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[CLOSED] se il vous plaît dites-moi

Who: Kirijo Mitsuru & Seta Souji
Where: Outside the mansion entrance
When: April 13th, shortly after this post
Rating: PG
Summary: Souji knows a little too much and Mitsuru has to find out why
The Story:

This is certainly a strange turn of events. Not that her life has ever been close to normal--no, Mitsuru is well aware of the fact that the unexpected should be expected to happen, yet this particular twist is one she could have never prepared for in any way. She's not the sort of person who likes to face something so daunting with nothing to stand on, but she'll make do.

No, that's not exactly true. A stranger has seemingly offered her something that would catch her attention no matter where she was. No one should be aware of SEES give the select people who help keep it running. If it's true that Minato had been here before, is he still? Normally she could attempt to use Penthesilea to contact him, but she's never tried outside of the Dark Hour. Still, he had to have had a good reason to share such a classified topic to someone else, wouldn't he? She has to place that much trust in him.

Mitsuru descends the steps from the main doors, arms crossed and her posture a little tense, and understandably so. It's not often one find themselves transported to a land that defies all reason, and she's someone who's used to bending the laws of reality a bit. Souji had suggested the outdoors for the sake of neutral territory, furthering her suspicions that there were brewing hostilities between groups behind the mansion's doors. What a time to arrive.

When she sees him, she gives a nod, the heels of her boots clicking as she comes off the last step.

"Seta."

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Though his expression doesn't show it, Souji's relieved he got out of the Mansion without any trouble. Tense is a mild term for the atmosphere in the last day or so; he hopes things can get worked out, though he's prepared to defend himself if he has to.

Mitsuru's appearance has put a lot of that out of his mind, though. Minato hadn't been gone all that long--a few months now--and Souji missed him almost as much as he missed his own home. Though he's never met Mitsuru and can't assume that they'll get along, talking to her is a little like having something of Minato back with him.

He nods back to her, one hand on his hip, though his stance is relaxed. He hasn't been there long--a minute or two maybe.

"Hey." He shifts his feet on the gravel walk and half turns. "Let's walk around while we talk."

It's not that he's restless, it's that they'll be less likely to be overheard if they're moving.

"I have a lot to tell you."

The first thing she notices is how tall he is, something that's difficult to ascertain over video of sorts. Even more than Akihiko and Shinjiro, both of whom who have a few centimeters on her. But what matters much more than that is that his stance is relaxed, non-threatening. Not that she expected it to be otherwise, but there are certain precautions that are always sensible to make. Her own shoulders relax a little as she nods in agreement.

"I'm interested in what you have to say." Though it's probably clear already. Mitsuru keeps her gaze on him as she takes another step forward; she's not entirely sure what direction is preferable to the other, but she supposes it doesn't matter much.

"I have to admit, the fact that Arisato confided in you about SEES is...surprising."

Souji gestures a little down the path he intends to take into the gardens and starts to walk. When she's keeping stride with him, he speaks.

"We got close while he was here." Minato had actually been in Wonderland twice during Souji's stay, but that detail doesn't bear mentioning just now. "The reason he felt comfortable telling me is because I'm the same as him."

He intends to explain what he means by that, but a thought strikes him and he glances over at her.

"What was the date when you left and came here?"

While he was here. Past tense, that means that Minato isn't there anymore. Though she is grateful that he is where he should be--namely, back in Iwatodai--it does lend some credence to the thought that he was in two places at once. Or rather, his departure had been a split second in their world and no one would have been the wiser. Did he even know?

Did she just switch places?

But she's getting ahead of herself and has to hold back from bombarding Souji with questions. What he follows with makes her turn her head to look up at him fully from behind her long bangs.

"The same?" What could he mean... "Are you saying you're a Persona user?" Normally she would not throw the term around so easily, but he's clearly already aware of SEES' activities.

"The date?" She pauses. "It was September 9th, 2009. I'm assuming that's not the time here?"

He decides to address the issue of the date first, since it will help explain the fact that there are a handful of Persona users she--and the Kirijo Group--are unaware of in their time.

"No. It's April here. And it was March, 2012 when I left home and came here."

He glances over at her to gauge her reaction to that before continuing. The fact that his time even exists has implications for SEES' mission in 2009.

"I'm a Persona user. I have many of them, like he did." He's aware that that wild card ability isn't the norm--if there can be a norm for something as rare as the ability to summon a Persona in the first place. "I know seven others at home who can summon a Persona. They're my team."

Her eyes widen at the date. The topic of discrepancies between the passage of time had already been breached at their initial conversation, but she's still surprised to hear it. She hadn't considered that people would come from different points in time when they arrived.

"2012?" But of course, that means...the shadows are gone? The Dark Hour is finally taken care of?

No, not if he's a Persona user, if he has reason to use those abilities. But the idea that there is another team of high school-aged Persona users around, working towards the same goal? It's humbling, to say the least. Yet, it's hardly the most shocking aspect:

"You can summon multiple Persona as well?" Mitsuru breaks eye contact, letting it sink in. "We didn't even think that was possible earlier this year, to think that there are at least two people who can..."

Souji nods, taking her questions in stride. "I can show you, if you want. I have six of them here with me."

There are many more of them available to him at home--or there were. He's not really sure that they are anymore, now that he's no longer a guest of the Velvet Room.

"I don't use an Evoker to summon. None of my team do. But we can't summon in the normal world, either--only in the world inside the TV."

The gravel crunches under their feet. Knowing from his conversations with Minato that even the way their respective groups of friends obtained their Personas isn't the same, he's not sure how easily he can explain the differences in their situations. He feels a bit uncomfortable that he and Mitsuru are on such unequal footing in terms of information, though the only hint of that is that he watched the ground rather than her as they walk.

Six Persona available to a single user is a feat in and of itself, Mitsuru is well aware of that. The implication she takes from that statement in addition is that they are available for him to summon and use in Wonderland. That is a comfort she could not do without. There's some relief in the fact she will be able to call on Penthesilea if she needs to.

"Inside the TV?" Now that's something that sounds odd and she doesn't bother hiding the curiosity in her voice. "What exactly does that mean?" It can't be literal...can it?

"Are we able to summon our Persona in this world, as it is?" she asks as she pauses in her step. Because that's what's most important to her at the moment. Not that anything has felt overtly threatening thus far, but extra precaution must be taken.

"Any time, unless our powers are taken away. That happens occasionally." It was alarming at first, but the more often it happened, the more it was just an inconvenience. "They've always come back, though."

He pauses next to her on the walk and turns to face her.

"Your threat was during the Dark Hour, in Tartarus mostly, right? Ours was in a dimension that we accessed by passing through the screens of TVs--it was easiest to call it the world inside the TV."

"They have that ability?" 'They' being the elusive enemy, whoever it is that's responsible for their kidnapping in the first place. She supposes that their capture in and of itself proves that the powers that be are, indeed, operating at a level she had thought impossible. What else could they be capable of? "That's disconcerting either way. Why would they take away such a special ability only to give it back...?"

Psychological torture, perhaps? To show that they are in charge and can take away whatever they want, whenever they want. That would certainly lead to some level of compliance. Such tactics are not unheard of during war. She can't put it pass anyone in this place.

"That is..." Strange? An understatement, yes. But isn't the Dark Hour? "...not what I expected. Though I suppose an extra hour in the day where Shadows run rampant seems just as unlikely." To say the least. She sighs quietly. "Arisato must have trusted you well to share such sensitive information."

"He was here for some time. We got to know each other." In a way he doesn't really know how to describe to someone who has never created their kind of link with someone else.

He's willing to tell her more about his team's situation in the TV world, but he thinks he should address a more immediate concern first.

"Wonderland has 'events' that cause changes in us and the environment. That's what usually affects our powers. When it happens, all we can do is wait for it to be reversed."

"Mmm." She certainly can't refute what she hears. Minato is, if anything, a quiet and reserved individual. Though he seems to possess the ability to get along with nearly everyone, she's perceptive enough in her own right to notice that he's rarely the instigator. It would take some time to get him to open up, or so she assumes. She doesn't feel she knows him as well as she would like, despite how much they've already been through together.

"'Events'," she repeats the word, as if testing it out, mundane as though it is. "That seems an understated term for all that it encompasses. What do you mean by changes?"

"It can mean a lot of different things. Everything turned into my school in Inaba once, and we all thought we were students there. Sometimes the whole place changes, but we still know who we are. And sometimes only we change, but Wonderland is the same."

He could go on with examples of all of these--he's seen enough of them--but he won't unless she asks for clarification. She'll see what he means soon enough without further exposition from him, though he can understand wanting to be prepared for the possibilities.

"Events are based on the memories of someone here, and whenever one occurs, the people from that world forget...something. Sometimes it's hard to tell what, though."

"I see." As much as she can, at least. What it means is that there is no cookie-cutter 'event', of sorts, they are just as varied and changeable as the people who inhabit the land. That does not do as much as she might like for her understanding, but she gets the implications well enough: prepare for anything. But Mitsuru realizes that's impossible.

But what really surprises her is what he says next.

"They forget something?" That's very disconcerting and it shows on her face, though she takes a moment to process it before formulating her response. "So it's as if these pieces of memory are actualized in the 'real world' and then lost forever."

"Right." He can even give her an example from her own world, though he's not sure if she's experienced it yet. "There was an event once based on Minato's memory of his school trip to Kyoto. The Mansion was a hotel and there was a hotspring we could visit. When it was over, he couldn't remember the name of the city."

He knows he's forgotten things as well, but he's only been able to identify what he'd lost once. Even then, he couldn't remember the actual word--he just knew what he'd forgotten.

"There are some things about this place that are predictable, like events occurring. It's the particulars that we can't find a pattern in."

"School trip to--...?" The one planned for later in the year? Ah...of course. The manipulation of time in this place could feasibly be at work in more than just pausing reality for one person. "I see...the reach of this place extends farther than I'd originally imagined."

That's troubling news, but important information all the same.

"But to what end, I wonder? What use are these memories other than confusion and torment? Surely that can't be all..." Or she hopes it isn't. Reason and motivation are much easier to track.

"I think it eats them."

He doesn't elaborate. Not yet. He's not really sure how to--he doesn't even know that much for sure, let alone the why or how.

...Well, okay the how he has an idea about.

"If it's any consolation, a lot of people leave here without ever losing anything."

"It eats memories?" No one should like the sound of that. "That's...terrifying." And alarming.

"Without losing their memories, you mean?" She takes a moment, folding her arms neatly under her chest, a typical pose for her. "I wonder how that's determined...the worth of a memory. It seems it would be a rather subjective decision."

Souji nods, propping a hand on his hip in his own typical pose. "I don't know how it determines them. Once we had to go on a weird version of my school's camping trip, but I still don't know what it is I forgot."

"I suppose that would defeat the purpose of forgetting it." Mitsuru exhales through her nose, turning her gaze off to the side. All things considered, the scenery itself is really quite agreeable. It's too bad that it's wrapped up in an enigma that's becoming more dangerous by the second.

"I apologize if I'm asking too much at the moment. I don't expect you to have all the answers and quite frankly, I'm not sure if I'm even asking the right questions."

Souji shakes his head. "It's alright. It's better to have the information up front. It's just unfortunate that there's a lot none of us know, really, and it's overwhelming enough without the frustration of not getting satisfying answers."

"Your answers are more than adequate." It's a somewhat stilted attempt at reassurance. She knows she can be a demanding person in even in less dire situations and she's fortunate enough to have someone here who understands, even a bit, where she's coming from.

"To be honest...the thought of a prolonged stay here is daunting. It speaks of your own fortitude to have lasted this long, Seta."

He does understand--there are members of his team with the same propensity, so it's a familiar feeling.

"Time is a little strange here." He frowns slightly. He supposes it isn't different from at home, where time sometimes seems to drag interminably, but seems at other times to race away from him before he's realized it. "Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been that long."

He does wonder, sometimes, if Wonderland is messing up his sense of the passage of time in a fundamental sort of way. It's something he tries not to think too much about.

"I can only imagine." Time itself is changeable in ways some might not imagine. Being a Persona user gives one a new perspective on the passage of time. Frankly, she doesn't want to imagine what it must be like to be away from home for so long, not when there's too much to do.

"I only hope that's all I'll have to do." It's a bit telling, but she recovers with a faint smile. "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I realize it was very short notice."

Souji shakes his head. "Most things here are. It wasn't any problem."

Glancing back at the Mansion, he pauses. He's sure she has plenty to think about and might like the time alone to do so. On the other hand, if she's used to working with a team, she might not want to be alone just now. While he doesn't want to crowd her, he also doesn't want to leave her if she'd rather have the company.

After a second, he nods toward the building. "I'll head back with you, if you'd like."

It's almost more of a question than a statement, leaving it up to her whether or not he leaves her to her thoughts.

The suggestion causes her to straighten just a bit more. It's true, she is used to having the rest of SEES around with her, though there had been a time that she acted alone. Or, perhaps that wasn't even true; she'd always had the Kirijo Group to back her up, always had those resources available. While not at all the best example of being social, Mitsuru did not, in fact, always enjoy being alone.

His expertise and support are something she should not overlook. Moreover, he's being empathetic, isn't he? Not leaving someone so new on their own is an act of understanding.

After a moment, what had been a faint smile turns to something more congenial. "I would like that. Thank you."

Souji nods slightly, turning back now. "It's no problem. I can show you around inside a bit."

They'd have to be careful about it, considering the way important resources like the kitchen and library are split up among the houses, but if nothing else, he can just explain locations and let that be that.

[ooc: Would you like to hand wave the inside tour and wrap up the thread? We may have to venture back into event territory stuff if we play that out.]

Having a good understanding of the mansion will be important for however long her stay is. Of course, she hopes it's a short one, but she's practical enough not to assume, not after everything that he's imparted to her. Perhaps a part of her wouldn't mind the company, either, even if she won't say so out loud.

[ That's fine with me! Thank you for this! ]

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[CLOSED] se il vous plaît dites-moi

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