Sweet Hospitality (Jaelyn)

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Just about everything Sakuya said could be called simple, human interests. Basic time-wasters like reading and playing video games, more intellectual interests like the simple pursuit of knowledge, and her own personal missions. Only the last of those would have sounded unusual from anyone else Jaelyn had known in her life, and only because Jaelyn knew what kind of 'personal missions' she had. Even now, had Sakuya not transformed right in front of her earlier, Jaelyn would have never guessed that she was anything but a human. There was no way she could be the same as the monsters Jaelyn fought on a regular basis, or even the crazed apparition of her mother. There had to be something more to it.

"Yes, I was hoping you'd tell me about your past," Jaelyn said. More than what Sakuya was, Jaelyn wanted to know how she'd become that way. Since she was so human-like, had she originally been a human? Or was the some other, unusual way that all shadows were born?

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

"I see," Sakuya nodded once more. "I figured you would ask that. After all, I do exhibit alarmingly human qualities, don't I? To be fair, I did take over a human. A human with a terrible past. The memories of the human I put out of her misery were so strong that they resided within me. They affected me in ways I had not anticipated..." Sakuya continued holding Jaelyn's hand. "At first, I was simply a presence. An everlasting presence that fed on emotion. I was inexplicably tied to this human. This human who had been whored out by her mother, and repeatedly raped and beaten according to the desires of men. I, of the basest desire of lust, as you may have figured from my slovenly visage, had been... Warped somewhat by these memories."

Sakuya heaved out, being able to talk about these terrible memories without breaking into a rage... It was probably because Jaelyn seemed genuinely curious and she didn't deserve to be yelled at one bit. "While the mother was as much at fault as those disgusting men, her behavior of attempting to care for the human aspect was so convincing that it helped her become more attracted to other girls and women. Only other girls and women could even begin or pretend to understand the terrible pain she had gone through. I took advantage of her inner rage against men. I took advantage of her lust and dsire to be cared for by girls." Sakuya started to sniff a little.

"One day at school, I -- the human aspect, had gone on a rampage. Remember my snake sword? It was originally a bolo she had ordered off the Internet. This was back in Japan. She had hospitalized several of her male classmates by somehow cutting their veins expertly, and some had gotten themselves into unrecoverable situations due to excessive blood loss. She ran into the bathroom where I put her out of her misery and took over her body. The 'human' committed suicide. I gave her a New Life. A New Life where my consciousness was warped by the 'human' desire to desecrate men with her blade, and to care and defend women from these crimes. Except... I had corrupted the latter part with an insatiable lust..."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

As Sakuya told her story, Jaelyn listened quietly, holding tightly to Sakuya's hand. While many parts of her story were surprising, alarming even, others weren't. Once she got past the part of her, or at least the person she was tied to, being whored out by her own mother (something that made even the worst of what Jaelyn's own mother did seem tame), everything Jaelyn knew about Sakuya started to make sense. How human she seemed, her obvious hatred of men, her weapon, her 'career' as a killer...even how quickly and strongly she had tried to come on to Jaelyn before backing off a bit.

And yet, despite the extremes of it all, it sounded scarily similar to what could have happened to Jaelyn. In her case, it would have happened sooner. Back in middle school, when she was still bullied, after the incident where she'd put a pencil through someone's eye, she'd resolved herself that if the bullying still somehow continued, she'd bring a knife and deal with it that way. And if she'd gone that far, who even knew what would have happened? Maybe she'd simply be arrested. Or maybe she'd try to fight her way out, and keep stabbing whoever got in her way until a shadow self of her own finally emerged and put her out of her own misery. And then where would she be?

No, her situation was never as bad as what Sakuya was saying. But even so, a suspension and word of mouth while she was out may well have been the only thing keeping her from going down the same path. With that in mind, they really were incredibly similar. Even if they weren't even both human.

Jaelyn turned her body toward Sakuya, then wrapped her free arm around her to pull her into a hug. Jaelyn didn't have any idea what to say. She was never good at words of comfort, and maybe Sakuya didn't even need or want them. So this would have to do.

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

Sakuya had to take deep breaths to calm herself down, but she found herself feeling much better when she felt Jaelyn hug her. The silence was fine. Sakuya wasn't really a fan of receiving words of comfort - she was better at dishing them out than taking them. Wordlessly, Sakuya shifted and faced Jaelyn, hugging and embracing her back. "I haven't ever felt that comfortable being so open with someone, you know..." she finally said, after enjoying a few moments of silent warmth. "I'm just relieved that I could be open with you. Perhaps it would help you to understand me better... I would never want to hurt you. Even if you had to hurt me. I would let you." Sakuya soon started to hug Jaelyn a little more tightly.

"Thank you so much. I wish I could do more for you..."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

It seemed that in just asking her to tell her story, Jaelyn had managed to help Sakuya a little bit as well. As Sakuya hugged her back and expressed her relief at being able to be open with her, Jaelyn nodded and gave a weak smile. "I know," Jaelyn said. Now that she'd heard that story, she could easily understand that to be true. Beyond an unending lust, she had no desire to harm her or other women. On top of that, somewhere along the way she had attached to Jaelyn just as quickly and thoroughly as Jaelyn had attached to her. Now, it seemed, there had never been much to worry about.

Finally, Sakuya thanked her, and expressed a wish that she could do more. But, in Jaelyn's mind, she'd already done more than enough. Anything else Jaelyn could be inclined to ask from her, Sakuya had already offered, and would no doubt continue to offer in the future. "You're already doing plenty," Jaelyn said.

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

Sakuya started to gently snuggle and cuddle with Jaelyn, giving her a soft peck on the forehead. "You're a real sweetheart. I'll continue to try my best to be there for you whenever I can," Sakuya said, stroking Jaelyn's hair and back tenderly. They both seemed to become attached to each other rather fast, and it was apparent that their similarities are what brought them closer together. And one would suppose Sakuya's willingness to stay close to Jaelyn and avoid being rude towards her or Heaven forbid being actually afraid of her helped a great deal as well. "How long would you like to stay here, dear? I'll be happy to tend to you for as long as you need before I assume you would like to return to your place?"

[Jaelyn Callahan]

Jaelyn blinked. To her knowledge, that was the first time anyone had called her a 'sweetheart'. It was a strange, and kind of awkward feeling. Except possibly to Sakuya, she was no sweetheart. But, since it was Sakuya who said it, she decided to just accept it. It wasn't a bad feeling, being with someone who had seen a really nasty side of her and having her still think well of her. That had to be how Sakuya felt as well.

"I definitely want to stay the night, at least," Jaelyn said, in response to Sakuya's question. "After that, I should probably go back, but we'll just have to see when the time comes."

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

Jaelyn did mention she wanted to stay the night - of course, having been in the state she was currently in and also given the current circumstances, that was a no-brainer. However, Sakuya nodded and ruffled Jaelyn's hair again when she said she should probably go back in the morning. "Yeah, that's fair," Sakuya responded. "Indeed, let's just see how things move on from here on out." she continued, heavily enjoying the warmth of hugging and embracing Jaelyn, though Sakuya had loosened her grip on her a little. This was really the 'big break,' if Sakuya were to look at it objectively. She would try not to involve anyone else she had a fancy on at the same kind of romantic level Sakuya held for Jaelyn. Nope. Everyone else was just gonna be friends.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

"Mm, that's probably for the best," Jaelyn said. It was just like the last time they were lying together like this, and Jaelyn had been wondering what to do from then on. Although, at the time, Sakuya had misunderstood the question when she'd asked, Jaelyn had still gotten an indirect answer. 'Just move on however feels natural and see how things go.' That still applied. There were plenty of things to worry about in the future. The full moon was approaching very quickly. And she had allies, human allies, who could easily take exception to the fact that she was in love with a shadow. But those, too, she could deal with as she went.

In the meantime, she just wanted to enjoy this moment.

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

Sakuya continued to hug and snuggle with Jaelyn, similarly enjoying this moment. Caressing her she heaved a sigh of deep and genuine contentment. At this rate, Sakuya didn't care anymore. She would deal with adversity as it came. The only thing Sakuya probably couldn't see herself dealing with in the near future would be if Jaelyn had done a complete one-eighty within the next coming days. Was the full moon approaching? Perhaps it was. Sakuya wondered to herself what she would do during that time. However, she decided to instead spend these blissful moments caressing and embracing Jaelyn. Sakuya loved her so, so very much. "It's so nice to be here with you again... I really do love you."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

"Mm, I love you too," Jaelyn said quietly. "It's funny, I never thought I'd actually say that to anyone." Sure, there were occasionally people that she thought she'd loved in the past, who she eventually came to the conclusion that she had just lusted after in the moment. Even with Sakuya, she had briefly thought that was the case. Rather than her body, though (although that was certainly a plus), she had thought she was lusting after the sense of comfort and happiness she had managed to provide. But since then, she had kept thinking about her, and when the best time came to let her go, to distance herself, sever what bonds she'd formed, and move on like she always did...she couldn't do it. And that was when Jaelyn had come to that realization. "Even with you, I wasn't sure until the moment I said it back there. But I'm certain of it now."

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

From what Jaelyn had told Sakuya about herself, the latter wasn't terribly surprised to hear that she couldn't really see herself genuinely professing her love to another person. Sakuya wasn't entirely sure what was going on in Jaelyn's mind but it probably had something to do with the transience of lust - desire for a certain aspect or aspects of another person. Whether it be their striking beauty, or their aloofness, or how rich they were, or the sense of security they provided - it was just that lust and desire for those THINGS which drew her to a person. Yet, as soon as that thrill was over, the magic was gone. This is what Sakuya theorized inside. She wasn't sure if that was the case. But having heard Jaelyn say she was certain now, that made Sakuya feel genuine warmth for once. A warmth that perhaps was almost unnatural for a Shadow to feel. Was it normal? All Sakuya could do was silently hug Jaelyn again tightly.

"I'm certain of it, too. You're the one."

[Jaelyn Callahan]

"Mmm," Jaelyn said. 'The one', huh? Had Sakuya been hoping for something like this to eventually happen? Even as a shadow...no, perhaps even before that. Jaelyn couldn't know. But if she was, she'd found what she was looking for. And that, too, gave Jaelyn a sensation of warmth that was, while not entirely unnatural, completely atypical of her. It was the kind of warmth that could keep her in Sakuya's arms forever, just to keep experiencing it.

Time passed. It had to have only been a few minutes, but in her contented state Jaelyn didn't know and didn't care how long it was. But finally, a realization came to her, that Sakuya had very little idea about what had actually been going on back at the museum. All she would have known was that the shadow had taken the image of her mother, and that it had been around since the day Andras first materialized in her mind. And...possibly the fact that her mother had been a serial killer. "So," she finally said, "I guess you're wondering about what all happened back there."

[Sakuya Kyoudou]

Sakuya had basked in this intense comfort for a while as well. It was only a short while, but to Sakuya it did feel, to invoke a terrible cliche, like eternity. Soon, Jaelyn eventually did end up asking Sakuya if she was wondering about... Well, that little scene back at the museum. To be honest, Sakuya had almost completely forgotten about that sight she saw. Jaelyn presumably burning works of art (though she wasn't entirely sure) and the appearance of that demonic Shadow. Yes, while Sakuya was a Shadow herself, she considered herself as separate from the contingent. "Yes, dear," Sakuya nodded. "I am a bit curious; it's been on the back of my mind... You seemed to be in a state of euphoria once you conquered that Shadow with magnificent flame. What exactly was the story behind that, if you don't mind my asking?" Sakuya did query Jaelyn about it at the end.

That spell of flame inspired Sakuya too to come up with her own.

[Jaelyn Callahan]

"If I minded you asking, I wouldn't have brought it up," Jaelyn said. "Besides, it's only fair after you told me about yourself." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to sort out everything she knew, or thought she knew, about that shadow before putting words to it. "As far as I know, that shadow was born from memories of my mother, and twisted into something...well, you heard what it was like. My real mother wasn't anything like that. She was...crazy, definitely, and had a way of terrifying people with her mere presence, but nothing to that degree.

I first heard her a few days after the city went under lockdown. I've heard occasionally that people have heard some kind of voice guiding them to the outside, where they either get devoured by shadows or learn to defend themselves against them. In my case, it was her voice. I thought it was impossible, at first. I'd heard my mother died shortly after I moved here. But the more it called, the more I wondered if she had somehow managed to survive after all and found her way out here." She stopped there for a second, realizing that that may have been the stupidest assumption she had ever made. At the time, she didn't remember it, but the incident in the museum had reminded her. The shadow spoke directly into her head, just like the voices she occasionally heard while exploring the shadowlands. For that matter, they were almost certainly the exact same voices.

"It wasn't her, of course. It was that shadow. It attacked me, but...the more I think about it, the more I realize it wasn't trying to kill me at the time. She probably would have anyway. I was pretty pathetic, back then. But, whatever the case, that was when my Persona awakened, so I was able to get away with my life. Ever since then though, every time I've been outside the lockdown I've heard voices, and always had the feeling that something was waiting just out of sight, watching me. Even when it seemed like there were no shadows around, there was always something there."

She took another deep breath. Talking so much was hard. "But, that shadow's finally gone, now. I wonder if the voices will disappear as well."