Part 15: Entry Twelve: June 8, 2009

Entry Twelve: June 8, 2009

Mood: Drained
Music: The sweet, sweet sound of nothing.

Well, another full moon's come and gone, and I'm still alive, so I think that's a good sign. I'm completely burnt out though...all of this Tartarus crap is exhausting, teammates in chainmail bikinis aside. I guess I'll do the usual and try to unwind with some blogging.



This morning, I decided to go ahead and talk to Fuuka's teacher about where she might have gone.



When we went to the faculty office at lunchtime, we found that Mitsuru and a girl I didn't recognize were already there.

Mitsuru: Same reason as you. Mr. Ekoda, I'm here to talk to you about a student named Fuuka Yamagishi.



Whoa. The girl seemed to be pretty high-strung.

Brunette: I-I never thought it'd turn out like this...Fuuka...
Yukari: Wait...you're that girl...
Mitsuru: What did you do to Yamagishi?
Mr. Ekoda: Hold on, Mitsuru. This isn't an interrogation. Natsuki, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea.



Natsuki: She always looked so flustered when 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! May 29th...



Junpei: What?! You locked her in?!



Natsuki: But she never came back...and the next morning...
Yukari: She was found lying on the ground by the gate...
Natsuki: I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked...so I opened it and went inside, but she wasn't there. We all freaked out. Starting that night, we went out looking for her...but every night, another one of us wound up missing...and they each ended up like Maki!
Mitsuru: I see...



Mitsuru: But in reality, she was missing...you must have been aware of that. What was your intention?
Mr. Ekoda: I was thinking of the students, of course. You children may not understand, but we have to consider the future of everyone affected.
Mitsuru: You mean you chose not to report this to the police for the "good of the class".
Mr. Ekoda: It, it was in her best interest...I wouldn't want her records to be stained by something like this. Her parents agree!




Mr. Ekoda: I-I didn't...I was just...



Mitsuru: Anything at all...



Natsuki: A creepy voice...right before each of them went missing. They said it was calling their name...
Junpei: Oh man...
Yukari: Senpai, could it be?!
Mitsuru: It's them, no doubt about it...until now, there was no way of knowing how or why some people are conscious during the Dark Hour...this whole thing made me realize they're clearly targeting humans.



Yeah, I kinda figured that when they tried to kill us every time we saw them.



Mitsuru: 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.



Junpei: T-tonight?!
Mitsuru: We're going to rescue Yamagishi. If my guess is right, she's still inside the school.



So after school, we all met up in the Student Council room.



Junpei: Um, I don't get it...is Fuuka inside the school somewhere?
Yukari: And why at night, at midnight, this place turns into--




Yukari: Then ever since Fuuka got locked in the gym, she's been stuck there?
Junpei: But that was ten days ago! That means...

There was silence for a few moments. We all knew what it meant. We had massive amounts of supernatural power and we still struggled against most Shadows. She had...well, nothing, as far as we knew.



Akihiko had other ideas, however.



Yukari: Now that you mention it...
Akihiko: This is only a theory, but I think time may function differently with respect to Tartarus. So even though it's been ten days for us, perhaps only ten hours have passed for her. It's possible she's still alive.
Junpei: Wow, ya think so?! Uh, but the Dark Hour is pretty brutal...we can barely handle an hour, how's she gonna last ten?
Yukari: That's true...and even if she's still alive, we might not be able to get to her.



Akihiko: I have an idea...let's try to enter Tartarus exactly how Fuuka did. We'll go to the gym and wait for midnight. That's the quickest way.
Yukari: Is that really gonna work...?
Mitsuru: Honestly, I have reservations. If something goes wrong, you could all end up lost in Tartarus too. But...
Akihiko: I won't stand by and do nothing if there's a chance we can save her. I'd never forgive myself.



Yukari: Senpai...?
Mitsuru: ...Alright. We're aware of the risks, but we can't just leave her there.
Yukari: I agree. And we won't know until we try.




With that, we ended the meeting, resolving to discuss it further that night.



After school that day, I went back to Port Island Station, planning to catch a movie to chill out before the night's operation. There, I ran into the man who talked like a woman again.



Man: (But he's just a high school student. If I trained him, though...) Hello there, young man. How would you like to have your dreams come true? I have a golden opportunity for you. I'm only saying this to you, so don't tell anyone, okay? I can make you rich - guarunteed.



And the best part is you don't have to do a thing! You'll become fabulously wealthy while you sleep! Just give me 20,000 Yen, and I'll take care of the rest.

Well, I couldn't resist that kind of offer, especially since I had quite a bit of spare cash laying around from our journeys in Tartarus, so I paid up.



After that, I went to go see that movie, then headed back to the dorm.




Mitsuru: I can't get ahold of the Chairman.
Yukari: I guess we can handle it ourselves.
Mitsuru: There's one problem, though. Without the Chairman's help, I'm not sure how we can get inside the school...
Junpei: No need to worry, I've got it all set to go.
Mitsuru: Set to go...?




Wait, what? Let Junpei handle explosives?

Akihiko: We don't have time to waste. Let's go.





Oh. We followed Akihiko and Mitsuru to the school, where we got in through the door Junpei had unlocked earlier.



Yukari: Is that really something to brag about?
Mitsuru: So you unlocked it earlier...tres bien!
Akihiko: No time for compliments...let's go.
Yukari: What's the big deal, anyway?




Oh Junpei, you lovable scamp. We proceeded deeper into the dark school.



Junpei: Aww, you scared?
Yukari: No! ...Stupei.
Junpei: Stop callin' me that!
Akihiko: Quiet. It's better if we leave 'em off. They cut the power at night anyway.
Yukari: I don't like sneaking around...



Mitsuru: Akihiko and I will check the janitor's room. You three will check the Faculty Office. After that, we'll meet in the main hallway. Got it?
Junpei: The Faculty Office, huh? Hey, maybe they'll have some test questions! Heheh...
Akihiko: ...Maybe I should go to the Faculty Office too. It sounds interesting.



Mitsuru: If so, then expect to be severely punished.



Akihiko: Come on, Mitsuru. Lighten up a little...
Mitsuru: Fine. Let's head over to the janitor's room. Iori, you're coming with us.

They headed off to search for the key...



...and Yukari and I did the same.



Down at the main hall, we heard some footsteps...



A flashlight beam pierced the darkness, and we quickly took cover behind a pillar.



Before long, though, the footsteps faded.



We chilled out for a second, but suddenly...



...Yukari's phone went off.



She really needs to put herself on the Do Not Call List or something.



Next, we continued to the Faculty Office.



Inside, we searched for the key.



Well, I told her it said "morgue". I figured Junpei shouldn't have all the fun.




...That was probably a bad idea.



It turns out the key was in fact the gym key, so we headed back to the main hallway.



Yukari: Sure did.
Junpei: Ya know, I heard a scream that sounded kinda familiar...what, you actually did? I was just kidding...
Yukari: You wanna make something of it?!
Akihiko: Keep it down!
Mitsuru: We'll divide into teams again. Three of you will enter Tartarus, and one of you will remain outside with me. Once the Dark Hour has begun, I'll determine Yamagishi's position.



Akihiko: You should come, too, Minato. You can take the lead like always.
Yukari: Um, then, I'll be the third--



Junpei: Remember how I accidentally screwed up on the monorail? Give me a chance to make up for that!
Yukari: Oh, come on! It's not always about you! Besides, you didn't "accidentally" screw up.
Akihiko: Alright, Junpei, we'll give you another shot.
Junpei: Sweet! Thanks!



Yukari: Um, n-no, it's fine.
Mitsuru: It's almost time.



We made our way into the gym, and the Dark Hour began...and I blacked out into another vision.



Natsuki: I'm all alone, after all...Fuuka...hm?

A strange murmur filled the air.




Natsuki was unable to resist the call...

Natsuki: I...I have to go...tell her I'm sorry...Fuuka...



Meanwhile, inside Tartarus...

Mitsuru: We still haven't heard back from them. The transceiver's sensitivity is set to high, too...
Yukari: ...O-oh yeah, that girl Natsuki...I hope she's okay at the dorm...
Mitsuru: Unfortunately, no place is completely safe during the Dark Hour. But we couldn't possibly bring her here, and one of us staying behind was out of the question.
Yukari: Yeah, I guess so...
Mitsuru: ...
Yukari: But we're all here for Fuuka's sake--

Suddenly, the radio crackled to life.



Mitsuru: This is Mitsuru. I've confirmed your position. You're higher up than I expected...you're barely in communication range. Is everyone alright?



Mitsuru: Akihiko! Come in, Akihiko!
Yukari: ...Is he out of range? I'm starting to get worried...




Slowly but surely I regained my senses, finding myself inside Tartarus with the others nowhere to be found.



Out of nowhere, the mysterious boy from the dorm showed up again.



Boy: I told you, remember? I'm always with you...but we don't have much time to talk. Tonight there is more than one ordeal you must face. You should hurry...she's waiting for you. You guys will need her. Okay, then. I hope we can speak again...

With that, he vanished, and I found myself alone in Tartarus.



I recieved a message from Mitsuru, but it was horribly garbled, so I just proceeded as best I could. There were Shadows everywhere, so I avoided most of them. I did get into a couple battles, though, which gave me a chance to try out a new trick...

Fusion - Justice

It's not a very good trick, as you can see from my nearly being killed after using it.



I kept recieving periodic garbled messages from Mitsuru...



...mixed in with clear messages from a female voice I'd never heard before.

Voice: ...Are you human? Where am I? Why am I here? Please answer me...Is someone there? Please answer...



After what felt like an eternity of scaling Tartarus alone, I finally ran into Jupei and Akihiko again.

Junpei: Man, we were worried about you.
Akihiko: I don't think we should enter Tartarus this way again...
Junpei: Oh yeah! Did you hear a voice while you were in here? Uh, kinda like...



Junpei: Th-that's it! That's the voice! It sounded like it came from behind us![



As it turns out, it did.



Junpei: Wow, you're alive! That's awesome!



Akihiko: I'm glad you're okay...come with us.



AKihiko: Looks like we made the right decision. I'll contact Mitsuru.



Junpei: Well...it's a long story. I'll explain after we get outta here.
Akihiko: Mitsuru, can you hear me? ...no good, all I hear is static.
Junpei: Oh yeah, are ya hurt? Have you run into any monsters?




Akihiko: Are you serious? How's that possible?
Fuuka: Umm, it's hard to describe, but...I can sort of tell where they are...
Junpei: Whaddaya mean? Are you psychic?



Akihiko: ...Maybe even stronger, since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle-oriented...



Akihiko handed Fuuka an Evoker. God knows why he had an extra laying around.



Akihiko: Think of it as a lucky charm. It's not really a gun. Alright, let's get outta here!

We started working our way out of Tartarus as best we could.



Junpei: I've never seen it so bright...
Akihiko: Some research indicates that the Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon. Of course, the same can be said for humans.
Junpei: That would explain Yuka-tan's mood swings.




Junpei: I think so, why?
Akihiko: Hey, did you see the moon the night the dorm was attacked, back in April?

Well, yeah, it was ful--oh shit.




Akihiko: Mitsuru, can you hear me?! Come in!
Mitsuru: ...be carefu--...
Akihiko: Mitsuru? Mitsuru!




Shit shit shit. We rushed back to the entrance as fast as we could. I made animations of what happened next...

Fuuka Awakens

Boss - Emperor and Empress

(Emperor and Empress are basically a gimmick battle. They often use Paradigm Shift to change their defenses, meaning you have to keep having Fuuka scan them in order to determine what type of attack to use. Aside from that, they're moderately tough; in particular, Emperor has an attack called Swift Strike that hits multiple times at random, and if you get unlucky it can utterly slaughter the party.)

Bonus Video: Fuck this game! (This is what happens when you kick leprechauns and burn four-leaf clovers. Oh, and there's no save point available on the day of the Ordeal, so if you die like this, you're doing it all over again.)



It was a pretty nasty battle, but we made it through.

Akihiko: Don't worry, it's over.
Natsuki: Fuuka, you...
Fuuka: A-are you alright?
Natsuki: Yeah...
Fuuka: Thank goodness...



Fuuka collapsed after that. Seems like a common thing when someone first uses their Persona.



Natsuki: Fuuka, I...
Akihiko: Where did those two Shadows come from?
Mitsuru: From somewhere outside of Tartarus, just like before...
Akihiko: I see...
Yukari: Um, what are we gonna do about Natsuki? She saw the Dark Hour, and the Shadows...



Boy, that's convenient.

Akihiko: 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.
Yukari: But that means she'll forget Fuuka saved her life, right? That doesn't seem fair...
Mitsuru: Actually, I don't think it'll matter.




With that, Mitsuru and Akihiko picked up Fuuka to take her to the hospital, we took Natsuki home, and the rest of us headed back to the dorm.




(This is arguably the most useful Tactic. It basically tells your party to knock down as many Shadows as possible to set up for an All-Out Attack.)

That's all for now, looks like it's back to the grind tomorrow. See ya, guys!

Coming up in the next entry: More social links and such!