Enjoy!
~Kuntakintae
"What the fuck is this place?" Ryuji's hushed voice sounded like thunder in a quiet space, causing everyone to shoot glares at him and signalling for him to quiet down. Nevertheless, Akira could see that his words reflected exactly what the rest of his friends were wondering in their minds.
He couldn't blame them- in fact, he understood exactly how they felt. Many years had passed since the first time he entered the Mementos, yet the memory of his first time was still fresh.
After all, the Mementos was a place that had been ruled by Yaldaboath. There was a natural oppressiveness that permeated the air, and the atmosphere always felt heavy and dark. The occasional wails and cries of pain and suffering from the shadows that within the Mementos did nothing to help.
For a person that visits the Mementos for the first time, they would find it extremely disturbing and unpleasant- moreso without a persona.
He could already see the slight shivering and quivering of his friends' bodies, see the fear and fright that they were battling against, see the struggle between determination and irresolution.
"Feeling like giving up already?" Akechi's voice was full of scorn as he waited for them a few meters ahead from where they were standing. Akira felt a twinge of annoyance surface within him, but immediately forced it down, and instead tried to look as though he was gathering whatever ounce of courage he had left within him to take the next step forward.
A silence ensued after Akechi's words rebounded off the walls and echoed throughout the entire area. Akira could see Ryuji's fist clenched tightly into a fist, could see Haru clasping her hands tightly together in front of her, could see Futaba fidgeting - shifting her weight from left to right-, could see Yusuke gritting his teeth as he tried to control his body.
Uncertainty started to snake its way into his heart as he looked at them suffering. His heart reached out to them, and he so-wanted to just pack them up and bring them away from this entire fiasco- from this crazy idea, from this dangerous place, from these dangerous times. Far away from all this Cognitive bullshit, far away from the fighting.
Yet, he knew that he couldn't, and also that he wouldn't. He could not as that would be exposing his identity- and he would not because he would never force his decisions upon his friends.
Shido had slowly whittled down all the free will that the population of Japan had little by little. There had been pathetically few that still had the ability to make their own decisions, to control their own will. Granted, it was getting better with Shido now gone- but there were still many who had not recovered from his tyranny.
Which lead to why he had even allowed his friends to follow through with this crazy plan- he knew it was entirely possible for his friends to unlock their personas.
Even during Shido's Tyranny, they had not given in to the desire to be ruled over, had not allowed themselves to sink with rest of Japan into a state of indecisiveness and simply allowing someone else to dictate how they lived their lives.
If they had submitted to his rule- if they had become mindless humans that simply listened to whatever the media told them and lived soulless and without aim- he would have not let them take a single step into this direction. They would more than likely die before they got anything accomplished at all.
However, it would still be extremely difficult for them to unlock their personas- they would have to go through harrowing experiences to actually be able to unlock them. He sighed inwardly as he thought of what was to come for them- if Akechi managed to follow through with his plan- and how much they were going to suffer. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't worried for them.
When Akechi had told them he was searching for a specific shadow to help them unlock their personas, Akira's mind had immediately deduced what Akechi had planned to do as a 'shortcut' for his friends.
While he hated to admit it, Akechi's idea was indeed possible, and also- as far as any of the methods he could think up of- the fastest way to unlock their personas.
It was also the most dangerous method.
He did not really approve of this method, but he had to give it to Akechi- it was a resourceful and smart idea. If it worked out, every member of the group would have their Personas much sooner rather than later.
But if it failed...
A flicker of determination- unnoticed by everyone- passed through Akira's eyes as he thought about it. As long as he was around, he would make sure no harm comes to them. He pushed away the uncertainty that had been swirling within him and decided to trust in his friends' strength.
Akira shook his head and pushed the thoughts out of his mind. There was no point worrying right now- it was only their first visit, and the shadow that Akechi was looking for- the one that Akira guessed he's looking for- would not appear until they go deeper into the mementos. What he should be focusing at hand now is how to get the others accustomed to the Cognitive World, accustomed to the appearances and power of the shadows.
He brought his attention back to the present, his eyes swiftly roaming the area as he studied his friends. He could see Akechi doing the same as well, and a slight astonishment arose in him when he caught a hint of restlessness within those eyes of his- almost as though Akechi was hoping they would get through this hurdle.
It seemed that Akechi needed them more than he had let on- a lot more than he had let on, in fact. If Akechi of all people could not hide his emotions, it meant that he felt very strongly about whatever issue he was handling at that point of time.
Akira's lips quirked up ever so slightly, and the worry in his heart decreased by a significant amount- so much so that he himself felt surprised. He hadn't realised how worried and wary he had been of Akechi until that very moment.
It soothed his heart to know that Akechi needed them that much. It meant that the agreement they had made was not as one-sided as he thought it was, and that- while seemingly a small issue- meant a great deal of difference to the entire situation at hand.
The more important Akechi treated this agreement, the safer they were. If before, they had expected him to merely be a guide, providing minimal assistance, now Akira knew that Akechi would more likely than not provide as much assistance as he possibly could.
Praise erupted within him when he saw that Makoto had noticed it too. he almost could not keep the smirk from his face when he saw Akechi noticing as well, and quickly clearing whatever trace of emotion he had from his face. It was too late though, and Makoto had already found the weak point. Akira could only imagine how frustrated Akechi was at himself at that very moment.
"No," Makoto finally replied, her courage seemingly increasing when she had the revelation."We've come too far to back down now."
Her voice was steady and firm, full of confidence- though Akira knew that was not what she was really feeling on the inside. However, the confidence was contagious, and he saw the rest of his friends begin to recover from their initial shock and hesitance. Slowly, their bodies stopped quivering, and they all looked at Akechi with challenging gazes- as though they were daring him to say something more.
Akechi, however, merely smirked and turned around, walking with complete ease along the train tracks that snaked its way across all the paths in the Mementos, as though he was not inside the abode of a powerful god with all his underlings.
Akira understood, though. For one reason or another, Personas were really much stronger than their shadow counterparts. Furthermore, Akechi already had years of experience and training fighting and defeating countless shadows in the Metaverse- the shadows on the first path, the Path of Qimranut, would hardly pose a problem to him.
He and his friends shared a quick glance, nodding in silent agreement before huddling close together and following behind Akechi, making sure the distance between them was not too far that they would lose him, but not so near that if he gets attacked out of nowhere, they would be caught in the frontline. All gripping their respective guns tightly, they cautiously trudged forward, eyes warily and alertly scanning the area- especially the darkness where the train tracks lead to.
Akira could tell that most of them felt stupid and foolish- holding a toy gun in to defend against shadows- but they had decided to follow whatever Akechi instructed, no matter how ridiculous the instruction was- it meant higher likelihood for them to survive this ordeal, after all.
Suddenly, Akechi stopped in his tracks and raised a hand, signalling for them to keep still. Almost at once, everyone halted their movements- not even a breath could be heard as they all held their breaths. Their eyes were solely focused in the direction Akechi was looking, trying to spot the shadow in the darkness that engulfed the area.
Finally, a dark silhouette appeared in the dim lights offered by the flickering lamps stuck to the walls. Slowly, the figure stepped forward, more and more of its body being revealed until finally, its entire body could barely be seen.
White mask with glowing blue eyes, oval-shaped body made up of skulls and the gooey substances stuck to the walls- a typical example of a shadow whose mask has not been torn off yet.
Akira could almost feel the trepidation arousing within the group, and almost could not help but laugh.
He cared for their safety- he truly did. But the enemy that was in front of Akechi was really one of the weakest enemies he could ever face. Even a normal person holding a weapon could dispatch of this shadow without so much as breaking a sweat.
All things considered, this shadow was probably the best shadow for their first encounter.
"You guys are really lucky," Akechi's voice came from in front, his tone even containing a hint of envy. "You got the easiest shadow in the entire world as your first opponent."
Slowly, Akechi walked towards the now-howling shadow, and with a speed that was way too fast for the naked eye, he appeared behind the shadow and jumped on top of it before grabbing the edge of the white mask and forcefully pulling it off from its face.
A ear-piercing shriek came from the shadow as it's body melted into the ground into a thick, gooey pile of black and red mess, before alleviating into the air and forming into a being that could have only been seen from fairy tale books and illustrations.
Petite, short and astoundingly tiny, with pointed ears, red eyes, a cute oval face with the addition of a two pairs of wings that looked like they belonged to fairies, the shadow really didn't look very intimidating.
"You guys can fight this one," Akechi said as he disappeared right before their eyes. Then, his voice came from behind, causing them to turn their heads sharply, their faces all evidently carrying shock as they tried to wrap their heads around the speed he had just displayed.
"It's one of the weakest shadows, and also one of the less grotesque ones. Make no mistake, however, it still slightly transcends the limits of a human being- just by a bit though, and it's strength is not enough to kill you."
"Wait-" Haru tried to interrupt him, her voice shaky and full of uncertainty and fright. Instead got interrupted by a high-pitched scream from their front. Their heads snapped back to the front, and their minds went completely blank as they saw an enraged Pixie already flying towards them at full speed- red eyes glowing in anger of being surprised by Akechi.
"Good Luck," Akechi's voice held a smugness that caused a tick to form at Akira's forehead.
Their first encounter had begun.