Part 123: The Abyss of Time

While Aigis is out, we get a familiar scene as we're racing once again towards the Velvet Room...

The Poem For Everyone's Soul



Welcome to the Velvet Room.
Ah... A very rare guest indeed...



*chuckle* It seems your destiny is very similar to mine.
Um... Where am I...?
Who are you...?
Ah... forgive my manners. I forgot to introduce myself.



We reside in this Velvet Room.
Pleased to meet you.
This place exists between mind and matter... A room for those who have forged a contract...



When? How? What is Aigis' contract? In the Journey it was clear-cut: signing Pharos' book on entry was the main character choosing to take responsibility for his actions, and that he'd accepted it of his own free will. Aigis has no equivalent.

Persona 4 had the Velvet Room come up before the contract (accepting Teddie's offer to help find the real killer), so we might get this resolved soon at least.

From this moment forth, you are our guest in the Velvet Room.
Wild card...?



Until recently, a young man with the same talent was our guest here.
You... know of him?



The "answer to life"...
The power you have gained is a means to obtain that answer.
This answer... if I reach it...
Would it mean my death...?



This is a blatant lazy retcon to what the Journey was supposed to symbolise. It was very clearly meant to be a literal interpretation of the Fool's Journey of the tarot's Major Arcana.

If you have close ties to people you call friends, remember this...



It was the same for that young man.
And that is all I can tell you.
......
Well, I shouldn't keep you here any longer.
The beginning of your ordeal awaits...



...I do like that this weird sensation triggers in the Velvet Room too. At least, conceptually. Considering the Velvet Room only exists inside the subconscious and isn't a real physical location, it makes sense pretty well and it's kinda clever.

Unfortunately, it also kind of IS a real place that exists outside normal time-space so this shouldn't happen. Plus, y'know, as the HUD tells us, there is no real applicable date or time. Oops!



I am certain you will require our help in the future.
Please, take this.



It would be best if you came here of your own free will next time.
Until then, farewell...

Silence



So much has happened to me since that decision.
If this power is a sign that I'm drawing closer to life...
...does it mean that the answer at the end of the journey is... death?
I was surprised, at the time, to discover how little the possibility bothered me...

Troubled



Oh...



Woof! Woof!
Aigis!
I...



You really scared us, collapsing like that.
Yukari-san...
I came cause Mitsuru-senpai called for me just in case, and I get caught up in this...?
Give me a break.

Remember when "character development" was a thing? Yeah, someone sure didn't.

I'm sorry to have worried you...



You may have noticed Aigis' different design before in the opening anime scene. And also her portrait during the brief narration bits. Didn't take Aigis herself long to notice either.

While I was fixing your body, I added some additional equipment.
We found some strange things under the floor...
There was no sign that you would wake up, so instead of waiting, we tried everything we could...
I see.



That strange girl said, "If you want to protect Aigis, you should put that on her."



As Mitsuru teased before, everyone's back now and Akihiko's been stuck on guard duty apparently. So has Ken, which is pretty fun to think about.

No worries here,though... She's been on her best behavior now.
......
I guess she wasn't lying after all.
Anyway, she can't cause any trouble now. We have our Evokers this time.

It does make sense that Metis beat everyone (but Aigis, sort of) on her initial appearance, since they were basically finding unarmed and all. Not gonna have that edge again.



Hey, quit with the silent treatment and say something.



Mm... Huh...?
Are you serious...? You were sleeping all this time!?



Metis lifts her mask, like she did before, though without needing a loud noise to force it this time.

I-I...
You look pretty comfy there... "I ain't afraid of no humans," huh?



...Ah.
Did you cooperate with them in order to help me?
The reason I came here in the first place was to protect you.
These restraints aren't necessary. I won't attack anymore.
No one is going to believe you if you don't explain why.
It's...



...What? That doesn't even remotely begin to make sense.

......



Unsurprisingly, Aigis' portrait here is blocking Fuuka's "!" reaction wholesale.

I don't know if she can be trusted, but I believe she has no intention of fighting us.
Besides which, if she has the same parameters as I do, the chains will not hold her anyway.



Huh!? Then these friggin' nonstop shifts were for nothing...?
First, tell me who you are and your purpose in being here.



And as for my purpose... It's simply to save you, my only sister...
...from this hopeless situation.
Hopeless situation...?
Did... something happen while I was asleep?
How long was I asleep, anyway...?
Since our battle ended, I'd say about a day and a half has passed...



Tomorrow, and all the days after it, will also be March 31st. At this rate, it will last forever.



Skipped...? Do you mean what we felt at midnight?
Then... Are you saying that the same day is repeating itself!?

That's not skipping. That's a loop. If it was skipping, it would be March 31st... but the next year instead. Probably just a translation quirk, but it's telling that at face value they immediately botch the basic premise.



That makes two ways we're trapped here.
No... But why?



Abyss... of Time?
It's difficult to explain... It may be easier to show you.
I'll lead the way. Please follow me.
H-Hey! Who elected you mayor!?

Between Doors



Y'know, this might just be me, but something about this looks familiar.

This is the Abyss of Time.
It's an uncharted area that probably spreads beneath this area like a tree's roots.
How could something like this have appeared under the lounge...?
At first, the Abyss of Time was a small thing.
Then, without warning, it began to spread out, and formed a connection to your dorm.



It might be the product of some dangerous power, the way Tartarus was...
Sheesh... Haven't we had enough of that kinda stuff by now?
I'm not sure I can explain it, but the flow of time here is not normal.
The reason why time is skipping and why you can't leave the dorm is most certainly due to that effect.



Eradicate it? How're we supposed to do that...?
I've already tried the simplest, most direct way...



The Abyss of Time connected to this dorm, as if drawn to it...
That, together with the way you can all perceive the time skips...



So that's why you attacked? In order to eliminate us...?
What the hell!? We've never even heard of this place before!
If there is another way, we can only find it by entering the Abyss.



So you want us to investigate it under the assumption that we'll have to fight?
That's why I insisted on the extra equipment to protect Aigis.
Wait... is this a joke?
Are you seriously telling us to go back to the way things were when Tartarus was around!?
Never mind that, how are we supposed to believe whatever you say and jump in there blind?
If you have a better plan, let's hear it.
First, the basement of your dorm, then the time skips, and now you can't reach the outside world...



If we're stuck here for long enough, and we run out of food...
Are we going to... starve to death!?
Nooooooo!!
If the current situation continues, your lives may all be in danger.



Naturally, we all want to survive.
But you first appeared to us as an enemy. You must understand that we can't entrust our lives to you.
I'm not even buying your reason for being here.
You say you want to protect Aigis, but what's in it for you?



For heaven's sake, she's my only sister!
About that... Your claim doesn't fit the facts.

You might have noticed some stuff Metis mentioned before was oddly, blatantly contradictory. Don't worry, you're not the only one!





You said this is uncharted territory, unconnected to the outside world. Am I correct?
Th-That's...



That's... I... Um...
Well? We're waiting... Hope you've got a good answer.
Cause if you're stringing us along, we're not gonna let you get away with it...



Definitely nothing suspicious about this. Just dodging the questions and redirecting. No big deal.

I thought I told you, there's no time to waste!
Now follow me.
Or are you going to give up so soon? Because if you are, you should have let me kill you in the first place!
What did you just say!?
It may be true that we have no choice but to enter here...



Huh...? Without... me?
Haha... you can't possibly...
I-I know the most about the Abyss... You need me! A-And...
Hey, you don't get to decide that!
Fighting would put all of our lives at risk.
If that's the way you think of my friends, I can't go with you.
But...
Awww, too bad. Have fun here all alone, mmmkay?
......!



...Maybe we should finish her off now, so she can't backstab us.
W-We don't have to go that far...
...sorry...



I'll listen to you from now on! I will... Please, don't leave me...
......
C'mon, it's... it's too late to get all weepy.
But maybe it's true that all she wants really is to protect Aigis-san...
...Well, Senpai? Do we take her along or not?
*sigh* Cause if this is our only choice, I just wanna hurry up and get it over with.
Listen to me, everyone.



I've been thinking it over... And I believe Aigis should take command.



And if you, as leader approve... I have no issue with Metis accompanying us.
Mitsuru-san...
......
If you wish to protect me, you must fight to protect us all.
Hurting my friends will not be tolerated. Do you promise?



Hmph. This better not come back to bite us in the ass.
Hey... Aigis.



I... really don't know.
When I thought we might lose someone else, I became scared, and suddenly...
Metis, was it...? Do you know anything about this?
I just met her. How would I know?



......
If we're going back into combat, this clothing won't do.
Well, you and me are still Gekkoukan students until that magic degree comes in the mail.



Sadly, we don't get to keep the rad casual winter fashion any longer. It was fun while it lasted, and it would've been nice to have but we gotta come up with some excuse to get everyone into their school uniforms, I guess.

Of course.



Maybe I can learn something.
All right, let's get back upstairs.



I promise to listen to what you say, so...



I do appreciate that she looks a bit embarassed and ashamed to be asking this. Like she knows it sounds clunky and awful. Granted that's purely translation but still.

......
...Go right ahead.
Thank you... Sister!

Metis runs upstairs.



> Until you find the reason for its presence, you will be unable to leave the dorm.

> You must begin investigating at once...

Now that we've finally finished the intro (yes, really) let's take a moment to talk about Metis real quick:



So, first off everyone available starts off at level 25. This isn't that big a deal, even if it makes less sense than most power reductions like this do.

As for Metis herself, she's kind of a mix between Shinji and Aigis. She uses clubs/heavy blunt objects for her weapons, rather than anything built into her. She also has completely unique armor/boots that only she can equip, and has no overlap with Aigis either.



Psyche is a bit... disjointed, though (and only gets moreso later). She has no weaknesses or resistances, but she tries to be a bit of a generalist like Akihiko but even more general. Dekaja is theoretically nice but likely won't come up much, Garula is weirdly out of place with her garbage Magic but Fatal End is nice at least. Primarily focuses on Endurance like Aigis did before, so we have a new tank to make up for Aigis stepping into the main character role.

Semi-notable is that now Metis does take up Shinji's slot in the character data. Anything you'd do to modify him now affects her; try and cheat him into the party here and you get Metis instead. Aigis being the main character means the same holds true there. Aigis' slot is unused so that doesn't affect anything. Does this matter? No, not really. Just mentioning it here while I remember.

Oh and there probably won't be (m)any party composition votes for the Abyss of Time. Sorry! not sorry