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Shattered Justice (A Persona Quest)

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Oct. 19-21, 2009
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    • If you'd had a better weapon, maybe things would have turned out better.

    You keep thinking that, because every time one of the others gets a new weapon, they fight better. A better weapon hits the enemies harder, and they die faster, and they don't have the time to cause any trouble.

    Maybe you should have asked them where they get them from.

    But you can put that off just a little longer, because you have a better weapon now. Theodore presses it into your hands, and it's so much more solid than anything you've used before. "I'm afraid you might not be ready for the fullest extent of its power, but I'm sure it will behave." You don't want to ask him what he means by that.

    If it's important, you'll figure it out on your own. "Thank you, Theodore-san."

    If only you'd had this sooner...

    "Consider it my thanks for being such a good friend to my sisters." What has Elizabeth been telling him? You're going to have to talk with her about that at some point... "I think it does them good to have a friend like you."

    You turn the spear over in your hand. The edge seems to glisten, in a way that's only slightly ominous. You're not putting it in something unless you want to hurt it, after all. "I don't think anyone could influence Elizabeth-san if she doesn't want them to."

    Theodore lets out a deep breath. "...I suppose not."

    And that's when he runs out of time, and has to return to the Velvet Room. With everything going on this year, he is apparently very busy.

    It makes the time he took making this for you all the more precious.

    The best way to get better at something is by doing. The second best way is by reading about it.

    You hide out in the library for a bit, where the only creepiness is stuff you know about, and surround yourself with everything you can find on the art of storytelling. Eventually, the text all starts to blend together in your head.

    But if you're reading, you don't have to think about anything but what's on the page, and that's nice. You don't have to think about how Akira lingers at the door whenever it's time for him to go home, or how Maiko's visit got cut short by the mess surrounding Gekkoukan High, or the mess surrounding Gekkoukan High. None of that.

    It almost makes you reluctant to move to that last page.

    But if you don't, someone will come looking for you. If you leave on your own, at least they won't have to worry.

    Elizabeth is the person least affected by everything going on. Part of it's probably that she never goes up the tower.

    The other part is that it's Elizabeth. If anything happens to make her seriously change her demeanor, you're going to prepare for the imminent end of the world. You think that's the only thing that could change her.

    It makes it more awkward for you when she notices your new spear. "I want to get in some weapon practice today." You know she's not actually looking for an explanation. That's the most you've ever been able to discern about her motives. She likes figuring things out for herself.

    She also doesn't like it when her wildly incorrect assumptions are challenged, but there's not much you can do about that. You just sit back and watch as reality eventually does your job for you.

    "Yes, that's always good to do with a new weapon," She agrees, with a glint in her eyes that you really don't like. "Making them is the one thing Theo's incredibly good at. It's really a shame his Guests tend to get them from different sources..."

    If only you knew what those sources were. And how much Elizabeth can be trusted to know what's going on in the Velvet Room after she left. "Does he... tell them that he can make weapons?"

    She shrugs, which is about as much as you'd expected. "That may be one of the areas where he's incompetent." This is also the answer you'd expected.

    After all, you hadn't known Theodore could make weapons until he placed a new one directly into your hands.


    [ ] ...Maybe you should tell Makoto-san that Theodore can make weapons?

    [ ] The way Elizabeth talks about her brother feels mildly uncomfortable...

    [ ] Can Elizabeth make weapons?
     
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    • [X] ...Maybe you should tell Makoto-san that Theodore can make weapons?
     
    The Importance of Preparation
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    • "Maybe we should tell Makoto-san about that?" It's mostly idle musing, but... you can't think of any reason it'd be a bad idea.

    Elizabeth, however, doesn't seem to agree with you. "My brother's incompetence is not our problem. If he wants to be thought of as useful, he can think to let his Guests know how that could be the case."

    This is entirely in line with how Elizabeth normally speaks about her brother. You've never been sure whether or not she means actual malice by it. She's the kind of person where trying to understand her just makes everything more confusing.
    Some parts of it are simpler. They all involve Makoto-san.
    You still want to think there's some things you understand about her. "I was thinking more... it'd be good for Makoto-san." You wish you knew just how much weight that has with her. You want to think it's a reasonable amount.

    "Good for him? In what way?" You can't say she's staring into your soul, because you know multiple people with navigation abilities and this isn't what that looks like. But she's giving it her best shot. "He already has access to usable weapons."

    You'd be more inclined to believe that if you knew where he got his weapons.

    You aren't sure she knows the answer to that question, either. She doesn't use weapons. "It's just... if he doesn't know all the options, how can he be sure which choice is the right one?" You think this must be a particularly important thing, when it comes to weapons. The spears you've had access to have all been very different, in terms of power.

    If you'd had your new spear last week, then maybe...

    "...You don't have much faith in him, do you?" Elizabeth asks you.

    What you don't tell her is that you have at least as much faith in Makoto-san as she does in her brother. Maybe more.
    ...Probably a lot more.
    Whatever their family disputes are, you have no interest in getting involved in them.

    "...So that's what happened." You aren't sure therapy will necessarily help with this, but it can't hurt to try. It's nice to say what you're thinking to someone you don't have to live with.

    "Knowing the outcome, is there anything you would have done differently?" She asks you.

    Of course there is. If you'd known one thing wouldn't work, why would you have tried it? You've been thinking about the possibilities, though of course you have no way of knowing if they'd have actually worked. But you just can't get it out of your mind.


    [ ] You want to think it'd have been different if you'd had a better weapon.

    [ ] Maybe it would have turned out better if you'd somehow managed to become the center of the sword's attention.

    [ ] ...You should have just cast Hama.
     
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    • [X] Maybe it would have turned out better if you'd somehow managed to become the center of the sword's attention.
     
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    [X] Maybe it would have turned out better if you'd somehow managed to become the center of the sword's attention.
     
    [X] Maybe it would have turned out better if you'd somehow managed to become the center of the sword's attention.
     
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    Sidequest Complete
  • Sidestory
    • It would never be accurate to say everyone at Gekkoukan High was talking about a thing. With its size, there were at least three separate rumor mills, each one preoccupied with an entirely different subject at any given moment.

    The version Rio Iwasaki would casually overhear talked a lot about new transfer students.

    There were two of them, this year, both in the same class. The girls on the tennis team talked a lot about the boy, who had dark blue hair and a mysterious charm. Rio really didn't see it, but it wasn't her business what they were into. As long as it kept them from bothering the boxing team captain, they could do whatever they wanted on their own time.

    But the one she noticed was the girl. Mostly because there was no one else with silver hair in the entire school. And her eyes... her first thought was that there was something not quite right about them.

    "Elizabeth Shelley, at your service!" She was juggling bottles of over the counter stimulant, which might have made for a great serve if she could be trusted to be in the vicinity of organized sports.

    If there was one thing Rio could tell from this first impression, it was that this girl could never be allowed anywhere near organized sports.

    It was the kind of thing that felt like an instant incompatibility. If someone couldn't at least stand on the sidelines of a tennis court, they did not have what it took to be friends with Rio Iwasaki. This had been her social philosophy since she knew what tennis was.

    But their eyes had met, and that sealed her fate. She'd always know, looking back, that the shape of the next year was decided by that moment.

    After all, there was no stopping Liz.

    Students were highly encouraged to sign up for at least one extracurricular activity. In regards to herself, Rio didn't mind. She had her tennis racket, and that was all she needed to be satisfied.

    In regards to the rest of the team... it would have been nice to actually have a rest of the team. Some of them at least played tennis casually, but then there were the ones who didn't know the rules and had no interest in learning.

    And none of them could be bothered to schedule their personal lives around the completely predictable weekly practice schedule. She didn't think she'd mind so much if just one or two people showed up every time- it didn't didn't even have to be the same people, just as long as it was someone- but somehow the entire team managed to double book themselves on the same day.

    She was pretty sure they were doing it on purpose. But it wasn't like there was anything she could do to stop them. So she just sighed, put her things away, and trundled off to the library so her time staying at school wouldn't be totally wasted.

    "Was practice cancelled again?" Saori Hasegawa was the one person who greeted her every time. Rio was pretty sure the Library Committee didn't have total overlap with sports days, but she wasn't going to judge. Being the oldest person in the school by several months likely came with problems she couldn't even think of.

    It just meant they were both outcasts. "They all went out on a group date. The same group date." They weren't even pretending to care about the schedule anymore.

    "...A group date?" ...Maybe this was actually a Library Committee day, if Liz was here. "Is there so much market for watching a single person answer questions?"

    Saori blinked. "...Maybe? I don't... I'm not allowed to date, so..."

    "I don't think that's how it works." She'd never seen the appeal in a group date, herself, but she was at least aware that it wasn't a single player trivia game. Until today, she hadn't realized that was an accomplishment.

    "Really? But that's not how Makoto did it... Perhaps the term has multiple meanings." Rio really didn't think that was the case. And she wasn't sure she could convince Liz otherwise. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could convince Saori.

    But this was her dealing with two of the most sheltered people she'd ever met. As frustrating as it was, it was better than bouncing balls around an empty gym. "So you haven't been on one yourself?"

    "Alas, I was not named his Destined Partner..." For the first time, Rio actually was curious about what a group date had been like. It just wasn't for the usual reasons. But she didn't dare ask.

    After all, Liz would always be a mystery.

    "Do either of you have any ideas to stop Kenji perving on the tennis advisor?" She realized, from the moment she opened her mouth, that maybe these weren't the people to ask. Not that she was sure who those people were.

    But these were the people she knew, so she'd just have to deal with it.

    "Kenji... Kenji..." Liz's eyes were gleaming in a way that always felt decidedly unsafe. It was how she seemed to bend the world around her, maybe, in a way that no one could help but be caught in her orbit. If Rio believed in magic, she'd say this was why she stuck around. "...Tomochika, correct?"

    "Do you know anyone else?" There was probably another person named Kenji in the school. It was definitely big enough.

    Liz stood up, her blue butterfly pin glimmering in a way that felt even less safe than looking into her eyes. Maybe magic was real, it just centered on that hairpin. Rio could almost believe that. "I'll have a discussion with him." And then she walked off.

    Rio was not confused enough to ask how Liz knew where Kenji was. She couldn't be, because on that path lay disaster.

    Saori winced. "She did the same to some boys who were hanging around the library. I didn't hear what she said to them, but..." Rio really hoped Kenji still wanted to be her friend the next day. And that he'd be alive to do so.

    The second one felt more in doubt than the first.

    Maybe the rumors about That Dorm had more truth to them than she cared to admit. "I'd say it's nice she cares about us, but I think she goes too far sometimes." Another thing she didn't want to know was why the team had suddenly started attending practice so reliably. It probably meant she didn't need to care about these two anymore, since she had a team to run, but...

    ...Well, if Saori was telling her parents that library day was everyday, she might as well have someone in the room to vouch for her.

    "It makes me worry about that boy she keeps talking about. Makoto... Yuki, was it?" That much Rio wasn't sure about. It had always just been 'Makoto, Makoto, Makoto.'

    And that was just how things were. "I wonder if it's the same Makoto Kenji keeps talking about." She didn't know for sure, because neither of her friends had deigned to introduce them. "...The one who won't tell him it's a bad idea to hit on the tennis advisor."

    For once, she felt she really understood something about Liz.

    She couldn't tell if that was actually a good thing.

    "I don't think I can talk to Liz about this," Saori admitted. "When she talks about her family, it's always..."

    She didn't have to finish the sentence. Rio was becoming more and more versed in complicated family situations just by existing around the two of them.

    But they'd listened to her woes with the tennis team, so she supposed she owed it to them to do the same. "Do you have any relatives who don't suck?" She wasn't optimistic about the answer.

    "I... might have an uncle? I haven't seen him since I was young, though." It probably said something that this was still better than expected. "All I remember is his name started with a Z. ...And my parents had a big fight with him that they blamed me for. We moved away right after." With how Saori's parents were, this didn't actually elucidate anything.

    "...I guess, if you know where you were living at the time, that might be a start?" She might have been learning more about dysfunctional families, but that didn't make her remotely qualified to actually deal with them. "Maybe he still lives there."

    At the very least, it couldn't possibly make things worse.

    The clouds of an upcoming typhoon were on the horizon. Three girls peered at them from the roof of Gekkoukan High, waiting as long as they could before returning home.

    It shouldn't have meant much. It should have just been the three of them enjoying the calm before a rare storm.

    But then Liz had to open her mouth. "The three of us... would you say we share an unbreakable bond?"

    It was impossible to tell what she meant by that. But it was also impossible not to agree. After she'd come into their lives... it was the kind of bizarre occurrence that would follow them forever, just because it was impossible to forget.

    But after that day, the three of them would never all sit and speak to each other again.

    "Liz hasn't been by the library a lot," Saori reported. "Do you think something's wrong?"

    Rio had only ever seen Liz in the hallways since the typhoon, but she'd turn and wave if called out to. Sometimes, she was with a boy with blue hair who had to be Makoto Yuki. "She must be busy. A lot of my classes picked up their pace recently."

    "Oh, so I didn't just imagine it..." She didn't ask whether she was talking about Liz or the schoolwork. Either way, the answer would have been depressing.

    But Liz would come around. She was sure of it. After all, she had said their bond was unbreakable. That had to mean something.

    ...Right?

    "Do you... have any idea what I can do for the rest of the afternoon?"

    "Aren't you supposed to go straight home?" Rio asked. As much as she wanted her friend to break away from her controlling parents... something about this didn't feel right.

    "Do you remember the uncle I told you about? He's coming to visit today." She'd never realized how long Saori's hair was until now, when it was almost covering her face. "And... my parents told me not to come home until he was asleep, because he doesn't want to see me."

    "...Weren't you the one who got back in contact with him?"

    "I know, it's obviously bullshit." Rio wasn't someone who swore a lot, but convincing Saori that she could do so without being struck down by the gods was still her proudest non-tennis achievement. "And they'll probably use me not being there to shit talk me a lot. But... this is the first time I've been allowed to be out ever. I just... want to know what it's like."

    "Well... I could show you how to play tennis. No one's using that gym today." It would be nice to be able to talk about her sport to her friend and actually be understood.

    Even if she had still been around as often, it would have been a lost cause with Liz.

    But it wasn't with Saori. Despite having never been allowed near any kind of ball before, she picked up the rules easily.

    They had a good time playing together.

    They lost track of time.

    And then Saori's blood had completely soaked through Rio's jersey.

    The police asked Rio if she knew anything about Saori's relationship with her uncle.

    Instead, she told them about Saori's relationship with her parents.

    Apparently, her father would rather claim a brutal honor killing than an affair.

    She hated that she now understood terrible families.

    She didn't remember that night well, but she did remember seeing Liz's hairpin off to the side.

    She also remembered that Liz didn't approach her once.

    She did beat up the people who believed the rumors and talked about them at the school memorial, but Rio would have done the same thing if she'd gotten there sooner and had the apparent power to dodge consequences for everything.

    She'd always tried not to wonder about that before. And that was clearly for the best.

    Something supernatural had sliced Saori in half. A similarly magical creature like Liz was best approached with caution.

    Or, if she didn't have the interest, not approached at all.

    At least she still had the tennis team.
     
  • Sidestory
    • I think Elizabeth is the kind of character best experienced from the eyes of other characters, so that last sidestory is the closest she's ever getting to one of her own unless something major changes.


    -Vote Closed!-​


    Here we have an idea. Whether it's a good or bad one, no one can really say.
     
    Taking Position
  • Threadmarks
    • "I think..." You want to blame your weapon. It wasn't the right tool for the job. But you're the one who failed to recognize that, and you need to consider what was actually possible under the circumstances. "When I got there... it was already focused on them. If I'd had a way to change that..."

    You aren't sure how you would have done that, but not standing where it could have reached them without ever acknowledging you probably would have helped.

    "That is something that people tend to consider more in hindsight." You think that might mean she agrees with you, at least a little bit. "In the moment, it isn't a decision most people can easily make."

    But it's not like the positioning was complicated. It was you and Koromaru, the Shadow, and then the girls. Basically a straight line.

    You can't remember the last time anything in Tartarus had a layout that simple.
    Thebel?
    So you've been working with worse. And this was the time it actually meant anything. "I think Mitsuru-san could have done it." All those powers for knowing something's location have to be useful, right? And this is the most useful thing you can think of.

    You aren't sure how much you'll think that later, but that's a problem for your future self.

    "Having the sort of abilities she does would help with that." So it's agreed.

    It's just that it makes you consider more possibilities.

    Chidori-san slips back into the dorm as if she never left. You don't even remember what day she came back, that's how little you've been paying attention.

    She seems more sure of herself than she was when she left, which is better than you can say for anyone else.

    Maybe things will get better this week. They can't stay bad forever, right? (Pick up to three)


    [ ] Spend time with friends.
    -[ ] Akira.
    -[ ] Lavenza.
    -[ ] Futaba.
    -[ ] Mitsuru-nee.
    -[ ] Chidori-san.
    -[ ] Morgana and Koromaru.
    -[ ] Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san.
    -[ ] Aigis-san and Elizabeth.
    -[ ] Makoto-san.

    [ ] Try to improve your sensory abilities. (+Diligence)

    [ ] Library exploration! (+Courage)

    [ ] Practice Channeling.
    -[ ] Dia.
    --[ ] By yourself.
    --[ ] With Akihiko-san.
    -[ ] Zio.
    --[ ] By yourself.
    --[ ] With Akihiko-san.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Spend time with friends.
    -[X] Makoto-san.

    [X] Practice Channeling.
    -[X] Dia.
    --[X] With Akihiko-san.

    [X] Try to improve your sensory abilities.
     
    [X] Try to improve your sensory abilities. (+Diligence)

    [X] Library exploration! (+Courage)

    [X] Practice Channeling.
    -[X] Dia.
    --[X] With Akihiko-san.
     
    [X] Spend time with friends.
    -[X] Makoto-san.
    [X] Try to improve your sensory abilities. (+Diligence)
    [X] Practice Channeling.
    -[X] Zio.
    --[X] With Akihiko-san.
     
    Adhoc vote count started by SeekerofDreams on Oct 6, 2023 at 5:51 AM, finished with 6 posts and 6 votes.
    Click to expand...


    ...There were definitely decisions made here.
     
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