messianic | IC

[That's pretty brutal... Minato's frowning a bit, brow furrowed as he thinks that over.]

The teacher was the owner of that Palace...? Doesn't that mean he was some sort of...

[Very shady person...]

... Were you guys okay? You were in a cell?

[Very shady indeed, Minato.]

Kamoshida... wasn't a good guy. He was our first target - the first heart we changed.

[Akira gives another shake of his head.] But that's getting ahead of myself.

We were in a cell, and we were okay, but... the other guy. Ryuji, I'd learn later. He was furious. He was yelling at Kamoshida, and that's when the shadows attacked him. They held him down, pushed me against the wall...

[Akira shifts his weight on his hands, so he rolls his shoulders a little.] I couldn't let them keep hurting him. You can probably guess what happened next.

Edited 2018-06-17 15:39 (UTC)

[... Ah. That's... Yeah, he can guess. To protect someone else even more than to protect himself--that's inspiring, in a way.]

That's when you had your Persona awakening?

Right.

My first Persona was Arsene. He asked me if I would do anything to save Ryuji, and if my previous actions were a mistake.

[Meaning, of course, what led to his arrest... but he doesn't elaborate.]

I said they weren't... and that was when I awakened. I was able to fight off the guards, and Ryuji and I escaped the cell, locking Kamoshida inside.

[...Arsene, as in Arsene Lupin. He makes that connection a lot faster now that he actually knows Lupin, and wonders...what Lupin thinks about the fact that he's a Persona, if he knows.

But...

Really, when he thinks about this situation...]

I'm so glad you both made it out okay. [That sounds like it was terrifying.]

...But I guess that's what our Personas are there for. They show up when we need them most.

[He looks down at his knees, making a quiet noise of agreement.]

I wish... Ryuji hadn't had to go through that. But, for better or worse... that was the start of it all.

[He's quiet for a moment, lost in memory. But then he gives his head a light shake, and his expression lightens up.]

The rest isn't as serious as all that. [Well, other than seeing the shadows of the abused students, but...] My powers almost immediately fizzled back out after that - I didn't have control over them yet. So we ran, and that was when we came across... a cat.

[Ryuji is Akira's best friend, right? So Minato almost feels as though, in some way... it was always meant to happen that way. That they were meant to find each other and bond together in that way.

... Still, for now he keeps that to himself, instead tilting his head with a blank blink.]

...A cat? In the Palace?

[It is unfortunate, but Akira doesn't regret it, in the end. Theirs is a friendship forged through fire, after all.

But now onto the story of Morgana, an oddity all in himself.]

Well. He says he's not a cat. [A little shrug from Akira. Though he's happy to help Morgana search for his form and memories back, he's not sure he's really a human like he thinks.] But he looks and acts like one.

His name's Morgana, and he'd been exploring the Palace when he was captured and put in a cage, like us.

[A cat who says he isn't a cat...? This is just getting more and more confusing. Minato nods along, but blankly, trying to process all of that.]

... So he could access the Palaces too...? Does that mean he also has a Persona?

[It's not that farfetched; their dog has a Persona, after all.]

Yes. Zoro, actually.

[He has to admit, it's a cool Persona.]

We let him out of his cell, and he offered to help us escape.

[...]

Wait, so all of your Personas are famous thieves? [He's... just now picking up on that.]

Hmm... Thieves and rebels.

[He gives a little nod.]

Arsene, Captain Kidd, Zoro, Carmen... People who stole, but also defied the societies they lived in. That's what Phantom Thieves are - we steal, but only to try and help a society that is broken.

[... Minato doesn't entirely get it, of course, but he's not the sort of person whose Persona was born of rebellion. It's only to be expected, he supposes, that he doesn't entirely understand where Akira's coming from.

What he does know...is that Akira is doing his best to reform a society that doesn't make it at all easy on him.]

...Huh... That's really interesting.

[Right or wrong, that's not really up to him to decide. Besides, he trusts Akira.]

That your entire team's Personas have a theme like that. You've all definitely got the same goals, huh...?

Right.

[He nods.]

I'm the leader, but I don't make the decisions alone. Once we find a mark, we all have to agree to it, unanimously. If even one of us isn't on board, we back out.

[Not that they've ever had anyone back out, ultimately, but they stuck to it - everyone always agreed to every mark.]

It's like a pact. [That's what Ann called it.]

I see...

[It's definitely very different from how SEES functioned, but not at all in a bad way. Rather--]

I think that's really admirable, Akira-san. Everyone working and deciding together... you must all be very close, too.

We are. Those guys are my best friends.

[He misses them terribly (besides the ones here, of course). This place is fine and all, but he wants to return to them soon. He hopes they're all doing alright...]

What about your team, back home? Are you like that?

... It took us awhile.

[Minato admits that ruefully, expression more amused than anything. It was a mess at the time, but...]

But eventually, we got on the same page, so... yeah. We're best friends too. I miss all of them, but it's good to know they're safe back home, too.

IC » Inbox

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject