3413/Dinner With A Beast

Dinner With A Beast
Date of Scene:	18 November 2015
Location:	Southern Urbania
Synopsis:	Gudako and Ira have dinner at a steakhouse!
Cast of Characters:	908, 915

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Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    Ruth Morton is a notorious stakehouse in Southern Urbania known for being pretty expensive. Inside, the decor reflects wealth from the white tablecoths to the well-dressed waiters and waitresses. Every dish is ordered a la carte and the patrons are given the choice of /specific/ steak, displayed on a wonderful platter of meat before the meal commences. Bills typically start at 100 credits and go up.

    Ira MacNally is under the impression that Gudako will be paying. After all, she /did/ say yesterday that she had a servant, meaning she is probably pretty rich.

    For dining, Ira has opted to stay in her school uniform which is the most formal-looking thing she owns. She might have even tried to comb her frizzy hair though it sure doesn't look that way. The tall teenager can be found waiting alone at a table for four, two extra empty seats put out in case Gudako brought along her servants. A tumbler filled with some kind of amber-colored liquid rests in her hand, sipped occasionally as she waits for her "date" to be directed to the table.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako is totally rich.
    In the sense that having a wallet full of money you take off dead bodies or beat out of people can be considered being rich. Certainly she's hauling enough around to pay for this, anyway!

    Unlike Ira, who wears a school uniform, Gudako wears a long-sleeved white shirt and black skirt, with black tights and white knee-high boots. She's got straps around her chest, a weird sort of cosmetic feature linking her sleeves in front? It's probably fashionable, somewhere.

    The auburn-aired magus is alone, at least until she sits down! The cue of it being a table for four causes her two Servants to materialize-- pink-haired, fox-eared-and-tailed fox ladies, one in blue robes with her hair pigtailed, the other red-robed with her hair in a single ponytail, and big cat paws over her hands and feet. It's hard to say if they're real cat paws or boots and mittens.

    "Hi, hi! Caster, Berserker, say hi!" Gudako says.
    "Pleasure to meet you!" Caster says.
    "This is a nice place!" Berserker says, almost drooling.

    "So!" Gudako focuses on Ira, with her ever-smile. "Am I going to get to hear your story about getting superpowers and playing a mirror game?" Right to the point.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    Lazily, Ira watches the door, though as she does, she realizes she didn't really give a description of herself. Part of her thinks she doesn't need to-most people hear the Irish accent and immediately get the vision of a stereotypical Irish girl in their heads-the sort of red-haired, green-eyed, maybe broad shouldered variety. Ira at least has the red hair but her eyes lean more towards an amber, almost yellowish color. Failing that kind of recognition, she resolves to waving down the first confused-looking girl she sees wandering into the restaurant.

    Gudako gets a good look-over when she arrives and a brief startled look follows as the Servants suddenly just APPEAR out of nowhere, clearly looking not all that human. She squints at them both for a few seconds before relaxing.

    "Hey." she smirks, "Yeah, I hear this place has some great steak." She takes a long sip from the glass which, judging by the smell, contains whiskey. "Hah! Right to the point, I like that. Sure, I'll give you a story, but if the waiter comes around with the meat I'll have to stop."

    She leans back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other. "So first things first. The rumor the other two were talking about and freaking out over. What you do is lock yourself in a room in front of a mirror and say, 'Mirror Mirror in my sight, reveal to me secrets on this night' or something close to that. And you're supposed to learn a secret, right? Turns out what REALLY happens is a huge lumberjack-lookin' reaches through the mirror and /drags you in/, plopping you down in the middle of the Mirror Forest. I kind of blacked out during it because when I woke up, there wasn't anybody around. Just me in the middle of a super sharp forest."

    Around that time, they're interrupted by the waiter coming around. He presents a very large tray filled with various cuts of steak. Ira is quick to call dibs on the Delmonico.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    It's entirely possible Gudako didn't know what to look for. But she's direct, and kind of shameless, and would have likely wandered from table to table until she found the right one. And it wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest.

    She listens intently at the description of the Persona Game. And then vocalizes thoughts, because what's a filter? "That's really cool! I wonder what makes you qualify for it. Can anyone just do it? Is the lumberjack a picky jerk? There must be something special that determines who gets superpowers and who dies!" She really wants to try this herself now.

    Sadly, being pretty close to a Shadow, it's doubtful it would work. Not that she'd know that! The flaws of being so open, honest and... herself. Also corrupt.

    As steaks arrive, Berserker is the one to eye the tray, and it takes Caster holding her back to prevent her from just jumping out of her seat. Gudako eyes the tray, musing.

    "I'll take all of them for the table!" she says.
    Berserker obtains hearts in her eyes. "M-Master~~!"
    Caster mutters something about spoiled cats.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "I have no idea. If there's some kind of qualification...I obviously met it." She smirks, but the smirk disappears. "I'm not sure what it might be if August and that Japanese girl qualified too. Heck, you could try testing it out on our world sometime. Just hide in the girl's room until after hours or something. BUT...I think I have some idea about who lives or dies."

    Ira watches the Servants react to the meat, snickering a little. There's slight disappointment as Berserker holds back because she would have /loved/ to see the waiter's reaction to being pounced. "-w..wait, all of them?" Ira double takes, "Damn, girl, you must be stacked. I'll take another of these by the way-" she wiggles her glass at the waiter before he departs.

    "Now where was I...oh yeah. The reason. If there was anything close to the challenges I had to face, well, then it's obvious that if someone who is weak or stupid goes through the mirror, then they will die. When I woke up, I found a candle, bell, and rope scattered around me and I did the sensible thing and took them all. Looking around, I did see a distant light in the forest and I tried walking to it."

    She sets her glass down, "I was walking for hours and the light didn't get any closer, no matter what other obstacles I went over to get to it. I crossed rivers, ravines, huge patches of thorns, nothing. I couldn't reach the light. At that point I was frustrated, so I pulled this out-" she reaches into a pocket and produces a zippo lighter, "-and lit the candle. Suddenly that light wasn't there anymore. I got this kind of feeling from the...okay, this will sound weird. From the darkness around me? Like I passed something? It was probably some kind of metaphor about lighting your own way and not relying on others or something."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Ah, Hoshi? I don't think she likes me very much!" Gudako says, still with a wide smile. "I wonder if it's becaused I mused throwing random people into a mirror until we either figure out what's going on or we have enough footage for a cool survivor reality TV show. Isn't that just how the entertainment world works though?" Maybe Hoshi is just a jerk, too! Who could say?

    The magus ponders, examining Ira from top to bottom. And seeing nothing unusual. What did she expect to see? Maybe it was just a gesture for the sake of saying she tried. If she wanted real magical analysis, she'd ask Caster.

    "I think one of them mentioned a challenge but they didn't explain. When we went to rescue that Alexis girl, the forest sure liked throwing puzzles our way. Mostly wordplays! Like a tower that can't be climbed, but it's okay if you just carve a hole into it to enter, or brambles that can't be cut so you just burn them instead. Oh! Maybe there's like... a dungeon master, watching the forest. And he's handpicking people he thinks are smarter. So you found useful tools and used them correctly, and that earmarked you."

    But why? For fun? Oh, Gudako would absolutely do that for fun, yes, but others always seem so opposed to that. Therefore, there surely must be another reason. "Maybe he has enemies he wants you to kill for him with your newfound powers. Or it's a strong cull the weak sort of deal!"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "She seems like a real stuck up bitch." Ira remarks off-handedly, swirling the whiskey around in her tumbler. "She was definitely getting her panties in a twist about your suggestions. Not sure why, it /does/ seem to be the most effecient way to figure it out." She shrugs, leaning an elbow on the table. "Sounds like she wants to get rid of the place."

    Silent, Ira finishes off her drink and looks longingly at the center of the table where normal restaurants would place bread. There is none here-this place is way too classy for table bread.

    "That explains a lot. Like with the bell...well, all I did was trade it for a boat. I did notice that when I gave it away to some troll-looking guy, it turned into a gold bell with jewels on it. Very weird. I'm pretty sure I read soomething in a story like that before."

    She seems to preen a little though, appreciating what she's perceiving as actual compliments.

    "People in need of killing, eh. I can get behind that. I can get behind that /and/ some culling. I can think of some people that could use some...culling." On that vaguely uncomfortable note, their food is delivered. No sooner than the plate hits the table does Ira start eating.

    It's a good while before she starts speaking again. "Though speaking of killing, after that boat thing, I ran into this...thing that looked like a withered, witchy version of me. It kept saying all these rotten, stupid things about me. So I punched it. Then it got back up and continued talking. So I punched it again. Same deal. Eventually, I just used the rope to tie it to a tree and left it there. I don't have time to deal with whiny and mopey clones." Ira sniffs distastefully.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Ah, a bitch? She's a bit odd, but she's just being honest! It's good for people to say what they really think, even if they're not things you agree with! Then there's no misunderstandings possible, right?" Social games really never were her forte, and still aren't. Maybe that's why she's so outspoken and direct. Gudako shrugs!

    "So you traded a bell for a boat and then fought your... hmmmmmm! They called them Shadows, I think! When we saved Alexis, we had to fight a version of her that called herself the Countess and has imprisoned the real one. So I was right! Evil twins! The Mirror Forest makes evil twins, that's awesome!"

    Chew, chew. Gudako eats steak, there is nothing to see there. Berserker, well, she's more like chomping down entire steak halves. While Caster uses a fork and knife like a polite, normal person. There's no lack of royalty in the way she conducts herself while eating. It's almost methodical.

    "So you beat up Shadow You without any powers? Shadow Alexis had like, cool fire powers, she was hurling the stuff everywhere! Like pow, zap, fwoosh, really everywhere! It seemed like a normal person would just get incinerated on the spot."

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "Yeah, a bitch. Hasslin' me to not do stuff, not associate with you. I get the feeling she doesn't like you very much either. I wonder why." It's an honest 'I wonder why' since she literally just met Gudako and doesn't find anything too awful about her. Even the lack of filter thing is somewhat tolerable to Ira, which is saying a lot.

    "And that was my evil twin?" Ira frowns, "But she was so weak and lame and suicidal." There is definite annoyance behind her words as she stirs her memories of her encounter with the Shadow. Fortunately, the amusing behavior of the Servants prevents her from going into a spiral of grumbling about it. "Yeah, there were no special powers. But maybe it was different because I didn't have any special powers. Yet at least. I kind of wish I did after that when those...dog people and the wolf that turned into a guy on a horse started hunting me down through the forest like an animal. Fuck, that part was awful. If everyone has to go through that then I'm betting most people die at that part."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "I'm sure she'll warm up to me sooner or later!" Maybe literally. Having Caster set Hoshi on fire has been a passing thought. It's not like she can keep Gudako from visiting the forest, anyway.

    "Suicidal, huh? Maybe not evil twins then. Maybe just awful twins. Maybe if you ask August what Alexis is like normally and then we compare that to what the Countess was like we can make the link! Or not. I'm sure a few more run-ins will help settle that mystery!" As all things are wont to do, sooner or later.

    The tale of the wolf and horseman, now that seems to get Gudako's mind off her steak. "You met the wolf! Hoshi said it's actually really Death! Like, the grim reaper, except as a wolf! He comes if you stay in the forest too long. How did you escape if you didn't have your powers yet? She insisted pretty hard if he comes for you you're like, megascrewed, but there you are."

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "Maybe. I'm not exactly keen on happy fun friend time with her myself." Ira growls a little not unlike a disgruntled dog. Though speaking of dogs, she practically inhaled her steak. It doesn't last long. She looks at her juice-covered plate and contemplates ordering another. "If they had similar encounters with 'Shadows', I wonder very much what they were like. Maybe equally distasteful in their own way? I bet the objective is to unsettle you."

    She goes quiet, looking vaguely embarassed. "I did what any animal does when confronted by a hunting party. I ran. I'm not proud of this but at the same time, just looking at it, I could tell that this was something I couldn't beat if I fought it, which is a bitter pill to swallow. I don't like there being things I can't beat."

    Something seems to come to her in that moment, "If it's Death, though, it's probably another metaphor thing. You can't beat death. You can run from it but it'll catch up with you eventually." She laughs, "How /poetic/! How convenient! Maybe worthiness for superpowers is dependent on you learning these lessons."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "I bet if I asked them about their Shadows they wouldn't tell me. Maybe they'd tell you!" Or not. Who knows! Hoshi is kind of uptight. "Unsettling twins instead of evil twins, maybe! It's too bad you don't have access to someone who knows where the Mirror Forest came from, because then they'd probably have all the answers." And if they don't want to tell, you beat them up! Until they do. Most people talk, eventually.

    "Nothing is unbeatable! It just means you haven't found the right trick yet. It's like those RPG bosses with super high stats. Either you took a loss for the script and will get to beat them later, or there was a weakness you were meant to exploit, or some special items you should have equipped! Death isn't unbeatable, or else ghosts and immortals wouldn't exist." That's probably not entirely true but surely there's a word of wisdom in there somewhere.

    "So, when DID you get your superpowers? You ran from Death, and then what? Eventually you outran it, after all!"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "I'll have to ask them both sometime. I am pretty curious as to how it worked for them. Like...what kind of challenges, besides that wolf, did they face? I really bet every person gets something different and personal. But it's true. Maybe, Gudako, there is someone out there who knows everything, we just haven't met them yet."

    Ira gives Gudako a bit of a blank stare next. Ira doesn't seem to be genre savvy...or at least she doesn't seem to be a JRPG gamer because all that stuff about bosses and equipment just go over her head, except for the vague sense of getting stronger.

    There is just one final question to answer: "I outran it for a little while. Just as it was about to corner me, the persona started talking to me. With the persona, I was able to go between the worlds freely and thus escape the hunting party as I fled into the real world. After that it was a slow, gradual learning and experimentation with the Persona of what it could and couldn't do. Yeah...running, not my best hour."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "I've had to run a few times too! It's better to think of it as tactical withdrawals than running, especially if you really have plans to come back and finish the job. There's no shame in taking multiple tries to beat something! Some enemies you have to gradually wither down or avoid until you're ready, or else you'll just waste your time." Gudako nods, mostly to herself. Sage advice, she thinks, gamer or not.

    "So these Persona give you superpowers and they're how you travel between worlds. Cool! I wonder if there's more worlds than just the Mirror Forest then. Oh! Oh, oh, say. I'm part of this thing called the Confederacy, I guess I have to give you the pitch see if you like it. Power, freedom, all that jazz. And some very good friends to plot things with. Well, you don't have to answer now, but think about it!"

    Wouldn't be hard for Ira to look up all that stuff online, thankfully.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    Ira blinks in...surprise? Yes. Surprise would be the best way to describe her reaction to Gudako's words. "...and I will beat it." she adds, if a touch hastily, "Once I've mastered using this Persona, I'm going to go back to this 'wolf' and beat it. Nobody turns /me/ into prey." More growling, more...posturing? It's a little like watching the aggression display of an animal. A little.

    "Oh, yeah, that. That's how we can go in and out of the world-without having one, I guess you have to be pulled in by that lumberjack guy. -oh, hey, /multiple/ worlds like that? I didn't even think about that. I mean...with all this multiverse excitement at least. That counts as multiple worlds, right?"

    She drains have of her new glass of whiskey. There are no signs of intoxication. "Confederacy, eh. That's the huge superfaction opposite of the Union, right? So it's filled with people like you, eh." She rubs her chin, "I'll think about it, sure. This whole 'people wanting me to join groups' thing is kind of new. Are any of my other classmates in it?"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Haha, nah! Your classmates don't seem to like people like me, so I bet they'd get chewed up and spat out if they tried joining. They joined the Union, I think. That's alright I guess, nothing wrong with being a hero! If they don't mind being kind of dumb and boring, anyway," Gudako answers the question, as simply as she can.

    Then she gives a thumb up.

    "That's the spirit! Grind up your stats and level, kick Death's ass! Maybe he drops some sweet loot. Or maybe that's the entire point of the Persona Game! To find people who can beat Death." Is it? She has no idea. But if she had to design a system to breed heroes that will defeat something very powerful, the Persona Game is a pretty efficient murder engine design. Plus, it self-sustains itself! Until it succeeds, or someone destroys it, anyway.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "Oh, huh. You know, I'm not that surprised, given what I've heard of them so far...wanting to go in and save people. Like with Alexis. Whatever, if they want to play hero, that's their decision, I don't really care. They're gonna have a problem if they expect me to /act/ like them though, which is why I'm still thinking about that group. On the other hand, it does give a good excuse to go in there with..."

    She wrinkles her nose in disgust, the words hard to get out, "Other.../people/."

    Her eyes widen, "Hey, you have a good point there. Maybe that IS the purpose. Maybe the lumberjack pulls you in because he thinks that if you get superpowers, you can defeat the wolf one day. I hope Death has some good loot on it."