Yu had tried, desperately, to worm his way out of leadership role, but every argument was swiftly countered by a solid counterargument. Before he could think of another excuse, he saw them approaching the first hotel. He breathed a sigh of resignation.
"Oh, fine. I'll be the damn leader. Get us in that alleyway. We can't risk them recognizing Akec- ahem- evil-eye." Yu said, with a smile at the last part.
"Doesn't the Mona-mobile have a tether of some sort? Can't we use that to climb up the hotel?" Akechi asked.
"It was a harpoon. It's designed to attach to pierce flat surfaces and pull things to us or tear off things like walls. It won't work."
"Then we'll have to work our way up. Let's go." Yu said, opening his door and getting out. As they were currently in an alleyway, there weren't any windows for them to climb into, but there was a vent. Pulling the grating off, Yu climbed in, Morgana and Akechi following close behind.
For a while, it seemed like they were going nowhere, and it was starting to cramp up their legs. Yu, however didn't notice. Instead of soreness, he was feeling alive, excited, and most of all, free. Just like the first time he summoned Izanagi, he felt a rush as he crawled through the vent, a rush that only intensified as he thought about what he was doing, and he smiled as he could imagine how it would look when he was finished. As he turned the corner, he saw a light, and it was coming from the bottom.
"Looks like this the end of the line for crawling in the vents. The only way left is down." Yu said, trying to readjust himself so that he'd land feet-first.
"Finally! I was worried it went on forever." Morgana complained.
"If the directions are any indication, I'd guess we'll pop out below the main floor." Akechi informed them as Yu got his feet out in front of him.
With a single movement, Yu went over the ledge and fell, his weight breaking through the grating, but the fall itself wasn't enough to hurt him. Getting out of the way, Morgana and Akechi landed, the woman stretching afterwards. It appeared they were in a storage area of the basement, with several crates and racks scattered about. They then heard footsteps.
"Disturbance in the basement, going to investigate." Came the distorted voice of a Shadow.
"Quick, hide!" Yu ordered, quickly taking cover behind a storage rack, Akechi and Morgana following his command and hiding right behind him.
"Psst. Seeker, there's something you should know." Morgana whispered to him.
"What?"
The footsteps got louder as the guard made his way to the voices.
"You see that riot mask he has? If you tear it off, it'll disrupt the Palace ruler's control over the Shadows. It'll disorientate the shadow and force it to reveal its true form. The few moments it needs to reorient itself should be a big enough opening for us to get a few good hits in. Give it a try." Morgana informed, Yu nodding shortly after.
The Shadow was dangerously close now. Remembering all those action movies he's watched over the years, Yu jumped right in front of the Shadow, and gave a second jump, landing on top of the Shadow's shoulders. His clawed hand reached for the mask and pulled with all his strength. The mask came off easily, and Yu pushed with both of his legs. The Shadow twisted and convulsed, and just like before, transformed into a black puddle that soon reformed itself, this time into two women with red dresses floating in the air.
As Morgana said, they appeared to be in a state of confusion, giving Yu the chance to strike. Summoning Izanagi, a bolt of lightning struck one of the women, and Morgana called Lady Trieu, who summoned a green vortex that finished the job. The other one quickly recovered, and extended her palms, as if she was giving a gift. And that gift was a few chunks of ice that hurled themselves at Yu. All of them hit him, and while he felt hurt, he could also feel Izanagi protecting him from the bulk of the damage. Morgana charged, slashing upwards with her scimitar, and before the Shadow could recover, fired a ball from her slingshot that hit square in the chest, going straight through. It was then that Akechi decided to enter the battle, pulling out his pistol and firing rapidly into the woman's body, using all the bullets in the clip, and the woman's body slumped down as a result. Yu summoned Izanagi to finish her.
"W-wait! Please!" The woman cried, hovering over to the group.
"Hold on Seeker. Let's hear her out." Morgana suggested.
"What do you want?" Yu asked, holding out his sword.
"If I'm going to die, I want to know, what was I to you?" She asked in return.
"Ummm… no one really." Yu answered, both confused and not prepared to think of a better answer.
"I suppose that makes sense. I don't leave a good impression."
"Ummm…. Ok?"
"Do you think there might be someone out there who doesn't think of me as a no one?"
Yu rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this.
"I don't care."
"Yea, I don't suppose I would in your position t- WAIT! I remember!" She yelled suddenly, floating with renewed life.
"I am thou, thou art I. From the Sea of Souls I cometh. I am Silky, and I will aid thou on thy quest." The woman, now known as Silky, declared, before turning into a mask exactly like Yu's and flying right to his face, merging with the one he had on. Both he and Akechi looked at Morgana expectantly.
"Congrats on getting your first new Persona Seeker." Morgana congratulated with a smile.
"Will all Shadows be potential Personas?"
"Sadly, no. Some will be untameable beasts that need to be killed."
"I'll keep that in mind as we keep going. By the way evil-eye…"
"Yes Seeker?"
"Those were some great shots before."
"Thank you. My firing instructor told me I'd make a great assassin in another life." Akechi joked.
"Still have any bullets?"
"Oh, that's right. I forgot about that." Akechi admitted, pulling out his weapon and then the ammo clip. Sure enough, all of the bullets were still there.
"Wait, you brought in a real weapon? I thought it was a model."
"Why would it fire if it was a model?"
"Because this world is affected by cognition. If it looks real in this world, then it is."
"I see. So if I take out the clip, then it would still fire?"
"I think so. It would explain why you didn't use any last time. But how come Morgana's slingshot does just as much damage?" Yu wondered, walking up the stairs out of the basement.
"Because it's been augmented by the magics of the Velvet Room. Now, let's focus on the task at hand please!" Morgana borderline demanded.
They came up at a hall and walked to the end of it, Yu using his phone's map as their guide. When they reached the end, they found themselves at the back of the lobby of the hotel. They saw a few Shadow's roaming around in patrol routes, and there were two flights of stairs that connected to a balcony directly above them, as if they were in a mansion. On the other side of the room was another hallway, one that led to the gym and pool, according to the map. Most hotels had elevators, and they would use that to reach the top. Skillfully avoiding the Shadows, the trio walked down the hall, looking for the elevator, only to find that there was no such thing. The only way up was another set of stairs, and they began on the balcony.
Who designed this?
Managing to sneak their way past the Shadows by memorizing their movement routes, the three climbed up the balcony. As they approached the end of the hall to the stairs, they saw a Shadow standing guard, one that didn't seem to notice them yet.
"There's no way we'll be able to ambush this one."
"That's ok. If you can manage to hit them, it'll force them to reveal their true form. They won't be disoriented, but we'll still have a chance to strike."
Yu nodded his head, and pulled out his katana, rushing forward.
"What the hell?! Intru-"
Yu slashed his sword across the Shadow's chest before it could alert the others. This time, it's black puddle reformed into two male demons. Yu decided to give his new Persona a try. Reaching for his mask, he decided to summon her the same way he summoned Izanagi.
"Silky!" Yu called, and the woman appeared behind him as he tore off his mask. Another word of power made its way into his mind.
"Bufu!" Yu yelled, and Silky obeyed, shooting ice blocks at one of the demons, knocking it down. But just like Morgana said, the other demon was ready, and with a snap of his fingers, fireballs appeared and exploded all around Yu, and this time, the force was great enough to knock him down.
"Damnit! That Persona must be weak to fire!" Morgana yelled, summoning Lady Trieu.
"Show them your power!" Morgana ordered, and the attack she launched at the male demon held more power than usual, knocking him down. Yu forced himself up, Akechi pointing his gun from afar while Morgana jumped over them, surrounding the two demons.
"Say goodbye." Akechi said, ready for the kill.
"Wait a moment evil-eye. It's in our best interest to have as diverse an arsenal as possible. Try to negotiate with them." Morgana advised.
"Alright Carmen. Lend me your power, demon." Yu said to the Shadow.
"Who the hell do ya think ya are, bargin' in like this?" He demanded.
"I'm the guy who kicked your ass."
"How? How did ya win? What do ya have that I don't?!"
"A social life."
"…. Heh. Ya got spunk kid. Kinda like m-WAIT! I remember!"
The demon flew upwards, the second one vanishing into thin air.
"I am thou, thou art I. From the Sea of Souls I cometh. I am Incubus, and I will aid thou on thy quest." He said, the process from Silky repeating itself and soon, a new mask merged with Yu's. He motioned for the team to form up, and turned around, expecting the other Shadows to show up because of the commotion, but to his surprise, no one did.
"Shadow's only show up if they see an intruder. Unless the Palace is on high alert, like when you guys first came here." Morgana said, as if reading his mind.
"Alright. In that case let's head up. This hotel has what, five floors?"
"Four Seeker. And we're on the first." Akechi informed.
"Alright. After we beat the marshal, we can head over to the other hotel and repeat the process. Follow me." Yu ordered as he went through the doors.
"And he thought he wasn't cut out to be leader." Morgana said to Akechi as they followed. They climbed up the stairs, but soon ran into a problem. There were only three floors these stairs went up to.
"Hold on, let me check my… oh you've got to be kidding."
"What's wrong Seeker? Was evil-eye wrong?" Morgana asked.
"No. There's another separate set of stairs that go only from the third to the fourth floor, and that set is on the other side of the building. And there's a lock icon on this door on the map, so I'm assuming it won't open. At least on this side."
To confirm his theory, Yu gave a quick push and pull to the door, but it didn't move an inch.
"Then that means we'll have to explore the second floor." Akechi reasoned, and Yu nodded in response. The trio went to the second floor and went through the hallway. For some reason, there was a door unlocked and open at the very end, and Yu decided to take a peek. There was a single Shadow in the room, walking back and forth between an open window and the door. The room inside looked like a standard hotel room, which meant that there was plenty of room to maneuver around the Shadow if he wanted to avoid fighting. And he really wanted to avoid fighting, given how little space there was. Timing his movements carefully, Yu and the other two were able to completely avoid the Shadow, or at least until they neared the window.
"STOP REBELS!" The Shadow yelled, pulling out a baton and swinging it at the closest member, Akechi, and landing a direct hit, the impact slamming the detective into his teammates. As they recovered, the Shadow dissolved, and this time, rather than take on any kind of creatures with human features, like a body, the tar spread out so it surrounded the three and reformed into blobs that only had a pink mask standing out.
"These are what I was talking about, the ones that aren't Personas." Morgana explained, getting up.
The three masks were relentless in their assault, pressing their advantage as one attacked Akechi with fireballs, and the detective didn't have a Persona to protect him from the flames. The second one attacked Yu, but this time, he was able to not just repel it, but absorb it, thanks to his newly acquired Incubus. This opening allowed him to get up and call on Izanagi, the god cleaving the blob with his blade, destroying it. The third managed to hit Morgana, while Akechi's attacker turned to Yu. The teenager avoided the fireballs that were hurled at him, and the other blob turned to aid its kin. Yu pulled out his katana and ordered Izanagi to hit Morgana's attacker while he went after Akechi's. Izanagi summoned a lightning strike to charge his naginata and hit the blob of tar straight in the center of it's form, causing it to evaporate completely. Yu charged the last Shadow, which was desperately trying to hit him with it's fire. But it was too little, too late, Yu dodged the last fireball and spun around, the momentum allowing his sword to cut clean through the mask, the rest of the body disintegrating shortly afterwards. He turned to his comrades.
"You ok evil-eye?" Morgana asked.
Yu looked over to the ace detective, who was struggling to stand, even with the support of the furniture. Black scorch marks dotted his pea coat, and bruises formed on his face, and blood leaked from his nose. His lips were swollen, and from the way he held his gut, Yu guessed that he might have a broken rib.
"N-no, Carmen. You were right. Without a Persona, I am useless." Akechi admitted.
"Don't say that. You've come in handy so far. Don't worry, Lady Trieu knows a healing spell. Let me patch us up, that battle was rough."
Lady Tieu appeared behind Morgana, and raised her sword. After that, the three felt a warm feeling boiling up inside them, like they just drank hot chocolate immediately after coming in from a blizzard. Yu felt the lingering aches from previous battles start to subside, while Akechi looked like he never got into a fight. Even his clothes showed no damage.
"Carmen, you ok?" Yu asked, noticing his female friend started breathing heavily.
"I'm… fine, thank you Seeker. Surely you noticed it too by now right? How each time you use a Persona, you feel just a little bit more tired."
"Now that you mention it, yea. Each time I order Izanagi to do something, I feel like closing my eyes for a few seconds."
"Personas derive their power from our mental state, so the more we use them, the less we'll be able to concentrate. Eventually, it'll get to the point where we'll be lucky to summon Personas at all."
"So we won't be able to completely infiltrate a Palace in one go. A shame, I wanted to rampage through Shujin Nation and sow chaos to my heart's content." Akechi declared.
"Wait, what?" Akechi asked after realizing what he just said.
"Oh dear. I was afraid of this." Morgana said, casting her eyes down and rubbing her arm.
"Afraid of what? What didn't you tell us Carmen?" Yu demanded.
"Well, you know those clothes Seeker wears? They aren't just for show. They protect him from the distorted desires of the Palace ruler. Since you aren't wearing them, you'll slowly turn into how the Palace viewer sees you. In this case, the fanatic rebel who won't stop until Kobayakawa is overthrown."
"Can it be reversed?" Akechi asked.
"Yes. All we need to do is return to the waking world. But we need to hurry."
"Yes, it appears we're at an impasse. There has to be something in here that can help us. Why else would there be a Shadow in here?" Akechi reasoned.
"I don't think it was here to guard this room. Just keep us out." Yu countered, walking over to the open window.
Looking around outside, he saw that they were rather high up, but there was a ledge he could shimmy along, a ledge that went all the way to a water drainage pipe. Looking up, he saw the pipe lead to another open window. On the third floor.
"Alright you two, I found our ticket up to the third floor. Follow me." Yu ordered, getting out of the window and onto the ledge. As the other two joined him, he heard Akechi speak.
"That was excellent fighting back there Seeker."
"Told you, a Wild Card is the best of the best, whether they know it or not."
Yu rolled his eyes as he climbed up the pipe, but he also smiled too. Maybe they were right. Maybe he really was cut out for this. Before he entered, he peeked through the window to see if there were any Shadows. Finding none, he pulled himself in, helping Akechi and Morgana up. Walking out, Yu made sure to unlock the door that led to the lower floors before continuing up. But something caught his eye as they walked down the hall.
"Is this door shimmering?" Yu asked.
The door was in fact shimmering, like it was a pond of water that someone threw a stone into. Morgana grinned.
"Ah, I was wondering when we'd run into this." She said, opening the door and walking in. When the two boys followed, they found that the room they stepped into shifted. One moment, they were in another hotel room, the next, they were in a classroom, and then back in a hotel room. The two teenagers looked at Morgana for an explanation.
"This place is called a Safe Room. It's a spot in the Palace where distortion is weak, and as a result, so is the Palace ruler's control. Shadows won't come in here, so we can use these to take a break whenever we want."
"That sounds like it'll be useful." Yu said, looking at his phone, only to find that the map was gone. In its place were two blocks of text; South Hotel Room, and Palace Entrance.
"Hmmm."
"What is it Seeker?" Morgana asked.
"Can these Safe Rooms be used to teleport us across the Palace?"
"Oh yea! Knew I was forgetting something. Yes, once we reach a new Safe Room, we can use that to teleport to the Palace entrance or any other Safe Room we've visited."
"That will be very useful. Ready to continue when you are Seeker." Akechi informed.
"Same here." Morgana added.
"Then let's get to it."