Chapter 15

Like a pig in a pork factory.

Like a turkey on thanksgiving.

Like a mouse in a lab.

Like Shinji trying to babysit.

Those were just a few ways to describe how utterly screwed Akihiko was.

"I don't think I need to tell you," Mitsuru stated, voice sub-zero as she paced back and forth through the control room, boots clicking angrily on the hardwood floor, "how large a mistake you have made."

Akihiko was wise enough not to answer that.

"Going to the second floor?" Tak! Tak! Tak! "On the first Tartarus expedition?!" Tak! Tak! Tak!

The redhead abruptly paused her wanderings at the room's grandfather clock. She stared at its hands, slowly ticking their way towards 1:30 (am), as she tried to control her breathing. With… slight success.

Akihiko swallowed. "…I'm sorry," he began. "I know I screwed it up. I-"

Whatever apology he was going to stutter out was frozen on his lips as the Kirijo heir tilted her head to the side, just enough to let gravity brush her bangs out of the way and let one narrowed eye meet Akihiko's. "I'm not done yet."

The boxer almost winced. Okay, tired or not, that was an amateur mistake. 'Never interrupt Mitsuru on a roll' was a top ten Dealing With A Kirijo rule.

"You endangered the lives of everyone, simply because you didn't wait for directions! I expected you to have more common sense than that! Why on earth would you not wait before ascending into an unknown area without your scanning ability?!" At this point, she was fully facing him, teeth clenched tight and hands nearly trembling. "What were you thinking, Akihiko?!"

After getting chewed out like that, most people probably would have been angry. But not Akihiko.

Because he knew Mitsuru wasn't furious, she was terrified.

"…I wasn't," he said. "And I really am sorry. It won't happen again."

Mitsuru stared at him for a moment, deciding exactly which emotion to feel. She chose exhaustion. Deflating, the redhead somehow found her way to the red armchair next to the computer and sat on its armrest, still facing the standing boxer. "…I want to trust you, Akihiko," she eventually said, placing her hands together on her lap. "But…"

Her voice trailed off, and she looked to the side, away from the grey haired boy.

"Mitsuru?" Akihiko ventured. "…What exactly happened while I was away from them?"

The Kirijo heir looked up… but so very, very slowly. "Akihiko," she started, voice dull, "Arisato almost died."

The boy's eyes shot open. "What?!"

"She was seconds away from getting a likely fatal wound by that group of shadows," she continued, only her white knuckles betraying the emotion behind the facts, "Her right leg and the left half of her face were covered in third degree burns, and she had just suffered a massive cut across her abdomen before Iori and Takeba arrived on site."

"…So without them, she would have bled out, even if she somehow killed the shadows?"

Mitsuru didn't dignify that with a response. Minus another small tightening of her hands.

Akihiko sighed, dropping his head. He really had known he'd screwed up badly, but this took it to a whole other division.

"Mitsuru…" The girl glanced up at him, though his gaze was still fixed on the floor. "…I'm not sure I'm the best choice for field leader." He raised his head. "You know that I'm just not cut out for thinking things through."

He wasn't given a verbal response. But Mitsuru's lightly raised eyebrow was more than enough to say 'Oh, I know, alright.' "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know, Mitsuru. What I do know is that I'm the least qualified person to lead a bunch of newcomers into Tartarus."

"Stepping down won't solve the problem, Akihiko. We need someone to take command."

The boxer grimaced. "…I can always try talking to Shinji. See if he'd come back."

"That won't work." Mitsuru closed her eyes and shook her head. "Why would he come back now? What would make this time different from all the other times you've asked?"

The frown lines on Akihiko drew further down. "If we really need him, I'll drag him back here. Whether he likes it or not."

Mitsuru reopened her eyes. "Thank you, Akihiko," she said, a hint of exasperation slipping in, "But I don't believe that's a particularly… efficient recruiting technique."

The boxer, of course, caught on to the sarcasm quickly. "W-well, what do you think we should do then?" He crossed his arms, turning his heating face away from the increasingly amused Mitsuru. "Get an underclassman as operating leader?"

"…The thought crossed my mind."

"Wait, what?" Embarrassment forgotten, he wheeled around to face the redhead. "You really want one of the juniors to lead? The ones who we were just calling 'newcomers?'"

"Age and leadership do not come hand in hand," Mitsuru muttered. "And Arisato truly shows a knack for leadership."

"Arisato? Of all people, you'd choose the newest of the new?"

Mitsuru nodded, only barely dipping her head down. "She's clever, she truly knows how to take charge of a situation, and she keeps her calm under pressure."

"And she's a hell of a fighter," the boxer added. "But Mitsuru, that's not gonna fly with the others."

The Kirijo heir raised her eyebrows. "Hm? Why wouldn't it? The other two like her…" Her eyes flicked down, and uncertainty flashed across her face. "…Don't they?"

"Mitsuru, I can tell you from personal experience that placing someone most see as an equal in a leadership position does nothing good for their personal relations. Remember when I was placed as head of boxing club sophomore year?" Mitsuru hesitantly nodded. "That… well, wasn't a good time for anyone. Most of my rivals turned into full-blown enemies, just from jealousy."

"…And… You truly believe this would happen to Arisato?"

"Well… I dunno. Like you said, Arisato's an odd one. She might be the exception."

Mitsuru bit her lip, but stayed silent, stewing in thought. Learning from his mistakes, Akihiko also shut up.

Finally, the Kirijo heir looked back up. "I think we should place Arisato in charge, at least once, to see how she does. If it works, it might ruin the relationship between the juniors…" She swallowed. "…But I would rather have them dislike each other alive than like each other dead."

"I gotcha. Works with me." The boxer grinned. "I'm lookin' forward to it."

Mitsuru's face tilted up in a tired smile. "…Glad to hear it." She twisted her head, facing the computer screen. "We'll talk more about this tomorrow. You should get some rest."

"As should you."

"I will."

"…Mitsuru."

The redhead looked back in surprise at Akihiko's tone, her eyes widening further at the boxer's narrowed eyes. "…Yes?"

"Sorry for being so blunt… But you've gotta go to bed. You can't just pretend that you don't need sleep like the rest of us."

"I told you, I will, Akihiko."

"Mitsuru, I meant now."

The girl's eyes also began to narrow. "…Are you trying to order me, Akihiko?"

A short sigh escaped from the boy. "No, Mitsuru, come on, I'm n-"

"Should I remind you of your position here?"

The duo stared at each other. Mitsuru's eyes were narrowed to slits, her body radiating danger despite her simple position leaning against the armchair, while Akihiko's fists were clenched tightly at his sides, his face conflicted.

At last, the grey-haired boy let out another sigh, looking down at his feet. "Mitsuru, please. There's no reason to do this to yourself…"

"Get some sleep, Akihiko."

"Mits-"

"Now, Akihiko."

Akihiko's eyes widened at Mitsuru's tone. But this time, there was no question about who was doing the ordering.

He stood there for a few more seconds, frozen by indecision, before stiffly turning on a heel and walking to the exit, still white-knuckled. The way he closed the room's door was just shy of slamming it.

Finally alone again, the redhead slumped over. She knew Akihiko meant well; even someone like her could tell that much. But…

Mitsuru breathed out and closed her eyes. Unfortunately for him, there were some things that only she could do.

She shook her head a little. Any guilt she felt could wait. For now… there was data entry to be done.

"Yukari-chaaaan!"

The addressed brunette, walking out of the school's main entrance, looked behind her for the source of the voice. She was unsurprised to find an auburn-haired girl charging forwards, her typical grin brightening as Yukari met her eyes.

She was more surprised to see an uncomfortable-looking Junpei trailing behind. Although, 'being dragged forwards' would be the more accurate description. Undoubtedly the source of his expression was the multitude of glares he was receiving, due to being dragged by someone quickly becoming a second coming of Yukari herself. 'Although,' the rumors said, 'Much less bitchy.'

Anyone who spread such rumors was, of course, immediately subjected to a death glare, suitably sized rant, and some amount of slaps.

(There was probably irony in there somewhere, but Yukari wasn't too inclined to look for it.)

"Hey!" Hamuko said after catching up with the archer. "You doin' anything this afternoon?"

"Er, no," Yukari said, more than a little wary as to where this was going.

"You should come with us to Hagakure! Me and Junpei were gonna head over there now, but if you're not doing anything, you should come too!"

"Well, Hamuko-chan," Yukari started, "I dunno… I'm not really feelin' hungry right now, so I might just meet you back at the dorm later."

"Ohh, sorry! You thought this was a question!"

The brunette blinked. "Huh…?"

"You're coming with me, whether you like it or not!" The brunette's hand was suddenly covered by another, gripping it with surprising strength, before the girl found herself being dragged through the entrance. "Let's go!"

…Seriously? What was Yukari's life coming to?

She happened to meet the eyes of Hamuko's other victim as they were dragged off, automatically raising an eyebrow at the situation. Junpei just shrugged in response. Just roll with it. It's Hamu-tan, y' know?

The archer quickly shifted her eyes away from the boy. She really hated how well she could still read him…

Fighting off mixed feelings, Yukari did manage to shake off Hamuko's grip. "You can let go now, I won't run off." She shook some feeling back into her hand as the trio kept walking. "You do realize you were crushing my hand, right?"

Sheepishly, the shorter Arisato released her other prisoner. "Heh, sorry! Guess I got a little caught up in it…"

"Darn right you did…" Junpei muttered. "Did you used to be a professional thumb wrestler or something?"

"That's definitely not a thing, S-Junpei," Yukari stammered.

Hamuko's smile returned full force after that. "Well, maybe not. But if it was, I'd totally wreck at it!"

"That's for sure..."

The group's lone boy was still nursing his hand as Hamuko peered over at him. "Aww, are you sulking, Junpei?"

"Hamu-tan, you can't understand. You've never been subjected to one of your own vice grips."

"Pfft. I think you're just being a baby."

Junpei rolled his eyes, and Yukari sighed. Totally oblivious to both, Hamuko kept walking, only stopping when they reached the crosswalk of the Iwatodai Strip. The 'walking' sign lit up, and Hamuko took a step forward.

Then, two hands grabbed her shoulders. She jolted, whipping her head around… only to find Junpei and Yukari each grabbing one shoulder. Tilting her head, Hamuko opened her mouth to ask 'Uh, yes?' but just then:

A speeding car ran the red light, whipping over the crosswalk without braking, and barreling towards the next stoplight. Red lights flipped on and a siren wailed as a police car sped after it, lighting up the block with noise.

"Huh! That was close!"

Hamuko's cheery comment was met with exasperated looks by the others, once again making eye contact with similar looks of 'what's with this girl?'

"Come on, you guys, time's a wastin'!" Said girl was already halfway across the street before Yukari and Junpei realized she'd moved. "Get a move on!"

"We're coming!" The capped boy jogged after her, and Yukari followed at a more leisurely pace.

By the time the archer reached the spiral steps leading up to the ramen joint, her companions had already reached the second floor. She had just reached the first floor, letting her hand glide over the metal handrail, when a voice called her from below.

"Hey, Yukari-chan!"

The brunette froze. Then slowly turned and looked down at the black-haired girl smiling up. "H-hey, how's it goin'?"

"Pretty good! You doing anything now? Me and the other girls haven't seen you in ages…"

"Oh… yeah, sorry, I'm doing something. I'm actually goin' to eat with… er, Hamuko-chan right now."

"Yo!" As if on cue, Hamuko poked her head over the railing from the floor above Yukari. "What's taking you so long? Am I gonna have to order for you or what?"

Then, she seemed to notice the other girl Yukari was talking to. "Oh, hey! Sorry, didn't see you there!"

The girl chuckled. "Oh, it's fine, don't worry about it. I'll let you guys eat."

"Well, why don't you come up too?"

Yukari's hands tightened on the rail.

No. No, no, no.

Fortunately: "Nah, no can do," the black-haired girl replied, pointing to her stomach. "I've already eaten. And I promised some others that I'd do something with them."

"Alright, have fun!"

"Heh, thanks!"

The girl then left, and Yukari's lungs again started to function.

"Come on, Yukari-chan!" Hamuko smiled down at the brunette. Though, her smile looked somewhat… off.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Yukari obliged, and hiked up the last set of steps. When she got to the top, Hamuko was staring at her, leaning against the guardrail right next to the stairs. "Yukari-chan, why did you only say my name?"

…So, maybe she had been on cue. "What?"

"Why not mention Junpei?"

"…I just wasn't thinking about it, Hamuko-chan," Yukari said, quickly glancing down at the place where the other girl had left. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Come on," the brunette continued, walking to the entrance. "Junpei's waiting for us."

(She completely missed the odd look Hamuko gave her before following her inside.)

The doors opened with a jangle as Yukari walked in, causing several of the customers to look up. She scanned them quickly, but saw no one she knew, and her shoulders finally slumped down from their tense positions.

"The heck took you guys?"

Junpei was seated at the counter, sipping a Cielo Mist straight from the can. He waved a menu at the girls as they sat on the stools around his. "Thought I was gonna have to get your ramen for you!"

"That's what I said, too!" Hamuko grinned, snatching the menu from the capped boy's hand. "Lessee, here…"

While Hamuko perused her options, Junpei turned to the other girl. "Yuka-tan, ain't you gonna get something?"

"Well…" Yukari glanced behind the boy at Hamuko, now surreptitiously giving Yukari a dramatic glare and pointing to the menu in front of the brunette. "…Guess I will."

The shorter twin's glare morphed into an equally over-the-top grin. Yukari attempted not to smile at the girl's ridiculousness.

Hamuko decided much quicker than Yukari, and called the chef over. "Hey, mister! Could I get the number 3 special?"

"Yeah, but you sure you can eat it all?"

"Is that a challenge?"

The chef glanced over at the girl, face now screwed up in a mock-serious expression and hands tightly holding chopsticks. He snorted. "Alright, Crazy, you got it. One number 3, comin' right up."

"Thanks!"

The man just shook his head as he turned to Yukari. She pointed and quietly asked for the number 11, to go.

Junpei spoke up as they stashed their menus in the holders on the table. "So, Hamu-tan, why'd you really take us to Hagakure?"

"Hmm?"

The capped boy rolled his eyes at Hamuko's innocent look. "C'mon, there's tons of people you're friends with. And you see us, like, every day."

"Aw, gimme a little more credit then that! Why do I need a motive to spend time with my friends?" She huffed. "Jeez, you're so suspicious."

"So, you really didn't have any other reason?"

"No!" Hamuko threw her arms up. "I really didn't! I just wanna spend some time with you guys!"

Junpei kept watching her… and she slumped a little. "And, well, maybe I wanted to feed Yukari something?"

"Hey! I've been eating much better recently!"

"Yeah, congrats, you've moved up from teaspoons to tablespoons. Don't think I didn't notice you ordering 'to go', just so you can 'finish it later!'"

Yukari crossed her arms. Actually, she had been hoping Hamuko wouldn't notice that…

"And just so you know," she continued, "I did try to invite others, but everyone else had things to do. Even Mina managed to evade me today."

"Ugh… Hamu-tan, I know he's your twin and all, but I'm really glad he couldn't make it today."

"Junpei!" Yukari swatted him across his shoulder. "You can't just say something like that!"

"Okay, sorry, but it's the truth! Don't tell me that you haven't been ignored by him either!"

"It's not ignored, it's like… well, he…"

"Ha! I knew it!" Junpei crowed.

"Shut it, Junpei! It doesn't matter what he does, you can't just talk like that when his sister is here!"

"Oh, it's alright…"

Hamuko's voice held a resigned quality, immediately turning the heads of the other two juniors (with one brunette giving one black-haired boy a very pointed look). But the girl just smiled at them in turn, tiredly. "Seriously, I get it. He can get pretty aggravating at times."

"Maybe," Yukari said, still not taking her eyes off Junpei. "But he's still your brother. And no one should talk about him like that while you're here."

Hamuko chuckled. "I dunno about that. Sure, I wish that people had better opinions of him… but I don't want you to sugarcoat your thoughts just 'cuz I'm here."

The baseball player sighed, tugging at his cap. "…Lemme explain myself. I'm sorry, Hamu-tan, I'm sure Minato's a great guy once you get to know him and stuff, but just spending time with him is… let's say, really tough. I just can't stand how you have to carry both sides of the conversation, so all you end up doing is talking about yourself. And when you do ask him about himself, he'll give a dumb one-word answer, like-"

"Hold it!" Hamuko blurted, leaning over the counter. "What's that about one-word answers?"

Junpei gestured vaguely in the air. "Well, it's like… um, gimme a second, I'll think of an example…"

"Here, just let me explain." Yukari leaned over the counter as Hamuko turned to face her. "It's like, if you ask him what his what his least favorite class is, he says, 'Biology.' Then you have to ask him if he has a reason, and he says 'yes.' And then you have to ask what that reason is, and-"

"But he answers your questions?"

The archer blinked. "Well, I guess…"

"And you too, Junpei? He'll give you one word answers?"

"Well, uh, yeah?"

The auburn-haired girl laughed, clapping her hands together. "Oh my God! You guys, I didn't realize that! I thought you meant he literally didn't talk to you!"

"Not to rain on your parade, Hamu-tan, but it isn't much better than that."

"No, no, you're not getting it. Look, have you guys seen the way he talks to me?"

"Yeah, with all the sociability of a brick."

Hamuko rolled her eyes. "Come on, you two, he only talks to me in one word answers most of the time!"

"…And your point is…?" Junpei asked.

"My point is that if he's talking to you at all, it means that he actually likes you! I dunno what you did, but if Mina's talking with you… Well, just trust me, if he didn't like you, you wouldn't even exist to him. The fact that he's talking means that he actually considers you his friends!" She sighed in contentment, clasping her hands together. "Ohhh, I'm so happy! Maybe I should start dragging him over here too…"

"L-let's not get ahead of ourselves, Hamuko-chan," Yukari protested, waving her hands in a watered-down let's please not go there yet gesture. "I mean, okay, apparently he considers us friends, but I know nothing about him."

"Have you considered... Oh, I dunno, asking him?"

That stumped the other two juniors. "…Ask him?" Junpei asked, looking like Hamuko had just told him to burn his hat and throw the remains in the sewer. "Ask him, like he's a functioning member of socie- Oi, stop that, I was kidding!"

Facing a dual barrage of swats on his shoulder, the boy was subdued. "Yup!" Hamuko answered, grin just as bright as usual. "You've probably only asked him about school, right?"

The duo's silence was all the answer Hamuko needed.

"So, why don't you ask him about something at least one of you is interested in, huh?"

"Like…?" The capped boy asked.

"Well, for you… video games? Mina and I were pretty into games back in the day."

"Hey, you too? I freakin' love games, man! I've loved 'em for, I dunno, years!"

(Yukari's finger twitched here. But Junpei and Hamuko didn't notice.)

"There you go! As for you, Yukari-chan…" Hamuko turned to the brunette, pinching her face into an intensely thoughtful stare. "…Maybe archery? I dunno, Mina's always been into a whole bunch of fighting stuff and weapons-related things. I'm just happy with kendo."

Junpei abruptly cut in. "Woah, woah, woah. Hamu-tan, you know kendo?"

"Sure do! Pretty good at it, too: I won a couple of local championship rounds back in the day."

"What?!" This time, it was Yukari who couldn't help herself. "Th-then, why did you choose a Naginata yesterday?"

"Well, I wanted to try it out! You can only get a real feel for a weapon in combat, whether it's a spar or otherwise, and since it's live steel, I couldn't use it in a spar."

"Hamu-tan…" Junpei groaned. "It's a life and death situation in there. Y' know that, right?"

"Well, duh."

"Then why the hell wouldn't you take a weapon you're comfortable with?!"

The girl threw her hands up in exasperation. "Junpei, I literally just said why: to try it out."

"But what if you got hurt?!"

"Well, that's why I have you guys, right?"

Junpei and Yukari froze. "…Huh?" The brunette asked weakly.

"If I never try anything new, then I'd never get better at anything. I'll be stagnant, and that's stupid and boring. And sure, it's true that I could mess up when I try something out for the first time, but…" The shorter Arisato met Yukari's eyes, and a warm smile curled over her lips, hitching the brunette's breath.

"But that's what friends are for, right? I've got your back, and I know you've got mine. Just like at the crosswalk a few minutes ago, remember? I already trust you guys with my life… so why not try out a new weapon so I can return the favor? It's simple!"

...Oh my God.

Yukari hadn't seen a look that sincere in a long, long time.

…How the hell do you respond to something like that?!

Fortunately, she didn't have to. "Here you go, kids: two number 3's, and a number 11, to-go."

The bowls neatly slid in front of them, miraculously not spilling a drop as the chef turned right back around and continued working on his other dishes.

"Dude, you got the same as me?!" Previous statement forgotten, Hamuko glanced between her and Junpei's identical bowls. "Twiiiins!"

Junpei took a second to reply, apparently also recovering from the aftershock of Hamuko's comment. "Er, uh, Hamuko, you've already got a twin."

"That's totally different, you and I are food twins!"

"…Heh… hahaha, alright, Hamu-tan. But I bet I'm still faster than you at finishing it!"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Do I hate math?"

"You're on!"

Yukari leaned away as they started, accidentally creating their own splash-zones. A chuckle escaped her.

What a bunch of dorks.

…I really wish I could spend more time with them.

The most surprising thing about that thought was how unsurprised Yukari was to find it totally, absolutely true.

AN: Sorry for the delay, guys! In the past few weeks, I got accepted into an internship, then I had a few exams back to back, and then the book Blood of Olympus came out yesterday, and you guys know how I am about myth-based stories…

Anyways, shout outs to: silgain, Rouiss, Error 16, Erebus13, Changling96, MessiahLV90, BloodAndGuts, UnseenandForget, Pegashush, NeroAutore, nuko-dot-writer, TempestReign, maoh65, Pachoin, Dilapidate, RezokukenVIII, ARSLOTHES, CKamikaze, and Floodtalon for following;

Erebus13, BloodAndGuts, NeroAutore, nuko-dot-writer, xXCookiexMonsterXx, blackrockx, Pachoin, and Floodtalon for faving;

And Yoshikunitsu, Guest, crymblade, MagatsuIza, blarg7865, silgain, Snow-Soar, Asahar4, Hoshiro Raider, Doom Marine 54, and gu3st for reviewing!

In response to:

Guest: [Haha yeah, I know, it'd been a while! And thanks, I liked that scene too. Thanks for reviewing!]

Doom Marine 54: [Thanks man! And thanks for reviewing!]

Gu3st: [Oh snap, that's exactly what I was going for! Glad the idea got across to you! And heh, yeah, he totally is. Thanks for reviewing!]

One last thing before this update's myth corner: If you're feeling brave… I dare you all to do a google image search for third degree burns. Then imagine that on Hamuko's face.

…Ouch.

MYTH CORNER!

This week: Tartarus! (Special shout-out to MagatsuIza for reminding me to write about Tartarus this week!)

REMINDER: GREEK MYTHOLOGY IS M-RATED! PREPARE YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY!

What/who is Tartarus? Tartarus is an interesting one. We all know Tartarus the place, of course: it's more or less the "hell" of Hades (the underworld). In the Aeneid (a Roman epic poem), it's described as being located on the left part of a fork in the road running through Hades (to the right lies Elysium, the "heaven" of Hades). It is surrounded by triple walls and the Phlegethon (a river of fire), and is guarded by a fifty-headed Hydra, which itself is guarded by columns of adamantine (a substance similar to diamond).

In here, many infamous myth figures are trapped/punished, including the trickster King Sisyphus (forever forced to roll a boulder up a hill, only for it inevitably escape his grasp just before reaching the top), the child-murdering/cooking King Tantalus (damned to have food always be just out of reach), and even many of the Titans (children of Gaea and Ouranos, and parents of the Olympians) and the Giants (born when Gaia accepted the "seed" from [Prepare yourself for this] the blood from Ouranos' castrated penis.), both of whom fought and lost against the Olympians.

However, Tartarus is not just a place. According to Hesiod's Theogony, and Tartarus is also a primordial deity, on the same level as Gaia (Earth), Erebus (Darkness), Nyx (Night), Aether (Light), Hemera (Day), and in some cases Eros (Procreation; although he is sometimes considered to be Aphrodite's son and not a primordial deity). His mother is Chaos, which is both the void preceding creation and this weird, formless mass from which the primordials first appeared.

Aside from that, not much is known about Tartarus. Since he is a primordial, there are few myths about him, and he mostly plays a background role or is part of the setting in the Greek and Roman Myths where he does show up.

What's its/his significance in Persona? Unlike many of the Personas we've talked about, Tartarus doesn't seem to have much of a special significance in Persona 3. I guess it's interesting that the Persona team decided to make Tartarus rise upwards instead of downwards, like it's myth-counterpart, but aside from that, the similarities between the two versions are few, far-between, and not very noteworthy.

[EDIT 1/23/15] Surprise! For those of you reading this... hi! Here's a quick extra bit that I'm directly quoting from the super freaking cool G.A.S.A.!

A passage to Tartarus (the actual dephts of the underworld, not merely a tower that shares its name) can be found on the second floor of Thanatos Tower [in Persona 1]. Its entrance is guarded by Cerberus, who says he has nothing to do with Yuriko and is guarding the entrance out of his own free will. The lost Personas are located in a room inside Tartarus and can be reclaimed, though Tartarus is infested by enemies stronger than in Thanatos Tower. Cerberus grants free entry and exit to the party since "the underworld has no need for incomplete souls".

[If that "edit" section is a little confusing... check out the "edit" section for the same date (1/23/15) in the Thanatos myth corner!]

Phew, done!

Okay guys, that's all I've got for you this time. Thanks for hanging in there during this long break, and I'll do my best to make sure you won't need to wait as long for the next update. Oh, and if you've got the time, please drop a review or a PM!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next update!