Part 48: 6/18/09

6/18/09

Elizabeth called me early in the morning, she almost sounded upset.



Good morning. This is Elizabeth.
I have business with you, so please come to the Velvet Room at your earliest convenience.
It is an important matter that involves you…
I will be waiting.
> The call ended.

Still had school first, though.



Gossiping Student: The Kirijo Company was in the news again yesterday.
Loud Student: Kirijo…? The Student Council President?
You know, the Kirijo Company built this whole school.
Gossping Student: I wonder how a company that big was contracted to build a school…
> The first bell has rung.

Right after, I rushed down to the Velvet Room. Elizabeth’s news was… worrying.



There seems to be someone inside Tartarus, between floors 44 and 47.
It seems to be someone without the potential, who heard the voices of the Shadows…
If left alone, they will become Lost in your world and may die…
Please find them and return them.

Sure enough, there was something posted outside the police station.



The Shadows were going too far, drawing people into Tartarus. But now we knew it was happening, which is the first step to fixing it. Anyway, I remembered Fuuka wanted to talk to me and found her in the hallways.



It’d be nice if you were hungry too…
I’m down.
In that case, would you do me a favor?
I want you to taste the lunch I packed.
To be honest, I don’t have very much confidence in my cooking…
But, today, I think it turned out okay…
> You have a bad feeling about this…
> But, you are courageous enough to try it.
So… Will you taste it?
Okay.
Oh, thank you! …Please come with me.
> Fuuka seems excited.
> Fuuka dragged you to the home economics classroom.

She’s trying to teach herself how to cook, and it’s not going so well.



I hope you’re hungry…
> Fuuka handed you a boxed lunch.
> …!?
> Before you even open the box, you smell an unsavory odor coming from the lunch…
> …But you mustered up your courage and opened it.
> …!?
> It looks pretty unappetizing…
Please eat up!
> Fuuka is watching you expectantly…
> …You decide to try it out.
> …!?
> You can’t swallow it… You can’t even chew it anymore…
> …The food tastes as bad as it looks…

I figured I should just tell it to her straight.



It’s not quite right…
…Urgh. Oh… I-I see…
It did get a little burnt…
Th-Thank you for your honesty…
Sorry that I asked you to try this all of a sudden.
To tell the truth… Um, did you notice? Look at the blackboard.
* giggle * I’ve decided to start a “Cooking Club”!
Then again, I’m the only member so far…
I’m going to keep trying my best, so would you mind stopping by and trying my new creations sometime…?
Actually, to be honest… I want you to join, too. Cookbooks don’t make much sense to me…
And instead of just cooking and eating everything by myself…
…Cooking for you would inspire me to try harder.
So, h-how about it? …Would it be too much trouble?
Okay, I’ll join!
Really!? Thank you!
Oh, um, we’ll meet on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
I’ll try my best, so let’s work hard at it!
> You’ve become the second member of the Cooking Club and will be helping Fuuka learn how to cook…

Learning how to cook could be fun.



What should I do? There’s still more ingredients that I couldn’t fit inside the lunch box…
> As Fuuka said, there are remnants of all the ingredients left that she hadn’t prepared…
> …Rather than waste them, you decide to cook them all together.
> …You made something vaguely edible.
> Obtained Dog Food.
Wow… That’s amazing! You made that without even looking at a recipe…
If we find a cute doggy in the neighborhood, we should give it this.
> You cleaned up with Fuuka, and headed back to the dorm…

Yukari’s starting to warm to the idea of this being Fuuka’s choice I think.



But, she’s doing her best.
So I have to do my best too!

The news was also talking about the missing girl.



Newscaster: Ayako Yoshimoto, a senior at Gekkoukan High School, has been reported missing.
Police are looking into the possibility that she was involved in an accident, and are asking for any information.

There was no choice now. We needed to go to Tartarus.



I’ve also decided that I’ll allow you to select the members of your battle party.
I realize that this is a big responsibility, but I believe you can handle it.
Um… I’ll be taking Mitsuru-senpai’s place from now on.

Fuuka was hard at work right from the start.



……
……!?
There’s a strong one on the 50th floor! Please remember that…

The Shadows roaming around gave me a good chance to try my new Beam Naginata.



Fuuka is still getting the hang of things, of course.



I’ll double check.

All we could do was push ahead. We were also reaching the floors Elizabeth had warned me that girl was lost in.



I’m getting a clearer picture…
If you give me a moment, I’ll tell you the exact floor the strong presence is on.

Sure enough she had an answer, and the guardian was closer than she’d first thought.



It’s on the 47th floor!
If you feel like you’re in danger, don’t hesitate to come back.

Luckily, she detected the lost person on the next floor.



Are you okay?
There’s someone on this floor! Find them, please!

Sure enough we found her.



……? Is that one of the ones who went missing?
We need to treat them as soon as possible… Please come back to the entrance immediately!
It’s a good thing you were able to find the missing person.
They’re resting in a safe place now.
You can go on and keep exploring if you want.

We pushed back up into Tartarus.



Be careful!

Oh, Yukari and I have been getting better at taking advantage of the openings we see in battle together.



The guardians this time were another group of Shadows.



Be careful.

Before we engaged them, I pulled back to the lobby. I’d managed to collect some bits of Shadows Elizabeth had asked for.



The Shadows you defeated to obtain them had an affinity for the Fortune Arcana.
It’s unfortunate that Persona must assume such a ridiculous form.
Please accept your reward.
> Obtained Sigma Drive.

While I was there I dealt with a few more things she’d been asking about.



A fine specimen it is. Well, you have done as I asked.
The reward I’m going to give you this time has an unusual effect.
With it, you will be able to create Pale Rider, a Persona with an affinity for the Death Arcana.
If you are strong enough to control this Persona, please give it a try.
Please accept your reward.
> Obtained Torn Black Cloth.



Did you know that a Persona is another side of you? Just like you, it will grow and change.
However, the rate at which it grows depends more on your Social Links than on fighting.
I suggest you make many friends and deepen the bonds you’ve established.
Please accept your reward.
> Obtained W. Outfit Akihiko.

Anyway the guardians, it was some group of huge beetles.



They were strong, but we managed to overcome them.

Video- “Gold Beetles”

Watch

Boss Battle: Gold Beetle x 3
Okay, so this is an interesting little fight. They start out by buffing their Attack with Tarukaja, then they’ll start dropping big and scary shit on us. They’re vulnerable to Electricity, though, so if you have it and you bring Akihiko you can drop two All-Out Attacks a turn and annihilate them.

We were all getting a bit tired, so we called it a night there. We’ll pick things up again later.