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Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

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    • For a moment, you just stand there, frozen. The Persona floats there, paying no heed to the pain of the person he's attached to, gaze leveled on the Shadow passing its mask among its many hands. Makoto-san is hunched over again, the only form of light on his being the faint glimmer of reflected moonlight off of the object in his hands and it's a bit too familiar. You've been in this situation before, haven't you?
    "If we stay here, it'll be fine! Those monsters have never gotten in before!" Except that doesn't matter when the house is gone, and you're all that's left.
    For a moment, you can't quite recall where you've seen that sheen of silver before (the moon was hidden behind clouds that night, you wouldn't have seen anything), or why it feels like there's something missing from your hands.

    And then you remember. That's your Evoker, the one that lets you summon your own monster Persona to fight back against Shadows. And because you lost it, you could end up losing everything again.
    It takes you a moment to realize she didn't make it out. "Mom? Mom, come on, you have to get up!" You try to shake her awake, but your hands come away sticky with blood.
    It's the thing that keeps you safe.

    You need that Evoker back.

    Time starts again. Thanatos lunges, sword drawn, at the Shadow. And you run over to Makoto-san. The one who caused all this.
    You can barely see past the tears, but it's enough to know who to scream at. "I hate you!"
    He's struggling to catch his breath, face pale, but all you see is the shape in his hand, that let him summon the monster that's threatening everything you've regained the one that you need to regain.

    "Give it back!" You don't meet any resistance as you tear the pistol out of his grip. He just crumbles to the ground, as if holding it were the only thing that was keeping him up. Shinjiro-san was the same, you think, except he didn't need any prodding to drop it.

    Triumphant, you hold up your gun, ready to- to do what?
    They tell you it's all just in your head. That you must have been imagining things. But you weren't. Nobody's going to do anything.
    Thanatos flickers and fades out of existence. You dimly notice that there's no sign of the Shadow. You suppose that means it's been destroyed like everything else was.

    Yukari-san walks around, saying something, but you can't catch it over the roaring in your ears. You just stand there, wondering what you'd hoped to do with nothing more than an Evoker and the voice in your head shaking.

    You don't even notice when the door behind you opens, and Mitsuru-san emerges to see that, of the four Persona Users she sent to the roof, only one of them is still in any shape to fight.

    Makoto-san's in the hospital. You can't say you find that fact wholly surprising, after he collapsed like that. Yukari-san healed the damage from the Agi spell you took to the face, so he's the only one from your group that's physically out of commission.

    Mentally... well, you're still not sure about that, to be honest. Mitsuru-san sort of just stuck you and Shinjiro-san on a couple of nearby couches and then left. She would probably have left Akihiko-san there, too, but, well... he spent the night in the hospital. Apparently, while Dia's good for many things, Mitsuru-san doesn't trust her ability to properly heal broken bones. All things considered, you can't really blame her for not taking the risk.

    You haven't heard the exact extent of anyone's injuries beyond that, but given how you apparently have to replace all your downstairs furniture, you're assuming it's bad. And that something probably ended up on fire at some point.

    All of this has been rattled off to you by Yukari-san, because Mitsuru-san had to go to school early for something. Because the Shadows just had to attack on a school night.

    Shinjiro-san still isn't obviously awake yet. You're not ruling out that he could be awake and listening in, but if he is, he's very good at pretending to sleep.

    And if he's actually sleeping, you don't want to disturb him. He probably needs it.

    "Kirijo-senpai says the two of you don't have to go to school today." And then you pull your attention back to Yukari-san, because yeah, you should probably listen to her when she's talking. "You should probably let Shinjiro-senpai know that once he wakes up, I have to get going. Can't let myself be late this early in the year..." And then she's gone, leaving you alone in the dorm with Shinjiro-san, and presumably Morgana and Koromaru are around somewhere, but you don't see them at the moment.

    ...Now what?



    [ ] You could just... leave Shinjiro-san a note and go to school yourself. You aren't sure it'd go very well, but it's an option. (+Knowledge)

    [ ] Try to find something to eat. If you're upset, food's supposed to make you feel better, right?

    [ ] Check to see if Shinjiro-san's awake yet. It'd risk waking him up if he's not, but... it seems like a good idea.

    [ ] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?

    [ ] Go back to sleep. You don't see any purpose that could be served by being awake right now.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] You could just... leave Shinjiro-san a note and go to school yourself. You aren't sure it'd go very well, but it's an option. (+Knowledge)
    and if that fails
    [X] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?
     
    [X] Check to see if Shinjiro-san's awake yet. It'd risk waking him up if he's not, but... it seems like a good idea.
     
    [X] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?
     
    [X] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?

    At the risk of feeding the 'petting the doggy' gag, I think we could really use it right now.
     
    [X] Check to see if Shinjiro-san's awake yet. It'd risk waking him up if he's not, but... it seems like a good idea.

    We've been ignoring Shinjiro for too long.
     
    [X] You could just... leave Shinjiro-san a note and go to school yourself. You aren't sure it'd go very well, but it's an option. (+Knowledge)
    and if that fails
    [X] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?
     
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    The Weirdest Week
  • Sidestory
    • Of all the times for travel delays to happen, it just had to be on a school night.
    When else would it happen? When we're not traveling?
    In hindsight, Makoto realized that he probably should have left a few days ago. But Aunt Amane hadn't wanted him to leave just yet, and insisted that he stay with her as long as he possibly could, and telling her no would be much worse than being late.

    He didn't really mind. He liked Aunt Amane. She was the only one who could put up with him for more than five months at a time. Sure, she would still never take him for more than a year, but her apartment was the closest thing he'd had to a home for... a very long time. She was the only one who didn't mind his need for music.
    Is it really a need if you just-​
    Makoto sighed and leaned back in his seat, adjusting his headphones for maximum volume. There. Much better.

    When the train pulled into the station, doors open wide to the world, the world turned green, and Makoto's music stopped.
    Ha! You can't ignore me forever!​

    Thanatos, do us all a favor, and please just shut. Up.
    Immediately, the voices in his head started arguing again. He wondered, not for the first time, if there was any way to get rid of them that didn't involve playing music so loud he could no longer hear himself think.
    I'm afraid not.
    You're not getting rid of me that easily!​
    ​
    ...He'd been afraid of that.

    Sighing, Makoto removed his currently-useless headphones and shoved his hands in his pockets. Well, that dorm wasn't going to find itself, even if it'd probably be a good idea to wait outside until after the green time had passed. Besides, spending too much time around all those coffins was depressing.
    Even if it would probably be a better idea to stay someplace monsters won't find you?
    Come on, it's not that bad! It's relaxing.​
    ​
    "I hate both of you," Makoto informed the voices. Orpheus just had to keep poking holes in his logic, and Thanatos just would not stop suggesting violent or morbid answers for everything. He knew he wasn't supposed to respond to them- they were all in his head, after all- but it wasn't like there was anyone around to hear him talking to himself.

    Or so he'd assumed. But as he left the station, he saw something to challenge that assumption.

    "Please tell me you're Makoto Yuki." The speaker had silver hair, and a red vest, and was another person out during the green time, which was not supposed to happen.

    "That is my name," He responded, wondering what he was supposed to do here. The normal rules didn't apply during this time- nothing worked, especially not the people- and he'd never been told what new ones he was supposed to follow.
    Rules? What rules?​
    Only fifty-something more minutes until he got his music back... only fifty-something more minutes until he got his music back... And he should probably try and have a conversation with this strange new person that had shown up during his time and seemed oddly comfortable with it, as if blood and coffins littering the street were something that he saw every day.
    Maybe they are. It's certainly normal for us.
    Ignoring the fact that Orpheus maybe actually had a point this time, he asked, "Why aren't you a coffin?"

    "Because Persona Users don't transform?" The other suggested, clearly not having expected to need to have this conversation today. In fairness, Makoto had expected to need to have this conversation ever, so he supposed he couldn't really blame him. "...You probably don't know what a Persona is."

    That he didn't. Well, aside from one small idea. "Does it involve hearing a voice in your head?" It probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention there were two of them.

    It took several moments for him to get his answer, which should probably have been taken as some sort of warning sign. "...Sometimes? I mean, I try not to listen to him so much anymore, but..." But this was another person like him. Something that, by all means, should not have existed.

    Maybe he wasn't entirely crazy after all.

    ...Was what he'd thought before a little kid with bright blue eyes ambushed him in his room with some sort of contract. At least things were sort of normal the next day, ignoring the other kid that was actually definitely real and the talking cat that he had to check to make sure everyone else could hear, because after meeting so many people who went through the same things that he did, he had no idea what was and wasn't normal anymore.
    I don't think Thanatos is normal, if that helps.
    Shut up, Orpheus.​
    ​
    He didn't actually talk to them much, because talking risked being told to do things, or the chance that someone might notice how out of place he was. He'd never really belonged anywhere before, but it would be especially noticeable here. He'd just gotten here, he didn't know what normal was yet, other than that he probably wasn't it.

    But only probably. For once, there was a chance that he might actually be close, even if only among the people he'd be living with.

    Still, the school year was definitely off to a strange start. It seemed like nobody had bothered to assign him to a classroom until the very last minute, not that he was the only one with that problem.

    "I suppose it was only to be expected." The girl who found her name name underneath his didn't seem to be bothered by this at all. "My enrollment was rather last-minute, after all."
    I'm getting a bad feeling about this...​
    All right, if that was the case, it made sense for her, but Makoto's name had been in the system for an entire month already. "Really?"
    Why are you talking to her?
    He probably shouldn't have said anything, because now the girl had turned to him, golden eyes glinting brighter than the artificial lighting could have possibly allowed and both of the voices in his head whimpering in terror. "Why, yes. I only decided to enroll in this establishment yesterday. Fortunately, everything seems to have gone through quite nicely."

    Makoto wasn't sure things were supposed to work quite that quickly, but he made a mental note to avoid Elizabeth Shelley whenever possible.

    Sadly, it seemed that wouldn't work out very well, as they were in the same class.

    Still, as long as he blended into the background and let her take up everyone's attention, odds were nobody would end up thinking he was crazy. And that was more than he'd managed at his last four schools, so he supposed her existence couldn't be all bad.

    ...But did they really have to be in the same class?

    Makoto's first experience with a voice in his head that wasn't Orpheus or Thanatos came at breakfast the next day. He hadn't been paying much attention to the others, but apparently Yukari had noticed something was off, because she turned to Mitsuru and asked, "Is something the matter?"

    (You could say that.) Makoto blinked. That was definitely another voice inside his head. At least he had some sort of idea where this one was coming from. (Everyone who can hear me, meet me at the Paulownia Mall after school. Takeba, make sure Yuki manages to make it there. Shinjiro, this is not optional. Akihiko, you are authorized to use whatever force you need to to get him there. And only that much. I'd ask if I was understood... but that would probably defeat the purpose of this.)

    She was right, it probably would. And he had so many questions about this, but she hadn't asked if there were any, and he wasn't sure she ever would.

    If he was lucky, maybe it'd be something about the fact that the person supposedly in charge of them had apparently been watching him sleep.

    Well. It was sort of relevant. Even if in the background, overshadowed by what seemed to be much more important information. "This is nothing like a normal dorm, is it?" He asked, unable to stop himself. Because he already knew what the answer was, and the people here didn't seem to have any qualms about telling others no.
    I don't think you've noticed, but... not a lot of people do.
    "I'm afraid not. Most dormitories don't have murderous supervisors."
    I knew there was something off about that guy...​
    "C-could you back up a bit?" Shinjiro actually seemed more bothered by Mitsuru's words than the fact that frost was currently spreading over the wall. "I think we're missing a few things. Like the whole picture."

    And then things got even colder. "All right. So. The chairman has never been the most predictable individual. Based on his actions alone, even when we're able to observe them, it is more or less impossible to tell what he's thinking. And because keeping his trust was important, I refrained using my powers on him to actually find that out. Until yesterday. And I found out that one of his goals is for Amada-kun to kill Shinjiro."

    Makoto glanced over to Amada. Nope. Still a little kid who didn't look like he could hurt a fly. "What. The fuck." He'd had terrible authority figures before, but he didn't think they could actually get that bad! Or that unrealistic, come to that.

    Yukari sighed, lightly shaking her head. "I should be mad at you for swearing in front of Amada-kun, but I'm sort of thinking the same thing. Senpai, are you sure about this? Amada-kun's ten!"

    The ten-year-old in question seemed a bit more distressed by this- even more than the one Ikutsuki apparently wanted dead in the first place. "That's the part you have a problem with? Not that he wants me to kill somebody?" Makoto could see the boy shaking slightly, as if holding back tears.
    One of these days, we need to ask what he's doing here.
    "Well, you're clearly not going to do it." He supposed there wasn't any arguing with that. "What even makes him think you would? You're ten!"

    "Ignoring the likelihood of that particular scheme coming to fruition..." Mitsuru changed the subject far too quickly. Almost like she was hiding something... "If the chairman means malice to one of us, the rest of us might not be safe, either. And with how valuable his knowledge is, removing him will be... difficult. Any suggestions?" Akihiko raised his hand. "...No, Akihiko, you may not electrocute him. Any other suggestions?"

    No suggestions were forthcoming.
    Well, let's see... how many ways can you kill someone with a knife?​
    ...No suggestions were forthcoming that did not involve murder. And Makoto thought that was sort of what they were trying to stop.

    He decided not to mention Thanatos' suggestion to Mitsuru.

    Not that anything that happened had had much time to sink in. No, the dorm just had to be attacked by a kind of monster- Shadow, that's what the others were calling it- he'd never seen before, and the best solution they could think of was to retreat to the roof.

    At least the others had a way of fighting back. Makoto had never seen anything like it before, the little boy who lived with them being the first to raise a gun to his head and fire. Behind the boy appeared a massive figure, quick to fire lightning at the mass of hands before them.

    And then getting lit on fire for their trouble, the gun the boy had used flying out of his hand, and lying right in front of Makoto.

    He shouldn't have taken it. He should have left it there, or thrown it back over to its rightful owner. But he still reached down and picked it up, driven as much by curiosity as anything else.

    Something about it... what the boy had done... He wondered if he could do something like that himself.
    I am thou, and thou art I.
    "Orpheus!" He'd known that voice for years, but only now had any idea what it really meant. The quiet voice, the kinder voice, the one he could actually tolerate sometimes, now embodied in a form that seemed vaguely familiar, even if Makoto was sure he'd never laid eyes on it before.

    And in this form, they could fight. It wasn't particularly effective- there was something on the edge of his mind, something that would be more useful, but he wasn't about to try something he didn't know would work.
    Hey, come on, I could do so much better than this.​
    As soon as Thanatos spoke, Makoto found himself dizzy, his head aching as if there was something trapped inside.
    Let me out already!​
    "What are you...?" It didn't matter if he was talking to a voice in his head, clearly there was something real about them, but maybe he was still crazy after all. "It hurts... please stop..."
    No!​
    And then Orpheus vanished, to be replaced with Thanatos. Makoto's mouth was open, but he wasn't sure if he'd been making any sound- it'd all been drowned out by the pain, and the fact that his second Persona really was as psychotic as he'd been led to believe.

    For a moment, he couldn't focus on anything but the fact that the Shadow that had been attacking them was probably about to get a sword to the mask. Not until he was forced to.

    "Give it back!" Ken was just a kid. And, for the most part, he seemed harmless. But now he was charging at Makoto, tears shining in his eyes, and before the teenager knew it, the Evoker had been grabbed back from him and he'd been pushed to the ground.

    Everything hurt. He thought at least part of it had come from the fancy sword techniques Thanatos was showing off, but at least some of it had to come from the fact that he'd just been shoved over by a ten-year-old.

    His last thought, before Thanatos vanished, and darkness claimed him, was that he still had no idea what was going on.
     
  • Sidestory
    • Man, we should really try talking with Makoto-san, very least we should explain he didn't actually do anything wrong. Though, regarding Elizabeth... is it just me, or does it feel a little sad Makoto doesn't realize how much he means to her?

    [X] Look around for the animals. They have to be here somewhere, right?
     
    Inserted tally
    Adhoc vote count started by SeekerofDreams on Feb 4, 2020 at 2:05 PM, finished with 18 posts and 13 votes.
    Click to expand...
     
    The best way to handle trauma: fuzzy things!


    -Vote Closed!-​


    It may also involve talking to Morgana, whose progress on learning 'tact' has been pretty slow-going, but that's just something that happens when you want to pet things.
     
    Friday, April 10, 2009- Morning
  • Threadmarks
    • With the others gone, the dorm seems... empty. It's not like it's the first time most everyone has been gone, but... it's a nice enough day outside, even if you don't get to enjoy it.

    You sort of wish you did, especially since the weather report said it's going to rain this weekend, and you never get to do anything when it's raining outside, but... if you were to go out, it'd have to be to go to school, and you could probably use the day off.

    You decide to go downstairs and see if you can pet Koromaru for a bit. He's a good dog, he won't expect you to talk about anything you don't want to...
    I can't see that saving us for very long, though.
    ...You'll have to explain to Yukari-san and Makoto-san why you acted that way on the roof, won't you? At least you probably won't have to say anything until Makoto-san's out of the hospital... whenever that is, because you never actually got a list of injuries or anything.

    Or anything about the furniture beyond that it has to be replaced. And you definitely see why.

    The kitchen's mostly intact, thankfully, apart from a few scorch marks here and there that come from either fire or lightning, you can't tell which. But you clearly don't have a working television anymore, the coffee table is now just a pile of splinters, and the less said the seating arrangement around it, the better. You'll also need new carpeting, the stuff that was there before is blackened with either scorch marks or Shadow ooze.

    The small corner that's been given to Koromaru and Morgana is completely untouched. Because of course it is.

    Seeing what's happened... it's sort of a surprise that Akihiko-san's the only one from the fight here who ended up spending the night in the hospital.
    Well, cats and dogs are both hard to hit, and Mitsuru-san doesn't normally go right up to the enemy and punch it.
    Still, you're glad that the animals are all right. "Koromaru?" The dog perks up once he hears your voice, though he doesn't actually try to jump on you this time. You smile and ruffle his fur. "Good morning."

    You end up sitting against a wall, because there's nowhere really left to sit, and it's nice to have a white shape curled up next to you. "I'm... not going to school today," You tell him, and it feels a bit better to say it out loud. "So... I'll be able to stay here and play with you all day." Yeah. That sounds nice. Not particularly productive, but... nice.

    Shinjiro-san comes downstairs a half hour later. Unlike you, he actually bothers to turn on the lights. "Shouldn't you be at school, kid?"

    "Mitsuru-san said the two of us don't have to go today." And even if you wanted to leave, you couldn't, because Koromaru has now decided that your lap would make a great pillow and you don't want to disturb him. "I don't think I'd really be able to focus, anyway..." Not after what happened last night.

    You can tell he didn't really need the reminder. "...Right. So, did you get anything to eat yet?" It doesn't surprise you at all that he'd rather not talk about it.

    You'll probably have to, later, it'll probably be important if Makoto-san ends up sticking around, but you could use a distraction right now. "I... wasn't really hungry," You admit. You know eating's important, and food tastes good and all, but... you just didn't have the urge. It'll probably pass once you actually have food in front of you. Maybe. You hope.
    I mean, we probably shouldn't waste good food if it's there. I don't know how much it'll make things better, but...
    Still, Shinjiro-san takes this as a reason to go over to the kitchen, so... you guess you'll end up getting your food either way. If you can manage to move and go someplace that Koromaru won't eat your food.

    Or you could ignore the meal and sit here petting your dog. Decisions, decisions...

    The food's nice, you guess. Not as good as it usually is, but you'll allow for distractions and the fact that your mind isn't really on the food at the moment. And, you know, the atmosphere isn't really right, even if you're eating in the conference room to spite Ikutsuki again.

    It might also have something to do with the fact that you're eating in silence, that you haven't seen Morgana at all today, or the fact that most of your friends are elsewhere at the moment.

    You can't really do anything about most of this, but you can at least try and break the silence. That would probably help.



    [ ] ...So, what are you going to tell Yukari-san when she asks you what happened? Or Makoto-san, for that matter...

    [ ] Now's as good a time to start wondering what the new furniture is going to end up looking like, right?

    [ ] Suggest checking in on Akihiko-san and Makoto-san later to make sure they're all right.

    [ ] ...You're sorry you ever said that you hated him.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] ...You're sorry you ever said that you hated him.

    Either this or figure out what to tell Yukari & Makoto.
     
    [X] ...You're sorry you ever said that you hated him.

    You can't put an option like this and expect me not to take it.
     
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