Let the lessons begin! (For Tatsui )

Four o'clock, the Metro.

You suddenly look very serious now. What's that about?

Aren't you suppose to be me? Figure it you, silly! Hey, that ryhmed... Wee!

And I'm the silly one? Oh gosh, it's good to see you acting like yourself! Seeing you act like that during school?! Unbearable!

"Hey! You try living in a school where everyone kind of makes fun of you for having to work your darn hardest just to stay afloat!"

That has actually earned her a few stares from some of the people there, specifically the workers who are used to seeing her come and go on her own.

"... what... you act like you've never seen a kid with an imaginary friend!" she retorted rather naturally. With a collective "ooooooh," everyone went back to their business.

And now you're lying to cover for me! Such a rebel!

Why must you do this?

Whilst the bickering continued, she waited by the directory. If Tatsui didn't arrive today, then she was going straight to Little Tokyo. But if he did, then she knew exactly where she wanted their first lessons in short cuts to be.

Hmm, getting early sure can be boring. She did say 4 at the metro right? I got here at 3:30 so she should be here by now. Hmm? Oh it seems like she is here. ........Tatum is talking to nothing..... imaginary friend? Since when did Tatum have an imaginary friend? "Hoi, Tatum, over here." I say waving to the little girl. Once she got close enough, I would ask somewhat quietly, "Here I am, so, are you going to show me your shortcuts or what? I am actually looking forward to them." Yeah, might help when I'm on the run. But didn't I already think this over before? Anyway, I just want to figure this out and not get her involved in the supernatural. Wait....... imaginary friend..... oh god no. Please don't tell me it's what I think it is. I think with a worried expression. Damnit, this can't be. Did it really happen to her? I don't think it would just happen spontaneously, so was she attacked? Rggghhh, don't even think about that yet me. I just need to get her to the side, ask about her shortcuts, and then confirm that she is just playing around. "So, where are we going for the first one?"

A voice broke her out of her distraction.

You're student has arrived!

Awesome!

She rushed to his side as quickly as her feet could carry here.

"Glad to see you've made it!" she reply as soon as he finished speaking, "And goodness, aren't you the eager one? Alright, for our first lesson, and you're probably going to be skeptical about this, we're going to be covering, wait for it, bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada bada ..." She made a drum roll motion with her hands as she made that silly noise. Then she waited, intentionally pause for dramatic effect.

"The Metro!" she announced as she held her hands in the air dramatically. "I thought I'd start us off easy for our first day, and there aren't really that many short cuts to take advantage of here at the Metro, but it's a good introduction on how to look for the safe ones!"

Looks like she noticed me when I called out to her. "Yeah, I got here quite a bit early actually. It's a habit I have." I say wryly. Seriously. Who WANTS to get to places before what they want to do is possible to do? "Yes, I guess I am." Nothin to do with it bein life or death, nope nothing, nada. So our first lesson is going to be..... is she really doing the childish drumroll? That is... actually kinda adorable. But I imagine we are going to get some amused looks from passerby. I mean, this kid is so energetic. The metro? I didn't think there would be many places for shortcuts in the metro. Oh, she just said that and said that she wanted to take it easy first off. "Sure thing." I say amusedly then I say quietly. "Do you have any out of the way ones? Where people usually don't go?" I say preparing for a talk with this kid. It will not be pleasant if she really does have it now, but I have to know. I have to know if she does have the potential now, and I need to think up a way to protect her, and maybe explain this shit to her if necessary.

That was a request that didn't make much sense.

"Out of the way? That's hard to pull off here in the metro if you're trying not to invade on property you're not allowed on." she commented, thinking about quite a number of "off limits" short cuts that she theorizes are possible.

"If you're okay with entering restricted areas, then the maintenance doors are for you. Workers use those to get around the metro to where maintenance is needed the most. Not exactly public friendly. If you want something more public friendly... lemme think... oh, right, the back doors! They're a bit out of the way from here, but it's good for if you're trying to avoid the crowds. They're basically exits, though, one-way only. You step through those doors, and unless you find a way to hold the door open, you're not gonna be able to get in without going through the front. I think they're meant to be a quick and easy access outside for when you're getting off the trains, but most people just stick to the main entrance and exits. I'll show you if you want!"

It looks like she is perplexed by what I asked about. Makes sense since last time we talked I said I didn't want to break into places. I still don't, but it might be necessary. However, that is not why I asked her that, though she is yet to know. "Yeah, I guess it would be." I say wryly. Damnit, I was hoping that I could talk to her without other people overhearing. I have to know. Hmm, maintenance doors huh? That could come in handy sometime. After all, it could help me get to the different districts in a hurry at night. Also help avoid those pesky law inforcement and cadets. "Yeah, I do want something more public friendly. The backdoors huh?" Oh right, the backdoors. I never really went through them all this time, but they are there. Those could help me later on, and it might give me the privacy needed to talk to Tatum. Rrrgh, damnit, before we go there I need to think up a way to clue in on if Tatum has it. Wait a minute, the key! Of course. If I show my key, she would recognize it if she had a persona, but if she didn't I could just bluff it off. "Yeah, sure, I would be happy if you could show me them." I say silently planning how to best go about showing her the key. Casually, or up front?

"One back door exit, coming right up!" She replied, pointer finger in the air and spinning on her heels.  With that and a rather confident march, she lead the way to the back door.

"While we're at it, I'll teach you the most basic of basics of exploring!  Maybe you already have a knack for it!  See if you can find a few short cuts while we're walking along!  Count them if you can!"

Already, she started to look around at the crowds at her familiar routes.  The stair rails that she loved to slide down on.  The escalators that she preferred to run on instead.  Those long stretches of hallway that have a conveyor belt conveniently placed for people who don't want to walk the long hallway.  They may all not seem like much, but it was her use of these things that made them short cuts.

"The most important element of exploring is, obviously, curiosity!  You have to be willing to go explore every suspicious looking nook and cranny!  Be willing to look for doors!  Be willing to try and figure out how to use something to make you get to the next part faster!  Most importantly, and this is important because you in particular want to avoid causing trouble, ask where the doors lead!"

As she mentioned this, they should have already passed by a few Metro shops.  She remembers her disappointment in how it seemed like most of them don't have emergency exits.  If only she could explore them for certain, but sadly they have been pretty good at keeping her out.

To be fair, this was before her meeting with Selenus.  She kind of stopped doing that afterwards.

It didn't stop her from finding information in another way, though, something she learned recently and was ready to pass onto her student.

"In fact, make a habit of asking where all the exits are and what door leads to what!  As long as you don't cause too much trouble, most employees don't mind giving you a quick answer.  Always ask where all the exits are!  A good employee will include the emergency exits, because you never know when there's going to be an emergency."

You're having fun with this!  Playing Teacher that interesting?

So, very, fun!  I get to be a sensei!  I should have brought chalk so I can obnoxiously throw it at him if he's falling asleep in class!

Next time, my other self, next time!

I never realized how much of a bad influence I am on myself!  That's... kind of ironic...

Oh thank goodness we are going to the backdoor exit. "Oh, well I hope that I do." Because my life will depend on it. Seriously I don't want to hurdle past a way out while running into a dead-end then get nommed on by a demon or captured by some cadets. Hmm, so I am supposed to see them while we are walking along to the backdoor huh? Hmm, anything that could shorten an escape.... some stairs with a stair rail. I don't think that I could slide down the stairs but I could jump down, and if possible, use an ability of mine to slow my fall. Wait a minute, some of us could use wind right? Then I could be pushed toward the way I want to go and roll to recover from the fall, or if we could use the very earth, do a little ramp to slide/roll down and escape. Then there are escalators. I could definently slide down those, run up/down them,or confuse my opponents with some escalator trickery like choosing the opposite one to go down and reverse. Those hallways with conveyor belts... I could run down the conveyor belts then disappear into one of the side corridors maybe? Maybe if I could later on, bend the light to make me invisible or something. That should be possible right? "Yes, that definently makes sense. You can't find anything if you don't have the thirst to find it. You won't have to worry about me on that though. Yeah, asking is always good. Use my smarts to figure out ways to get ahead, way ahead of you. I think I could get down those stairs two times faster than you with the right preparation." I say smugly. Gotta catch the kid off guard when I ask her about it. So a bit of cockiness can't hurt in trying to get approval, right? "Yeah, I will make sure to make a habit of that. Yeah, being a nuisance is very bad when trying to get info, just innocently grab small vital tidbits." I smile at the child, but am inwardly screaming for us to get there so I can confirm or deny this shit.

"And this right here? This here bez our exit! So, how many short cuts did you find on your own?"

With that, she went ahead and opened the door for him despite asking how many shortcuts he knew. She wanted to run some thoughts with her apparent other self, and she needed something going in the background to give her the time to think.

So, think he's noticed any good short cuts that you haven't noticed?

If he has, I'll be surprised. I'm pretty sure I've stripped the Metro of all of it's secrets. It's kind of why I just use it to transition from place to place.

If he does, are you gonna shake him up for all he knows? You're leading him into an unsuspecting and not often used exit.

Where I will tempt him with laced candy and rob him from his family to hold him for ransom! Seriously? You're worried that I'll do something to him? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Hey, you have your Jacket. We both know what you're like when you have that on. Also, you have your marker, and I know you're thinking of teaching him what to do if he should find himself being mugged.

Really, it's just an excuse to see if I can put a silly mark on his face, nothing personal.

There was an unmistakable look of mischief on her face, though it doesn't seem like she was trying to hide it.

Huh, looks like we reached our back-exit. Maybe now I should be able to find out what Tatum knows. "Well for me, I found three with various variations. Of course, I will be able to do more with them later on when I am more capable." I notice that she is opening the door for me, so I go on through. I glance around a bit. Making sure there is no one around and keeping my lip movements to a minimum. Now, I take on a serious sort of face and think up a way to broach it. I have to find out. "So, let me ask you something a bit strange. Have you ever seen a demon? I honestly wonder what those monsters look like." I say looking closely at Tatum for a reaction. If she has encountered one recently, and god I hope not, then she should react differently than if she never encountered one or encountered one at the eternal divide.

Well, he was right about one thing. She did make a unique reaction.

A pause.

A very definite hesitation.

Oh, and her eyes went wide in the process, though she quickly tried to put on her usual grin. It was a strained grin.

Ooooh, definitely not what we wanted to think about.

"O-oh that! W-well, I'm pretty certain that they can be quite dangerous and stuff. I-I know you said you wanted the safe short cuts, b-but maybe we should share some of the not legal short cuts too, in case they decide to attack you and stuff. Call me paranoid!

Well, she wasn't lying. She just wasn't sure if she should share that kind of information. After all, considering what happened during that time, and more so why it happened...

"Thou does not need to be confined... Thine struggles for freedom art paying off..."

The memory of those words were still fresh in her mind. The fact that she gained this gift simply for constantly trying to break free of her confines, even if it meant sneaking out instead of doing her work...

Even creepier was that the shackle was still there. If she focused enough, she could see it. Almost as though it was meant to be there, in case she ever needed to "Break Free" again.

Then there was the demon attack to begin with. If one demon was so willing to attack a random girl off the street (one she was thankful for being able to save, from the look of it), then it was possible that they may decide to attack anyone. She was not ready to let her student fall victim to one such attack.

Though, sadly, until she has a better grasp of her abilities, all she could do was offer advice on the best ways to escape.

........why isn't she responding?  Her eyes.... they are showing shock. And her grin is now strained. Oh dear god no. Why does it have to be a fucking ten year old!? She is now stammering with her words. And now she is going on about how she thinks it might be better if I know other shortcuts in case of a demon attack. Fuck, so it was recent. Fucking shit. But it seems that she doesn't know that I have a persona too. *Sigh* I never did think about how to broach this. This is going to be very painful, so I had better get this over with quickly. "Tatum..... you have a persona, don't you?" I say sadly, whispering into her ear. It's enough that highschoolers are getting randomly attacked by demons and forced to awaken to personae, but a kid? That is too far. "Well, so do I." I breathe out. Dost thou calleth for mine? No Forseti, just..... trying to help a kid out. "Please, don't freak out, I'll need to explain some things to you first." I say with a whisper.

She froze. She knew that term. Everyone in her class knew that term. In fact, a favorite game among her peers was Cadets and Terrorists.

But that wasn't why she froze.

Did he really just announce that he has a Persona? Wait, maybe he's a cadet... yet if that's the case, then why is he acting like he's hiding that fact?! Wait, this is an oppertunity! I have many things that need confirming and I definitely can use this as confirmational knowledge!

It's still concerning that he's going out of his way to sneak this to you...

"Okay, all things aside," she whispered, realizing the need for subtlety based off of his lead, "Are you really okay being able to say that? I'm still kind of new to all of this myself. No, more than that, I'm a kid! Is it really okay risking your well being sharing very sensitive information about yourself for a kid that you just barely met yesterday?"

Looks like she is frozen with shock about what I just said. Frankly, if that happened to me, I might too. But what is she thinking about currently? Damnit, mind reading would really be good, but no, that is not possible. Anyway, let's see. How should I explain this to her? Should I talk about what I know? She knows about Selenus and would keep him a secret so that bit is fine, and since she herself has a persona, that will tinge the secrecy with self-interest. Damnit, I think I should also try to find a way to give Tatum acting lessons. Playing stuff cool and blatantly lying to someone without them knowing it could save our skins with secrecy. Hmm? Looks like she is whispering something to me. "Yes I am Tatum. I know that, that's why I decided to reveal to you. Well, I can tell that this kid needs help, and you seem to already know how to keep secrets based on all your shortcuts, your knowledge of Selenus, and keeping your own power secret." I whisper. *Sigh* This is going to be tough since I don't know that much either. "Ok, so basically, we have the power of persona, and we can go and do supernatural shit against each other and the demons. Unfortunately, the cadets are out to capture or kill all of us, and they have personae too. So, secrecy is our best friend in situations like these. Anyway, our personae seem to have different abilities based on the person. As far as I can tell, we can use ice, fire, electricity, wind, earth, along with light and dark. We also have different physical attacks..... and guns. Though there are the cadets, we also so seem to have an organization in the form of the.... Platinum Playhouse. We haven't gotten through the place yet, but it seems to be the best way to figure out what's going on, because with our powers, we can find things out that no normal person could." I say pausing. "Do you understand what I said?"

This ended up being a lot more information than the child was expecting to hear.  Did she even understand all of what he was saying?  Some of it went over her head, for sure, but this was clearly important.  Time to see if her years of study and paying attention in class can be applied to this.

Okay, lots of abilities... different for everyone... Platinum Playhouse...  That term stood out the most out of everything he said.  It was as though those very words held an air of mystery that was drawing her in.

"I think I do... so far..." she replied, "S-sorry... it's a lot to take in all at once..."