Chapter 3-
Orario
One signature here and another one over there.
Such was the life of an adventurer, or at the very least, such was the life of an adventurer that also happened to be a Familia captain. The quill continued to move at breakneck speeds in a practiced motion until the very ink itself ran dry. There was a slight pause before he dipped his quill into the inkpot. He could feel his thumb begin to tingle once more as he brought the appendage up towards his face and brushed it over his lips.
It was an old quirk that Finn Deimne had always possessed.
His thumb would always feel a flash of pain when something dangerous was on the horizon. While to him it was simply his intuition, others would prefer to call it a precognition instead. He had developed a bit of a reputation over the years in regards to that. Most people put their utmost faith in his judgment, as he had been proven right more often than not.
Although it wasn't as if it took precognition to figure out that something was amiss with the events that were occurring as of late.
Ignoring the tingling of his thumb, the quill began to move once more. A simple signature was quickly scribbled onto the document before the parchment was promptly handed over to the only other person in the room. A light hum was the only response he received from his Goddess, as Loki took a quick glance over the documents.
"Geh… That's a big hit to our finances," The red-haired goddess groaned, "We're probably going to be in the red for this month."
Finn simply gave his goddess an apologetic smile.
"We had to replace all of the equipment that we lost in the last expedition," He explained. "We left behind a lot of our gear as well when we were escaping from that new monster species."
"Better the equipment than my precious children though," Loki grinned. "We can always just get new weapons from the smiths anyway," She paused, before letting out a laugh, "Heh, they'll probably throw such a fit over it though."
Finn couldn't help but give a concerned smile. Goibniu's rage wasn't something he wanted to experience again. He had learned his lesson the hard way after he had returned to the old God of Smiths with a broken weapon, and to this day it was still a chilling memory.
"Let's hope that he won't be too angry this time?"
Loki smirked but didn't comment on the matter any further.
"On another note Finn-kun, let's talk about the expedition," Loki began in a serious tone. "Specifically about the new monster species that caused such a riot."
Finn curled his lips into a frown.
"To be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. I've never seen a monster like that before… And then there were also those strange magic stones that they dropped…." Finn paused, letting out a small sigh. "I have a bad feeling about all of this. Something foul is brewing in the air, and I don't know what."
Loki crossed her arms over her chest.
"Tell me Finn-kun, you think any of this is related to our new friend?"
"He's a big question mark… And he's hiding a lot, but I don't think that he's directly related to the appearance of the monster new species," Finn replied as he began to sign papers once more, "I believe that Arisato-san's appearance is a completely different issue altogether, although that only makes things all the more complicated."
"I had about the same thought process," Loki mused, "Too bad he rejected me though, would've been nice to have kept him close by."
Finn stopped moving his quill at that and turned towards his Goddess with a bemused smile.
"You know, I honestly expected you to be a little more upset since he did decline your invitation after all."
Loki was by no means a benevolent Goddess, but that didn't mean she was an unkind one either. She cared for her children as deeply as any parent would care for their child. Thus, it meant a lot to her when she offered an invitation to her Familia; it meant that someone had impressed her enough in one way or another and that she wanted you to become a part of her inner circle. Loki was not someone that was used to taking "no" for an answer.
And as such, Finn had been quite surprised that Loki seemed to be so nonchalant about it.
"I'm a bit annoyed, I'll admit it, but I'm sure he'll eventually figure out on his own that he needs us if he wants to accomplish his goals," Loki simply replied. "You remember what he said, right?"
Finn definitely remembered; it was hard not to. Minato Arisato had said that he was going to return to the 51st floor of the dungeon in order to look for clues as to how he had woken up there in the first place. And for one reason or another, he had been quite adamant in his stance about doing it alone; refusing his Goddess's invitation to join the Loki Familia.
It was a foolish endeavor, but he didn't blame him for that. The boy did not yet understand just how difficult of a task it was to travel down to the lower floors of the dungeon even with an entire Familia, much less doing so alone. His goddess was correct in that aspect, the boy would eventually have to seek out a powerful Familia to join if he wanted to accomplish his goals, and the number of Familias in Orario that could muster up expeditions for floors that deep were few and far between.
What Finn didn't understand was why Loki seemed so confident.
"There are other paths he could choose to take Loki-sama," He pointed out, "Freya-sama being one of them."
His goddess simply smirked.
"Yeah, I can see why you might think that Finn-kun, Freya does have an annoying habit of stealing what isn't hers," Loki sneered at the name, "I don't see that happening this time though; he's not her type."
Finn clasped his hands together and rested them over the table.
"Is that assumption based on your intuition, Loki-sama?"
She chuckled in response, a familiar glint in her eyes.
"It's the intuition of the Trickster from Heaven."
Loki was rarely wrong when it came to her intuition; Finn had come to learn that over the many years he had been with his goddess. They were similar in that regard, and it was for that reason that Loki had chosen him to be their Familia captain. If she truly believed that the boy would come to them soon enough, then it wasn't worth his time to question it.
"Are you going to let Ouranos-sama know?" He eventually asked, "I'd assume that the Guild would want to know about this little incident."
"The Guild? Nah, let's keep them out of the picture. They're a neutral entity and they've got no stake in this. This is our Familia's business after all."
Finn only nodded in response before he returned to his task of signing papers. Despite her whimsical attitude, Finn knew that she took these things quite seriously and he trusted her judgment.
Loki had never led them astray in the past after all.
It was a nice day. The sun shone brightly overhead the city of Orario as its adventurers and citizens all hustled about with their own business. Any other time and he would've stopped to simply take in the sights of some of the massive buildings or the exotic looking people.
Today, however, Minato Arisato simply walked past everyone and everything, paying no attention to how strange some of them appeared to be. He walked past elves, dwarves, and all other different manners of fantasy-like races of people without even taking a second glance. He didn't know where he was going, but that didn't matter, he wasn't walking to get somewhere. No, he was walking in order to find something out.
That something being whether or not someone was currently following him.
He had noticed someone's gaze on him earlier, after leaving the Loki Familia's manor, but didn't pay it much attention. When he could still feel an almost piercing-like stare drilling holes into his back, even after the long walk into the inner city and its bustling crowds, that was when it occurred to him that he might have been followed.
He cut into a small alleyway between two rather large buildings, brushing past a group of elves that gave him an annoyed look. The alleyway led into a bunch of different twists and turns until he eventually found himself reaching a dead end. All the while, he could still feel that same pair of eyes digging into his back.
At this point, it became quite apparent that he had a stalker.
Unsure of what to expect, he slowly turned around.
He was met with a figure that looked oddly familiar, yet at the same time, he couldn't exactly recall how. Blonde hair and golden eyes weren't exactly common traits, so it seemed quite strange to him that he couldn't remember where he had seen the young woman that was currently standing in front of him.
He furrowed his brow as he tried to recall where he had seen this person before. Thinking back to some of the events as of late, a blurred image soon emerged from the cesspool of memories residing in his head. Eventually, he could recall someone's back and a mess of blonde hair that smelled of flowers. The memory was hazy, but he could still make out the important bits of information.
She was the woman that had carried him out of the dungeon.
He had become so engrossed in his thoughts that it had only just now occurred to him that they had been standing there in complete silence for at least a good five minutes. It wasn't the first time he had gotten lost in his own thoughts, although usually, the other person would've snapped him out of it by now. The woman in front of him only continued to stare at him with an unreadable expression on her face.
While the silence was nice, he didn't plan on having a staring contest for the rest of the day.
"Why were you following me?"
The woman in front of him owlishly blinked, but otherwise said nothing. She remained frozen there, almost as if she wished to say something only to be stopped by something within her. Eventually, with a small nod, it seemed that she had finally decided on something and soon opened her mouth to speak.
"You do not have a Falna."
It was his turn to blink in response.
The voice had been little more than a whisper. It appeared that she was a rather soft-spoken individual. Although what she had said was true, it led him to wonder just how exactly she knew.
"Did your Goddess tell you?"
She simply shook her head.
"You were eavesdropping then," He pointed out.
She didn't deny it and only nodded in response.
He didn't particularly care if someone knew or not, but the fewer people that knew of it, the less attention it drew to him. He had come to learn from Loki that it wasn't exactly normal for someone to be able to survive a trip into the dungeon without a Falna. In fact, it was completely unheard of, and to come out alive from one of the deeper floors no less. Attention was definitely not something he wanted at the moment.
Or ever, really.
"… Can you keep it a secret?"
She blinked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly.
"Okay."
He had been surprised at that. He had honestly been expecting her to ask for something in return for her silence. After all, if she had nothing to gain, what other reason would she have for following him all the way into the inner city only to let him know that she knew about his secret?
He didn't understand.
"Then… Why were you following me?"
She stared at him, with that same unreadable expression from before.
"How…?" She eventually settled with.
He frowned, unsure of what she was asking.
It was becoming quite apparent to him at this point that the young woman in front of him was a person of few words. He wasn't exactly someone that spoke a lot either, but he at least made his intentions clear with as few words as possible.
"How?" He repeated, "How what?"
"How are you strong?" She quickly clarified, "Without a Falna?"
He raised an eyebrow in response.
"If you were eavesdropping, then you should already know."
She slowly nodded in agreement with a strange glint in her eyes.
"Persona…" She simply stated, the word sounding foreign to her, "Teach me."
Now that was something he hadn't been expecting. To be honest, he had no qualms about helping her, the only problem was that she wanted something that he was unable to provide.
"I can't."
The woman in front of him only continued to stare at him with a determined look on her face.
"Why?" She questioned, unrelenting.
He briefly thought about how he was going to explain that to someone unfamiliar with a Persona.
"… It's not something that I can just teach," He eventually settled on, "Why do you want to learn how to use a Persona anyway?"
She was an adventurer, wasn't she? What did she need a Persona for?
"I want to become stronger," She answered, her eyes burning with unwavering determination.
He could understand that feeling, the desire to become stronger. Akihiko was the same way, and his eyes had burned with that very same fire. He didn't know why she wanted to become stronger, but he didn't particularly care either. That was her own business, and as much as he wanted to return the favor for saving his life, what she wanted wasn't something that he could provide.
His Persona abilities weren't exactly something that he could just teach someone. He wasn't even sure how he still had access to them without the Dark Hour in the first place. He wouldn't even know where to begin in seeing if she was a suitable candidate to possess one, Mitsuru and Ikutsuki had always been the ones to bring in new Persona users to SEES.
"I can't teach you," He simply stated as he began to walk past her, "… Sorry."
She didn't try to impede him as he walked around her, nor did she say anything, and for that he was grateful. However, when it became apparent to him that there was a constant thudding in the dirt coming from another pair of footsteps behind him, he had to fight back the urge to sigh.
"Why are you still following me?"
She simply tilted her head in confusion.
"I am not," She answered, before gesturing towards the sheathed weapon hanging from her side, "Going to the blacksmith."
He only gave her a wary look, but otherwise said nothing.
It turned out that she had been telling the truth about going to the blacksmith. The young woman eventually went off on her own and he was finally left alone in peace. The problem was that he still had no idea where he was going, so in the end, he simply decided to walk around aimlessly and take in the sights of the city. Certain areas with easily recognizable landmarks were stored away in his memory to be used for future geographical references.
Eventually, after a good deal of walking, he had gotten a decent grasp of the city's layout. Orario, or the Labyrinth City as the locals liked to affectionately call it, was by no means a large city. It had taken a couple of hours, but within that time he had scoured through enough of the city to understand that it could be broken up into eight distinct sections, with the large tower standing above the dungeon located firmly in the middle.
The sun had begun to set, and he soon found himself sitting on a nearby bench simply watching the various people walk by. As he idly sat there by himself, watching as a pair of dwarves passed by, the true magnitude of the situation he currently was in began to finally hit him. He wasn't on Earth anymore and he had no idea how or why.
There were no Shadows to fight here and there was no Dark Hour or Tartarus. There was no SEES here. He was… Alone. Loneliness was a feeling that he was all too familiar with. SEES had provided a brief respite from that affliction, but now?
Once again, Minato Arisato was alone.
It had never bothered him in the past. He had gotten used to being alone, but over time, he had grown fond of having companions. All of a sudden, being alone again wasn't as simple as it had been in the past. It was a lot harder to stomach now and it had only been a couple of days at the most, but already he found himself missing SEES, missing his friends.
His intuition told him that the Dungeon probably held the key to returning home.
But, what if it didn't? What would he do if he could never return and he could never see his friends again? A harsh sickly feeling began to well up deep within him as if it were eating him away from the inside out.
Fear.
Fear that he wouldn't see anyone from SEES again. Fear of the pain that came along with it, the pain of being separated from someone close to you. A brief, hazy image of Shinjiro Aragaki flashed before his eyes and he could feel that disgusting feeling only continue to grow, slowly creeping along inside of him.
Would they be fine without him?
He was the Wild Card. He was the key to their success. What would happen during the next full moon if he wasn't there?
…
He didn't want to find out.
He would go back into the dungeon.
He would head back towards the dragon's lair.
He would—
The soft crunch of a wrapper being folded open shook him out of his thoughts. Slowly turning his head, he found himself staring at the same blonde-haired woman who had been following him earlier during the day. That same woman who was now sitting on the bench next to him, taking small little bites out of some kind of brown pastry in her hands.
Whatever anxiousness he had been feeling earlier simply seemed to flow out of his body like the currents in a waterfall. He couldn't help but let out a breath he had been unknowingly holding in. Whether it was a sigh out of annoyance or relief, he couldn't even tell anymore.
"Why are you still following me?"
The young woman in question only tilted her head to the side in confusion. He couldn't help but get a feeling of déjà vu at the strange scenario that was playing out.
"I am not," She simply replied as she pointed over towards a small pastry stall in the corner of the street. "Wanted Jagamarukun."
"Jagamarukun" he assumed, was the small brown pastry in her hands.
At this point, he couldn't actually tell whether or not she was still following him or if this truly was just a coincidence. It didn't help that her face was as stoic as ever. It wasn't often that he couldn't get a good read on people through their facial cues, but then again, he had never met anyone quite like the woman currently sitting beside him. Although now that he knew that she hadn't been shadowing him for any nefarious reasons earlier, he didn't particularly care anymore if she did want to follow him around. She had saved his life before, so he still owed her anyway. If she wanted to follow him around, then he would simply let it be.
"I never did get to thank you for saving me," He eventually began. "So, thank you."
She simply shook her head.
"Lefiya," She replied. "She healed you."
He wasn't sure who that was, but he would have to thank her in the future as well.
"By the way, in the dungeon…" He trailed off. "When you found me, did you happen to notice anything strange?"
She stared at him.
"Strange?" She questioned with a curious look in her eyes.
"Anything… Out of the ordinary?" He attempted to clarify. "Something that you don't usually see in the dungeon?"
She didn't show any expression on her face. For a moment, nobody said anything and only the bustling sound of the city's people moving about could be heard. Eventually, after what felt like a good couple of minutes, she nodded.
"Yes," She simply answered, before raising a finger and pointing at himself. "You."
He couldn't help but let out a sigh. She had to have been doing this deliberately.
"Anything besides me?" He added as an afterthought, "Did you happen to see a… Strange monster?"
It was possible that she might've seen the Reaper or some other clues relating to Tartarus. The woman's face remained as still as ever, but he'd like to imagine that she was at the very least giving the question some thought. After a brief moment, she shook her head and he could feel a little bit of hope die inside of him as well.
"I see…"
If she had noticed the distress in his tone, she didn't point it out. Instead, she simply took another nibble out of her pastry before taking a brief glance at him and back towards her pastry.
"… Do you want to try?" She hesitantly asked, holding out the half-eaten pastry.
He simply stared at the offered treat in her hands. It took him a moment to realize that she was attempting to comfort him, in her own strange little way. Sweets weren't exactly a favorite of his, but he could at least appreciate the gesture, as strange as it was. Slowly reaching out his hand, he accepted the gift and took a small bite of the pastry himself. It was still warm and as he expected, tasted quite sweet.
He supposed that she was similar to him in that regard, comforting others was not something that he was very good at either. It had become quite apparent with him after being in SEES for so long that he had left much to be desired when it came to understanding even just the basic nuances of human interaction. From what he could gleam from their brief conversations, if one could even call them that, she was much of the same.
"Is it good?"
Handing the small pastry back to her, he began to stand up.
"Yeah," He replied, "Thanks."
The night lights were beginning to turn on as the sun had all but set over the horizon. Perhaps there wasn't a way to return home, or perhaps there was, but he wouldn't find out if he didn't at least attempt to look for a way back. He had arrived here in this world on the 51st floor, so if there were any answers to be found, it would be on that very same floor.
Staring at the massive tower that cast a looming shadow over the city, he began to move forward.
In retrospect, he should've expected this.
He didn't belong to any Familia, and because he didn't belong to any Familia, he didn't have a Falna. A person without a Falna going into the dungeon was probably more or less seen as being suicidal. So, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to him when he was denied entry into the dungeon by the Guild house.
When the receptionist at the Guild had discovered that he wasn't a registered adventurer, that was when he knew that things were going to get complicated. She had then given him a rather stern lecture about trying to enter the Dungeon without a Falna. Then there was also the fact that he didn't have any adventuring equipment on him as well, which led to another very stern lecture about trying to enter the dungeon unprepared.
All in all, the entire experience ended up being a colossal waste of time.
As he stood outside of the Guild house, he could see that the street lights were now on full blast. The sun had already long set and a night sky that looked quite different from the one back at home now hung over the city. He was starting to regret not taking up Loki on her offer now, even if he had his apprehensions about joining a Familia.
He supposed that sneaking into the dungeon was always a possibility.
Although having to constantly do that in the future was going to be more trouble than it was worth. From what he had heard about the dungeon from the Guild receptionist, he doubted that he would be able to get back to the 51st floor within one trip. He'd probably need supplies as well, and in order to obtain supplies, he'd need money first. It was going to be hard to obtain money if he wasn't allowed entry into the dungeon.
Getting a job was another possibility, but that meant having to find someone willing to hire him in the first place. Then there was also the fact that waiting on a payout from a salaried job was going to take substantially longer than simply turning in monster crystals from the dungeon into the Guild house vendor. He had come to learn that an adventurer's income came mostly from the monster crystals and item drops they were able to obtain from the dungeon. The Guild house was the main center of trade for these drops, trading currency upfront for whatever objects of value that the adventurer managed to find during their trip into the dungeon.
It was quick, simple, and to the point.
And he always did like keeping things simple.
In the end, it seemed that joining a Familia was probably the best option here.
The Guild receptionist had given him a list of every single registered Familia in Orario. It was a rather long list, easily with over fifty different names of Gods and Goddesses. When he narrowed it down to exploration-type Familias specifically, the list grew noticeably smaller. The Loki Familia stood out on the top of the list, highlighted as one of the more powerful Familia in the city.
Loki had been quite clear with him that her offer was still on the table should he ever change his mind. He had simply brushed it off at the time, but now because of the situation at hand, that offer was starting to look a lot more enticing. With the other Familias on the list, he would still have to apply and even then, there was no guarantee that he would even be accepted.
At this point, it was an easy decision to make.
He supposed that he owed Loki anyway since her Familia had been the ones to rescue him from the aftermath of the battle on the 51st floor. She might've had ulterior motives for inviting him to her Familia, but he didn't particularly care, since he was simply using her as an entry-pass of sorts into the dungeon himself. She had her uses for him and vice-versa; it was a simple give-and-take relationship.
The only problem now was finding a place to sleep for the night.
He had no money so staying at an inn was out of the question. Sleeping on the floor was an option, but he'd rather not do that if possible. He could recall that he had walked past an area earlier with a few rundown looking buildings that were more than likely abandoned. As unsanitary as it sounded sleeping in an abandoned building, it at the very least beat sleeping on the floor outside.
He began to walk towards the general direction from where he remembered the abandoned buildings stood. Navigating through the city at night proved to be a difficult task, as certain landmarks that he had been using as his guides were a lot harder to spot in the night than compared in broad daylight.
Eventually, after a little bit of bumbling around, he found himself standing in front of an old abandoned church. The rusty looking gate opened without too much of a fuss. The inside of the building was as desolate as it was silent. A rundown altar stood at the end of the room having definitely seen better days. As rundown as the place looked, however, the benches at the very least looked comfortable enough to get a decent night's sleep.
Taking off his blazer, he placed it on the bench as a makeshift pillow before lying down in a more comfortable position. The wooden bench was hard and it was cold, but he would make due for the night, and soon enough, the darkness of sleep finally claimed him.
…
…
…
He had no idea how much time had passed before he had been stirred awake by the sound of the door creaking open, but given how tired he still felt, it probably hadn't been too long. As he slowly stood up, he found himself staring at a white-haired boy with red eyes. The boy wore what appeared to be a small breastplate and a brown leather coat. A backpack hung loosely on his back and a small dagger could be seen strapped to his side.
"Ah…" The boy said, breaking the silence as he scratched the side of his face, "Do you not have a place to stay?"
Author's Notes- I guess I'm back? Haven't written anything in months, so I'm probably real rusty. I'm sure I'll get back into the flow eventually though.