Halloween!

[theguidebook]

Who: Anyone and everyone!
What: Costumes, parties, and evil pumpkins
Where: Idol Springs
When: Halloween (October 31)
Warnings: Beware of giant evil pumpkins.

During the day, the gift fairies are busy flitting about, delivering a box to each Outsider! In each box is a costume, presumably to be worn to the Halloween party advertised on posters in every world. Costumes aren't required...but why wouldn't you wear a costume to a Halloween party?

The party itself is fairly humble, as the natives have had to contend with errant pumpkin vines and mischievous ghosts all month. There's a table of actual food, many pumpkin or squash based recipes, and a table for desserts with all manner of pies and pastries, as well as overflowing bowls of candy. There are streamers and simple decorations, and some games such as bobbing for apples... A small hay maze has been set up to one side. A few musicians are playing music - square dance calls included. It's nothing fancy, but it's certainly intended to be a fun break from all the recent strangeness. They'll even be keeping the ghosts out for the duration of the evening!

Until midnight, that is. Then the party will have an unexpected guest...

Comments

what is this a supernatural romance

[wildcardpotential]

[There's too much going on, too much for her to worry about, and tears start to burn lines along her face. Her eyes are open and clear, but the waterworks are falling, and decisions are on her.

Minato's in trouble, Seito's lost control, and nobody else is left to help either of them. She takes a moment to breathe, to center herself, and makes the decision that stopping Seito's rampaging persona before it turned on someone other than the pumpkin was main priority. But how?

How??

She pulls at his face, clinging tight and still kneeling in front of him. Calling to him didn't work. She presses her forehead to his, still calling his name and trying to calm him down. In a flash of desperation, she pulls his face all the way in to press a proper and entirely unrefined kiss to his lips.]

romance/horror?

[onelastpromise]

[Minato cries out as he's swung around and used to hit the pumpkin. Finally, finally the vine snaps and he's dropped to the ground. He hits hard, stars fill his vision and he can't breathe. He only barely has a moment to spot Minako kissing Seito.

He doesn't have time to process the image, though. There's a sound behind him, he turns.] Huh...? [The demon pumpkin is practically on top of him and he can't move in time. Minato's eyes are wide as it bears down on him, fiery maw opening wide and...and...

Closing. He feels intense heat surrounding him, can't see through the brightness. He's been eaten alive by the evil gourd.]

The best kind of romance.

[allthepuppets]

[The contact to his lips sent a shock through him, and Seito forced himself to blink, forced himself to see, to look at Minako's tear stained face pressing against his. He... didn't know what he was supposed to do; he'd never found himself in this situation before. It was distracting though, and he didn't even realize his headache was lessening as he absently rested a hand on her side, pressing a little closer to her. She was so warm... he never felt anything so warm in his life, like it could just fill up the void inside of him and...]

[...and there were munching sounds?]

[...oh, right, evil pumpkin.]

[He pulled away from her, reaching out to his Persona without even thinking about it.]

Magatsu Izanagi!

[The Persona glared at the two of them, like it wanted to attack him for being an idiot instead, the intense spike of pain in his head only exemplifying the fact. It shot toward the pumpkin's front, ignoring it and instead grabbing Minato and flinging him away none-to-gently.]

[Seito, meanwhile, near collapsed on top of Minako, the effort from trying to actually control his Persona of his own will sapping all the energy out of him.]

[wildcardpotential]

[As soon as she feels him moving she knows it's worked. She allows herself a small moment of celebration, breaking off right as Seito does to face the pumpkin. Minato... She had been hoping to find him just lying on the ground covered in vines. No such luck apparently.

What she saw next shocked her even more. He actually called out to his persona to control it! And it worked... Sort of. She had half a second to respond but it was enough to pull the trigger. The last persona she had, she had prepared for a bufu skill. Jack Frost shot out to catch Minato (awkwardly) and bring him as safely as possible to the ground. All of course as Seito collapsed on her bodily.

Help he's heavy.]

Minato!

[She calls out as a Dia skill is cast from Jack Frost, for all the good it would do.]

[onelastpromise]

[The heat and light fade somewhat, though the pain doesn't stop. Oh he's...flying through the air...? His dragonfly winked out a few moments ago, so he braces himself for impact with the ground. And then that doesn't happen, he's caught by a familiar face and healed...

Well, Dia won't do much for him at this point beyond keeping him alive and conscious. He's still burned, and what's left of his wings is on fire still. He's useless this round, still not thinking fast enough for the fight.]

[allthepuppets]

[Seito wasn't in much better shape, though at least he wasn't burned up like Minato. He struggled to stay conscious, wrapping an arm around Minako as he shuffled up a bit, half leaning on her, half supporting his own weight as best he could. He tried to reach out, trying to control Magatsu Izanagi, but the Persona would have none of it; it had done it's good deed for the night.]

[The Persona focused its chaotic wrath on the pumpkin, tearing off a chuck of the gourd and flinging it toward the two of them, as if to remind them that they had no control over it. Problem was, Magatsu going off on its own was even more taxing on Seito, and the Persona was starting to fade as he fought to remain conscious.]

[wildcardpotential]

[Minako is recovered from being knocked down earlier, but she's still smarting and slightly singed. She does her best to support Seito, but with the way he's fading it might be better to just let him slouch.

Leaving Minato, Jack Frost stops the onrush of pumkpin with a sonic fist, and bufulas the fucker again.]

Seito... sit... you're heavy. Have to help Minato.

[onelastpromise]

[How is that thing still going? Minato forces himself to his feet now, Evoker already to his head. Minako doesn't look very injured, and Seito's pain doesn't seem to be anything a Salvation could help... He switches to Thanatos now, intending to just use Megidola until they get pumpkin pie.]

I'm okay. This thing has to be almost done. [That should be a familiar Persona he's using, Minako!]

[allthepuppets]

[Seito forced himself to move off of Minako, but he was pretty much out.]

S-sorry...

[Trying to stay conscious was a wasted effort, and Magatsu Izanagi, ripping its hands through the pumpkin's side, vanished as Seito finally gave in and passed out.]

[wildcardpotential]

[She sighs with relief as Seito's deadweight slips off of her, letting him slump on the floor while she straightens to face the foe.]

Damn, why isn't that thing dead yet?!

[But she can't deny that Minato has more power than she does... from the future an all that and holy god is that the persona she summoned back at that first full moon? How did he get that one back? In any case, that's gotta finish it off, right? If it doesn't she has another Bufula where that came from.]

[onelastpromise]

[That Bufula does the trick, and the pumpkin is down for the count. The fire goes out, the red light fades, the puddles of blood vanish...the Witching Hour is gone. The ghosts disperse into dust on the breeze.

Minato lets Thanatos fade and, sighing, sinks to a seat on the ground. The party is trashed....not that anyone should be in much mood for continuing after that.]

Finally.

going again cause seitos out cold

[wildcardpotential]

[Minako's sentiments exactly. She heaves a sigh of relief as the thing finally collapses, slumping a little and rubbing at her face with a hand. Time to handle doofus #2 here.

She sits down on the floor with Minato, wrapping an arm around him and giving him a good examination. And maybe a Diarama. And some fussing.]

How're you doing?

[onelastpromise]

[He's covered in burns of various severity, and some points where his skin is broken thanks to the thorns on that vine. The Diarama helps a bit, his dragonfly reappearing in a pale, ghostly blue shade.]

I've been plenty worse. You?

[wildcardpotential]

[She'll still push some hair out of his face and Diarama again. Poor baby.]

Same. Right now I'm mostly really confused.

[On like so many levels. Start talking, bro.]

[onelastpromise]

[He'd use Salavation. He would. But his hands are still fairly badly burnt and he can barely move. The second Diarama helps again, but doesn't bump him to the next dragonfly color.]

About what? Give me a place to start.

[wildcardpotential]

[She can wrap him up a bit and let him rest. When he feels better they're going looking for a doctor or something. Hopefully a native would come back for the injured here, that would be convenient.

She shakes her head]

A lot of it isn't necessarily something you can explain. But... How about you start with what's up with you and Seito.

[allthepuppets]

[Speaking of... Seito groaned faintly, almost as if the use of his name had woken him up. He struggled to push himself back up, but he felt entirely boneless and completely useless, and so much more tired than what it felt like after cramming for exams.]

M-Minako...?

[wildcardpotential]

[Well, maybe she won't get her answers now after all. Both the boys are now awake and in very bad shape. She can't rise summoning a persona again, with Seito conscious. She gives Minato's shoulder a squeeze.]

You ok? I'll be right back.

[Time to go check on Seito. He's not as badly hurt as Minato, but his mind went through so much more. She's not even thinking of the possible consequences of that kiss, she's just worried about these boys.]

Hey there. Surprised you're awake.

[onelastpromise]

Ah, h-he- [But he cuts off as he hears his enemy's voice. Shit. He can't say a lot with Seito awake, the other boy would just twist it.

His dragonfly flops onto his chest, almost deflating with exhaustion. Discontent, Minato strokes it lightly.]

[allthepuppets]

[Minako may not have been thinking about that kiss, but Seito sure was. He stared at her, not even sure how to respond, the past few minutes running by on repeat in his mind. For a moment, his mouth worked, trying to find some way to respond to her, but he fell short, and his thinking was interrupted anyway by his head pounding. He flinched, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead.]

...my head...

[wildcardpotential]

[Her eyebrows are knit together hard. In just the few moments he's been awake, Seito's starting to look worse. What's she going to do with two injured boys and unable to summon a persona?

She's afraid to touch him and make it worse.]

Yeah I bet. That was intense. You need anything?

[allthepuppets]

I-I don't know. I've never...

[He never tried to control his Persona before, and frankly that just made his head feel worse. It was like Magatsu Izanagi was just using him as an anchor to the real world, and it retaliated when he tried to order it around. Seito tried to stand, tried to assure her he was all right, but he just ended up tumbling back to his knees instead.]

[He let out a groan, rolling over onto his back. No good; there was no way he was going to be able to move on his own. He was stuck, and Minato was there. Anything he may have wanted to do was shot to hell already. Seito planted a hand over his face, shaking his head.]

...s-see to him, he has physical wounds. I'll... maybe I'll recover with some rest.

[wildcardpotential]

[She nods in understanding. She knows he usually can't control his persona, so it stands to reason that forcing it to obey this time took a toll on him. She touched his arm gently.]

Rest, I'll get some water.

[Back to Minato. Poor baby. She starts fussing over the worst of his burns, running to the ice near the punch bowl and scrambling for something to wrap them in.]

Do you know a healer I can get for you?

[onelastpromise]

[He doesn't make a sound but does wince a bit as his wounds are treated with what's available.]

I can heal myself, just...don't think I can pull the trigger myself. And not around him. [He knows Seito will probably lose control of Magatsu again if one of the Arisatos summons, especially if Minato does. He can't have that happen now.]

[allthepuppets]

[Seito heard him, and managed to raise a hand, waving him off as he rolled over so his back was to them. He was so mentally drained, that he doubted Magatsu Izanagi could react, but even if it could, maybe if he couldn't see it... well, only one way to find out, right?]

[...temporary truce, Minato. Enjoy it.]