Logs: Hunter of the Dark
Port Island - Shirakawa Blvd.
Tatsumi Port Island is, on the whole, a nice place to live. This has never stopped certain elements from getting a hold on available real estate for their own ends. Shirakawa Boulevard is by far the most infamous of them all.
Vices that one may not be able to attain with a straight face in the open can be obtained far more easily here. The streets are dimly lit and almost maze-like in order to throw off people unfamiliar with the area. Even the shady back alley of Port Island Station can't even begin to compare to what goes on in these parts. It is no place for a young student to be, with numerous buildings proudly declaring their "services" with poorly maintained electrical signs. Red and violet are the dominant hues cast by these lights.
On the plus side, the hotels are the very cheapest in town. This has led to more than a few rather awkward incidents with tourists, especially foreign ones, being blissfully unaware as to what sorts of places they're about to spend the night at. If one is streetwise, however, this can be a great place to obtain particularly juicy pieces of information... but things can go south much faster than one would expect.
Shirakawa Blvd. is not a place for highschool students at the best of times. But at ten o'clock at night, well after the sun has set and darkness has blanketed the area, it would seem that only the very foolish or very brave of teens would be caught here.
Masumi Hayashi is officially at work in Okina City, and he told his parents that he had to work extremely late tonight. A call to his boss even confirmed that, alleviating any possible suspicions that he was sneaking out and getting into some kind of trouble. But of course they don't know that the shop he works at is really a Darkside front. They don't know that he spends at least as much time working as an apprentice information trader as a retail clerk.
Masumi is very nervous as he conducts the trade of documents with a man that he has never seen before -- and will likely never see again. It's not the extreme lack of light in the back alley that bothers him, nor the fact that the man is twice his age and wears a number of scars from brutal street fights. Masumi possesses a power that extends far beyond knives and guns, and he has just enough experience to back up that power to make it dangerous. No, it's something else altogether, something unseen and even unfelt. But he remembers, he remembers that hint of terror that always came up in his sister's eyes at staying in Port Island too late. He never found at what caused it, and that only makes it worse.
The trade itself is completed with no complications. Both parties go their separate way. But it's an awful long way for Masumi before he reaches the end of the long alley and is once more in the light.
There's a reason why people in the know keep a careful eye on the clock when it grows late in Port Island. But not all dangers lurk in that time that is not. Sometimes, the shadows keep their own schedule.
There's movement in the darkness of the alley, a shifting of shapes that resolves itself into a somewhat wild-looking bum. Not exactly out of place in this setting, but there's something... odd about him. White hair that doesn't match the age of his face, heavy scarring on that face as well. And an aura that even some of those that don't have Potential can sometimes sense. An aura of darkness, of hunger, and of violence. You wouldn't expect it to look at him.
Nostrils twitch as Kazuo eyes the teen, and a breath hisses out between his teeth in a sound that isn't something you usually hear out of a human. A predatory sound. "Little boy, walking in the dark. Why here, hm?" He's crazy, he has to be, the way he's talking, the way he looks. "Little boy alone."
Masumi finds himself walking quicker with each passing moment, his heart beating faster, his hands and forehead growing slick with sweat. He keeps running his fingers through his silver hair in a nervous tic. His breathing is starting to become more erratic and labored. The later it gets, the more the Fear grips him.
It is the worst kind of fear a person can experience, a fear that is both nameless and faceless. There is nothing to face. There is nowhere to run. There is no way to guard. For what is it be done when the danger comes at once from nowhere and everywhere?
Masumi only knows that it is real. Nothing ever scared his sister, for she was above such plebian emotions as fear -- but he will never forget the terror that shone in her eyes on the rare occassion their family had cause to be in Port Island late at night. No one else noticed, but he did. The subtle ways she tried to hurry everyone up, the quickness and urgency that entered her own gait. The more he thinks about it, the more palatable his own fear grows. The job is over. Now he just needs to get out, he needs to get out, he needs to get --
So great is the depth of Masumi's fear that he does not sense the old man until he's all but on top of him, coming to an abrupt halt. A yelp of terror springs unbidden from his throat as the Fear is suddenly given a face and a form. He can feel the blood hammering in his head until it feels that surely it must split open. "What...what do you want?" he demands breathlessly, but there is neither authority nor confidence in his voice. He can feel the intense aura of predatory violence surrounding the man.
And worse...the power that backs it up.
It's as though the strange man doesn't hear Masumi at all, shambling to his feet and leaning a bit towards the boy, head turned a little to one side to fix a single eye on his prey. For that is the feeling in the air, most definitely. Another step takes Kazuo away from the wall of the alley, and a trick of the light makes it look like his eyes just flashed a bright, glowing yellow. But that's impossible, right?
Just a trick of the light.
Lips peel back off teeth in an expression that has very little in common with a smile, and the crazy old man voices a skittery, fractured laugh, "Hardly more than a mouthful. Hmm hmm~" He seems larger than he did before. Taller. He must have just been hunched over, right?
But the taloned hand reaching for Masumi is certainly no trick of the light, large and dark and inhuman...
There are people Masumi's age that have experienced enough of the Darkness to be all but entirely inured to fear. But for all his dedicated searching into the supernatural, there is so much that Masumi has not yet experienced -- or been subjected to. It is one thing to have little fear in the face of mundane thugs that don't even know what the power of Persona is, let alone can stand up to it. It is a simple matter to be confident when one possess power.
But what about when the tables are turned? What happens when you suddenly realize that it's your turn to experience the unknown, to be faced with a power you've never seen before? For a fleeting moment, he almost feels sorry for the thugs that he beat up in such a manner.
The odd thought is quickly overriden by the very real danger Masumi finds himself in. He knows that there are other Persona users in the world -- but he has never seen someone /transform/. He has never felt such intense fear or predatory intent. Though he hardly thought it possible, the youth's heart begins to beat even faster, his breathing even more erratic until he's very nearly in danger of hyperventilating. He has to calm down. He has to calm down. If he doesn't calm down, he's going to pass out. And then he's going to die.
That thought plays over and over in his mind as he stumbles backwards away from the slowly advancing monster. And then it becomes more like scrabbling backwards as he trips and falls over onto his backside. Calm down, calm down, CALM DOWN! His mind is a haze of raw fear and emotion, his typical poise shattered in the face of something he doesn't understand but wants to kill him. He never dreamed of something like this, even after being awakened to the world of the supernatural.
Fear overrides logic, and the thought of summoning his Persona doesn't enter his mind. It should, but it doesn't -- like the man who, faced with an impending accident, slams on the brakes even though outside of the crisis he would know that evasive steering is the proper response. He can't think, he can't /feel/ anything other than the fear. He's going to die here. This must have been what his sister was afraid of, and dear goddess, he's going to die here.
And then predictably, his wild scrabbling stops as he feels his back pressing up against the alley wall. Ohgodohgodohgod. He's going to die here. He'll never see his sister again. He'll never have a chance to patch things up with his mother. He'll never get to talk with his friends again, or finish school, or go to college and become a scientist that explores the depths of the unknown. He'll never feel the rush of power of summoning his Persona again --
Wait, summoning his Persona? Of course!
But by now it's too late, the monster is upon him.
The creature laughs, and that sound alone is a thing of horror; cold and rattling and just as reptilian as its transformed appearance. It watches the boy scramble away, slitted yellow eyes following the motions almost lazily. This isn't a hunt. This prey is weak and soft, there's no need to chase it down. And the scent of terror is such a heady aroma.
But then jagged teeth clash together, and the huge beast moves with surprising swiftness to the attack. You know how time seems to slow down when danger threatens? Masumi will have that stretched instant of time to watch the Lurker coming towards him, great fanged jaws opening wide enough to bite through a man's leg, with only a horrible, empty blackness behind those teeth...
And then time resumes as those teeth come crashing together, aiming for flesh and bone. Hot meat to sate the aching hunger in his belly that never seems to go away. Pain and fear and despair to season the meal. Delicious...
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama missed you with his Om Nom Nom Nom attack.
Time slows down to a crawl for Masumi Hayashi as he sees his imminent death leaping towards him. For the space of a single second, the entire world is open to a level of sensory perception he never experienced before. He can see everything, hear everything, smell and feel and even taste things he didn't even know existed. It is an incredibly heady moment that tells him so much about the world, but he will not be able to recall if he manages to survive this.
And in that second of stalled time, as he watches the monster moving through the air towards him frame by painful frame, and as his mind accelerates to speeds lightyears beyond normal, the Thought has a chance to take hold and then spread. It is like the first ray of the dawn light coming over the horizon in the morning, and it pierces the darkness that has hold of Masumi's mind and soul.
It is immediately joined by a second ray, a third, a fourth, a fifth. Finally the sun itself breaks over the horizon, basking the world in magnificent pinks and golds and reds and giving light to the living once more. The fear is not entirely banished from Masumi's mind, just as the darkness is not banished entirely from the world in the gentle dawn light -- but it brings it down to manageable levels. More importantly, it brings the hope of a new day, a new life.
Masumi clings to that light, lets it wash over body and soul and mind. He can feel the mists of fear rising, can feel his mind clearing again. He can still hear the rushing of blood in his ears, can still feel the animal terror in his veins. But he is no longer paralyzed. In the final moment of that single second, he reaches down into the depths of his consciousness, into the center of his very being -- and then takes hold of the Power that he knows is there. Only one word is spoken, but it is spoken with power and authority.
"PERSONA!"
A double helix of light springs up from Masumi even as he rolls suddenly to the side, spurned by raw animal instinct. Powerful teeth that could have snapped him clean in two instead snap together with the angry sound of displaced air. He just has to -- he just has to stay one step ahead of the monster. Because he can't die here. He just can't die here. This isn't how his story ends. It's just beginning! He can't die here!
Meanwhile, the twin helixes of light coalesce into the form of a great enchantress, larger-than-life. In her one hand, she holds the dawn light -- it is a much more subtle light than that of the noonday sun, revealing without blinding, giving warmth without scorching. It speaks of a time of Mystery, a time when the darkness is quickly receding yet not quite gone, but also a time of Vision and Understanding, as the world is once more given the Light.
In her other hand, Ceridwen holds a cauldron. It bubbles with strange scents and sounds and colors, a tool of both Wisdom and Secrets. Great wings like those of a hawk unfold with a resounding but graceful power from her back, easily stretching out fifteen feet from tip to tip, and she hovers in the air behind and above Masumi. Near her feet is a great greyhound and a powerful otter, their silver fur tinged with streaks of gentle light.
As Masumi begins to slowly bring his breathing under control, he extends a single hand in the direction of the monster. An incredibly poignant aroma wafts out from Ceridwen's cauldron, filling the air around Kazuo. It whispers in strange tongues to his senses, speaking of sleep and the alluring world of dreams. A gentle invitation to forget the prey in front of him and simply...relax.
COMBAT: Your Mystic Boost ability has activated at a cost of 2 SP.
COMBAT: You critically hit Kazuo Kagayama with your Invitation to Sleep attack.
COMBAT: The Physical Cost Up status effect has been added to Kazuo Kagayama.
Teeth crash together with a sound like a guillotine's blade slamming home, but they closed on empty air instead of flesh and bone. One taloned hand smacks into the wall that Masumi had all too recently bumped up against, steadying the creature as its head whips around to track its prey. Slitted eyes narrow, and the creature once again gathers itself to strike...
Only to throw up a hand to shield its eyes from a sudden burst of LIGHT!
The fog of dreams wreathing around the beast draws a growling hiss, and as it lowers its hand from its eyes there is something there that wasn't visible before. Hunger and sadism are now joined by another old friend of theirs. Rage. A great and horrible fury, leaping up behind those eyes like fire. How /dare/ he...
"Just," and the creature takes a heavy breath, pushing off the wall with some effort, "give up." Tired, so tired. Limbs as heavy as iron. But the prey is right there. He can smell it. Hear its heart beating. Practically taste it.
"Just die!" and the creature surges forward again with that roar, claws reaching out to catch and tear, to rip through cloth and skin with equal ferocity.
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama hits you with his When Animals Attack attack.
COMBAT: You have taken 64 points of Slash damage.
COMBAT: The Damage Over Time status effect has been added.
Masumi feels a renewed spike of fear as the fog fails to stop the monster. He's become accustomed to it ending hostilities, as it puts normal people to sleep. But he should have known better, shouldn't he have? Why would he think that he could stop such a creature of the darkness so easily? He starts backing up again as Kuzou slowly but inexorably advances on him, blind panic starting to claw at his mind again --
No! Stop! Look, Masumi, he tells himself. Its movements are becoming more sluggish and labored, its eyelids dropping unconsciously from time to time. Perhaps it can fight off the allure enough to avoid falling asleep, but not completely. You have to calm down. If you can calm down, you can fight it, for you have power. It's not over yet.
The youth takes a deep breath and begins backing up more purposefully, increasing the time and effort the monster must expend to reach him. He begins to think back to some of his first swordfighting lessons -- they were all about proper breath control and mindset. He must be focused. He must not let the fear overcome him. Breath in deep. Feel the energy and power, circulate it through your body. Release slowly. Breath in again. Circulate. Release. Breath. Circulate. Release.
Masumi can feel his senses expanding in the familiar rush as he slowly attunes himself to his inner mind and strength. It's such a heady sensation, and it would be so easy to lose himself into that. The quickening of his mind, of his body. The supernatural knowledge and understanding which gently drifts into both mind and soul. At times he feels that his frail flesh cannot possibly hold it all.
And then the monster makes another surge forward. Masumi feels himself flowing backwards with superhuman speed and grace -- but the very edge of the creature's claws tear across his chest, leaving nasty, jagged lines which will surely become infected later. Sweat beads down Masumi's face as the pain hammers against his mind and the steady rhythm of Breath, Circulate, Release. It shakes but does not quite manage to destroy the mental foundation he is slowly renewing.
Twin kodachis spring into Masumi's hands as he comes to a stop, both swords catching and reflecting Ceridwen's light. Breath. Circulate. Release. Breath. Circulate. Release. He once more reaches down to touch his inner power, and the mist surrounding Kuzou begins to take on a dark-purple cast even as it moves with him. Always surrounding him. And now, the whispers of slumber are joined by tendrils of corruption, poisoned air which burns the lungs and stings the eyes.
COMBAT: Your Mystic Boost ability has activated at a cost of 2 SP.
COMBAT: You have missed Kazuo Kagayama with your Poisma attack.
COMBAT: You receive 11 points of damage from your ongoing Damage Over Time effect.
The smell of blood is in the air, now. It seems to outright madden the creature, the caustic burn of the air only serving to drive it into a wilder state of frenzy. Great jaws gape wide with an inhuman roar that can surely be heard out on the street, but precious little time is given to consider that facet, because the Lurker is moving again. Moving with surprising speed for something its size...
Lunging forward, then abruptly to the side, the reptilian beast flows through the dark clouds of poison like a shark through murky waters, spittle trailing from its fangs as it maneuvers to try and spot an opening, a weak angle, a stumble.
Before it strikes.
Again those jaws lance forward, but this time the target isn't the boy doing his best to be brave and fight. No. This time, the target is the ephemeral sorceress, the Shadow-stuff of the beast rippling visibly as it lunges to the attack.
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama missed you with his Ambush attack.
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama has finished their turn.
Masumi knows that it does not matter how much noise the monster makes, he is alone. There is no backup, no concerned citizen that will come to save him -- not in this part of the city, and perhaps nowhere. The weight of that knowledge and the burden of that isolation press heavily on his mind, joining the fear to whisper maddening nothings into his soul.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
He must force the fear under control. He must force the animal terror and the flood of adrenaline under control. Each of these things are useful, for they force body and mind to elevated heights in order to fight or flee from danger, but they become the greatest danger of all if they overcome the mind. He must control them. Fleeing is out of the question, for the monster could easily chase him through this entire section of town and every single person would turn a blind eye -- Shirakawa is a place where the darkness thrives. And so he must fight.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Masumi is given several more critical moments to bring himself back under control as Kuzou makes the mistake of going after Ceridwen Herself. The great Enchantress merely gives a contempuous look and a single nod of her head in his direction -- and the mighty greyhound at her feet leaps up with terrific power and intercepts the monster in midair, bringing them both crashing back to the ground. As they scuffle briefly but violently, it quickly becomes clear that the crocodile's hide is too tough for the hound's teeth to pierce, but equally, the hound is far too fast and agile for the crocodile to injure.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
The dawn light itself suddenly flares up behind Masumi's eyes as he finds his perfect center, and the world opens itself to him -- his sight extends further, his intuition becomes deeper, his power becomes greater. He finally knows that he can fight this monster. More, he knows that he can prevail and that he can /live/.
"I am Masumi Hayashi!" he declares with authority and power as he falls into a perfect swordfighter's stance. "Come! Face me, creature of the darkness!"
COMBAT: You hit Masumi Hayashi with your Potion of Wisdom attack.
COMBAT: The Magic Up status effect has been added.
COMBAT: The Luck Up status effect has been added.
COMBAT: You receive 14 points of damage from your ongoing Damage Over Time effect.
It's a terrible thing to watch, really, that tangle of limbs at Ceridwen's feet. Monstrous jaws snapping shut again and again, claws raking through the air and against the ground, with the hound managing to avoid every strike but surely knowing that the one it does not evade will be the strike that ends the battle decisively. And then it happens. The beast fetches the greyhound a ringing backhand that sends it sprawling, but before the Lurker can follow up on its advantage, that Light blooms again, drawing an enraged hiss as it swings around to face Masumi once more, and it might almost be thought that horrible, lipless mouth was smiling.
"Dead men's words hold no meaning."
The ground rumbles slightly, as though some sleeping giant had shifted in its dreams, far below. That is the only warning before a torrent of filthy, sulphurous water blasts up out of nearby drains and gutters, directed by the pointing claw of the Shadow-beast.
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama missed you with his Aques attack
The great hunting hound knows no fear. It knows only the will of its mistress and the thrill of the greatest fight it has ever had. Round and round both hunters battle, claws and teeth lashing out in furious, violet combat even as flashes of light and dark clash against each other. For any that could stand to watch the horrible fight, there is an etheral beauty to every move which the greyhound makes, a grace and agility which is not of this world. It is untouchable.
Even the powerful backhand which should have laid the great beast out catches only air. Still, Kuzuo can be forgiven for thinking at first he connected, for the hound's backwards leap stays ahead of the huge hand by mere millimeters. It is a distance so small that even the most honed of senses would have called the blow -- and only the lack of injury or blood to mar the hound's sleek coat says otherwise.
Breath. Circulate. Release.
By now, the steady rhythm has become an intrinsic part of the youth, a deep pattern of the mind that for a few moments is as natural as air itself. The power flows into and from and through Masumi, at once exhilarating and almost terrifying. If he allows himself to think about it, who is he really to wield such power? He may speak with bravado and authority, but fear has spurred him onto tapping deeper than ever before into the power of his own psyche.
And it makes him feel so very, very small.
But there is no time to think of that! Masumi flows forward with all the grace and beauty of the dawn light itself in the face of the mighty torrent of water. Supernatural light flashes across his twin kodachis as he slices perfectly through the terrible wave, moving fluidly through the smallest of gaps to come out unharmed and completely dry.
"I have not yet begun to fight!" he calls as he continues moving with the momentum, speaking words he remembers from history. Drawing upon the words of great men of old, channeling the deep courage of their heroism -- it gives him something to focus on. Something other than his own tinyness in a universe so much greater than he is. It lets him continue to move and fight and draw upon a power of which he truly understands so little.
A single arc of gentle light is the only thing that announces Masumi's passage in front of the giant monster, so swift was it. It is the only sign of the twin kodachis that drew across the crocodile's chakra centers with such softness that he did not even feel it.
COMBAT: You hit Kazuo Kagayama with your Subtle Touch attack.
COMBAT: The Vitality Down status effect has been added to Kazuo Kagayama.
COMBAT: The Agility Down status effect has been added to Kazuo Kagayama.
COMBAT: You receive 16 points of damage from your ongoing Damage Over Time effect.
The beast is rapidly losing what little grip on reason it may have originally possessed. It may lack the speed and grace that Masumi and his Persona's cohort hound have, but the Lurker is not a thing of beauty, of grace, of control. It is a thing of raw, brute power, of animal fury.
And of hunger.
The skillful touches of the knives against that thick, scaley hide are not even noticed, though they leave their mark. The boy's words are met with a fang-filled snarl, that horrible blackness in the depths of the monster's throat seeming to drink in and absorb any light nearby. And then it lunges again. This is not a controlled and studied attack, designed to slip past a foe's defenses. No, it merely seeks to smash /through/ those defenses, to rip them asunder and bite through to the soft, fleshy core. Bite and tear.
Rend. Slaughter. Devour your enemies!
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama hits you with his Om Nom Nom Nom attack.
COMBAT: You have taken 89 points of Pierce damage.
With the grace of a whisper, Masumi turns immediately around at the end of his arc to face his foe. He slides into a defensive stance that is years beyond what he is normally capable of, a stance of a master instead of a student -- his briefly expanded consciousness drawing upon every memory of his teacher and mimicking it with an eerie perfection. Once again, the fear of death spurs him on to depths not yet achieved and that will not be truly mastered for perhaps years.
But he is still not prepared for the enraged predator which slams bodily into him. It is a brute raw power so great that no amount of agility or skill could hope to overcome it, an assault so terrible it can crash straight through the strongest of defenses. The youth does not even have time to roll with the blow or otherwise cushion the force of impact.
The incredible weight slams straight into the center of Masumi's mass, and were it not for the power of the Persona, would have ruptured most of his internal organs and reduced his rib cage into so many splinters. As it is, he is surely bleeding internally from the force of the impact, and he blacks out as his head slams violently into the concrete street beneath him. Pieces of flesh are torn viciously from his arms and upper chest.
Masumi comes back around to the sound of his own screaming and a pain he never thought possible ripping its way through his body. It rolls on and on in agonizing waves like the rolling thunder which simply refuses to stop -- and while his center is not shattered, it is entirely buried under the intense agony. Tortured tears drip down from both eyes. He just wants it to stop, he just wants it to stop, please, please stop!
Ceridwen answers the call where he cannot, for the power of the psyche, once summoned, is not something so easily stopped by pain. The great enchantress raises her Dawn Hand to the sky, and the dark alley is momentarily illuminated as if by the start of the new day. Rats and cockroaches scurry back to their holes, shadows disappear with a hiss of anger for their early banishment, and the Darkness retreats in the face of the Light.
Jaws like the gates of Hell crash shut on Masumi's arm, fangs digging cruely into the flesh, catching in the bone, and that may well have been the end of it had not Ceridwen intervened. But once again, there was Light.
The beast drops its hold on the boy to draw back with a furious, rasping hiss, again shielding its eyes. It suffers no true damage from the brightness, but it remains unpleasent for a creature of the darkness, living in the night and the shadows. Too bright, too clear. But it passes, and the shadows close back in on this little bit of alleyway... leaving a predator with the blood of its prey in its mouth.
"Yessss-ss-ss-ssss," is the hissing chuckle as Masumi screams, claws scraping against the rough blacktop as the creature paces to one side, considering what it obviously considers an easy kill. The boy can't have much left in him, in that state. And so, a heavy foreclaw slashes out to rake through already bloodied and shredded clothing.
COMBAT: Kazuo Kagayama missed you with his Claw Sweep attack.
The Light comes, and the monster retreats. Masumi immediately and instinctively scrabbles backwards when he feels the incredible weight recede from his chest, desperately trying to make it back to his feet. Being on the ground makes you vulnerable. Being on the ground is death. Those thoughts pound in his mind even through the thick haze of pain that engulfs the youth's brain.
His first attempt ends in collapsing right back to the ground with a renewed howl of pain. There's blood everywhere: on his hands, in his hair, running down his chest, and he can even feel the terrible metallic taste in his mouth and the back of his throat. Internal bleeding. He needs to, he needs to -- he's having troubles forming a coherant thought even as his body scrambles back up again, this time more successfully.
He needs to stop this quickly so he can get away and get help. That's right. That's what he needs to do. He must banish the monster before it can kill him.
When the heavy foreclaw lashes out at him, Masumi almost remembers too late that he lost his kodachis when the demon bodily rammed into him. He's not even sure where they went, unable to see them despite their being only a couple feet away as his body releases the appropriate chemicals and his brain sharply narrows down into tunnel-vision. He's rapidly losing blood. Raw physiology declares that what little stamina and energy remains must be conserved for /surviving/.
It is perhaps for that reason and that reason alone that he is able to duck down just underneath the damning swipe a half-second before it can finish him. His movements now are neither graceful nor beautiful, but fueled by the massive amounts of adrenaline pumping through his veins, they are still fast and they are still effective. Staying one step ahead of the predator becomes the only thought his brain can hold.
"Deargoddess, let this work," he gasps pleadingly to whomever may be listening, his voice breathy and pained, his face incredibly pale and drawn. The world is starting to spin a little -- but he can still feel the Light. As long as he can feel the Light, he can still survive. And so the Light comes a second time to his call, Cerdiwen continuing to cast the supernatural dawn over the alleyway.
COMBAT: You have missed Kazuo Kagayama with your Mahama attack.
The Lurker thunders in rage and frustration as his prey simply refuses to lie down and die like a sensible creature. Not only that, but that blasted LIGHT batters down around him once more! It's enough to make his eyes burn!
Another furious hiss is aimed at the Persona casting that baleful light upon this dingy alleyway, then the beast turns a look back to Masumi and snorts. "You'll be dead soon." There's a sort of cold finality to that statement, a sound like a tombstone crashing to the ground. There's enough blood in the air, enough in his mouth. He knows death. Teeth chatter together eagerly, anticipating a fresh meal.
And then a police siren sounds at the mouth of the alley, lights flaring against the walls, and the creature's head snaps up. "Damn!"
Almost too fast to follow, the thing has pried up a manhole and dove through the opening that should be far too small for its monstrous frame. But it seems smaller now. Almost... human...
It...it's leaving?
Masumi's hazed mind almost refuses to comprehend that the nightmarish predator is simply leaving, just like that. He somehow knows that he did not injure it nearly enough to drive it off himself. What could possibly have caused such a thing to simply retreat like that in the face of such injured prey?
It is only after the youth has allowed himself to collapse hard down to his knees, and taken several deep breaths, that his mind releases the tunnel-vision just enough to allow the sound of a wailing siren to enter his consciousness. No... No no no no no no no... A metallic taste entirely unrelated to the blood in his mouth creeps up at the back of his throat as a new fear replaces the dwindling one of imminent mortal peril.
The fear of having everything he's built out of his life ripped away. If the police find him here, his parents will find out, which means --
No, he can't accept that! The police would find him with two weapons he should not be carrying. His freedom would be stripped away, his ability to study and learn and surpass the boring world around him would be gone. They would put him in a cage, they would trap him in their cycles of mundanity, and it would slowly kill him just as surely as this loss of blood is. It is the most horrible nightmare he can imagine, perhaps even worse than the monster that set upon him.
In the face of the greatest conscious terror he knows, adrenaline continues to crash through every part of his body. Masumi somehow forces himself back to his feet -- though yowls loudly in pain as he does so. He somehow manages to gather his wits about him sufficiently for Ceridwen to send the sleeping mist down the alley. Two soft thuds are heard mere moments before the police would have saw his face.
Most incredibly of all, he somehow manages to keep his wits about him long enough to summon a torrent of water which washes his blood off the streets. This above all the rest is a testament to the power of the human body when fueled by both fear and the supernatural.
But he's still losing blood. Staggering, falling to his feet a couple of times as the world spins around him, Masumi begins to drag himself off. The tattered remains of his once-beautiful shirt go towards binding the wounds before he bleeds out any further, and Ceridwen and her two companions finally vanish back into the depths of his psyche.
The Inaban youth manages to half-drag, half-crawl far enough away from the scene of the fight before finally collapsing in a hidden alcove that he only discovered because he fell into it. The world swims around him, and then finally everything goes dark.
