Floor 2 was a stark contrast to the main floor. Where the main hall was more dead than a graveyard, the second floor seemed quite lively; with red carpeting and elaborate wallpaper along the staircase. Each window had nicely furnished drapes and exotic animal furs covering the loveseats scattered around the corridor. It looked like something out of a hotel suite, and it was a step up from the unnerving battlefield that was left down below their feet "What is this place?" Yosuke murmured under his breath "I've never seen anything like this!" It was still unfamiliar territory.
"The floors changed completely!" Yukiko walked around excitedly, poking and prodding every surface that she made contact with "It's like we walked into a mansion!" She jumped like a kid in the candy store, taking a seat on the plush cushions before going to the next one, wanting to feel them all under her weight "This one is super soft!" She moved to the couch "This is firm, but a bit bouncy!" She then pounced on the rocking chair, nearly tipping it over as she held onto it for dear life "Eeeee! A-And this is kinda soft too!" She exclaimed nervously.
Unlike her easily excitable friend, Chie looked at the furniture, wiping off the dust and smelling the seats carefully. "These smell like an old person's home. Did someone live here at some point?" Now that she mentioned it, there was a faint smell in the air. One that reminded them of their grandparents' house. There was no sign of life anywhere, only the furnishings that they had found when coming up the stairs. "Do you think the shadows from downstairs were here?" Teddie asked, looking around for any enemies. But they say no one else, only them and them alone.
"This is very strange." Naoto spoke, her voice was uncertain, but unafraid. "I say we go up the next flight of stairs, before anything comes at us." Everyone nodded and turned around, only now to realize that this building was seemingly built to be as confusing as possible. Unlike just about every building in existence, the staircase did not follow a simple winding path upwards. Rather, it seemed to stop on this floor, with the next set of stairs located elsewhere on the floor they were on "This place sucks man!" Kanji angrily whined "Who designs a building like this?"
That's when the wind blew, and a howl was heard throughout the building; their talking had awakened something. Something that, while not unfamiliar, was most likely a life threatening being. Everyone tensed up, the once heartwarming air turned thick, and started growing as stale as it was downstairs. Then they heard breathing. Heavy breathing. So heavy in fact, that it started to become louder than their actual footsteps. Each inhale sounded like they were swallowing daggers, with the exhale being akin to a cat scratching a white board. It grew painful to listen to it, making everyone have a physical reaction to the sounds.
Heads spun around, searching for the source of the ear piercing noises. Their eyes laid upon a man with sunken eyes and what looked to be a caved-in chest, broken by an unknown blunt instrument. The creature limped towards them, staring at them without any emotion, without cause or even an understanding of what it was doing. It simply shuffled towards them, making an awful screech as it did so. "What is that thing!" Yukiko brought her Persona out, rushing the ancient looking creature as she cut him down, slicing him in half and causing the rest of his body to disintegrate.
"What just happened!" Teddie exclaimed, his head shaking in confusion "I didn't know you could turn people into sand Yukiko!" She looked at her golden coated Persona, touching it gently "I can't." She stated "That was him, or some reaction to my attack." She looked at the pile of sand, kicking it. "I suspect his body may allow him to come back." Just as she said that, the sand disappeared, his miniscule remains vanishing as they reformed into himself once more, now on the other side of the room. As soon as he reformed, he reached out his wrinkly hand, pointing at Yu "Failed leader." Then the old-looking man jumped forward, going at a speed that would've been impossible for someone of his supposed age.
Yu summoned Katana and attempted to strike the enemy down, only to watch his blaze go through his body seamlessly. As soon as the blade was away from his body, the sand connected once more and tackled Yu to the ground. The two struggled as Kanji kicked the creature off him, watching as the old man turned into grains of sand and moved around them, circling them like a shark. Unlike the floor below them, this being seemed far more difficult to defeat. Naoto took no time to use her Persona and started attacking the sand monster, firing on all cylinders as she hit him once, then had to move to hit him again, dodging and weaving with every blow taken and dealt.
It seemed as if it would move with every attack, with any injury done being immediately regenerated and ready for action. Teddie saw this and decided to attack the sand creature himself, activating Kintoki, he started freeing the sand in place, allowing Naoto to pull out her revolver and shoot at it. "Finally! That took forever." The teen grunted, stomping on the ice shards as everyone reorganized "Where...where did you get a gun?" Yukiko asked curiously. Naoto looked at her and ignored her question "The stairwell has to be around here somewhere, right? Why else would that thing appear?" The logic, while sound, simply did not hold up, as they spent who knows how long searching for the stairs, their legs grew sore and heads started hurting. This place was turning into a memory that they would never forget, even if they wanted to. "I want to kick whoever designed this place!" Chie snarled "I just wanna kick their shins in and punch all their stupid teeth out!"
The ice blocks remained on the floor, unmoving as the group moved on to find the stairs, now reinvigorated "What even was that thing?" Yosuke wondered "It was nothing like those fire things downstairs. Hell, it wasn't like anything we've seen before." Yu was deep in thought, feeling ashamed for bringing in everyone on this journey. He had good intentions, but he now felt responsible for everyone's disappointment and general irritability. They had been hesitant and he strong armed them into doing all this; something that they themselves did not wish to do.
"I'm sorry everyone," he spoke softly, his voice wavering as he caught their attention. "I was the one who found this place, and suggested it to you all. It was foolish and...and I apologize profusely." The group stopped as he bowed, his stomach twisted as he held his stance, sweat dripped down his face as he looked up "I hope you can forgive me. But I promise you, that I will ensure we make it home safe and alive." The room fell silent, then Yosuke began to laugh, then Kanji, then just about everyone started laughing.
"Wh-What?" He asked, bewildered by their reaction "What are you laughing about! I'm being serious!" Yosuke calmed down enough to lean over and slap Yu's back "We aren't angry at you dude! This place is a bit goofy, yeah. And sure, I'm a bit hungry, but it's all good! We'll get out of here and go on through life like normal. This place is weird, but it doesn't scream life-changing to me. Not by a long shot." Yu was reassured by his words, smiling like a giddy child as they walked off, unaware of what had been happening.
What Yu, or anyone for that matter didn't realize was that they were aging. Not the normal aging, but rapidly! This dimension that they'd fallen down too was rapidly aging them! They were teenagers when they started, and started turning 20 by the time they finished off those pesky fire beasts. But now- they were turning from 20, to 30 years old and if they couldn't find the stairs soon, they would turn 40! But how have they not noticed? How are they able to act so chipper and young? Why, it's because they believe themselves to be young teenagers!
The place put them under a spell; one that made them believe there were no changes being made to them, that every second they spend isn't a quick, aging death. It wouldn't be long until they would be incapable of running, or making effective plans for getting out of this place, and saving themselves! They were already physically changing, with their stomachs growing larger and their legs pudgier. Kanji and even Teddie were starting to lose hair, developing bald spots as everyone else started to have grey hairs. They were no longer young, vibrant teens, but tired, withering, middle aged men and women. Even Yu and Yosuke started to grow facial hair, starting as thin beards before hair growth really got rolling.
They were growing facial hair, along with arm and leg hair. Their eyes would start growing weaker, and their hairline receding; All of this, without their knowledge or awareness of the fact. But Yu's every growing anxiety wasn't due to his age, but his fallen pride; he had to be strong, to act as a pillar of support for the others. He didn't want to burden them with his problems, or even have any in the first place! What he wanted was to be the one they could look up to for guidance and strength. Right now, he didn't feel like he had either.
They walked and walked, their minds going numb until they found it; in the middle of the room, with a metal railing following the carpeted steps up to the next floor to their freedom. But, there was a downside--not only were the fire beasts back, but there were now more sand monsters, each one as old as the other. These beings had small, piercing eyes. Their noses had warts and their limbs thin. They had no muscle definition, nor did they look properly fed. In fact, they almost seemed malnourished, as if they themselves had walked through the red desert, turning into the sand they died in. "What do you want!" Kanji yelled out, grabbing a nearby chair as Take-Mikazuchi took form behind him.
The old men didn't move, staring at the aging group as they smiled "You will join us." They said in unison "You will become us." That wasn't the answer Kanji was looking for, so he set his Persona loose, rushing the sandmen as Take-Mikazuchi took out its lightning shaped blade and cut down the sand creatures in a blast of light and a roaring thunder. The fire beings ran around him, going towards Yu and the rest of the group as Kanji started to use his electric-based attacks to fry the sand particles, turning them into glass as he beat the shards with the metal chair he used as a weapon. Naoto assisted her teammate, freezing the sand brutes before shooting them point blank. "Where do all these things come from!" She yelled, annoyed and frustrated by the sand demons.
What she, nor did anyone else know was the major downside to the aging process; it taxed their stamina and endurance to the max, making it harder for them to fight. They would have short bursts of energy before they had to rest for a moment, catching their breath while their Persona fought for them; but even they started to be affected, missing enemies or not doing as much damage as they would normally. Nothing was being left out in this cursed place, and Naoto, along with everyone else had to play this rigid game till completion. Chie looked around as she fought, noticing that Teddie had an opening about to be exploited.
"Teddie! Look out!" She yelled, her warnings not getting to him in time as a wave of sand crashed over him, knocking him down as Satonaka ran over to help him up onto his feet "Let's go man! We got more to take care of!" She brushed the dust off his legs and started punching the fire shadows, going for kicks that simply didn't reach them. Her body wasn't what it used to be, slowly growing inflexible and therefore unable to do a proper kick. She thought it was exhaustion, or a pulled muscle, but it was the beginning of the end for her once renowned flexibility and martial arts skill. She breathed heavily, standing by Yukiko now as they fought side by side. Her friend was now a little bottom heavier than usual, making it hard for her to move fast enough to dodge, making her heavily reliant on her Persona.
Each member of the team seemed to suffer this fate; losing their physical abilities as the fight raged on. Then, in a moment of pure bliss, it all ended. The fire was snuffed and the sand erased from the floor; turning the hotel-like status into a full on battle zone. Everyone had to sit down after this, breathing in, then out. In, then out again. Their heads spun like a dreidel, their eye sight browning blurry, but most noticeably of all, they felt weak. Unlike the fight before, they weren't at full fighting potential. Each of them could sense it, but they couldn't see what was happening to them. "Wow...that was something else!" Yosuke gasped, "Who would've thought that I would've slowed down!" Despite his lightheartedness, Yosuke couldn't bring everyone's spirits up. They felt something was wrong, but it was invisible to their senses.
Yu stood up first, looking at the floor as he saw what looked to be his katana under the pile of sand and ash. He walked forward, bending over to pick up the weapon "How did your Katana get there?" Teddie asked curiously "I'm not sure." Yu answered, "It must've been blown off during the battle." He grabbed the handle and pulled on its sheath to reveal a partially battle damaged blade "The shadows must've damaged it. I'll have to be careful with it later on." he looked at the others, seeing their determined smiles.
He took the weapon and placed it by his hip, undoing a few straps to tuck it in firmly as he walked up to the stairs, waiting for everyone else as he touched the metal surface. It was smooth, with not a single spec of dust on it; even with their rambunctious fight mere moments ago. "Well come on, let's get to it!" Yosuke rushed "I want to get to the second floor already!" Yu turned his head "We're...already on the second floor." His friend blinked and rubbed the back of his head "Oh yeah! Sorry, I meant the third floor. Let's go to the third floor." Yu smirked and started going up, the friends forming a single file line up the stairwell, and into the third floor of the building, turning 40 years old as they did so. 2 floors down, with only 8 to go.