Life Will Change Book 2

Chapter 24: Seeing the Truth

Begin

~Normal POV

8/11 - Friday

Making it up to the birdcage wasn't a hassle now that they knew how to maneuver around the area more easily. The top of Mariko's highest tower was inside the cage, and before them was the door to her throne room. They'd seen no sign of her Shadow in person their whole time here. (A fact that was worth remembering to Akira for his thoughts about these Jails...) Above the tower was where the Desires were being kept.

"Is this all carved ice?" Ann said, looking around. "It must be really cold..."

"A frozen cage that denies all entry," Yusuke said, thoughtfully. "It might represent her distrust for all others. The appearance befits the notion."

"Noir, you don't look so good," Sophia said, "Are you alright?"

Haru seemed lost in thought looking at this place, but she quickly snapped out of it. "Mhmm. I should be..." She paused and took a few steps forward. "Um, maybe this time I should do it-"

"Nope. Nope, I gotta draw the line there, Noir." Ryuji said, gently pulling her away from the invisible barrier. "Trust me, you do not want to know what this feels like."

Haru seemed a bit reluctant to accept this at first but didn't protest. He was doing it because he cared for her, after all. They'd get what they needed either way. Ryuji touched the barrier with one hand, while holding back a wince of agony. Same as usual, they heard the voices of Mariko's heart. There were three voices, one of a strained, sobbing woman, one was Mariko herself, and one was a very callous man's voice.

"You did this! It's all your fault! How could you be so ignorant?! Did you not think a snow sculpture could collapse?!"

"I... I apologize on behalf of our staff...!"

"This is where she... It must have been so heavy... It must have been so painful! Give me back Kaho! Give me back my daughter- my precious little girl!"

"The accident resulted from my own personal oversight... Truly, I'm so sorry!"

"Well, I didn't think the statue would fall on anybody... but isn't this the mayor's responsibility in the end? Besides, who can blame me? We don't get paid nearly enough. Nothing wrong with taking a little kickback here and there."

The voices ended there so Ryuji let go of the barrier, rubbing his sore hand. For a while, nobody knew what to say about this one.

"...So, those voices are the root of her trauma..." Morgana said, softly.

Akira sighed. "Then I guessed right, at least partly-" He noticed everyone's curious looks and explained. "Ah, sorry, I started to think that the accident might have had something to do with all this after we talked to her last night. When she said 'for her sake.' But the question then becomes, 'how did that make her into this?'"

"Could Mari-san have really been involved..." Haru asked, worriedly.

"If she was, it would have been indirectly," Akira assured, "As mayor, the responsibility for public safety does go to her. And she was mayor at the time it happened."

"So, the source of her trauma is... taking the blame for the incident," Makoto asked.

"Don't forget about the guy's voice," Ryuji said, "Sounded like he was trying to pass the blame on someone."

"Agreed." Akira said, bluntly. "That guy is a piece of shit."

"He didn't even seem to care that a kid died..." Ann grumbled. "If that guy's still around, I'd like to rip him a new one..."