Post by Setsuna Hanamori on Jul 17, 2014 12:25:36 GMT -5
The woman grinned, as she was practically guaranteed to have Setsuna to herself. Or so she thought. Setsuna was moments away from giving in when she heard Jaelyn call out to her. Setsuna's eyes widened when she heard her words. As illogical as it seemed, Setsuna was fully convinced that Jaelyn would hate her if she ever discovered her true feelings for her. That everyone would hate her. Considering what she went through, it was hard to blame her for having such a fear. However, for Jaelyn to say that she still cared for her, in spite of all that had just happened, legitimately surprised Setsuna...and it turned out to be just enough to make her reconsider going to this Shadow.
Meanwhile, the Shadow had officially grown sick of Jaelyn and Sakuya's presence. Dropping the facade and raising her arm. Though her overall appearance remained the same, her features twisted just enough to make her appear less human, officially confirming what was already obvious. A large orb of energy appeared in the raised hand, and it was launched at the two of them. Should the attack hit, they'd both take major Almighty damage. Unfortunately for the Shadow, that was the last straw. Before the Shadow even knew she was coming, she was met with a wooden sword directly to the face, which hit so hard it managed to stun her for a few seconds.
"...I must be retarded. Like hell there was any way that bitch would want anything to do with me..." And in that moment, Setsuna snapped. More than two years worth of anger and frustration were let loose all at once, and this Shadow had the misfortune of being the one she vented all of it on. She lunged forward and savagely beat the Shadow with her swords, each hit coming in harder and faster than the one before it. The Shadow couldn't do anything other than try to defend itself against the unrelenting assault. She was given a brief reprieve when Setsuna hit the Shadow so hard that her both of her weapons actually broke. The key word being "brief".
Setsuna wasn't done raging yet. Undine appeared, and what followed was a punishing barrage of ice and lightning. The Shadow was able to get a few attacks in, but in the midst of her unstoppable rage, then were about as effective as tossing a glass of water at a wildfire. This went on for another minute or so, until Setsuna had finally worn herself out. The Shadow was barely holding its body together, which was actually someone impressive considering the rather one-sided beat-down it had just received. Setsuna stood there, panting heavily. Once she had calmed down, she let out a frustrated sigh
"...you know what pisses me off the most? It's that you were right. The way I fell for Jaelyn...it's no different from when I fell for Keiko. I knew Jaelyn probably didn't feel the same way...but I still hoped. And yet...I was also scared. What would she think? What would everyone else think? I was so terrified of having a repeat of what happened those two years ago. Getting beaten into the ground by some idiot cheerleader's dumb jock boyfriend, just because "that lesbian" happened to glance in her general direction. Getting blamed for every little thing that went wrong. After all, I was just some worthless dyke. All they needed was an excuse to kick me around, no matter how flimsy, and they'd go to town."
"...I was so happy when it stopped. But it wasn't because they cared. They were just covering their own asses. I tried to kill myself, and they didn't want it to look like they were the ones who made me do it. When I found out we were moving, I couldn't wait to leave. But still...all I did was run. I thought I was over all that, but no. I let my fears get in the way. But not anymore. I'm sick of running...and besides, there's no point. Jaelyn already knows now...and, somehow, she doesn't hate me..." After the last of her venting was done, she let out a heavy sigh. The Shadow finally gave in and disappeared. However, something unexpected happened. Undine, who remained hovering over Setsuna the whole time, suddenly began glowing brightly.
When the light faded, a completely different Persona remained in its place, taking the form of a mermaid. Setsuna had no clue what was going on, other than that she suddenly felt much stronger as a result of this. Soon, her new Persona disappeared, returning to it's place within Setsuna's mind. The girl, exhausted, fell to her knees as the gravity of everything that had just transpired hit her all at once. And yet...she was okay with it. Sure, it could have gone better, but deep down, she was painfully aware of how much worse this whole thing could have gone; and how dangerously close it was to going in that direction. Looking to Jaelyn, her feelings were mixed. Obviously, she knew, now more than ever, that nothing was probably going to happen between them, but her crush wasn't going to just disappear overnight.
Still, for what it was worth, it was nice to have all of that off of her chest. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the fact that Jaelyn was dating a Shadow, of all things, but...well, Sakuya didn't seem like a particularly bad person, so she chose not to question it. At least, not right now. With a weary and somewhat awkward smile, she spoke to Jaelyn and (to a lesser extent) Sakuya "...I'm sorry you had to see all of that...I didn't mean for you to get dragged into my bullshit. Don't worry, though...I'll be fine. I just...need to be alone for a while. Thanks though. I'm glad you were here..." Pulling herself up, she began a slow and steady trek back home. Fortunately, this time, she actually meant it when she said she would be fine.