foolishjustice | Private communications

foolishjustice

Moshi moshi!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

biddentodance

[It...feels weird - feels wrong - to seek out something like this. It's not important, doesn't matter, it's just Minato's own problems. Except that isn't true anymore. It hurt Aiden severely. Next time, what if--

There's a hitch of his breathing, a shudder. He shakes his head lightly, more to himself that Goro. He doesn't need to think back to the bridge. Not right now.]

Do what you have to. [He doesn't care.]

[Except he does.]

From:

foolishjustice

[He nods and closes his eyes, extending his spiritual senses. Minato's thoughts appear on the edge of his awareness, but they're not what he's looking for...and he'd rather not intrude if he doesn't have to.

Instead, he focuses on the hitchhiker, looking at both thoughts and the data of its own Soul composition.]

From:

biddentodance

[The fact of the matter is that the extra is thoroughly entangled with Minato's own soul - not completely, but what it has of an individual soul...seems to be at least in large part taken from him. Whether it's by actually taking some of his soul or more like a xerox copy is difficult to say. There's something obfuscating the view, too, like looking through fog.

It is both alien and familiar. Inhuman, powerful beyond words, beyond understanding, and yet not foreign. It seems at times solid and others like several large pieces. And it hides - hides behind Minato's soul, like a child hiding behind an older sibling. And if it were to take a human form - it would be a child. A boy, maybe about ten years old, wearing prisoner's stripes.

He seems shy. Nervous, even perhaps afraid, though still curious.]

From:

foolishjustice

It's okay, I just want to know what you are.

[The words are said aloud, though not directed at Minato. The next ones, however, are.]

It definitely has a consciousness...he feels almost like a child. Not human, but not too far removed, either. I think he's intimidated by the fact that I can observe him.

From:

biddentodance

[The presence peeks out, then shrinks back again. He doesn't know. He doesn't remember. Who is this?]

A child...? [...Wait. Wait, there's a child left unexplained.] Pharos...?

From:

foolishjustice

Pharos, is that your name? I'm Goro Akechi, a friend of Arisato-kun's.

From:

biddentodance

[Pharos is his name... Minato is his friend, too. He's never met anyone else before.

Pharos's face and voice aren't unlike Minato's own. Younger, certainly, but he really could pass for his younger brother...or possibly for his younger self.]

.....you can speak to him..... [It's more to himself - almost disbelieving. Pharos has never appeared to anyone else.]

From:

foolishjustice

It's because I'm a sort of...manager of the afterlife. I have some extra senses regarding souls. This one...appears to be quite heavily damaged. He's used yours to repair his own, though...I can't tell for sure if it's a partial merge or if he's just copied parts of yours into the empty space.

[His tone softens as he turns his attention back to Pharos.]

You heard that, right? I have special powers that let me see things that don't have bodies of their own. Have you been trying to protect Arisato-kun?

From:

biddentodance

Afterlife? [So...the dead. That's not too surprising. But it's worrying. Does that mean...] Is he...dead?

[Pharos...isn't sure. He's been doing what he can. Warning him, every time he remembers something. Because they're friends.]

[Minato doesn't like the implication that Pharos is connected to the Black Persona. And it is still only an implication, right? He...he'll have to explain what he knows about the boy, won't he.]

From:

foolishjustice

Not necessarily...it means he's a soul without a body, that's all I can be sure of.

Can you hear him right now? Or do I need to pass his words along?

From:

biddentodance

I can. Can see him, too. Was the only one who could, until now.

[He's just been letting Pharos focus on the new person. It's....well, like Pharos said, he's only ever known Minato before.

Pharos confirms this is the first time he's appeared when Minato wasn't alone. But he's always with him.]

... [There's more he could say.]

From:

foolishjustice

So, you've seen everything Minato's been through? Do you know anything about the dangerous Persona?

From:

biddentodance

[He's never seen it directly, and to be honest he doesn't know much about it. He only knows that it's stronger than it used to be. He...doesn't like it.]

Stronger...? [But he's only summoned the thing twice, neither time intentionally. And it was already strong...]

From:

foolishjustice

That...is concerning. It could be increasing in power along with you, or...

[He hesitates for a moment, but...no, if Minato's a fellow Wildcard, this is the sort of thing he needs to be aware of.]

Have you considered it might be the result of outside influence?

From:

biddentodance

[If Pharos doesn't like it.... He'd tried to warn him about Strega. He warned him in advance when there'd be an 'ordeal'. And they're friends. The Black Persona really is something dangerous...]

...Outside influence? Like what?

[Dimly, he thinks back to Shirakawa Boulevard. To feeling the Shadow in his head, missing time and being controlled much more thoroughly than Charm can manage.]

From:

foolishjustice

One of my Personas has a unique ability, that's capable of affecting even Shadows normally immune to status effects. He also has more skills than a Persona should be able to access at once, and I have strong reason to believe he was empowered by a being that was orchestrating events for a certain outcome.

This might be something similar. The influence of a being that wants you to accomplish a certain goal, and doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.

From:

biddentodance

Everyone responsible for creating the Dark Hour is dead.

[He won't admit to the coil of dread that's been pooling in his gut since this began. The surge of fear he feels now, though - for the rest of SEES. Because 'being' implies that it's...not a person, somewhere in the world. Some other force. But what that could possibly be, and what "purpose" may exist...he can't even begin to imagine. He just.....he doesn't want his team hurt. Not ever, but he'll settle for not in ways that can't be healed.]

How would I know? [He has to protect them.]

From:

foolishjustice

I couldn't say. I only know about my own situation because Akira confronted the entity responsible in his timeline. But, Pharos' memory might be part of it. It's possible part of what he's forgotten might give you clues about what's really happening.

From:

biddentodance

Most of what he's remembered so far has been cryptic warnings of doom. The "end of everything".

[Ends...time. The Dark Hour. He thinks back to the first time he and Akechi spoke of what SEES fights...he doesn't remember in the most detail, due to his fever, but....shit.]

From:

foolishjustice

[The phrase 'end of everything' causes him to tense visibly, eyes widening in alarm. Could...there be a connection? How long has Mementos existed in its distorted state?]

That...definitely sounds like reason to suspect something inhuman is involved. Obviously the end of the world didn't happen seven years ago in either my, Akira-kun, or Akira-chan's timelines, but a false god in our time plans to erase the world.

From:

biddentodance

[That-- That's alarming. That something's trying to erase the world at all, let alone possibly again. Something in his gut tightens to an almost painful point. He doesn't....despite....the world is.....

He's more alarmed than he shows, mostly only looking surprised. But...but it's starting to solidify what he thought of moments ago and it's not looking good and... SEES is in way over their heads, aren't they?]

The timing....the timing is off. Why would it-- You told me before. The Dark Hour was gone after the end of January 2010, right? You're sure?

From:

foolishjustice

I'm certain. I...haven't slept well, since my mother died, so I'm often up in the middle of the night. And that's when my memories of it vanished, until I got involved with the Metaverse in 2014. I at least don't think Yaldabaoth is directly involved with the Dark Hour, but...honestly, I'm not sure the idea of multiple entities trying to end the world is less unsettling than the idea that Yaldabaoth has been defeated before and it only served as a setback.

From:

biddentodance

It's not- We know how to end it, there's a pattern....but it shouldn't take longer than three more months. Early December. It...can't take until January....

[Not unless something is seriously wrong. What the hell could take that long? Does one of them escape and come back the next month? Does that happen more than once? It doesn't make sense. The timing is wrong.]

From:

foolishjustice

I know the Dark Hour happened on the new year. It was always...more unsettling then, since more people are active at midnight.

From:

biddentodance

But it-- There are twelve Shadows, massive ones. Much stronger and more intelligent than any others we've faced. Once all of them are defeated, the Dark Hour stops for good. They've been appearing every full moon for a while, sometimes paired up. There are three left.

The next full moon is October fourth. It...can't.... It can't take longer than three more full moons.

[Something is nagging at his mind. He can't quite....there are missing pieces to the puzzle, but this is absolute. It has to be. The Kirijo Group has put everything into cleaning up this mess for ten years. Again, something about the timing...]