Conversation Space I.

[powersthatbe]

The room is small, intimate. You are alone. There is no sign of a way in or out. Ping-pong balls crunch underfoot, and empty giftboxes, meticulously wrapped and ribboned, are lined up against one wall, while a humming wall of server blades are racked on the opposite wall. A high-backed, gilt chair with red velvet cushions faces an ornate, full-length mirror, and beside the chair is a mug of steaming hot chocolate on a tiny side table, steaming invitingly from beneath a layer of fifteen half-melted marshmallows.

What do you do?

Comments

[fruitknife]

Investigate the hot chocolate, of course.

But it's maybe not real hot chocolate, given the trouble Shinji's had making edible food be a thing on his own, and either way this bullshit maze business has been entirely too much exercise for him, right now. (He never used to be this weak. But then, he never used to be completely fucked up from taking destructive drugs, either.)

So where he ends up is flopped in the chair, eyes closed, not even trying to keep good posture.

[emperorsquared]

There is a perturbed clearing of the throat.

(The hot chocolate was, by the way, perfectly nutritious.)

[fruitknife]

"What?" he says, without opening his eyes.

(Well then he might just have to help himself, here in a minute.)

[emperorsquared]

"Sit up straight, young man," says a voice coming from the direction of the mirror.

[fruitknife]

Shinji finally cracks an eye open - if the mirror's apparently talking to him, he might as well see what that's about.

"You put me through a more intense workout than fucking Tartarus, give me a chair to sit in, and then get all surprised when I relax? Why do you care so much, anyway?"

[emperorsquared]

There's a regal-looking man in the mirror, looking back at him impassively. "I care because I have chosen you to be one of my Travelers. I am Emperor, numbered fourth among the Major Arcana."

[fruitknife]

"Yeah, I know how the numbering works." And he knows which one Emperor is, too - couldn't not, with Aki.

"Why me?"

[emperorsquared]

"We choose those who embody our keywords or have strong connections to our concepts. You were close, once, to one who embodied the Fourth Arcana very well."

[fruitknife]

"I was gonna say. You're not where I am, or where I was, or what I do, or what my Persona is." For all the good it'll do him now, and for all he never really understood it. "Aki's gotta be getting a good laugh somewhere."

Somewhere not here, and yes, he's still annoyed about that.

"You're really that desperate that you're going for me and not someone who'd actually work better?"

[emperorsquared]

The Emperor looks like he just bit down on a lemon. "Not desperate. Simply claiming the number of Travelers I am alloted. Unfortunately, those who work better were either already chosen by myself or another on a Jaunt--or in one case, when we were making our first claims for the remainder of the Travelers--or are otherwise not presently available to be marked."

[fruitknife]

...So, desperate, then. But Shinji knows this type; he won't get anywhere by pointing that out a second time.

"So what's the terms?"

[emperorsquared]

"You take my Mark. At times, I may grant you new skills that are a sign of my Favor. At times, I may be able to aid you further. During the Jaunts I compete in, you serve as my agent." He hesitates before adding, "You would not be the first who was chosen by an Arcanum they are less than suited to for reasons of our own."

Translation: I'm not the only desperate Arcanum, young man.

[fruitknife]

"I know the bird in the hand when I see it. Wouldn't have lived this long if I didn't. Besides, I don't think you're gonna let me out of here to talk to one of the other options without accepting."

His 'agent'? They'll see about that.

[emperorsquared]

"Indeed," the Emperor intones. "For your friend's sake, then?"

[fruitknife]

Shinji shrugs. "I could do worse than remind someone of Aki."

It's as close to a yes as you're gonna get. Better take it.

[emperorsquared]

The Emperor inclines his head. "It is done. And in truth, I think you need my influence in your life."

So sit up straight and comb your hair, young man.

[fruitknife]

No.

"Do you. How do you figure that?"

[emperorsquared]

"With my guidance, you need not be a hooligan."

Suddenly, a baseball appears in the Emperor's hand. He tosses it through the mirror to Shinji, an easy, underhand throw.

[fruitknife]

"I'm not a hooligan."

He catches the baseball easily enough, at least, though there's confusion written all over his face. The fuck is this for, baseball is Junpei's thing.

[emperorsquared]

"Hello, Not-A-Hooligan," the Emperor says, deadpan. "I am the Emperor." In a more normal tone, "And you portray yourself as a hooligan, Shinjiro, even if that is not what you are at heart. You are in desperate need of my guidance. I chose better than I thought."

After a moment or two he adds, "You toss the ball back to me through the mirror."

[fruitknife]

The joke just gets a lineface. "Your sense of humor is even worse than Ikutsuki's."

(It's not as scathing a comparison as it would be from someone who was actually conscious in November, at least? Not that that's saying much; Shinji was never terribly fond of the guy, he just... wouldn't have thought he was also batshit insane.)

"...You seriously want a game of catch?"

[emperorsquared]

"It is a time-honored way to facilitate paternal-filial bonding," the Emperor says. "And my sense of humor is one that befits my Arcana. Moreover, the Empress enjoys it."

Look, Dad Jokes are the only humor he understands, Shinjiro.

[fruitknife]

"Still worse than Ikutsuki's." Hey, you wanted this asshole, you get to put up with him also being about a subtle as a brick.

(He lobs the baseball back anyway, though.)

[emperorsquared]

Is this the face of a subtle Arcana? No, no it is not.

Possibly they may be better suited than either of them originally thought.

"Ikutsuki must be a paragon of mirth," the Emperor replies, catching the baseball. He tosses it back through the mirror.

[fruitknife]

Possibly. This game of catch is only going to last as long as it doesn't require too much effort on Shinji's part, though, since he's expended so much on that goddamn maze.

For now, at least, he can keep up.

"What he was was a terrible pun machine. More to the point, what he was was batshit insane and using us all to facilitate his death cult."