#19.3 Unravel
It had been some time since Agni felt this nervous. Not even talking with Jinsung Ha recently had made him feel like this. He fiddled with the mask on his hand as he waited for Grace to come back. He had thought hard on how to deliver the news, but he knew that no matter how he phrased it, Grace would be upset. Velt nuzzled under his palm and Agni gave her a few pats, before deciding that she would be better inside her bowl in his lighthouse, just in case the shinsu acted up around Grace after he received the news.
Grace came back wearing the comfiest shirt and shorts Agni knew Grace liked to wear on lazy days. He joined him on the floor, and they ate dinner together. Agni always finished last, so while waiting for him to finish his meal, Grace told him about his day with Bam. Grace was intrigued by how much his way of thinking had changed, and how glad he was to be able to be by Bam's side when he was having a bad day. It reminded Agni of the hidden floor, when Grace faced his sworn enemy.
They left the used bowls on the coffee table and went to brush their teeth. Afterwards, they turned off the light and went upstairs to sit on their bed. Grace's curious gaze never left him, and Agni curled his feet nervously.
Grace was the one who broke the silence. "So…what is it?"
Agni's breath hitched. This was the part he dreaded most. "I talked with the crocodile earlier. Did you know that he could manipulate stone already?"
"Huh." Grace needed a few seconds to let the information sink in. "Didn't Rak learn it on the Hell train? How does he know it?"
"Turns out our crocodile also traveled back to the past like us. He found the young crocodile and taught him."
"What?!" Grace gasped, wide eyed. "That means our Rak is–!!"
"He's dead." Agni quickly snuffed out that hope. They had been in delusion for long enough; it was time that they faced the bitter truth. "He suffered a fatal injury from the explosion. He couldn't have lasted long without proper help." Agni omitted the actual cause for Rak's death, but still kept his words true. "I'm sorry."
"…Oh." Grace looked lost, just like Agni was. His lips parted a little, but they closed before any sound escaped.
Agni gently squeezed Grace's hand, encouraging and comforting as he let the silence stretch on, giving Grace some time to process the information.
"Agni…" Grace whispered, "do you think Hatz and Isu…?"
Agni bit his lip and avoided his gaze, as the nightmare of that day replayed in his mind. He witnessed Hatz get his arms ripped off when trying to protect him. He could still recall the clang of a sword hitting the floor, and Hatz's suppressed scream that gnawed deep at his guilt. He witnessed Isu get beheaded after being taken hostage, the memory of warm blood painting them both still vivid like it happened yesterday.
Agni refused to acknowledge their possible deaths, because it felt like a nightmare that one day he could hopefully wake up from. He avoided the topic when Grace brought it up, so he wouldn't have to say it aloud and make it real. He had been so hard on himself, because he couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had failed Grace and everyone else involved.
Agni knew this had to change if he wanted to live better, now that they had gotten a second chance. So he swallowed down the lump in his throat that had built up over the years and asked mostly to himself; "What are the odds of their survival?"
"There's always a chance–"
"Grace." Agni looked him straight in the eye. "They were already severely injured before the explosion hit."
Grace fell silent and went still.
Agni felt a pang of guilt upon witnessing Grace's reaction. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap." Agni fiddled with his hands. He realized that he didn't know how much Grace knew of what happened. "My scar…do you know how I got it?"
"I…was told it was from the family heads' battle." Grace looked thoughtful. Agni knew he was trying to be careful with his words. "A stray attack?"
"It could have been worse." The memory of the scorching heat on his skin felt like it had only happened yesterday. He passed out right when he was about to heal Isu, and only found out later that he also lost sweetfish at that time. The days he spent recovering from the burn, to withstand the excruciating pain every second he was conscious, and finally coming to terms that it'd be a permanent scar, was one of the turning points that had changed him forever. Were Grace not there to care for him, he might have ended up destroying himself even more.
Agni hadn't realized he had his left hand clawing on his cheek until Grace pried his hand off and frowned, "You're doing it again."
"Maybe I should wear the mask…" Agni muttered to himself. After all, Grace gave it to him less so he could hide the scar but more to prevent him from unconsciously hurting himself. The only time he could safely take it off was when Grace was around.
Agni bit his lip nervously when Grace didn't reply. He no longer had the courage to look Grace in the eye that spoke so much concern, so he leaned close and rested his head on Grace's chest. "Rak, Isu, Hatz and Hwaryun were trying to get me out of that damned place. But we were caught while escaping, and…it was a bloodbath. I was…too occupied to react to the incoming heat. Rak shielded us from the explosion. And when I woke up…"
"They weren’t with you," Grace finished it for him after Agni trailed off a moment too long.
Agni nodded dazedly, "I've been telling myself that they're still alive, after a blow that could kill rankers. But…who am I kidding? I was lucky enough to survive with just this little–" Agni vaguely pointed to himself– "inconvenience."
Agni felt a hand gripping his arm, and he pulled away to see Grace looking at him with a pained expression. His eyes were glossy and his lips were pulled into a thin line. Trusting his instinct, Agni reached out to gently trace and cup Grace's cheek with his free hand.
"I'm sorry," Agni muttered. "I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner."
Agni silently witnessed tears that streamed down on his love's face. It was a bitter sight that Agni wished he'd never have to see again, that he had tried to avoid for so long by not telling him. He pulled Grace in and held him close to his chest, as if Agni was trying to gather his own crumbled heart back together.
Grace mumbled their late best friends' names as he held onto him tighter, shaking from each breath he took between sniffles.
Agni felt his own eyes sting with unshed tears. He remembered the years he spent climbing the tower together with his old team. Despite their banter being his source of headaches, Agni knew he too had come to acknowledge them as his cherished friends. Only when they were gone did Agni realize how much he'd miss having them around. Seeing the younger them didn't exactly close the gaping hole in his heart, but at least the emptiness was more filled.
Agni squeezed Grace tighter. "We have their younger selves with us now. We will protect them better this time."
Grace only nodded and sank further into his embrace. And Agni planted kisses on his hair, relishing the thought that after everything he had gone through, Grace was still a constant in his life. As long as he had him, everything would be okay.
When Grace started shaking again, Agni caressed his hair and hummed a comfort song they had known by heart. Still, it didn't make falling asleep any easier for Agni, especially not after admitting that his nightmare was very much real. However, as he had been through grief…this, too, would pass.
Masterlist
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I’ve finally finished P3R!
So now of course I must write paragraphs abt how much I loved it. Spoilers below the cut!
I can say without any hesitation or doubt that P3R is by far the best game I’ve ever played in my life.
They truly did such a wonderful job with remaking this game, so much so that it really makes me look forward to the possibility of more persona-remakes in the future. I’m so thankful that they stayed true to the original story, but improved where it was necessary. I’m blown away by every detail they put into this game, and how they managed to make even the menu screens absolutely beautiful.
I’ve always tended to get a bit sappy/emotional about games I really like, but I genuinely do believe that the persona franchise, specifically p3 and p4, have changed me as a person. They’ve effected me emotionally, and helped me navigate the meaning of my own life. I got invested within the persona franchise at a very young age (I think I was in the 5th grade lmfao 😭), and it was the first game series I really fell in love with — and that was only through watching playthroughs on YouTube at the time. Looking back on it, I think that it’s what really sparked my passion for video games, and also game development in general.
I started getting back into the persona franchise about 1 and a half, maybeeee 2 years ago, and being able to reconnect with the games and fall in love with them all over again has been such a crazy cool experience. Playing P3R after playing the original p3 was such a joy, and I can confidently say it emotionally impacted me just as much as the original did, if not more.
It’s not often I feel the urge to replay a game right after I finish it, usually I have to give it a break for a bit, but I’ve already started my New Game+ run of P3R and I’m not feeling even remotely burnt out, which I think is another example of how much I absolutely adore this game.
AAANYWAYS if you’ve read this far hi!! Rambling and getting overly emotional about video games is my one and only talent fr so thanks for listening 🫶
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tagged by @blaquesails hehee thank youuu :D !
last song listened to: you guys won’t believe this, but as always i’m currently listening to music lol currently james by blue october is playing
last movie you watched: raw (2016)…… french movies man 🚬🚬
currently watching: one piece :^) i’m at ep 206
other things you’ve watched this year: i just finished watching yellowjackets (good overall but i have a few things i’m rather unhappy about), i watched golden wind, i mean shippuden early on in the year 🧍🧍 uhhh oh yea i rewatched yoi a bit ago…. mmmm idk a bunch of diff cannibal movies in general and ofc other movies that aren’t particularly worth noting?
currently reading: naruto
currently listening to: obito playlist 🧍🧍 sorry
currently working on: commission of some ocs ^.^ in between that i was going to finish an sns drawing but i actually haven’t touched that in days lol
current obsession: 🧍🧍itachi and cannibalism. what else is new LMFAO
tags: @lycentropy @kyueishin @szczek @grailskull @shades4dogs @kyghostly @gayhokage @sunbackeddog @coybones @yamanaka-shin
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I was tagged by @whorejolras 🤭
Put a song for every letter in your url and tag the amount of people in your url !
e - enjoy the silence - depeche mode
n - nobody - hozier
j - just - radiohead
o - our lawyer made us change the name of this song so we wouldn’t get sued - fall out boy
l - lover, you should come over - jeff buckley
r - rose colored boy - paramore
e - everlong - the foo fighters
v - violet - hippo campus
o - oblivion - grimes
i - in ‘n out of grace - mudhoney
r - rebel girl - bikini kill
and if you’ve been tagged already whoops my bad 🫶 @marbleluvrofliberty @jollllyy @wheresurboytonighthelookslikeenj @cosettegf @omgjolras @lesbienj @daisymayys @coeur-feyrac @imiserabili @c0urfeyac @probably-enjolras
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PH MASTERLIST
(aka I wrote a lot of stuff about this series now trying to put all of it in one place so I find Things when I search for it)
CHAPTERS
retrace i | retrace ii | retrace iii | retrace iv | retrace v | retrace vi | retrace vii | retrace viii | retrace ix | retrace x | retrace xi | retrace xii | retrace xiii | retrace xiv | retrace xv | retrace xvi | retrace xvii | retrace xviii | retrace xix | retrace xx | retrace xxi | retrace xxii | retrace xxiii | retrace xxiv | retrace xxv | retrace xxvi | retrace xxvii | retrace xxviii | retrace xxix | retrace xxx | retrace xxxi | retrace xxxii | retrace xxxiii | retrace xxxiv | retrace xxxv | retrace xxxvi | retrace xxxvii | retrace xxxviii | retrace xxxix | retrace xl | retrace xli | retrace xlii | retrace xliii | retrace xliv | retrace xlv | retrace xlvi | retrace xlvii | retrace xlviii | retrace xlix | retrace l | retrace li | retrace lii | retrace liii | retrace liv | retrace lv | retrace lvi | retrace lvii | retrace lviii | retrace lix | retrace lx | retrace lxi | retrace lxii | retrace lxiii | retrace lxiv | retrace lxv | retrace lxvi | retrace lxvii | retrace lxviii | retrace lxix | retrace lxx | retrace lxxi | retrace lxxii | retrace lxxiii | retrace lxxiv | retrace lxxv | retrace lxxvi | retrace lxxvii | retrace lxxviii | retrace lxxix | retrace lxxx | retrace lxxxi | retrace lxxxii | retrace lxxxiii | retrace lxxxiv | retrace lxxxv | retrace lxxxvi | retrace lxxxvii | retrace lxxxviii | retrace lxxxix | retrace xc | retrace xci | retrace xcii | retrace xciii | retrace xciv | retrace xcv | retrace xcvi | retrace xcvii | retrace xcviii | retrace xcix | retrace c | retrace ci | retrace cii | retrace ciii | retrace civ
some Serious posts: may-reads-ph | some Fun Posts: ph musings
MY ANALYSIS POSTS
1.] Lottie | (add: re: real reason why Lottie changed sides in the last arc)
2.] Noise | (add)
3.] Alice(s)
4.] Lacie
5.] Glen, Children of Misfortune, Juries and the Baskervilles | (Part 1 : Glen, Jury and Knowledge of Abyss) | (Part 2 : Choosing a side) | (Part 3 : Oswald and his sin of passivity) | (Part 4 : Oswald and Lacie)
6.] Core of the Abyss and "her" Children of "Misfortune"
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