◎ Bout 2: The age question [action/voice]

[thunderfists]

[action]

[Akihiko's been adjusting well enough to Luceti following the crash back to reality that Luceti was a different world that was not the TV world he was supposed to have appeared in. He's back to a "civilized" level of hygiene and no longer running around in survival pants and a cape -- no, now he's back to sweatpants and T-shirts for his jogs and training. He can be found jogging on the village roads and into the forest, which he's now fairly familiar with after spending so much time out there.

Later in the day, after he's finished with his training for the day, he opens up his journal. Ever since that "experiment," he's been wondering something. But before he asks, he should probably introduce himself...]

[voice]

Hey. I'm Akihiko Sanada. I arrived here in the recent ... cycle. I guess that's what you call it. I've heard that I might have met some people here before, so I thought I'd warn you that I don't remember ever being in Luceti.

Anyway, I've got a question. How do you decide when to celebrate or acknowledge your birthdays here? There can be a lot of different kinds of calendars, even in the same world, so... I'm curious how other people handle it.

Also, if anyone knows how I can get my hands on a speed bag, I'd appreciate hearing about it.

Comments

[emp3thy]

[....umm...]

Is that what you expected?

[thunderfists]

Walking around that forest? Yeah. I did find it odd that it was taking such a long time to get in contact with Mitsuru and Aigis, but I had no frame of reference. [He shakes his head a little.] Then I started seeing things that just seemed to back up that I was in the TV world -- a talking dragon, a kid fighting with a large bird.

[emp3thy]

And then you saw me?

[He's starting to wonder even more about that first meeting...]

[thunderfists]

[... ... ...]

And then I saw you. [There's no smirk, no fondness, as he thinks back on that encounter. Just a hint of something approaching embarrassment.]

[emp3thy]

Did you think I was part of the TV?

[It's the most logical leap to make at this point.]

[thunderfists]

...Something like that. [He can be vague, right? Other people got to be vague all the time.]

[emp3thy]

[Minato's expression pretty much says no, he's not allowed, and he wants to know more.... but this is also Minato, so those thoughts remain unsaid. It's up to Akihiko whether he caves to the stare or not.] I see.

[thunderfists]

[It takes him a moment to figure out how to explain.]

I didn't think you were just part of the TV world; I thought you were something similar to what we had seen before -- a Shadow in your form.

[emp3thy]

[Minato had already predicted a few paths this conversation might take, and Akihiko's statement was on none of them. Now it takes him a moment to process.]

A Shadow in my form...?

[What did that even mean? And where had they encountered Shadows again, anyway?]

[thunderfists]

[Where to start, where to start...?]

Shortly after graduation, the dorms were going going to be closed down. With the Dark Hour gone, SEES was disbanding, we were turning in our Evokers, and we were all supposed to moving on.

[He sighs, his tone dipping into a slightly more serious tone.] But ... when we were all gathered in the dorms, we found that we couldn't leave -- the same day just kept repeating, and a labyrinth infested with Shadows opened up underneath us. One of them looked like you, and we ended up following it deeper into the maze.

[emp3thy]

[.....]

How did that happen? The Dark Hour ended.

[Obviously, Shadows appeared in other places, judging by the TV world. But for something to happen that quickly after they dealt with Nyx...]

[thunderfists]

We did it to ourselves, in a way. [Or quite literally.] The Abyss of Time fed off of our negative feelings and trapped us. Even though the Dark Hour was gone, its effects still lingered -- because of the sadness and grief that we were feeling.

...We learned a lot there. Including the fact that Personas and Shadows are the same thing.

[emp3thy]

[Sadness and grief. Well, at that time, there's only one possible source for that. The earlier mention of a Shadow only confirms it.

Learning that he contributed to trapping his friends in negativity isn't particularly pleasant. It wasn't intentional, but still... He's quiet as usual until Akihiko pauses in talking.]

It sounds like I caused you all a lot of trouble.

[thunderfists]

[He snorts, folding his arms across his chest. He didn't hold anything that happened with the Abyss of Time against Minato. In fact, it had helped them all -- though that probably wasn't obvious from the way he was explaining things.]

Actually, you brought a lot of things to light that we hadn't thought about. We thought that everything was over after Nyx.

[He looks intently at Minato as he continues.]

Then we saw what you did after the battle. What you became.

[emp3thy]

[It still started because he didn't get a chance to explain things to everyone on the roof... But the main point is that they did find out, and that's a relief. He knows that Elizabeth knows, but somehow, he doubts she'd go around explaining to the others.

Although, Akihiko's wording here...] You 'saw' it?

[thunderfists]

[His head moves minutely in confirmation.] The Abyss of Time let us see into the past. That includes what happened to you. So we saw that you were ... protecting us. As the seal.

[emp3thy]

[It's not an easy topic, but he really is happy to hear about it anyway. And plus, now he doesn't potentially have to explain it to Akihiko himself. That's always awkward.]

That's about it. What let you leave the dorm?

[thunderfists]

Well, after we realized that we had basically brought the abyss upon ourselves, we received these keys that were supposed to open the front door of the dorm and allow us to leave. [...Maybe he should leave out the part about all of them fighting each other.]

When we were all ready, Aigis went ahead and opened the front door. Then we all had this strange shared dream about a blue elevator before waking up to the following morning.

[emp3thy]

[Hey, Minato wouldn't judge... except no, he probably would judge in this situation. He thought he'd been a good enough leader to keep everyone from falling apart that badly in his absence. ...Then again, things always did go horribly whenever he got knocked out in Tartarus.

But the last part of Akihiko's story makes him react automatically.] The Velvet Room?

[thunderfists]

[He blinks at the question, wondering where that had come from for a brief moment.]

So you know about that blue elevator, too. [Aigis had never really explained, but if it had anything to do with the power she had inherited from Minato...]

[emp3thy]

[And somehow, he's ended up talking about the Velvet Room despite deciding to avoid the topic earlier. ]

Yeah. I've been there.

[thunderfists]

[Funny how all of these things tied together somehow.]

The long-nosed guy there was surprised to see us -- said we weren't supposed to be there, but Aigis' bond with us must have brought us inside with her.

[emp3thy]

[Except that still doesn't explain things...]

Aigis? She was visiting the Room?

[thunderfists]

[...Looks like he missed a big part of the story here.]

She was, yeah. Since you both have been there, maybe it has to do with both of you being able to use different Personas.

[emp3thy]

[Uhh....... yeah. Let's back up a little.]

I think I'm missing something.