.
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.
Because this is nothing like Alice in Wonderland at all.
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The fall makes her feet numb, and her knees buckle out from underneath her. She lands in a crumple on the floor—the platform, dangerously close to the steps that lead down into the darkness of a seemingly endless abyss.
She gasps in pain, or what she believes to be pain, because she's not sure if this is a dream, and she's not sure if any of her senses are truly reacting.
When she stands, her school uniform is gone and is replaced by a dress. It's deep red and ruffly, with a flowery bodice and a white apron. It seems familiar somehow but she can't really quite place why. She takes a step forward and the sound of her heels echoes; when was she wearing heels? They are so uncomfortable to wear, and naturally she is going to descend the steps and with how long they seem to be, her feet will be in pain soon enough. She takes another step and suddenly she is wearing flats.
She pauses in momentary confusion, but presses on.
Another thing she realizes is that her hair is down—where have her hair tie and bobby pins gone, like her uniform and regular shoes? Her hair is adorned with a white bow, perfectly tied like in an anime, so perfect that she's convinced she's in a dream. She wonders if her hair is still caramel brown, if her eyes are still red.
She wonders if her name is still Minako Arisato.
(But it must be, if she still remembers it.)
After another pause, she moves on.
Minako descends the stairs one by one, because while she can climb stairs two at a time descending is not nearly as easy. The next platform comes quickly enough, and she's surrounded by a dense green forest, yellow sunlight pouring in and illuminating the entire scene.
She finds the familiar form of her blue-haired, silver-eyed companion sitting at a small round table, staring at a pocketwatch. For some reason, he's got long rabbit ears protruding from his head, and he's dressed in a deep gray-blue jacket with a brighter blue vest underneath, over a white collared shirt. Around his neck is a black tie; his pants are the same color as the jacket, and he is wearing shiny dress shoes. For some reason, he's also wearing glasses and all Minako can think is that he looks like a butler. She takes a step forward curiously, with a teasing smile on her face.
"What's with the getup, Minato-kun?" She asks.
All the boy does is blink. He rises from the chair and ignores her, taking long strides away from her. She puffs her cheeks out—how rude!—while quickly trotting after, because she can sense that he wants her to follow. When they reach the stairs he turns and smiles and offers her his hand. Her anger dissipates, but she laughs and takes his hand for only a brief moment to humor him before she hops down the stairs ahead of him.
The next platform is still a forest, but the trees are more scarcely populated. Minato is trailing behind her, yawning, and despite his unusual getup (though she can't say hers is normal either; perhaps he also arrived the same way she did?) his personality is the same, and this makes her relieved. But at the same time she can't tell if this is the same Minato-kun who has gone through everything together with her.
(…Everything? What does she mean? Suddenly, she's not sure, she feels like there are gaps in her memory…)
She sees Junpei as they venture further with a great pair of leathery wings sprouting from his back. When he turns she sees the great long horns sprouting from his forehead. Minako thinks that he looks familiar—something else with cool wings, but she can't really remember. Junpei's not in his uniform either; instead, he's got on these long flowing crimson and gold robes—with his new attributes, he looks like some boss from an RPG game.
As she is thinking all this Junpei gives a familiar, huge grin before the wings spread out and he leans back, falling into the abyss of darkness below. He does not resurface.
Minako screams, because for some reason this is wrong, because he shouldn't have fallen—no, he shouldn't have stayed down when he had those leather wings. She is at the edge of the platform too late, and she can see nothing in the black ocean below.
She hears the clicking of shoes, and she sees Minato walking down the stairs to the next platform. Shaken and confused, she follows because there is nothing else she can do, with the sense that something is very very wrong and she's very very worried with Minato's nonchalance.
The next platform is inside a room, like a Victorian princess' room with pastel colors and ruffles and lace and elegant chairs. Yukari is sitting at a table, dressed in a beautiful, pale green Victorian gown complete with the flowery hat and pearl earrings, drinking tea from a beautiful rose teaset.
Minako finds herself wondering why she is wearing green; green is not Yukari's color, although it doesn't look bad on her. But Yukari wears pink; she always wears pink, so why is she wearing green? This isn't right.
Before Minako can say anything to her friend, Yukari turns sharply and hurls her beautiful china teacup at her with a glare in her eyes and blood dripping down her chin as the poison in her cup takes its toll; the wail of a child echoes in the background before a door that appears out of nowhere shuts and the two are left standing facing its mahogany elegance.
She turns to Minato and find him checking his golden pocketwatch with absolute severity.
"Minato-kun, what is going on?" She whispers, even more shaken than before. Junpei, who threw himself into the darkness, intending for her to watch. Yukari, who was never hostile to her, intending to kill her with a simple teacup as she died herself.
"…We're going to be late…" is his only reply, and he trails off, turning to face the stairs that have somehow appeared, even though the door had prevented them from moving across the platform. "…Alice."
His last word stuns her, because he definitely seems to know that her name is not Alice, that it is Minako Arisato, yet for some reason he is referring to her as a character in a story. But then she remembers the dress she is wearing, the ribbon in her hair, and realizes that she is holding the generic resemblance. She runs after him because she needs—wants—answers; she will shake his thin frame until he tells her what the hell is going on.
Next is a brown field, like a battlefield, like a training ground. She wind blows and the dust obscures everything in sight; she covers her face to protect her eyes. When the wind calms, she spots the blue form of her partner and catches up to him—but not before she passes a familiar face dressed in silver armor, holding a lance. She stops and turns.
"Akihiko-senpai?" She questions, and she can clearly see the face but the young man does not respond.
Like with Yukari, this situation is wrong. Akihiko-senpai is a boxer, he dresses in light clothes, not heavy armor, and fights with his fists, not a lance.
"Akihiko-senpai?" She ventures again, louder, nervously. There is still no response.
Akihiko stands still, and after a moment, he suddenly hurls the lance at some blurry, unidentifiable shadow.
(…"Shadow"…?)
The form crumples, and the young man moves forward to pummel it to death with his fists, eyes screaming with red violence.
Minako takes a few steps back. This is not the Akihiko she knows, this is not the same person. She continues to move backwards, and finally she feels gentle hands preventing her from going any further.
"Let's go," murmurs Minato's voice in her ear.
She nearly runs from the scene, because the ground is turning red and she doesn't want to see anymore. But she hears the crunch of armor and can't help herself from turning back—Akihiko-senpai is impaled on that lance, his heart on the tip, and that unidentifiable shadow is laughing.
Minato gives her a sharp jerk and she stumbles out of the scene.
As they take the steps down (Minato holds her hand because her entire body is trembling) she wants to stop, she just wants to sit on this impeccably clean white steps and she doesn't know, sob perhaps, because somehow everything is so wrong. But her blue-haired partner pulls her along, and her feet won't listen to her because they dance down the steps after him.
The next scene is a simple school classroom—like Gekkoukan High, except smaller, perhaps. There are rows of students and she spots Ken in the front row, scribbling studiously in an orange notebook. She grips onto Minato's hand harder, because she's not sure if she should approach him, not after what happened so far.
But Ken looks up and smiles a cute little smile. "Hello, Alice," He says, and Minako stiffens, surprised at both his demeanor and the name he calls her, and decides to play along because she's not sure what else she can handle.
"H-Hello, Ken-kun," She replies haltingly.
"You've come the opposite way," Ken says, still with a pleasant smile. "You're supposed to go around first, and then come towards the center."
"I…I didn't know that," the red-eyed Alice says, hesitating as she speaks. "Well…Yukari—"
"No," the young boy interrupts, anger in his eyes. "You're the only one not doing this right. How stupid can you be? What kind of adult are you?"
He rises from his seat, as the other students do. His demeanor turns back into its usual smile. "Hello, Alice," he repeats, "Now, can you do it right this time?"
His face cracks—all their faces crack, like porcelain dolls, like eggshells. She screams and Minato jerks her back, the bloods is running from their heads—his gloves hands cover her eyes and he pulls her out of this place, out of this horrid classroom.
When she is finally allowed to see, there is an endlessly long table with a white tablecloth, every inch covered in food and sweets. She and Minato walk for a bit—she has a vice grip on his arm, but his expression doesn't change— before two beings come into sight.
Shinjiro-senpai is in a tophat, dressed in a black and red suit. Koromaru is sleeping on the table. And he is not wearing a uniform, not wearing clothes like a normal dog.
Minako gulps, and does not dare to speak. The senior turns to her, and his eyes are unreadable, with no expression. He does not have Shinjiro-senpai's irritation, or kindness, or sorrow.
"If you stay," he begins, and Minako jumps at the sound of his voice, "You'll stay forever."
Koromaru opens his red eyes and stares at her. Both their eyes are red, but in his eyes lacks something; perhaps it is the humanlike intelligence that Koro-chan usually possesses; here, he seems like a normal, loyal dog.
The junior shakes her head. "I've…I've got other things to do," she tells him, although she doesn't know what. Shinjiro-senpai only continues to stare with eyes that are endless voids.
She runs, pulling Minato behind her. When she glances back, both Shinjiro-senpai and Koromaru are staring at her with eyes devoid of their usual emotion.
She shivers.
The stairs seem to be getting shorter, because it only takes about eight steps to arrive in a small, cramped room. There are seats all around, but they are all mechanical, everything glows blue and green.
Fuuka is seated in one of them dressed in a white flightsuit adorned with strange glowing patterns and blue roses in her hair. She looks like some technology goddess, surrounded with all these mechanisms. But what is disturbing are the broken body parts scattered all around.
"Death is near," Fuuka says serenely, suddenly, with a smile on her face. "I sense that Death is near."
The red-eyed Alice and her rabbit companion walk through slowly. As they do, Minako recognizes the parts as Aigis.
"Watch out," Fuuka giggles, her eyes unfocused, "That shadow is dangerous! You can't defeat him. Run!"
"The enemy is still alive. It must be eliminated," Aigis claims softly, even though her system should not be functioning when she is broken like this. "Annihilated."
They repeat their words like a mantra. The room glows green and blue.
Minako runs once more, confused and frightened, holding her hands to her ears to block out their spell.
"We're arriving at the end of our journey," Minato murmurs to her, pressing his lips to her fingers so he would be close enough for her to hear. His voice is soothing, but it doesn't stop her from being frightened.
When they stop, they can only see a flight of stairs going up up up.
Minako sees a head of red, with robes of crimson that are decorated with black and red roses. There is a golden crown atop that head, fingers around a white marble scepter. The figure stands tall and imposing, tall and beautiful.
It's Mitsuru.
It's Mitsuru and she is furious and angry—she points a finger and parts her red lips—"EXECUTE THEM!" she screams, the words magnified throughout the hall, and Minako watches soldiers pour forth from every angle, armed with swords, and the door closes as the blade is millimeters from her throat. She can still feel the fleeting sensation of cold metal.
"And here we are," Minato says, a hand on the door as he looks at her. "Minako."
She inhales sharply, glad to finally hear her own name, perhaps irritated he simply didn't say it before.
"Is this is end?" She questions quietly. Is it over?
She has seen all her friends—her comrades, and they have all died or turned against her or have just been…wrong.
"…Almost."
The final platform is simply white, like the very first one. There is a table with a chair, and there is no mistaking the owner of the bright yellow scarf that occupies it.
"Ryoji-kun," Minako says, and he smiles.
"Hello, Minako," He says. He inclines his head next to her. "Hello, Minato."
She takes notice of the fact that he also calls her by her given name. "…Where is this?"
He continues to smile. "A consciousness of sorts," he says vaguely, "Or perhaps a realm of imagination. Whatever you may think it is."
She looks at herself and realizes she is wearing her school uniform. She looks over, and so is Minato.
Ryoji lifts his hands, and in it is a deck of cards. He lifts the one on top and places it on the table.
I. The Magician
Behind him, Junpei's body rises from the floor, encased in glass. She stares at the leather wings and long horns, which are crushed against its confines, encrusted in dark blood. Junpei, who died in darkness. Junpei who threw himself into the abyss, without knowing what it would do to him—but maybe he did, because Junpei would have been scared or worried, but he had always been reckless—maybe it was a suicide.
Ryoji smiles at her expression. "Kind of scary, wasn't it? Watching him die, of his own accord?"
He puts another card onto the table.
VI. The Lovers
Yukari is a beautiful doll as she rises from the floor. Her corpse is pale and porcelain, and she is all pretty like a doll. But she drank her poisoned tea for who knows how long, and her insides are destroyed; the blood is not gone from her lips or the front of her dress.
"Same with her," Ryoji says. "Of her own accord. And that wailing child in the background, she could've had a wonderful life." He looks at her. "She could have had tea without the knowledge of poison."
Minako is not sure what he is getting at. She can feel Minato's displeased emotions humming in the background.
A third card is placed.
XVII. The Star
Akihiko is the most mangled. He has a hole in his chest, devoid of a heart because he has lost so many things. The armor he wears is utterly crushed; she supposes it is symbolic; Akihiko-senpai tries so hard to be strong, yet in the end he is never strong enough. His fists are bleeding, his forehead is bleeding, his entire body is covered in blood.
"You didn't save him," Ryoji tells her, cruelly. "You let him die."
She trembles as she continues.
XI. Justice
Ken is broken, literally. She watched him crumble before her eyes, his small form drowned in blood and anger. In the case he is whole, but the cracks do not disappear from his body—he is broken. He is so young, but his future awaits, but not now, not ever—no more.
"You let him die," Ryoji repeats.
She feels Minato's hand on her shoulder as the tears run down her cheeks. She watches Ryoji smile as he sees her tears; his hands do not stop placing the cards.
XVII. The Moon
VIII. Strength
Pale, unharmed corpses—it seems like nothing is wrong, except for the fact that they are dead.
"It's your fault."
Minato grips her shoulders, and the force is making her shoulders hurt. But right now nothing can match the pain that is piercing her heart; it is being ripped and crushed, pulverized into dust.
Ryoji stares into her cherry red eyes as he continues to smile.
II. The Priestess
XX. Aeon
Fuuka has nothing wrong with her either. She knows nothing, and she seems happy about it, her hands folded across her chest, a ghost of a smile on her lips. The flowers in her hair only contribute to her peaceful demeanor. Aigis is no longer in parts, but she is dented and crushed and her eyes are dull—she has stopped working, but there is somehow an air of satisfaction, satisfaction that she has protected something dear to her, that her enemy is gone.
"They could be happy." Ryoji says convincingly.
Minako looks at Fuuka's pale corpse, peaceful. She looks at Aigis' body, with no regrets.
Despite the tears that blur her vision, somehow, she doesn't believe it.
III. The Empress
And Mitsuru is a gorgeous painting, in all her regal glory. Every fold and strand of hair is perfect, she is a queen, a perfect queen.
But in her death she looks exhausted and sad, as if she would like to cry.
"Painless. You wouldn't remember anything. You would forget all your sorrows." His whisper is mesmerizing, a persuasive promise.
The glass cases behind him sparkle, as if in agreement. A lid swings down, marked with a cross to close the coffins of her friends.
Ryoji smiles and places two guns on the table.
"Kill me," He says, holding out his hands. He looks to both of them. If she won't, Minato will, and vice versa.
They step forward and take the metal firearms in their hands.
And with the weight she remembers.
Her consciousness floods back to her, and everything that her consciousness inhabits. She stands on one end as Minato stands on the other; in between them lays a range of colors and beings. She raises an arm, Minato raises his to match hers.
In a sense this is a Wonderland, a curious place, but this is nothing like Alice in Wonderland at all, because they have full comprehension of the world here, and they know exactly what they must do, and this is not one of them.
Ryoji is still smiling as he watches them take the guns. But his expression begins to fade when he realizes that they are not pointing it towards him—the cold metal meets the temple of their heads.
"That's not the answer we choose, Ryoji-kun." Minako says.
"We'll see you at the end of our journey." Minato tells him.
Before Ryoji cries out one last protest, they pull the trigger.
Persona!
The glass shatters and the blue light is blinding.
.
.
.
When they wake up, their faces are pressed to the cold ground and their friends are very much alive. Minako and Minato look up to the sky, and they take the invisible stairs upwards.
There will be no glass coffins, save for theirs.
And in the end, it will all be a satisfactory sacrifice.
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Notes: So this idea sort of sprouted from nowhere but then it took flight and decided to fill itself out...and in the end this fic might've been a bit confusing. I tried attaching an Alice in Wonderland character to each of the Persona characters to keep it in theme; although I didn't give Aigis one, cause...I don't know.
Each of the characters were as follows:
Minako: Alice
Minato: White Rabbit
Junpei: Jabberwocky
Yukari: The Duchess
Akihiko: The White Knight
Ken: Humpty Dumpty
Shinjiro: The Mad Hatter
Koromaru: The Dormouse
Fuuka: The live flowers in the garden
Aigis: N/A
Mitsuru: The Red Queen