[Video ♓ Intro]

[linefacingforever]

[Welp, since everyone else has been introducing themselves, why the hell not?]

My name is Narukami Yu. I was residing in Inaba, Japan before being brought here. I've been assigned to the Libra district, apartment 5-10.

[There's a pause...]

Some of you have met me already.

[...hey, just because everyone else was doing introductions, didn't mean Yu's would be very long.]

[[Video ♓ Private to Kanji and Yosuke]]

[Yu's a lot less awkward when addressing his friends, of course.]

Yosuke, Kanji; where have you guys been assigned? Do you know if any of the rest of the team has arrived here?

[[Text ♓ Private to the Gas Station Attendant]]

[Yu's been putting this off for awhile, but considering that both Kanji and Yosuke have responded the same way to a certain grey-haired woman, he has to address this. Now.]

Can we talk? Privately?

Comments

[linefacingforever]

[Yu felt something like fear close around his heart, and while his expression never changed, he did tighten his grip around his glasses. He felt uneasy, and it wasn't just "him" that felt that way...]

...so you're not what you appear to be.

[handshakegreeting]

[Now, now... she hadn't even called forth her "Persona" just yet. She merely smiles at first, before a laugh escapes her. When she calms down, however? The amused glint in her crimson eyes shows even more brilliantly.]

You say that as though any one you have met has been what they first appeared to be, Narukami.

[The "attendant's" friendly facade is still present, though it seems more pained than before.]

But I suppose you could say that my own facade runs deeper than theirs.

[linefacingforever]

[Yu took a calming breath, flinching slightly as he felt his head start to throb, like his Persona wanted to jump out then and there. Not that he could blame him; he was putting the pieces together in his head, and the conclusion was a little terrifying.]

So... what Kanji and Yosuke said is true.

[He didn't doubt his friends; if they said something was up with someone, it probably was, especially when they were so adamant about it. Now that he was seeing the truth with his own eyes, he could understand why they wanted him to stay away.]

You are a death goddess.

[...because, really. Who wouldn't want to keep their best friend away from a death goddess? Not just any death goddess, of course. His persona, the way it was acting... after everything he had been through already, he doubted it was a coincidence.]

...Izanami.

[handshakegreeting]

[That was all it took.

The thinly veiled fog seemed to be absorbed by her without a second thought before it dissipates completely, revealing her feminine figure in a white kimono and shawl. Yet it isn't as... pristine as he would one day see it should he ever return home. The shawl itself is tattered and frayed around the edges, both it and the rest of her clothing stained in blood that coincided the holes. Yet her face remained free of injury, save a few healing scars, as she floating just a foot off the ground.]

Indeed. Though there is no need to fear me, child... [Same goes for you, brother.] Though did they tell you of my final words? Or did they simply leave it at a vague warning?

[Children, please. She knows when to show some decorum. ಠ_ಠ]

[linefacingforever]

[Yu couldn't help but stare, a weird feeling settling in his stomach. So they had fought her... her, Kanji, Yosuke were all from after this fight they would go through in the future.]

[...and he did that. To a goddess.]

[W H A T]

[He shook his head to clear it, trying to focus on her face and not her injuries.]

They weren't very specific.

[handshakegreeting]

[Well, someone had a little help from just about everyone they knew, but that was beside the point. Because yes, yes he did do that. To a goddess. Yu become that insanely powerful when you become a man in the future.

And while he's staring, she can't help but chuckle. If he was staring at this, then how would he react to her true form? It amused her to no end.]

Then I suppose we have much more to discuss than you likely realized, Yu Narukami...

[She seems to sit in the air... why? Because she can, of course.]

After all, it is you that will finally come all the way back to me.

[linefacingforever]

[...after last night, he'll take just about anything, but still, he wondered if he should be hearing this. This was something that was supposed to happen in his future; was it right of him to learn it now? What if something important happened between then and now, something that he needed in order to accept whatever she had to say...?]

[...and then, at the same time, he was staring the truth right in the face. Why would he turn away now?]

...I'm listening.

[handshakegreeting]

[Are you absolutely positive about that, chosen? Because she got some pictures from undisclosed sources and she has to say... you did not do too bad of a job. :> She is proud of you boys, even if most of your team flipped tables mentally upon realizing she was indeed present as well.

Also, she has no idea why Yu would turn away now. After all, his other self had done so. She wonders if he'll take her word at face value, or if he would discard it just like her brother had... like he had when they will speak back home.]

It was the day before you were to return to Tokyo, if I overheard correctly... [Which she had.] I saw you saying farewell to your many friends earlier in the day before it began to rain. Odd, considering that earlier on the sun was high in the sky...

[It had been enough to reveal her without otherwise consenting to appearing and welcoming them.]

Though you are not as interested in the circumstance as to the why, correct?

[Begin asking your questions, child...]

[linefacingforever]

[Really, he had no reason not to believe her; if she was truly malevolent, he didn't doubt she would have attacked already while they were distracted at the night club. Besides, even though the day had not come yet -- they had just beaten Adachi after all; the thought that someone else could have been responsible hadn't even entered his head -- it sounded about right.]

[He nodded in agreement to her question, though really "why" was exactly the only question on his mind at the moment.]

Why did you do all of that? The Midnight Channel, the fog... what did you want to see that something that elaborate was necessary?

[handshakegreeting]

[Yet. No reason not to believe her yet. After all, while she did not outright attack? Neither had she assisted in any way aside from encouraging others to continue on in the face of the threat that came soon after their arrival.

Her smile seems to be a little more truthful this time around.]

It was all for humanity's sake... [There's the short answer. Though she knew them; it would not be enough to satisfy him beyond 'how could that be?' after all.]

Humans ache to expose their suppressed sides, while the curious eyes around them are curious to see them laid bare... thus, I merely granted a window that catered to both. It was always your individual wills that would determine who would appear on it.

As for the fog, it is quite simple... [She floats a little closer to the ground.] Humans see only what they want to see, and believe only what they wish. This "Midnight Channel" you speak of is merely a reflection of the human heart, a device that draws them to the hollow forest on the other side... and they had already obscured their hearts and minds from the truth. Hmhm... Did you not wonder why when it cleared, the Shadows would attack those who wandered in?

[Though at the last part, she pauses. What had she wanted?]

It is the same as my aspect, Ameno-sagiri said... humanity's desires are my desires. It was all for yours and humanity's sake, to grant them the world they so wished.

Would your friends have faced themselves were it not for the push your fellow representatives provided?

[linefacingforever]

[Yu let out a faint sound at that, not... sure what he wanted to say. He wanted to say it was ridiculous; everything she had done was for humanity's sake? That she just wanted people to see themselves laid out in the open? He remembered everyone's shadows clearly, from Yosuke's relatively tame one, to Naoto's horrible one, and how close they had come to dying on way more than one occasion. How was that a good thing?!]

[...but then, would they had ever grown if this had not happened?]

[...dammit.]

...probably not.

[handshakegreeting]

[That was the more unbelievable part, but she was indeed being sincere. Patient as ever, she awaits his answer. When it's given, the blood stains slowly begin to vanish as her appearance begins to change once more - back to how it had been the other night, save her eyes.]

I had seen your potential when we first met, Narukami-kun... There was no doubt that you would be able to brave the hollow forest. You even exceed what I thought humanity to be capable of... Hmhm... perhaps that is why he chose you?

[She knows. And was that faith from a goddess?]

[linefacingforever]

[...was that a round about way of saying she was proud of him for the work they did? He wasn't exactly sure how to take that, although he could feel the faith she had in him...]

[...wait, what the hell? No, no no; he barely knew her, no matter how his persona was quietly standing sentinel in his mind, as if giving her a wary gaze, but he could feel the pain of longing there too. There was no way he was establishing a Social Link with her that quickly. N O.]

I haven't... exceeded anything yet. There will still be a time where I have to face you in my future.

[handshakegreeting]

[Husband-brother, down. She has already learned her lesson okay she is not going to attack him either physically or mentally. Also yes, that was her roundabout way of saying that she was indeed proud.]

You overcame the temptation to throw Namatame in. You faced Adachi, and then Ameno-sagiri, thus removing the veil of fog from your world...

[She spares him a skeptical look.]

Do you truly believe that is not exceeding when there were many times up until then where you and yours could have certainly failed?

[linefacingforever]

[It was a bit hard to concentrate; Izanagi seemed to be almost annoyed that Yu was taking all this in stride, when Izanami had just admitted she was the one responsible for everything. It was like Yu had to remind him that even though they hadn't done it yet, they had obviously won against her, before his Persona was sent into a grumbling silence.]

[...seriously, these two needed a marriage counselor...]

[With Izanagi quieter, Yu took a breath, thinking for himself. She was right, he would give her that; they did succeed in what they wanted -- no, needed to do -- but...]

We kept going because we knew what we needed to do. We wouldn't allow ourselves to fail, no matter how tempting it was. And until now, I thought that would have been the end; that there was nothing else.

I don't think that's 'exceeding'.

[handshakegreeting]

[Izanagi, until he can summon you without aide in this realm then no. No, you cannot face her in the manner of which you wish to so badly she can sense the tension from within his soul. For the time being, why not at least attempt to be civil? She is indeed answering all of the questions posed to her.]

Your humility does not match your feats. Most would have stopped with Namatame... if not fallen long before then.

[She, like Adachi, had expected Yu and his friends to stop there or that Kubo child. Yet they hadn't.He led them to greedily search further for the truth.]

Do not sell yourself so short simply because you are from another period of time and have not yet faced me like your friends have.

[linefacingforever]

[Yu let out a faint noise, looking away. It was hard to accept, really; knowing that his friends had already been through something he hadn't... knowing he had already left them...]

All right.

[It was said more to placate her than anything; it was obvious he still wasn't entirely convinced.]

[handshakegreeting]

[... Her feet touch the ground once more, eyebrow raised as she takes a few steps closer.]

You remain unconvinced and troubled?

[Feel free to ask further. She may not be in as giving a mood later.]

[linefacingforever]

[Yu took an unconscious step back... leaving him to wonder if he had done that or if Izanagi had. It was a bit disconcerting; he hadn't felt his Persona's presence this strongly on his world, not to the point where he had to be concerned who was doing what. Maybe he always could in the TV world, but never thought much about it? It was something to think about later, when he wasn't confronting a death goddess.]

It just seems too easy to say, 'Yes, I've done amazing things,' when it's not finished yet. Especially after being brought here to aid in another conflict.

[handshakegreeting]

[...Dost thou fear me still, brother?

She chuckles kindly, or at least with more politeness than the demons he came across recently.]

Sou ka.

[Suddenly she isn't before him anymore. Or rather, she appears to have disappeared completely had someone not realized she was now behind them... reaching for his hand as a buzzing rings in their ears--

'I believe in the Myraid Truths before us!'
'"Myriad Truths? I see...'
The two were standing there, staring at one another in front of the gas station-
'Very well. Live the way you wish to.'
-days spent running through the shopping district, laughing with your friends.
'I have waited... so long...'

-bzzt-

For a brief moment, how she once appeared before her demise flashes before his mind's eye.

'Whether it will bring happiness or not... rests upon your shoulders.'

The presence of her hand disappears completely before she's right before him once more. Izanagi would recognize this face well... it was of both sympathy and painful acceptance.

'Perhaps this is fate as decreed by the world...']

A journey is never complete, child of man... not even when the soul is welcomed on the other side.

[linefacingforever]

[Yu let out a surprised noise when she disappeared, stepping forward as if to grab out for her... only to find his other hand grabbed. The images... the emotions... everything that was going to happen to him flooded into his mind. He shook, his legs just barely supporting him as tears trailed down his face.]

[He finally hit the ground when she let go of him, gasping like he hadn't been breathing for the last few minutes. That ache was back in his chest, just like it had been when Elizabeth recited their story as well, and for a moment he had to struggle to speak.]

I...I'm sorry... then... I...

[...dammit, what are words?]

[handshakegreeting]

[Ah... There was that same ache she had once seen deep within him that day. Did human weaknesses truly never fade away? She felt a little pity for him... but then, maybe that is why she had been going easy on him rather than take offense to his presence once more.]

Unnecessarily cruel words once filled the streets of this town, but
Never more will a painful cry pass you by...

[She holds out her hand, offering it this time in help for him to stand once he was ready.]

[linefacingforever]

[It took him a moment for that tightness in his chest to loosen enough for him to take a deep breath, though the familiar song helped. He reached up, wiping the tears, before looking up to see Izanami offering him a hand up. He looked unsure for a moment, before accepting it, shakily getting to his feet.]

[Well... talk about sobering. Yu took another deep breath before he trusted his voice enough to talk.]

Thank you for telling me, Izanami.

[handshakegreeting]

[She doesn't sing often. So rare is it that she falls back onto who she once was. Yet the child had needed a push of another kind. Izanami grasps his hand in her own, pulling him up gently Izanagi would likely like his vassal's arm to not be dislocated, after all; he needs it.

She nods a 'you are welcome, child.']

You have a vast amount of potential within you, Narukami... do not doubt it or yourself for an instant.

[Or she will slap you. :I]

Would you like to join me for tea? You seem as though you could use it.

['You are too young for alcohol, son.' :| She heard of the absinthe incident.]

[linefacingforever]

[Don't worry, Izanami; after having his throat and nose burning, he doesn't plan on any hard alcohol any time soon.]

[Her words finally brought a smile back to his face, and he gave her hand a squeeze, a silent repeat of his thanks.]

I won't forget that again, thanks. And... [He paused, tilting his head curiously.] Tea sounds wonderful, but are you worried about how the others would react if they saw?