A/N: I'll also be doing PQ2, but there's a twist to that one, you'll see. That one will be happening later! There's so much dialogue in Persona Q, I had forgotten that after labyrinth crawling for hours on end. Still, love the art style for it, it's really cute.
32
You in Wonder Land 2
"It seems this new floor won't be the cakewalk that the last one was," Mitsuru dryly commented as they looked around at the different areas.
It seemed to be themed after a tea party with the chessboard aesthetic still in place. It was odd and didn't fit. Rei seemed uncomfortable, though that might have to do with the atmosphere inside the labyrinth. It was heavy, and there was a distinct feeling of being watched. It was impossible to ignore.
"Are you all right?" Zen asked Rei.
"Mm-hm! There are so many people with us," Rei commented, "I'm scared, but I'll be okay."
"I am glad to hear that," Aigis said.
"I've always been drawn to this place but was too scared to explore it," Rei admitted.
"It's all right to be scared." Rosemary said, and she blushed a bit when the other turned to her, "Fear is what makes us human it's the small part of our mind that tries to protect us from harm."
"I'm glad everyone's here," Rei said before smiling at them, "thank you."
Zen looked to the side with a small frown on his face. He felt like there was something he was forgetting, something important. Rosemary glanced at him in contemplation. She'd observe him and see if his memories came back. Rosemary refused to do a deep dive into his mind due to the haze inside. If she got trapped in that again, there was no promise she would be able to get out of it. The confusion and lack of motivation to leave the haze bothered her more than she'd like to admit.
"Zen, are you all right?" Rei asked the dark-haired teen.
"Rei…will you stay by my side?" He quietly asked, and Rei smiled up at him softly.
"Of course!" She chirped.
"It feels like they're in their own little world," Ken commented as he rubbed the back of his neck in thought.
"I guess Chidorita and I get that way too," Junpei admitted.
Rosemary crossed her arms across her chest and felt her neck warm-up when Shinjiro quietly thought they got like that as well. He wasn't wrong, but seeing what it was like from the outside was eye-opening. She wasn't upset by it, no just a bit flustered. He became a bit worried at her reaction before it turned into amusement at her flustered state. Yeah, it reminded him of their relationship.
"I gotta get out of here fast for Chidorita's sake," Junpei said.
"I hope we can all get out of here," Fuuka commented.
Koromaru barked his agreement before giving a slight yawn. It brought smiles to everyone's faces, though Shinjiro would vehemently deny it if asked. Koromaru seemed tired from the events and reflected everyone's attitudes towards it. They all wanted to go home and get on with their lives. They needed to end the dark hour and then figure out where to go from there.
"Koro-Chan's fed up too," Yukari chuckled as she bent over and scratched him behind the ears; she then remembered something, "I just remembered something. Rei-Chan and Zen-kun don't fight with Personas."
"Persona?" Zen asked, "Ah, you mean the "power of the heart" you use. Indeed, Rei and I cannot use them."
"I had heard that only persona users fight shadows," Yukari said with a frown.
"Well, they live in a place with shadows," Junpei pointed out, "maybe they adapted."
"That's… a fair point," Rosemary said, a thoughtful frown on her face. "If you become surrounded by predators in the wild. You would adapt to fighting them; you'd die if you didn't."
"Be that as it may," Mitsuru said, halting to discussion before it went further down the perpetual rabbit hole, "this place itself is irregular; it is hard to distinguish between what's normal and abnormal. This experience will be excellent research material if we ever get home, that is."
"Regarding abnormalities, our leader's persona is one," Aigis said, "he is capable of wielding multiple personas, but since coming here, he has only used Orpheus."
"That's true, anything on your end, May?" Minato asked.
"I only had one other persona so far," Rosemary informed him, "I went to see why Themis was lonely and found out that Anubis is missing."
"Missing?" Mitsuru asked.
"It feels like it was separated, but at the same time, I would be able to call him back with ease if we return home," She answered.
"This could be a problem," Akihiko muttered, "anyone else notice that our energy seems to be lower as well."
"Yes, it seems as though using our persona has started to drain our energy more than normal," Aigis confirmed, "the fact that two of our friends are unable to use their abilities to summon multiple personas is a pressing issue."
"The only thing I have right now is the blank cards the shadows dropped," Minato said as he looked at one.
"Blank cards?" Shinjiro questioned, "It's beyond me, but if it has something to do with personas, then why not ask the velvet room people?"
"Yes, it could be a drastic setback in combat," Mitsuru confirmed.
"Not what I meant," Shinjiro muttered.
He sighed and slouched. He gathered that the two persona wielders weren't even bothered by the fact that they couldn't summon more than one persona. It was that these personas seemed to have separated from them was the problem. They all headed back out of the labyrinth to speak to Elizabeth about the issue that had arisen. He held Rosemary back, and she looked at him in confusion.
"You aren't hurt, are you?" He asked.
"No, I'm fine," She answered, and his shoulders relaxed a bit he hadn't even realized he was tense, "the fact that I hadn't even noticed I was missing a persona until a while ago is a good sign."
"How could that be good?" He asked as they walked a little away from everyone else.
"It means that it didn't any cause any damage to our mental states," She answered, and he frowned at that and waited for her to elaborate, "it's Jung psychology.
"Without the ego or persona, in this case, a person's self would suffer which, I place as the mental state. It's probably the same as a shadow if we want to get technical."
"…When the hell did you have time to learn basic psychology in a Christian boarding school?" He questioned.
"I didn't," She said, her tone amused, "I learned that with Fuuka when we started trying to figure out how the dark hour works and what the shadows could be."
"What do you two have so far?"
"A collective psyche of everyone in Port Island."
A collective psyche? Then would the shadows they were fighting be manifestations of the people who lived in port island? No, that didn't sound right to him. If they were manifestations of the people, then there would be missing person reports every day. Then, would they be more like a persona? He didn't get it.
"You're close," She informed him, "shadows are the manifestations of the people, but their innermost thoughts. It's why there are personas in the shape of Jack Frost and Pyro Jack."
"It's the human perception of certain things?" He asked.
"Yes, it's like Anubis," She confirmed as she scratched her head, "I'm pretty sure I'm not fighting with an actual god, but the masses perception of him."
His head was starting to hurt from all the theorizing. He brought a hand up to his head and scratched the back of it. Well, he now knew who to study with for exams. She blinked at that and went to say something but stopped her cheeks turning a light pink. She didn't know how to put her request into words; she didn't even really know what she wanted. Was it a Date? No, he already agreed to see a movie with her. What was it? She didn't even know. It was going to bother her.
"Maybe I can make coffee when we study," Shinjiro muttered.
"Ah, I still haven't tried it yet," She said before smiling, "I'm excited."
Wait. Shinjiro felt like he just got talked into making her coffee? He looked at her smile and inwardly cursed. He did. She ignored his thoughts as much as she could while focusing on them. He was growing flustered by the fact that she had somehow talked him into making her coffee. She was excited to try his coffee. That was what made him flustered, the genuine smile and excitement on her face. They entered the velvet room and quickly put a hold on their conversation. Minato and Rosemary looked at the two doors in the middle of the warped room.
Parts of Rosemary's room had appeared in the form of countless windows that showed them the innards of the velvet room. It seemed to be saturated blue, and there were gears on pikes. The room felt broken, and it felt like a purposeful break. The only thing that didn't look it had occurred due to the room itself pulling them in, was the cards sticking out from a nearby wall. That had been Elizabeth's doing. She had grown bored while waiting for her guest and his friends to arrive. It had startled Fuuka when she stared aiming at the wall with the cards.
"What strange doors," Aigis commented as she looked at the door in question.
"About that, we have no clue." Elizabeth admitted, "As you can see, the doors are chained shut, preventing us from going through. But nothing meaningless happens in this room. Their role should become apparent to us eventually."
"Zen, Rei, do you know anything about these doors?" Mitsuru asked though she felt like it wasn't a very bright question to ask.
"No," Rei answered with a slightly apologetic smile.
"I don't know," Zen admitted before tilting his head slightly, "But I think they're probably connected to where you came from."
"Does that mean these are the way out? How can you be sure?" Mitsuru asked.
"This room itself didn't exist until you came," Zen answered, "to me, this is your place and those doors there are also yours, but that's just a feeling I have. There's no evidence for it."
"It does make sense," Rosemary informed him.
Mitsuru walked up to the door and tried trying one of the knobs. It refused to budge, and she was growing a bit frustrated. It was obvious when the others heard the chains on the door rattling due to the strength behind her pull. Eventually, she gave up.
"As expected, it won't open," Mitsuru muttered, "We'll just have to leave them be for now."
"Then let us move onto the main subject," Aigis said, "We came to ask why our leader is unable to summon other personas."
"Ah, why indeed," Elizabeth said.
"Ah, that is what we wish to ask," Aigis said in a manner that was similar to Elizabeth.
"Ai-chan, you're starting to sound like her," Junpei informed the robot.
"Well then, though I am not too used to this, I will try investigating the matter a bit." Elizabeth continued before she turned towards the two wild cards, "Please sit down there."
They both took a seat on the sofa. They were joined by Yukari and Shinjiro, both of whom looked utterly confused. Elizabeth knew that one of her wildcards was of the Judgment Arcana and thus should be looking for a different arcana when doing this reading. She looked at the four with a serious expression as she laid out the tarot cards. Twenty in total sat before them. She turned over the card in front of Minato and saw the tower.
"Tower," She read and gave a soft hum before turning to Rosemary's card and turning it over, "Moon."
"What is it?" Yukari questioned.
"I do not know," Elizabeth admitted.
"The hell kind of answer is that?" Shinjiro questioned.
"The picture on the cards, these Arcana have multiple interpretations," Elizabeth admitted, "though the moon is less than the tower. That I drew these two is unimportant that I did not draw the Fool or Judgment is more meaningful."
"Fool, as in idiot?" Junpei asked.
"No, the fool is the number zero, it is the Arcana that means a beginning and infinite possibilities," Elizabeth explained.
"Then why is that May is the Judgment arcana?" Ken asked he had figured out which arcana belonged to who.
"Her own hands decide her path," Elizabeth answered, "though Theo would know more as she is his guest, both of our guests can freely wield infinite Personas. We call that ability the "power of the wild card."
"The wild card," Yukari and Shinjiro muttered in unison, both in complete disbelief.
"But perhaps this place is affecting, the usual power of the wild card seems to have been altered," Elizabeth admitted, "it seems they will not be able to shift from their original persona here."
"That could have serious consequences for us in combat," Mitsuru commented.
Shinjiro felt that she was missing the mark with that one. They had several people in their group and they were solid fighters, plus Rosemary was a shield and could keep them from getting too damaged. They wouldn't be as helpless as Mitsuru seemed to think they were. He brought one of his hands out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck in thought. He could see how tense the two "wild cards" were.
"No, their power has not been lost," Elizabeth corrected with a slight frown, "it truly represents "infinite possibilities", but I had not thought this was among them."
"What do you mean?" Yukari questioned.
"Besides their fixed personas, it seems they can take on a second persona," Elizabeth explained, "it can be summoned freely, they can change it as they like."
"They can summon two at the same time?" Fuuka asked as she thought about the endless possibilities with such an ability.
"But the second one cannot display its true strength, it is best to think of it as playing an auxiliary role," She continued, "their original is their main, and the second one would be their sub and as such can both be assumed at once. It's the best way to think about it."
"What a crazy power," Junpei said as a small bead of sweat went down his face.
"And could it be?" Elizabeth muttered as she turned back to the cards, "One moment, please."
She flipped the two in front of Yukari and Shinjiro. The Fool and Judgment Arcana looked up at her. Shinjiro felt his ears burn at that and looked away from Ken's questioning, and suspicious, glance. He hadn't expected that of all things. Was her power-sharing itself with him? Elizabeth informed them that they all had the boon of the wild card on them. She gathered that the power was split from both Rosemary and Minato to make it so they could all summon a sub persona.
"That's a bit hard to believe," Ken informed her, "but it does make me feel stronger."
Rosemary smiled at that. She felt better knowing that none of their friends were mad at them for keeping the secret of what their power was. It would be hard to believe if they couldn't see the velvet room for themselves. She heard Elizabeth's thoughts growing in noise and realized that she was trying to figure out what had strengthened the power of the wild card. Their power being shared was an irregularity that she had never heard of. It made her think that there was another with the power of the wild card there, and she said as such. She brought up the second door as being evidence of another wild card.
"Another with the power of the wild card?" Aigis asked.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Elizabeth said a smile on her face.
Shinjiro narrowed his eyes at the short woman. He didn't like that at all. He'd have to take up her suggestion of talking to Theo to learn more about how Rosemary had this power, if not to understand it better. Her arcana was interesting, Judgment. Did personas have arcana? If so, what were they? He'd have to ask her.
"Can Zen and I summon personas too?" Rei asked.
"Unfortunately, you and Zen did not have personas to begin with, so I believe that will be impossible," Elizabeth said.
"Oh, but personas are so cool," Rei muttered.
Everyone there who had awoken their persona due to necessity winced in unison. Minato and Rosemary were the ones wincing the hardest. They even had multiple personas to keep track of. It made sense to Minato why Rosemary only used her two instead of the repertoire he had.
"How is it that Zen and Rei have no personas?" Mitsuru questioned, "Isn't one necessary to fight shadows."
"I suspect the answer to that is deeply intertwined with the mystery of this place," Elizabeth answered, "this is a haven in the rift. A floating island, if you will, gently drifting deep in the sea of consciousness.
"Normally one would not find living humans here. If there were one then they may, in theory, have become one with an entity or shadow."
"Would that make them personas?" Fuuka asked.
"I've never heard of a shadow or persona gaining an ego before," Mitsuru said, "the only thing I can think of are the small thoughts that Hanamura picks up from the full moon shadows."
"It is only a hypothesis of mine," Elizabeth reminded her.
Shinjiro sighed as their problems grew. It was supposed to be a day to explore Tartarus and hopefully get stronger. He felt a hand on his forearm and spared Rosemary a glance. She looked thoughtful as she stared at Rei and Zen. Well, something Elizabeth said had gotten her attention. He could almost see the gears in her head moving as she thought. Why'd she grabbed onto him? She closed her eyes for a few seconds before sighing.
"How convoluted can it get?" She muttered and he blinked at that.
"What does that mean?" He hissed.
"Elizabeth may be right about them," She quietly answered, "it would certainly explain the haze in their minds."
"Great, another thing to worry about," He muttered, scratching his head in frustration.
She sighed at that before picking up the card in front of her. The moon arcana. Should she tell him that he was the moon arcana for her? No, it would embarrass him too much and he'd avoid her. She didn't want that. She kept some of her attention on Elizabeth as she explained the blank cards to them. She wasn't even surprised when they changed into personas, it was par for the course. She couldn't help but feel uncaring. It was strange, but she did. She felt hazy and wondered if it was a possibility that there was a side effect to diving into Zen's head. She couldn't rule it out, she was handed a card by Minato and blinked at the persona on it. Jack Frost. The card vanished in her hand and she heard Themis greet the new persona. Jack Frost greeted her back with a happy hee ho! Ah, no wonder he was one of her favorites.
"Let's head back to the labyrinth," Minato said, and she nodded her agreement.
The shadows didn't bother them as they returned to the second floor. That made her think that something was wrong. If they wanted to try climbing from the first floor of Tartarus to their current level, then they would be attacked relentlessly by shadows. Here, not so much. She frowned before looking worn-out. Her health was spotty at best, and the constant fighting was not helping. She could feel her heart protesting at the overexertion, but she didn't want to leave everyone without protection. She'd feel horrible if she did that. A small part of her wondered if her heart would ever go back to normal. She was doubtful it would, but couldn't help but wish. She wanted to be able to fight without a problem, but months of hearing needed to take place. Fighting like this was going to make her recovery impossible.
Shinjiro was aware that Rosemary was in her own little world. She seemed subdued by something she thought. He spared her a glance and noted the expression on her face. She was barely hanging on, her body finally reaching the point where it was sending out pain signals to her brain. He would say something to the leader, but the panicked expression on her face as she realized he had noticed stopped him. She was going to put herself back in the hospital with that behavior. She and Aki really had a bad habit of doing that.
'We have the rest of the floor; can you hold on till then?' He sent to her.
"I can, but just barely," She admitted, her voice showing just how tired she was, "I'll need more time to gather my strength."
He narrowed his eyes at that, and she gained a guilty expression. Her exhaustion had crept up on her without her realizing it. She needed to be more attentive to her own health before she was told to sit out the exploration. She tightened her grip on her naginata and looked down towards the ground. She could hear the worry around her, and that made her feel worse.
They entered the second floor and started to walk around. Ken and Koromaru walked side by side in the middle of the formation. Behind him was Shinjiro and Rosemary, in front of him was everyone else. He looked back towards his guardian and noticed that she seemed a bit out of it. Like she had gone into deep thought and hadn't come out. She looked up and a tiny smile appeared on her face. He sent one back. His attention was brought back to the front when they walked through a door and got into a fight. It was the perfect opportunity to test out their new secondary Persona.
The fight ended because of Koromaru; he was able to use a Mudoon and took down one of the shadows called a Jupiter Eagle. Rosemary hit the other one with a Bufu from Jack Frost. They watched as her secondary persona stayed out and wiggled about in the air. Shinjiro was waiting for her to grab the persona and hug it. It was cute, her biggest weakness. He finished off the shadow and sighed as the two wild cards picked up the materials and continued on their way.
"I'm not mad," He muttered as he fell into step with her and she looked up at him with a look of slight disbelief, "I'm worried more than anything."
"…Sorry," She mumbled.
"Don't…" He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "after this floor take a nap and regain your strength."
"Right," She nodded, and he slowly reached for her hand.
He was frustrated, not mad. Rosemary knew that, but she felt like she let him down. He could tell that's what was bothering her. She slowly intertwined their fingers, and he squeezed her hand in response. She relaxed a bit when he did that. Sometimes she just needed to work things out in her head or be reminded that there was someone on her side. It was small insecurity, something that sometimes grew without her realizing it. He waited until they were nearing another door before gently releasing her hand, he didn't want anyone else to notice.
"Can we take a break?" Junpei questioned, "It feels like we've been walking for hours."
Rosemary had to agree with him, it did feel like they'd been walking for hours. She looked around the area and noted that there weren't any shadows nearby, it was strange, but their thoughts were in the distance. She couldn't help but feel like they were lying in wait for them to stumble past. She rubbed the back of her neck with a frown before letting it go, if they got into a fight, they'd be able to win she was sure of it.
"Are you worn out already?" Akihiko asked with a slight smirk, "Looks like you're out of shape."
"It's not just me," Junpei commented, "back me up here, Rei-chan, May-chan."
"I'm starving," Rei said, and he blinked in confusion.
"I could do with some rest, as can everyone else," Rosemary said, amusement clear in her voice.
"I suggest that we take a short break over there, in this appetite-stimulating area," Aigis said as she motioned towards a small setting that was tart themed.
"Now I really want to make a tart," Rosemary commented.
"It does look delicious," Yukari said to Rei, "but I don't think you can eat these."
"It's probably made out of paper," Rosemary agreed, "one really shouldn't eat paper or ink, it's not good for the body."
"It is made one hundred percent from pulp," Aigis confirmed.
"Huh, pulp?" Rei asked as she picked up one of the display tarts.
She studied it before taking a bite out of it. Rosemary had to sit down and contemplate the meaning of cooking. Why cook good food if someone was going to eat paper? She knew that Shinjiro agreed with her. Minato looked towards the one person who usually made food for everyone and noted her expression. The faraway look on her face had a hint of disbelief. She was joined by Shinjiro who shared the same expression.
"No matter how realistic it looks, this is the world of a children's story," Mitsuru commented as she picked up one of the tarts and tested its weight, "everything here is inorganic."
"I mean, they are technically organic but inedible," Rosemary commented.
"If these were real sweets, I'd be breaking the scales in no time," Yukari said, sighing quietly.
"You don't like sweet, Yuka-chan?" Rei asked with wide eyes.
"Yuka-chan? That's kind of cute," Yukari muttered with a soft blush on her face, she snapped out of it and gave Rei a small smile, "I love sweets. I'm just surprised you don't get fat from eating so much."
"Get fat?" Rei questioned before turning to Zen, "Zen, I have gotten fat?"
"Geez," Shinjiro muttered as he frowned, "how could someone eat so much?"
"As long as food has a flavor, I love it!" Rei announced.
"That's way too broad," Shinjiro informed her.
Akihiko went and gave Rei a protein bar and Rosemary watched as he began to say things that she had only ever heard in his thoughts. It looked as though she was getting a glimpse into the twenty-four-seven protein show. Shinjiro watched the amusement gathering on his girlfriend's face as the small break did her some good. She was somehow encouraging Aki in his protein spiel. He ran a hand down his face and sighed, someone needed to step in and stop him.
"That's enough, Aki." Shinjiro said as he got up from the ground and lumbered towards his friend, "They're gonna buy into your bullshit."
"Did I lie?" Akihiko questioned as he crossed his arms across his chest in defense.
"You're really going to snarf down protein until you're fighting a bear with just your hands?" Shinjiro questioned in disbelief, "You muscle-brained idiot."
"Who are you calling an idiot?" Akihiko asked, "Usually the one who says idiot first is the true idiot. There's nothing stupid about protein."
"Yeah, I should've said stupid as well," Shinjiro commented as everyone watched the fight unfold with a sigh, "you're a muscle-brained stupid idiot."
Rosemary wondered if this is what she was missing out on the last few times they'd explored Tartarus. She'd never really fought with Akihiko and usually tried to find a solution if she had a snag with Shinjiro. To see them fighting and hear their thoughts were taking her aback. They were usually levelheaded if one ignored Akihiko's love for fighting, so they'd never fought around her.
"It's like watching two little kids," Junpei commented, "have they always been like that?"
"How would I know? Ask Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said to Junpei.
Ken frowned and moved to sit next to Rosemary as Akihiko and Shinjiro continued to fight. It had turned into pointing out their flaws. She hadn't known that Akihiko had once thrown protein into a whole pot of cooked rice, and understood why Shinjiro had been angry at that. She rubbed at her temples as Koromaru climbed into her lap. She couldn't believe these two, but she did find it a bit amusing. Ken sighed from his spot and waited for Misturu to stop them. He almost wondered if he had the person who killed his mother wrong. Someone like Shinjiro didn't seem the type, but those were the facts.
"Enough bickering, we should go back to exploring," Mitsuru sharply ordered.
Akihiko and Shinjiro turned away childishly and everyone sighed as Mitsuru wondered if they understood that they were upperclassmen. Sometimes she wondered. Everyone got ready to leave the small area. Koromaru slowly moved from Rosemary's lap as Ken got up to grab their weapons. Shinjiro walked over and helped her up, she gave him a look and he looked to the side. He was still a bit angry at Akihiko, so he was going to be in a bad mood for a while.
"So, was it a whole pot of rice?" She couldn't help asking.
"Yeah," He confirmed.
She sighed at the thought of even eating rice covered in protein powder. Depending on the flavor he put on it, it could taste good. She wondered if it would end up tasting like a flavored mochi that the sweet shop sold. She needed to stop there soon and pick some up for Ken, he'd been doing good in his classes and he kept improving. She'd happily pick him up a treat or two to show that she was proud. She could also make him something, maybe Omurice for dinner? She'd have to think about it.
They came across multiple fights as they tried to explore the rest of the labyrinth and oddly enough it was usually against the cowardly maya's and laughing tables. Rosemary had caught her second wind and brought her naginata down on the head of a cowardly maya. It seemed stunned by her attack and Akihiko ran forward to finish it off. That was the fight. Shinjiro wondered why the shadows even bothered showing up. It wasn't like the two maya's could put up much of a fight, even the tables weren't much of a fight. Koromaru's barking as they came upon a dead-end caused them to tense up.
"What this?" Ken asked as he looked down at a picture book, "It says it's a "pop-out- picture book"."
"This seems suspicious," Mitsuru sighed as she eyed the book with suspicion.
"Yeah, with this place I wouldn't be surprised if something actually did pop out of it," Shinjiro commented.
"There's a four-leaf clover drawn on the cover," Rei pointed out.
"I haven't seen one of those in a while," Rosemary quietly chuckled.
"Can I eat one?" Rei asked her.
"Yes, you can eat it raw, but it is safer to boil first," Rosemary nodded, "I think you can also make tea out of it, but that might just be the red clover."
"Sounds delicious!" Rei cheered as she held up her corndog in her excitement.
"How'd we make this leap in conversation?" Shinjiro questioned.
"That means we should open it," Akihiko said, "if there's a shadow ready to jump out, we'll be prepared."
"And how'd you make that leap?" Shinjiro questioned as he placed a hand against his forehead.
Minato quickly opened it and out came a four-leaf clover. Everyone looked at him in surprise before staring at the clover. How the hell did this world work if a pop-up book was able to do such things? Shinjiro had to let his mind do a soft reset before saying anything, he couldn't help but wonder how Minato and Rosemary were able to look at the clover without any surprise. He swore those two could be related by how unbothered they sometimes were.
"What the hell?" Shinjiro questioned.
"It's a four-leaf clover!" Rei said with a large smile.
"Why did a clover fall out?" Mitsuru questioned as she tried to wrap her head around the logistics of such a thing.
She felt like she needed to join Fuuka and Rosemary when they tried to figure out the dark hour, something like this would be easier to understand with two other opinions. She sighed quietly and rubbed at her temples in disbelief. Nothing in this world made sense, even the clover on the cover was gone. No one wanted to continue to think about it, only Rei wanted to find another pop-up just to see if food would come out of it. They weren't even questioning her ability to eat anymore.
They moved through the labyrinth and watched as different desserts started to pop up against the scenery. It was joined with utensils like forks and spoons. They weren't surprised when Rosemary got distracted by the familiar desserts, it was obvious she was starting to get homesick. It was certain things. She tapped the pole of her naginata against her shoulder in thought. Some of the foods made her miss her grandfather.
"What the…there's some pink thing moving around," Shinjiro said as they came across a strange pink creature in the middle of a corridor.
"It looks like a rabbit, but I've never seen one like that before," Yukari said.
"It's cute!" Rei commented.
"There are no records of a rabbit with such vibrant pink coloration in my database," Aigis informed them.
"A rabbit…where have I…" Zen trailed off with a frown on his face.
"I don't really know what that is," Fuuka informed them, "it seems different from a FOE, but it doesn't seem to be hostile at all. It actually seems curious about you, like it's waiting."
"Oh, because this is Alice in Wonderland?" Yukari questioned, "In the book, Alice does chase after a rabbit, fall down a hole, and end up in Wonderland."
"Does that mean we should follow the rabbit?" Ken asked.
"I'm all for that," Rei stated, "Rabbits are our friends!"
"What if it turns out to be an enemy?" Yukari countered.
"It would be some kind of clue," Mitsuru said, "if Yamagishi is right and it's not a threat, that's significant."
"I wish to chase it as well," Zen admitted, "I have memories, of seeing it somewhere."
"You do?" Mitsuru asked before turning to Minato, "What do you think?"
Rosemary gently grasped onto Shinjiro's sleeve as she was starting to get hazy images of that rabbit. Zen was projecting his memories without meaning to. It was still bright pink, but there was also a regular plush toy of one. She didn't know what it meant, and neither did Zen. His head was throbbing in pain and she found herself being pulled into the haze. She turned her focus to Shinjiro's thoughts and felt her heart speed up. He was trying to ignore the thoughts that had jumped into his head when she had grabbed onto his sleeve. He was nervous about her being close, worried that he might hurt her or go too far without meaning to. He moved past those thoughts and questioned why she had grabbed onto him.
"A pink rabbit, that's a rare one," Akihiko commented with a grin.
"…Don't eat it," Shinjiro stated.
"I meant "uncommon"! Not rare like how cooked it is!" Akihiko told him off, "I can't believe you didn't get that from context."
"Heh. You can't even take a hint," Shinjiro countered.
"Enough of that, let's hurry up and capture that rabbit!" Mitsuru snapped.
"All right. Shinji, I challenge you to see who can catch that rabbit first!" Akihiko challenged.
"Psh, like you'd ever win," Shinjiro muttered.
"What would you guys even win?" Rosemary muttered with a frown.
'Who knows…any suggestions?'
He was teasing her. Her cheeks became a light pink as she grew flustered. She would have to think of something to answer him with. The longer she thought about it, the more flustered she became. She fought the urge to hide her face as his thoughts became fond. They had to turn their attention to the problem at hand and started to walk towards the rabbit. It jumped away from them.
"Dammit," Akihiko cursed with a frown.
They tried again, with the same results.
"Tch…just when we almost get it, it jumps out of the way," Shinjiro grumbled in annoyance.
"It runs away but it never goes too far," Mitsuru said, "is it trying to lead us somewhere? What could be waiting beyond here?"
"Maybe it has something to do with the painting?" Rosemary pointed out, "Like Alice Through the Looking Glass, but with a painting instead of a mirror."
"Means we can't corner it," Shinjiro said as he frowned, "so, we have to follow it."
They chased after the rabbit and watched as it readied itself and jumped through the painting. Rosemary had never seen a rabbit act in such a manner, it really sold it to her that when they were in a land of shadows, anything went. She ran a hand through her hair as they walked through the rabbit-shaped hole in the painting. Shinjiro surprised everyone when he helped other's get through when he was on the other side. Rosemary waited behind and went last to make sure that everyone got through all right. She could survive a surprise shadow; their thoughts would reveal themselves.
The rabbit wasn't easily found, so they went through one of the clock passages. They were starting to near the stairs to everyone's relief. They waited to hear if there were any large shadows near them and when there wasn't, they continued to walk. They ran into a golden hand shadow and found it to be a simple opponent, but easily dodged their attacks.
"It really doesn't like the stay still," Junpei commented as he was able to swing his sword down on it and defeat it.
No one knew how they ran into a rare shadow, it felt like such things shouldn't even exist in the labyrinth, yet they did. It was strange that it didn't run away like usual, perhaps they had startled it. They continued walking and came across another dead end. Rosemary listened as everyone ganged up on Junpei when he stated that the labyrinth was like an amusement park but with shadows. No one liked that idea, Shinjiro found it to be a creepy concept. She looked to the side with a strange expression, she'd never been to an amusement park, so she didn't have anything to go by.
"What's with that expression, May-chan?" Junpei asked.
"I've never really been to an amusement park," She admitted, "I guess I was trying to think of what it would be like but came up with a blank."
"Really?" He asked in surprise, "Not even for a birthday?"
He knew her parents had been shitty, but watching her shake her head made him feel horrible. Shitty? Shitty didn't even cover her parents. He brightened up a bit, well next year they'd just have to take her to one during the summer. They could save up enough money to take a trip to Hirakata so she could go to the park there. It'd be a fun thing to do. She smiled slightly at that.
They hurried through the labyrinth so they could finally rest. The rabbit was easy to find, and corner to another painting. It jumped through it and everyone sighed, there couldn't be that much left. They'd been walking through the labyrinth for a good three hours already. They repeated their actions from earlier and Minato looked at those that were exhausted.
"We'll split up here and let those who need rest, rest," Minato said, "we'll regroup in an hour."
"Right," Rosemary nodded, and all eyes turned to her, "…right…"
She sighed as they continued to look at her and slowly sat down in a corner. She got the message; she'd be one of the people staying behind. Ken stayed with her, as did Junpei. Shinjiro contemplated if they needed him before going with the others. He felt that Ken wouldn't appreciate it if he stayed there. Rosemary watched as the others turned around a corner before disappearing. She hadn't wanted to stay behind, but it was the best thing to do. If they continued to walk without a break, they would end up too tired to continue on the next floor. She couldn't help but wonder just how much more there was to explore on this floor. The size of it was ridiculous.
They were left waiting for a while and Junpei started to grow a bit sleepy as Ken and Rosemary quietly talked about school. Ken brought out the small baggie of cookies that Rosemary had made him and shared them around. Junpei smiled at the kid and knew that it meant a lot that he would willingly share them. It also helped that these were the ones made by Rosemary. It meant that his stomach wouldn't be destroyed like it would've if it had been made by Fuuka.
"Hey, we're ready to go on ahead," Shinjiro said as the others returned.
"All right," Junpei smiled as they all stood up.
Looking at the others made it realize that they had also taken a break before coming back to get them. They didn't run into any shadows due to that, but they did find the stairs and the rabbit. It escaped down the stairs and Akihiko couldn't help but be impressed that it was able to go down them. They headed back to the school and decided to sell off their materials and upgrade their equipment if possible.
Shinjiro watched as Rosemary sat down and looked at the wrappings on her leg. They were beginning to tinge red due to the amount she was walking around. He scratched the back of his head before kneeling next to her and checking it. She winced slightly when he accidentally pressed against one of the worse of the cuts. They had picked up some first aid kits from Theo, how he was able to make those he didn't want to know, and he had some bandages to redress it. Ken walked up on that and watched with a contemplative expression.
He didn't like them being so close but was thankful that someone else was looking out for his guardian seeing as she didn't. She ducked her head a bit and looked at him. It had to be said. He waited for them to finish before joining her in resting against a wall and watching the blank students walk around. It was so off-putting. Rosemary gathered they were slowly traversing into the uncanny valley, they looked human and acted human, but they really weren't. She didn't know anymore. She just wanted to get through the labyrinth and head home. She could deal with the dark hour, it was only an hour, but this never-ending labyrinth was enough for her to struggle with. Enough for even Akihiko to struggle with, and he was usually a never-ending source of energy.
"Do you think we'll be able to go home?" Ken quietly asked.
"…Yeah," She said.
She wasn't lying to him; she would say it to make it truthful. So that it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. She also wanted him to be in a good mind space, she didn't want him depressed. She had to keep her worry to herself and keep them from showing on her face. It was what she needed to do. She made a promise to herself. She'd look after him.