Part 174: 11/22/09

Video- “Returns”

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* sigh *
What am I drawing…?
Why am I…
What the…?
……!?
It has been a while…
That voice…
I am glad to see you once again…
Jin, the instruments, if you would.
Here.
> Jin tossed a darkly shining gun onto Chidori’s bed…
Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what your Evoker looks like.
……!
I trust you do not need to be restrained?



Surely you understand…
There is nowhere for you to go… You must come with us.
Death is not to be feared.
You need only fear—
Yes, I know.
…Excellent.
> Chidori turned around as she was leaving the room…
It’s all his fault…
Since the day I met him, I’ve experienced nothing but pain…
And I’ve become afraid of dying…
Hey, hurry up, Chidori.
……
Medea… Let’s go.

11/21/09

I met Ryoji down at the café earlier, as we’d agreed in Kyoto.



Going out with everyone, seeing and eating so many different things…
Then we’d go to bed and wake up and do it all over again the next day. It was amazing.
It was a lot of fun…
I had fun too.
Yeah, you were laughing a lot, Aelita-chan.
> Ryoji laughs merrily…
Did you see this? I bought it at one of the souvenir shops.
> Ryoji is wearing a thin ring on his finger…
I didn’t notice at all.
I guess… it’s proof of the fun memories I’ve made. I felt like I wanted a reminder of those times.
And then I saw this in the store…
> Ryoji tenderly caresses the ring…
Rings are mysterious…
When you get used to wearing one, it’s as natural as if you were born with it.
At the same time, it feels constricting…
But when I look at it, it reminds me of the good times I had…
I think that rings are things that bind memories to the person who wears them.
I think I get it.
* chuckle *

It feels like every time I see him I meet a new Ryoji, some days he’s all smiles and jokes and then others he starts acting all profound.



This is my treasure.
I hope I’ll get more and more treasures as life goes on…
I’m sure that will be the case…
…if I’m with you…
> Ryoji smiles happily…
> You feel like your relationship with Ryoji has gotten a little closer…

I should just stop seeing him, but a deep need to understand consumes me. It feels like every time I get closer to him I draw closer to some kind of essential truth about us both.



……
Are you the one I’ve been waiting for all this time…?
I know you…
I feel like I’ve known you for a very long time…
> Ryoji seems to be muttering to himself…
> He seems distressed by this…
> You spent time quietly talking with him…

I’m kind of glad I have a day off and then this stupid work experience thing this week.



But, Career Experience starts right after that…
* sigh * Bummer, huh?

A few days sunk into a mindless stupor of menial labor could be just what the doctor ordered for breaking me out of this weirdness.



That doesn’t bother me…
But everyone else seems to despise it.

Akihiko and Mitsuru were gone when I got back.



So, we shouldn’t go to Tartarus tonight.

Maybe it has something to do with whatever happened at the hospital, Kirijo does own the place.



Newscaster: It seems that someone threw an explosive device into the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital last night.
Police suspect a crazed member of one of the Apathy Syndrome victims’ families, and…

Can’t believe someone would bomb a hospital, what kind of bastard does that?



I’ve never heard of Career Experience before.
Do you think it’ll be fun?
You think so?
It doesn’t seem like you want to participate in Career Experience. Well, I hope it’s not too boring.

I hope Junpei’s girlfriend didn’t get hurt or something, she’s still there after all.



Will she be able to live a normal life, like an ordinary girl?
If you help her…
Y-Yeah… you’re right.
There must be something that only I can do!
…Thanks, dude!
> Junpei seems a bit relieved.

Hah, I’m glad Junpei bought that whole normal life like an ordinary girl thing because I’m not sure I can even promise that for me, let alone someone else. Oh, yeah, so Ken got recorded doing something terribly embarrassing a bit back.

Video- “Ken”

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No, not that. Eww. He was practicing fighting with a big old scrub brush.



> It looks like Ken’s room…
> ……?
> Ken is holding a cleaning brush…
Haaa…
Ha!
Ya!
> Ken began swinging the deck brush around…
> He seems to be practicing combat maneuvers.
* pant * * gasp *
This room is really too small to practice in…
……
But come to think of it… I don’t have to practice in secret anymore…
I don’t live on the first floor in this dorm, so I might be disturbing the people downstairs…
……
I chose a long weapon so I wouldn’t lose to an adult’s reach…
But the longer the weapon, the better it is for taller people…
> Ken began swinging the cleaning brush around again.

And, uh, it wasn’t going so well.



> …You wince as you watch Ken accidentally hit himself with the cleaning brush.
> Ken doubled over…
Awrgh… I hit my shin again…
I hope I get taller soon…
Oh yeah, where’s my milk…?
> …Ken is guzzling milk.
Whew…
Maybe I should drink more milk…
……
Ugh… it hurts my stomach sometimes, though…
……
> …Ken is guzzling more milk.
> The recording ends here…

Well, looks like another early night. Not going to complain.

I’m so tired but I can’t sleep, so I’m going to just write down everything in my brain and hope that helps. The alarms started going off shortly after midnight.

Video- “The Challenge”

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> An alarm is sounding…
Sorry to wake you!
Um, I’m not sure how to say this, but…
You need to go to the 4th floor… and please hurry!

Strega had returned.



Yamagishi sensed something!
…Other Persona-users. They’re outside Tartarus!
Other Persona-users…? Don’t tell me it’s…
…Strega. They’re still alive.
Those bastards…!
First, the Dark Hour won’t go away, and now Strega is back!?
What’s happening!?

And it seemed the attack on the hospital earlier was them, because Chidori was there.



There’s only one, but…
I thought she was in the hospital…
…Huh?
No… she’s… she’s inside…
* shriek *
What’s wrong!?
…Long time no see.
Chidori!?
She’s speaking through Yamagishi!?
I can’t stand the sight of you all anymore…
So, I’ve decided to do something about it.
Come to me…
…Ngh…
Yamagishi!
I’m… all right…

Maybe if we’d been nicer, maybe if we’d been able to stop him, this could have all gone differently.



Junpei, do you know what’s going on!?
……
Junpei!
No, dammit! I have no idea!
Just leave me the hell alone!
J-Junpei? Junpei, wait!
> Junpei ran out on his own…
This is most likely a trap. But, we’re dealing with Strega, so we must pursue this.
…And if we confront them, we may gain some insight into our current situation.
Please be careful.
I only sensed one person, but the other two may be nearby.
Indeed…
…Tolstoy.
We have no idea what they’re planning, so choose your allies wisely.
We’ll go after Iori once you’ve made your decision.

When we caught up, Junpei had already reached Chidori.

Video- “Chidori”

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……
It doesn’t make any sense!
I mean, I know I’m not that smart, and I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff…
But, we shouldn’t be fighting like this!
Junpei-kun! Look out!
Whoa…!?
> Junpei barely dodged Chidori’s axe…!
Hey, that was dangerous! You coulda killed someone there!
Tch…
Chidori…! Why!?
Get back, Junpei! It’s useless trying to reason with her!
No! It’s too dangerous!
…I know how you feel, Junpei-kun! But please, just back up!
Medea…

And so, though we didn’t want to, we were forced to fight her.



I still don’t even know how she was able to stand, let alone fight, in her condition.



Boss Battle: Chidori
Chidori’s sort of interesting, she doesn’t have a lot of health but she regenerates a lot of health every turn with her Spring of Life and has some potentially threatening abilities like Sexy Dance and Mudoon. I drag this out a bit to hear some of her things, but this is almost impossible to lose on unless you are really trying.

But fight us she did, with everything she had.



And so we had no choice.



Even with everything that had happened Junpei rushed to her side as she fell.

Video- “The Death”

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> Junpei helped Chidori up…
I told you… Don’t touch me…
Chidori, please… Tell me why you’re doing this…
What I fear most isn’t death.
What I fear most is…
…attachment.
Once I become attached to something, I fear that I will lose it.
That’s why we only live for the moment…
But you… you brought me pain… Pain that I didn’t want… Pain that I never asked for…
Huh…?
When I’m with you, Junpei. I fear everything…
I fear loss… I fear death…
I fear that my time with you will end… That’s why I…
Chidori…?

For one bright moment it looked like everything could turn out okay. Before everything went to hell.



What? What is it?
It’s the others from Strega!
> Takaya and Jin emerged from inside Tartarus…
* sigh *
……
So then…
There you are, you sons of bitches!
Chidori… I see that it is too late. You’ve been poisoned by them…
What the hell does that mean, you friggin’ ghost!?
* laugh * I am no ghost…
Fate permitted me to live, even though I wasn’t attached to life…
You might say I was… chosen.
You bastard…
I’ve made up my mind! I won’t let you do this to her anymore!
I’ll protect Chidori with my life!
> Junpei held Chidori firmly in his arms…
Jun…pei…
Chidori, don’t stay with them! Come with me!

Before death touched us again.



Look out, Junpei!
Huh…?
> Junpei looked down blankly at his stomach…
> A bloodstain is spreading across his shirt…
Jun…pei…
> Chidori gently shook Junpei, who fell over…
> Junpei isn’t moving…
Nooooooooo!!

As for what happened next, all I saw was a warm glow, radiant with a pure and undying love.



I’m so happy you’re awake…
Chidori…?
Huh…? I-I thought I was…
I… I was wrong…
I was scared… and I blamed you for my heartache.
I never felt that way before I met you, Junpei…
And for the first time in my life, I…
I realized what I wanted…
And, what is that?
I… I want to be with you, Junpei. Forever.
I, um, I…
I want to be with you, too…

This, this is what I wish I could know. This love that burns like a fire.



I’m different from you…
Since the moment I gained my power, I’ve known the day I was going to die.
What…!?
Knowing that scared me…
…because I had never really thought about dying…
And it made me realize that I wouldn’t be with you anymore…
Chidori…
That’s why this is how it should be…
You can’t die here, Junpei.
Die…?
Huh!?

To know that you’d die for someone, and they’d die for you.



Junpei-kun!
Junpei!
I…
Huh…? What the…
> Junpei touched his stomach…
> His shirt is torn, but the wound is completely gone…
It worked…
She revived him… I can’t believe it.
Her power is the opposite of mine. Her Persona doesn’t sense life; it emits life…
But, in order to revive a person, she must…
I did it…
Chidori!
> Junpei held the fallen Chidori in his arms…

Even if someone did feel that way about me, would I really deserve it? I mean we rag on Junpei, but could I really be as strong as he is?



* chuckle *
Huh…?
Now I will live inside you, and we’ll be together… forever.
Wh-What’re you saying…!? Chidori… Chidori!
I’ll protect you, Junpei… always...
I-I’ll protect you too!
Please… Don’t go!
* chuckle *
It feels so nice to be with you…
Chidori…!
Thank you… Jun…pei…
I love you…
……!?
> Chidori’s lifeless body becomes heavy in Junpei’s arms…
This can’t be happening…
Chidori… Chidori, answer me…
Chidori…! Aaaaaaaah!!

Strong enough to fight on through the worst pain imaginable.



Meaningless…!?
Hm…?
…Aaaaagh!
> Junpei quickly drew his Evoker…
Aaaaaarrrggghhh!!!
Personaaaaaaa!

To take that pain…



…and transmute it with love into a new power.



The power of two hearts combined.



> They gave rise to a new power, Trismegistos!
Burn in Hell!
What!?
Gah!
* gasp * * gasp * I refuse to… ugh…
Junpei!
My… That was quite a spectacle. Now, allow me to reciprocate.
> …Takaya is smiling eerily, but his knees are shaking…
Takaya, don’t…
Don’t forget about your mission! This is just a waste of energy!
……
I have something much greater to accomplish…
And since you have no means of destroying the Dark Hour, I will let you be… for now.
…But know that the day I shall finish this is soon approaching.
> Takaya and Jin turned around and returned to Tartarus…

Takaya has a lot of talk but next time we meet he’s not walking out of it.



> Junpei tried to stand up, but fell down again…
Junpei!
Let go! I…!
She entrusted you with this life!
Don’t waste it.
……
Chidori…
> Junpei gently touched Chidori’s cheek…
Chidori, I… I…
This is so hard…
But…
It’s not just my life anymore…
Junpei…

Mitsuru arranged for Chidori’s body to be moved back to the hospital after the Dark Hour ended. It’s a cold comfort but all we really had to offer Junpei.



> …Everyone was silent as you walked back to the dorm together.
> No one could find the right words to say to Junpei…
> ……

All we can give him is time.