Pyrrha and Ruby stared at the nigh-comatose Jaune as he reached his hand forward, seemed to turn his wrist, then stood staring dumbly at the wall ahead of him. Pyrrha looked questioningly at Ruby. Ruby poked Jaune on the shoulder a few times, as though to ensure he was out.
"He does this sometimes. Apparently." She tapped him on the nose. Still no response.
"That must be how he accesses the room he mentioned, where he obtains the additional Personas for us. How interesting for there to be an entrance here in Muspell. Convenient, as well." She looked Jaune up and down. Whereas Ruby and Pyrrha were wearing their normal school clothes, Jaune was wearing his normal clothes in addition to a very thick leather jacket that he had fully zipped up, despite the temperate weather. He was also wearing a bicycle helmet - strapped beneath his chin - as well pairs of matching elbow and knee pads.
"He looks kinda silly, doesn't he?" Ruby casually mentioned as she used both hands to tilt Jaune's body at a 45 degree angle. He didn't budge in response, simply going along with whatever forces acted upon him.
Pyrrha chuckled. "I suppose so, but safety is paramount. We have our Personas granting us special strength in this hour - increasing our stamina and fortitude. Without a Persona, there's no telling how much damage Jaune can sustain."
"That makes sense... Oh that's fun!" Ruby was discovering that Jaune would remain wherever she posed him. He was currently giving a military salute while standing on one foot. "He's like a really tall action figure!"
Despite her best efforts to retain composure, Pyrrha started a small laughing fit. "Pfft, you should... hahaha... you should probably... pffft... Stop?"
"Stop wha-woah!" Jaune suddenly came back to consciousness. His new balance caused him to immediately slip, sliding his sword across the floor as he fell fat on his face. Ruby held out both hands in an attempt to catch him, but barely missed. "O-ow..."
"Oh Jaune, are you alright?!" Pyrrha's giggles immediately vanished as she rushed to help him up. Ruby helped on the other side until Jaune was standing of his own accord.
"Y-yeah... ow... jeez, that's never happened before." He looked around the room, went over and snatched up his sword, and returned to the girls. "I guess I'll have to be careful when coming back not to lose my footing."
Pyrrha and Ruby exchanged a brief but meaningful glance.
"Were you able to grant us Personas?" Pyrrha looked at him thoughtfully.
"I think so. There's only one way to find out, right?" Jaune checked his person to make sure his makeshift armor was still in place. He nodded to Ruby, who nodded to Pyrrha, and the three of them held their weapons at the ready and approached the door labelled with the roman numeral 1. Ruby opened the door, and a white light emanated outward, engulfing the three of them as the safe room faded from view.
Jaune blinked and found himself in a strange forest. The sky was dark and void of stars, with only a yellow moon above them - seemingly in the midst of shattering into pieces, but staying still in the sky. The trees were all standing immensely tall, with branches jutting out every which way. Every tree was, apparently, dead - save for the one that they had just walked out of. Turning around, Jaune saw that this tree was alive and had a door carved into it with a large circle on it.
"Is this... Muspell?" He turned to Ruby and Pyrrha, who both nodded in response, both on high-alert for the area around them. There were paths between the trees, and the four of them stood in the middle of a path. They could head either left or right. Ruby immediately started heading down the right side of the path.
As they walked, Jaune kept his hand on his weapon, and he was glad he did so. The first shadows appeared almost immediately. First Jaune saw a red pair of eyes on the road ahead, and as they neared the creature suddenly revealed itself to be a humanoid-looking wolf, with long clawed hands. The creature was masked, like the bird, with the area around the eyes showing a simple blue mask with a 1 at the top of it. Two more identical creatures manifested, seemingly out of nowhere, and opened their maws menacingly at Jaune and his allies.
"Sh-shadows." Jaune announced, his voice unintentionally going up a half-octave as he brandished his sword. Pyrrha and Ruby stepped between the shadows and Jaune. Pyrrha ran forward, spear in hand, and drove it straight into the nearest of the Shadows.
Jaune felt an interesting sensation as the battle began around him. He could instinctively feel that his allies were healthy, and that the enemy was healthy. He couldn't quite explain it; he simply felt that the party was uninjured, and that this was important. As one of the Shadows rushed forward and clawed at Ruby, it barely scratched her, causing Jaune to immediately see Ruby and acknowledge she was at less than full capacity.
"W-woah." Jaune was trying to take it in as Ruby readied her Evoker.
"Garu!" As Ruby called, Tyr once again appeared behind her in his red-caped, half-bodied glory. He raised his sword high and spun it overhead, and in response a whirlwind appeared under the Shadow that had just struck Ruby. The wind knocked the wolf creature into the air, and it fell hard on its back. As it happened, Jaune felt as though he could somehow feel Ruby's power depleting. He wondered if that happened any time the Persona was summoned...
Pyrrha used her shield to deflect an incoming attack from the third Shadow, then rolled to the one on the ground. She jutted her spear into the fallen Shadow's chest, its claws flailing uselessly. Keeping her momentum, she then swung her body around the planted spear, feet colliding with an approaching Shadow. As she kicked, she pulled the spear from its perch inside the previous Shadow and drove it forward in a piercing lunge, striking the new Shadow that she had just kicked in the throat.
In that split instant, Jaune could feel that the Shadows were defeated before they actually disappeared. Much like the bird Shadow he had seen before, their masks began to fall off. Then, the shadows evaporated into small black particles that vanished in the air.
One Shadow remained, and it ran towards Jaune. He tried to remember everything Pyrrha had taught him in that instant. He lowered his center of gravity, raised his sword, and thought about how best to strike at the impending creature. He pulled back, got ready to swing, and...
"Garu!"
And nothing. Another torrent of wind erupted under the Shadow, causing it to fly up into the air and then fall on its backside. Jaune, caught off guard, did not immediately strike at the prone creature. Instead, Ruby rushed forward with her Scythe and struck the Shadow soundly, causing it to vanish like its comrades.
"Woah. You guys are pretty good at this." Jaune acknowledged, trying to hide the defeat in his voice at missing his first real fight. He still read Ruby as slightly injured, with Pyrrha as fully well, despite neither of them having any indication of wear or tear. Was this a power of the Wild Card - to keep tabs on how your allies were doing?
"We've had some practice." Pyrrha said, calmly. "Perhaps the next encounter would be a good time to see if our new Personas will work?"
"Good plan." Jaune chimed, and the three resumed heading down the path.
It was a few minutes before they encountered another Shadow. This one looked like a boar, with long, sharp, intimidating tusks. The creature snorted loudly, wearing a yellow mask with the number 7 on it. It rushed forward, and Ruby and Pyrrha both nodded with their Evokers handy.
"I summon thee!" Pyrrha called, and the sound of a gunshot permeated the area. A small, cute green dog appeared, tongue lolling as it rushed forward from Pyrrha at the creature. The dog dove forward, striking at the boar with its claws before vanishing.
Jaune could somehow sense that it was ineffective against the creature. "I-I don't think that worked! It seems to have some kind of shield."
The boar tapped its hoof on the ground, then rolled forward. It started spinning like a pinwheel, and dove straight for Pyrrha. Pyrrha readied her shield and took the brunt force of the strike. "Oof!" She slid back a few feet, leaving a trail in the ground where her heel dragged along the floor. As she did so, Jaune could immediately sense that she was more than slightly hurt.
"Watch out, it seems to hit pretty hard!" He called out, hoping he was being helpful. There was another gunshot. This time it was Ruby's Evoker, and infront of her sat a small fey woman in a blue leotard. Its four translucent wings fluttered lightly. The pixie spun in a circle and held out its hands. As it did so, a dim blue light washed over Pyrrha's form, and Jaune could immediately tell that she was fully recovered.
"These new Personas are cool!" Ruby cheered happily. "Support Ruby is here for you, Pyrrha. Go get 'em!"
"Right! I summon thee, Baldr!" Pyrra held her evoker under her chin and pulled the trigger. Her Persona manifested above her head, in its full knightly glory.
Just as Juane had seen in the Velvet Room, it was a Persona whose head appeared to be made of pure, glowing yellow light. Its body was that of a knight in armor, wearing red and gold, save that there were no arms. The back of the Persona's greaves were exposed, revealing more glowing yellow light. A spear and a shield spun in a lazy orbit around the Persona, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Baldr floated above Pyrrha, the shield and spear suddenly spinning rapidly. Then, the spear reared back and struck the shield like a mallet hitting a drum. A light formed under the boar, forming some kind of magic-looking sigil. The light grew brighter and brighter, before devouring the boar whole in a blinding flash. As the sigil vanished, the boar was no more.
Baldr disappeared, and Pyrrha turned to smile at the others. "It appears that our test was successful. We do indeed have new Personas, thanks to you Jaune." Her enthusiasm was palpable, and Jaune could feel her earnest thanks as she said so. He was also, honestly, just glad to be helping.
"No problem. Just... happy to help I guess." Jaune blushed lightly as he sheathed his sword. "I can switch it around, too, if you'd rather have the Pixie. I'd have to go back to the room, though."
"Hey, I like Pixie! She seems pretty helpful." Ruby beamed at Jaune. "Thanks for giving us these awesome new skills, Jaune. I'm sure we'll be able to explore Muspell alot more easily now." She held out her hand for a high-five, which Jaune matched happily.
The three of them stood there, revelling in their new victory and power, as a roar erupted throughout the forest. The trees shook where they stood, and the earth itself seemed to quake. The three exchanged worried glances and immediately drew their weapons, looking around in full alert.
"We should proooobably leave." Jaune suggested, looking around to find the source of the noise.
"Aww, but we just got started." Ruby pouted, both hands on her scythe.
"I suggest we head back from whence we came." Pyrrha added, her spear held over her shoulder in a stance that seemed ready to stab anything that came into view.
They gave a unison nod to eachother and started walking cautiously back to the exit. However, after a few steps, they heard the roar once more. The ground shook, the trees shook, and suddenly the group found the source of the roar.
A bear-shaped Shadow, twice the size of the wolf Shadows, was running at them from the direction they had entered. Jaune could see the one living tree in the distance, the one they would have to reach - but there would be no way around this monstrous sized bear. They would have to go through it, but he gulped; he felt it was much more likely that it would go through them first.
