A New Home [Charles]

Mae stared at Charles with a suprised expression on her face. "You... know her?" Well, she now knew her name to be Angela... But... The two, as stated earlier, had never met. Although they very well knew about each others existance... Mae looked back at the screen just in time to see the angel clear her throat again for the third time... and what was to come... well, let's just say that the first time Mae watched this, it had changed her life forever...


Angela proceeded to pull out a small piece of paper, beginning to read up a bunch of names, both familiar and unfamiliar to the two. The list was a little longer than the first time Mae heard it.


Angela kept reading the names with slight pause to breathe every now and again. Mae listened to the bunch of names...


The first time Mae had heard Angela say this, she had been confused. But since awakening, this piece of information did make a lot more sense... Now that she thought about it... Didn't she see some of these portals before awakening? Mae honestly could not remember if that was the case...


Whaterver she was meant to show would only work live... as she suspected... Well, at least she had a vague idea of what everyone watching it live had seen...


Just like last time Mae had watched it, it cut off before Angela could say anything else... And she also knew that Sharaku had been there with her... What was this broadcast all about? Why had the Angel made this information available to the public? The pinkette looked back at Charles. "Now I think you're up to speed for the most part..."

"Mhm." Charles nodded. "We went there into the Tower to go meet with her once. It was a while ago, though." The names the Angel listed firmly, one by one... He only really recognized Hyde's and Nilo's names, but the others must have also been Persona Users, judging from the way she spoke. Hmmm, Hyde, the sushi restaurant boy. Funny how he remembered his name when he usually forgot those quite easily. He absentmindedly scratched his head.

When it came to the part where she began speaking in detail about the powers and the other worlds, Charles frowned. Why was she making all of this public. Wasn't she there to just, I dunno, watch over things like some Angel does? To be honest, the only other Angel he knew about was Israfel, and that one didn't seem very passive, although they all seemed to stick to their respective worlds no matter what. Was there a reason for that? "So... when she said she would show it... She actually did that?" He asked curiously, assuming Mae knew more about it than he did.

The recording left him somewhat boggled, the way it stopped abruptly. He turned back to Mae. "And this list has the names of all the Persona Users in the region? How?"

"What's she like?" Mae asked curiously. Angels were still a very... foreign concept for Mae, as she's never met one before. Angela was the only one she'd seen... and that was indirectly. There was no telling if she acted differently when talking to other people. And Sharaku had met her. In person, along with some other people. "Apparently, the angels are the key to solving all this. At least, that's what a friend of mine told me..."

"Beats me, as I wasn't there to see it live... But I assume the users watching could see their own persona there. or something. I don't know how this all works, and just thinking about it gives me a headache." Well, at least she knew more now than she did during her two prior watches, all thanks to Sharaku, this broadcast answered some questions Mae had... But, well... it also replaced those answers with even more questions afterward. Things were never easy, were they?

"I... don't know... And it's not just persona users on this list. See...?" Mae pointed at Sharaku Rikei's name. "I talked to him this afternoon about all this... and he said his power was... different than the one I have. He did not wield a persona like me. And..." Mae scrolled down on the page, looking at the added names written in the video description. "See? You're here too..." She pointed at the name Charles Everton written below a couple of others that had awakened to their sleeping powers...

"And well... There's worse news.. You know, there's a god here in Azores hell bent on wiping out the human race. She's known as a Primordial... or The Primordial for now. I don't know if there are anymore of them here... But she, or someone else of her kind, is behind the flooding of sand at the school... The worlds are starting to merge..." The girl said in a worried, almost scared tone... Mae did not want to be a part of all this, but she had to. Now that Mae had the powers to do something about it, she could not simply just look away from what was happening... And Charles was involved in all this too...

"She is..." Charles frowned. It was difficult to form an opinion of his own. Not like he even knew how people's personalities even worked at times, or what someone would like/hate. He knew he liked Mae's personality, whatever it was and he knew the Angel made him suspicious, but how was he supposed to say that without feeling like he was pressuring Mae with something she shouldn't have been pressured with?  "Shorter than me?" He grinned at Mae, not trying to be funny. He just wasn't sure what to say. People kept asking him tough questions... "I... don't really know how to say it. I mean, when I met her, she didn't seem like someone I would like to put my trust in." He crossed his arms. "She just feels that way..."

Charles leaned over to see the names Mae had been pointing at. Sharaku? It rang a bell, somewhat, but from where? And she says he doesn't use a Persona. Then, what is his deal? Some weird Angel power thing? And yeah, his name was there, standing alone, just 'Charles'. There was no need for a surname, he had none of his own, after all. It proved however, that these people weren't kidding. For the general public, he had a surname, but it wasn't his. These people didn't just read the tag on the face of his front door to find his name. They also knew which part was his and which wasn't. Somewhat unnerving.

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"I-I won't leave you!" He said loudly, putting his hand over hers on the floor and leaning over to look her in the eyes. "What are you even thinking? How could I ever leave you, especially now! I'll help keep you safe, that's what I'm gonna do, so don't ask such questions anymore! I'll always be there."

"You don't trust her? Well, honestly, I'm not sure I can either... Not after this." Mae pointed at the list of names. "Sure it was helpful for me, finding someone who I could talk to about my powers... But it could be used for bad things as well. Everyone knows my name, and what my agenda is... If someone were to take advantage of that... well. Things could end up getting rather dangerous. And not just for me, but a whole bunch of other people as well... " What was she thinking? It was better to keep this under wraps as much as possible. Sure, there were benefits to it, but those benefits were not worth the risk the Angel was putting them in. Unless this had... some other effect which she was not aware of...

Mae looked anxiously at Charles while he was reading the list. "Unsettling, isn't it? Seeing your own name on black and white like that for everyone to see..." She turned towards the screen, staring at her own name a couple of lines underneath Charles'. Luckily, not many seemed to be talking much about the added names, so that was good. As long as Ayane's name didn't end up on that list, Mae could rest easy...

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Mae was on the verge of tears when she heard Charles say that. It made her feel safe, knowing that he would be there to shield her from harm. "Thank you..." She whispered in his ear, struggling to keep herself from crying, as she embraced him. "Just don't do anything reckless..." Mae would not let him go for a good long while. She was afraid of everything that was going on, but most of all, she was afraid of losing Charles... "I need you..."

Charles shook his head. "Not at all. The way she spoke, I just couldn't stop myself from feeling as if she has been skipping over some points, some ulterior motive." That was why he stayed silent throughout most of their visit to the Tower. There was something seriously wrong about it all. And now, especially after seeing and hearing this. Jack was a fool for trusting that Angel and it got one of them killed. If they ever went to see her again, he wasn't going to make the same mistake.

"You think... someone might come after all of us?" Would humans do that? They do have a brutal, bloody history, though... If something like this was to endanger their pleasant lives, they could very well take it out on the only people they can label as 'guilty' in their eyes, which, in this case, were the Persona users whose names were written there. He glanced over at Mae. That meant she was in danger as well. But that was why he was there, to protect her.

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"A-ah, r-right..! R-reckless? If it would keep you from harm..." He would definitely do anything to guard Mae, even if it costed him his life. With how scared she looked... They were all dragged into this against their will, the humans, that is. Charles, on the other hand, had always been like this, as it was his purpose. "B-but I'll survive, don't worry. For your sake as well."

"Some ulterior motive? What would that be?" Mae asked Charles with a raised eyebrow. She didn't doubt him, but what could the angel possibly want? Well, whatever it was, they would probably learn about it sooner or later... If it was good or bad, there was no way of knowing what, so all she could do was to put aside the thought of it for now until it became relevant. It would just cause un-necessary worry for Mae, and right now, that was the last thing she needed...

"Maybe... Not sure. It certainly is possible. I mean, they have the information already. I assume the reason we haven't been attacked yet is because... well, we haven't done anything provokative yet..." That was just an assumption on her part, but what else could it really be? "Let's hope that nothing happens on that end. That's all we can do for now." If she would get attacked by someone, Mae could defend herself somewhat. But how well would she be able to in a battle between life and death? Only time would tell...

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Mae would stay silent as he spoke up at first... "Would you really...?" Her voice died out before she could finish her sentence. She couldn't bare to ask... The thought of him dying because of her was terrifying. "Charles... I love you..." She whispered in his ear, her voice now barely audible. She bit her own lip as tears rolled down her cheeks.

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Night-time soon arrived, with the moonlight shining through the window. It was getting rather late, so Mae made herself comfortable inside the futon, looking at Charles. "I know you don't sleep, but..." Mae blushed slightly, avoiding eye-contact. "N-nevermind! It was just a silly idea on my end..." She chuckled awkwardly, hiding her face from view. Why had she even thought that was a good idea!? Sure, they knew eachother very well, but... Sharing beds right now was... a little too early.

"I don't really know." Charles shook his head again. Israfel seemed to have a motive of his own, to create a society built upon the weak who support the strong. The Angel in the Tower, however, had no apparent motivation except to 'save mankind', which really wasn't something you'd want to believe right off the bat when told such a thing by a entity of unknown origin. Maybe they weren't even Angels. Nobody could know any of that for sure.

"Let's hope it all ends up fine." He nodded at her.

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"I'd do anything to protect you, yes." He exclaimed stoically. Mae was his girl and, based on the films he had watched, that itself carried the responsibility of keeping her safe at all times. Besides, the good guy always saves the girl, right? He noticed her tears and wiped once off her cheek. "Hey, don't cry. It's gonna be fine." He hugged her tighter and he'd keep hugging her until she stopped crying...

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Charles raised a curious eyebrow as Mae got into bed. "Silly... idea?" He asked, clearly lost in this. Maybe it was for the best, Mae didn't seem to want to propose it anymore, so he sat there on the floor next to the futon with his legs crossed... "Good night." He whispered for the first time in his life. It felt odd, but nice. He smiled.
This was a long day and it was going to be a long night...

"Good night, sweetheart..." Mae whispered underneath the blankets. Her thoughts were all over the place, from the new stuff she had learned about the current happenings with Sharaku, and meeting Attendant Lisa... Then meeting Hikaru the very same day before having that awesome Jam Session with Rain-Chan and Calvin. Yeah, it had been a good day. And now, she was going to sleep in Charles' apartment. Alone with him... She felt a lot safer knowing that Charles would protect her no matter what. She squirmed a little bit inside the futon, turning around to look at Charles one last time before her eyes closed and her mind drifted away...

[Mae has fallen Asleep, and thus left the scene (Although she's physically still there)]