Part 22: 06/08/09: In the Shadow of a Regal Moon
Alright, so, today's probably gonna be a lengthy one...
> You decide to ask the teacher about the missing girl, Fuuka Yamagishi, today...
This could've happened any time, really, but we just learned about it so the timing here is all sortsa awkward.
Mission Briefing
Fearful Experience
Same reason as you. Mr. Ekoda, I'm here to ask you about a student named Fuuka Yamagishi...
I-I never thought it'd turn out like this... Fuuka...
Wait... You're that girl... What did you do to Yamagishi?
Hold on, Mitsuru... This isn't an interrogation. 
You wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea.
Fuuka... She... She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time... Then, I realized... She's an honor student, but deep inside, she's the same as us.
I knew exactly which buttons to push. We were just messin' with her that day, too!
We took Fuuka to the gym... and locked the door from the outside...
What!? You locked her in!?
But, she never came back... and the next morning...
...she was found lying on the ground by the gate. I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked... 
We all freaked out. Starting that night, we all went looking for her. 
I see... By the way, Mr. Ekoda... All this time, you've attributed Yamagishi's absences to "illness." 
What was your intention? I was thinking of the students, of course.
You mean, you chose not to report this to the police for the "good of the class." It, it was in her best interest. I wouldn't want her records to be stained by something like this. Her parents agree!He's supposed to be talking about Fuuka here, but it could easily be interpreted in context as referring to Natsuki instead. Because he clearly doesn't actually give one iota of a shit about Fuuka.
How despicable...! *gasp* I-I didn't... I was just...
...Anything at all. ...... 
A creepy voice. ...Right before each of them went missing. They said it was calling their name.
Oh, man... Senpai, could it be...!?
Until now, there was no way of knowing how or why some people are conscious during the Dark Hour... Also something to do with getting a Persona but only maybe sometimes.
This whole thing has made me realize... They're clearly targeting humans. Shadows are the enemy of mankind. 
If you hear the voice, tell us immediately. And don't leave the room, no matter what. If you can do that much, you should be okay. ...Don't worry, Yamagishi should be alright as well. 
T-Tonight!? We're going to rescue Yamagishi. If my guess is right, she's still inside the school. Troubled
It's not necessarily super obvious, but Yukari's just locking the door here. Can't have the real student council interrupting this particular club meeting.
Um, I don't get it... Is Fuuka inside the school somewhere?
And why at night? At midnight, this place turns into-- Exactly.
Then, ever since Fuuka got locked in the gym, she's been stuck there...? But, that was ten days ago!
That means...
Not necessarily. We can't jump to conclusions. 
Now that you mention it... This is only a theory, but I think time may function differently with respect to Tartarus. 
It's possible she's still alive. Wow, ya think so!? Uh, but the Dark Hour is pretty brutal... We can barely handle an hour; how's she gonna last ten!? That's true... And, even if she's still alive, we might not be able to get to her...
...I have an idea. Let's try to enter Tartarus exactly how Fuuka did. 
Is that really gonna work...? Honestly, I have reservations. If something goes wrong, you could all end up lost in Tartarus too. But...
I'd never forgive myself. If you guys don't want to go, then I'll go by myself. Senpai...? ...Alright. 
I agree. And we won't know until we try.
Cool, we get to sneak into the school!
Heheh... In that case, I know just what to do... EndWhew, that was just the prelude to the main event, huh...?
Want To Be Close (Reincarnation) / Time
Unlike last month, we do get to do something today. It gives us a respite before we move onto the rescue mission.
So, what's more light and relaxing than Kaz potentially ruining his career and ability to walk!
Joy
Varsity: Yeah, he's not trying as hard as he usually does.
JV: He thinks he'll make it to nationals like that...?
Rather than deal with any real work though, those two guys just walk off.
The only thing they're good at is waving their sticks around...
Kaz! The coach wants to see you in the office!
That's, uh, I don't think that's Yuko??
> Kaz has left.
Um, Makoto-kun... ...Um, never mind.> You decide to leave and go back to the dorm.
The coach just called me to the office to tell me he's worried about me... I'm not accusing you of telling him. but... damn! What should I do? I think he knows...
How's your knee?
It's sore, but I made it through practice today.
He said I'd have to quit the team if I'm hurt. But, I told him I'm not...
I've already missed three days! Now, I'll have to work even harder!
You need to toughen up.
You're right. I have to stop making excuses... It takes guts to win!
...I decided that I'll take my chances for my nephew's sake...
If that happens, Makoto... I want you to be the next captain.> You've gained Kazushi's trust.
> Your relationship is stronger now!
Th-That's just the worst-case scenario, though, okay!? I'll keep my promise and win at the regional meet as well as at nationals! Then, I'll give my knee a rest. But for now, I'll do whatever it takes!> You had a serious talk with Kazushi while walking home.
The Operation Starts Troubled
What's wrong? I can't get a hold of the Chairman. I guess we can handle it ourselves. There's one problem, though. 
No need to worry. I've got it all set to go. Set to go...? An explosive? 
We don't have time to waste. Let's go.
...Nah... All I did was unlock a door...One quick fade to blue later...
Is that really something to brag about? So, you unlocked it earlier... Tres bien! No time for compliments. Let's go.
Tray Ben...? What's that mean? That's not English, is it?Oh Junpei, you sweet summer child.
Anyway, yet another fade to blue.
Aww, you scared?
No! ...Stupei. Stop callin' me that! Quiet. 
I don't like sneaking around...
Akihiko and I will check the janitor's room. You three check the Faculty Office. After that, we'll meet in the main hallway. Got it? The Faculty Office, huh...? Hey, maybe we'll find some test questions! Heheh... Maybe I should go to the Faculty Office, too... It sounds interesting.
You mean like breaking into the school in the middle of the night? Because, whew boy, do I have some bad news for you...
If so, then expect to be severely punished...
It-It was a joke! I'd never do something like that! Ha, haha...
Come on, Mitsuru... Lighten up a little.
End Silence
Whew, okay, so we start in our classroom here because that's a sensible place to have finished our conversation I guess?
There's really not much to this right now, but there is one minor thing we can do that isn't progress.
If we try and go to the bathroom, we still can but it annoys Yukari. Just trying to fish for Great condition but no dice, unfortunately.
Shame, because that might be nice tonight. Oh well! Heading on downstairs we go.
> The footsteps are getting closer...
Fearful Experience Th-There's someone else here...?Of course there are other people here.
...Even if they are amazingly and blisteringly incompetent.
> The footsteps faded away...
Do you believe in ghosts? Um, of course not. We already know it's not a ghost. And besides, I'm not THAT afraid of--
It's been less than half a minute since that guard walked away. I know he's bad at his job, but he absolutely heard that right?
...Right?
M-My cell phone!? Why now!?
*sigh* Sorry about that. It took me by surprise! You get scared so easily. ...... Whatever. Silence
Well, let's see... the faculty office is just to our right but meh I'm bored. This isn't what I was expecting. Let's just go home instead.
Oh, well, uh, never mind then. Faculty office it is!
What does it say on this one? Morgue. What, are you trying to scare me or something? ...Trust me, you'll pay for that. 
Okay, let's go. We're supposed to meet them in the main hallway.I don't know why you have to do this particular part manually. There's nothing else in the interim, so...
Way to Tartarus The Operation Sta-- Er... Troubled
Sure did. Ya know, I heard a scream that sounded kinda familiar...
What, you actually did? I was just kidding... You wanna make somethin' of it!? Keep it down. We'll divide into teams again.
...Why? What? Why? This... this actively serves no purpose and doesn't help at all.
Once the Dark Hour has begun, I'll determine Yamagishi's position.
I'll go. You should come, too. You can take the lead, like always. Um, then, I'll be the third-- Wait a second...! Remember how I accidentally screwed up on the monorail?
Oh, come on! It's not always about YOU! Besides, you didn't "accidentally" screw up.
Sweet! Thanks!
Um, n-no, it's fine. It's almost time.
"Almost" nothing. Just like that, the Dark Hour begins anew and this is gonna be a very unique experience, I bet.
Fearful Experience
Meanwhile, back at the dorm...
*sigh* ...I'm all alone, after all... Fuuka...
Hm...?
...calling me... I... I have to go... tell her I'm sorry... ...... Fuuka...
We still haven't heard back from them... The transceiver's sensitivity is set to high, too... ...... O-Oh yeah, that girl, Natsuki... I hope she's okay at the dorm...
But, we couldn't possibly bring her here, and one of us staying behind was out of the question.Someone staying behind to make sure Natsuki doesn't get attacked by a Shadow is out of the question. Which is why Yukari came to... stay behind and not do anything. Sure, okay. Planning!
Yeah... I guess so... ...... ...But, we're all here for Fuuka's sake--
This is Mitsuru. I've confirmed your position. You're higher up than I expected... You're barely in communication range. Is everyone alright?
Akihiko! Come in, Akihiko! ...Is he out of range? I'm starting to get worried... The Voice Someone Calls
> You open your eyes...
> Your mind feels fuzzy.
> You wonder where you are...
No, it's not? It's the second time. It's the first time we've spoken outside of the dorm. Silly ghost kid.
Where are the others?
Don't worry, you'll see them soon.
But, we don't have much time to talk. 
You should hurry... She's waiting for you. You guys will need her. Okay, then... I hope we can speak again. End tartarus_0d02
...distance... too far. ...can't provi-- ...back up. ...... You got s-- ...from Akihi-- ......> Communication has been lost.
So, Floor Iunno is... not randomised. It's also not really all that empty, though it might as well be.
There's a few shadows hanging around that are all small which means...
They're solo Shadows. Mostly ones we've fought before, though thanks to the broken communication we can't even scan these ones.
The Soul Dancer here isn't weak to Ice which they normally are, though. It's not like it really matters all that much.
There's also some Shadows that we haven't fought (yet...?) but they're not as common. There's really no reason to bother fighting anything here though.
Fights just exist here to waste Makoto's SP and that's basically it. They don't even give you half-decent EXP.
At least we can find 1 Snuff Soul (and 1 Medicine!) per floor here, which is guaranteed and kinda nice.
Midway through the floor, Mitsuru manages to get through a little bit again.
But just a little. Someone, or something, else manages much better though...
Anyway, of course there's more than the one floor here.
Where am I...? Why am I here...? Please answer me...> Communication has been lost.
Floor IGotNothing 2 is also a fixed floor, nicely enough. It starts off with a big ol' open area that if we cut across to the top-left (on the minimap) we can dodge this Shadow here and another one that exists to be a waste of time.
Is someone there...? Please answer me...> Communication has been lost.
Third Floor WhoEvenKnows starts us off by meeting back up with Junpei and Akihiko, nicely enough...
In The Shadow Of A Regal Moon Silence
Man, we were worried about you. I don't think we should enter Tartarus this way again... Oh yeah! Did you hear a voice while you were in here? Uh, kinda like--
Th-That's it! That's the voice! It sounded like it came from behind us... The Voice Someone Calls
Never fear, Junpei's here!
I'm glad you're okay... Come with us.
Looks like we made the right decision. I'll see if I can contact Mitsuru.
Where are we...? I was at school, and then... Well... It's a long story. I'll explain after we get outta here.
...No good. All I hear is static. Oh yeah, are ya hurt? Have you run into any monsters?
So, there ARE strange creatures in here, then... 
Are you serious!? How's that possible!?
Whaddya mean? Are you psychic?
Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle-oriented. Hang on to this.
Akihiko just casually ends Fuuka an Evoker. Sure, okay then...
*gasp* B-But, this is...! Think of it as a lucky charm. It's not really a gun. Alright, let's get outta here!Awesome, now to just give Junpei the Spiked Bat and pop a Traesto Gem and... I can't yet? Damn it.
...I've never seen it so bright. Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon. Of course, the same can be said for humans.
That would explain Yuka-tan's mood swings.
Was it? I think so... Why? Hey, did you see the moon on the night the dorm was attacked, back in April? It was full. Mitsuru, are you there!?
Hey, can you hear me? Mitsuru, come in! ...Be caref... Mitsuru!? Mitsuru!! Calamity ...What is this thing...? 
Dammit!! Wh-What's going on!?
...We have to hurry!
H-Hey! Wait for me!
Along his journey, the Fool begins to grow and thus meets the Empress. A strong mother-figure in life, the Empress represents motherhood in both the literal and the abstract. The creation of life, showing care and attention and also a reminder to not get ahead of yourself. Embrace life and enjoy your time.
After learning this lesson, the Fool meets the Emperor. The more masculine counterpart to the Empress, where she is meant to be motherhood, he is meant to be fatherhood. Things are predictable and have a rigid structure to them... this includes the way the world works. Authority is important and as one's father, the Emperor IS authority. He can guide, protect and provide or assume power and control accordingly...
Ugh... uh... What's going on!? Nothing's working! Oh shit! They look pissed!
Why the hell is SHE here!? F-Fuuka...
Wait! What are you doing!?
Please, get out of here! It's dangerous!! I... I wanted to tell you... I'm sorry...
The shorter of the two Shadows raises its sceptre and takes aim towards Fuuka. In return, Fuuka... draws her Evoker...
Wait! That's not a weapon!
...!? Fuuka Yamagishi Silence
And so we return to the animezone for the first time in quite a while...
Natsuki is understandably terrified of what's going on right now.
The sceptre-wielding Shadow shows no mercy and immediately takes a swing at Fuuka and Natsuki...
Fuuka pulls a Makoto here and fires off her Evoker. (no kickass music accompanying this one though)
The Shadow's attack just hits... a giant shield of some kind...
And the attack is deflected so hard, the Shadow itself is repelled and bowls over the other one for good measure.
Who, in turn, loosens his grip on Mitsuru and she goes flying across the room.
Fuuka's summoning of her Persona is more low-key and the least intense Awakening in the (modern) series.
It's not going to be high on most people's lists, but I think it works really well.
She's not trying to attack; she's trying to protect herself and her... classmate. She's not an aggressive person, she seems to lack any kind of malice. As a result, her Persona is pure defense and support...
...I'm alright. Be careful... Normal attacks won't work on these Shadows. And all of our instruments have been destroyed...She's referring to her bike and radio over by the stairs.
Just stay still! Besides...
That Which Comes From The Darkness Is that the voice...!? I... I can sense these monsters' weaknesses, somehow... For real!? ...Just as I thought. 
...I get it now. Yamagishi, can you assist the others? I'll do my best! Stay back, Mitsuru! We'll take care of this!
Two bosses for the price of one, huh? Alright, let's go!
III. Arcana Empress & IV. Arcana Emperor (Portable) Master of Shadow
As Shadows, the Empress and the Emperor represent the Reversed side of their respective cards.
The Empress can be considered a representation of femininity in general, which includes things such as beauty and health. A very subjective way of displaying half of that is immediately apparent from her appearance. The other half...?
The Emperor in reverse is merely going through the motions. Actions are done because they are the done thing rather than a desire to do them. A feeling of a lack of direct control and that things are not in their proper order.
Anyway, uh, the fight itself? Yeah, these guys are... well there's two of them.
That means we've gotta try pretty hard here just to survive, right?
Makoto's been the only one to go so far, but these guys are bosses so they're probably pretty fast.
Sure, the Empress is beaten already but that's not much of an indication of anything. She only had 500HP which is laughably low at this point.
The Emperor hurts when he hits, most of the time. His skills are lethal and can give an unprepared party an instant game over.
...If he ever gets to use them.
Yeah, so, this fight is actually kind of a colossal joke. Both the Empress and the Emperor have absurdly low stats, next to no HP, are easy to one-round by accident and while they have one (1!) potentially dangerous attack between them, they have a slew of weaknesses that makes them colossal jokes.
The Empress has, uh, an interesting resistance pool to say the least. Look at that. Weak to all Physical elements but nulls everything else.
Her moveset is almost kinda clever, honestly. That thing about Reversed Empress possibly being a representation of ill-health means she uses some ailments.
Bewilder inflicts Distress (25% base chance) on a single target. Distress is pretty nice to have since it increases damage dealt, increases crit rate on top of that AND Distressed enemies might do nothing or try to flee.
In this case, it means we maybe waste a turn casting Patra.
She can also inflict Fear (25% base chance), also on a single target. Fear is both a lesser Distress and a more potentially lethal one. It's weird in this fight since the main reason for caring about Fear is not in either of their repertoires.
In terms of single-target DAMAGE, all the Empress has is this. She bops someone with her sceptre for... rather bad damage. That's weird.
Multi-target damage is relegated to two spells. She can cast Magaru...
...or Magarula. She chooses the latter a bit more often, of course.
But, uh, its damage leaves something to be desi--
Okay, so Junpei has Rakukaja here sure (so I don't accidentlaly win the fight) but he still took LESS damage than Akihiko. She'd barely break 100 on Junpei. What the hell?
Let's see...
Okay, so she has 500HP as mentioned above. Her SP is... a lot. It really doesn't matter, honestly. Stat-wise, she has 11 Strength, 11 Magic, 11 Endurance, 11 Agility and... 1 Luck. No wonder her ailment skills miss almost all the time.
So, what about the Emperor then? He starts off even more underwhelmingly. Weak to all magical elemental damage but immune to Physicals is an interesting path to take.
His representation of being the Reversed Arcana is more noticable in his attack animations (which you have no reason to ever see). His movesets are stiff and clunky and like they're being forced out. It's also kinda clever.
Attack wise, he has less variety than the Empress. He can use Fatal End to hit a single target with Medium tier Slash damage (base power 230!).
...It's bizarrely underwhelming for that, though. It's technically possible for it to kill someone, but its damage is low and it can be made much lower still.
But he also has Swift Strike. And this IS unironically a possible fight changer. It hits "one to three" times...
Except, uh, the funny thing about that? It's 1-3 hits... per target. Yeah, Swift Strike here is kind of ludicrous! If it just random targets 1-3 hits total, that'd still be fairly good and strong but as is? It's very powerful even in the Emperor's weak hands.
Anyway, uh, you see that damage it did on Junpei? Yeah. Each hit has 95 base power, has 80% accuracy and a 3% chance to crit.
Since it rolls NoH at sorta random, there is a bit of RNG to how much of a dickpunch this is. It could hit Makoto 3 times and that'd be a bit of a problem even with Rakukaja and Tarunda in play!
...But as the name implied it's Strike elemental and we just made Zouchouten recently and he resists Strike. It wasn't an intentional precaution, though, because I had to purposefully let him get a turn anyway.
The other thing they can both do is this. Paradigm Shift is unique to this fight, and this fight alone.
It's quite simple what it does, but it's also mildly annoying.
It means this fight is sort of secretly a barrier change boss fight! My favourite!
...It's not realy that big a deal, since they start with a ton of weaknesses anyway. It just changes them at random. This is meant to be a showcase of how much better a navigator Fuuka is than Mitsuru, since her analysis gets finished faster and shows more info. In practice, eh, it doesn't really come up.
...But, y'know, for a gigantic pisstake of a squash match they give some fantastic EXP. They're also level 16 (Change Relic was 17) so, uh, that's not just wacky scaling.
Also, while I remember: the Emperor is slightly statistically different to the Empress. His HP is 750, his SP is really big but could be 0 for all the difference it doesn't make. He has 11 Strength, 11 Magic, 11 Endurance, 11 Agility and 1 Luck.
...Huh, I just got some weird deja vu.
The Voice Someone Calls
Don't worry, it's over. Fuuka... You...
A-Are you alright...? Yeah... Thank goodness...
It's alright. She's just exhausted. Fuuka... Fuuka, I... Where did these two Shadows come from? From somewhere outside of Tartarus, just like before... I see...
Don't worry, she's not like us, so she won't remember any of it. The good news is, she didn't fall victim to the Shadows, even though she obviously heard their call. She should be safe from now on.
That doesn't seem fair... Actually, I don't think it'll matter. I'm sorry, Fuuka... I'm so sorry...
I think she's learned her lesson. I'm sorry... *sob*
...Sure, whatever you say game. Definitely wasn't easy. Nope.
> Your team survived another dangerous fight.
> It seems like the trust between you all has grown...
Didn't get a Fool rank this time though, huh.
> You learned a new tactic!
In terms of general AI settings, this one is probably the best. It means the AI prioritises chaining knock downs where possible to get an AOA. It's very useful for randoms where you don't have a Persona capable of doing the job somehow. It's less effective in boss fights for obvious reasons, though.
> You wonder about the mysterious boy who appeared again...
> You are too exhausted to make any sense of it right now.
> You decide to rest as soon as you get back to the dorm...
End