The air was heavy.
Well it was more accurate to say that the air was heavily pushing towards me in a rapid rate.
Hmm... Well no actually, the truth is, I was the one pushing through the air in a rapid rate.
That is to say, I am currently falling through the air at a rapid rate with no parachute, and so far no way out.
'How the hell did I end up in this situation?!'
Well no use pondering that question now. Better get my bearings before I end up as a splatter on the ground. I quickly took a look at the rapidly expanding surrounding. Though that did not help me calm down in the slightest.
'Just where is this place?!'
The surroundings were, simply put, rural. He saw villages, dense forests, large lakes, mountains so tall you can barely see the peak, and the sun was shining ever so brightly in the clear blue sky.It was the straight opposite of the Urban Tokyo I had found myself in for a good year. Though I had little time to ponder about that, seeing as how the ground was getting closer and closer each passing second.
'Could I maybe try to fall in that lake ? No… it was too far. If only there was a way for me to glide across, even for a short while.'
Ah.. wait, there is still that, isn't there ? Though that idea might've worked, there is no actual way to execute it, seeing as how this place was neither Mementos nor a Palace. Just as I thought about that however…
Blue flames quickly combusted around me. The familiar sensation of power coursed through my body. And my face was then covered by my mask. The flames soon disappeared, revealing my clothes which had turned into my Joker outfit.
And then, the oh so familiar word came out of my mouth.
"PERSONA!"
The sound of breaking glass echoed through the air around me, and then the figure of my persona soon came into reality.
I am thou... Thou art I... From the sea of thy soul, I come...
"ARSENE!"
The red coloured and black winged persona quickly came into view.
"Arsene, give me your wings!"
Though Arsene's wings could not allow me to fully fly, it allowed me to change the direction of my fall, and it even managed to slow down the speed of my fall. The best course of action right now is to break my fall by landing on the lake.
The abundance of mist on top of the lake was the last thing i noticed before my vision turned black.
()-()-()-()
The guard was lying on the cold floor, unmoving. I didn't know if he was dead or just unconscious, though judging by the amount of blood that had surrounded him, it was probably the former. I looked up, only to find a hand, holding cold dark steel that was aimed at my head. It was the same one that was used against the guard that was lying on the ground.
"Case closed... This is how your "Justice" ends."
I barely heard what he said. The sound of ringing was reverberating inside my head. I didn't if it was from watching a man getting shot right infront of my eyes, or from the fear of the same happening to me. The feeling of regret was filling up inside me, pounding against my chest. I kept wondering if there was something else I could've done to prevent this outcome from happening. But ultimately, it was pointless. It was just the desperate thought of one failure of a thief.
"Guess... I lost, huh?"
And then the gun blinded me with it's flash, and it was all over.
()-()-()-()
Or at least it should've been. What happened after the man shot me, shouldn't I already be dead ? How did I end up falling through the air, and in such a strange place no less.
"Agh, my back.." Well my whole body was hurting to be fair. But there's not much I can do about that now. "How did I end up here?" The last thing he remembered was falling into a lake, and yet right now he was sitting on top of grass, the lake was a few meters away. There was no way he managed to somehow float his way into the shore, right?
"Finally, you're up and awake human!"
"Huh?" I looked at the direction of the voice, and what I saw baffled me.
"What's the matter, scared stiff? It's only natural, I mean, you are sitting right in front of the strongest being in Gensokyou after all." The strongest being? Gensokyou? The heck is she talking about? More importantly though, what is she?
The person in front of me was about the height of a small child. She had blue vibrant hair, along with a blue ribbon. Her eyes was also a startling shade of blue, and her face showed a cocky and childish expression. The clothes she was wearing is quite normal, a blue dress on top of a white blouse, along with a red bow on her collar. What isn't normal however, are the wings protruding behind her back. They had ice like qualities to them, no, they were ice, I'm sure. The wings were shining with the reflected light from the sun.
"What are you ?"
"Hmm? Whaddya mean, human?"
"Are you a shadow, a persona?" She didn't feel like one or the other, but I couldn't help but ask.
"The heck are you talking about? Can't you tell what I am?" The way she spoke made it seem like common knowledge.
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."
"Heh , fair enough. I suppose I could tell you, since it seems you're not that smart."
Hey no need to insult me. "My name is Cirno, I am an Ice Fairy!" She then... struck a pose? "And I am the strongest being in Gensokyo!"
"An ice fairy...Okay?" Really, what else can I say? "And what exactly is Gensokyo?" She then gave me a look that basically said 'Are you an idiot?'
"You don't know what Gensokyo is?" I proceeded to shook my head. "Wow, you must be one big idiot then!" Thanks. "It's the name of the place we're in, obviously!"
"What, the name of the lake?"
"No, the name of this world."
"This isn't earth then?"
"Umm, I think so? I don't really know much about that stuff."
"You're the strongest being in this place, yet you don't know much about it?"
"Just because I'm the strongest doesn't mean I'm knowledgeable damnit!" She's getting a little angry now. "You're really rude you know! You haven't even thanked me for saving you!"
"Saving me?" Was she the one who...
"Yeah, I was the one who pulled you out of the water you know!" She crossed her arms before continuing. "Honestly, if you don't know how to swim, then don't jump into the lake! How stupid do you have to be?"
"That's not what happened damnit!" Why would I even jump into the lake with clothes on, speaking of which, it seems that my clothes had returned to to their original form of my Shujin Academy uniform. "Tch, I fell from the sky"
"The sky? So you can fly, human ?"
"If I could, then i wouldn't have fallen."
"Er, I knew that!" If you knew then why did you ask? "A-anyway look! You're probably not from around here right?"
"Well, obviously."
"Then you should go talk to the other humans, and maybe even that annoying shrine maiden."
"There are other humans here?"
"Well duh, there's even a whole village of them!" Oh yeah, I did saw one when I was falling to my near-death.
"Can you tell me the way there, then?"
"Err... I sort of forgot."
"I see..."
"..."
"Welp, guess I'll just walk in a random direction then." I turned around to leave.
"H-hey, wait!"
"What?" She seems to be hesitating before starting to talk.
"There might be someone who can tell you the direction of the village," I suppose there's a 'but' that's going to be said soon.
"But," There it is. "You might be in danger if you do decide to go to their location."
"Well it's better than nothing." And it sure beats walking randomly.
"Alright, if you're sure," She pointed in a certain direction behind me. "There's a mansion in that area. You can't see it right now because of the mist, but it shouldn't be far. The people that live there are a bit questionable, but as long as you don't break inside the place then it should be fine." Huh... that was actually quite helpful.
"Thanks, both for pulling me out of the water and this."
"Heh, no sweat. It's nothing that the strongest couldn't handle!" You're still quite cocky though.
"You're name's Cirno, right?"
"Yup, never caught yours though..."
"It's Ren, Ren Amamiya." And suddenly,
I am thou, thou art I... Thou hast reacquired an old vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the rebirth of the Fool Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power...
Cirno, The Fool : Rank 1