2026-07-05: The Girl who Faced the Reaper
- Log: The Girl who Faced the Reaper
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Vivienne Sournois
- Where: Kagurazaka - Le Cinema du Monde
- OOC Date: 2026-07-05
- IC Date: Wed, Dec 05 2012
- Summary: Isabeau goes to Vivienne's cinema to help out, after dinner, and Vivienne talks to her about the way in which she moved to hold back the Reaper in last night's battle. Isabeau tells her about the weight of responsibility on her shoulders -- the way she still blames herself for her own mother's death. Then she hits herself in the face with a broom, because the universe has a sense of humour. Vivienne does, too... but more than her goodnatured lightheartedness, she understands the loss of Isabeau's mother far too personally.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Thanks to Vivienne, Isabeau did get home safe that night...
... and despite facing the Reaper, she must still go to school, the next day.
After school, it's time for Tennis Club, and of course Isabeau is the worst to Kanae; somehow, she's managed to become ten times as critical overnight. So, of course, they get thrown out again... but that's just an excuse to go home and get changed to go hit the courts personally.
Again! Again! Again!
After dinner, she heads out again; it's about time she went to help out at the theatre. It's after dark, which means that even Isabeau needs to be wearing tights beneath her shorts and a cardigan over her blouse, but she copes pretty well with the chill.
Hopefully the sign's at least doing pretty well still...
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
Last night didn't go quite as anyone planned. But, even in the face of the Reaper, life must go on and the theatre opens as scheduled. As Isabeau arrives, she's greeted with a fully-functioning marquee! It's still doing just fine, thanks to Isabeau's help with maintenance.
Isabeau arrives, and Vivienne peeks out the door before smiling and welcoming her inside.
"Isabeau, dear, how wonderful to see you. How are you doing?" She greets brightly. "There's still some time left until the end of the current showing. Would you care to help me tidy up a bit around the lobby until then?"
Did she schedule it this way on purpose, ensuring there would be a low-stakes, low-engagement task ready on Isabeau's arrival to give them plenty of opportunity to talk? Certainly it's just a coincidence.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Totally a coincidence. "I'm ready!" Isabeau declares, bravely -- and declares it in French, of course, she's not going to bother speaking a language that causes her so much grief when she doesn't have to.
(What? That's at least half the reason why it's continued to be so difficult over the years...? No, it must just be impossible to learn.)
Even though she's a rich bitch, Isabeau's never really shied away from hard work, even when it's things like sweeping up popcorn that fell off of people clothes as they walked out. Sweep, sweep, sweep...
"Uh..." Isabeau starts, after a few moments of devoting herself to that. "So... guess I need to adjust the Shadow Whistle a bit more, huh? Looks like it worked way too well, calling in a Shadow like that..."
The height of arrogance must surely be assuming Isabeau lured the Reaper.
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
"Magnificent." Vivienne beams, as Isabeau declares that she's ready. She's already prepared the cleaning supplies, so they can dive right into it. For a task like this, she doesn't just supervise - she's right there alongside Isabeau to ensure that the lobby is spotless.
She idly hums as a small tune to herself as she sweeps, and as Isabeau works her way through her thoughts. It's only once she articulates them does Vivienne pauses folding her arms atop the the broom handle and studying her over them.
"Ah... so you believe it was the Shadow Whistle that drew that one to us?" Vivienne asks. She has her own thought on that matter - but right now it's more important to know what Isabeau thinks about the situation. "Indeed... That is not a foe we should idly invoke. If at all."
She 'hm's to herself.
"You gave me quite the fright when you volunteered to intercept it on your own, Isabeau, dear." Vivienne comments. "It was noble of you... but that could have gone quite a bit differently."
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I mean... it was a Shadow, right?" Isabeau guesses, not able to be entirely sure. "Just... a mega powerful Shadow... mm, though I guess some of those Persona-Users were saying things before, too. I'll have to look into it!" She decides, bravely.
(Would Isabeau really just sit down in Tartarus and wait for the sound of rattling chains to test what conditions summon the Reaper? Obviously, yes, and she'd be bitching the entire time about what a waste of hers it is.)
"Yeah, but... I was the one who challenged everyone," Isabeau frowns, as she paps at a popcorn kernel to coax it out from under a waiting-bench. "It was my responsibility... I didn't really want any of them to get hurt." Despite Kanae insisting that every fight has the possibility of harm, Isabeau clearly distinguishes between fights for sport and fights for keeps. "When something's really dangerous, I need to take care of it... you know?"
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
"Perhaps... But a degree far beyond your average shambling clump." Vivienne comments. "A rare sight, even for us."
Isabeau says she'll look into it and, after a moment, Vivienne nods.
"Do be careful, if you do. Try to avoid engaging it, hm?" She comments. As Isabeau combats the errant kernel, Vivienne takes to mopping up someone's spilled beverage.
...Even in a task like this, she swishes her mop with a flourish. You have to find fun where you can.
She listens thoughtfully as Isabeau speaks. That sense of responsibility, at such a young age...
...Well, it's not like she has no idea where it comes from.
"That is true. You did." Vivienne concedes with a nod. "But a life is a precious thing, Isabeau, dear. Yours, as well. Do not be so hasty to gamble yours for theirs. A Hunt is not truly successful unless all members return intact, you know!"
She 'hm's to herself, assessing what's left of the spill.
"...I am, after all, an adult - a teammate. There is no shame in a responsibility shared, hm?" She concludes. "Why, look at how well our work is proceeding between the two of us!"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I'd like to say that of course I could kill it, but..." Isabeau sighs, her shoulders sinking, a little. "... even if I set up my best traps, there's just no way. But did you see that spell? It was so far beyond Megido... once I reach that level, even a Shadow like that won't stop me!"
'Once' she reaches that level. Apparently, Isabeau's decided she's gonna get there.
"... but don't worry, Viv," Isabeau shakes her head, still sweeping sensibly. "I know that right now, I've just gotta run."
She frowns, thoughtfully, considering the art of gambling. "It's not that I think I'm worth any less than them," Isabeau lies, as easily as she breathes. "I'm just different to them. Since I'm operating at a higher frequency, I was always here to take care of normal people. I can do things they could never do, so... if I don't..."
Isabeau shakes her head, looking at the little pile of popcorn kernels she's amassed. "I mean... I guess," she admits, slowly. "But it's different with you guys... it's not like I can just forget it's up to me. Besides... you're all so strong already. If I slack off... I won't even be pulling my own weight."
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
It doesn't surprise Vivienne in the least that Isabeau believes she will one day obtain that level of power. She is relieved, at least, that she admits that there's no way she could kill it right now.
"It was rather dazzling, wasn't it? What a brilliant light! I scarcely approve of what it stands for, but... what a way to announce one's presence! Let none say that it does not possess style." Vivienne comments with a chuckle. Isabeau assures her, though she knows she just has to run for now. "I'm pleased to hear it."
She pauses for a moment, then, propping her chin up on her mop once more as Isabeau explains her thought process. She does 'hm' to herself briefly, but doesn't air her thoughts. Instead, she simply listens.
So that's her concern, hm? Or... part of it, at the very least. She worries of pulling her own weight... but that weight is only magnified by the pressure she feels about being surrounded by those with greater experience.
"Isabeau, dear... The gulf of experience, of years, is one not so easily leapt. And we understand this." Vivienne assures. "Even an Olympian must start from somewhere, hm? And you are already quite capable. None of us believe you are slacking, that you have not pulled your weight."
She pauses, and chuckles.
"...But I understand. It is not so easy as simply saying not to worry." Vivienne adds.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"It was more powerful than anything I'd ever seen," Isabeau admits, thoughtfully. "Have you ever seen anything like that before...?"
Isabeau, of course, has not dealt with the great evils of the world; she has fought Homunculi and Quarry and Demons, those work-a-day cognitive creatures which she sees as a plague on humanity.
She scratches at the side of her own cheek, looking a touch embarrassed as Vivienne points out the gulf of years. (Well, sure, they've been doing this as long as she's been alive, but...!) "But..." Isabeau gives voice to those doubts, her voice a touch hesitant.
"... but it's not like I can just relax because you're older than me," she settles on, after a moment. "It's like... you know... well, that is... mom's always relied on me, you know?" She's a touch quieter, relating that. "Since I'm an ultraviolet child, I was able to handle a lot more when I was young... she thinks I'm really smart and... she was counting on me. But... when we moved to Hawaii, she wanted to go surfing right away, and... and I told her that she should be careful, since we'd lived in some nowhere place called Inaba for years, but she wouldn't listen, and... since I didn't do anything..."
Her hands tighten, around her broom handle. "I called for help, but they were beyond useless. By the time anyone managed to get her out, she didn't even look human... all because I didn't put my foot down. So... like... papa said that Futaba was blaming herself over nothing, but... I really don't think it was nothing. That kind of thing really does happen... where a woman's daughter gets them killed." ... and she sees it as her responsibility.
She doesn't inhabit her sadness long, though, before she scowls as she looks to Vivienne again. "But I'm not about to just accept failure like that! I can talk to ghosts, you know?! So I'm going to find her, and I'll see her again!"
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
"A long time ago, yes... But not in recent years." Vivienne replies, a nostalgic look briefly crossing her face. Those were the days... What does it mean, that foes like that are surfacing once more...? Well, one thing at a time, she supposes.
She regards Isabeau quietly as she struggles with her doubts - and then as she decides to voice them.
...It is a cruel thing, for a child to be faced with the fragility of adults at such a young age. It's something that resonates keenly with her. Even more cruel, for it to happen such that she feels that it is her fault.
"Oh, Isabeau..." Vivienne murmurs. She sets her mop aside and approaches - though she laughs lightly, when Isabeau makes her declaration. Is that the hope Isabeau's holding onto?
"Such fervor! Yes, if you believe it so, then you must not give up. One cannot seize one's dreams if they give them up with no fight, yes?" Vivienne replies. Her expression softens for a moment.
"And, if you'll allow me to say... I may understand some of what you're feeling. Our positions are not dissimilar." She ventures, from one orphan to another - even if the younger of the two found her father once more. "If you ever wish to... discuss it, I am here, yes?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"Shadows that strong even existed way back then...?" Isabeau wonders, thoughtfully. "So I guess we've got a big problem..."
Her big problems, of course, are only sometimes related to Shadows.
"I certainly won't!" Isabeau insists, quite proudly, when Vivienne laughs. "I'm not so wishy-washy as to just go half-way--!!"
Of course, committing wholeheartedly might get her in trouble, but...
"... does that mean your mother's gone, too?" Isabeau realises, navigating through the indirect approach to the direct path, though she at least keeps her own voice quiet. "Mm... so that's how it is..."
Yes, Isabeau found her father! She worked very hard!!
"Hey... if you had the chance to go back in time and fix it... would you do that? I think about that a lot... like, magic's real, so maybe time travel is too, right...?" ... it's a fanciful way of looking at things, but ultraviolet children is a conceit much-loved by the hippies of the world, and it's not hard to imagine that Isabeau was raised quite sincerely in a world where magic and fairies existed long before the truth of Persona was revealed to her.
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
"Yes. It may be a sign... but of what, I am not sure." Vivienne replies - and smiles, when Isabeau proudly insists that she isn't wishy-washy. "Wonderful, darling. One must always give their all, yes? If your heart isn't in it, it'll show!"
Isabeau comes to a realisation, and Vivienne nods.
"Yes, that's right." She confirms. She doesn't need to elaborate, not right know - this is about Isabeau's feelings, after all. And when Isabeau poses her question, Vivienne 'hm's thoughtfully to herself. The question itself doesn't come as a surprise, only that it's posed to her here and now. But she does give it due consideration.
"...I do wonder, sometimes." Vivienne admits. "But I can never come to a conclusive answer. Suppose I did - go back, set right what once went wrong, trade away who I am now for who I could have been... Would I recognize myself on the other side? Would she, who knows not what I know, and I even get along?"
She sighs.
"...Would she be even half as stylish I?" She says it with a small laugh - but her expression soon softens. "...It's a difficult question to answer, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"... I guess I was a different person back then," Isabeau reflects, looking over to a distant poster of a cabaret dancer. "Before I killed that girl."
WHY ARE KIDS ALWAYS SO HARDCORE ABOUT IT
"But it's not like they liked me any better back then, anyway..."
And it's as dramatic as one expects, from a seventeen-year-old, but apparently Isabeau's had trouble getting along with the other kids for much longer than high school.
"... I guess it's hard to tell," she admits, turning it over in her head. "Since in one timeline, everything was fine, and in the other one, you had to toughen up... you'd be jealous, right? Uh, I mean... I'd be, anyway," she admits, a touch awkwardly, glancing away. "Just... when what happened went wrong... I can't just let that go."
Her brow creases, gently. "It's important to me. If I give up... she's really gone."
That's the kind of feeling that makes her take on the Reaper, huh...?
"But I have a plan!" Isabeau insists, gaining her volume again as she stomps a foot. "I'm going to keep ghost hunting, and develop my psychic powers so that I can call in ghosts that even died in other countries! Since I'm her daughter, I can totally grab her spirit and drag it down here! Then -- then I can tell her everything!"
she just wants to talk to her mother again...
"But first," Isabeau fumes, "I need to track down that girl... she stole my night-vision goggles! I need those for my hunting, you know?!"
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
Ah, that hardcore answer... There's something almost nostalgic about it. Why are kids always so hardcore? It's delightful, in a way.
Vivienne does offer her a small, sympathetic smile as she admits that no one liked her any better back then.
"Oh, certainly." Vivienne agrees. "To peer into a life that's yours, but better, kinder... It is only natural that envy would grip one's heart."
Isabeau can't let it go. If she gives up, she's really gone...
Vivienne closes her eyes for a moment. It fits together, doesn't it? She looks again, as she insists on her plan with a stomp of her foot.
"Such ambition is good for a growing girl. Pursue it to your heart's content! And when you do, do tell me all about it." Vivienne encourages. Is it reckless, to encourage a dream like that?
...Well, when it's something that motivates her to keep moving forward, perhaps it would be cruel to try to take it away from her...
...And besides, no one's accused Vivienne of not being reckless.
"Ah, yes, that girl..." Vivienne comments thoughtfully. She remembers her shouting about it during the fight. "Do be careful, hm? She seems like quite the sharp one."
...Literally.
<Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I hate people like that... but I guess I can be a pretty ugly person." And it's not just something she's sensitive about physically, reluctant to eat any kind of sweet when someone's watching. Isabeau knows how envious her green eyes are; she knows that she shouldn't be so jealous.
Even so.
"Of course I will!" She promises her, of the epic saga. "You think I'd deny you the regaled tales? Not even I'm that cruel!" Isabeau might be kind of absorbed in her teenage drama, but that doesn't mean she hasn't figured out the kinds of things her teammates enjoy.
Those things they reveal enjoying, at least...
"Don't worry," she grins, as she picks up her broom, twirling it just like a spear. "If she's sharp, I'm sharper! She'd better watch-- wha-- HEY!"
Clonk, the broom thwacks into her face.
Clatter, it falls to the ground.
"Ugh... that would have looked ten times cooler if I was armed..."
Spear twirling skills don't translate to reality so easily.