So, things are really starting to heat up! Shouma has now learned of the mysterious "Agartha" and awakened to his Persona: Musashi. Who knows where things will go from here?
...Oh wait, I do.
It's kinda fun to think of myself as a cruel and angry god throwing my OC's together to see what happens for my (and your) amusement, despite the fact I'm just some guy on the internet writing a shitty fanfic. Matter of perspective, I guess.
Anyway, that's enough inane rambling for now. On with the story!
Sunday, March 3rd, 2024
Afternoon
Agartha
Shouma stood defiantly against the High Shadow, Musashi by his side. He began to slowly move towards it, still wreathed in blue flames. The flames coalesced into his hand and formed into a sword with teeth along the edge. A swordbreaker, he'd heard about those before. He pointed it at his enemy with murderous intent.
"You keep your hand the hell away from my brother." He snarled.
The High Shadow backed up in fear, his hooves grinding against the ground. "Don't just stand there, you idiots! Get him!" He gestured towards Shouma as more geckos and pumpkins rushed at him until he was surrounded on all sides.
Shouma glared at them all. "Get out of my way!" Musashi spun around, striking at them with his katana and jitte before leaping off them to another wave of shadows in a matter of seconds. More geckos launched themselves at him, bearing out their long tongues through the mask. Musashi swung his sword sideways in a wave-like motion, shooting out an arcing jet of high-pressure water to cut them all in half.
Shouma heard shuffling behind him as two pumpkins ran up behind him in a sneak attack, only for them to get pierced with a familiar sword still sheathed in its chained scabbard.
"Focus! You're leaving yourself open!" Daigo stood behind him, holding out his nodachi as best as he was able.
"You holding up okay, nii-san?" Shouma asked, concerned.
"If you have time to worry about me, you can worry about yourself." Daigo replied. "I'm going to see if we can attempt a fusion technique against these shadows, so just follow my lead. Then we rush the High Shadow, got it?"
"Wait, a what?-" Shouma didn't even finish when Kojiro flew into the air and held his hand over the hilt of his sword in preparation as it began crackling with lightning.
"I guess we're doing this, then!" Musashi readied his katana and charged it with aquatic energy before spinning around and slashing a whole 360 degrees. At the exact same time, Kojiro quickly pulled the nodachi out of his scabbard about as far as the chains around allow and sheathing it just as quickly, striking Musashi's blade mid-slash. The resulting maneuver annihilating the weaker shadows surrounding them.
"Now!" Daigo called, as he and Shouma rushed at the High Shadow bearing their swords.
"You annoying little pests!" The High Shadow scowled as it again parried Daigo's nodachi. However, Shouma's swordbreaker landed its hit, creating a great gash across the beast's chest as a black ooze seeped out of it like blood and it cried in pain.
Shouma used the momentum to continue to strike it again, and again, and again, each slash scarring it further. His swings lacked any sort of form, technique or rhythm, but were fuelled by his sheer ferocity and force of will. This wouldn't last forever, though, as the High Shadow caught his sword in the last swing.
"This already started out kinda annoying, but you're single-handedly the most infuriatng piece of shit I've ever met. Now go to hell!" It pulled Shouma's sword out of his hands and kicked him to the ground with a crack. It then breathed fire out of its mouth, causing Shouma's body to set ablaze. Finally, it held Shouma's own sword upside-down and stabbed him in his back with it, the serrated edge going in first.
"Shouma!" Daigo and Kojiro rushed at the High Shadow and began a rushdown of their combined sword swings, pushing it away from Shouma's limp body and it busy.
Shouma painstakingly staggered to his feet and managed to dislodge the sword in his shoulder. Despite the flames that caught on him going out, he'd never felt so much pain in his life. His balance was faltering, his grip was loosening and his eyesight was fogging up. Was he going to die in this place? When suddenly, he saw a gentle light surround him. It felt... warm somehow. As it wrapped around him, he started to feel his wounds close and his energy returning to his body.
"What were you thinking rushing in like that, you idiot?!" Juniper and Seshat ran up to him. "You can't expect that excuse for a plan that stupid to lead to any other outcome!"
"Save the lecture for later." Shouma dismissed. "You and the other guy okay?"
Lucas, still floating on Atash Behram followed close behind Juniper. "We didn't have much of a problem with them." He said, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Right." Shouma turned back towards the High Shadow. "So, strategist lady. You have any ideas on how to bring that thing down?"
Juniper assessed the situation. "You know how your Persona can use water-elemental skills? Try using those on it. That Shadow seems to be weak to them."
Lucas moved more balls of energy in Atash Behram's field. "You'll all need some of this, first!" Atash Behram lit up with gold light from above the battlefield. Shouma felt energised from whatever it did, almost like he was more durable now.
"Thanks!" Shouma ran at the High Shadow, summoning Musashi again. Musashi jumped at the High Shadow and shot another jet of water at it. "We're not done yet!" He yelled as he ran up and kicked it in the shin. Juniper manifested Seshat again, who spun the halo of papyrus floating around her and kicked up a gust of razor-sharp wind.
"Why won't you just die already?!" The High Shadow roared. It lunged at Shouma & Juniper and shot more fireballs from his mouth at them, though the both of them, having anticipated this, rolled backwards, dodging the radius of the flames.
As soon as the High Shadow's back was turned to Daigo to focus on Shouma and Juniper, Kojiro was engulfed in blue flames and returned to being Daigo's cape.
"Lend me your aid, Apsaras!" Daigo called, throwing the cape off again. The flames manifested once again, though they took on an entirely different form than that of Kojiro. This new Persona was a blue-skinned woman with dark blue hair in a silver circlet. She wore a short white dress with silver bangles along her arms and legs, bands around her neck and waist with a waterdrop pattern and a light-blue veil wrapped around her wrists.
Apsaras spun around, conjuring a stream of water that she launched at the High Shadow, who roared with an almost animalistic fury and spun around with its flames billowing out of its mouth. When suddenly.
"Eyes over here!" The High Shadow looked down and saw Shouma's swordbreaker piercing through its chest. Shouma stood behind it with his hands on the sword, panting with exhaustion.
"...That's right..." The High Shadow dropped its arm and spaced out as if it had remembered something. "...I come from the sea of humanity's souls..." The High Shadow turned into a blue ball of light and flew inside Shouma. "I am Orobas. Call upon my aid to forge the future along your path, my other self." Shouma heard echoing in his mind. It was much like Musashi's voice from before, as he sat down to catch his breath.
Daigo stood in place, utterly shocked. "You have the Wild Card, too?!" He looked like he was still processing the event he had just witnessed.
"The... The what?" Shouma panted.
"The ability to use more than one Persona." Daigo explained. "If the power of Persona is a one-in-a-million ability, then the Wild Card is a one-in-a-million power among a one-in-a-million power."
Juniper walked over to Shouma and slapped him in the face. "That's for rushing in like an idiot!" She scoled. "You would have died out there if my Persona hadn't healed you!"
Shouma clutched his cheek. "And that slap of yours almost killed me again." He groaned.
Daigo put his nodachi back into his golf bag back and zipped it up before looking back at Shouma. "Alright Shouma, why did you come?"
"You and dad were acting suspiciously this morning after you come back with a mysterious injury and a cryptic phone call." Shouma snapped back. "What was I supposed to do?"
"What you were supposed to do was listen to us and not get involved." Replied Daigo, his frustration becoming clearer.
"You know damn well I couldn't do that!" Shouma yelled. "This is the first time I've seen the both of you in eleven years after you left me in hell with mom! I'm not losing you again!" His face turned red and began shaking. "Does no-one here even trust me?!"
Everyone stood there in awkward silence, Shouma and Daigo looking directly at each other.
"Uh, hey guys..." A voice meekly called out. Everyone turned around to see Piers, sheepishly looking down at the ground.
"Piers!" Shouma ran over to him. "Are you hurt?" He asked, concerned.
"I'm fine. It's just..." Piers sighed. "...I'm sorry for reezing up like that and being a burden. I-I just panicked and-"
Shouma placed his hand on Piers's shoulder. "Don't say that. You weren't a burden at all." He said firmly.
Lucas walked up with his hands in his pockets. "He kinda was, though. Both of you were, in fact." He said bluntly.
"Lucas!" Called Daigo.
"He's right, you know." Replied Juniper. "You two weren't even supposed to be here, and that nearly led to you getting killed."
Shouma walked towards her. "And if we hadn't showed up, all of you would have, Ms. 'I walked straight into an enemy ambush'." He snapped.
"All of you, shut up!" Daigo ordered. Everyone turned to look straight at him. "We can worry about who's at fault later. For now, let's make sure we do what we came here for." He said before looking at Juniper and Lucas. "But I want you two to know something right now: My brother is not a burden."
Juniper looked away, seemingly surprised and embarrassed. "Whatever you say, boss-man." Replied Lucas.
The three of them went on ahead until Daigo turned around. "You coming?" He asked Shouma and Piers.
"R-Right!" Shouma called out and ran ahead.
Piers looked at his hand before clenching it into a fist. "I'm not gonna just sit around helplessly this time!" He said to himself before catching up to the rest of the group.
Tharmas Tower
The group arrived at a large, black, spire-shaped stone tower off to the south of where they arrived. Shouma looked up at its height, stretching into the sky about as high as a small skyscraper. Juniper and Lucas both nodded and Lucas left to go around look around the other end of the tower.
"What is this place?" Shouma asked.
"Tharmas Tower." Daigo answered. "One of four towers surrounding that." Daigo pointed towards the floating castle Shouma had seen before back when he and Piers entered Agartha. "That castle up there is called Shambhala. And we're trying to get up there." He then looked around. "And this place in general? We call it 'Agartha': the last remnants of an ancient civilisation."
Shouma stood there, trying to comprehend what he just heard. "...Okay, time out. How do you know any of this?" He asked.
"That's what that says: 'Tharmas'." Daigo pointed at a large symbol along the ridge of the tower. It looked almost like a rectangular spiral going anti-clockwise. It looked like it was supposed to be in colour, but Shouma couldn't tell due to Agartha's monochromatic nature. "The rest of it's a bit more complicated than that, so we'll have to go over it later." Daigo explained.
"So, what brings us here then?" Shouma asked, his hands behind his head.
"Hey, I found something!" Lucas called out. The rest of the group followed to where he was to find a large entrance carved into the tower.
"Yeah, this definitely wasn't here the last time." Daigo muttered, utterly bewildered. He then turned to the rest of the party. "Okay, Lucas and I are gonna go in first just to make sure it's safe. We'll signal you all to come in if the coast is clear."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Mumbled Lucas as he and Daigo slowly opened the doors and stepped inside.
Just then however, the doors immediately swung shut. Trapping the two of them inside.
Shouma and Juniper ran up to the door and tried to pull it open. "Daigo! You okay in there?!" Shouma called out.
"We're okay!" Shouted Daigo from beyond the door. Shouma felt Daigo slam it from the other side to get it open, but it didn't seem to budge.
"We've got company!" Yelled Lucas. "Shadows, 6 o'clock!" Shouma could hear rumbling and the scuttering of geckos from just beyond where Daigo and Lucas were.
"More of them?! I'll handle it!" Cried Daigo.
Just then, Shouma heard the sound of stones being crushed directly above him. Looking up, he saw a large, quadropedal, almost mechanical-looking shadow about as big as a van, wait, was it a shadow? It resembled the Geckos, though looked much bigger and incorporated elements of sandstone and even moving pistons in-between the viscous black substance that made up most of its body. Instead of the blue masks worn by the weaker shadows Shouma had seen thus far, it had a stone slab in the middle of its face where its eyes would be with a blue mark of Tharmas and a star just below it.
"Oh shit, this is bad." He squeaked out.
The large creature roared at Shouma, Juniper and Piers, as its runes glowed brightly.
Shouma turned to Piers. "Piers, run!" He yelled.
Piers stood where he was. "...I'm not gonna be a burden anymore!" He glared straight at the creature. "I won't!" He screamed as he clenched his fist tightly. Suddenly, his eyes turned gold just like with the other Persona users, and a blue flame manifested a cape around his neck. Shouma and Juniper looked on in shock as Piers grabbed threw it off his shoulders.
"Aid us, Anansi!"
Blue flames coalesced behind him into a slim, pitch-black semi-humanoid figure, though with extremely-thin legs four more spiderlike legs peeked out from behind his back. He had red, green and gold markings across his waist and forearms, and wore somewhat-regal red garb attached to gold armour pieces along his neck, wrists and ankles. In his right hand, sat a small fireball, which he gently cradled. He wore an extravagant red, orange, green, black and gold ceremonial headdress and had rows of beady glowing golden eyes on his forehead, though his mouth seemed normal for human standards.
"I'm done being anyone's burden." Piers declared, a six-chamber revolver forming itself out of more blue fire and fell into his hand. He turned towards both Shouma and Juniper and pointed the gun at the creature, Anansi still by his side. "Let's kick this lizard's tail." He said.
The creature roared, causing the runes on its face to light up. It shot two large blasts of ice at the three of them, one at Shouma and the second at Juniper. The first shot completely missed as Piers jumped to the right of the shot, though the second hit Juniper straight in the torso, knocking her back.
Piers immediately ran towards her. "H-Hey! You okay?!" He asked, helping her to her feet.
"Yeah, I'll live." She groaned, attempting to regain her balance.
Shouma ran straight at the creature.
"Persona!" He cried out, summoning Musashi again. Musashi swung his katana again, leaving an arc of rippling water in its wake. The creature however brushed it off as if it were nothing, and slapped Musashi with its tail. Shouma recoiled from the hit, though shrugged it off. "It's no use! My attacks aren't doing anything to it!" He cried out.
Juniper looked at the both of them. "Okay you two, listen closely. This time instead of just attacking with no plan at all, try and aim for openings when it attack! Try and look for any weaknesses it may have!"
"Right!" Piers shouted. Anansi held its hands and back spider-legs out in front of it. In the centre of where its limbs were gathered, a ball of fire lit up, growing larger by the second. "Try this on for size!" Piers yelled as Anansi opened his legs and launched the fireball out as a six-pronged web of fire at the creature. Upon being hit, it roared in pain as it collapsed right in front of them.
"Now's our chance, let's go!" Piers cried out.
Shouma raised his sword, Piers spun his gun around and Juniper brandished her staff as the three of them all rushed the creature. Piers shot a full six rounds into the creature's head, Juniper spun her staff around with almost inhuman levels of dexterity, and Shouma lept onto its back and began hacking at it.
The creature roared again, attempting to throw Shouma off its back. Almost immediately, Shouma lept off to stand back with his allies and braced himself for a counterattack. The creature started to violently slam the ground, trying to crush the party. It then lept towards Piers with its mouth open wide and ready to bite. Piers barely had any time to react before Juniper tackled him out of the way, both of them narrowly avoiding being eaten.
"There, now we're even." Juniper mused.
"Sorry about that." Piers stood up.
Shouma was holding up his guard, thinking. Musashi seemingly couldn't do anything against this thing. What was he supposed to do? It was at that moment he remembered.
"The ability to use more than one Persona. If the power of Persona is a one-in-a-million ability, then the Wild Card is a one-in-a-million power among a one-in-a-million power." Daigo's words echoed in his head.
Shouma then gritted his teeth and called off Musashi. He then pulled the cape back off in a quick motion.
"Orobas!" He called. In a burst of blue fire rose the High Shadow from earlier, now with its missing arm back. Orobas shot fire out of its mouth and at the creature, knocking it down again.
Something else that Daigo said however also sparked an idea in Shouma's mind. "Guys, I think we should try a fusion technique!" He cried out.
"You don't know that'll work!" Juniper decried.
"Just trust me!" Shouma then pointed at Juniper. "You use your Persona first to start a windstorm! Piers and I will get into position, so just wait for my signal!" Piers nodded, as they both took opposite ends of the creature's sides.
The creature staggered to its feet again and started to move forward, when Shouma shouted "Now!"
Seshat appeared first, stirring up a windstorm around the creature. Almost immediately, Anansi and Orobas manifested themselves and shot fire into the path of the blowing wind. As the wind spun faster and faster, it picked up the flames, spreading them around its path until it became a large fiery tornado, knocking the creature down again.
"Go, go, go!" Shouma yelled, he, Piers and Juniper all jumped in the air towards the creature, screaming at it while doing so. Their combined attacks all landed, as the creature roared one last time before collapsing and dissipating into black mist, leaving only the runes that once adorned its face behind.
The three of them stood around anxiously.
"...Is it dead?" Asked Piers nervously.
Shouma, panting and on the brink of exhaustion planted his swordbreaker into the ground to use as a walking stick. "...Looks like it..." He felt like he could fall over at any minute now.
Almost on cue, Daigo kicked open the door. "Is everyone okay?!" He asked.
Lucas ran out as well.
"All present and accounted for." Juniper replied. She wasn't holding up well herself.
Daigo sighed. "We should all probably head back now. It's getting late." He said. He held out a hand to Shouma. "I'll try and explain this best I can to Dad, but don't expect him to be warm to the idea."
Shouma smiled weakly. "Thanks, nii-san..." He muttered.
The five of them all made the arduous journey back to the entrance.
Evening
Downtown Los Angeles
After making it back to the alleyway, the five all took a break by sitting along the walls. Shouma noticing that all their capes had disappeared.
"Didn't think I'd miss colours this much!" Piers joked.
"...Same here." Shouma weakly said. He then pulled out his phone. "By the way... I think we should keep in touch." He mumbled.
"Oh, uh... sure." Piers pulled his phone out to write down Shouma's number.
Shouma could barely concentrate on the screen as he inputted Piers's number into his registry.
Daigo walked up to Piers. "Lucas can drive you home. I've called my father to get Shouma and I home, so you don't need to worry about us." He reassured.
"Got it." Piers replied. He then looked towards Shouma. "Stay safe, you got it man?" He asked, before running off to get in the car along with the other two. Shouma watched it drive off into the L.A. nighttime streets.
Shouma and Daigo waited for a couple of minutes in the alleyway, as Shouma's vision became more blurry as time went on. But not long after, a dark green car arrived right near the two of them. Wataru's car. The last thing Shouma heard before everything went dark was his father calling his name.
"Shouma! Can you hear me?! Shouma!"
? ? ?
Velvet Room
Shouma awoke sitting at a table, where everything looked... familiar. It was that blue stage from when he was crossing the Pacific, what was it called again? The Velvet Room, that was it.
"Ah, it seems our guest has returned to us!" A voice chimed. Shouma looked up to see Igor directly across from him. "Do not be alarmed, you are still asleep in the real world. Your father and brother are seeing to it that you're looked after.
Shouma looked directly at Igor. "So that place I just went to was-"
"Real? Quite so." Igor responded. "It appears you have acquired the ability of Persona for yourself, and already found other Persona users to join your cause." Igor's cheshire-cat grin was still painted over his face, though it somehow appeared warmer and more genuine when he said that. "Truly, a most fortuitous occasion."
Shouma rested his elbows on the table. "Okay, Igor. If you know so much about Personas, what are they exactly?" He asked.
"I would be happy to explain that for you." He answered. "A Persona is one's will made manifest. Their 'other self' if you will, the mask one wears to whether life's hardships." He then manifested a deck of tarot cards again. He drew the first card off the top and looked at it before smiling nostalgically. "It's been quite some time since I've seen this card." He beamed.
Shouma took the card off him and looked. It depicted a young man and a dog walking close to the edge of a cliff, with the number zero emblazoned at the bottom. "What's this one meant to be?" He asked.
"That is The Fool. A very rare arcana to have." Igor replied. "It can mean many things: beginnings, innocence, free-spiritedness, but also the Wild Card." He straightened himself in his seat. "The Wild Card is much like the number zero. Empty, yet full of limitless, infinite potential!"
"Basically what he's saying, human, is that it's hard to go lower than the absolute bottom." Walton interjected.
"Walton, behave yourself!" Igor scolded. "We are to treat our guests with due respect and care!"
Walton chaffed at the demand. "...Yes, master Igor..."
Igor bowed in front of Shouma. "My sincerest apologies for my... unruly assistant here."
"Don't worry about it." Shouma replied casually. Shouma noticed that Igor's gangly legs made him quite tall. Disturbingly tall, even. It was rather creepy.
Igor sat back down and recomposed himself. "Ah, but forgive me. I have yet to tell you of the assistance that we shall be providing." He snapped his fingers, as the card in Shouma's hand flew back into the deck, as it shuffled itself. "We will provide you access to both Persona Fusion and the Persona Compendium." Walton placed a large tome onto the table. It was a thick volume, about as tall as a cutting board and as thick as a whole encyclopedia.
"I'd take it that's the Compendium?" Shouma asked.
"Indeed, this is where Persona's you've used before are registered where you may use them again. For a fee, of course." Igor explained.
"Nothing good is ever free, is it?" Shouma grumbled.
"Do not worry." Igor assured him. "Persona Fusion on the other hand, is completely free. With it, you may fuse two or more Personas together to create a more powerful Persona to stand head and shoulders above the rest!"
Shouma sounded intruiged by this. "... Maybe another time." He ultimately decided.
Igor seemed almost disappointed. "As you wish." He answered courteously. He then looked behind Shouma as if he noticed something. "Ah, it seems our other guest has made it."
Shouma turned behind him to see Daigo walk in behind him.
"Daigo? What are you doing here?" Shouma asked.
Daigo's eyes lit up. "Thank god, you're okay." He sighed in relief. He then took a seat right next to his brother. "Just here to get some Personas out from the compendium". He then turned back to him. "How does it feel seeing him again?" He asked.
Shouma looked at his brother, puzzled. "What do you mean, again?" It made sense though, Igor seemed somewhat familiar, he just couldn't put his finger on just how he was familiar, though.
Daigo chuckled. "Don't you remember? It's Tengu-san!"
In response, Igor's face-wide grin shrank to a scowl and he began rubbing his temples.
Shouma immediately remembered back eleven years prior. He and Daigo had a dream where they'd met a long-nosed man in a blue room together. "You're kidding me! Oh my god, it's really you, Tengu-san!" He cried out.
Igor looked embarrassed. "Please don't." He weakly requested.
"Right, right, sorry." Shouma cleared his throat.
Igor's mouth stretched back out past his ears again. "When you next come here, it will be of your own accord." He said. He handed Shouma a bold blue key. "Hold onto this." He instructed.
Shouma held onto the shaft of the key. "I'm gonna wake back up, aren't I?" He asked.
Igor nodded. "Until we meet again."
Shouma's vision went dark again, as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted.
To be continued...
Party:
Shouma Tashiro - The Fool
Piers Fils-Amie - The Magician
Juniper Black - The Priestess
Social Stats:
Moxie: Subdued
Wisdom: Beginner
Charisma: Unremarkable
Empathy: Blunt
Wits: Innocent
Personae:
Musashi (0 - The Fool)
Orobas (I - The Magician)
And that's the third chapter done. Now, onto the explanation:
Anansi, God of Stories
Arcana: The Magician
Anansi, also known as "Ananse" among many other names is the spider god of trickery, as well stories and the oral traditions of the Ashanti people of West Africa around what is now modern-day Ghana, though his worship was also spread throughout the Caribbean, Suriname, Belize and (very rarely) parts of French Louisiana thanks to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Thanks, Europe). Anansi was a resourceful deity, being able to make use of his shortcomings and work around them to achieve his ends despite bing much smaller and weaker than his enemies, relying on his intelligence and cunning to win the day.
One particular story is how he took the first stories from the sky god Nyame after finding and completing four dangerous tasks in order to gain them. After finding that hoarding all the stories is kinda boring actually, Anansi eventually distributed them all to humanity. So according to the Ashanti, you have Anansi to thank for every story you've ever read, including this one. Say "Thank you, Anansi".
I like to imagine that the headdress in his design is based on the Maratus, or the Peacock Spider found in Australia, where the male has plumage on its abdomen that unfurls during courtship.
Anansi the Persona however is basically a dedicated mage, specialising in Agi skills with some Pierce skills on the side to complete the physical elemental trio.
I'm not gonna cover Apsaras and Orobas on account of them being generic Personas which appear in basically every SMT game. You can look them up on the wiki if you want.
Okay, I think that's enough chapters for this batch. Chapter 4 will come out soon, though I'd like to see what you guys thought of what I have written so far first. Honestly, I'm not proud of how I write fight-scenes. One of the reasons I started with a Yu-Gi-Oh fic is that the turn-based nature of the conflict can better hide how I'm not that great of tying action together neatly without it feeling janky as fuck.
So yeah, this will be dropping really soon after I save this document. Hawk out for now.