heartsteals | AWASH IC INBOX

[What up, Lupin, here's a very blue message in your inbox.]

This is Lupin-san, right? It's Minato. I just wanted to check in--a lot people went into the woods recently and got into a lot of trouble, it seems like.

Are you okay?

[Still in one piece, Lupin, the wise one who didn't go diving head first into danger...]

Monsieur Minato,

I'm glad to hear from you. I must tell you that there is no need to worry over me, however; I am not a man who can be so easily bested by tricks and traps, nor even by skilled gunmen. Do the records of me not say as much? I am fine, aside from hungering for more palatable food and a gentler landscape.

Unfortunately, my roommate who goes by Akechi is not as crafty, and has been taken by a poison or illness most foul. The color has all left his body, and he is hardly here with me at-all. I have no idea how he might be helped. I'm worried about him. What of you? Are you unharmed?

- Lupin

[... Oh my god. It's like receiving a letter.

Minato's never even really received a letter like this, but he's kind of tickled by it. A-ahem. FOCUS, MINATO.]

I'm glad to hear that you're okay, but... Akechi-san's sick?

[That...doesn't sound good at all. The color has left his body?]

I'm not sure how to help either, but I can try asking around to see if anyone knows anything. I'm fine though. Nothing bad happened to me.

[Comparatively.]

[ he's intelligent enough to realize this isn't anything at all like writing a letter, aside from using the written word... but it's a habit he can't break. Too many calling cards penned. ]

You know him? I am afraid that he is. He came back from the woods just like this; I'm not entirely sure what happened to him there, but it clearly wasn't anything good.

That said, it relieves me to hear you're doing well. I take it you didn't wander off into the forest?

[Uh... yeah... He knows it was stupid, but:]

I did go in. A lot of my friends were, so I wanted to go to keep an eye on them. It didn't really work out that way, though...

But it's okay. I'm fine, so we can focus on trying to find a way to help Akechi-san.

What was your plan when you all went in, exactly? I'm very curious.

[ Lupin absolutely supports exploring and trying to figure a way out of this mess. He does not support rushing into dangerous, unknown territory with no plans (or backup plans.) You're supposed to be more clever than this, Minato!! ]

Edited 2018-04-11 03:14 (UTC)

[Look.... he knows it was foolish, but when everyone else was going in, including his friends from home, just sitting and twiddling his thumbs was not an option.]

I guess we were just hoping we'd be able to help protect each other in there, instead of going in alone.

But it didn't really work at all, I think... the forest was able to separate us pretty easily.

[ of course, he understands the notion. He's the type that wants to protect everybody, too. Maybe he's just been fortunate enough to run with such small groups that he could usually keep a handle on everyone involved thus far. ]

It's a respectable thing to love your friends. No one would fault you for that -- still, to blindly follow them does a disservice to you both. See how it leaves all of you worse for wear! The finest operation will end in failure without strategy before it. You say the forest separated you; then I say we should do our best to map out what we can before we dare strike out into the unknown again.

[Oh... he's getting scolded, isn't he? Well, it's honestly a reasonable enough scolding that he can really only nod to himself.]

You're right. It was pretty reckless to all go into the woods like that. We should all be a lot more careful in the future.

I'll try to tell people that too, if they want to go back out there. Too many people ended up in danger.

A group of this size is bound to have a handful of thugs that won't listen, or perhaps more, considering how many of you are teenagers. With any luck, they'll listen or have learned their lesson.

Well - did you find anything there for your troubles?

Hopefully so... it sounds like it was really dangerous for a lot of people out there.

John and I only found a mythological rip-off, honestly. There was a labyrinth, and a minotaur.

[Not, apparently, considered "dangerous" in Minato's book??]

You found a living, breathing minotaur, yet you were one of the few who came out unscathed?

[ lupin is impressed... but also wondering how he managed that. he seems like a perfectly average schoolboy. ]

Edited 2018-04-14 21:06 (UTC)

["I, A REGULAR TEENAGE BOY-" - Minato, probably]

Yes. I had John to help me, too, so that helped.

[Also, magical powers.]

[ IS JOHN NOT ALSO A REGULAR TEENAGE BOY. Lupin hasn't actually met him in person yet, so he remains clueless. ]

You can't leave off there! What did you do? You must tell me about your adventure.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Oh. Right.

[RIGHT...]

Well... I guess it was sort of like the minotaur was stalking us through the maze. It never really stayed around for long, but we could tell it was following us or watching us. It didn't actually attack us until we got to the center of the maze, though.

Yet you were not hurt. I'm afraid I don't quite remember how the myth of the minotaur ends.

Well... Theseus entered the labyrinth to slay the minotaur, and used a ball of magic twine to make sure that he could find his way back out. That's pretty much it, from what I remember.

[His dad kills himself because he forgets to change his sails from black to white? But that's not super relevant to the minotaur bit of the story. Still, when your Persona is Greek, brushing up on your Greek mythos is kind of Necessary.]

I didn't have any magic twine, though, so we just ended up wandering for a really long time.

Yes, that's it! So that story is known even in Japan, is it? That's interesting.

However, I can't say I'm satisfied. What about your climactic battle with the stalking beast? Did you outwit it?

I wish I could say I was that clever, but I really think we just took it by surprise.

[John and Minato are awfully scrawny, normal looking kids, after all.]

And we had it outnumbered. Between the two of us, we were able to find a way. It would've been pretty tough on my own, though, so I'm lucky John was there.

You're not much for storytelling, are you, Minato? I'll just imagine the details, I suppose.

[Especially not when he's lived the past year pretending he doesn't have supernatural powers. It's probably less necessary here, but old habits die very hard.]

Oh, sorry... I guess I'm not very good at it, no. It was honestly all kind of a blur. But I did get a leaf out of it.

[Yep.

A leaf.]

It looks like a regular leaf, but somehow it feels important...? I don't really understand.

Could it be the golden leaf "they" were asking us to find in a certain one of those quests?

I don't know... I guess even if it is, the quest wasn't accomplished, since I didn't find it with someone aligned with yellow.

[WHAT A WASTE.]

I guess for now I'll hold onto it? I'm not sure what else to do with it. Even if it seems silly, since it's just a leaf.

I don't think it silly in the slightest - no less than talking furniture and magic wells. Knowing this town, you must have received it for a reason. How did you come across it?

Well... it was on the minotaur's horn. But I had this really, really strong sense that I should take it with me.

[And he has not gotten this far by ignoring those feelings.]

#3630FF

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