Part 22: 5/13/09

5/13/09

There are a bunch of dumb rumors going around about the school being haunted. I mean it is, but not with ghosts.



Gossiping Student: I heard the road suddenly collapsed, and the guy’s car fell 30 feet straight down!
Loud Student: Wow, I’ve never heard of anything like that before… Is this school haunted?
Gossiping Student: I know, right!? I think I just felt a chill go down my spine… I should go to the nurse’s office.
Loud Student: Th-The nurse’s office!? The same place that staffer is resting? Are you kidding me?
He’ll give you that weird medicine. You might end up feeling even worse!

It’s weird that the Earth is going this fast, but true.



The Earth rotates once every 24 hours…
All right, don’t fall asleep or anything. It’s basic, but it’s an important premise for the rest.
Let’s see… Hmm… Aelita?
How fast would you say the Earth rotates near the equator?
About 1,700 km/hour.
Correct! Near the equator, the Earth spins faster than the speed of sound. All right, what’s next…?
Flip to the next page… Oh, this is an application. Let’s skip that and… Hm, that’s an experiment. Okay, um…

Yukari’s getting really worried about the exams coming up.



Our senpai are really smart, so we better get good scores, or they’ll laugh at us.
Hm… Maybe I should study in the library. I get so tired when I study late at night…

Before we went to volleyball practice Rio told me a weird rumor she’d heard from Yuko.



Yuko was just talking about it.
A Buddhist monk gets hammered on sake and starts blubbering to you…
…What kind of club is that?
> You obtained information about the monk who appears at a club.

I guess I’ll have to check that out some night. Anyway, it was just the two of us at volleyball this afternoon. At least, at first.



That’s it, always keep your knees in mind.
Alright, I’ll serve next, so…
…Oh.
Male Student’s Voice: Heeey, Rio!

This guy I remember from class came up to ask her for some help.



Kenji… What do you want?
I’ve got some homework that I just don’t understand at all.
Could you do it for me instead? Or tell me how to do it?
Homework…? I bet you just slept through class again.
Eh-heheheh…
…What do I get in return?
Ooh, so you’re up for it? Lucky me!
I’ll give you my love in return. Love, baby!
Nobody needs that!
…How about you buy me a special at Hagakure?
Yikes, that’s steep… Okay! I’ll be waitin’ around until you’re done.
Yeah, yeah…
> Kenji leaves…

She must kind of like Kenji to take time out of practice to do his homework, she’s so serious normally.



You seem to get along with him.
I guess… we’re childhood friends. I’ve known him since preschool…
He’s like a younger brother to me. That’s all.
> Rio laughs…
He’s been coming here a lot lately, and he’s starting to be a pest…
……
What’s the matter?
……
Sorry, it isn’t much of a practice with just two people…
> Rio mumbles…
Why don’t you try apologizing?
But…
……
> Rio seems vexed…
It’s like… I don’t want to pretend nothing happened, and I’m not going to say this is my fault.
…I know that I need to be more mature about this, but…
……
All that stuff about having never been in a relationship and stuff… That’s none of their business.

She is right about that, though, no matter how much of this was her fault that girl was way out of line.



Yeah…
> Rio still seems vexed…
Aelita-san… Do you have… someone you like?
Nope.
I-Is that so…
> Rio seems relieved…
I don’t get romance. It seems like so much trouble, and there’s no big reward for doing it.
> Rio opened up to you a little…
> You feel like you understand Rio a little more now…

I’ll need to get together with Yuko and figure out a way to get everyone back, I’m sure we can think of something.



…Let’s get back to practice.
I’ll serve, Aelita-san, so you…
Uhh…
…Is it okay if I just call you Aelita? I feel like it fits you better.
> You and Rio finished your practice, then you went back to the dorm.

Junpei wanted to go to Tartarus, and it turned out Yukari was up for it as well so I agreed.



* sigh * I’m tired of studying. Let’s go to Tartarus.
I’ll think about it.
Sweet! I knew I could count on you!
You’re comin’ too, right Yuka-tan?
We DO have exams next week…
But, what the hell… I’ll go.
Yeaaah! Now we’re talkin’!

I figured we could investigate the new area Elizabeth said was open for a bit. Oh, speaking of Elizabeth, she wanted to tell me something.



Are you familiar with the Antique Shop in Paulownia Mall?
They carry all sorts of things, both ancient treasures and worthless junk.
What’s more, I’ve heard the shop’s owner has an interesting ability…
I heard she can use Personas to create weapons…
She calls it… weapon fusion.
However, the shop seems to still be closed… I look forward to its grand reopening.

I’ll have to look into that when it opens back up. Oh, Mitsuru confirmed what Elizabeth had told me a while back, the way ahead is open now.



Do you remember how I said Tartarus was divided into different areas?
I discovered through Penthesilea’s power that the first barrier is gone now.
I suspect that the others will disappear too, eventually…
Therefore, I’d like to make reaching the top our goal.
You never know what the future may hold…
We should always be prepared for the worst…
…and getting to the top of the tower is the most logical step.
I’ll let you decide on an appropriate pace, but the sooner the better.
I’m counting on you.

The next area of Tartarus looked quite different.



I’ll try to see what’s up ahead. Hold on…
……
……
…Sorry, but I’m experiencing difficulties, possibly because of the distance…
I need more time… You may proceed for now…

As we progressed a bit, Mitsuru detected another guardian ahead of us.



……
……!?
I detect a source of great power five floors above you.
Proceed with caution.

Oh, um, I decided to see how that armor Elizabeth had given me actually was in practice.



Where did she even get a chainmail bikini? No, scratch that, not sure I want to know.



It really freaked out Junpei, though, and that alone might have made it worthwhile.



> For some reason, he won’t look at you. His face seems a little red, too.

We were able to get to the floor with the guardians without much trouble.



Proceed with caution.

As for the guardians? Total joke.



Video- “Crying Tables”

Watch

Boss Battle: Crying Table x 3
This is the easiest guardian so far as long as you bring along some Ice magic. The Tables are all weak to it, so drop some Bufus and then smack them with an All-Out Attack. If you’re strong enough, they won’t even get to act.

After such an easy fight, I didn’t want to push our luck. I’m pretty sure Akihiko will be back soon, so we’ll wait for him to go any farther.