A Stranger Moment (Amane)

[Layla Amare]

The day held a few unpleasant reminders of past events already. Layla had woken up with a splitting headache, and while it had started to subside as the day progressed, it would have been quite a stretch to suggest that she was feeling 'better'. She was, at least, out and about, and had taken up a spot sitting on a bench in the park rather than lying around in her room. Although...it was only going so well. Just standing up was a challenge. But after awhile, she did it anyway. She wasn't used to not moving around so much.

It always left her with the nasty feeling that she should be doing something else. After all, a moment spent sitting around doing nothing was a wasted moment.

She knew something was wrong after several steps. She felt dizzy, and her left leg felt like it would fall right out from under her. This feeling only intensified when she took a bad step and suddenly her entire balance was thrown off. Her vision blurred, and she only had a split second to realize she was about to fall before all ability to recognize or control it was taken from her.

From an outsider's perspective, Layla would have lost her balance, but then instead of stumbling until she regained it, she would have collapsed straight onto the grass next to the path. Although she would still appear awake, she was now staring blankly off into space.


Amane Mana

[Amane Mana]

Amane took a bite out of her sandwich. So far there was no new data and under Ran's advice, she still has yet to investigate the human shaped shadows outside of what she observed during that full-moon battle. So far she only saw the snake and the tiger. Amane finished the rest of it and continued chewing in thought. She needed to figure out a way to pop this bubble. One can say she is being impatient but three months here was agonizing enough. Amane shuddered when she heard a collapse. Her eyes widened when she saw who it is.

"Oi!" Amane ran over. She immediately recognized her as one of the Persona users that stood along side her when they fought the full-moon shadows. She looked over and noticed that Layla is just staring blankly into space. "Hey are you in there? Oi?" Amane snapped her fingers in front of the girl's face a few times before getting out a cellphone. She pressed the emergency number. "Hello? There is an Indian girl (I think) down in the Seven Colors Park and I think she is unconscious..." Amane quickly pulled from the phone from her ear and looked at Layla. She took a deep breathe and started concentrating. Maybe if she tried hard enough she could summon Silky. She wasn't sure if a Dia would help here but she had to try until the ambulance can get here.

[Layla Amare]

The next thing Layla knew, she was on the ground, on her back. Despite the fact that she had to have fallen, she didn't hurt all too much. It was an easy thing to chalk up to her training, except for the fact that she didn't actually remember falling. She must have just gotten lucky, then. The dizziness had gone down a little bit, but she still felt too weak to move, much less stand. The right side of her body, in particular, had no feeling in it.

She blinked a few times, and realized that there was someone standing over her. This person...Layla recognized her. She'd been at the shopping center...and the school...every night there had been a full moon. That was right, she was a Persona user. But that was all Layla could remember about her. They hadn't actually talked outside of that. She was pretty sure of that, at least.

Layla caught the tail end of the girl trying to catch her attention, then calling an emergency number. 'Don't. It's fine. This has happened before, I'll be okay.' That was what Layla wanted to say, at least. But the words weren't coming. She moved her mouth, but the words didn't form. She tried smiling up at the girl instead, but couldn't actually tell how successful she was at that.

[Amane Mana]

Amane looked down at the girl and then looked around and for once praying that she hears the loud sound of an ambulance vehicle. She saw Layla moving her mouth but no proper sounds forming. Her eyes widened and scratched her head trying to remember if these were particular symptoms of anything. She started to scroll through her head. Lack of blood? No, she doesn't seem to have any external wounds of some sort and it might be dangerous to touch the body right now. Amane watched as Layla's face continue to struggle.

"Come on..." Amane looking up left and right and then trying to think about. Awkward facial movement? Dammit, dammit dammit!! Amane's eyes began to glow and she raised her hand trying to form her persona card...to no avail. Her eyes were just a light show at this point. She punched the ground next to her, admittedly causing a little scene. "Dammit." She hissed to herself...and then she heard the sound of the ambulance sound. Amane stood up and then started to wave in the air trying to get their attention.

[Layla Amare]

That...was not good. The girl standing over Layla was starting to panic. If she were in any worse condition, Layla would be seriously concerned by this, but she'd be fine. Right? It was just a seizure, wasn't it? She had plenty of those, they weren't even convulsive ones. If she were back home, her doctor would probably tell her she couldn't drive for awhile, but she didn't even do much of that here. Most of where she went was in walking distance. Even the outer circle wasn't that bad.

The panicking was still bad, though. Not for Layla, but for the girl. Layla needed a way to convey that she was fine, and that the girl shouldn't worry so much over her. She clearly didn't know what to do for Layla, but that didn't mean she needed to beat herself up over it.

"I..." she finally managed to say. 'I'm fine.' That's all she needed. Damn it all, why were words so hard right now? "F....fine." There. She said it. But with the approaching sirens, it was hard to tell if the girl would have even heard.

[Amane Mana]

Amane looked back over at Layla. Her mouth continued to move, though more audible sounds are coming out. She looked left and right and placed her ear close to Layla's mouth since the sirens are blocking out what she was trying to say. Amane couldn't hear it clearly. She flinched away from Layla right away as the ambulance staff came to get her.

"Can I come with you?" Amane wanted to know what was going to happen to her. Someone who fought along side her was in danger and she needed to know if she was going if this condition was going to be a hazard in the future...or at least that was what she kept telling herself. She looked over at the girl. "You're going to be okay now." She whispered.

((Feel free to skip right to a hospital room or something))

[Layla Amare]

Layla nodded as the girl asked if she could come with her. That...really was up to the EMTs, but Layla herself didn't mind it. She was much more concerned with being dragged off to the hospital like she'd just been through something much worse than a seizure but...well, there wasn't much she could do about that.

The next few hours, maybe more (she was having a hard time telling just how long it had been, just that it had been at least that much), were a blur. Layla remembered being taken to the emergency room, being put through a CT scan, being given medicine at some point...but until the whole process was done and she was left alone again, nothing really stood out clearly. For something much less dire than what had happened two years ago, the experiences were very similar. But now, she was alone and able to think clearly again...for the most part. The words 'intracranial hemorrhage' stood out among the things the doctor had said before leaving to let her rest. But apparently, what they'd given her was meant to stop the bleeding, and she'd be able to go back to life as usual within a week.

But in her current situation, a week was way too long.

She turned over to look at the girl who had called the ambulance for her and who was finally being allowed to see her again. "Sorry to bother you like this," Layla said. Speaking was still noticeably difficult, but she did seem at least to be able to use words properly again.

[Amane Mana]

Amane laid her back against the wall as she nervously tapped her fingers on her knees. She kept her ear close to the wall as she overheard what was being discussed inside. Treatment was apparently going well, she didn't detect any panic but she did hear one word. "Intracranial hemorrhage." Amane's eyes widened. She was no medical expert but she knew what a hemorrhage was. She shuddered as she watched the doctors leave the room. They told her that the girl was going to be fine and that visiting can be done now. Amane bowed polity before quickly entering into the room.

"Sorry to bother you like this," Amane was not at all amused though.

"Is this going to be a reoccurring thing?" Amane said. "Because if this is, it's best if you just stay out of battles from here on forward. Not everyone is going to bother dragging you over to safety."

[Layla Amare]

"Shouldn't...be," Layla said. True, she had her moments, but this was the first time she'd had to be taken to the hospital since the first incident. "I have...seizures...occasionally...but nothing this bad in the last two years. Normally I don't even notice anything wrong." The words were still hard, and a bit forced, but the more she was able to string them together, the easier they came. And it was true, her life was...well, more or less normal. Apart from the fact that she could have another incident without warning, and that it could be fatal next time, and she always had that hanging over her, she lived without problems.

Of course, Layla wasn't going to tell this girl that much, or that the incident two years ago had involved her 'dying'. Not after what she'd just said. Layla's tone changed as she responded to that little expression, becoming firmer and harsher. "That said, even if it was...more frequent...something like that is out of the question."

[Amane Mana]

"Shouldn't...be," Amane could tell that it was a bit hard for her to speak. "I have...seizures...occasionally...but nothing this bad in the last two years. Normally I don't even notice anything wrong." So this happened before?! Amane shuddered as she heard this. "That said, even if it was...more frequent...something like that is out of the question." Amane's calm expression shattered. She bit the bottom of her lip before screaming before taking a deep breathe.

"Do you have no survival instinct?!" It took all of Amane's fortitude to say that without screaming and causing a commotion in the hospital. "We don't know what happens after death! For all you know, you have only one life. Don't treat it so damn casually!" Amane took another breathe as she gets increasingly exasperated.

[Layla Amare]

Layla wanted to yell. If talking wasn't so hard, she would have exploded on the girl right then and there. She still managed a harsh tone as she answered, but it didn't have quite the same impact as she wanted. "Don't tell me how I should live my life!" she answered, glaring at the girl. "Of...course I want to live! But sitting out, 'taking it easy', while everyone else...is out there risking their lives? That's...that's not living! That's a waste of what life I have! Don't you...ever tell me that's what I should do!"

Somewhere during her outburst, Layla had sat up and was trying to stand, despite the fact that her body wasn't ready for it. She quickly lied back down. She was already making a concession by still being here. Were it up to her, she would always be gone. But no matter how much she tried to push herself, there were some things her body just plain wouldn't do. There was no way she was going to last the rest of the week without doing anything strenuous, much less stay out of the fight 'from now on'. And nothing this girl could say was going to change that.

[Amane Mana]

"Don't tell me how I should live my life!" Layla said with a rather harsh tone. Amane could tell she wanted to yell. "Of...course I want to live! But sitting out, 'taking it easy', while everyone else...is out there risking their lives? That's...that's not living! That's a waste of what life I have! Don't you...ever tell me that's what I should do!" Amane clenched her hands in a fist.

"Everyone risking their lives?! Don't make me laugh!" It seems both girls reached the breaking point of their patience. "Listen! When it comes down to it we're all taking the easy way out! The only reason why banded together is because we all conveniently have the same agenda of wanting to get rid of something dangerous that got in a 'safe zone'. I bet you anything that the moment someone finds even the slightest hole in this damn lock down, they're gonna break out with only themselves and people that they care about! When it comes down to it we're all cowards!!" Amane took a deep breathe and turned around at the door. Her eyes were watering...

[Layla Amare]

"Maybe so," Layla said. The anger faded from her voice as though it was never there. She wasn't going to deny that many people would rather run away the moment the opportunity presented itself. When it came down to it, as much as she complained about people with no sense of self-preservation, they weren't actually that common. Usually, people would seek out an escape and only fight if none presented itself. "But that's all the more reason why I can't sit out because I might have more trouble. Even if we're risking our lives because we have no other choice, it's still a risk. We could die in any battle, or stay home and let someone else die in our place. I'm not going to be the one to do that."

She took a deep breath. The more she talked, the easier it got. If not for the fact that she was still pausing before some words, or saying them slowly, one might of thought that Layla was having no trouble at all, now. "That's just the kind of person I am. If I did find a way out of the lockdown, I wouldn't leave until I got as many people out as possible. Even if it killed me."

[Amane Mana]

"Maybe so," Layla began. "But that's all the more reason why I can't sit out because I might have more trouble. Even if we're risking our lives because we have no other choice, it's still a risk. We could die in any battle, or stay home and let someone else die in our place. I'm not going to be the one to do that." Amane raised her hand and gripped the handle of the door. Maybe it was her way of letting some steam out, she didn't know. "That's just the kind of person I am. If I did find a way out of the lockdown, I wouldn't leave until I got as many people out as possible. Even if it killed me."

"Fine..." Amane opened the door. "If I help you again, remember that it was because it was of no sacrifice to me." She went out of the door. Amane placed a hand over her eyes. Why the hell is she crying?

[Layla Amare]

Well...that went well. The girl made some remark about helping if it was of no sacrifice to her, then started to leave. "That's fine. I wouldn't have it any other way," Layla called out after her. But, she didn't expect the girl to answer her. That was also fine. With the way their conversation had gone, they weren't going to see eye to eye anyway. Maybe the girl was worried about her. Maybe she just didn't want the trouble of potentially having to look after her. Either way, Layla didn't need it. She was fine doing things the way she'd been doing them for the last two years.

...No, that wasn't enough. She'd wasted too much time. Maybe before moving to Mosaic City, it would be fine. But here, she had something she had to do. And with how little had changed in the last few months, she didn't have the time to go at her current pace. She had to do more, faster. Otherwise, she may not live to see the lockdown lifted and the shadows defeated.