Spirals

As the red light subsided, the Shadow World unveiled itself to them once again. Morioh was clearly not safe any longer, not especially after a second murder, yet still, every time they shifted into that nightmarish dimension, it was hard not to feel an intense desire to warp right back to the "real world".

They had entered from their usual gateway, next to the Owson convenience store. The fog came flooding in immediately, choking them and making it harder to see. Even if they had already entered the Shadow World with their glasses in place, it was hard to shake the growing feeling that the fog had become denser and more impenetrable every time they had returned there. To add to the hellish visage of the dark, foggy streets, the strange red vein-like roots that had been spread across the floors and walls when they had entered the last time were even more present this time, to the point where most of the floor was covered in those thin red tubes. A closer look showed that some sort of glowing liquid was being pumped under their feet, using those red tendrils as pipes. It wasn't hard to trace a comparison between those things and a giant circulatory system, pumping blood across the city.

Garm had no answer when last they had asked him about the veins and the thicker, denser fog, and from that day until then, he still had not come up with any explanation as to what those tendrils were. If nothing else, they were a grim reminder that they could never be too sure what to expect in that god-forsaken place. If Garm, who had lived there his whole life didn't understand, then they had no hope to.

Confirming that all of them were ready, Daisuke took the head of the group as usual, beginning to walk forward. Their destination was the hospital, as such, they would have to travel towards the east side of town, which meant that they would also have to pass through more open streets before they reached their destination; They would have to redouble their efforts in order to not be spotted or engage in a fight with any wandering Shadow. The thin, barely visible, but still very much real scar on Daisuke's left arm reminded him how they shouldn't take the common Shadows lightly. The way how his glass sword had completely shattered during that fight, leaving him vulnerable, still haunted his thoughts from time to time.

As they walked, occasionally they had to take a detour through a side-street, or to turn back and find a different route, trying to avoid groups of patrolling Shadows. Husks and Biters were nearly ever-present, however, among them were also new varieties of Shadows that they had not seen before. Since the wandering Shadows were a representation of the collective unconscious of the town, Daisuke couldn't help but wonder if the appearance of more and more terrifying Shadows was due to the uncertainty that was gripping the town harder, as the killer remained free and still active. They were representations of the town's collective fear.

"Hey, Daisuke," Tatsuya called, stopping his march. As Daisuke and the others stopped to look back at him, he used his right hand to point around, "Do you know where we are?"

"Do I know?" Daisuke asked, walking back to his side, "Somewhere on the west side, I think. Aren't we going to right way?"

"That's what I wanted to know," Tatsuya replied, eyebrow raised, as he continued to move his gaze across the street, "I think we're going around in circles. Something feels off."

"Now that you mention it…" Ryoji leaned against his spear using both hands, "I have a feeling that we've passed through here before."

Daisuke scratched his chin, thinking. In truth, he had for a few minutes now been wondering where exactly they would be in the real town. The denser fog, the darkness and the veins ubiquitously covering the entire cityscape, made it harder and harder to ascertain where exactly they were or even to have a general idea of it. They were standing in a crossroads, with a street stretching in front of them and behind them, but also with one to their left. With the current lack of visibility, it was hard to determine where exactly they should be heading, as every street looked the same. It wasn't too much of a stretch to entertain the idea that perhaps they had in fact looped around at some point too.

"Garm-chan, can't you use your tracking ability?" Riko suggested, looking down at the dog who stood by Daisuke's feet.

"I don't know what I should be tracking, Strength-san," Garm admitted, "And… even if I did, I don't think I could. Last time, when we were trying to find Justice-chan, I barely was able to track her, and that was after using a lot of my power."

"And that attracted the Shadows in the area to us too," Tatsuya recalled, not hiding his frustration at their situation, "We need to find some way to mark where we've been or something. Ryo, can't you like, draw an X on the floor or something?"

"I can try, but I'm not sure if it won't disappear once me and Wanderer are too far away," Ryoji passed a hand through his hair, pulling his fringe from in front of his eyes, "But if you think it's worth a try, I can do it."

"I… I think I can help."

The others all turned to look at the owner of the barely audible voice: Maki, who stood at the back of the group. As the others all looked at her, it looked like she was ready to jump behind Riko, to use her as a shield, yet she stood her ground.

"Oh yes, Maki-san's Stand is a scouting type, is it not?" Shiro said, unfolding his arms, "Perhaps she can perform her own version of Garm-san's tracking ability."

"Yeah," Maki nodded, seemingly thankful that Shiro had caught her intentions and explained them for her, "I didn't have the chance to use Delilah's abilities before. But I'm sure that she can help us find our way."

"Garm, do you think using her Stand will attract Shadows?" Daisuke asked the dog, after deliberating in silence for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, lowering his ears, "But seeing as how Delilah is a scouting stand by design, it's possible that her abilities don't cause the same energy beacon that my own tracking does. I say, better to give it a shot."

"Ok then," Daisuke acknowledged Garm's advice and looked back to the bespectacled girl, "If something happens, we'll protect you. Go ahead."

Maki's look was of someone who regretted ever having talked, yet, after taking another sweeping look at the others, she nodded, and joined her hands together in front of her chest:

"Delilah."

In response to her plea, her Stand emerged from her, not in a gulf of blue flames like the others, but with a warm, pleasant light that surrounded the metallic figure. The pink, lightning like energy that emitted from the gaps in the Stand's armour combined with the blue summoning aura, casted a warm, pleasant purple light around them.

Maki then moved her hands forward, and the Stand made glowing pink screens appear at her fingertips, very much like the ones that the group had found spread across Maki's dungeon. Moving her hands, Maki shifted the screens around, like they were on a surface, and pinching one of them, she moved her fingers to expand it, so it was visible to the others as well.

"That's… a dot?" Tatsuya said, tilting his head to get a better look.

"It's our position," Maki replied. Her voice had a sort of reverb to it, like she was speaking to them from an empty room, "Delilah is scouting the area to create a map."

Daisuke looked away from the screen and back to the Stand that hovered just behind Maki: it had its arms spread to the sides, and its face turned up to look at the sky. A humming sound came from the Stand, as well as what appeared to be a ring of light that pulsed at small intervals, traveling a few metres before disappearing again.

Back on the screen, circular waves burst forth from the blinking dot in the middle, and as they did, slowly more detail was being shown around it, detailing the street they were on, as well as the streets adjacent to it. More dots had popped up next to the original one that were grouped exactly like the places where Maki's companions were standing. However, what drew Daisuke's eyes were the red dots that seemed to be moving closer to them coming from in front of them. He had already gripped his sword and stepped forward before Maki had talked:

"Shadows ahead of us!"

Husks appeared from the corner of the street, charging at them with their long bulky arms stomping the cracked and vein-filled floor. Daisuke had leapt to meet the first of the Husks, gripping his sword with both hands and delivering a powerful sweeping cut ahead of him, the shadow being torn apart, turning into smoke and sparks, as Daisuke landed on the ground, on one knee. Old Sakura-san had not lied about the black blade's extremely sharp edge. As he returned to his feet, he saw as more Husks passed by him and rushed to meet his companions: Shiro's sabre cut down the first one, Yukino's axe split open the second one. The remaining Husks ahead of them had stopped their advance, seeing as their brethren had been so quickly dispatched. Regrouping, they took a few steps backward, their masks beginning to shake in place. Their screeches echoing through the street.

"Watch out!" Garm shouted, jumping up, "They're going to transform!"

"Starsailor!"

Tatsuya's Stand flew past Daisuke, moving its right arm like a baseball pitcher, throwing an orb of purple and black energy towards the middle of the trio of Shadows. Just as the ball of energy reached the middle of the pack, it exploded loudly, pushing the Shadows away from each other and against the walls, bursting the vein-roots on the walls and ground, making a bright pink liquid gush from them, spreading a mess around, as the shadows groaned and screeched, revolving around themselves, their fusion stopped. Their bodies seemed to be under some sort of video glitch, as parts of their body would just randomly expand or retract, the masks violently rumbling.

"Kill them before they can recover!" Daisuke ordered, sprinting forward towards the Shadow that was the farthest away.

He jumped again, holding his sword downwards, stabbing the revolute Shadow with his dark blade straight through its mask, cracking it in two. The Shadow screamed in agony, louder than he had ever heard one shout, as it transformed into smoke and ash, being swept away by a wind that only carried them. The grim choir had two more voices added to it, as behind him he saw as his fellow frontline fighters, Yukino and Shiro, had also proceeded to executing the remaining Shadows, sabre and axe descending on the agonizing creatures.

"Maki, are there more coming?" Daisuke shouted, looking back, recovering from his kneeling position.

"I… No, there aren't," she shook her head for a moment. The sudden fight had caught her by surprise, "There are more nearby, but I don't think they've found us yet."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Daisuke sighed, walking back towards the others. Wiping away the dark remains and the pink liquid from his sword, "Good job, Yukino, Shiro. You too, Tatsuya."

"What do you mean 'you too, Tatsuta'?" the blond boy said grinning, "If it wasn't for me, we'd have to fight another giant one."

"I hate to admit it, but indeed, Magician was crucial," Garm noted, with raised ears, "We now know that it's possible to stop a fusion."

"Told ya," Tatsuya laid the blunt side of his knife on his shoulder.

"The screams when they died were terrifying, though," Riko voiced, pulling back the chain on her kusarigama to lock it on her belt, "I've never heard them scream like that."

"I may have a theory," Shiro stood next to the dispersing remains of the Shadow he had just killed, "If Shadows represent humanity's, or at least, the town's dark inner self, perhaps by attempting a fusion, they are not only joining together their physical bodies, but also their collective self. They lose their individuality and their inner fears, joining together as one entity, free of self-repression. They become some sort of hive mind. Does that seem likely, Garm-san?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm… I'm not really sure," the canine admitted, "I've already told you that I am also seeing a lot of this phenomena for the first time. But… Yes, I guess that does make some sense."

"Hey, guys…?"

The conversing group all turned to look at the voice that had called them. Ryoji stood next to Maki, pointing at the screen, urging the others to come see it. As requested of them, they moved closer to the two first-years, looking at the Stand-made screen. The map that had only covered a few streets near them before, now occupied a much larger area, a complex set of streets and alleyways all connected to each other. Red dots representing Shadows were spread all around the map, as expected, some of them were also larger than others, probably an indication of the real size of the Shadow, or perhaps its actual power. However, what drew Daisuke's attention was the layout of the streets: They no longer seemed to be following a one-to-one conversion of the town on the other side, instead, streets now seemed to just stop at random sites, whilst others were now curving. The town's alleyways looked like they were forming a complex, spiralling pattern. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a sudden dread.

"Is that the real layout of the town?" Shiro asked Maki.

"Yes, I feel it," Maki nodded, still looking at the map, "Delilah's sensors are correct."

"What the hell is happening to this place…?" Tatsuya let out, more to himself than to the others.

"Maki-chan, do you know where the Hospital is now?" Yukino asked her.

"Yes, it's in the same general site as in the real town," she explained, using her hands to drag the map across the floating screen, "It's this building over here."

"That's… That's a lot of Shadows," Riko commented, looking at the red dots in and around the large rectangle that Maki was pointing at.

"That means it's probably the right place for us to look into," Daisuke concluded. He looked at Maki again, "Can you guide us there?"

The girl nodded, adjusting her glasses quickly and then moving her hands to make the screen shrink tremendously until it fit just in her palm, whilst her Stand's main body disappeared. Instead, a mechanical orb floated with pink energy next to Maki's shoulder, keeping pace with her as she began to walk, the others following behind her.

With Maki leading the way, following the map her Stand had created, they restarted their advance. This time, with the first year girl's guidance, they managed to break out of the spiral that they had become trapped in. The corridors that they walked through still looked very similar to each other, with red pulsing veins and rust covering the stone and cement of the floors and walls. As they could now know where Shadows were before they could even see them, picking the path forward was far simpler. Eventually they managed to leave the eastern residential area, and into the main streets, but with the way the fog was spreading it was hard to even tell the difference, besides the lack of the more enclosed walls.

"Shadows in front, a few meters away," Maki said, stopping, "The western block is also very… hum… spirally?"

"How many?" Daisuke asked, looking over the girl's shoulder to check the map.

"Five, I think," she answered. She used her fingers to enlarge the section of the map where they were, "One of them is bigger than the rest."

"Weapons ready," Daisuke said then, putting himself ahead of Maki and walking forward.

A few more steps and the figures finally appeared from the fog. There they stood, apparently guarding the entrance to another cramped alleyway. Daisuke had imagined the enemies awaiting them to be Husks and perhaps the mess of arms that they fought before, that Yukino had named the Hydrarms. However, they found something completely different: The four smaller shadows were quadrupeds, being similar in frame to famished emaciated wolves. Their bodies were not covered in fur however, but in what seemed to be bark and leaves. Instead of a common canine head, a red rose bloomed from their neck, with sharp teeth lining the edges of the petals. A blood-red theatre mask was stuck to their back.

More concerning, however, was the largest of the entities: Towering over not only the rose-wolf hybrids, but also over even the tallest of humans, was a very thin, gaunt figure that, like its smaller brethren, also had its body covered in bark and leaves. It was vaguely humanoid, with feet similar to long roots, and extremely long arms that ended in four sharp claw-like branches. A cloak of leaves and flowers fell from its shoulders, covering most of its chest. The head was a mess of knots, leaves and flowers, seemingly with no real symmetry, as even the horns that sprouted from the top of it had one of the much longer than the other. The light pink theatre mask was squarely in its chest, keeping the cloak of leaves in place.

"What the fuck…?" Tatsuya mumbled as the figures appeared from the fog, "Is that a human-tree?"

"Yukino." Daisuke called.

"I'm thinking Rosehowls and Sycalorde," she said, looking at him leaning her head. Changing into an embarrassed expression for a millisecond, before switching to a more serious one as she saw his face, "Oh, that's not what you wanted."

"No, it's not," for a second, he almost laughed, but managed to catch himself in time. He was still impressed with how her pun-making skills were always sharp, despite it all, "Arabella's fire may be our best weapon against them. Take point, we'll cover you."

"They saw us!" Ryoji announced, clutching his spear tighter, "Hurry!"

The large tree-man like Shadow had raised its hand, pointing towards them, emitting a loud groan like sound that urged the plant wolves to rush forward towards them, darting in a serpentine pattern. Quickly, Yukino and Daisuke switched places, as they ran to meet their opponents.

"You take the big one!" Daisuke shouted at her, "We'll kill the small fry!"

Yukino nodded, sidestepping to avoid a charging Rosehowl as Daisuke passed behind her, to meet the creature, swinging his sword and hitting its flower-like head, sending red petals into the air as the creature recoiled back onto its feet. With his peripheral vision, he could see Shiro appear at his right, pushing back his own target. To his left he saw as Riko and Ryoji both took their own targets, Riko's kusarigama chain forcing her enemy to back away, Ryoji's spear poking back his mutt. Tatsuya and Garm had stayed behind, next to Maki, comprising the rear guard, Maki had no means to defend herself, so someone should stay behind to protect their guide.

Yukino grasped her axe with both hands, but didn't get a chance to swing as she had to jump to the side to avoid a powerful slamming attack by the tree-human, whose arm-like branches could stretch forward without warning, its claws barely missing her. She had to dodge once again as the Sycalorde swung at her again and again. She managed to hit its right arm with a well-timed swing, cutting two of its claws, but it soon swung again, narrowly missing her as she backtracked.

"Help me, Arabella!"

Yukino's body was overtaken by flames as the witch appeared from her, rising to meet the Shadow's arm, stopping it with an explosion of azure flames that made the tree creature cry in pain as it stumbled backwards with its large root-esque feet shaking the ground as it moved.

As the other continued their fight, independent of Yukino's, Daisuke's Rosehowl had turned its tail on him, trying to catch-up to the girl with her back turned. He immediately took off on a run, sword at his side. He moved his left arm forward, as the fires of his soul burned past his body:

"Lazarus!"

The knight in the midnight blue overcoat glided through the fog, a sharp roar echoing through the night air as the claws of glass grasped the body of the bark-made canine pushing it violently against the cracked and vein covered floor. Its left hand gripped the blooming rose head and ripped it in half over its own head. As the smoke and ash filled the air, Daisuke and Lazarus screamed in unison. I won't let them harm you.

He looked back, turning his attention away from Yukino and the Sycalorde to the remaining Rosehowls. He had turned for a second only before he saw Shiro drive his sabre through the flower of his direct adversary, spreading petals, smoke and ash around him that stood there for just a moment, as Santigold had emerged calling forth a gust of wind that pulled the particles floating around it as she threw both Riko and Ryoji's Rosehowls upwards. Wanderer's brush shooting forth red paint thinner that hit their targets, corroding the wooden hounds, whose cries and howls ripped through the night. The eroding bodies of the plant-wolves falling on the ground, their ashes combining with the pink blood-like liquid that spurted from the floor where the vein-roots were cut.

Yukino's rage-filled scream made Daisuke turn again. Arabella's hands moved with precision, and callousness, as the Sycalorde's vines and arms were pushed backwards with consecutive sudden explosions of flame. The witch Stand's dark gown flapped in the wind, the dark feathers reflecting being lit up by the magic fire. Despite being constantly pushing and leaving burn marks on the bark, the fire didn't seem capable of spreading towards the Shadow's vitals. Yukino's stamina was rapidly draining however, using her Stand's powers like she was using was massively tiring. She needed help, badly.

"Kill it!" Daisuke shouted with a hoarse voice, spit spraying forth from his mouth, "Kill it dead!"

He had rushed towards her, sliding in place and bringing forth Lazarus, who flew against the Sycalorde's left arm, stopping it in place, holding it away from Yukino. Soon enough, the right arm was held in place by the white and gold figure of Prince. As Yukino had slumped forward a bit from tiredness, soon she found more reinforcements, as Riko and Ryoji had now rushed to either side of her. They now had a chance to attack, and a clear target: the mask.

"Wanderer!" "Santigold!" "Arabella!"

A cry of agony and pain deafened all other sounds as the combined might of the three Stand's attacks hit the large Shadow. The corrosive paint, the wind sharp as a razor and the magic blue flames all violently clashed against the theatre mask, cracking it, burning, destroying it. As the mask fell from its place and devolved into cinders, with it, the large, gaunt body of the Sycalorde gave away, being consumed by a black fire, smoke sprouting forth from the place where its "face" once was, as the creature's body fell to its knees. Ashes only remained of it after a few seconds, and after a few seconds more, even the ashes had been completely obliterated, leaving no trace behind of the creature that moments before had stood there so menancingly.

Daisuke felt his body relax suddenly as he felt the weight of the Shadow disappear, very nearly tripping and falling down; something that almost happened to the clearly spent Yukino, who was only kept on her feet by Riko and Ryoji's support. As Shiro cleaned his blade of remains, he gave a positive nod to the others.

"That…" Yukino said, letting go off the other two, standing on her own, "I'd rather not fight one of those things again. Thanks for the help."

Riko and Ryoji traded smiles of encouragement as they stepped away, letting her walk again. Tatsuya, Garm and Maki approached them, re-joining with them, Tatsuya had his hands behind his head and a large grin:

"So guess that you guys can already fight without the king's help."

"It was a good exercise," Riko responded, moving her head towards him, "Finally we got to fight without 'the king' getting in the way."

Tatsuya gifted her with a sardonic smile that was arguably funnier than the taunt itself.

"We still haven't done anything, focus up," Daisuke reminded the others. He'd rather not have to stop the others from joking, but they didn't have the luxury to stay idle on the Shadow World, "Maki, take the lead."

The girl nodded, recalling the smaller version of her Stand and reopening the map as she began to walk forward, Ryoji and Shiro next to her, and then Tatsuya and Riko, still bickering in a low tone of voice despite it all. As Yukino regained her stamina after using her axe for support, Daisuke passed next to her, patting her on the head with his right hand:

"You're fantastic, Yuuki."

She reddened a bit with the sudden praise, but soon enough responded with a smile of her own, before both of them walked on with the others, through the alleyway.

That street was a lot more enclosed than the others they had been in before, being a lot tighter and darker, to the point where they were forced to walk at most with only two people side by side. At one point, it got so dark that Maki had to activate a secondary ability of Delilah's, casting a warm light around them, so they could see. There still were tubes all around the walls and floors, but they were very different from the ones outside, those were not the veins, but instead they were roots and vines, spread over the rust and the dry blood. Once they exited the alleyway, the darkness dissipated, as they were once again lit up by the red blood moon, which revealed the large building in front of them: The hospital, covered in thorny red vines, and flowers in bright reds, pinks, white and purples. The double doors were laid on the floor, smashed to pieces over the steps. If that was Satsuki Toriumi's dungeon, someone had clearly been there before.