Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

"Morgana, wait!" You run in after him, the world seeming to shift in some way as you do so, until you're standing in the world of a children's book.

The floors are black and white, but they're tinted in an odd blue color, more similar to Morgana's eyes than to the Velvet Room, but only slightly. There's a red carpet, which is the exact same color as the pools of blood scattered about the Dark Hour, but you can't walk on it because it's floating above your head.
I'd say someone got mixed up somewhere, but this is a Labyrinth filled with Shadows based off of the most surreal book I've ever read. It's probably meant to be that way.
There's a door ahead, which looks like it's made of piano keys, and Morgana is standing in front of it, as if he's waiting for you to catch up.

"You shouldn't have just run into here like that!" You scold him. "We don't go into Shadow Nests by ourselves!" Admittedly, the only place where this is a hard rule is Tartarus, but you think it'd be a good rule of thumb either way.

"Don't worry! The Shadows can't get past this door!" When Morgana gestures at it, the piano keys split apart, sliding back into place as his paw moves away. You've heard of automatic doors before, but this is... it's something else, all right.

"I'd feel a lot safer about that if you hadn't just opened it..."

The others follow after you, and they look around. "This doesn't look like anything out of a fairy tale..." Makoto-san remarks.

Mitsuru-san sighs. "That's correct, but the book this place is supposedly based on is... fairly interesting." It takes her a couple of moments to come up with those last two words. You guess she's just not ready for the mortifying ordeal of having someone else hear her call something weird.
It wouldn't be Mitsuru-nee if she was, really.
"There's also a lot of different versions," Shinjiro-san adds. "Some of them make more sense than others, but that really isn't saying much. Aki, remember the movie version we watched in third grade?"

"Was that the one that gave that one kid a fear of playing cards?"

"Yep." You add whatever film they watched to a list of things never to ask them about.

Zen blinks. "Why would it do that?"

"Because some people think that, if something's animated, that means it's automatically for kids. It... probably wasn't, but I'm not actually sure." You are definitely never asking.

"As enlightening as this conversation is," Mitsuru-san begins, "I'm sure we have more productive things we could be doing right now. The aesthetic of the Labyrinth is unimportant, at least compared to whatever is at the end."
Given that it involves Shadows, I reserve the right to disagree with you on this.
"Could tell us what's up ahead," Yukari-san points out. "Let's see, roses, card soldiers, rabbits, cats..."

Rei blinks. "But we already have a cat." Morgana bristles at her comment, but manages to successfully resist the urge to say anything. "Or... you guys do, anyway."

Junpei-san shrugs. "I'm not sure we have him so much as he tags along with us, really... we don't really do official new group members, do we?"

"Not since the chairman was dealt with," Mitsuru-san confirms. "At least, not that I'm aware of." She glances at Aigis-san.

"My greatest priority is to be by Makoto-san's side. Any involvement with SEES activities is entirely coincidental." It's nice to know for sure that, should anything happen to Makoto-san, the robot might walk out on you, as well. "However, assisting SEES capabilities allows me to perform my other functions. SEES is to be assisted."

...You think that's a good thing to hear? Maybe?

A sigh. "You're allowed to speak freely, Aigis."

"I thought that this would be more clear."

You are genuinely unsure how this group ever manages to get things done.

Chidori-san stares at the door. "So, if we go through this, we'll start seeing Shadows." She says this as nonchalantly as if she were talking about the weather, except that the weather back in Iwatodai was... not really something to be nonchalant about.

You're really, really hoping that storm starts to die down soon.

"Right..." Yukari-san's looking at the door, now, too. "I mean, I guess we were prepared for this, we came here through Tartarus, but..." She fiddles with her quiver. "Normally, we work in smaller teams, or at least give Fuuka-chan some time to scout ahead."

"I'm afraid I can't really help you, there," Fuuka-san apologizes, having apparently made the sensible decision to not run into the place filled with Shadows. "The Labyrinth's layout is static, but I still can't get a handle on it. I should still be able to handle learning the enemy's weaknesses, though." Well, at least you have that.

"Perhaps some of us could scout out the area, and come back to the others once we know what to expect," Zen suggests. "It... likely will not be difficult to find a place to stop and turn around. Just a few rooms should be enough to give us some idea."
You know. Except for the card soldiers. And then the painting soldiers. And also the giant beetles.
That doesn't sound like a terrible idea. And Yukari-san must agree, because she says, "I guess that might work. But I'm not sure how I'd divide- hey, what year are you two in?"

Rei blinks at her. "What year?"

"You know, first year, second year..."

"Um... first year?" This comes out more like a question than anything else. "We... don't exactly have classes, or anything..." Right. Endless festival.

"For the time being, we should proceed as though they are first years," Mitsuru-san decides. "Though... can the two of you use Personas?"

They both just stare at her, Rei speaking up. "Per...sona?"


[ ] Try and explain Personas to Rei.

[ ] Suggest that they have some other way to fight.

[ ] Just let the others keep talking.

[ ] ...You could probably leave the Labyrinth now, chances aren't that high that Yukari-san will want you going along with her...

"Well... Personas are..." The best explanation you have for them boils down to six words, seven if you feel like being eloquent, but you don't think it's something that anyone without a Persona could ever understand. "They're... what gives us power. It's sort of hard to explain... they're part of us, and sometimes we can use their powers without calling for them specifically, but it's... really complicated."

But hey, you think you managed to get enough across that maybe they won't be freaked out by your summoning... and then you remember the Evokers.

Okay. So they're probably going to be at least a bit weirded out either way. But at least they're not going into this completely blind.

"Oh... No, we don't have those," Rei says. "Zen can use magic, though, and... I can too, a bit, but I... can't really fight..." She descends into muttering that you don't fully understand.

"Really?" Mitsuru-san sounds intrigued. "Even without Personas?"

"It's not something I'd ever be able to explain," Zen states. "It's just... what I've always been able to do. Before this day, the word Persona didn't have that meaning to me. I hadn't heard of it."

"...I think I'd like to see these capabilities in action."

"We're going to have plenty of chance to," Yukari-san says. "I think Zen-kun and Rei-chan should be part of the scouting team, so I can see what they can do without everyone else getting in the way. You can come along, too, Mitsuru-senpai."

She accepts her place on the team with a nod. "I see. Who else do you plan on bringing along?"

"I was thinking Koro-chan... and Aigis. They seem like they'd be good for this kind of thing... if we can get Aigis away from Makoto-kun for a bit."

"You can have her," Makoto-san states immediately. "You're right, she'll be good at this. ...She's already optimized my jogging route." He sounds a bit disgruntled about this last thing. You suspect that Aigis-san has attached herself to the jogging route as well, but you're not going to ask.

Aigis-san doesn't seem thrilled by this assignment, but she still accepts it. "Is that everyone you wanted?"

"If we bring along more people, we'll just be overcrowded," She sighs. "At that point, we might as well take along everyone else..."

"So, what do the rest of us do, then?" Junpei-san asks. "I mean, we got the whole festival."

"You can stay near the entrance and try not to set anything on fire," Yukari-san states, giving him a very unamused look. "Other than that... well, you can see if there's anywhere in the festival that could be useful, or if it's just the rare game surrounded by food stalls."

This is actually a good selection of options. You should be considering them carefully.


[ ] You'll stay around the entrance with Junpei-san, to make sure he doesn't light anything on fire.

[ ] You'll follow Elizabeth, as she tries to scope out useful places and maybe blows something up.

[ ] You'll go to the Velvet Room, and pay Lavenza a visit.

[ ] You'll just wander the place on your own, and see if anything happens.