Part 20: Entry Seventeen: July 8, 2009
Entry Seventeen: July 8, 2009
Mood:
DrainedMusic: My favorite after-full-moon music: NOTHING.
Well, we've survived yet another full moon, amazingly enough. I really should think to write a will one of these days...I wonder who'd get my MP3 player?
Actually, I think I'd like to be buried with it. Or maybe cremated, depending on the Shadow that ends up eating me.
Before we talk about the full moon though, I wanted to talk about one last thing I did preparing the night before. See, Elizabeth had a few more requests to fill, and one of those was making a Jack Frost that could cast Dia. I did that, but the Jack Frost was unusual...
It was pretty strange.
(Personas like this one contain an item - this is represented by a heart icon on their status screen. As the Persona gains levels and learns skills, the heart slowly fills, and when it's full the Persona will produce the item. Most Personas can do this, and each one will produce a unique item, but in some cases the work it takes to level the Persona high enough for it to give up its goodie isn't really worth it. Jack Frost is one of those cases; it gives up an accessory that makes the wearer immune to Freeze, which would be great if Freeze did anything at all.)
Finishing up the rest of Elizabeth's requests got me a piece of black cloth that she claimed would allow the creation of a powerful Death-arcana Persona called Pale Rider. Seemed useful, but I didn't know what to use to fuse it just yet, and even if I did I probably wouldn't be strong enough to use it.
Anyway, earlier today I ran into Fuuka before class. She didn't say much, though - just made sure I was prepared for the full moon. I was. I had the motherfucking NAILBAT.
After class I headed straight back to the dorm, since getting ready to fight for our lives against extradimensional horrors was more important than macking Chihiro or Yuko. Maybe if Yukari showed interest in me, but she hasn't, so fighting monsters it is.
So that night, at the Dark Hour...
...we had Fuuka try and detect the Shadows using Lucia's power.
Fuuka: I found it! I sense a strong presence!
Junpei: Hey, we were right!
Ikutsuki: Or so it would seem.
Fuuka: It's located in Iwatodai...inside a building on Shirakawa Boulevard.
Ikutsuki: They've been finding the Lost in pairs lately...now I understand why.
Mitsuru: In pairs...oh, I get it.
Yukari: I've heard about it, but...
Junpei: You've heard about 'em, right Fuuka? Where people go to...ya know...
Fuuka turned so red I was afraid she'd explode.
Ikutsuki: The rooms are a bit fancier, that's all.
Junpei: Aw man, that's it?
Yukari: I don't know about this...maybe I shouldn't go...
Yukari: Wh-whatever! Fine. Let's go. But this time, I want a piece of the action! So who's gonna take the lead?
Mitsuru: And Yamagishi, I want you to handle support during the operation.
Fuuka: I'll do my best!
Akihiko: Alright, then I'll let you decide on the rest of the team. Let's do this.
I decided to take along Mitsuru and Akihiko along with Yukari, since Junpei hadn't been seeing much action lately and was probably out of practice.
We all headed over to Shirakawa Boulevard. Something I haven't mentioned lately is that getting to these places during the Dark Hour sucks - no machines work, so we have to hoof it.
When we arrived, Fuuka said she detected the Shadow on the third floor, so that's where we headed.
The deserted hotel was pretty damn creepy...then again, most places are during the Dark Hour.
I wanted to make sure the guests were all okay, but Fuuka confirmed that for me, so all we had to do was proceed straight to the third floor. We found a strange chamber when we got there...
Boss - Hierophant (Hierophant is basically a joke - its only dangerous quality is its tendency to use lightning attacks, which Yukari is weak against. However, Yukari's weakness isn't as big a deal for her thanks to her high magic defense, so it's not a problem. Hierophant also likes to try and scare party members, causing them to randomly miss turns, but that also isn't that big a deal because it misses often and is easy to cure.)
(Beating Hierophant took Minato to level 20, allowing him to store even more Personas at once.)
Fuuka: You succeeded once again. I'll be waiting outside for you.
After we beat the big Shadow, we got ready to leave...
...but we couldn't open the door.
Fuuka: It's not the same one you defeated! But...where is it hiding?
We went to look for the Shadow, and the first thing that caught my eye was the huge mirror on the wall.
Just as she said that, I started to feel very...lightheaded, I guess. I think I whited out, and I know I had a dream...
A Lovely Dream
When my senses came back, I found myself in one of the hotel's bedrooms.
I could hear the shower running, but I had no idea how I got here or who was in there.
...but it didn't matter.
Voice: I am the voice of your inner self...enjoy the moment...
That...made sense.
Voice: Let your desire free you from your shackles...such is my wish...
It was so tempting...
Voice: You stand before the doorway to bliss. You cannot deny your instincts...embrace your desire...
I agreed...it seemed so right at the time.
But something inside of me forced me back from the brink.
I fought against the voice, pushing my mind back into consciousness.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I was able to get ahold of myself...and not in the way the voice seemed to want. The shower turned off, and out came...
...Yukari, clad only in a towel.
Seeing me seemed to bring her back to her senses as well, and she ran up to deliver a good hard smack to my face. I immediately began to regret my resistance. Oh, and I still have a handprint on my cheek.
Seems like the same thing that had happened to me had gotten Yukari as well.
Suddenly, we heard Fuuka's voice.
Fuuka: Can you two hear me? I'm sorry I couldn't contact you sooner...the Shadow was interfering with your thoughts, and you all got separated. The enemy is still in the same room. Please regroup and hurry there. Did you hear that, Yukari?
Fuuka: Um...did something happen?
Yukari: No! Nothing!
She emerged from the bathroom fully clothed.
Yukari: Let's go!
Wait...does blogging about it count as telling people? I'm gonna have to go with no.
Back outside, Fuuka warned us that the Shadow's power was flowing all around the building.
Fuuka: Somehow it's sealed the door, so I don't think you'll be able to get in. I'll try to find out if there's a way to break the seal...please join the others. They're on the floor above you.
We hurried up the stairs - I was worried that they'd been put through the same mental barrage Yukari and I had.
Fortunately, they seemed fine.
Akihiko: I'm surprised there was another Shadow...anyway, are you alright?
We were fine, but I was more concerned about them.
Er...
Suddenly Fuuka alerted us to the actual cause of the problem.
Fuuka: They're giving off the same energy as the Shadow! Maybe the seal will vanish if you break the mirrors...
Yukari: I remember this one mirror we saw on the third floor was different from the others...when I stood in front of it, I felt kinda strange.
We decided to check all the roms for mirrors that seemed unusual. I was ready to just break every mirror we saw, but that seemed like a bad idea...
...so we only smashed the ones with an odd, oily coating.
Fuuka said there was another mirror on the floor above us, so up we went...
...and smashed that one, too.
After that, we headed back to the Hierophant's Chamber and prepared for battle...
Boss - Lovers (Lovers is much harder than Hierophant because it likes to charm party members. It's not as tough as Emperor and Empress, though, because it rarely uses its big damage attack Heartbreaker. It only does so if you leave it alive for too long when it's low on HP, so it's best to just take it out as quickly as possible.)
After bringing down Lovers, Fuuka learned a new ability called Support Scan. This would let us know if the Shadows had any support skills (-kaja skills) active. Pretty handy.
With Lovers defeated, we were finally able to leave the hotel.
Mitsuru: Thanks for your help. The enemy was sly, but you did well.
Fuuka: I did what I could.
Mitsuru turned to me next.
Mitsuru: ...for withstanding the enemy's mental assault.
Akihiko: Alright, let's call it a night.
Fuuka: About that thing you mentioned the other day...
Yukari: You found out something? Cool, tell me later. Alright, we should head back too.
Junpei was being kind of a dick, for some reason.
Junpei: Yeah, whatever...who cares, anyway?
Yukari: Hey, why do you have to be like that? Don't tell me you're jealous.
He stalked off.
I dunno what his problem is lately...
...but for some reason, the voices in my head decided it was time for a Social Link boost.
I guess getting to know pepole better in any form is enough to bump a Link up a rank.
It was a pretty tough battle, but we got through it.
I felt like we'd gotten a little closer as a result. Well, not as close as Yukari and I might have, but that seemed like a quick way to get sent to jail, Shadows or not.
(Full Assault basically tells your party members to ignore SP use and go nuts. It's not bad.)
Anyway, that was that. I'm gonna head back to bed now, content in the knowledge that I didn't do anything with jailbait due to the evil designs of a horrible blob monster.
Oh, wait. I'm actually writing this after having woke up due to having a vision...
...it seemed like the trio from earlier
Pale Man: That was quite a show. They've been rather busy these last few months, including their frequent forays into the tower. Their fighting style is positively fascinating...and it seems they've gained new recruits, too.
Pale Man: Yes...that's an excellent idea. Considering that he shares our fate, it would be prudent to seek his opinion. We don't have much time left...
Those guys creep me the fuck out.
Anyway, laters!
Coming up in the next entry: FINALS.
