◎ 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

[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.

[thunderfists]

Yeah. That whole incident was ... complicated. [His brows knit together as he thinks of how to explain it. It wasn't as if there was any clear way to explain everything that had happened to Aigis during that time.]

At the same time we were trapped in the Abyss of Time, we were attacked by someone named Metis, who looked like an anti-Shadow suppression weapon like Aigis. While fighting Metis, Aigis' Persona somehow transformed into yours -- Orpheus. After that, she was able to call on different Personas, just like you.

[emp3thy]

[He can't say that he understands why that would happen, except that Aigis was the last person he'd spoken with... And she was always the most attached to him. Maybe that let Igor do something. Or maybe he himself had (or maybe, would) without realizing it...

But the starting point aside, he can see how things proceeded from there.]

So then she could visit the Velvet Room.

[...] You're right, as far as I know only people with powers like mine are guests there. It's where I used to create new Personas.

[thunderfists]

[With the way their conversation has been going, he isn't surprised by Minato's confirmation -- though he does raise a brow at the bit about 'creating' Personas.

But he should keep explaining.]

Metis understood more about the Abyss of Time than any of us did. She guided us around, explained to keys of time to us, and told us of the purpose of the Great Seal. When we went into that ... Velvet Room, it was as if she was comfortable there. She had said that her place was there, on the "other side."

But Aigis realized that Metis was the "other her."

[...] Told you it was complicated.

[emp3thy]

...She was a Shadow?

[But that didn't entirely make sense either. From what he knew from Souji, Shadows and Personas were the same basic concept. You shouldn't be able to use a Persona if your Shadow was still running around...]

[thunderfists]

If she was, she sure didn't act like any Shadow we'd seen. But she apparently became part of Aigis again in the Velvet Room, after she had "completed her journey."

[Which had led to a troubling time where Aigis was thought dead for awhile, but maybe he shouldn't mention that, either.]

[emp3thy]

[Minato will be none the wiser if he doesn't.]

So something similar, anyway. [...so strange.] But things worked out after that?

1/2

[thunderfists]

They did, yes. After that ... detour to that elevator, we woke up in the dorms again. We could leave whenever we wanted. Mitsuru decided to have us keep our Evokers, and we left the dorms on April 1st.

2/2

[thunderfists]

[... ... ...

He glances down at Koromaru at his feet, then back over at Minato.]

I guess I'm keeping you from getting my cape, though.

[emp3thy]

[Koromaru yips (maybe he knew this story already? It's impossible to know...) and Minato cracks a small smile at that.]

Right. Wait here.

[He disappears into the laundry room finally and returns with the red cape, neatly folded.]