Persona: The return of Tartarus [Inactive]


Aida's small smile returned back as Sai spoke. It was a small fragile smile, but warm and caring odd enough. She was about to pat Sai on the shoulders when she remembered that it may be uncalled for to. He had took her hand just earlier but it was out of common respect and introduction, so she had not felt comfortable and free to pat his shoulder with the utmost comfort she could show.


"I don't know what happened today.." she said lightly as she kept focus at both Ayomide and Sai with the utmost respect. "But I'm glad to hear nobody is too badly hurt...if it's fine, perhaps I can check on them when they're well rested? Also I'll do whatever I can to help out. Thank you kindly." she said as she nodded at Ayomide and over at Sai she added "Little things and mistakes are humane of us, but that's how we learn. Don't put yourself down like that." Times like these were when Aida was teased of acting too mature or motherly for her own age and often would Oakley urge her to lay back a little. Aida, however, had never 'laid back' or was accustomed to such and so Oakley's attempts were always futile but it wasn't as if Aida was stressed. On the contrary Aida was much contempt with her life as it was.

​
 
Sai stared at Aida in wonder. This girl definitely acted like an adult. But that wasn't bad. "I don't put myself down only because I feel bad. I do it because it motivates me to try harder." He shrugged. "Just a force of habit." He smiled and rustled Aida's hair. He had done that to his brother, Aiku, a lot. He pulled his hand back. "Sorry. That's also a force of habit." He flexed his hand and then put it in his pocket. He tried to make sense of this girl. She stays awake during the Dark Hour, but does she have potential to summon a Persona like the rest of them? And if so, what Persona? "Well, all in due time." He leaned back and winced. The pain in his ribs was back, but not as bad as before. He pushed it to the back of his mind. "So, Aida. Where ya from? Near here or from far away?" He didn't know if this was an odd question, but she seemed like the only person who would want to talk to him.
 
"Oh, hey Cyrus..." Cyrus had turned over to see Tohu looking a little beat up going for tap water. Cyrus finished his sandwich and stood up, "Dude what happened to you? Are we under attack?" He looked out the window to see only coffins, "Oh you have got to be kidding me my sensors are temporarily offline. Well I apologize if it was a shadow my sensors should be up and running momentarily."
 
"Huh...Oh, yeah one big, small shadow.Basically the hazing of one of the new guys happened sooner then expected but it was a close call..." Toru said still a bit confused by the face he saw earlier. He looked at Cyrus, the fact SEES had their own personal cyborg had always mystified him. Hell the fact that there was cyborg in the WORLD mystified him, yet here he was in-front him. Yet there was always nagging doubt about it him the back of Toru mind, but that could just be that he had watched too many scifi flicks. Still it bugged that Cyrus was just standing there as the others fought. The frustration is evident in the tone he used next. "You dont always have your sensors on? Could have used your or the others help back there. Or could have seen it coming earlier."
 
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Upon her hair being ruffled, Aida was shocked as this was a form of gesture she was completely foreign to. She was stiff for a minute, before hands slowly met her head and she stared up at Sai, baffled by the gesture and unsure of its meaning. Oakley didn't tell her of this one..perhaps she should call him tomorrow and ask. She was so confused by this that she had missed the careful detail of Sai's pain and only had she concentrated back onto him when he spoke again.


"So, Aida. Where ya from? Near here or from far away?"


Aida, her hands still touching at her hair, looked up at Sai and smiled softly. "Yes..you could say far away. Far away to where our peope don't get attacked by monsters..or shadows as you call in." Well, as far as she knew at least as she was only familiar with her own home and not anywhere else.

​
 
Sai nodded. "Far away, huh? Very descriptive of you." Sai laughed. Aida sure was a mystery. She seemed like a city girl, so maybe she had come from a major city like Sai. "Well, that's neat. I'm from all over the place. My family never stayed in one place for too long. No longer than about a year. My mom always pestered me about school, and how she said I was gonna become something great someday." He shook his head. "I never had a grade higher than a D in most of my classes, so my mom was furious." He laughed. He was opening up to this girl while Ayomide was sitting right behind him. Kinda nerve-racking, having the judge of your future sentence sitting there listening to your life. "Hey, have you ever been to Tokyo?" He was curious about Aida, which was unnatural of him. He usually didn't care about someones past, but he guessed after fighting a Shadow, barely eating, and worrying about his impending doom was making him different.
 
Cyrus shook his head, "It's not that I turn them of is that the system itself was updating. And by hazing you mean he has the potential? That's just peachy" Cyrus was still a bit confused that the two of them showed up, one of them having the potential just bothered his brain even more, "What about the girl? what was her name Aida I believe?"
 
"Tokyo..." she thought as she finally rested her hands back onto her lap, pursing her lips as she tried to remember that place well, she was sure itw as a place. Sounded awfully familiar. Oh wait! she smiled lightly when she finally remembered. With a light shake of head she looked back at Sai in the eyes respectively and said "No but it looks colorful. This is the first place I've ever really been to, and it's really wonderful." she said and it was genuine. This place was nice and she was given a warm welcome and even learned that real life heroes and villains roamed here. She couldn't ask for much more.
 
Sai stared at her in surprise. "You've never been to Tokyo?! God, that place is amazing! I was born there, you know. Nice place. Lived there till I was three, then moved out into a more urban area." He sat down on the bed next to Aida, but a respectful distance away from her, so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. "I don't remember much, but I do remember the fireworks. Man, those were my favorite part of being there. All the colors and how bright they were." He smiled at the memory. It was one of his few ones, but he enjoyed recalling it. "Another thing I remember was the stories my dad would tell me. You know, the ones with the heroes and villains and all." He pulled out a folded up paper airplane from his pocket and started to unfold it, then refold it.
 
"I have no idea, i have been out of the SEES matters for a while....Only got involved since the guy, Sai, got onto trouble with Kaede."Toru explained still a bit bugged with Cyrus."I suppose she does to be accepted...Hey, speaking of potential have...Have you heard or have any information on people losing their potential?"
 

Aida listened carefully to Sai and became completely infatuated with Tokyo for the short part he talked about it. The colors and all sounded completely grand, as she had always been one for bright and pretty colors in art. It made everything seem...fun and lively. He sat down beside her, which was fine as he was in conversation and she would show hospitality for him.


"Another thing I remember was the stories my dad would tell me. You know, the ones with the heroes and villains and all." he said as he began to play with a piece of paper. These words triggered Aida like nothing else could as she leaned in suddenly, her eyes full of life and begging curiosity; a childish smile on her face. So even heroes were told the those stories as well?


"So you read them too?" she asked, so completely into the conversation now. "I really like them too! I'm completely in love with heroes and how they save the day from the bad guys that want to hurt us..." she looked over at the both of them. "And that's why you both are so wonderful in my eyes."

​
 
Cyrus thought for a moment, "Losing the potential you say? How is that even possible?" Cyrus began to walk around in circles, "I would have to study that, wait is this similar to the suppressors? they might be related somehow." Cyrus grabbed a glass and got some water as well. This was starting to get a bit interesting to Cyrus first two new recruits and now a theory on people losing the potential.
 
____Ayomide Caedien ____

​



Ayomide sat there in Aida's room for a few moments before standing. This was not conversation she wanted to be part of. Aida was calling Sai a hero yet she felt the exact opposite. Everything is his fault, the injuries, and the victory. Ayomide's face tightened in the same blank expression she had been in as she stood their for a second. "Help yourself." She answered Sai's question concerning his hunger, not facing either him or Aid. Her only mission was to inform Aida about where she was and that was accomplished. She continued out of the room as her heels tapped against the floor. In her perspective, all she could do was look down. She entered her room and closed the door immediately behind her while locking it with a key. Looking over to her window, she leaned on her desk before pushing her self up on it. Turning her body, she slid open the window and let her legs dangle in the blowing night sky. This was something she did often that she knew no one knew she did. There was a reason this time however. She needed to hear the noises that she heard before. The Midnight Hour was nearing its end but she needed to make sure there wasn't going to be another battle happening again that night. What she wanted for was another noise and soon enough, she was able to hear it completely clearly. It was still faint but the crashing noise was much more clearer than it was before. It didn't seem like it would make it toward the dormitory by the end of the Midnight Hour so she decided to wait it out. She was too tired to deal with yet another happening tonight so she decided to wait the last few minutes of the Midnight Hour. As she felt the breeze push against her while the assumed shadow continued making a noise she had never heard a shadow make before, she closed her eyes for the last few seconds of the Midnight Hour. Little did she know that it would continue past for it wasn't a shadow, but a Shido. ((YAY PUNS)) The Midnight Hour was over.

​
 
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Sai laughed. He had heard Ayomide, but he wasn't hungry anymore. Well, at least not AS hungry. He unfolded the paper. "My dad told me one story I'll never forget. It was my favorite of all he told me. It was about a mute man, who traveled around, offering his help, but always being turned down due to his lack of speech." Sai felt himself starting to get lost in the story. He smiled and stared at the paper. "The man was a hard-working man. He was also strong, despite how frail he looked. So, one day, he walked into a village by the sea. He needed work, so he went to the harbor to see the harbormaster. He found him sitting on the edge of the pier, staring out into the ocean. The mute man walked up to him, and wrote on a piece of paper, asking the harbormaster what was wrong. The harbormaster told the man that he had lost his wife, daughter, and son to a vicious dragon that lived on a fog-shrouded island. No man in the village was brave enough to go and rescue them, and the lord of the village refused to order a search party. The mute man wrote down that he would go. Of course, the harbormaster stared at him like he was a madman, arguing that he was too frail. So, the mute man walked over to a stack of small wooden boats, and with exceptional strength, lifted it and placed it in the water. He wrote that he would return the family and the boat in three days. If he didn't return or the family didn't return, he would allow the harbormaster to either torture him to death or take any part of the man's body as a trophy. The harbormaster agreed, and the mute man sailed off towards the island, with only a two rice balls and a spear with him. When he reached the island, he tied the boat to a rock and walked into the cave where the dragon slept. The dragon was asleep at the time, so the mute man walked over to the kidnapped family. He wrote that there was a boat waiting for them out on the shore, though they must wait for an opportune time to leave. They would know the time. At that moment, the dragon woke up, and roared, asking who had invaded his sanctuary. The mute man held up a note, saying he was trapped from a shipwreck, but the dragon only stared at the paper. He didn't know how to read or write. He had the harbormaster's daughter read the paper for the dragon. The dragon stared at the man, demanding why he didn't speak. The harbormaster's daughter translated that the man was mute. The dragon acknowledged this, and decided that he wouldn't feast on the man if he taught him the knowledge of man. So, for the next two days, the mute man taught the dragon the knowledge of man. On the third day, the dragon yawned, and laid down to rest. The man turned to the family, and wrote that now they must go. He gave them directions to the boat, and watched them leave. The man watched them sail away, and turned as he heard the dragon awake. The dragon noticed his meal was gone, and roared, saying the man tricked him. The mute man held up a note, which he knew the dragon could read perfectly. It said "Words are next to meaningless when they come to action". The dragon attacked the man, but not before the man created a


origami boat, and sent it in the direction of the village. The man never made it off the island, but he had left his last words on that origami boat. And now it sails the ocean, looking for the next hero to defeat the dragon." Sai felt proud of himself. He had recited the whole story from memory, and it made him happy. "At first, I thought the man wasn't a hero. He had fought the dragon in a battle of knowledge instead of strength. But my dad told me it was what your actions were that determined what you were." He laughed. "My dad was crazy. But he had a point."
 
Kaede climbed the stairs to the next landing, trying to order her thoughts, work out what she'd say. She didn't want to miss out a single detail. Kaede paused on the landing, glancing down the corridor. Empty.


I'm not going to pull any punches. He harassed me in my own dorm- covering my mouth, forcing me into a room. He made me feel helpless, and I can't live in a place where I'm scared he'll pull a similar stunt again. As for the shadows, he disarmed me midway through the battle, no sword, and no Evoker. I was unconscious; that shadow could have killed me. Unfortunately for Sai though, I survived...





Kaede strode down the corridor, hand on her sword. He wouldn't get the drop on her this time, of that she was sure. As she walked she adjusted her t-shirt, wondering whether to ask Sai whether they knew each other.





"Not the time." She muttered. "If he pisses me off and I run him through, I don't want to realise I know the guy. That would be awkward."





Kaede reached Sai's door and paused, ignoring the voices from the Aida's room. Taking a step back, she kicked the door open, causing it to fly back on its hinges with a crash as she strode into the room.





"Sai?!" She shouted into the small space. Empty. Kaede turned a full circle on the spot, as though the guy might emerge from any crevice. Nothing. Kaede swore under her breath. She hadn't meant to shout.
 
Sai jumped at the sound of the door to his room was kicked open by Kaede. "Well, seems my trial is about to commence. Maybe I should stay here with Aida, have a witness if she kills me." He sighed. He was having a nice time telling the story to Aida. She seemed to at least been semi-interested in it. He pondered over possible ways to keep himself from losing any valuable limbs or body parts. He could approach this with extreme caution, picking his words carefully. That would only get him so far. He sighed again, and decided to stay there so he would have someone to watch his death. But that wouldn't be fair to her. He stood up and turned to her. "I better go see what one of our beautiful hosts would like with me. Maybe she has some honor in her for a duel to the death!" He said this with a formal tone, then laughed, walking into the hallway, but not before turning back to Aida, smiling and waving. "A beautiful chat, mademoiselle. But I fear I must bid you farewell." He did a theatrical bow and turned with a skip in his step, peering into his room and whistling. "Wow. Seems someone's a little edgy tonight."
 

Aida was quiet the whole time and she stared right at Sai and took in every bit of the story he had to offer to her. By the time the story was done she had a big and childish smile over her face. She didn't say anything at first, as she thought on about the old man and how much of a hero he was. Wise and wonderful...he was certainly an endearing hero she would never forget. She was about to say anything when-


"Sai!?"


-a loud noise erupted next door, causing Sai to jump. Aida's words didn't come out after that as it was all to be forgotten by Sai beginning to talk.


 "Well, seems my trial is about to commence. Maybe I should stay here with Aida, have a witness if she kills me." To Aida's dismay, he stood up. "I better go see what one of our beautiful hosts would like with me. Maybe she has some honor in her for a duel to the death!" He began to walk out and Aida couldn't say much with words caught in her throat, plus asking for anything like more talking time would be rude. Sai did, however, turned to look at her and smiled- offering a little wave. "A beautiful chat, mademoiselle. But I fear I must bid you farewell." he did his same old heroic bow and made his way to carry on with his next business.


And like before, when he was gone was the time when Aida finally managed to scramble up a "goodbye" with her voice but by that time it was all futile and a waste of breath. With the lonely presence suddenly looming in the room, hands met at her rustled hair again and she went silent..not sure of what to think.

​
 
"Wait, wait Cyrus! You don't need to go put of your way to find out, I was just curious as all." He interjected to the cyborgs trail of thought, he didn't want Cyrus spreading the question about before he left. What bothered him though wasn't that he lost his potential, it was that he still experienced the dark hour. He was about to say more when Kaede shout echoed into the kitchen. He smiled and hoped it would change the subject."Looks like Kaede has tracked down Sai already."
 
"Sai, so that's the name if the freeloader. But Kaede tracked him down? I almost feel sorry for him." Cyrus said jokingly. Still the chances he had the potential were minuscule The Dark hour is full of surprises. Cyrus put his his right index and middle finger right behind his ear, "Sensors back online. I say we go up and help Kaede, I want to ask a few questions myself." He rolled his shoulder back and began to walk to the lobby.
 
"Wow. Seems someone's a little edgy tonight."


Kaede whirled round to glare at Sai.





"You!"





Kaede rushed at Sai, shoving him out of the doorway into the corridor.





"Of course I'm edgy, after all you've done tonight! Whistling as though you don't care- you have no idea the level of-" Kaede groped for a suitable analogy, before simply swearing loudly.





"-that you are in right now! You left me without a weapon, knocked down, in the middle of battle, had that Shadow been just a touch faster, I would be dead! Do you understand that, or is this all just a game to you?"





Kaede turned away slightly, holding her arms above her head, trying and failing to breath deeply, to regain at least some composure. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him open his mouth to speak.





"Just shut up Sai, I'm not done with you yet." She snapped. Another deep breath. Kaede brushed hair out of her eyes before turning back to the boy.





"Earlier, when you decided me to manhandle me into a room and trap me there, you mentioned shadows." The memory made Kaede's fists clench again. "What do you know about them?" she demanded. Then as an afterthought, she half-drew her sword. "Make another dash outside, endanger one more member of this dorm and I swear I'll run you through. You know I would."





Kaede glared at Sai, waiting for his response with her teeth clenched. She was still raging inside.





But the bigger picture comes first. Once he's explained what he knows and how he knows it, then I can tear him apart. And then when I'm done, he's leaving. First thing in the morning he'll pack his bags and be out of here.





Kaede was aware of figures starting to fill the corridor. Footsteps to her left, from the landing. She kept her sword semi-drawn regardless of the watchers. No-one was going to get in Kaede's way and no-one was going to talk down to her, and try to tell Kaede to relax. If they did, she honestly suspected her threat would get the better of her judgement and heads would start rolling.


 
Sai sighed. "Everything? Fine. My dad was part of an organization that studied the Dark Hour and Tartarus. Don't ask me the name, because I don't know. It was a small organization. The purpose of this organization was to see what made Shadow's tick: what they are, what they are made of, common weaknesses, origin. A lot of stuff. My dad was low key on the ladder of command for this organization. He was hired as an escort due to his ability to summon Personas. When I was three, my dad was hired. This resulted in my family moving around a lot, because oddly enough, the entrance to Tarturus had appeared on my third birthday. It was the first Dark Hour, and my dad had stayed awake through it. But he didn't know I had also. For the next few years, he worked on studying different Shadows, capturing some and keeping them in what I assume is their base. My dad made friends with one of the higher ups, Hito Sumizaki. He was one of the researchers, and a highly respected one. He had visited my dad one day, when I was about nine. I eavsdropped on their conversation, which is how I know most of what I do now. Apparently, the head of this secret organization, someone called Xyn, was having his top scientists fuse Shadows together. Not just with each other, but with humans, too, creating hybrids that were called Shades. It was unsure how these were created, but only a few were made. More could have been made by now, though. I also learned that Tarturus had never truly been sealed. There had been numerous openings that appeared. The closest one to where I had lived was in a clearing by my house at the time. My dad and Hito decided to go and explore this place on their own, check to see if this Xyn guy was doing anything to alter Tarturus. And of course, me, being a curious little child, followed them. I followed at a distance, so I was the only one who saw the five or six Shadows that attacked them. They didn't stand a chance. I ran forward to my dad, screaming in fear. When I got to him, there was only one Shadow, and Hito was gone. I noticed a gun by my dad, so I picked it up, but the Shadow had left, and my Mom heard me screaming. By this time, the Dark Hour had ended, so my Mom ran out, and saw me clutching the gun, and had assumed I had killed my Dad. From that day, we never stayed in the same place for more than a year. We were being followed by the organization since. Because..." Sai took a deep breath. He felt his eyes watering, but his voice stayed untrembling. "I was one of the few Shades that had kept humanity. I was used as one of their experiments when I was three. My dad never even knew. I only know because it was burned into my memory." He glared at Kaede. "Is that good enough for you?" He leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. "I'm just a freak..." He put his head in his hands. He had shared everything he knew. Everything about his dad, the organization, the Shades. Everything.
 
"If there is anything left for you to ask your question to when Kaede was done." He said jokingly to Cyrus pretending to shudder as if the mere thought of what Kaede would do disturbed him. They arrived at the corridor just as Sai was explaining about shades, the whole thing sounded extraordinary but that didn't surprise him, nothing about the dark hour or scientists trying exploit it, did. He couldn't help interject in curiosity about it though."How does this merging change somebody?"
 
Sai turned to Toru. "A Shade loses all humanity inside of them. All positive emotions become null and void. They are filled with anger, sadness, depression. They can easily become violent. They have a human form, but also a Shadow form when they become aggressive. They are extremely powerful, because most of them have Personas. They can feed of people during the Dark Hour, but only during then. That's how they become powerful." He was thankful Toru actually showed up. Sai felt that even though Toru wasn't happy with Sai's actions, he would hear Sai out.
 
That's... hard. Kaede struggled to find the words in her head with enough depth and gravity to capture her shock, and sympathy. She glanced around at the others, realising that the task nobody wanted would fall to her. She tried to tap back into the part of herself that was still angry, to ignore her sympathy, and get on with the job.


Kaede drew her sword all the way from its sheath, and lowered the tip to rest on Sai's chest. She felt the weapon bob up and down as he breathed.





"So your part shadow." That was only a statement of fact, the easy part. "Part shadow, sitting in the middle of S.E.E.S' Headquarters. How do we trust you Sai? How do we trust you not to- what was it? Feed on us, while we sleep?"


Kaede was breathing too quickly. It was a struggle to gather the breath to speak.


"What if you change into a Shadow," She asked, "Do you just curl up and go to sleep? Or will you try to kill us like your friends did out there?" Kaede gestured to the window with her free hand. She glanced at the others in the corridor.





"Believe me, however pissed I am for the other things," Kaede shot a look at Sai, "and don't get me wrong, I am pissed as hell, but I take no pleasure in this. How can we allow a Shadow to stay here, no matter what he's apparently been through?"





A thought occurred to Kaede that made it slightly easier to breath with her sword on Sai's chest.





"What if he ran outside deliberately, left me defenceless, deliberately? For all we know, he's on their side, not ours. We might just be targets to him.





As Kaede looked down at the crumpled boy, she studied his face.





I know you, of that I'm certain. I just hope we met on the train or something, and that it has nothing to do with Shadows.





But even as she thought this, she wasn't so sure.





If he knows me, let him mention it me first. With his past, I don't want to be the one to the one to make assumptions. Who knows what could happen.
 
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The Dark Hour had ended...


Shido's body was heavy again and the pain of his wounds returned with a new feeling of exhaustion. He dropped the bus sign and fell to the ground gasping for air like a fish out of water. What the hell just happened? He tried to lift his head and noticed a sign in front of him with an Iwatodai logo on it. How did I get to Iwatodai? Wait... Shido motioned his head to the destruction he had been doing in the streets. I did this. He remembered. He remembered that he was charging down the streets like a madman but he had no control of it.


Then it struck him. Mom. He had no time to be hurt, he had to get back to the hospital. He groaned in pain and tried to lift himself but his arms and legs were like noodles. Get up. GET. UP. He gritted his teeth and tried to lift his body with his head but it was no use, his body was like lead. "Come on! Get... UP!"
 
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