"Urgghh," Noriko groaned, slowly beginning to come to. "Owowowow, that hurts."
Blinking her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the darkness she found herself laying in, she placed her hands to the ground and gently pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Looking around herself, she seemed to be in some sort of very dark hallway or corridor. It wasn't one of the school's corridors, although it certainly had a remarkable resemblance. The difference was, instead of windows, the wall along her left had grimy and cracked mirrors hung at semi-regular intervals. There are doors which match those that lead into classrooms at schools, but they seemed off somehow. Whilst their design was certainly the same, the dimensions were all skewed, uneven. One door's right side would be longer than its left, the next one down had a wider top than bottom.
"What the hell is this place, some sort of movie set or something?" Noriko groaned, gently shifting her weight so as to sit with her back to a wall. "Oh oh ow, and why does it feel like I went through several walls to get here."
She hunched over as a wave of pain and discomfort roiled through her. Clutching her head, it took all her willpower just to keep herself from heaving. Once the pain had passed somewhat and she was able to take a couple of deep breaths, she gingerly levered herself up the wall into a standing position.
"Well Noriko," she muttered to herself, "you're not going to get anywhere just sitting here, are you."
'Great, I've already started talking to myself. All I need now is for bellboy or pokey-nose to turn up, and I'll know I've lost it.'
Leaning heavily on the wall for support, Noriko slowly limped down the corridor, feet dragging along the ground, but gradually gaining strength and growing into more confident strides. Coming to the first of the doors along the wall, she placed her hand gently on the handle. When nothing jumped out at her, she tentatively pulled it... and it didn't budge.
"Oh, come on," she groaned. Readjusting her grip and planting her feet, she gave it a hard tug... but... it... stood there still, resolutely remaining shut. "Welp, I guess I'll try the next door..."
But, as she had already suspected, neither the next door nor the one following it would budge. It was as though they were just decorations, set into the wall to make this place seem like a school. Sighing to herself while standing before her latest attempt, she froze suddenly as, from the distance, a loud shout reverberated through the halls.
'That wasn't a girl's scream. I'm not alone here, and if that was a guy, that could've been Yoshi!'
With that thought granting Noriko some new purpose, to find and help her friend, she gradually limped her way up to a jog in about the direction of the scream, as far as she could tell.
The geography of this strange building seemed just as twisted and deformed as its architecture. Twice as Noriko made her way down the twisting hallways, she found herself at crossroads which she'd already passed what seemed like hours before. Although her body seemed to have recovered somewhat from the initial shock and pain she'd experienced, she couldn't help but feeling a constant throbbing ache deep within her, which seemed to sap her energy, making every step feel like it took the effort of ten. Coming once again to a familiar crossroads, she paused a moment to lean on a corner and catch her breath.
"How the... hell..." she panted. "Is this place... designed..?"
Her complaints were cut off however, by yet another shout, this one clearly far closer than before. Not giving her body time to complain, she pushed off the corner and down the hall, stumbling to a stop before one of the many doors. This door was different to those that had gone before. It radiated with a palpable aura that Noriko could swear made the corridor darker the more she looked at it. The greatest difference however, was a small but plain to see crack along the end of the door, not enough to spy the other side, but enough to tell plainly that this door did in fact lead somewhere. Taking a deep breath to calm her suddenly on edge nerves, she placed her hand on the handle, pulled and stepped inside...
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What greeted her was a sight she could not understand.
The room appeared to be, similar to the halls outside, an odd facsimile of a classroom from the school. The desks and chairs however were all of different proportions, with legs of differing lengths and tops that were crooked and twisted. However, the truly mystifying elements of the room were its inhabitants. Running between the chairs and tables, jumping over, crawling under and on occasion picking them up and tossing them behind him, was Yoshi. Him on his own perhaps would have been a comfort of sorts to Noriko, but he was not alone. With him in the room, was the pursuer that was causing his mad dash around and across the room. This... thing, was something Noriko had never seen before. It appeared as though it was some sort of black oozing mass, swiftly gliding back and forth trying, and thankfully so far it seemed failing, to corner Yoshi. From what Noriko took to be it's front, two elongated arms, around the same length as the thing itself. Between them on a raised mass which seemed to function as a neck of sorts which was topped by a plain blue mask with wide dark eyes and a deep frowning mouth, both seeming to be abyss-like pits of nothingness. Whilst it appeared for a few moments to be entirely fixated on Yoshi, it suddenly turned and seemed to regard Noriko for a second or two.
"Noriko?" an exhausted Yoshi gasped out. "You're here too?"
Before she had a chance to reply, the strange blob creature suddenly put it's head(?) down and bobbed rapidly between tables and swung at her, backhanding her with enough force to send her flying across the hallway, impacting the opposite wall. Her breath went flying out of her all at once, and she slid to the bottom of the wall, winded and wheezing.
"Noriko!" she heard Yoshi cry out, though it seemed as though his voice was a far way off. Her ears were ringing too much to really make out what he said after her name, though her blurry vision did make out a thrown chair ineffectually bouncing off the creatures side as it approached, squeezing it's amorphous mass through the door after her.
Although her body had stopped responding, Noriko's mind had entered overdrive. Thoughts, ideas, fear, regrets all tumbled together into a confused swirling mass in her mind that she couldn't make head nor tail of.
'I'm going to die here.'
'Where is here?'
'What...'
'How...'
'Why am I here?'
'What is this thing?'
'Why won't my legs move?'
'Why can't I breathe?'
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'What's going to happen to Yoshi once it's done killing me?'
And that one thought awoke something in Noriko. In a brief moment of clarity, she lifted her head enough to see the creature there before her, and Yoshi behind it desperately wacking its back with what appeared to be a twisted and snapped table leg.
'Are you going to just sit there then?' a different voice said, one that came from deep within. 'Now, after all you've done already, you choose to be the meek girl who sits by, and just lets the world dictate to her?'
'No,' Noriko thought to herself. 'I know I always said to myself I just wanted to keep quiet and out of people's way, but I can't just sit by and watch as others get hurt. Especially if they don't stand up for themselves.'
'So what are you going to do now?' the voice replied in an almost scornful tone. 'Your friend is risking his life to protect you, are you just going to let this beast have its way? Are you still that foolish girl who sat and watched...'
"NO," Noriko shouted, coughing as her lungs screamed in pain from the exertion. "No, I'm through just sitting and watching. I'm through with forcing myself to be something I'm not."
The creature, taken aback by its prey's sudden apparent revival, back up slightly, raising an arm in preparation to attack once again.
'Good, you're finally ready to fight against your foes instead of simply letting them act unperturbed eh? Then a pact is in order.'
A cold wind began to build up in the corridor, flecks of frost and ice building up on the doorways and mirrors lining the hall. The creature paused a moment, lowering its arm as it looked about in apparent confusion.
'I am thou, thou art I. Simply call my name, accept this as a true part of you, and I shall grant you my power!'
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, releasing a cloud of mist from her mouth, a grin appeared on Noriko's face as she slowly stood up straight, one hand reaching for the mirror behind her as though to support herself.
"Alright then," she muttered darkly, a murderous glint appearing in her eyes as she stared down the creature before her. "You wanna fight huh?"
"Noriko..?" Yoshi said worriedly, debating with himself whether this creature or his friend seemed the scarier thing here all of a sudden. The creature, in response, simply turned back to face Noriko once more.
"I'd back up a bit Yoshi," Noriko said, placing her hand to the mirror behind her. Seeing Yoshi quickly comply, she lay her forehead against the grimy reflective surface, turning her back to the creature who reared up to strike a heavy two-handed blow. Not paying it any mind, Noriko felt a power deep within her coming up to the surface, and in her heart knew precisely what she needed to do to unleash it.
"Persona"
An eruption of ice and snow came barrelling from the mirror as though it was an open window to an avalanche. The creature was flung by the sheer force back into the classroom it had just moments before tossed Noriko from. Yoshi raised his arms to protect himself as shards of ice and polished glass the size of kitchen knives flew through the air all around Noriko, but not one seemed to harm her, and not a flinch came from her. In fact, she seemed to almost welcome the blasting cold of the air as it whizzed around and past her, spreading her arms as if to embrace it as her hair whipped about her head and giving a deep chuckle. She could feel power and strength coursing through her, the discomfort and exhaustion she'd felt since arriving at this strange place was being washed away, and even her outfit was shifting. The uniform was shifting and remoulding itself, though it's new form was blocked by the miniature blizzard that had formed around her in the corridor.
Turning on her heel, Noriko strode with a new found confidence that surprised even herself, casually grabbing the table leg Yoshi had dropped on the floor. As the wind died down around her and she entered the classroom, her new outfit was revealed. A studded leather jacket covered her shoulders and chest, whilst under it she now wore a white top covered with what seemed to be light chain mail. Her skirt was replaced by thick camo pattern combats with heavy duty steel toed boots where once she'd worn sneakers. As she stood before the creature that appeared to be attempting to shift its head so that it would be upright, a blue aura appeared about her. The air itself behind her seemed to fill with hairline fractures, which expanded and connected into a thick spider web of cracks. Raising the table leg in her right hand, she swung it behind her, shattering the air and revealing a spectral figure behind her.
The figure was at least 8 feet tall, and had the same bluish aura about them as had appeared around Noriko as she'd apparently summoned it. It was a woman, with deep red hair flowing down its back, two burning red eyes showing from behind a viking style helm. The rest of its face in shadow, upon its body it bore chain mail and a cuirass of a blue tinged metal. It's legs were clad in baggy trousers that appeared to be leather, and a pair of heavy brown boots with thick soles. In both hands, it wielded a sword that seemed almost as tall as itself, which upon its summoning, it hefted in one hand pointing straight up into the air, giving a battle cry that sent a frosty chilled mist from where its mouth would be beneath the helmet.
"Come on then," Noriko said, a grin on her face as she hefted the table leg. "Lets see what we can do to this thing, Freydis!"
Finally getting itself right side up once again, the creature gave out a deep gurgle, the first noise it had made itself since Noriko's arrival, and charged forward.
'Swing your weapon. Take them head on,' came the voice once more, the voice of her Persona. Needing no further encouragement, Noriko skipped forward once and gave a wide one-handed swing with her improvised club. The creature came forward rapidly, preparing to strike with its fist once more, and Noriko's swing connected directly on the eye of its mask. To the surprise of the creature and Yoshi, who was peeking around the doorway, this impact seemed to actually affect the creature, causing it to veer off its charge and collide with several tables and chairs, scattering them as it clutched at its eye and gurgled loudly.
Turning to face the gurgling mass, a thought seemed to arrive in Noriko's head. This creature was a Maya. A Craven Maya. Shaking her head in confusion as to how this thought came to her, Noriko was caught by surprise when the Maya turned rapidly and came at her once again. Jumping back, she instinctively grabbed for anything she could, and lifted up a small desktop that had all its legs taken off by the Maya crashing into it. Lifting it quickly, the Maya's fist collided with it and forced her skidding backward a couple of steps.
'Don't allow such a slight to go unanswered. Channel my power and strike back!' cried out her Persona. Just as when she'd summoned her Persona, she acted purely instinctively, pointing at the Maya with her table leg, her Persona mirroring her pose with its great sword.
"Go Freydis," she said, feeling the rush of her Persona's power flow through her and a concentrated beam of cold air and ice formed around then shot out from the greatsword. The Maya raised its arms to protect itself, but the cold seemed to piece through it, leaving it dazed as it once more collided against the wall behind it.
'Huh,' Noriko thought to herself. 'These dudes don't like cold by the looks of it.'
Taking advantage of her opponent's apparent vulnerability, Noriko stepped forward and hammered down with her full strength. A visible crack appeared in the Maya's mask, and the usual gurgling increased in pitch to a low volume screech like a large cat. It fixed its gaze on Noriko, and though the mask was as inanimate as any in she'd seen, she could sense the rage that she'd provoked with her continued resistance.
'The foe is preparing an onslaught. Prepare yourself!' her Persona advised, and Noriko agreed. As the Maya raised itself back up out of the wrecked tables it had landed amongst, Noriko planted her feet and raised her makeshift shield to defend herself. The dark empty eyes of the Maya began to glow, a glow which gradually increased from within until it unleashed… a burst of flame! Noriko could feel the heat through her shield, and once more her instincts screamed at her. She could almost hear them speak, 'if that thing's weak to cold, you're weak to fire'. As the flames died away, she heard the voice of her Persona within her.
'Now! You survived the enemy's assault, respond in kind!' Obliging, Noriko waved away the smoke between herself and her clearly tired foe and once more raised her club as she approached them.
"Freydis… Bufu."
Ice and frost spread across the Maya as Noriko's Persona blasted it with another beam. Tossing aside the partially ruined remnants of her shield, she took her club in both hands and lifted it high above her head, her Persona following her movements with its greatsword once again. The Maya struggled to move as the ice continued to spread, until it was frozen completely solid. With a single swing down, her club and the greatsword impacting simultaneously, Noriko shattered the Maya into pieces which scattered across the floor before slowly melting into a thin dark mist that gently disappeared. Taking some steps back, Noriko cleared her throat and turned to look at Yoshi at the door, who was staring wide-eyed at her..
"Hey there... Yoshi," Noriko panted. "You any… idea… where we are?"
"You… Monster… Ghost lady…" Yoshi said disconnectedly. Noriko could almost see all the gears jamming up trying to make sense of what he'd just witnessed. Honestly, Noriko didn't really know how to react to what she'd just done. At the time, she hadn't questioned it because it had all just seemed so natural but… She'd just summoned a freaking Stand like in Juju's Strange Escapades.
"Listen, listen, Yoshi," Noriko said, striding over and shaking him by the shoulders. "We can work on figuring out what sort of freaking fever dream we've walked into later. For now, we need to figure out if we can get back home, okay?"
"Um… okay… uh… where the hell did the outfit come from?" he replied, taking some deep breaths. The pair of them started to make their way down the corridors once again, searching for an exit.
"What, you don't like it?" she said with a grin as they turned a corner onto another identical corridor.
"No, I don't mean that, you look awesome. I mean, it… the outfit looks awesome," he sputtered, the situation and his general confusion making him more flustered.
"Yoshi! I'm just kidding," Noriko said with a grin.
"Right, sorry I'm just," he said, before taking a deep breath. "I guess I should just uh… chill?"
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"No," Noriko deadpanned.
"What, you don't like puns?" he fired back, his usual grin returning to his face. "Wow, you're such an ice queen."
"Stahp!" she groaned, chuckling a little despite herself.
"HA, you laughed, that means tha-" he stopped suddenly, a woozy look coming over his face.
"Whoa whoa, you okay?" Noriko said, catching him under one arm and guiding him to the wall to lean against.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm good, just haven't been feeling too good since I got here," he replied, hand over his eyes as he took deep breaths trying to calm his nausea. "Just uh... gimme a sec, alright?"
"Dammit, you're pale as a freaking ghost, this place ain't good for you, come on," Noriko grunted, throwing his arm over her shoulders and half-carried half-dragged him along. "We need a freaking exit here."
"I'm fine..." Yoshi breathed weakly. "Just need a bit of a rest that's all."
"Oh hell no, come on stay awake," Noriko said, desperately looking in every direction for some branch of escape whilst shaking Yoshi and trying to keep him talking.
"COME ON, everywhere just looks the same!" she yelled out in anger and desperation. She'd gone from holding up Yoshi, to full on carrying him now, and could feel his breathing becoming more and more shallow and light. Panic was beginning to set in as she turned a corner and...
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There before her was a familiar young boy, dressed in a blue and black bellboy outfit, who appeared to be going back and forth, trying to balance on a crack in the tiles of the floor. Next to him were a familiar pair of doors and a wheelchair, and beyond that a simple door that Noriko recognised easily. It was the door of the first floor ladies. Almost moved to tears at the sight of an apparent exit, Noriko hefted Yoshi up on her shoulder and sped up to a jog.
"Oh, hel- He doesn't look well, how long has he been here?" William said, shifting rapidly from his usual childlike friendliness to a surprisingly professional tone.
"I don't know, but I think he's dying, get out of the way," Noriko replied, not taking the time to even face him as she barrelled past.
The last thing she heard before kicking open the ladies door and stepping inside was William's hurried, "Watch the ste-", before she found herself once more being flung away into a deep formless darkness. For a moment, she seemed to be falling rapidly, before slowly the wind rushing past her slowed and stopped. With a lack of any impact suggesting any sort of landing, it seemed as though she was simply floating in a vacuum for a moment until a small pinprick of light revealed itself before rapidly approaching, but it was not approaching her, she was falling toward it. She instinctively braced herself for the impact that... Never came. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw before her, slightly distorted as though through a pane of glass, the bathroom that she and Yoshi had confronted Sugure. Gently, she laid her hand on the glass to try and wipe away any grime in the way, but the moment she touched it, a ripple passed through it and she felt herself be yanked forward, pitching straight forward onto her face and landing...