October 4th

[vessel_ken_amada]

[CW: death]


It was a day where Ken was nowhere to be seen. Not in his room, the house, his old room, or anywhere he usually was. His phone was off, too. It may have seemed like he completely disappeared, had he not told Raven quickly before leaving that he'd be busy all day - just for the sake of not having a search party for him.

Someone going in that shady spot behind the Tatsumi Port Island station, however, would find him. He was there the whole day, just standing in the middle, not moving, seeming almost lifeless, his gaze lost in the void.

It was October 4th.

The day where she died.

The day where she was brutally murdered.

A scream. Sickly green hues. A giant monster suddenly appearing. Everything breaking apart. Rubble everywhere. She was shouting at him, pushing away, saving him. Blood. Terror.

...

...

Will someone approach him?

Comments

[fogbornphantom]

Knowing what he does about Ken, Crow decides, despite everything that Ken told Raven, to seek him out personally.

This Ken isn't his Ken, but the pain is still the same, and leaving Ken alone won't help him in the slightest.

So, taking a chance, he tentatively approaches.

"I thought I'd find you out here."

[vessel_ken_amada]

He jolts a little at the sound of Crow's voice. He then slowly turns towards him. His gaze still is vacant, and he looks half-dead.

"..."

[fogbornphantom]

That's all right. Crow stops beside him, gazing out at the ground where his own Ken told him it happened once.

"I know why you're here." He pauses. "...Do you need to talk about it?"

[vessel_ken_amada]

There's no immediate answer. Ken just looks away, as if feeling a little uncomfortable that he was seen through.

[fogbornphantom]

"My brother told me a long time ago." He gazes up at the surrounding buildings. "A rampaging Persona, right? But the authorities didn't believe you."

[vessel_ken_amada]

"...'rampaging'. Right."

He turned to face Crow again, anger and tears in his eyes.

"He summoned it right there."

[fogbornphantom]

"He did." Crow won't deny that, that wouldn't be fair. "...I know more about the circumstances. Would you like to know? I don't want to overstep."

[vessel_ken_amada]

"...The circumstances? What do you mean by 'circumstances'?"

He starts shouting.

"He murdered her and almost killed me! And no one is doing anything about it! What kind of 'circumstances' can there be? Are you trying to excuse my mother's murderer?"

He then blanches, realizing something.

"...wait. Do you mean you know who he is?"

[fogbornphantom]

"I'm not trying to excuse anything. Regardless of how little control he had over his Persona, the damage was dealt. You lost someone dear to you and have only suffered since."

Damn it. Has he said too much? Crow shuts his eyes, breathing in deeply. "I do know. He was dead by the time I met my brother, however."

[vessel_ken_amada]

"You're doing it right now! Making it sound like it was just some kind of... of... of unfortunate accident!" he screamed, tears running down.

"He was right there, he chose that spot, it demolished everything, there were screams, he didn't stop, he- he-"

Wait, what did Crow just say? He knows. He does know.

"So you know," he almost whispers.

[fogbornphantom]

"Yes." He takes another breath. What should he do? He's already misstepped. This is a day of deep grief and trauma for Ken. His pain deserves acknowledgement, but one wrong move, and it could have catastrophic consequences.

"I'm sorry. I truly don't mean to downplay your pain, Ken. I know what it's like, to carry that pain with you. To yearn for the downfall of the one who caused it. To feel as though it's the only way forward..."

He crouches down, resting a supportive hand on Ken's shoulder. "If I tell you, what will you do?"

[vessel_ken_amada]

He brushes Crow's hand away. He then speaks in a trembling voice.

"You knew this whole time... and you haven't said anything. You were protecting him. Why???"

[fogbornphantom]

"I didn't know how to breach the subject. It wasn't that I deliberately hid anything from you. I just..."

Damn it all.

"From what I understand, the event devastated him so much that he began taking Persona suppressing drugs to avoid history repeating itself. Drugs that slowly destroyed his body. He was going to die, slowly and painfully, even before his murder. My brother told me as much."

But that's not a name. It's not an answer.

"But if you want answers, then you'll want to speak to Shinjiro Aragaki. Just... keep in mind, he is not the one from your world."

[fogboundcrow]

Something was wrong. Ken disappearing was too egriegous to ignore, and while Crow said that he'd take care of it, that wasn't good enough for Raven.

Thankfully, he had a Persona with decent navigational skills. All he had to do was summon his Shadow and follow the trail... even if that trail abruptly shifted from one place to another.

With Wagtail close beside him, they rush through the Tokyo door, closing in on that signal with his Shadow's guidance until finally, "Ken!"

[minipancake]

Close at Raven's heels, Wagtail skids to a halt. Ken looks... bad. And the look on Crow's face had told a whole story. "We found you!"

He reaches out, if he can, to rest a hand on Ken's arm. "What's happened? You can tell us. We're your friends."

[vessel_ken_amada]

He had barely gotten away from Crow to take a breather and desperately try to calm down enough to function again when suddenly he hears familiar voices.

"Raven? Wagtail-kun? What are you doing here??"

This was too much. He steps back, and suddenly spits a lot of blood on the ground.

"D-don't get any closer!"

[fogboundcrow]

"But we want to help!" Raven cringes at the sight of the blood. That's not good. Not good at all.

His Shadow steps closer, despite everything. "Do you need healing? Raven gave me a Diarahan card recently. I don't mind..."

[minipancake]

Yeah, that looks really bad. Ken may be different on the inside, but maybe that just means more can go wrong.

He grits his teeth. "We're not going anywhere! Let us help you"—okay, let Raven help—"and then we can all do something else, or talk, or hide, or whatever you want. But we're not just going to dump you."

[vessel_ken_amada]

He feels like teleporting away, but they managed to find him somehow, and they probably could do it again. Were they tracking his signal? He wasn't enough in control of himself to suppress it well...

The stress made him spit more blood on the ground. He steps back again.

"Seriously, please get away," he pleaded. "There's nothing you can to do help. Please, before something bad happens."

[fogboundcrow]

"...Would talking help?" Raven doesn't get any closer, but he doesn't leave, either. "Please, Ken. What's wrong? You know you can trust us."

His Shadow fidgets in place. He wants to move closer, too, but Ken is giving off strong readings. What's the right choice?

[minipancake]

Wagtail, meanwhile, has no special Metaverse senses—but his intuition is considerable. As is his determination to do anything for his friends. Fearlessly, he steps forward.

"We're not afraid of you," he insists. "You're one of us. You're our friend. We're not going to just leave you here to suffer! And that's our risk to take."

Again, he holds out his hand. "Come on, Ken. Tell us what happened."

[vessel_ken_amada]

"I'm not-"

He spits blood once again, and a faint feeling of death starts spreading around him.

"It's too much. I can't- I can't-"

[fogboundcrow]

That's not good. Not good at all. Raven knows that feeling. Remembers it from when they faced Falcon. That scary, suffocating feeling...

Raven grabs Wagtail, pulling him back. "We should give him some space." He doesn't leave, but...

They're crowding him. He can see that now.

His Shadow casts Diarahan on impulse, even though it likely won't work, but he does keep a distance.

[minipancake]

Wagtail's eyes flash as he's pulled back. They have to show Ken he matters!—he knows that more than he knows anything. But the eerie feeling grows on his skin, building around them.

It's such bullshit, he thinks, resisting the urge to kick the ground with difficulty. Ken is just like this because he thinks he's no good. And he's not! If I could find who did this to him....

He waits, fidgeting, with Raven.

[vessel_ken_amada]

It's all too much. He falls on the ground, hugging his knees, shaking like crazy. He starts sobbing loudly.

At least, now that he can properly deal with his feelings, the feeling of death stops building up and slowly recedes.