avalar | [Voice] Arcana III

Entry tags:

persona 3: minato arisato

[Voice] Arcana III - so much to lose

[Minato couldn't not notice, this time. He'd thought at first that he might be wrong, but well... A few days and no contact can only mean one thing, can't it? The message comes late at night, and is brief. His voice is level and calm, but trained ears could tell it's only barely so.]

...I know not many of us were close to them, but I figured it's worth knowing: Marie, my housemate, seems to be gone. I'm pretty sure Shirogane Naoto is, too.

[He shuts it off quickly. Two of his closest friends here, vanished. He doesn't know if they went home or what. He's...never really thought about where the people who are no longer in Avalar may have gone. Home? Some other world? He can't help but be sad about it, no matter what the case may be. It hurts.]

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Minato?

[His voice is quiet and as sympathetic as Ryoji can make it. It's not hard to feel for him though; he saw many of his friends come and go, and it was even worse at the Tower, where people were surely returning to worlds that were absolutely desolate. Here he can at least hope that the worlds they're returning to are safe and strong.]

Are you at home? I'd like to talk to you if you have the time.

[He isn't going to pressure Minato in any way to talk to him, but he can at least offer to be there for him while he sorts out his emotions on the matter, and hopefully recovers.]

[He take a moment to compose himself to speak again.]

Yeah, I'm in Marie's room.

[He can trust Ryoji. More than anyone else, he knows he can break down in front of the other boy comfortably. He...can't go on like this, holding everything back.]

I’ll be right there, okay? Just hang on.

[He shuts the feed off and immediately heads to the house, letting himself in and heading up to the room. He’s quick, making sure Minato doesn’t have to suffer alone much longer, and as he wraps an arm around Minato’s shoulders, it’s clear he wants to be reassuring.]

[When Ryoji gets there, Minato is shaking slightly. He isn't crying, not yet, but he's close to it.]

S-Sorry. I knew this probably wouldn't last, but I'm so sick of losing people..

[He'd viewed Avalar as his second chance, a place to make a new life. Two of his close friends were just taken away, though - he can't really expect a strong support network with other outsiders here, can he? This sucks...]

I still understand. No matter how many times it happens, you never get used to losing those you care about.

[He hugs Minato with one arm, watching him intently.]

Would it help to talk about what they were like? I never got to see how amazing they were, after all.

Yeah, it..it might.

[He leans into the embrace, needing the comfort. His power is built on his bonds with others; to have it weakened now... It's hard not to let everything he's been holding in get to him.]

Marie was very sweet. She was from France, like Bebe, and lived in a convent. Didn't know her parents, except her mother who she only met recently. And she was a master on the violin.

Shirogane-san, though... She's a Persona-user from 2012. Apparently her senpai and leader was a Fool and Wild Card, too. She's a detective, and really good at it. She helped me out a lot.

[Like in keeping an eye on Seito, and it was Naoto that rescued both him and Chou after Seito had attacked them.]

[Ryoji doesn’t let up on the hug. It’s clear Minato wants to be held like this, and Ryoji always wants to give his friend what he wants. He listens attentively, with a very small smile.]

I would have liked to meet them. I love hearing music, and I’m sure her music would have been more amazing than anything else I’ve heard.

And more Persona users… I think I remember her leader. Yu Narukami, right?

[He was a casual acquaintance to Ryoji back in the tower.]

[He needs the comfort. As much as he'll never ask for it, as much as he ignores his need, he can't keep bottling this up.]

She led an incredible life, something about Napoleon Bonaparte being a zombie and a thief saving her from a plot to destroy Paris.

She...always just referred to him as her senpai. I know what he looks like, but not his name...there's another version of him here.

[And from the way he says that, Seito is clearly not a friend.]

[In the past, Ryoji might have found that hard to believe. Now, he just smiles and nods.]

Sounds like quite the adventure. Even thieves can become very loyal friends.

Another version? So someone with his face, but not his name or his life… you don’t seem to like him as much as you probably would like Yu-kun.

[Just a guess, from the look on Minato’s face.]

[That last comment prompts a sigh, and Minato's face falls into what should be a familiar expression: tired, tired apathy.]

I don't really try to befriend people who want me dead.

[As much as Minato wants to help Seito, he's sure he won't be the one to get through to him.]

[Now that got his attention. His grip on Minato tightens, and he meets Minato’s eyes with a steely gaze.]

...Is he trying to hurt you?

[If he is, there’s no way Ryoji’s going to sit back and let it happen.]

[That's a new kind of expression out of his friend... He doesn't want Ryoji running off half-cocked, but he can't lie to him.]

He tried to strangle me a few months ago. I fought him off and he hasn't tried anything since, even saved my life at one point, but I think that was because of Minako-chan...

[It is new for Ryoji to get so angry when it comes to the actions of humans. They are, after all, a species he can’t hope to understand or judge… but after watching his friends die over and over, most of the time for absolutely no reason, he now has a reason to be upset.]

I don’t care if he tried to save you. That doesn’t excuse that he tried to hurt you and hasn’t told you that he won’t do that again.

I'll be ready next time, though. If there is a next time. He won't get so close. Besides, I...want to help him.

[He's concerned. He's never seen this kind of anger out of Ryoji before.]

You want to help him? He’s not redeemable. I don’t understand… I know you’re hopeful he’ll be different, but he tried to kill you! He can’t be forgiven for that!

[He’s practically shaking with rage, ready to just get up and storm out of here.]

[He's...almost a little bit scared of how strongly Ryoji is reacting. He knew he'd be mad, but to this extent?]

No, he's...he's already changing. I'm not the one who can help him, not yet, but he can change. D-Dammit, he's just like me.

Until he changes, he can't be trusted... Minato, I just want to protect you. I don't care how much of yourself you see in him. You were never a murderer. He's not 'just like' you.

But I could have been. I don't know if you ever saw how I was before I returned to Iwatodai, but I... With different influences, I could have become him, or Takaya. I could have become worse. Knowing there are other worlds, where things go differently...there have to be worlds where I did.

There can’t be… you’re special, Minato. You never could have done anything that cruel.

[Ryoji just refuses to believe it. The person who gave him his life could never be anything like the person who took life away… He looks about ready to run out the door.]

There have to be. Maybe there are worlds where my parents didn't die and I grew up a normal kid. Worlds where you're the leader of SEES, worlds where I'm the Appriser. Worlds where Shinjiro-senpai didn't die. Worlds where Junpei-kun did.

I-I've thought about it before. If there are infinite possible worlds, every different set of circumstances has to exist. Worlds where I died in 1999, worlds where I killed you, worlds where I killed a hundred people.

[He can see it. He was such a blank slate before returning to Iwatodai, he could have become anything.]

The Fool represents infinite possibilities, right? Not every possibility is going to be good.

No matter what combination of worlds there are, there can’t be a combination that makes you a murderer. At least, not without a very good reason. I know there are infinite possible world, but you’re expecting me to believe that the human who selflessly saved the world for a population that won’t even remember he existed could ever be a murderer, then I think you’re being ridiculous.

You’re not like him. Minato. You could never be like him, and I’m going to talk to him to prove it.

[He stands up quickly, hands still shaking with anger. He just can’t handle imagining someone who hurt his friend running around free, while Minato defends him like he isn’t even bothered that he could have died. He can’t handle it without doing something about it, and so, without another word, he runs to the door.]

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[Voice] Arcana III - so much to lose

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