Shin Persona Evangelion

by Ultra Sonic 007

Shinji Ikari stared, bewildered by the bizarre-looking man, who gave an intrigued smile. "An interesting guest has arrived. My name is Igor. Welcome to the Velvet Room, young fool...we have important matters to discuss, you and I." (A fusion of the realms of Evangelion and Persona, where not all is as it seems.) (Cover art by Renu of the Sufficient Velocity forums.)

115. Monday - September 14, 2015

/Monday: September 14, 2015/

/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/

It was still very early in the morning; Shinji Ikari, Kensuke Aida, Toji Suzuhara, and Kaworu Nagisa all slept soundly.

Shinji's sleep was more restful than most, for his SDAT was playing a familiar tape colored a velvet blue...

xxxx

The Velvet Room had felt...peaceful. More so than usual.

Even the sight of the Velvet Room's Attendants — Sokila, Lavenza, Theodore, Elizabeth, and Margaret all — performing their own dance-off upon his entry had not been enough to distract him; the siren call of the comfortable bed that his Attendant often used was too great.

Sokila, naturally, had jumped at the chance to use him as an oversized stuffed animal.

The sensation of his Attendant, cuddled up against his side...was nostalgic, somehow. Combined with the ever-present wail of the Velvet Room, it had made the prior night the most restful night of sleep he'd had in some time.

Alas, he felt his time was coming to a close; slowly slipping away — ensuring that Sokila remained latched onto a pillow — he approached the auditorium. "Mister Igor?"

"Yes?"

"...where do we stand?"

"Could you elaborate?"

"...with Rei Ayanami, and Asuka Langley-Sohryu...with Misato Katsuragi, Mister P, and Ryoji Kaji...with Goro Akechi, and the Wild Cards...with Strega, the Angels, and the Usurper...with myself..." (With my father, he left unsaid.) Raising his eyes, he remarked, "It's a lot," he said. (He felt the subtle sensation of Unit-01 breathing against his neck.)

If Igor recognized the Evangelion's presence, he did not show it. "Indeed," he said, with his ever-present grin. "The protections of this room have been a great boon to your predecessors, if only to keep them focused on matters within their control. Yet now, you live in a time where the Velvet Room is not only a known quantity with various parties, but it's also one that those opposed to you are also aware of..."

(August the 4th: On a ridge overlooking Nishiawakura, he'd had a moment to speak privately with Ren Amamiya. It was then that he learned that Yaldabaoth — a manifestation of ADAM's facets — had taken over the Velvet Room in a prior timeline. When trying to make sense of what this implied about their current circumstances, Ren had adroitly summarized it: "Well, think of this whole phase of this 'war' as a heist. The big bad is the guy with the treasure that we're trying to steal; however, there's another group of thieves that are trying to steal that treasure at the same time...and each group of thieves has members who have worked for each other at various points. In other words, the concept of 'operational security' is even more important than usual.")

Shinji winced. "It's getting harder to justify keeping so much a secret from the people around me who should know...who have a right to know...especially if this involves them..."

"So what is stopping you?" he asked.

"...the threat of the Usurper deciding that enough is enough," he said aloud. The deaths of Junpei Iori and Ken Amada still weighed upon him; would bringing more people into 'the know' result in an even greater toll? "I just don't know..." (The rancid drool of Unit-01 dripped upon his shoulders.)

"There is little in life that is completely within a person's control; accounting for the decisions and choices of another is equally fraught with uncertainty." Quietly shuffling a deck of playing cards, he added, "Yet in the face of that uncertainty, countless people throughout history have nonetheless found the courage to act...to take a stand...and move forward."

"...it's one thing to say it. It's one thing to act like it's true. But sometimes...I'm not sure if I can believe that about myself." Had it not been for his friends, would he have even gotten as far as he had?

"Believing in others can often be seen as a simple thing; why then should believing in yourself be fraught with so much more difficulty?" Igor inquired. "Is it because you cannot see into the hearts of others, and thus take for granted their outer appearances? Is it because you can feel your own imperfections more acutely, and thus believe you are inherently worth less than they?" Drawing ten cards, Igor leaned forward with a smile. "But you have seen into the trials and tribulations of your companions: do you believe that what you see is what you get?"

Shinji shook his head emphatically. "Of course not...I've seen too much to believe that..."

"Yet the trust you've come to have in your bonds remains nonetheless."

"..."

"To believe in oneself; to have confidence in what you are capable of; to have faith that you can withstand any difficulty, no matter how harsh; these are not simple things...yet all people are nonetheless able to accomplish this. You are no exception: if you can believe in yourself...then you can live with the choices you make...for good or ill."

"...I think I understand," he said, feeling somewhat mollified by Igor's guidance. "Thank you."

"To help you on your journey is all the gratitude I need," replied Igor, drawing two more cards into his hand. "So with that mind...I shall assist you further." He snapped his fingers before hiding the cards in his hands; bringing apart his palms revealed that they had vanished. "You may now manifest twelve Personas at a given time; may this enhanced capacity enable you to have faith in the path you choose to walk."

Shinji, feeling somewhat lighter in the back of his mind, nodded. "Thank you." (Unit-01 had quietly receded.)

"As one last bit of advice: look closely around you. Sometimes, a much smaller problem can be of greater importance than the fate of the world itself..."

Shinji wondered what the Velvet Room's enigmatic proprietor was getting at, even as the faint haze of blue began to brighten...

xxxx

Shinji Ikari opened his eyes, staring at the underside of the top bunk. Sighing, he sat up-OW. "Erk," he impulsively gagged out, wincing at the pain in his torso and legs. I feel so sore...!

"You too, huh," groaned Toji from across the room. "I've been up for like fifteen minutes, and my body feels like a brick." Wincing, he muttered, "Why did my thing have to be breakdancing...?"

Kensuke chose that moment to yawn, impulsively stretching—"AIE, geez!"—before cringing from his aches and pains. "Ow...can't dance anymore, but I still get the sores...?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I feel great," said Kaworu with a jaunty air, hopping off of the top bunk. "I am curious as to what kind of battle would have involved dancing..."

"It was honestly kind of dumb," grumbled Toji. "A normal fight at least makes sense."

"A dance battle is far and away more preferable!" exclaimed Kensuke. "I want to refute you more vigorously...but I don't feel like moving. Can we call in?"

Kaworu, heading towards the bathroom, simply called out, "And do you think your dear Class Representative would take that excuse~?"

Shinji, Kensuke, and Toji groaned sympathetically; out of mutual dread of Hikari Horaki's disapproval, they slowly (and painfully) crawled out of their beds.

xxxx

The aftermath of a new moon was always one of intrigue, if only because of the ambient chatter from the other students making their way through Hakone Academy's courtyards.

"You saw all those barriers on the way, right? The ones signifying cognitive dead zones?"

"It's not so much 'dead zones' as collateral damage in the Metaverse...least, that's what my old man said..."

"-how much collateral damage could it be? Doesn't that stuff usually get fixed real quick in Tokyo-3?"

"Well, you all saw the video of that giant cross of light-"

"-forget the cross of light, did you see that giant monster on the lakeshore?!"

"NERV's already got it under quarantine. You'd have to get on top of the roof of one of the nearby apartments to see it..."

"-nowhere near as cute as the giant blue crystal from July-"

"...you thought that Laser Crystal of Doom was cute?!"

"How many people danced in your shelter? We had forty in ours."

"Sixty. We managed to make a contest out of it."

"Some folks danced until their hearts literally gave out..."

"...well, at least it was a happy way to go?"

"It didn't look happy in the moment!"

If nothing else, it cemented that Israfel — for all the Angel's apparent frivolity — had been a dangerous opponent, and one that had left their own mark upon Hakone.

"Any idea why they were talking about Paraguay in the news this morning?"

"-Para-gu-ai? Where's that?"

"Some South American country. I think my dad was saying something about a civil war which suddenly stopped; he's always trying to stay informed about foreign events."

"I've never heard of Paraguay. What's special about it?"

"Well, you not hearing about a foreign country isn't news."

"Hey!"

As the quartet of Room 23 made their way towards the Junior High Branch, these words washed over them, prompting some degree of reflection. "...do we need to be concerned about Paraguay?" asked Shinji.

"If it's related to a mission, we'll probably get told," replied Kensuke without hesitation. "I just want to get to my desk so I can sit down..."

"I can't wait for Track Club to finally start back up," grumbled Toji. "The ache from running is at least better than that of dancing..."

Kaworu smiled as a cherub. "I wonder if we'll have any new applicants for the Boxing Club..."

These idle words occupied their time as the continued onward.

xxxx

/Class 2-A, Junior High Branch, Hakone Academy/

Hikari Horaki's absence was felt, more than seen; the moment their homeroom teacher entered the classroom, the expected bark of Hikari's voice was absent. As such, not a single student stood.

Fuyutsuki-sensei seemed genuinely surprised. "Horaki-kun is absent? Odd." His eyes impulsively slid towards the Class Representative's backup. "Inoue-kun?"

Another girl, yelping with shock, moved into action. "Oh! Yes! Sorry! Um...stand! Bow! Sit!"

"I'll have to make a call at the end of the period," murmured Fuyutsuki, before he quickly got into that day's lesson. However, the class — as if stunned into the realization of the Class Rep's absence — were now abuzz with quiet gossip. (Fuyutsuki-sensei, mercifully, seemed to tolerate it...which spoke volumes as to how odd the situation was.)

Shinji was bewildered by the fact that no one had noticed Hikari's absence until that point. "Um...has Horaki-san ever been absent...?"

"No," whispered Kensuke, glancing towards Toji; the jock had a heavy frown on his face, arms crossed with budding irritation. "Not that I can recall; she got sick a couple years back, but she called in..."

Shinji glanced towards Asuka, who was sitting with an unenthused expression on her face. "Did you see Horaki-san at your dorm...?"

"Didn't sleep at the dorm last night, so I don't know," bluntly replied Asuka.

Rei, for her part, simply shook her head when Shinji looked in her direction. What happened...?

xxxx

The school day moved on; it was during lunch when Shinji Ikari inquired with Fuyutsuki about Horaki's absence.

"I managed to get a hold of her father," Fuyutsuki-sensei remarked, speaking with a measured tone. "He seemed somewhat convinced that her absence is a long-overdue 'teenage rebellion'." The older man said those words with genuine disdain; whether towards Hikari's father, or the concept of Hikari engaging in 'teenage rebellion', Shinji could not tell. "At this particular juncture, I can only mark her lack of attendance; if it continues, then additional measures will be taken...which isn't something that you need to worry about," Fuyutsuki finished, pointedly staring down at Shinji with all the weight of his academic authority.

Shinji wisely retreated to a cluster of tables, where Rei, Asuka, Toji, Kensuke had gathered to eat. When Shinji relayed Fuyutsuki's explanation, Asuka immediately snorted. "A goody-two-shoes like that, engaging in teenage rebellion? Fat chance."

"You've literally only known Horaki-san for a week," dryly said Kensuke.

"She ain't wrong," muttered Toji, his foot tapping up and down with agitation. "I can count on one hand all the times the Class Rep has been absent: every single time was when either she or her little sister were sick...and she still managed to get doctor's notes sent in." Toji looked over towards Asuka and Rei. "Did she make it back to the dorm last night?"

Asuka shrugged. "I spent the night with Sister Mary. I only came to my dorm this morning to get a clean uniform, and First was the only one there, taking a shower." She spoke without looking in Rei's direction.

Rei, looking up from her phone, remarked, "I did not spend the night in the dorm. I came in to shower and change clothes." Gesturing at the device, she added, "Yamagishi-san spent the night at Katsuragi's apartment, so she would not have been aware of Horaki-san's absence."

"...so none of us have seen Horaki-san since the day before the new moon." Kensuke frowned. "I don't like it."

"...would her father be the kind of person to lie about Horaki-san's absence?" wondered Shinji aloud, inwardly realizing that he didn't much know about her actual family life.

"I am not aware of her current familial situation," answered Rei. (Asuka didn't answer, because she was obviously the new girl.)

Kensuke and Toji looked awkwardly at each other. "...not really, come to think of it," admitted the latter. "She always seemed to be so put together that asking about her home life never really came up." Agitated, he took to devouring the rest of his rice.

"That's not so surprising," said Kensuke, taking a contemplative sip from his milk carton. "The Class Rep is part of the Student Council, so she'd have more access to student records than most. I mean...if you'd ask around, I'd say at least three quarters of our classes over the years have treated her as a confidant."

Asuka arched an eyebrow. "Never took her for the gossipy type."

"She ain't a snitch," retorted Toji.

"...so we don't know what kind of person her father is?" Shinji sincerely asked. (He was in no position to judge regarding fathers, but surely it didn't hurt to ask...?)

Kensuke, finishing off the last of his milk, hummed aloud. "...I think I remember seeing a few messages from NERV's Compliance Department in Dr. Akagi's notes; something about making sure any firmware updates to our local MAGI have passed through Legal before they get uploaded for other installations to use...?" The bespectacled boy shrugged. "It was way above my paygrade; I think the Doc was trying to cow me into submission...but I recall seeing one 'Bunzaemon Horaki' at the end of one of those messages as the compliance officer who signed off on it."

"I am fairly certain that Bunzaemaon is the given name of Horaki-san's father," quietly said Rei.

Kensuke winced. "Then maybe the Class Rep did play hooky? Dad's complained about how the guys in Compliance and Legal have no sense of humor..."

"Your dad complained about someone else's sense of humor?" asked Toji, temporarily stunned into distraction.

"I know, right?!"

At that moment, the three Evangelion-users' phones buzzed; it was a mission request to deal with an influx of Acolytes in Hokkaido. "It's requesting two of us," said Shinji with concern.

"...you two can take it," said Asuka with a steely frown. "I'll stay behind and hold down the fort."

Shinji blinked, surprised that Asuka would turn down the opportunity to skip school. However, Rei seemed resigned to the redhead's rationale. "Very well. We will be as quick as possible."

"I'm sure you will," she snarked, taking a decisive bite of her fried pork cutlet.

Shinji felt Kensuke and Toji's inquisitive stares, yet he was unsure of how to answer them. So instead, he politely excused himself and Ayanami before leaving the classroom. It wasn't until they were on the stairs heading for the roof that he asked, "...is something wrong, Ayanami-san?"

"Between myself and Sohryu-san?" she correctly guessed. "It is a private matter. You need not worry."

That's not going to stop me from worrying, he mused, even as he prepared to shift through reality...

xx

The moment Shinji and Ayanami left the classroom, Toji turned towards Asuka. "...so, what's the deal?" he asked. "You've been icy since last night."

"None of your business," grumbled Asuka.

"Let's stay focused," said Kensuke, trying to play peacemaker. Man, what I wouldn't give for the Class Rep to be here. "The timing with the new moon is just too much of a coincidence..." Leaning in close, he whispered, "After all, we're not exactly strangers to people slipping into the Metaverse, are we?"

Toji looked genuinely alarmed. "You think that's a possibility?"

"I think we can't count it out."

"...where would we even look, though? I don't remember what shelter her family goes to."

Asuka, crossing her arms, leaned back in her chair with a huff. "Narren. You're overthinking it; quickest place to start would be to look into her Shadow. If something's wrong with her, it'll be reflected in her Shadow...and if it's cooperative, it might even tell us where she is." Looking up at the ceiling, she added, "I doubt her Shadow's so much of a rebel that it would decline taking up a residence with the CPC...but who knows? Maybe she's got a really whacked-out dark side."

Yeah, I don't think either of us want to see what parts of the Class Rep she doesn't want to show off, inwardly mused Kensuke, glancing over at Toji. "I mean...it's worth a shot. Do you think Katsuragi-san would let us do it? She'd have the pull to do it as Chief Warden."

"If I ask Sakamoto-sensei to make it a mission, she'd probably escort us," said Toji with a measure of growing confidence.

"...looks like we know what we're doing after school, then," said Kensuke, looking warily over at Asuka. "Would you be willing to help?"

The foreigner sighed, looking somewhat aloof. "Not like I've got anything better to do..."

xxxx

Hikari Horaki quietly opened her eyes, looking outside of the cave. The sky still hasn't changed, she thought, tiredly rubbing at her eyes. Is time even moving...?

(The night before September's new moon, she had sat down in a restroom stall within the shelter, trying to regain some semblance of mental clarity. She had seemingly dozed off...only to awaken atop a windy mountain range, roaring with harsh winds and roiling clouds of black. Despite the dark colors, the place still possessed a semblance of visible light: enough for her to find a path through the mountains.)

Grimacing, she crept over towards the small mountain spring leaking out of the cave wall; cupping ice-cold water into her hands, she sipped greedily. Though she slaked her thirst, it did little for the gnawing hunger in her belly. I have to keep moving, she thought to herself, slowly moving out of the cave.

As had been the case yesterday, puddles of living shadow moved along the paths, crawling along the ground with gooey hands; atop their forms were pale masks with three curved points, with eyes closed and the Roman numeral 'III' embedded on the forehead. There was a regal aura to those masks, despite the dour environment. Much to her relief, they ignored her completely.

If nothing else, such creatures cemented the reality that she had fallen into the cognitive world. The sky doesn't look red and black like my middle school teacher said it would, she mused, thinking back to the 'Metaverse Fundamentals' class that was mandatory for all students before becoming teenagers. But these masked creatures sure look otherworldly...what was the difference again? As she racked her brain trying to remember, it quickly came to mind. Ah. Right. 'Mythological figures and folktales' means Archetypes...'masked creatures' means the Realm of a Shadow. Right. As hungry and tired as she was, thinking was difficult. I somehow ended up in the Realm of someone's Shadow...but if I'm sure the Anti-Terror Task Force will eventually sense my presence and come investigate...right? She dearly hoped that was the case.

In the meantime, the only thing she could think of doing was seek out the apparent center of the Realm: a lonely temple upon the tallest peak, its form dotted with great torches that rendered it a proverbial beacon amidst the darkness. If anyone came looking for her, they would doubtless start up there. First rule if you end up slipping into the cognitive world—she recited to herself, trying to remember old lessons—stay where you ended up. Second rule; if it's too dangerous to follow the first rule, find your way to the most prominent location that's free of cognitive activity. Given how she could see masked birds flying about the peaks of all of the smaller mountains — leaving the temple alone, for whatever reason — the second rule seemed the most applicable. After all, there was no guarantee that the masked creatures would continue to leave her alone...and those worries were chased away by the pang within her stomach. So...hungry...

(The thought of food made her think of her father and her little sister; had they followed their normal routines without her presence? Had her father even gone to work? The sheer number of things that could have gone wrong in her absence...!)

Shaking her head, Hikari kept on walking, moving with uncertain steps along steps of stone that had seemingly been carved out of the mountain itself. I never thought I would be one of those who slipped into the Metaverse without warning...I haven't heard about incidences like this happening in Tokyo-3 in a while. Except, that wasn't true, was it? It had happened to Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara; it was how they had ended up becoming Persona-users. I...I wonder...

(There was no time for wondering.)

Before long, she reached a bend in the path; a small bonfire sat within a small clearing, flickering unendingly. A series of masked humanoids sat near the fire, yet were looking away from it. Wha...? Hikari neared the fire, relishing the warmth, yet curious as to why none of the creatures were looking at it...

An image flashed within.

Hikari, eyes wide with impulsive shock, immediately took off running; even though the shocks of hunger wracked her body, running was all she could think of doing. That...that was...!

(She knew what it was.)

But it can't be...

(You know what that means for this place you're in.)

Hikari found herself running across bridges of crafted from fine stone, connected to immense rocks — tiny islands, each one at least thirty meters across — that seemed impossibly suspended over a great gap. At the center of each floating island was another bonfire, surrounded by shadowy creatures who refused to stare at the light. This time, Hikari refused to look, for fear of what she would see. What I saw...!

(You saw a memory; you cannot deny that.)

(It had been in 2009, shortly after her seventh birthday: Ghosts had killed her mother, and Father had seen it with his own eyes. Kodama-neesan had seen the Ghosts, but not how they had killed their mother; she had been too busy trying to usher her two sisters out of their old home to see anything else. "Dad said they looked like his parents," she muttered, hugging herself tightly. "He...got real quiet, after that...")

The fire had contained a striking image of her older sister, saying those precise words. Even though the fire itself had not spoken, the memory itself had been evoked, clear as day. That...that means...! She finally crossed the final bridge, ascending the steps of the lone temple: this close, its Grecian inspiration was undeniable. That means that this place...!

"...'belongs to my Shadow'..."

Hikari skidded to a halt within the brightly-lit temple, staring with wide eyes at its center. Surrounded by Doric pillars, a lone chair sat: one plagued by rust and thorns. Sitting atop it, surrounded by endless clouds of incense, was a young girl in robes that might have once seemed white, but were now soiled by muck and grime and blood. A tarnished diadem rested over the girl's long hair, bearing icons of arrows, musical instruments, and the Sun itself; however, the most eye-catching feature were her yellow eyes: piercing, and seemingly all-knowing. "...you're..."

"That's what you were thinking, right?" challenged Hikari Horaki's Shadow. "After all, you're no fool...are you?"

xxxx

(As Hikari Horaki encountered her Shadow, a certain gaggle of teenagers had arrived at the Cognitive Protection Center...)

"-so you kids were seriously in a dance battle?" asked Ryuji Sakamoto, trying to catch up after having been separate for the entirety of the new moon operations. "Sounds preferable to what you faced when fighting the Angel back in August, I'm going to be honest."

"And yet we're still more physically exhausted than were back then, if you can believe it," joked Kensuke, trying to provide some levity.

Toji was walking severely, following Misato Katsuragi and Mana Kirishima towards the Panopticon. Mayumi couldn't really fault him, either. If Horaki-san ended up in the Metaverse...how would she fare? Even Katsuragi was moving with a sense of purpose, acting without most of her usual frivolity; though, to be fair, her new position as the CPC's Chief Warden probably had a lot to do with it. Then again, she was pretty serious last night, too...

(After everyone left Neo Hagakure, she had opted to spend the night at Katsuragi's instead of the Izanami Dorms. Mana had had no complaints whatsoever, nor had Misato; however, the older woman had spent much of the night watching her pet penguin with some measure of trepidation. Something weighed heavy on Katsuragi's mind...but what?)

...I wonder if we would have realized something if I had come back to the dorm? Would we have been able to find Horaki-san sooner? Mayumi tried to smother her own guilt by distracting herself. "Sohryu-san...forgive me if I sound forward, but did something happen between you and Ayanami-san?"

Asuka, walking with arms folded behind her back, glanced at her with a mix of irritation and apathy. "It's none of your business."

"...you can speak with us if you need to-"

"I'm good."

Mayumi inwardly sighed, wondering what exactly had caused such seeming animosity from Sohryu towards Ayanami. Hopefully it'll get resolved...

Before long, they were within the Panopticon: the impossibly large sphere with rows upon rows of metal doors lining its interior, each one containing the Shadow of a local resident. The glass orb floating in the center of the expanse was rife with Anti-Terror Task Force personnel, manning their offices to keep track of the thousands upon thousands of Shadows within their jurisdiction. Even from their catwalk, they could see A.T. Agents teleporting to individual gates to handle their respective tasks. "Even after all these years, it amazes me how cognitive engineering can do all of this..."

Asuka shrugged. "Eh, seems inefficient; the CPC at Berlin was much more convenient. If you needed to see a Shadow, their door was brought to you."

"...like, a literal door?" wondered Kensuke.

"Yep."

Mana seemed rather intrigued. "A door that didn't connect to anything?"

"Nope; you just opened it, and a Shadow's Realm was inside."

"...neat," admitted Mana.

As they neared the teleporter at the end of the catwalk, Misato was reviewing information on a tablet of sorts; the fact it had a rather exaggerated antenna cemented its nature as a cognitive device, designed to work solely within the bounds of the CPC. "So your friend from school is absent, is she?" wondered Misato, sending a concerned glance in the children's direction. "You really think meeting her Shadow is warranted after less than a day?"

"You don't know the Class Rep," grunted Toji. "And given how much crazy crap has already happened to us...better safe than sorry.'

"...if you say so," murmured Misato, looking down at the bulky tablet. "There haven't been anomalous signals registered by her Realm for a while. One of our model Residents, to be honest: cooperative, not much of an attitude..."

Asuka snorted. "A goody-goody like that would probably go out of her way not to cause trouble."

"...that's actually not far off of the mark," admitted Mayumi, suddenly feeling more trepidation.

"Either way, we'll find out soon enough," said Ryuji, nudging everyone towards the elevator plate as Misato keyed in their destination. After a pair of ZHYOOMs, they found themselves in front of a solid door, with a hand scanner and intercom on each side. "Dibs on the left."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to let go of your cane," joked Misato, heading towards the right side.

"Guilty as charged," replied Ryuji, placing his hand on the scanner. Misato did likewise; at the same time, they spoke aloud into their intercoms. "Freelancer Ryuji Sakamoto, identification whiskey-tango-foxtrot-beep-boop-bop, requesting access to Resident Epsilon-Gamma-Two-One-Zero-Alpha."

(Asuka blinked. "What kind of ID tag is that...?")

"Agent Misato Katsuragi, identification zero-one-whiskey-alpha-four, requesting access to Resident Epsilon-Gamma-Two-One-Zero-Alpha."

"Standby for authorization."

As the door slowly began to open, Misato turned gravely towards them. "If we run into her Shadow, leave the talking to me and Sakamoto-san. This is to protect the girl's privacy if it turns out she's not here."

"If she's not here..." Toji trailed off, sounding somewhat conflicted. "...well, at least it means she won't risk facing her Shadow."

What would her Shadow be like, Mayumi couldn't help but wonder, even as they all entered the door and stepped into a fire-lit cave; however, the mouth of the cavern wasn't far, allowing them to step outside onto a windy mountain path. The grayscale coloration and the dark clouds lent an oppressive air to everything. "Oh my..."

"...kinda bleaker than I was expecting," admitted Kensuke.

"What were you expecting?" wondered Mana.

"Not this!" he exclaimed.

Asuka was looking around with an analytic expression, looking less than bored for the first time since school had let out. "Hmm..."

Alas, before anything else could be said, distant roars grabbed their attention. Misato and Ryuji immediately looked up: diving down from the sky were shadowy birds bearing masks; up ahead on the mountain path was a tide of black goo, likewise bearing masks. "Remnants," growled Ryuji, summoning Seiten Taisei.

"Personas out!" ordered Misato, likewise summoning Tokoyo.

Mayumi quickly manifest Armisael, sitting upon the throne of black stone; as information began pouring into her head, a distinct sensation could be felt. "I think I know where Horaki-san's Shadow is!"

Mana, hefting LABRYS with both hands, stepped forward alongside Gilgamesh, Sinbad, and Matilda. "Then let's cut through!"

xxxx

There was a distinct rumble within the temple at the epicenter of the Realm. "What was that?" fearfully wondered Hikari.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," said her Shadow. "After all...what has worrying ever done for you? What has it ever accomplished, other than more heartache?"

Hikari gulped, staring at her doppelganger's piercing eyes with a dread that bordered on mania. (She was facing her own Shadow, and the stories she had heard about what it entailed had always been harrowing, because she didn't want to hear it aloud, she didn't want to see what should have been locked away!) "I...I want nothing to do with this place. I got here by accident...so I'm going outside...and I'm going to wait to be rescued. And that's that."

(You sound so sure...)

As she turned on her heel, her own voice — hollow, hoarse, yet brimming with authority — called out. "Turning away from the truth?"

(...but you know what doing so would imply...)

Hikari stopped, trying hard not to gulp.

"...you're just like the grown-ups you despise so much. How tragic."

Hikari, biting down her impulsive outrage (it wasn't true, it wasn't true, it would never be true), slowly turned back. "...what do you mean?"

"I think you know very well what I mean. After all, I'm you."

Grimacing at the gnawing hunger in her stomach, Hikari managed to choke out, "I'm afraid I'm not...thinking clearly, at the moment. Could you please spell it out?"

"The dutiful Class Representative, acknowledging a spot of intellectual weakness?" mocked her Shadow. "That won't do; losing your fine reputation would make all of your pointless martyrdom worthless..."

"Martyrdom?"

"Or so you would like it to be seen as. After all, if you can't succeed in what you truly desire, then you just have to settle for the next best thing...even if doesn't stop you from wanting to weep." Torches lit up throughout the temple, and the incense surrounding her Shadow increased in volume. "We're smart; we're well-respected; we have the admiration of students and the gratitude of teachers; even those who think we're stuck-up and haughty bend the neck in the face of our inherent authority...but the rush of that satisfaction; the thrill of imposing our will, of establishing order..." Yellow eyes glared from within the haze. "Nothing but straw. Nothing but ash, in the face of what we truly want."

Hikari gulped, watching as embers from the torches coagulated into a moving scene, given depth by the clouds of incense. It was a familiar image, of Kodama leaving for her university for the first time; silhouettes of Nozomi and her father watched forlornly...while Hikari's own image seemed to blaze inwardly.

"Our dear elder sister; so opinionated, so sure of herself...so confident that she's in the right." Her Shadow pointed at the scene with accusation. "How badly you wanted to explode; to condemn her cowardice; to scream and rant and rage...!"

"That's not fair," protested Hikari, shivering at how loud the beat of her own heart sounded in her own ears. "Kodama-neesan...I saw her try, at first. I know she tried to get help for him! But father was strong enough to keep working...and he refused to do anything..."

"You know how shallow such reasoning is," retorted her Shadow. "You saw the routines our father clung to, as a life raft in the roaring seas; how on some days, he seemed to move without life, without vigor...and with each passing day, you saw the hatred in your sister's eyes grow; she came to despise our father. And in the face of her own scorn...she chose to leave. And you would call that trying?"

("This home still feels like a damned tomb.")

Kodama's words — from weeks ago — echoed throughout the temple. "No...that's not how I felt..." She and Kodama-neesan had their disagreements, but they still loved each other-!

("...so you're still going to run away, once summer's over.")

This time, the words were her own.

"Who do you think you're trying to fool?" challenged her Shadow. "I, more than anyone else, know precisely what it is that you feel...not that you'll ever admit it to yourself. You'd rather just shove it all on me, and go on pretending..."

"I don't pretend!" retorted Hikari, trying not to feel heated (but it was oh so hard...!). "I'm...I'm doing the best that I can-"

"Are you? What is your 'best'? Mollifying your conscience as the good student? Washing away sinful thoughts with a pledge of doing your duty as the Class Representative?" Her Shadow began stalking back and forth amidst the incense, appearing as a true phantom. "Sohryu-san was right, in a way: everything you do is for yourself...so you aren't choked by the guilt of your own inaction."

(September the 11th: a night in the Izanami Dorms, where Ayanami was absent on a mission, and Yamagishi was in the shower. Thus, it was just herself, and Sohryu. The offer of notes regarding classes slept through had been decisively rebuffed. "You don't even know me. You're doing it for...well, I don't know if it's for someone else, or for yourself, but it's certainly not for my sake.")

The memory of that talk possessed a sheer physicality that felt impossible; the thought of her own self siding with Sohryu's reasoning — anathema as it was to the life she had chosen for so long...! — made her blood boil(?). "I...I don't agree. I believe Sohryu-san is mistaken-!"

("...he's still a 'functional member of society', so it's not like anyone's going to truly care.")

Kodama's voice cut through her tirade; another response from weeks ago, from a talk between two sisters. One that laid bare the contradiction she herself labored under.

"A functional member of society...toiling away for the sake of others, even at the expense of oneself...crumbling away from the inside, because the expectations you've shouldered demand it..." Her Shadow glared with righteous indignation. "Like father, like daughter."

Hikari couldn't help but gape; she had a mouth, capable of so many words...yet none would dare come.

xxxx

All the while, the seven who had intruded upon the Realm of Hikari Horaki's Shadow were furiously fighting their way through the horde of Remnants.

At some point, Misato and Ryuji intentionally fell behind, throwing themselves into the greater mass of thoughtbeasts: a sacrificial play, to deploy their more destructive techniques so that the five teenagers could make it to the Shadow unabated.

Mayumi used her Persona at its utmost: divining a path through the mountains that had the fewest enemies without sacrificing speed; with Armisael's steady guidance, Mana, Kensuke, Asuka, and Toji advanced as an unyielding vanguard.

Toji found it hard to hold back, for his eyes kept drawing towards the temple upon the tallest peak. Stormy clouds swirled around it, and numerous bonfires — more than there had been before — roared with all the fury of the sun.

(He recalled what it was like to face his own Shadow. He recalled how vicious the words had been...regardless of how true their core had been.)

(He thought about Hikari facing the same thing.)

Toji urged Gilgamesh to go faster.

xxxx

Hikari's Shadow seemed empowered, somehow. "Have you decided to come to your senses? Have you decided to finally face the truth?"

"...I'm..." Hikari shook her head. "I'm...I'm better than that. I won't let my own darkness control me-!"

"How naive; a shadow cannot exist in the darkness. A shadow can only exist where there is light...the brighter the light, the greater the shadow cast." Her other self's eyes gleamed amidst the incense; the entire temple had taken on a heady aroma. "That you feel so wearied by my presence...can only mean that you want light cast upon this place, so that everyone can finally see me..."

"No," hissed Hikari, shaking her head. "It's not anyone's place to peer into the private thoughts of others...so I'm not going to do that!"

"But it wouldn't be someone else; you wouldn't be violating the privacy of someone else. You would simply be telling the truth!" Her Shadow's smile was a truly mad thing to behold. "For all the good that it would do...for all the futility of it...but it would feel liberating, even for just a little while..."

Hikari shook her head.

"But that's what really kills you: your own impotence." The embers and smoke formed another scene: of her very self, sitting in a rustic cafe, listening to five battle-hardened teenagers relay the tale of an eventful summer vacation—a summer full of sport and savagery, a vacation packed with vim and violence. "Hearing what they went through...seeing how they all grew from it..."

("...shouldn't...shouldn't you all...be in therapy, or something? I mean...what you all went through...it's not normal...!")

Her own voice, pleading for reason; but there would be no reason to be found: only willpower. "Your disbelief was rejected wholesale."

("Class Rep. Look...I get that you're concerned. It's...well, nice that school stuff isn't the only thing you're worried about. But you weren't there. Don't act like you know what we went through or how we're supposed to be handling it...If you're gonna get on our case, that's fine. Your whole thing is being a worrywart. But...it's not something you have to worry about; it ain't your place.")

Toji Suzuhara's voice, filled with a self-confidence she had never heard from him before the summer break. "The lowly jock we fancy so: a headstrong brute with a surprising heart...yet he returned with enough grit to rebuke even you."

("It's one thing to hear Katsuragi or Sakamoto talk to us about this sort of stuff, 'cause they lived through it. But coming from you? You a Persona-user?" No. "Is there anyone in your family who's dealt with Metaverse combat, or with anti-Ghost ops?" No. "Then why are you acting like you know better?)

Mana Kirishima's voice, bereft of guile, armed only with a deadly simplicity. "Such an uneducated girl, dealt a poor hand in life...yet she still found a strength that you couldn't even hope to grasp..."

Hikari felt as if her lungs were constricted; why was it so hard to breathe...why couldn't she speak...?

"When it comes down to it...you desire the strength of their conviction. Because your devotion to your own duty...is suffocating." The Shadow's yellow eyes gleamed with knowing. "But it's never too late to start. All it takes is to live a little; to let loose; to actually show everyone how you really feel!"

The embers and smoke began to form distinct shapes: of thoughts Hikari had entertained in her darkest moments—rage against the elder sister who had fled; spite for the younger sister who could live without a care in the world; sorrow and frustration and wrath for a father who at times could barely muster the energy to pretend without her effort; pity and disgust for the countless students who looked at her for help and guidance, day in and day out; indignation and loathing for teachers who called her a role model, as though that was her only function...! It was a maddening display, yet Hikari could make sense of it all. "That's...that's not..."

There were footsteps echoing from outside.

"After all, what's the point of continuing a fiction if it doesn't get you what you want?"

Familiar voices called out: "Class Rep," and "Yamagishi-san!"

Hikari paled (no no no no no no no), looking over her shoulder with dawning horror (no no no no they can't see they can't see) at the worried faces of fellow students (don't look at me don't look at me DON'T LOOK AT ME) from Hakone Academy. "...no..."

("...why would it be different? No one listens about him, when I've lived through it, so why...")

Her own voice, echoing loud and clear for all to hear: once a quiet whisper, muttered out of envy for those who could achieve what she could not. The curious eyes of Sohryu and Kirishima, the concern of Aida and Yamagishi, the naked worry in Suzuhara's eyes: it all made her want to flee, to hide, to get away...! "No..."

"No one listens to the teacher's pet; no one listens because you're too meek and too docile! So let go of it all; cause havoc; misbehave; flunk your tests!" challenged her Shadow, twitching and yelling with sincere derangement. "None of it means anything after all, because no one will listen...you'd do whatever it take to just have someone look at you, and listen...because that's what you really want-!"

The vice around Hikari's lungs and throat went slack. "SHUT UP!" she shrieked, turning towards her Shadow with a budding mania. "SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" she screamed, uncaring for how the other teenagers were shocked by her outburst. "The class was wrong! The stories were wrong! Shadows can't be our other selves; I would never say those things!" With a frenzied expression, she yelled, "DON'T YOU DARE PRETEND TO BE ME!"

At this, her Shadow went still...and her yellow eyes quivered with a surprising amount of sadness. "...I wish I could pretend..." Those words were the signal: a terrifying roar erupted from the center of the temple, as burning incense erupted from around her Shadow.

From within that cloud, a monstrous arm reached out; with a swift clutch of a humongous fist, Hikari Horaki was yanked inside.

xx

"Damn it!" yelled Toji, crossing his arms to block the sudden burst of wind. "We were too late!"

"This sort of thing is inevitable," murmured Asuka, speaking with some level of insight. "I've seen people who encounter their own Shadow...it's like it sucks them in."

Kensuke, thinking of the many stories from his mother, could only nod. "We'll just have to knock some sense into her then..."

"It's what she'd want," said Mana, bringing up her shield and axe.

'The Shadow's about to emerge!' warned Mayumi, her voice echoing within their heads. Right as she spoke, the voluminous clouds of incense cleared.

A muscular male humanoid stood, looking as a heroic statue come to life; wrapped with a red cloth that covered his nudity, the bearded face of the statue was nonetheless twisted into a violent expression; one arm held a short sword, while the other held onto a weeping maiden. The maiden in question, bearing torn robes covered in countless eyes, was blinded; however, she clutched onto a wooden pillar, as though she were about to be dragged away. The wooden pillar in question bore an icon atop it: its image and likeness evoking the philosophical ideal of a feminine warrior who shined as a burning star; calling it an idol would not have been out of line. "I am a Shadow...the true self..." The statue glared down at them — easily twice as tall as their Personas — whilst the maiden wailed. "What are you doing here...don't pretend like you care...!"

"We'll get to the bottom of whatever your issues are later!" yelled Kensuke, firing his crossbow whilst Sinbad withdrew his own bow. "Toxic Sting!"

Toji cursed aloud to himself, leaping atop Gilgamesh's shoulder. "Just hang on, Horaki!" he yelled, actually using her family name instead of her usual title: sign enough of how stressed Toji was feeling.

"I'll get in close," snarled Mana, holding LABRYS and AIGIS at the ready; without hesitation, she charged at the statue, dueling with a statue several times her size.

Asuka, a determined scowl on her face, merely tilted her head towards Matilda. "I'll be as much of a nuisance as she is," she remarked, ignoring her Persona's eye roll; with a brief buff of Sukukaja, the redhead and her childish Other darted around the temple, flinging bursts of Fire, Electric, and Nuke energy at the berserk Shadow.

All the while, Mayumi kept at a distance, broadcasting insights into the movements of Horaki's Shadow.

Kensuke kept an analytical perspective as he and Sinbad fired more arrows from afar, trying to pepper the Shadow with projectiles; Asuka and Matilda were much the same, utilizing elemental Skills instead. Gilgamesh was brashly barreling into the statue, whilst Mana decisively parried the immense short sword despite the size disparity. However, the statue seemed to be taking a majority of the damage, impulsively turning its stony shoulders, thighs, and torso to block any errant strikes that could have harmed the weeping maiden. A weak spot? With a silent acknowledgement from his Persona, Sinbad turned towards the edge of the temple, clambering up the side of a pillar as a monkey would; clenching the pillar between his thighs for support, Sinbad leaned back — displaying core strength and dexterity that Kensuke could only wish he had — and took aim with his bow and arrow, unleashing an arrow tinged with a bewildering aura. "Madness Needle." From his angle, the arrow slipped by the statue, striking the blind woman in the shoulder.

Even though the arrowhead didn't pierce, she nonetheless howled. "What did I do to you?!"" In line with this, the icon atop the wooden pillar shined brightly.

Kensuke and Sinbad both blinked as their immediate surroundings began to glow. "What the-?"

BOOM!

An explosive burst of holy light blasted them, with Kensuke collapsing and Sinbad falling to the floor with a thud. "...ow," he grumbled. "That stings..."

'Everyone, be careful when striking the woman!' mentally exclaimed Mayumi, witnessing Kensuke's fall and drawing the logical conclusion. 'She seems to have an instant Bless-based counter!'

"Why are you fighting me," moaned the maiden, her bloody fingers clutching onto the pillar for dear life; the masculine statue was paradoxically pulling at her, even as he protected her from harm. "Is that what you really think of me...someone to shut up? What would it matter...no one listens anyway...!" The maiden's form shimmered with a sickly glow, before a palpable wave of power erupted from her throat; with all the accuracy of a heat-seeking missile, it slammed into Kensuke and Sinbad.

Almost immediately, a feeling of utter despondency gripped them, keeping the boy and his Persona on their knees. "Oh..." That attack must have caused the Despair ailment, for all the good it would do him. The feelings were tinged by anguish, dejection, and a sense of futility. "...this must be what the Class Rep feels...it kinda sucks..."

The statue grunted, abruptly kicking Mana away — "Hey!" she growled out of irritation — before throwing his sword in Kensuke's direction.

'Aida-san!' exclaimed Mayumi with horror.

Gilgamesh, dashing from the side, picked up both Kensuke and Sinbad in his beefy arms, avoiding the thrown sword as it crashed into the floor with a loud clang.

The statue huffed, immediately summoning the sword back into his hand to block Mana's downward axe strike.

Toji, standing upon Gilgamesh's shoulder, glared angrily at Kensuke. "Now's not the time to be lying down on the job!" he griped, prodding at Kensuke's shoulder with his staff. "We've fought Angels, and who knows how many Shadows; and it's just the Class Rep! You can't go down like a chump!"

"Shaddup," grumbled Kensuke, trying to focus on those impulses of irritation and frustration; anything to bully his way past the Despair which had him like a bad habit. "It's kind of hard to go all out against someone we know...and her feelings go pretty deep..."

Toji's scowl was something to behold, as though the thought of Hikari Horaki possessing such agony was upsetting on a personal level. "That's a bunch of bull..."

'Everyone, look out!'

Mayumi's warning coincided with the pillar's idol shining brightly, unleashing a shower of light that rained down upon everyone.

xx

Toji willed Gilgamesh onto all fours, pushing Kensuke and Sinbad to the ground; Toji quickly dove underneath his Persona, joining the other two as Gilgamesh blocked the bolts of light with his back. Even though the impacts made his insides twitch unpleasantly, he was able to witness his comrades handle the attack in their own way: Mayumi floated high above on Armisael, preemptively dodging it; Mana had ducked under her shield, letting AIGIS absorb the light; Asuka and Matilda, meanwhile, were somehow dodging every single bolt. "The heck," Toji grumbled, "how is that fair...?"

Kensuke groaned, saying something unintelligible.

Toji cast Diarama on Kensuke, if only to make him more sensible. He resolved to use the healing Skill on himself once he got back to his feet; for the moment, he was too busy looking at Hikari Horaki's Shadow.

For some reason, the sight of the Class Rep's 'other self' was...uniquely unpleasant. He had seen the Shadows of numerous denizens within the CPC since becoming a Persona-user; some had been far more monstrous in appearance. Yet none of them had upset him so viscerally.

His Other shook his head knowingly.

"You know damn well why. Don't kid yourself."

As the pillar's idol stopped glowing, the storm ceased; the wailing maiden, still clutching tightly to the pillar, cried out. "What I can do...is all that I'm allowed to do...since I can't speak my mind...I won't let you take that from me!"

"You sure seem like you don't have that problem speaking your mind to me!" challenged Asuka, as Matilda unleashed a Masukunda to lower the Shadow's agility and accuracy.

The statue growled, swinging his mighty sword at Asuka, forcing her and her Persona to dodge.

Toji, grimacing from the way things were panning, quickly dragged Kensuke to the side of the temple, placing him in a nook by one of the pillars. As Gilgamesh did the same with Sinbad, he said, "You better hurry and get off your ass, Ken."

Kensuke gave him a weak thumbs-up, even as he kept pawing at the pouch on his side.

"He said that he got a glimpse at her feelings."

His Other quietly looked through an old yearbook.

"Hard to believe the Class Rep had a side like this to her, huh?"

His Other looked up, snapping the yearbook shut with a sense of judgment.

"And you didn't have any damn clue."

Toji unlatched the pouch for Kensuke — revealing various items within — before getting back to his feet. "Rest up, buddy." Gritting his teeth, he said aloud, "Yamagishi."

'Yes?'

"Any idea of any weaknesses?"

'Given her attacks thus far? I wouldn't be surprised if she's weak to Dark Skills.'

"...good thing I've got that up my sleeve," he growled, tightening his white headband bearing the kanji of aku in black. "Gonna make a run at it."

As he spoke, the maiden cried out suddenly, her blind eyes flickering with an unusual radiance.

'You'd better hurry; her Shadow's doing something else, now!'

"If she gets that off before I can hit her, then me being on the Track Team ain't worth crap!" Toji clambered onto Gilgamesh, willing his muscular Persona to charge. "Speed Buster!" Gilgamesh veered around Mana — who had already begun dueling with the statue once more — and approached at an angle, ramming heavily into the back of the statute's leg with an attack that imparted a crimson aura: Tarunda had been the random debuff. "Toss me!"

Gilgamesh did so, wrapping a hefty hand around Toji's body and flinging him into the air.

Asuka, seeing his charge from afar, commanded Matilda to flre off more Agilao and Zionga Skills as a distraction. "Eyes on me!" she yelled.

Toji's staff surged with the power of Eiga, imparted by his Persona; as it glowed with a furious darkness, he reached the arc of his ascent, aimed for the wailing woman. "Sorry about this, Horaki!"

At that moment, the flickering light around the maiden's eyes ceased definitively.

'...oh no, SUZUHARA-!'

Without warning, the statute swung his sword at an unusual angle, unleashing a sickle of wind that curved through the air. Without hesitation, the attack struck Gilgamesh hard, cutting him in twain.

Toji gurgled, his mind buzzing with static as his limbs became heavy. His staff bashed against the woman's shoulder — still causing a great deal of pain — but only because of the force of gravity. My Persona's...weak to Wind, he dumbly thought, unable to form more coherent thoughts.

His Other, despite bleeding profusely, laughed bitterly.

"Weak to the Class Rep, huh? What a commentary..."

He barely felt Mana catch him before everything went dark.

xx

'Suzuhara-san's unconscious!'

"I gathered that," growled Asuka, trying to distract the Shadow so that Mana could finish dragging Toji away from the battleground. "She kept that Wind technique as a pretty useful ace in the hole."

'I think I understand what happened,' Mayumi mentally began to explain. 'I don't know if you would classify it as clairvoyance or manipulating probability...but after the woman's eyes stopped glowing, her attack was guaranteed to hit!'

"And the Stooge's Persona just happened to have Wind as a weakness," she huffed.

The Shadow, as if realizing what she had just done, kept on screaming. "None of you had to see this...this isn't what I wanted you to see...I wanted you to see the truth...!"

...that a fact, huh? Asuka shared a glance with Matilda. Hmph.

"-is Toji okay?!" yelled Kensuke, hurrying back into the fray; in his hands was the remains of a candy wrapper of some kind, doubtless connected to whatever item he had consumed to cure the Despair ailment.

"He's out cold," said Asuka, pointing over towards Mana. "If you've got anything for him, I suggest you use it."

Kensuke nodded — "I should have at least two revival items somewhere in here..." — as he rushed off to the side; all the while, Sinbad moved along the periphery of the temple, unleashing more arrows against the Shadow as a form of covering fire.

"...so. Weak to Dark," Asuka mused, eyeing the damage and cracks marring the statue. "Any other weakness that you can think of?"

Mayumi answered, 'I'd say Electricity because of the Wind Skill, but your Zionga hasn't done anything notable relative to your Fire and Nuke Skills.'

"...hmm. Got a hunch," she said to herself. "Tell Mana and the other Stooge to keep attacking." Cracking her knuckles, Asuka slowly approached the Shadow, even as she broadcast elements of her plan to Mayumi.

'...are you sure that's a good idea?!'

Better than letting us get picked off one-by-one, she mused. Without warning, she yelled, "HEY, HIKARI!" Pointing at the Shadow, she added, "ISN'T IT TIME YOU STOP BEING A BITCH?!"

Hikari's Shadow — both statue and maiden — glared at Asuka. "What did you say...?" asked the woman.

(Off to the side of the temple, Kensuke pulled a small bottle out of his pouch. "Spring of Life artesian water," he said, uncapping it and slowly putting a few drops into his mouth. The restorative energy was enough to make Toji stir. "Here, drink up.")

"You heard me!" yelled Asuka. "I'd call you something in my native tongue if I thought you would understand!"

("The hell's going on," grumbled Toji, even as he sipped the Spring of Life water with growing vigor.)

"...you're nothing but a disrespectful brat," snarled the maiden, sounding genuinely angry. "Just because you're capable of fighting doesn't mean you can belittle everyone else who can't...!"

("Focus on getting your energy back first," said Kensuke, rising to his feet. "Knowing what's going on won't help if you get yourself killed." Without another word, Kensuke and Sinbad charged back into the fray, respectively raising their crossbow and bow.)

"Then put up or shut up!" she challenged.

With a defiant roar, the berserk Shadow — uncaring for the arrows peppering her back, or the energy waves launched by LABRYS — attacked, the statute raising his sword to strike.

Asuka and Matilda skipped backward from the point of impact, keeping their balance despite the force of the collision; without hesitation, they ran upon the sword, reaching the giant's wrist as he raised his arm. You've always kept your other hand clutched to the woman, Asuka observed, monkeying up the side of the statue's arm whilst Matilda clung to her back. I bet you won't remove it, either!

True to form, the icon atop the wooden pillar began to glow.

'I'm on it! Keep climbing!'

Asuka did so, even as Mayumi struck from above; throwing one of her Persona's protean orbs, Mayumi willed it to transform into a hollow shade of the Slime Archetype. The goopy mass of colorless muck — "Blurgh," it moaned piteously — landed atop the idol, smothering it. The burst of light utterly annihilated the faux Archetype; however, it had served its purpose: to take the Shadow's mass Bless attack in a sacrificial ploy.

By that time, Asuka had made it up to the statue's shoulder. The bearded face turned towards her, glaring angrily. "Out of my way," she growled, even as Matilda flung a double Friela into the statue's eyes.

Although the statue stumbled from the attack, his grip upon the maiden remained sure. "You speak as one who knows everything," the woman moaned, her eyes beginning to flicker. "You don't know anything about what I've been through...you know nothing!"

(Toji listened to the words of Hikari Horaki's Shadow, and pondered.)

"And what are you going to do about it?!" retorted Asuka, slipping behind the statue's head to look down upon the face of the blinded woman. "You screamed about how no one will listen to you; who would listen to whining like yours?!"

'Sohryu-san, it's about to strike! Mana-san, hurry!'

"And who are you to judge me?!" roared the maiden, as the flickering light faded. Immediately, the statue swung his sword; the sickle of sharpened air curved impossibly around and about, soaring unerringly towards Asuka-!

"FAT CHANCE!" roared Mana Kirishima, leaping atop the sword for leverage; with limbs empowered by AIGIS, Mana made it to the statue's shoulder in one leap, catching the scythe of Wind in mid-swing with LABRYS's blade. Gritting her teeth, Mana's muscles strained against the sheer force of the blow. "Any time, Sohryu!"

Asuka glanced towards Matilda. The child smiled sadly, even as she grabbed two of the four floating implements from around her head: the miniature garden shears and the trowel in particular. "Mind Cutter." The girl leapt downward, aiming for the Shadow's head.

A unique Skill, classified as both Physical and Psy, mused Asuka, watching stoically as her Persona struck true. As well as a low chance of inflicting Despair...because no one has a monopoly on despair. But those who are afflicted with that ailment...are especially weak to attacks against the mind...

'The Psy damage was super effective!' exclaimed Mayumi within her head.

True enough, the maiden's head was now bleeding profusely. "You don't know...you don't know anything...you know nothing...!" The statue suddenly lunged forward; the maiden, still clinging desperately to the pillar, pulled it down amidst her mania; the idol atop the pillar, thrown from its base, began to glow more brightly than it ever had before.

(Toji's eyes narrowed; without hesitation, he made a choice. "PERSONA!")

'The power...everyone, get distance! It's going to be big-!'

Sinbad leapt into the air, barreling against the large form of the idol; however, it barely budged. "Damn it," cursed Kensuke-!

Without warning, Gilgamesh — newly summoned — joined as well, using his greater speed and bulk to blow the falling idol off course; his roar and Toji's echoed throughout the temple.

The shining icon ponderously crashed into the ground and against the temple walls, its form glimmering with cracks...

'TAKE COVER!'

...before, with a brilliant cry, it exploded.

xx

From elsewhere in the realm, the blast shined like the sun, expelling debris over a vast distance; the force was such that it actually dispelled the stormy clouds above. The sheer brightness of the blue sky was horrendously off-putting compared to what had been present before.

Misato Katsuragi and Ryuji Sakamoto, standing back-to-back amidst a horde of Remnants — defeated and otherwise — watched in silence as the masked fragments of Hikari Horaki's psyche vanished. "...I think they did it," said Misato, dispelling Tokoyo with a thought.

"Good," grumbled Ryuji, impulsively leaning against Misato's back before regaining his stance.

"Getting tired in your old age?" Misato joked, unwilling to admit that she had wanted to lean back and rest as well.

"Ha ha," muttered Ryuji with a tired smile, willing Seiten Taisei to descend. "I think the kids are done..."

"Then let's make sure we're there when it's over," remarked Misato, letting Ryuji haul her up onto his Persona's cloud. "Because the collapse of a Realm can be a bit hectic..."

xx

When the dust settled, a cluster of five teenagers were huddled behind the erect shield of AIGIS, its gemstone shimmering brightly. Kensuke perked up, looking at the visible blast shadow etched into the ground beyond the edge of the shield. "Holy crap that was close." Gilgamesh — running with a speed that would have been deemed impossible before the battle — had roared through the temple, plucking everyone up before roaring towards Mana Kirishima. He, as well as Sinbad and Matilda, had dispelled themselves at the very last moment before the idol had detonated. "Nice save, Toji."

Toji grunted, rubbing at his legs. "Whatever it was, it feels like I have a cramp..."

Mayumi, squirming from where she had been pressed in tightly with everyone behind the protection of Mana's shield, quickly stood up. With her Persona's miniaturized halo form hovering about her head, she could not help but sense the tangible energy emanating from AIGIS. "Mana-san..."

Mana looked at the rim of her shield — glowing brightly from the sheer amount of energy it had absorbed and subsequently expelled — as it cracked around the edge: fine fractures, akin to those on the remnants of a shattered windshield. The center was still strong and stable, but the abuse on the outer edge was undeniable. "She absorbed a lot of energy during yesterday's fight with the Angel...but she didn't expel it like she normally would." Tilting her head with a strange curiosity, she added, "Kept it 'just in case'..."

"...is your shield gonna be fine?" asked Toji.

"The damaged edge will need to be removed...but I think she'll be fine." Mana suddenly grimaced. "Big Sis seems pretty mad though."

Asuka, seemingly ignoring the commentary, started walking towards the center of the temple.

Oh right, Mayumi thought inwardly; now that the threat of the berserk Shadow's all-or-nothing attack had passed, her thoughts once again turned to the person they had come here to face in the first place. "Horaki-san!"

The smoke had cleared from the center of the temple; the male statute had fallen to pieces, crumbling into rumble that soon dissipated into shadowy thoughtstuff. The wooden pillar was gone. As for the blinded maiden, she vanished in a storm of blue fire; in her place was Hikari Horaki, and the girl's own Shadow. The Class Representative was on all fours — gasping for air — whilst the Shadow was kneeling on the ground a few meters behind, watching everything in silence.

Toji made a move to approach, but Kensuke held him back. "Ken, what are you doing-?!"

"Hold up," said Kensuke, watching as Asuka came to a stop in front of Hikari. "Let's see what she has to say first...she does have more experience than all of us put together..."

Even so, Mayumi wondered at what precisely Sohryu would say to Horaki; the redhead's antagonism against the Class Representative hadn't exactly been secret. What's going to happen...?

Finally, Asuka — not waiting for Hikari to look up — began speaking. "You done throwing your tantrum?"

Mayumi, Kensuke, and Toji collectively winced.

Hikari went still.

"Because we only caught the tail end of the conversation with your Shadow; about everything from the bit about being a 'teacher's pet'," she continued, keeping her hands on her hips. "Given all of your big talk, I never thought of you as the cowardly type."

Mayumi could feel Toji's frustration building. "Easy, Suzuhara-san..."

"...what do you know about anything I've been through..." growled Hikari, her quiet voice carrying impossibly loudly. "...everything I've done at the school...as Class Representative...it was the one thing I could do well...the one place I could make an actual difference...!"

"Yet that's not good enough for you, is it?" challenged Asuka.

Hikari finally looked up, revealing a face twisted with anguish, and eyes leaking with untold tears. "Shut up!" she yelled, speaking with a heat and ferocity that was downright foreign to her long-time Academy peers. "I don't have the power you do...I'm just a girl, not even in high school! Beyond my academic achievements, what is my opinion worth?!" With an uncharacteristic frustration, she actually grabbed at Asuka by the collar of her white blouse. "But you...you're one of the only three people with an Evangelion in the world. You've saved countless lives with your power! Who are you of all people to lecture me?!"

"...not being taken seriously by those around you...not being believed, or taken at face value...being aware of just how little the power you possess actually matters in the eyes of other people..." Asuka laid a hand on Hikari's, slowly forcing her to let go. Though the others could not see Asuka's expression from behind, the effect it had on Hikari was plain enough: anger leaking away, in the face of surprising compassion. "I know more than most kids our age what that's like...but there's a difference, between you and me: I kept on fighting, and kept my eyes on the road ahead of me. You gave up, and settled for something unsatisfying...and you've come to hate yourself for it."

"I didn't-!"

Hikari's impulsive protest was immediately interrupted. "Of course you did! Your Shadow wouldn't exist otherwise!" yelled Asuka, pointing over Hikari's shoulder. "She's a part of you that's been waiting for who knows how long for you to get your act together?!" Grabbing Hikari by the shoulders, she spun her around, forcing her to face the kneeling Shadow. "You have a choice: will you accept her? Or will you walk away? Because if you want to go back to the person you've been trying to be for however long, we can leave your Realm right now...but if you can accept your Shadow, you might have opportunities you would never be able to claim otherwise...but it's on you."

Hikari stared at her Shadow for an interminably long period of time; with a quiet hiccup, she asked, "Did...did it hurt, to accept your Shadow...?"

"...it was different for me." Looking over at at the others, Asuka said, "And I think it was different for Mayumi as well, for reasons I can't exactly tell you...but the Stooges? I think they got their Personas the old-fashioned way, if NERV's records are to be believed."

"Why do you have to frame it like an insult?" asked Kensuke with a tired expression before looking towards the Class Representative. "It...it wasn't pretty. And facing what I had been lying to myself about...I rejected it too, at first. But I've come to accept the consequences of the choice I made...good and bad."

Toji seemed oddly contemplative, looking at Horaki with a pleading expression before finally releasing a weary sigh. "...we can't make that choice for you. And let's face it; you're a lot smarter than I am. Just do what you think is right."

"...what I think is right..." Hikari sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with a flushed expression. "...what I think is right...is something I haven't actually tried to do..." Slowly turning towards her Shadow, Hikari continued speaking. "I've tried to carry on for so long, in my own small way...trusting that it was the only thing I could do. I...I had convinced myself that no one would listen, because why would they take me seriously?" Quietly slumping to her knees, Hikari faced her Shadow honestly. "You took on the burden that I was unwilling to carry...shouldering the pain of the truth I wasn't able to say out loud...and that wasn't fair to you; I've always hated how others did it to me...so it's no less wrong that I did it to myself." Clutching feebly at her Shadow's hands, Hikari said, "Because you're me...you really are me..."

At this, Hikari's Shadow could only nod with a solemn smile. As blue fire swelled around her, the Shadow grew to a proportion similar to that of Sinbad in terms of height. A fair and beautiful figure clad in robes of blue and gold, her brilliant mane of red hair was elaborately interwoven, yet paradoxically bore various strands that were splayed outward with all the vivacity and sprightliness of flower petals: it lent the woman an air of strange mania and desperation, to have aspects of her hair undone in such a manner. With a golden necklace laced with sunstones and a laurel wreath interwoven with the petals of hyacinth flowers, she should have been a figure of awe and beauty for all to behold. It only made her golden mask — covering the upper half of her face, from the upper lip to the edge of her hairline, and bearing the Roman numeral 'III' in a prominent manner — all the more bizarre, for how it hid her eyes from view; golden hands stretched out from the edges of the mask, gripping onto the rogue tresses of her hair. The woman was a picture of elegance and derangement in one. "Indeed:I am thou, and thou art I...you have carried a truth that drove you to madness, even as you maintained a strong appearance...but no matter what may come, and no matter how little your words will find purchase in the minds of others, you have awakened the resolve to face such unpleasant truths head on. I, Cassandra, shall be your testament...for now, I no longer need to see the truth in silence: your eyes alone will suffice..."

As Cassandra dissolved into blue fire, Hikari seemed like she was about to shift; however, before her own self-image could take hold, the girl abruptly fell unconscious.

"Horaki!" yelled Toji, running forward on impulse. Asuka had already caught her, helping the girl settle to the ground. "She okay?"

"Too much stress," said Asuka with a detached tone. "She'd been in the Metaverse by herself for almost two days, at that." Before she could say anything else, a distinct rumbling sounded all about them; visible cracks began to emerge in not only the temple, but in the very air itself.

"The hell's happening?!" exclaimed Mana, looking around with alarm.

A woman's voice called out. "Easy now!" Everyone turned towards the entrance to the temple; Misato Katsuragi and Ryuji Sakamoto slowly walked in, looking none too surprised by the sudden change. "The Realm is breaking apart; the room Horaki's Shadow resided in is simply returning to its normal configuration. Just stay calm, and don't make any sudden moves."

Everyone listened to Misato's words, not moving an inch as the entire Realm seemed to dissolve around them; stone and rock crumbled into stray bits of thought and cognition, revealing itself to be a facade. Before long, they no longer stood within a temple upon a lonely mountaintop; they were within a blank room, akin to an unfurnished office space. "So this is what the CPC cells look like before a Shadow resides in them?" wondered Kensuke.

"That's the gist of it," explained Misato.

"But it's so small," said Toji with bewilderment; the room couldn't have been any larger than two classrooms put together.

"Cognitive engineering at its finest," said Ryuji with a knowing smile. "A confined space whose interior definitions can shift to match the dimensions of a Shadow's Realm...but it ain't perfect, so we have to prevent Realms from bleeding into each other. Whole point of those pacification missions, after all." The Freelancer looked down at Hikari's form, looking rather thoughtful. "So...this is our missing lady?"

"She is," said Mayumi. "And...well, she's now a Persona-user."

Misato huffed, looking rather ruffled by that revelation. "So not only did she slip into the Metaverse...but she was dropped into the Realm of her own Shadow. That's pretty damn improbable...if not impossible."

"Why is that?" wondered Toji.

"...it's about the location," said Mana, realizing the difficulty. "I mean, whenever I use LABRYS to tear my way into the Metaverse, I always end up in the location which corresponds to its equivalent in the real world. And if Horaki disappeared from a shelter, shouldn't she have ended up there?"

Mayumi nodded. "And the CPC is in the sky..."

Kensuke and Toji looked knowingly at each other, which Misato caught. "Something you boys would like to share with the class?"

The two blinked at being called out; with a glance, they seemed resolved. "Back in July, when I ended up meeting my Shadow...I fell into this white void when entering the locker room at school. When I got out, I was in front of the hospital where my sister is...you know, except in the Metaverse."

"From the school to Kobayakawa Memorial," murmured Misato. "Aida-kun?"

"...June the 14th. The night before, I fell asleep in my dorm the night before; I woke up in the Metaverse, on a highway leading to Old Tokyo...one that was adjacent to Mount Hiru, of the Tanzawa Mountains."

The sheer distance that that involved made Misato boggle. "...that's right." What had seemed like isolated incidents before, no matter how bizarre, now fit a pattern. "Three kids are pulled into the Metaverse, and dropped in close proximity to their Shadows...no matter the distance. They all end up becoming Persona-users. And they all have certain commonalities..."

"...what could be causing this?" asked Asuka. "This sort of thing happening to one person is odd enough. But three people from the same class? That's what Director Kirijo would call a pattern."

Misato crossed her arms, tapping her elbow with some measure of irritability. "...that'll have to be for later. For now, we need to get Horaki-san back into the real world to NERV's Medical Ward..." She brought a hand up to her face, murmuring about parental obligations and legalities. "Urgh..."

As Mana opted to carry Hikari, Mayumi couldn't help but wonder about the precise commonalities involved. It isn't just about us being in the same class...it's that we're involved with events of great importance. Thinking of the Velvet Room, and of Shinji Ikari, she couldn't help but think that — whatever hand was at play — they had become Persona-users precisely due to their orbit around the Evangelion-user. Ikari-san...what a strange and momentous series of events we've found ourselves in...

xxxx

/Meanwhile, far north in Hokkaido.../

Rei Ayanami and Shinji Ikari had alternated in their methods of operation over the past several hours: one would use the force of their Evangelion to impede the Acolytes in reality, while the other would work in coordination with various A.T. Agents to strike at the berserk Shadows in the cognitive world. When moving to the next location, they would swap: this would allow them to rest their mental faculties whilst focusing on spiritual and physical combat, and vice-versa.

Forty Acolytes had been defeated thus far, with only one A.T. Agent having fallen in the line of duty thus far. Civilian casualties had been kept to under twenty, which most would have considered an acceptable trade.

Shinji, despite knowing the imposing power of their enemies, still seemed somewhat subdued by the fatalities. The ongoing feud between herself and Asuka (however one-sided it was on Sohryu's part) also seemed to weigh on him. Her feelings with regards to myself will pass...it is best that she turns to the others...

This brief respite — sitting upon a grassy hill, looking upon a field of snow-covered butterbur leaves — was interrupted by a familiar presence. "What are you doing here, Mister P?" she asked, without looking over her shoulder.

The tuxedo-clad bird-man huffed at her brusque greeting. "Am I that unpleasant?"

"...I assume you are here because of Hikari Horaki's disappearance." Given the events of that day, only one conclusion came to mind. "...did you put her into the Metaverse, like you did with Aida-san and Suzuhara-san?"

"I'm sad that you think so little of me. I certainly did intend to do so, don't get me wrong...but I would have at least waited until they had a week's rest from the New Moon." Stepping forward with hands in his pockets, he stared quietly at the unreal horizon of the Metaverse. "I can already sense that she's awoken to a Persona."

"...so the others were able to succeed without myself or Ikari-san." That was good to hear; it was never ideal, for a group to be so reliant on the powers of one individual; the greater their capabilities were, the better. Still, one thing rubbed her the wrong way. "So you say that you weren't responsible?"

Mister P shook his head. "I would take the credit if I did."

That...was troubling. "Who else would be so invested in helping Ikari-san's bonds grow stronger?"

"The list of suspects is vanishingly few; when you account for those who would even have the capability to pluck a girl from reality and place her within proximity of her Shadow, the list becomes even shorter."

"..." That was distinctly worrisome. (And not at all terrifying, she refused to admit to herself.)

"Our opponents aren't resting on their laurels; they have plans in place that we may not have foreseen."

"You are advising caution? How surprising."

The bird-man squawked with laughter, his mohawk bobbing from the motion. "It is only natural for regrets to pile on as time goes by...but when you've committed to a course of action, momentum can be an incredible thing." Turning away, he said, "Take care of yourself; we've come too far to falter at this juncture..."

As Rei felt him vanish, she could not help but agree. If he was not responsible...then who was?

xxxx

/Meanwhile, at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo-3.../

A slight vibration interrupted Kaworu Nagisa mid-bite; putting down his chopsticks, he pulled out his phone.

K. Aida: given rumors around school, here's sum news
K. Aida: good news—we found our Class Rep! :D
K. Aida: bad news—she was in the Metaverse :/
K. Aida: now she's gotta P-sona
K. Aida: figured I'd let u know, since it'll become known sooner or later
K. Aida: if any1 asks, just let em know she's safe

Kaworu smiled.

K. Nagisa: But of course!
K. Nagisa: (^_^)

Perhaps now it will be easier for Shinji Ikari to focus on his Empress bond, he mused, returning to his tuna roll. He must get as strong as possible...

xxxx

/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/

Shinji Ikari returned to Room 23 — having been told over text that Hikari Horaki had been found in her Shadow's Realm, and that she was now a Persona-user — shortly after Kensuke and Toji did. "Welcome back," pleasantly said Kaworu, who was calmly shadow-boxing near his corner of the room.

He calmly returned the greeting, looking over towards Kensuke and Toji. "How did everything go?"

Kensuke, doodling in a notebook on his desk, lazily waved his hand. "Horaki-san's Shadow was...surprisingly tough."

"But what about Horaki-san herself? Is she okay?"

"She's being held in NERV's Medical Ward for now," Kensuke remarked, tiredly looking over his shoulder. "Katsuragi-san said a lot of stuff about legalities...the sort of stuff Toji and I had to go through when we awoke our Personas, like how NERV talked with my dad, or with Toji's custodian."

Toji, resting atop his bunk, merely huffed aloud. "They could have at least let us see her."

Kensuke glanced over at the other bunk. "If she was in the Metaverse for that long, they'll want to keep her from stressing out. And you are very stressed out right now."

"Bite me, Ken."

"...I'm sorry I couldn't be there," Shinji said by way of apology.

Toji waved off his apology, whilst Kensuke smirked with amusement. "No big deal, Shinji. The other girls were pretty clutch."

Kaworu suddenly chuckled, sounding truly intrigued by the conversation. "It seems that so many of your compatriots are getting involved with the oddities of your life, Shinji-kun...first Kensuke-kun, then Toji-kun, then Mayumi-chan, and not Hikari-chan?" With a dramatic sigh, he flicked a hand through his hair, somehow evoking the image of glitter. "I wonder if I'll end up awakening to a Persona~"

"...I could go an entire lifetime without seeing whatever the hell you don't wanna admit about yourself," griped Toji, turning over on his mattress.

"...ah, that's a good point, Toji-kun." Kaworu pouted, looking downright saddened. "I'm unfailingly honest with myself...would I even have a Shadow...?"

Shinji, feeling some strange trepidation about facing whatever dark side may have lurked within Kaworu, opted for something simpler: turning off his brain by ironically doing homework. As he quietly began studying (refining his knowledge...), his thoughts turned towards their female comrades. Does this mean Horaki-san will be joining us...?

(What would that entail?)

(Do you even have the right to involve her in your battles...?)

xxxx

/Room 1, 2nd Floor, Izanami Dorms, Hakone Academy/

When Rei Ayanami walked into the dorm room, she felt Asuka's distinct look: purposefully detached, yet laced with indignation and curiosity. "Must have been a lot of Acolytes," the redhead observed.

"There were," she answered, looking over towards where Mayumi was sitting. "I understand that Horaki-san is now a Persona-user."

Mayumi, sitting on the top bunk over Rei's bed, nodded. "Yes. She is; the custodian assigned to myself and Mana-san went to pick up Horaki-san's younger sister. Horaki-san herself recuperating at NERV...and I think Katsuragi-san said she would be coordinating with Suzuhara-san's custodian to speak with Horaki-san's father about their next steps."

"Because it's not like a new Persona-user will be left to just be a school student," snarked Asuka, idly running a comb through her hair. "No way; someone's going to have to show her the ropes."

"...are you volunteering?" wondered Mayumi with some surprise.

"Why wouldn't I? You saw how the battle ended; I think the goody-two-shoes and I might have some common ground." Asuka, purposefully looking away from Rei, added, "And I'll make sure to be honest with her about what this life will involve...and all that that entails."

Rei could feel the pointed accusation implicit in her words. That is fine; your hatred is something I can bear. If you choose to grow your friendship with Hikari Horaki...that will only be to your benefit. "Then I hope she recovers. I will be taking a shower." Rei turned towards the bathroom, pondering what would come next.

(She missed Mayumi's quiet glance at Asuka: a look of genuine bewilderment at what had happened to drive such a subtle wedge between the First and Second Children...)

The atmosphere was laden with uncertainty and tension...yet it carried the promise of new possibilities...

xxxx

END OF 9/14/2015

xxxx

Author's Note: So, let's recap:

- Fool Social Link is now at Rank 5, and Shinji can hold twelve Personas!

- The longstanding subplot related to Hikari Horaki's family issues finally blossomed into her Shadow battle, and now she's awoken to her Persona: Cassandra!

Hikari Horaki has been a character whose Persona has been so far out into the relative plotline of SPE that I was able to seed the elements of her own personal story (what with everything happening in her family) with ideas that would make sense for who her Persona would be...and rather far in advance at that.

Cassandra: a figure of Greek mythology, being a Trojan priestess devoted to Apollo, who was cursed to utter true prophecies at the cost of never being believed. (The reason why she was cursed varies, but isn't relevant to why I picked her.)

It also fits the theme thus far of the main party's Personas being either tragic figures and/or famous literary figures (which Cassandra fits in both senses, given her appearances in the works of ancient poets like Homer, Virgil, and so on). I also can't recall Cassandra ever having been used in the Persona series (akin to Gilgamesh, Hamlet, and Ozymandias), so that was also an added bonus.

I mean, she's got a whole trope named after her. Cassandra was due her day in the sun!

"I've been saying that for years, but nobody believed me."

Ayo!

/rimshot
/plus, Hikari's Shadow boss fight is basically a reenactment of Ajax ripping Cassandra away from an idol of Athena, as depicted in numerous paintings
/...except, you know, without the more unpleasant ending depicted by some writers