A Goddess's Arena

Chapter 2
Of Newcomers and Oldcomers

(Uploaded on November 6, 2018)

Summary: Today on my Arena campaign, I encountered these three things: a bunch of cruddy invisible walls (where are they all coming from!?), a mysterious teal-haired 'School Council President'—and a face that's all too familiar to me.

…well, it didn't take long for my little reunion party to begin, huh?

[Marie]

False Yasogami High – Hallway

"Ouch! Hurk! H-Hey, where did that come from!?"

Okay, it's been ten minutes since I left Kanji, and I have to say this: whoever put up all these invisible walls in this school is a giant. Freaking. Dick.

Seriously—Why. Are. There. So. Many. Of. Them!? This isn't a video game with terrible programming or anything, this is reality! If you're going to put so many, make them visible or something! (Wait, that would defeat the purpose of them—ah, whatever!) Placing them like this haphazardly is just plain annoying! They supposed to be a guide, or something? If so, they're doing a pretty terrible job at that.

And not even my status as Izanami's avatar counted for anything. I tried breaking some of the walls myself – but it didn't do a thing, unfortunately. I didn't get the terrible recoil Kanji got, but it still kind of stung.

"I think I'd rather be back in Tartarus," I grumbled, trying not to look like I was stumbling blindly through this invisible calamity (though I'm not sure how well I was succeeding on that front). "At least I could tell where the hell I could go just on sight." There's not going to be any treasure at the end, either, I can tell. Why couldn't they have just blocked off individual doors, again? That and this combined is just… overkill! ('Betcha Liz doesn't have to deal with this. Heavens knows how lucky she can get.)

I was still intensely grumbling to myself over how nonsensical this all was when a girl's voice entered my hearing. "Hey, you there!" she shouted, her dialect sounding distinctly… Kansai-like. "You don't look like a student here. What're you doin' in this school?"

I flipped around to see a pale, teenage girl with silver-blue hair and a ponytail that was fairly long in length. She was dressed in the Yasogami High uniform I had seen on the Investigation Team – this was the summer version, I believe. My gaze was noticeably drawn to her eyes, which were a really striking red (and were also glaring at me). Not even Minako or Mitsuru had eyes that crimson, I swear.

Now that I think about it, her appearance kind of reminds me a little of…

…Aigis?

That's… a bit odd, to say the least.

Is she supposed to be the new ASW, or is something else going on?

She asked me a question, though—I should probably respond. "I heard there was a fighting tournament going on," I shrugged. "Wanted to see what it was about." And how fun it'd be, I would have stated, if I wasn't certain she definitely wouldn't like that statement.

And just to be safe, I also asked, "You in it, too?" I mean, General Teddie did note that there were a heck of a lotta 'intruders' going around, so she might be one of them.

"Of course not!" she immediately shot my idea down. Well, I tried. "This whole tournament thing is makin' a mess a'everything! As the Student Council President, I ain't gonna let this slide!"

'Student Council President'? Hmmm… She does look like the authority type of person, what with that hefty glare and all. (I'd know; Mitsuru was a hell of a person to cross.) But unless she's a Persona-user, she's not gonna be able to do much. And judging by the fact that she's reacting to this like she's a normal person, she's not even that.

"Seriously, who're you, anyway?" Miss President asked while looking back at me. "I've never seen you around here before. You a new student?"

Oh, that's right. Barely anybody knows me yet. "I'm Mariko Kusumi," I introduced myself. "But you can just call me Marie. I'm definitely not a student here, I can tell you that." See my outfit for that. "I'm a budding poet—and tournament participant, as it turns out. Ain't it a dream?" (What? Rhyming's fun. You should give it a shot.)

"So, you're in this whole thing too?" she asked. "Then you can tell me where the host a'this tourney is so I can put the kibosh on it! I mean, just look at what happened to the school!" She directed my attention toward all the crap plastered all over the walls. General Teddie posters, P-1 police tape, crazy camera work… Yeah, in a normal school, this would be pretty wacky. (But hey, it could be worse.) "It's gonna take forever to clean up everything!"

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but this thing might be a bit too big for you to tackle," I informed her. "I don't even know where General Teddie—the host, mind you—is, so you're on your own on that front. That's not even mentioning all the invisible walls…"

"Invisible walls?" Miss President looked confused. "What're you talkin' about?"

For demonstration purposes, I knocked a fist on an invisible wall nearby, and watched as her eyes widened at it bouncing off. "Wha!?" she yelped. "But… I never came across anything like that!"

"You haven't?" That's a surprise! "But they're literally everywhere. You can't take five steps without running smack first into one!" I threw my arms in the air in frustration. My hand accidentally grazed the wall a little too hard, and I flinched at the jolt that went down it. "Agh!" I clutched my hand. "I forgot they stung a little, too…"

Miss President personally walked up to where I had knocked my fist against the barrier. She hummed for a bit, before somehow managing to stretch her arm right through it. A little shocked, I touched the wall with my palm to confirm that yes, there was an invisible wall there. "…now that's just cheating," I complained. Can I have your magic air-wall-negating powers, too? I've been bumbling about for what feels like ages.

"I don't feel any wall here, so somethin' strange must be goin' on," Miss President deduced. (Gee, you think?) "You think this is related to the tournament?"

"If it isn't, I'll eat my hat," I replied. And when I find the guy who set up all these walls, I'm gonna give 'em a good wallop. No, a good Megidolaon. That'll show 'em not to be so stingy with directions. "Now, I'm gonna go find wherever the heck I gotta go next. I can't be too sure, but… I think it's toward the Music Room. That's what my gut's telling me, anyway."

"In that case, I'd better join you," Miss President said, determinedly. "I dunno why all a'this is happening, but I ain't gonna let it continue! You're the first friendly face I've seen all day, so I'm comin' along whether you like it or not!"

I'd try to tell her to go hide somewhere, if this place wasn't so hostile and unknown. As it stands, it's probably safest close to me. (Or any other Persona-user, but I haven't seen anyone else yet aside from Kanji.) 'Sides, should worst come to worst, I've got plenty of power behind my hands. (And handbag.)

"Well, alright," I reluctantly agreed. "Just… stay close. I don't want you getting hurt outta nowhere." With that, the two of us marched on toward the Music Room… Okay, it'd be more accurate to see that she marched on while I stumbled my way across. "Yowch! Oof! Ugh, these things are really beginning to get on my nerves. Stupid jerky hosts with better fashion senses than me…"

"Uhh, hey… You okay there, Marie?" Miss President looked back, trying to keep pace. "You look kind of angry."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I tried to reassure her – her expression was telling me I wasn't doing a very good job at that. "Let's—let's just go."

I still hate all these invisible walls.

As we walked along this railroaded trail (and I finally got a reprieve from all those dumb walls), Miss President decided to make conversation. "You know… I dunno why, but… you kinda remind me a'this weird lady I met a while back."

"Really?" I recalled what Liz had told me a few hours back. Hadn't she said she'd seen the new ASW here? Yet, Miss President here looks totally human—or wait. Couldn't that be an illusion, just like Kanji's words? My gut's telling me 'probably yes' – and it's never let me down before. "Tell me about it."

"She was kinda weird," she began, "wearin' all this blue and lookin' totally out of place." Yeah, that definitely sounds like Liz. "She also talked about if 'I was sure this was how things should be' and something 'impacting my life in the near future.' I didn't really get a lot of it." She put a hand to her forehead as she spoke. If she has a headache, I can't blame her – deciphering vague warnings from Velvet Room attendants can be like that, sometimes. "My memory gets kinda foggy from there. I think something happened, but I don't really remember it all too well. But I do remember… I have a reason to live. Something to hold on to. I wanna try and keep that."

"A reason to live, huh?" I let my eyes glaze out a nearby window. "…I can sympathize." I'd know all about that, after all. I remember believing I used to lack one, beyond keeping my twin sister safe (God, I wonder where she is now). Over the year I spent in Gekkoukan, I grew close to the many friends I made – and when the end of the world came within sight, they became my reason to continue onwards, no matter what tried to confront me.

I wonder what sort of trials Miss President went through, to so boldly state that she's got something she wants to hang on to.

(And I wonder how related it is to this case right now.)

"I dunno how the lady got here, or how she left," she recalled, "but… I'd like a'thank her for remindin' me a'that, at least. You really remind me a'her, so I was thinkin' you might know her?"

Bit of a leap in logic there, but I suppose there's a little bit of sense in it. Liz really has rubbed on me, huh? "You're right on the money with that one," I replied. I let a smile come onto my face. "She's my girlfriend. The most important person in my life, actually." It really is worth restating how much Liz means to me. It's kind of clichéd to say, but—while my universe encompasses many shining stars, she shines the brightest of all, listed Arcana or not. "There's no one else who I'd rather have by my side."

"W-Wow, really?" Miss President looked startled for a moment, even briefly slowing down in her movements. "I didn't know she meant that much to you." More quietly, I overheard her mumble "I wish I had someone like that…"—which immediately began boosting my sympathy meters—before she jumped back with "Say, you know where she is? I mean, if you're her girlfriend and all…"

"Other than being somewhere in this school? Not really." For all I knew, she could've warped in into an entirely different place than mine. Actually… that's probably what happened. Plot convenience and all that. "We'll come across her eventually—Liz can be like that, sometimes." It's one of the reasons I like her: her easy-going, do-whatever nature. And her nonchalance in walking down up elevators. "You'll be able to thank her then, how 'bout it?"

"That'd be nice, yeah," Miss President smiled.

Then, rather abruptly, she stopped and directed my attention back forward. "Hey, look! We're at the Music Room now."

I looked at the door we were now in front of. Peeking through the windows, I can see quite a few instruments lying about. "Yep," I stated, "that's definitely a music room." If this isn't it, then I don't know what is. "'Bout time."

"They better not a'done anythin' messy in there!" Miss President growled. "This whole thing is already a disgrace to the school as it is!"

It's a good thing this isn't the real school then. "Don't worry," I told her. "It shouldn't be that bad in there… hopefully." I don't think that really assuaged her worries, but there's not a whole lot I can do on that front. Right—I've wasted enough time as it is. "Now, let's get things started!"

Without hesitating, I pushed open the doors and walked into my next bout.

It's time for another show to begin!

False Yasogami High – Music Room

The music room was in a similar state as the rest of the school – which is to say, kind of messed up. P-1 posters everywhere, a bunch of papers taped to the blackboards in the shape of 'P-1', volleys of shoes circling around the piano for some reason – and for some reason, the eyes on the portraits above were glowing! What room needs this kind of ambience?

For that matter, why would such a mess be necessary? Wouldn't it get in the way of having a good battle arena, if you have to dodge the stuff around the room? It all seems kind of counterproductive.

"Oh c'mon, here too!?" Miss President exclaimed, exasperated. "This is getting ridiculous! What kinda person would go through all this effort, anyway!?"

Static alerted me to the turning on of the above monitor. "You're about to meet said person," I drawled, my eyes drawn up to the screen. Right, let's see what General Teddie has to say now, shall we?

In a few seconds, the screen had fully brightened up, and Not-Teddie's maliciously smiling visage had re-entered the scene. "Welcome back, everyone, to the P-1 Grand Prix!" he announced, much to the excitement of… whatever crowd was supposed to be watching this. (No seriously, where are they coming from?) "Thanks for being so patient! I know, I know! The wait's been unbearable! But I'm glad to announce it's time for the next round to begin!"

"Wha—!? That's the ringleader behind this whole mess!?" Miss President exclaimed in shock. "He looks like a teddy bear! T-That can't be right…!"

"Believe me, it is," I told her. "And it's only gonna get weirder from here." I wonder how she's gonna react to Personas appearing out of thin air? Or my handbag, for that matter? Hmm, maybe I should give her a preemptive taste first; I still have plenty of those Igor-in-the-boxes in there…

"Oh, my! Emmy-chan!" General Teddie dramatically exclaimed. "You didn't tell me you had someone else waiting for you! How could you do this to me!?" And now he was acting all overdramatic again, just like the real Teddie would. "I'm so wounded! I thought we had something bear-y special!"

"E-Ehh!?" I heard Miss President yelp beside me. Her face was blushing madly, now – she definitely wasn't used to Teddie's wile ways. "H-Hey, what are you i-insinuatin'!? D-Doing somethin' like that is—it's against regulations here!"

I snorted, despite myself. "Buddy," I said to Not-Teddie, "you know we never had 'something special.' Our priorities align about as well as deadlines do. Besides, I'm taken thank you very much, and it's going to stay that way."

Surprisingly enough, he just ignored me and kept on speaking. "And you chose such an unattractive little tramp to 'do it' with, too!" he suddenly spat, catching me plenty off-guard. His eyes were narrowed and glaring right at Miss President, with a hatred that should definitely not be anywhere near his face. She didn't take this too well.

"T-Tramp!? How—How dare you!" she spoke up. "I'm the Student Council President; where do you get off talkin' to people like that!? I'm ordering you to take all a'this down! It's causin' too much of a ruckus 'round here!" Her words were clear and concise, just like how a real Student Council President would act. She's got courage, I'll give her that – but General Teddie wasn't having any of it.

"Hmph! So what?" he dismissed. "Yappy little mutts like you should be muzzled and thrown into the corner! Can't you see the big boys are talking here? Go on—sit, puppy, sit!" Miss President became even redder than she already was, her face scrunched up in humiliation. (I'd be the same way, if I was just brushed off like that.) What's going on here? What does this Teddie imposter have against her? It can't be for her appearance; she's decently attractive enough, I'll admit that. (I mean, that teal-silver hair and those red eyes really suit her! I'm—I'm serious!) If this guy wants to impersonate the real Teddie, they should know about his… attraction toward girls. It's his biggest character trait.

That means this must be personal. Personal in a way I can't describe yet.

But that's not what's important right now.

"Hey, don't say that to her!" I jumped in, ready to defend my new friend. "She hasn't done anything to you. Leave her out of this!"

"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew how much of a shameless liar she is!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Shameless… liar?" I repeated, a questioning tone on my lips. That was new. "What do you mean by that?"

I haven't known Miss President for very long, but I can tell 'shamelessly lying' isn't in her character. And she clearly agreed, chiming in, "Yeah—what are you talkin' about!? I—I haven't lied about anything!"

But whatever history they had, General Teddie wasn't about to go elaborate. "You'll learn in time," he dismissed. I mentally sighed. So it's not gonna be that easy. "But for now, it's time for you to fight your next opponent! Come—on—in!"

Plumes of smoke once more bellowed out from the floor, and I could see a feminine silhouette making its way through all of it. Well, I sardonically thought, that automatically knocks out all the males from the candidate list. Before too long, all the fog dissipated to reveal the figure was actually—

…Mit-Mitsuru!?

Y-Yep, that's Mitsuru Kirijo alright. That flowing red hair and steely red-eyed gaze is one I remember all too well. (Brrrrr!) She's really grown since I've last seen her, too—I swear her bust is bigger than it was two years ago (and n-no, I'm not jealous or anything)—and… what is up with her outfit? She's got a white furcoat on – which looks really badass – but then there's the black catsuit she's got on underneath. It's incredibly weird and amazing and—I'm sorry, I'm just rambling now, aren't I?

I can't help it – this is the first time I've seen any of my old friends (aside from Liz) in two years; lemme have this moment for myself!

"W-Wait, where did she—!?" Miss President stammered. "She wasn't there just a moment ago! What is up with all a'this!?"

Believe me, I'd love to know, but… staring at Mitsuru's rather form-fitting catsuit right now, I can't bring to care all too much. I think my cheeks are blushing just from the mere sight of it, seriously. I literally can't take my eyes off of it. It's that mesmerizing.

"What the…?" Mitsuru was muttering. "There are two people here this time? And both of whom were not displayed on that video… This is a rather unexpected development." Looks like she's the same as ever, thankfully. (For now.) "And that girl there…" Her eyes trailed over to Miss President, something calculating in them as she continued to stare. But whatever it was, I couldn't tell.

Hold on… Liz said there was a new Anti-Shadow Weapon involved in this tournament. ASWs are property of the Kirijo Group. Are my old teammates here because of the new ASW around?

Jeez, ASWs just… have a bad habit of randomly activating on their own, huh? And wandering off, too. Like, I can't imagine SEES would be here otherwise.

"Hey…" Mitsuru's voice brought me out of my thoughts. Her eyes were on me now, an eyebrow visibly raised—and it was then that I realized that I was still staring. And she had noticed. "Is there a reason you're staring at me like that?"

Oh. Whoops. "Uhh—Nooooooo…" I tried to deny, desperately ignoring the fact that my face felt like it was furiously on fire. "I-I mean, it's n-not like I'm staring at your o-outfit, or anything—oop!" I covered my mouth in horror. I didn't mean to say that! (Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Labrys glancing at me in what looked like surprise. She, uhh—wouldn't mind ignoring that, right?) "You—You heard nothing!" I exclaimed, my arms flailing. "T-Totally nothing!"

(Under my breath, I grumbled, "S-Stupid sexy jerks…!" It didn't help.

Welp, there goes my goal of not embarrassing myself.

Great.)

Mitsuru sighed, her palm rising up to meet her forehead. "Perhaps wearing this was a mistake after all…" she mused. "Aigis did have a point about us not being conspicuous. And then there's Akihiko…" Well, now I know who else is in here… though now I'm frightened to see what their new outfits look like. Aigis shouldn't have any problems, what with her being a robot and all – but… what does she mean when she says 'and then there's Akihiko?'

…you know what, something tells me I should put that out of my mind for now.

"That aside…" She turned back to Miss President. "I didn't expect to see you here like this, Labrys. Ending up here in this ridiculous tournament…"

"W-Wha?" Miss President's eyes widened at Mitsuru's words. "What're you talkin' about!? W-Why're you callin' me that!? That ain't my name…!"

"It… isn't?" I said in confusion. Hey, now that I think about it… I don't think I actually asked what her name was – I just started calling her 'Miss President' right off the bat. I guess that serves me right for not bothering to ask…

Wait, hold up—why would she not know what her name is? Is this related to her 'memory being foggy'? She seems to be shaking pretty hard, too – what is it about hearing her name (if it is hers', anyway) has gotten her so spooked? There's gotta be a story behind that.

"Hey, hey, hey, no yapping!" General Teddie exclaimed, his irritated voice piping up from the TV monitor. "You two are supposed to fight, not argue over this brainless deceiver!" Miss President huffed again at his words. Yeah, can't blame her – that's not exactly the most complimentary name I've ever heard. "I'm itchin' for a catfight to happen, so get on it already!"

I narrowed my eyes. "Jeez, you don't have to be so pushy," I commented, lazily sticking a finger out. "The pre-battle business is just as important as the battle itself, y'know."

"I don't care!" How polite of him. "Well… if you two lovely ladies aren't going to fight it out, I'll just have to make you then!"

I then raised an eyebrow. Make us fight… how? 'Course, I'd get my answer a few seconds afterward.

"I knew you seemed familiar," Mitsuru's voice sharply cut in, accompanied by the return of that eerie buzzing. (That's gonna be a regular thing, isn't it?) I turned to the Kirijo head and saw her face contorted in some sort of contempt. "Keeping yourself away from everyone, even now… You haven't changed a bit, Arisato."

I flinched, even though I knew it was an illusion. How much does this illusion-crafter know about me? It's honestly disturbing – especially since it's coming out of a friend's mouth. I kept myself silent, though I could feel my lips coming to make a rather uneasy frown. I don't know if Miss President can hear what I'm hearing – or if she can hear whatever Mitsuru's hearing, for that matter – and I don't exactly want to look insane right now.

But the illusionary words still really hurt. "Can't speak?" she taunted. "How disappointing. You truly must not care about your 'friends' at all. How long has it been since you were brought back? Two months? Three months? All that time and you haven't bothered to speak with any of us. Despicable. You should have stayed as the Great Seal then, if that's the way you're going to be."

My face was probably visibly showing something close to an uncomfortable grimace at this point. "Just had to hit me where it hurts the most, huh…?" I muttered quietly, clenching my handbag a little more tightly than usual. Whoever's doing this is definitely going to pay later. (Two Megidolaons, then.)

Miss President was looking between the two of us, in clear confusion. "H-Hey, w-what's going on?" she asked. "You two are just talking to yourselves now…"

Well, that confirms that. "Tell you later," I said. "Right now, we're not gonna be getting anywhere without a fight, it seems." This is gonna be a little different – I've never really faced off against any of my teammates before (unless that one incredibly one-sided 'fight' against Aigis counts) – but that doesn't mean it's not gonna be at least a little exciting.

"W-Wha!? A-Are you really!?" She sounds pretty distressed by my declaration.

"Resorting to violence already?" Mitsuru jeered. "Our friendship must truly mean so little to you. Making you co-leader, it seems, was a huge mistake." It's not her, it's not actually her, I told myself in an effort to keep myself focused. Don't listen to a single word of it! "I imagine your sister would be just as disappointed, wherever she is."

U-Ugh! …make that three Megidolaons. "Enough talk," I finally said. I turned again to Miss President, noting that her face was still scrunched up in befuddlement. I feel sorry for her – she must really have no idea what the heck is going on. I remember when I felt like that, in terms of Personas and Shadows and all. Hopefully, this crash course won't be too surprising for her. "Hey, Miss Prez? Whatever you see here… Don't be too surprised about what happens, 'kay?"

"O-Okay," she tentatively agreed, "b-but… I don't see why I'd be very surprised…?"

"Oh trust me," I told her, turning back to Mitsuru, who was definitely in a battle stance now, "this is gonna be something magical."

"Still putting on a façade, Arisato? Your empty words do nothing to absolve yourself of blame. But if you want to try and contest that… then it is only right that I shoot your aspirations down." As the static died down, a familiar blue aura started emanating around her. "I summon thee, Artemisia!" And with that also familiar battle cry, I saw an elegant woman emerge from behind her, an armor-like dress adorned on her body. Good to see her Persona hasn't changed a bit.

Amidst Miss President's surprised yelps, I went and summoned my own Persona—you know, crushing tarot cards is pretty relaxing, actually—and prepared for battle myself. "Let's go, Kaguya!" I declared, clutching my handbag tightly.

Time for a hell of a reunion!

("W-What the…!? Okay, I—I see what you mean now! I'll—I'll just… sit here, then! …what is going on!?")

Mariko Kusumi vs. Mitsuru Kirijo
The Unsealed Savior of Versatile Verses / The Imperious Queen of Executions

P-1 Grand Prix – Second Match
FIGHT!

Mitsuru was always one for rapiers, just like how Yukari fought with bows and arrows, and how my sister enjoyed naginatas the most. That expertise is showing itself plenty now, as she started out the fight by whipping it out and immediately thrusting it forward. I was made a quick sidestep, narrowly avoiding the strike as it went between me and my bag—Holy crap, she's definitely gotten better at this!

"Ooh, it looks like Kirijo-san here isn't taking any chances today!" Rise commented over the monitor. "Two skillful, unknown women, duking it out for a spot at the top – yep, this battle is definitely going to be one for the history books, folks!" I hopped back as she followed up with an upward strike, summoning my Persona and letting three light daggers hit the space in front of me.

Mitsuru acted quickly and deflected them away. Should've seen that coming! Well, if just three daggers won't work, I'll just have to try a lot more of 'em! I jumped onto the piano – if it's gonna be there being useless, I might as well use it for something – and rained down a slew of Shining Arrows from the sky. "Take this!" To her credit, Mitsuru didn't hesitate at the volley, and she ducked and weaved between them – though not quite unscathed, as a number of them managed to scratch her.

But despite that, she managed to approach the piano and swiped her rapier toward the area of my feet. Having not seen that coming either, I ended up stumbling (a piano is not exactly the steadiest thing to be standing on) and falling down… in her direction. Her eyes briefly widened before I tumbled right into her – and rather painfully, at that. (Curse my relative fragility…!)

We rolled around for a bit before we separated, and I took this time to get in a quick sweep with my handbag. It didn't hit as hard as I wanted it too, but it did well enough. Mitsuru was knocked a little bit away, and I caught a glimpse of surprise at my 'weapon' of choice. Not something you see every day, is it? I thought in satisfaction. I got back up on my feet – and so did Mitsuru.

"It seems you have a grasp on basic fighting skills, though your tactics are… interesting to behold," she stated. Is she talking about the use of my handbag, or the earlier attack on top of the piano? She pointed the tip of her rapier at me. "But this does not mean I will go easy on you."

"I never planned on going easy on you either," I replied. I came here to fight, after all, and there's no way I won't have as much fun as I can doing so.

I summoned Kaguya again and sent her swiping forward with her wing. Mitsuru clearly took the brunt of it as she blocked with her rapier. As she was focused on that, I got close and attacked with my foot. (What? What's wrong with kicks?)

I followed that up by beginning to really use my handbag: low sweeps, hard swipes, jump attacks… anything went in this fight! I grinned as I continued to fight. This really is fun! A flurry of all three really kept Mitsuru on her guard. 'Betcha she's rarely faced off against unorthodox fighters before.

As my last hit sent her flying, she easily recovered with what looked like Getsu-ei (I—I don't think that's how you're supposed to use it), and retaliated in force with another thrust from her rapier. And this one hit dead center—jeez, it's sharp! "Yowch!" I yelped, a hand instinctively holding the place where her blade cut me. I'm sure it didn't actually cut—but that doesn't help the phantom sensation!

Now I'm regretting not having my own sword on me at all. That'd make this a lot easier…!

She summoned Artemisia again right after, and several shards of ice materialized in front of her, the sharp tips pointing right at me. I barely had enough time to say "Oh boy," before they were thrown right at me. Lucky thing Ice isn't my weakness, though that doesn't mean the shards don't hurt at all. They do. They're also cold. And I think one's sticking off of my bag now. (Should I keep it as a souvenir, or—?)

Mitsuru then got back to fencing her rapier at me, with me trying to block it with my incredibly sturdy handbag. "Just look at Kirijo-san's fencing skill, everybody!" Rise was remarking. "She's really giving Mariko-chan a run for her money here!"

Yeah, I can see that! I sardonically thought, gritting my teeth as the Kirijo head continued her assault. I fumbled about trying to open my bag – difficult work when a sword's trying to stab itself through it – and eventually managed to get a present box to hop out of it. And before you ask—no, this isn't another Igor-in-the-box (this one's red, you see; the other one's blue). Instead, a giant chocolate head burst out of it and—get this—licked Mitsuru.

"Wh-What kind of absurd assault is this…!?" she reacted with disgust as the tongue slobbered all over her. ("And Mariko-chan's purse shows itself to be still full of surprises!" Rise exclaimed. "Is there anything in there it doesn't have?") It sufficiently distracted her enough for me to break free, thankfully. I swept her feet with my bag right after, and blasted her away with a Shell of Denial – it's a sort of shield, you see. I watched as she flew across the room again and slid onto the floor, though she quickly got back onto her feet.

"Enough of this!" she suddenly said. "It's time to get serious."

Inexplicably, a bunch of glowing pink flower appeared in front of her. I raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you trying to do with th—"

She interrupted me by shouting "Marin Karin!" My eyes widened. Oh crap—her signature attack! The flowers soon slammed into me before I could block them at all and—

…oh.

Ohhhh boy.

Is it me, or… is Mitsuru suddenly a lot more attractive than usual?

Like, a lot a lot?

I think I'm almost in love. (Only almost… 'cuz Liz. Nothing beats her. Mitsuru can try, though; she sure can try.)

I stumbled about with a big dumb blush on my cheeks. "B-Boy," I slurred, feeling my face heat up, "Y-You… You look—p-pretty good in t-that suit." A giggle came to my lips – g-gee, being on the r-receiving end of this is… p-pretty weird! "You should—w-wear it a lot more!"

("Ooh—Kirijo-san's spell there seems to have done something to Mariko-chan there! This is a side of her we haven't seen yet!")

"Well, this is unexpected," I heard Mitsuru note (I'd like to make her react to unexpected things, hee hee), "but not too unwelcome. This, at least, will make the job a lot easier." She grasped her rapier tightly – you know, she looks pretty sexy when she does that – and suddenly struck me hard with it.

I was immediately knocked out of my Charmed status – I had forgotten how much that sucked – but that didn't help when I was being assaulted by what I'm pretty sure was Myriad Arrows (since when did she know that?). Again and again, she ruthlessly attacked until she swiped upward and unleashed a devastating Bufudyne.

And by that, I meant she basically just froze me in a giant icicle. (Oh god, the memories!) My attire was not suited for cold weather at all, and as such the cold seeped all over my body. H-H-Holy c-crap! I mentally clattered. T-T-This is c-c-cold! S-She's gotten t-too better at t-t-this!

As I lay there as a popsicle, feeling blisteringly cold (Brrrrrr!), Mitsuru readied her blade again and promptly shattered the icicle to pieces – and I was sent flying across the room, slamming into a nearby wall. "O-Oww…" I groaned as I fell to the floor, rubbing my back.

("And Mariko-chan's looking pretty winded now!" Rise commentated—"Will she be able to hold out against Kirijo-san at this rate?")

Okay, I can't delay this fight anymore – I gotta finish it before Mitsuru takes me down.

C'mon, c'mon—what do I have to work with? I've got Shining Arrows, Kougaons, plenty of stuff in my bag—

…wait. Hold up.

The piano's still sitting in the middle of the room.

Hmm… an idea's coming to mind.

It's an incredibly dumb idea, mind you—but it's the best chance I've got!

I stood back up, brought out that familiar tarot card, and crushed it. "Kaguya! Makougaon!" From beneath the giant piano (that has somehow remained undamaged throughout this fight), several beams of light shot up and sent it rocketing into the sky. Mitsuru looked flabbergasted by this. "What are you…?"

As the piano arced upward, I jumped up myself with Kaguya still hovering behind me, and divekicked it toward Mitsuru (with sparkly special effects, too!). I saw her eyes widen, but she didn't have any time to defend. The marvelous instrument slammed into her – and judging by the loud 'THONK!' that came after, it hit pretty damn hard, too.

I'm not sure if we're allowed to use the environment like this per say, but hey! It's there, and I'm making use of it.

Luckily, Mitsuru was fairly resilient, being a veteran Persona-user and all. The same couldn't be said for the piano, though. (You did your job well, piano. You did your job well.) However, you don't exactly escape being hit by a gigantic mass without something –hence Mitsuru being a little dazed right now.

Right, it's time to end this!

"Here goes nothing – let's get all bling-bling!"

I flung my bag forward and threw myself at Mitsuru, the first in a devastating combo of handbag attacks. I didn't let up, unleashing all I had on my poor former teammate, enough to even create clouds of smoke (a virtual All-Out Attack, you could say). Finally, with one final sweep upwards – accompanied by that familiar death cloud, of course – I managed to knock her straight into dreamland.

K.O.!

I wiped some sweat from my forehead. I think I was sweating more than last time, actually. "Phew! That was a little close there…" I said, "but I made it! Ha ha!" Second round may not have been quite the same verse as the first – but it was still fun either way, so I'll take it!

"And through clever use of her surroundings, Mariko-chan has successfully managed to dethrone her opponent!" Rise declared over the speakers. "Let's give it all up for our Unsealed Savior, folks!"

And the winner is… Marie!

Mitsuru gave me a hell of a fight. She's really improved in the two years since I saw her last. And that's only her; who knows what everyone else is like at this point. This whole arena's proven to be pretty enlightening in more ways than one.

To her credit, Mitsuru got back on her feet quickly, looking fairly nonplussed by her defeat. "It appears my skills still need some work…" she mused, a thoughtful look on her face. "Even now, there is still much to learn."

Still the same as ever, I see.

"Hooooo-wheeee! That was another bear-tastic match!" The two of us glanced over at the monitor, displaying General Teddie's smug mug once again. "You truly know a thing or two about fighting, Emmy-chan! And you've got no qualms about beating up anyone, either! I'm so proud of you!"

Okay, that's just creepy. I'm pretty sure it was showing on my face, too.

"W-What's the point of a'this!?" Oh, Miss President's not hiding anymore. Huh, I'm surprised she emerged unscathed from our little bout. She must be pretty good at not getting hit. "Why're you making everyone fight each other!?" she kept demanding to know.

"Heeheehee… Can't you see the joy in it? Making cocky, self-righteous 'friends' show how they really feel about each other… That's what's so thrilling about the P-1 Grand Prix!"

Miss President was shaking in anger – clearly, General Teddie's response hit a nerve with her. "Who do you think you are, doing all a'this…!? This isn't okay! NONE of this is okay!"

"I'm just a simple bear with very simple desires: showing everyone what their friendships are really like! What isn't to like about that!?"

I chimed in, "Maybe the whole 'friendships' part." Is that really all what this is about? Seriously? "What makes you think it'll be that easy to break friendships apart, anyway? People are much stronger than that. Whoever you're trying to affect… they're not going to fall for your tricks, you know."

General Teddie scoffed. "Hmph! What do you know? You should just be worried about whether or not you can give me a good showing! Now, go hurry to your next opponent – and don't bring that tramp with you, too!" The monitor shut off afterward. I'm not too surprised. It's obvious he's not just gonna spill all his secrets.

Still though… what exactly does he plan to get out of this?

"I'll show you," Miss President growled, her fists clenched beside her. "I'll get this whole tournament shut down, and nobody'll get hurt anymore!" She looked at me. "I dunno what's going on with those creatures and all," obviously referring to our Personas, "but I won't let this continue. I'll see you later, Marie—I'm gonna go find whoever's doing this!" Before I could get a single word out, she rushed out of the Music Room to who knows where.

And I didn't even get a chance to explain anything. That's not good.

"Wait, Labrys!" Mitsuru tried to call to Miss President, but by that point, she was long out of range. She tsked. "She's gone. It's dangerous to just let her wander around like that…"

"No kidding," I agreed. I haven't seen any real Shadows around yet – except for probably General Teddie – but who knows when they could show up? "I haven't known her long, but she's definitely not safe here." Especially with General Teddie's grudge against her…

"Hey… Since we are not in combat anymore," Mitsuru began, "I would like to know what your name is. You are a face I don't quite recognize…" Well, since she so graciously asked…

"Well—I'm Mariko Kusumi, but you can call me Marie. Nice to meet you!" Or more rather, 'nice to meet you again.' "And you are?" I already know who she is, of course – but she doesn't know that yet.

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, the current head of the Kirijo Group. It's nice to make your acquaintance." Polite as always, I see. "Before I say anything further, however… I'd like to ask: you didn't hear me say anything… untoward, did you?"

Oh. Right. That. "Well, uhh… You could say that," I replied. "Just a bunch of insults and stuff, but… nothing that I'd really be offended over."

Okay, that's kind of a lie. Her illusory words came back to me: 'Still putting on a façade, Arisato? Your empty words do nothing to absolve yourself of blame.'

I shuddered. That… That really hit me harder than I expected. And not just because they 'came out' of Mitsuru's mouth.

B-But I know Mitsuru would never really say that.

(…I hope.)

"I see… So the host of this tournament is putting us all under some sort of illusion spell," she deduced. "Whatever the reason for this tournament may be, it is clear that the illusions are meant to unnerve us – possibly even get us rifled up for the fights that they want. Quite a disturbing ability…"

"Yeah, I agree," I said. "It's like reading a crack fic with all the people out-of-character—n-not like I'd know anything about that, of course…" I looked away with a blush – I didn't mean to reveal that to her.

"Crack fic? That's a term I've heard Yamagishi use before…" Fuuka reads fanfics? "Are you, perhaps, experienced in the art of writing, Kusumi?"

"O-Oh!" I jumped. "Y-Yeah, actually! I'm trying to be a poet in my spare time. I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I mean, I've had plenty of time to practice." Well, that's if you call two years of being the Great Seal as 'time to practice.' I dug around in my bag—"I've got a few notebooks in here, if you're curious…"

"Oh, no, there's no need to—it was just an observation. If you're as skilled with your pen as you are in the use of your Persona, then perhaps I should take a look at your writings sometime. Being the head of a major conglomerate can be a bit much at times…" I giggled a bit. Gee, really? And here I thought she could handle it perfectly well.

"I'll be glad to tell you when I get my works published, then." I honestly will – I'm still a bit of an amateur, sure, but… I really would like to bring some of my poems to my old friends. (It'd be like a reverse nostalgia trip, of sorts!) I looked back at the door to the Music Room. I think I've spent enough time here. "…I should really be heading after Miss President now. I'd ask you to join me, but…"

"…there happens to be an invisible wall in the way, yes?" Mitsuru finished. "I saw the same phenomenon happen to Amagi after she lost." (Oh, she faced Yukiko before this? Interesting!) "It's not out of the question to assume it happens to all those who lose in this tournament. As much as I would like to join you, I'm afraid I won't be able to leave for a while."

"Yeah, I can see that…" On the bright side, she won't have to stumble through more invisible walls. Does—does that count as a plus? I don't really know. "That must really suck. Probably not as much as deal with all the walls in the hallway, though."

Mitsuru looked questioning. "I see you have a problem with the invisible walls, Kusumi?"

"Of course I do!" I exclaimed, my arms rising to the sky. "They're everywhere! I keep bumping into them! It's a never-ending cavalcade! I don't know how you're supposed to get anywhere with them around! It's a miracle I even made it to this room, honestly."

"Was that your experience? I didn't have quite as much trouble as you described."

"Wait, what?" But—how can that be?

"All the walls did was guide me to this improvised battlefield. Otherwise, they simply blocked off any extraneous paths from that goal. There is no reason you should've had the amount of trouble you described – unless our esteemed host put them there on purpose. You might want to be on the lookout, then."

I snorted. "That might explain it." To be fair, I'm the one who basically intruded on this whole tournament and all, but that doesn't mean all these walls don't suck. "I hope I don't encounter as many this time – though I guess I shouldn't hold my breath." I walked over to the door. "Right—I should be off. See you around, K-Kirijo-san."

…it feels weird calling Mitsuru by her last name again. After everything we've been through, it… it honestly kind of hurts – especially since I know she won't recognize me. Maybe after this is all over…

"Hang on." Right before I walked out the door, Mitsuru called out to me. I turned my head to her; she was looking thoughtfully at me. "I don't know what it is, but… there's something familiar about you that I can't put my finger on."

I softly gulped. She's already suspecting something? Well… she wasn't top of her class for nothing, I suppose. "R-Really?" I replied. "What do you mean by that?"

"You seem to have some familiarity toward me, moreso than a simple acquaintance would have." Eep. "In addition, I caught you almost calling me by my first name. That's not an action someone would normally do upon meeting me." Double eep. "I don't know why, but there is something about you that puts me rather at ease – much like an old friend of mine once did. You're quite the anomaly, Kusumi. An interesting one, perhaps, but an anomaly nevertheless."

"An anomaly, huh…?" I gave a little smile. "That's pretty accurate, actually." I mean, under normal circumstances, my consciousness is supposed to be in the Great Seal right now. And that's not even mentioning the whole 'avatar of a goddess' thing… "Describes my life perfectly well. Really, really well…"

For a moment, I let myself reminiscence about everything that had happened – the Dark Hour, Tartarus, SEES, the Full Moon Operations, Nyx… Anomaly might be a bit of an understatement.

That's a Wild Card in a nutshell, I guess.

"Oh?" Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "Interesting that you'd say that about yourself." She chuckled and shook her head. "Very well—I shouldn't keep you any longer. Go find Labrys, and make sure she's safe. And if you see my other companions—you'll know them when you see them—be sure to tell them about me."

"You got it, Kirijo-san!" At last, I rushed outta the room, ready to go find wherever it was Miss President—Labrys—went… and promptly slammed right into another invisible wall.

"Oh, come on!" I shouted, falling on my butt and throwing my hands up in the air again. "Seriously!? What is wrong with you people!?"

It's gonna be a while before I find Labrys, though.

This is gonna suck.

…h-hey! D-Don't laugh! You try doing this yourself; see how you handle it!

Ugh!

("She acts so much like him, right before he died," Mitsuru mused as she watched Kusumi stumble out of the room. "Could it be…?

"…perhaps I should investigate this later.")

Round 2 of the P-1 Grand Prix is finally here! Rejoice, everybody! (Jesus Christ this took forever to write. I am truly one of the finest procrastinators out there. Apologies to all those who have been waiting this long!)

This chapter forced me to dive face first back into 'writing accents' territory. Luckily, Labrys doesn't have any massive dialogue quirks – script-wise, anyway. Labrys as a character is interesting—she's the first indication that there's more ASWs than just Aigis (Metis doesn't count), not to mention the whole arc she goes through during P4 Arena. As such, it'd be remiss of me if I didn't give her a chance to interact with Marie during this fic.

Marie's second opponent was honestly a toss-up between Akihiko and Mitsuru (Aigis, I'm saving for later). In the end, I decided to go with Mitsuru. I'd rather not have Marie face two physical-focused guys in a row… and also it'd be funny to delay her reaction to Akihiko's… intriguing outfit change. (Like—c'mon. What even is that now?)

Well, that's all for now – tune in next time for an encounter with everybody's favorite Wild Card! Woooooooo!