Hi again.
So for those of you that don't know I'm writing this story parallel to another story called Black God. You shouldn't need to read both to enjoy either but it might be more fun to read both.
In the time intervening between this story and my last I haven't acquired the rights to persona or any of the characters and settings used from that series.
Night Mother.
Waking Nightmare.
A ruined city lie partially submerged along the coast like a shipwreck strewn reef. At the seaward edge a pool of darkness writhed among the rubble. A young man and woman stood on either side of the miasma. Words passed between them and were carried away by the sea breeze. As the sun descended into the sea the moon grew to prominence in the heavens.
The man suddenly pointed to the sky and shouted out to it. A thin column of light extended from his finger towards the moon. The woman shouted to be heard above the sea breeze that had become more wild and violent but the man did not respond. She shouted to the sky and reluctantly, as if guided by an invisible force, raised her arm to the sky. Another column of light extended from her finger following a path parallel to the other.
The man was shouting now but words no longer passed between the two. As the wind whorled around them like a hurricane, the space between them was rent too terribly to carry words. The heavens shook above and below the gates of hell burst open. Darkness surged upward and out swallowing the man, the woman, the earth and the heavens.
Fuuka awoke softly from the dream. It was a strange dream and a bit scary but more than anything it made her feel sad for some reason. As the dream began to fade the real world took shape and she found herself surrounded by scenery that was bizarre yet strangely familiar. She was in block Arqa of the tower of darkness Tartarus.
Fuuka tried to remember how she ended up here but her head begun to ache, she started to feel dizzy and her vision went blurry.
She had been locked in the gym by Natsuki and her friends. That was the last thing she remembered. How she wound up in her current situation she didn't know. Maybe she was missing some of her memories. She wondered how long it had been since that memory.
Fuuka was still pondering amnesia when he noticed something. There was a Shadow nearby. She didn't quite know how she could tell it was there, or even what a Shadow was, but she knew that a strange monster was nearby.
She should probably feel scared, but as she stared down the corridor into the darkness where the shadow approached from, she felt calm. She knew somehow that she could survive this strange interlude. Rising to her feet and straightening her clothes she began to walk away from the shadow and towards safety.
There was someone on the floor above her.
She had been walking for hours and had so far avoided trouble. She hadn't seen any shadows or run into any dead ends and she had even managed to find some treasure (They were just some stones but she knew they'd come in handy if she was cornered). Guided by sixth sense, providence, or maybe her guardian angel she had travelled safely through the nightmarish maze so far. At first she only felt a subliminal urge leading her away from danger but as she continued to walk she felt the presence of something ahead of her growing in her mind.
Someone was on the floor above and she needed to reach them. The problem was that they were moving in the opposite direction. She had become fully aware of them an hour ago and had been trying to catch up with them and now she was getting desperate.
There was a group of shadows between her and the stairs up. If she waited for them to disperse she would fall further behind but if she could sneak past them she might be able to catch up with the mystery person. Her inner voice had managed to get her this far, and right now it said she had to get to him.
She approached the staircase.
At the corner she paused hugging the wall. She felt three shadows near the stairs. They weren't guarding the stairs but passing undetected would be difficult. Fuuka waited until she felt an opening coming and then slipped around the corner.
The stairs were in the middle of the room. Surrounding the stairs Fuuka saw, for the first time, the monsters that had been stalking these nightmare halls in her mind. Crawling closest to the stairs was a large disembodied hand with a head coming out at the wrist. Gliding lazily around the ceiling was a ghastly black bird carrying a flame lantern. Floating furthest from Fuuka was a tangled mass of black hair wearing a globe shaped crown with a book at its center.
Fuuka darted deftly towards the stairs avoiding the gaze of the shadows. Fuuka could feel their perception, she had picked her opening well. Unfortunately she wasn't a fit person and hours of walking had taken a toll on her. She wasn't fast enough to avoid the quick moving sight of the bird. It caught sight of her and let out a bizarre sound, alerting the other shadows to her presence. Fuuka was already climbing the stairs but now she had three shadows chasing her.
The hand being the closest was first to attack pouncing at Fuuka. She managed to dodge to one side and continue climbing. The bird being the fastest was next ascending past Fuuka as she climbed then diving at her. She allowed herself to fall forward ducking underneath the dive and then crawled to her feet. Next came the attack from the crowned shadow that Fuuka was trying to outrun. The slowest shadow hadn't caught up to her yet but she could sense some kind of long range spell coming. The shadow shot a deadly burst of air out of its book.
Drawing on reserves of energy she didn't know she had before now Fuuka had outrun the brunt of the deadly blast but struggled to keep her balance in its wake. She managed to keep from toppling of the edge of the stairs but still lost her balance, falling against the stairs. She picked herself up only to duck under another dive from the bird. She quickly continued to ascend before another attack could stop her.
It was the end of the line for Fuuka. A huge humanoid shadow with big muscles blocked the way forward and swarms of shadows were approaching from behind. If she could attack the shadows behind as they swarmed into the hall she could destroy them all in two or three blows but the enemy in front wouldn't give her that chance.
The hulking shadow charged at her. She threw the first of her three stones. The megido gem exploded against its bulk staggering it for a second but it continued forward determined to crush her. She threw the second stone and this time the non-elemental flames consumed the shadow completely leaving nothing left.
Fuuka felt the panic rising as the shadows behind were almost upon her. Running away from them she pulled one of the ribbons out of her sleeve and fashioned a makeshift sling. Hoping only to slow them down enough to make her escape she placed her last stone in the sling then, pivoting on one foot launched the stone back towards the encroaching shadows.
It was a desperate move. Fuuka had never used a sling before. Rather than the entrance to the hall she had hoped to hit the stone travelled into an adjacent corner. The resulting explosion caught some of the shadows as they poured into the hall but the rest swarmed along the opposite wall circling around Fuuka cutting off her escape.
It really was the end of the line now. No more means of attack, no chance of escape. Fuuka's heart was overcome by a sudden wave of sadness. How could it end like this? She had come so far only for it to end like this. She never got to tell him what he really meant to her.
Him?... Him who?
As this last curious thought passed through her mind there was a terrible noise that made her head feel like it was exploding and everything went black. She was dead... Only she wasn't.
Fuuka opened her eyes. She was still surrounded by shadows but something had distracted them and there was a gap opened down the middle of their formation. It was then that she felt the presence she had been following standing just outside the ring of shadows. Minato was there, Orpheus was behind him. Minato pointed at the headphones covering his ears. Understanding, Fuuka covered her own ears.
A blast of sound that distorted the air fired from the speaker on Orpheus' chest. Fuuka heard it through her hands but managed to remain conscious this time as another line was carved though the shadows formation.
Orpheus disappeared as Minato dashed towards her dragging a metal pipe. The shadows closed around them both.
"Stay behind me" was all that Minato said. As the restless tide of shadows approached them Fuuka half expected him to draw a gun. Instead he simply took up guard with his pipe in front of her and then Orpheus reappeared behind her with his back to her holding his lyre in mimicry of Minato's pose.
Orpheus swung his lyre in a wide arc behind them taking out a few shadows and driving the rest back. A shadow broke formation in front, attacking, but Minato quickly dispatched it with his pipe.
As the shadows ahead broke formation in attack and those behind in retreat Minato and Orpheus, keeping Fuuka at their backs, rotated around her. Orpheus took another wide swing with his lyre as they changed positions taking out a large swath of unprepared shadows. Minato quickly darted towards shadows knocked down in retreat and finished them off.
They had made a dent in the shadows numbers but many more remained. The counter attack was coming.
First was a wind spell from Orpheus' left side. Orpheus flinched but quickly retaliated with another sonic fist. Ice and fire spells came from either side in front of Minato. He forced Fuuka back as they dodged the ice spell and he took the brunt of the fire spell. Protected by his persona ability even without his persona blocking the attack Minato endured.
As an impending wave of magic built within the mass of shadows Minato dragged her to the ground and helped cover her ears. Orpheus let out a inhuman roar causing the mass of shadows to writhe in distress. Next Orpheus began plucking at the strings of his lyre. Flames appeared dancing among the ranks of the shadows.
As the flames spread another winged persona swooped through the melee slicing shadows with its bladed wings. In its wake, bolts of lightning flashed through air decimating the shadows numbers. Minato and Orpheus made short work of closest shadows and a solitary survivor was crushed underneath a heart shaped lyre.
From behind them approached Junpei, Akihiko, and between them girl carrying a naginata.
"That was pretty impressive Minato Shirogane" the girl said smiling. Minato stared straight at the girl with an unreadable expression. Then his legs gave way and Fuuka eased him to the ground as he fainted.
So, that's the first chapter. How did I do?
So one thing I'd like to mention is Minato's last name. For the moment Shirogane is just a convenient last name to use because it saves me having to come up with an original Japanese name. I haven't decided yet if Naoto Shirogane will make an appearance in this story or not.
Again there are things about this chapter that I'm not sure of but I figured that there's nothing else I can do but post and wait for feedback. Please do review and let me know what you think.
I'd like to thank La Vie Musicale again for Beta reading this for me.
As thanks for reaching the end of my authors notes I'm going to tell you what track Fuuka was listening to during this chapter (or at least what I say she would listen to if she had her mp3 player and wasn't busy running for her life). In this chapter Fuuka was listening to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. I don't own In the Hall of the Mountain King.