Author's Note
We're starting to hit the end of the pre-written material. The daily updates should end either today or Tuesday.
A chapter devoted to exploration of the dream world (or at least the start of one.)
Also the first actual appearance of a teacher.
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Chapter 8
The Dream Team
When I was walking down the stairs to school that morning, I was in for a bit of a surprise.
"Hey, Hajime-san, can I talk to you when you get back in the evening?"
In case you couldn't figure it out, Tadashi was talking to me. In response, I shrugged and said "Sure."
*
The afternoon was one of the stranger ones. Last period, we had mathematics, which always was either boring or entertaining. Today was the latter.
Amarisugi-sensei (our math teacher) walked in, with a box of chalk.
"Today, we're going to do some geometry." He started scribbling various shapes. "We'll go back to basics, let's calculate the area of some shapes… I have confidence in all of you to do elementary school level mathematics.."
Let me just point out that the chalkboard has a grid, and he drew a one by one square.
"So, who wants to try this one...?"
Toshiro's hand shot up, since he could actually answer this one.
"Ah, Hosoto-san, go ahead and try."
"One square unit, sensei."
Amarisugi-sensei then added a few lines, turning into a 1x1x1 cube.
"And calculate the volume."
"Err.. one cubic unit still."
Beside the cube, a triangular prism was drawn, a right angled one that could fit in a 1x1x1.
"That's a half unit, right?"
He then erased the two shapes, and quickly drew a very surprisingly accurate and detailed rendering of the exterior of the United States Capitol Building.
"Now please calculate the area of this one, Hosoto."
Hosoto looked in shock. "Uhh, what? How do I do that?"
"They're just rectangular prisms, correct? Maybe triangular prisms for the stairs, to save some time."
"Erm…"
Amarisugi-sensei suddenly had the 'Oh, I'm an idiot' look.
"Oh… my bad, Hosoto-san." He then erased a few columns, and the indentations from the windows. "Sorry, my fault."
Hosoto still stared blankly.
"Surely this can't be that hard, right?" He turned around to look at his rendering again. "Oh, silly me. I never taught you how to calculate the volume of that rotunda."
He then started a lecture.
On a silly note, after the lecture, we managed to get him to try to calculate the area of the simplified Capitol building.
"OK, this was that hard. Sorry, Hosoto-san."
*
As with every Friday, I headed off to baseball practise. Over the course of a month, all the players progressed from failures at the sport to absolute mavericks.
Oh, how I wish I could say that.
To be honest, it was kind of pitiful. I was never good at baseball, and yet I was the best in the team—and people even make me out to be the best batter the school's seen in years. It was kind of like being the copper coin amongst a bag of stones.
I could tell everybody on the team wanted to win, it was just that they absolutely failed at baseball. Then again, I'd have trouble finding athletes who didn't want to win. The team manager decided to, in the end, hold practise during August to make sure we stay 'good.' How completely unfair.
*
After practise, I quickly returned to the dormitory.
"So, what'd you call me for?"
"I wanted to talk to you about exploring that dream world at night."
He paused for a second, letting me comment. When I didn't, he continued.
"Basically, I'm thinking we should explore together, since we'll have a better chance against anything there. Of course, we're going to have to go at night, so it won't really cut into your evenings or afternoons."
"Wait, Tadashi-san, are you implying we can control when we dream of that place?"
"From what I've gathered from exploring there, if we go to bed with the intention, and fall asleep at midnight, we'll enter that dream world. It seems to me that if we have the intention when our head hits the pillow, we'll fall asleep at the right time."
That's kind of stupid, but I'll take it.
"So, when do you suggest we start, Tadashi-san?"
He paused for a moment to think. "I'd say tonight."
A bit sudden, and a bit surprising, however, I couldn't say that I didn't want to try using my persona again.
"That's fine by me."
*
I gulped down a glass of warm milk (note that I never do this normally, but I wanted to fall asleep faster tonight), and rested my head on the pillow, trying to imagine those plains again.
The sensation of sleep blanketed me. I could feel my arms and legs going numb, and my mind's eye was wiped blank. Suddenly, I was standing upright, with a shortsword in my right hand.
Except I was pretty sure I wasn't in the plains any more.
It's hard to really explain where I was, so I'll simply describe it as void. I was literally floating in a translucent green sphere in the middle of nowhere. Really.
In the centre of the sphere was what could best be described as myself, except tinted a pale blue. I—he looked directly at me.
"Welcome. You're not sure where you are, are you?"
This was going to be really creepy.
"Indeed it is."
What, he can read my mind?
"To put it simply, yes. I have called you here tonight for reasons you will not understand for a while. Your world and my world are inextricably linked—one cannot exist without another. And yet, somehow, we're at the centre of it all.
"Regardless, you now hold the key to finding your own place in all this. Persona, you call it. Your ability, while not unique, is rather rare. To be able to come here alone is quite a feat.
"Let me emphasize that your world and mine are not totally disconnected. Even if your friends cannot follow you here, I wish to impose upon you the idea that they are not useless here. Please remember that."
This was becoming sillier by the minute. "What do you mean?"
"Persona is the manifestation of mind. Ties between minds are strong things indeed—quite tenacious, and impossible to break. What is to say that oh... a tie could drag something along?"
"Stop speaking so cryptically, and just tell me what you wanted to tell me."
"Ah, but where is the fun in that? As you travel along, my true purpose will be revealed to you. I can only hope that it will be mutually beneficial."
With that, everything started to blur to black.
*
Tadashi was waiting for me at the edge of town. He pointed to some direction out of town—which I, for some reason, thought was west. There were mountains.
"You wanna go hiking?"
"No, on top of the mountain."
I looked again. There was some sort of a small black outline at one of the lower peaks, almost like a small manor. There was some sort of smoke rising from it. I had an immediate feeling of "that just ain't right."
Tadashi started a light jog down the path, and I followed.
Let me just say that the travel to the base of the mountain went incredibly uneventfully.
*
We were standing at the base of the mountain, looking up. It was a ridiculously steep climb. The peak looked much higher than it did before. Though there was a bit of a path that went up, it both looked unsafe, and more tiring than just climbing. Of course, Tadashi, actually wearing armor, probably couldn't climb, and I never went rock climbing in my life, so climbing probably was out anyways. Who the hell would build something up there!?
After ages climbing up along a winding path (we must've been about a hundred feet up), the path narrowed significantly, from perhaps 60 feet to somewhere less than 25. On the other hand, someone had installed a small wooden handrail, which admittedly looked like it couldn't support a mouse, but was a nice touch.
"Hajime-san, I have to say, this climb was a lot more boring than I expected."
No words could describe what I thought of that comment.
The manor or whatever it was starting to come into clearer view. Thankfully, it was not perched on the highest mountain, or even near the peak. There wasn't smoke rising from it like there was before. Rather, it seemed to project a shadow—and I'm using a metaphor here—that kind of blanketed the area around it, almost as if it were wrapped in a giant translucent black balloon.
That's a terrible way of explaining it, isn't it?
*
The path was starting to flatten, and widen. No longer was there sheer cliff face next to us on both sides, but rather only about eighty degrees of slope, which isn't nearly as small of a comfort as you'd think. A few hardy trees hanged over the upper cliff, in a manner that would bamboozle even the most unstable botanists. The sun was directly in front of us, but thankfully tucked behind a cloud which I praised for existing, and had been for the last hour or so.
All in all, it was a pretty leisurely walk.
Then an arrow volleyed over my head, probably launched from above us.
"Whoa, what the hell!?" Tadashi was, obviously, alarmed. An arrow had landed by his foot. Above us, there were perhaps three or so people, archers obviously, trying to lay down a hail of arrows. Of course, they had the advantage in height (they were perhaps 50 ft. above us), but thankfully, their aim was so awful I wouldn't doubt they'd be able to miss the ground.
Me and Tadashi sprinted ahead on the path. Neither of us could climb—nor would we try. I cursed as the plateau the archers were on would not be reached for a while, if at all. The path curved around a rock face, and tightened as it rose up at a near fourty degree angle. Arrows still whizzed overhead, some flying well past us, while some I could feel the wind breaking on the back of my neck.
"Aggh!"
I turned to Tadashi, who now had an arrow jutting out the back of his right leg. "Those bastards!"
The path was turning around another rock face—if this didn't connect, we had no chance.
I held my breath as I ran behind the almost-limping form of Tadashi. Defiantly, the path chose to widen, but go downhill.
The archers were trailing us, though they too were on a path. We couldn't do anything.
No—wait, I could do something.
Hotherus's visage flashed before my eyes as I came to the sudden realization that he existed. This would've been so convenient a few minutes ago.
I closed my eyes for a second.
"Hotherus!"
As my eyes re-opened, he had appeared yet again, bursting from above my eyes. He lazily pointed with his left hand at our assailants. It was not accurate at all, but it did the job.
A ball of green air, perhaps the size of a balance ball appeared. As if there were a vacuum in the center, it all quickly was sucked into the center, then burst out with incredible force. Two of the archers were tossed like a ragdoll to the sides, and one was blown cleanly off the face of the mountain. The force itself dislodged part of the path, causing rocks to tumble downwards—straight at me.
Once again, I ran for sweet life. I doubted those archers were working alone—and I doubted even more that the two that had survived would be even knocked out.
I felt something along my back. Oh no, not now!
The world suddenly fell dark-as dark as a midnight sky. I awoke, in a bit of a sweat, feeling like hell, sore all over.
Evidently, that manor was just going to have to wait.
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More bandits!
The introduction of the obligatory weird place with person who talks cryptically (the Velvet Room didn't seem to fit as well here, that and I could never write Igor's dialogue.)
Three guesses for what's at the top of the manor.
Find out next time on...
Chapter 9 - The Manor on the Mountain
And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.