Persona: Resist Your Calling

Azurian Dream

Moonlight's Match
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. One post per day
Online Availability
EST 4pm - 6PM
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
  4. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Horror, Sci-fi, Fantasy, and steampunk. All are equal, and mix matching is highly enjoyable.
You knew this day was coming. The day that you would be at this abysmal bus stop waiting to be taken to one place you were sure was a mistake. Selected for your most promising of skills, scores, and capability in the field you scored highest in. Ọrunmila University the most famous of colleges highly regarded as the pinnacle place for young minds to flourish into the grand minds to lead the world. The university accepts no applications, and only sends out invitations to those it deems worthy. Every student brought in has had a unnatural successful career thus when one is sent many react. You yourself have been "blessed" to join for the field you show so much talent in... the talent your not so sure you want as your life's career. Yet upon mountains of pressure from untold sides you yet again come to terms with the fact... your right where you don't want to be. Yet as you look up from your invitation you are overcome with a sudden awareness... your not at your bus station. In front of you their is nothing but black so deep, and dark your sure one step forward would swallow you whole. All that's left is a circle of concrete upon which your bench, and the small rain guard around it. Panic immediately kicks in as you lock your body to the spot having no proper way to react to all this. Yet right as all your common senses are about to give out a sudden pair of lights catches your eyes to the left side as without any logic, or explanation a bus drives through the emptiness, and completely stop a mere two feet away from you. Its design strangle matches a double decker bus from the old Britain days yet has a unique deep blue coloring that oddly draws you to it.

"...!!," your thought process is broken again as the doorway opens, and extends a staircase all the was to your feet the driver now visible is a elderly man with disturbingly yellow eyes dressed in a familiar blue to the bus. With a polite nod of his hat he motions for you to enter... at which you strangely respond to standing up, and walking up the staircase as you are introduced to a setting unexpected of a bus. Inside the design matches with what would normally be set up for a lounge car on a train in fact the inside seemed a bit bigger then the outside showing a rather impressive Victorian design from the side bar table to the comfortable couch aside form it all to a strange lonely table in the middle with two chairs both empty.

"All aboard," the elder man unexpectedly shouts as the stair case aggressively pulls back in followed by the massive gust created from the doors closing. So strong in fact that you invitation letter is blown out of your hands and disturbingly set perfectly upon the table. As the bus move you find your balance lost as you fling forward regaining your balance upon grabbing the chair closes to you. As the moment, and your balance finally agree with each other you sigh a relief before looking up to find the a man who has clearly broken the guinesse world record of longest nose, and widest smile.

"Ah seems we have happened upon another unusual guest. My how this starting to feel like the days of old," he confusingly starts off noting your clear expression of it as he cackles lightly waving off your concerns.

"No worries my friend you are safe from pending doom here. Yet unfortunately this place can only delay that for so long. Most of my guest are brought to me via... contracts agreed upon you, and another... force to say the least," the man explained only adding to the what the fuck nature of what you sure was a drug induced dream.

"But where are my manners. I am Igor, and I welcome you to the velvet room," upon all this confusion you oddly find yourself able to counter that this in fact not a room, but a bus for which you are met with a awkward silence.

"...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH... I believe you are right... oh never have I had a guest point that out," Igor smiles clearly enjoying the company you have brought for which you are not certain if its a good, or bad thing.

"Unfortunately though you have not agreed upon such a contract, but have in fact been forced upon one without your blessing, or knowledge to the matter," Igor spoke followed by a sudden tension as the bus violent shook before a series of chains burst through the window, and in violent force grabbed you trying to pull you away from the chair you were now holding onto dear life. This dream had just taken a turn for the worse.

"I have well prepared myself for such a rude interruption," Igor chuckles as with a swipe of his hands a series of cards appear flaring a powerful light that not only free's you from the chains attacking, but also disintegrates them while fixing the damage done to the bus. Well this was definitely a dream induced by massive problems you were sure years of therapy were not going to resolve any time soon. You find yourself on your knees resting against the chair as Igor looks upon your beaten form.

"I apologize for that I will make sure the velvet ro... bus is more prepared in the future. Now we must speak of your conundrum, and the doom ever so present to your future. Your path has been predetermined for you yet it is in fact a path of damnation. You must find the creator of this contract," Igor directs you to the invitation letter upon the table before motioning you to your chest where their was a rather irritating feeling at the center of your chest... in fact it was starting to get hotter... to hot. In fact it was burning so bad that a literal flame burst from your chest as you cry in agony. Yet as soon as it started the pain was gone just as fast a hole no perfectly where the flames had appear, and upon it spot was seared into your flesh the emblem of the invitational letter.

"Something at the place you have been summoned to has a hand in this matter you must find it, and break the seal of the contract you have been forced upon. If not you will continue to fall victim to the starting transition that has begun," Igor motioned to the emblem on your chest. Your mind rambling on fumes to all you have just experienced has some how lead you to pull yourself up completely onto the chair looking at Igor with a plead for help.

"No worries my friend you are not alone, and I will lend you the key to unlocking your strength needed for this trial ahead," his smile somehow widened as with another wave of his hands those cards from earlier surrounded the letter on the table spinning wildly into a implosion upon the letter changing its color from a bright white to the deep blue the velvet room... bus was covered in.


"When the time is right this power will reveal itself to you, but only if you are determined to escape your doom... by whatever means... necessary..."

……………………………………………………………………………………..

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"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH," probably the most loudest scream in history upon the Orunmila dorm hallways echoed loud, and proud as the Isaac O'Finale woke up in the most abrupt of panicks so fast that he literally threw himself off his bed right onto his desk chair that then spin threw him into the other side of his room smack dab into his dorm wall. As he groaned in pain in pitiful position upon the cold ground he in a weird manner checked his chest in the exact place his nightmare had branded him. Upon realizing he was in fact a idiot who had just been scared by his own mind to the point of beating the crap out of himself he proceeded to get up.

"I... need... coffee," As Isaac made ready for the most stressful day of his life in the most grandest of schools he mulled over what orientation day would be like. He was surrounded in a city full of higher thinking individuals when he himself really just wanted to permit a chance to rethink everything since he... got here. As Isaac watched his coffee maker at work his brain suddenly pulled a prank on itself as he tried to remember the day before when he came to the college... oddly enough he could even remember what he was doing at all yesterday.

"Did I go wild, or is the stress just really getting to me," Isaac sighed rubbing his head as the harder he thought the more oddly blank his memory seemed to be. Once his thermos was full he got dressed in the way to formal school uniform that in his opinion was basically a tux at this point. Upon a final awkward glance at his chest through the nap of his clothes he headed out for the massive garden venue that was the orientation meet up point for all students.

The setting was indeed as highly regarded as the school reputation littered with exotic, and more then likely expensive plants from all around the world. From roses, to dragoon lilies, from cherry blossoms, and nightingales. The venue was separated for each school year color coded to match that years uniform color. The turn out of students was massively overwhelming as Isaac tried his best to make his way towards his class color purple.
 
Patricia Flenning's brown eyes snapped open. Her favorite, pink bunny pajamas and cloudy blue-bell blanket were drenched in enough sweat that she might have believed herself to have run a mile in the midday sun. Not that she was much for running, but that was beside the point. What was the point was the dream. Horribly vivid in a velvet room with chain, fire, darkness, and a man with the most incredible, long nose. Who, what, where, when, why, and how was that? her mind raced, and too what end? Why did I even....

With that, her eyes glassed over as her brain suddenly short circuited. Autopilot took over and peeled Patricia's face from her desk, lifted her from her chair, and stumbled through trip-mines of clutter to a coffee pot. Slight drool dribbled down her desk-pressed face as autopilot made coffee and, ignoring the two mugs by it and forgoing returning to the desk for the mug there, drank the scalding elixir straight from the pot. Placebo effected, Patricia's mind ground back into action without even missing a beat.

dream in the first place? Patricia knew that, when she slept, her body conked so deep into non-REM sleep that even a wing of jets simultaneously breaking the speed of sound would not wake her. Yet, to dream, and to recall the dream at all, suggested REM sleep, a phenomenon that she had not experienced for many years. Yet, even then, she doubted the hypothesis. First, is the simple yet impossible fact that I've slept twice in two days! Why? How? Second, she thought as she took another hearty gulp of coffee, I recall every detail of it. The Velvet Room with all the words, warnings, and promises of the mysterious Igor flitted through her brain. So real. Too real.

Third, is the continued mystery as to how I came to Orunmila University in the first place. Her memory, so pristine in remember whatever its mistress tasked to to, drew the incredible, impossible blank whenever she tried to pull it up. And if she didn't remember how she got here, Patricia concluded that she had no idea where she was. A quick, simple online search, done from the relative safety of a public library had resulted in nothing. Strange and worrisome.

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," she whispered one of her favored quotes of Sir Author Conan Doyle. The mysteries were, perhaps, simple, yet such quotes rang true through it all. For Patricia, it boiled down to two things: either Patricia had done the utterly impossible and achieved what she hadn't since the age of ten and slept twice in two days and had a mere dream, or there was something more to the dream that was also connected to Orunmila University. The problem was, of course, that she had no immediate plan to deal with it.

Time to start one then, she thought as she turned back towards her desk. Then, she caught something that derailed any idea of sitting down and getting to work. Such a destructive force could only be attributed to one force: light. Daylight, twinkling in through the window above her desk. I slept till day. That means the sun is up. When the sun is up, people do things. Like go to work or attend school. I go to Orumila University. That means I have orientation. That happen during the day.

Upon reaching the inevitable conclusion, Patricia let out a moan that pitched its way to a squeal of panic, "what's the time?!"

Not bothering to check, Patricia flew about the room. Hurling things into her bag. Drinking coffee. Snapping her snarls of black hair into a ponytail. Grabbing her glasses. Whipping off PJs and into normal clothes. Snatching her rosary from a desk drawer and giving it a quick kiss before tucking it into its pouch and that into her pocket. Two-minutes and forgoing a shower later, Patricia muttered, "glasses? Check. Bag? Check. Blouse? Check. Skirt? Check. Underwear? Check. Rosary? Check. Coffee pot? Check."

She sprinted out of the room, feel slapping against the floor she skidded to a stop. With a wail, Patricia rocketed back to her dorm, crying "socks and shoes!"

Yet, even in her panic, Patricia's mind was not truly distracted from its true discussion, what to do with the dream and her questions about Orunmila University. Sprinting to orientation, she gave little heed to anything else. A simple mistake that cost her dearly. Pelting along, she didn't notice the lad in a doomed, yet fateful, collision course until the impact was underway. There was no comical bounce of the head, but a full careening slam that sent her tripping and sprawling across the ground. But that wasn't the problem. What was was that the impact slipped from her grip a single glass pot that rose slightly into the air as it shot forward. Then it came down, far from her hand and any hope, smashing into the ground.

"No, no no!" she cried it as she scrambled over to the broken glass with tears dribbling down her face, "my potion, my elixir, my coffee!"
 
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Meanwhile elsewhere in the central building lounge, two students have a seat at a table, both having unusual features and uniforms that deviated slightly from the norm in both cases with markings that seemed to suggest them being some part of the Student or disciplinary body.

The seemingly elder or at least senior of the pair was a woman with silver hair, her Uniform looked a bit like a black dress with some odd maid like attachments, one could assume by her very Regal manner of being, that these clothes were natural for her. The one thing of note was the silver inlays upon her uniform designating her as a senior of the school. Sipping on a cup of tea she faces a girl who's uniform had a bit of a more military or police styled flare to it with hints of Eastern Blok design, golden eyes and hair, and a biscuit in hand. Of the pair she seemed the more rough and tumble a smirk on her face as she stares at those around her with a bit of a curled and pursed lip, studying them all in kind

"Hmm.. It seemed as if the realm of shadows was a bit chaotic.."

"Yeah, I felt it as well, some others woke up huh Laure?"
The one with the pastry says.

Sitting her Tea cup down she nods her head once in response. "Indeed Tanya.. Even the Headmaster seemed on edge.. The school must not be disrupted.. Even if others have awakened.."

"Hmm the purpose of this school is to bring out the best for the improvement of Humanity isn't it?"

"So we are told, most go through it without being awakened as the headmaster told us but a new batch is in, maybe among them or the junior years? Either way this interloper is odd.."

"I wouldn't know, we only have scattered details and no one ever came for us in that..place."

"Indeed.. Either way we have a duty to do, hmm?"

With that the one with the tea cup scans her eyes over whatever crowds or loners that may have business at the main building during this time of day.. The Cryptic conversation stopped short for the time being as both have their own morning meals, even sharing in part, at least of items. Earl Grey Tea in two cups and what seemed to be pierogi buns made by the blonde.

"I much rather have Short bread with this." "A sweet is not breakfast." "Hmph.. True enough, though I would say this is more fitting of a lunch."
 
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As the third backup alarm rang out, a sheepish Isaac's eyes subtly separated for a moment, only to be buried once more in his pillow as his hand struggled to slide a finger across the appropriate area of the phone to cease its noise. Today marked the first day of his second year; a year in which the young man was no more certain of the credentials he worked towards than when he first received an all-too conspicuous-looking letter that fateful day.

Pushing himself up, Isaac quite literally rolled off his mattress, hardly giving his feet time to catch the rest of his body and push him to his full height. With a yawn, he began his day as he often did, cleaning up, dressing himself in a simple white T-shirt, lightweight gray jacket, some faded jeans with a black belt, and a pair of new sneakers. For equipment to aid him throughout the day, he mainly carried a laptop case being held between his shoulder and neck by a strap, of which contained—who would've guessed—a lightweight gray laptop, as well as a small notepad with some pens and pencils as backups.

Leaving his dorm room, Isaac immediately checked his phone and began to rummage through the news. It had become a habit as of late—Not paying attention to news as his predetermined future required that he be aware of the on-goings of the world, but particularly to that regarding the school, albeit there wasn't much in regards to that.

To the outside world, there was little and less on this famed university, of which was far too vague for Isaac's liking. However, even within the school there was naught to see—at least, that was how others saw it and likely how the school wanted it.

A new event, an art show, a banquet or barbecue, a dance, a music festival of the school's musicians...

The university had some kind of publication, as most did nowadays, however the works that came from it were strangely—normal, and not reflective at all of what was happening.

People disappearing and vanishing without a trace, let alone the mysterious nature that the school had always possessed and that Isaac had never particularly trusted. Something was going on in this school and while his peers seemed to be focused on their road to graduation or other pursuits to notice, Isaac was not so preoccupied.

Walking through campus, there was still time before his classes began, and as such Isaac opted to get a much needed cup of caffeine from the local coffee shop in the quad—of which there were three or four plastered around campus. He wasn't sure that many coffee shops and cafes were needed, but it certainly was convenient.

Stepping outside the cafe, the campus was particularly frantic, likely as there was a whole grade of freshmen coming in. Isaac calmly sipped his coffee and watching the new first years run about trying to find where to go, exploring their new home for the next several years and crashing into each oth—

"...Is that a coffee pot?"

The sound of a crash and shattering of glass signaled that it was.

Calmly sipping his cup, Isaac waited a few moments, watching as the sheepish-looking girl began to mourn the loss of her beverage. He waited a few moments before slowly approaching the two, giving plenty of time to watch and see how the boy would react to the collision.

"What a pity. Truly," He began suddenly. "Spilling your cup is always a day-ruiner. What makes things worse is that this campus for all its hype doesn't have one cafe to replace such a thing."

Sipping once again from his cup, Isaac watched the two with an intentional blank face. The girl seemed one of those that didn't function properly without some brew, so he would see how long it took her to catch on, pausing a short while longer to watch the antics of the two.

"No, not one. Just three... or four. I think they're putting a fifth over in the liberal arts building, in fact," Isaac once again took a long, slow sip from his cup. "First-day?"
 


GAME OVER

"Boooo..."

Kana faceplanted her portable game console and sighed, the momentary rage of defeat quickly leaving her body as she felt the consequences of her decision wrack through her entire body.

The other evening, she had bought a game that had gone on sale for the first time in forever, said to be a top-rated detective game known for its challenging cases and having the characters respond and behave in realistic manners. She thought the advertisements had been a bunch of bull to try and sell the game. But, then her online friends started playing and recommending it to her.

Like a bandwagon hopping pleb, she purchased it and got to playing.

She thought she could play for only an hour then get some rest for tomorrow... Apparently, she was very, very wrong.

The moon had come and gone as quickly as she had lost the first case, her eyelids were drooping and her body wanted to just lie down and play dead for 8 hours. Kana was slowly getting closer and closer to winning, now on the fifth murder with 4 more before she could finish the damn game. She wasn't anywhere near the end, but through hard work and smarts, she would get there.

Speaking of things that needed hard work and smarts, she had to get ready for university didn't she?

Boooo...

Kana set her charging console to the side and got up from her bed, several pops coming from multiple locations from her body as she made her way to the bathroom. She didn't wanna, but because it would make her parents happy, she gotta...

~~~~~~~~


She arrived on campus with her console in hand, replaying the fifth case once again as her character went back and forth with one of the suspects. Her outfit was the school's uniform, as neat and tidy as someone pulling an all-nighter could do, her appearance presentable, and her breakfast being a candy bar she had long forgotten in the back of the fridge. But that didn't matter, for she had readied her arsenal of evidence and was going to bring the murder jerk to justice!


Kana, with her eyes glued to the screen, followed a group of what looked like freshman heading to the garden, only looking up every so often to make sure she wasn't going to trip or bump into someone. The only indication she had that she had arrived at the meetup point was the grass under her shoes, the multiple purple bodies around her that matched her uniform, and the chitter chatter of the students that gave off "newbie" vibes. Had she been paying attention, her anxiety of these giant crowds would have surely surfaced.

The beauty of the garden also went unnoticed, for she was too busy relishing the beauty of the suspect's first breakdown. Kana knew it would benefit her greatly to pay attention to the orientation, so she wouldn't get lost. But... maybe just one more argument.
 
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"Time to get up. Time to get up. Time to-"

Her brother must think he's hilarious. She was in college now and he'd changed that alarm in high school. The time was an hour before the freshman meetup, but all Kimiko Ono wanted to stay in bed. Her eyes wandered to the window, looking at the sky. She should get up, and do the normal freshman things that normal freshmen did.

Except she knew something was rotted in this school. The fragments of the dream she'd just had confirmed it. Something was wrong here.

"I'm getting up, Akira. I'm getting up..."
Kimiko mumbled into her pillow. "Just five more minutes..."

Akira Hana was not her brother's name.

However, the alarm went off mere seconds after her dozing off again. Startled awake this time, Kimiko fell straight out of bed and onto the floor. The floor, it seems, was not very forgiving this morning. It also wanted her wide awake and alert in this place. Probably for the best, because she was one misstep away from falling into the venus flytrap of this place.

Kimiko pulled herself together long enough to be presentable for the meetup. She'd wished for coffee or another type of energy drink, because she didn't sleep well. How could she when... when she couldn't even remember how she'd arrived here. When she knew people went missing. When... when she had failed to notice all that the first time.

"I'm not a noir detective. No point in exposition and monologuing."
Kimiko did a few stretches and started out the door. "Apparently, I'm going to be a doctor."

The walk wasn't particularly interesting or exciting. The greenhouse was ostentatious and full of flowers. However, the school was well known for an instant ticket to success. If you survived it, that is. Standing at the opening to the greenhouse, Kimiko wondered if it was closer to an animal's waiting maw than a flytrap. Flies weren't supposed to know that they were going to die if they entered it.

A deep breath then, and... onwards.

Walking inside, she saw a girl on her game console. Clearly deeply involved, Kimiko couldn't resist walking up behind her, looking over her shoulder and saying, "Did you know that DNA isn't actually that effective. While DNA is extremely good at identifying individuals, accurate identification is dependent on a number of factors, including the quality of the DNA sample, the number of genetic markers analyzed, whether the sample was prepared properly, and the ability of those doing the analysis to interpret the results."

"So you could have just released a murderer. These games always assume DNA is correct, but really we only look at 0.1% for the entire sequence. That's not a lot of room for difference. Oh, and I think that you're in the wrong line."


She wasn't, but the second she looked up, Kimiko was going to swipe the game. She wasn't mean, she was just taking it. It would be returned safe and sound.

@Jessica2477
 
Isaac watched in mid concussion as the second victim of this unexpected connection tackle screamed in anquish over the lost of her coffee. His shoulder was on fire, and her this girl was basically having a melt down over her drink. Before he could say anything to the sobbing brown eyes of the apparent victim of the situation a snarky man pointed out the oddity of the situation... why was that girl carrying a coffee pot. As Isaac got up offering his hand to help Patricia up he turned his full attention to the supposed higher grade student a potetential second year from the color he had on his uniform.

"Uh, ya names Issac. Uhhh if you want you can have my coffee," Isaac offered Patricia just wanting her to stop the fireworks of tears as he turned back to the second year not sure what to say much past this situation as the wave of strange was all over the place. Seemed that was going to be the theme of the day. Before anything else could be said as Isaac handed out his canister to the girl their was a sudden wave of tension in his arms as his hand gripped the cannister tightly... their was a unnatural feeling chilling up his spin. As he would look past the girl he could feel something watching him inside the flowers incricling them? With a close of his eyes the feeling was gone as he finally took a breath after his strange reaction.

"....I am just going to go get in line," Isaac spoke up pushing the thermal cannister into Patricia's care as he past the second year... what was wrong with him today. That damn dream had him on pins in needles it felt like. In a twisted sense of irony as Isaac got to his grades official position in the midst of his panicing nature he smacked damn right into someone else as if relaying a curse that had started with Patricia. This time he had bumped into a girl named Kimiko who was in the preparation stage of swiping someones handheld. However yet again that fear sinking feeling of being watched kicked in as a particular word of Igors came to his mind. "You are not alone...," Isaac shook the feeling. Not even able to apologize for his actions as for some weird reason he started to run away from the gathering causing a small murmur of confusion amongst the other first years.

I am thou... Thou ar....,
the voice that had started to ring in his head was quickly silenced as the tapping upon the mic seemed to silence it. Catching his breath Isaac breathed heavily sweeting as he felt a disturbingly unreal pain in his chest as if something was trying to rip out from inside his. From what his barely audible senses could muster the headmaster of the school was now giving his speech. For someone reason listening in calmed down whatever was happening to him at the moment as he stayed away from the crowd.

"I am no fool Igor...," that sentence immediately reel in all of Isaac's nauseated attention as he turned to the flower circle filled with hundreds of students, and what he say upon the center arisen high amongst the students next to the microphone... was not human. Is was a blurred silhouette of a human being, and upon its words the world seemed to warp into a blur as well. What was once a vibrant beautifully peaceful atmosphere was now drained of color to a noir white, and black. The flowers were all gone, and in their place was those unsettling chains from the dream. All of the students seemed frozen in time frozen like ice sculpture as they could be seen through without much effort all except for Isaac, and a few of the other students he had bumped into. They were still alive, and in color...

"So only six deceitful you place on your tinged sense of hope? My, my how little you must think of humanities only salvation to be staved off by six "children" of man," the silhouette spoke looking upon the six students at unaffected by the spell of the world currently at hand. The only facial feature noticeable being the piercing eyes that gazed at each on of them.

"Do not follow the ghost of humanities past you fooled children. Instead reach out to your true calling, and help save man kind from its doom. Better yourselves, and your kind rather then hold onto the dregs of a failing system of beliefs. Man kind accepted the fruits of knowledge, and broke its chains to become a enlightened being. You have simply lost your way for which I will guide you back to your own salvation," the silhouette spoke before vanishing away as the ground started to tremble all around them. The flowers turned chains shot into the air fusing together to make six orbs launch into the sky before coming back down forming into a series of grotesque blobs. AT first nothing happened Isaac stared at the blob that had landed near him watching with sheer fear as it rose up converging into a form that looked just like him before screaming as it grew into a even more grotesque creature.

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"I am Legion... become one with the fold," six creatures screeched in unison as each of the unfrozen students had gotten their own nightmarish versions of the creature. In the chaos of all of this that swelling pain came back ten fold as Isaac clung his hands to his chest having only a moment of realizing that a massive claw was coming down towards him. Lunging out of the way in what could only be considered luck was able to dodge the attack as he rolled away.

"I AM THOU, THOU ART I. ACEEPT THIS PACT OF OUR BLOOD BOND AND RELEASE ME UPON OUR FOES."
Disorient upon everything around him Isaac could tell where the other students, or even himself was at the moment, but as he reached his hand forwards a surge of energy burst from his chest as that burnt in mark from his dream came into reality upon his body. Screaming as he felt something burn out of the mark he caught it in his hands barely able to look at the letter that was now in his hands.

"To be a cog in a machine, or to rebel as your true self."
"Per...so...na.… COME FORTH TYCHE," Isaac yelled as he snapped the letter in two as the creature steam rolled towards him only to have a massive staff like object slam into its head sending it flying to the boys left. His senses, an dbody back to proper order her turned around to see what had dealt the blow his eyes going wide as a massive statue like entity stood behind him.

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“There’s…no…coffee…here?” The tears stopped, briefly, out of the sheer shock of the statement. It was official, this place was evil. That, or the next closest thing to hell. Patricia’s world was collapsing around her as her mind quickly ran through the exact series of events in a matter of microseconds. Problem: I broke my coffee pot. Solution: Get coffee from a store. Problem: There wasn’t any. Solution: Buy new coffee pot. Problem: Coffee pot would take at least a day to arrive and the caffeine fix would end before then. Inevitable Conclusion: I’ll turn back into a zombie!

And then, as though a voice from heaven offering a mere ray of divine salvation, the very young man she crashed into offered his own coffee. Immediately, the waterworks started again as joy filled Patricia’s heart. She grasped both the coffee and the hand and allowed herself to be pulled back up to her feat. “Thank you!” she sobbed with joy, “thank you Isaac!”

For Patricia knew that she’d be able to make it. If she rationed herself severely. Only taking sips of glorious elixir when need was dire. It’d make for a hell of a few days, but she’d do it, knew she could. Then it all came crashing down as the other young man claimed there was not one but at least three other coffee shops on campus. Immediately, she felt foolish. Of course there was multiple coffee shops across campus. It was a college, for goodness’s sake! But, overriding the dunce-borne feeling, was an upset outrage. She knew that he could have no idea as to the landmine he’d stepped on. That Patricia was having a perfectly horrid day with emotional swings, temporary coffee depravation, and the ever so significant matter that she had no idea where the bloody hell she was on the globe and the possibility that the school itself had kidnapped her with a disturbing nightmare to boot! So, when her mouth opened, her inner-city accent compounded right with her British one and Triss swung into action. “Oh! So ye think yer being clever then? Well, I’ve got a thought for you bloomin’ wanker! Maybe ye should actually pull yer blighted eyes out of yer arse to see actual distress afore ye make a bleedin’ berk of yerself! So why don’t ye look for entertainment for yerself by twiddling yer bellend elsewhere!”

With that, Triss swept off in a completely random direction, not even bothering to see if she was heading in the right one. And almost didn’t notice color fleeing the world. Almost. Triss whirled at the strange sounds and words, not truly comprehending what was happening, or even understanding it. Thoughts rushed through her head as she tried to comprehend the idea of some being casually claiming that humanity had lost its way and that it had the tools to salvation. But she knew who had the words of salvation, and every sense was screaming to her that this was not He. And that was before the demon erupted into existence.

In the ever flipping turmoil of emotions, Patricia registered one thought, I knew this school was hell, before she did, perhaps, the most natural thing when suddenly faced with an eldritch being that looked as if it could have spawned out of one of her video games and shot into a full, but poor, sprint away. Before the creature even shot off its introductory line.
 
Breaths happened between her teasing the other student and the chill down her spine. Kimiko took a quick step back, careful to watch the area around her. At first, she thought she was just being paranoid. Then she reminded herself not to trust this school and that she could trust her gut on these things. She reached down into her bag, where her brass knuckles were hidden down at the bottom. She might not need them right now, but there was no point in throwing caution to the wind if things felt off enough.

Another student ran into her, a boy about her age and Kimiko was pulled out of her nervous state. He was a first year, like her. He looked nervous. It was probably just orientation jitters. Nothing too bad to worry about quite yet. Still, she kept her hand in her bag, finger just hovering over the metal. Her parents said that packing it was overkill, but she figured that it was better safe than sorry.

Even as the headmaster droned on, Kimiko couldn't shake the uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach. It was just orientation, but that earlier feeling of having walked into the belly of the beast didn't leave. Her rational, med student brain was saying that it was all just nerves and rumors about the school, but this really wasn't that bad.

However, that brain was thrown out the window when the color drained from the room and she was the only one still moving. For half a second, the frozen student diverted her attention away from the chaos of it all, but when she looked up there was a monster on stage.

Well. Good news: she knew what happened to new student who went missing. Kimiko slid into a fighting stance, thinking the best way up was forward. She was going to punch the daylights out of that thing. Then... bring it to the police? Kill it? Kimiko had never encountered literal monsters before.

Without time to think, a blob nearly landed on her. Kimiko dove out of the way in time, but the monster onstage was already gone. Kimiko let out a very much not ladylike curse. He'd been so close.

"Sorry buddy. I'm a lone wolf. Ain't much for following the crowd."
Kimiko smiled, letting her smile grow. "I'm always gonna be a pain, and that's not changing anytime soon."

A pulse of pain from her chest made her wince.

I A M T H O U

T H O U ART I

Snatch your fate from the Underworld itself! Refuse unkind fate! Form your own path with your bare hands!

Kimiko barely registered the letter in her hand, but she knew exactly what to do with it. Her hand dove in her bag, darting near the knuckles and instead going for the lighter. It burned so brightly for a second before it vanished. It lightly burned her fingertips, but reminded her that she wasn't dreaming.

Kimiko could feel a presence behind her, standing over her. It wasn't judging or even thinking about examining her. It was more like... she was standing behind herself? Or like... or like how she'd felt before Akira was gone. That she wasn't alone and there was no reason to give up yet.

She kept her cool, but how did she kill this thing? Punch it to death? Somehow that didn't seem all the effective, and letting it go first was going to let her end up on the wrong end of the eldritch horror's pincers. However, there was another method, proven to be more effective. Running away and ambushing it for as long as possible. That monster mentioned others, so it was time to hightail it out of there and find them. Maybe they'd know what to do more than she did.

"Sorry bud, but I feel like playing some hide and seek more than tag!"
Kimiko said with a wink, before sprinting full tilt into the crowd, hoping to find anyone else. The feeling behind her faded, letting her hide more effectively. Which way should she go? Left? Right?

"Why am I the only one seeing all this crazy stuff?! I knew going to college was a bad plan!"
Kimiko yelled, partially to get others' attention and to alleviate the tension. She'd been expecting a cult, maybe. Worshiping a giant plate of spaghetti or Chef Boyardee, or maybe it was just good old fashioned corruption. Eldritch horrors named Legion and weird ghosty statue things were not part of the deal.
 
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Watching the situation unfold with a deadpan expression, the woman seemed to panic upon hearing his statement that there was no coffee on campus. She appeared to be going through what a computer would, albeit one stuck in an endless cycle of analyzing the problem, attempting to solve it, yet failing and restarting.

With a nonchalant sip of his own cup, Isaac watched next as the other freshman relinquished his own drink to the girl, prompting her to praise him as if God had come down from the heavens to give her fresh water in the desert. Apparently his name was also Isaac. How about that.

Following the end of his little prank, the girl didn't take it all that well. Immediately she let him have it with every slang and stereo-typically British word. To this reaction, Isaac seemed to merely widen his eyes in minor surprise. Blinking a few times, he once more took a sip as she went through her retort before spinning and storming off.

"Well... that was a thing," Isaac commented aloud, noting that not only had the girl reached her temper rather quickly but that the other Isaac had departed, apparently in no mood for his shenanigans either. "This year's Freshmen are especially tense... Not that that's surprising."

With a sigh, he half considered following the girl to apologize, but it would likely be better to let her cool off first. Turning around, Isaac took but a step forward before halting once again. As if stepping through a gateway to another world entirely, the world had suddenly bled itself of its natural color. The imagery of the pristine school had distorted somehow as well as had the surrounding sounds.

"What..."

While he reacted cooly, to say Isaac wasn't in shock would be entirely naive. However, he didn't have much time to stare at the suddenly deformed world in front of him as the crack of pavement followed by the movement of something grossly unnatural made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Run.

Honestly, Isaac didn't even get a good look at the thing before he broke into a sprint. Something tall—a humanoid figure but one heavily disproportionate. Lanky biceps and legs that looked like thick twigs, yet a lumbering torso with an impossibly thin waist as well as forearms and hands large and blocky with a square head topping it. The creature had no color, being completely made of blackness and shadow with piercing yellow eyes.

He fled to the nearest building, not caring which it was, and raced up the stairs before ducking into an available room, shutting the door, and hugging the wall. Nothing made sense. Everyone was frozen and didn't give a damn. There was nobody around. Not to mention the thing chasing him—its very existence didn't make sense.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up once again. The glowing eyes were staring at him from one of the windows on the opposing side of the room. It was the second floor, but apparently that thing didn't care as it climbed through one of the windows, having to hunch over in the much smaller room.

Tossing his cup of coffee, which Isaac had for some reason not dropped when he first bailed, he yanked the door open and fled through the halls once again. Upon finding a classroom, he once again shut the door and began to barricade it with a nearby desk before hugging the wall again. He heard lumbering steps. Closer and closer. However, the steps suddenly stopped.

Waiting a moment, Isaac hesitantly edged his head closer to the window stuck in the middle of the door. It currently had a piece of paper or a poster of some kind taped over it. Pulling a side back slightly, just so he could peek into the hallway, he saw it, the eyes. Edged up to the door, its head was leaned down to level with the glass, returning Isaac's horrified stare.

Immediately, he recoiled and began shoving more things against the door—anything that could prolong what seemed to be the inevitable. Now backed against the opposing wall, he supposed that what he was experiencing was what most did before their passing. Racing of thoughts and the reliving of memories flashed in his head, though the few that stuck were all related.

The pressure of his father.

The expectations of his family.

The deceit of the company he would one day be forced to work for or even inherit.

The letter that sealed his fat.

That fucking letter.

Suddenly, said letter was in his hands. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or the fear, or the anger, but Isaac didn't question it. He simply stared at it. In comparison, now even the monster stalking him seemed the lesser of two evils, despite it's constant bashing on the door.

I am thou... Thou art I...

An ghastly, ethereal voice reverberated in Isaac's mind. There was a light, a feeling, a pact; honestly he couldn't describe it. It was just instinctual, and as the monster burst in, the light transformed into a blackened darkness and exploded outward, shooting the creature back into the hall as Isaac crumpled the letter in his hand.

"Come forth..."

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"...Adored."

Standing in the disheveled room, Isaac remained, albeit with an apparition of his own standing behind him. His clothes had shifted to that of formal wear; a button-up collared dress shirt covered by a blazer, some slacks and dress shoes and a cloak of some kind draped over his upper body and shoulders, trailing down the left side of his back. Over his formal apparel were light pieces of what looked to be plate armor on his forearms, shins, outer thighs and sides of his waist. In his his hand was a European style silver longsword and under his right arm was a gun holster stocked with a pistol.

"Well... that was also a thing..." Isaac murmured, his composure regained.

Strolling outside, the creature lay there, the attack from Adored having taken from it its legs and a portion of its torso. With a hum, Isaac passes it heading for the exit.

"Ready or not... it's time to stop running," Isaac stated to himself. "I will find out just what the hell this place is."