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After a few days, the Dark Hour seems... well, not normal, but consistent. Unless college students have suddenly taken to going to bed before the clock strikes twelve (unlikely), then every night the same thing occurs- just hopefully with a little more understanding and some access to weapons thanks to the Kirijo Group.

But tonight, something is different. Yes, electronics still don't work. Yes, the moon casts its strange green light over the entire campus. Yes, Shadows are still mucking around trying to destroy anything they can. But this evening, something has changed. One of the administrative offices, which has long been closed, looks... different. Mostly it's an aura to it, like something is wrong with it but nothing looks out of place. That is, unless you take a look at the front door, which has been replaced by a mirror. Or what seems to be a mirror, anyway. Standing in front of it will show your reflection, but with that same unsettling aura.

Touching it, however, will let you enter.

The glass seems to melt underneath any Persona user's fingers, letting them slip through it into the building. Once inside, they'll see that the normal boring office space has transformed into a sprawling dungeon, where Shadows are more prevalent and even more willing to attack. Hopefully they came prepared... and with any luck, they'll have the sense to make it out before the Dark Hour ends.

[ooc: Sorry for the delay! Please feel free to post up any entries of your own, whether dungeon crawling or just slice of life college stuff into the comm!]

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Something is different tonight.

It's a subtle difference, just one book out of place on a shelf of many - but there, nevertheless. He had only been using his Persona's support abilities for a few days, so it took some time for him to ascertain that it isn't just his senses messing up. As a Support user he is able to hide from the Shadows, but the others might not be - and any focused mass of these creatures could only mean bad things.

Drawing Noah's mantle over him, he starts broadcasting using its psychic abilities.

Hello? This is the Professor. Could you come over to the administrative block? I found something.

Finding something could mean a great many things, both good and bad, but considering the situation... it's probably bad. With any luck, it will at least be something that gives them some kind of answers. That's the most she's allowing herself to hope for.

And sure enough...

"That looks like..." It's sort of reminds her of the entrances to dungeons in the dark hour, except it's a mirror. A mirror that makes her very uncomfortable for unknown reasons, but a mirror all the same. She looks back at the professor, more than a little concerned. "Your Persona has Support functions, correct? Can you tell anything?" (Even if he hadn't said as much, it was a bit obvious from the broadcast.)

Noah may be a mostly humanoid Persona, but it had slender wispy limbs which contrasted with the multitude of wings that sprouts all over its body. Two cover its eyes, and more are folded against its body in some semblance of an overcloak. In its hands is some form of device resembling the Oculus Rift, which Takakage removes from his head once Naoto comes by.

"Good evening, Miss Shirogane." He still addresses her by her last name, a little stiffly. "Yes, it does. I have been scanning this structure. It seems... how shall I put it, spatially different. The inside is much larger than what it should be. And there are many more Shadows, some of which I cannot identify."

Which is more than just troubling, he has to admit.

"Hello, professor." Naoto admittedly doesn't know him that much about him, considering she's in a very different field than him, but it's nice to have a faculty member on their side all the same. (She almost asks him to at least drop the 'Miss,' though.)

"That doesn't bode well... though at least we've found it. Something like this was bound to show up." They've found the the dungeons in the TV World at least. Hopefully it isn't as foreboding as Tartarus. "If it's anything like past iterations, it's probably a labyrinth inside..."

Bound to show up... past iterations... labyrinth. This does not sound good at all.

"You mean something similar to a Dungeon?" He hasn't played any games before, so he isn't familiar with the term. "I suppose we will have to enter sooner or later."

If only to find out what lies within it... but would he be sensitive enough to detect whatever the master of this domain is before it attacked them?

"You have been to such places before, yes? How are they like?"

It's really not.

"Quite possibly, yes." Naoto is well aware that the term 'dungeon' could come from a variety of pop culture, but, well. That is why they called them. It's the best descriptor. "Most likely. However, it's definitely not something one should do alone." As interested in getting answers as she is, Naoto is still quite aware that she would be at a large disadvantage trying to go it alone.

"Generally speaking, they are sprawling mazes filled with Shadows," she replies, "There's always at least one major Shadow hiding within as well, usually in the upper floors." Tartarus worked a bit differently, from what she read, with a bigger monster every five floors or so.

And logically, they would need to defeat that major Shadow before it caused even more havoc in the waking world. Now, didn't this sound familiar...

"I doubt we can go in with just the two of us." He exhales a slow breath, frowning thoughtfully. "I am not proficient with my abilities yet. While I can shield you from Shadows' attention, I cannot fight." Sigh. "We will need more of the students to come before we can enter and explore."

He wouldn't object to looking after students, but when it came to a life-or-death situation...

Naoto nods, grimly. "We're going to need some help," she says, with a sigh, "Hopefully there are enough people who are willing and have gotten a little training." Mitsuru was taking care of some of that, and Naoto knows that people will learn quickly when their lives are on the line, but it still doesn't entirely feel right to ask that of people.

Ah, that was always the problem, wasn't it? People not willing to leave their comfort zone, even if it was for the good of everyone...

"How many do we have now? Do you know?"

"Unfortunately, I do not." Small groups can work- her senpai certainly proved that in their early treks into the TV World. "We don't need many, it would just make process a little bit slower."

That is true, too. But only two people would be a problem. What if one falls?

"If we can assemble a team of three, or four, that would be optimal."

Two is definitely not enough for a dungeon crawl, especially when one is support (though Naoto is sure Mitsuru would also be on the scene soon enough). "Agreed," she says with a nod, "I wonder if anyone else will respond to your message?"

He nods, definitely deciding against venturing further.

"We can wait." If anyone else arrives, that is. But while they are waiting...

"Could you tell me about the abilities of your Persona?"

"Yamato-Takeru mostly has light and darkness attacks," Naoto says, easily enough- there's no reason to hide the information, especially from someone with a support persona who might be able to use it to help, "He is also capable of physical and Almighty attacks, as well as some boosts."

Light and dark, physical and Almighty... a few days ago, those words wouldn't have meant anything to him. And yet, he could understand them now, somehow, as if the knowledge was within him all along.

"Then, we would need someone with elemental attacks to cover the rest. Mitsuru uses Ice-type moves, yes?"

It's impressive, how easily he's adapted to his Persona and the knowledge that comes with it. Support personas are very useful, and highly interesting. She makes a note to ask Rise more about hers, when the time arises.

"She does. Hopefully we'll have a range between everyone who is affected, and willing." Ice and Light/Dark is really not enough diversity.

It is true. Only two elements can make things very difficult.

"She told me that there were Persona-users before the Dark Hour started again. Are the two of you the only ones from that group who are here?"

Naoto shakes her head. "No, Yamagishi-san is here as well, but she also has a Support Persona." Hers really isn't suited for battle. "There could be others that I don't know of, but I would like to think that they would have said something by now."

Alec follows his curiosity, because he can't think of any reason not to. Yes, it might be dangerous, and yes he might die, but that would be a bonus, not something to be sorry about, right?

Still he lingers in front of the mirror, hand pressed against it to watch the material melt and rematerialize it. Maybe he's more of a coward than he thought, or maybe there's something just fascinating about the material. (And maybe the latter is more because of his blown pupils, increased breath, and oh yeah, the acid he'd taken earlier in the evening than scientific curiosity)

When Alec doesn't answer Richard's knocks on his dormitory door ten minutes before midnight, Richard is only mildly concerned. Though he's been there every other night, Alec is nothing if not unpredictable. Despite his penchant for trying to put himself in harm's way, Richard has come to learn that harm has a strange way of avoiding Alec. He also loses track of time something terrible.

He searches the library near his dormitory first, then the classroom where Alec likes to study. (He should not know this much about him.)

Jogging from one building to the next, the Dark Hour falls. Richard's concern becomes more sharp, and his pace picks up. He notices a strange glow from one of the buildings, and then the unmistakably lanky shape of Alec.

"Alec," He's out of breath when he reaches his side, glancing around to make sure there are no Shadows in the immediate area. "What are you doing?" He stares at where Alec's hand is melting into the mirror.

Alec turns his attention to Richard, pressing his hand into the mirror. It feels like it gives.

“Is it real, do you think?” It’s not like this sort of thing can’t happen or seem to happen because of the acid alone, but Alec is fairly certain that Richard might be real, might be standing there. He pulls his hand back, stepping closer in order to reach it out to brush Richard’s cheek.

“Hey. I think you are.”

"As real as all of this," Richard says, gesturing at the surreal landscape around them. "Real enough to really hurt you." He frowns, watching the mirror with suspicion. He is so busily trying to determine what it is that he almost startles when Alec touches him, but catches himself at the last moment.

"Real? Of course I am." He talks to distract Alec while he looks him over for injuries, gently pulling Alec's hand away from his cheek. He is well, physically, but his hands are clammy and he blinks too irregularly. "Alec..." he breathes, "Did something happen?" Maybe an effect of one of the monsters.

Alec lifts his head to look into Richard’s eyes, trying to read them but ti’s too difficult to concentrate on something as mundane as that at the moment. Just like Richard’s care, it’s not the time for it.

“Something’s always happening. What kind of something?” His eyes flick away, smile on his lips.

"The kind of something that made you think it was a good idea to wander out into this." There's a tension in his voice that could easily be interpreted as anger, but lies closer to concern. He tries to guide Alec away from the

He's used to cryptic, unusual comments from Alec, but this is different. "Did one of the monsters - " Halfway through his sentence, he puts the pieces together. "You took something?"

Alec shakes his head, drawing his arm back to his side. He doesn’t want to be moved right now, not when there’s still so much that he needs to see and not when Richard is going to stand there and be judgemental and stop him from it.

“I don’t need you if you’re just going to judge me.” Alec laughs, light and a little mad. “Everything is better like this.” For now, at least.

"I'm not judging you, Alec." It's a small lie. He's more preoccupied with making sure Alec is alright than judging him, but he can't deny that he is upset with him for taking whatever he did, particularly under these circumstances. Then again, it shouldn't surprise him.

"I don't want you to get hurt, and if you don't have your wits about you, you will. Let's go back to your room." It's where they spend this hour normally.

“Why? So you can spend the time daydreaming about your girlfriend while you put up with me? So you can think about whatever it is that you’re going to plant next season? So you can pretend that I matter?” Alec turns back to Richard, hands on the man’s chest and shoving at him.

“You’ll understand if I’d rather decline.”

Alec isn't very strong, but Richard still stumbles back a step, caught off guard. "I'm not pretending," Richard replies, his voice strained and just a touch of heat finally coming into it. "I'm not your babysitter, no one's paying me to do this, I want to. If you didn't matter to me, I could walk away right now. Which I'm not going to do, for the record."

There's a fierce intensity in his eyes, daring Alec to challenge him. He knows that everything Alec is saying has been bubbling under the surface since they met, and the drugs have just loosened his tongue and sharpened it at the same time.

Alec steps in closer, following Richard, comfortable with being the aggressor for the moment. If it takes him a little ways further from the portal, that’s fine, he can go back to it once he’s gotten rid of Richard. Alec sees that intensity but it only makes him want to push more, only makes him think that he’s gotten closer to Richard’s breaking point, at least as far as Alec is concerned.

“I can’t think of why I would matter to you. There are better people to protect.” Alec doesn’t matter to himself, hasn’t ever mattered to anyone else, so it doesn’t make any sense.

"I know you don't understand," Richard concedes. There's no point arguing about Alec's feelings regarding himself. That's a much longer, much messier battle, and one Richard has no right to fight head on. "Do you ever accept things you don't understand?" Richard does, because it saves time and energy and understanding everything is impossible, but he's beginning to see that Alec doesn't have the same ease with the concept.

He doesn't move, even when Alec is nearly toe-to-toe with him. "And there are better protectors. You think I'm perfect?" Because he'll happily prove that wrong.

“I don’t understand because you’re not making any sense.” Alec’s voice is a snarl, and that combined with his proximity might allow him to serve as a threat, if Richard were anyone else, and if Alec were anything other than a too-skinny boy. Still, he raises his hand, as if he might lash out with it, before he allows it to lift, sharp nails scratching over his own chin and neck.

And then Alec is turning, making a mad dash towards the portal.

Richard, for all his frustration and confusion, doesn't hesitate to follow him. If Alec doesn't hurt himself, there's bound to be something past the portal that will hurt him for him.

When he appears on the other side of the portal, his assumption is confirmed. The place is crawling with shadows. He can't see Alec, so he calls out his name, a hand on the Evoker given to him. He hasn't used it yet, but he will if he has to.

Alec can hear Richard's voice, but he doesn't respond to it, mostly because he's too stubborn to admit that he's scared. It's not the shadows that do it so much as it is the dark spaces, the closed in walls.

Still, he doesn't need the rescue, refuses to admit he wants it when he knows he doesn't deserve it.

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cw: suicidal thoughts, drug usage

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WOW i'm sorry bb i just noticed i totally didn't finish a sentence on the previous tag.....

it's fine!

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