Floor five was...another nightmare. Not in the sense that it was scary, but that they didn't know what exactly was going to happen. The room was flat, with hardwood floors and a thick, prickly carpet. The air was filled with a candlelight smell, was it lavender? No, it was too weak to be lavender. Maybe vanilla? That sounded about right. A vanilla aroma soared through the room emanating from what looked to be a small tabletop beside 8 rocking chairs. They looked cozy, with arm pads covering the oak furnish, and tiny fur pads at the bottom of the chair. It was looking really cozy to the group of senior citizens.
Yu felt himself hunch his shoulders and rub his fingers together, unsure of what to do anymore; his and everyone else's memory was dilapidated and was on a steady decline. They shuffled forward, their young and hip clothing contrasting their rather old appearance, making for quite the spectacle; watching eighty year old men lumbering in skinny jeans and a tank top that had lightning bolts printed on the front and back of it. They looked at the 8 chairs set up, going to see what they were, only for their bodies to decide that they were instead going to sit in the chairs they had just found in a supernatural nuthouse.
"What are we doing here?" Chie wondered "I mean, how did we…? I was in a store and then- oh wow! These seats are comfy! But...shouldn't we be going...somewhere...oh crud, where are we going?" A question that nobody seemed to be able to answer. All they could do was sit down, and sink into their chairs, their old bottoms flattening out in the curvature of the seat. "Certainly enjoy these things!" Yukiko cooed, rubbing her fanny into the chair as everyone else began to lay back, tightening and then relaxing their fingers as they breathed in and out. The previous battle had knocked the wind out of their sails and they did not want to leave, even if they were...huh. They don't remember their accelerated aging. All they could recognize was that they were old!
"This chair reminds me of a story I once heard involving my...friend? No, my son and his friend...yes, yes I remember. Wait, no I don't..." Yosuke said, leaning in as he stuttered, his throat growing parched as he told a story that latched itself to his mind, "See, it was a rainy day that day. Like it was back when I was a little kid. I liked it when I was little. It was simpler, and my mother would make my favorite flavor of chicken soup, with some soy sauce and a side of scrambled eggs beside my bowl. Oh, did you know that I once broke a bowl? It was one of my mothers, a family heirloom I think. She was mighty furious when I broke it, yes she was." Yosuke went on and on, losing track of each conversation he made, until it was completely unintelligible nonsense.
Yu wasn't much better "You think that's hard, I had to walk to the store just the other week, and these dumb looking boys gave me the stink eye. You know, the kind that sets everyone else off, tellin' them they was bad news? Well I ignored them and grabbed the milk I was going for. It was some whole milk, cause that two percent stuff just doesn't sit right with me." Chie nodded in agreement, sitting up in her chair "Let me tell you, the food prices are just getting worse and worse! I was getting mochi this one time, and it almost cost one thousand yen! That's nearly twice the average price!" She started getting angry "I thought I was getting scammed, but it turns out every store in the district is selling them at that price!"
Kanji was floored, making a sweater as he shook his head in disappointment. He may not have wanted to be involved in the conversation but he had opinions, just like everyone else that was here; and just like theirs, they were on the side of "things used to be better." Because to him, it was better! "That and gas. It's like they want us out of the country." Teddie mumbled "Japan's got enough of a population problem already, so driving us out ain't a good idea." The politics aside, no one batted an eye to the way they spoke, the cadence and the weight that they carried with every word: speaking as if they've lived long enough to talk and discuss like this.
"Oh let me tell ya, this all sucks." Yukiko whined "I just want to go back to when I was young and popular. Showing off my goods and making friends with everyone I met." She purred, winking at Teddie as she rubbed her legs softly "But, those years are behind me, slang and all." Yu gave a thin smile "Yeah, it does suck. Watching the world you grew up in changes. Seeing the people you lived with grow old and die with you, leaving no survivors as our generation disappears with the next one. Our lives, our experiences, everything we've gone through or wanted to experience, washed away. Like it didn't matter at all. We didn't make a big enough difference to be remembered, so when we die...we will be truly gone." He looked at everyone, tears welling up in his eyes.
"But let me go on about the weather." His mind was reset to square one. Like a forced case of Alzheimer's, only it wasn't like the disease; this was being done to them deliberately and with malicious intent. Not by the woman, but by someone else! A lurking figure, hiding high above the group. Their powers were all seeing and yet they could only do so much to slow everyone down from discovering the truth. Yu went back to what he was doing, talking about whatever story his head was filled with, getting off topic faster than a tabloid picked one up to feed to their gullible audience members. This time, they were the gullible audience, being fed lie after lie as they went on, enjoying each other's company as their tale's stretched on forever.
Their words were like anchors, dragging their minds, their very memories into the depths of nothingness. Their eyes became washed out, their noses filled with hair, their ears waning in accountability as their tongues became dry. They would have to eat a coal miner's dinner to taste anything again! They turned from eighty to ninety, then from ninety to one hundred! They aged over 20 years in the span of seconds, their mindless and imaginative babble causing their downfall as they laughed and shared stories. One of sorry and self reflection, their lives flashing before their eyes as a new one was written in its place. One that was filled with home, and joy, with a happy family and an even happier future down their bloodline. One would've called it depressing, and sick. But to the one pulling the strings, it was Tuesday. At least, they thought it was Tuesday, they could be wrong-
"And then, it got really cold last week, though I'm not sure how cold." Yosuke nodded "I don't know, I just never knew it to be that cold…" Yu stopped, rubbing his nose as he stretched his arms. His eyelids felt like cement, closing over his vision as his mouth began to slurring his speech "Then I grabbed my coat I got from my daughter on my...50th...no- 70th birthday! Yes, my...70th…" Yu then slumped over his rocking chair, snoozing as Yosuke continued nodding to nothing, which was just him breathing. Turns out he was asleep for about 10 minutes now. Soon the other members started falling asleep, their big 100 was turning them into real couch potatoes. What they didn't know was that as they slept, the magic that aged them decided to give them a few gifts.
After what can only be assumed to be ninety minutes, their mid-sentence slumber finally ended, causing a few of them to snort like a pig as they woke up, their eyes fluttering open "What za- Nnhh!" Kanji grunted, pulling on his weak back as Rise rolled her ankle, inhaling deeply as she sighed rather loudly "Oh, these shoes don't do my arches any good." She whined, staring at her cotton socks that were tucked into a pair of leather boots. Her outfit didn't change, in fact, it didn't fit her. None of them did, but she had new things, things that an older person might use within their lifetime. Hers just so happened to be glasses, though everyone had those on. Unlike the others, she had the honor of having nice looking dentures. Chie bore her usual outfit, although she now had a few extra accessories; a purse for one thing, with another being a walking cane, now that her legs seemed to have given up on her. It's four legs had tennis balls attached to the bottoms, so that it wouldn't make a loud noise when she used it.
Yu's katana had turned into a cane that held a hidden blade; one that was often used by veteran soldiers who were injured by war. But the only war Yu was fighting was against time itself, and he was losing badly. Yosuke was suffering as well, his kunai that he had on his person for emergencies had now been replaced with a backscratcher. Yukiko also had a purse, but it was mostly filled with napkins and candies that would be given to, say, grandchildren. Only she didn't have any. None of them did, even if they believed they had some; only it was a cruel trick, just like everything else in this place. Kanji had a walking cane as well, since his body had grown frail and simply wasn't what it used to be. His intimidating persona had withered away a long time ago. Along with his teeth, but that was old news to him.
Teddie's shirt had a large bump which hid his hairy, itchy potbelly. If you looked far enough away, he almost looked pregnant, but he only got uglier when you looked up close. Naoto was also a fine example of this, with her skin covered in warts, with her hat not doing much to cover it up. Her eyes wavered and she begrudgingly used a walking stick, still carrying a gun despite her uneasy firing arm. Everyone couldn't be trusted. They weren't themselves, they were a danger to themselves and everyone else. How they'd get out there no one knew, because nobody understood what was going on! "Now hold on just a minute, I thought that I was at my high school graduation party! What am I doing in this...hotel? What is this nice building!" Naoto muttered, placing her hand on the brick wall.
"I once went to a hotel. It was a nice one, with cutesy looking beds and fun toys all around." Rise spoke softly "Or that was a brothel. Either way, I had fun!" She cackled like a hyena, her laugh echoing in the empty halls as Yu scratched his head in confusion "I don't know where I am and I need to know." He started walking around, looking down corridors as he called for everyone else to follow him. They moved at the same pace as him; a snail's pace. They slowly made their way up and down the halls, checking each room for someone to talk to or get directions from so they could leave this darn place. It was unsettling to think that they were lost in a place they did not know or remember being in. To feel so incapable of doing anything, and being forced to move around like mice was a nightmare to many, and understandably so.
Yu's mind was being relentlessly attacked, but he was a leader at heart, going on as he picked up the pieces left by him a few seconds prior. That, and the group behind home wasn't being mentally strangled to death time and time again. He saw a nearby staircase, and everyone else helped him "That looks like a way out." Kanji fixed his glasses, holding up his cane to point at what he was talking about. This nearly toppled him over, saved by his remaining reflexes that lingered in his body. Yu shook his head, taking step after step in his tightly fit shoes, his jeans acting as a barrier in it of itself. The unseen force eventually gave up, scheming for the next floor as Yu and the others made their way up to the 6th floor, continuing their hellscape for a little bit longer.