Normalcy [Open]

[Seiji Dalton]

Normalcy seemed so strange to Seiji since the awakening of his powers. Ever since the night his brother decided to run off and try to break the blockade of the inner circle, he'd found himself tied up in something bigger than himself. Some nights he spent fighting shadows, others just resting. Occasionally, he found time to do homework. To his credit, no matter how tired he was, he never missed a day of school. Today was one of those days when he wished that he had just decided to sleep in and forget about school. The previous night, he had found his way into the abandoned executive building in the outer circle and had a hectic fight with a pair of shadows. Despite being outside in the warmth of the day, Seiji felt a shiver trace up his spine. One of the shadows had hit his Persona with ice attacks. None of them hit the teenage boy directly (thankfully), but parts of him still ached. Looking down at his boxed lunch, he found his hands were trembling slightly. Calmly taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and soothed his body enough for him to bring wooden chopsticks pinching a slice of chicken in place to his lips. The chicken tasted salty, with just a hint of garlic flavoring.

The lunch break had just began. Looking to make sure no one else was going to come and take the other half of the bench he was sitting on, Seiji turned his body and stretched his legs out, closing his eyes and resting. While he was undeniably hungry, he'd have chosen rest if forced to pick between food and sleep. Opening his backpack, he fished around until he found his headphones. Fitting them on his head and shifting through music on his mp3, he eventually found a song that seemed to fit his mood. Slowly, he forced himself to keep eating his meal even as his mind wandered. He wondered if there were others like him, others who could use their Persona. Moreover, he wondered how effective a group of them would be. One of the shadows had been able to reinvigorate its partner from the brink of death. Perhaps there were Persona users with a similar skill. A partner with such a skill would greatly bolster his effectiveness in exploring the wasteland of the outer circle. Such thoughts rushed through his head as he wolfed down his meal, face devoid of a strong emotion all the while. It was only after his food was finished and disposed of that he thought about how much of his attention was focused on the events transpiring outside the city, rather than his schoolwork.

Letting out a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and eased into what he hoped would be a quick nap as Fly Like An Eagle started to play.

Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'
Into the future

[Seiji Dalton]

For those few sweet moments before someone making an attempt at conversation interrupted his solitude, Seiji felt his conscious drift off to the murky realm of half-dreams. Given the low volume of his music, his ears quickly perked when he heard someone speaking to him. Taking the headphones off and opening his exhausted eyes, he noticed a girl that could only be described as beautiful. Seeing no one else, he assumed that she was the one that had spoken to him. She asked for his name and he pulled himself up more to have a better view. His murky brown eyes gazed at her while he tried to reply without slurring, given how tired he was.

"My name's Seiji Dalton, it's nice to meet you." He traced a hand along the area where a bufu spell had hit him, once again shivering as he remembered the impact. There was a tired tone to his voice. It wasn't the kind of lazy tired that most schoolboys spoke with, but an exhaustion fueled by a drive to somehow keep going. He put the MP3 player down, wondering what she would have to say. Fishing for conversation really wasn't his specialty.

[Seiji Dalton]

"The honor is all mine." The authenticity of his words was lost somewhere in the midst of his pain and exhaustion. He was slightly taken aback when she applied a cotton ball to his...'wound'. Moreover, he was surprised she was even able to notice it for a wound and not just some shiver fit in his chest. As far as first impressions go, Isolde was giving him a very good one. Turning to get a better look at her, he nodded and replied, "Thank you." The words were quiet, hushed, but they were filled with more emotion than Seiji usually managed to give others. His tired state of mind probably contributed to that.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked where that came from...it's not every day that you run into a hit like that in this part of the world."

[Deleted]

"I'm sorry for intruding on your privacy, but I just couldn't bear to see you hurt like that." she said in a soft tone. It wasn't any day that she'll help someone out unless they were severely injured. After all, it was part of her character as a kind of mother-like figure to care for someone who wasn't able to take care of themselves. From the looks of it, he seemed grateful that she made him feel better. At least, her parents would be proud of her if they were still alive and she was taught to help others, so it was okay. She sensed that she made a good impression on him, so she decided to tell him about herself. She said, "Oh, I haven't told you about myself. I happen to be a princess from the imperial family."

[Seiji Dalton]

"Don't sweat it. It's nice to meet new people." He'd observed that lots of people at the school had their own cliques already neatly formed and breaking into them, especially for someone who didn't socialize much, proved challenging. When Isolde mentioned being a princess, though...it took Seiji slightly aback. Something made him believe her despite the boldness of the claim. It probably had to do with the way that she said it. Most people couldn't keep a straight face when saying something like that if it wasn't true. Trying to think of a response, Seiji finally said, "A Princess of the imperial family? Sorry, I don't really know a lot about the royalty of Europe, I was raised in Japan on American soil...what's a princess doing here in Mosaic City?"

[Deleted]

"Well, I'm not sure, really. I was just drawn here by a strange force." she said as she smiled wryly. At least, she felt strangely comfortable about telling all this to a boy she just literally met for five minutes. Others wouldn't believe her as they would dismiss it as a crazy claim, but Seiji was different. Perhaps, he knew that she was one, but wasn't really sure. Some people didn't know about European royalty at all if they were asked about it. Maybe because they didn't study or wasn't told about it in storybooks. She said, "I'm glad that you believed me. I believe you'll make an excellent knight since I sensed your resolve to help others."

[Seiji Dalton]

A strange force? Seiji could certainly appreciate that. Strange forces had been at work within the city ever since he'd moved there. Strange forces were what kept him thinking that giving the world a facade of normalcy was silly. But he didn't say that to her. "Well, I'm sure you don't tell that to just anyone, but please watch yourself. You seem very nice and I'd hate for the wrong ears to hear about your heritage." Despite how the words might come across, he was genuinely concerned and wasn't trying to patronize Isolde.

When she mentioned that she thought he would make an 'excellent knight', she managed to elicit a reaction from Seiji that most people couldn't. Suddenly very bashful, he blushed just a bit and said, "Well...thank you. You may find it silly, but when I was young, that's what I wanted to be when the other kids wanted to be cops, firemen, and stuff like that. Too bad knights in the true sense of the word aren't around anymore."

[Seiji Dalton]

When he advised her about revealing her identity, it wasn't really something that he thought of as sweet, but he found himself oddly glad that's how she took his concern. Leaning forward and entwining the fingers on both hands, he said, "Your knight? I'm sure there's sure there's guys who are higher born and of purer blood that'd love to be your knight. I'm just someone trying to get by, fighting sha-" He caught himself mid sentence and did a double take, hopefully she wouldn't pick up on what he was about to say. His tired mind had allowed him to slip, "fighting to keep my head above water from day to day. It's just my brother and myself at home and we're struggling to make it. A-and uhm," The matter of fact way that she called him her knight certainly didn't help with his blush, "why would you want someone you just met to be your knight? For all you know I could be a horrible person that's good at covering his tracks." Again, he wasn't trying to be sarcastic or act holier-than-thou, he was just trying to point something out for the sake of being helpful.

[Seiji Dalton]

The casual way in which she replied to his slip about shadows was surprising. So Isolde knew. Somehow, it seemed fitting that another Persona user would walk into his life in such a random way. Seiji sighed in relief. He knew he wasn't alone in his fight at least. "I guess you know where that wound really came from, then." It wasn't a question so much as a statement. Glancing around to make sure that no one else was listening in on their conversation, Seiji spoke in a low whisper. "It's...very hard, balancing the two sides of my life. There's the normal parts like this, enjoying school life, listening to music, talking to a beautiful lady, and then there's the nights where I battle shadows. I'm glad it's me fighting though...I can think clearly, there's purpose and I can fight...but it's so hard to adjust to the simple things after that."

He didn't know where that came from, moreover he didn't know why he was telling all of this to a stranger. Something told him Isolde was special and he wanted to keep her around. A realization hit him in the middle of his introspection: he'd called her beautiful. Turning and facing forward, Seiji suddenly found himself quite bashful. "I'm sorry, that one part probably sounds an awful lot like flattery."

[Deleted]

"I know that feeling, Seiji. Try to be more careful out there. I don't want to see you hurt again." she said in a worried tone. She had genuine concern for his safety as people often tend to be reckless in fights. And then, he somehow blurted out that she was beautiful. Part of her mentally blushed as no one had called her that before, except for a few men. Maybe her affection for him somehow rubbed off of him, too. Either way, it was clear that he had some kind of affection for her, too. She replied, "It doesn't sound like flattery at all. In fact, you look handsome, my valiant knight."

[Seiji Dalton]

"These wounds were a little...educational, so I don't mind them very much." There was suddenly something very meticulous in his voice as he struggled to be articulate given how tired he was, "I assume you know about Personas and all that...the shadows didn't hit me, they hit my Persona." He allowed that to sink in for a bit. "It makes sense when you think about it...your inner self being bruised would certainly hurt your outward body." Of course, putting it like that made it seem like he had more of an idea about what was going on than he actually did.

Of course, his meticulous tone melted away into something bashful when he realized Isolde was praising his looks. "W-Well, thank you." Seiji was fairly confident in his looks given his thin frame, lightly toned muscles, and delicate (but masculine) face. "I don't know how much longer the lunch break's gonna last, but maybe we could go out sometime for coffee or something? T-To uhm, discuss the other circle and other such things in greater detail?" Wait, had he just asked her on a date more or less? This'd go well.

[Seiji Dalton]

"I'll let you in on a little secret...my brother is a Persona user as well. He's got this nifty healing spell and dear lord do I wish I had that." Given how his Persona seemed to be focused on physical attacks, he doubted it would ever learn healing magic. Taking out his cell phone, he gave Isolde his number and hoped to get her own in exchange. "Uhm...feel free to call me whenever you want, Isolde. If you ever want company when you're heading into the outer circle, I'd be happy to tag along. It wouldn't do for a lady to venture into danger without a knight to keep her safe. Maybe we can get that coffee after class today?"

Thinking of himself as a knight...that was something he could get used to doing, especially considering his Persona and his choice of weaponry. Falling from the bench onto his knees, he gently grabbed her hand and gave it a soft kiss. "Regardless, it was an honor to meet you, Isolde."