Chapter 7 - Daedalus vs Tartarus.

That night, SEES had headed back from the trip of Yakushima. Daedalus wasn't so tired, but she was beat from having fun and everything that happened during the trip. She was looking at Minato talking with the Chairman, and how Junpei kept talking about how he'll go kick some Shadow ass in Tartarus. Obviously, Daedalus had no idea about Tartarus, but it seemed that she could handle the comments.

Mitsuru had said she would register Daedalus into the school the next morning, and she'd have to attend class once summer break was over. Daedalus was okay, since she could finally have some fun with people she began to know as friends now.

What killed her was, why did she have to have some hurt in her.

"Tavi." Mitsuru called her over to the stairs as she was walking up. Daedalus simply obeyed and followed Mitsuru on her own.

...

"I understand you wanted to be checked, right?" Mitsuru asked. "Though, you shouldn't really stress it-"

"I wanna know what's wrong with me, Mitsuru-senpai!" She somewhat shouted. "Sorry... It's just that my life's been so messed up. If my Darker Half is a Persona, and each Persona has a certain Arcana Attribute, I'd need help!"

"Where'd you learn about the Arcana?!" Mitsuru was shocked she knew.

"Akihiko." She explained that talking with Akihiko on the ship had lots to do with how she knew more about the shadows. "There's 22 Major Arcana, right? And then 4 Minor?"

"C-Correct." Mitsuru was able to say, despite being suprised. "A-Anyways... We'll be going to the control room. There, we can get a complete scan on you."

"O-Okay." She began to follow Mitsuru again with worry in her chest.

They began to walk to the fourth floor, soon having Mitsuru open the double doors in between. She thought of it being a Control Room for a reason, as the computer had screens of all the different rooms in the dorm. There was a couch, a rolling chair, and many other neat things.

Mitsuru pointed to the computer.

"Stand by here, please." She requested easily.

Daedalus felt quite uneasy on what was going to come, but she knew she had to do it if she wanted to know more about herself. She walked by the computer, and put the headphones that Mitsuru began to give her around her head. Mitsuru then sat down, and began to type at a steady pace to send coordinates to the Supercomputer. When Mitsuru tapped a button to enter the information in, Daedalus began to sweat nervously. While waiting for the end of it, Mitsuru heard voices outside.

"Hey, why's the door open?" A voice called out.

"Hm, it seems that people are in there..." Another voice began. Footsteps began to grow louder into the distance, but the dramatization faded when they found out it was just Akihiko and the Chairman.

'G-Go away...' Daedalus thought to herself in fear. 'Don't look... I don't want you to worry...'

"Mitsuru, you are still checking her, correct?" Ikutsuki asked Mitsuru in curiosity.

"Yes, and right now..." Mitsuru sighed, "These results... They're... Interesting..."

"Huh?" Akihiko was confused. "What's wrong? What's going on with Dae?"

"Well..." Mitsuru held her arm and rubbed it nervously. "Daedalus is capable of summoning a Persona... her Darker Half, but..."

"Tell me what's going on Mitsuru.." He sounded serious, his fists clenching up with a worried look flickering in his eyes. "What's wrong with her?"

"Go ahead and take off the headphones, Tavi." Mitsuru signaled, which Daedalus immediately did.

She sighed, "Well... Tavi, you're Arcana is..."

"..Death."

Daedalus' heart stopped for a minute, and she tried to think correctly. Death? Seriously? Is she really that horrible to begin with?

'Death means the end, but a new beginning...' Daedalus thought to herself, still shocked at hearing the result. 'However... Death is what caused all this to start in the first place..'

"D-Dae...?" Akihiko put his hand on her shoulder. His eyes were widened greatly, and he didn't know how to respond to his childhood friend.

"D-Death...?" She shook for a minute, soon falling on her knees with tears beginning to slide down her face. "D-Death...?!"

All she wanted to do was cry. It was the only thing she was good at, but now that she figured out she had part of Death in her, why did she want to fight?!

She began to wail with all the pain that she had kept hidden in her frail body. She covered her face with her two hands, and continued to sniffle and drain all the sorrow that came from the suspense.

Akihiko was just standing there. A little upset that it came down to this, but also pitied to see Daedalus just sobbing on the ground. Within a few minutes, Akihiko knelt down and embraced her in his arms tightly.

"I should've known..." Daedalus' voice shook. "I should've known I was a demon from the start... I should've just list-"

"Don't say that!" Akihiko pulled her into a view to lock his eyes onto hers. "Damn it, you can't lose confidence in yourself so easily!"

"H-Hiko-kun, y-you don't get it!" She yelped, "I've been in pain for so long! Now, I know why I was in pain! W-Why... Why should I even bother living anymore?"

She pulled away from Akihiko, then wiping her tears.

"That's right..." She quit sniffling, but her face was burning red. "I only lived... because I was waiting to visit Hiko-kun... I only lived due to that..."

"I see." Ikutsuki began to speak, "If that is what it has come to, then that's what it needs to be. Indeed, Death is a touchy subject, however..."

"It cannot be rid of from your body now, Tavi." Mitsuru replied, "You should still try to fight. Don't you have a reason for fighting?"

"That's right, don't you remember what you said back when we talked?" Akihiko tried to smile, "You wanted to prove your worth. You wanted to say 'Hey, I can fight!' to yourself and not feel like lying."

"..." Daedalus looked away and began to get up on her feet. "I-I'll be leaving now..."

"Huh?" Mitsuru was even confused.

"I'll be going to bed early tonight..." She told them within a whisper, "Tomorrow, I will try to tag along to Tartarus... battle it out and such."

"...Good Night."

...

The next morning, she was quite tired. She knew that today she would be registered into Gekkoukan High School by Mitsuru, but she couldn't bring herself to talk to any of them after what happened and all she could think about was how Mitsuru was going to get her into the High School. She was only fourteen, and she was going on her last two years of Junior High, but it was probably due to her being above average education that she did so well.

"That's right." She began to get up, "Because I will be attending at a young age, if I graduate early, I can still wait to get a job and try to get settled. Not only that, but since I'm attending after summer's over, I have more freetime today!"

She jumped off the bed, and began to pick the clothes she wanted to wear for the day she wanted to have fun in.

'Crying's not gonna solve anything anymore...' Daedalus was telling herself with a hardened face. 'I gotta be tough!'

She began to put on some khaki shorts that would help her feel the breeze outside. She wore her new tennis shoes, and wore a jacket that fit snugly around her and her plain white tee. As she was walking out her room, she saw Akihiko in the hall.

"Oh, Dae. I was just about to come knock on your door." He smiled nervously.

"..." She said nothing, kind of upset that she broke down in front of them all, then yelled at him at that.

"I-I was just wondering.." He scratched his head nervously. "If you would like to go eat out with me at the um... Beef Bowl place tomorrow..?"

"..." She turned her head away, for a minute and thought. She had to talk sometime, but it seemed she didn't want to. "I'm sorry.."

"Huh?" He blinked.

"I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk yesterday..." She sighed. Who knew it would just be a one day grudge? "I shouldn't have yelled like that. I was stupid-"

With his gloved hand, he messed up her hair and smiled wider.

"Don't worry about it, you had to cry." He nodded, "I gotta go now, so... I'll see you later?"

He began to walk off, when Daedalus caught his sleeve.

"Wait."

"What?"

"I wouldn't... mind going with you tomorrow." She replied, finally letting go. Akihiko just smiled back at her, and walked out.

...

She went to the Naragaki Shrine that was just down the road. She wasn't the type to be religious, but any shrine she went to with her mother would always end up having her leaning on something. Indeed she did, as she began to lean against the wall and look up at the clear morning sky.

"I'll be able to provide support, huh?" She asked herself, beginning to walk around the leaves.

'You...' A voice began to whisper in her head, 'You've finally found out what my true form is, huh?'

"What do you mean by 'True Form'?" Daedalus asked in a whisper, hoping no one would hear her talking to herself. "Do you mean your Arcana?"

"It's exactly what I mean.." Daedalus' necklace began to glow. She never could take it off, even if she tried. It was stuck onto her like super glue being stuck on paper.

"You've caused so much trouble with my mind... How could you?" She whispered, "I've let you take my body, and you repay me with pain!?"

'Silence.' She scolded Dae. 'You let that happen to you on your own accord, quit blaming others.'

"I.."

'You let yourself hurt. You remained oblivious to beatings. Are you going to continue that way?' Her Darker Self asked.

"If I let myself be hurt, I would be dead right now, right?" Daedalus asked. "Because Death would be calling me? You tell me that!"

The voice faded away, and she turned to the sun.

"Humph, I'm going back to the dorm." She whispered to herself, but then thought for a minute.

"Well..." She paced around some more, "It wouldn't hurt to start heading over to Gekkoukan. I mean, it's almost time for everyone to get out, and I could surprise them after all."

With that settled she eagerly walked off to the school, and was ready to suprise everyone with just a smile.

...

By the time she got to the station and rode to the High School, it was already time for all the high school students to get out. As she walked down the path, everyone that saw her began to stare. Most of them whispered on how cute she was, others began to whisper on why she wasn't in school or how they never saw her around before. Whatever the reason was, she blushed deeply and tried to ignore them. However, she ended up hiding behind a tree that the leaves were beginning to fall off of.

"Now, what to do on Summer Vacation?" Daedalus recognized that voice. She easily knew it was Junpei's with his goofy tone.

"You know, tomorrow is the last day for Summer Vacation, right?" Minato's voice came next. It was obvious that footsteps came closer, which made her even more nervous.

"What should we do?" Minato asked. "We're going to Tartarus tonight, remember that."

"Oh, I know." Junpei smiled, "Why not go back to the dorm and wait?"

"As long as all the gang's there." Minato replied, "It makes me feel relieved if we have all members there for battle."

"Right... You just wanna go out with one of the girls." Junpei grinned mischeviously.

"Do not." Minato huffed.

"Yo." Daedalus smiled sweetly after coming out from behind the tree. "Are you guys gonna be quarreling all day?"

"What the-" Minato blinked. "How'd you get here?"

"I took the bus at the station, heh." Daedalus smiled sweetly. She knew she was getting better at talking with the members of SEES. "I was expecting everyone to come out today, but looks like everyone has something to do after school."

"Well, I'm free today." Minato stuffed his hands into his pocket, "What about you Junpei?"

"Let's take Dae-Dae out to have some fun!" Junpei grinned.

"Really, Junpei, you have alot of energy on your hands.." Minato sighed. "I think we should get back early though, the next train will leave us if we don't get to the station."

"Aww..." Junpei groaned.


That night, Tartarus was open for the gang to go and explore in. Daedalus' glove was fit snugly, and her skirt had a belt that fit many things in two pockets. Her sets of Tarot Cards were in the pockets of the belt, and she had the SEES band on her right shoulder. Minato already explained how they were going to explore the place, so Daedalus wasn't so worried.

"Alright, team," Minato began, "We will explore up to the point to defeat the 8th Guardian of Tartarus. This will give Daedalus some perfect training for support."

"I'll do my best!" She bowed, following the gang to the teleporter.

...Floor 65...

"This place is so creepy..." Daedalus shivered for a bit. She was slowly following everyone, but she had to keep up if she wanted to battle.

"Watch out!" Minato shouted to her, as a Shadow appeared from behind.

"Aaah!" Daedalus was slapped away by it instantly. She took her element cards out first, while Minato got into Battle formation with her.

"Be on your guard at all times." He replied, "I'll help you fight this one."

"Right!" She looked at each of the cards in detail and finally chose one that suited her. "O-Okay..."

"Mitsuru, how does she attack?" Minato shouted back to her.

"She must say the name of the move, just like how we must say the name of the Persona sometimes!" Mitsuru replied.

"Okay..." Daedalus pulled out one of the cards, "G-Garu!"

Within minutes, she tossed the card and a wave of wind blasted the shadow away from her. Minato just whacked it with the bat to finish it off.

"Wow, Dae." Yukari smiled, "Nice job."

"I... I did that?" She was amazed at what she could do. True, it was a little weak, but if it fatalized her enemy, she could deal with helping everyone.

"If you did that, you must be strong!" Minato encouraged her, "Come on, let's try getting to the Guardian."

...

Daedalus continued to walk on her own after they split up to find the stairs. Obviously, she was scared to walk on her own, but she knew she had to obey Minato in order to get through to the Guardian. She was alone now, looking for the exit, and obviously muttering to herself.

"Man, everyone has an awesome Persona..." Daedalus sighed, "I admire Hiko-kun and Polydeuces..."

She shook her head in annoyance and groaned.

"This isn't the time to be admiring someone!" She blushed a bit, messing with her hair. "I need to find the-"

A beetle-like monster appeared in front of her face with a mask on the tip of it's head. It's beady black eyes scared her without warning, and it's horn was too close to her neck.

Daedalus began to step back, "..Stairs?"

The beetled roared, and simply charged into Daedalus without a problem. She should've known, Floor 71 had at least one monster that would attack without mercy.

"K-Keh..." She rolled onto the floor, steadily getting up to deal damage. "G-Go away... M-Mudo!"

She shot a blast of darkness at it, but it seemed to have dodged it without a problem. It got it's next attack ready, and pushed it's ridged horn into her stomach. She yelped a bit in pain, while barreling down onto a wall of the floor. Her first day in Tartarus, and she was about to die?

No, she couldn't escape Death this time... At least, that's what she thought until she heard Fuuka's voice.

"Dae-chan is in trouble!"

"Don't overdo it." A gunshot was heard, and Polydeuces appeared in front of her again. It's bulky feminine body used the needle on the left arm to flash a white light at Dae. Without trouble, Daedalus got back up onto her feet.

"T-Thank-"

"Keep your guard up!" Akihiko shouted to her, having her flinch. She had never heard Akihiko shout as serious as that.

"Lock on!" Aigis joined into the fight, as she used her guns to pierce the last of the Shadow. "Efficiently Executed."

"Wow..." Daedalus was breathing heavily. "Aigis-chan, you're really good."

"It is our duty to fight Shadows," Aigis replied, "It is nothing special."

"Dae-Dae, are you alright?" Akihiko patted the dust off the back of her shirt. "That was a pretty strong hit you took."

"I should be supporting you, yet I'm the one being supported.." She mumbled, "Oh. Medi-"

"No need." Akihiko waved to signal her to put the skill away, "You'll get your chance."

"Right.." She nodded, looking up to one of the halls. "Huh? Isn't that-"

Stairs appeared in front of her face as she walked up to them. They seemed to be walking up in a swirl up to a higher point in the building.

"The Guardian is on the next floor," Fuuka began, "Please be careful!"

"Right!" Minato nodded, "Okay, team. It's time to set up formation."

"I would like to request that Daedalus should be our healer." Aigis said. "She seems capable of being defense."

"Yeah, little Dae-Dae can heal for us!" Junpei teased.

"Hey, you shouldn't mess with her like that, Stupei!" Yukari shouted.

"It's alright, I want to try to heal." She nodded, "Let's fight it!"

Minato ran ahead, and teleported them all to the 72nd Floor.

...

"There are three Shadows in the middle." Fuuka announced to them. "Please be cautious."

"Got it, Fuuka." Minato began walking forward, "Hey, look."

"That looks like the next teleporter." Akihiko replied.

An orange platform appeared in front of them, but unlike the others it was glowing.

Daedalus just kicked the ground. She obviously didn't want to trigger anything else.

"So, is this how we exit the place?" Daedalus asked.

"Right." Yukari smiled at her, "You've learned alot since we first came into Tartarus."

"Well, I have to get adjusted to it sometime." She shrugged. "So... How do I activate it?"

"Just tap it." Junpei replied.

"Okay." She placed her hand on it and turned it on. "All set."

"Quite, now let's go find those Shadows!" Akihiko cracked his knuckles.

"Everyone, they're over here." Mitsuru pointed through another hallway, which made everyone come their way.

"SEES, prepare for battle!" Minato shouted, having Daedalus spaz a bit before facing the same direction everyone else did.


I was eager to finally spill out what Daedalus' Arcana was. It was stressing me so much, I decided to just put it with the Chapter they go to Tartarus at!

Rate and Review, please! I'm eager to know how much you guys like/dislike it!

Persona 3 belongs to ATLUS, while Daedalus belongs to me.