Nightshift 36: Sun Room

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[From here.]The Sun Room appeared no different from the time Ken entered in last night. What he could make of the floor seemed perfectly intact while sounds inside were nothing of consequence. Nothing mangled, nothing broken, at least as far as the boy could sense

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[marin_karin]

[From here]

It seemed as though the Sun Room was still empty when they came back in, but Mitsuru didn't let her guard down entirely. For the moment, though, they had made it out safely. She had to admit that it looked like there was some honor in the other woman, after all.

It looked as though Amada had needed to grab something, but hopefully he would still be able to pass through safely. For the moment, she looked down at her arms, trying to gauge the best way to go about bandaging them. It wasn't recommended, but she'd likely have to tear at her sleeves and wrap long strips around the most heavily burned areas, if she could manage it.

Mitsuru glanced over at Akihiko after a moment. "What do you think that was all about?"

[fourtharcana]

"What Ken did? I honestly have no idea," Akihiko answered. "It almost seemed as if he was protecting her. I can't think of any reason why he would do that, though. Unless he's seen her before? I don't know where that would be, but I can't think of another reason...he knows we're capable of holding our own in a fight." Never mind the fact that they'd both come out of it much worse for wear than they normally would have.

He glanced over to the door where they'd come from. The boy hadn't come out yet, and it was tempting to go over and check on him. "You think he'll be all right?"

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The door clicked open just as Akihiko finished, revealing the boy in question along with his weapon and bundle. Any worries regarding Ken's safety could be brushed aside: he appeared fine. Incredibly pale and stinking of apple juice but uninjured.

Ken let out a shuddered breath before tensing himself for the inevitable barrage of questions. He couldn't blame Akihiko and Mitsuru; the seniors were probably confused as hell at his display in the previous room. Factor in the events of their last meeting and, well... The child supposed some anger was in store.

He bowed his head and silently stared down at his feet, unsure of how to approach the subject.

[marin_karin]

She'd been about to respond to Akihiko when Amada finally hurried out of the room. As he came over to join them, Mitsuru gave a quiet sigh of relief. Truth be told, it had been highly likely he would be fine, but there was always that small chance. Things always seemed to go the worst route possible. They were responsible for his safety, no matter where they were, and Mitsuru wasn't angry at him.

...Not for trying to stop the fight, at least. Exposing his back to the enemy, perhaps, but that could be taken care of in time.

"It's good to see you're all right, Amada," she started. She didn't want to ask him too much at once, and hoped that he would answer some of her other questions while he was explaining. "You know what's going on? Where are we?"

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[One-time post order swapping as per request!]His gaze went up to face Mitsuru, a part of him surprised at her statement. The concern had been unexpected. "Yeah, she let me go," he confirmed. "What about you two? I saw fire." Smelled it as well, which meant someone went away scathed

[fourtharcana]

"Good. But don't turn your back to an enemy like that again," Akihiko said. He didn't intend to give Ken a long lecture, but he couldn't let that go without comment. "You could have gotten seriously hurt." He hadn't, but there had been the very real chance of that happening. The woman had attacked someone that was unconscious, after all

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Ken winced at Akihiko's admonishment but kept silent on the matter. There was no point in arguing about something when the other party was technically correct. He had been careless in that situation. It was for a reason--a good reason--but still careless

[marin_karin]

Mitsuru listened to Akihiko and Ken's exchange as she absorbed what was being said. Takeba was here, and Amada didn't have his Evoker. The other girl likely didn't either, which meant that they would be hard pressed to find theirs. They had to be somewhere, it would just take far more searching than she had initially suspected. And then his explanation about this place, with its brainwashing and monsters

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His breathing came easier as the conversation continued, albeit Mitsuru's reassurance helped. Between the high school seniors' appearance and the situation in the cafeteria, he felt overloaded regarding the whole thing. The child could do without added pressure

[fourtharcana]

Akihiko listened to everything Ken and Mitsuru were saying, waiting to respond until they were finished. He flickered his eyes up towards the ceiling, just watching the moon for a few minutes. It was strange to think about it not changing, and about people not transmogrifying once the clock struck midnight. It was what they were fighting for, of course, but it was still just a bit strange

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"I'm afraid not." They could have rectified majority of their problems on the first night if she had. Ken tried not to become exasperated over the point, however. No use wishing for better circumstances when those weren't possible. They had to make due with what was available

[marin_karin]

Mitsuru's eyes also drifted up to the ceiling when Amada indicated, and she stared at it for a few moments. It did look perfectly normal. There was no harsher yellow light, no green night sky and certainly there were still other people walking around. She had seen several people since waking up here, some of whom seemed like the least likely person to ever have the potential. There certainly couldn't be this many with the ability to summon a Persona, so they would have otherwise had to have transmogrified. Were it not for the rest of the stranger circumstances, it would almost seem like they'd really achieved what they were fighting for.

Amada's explanation shed some light on certain things, such as why the woman in the other room was able to use fire and ice spells without a Persona. It also opened the way for more questions. Namely, how come there was no Dark Hour at Landel's? She doubted he knew that, so they would have to find out on their own. Perhaps she could talk with Takeba and see if any of her information was different

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"Understood." This would require extra copies to be made, but Ken had accomplished his task for the night. He could probably finish the maps before morning arrived

[fourtharcana]

So, everyone woke up in the same situation, - alone, without their equipment, and unsure of where they were. It was oddly reassuring to know that it hadn't been the two of them. "I'm glad that you both have something now," Akihiko replied. "What's the usual process for getting a weapon here? I'll be fine without one if I can't easily get it, but it'd be useful to have something that can do a bit more damage

ಥ益ಥ

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This required some recollection. "There's a group called the 'Cooking Club' that has people with the ability to create weapons," explained Ken before he bobbed a head toward one area of the Sun Room. "You see the bulletin board over there, senpai? During the day, you can request to speak with one of the members. They'll usually put you on a waiting list. I heard it generally takes a few nights, but the wait is better than nothing

Whyyyy?

[marin_karin]

So, there wasn't any problem with their memories, but to know so much more than either Amada or Akihiko was...different. She would need to ask Takeba how far she remembered, but it sounded as though the dates between the rest of them were all surrounding significant events in their lives. Perhaps that had something to do with it. The boy was right, it did sound strange and metaphysical, but Mitsuru supposed that everyone would think the same about the world that they lived in. Most people would have been hesitant about hearing of the existence of Shadows, even more wouldn't have liked the method that S.E.E.S. used to summon their Personas