Both you and Rise casting Psiodyne, not an efficient use of your SP but you were about to warp out of the dungeon anyway, but didn't notice much... until you cast one downwards and hit what you could only describe as 'nothing'.
"Is there, ah, no more ground or earth below this chapel?" Rise had to ask, having detected the same thing.
Makoto ushering you to stay back, she promptly had Santabarbara blast through the ground below with Freidyne. The three of you looking down at the hole, you saw only "That the same white void I saw in-I saw in, Azuma's Empire" you stuttered out, peering at the same stark whiteness.
"Maybe we've just, er, run out of Gameboard?" Rise offered, but comforting neither of you. "Like, we just went past the 'Arena'".
Makoto experimentally picked up loose stones off the floor, then dropped them in... only for them to just keep on falling. "It would appear, ahem, to be a dead end. Maybe it would serve to leave this pit as a warning of the dangers here, maybe, but it would appear this sudden white void is just that, a white void".
"In that case, we should definitely get going," you had to say, "A powerful Shadow sprung up out of the Gameboard the last time I ran into this void. Like, maybe it's where the Gameboard and its Shadows first spring into form or something, I don't know".
"Hmm, I believe I can take a 'powerful Shadow', but do you have a point, Mirror, we shouldn't be getting into needless fights," Makoto had to say.
"For tomorrow though, we've all gotta get to Hanataba early if we're gonna intercept Kikuko and Melissa. Kikuko's usually there first thing, Melissa not so much, but I can see her making an exception if it means getting to saw Kikuko in half" you went over with them.
"Empires shifting on the day of the Duel really does spoil our plans, but I suppose coming down here today was better than nothing," Makoto admitted.
"Yeah, same. Hey, you know Makoto, it almost feels like I'm back working with Naoto when I'm with you," Rise smiled as she added.
"Oh, Shirogane Naoto, I think you mentioned him once. They were that, ah, prodigy Detective from a while back, right?" Makoto asked, for some reason hesitant to use the phrase 'Detective Prince'.
"Yeah, I met her as in high school, and kept doing a bunch of assistant work after that, undercover of course" Rise went on.
This conversation did have to be saved for later though, what with the whole 'Shadow from the void' thing looming over you, as you called on PITT to teleport out of there with an Escape Route.
* * *
Quite a while later, back at Kikuko's mountainside townhouse replica, you headed indoors for it to especially strike you that, other than for meals, you'd rarely been in the house proper. This especially stood out as, by this time tomorrow, you may not even be living here anymore.
Nevertheless, you headed up the narrow wooden stairs, having to keep checking exactly where you were placing your feet in the darkness, until you reached Kikuko's bedroom. Gently tapping on the door, it came nearly flying to the side as Kikuko pushed it open and simply said "What?"
"Ah, I was just wanting to talk about the Duel tomorrow, that was all" you gulped and shuddered.
This answer pleased Kikuko for the time, her nodding and saying, "Good, keeping up with your duties as a Jack as you should. I expect you to be right there in Melissa's Arena with me tomorrow as I run over my strategy with you".
You mean you'll just tell me what you're gonna do and get mad if I contradict you? you thought at that. Steeling yourself, you breathed in before telling her, "No, Kikuko, what I meant to tell you was, oh God, I ran into your Shadow when doing a last-minute run of Melissa's Empire".
Kikuko continued to stare at you, before saying, "I fail to see how that would even be possible. I have gone through the process of attaining and maintaining my Persona, and last I checked could summon Tsuruhime fine".
"Isn't a strong will or something needed to maintain a Persona? I don't think getting suddenly angry on and off is a sign of that," you spoke up in a fit of resolve to her, "Listen, you could be in danger of Tsuruhime going berserk on you".
"Well what else am I meant to do?!" Kikuko burst out, unknowingly proving your point, "You'd ask that I just run away and hide? Even if my Persona is about to go out of control as you seem to think, so be it, it will only assist in taking Melissa down".
"Kikuko, listen to yourself," you said to her, staring firmly back, "You're about to risk your very life for something that doesn't even extend beyond the bounds of high school! You're a friggin' schoolgirl, not a soldier or whatever you insist you are, and neither were Eitaro or Gakuto".
"Then how will be able to face the world?" Kikuko then yelled back at you, "How will I be able to face my family, when I'll spend every waking moment knowing I ran away, I gave in to cowardice? That I surrendered, and to Melissa all of people!" you could see tears starting to form in her eyes.
"Kikuko, if this sort of thing is what your 'family' is pushing you to do, just for acceptance," you told her firmly, "Then maybe it's time to start thinking about who your family actually is".
"The-The Maeda name goes back as far as the samurai caste does," Kikuko then hissed at you, "And continues its legacy today. If I am not that, then, then who even am I?"
"You're alive," your met her with your eyes, "That's all you should need. But you may not be if you keep on with all this Duelling. Besides, I've learned from History that some clans took another's name to make their legacy seem longer, like the Hojo, something you should know. Are you honestly sure that you're from the same line as those names we hear in textbooks, Toshiie, Matsu, Kenji?"
That... probably wasn't the smartest thing to say to her, given that you'd seen evidence of her losing control of herself. Hearing that idea expressed, Kikuko seethed "I've heard enough!" before retreating back into her room.
Fearing this had all been hopeless, you began your slow walk back downstairs, but could then hear the sound of Kikuko still crying, alone in the privacy of her room.
Hesitantly, you stepped straight into that room, where you spotted her weeping over her bed. Not knowing what to say, you instead slowly approached her and reached your arms out.
Looking up at you, rather than retaliate like you feared, a weeping Kikuko just jumped up and accepted your embrace without a word, as she continued to cry on your shoulder.
To think that, back in April, you wouldn't have dared say a word like that to Kikuko out of fearing her, yet now this. You had to hope that, in the end, you did have a chance of getting through to at least someone, before only one was left standing over the Gameboard...
- The Empress has Journeyed to Rank 6! -
* * *
Day of the Duel
You were off your futon the first thing that morning, racing by Na-Rae as you speeded through your morning routine, before going back to her to ask her to drive you.
"M-Miss Honoka, whatever's the rush?" Na-Rae exclaimed.
Your Mistress's life, you thought, but only told her, "It's confidential, but basically I need to be at school quick".
Na-Rae did have to look at you oddly, but sure enough drove you down as requested. When you arrived though, you soon saw that you still may have been too late.
This time, you didn't even have to reach the Gameboard before utter chaos unfolded. All over Hanataba you could see that every student to ever support Melissa, the yankii, the kogal crowd, the occidentalists, the desperate guys, was currently engaged in an all-out slugfest against every student, the Tea Ceremony club, the kendo practitioners, the traditionalists, who backed Kikuko. Basically what Melissa had pulled back at the sports festival, but on a larger scale.
You tried to approach Makoto and Rise, but soon found they had their hands full trying to split students who were currently throwing cafeteria dishes at each other and smashing faces into lockers. Makoto took one look back at you and said, "Nakamura, I'm-I'm sorry, but as teachers here now, we can't come with you until we sort... whatever this is out".
You stood still, but then nodded in understanding, before you then headed straight to the Prized Pupil Lounge, having to dodge a few thrown chairs and trays in the process. Before the Gameboard, who else did you find but Azuma, at whom you immediately asked at high speed, "Did you see Kikuko or Melissa come through here?"
"Melissa yes, Kikuko not yet," Azuma stated you, before he titled his head and said, "Perhaps you were worried that you'd missed the fireworks? Even so, they at least had the courtesy to have others put on quite the show outside".
"Don't you taunt me," you hissed at him, before saying, "Azuma, this Duelling thing can't go on, do you honestly want to see another student, and one of those closest to you, get killed?"
"And leave the Gameboard's work incomplete? Have the deaths of Rin, Eitaro, and Gakuto be for nothing? What on Earth do you even think would convince me otherwise?" he said to you.
Oh God, I am seriously going to regret doing this, but if it'll get him to friggin' listen for once in his life, you thought, before breathing deep and clenching your fists. Looking behind you to make sure Colette was nowhere around, you then walked slowly up to Azuma, sprang forth and immediately kissed him.
As you then pulled away, wondering what the hell you'd just done, Azuma stared at you and said, "You truly believe I of all people can't tell acting when I see it?"
Even if it meant you'd made no progress, you were grateful in a way that he didn't take the kiss as genuine, who knew what issues you may have gotten into in the long run if he did?
So you resorted to a plan you much preferred, as you then elbowed him swiftly in his ribs, knocking Azuma to the floor for long enough for you to dash past him and onto the Gameboard.
For the fight that'd been incited in the school itself, at least Melissa hadn't pulled the same shit Gakuto had with her Shadow-subjects on the actual Gameboard. Even if you weren't supposed to be taking part in this Duel, you now found the elevator in Melissa's mall took you straight down to the cave corridor leading to the chapel.
Not that you didn't have one last obstacle on the way there, as you came to a screeching halt upon seeing Shadow Kikuko standing right before the entrance.
"Poetic isn't it, Jack? That Melissa's psyche may be all glittering lights and fabulous fashions on the outside, but damp, dark, and miserable at the core?" she said and smirked.
"Kikuko, no..." you muttered, "Melissa, please don't tell me you've finished off Melissa already?"
"Much as I would've loved to, no, Melissa's indeed in the room ahead," Shadow Kikuko told you, "I could go in there and confront her personally, do the job myself to make sure my fleshy side doesn't ruin it for me. But then I came up with a much more fun idea, that when flesh Kikuko's delirious from the heat of battle, why don't I surprise her myself, the moment her mental state is at its weakest?"
Fuming, you then had to ask her, "How can you even materialise as her Shadow anyway, I thought Kikuko accepted her Persona years ago?"
"Accepted. Past tense. Besides, the more you train your Persona, the greater its power should you lose control," Shadow Kikuko grinned, "Of course, you were handed the Wild Card, so you wouldn't even know how a Persona awakening even goes on the Gameboard.
Awakenings vary depending on the situation, I presume you know at least that, but the common theme is that you must face something about yourself. Deepest secrets, place in society, your death, or in the Gameboard's case, coming to understand just how much power you wield," she glared down at you as she explained, "And right now the extent of that power's finally beginning to overwhelm poor little corporeal Kikuko.
Anyway, I hear the approach of my fleshy self, so for now, if you wish to continue onto Melissa, by all means." Shadow Kikuko said as she suddenly disappeared into, well, the shadows.
Rushing forth, you saw all the lights had come on within the chapel, revealing the extent of this very cavern and how high and far back the rows and rows of pews went.
At the altar, you could see Melissa right there in her queen bee prom dress, pacing back and forth. "Grr, what is keeping Kikuko? Y'know, in a few minutes more, I'm totally gonna declare myself the winner anyway, seeing as that poseur is clearly about to forfeit".
"Being a bit hypocritical, aren't you? Weren't you the very one who set up that fight outside to slow her down?" you stood up to Melissa.
"Huh, fight outside?" Melissa stared at you, "Look, whatever my followers have pulled, it's got nothing to do with me".
"Not much of an empress then, are you?" you muttered.
"I heard that!" Melissa roared out.
"Look, while we're waiting, mind explaining what the point of this whole church thing is?" you confronted her on.
With a sharp grin, Melissa moved to the pulpit and took the mic there, "It means God has bestowed on a chosen elect beauty, wealth, and power, and has bestowed on others the duty to keep their mouths shut!"
<<BGM: Kamen Rider Ryuki - Alive A Life>>
Jumping off the pulpit, Melissa pulled out her chainsaw and yelled out, "Well, if Kikuko doesn't even have the courtesy to show up, I might as well take it out on her Jack in her place!"
"What the-?" you gasped, before sighing and promptly switching to Albion. "Big mistake" you told her.
As Melissa lunged to shred you in half, Albion was able to absorb her blow entirely, as you then performed an uppercut straight to her jaw with your left tonfa. Her reeling from the blow, you grabbed your other by the shaft and hooked her in with it. You swung to pound her in the stomach as you held her in position, but before you could she blasted you in your own stomach with her shotgun.
As you were then sent reeling back in pain from her bullet, Melissa free of your grasp was now about to blast you with magic. Trying to stand back upright, you heard her call out...
"Inanna-Ishtar!" she roared, conjuring forth a horned goddess, desert-brown skin and hair in a long blonde braid, clad in jewels that'd been crafted into swords, arrows, spears, and maces upon her back, her raised heel pressing down on top of a winged lion she'd reined in.
T-That's not Anjou, came your first reaction, and you'd quickly have to think of another if you were able to handle this new Persona at all.
[ ] Strike back quickly, before she could strike at you.
[ ] Be on guard, you didn't come here for a fight, quite the opposite.
[ ] Take off running, you might as well duck behind one of these pews.
[ ] No matter how she is, try to talk her out of this, you're not the one she wants.
[x] Do something to distract her, you don't think you'll be able to make a move otherwise.
[ ] Write-in.
It was Black Frost you then summoned to cast Mabufula, not on Melissa, but on the floor, making her lose her balance on the now frozen ground. Switching to Gawain, you then cast a searing Tarukaja on yourself as you prepared to ice-joust into Melissa with a reverse-grip tonfa.
However, Melissa then had Ishtar fire off a nuclear blast, not aimed at you, but so as to propel her way up into the air, from which she then had Ishtar keep raining projectiles on you with a Myriad Arrows spree, knocking you to the frozen floor, as she then landed on the other side of you and fired off a Grand Tack.
All that had you scrambling to switch to Arachne, to let you now heal up from any more bullets Melissa could send your way. Of course, Arachne hardly had anything to hit Melissa back with aside from an Electric spell, as the Aces' 'homefield advantage' often negated Bless and Curse spells, though at least she had some buffs handy with Rakukaja and Sukukaja, especially important as you remembered Melissa only had debuffs. Well, Anjou did.
Scrambling to think of another plan, you resolved to get to as high a ground as possible, as you really didn't want to cede it to Melissa with her guns and nuclear blasts. You could vaguely make out some stalactites hanging overhead, but while Arachne's mobility skill let her create long and strong webs, you had no idea if they could reach as far as those stalactites, given the size of this cavern.
But for Melissa, they were easily in range, her noticing them from looking at you looking up at them. With a wave of her hand and a fang-baring grin, she cast Freidyne on the nearest one, sending it falling to the floor. You managed to skate away from it, but the fallen stalactite still had the effect of shattering the frozen floor into countless shards, leaving you to quickly switch back to Black Frost to take such a hit.
However, Melissa was able to channel Inanna-Ishtar's pure physical strength to smash right into that stalactite with her chainsaw, forcing you to quickly web-sling away onto another stalactite, this one not fallen... until Melissa cast another nuclear blast at it, leaving you keep swinging away.
Having to head from stalactite to stalactite as Melissa kept firing off blasts, you ended up swinging to and grabbing onto one of the pipes of the church's massive organ. Having secured the high ground, you then had to wonder how you were ever supposed to get back down, presumably through having Barnumbirr or Prospero work overtime on the Wind spells.
While holding on you switched to Gawain in case Melissa tried firing another Freidyne at you, but while her shotgun had limited range, Ishtar's Ranged skills were another story. Switching back to Arachne would just leave you open to nuclear spells again, bringing you back to square one.
As you were hanging there in one place, you heard Melissa say from below, "I was the one who personally delivered that invite to you in the first place, remember? Hah, I knew bringing you in was dumb even then, but oh boy, if I only could've known you'd end up like this..."
Her casting Dekaja on you, she then had Ishtar ready another Gun skill. Clenching your teeth, you took the only route out and let go of the organ pipes, having Barnumbirr cast Garudyne on yourself just before you landed, as another Grand Tack from Ishtar fired overhead.
You ended up landing right on top of the organ's keyboard, letting out an almighty cluster of notes that caused the entre cavern to tremble. As Melissa then ran straight up to you with her chainsaw, you had Barnumbirr cast Sukukaja to let you quickly roll out of the way. This left Melissa charging into the organ herself, where she then screamed in pain as you heard a sharp searing sound.
"You bitch!" she roared down at you, hiding the burnt half of her face with her hair, "You think you can play dirty by casting fire to superheat that organ!"
"I cast nothing on that organ!" you tried to stand up to protest.
"...No, that would be me," came a third voice, as Kikuko swooped down to slash at Melissa, knocking her into the superheated pipes for a second time. To add insult to literal injury, Kikuko had done this wielding a wooden sword, of all things.
Kikuko then held Melissa by the back of the head up against the heated metal, but someone as stubborn as Melissa would not go down so easily, as getting her hand free she gestured to Inanna-Ishtar to cast Freidyne, launching Kikuko right off her.
At the same time, this had the organ produce the loudest noise it could, making the entire cavern shake. You yourself quickly rolled off that organ as you saw whole chunks of the cave roof now falling to the floor.
"Kikuko, for the sake of your own sorry life, why can't you just accept I'm better than you?" Melissa shouted down to Kikuko as the latter got to picking herself up. "Even as kids, it was obvious every adult was more charmed by me than your sullen self, When I got to this school, I snared every boys' heart, while you only stayed popular with the creeps who didn't want to admit you'd been outshone!"
You could see Kikuko was trying to ignore those very words, as she cast an Agi spell on her own wooden sword to set the entire thing alight. Roaring, she began to lunge directly at Melissa, only for the Ace of Coins to blast her full force with her shotgun the moment the Ace of Swords got in range, followed up by another Freidyne.
Melissa then strode over and grabbed Kikuko by her neck, before a sinister smile crept across the golden girl's face, "I'll tell you what, Kikuko, call this whole Duel off and I won't harm another hair on your head. Oh, but of course, on the condition that you now become Jack of Coins, which includes handing over your Empire to me!" she whispered in her ear.
No, you idiot! You're gonna call out her Shadow! was the only though that pulsed through your head.
"Never!" Kikuko spat out, as you could see her eyes flash an eerie gold. As her Shadow took over her, she began to scream as her skin was turned porcelain, a row of muskets began jutting out of her ribcage, each of her fingernails grew rapidly to become swords, and her hair turned to cascading flame as sparks kept flying out of her mouth. Each of her ship-like armour plates was replaced with a fanged demon mask.
<<BGM: Kamen Rider Gaim - Just Live More>>
"I am a Shadow, Rokujo-Aoi, the true self!" her voice shrieked out, "Melissa, you and your plastic Empire will all burn to the ground! Only fire can cleanse the corruption you've inflicted on this sacred land!"
As Shadow Kikuko let out a fiery breath that spread to burn down any nearby pew, Melissa floundered her way back in panic to you. Seeing her expression, any hint of her prior arrogance had been broken, leaving her staring at you with an expression of pure fright.
"H-Honoka, please, help me! You're her Jack aren't you, you've gotta do something, she's gonna kill me!" Melissa screamed as she held onto you.
"Oh, but aren't I a bitch? A total nobody?" you said to her, "Didn't you say I should just keep my mouth shut? I saw how you treated Reina and used Yuya and Suzako, what reason have you ever given me to stand up for you, a fucking pool party?"
Still shaking over, Melissa nevertheless found time to laugh at this situation. "I knew it, Honoka, I knew all along," her mocking voice trembled, as her sunken face rose to look at you, "Don't give me any shit about how Eitaro's death was an accident, or how you had no responsibility for that AI killing Gakuto. You're a killer, Honoka, you freakin' revel in it, and you owe us everything for giving you the very tools of murder you needed!"
You gasped, unable to believe what you were hearing. With Shadow Kikuko now having cut off your right and left side with flames, your gaze didn't leave Melissa. "If what you're spewing has any truth to it, then it was you Aces who made me like that!" you snapped.
As Melissa then used Ishtar's strength to lift you up by your collar, she said, "Either way, you know what happens to murderers when they die? They get to spend eternity in hellfire!" She then tossed right over towards Shadow Kikuko, with her then running onto that higher ground.
You were now directly in the path of Shadow Kikuko to Melissa, so couldn't delay in your actions:
[x] Switch to a Persona who the flames can't touch.
[ ] Get an Electric persona out.
[ ] If this is Hell, run like it.
[ ] Have Arachne web-sling you upwards.
[ ] Have Arachne web-sling you over to Melissa.
[ ] Say something to get through to Kikuko, that you're not the one she wants.
[ ] Yell something over to Melissa to get her to face Kikuko.
[x] Call out already for Makoto and Rise to get here.
[ ] Write-in.
Much as you didn't want to risk Shadow Kikuko, or Melissa honestly, being alerted to you getting your teachers in as reinforcements, once you switched to Black Frost for Fire immunity you tried calling them in anyway.
"King! Queen!" you tried calling out, voice echoing throughout the cavern, as Shadow Kikuko engulfed you in fire before realising you had an immunity set up.
It turned out you'd been partly successful, as you then heard Rise's voice contacting you through her Persona. "Mirror! We're still being held up, we got in here only for this whole place to start falling apart. But Yamijo's picking up that Bless and Curse won't work here, and you want to stick to Electric for that Shadow, and Psy for the other target!" she give you her scan.
That... didn't really tell you anything you didn't know already about Kikuko and Melissa, though getting confirmation that they still had their same weaknesses helped a little, and it especially helped to know that both Rise and Makoto were on the Gameboard. Still, that did leave you stuck here 'entertaining' the two Aces in the meantime.
Black Frost didn't have too much to strike back at Kikuko with, but as Shadow Kikuko swiped at you with intersecting slashes from her sword-claws, you thought that wouldn't matter too much as your current Persona was able to endure them adequately, and if she kept attacking like this you could switch to Albion for the unintended healing. Your goal was to outlast both Kikuko and Melissa, not fight back, you were never supposed to be part of this Duel.
Yet for all Black Frost's resistances and more, he didn't have any defence against Gun shots, as the muskets and miniature cannons fused into Shadow Kikuko's body opened fir upon you. The barrage pierced you in both your legs and torso, leaving you stumbling back as shadow Kikuko shot straight past you, almost through you, to begin her chase after Melissa. You weren't her top priority here, after all.
With Melissa beginning to get cornered back near the golden pipe organ, her own strategy changed to having Ishtar set off atomic blasts aimed at the cave floor, creating pits into the white void right between her and Shadow Kikuko. But Kikuko didn't simply go around these void pits, but rocketed right over them as her whole body propelled itself over the gap via her flames and gunpowder.
"Honoka, hey look! Please!" you heard Melissa, pale-faced and scrambling up to the altar, screaming out to you, "Y-You have to give me an Analysis, a Zio spell, something! I-I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die!"
You looked and saw Melissa in the process of nuclear bombing her own altar apart in a last-ditch attempt to strike back at Kikuko or at least get her off her, at best only causing the further crumbling of her cave floor into the void. Even more of the cave ceiling started falling in as Melissa backed into the organ again, now sending the pool water and lakes of caffeine from the mall above pouring down in.
Melissa's words did make you at least consider switching to Arachne or Zoe Kalentoula for the electrical power, as combined with the downpour it could give you the power to finish off Kikuko... but wouldn't that leave you with another dead body on your hands, the very thing you were here to prevent?
Either way her words did get you running back over to the organ, though unlike Shadow Kikuko you had to be careful in dodging around the pits and waterfalls. When you did make it past this unwelcome obstacle course...
...You saw you were too late, that another dead body was exactly what you had.
Shadow Kikuko having faded away, or rather burnt herself out, Kikuko's regular self was now standing atop the organ, having crucified Melissa upon her cross of gold, with her sword through the Ace of Coins' chest and bullets in her wrists. And if the killing blow was struck by Kikuko as a human, that meant Recarm had no hope of bringing Melissa back.
"Hey nerd, I'm only gonna say this once so listen up, wontcha?" she began as she suddenly pinned you to the wall "Today's your lucky day, we figured we're gonna let you in our little club, if you can pass our... Initiation Rite". As she said that, a flaming blue tarot card flashed for a second in her hand; was it some kind of rare hologram tech she had access to?
"Come on, we're gonna be late!" one of your friends said from the door to your class, not having looked back to see just who it was you were with.
"Urgh, just come to the Prized Pupil Lounge after class, we'll finish this talk then. Better be there, beyotch" Melissa snarled as she strode away, already a gaggle of fans flocking around her.
Melissa Lilian, the Ace of Coins, the glamorous US exchange student, heiress to Sole Star Petroleum, and the girl who'd first given you your invitation into the All-Aces... was dead.
Kikuko, observing what she'd just wrought, then stepped away to leave Melissa's pale corpse to fall upon the floor. Down to the last two Imperials, once the next fell, that'd be it, the Gameboard won.
"Mirror! Can you hear me, Mirror?! Look, we're not sure if we'll be able to get to you, the sewers have collapsed in upon themselves!" you could hear Rise's voice surge and crackle through your mind.
You used Theodora's Psy synergy to scan around for any paths still left out of this collapsing cavern. Finding a way up along the falling stalactites and escalators, one however that would require Arachne to sling fast, you took last look at Kikuko and hissed, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave you down here, beyond you being my Ace".
It was then Kikuko sighed out, "Honestly, I don't think I can," even though you expected at least something about say leaving the gameboard to Azuma. Turning around to look at you with her empty eyes, she then said "Except this. Could you even be able to?"
Having no idea what to even say back to that, you groaned and reluctantly offered Kikuko your hand. Having then Arachne propel you, her, and Melissa's lifeless body up out of there, you eventually made your way back to the main court of the Mall.
<<BGM: bodyline - Castles in the Air>>
While said mall was still intact, despite what had just got done down in the chapel beneath, the place was almost completely shrouded in darkness, every single neon light that once lit it up having flickered out, with only what light came in from the outside world as the sole illumination, and many once open shops now gated shut.
As you ran over to Rise and Makoto with Melissa's corpse in your arms, Kikuko had to raise her voice to say, "Wait, what are those teachers doing on the Gameboard?"
"Oh, that's your concern right now?" you shot back at her, before you then told the three of them together, "Okay, gonna have to call us an Escape Route out of here, I'll... I'll explain everything once we're back in the school".
* * *
Melissa's lifeless self lay prone atop the Gameboard, as you muttered to Rise and Makoto, "I'm- I'm sorry. I couldn't save her".
"Honoka, it's just- look," Rise tried to say, before admitting, "I may not be the best person to address this. I only saw one person I knew be killed like this, and well, it was a teacher none of us were that close with. But, well, you did try to stop this, and I imagine quite a few people wouldn't have tried even that".
Meanwhile, Makoto silently fumed at Kikuko, before finally saying to her, "Don't think you can trust your Daddy to bail you out of murder. My family's been in law for generations".
"It was my Shadow who killed her, not me!" Kikuko snapped back.
"...Nakamura, can you confirm this?" Makoto looked right at you.
"Yeah, Kikuko's basically telling the truth," you mumbled, before adding, "Even if her Shadow had subsided by the time Melissa died. However, well, your Shadow is you and all..."
"More specifically, the parts of your psyche you try to keep suppressed," Rise then spoke up with, before it occurred to her, "Man, I was only ever involved in amateur detective stuff, not the courtroom. Can, can you even be tried for something your Shadow did, since they are you?"
"Ah, wouldn't that sort of thing fall under mens rea?" you then asked, "Or is that an American thing? I dunno, I'm no legal scholar".
"My family's been in law for generations," you heard a mocking voice repeat, as of course Azuma stepped out of the shadows, "Even if you can try someone for the actions of their Shadow, how are you, fired from the force, going to explain what a Shadow even is? Do you realise how out of your mind you'll look when the Gameboard is presented as evidence? Unless you have your own little Persona Court, but what legal authority could they possibly wield?"
"Oh how little you know. And in a normal court, she can certainly be convicted for a stabbing!" Makoto burst out with.
Azuma sighed and shook his head, "Niijima-sensei, Kujikawa-sensei, I am going to tell you this humanely at first. Do not try to obstruct the Persona Game, for have you not seen what the Gameboard is capable of firsthand?"
"Persona Game?" Makoto seethed, "Funny, because Nakamura told me she doesn't even know what you're fighting, and dying, for".
"We have more than enough to make an educated guess," Azuma told you all, "On its own, the Gameboard can take a human mind and construct entire lands from it. So imagine what one will be capable of once the board in its entirety is under human control".
"Nothing that should be going to you!" you spat out at him, "Or Kikuko, or anyone".
"And you would just have it sit there?" Azuma asked you, before scoffing, "Honoka, I'll be frank, the reason you still lack an Empire is due to more than your Wild Card. It's because you lack the Vision".
You then scowled, "Do you at least have anything to say about Melissa being dead?"
"I'll say we all gave her every warning we could," Azuma pointed out, "Yet still she insisted on claiming the board for herself. She knew full well what she had embarked on".
"...Don't take it out on Azuma," Kikuko then looked at you, "Whether you blame my Shadow or I, Azuma was not involved at all. But you were, weren't you Honoka?"
You flinched at hat, before saying, "W-what do you mean?"
"You were plenty responsible for provoking Melissa before I showed up. You, a Jack, ran straight into her Arena without the company of your Ace. The battle, one I never asked to be fought for me, was well under way before I ever showed up" Kikuko spoke.
Those words stinging you, you told her bluntly, "I was trying to stop that Duel from happening at all in the first place!"
"Really? Because we only have your word for that," Kikuko said back.
Covering her face with her hands and screaming into them, Makoto then looked back up and asked, "Do we at least know who's responsible for starting that fight in the school earlier?"
"That was entirely on Melissa's and Kikuko's fanbases," Azuma said, "Or so I'm told, but having seen how ravenous followers can get myself, I'm inclined to believe that explanation".
Shuddering, you then exited the Prized Pupil Lounge to see your school had been completely trashed by that fanbase-fight. Hotaru and the rest of the Student Council were still hard at work getting the place back to normal, with the more egregious of Melissa's and Kikuko's followers being made to clean the place up themselves.
Given they were all still dealing with this, how were you even going to break the news of Melissa's death?
Well, as you were Class Rep, you then headed over to Class 2-C only to find the door bolted. After knocking, Tanizawa-sensei saw it was only you and let you in, where you then saw that Suzako and Yuya had in the meantime constructed a makeshift fort with the desks at one end of the room, shielding all the students trying to not get caught in the crossfire.
"Hey, Yuya, Keiko, you're all right" you tried to smile through everything else that'd happened.
"You are too, that's great! We-we feared the worst when you didn't show up to class," Yuya stuttered out to you.
"See, I told you Honoka would be just fine!" Suzako beamed, before asking, "So, er, how's it like out there?"
Having no idea how to break it to them, you just said, "Well, I'll just say you won't have to put up with Jack of Coins duties anymore".
Checking the class next door, you couldn't see Reina anywhere around. Gasping, you then tried the Occult Club, where upon opening its door... you immediately got doused in tea.
"Oh my, Honoka! I am so sorry, we'd rigged boiling tea to automatically pour on any intruders while we hid here during the fight," Colette apologised and explained, "Fortunately, that tea would've long cooled by now, so you'll only have to worry about a trip to the laundromat".
Looking around the room, you also saw Hitoshi, Masaomi, Ibuki, and finally, much to your relief, Reina. However, from a scar she now had on her cheek, it did appear someone had attacked Reina on her way here, even though she'd long stopped associating with Melissa.
"A-Are you alright?" you asked her, kneeling to her level.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Colette brought me in to shelter me while... everything was going on," Reina mumbled out.
God no, if Melissa's death was hard enough to explain to Suzako, Yuya, and Hotaru, how were you ever going to break it to Reina?
At a complete loss for words, you instead nodded before leaving to go check on Takako. Being one of the more physical of your friends, it looked like Takako had a good job along with Ikue of defending themselves out on the field, with quite a few of Kikuko's and Melissa's followers knocked out to show for it.
You slumped down on the closest bench, losing yourself in the thought of what would happen to Hanataba now? Three of its top students all dead before the year was even half over, the latest of them being heiress to a multinational company.
And if even someone as beyond redemption as Gakuto still didn't deserve death, what did that say about Melissa? Her redeeming features were few and far between, doubly so for how she treated her friends, but she at least wasn't as far gone as Gakuto. Her face, rightfully frightened for her life, kept flashing in your mind, as did one of her last assertions.
That was Eitaro's death really an accident, was Gakuto's death entirely incidental? Were you who she claimed you to be?
In a fairer world, you thought, Melissa's death would be the final straw. No, in a fairer world, the last straw would've been long ago. But her death was to be in vain, regardless of anything Azuma said, as this whole stupid fight over the Gameboard was still not finished.
If you had any last words for Melissa Lilian, they'd be:
[ ] "I don't know what you deserved, Melissa, but it wasn't this."
[x] "You started me on this path, Melissa, so I'm gonna finish it."
[ ] "You should've been made to atone, to make up to Reina, to Suzako, to Yuya. That'd be the most ideal ending I can think of, not his."
[ ] "Goodbye, Melissa Lilian. I was there through the last days of your life, whether you or I liked it or not."
[ ] "If you do go to your Heaven, Melissa, I hope there you'll find no reason to hate, to just be happy."
[ ] Nothing, just silence.
[ ] Write-in.
- Strength has Journeyed to Rank 7! -
Oh yeah, and there was going to be that stupid ceremony tomorrow. Three students dead, but hey, you'd get to say you were now an Ace for it~. Bloody hell.
You expected that'd take up a good chunk of tomorrow, but you at least hoped to get in a talk with some others while you could that following day:
[x] Reina.
[ ] Kikuko.
[ ] Takako.
[ ] Himawari.
[ ] Ryouko.
[ ] Yuya.
[ ] Hotaru.
[ ] Write-in.
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