Date 13: Arf! Arf!
When Ezi walked into the dorm, there was Ken—he didn't see her down the hall, as he was already heading upstairs. He kept to his own business, but he was invading—a threat.
She sat down with Yukari and Akihiko at the bar table. Junpei was playing a video game on the TV in the lounge, Fuuka was on the couch, and Mitsuru was somewhere.
Yukari was looking at a girly magazine. "I think we should go tonight."
"Why are you whispering?" Akihiko asked.
"Oh, because Ken—" She looked up and around. "—Never mind. We should go!"
"You don't have to yell." Ezi sighed. "I kinda feel bad for him, here with all these older people."
"He'll be fine." Akihiko slurped his cup noodle. "Sorry we have to deal with him being here. It'll only be fore the summer, though."
"Whoa! I don't mind." Yukari said. "That's sort of mean, sempai."
"I wasn't thinking that…" Ezi lied.
"Well, just be careful what you say around him. He has no idea about the Dark Hour or anything."
"Sempai, how are you feeling after that near-death experience?" Yukari's eyes were glued to the magazine.
"Uh, fine. Isn't every day in Tartarus a near-death experience?"
"True! But, at least we have Aigis now…" Ezi looked to the fridge.
"She's in her room, if you were wondering."
"I wasn't. I wonder what she does though, when she is alone."
"She just walks around. It would be kinda creepy if she didn't look like a cute blond."
"So blond is your type, sempai?" Junpei was pressing the buttons on his controller loudly, and bobbing his elbows up and down.
"N-no! I mean- Shut up!"
Ezi chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you're okay, but maybe we shouldn't go when Mitsuru isn't here."
"She definitely won't be here tonight!" Fuuka yelled to them.
This was nice, having a cooperative community—she didn't want to admit it, but Ken was one more thing they didn't need to deal with. Still, the reason he was there wasn't his fault at all…
.
.
When the Dark Hour rang, Ezi woke up to a faint alarm from the Command Room—Pharos wasn't there—
"Sorry to wake you! There's a Shadow outside of Tartarus, hurry!"
Ezi hopped out of bed, strapping her bra on under her PJs and running to the room.
"What's going on?" Junpei didn't have his hat on.
"There's a Shadow in the city. Yamagishi spotted it by chance." Mitsuru explained.
"But, it's only half a moon." Yukari looked to the window.
"Actually, it's just a normal Shadow, and big—but it is outside of Tartarus."
"Akihiko went ahead to the Naganaki Shrine, where its located."
"Should we go after him?"
"No—It's just one, so let's prepare—"
The signal on the amplifier rang. It was Akihiko.
"I'm here. Sorry but I think you guys better come right away."
"A large Shadow? Let's go-"
"No, Mitsuru! The Shadow's been defeated. In fact, it was before I got here."
Ezi thought about when Shinjiro mentioned 'others.'
"How can that be?" Fuuka asked.
"The little guy's been injured! I want to help him, if we can." Akihiko ended the transmission.
"Little Fella? Who's he talking about?" Yukari asked.
"It couldn't be Ken?" Ezi scanned the others for an answer.
"No, he was asleep! I think…" Junpei hurried down stairs with the others. He checked to see that Ken was in his room, and so they hurried out with Aigis to run down the street towards the Naganaki Shrine.
A white dog was lying on its side atop the staircase, covered in blood. Akihiko was on his knees, comforting it. It whined pitifully and shook.
"Koro-chan!" Fuuka cried. "Are you okay, boy?"
"You know this dog?" Mitsuru asked.
"Yeah, everyone does—we have to help him!"
"Right! We must stop the bleeding!" Mitsuru declared. In a split second, Ezi reached out and covered the wound on its side with pressure.
"He was stabbed? It's okay, boy." She whispered calmly to Koromaru as Mitsuru made a phone call.
"He's tough, I-I think he'll be okay. He defeated that Shadow all by himself!"
"What? Wait, does that mean this dog is a Persona-user?" Junpei realized.
Koromaru barked, then whined a bit.
Aigis' eyes seemed to glow. "He says: This is a place of peace, so I protected it. There are flowers over there." They followed Aigis' finger to the gate side gate of the shrine, where white flowers were placed.
"Those flowers must be for the priest who died in the accident." Fuuka said.
"So, he really was guarding this place." Yukari deduced.
"Aigis? Don't tell me you can translate dog language, too!" Junpei was dumbfounded.
"Canines do not have their own language. However, speech is not the only form of communication."
"This fella really is a rare breed." Akihiko sat beside Ezi. "Keep the pressure there."
"Got it."
"The dog's not the only rare breed." Junpei sized up Aigis.
"Alright, let's report to the Chairman." Mitsuru closed her phone. "It may be midnight, but I believe I can manage a vet for Koro-chan."
"Can you do nothing wrong?" Yukari said teasingly. "What a good boy, Koro-chan. You're gonna be okay!"
They waited around, until the vet came with a stretcher and a long car. He bandaged Koromaru's wound right there, as they watched—filling the wound with liquid anti-bacteria caused Koromaru to cry out and squirm, but Ezi and Akihiko helped keep him down by the limbs and neck. He wrapped the dog up, and Akihiko aided with the stretcher to the car, and the doctor left.
"I hope he will recover soon. Poor Koro-chan." Fuuka and the others watched the car until they couldn't see it anymore, but Ezi was staring at her palms.
Her hands were covered in blood. It hadn't been the first time so much had been on her hands before.
There was a long sword in her belly.
"Ezi-san?" Akihiko snapped her back. "You should get that washed off at the drinking fountain."
"Y-yeah."
The SEES team returned to the dorm. Hopefully, they hadn't awoken Ken during the incident.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Nice work, everyone! At this rate, we'll do great at the fellowship!"
Rio was in high spirits during practice. They left to the Paulownia mall afterwards, to eat a smoothie at the Chargall Café and get a boxed lunch.
"Let's shop around a bit." Rio was being perky. A Lost person with Apathy Syndrome stalked by them in a raggedy suit, like a zombie.
"…You want to go shopping?" She turned to her friend.
"Well, not really, but I want to talk a little… Ms. Kanou…"
"Yeah?"
"Well, Kenji sort of got rejected, in a small way. He sent her a message about an event she wanted to go to three days ago, and she never replied to him."
"They text each other?"
"Sure! It started out about questions in sports… but we all know she doesn't know anything about that…"
"Ah, I see. Well then, you're in a good mood?"
"I suppose. Is that so wrong of me? He's not broken hearted, but it feels like a small victory for me." Rio went to the restroom, leaving Ezi to herself. The devilish Tanaka was there again, at his stand, bribing some couple to make an investment twice as heavy as the one she had been pulled into. They left with a large disagreement, and he turned to her.
"Hello again!" He said cheerily. "Here's a tip, kid: don't get married! The paperwork alone will kill yah."
"Tell me something that's actually useful."
"Okay…" He scanned the central stores in the mall, "That Pharmacy has two for one on medicine? You can get three for one."
"How?"
He told her something about the stock market relating to the insurance company on the store's policy…. Long story short, she walked out with three ointments for wounds instead of just two.
"Thanks! Good advice!"
"There's more where that came from! I'll take you under my wing, kid." She had spent some more time walking and shopping with Rio, then returned to the dorm.
Mitsuru wasn't there again, so they didn't go to Tartarus. She had had a headache lingering from practice, so she went to bed early, packing for the fellowship before she did.
Pharos was in her room.
"Good evening." He said, pleasantly. "It's becoming quite lively around you."
"Yeah? Why don't you go meet the family?" She sat up in her bed, but didn't bother to get up.
He chuckled. "So, are you getting along with the others?"
"We've had our fights, but it's melted down to things being great with us…"
"I'm glad to hear it. It is one week until the next full moon."
"I know."
"Are you prepared? To be honest, I'm not too worried about you."
"Oh, thanks for the concern, buddy."
"You know what I mean. However, you should still remain cautious. I'll come see you again." Pharos disappeared. Pharos and the Velvet Room, also the dark figure in the hoodie—she was keeping them secret from the others. But really, how could she explain it to them?
The next night, the Chairman visited the dorm.
"The dog is recovering smoothly." Mitsuru let everyone know in the lounge.
"Amazing. A dog that can summon a Persona? I wanted to research on the possibility, but still!" Ikutsuki was excited. "I'm so-! So…"
"Pet-trified?" Ezi finished.
"You read my mind! I didn't know you were so funny."
"It was a stretch."
"Still, a robot and a dog can use a Persona? What's next, a monkey?" Junpei rubbed his forehead.
"Keep your voices down!" Yukari looked to see Ken sitting at the dinner table. "Still, my archer friends are freaking out about all the Lost that show up on the streets. We have to do something about it."
"Agreed." Ezi walked to the kitchen to grab some dinner, since everyone else had already eaten.
"Ah, Ezi-san, good evening."
"Hey, Ken-kun." She nodded to him.
"I'm very impressed; you do sports in the day, and stay up all night? Or at least, it seems that way."
She froze without looking at him. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I always can't stay up late, but everyone else in the dorm seems to do activities late at night. What do you do?"
She reached for leftovers in the fridge. "Uh… adult stuff?"
"You guys aren't that much older than me."
She snickered. "Just studying, really." Change of subject is what they needed. "Uh, say, I'm going to Inaba tomorrow. Everyone else is requesting I take pictures or do certain stuff there. What about you?"
"Huh?"
"Like, do you want a souvenir? If I can, I'll get you something."
"Oh no, I couldn't ask you to."
"Come on kid, this is a chance to get free stuff! What do you want?"
He paused as she heated up the cheese crisp in the microwave. "I guess I'll get some kind of keychain."
"Well, that would be fine. Thank you."
"You got it!" She bolted to her room after that, shortening their conversation. She couldn't sleep much, restless about the trip… so she asked the team to sneak out to Tartarus that night again. They trained on lower floors to prepare for the Shadow that would appear within the week. They had already reached a block in Tartarus, so they honed in on their Persona's quickness to summon magic and Ezi showed them some rolling and dodging maneuvers. They trained for what seemed like forever, then returned before the Dark Hour had ended.
The morning of, Yukari and Junpei walked with Ezi to the train where she would meet the rest of the basketball team.
"Man, I'm so jealous you get to go!" Junpei carried her suitcase for her.
"We won't go to Tartarus, but we can still train in the day." Yukari told her.
"You guys can go… it's fine."
"Eh, wouldn't feel right." Junpei winked. "Have a good time! Let me know of any babes you see there!"
"No! I'm keeping them all to myself!" She teased.
On the train, she sat beside Rio, since she was the only one she really got along with. Yuko was there too, for some reason, sitting with a lanky boy with spiked black hair, wearing the same sweats she had on. Inaba had a small town atmosphere, enriched with Japanese culture, hilly green land and fresh air. It didn't take long for Ezi and her fellow athletes to reach Yasionaba High School. A joint practice with the students at the school was scheduled for two days.
"What a rustic school." Ms. Kanou commented as they walked in. It was old fashioned, with grey concrete walls and small gate entrance way—most of the architecture was just rectangular. The girls seemed a bit younger from the other team. They were pulled into training. Rio guided her team up to the inclined stairway near the field for exercise. It reminded Ezi of walking on the green steps in Tartarus.
"Who's the liar who said this was going to be a paradise with hot springs?" One of the girls complained half way through drills.
"Ms. Kanou, I think." Someone answered. "Whatever, she probably gets paid a lot for taking us up here."
They played a scrimmage game, and Yuko just had to spice things up.
"Well, since the Gekkoukan girls don't care about winning, except maybe Ezi and Rio, let's make a bet!"
"What do you mean?" One of the Gekkou students whined. "How come you're making deals for us?"
"The losing team has to clean the gym after!"
"I like it!" Proclaimed Ezi.
"And, do 10 sprints up and down the court!" Rio added.
"Alright! Let's do it!" The three of them were hyped, and even Yuko subbed in to play a bit. The Yasionaba girls were much quicker, and worked together as a unit and talked on the court.
.
.
.
…Yuko was forced to clean up with them after, since it had been her idea. After they were tired and sweaty, Yukiko Amagi from the Amagi inn escorted them to the quiet place where hot springs resided. It was the most established inn, with boxed paper lanterns on the ceilings, gold painted wood, and even the hostesses wore kimonos. The room was rather large, with plenty of futon space, floor tables, and drapery for a changing station.
Rio and Ezi shared a room… and Yuko was stalking behind them.
"This place is so luxurious!" She said. "Won't people like us get in trouble for being in a place like this?"
"Like by who?" Ezi chuckled.
"Uh, the government?"
"Why are you in our room, Yuko?" Rio sighed, aggravated.
"I have to stay with you guys! Kaz was put in the same room as me, and it's weird!"
"Kazashi, the boy?" Rio realized. "He's you're friend, but he is a boy! What was Kanou thinking with the room assignments?"
Ezi grinned evilly, "You want to be in the same room as him."
"D-don't even joke like that, girl!"
The girls gossiped for a while about girls they didn't like from school, and who they were interested in.
"I want a thin, athletic boy! But there's no one like that at school." Yuko complained.
"What about Kazashi?" Rio pressed.
"Well, I've always had a thought that if he and I don't find someone we'll end up getting married. We've been friends for forever, and he's pretty useless without me! Rio, you don't like anyone?"
"N-no!" She lied. "Nobody…"
She likes Kenji, Ezi thought. "Y'know, the guys at our school are kinda weird."
"Then, you don't like anyone, Ezi?" Yuko said.
"No…" She rubbed her chin, "well, this is gonna sound weird, okay? There's someone I've talked to outside of school, but he's really mysterious, and I think that's why he's interesting to me, but…"
Yuko gasped. "A tall, dark and handsome stranger? You're lucky! There's no one cool in my life like that!"
"You never told me this before, Ezi-san." Rio sounded upset. "Who is he?"
"Well, I don't know anything about him, really, but it's always such an intense atmosphere when I see him, I can't explain what the feelings are when I see him. Anger, mostly. I guess I can't picture myself with him, but he may have a soft spot, even if he doesn't want to show it. And he's nosy!"
"Still, that's really cool!" Yuko said. "It sounds like Akihiko's going to have some tough competition!"
"Huh?" Ezi frowned.
"Yuko, shh!" Rio snapped.
"What? Oh…sorry." She covered her mouth, but it was already too late.
"What about Akihiko?" Ezi asked.
"Well, we're all friends here, so we'll just tell you," Yuko said "there was some dumb rumor we heard that you and Akihiko might be going out."
"What? We're not dating." Ezi stated.
"You sure? So the rumors were whacked? One of them was about when Akihiko was really embarrassed when one of the guys on his boxing team asked if you two were together!" Yuko sounded excited. "Plus, you live in the same dorm as him!"
"Well, he's awkward about stuff like that anyway. We're just friends, really."
"Wow, you sound so robotic about it," Yuko observed, "it must be true, then!" She sighed. "Well, I hope you find someone who makes you happy, Ezi-san; you deserve it!"
"As do you, Yuko." She smiled.
They switched to ghost stories, and even invited Kazashi for a few. Ezi had accidentally stepped on the remote control light switch between futons and scared everyone. Then, they went to the hot springs for some relaxation. The next morning they had a delicious egg and fish breakfast, and then they packed to leave the inn before one more fellowship practice.
.
.
Yukiko Amagi was only in middle school, but there was something mysterious and tranquil about her. She was a small cute girl with swing cut hair and dark eyes. She had watched the team out and Yuko made a theory.
"What if the ghost who turned the lights off last night was that cute girl all along?"
"Ah, so cute girls are ghosts? At least I know you're human, then." Kazashi was punched in the arm by Yuko for saying such things. They had more fun, goofing off at the last practice with the other girls at the gym, then they said their goodbyes and left the beautiful place.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It was Aigis' first mission for a full moon. She sat in the command room waiting patiently for the others as operations began that night.
"Sorry I couldn't get you guys anything." Ezi said as they walked in. "They didn't have many things to purchase at the inn, but I did have fun."
"Any babes there?" Junpei asked regularly.
"There was this one girl, but I'm pretty sure she was a ghost."
"What?"
"Will you two get serious? We're about to fight a Shadow!" Yukari chided.
"It's another full moon mission." Ikutsuki was sitting beside Aigis as he stood up. Mitsuru sighed. She seemed more tense than usual.
"Yamagishi, have you located it?"
"Yes, and it is definitely not a regular Shadow. It's in Iwatodai where the deserted homes are, the northern part. But, it seems to be in a weird place, like its underground, about 10 meters."
"Maybe its in a basement?" Yukari guessed.
"I have scanned a global position of that area." Aigis calculated. "According to the records, there is no structure that fits such a criteria. However, there was a government funded military facility that used to be there many years ago."
"Military?" Ezi echoed.
"It would seem that they did create this facility a long time back. It must still be in Aigis' records from when she was created. However, the information has not been updated for over a decade." Ikutsuki seemed worried too. They were going into unknown territory.
"I suppose we won't know the situation until we all go ourselves. We can decide who should go once we get there." Mitsuru decided.
"Right! Let's go, everyone!"
Mitsuru smirked. "Dependable as ever. Let's go."
They followed the senior's orders, and everyone (aside Ikutsuki) strode with caution stern faces as they reached the destination: a northern harbor's underground facility entrance.
"This must be the place…" Fuuka walked in with the others through the mine-looking entrance. "Why are there tread marks going in?"
"Okay, we should split into teams…" Mitsuru announced, but everyone turned around when they heard footsteps at the entrance.
"Well done." Some one said sinisterly. Before they realized it, there were other humans, two of them, standing at the entranceway.
"How? Lucia didn't even sense them.." Fuuka said to herself. They were both older men—one of them had greasy long hair, and was at abnormally thin, wearing only pants; he had a sick smile on his stubble chin and tattoos all over his bare arms and stomach. The other was a man with azure hair slicked to one side, thin glasses and green jump suit; he was holding some remote with a wire connected to it that stretched to the side of the partition.
"This is the first time we've met in person." The pale bare young man spoke with an uneasy calmness. "My name is Takaya. This is Jin. We are known to some as Strega."
"Strega?" Junpei gasped. "That rumor about the website, where you can pay people to kill or hurt someone… that was you?"
Takaya's smile widened. "We've been keeping an eye on you. From what we hear, you've taken a righteous battle to save the world."
"So, what of it?" Ezi retorted. She was worried, mainly for her friends.
Somehow, humans could be scarier than Shadows.
"Well, we've come here tonight to put an end to that dream."
"What?" Akihiko proclaimed, holding his fists up.
"You've gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin. Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always."
"You know about Tartarus?" Ezi snapped.
"Correct." Jin replied.
"Then, why would you try to stop us? What do you want?"
"Simple…If the Shadows and the Dark hour disappear, then so will our power. We can't let that happen now, can we?"
"Power?" Mitsuru realized. "Don't tell me you're Persona-users as well?"
"Why don't you use that pretty little head of yours for a change?" Takaya retorted, harshly. "Only a select few wield that power of the Persona. The Dark Hour is meant for us alone to explore… just like the tower of Demise…"
"That's your reason? Are you crazy?" Yukari screamed. "There's no telling what will happen if we don't do something about the Shadows!"
"What difference does it make?" Takaya shrugged. "There will always be disasters, whether they are caused by Shadows or not. No one can predict the future. Anyway, surely you can all acknowledge the power the Dark Hour has granted you."
Ezi did think. Her life and memories, was it all connected to the Dark Hour? There was something familiar about it, but she wouldn't give in.
"That's not true!"
"Is it not so? How about the rest of you? Do you wish to return to your pathetic, ordinary lives?"
"Of course they don't! There is nothing pathetic about our lives!" Ezi continued.
"You think I like this?" Yukari snapped.
"I don't like this one bit." Fuuka answered. "My friends are risking their lives every night to protect everyone else. It's not ideal at all!"
"You've got your reasons, and we've got our own for fighting." Jin responded. "Justice and fighting to save the day is only an excuse. It makes you all hypocrites! So I say, to hell with you!"
He clicked the button on the remote in his hand, and the partition began to close! Akihiko was the first to run to the door, but Jin and Takaya began walking away as the door sealed, and they were all locked in.
"Dammit!" Akihiko punched and kicked the metal seal, with no success of damaging it, as the fiends had probably planned it.
"Rather than waste our energy and Persona here, I suggest we fight the Shadow, first." Aigis stated.
"The Shadow is moving!" Fuuka cried. "I think it has noticed us!"
"Alright, we will have to intercept it! Everyone, prepare for battle! We need someone here with Fuuka in case those two come back."
Ezi selected those that seemed most prepared: Akihiko, Mitsuru and Aigis followed her down the dirt track lower into the facility. Junpei was in a daze after what Strega had said, and Yukari was too freaked out about being locked in to battle.
"Its running down the hall, chase after it!" Fuuka said. The four of them jogged lightly passed the ancient, dusted walls and metal scraps, as well as old rusted guns and equipment that had been scattered to the winds inside the desolate facility. Everyone was probably focused, but even Ezi was wondering about these two guys that called themselves Strega… maybe they knew something about Tartarus, or rather, the Tower of Demise.
"Are you ready? It's in the large space up ahead!" There was dark tunnel, lingering, weak, up ahead as Fuuka warned them.
"Y-yeah. Ready!" She decided. "We don't know what arcana it has yet, so stay wary."
They spread out and stood in front of the next big Shadow as they entered the deepest area of the facility. The Shadow was in the middle: a tank with long high wheels and a cannon on top, with a sort of helmet with a cross cove on the front, and angel wings attached to its back was perched above the gun.
"This explains the fresh tire tracks." Fuuka analyzed. "It must be using the tank as armor! Its arcana is Justice… wait, Chariot? What the—I am sensing two entities!"
The partition behind them also began to close. Ezi ran to it, only to not slide in enough time to stop closing them into the room.
"Damn, we fell for it twice in a row!" Akihiko snapped.
"What's that sound?" Mitsuru asked. They looked around to see a pink mist emerge from the circles in the walls all around.
Takaya's voice rang on some sort of intercom. "We thought we could use this facility's qualities to our advantage. Our gift to you: so the Dark Hour may continue, a sacrifice must be made. Farewell."
"Guys! That pink gas will numb your nerves!" Fuuka scanned.
"What?" Mitsuru summoned Penthesilea quickly to use ice on the Shadow; it did little damage to its helmet. Suddenly, the four of them were on their knees. Akihiko tried to summon Polydeuces, and it shocked the Shadow; the helmet ripped off the top with a tiny body, holding the large canon as it flew down towards them. Ezi managed to roll away before the cannon scrapped on the floor towards her, and then it flew back up.
"They separated?" Akihiko realized. He was trying to stand up, but the weight of gravity had become a large mountain pulling him in.
Ezi could barely raise her evoker up to her head. "Yukari, Junpei… Break the door down to this room… hurry!" Everything in her now was asleep.
The helmet shot the cannon at her, and she thought she would cease to exist—
—Aigis was there in a second.
She shot back and fired bullets at the Shadow as the canon deflected.
"Aigis!"
"My priority is to protect you. Activating orgia mode!" She held the tank part back with her bare hands as it tried to roll them over. Her golden joints lit up as a hidden energy consumed her form. She was able to lift the Shadow up towards the sealed door. Yet, even though it had significant impact, the metal door did not open! Aigis' body seemed to open up, and she shot targeting missiles towards the metal parts of the Shadow, creating loud explosions and fire that shook the underground place. Ezi turned her head to see the others were unable to move as they lay on the floor with their heads down, like they were already dead.
"We're on our way! Hang in there!" Fuuka told them in their heads. Aigis was spinning around the dented and damaged Shadow parts, but then she suddenly stopped—her body fell forward. Ezi assumed she had over done it and used too much power and weaponry.
"Unexpected error." She said robotically. "This was not planned." The cannon with the tiny Shadow body whacked the tip of the arsenal into Aigis, crashing her into the dirt wall, and then it fired a missile at her. When the dust cleared, Aigis was static and covered in dirt and oil, her inner wires zapping and zinging around her tired joints.
They weren't going to make it in time.
Everyone was unconscious, or at the very least, they couldn't even move to turn their heads. One more-
The Shadows turned to them, and the tank with the evil smile on its underside went back down on all four wheels, and charged at them, probably to roll them over. A hit and smash and run—that's not how she wanted to die—
Could she even truly die? One more try—
She shot the evoker to her head with the last bit of muscle she could use, then she dropped her head.
The creature that emerged roared in agony, and she had heard it before—the first night she had summoned her Persona—
The large metal head, with a body dressed in black and a long sword; it had relics that looked like graves for its wings, as it soared over to the Shadow and definitely smashed both of them to bits. Ezi couldn't look up because she couldn't move, but she assumed that was the Persona that had appeared, and that's what was happening.
Even with the Shadow defeated, they were still trapped in the room, lying there like fishes out of water. The numbness was in her chest now—couldn't breathe—
A large crashing noise was behind them. Something else had broken into the facility from another area. She opened her eyes: the pink mist was quickly being sucked into the thin gap that had been made, and there was a large figure riding a horse standing there. It was black, a sort of reckoning—then it disappeared, like a Persona should.
She and the others gasped for air as their internal bodies began functioning again. A few moments later, Hermes and Lo had broken the front door down, and Junpei, Yukari and Fuuka joined them.
"Are you guys okay?" Yukari helped Mitsuru up, and Junpei aided Ezi.
"We are now, thank you." Mitsuru was weak.
"We didn't rip that hole in the back wall, though." Junpei speculated.
"Someone helped us?" Ezi reflected on what had happened.
"Maybe they defeated that Shadow too! I couldn't see what happened." Akihiko admitted. It seemed no one had seen Ezi summon that creature again, so she kept it to herself. It was rabid and desperate and out of control, not like her other Personas; but it came when she needed it. That was control enough for her.
"A-Aigis!" Ezi ran to her with what strength she could muster.
"I will be alright." She said. "I must power down to recover."
"Okay! Thank you, Aigis. You saved us too!"
"It is my duty. Powering down now…" Her blue eyes became glazed over, and she stopped fidgeting and fizzing.
"We'll have the Chairman look at her." Mitsuru enlightened, then she sighed greatly. "We'll also have to tell him about Strega."
"I'm sorry you guys… I led you into a trap!" Fuuka cried out.
"Hey, none of us knew what was going to happen. We were all so focused on that Shadow!" Yukari defended. "But now I wonder who helped us?"
"Yeah…" Ezi pondered. "You know, I thought maybe those two Strega freaks were just trying to stop us or test us out, but I guess they've been following us for a while. When they locked us in this room with the gas though, I knew for a fact they were trying to kill us."
"Yeah. Looks like we have something else to worry about." Akihiko and the others froze for a moment. They went through the crack to the southern end of the facility near the harbor, where the fresh night air greeted them.
They had accomplished another full-moon operation. There were other Persona-users; Strega, their deadly enemy, and someone else who had saved them. The team was too exhausted to think much of it, so they went to their dorm to rest.
"Good afternoon, Ezi-san." Ken was sitting on the couch on her way out. "Did you hear on the news? Apparently this morning a lot of people who had Apathy Syndrome suddenly felt a lot better. I wonder how that happened."
They had defeated a Shadow is what had happened.
"Oh? That's really good news!"
Ezi went shopping alone to ponder the details of the previous night. Everyone else had been resting, except the seniors, when she had left the dorm. Akihiko and Mitsuru had gone somewhere, and it seemed unlikely that they would all be willing to go to Tartarus that night. She went to the Pharmacy to buy more cat food, and realized she was short on money. As Club Escapade opened that afternoon, she saw the old monk Mutatsu go in, and decided to follow suit. The bartender who could give a damn was there, so he didn't care an underage student was coming into the club. She sat with the monk on the second floor.
"You again?" He was smoking a cigar as he waited for his drink. "Don't tell me you're drinkin' anything illegal?"
"No! I just came to see you. I don't want to spend my money on alcohol anyway."
"I never gave my son any money, so I know you high-schoolers are always broke."
"I get by okay. I had a question…"
"I may have an answer, but not the one you want."
"That's why I'm asking you. So, you've had to perform funerals at your shrine, right?"
"Ah! Another depressing reason why I hate my job! Everyone's always demanding I do something unpleasant for them! Like bless them, or marry them, or ease them with the spirit of god when they're mourning! Why?"
"I was just wondering… were any of the funerals you had to do because someone was murdered?"
He blinked a few times. "Kid, I'm supposed to be the sad one. Where's all this coming from? You better not be getting into any trouble—"
"No, but you know how there's all these dangerous gangs on the island? I've just seen them get more violent. Some have even hurt people who aren't dangerous; innocent people. What if, say, the innocent ones had to defend themselves?"
"Depends if the innocent one wants to taint their souls."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, when my family inherited the Shrine, I begged my parents to let me be in charge upon their retirement. Why? Because I was young and naïve and I thought it would be easy—then the job made me hard. I lost my innocence, making poor choices on the job. There's nothing wrong with defending yourself, but I must warn you: killing another human being will make you hard."
"I wasn't…" She had thought of it. Strega tried to kill her and her friends, and they weren't done with them…
"I'm scared, I think."
"Being afraid causes people to make poor choices. Trust me, kid. I mean, look at me!"
She smiled. "You're right. I guess I should try to understand things more before anything else bad happens."
Mutatsu speculated her. "I don't know what mess you kids get into these days, but you better take care of yourself."
"I will." She stood up. "Maybe I'll stop by again soon."
"Quit coming here! This place is nothing but trouble!" That was code for maybe he wished to talk more. Ezi went to feed the cat, keeping an eye on the surrounding area. She wondered if Shinjiro would be there but he never showed up, so she returned quickly to the dorm.
.
.
In her room that night, she sensed a familiar presence.
"Hi, how are you?" Pharos had his hands behind his back. "I remembered something else!"
"Well, hopefully its something useful."
"The end won't be brought upon by anyone in particular. It's coming because there are many people who wish for it… as if it was destined from the start."
"Many people? Like Strega?"
"But, doesn't that seem like a strange thing to wish for?"
"The end? You mean, death?" She paused. "This is crazy! Those Strega guys are psycho! I sure don't want it! Don't worry, I'll stop those creeps!"
"I see… so you don't want it…" Pharos said sadly. "Well, enough about that for now. There's something else I wanted to tell you today."
"Okay, what is it?"
"Soon, the poisonous flowers will bloom. One in your own garden, and three in the garden opposite yours."
"Can't you ever just give a straight answer?"
"I am only trying to show you what you may have already conjured yourself, deep down inside of you, and reveal it to the light."
"The light? A poisonous flower in my own garden, huh?" She wondered if Strega had friends, others that could be on the island.
"I don't know whether or not this has anything to do with the end, but you should be careful."
"Well, thanks for the warning anyway."
He chuckled. "I'm happy to hear that from you."
"Hey, do you know about that Persona I summoned yesterday? It's different from the others… what could it be?"
"Hmm. It would seem a Persona is the inner part of you coming out when needed. So you would know that answer better than I."
"Not really…"
"I'll come again if I find anything useful. That's what friends are for, right?" He gave her a carefree smile. It was haunting and reassuring at once.
"Pharos… I don't know why, but thank you. I'll keep trying to find things out, too. I won't give up."
"Very good." He nodded, and suddenly he seemed less cheery. "Farewell… My dearest…"
Pharos disappeared.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The next morning, she was greeted by another unworldly character. Theo called to tell her that the new section of Tartarus was passable, and that he had a few more requests to ask of her. She hung up and lay in bed a while longer, taking in her summer break quite lazily, when someone knocked on her door.
"It's me." Mitsuru said. "I'm sorry to disturb you while you were resting, but I needed a word with you."
"Coming." She was slightly irritated as she opened the door.
"Good morning. I have something important I need to tell everyone. However I find it best if you just saw it for yourself. Come to command room when you get home tonight, okay?"
"Okay—"
"Good." Mitsuru seemed to leave rather hurriedly.
Ezi decided to go to the shrine to pray for some resolution. The young man in the pajamas was just leaving, and Maiko had her backpack on.
"Maiko? It's Saturday, I thought you didn't have cram school to go to?"
Maiko smiled without a care, standing on her heels and clenching the arms of her bag. "Oh! I have this on because I'm running away!"
"You didn't come here to play? I thought we talked about this."
"I know! Don't tell anyone where I am, okay?" Maiko took off before Ezi could say much else, so she went to the offertory box to donate, then she put her hands together.
Tartarus—the Tower of Demise—the end. It was all connecting, but it was still uncertain as to how.
"Excuse me?" A woman in a pencil skirt and salmon colored suit with short brown hair ran to her. "Have you seen a little girl? She's about in elementary school." She seemed especially nervous. A man with brown hair and wearing a suit strode up behind her.
"Calm down, dammit! Panicking isn't going to help find her!"
"What if something happens to her?"
"Oh please! You should know why she ran off in the first place! Its what happens when you force a child into studying non-stop!"
"You think this is my fault you jackass?" The broken couple bickered, and Ezi knew they were Maiko's parents.
"Look," the dad turned to her, "You're Ezi, right? Maiko told me all about you. She said she'd come her to play with a high school kid instead of practicing the piano."
"What the hell did you do to my daughter?" The mother roared in her face.
The dad stepped in. "Shut up and stop jumping to stupid conclusions!"
No wonder Maiko wanted to run. She thought, but then Maiko's mom began crying. Clearly, they both extremely worried about her.
"I will help you find her."
"Good! She left a note in her room and took her bag. She's never done anything like this before! Please, if you know where our daughter is…"
The dad seemed more calm. Ezi thought for a moment of where the child could have run away too.
"I know where she might be. Let's go."
She felt bad for ratting Maiko out, but she wasn't going to lie to her parents that seemed to care for her. They saw Maiko buying a Takoyaki at the stand in the strip mall. Her mom began scolding her, and the dad tried to calm her down.
"I don't want you guys to get a divorce because of me!" Maiko also began crying.
"I see what this is about." Her dad realized. "Maybe we could talk about it at home?" He turned to Ezi. "I'm sorry we brought you into this."
Maiko stepped out of line to face Ezi.
"You told them? I told you to keep a secret… You lied! Just like my parents do!"
"Maiko, your parents care about you, and I do too. I didn't want you getting hurt. Just give them a chance, okay?"
Maiko's mother dragged her, and her parents started yelling again as they left. She wondered if she had made the right choice, but at least now maybe they could talk out their issues as a family.
She sat at a bench and wrote all of the recent happenings so far in her itinerary, then she returned to the dorm.
.
.
.
Ezi sat and ate with Junpei and Yukari before they met everyone in the command room (except Ken, of course). They were all confused about why Mitsuru had summoned them so urgently. When they walked in, Koromaru the dog was sitting next to Mitsuru on the ground by the couch with a weird device around his neck.
"Woof!" The dog wagged his tail effortlessly and panted with a large smile.
"Koro-chan?" Fuuka's voice went up higher as she said his name. "Are you okay? What's with that collar?"
It was black with a purple buttons, and a tank top piece was strapped to his front legs, with curled in angel wings on his back, for design.
"That collar is made special to help him control his Persona. In other words, its an evoker for dogs."
"Wait… does that mean he'll be going into battle?" Yukari gasped.
"It's still surprising to me as well, but according to the tests, its possible. In fact, it was Chairman's suggestion… We'll be looking after him here in the dorm."
"No way! Is that okay with you, Koro-chan?" Fuuka rubbed his back.
"Woof!"
Aigis scanned him for a moment. "He said, 'I'll return the favor.'"
"Man, you're one loyal dog." Yukari complimented. Koromaru couldn't be more pleased with the situation.
"I can't believe we're gonna have a loyal dog help us! Welcome aboard, Koro-chan! You cute doggy you!"
"Make yourself at home! The more the merrier, right? Who cares if you're a dog?" Junpei and Yukari started petting his legs and ears as well, and he soaked in all of the attention.
"I want to take him for a walk!" Junpei decided. "It is summer vacation, after all! I got the time."
"Enjoy your vacation while you can: summer classes start next week." Mitsuru said cleverly. "I'll see to it that you graduate."
He chuckled. "H-hey, good one, sempai! You almost had me."
"Oh, this is no joke. We'll be taking intensive courses. I've already applied for all of us. The Chairman agrees it's a good way to focus and balance on studying with our late night excursions."
"You gotta be kidding me!" Junpei rolled on the floor, dramatically.
"You should be thanking her with the grades you have!" Yukari snapped.
"Finally! I was getting bored! I'm looking forward to it!" Ezi really wanted more time to search for answers, but she didn't want to argue.
"This sucks!" Junpei wailed.
"Woof!"
In any rate, SEES had a new ally. Koromaru… Though only a dog, he is a trustworthy partner, who would hopefully fight valiantly for his new comrades.
"Shall we test out your skills tonight, Koromaru?" Ezi asked.
He barked with approval, and the others made plans to go to Tartarus that night.
When they reached the floor, the black wire gate opened as they entered the stairway to the next floor, embarking on the pastel blue halls of the third black as they had before.
"Some of the enemies are bit different." Fuuka warned. "Be careful!" Akihiko and Mitsuru stayed with Fuuka this night, in case anyone form Strega decided to enter the tower.
The Shadows seemed similar to the ones on the previous floors, but a little bigger with stronger magic and firepower. The Insidious Maya with red masks could summon an explosion in seconds. The Mind Dice spun around in their chrome display, trying to slice and dice them. The Shouting Tiaras were larger with heavier crowns and more magic ice spells. Koromaru was holding a knife-like weapon that Mitsuru had provided him, and he used it to slash all the Shadows they faced.
"There's a large Shadow on the next floor! Be careful!"
"That was fast." Junpei commented.
"Are you ready, Koro-chan?" Yukari asked.
"Arf!"
"He said, 'I won't let you down'." Aigis confirmed. They walked up the stairs and activated the green portal, then they went to the hall where the large Magical Magus resided: a long white and black robed Shadow with a blue face mask and black hand wings wrapped around its body, with a jester-like hat on its head. It turned around slowly to face them, and then began flying around them in a circle.
Junpei swung his sword. "It's too fast!" One of the wings clipped Aigis, and she went flying. Yukari tried to shoot her bow, but she couldn't hit. The Magus blew icy wind at them with its black wings, Ezi summoned Naga to block the shards for them. Then, Koromaru jumped out. He howled, and from the energy inside him appeared the large creature, Cerberus. It had three black heads and a body like a black hound, with violet belly fur and pitch forks for its claws. From their three mouths breathed fire in on direction, then the other, circling the Magus so it couldn't fly again.
Ezi summoned Ose, a half–man half cheetah with a green cape on, to aid in the fight, and Junpei summoned Hermes. Ose, Hermes and Cerberus blew agilao fire at it until it perished in the flames.
"Wowie! Hermes is getting' tougher!"
"Good job, Koro-chan! That's one powerful Persona!" Ezi cheered.
"Woof!" he wagged his tale and jumped with Junpei.
"Let's keep going! I have way more energy after kicking a guardian Shadow's but!"
Yukari sighed. "Well, I guess we can go a little higher. I'm getting tired!"
On the next floor Fuuka made another announcement:
"There's someone on this floor! I can't pinpoint their location exactly, but we need to hurry and find them!"
"Okay, let's split up!"
"Hold on." Aigis pointed to Koromaru, who was sniffing the ground.
"Arf, arf!"
"He says: 'I can smell the human. Follow me'."
"No way, I'm totally following the dog!" Junpei declared. Everyone ran down the halls as they were being guided by the dog, and they fought some Shadows; there was an Ice Raven and Mind Dice that Koromaru and Yukari beat together, then they all reached the missing man at the end of the floor. Junpei and Aigis helped carry them to a portal on the next floor, then returned to ground zero.
"Good work. I'll send someone to pick this man up." Mitsuru and Akihiko went ahead with the man out of Tartarus.
"You did good today, doggie!" Yukari rubbed his head.
"Maybe Ezi-chan and I can make you some treats at the cooking club! I heard its really easy to make."
"Yeah, that could be fun!" Ezi agreed. "You deserve it, buddy."
Koromaru wagged and pranced after them. A new dog with more than helpful abilities, and it was another successful night in Tartarus. He had become a large Strength to the team!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"What you got there, boy?" Ezi knelt down to see Koromaru batting something around with his paw. "Give it here, boy!" The dog dropped a red fountain pen, and it reminded her of something. She had breakfast and decided to take him for a walk to the Naganaki Shrine. It seemed like coincidence, but the sickly pale boy in the pajamas was sitting on the bench, soaking in the sun.
"Ah, there's the dog." He said quietly, as Ezi walked towards him. She handed the Fountain pen out to him. "And there's my pen. Welcome home, my dear friend." He looked over it for a moment. "Thank you for finding it for me."
"You're welcome. I guess he thought it was a toy."
The boy patted Koromaru on the head. "My name is Akinari Kamiki."
"Nice to meet you! I'm Elizabeth Leon. Ezi for short."
Ezi, have a seat if you like. I'll write something for the two of us."
"Sounds good! Writing eases the soul." She thought about her itinerary.
"Your friends with that girl right? The one from elementary school who comes here to play."
"Maiko? Yeah, she's going through a lot."
"Still, she has a warm glow like the sun about her, and all of that energy. And then there's me, cooped up in the hospital, struggling to breathe."
"You told her you weren't sick?"
"Only so she could keep smiling. Compared to her light, I'm a vanishing shadow."
"I wouldn't say that." He was dying. She looked onward with her hands on her knees. "I've fought Shadows before. The ones that choose to be a menace. You don't seem the type."
"There are different types of shadows; like the miserable type. Misery is a harsh mistress. I feel as though I'm lying in an unyielding darkness. Can you understand how I feel?"
She swallowed. "No, I can't… I don't know what that feels like. I'm sorry."
"I didn't think so…"
"Well, I've faced darkness before, maybe in more ways than one, but your battle is different."
"Yes. Any day now, I'm going to die. I have a genetic disease without any known cure. Unless you had it, you wouldn't understand. But I prefer it that way. I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
She thought about the circumstances of the young man, and couldn't help but feel guilty somehow. She was complaining to herself about having to go to summer school—imagine not even being healthy enough to attend school.
"…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to depress you or anything. Its just I haven't spoken to someone my own age in a long time. It's natural for those like me in the dark to reach and yearn for the world of life."
"You think I'm light?" She thought about her destructive Persona.
"There's no doubt to me that you are… I'm glad we could meet. If there's a god, I'll be able to thank him soon enough for this chance encounter."
"Maybe it wasn't chance. You seem like someone worth talking to, Akinari."
"Well, I would rather you not come back here to see me when I come on Sundays. You only live once, right? So don't waste your life on the dying…" He coughed a little and stood up. "Goodbye."
…The island was small. She would likely see him again. In her new acquaintance with Akinari, there was something calming and heavily bright about his aura, even if he was the dying man. Ironically, he seemed more like a refreshing Sun than a aimless wondering shadow; one she would see again soon.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED!