A/N: While thinking of the design for Izaya's dungeon, I had a hard time deciding what its bgm would sound like. Since I personally love the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, I started my search from there, and now I've narrowed my choices between Crystal Crossing and Treeshroud Forest. Both convey what I'm trying express really well in their own ways, which makes it really hard to decide... A remix of the two together without sounding too overwhelming would actually be perfect, I think. Hmm...
As usual, thank you for reading/following/reviewing/favouriting this story! :)
April 19, 2013
Unknown, 1F
The transition between the frost-covered land to that of the interior of the crystalline wall was almost like stepping into another dimension altogether. While the same could certainly be said for the other "dungeons" the team had gone to in the past, the experience this time felt a little different.
The sudden drop in the surrounding temperature aside, the inside of the wall looked nothing like what Souji had expected. For one thing, the area of the floor was immensely vast, and the ground was made of soil with small fields of crystals of various colours found in random parts of the ground, giving the appearance of a cave rather than the interior of a wall. At the same time, there were wooden boxes and sealed potato sacks resting against the sides of the room, and knives with crystalline blades embedded in the wall where a glistening gate were located, encircling it like a frame made from gems.
In the heart of this particular room they were in, there was also a pond, unfrozen despite the extremely cold weather. Water dripped from the ceiling and into the pond, causing ripples at regular but long intervals. A thin cloud of mist that drifted over the area was most visible against the sparkling pond, which seemed to be the main light source in the dim cave-like interior.
"Well, this is...impressive," Yosuke commented. "Though I have to say, I'm not really sure what all this is supposed to be. I mean, are we inside a cave within a wall or something?"
"Maybe the wall is blocking the cave and we can only get in through the swirly vortex thing," Chie suggested.
"...But doesn't that defeat the purpose of having the wall?"
"Don't ask me, I'm not the one who made this place," the brunette answered with a frown.
Before Yosuke could reply, Souji cut in, "Hang on, I'm trying to get a connection with Rise." At that, his teammates fell silent in anticipation for their junior's voice. When a few seconds passed with no response, Souji raised his left hand to cover his left ear, and glanced upward at the ceiling. It wasn't like doing this action in particular would help much, if at all, but at least it could serve to drown out any sounds in the surroundings. "Rise, are you there?"
There was a brief telepathic sizzle, like feedback from a faulty radio, before faint traces of Rise's voice could be heard. "...ai... C...ou he..."
"...I can barely hear you, Rise. Are you able to hear me, at least?"
No response.
"Rise?"
Another sizzle, and then the connection was completely cut off.
With a sigh, Souji lowered his arm. "Something's definitely not right about this place." He turned to face his teammates, holding the hilt of his katana with both of his hands. "But there's no other choice. We'll just have to move on while we wait for Rise to re-establish the connection. If we don't reach the last floor in time, it'll be too late to save Orihara-san." There was a haunted look in Souji's dull, grey eyes as he said this and dropped his gaze.
"Seta-kun...?" Yukiko whispered concernedly.
Yosuke placed a comforting hand on Souji's shoulder, sharing an equally grave look. "Take it easy there, partner. We know we can't afford to slip up when it's someone's life on the line, but all the more we have to relax and do this like we always did, right?" An uneasy grin replaced the earlier frown. "I'm sure things will turn out fine."
The grey-haired adolescent met his best friend's eyes. "But Yosuke, you..."
"Hm?"
Souji hesitated, and then his grim expression vanished almost instantly. "No, nothing. You're right. Thanks, Yosuke."
This time, the brunet wore a genuine smile. "Any time, partner."
Souji flashed him back with a tiny smile of his own before it disappeared. "Sorry about the holdup. I shouldn't have mentioned that," Souji apologised to his team, his grip on the hilt of his Blade of Totsuka tightening slightly. "Come on, let's move out from here." Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko gave their agreement.
As Souji took the first step in the mission, Yosuke got ready by sliding his headphones over his ears until they rested comfortably on his head and holding onto his Hattori tightly. Amagi, on the other hand, had already unfolded her trusty fan and brought it up in a defensive stance. Satonaka started stretching her legs, continuously skipping in one spot until her teammates in front of her took off.
Their leader ran in the direction of the gate, the only visible entrance to any other part of this cave. With no known information about it, Souji could only experiment with the surrounding knives as well as the crystals on the gate themselves in order to figure out a way to open the pathway. It was only when he gave the dangling knife by the right a hard twist that a 'crack' sound was heard and the gate lifted.
The corridor leading to the next and only room visible was dark and warm. It was made out of stone, which would have felt cold if not for the lit torches lined along the walls.
"Hey, this place..." Yukiko started. "Doesn't it look like part of an actual underground dungeon?"
Chie looked around once more. "Now that you mention it, you're right... It does look like a dungeon. Running through this corridor makes me feel like I'm some kind of dungeon warden or something."
In front of her, Yosuke groaned. "This place doesn't make any sense. First, it's a wall, then it's a cave, and now it's a literal dungeon? Plus it can block Rise out, for some reason. And let's not forget that we're only on the first freakin' floor." He shook his head. "Ugh, I just hope it won't get worse from here on out."
"Don't jinx us, Hanamura! Sheesh."
"R-right, sorry."
At nearly the same time, the team reached the locked gate. Souji promptly turned the knife that was in the same position as that of the first room, and the four of them waited patiently as the gate ascended.
Cautiously, Souji entered the adjacent room, which looked like a carbon copy of the first room they were in, but with a smaller - but deadlier-looking - pond at its core. Bubbles rose to the surface of the water rapidly; the water was dyed a sickly shade of black, as though a layer of black oil coated it, and it didn't give off any glow which would have helped serve as their light source in this area.
Remaining by the entrance where the gate had parted way, Souji took a quick glance around and found two more such gates: one directly opposite of him, and the other at his right. Gut instinct told him to choose the opposite gate.
The group made their way over safely, making sure to avoid the bubbling black pond, and stepped through when the entrance was opened. The dungeon corridor was now split in two opposite directions, both paths leading to different parts of the floor, no doubt. With no way of knowing what lied ahead except to take the risk and venture further, Souji thoughtlessly ran to his right. It only took a few steps before a dark creature crawling on the ground came into view, its back turned on the four teenagers approaching it.
'A Shadow...! This is a good chance!'
With that thought in mind, the leader of the Investigation Team raised his katana and swiftly brought it down onto the black mass. The others quickly fell into position, ensuring that the Shadow was surrounded, and readied their respective weapons as the Shadow started to morph. It split into three, slowly forming distinct but similar shapes - a ridiculously plump humanoid figure donning a formal PD attire, its face covered by a mask, and possessing a gun and handcuffs as hands. A golden key rested in the large hole in its stomach.
"Okay, we have the advantage for now. Use this chance to identify the enemy's weakness," instructed Souji, who wasted no time in raising his right hand to allow a glistening blue tarot card that manifested from out of nowhere to drift into his palm. Immediately, he crushed the card, the sound of shattering glass reverberating in the area as he did so, and then the ghostly apparition of Japan's original god faded into existence.
Raising his chest upwards, Izanagi called upon the lightning, which struck the Fuzz Shadow in a soft sizzle. The deformed policeman-like figure collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
"Whoa, you hit its weakness right off the bat!" Chie exclaimed excitedly.
"Excellent!" Yukiko cheered.
Yosuke gave his friend a thumbs-up, tapping his foot to the beat of his music. "Keep going, partner!"
Relieved that the Shadow didn't reflect or absorb the attack, Souji summoned Izanagi once more to deliver a Zio to the other two Fuzzes, knocking them down.
In the corner of his vision, Souji saw his teammates running up to him, forming a line in front of the fallen Shadows.
"Alright. One for all and all for one!" Yosuke initiated the cue for the usual group attack. When Souji nodded in confirmation, the brunet shouted an "Okay!" and yelled for the Shadows to get out of their way as the team charged forward and repeatedly hit the Shadows with all their might using their weapons.
The vicious, mostly one-sided brawl in a place as cramped as the corridor inadvertently chipped off small pieces of stone and accumulated dusty particles in the air, forming a dense cloud of dust and dirt surrounding the team and their enemies. And though the Shadows were crumpled onto the floor and too stunned from the earlier Zio attack to conjure up the strength and concentration required to cast any spells, they put up a commendable struggle with the four Persona-users, occasionally sending them flying out of the cloud.
When the Fuzzes showed signs of recovery, Souji ordered his team to fall back, which they did so with no questions asked. The cloud parted way to reveal the Shadows pulling themselves back on their feet, clearly not willing to give up the last bit of life left in them.
"They just don't know when to quit, do they?" Yosuke grumbled, rubbing the blood oozing from the thin cut on his chin off distractedly.
"And neither do we!" Chie added, determination blazing in her eyes. "Yukiko, you ready?"
"Whenever you are, Chie!" the raven-haired girl responded as the two of them ran towards each other.
Then, simultaneously, a pair of glowing blue tarot cards appeared before them, and the duo quickly crushed the cards - Yukiko with her fan, and Chie, her boot - bringing Suzuka Gongen and Amaterasu to life. The female warrior raised her double-edged lightsabre with her right hand and the sun goddess raised her sword with her left before the two Personas brought them down in tandem, pointing their weapons at the hunched over Shadows.
Almost immediately, two majestic dragons, their entire bodies dyed a magnificent gold, emerged from the ground, soaring in the air in a mesmerising dance as a massive, red flower directly under the Shadows unfolded its petals in a grand gesture. The legendary creatures then dived straight into the heart of the flower where the Fuzzes stood, the impact causing the entire area to be engulfed in blinding gold and red as the air rained torn petals.
As the shining colours died away, so did the dragons, the flower, and the Personas that summoned them. The corridor was intact, with no sign of fallen petals or the dragons bursting forth from the ground, as though the brilliant display was but a figment of everyone's imagination, but the charred remains of the Fuzzes that lied on the ground said otherwise.
Chie wiped away the perspiration trickling down from her forehead with a proud grin on her face. "Whew, we managed to pull that one off somehow," she said, stretching her arms. While she spoke, Yosuke had gone to the pile of remains to scavenge for any money or intact body parts; Souji, for some reason, was standing nearby with a hand on his back, but Chie was too excited to pay it much attention. "I mean, it's been, what, more than a year since we last tried that move?"
"Mm-hm. And it came out so well, too." Despite the grime on her face and clothes, the manager of a traditional family ryokan smiled cheerfully.
Chie laughed. "It sure did! I hope we get to do it again!"
"Hey, Satonaka, Amagi!" Yosuke called out. "It's time to get a move on!"
The girls turned and nodded to each other, a silent gesture of their agreement, before they joined the boys in running down the corridor.
"Come on out here, Rokuten Maoh!"
At the bellow of his master's command, the colossal figure of the sword-wielding king of hell manifested above Kanji's head and swept his weapon across an unsuspecting Twins. The Shadow, taking the full brunt of the attack, screeched in pain before it degenerated, leaving only a handful of coins in its wake.
While Naoto walked over to retrieve the money, Kanji moved to the entrance of the room, keeping a lookout for any Shadows that might have been loitering outside for a chance to catch them by surprise.
"The coast's clear," Kanji informed his companion, who had just picked up the last of the coins on the ground.
"Understood. Let's carry on."
The pair then slowly made their way down the empty corridor, their path lit only by the flames of the torches. With just the two of them, neither of whom was capable of executing any healing spells, in an unpredictable place where considerably high-levelled Shadows gathered and crept about, they couldn't take the risk of literally running into any enemies that could be lurking around corners.
A brief moment of silence passed over before Kanji ended it, "It feels like...we're walking around in circles, aren't we?"
Naoto raised her head to meet Kanji's dark grey eyes. "Why do you think that?"
"Well, it's..." Kanji paused to frown. "Well, we can't hear Rise, right? Normally, she'd do some...thing that can let us see where we're going. But since she can't even talk to us now, she's not able to do whatever it is that she usually does, so when we think we're going somewhere different, we might be going back to the same place over and over."
Naoto's brows creased, appearing deep in thought. "I see. So it seems that Tatsumi-kun shares the same feeling as I."
The Third Year couldn't fight back the blood rushing to his cheeks. "F-feeling?"
"About the possibility that we may not be making progress."
"O-oh, right. That." Kanji rubbed the back of his neck shyly.
Naoto gazed at him intently yet confusedly, but did not question Kanji about his usual strange behaviour, and went on to say, "While I wouldn't eliminate the likelihood that Kujikawa-san being unable to communicate with us is connected, I am inclined to believe that there is another underlying reason behind this matter we are facing." The detective took Kanji's silence as her cue to continue, "Orihara-san's Shadow...or rather, Orihara-san himself is denying us any further access."
"Huh, but...why?" After all, no matter how bad their own issues were, nobody's Shadow had ever stopped the team from reaching the top - or the bottom, in Naoto's case - before. Even Naoto's Shadow didn't go that far in rejecting them.
So it came as no surprise when Naoto sighed in response to Kanji's question. "Unfortunately, I have yet to identify any justifiable reason. I can only make assumptions." She looked at her surroundings. "Regardless, there must be a way to locate the stairs. Perhaps we simply need to keep going."
"Like some kinda endurance test, huh?" Kanji sighed. "Man...I just hope we can get there in time."
"...Likewise," Naoto agreed quietly.
Kanji turned to look at her. "...Naoto?"
The detective gave him a sideway glance. "What is it?"
Kanji kept his eyes on her, and then he turned away, shaking his head. "S'nothin'."
Naoto, too, continued staring at her companion before she redirected her attention to the front, her expression unreadable. "Is that so?" was all she said.
The pair moved on in silence thereafter.
As the main team consisting of Souji, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko ventured further into the product of Orihara Izaya-san's mind, they came across many high-levelled Shadows, often ranging from one to four at one go, as well as the rooms with the ponds and crystals that usually contained Treasure Chests and the occasional Shadows.
At times, they could hear Rise reaching out to them mentally, but all they could pick up were broken words and static. The more they chanced upon unexplored areas, however, the clearer the picture that Rise was trying to plant in their heads became, and the less muffled her words were.
Without stopping for a break, the four of them pressed on, until they reached a gated room that apparently contained an unopened Treasure Chest, according to the now slightly blurred map that Rise tried so hard to provide them.
Like the few cave-like rooms before it, there were wooden crates, potato sacks and crystals scattered randomly around the room. The pond, however, was glaringly absent. In its place was an average-sized boulder, which was stained with patches of dark, rusty copper and freckles of glossy, venomous black. But under the dim lighting in the room, where the crystals' shine contributed nothing but a wide and confusing array of colours, it was impossible to tell exactly.
As Souji approached the suspicious-looking boulder, while his friends followed behind him carefully, he felt the tip of his foot knock against a load on the ground, causing a clattering sound that echoed in this secluded, almost completely enclosed area. Curiously but warily, the silver-haired teen knelt down, keeping a firm grip on his katana in one hand while holding up the object his foot had bumped into.
It was freezing. Numbingly so. But Souji refused to let go of it, and instead ran his fingers across the cold, heavy material, along its rough curves. A powdery substance cracked from the touch and fell into his palm as Souji attempted to identify the load. His fingers soon chanced upon a sharp bend, and then he understood. It didn't take much longer for the others to draw the same conclusion.
In his fervency to confirm that conclusion, Yosuke sprinted over to the opposite side of the boulder, and then inched forward until he stepped on what felt like a hump and heard something chime. He knelt down on one knee, taking up a position that was similar to Souji's, and felt his way around for the same load that Souji was holding in his hand.
"...the hell...?" the brunet muttered.
At that, Chie rushed out of the room and into the corridor, plucking a lit torch out from its stand along the wall. She hurried her way back, and lowered the flame towards Souji's hand, making sure not to bring it too close. The light provided by the fire brightened that one spot, revealing rounds of blood-coated metal connected to one another like a reddish brown braid resting on Souji's palm.
"Chains..." Yukiko murmured. "And with so much blood, too..."
"Just what on earth is going on in that guy's mind?" Yosuke wondered aloud, stepping away from the metallic mess.
"Only one way to find out," Chie replied. "And that's to keep going."
"Satonaka's right." As he stood, Souji brushed off the hardened blood that had tainted his hands. "We can discuss this later. Right now, we have to find the stairs and make it to the top as soon as possible."
Yosuke grimaced. "But we've been running all over the place, and still no sign of the stairs. Besides, isn't there supposed to be a Chest around here? I don't see any-"
"-pai?! Sen...! Senpai, can you hear me?!"
At the exact same time, music suddenly filled the room, charging the air with the melodious song of bells and strings. It was as if someone had forcibly pulled away the invisible ear plugs that had somehow been inserted into their ears.
Souji was the first to whip his head towards the ceiling. "Rise!"
"Oh, thank goodness! I finally got to you!" The idol's voice rang so clearly Souji and the others had to resist wincing as Rise continued yelling, completely unaware of the volume of her own voice, "You wouldn't believe- I was so scared! I kept calling and calling, but nobody answered! I-I thought you and everyone else..." She trailed off, breaking into a quiet sob which quickly escalated into a wail.
"It's okay, Rise. We're perfectly fine," the leader of the Investigation Team replied soothingly. He couldn't help but allow himself a faint smile, knowing that Rise was safe. "How is Teddie doing? And how about Naoto and Kanji? Have you managed to contact them?"
The brunette, having calmed down at the sound of her beloved senpai's voice, gave an audible sniff. "Teddie's fine… A little hurt, but it doesn't look too bad. A-and yeah, Kanji and Naoto-kun are talking to me now... They said they want to know what happened to me."
"We've been wondering about that, too. Was it this place? Was it blocking you out?"
"That's what I thought at first when I tried to link up with your mind, Senpai. But when Teddie and I went in and tried again...it still didn't work."
"It...didn't? So, it wasn't the wall's fault after all?" Yosuke asked, gently prompting the hesitant and still shaken up Rise to continue.
"Yeah, that's what Teddie said. If it had been the wall, then going in would have cancelled the whole blocking thing, because no matter how shielded someone's innermost thoughts are, there's just no way they can avoid Kanzeon's radar like that. And even prevent me from reaching out to any of you, at that."
Chie folded her arms with one brow raised. "Unless that someone isn't human, I guess...?"
Souji, Yosuke and Yukiko turned to look at the cadet with slightly widened eyes, not knowing how else to respond to a bold comment like that.
Upon realising that all eyes were on her, Chie gave a nervous, half-hearted laugh. "Wh...what? I-I just said the first thing that came to my mind, that's all. It's not like- I-I mean, it just makes the most sense to me, somehow! ...Doesn't it?"
"Chie-senpai does have a point," Rise was quick to agree. "But not in the way you guys think it may be."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Yukiko asked.
There was a slight delay in Rise's response, which was full of uncertainty and weariness. "Actually...there's another reason why I think that it wasn't the wall that was blocking me out." Once more, she paused, and an awkward silence - save for the now faint ensemble of humming glassware - enveloped the room. In his head, Souji could imagine his kouhai lowering her head to look at the ground and shuffle her feet - gestures that were a sure tell-tale sign of Rise's reluctance to share whatever bad news she might have. "When I first tried to make the connection with Senpai...I heard a voice."
"A...voice?"
On her end, Rise nodded, despite knowing that it couldn't be transmitted. "It totally cut me off somehow. I...I tried to overpower it, but it was too strong... It was only when I found an opening that I could finally reach you guys."
Souji's features pulled into a pensive frown. "And this voice... Did it belong to Orihara-san?"
"It sounded like the man who appeared on the Midnight Channel last night, so…"
"I see..." Souji's frown deepened.
"Now it all makes sense..." Naoto added, her voice being transmitted to her senpais via Kanzeon. It was an ability Rise rarely found the need to employ, but under current circumstances, Souji-senpai and the others definitely needed Naoto's input on the matter. "Earlier, Tatsumi-kun and I were discussing about how we haven't been making any progress beyond the first floor, but we have yet to arrive at any reasonable conclusions. However, if what Kujikawa-san says is true, then the two incidents must be connected."
"Why? What does that mean?" Yosuke spoke, slightly confused at Souji and Naoto's reaction.
The silver-haired adolescent turned to face his partner. "It's like what Rise mentioned," he began to explain; Chie and Yukiko, too, paid close attention. "While Satonaka wasn't entirely wrong in guessing that Orihara-san might not be human, it's probably more accurate to say that he's not like ordinary people.
"If he is able to stop Rise from contacting us...if he is able to stop us from advancing further, then it must mean that he has control over this place, whether he realises it or not. Just like…Adachi-san," Souji continued to elaborate, his frown replaced by a very grave expression which his teammates now shared. "Orihara-san...may be in a lot more danger than we thought."
Nobody challenged that assumption.
"Well, well...it seems that you have some interesting guests over today."
The man sitting cross-legged on the icy floor noted monotonously, twirling his finger around the dark hair of the fallen figure next to him.
"But it looks like the people you wish to see the most aren't among them. You're such a pitiful existence. My heart is crying for you."
The man spoke with a wide smirk plastered on his face.
Then he shifted his position, now leaning over the other man, casting a shadow on him as he continued playing with his hair, resting his chin on his free hand.
"Shall I bring them here?"
The figure did not stir at the man's suggestion; did not even stir as the man stroked his cheek tenderly.
"After all, it is what you desire."
The man whispered in the figure's ear gently; softly.
"And your desires are mine as well."
And then the man faded away, leaving no trace of his presence behind.
Throughout it all, the figure slept peacefully.