Chapter 3: The Pale Moon
?:?
?/?/?
Nagahashi Residence (?)
Kazuo let out a sigh. It was back.
He rose from the chair and grabbed the crowbar. Some of its rust fell on the bed as he picked it up. He sweeped it off quickly before grabbing his shoes. As laced them, he turned towards the pale green moon. It's color made Kazuo feel sick inside.
"Why is this happening?", Kazuo asked himself. Only silence responded him.
Sighing, he crept towards the door and slowly opened it. First, he would check on Uncle, just to make sure he was safe.
Kazuo stepped into his uncle's room. The heavy coffin floated over the futon. Kazuo grimaced. Why was he the only person allowed here? Why do others turn into coffins? What is this place, and why does the school turn into that dark tower?
Kazuo shook his head quickly. This wasn't the time for questioning. He needed to find out what this place has to do with Apathy Syndrome.
Kazuo visibly shook as he recalled his uncle suffering. It had only been for a day, but to see his strong uncle reduced to a vegetable was a traumatizing for an eleven-year-old Kazuo.
Enough. I have a mystery to solve…, Kazuo thought as he looked again at the coffin. He walked up to it and bashed it with his crowbar. It didn't budge from its position.
Good, it's safe...
Kazuo, feeling satisfied, left through the window. As he landed on the ground, he looked at his surroundings. The street was completely empty.
He turned towards the dark tower. The structure seemed to be built with impossible physics. Stairways and giant halls were visible on the outside, and were in placed in angles which shouldn't have been possible.
That's strange...I could have sworn there was a white stairway near the top...Maybe I'm remembering wrong.
Clenching his crowbar, Kazuo walked towards the tower, then broke into a jog. The streets seemed to blur together in his mind as he space out, fixed only on his destination.
?:?
?/?/?
Corner of Paulownia Mall and Gekkoukan (?)
Kazuo strode across the all too familiar plaza. The fountain had turned red with (blood?), and the heavy surroundings pressed on his shoulders. Despite being more than healthy, just walking in this place fatigued his body…
Are there side effects to being here?, Kazuo thought, I should be careful in the future.
Kazuo continued to walk past Paulownia. It wasn't his destination, after all. He looked at the plants surrounding the neighboring fountain, wilting in the oppressive atmosphere. He shook his head.
Why is this happening? I feel like I'm missing huge information... but what?
He closed his eyes. He was thinking too hard again. Right now, he needed to get to the tower.
He continued his jog once more, filled with a sense of mystery. His strides slowly formed a rhythm and his breathing was aligned with his body. Paulownia was well behind him now, and he began to reach the school. The dark tower gleaned eerily at its peak, and its entrance became clearer as he neared it. Its bronze sign glinted in the green moon.
Kazuo stared at the tower once more. It was definitely MUCH bigger than it was from a distance. He couldn't even see the peak from where he stood.
A few seconds passed while Kazuo stared at the building, in sheer wonder. He crossed the path warily, and creaked open the door.
Its first floor contrasted the rest of the building completely. Instead of dark and bloody structures, the whole hallway was filled with light, and white pillars line up with the checkered floor. Kazuo stared again at the marble hallway, then glanced at the entrance. It was a golden gear that gleamed, and was made with solid gold. It lead to a dark door, which gave off a darker aura compared to the rest of the room.
Kazuo whistled. Gone were the traits of the school he once knew (albeit for three days). The first floor hallways were nonexistent, and this pathway to the stairs was the only way into the tower.
Kazuo glanced at the golden gear. He could always come back to that blue door. For now, he needed to investigate those blobs.
He took a step forward before he heard the entrance creek. Startled, he barely managed to duck behind a pillar and turn towards the sound. His eyes widened.
A group of 6 people walked right through the entrance. Kazuo's jaw dropped. There were other people in this place?!
Kazuo stepped a little forward. Should he come clean?
No, I don't know who they are...I should stay clear.
Kazuo ducked further back. A few moments of silence enveloped the area. Then a voice rang out.
"So...it's back, huh?", a rough voice said. His voice echoed in the hallway.
"Y-yeah. U-um, I-I'm sorry Mitsuru.", a nervous voice said. For a few moments, silence filled the group.
"It's alright, Yamagishi. We...we ended it for sure. Something else is happening.", A regal voice responded.
Kazuo listened intently. Was this the information he was looking for?
"Arghh, I thought we ended it! Now we got to deal with this BS?!", A voice yelled.
"It is important to note that this Tartarus is looks almost the same. We do not know whether this is the same Dark Hour as the previous one. We should all be cautious.", a robotic voice pointed out.
"Yeah, Aigis is right. We have to keep an open mind. Before, we had the information we needed. We don't know whether our previous knowledge applies here.", a familiar voice agreed.
Kazuo's eyes widened. Was that… Amada?
"...grrrrrrr. Woof! Woof!", a dog barked.
Kazuo's eyebrows furrowed. Was that a dog? What the hell?
"Koromaru says that 'It doesn't matter what happened. We have a new mission now.", the robotic voice translated.
Kazuo blinked. Now he was confused. A person understands a dog? And what was Koromaru doing here?
This just gets weirder and weirder.
"Everyone have their Evokers?", a high-pitched voice said.
The group shifted in agreement.
Kazuo's knees creaked. He needed to see the who they were. Slowly, he inched forward.
He scanned the group. A regal redhead seemed to be at the front. Beside her, a man with an old baseball cap walked beside, along with a brunette in way too much pink. Towards the back, a green-haired woman walked cautiously behind the group, along with a dog. Next to her, a woman in a white jumpsuit walked oddly towards the golden gear.
So those were the two people in the limousine.
In the middle, a white haired officer walked strongly, with boxing gloves on his arms. And finally, in the middle was…
Ken Amada...So, you do know about this…
The white jumpsuit lady stopped. Suddenly, she jumped impossibly high.
Kazuo gaped. What the heck?!
The ground behind him trembled. Kazuo spun around, but wasn't quick enough. Two machine gun arms were spinning right at him.
Kazuo took a sharp intake. She's going to shoot me.
"...Step away from the pillar. NOW.", Aigis said.
"Huh? Aigis? Whatcha doing?", the baseball cap asked.
The group stopped as they stared at Aigis. Then slowly, another person came into view.
The group gasped. The black haired boy had his hands in the air, and turned to face them. His eyes were filled with fear.
"W-what the heck? Why does she have her machine gun trained on me?", Kazuo asked. The group just simply stared.
The Kirijo Group had been doing extensive research on detecting the potential within someone. For five years, they left their scanner running in the school. Suddenly, it picked up a signal a couple of days ago. The group was notified, and shocked. There hadn't been any readings of the potential before, and wanted to know why
The group looked at each other. They didn't know what to do. There had never been any reports of people exploring the Dark Hour. Clearly, this boy was very suspicious.
"U-uh...hello? I kind of have a gun trained on me, and-", Kazuo paused, his eyes trained on Ken.
"Kazuo-san...how are you here?", Ken asked slowly. The group looked at Ken. He knew Kazuo after all. He was assigned to keep an eye on him.
"I'll tell, but could you please get the gun off of me? I-I'm a little afraid of guns…", Kazuo said.
The redhead nodded at the Aigis. Warily, she lowered the gun and retracted it, replacing it with a gloved hand.
Kazuo exhaled loudly. He looked up at the adults in front of him. They seemed to come from extremely different backgrounds, with a baseball star and a famous boxer among them. He vaguely remembered seeing the boxer on a televised match.
He brushed himself, and nervously stuck his hands in his pocket. "Uh...Hi. I-I'm Kazuo Nagahashi."
He mentally facepalmed, Come on! I can't be this Timid!
"Go on,", the redhead in the fancy coat said. Kazuo nodded.
"Uh...right so...Yesterday, I was doing some school work when suddenly, at midnight, this...strange place came. I was shocked, and when I walked outside, there were coffins scattered around. I saw this strange tower, and when I walked there, it was in the place of the school…", Kazuo began.
"Yes, we know. We saw the recording.", the robot said simply.
Kazuo's jaw dropped. Digital equipment works in this place?
But I just tested my phone…
The redhead saw his expression, and chuckled slightly. "You see, there was a camera right at the school gate. We saw you walk in, and defeat the Shadows nearby.."
"Shadows?", Kazuo asked nervously.
"They're those blob things you fought. You know, the ones at the gate?", the boxer said, "We call those things Shadows. It's our job to beat em up."
"R-right", Kazuo continued warily, "Well, when those things came by, I-I used a bar to beat them away. That's when everything became normal. I walked home, and went to sleep".
He finished and stared at the group. He was finally able to take a good look at the group. Everyone had completely different outfits, with Ken being the only one wearing his school uniform. But when he looked into their eyes, they seemed to carry a heavy weight in them.
Kazuo looked down. They clearly had previous knowledge of this place, which would be impossible as it only happened yesterday…
Or did it? I haven't stayed up at midnight since two weeks ago...Could it have been around for that long without me noticing? No, I would have noticed it beforehand...
Fuuka gasped. Everyone turned to her in concern.
"This presence...It can't be! It's more powerful than the other ones!"
Mitsuru, confused at first, looked at Fuuka before her eyes widened in horror.
4/9...In other words, its the day when-
BOOM!
Everyone gasped in surprise az fire spurted from seemingly nowhere. Suddenly arms began to emerge from the flames, and the last one came out holding a mask. Etched on its face was the Roman Numeral I, and its eyes was black and hollow. Its arms pulled out swords, and it let out a terrible shriek.
Kazuo stepped back.
What the fu-, what is that?!No, I, I've gotta get out of here!
Kazuo froze in fear. His mind yelled at his body to move, but it refused to obey. He could only watch in vain.
Suddenly, the group lashed out their guns. Kazuo barely had time to look before they placed their guns...pointed at their head
Kazuo yelled, partly in fear, and partly in confusion before the group cried out as one.
"PERSONA!"
Well. I didn't post on Wednesday. There's no excuse for that. Expect next chapter next Sunday
Also, DID YOU SEE THAT SMASH REVEAL THO! I WAS LIKE "NANI?"! ALREADY PRE-PURCHASED THE HYPE TRAIN!