One of life's greatest blessings is the freedom to pursue one's goals.
—Nyx Avatar, Persona 3
"Mister human! Wake up! Don't fall down too, please!"
Syphus didn't open his eyes, still on the verge of unconsciousness, that voice sounded way too soft and garbled. Something sounded in the distance, it sounded like something had scuttled not too far away from here. Right immediately after that, something smacked the side of Syphus' face, completely waking him up. The piece barely had time to sit up before a small person tackled him, shouting with joy and relief. "What the..."
"I'm sorry! I thought you had fallen down like Annie, and Waterfall looks all weird and wrong, and when I turned around I hit you on the face with my tail – that was an accident, I'm sorry!" Monster Kid said in one tirade, sticking to Syphus' chest as if he was trying to burrow inside. Syphus softly pushed Monster Kid aside to stand up, stumbling ahead, disoriented.
"Waterfall? We are back in Waterfall?"
"There are bad monsters here! I tried to get help, but they attacked me! I almost couldn't get away from them!"
That made the remaining daze Syphus felt vanish immediately. Bad monsters attacking a child? Syphus immediately got on guard, hearing the sounds getting closer. Monster Kid was right; they were back in Waterfall. The blue environment was unmistakable. We're in Annie's SOUL, right? If it was similar to what happened to Frisk, then Waterfall was a significant place for Ananas. What kind of Shadows could her SOUL be filled with? Judging by the sounds, he was going to find out now.
Those were only two Shadows, but they weren't simple Mayas. Syphus recognized the Idol type he had fought once in Frisk's SOUL – although the version he was seeing now looked different - but the other one was completely new for him. It looked like some kind of morbidly bloated mobster, with a very large hole in the center of its body, holding a key inside. "Kid...get back" Syphus pointed behind him, to the back of the small room they were at.
"Dude, what are you-?"
"Now!" Syphus shouted, taking out the halberd from his jacket and extending the pole. He really hoped the Shadows would focus on him and not on the potentially defenseless child. Thankfully, Monster Kid realized the obvious danger and ran to the back, leaving Syphus to deal with the Shadows. "Ouroboros!" Syphus summoned the first Persona he could think of, the by-now familiar shape of the empty hood and robe forming immediately. As soon as Ouroboros was there, Syphus jumped forward to start attacking, focusing on the Liberating Idol first.
The Idol was rather slow, but it was positioned on top of a large pedestal. The Idol leaned towards its back, lifting the edge of the pedestal and blocking the halberd's swing with it. A loud clank echoed through the chamber, Syphus grit his teeth, feeling the vibrations of the clash of his weapon against the pedestal. "Damn it!" Syphus muttered, stepping back and mentally using his Persona to attack the Fuzz.
The ice spell Syphus used through Ouroboros hit the Fuzz, but it wasn't affected at all by the ice. Instead the spell bounced off it, hitting Ouroboros back and affecting Syphus. The sudden coldness that enveloped him made Syphus hunch over and step back, getting away from the Idol he had been attacking. Seeing that using ice spells against the Fuzz wasn't going to work, Syphus decided to reverse the strategy, try to attack the Fuzz with the halberd and use the Persona against the Idol.
That showed to be far more effective. The Fuzz raised its revolver, aiming at Syphus, chance the piece used to attack with the halberd to its hand and try to disable it and avoid any chance of being attacked. He swung the halberd, aiming to the hand, and managed to hit the revolver before the Fuzz had a fire. The bullet-like projectile that'd have harmed Syphus crashed against the ground, splattering tiny rocks, while Syphus tried to focus and direct Ouroboros to attack the Idol with Bufu ice spells.
It was extremely difficult to try to attack two targets at once, despite using a Persona. The problem wasn't controlling the Persona, or trying to stay out of the way of harm, the problem was that he wasn't trained yet to be able to focus both in his physical attacks with the halberd and anything he did with the Persona. Attacking one single target with both was no problem, but having to decide what to do with the Persona – often out of his sight, as the Fuzz and the Idol had gone to opposite sides of the room – while at the same time attempting to kill the Fuzz was exhausting. Even though the Shadows he was fighting were rather slow and the Idol had no strength at all to harm, he was finding himself evenly matched. It was just matter of time before any of the Shadows did something that could potentially tilt the tables to their favor.
And it happened when Syphus focused too much on dodging the Fuzz's bullets and accidentally left Ouroboros unattended for a moment. The Persona vanished, Syphus having given no thought at all about what to do with Ouroboros, so the Idol approached Syphus without the piece noticing. It didn't have to get too close to him to use the only skills it had. Syphus barely had turned his head around, having felt the Liberating Idol approaching, when that Shadow screeched and raised its arms high, a strange symbol appearing in the air.
The effects were immediate. Syphus literally started seeing red, everything was tinted with a crimson shade. Monster Kid, huddled as far away as possible, saw no difference in the environment, he just saw Syphus gripping the halberd so tightly its bamboo handle creaked under his fingers. Syphus' breathing accelerated while an unbridled fury took over him, all thoughts about his Persona sealed away. He didn't care about that, all he wanted was beat up the Shadows and kill them, nothing else mattered, not even his personal safety or any thoughts about strategies or attempts to be clever. With a cry of rage, Syphus raised his halberd and sprinted towards the Idol while the Persistent Fuzz behind him raised its revolver and shot.
Syphus completely ignored the projectile that flew mere inches aside of his head, focused on attempting to kill the Idol. He jumped onto the Idol's pedestal, climbing onto it with ease and getting very close to the Shadow, who tried to shove him off. Syphus grit his teeth and shoved the spike of the halberd right on the Idol's torso, and kicked it as strong as he could, making the pedestal tilt and giving him the chance to raise the weapon to deliver the final blow. Another bullet passed way too close by, this time hitting the halberd blade and knocking the weapon out of Syphus' hands, but he didn't try to pick it up, instead pounding the Idol on its masked face over and over with his bare fists.
It wasn't long before the Idol's health was completely depleted. The Idol faded away in a black cloud, Syphus falling onto the floor and half-consciously picking up the halberd to focus on the Shadow that was left. The Fuzz stepped back instinctually, shooting again while Syphus ran as fast as possible towards it, intending to swing the halberd blade onto the side of the Fuzz's large body, and leaving himself wide open for any attacks.
The next bullet hit Syphus right under his ribcage, but all he felt was a dull pain that didn't seem as grave as it actually was. Syphus swung the halberd, cutting deep into the Fuzz despite the lack of sharpness, and tackled it to the ground, grabbing the Shadow's clothing and managing to make it lie down on the ground for the enough time for him to raise the halberd and jam the spike right in the Shadow's face, ending the fight.
Monster Kid had watched the fight without saying a word, huddling against the wall and trying to not be noticed. It had been a short fight, just a minute or two of fighting, but he didn't understand anything of what he just saw. Those...human-like beings had attacked them, and Syphus had fought, but what was that...that thing that had appeared out of nowhere? And the amount of anger and deranged fury Syphus had while fighting...was that how Syphus really was, or was it all the effect of that weird symbol one of the foes showed that one time? Monster Kid didn't move, seeing Syphus breathing heavily, leaning on his halberd and staring at the ground where the Fuzz had been at.
Slowly, Syphus calmed down, the effect of the Idol's attack finally vanishing. He rubbed his face with his hand, starting to feel the pain from where the Fuzz's bullet had hit him. He doubled over, using the halberd to support himself, but refrained from shouting despite the intense pain he was feeling. Trying not to move too much to not to increase the pain, Syphus turned his head towards Monster Kid. "He-Hey...do me a favor and—" Syphus almost groaned, feeling a bit dizzy. After taking a moment to recover he pointed in the distance with his thumb "Do me a f-f-favor and check if the coast is clear..." Monster Kid didn't move. Syphus straightened up a bit, feeling ripples of pain from his wound "What's—what's wrong?"
"...what happened? What was all that?"
Syphus looked away. "I'll explain it to you in a moment" Kinda "Just do that...please" he begged, feeling his eyes involuntarily filling with tears. Monster Kid reluctantly stood up and advanced, looking at Syphus with wide eyes. He wanted to approach, see if Syphus was okay, ask what was all that about humans and how it was possible there were so many humans Underground, but honestly...
...he was afraid of Syphus right now. He feared that without warning Syphus would raise that halberd and try to hit him, and for that reason the child made sure to keep his distance when crossing the room, always looking at Syphus. Once Monster Kid was far enough, Syphus finally allowed himself to double over, almost falling to the floor, and mouthed breathlessly "HOLY SHIT!" Syphus opened his track jacket and touched the spot where he had been hurt, not daring to look. There was no blood nor gore, but he didn't like how that spot felt. "...what did I get myself into...?"
This wasn't going to work well. Just fighting two common Shadows that didn't even seem to be notably strong had been tiring enough, and Shadows seldom were alone unless it was rather powerful. How was he supposed to deal with any foes? Coming alone was a bad move, and now he realized it. He should have took his chances with the skeletons, somehow. Gritting his teeth, Syphus closed his eyes and tried to focus to LOAD and return to the moment Cohen had left the cottage, but nothing happened. Damn it, no! True, he couldn't SAVE or LOAD while in a SOUL, the only way to LOAD would be...it'd be to die. "No, I'm not going to die..." Syphus murmured, changing Personas and looking for Silky. It was fortunate he had a Persona he could use to heal himself, or the situation would look even worse than it already did.
-ooooo-
Fools can be immensely lucky. While it was true the Shadows were driving Syphus to the edge of his skills, he soon received respite. After a particularly easy fight against five Merciless Mayas at once – vulnerable to three types of magic? How couldn't it be easy? – Syphus managed to acquire another Persona. Titan? It seemed rather strong, towering half a meter over Syphus and looking like an ancient gladiator, but the size wasn't what Syphus was relieved about the most: he finally had the possibility of hitting more than one target at once with electricity magic. Having acquired Titan, the journey through the labyrinth that was this version of Waterfall wasn't as troublesome as before.
It didn't mean everything was going well, though. Monster Kid refused to approach Syphus. The piece had been rather patient, talking to Monster Kid without raising his voice and telling him to stay behind every time a Shadow was seen, trying his best to protect the child. Sometimes Syphus tried to thaw the ice between them, but Monster Kid either didn't reply or mumbled one-syllable answers.
"Hey, can you pass me that?" Syphus requested, pointing at a few rock-like objects that fell from recently defeated Shadows. Monster Kid didn't move; he was trying his hardest not to look at Syphus. The piece furrowed his brow, a tad frustrated, but didn't take it out in the child. Instead he stopped walking, deciding to get done with this once and for all. "Okay, what's going on?"
"I...dude, what do you mean?" Monster Kid refused to look at Syphus.
"You have been acting strange all this time. Are you scared of this place?"
When Syphus said 'scared', Monster Kid turned his head around rather quickly, looking at Syphus in shock for a moment. "No! I'm not scared of this place. It's like Waterfall, just...larger and strange..."
"It's okay if you're scared. You're here with me, you'll be okay" Syphus said softly, but Monster Kid didn't reply. Syphus started moving his halberd to the other hand, intending to flex his stiff fingers, talking while doing it "You can trust m—"
"I'm sorry!" Monster Kid suddenly shouted, stepping back so quickly his back slammed against the wall "Please don't hurt me! I don't want to be hurt!" The child's shouting cut off Syphus' attempt to calm him down, shutting him into silence. What...? Syphus noticed that Monster Kid was staring at the halberd. His mind quickly made the connection. If Monster Kid was scared of the halberd, after everything Syphus had done with it, after how Syphus had fought against the Shadows, wouldn't that mean he was scared of him? ...oh.
Syphus slowly left the halberd against the wall, near enough so he'd have time to grab it if a Shadow attacked, but far enough for Monster Kid to see the meaning of the gesture. After showing his hands were empty, Syphus crouched, getting on eye level with the child. "I'm not going to hurt you. Why are you scared of me?"
"I..." What Syphus fought like wasn't how a hero would do that, like what Undyne or anyone in the Royal Guard would behave, that was what Monster Kid thought "I don't get what's going on! What are those monsters, why are they attacking us, how can you kill them like that?!"
"Those aren't monsters; they want to kill us!" What can I say, that the Shadows are representations of emotions and feelings? There had to be an easier way to explain it, but Syphus didn't know what it'd be like "They're the kind of bad guys Undyne would fight, and if we do nothing, we're going to die here" The mention of Undyne and the risk of death seemed to have helped a bit. Monster Kid was still fearful, staying on the other side of the tunnel, but at least he didn't look like he was about to run away at the slightest provocation. Hoping there had been progress, Syphus tried to give his voice a conciliatory tone "I'm not going to hurt you. I want nothing more than to help you and get out of this place. Don't be scared of me, I'm your friend"
Monster Kid didn't seem completely convinced Syphus was honest about not wanting to hurt him, but something about the way Syphus said it resonated in him. Slowly, Monster Kid started approaching. "...promise you won't hurt me?"
"I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die" Syphus vowed. Monster Kid nodded reluctantly, kicking up in the air one of the stones Syphus had indicated him earlier and catching it with his teeth before leaving it in Syphus' hand. Taking that as a sign the child had agreed to give him a chance, Syphus put the stone in his pocket and smiled weakly. "I also promise you I'll return you back home safe and sound. You can trust me on that too! Just stay close to me and I'll protect you from anything that comes"
"Do you know where to go?" Monster Kid's eyes brightened up.
"...no, I don't have the slightest idea" he admitted sheepishly "But not all lost! You know Waterfall better than I do. If you see something that looks familiar, tell me and we'll see what we do" Syphus extended his hand as if he expected a handshake "Deal?"
After a pause, Monster Kid grinned and headbutted Syphus' hand. "Deal" In that moment, something sounded not too far away in the tunnel. Syphus immediately grabbed his halberd, getting his guard up and peering deep into the corridor. A group of fearsome Shadows was blocking the way. One of those beetle Shadows that repelled Physical attacks, a very large knight on a sinister horse, and a strange tall thing that looked like a wizard in pajamas started approaching. Enough rest, time to fight. "Step back! I'll take care of this in a second" Syphus said, selecting one of the Personas he had fused a couple days before, and sounding way more confident than he actually felt.
Monster Kid ran to a safe distance, staying alert in case any Shadows tried to sneak from the back. Maybe that Syphus human wasn't so bad. Monster Kid still wasn't sure what to think, but at least he did feel like Syphus meant it when he said he'd help him.
He was willing to give Syphus a chance, at least.
-ooooo-
Syphus was fed up about being on the brink of death so often.
It was bad enough that doing physical moves with the Personas cut through his health like hot butter. He also didn't need to be almost skewered by a stupidly large lance, yet it happened. If it hadn't been because that Persona Obariyon's physical attack had the chance of disabling the skills of the Shadows, he'd have suffered a horrible death right in front of Monster Kid. The strange-looking bright orange imp that emerged from Syphus' SOUL shot several bright and small arrows at the Shadows' faces, silencing them, before Syphus jumped forward and cleaved them with the halberd.
But Syphus managed to survive, if only barely. Once the fight was over, Syphus flopped to the floor and stared at the ceiling for a second before healing himself. "I'm never coming here alone ever again" Monster Kid offered to help fighting, but Syphus immediately rejected that idea "You'll stay back and let me deal with this by myself" Despite what he was saying aloud, there was no way he'd let Monster Kid put himself in danger. It was true Syphus needed a partner to fight with – or a team, hopefully – but he wasn't going to stand aside and let a child fight and risk their life. Thankfully, Monster Kid didn't try to convince him to let him help.
At one point during the walk, Monster Kid suddenly ran ahead, shouting. "Yo! I think I recognize this place!"
"Really?" About time! Maybe now they'd be able to find Ananas!
"There's a sentry station near here! Look, it's there!" the child got ahead, jumping on the counter and getting on the other side, disappearing underneath the table "It's almost empty. I don't think anyone stands back here"
"That's not unexpected. We're the only ones in this place, besides Annie"
Monster Kid left a few bottles of sauce on the counter, picking them with his mouth. "I think this is Sans' station" he mumbled, his voice garbled because of how he held the bottle.
"You know Sans?"
"Everybody knows Sans!"
And if this is Sans' station... It did help to know in which area of Waterfall they were at, at least "Great work! Okay, this is the plan: we need to get to the village"
"You mean Snowdin?"
"No, the human village. That's where Annie must be. Think you can take us to your playground? I'll lead the way from there" Monster Kid nodded, jumped back on the path, and started leading the way towards where he was sure where he often played with Annie was. The walk didn't last for long, though.
There was a very large lake that wasn't supposed to be there, filled with bright light blue water. It extended into the distance, filling the flooded corridors and littered with water sausages and tall grass. "Uh-oh. I didn't know this was here..." Monster Kid tried to see if he could see anything under the surface, but the water was so bright he could see nothing.
"How odd..." So the SOUL isn't completely similar to the place it's based on? With some luck that didn't mean the place the village was located at had changed, but by now Syphus had learned not to rely on luck and hope "We need to cross this lake. It'd take too long to look for another way to the other side"
"Yo! Why don't we make a boat?"
"We don't have anything to make a boat, all we have here is swamp plants and—" Monster Kid didn't bother to finish listening to Syphus, he ran back to the sentry station. Syphus raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised "That could work!"
"Let's make a raft!"
It wasn't guaranteed to work, but it was better than doing nothing. Syphus returned to the sentry station and used his halberd to chop off one of the walls of the station, managing to separate it through brute force and without damaging the wood too much. He carried the wall and a thin beam to the water with some difficulty before slowly placing the wall on the surface, letting it go. The makeshift raft floated, but it didn't seem too stable. "...hm. Do you know to swim?"
"Uh...yeah. I'm no pro at swimming, but I can stay afloat" Monster Kid said without much enthusiasm, looking at the raft with doubt "Do we have to ride this...?"
"We should be fine as long as we stay away from the edges. Allow me" Syphus carefully helped Monster Kid get on the center of the raft. It sank a bit, but it popped back up without tilting to any side. "My turn..." I wish I had learned how to swim. If the raft capsized things were going to get very difficult. Praying that no Shadow would attack them while they were on the raft, Syphus slowly got on the raft, clinging to the improvised oar as if he feared it'd vanish in thin air. The raft sank for a moment, the water getting to Syphus' knees and submerging half of Monster Kid, but before any of them could panic the raft floated back to the surface.
It was a slow journey, but it was going well, Syphus managed to keep the raft going without submerging it every couple seconds. There were no signs of any Shadows nearby, too. Monster Kid sat down against Syphus' legs while the adult rowed, relaxing but ready to stand up if the raft started sinking again. "...so...you're human and Annie is human too" he said after a while.
"Yes. What about it?"
Monster Kid didn't reply for a moment, but when he did he sounded rather disheartened. "The Royal Guard...would they try to harm Annie? I know Undyne wouldn't, but what about everyone else?"
"We have no way to know. I'm not a guard, kid, I'm just another human" Syphus shook the beam, having gotten grass on it "But she should stay away from other monsters, just in case" That didn't seem to be the answer Monster Kid had hoped for. He curled up, his knees touching his face, and stayed silent for quite a while before starting talking again:
"Annie once told me she wanted to explore the Underground, but she said she couldn't. I asked her if it was because of her parents told her not to, but she said...she said it was because she didn't want to leave them alone"
Syphus looked at Monster Kid. "She really said that?"
Monster Kid nodded "She said there were some in her family she didn't get along with, but that she didn't want to see them hurt. But you know what, yo? I think she's very scared" Monster Kid unburied his face from his knees "She doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she's human and...someday someone will try to hurt her and the other humans, right? I mean, we're supposed to hate humans, right?
I think she wants to fight, but at the same time she wants to run away. Weird, right?"
"It's not weird. Many would want to do the same" Syphus said quietly.
"So one day I told her 'Hey, you know what'd be cool? If we could both be in the Royal Guard!' and Annie made this face" Monster Kid proceeded to demonstrate Ananas' expression. It showed fear "I don't want to hate Annie. She's my friend! I don't want to hate her because she's human and her SOUL is needed for something"
"Tell her that next time you see her"
"No! She'd laugh at me. But you know what? I'll help her. I'm going to help her be strong and nobody will be able to defeat her"
"Not even Undyne?"
Monster Kid lightly hit Syphus' legs with the back of his head. "I don't know! But she'll be able to do it, because you know what? Annie doesn't give up. I bet if Undyne arrived one day and attacked, Annie would fight her" he smiled dreamily "And not even I know who'd win. Cool, huh?"
Through Monster Kid's words you feel you understand Ananas a bit more.
The Ananas Social Link has reached Rank 4!
Your power to create Personas of the Chariot Arcana has grown!
It was nice that Monster Kid had such faith in Ananas' strength and skills, but Syphus had doubts about it. If she tried to fight...that'd almost certainly lead to her death. A stray Muttering Tiara floated by, impacting Syphus with fire magic, but he mostly shrugged it off thanks to Obariyon's resistances. "Has Annie said something about learning to fight?" Syphus asked while Obariyon punched the Shadow, making it puff away, while he simply continued rowing.
"Learning to fight? Uh, sometimes we fight" Monster Kid warily eyed the Persona, glad it was vanishing. It creeped him out, honestly. "She's strong" Syphus took it like Monster Kid didn't know. The more the piece heard about Ananas' wish to be stronger and protect the village, the more concerned he grew. Everyone had a limit, especially children. If Ananas was pushed far enough, she could do something irrational and stupid. I really need to talk to her once this is done. Even if she denied she had thought of doing it, he needed to make clear that trying to 'prove herself' or anythng similar to was a terrible idea.
The fact that all Shadows encountered so far had references to fighting and stubbornness in their names didn't help assuage his fears. Brave Wheel, Champion Knight, Adamant Beetle, Conviction Sword...if the Shadows in Ananas' SOUL represented what she felt then she certainly was on the brink of a mistake that could prove fatal to her.
-ooooo-
It seemed the flooded tunnels were the only big change this Waterfall had. Once they managed to cross to the other side of the lake and left the unstable raft behind, Monster Kid claimed this place was completely familiar to him. "That's the way to Snowdin" he had said, looking into the distance. Shadows roamed not too far away "Uh...we shouldn't go over there"
"If that's the way to Snowdin then the way to the Hidden Village would be – whoa!" Syphus had peered into another tunnel but jumped aside at the last second, a Brave Wheel almost running him over, trails of fire emanating from its head.
The surreal living wheel with the head of a lion spun in circles, leaving tracks on the rocky floor, and focused on Monster Kid. The child yelped and jumped away when the Wheel revved in his direction and crashed against the wall, pieces of rock falling from the place of impact. "Over there, kid!" Syphus pointed towards the corridor the Wheel had come from, while Ouroboros formed in the air. The Wheel immediately aimed towards Ouroboros, starting to go in circles around it with increasing speed. Is that an attack? He didn't intend to find out, though. Ouroboros was dispelled right when in the center of the circle erupted a burst of energy, reaching the ceiling, leaving a crater right where Ouroboros had been floating over just a moment ago. Confused, the Wheel slowed down, moment Syphus took to attack, Ouroboros emerging from him again.
Before the Wheel could react, a large purple sigil appeared over it, making the Shadow glow before dying immediately.
"Wooow..." Monster Kid's head peeked from the corridor he had run into "That was fast..."
"Darkness attacks. Looks like it can make some Shadows die in an instant" It was convenient, although not guaranteed to work. It was the last attack Ouroboros could learn, that Persona had reached its limit regarding abilities. "Shadows are getting more violent...we must be near Annie"
"C-Could Annie be attacked by one of those things?"
Syphus shook his head, trying not to think about how she'd fare against a Shadow. "Maybe. Come on, let's hurry" the Hidden Village was not too far from the place they were at, he knew it. And indeed, it took them just a few minutes to find the crevice where the way to the Hidden Village was away from the sight of those who passed by. Syphus jumped into the crevice without hesitation, but Monster Kid was more reluctant. "What's wrong?"
"...I don't think I should go. Nobody seemed to be happy to see me"
"That's because everyone was afraid you'd tell someone about the Village. Nobody was going to hurt you"
"Really?" he didn't seem convinced. Syphus returned up and put his hand on top of Monster Kid's head in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.
"Listen, it's true nobody was jumping with joy about you being there, but I can tell you no one would hurt you. Annie wouldn't allow it, I wouldn't allow it, and no human is going to let it happen. Trust me on that, I know what I'm talking about"
Monster Kid didn't move to get Syphus' hand off his head, instead looking at the ground with hesitant expression. "Mom once brought a book of history, and it said...it said human SOULs didn't need hope or compassion to exist" What kind of history book would say something like that?!
"Humans do have hope, love and compassion. It's just that...there are other things too" The existence of Shadows and Shadow Selves gave credence to such thought, at least. Would a monster's SOUL be any different? It was possible he'd find out sooner or later "Let's go. Be careful, we don't know what could be waiting in here"
The tunnel towards the Hidden Village was completely devoid of Shadows. Once Monster Kid and Syphus stood up at the end, on the plateau where the village could be seen from, they tried to see any signs of activity. It didn't seem like there was anything, all the lights of the cottages were turned off. They couldn't just walk away, though. They needed to check if Ananas was there. Where else would she be, really? The few minutes that it took to reach the village itself were uneventful, with no Shadow in sight. The cottages looked completely intact and normal, except for the lack of lights in their windows. Now that Syphus thought about it, he hadn't seen the cottages with no light at all before. During the nights the lights dimmed, but never went out. "Mister? Why are you staring at the window like that?" Monster Kid asked, standing on the tip of his toes to look inside.
"N-No, I just was thinking of something" he said, trying to ignore how nervous he felt "Let's take a look inside" Syphus opened the door of the cabin, peering inside. It was almost pitch black; no sound came from inside. "Annie?"
"I can't see her..."
"I don't think she's in this one. Let's go to the next. Keep your eyes open, kid" Syphus closed the door and started ascending the stairs to the upper area of the village. Monster Kid looked down at the floor before hurrying to reach Syphus.
"Why don't we call for her? She should hear us"
"Shadows could hear us too. We need to be careful" Ananas wasn't in the second cabin either, and it was just as dark as the first. Syphus was about to get to the third when Monster Kid bumped his head onto him, getting his attention.
"Yo, the ground feels weird" Monster Kid looked at the floor again. Now he had no doubts, it hadn't been his imagination before "It's vibrating?"
"Vibrating?" Syphus crouched and placed his hand on the ground. Indeed, it felt like the ground was moving very slightly, he could feel vibrations in his hand. ...I don't like this. For the ground to vibrate like this something very heavy or large would have to be walking around nearby. Syphus looked around. There was nothing besides the buildings. Can Shadows turn invisible now? Could they? Because there was no Shadow nearby! Just in case, Syphus prepared his halberd and mentally selected Ouroboros as his actual Persona "Stay alert. There could be something nearby"
Monster Kid and Syphus hurried to check the other cabins, not finding Ananas in any of them. Where is she? She was supposed to be here! If she wasn't in the Hidden Village, where else could she be? Waterfall was a very large place, and the fact her SOUL had emulated it and turned the place into more of a labyrinth than it already was didn't help at all. At some point Monster Kid notified Syphus the vibrations had stopped. "I can't feel them anymore" he said, patting the ground with a foot.
"She's not here. I can't believe she's not here!" Syphus looked around as if he hoped Ananas was hiding nearby.
"Yo! We haven't checked there!" Monster Kid looked at the Communal Building, the two-story cottage that housed a stage and a warehouse "We need to see inside"
"...yeah, I guess you're right" Syphus conceded. Monster Kid, hoping Ananas was there and they could all get out from the foreboding location they were all at, got ahead and hurried to the door, despite Syphus' warnings. The child went inside, walking slowly to not to trip with anything in the darkness and calling for Ananas. "I told you not to get ahead—"
A sudden scream of surprise emerged from inside the building right before Syphus could cross the doorway. Monster Kid ran out of the building as fast as he could, shouting: "There's something there! Something huge!"
"Huge?!" The shaking ground... A horrifically loud noise reverberated inside the building. A cannonball of considerable size destroyed the wooden walls above the door, shattering the planks as if it all was made of balsa wood. "Watch out!" Syphus turned around and started running towards the back of the village, looking over his head and with Monster Kid to his side. Something was pushing from behind the wall, something as large as the building itself. The wood creaked, making a lot of noise, until it all broke and the Shadow that had invaded this area of Ananas' SOUL showed itself. What's that?!
It was one of the most bizarre Shadows Syphus had seen so far, a literal building on legs. A fortress over a miniature mountain towered over Syphus and Monster Kid, standing on two thick elephant legs. They could see cannons through the windows of the fortress that was the Shadow, all of the cannons aiming at them. The mask that denoted the arcana of the Shadow was on the highest part of the fortress, did it work as the eyes of the Shadow? It didn't really matter. What mattered was that the Shadow was approaching, and surely what it lacked in speed was compensated in attack power. "...get back. Run away. I'm going to take care of this" Syphus said, raising the halberd.
"It's going to hurt you! L-look at that, it's a castle!"
"Get out!" There was no time for hesitation. Syphus immediately summoned his Persona Ouroboros, trying to use a Darkness spell like he had done to the Wheel Shadow from earlier. The purple sigil appeared on one of the walls of the fortress, but nothing happened. "Damn it! What's that thing?!" Syphus shouted to the air, hoping that'd be enough to get information from the female voice that did the analysis.
The shout got the Shadow's full attention. One of the cannons extended more, aiming towards Syphus, and fired a cannonball towards him. Syphus jumped back, the cannonball crashing on the floor and spreading bits of rock in the vicinity. More cannons aimed at him, firing in quick sequence. It was going to be impossible to dodge all the projectiles unless he started running away. How was he supposed to attack?
Solid Castle
Weak to Garu spells. That's wind, in case you forgot.
"Wind? None of my Personas can use wind!" Syphus shouted, frustrated. With no Wind magic, and the Darkness magic not working on this target, there was no way this'd end easily. Attacking with the halberd seemed ineffective, too. How did anyone expect his dull blade to hurt those thick elephant legs? In an attempt to get the upper hand, Syphus changed his Persona to Titan, hoping to use its electricity attacks to hurt it.
As soon as the Solid Castle stopped firing so many projectiles, Syphus put the halberd away and focused exclusively on his Persona, making it appear and use Zio. The bolt of electricity hit the mask on top of the Castle, but the Shadow wasn't deterred at all. It retaliated with an attack of its own. A ball of fire was expelled through one of the cannons, homing towards Syphus. "No!" Was the Castle immune to electricity? That crippled even more Syphus' options. The ball of fire hit Titan before Syphus could dispel it. It felt as if something had been set on fire inside of him. Syphus gasped, grabbing his chest, and stepped back while the Shadow prepared the cannons to continue attacking with fire.
"Yo! Over here!" a stone hit one of the walls of the Castle. The Shadow slowly turned around, the cannons twitching in anticipation of what could be a new target. Monster Kid didn't let himself be intimidated by the Castle, though. He kicked another stone in the air and batted it with his tail, hitting the Castle again "Leave him alone!"
"What are you DOING?!" Syphus yelled "Go away!"
The Castle emitted a sound like stones scrapping against each other and fired towards Monster Kid, the cannonballs having enough strength to end the child's life if it impacted against him. Monster Kid didn't stay in the same place, though. He yelped and ran aside, letting out a shout of alarm. In an attempt to divert the Castle's attention and force it to attack him again, Syphus changed Personas once again. If it fires those balls and has fire attacks then... Obariyon seemed like the best option, given that it had resistance against physical and fire attacks. Obariyon only had physical attacks, but it wasn't like he had any better options. "Get moving, kid!" Syphus shouted right when Obariyon emerged from his chest, rapidly reaching the Castle and punching the base of the fortress. That effectively drew the Castle's attention, forcing it to divide its attention between Syphus and Monster Kid. The cannons were mostly in the front of the Shadow; it was impossible for it to aim at two targets at once. Yeah! This can work!
Right when Syphus started to think things were starting to be better, the cannons retracted, the Castle shaking as if it was cold. After a second the cannons sprung back out, releasing clouds of greenish smoke that started to seep down towards the floor. Poison! "Don't let that touch you!" he shouted "And go away! This isn't safe!"
"I can help!"
"I don't want you to help! I want you safe and away from here!" If Monster Kid died Syphus wasn't sure he'd take it well. Most likely he'd roll over and let the Castle turn him into mincemeat. The loud of poison started to slowly descend to the floor, covering the area around the Castle and expanding slowly. Seemingly expecting the poison to keep Syphus at bay, the Castle focused on Monster Kid. The child started to step back, looking at the cannons that slowly turned to face him. The Castle advanced slowly, its elephant legs making the ground vibrate. "I told you to leave him alone!" Syphus shouted to the Shadow and looked around, looking for a way to get to Monster Kid before the Castle attacked. There was no way to get there in time. ...this is going to hurt Syphus thought, using Obariyon to increase his defense.
Monster Kid ran behind one of the cottages, almost out of breath. He leaned against the wall, hoping he had managed to outrun the Castle enough for it not to notice to which cabin he had gone to. Effectively, he had managed to do that, but that wasn't going to deter the Castle. A crackling noise sounded right before thunder emerged from the ceiling of Waterfall, hitting one of the cottages and setting it on fire. Monster Kid jumped, startled, and got away from the cottage he was hiding behind of, in case it was the next cabin to be targeted. He moved right before another thunder stroke, obliterating the cottage he had been touched a moment ago. "H-Help!" Monster Kid couldn't stop himself from shouting, the Castle starting to be seen over the smoldering remains of the cottage.
"Got it!" Syphus shouted right when a large pair of hands grabbed the sides of the Castle, stopping it from continuing waddling towards Monster Kid. The Persona Titan's size was smaller than the Castle, but it was large enough to stop it. The Shadow, bemused, turned around a few of its cannons and fired at the easy target that was grabbing it, hitting Titan right on the face and chest, but Syphus didn't lose his concentration. Groaning, Syphus forced himself to not let the Persona vanish even if his health kept depleting with every blow, continuing attracting the Castle's projectiles. There has to be a way to defeat this thing, but how? Its defenses seemed impenetrable, and approaching to attack was impossible without risking getting hit by the cannonballs or its fire and electric magic. Syphus couldn't see Monster Kid anymore. Had he run away?
He finally had. Monster Kid reached the stairs that'd take him to the plateau, safe from the Castle's onslaught. "I should have stayed away from the beginning..." Monster Kid muttered, struggling to regain his breath, and looked back to where Titan was still enduring all the attacks from the Castle. It had changed from using normal cannonballs to continue summoning thunder from the ceiling, and Titan seemed to be faring a bit better, but for how long could that go?
Soon Syphus couldn't continue taking the constant attacks, even if Titan resisted electricity. The Persona vanished, forcing Syphus to quickly retreat to avoid being seen by the Castle and hopefully have enough time to heal himself before getting back into the fray. The legs are too sturdy, the walls are impenetrable, I can't get close to the cannons without getting hurt...what's left? Mentally kicking himself for not bringing a Persona with wind skills that'd have finished the fight in no time, Syphus stayed near the wall, trying to blend with the darkness. The Castle very slowly turned around, looking for the piece and not seeing him. ...it moves rather slowly. If I can take that in my advantage... That could be the key to defeating the Castle.
"Yooooo!" Monster Kid called from the distance "Try to topple it over!" Toppling it over? That...that could work. It was a Castle on a large boulder, standing on two legs. It wasn't precisely a shining example of balance, but a lot of strength would be needed to topple the Castle. The Shadow, having heard Monster Kid, turned around and started waddling towards where the voice had come from. Syphus hesitantly stepped out of the darkness, eyeing the Castle with attention, a plan forming in his mind. It wasn't as impossible as it sounded, now he realized it. Picking up a stone from the floor, Syphus took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was going to do.
The stone impacted on the back of the Shadow, right where its head would be, causing the Castle to stop and haltingly turning around. Syphus didn't wait for it to finish, though. As soon as the stone hit the Castle, Syphus sprinted forward, running straight towards the Shadow, and jumped right underneath it, between the elephant legs. There wasn't much space, he was forced to crouch, but the Shadow was too slow for it to stomp on Syphus or anything like that. Seeing it wouldn't be able to impact Syphus with any attacks while he was hiding underneath it, the Castle retracted its cannons and released another cloud of poison, letting it descend towards the ground. "Let's get done with this!"
Monster Kid had started to approach back to the village, watching out for any signs he was being attacked again. He wanted to make sure Syphus had heard what he shouted. He got to the village just in time to see Titan emerge from Syphus despite the small space he was at. The large Persona immediately grabbed the Castle's boulder, lifting it in the air just a bit, but Titan was too large for it to fit underneath the Castle. The poison got to the ground and enveloped Syphus, who held his breath. Titan rose to its full height, the Castle losing its footing and tilting back. "It's over!" Syphus shouted with joy, using Titan to deliver a physical attack to the top turrets. The turrets cracked, bits of stone fell from the walls before vanishing in swirls of black smoke. The rest of the Castle slammed the ground, making it tremble noticeably, and vanished in a large cloud of smoke that disappeared quickly. The poison vanished immediately, too. Syphus let out a loud sigh of relief and tiredness, flopping on the ground on his back again.
That fight had been way too much of a hassle, and apparently it had been for naught. Ananas was nowhere in the Hidden Village. Monster Kid approached, offering his tail to help Syphus stand up. "Are you okay? You were hit many times!"
"My everything hurts" Syphus murmured without standing up "I don't get it; Annie was likely to be here! Where else would she be? This is the only place in Waterfall that can be important to her!"
"Maybe she went somewhere else?" Monster Kid sat beside Syphus, looking at the spot where the Castle had been standing not too long ago. There were pieces of stone there, leftovers of the Shadow to be picked up.
"Somewhere else? Where would she have gone?!"
Monster Kid shrugged. "I dunno...to Snowdin?"
"I don't think she even knows where Snowdin is. She supposedly hasn't gone far from the village; she shouldn't know where anything in this place is" Syphus said. Monster Kid laughed sheepishly for a moment, scratching the ground with the claws of one feet.
"I...I told Annie how to get to a few places"
"What?!" Syphus sat up so fast his back creaked. Holding it and hoping the fight with the Castle hadn't injured him "Where else could she have gone?"
"Uh—to where we play...I also showed her a lake, and the way to Undyne's house—"
"You told her how to get to Undyne's house?!" Before Monster Kid could finish saying that he had wanted her to meet Undyne, Syphus had stood up and gone towards the entrance plateau. How didn't he think it before? He had forgotten one important detail: the Shadow Self. Supposing that Ananas was undergoing to same level of emotional turmoil Frisk had undergone, it was possible Ananas' Shadow Self had overtaken her. In that case, what'd her Shadow Self do? Prove herself? Fight Cohen? Judging everything Monster Kid had told him...Syphus had the bad feeling Ananas may be trying to assert herself as someone strong enough to defend the human village.
And what better way to assert that than defeating the captain of the Royal Guard? I hope there's no Shadow equivalent of Undyne here or Ananas may be dead already!
"Hey! Wait for me!" Monster Kid shouted, hurrying to reach Syphus before the piece went in direction of the rest of Waterfall. Syphus took out his halberd, preparing himself for whatever obstacles could be on the way.
"Show me the way to Undyne's house" Syphus requested "Annie may be there"
"Uh—it's this way" Monster Kid entered a nearby tunnel "Are you sure she's there?"
"No. I don't know. It makes sense, though"
"...I don't understand"
-ooooo-
More Persistent Fuzz Shadows blocked the way to Undyne's house, but Syphus didn't have time to deal with them. At first he had tried to use Ouroboros to get rid of them with Mudo darkness spells, but when it didn't work he instead resorted to pummeling them with Obariyon. Monster Kid followed quietly, letting Syphus clear the way. Syphus wasn't in mood to fight Shadows extensively, satisfied with letting his Persona push them away with physical attacks. He was more worried about Ananas and how long she had been inside her own SOUL. Please let her be okay. Please let it not be too late!
"See this small pond? That's how we know this is the right path" Monster Kid explained, looking at a small elliptical pond in middle of the place they were at "The tunnels over there lead to the snail farm, so Undyne's house is...over here!" Syphus mumbled a 'thank you' and went into the tunnel Monster Kid mentioned. It wasn't long before he got to the end.
There she was. Ananas was standing near the mouth of the room where Undyne's house was located at, staring straight at the house and with her gun in her hand, at the ready to shoot.
Castle-type Shadows are universally of the Emperor arcana.
Take the significance of that any way you want.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - Frisk - RANK 4
Magician - ? - RANK 0
Priestess - Alphys - RANK 1
Empress - Toriel - RANK 2
Emperor - Cohen - RANK 3
Hierophant - Ciruel - RANK 1
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - Ananas - RANK 4
Justice - ? - RANK 0
Hermit - ? - RANK 0
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - ? - RANK 0
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - Cornio - RANK 1
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - Lucia - RANK 1
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 2
Judgment - ? - RANK 0
Aeon - Syphus - RANK 2
Jester - Alphonse - RANK 2