Ren, meanwhile, manifests in an entrance to Mementos that's just as he remembers it from before everything happened with Maruki, except without the door to the Velvet Room and its pint-sized attendant. It sounds the same; it even smells the same. Behind his Joker mask, his face crumples. He just... misses it. He misses it all so fucking much.
Before anything else, he summons Raoul. He meant what he said to Akechi; he hasn't come here to die. His Personas are quieter than he remembers them, but Raoul comes nonetheless, hovering behind him as he stands at the top of the escalator and takes a deep breath. The level below looks more menacing when he's alone, and when he knows what waits down there. But Shadows can't reach this platform. If Ren wants to meet Akechi's Shadow, he has to descend.
And so he does, carefully, every cell tingling with danger. When he gets to the first real floor of Mementos, with its tiny Shadows fleeing his arrival, he calls out: "Akechi...?"
Nothing happens. Ren lets out a shaky breath and tries to turn his mind away from the flutter of relief he feels. "Fine," he says, and pulls out his phone again. "If you're gonna be stubborn, I'll just go floor by floor—" But when he opens the Nav to travel to the next rest stop, his eyes fall to the very last travel point, right at the bottom of the list.
Path of Da'at, Area 16. Maruki's cognitive control room. And the option is greyed out.
Eyes narrowed with a new suspicion, he taps it anyway. His phone vibrates harshly in his hand. Area inaccessible, his phone informs him.
"Why?"
He gets no answer, of course, so he taps the travel point again. Area inaccessible. And if Akechi's Shadow was anywhere, where else would it be?
As soon as he arrives in the next-closest rest stop, the earthquake drops him to his knees. His heart flips over with dread. But he's made it this far; he's not going to be turned away by something as trivial as the ground shaking. Baring his teeth, he drags himself upright again, and this time, when he calls Raoul, it's easier.
There aren't many Shadows, and the ones that are there are easily spooked, uninterested in fighting. With every floor Ren progresses, the earthquake gets stronger and the Shadow population gets smaller, until he reaches the very last floor, which is almost desolate. As he stumbles along the heaving tracks there, thinking wistfully of the Monabus, he starts to become aware that the earthquake is slowly dying down.
That's more frightening than anything that's come before, more frightening than the earthquake itself. But he can do this. He can be brave. He failed at it when it mattered, but he can do it now. He repeats this to himself as he makes his way, as the shaking of the corridor subsides into stillness. And then he finds the final elevator.
I am with you, Raoul murmurs in his heart. For some reason, Ren's eyes sting with tears. He blinks them impatiently aside and ascends the escalator.
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Before anything else, he summons Raoul. He meant what he said to Akechi; he hasn't come here to die. His Personas are quieter than he remembers them, but Raoul comes nonetheless, hovering behind him as he stands at the top of the escalator and takes a deep breath. The level below looks more menacing when he's alone, and when he knows what waits down there. But Shadows can't reach this platform. If Ren wants to meet Akechi's Shadow, he has to descend.
And so he does, carefully, every cell tingling with danger. When he gets to the first real floor of Mementos, with its tiny Shadows fleeing his arrival, he calls out: "Akechi...?"
Nothing happens. Ren lets out a shaky breath and tries to turn his mind away from the flutter of relief he feels. "Fine," he says, and pulls out his phone again. "If you're gonna be stubborn, I'll just go floor by floor—" But when he opens the Nav to travel to the next rest stop, his eyes fall to the very last travel point, right at the bottom of the list.
Path of Da'at, Area 16. Maruki's cognitive control room. And the option is greyed out.
Eyes narrowed with a new suspicion, he taps it anyway. His phone vibrates harshly in his hand. Area inaccessible, his phone informs him.
"Why?"
He gets no answer, of course, so he taps the travel point again. Area inaccessible. And if Akechi's Shadow was anywhere, where else would it be?
As soon as he arrives in the next-closest rest stop, the earthquake drops him to his knees. His heart flips over with dread. But he's made it this far; he's not going to be turned away by something as trivial as the ground shaking. Baring his teeth, he drags himself upright again, and this time, when he calls Raoul, it's easier.
There aren't many Shadows, and the ones that are there are easily spooked, uninterested in fighting. With every floor Ren progresses, the earthquake gets stronger and the Shadow population gets smaller, until he reaches the very last floor, which is almost desolate. As he stumbles along the heaving tracks there, thinking wistfully of the Monabus, he starts to become aware that the earthquake is slowly dying down.
That's more frightening than anything that's come before, more frightening than the earthquake itself. But he can do this. He can be brave. He failed at it when it mattered, but he can do it now. He repeats this to himself as he makes his way, as the shaking of the corridor subsides into stillness. And then he finds the final elevator.
I am with you, Raoul murmurs in his heart. For some reason, Ren's eyes sting with tears. He blinks them impatiently aside and ascends the escalator.