Chapter 91: Teacher Shin strikes again
"Oh god... I can't eat another bite..." said Ryuji as he leaned on the chair.
"That was delicious." commented Morgana, stroking his fur.
Shin could see Yusuke looking disappointed.
"Something wrong, Yusuke?"
"...We haven't finished our meal. What about the porridge, or even the udon?" he asked, distraught.
"Just leave it for the next time, man..." said Ryuji.
"Very well. But I feel inclined to ask, now that our hunger was satiated. How did you all meet each other?" asked Yusuke.
"I think we all just hated Kamoshida and somehow... gathered around this guy." said Ryuji, pointing to Shin.
"It's so odd." said Ann.
"I guess he just has that sort of charm." said Shiho.
"How peculiar. Though that is not what I meant. I was asking about how you met each other, before Shin arrived here." clarified Yusuke.
"Oh." exclaimed Ann. "Shiho insulted one of my drawings. I wasn't really mad at her. I was just surprised since most people didn't want to talk to me. And we became friends, just like that."
"I didn't insult it. I just said you suck at drawing." added Shiho.
Ryuji snickered, which made Ann look at him.
"You're no better. The whole school saw how good you can draw."
"Wha- It was good! Wasn't it?" the blond asked, looking at Shin.
"I'll just say... Thank god we got Yusuke on our team from now on."
"Dude..."
The teens had a good laugh at that. After a few more minutes of idle chat, Shiho spoke up.
"So, Shin. Remember that time where you told us about the Arcana." she started. "Well, you never mentioned what your Arcana was."
The black-haired boy didn't say anything at first, but he simply held his right hand up and made a 0 sign with his fingers.
"The Fool."
"How can you tell what Arcana is someone?" asked Ann.
"They are pretty general archetypes. For example, people of the Arcana Chariot" Shin took a moment to point at Ryuji. "are generally muscle-headed, love meat, have a passion for some kind of physical activity, and their Personas are mainly oriented towards physical attacks." he said, raising a finger for each point he made.
"Additionally, there are a few Arcana that I noticed that mainly appear in people of a certain gender, such as the Priestess, the Empress and the Lovers, all of them appearing in women. Though I cannot say that's for sure."
"Arche- what?" asked Ryuji.
Shin sighed.
"You could think of it as a fancy word for pattern. And for context, Morgana is the Magician, Yusuke is the Emperor, Ann is the Lovers, Ryuji is the Chariot and Shiho is the Hope. Now, if any of you was curious before and actually searched these terms, you wouldn't have found anything at first, but you'd eventually get to something called the Tarot. It's more often used to predict the future, but that's not important right now."
"There's 78 Tarot cards, with 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. I'll begin with my explanation for the Major Arcana. The first card, numbered 0, is the Fool. It represents the beginning and suggests infinite possibilities." he said, pointing at himself.
"The next card, The Magician, numbered 1, represents action and initiative, but also immaturity." he looked at Morgana. "The Priestess represents contemplation and inner knowledge. The Empress represents motherhood and the life it brings forth. The Emperor, number 4, is an opposing card. It represents fathering and relates to leadership and decision-making skills." he pointed at Yusuke.
"The Hierophant represents formality and knowledge, and stands for religion. The Lovers, numbered 6, represents choice. Here, the individual's consciousness has finally surfaced." he took a look at Ann. "The Chariot, number 7, represents victory for the individual, but only a momentary one."
Once again, he gave Ryuji a glance. Shin continued, nonetheless.
"Justice represents the knowledge of what is right, and what is wrong. The Hermit represents the individual's search for answers by looking inward, deep inside his heart. Fortune represents fate, and the opportunities that come with it. Strength represents passion and self-control. It is depicted as power with reason. The Hanged Man reflects the individual's inability to take action. Spiritual death awaits the individual with the 13th card, which is aptly named Death."
He paused to breathe.
"Death is considered a transitional card. The old ends, and the new begins. Temperance is the balancing of opposites. Opening his eyes to the world allows the individual to grow. And as the Devil represents, he then faces temptation. At the Tower, his values collapse on him. It seems as if he no longer has anything to believe in, but he then finds a glimmer of hope, represented by the Star, and he is suffused with a serene calm."
"This bliss makes him vulnerable to the illusions of the Moon. Fears arise, and he follows the dim path in his heart with trepidation... But he is rewarded with a bright future, represented by the Sun, which signifies true achievement. Judgement awaits the individual at the end of his journey, as he looks back on the path he has traveled. The final card is the World, which represents the individual's full awareness of his place in the world. That is the growth of an individual as explained by the tarot cards."
Shiho raised her hand.
"Yes? Shiho."
"You said my Arcana is Hope, but I didn't hear you mention it." she said.
Shin nodded. "The Major Arcana I just listed are the ones in the traditional deck. There are variants of the deck which include other Major Arcana, or swap with ones in the traditional one. For example, the Jester, which is the equivalent of the Fool. Or the Councillor, the equivalent of the Magician. The Hope Arcana is not numbered."
"Why does Yusuke get a cool-sounding one and I have 'the Chariot'..." mumbled Ryuji. "At least it's not the Fool, am I right?" he said, looking at Shin.
"So how many Personas can you wield, Ryuji?"
"Ugh."
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Confidants:
0. Igor (The Fool) - Rank 2
I. Morgana (The Magician) - Rank 3
1. Takuto Maruki (The Councillor) - Rank 1
II. Makoto Niijima (The Priestess) - Rank 2
IV. Yusuke Kitagawa (The Emperor) - Rank 3
Odd man - Rank 1
V. Sojiro Sakura (The Hierophant) - Rank 3
VI. Ann Takamaki (The Lovers) - Rank 7
VII. Ryuji Sakamoto (The Chariot) - Rank 7
VIII. Goro Akechi (The Justice) - Rank 1
IX. Futaba Sakura (The Hermit) - Rank 3
XIII. Tae Takemi (The Death) - Rank 5
XIV. Sadayo Kawakami (The Temperance) - Rank 3
XVIII. Saki Yoshiko (The Moon) - Rank 2
XIX. Sho Minazuki (The Sun) - Rank 2
Toranosuke Yoshida - Rank 1
XX. Sae Niijima (The Judgement) - Rank 1
Shiho Suzui (The Hope) - Rank 8
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