Author's Note:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA thousand views... *faints*
Ok, maybe I need to explain why that has excited me so much... Essentially, I'm not a very confident person. At all. I did this sort of as a test to see if I am any good at writing and... just seeing that 4 digit number there just made my day :,) Thanks to all of you lovely, lovely people for giving my little story a look and please leave a review!
The TV World was quiet, as it always was after a rescue. A new Shadow had appeared but its presence was not nearly as threatening as Kali's was. Even then, Kali couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear at being back here. Was there more torture to go through?
The girls noticed her hesitation as they walked, Rise wrapping a protective arm around her new friend "Don't worry, your Shadow is gone now. This is just a boring little one that can give us some cool new stuff and a bit of experience!"
Yukiko chimed in too, smiling politely "We'll have to travel through the whole dungeon again so that'll give you time to get used to your weapon."
Kali nodded, finding her previous want for personal space quickly decreasing the closer they got to the door of the school. Her body stiffened as it came into view, her legs refusing to move. The girls on either side of her didn't give up though; they gently coaxed her forward until they stood in front of the swirling red and black door.
"I thought it might have been here…" Kali whispered, her memory filling in the muted colours and missing letters. Somehow, this hellish version of the school seemed more appropriate to her. "I never thought I'd be back at this school, being in Japan was meant to keep me safe from it."
Yosuke smiled, rubbing the back of his head "It isn't really that school, it's just been to suit your Shadow. Now, only the building remains."
"Before we start, anyone not want to go in?" Yu pushed up his glasses, preparing his katana.
Kali noticed that a lot of them looked hesitant, afraid of whatever was behind that door. Rise even looked a little green.
Yukiko gasped in realisation, reaching into her pockets and pulling out enough folded surgical masks for everyone, "My inn has a lot of them in case any members of staff get colds; I thought they may be useful when we go in there again. May not do much but it will hopefully dull the smell."
"Smell?" Kali asked, tilting her head curiously.
"You'll see," Yu answered, a grim look in his eye as they all took a mask and put it on.
Teddie, however, looked a bit lost "Um… Anyone have a big one?"
"I let you keep the last one!" Rise giggled at the silly bear.
"I-I lost it…" His ears dropped, looking totally helpless, "My nose is too sensitive… that smell would knock me out if I was in there too long."
Kali didn't like the sadness in Teddie's eyes, and neither did Kanji. The tall man leant down, holding his mask out to the bear "Here, Ted. Maybe we could tie two together to make a bigger one?"
He looked over to Yukiko who frowned and shook her head, "I assumed he had kept the other one, I'm sorry."
"Here, Kanji." Kali stepped forward, her mask in hand, "I spent hours in that building, I'm sure I'll be alright, especially if the smell didn't make a lasting impact on me. Teddie can have mine too."
Teddie looked up at her, stars in his eyes "Nice lady…"
"Oi! I'm helpin' too, you lil' shit!" Kanji growled, grumpily poking Teddie's wide, fuzzy forehead.
"O-Ow! No touchie!" The bear ran behind Kali, nuzzling like a cat against her leg "Save me from the nasty man…"
Kali looked between Teddie and Kanji, seeing how both were looking at her to make a judgement. She couldn't help but laugh. Reaching forward, she took the mask from Kanji and sat down. Using her teeth, she tore through the strings on the left side of one and the right side of the other. Then, she tied the now separate strings to the other strings so that they would be long enough to reach around his head. It was practical and quick. The only thing now was joining the two masks together. Slipping some hairpins out of her short hair, she used them to keep the sheets together. It wasn't a great fix but it was certainly usable and Teddie loved it.
By the time they were inside the school building, Teddie could care less about the smell or gore. He was too interested in bouncing around happily, flowers and rainbows seemingly floating from him.
It was a shame that no one else was as happy; most still cringing from the smell and gore but everyone was more concerned about Kali. Unlike the others though, she took in her surroundings and didn't try to look away. She saw the decapitated scalp and shuddered, knowing exactly who that blonde hair belonged to. Her mind was filled with the image of the pretty blonde hair she had always been envious of, her mother's hair.
She felt Rise gently squeeze her shoulder and she smiled, looking over to Rise to see a gentle smile in her eyes. She nodded, staying near her for now.
A Shadow was sliding around on the floor ahead of them and Kali blinked in surprise at how odd it looked. A weird, purple thing that looked like a generic slime enemy from a video game, not exactly something she'd consider a threat.
Yu rushed forward and, as usual, sliced his katana down the back of the weak creature. It was then it transformed into…two enemies. Two pairs of Twins, to be precise.
Rise gently pushed Kali forward, "The enemies are distracted, why don't you try out your new weapon?"
Kali glanced down at her Kurasigama, taking the chain in her left hand and the sickle into her right. Daidara had told her how to use it but she had not been able to put that knowledge into practice, and now she had to try it out on a real threat.
She took a breath, stepping forward and began swinging the chain in small circles at first, which grew bigger with each step. Holding her breath, she felt the world slightly slowing down around her. She held it until the perfect moment… and then she released it, along with the chain. It coiled around the first pair of Twins, and adrenaline did the rest. She didn't even realise what she was doing until her scythe ripped through the first enemy, killing it in one blow.
She leapt back, panting softly. She had actually done it? How had she mastered it so quickly? Admittedly, that enemy was very weak but why had she managed not to completely miss with the chain? She watched the others masterfully manipulate their own weapons and she felt like it didn't really matter, like all of them just had a weapon perfectly suited for them and, in this world, years of training could be condensed in mere minutes.
She watched all of them with wonder as they continued through the dungeon with ease, none of the enemies posing any significant threat. Her Persona was mostly skilled with buffs and de-buffs, with Mamudoon to use when she really needed to. She was not the most useful one for damage but that was fine with her, her physical attack was useful enough.
The second time through the dungeons was always faster and easier, allowing for them to get to the top floor and be able to comfortably fight the boss in the main room.
When they opened the door, it was a slightly new type of Shadow, like usual. It was a beast, this time a black lion with bright red eyes.
Kali pouted, "I like kitties…"
Kanji chuckled and prepared his own weapon, "I don't think you'll like this kitty!" He leapt into battle first, swinging his folded chair in an impressive show of strength. The Beast flinched at the attack, pawing angrily at the group, using a full group fire attack.
The fire hit her quite hard, forcing her onto her knees. Rise growled at the enemy, looking over to Kali with worry, "Come on! Up up up!"
She was down for a few moments, just catching her breath. Yukiko sent over a healing spell, fully healing her. She thanked her and stood up again, learning to like this new teamwork.
While Yu activated his Persona, she took a moment to figure out her next move. All of them had used an ability so far, but Kali didn't have a lot of power to use. She took her turn and used a defence buff on the group. Tactics weren't her strong point but they were come to her.
Her defence boost did help the party keep their health for longer and, despite how annoying the boss was, they did gradually chip away at its health until it was weak enough to be killed quickly.
"Wanna finish it off?" Yu asked the newest member of their group, his lips showing traces of a smile.
Kali grinned, "Gladly." And she did. With her beloved Kurasigama, she ran forward once more. Immobilising it and then slashing it, watching it vanish in a puff of dark smoke. It was as easy as Master Daidara had said! Who would have known that in this world literally anything was possible?
With their enemy defeated, they all left the room. Kanji waited behind for a moment, having seen something shimmer in the corner of the room. He picked it up and smiled, tucking it away under his uniform for later.