girlybruiser | inbox.

[ YOU THOUGHT WRONG. ]

He is a very exhausting person. I've only spoken to him a handful of times, but you have to deal with him more. You are so much more courageous than I could ever be.
I am... well, it has nothing to do with Woden. Not entirely.
A few friends ported out a while ago.

It's not courage as much as it is complete and total hatred, but thanks, I guess.

[ Haru losing friends worries her, though, in the circumstances. She knows what that's like, clearly, and she remembers Haru had people from her world here. ] You're not alone now, are you? You've still got some people around?

Yes, Futaba-chan. And Goro-kun.

[ But there's a stronger element of danger now, now that someone has stolen Dooku's lightsaber from Goro. ]

It's a strange feeling, when your friends are ported out.

You're telling me. But you got lucky having people with you that you can even stand. [ Now it's just her and Woden, and that's not exactly something she's okay with. ]

At least I hope they're people you can stand.

Futaba-chan is very dear to me. Almost like a little sister I never had.
Goro-kun is... I suppose "friend" is correct, but it's a complicated matter between us.

At least you've got one good friend. Okay complicated or horrible complicated, if you don't mind me asking?

Well, it's... certainly not a good kind of complicated.
It's a long story.

Well, I won't make you tell it unless you want to. But is it something you're worried about? In an "I'm unsafe" way?

[ She's projecting a bit, of course. ]

[ At least Goro isn't trying to kill them all anymore. ]

Nothing of the sort, I swear to you.
He did do something unforgivable to me and someone I loved, but he's also changed a great deal since then.

[ Unforgivable, huh. She wouldn't be able to forgive so easily. But she also gets the impression Haru can take care of herself...despite everything that happened with the Shamtheon. ]

I'm going to take your word for it. But trust me- you'd better know he's actually changed. Don't just think that because he says it. If you do that, it's not going to end well.

He has. I don't think someone I cared for could have loved him easily if that was not the case.
... Cassandra, I consider you a respectable and trustworthy ally and friend.
What I am willing to discuss with you must be kept secret. If others here were to know the truth, my friends would be in danger.

[ That's a sudden shift. Huh. ]

Well, alright. What's going on?

I'm sorry if this alarms you. It is coming left field, isn't it?
It's just that with many of my friends from home ported out, I realize the people I feel closest deserve the truth.

[ Of course, Haru is picking and choosing, but Cass has proven herself a long time ago. ]

And truthfully, I've felt rather guilty not fully explaining my power to you. After everything with Woden and the fake Pantheon he created, I felt as if I should have.

[ And now Haru's certainly building anticipation. If Haru was telling her this in person, Cassandra might even be getting agitated- if only for the fact that she's beginning to worry for the girl's well-being even more than she already was. ]

Wait- your power is that you can summon a sort of god, right? What else do I need to know?

You once asked about how my friends and I did not cause chaos with the powers we had.
The truth is we did not use our Personas in the real world. We could not, technically speaking. Our power was only usable in an alternate space that we called the cognitive world.

[ So.

What. ]

Wait, you were fighting people inside their brains? Because that's the only way I can read "cognitive world." Is that what was happening?

You're not completely off the mark, I suppose?
Rather it was inside their hearts.

So...the metaphorical brain. Or whatever you want to call it.

How does that even work? What were you trying to do? Change their minds about something?

Er, their hearts?

We changed the hearts of criminals and corrupt individuals.
It was a power discovered accidentally, but to make a long story short, a malevolent god had set up a sort of twisted game between my leader and another in which he was expecting my leader to lose.

And then he didn't? That sounds like it's what happened.

So- no offense- why are you telling me this now? Did something happen?

I suppose I felt I owed you the truth after all this time.
I apologize for how sudden it all is. Maybe it was a mistake.

No, it's fine. I didn't know if something had gone wrong. You never know with all the bullshit around here.

And...I didn't realize I'd be a person you'd want to know. [ She's nothing if not blunt. But that's sincere. ] Thanks? If that's how I'm meant to respond.

You're welcome.
It really is a strange story to tell people. In a sense this power is bestowed upon us, but only through certain conditions? But not everyone meets those.

You're telling me. It's not like anyone knows what led us to be chosen as gods back in my world.

But what conditions were there? Did you know any?

There are other Persona users it turns out, but I do not know what they had to do in order to awaken to that power.
For my friends and I we sought revenge and rebellion against those who were abusing or had wronged us and others.

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