She knew he's coming, just around the corner. Her heart was thundering behind her ribcage so hard that she could get deaf from it. But she still stood her ground, cradling Naoto's head in her embrace. The young detective's breathing had slowed down compared on the moment before, and she feared that she failed everyone if she couldn't at least get this one friend of hers to safety. Naoto raised her hand to caress hers, and Rise looked down in respond.
"Get… out of here, and warn the Shadow Operative… just like how senpai and Kanji-kun had said. I'll summon Yamato to clear the path…"
Naoto coughed up blood, letting her remaining life dribbled down her chin over the already dried one. Rise shook her head in disagreement.
"No, we will get out. I'll carry you out if I have to! You just have to save your strength."
"No… I'm done for."
A loud crash, and the following explosion, could be heard. Naoto groaned, focusing her remaining power into her open palm. A card depicting an arrow over a wheel appeared over her hand and she crushed it as she clenched her fist. That bird-like helmet with long blond hair peeking out of it, those military uniforms, there's no mistake; Yamato Sumeragi.
"Go! Take her out of here!"
The Persona hauled up Rise like a sack of flour over his shoulder and gracefully glided the alley. She could only screamed and kicked at the Persona as she watched her last remaining friend, whom she had shared hell and worse with, propped herself up to face their adversary. Naoto checked and reloaded her empty barrels, aiming straight at where she could hear the incoming noise. Her vision blurred by blood lose and tears, she could almost see nothing.
"Yamato! Put me down!"
The Persona stoically ignored the demand. He glided near the ground level, almost touching the pavement. Even when dying, Naoto still had her head over her shoulder. Masking their escape by flying between the walls and opting to lay low, it was just like how Rise had expected from the Detective Prince. But she also cursed her on the same breath for not running away with her.
"Damn you…"
Suddenly, the shoulder that carried her on high speed dropped her. Rise fell on the concrete floor of the Midnight Channel before sliding to stop. She fell on her shoulder, and she could feel it broke in some places. Raising her head, she saw no sign of Yamato Sumeragi. Naoto's Persona didn't drop her; he vanished, which meant only one thing. Her tears sprung anew at the bare revelation dropping on her head like an anvil.
She's the only one left.
But her eyes steeled themselves.
She still had something to do.
Teddie said that he had set up an exit TV in the usual place. Yamato had brought her near enough to the usual place that she could walk to the place without much fuss. Rise took a step and immediately cringed. It seemed that she also sprained her left leg. Dragging the injured leg behind her, she could see it. The white marking of people's silhouettes like those in the crime scene and the four black circles on the floor; almost there, she said to herself. She must survive to tell Kirijo-san about just what they had faced.
"There you are…"
Her blood run ice cold.
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February the 5th, 2013
They were gathered here for a reason, though everyone can already guess what it is. Yukari Takeba had heard about the tussle that Mitsuru and others was involved into with several Persona-users in Yasoinaba, and even though the mess with local Persona-users had been cleared up, there's another problem all together rearing its ugly head. Now allying themselves with what they had called the Investigation Team, though not exactly in a willingly manner, they had one objective clear in their mind.
Hunting this 'Malevolent Entity' down.
But what she most curious about was this group of Persona-user. From how Aigis' sister, Labrys, had described, they seemed like a really good people. Reminded her of her time when they still in S.E.E.S together. She knew everyone who didn't involve in the P1 Grand Prix also think the same. And it would directly tie with what Mitsuru will propose to them.
Now Yukari had taken a good look on Labrys, she could tell that the battle android was an older model, for some reason. Maybe because of that very visible and obvious joints and biohazard symbol on her thighs, she wondered what her scientists were thinking when they stamped the symbol. Though the case of personality was inverted. Labrys couldn't seem to be able to contain her excitement. Mitsuru said that she bonded with the Investigation Team more than with the Shadow Operative officers, and it actually show. In all their way to Yasoinaba, she was unfocused, always staring out of the limo's window and now bouncing in her seat like a child at Christmas as they neared the town.
Yukari was curious of these Persona-users, but Junpei already vocalized her thought out loud.
"Man, really? A team of Persona-users? Reminds you of the old time, right Yuka-tan?"
"I would like to meet them as well." Yukari nodded, "What can I say? Here I thought people like us are pretty rare."
"The same here." Ken said from his seat, sipping his drink before continuing, "But this fog is so thick, I don't think we can see their face even thou they stand before us."
Labrys perked up at this.
"The fog… I remember Teddie said somethin' about the fog in Yasoinaba. He said that the TV World's fog directly tied with the Shadow's activity; when the fog rolls in, the Shadows come out. But only when the fog thinned, the Shadows become aggressive. When the fog became so thick in the TV World, it spilt into the real world, and started turnin' everyone into Shadows."
"Really?" Mitsuru listened with interest. "They didn't disclose such thing in our meeting last November when we trade our notes. When did Teddie say that?"
"Last fall. That time when Yu-san visited Inaba in his vacation. They took me to the TV World and had a picnic in there."
The ex-S.E.E.S members expressed their surprise in a quite obvious way, but Labrys didn't seem to notice, merely looking nostalgic and lost in thought. Junpei flailed his hands upward and exclaimed.
"Wait a sec. Unless I'm mistaken, isn't this 'TV World' a Shadow's nest? And you had a picnic in there?!"
"Yes." Labrys simply stated, really not seeing the problem, "The form that the TV World takes is depending on the state of mind of people who are trapped inside. Yes, when I was inside, it took form as the Yasogami High because of my yearnin' for normal life. But the true form of the TV World… oh, my… I never saw hill and forest more beautiful than that, and they had brought me to a forest for a camping trip before."
"What about the Shadow?" it was Mitsuru.
"You won't believe it! They're fairly tame compares on the shadow that we fought, I even pet some. Though when the fog started to roll in, we had to leave or, as they said, filled full of holes. They were talking about some large Shadow called the Reaper stalked the place if we stayed too long. Oh, they also gave me glasses to see through the fog and prevent the mind interference that cause Shadow of the glasses-less person to appear in the first place."
Labrys pulled a pair of bluish grey framed glasses from her shirt's breast pocket. Akihiko face-palmed at this.
"Then why didn't you tell us earlier? This could help us with our investigation!"
The battle android stopped for a moment to think this through, before laughing and awkwardly scratching the back of her head.
"Ahaha… it doesn't sound that important at the time."
"But from the way you describe it, it sounds like the TV World is a natural habitat of the Shadow." Aigis rubbed her chin, "Maybe a deeper exploration to that world is necessary to understand the Shadow's true nature, especially with the Malevolent Entity's manipulation of Labrys' Shadow self in that tournament."
"I think the Investigation Team already working on that. Chie had contacted me two weeks ago and said that they had a follow up on the Entity's trace. No news about that now other than a potential threat that might be stronger than what we had previously imagined, but we can actually depend on them for the investigation." Akihiko said. He stared at the glasses Labrys produced and took it from her hand without her consent. The android let out an annoyed 'Hey!' but did nothing to retrieve it. The boxer observed the glasses some more before putting it on the bridge of his nose.
"The fog doesn't clear up."
"Maybe this fog is not from the TV World."
"Maybe…"
Akihiko gave the glasses back to Labrys and slouched in a slight boredom.
"I didn't want to involve them to our problem, but it looks like we depend on them more than they depend on us." The Kirijo heir sighed, "And if what Akihiko heard is true, then there's something I want to talk with you. All of you. Though… I quite sure that you already have some picture of what I'm going to ask."
"You want us to join the Shadow Operative." Ken stated the obvious thing in everyone's mind. Mitsuru only nodded.
"The way that the Entity manipulated the event of P1 Grand Prix concerns me. The only thing we know about them is that they have a great knowledge of the events that made up both S.E.E.S. and the Investigation Team's struggle and they can take shape of anyone they want. We still don't know about the extent they could control the Shadow, but we can't risk any possible opening of them attacking us when our back turned. So, yes, I want you to join the Shadow Operative for sake of our mission, and for your own safety, as we know they seem to attack the Persona-users."
Koromaru barked in affirmative. Ken seemed in deep thought, like he doubted the resultant events that filled the Golden Week of 2012. Not that Yukari had right to say anything about that; the way everything went just seemed to contradict what she had known about Shadows and Persona. Maybe because she was in her comfort zone for too long, it's been awhile since she fought any Shadow, and she never get used with changes.
"But we're not here to talk about business. Well, mostly. Inaba might not that large, but it has many landmarks that are also vacation spots. Best we spent our time here for-"
Akihiko's speech was interrupted by a loud bang resounded from the limousine's roof, like something fell on it.
"What the-"
Again his speech was cut short as he saw behind the window an arm lolled from the top of the roof. Mitsuru already out of the vehicle and now she widened her eyes in horror. A dark blue haired woman lied on her back, lifeless and glass-like eyes were staring back at her. Her abdomen was cut open, with her intestines messily spilt on the car's roof and herself.
"Shirogane…!"
Labrys came out and she too stared in horror. She took several steps back until her back hit the telephone pole. Something splattered on her dress shirt and her sensor determined the coppery scent as blood. She looked up, and immediately screamed as she witnessed seven bodies of the Investigation Team being strung up on the nearby houses' television antennas and poles.
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They had brought the bodies down before the police arrive. Unable to contain their heartbroken, they decided to not wait for the authority and took down the corpses themselves; even though it meant that they messed with the crime scene. Labrys cried non-stop all way through it, and bawled even harder when she took Yosuke's headless body down.
Yukari, Fuuka, and Ken unable to see the procession, opting to stay inside the car. They unintentionally saw one of the girls had her head shot right at the temple, and the imagery of the evokers hit too close to home for them to endure. Labrys' scream warned the locals of what happened and now they gathered around the crime scene, horrified but oddly excited.
"These people…" Yukari turned to Ken, who said mostly to himself, "They seem to be attracted with this sort of thing. They aren't that bored of their life to the point of they find entertainment in murder, right?"
Yukari chose to not answering that. Ken was right, in a way. And she saw it; and its similarity with people whose life had been sucked out by Shadow. People of apathy, just in a different method.
"He's still alive!"
Junpei shouted as he hauled up a large young man on his arms. Both androids perked up and helped the cap wearing man to take him down. Aegis lied the young man down on the concrete and checked on his vital. His breathing was shallow and almost every bone in his body were broken, with his ribs visibly piercing his lungs and jutted out of his skin. He won't survive the travel to hospital. The young man opened his eyes and they tried to focus on the sisters.
"You guys…?" he coughed out blood and bile.
"Easy there, Kanji. Save your strength." Labrys said as she caressed his caked face.
"Thank goodness… Then Rise is… Rise got you…" Aigis bit her lips.
"I'm sorry, Rise-san is…"
She looked to the far side of the road, where Rise lied and had her face covered with a piece of handkerchief. Kanji took notice of this gesture and put two on two together. His face twisted in pain and he sobbed, his body wrecked by pain and guilt for letting his friends die. Mitsuru kneeled and gripped him on the shoulder.
"Tatsumi, I need you to tell me… just who did this to you?"
Mitsuru gave him a slight shake, and Kanji seemed to focus a little more. He opened his mouth, but the words didn't come out. He coughed, trying to spit those words, but still couldn't. Like he choked on his own tongue, with only several wordless opened and closed mouth motion marking his effort. The red haired woman feared that Kanji Tatsumi might unable to say it before he lost too much blood.
"I need a healer! Where's Takeba?"
"The… Velv… vet Room…"
Kanji wheezed out finally. Mitsuru stopped on her track. The Velvet Room? The place where they finally found out the true nature of Metis, the place that been guarded by that strange old man with long nose.
'Don't tell me… he was the one who attacked them?'
She couldn't believe that man could bring such harm to powerful Persona-user while they all were together, from how it looked, but then she remembered what Aigis said about that man. A man that knows about Persona's strength and weakness, and he could fuse them into another Persona. A man with such understanding would have an advantage in battle.
But still, it was hard to believe the possibility.
Mitsuru was about to ask more of what he knew, but her gaze met the same glass-like eyes she saw on the young detective's corpse and the instant she knew that Kanji Tatsumi had passed away.
Damn it… Why they always die before confirming any hard truth?
But she held her tongue and lowered his head in mourning. The last thought of this young man was that he failed to save even just one of his friends. Such a loyal and strong heart, Mitsuru admired such quality. This also confirmed her suspicion. Whoever that the Investigation Team had been tailing, was stronger than any enemy they had faced and had no reservation on killing. But really? Is it true that the master of the Velvet Room is the Malevolent Entity? Akihiko had just finished taking down Narukami's body, his blood staining the boxer half-dressed shoulder and arms.
"Man… this is messed up."
"Yes… and from how it looked, it looks like the modus of the Inaba serial murder in 2011, which means…"
"…They were killed in the TV World."
"Labrys said that the Shadows were pretty tame when she visited, but that was the last fall. We don't know what had happened in the duration. Do you think they chased after the Entity to the TV World and instead bit more than they could chew?"
"Everything is possible now, with the very people that defeated an abomination not unlike Nyx got murdered. And pretty messily, too. Are those gunshot wounds?"
"What more important is to determine if what Tatsumi said is true. Aigis, you are more experience with the Velvet Room. Tell me more about the place."
"Understood." She then went silence, gathering everything that she knew about the strange blue chamber, "The Velvet Room is realm between conscious and unconscious, only accessible by those capable of developing the Persona, or should I say, those who have ego. The proprietor of the Velvet Room is a man called Igor, and he was assisted by several attendants before they deserted for an unknown reason even before our en masse arrival. The function of the Velvet Room is to assist the Persona-users with their quest, mostly through the fusion of Persona for the Wild Card wielders, though the reason why they help us is unknown. Igor knows more than any of us, but always withholds information and speaks in riddles regarding the current quest of the Persona-users they assist."
"So, we don't know about his motive?"
"No." Aigis was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Though, if you ask about my personal opinion, I think Igor is serving a superior."
"At what ground you say that?"
"I… just have the hunch."
Mitsuru obviously didn't buy it, but she didn't push any further. Police siren roared, and she turned to leave.
"Mitsuru-san…?"
"It's better if we don't involve ourselves with the police. Can you find the entrance to the Velvet in Inaba?"
"I don't know. Usually the transfer is unwarned."
"Try harder. Akihiko, Junpei, Labrys, let's go."
"Wait…" Labrys pulled herself up, "You're gonna leave 'em here?!"
"Let the police take care of them. We're going to chase after their murderer."
There was something snapped when Mitsuru stared at those red eyes. Something she had saw before; Ken's eyes before Shinjiro's sacrifice. A hidden hatred and desire for revenge.
"Understood…" Labrys said in such an eerily calm voice that sent shiver down to everyone's spines.
The limousine sped up and tore through a corner, almost hitting the passerby. The Shadow Operative held the arm of their individual seat for dear life as they escaped the crime scene and lay low of the moment, even though Yukari snarked that the only thing that prevent them from being even more visible is the lack of huge neon sign above them. After the initial yelp of surprise, they went mostly silent, with those who personally knew the Investigation Team visibly shook up.
"Damn it…"
Akihiko slammed his fist to the armrest, making Koromaru who clung not far from him jumped to Fuuka's lap. He who, as the announcer of the P1 Grand Prix had shouted so grandiosely, reveres power so much, seeing worthy opponents, and then friends and allies, got slaughtered really put a great dent on his heart. 'How cruel, that's unforgivable!' He thought.
"Aigis, can you detect the entrance of the Velvet Room in this town?"
"I can't. For some reason, I too can't even detect any presence of Shadow-related phenomenon, including the entrance of TV World."
"Keep trying."
"Understood."
"We need to pull off to let Juno scans the entire town. Trying to find just what inside the TV World before we can venture inside. Try finding the entrance of the Velvet Room if you can."
"Yes, senpai."
Mitsuru bit her thumb in worry. She really didn't like how it goes.
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She ate her melon bread slower like she usually does. For some reason, her intuition didn't seem to agree with her, leaving her with a very heavy anvil hanging by a thread in her belly. Something is wrong, it whispered to her. But it was such a fine day; her neighbor walked their old family dog, her co-workers were in a good spirit that she hummed all way through the broadcast room, and her salary just being transferred. This day couldn't turn bad.
Until Komamura, the journalist, suddenly burst into the broadcast room carrying the highlight news, and she could feel her world shattered into millions of pieces hearing that.
'They're dead…?'
And at a perfect recreation of the Inaba Murder Case at that. Which means…
"That son of a bitch…!"
She pulled out her cellphone and jabbed a number. A little waiting, and no one answering. She then stared at her phone in disbelieve like it was her boyfriend announcing their relationship is over.
"What is going on here?"
She has no connection to her omnipresent benefactor, which means that she has to come to them in person. With that lunatic on loose, she knew that one of these day will become dangerous for the Investigation Team. But for them to get butchered? They who defeated Izanami-no-Okami? She knew the power of the personification of mankind's desire, and those who defeated her basically has ego stronger than the collective consciousness of the entire human race.
Just who strong enough to kill such people?
She only found out about the whole business with the Kirijo Group's android after Rise begrudgingly contacted her about a week (why she had to wait that long to inform her?) after that for sake of investigation and reconnection with the Velvet Room after Yu went back to Tokyo. This 'Malevolent Entity' sounded familiar from how Rise described its motive for some reason.
This 'Entity' might attack Mitsuru Kirijo's team of Persona-users next.
Back to Inaba for her.
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Just outside the border of Inaba, a group of young adults, a high school student, and a dog could be seen. They made a circle, with one Fuuka Yamagishi at the center. Pointing her evoker to her temple, her hand shook when the recollection of that girl who had her head splattered like watermelon. Just like her first time, and she thought she no longer had the hesitation that prevent her from pulling the trigger.
"Yamagishi…"
"I can't do this…"
"You can."
"I can't…"
"Do it for them."
Fuuka stared at Mitsuru uneasily, but at last her finger pulled the trigger without her making any sound. Phantom of blue glass shards along with a loud shattering noise came out of the other side of head instead of blood and grey matter, filling the entire area with silent expectation.
A wave of aura circled around the teal haired young woman, and surrounding her was a ghost of some sort. A woman with white-faceless but with many eyes mask materialized, its red dress opened up at the bottom, revealing glass-like orb instead of metal frame of a cage dress. Fuuka clasped her hands inside the protective orb, screwing her eyes shut and concentrating. At her cue, the great woman arched its back and spread its arm. Fuuka shook her head.
"What's going on…? I can't see anything!"
"What?!"
"Juno seems to be covered by some kind of veil that disturbed its analysis. I can't see through it no matter what." She grinded her teeth, "This is… unnatural. It twisted and turned like it's alive."
"Is this fog really not from the TV World?" Ken said skeptically.
"The glasses still ain't working." Labrys put away the glasses, "What we're gonna do now? Pullin' back?"
"Yes, we can't risk running head first to danger. Best if we think of a strategy on how we should confront the murderer. That the biggest problem that we have at hand."
"What about chasin' after the murderer?"
"Labrys, I know you're concerned about your friends, but at time like this is not the best to act so rash."
The android frowned, but said nothing back. Watching the scene, Aigis became slightly worried at the development. Her thought, however, distracted by a small tug in her trouser pocket. She pulled out the item, the Velvet Key, and felt a hum came from it.
"I think I have found the location of the Velvet Room entrance."
"Really?"
"The tug got stronger, like it urges me to go. Shall we?"
"You don't have to ask!"
The destination wasn't as glorious as the Shadow Operative had thought. Between a metal smith and a book story, an ordinary wood door could be seen had blue light behind it, slipped through the small slit of its frame. Surrounded by bankrupt shops and idle family businesses, it was depressing if compared with the lively sight of Tatsumi Port.
"This place… is kinda sad, isn't it?" Junpei winced at the sight.
"It's the boonies, after all. There's not many option to choose and those who choose, and when it does, the one that can't compete suddenly lose their ground. When Junes branch opened in Inaba, it basically drove this district out of business."
"I wonder how it feels to be hated…" Labrys said out loud.
"That's not really matter right now. Prepare yourself for whatever that old man has in store."
Aigis grasped the knob, and the blue light got brighter for every inch of the door being opened.
They stood inside the blue room. This incarnation of the room is more similar to their method of transportation than their more familiar variant of theirs. No more eternally ascending elevator, but a quite cramped limousine passengers' seat. But the expected resident of the room was not there, nor was his know assistant. Instead, an unknown young woman in suit stood with her back facing them, contemplating or reading a piece of paper in her hand.
The young woman then crushed the paper in her fist and swore in a hiss.
"Philemon, you incompetent bastard…! I should just go and bash your face in myself!"
Mitsuru breathed out to calm her nerve, and lightly tapped the woman's shoulder. The woman, unfortunately, didn't take kindly at the intruding move. She turned sharply, hand slapping Mitsuru's. The thing that the Shadow Operative didn't expected was a red skeletal arm suddenly whipped from behind the sleeve of her other hand and now proceeds to choke the Kirijo woman.
The Shadow Operative instantly jumped to her defense, with Akihiko already midway through with his punch. But it wasn't the incoming attack that got her attention.
"Persona-users? You're the Shadow Operative!"
The strange, vaguely demonic woman released her choke hold, barely flinching when Akihiko's fist stopped just an inch from her nose. The red arm slithered back behind her sleeve, a notion that made everyone's skin to crawl.
"Please, pardon my manner. Right now, I'm in a disagreeable mood."
The stranger bowed low to them. Now that Junpei had a good look on her, he let out a choked exclaim.
"Aren't you that Mariko Kusumi?! That weather forecast girl in TV that is said to never make a wrong forecast?"
"The very same. But, I definitely cheat on the 'never make a wrong forecast' thing."
"Seeing that you can grow another arm, I can assume you're not a normal human being." Mitsuru rubbed her neck, wincing at how possible that she might break her windpipe, "How can you have an access of the Velvet Room?"
"Maybe because I was an attendant? Maybe we should start the introduction from the beginning. My name is Mariko Kusumi and the Investigation Team called me Marie, but my real name is Kusumi-no-Okami, an extension of Izanami-no-Mikoto, the personification of humanity collective desire. I ended up in the Velvet Room after Izanami-no-Mikoto separated herself into several aspects, and Igor made me pay the lodging by working as a Velvet Room assistant."
"I see." Ken nodded to himself, "That's why you know about Persona and the Investigation Team; this is their turf after all. But it still doesn't explain why you know us."
"I'm their direct contact and… 'spy', you can say that. Working in journalist business has its knack, but now my loyalty only to the Investigation Team after they beat my other aspects senseless. You can't make me say anything unless it has something to with destroying the one who murdered my friends." Marie then sat on the left side of the opposite passenger seat from the Shadow Operative like it was natural for her to sit there. "Now you come here by your own will, surely you already some track. Or you just want to use 'divine intervention' of the Velvet Room as a start?"
"Kanji Tatsumi in his last breaths said that the Velvet Room has something to do with the attack. Do you know anything about that?"
"Yes. They came to the Velvet Room, all of them, in January. There they met someone that they should not in person. He then gave them some clues regarding the whole mess with the 'Malevolent Entity' and sent them to investigate. We all know how well it goes."
"This… 'someone' in the Velvet Room misdirected the Investigation Team into getting killed?"
"More like being very vague with his clues and wholly passive the entire conflict that is technically his fault. But yeah, he made them got killed. He didn't tell just what kind of monster they would face, and, I bet, that son of a bitch took a cheap shot when they finally confronted him."
"That means you already know who killed them."
"Yes, there's only one that will do something like this. But if you want a name, then I can't do that."
"What?! After all those build up, but you can't even give us a clear answer." Junpei facepalmed, "And you seem to dislike being vague."
"That's because it's forbidden for things like me to say it. Only those who have similar standing with the bastard can say it outright, which unfortunate is the one who has tendency to speak in vague riddle and that vagueness indirectly killed the Investigation Team."
"How can we find him or Igor? If it's true that he unintentionally led the Inaba Persona-users to their demise, then he doesn't really want it to happen, which means he isn't hostile. Aigis has a hunch that Igor has a superior, and in turn I have a hunch that this person is the one."
"You're sharp, Kirijo-san. You can't find him without finding Igor first. And the only one who knows where Igor goes is the last loyal attendant of the Velvet Room, Margaret. …Maybe. Margaret was the last loyal attendant but it was quite awhile ago. Who knows that she might desert too?"
"It's entirely luck-based? Man, talk about suck. Hey Kusumi-san, what do you think we should do?"
"Eh?" the indifferent mask toward them slipped just a little. Maybe Junpei just has a knack for girls of this kind, every member of ex-S.E.E.S. thought, "Why things you're going to do have anything to do with me? Whether you want to find Margaret or Igor first isn't my business."
"Well, you said that you were the Investigation Team's informant. You should be the one who know the most about what they were investigating." The dark haired woman scowled.
"… Fine. But jumping head first to their investigation might send you right at the same thing that killed them. Go to Naoto's house; ask her grandfather or butler about her 'stash', they will understand."
"Kusumi-san, thank you very much for the information. We will surely punish the murderer accordingly." Mitsuru bowed at her.
"Keep your ears open for rumors. They always end up true, just being exaggerated to the point of unrecognizable. Good luck."
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Marie watched their forms faded out from the Velvet Room and her scowl became deeper. A small wisp of blue light fluttered down to her face and she looked up. A blue butterfly flapping its fragile wings toward the limousine's seat at her left, transformed into a man with brown hair in high ponytail wearing a butterfly mask. Marie shook her head.
"I don't why I covered you in this. I never understand you trickster mentor type, why you always searching for the hardest way to explain to your followers when he is out for their blood? Persona-users are his followers as much as your own, and he will definitely use that against them, directly or indirectly." Marie focused every bit of her hatred toward the man, but he barely fazed.
"How many of your Wild Card that you will discard, huh? Of all Persona-users, those in Inaba are the one with best affinity to hold the Sea of the Soul in bay, and with just one Wild Card in your deck, even with help those from Mikage-cho and Sumaru, will do nothing once he takes control of your Wild Card. Face it, Philemon. The Crawling Chaos has proved himself victorious in this bet. Igor even thinks so!"
"Even though I agree that I neglected my children for far too long, I think you're too rash in this, Izanami."
"Well, sorry but I just heard news that the reincarnation of the ex-husband I still love just got killed and hung on a telephone pole when you know Nyarlathotep is a cheating prick. Please excuse my hostility to you." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Indeed, what he did is something that I didn't anticipate. But, everything is not lost. The Inaba children are still alive, just like the first Wild Card of Iwatodai is alive."
"Then they're more dead than anything."
"They can be released, but we need the rest of children for that. You said yourself that the Inaba children are the one with best affinity keeping the Sea of the Soul in bay, are you doubting the strength of ego of the one who defeated you?"
"… You got me."
"Be a little patient with this, Izanami. If preparation is complete, then we might not see Nyarlathotep corrupting the children for a longer duration of time than usual."
"…"
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