guess they're special or something."

[midnightmaiden]

"Hmm... well, maybe! They can wield multiple Personas, so that may be a part of it. Or maybe Igor-san's especially interested in them for one reason or another." Kasumi doesn't want to assume too much, but what she's seen of them both is pretty remarkable. Scarily so. "Oh! But if we're going to work together, maybe we should exchange numbers?"

[nyxavatarmakoto]

"There's not really cell communications in Tartarus, on the off chance that we do get split we'd be on the same floor..."

But then she can let him know if she wants to go back to Tartarus.

"Actually yeah, just so that you don't have to go back alone if we can't find your friend."