Me: Persona 3, time for me to join that race!
Picup: Welcome to the addiction!
Me: ... T.T You influenced me!
Picup: (laughs) Yes I do! Hah!
Me: ...
Disclaimer: (World appeared) The author doesn't own Persona 3 because it belongs to
Atlus.
oOoOoOo
Imperfect Arcana
Chapter One: The Departure
oOoOoOo
Mitsuru sighed as she stepped onto the platform at Iwatodai Station, waiting for the late
night train. Everything happened too fast. First, Shinjirou's death and then, her very own
father's death. Stuck on that twisted metal, all she could do was watch. She clenched her
hand as she remembered the chill of his skin against her fingers. Her façade had broken
for the first time in front of the group.
After a week of missing from the dorm as well, dealing with the funeral arrangements
and the business matters, Yukari confronted her about it as well. She thought her
resolution was enough, but with the unknown future, it was easy to fall astray.
The train rolled into the station and the doors opened. Mitsuru stepped into the waiting
passenger car, walking past families returning home and workers getting on for night
shift. She sat away from the other riders to allow herself to think in peace, to try and get
everything in control again.
"Akihiko..."
"Yes Mitsuru?"
"..." she looked down, "If you... need to talk about Shinjirou's death or if you want
company... well..." "... Do you want to talk about it?" he asked as it became silent. She
blinked, looking up at him and then smiled, "Yeah..."
Akihiko patted the space next to him on the couch and she took the offer, sitting next to
him. "Everyone's fine after the events now," she said, "But... I feel like I haven't come to
proper terms with it..."
"Proper terms?" Akihiko was confused, but she just nodded, continuing, "We accepted
the death, but that's all." "Mitsuru, we've done more than just that," he cut in, "His
death helped us grow. I mean, look at Junpei..."
Mitsuru bit her lip. Something didn't feel right to her. He noticed her expression and
frowned, "I guess I'm not being very helpful..." "N-no... I'm sorry Akihiko..." she
muttered, rising to her feet. She looked back and smiled slightly, "Thanks for the talk..."
She shook her head, "I didn't even know what to do then..." She closed her eyes as
another memory returned, one more recent.
"Mitsuru?"
"Huh? Oh, Akihiko, come in..."
Akihiko walked in. He smiled, "Glad you're feeling better now."
She returned the smile, but then noticed how he was looking at her. "Is there something
you wanted to talk about?" Instantly, the smile vanished from his face and he looked at
the ground, "Well, I was just wondering... are you sure you're over this? I remember
your hesitance with Shinji's death..."
Her auburn eyes snapped open as she felt the train coming to a slow halt. The moonlight
became dark and ominous, faint green light replacing the pale yellow. Looking around,
the other passengers had transformed into coffins, red light surrounding the black boxes.
"Damn..." she muttered. Mitsuru rose to her feet, opening the window above and climbed
out. Her evoker was heavy on her waist as she landed on the tracks. It was going to be a
long track home.
oOoOoOo
The Dark Hour remained as she made it back to Iwatodai Station, stepping onto the
platform. More coffins stood around, but something seemed odd. In that period of time it
took to make it back, the Dark Hour should've ended. She bit her lip nervously, walking
down the Strip Mall now, seeing more coffins around. The eerie green light of the moon
suddenly disappeared out of sight.
Mitsuru stopped in her tracks before the crosswalk, hand moving to her evoker slowly.
She looked back over her shoulder, but then turned around completely, eyes widening as
she looked up in horror at the sight. A large Shadow hovered feet above the ground, its
black form dripping to the street, each one hissing on contact with the bloody cement. Its
neck elongated as its mask faced her, its leer piercing. It pulled back, screeching and
expanded, storming down at her.
She dodged, pulling her evoker out of her holster. "Artemisia!" she called, pulling the
trigger. The persona appeared, making the Shadow hesitate before it continued forward.
Artemisia held her whip steady, casting Bufudyne, but the ice attack barely scratched the
malformed Shadow. Mitsuru jumped again, dodging another strike. "Tch!" she hissed,
Artemisia disappearing. Her rapier was back at the dorm.
She was angered at the only options that remain: run, retreat, flee...
Jumping from another attack, Mitsuru spun on her heel and ran. She could hear the
hissing behind her as the Shadow gave chase. There was definitely something wrong as
she twisted away to avoid another strike, forced into a dead end alley way. Looking up at
the wall, she looked back to see the Shadow looming overhead. It blocked every opening
for an escape, making the green light fade into darkness once more. She was trapped in
the endless black as it removed every point of light. She reached for her evoker again, but
something wrapped around her arm as she pulled it from the holster. It dropped to the
ground with a clatter.
Mitsuru grabbed the black hand that had hold of her arm, trying to pry it off, panic filling
her mind. Her other arm was grabbed, pulled away by another tendril from the Shadow's
body. With a tug, she fell back, both arms in its grasp, pulling her back. A claw covered
her mouth and nose. Her eyes widened, but then glazed over as the Shadow's hold took
effect.
... The pale yellow glow replaced eerie green, coffins transmogrified back into humans
and cars. The Dark Hour passed and the lone evoker that remained abandoned in the alley
disappeared as well. Time began to march towards the day.
oOoOoOo
Me: Ok! Chapter one is done!
Kimishima: Wow... you like writing dark stories don't you?
Me: Uh... yea.
Akihiko: (walks in) Uh...
Me: Eh? How do people keep doing that?
Kimishima and Akihiko: (staring at each other) ...
Me: Haha... they both have silver hair and eyes... hahahha...
REVIEW!