Time for the search for Fuuka! I just finished one of the other stories so I have more time to focus on this one. I hope you all enjoy!
June 8, 2009, Monday, Lunchtime
At the start of their lunch break, Seth and Homura were walking to the faculty office to question Mr. Ekoda on the status of Fuuka Yamagishi, which was where Minato, Yukari and Junpei were heading as well for the same goal. Once they reached their destination, they saw Mitsuru speaking with Mr. Ekoda. Seth also noticed the dark-skinned girl he saw the other day clutching onto her head like she was having a serious migraine.
"Looks like we all got the same idea." Seth said.
Mitsuru nodded at him. "Indeed." She turned back to Mr. Ekoda. "Mr. Ekoda, I'm here to ask you about a student named Fuuka Yamagishi."
"NO!" The dark-skinned girl yelled.
The sudden outburst startled everyone in the room.
"I-I never thought it'd turn out like this…" She said while her body shook. "Fuuka…"
Yukari immediately recognized her from the other day as well.
"What did you do to Yamagishi?" Mitsuru inquired.
"Hold on, Mitsuru." Mr. Ekoda interjected. "This isn't an interrogation. Natsuki, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to. You wouldn't want to give her the wrong idea."
"This is someone's life we're talking about!" Seth nearly shouted. "It shouldn't matter if this is interrogation or not!"
"Seth, calm down." Homura gently held his arm to keep him from going berserk.
"Fuuka… She…" The girl Mr. Ekoda referred to as Natsuki spoke up. "She always looked so frazzled whenever I gave her a hard time… But then I realized… Even though she's an honor student… she's just like us… I always knew which buttons to push… We were only messing with her, and on that day, too… May 29th… We brought Fuuka to the gym… and locked the door from the outside…"
"That's a really mean thing to do, you know!" Seth growled at Natsuki.
"Later that night, Maki went back to the school because she thought we'd get in trouble if Fuuka committed suicide." Natsuki continued. "But she never came back… Until the next morning…"
"When they found her in front of the school gates." Yukari said.
"I went to the gym to let Fuuka out, but the door was still locked…" Natsuki stated. "So I opened it, but there was no sign of her anywhere… We all freaked out and went out every night to look for her, but one by one my friends started ending up like Maki."
"I see…" Mitsuru looked somewhat sullen, but regained her normal expression as she turned back to Mr. Ekoda. "By the way, Mr. Ekoda, all this time you've attributed Yamagishi's absence to 'illness'. But in reality, you must have known that she was missing. What was your intention?"
"I was thinking of the students, of course." Mr. Ekoda replied. "You children may not understand, but we have to consider the future of everyone affected."
"More like you're trying to cover your ass so you don't lose your job!" Seth barked. "Fuuka could be dead for all we know!"
"Watch your language with your elders, young man!"
"Seth, please calm down!" Homura tried to stop Seth again.
"I also wouldn't want Natsuki's records to be stained by this." Mr. Ekoda stated. "Her parents agree, as well."
Mitsuru's leer intensified. "So to protect your career, you blatantly ignored your responsibilities as a teacher? How despicable!"
"See? Mitsuru agrees with me." Seth said.
Mr. Ekoda was taken aback by Mitsuru's statement. She used this opportunity to speak with Natsuki.
"About your friends…" Mitsuru gently spoke to her. "Did you notice anything unusual before the incidents? Anything at all?"
Something came to Natsuki's mind immediately. "… They all heard a creepy voice... Right before they went missing. They said it was calling their name."
"Oh man…" Junpei muttered.
"Senpai, could it be…?!" Yukari asked.
"That seems very likely." Seth replied.
Mitsuru walked back to her comrades. "There's no doubt about it. It must be them." She turned back to Mr. Ekoda. "Mr. Ekoda, please excuse us for a moment."
The six of them went outside the faculty office and Mitsuru spoke up.
"Now we know how normal people can be conscious during the Dark Hour." Mitsuru said.
"The voice draws them in and the Shadows feed on them." Homura said.
"This whole thing has made me realize they're clearly targeting humans." Mitsuru said. "Shadows are the enemy of mankind. I'm going to request Moriyama to stay at our dorm tonight. It will be the safest place for her. I also believe that Yamagishi is all right, as well. I'll explain everything in the Student Council room after school. Prepare for tonight's operation."
"Tonight?" Minato questioned.
"We're going to rescue Yamagishi." Mitsuru clarified. "If my guess is correct, she should still be in the school."
"… I think I get it." Seth said. "The school transforms into Tartarus at midnight. If Fuuka, who's a Persona-user, was still trapped in the gym at that time, she probably wound up somewhere in Tartarus. Since her bullies couldn't find her, we can assume that she got stuck in Tartarus. Normally, someone wouldn't be able to survive ten days without food or water. However, if she's in Tartarus, which only appears an hour each day and presume time is warped during the Dark Hour, it's probably only felt like ten hours for her instead of ten days."
Everyone just blankly stared at Seth with surprised looks.
"… Y-yes… You came to that conclusion by yourself that quickly?" Mitsuru asked as her usual composed expression had a bit of surprise in them as well.
Seth just remained silent for a few minutes. "… You shall speak of this genius to no one."
"Why?" Minato asked. "Are you afraid of people thinking you're smart?"
"… Kind of." Seth reluctantly answered.
June 8, 2009, Monday, After School
All ten members from SEES and Heiwa all convened at the Student Council room once classes were over.
"This should be everyone, so let's start." Homura said.
"Tonight, we will infiltrate the campus." Mitsuru stated. "Our objective is to rescue Fuuka Yamagishi."
"Ya know, if Seth hadn't explained it before I'd be totally lost." Junpei said.
"Of course, that's only a theory." Akihiko pointed out. "She might still be alive, but there's also the possibility that she's dead. Especially if she encountered Shadows in Tartarus."
"True." Yukari said. "Even if she's still alive, we might not be able to get to her."
"Are you just gonna let her die then?!" Akihiko shouted at Yukari. Once he calmed down, he started speaking again. "Anyway, I have an idea on how we might be able to find Yamagishi. We enter Tartarus the same way she did. We'll go to the gym and wait for midnight. That's the quickest way."
"That also sounds really dangerous." Homura said. "The school's shape becomes distorted. Who knows where you'll end up, presuming you even survive it. For all we know, you could end up being stuck in a wall."
"Honestly, I have reservations on this plan, myself." Mitsuru admitted. "If something goes wrong, some of you might end up lost in Tartarus just like Yamagishi. But…"
"I won't stand by and do nothing if there's a chance to save her!" Akihiko protested. "I'd never forgive myself. If you guys don't want to go, I'll do it myself."
"Akihiko?" Seth asked out of concern.
"… Alright." Mitsuru said. "We're aware of the risks, but we can't just leave her there."
"I agree." Yukari nodded. "And we won't know until we try."
"Ditto." Seth also agreed.
"Cool, we get to sneak into the school!" Junpei was getting excited. "Heheh, in that case, I know just what to do."
Nobuo thought to himself. *… Perhaps I can get a peek at some future test questions… No! A hero shouldn't do something so dishonorable!"
June 8, 2009, Monday, Nighttime
Afterward, Seth went back to the dorm to get a nap before the night's Tartarus excursion. SEES couldn't get a hold of Ikutsuki, but Junpei had managed to unlock one of the doors earlier and they were all able to get in. All of them, except for Daichi who was ordered to keep an eye on Natsuki back at SEES's dorm, were inside the school, where it was dark and every room was empty.
"See? We got in no problem." Junpei said. "Man, I'm a genius!"
"Is breaking into a school really something to brag about?" Yukari questioned.
"So you unlocked it earlier… Tres bien." Mitsuru said.
"No time for compliments." Akihiko said. "Let's go."
They went into classroom 2-F to wait for the Dark Hour to come.
"Can we turn on the lights?" Yukari asked.
"Aww, you scared?" Junpei asked in a teasing tone.
"No, Stupei!" Yukari snapped back.
Emi snuck up behind Yukari quietly and discretely.
"… Boo."
"EEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH!" Yukari shrieked.
"Aheheheheh…" Emi chuckled.
"Hehehaha!" Junpei laughed.
"It's wasn't funny!" Yukari shouted.
Seth tried to hold back his laughter as best as he could.
"Quiet." Akihiko told them. "It's better we leave them off. They cut the power at night, anyway."
"I don't like sneaking around." Yukari expressed.
"I love it." Emi said.
Yukari leered at Emi until Mitsuru spoke up.
"First, we need to find the key to the gym." Mitsuru debriefed. "Akihiko, Carter, Ryukawa and I will check the janitor's room. The rest of you can check the faculty office. After that, we'll meet in the main hallway. Got it?"
"The faculty office, huh…" Junpei said. "Maybe we can find some test questions. Heheheh…"
"On second thought, I'll head to the faculty office, too." Akihiko said. "Sounds interesting."
"You're not planning something unscrupulous under my supervision, are you?" Mitsuru asked. "… If so, then prepare to be severely punished."
"I-it was a joke!" Junepi panicked. "I'd never do something like that! Heheh… heh…"
"Lighten up a little, Mitsuru…" Akihiko sighed.
June 8, 2009, Monday, Dark Hour
Junpei's comment forced Mitsuru to have him join the janitor's room team with herself, Akihiko, Seth and Homura. They couldn't find the key there, but Minato's team managed to find it. After that, they were once again split into two teams. Minato, Seth, Junpei, Akihiko and Nobuo would wait in the school for the Dark Hour to arrive. The girls would wait outside the gates so they can monitor them from the first floor.
Somewhere in the Arqa block of Tartarus, Seth was lying on the ground and getting up.
"Never again…" He groaned. "At least we all made it in o-"
He looked around to see that there was no one else around.
"… Great…" He stood up. "We're all separated… But at least this block is familiar. I should probably focus on finding everyone first."
Seth walked forward with his double-sided sword readied in case of any Shadows he might come across.
"Ca… do y… d me?" A voice drenched in static could be heard in Seth's head.
"Mitsuru, is that you?" Seth asked. "I've been separated from the others."
"I ca… ear y…b… e?"
"I can't hear you. Should I go up or down?"
"… u…"
"I'll assume you said 'up'."
He went looking around until he found the stairs. After going up, he looked around for any sight of his friends and Fuuka and took a step forward.
"Who is there?" An unfamiliar voice spoke up. "Are you human?"
Seth looked around frantically for the source of the voice until he saw someone pop out from a nearby corner. It was a girl with pale skin and short green hair, almost like moss, wearing the Gekkoukan uniform.
"You must be Fuuka Yamagishi." Seth said. "What a relief. You're still alive. Don't worry. Me and a few friends came here to rescue you… Except we got separated."
Fuuka walked up to him. "Thank goodness. Where are we? I remember being at school, but then…"
"It's a long story." Seth answered. "Just relax for-"
"There's somebody behind that corner there!"
Seth turned around to where Fuuka was pointing.
"Minato? Akihiko? Junpei? Nobuo? Are any of you there?" Seth called out to whoever was behind the corner.
Nobody came out and they remained hidden.
"They're not coming out…" Fuuka said.
"Stay behind me." Seth said. "If it's a monster… or a hostile human… Run away." *I can't rule out the possibility that there's another one of the Hands of Anarchy out for our heads. If it is… I just hope they never got to the others…*
Just as Seth was about to arrive at the corner, Fuuka sensed something.
"It's going to attack!" Fuuka shouted.
Seth stopped in his tracks and the moment he saw a glimmer of light from a blade, he turned around and tackled Fuuka to the ground. The blade of pierced the wall and they looked up to see that it was part of a halberd.
"Sorry I knocked you over like that." Seth said to Fuuka before standing up.
The halberd was removed from the wall and the wielder was revealed as a figure wearing the signature cloak of the Hands of Anarchy. However, he was skinnier and smaller than the one Seth fought when he first entered Tartarus.
"Fuuka, get back!"Seth shouted.
The cloaked figure dashed off further into the floor's labyrinth while Seth looked in surprise.
"… He just ran away?" Seth questioned. "I mean, I'm grateful, since no one gets hurt. I just wasn't expecting it… But why did he run away?" However, something came to his mind. "How did you survive this long in here, anyway?"
"Seth!"
The two of them looked over to see Minato, Akihiko, Junpei and Nobuo running up to him.
"Is she Fuuka?" Junpei asked.
Seth nodded. "I'm glad you guys are okay. I thought that Hand of Anarchy guy got to you."
"Wait, what?!" Nobuo exclaimed.
"Fuuka sensed them and when I confronted them, they just ran off." Seth clarified.
"YOU IDIOT!" Nobuo shouted. "You should've went after him!"
"I couldn't fight him alone." Seth stated. "Now that we're all together and found Fuuka, what do you want to do?"
"Let me try to get in contact with Mitsuru." Akihiko said.
While Akihiko was trying to communicate with the girls on the first floor, Fuuka dropped to her knees and the rest of the guys walked up to her.
"By the way, are ya hurt?" Junpei asked. "Did you run into any monsters?"
"So there ARE strange creatures here…" Fuuka said. "I've managed to avoid them so far."
"… How?" Seth questioned with surprise.
"Umm… It's hard to describe, but…" Fuuka tried to find the right words. "It's like I know where they are, even though I can't visibly see them."
"What do you mean?" Minato asked.
After failing to contact Mitsuru, Akihiko managed to catch the last of their conversation.
"She has the same power as Mitsuru." Akihiko surmised. "Maybe even stronger in terms of support since Mitsuru's Persona is more battle-oriented." He walked over to Fuuka and handed her an Evoker. "Hang on to this."
Fuuka gasped at the sight of it. "B-but this is-!"
"It's not really a gun." Seth stated.
"We should probably go after that Hand of Anarchy guy before he gets away." Nobuo said.
They walked around the entire floor and found no signs of anything other than Shadows. As soon as they were walking across what seemed like a window, they could make out the eerie, yellow full moon in the sky.
"Whoa, check out the moon!" Junpei said.
"It's both beautiful and unsettling at the same time." Nobuo said.
"Some research indicates that some Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon." Akihiko stated. "Of course, the same could be said for humans."
"That would explain Yuka-tan's mood swings." Junpei joked.
"Wait… Wasn't it a full moon on the night on the monorail?" Minato asked.
"Now that you mention it… The moon was a lot like it is tonight." Seth replied.
"Was it?" Akihiko realized something. "And while we're on the subject, wasn't the dorm attacked when the full moon was out, back in April?"
"It was full." Minato answered.
Akihiko immediately placed his fingers against his ears. "Mitsuru! Are you there?!"
"Akihiko… ? Shadows-" Mitsuru's voice was disrupted with copious amounts of interference.
"Hey, can you hear me?!" Akihiko shouted. "Mitsuru, come in!"
"I have a REALLY bad feeling about this…" Seth muttered.
"… What is this thing?" Fuuka asked out of nowhere, drawing the attention of the five guys. "It's much bigger than the others… And it's attacking someone…"
"Shit!" Seth growled. "We need to get to the girls, pronto!"
"Wh-what's goin' on?!" Junpei questioned.
"It's one of THEM!" Akihiko answered. "If our theory is right, then they come out every full moon! We have to hurry!"
The five guys and Fuuka managed to get down to the first floor, where they saw Mitsuru's bike destroyed and Homura and Emi lying unconscious and wounded on the ground, with Yukari barely able to stand up. In front of them were two large Shadows that looked almost like chess pieces. One of them was short, obese and carrying a wand while the other was tall, lanky and wielding a sword.
"There's two of them?!" Nobuo exclaimed.
The taller Shadow was holding a barely conscious Mitsuru in its clutches.
"Mitsuru!" Akihiko shouted.
"I don't get it!" Yukari said as she struggled to get up. "None of our attacks are working!"
The two large Shadows turned toward them.
"Oh shit!" Junpei shouted. "They look pissed!"
"Hold on, Mitsuru!" Seth shouted. "I'm coming!"
Seth jumped toward the tall Shadow, readying his blades to strike off its arms and free Mitsuru, but his sword seemed to faze right through the Shadow as if it didn't even exist.
"What the hell?!" Seth responded. "I knew I hit that thing!"
"Didn't you hear what I just said, you hothead?!" Yukari questioned.
Suddenly, someone entered from the outside door.
"Hey, isn't that…?!" Junpei was surprised.
"Why the hell is SHE here?!" Akihiko questioned.
The person who had entered was none other than Natsuki, who seemed to be in a zombie-like state as she walked toward Fuuka.
"Fu… uka…"
(To be continued…)
A/N: I didn't intend for this to be two parts, but I will focus mostly on the battle against the Reverse Empress and Reverse Emperor. I wanted to get this out sooner, but I was addicted to The Phantom Pain and Tales of Zestiria, as well as studying. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for next time!