these days have opened up my eyes; [Open Post]

[miseris_socios]

Who: Ken and whomever wants to encounter him.
Where: Kitchen, training gym, games car. (And wildcard option.)
When: Between February platform and the healing/time reversal plot.
What: Ken's getting used to train life... and also makes A Mistake.
Warnings: Training prompt has suicidal imagery (thanks Persona 3) and the closed prompt has severe depression warnings.


[Kitchen Duty]

Ken is on red team, despite the orange hoodie he's wearing, and that means apparently one of his chores is to make food for other people. It might not be the prettiest, but he'll do what he can. He doesn't bother much with the avocado though, instead serving up a couple of plates of omurice to set out for whoever drifts past. It takes him a little bit to start working on some of the other things - the pasta is boiling away and he's wandering around trying to familiarize himself with where everything is.

Sometimes he's poking around looking for storage containers or having to climb up onto the counter to reach things, but he's always careful to clean off the counter afterwards.


[Training] (cw: suicidal imagery)

Ken is no slouch when it comes to training, and he's found the climbing ropes. He scales the large structure easily, rolling off of it onto a mat and springing up, miming stabbing a spear into something. He can easily be found doing handstands or practicing rolling or doing all manner of gymnastic-like exercises.

When no one's looking, he takes out his Evoker and presses it to his head, pulling the trigger and letting Nemesis take some shots at a training dummy with lightning. He presses a hand to his chest when she manifests a spear and stabs the dummy herself. It hurts, but it's the only spear he has right now.


[Games]

He can't practice forever. Once he settles down a little bit he heads into the game car on occasion. He's not all that hard to find - occasionally he's on one of the VR games, but more often he's playing solitaire or looking at the Duel Monster cards. He's studied the notes left nearby carefully, so all that remains is to try to build a deck.

... Somehow.


[Wildcard]

While he's found a few cars to frequent, he's still exploring. It's easy to find him in practically any car.


[Field Trip to the Darkness] (closed to Vexen) (cw: severe depression)

Vexen is not a hard person to find. He's very tall and the black cloak makes it easy to pick him out, even from behind. He's about to call out to the man to say hello, but suddenly a dark-colored portal opens up and the man disappears into it. Frowning, Ken runs in after him.

That was a mistake.

It's dark, so dark, everything is dark. He can feel something cold gripping onto him, Nemesis' whirring getting louder and louder, somehow sinister. What is he doing here? What is he trying to prove? There's nothing he can do to make anything right. There's no point in him continuing to pretend like he's innocent at all - he hasn't been for a long time. He can't rely on anyone here.

Better to just be alone, or just be nothing at all.

He suddenly stumbles out into brightness, a black-coated individual in front of him, but he's not really seeing Vexen. He's trembling, suddenly freezing and pale. His knees hit the floor, followed by his arms and head right after.

Comments

[controlsthedie]

As the creature disappears, Thanatos realizes what he sensed (familiar and yet different) came from the child. He lowers back to the floor and vanishes his scythe. He's not going to attack if there's no reason to.

"So, that was your doing." Similar to calling wretches to one's side perhaps. "I did not mean to interrupt your practice. You seemed in pain..."

He can come back another time and make a fool of himself trying to fight without using his powers.

[miseris_socios]

"... I wanted to practice some spear attacks, but I don't have a spear here. I can use Nemesis', but it hurts me a little. I can heal myself, though. As long as I have some magical stamina left."

To demonstrate, he puts the Evoker to his head and fires. Nemesis appears, lifting a hand. A brief glow surrounds Ken and he seems to be a little more at ease. Her attention seems to shift towards Thanatos, staring him down before disappearing.

[controlsthedie]

"... Nemesis?" Thanatos says at the creature, Nemesis, appears once more. She heals Ken. Then she and Thanatos seem to lock gazes (or as best they could) before Nemesis vanishes again. He continues staring after she's gone.

That's not the Nemesis he knows, but what if she's like Persephone? She is still Nemesis even if she is not his Nemesis, his sister.

"Did you call upon a god?"

[miseris_socios]

"... Uh." He's done a little research - he knows the basics of what all of them were in Greek mythology. He could only go so far into looking at stuff before he had to keep pulling out the dictionary.

"She's a Persona. A fragment of yourself some people can use to call on to fight. Most people who can use them only can use one, but Minato can use two and I don't know how many SEES' leader can use but it's more than one. I know a lot of them have names from Greek myths, but they're not gods." There's still a strangely uneasy whir form Nemesis, but he pushes it aside for now.

[controlsthedie]

"So beings named after gods..." That also makes sense. People name things after the gods in hopes of gaining some favor or impressing their qualities on them. "It's rare to find anyone named after my sister."

Dressed in his outfit from home and hovering slightly above the ground, Thanatos has to wonder if the kid realizes he's speaking to someone from a Greek "myth."

Thanatos stops looking to where Nemesis was and returns his attention to the child. He's very young to have a sense of death loom around him so heavily, almost like he's trying to invite Death closer. And that other thing he senses... Mother Nyx...?

[miseris_socios]

"I didn't name her." He glances to the side. Gods? The guy's floating. This place has a lot of supernatural stuff, apparently... so why not. He's not sure who this is - he can't remember who Nemesis was supposed to be related to. "They kind of come with names? It's a... um. An instinct thing? No one really tells you how to use the magic and stuff once you can summon a Persona."

He looks up and doesn't quite meet Thanatos' eyes. "... The name fits from... um. The stuff I read. A lot of it I didn't understand, I mostly looked up Medea and Moros and Samael and Cerberus and Thanatos, since those are the ones we have. Minato has two, everyone else has one." He's not sure why, but it's helpful.

[controlsthedie]

"... Not all those names belong to gods." Some of the names are a surprise, but Thanatos has to be amused that Cerberus is among the ones listed. Zagreus would approve as well. The best boy of the Underworld deserves all the honors he could get.

Still, it's strange that a mortal would have such an instinct to call a piece of himself after something he'd later have to read about. And why would this child think Nemesis fits him? Who is he judging with retribution?

"I am Thanatos," he finally says. "I arrived here the platform before this one."

[miseris_socios]

"I didn't say that they had to be." That's your conclusion, floaty man. "... You're..." He glances down at the Evoker, then back up at Thanatos. He's no Chidori - he's not extra sensitive to things. There's still that strange pressure...

"... That's weird. You're weird." Better to rely on snark to cover up his uncertainty. "... I'm Ken. I got here this platform."

[controlsthedie]

"I have been told that before." Thanatos can't deny he is different than other gods. Even among Chthonic gods he seems to be apart from them. It's just a fact that's pointless to argue about. Part of him is curious to know who has a Persona named after himself, but if Ken's already calling him weird, then the conversation isn't going to go anywhere.

"Regardless, Ken. Pardon the interruption."

[miseris_socios]

The answer actually gets him to laugh a little bit. "It's... fine. I guess I didn't think about... the car not being soundproofed. I'm... when we move around usually the only people around are all in coffins."

[controlsthedie]

"They're in coffins," he repeats, but it lifts at the end almost like a question.

What is this kid?

[miseris_socios]

"... Right. It's easiest to summon a Persona in the Dark Hour, which happens after midnight strikes but before time really moves forward to after midnight. The sky and moon go green, water turns into blood, and people who don't have a Persona or the potential to summon one are sealed in coffins. Shadows - monsters called Shadows, not like actual shadows - roam the streets. If they find someone they'll either eat them outright or eat part of their mind and send them into a depression so bad that they'll just sit down and not eat or sleep or drink."

That's... an extremely condensed version of it, but he's had to get used to explaining it fast and simple. ... As simple as possible.

[controlsthedie]

What the fuck.

Thanatos has absolutely no idea how to parse that, so he's just going to stare at Ken. He understands the words, the sentences, but how does a world change so drastically during the night? During an hour? It's like Chaos themselves decided to remake the world to something that would fit Tartarus better.

"This happens every night where mortals dwell?"

[miseris_socios]

No, Tararus is something else.

"In my world... I know it happens in Tatsumi Port Island and a little bit outside it. I haven't... been to other places..." It's kind of hard to go to places on his own. "But yeah. I've been awake for it for... a long time before I got my Persona. That means that the monsters chased me... a lot." He's gotten fast.

[controlsthedie]

A change that drastic makes more sense if it's confined to a smaller region. There was a nymph who commanded great control over her island. Perhaps it's something similar. It's still a pretty disturbing idea. As is the knowledge that monsters had chased Ken before he was able to defend himself.

"You are more capable than you look."

Those creatures could be why Ken's Persona is named after Nemesis.

[miseris_socios]

Good guess, but sadly no.

"... I am. Most adults don't think that I am, just because of my age. But I can fight as well as any of them and I'm plenty smart and creative. People tend to underestimate me."

Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes it's just irritating.

[controlsthedie]

"That will probably change as you participate on missions. If that is something you want to change." Thanatos knows not to underestimate Ken at least. Not if he can summon something named after his sister.

And maybe he knows the feeling of being seen as too young for a task and determined to do the best job he can despite expectations.

[miseris_socios]

"It is." The answer is almost immediate. If he really wants to be stuck here, he has to make sure that people know he's capable of just as much combat as anyone else.

Still... there's something that's bothering him. "... Thanatos is... something to do with death, right? Is that why you feel a little like the Dark Hour?"

[controlsthedie]

"I am Death Incarnate and a son of Nyx, Night Incarnate. That might be why."

Thanatos says it calmly, completely unaware of how those words might cause Ken to react.

[miseris_socios]

He opens his mouth, closes it. Thinks for a second. Where did he hear the name 'Nyx'?

"Nyx is that thing Sakaki rambles about sometimes. That's what the others told me. They're not sure if he's crazy or what."

[controlsthedie]

"Nyx is my mother, not a thing. She is quite real, powerful, graceful, and wise." Without her, so much of the world as he knew it (and of course himself) would not exist.

"She's important and worthy of respect."

[miseris_socios]

"In your world, maybe. Not in mine." Different worlds, remember? "If it's something Sakaki likes it's probably bad. He's a horrible person who killed the guy I was going to before I got to do it. And I was the one who deserved to do it, after he killed my mom!"

Maybe the Persona name makes more sense now.

[controlsthedie]

The name does make more sense now. Although, Thanatos won't agree that Nyx isn't worth of respect. Someone liking someone else doesn't automatically equal an accurate judgement on their character. Things are more complicated than that.

"You do realize that killing him yourself wouldn't have changed a thing." Another person's death won't bring another back to life. "Deserving" or not, it does not matter.

[miseris_socios]

"She would have been avenged. Not... whatever the hell Sakaki is planning. It would have been paid back." It's only right.

... Isn't it?

[controlsthedie]

"I've seen heroes avenge the deaths of their love ones by slaying their killers. Once it's done, they aren't much better off. Often, they're worse."

He's thinking about a certain shade in the House. They don't cross paths much, but he has ears. It's impossible not to know the story when he's had to collect so many of their comrades.