agogelogs | open | i'm the conscience clear

Entry tags:

open | i'm the conscience clear

WHO? akira! and you!! (+ some closed prompts)
WHAT? dreamland
WHEN? whenever the characters meet in said dreams
ANYTHING ELSE? persona 5 spoilers, potential violence and horror

DREAM I.

[the first thing heard is a train.

it stands out like a sore thumb, a glowing red train pausing only to let nonresponsive, wobbling, quiet people board on before taking off. it's obviously a subway, dark and filled with whispers from places no one can see. it looks normal now, on a small floor with nothing but a rest stop, but go down the escalator... and things look instantly worse.

skeletal arches make up the walls and train tracks, veins stick to the brick and pulses as if it's alive. heavy smoke hangs in the air, the whispers and groans are louder, but there is still no one in sight. the tracks go in any which way and no sense seems to be made by whoever created it. but that large creature does notices an intruder after a turn into a hall.

it hurries in a faster pace than someone could expect, immediately splitting into two enemies that are already on the attack.

good thing akira followed the noise, already running forward.]

Who are— get back! Attack Moloch's head! [which one is moloch!?]

DREAM II.

[the teacher tells you to quiet down because everyone's taking their exam. she hopes you studied.

so what can you answer: what event did emperor nero add to the olympics so he could participate? who do you think is the origin of the term "magistrate's patronage"? what is the origin of the English word "talent"? what's the least number of colors needed to paint japan so no two adjacent areas are the same color? what is said to be the reason why people began dreaming in color?

you name it, as you scan over the test: math, history, science, japanese...

akira pokes with a pen, quiet, since he's probably in the same boat.]

What's the answer to number two? [whispers.............]

DREAM III.

[come on, we're being paid by commission, or that's what your boss says at the flower shop. a customer steps forward, nervously asking for a bouqet that means he wants to stay friends with an ex. why is he gifting an ex with flowers?

the manager turns around, requesting an arrangement that symbolizes friendship. hopefully someone else has a clue on flower meanings, because akira definitely doesn't.]

Wasn't friendship a yellow flower? What kind of... [mumbled to himself, instead tying a lot of red roses together, because he obviously does not care.]

WILDCARD.
[hit me up!]

CLOSED TO RYUJI.

[looks down at his plate of assorted food he just got from the buffet, apparently ready for more. why is he ready for more...? he didn't even touch his plate—

looks over to ryuji, right beside him, and whatever questions he had bubbling to the surface disappear. right, they came here together to celebrate. ann's on the way, just late. it happens.]

... Ryuji, too much meat. Let's find you some edamame. [already reaching for the bin to drop some onto ryuji's plate, not taking any protests.

— but he pauses, looking past ryuji and his gaze focus on kamoshida in line, grabbing food, and he's left speechless as his eyes widen.]

CLOSED TO NOCTIS.

[he's used to whispers as he passes trough the hallways, rough as usual and the students don't mind giving him space as he walks to class. he knows it's because they're cautious about him, and he wishes that wasn't the case, but he knows what a possibly worse decision to fix it could do. best just to be hated for a year, then get it over with.

what does make him stop is when he hears a student whisper: "think that prince's dad will give kurusu a pardon or something?" it sounds pretty great, getting a royal guy's blessing, but he starts to question what the hell's going on as he hears more of it.

and more of it. why?]

— Noctlight? [finds him in the middle of a crowd of students, the whispers only getting louder.]

CLOSED TO HEI.

[he's a veteran on waking up in the velvet room, at this point. it's happened so many times that he feels nothing, just a roll of his eyes as he sits up, gazing at the velvet walls of his cell and letting the heavy metal weigh on his wrists. it's actually comforting, considering everything— thrown from home, expected to fight with people he's never met before, separated from most of his friends, his personal mission put on hold... but this is welcome, this can help.

if only the twins and igor were here. — why aren't they?

sees the empty desk in the middle of the room, standing and gripping the bars that have never opened for him. no one's there. where'd they go...?

hears rustling in the cell beside him, and that's what causes him to jerk in surprise. it's always just been him, stilling to hear any further sounds. a grunt, probably in surprise, the rattle of chains...]

Hello?

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What, you shouldn't? I'm surprised, it's only ever been me.

[unlike his other dreams, akira has a clear conscience in the velvet room, and it's easy to deduce exactly what's going on. there's still no sign of the usual residents, and that's a concern all on its own.]

No, you didn't. At least, from what I know. Maybe you're a criminal back home but that doesn't matter here. What do you remember?

(a shake of his head, finally approaching bars the ball and chain only just barely allow him to grasp in tight fingers. pressing his forehead there gives him the illusion of being able to see out and around at akira, maybe find an exit, but there's nothing.)

Remember? I don't know, I was out walking. I found a spot in the mess hall.

(then what? did they take him to the brig? there's nothing so ornate aboard this ship, is there?)

Then I was here.

Sounds like you hit one of those weird spots. [which means i did too... fuck.

can't see much of hei at this angle... is he in the prison clothes and chains too? it definitely sounds like it. he's not sure if what he's saying is actually getting through to hei or not, but if he has the ability to fix this, then it's all on him.]

We need to wake up somehow... let me think.

[and just as he was about to pull at the bars, he pauses at the sound of footsteps that ring through the cells like an echo. he's not surprised to see caroline stop before his cell, a small girl with a smug look on her face, but his eyes do widen as justine walks past her and stops in front of hei's cell instead.

listens to her, but something's not right. look at that, a new inmate, justine! what a sad look on his face. it's almost pathetic. what're you in for?]

"Wake up"?

(wait, they're dreaming?

shocked into stillness, standing against the bars with the information. doesn't know what to make of it but has to believe him immediately, because with all of the unexpected things happening this is pretty innocuous compared to the others. and it feels wrong, like this is something out of a movie — not that he's seen any himself.

only moves when the little girl steps into view, making him shove away from the front of the cell with a wary tension in his jaw.)

Nothing that concerns you. Get out of here.

(being rude to the prison guards, not knowing they're prison guards, before promptly ignoring her and speaking above her head. he just thinks they're punk little children in completely relevant outfits who need to go find their parents.)

Akira, this is your dream?

[watches caroline's face twist, raising her electric baton, and that's when he starts shaking at the bars.]

Wait, don't! He didn't mean— [too late.

doesn't see it, but he's forced to hear hei deal with a severe gust of wind, powerful enough to make akira shield his eyes and let his arms take several cuts to defend himself. it lasts longer than it should've, slowly lowering his arms when the wind dies down and stares at his own bars— slightly chipped.

justine's unaffected, as usual, nothing showing on her face, while caroline points at hei and demands respect. well—]

Why'd you do that!? Hei! [shaking the bars harder, is he alright?] Hei, are you there? Are you okay?

(he's bleeding. he doesn't know from where, he just knows that he is. the gust of wind that was powerful enough to make a cut at his bars slices through something that isn't wrought iron like butter, flesh parting instantly — but they're in a dream. hei rises with tattered rags that hang off of him with bare threads, muscle lacerated across the face, chest, and arms by something invisible. he's faced it before. he knows what it's like, a whip of something you can't just dodge, what an attack like that costs to get hit by.)

Yes. (the deep wound against his cheek and the bridge of his nose wet his lips as he focuses his anger into an electricity so potent it oxidizes steel—

and cracks shackles off of his limbs with a shake like they're brittle. shuffling and vibrating molecules out of order is his speciality when backed into a corner and maybe akira can't see it happening from this vantage point, but he can sure as hell can see ephemeral blue light envelop both of their cells in a blanket of radiation as he channels his ability into the rows of bars to make the walls between them and the twin girls nothing stronger than toothpicks.)

I'll kill you.

(not a particularly good discussion to have with a little girl.)

[yanks his hands away from the bars when they start to glow, eyes darting around the walls then down to the brick floor. what the hell is this?

he hears metal break and clatter on the ground, confused, but it doesn't take long for him to notice the small cracks start to form on his bars. it only takes him a second to decide using his shoulder which gives him what he expected— an easy way out.

the bars shatter, hitting his face and shoulders as he bumps into a surprised justine and hears the satisfying break of the chain around his ankle. not sure what the hell is happening, shoving caroline out of the way when it looks like she's about to attack again.]

Hei, "kill" her later. [let's get OUT OF HERE.]

(slams into the bars of his own cell, crippling and cracking the metal, throwing himself out and into a brutal sweep of a kick at the stun baton a staggered caroline carries. thanks to akira's quick shove, both twins are wide-eyed shocked enough for the kick to connect and they all watch it spin across to the opposite side of the velvet room.

immediately takes the advice and breaks into a sprint at the nearest archway leading out — into ball-in-a-maze halls, a labyrinth of cells. he has to slow to peel a useless scrap of a shirt away from a bleeding body, panting hard at the wounds that make sweat mat his bangs.)

Akira, you — know this place? Which way is it?

(a jerk at the sound of a girl's angry shriek, clenching his teeth around the pain with a commanding push at his comrade's shoulder.)

Quickly.

[great, now they're both pissed. if he doesn't learn to navigate, they're both "dead" for sure. and akira's the one who's going to pay for it. fantastic—
not sure where to start so he sprints into the left hallway, and immediately he notices everything looks the same— cells, no doors, just hallways. one connecting to the other. some are a dead end. god damn it.]

Fuck. [quietly, immediately making a turn when he hears footsteps and a threat thrown their way about punishment.]

I've never broke out of the cell. I didn't even know the Velvet Room was this huge...

(a sharp click of his tongue, disdainful, but he can't fault akira for not knowing the layout. he's frustrated, heavily injured by whatever the hell hit him, and tracking blood as it drips from his fingertips and chin.)

If this is a dream, can't you think up something else?

(places a hand over a deeper laceration, looking the boy over. is he alright? he got tagged too, didn't he?)

Well?

[that's the tricky part... hei doesn't look like he's suffering, the twins acted out of line, is he really in the velvet room or is this something he made up himself?

he doesn't have to put in much effort, before he makes a quick turn into a cell and finds a new steel door. he can't believe it at first, the fact that he willed something into being real, but he scrambles to open the door and help hei inside.

it just leads to another hallway, but at least they have more time.]

Shit... none of this makes sense.

[hears them from the other side of the door that he hopes to god won't be open, confirmed when he hears them try to jerk at it but to no avail.]

Come on, I'm not letting them hit you like that again.

(grabs the frame of the door and practically throws himself in, breaths leaving him in sharp huffs. blood smears in an arc as he walks further inside and turns on akira with a barely contained frustration.)

A plan's what we need. A logical one.

(so,) Death. If you die in a dream, you wake up. Right?

[... logical it is.]

Are you going to say we need to kill each other or something?

[the bangs are only getting louder, but for some reason, he knows it won't break.]

Yes. (one word that holds so much weight.

it's obvious by the grim line his lips press into that he's serious.)

One of us needs to wake up.

[...]

[stares at hei's bleeding body and ripped clothes, muscles tensing because yeah, it's a dream. nothing will come out of it.

but everything feels so vivid.]

I can't use my Personas right now. I'm not about to dream up a gun and shoot you, either.

If you stay still—

(comes a far more measured voice, eyelids low, staring at akira as though he was never there to begin with. he can do this, he can save them from this, he'll free them and they can wake up and go their separate ways.)

I will take care of it.

(pupils redden and his shoulder turns to square off with him.)

It won't hurt.

[... hei must be prepared, because he can't honestly expect a "go for it". maybe he does, but that still means if he tries to bolt, it's useless. akira's not as wary of those red eyes as he probably should be, and in the real world, he definitely would have been. has to remind himself this is a dream, over and over—

raises a hand, index finger at hei.]

If it's quick.

(the second the index finger raises, hei reaches for akira.)

I guess I'll hear from you, if it wasn't.

(and grabs his forehead, fingers squeezing his temple. the powerful shock's applied, shaking his arm and akira's body. then he opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling of his room, smoothing a hand up his chest to make sure. no injuries. no prison fatigues. no akira.)

[that wasn't just quick, because all he's expecting from that hand is something to follow up after. but the next thing he knows, he's awake. the fuck was that?

he's propped up against the wall in the hallway, fumbling with his clothes then smoothing a hand through his hair. he's fine.

... but the last thing he wants one right now is to be asked questions, standing up with effort as he uses the wall for balance to disappear around the corner. thanks the little miracles.]

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