Chapter 49
A Rude Awakening; What's most Important
July 27, 2021; Saturday
Student Dorms; Daichi's Room
(Morning)
"*yawn* morning you two; did you learn your lesson this time around?"
Daichi turned around to see the two crow brothers in a heap on the floor.
"We… may have to stay within the perimeters of the room for the foreseeable future," Hugin wheezed as he tried to pick himself up.
"Good. Now, I'm gonna get breakfast going. Could you two clean up while I'm at it?"
Daichi took some eggs from his mini-fridge along with a small bag of rice and ground chicken. Even though there was a fridge in the common room kitchen, one could never really trust the other students; it was a common rule of thumb that prompted Daichi to save up for a refrigeration unit in his room.
"Hm? Looks like Iselin's not here yet. She did seem kind of down in the dumps yesterday… "
Daichi continued to make his omelette rice, silently setting aside half of his ingredients. He finished and knocked on his neighbor's door.
"Oi, Iselin. I've got some ingredients leftover from my breakfast. Wake up and I'll make something for you."
He went back into the kitchen and began cooking the second omelet. As time passed, he finished it, but still no Iselin. Deciding not to let his food get cold, he ate his omelet in silence. A couple more minutes later, he was getting tired of waiting.
"Geez, you'd think she'd be awake by now," he sighed to himself.
Taking the second omelet with him, he marched over to Iselin's door. Knocking twice, he waited for a sound, but nothing came.
"Alright guys, go in and get her out of bed."
"I'm sorry Master Daichi, but that is one thing we cannot do," Munin said fearfully while hiding behind him.
"What are you talking about? It's completely safe to go in."
"That's where you are incorrect, Master. I hate to oppose you, but I fear for my life," Hugin cawed nervously.
Daichi face-palmed.
"Look, Hildr probably would have woken her up by now. If Iselin isn't awake at this hour, then neither is Hildr."
The crows thought for a few minutes before dawning on the logic.
"Ah! Of course!"
"Such wise intellect, Master Daichi! We should have never doubted you!"
Daichi sighed once again when the crows zoomed straight through the door.
"Actually, now that I think about it," Daichi pondered
"It is pretty strange that Hildr isn't up at this hour… is it even possible for her to oversleep…?"
Inside Iselin's Room…
"There she is, brother, still in bed!"
"Ah, yes. All according to the Master's plan. Now, to strike while the iron is hot!"
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Why do they even say that? Is it a reference to something?"
"Perhaps. I believe I heard smithies say it before. Something about forging."
"Ah, then that clears up my misconception. Now to attack!"
"Wait!"
"Hm? Pray tell, what ails you?"
"I just realized; the smithy works with metal, correct?"
"Yes, and what of it?"
"Perhaps we can have custom made metal utensils to join our forces!"
"My goodness! It's like creating our own army!"
"But for now, let us carry out our orders!"
"Wait!"
"Please brother, we've put this off for far too long."
"I know, but don't you feel a… chill going up your spine?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"I don't know, it just feels like we should retreat."
"I mean, if anything, I feel it getting warmer"
"Hm? You too? Goodness, you're right, it is getting warmer. Let's get this over with."
"Wait"
"Hm? Did you say something brother?"
"No. Did you say something?"
Then, the two crows slowly turned around and faced the terror behind them.
Outside…
"What's taking them so long? Did they get distracted?"
"AGIDYNE!"
*FWOOSH!*
Daichi heard something like a fire igniting go on inside of the room.
"What was that? Iselin! Hold on, I'm coming in!"
He rammed into the door, breaking it open. When he looked up, he saw the crow brothers in a smoking pile on the ground and a disheveled Iselin on her bed, clutching her blankets.
"Iselin, guys, are you alright? What happened here?"
But Iselin had a look of pure shock plastered on her face. She slowly pointed somewhere behind Daichi.
"Huh?"
He slowly turned around to notice an ominous-looking person standing tall behind him.
"So, you were talking about being a gentleman?"
Daichi gulped and held up the omelet.
"Um, a peace offering?" he replied weakly.
At the cafe…
"Wow, what happened to you, Hildr?"
"I can practically feel the energy glowing off of you"
"Well, she does seem a lot stronger… "
"Hey, guys, what happened… whoa"
Kaz had just arrived to see a new Persona that he had never seen.
"Oh, you're finally here", the new Persona said.
Kaz turned to Iselin.
"When did this happen?"
"Just this morning. I was really tired last night and ended up falling into my bed. When I woke up, I just saw the crows on the ground singed and Daichi trying to sacrifice an omelet to her."
The figure sighed.
"I don't know what happened to me either. I just sort of blacked out the night before and woke up to the crows coming into the room."
Kaz mused over everything. Meanwhile, Yoichi blinked to close off the scanning interfaces.
"Well, I can tell that you've gotten a lot stronger, but nothing much other than that."
"Hold up, I think I know a way to see if anything's different," Loki said.
"Really? What is it?" Iselin asked.
Loki cleared his throat and walked up to Hildr.
"Now, just stay perfectly still," he instructed.
Then, in a quick flash, he put his hands on her chest.
"Ah, yes. You definitely have grown at least a size or two."
*SMACK*
"Gugh!"
Loki landed on the ground after being slapped by Hildr.
"Ugh, okay I can testify that Hildr has definitely gotten stronger. Geez, couldn't you have gone a little easier on me?"
"It's Gertrude, and no. Touch me again and I will make your life a living hell."
"Wait, what did you just say?" Kaz asked.
"What do you mean? I just threatened to beat the stuffing out of him if he tried to feel me up."
"No, before that."
"My name is Gertru- what?"
Kaz snapped his fingers.
"Now we're getting somewhere. Do you remember anything about your past?"
Gertrude held her chin, then said, "I remember being a Valkyrie that healed both sides of a battle, I married my husband's brother after he die- wait, no I didn't!"
Mikan did a quick Google search on her phone and came up with a picture of Shakespeare.
"Here's a hit. Apparently, the info we have is of Gertrude from Shakespeare's Hamlet. But isn't Hamlet a work of fiction?"
"Why is this happening?! My name is Gertrude! Dammit! It is Hilll… Gertrude. GODDAMMIT! I know that it's wrong but it just feels right!"
"Want to rephrase that?" Johei asked.
"Shut up!"
Kaz sighed and remembered an old talk he had with Igor.
Flashback
"Your social links will be the key to your strength. The closer you become to your friends, the stronger they shall prove to be in battle."
"Huh, what happens when I reach rank 10?" Kaz asked.
"Then that would mean the bond you share will never be broken. You probably won't be able to go beyond that, though."
"I see. Are you sure there won't be anything that happens?"
"Well, they would receive a great boost in strength… "
"But?"
"It's probably best if you find out yourself."
"Wait, don't leave me ha-"
"Court is adjourned!" Igor suddenly said while slamming down his gavel.
"Hey! I'm not finished with my-"
Flashback End
"Well, I guess this is what he meant. *sigh*, he could have just given me a heads up."
"Either way, this can take a side focus. There was something more pressing that we wanted to talk about."
"The next target, right?" Yuriko asked.
She pulled out her phone and opened up the app.
"A lady named Mitsuru Kirijo. I did some research and found out that she's the head of an organization called the 'Kirijo Group'."
"What do they do?" Kaz asked.
"Mostly research of all sorts. The company was involved in some shady business with the previous leader, but she's worked on trying to be more open with the public. Lots of contributions were made, but they seem to be keeping their cards hidden."
Then, her eyes widened.
"This… this is… "
"What?"
Johei walked over to her to take a look at the screen.
"My God… "
"What did you find?" Mikan asked, looking at the phone.
"Are you kidding me?"
Yuriko sighed.
"Typical Mika-senpai. Of course, you wouldn't appreciate something like this."
She flipped her phone around and showed it to everyone.
"She has the intellect, the money, and most importantly, the biggest gadonkers I have ever seen!"
The picture was of her on a beach with a few friends. The swimwear she was wearing was sensual, but it did nothing to hide her cleavage. Johei had tears streaming from his face along with a small blood trail leaking from his nose.
"Madam, whoever you are, I salute you for the burden you bear upon your chest. May whoever posted this picture be blessed a thousand times."
Mikan rolled up a magazine that she picked up off the rack and smacked both of them over the head.
"Can we please stay on task?"
"Ah, you're no fun. Oh well. From everything else that I could find, the Kirijo group was somehow connected to the Apathy Syndrome incidents in Tatsumi Port Island. They said they were working on a cure, but a lot of reporters are skeptical. Like I said, they seem to be more secretive despite providing to the general public."
"I didn't come up with anything else new either. Not a lot we can get from news articles alone," Yoichi chimed in.
"Either way, we should check the Mirror Dimension and see how much time we have. We'll start hunting for information along the way."
Inside the cafe…
Ken listened to the recording from outside, slightly shocked.
"Mitsuru-san's being targeted? By who?"
He mused over the facts, but couldn't come with anything.
"Why would those Harbingers have anything to gain from taking out Mitsuru? Unless… unless it has something to do with him."
Mirror Dimension; Niflheim
Floor 57
"MWAHAHAHAHA! BURN! YES! BURN YOU MAGGOTS!"
Iselin cackled as the shadows burnt to a crisp before her. Apparently, Gertrude not only was physically stronger, but also her spell power was greatly improved as well. Iselin was already on her sixth time casting Agidyne and wasn't breaking a sweat. The team lagged behind her out of fear.
"Perhaps… we should not get on her bad side… " Hugin pondered
"Agreed, brother. Let us make a pact to never speak of the other things we know about her"
"I'm glad to see that you two have a shred of common sense," Daichi said.
Kazuhiko stepped behind Iselin and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe take it a little easier, Iselin. We don't want you to run out of steam when we need you the most."
"You know what? Yeah. I could… use a little… a little… brea… "
Her legs gave out beneath her and she fell asleep, finally feeling the effects of constant mental power usage affecting her. Kaz sighed and poured some medicine into her mouth.
"She should be back with us in a couple of minutes, but we should keep moving. Daichi, can you take care of her?"
After much bickering (from Johei and Yuriko), Daichi hoisted Iselin onto his back and carried her while the team continued. They rotated every now and then to keep all the members active until they came across a large room. Kaz took a quick glance around and motioned for them to take a quick break.
"Finally. We can't just seem to catch a break, can we?" Yuriko said as she propped herself up with her scythe.
"Hm?" Iselin finally started to come around.
"Oh, she's awake," Daichi announced and lowered himself to the ground.
Iselin stepped off and sat down, holding her head.
"Ow… is this what a hangover feels like?"
"I guess this is what it means to be drunk on power, hm?" Yoichi commented, rummaging through his bag for a can of black coffee.
"Badum-tss"
"Shut up, Loki. That was on accident and you know it," Iselin said, opening the tab off the can.
Loki sighed.
"Ah, fine. Some people just can't appreciate humor."
Kaz looked at the map on his phone.
"Alright guys, she's on the 60th floor. Let's push to there, do some reconnaissance and call it a day."
"Sounds like a plan," Johei said, hefting his spear over his shoulder.
They continued on for a few hours before finally reaching the staircase on the 59th floor. Iselin, who had to use some Agi spells along the way, was mentally drained to a drunken-like stupor, forcing Daichi to carry her again.
"Whaaaat? Why can't I just stay in the safe room?"
"Because we aren't going back down to drop you off," Daichi replied.
"But I'm tiiiiired."
"Then maybe you shouldn't have gone on a rampage and used up all your energy."
"Ah boo… "
She stayed silent for a little while.
"Daichi, aren't you tired too?"
"Of walking? No. Of your whining, definitely."
"Aww, you're so meeeaan, Daichi."
She started to pull at his cheeks, to which he did not reply.
"Meanie! Meanie! Meanie!"
She stopped after a little while, until she moved up again to Daichi's ear.
"Hey, if you take me to the safe room, I'll help take care of the little guy downstairs if you want."
Daichi looked confused.
"Who are you talking about? What little man?"
"Well, maybe he won't be so little if I take a look at him."
Daichi grew red in the face and quickly turned to Hugin and Munin.
"Dormia!"
Iselin suddenly fell asleep while Daichi wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"That… that was something I did not need to hear… "
Johei face-palmed.
"Dude, that was a golden opportunity for you. Why didn't you take the chance? Or, if anything, let me take her there?"
"Or me!" Yuriko chimed in.
"She won't let you do that even if she's drunk. Besides, she's straight."
"So is spaghetti until it gets wet."
"Could you two not talk about that right now?" Daichi said as he struggled to hold up Iselin while trying to wipe his nose.
Kaz suddenly stopped and held up his hand.
"Stay quiet; I think we're close."
He drew his sword and shuffled towards the corner. Peeking around, he quickly went back behind the cover and motioned for everyone to follow him.
"She's right around the corner, so everyone stay alert."
The rest of them nodded while Yoichi stayed in the back to supply ample support. Kaz then came out from his hiding spot and approached the woman with long red hair.
"Mitsuru Kirijo, correct?"
The woman turned around and spotted Kaz walking towards her. She waited for him to get closer to her before she spoke.
"I believe you are Kazuhiko Sukima, correct?"
Kaz stopped. He said nothing for a moment, but then continued.
"Do you know why you're here?"
Mitsuru looked down to the ground.
"From the recent reports of suicides in Kyuto, I believe I have been targeted. Please forgive me if I seem to be holding anything from you, but I have no idea who it might be in the slightest."
"Most people don't know. What's important, however, is that you hold something that brings you great sadness and despair. Does anything ring a bell?"
Mitsuru chuckled.
"There are a great deal of things that cause me to lose sleep at night. I'm pretty despised by many people as well, so I can't imagine what I'm here for."
"We've got time to go over everything. Please, search through your memories; there's bound to be an answer."
Mitsuru nodded and stayed silent.
"I suppose the actions of my late father might be a cause. The Kirijo Group is founded on a lot of money and the majority of it I assumed to be dirty.
"The Kirijo Group held a lot of illegal research experiments during the time of my father; I had only realized this some time after he had died. Of these experiments, there was one that caused us a lot of dilemmas: The Artificial Persona Experiments."
Johei tensed up.
"Wait, are you telling me that it's possible for anyone to manifest a Persona without having to undergo an awakening in the Mirror Dimension?"
Mitsuru nodded.
"Yes. Kirijo labs had uncovered a rare and precious substance that we had called 'Plumes of Dusk'. Any living thing that had an exposure to it was able to contract a Persona of their own."
"Something else that I wanted to check with you," Daichi said
"You stated 'Persona' as if it were a common household word. How do you know of the existence of them?"
"Well, this may come as a shock to you, but I am also a Persona user as well, although from a different generation."
"Figured as much," Daichi replied.
"Well then," Kaz continued
"What about these experiments would cause ill-will towards you, Kirijo-san?"
"With a Plume of Dusk, we could create artificial Persona users, and given the fact that we could use it on anyone, the Kirijo Group had drafted many people off the streets. The homeless, abandoned children, people that wouldn't be missed if they were gone. They underwent cruel and torturous operations just to have the Plumes implanted in them. After my father's death, the laboratories were shut down and all experiments were discontinued, leaving the surviving test subjects to roam free. I believe that there is a great possibility that one of them could be my assailant."
"You seem oddly calm for someone on the brink of suicide," Mikan commented.
Mitsuru bowed her head.
"It is true that I feel immense guilt for incidents that had happened on my watch, however I am onto something more important as of late. I think the reason why I am still here is because of my unyielding resolve to complete my mission first."
Kaz raised an eyebrow.
"Your mission? What is this mission?"
However, Mitsuru shook her head.
"That information is highly classified; I cannot tell you anything about it. The only thing that I can converse about it is that it is far more pressing than anything that I have to do right now. So please, if you would excuse me-"
*BANG*
"Ah!"
Mitsuru suddenly held her shoulder and knelt down. Kaz turned around to find who the attacker was, but was surprised to find a familiar face on the other side of the smoking gun.
"Nanako-san?! What are you doing here?"
She was breathing heavily, from exhaustion or immense anger, Kaz couldn't tell. She ignored his call to her as she walked towards Mitsuru.
"Your mission is more important? Why would you say that when the blood of hundreds are on your hands?!"
Mitsuru looked up and gasped for breath.
"I'm sorry, but you can't let you know about this. Not yet."
Nanako's eyes filled to the brim with hatred once more and she cocked her gun, this time aiming for the head.
"Tyr! Deflect it!"
*BANG*
Another shot was fired from her gun, but luckily, Tyr jumped in the way and was able to knock it off course with his hand. Mitsuru, however, had vanished in the conflict. Nanako rushed past them in order to catch up, but was caught halfway by Kaz.
"Nanako! What's going on? Why are you here? And why are you trying to kill her?"
Nanako finally broke free and found herself surrounded by the SPT. She had a sad look on her face.
"Sorry, bestie. I didn't want to pull you into this, so please forgive me."
She pulled out several cans and threw them. Yoichi recoiled and covered his mouth
"Guys, don't breathe it in!"
But it was too late. The sleeping gas had already begun to spread and the entire party was quickly wiped out. The last thing that Kaz could see was Nanako stopping in front of him, but then rushing past while covering her face.
He opened his eyes and found himself lying on his side. Grunting, Kaz struggled to push himself up, feeling a bit dizzy while he did it. Everyone else seemed to be alright, albeit a little shaky on their feet just like himself. Johei pulled himself up using one of the pillars.
"Am I the only one who saw Nanako-san or was she really here?"
"She was definitely here, no doubt about it," Yoichi said.
"I just picked her up on my scanner. She's already made it up another two floors while we were out."
"Geez, why didn't you sense her sooner?" Yuriko complained.
Yoichi shook his head.
"I don't know! I was positive that we were the only ones who were here!"
"I think I might know why," Daichi suddenly said.
He picked up a small container from the ground. It was a spray can that was empty, but on it was labeled "Stealthanol".
"It's a pretty self-explanatory name; she probably figured it out on her own."
"Ugh… what happened now?" Iselin grumbled.
Daichi turned to her.
"We ran into Nanako and she knocked us all out with sleeping gas."
Iselin's eyes widened.
"What?! Why is she here?! She promised that she'd only come in here with us!"
Kaz suddenly turned to Iselin.
"What did you say?"
Iselin then realized what she had just said.
"Uh, I mean she said she promised to… "
He marched over to her and pulled her up by her shirt.
"What do you mean she only promised to come with you two?"
Daichi put his hand on Kaz's shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Kaz, I'm sorry we kept this a secret from you, but Nanako had already known about the Mirror Dimension before. She confronted us and made us bring her here sometimes-"
"And you didn't refuse?!"
Kaz then turned his gaze to Daichi, who was promptly lifted up as well.
"What is wrong with you!? Why didn't you tell me this?! SHE COULD HAVE DIED!"
"That's because she asked them to keep it a secret."
Suddenly, a chill went up Kaz's spine. He put Daichi down and looked in the direction of the voice.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The girl smiled at him. She wasn't a real person, but that didn't matter to Kaz; the reflection was that close in resemblance.
"I guess right now, I'm Nanako-nee's reflection, but I guess you can call me Toyotama for now."
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand we are BACK! Welcome all to the eve of Chapter 50! It's almost here! I can feel it in my bones! Ah, well, I'm really glad to be here; College is overbearing but I somehow made time to write this. Anyways, as usual, let's welcome some newcomers to the mix: satanniel, and LaneFlames2014, you are the big guests of the chapter! Please give them a warm welcome! These past few days have been great for us nerds, gamers and weebs, eh? I mean, Kaguya-sama: Love is War Season 2 is announced, My Hero Academia Season 4 is just released, and Persona 5 Scramble let out some gameplay footage that changed many perspectives, myself included; We are really in a golden-age. Also, just want to let you guys know that I have another story being made right now. It's about Goro Akechi if he had survived and lives his life 1 year after the events of P5; also it is not in canon with Persona OLP. Chapter 1 of Getting Along has already been released so give it a quick read. Also, on FictionPress, I have released the first chapter of Part-time Lovers. My update schedule will be P:OLP, Getting Along, then Part-time Lovers so don't expect an update for a little while, okay? Anyways, have a safe and fun Halloween, and here's your omake. Seeya!
Game Night
Johei's Room; Poker (with any bets)
"Okay. Now, I want a fair game. No cheating, no card counting, and absolutely no pulling out on bets," Johei said as he shuffled the cards.
Kaz was about to reach into his pocket before Johei stopped him.
"Hold on, money bags! You are not allowed to bet any of the money we earned in the Mirror Dimension."
Sighing, Kaz put his wallet back into his pocket. Meanwhile, Daichi looked at his hand earnestly.
"Master Daichi! That combination's a straight!"
*BONK*
Daichi sighed.
"After all that time I spent on my poker face and it's ruined by you numbskulls."
Iselin fished around in her pockets but couldn't come up with anything. Then, she slammed her palm on the table.
"I wager… my panties"
*BONK*
"If you're broke then don't play!" Daichi shouted at her as he laid down his cards.
"Hold on, Daichi. I said you can bet anything, and I mean anything"
"Hold on, she can still play with money," Yuriko said.
Daichi gave out a sigh of relief.
"Yuriko-san, it's nice to know that you still have your head on your shoulders."
"If she sells me her panties"
*BONK*
"Stop having ulterior motives!"
"Alright, I'll raise to 1000 yen. Anyone gonna call?" Johei announced.
Kaz looked at Johei dead in the eyes. Searching for any hesitation, but Johei showed none. Sighing, he opened his hand.
"Call."
"What?! How did you know I had absolute trash for my hand?"
Kaz collected the money and looked up at Loki's screen, which showed a pair of 2s and jacks.
"Uh, gambler's intuition."
Mikan's House; Dungeons and Dragons (enough said)
"You come across the mighty Kraken of the Sea who promptly attacks your ship. What do you do?"
"Kick it in the balls," Daichi says while rolling the dice.
"Daichi, it has no balls," Mikan answers him.
"Then I'll roll a perception check to see if it has any," he says again.
Mikan face-palms.
"Ugh, fine. You really abuse the power of free speech too much in this game."
Daichi rolls a 2 and curses.
"The Kraken has no balls, you don't find anything else about it. Yuriko, your move."
"I let the Kraken grab me."
"... "
"What? Why are you giving me that look?"
"Is this a legitimate strategy?"
Yuriko nods with an earnest face but Mikan keeps eyeing her. Finally, Yuriko gives in.
"Fine, I'll use taunt to make it grab me."
Mikan just sighs again and rolls for the Kraken.
"The Kraken is irked by Yuriko's insults at it and she is now caught up in one of its main tentacles. Johei, what do you do?"
"Take a video of Yuriko getting groped using one of the recording tomes I got from the merchant in the port. Out of curiosity, how much would it sell for in the next town?"
Mikan lands her face on the table.
"Why did I even think of adding that monster into the game?"
Kazuhiko's Apartment; Monopoly (with made-up scenarios)
"My basketball team requires more funds therefore expanding our team will be more beneficial towards the overall society!" Yoichi announces.
"But wait! Please, let the court hear my plea on behalf of the Thighs Save Lives foundation!" Johei said.
Kaz stopped his gavel from hitting the table.
"Very well; the court shall give you one more chance to testify how your organization shall be more beneficial for the people."
Johei then slipped Kaz a magazine featuring a topless woman on the cover. Kaz stayed silent for a little while before taking the magazine, slipping it under his bed, then announcing his verdict.
"The court has come to a decision. The title deed for the Boardwalk goes to the Thighs Save Lives Foundation!"
"Hey! Unfair verdict! He bought the jury! I demand a retrial!"
Nanako had just been on the side looking over all the commotion.
"So, are your game nights always like this?"
Daichi shook his head.
"Oh no, sometimes we play Trivial Pursuit."
