9/6 Sun, Iwatodai Dormitory, morning
I was waiting outside for Kazuki, sitting on the steps as I took a quick glance at my phone... The door behind me flew open behind me, it was none other than Kazuki, looking as though he just remembered that I was out here.
"What took you so long," I asked as I showed him the time on my phone. "Sorry, I had to tell Fu-chan that we were gonna be hanging out today, but I had to make sure to tell her weren't going on a date or anything." "I'm sure she knows that already." "You think so?"
I got up from the steps and I leaned on the rail. "Wanna get going now?" "Yeah, let's roll!"
Paulowna mall, Chagall cafe, morning
We had been in the cafe for a couple of minutes now, we had just got drinks. "Ah, that's good. How's your coffee, Shizuka?" "Yeah...it's great." I wasn't lying when I said that, but I didn't really have more to add to that. This had later turned to just the both of us just drinking our drinks in other silence...
"Shizuka, I gotta ask: are you still staying up late?" "I guess a little bit, but I'm able to get some sleep. Is it that obvious." I rubbed my eyes to keep them open. "It kind of is... In fact, you've been staying Tartarus a lot longer than you usually do." It was true, I was staying in there for a longer amount of time, to the part where it gets kind of dangerous...
"I'm fine, I just keep losing track of time is all." "Ugh, and I'm secretly rich (on second thought, I might be). You're lying. These past three days you have been acting like Tartarus is going somewhere." "As I said before: I'm fine. I just feel as though I should get some training in before we face against the moon shadows..." That was only half the truth at the time, but I felt as though I didn't need to train myself any further to beat those things... I stirred my coffee, looking at the liquid follow along with my spoon.
"Kazuki, have you ever felt scared? So scared that your whole body went numb, and your mind wanted to go somewhere else, away from yourself?" Kazuki rubbed his chin as he was thinking on my question. "Yeah, of course I did, there were moments I was scared; like I used to think there were monsters in the dark when I was a kid when Naoya told me a scary story." "Um, maybe that could fit what I said if you were still a child." I took a sip of my coffee...
"Nevermind that, we should talk about something else," I told him. "Like school?" "Like the organization." Kazuki top a quick drink of his tea, finishing all of it afterward... "All right, what do you need to tell me?" "Okay, let me tell you about where they're located." Kazuki's eyes looked as if they were gonna roll out of his head. "Wait, you knew where they were at!? Why didn't you tell me this before?" Kazuki had caused a little of a commotion, making eyes come to us. I expected him to burst up like this, and I waited for him to take a seat...
"...I could've done that, however, it wouldn't matter much." "Why not?" I relaxed in my seat and I coupled my hands together. "It isn't as easy as showing up and laying waste to them all, or hell, calling the police on them. No...it's a bit more complicated." "How complicated," Kazuki asked me as he was ordering more stuff. "It gets less complicated if you're paying attention," I told as he was scratching his head with a stupid smile... "Basically, they're not touchable right now, but that's only for now. And honestly, if we kill the last shadow we won't even need to do anything against them, and with your shadow-mog, we can fend off an attack from the lackeys." "Oh, I see, so we don't even need to go to them, we just need to destroy the last three shadows and we're good! Sweet!"
But there's a problem in this, I don't know if they'll send the real threats to stop us. In that case, I don't know if his Shadow-mog will be enough...
"...Is there more I should know?" Kazuki snapped me out of my own space and was looking at me with a serious expression. "Hmm, nothing else comes to mind, the stuff I could tell you won't be important, so I guess not." "Ah, then how about the blonde guy?" The blonde guy... "You know who I'm talking about?" "Yes, I do, but..." I remembered when I panicked when I sensed him; it was a rather embarrassing moment for me. "I don't know much about him, but I did hear he was...disturbed. So I didn't try to go anywhere near him..." "Yeah, guess we felt it first hand, didn't we?" He was right, when I sensed him, I felt something indescribable, but if I tried to put it into words: it was like a river, but more violent and could as easily wash along with it; never being able to escape it...
"Hey, I didn't tell anyone this, but, I met Katsu after the whole night queen incident." I was surprised to hear that name. "Oh, what happened?" "He told me he would kick my ass when we fight again." "Should've guessed, he truly is arrogant when it comes to fighting, in fact, it's a bit admirable." "Really? I think he's a bit in over his head." "I completely agree with you on that. Though, if we're talking about pure skill, he might have you beat," I stated as I finished my coffee. Masaru is pretty ill-tempered and by no means a stranger to jumping the gun, but there is a certain focus he has when he fights, there is no doubt about it...
"Here's your tea and cake, sir." The waitress put down another cup of tea and cake in front of Kazuki. "Thank you. Wow, this looks really good!" His eyes sparkled as he was in awe at the cake; it had fine detail put into it making it that more delicious to the eye... He began to take eat the cake in small pieces.
"So sweet!" He had his finger squishing against his cheek as he was smiling with delight. Is it that good? "You should've gotten this Shizuka, it's delicious!" "Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm good; shouldn't really have cake in the morning." "Aww, it's only just one, it won't hurt." Kazuki made a gesture towards the cake... I didn't plan on eating this early, but... "Alright, order me one." "Hehe, ask and you shall receive."
Kazuki called over the waitress to order another cake. a couple minutes later, it was placed in front of me...
"Well, don't be shy." I took the fork off the table and I stuck it into the cake. I took a piece of it and put into my mouth. "So, how does it taste," Kazuki asked with anticipation. It was sweet but not too sweet for the teeth. "Good, right?" Kazuki finished his cake when he said that... It really is good.
"Hm, ah. Shizuka, we should get going, we don't want to waste all of our time here." "But I didn't finish yet." "I see, I see, take your time..."
We had exited out of Chagall, Kazuki looked over to the newly restored drug store. It was actually a month ago it was finally back to being open.
"What's wrong," I asked Kazuki as he was looking around the mall. "Minako destroyed this portion of the mall, no," I asked. "Yeah, she did. That was one hell of a night, I thought we were actually gonna die." "You could've if I hadn't come for you."
That night I was tailing him as I did after the night I met him. At the time, I was ordered to and to document any change with him. My first fight with him was to gauge his abilities, mainly to see if he would do something abnormal from a Person with a Persona. The first fight was a failure, the second fight was where I was able to confirm an abnormal power; Oceans stream... It was a rather strong ability, even when I guarded with my Persona, it still did damage to me... But when asked me to train him, I thought he was insane, and I still do. But to where he asked me for training, he gave me a chance; a chance to break away from the organization...
"Shizu." "Yeah." "Want a Jack Frost doll?" My eyebrow rose in surprise. I looked to where Kazuki was pointing, it was the claw machine next to the arcade. "I don't want one." I tried to walk away, resisting the urge to go over to the machine and drop a coin in there. "Are you sure? They have keychains of them in it. And guess what: they're just as fluffy as the bigger ones." I stopped moving for a moment and I turned to the machine.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here to witness a matchup that has been anticipated since the dawn of time." Kazuki was pretending he was holding a microphone and making gestures towards the claw game. In the red corner, the machines of a cruel joke, the machine that'll get you and your money: The claw machine!" He points to me. "...And in the blue corner, we have the girl of legend, the chosen one, the one to save the frost: Rin Shizuka!" I put a coin inside the machine and I began to move the claw...
I nearly had the ring of the chain but I was off by a bit. "Damn!" "Yikes, better luck, nex-" "Be quiet!" I tried again, but the arm of one of the bigger ones got in the way. Frustrated, I put another coin in... Every single attempt met with failure. It broke down to a boiling point where I actually punched the machine. "Whoa, Shizu, its okay, it's just a game. Um, Shizuka, you okay?" Realizing that I had lashed out in anger and hit the game, I felt immensely embarrassed.
"I-I'm sorry you had to see this, it's a shameful display of anger." I apologized to Kazuki. "Let's leave." I tried walking away while hanging my head down...
I was waiting for Kazuki as he was still inside the mall...
"Here." Kazuki threw something at me. It was a Jack Frost keychain. "Did you win this?" "Well, yeah, almost didn't even get it; it was really hard!" I looked at it for a moment, I felt ashamed for not being able to get something as simple as this. "No, I can't." I threw back at him. "Why not? Thought you wanted it?" "I did but I didn't earn it myself, you did. So have it." Kazuki made an annoyed expression at me. "Come on, who cares. Just consider it a present from me to you." "I can't," I persisted. He had sighed to himself as he rotated his finger on his forehead.
"Fine, fight me for it!" "Huh?" He presented his fist in front of me. "Rock, paper, scissors." He seemed fixed on doing this. "What's the matter, you scared of losing more than twice in a row?" Pressing against a nerve, I felt a sudden determination to do this.
"Fine, you want a battle, let's have one!" I put my fist forward towards his... "Alrighty, you ready," Kazuki asked me. "Same can be asked for yourself..." I had felt a tension in the air for this, my arms tensed up a little. "Ready... Rock, paper, scissors..."
10/6 Tues, the tower, FL:1,?
"Why is she sleeping, doesn't she know we're in a hurry," Yukari irritatedly said. "Maybe it's from her wounds," I pointed out. "Maybe, must be a bitch to move around with her wounds," Junpei added. "It is." I rubbed my arms, touching my scars through my uniform jacket. "Oh, sorry dude." "No, it's fine, I'm just remembering the tough times I had here, but with my experience, I'm ready now!" Junpei rubbed his upper lip. "Aw yeah! Makoto is coming in for round two, and with backup!" Junpei wrapped his arm around my neck and swung me around.
"Hey, Junpei, cut it out, you'll hurt Makoto-kun!" Yukari tried to get me out of his grasp, but it caused more swinging. While I was getting dizzier and dizzier, I Shizuka holding something in her hand; a Jack frost keychain. She was holding on to it tightly. I also noticed she was smiling brightly. She's prone to wear a serious, if not, an expressionless face. But now, she had a radiance coming from her, it was a calm and gentle one... Interesting.
...
Running up the unbelievable amount of stairs was the most tiring thing I have done all day (minus fighting). I would've used Shadow-mog to just skip through this whole place, but the place became more of a corridor than it was an open space before, so it made it kind of hard to know where I'm going. Ko was still sitting in my bag with my sword in there...
"Kazuki-bro, it's pretty dark in here and it smells really bad. Can we turn back?" "No, we need to keep going on ahead." "But it's-" "We can't!" I had yelled out, my voice echoed throughout the corridor. I didn't mean to yell at the kid, but we seriously can't go back; I can feel like we're getting close to the end.
Oh, great." There was a fork road, two different corridors, both equally as dark as the other.
"Ko, which way?" "I don't know." "Come again?" "I said I don't know." Great, so much for breezing through this place (I wish Shadow-mog could help me see in the dark). "So, then, what now," Ko asked. "Well, we might need to take a shot in the dark (pun not intended)." "But what if we take the wrong turn?" "Yeah, that might not be a good thing," I said I was trying to choose which one to go through.
"Wanna do heads or tails," Ko suggested. "You know about that game?" "Of course. I play it all the time when I need to decide on something." "Sounds like a, um, interesting way to make a decision on something, but I don't feel like leaving it all to luck," I say that but it beats sitting here all day. "I might regret this, but flip the coin." "On it!" I heard a coin being tossed in the air. I was anticipating the coin to land. "Got it," Ko said out loud, startling me a bit. "Go left!" Still, against my better, I had left...
My footsteps began to echo loudly throughout the tunnel. I had felt my legs tense up as I kept walking forward. The chance we choose the wrong way to go is looming over my head and crushing me like a 50-ton weight.
"Hm, Kazuki-bro, is this tails?" Ko showed me the side he thought was headed. "No, that's heads." "Huh, oh... Then we went the wrong way." I would probably panic about that but considering that nothing happened yet, going left doesn't seem like a choice yet.
"Stop!" Ko had grabbed my neck, trying to make me stop. "What, what is it!?" "I smell something, something foul!" I heard footsteps drawing closer to us. They stopped at the same time as I stopped moving. It was still too dark for me to see in front of me.
"Move left, bro!" As Ko told me, I stepped left, and I looked at where I was standing, I saw a blade there. "What the-" "Step back!" Moved back to avoid another strike. "What the hell is going on, and how can you see in this place?" Ko kept telling me to step back, left, right, all over the place. It was time to retaliate. "Skeith!" Fist began to fly faster than any swordsman can strike.
"Random attacks will not strike me down!" The voice state. It had a ghastly tone in its voice, making it sound kind of hollow, too. Skeiths blows were being pushed back (I can feel it). "Bro, guard yourself!" I called my Persona back and had it guard us. I felt a heavy force strike at my Persona's arms, it wasn't much, but I still feel some throbbing. Fighting in here was a bad idea; not only am I limited to my persona, but I can't use Ocean's stream in here. So I called my Persona back and I ran away.
"Ko, can you see the dark, or was that something else?" I had asked while panting over my words. "Yes! I'll tell you where you're going!" "Good!"
I had no idea if the enemy behind us was hot on our asses or not. All I know is that I need to back to the fork road. "Stop, were at the tunnels again!" I looked at the tunnel on the right. Just like before, I made an arrow pointing towards the tunnel, and I crossed out the other one I made earlier.
I proceeded to run through the other tunnel. It was the other one, long, dark, and tense as hell. It began to get a bit lighter, little by little. I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel. "Exit found, baby!" As I went through the exit, I found myself in a spacious room, it had looked as old as the rest of this place. There was also a giant door face us and it seemed like it was ready to give way any second now.
"My food has finally come!" It was that voice again! "though, this one looks like he wasn't seasoned properly enough... Ah! I have a perfect idea!" The floor began to rumble, rubble from the ceiling started falling down. A wall came out from the ground. I had backed up to the entrance when more walls were coming out of the ground. After a while of hearing walls coming out of the floor, it finally stopped...
"Were surrounded by walls," Ko stated. "What is this!" I yelled towards the voice. "It's my personal favorite way to season my food: a maze. but this is no ordinary maze, no. You will have to fight demons while you make to where I am, and there will be a special guest waiting for near the end. So get a move on!"
That's just perfect, I don't have time for this crap. These walls didn't look too high up, so I can activate Shadow-mog and rush through this. "...And if you try to go through this maze by climbing out, the result will not be satisfactory for you." Like he read my mind.
"Ko, can you smell this voice?" If he could smell it, we're home free. "I smell something but it's the smell of regular demons." Only small fry, huh. That puts a damper on my easy way out. "Although, with a stronger sniff, I can smell one that really stands out above the rest. It's really bad, I mean really bad!" Ko's fear was noticeable, and I know we might go up against something dangerous, but I can't go back!"
"Take me to it." "But we'll-" "It's okay..." I turned me to Ko and I gave him a thumbs up. "No matter what's in my way, I'll knock it down, even if it's the heavens themselves!" I was speaking (shouting) in a triumphant voice. It was ridiculous, but I need him to get me through this.
"So Ko, trust me, your bro can handle this; this nothing to me." I pointed my thumb towards my heart. "I...I believe. I believe!" The reinvigorated Ko slapped his cheeks and climbed into my hood.
"I'll sniff the way to it." "You gonna be okay doing that?" It seemed like a pointless question but I couldn't stop myself from asking. "I still am scared of it, and it's smell, but if anyone could confront it, it has to be you. So yeah, I'll be good." Ko was fired and ready to go.
Along the way through the maze, we fought several demons, but they were as easy as fighting shadows. Ko was pretty good as support, he could sniff out unexpected enemies, and he was covering my six. We made a pretty killer team so far...
"Bro, why are you here," Ko asked me "What do you mean?" "I mean, where do you come from, and why did you come here; it's obvious you're not from around here." Ko presented a picture in front of me. It was the one during the summer festival. "Hey, don't go through my things without permission! And speaking of that, is there some of those candies left?" I asked as he was unwrapping another one. "Yes, and sorry."
I looked at the picture, seeing Shizuka and Fuuka in it made me feel a little melancholy. Fuuka truly was beautiful that night...
"She's beautiful," Ko stated, pointing to Fuuka. "Yeah, she is, and she's the reason I'm here; to save her!" Ko shoved the candy he had in front of me. "Don't worry Bro, you'll save her! As you said, you can knock anything down, so saving someone shouldn't be a problem for you!" Like he was pro, Ko was able to make me smile a bit, something I haven't been able to do for a while now.
"Thanks, Ko. But why do you think I'll be the only one to do this?" "Huh?" I messed with his hair a little bit. "We're gonna kickass together, and save the beauty!" "Yeah!" Ko and I bumped fist and went along the way.
"Ko, can I ask you something?" "Sure bro, what is it?" "So the Clans, can you tell me about them? Figure why not learn something about them." Ko nodded yes. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"The clans were established after a great war between the people of the desert and the people of the tower." "Oh, I already heard about that." Ko seemed dissatisfied with that.
"W-well anyway, the war had ended with a devastating result, the North being the most notable area to be affected by the war." "Okay, but why were clans born after that? Wouldn't they be a thing before the war?" "Well, I was told the west, east, and north were inhabited by demons, so it was pretty dangerous to live there. But that changed after the war. The territories were cleared from demons in the west and east." "What about the North?" "The North was abandoned by the bandits, but the people who didn't leave rallied behind someone that wanted to fix it."
Sounds like someone had their work cut out for them. "So, who cleared the two sides?" "Grandpa and Mr. Arata, with support from others of course!" That sounds awesome! I imagine the old man's size gave him an advantage.
"Wait, is Tamotsue your grandfather? I don't really see the resemblance between the two." "...No, he said I could call him that since I couldn't say his name right, and he didn't want me calling him old man." Pride in age, a beautiful thing I had the pleasure of experiencing once (it sucked).
"I'm actually glad I can call him that," Ko told me with his face buried in my neck. "It made me feel like I wasn't alone, that I had some there with me. Because in the beginning, I was all alone. My first memory was waking up in front of the tower, on the ground... I remember walking endlessly towards somewhere but I don't know what. ...It was very lonely."
The story resonated with me. I could actually feel the weight of his words hit me. Guess we both been through the wringer then. "But when Grandpa found me lying on the floor, he took me in, and after that, I didn't feel so lonely anymore! Grandpa was the one who taught me about the war, and I learned how to speak and everything else from him too." Ko was all smiles after his story. There was a sign of gratitude in his silver eyes that seem to make them shimmer. I can tell because I had that feeling when I first became friends with Fuuka. But I really feel a lot of it for Naoya. Overall: I'd say we both have people to be grateful for...
"We're here!" Ko said. I got my sword out and I took a stance. "Show yourself and lets this show on the road already!" My demand was met with a flash of dark blue lighting striking the ground in front of me. A demon appeared in front of us. Its head and hand had no skin to it, so it looked like a skeleton. It was wearing weird clothes, it was also wielding a sword and a red cape.
"I'm surprised you made it all the way to me. Consider me impressed." "I'm flattered," I retorted as I took off my bag. "However, that was just a megger maze, this fight is the main entertainment!" The demon pointed the sword to me. "Come at me with all your might, but I - Matador - shall come at you, head on!"
The demon charged at me with his sword held in front of him, he had thrust his sword when he got in striking distance. I had stepped to the left and moved forward. I did a horizontal slash, only for Matador to avoid it. It retaliated, but I was able to block it, just barely though. I went in for another slice but he was able to avoid it like before. "He's fast!" He was faster than what I was expecting, his sword was gliding through the air as if it was butter. He was leaving a few scratches but they nothing to worry about. I was throwing swings at a moderate rate, enough to sort of keep up with Matador but not enough to break through his defenses. Honestly, this guy was on par with Shizuka if she was actually trying to kill me!
"Bro, watch your back!" As Ko forwarned, I turned around to find the demon behind me. It thrust its sword at my chest but I was able to deflect it just in time, but the sword has stabbed something else. *Stab* "Shit, the badge!" The badge that was healing my smaller wounds had a sword inside it. "Tch! Skeith!" A barrage of punches, with the last one sending it flying... It had land gracefully though, nonetheless.
"Damn, I thought that would do it!" "Those attack had fury, but not enough power. However, the same will not be said for me!" A green aura was surrounding the red cape and after Matador waved it, the green aura flew past him as if it was a gentle breeze... In mere seconds, Matador vanished.
"Where did he..." "Bro, behind you!" I turned my head in response. He was standing there, I summoned Skeith but he vanished again. "To your side!" I summoned again but he had disappeared again. Again and again, I summoned, he vanished. This went for a whole minute until he hit me with a garu spell. It had sent me rolling back a bit, giving me little cuts on my cheeks. By the time I recovered, it was standing in front of me.
"Skei-" *Thump* "AGHHH!" I took a kick to the face, sending me into the wall. Damn, this was the worst-case scenario, I can't keep up with him anymore, that buff really screwed me over!
"You there, child. You were able to keep up with me, despite my speed..." He pointed his sword towards Ko now. "Hey, he has nothing to do with this fight, you son of a bitch!" I roared as I got back to my feet. "Perhaps, but an unexpected intervention like the ones he has made shall not be done again." Matador raised his sword above Ko's head. Damnit, this is bad, it hasn't been that long since I've used Shadow-Mog and if I use it now, I'll...
"Now...die!" With the slash of its sword, a large gust of wind hit the area where Ko was...
"...You're full of surprises," Matador had told me. "Yeah, but I didn't have a choice but to pull this one." "B-bro?" I had Ko in my arms, I was able to save him in the brink of time. "What happened to your eyes," Ko had asked me. "Its cool, I just get these when I really get in gear." I walked over to the wall, I lay Ko on it. "Kazuki-bro, will you be okay?" "Yeah, I'll be fine now. Just heal yourself up and rest for a minute, okay?" "Okay..." I took off my hoodie and put it on him. I got up from my knees and I glared back at Matador, fueled with anger at the demon.
"Your eye speaks volumes of hatred for me." "Yeah, you could say that, but I feel like it's more appropriate to say that I feel a great amount of disdain for you." "I see, but one should not be surprised at what a demon - such as myself - does?" "You have it all wrong, I'm not surprised, I'm pissed that you went that far!"
I don't have time for small talk, I need to defeat him here and now! When he vanished, he thought I didn't see him move behind me. I turned my blade and thrust it backward. *Stab* "*Gasp*" "Got you that time." "Was it because of that child?" "No, like I said: he has nothing to do with this." "Interesting, however, you're still in striking range!" It had swung its sword but I had duck down. I ripped out my sword and made some distance. It moved at high speeds that I wasn't able to keep up with before, but now, I can match it. *Clang* "Haha! Looks like this'll be a more entertaining show than I thought!" "Oh, it'll get interesting, but it won't be fun!"
We clashed swords, the speed was kicking up some wind. I was making sure that we didn't go anywhere near Ko. The demon was starting to use garu skills against me, but I was either able to cancel it out or dodge them. "Swift strike!" His sword was coming at me double times. I canceled out the first hit but the second landed on my forearm. ÄRGGHH!" "Dark sword!" I tried to stop him but my arm felt a bit off. I had stopped the attack from connecting, but when the attack connected to my sword, I felt this sort of daze come over my mind; everything was getting all mixed up. "Damnit, can't think straight...!" Matador made a couple of stabs at me, I just jumped back just to slip on my butt. Damnit, I don't have much more time in this form, I gotta end this, now!
"Okay, let's end this." Still dazed, I powered up my sword full of white energy. "T-take this! Ocean's stream!" I had launched, but due to my mind being messed up, it had flown off course from the enemy. *Bang* "Such power, but little aim." Damn, I can't be missing like this. "Under the daze of my attack, you shall not be able to land another hit on me." "Yeah, we'll see about that!" But I gotta figure a way out first...
"Here I come," Matador announced. He ran towards me, sword pointing ahead of himself. I have to back away, blocking wouldn't work. My dazed state was wearing off, little by little, but not fast enough. Shadow-mog is close to being deactivated and I still hadn't beaten this thing, gotta think now...!
"Now, for the finale, Andalucia!" Matador's sword was moving faster than it ever was before. This is my last chance to defeat him, I can't afford to miss my chance. I opened my eyes wide open, I needed to find an opening, a point where I can slip past his sword and not give him enough time to guard. When I finally found my opening, I rolled under Matador's blade, landing me right underneath him. "*Gasp*" "HA!" I connected my sword to the top of Matadors' skull, I then began to drag down through the demon's body.
"Finish it." A voice told me. I charged up an Ocean's stream, I had slammed it right at the separated demon. Its body had been disintegrated from the attack, turning what remained of the demon into nothing...
That voice, it wasn't the one that was controlling the layout of the dungeon... Whatever, I gotta go see if Ko is alright. I went over to the sleeping child, so far he seemed to still be sleeping. "Thank you, god, he's all right." I got up from my knees, I began to space out for a second, I then came back to reality. "Shadow-mog is about to end..." I took a deep, calming breath, I was preparing for what was about to come... "*Breathing*" *Crack* "ARGGGGGHHHHH!" The pain just suddenly came at me like a goddamn bullet train. My mind went wild as I was experiencing the penalty. This is what happens if I use Shadow-mog before it has a chance to cool down, I receive damage after Shadow-mog is over. And it goes without saying, it was excruciating...!
*Pant* *pant* *pant* I can feel my whole body throbbing, my body had tensed up to the point where taking steps was a challenge. I saw that Ko was still asleep, good. "I'm glad you're safe..." My consciousness was wavering, the pain made it harder to stay awake. I lost my balance and all at once, I fell down to the ground, making a loud thud sound...
...
"*Groaning*" I felt a light sensation hitting my chest. I had a banging headache that was like a bulldozer hitting my head over and over again. I saw Ko making the healing sensation with his magic... "Kazuki-bro! Wake up!" "Ahh, I'm up, I'm up." "Thank you, god!" Ko was crying as he was thanking the gods I was awake. Why do I always put people in this situation...?
"I-I-I saw you on the floor b-but I didn't see any serious wounds on you! But then I-I checked with my eyes, and I saw most of your bones were strained, so I began to heal you! I had thought you died!" Huh, "checked with his eyes"? I tried to move, while most of the all the sore spots on my body felt better, there were some that still hurt like a hell. "Gah!" "Kazuki-bro, don't move. I treated most of the sore spots, but this side still needs to be healed. Just hold still, this will take a while." "Sorry, but, we don't have a while. We need to get going right now."
I tried to get up, with success, I was able to manage that. "No, stop moving! You need rest!" "I'm fine, really, I'm as fit as a fiddle." He wasn't convinced by that, his eyes would support that... "Ko, I know that I'm gravely hurt, but listen, I can still fight. So just let it slide this once, okay?"
Ko seemed to be thinking about his answer on this one. I know he just wants to help, I can't be resting now, so we... "No." Ko shoved his small hands in front of me as if he was telling me to stop. "Huh?" "I won't let you go off and fight with wounds like that! Even if I did, if you got in over your head, you would be killed, and I don't want that!" "Ko, I swear, I'll be fine." "No, you won't be, your bones are stressed." "I'll-" "...And if you keep pushing them, eventually, your body will break, and even I might not be able to fix it!"
Ko firmly stood his ground against me, not giving an inch within his reasoning. "I...I know, but I'm running on borrowed time here. I don't have time to worry about myself Ko. I just don't..." My arms were shaking like hell, I could feel my teeth pushing up against each other... "But I care! Because if you were to die while I could've helped, I don't know what I'll do!"
Ko's voice echoed through the maze. Ko's persistence on trying to help me reminded me of...Fuuka. I sighed to myself in defeat.
"Guess I lost this one." I got down to the ground, in front of Ko. "...Go on." "Bro." "Come on man, gonna heal me or not?" Ko lightly slapped his cheeks and began to heal me. The process was sort of slow, but little by little, I felt the stress on my bones go away.
"Okay, I was able to relieve you of most of the stress, but you shouldn't push yourself too hard, so that means don't do what did this to your body." "Yeah, doc." I put my uniform jacket back on, I had stretched arms and back.
"Right, let's get going!" Ko yanked at my pants. He pointed to my hoodie that was on the floor. I went to pick it up. Dusting off by waving it, something had fallen out. It was my Jackfrost doll. Picking it up reminded me of Shizuka. I hope she's okay...
"Bro, are we going," Ko shouted. "Yeah, wait up..." I put on my hoodie and I ran towards the kid. I gripped the chain in my hand tightly.
The tower, FL:1,?
With Ko's sense of smell, we had finally reached the giant door we saw before the maze. I had felt a presence near the door
"So, you had made it out of the maze. Quite impressive." "Yeah, I got through that thing, now let me through that door!" "Okay, then I guess its high-time I appear and consume my dinner." A giant blue lightning bolt hit the floor in front of me. The blue mist covered the demon, but not its figure. "BUONO!" I saw something coming fast through the mist. I summoned Skeith and had it knock the object away from me. The impact rang like a bell in a church, it was as big as one. "My, my, you dodged my attack, did you?"The mist cleared, and through it, we saw the demons form. "What in the living hell," I cursed. "IT'S A PIG!" "Buono, it's great you didn't get crushed on the first strike, it would be disgusting to eat the remains." The demon was a giant yellow, talking pig.
"So I guess I have to defeat you to get past that door." "BUONO, yes, but it doesn't matter since I'll eat you anyway, and since you have a very... excellent smell to you... Oh, oh my! This smell, it's...!" The demon swung its staff at us. I had dodged out of the way and the rode had striked where I was. "BUONO, A WONDERFUL SMELL!" "What in the hell?" The thing had looked like it was a wild animal looking its next meal. "Ko, go far away, this gonna get rough." "Okay but remember what I said." I gave him the thumbs up. He jumped off my back and scurried away. Can't use Shadow-mog no matter what, this gonna be a bit difficult. "BUONO!" "God, that is really annoying!" I unsheathed my sword, taking a stance, I was ready for this demon, but not without feeling that my chance are down due to my handicap. But whatever! I'm gonna rip right through this thing and get to her!
"BUONO!"