You know how you got to this point. The moment keeps playing out in your head, over and over, but there's nothing you really could have done to change it.
"Can you explain what happened to me?" Mitsuru-nee asks, more gently than you'd ever thought possible for her. But then, the last time you were in a situation anywhere near this, there wasn't much chance for reassurance. "Either of you?"
The girl shouldn't have to explain this. She's been through enough tonight.
You all have, but at least you signed up for this. She didn't have a choice in this.
Neither of them did.
When a Shadow is knocked down, it's unable to do anything for some time. It's a chance to rest, to rethink your strategy. To do anything that might otherwise be interrupted by a bloodthirsty monster.
You can think of a number of things you could have done in that moment. You're not going to say you should have done them, because maybe there was a better option you still haven't thought of. But Hama could have averted this. So could Mudo, if you want to go through all the possibilities, and two attempts would have been better than one. The fact that Koromaru didn't think of it, either, makes you feel slightly better about yourself.
But only slightly. It just means you aren't worse at strategy than the dog.
You could have gone to the girls. You're sure that, if you ran away fast enough, the sword wouldn't have bothered giving chase. Or, by standing in front of them, you could have made them a less appealing target. As a Persona User, you're sturdier than a normal person.
But you never thought about any of those ideas, because why would you? The moment that sword hit the ground, you were overcome by an extreme urge to stab it.
You almost never get to stab things, and you finally have a sort-of reliable weapon.
(DC for crit: 90. Roll: 88)
What you forgot is, while your weapon is reliable, it isn't strong. If you had a better weapon, maybe that one good hit you landed would have been enough. If you'd been luckier, maybe it would have been enough.
But your weapon isn't that good. And you weren't that lucky. The Shadow lived long enough to get up again. To make an attack.
As to be expected from a Shadow, it went for the easiest target.
"Saori-chan!"
"...Her parents didn't want her at home..." The surviving girl mumbles. Her clothes are so light, there won't be any getting the blood out of them. "Her uncle was going to be there... I think they didn't want him to see how they were treating her."
That could have been us and Akira.
So instead they ended up here. And now Hasegawa-san is never going home. It'll be hard enough for the others to get her body out of Tartarus. You have no idea how anyone plans on covering this up. That's not something you're going to be part of.
To the rest of the world, the two of you will have never crossed paths.
"We came to the school because... she's never been allowed to go anywhere else. So I thought I'd teach her to... to..." She breaks down into sobs, and a tennis ball falls from her hand, coated in the remnants of the Shadow that killed her friend. You'd never known anyone could throw a tennis ball so hard.
Still, given everything, you're mostly just surprised that she found the time to pick it up again. Your spear feels heavy in your hand, and you've been holding onto it this whole time.
You thought rescue duty would be easy.
But you're the only one who's ever failed it.
Where do you even go from here?
[ ] To what might or might not be the top of Tartarus. Just to say you were there. Just to see it for yourself. Just to be sure the nightmare of the Dark Hour is nearly over.
[ ] To the Tartarus lobby. It's the safest place for the surviving girl. You couldn't protect her friend, but you can at least do this much.
[ ] To your bed. You're just so tired... and you know you aren't going to escape the nightmares. Making up for it by going to bed as soon as possible is all that you have.
