This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.
No Escape, No Place More Dangerous To Search For Truth
Than Within Your Enemy
6/13 Friday
Evening
MS: we should tell him
AT: i know how you feel, but you know what he'll want to do next
JR: huh? what?
AT: he'll want to see Furusato
AT: he'll want to come with us to try and 'help'
JR: so? Maybe he can awaken to a Persona
AT: sorry, can't take that risk
AT: only woke up to mine when I was about to die, you want to put him in that situation?
MS: no but we can rell him we're searching for her
MS: tell*
JR: more important, how did he know what Saber looks like?
JR: or us?
AT: asked Pelagio, he said that Faraway Lands is the human subconscious
AT: so in other words, people who are sleeping have a tiny chance of seeing us
MS: but, that's...
AT: yeah
JR: heavy
AT: we just went along with the code names bc we thought they were cool
AT: very glad we did that now, it would be very awkward if someone hears our real names in their dreams
AT: also important to always wear our masks
AT: shouldn't be talking about this stuff in a chat anyway
AT: i want to go back to the Land tomorrow, that okay with everyone?
MS: so soon after last time? D=
AT: the sooner the better, and we can't do it on Monday 'cause that's the Marine Day Festival
JR: oh yeah, forgot about that, you gonna go?
AT: yeah, looks fun
AT: might not be able to enjoy it though if I'm worried about that
JR: ah, got it, i'm good to go tomorrow
MS: are you sure?
AT: yes
MS: really really sure?
AT: yes
AT: if you don't feel up to it just say so
MS: will that stop you from toing?
MS: going*
AT: no
AT: sorry
(Mirambela Sorano has left the chat)
6/14 Saturday
Lunch
Makoto saw Akira coming in early through the room window and had a dozen seconds to try and soften her gaze, to make herself look less foreboding after what had happened between them last time.
She had realized years ago that her family- or at least the women in her family- seemed to have a specific talent for being intimidating when visibly angry. She could still remember a time when she had been not merely respectful of her sister Sae, but actually fearful of her wrath. Years spent on the job in Tokyo had only confirmed this private theory further, and so the last thing she wished now was to turn that wrath on the person whom she trusted more than anyone else in the world. More than Sae.
More, sometimes, than herself.
But she could also tell by the wary look in the eyes behind his glasses that this wasn't one of those times. Just as it took nothing short of a cataclysm to change her mind or Sae's, so too was Akira immovable once he'd come to his decision about something. She might have entertained the idea that he'd picked it up from them, but someone who wasn't stubborn like her from the start wouldn't have gotten as far as he had as a Phantom Thief before meeting her.
As ever, she underestimated Akira Kurusu.
"You were doing well", he called, eager to head off on any tangent he could find. "The doctors say you're already making fine progress."
"Fine progress at walking in a straight line", she scoffed. "That's not something I normally expect to receive a hearty congratulations for."
"Because this isn't a normal situation", his gaze bored into hers, no longer trying to fight her, rather but demonstrate all the concern she'd already known was there. Among his many, many positives, one possible fault in Akira had always been a subconscious reflex of keeping his emotions carefully hidden away, likely created from the incident which had started him down the path that brought him to Shujin academy and only exacerbated by the perils of the double life he had chosen to lead.
"You were thrown off a balcony onto a car", he emphasized stiffly. "People have been killed by way less than that. Or crippled for life. Suzui-san had to try for months to get her muscles back in working order after something similar happened to her."
He'd said nothing she didn't already know, and indeed in the last few days she had developed a new level of empathy for Shiho Suzui. Shiho's case had been worse due to a number of different reasons, not the least of which being a difference of age and physical toughness... but denying that she had needed these aggravatingly slow exercises the doctors had been putting her arms and legs through today would be a lie.
Much more relevant was what she hadn't known; that Akira had been watching her do that. Had been watching from a one-way window as she stretched, and stepped... and fell. More than once, in fact. The thickly cushioned floor for the room they used meant that even the most brutal slip couldn't possibly hurt her any further.
Rather, it was the idea of him seeing those slips at all that was making her blush and wish that he would go somewhere else for a while so she could cope. Illogical, yet undeniable.
"Well you've certainly made an impression on the doctors", he noted, trying to clear away her funk. "Are you okay with talking about... what happened?"
Makoto inclined her head courteously. "As you can see, I'm perfectly capable of speech, if not movement."
Blinking, he regarded her more cautiously. "Okay. Let me rephrase that then. Is this going to be too stressful for you? That nurse told me not to say anything that would agitate you too much."
More amused than insulted, she nodded back. "It sounds like this might be more stressful for you than for me. But it's better that you have this information than Tsuruga and the others. If you choose to pass this on to them after... that's on your head, Akira. I've made my position on this matter very clear. They're kids. They shouldn't be involved."
"So have I", he echoed sadly, resolute as ever. If his position wasn't in opposition to hers, she might find it endearing. "One of the main reasons we managed to get away with so much back then is because adults constantly underestimated people our age. They never once considered that the great Phantom Thieves stealing people's hearts could be mere high schoolers. Are you sure you're not doing the same now?"
"No", she said sternly, the trademark Nijima glare returning to her face. "Unlike us, they have a choice. They don't have to risk their lives in that other world, but now they're doing it anyway. Because you didn't tell them to stop. And I assume...", she halted. "Neither did Morgana?"
Akira smirked back. "If anything, Morgana pushed for it harder than I did."
She hissed in vexation. "I knew it! He's worse than you are. Getting children into situations like this, just like he did back then."
For the first time, Akira looked annoyed right back at her. Gently annoyed. "It's not like he roped us into stealing Kamoshida's heart. We chose to do that, of our own will. We decided it was the only way."
"I know", she acknowledged bitterly. Ignorance of Kamoshida's crimes and a prior reluctance to even acknowledge them had haunted her for years afterwards. "I know. You, and Ryuji both. You both had a proverbial gun to your heads, no better option available to you... But as I said, this is completely different. They don't have a corrupt all-powerful teacher threatening to expel them for witnessing his crimes."
"No, they don't", he admitted. "But they do have a conspiracy trying to use the other world to their own gain. Sound familiar? Maybe it's not as widespread as Shido's was, but from what I've seen so far, they're just as dangerous. Two, maybe three skilled Persona users. Shido only ever had the one." His eyes were cast downward, unable to stop himself from remembering his past experiences with that 'one'.
"There are three of them", Makoto confirmed with a sigh of surrender. Despite her stance, it was true that the threat of the Masked Circle was no longer something that she could handle alone. The truth had been made abundantly clear in her meeting with one of them. That, she knew, was the other reason Akira had returned to her so quickly. Not just to mend bridges, but to get information from her.
She wasn't the type to be offended by such cold, calculating actions. Not when the enemy was still there, outside of these hospital walls. To defeat Shido and save their own lives they had needed to be cunning, even merciless at times, and this was no different.
"The one who came for me at my residence", she said briskly, knowing before starting that she would be able to get it all out without a problem. The attack had damaged her body, not her mind, and certainly not her many years of experience and training in criminal profiling.
"He was a middle-aged man, perhaps my sister's age or a bit older. He wore a clean red dress vest and pants, white shirt and red tie, common fashion for a top-level manager in a major corporation. Short, dark hair. Flat, but frizzy at the edges- a bit like yours actually. Heterochromatic, one eye brown and the other one white."
"A white eye", Akira repeated in careful consideration, not needing to write any of it down. His memory would be more than enough. "Artificial, you think?"
"Probably, yes", Makoto agreed. "When he summoned his Persona, he scratched that eye with his fingernails, like it wasn't a living part of him. Like it was made of glass or metal."
"Only probably?"
She looked back at him in dismay. "Our encounter was very brief, but he gave me every impression that he was not a man in his right mind. He reminded me of a certain type of drug addicts I have seen at work back in Tokyo. He spoke of voices whispering to him, telling him about me. To use a certain colorful turn of phrase from my current partner Hideki, 'you could smell the crazy on him'."
Akira nodded soberly. "Yeah. Prince Taurus- Ryuken Samesaji- he came across to me the same way, kinda. Kept on insisting that I was 'Joker' instead of Akira, and said that 'Akira' wasn't welcome in his club even if Joker was."
That made Makoto sit up in her bed and made Akira fear that he'd pushed too much. "They know?!"
"They know", he confirmed rigidly. "At least, they knew who I was. And before you ask, they knew even before Tsuruga and her crew got involved."
"King Leo", she mused unhappily. "He said he sensed my Persona and wanted me to summon it, but he seemed surprised by it. Or not. It's difficult to tell with someone like that."
"King Leo", Akira repeated. "So it wasn't Prince Taurus who attacked you. Together with Lady Scorpio, that makes three. I'd heard there was a fourth, Queen Aquarius, but she left the Masked Circle. One less problem for us to deal with."
"Maybe", Makoto considered. "But if there is another Persona user out there, I'd still like to try to find her. Maybe she could help us."
"'Help us'?", his brow furrowed in surprise. "This, after you're so dead-set against letting Tsuruga's crew do anything to help?"
"Tsuruga and her friends are teenagers", Makoto countered. "Leo, Taurus and Scorpio are all adults. I am assuming Queen Aquarius is roughly the same age here. Even if she isn't, I'd still want to make sure she isn't abusing the power in some other way."
"Still a cop", he noted morosely.
"Always a cop", she affirmed with the Nijima iron swiftly returning to her voice despite her current injuries. "We're the only other ones who know about it. It's our responsibility to make sure that no one else ever misuses the cognitive world the way that Shido did."
"Yes", Akira remarked softly, keeping his eyes locked into hers so she would know beyond doubt that he was only joking. "Otherwise, they might go around stealing people's hearts. Wouldn't that be a shame. Luckily, this new incarnation seems to be harder to abuse that way than the Metaverse was."
"Maybe. But there's still a lot we don't know about Faraway Lands yet, and it's still very dangerous to anyone who might find themselves stuck there. That's why I sealed it off."
Hesitating, Akira sighed. "Sorry. Looks like it didn't take. Another person was lost. Tsuruga and her crew are heading off today to try and save them."
Her eyes widened in shock. "What?! But-but I blocked off the Yume bay..."
"The Yume bay", he emphasized. "But you can't block off the whole beach. It goes on for miles along the coastline both ways, and it looks like Faraway Lands isn't limited to just that one spot any more."
Makoto made a strange whispery noise in her throat that left Akira grateful that he was no longer the sole target of her ire.
"So you see", he continued once it was safe to do so. "The Dream Voyagers are needed, at least for now. Even if my Persona works just fine in the other world- and I haven't had a chance to test that yet- we're no longer the Phantom Thieves. We've all got jobs, commitments, homes, families... Ryuji is heading to the freaking summer Olympics soon, and Haru moves around so much getting her new restaurant business set up I don't even know where in the world she is right now. We can't just expect everyone to get back together to sort this out. It won't work."
Looking defeated at last, Makoto stared upwards not at Akira, but the ceiling light. "I just wanted it to finally be over", she protested softly, uncomprehending and scared. "I just wanted for our world to make logical sense. No more Personas. No more Shadows. No more nightmares. No more insanity."
He understood. Of course he understood. How many times had he woken up shouting from some nightmare involving one of their targets or some other Shadow? Despite his stance, he could certainly agree with Makoto on one thing- what they'd done as Phantom Thieves that year wasn't normal. It was a grand testament to their strength of mind- his, and all of his comrades- that they'd gotten through it all without going completely mad from the stress. The idea that another group of high school students had been going through something similar in Tosashimizu had been just as galling for him when he'd first heard of it.
"You'd have to take that one up with God", he offered apologetically. "There's nothing we can do about it, except deal with it as best we can. You know that."
She waited a long time, almost perfectly still before reaching down into the white bedsheets. Fiddling around in her pocket, she withdrew a key ring. "Here. I suppose I should have given this to you yesterday, but I was too angry to remember. I'm so sorry, Akira."
"Thanks", he pocketed it without needing to confirm it was the key to her condo. The car key was there as well, in case he needed to use her rental. "And don't worry. I'll still be back every day for you."
"Must you?", she asked, smiling weakly when it looked like he'd misconstrued her words as her first ever joke. "I mean... ugh. I'm sorry. I know you care. I just don't like looking so vulnerable in front of you."
"Then I'll wait until you're done your exercises before I visit", he amended, trying not to smile back too much. There was only one person in the world who Makoto Nijima didn't want to be weak in front of. And it was him.
And yet, she has nothing to worry about. She's still strong. Stronger than ever, to confess so much to me. Six years... damn. Just where did the time go?
"Six years", he heard her say, snapping him out of his own thoughts. "Six years, and I still haven't met anyone else outside of my sis who can match me in a battle of wits the way you do. When I'm out of here, I mean..."
His blood singing with the triumph of a successful 'mission', one more important than any heist, Akira leaned over close enough to plant a kiss on her freely offered cheek. "When you're out of here, we'll talk more. For now, please just relax, okay? I've got this. I've got it."
A wide shrug of mock helplessness took in the length of her bed, but Makoto couldn't quite stop smiling back despite her condition. "I don't have much of a choice right now, do I? I have no other option but to trust you to handle it. Fortunately, that's something I don't have a problem doing. Not anymore. Good luck, Akira."
He didn't want to leave her. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But Makoto's words made it clear what she was entrusting him with. It was like an authorization to go into a new job.
Instead, he was able to enjoy the feeling of warmth that accompanied him all the way out of the room and back out the lobby, then out the doors until he saw Morgana waiting for him beneath a bench.
"Hey. You win", he called to his feline friend. "Couldn't quite get the words out yet. I figure it's enough to mend things between us for now. Next-"
"Akira", Morgana cut him off, oddly serious for once. "You need to get to the gate. Now. Those kids are going back in today."
Not understanding, he frowned. "So? I thought we agreed we can trust them to handle things in there without me."
"To handle Shadows", Morgana yelped, his blue eyes so wide with alarm and his 'meows' so loud Akira worried it might draw attention. "Not Persona-users. They're heading into a trap!"
6/14 Saturday
Afternoon
To Saber's trained eyes, the waves ahead seemed just as turbulent as the ones in the real world. Pelagio's front took each buffeting hit without any sign of complaint or damage, allowing her to gaze further ahead across the sea of stars to their destination.
The trip from the gate to the new Land took much less time now that they had the place marked in the map chamber, but enough that she had time to think and reflect- something she had been trying to avoid for what felt like a long time.
Will my Personas still work here? Was it really just me being tired?
She might have tried them out, testing their powers, but even that small thing felt like an admission of doubt. That couldn't be allowed. No. Have to stay strong. For everyone else.
That concern must have still made itself visible, because Julian was suddenly sauntering up to next her, his voice noticeably less exuberant than his usual when they were heading into a place where he would be able to show off what he affectionately referred to as his 'skills'. "Hey. You okay, captain?"
Inwardly cursing, she turned and forced energy back into her lips. "I'm fine, thanks. Just trying to figure out where we should start if we want to find Kaneshiro in that city. First I thought we'd question the Shadows, but they seem pretty loyal to her from what we've seen so far. Or rather, to her Shadow."
"Haven't seen either yet", he noted, finding it just as strange. "Me, I'd start with the places you'd expect to find a leader hiding. Look for a building that looks like a city hall or a mansion. Prolly a really tall one."
"Which means we'll have to do some climbing", she responded. "I was hoping we could stay low, out of sight of those zeppelins, but that's no good if we can't find Kaneshiro." Pausing, she took a moment to check and adjust the topsail. "By the way, any luck with Oori?"
Jiachi shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I got nothin'. He spends his off time at the Shogi club- he's not very good- or chatting outside with the other 3rd year guys about stuff. Nothin' sinister."
"Mine either", she admitted glumly. "Maybe we need a new approach there."
"Think about that later", he suggested. "For now, we've got a Shadow whose butt we need to kick. Prolly several."
"Actually, we don't have to", she pointed out optimistically. "All we really need to do is find the real person inside this Land, and convince them to come back with us. Of course, the Shadows usually try to stop us from doing that."
"At which point we'll need to kick their ugly butts", he replied. "Just need to know what to hit 'em with, right? You got your ice skills for the big heads with the staffs, bullets for the creepy spider-ladies and the floating guys in the chairs. Anything new shows up, we experiment 'til we find something that works. Easy pie."
Aiko smiled. Trust Gunslinger to make it sound so childishly simple. Still, as usual his brash confidence served its intended purpose, and picturing a victory over the thick-skinned Shadows who haunted the city was no longer impossible for her imagination.
"I thought we should start at the Breach from before", she replied. "Find a path up to the roofs that doesn't put us in the zeppelins' sights."
He shrugged. "Your call. 'Course, that's not really why you've got that stare in your eyes, huh?"
Not sure how to respond to that, she remained silent as he continued. "Come on, it's okay. Been thinkin' about it too. If what Vitienne says is true, then any human has a chance of catching a glimpse of us during our missions whenever they sleep. Gettin' stage fright?"
"It definitely makes me want to make sure our masks are on", she considered, tapping her large hat brim securely. Certainly, the knowledge that they could be watched by blissfully unaware dreamers at any time left her feeling a great deal more uptight about it. "And make sure we're always using the code names. In fact, don't even say 'Vitienne'. Just say 'our friend'. I'll know who you mean."
"And all this time, I thought I wanted girls to dream about me", he snorted, looking down at the red jacket along with the black shirt and pants he had come to cherish when traveling to Faraway Lands.
"Not this time", she corrected sharply. "Most people would just blow it off as a random fantasy in their minds, but if anyone who knew us saw it..."
"Yeah", he agreed shakily. "That could be bad. Even I can tell that." Leaning back against the mast, he folded his arms behind his back. "'Course, Dancer has it easier in that department than we do. Nobody would recognize her in her outfit. She looks like..."
"Uh-huh." She didn't need to hear him finish to know what Mirambela looked like in her outfit with the beads, scarves and golden eye mask. Like an avatar of her Persona. An orisha. Like she's truly become more than human, in some way. Her remarkably graceful agility in battle more than matched that observation, often slinking around attacks so easily that it looked as though the enemy had been aiming to miss all along, more choreography than combat.
That memory got her confidence back up as they docked at the harbor, easily searching and locating the Breach they had used last time to escape. While it initially looked like nothing but a rectangular trench in the concrete, the dark water inside actually routed back to a dumpster they had found in the lowest portion of the city.
"Just like in Gunslinger's Land", she noted eagerly, the trench reminding her of the incomplete pool back at Koashimizu. "The less we have to expose ourselves to those zeppelins, the better." Those, she could already see creeping across the skyline, their large searchlights combing over the city's depths for signs of anything that wasn't a Shadow.
"No cognitions though", she noted to Pelagio once he'd reverted back to his armored form. "Have you ever seen that happen before, Guardian? A Land with only Shadows in it, and no cognitions? Or maybe the opposite?"
"I have seen the first, though it is extremely rare", Pelagio said politely. "If the ruler's ideal world is truly one with no other humans in it whatsoever. They would have to possess a very strong desire for complete solitude for that to be the case however. Unfortunately, I have never beheld the second- one with cognitions but no hostile Shadows. Lands attract and trap Shadows. That is simply their nature."
"No easy rides, huh", Jiachi remarked. "Whatevs. Shadows or cognitions, we won't let 'em stop us."
"Saber?" Mira didn't look nearly so confident as she caught up to the others. "I want... I wanted to tell you, I mean..."
Their leader's eyebrow shot up, momentarily thrown by the distress on her friend's face. "Huh? What's up, Dancer? Did you forget something?"
Despite Aiko's relaxed tone, the question only seemed to escalate Mira's panicked stuttering. "I, I, I... I'm..."
"Did you forget to fill Pelagio's transformation bottle? That's okay, we can just-"
Mira shook her head, not needing to raise the small plastic flask they used to let Pelagio temporarily transform into a more powerful shape for difficult fights. "I, I, I wanted to tell you-"
"Prachtig."
None of them had spoken the word, and it was loud enough to draw everyone's head around to its source.
Noel Vitienne stood there in his Koashimizu school uniform, hands in his pockets, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world.
"All of this", he continued excitedly. "Generated from a mere dream."
For what felt like minutes, Aiko wasn't sure what to do. How to react? Mira was already anxious, on the verge of breaking down in tears by the look of it. The lights of the city off in the distance were still enough cast her downcast face into shadow.
On the other hand, the burning sensation that was swelling up inside her now couldn't be denied any more than it could be hidden. Reaching out with every last erg of the the self-control she had developed over the last two months avoiding letting her anger master her, she managed to make her words sound merely cold, not accusing.
"You helped him to stowaway on our ship."
Mira nodded in the purest of misery, obviously regretting her action. "Yes."
"Even though I said we shouldn't let him in here."
"Yes."
"Even though this is probably going to lead to him blabbing everything to Niyo- to his friend."
"Yes."
"I will not 'blab'", Noel cut in, stepping forward as if to protect Mira. "Tsuru-"
"Saber", Aiko cut him off more harshly than she'd wanted to. "We don't use our real names here. Ever. You know the reason for that, at least."
"I do", Noel nodded remorsefully. "I know more than you think, actually-"
"So you saw some more visions of this place when you were sleeping?", Julian asked scornfully, arms folded in front of him. He'd been just as incensed as Aiko at this sudden discovery, and unlike her, he'd had far less practice at concealing his anger. "Dude, this place ain't some kinda tourist destination. We're not a freakin' cruise liner! It's dangerous, even for us."
"Perhaps you don't fully understand the damage that you have caused, lad", Pelagio chipped in more reservedly. "We cannot bring you along with us, nor can we simply leave you behind to perish. Therefore, the only option we have left is to return you to the gate. Thus, we are forced to waste an entire-"
"No", Aiko jumped in, eyes narrowing before glancing back at Mira. "No. We can't just flush down an entire day because of this... problem. We won't get another chance at it until Tuesday at the earliest. With how big this place is, we can't afford to dally."
"What then?", Jiachi asked her helplessly. "If we can't bring him with us and we can't leave him..."
"We can leave him", she decided, desperately trying to send Mira an apology through her eyes as she spoke. "We can leave him with a guard. Shadows don't come out here very often anyway, and if they do decide to rush this area they can just use the Breach to escape."
Jiachi fell silent at the idea. They all did, until Pelagio turned to her. "I see. Who shall be our 'guard' then?"
Knowing before opening her mouth that this would be internal pain for hours if not days, Aiko sighed, mouthing the word she wanted to say. Sorry. "Dancer will be the guard. The rest of us can go on ahead and locate Kaneshi- the Land's ruler."
"Dancer?" Pelagio's surprised tone made it clear that he'd been expected to be chosen. "We shall proceed without healing support, captain?"
"I have some Personas with healing skills", she reminded him, trying not to look at Mira and see the hurt in her. "And we have a good amount of supplies too. That's my decision, Guardian."
"So it is", Pelagio agreed.
"Ai-ch-", Mira flustered, tried to make sound come through her throat. "Saber, I..."
"Your captain gave you an order", she said simply, unable to look back at her any more, instead casting her eyes on the trench. "Please follow it. Stay here. Protect him. If the Shadows get too restless, go into the Breach and shoot some lightning into the air so we can spot it. Do you understand?"
Her response sounded equally cold. Dead. "...Yes. I understand, captain. And I... I didn't mean to... I never... captain...!"
"Later", Aiko commanded, not able or willing to leave it like that between them. Noel, at least, seemed to recognize that by the gratitude shining in his eyes. "We can talk about it some more later. Right now we have a job to do, and longer we wait, the harder it gets."
"So you really are trying to save the ruler of this Land", Noel remarked in something like awe. "Please, don't allow my presence to hamper you-"
"Hmph. Your presence has already hampered us, lad", Pelagio shot back acidly. "Whether or not we 'allowed' it to is no longer a decision for us to make. That was taken off the table as soon as Dancer chose to aid you against our captain's specific wishes. I hope that she understands that, even if you do not."
The way he said 'you' erasing any pre-concieved notions of camaraderie between them, Noel drew silent again, truly taking in the beak and visor of Pelagio's intimidating armored form for the first time. While all the others had learned to view him as a valued and loyal comrade, there was no question that Pelagio could also be just as terrifying as a Shadow if he wanted to.
"...Alright. I will remain here, then."
Looking back at Mira one last time proved too difficult after all, so Aiko merely walked to the trench and leaped. She was gone before the words reached her.
"I'm sorry."
None of the trio spoke much as they made their way out of the Breach and into the ashen streets of Kaneshiro's Land. There was nothing but the occasional verbal command, with no commentary following as had become their norm.
Just silence.
Maybe silence was better, Aiko considered. For a long stretch, there was nothing else to consider but planning out their path up to the top of a building by leaping from balcony to balcony, the wind created by that action rushing through her and blocking out all other consideration.
It was only when they reached the top balcony that she realized that she would inevitably have to vent at some point, and waited for her remaining allies to join her there, absently staring out across a canyon of steel and glass.
"Why?" The question came out as a strangled whisper. "What is wrong with her?!"
Jiachi looked doubtful. "You really sure you want my opinion on that?"
Pelagio seemed equally nonplussed, but paradoxically, less likely to withhold his own thoughts on the issue than Julian was around her. "Hmph. I have said that Dancer can be soft-hearted. She felt a great swell of pity for the lad. She wished that he could learn the truth of the girl's fate, and thus ease his torment."
"By putting his life at risk", Aiko snarled into the driving wind. "By putting all of us at risk during an important mission that had nothing to do with him!"
Sensing her stare shifting over to him next, Jiachi shuffled uncomfortably. "Because... Because she knows that you'll forgive her. Maybe not now, but you will later."
Her gaze tightened. "Oh? And what makes you so sure of that, Gunslinger?"
Julian spread his arms helplessly. "Because you have to. Come on now. You two are dorm mates, and I'm pretty sure you're besties on top of that. You can't stay mad at her forever, Saber. Not when she's so eager to make up with you."
The hard truth in his words only made her scowl again, illogically wishing that she really could stay mad at Mira for longer, however long it took so that she would never even think about repeating this mistake. "I... I don't want her to think she can just get away with doing something like that behind our backs."
"Who said she thought that? You saw yourself how broken up she was, when she saw that look your face." He gestured off across the skyline in the general direction of the harbor. "Back there right now? She's punishing herself way worse than anything you could possibly do to her."
Aiko made a face. "Yeah. Thanks. That's just what I wanted to hear."
Jiachi shrugged innocently. "Hey, you asked, I answered. Maybe it's better this way. Dude doesn't have to spend the rest of his life wonderin' about that."
"If he asks for us to take him back in after today, we say no. Got it? This world is too dangerous for sightseeing."
"Don't have to tell me twice", he agreed. Flinched away from a sudden surge of encroaching light. "Hey, we got incoming. Better hide."
Now that they knew how the Shadows of this Land identified and attacked their prey, evading the lights wasn't so difficult if they paid attention. Sloping arches of mortar and brick could easily serve as cover until the danger passed, and it was during one of these somewhat tedious sessions of hiding and waiting that Aiko was finally able to peer closely into one of the building's many windows.
The room inside looked insultingly normal, utterly interchangeable with any of a hundred thousand Tokyo condos and homes. She spotted a fridge, a table with chairs and counter top, all of them lightly decorated and showing signs of use. Amused, she was about to turn away when she saw movement at the door.
The people emerging into the room and opening up the fridge reminded her of the cognitions from Mira's Land. If anything, they looked even more normal, wearing typical shirts and pants instead of the retro-futuristic chic from the technological forest, but where she saw the resemblance was just how disarmingly happy they all looked. A mother, a father preparing dinner, and two energetic kids looking around eight years, all of them just moving around and chatting normally. The way she'd always imagined a 'normal' family to be like.
"I found the cognitions", she noted to the others, drawing Jiachi's equally fascinated gaze to the glass. "They shouldn't get in our way."
"Not until we go into one of the buildings to find Kaneshiro", he pointed out, unable to take his eyes away from the sight. They were even eating real food at the table, or at least it looked real enough from here.
For a moment no longer caring about the delay, Aiko withdrew from that window to press her face into the opposite one. This one too was a simple room that could have been transplanted from Tokyo or any other city. A quiet room with a crib and chair where a tall mother was hugging a baby to her chest, rocking them to sleep. "Is this... for real?"
"Hmph. Of course not", Pelagio pointed out briskly. He'd only taken a single glance at the windows before moving on. "You said it yourself, captain. This is a Land of Dreams. An ideal world fabricated to keep someone's soul content so they remain there. These cognitions are merely acting on the ruler's desires."
And the ruler's desires are for them to live normal, happy lives while Shadows prowl the streets outside, she considered, for once at a loss for what it meant. Mira and Julian's cognitions had been designed as fountains of endless adulation for their respective rulers, more living props than actual human beings. Whether through deliberate ignorance or thick glass, none of the people inside the building took notice that they were being spied on.
"The zeppelin has passed us", Pelagio announced with just a touch of impatience, gesturing with a steel talon. "If we traverse the line to that roof, we should be able to reach the heart of the city."
"R-right", she agreed shakily. The cognitions didn't matter, she told herself. They were just another part of this place, as much as the Shadows were. When Kaneshiro was returned home to the real world, they would cease to be of any relevance. "Let's do it then. I'll go first."
Another memory from Mira's Land awakened in her then- the precarious, terrifying journey across a narrow line unsuited to support passengers, strings of silver rings crossing over a gaping canyon that would more than likely result in death if they fell. Certainly, their Personas made them all much physically tougher, often never showing any kind of injury until they were very nearly depleted, but there were always limits to that effect. She didn't feel much like testing them.
At least this time, there were no holograms or robots around to distract them. Only the sound of rain, wind and other vacant city noises. A city whose citizens never went outside, but whose Shadow enforcers knew how to make a ruckus when they were disturbed.
Luckily, they weren't yet. All three of her team made it to the next rain-slicked rooftop without issue, dashing along its stretch to the next railing.
At least, the next railing was within Aiko's sight until something swift and hard struck her in the side, leaving her dazed and struggling to stand up properly. Who? A Shadow? Didn't see them on the way over- oh.
The figure's matte black coloring explained how it had been able to hide away in the eternal chiaroscuro of the city, waiting to strike from the sickly shade of a roof vent with bone-cracking force. The attacker's shape remained not only humanoid like some of the more powerful Shadows here seemed to be, but human-sized. A glossy, featureless mask complimented the darkness of his garb, but Pelagio wasted no time in announcing his name:
"Hex."
"No way!", Julian remarked, spinning his weapons out of their holsters as he spoke. "The hell's he doing in here? Maybe he's a Persona-user like us?"
Whatever the real answer, Hex didn't seem to care. He took a moment to watch Aiko struggle back to her feet before replying with a harsh, buzzing voice that had frightened hundreds of young would-be Yakuza. "Drop your weapons and come with me. Final warning."
Aiko could sense the resistance apparent in the other two without needing to ask. They might have complied, if she'd ordered it... But she wasn't in the mood to surrender so easily either. This could be a cognition, or a Shadow, or both. Same answer either way.
"You're outnumbered", she called back, drawing her cutlass. "Leave now, and we can avoid a fight that none of us want."
Then, the laughter. Hex's grisly, buzzing voice wasn't very good at it, but it was unmistakable all the same. Wan, bitter laughter. "You don't know me very well, do you? Besides, you're working for Joker. Don't deny it, all the signs are there. So there's only two options here. Talk, or suffer."
"We choose", Julian countered, bringing both his revolvers up to take aim. "To make you suffer."
Standing just a pace behind and to the left of him after she'd fallen, Aiko was in the best position to see her friend's shots flying out towards Hex, a spray of fire that had reduced many Shadows to smoking embers.
Not this one. In the same moment, Hex was blasting towards them, legs nearly a blur illuminated by the few shots that struck bouncing off some kind of extra-strength kevlar. In the time it took for Gunslinger to recognize this, the masked vigilante was already up in his face, driving a fist beneath the pistol barrels and into his gut.
At the ready, Aiko ignored her initial impulse and focused her mind instead. "Fly, High Pixie!"
The new Persona, which she had fused only a few days prior in the Velvet room, appeared from above without any of the difficulty she had encountered during their last visit to this Land. Similar-looking to the weaker 'Pixie' Shadows she had encountered elsewhere in Faraway Lands, this one had a larger gossamer wingspan, wearing a gleaming silver chest plate and dark purple gloves in lieu of the blue leotard normal Pixies always wore. Pale blue hair styled into a crown of short spikes replaced curly red hair, but most important of all was what couldn't immediately be seen- the difference in power between a Pixie and this one.
"Diarama", she directed the promised powerful healing skill towards Julian before his knees could hit the roof, a radiant glow covering and erasing most of the damage in one stroke. At the same time, Pelagio and Galahad's blade struck from the side, caught and deflected by a spin kick before Hex could slide out of the immediate danger zone. Once he had, a sharp hiss rang out. While spotting the exact means took too long, the end was obvious as soon as she noticed the billowing cloud covering the other side of the roof and blotting out the rest in short order.
"Smoke bomb", she noted, not quite able to ignore the fascination that came with such a strange tool being used against them. "Neato."
She had a few breaths to marvel before a surprise attack took the wind out of her, nearly knocking her off the roof entirely. Julian didn't dare fire his guns now that they could no longer see each other, guided only by the much less precise sounds of her being punched and kicked again and again, the professional barrage only stopping when she brandished her cutlass around in a circle, a delaying motion designed to give her a chance to focus.
"Mazan!"
The storm of green wind that Mira was normally the one to conjure blew in, carrying the smoke cloud away with it so that Hex's next charge wasn't nearly as much of a surprise... though at that kind of running speed it still felt like she'd barely gotten her weapon up in time to parry. That flagging guard was reinforced by Pelagio's shield spell, Praesi, forcing her attacker to retreat again.
"Ugh... We're not your enemies!", she called out to the shadowy corner she'd seen Hex disappear into. The Diarama skill healed most of her wounds, but the memory of the sheer blinding ferocity of the attack remained, almost as potent as the real thing. "You're trying to stop the Masked Circle, right? So are we!"
Silence shrouded the rooftop, and even when the reply finally came, it seemed to radiate out from everywhere at once, impossible to pinpoint. "The Masked Circle is another world. The scourge of this one is Joker. Along with all you wretched criminals who threaten the innocent, and defy justice. This is my world to protect now."
She had no time to respond before something small and tiny came flying out of nowhere to strike Pelagio. Only when he doubled over could she see it was some kind of slender dart buried in his neck, only piercing the armor's nape but enough to put the avian knight into a deep slumber. With his weight, he would have rolled all the way off the roof if Julian hadn't rushed in and grabbed him.
That was the opening Hex had been waiting for, unleashing another smoke bomb before charging in and kicking him away before he could get his weapons up. Reeling for a moment, he tried to fight back only to be swiftly countered with each attempt, his frustration ending with a quick chop to the back of his neck.
Blowing the smoke away a second time, Aiko stared at her allies' defeat with a mix of admiration and horror. Whether this was the real human Hex, or some cognition or Shadow, he possessed a speed and fighting skill she'd never seen outside of martial arts movies, and only a few of those exceeded what she was seeing. "Okay", she grunted, trying to force a guttural confidence into her words. "So you're fast. Let's try this then... Arise, Tam Lin!"
Hex took no notice of the figure of the elfin swordsman materializing before them. Regardless of what Persona was chosen, the enemy's strategy would remain the same; fast, hard-driving punches and kicks thrown in flowing combinations that suggested high expertise. With the addition of the Sukukaja skill, Aiko found she was able to keep up, blocking the punches and dodging the kicks until she realized that every dodge was deliberately bringing her a bit closer to a brick wall.
Whirling away from a strike that would have taken her in the sword arm, she dug the blade into the roof's motley shingle work. "No, thanks." Pulling the metal out again into a slash made an awful scraping noise, along with a shower of sparks that flew into Hex's face, only prevented from reaching his eyes by the black pentagram mask.
It was still enough to obscure the vigilante's vision and slow him down, providing an opening for a magical assault: "Aques!"
Unfamiliar with the skill, Hex was caught off guard when a serrated fish's maw of water rose up as though the roof were its domain, catching and blasting him backwards into a railing. When he tried to rise, a smattering of tiny blue detonations prevented it- Pelagio, having woken up from a brief enforced nap.
"Enough of this foolishness!", he snarled, throwing his protection-boosting Rakukaja skill on as well to be safe. "We are not the allies of this Joker whom you despise! We only seek this Land's ruler!"
Not deterred by words or actions, Hex released a pair of hexagon-shaped discs, spinning through the air to no doubt do something much worse than simple impact until they were intercepted by a rising wall of water- the Malaqua skill. To punctuate the statement, Julian leaped up onto the brick wall training both barrels on the enemy.
"Water control", Hex observed, sounding strangely calm for someone outnumbered and, as far as Aiko was concerned, outmatched. "What... You can't be...?"
They had half a second to ponder that statement before light blanketed the area, casting every figure and piece of the roof into sharp relief, the sound blaring out of the overhead zeppelin somehow even louder than before. "HALT, CRIMINALS! SURRENDER TO JUSTICE!"
"Shit!", Julian shouted, shattering the searchlight before changing targets to the Shadows already being lowered down on ropes towards them. "Got so busy with this d-bag we forgot about this! Get clear!"
"To the other side!", Pelagio agreed just as urgently. "We can form a line there, use the roof's shape to our advantage!"
Taking only a moment to register through all the noise and confusion that Hex had disappeared, Aiko followed the others, noting with some hope that the horde of Shadows being dropped onto the building as living cargo before twitching madly and exploding into their true shape was actually a bit smaller than the army they'd been faced with last time. The headless knights and bulbous-headed shamans from before had come, and were aided by small floating creatures wearing dark blue witches hats and cowls, bearing old-fashioned lanterns. Most strikingly, their heads were enormous pumpkins, eyes glowing with flame.
"What is it about this place", Jiachi quipped as he took aim at the front. "And Shadows having weird heads? Oh well, shouldn't complain. Just bigger targets is all."
"Yes", Aiko agreed halfheartedly. "Don't use your fire on them though. I've seen that type before; 'Pyro Jack'. They absorb it. Not this though... Mabufu!"
The resulting wave of ice did as she'd expected, chilling the masked shamans in front rank of the Shadows and eradicating several of the floating Jacks altogether, eliminating the threat they posed in a confined space like this. Instead, the headless knights made their charge ahead, ignoring both the volley of bullets and Pelagio's Mafrei spell to engage directly, the remaining shamans supporting them from the rear.
Deflecting one such knight's blade with hers, Aiko carefully aimed the flintlock down at the Shadow's boot, not causing any major damage with the shot, but knocking the enemy off balance long enough to swipe the cutlass through the other leg, toppling the enemy over the rail with a mournful howl. Just like with Bifrons, except I didn't need any help this time.
After several such encounters she had lost track of where her allies were in the crowded melee, and breathed a sigh of relief when the remaining Shadows began to pull back. A sigh of relief that transformed into a curse when she saw the real reason for it.
Just as before, the leader of this pack was easy to identify even if it had not been visually distinct from the others by the cautious way they parted to let the creature through. Like the previous pack leader it was tall and humanoid, but clad in a form-fitting, dark violet suit decorated with clownish frills at the neck and covering its curvy white boots.
A white line serpentined its way up the costume's right leg, ending at a skull on the chest. Following what did indeed seem to be the tradition of this Land, the head was completely covered in white cloth, bearing only a squiggly red line rising up into something like an enclosed question mark over the face.
More important to all of them was the wicked-looking ornamental scythe clutched in the leader's white gloves, which it brandished as though it were a mere baton.
"Praesi on me", Aiko commanded, shifting Personas without too much hesitation. "I'll take him."
"Alone?" Pelagio sounded more than strained.
"Need you waiting ready in case the other ones decide to sneak attack", she explained. "Just support for now. Too dangerous to transform here."
"I can do that", Julian protested. "If this guy's anything like Coralface Mcbarnacle from last time-"
"I'll get him", she affirmed without rancor. "Support and stand ready."
"Understood... captain."
The scythe-bearing Shadow said nothing as they closed, gave no sign of confidence or reprimand or anything, its feelings as much of a question mark as its face. Its skills were certainly not in question at least, flashing its weapon around with trained ease to block her opening pistol shot before twirling it back into a complete spin.
She was already through the gathering power of the enemy skill before recognizing the massive grinning skull of darkness as an upgraded form of the Mudo skill which had taken Pelagio down once, driving her blade beneath the creature's downswing and into the skull mark on the chest, cutting across into a roll and out the other side before the enemy could re-balance his weapon and the blade back. "Scary weapon", she remarked without knowing why. "Awkward to use though, unless you're threshing wheat. You're no Reaper."
The Shadow leader gave no response it had even heard her, sending the scythe spinning back across to smack her with the blunt end. Another complete circle of the weapon generated a new spell, this one dumping a formless torrent of unwholesome-feeling curse energy down on her which she knew would have hurt a great deal more if not for Pelagio's protective enhancements. Instead, it merely felt like an extremely hard-driving rain fighting to push her off the roof.
Too bad I won't be able to get him to fall off like I did that knight, she noted regretfully. He's way too agile for that. Have to get more good hits in. Luckily, the other Shadows seemed to be keeping their distance for now, either afraid of her or of their superior's wrath.
"Aques", she repeated the water skill from before, charging in without waiting to see if it had worked. The shark's maw and subsequent buffeting water was certainly enough to distract the opponent, keeping his weapon held upward as she ducked beneath to slash across the other side this time-
And stopped dead in her tracks. Stared. The blade was buried just as deeply as before, but now it wasn't moving. In the time it took to pull it loose, the blunt end of the scythe came down again.
The next thing she was aware of was a ringing sensation between her ears, accompanied by an aching pain running through her skull and jaw. That... was lighter the last...
She couldn't focus enough to form an inquiry about why the second hit had been so much worse than the first- or why her sword had suddenly stopped working- before the third hit nearly made her black out completely for a moment. Squinting to force the black away, she raised her other hand. "Aques!"
The Shadow recognized the move, bracing silently for an attack. It seemed just as surprised as everyone else when nothing happened.
"No", Aiko whispered, staring at her empty glove in despair. "No, no, NO! Not again! Tam Lin! Lorelei! High Pixie! Come!"
Nothing. Neither of the named Personas responded to her call, and now the enemy Shadow was on her, wielding its weapon against someone who had only moments ago been a trained Persona-user, but was now nothing but a human with a cutlass and a pistol. Without Tarukaja or Sukukaja, without a Persona to bolster her speed and strength and damage resistance, she was completely helpless against any Shadow.
"Captain!"
"Saber! NO!"
The curving blade swept across her this time, prevented from actually cutting flesh by a last-second roll. Still it hurt more than she could describe, and there was the familiar tingling sensation left behind in the furrow. And of course his scythe just had to be poisoned as well. Perfect.
Becoming dimly aware that the Shadows that had been hanging off the flanks were now rushing in response to Jiachi and Pelagio doing the same, she found herself sitting down, legs splayed out in front of her in an undignified position that she didn't think had anything to do with the poison now coursing through her system, racking her body with agony from every breath.
She just didn't know what to do.
She knew that the others would still listen to her orders, but she didn't know what orders to give. Fight? A lost cause now- without her they were outnumbered ten to one. Retreat? Not while she was incapable of walking.
She had come no closer to an answer when the Shadow leader decided to take the luxury of decision away from her. In one quick blink, the scythe flashed out and carved through the roof behind her, leaving behind a shroud of purple haze rising from the wound.
"Back." The word rose from her before she fully comprehended the command. "Get back!"
She wasn't sure if they'd heard her over the noise of combat, not until she heard Pelagio's response. "What?! No! We cannot leave you, captain!"
So easy.
It amazed her, more than anything else that had happened today, just how easy it was. It was a command she never thought she would give, yet her body, which had been trembling with agitation since the moment her Personas had stopped working, seemed to be calmed by it until even the fevers caused by the poison were reduced to mere background noise.
It felt like everything was going to be alright.
"Go", she pleaded. "They want to... capture not... kill."
"Like hell!", Jiachi shouted back. Even he could count however, and realize that if the white-masked Shadow joined in their chances of surviving the next minute were too small to calculate. "We can't!"
"Please..."
Again, as if sensing their indecision and looking to take that away, the scythe-bearer swung in the same spot, creating a miasma-filled trench in the roof that neither side dared to cross.
"Captain!"
"Please..."
"Saber!"
"Go", she whispered, her voice sounding like wet leaves rustling. "Tell... Dancer."
They no longer needed words to convey their fear, and for a moment she felt that fear racing through her as well.
What if she was wrong? What if they were going to kill her now?
The chill lasted until the white-masked Shadow looming over her gave a small, quiet nod. For a moment, they understood each other.
"Go", she repeated breathlessly, sounding almost as if she was honoring an agreement. "Go now! Go..."
"What have I done?", Mira asked, her voice lost and afraid.
She'd been able to hold on this long before breaking- she estimated roughly an hour had passed since the others had departed. Desperate to prevent Noel's curiosity from causing any further issues, she had forced them into a side area blocked by a shipping crate.
Her apprehension had failed to draw any Shadows to them so far, but she made sure to always be standing in a way so that her gaze went past a sitting Noel to the sole entrance to their cul de sac. Instead, she'd been left behind with the memory of the look on Aiko's face to smolder and break down the initial hopefulness that had brought her to this 'treason' in the first place. Truly I am Akechi Mitsuhide.
"You have followed the kindness in your heart", Noel told her plainly. "My desire was to behold you in this world, to confirm for myself what I had begun to suspect. You have granted me that desire, even risking the ire of Tsuru-"
"Saber." Her interjection was nearly a shriek.
"Of your friend", he finished, lightly tapping his red sketchbook cover. "For this, I am indebted to you. And I can say with certainty that you have only done something that... that Saber was afraid to due to the potential risks."
Considering his words, Mira sighed. "And that's what really makes me wonder what's wrong with me, if I have become wazima. Saber and Gunslinger are the big risk-takers on this team. Not me. It wasn't that long ago that I screamed at Gunslinger for doing something like that without me."
Halted by that realization, Noel leaned to the side placing his chin onto a clasped hand, considering how stressful their lives might have been for the last two months. "Naturlich, verstehe ich. Sometimes, our most powerful emotions arise when we worry about those dearest to us coming to harm."
Dearest to us. Mira moaned and placed her head in her hands. "My heart only ever gets me in trouble."
"In temporary trouble", he amended. "If your friendship is true, then she will forgive you." He shrugged innocently. "Niyoga has forgiven me for similar transgressions before. But the good that you achieved with this risk... it will remain."
"The good?", she asked, her confusion genuine. She couldn't even remember the exact reason she had done it any more. Her brain felt numbed. What good?
Gently, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder, he gestured with his other to the dark skyline above them. "You have shown to me the truth of this world, Sora- I mean, Dancer. The truth of what happened to Furusato. In return, I would wish to aid you and the others in their goals in whatever way I can."
"You want to join us?" Mira frowned. "But... you can't! You can't fight Shadows. I mean, I've heard the rumors about you at school. You never fight anybody. You took some kind of vow never to hurt anyone, right?"
"At the Berlin Cathedral in my homeland, yes", he confirmed distantly, as though the matter were meaningless. "Estens, schade nicht."
"And even if you hadn't", Mira continued furtively, "you need a Persona to fight Shadows. A normal human can't possibly stand up to them. Sorry, but I have to refuse."
He looked dismayed by her answer, but this time Mira knew her resolve was correct and unwavering. "Ah, I see. I must apologize. I haven't yet told you everything that happened to me since the time of Furusato-san's death. I did not come to this world purely for her. Let me ex- hm?!"
Too late, Mira realized that she'd been so absorbed in Noel's words and his offer that she'd neglected to watch the entryway. It wasn't a Shadow standing there, but it looked nearly as hostile. Julian had placed himself in the entry with Pelagio marching in just behind him, both of them injured and panting in a way that Mira didn't like at all.
"Saber", Jiachi rasped, looking on the outside as Mira felt on the inside. Like he was about to cry. "They... they got her."
What have I done?
It hurts.
She couldn't remember exactly when she'd blacked out, or what the last sensation she'd felt was. If the scythe-bearing Shadow had gone back on his word after the fact, or Julian and Pelagio had lost control and charged to their deaths, she would not know.
That was the pain, the hurt which made Aiko uneasy. It wasn't the black cables knotted around her wrists and feet, or seeing her weapons and supplies stashed off in a cubbyhole across the way, or the realization that she had no idea where exactly they were any longer. The room was covered in carpet and cushions that gave no indicator if they were high up or in some secret basement.
Hurts.
Near complete darkness shrouded her, dulling sensation until it felt like she was still half asleep. The slow creak of a door and artificial light blasting into her eyes changed that, focusing her eyes on the two new arrivals before her.
One was easy to recognize. It was the tall scythe-bearer, whose question-marked face gave a nod identical to the one from before. Silent confirmation, she knew, that the others had gotten away safely.
That alone was enough to dull the hurt, to make relief sing along her nerves and enforce the resolve not to give in here. If Pelagio, Jiachi, and Mira were safe, then nothing else mattered. If they're safe, then my pain means nothing.
"It will", the other figure spoke up suddenly, drawing her attention back to the now. "I promise you, it will mean much to you."
It took much longer to take in the entirety of the new one. A statuesque woman dressed in a disturbingly tight black bodice and spiked choker, a ball gown flaring out at the bottom covering all the way down to a pair of tall heels. Equally dark hair streamed down along her back as a thin mane, braided along the top corners with several long metal pins sticking out of the main bun as if the pagan witch doctors of old had groomed her.
But all of this detail faded into nothing when she saw the Shadow's face. She knew it to be a Shadow by the familiar acid yellow of her eyes, and knew the woman to be the ruler of the Land by the way the masked Shadow deferred to her, hovering at a safe distance, devout without being obsequious. Numerous tattoo lines as black as her lipstick randomly wound and twisted their way along that face without any apparent pattern, but even they couldn't conceal the truth.
The truth was, she knew that face.
"R-Reiha...?", she managed, weakness slurring her words until she tried again. "Hayato-san? Tawa?"
The lady in the black dress studied her closely, the initial smile she'd brought in with her tapering off. Her voice, even with the standard reverb, bore none of the malice Aiko had come to expect from this type of Shadow. "My name is Kaneshiro. Mistress Kaneshiro. What's more important, right now, is that we learn who you are."
Bewildered, still halfway into delirium, she blinked in confusion. "Wh-what? You don't know me? I'm-"
"I know what you call yourself", the Shadow snapped, her arms folded like a disappointed teacher. "Yet, we still don't know who you are. Don't worry. Your pain will teach us."
It only occurred to her then that the scythe-bearing Shadow wasn't carrying his signature weapon. Instead, the pole ended in a spiraling tip. A thin tip glowing with heat that was beginning to get uncomfortably close to her suspended left arm, where the sleeve of her outfit had been torn away...
"Pain is the ultimate teacher", the Shadow ruler claimed without even a hint of malice. "It is the law of my Land."
"My pain means nothing", Aiko spoke her earlier thoughts with as much energy as she could muster, hoping it sounded more confident that way. "Absolutely nothing."
The woman- Kaneshiro, Hayato, whoever she truly was- actually looked sad at the suggestion, burning yellow flames boring into her before the pole could. "Young one... I'm afraid you're terribly mistaken. As you will soon learn... Pain is the only thing in this world- or any world- with any real meaning at all."
Enemy Profile #12: Pyro Jack
Arcana: Magician
Strength: Fire
Weakness: Ice, Water, Wind
Abilities: Agi, Maragi, Tarunda
Background: English fairy resembling a jack-o'-lantern. It is a prank-loving fairy that's also called a Will-o'-the-Wisp. It was originally a human named Jack. But because of his constant pranks on demons, his soul was cursed to roam.
Persona Profile #9: High Pixie
Arcana: Fool
Strength: Lightning, Wind
Weakness: Gun, Nuclear
Abilities: Zan, Media, Diarama, Taunt, Mazan
Background: High ranking pixies who act as leaders or commanders of the younger pixies. Generally, a charismatic pixie can obtain this rank from proving its skill and loyalty. They watch over the younger pixies as guardians, and ensure they are kept out of danger, although they are every bit as mischievous as their younger counterparts.
A/N: Sad to see Crimson's going on hiatus now, and though I'll try and make up for it I am currently fresh on the job hunt now as well. Hope you enjoy.