Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

With as powerful of a throw as you can manage- not that much, there's a reason you prefer using your magic to fight, you successfully toss the watering can over the pond without needing to very quickly improve your mastery of Psi. Rei runs forward to catch it, her eyes widening as the object lands in her hands.

For a moment, she glances from you, to the now unoccupied bush, and back again, before giving you a determined nod. "Come on, guys!" She orders, strolling into the temporarily-abandoned territory like she owns the place.
I mean, technically...
The others blink, and then follow after her. "For someone who cannot fight, Rei-san is showing a lot of confidence," Aigis-san remarks.

Chidori-san nods. "There are some people who can fight who are less confident than that." You wonder if she's thinking of anyone in particular. If she is, she doesn't let on to it.

"Rei..." Zen glances at the floor as he walks. "She hasn't always been like this, but she's gotten happier since meeting you. ...Thank you."

"Zen, I don't need to to talk for me!" Still, Rei doesn't sound like she's more than mildly annoyed by his words.

...Actually, while you can't see all that well from here, you think that she's smiling.

Once everyone is on what she says is the correct side of the rosebush, she tosses the water up, gripping the handle of the watering can like her life depends on it.

...Honestly, given the sort of things you're dealing with, it probably does, but you've decided not to think about that too hard.
For a lot of reasons...
The paint is washed off completely from the second the water touches the petals. Odd, you don't think that's ever happened when you washed the flowers... but whatever the reason for the speed, it certainly gains the attention of the nearby FOEs.

More specifically, it distracts the FOE to your left- the one at the top of the room. Leaving you with a path of escape over another channel of strange liquid.

You aren't sure why this has become your life for the time being, but it's nice to know that you've managed to get somewhere.

---

"Um, Ken-chan... do you want this back?" Rei asks, offering you the watering can. You shake your head.

"I thought you were doing pretty well with it earlier, Rei-san. You should keep it." It's not like you're all that attached to a random gardening tool you found in the Labyrinth.

She looks away from you with a wince, but doesn't insist on handing the object back. "I... all right, then." She sounds oddly determined, for all that you're by the stairs and will hopefully never have to see those roses ever again.
Seriously, enough is enough!
"At least we're at the end of this floor..." Yukari-san sighs. "Are there a lot of floors left here?"

"N-no! The next one should be the last one!" Fuuka-san doesn't sound as happy about this as you'd expected.

It seems like Mitsuru-san has noticed this as well, as she glances up at the ceiling. "Is something the matter? Yamagishi?"

"There's a very strong Shadow at the bottom of this Labyrinth- full moon strong!"

"Which full moon?" Akihiko-san asks. "There's been a lot of them, and some of them weren't all that strong." And then there those two Shadows from August which, if you never see any others like them, it'll be too soon.

"Um... I think maybe the first one I was there for? Maybe a bit weaker?" Okay, good, that should be something you can handle. "But... I can't tell all that well... I still can't see all that far..." It's easy to see why she's worried. You're used to Fuuka-san being able to see everything. And yet... here, she's limited to the places where you go. It's... just not right.

"...We should be fine," Yukari-san says. "I mean, we'll go down, take a look, and... do you think whatever it is can follow us up stairs?"
I mean, if we class them both as FOEs...
Ah, stairs. The eternal foe of the Reaper, and SEES' saving grace because of that. You can sort of get what she's going for here, even if you're... sort of concerned about it.

"I... don't think so?"

"Okay, then. We're going." This is... actually more sure of herself than you know Yukari-san to usually be, even if she's gotten past the general nervousness from when she was first handed her Evoker. She strides down the stairs, and you all follow her, stepping into a long corridor floating in a void. Halfway through the corridor, there is a smaller room with many things in it.

Of those things, your eyes are particularly drawn to...


[ ] A pole of light, with gears floating inside.

[ ] A pair of bright blue butterflies, which seem to be softly glowing, and which very definitely don't feel like butterflies.

[ ] ...It's that rabbit again.

The little room is... you wouldn't call it crowded, by any means. It is, after all, floating in the void, and voids, being open and empty, come with massive amounts of space attached. And perhaps that's why your eyes are drawn to where they are.

A pair of blue butterflies flutter through a pillar of light, between floating gears, over the head of a pink rabbit with fur that is still giving off slight sparks. They are the color exactly between the blue of Morgana's eyes and the blue of the Velvet Room, and they almost seem to be glowing.

You step forward, entranced by the fluttering of the insects, and pay no mind to the rabbit scampering away and fading into nothingness, despite your friends' reactions of shock.

The rabbit is a nuisance. It doesn't deserve the attention that everyone else has given it. But the butterflies are still fluttering, here in the void of a twisted wonderland, and that...

You can't help but think that it means something.
Life in a place like this always does.
The butterflies fly forwards, towards you, and Makoto-san steps forward to stand next to you. "I've... seen you before, haven't I?" He asks the pair, or maybe just one. It's impossible to tell. "The day I came to Iwatodai."

"Makoto-san?" It's now Aigis-san's turn to step forwards, and you'd say that she sounded confused, if not for the fact that her voice is as devoid of emotion as ever. "What are you talking about?"

He glances to the side. "It... I don't think it matters," He says. "They're just... butterflies, aren't they?"

The butterflies dip up and down in the air, and if you didn't know better, you'd say they were laughing at you.

"They don't feel like they're just butterflies..." Now that Morgana says it, you can sense it, too. There's more power in these two little bugs than in all of the Persona Users you've ever met combined, maybe, except that doesn't feel like it could be right, either. Whatever these things are, they don't translate well to your other senses, untrained as they might be. "But... I can't tell you what they are, either. Maybe one of the people from the Velvet Room could explain it..."
Of course, even if they can, that doesn't mean they will.
The butterflies fly past you, so close you can feel a faint breeze brushing at your hair, and when you turn, one of them has gone, and the other has stopped in front of Zen.

"I... am not sure what you want," He tells the little creature. "I am here to explore the Labyrinths alongside Rei and our friends, to help them get home. That is what I have decided."

The remaining butterfly circles around Zen's head once, before vanishing in the same direction as the others.

He stares after it. "I... do not understand."

"...Zen?" Rei looks up at him, her face the perfect picture of concern and confusion.

'...I'm fine. Rei, you'll stay near me, won't you?"

Rei nods, and... that's it. You'd sort of expected that something else would happen, but... nothing. Just silence and an empty void.

Yukari-san takes the lead once again, to an iron-wrought gate at the end of the corridor. With every step you take, you can feel yourself getting closer to... something.

You're not really sure what that thing is.


[ ] You think you'll stay towards the back of the group for now.
[ ] "...Let's wait here for a bit."
[ ] You want to be on the front lines beside Yukari-san.