Ugh...
Where was I...?
I put my hand to my forehead and slowly opened my eyes. Adjusting to the new lights was easier than what I thought it would be. If that was the case, I must have been dreaming, or something.
Finally, a break... It'd been a while since I could sit back and enjoy a dream. So I should just relax and feel the moment.
I slowly got up and breathed in my surroundings...
... The smell wasn't very much alive. In fact, it was very interesting...
It felt like I was... far. Far from what? I had no idea.
I was in a corridor, kind of a long one. The walls were white, which immediately brought the words 'halls of justice' to my head, but these vanished just as quickly as I realized the faint fragrance of a green, full of life field, which happened to lay itself before my eyes as soon as I looked to the side through one of the many windows on the wall.
It was beautiful... truly amazing. But still, even though there was a window there, it felt so impossible to go outside for some reason...
I didn't come all the way into a dream just to feel claustrophobic, dammit...
But still, I couldn't help it.
To try and escape that feeling, I began my stroll forward, not knowing where that corridor would lead.
I could literally imagine the wind grazing my skin, as I looked outside, but it just felt impossible for me do as much as stick a hand out the window.
Annoyed by my feeling of imprisonment in a time where I should have been relaxing and forgetting my worries, I reached for one of the windows and tried to pry it o-...
... what?
I ran my hand across the completely flat surface...
The window... was just a painting on the wall...
But...
The wind kept blowing and moving the grass from side to side, while the faint smell still poured in through my nostrils.
What in the...
I shook my head.
It was a dream. What was I freaking out for?
Letting go of the wall, but failing to do so for my annoyance, I resumed my walk. Eventually, I reached a grand set of doors... white ones, twice my height, with golden engravings and transparent, incredibly well crafted door knobs.
... Was that diamond? Or was it crystal?
Regardless, I shook away my marvel and grabbed at it, before I-
I, Naoya Toudou, accept this fate of my own, free will.
... Hm?
What was that?
I looked at the doorknob, then at my hand.
Both were red with my blood, but I wasn't hurt.
...
Regardless, my curiosity pushed me to reach and open the door.
...
... A surge of white light poured through the door and blinded me, making me shield my eyes using my left arm.
Now, I took some time to adjust.
Did I stop dreaming...?
The room was much darker than the corridor. When I could make out most of the room's details...
... Holy...
The first thing I noticed was the desk directly across the room. There was someone completely focused on what they were doing...
And then, when I looked around, I kind of feared what the person was so caught up into...
First of all, there was the severed head of a statue of lady justice hanging from the ceiling.
Then there was a big shield hanging on the wall.
Naoya Toudou...
I heard a voice in the distance. I knew it couldn't have been from the person in front of me...
When I looked to the side, I saw a small guillotine... the size to fit up on a bedside table... in front of it was a plate with... severed... fingers...
I...
I am the Mirror. I welcome you...
The voice rang out again. I couldn't pay as much attention to it as I'd like to, because the person began to rise up from their seat.
Holy...
Into the Halls of the Fallen.
I looked from side to side, the walls were dirty, and...
There was a sword in my hand. A straight sword with a crown adorning its hilt.
Would I have to fight...?
Land of the forgotten, home of the absent.
"Hello, there." The person greeted me. It seemed to be a man... "I've never seen you around before."
I simply raised my sword on a guard and backed up slowly as they finally turned towards me.
Short, messy brown hair, a bloodied hospital mask, long leather coat, a crucifix hanging from his collar...
And a bloody pair of pliers in his hand.
"I am Shinato Kurogawa. You know that breaking and entering is a crime, right...? You shouldn't have broken into my personal space..."
I simply looked to the sides before focusing on him again.
"I'll teach you to behave! Mastro!" He yelled, as if calling something upon...
And call something upon he did...
He was engulfed by a blue mist, and when it subsided, another being appeared behind him...
Donning royal, antique garments, including a white, bloodied scarf, an executioner wearing a steel, faceless mask and wielding a two handed, bloodstained and rusty axe presented itself.
... Was that a persona?
...?
"Bring him to justice!" Shinato commanded.
Mastro glided towards me with great speed, aiming a horizontal cut at me... probably looking to behead me...
Kicked into motion, I ducked and rolled away from the wall, under the mighty swing that would probably kill me right there and then...
Dream as it may have seemed to be, I couldn't risk putting my guard down. I'd been through enough to know that I could very well be in mortal danger...
I concentrated for a moment, searching deep into my soul for my own persona.
"Starion..." I called upon.
... I felt the crown hilt of my sword burn brightly. That warmth took me over as I felt the familiar presence of my persona.
"Garu... la." I commanded, as I felt something missing.
Starion obeyed and threw a gust of wind towards the demented man, who'd just dismissed his persona. The gale connected dead on, but all he did was shake his head annoyed, after a quiet wince of pain.
"No, no, that won't do. Come on! You have yet to serve your time!" He screamed as he rushed towards me with pliers in hand.
I raised my guard once more and prepared to face the charge.
In fact, I was beginning to doubt his speed. I prepared to counter whatever he did with a preemptive slash. He didn't have the reach, anyway...
I swung my sword horizontally, aiming for his chest...
... Where did he go?
Ugh!
I faltered forward as I felt a heavy impact in my ribs...
How fast was this guy!
"Don't give up yet... I haven't even gotten started!" He said as he spartan kicked me in the back and sent me to the ground.
I wasted no time rolling to my feet and raised a guard again.
How... how to counter that freaking speed...
I called Starion upon, once more. This time, he glided inches above the ground with his back turned to mine.
Keeping him up for a long time would be taxing, but that was what I needed...
"You think that'll save you? You were judged guilty before you even started this... don't try to change your fate." Shinato said as he called his persona once more. "Garudyne!"
The executioner raised his axe to the sky, and I could feel the wind rising from beneath me and Apollo. Not even thinking to dodge based on the attack he used, both me and my persona were blown away by the sudden tornado, only Starion had the luck of being able to return to my mind.
I didn't, and ended flying back first into a wall. By a wind attack.
Shinato took the opportunity and rushed alongside his persona towards me. I could just tell there was a smile under that mask...
Mastro was closing in faster than his owner... I didn't think I'd be able to summon my persona in time, so I only did what I had time to do...
Following my instincts, I tried the strongest vertical slash that I could, in hopes to counter the persona's advance...
When I completed the strike, I heard the distinctive sound of broken glass.
Hell yeah, it worked!
But I didn't have much time to rejoice, as I felt the cold steel of Shinato's pliers striking me on the cheek...
I was knocked down again... the strike was heavy as hell. I began to taste blood in my mouth... and a few pieces of something hard drifted inside of my mouth...
Did he my break my teeth in...?
I spat to the side and turned my attention back to...
... where was he?
Holy shit, where was he?!
I looked frantically from side to side, until I looked up.
The bastard was standing on the ceiling, upside down, wielding his persona's axe!
How?!
He jumped down with a laugh and readied a slash that would surely be the end of me. The only thing I could do was try and raise my sword on a block, which I knew almost for certain that wasn't going to work.
...
But it did.
And then the crown on my sword lit up strongly once more, this time covering the blade with wind.
What the Hell was that sword...?
Regardless, I gave one strong push to throw Shinato off, because he was still bent on trying to break through my steel. Or whatever material that thing was made of...
Wasting no time getting up, I did the first attack that came to mind: rushing forward, I tried to put my sword through Shinato's chest as he staggered back and his axe disappeared.
Bad mistake...
The man simply gave a chuckle and dodge to the side with a twirl, before grabbing me on a choke hold from behind.
Kicking and trying to scream, I tried to power my way out of his grip, but it was no use.
And then I heard a laugh. The cold of what I assumed to be his pliers gripped at my ear.
Oh, no...
"Time to teach you some discipline, boy. I'll make sure your ear is right next to me all the time, so you can always hear my voice and remember not to stray..."
With another laugh, he began pulling at my ear... slowly applying force so I could feel every bit of the pain...
The crown lit up strongly, once again.
And then the laughter suddenly stopped.
I knew what Starion had done...
Feeling the pressure on my ear lighten almost immediately, I stepped away and turned around to see Shinato's body on the ground, blood leaking out of his ear...
The pain was still there, though. And it was intense. The guy was really gonna rip my ear off...
... That definitely wasn't a dream.
"What are you doing!?"
I heard Shinato's voice ring throughout the room. But his body still laid static on the floor...
"Can't you see I'm on your side?! You can't do this to me! You can't!"
His disembodied voice still kept going...
I looked up and around...
The severed head was the one speaking with Shinato's voice...
"You cannot! Kill! The law!..."
It said before releasing a horrid scream. The string which suspended it broke apart and it fell to the ground with an audible thud.
"Justice is lost... Justice is gone..."
It finished it's speech, as its neck began to bleed.
... I was starting to feel sick...
Where in the Hell was I?
My head felt lighter... my dizziness only intensified.
Finally, I fainted.
...
...
Hello, and welcome to this new fic slash project. This exploits the concept that me and Nightly 7 came up with: The Fallen Persona users.
Here, hopefully, I'll be able to shed some light on how this concept works, what it's based upon... the works.
And as I do that, I'd like your help. Yes, you.
First, let me explain what a Fallen persona user is: A persona user falls when he gives away his conscience for whatever reason. Be it to be released from a suffering they judged eternal, because they are guilty... They give up on their minds and fall into oblivion.
So, for this adventure, I want your fallen persona users. That's right, you get to create a fallen persona user that will appear in this story. And what's really fun: You can create one from any place, and any period in history, granted that he/she's a fallen.
Tell me what you need for me to have an idea of them: Name, appearance, personality, reason to have fallen, where they lived, when they lived, which persona they had (you can create a persona, as well)... anything you may need.
You can send me your characters through pm, or post in the review box below. Speaking of the review box, you know what else you can do with it? Tell me what you think of this fic.
Anyway, that's it for this chapter. See y'all later.