2025-12-09: Cruelty For A Purpose: The NWO Investigates Itself
- Log: Cruelty For A Purpose: The NWO Investigates Itself
- Cast: Yua Ooshiro, Miho Ijuuin, Hiroto Nakamura, Remi Ryuuja
- Where: Eiji's Palace
- OOC Date: 2025-12-09
- IC Date: Thu, Aug 23 2012
- Summary: Miho takes her team out to investigate Eiji's Palace, in hopes of finding something they can use to their own benefit in their organisation. There, Remi and Hiroto come to an accord, Miho and Yua share their traditional views of marriage, and Yua falls down a pit because she was too busy with her automap to notice the giant hole right in front of her. Looks like the guards of the Palace are on a bit of a hair-trigger, now...
- Content warning: Human trafficking, abuse, torture, miscarriage
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 1: Sight Unseen - Challenge Level 1 ===============================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Academics |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
A steady stream of faceless yet well-dressed people goes in and out of the huge building ahead. Streetlights illuminate the path towards open sets of double-doors; the building stretches tall, boxy and white. Lovely windows with curtains on the inside stretch along each side of the building; huge signs proclaim it the Kamiya Convention Center. There's a huge glass dome at the top, and numerous further signs on the way in. They advertise stations and displays; a restaurant first, a gift shop...
And of course, the biggest sign:
Kamiya Convention Center
<3 The Kamiya Wedding <3
Featuring:
Eiji Kamiya and Ichika Kawase
There's a dark patch in the lights beside a side entrance--the perfect entryway if you want to approach in secret. But the lights are moving, and your opening will only last so long. You can either rush on raw skill, or calculate the path of the lights in order to get across without being seen. Either way, you'll have to do it quickly, before they start changing up the spotlights again. ...Pay no attention to the other entrance, where unhappy faceless Cognitions are being herded inside. You could sneak there too, but it might not be recommended.
( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
Night has fallen over the carpark of the Akiyoshi Building, but there are more than enough salarymen working late to ensure there are plenty of cars in the carpark...
... and just as the Rumour's said, there's a car with open doors. When they all pile inside -- it's roomy enough for four -- the radio turns on, just as they said it would.
Yua hasn't brought her Bride's outfit, today; everyone here knows who each other is, and if a group of do-gooders happens into the Palace while they're here, Gretchen's Shrouds are strong enough to hide them... and strong enough to at least confuse their identities in Eiji's subconscious, to obscure their work. Their secret identities are hardly secret from the New World Order, after all.
"Let's see... we must now tune the radio to... seven-oh-oh," Yua speaks her train of thought out loud, as she messes with the radio band. Remi would know just why Yua can draw from the well, actually on this rumour: "Mm... 'domestic disturbance'... it's a modern interpretation, isn't it? I mean, they were at war before Theseus ever started courting her... and Kawase-kun's situation is far more complicated than that... well, here we go," she frowns, as she reaches the station.
"Hippolyta," Yua recites, her English impeccable, "I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love doing thee injuries, but I will wed thee in another key, with pomp, with triumph, and with reveling..."
The carpark shimmers and fades into the front of the Kamiya Convention Center, a building topped by a glass dome and displaying several signs pointing guests to the revelry. The gigantic disturbance of earlier has been all but erased; there's no sign of any damage, now.
All is well...?
"I saw the signs when last we used this place as shelter," Yua says, sadly, to the others. "Ichika Kawase... she's one of my students, at Kasugayama. Kamiya-san... that's the boy she was dating... but it was not so happy as this wedding posits," she frowns.
"He... raised his fist to her, and his cutting words long before."
Yua brings her Evoker to her Eye -- her Marked Eye, a thing visible now she isn't wearing her veils and fascinators as something marked with three pupils, unsurprising to everyone here but still shocking for the camera to focus on -- and fires, as she invokes: "Gretchen!" That massive woman in all her jewels and white finery appears, behind her, as she takes in the entryway.
"... there!" She says, as she gestures to the side entrance. "We must be swift and silent as Oberon with his love-in-idleness in hand; the lights shift and flicker on this pattern, you see? One-two-three, one-two-three -- it is set to a waltz."
She thrusts out a hand, to stop anyone from considering the other exit. "Stray not to this entryway," she warns them. "Naught but horror waits there."
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has acted with Ballet Talk toward Sight Unseen! Patra and Escape!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho wears a suit, as usual. But she has brought her sword.
"I wonder how the rumor started?" Miho reflects. "It's quite specific..."
A pause. "Yes, I'm sure her situation is complex. These matters are rarely simple. ...If they were, it would be easy to resolve them."
But they shimmer into the Kamiya Convention Center. "...A girl so young, to be in such a position." She frowns. "How many did we fail to know?"
She can't imagine there weren't such situations when they were in school. But either way, "...He is a disgrace to our alma mater."
Yua summons her Persona, and Miho watches. She considers the patterns. "Yes," she says. "I see."
"I will lead the way."
She looks to the horrors, and frowns--but then darts off, using incredible speed and skill to move precisely as she means to. To move to the entrance.
MONAD: Miho Ijuuin has acted with Olympic Prowess toward Sight Unseen! Diligence and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
Hiroto Nakamura made sure to get out of having a late night at work for this. This, too, is business, but it's business that he's more amenable to, given who it's with and what it will lead to for his future.
He hasn't changed out of his suit with a striped tie, given the fact that he was rushing to even get here on time. However, he is clearly unarmed, the Ferryman known for using his body as a weapon. He takes the easiest spot for him to take in the car.
"Whoever brought this Rumor to life is surely sympathetic to her plight," Hiroto muses lightly to Miho, but it's a question he has no need of an answer to. He knows the lines that Yua is reciting, and indeed, they work.
Once they're inside the Palace, Hiroto straightens his tie gently, listening to Yua speak. "Disgusting," he says simply. He's a father to a teenage girl, he can't help but imagine what he'd do if it was his daughter. (It would most likely not be pretty.)
Once Yua does the unsettling act of awakening her Persona, though... Hiroto is keen to watch the lights with her. "If you time it, your speed should be..."
A salaryman needs a good sense of time. Punctuality is important, and indeed, he's stepping forward briskly but calmly, trying to make the perfect pace to not even risk getting caught in the lights, following after Miho.
MONAD: Hiroto Nakamura has acted with Salaryman Talk toward Sight Unseen! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi isn't in her disguise either; she's dressed in a black turtleneck and skirt, with black boots, dark gray tights, and a heavy leather trenchcoat. She is dressed in far too many layers for the summer heat, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable. Her long, wavy blonde hair is tied back in a bush ponytail tokeep it out of her face. Underneath the coat, her rapier, dagger, and Evoker all lie.
And she won't stop casting suspicious glances Hiroto's way, either. If Miho and Yua are willing to work with him, she will, too, but... that doesn't mean she has to like him.
Miho wonders about the rumor, and Remi glances to her. "We could ask a Rumormonger." She has one in mind, but... she won't name them, not in front of the Ferryman.
She nods to Yua's musings. "Indeed. Far more complex, yet... still ageless, in its way." It's a bit distressing, if she thinks about it too hard.
The lines are familiar, though neither her nor Yua performed that specific part at Sevens.
She narrows her eyes as the Palace fades into view. She's only ever been in the one other Palace, and it's still a disconcerting experience. Her frown deepens as she takes in the declaration on the banner. "... to think he takes to revelrie so easily, and yet his rumored conduct..." Miho calls him a disgrace, and Remi can only nod. "Indeed."
She glances to Yua. "Do you know what your student has to say of all this?"
She waits, patiently, as Yua summons her Persona and provides guidance, speaking of Oberon with his love-in-waiting. The lights...
In a quiet, low voice she intones, "Through the house give gathering light, by the dead and drowsy fire: every elf and fairy sprite, hop as light as bird from brier."
Remi spent several years in near-constant combat, practicing with her sword and skulking in the dark to combat shadows. All of that is useful training as she takes off after the others, her steps fast and light.
MONAD: Remi Ryuuja has acted with Dramatis Persona toward Sight Unseen! Diligence and Focus!
( |================================== +queue ================================== |) | Nothing In Queue | ( |=========================================================== Yua Ooshiro ==== |)
( |============================= Monad - Results ============================== |) -==== Sight Unseen - Round 1 ==================================================- Yua Ooshiro Proficiency Success Ballet Talk Patra and Escape Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miho Ijuuin Proficiency Success Olympic Prowess Diligence and Focus Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remi Ryuuja Proficiency Success Dramatis Persona Diligence and Focus Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroto Nakamura Academics Success Salaryman Talk Specialty Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-2 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | =====================================================- ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |) MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has drawn a new Challenge!
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 2: The Back Rooms - Challenge Level 2 =============================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Academics |
| Conditions: Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure. and Curse - -1 to Group Roll |
| (Per Character) |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Finding a side entrance or a service door, one can find a way into the Back Rooms. Screams rip periodically out of grates and rooms here in the back. It's dingy, dreary, and dark here, full of doors to apparently nowhere and pitfalls to the depths. Falling through one requires a laborious trek back up the stairs. Every time. But the finery and glitz of the front areas, while nowhere to be seen here, depend upon these back rooms and the Shadows in them.
Cognitions occupy each room. Unlike most of the Cognitions here, they don't have blank faces; their faces are flowers with beautiful golden petals. Some are seated on beds, mostly naked; some are in maid outfits, cleaning the rooms. All of them seem unhappy with their lot, and all of them are chained at the ankle to their work station. And then there's the ones who are being actively tortured!
It's a stressful area... but you can listen in on some of the front rooms from here, too. Alternately, if you can map your way out, you might have a powerful advantage in the rest of the Palace...
( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"We were all wrapped up in our own situation..." Yua sighs, a hand to her chest. (She, of course, is clad in her usual black leotard and pointe shoes... though she is wearing compression socks, beneath them.) "Maybe it was the case with one of those girls who dropped out, but..."
But Yua never followed up on that, back then.
"It is difficult to imagine Sevens allowing such wretched business," she agrees, with Miho. "I have heard rumours of the children at Shujin, but... to think boys who aspire to see everything are at Sevens, too...? It seems... so far-fetched!"
Yua looks to the other entryway, as she adds: "And now, his subconscious is broadcasting crimes like this to all who care to tune a radio or.... something like that...? ... the Powers that Be will be unhappy, I think."
She nods, gravely, to Hiroto. "She has... shared too much with someone like me, really... but the scars are plain laid deep into her. It is not so difficult for me to imagine someone feeling sympathy for her... though, it would be very difficult for her to hear he imagines something like this, wouldn't it?"
Yua sighs, as she turns to Remi. "I suspect the revelry is only his due," she says, sadly. "But Kawase-kun... she's expressed great sorrow over the relationship she had. I'm told..." Her hand presses to her stomach, as she adds, her voice lowering: "... he even caused her to lose her child."
And it's plainly obvious why that would upset her.
Miho is an Olympian; her alacrity is unmatched amongst men. Hiroto's salaryman punctuality is a fantastic boon in helping him match her pace -- salarymen have to do twelve impossible things before they even manage to swallow down breakfast! Remi's theatrical recitation serves to help keep time, as she employs her vicious combat skills to follow along... and Yua, framing the lights in the manner of a dance, is able to twirl lightly through.
In they go, without a single hitch, except --
How many differences are there between these service entrances? One is where Cognitions are herded, certainly; the other...
The other evidently helps those who work with them access the space.
Gretchen shimmers into existence -- somehow, she's always just as-tall-as-the-ceiling, even in spaces where it feels like she ought to be bigger -- as Yua scans the space. "Here... we may access the front hall through that door, but wait -- it is guarded heavily! With no pass to show them, we will surely fail... in this place dwells workers, who come by these means to... then we must dwell chthonic," she concludes, her brow knit.
"... though I must guide you through great pain. There -- this way..."
She directs them through an unlocked door, through the service paths to he Back Rooms: a dark hall, the lights flickering with all the protests which the creatures in these rooms cannot voice. There, a woman chained to the bed in full display -- there, a maid dusting -- there, a wretched creature, basal feminine, locked in a too-small cage with limbs crushed against the bars. All of them are torturous; some, more explicitly so.
Gretchen shimmers into existence behind Yua, every so often, as she stops and pauses. "Tell me the truth," she says, as she does. "Tell me the truth--!"
Except, of course, she's so occupied with her Sight of the world above, mapping out the front rooms of the Convention Centre...
... that she completely fails to notice where she is in space, and so she steps, with full weight, into one of those pitfalls down below.
"eeeeEEEAAAHHHH---!!"
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has acted with Academics toward The Back Rooms! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Miho will keep an eye on Remi and Hiroto, but she does not see a need to intervene yet. They'll need the four of them for what's coming, she's sure--regardless of interpersonal issues. "A rumormonger may know," Miho admits. "But then they'd know we wanted to know..." It is careful. But Hiroto muses on it, and she nods. "Perhaps so."
But it is disgusting. It is terrible.
"Is she a Persona-user?" Miho wonders of Yua's student, Ichika Kawase. "If she isn't, she may know nothing of it. That would be a mercy, I think." Because it would be difficult for her to hear.
But they were wrapped up in their own situation. "Girls who were abused... or girls who weren't, but were pregnant. Sevens, too, had those."
"The teachers now work to avoid such things... you included," she says to Yua. "You can only do so much, but you can do that much." A pause. "Yes. They will be unhappy. ...Perhaps moreso, when we are finished with this place."
"To lose a child... No youth should have to experience that." She shakes her head. "Especially not at the hands of the father."
So not the front hall, but...
Great pain.
Miho looks at each of the Cognitions, her expression stony. "...They are not real," she says. "But they are emblems of what is."
"Yua," she says, "Be careful--"
Miho catches Yua and grabs her from the pitfall, picking her up bodily and having to brace herself against the edge. "Pull us up!" Miho directs the others. She cannot get back on her own.
But to Yua, "Remember--ground yourself. The honed blade strikes true, but not when the wielder is staring overlong past her opponent."
MONAD: Miho Ijuuin has acted with Swords Talk toward The Back Rooms! Efficient and Bravery!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
As Remi casts suspicious glances towards Hiroto, the kind that seem like they aren't simply 'well he's the new guy', eventually he does break the silence. "...I apologize if I have done something to earn your ire. It is no intent of mine for us to have bad blood." He truly doesn't want to fight with an ally...
As they pass through, entering a hall of pitfalls and... such torturous sights, Hiroto is trying to focus himself on the pits, so that he can point them out. Before he can point one out to Yua, however, he spots through one of the rooms, of the age of some of these people. Could this be someone he loved? Someone anyone else loved? Almost certainly the latter.
His face forming into a scowl, he misses the pit in front of Yua a second too late, eyes widening. Miho's already on it, as he moves to help pull them up, but hopefully he can prevent it from happening again by redoubling his focus.
"Where do these lead...?" He wonders as he marks them for memory.
MONAD: Hiroto Nakamura has acted with Academics toward The Back Rooms! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
She looks to Miho and nods. The Rumormonger would know who wanted the information. "Granted," she admits. And she doesn't say much more on it.
Hiroto offers an apology, but Remi only stares at him again. "... you yield to your leash, the same as any of us. But do not think I will forget your savagery any time soon."
The discussion about Sevens continues. Did any of them notice it? "... we were all protected, in our own ways," she remarks quietly. Yua, perhaps, less so, but then again... Yua had her friends to look out for her, right?
... After all, that's how Remi got nabbed, in the end.
She glances to Yua, recalling the form that Kaneshiro's Palace took, a flying bank vault. "... Men like this believe themselves unassailable. Why should they care to hide their crimes? It is simply another way to assert their power and dominance."
Yua reveals a child was lost... her stern, focused gaze doesn't soften, but she reaches out to put a supportive hand on Yua's shoulder.
The message is clear: her knight is there to defend Yua and her child.
But by all their various means they make it through the lights, and are directed inside, but towards one of the rear entrances.
She stays silent as they pass through the back rooms, through the various violations and horrors on display, both explicit and implicit (as in the maids carrying out their duties without complaint.) There is a subtle shift in her stature as they pass through the halls.. Her expression is focused, unyielding, as if it were staring into the sun without complaint.
It's an expression normally hidden behind her mask. It might be unsettling to see on her face.
When Yua slips, and Miho goes after her, her focus is not distracted, and she moves with a sudden burst of speed to grab her friends and pulls them up, with Hiroto's assistance.
MONAD: Remi Ryuuja has acted with Unflinching Stare toward The Back Rooms! Focus and Patra!
( |============================= Monad - Results ============================== |) -==== The Back Rooms - Round 2 ================================================- Yua Ooshiro Academics Failure Academics Base Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miho Ijuuin Guts Success Swords Talk Efficient and Bravery Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remi Ryuuja Guts Success Unflinching Stare Focus and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroto Nakamura Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Boss-0 and Curse-0 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | =====================================================- ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |) MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has drawn a new Challenge!
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 3: Safe Room Planning - Challenge Level 3 =========================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative conditions. and Fairy - |
| Subtract 1 Fatigue on success. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
This Safe Room is a space of relatively normal Cognition, insulated from the Distortion of the rest of the Palace. It's a nice hotel room with nobody in it; there's a bed to relax on, a restroom if you want to risk it in here, a mini-fridge... Who gets charged for the minibar, anyway? (No underage drinking, kids!)
But there is more than plush carpet, air conditioning, and a balcony. There's your party, for one, and you may be able to have success in revitalizing them by taking stock and listening to how they feel about all this so far. Alternately, you could make a plan for tackling the rest of the Palace. Either way, you should be sure to use this reprieve wisely.
( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Ton-ton's a friend, Recchi!" Yua insists, grasping her hands together. "We all have to do these wretched things... but we're stronger together!!" Yua certainly seems to believe in him. He even has a cute nickname. Oh no, the cute nickname is EVOLVING, too...
If only they were doing something cute, and not terrible.
"She is not," Yua says, when Miho asks if Ichika is a Persona-User. "I have never caught her Resonance, though she has grown quite emotionally charged at times... unless her shrouding powers are akin to my own, it is impossible that she possesses her own Persona. So she will surely only hear of this second-hand... we must hope her friends are merciful."
Yua sighs, gesturing outwards. "There is always more work to be done," she says, of the abuse at school. "Youth are most vulnerable at the time they reach me... though they often believe they are less so. Oh, but poor Kawase-kun was so young when she was to have her baby... and for her protector to fail her so..." She's deeply saddened, speaking of that. And of the crimes he doesn't care to hide -- "It isn't right for them to do such a thing... a husband's dominance ought be turned to protecting his wife, oughtn't it?"
Well, that's one way to look at it.
"... but perhaps we will find something here to protect ourselves against 'them'," she supposes, on the unhappiness of the Powers that Be. And she smiles, to Remi, when she feels her hand on her shoulder; she knows Remi wants her to be safe, too.
"Avatars," Yua confirms, of the Cognitions, "reflections, intentions, parables..."
But though Hiroto's trying to keep everyone abreast of the traps awaiting them, Yua's evidently too distracted by her Sight to heed him --
"Oh!!"
That's Yua, gasping, as Miho grasps her left wrist to stop her from falling. "Mimi...!" Yua cries, as she reaches up, with her right hand, to try and grasp at her. Luckily, with Miho pouring everything into grasping her, she's able to reach down and snag her right hand, too -- and she will find the grip in her right hand lacking, though she's trying her best to hold on. It's the kind of unfortunate situation where that fabric decoration across her hand tears, but -- thanks to Hiroto and Remi hauling Miho back up, she's able to pull Yua back onto solid ground.
"Phew..." Yua sighs, sinking against Miho, for a moment. And what Hiroto might notice, behind that damaged decoration, is a circular scar at the back of her right hand... something which Remi and Miho, at least, are quite familiar with. "You saved me," she smiles, to Miho, then to Remi and Hiroto. "Thank you...!"
Once she's sure she's all right, she straightens up out of Miho's arms. "You're right," she nods, to the woman she would have called her wife. "I was looking out there, not seeing in here... oh, but down there, down there, these chthonic dwellings run so deep. Do you not think, with these pitfalls, that the women who work these corridors may end up on the other side...?"
She pauses, and adds, sadly: "The men, I think... are not salvaged so readily..."
And those of them focused on where they're stepping, at least, get through the hall safely -- until Yua calls out, "Hark! See, there? How it shimmers? The mirage is an oasis true!" ... she's talking about the way the Cognitive space around the Safe Room door warps and ripples, from the dourness of this service hall to something far more brightly-lit and suitable for a hotel.
Inside, they'll find a perfectly serviceable hotel room -- and Yua sits herself down on the bed, with a bit of a sigh. "Mimi, can I have some water?" She asks, because there is, in fact, a mini-fridge there. And it does have bottles of water! They don't even seem to be evil.
"Mmm..." Yua frowns, leaning forward a little as she tilts her head. "Recchi, you're bothered, right...? With Ton-ton being here... come on, let's talk about it, okay?"
Oh, no.
The Safe Room is a LIE they have to TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS!
She kicks her feet, a little, off the side of the bed. "I was having really bad morning sickness one morning, you know?" She says, to Recchi. "So I couldn't make Mimi's lunch in time... I was really upset about it!" She pouts, the emotions plain on her face. "So I went into her office to give it to her, but her coworkers were all really mean to me... but Ton-ton stepped in and helped me get away from them so I could put her lunch in the break room! He was very kind to me, you know? Then, when me and Mimi were talking, we figured out that work was being really mean to him, too... and with the Order's work, too. It's really hard to be alone when the Powers that Be are demanding unreasonable things, Recchi..." Oh, no. She's got those big puppy-dog EYES, even if it's markedly more unsettling in a place where Remi can see both of them. (All... four of them, by one method of counting...)
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has acted with Nurturing Direction toward Safe Room Planning! Automap!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
"So long as you also don't forget that he's our ally," Miho says to Remi. "We need his aid if we're to achieve our aims." A look to Hiroto, and a nod.
But they were all protected in their own ways. That is true. Miho appreciates Hiroto's keen eyes on the pits; it lets her keep an eye out for Shadows to protect the group (and mostly Yua). But men like this...
"Hmm." Miho considers that. "It's a vulnerability," she says. "And may be a problem for our mutual acquaintances..."
But Yua clarifies about Ichika. She nods. "Yes," she says. "I would not blame her if she wished to know... but some doors are better left closed." Not that she knows her, but she can think of her in generalities. As to the youth, "Hmm... Yes, that's true. A husband's direction is meant to protect the family, as the wife's care is to keep it running. ...You can change who does what, but not what needs doing."
To protect themselves...
"I will always save you," Miho says. "...And with our friends and allies, it is all the better." Because she doesn't have to do it alone, and they can help her too. "Thank you," she repeats. "I would not have wanted to have to come all the way back..."
"...Yes. There are men here, too."
The shimmering oasis! Miho steps inside, and will get Yua some water. "Drinks for anyone else? They are probably wholesome."
She'll get them for folks. She's not fussed. But to talk about it...
Miho isn't the one who needs to Talk, so she hangs back for the moment, pulling a notebook and sketching out a plan. She will plot, while the others speak.
MONAD: Miho Ijuuin has acted with Proficiency toward Safe Room Planning! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
"...I understand," is all Hiroto leaves it to for that moment. The nickname upgrade gets a light swivel of the head.
Soon, however, they're pushing forward, talking about bad men, an unAwakened teenager, and similar things. Hiroto doesn't have much insight, though he does comment on one thing...
"A husband's dominance... is that such a thing that even should be, in those terms?" He views his relationship with his wife, his best friend from high school, as equal. Fairly egalitarian.
Once they pull Yua and Miho out of the pit, he nods to all three of them, before they reach the Safe Room.
As Yua takes a bed, Hiroto stands against the wall, nodding to Miho as she asks. "A water, please." He'll thank her once he gets it...
And then sees Yua trying to defend him. He listens to her speak, before rubbing the back of his head. It's much more awkward than you'd expect from the salaryman who puts boots in faces.
"Ah, thank you, Ooshiro-san... but I understand her grievance. Our last mission together nearly ended in failure, and I had to be brutal to ensure a swift resolution. It was not the path I wanted to take, but it is the path I chose regardless."
A sigh. "They expect results from me. I have never once failed in a task, indeed, it was the reason I was chosen. To do so... I can but only question what would happen without support."
He does consider some plans, though, as this happens. They're mostly the small personal plans he can focus between thoughts and statements, stuff like 'what technique will I use should we face trouble', but it's plans nonetheless.
MONAD: Hiroto Nakamura has acted with Proficiency toward Safe Room Planning! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Remi stares at Yua as her hands are clasped, and nickanmes are deployed. Here her stare does soften, just a bit. "... as you wish, Yua-chan," is her soft reply.
It still doesn't mean she's going to be happy about it.
She does shoot a glance to Miho, with a raised eyebrow. 'She gave him a nickname already?' "... I will not forget."
But Kawase is not a persona user, it seems. "... then we can only hope she is resilient. And that she has strong friends to stand by her."
"It would be nice to find something that could turn back the tide," she agrees, even if she doesn't exactly sound enthusiastic about the prospect.
But in the crucial moment they all work together, and once Yua is on steady ground there is a slight releasing of tension from Remi's end of things. But only slight. She doesn't say anything, but she does glance at Hiroto.
She doesn't offer thanks, but she does offer an imperceptible nod.
They continue and when Yua points out the safe room door, Remi turns to it, frowning slightly. "... curious," she murmurs. She didn't see anything like that in Kaneshiro's Palace. And the difference between the Palace and the Safe Room is... stark.
"Are we still in the Palace...?" she has to wonder openly as they step inside.
Remi takes a seat in a chair, crossing her legs at the knee and crossing her arms. "I will have a water, please," she says to Miho. She would just be cold and stoic and rest, but Yua, it seems, has other plans. She's bothered... Remi gives a small shake of her head. "It is a trifling. It can wait."
... Or not. Remi can't help but listen as Yua shares her story of Hiroto's kindness. And once she starts listening, she can't stop. And once Yua brings out those eyes, Remi sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Yua-chan..."
"I had to watch you crush a man's skull beneath your heel," Remi retorts of Hiroto's choice. "The disgusting act of a brute." There's no fear, only anger in her words, simmering as it is.
But then she sighs, glancing away. "... would that I had a better solution," she admits, quietly. A tacit concession to the needs of the moment.
She's silent for a long time before she speaks again. "... that incident has caused considerable strain in my relationship with another," she admits quietly. "... I fear the bond may snap under the burden of the secrets kept. They would see me share the burden further, but I fear my only path is to withdraw."
In other words, Myunghon suggested she reveal her identity as Tsurugi to the Cardboard Dragon. Remi, instead, is considering leaving.
And some of her anger and displeasure is being deflected onto Hiroto as an easy target.
She's also turning around this situation in her head, looking for a path out that spares those on all sides of the conflict, though she has yet to find one...
MONAD: Remi Ryuuja has acted with Proficiency toward Safe Room Planning! Base!
( |============================= Monad - Results ============================== |) -==== Safe Room Planning - Round 3 ============================================- Yua Ooshiro Understanding Success Nurturing Direction Automap Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miho Ijuuin Proficiency Failure Proficiency Base Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remi Ryuuja Proficiency Failure Proficiency Base Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroto Nakamura Proficiency Failure Proficiency Base Fatigue: 1 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Checkpoint-0 and Fairy-0 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | =====================================================- ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has drawn a new Challenge!
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 4: Here Comes The Bride - Challenge Level 3 =======================-
| Approach Options: Understanding or Guts |
| Conditions: Kind - Understanding Up L2 and Reaper - Add 1 Fatigue. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
The elevator doors open up to a ballroom. But no one is dancing; there are tables and chairs on the side, but in the center there's a young woman with an entourage of other Cognitions, with long, long black hair and red eyes. Red, puffy eyes, as it happens. She is in a beautiful white dress--and at least a trimester's worth of pregnant. The Cognitions around her vary from young women to older, and the perceptive might recognize Ichika Kawase, her mother, and her sister along with some others.
"He's... he's really good to me," she says. "He's had to discipline me a little now and then, but that just proves how kind he is!"
"Of course, of course," her sycophants tell her.
"I'm really looking forward to this... I don't have any worries at all!"
"Who would? He's so dreamy!"
"Our son is going to look just like his father..."
The positive, glowing conversation continues. However, she still looks like she's been crying. Whether it's the empathy to see what she's really feeling or the bravery to call out the truth of what's going on, you'll have to get her attention somehow: she has a necklace with the next Key on it, and she won't give it to just anyone.
Of course, you could also just lie and tell her she's right. She might give you the key for that, too.
( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"She does have many good friends," Yua smiles, of Ichika's support. "Why, the children at Kasugayama like to play at gangs, and she's even leading her own group of friends...! Though, as a teacher, I'm not supposed to know about that..." She taps her finger to her lips, to indicate a silent 'shh'.
Yua and Miho have similar ideas about how a family ought to be structured, which is really a boon, given what they're trying to do. "It's not something anyone should be crushing their family with," Yua shakes her head, to Hiroto. "It's, mm... men are directed outwards, and women are directed inwards, right? So he's supposed to be protecting his family from threats, not raising his hand to his wife... and just because he can dominate those threats, that doesn't mean he can dominate the family prayers... that's not his job, you know? Well, I guess that means that language is kind of tricky..." Yua shakes her head, a touch haplessly.
"Mimi," Yua sighs, happily, when she declares she'll always save her. She's glad for everyone, of course, but, well... that lovey-dovey tone is just for one of them.
"The warping is weak in this place," Yua explains, to Remi. "And this aura of peace -- is it not strong enough that even you can sense it? I believe this room is closer to, mm... the 'Real World'! Though, Gretchen hasn't left me here, either... she just, mm... doesn't want to come out right now!"
And Miho gets her some water! "Saaankyu!" She lilts, as she takes it and takes a sip. She does, however, grasp Miho by the wrist to get her sitting down next to her, while she Plots.
"Falling down was so scary," she sighs, aside, to Miho. "I'm glad Recchi and Ton-ton were here with us... what if we both fell down...? At least I got a good idea of how this place is structured, even if I saw all those awful things... here, Mimi, there's this elevator that goes up, and..."
Yua is Helping Her Partner Plot. But Yua has her own Plots, too...
The Plot to Make Remi and Hiroto Okay With Each Other--!! "Uh-uh," Yua crosses her arms in front of her, one hand still holding her water bottle. "I am not boiling trifles today! Recchiiiii, I know you're bothered!" Pout!! Nothing can stand against Yua pouting, apparently.
"... I see," she says, her free hand slipped around Miho's arm as she listens to Hiroto and Remi. "So Ton-ton was very violent, but he was facing a failed mission... ahhh, Recchi, you remember what they'd do when we failed, right...?" Yua tilts her head, looking to Remi, now. "Ton-ton's trying to protect his own family... so doesn't it make a little sense? He was in a bad situation... but it's awful that it left you in a bad situation, too." Yua sighs, looking down as she takes another sip of water. (Please be careful with Yua's stomach, it's very delicate right now.) "The demands they've placed on us... they make it very hard for us to have friendships with innocent people. I know it isn't fair..."
Yua shakes her head, as she looks up. "But... Recchi, Mimi's had to do very scary things, too. And you still care for Mimi, right? Since -- since you know she had to do it, for the sake of people she cared about! Well, it's the same for Ton-ton, you know? He's in the same situation... that's why we're friends now!" Sorry, Hiroto, you don't get a vote. You did one nice thing for Yua and now she's your friend. "The Powers that Be are very unreasonable to us, but... but it's like poor Ryouhara-kun, you know? That boy they told to strangle me, when I spoke out of turn... he would have been in a difficult position if he'd denied their demands, too. But instead of blaming the men who told him to act, I blamed him, though he's still just a boy... oh, I do regret speaking so harshly, about him. Why, he even approached me with an offer to protect the Ijuuin clans -- and that will soon include me... and I tell you, I am glad I was not blinded by my fear, when he came to me."
Yua wriggles her hand around Miho's arm, so that she can clasp her water bottle in both hands. "We are all struggling underneath the Powers that Be, aren't we?" She asks, smiling to them both. "Even though our situation is difficult... let's not do their work for them!"
Yua's input into Miho's schemes proves valuable, as they leave the safe room -- "thank you, water-san," Yua farewells her new friend, because Yua is far too cute for a place like this -- and Miho directs them to that elevator. Heading up, they find a ballroom...
"Oh," Yua gasps, a hand to her chest. "No one's dancing..." She sounds so sad, saying that. And then... "Oh! There, that one -- that is the image of Kawase-kun! Though... her hair is white, not black...? Oh, it must be dyed, in reality..."
Yua didn't really need to point her out; she's the centre of attention. Yua steps up to her, hearing that talk --
-- seeing her eyes.
"Kawase-kun?" Yua asks, gently, as she turns to her.
"Ah...?" Cognitive Ichika pauses, looking down to the strange-eyed woman. (She's still much taller than her.) "I-- I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met...?"
"I... am a teacher," Yua explains, with a light pause. "Kawase-kun, you are... seventeen weeks, no?"
"You can tell?" Cognitive Ichika smiles, warmth entering her grieving expression. "Have you had one, too?"
"Mine is eight weeks along," Yua says, though grief enters her eyes, too. "But, Kawase-kun... you must remember. Even if you are but a reflection of your fiance's opinions --"
She reaches out, to clasp her hand, as she stares into her eyes with her eyes and her eyes and her eyes and her eyes.
"... you lasted but seventeen weeks before he caused you to lose that child," she explains, and she does not look away. "So far along, the very act of birth was thus profaned to you."
"W--what are you saying?!" Cognitive Ichika cries, as she tries to pull away. "Don't say such awful things! He'd never hurt my baby! Not my baby boy--!!"
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has acted with Blindsight toward Here Comes The Bride! Focus and Find!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Playing at gangs. "Hmmm," Miho says. "Is that how they phrase it?" she wonders. But they aren't supposed to know. How long ago was it that they were thinking about Kasugayama High themselves?
A husband's dominance! "It's a bit old-fashioned," Miho agrees with Hiroto, "But the household needs guidance, one way or another. In my family, Father and Mother work in separate spheres to achieve harmony." And of course, he's in charge. But that's the nature of their family... "It's fine," she says. "Some people have more modern ideas."
Miho distributes the waters. Miho though doesn't answer 'she gave him a nickname already?' with anything but a nod. She did. "I don't expect we'll find a silver bullet," Miho says, "But if nothing else, it will be good for us to grow accustomed to places such as these."
The Safe Room. Miho leaves the explanations to Yua, who understands these things far better. And there's the water. But...
A grievance, and results. "Brutality is sometimes the best option," Miho opines. "...But it is not always pleasant to watch."
Ah... the relationship with Myunghon, Miho presumes. "Unfortunate."
That's it. It's unfortunate. But Miho has long been brusque about Myunghon...
Miho will indeed always save Yua... But the real world... And the water for Yua. She sits down. "I'd have caught you," Miho insists if they'd both fallen, "But we'd have had to go up again on our own..."
In the Metaverse, a pitfall isn't as dangerous as it could be--just very annoying.
But an elevator...
"It isn't fair," Miho agrees with Yua about friendships with the innocent. "We will correct it... one day."
Ryouhara-kun. Miho shakes her head, but doesn't countermand her WIFE. It's fine. "A large change..."
But... no one is dancing.
Yua goes up first. Miho watches in that moment, until she sees things going... poorly.
She walks up a moment later, a hand rested on the hilt of her sword. "Would that it could be a joyous occasion, even unepxected," Miho says. "But you know the truth, Kawase-san. You know that he is no aid to you. His 'discipline' is cruelty. And whether or not you can understand that..."
"Know that we see it, and there will be those who end your torment, even if it is not we."
"Give me the key. And we will leave you to your peace."
MONAD: Miho Ijuuin has acted with Swords Talk toward Here Comes The Bride! Efficient and Bravery!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
For his part, Hiroto is listening to Remi's grievances. "I know," he says about crushing a man's skull beneath his heel. "It is not a kind act."
But the real worry... it's Myunghon Yeo, and what that night did, isn't it? He doesn't say their name, but he does nod. "... it is not easy to hold these secrets we bear. I understand. Even my own wife must remain unaware."
Hiroto is deemed FRIEND, blinking once, but he says nothing. Well, if that's how it is, you can't challenge Yua Ooshiro's grasp of reality. It's the truth now. He drinks his water, before...
"I ask not for your immediate respect, Ryuuja-san. I would simply request a chance to prove myself."
Whether that goes positively or not, they head onwards, as he finishes his water before heading... to the next room!
Yua is trying to convince Ichika Kawase of the truth, and Miho does the same, seeking the key. He steps to the side, nodding.
"His brutality... if he did not see you as a prize, you would likely be in a different room right now." The torture cells still impact on his mind. "In a way, you can still be given a chance to freedom. There are those who seek it for you. But we simply seek the key."
A voice in his head tells him he could just take the key, cut through this incident. What, it's a cognition. They could simply wipe the room, have him make a new one. But...
That's not right at all. So instead, he gestures his hand out towards Miho, chaining his beast as best as he can.
MONAD: Hiroto Nakamura has acted with Inner Beast toward Here Comes The Bride! Bravery and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
"Gangs? Hmm. You would never see such a thing at Sevens." She nods, as Yua indicates the need for secrecy. She won't say a word.
She doesn't have a lot of thoughts on marriage, though... she always assumed it would be something of a transactional affair, for her... though now, who knows?
"No, I can sense it," Remi reassures Yua. She might not be a navigator, but what senses she does have for Resonance are as sharp as they can be, in their own limited way. "It is just... unusual, to see such a den of peace in the heart of such a wretched place."
When they failed in the lab... Remi can only heave a heavy sigh. "... Yes, I remember well," she admits. How could she forget? She can't really come up with anything to refute most of what Yua says...
Sorry, Hiroto. Yua's just like that. She probably got Remi that way, too, really. You'll adjust.
"... you know it is not fear that blinds me, any longer," she notes quietly.
Not a kind act. "No, it is not." She studies Hiroto as he speaks, silent for a long moment as he mentions his wife. "I see."
She finishes her water and then rises, as they made ready to move, but then looks to Hiroto as he asks for a chance to prove himself. She's silent for a long moment. "... Yua-chan vouches for you. That is enough for me. But take care you do not betray her trust." Not even Remi's trust--Yua's.
Friendships with the innocent. "... yes."
But they proceed up the elevator, and arrive in a room with... a Cognition of the bride. The others say their peace, and Remi steps up next, focusing her sharp, intense glare on Ichika's eyes. "Nothing will get better for you if you refuse to acknowledge the truth. Keep your eyes open and face forward, then seek your opportunities."
MONAD: Remi Ryuuja has acted with Unflinching Stare toward Here Comes The Bride! Focus and Patra!
( |============================= Monad - Results ============================== |) -==== Here Comes The Bride - Round 4 ==========================================- Yua Ooshiro Guts Success Blindsight Focus and Find Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miho Ijuuin Guts Success Swords Talk Efficient and Bravery Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remi Ryuuja Guts Success Unflinching Stare Focus and Patra Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroto Nakamura Guts Success Inner Beast Bravery and Patra Fatigue: 2 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Kind-2 and Reaper-0 Final Conditions: Kind-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 1, Money: 1, Gear: 0 ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |) MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has drawn a new Challenge!
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 5: Weakness Shifter - Challenge Level 3 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Academics |
| Conditions: Heartening - Guts Up L1, Kind - Understanding Up L2, and |
| Mindnumbing - Academics Down L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
The back rooms loom again, as the group finds their way into the upper floors of the horror show. Where outside has been lovely white walls and red carpeting, now it's dingy gray on black and brown, with screams echoing from below. You don't see the workers or those in torment this time, though. There are bones in places, but surely, they came here in a good way! Instead, a Shadow awaits before the stairway out of this awful place.
The good news is that there's finally something the party can hit in this terrible place.
The bad news is that it changes its weakness every round, requiring a little more strategy than a normal fight.
Good luck!
( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Oh, they view it all very seriously," Yua assures Miho, on the topic of Kasugayama's gangs. "You're right, Recchi, Sevens would never... but the Kasugayama youth are really very cute!"
They're jumping each other with horrible violence, Yua.
"Back home, the eldest woman of the household is expected to take care of the family's spiritual needs," Yua adds, when Miho talks about her old-fashioned thinking. "It's that matriarch who prays to the Hinukan and speaks about what the family's been doing... it's important, because the Gods ought to know. Though I guess that is a little old-fashioned..."
Yua nods, with a glance to Miho. "It would be... difficult for me to see something like that...." She admits, a touch sadly, on brutality. "But that's why you take care of it, right, Mimi? I really appreciate that." How many things is Yua unaware of that Miho has to do...? Well, she's aware that she's unaware, and she's apparently grateful.
She pauses, and adds, smiling, when Miho insists she'd catch her: "I know. You'd make sure I was okay, no matter what." She rubs her cheek against Miho's, and chirps: "I love you!", which most likely takes all ambiguity out of the situation for Hiroto right there.
And indeed, poor Shiryuu, who isn't yet twenty of God's own years old, has now been deemed Ryouhara-kun. The only way out for him, now...
... is convincing Yua he's old enough to earn his own cutesy nickname...
"I have faith in him," Yua smiles, to Remi, when she declares Hiroto had better not betray her trust. "Thank you, Recchi...!"
But there is the bride, in the hands of the Bride, even as she pulls away. Cognitive Ichika's wet eyes turn up to Miho, and then down to her blade, and she shrieks: "Please! Please, don't hurt him! I love him! He'd never do me any real harm -- it only hurts because I keep arguing!" The tears fall, as she insists: "What's wrong with being prized?! It means I'm precious to him! I love that he loves me so!"
And Yua, who is herself a precious gem in the Order's palm, finally looks away, releasing the Cognition's hands.
"The truth -- the truth is that he loves me! He loves me! If something that awful happened, I would have deserved it -- but he'd never hurt my baby boy!" Cognitive Ichika is beside herself, now, as she rips the key from her neck and flings it at Miho. "You want this key?! Take it and go! Don't say those awful things any more--!!"
The elevator, this time, opens up on a dingy floor -- and screaming. This must be an upper area of the Back Rooms, with one of the guards. He grasps a Cognition by the arm, as he drags him back. "I can't believe you snuck in," he growls. "Kamiya-sama has no patience for people like you... but don't you worry. There's a place for you."
"Stop--!" Yua cries, as she hurries forward, announcing them. "What do you even mean to do to that man?! All those beings below, they were women--!"
"His bones will feed the worthy," the guard insists, as he turns to them. "There's little more use for worthless men... their bodies bring no pleasure to the wealthy. Now, yours --"
"BE SILENT!" Yua cries, as she brings her Evoker to her head, to her eye. "Gretchen--!"
Her Persona forms up, the cage bars of her arms closing around Yua as that Guard's Cognition is torn apart to become a vicious, hulking Choronzon Shadow, a dozen blue faces leering in a great ball of horror. The terrible thing about him is that he's one of the Elite Guards of the Palace -- so while he's normally blue, the mists around him shift from colour to colour as his weaknesses change accordingly.
"He is changeable and elusive!" Yua barks, from within her cage. "There -- he has changed his strength from the flame to darkness! I will leave him no shadow to hide in... tell me the truth!"
Yua won't be much direct help in this fight, though; she's staying safely in Gretchen's cage the whole way through.
Miho made her promise.
MONAD: Yua Ooshiro has acted with Blindsight toward Weakness Shifter! Focus and Find!
<Pose Tracker> Miho Ijuuin has posed.
Kasu High's youth... Very cute!
"Yes," Miho reflects to Yua on the traditions. "I think that's a worthy tradition; the woman is better positioned to know what happens inside the home, in most cases."
But taking care of it... "Yes," Miho answers. "I will take care of such things." A beat, "I love you, too."
It's not easy to hold the secrets, no. But Miho reflects on what the others say. Hiroto is right, she thinks. Of course, the same thing that occurs to him has occurred to her. She doesn't do that, though.
The Bride...
"I have no plans to harm him," Miho says. "Someone may. But not me." She considers that tearful insistence. Yua looks away...
"I will," she says, and then she comments, in the elevator, on the Cognition.
"She is not real," she says. "Her feelings are unimportant. ...But what we do to her affects our own perception of what is acceptable. ...So our cruelty towards her suggests a willingness to be cruel when it is necessary..."
"But it is better than simply killing her, even if she is not 'real'."
But they end up--more screaming. Miho narrows her eyes. Yua cries out. His bones...
"You will not touch her," Miho declares to the Cognition this time.
He is elite; so too is Miho.
"Hmph," Miho says to the Shadow. "Very well, Yua."
"Nakamura-san. Take the vanguard with me. Remi, attack but keep close to Yua, just in case. I will use my blade."
"...The fool cannot hope to defeat us with the proper tactics. I need no 'elements' to bring him down."
At one point, she tees Remi up for a very cool X-Strike with her! Hiroto gets to tank. It's all very logical.
MONAD: Miho Ijuuin has acted with Swords Talk toward Weakness Shifter! Efficient and Bravery!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
"That sounds very nice. At the family shrine, I assume?" Hiroto tells Yua, with actually a bit of mirth for once. He's a reader, he's fascinated by other cultures and traditions.
Remi tells Hiroto not to betray Yua's trust. "I understand," he says. He will not make promises at this time... but it's not his intention to do so.
Until they get the key, Hiroto is silent. He knows there's no point in arguing about being prized to a Cognition - it'll simply waste time, perhaps get guards called. Instead, he steps into the elevator with the others.
"I agree," Hiroto tells Miho. "The violence... to give into it when it's not necessary is to simply decide to be ruled by violence." Of course, he fears that fate for himself... he's learning he likes some part of it in some abstract way.
Once they're at the top with the Cognition and the Guard, Hiroto nods to Miho as she calls out point, and the Elite Guard appears. "Understood."
He takes a step up to the front with Miho, taking a refined martial arts stance.
"Charon!"
There's a pull of his tainted energy, that strange obol coin with the black ooze inside it appearing, as he gets a sneaky idea... and casts a strike-weakening spell using a Skill Card in order to draw its attention on him and allow his attacks to hurt it further at the same time.
Once the spell is up, he moves with explosive strikes, trying to draw attacks away from the others where possible while hitting with heavy blows.
MONAD: Hiroto Nakamura has acted with Inner Beast toward Weakness Shifter! Bravery and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Yua talks about her family's traditions, and Remi actually listens closely to what she has to say. She's curious... there are parts of all of her friends she doesn't know as well as she should.
And in return, she feels compelled to offer a little insight into her own family. "... I was to inherit the family's company from my mother one day. Though I was still expected to follow the customs of Japan, because of my father's influence."
It's a strange thing, to be caught between two cultures.
Remi knows she will be called on at some point to perform her own brutality... though she will take no pleasure in it.
"Of course, Yua-chan," Remi says, with all the air of knight reassuring her charge.
The key is flung, and they advance. "Mm. The real Kawase is better off to have escaped his clutches," is her only comment. She glances sidelong at Miho, as she says they are all capable of cruelty. ".. perhaps so," she finally settles on. "Would that I could slip my leash..."
But then Yua sticks up for a Cognition, and the Guard turns his attention on her--and Remi is already stepping forward, her rapier drawn in an instant. She doesn't even summon her Persona as her first move.
"Stand back," she demands. But Miho takes charge, and Remi easily slips back at her command. "Acknowledged." She takes up a position in front of Yua, and now she does summon La Maupin, using an Evoker so very similar to Yua's own.
No longer fire, but darkness. "Understood." She reaches into a pouch, sliding something out easily. "Loading Eiha Skill Cartridge," she announces.
She lives the Evoker to her head and fires. La Maupin responds by gesturing with a bolt of darkness fired right for the Shadow.
She will join in X-Strike with a swift motion and a flourish of her rapier.
MONAD: Remi Ryuuja has acted with Guts toward Weakness Shifter! Base!
( |============================= Monad - Results ============================== |) -==== Weakness Shifter - Round 5 ==============================================- Yua Ooshiro Guts Success Blindsight Focus and Find Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miho Ijuuin Guts Success Swords Talk Efficient and Bravery Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remi Ryuuja Guts Success Guts Base Fatigue: 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiroto Nakamura Guts Failure Inner Beast Bravery and Patra Fatigue: 3 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Heartening-2, Kind-1, and Mindnumbing-2 Final Conditions: Heartening-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 6/6 |===== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1 ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
( |========================== Monad - Eiji's Palace =========================== |)
-==== Round 6: A Suspicious Company - Challenge Level 1 =======================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Withdraw - Complication ensues. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Your group has been forced out of the Palace. Either the Security Level rose too high to tolerate, or resources were stretched too thin to keep going. On the way out, though, you hear some juicy gossip about which companies are trying to curry Eiji's favor--a 'Tsukamoto' corporation, for one. It might be nothing... but it might be a place to start looking.
Additionally, you manage to pact with a demon on the way out!
Final Loot: 3 Items, 1 boxes of Money, and 2 Pieces of Gear! ( |============================================================= Monad 1.1 ==== |)
<Pose Tracker> Yua Ooshiro has posed.
"Women are spiritual guardians of the home," Yua agrees with Miho, "just as men protect it from the physical world. Oh, but a family shrine wouldn't suit all our Gods!" She adds, shaking her head, when Hiroto asks. "The Hinukan, it needs to rest in the hearth, in the kitchen, to be warmed by the fire... and the bathroom is an utaki, a sacred site, the Fuuru nu Kami won't be satisfied unless it's properly maintained..." Even now there are no pigs involved in the process, the cleanliness is still paramount. Yua doesn't wish to invite the displeasure of kijimunaa tree spirits, or force the makura-gaeshi tricksters to escalate from flipping pillows to malevolent hauntings...
"But... oh! You were inheriting the company as a woman? France is very progressive...!" Yua exclaims, with a little gasp, as Remi shares a little of her background.
And she is positively beaming when Miho declares she loves her, too.
The bride is tearful, and the Bride is upset, and -- the key is secured. "I thought... if I told her the truth, that wretched boy would at least realise something about himself, but..." Yua sighs, a hand resting at Remi's arm. "But you're right, Mimi... sometimes we do need to be cruel. Like... remember those people in the Dark Hour, Recchi...? How they weren't sure what to make of us, when we were evaluating those new Users?" Well, users in more than one sense of the word, but given they have Personas, the capitalisation is apt. "I had to tell them we were no friends of theirs... so they wouldn't think they could just talk us out of it, next time... mooouuuu, but I wish I could just run away, too," she adds, to Remi.
Yua pauses, and shakes her head. "Mm... but, still... even if they're not real, I don't want to kill anyone." Which might inform just why she's so grateful to Miho, for taking care of those unpleasant violent tasks.
... is Miho killing the people the Order would have otherwise told Yua to deal with?
"Ah-- Mimi!" Yua gasps, a hand to her chest, when Miho declares her untouchable. She gives her orders, and Yua chirps, "Yes...! I will illuminate you from here!"
Her logical style of battle is very attractive, according to Yua. What a woman!!
The Shadow is incensed by Hiroto's weakening assault, and so directs his ire to him; if he were alone, he may realise, the strength of the Elite Guard might have forced him into more of that terrible violence. But he is not alone -- Remi's Skill Cartridges are able to strike more weaknesses than La Maupin ever could natively, while Miho's logical strikes drive the Shadow into pincer attacks which see it destroyed.
But that Cognition Yua intervened to save...
... he's tripped the security while running away?!
"There they are!" Four more guards cry, as they flood into the halls, one still yanking the escaped stowaway by an arm. "Seize them!!"
"Ah-- this way!!" Yua cries, as she flees into the Back Rooms with the others. Luckily, she's already Automapped most of this area, so she's able to lead them through the horrors -- though Miho does manage to corner a Treasure Shadow, brought out of the woodwork by the heightened Alarm Level, defeating it to get it out of their way and claiming its treasure for their own.
Yua has to Shroud them in one of the maid's rooms, though, as a cadre of guards run past. "Did you see anyone?!" They demand, of one of the torturers working here.
"No, not me... what's all the fuss about? Did one of those guys from Tsukamoto Corporation finally show up?" The torturer chortles, evidently the cognition of a man who finds humour in his work.
"You know if a representative of the Tsukamoto Corporation had walked in, Kamiya-sama would be the first to know," the guards grouse at him. And so -- "Keep moving!" He yells to his fellows, as the guards run past...
... and when that torturer steps into the maid's room, all "Hey, doll, I sure hope you're working hard!" -- well, it's not going to be hard for one of their sterner members to pin him to the wall by the throat and get him to fess up to the fact that the guards are on a hairtrigger these days, ever since some bird freak in a mask tried a frontal assault on the Palace. He really doesn't know anything, though -- so it's not worth it to linger too long after letting those guards get ahead of them.
Luckily, the service exit they came from is still unlocked...