DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE REEF

[phantasmods]

Expedition day dawns, as usual, with an android mass text -

Okay, so, this time we're aiming to go out and stabilize the Fissure in the reef you can see up a little to the north of here. The waters are usually pretty calm this time of year, so if you can swim instead of needing to take a boat, that'd be a great help. We only have a few of them.

Also, I know that last time was a mess, so I'm just gonna say this: If you need to get out for any reason, just send us a message and a picture of your location. We'll get a drone out to you as soon as we can and bring you home. No questions asked.

( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ Stay safe out there! When you're ready to go, meet us down at the beach. The rocky, sparkly one, not the sandy one.

Unlike previous expeditions, this time there's no rooftop sendoff - instead, as Charm noted, the tables are set up on Glitterstone beach, along with a series of boats pulled up on the sand. Two rowboats that could maybe sit six people but probably better suited for four, a trio of inflatable rafts (with motors attached to the back, all mismatched) of about the same size, a two-person dinghy and a long canoe that could hold two or three.

Besides the little fleet, there's also the usual bagged lunches (in gallon ziplocs this time, and other such watertight containers), and every boat is equipped with a large number of those chepa dollar-store water bottles, all with their airtight store seals. There's also a selection of life vests and other floatation thingies in a box next to the table. Strange hovers over the setup, checking watertightness of a handful of first aid kits with a spritzer and a bucket to submerge things in. They give a little wave to anyone passing by headed to the boats.

For those who opt instead to swim, everything seems perfectly normal until you reach the border of the Fissure... When, very suddenly, it isn't.

Comments

[foolishjustice]

[With the help of someone who can get decent leverage, the door creaks the rest of the way open, and Goro immediately darts inside. A quick look around the room says that most of this is probably useless, so he flits up to the window Shido pointed out of.

...Yes, he's still curious about what he was supposed to be seeing.]

[makejapangreat]

[Shido follows him inside, vaguely amused by his excitement, until he realizes what he's doing. Ah. . .]

... do you see it?

[foolishjustice]

I see the coral you were pointing to, but nothing out of the ordinary...

[makejapangreat]

[He looks past Akechi as well as he can, and hums.]

Perhaps I was just seeing things.

[foolishjustice]

[He glances away from the window at that, eying Shido suspiciously. He seems awfully calm about having made a mistake like that, but...he can't be sure.

With a push against the wall, he turns around to head further into the ship. A brief glance back toward the window is the only sign of disappointment he gives.]

Well, I'm sure there's something interesting in here...

[makejapangreat]

Hmm.

[Should he... really be hanging around? Maybe he should leave while things are on a... well, somewhat good note between them?

But he did promise Akechi he would stop avoiding him, so... a bit reluctantly, he follows after him. Though he does give a bit of a cough.]

Have you gone down to the cargo yet?

[foolishjustice]

[He shakes his head.]

I started from up here...though, the way that went, maybe I would have been better off entering through that hole in the side of the ship...

[makejapangreat]

There might be something down there, then, though who knows if it's salvageable...

[Looks like the water's getting low here... When Shido surfaces, he gives a gasp.]

Finally.

[foolishjustice]

[Shido isn't the only one who'd rather be in air than that gross mess. He coughs a few times, clearing his throat of it. Then he produces a bottle of Dr. Salt NEO and chugs it.]

I hope it's worth going through the stagnant pools here.

[makejapangreat]

[He looks at the can of soda rather enviously.]

We probably shouldn't stay in here in too long, either way. It can't be healthy to breathe in...

[foolishjustice]

Hopefully there's nothing in there my Posmudi drinks can't get rid of.

[He wipes his mouth, then glances over at Shido staring at his soda.]

Are you going to say something, or just stare at my soda?

[makejapangreat]

Posmudi? Is that some sort of brand?

[He actually looks a little startled at the follow-up, eying the drink for a moment before ultimately shaking his head.]

No, I'm fine.

[If Akechi could conjure any liquid... well. He'd rather not be poisoned... In either case, he has to determine how to get to those stairs. It's not too far away, but it's also completely out of the water.

Perhaps if he can get some sort of... handhold on something and drag himself up to it...?]

[foolishjustice]

It's a Persona skill that cures poison.

[He just...swims out of the water and into the air. Then look back and raise an eyebrow.]

You haven't noticed that your tail moves just like a snake's yet?

[makejapangreat]

[He glances back at said tail, then takes a breath and tries to slither his way up. It works a little... but a little ways up he ends up sliding back into the water.

Gdit... he is eyeing his son with displeasure. Showoff.]

[foolishjustice]

[He's just going to float there, looking amused.]

I thought you were curious too, you haven't changed your mind, have you?

[makejapangreat]

[...... HUFF

He really puts effort into it this time, and though it's obvious it is taking some effort (and he has to grab onto a handhold along the way) he eventually does make it to the stairs.

He is panting a bit from the exertion.]

Of course not.

[He turns his head and looks downwards at his next adversary: the stairs.]

[foolishjustice]

Maybe you should go down first, so you don't crash into me if you lose your balance while I'm in front of you.

[makejapangreat]

[....... he doesn't like the way Akechi gives that suggestion, and it's not because of the insult within it. He looks at the teenager for a moment... then returns his attention to the stairs. With a bit of careful maneuvering, he begins his slow descent down the stairs.]

[foolishjustice]

[He waits until Shido's about halfway down, silently forming the black mask on his face, scales shifting to black. Then he raises his voice.]

Loki!

[The Persona appears in a burst of red flames and mocking laughter...to create a clear bubble around Goro that quickly fades to invisibility. Then it vanishes, back into mask form.]

cw: impaling, blood

[makejapangreat]

[His already cold blood turns icy at the words. He doesn't even think; his body spins around, his primal subconscious frantic to pinpoint the source of his fear. His dilated pupils lock onto the summon, red flames licking around it and laughter shaking him to his core as he falls backwards.

It's fortunate for him that his tail moved in such a way that it partially cushioned his back as he fell. But the metal is already old and rusted in some places, and underneath his weight, it breaks. Instead of falling the rest of the way down the stairs, he falls through, and so much is happening he can't hope to keep up with it all.

But he does feel a blinding hot white pain shoot through his tail and up his torso.

His descent ends with a splash, and for a moment he simply lies there, stunned from the fall. His body is battered, bruised and cut up in various places around his body, but the most noticeable injury is his tail, which is slowly filling the murky water around it with blood, a piece of rusted metal impaled right through flesh and muscle.]

[foolishjustice]

[...The stairs breaking wasn't expected. He drifts through the hole, mask changing to the red beak of his other Personas as he equips Kushinada-Hime. The sight of the hole in Shido's tail...normally an injury that grotesque would make him sick to his stomach, but he has so much else on his mind that he doesn't even cringe.]

...I was just casting a defensive shield on myself.

[This is...so much worse than he'd planned to cause. He sighs and floats over to where the rusted metal is sticking out of Shido's tail, then glances over at his face.]

Hold still, I'll break this off so you can get loose without maiming yourself more.

[makejapangreat]

[In, two, three. Out, two, three. It takes a moment for Shido to come to. When he does, he slowly lifts himself by his forearms, and looks back at his tail. He immediately cringes at the sight and turns his head away, breaths starting to come faster.

The sound of Akechi's voice causes him to flinch a little, anxious eyes going over to the teen. They search him for a moment, before he finally draws his gaze away and nods, a bit jerkily.]

[foolishjustice]

[Perhaps surprisingly, the mocking glee is gone from Goro's face as he waits for Shido's response. Then he nods back, draws what, by all appearances, is a genuine laser sword, and slices the top of the piece of metal off a few inches above Shido's tail. Then he reaches down to slide his hands between tail and floor and carefully lifts up, managing a pretty good job of removing Shido from the metal spike without doing more damage.]

...There. Now, Kushinada-Hime!

[This Persona appears in a burst of blue flame, causing light to coil around them both. Shido's injuries close in a matter of seconds, and the pain drastically reduces...enough that he can move his tail again, but not enough to slither or swim without pain.]

[makejapangreat]

[He isn't sure what to expect when the laser sword comes out— honestly, he's so mystified by it being real that he doesn't have the chance to think that maybe Akechi is just going to slice off his tail before he's already used it.

... the gentleness with which Akechi lifts his tail off the metal is, quite frankly, baffling... and the shock of it is enough to distract him from the actual pain of him removing his tail from the spike.

... he's actually being healed? Very cautiously, he moves his tail a bit. Incredibly, it's only somewhat sore...

He draws in a breath, then slowly sits up. Akechi didn't have to do any of that. While he suspects the summoning was very much intended to spook him... he didn't have to help Shido. He could've left him to slowly bleed to death here and no one would be the wiser.]

... thank you.

[Yet he doesn't dare look Akechi in the eye when he says it. The words are quietly spoken, almost afraid as though they might aggravate the teen further.

For now... he'll just keep his head down, like he knows Akechi wants him to. Is this for what he said earlier...?

... needless to say he won't be making that mistake again anytime soon.]

[foolishjustice]

Just...don't mention it.

[From his tone, he's just as confused as Shido. His ears are lowering and flicking intermittently, as if trying to make sense of something he's hearing...or maybe just something he's thinking.

After a moment, he shakes his head and bends down to wash the eel slime off his hands. He doesn't know it's venomous, but it's still gross.]

Can you...travel, I guess is the right word here?