Part 8: Entry 3/31/10-08

Entry 3/31/10-08

There were just two doors left. Answers were tantalizingly close, and everyone was getting anxious.



I didn't know anything about her, and I thought I was the only one who was suffering.
Sometimes I wish I could find a time machine, so I could go back to my younger self and slap her silly.
Thought it's clear now that the past can't be changed...



And it's more than that... I feel as though I let one of my very reasons for living slip away...
But I do still have something precious to live for.
I will hold true to my vow this time... no matter what.
Don't forget that my Persona is weak against fire.
I can swear all the vows I want, but if the enemy attacks my weak point...
I'll fall without accomplishing my goals.



We've been through more than half the doors in the Desert of Doors.
Though we still don't know anything about that dark figure...
Anyway, there's not much further to go. Let's keep it up!



We've seen one for Ken, Akihiko-senpai, me and Koromaru, and Mitsuru-senpai...
So who's left? The three ladies?
Well, I guess we'll find out soon.



Some wind up in accidents, and some have their hearts eaten...
What exactly are these Shadows? Where did they come from...?
I wonder that as well.
It's also strange that only Persona-users can defeat them.
I wonder if there's some link between Personas and Shadows...
......



Growing up in a high-class family like Mitsuru's has its disadvantages.
She's been dealing with the Shadows since she was little... You gotta admire her guts.



The claim that the Abyss of Time was originally small, and disconnected from the outside world.
Well, what we're seeing in these papers seems to confirm that.
I think... that girl really does want only to save you, Aigis...

I must have looked really down when I went to the Velvet Room.



Would you like to hear me perform?
Veeeeeelveet, my master has a laaarge noose...
...Ahaha. Forgive the insouciance. You had such a grave look on your face...
Don't you feel at least a little better now?
You cannot expect to overcome an ordeal like this in a single night. Haste makes waste.

When we were prepared, we descended back into the Abyss. Scratched on the sixth door was the word, "Judecca."



The Shadows had gotten much stronger since the start. They were covering their weaknesses and trying to focus on ours. But we had developed some tricks of our own, and they had no chance.

RECORD- First Great Shadow of Judecca

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Boss Battle: Spastic Turret and Slaughter Drive x2
I'll just say first of all that this fight entailed a bit of prep work. A ways before it I fused a little Persona called Surt. Surt's Heart Item is an accessory that gives its bearer Null Fire. If you give this to Mitsuru, it overrides her Weakness to Fire. Why this was important will be obvious soon enough. The Spastic Turret uses powerful Fire attacks and can Mind Charge. The Slaughter Drives use powerful Slash attacks. The Turret is weak to Ice but also Evades it, and the Drives are weak to Lightning and Evade it. When I say the Drives use powerful Slash attacks, that should be starting to sort of ring some bells that I want to Null Slash if possible. My Persona of choice for that is Chernobog, because his Heart Item will actually give someone Null Slash as well. I fused Chernobog with Bufula to give myself an attack that's useful against the boss. What I do here is set Yukari and Mitsuru on Heal/Support to ensure no silly crap happens. I then put Metis on Knock Down, which will lead to her casting Bufudyne on the Turret and then hitting one of the Drives with her extra turn. When our party health is solid and the Turret is down I switch to Thor and throw Ziodynes at the Drives. It's very hard to actually knock all three down, so try to focus on dragging one of the Drives down. If one of the Drives casts Makarakarn, I switch to Surt and hit them with a Maragidyne. What you'll see a lot in the video of this is the dividend paid by keeping Aigis' gear in tip-top shape. Time and again the Drives will try to hit her with their other attack, the Pierce attack Torrent Shot, and miss. For healing and support I have Titania. Divine Grace makes Mediarama almost as good as Mediarahan, and she had ma-nda level debuffs. You could make this easier with someone like Ken or Akihiko in Mitsuru's place if you have them at decent levels I guess. This is pretty easy, though, nowhere near as bad as the Neo Minotaur.

RECORD- Second Great Shadow of Judecca

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This feeling...
That figure doesn't feel quite like a normal human, but... well...
......
No... I can't be positive... I'm sorry I can't be more specific...



...Incoming!

Boss Battle: Conceited Maya
This is an almost stupidly easy boss with the proper preparations and party. The Conceited Maya is immune to physical attacks and has a very simple sort of tactic at the start. It will target someone's weakness and hit them with a weak spell to knock them down, then hit them with Cruel Attack, which does huge damage to a knocked down target. So the trick is to negate your party's weaknesses. This is very easy for Metis/Mitsuru/Yukari, because the Personas that yield the items you need are just Surt and Thor, who are both low enough level and useful enough to make this not a burden. Assign Target people onto the Maya and start dragging it down. When it starts losing health it will spend two turns Summoning a Jotun of Blood each turn. The Jotuns are immune to magical attack and spam –dyne level spells. Once they're out the Maya will start using support abilities, so quickly try to take the Maya out. Once you're on the Jotuns, go to town with your best physicals while keeping the party healed with Yukari and if need be yourself. This is a perfect time to put Metis into Orgia Mode, she'll start smashing them with her group Strike attack. A great Persona for this fight is Melchizedek, who has Mediarahan and Akasha Arts. Remember, there's no The Answer problem that takes damage from Strikes that Akasha Arts isn't a good solution to. This rule of thumb will serve you very, very well in the next dungeon, because almost everything there can be hit by Strikes and tends to die in one Akasha Arts.

And once again we reached a Door.

RECORD- The Sixth Door

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Announcement: Attention, all students in the dormitory. The cafeteria will be closing in 30 minutes.
Oh, crap...
...Forget it. *sigh*
Female Classmate: Oh, there you are, Yukari. We went to your room to look for you.
Oh... sorry. I don't think I can make it today... It'll be crowded anyway.
Female Classmate: Hey, is that your stuff...? Have you even been to your room since we got back?
Huh...? Oh, yeah... you're right.
Female Classmate: I don't believe this! You mean you've been spaced out for hours?
Are you sure you're feeling okay?
Oh, no, it's nothing, really.



Female Classmate: Ohh, yeah. I see what you mean.
It sucks that we have to be cooped up in this dorm for three years. We should be out and having fun!
This year's almost over, too... At this rate, high school will be over in a flash.
......
Female Classmate: Well, let's not set our sights too high. We've just gotta get through this.



I knew I wouldn't find out anything about Dad just by going to class...
I mean, not even the police or the media have found anything new...
It's already been 10 years...
......
I wonder if I should just give up...




Oh... Yeah, that's me.
Dorm Manager: I'm glad you're here. There's a letter for you.
I'm very sorry about this... It actually came in yesterday.
But there were so many transfer stamps that I couldn't tell who it was for.
What...!?
Dorm Manager: It's from an Eiichiro Takeba. Is he a relative?
B-But that can't be...
Commemorating the opening of the Moonlight Bridge... 10 years ago...!?
Dorm Manager: Um, Takeba-san, wait! I need your signature here!
And you forgot your things! These are your things, aren't they? Takeba-san!

Another vision from our past...

The party is standing where the door used to be.



It's not like that...
If we're being forced to look into our pasts... It would've been nice if you could have seen your father.
...I would've liked to meet him.
It's not that big a deal. Now's not the time to go over the past.
I'm tired of dealing with Shadows. We should hurry and finish this.
......
Yukari. Aren't you... pushing yourself a little too hard?
......
You know how Aigis has... his power?
She might not realize it, but... that's gotta mean she inherited something from him. I'm anxious to get my own sign that I'm actually moving forward.
...I made a promise with him, too.
Yukari...

And Yukari had made a connection after seeing that.



The idea we had about there being something in common between all the memories we've seen...
So that means... On that day we saw, did you...?
Ken-kun's story, Akihiko-senpai's story... Junpei's and Koromaru's too.
Mitsuru-senpai's is the one that makes it the most obvious.
Huh...? I'm not following you here...
What we've seen is each of our reasons for awakening go our Persona.
It fits. Fuuka awakened in front of everyone, and Aigis and Metis could use it from the beginning...
So there's no need to see their memories. That would make the most sense.
But even if that's so, why would we be seeing that here?
Is it telling us to step back and examine our origins...?
Aigis-san, what do you think?
I... Well...

We started talking it over, and eventually realized someone was missing.



Yoooo, Aigis' Sister!
Don't act like this doesn't involve you... Let's hear what you think.
*sigh* Why...? I can't talk about the past with you all.
I don't know anything about it.
What's the matter?
Nothing... I meant just what I said.
You said you wouldn't leave me behind...
But I don't know anything about your pasts, so I'm always lost during these conversations...
Ahhh, I get it. You're lonely! See? You're a kid after all.
Heh, now I get why you got all well-behaved when we said we'd leave you behind...
I'm NOT a kid.



You must have special memories known only to you...
...like the memory of when you discovered your emotions.
Isn't it time you told us who you are?
......
Memories... But I don't...
Oh! It closed...
Sheesh...
Metis, I think you misunderstand. Not all of our pasts were glamorous.
To be honest, there were more painful memories than pleasant ones.
That's clearly not true.
All the things you laugh and talk about are from your past.
......



I felt, for the very first time...
That the reason time stopped may in fact have something to do with us...

We went back to the lounge. There was no time to pause now, we had just one door left. The end was in sight.



That thing up ahead, whatever it is, is causing all of this.
It's supposedly tied to us and our Personas...
You don't think that he only way out of this... is for us to die...?
Thinking like that gets you nowhere.
We wouldn't have come this far if we didn't believe there's another way.
Y-You're right... Sorry, my bad habits are coming back again.
We won't have to endure this for much longer. Everyone, brace yourselves. We're going in.

We though we'd seen the worst of things, but we didn't even know what an ordeal was yet.