tunein | 04 ❥

[And Yosuke does just that, and thanks to the combined efforts, it seems to have rectified that. For the time being.

Naoto makes the elective decision to mind charge, to later cast Megidolaon. Lucina swings her gained sword in one hand before charging over and hitting her Shadow self with the sharp side of the blade. She has no persona, no magical abilities to speak of, but it certainly packs a punch, making the shadow hiss and recoil. This is also helped when Teddie uses Bufudyne and it screeches in distaste.

In retaliation, it decides to spit fire at you, Souji, before sending out another ray across the entire field.]

[If there was a time that he was thankful that Izanagi was resilient to Fire in his current state, it was now. Souji's left reeling slightly as the flames hit, though not so much that he'd be knocked down, and once he has room to act again, he directs Yosuke to keep providing support before switching. Where the World Arcana was, Judgment takes its place as he calls upon Trumpeter to provide a well-needed Heat Riser to the only non-Persona User they had.

He hoped it would help, even as he tried to keep his eyes on what was going on.]

[Help it does. The shadow growls again as Naoto drops the Megidolaon, and hisses loudly as Lucina once again hits its torso, leaving long, slashed lines with black smoke billowing out.

Dragon slayer indeed.]

It's not possible. You can't have that sword.

[The words are slurred, moreso spoken into minds that actually out loud.

Teddie heals, Yosuke increases everyone's evasion and hit. Have fun with that one, shadow.

Licking its wounds, the shadow takes a defensive position. Probably charging up for something...]

In a world like this...anything is possible.

[What you expect makes it real. Not that he'd figure that out...

He directs Teddie to amp up the ante by making everyone's attacks hit harder, before capping off the whole endeavor with Marakukaja. That Mind Charge is still stocked and ready, and he's well aware of it. It's just a matter of using it when he's covered every track.]

[Lucina once again attacks the hide to a grunt, though its not as effective as the previous time. Once she returns to the line up, she waits, ready to duck and cover should the need arise.

She's not the only one. Anytime now...

It's amidst their next range of attacks when the dragon uncurls itself and screeches, the sound resonating around the surrounding and far off star clusters. The roar is enough to instill Fear, but no one has time for that right now, and it has no effect. This is followed up by smashing into each member in turn with its full body, and summoning more shadows.

Shadows which look very much like corpses, incidently... kind of like that boss you fought several floors down...]

[...it was probably a good thing that he'd chosen to bring their defenses up, because ow, ow, ow, something that big charging right into them hurts. Souji himself really gets the short end of the stick, because that dragon charging into him put him in a bad way, moreso with Trumpeter at the front. It doesn't help that those corpse Shadows seemed aware of who was most hurt -- or rather, who to deal with so that Lucina would be forced to stay.

Him. The one who came all this way for her.

He gets up eventually, though definitely not looking too good, and in response to her charge, goes and Debilitates the dragon. Switching to Izanagi can wait.]

[In response, Yosuke and Teddie team up to heal whilst Naoto drops another Megidoloan, hopefully wiping out some of the shadows - which it does, two of them, but two remain. Lucina grimaces - it's imperative they knock them out before they return to the shadow - before turning to Souji.]

Souji! [She raises her sword. Time for a team attack?] Lend me your aid!

[He nods firmly. While he had no weapon that would work for the task, he most certainly had Trumpeter to call on. It was a waste of the Mind Charge he'd stocked, but certainly it'd help get rid of the monstrosities they were faced with at the very least. Thanking Yosuke and Teddie for their help and letting Lucina lead, he follows after her as she makes her attack--

--and just as she finishes, without leaving any opening for either of the zombies to strike, calls down through the herald of the apocalypse a Ziodyne, the bolt directed at whichever of the two she didn't attack.]

[She takes point, and she takes it easily, allowing the hours of training to saturate her mind and guide her body, to actually be put to use - and she may just possibly have finished one of the shadows off with a rather distinct, flash move, that the Shadow Lucina growls loudly at. Not possible. She shouldn't have that. But she does.

Both of the two lesser shadows stumble at the onslaught, and fall thanks to the Ziodyne - and the remnants of it hits Shadow Lucina, hard, ripping along its wings until, cursing and shrieking, it falls to the ground, paralysed - quite clearly knocked down.

Your call, Souji. Do we all out attack it?]

[It was a perfect opportunity to lay into it, moreso with how cleanly they tore into the opposition as they did. But...there was more that could be gained by relenting, and as he lets Lucina back off, he holds out a hand to tell everyone to hold off on the charge -- opting, instead, to switch to Izanagi and re-focus for another big spell.

He checked Lucina as he retreated himself, monitoring the rest of the team with cursory glances. How was everyone? Had the Heat Riser he cast on her lost its touch? And where were Teddie, Naoto and Yosuke, when it came to being able to keep summoning their Personas?]

[Heat riser was still working fine, and as for the other three, they seem to be doing okay, still having half or more of their SP. It's what comes from having well over a year of experience and fighting Death goddesses, really.

Taking the lead, Yosuke opts to up hit/evasion again whilst Teddie casts a Bufudyne to much of the same fanfare as before; Naoto follows with a Dyne spell of her own which also hits hard, and Lucina makes use of that heat riser before the Shadow gets back up, hitting it with ease and efficiency and hoping that soon, they will triumph, soon, she will be able to say what she needs to say, what she needs to hear.]

[Then they could end this soon. Hopefully.

Souji doesn't hesitate when the others have finished their runs -- bringing the Creator-God out again to let fly with that Mind Charged Megidolaon. If this doesn't pacify Shadow Lucina, then they'll just have to keep at it until it's over. They had the means to.

He just prayed that it wouldn't stretch too far...]

[The Shadow grunts in pain, before it begins to scream - sounding much more child than dragon now - but still, it tries to get up, though its strength is waning.

But as it attempts to stand, Lucina is already there.

I say when it ends.

She hits it one last time, as Yosuke, Teddie and Naoto hit it with their respective Dyne spells - and this time, it does fall.

And doesn't get back up. But still, the scream continues, even as it disintergrates, the dragon fading back into non-existance.

Now all that's left is the child, and it's not really screaming anymore.

It's crying.

These tears aren't fake.]

[When it goes down, he heaves a sigh of relief, still feeling a hint of the hurt that the Shadow put him through. It had gone on for shorter than he'd expected...but then, with everyone having been in top form in spite of a lack of entry into the TV world, it probably said a lot. That, and they'd already seen far worse at this point.

But when the Shadow falls and reverts into its childlike form, he stops and stares at it...almost considerate of something for a moment, before he decides to approach it. His expression remained the same sort of calm that it was throughout the whole thing...though if one bothered to look, there was still a faint tinge of hurt.

There was something he needed to get off his chest as well. And he was going to do that now.]

...Do you still insist that I'd leave her alone?

[The shadow doesn't respond, instead, wailing; loud, audiable sobs.

After a few seconds it chokes out a reply.]

You aren't father, or mother. I don't want Lucina to leave. I don't want to!

I may not be either of them. That's true.

[He clenches his fist again. A subtle sign that even he has his failings.]

But if I left her here...what then? Would you rather she be remembered for dying in a place like this?

No one would remember her.

[There's a pause.]

No. That's not right. [Her eyes flicker to Lucina, who has been watching her, fixated. Almost as if that's actually Lucina's statement and not the shadow. The overlay of both voices isn't imagined, at least. She wipes her eyes.] Inigo. Lissa. Frederick. Owain. Cynthia. Kjelle. Brady. Severa. Gerome. Morgan. Noire. Laurent. Yarne. Nah.

[She says them all in rapid fire, but pauses again, her face confused, but also surprised. It's an odd expression as her gaze settles on Souji.]

And you. Seta Souji.

[The surprise is there, in her voice. But it doesn't seem to be a bad thing.]

[The boy manages a small nod, meeting Lucina's gaze with his own for all of a few lasting seconds. Yes...there would be people to remember her. There would be people who would mourn, who would cry as another name was added to the gravestones. It didn't matter where they were, or what they were doing. They'd have a new hole in their hearts that may never heal.

But there was one name she forgot...]

Yosuke, as well. [He spares a glance to the Junes boy, before returning his gaze to the Shadow.]

She may be alone now. She may have lost her mother, and her father...she may still not want to be here.

But that's why we're here. We'll make this place her home...and help her change the world. [There's only one truth that we'll accept. She will make a difference...and we'll be by her side the whole way.]

Edited 2013-10-23 13:29 (UTC)

[Lucina herself knew it. She always knew that, but it seemed it was something her shadow had forgotten, in its intent to selfishly keep her safe from more heartache. But now she remembered.

And at the additional name, the child's eyes flicker to Yosuke, standing some way away with the other three.] You're Yosuke, aren't you? [She directs an earnest smile to him, one that says thanks even though neither she nor her real self say anything. It's one of Lucina's more recent memories, but of course she'd know it just as well.

The shadow looks back to Souji. It seems to have taken that all in, nodded, accepted it. Though her eyes go to Lucina briefly, as if judging whether she has accepted it, too. Though there time will come in a moment. First she has something else to say to this boy.]

You'll help her. You promise?

[She holds out her hand, pinky outheld - a pinky promise.]

[...He stares for a moment, before revealing a faint smile that said more than words, and accepts it.

Though it was more than that, to him.]

...It's not a promise I'm keeping. It's a vow. [One that he made long ago, as he helped each victim out of the TV World...to shoulder the burdens their secrets left on them.]

[The shadow doesn't say anything save nodding mutely, until it withdraws its hand. Now Lucina steps forward. She kneels to her height. Lets out a long sigh, before she reaches up to place a hand against the child's cheek.

It's what her mother did when she was scared.]

Lucina. [It's strange, talking to herself, but this is an embodiment of many things. And that's something she needs to tell her.]

We're not alone. We never have been. We might have lost, and we miss father, miss mother. But we made them a promise, didn't we? To change the world.

[She smiles sadly to her.]

But I suppose we never allowed ourselves to mourn. I had to be strong. For Inigo, for taking over the household, and when this opportunity to come here came up, we took it. But that feeling did not change.

It's okay. [She brushes some stray strands out of her face, as the shadow looks up at her intently, a mirror image.] You can cry now.

[Souji stands and steps back, smile fading, and letting Lucina confront her other self in silence. It gave him room to start going over all this in his mind. And truth be told, there was...a lot for him to take in, to meditate on. Plenty that just hit home so hard it made him feel more than a little pity for her behind his passive expression. His gaze lingered on them, lost in thought -- feeling a sharp reminder of what his own family felt like. It felt so twisted. So wrong. And yet, all the same, it feels like he's done a lot more than just rescue her this day. Perhaps it was because of what hit him hardest. Perhaps it was something else. He didn't really know for certain.

All the same... he now knew just what made her who she was now. And he felt bitter inside.]

[Usually, she would look to him, but right now, her focus is on the shadow. Who, as instructed, cries openly. Heartbroken sobs, open, honest; things Lucina never gave herself, before she looks up through her tears.

And she nods, before giving a flicker of a smile, and then, in a flash of light, she's gone, disappearing into irises. Lucina leans back as the light clears, and in her place is a young woman, holding the sword Lucina somehow summoned. She holds it out to her as Lucina stands.

> The strength of heart required to face oneself has been made manifest...

Lucina has faced her other self...

She has obtained the facade used to overcome life's hardships, the Persona Kali!

And then she's gone. But Lucina doesn't immediately turn, watching as the card for strength too disappears into nothing, before facing Souji again.] Souji. Everyone. You have my eternal gratitude- [But she cuts herself short as she blinks, a hand going up to her eyes.

Don't forget you can cry, too.]

I- they don't seem to want to stop.

[Even if she's smiling, that grief, all that pent up ache and sadness and pain and everything that has happened since she made the decision to be strong... it's all coming out, and all she can do is shake inaudiably as she lets them fall.

Finally lets it out.]

[He watches that, too, in silence, keeping his gaze on her she turns around to face them. It isn't long before he sees her begin to cry as well -- something that she's denied herself the room to for far, far too long, just as they'd thought. Instinct grabs him for a moment, and he finds himself walking up to her, giving her a firm hug again, letting her sob against his shoulder if need be. She needed this. All of it...

More than anything, she needed to mourn. And perhaps now...she can finally start on the road to being at peace with what she lost.

It's okay. Cry as much as you want.

> The Lucina Social Link has reached Rank 4!]

Edited (Adds one more feels punch and becomes the nope cat) 2013-10-23 19:47 (UTC)

[And need it she does.

... needless to say, that shoulder is appreciated. And it's likely his shirt will be soaked, but... right now she needs it, and he knows it.

It's likely even when she does stop, the tears won't cease until they truly leave this world.]

04 ❥

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