Operation: Uncage the Sparrow!

[midnightmaiden]

Kasumi, now more than ever, is adamant about doing something right. She'll prove her worth. She'll go back to her roots as the Midnight Maiden, solving problems on behalf of the unfortunate!

Stocked up on Goho-M's, healing items, and other assorted odds and ends, she sends a message to Makoto to join her in Tartarus when the Dark Hour arrives. They're doing it tonight!

That'll prove she's not just some puppet.

And so she waits outside of Gekkoukan High School for the clock to strike midnight and for the Dark Hour to commence. She's got a rapier at the ready, though she doubts that she'll need it.

What could possibly go wrong?

Comments

[midnightmaiden]

"It doesn't matter what he is! He's still a good person, and I won't let you hurt him or Sparrow!"

To further emphasize this, she holds Sparrow closer. "I know you don't like my power, but if I have to, I'll use it more directly. So please just stop and let us leave."

She should really grab that Goho-M, but it's awkward when she has a rapier in one hand and is holding Sparrow with the other. "It's okay, Makoto-san. If you and Haru-san get over here, we can leave together."

That'll be okay, right?

cw: panic attack/body horror

[nyxavatarmakoto]

The others had said something, but the Shadow Akechi's words are all that ring in his ears.

You aren't human.

Why did he ever ever let himself be stupid enough to think he was anything but the Nyx Avatar. A Shadow. A monster. The words make the room too small, his lungs too small, his skin too small.

"I don't know." When he speaks his voice is inhuman, something shifting until the Shadow Akechi is small enough to fit under his heel. And the ant had thought it was fit to threaten Thanatos with death. How puny. "I don't know and I'm not like you!" Thanatos smacks the Shadow to get it away from him.

[pheasantboy]

It doesn't take long, at all, for him to realise he's fucked up. Rather than answers to his questions, all he gets is a sense of power, that builds, and builds, and builds....

Before he can dodge, before he can so much as vanish—which he wouldn't have done anyway, not with his ego here before him—the thing that was the puny Shadow boy, vast and towering in the rapidly-distorting chamber around them, bats him aside like he's... well, a doll.

He lands in a broken heap, eyes and mouth wide. The tiniest whine emerges from his throat, as he tries to remember how to move. Another blow like that will kill him—and Sparrow, of course, right along with him.

[rosemaudite]

...Well, that all went to hell in a handbasket rather quickly, didn't it?

Haru would rather not attack her ally in this rescue mission, and she's not sure how much she can do alone, but she's aware of the possibility (and gets her hand on a Goho-M just in case). "Yoshizawa, if you really can keep Shadows from being aggressive, this would be the perfect time for it."

[midnightmaiden]

"Right." It's... hm. Normally, her special ability isn't one she needs to exercise too aggressively. She can just let its passive benefits take effect, but this is different. Two Shadows of human-level ego and intelligence. One's life hangs in the balance.

So, fine.

Kasumi exhales slowly, and her costume glitters and shifts. Where before she wore the attire of a secret agent or spy, strange tentacles burst from her back, winding and weaving and stretching and forming what may at a glance look like a gorgeous, black gown, but closer inspection reveals something far more sinister.

The entire dress is woven from those peculiar tendrils, complete with eerie, cyan accents. More eerily, she gives off an uncanny aura of pale blue sparks. There's a power radiating from her that was more muted before.

She steps forward, letting that power fill the air. Both Shadows may hear a deep order to Stop.

"Heal him, Cendrillon."

Her Persona turns to the Shadow on the floor and complies, casting Diarahan.

[nyxavatarmakoto]

Thanatos lets out a howl before there's a voice telling him to stop. He has no choice but to comply with that and he isn't really sure why. All he knows his he can't attack. With the monster placated at least it retreats back into it's more human form.

And all Makoto wishes he could do was bolt before either Haru or Kasumi realized he was too dangerous to be around them.

[pheasantboy]

—and the voice gets right into him, through every wisp of thought and will, through everything that passes for sinew and blood. He can't refuse it; cannot say no. The sound that's torn from him is like a child's sob in the dark.

Only then does he turn his head the merest fraction, yellow eyes wide and oh, he thought he knew what outrage was, he thought he knew terror. The things Midnight's wearing, the tendrils woven around her—

He scuttles back against the wall. He can't lift a finger; can't transform to fight. His voice trembles. "Let go of me."

Shit, he can't even yell. Can't do anything but cower, and he refuses. Summoning everything he has, he gets to his feet, eyes riveted on Midnight, and full of subdued hate.

[rosemaudite]

...okay, that's...

That's. Certainly something.

"Maybe it's time we get out of here?" If there's good news, it's that Haru is well past panicking in the moment, when she's in a cognitive world. Panic isn't doing something about it. She can do that later.

[midnightmaiden]

Kasumi watches the Shadow sorrowfully, a deep frown on her face. "...I'm really sorry. I didn't want to do this to you, but I can't let anyone die tonight!" So she nods at Haru and tentatively makes her way back to her and Makoto. "Once we leave, you won't be under my influence again. I hope you know that I don't plan to do this again unless I have to."

And so, shifting her hold of Sparrow, she sheathes her rapier and grabs one of the Goho-M's and throws it down.

In a flash, Kasumi, Sparrow, Haru, and Makoto will find themselves transported back to the main foyer of Tartarus.

[nyxavatarmakoto]

Not much seems to happen between Makoto resuming his human form and being brought back to the foyer in Tartarus. Nobody's said anything about him yet and he doesn't want them to. He knows that Kasumi and Haru both will probably only treat him like the Shadow he is.

"Sorry for bringing you here." It's a wonder that he can even get the words out before he gets himself to his feet to leave.

[rosemaudite]

"You didn't bring either of us anywhere, though."

Haru doesn't know him well enough to try to follow, but the point stands. Yoshizawa decided to do this on her own, and Haru kept an eye out for her because cognitive spaces are blatantly unsafe.

She sighs. "We should get Sparrow out of here before he wakes up. He tends to blank out in cognitive spaces."

[midnightmaiden]

"Makoto-san, I'm the one who asked you to help me. It's not your fault, okay?" She won't make chase. Rather hard to when she's holding onto Sparrow, anyway. "Just... don't be a stranger."

That's all she can ask. As for Haru, she sighs, but nods all the same.

"We can take him outside, but I'm not sure he'll wake up until this place turns back into a high school." Still, she'll make her way toward the door.

[pheasantboy]

In fact, he starts to stir well before they reach the door, though not in any kind of obtrusive way. As you'd expect, really.

"Hah." Something's happening to him. He's not sure he likes it; he shifts in Kasumi's grip, over her shoulder.

[midnightmaiden]

"Akechi-senpai...?" Is he awake now? He's moving, so she tries to adjust her hold so it's a little more comfortable. At least they're close to the outside now, so she'll step out, perhaps a little awkwardly, considering she is carrying a very tall person, and she's considerably more petite.

[pheasantboy]

"Yoshizawa-san...?" It's very muffled, as much so as his thoughts. Fortunately, any cognitive clothes melt away, the moment they all pile into the Velvet Room.

"What's going on...? Why are you carrying me?" It's not quite that he doesn't remember—more that, well, he would not have predicted quite this situation.

"Wait, how are you carrying me?"

[rosemaudite]

"A little thing called upper body strength, I would imagine." Haru could haul him around pretty easily as well, if need be. Even Noir wouldn't struggle much.

She'd really just like to go to bed, at this point.

[midnightmaiden]

"I am a gymnast! It's important for me to stay in shape." Still, she'll place him down carefully, making sure to stand close enough in case he needs balance. "You were lost for a long time. I didn't want you to be left behind."

[pheasantboy]

"Of course. I didn't want to suggest..." But he trails off, blinking and confused, staring helplessly at Igor, then back at the Iwatodai door. He was... what happened in there?

[rosemaudite]

"You were caught in the sort of thing that makes you blank out. Yoshizawa took it upon herself to get you out of there." It's an extremely truncated version, but at least the explanation's likely to stick in Sparrow's head.

"If you plan on going back to Iwatodai, I don't recommend staying past midnight."

[midnightmaiden]

Oh, that's right! His Shadow even mentioned that he was stuck somewhere where he couldn't function, and the subject might've come up with her Akechi, too. Though the information at first makes her go wide-eyed, she relaxes soon after.

"It's okay. I got stuck in there before, too. All that really matters is that you're safe, anyway!"

[pheasantboy]

"Actually, I think I might remember." He pinches his nose, with a shy little laugh and a growing sense of wonder. "I remember the moon was green. That would be hard to forget, wouldn't it?"

[midnightmaiden]

"It was green. I'm still not sure what that was about. I guess... Crow might know?" That was his codename, wasn't it? Even here. She casts a curious glance at the door, catching Haru slip off. She must be tired, then.

[pheasantboy]

Yes, he calls after her. "Goodnight, Okumura-san. Thank you."

...what about Yoshizawa-san, though? "I need to thank you too. For coming to get me, and for, you know, carrying me. Everyone else seems to have run off."

[midnightmaiden]

"Yeah... To be honest, Haru-senpai came after me because she didn't want me to get hurt. I asked Makoto-san for help, but things got... dangerous in there, and I think he needs some space." She doesn't want to tempt fate by saying the wrong thing and causing him to forget. That's risky. "I'm sorry you were stuck in there for so long. It's especially sad that it took this long for someone to come find you, but I don't think anyone really knew what happened."

Still, she can't even fight the frown tugging at her lips.

"I think Crow will be happy, at least. He probably would have come, but I think I said something that upset him on accident."

[pheasantboy]

"I'm sure you didn't mean it." Aww, what a nice, reassuring thing to say. "And you never know. Perhaps he'll get over it."

Maybe it's a little off? It's just that, to Sparrow, Crow's determination to zero in and in on the same problems seems so remarkable. "Um... you don't mind if I ask how long I was in there? It could have been hours or days."