I get what you are saying, no matter what... we just have to keep moving. I don't like the thought at all. Our precious and dearest friends have gone...somewhere. We don't even know if they are safe.
But we have to keep going for them, it is what they would have wanted.
Akechi-san... is a tough case right now. He can't summon, and he can only defend himself with weapons. There isn't any guarantee that he would even be willing to work with us anyways. I trust that the others would though, if we needed them.
[No, she...hadn't checked. So she will right now.]
[Man, this is going to get really difficult to explain without being cagey as shit about all the other stuff, and he doesn't know... why??? he's hesitating in telling Haru about it. He's not worried that she'd react poorly or anything like that, he just. Found it kind of difficult to talk about his feelings more often than not, which this has completely wrapped itself up in. And the second his romantic life started pushing into his, er, professional life, he owed it to her to be forthright with it.]
It is, kinda. I'm not trying to downplay that or anything. But it's Dave's shadow, and it's got it in its head that the only way to keep me safe in there is to get rid of me... so that nothing else can hurt me.
I think it's linked up to a bunch of moments in his life where he thought he royally effed up everything.
Can't just go in there and steal his heart, since. It just doesn't feel like it's the right thing to do since he can probably work through it with some time out here.
Of course, now that you put it that way it makes a lot more sense.
Though it is still worrisome that his shadow wants you gone to protect you. Dave won't go in there alone to try and deal with it will he?
[She does get his sentiment though. Haru would never steal Hajime's heart unless he told her to do. Unless he was desperate for a change of heart. There are just some things that are better left to be worked out naturally.]
In the meantime... we can make a game plan to take Akechi's palace down. But... you realize this means we are going to have to do it without his permission. Without his knowledge.
[So... Dave and Hajime are both on his mind, since both of them are having some of the same issues in totally, completely tangential sorts of ways, but Ryuji had promised both he wouldn't go in there and just tinker with their hearts. He didn't want to, to either of them anyway.]
I dunno. I mean, on one hand maybe he could like. Learn something from talking with him. But it's also dangerous, and it's not like I can go in there without getting attacked. Not sure what I'd do if something were to happen to him in there.
This shit followed us all the way here. I know it ain't OUR FAULT or nothing but like. It was probably lured by our personas, or it's just... like. Because we're here, so is the Metaverse. Is that a dumb thought?
Anyway, as for Dave's shadow I don't think it's trying to actively "save" anyone but me.
And yeah.
Makes me a total hypocrite to sit here and bitch about heart stealing and then be all effin' for takin' Akechi's. But... it's different, right? There's no other way. This is the sorta stuff that I wish Akira was here for. He'd be able to talk us through it. I just ain't got the DNA to wonder if it's the right thing to do. But Akechi and Dave, and even to some extent, Hajime- they're different. I gotta believe that. Someone who has a palace has GOTTA be seriously, seriously messed up. It's just... uh, is the existence of one enough to warrant needing to fix it. Hard to tell.
I wanna say yeah. Akechi's hurting himself the longer this goes on. So I'm in.
But we got a few things we gotta figure out.
1. Dave's shadow wants to get me out of the metaverse every time I step in there. 2. Hajime doesn't believe in himself enough to even be able to form a gun. He's gotta learn to accept himself or we're gonna be a man short 3. We need a leader. Minato... right? He's a thief now, and it seems kinda right, I dunno 4. We need a navigator. You can bet your ass we shouldn't go in there without one. This is Akechi's mind we're talkin' about. Hear me out on this one, but... you've met Erika, right? Do you think it's worth it to try to bring her in?
[She mulls over the text for at least 15 minutes, Ryuji was pretty serious about all of this. So is she of course. But... they have to be careful about how many people they bring into this situation.
They have to be careful of how many people could possibly get hurt.]
I am sure he feels the same about you. He would rather protect you from the outside, of course. Which... will be a problem until we figure out how to be rid of that shadow.
But... I have this strong feeling that it will be up to Dave. The shadow is part of him. Part of his insecurities. Dave may feel like he continuously messes up, but he has to believe that he doesn't. He should probably focus more on the here and now rather than the past.
Mm, but you are onto something. Dave and Hinata versus Akechi. Akechi has a true, real, and possibly very dangerous palace. Dave and Hinata just have issues they need to work through. We don't really have the time to think about whether this right or wrong morally. We have done this several times before. Our methods are uncanny, but they will work if we try hard enough.
I do have...one concern. We need to be cautious of how many people we bring into this situation. Minato-san, sure. He has a Persona, and seems to have the same skills that Akira-kun did. So perhaps we ask him to lead us if he is willing. As much as I believe that Hajime will be a good asset once he learns how to use the cognitive power of the metaverse, I don't believe I could reliably say this will happen on time.
Erika-san, while I have met her and spent some amount of time with her. Do you really think she will be willing to be our navigator?
[... and if they're going so far as to bring in Erika, Hajime, and Minato?!]
Would Dave-san be willing to help too? I know he can fight.
[He believed in every one of the people he listed; in all honesty... even if they were slightly on the side of liability, Ryuji would still try to push himself even harder to make sure nothing happened to them. It's a lot to take in, palaces, but then again... Ryuji never had a warning about what he was getting into. At least Haru and him have the luxury of being able to explain. To give warnings and be transparent about what they could see in there and what their goal is metered out to be.]
Yeah, dude... I mean, I'm totally with you on that line of thought. Just that it's easier said than done. We both know how that goes, yeah?
I'll ask 'em what he thinks. I dunno what the answer is, but I really don't wanna break a promise I made. So either way I'm gonna have to ask him if it's okay.
Maybe you're right about Hajime. We oughta ask, though. There's still stuff on the outside that has to be done in order to get us through. A person like Akechi's gotta have a ton of defenses set up. What if we run into a situation like in Madarame's palace where a door bein' locked in the real world didn't allow us to move forward until we made 'em see it was opened to begin with.
As for Erika, yeah.
It's a hunch, but I think she'd be a great navigator. If she perceives the cognitive world to be like a computer terminal, then maybe she can control it using programming.
So how do you wanna do this? You talk to Hajime and Minato, I'll take Erika and Dave?
[Haru would just hate to be the reason that they get hurt. She wants to make sure that they wouldn't be a liability first. That they COULD protect themselves. She... doesn't want her friends to suffer and that is that.]
I just don't wish for Hajime to feel like he is useless to us. Because in reality... he really isn't. He is so much more useful than he believes himself to be.
With Erika-san, I believe you may be right. I believe that she would make a wonderful navigator. She didn't even seem to have too much trouble traversing the Metaverse. So that is definitely a good sign.
[She's smiling to herself.]
Good plan, we meet in the middle after right? Discuss what answers we received and the like?
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But we have to keep going for them, it is what they would have wanted.
Akechi-san... is a tough case right now. He can't summon, and he can only defend himself with weapons. There isn't any guarantee that he would even be willing to work with us anyways. I trust that the others would though, if we needed them.
[No, she...hadn't checked. So she will right now.]
We have to face it, Ryuji.
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Are we really the only two that can handle it.
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We can't kill it, so
I made a promise I wouldn't go in there until that stuffs resolved
His palace ain't goin anywhere, right? We got time, if anything
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We should try to fix that first before anything. Maybe I can help somehow?
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It is, kinda. I'm not trying to downplay that or anything. But it's Dave's shadow, and it's got it in its head that the only way to keep me safe in there is to get rid of me... so that nothing else can hurt me.
I think it's linked up to a bunch of moments in his life where he thought he royally effed up everything.
Can't just go in there and steal his heart, since. It just doesn't feel like it's the right thing to do since he can probably work through it with some time out here.
And, especially not if he's my boyfriend
And stuff
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Though it is still worrisome that his shadow wants you gone to protect you. Dave won't go in there alone to try and deal with it will he?
[She does get his sentiment though. Haru would never steal Hajime's heart unless he told her to do. Unless he was desperate for a change of heart. There are just some things that are better left to be worked out naturally.]
In the meantime... we can make a game plan to take Akechi's palace down. But... you realize this means we are going to have to do it without his permission. Without his knowledge.
I just want to reiterate that part.
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I dunno. I mean, on one hand maybe he could like. Learn something from talking with him. But it's also dangerous, and it's not like I can go in there without getting attacked. Not sure what I'd do if something were to happen to him in there.
This shit followed us all the way here. I know it ain't OUR FAULT or nothing but like. It was probably lured by our personas, or it's just... like. Because we're here, so is the Metaverse. Is that a dumb thought?
Anyway, as for Dave's shadow I don't think it's trying to actively "save" anyone but me.
And yeah.
Makes me a total hypocrite to sit here and bitch about heart stealing and then be all effin' for takin' Akechi's. But... it's different, right? There's no other way. This is the sorta stuff that I wish Akira was here for. He'd be able to talk us through it. I just ain't got the DNA to wonder if it's the right thing to do. But Akechi and Dave, and even to some extent, Hajime- they're different. I gotta believe that. Someone who has a palace has GOTTA be seriously, seriously messed up. It's just... uh, is the existence of one enough to warrant needing to fix it. Hard to tell.
I wanna say yeah. Akechi's hurting himself the longer this goes on. So I'm in.
But we got a few things we gotta figure out.
1. Dave's shadow wants to get me out of the metaverse every time I step in there.
2. Hajime doesn't believe in himself enough to even be able to form a gun. He's gotta learn to accept himself or we're gonna be a man short
3. We need a leader. Minato... right? He's a thief now, and it seems kinda right, I dunno
4. We need a navigator. You can bet your ass we shouldn't go in there without one. This is Akechi's mind we're talkin' about. Hear me out on this one, but... you've met Erika, right? Do you think it's worth it to try to bring her in?
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They have to be careful of how many people could possibly get hurt.]
I am sure he feels the same about you. He would rather protect you from the outside, of course. Which... will be a problem until we figure out how to be rid of that shadow.
But... I have this strong feeling that it will be up to Dave. The shadow is part of him. Part of his insecurities. Dave may feel like he continuously messes up, but he has to believe that he doesn't. He should probably focus more on the here and now rather than the past.
Mm, but you are onto something. Dave and Hinata versus Akechi. Akechi has a true, real, and possibly very dangerous palace. Dave and Hinata just have issues they need to work through. We don't really have the time to think about whether this right or wrong morally. We have done this several times before. Our methods are uncanny, but they will work if we try hard enough.
I do have...one concern. We need to be cautious of how many people we bring into this situation. Minato-san, sure. He has a Persona, and seems to have the same skills that Akira-kun did. So perhaps we ask him to lead us if he is willing. As much as I believe that Hajime will be a good asset once he learns how to use the cognitive power of the metaverse, I don't believe I could reliably say this will happen on time.
Erika-san, while I have met her and spent some amount of time with her. Do you really think she will be willing to be our navigator?
[... and if they're going so far as to bring in Erika, Hajime, and Minato?!]
Would Dave-san be willing to help too? I know he can fight.
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Yeah, dude... I mean, I'm totally with you on that line of thought. Just that it's easier said than done. We both know how that goes, yeah?
I'll ask 'em what he thinks. I dunno what the answer is, but I really don't wanna break a promise I made. So either way I'm gonna have to ask him if it's okay.
Maybe you're right about Hajime. We oughta ask, though. There's still stuff on the outside that has to be done in order to get us through. A person like Akechi's gotta have a ton of defenses set up. What if we run into a situation like in Madarame's palace where a door bein' locked in the real world didn't allow us to move forward until we made 'em see it was opened to begin with.
As for Erika, yeah.
It's a hunch, but I think she'd be a great navigator. If she perceives the cognitive world to be like a computer terminal, then maybe she can control it using programming.
So how do you wanna do this? You talk to Hajime and Minato, I'll take Erika and Dave?
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I just don't wish for Hajime to feel like he is useless to us. Because in reality... he really isn't. He is so much more useful than he believes himself to be.
With Erika-san, I believe you may be right. I believe that she would make a wonderful navigator. She didn't even seem to have too much trouble traversing the Metaverse. So that is definitely a good sign.
[She's smiling to herself.]
Good plan, we meet in the middle after right? Discuss what answers we received and the like?
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Okay. Hands in the middle, let's do this team Phantom Thieves rally shit and regroup.
Will keep you posted!