Hey~! This is TheJesterArcana here! This chapter is dialogue and plot heavy~!
Also, darker than usual~!
Don't skip around...!
Make sure to review~!
-TheJesterArcana
Chapter 3: A Wake up Call to Reality
4/20/09 –Early Morning-
As I arrived to school, I overheard a conversation between two NPC students. The pair of
"Good morning, Suzutsuki-san. I'm always so drowsy on Monday mornings…" One of the gossiping students said.
"Yeah, me too, Arisu. The only thing you can do is to sleep through first period. Wait…tomorrow is when we have morning assembly!" The listening student said.
"Ughhh…I'm too lazy for that. I'll just pretend I didn't hear…" The gossiping student said.
"An event?" I thought. Wait, these are NPCs, right? So, these are people like us that can't escape…But unlike us…they don't have the "potential" to use personas…All because of that damn Shinichi. These girls had their life stripped away…No, all of us, now a shell of our former selves. The best thing we can do now is try and beat this game. The first step is to investigate that Tartarus. But what threat lies in there? Is it true that if we die here, we die in real life?
As I stepped into Gekkokan, the first bell rung. The girls and I entered the school.
-Lunch Time-
I was sitting in my desk dazing off as lunchtime began. I stared away at the NPCs. They seem so…happy. They seem so…normal. Even though this game takes place a little more than twenty years in the past, they seem like the schools from my time. People, sharing lunch boxes, or boys playing portable games…I'm kind of jealous, really.
Hajime, who sat a few seats away from me grinned goofily and poked me with a dull pencil. "So, which girls do you like…?" He asked.
"None." I stared blankly at him. Eri appeared in my mind for a second.
"Oh, so you roll that way, eh?" He said coyly.
"Are you trying to piss me off?" I asked, staring into his soul.
Hasegawa Nanami walked over and put her hands on my shoulders.
"Hey, Hacchan, Yahikkun, what's up?" I felt her odd but sweet presence over my back.
"Yahiko bats for the other team." Hajime said.
"Huh?" Nanami lightened her grip on my shoulders.
The sliding door north east of the class opened and Tsukatani Hinata walked in.
"Can I have a minute with you three? Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone." Hinata said.
"Oh, are we gonna have that talk?" Hajime asked.
"I'll keep the details for later. See you." And exit stage northeast for Hinata.
"Damn, he didn't waste time leaving…" Hajime said.
"Yeah, why did he leave so fast? Lunch isn't over 'til…"
The bell rang.
-Evening-
"I see that everyone is here. Yesterday night, after the meeting, Naohiro-san witnessed someone enter Tartarus, actually not just someone, but a group of people. We can assume another dorm had a similar idea to ours. I would like to commence the operation tonight at midnight."
"A few of 'em had weapons too. I think I might know where they got them from." Naohiro said.
"Where, exactly?" Hinata said.
"There's a store with a police officer in it in the same place where that kid was at. At least, that's what I heard." The blonde and black haired Naohiro said.
"I see. Well, tomorrow we should visit. Does everyone have their evoker?" Hinata asked.
"Evoker? What's that?" Eri-chan asked.
"According to the items page in your options, Eri-chan," Shit, I called her –chan!
"It's a 'key item' that's used to summon your Persona." I finished. I hope that pause wasn't noticeable.
"So then, Yahikkun, were those guns on the table Evokers?" Shit, she called me –kun!
I could swear from the corner of my eyesight I could see Nanami's lips move.
I shook my head a yes.
She opened her inventory and scrolled down. "Oh, I have one!" She exclaimed. She pressed a button and when she did, a text box appeared.
"Only useable in the Dark Hour." She read.
"Is that right?" Nakamura Nishiki said as he adjusted his glasses. When and where did he get glasses?
"Anybody feel scared?" Tanamura Ishida said.
"Don't worry! You guys got me on your side!" Hajime shouted.
"Oh, I feel so~ saved." Uemura Shiori said, smiling at Hajime.
-Late Night-
"So, where's this Tartarus? I thought it was the school." Hajime asked.
"Just wait." Ichigawa Kyouji. That's suspicious…
"Yes, just be patient…It's almost midnight." Hinata said.
As Tsukatani Hinata stared at the moon glistening in the sky, the world turned green. The school began to enlarge. It broke off at various sections and became something unrecognizable. A red liquid seeped from different floors of the tower. Gekkokan became Tartarus. From the base, it would appear that Tartarus ascended to the moon.
-Dark Hour-
"This is Tartarus; the tower that appears at midnight, or at least according to the game; midnight." Hinata spoke.
"Tower…? What happened to the school!? What is this?" Hajime asked.
"We can assume that once enough time passes, everything returns to normal." Hinata replied.
"This…it's kinda overwhelming, right, Yahiko-kun?" Eri-chan said.
"You don't have the right to speak to me yet." I thought. I ignored her question and opened the gates to the school, which were now the gates to Tartarus.
A large door stood in the middle of Tartarus. I pushed it open and so it did. Inside was a spacious area with a checkerboard pattern floor. There were no walls but instead seemed to be some sort of bottomless pit. If one were to drop, it would mean instant death. Forward from me was a set of stairs.
"It appears that this is just the entrance…Perhaps the real Tartarus is beyond whatever is at the top of the steps…? What in the world…?" Hinata said.
"What's the matter?" Shiori asked.
"Nothing…It's more of a…For some reason, I can see the layout of the floors…"
A navigator. This is typical in RPGs. He is like our mapper.
"I have the same feeling…" Matsuhita Kanami said in a whisper. How long as she been here?
"So you're both navis, huh?" Nishiki adjusted his glasses once more.
"If so, then it would be wise that you two should stay behind and direct us…actually it would be wise if only a select few of us went inside…Maybe four; or maybe squads?" I thought aloud.
"Yeah, that seems about right…" Higashiyama Asuka said.
"Then what's the plan, leader?" Ishida asked. Does he recognize me? Is this my Ishida?
I searched for the most suitable for exploration. I picked my four and selected a competent leader for the next four.
"Including myself, I select Hasegawa Nanami, Shima Hajime, and Uemura Shiori. For Squad B, I select Higashiyama Naohiro as leader. Party members are Nakamura Nishiki, Kusanaki Eri, and Tanamura Ishida." I said.
"What about Asuka? And that Ichigawa guy?" Naohiro said.
"It wouldn't be right to have more than four." I said flatly.
"Well she's my sister." He said.
"Ask me if I care." I said.
"Who do you think you're talking to?" His breath was hot as he inched closer to my face. I scrolled to my settings for the evoker. It spawned along with a holster onto my waist.
"Moreover, all of you, can you do it?" I asked everyone as I put the muzzle of the 'evoker' on my right temple. I really was asking them if they could summon their persona but it came out more as 'can you shoot yourself in the head'.
"What he means is: can you summon your persona without trouble?" Hinata corrected me.
"Without this thing, you're most likely screwed. If there are more enemies like the one like two
weeks ago, we are in for some shit." I said emotionlessly as I placed the evoker back into its holster and proceeded up the white stairs. "What are you waiting for…?" I asked my four. They followed me as we walked through a portal of sorts.
We arrived in a hallway. It seemed to go some ways before having a turn. It was green tinted, blood seemed to seep out of the walls, and windows onto the checkerboard patterned floor. It rather looked like Gekkokan's halls but without doors for openings into classrooms.
"It's kinda scary in here…Yahi- Yamamoto-kun; can you stay close to me?" Nanami said. Why'd I pick her again?
"It's kinda cool in here!" Hajime said as he looked around.
"Hello, can you all hear me? Yamamoto-san and Higashiyama-san?"
"What the hell?! Why's Tsukatani in my thoughts?" Hajime said.
"That's good. I suppose this is my Persona, Penthesilea's ability. I can communicate with you through her. For some reason, I see an orange dot moving around about three yards away from you. I think it's an enemy. If you could, would you please take a look?"
And so we took nine steps forward and something was crawling in the green darkness of the hallway. I inched close ignoring a warning from Hajime.
The word "Bufu" appeared above my vision. With great haste, I jumped back. A spear of ice thrust itself into the roof of the hall. "What…is that…?" Uemura finally spoke.
"It is an enemy…It…split into two?! Two enemies, defeat them!" I thought I was the leader.
The mass of darkness turned and looked at me. It had a mask on its face with the Roman numeral one on the north middle was just like the one on the roof but this one had used an ice spell, unlike the large one. It stretched its arm as the words "Slash Attack" appeared above it. It attacked me, knocking me into the others. Where the scratch was looked like a graphical error of the inside of my body…Shit, I should be more careful…There is the risk of actually dying…
"C'mon Hermes!" Hajime said as the sound of glass shattering echoed in the thin hall. A black figure with bronze wing-shaped attachments conjoined on his hands and legs and a metallic sharp helmet appeared behind him. The Persona flew around in the green air before slashing across the creature with its leg-arm wing. The mass of black disappeared.
"Don't…Don't count me out, Shima-kun!" Shiori shouted as she put the evoker to her temple.
"P-Palladion!" A being wearing a light blue dress and gold frillings emerged from Shiori. Instead of a head at the top of the persona, there was a spear.
Palladion thrust itself into the crawling creature, only to miss terribly. When it missed, a red 'X' inside of a diamond appeared and said 'miss'.
I jumped to my feet and put the evoker onto my head.
"Orpheus, give me strength." I said as I pulled the trigger. Once more, my thoughts disappeared. My head felt empty, all the while oddly satisfying. Orpheus removed his lyre from his back and rubbed the strings. The strings lit up and shot off a small fireball to the creature that Shiori missed. Orpheus hit and an explosion like shape with the English word 'weak' inside appeared. After the flames died down, the enemy was gone.
"Aww…I missed…" Shiori muttered. "That's cool, Shio-chan, it happens to the best of us!" Hajime said, attempting to cheer her up.
Salt…? I thought in my head.
*Shio means salt in Japanese.
"Great job. Squad B had a similar battle, but those four are ahead of you. They are on the third floor. You should attempt to get higher; I sense something odd on the 10th floor."
"Understood, Hinata."
Therefore, we climbed, every floor we got, we grinded, until we reached the 10th. When we got there, we spawned in a spacious room. It was deadly quiet. There were no enemies around that we could see.
"That's strange…I could've sworn that Ichigawa was ahead of everyone else."
"Ichigawa? Why him?"
"He left the base floor after Higashiyama's squad needed assistance. He said he was going to assist them but instead proceeded past them and went to the 10th floor."
How could he survive ten floors of that? What is he? A super gamer? A god? A cheater? Where are the beta testers for this game? The fact that he told us to wait for Tartarus to appear still makes him suspect.
I quieted my thoughts and walked around the empty room. "Hey, Yamamoto-kun, look at this!" Nanami said as she pointed to some odd machine in a gap of a wall.
"If possible, could someone test that to see if it works?"
I placed my palm on it and it transferred us to the base of the tower. "Welcome back, you four." Hinata said endearingly.
"…! Umm…I found Ichigawa-kun! He…He's on the 10th floor, he's moving around a lot…He might be in danger!" Kanami spoke a lot. A text box appeared in front of all of us.
The Dark Hour will be over soon…
I made a break for the transporter and so did the other three members of my squad. I selected floor 10 and quick traveled there. Before I ran to the exit, I equipped a one handed sword out of my inventory that I acquired from the fourth floor in a chest. Its name was "Shortsword" but it was of decent length.
To my left was a turn and so I ran with the three teammates of mine following. In front of us was Ichigawa Kyouji engaging battle with three hand shaped creatures named "Dancing Hand". "Dammit, dammit, dammit, why isn't anything working?" He shouted despairingly. "I beat those birds, so, so why!" The enemies were hands covered by a pink glove-like clothing. Where the wrist was supposed to be was a head, just like the first shadow we faced on the second floor.
That's interesting…We found a floor that was spacious like this one…I believe it was floor 5.
Above the hand to my left was the word "Zio". Before I knew it, Kyouji was stuck by lightning that appeared from nowhere. A lightning icon appeared on top of his head and he did not move. Next was the middle who sauntered in front of Kyouji. Above it, in the Dancing Hand's HUD was the word "Strike Attack". The hand threw its body at Kyouji and flung him three feet down the hall. The word "Critical" and "1 More" appeared where his body was. The middle one took his turn again. As I watched, I saw that Ichigawa's health was dangerously low. It was 34/101.
"Ichigawa-kun, run!" Nanami shouted. He was knocked down, however, and could not get up.
Dammit, why can't I move? No…This is not my fault…he should've obeyed orders and assisted Naohiro…
The Dancing Hand from the middle stood in front of Ichigawa. "Use a recovery item!" Hajime shouted.
"I…I don't have any left…" Kyouji said weakly. He looked up to see the Dancing Hand. He made eye contact with it. He stared at it as if it was his Reaper.
…it seemed like minutes or hours. Maybe at the time when this happened, it seemed lengthy. The four of us watched and did nothing as the hand gazed over him. The words appeared over the hand. "Strike Attack". It hit Kyouji, knocking his body into a wall. The words "Immortal Object" appeared where his body hit. His health…his health…His health went into red…red…and then darkness. He was slumped over on the wall and stared at us woefully.
"…Damn…this is it? This…this game is a piece of shit…I want a…a…re…fund." His body began to break apart into tiny fluorescent light blue butterflies. His lips were moving but we could not hear him. The process increased speed until his head remained. He said something vulgar as his head disappeared.
"Ichigawa-kun? Ichi…gawa-kun? Ichigawaaaaaa!" Nanami screamed.
"…Suzuki said that if your hit points reach zero, you'll die, right? So…is Ichigawa…dead?" Shiori asked in a whisper."
"Holy…holy shit…!" Hajime exclaimed.
And I don't know what happened next, but to put it into words…I lost my shit.
I gripped my evoker tight enough for me to lose two points of health. I gritted my teeth, put the cold steel on my temple, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. "Orpheus. Orpheus! Orpheus…!" Nothing happened. Orpheus did not appear.
"Orpheus…! I…I need you!" And he finally appeared. He roared through the speaker imbedded in its chest.
"Orpheus….Crush them…Mangle them…!" I shouted with ire. Orpheus burst in the direction of the one that killed Kyouji and hit the Dancing Hand repeatedly with the lyre until it disappeared in black smoke. "Behind you…Destroy it…!" And within two turns, the Dancing Hand on the left was defeated. The one on the left ran down the hall as Orpheus faded.
"Don't think you're going to get away from me…!" I tossed my one-handed sword into the air and summoned Orpheus one last time. "Batter up." I said. Orpheus swung his lyre against the handle of the spinning blade and it flew across the green hallway, splitting through the Dancing Hand's head and killing it.
Orpheus returned to me as I placed the Evoker into the holster on my waist. A few cards appeared in front of me, I selected one in order to remove it from my eyesight. I saw a room with chests in them and so I entered it.
Revival Bead X2
That was what was in the chest.
That was what was in the chest…!
That was all that was in that damn thing...
Nothing that would've saved Ichigawa.
We watched him...die.
We were allegorically his undertaker.
We stood there and watched him to his death.
"…I can't believe this, dude…" Hajime muttered.
"He…can't be…" Nanami muttered as well.
"We…could've…" Shiori mumbled.
"No...No, we could not. In battle, there should always be an awareness of the risk of death. His stupid mistake cost him his life and he was punished for it…" I said without emotion nor remorse.
"What…what is wrong with you?" Shiori said.
"You've gone crazy- wrong word, batshit." Hajime shouted at me.
"Use your HEAD! His death was his fault! Regardless, four hundred and thirty something have died! One more does not make a difference. He should've did what he was told and back up Naohiro…!" My voice began to break but I cleared my throat.
I turned and faced my squad. They all looked the same…Depressed and tired. Shiori had tears in her polygons of eyes. We walked slowly towards the transporter and stopped. I touched it first, keeping my face stoic. We spawned at the first floor and Tsukatani Hinata welcomed us.
"So, how did the exploration go?" Asuka asked, standing close to Hinata.
"…" I began to open my mouth but…the words would not come out.
"Yamamoto-kun?" Eri-chan said my name. Apparently, Naohiro's team made it to floor ten after we defeated it because they were walking out of the transporter.
"Man, that's freakin' strange…there's a sword stickin' out of the ground in that big room…" Naohiro said.
"Normally, the Immortal Object warning would appear, but it's kind of like it's glitched through." Nishiki said as he adjusted his glasses.
"Hey, I got this arrow from a chest in there in that room...I could be like Ishida from that old manga!" Ishida said.
"I tried picking the sword up for me to use but it's super deep in the ground, ya know? It's like the sword in the stone~! Hey Yamamoto-kun...Why do you look like that? Why...why...are you crying?" Eri-chan said.
"What happened? Did you find Ichigawa-san, Yamamoto-san?" Hinata said, ignorant of what transpired.
"He's dead. Ichigawa Kyouji's dead, Hinata."