Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 – 16:06
Hermes Street
Fraser Blair managed to acquire five sets of scuba diving equipment and they would be using them against the individual shadow tonight.
Yuuki was carrying her diving clothes, mask and air cylinder home. Her brother, Daigo, was doing the same as one of the two male suits was so small that only he could fit inside. This didn't bother him, since he had 'always wanted to swim underwater', but she would have preferred him to stay topside.
The rain was coming down in regular bursts, causing the siblings to become soaking wet by the time they reached Hermes Street. Yuuki felt her school uniform clinging tightly to her body and she couldn't wait to have a shower having laboured the heavy equipment from the centre of town. She knew she should have asked Mr Blair to deliver it to her house.
"Oh my, do the two of you need any help?"
Yuuki and Daigo turned around and saw their neighbour Elaine standing next to them. She had a reusable shopping bag in her hands and was wearing a waterproof anorak to protect her from the elements. A welcoming smile covered her face as she looked at the two teenagers.
"We're fine Miss McDonald," replied Yuuki, "it isn't as heavy as it looks."
"Please call me Elaine. Oh, I have an idea, would the two of you like to come to my house later. I could tell you more about your mother when she was young."
"I'm not sure," said Daigo, "we've got stuff to do tonight."
"I just bought some cakes and sweets."
"…what kind of cakes?"
"DAIGO," yelled Yuuki, "that's very rude."
"You truly are your mother's daughter," commented Elaine, "if you have time then please stop by."
Miss McDonald returned to her home. Yuuki and Daigo also hurried out of the rain and hid the equipment they were carrying in their rooms. Yuuki then went for a wash.
Once she was finished she started thinking about what her neighbour had said. In truth Yuuki was very interested to hear stories regarding her mother when she was young. Elaine had made the comment 'you're your mother's daughter' more than once and she was curious to know why. Now feeling refreshed and with her ever lengthening hair nice and clean she put on a pretty dress, some light makeup and chapped on her brother's door to see if he wanted to come along. To her surprise he did.
aaa
"Yuuki, Daigo, it's so good to see you! Come on in, come on in."
Elaine's enthusiastic welcome made the Hashimoto siblings feel awkward, but they did as they were told. They were taken to the dining room and sat down on the vacant antique pine chairs. Their host soon followed carrying a tray of assorted chocolate bars, biscuits and a delicious looking black forest gateau cake that had been sliced into eight equal parts. Daigo reached over to grab one but Yuuki slapped his hand before he could.
"At least wait until it's been offered," said Yuuki wearily.
"That's alright," said Elaine dismissively, "I offered when we spoke earlier, please try a little Daigo."
"Thanks!"
Yuuki growled under her breath. When offered something to drink she politely asked for a plain cup of tea and nothing else. Elaine happily matched her request and sat down again.
"How is Gavin?" asked Yuuki, "I haven't spoken to him for a while."
"You know what he's like; he's still so chronically shy around girls. I sometimes worry about that boy. I wouldn't mind so much if he could meet a sweet girl like you."
"Yuuki, sweet?" interrupted Daigo whilst he was eating, "are we talking about the same person?"
Yuuki glared at her brother but remained silent.
"But Yuuki is such a polite young lady," replied Miss McDonald, "and like her mother she only criticises those she truly cares about."
The mention of her mother propped her ears. Both she and Daigo fell quiet as Elaine continued.
"Little Mhairi was such a placid girl most of the time. She would only ever speak up around her parents or my sister Vivian, and even then it was to argue. She was like that with your dad too. Oh how he tried to get Mhairi to talk to him. He would do anything just to get her attention. There was one time when he serenaded her but forgot the words, and then he wrote her a letter and it blew away in the wind, and apparently when he finally met her mother he kissed her on the lips because a work colleague of his told him that's what he was supposed to do. But he won over Mhairi in the end."
Yuuki let out a giggle. It sounded like the type of thing that would happen to her father.
"So why did our parents get together?"
"For your dad it was love at first sight," explained Elaine, "your mum was a real beauty when she was younger. But for Mhairi…I guess it's because he tried so hard. She could tell how serious he was and that might have convinced her. But then it could be because her parents hated him. All you would hear them say was…oh goodness, listen to me, whatever would they think of me if they knew what I was saying." Elaine began blushing lightly, "I must have been away with the fairies there. Please don't tell them that I said anything."
Both Yuuki and Daigo nodded, much to Miss McDonald's obvious relief. Yuuki glanced towards her younger brother and noted how intently he had been listening. She thought that she was the only one who was interested, but she knew now that that wasn't true.
Elaine rapidly changed the subject and focused on Daigo and how he was settling in to life in a different country, but Yuuki continued to think about her parents. It was strange to think of them once being young and having romantic misadventures.
After a while Yuuki and her brother said their goodbyes. Elaine appeared sad to see them leave but they needed to prepare for tonight's battle. As she disappeared from view Yuuki heard the 'social link' voice speak to her in its distant, echoing tone.
"Thou hast established a new bond. From hence forth the Sun Arcana shall bless thee."
Her neighbour had genuinely enjoyed their company. Yuuki thought about what she knew of Elaine. She enjoyed gossiping, that much was obvious, but there was little else.
With midnight encroaching relentlessly Yuuki realised that she didn't have time to consider anything other than the shadow, however she promised herself that she would visit Miss McDonald again soon.
aaa
The nine persona users of ASH were gathered on Bridge Street at the edge of the Spynie River. Five of them, Yuuki, Daigo, James, Senga and Lorraine, were wearing skin-tight wet suits while the rest had their light jackets, although none were active as it was before midnight.
The size of the scuba diving suits determined who would be wearing them. Terrance was too large to fit into either of the male outfits, while Rebecca was too 'well endowed' for the female variant, a fact which didn't upset her in the least. Iain was only needed to scan, which was something he could do from the land while Priscilla confessed to being hopelessly inept at swimming.
There was roughly an hour remaining before midnight and this time was being used to practice diving. Lorraine was the one who gave most of the instructions. She had some experience from family holidays, but she wasn't Jacques Cousteau. Slowly everyone involved reached a basic level of competency.
"Terr-bear," cried Bonnie whilst playing with her wet hair, "how do I look?"
"If God made anything prettier than you then I hope he kept it for himself."
"Oh you."
Lorraine then playfully punched Terry in the arm. He turned his attention to Senga.
"You're looking mighty fine too. I didn't know you had a butt."
"Your butt makes up for both of us," she retorted, "scratch that, I'm selling it short."
"So you've noticed it. It's hard to see past my buns of steel."
Terry then looked at her.
"Wow, meow Yuuki. Damn you're fine. If I could-"
"If you could what Terrance Alison Clyde?" interrupted Lorraine.
"If I could, err, scan the shadows as well as Iain then I would be of more help."
Yuuki sighed. She wished her friend would stop giving her inappropriate compliments, especially when his girlfriend was around, although she acknowledged that it could be his way of dealing with stress. Away from everyone else she noticed Iain writing notes onto a piece of paper. He repeatedly glanced along the river between his flurries of scribbles.
"What are you doing Iain?"
"Ah, Yuuki, I was considering some of the issues we may encounter during this operation."
"Like what?"
"First is lighting and second is concerning backup strategies should there be any alterations required. I was attempting to determine the best locations for us to lower two waterproof lights which I brought along with me and I believe I may have found suitable positions. The real issue is responding to unforeseen situations. Your movements and communication will be limited, preventing any complex manoeuvres and, should any of you become stuck under the surface, it would be unlikely that anyone could help you."
"If we make a mistake we'll probably die," interpreted Yuuki.
"That is correct."
The moment Iain uttered those words the other world came into being. Covering the two banks of the river, and stretching down its length, was an opaque curved dome. Senga stepped through it first, followed by the other members of ASH. The closed space was now transparent, the opposite of how it appeared from the outside. The water was perfectly calm, which Yuuki knew would assist them greatly.
Iain summoned his persona, Nagasena, and began scanning.
"There are a number of shadows approaching. Their speed and strength are lower than we are accustomed to, however the effects of using a persona underwater are unknown. Judging from its position and relative speed, the individual shadow should arrive in twenty five minutes. Unfortunately I won't be able to provide you with continuing assistance and therefore I recommend extreme caution."
Everyone nodded. Yuuki and her four colleagues who were about to follow her into the river placed their clear goggles over their eyes and made one final check of their equipment. They were about to dive in when Becky shouted towards them.
"Wait, I nearly forgot!"
"What's wrong, Becks?" asked Senga.
"I brought cling film for your phones, to keep them from getting wet."
The blonde haired girl enthusiastically pulled the wrap out of her pocket along with a pair of scissors. Yuuki had assumed her cell would cope with the comparatively shallow water but decided that extra protection was a good idea. They lined up in a neat queue as Rebecca prepared their phones for submersion.
"I saved the day," said Becky smugly, "I'm not just a pretty face,"
"That's right," agreed Terry, "you're a pretty face with brains and massive-"
"Massive what Terrance?" interrupted Bonnie.
"Massive, err, capacity to think outside the box."
Now fully prepared the five persona users jumped into the river and attempted to gain their bearings. It was difficult to see anything until two balls of light were lowered in to just below the surface. Yuuki received a 'thumbs up' signal from her four companions.
Within a few minutes the first shadow had appeared. The creature announced its presence by attacking before any of them had even seen it. Flapping her arms to regain her balance, Yuuki gazed up at the thing before her. It had hundreds of long red and white tentacles that stretched out one meter from an earth coloured ball. The impact from its 'arm' wasn't very strong, but Yuuki was nonetheless wary.
Daigo was the first to react. He summoned his persona, Hephaestus, and ordered it to attack with a fireball. The flames were unaffected by their watery surroundings and rapidly advanced towards the shadow. It hit. The tentacle creature reeled backwards however it didn't retreat or fade. Instead it grew larger. Yuuki desperately waved towards her brother but it was too late, he had already attacked again.
The shadow continued to grow every time it was touched by fire. By the time Daigo's stream of flame was over, the creature had become three times larger than its original size. Yuuki gestured strongly at her brother, who appeared to finally understand. Senga went next with ice and while it didn't aid the shadow, it wasn't distinctly adverse either.
Yuuki evoked her versatile persona Pangu. She ordered him and his animal accomplices to try everything against their enemy and they duly complied. The wind from the Qilin had little effect as did the physical attack from Pangu himself, but when the phoenix began charging an electric burst the shadow turned around and headed away from them. The lightning bolt struck the giant tube worm and the creature collapsed in on itself and dissipated into the water. Through the bubbles generated by its death throes however appeared another adversary, an electric eel. The persona users readied themselves.
After dispatching a handful of bizarre but weak shadows Yuuki, Daigo and the others swam up to the surface. They knew their main opponent was due to arrive shortly and each of them wanted a short break to prepare. She looked towards the bank and saw the rest of her colleagues standing there.
"How's it going?" asked Becky.
"Fantastique!" cheered Lorraine, who was the first to remove her mask, "it's really refreshing. We should definitely come here to practice."
"It's too dangerous to do that you daft lassie," stated James harshly, "and who would pay for the gear? And not everyone-"
"Calm down, old man, we get it," interrupted Rebecca in a cheeky tone, "you don't want Prissy to think you're a miserable bugger do you?"
James covered his eyes with his goggles and dropped below the waterline. Becky then turned to Daigo.
"You're really lucky. You get to see Senga fighting in a tight fitting costume, you naughty boy. She looks really pretty doesn't she?"
"Don't ask me!"
"Are you blushing? Aww, isn't that sweet?"
Daigo let out a disgruntled noise before following after James. Yuuki wasn't sure what had upset them. She glanced towards Iain who was trying to gain her attention.
"The individual shadow will be arriving imminently. It uses ice and is weak against fire. I recommend allowing Daigo and Senga to take the lead. Also it is very manoeuvrable, and will have a distinct advantage unless you can restrict its movement."
"We'll try our best."
"Its strength isn't very impressive but its speed is not to be underestimated," stated Iain firmly, "it may be advisable to recuperate for a while and return when you are better prepared."
There was a focused edge to his eyes that Yuuki had rarely seen before. She gave him a reassuring smile before glancing towards Senga and Bonnie. The three girls dived back into the river water and waited for their enemy to appear.
The water in the distance started to become choppy and dark. Gentle waves of growing intensity were now hitting them, as though the current was slowly returning. Yuuki kept her gaze trained straight ahead. Her breathing became heavier as the perfectly sleek black shadow drew closer. Soon she recognised what it was, a submarine.
Every individual shadow they had encountered had been a weapon of war, from the charioteer to the WW1 tank, and this was no exception. It was unusual, in that it was one of the rare examples of a shadow being smaller than its real life equivalent, but in this instance that was to its advantage.
Yuuki saw her brother looking towards her. She indicated for him to attack which, after a moment's hesitation, he did. He drifted next to Senga and unleashed a sequence of furious efforts against the approaching shadow. The submarine didn't alter its course and continued directly towards them. James swam to Daigo and dragged him out of the way as the shadow drifted past.
Out the corner of her eye Yuuki saw her brother waving his arms angrily towards James, but her focus was on the shadow that was powering its way towards her and Lorraine. She summoned her persona Coatlicue in an attempt to stop the submarine, however it changed course suddenly, causing her to miss.
Immediately Yuuki felt blocks of ice impacting against her, making her shiver and fumble around. It hurt. Her opponent had exploited her persona's weakness. She had experienced worse pain but she knew that she couldn't tolerate too many more of those attacks.
The shadow launched 'ice torpedoes' from its nose which made contact with Senga and James. It moved before Daigo's fireball could connect and released another series of attacks against them. Yuuki wasn't sure if she should change persona or not. Coatlicue was risky due to its vulnerability to ice, but she knew if it hit then the submarine would be damaged. A healing wave from Lorraine swept over them, negating their opponent's recent assault and arresting some of Yuuki fears.
A sudden impact took Yuuki by surprise. The shadow was surging towards her. She attacked with fire however the river was just wide enough for the submarine to dodge. It pounded in her direction, causing her to momentarily panic. Her arms flapped wildly as she tried to move, but she couldn't get out of the way. She shut her eyes.
An intense heat at her side brought her back to her senses. The shadow had changed course thanks to her brother's last minute intervention. That had been too close.
Once she was able to calm down Yuuki moved towards her colleagues and motioned for them to form a line. Her hope was that the shadow wouldn't be able to move as freely if they denied it a path around or between them. It was impossible to tell if they understood, but they were doing what she wanted. Yuuki was in the middle with James and Bonnie to her right and Senga and Daigo to her left.
The submarine moved in a straight line towards them. As it travelled Yuuki and Daigo began peppering it with fire. The shadow weaved but couldn't avoid all of their efforts. It attempted retaliating using ice however it had limited effect on Daigo, and none on Yuuki, who Senga was protecting.
Soon its movements slowed. It wasn't as graceful as before, nor could it turn as quickly or tightly. Yuuki saw her brother charge forwards, away from the rest of them. She didn't stop him as it was clear who was going to win. Every salvo he launched made contact, which weakened the shadow yet further. After a little while the submarine plummeted to the river bed and never returned. The fighting was over.
aaa
It was a warm experience to come out of the water. Yuuki removed the large air tank from her back, dropped her goggles to her feet and shook her hair loose. Water droplets flew through the air and floated to the ground. The limited dome that had covered the river ands its banks was now gone, however the other world was yet to end, meaning the group was in a sea of darkness interrupted only by the light jackets of those who had waited at the side.
"Don't push me around like that!" yelled Daigo towards James, "I had it covered!"
"Are you a numpty or something?" retorted James, "if I hadn't moved you then you'd be sleeping down there with the shadow."
"No I wouldn't! It was about to run away but then you dragged me out of its path and let it hurt Yuuki."
"I think your memory is fading kid."
"And don't call me a kid! It's not my fault you're a chicken!"
"Calm down you two," interrupted Becky, "everything's alright, so there's no need to fight. Neither of you want to look bad in front of the woman you love."
"QUIT SAYING THAT!" they yelled in tandem.
Yuuki walked over and chastised her brother.
"You're being rude Daigo, now apologise."
"But I didn't do anything wrong sis!"
"Now!"
She watched as her brother fidgeted with his fingers and stared at the ground. Then, in the faintest of whispers, she heard him say 'sorry'. Yuuki then turned towards James.
"I know you're trying to look after him, but Daigo can take care of himself. Don't treat him differently just because he's younger."
James simply folded his arms and looked away. Yuuki released a sigh of resignation. She wondered why the central shadows couldn't have attacked more mature people than the two standing before her.
"Are any of you injured?"
The voice belonged to Iain. Yuuki shook her head, "Lorraine was with us, so we're fine."
Iain appeared relieved. He must have been worried about the shadow, thought Yuuki. She looked at him for a while. There was good reason for him to be concerned. Had this fight taken place in a larger area, where the shadow could manoeuvre more easily, then it would have had a better chance of beating them.
Indeed the circumstances had favoured them last time too. The previous individual shadow would have been a more difficult challenge if the battle had taken place under different terrain. These creatures were showing great potential however their environments were hindering their progress far more than the central types, making it impossible to tell which was truly stronger.
"You two are acting awfully friendly." Yuuki glanced towards Rebecca. "Yuuki and Iain sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, second comes marriage, and third comes a baby in a golden carriage!"
"W-What are you talking about?" stuttered Yuuki.
With those words came the end of the other world. The sound of water trickling its way serenely past the rocks and fauna returned, as did the smell of nearby flowers and grass. Yuuki stared up at the heavens. They had won tonight, leaving them with just the last central shadow separating them from peace and victory.
She started to feel excited for the real fight was about to begin.
aaa
Wednesday, March 4th, 2015 – 17:12
'Gym'll fix it'
Bridge Street
One more sequence of murders and it would all be over.
That was the thought which continued to reverberate through Yuuki's mind. She upped the tempo of her treadmill. Her feet had become sore, but she ignored the pain as best she could.
Earlier that afternoon Yuuki had made the briefest of visits to the Velvet Room. She wanted to know if she was ready to face the final central shadow.
"The prophecy is yet to change, and you are less prepared now than you were during your last visit."
She wondered if he was trying to scare her. Her personas were stronger, her colleagues were more powerful and they were all focused on winning, so how could she be 'less prepared'?
Yuuki increased her speed again. Igor's words were the reason she had come to this health club. She doubted that exercising her body would make much difference but it served the dual purpose of making her physically stronger and relieving some of the stress she felt. If nothing else it would ease her mind.
As she ran Yuuki noticed her black hair swaying in tandem to her. It was still a few inches shorter than when she first arrived in Bishopmill, but it was nice having it long again. It made her feel more feminine. Soon she would need to tie it up to prevent it from going into her eyes however in the confines of the gym she was content to leave it be.
After a few minutes running at the third highest setting Yuuki began to tire. Her hair wasn't flowing the way it had before and breathing was becoming more difficult. Realising that she was near her limit she stopped her exercise machine and stepped off. Her legs were wobbly. 'Perhaps I overdid it', whispered Yuuki to herself.
"Running is easier when you lose yourself, right?"
The voice came from behind. Standing there, holding a bottle of still water and wearing a brown tank top under a weighted vest, was Priss. Drops of perspiration were trickling down her tanned skin which she was gently patting with a towel. Her face was normal at first, however when she noticed a guy at the side of the room was looking at them it became more downcast.
"Your form is very good, although you should practice a little downhill inclination. It might not seem as helpful as uphill gradients, but it teaches you to use shorter strides and trains your legs to move more quickly. And doing something different isn't a bad thing. Are you ready for a shower?"
"Eh?"
"Please don't respond like that," pleaded Priscilla, "I can't tell if you're teasing me or not."
"S-Sorry."
aaa
Yuuki felt much better following her shower. She put on the fresh clothes that she had brought with her and was in the process of combing her hair. Priss was doing the same.
The two girls were alone in the moderately sized changing room. The layout was simple; there were pairs of half sized lockers hugging the outer walls with sets of wooden benches in between. The mild yellow tones with flurries of pink were pretty, if not very well maintained. Yuuki could see gaps were the paint had peeled away. The smell was very pleasant and it was clear the gym management had worked hard to achieve that.
"How come you weren't working today Priss?" asked Yuuki.
"My shifts were changed; this is more convenient for me."
Her short, sharp answer indicated to Yuuki that she didn't want to talk about work. She decided to ask about something else.
"Erm, do you have any pets?"
"I don't get on with animals."
Another short answer. Yuuki wondered what else she could mention.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters? Or a boyfriend?"
"I was an only child and I'm single."
Yuuki gave up. She presumed that Priss was in a bad mood about something but was trying her best to remain polite. After thirty seconds of silence Yuuki sensed that she was being watched. When she turned around she noticed Priscilla was looking at her.
"Can I tell you something Yuuki?"
"Erm, sure, anything."
"When I was younger, I had a few problems, and I did things that I'm not proud of. I don't think I was a bad person, but I did these things because I wanted to ignore what was going on around me."
Priss paused for a moment, as though to think about what she wanted to say. Yuuki remained silent. She was happy to listen, even if none of it was making much sense.
"Something bad happened and I wanted the pain to ease," whispered Priscilla, "but it wasn't long before that became an excuse. Someone I was friends with at school finally made me realise what I was doing but it was too late. What I want to tell you is, no matter what you do, or what you say, or who you become, I want to do for you what she did for me, if that ever happens to you."
"Priss I-"
Their conversation was interrupted when a group of loud, chatty women entered.
"Hey look its Cilla!"
"Quiet down," said the second, "she quit running remember?"
"Did she," replied the first, "why did she do that?"
"If you keep talking she'll hear you."
Priss stood up, gathered her bag, and marched out of the room in a machine like manner. Yuuki wanted to chase after her, but there was something in the way she moved that told her she wanted to be left alone. Yuuki decided to wait a few moments before leaving. She spent the time going over what she had heard. What was it that Priss did which was so bad? And what was it that hurt her?
Although she was curious about these things Yuuki was most interested in what her friend said at the very end.
"…no matter what you do, or what you say, or who you become, I want to do for you what she did for me."
Hearing those words made her feel warm inside. For Yuuki, it was one of the sweetest, and most confusing, messages she had ever been told, but it also told her a great deal about Priss. She was good person at heart, even if she didn't believe it herself.
"Thou hast enhanced a bond. From hence forth the Chariot Arcana shall bless thee."
Yuuki placed her belongings in a bag and headed home.
