This is the final draft! Finally got around to updating it! I hope you all enjoy this story. This was my Writer's Craft Magnum Opus, and a big thank you to everyone who helped with the spelling/grammar and characterization!
Persona 3 is owned by Atlus and Touhou is owned by ZUN. I own nothing. I technically don't even own this story as I don't have the physical copy on me.
Across The Borders Chapter 1
Yukari adjusted her pink cardigan before picking her bow up from where she had set it down. She ran to catch up with her other classmates who had gone up to the next floor of Tartarus, the tower they had to scale at night during the Dark Hour; the "Hidden Hour between one day and the next, which only a select few people knew about, while those who weren't were trapped in coffins for the duration, completely unaware of its existence. It was during this time that monsters called "Shadows" went about and feasted on the minds of their victims.
Only those aware of the Dark Hour could fight Shadows, and the only way to fight them was with the power of Persona. A Persona is a physical manifestation of one's psyche by taking the form of a figure from mythology, and gives its master the power to use certain magical skills. Yukari was one of these Persona-users, and she, along with many others, had been recruited into a club specifically meant to hunt Shadows, S.E.E.S., or the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad.
Proof of membership was a red armband all the members wore on missions, and their Evokers. They were shaped like guns, but they didn't fire bullets. The idea behind them was that by firing an Evoker at one's head, it would activate the survival instinct, summoning the Persona to protect its master, lending its powers to the summoner.
To fight these Shadows, they would make frequent forays into a tower that only appeared during the Dark Hour, Tartarus. Tartarus was a colossal tower that had a mazelike structure and every night almost every floor had a different layout every night, meaning that there were an infinite number of layouts a floor could take. Sometimes, people even got trapped inside.
Currently, Yukari was on a rescue mission rescuing one of the unlucky people trapped within. With her was the team leader, Minato, as well as Aigis and Koromaru. Minato had grey eyes, which were mostly covered by his dark blue hair. He was one of those people that just captured every girl's heart, and Yukari would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little attracted to him.
Aigis was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. Well, girl wouldn't be the right term to describe her as she was a female robot, or, even more specifically, a Seventh generation Anti-Shadow Weapon. She was built as a humanoid and functioned as close to a human as possible so her AI would recognize her as a human and manifest a Persona for her. Yukari wasn't so clear on the details, but it worked.
Koromaru was another anomaly. He was a white dog with red eyes. That was unique on its own, but there was also the fact that he was the only non-humanoid they knew of who could summon a Persona. Seeing as he lacked hands, he had a special collar that allowed him to summon his Persona.
Tonight they were scaling Tartarus because they were tracking down a missing person. Sometimes, people ended up getting caught in Tartarus when it formed during the Dark Hour, and once you were in, it was an ever-shifting maze inside. They had an idea of where the missing person was; it was just a matter of finding them. Once they reached the floor they needed to, Minato stopped them. "We need to split up to cover more ground. If you find the Access Point, wait there. If you find the missing person, take them right to the Access Point. Are we clear?"
Everyone nodded, and they all split off into different directions. Yukari ran to the left, Aigis and Koromaru went to the right, and Minato went forward. There was no telling which pathway would lead where, so they needed to scour every inch of this floor. The searching was made easier since the Shadows were weak and ran away from them when they got close.
Yukari kept looking; making sure to mark off dead-ends by leaving her arrows on the ground to mark off those pathways. After a few minutes, Aigis spoke to them over their transceivers. "I have found the Access Point."
Soon, Yukari heard a noise. It was quiet, but nearby. She began to slowly make her way toward the noise, her hand on her Evoker. After all, when you're in a tower crawling with Shadows, you can't be too careful. As she peeked around the corner, she saw a young girl with her knees pulled up to her chest, crying into her knees. Yukari walked over to her and crouched down near her. "Hey, look at me please." Yukari said to her. She took extra care not to touch her, seeing as she was still scared. The girl did look at Yukari, sniffling and trying to wipe her tears. "Are you hurt at all?" She sniffled and shook her head.
"I'm going to get you out of here and get you home, alright? Just trust me." She told the girl. She nodded and hopped onto Yukari's back. She followed the same path she had taken before, but with the arrows she had left marking off dead ends, the trip was a lot faster. She spoke into her end of the transceiver, "I've got the missing person. Everyone, head for the Access Point." She said. Minato replied with an "Understood," and Koromaru barked his answer. Aigis fed them the route she took and soon, Yukari arrived at the Access Point. She handed the girl to Aigis.
"Who's gone through already?"
The robotic girl answered in her normal monotone. "Koromaru has, but not Minato."
Yukari handed her the girl "Go on. I'll wait for Minato."
Aigis raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
Yukari fervently nodded. "Go ahead. I'm waiting!" She shoved Aigis through the portal. A few seconds after she did, she felt a chill run up her spine as she heard chains dragging along the ground. In her ear, she heard Minato whisper, "It's the Reaper."
The Reaper was truly a horrible sight to behold. It wore a trench coat with chains all over its body which dragged on the floor. It stood at three meters tall and carried two long-barreled revolvers. Its face was covered entirely in bandages except for one glowing yellow eye. That had tried to fight it once before, but had been wiped out in two attacks, leaving their teammates to come collect their unconscious bodies once it had left. If they spent too much time on a floor in Tartarus, it showed up to try and go after them.
Yukari wasn't going to just leave Minato alone with that monster, but as she heard the chains getting closer, she realized that she was cornered if a battle started. She nocked an arrow and drew back her bowstring, waiting for the Reaper as the sound of chains drew closer.
As it turned the corner, it fired one of its pistols, causing a large fireball to form where Yukari was standing, but she was able to jump aside and fire her arrow into the Reaper's glowing eye, blinding the beast for now. Yukari wasn't so naïve as to believe she had it anywhere near beaten.
The Reaper began firing its pistols wildly in rage, not focusing on aiming any of its attacks. Yukari was forced to try and dodge balls of fire, spikes of ice, tornadoes of wind and bolts of electricity. In the small space she had, she would get hit. Knowing this, she made the lightning strikes a priority to dodge while the green tornadoes of wind energy were relatively low priority, since her Persona resisted wind and was weak to Electricity. After about thirty seconds of this, her cardigan was in tatters and charred in places. Not to mention she was getting exhausted. She saw the Reaper fire its pistol once more and it was wrapped in a pale blue light.
She had seen this skill before: Mind Charge. The Reaper was out to kill her this time. Yukari looked behind her to the Access Point. She didn't want to abandon Minato, but she was afraid she'd have to. As she prepared to run, she heard the familiar sound of glass shattering. That could only mean one thing. A Persona was summoned.
"Cybele! Myriad Arrows!"
Arrows rained down onto the Reaper as a blue-haired boy ducked past the injured monster, a purple-skinned woman with two swords floating above him. He dispelled his Persona and ran to Yukari. Now that she knew he was alright, they headed to the Access Point together.
The Reaper had other ideas, and fired its pistol one last time, releasing a cluster of charged up lightning bolts. They rained down around the Access Point, and one was about to drop right on Yukari and Minato. As fast as they were, they couldn't outrun electricity, and so Yukari's mind began working a mile a minute.
She could save herself, or save Minato. He was so much better than her. He always had a group of people asking him to hang out at lunch, he always scored at the top of their class on tests, and he was also the team leader. Yukari also realized that she could have left earlier. If she protected him then, what was different now?
She pushed him forward, the lightning bolt coursing through her body, making her scream in pain. The last thing she saw was Minato's face before everything went dark.
