A/N: Guess what we gon be starting this chapter. Hoo Boy, please be warned that it might take a bit longer than usual for me to release the new chapters, my schooling just began again, and I would like to focus on it. Though it's nothing but syllabuses right now and the work is just reading and writing something I'm good at. Only one class requires me to create a tiny portfolio and turn it by Friday. I'll get most of it done before Thursday so I can continue to write this.
30
20 September 2009
Dark Hour
Shinjiro looked at the cut he was bandaging up. Rosemary had been teaching Fuuka how to cook as an apology for not being able to go to the cooking club due to the typhoon that had rolled through the area. Somehow Fuuka had knocked a glass over and it had shattered on the ground. The bluenette had been hit the worse. He had to pull some shards out of her right leg and she barely reacted to it. Her leg did twitch a bit when he removed them, but other than that she was still.
"I'm so sorry, Rosemary," Fuuka apologized.
"It's all right," Rosemary softly said in a calm voice, "accidents happen, I'm not upset."
'Does your leg hurt?' Shinjiro asked in her thoughts and she slightly shook her head.
Her leg felt fine. She was quite happy that he was being gentle when pulling out the small shards that had cut into her leg. He thought he was a bad guy? He was gentler than some of the doctors she'd been to. The one that pulled out her IV had tried to be gentle but wanted to quickly remove the needle so she could put a bandage on it to stop it from bleeding. She wasn't upset about that; she understood the reasoning. She did feel a bit nervous when he moved his hand down her leg to keep it stable as he wrapped the bandages around it. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding as she fought her sudden nervousness.
She was easily injured, and he sometimes forgot that. He tied the bandage off and she put her shoe back on. Yamagishi was still fretting, and he watched as Rosemary tried to calm her down when she finally stood up. She was favoring her left leg more, but not making it obvious. It seemed to work, and the teal-haired girl took in a deep breath before smiling at the taller girl.
"Let's get this all cleaned up," Rosemary said before gaining an amused expression, "I think Minato wants to try and explore Tartarus tonight, sometimes I don't even understand him."
She would be allowed to fight. She seemed to have bounced back a bit since the camera was removed from her room and she was finally able to get some decent sleep, though nobody knew where she had slept one night to wake up looking so refreshed. Fuuka nodded her agreement and the two girls easily cleaned things up as Shinjiro finished the food. Cookies, a simple dessert, yet he could easily tell which one belonged to who. Fuuka somehow made her batter on the darker side while Rosemary's was a golden brown. It was a nice treat to bring with them to Tartarus, though he doubted anyone would be eating Fuuka's. Her cooking was terrifying in its own right. Sometimes he believed it had a mind of its own.
Once everything was cleaned up and all the cookies were finished, they headed over to Tartarus to meet with the others. Yukari seemed glad to see the blunette at Tartarus once again but made a mental note to tell her to take a break when she needed one. Junpei was lamenting the fact that the culture festival was canceled due to the typhoon.
"It's too bad it got canceled in the end," Junpei commented, "it would've been nice to look back on."
"There's always next year," Yukari reminded him, though it wasn't unkind.
'The school missed out on two Café's I think that's what's he's lamenting.' Shinjiro muttered in his thoughts and a small smile appeared on Rosemary's face as she handed Ken a small thing of cookies.
"It would've been awful if someone had gotten hurt due to the typhoon," Fuuka added.
"Since we were unable to ensure the students' safety, we had to cancel," Mitsuru said before gaining an apologetic look, "I feel bad as the student council president."
"Don't the safety of the students is more important than a festival," Rosemary said.
"No one was blaming you," Akihiko added, "it just shows that even we can't fight mother nature."
"Like you wouldn't try if we could," Rosemary teased him, and he grinned in response.
It seemed to lift everyone's moods a bit. Shinjiro discreetly looked around. He didn't know where Minato had gone. In fact, only Rosemary seemed to know what he was doing. She looked towards a specific spot and tilted her head in thought. She didn't know what was taking him so long. She brought a hand up to the back of her neck and rubbed it thought.
"Where'd the leader go?" Shinjiro asked.
"He is over there," Aigis informed him as she motioned towards the space that Rosemary was looking at, "he mentioned going to acquire a new persona."
"He's in the velvet room right now," Rosemary confirmed, "I can't hear through the entrance so I can't really tell you what's taking him so long."
"It's hard to believe that there is another dimension that appears alongside ours," Mitsuru said as she brought a hand up to her forehead in thought.
"What is the dark hour then?" Rosemary countered and Fuuka gave a nod of agreement, "The dark hour itself is a pocket dimension that can only be accessed during a specific time."
"I think you've read too many science fiction novels," Shinjiro informed her.
She gained a put-out look at that and so did Fuuka. Ah, he didn't mean to insult them. They really enjoyed reading about robots and space. Junpei grinned to himself as he watched Shinjiro's micro-expressions. It was entertaining to watch the sullen teen sweat over the possibility of upsetting their supporting members. He put his arms behind his head in amusement.
"How's the cold treating ya?" He asked Rosemary and she turned to him with that put-out expression.
"I'm glad it seems to be over with," She sighed, "I'd hate to go back into remission and be bedridden for a longer time."
Koromaru barked in agreement and she smiled at him. Aigis had one on her face as well, but it didn't look natural. Minato and Rosemary had been stuck in the early stages of the typhoon due to their clubs calling them in early to help set everything up. It was no surprise to the other members when they walked in with their clothes drenched and shivering. The fact that they got sick wasn't even a surprise, but a given. Minato had it worse due to being forced to sleep it off, though Aigis was there to make sure he stayed in bed. Rosemary was a bit better in that she could stay awake. Ken and Koromaru kept her company and Shinjiro made her food.
"Did you figure out what was bothering him?" Yukari asked.
"No, sorry," Rosemary apologized before gaining a serious expression, "but I have to agree with him, something feels off."
"What feels off to you?" Akihiko asked.
"It's hard to explain, but…it's like something's here that shouldn't be here," She said with a frown, "I can't pick up any foreign thoughts and Fuuka hasn't sensed anything so it could just be leftover paranoia."
Everyone tensed when a loud sound began to chime from above. Rosemary couldn't help but wonder if the light streaming through the door into Tartarus had grown brighter. Still, no one could identify where the sound was coming from, but they knew what it was.
"Is that…a bell?" Mitsuru asked with a frown.
"Sounds like it," Rosemary said.
After a few more rings the bell stopped. Everyone seemed to relax at that. Akihiko brought his hands together and cracked his knuckles in thought. Shinjiro cringed at the sound, he was just as bad as Rosemary. She did that too, and she let out a louder sound.
"It stopped," Akihiko muttered.
"I want everyone alert," Mitsuru ordered, and everyone nodded, "We'll get to the bottom of the noise."
"I'll look around with my persona," Fuuka said, "Rosemary, could you search for anything that might be hiding behind a shield?"
"No problem," Rosemary nodded and jumped when Fuuka shrieked.
"What's wrong Fuuka?" Akihiko asked, worry lacing his tone.
He did not miss the curious expression sent his way by Rosemary. She blinked before nodding at him. Was that her approval? He didn't realize he needed that. Fuuka gained a sheepish expression as she looked down at the ground. She seemed embarrassed.
"I'm sorry I saw a spider," Fuuka apologized.
Rosemary frowned in thought. How would a spider be around in the dark hour? She'd never seen one during this time. No one had. Fuuka seemed to grow a little confused as she looked around for it. Where had it gone? Was it just her imagination? Rosemary hoped that the other girl was simply tired and that the foreboding feeling she was getting didn't have any weight to it.
"A spider?" Akihiko quietly asked.
"I don't see it, maybe I just imagined it," Fuuka softly said, a frown on her face at the implication of that.
"No, you saw somethi-" Rosemary looked up when the lights turned off.
Her heart started to pound in her chest, and she tried to find someone. She'd settle for Junpei of all people. She wasn't the biggest fan of the dark, all right it was something that scared her as much as the ocean. She knew her fears were childish, but they were mostly brought about by her mistreatment from her mother. She'd been locked in a dark room enough times to have a healthy dose of unease when in a dark area. She searched around the darkness until her hand hit someone.
"Woah, who grabbed a hold of me!?" Yukari exclaimed fear lacing her voice.
"Sorry, that's me," Rosemary quietly said, "I didn't mean to startle you."
"You too, huh?" She softly asked.
She got an uneasy sound in reply. Yukari wondered where Shinjiro was in the dark. She'd probably be more comfortable around him. She smiled a bit when her arm was lightly tapped by the taller girl. They shielded their eyes when they were suddenly in a well-lit place again.
"Oh, hello Theo," Rosemary greeted her velvet room attendant.
"Miss Rosemary, hello," Theo greeted back, though he seemed perplexed to see the rest of the SEES members in the velvet room.
Rosemary shouldn't even be able to step inside the velvet room belonging to Minato. Her own might try to fuse with it and, judging by her nervous expression, she was aware of that fact. She slowly let Yukari's arm go and stepped back. She walked up to Akihiko and raised a brow; he was taking the velvet room in with startling ease.
"Who're they? What's going on here? It's so blue! Is this an elevator?!" Yukari asked in rapid succession.
Shinjiro spared the teen in the pink sweater a glance before mentally motioning Rosemary over. He didn't trust something not to happen. He knew their luck. She slowly moved towards him. He noted her still nervous expression, something was wrong. He would wait until she said something.
"Two velvet room guests usually cannot enter the other's velvet room," She quietly informed him, "not that it hasn't happened before, but Minato's is wildly different compared to mine it could cause a problem."
"It's a greenhouse, isn't it?" He questioned and she flushed in embarrassment.
He thought it suited her. She smiled a bit at that and gently grasped onto his coat sleeve. It was the best she could do with everyone else around them. She didn't care that it made her seem childish, it gave her something to hold onto.
"What could this mean?" Theo muttered in confusion.
"Uninvited guests in a private chamber can only mean that the culprit is among us!" Elizabeth stated.
"Usually, I would agree with that, but this wasn't us," Rosemary said, "is this a case for the ace detective?"
"Hah! I don't' think I could solve this one, May-chan," Junpei nervously said as he got what she was trying to do.
"Ah, is that how a small joke works?" Elizabeth questioned, "Banter is so interesting. That aside, this is a facet of fate as well and, perhaps, a beginning. I am Elizabeth, and this is my younger brother Theodore. We are residents of this Velvet Room."
"This is where the leader and May go to get new personas?" Yukari asked.
"Yes, we provide aid to our guests by fusing personas here, though I do believe May's velvet room looks much different compared to my guests," Elizabeth answered.
"So…So it was true," Fuuka commented with a surprised look.
"So, why did you call us here?" Akihiko questioned.
"I don't think it was them," Rosemary sighed, "they are just as confused as we are."
The elevator that made up Minato's velvet room chose to stop working at that moment, coming to a screeching halt. The light in the velvet room dimmed and Shinjiro heard Rosemary move closer. Oh, she feared the dark? That made more sense than he'd like it to. He moved his arm to where he was holding her hand. Damn what the others might say, she was looking for comfort he'd provide it. Everyone was murmuring to themselves as they tried to figure out why the elevator stopped. Minato gained an expression on his face that made Shinjiro prepare to keep his balance, something was going to happen.
"This reminds me of a roller coaster with how it kept climbing," Junpei said and everyone turned to look at him with varying expressions, the main one being dread, "until you reach the top where you just come to a standstill before the fall."
"Why would you say that?" Yukari asked him, "Besides if it were true it'd have dropped already."
And drop it did. Ken fell to his knees at the sudden feeling of weightlessness and was soon followed by the girls. Shinjiro knelt and kept a hold on Rosemary so she didn't go anywhere else and get hurt he turned to see that Akihiko was doing the same with their navigator. Huh, he hadn't been expecting that pairing. He looked around and saw Mitsuru and Minato, even more unexpected. He didn't really pay much attention.
"Are we going to crash?" Ken asked as Koromaru ran up to him and grabbed onto his hoodie with his teeth to keep him stable.
"Into what?" Yukari asked.
"The bottom, most likely," Elizabeth answered.
Rosemary let out a surprised laugh at that. They came to a stop and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. It took them a while to all stand. The girls were trying to get their bearings and the boys weren't about to unleash their ire. Ken stood next to his guardian and noticed that she seemed winded and was clutching at her chest while breathing. They didn't have anything to help her with if her heart stopped again.
"I'll be fine," Rosemary said with a look of understanding, "just give me a few seconds."
Shinjiro waited a minute before helping her stand up. She was a little weakened by that sudden fall, they all were. She was leaning on him a bit as they exited the velvet room. They walked right into a school festival. It was such a shocking sight that no one really knew what to think. The uniforms were unfamiliar, and so was the school. Koromaru was picked up by Shinjiro to make sure he didn't run off after anyone and Rosemary became distracted by that. Her heart melted at the sight. She then noticed something. There was a suspicious lack of noise for so many students.
"It's incredibly quiet here," She said, and all eyes turned towards her, "I don't hear any thoughts other than everyone in this group."
"Really?" Junpei asked, "Is everyone here dead?"
"I doubt it." She answered, "Unless Yukari's smack won't hurt."
She heard a pained yelp and raised a brow. Apparently, they were very much alive. She blinked when a dog was placed in her arms. Koromaru looked up at her before licking her cheek. She gave him a grin and held him tighter. Ah, Shinjiro knew just what to do to cheer her up.
"A culture festival, the charged ceremony of excitement which students hold once every year," Elizabeth said as she held her arms above her head, "charmingly amateur delicacies, attractions bursting with that handmade warmth, and for a finale, I've heard that students dance like madmen around an infernal flame!"
"…I don't know enough about the culture festival to say that's not how it goes," Rosemary muttered in amusement before turning to Shinjiro, "is that how they end?"
"Of course not," He answered before realizing that a duo of Elizabeth and Rosemary was a dangerous one.
"It's that sort of ceremony?!" Theo asked, "Then we are being treated to something wonderful right now."
"Should I bother explaining to them?" Yukari asked as she gave Rosemary the side-eye, she'd make sure to explain in more detail to the taller teen.
"I'm more surprised that they're so gun-ho for this obviously weird culture festival," Junpei said with a slight grin.
"Just to be absolutely certain, you did not bring us here, correct?" Mitsuru asked Elizabeth again.
"Yes, of course," Elizabeth confirmed, "we have no idea what this place is, nor did we intend to see you all, since you are not our guests."
"Elizabeth, take a look at that shop's sign," Theo said as he motioned towards it, "Cotton Candy, it's candy made of cotton! What manufacturing trickery was employed to accomplish this?"
"Oh, that's heated sugar that's been spun around on a paper cone," Rosemary informed them, "no trickery there."
"Don't…don't encourage them," Shinjiro softly said.
"It was not by our will that you were brought here but by the velvet room," Elizabeth informed them, "the velvet room is inseparable from its guests' fate, nothing meaningless happens here."
"Are you saying that our arrival here was inevitable?" Mitsuru questioned.
"One could even say it was destiny," Elizabeth confirmed.
"Destiny, huh?" Ken muttered in discomfort, "What do we need to be here for?"
He didn't really trust the velvet room attendants. They didn't seem to know things that he did, and he was twelve. He didn't understand how their minds or thought processes worked. Rosemary had a blank expression on her face as she looked at the two attendants. Their thoughts were a torrent storm of information and it was hard to figure it out. She couldn't make heads or tails of them. The only one that remained constant was their understanding that the velvet room had pulled them in and released them in this strange school for a reason, another was that they might not remember anything of what happens if they succeed.
"I suggest we go scouting," Aigis suggested and Koromaru barked his agreement, his tail thumping against Rosemary's chest before she put him down.
"Y-Yes, let's all split up and search the area," Mitsuru said as she collected herself.
"Would you come with me, Minato?" Elizabeth asked the blue haired teen, "We should inspect the Velvet Room."
"Miss Rosemary, I suggest that we search around the booths," Theo said as he got his guests attention, "you might be able to pick something up that I could possibly miss."
"Right," Rosemary nodded as she gently slipped her hand out of Shinjiro's and gave her boyfriend a small smile, "lead the way Theo."
Mitsuru watched her female member walk away with the velvet room attendant and noticed that she was calmly answering any questions he had. She had thought about making the girl a vice leader with Minato due to her abilities, but she hadn't been sure if she could handle the responsibilities. She turned her attention to Aragaki and smirked slightly. He looked annoyed that Rosemary's attention had been claimed by the unknown attendant. If she truly was a guest of the velvet room then it was her duty to help figure out what happened.
Rosemary looked at the different booths and frowned. She heard the collective screaming and thoughts of shadows coming from inside them. If Fuuka was to search inside them with her persona she wouldn't doubt that she'd find something. She told Theo such and he brought a hand up to his mouth in thought. It was an action that was similar to his sister. Theo gave her a small smile.
"I'm afraid your companion is a bit upset with me for taking some of his time with you," Theo said, his voice soft in an apologetic tone.
"It's all right," She said, "Shinjiro understands, even if he wasn't happy about it."
Theo found that it was strange to hear someone be that supportive. His sisters, save for his youngest, teased him the most. They saw him as an easy target and for a moment he thought that his guest would be just the same due to her ability to agree with Elizabeth on things. He gently patted her shoulder, and she tilted her head in thought.
"Go ahead and find him, your help was quite eye opening," Theo said.
She gave him a bright smile before scurrying off to find Shinjiro. Theo noticed that her walk was bit slower than usual, her right leg seemingly injured. He shook his head and crossed his arms across his chest. Something was at play here, and he didn't know what. His sister didn't know either. What he wouldn't give for his master to come back. He'd know what to do. He lamented that fact before shaking such thoughts from his head and moving to touch the booth. It felt like regular wood and papier-mâché. It was so bizarre; he could almost sense a power radiating from it. He would have to inform his sister of this right away.
Rosemary looked around at the sea of people and for once felt lost. There were no thoughts around her, she could barely hear her friends as they moved through the unknown school building. She pondered if this was how everyone else went about their lives. It was so silent in her own head. Her thoughts were clear to her and she couldn't help but feel lonely. Being surrounded by thoughts day in and day out made her somewhat used to the constant noise to the point where it was usually white noise. Now…now she felt like her head was too quiet. She hurried through the hallways. She needed to go outside, she'd get herself used to seeing so many people and hearing no thoughts coming from them.
She took a deep breath as she finally walked out of the school building. Yasogami High School was on a board right next to a chain link fence. Yasogami? She felt like the name was familiar. It dawned on her; this was one of the schools her aunt mentioned. It was old in style, but it had its charms. She bit the inside of her cheek when something brushed up against her hand. She blinked at the sight of a spider of all things. She narrowed her eyes at it before blowing it off her skin, she didn't want to needlessly kill it. It detached from her skin and blew away in the wind. She made a mental note to keep an eye out for any more spiders. She gathered it wouldn't be the last one she saw. She went back to searching for her grumpy boyfriend and found him ear the school gate a contemplative glare on his face, he still seemed a bit upset she had been pulled away to help the velvet room attendants.
"Shinji!" She called out and he turned to look back at her.
She picked up some speed and ran right into him, wrapping her arms around his torso. He sighed through his nose and returned it. She released him after a few seconds and smiled up at him in an apologetic manner. He held her hand in his and waited to hear what she had to say.
"Sorry, I didn't think Theo would ask for my help," She apologized, "I should've let you know before hand that it might've been a possibility, I would've rather look around the school with you."
He felt better at that. She didn't even need to apologize for him being an idiot. He brought a hand up and scratched the back of his head. He wanted to check the gate to see if they could leave the school grounds. He had a hypothesis that they wouldn't be able to, but he needed to test it. She looked up at him for a few seconds before stepping back.
"If you need help just let me know," She quietly told him.
Something was off about her. He didn't know what it was. He curtly nodded before walking through the gate. It seemed like everything was going normally until he felt himself thrown back onto the school grounds. Rosemary had moved to help him up and he accepted her outstretched hand. She seemed worried, a frown on her face. He didn't like worrying her.
"I'm fine," He muttered, and she looked at him skeptically before clasping her hands in front of her, "I'll try climbing the fence."
It was normal for her to have her hands clasped in her lap when she was sitting, but to see it while she was standing made him know something was wrong. She just didn't want to talk about it. He had to climb the fence to see if even that was blocked from them. It had the same results, though this time he was thrown into his waiting girlfriend. She easily caught him, but landed on the ground with surprise on her face. Shit, he hadn't meant to do that. She knew he wouldn't do anything to purposely hurt her, so she wasn't too upset. Now that he had her attention, he'd like to know what was bothering her.
"It's too quiet in my own head," She stuttered out in embarrassment, "I'm so used to hearing so many thoughts throughout the day that the sudden silence is leaving me uneasy."
"Then focus on mine," He muttered sheepishly.
"I'd hear everything if I did that," She warned him, "I don't want to pry into your head more than I already do."
"…" He made a face.
He couldn't argue with that logic, but still. She would be a liability in a fight due to being put off balance by the lack of thoughts coming towards her. How she was able to cope during the dark hour sometimes baffled him. He thought about it. She could hear the shadows thoughts, they shrieked and screeched according to her. No wonder the silence seemed so uneasy to her.
"Do it," He muttered, "I'm fine with it."
"Oh, I cocked up," She muttered as something dawned on her, "I found your watch, I forgot to give it to you after cleaning it up."
"You…found my watch?" He questioned as his brows raised, that expression had been strange.
"Yeah, an old lady found it by the shrine tucked away in the hole of a tree by a little kid," She answered, "she brought it to the police station, and she was thinking about it one morning."
What a strange bit of luck there. His watch, he hadn't seen that thing in a long time. He'd be able to tell time without any problems. And it was nice of her to do. It was something she didn't have to do but still did. She turned to face him with a shy smile on her face. Right, she was focused on his thoughts.
"Hopefully, Elizabeth and Theo can figure out what's going on," She quietly said, "because the only thing I have thought about was the spider."
She was focusing on the spider. She nodded at his thoughts and he sighed. It was strange to see her reacting to his thoughts, but he did give her consent to do so. Her expression changed from thoughtful to apologetic before turning startled when her right ankle rolled on one of the small steps to the schools' stairs. He caught her before she tumbled to the ground. She gave a sigh of relief as he righted her.
"Thank you," She said before she gently kissed his cheek to express how much it meant to her.
"…Yeah, no problem," He muttered as he looked away from her smiling face.
He had his arm around her waist, and he was hesitant about removing it. There wasn't a lot of places where he could simply have an arm around her without worry of someone seeing them and it getting back to Ken. Though, he knew that several people had seen them walking to school. He heard the rumors that seemed to spread through Iwatodai like a wildfire. He was almost impressed. A hand on his arm grabbed his attention and he watched Rosemary as she gave a soft yawn. She was still recuperating from getting sick, she shouldn't be walking around a school festival.
"I blame the typhoon for getting me sick," She muttered, and he slightly smiled.
"You two did look soaked when you walked into the dorm," He muttered.
"I was wearing the white dress for the café because they wanted to make sure it fit," She said and her cheeks were a bright red, "it was nice of Minato to offer his blazer to me before we even entered the dorms."
His cheeks warmed at the implication of what would've happened if Minato was anyone else. That dress would've been plastered to her skin and would've left nothing to the imagination. It had a low back, so she had removed her bra and settled for the one built into the dress. Well, that wouldn't have lasted long in the downpour. He brought a hand up to his beanie and slightly tugged on it to cover his eyes. Oh, that was such an embarrassing thing to think.
"To be fair, I'd rather it be you thinking those things," She muttered and that made him tug the beanie down even further, "you're so cute."
She was teasing him. He lifted up the bottom of his beanie to look at her and noticed that she was flustered and trying to play it off. It wouldn't be the first time that she's tried to distract someone from noticing how she was feeling, and it wasn't the last. He gently removed his arm from her waist and put his hands in his pockets, they needed to head back to the others. If they continued to spend time like this then someone was going to come looking for them.
"This place is weird," Junpei said as Rosemary and Shinjiro finally joined them, "no one I talked to listened to me or answered my questions."
"You said you didn't hear any thoughts from them, correct?" Mitsuru asked Rosemary, the bluenette nodded in confirmation, "Perhaps any answers we received were all predetermined."
"That would make sense," Yukari said, "they answered the question as to where we are, but not where the location itself is."
"It doesn't help that certain booths have quite a bit of mental noise coming from them," Rosemary informed them, "there are shadows inside, but I can't think of a reason why there would be shadows in Inaba of all places."
"Wait, why do you know where Yasogami High is?" Junpei asked her.
"It was one of the schools on my Aunts list that I could attend where my mother wouldn't find me," She answered and her shoulders slumped slightly, "it's a pretty rural area, so that's why it was memorable."
"Perhaps there is a reason why they are here?" Aigis suggested.
"Are we able to leave the school grounds?" Mitsuru asked, "Did anyone check that?"
"I did, looks like we can't get out," Shinjiro answered.
"Can't get out?" Mitsuru questioned.
"There's a school gate, but once you take too many steps past it you get thrown back inside," He explained.
"What do you mean?" Fuuka asked, a small frown on her face.
"Just what I said." He said as he brought a hand up and scratched the back of his head, "As soon as I thought I'd gotten out, I found myself back inside.
"Basically, we can't leave. It's not just the gate, either. Same thing happened when I climbed the fence. I was tossed back inside the school grounds without touching ground on the other side."
"The school grounds are the perimeter that we can travel in," Rosemary muttered, before turning to Mitsuru, "I can keep an ear open for any thoughts that don't belong to us."
"If you hear thoughts that belong to someone then they could be the reason we're here," She nodded her understanding.
"What if we try gong back through the velvet room?" Fuuka suggested, she was trying to figure out a way for them to get back without fighting.
"The velvet room no longer functions as an elevator," Elizabeth informed them, "it now has the characteristics of May's room blended into it, though her room does not contain the two mysterious doors that appeared. There were four sturdy locks on them which cannot be opened. "
"So, we have to find a way to unlock the locks?" Shinjiro questioned.
"That is correct," Elizabeth confirmed, "we cannot go back the normal way."
"What about our cell phones?" Yukari questioned.
With a flurry of motion those with cellphones took them out and checked them. No one had any service. Shinjiro watched the spectacle along side Ken, Koromaru, and Aigis. They were the only members of SEES without cellphones. Shinjiro picked Koromaru back up and got a tail to the face in response. Koromaru was getting nervous about the situation and having one of the humans hold onto him was helping his mood.
"No service?" Yukari questioned.
"Nope, no calls or messages," Junpei said as he nervously fixed his hat.
"GPS won't be working either," Ken piped up.
"Right," Akihiko nodded, "it's a problem."
"Is it possible that we might have to fight to leave here?" Mitsuru questioned remembering the booths.
"It is," Elizabeth confirmed, "I believe the velvet room brought you here because there is something which must be done."
"Oh, I just picked up two people," Rosemary piped up, "One of them is thinking about food of all things."
"Where are they coming from?" Minato questioned.
"One of the booths that Theo and I investigated," She answered, "I think it was brightly colored, I didn't get a good look at the name of it."
"We will support you from the velvet room," Theo informed the two velvet room guests, "for now, this all we can do."
"We'll have to treat these booths like Tartarus," Mitsuru sighed, "it seems our fighting is never over."
"I can navigate from the velvet room, but I would need to know where the area is," Fuuka informed them.
"Thank you, Fuuka," Minato said, and she smiled.
Rosemary led the way to the area where she heard the thoughts. It was on the floor that they were currently on. The booth was brightly colored with imagery that was associated with Alice In Wonderland. It was titled You in Wonderland. She wondered how she missed the large sign. She stared at it with a tilted head. She wasn't the biggest fan of the Wonderland series; she had been aware as a child that such a place was impossible. She had seen too much in the thoughts of others to even believe in wonderland. A hand slipped into her's and she spared a glance towards Shinjiro.
"I can sense the shadows inside," Fuuka informed them, "there's quite a lot of them."
"You in Wonderland, huh?" Yukari muttered as Fuuka grabbed a flier.
"The flier says, "now you can walk in Alice's shoes!" It must be an interactive display," Fuuka said, with a smile.
"That's okay, I never wanted to walk in Alice's shoes," Junpei said.
"Huh? But it's every girl's dream!" Fuuka countered.
"Guess I wasn't a girl…" Yukari muttered.
Rosemary made a quiet noise of agreement. Anyone who knew the two gathered it was from their pasts. Mitsuru didn't comment on Fuuka's words, because she would agree with the other two. The adventures of Alice had been too whimsical for her as a child. She was brought into the fight against Tartarus as a child, she didn't have time for whimsy.
"We'll want to avoid needless combat, but this may be our only clue to a way out," Mitsuru said, and Minato nodded his agreement.
"I'll back you up from the velvet room," Fuuka informed them.
"There they are," Rosemary said getting their attention.
"It's dangerous in there," A male voice said.
The owner of the voce had dark hair and dark olive skin. A girl with long pale blonde hair stood next to him with her hand holding onto a strange cloak attacked to him. The members of SEES eyed them in thought. There was something off about them, but it wasn't readily apparent.
"Don't go inside, there are monsters in there," The girl said, her thoughts echoed that sentiment.
"Who are you two?" Mitsuru questioned.
"I am Zen, and she is Rei," The boy answered, "That's what we call each other. And who are you? Where did you come from?"
"You two are the only people here other than ourselves that have cognitive thoughts," Rosemary said, "that's why we're a bit…surprised."
Zen tilted his head slightly at her and she noticed that his thoughts were simple in nature. He was trying to judge if she was a threat to Rei or not. He decided that she wasn't, but he would keep an eye on her. She nervously moved a to hide a little behind Shinjiro. Zen then went to contemplate the rest of SEES.
"We're from Iwatodai," Fuuka answered.
"Where?" Rei quietly muttered in thought.
"Wait, do you know where this place is?" Yukari questioned.
"It is what it is," Zen answered.
'Helpful.' Yukari grumbled in her mind.
"Didn't one of the blank students call it Yasogami High?" Junpei questioned.
He had come up with that nickname on the spot. It seemed to fit the students that roamed the corridors of the festival. They were completely blank, and couldn't really answer any questions besides festival goings and what the school name was. He felt pretty smart coming up with that.
"Yes." Rei confirmed.
Rosemary frowned. Their thoughts were too simple compared to those of her friends. Shinjiro was taking the information and storing it away with an efficiency that was amazing, but he was still paying attention to the conversation and coming up with things to ask. Ken was doing the same. Zen and Rei didn't have that much complex thoughts going on. She delved a bit deeper into their minds and came across a haze. She felt confused for a few seconds, she couldn't really remember why she had dived into their minds in the first place. What was she doing?
"Rosemary?" Shinjiro quietly said and she snapped out of her own haze.
"I can't go any further into their minds without coming across a haze," She mumbled as she held her now throbbing head in her hands, "it's like someone's blocking their memories."
"That's what they just said," He informed her.
"How much of the conversation did I miss?" She asked.
"We were just about to enter the booth," He explained, "they were warning us against going in, not like a shadow could keep Aki out of a possible fight."
"That is true," She agreed.
She turned towards Minato and smiled slightly. They had been waiting on her to snap out of whatever funk she was in. They were all ready to fight through the shadows to find their way out. They didn't want to be stuck at the festival any longer then they had to be.