towerofanimus | Endgame: This Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms; Part Two

There was one voice Yukiko hadn't heard inside the cells, and it belonged to the one person she was most worried about. When the portal opened, there was only one thing to do.

She recognizes the scenery of Tatsumi Port Island well enough; she doesn't know the city well, but the memories from the class trip - the class trip that seems like a lifetime ago, the memories belonging to someone else. It's strange to think of it now.

It takes her entirely too much time to make it to the school. When she does, it takes some searching before she finds the right classroom.

"Ryoji?"

It doesn't matter to her that she can't exactly touch him; she runs, very nearly knocking over a chair before she reaches him, and the tears start long before.

"I'm here. I'm here and we're going to get out of here."

Unlike Yukiko, Diarmuid doesn't recognize this place at all. That is why he follows her closely as soon as she takes off. If this is a world she knows, there is a good chance one of the people that was missing from the cells is here...

His son. Ryoji.

Relief floods Diarmuid when they find Ryoji in the school, though, he doesn't race to the boy like Yukiko does. He already recognizes that they won't be able to touch him. Ryoji is in the same spirit form that Saber had been in when they found her. Still, that doesn't stop him from more slowly walking over and putting his hand just above his son's shoulder.

It's as close as he can come to at the moment to the hug he really wants to give Ryoji.

"It's good to see you, son," he gives a comforting smile to Ryoji and then one to Yukiko as well to try and calm her. "How about we all get out of here? It's not time to return home just yet."

Ryoji almost doesn't react at first, mixing in the extra sounds with the ones he keeps trying to imagine in his head, but there's no way he can misplace Yukiko's voice. He looks up in surprise, looking back and forth between them.

"Yukiko? Father... I... how did you get here?"

He's completely overwhelmed, but he can tell that this isn't over yet. He pulls away from the desk, phasing through Diarmuid's hand in the process. He smiles apologetically.

"Do you think I'll be able to go with you?"

"We got shut inside the Tower for a while - five hours, in little cells. Then a timer counted down, and there was some kind of portal. I just hoped I'd find someone I knew on the other side, and I -"

She has to pause to swallow the lump in her throat before she can keep going.

"- I was so glad it was here. I recognize it well enough, and I knew that if you weren't down with the rest of us, there was a chance you would be here. And I - yes. You'll be able to come back with us."

Ken wanders behind the others, letting them have their space. He and Ryoji aren't great friends, but he... doesn't really have any reason to hate or fear him. After all the events in the Tower, even knowing what Ryoji is, the prospect of fighting to keep the planet from dying isn't scary anymore.

(Besides, it's hard to be mad at a herald of the end who's so unbelievably dorky.)

At the question, Ken laughs a little. "Why do you think we're here? Come on. We've got someone to fight. And I wouldn't wish this kind of existence on anyone."

He pauses, and then speaks again. "... Maybe Sakaki or the people in charge of those experiments. But that's about it."

"To be honest, I think the whole point of us being out here is to find those like you and get everyone back to the Tower. This might sound weird but..." Diarmuid places his hand against his chest, "...Ryoji, you are the third person I have helped find and somehow I feel more...solid? Real maybe?"

Diarmuid turns to Ken who has been with him for most of the time, "Ken, have you noticed anything like that? Do you feel any different than when we left?"

Maybe it is just wishful thinking on Diarmuid's part, but at the very least the question should help get Ken's mind off the negative feelings he just expressed.

Ken thinks for a moment and then nods. "I... do. It's weird. I can hear Dike now. I couldn't before."

Still, they've got work to do. "We need to find everyone, I think. Even if it doesn't bring back our powers we can have strength in numbers."

When Minato wandered through the portals with the others, he would find himself in a familiar location. It doesn't take long for him to find the group and quietly followed behind them until they reach the school.

And then, to his old classroom. After they opened the door and saw Ryoji inside, Minato can feel himself...hearing them a little louder again. The voices.

"Yeah, same. I can hear my Personas." Minato spoke up, stepping forward so he can see Ryoji properly. "I agree with Ken. If we find everyone else, we might have enough of our powers back to fight."

There's a pause, before he spoke again. "I'm glad to see you again, Ryoji."

"You can?" Romeo looked at Ken and then at Minato. "We got to find everyone because we are stronger together anyways and if you get your powers back that's even better!" Romeo felt stronger now they had found someone else. He smiled at Ryoji who he knew only vaguely but who he knew was Diarmuid's son.

Waver glanced down at his right hand--sure enough, there was the faintest outline of Command Spells there now. "Brilliant. I don't know how the hell that's happening, but I'm not about to question it."

He shrugged and lowered his hand, looking back to Ryoji. "If you're ready to get out of this shithole, Ryoji, we're here to pick you up."

Edited (i formatfailed) 2014-07-16 12:00 (UTC)

"I... I can't believe this. I really thought that was it."

He can't help but laugh, so relieved to see all the people he cares about. He's not alone, and this isn't over. Even without a body, it seems he'll be able to help them.

Still, he does hope he recovers his body eventually. Being a spirit kind of limits where he'd be able to go after all of this.

He stands as well as he can, looking around at everyone with a warm smile.

"Thanks for finding me. I'm so glad to see you all."

He would hug them if he had the tangibility to accomplish that.

"I told you I'd find you, no matter what. I meant it."

Yukiko's voice cracks mid-sentence, but she's smiling even if there are tears rolling down her cheeks. Spirit or not, she extends a hand to Ryoji.

"Let's get out of here. We've still got work to do."

"Yukiko's right! What have I told you about trusting in your family?" Diarmuid shakes a finger to jokingly scold Ryoji, "We will always be here for you, no matter what. Trust in our strength and know you make us stronger just by being you."

He gives Ryoji a big smile and then starts looking around them, "Before a portal always opened up shortly after we found the person we were looking for. I am going to guess the pattern will be the same now. We just have to find it..."

Romeo smiled at Ryoji and Diarmuid, it was important what Diarmuid was saying, you had to trust each other and believe in each others strength. So then you could be strong together.

He spotted a light to the side a pointed. "There!"

Edgeworth had been to Japan once before but not this place so he did not recognise it at all. It probably wasn't the same as the Japan in his world either. The only thing he did know is that, somehow, despite the fact that the countdown had ended, and the fact he went through that portal, he was still alive.

In a manner of speaking, anyway.

Was he the only one who had made it here, though? Where were the others?

Edgeworth saw a few figures in the distance.

"Hello?!"

"I-I wasn't suggesting I didn't trust you! I trust you more than I do myself... I'm just so glad you all came to find me, even if I should have expected it."

He keeps an eye out for the portal, and when he does, he seems shocked to see someone else appearing through it.

"Edgeworth-san? Is that you?"

He seems relieved to see him, and smiles, ignoring the fact that he's probably looking a bit different than usual without his body.

"That's one more person accounted for. If the portal's that way, we should probably get moving. I'd rather not stick around here too long, in case it closes on us."

As much as she's relieved that everyone is okay, there are still a lot of missing faces to find.

Romeo waves at Edgeworth, he doesn't really know him enough to work out who it is before Ryoji says his name but he is glad he is here. The more people they find the stronger they will all be!

"Yes we don't want to get stuck here! We need to get back and beat Ruana."

"Off we go then!" Diarmuid gives the group a thumbs up and then turns to lead the way toward the portal that Romeo saw opening. "Lets see where we end up next. Anyone got any guesses?"

Despite how serious the situation is, Diarmuid can't help but realize he is enjoying himself. They are finding their friends, growing stronger, and outside of the Tower for the first time in...well ever for some of them.

A few good reasons to be happy if there ever were any...

"...You're having far too much fun with this."

Waver sighed in exasperation, but he didn't seem too annoyed about it past that. At least they got a break from the Tower itself.

"Let's just quit wasting time, hm?"

"I wouldn't consider it wasting time more so than cultivating the power of bonds." Someone's been highly influenced by the other Persona users, it seems. How and why they were able to do this, he was starting to have an idea...but nothing to prove it, of course.

He was grateful for this strange ability that they had been given. Something or someone was out there aiding them.

"If we know who we're missing, we might arrive at their world next." Who knows, maybe they'll find a fun world to explore. Well, as fun as it can get with the usual destroyed world state.

Right, let's get going.

"I know lots of people who are missing, maybe if we all think of the same person we will end up in their worlds."

Romeo had no powers to return but he was feeling stronger, more like himself and it made him more determined, it felt like there really was something they could do.

Endgame: This Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms; Part Two

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Hope you guys don't mind me jumping in here!

Of course not!

Re: Of course not!

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Sneaks in one more person

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