Presentation [Julius/Maria]

The engine stopped purring when Jorge pulled the brakes and retrieved his key. She really hated the attention she was getting when passing through the school. Not only did she stick out with her bare Demon Weapon and the huge coffin on her back, there were a couple of priests following her including Father Jorge. They all looked awfully solemn, but full of tension. Not that Maria could blame them, they were just attacked by some Psyche-Terrorist.

Maria had informed Julius of the events, at least the bare gist of it. But she was willing to give a full report when he asks for it. Soon they entered the Class Zero building and the classroom. She placed the coffin upright near a desk while shouldering Andraste. The cargo inside made no noise, it was a good sign. Some of the priests remained standing just as she did, but they were prepared to act accordingly. Now they just had to wait for his Majesty.

She wondered about what had happened in the Church. But she knew some of the ambulances and law enforcement cruisers were already there to evaluate the situation. Perhaps some Cadets were also there if Julius made such an order. Of course one of the Priests brought security footage from the Church's basement. So it would at least have clear evidence of the battle.

It wasn't long until the Prince finally arrived. The priests near Maria bowed their heads towards him in obeisance, especially Father Jorge and the Cadet. As Julius gestured her to enter, she did so alone after giving a nod to the Church Agents and after taking the video recording from one of the priests. They waited outside while Jorge looked rather concerned, yet he remained in place as the door closed behind Maria. When he asked of the cargo, she nodded tersely.

With a free hand, she unclasped the locks on her coffin before kicking the lid open. The body of Takeru Kagemaru would spill out and hit the floor with his stomach. He was wound up in blessed chains to prevent movement or comfort from head to toe. But his eyes would be able to see where he was now. Maria stepped on his back to keep him in place as Andraste's spike was aimed at his head. If he so made a single false move, the Cadet would skewer him through his skull.


Maria couldn't believe that the Government would be in league with demons. Or rather she didn't want to. But nevertheless, the foolishness this Psyche-Terrorist exhibited made her doubt him. Yet, that wasn't going to save him since he showed off supernatural powers that weren't unlike a Psyche-Terrorist's.

The Cadet continued, "But the names of the listed Terrorists... He mentioned the Queen Bee and Alice. Perhaps he can enlighten us where we can find this "owner" he mentioned to the Father so we can interrogate them too."

Her heels dug in deeper into his back, as if prompting him to start talking. There was a kind of loathing and an intent to harm in her rigid calm expression. She was in many senses, livid. Never mind ruining her spring cleaning in the chapel. This boy could have killed Jorge while she was gone and he was a danger.

Regardless, she would submit to any orders that Julius gave her. "What is to be done now?"

He tumbled out of the coffin. He could see where he was.
And it only made him sink down into his newfound despair further.
The pain from Maria's heels and Andraste made him flinch wordlessly.
And then, he slowly found some voice in him that was a quiet, weak, whisper, frank, and trembling. He never moved a single bit at all from where he was at that point.

"I.... never wanted to kill anybody. I didn't want to hurt anybody. I never wanted to have to hurt the minister, let alone anyone else. It was supposed to be a simple confession to try and start again afresh. Why did I fight? I fought because part of me wouldn't let go. Part of me wouldn't let me submit. I hate that part. It leads to trouble. I just wanted to walk away absolved, or at least set on that path... now I have no home... no place to go... I'm alone.." he said, tears soundlessly running down his eyes, squeezing them shut amd bracing for any pain that may come his way for speaking out of turn (like in so many cop shows).

"Please, I don't want to be hurt anymore. I'll talk if I must. I'm done with all of this now. Please, I don't wish to die..." he said, trembling in fear. He wanted to curl up into a ball. This was dragging up way too many painful memories for him to take.
Even if his words were meaningless, a pointless plea for deaf ears, he couldn't help it.
All he had were his words.
And if they were his last... they would not be full of malice.
"Everyone... I'm sorry for disappointing all of you." he thought as he truly braced himself for death.

When Julius walked over closer and began to pick him up, Maria released her foot and the spike away from Takeru. What happened next was rather surprising. Out of all the Cadets here, Maria was most confident in her physical strength thanks to her connection to Andraste. But to see someone else exhibit such capabilities was a surprise shown in her expression. She didn't know Persona Users were able to have such strength since they relied heavily on the manifestation of their inner selves.

But she quickly composed herself and watched the show happening in front of her. Her fists were closed tight as she intently watched. What was going to happen?

"I'm not lying." he wanted to say, before disregarding it. Maybe it was the demons who were lying.
The impact to the head made him flinch, but the pain soon subsided.
He was greatly releaved to find that he was no longer in danger of suffering death by headshot.

So he cooperated.
"My name is Takeru Kagemaru. I don't know much about Alice, I've never met them or any of the other names I mentioned. There were others with me last night, but they aren't Alice and the like. I don't know much about them. All I know is that we all have personas. They have codenames, that much iknow, but I wasn't paying attention too much when we were going over it. I'm sorry." he responded fearfully.

The remark that he would not die made him sigh in relief. It was slightly insulting, and had implications of just how wicked they thought he was, but he ignored it.
To him, life was precious.

"Thank you..." he said.
He then began to answer the questions he was asked.
"I became one one night some time ago. I don't know exactly what happened, to be honest. All I know is that one moment there was a demon attacking me. I remember being afraid, like now, and then I found power welling up inside me. Power I could summon as a persona. I won, using that." he answered as honestly as he could recall.

In other words, there was nothing of use. What an utter shame and a waste of time. She began to cross her arms, still glaring at the Psyche-Terrorist. The disappointment was apparent in her face as she shouldered Andraste. The sound of a blade being drawn got her attention, noticing the sharpened length was being handled. Was he going to execute him? That didn't seem likely when he said something about his physical form being "alive". The memories of the Royal Guard piercing through Noah's skull flashed through her mind.

...Was this what he was planning to do?

The blade scared him. He nodded. Whatever would be pulling things out of his mind didn't sound pleasant. 
He decided that it would be best not to push it.
"There was... someone that came after I has fought the demon, calling himself the Phantom. I couldn't see them clearly, but they told me to go to the Backlight. I haven't seen them since. Also, I am currently alone. I have no associates that will come looking for me. My family... they are innocent. I have not told them anything either. They know nothing about my activities at night. So please, spare them... I also want to know... what will become of me?" he asked gingerly, preparing himself for any further pain.

She blinked at the quick application of the blade, but there was no blood. It looked like he was still breathing, so he never died or turned into the same thing like Noah. But there was something that irked her, rehabilitation. To rehabilitate dangerous people like them? She didn't know how to feel about trying to reform dangerous Psyche-Terrorists like Alice. They were mass-murderers that were a danger to the public. But to risk things like this, especially after what happened with the Queen Bee...

Maria heard from Hatsuharu what had happened in the first night with Alice's domain. For Claire to have gone off and left in her apparent insanity, it was a reason for concern.


The way how Takeru was crying and begging didn't inspire a whole lot of confidence in his capabilities. Taking out a bunch of men without supernatural powers was something that wasn't too difficult for anyone else with potential even if they didn't have access to their Persona as long as they had the means.

She shook her head and replied solemnly with her eyes downcast, "That was not my intention. I'm just... concerned. I admit I am rather still tense about the events that took place in my very own home. I promise to practice more composure in the future."

Maria didn't necessarily agree with any of this. Normally she would stay her tongue, but the recent events have shaken her up a bit. The Church was a strict and brutal organization that taught her to throw away any reserve to take lives for the Lord. Mercy was a luxury and the mission was more important than their own lives. It struck out at its enemies with great fury. Jorge had been there to stop her, thankfully for Takeru. She bowed in apology towards him. But she froze when asked about her own kind of justice. What was her justice? The girl didn't really come here to be reveled as a hero, that wasn't her intention. Years of being molded to act as a weapon had transformed her to this. Has she forgotten...?


Perhaps she never really could fit in with the Cadets. It was so different from how the Church worked. The people here had enough heart to forgive, where the Church encouraged aggression and a single-mindedness to eliminate threats. It made her wonder how much she lost to get to this point... and it scared her.