The Thousand Trials of the Accursed Investigation Team
In the depths of Magatsu Inaba, fathoms below the sun's rightful domain, a silhouette of a man cantered purposefully. Adachi Tohru cut through the netherworld's fog undisturbed, through an impromptu maze of fallen pillars and dilapidated walls. With each step taken, the architecture changed and grew ever so slightly towards the bizarre and ghastly; seemingly organic protrusions pulsed through the cracks on the walls; a dark, viscous liquid that glimmered in red and black colorations seeped from the stones; and the air grew thicker and darker, as if even the unnatural light of the area was hesitant to dive too far into the depths of the dungeon.
The cop-cum-murderer heeded little to his surroundings, however, as he held in his mind a very specific purpose; one that would finally get rid of the pesky insects meddling in someone else's business, naively playing detective and ruining most everything he had excruciatingly planned. Yet he had to begrudgingly admit that their foolhardiness knew no bounds. Normal teenagers would, should have left after the first body, or the second at most.
Desperate times call for drastic measures. Just so, his benefactor told him about other…beings that dwelled hidden inside Magatsu Inaba. She seemed reluctant to even mention them and there was even the subtlest hint of fear – or what passed for one for an ungodly monster claiming to be a folklore deity – in her eyes. And thus, he had braced himself and embarked.
He finally reached a towering gate, its peaks extended to the endless dark abyss above it. The front face of the gate itself was made of prison-like bars, perfectly black in color. And beyond them were lurking shadows, immeasurably gigantic and indecipherable in shape. One could only discern their existence by how the shadows slithered and dispersed quietly behind the bars, a kaleidoscopic terror.
Adachi could not help but avert his eyes. Standing in Their presence was enough to made him relive each nightmare he ever had, real, dreamed, or imagined, and countless more that suddenly flashed in his mind – every one more grotesque and macabre than the last.
He dropped to the floor, barely keeping himself straight on his knees.
With a snap, Adachi bit his own tongue as hard as he could. The sharp pain and taste of blood jolted him back to reality. There was no time to waste.
"O great ones," Adachi spoke, his words was ill-defined due to his bleeding tongue, "I come here…to humbly ask for your help."
Yu Narukami woke up. He felt a bit groggy, surely due to spending last night studying Japanese Literature, trying to cram as many names and themes of fabled novels, poems, and the minds behind them. He glanced at his pillow and found what he had come to fear yet expect every morning – strands and small clumps of grey hair, leaving him ever so slightly balder. He made a mental note to order hair care solution items as soon as Tanaka sells them on his infomercial show.
He walked downstairs for breakfast, expecting his cousin's home-cooked meals. Yesterday's grocery was saury, so in all likelihood it would be grilled saury with miso and rice. Just thinking about the supple, tender white flesh of Nanako's specialty was enough to make his stomach grumble in anticipation.
As he reached the dining room, he finally realized that the savory smell of breakfast was nowhere to be found. He stopped dead mid-step when he realized there were nobody in the room. In fact, the dining room and the kitchen were unabashedly clean, with no stray plates or utensils to be seen.
Yu tried to remember if Dojima and Nanako had said anything about leaving the house, but he remembered their dinner last night as being perfectly ordinary. Dojima freely shared the non-gruesome parts of the case he was on, the little psychological tricks to play when facing particularly hard witnesses. Compared to that, Nanako's happy chatters about an upcoming discount for toiletries at Junes were pleasant distraction.
Before panic could take over, his brain came up with several logical explanations. A relative passing would be the likeliest, but Nanako falling sick was the uncomfortably second likeliest explanation. There was only one way to know. After making sure there was no note left on the table or the fridge, Yu went back up to his room.
He was halfway composing the text to Dojima when a call came in. A cheerful generic tone rang as Yosuke's name and number were displayed on the screen.
"Hello?"greeted Yu.
"Yu? Are you there?!" Yosuke's voice was rushed and uneven. He never heard his friend this panicked even in all their adventures and he immediately knew there was a crisis. Dojima and Nanako's disappearance might not be a coincidence after all.
"Yes. What is it? What happened?"
"Oh God. We need to meet up, but…it's just too dangerous."
"What's happening?!" said Yu, exasperated and even more alarmed by the usually buffoonish Yosuke's enigmatic answer. Thankfully, he then explained.
"Listen, there's something really weird. I was on my way to school, and, and everything was so quiet. There was nobody outside. I thought it was just, like, coincidence, you know? But then there was a castle where the school should be. Then some people dressed up in these weird old timey guard costumes – European ones – saw me and chased me. I lost them. I'm hiding from them now."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know, I just scrambled and— oh, wait a second, I think I know this road. Yeah, I'm actually pretty close to your place, I might just make it. I'll go there, okay?"
"Of course, be careful."
"If I don't arrive in half an hour, well…" Yosuke went silent for a couple seconds, longer than Yu could find comfortable, "find help somehow, call the police. Oh, while I'm on my way, try checking up on the others?"
"Got it."
"Okay, see you soon."
Yu's life had turned outside down in a span of a time call. A strange happening like this was par for the course for the TV world, but this was the real world. They should be safe here, free from the shadows and fog and even Personas. This line of thinking and Yosuke's mention of castle and guards brought something to Yu's mind, something that had happened months ago…
He searched his cellphone's contacts for Yukiko's number and dialed it.
The call went through.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
…
There was no answer. Yu cursed to himself and dialed Chie next. The same dial tone played again to no avail. He could feel his hand turning cold and numb when his phone started ringing. He dropped the phone in surprise.
"Senpai, are you okay?" Kanji's voice inquired from the other side, more confused than scared.
"Yes. Kanji, where are you? Are you alright?"
"I'm with Rise. We're-"
"Senpai! Don't worry, we're fine." interjected a peppy female voice, slightly muffled.
"We're a couple blocks away from…school," Kanji hesitated before saying the last word, "It ain't really a school now. D'you know what's happenin'? Why's there a castle?"
"No, I have no idea. Be careful, some people chased Yosuke near the castle. Stay away. Just…go to my place, right now. Try not to-"
"Whoa! What d'ya want?!" Kanji exclaimed to someone. Yu's heart sank even further.
"Run!" Yu's warning fell to deaf ears as Kanji must've dropped his phone for Yu's phone caught a loud, rough bump unmistakably coming from a cellphone hitting asphalt. Yu desperately tried to hear what was happening, but there was only indistinct sound of a scuffle accompanied by grunts and yells. It lasted for what seemed forever before a high-pitched scream was heard, followed by even more distant sounds of scraping, and finally, silence.
"Dammit. Dammit!"
Yu punched the wall in frustration. He wanted nothing more than run outside as fast as he could and find Kanji and Rise and everyone else. But he was waiting for Yosuke. Kanji was the strongest and battle-savvy one in their team.
Whoever the 'guards' were, they weren't to be trifled with.
After making the rest of the calls, he found out he could only reach Naoto, who agreed to join Yosuke and Yu. Yu made her promise that she would take as much time as needed to sneak her way across the town and always be vigilant. He was still uneasy, but he trusted Naoto.
He had just finished putting his school uniform on when there was a knock on the door. He had considered wearing casual clothes but it would take away even more sense of normalcy. This way, if everything turned out to be a misunderstanding, he could go to school even though he would be a lot late. Deep inside he knew it was silly optimism but he pushed that doubt away as he opened the front door.
Yosuke seemed shaken and was drenched in sweat, but otherwise unharmed. He gratefully accepted the glass of water Yu offered him and the two boys sat around the table. While waiting for Yosuke to regain his composure, Yu told him about his calls. Yosuke nearly choked when he heard about Kanji and Rise.
Yosuke finally calmed down enough to speak, "What do you want to do next?"
"I thought of calling the police for help but nobody answered either. "
The pair sat in thoughtful silence for a few moments.
"I think," Yu started, "we need to go to the castle ourselves and find out what's happening."
He had expected for Yosuke to whine like the coward he always was, but to his surprise, the brunette nodded with a defeated look.
"You're right. I have a gut feeling that whatever – or whoever – causes this must be there."
Another moment of silence passed. Both of them looked anywhere else but at each other, examining every inch of the Dojimas' living room.
"It's probably Yukiko, isn't it?" asked Yosuke, finally addressing the elephant in the room.
Yu took a few seconds to answer, entirely unconvincing even himself, "It's…too early to say. Let's just wait for Naoto and we'll discuss our plan."
As it turned out, they only had to wait four minutes for Naoto to arrive, safe, sound, and fortunate enough not to run into anyone on the way. She listened to what Yu and Yosuke had to say and together they pondered their next course of action.
"I see how it is. As shameful it is for me and my family's name to agree with an imbecile", said Naoto, prompting a sharp protest from Yosuke that went unnoticed, "even a broken clock is correct twice a day. We should stick together. And we should try to reason with these 'guards' if we run into the."
"What? But they, uh, captured Kanji and Rise."
"Kanji was distracted, Rise is an airheaded bimbo, and they were both distracted by the phone call," Naoto scoffed at Yosuke's simplistic observation, "if they're anything like what they seemed from your description, we might be able to get by if we exude importance and dignity. And if that doesn't work out, at least we'll be prepared for combat."
Yu's gut reaction didn't like the brash plan. Yet, even after more debate and discussion, they all relented that the plan they had was the best one. By the end of their talks, Yu had already forgotten what exactly the plan was, in no small part due to his early onset aging, and had Naoto tell him again.
They headed out at precisely 11 o'clock, weapons readied in their hands: Yu with his sword, Yosuke with his daggers, and Naoto with her gun. They stood straight, jackets buttoned and hair combed, with an aura of diplomatic vigilance. Their gazes were sharp but polite.
Yu led the trio in the front with Yosuke and Naoto slightly behind him on each side. They surely made their way down, the street leading to school for a couple blocks and Yu finally saw the castle. Not only was the school building gone, but the school complex was entirely replaced by castle ground and fences. He couldn't be entirely sure from a distance, but the shape of the building did resemble what he remembered about Yukiko's dungeon.
Months ago, Yukiko Amagi went missing from her family's inn. They found that she too had been thrown into the TV World, where her insecurities formed a gaudy castle with a twisted version of her as the master. Yu was a hundred percent sure that she had accepted her Shadow as part of her and put the whole scene to an end, even despite his fading and spotty memories, and Yosuke confirmed this when he asked him (Naoto hadn't joined by then but she too had learnt of the story).
But the castle and its towers were as real as the neighborhood's houses.
They were only a couple blocks away from the castle, now close enough for them to scrutiny the particulars of its architecture, when at last somebody noticed them.
"Halt!" declared a woman's voice from Yu's right.
The group turned around to face the source of the voice, keeping their formation. It was another group of three, all female and decked in colorful outfits each composed of a bulky tunic, oversized hat, pants, and matching shoes. Yosuke's description had been apt; they looked like they stepped out of a medieval painting of a long-gone European kingdom. More worrying was the fact that each of them carried a long halberd and was pointing them at Yu.
"No hunk is allowed outside the castle's perimeters without the Princess' direct permission!" said the woman who was standing closest to Yu and the first one who had stopped them. Yu had thought the voice sounded vaguely familiar and he couldn't help but gasped in shock when he finally could see her face. She looked very different in the almost cartoonish garb, but the naturally alluring face was unmistakably Sayoko Uehara, a nurse he knew from his part-time job.
"Miss Uehara?!" yelped Yu instinctively. Yosuke and Naoto were surprised by the unexpected acknowledgement from him.
Sayoko was also taken aback and lowered her halberd slightly, "How did you know my name…?"
"Guard Uehara! Stay focused!" reminded one of the other guards, though she was too surprised, judging from the way she was looking at Sayoko and Yu back and fro.
"Right," said Sayoko calmly, before she took a deep breath and raised her halberd again, now level with Yu's head. He could see his own terrified expression reflected on the gleaming metal head. 'Great, so much for dignity,' he thought.
Sayoko continued, "I don't know how you know my name, but that's beside the point. What are you lot doing here?"
"Uhh…"
"We are not from around here," interjected Naoto as she stepped forward. The guards turned to look at her, keeping their weapons pointed.
"We are emissaries and if at all possible, we would like to have an audience with Her Highness," continued Naoto. She slowly crouched, which made the halberds point at her, but they eased when Naoto let go of her gun on the ground and raised both of her hands.
"Please do forgive us; we are not familiar with the customs around here. Nevertheless, we'd like to pay our respect for your Princess," spoke Naoto smoothly. Yu wanted to applaud so hard. Yosuke actually clapped his hands once only to stop it when everyone glared.
"Well…" the guard who had admonished Sayoko sounded unsure, but she too lowered her halberd, "this is highly unusual. But we do have a protocol for visiting dignitaries."
"First of all, no unauthorized weapons are allowed inside the castle grounds. So please hand over your weapons. We'll return them when you leave," said the other guard, who had been silent until then. Yu and Yosuke looked at each other, nodded, and handed their weapons to Sayoko, who managed to hold them and her halberd with some difficulty. Naoto's gun was likewise picked up by one of the other guards.
After they were patted down, the guards were satisfied enough and visibly relaxed. They asked Yu, Yosuke, and Naoto to walk right next to each other in a line as they assumed their position to the right, left, and behind the trio.
"Let us walk."
And thus, the trio began to walk again, now weaponless.
"I offer you our apology. We are on high alert because of an incident earlier today," spoke Sayoko from behind Yu, in a controlled but not unfriendly tone, "I am confident the Princess will be elated to meet you."
"We don't really get a lot of visitors around. Unless one counts the hostile invaders," said the quiet guard glumly. Yu noted to himself that the guards were positively chatty now that they were thought as guests.
Before long, they arrived at the intricate wrought-iron gate, which Yu estimated as at least six meters in height. The gate's guards looked at the arriving party with suspicion, but they opened it without problem after a few words from one of the guards with Yu and co.
They made their way through the castle ground, which was tastefully decorated by flowering shrubberies in bloom, giving out an almost sickening sweet smell. There were gardeners, women dressed in much simpler and practical outfits, all of whom looked up with interest at the party. A loud cough from one of the guards sent them back tending the flowers. Yu could've sworn he saw one of them painting white roses red.
Another exchange was made to let the castle's gates lowered. The guards straightened again solemnly and said nothing as they entered the castle's walls. Yu and Yosuke knew from one look at the familiar interior that there was no more doubt about the castle and the identity of the Princess. And Naoto caught up when they came across a giant portrait of Yukiko, clad in a magnificent red gown and assorted jewelries, hung in the main hall of the castle, framed in gold. There were at least a dozen more guards in the castle, all women and dressed identically. The lack of men didn't go unnoticed and made Yu felt sick in the stomach by the implications.
Sayoko left them and went through a big door in the middle of the hallway. She came back before a minute had passed.
"The Princess will see you now."
Author's note: This is my first attempt at a more 'serious' story and a long fic. Hopefully I'll have enough DETERMINATION to finish it. Of course, comments and critics are loved, especially to let me know if you're interested in reading more (or if not, why). Thank you so much. 3
Coming next: End of the first trial and what happened to Kanji and Rise this time. Hopefully the start of the second trial too.