Chapter 4: Fighting Through The Darkness

|Unknown Building – Foyer|

Amara stared at the new Persona, impressed. He had a strong, heroic look to him, the kind she had seen in fairy tales. What sort of mythology he was from, Amara did not know for sure, but she was glad to have him as an ally. Setanta fixed his eyes on one Shadow, one that Nathan was pointing at. Judging by the focused look on his face, he already knew how to destroy this foul creature.

"Garu!"

Green blades of wind suddenly appeared, knocking the Shadow to the ground. Amara whistled in approval, but then noticed the second enemy was approaching. Not willing to let it do as it pleased, she summoned Hathor. It was relatively easy to conjure the Persona, compared to her awakening, Amara thought. Perhaps it was due to being part of her own soul.

"Hmm. Yours is quite different from mine." Nathan said, curious. "Would it be safe to assume that 'Hathor' has a different power than Setanta?"

"Uh, yeah! Fire is my speciality. And I'm going to burn this thing to ashes!" Amara said, smug. "Agi!"

Burning hot flames scorched the other Shadow before it could even attack. Amara darted at it, sword in hand, and began hacking at it, as ruthlessly as possible. Quickly, the creature was destroyed, unable to withstand such punishment.

Not exactly 'ashes', but it'll do.

"Begone!" Nathan cried. His ability with his weapon was with finesse, each swing powerful. Just as she was about to assist with her sword, the Shadow was vanquished, leaving behind a horrific scream of torment.

"We did it!" Amara cheered, holding her sword up high in triumph.

Suddenly, where the Shadows had been, two cards appeared floating above them. Amara took the one that had a yellow coin on it, while Nathan took the Wands one.

Amara did not feel the same exhaustion she had prior. Perhaps she was adapting to her new power, faster than she thought. Her new ally did not appear fatigued either. He dropped his weapon, which turned back into a card, that vanished.

"That was over...very quickly. I didn't think I'd become accustomed to combat so quickly. Are you alright?" Nathan uttered, as his breathing returned to normal.

"Yeah, I'm good. But that was amazing! Did you train in bojutsu before?" Amara asked, impressed. How she knew that term, she wasn't quite sure, but perhaps someone at her work had mentioned it in one of their projects.

Nathan paused, uncertain. "...Oh, you mean martial arts with the staff? To be honest, no. I simply tried to mimic what I'd seen the actors perform in a movie I watched a long time ago. I'm guessing you didn't practice swordplay before either."

Amara shook her head. "Nope. I'm still figuring it out. But I think I'm doing alright with this thing. It's the right weight and size. It's like when you find the right paintbrushes, the ones you know you'll make the best paintings with."

"Heh...I guess so. I wonder if paintbrushes are mightier than the sword?"

"Well, if I had a giant one I could smack them with, maybe. But I'll stick with this sword for now. So, we can use fire and wind, huh?" Amara wondered what other powers Shadows and Personas possessed. With only two of the latter for reference, it was hard to say. Still, she had a feeling there were many more elements besides just those two.

"Yes...what about it?" The redhead asked.

"Um, nothing! Just trying to understand how our powers work, I guess. So, what now?" Amara asked.

Nathan thought for a moment, as he gazed at the area around them. "We should stick together for the time being. In a place with creatures like this, it is far safer to cooperate."

"Yeah, and being all alone in this place was creeping me out, too," Amara said, sheepishly. "But those Shadows don't stand a chance now that we've teamed up! Right?"

Nathan did not appear to return this enthusiasm. "Well, ones like the two we just defeated shouldn't be a problem. Shadows may not all be of that kind, however. We should be cautious, even with our newfound powers."

Amara frowned. Her Persona seemed to overwhelm the Shadows she had fought before. Surely that was proof that the Persona ability was far superior to any of these monsters. Yet, not wanting to start an argument, she nodded.

"Let's focus on getting the door working again. Did you see the message about 'F5'?" She asked. "What do you think that means in this crazy place?"

Nathan frowned. "I wouldn't know for sure, but I noticed rooms earlier had numbers and letters. Perhaps we need to go back upstairs and find this 'F5' room, and quickly." Nathan said. "Follow me."

|Unknown Building - Stairwell|

And so, the two of them ascended back up to the floor they had emerged from. Both were quiet, not quite up for small talk. Amara wondered if they had anything in common at all.

It's hard to read him. Still, he seems dependable enough. Probably groomed for success since birth, if he's from the Albion family. Wonder how much that suit was?

"So, this isn't how you thought today was gonna turn out, huh?" She said.

"Not in the least. I just expected to have a quiet evening at home with Priscilla – that's my wife. And now she'll be worried about me being so late getting home. I already tried my phone to try to reach her but with no luck. No reception at all."

So he's married? I hope this Priscilla lady's okay. Wait, phone? I didn't actually try mine, did I?

Amara took out her phone but noticed there was no signal. No internet access was available here either. Whatever this place was, she was not going to be able to call for help from here. Not that she expected typical emergency services to be capable of much here.

"You can't get hold of anybody either, can you?" Nathan asked, turning around.

"Nope. I hope we can get this over with as soon as possible, especially for your wife." Amara said, kindly.

"Thank you. I hate worrying her like this, especially with – no, never mind that now. We should keep going, and be careful. Shadows could be lurking anywhere in this place."

As they reached the second floor, they heard a deafening crashing sound on the floor above them. Nathan stopped, tense, and Amara froze too.

What's going on? What was that?

Before either of them could say anything, there were even more crashes. Loud, violent crashes. Then, someone could be heard shouting. A young woman, judging from the sound of their voice.

"This thing's too powerful! We have to run!"

"What the hell's with that thing? Why did our magic stop working?!" Another voice said, rather frantic. They sounded considerably older than the girl's voice, and much more masculine.

"We need to think of a plan! There must be something here that can help us beat him. Come on, follow me! We're just wasting our energy if we don't get the hell away!"

Right after this, Amara could hear frantic footsteps. Whoever these two were, they were running upstairs as fast as their legs could take them.

"They're in trouble! Let's go after them!" Amara said.

"Right. I don't like the sound of the Shadow. They may need our support..." Nathan said, and he continued upstairs, picking up the pace.

|Unknown Building – Shadow Generation Department|

They soon reached the fifth floor of this structure, which was marked as the 'Shadow Generation Department'. Yet again, it seemed to be a plain white hallway, but there were only five doors. The ones on the left and right had been heavily damaged, however. F1's had several holes through it, and while it was dark in that room, Amara could make out a lot of damaged computer equipment and other odd apparatus.

"Ah, there's the F5..." Nathan said, looking at the room at the far end of the hall. There was an ominous red glow coming from the room, that still shone through the sides of the door. On the wall above it was another Albion computer monitor that somehow was still operational, displaying red text on a black background.

EMERGENCY POWER ONLY

FULL OPERATIONS UNAVAILABLE

SHADOW OUTBREAK DETECTED

PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY AND WAIT FOR O.L. OPERATIVES TO ARRIVE

SHADOWS DETECTED:

Magician – Cowardly Maya

Magician – Trickster Juggler

"O.L. Operatives?" Amara wondered aloud. "You don't have any idea what that means, huh?"

"Not a bloody clue. But I'd rather not wait around. I'm not so sure these 'operatives' are a friendly bunch." Nathan said, tense. "What are these Magician Shadows, though?"

"It must be their Arcana. Like how mine is Sun, and yours is...uh..."

"Oh, Strength. I'm not entirely sure what that means in tarot readings, though."

Amara wasn't so sure herself. Perhaps if she asked Stella tomorrow, she could get a basic rundown on what each of the Arcana meant.

If I can make it back home, anyway.

"Right now, we need to hurry inside and find out what's causing all of this. Are you ready?"

Hesitantly, Amara nodded, and with her key card, she made the doors open.

|Unknown Building - F5|

There were red harsh lights shining over the room, much unlike the normal white lighting that had been present throughout the rest of the building. What looked like a strange dark glass tube was in the centre of the room, with many pipes connecting it to the ceiling. However, all of the pipes had been severed, and a black liquid was leaking from them. A command console was right next to it, displaying only one message:

The main power source has been disrupted. Please provide Shadows to generate temporary power until proper maintenance can be carried out. Emergency power generated is insufficient for the full operation of this Shadow Development & Research Center.

"So that's what this building is. How do we bring Shadows to this room, though?" Amara asked, curiously.

"Perhaps we need to wait for them to find us."

Almost immediately after Nathan said this, there were loud footsteps behind the opposite door. Suddenly, it was blasted to pieces instantly, scattering all over the large circular room.

"Holy shit!" Amara screamed, heart pounding. "Where the hell did this thing come from?!"

"At least they didn't keep us waiting long." Nathan mused, summoning his weapon. Amara, still in shock, did so as well.

This thing's dangerous. How can Nathan look so calm?

Walking into the room was something utterly bizarre. It had a jester-like costume, in extremely garish purple and orange colours. Its long, gangly legs made it tower over both Amara and Nathan combined. Its arms were equally long, and there were four of them, constantly juggling a set of balls. One was red and ablaze, and one was white and had an icy mist. Another was yellow and sparking, the other was green with a strange air swirling around it. Atop its head was a long hat, with dangling pink bells. And covering its face was a mask, not unlike the one the Shadows had been wearing. On its chest was a twisted-looking laughing face, deep red in colour.

"Our Trickster Juggler, I assume," Nathan said, grimacing. "Just staring at its clothes is making my skin crawl."

"Hathor!" Amara cried. "Burn this creep up!"

The Juggler groaned in pain from the Persona's Agi, but quickly recovered. As it did, the emblem on its chest changed to a lurid green. Facing Amara, it violently hurled one of its balls at her, the ice one. Despite Amara's agility, it was too fast for her to evade, and it crashed into it, exploding into a frigid blast.

"Oww!"

The sheer cold was utterly painful, knocking her to the ground. Her body shivered all over, and it was all she could do to wrap her arms around her to stay warm. Nathan gasped in shock. The Trickster Juggler 'laughed', its voice being incredibly distorted, with a heavy reverb. Instantly, it produced another ice ball, to replace the one it had discarded.

"A-Are you alright?!" Nathan asked, coming over to her.

"No, not really...it's so cold! I hate...the cold...so much..." Amara said, gritting her teeth. She slowly got back to her feet, just as Nathan summoned Setanta.

"Die!

A Garu appeared, blowing straight into the Juggler. The winds blew the Shadow backwards, hitting a pillar. The emblem changed colour once again, this time to an ocean blue. Nathan, emboldened by this, ran towards his foe, weapon in hand.

"I've got you now, you freak!"

Sounding annoyed, the Shadow took the electric ball in one hand, and with great gusto, threw that at Nathan, halting his advance. The electric shock was painful to see, as his body convulsed with pain. He collapsed, dropped his weapon, and screamed in pain.

So electricity is Nathan's weak point. Did this Shadow know our weaknesses from the beginning? Or did it make a lucky guess? I have to distract it before it can hurt him even more! I gotta shake off this pain and fight!

Amara readied her sword and darted at the Shadow. She stabbed at it, aiming for the legs. Yet, it didn't seem to have much effect. It wasn't like before when her sword simply passed through the Shadows as if they were air. Her blade was definitely hitting the Juggler – but not causing much in the way of pain.

"No!" She cried. Nathan was slowly getting to his knees, still in pain. "Hathor, please!"

The flames of Agi roared at the Shadow, but this time, they were dispelled completely, becoming dying embers. Amara gasped. This didn't happen before – what was different now?

"The face on its chest..." Nathan said, now back on his two feet. "It keeps changing colour! We need a different element to hit it!"

"But...we only have fire and wind!" Amara said, terrified. "Now what do we do?"

The Shadow began walking near the two of them, full of murderous intent. Before it could prepare another assault, however, something appeared in front of it, surrounded by a blue aurora. It looked like a young woman, with bright blonde hair tied in a long spiky ponytail, complete with white tips at the front. Her skin was a bright blue, and she wore a white dress, alongside silver sandals and gloves. There was a small moon emblem in her hair, that was shining as bright as the real thing.

"I am thou. Thou art I. I cometh from the sea of thy heart. I am Artemis, lady of the hunt in the pale moonlight."

Concentrating, the new Persona summoned Aqua, a burst of blue water, halting the Shadow in its tracks. Amara and Nathan, stunned, turned around to see who had come to their aid. Except there were two people – and Amara had already seen them earlier that day.

The girl from the bus and that guy I saw in front of the Conference Center?!

"Looks like we got here just in time." The young lady said, smiling. Then, she looked at Amara with surprise. "Wait a minute, I saw you this morning!"

"You did, Serena? I saw her earlier too!" The man said, also stunned. Then, he saw Nathan, even more surprised. "And I remember you this morning! You looked so pissed at your fancy new car breaking down."

"Y-Yes, that's right...it was very new, too...look, that's not important right now! We're fighting this disgusting clown thing, and -"

"So were we. It attacked us without warning a few floors below, and with just us, we couldn't win. But Blaine, look, it's laughing emoji thing is back to yellow. Like when it was just us, remember? You can hit him again!" 'Serena' said, pointing at the disoriented Shadow.

'Blaine', smirking, clicked his fingers, and was soon surrounded by a blue aura. Out of his body, another Persona came into being. This one was a muscular figure, with a similar physique to his master, except with darker skin, complete with glowing blue tattoos, Also covering his body were pieces of gold and ruby jewellery, and a heavy belt adorned with colourful blue feathers covering his waist and legs. He had spiked blue and black hair, a gold and red feather headdress, and a silver mask covering his mouth. His eyes were glowing a pale blue, and in one hand, he wielded a gigantic intricate war hammer.

"I am thou. Thou art I. I cometh from the sea of thy heart. I am Tlaloc, bringer of a thunderstorm that shall claim the unjust as my sacrifice!"

Tlaloc, raising his heavy hammer to the sky, brought down a bolt of fierce lighting – a Zio. The sparks surged through the Trickster Juggler's inhuman body, and it cried out in agony, unable to keep juggling. The laughing face was now back to red, like when Amara first saw it.

"One of you has a Persona with fire magic, right?" The girl called Serena asked. Amara nodded. "Then let's do this, all four of us! This time, we won't run!"

"Right!" Amara said, looking at her three new comrades. "We'll finish this clown off, then we can go home!"