Wednesday, April 29, 2009, Dark Hour
Tartarus, Ground Floor
The second half of April passed in the blink of an eye. One day Makoto was helping Junpei and Yamagishi move their things into the dorm, and then next day it seemed like SEES was preparing for uncharted territory in Tartarus.
What actually happened was a slow process of inducting the new members into the realities of the Dark Hour and fighting Shadows. At first, Junpei's Persona Hermes seemed a lot like Orpheus. Both were capable of conjuring fire and fighting in close quarters. The differences were that Hermes lacked Orpheus' utility, and Junpei himself lacked...any gravitas when it came to the situation. Even when he was being thrown around by the Shadows in Tartarus, he still came at them with childlike wonder.
Yamagishi's Lucia was had superior analyzing and reconnaissance abilities to Penthesilea, but lacked any combat potential. Several sessions were spent with the combat squad carefully trawling through the lower floors in order to let the green-haired girl get accustomed to navigation duties.
Near the month's end, Kirijo declared they would be crossing the threshold. The barrier that blocked them from proceeding past floor sixteen for years would be investigated no matter what.
"Alright then," she declared, standing in front of the stairs of the first floor "are you all prepared?"
"Mhmm." Yukari nodded.
"Yeah!" Kotone punched the air.
Makoto simply gave a thumbs up.
"Good." She walked toward the teleporter. "This is only a preliminary expedition, should anything go wrong, I expect us to immediately depart, are we clear?"
Everyone nodded.
She turned to Junpei. "Iori, I expect you to remain here as a bodyguard for the others, should any Shadows rear their heads, understand?"
"Yes ma'am." He said, still looking dejected at being the only combatant left behind.
"Alright then." She turned and began walking to the teleporter.
"So," Junpei held up a deck of cards as they teleported away, "poker?"
Every handful of floors there would be one entirely bereft of Shadows. These same floors never had any noticeable Shadow activity, nor were their layouts as fluid and dynamic as the regular ones. They were also the only ones that possessed two-way teleporters. The connection thus far was unknown, despite their collective attempts to formulate one.
They stood in front of the stairs. According to Kirijo, for the years she, Aragaki, and Sanada were the only ones in SEES, and for as long as they had explored Tartarus, there was a barrier preventing further access. The night after he awakened Orpheus and killed the large Shadow that had attacked the dorm, said barrier disappeared.
"Alright then." Kirijo said. "Let's go."
They crossed the threshold, steeling themselves as they walked up the stairs, preparing for anything and everything. Hoards of Shadows, ever-twisting non-euclidean geometry, nothing was impossible as far as they were concerned.
"W-What the hell?" Yukari asked. "Am I seeing this right?"
And as they reached the top of the stairs, they arrived in...a cafeteria.
There was no question about it. While the floor and walls were the same, they were suddenly confronted with rows of steel tables and chairs. Empty ceramic plates and dishes were strewn about haphazardly, as if a large group of people had suddenly finished lunch and left mere seconds before they arrived.
Kotone walked up to one of the chairs and pulled it out. "You are." She said as she sat in it. "Hey Fuuka, you sense anything unusual?"
But...they were not just empty, but clean. Makoto picked up a cup and examined it. While the lighting made it difficult to examine it thoroughly, Makoto was certain it was spotless. Hell, these are cleaner than the ones at the dorm.
"Negative." She responded. "I detect zero Shadows in your immediate area. Nonetheless, please proceed with caution."
Makoto sat on the table. "This place is normal, which makes it weird for Tartarus." He looked up at the ceiling. The weak lighting was coming from an identifiable source, actual lights, a rarity during the Dark Hour.
Yet...somehow being inside of proper rooms with functioning lights and empty chairs made everything feel...uncanny. Tartarus was bizarre, and this place was uncomfortably normal.
"There's only one way forward," Yukari said looking at the door on the other end of the room, a few dozen feet away, "so..."
He hopped off the table, lugging his katana behind him.
They slowly proceeded, Kirijo taking point. Each corner they approached revealed the same thing, just another hallway. Four times in a row there was nothing. Until...
"Do you smell that?" Makoto asked.
Yukari scrunched her nose. "Yeah. It's kind of harsh."
"It's liquor." Kirijo said offhandedly, speaking for the first time since they arrived on the floor. "Specifically a bourbon of some kind."
Yukari's eyes went wide. "Alcohol? Here? Why? Are the Shadows stealing that too?"
"They steal other things, so why not booze?" Makoto asked.
"Can Shadows even drink?" Yukari asked.
Makoto shrugged. "Some of them have mouths. It's possible...I think."
"How do we even fight a drunken Shadow?" Kotone pondered.
"Same way we fight a sober one." Makoto said as he lifted his sword.
The fifth turn they made finally split the path two ways, one straight down where they could see stairs, and a side room containing a small kitchen. Incredibly small, fitting in one stove, one fridge, and a tiny counter top between them.
"You know," Kotone said, "if this was a horror movie, this would be the part where we'd find a head and be jumped from behind."
"Kotone!" Yukari yelled. "Not funny."
"I'm just saying." She said as Makoto walked over and-
Yamagishi gasped. "You're cheating!"
The party froze. "Pardon?" Kirijo asked.
"N-Nothing, sorry. Um, please continue."
They all looked at each other before shrugging. Makoto reached for the fridge, opened it, and found... nothing. It was completely empty. The same went for the freezer when he opened it.
"Jeez." Yukari let out a big sigh. "What- just what the hell is this place?"
"Who knows." Makoto said. "Let's just go."
As they walked up the flight of stairs, the dingy lighting was finally gone. Now it was replaced by a bright, almost painfully pulsing purple glow to everything. The straight checkerboard floors and marble architecture were now undulating floors and veiny walls.
"Everything's weird again, thank goodness." He mumbled as he examined their new, gaudy surroundings.
"We appear to be in a sort of second area." Kirijo said. "We've explored enough for one night. Let us find a teleporter and return to ground level. Yamagishi?"
"One moment senpai...I detect the nearest teleporter one floor above you."
"Damn." Kirijo muttered. "Alright then, it looks like we'll have to explore a bit more than intended."
Kotone pumped her fist up into the air. "Hoo-rah!"
Makoto copied her motions. "Hooray?"
"No!" She yelled. "Hoo-rah, not hooray you goofball."
"Pay attention!" Kirijo ordered. "Enemies incoming." Five lamp-carrying ravens flew in. "Yamagishi, I need you to scan them."
"Understood!"
Yukari held up her Evoker. "In the meantime, I'll start. Magaru!" A vicious blast of wind smashed into one of them, to no avail, as the other four swiftly dodged. "What!?"
"They absorb fire and are weak to ice!" Yamagishi announced to them. "They can use wind attacks and resist them too!"
Three of them lunged forward while two of them attacked with heavy gusts of wind. Kirijo and Makoto braced themselves for impact as Kotone dodged and Yukari was thrown back.
Kirijo held up her Evoker. "Change of plans, Yuki!"
"Got it." Makoto ran back and summoned Orpheus. "Cadenza!" His Persona strummed a few notes on his lyre, sending waves of healing and revitalizing energy to them all.
As the ravens converged on Kirijo, she carefully held her Evoker to her head, waiting for them to close the gap and then-
"Mabufu." In the blink of an eye, Penthesilea blasted them with a wall of ice, cleaving through all five ravens and killing them at once.
"Woah." Kotone mumbled out.
Yukari stood up, dusting herself off. "Say what you will about senpai, but she's got the strength to back up her leadership."
"Good job Yuki." She said with a smile. "So this is what Cadenza feels like. It's true what the others have said, it does feel rather soothing and invigorating."
Yukari pouted. "Yeah, it's cool and all, but how come you can heal and speed us up? The rest of us can only do one or the other."
He shrugged. "Music heals the soul and makes your feet move."
She narrowed her eyes. "Is that really the explanation you're going with?"
"Best I can come up with."
"Guuuuuuys!" Kotone waved them down from across the hall. "Come on! We don't got all night!"
When they arrived back at the ground floor, Junpei was muttering to himself in the corner, Sanada was frowning, Yamagishi was pouting, and Aragaki looked unusually proud of himself as he counted his money.
"You're shittin' me." Junpei said on the walk home.
"Nope!" Kotone said, beaming with light. "It was just a whole cafeteria and kitchen."
Aragaki scratched the back of his head. "Of all the things I expected to find up there, that sure as hell wasn't one of them."
"To think all these years we were being blocked from entering a kitchen of all thing." Sanada said. "An empty kitchen no less. Talk about a slap to the face. I'm almost glad I didn't go up there."
"It still bothers me that it reeked of booze and we couldn't find any." Yukari said. "Like, where was it coming from?"
"Booze, eh?" Junpei rubbed the back of his neck. "Do Shadows even drink? I mean, some of them got mouths, so..."
"We talked about that upstairs." Kotone said. "After heavy debate, we concluded that all Shadows are incurable alcoholics."
Yukari rolled her eyes. "We did not, stop lying."
"I never lie, Yukari-chan. Ouch!" The pink-clad girl responded by pinching Kotone's cheek and pulling on it. "Huuuuuurts!"
"Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." Makoto said.
Thursday, April 30, 2009, 6:22PM
Iwatodai Dormitory
As she entered the dorm, Yukari heard Kotone yell. "Please!"
"No." She heard Makoto say.
Kotone clapped her hands together and bowed. "Please, please, please, please!"
"No." Makoto repeated, flipping through a magazine.
"I promise I'll be careful."
"No." He said a third time.
"You're meeeeeeean." Kotone cried.
"Yes." He turned his head to Yukari. "Hey."
"Hey." She dropped her backpack to the ground. "What're you guys fighting about this time?"
"Makoto won't let me cut his hair!" Kotone cried.
He shrugged. "My hair's fine."
Yukari put her hand on her chin. "Hmmm, your hair is a getting a little long."
"It's fine." He repeated. "I'll get a haircut next month."
"Who usually cut your hair?" Yukari asked as she pulled out her homework.
"My aunt Yae. I'll find a barber in town."
"I'll do it for half as much!"
He turned to her, looking annoyed. "You said it was free five minutes ago."
"Variable pricing!"
Makoto let out a deep, tired sigh.
"...if it's bothering you that much, I'll drop it." Kotone offered.
He shook his head. "It's not that, it's just I've been thinking..." When he trailed off, both girls silently nudged him to continue. "I've never did officially give you guys an answer. I'm going to permanently join SEES."
Both looked surprised. "You decided that just now?" Kotone asked. "I thought you did, like, a while ago."
"I've been thinking about it since then. I figured that..." he shrugged. "Might as well make it official, you know?"
"...do you not want to join?" Yukari asked, bracing herself.
"It's not that, it's just..." he sighed. "It feels like we're getting nowhere in Tartarus. Just more questions and less answers."
"Yeah." Yukari mumbled. "B-But hey! We've got more members, we've gotten to a part even our senpai couldn't reach, we're making steady progress. Tartarus might be huge, but we'll get there eventually."
"I suppose."
Kotone looked at the two, struggling to keep up their spirits, leaned in and quietly said, "I know you guys have your reasons for fighting, and I know you have your reasons to hesitate, but me? I joined because...I dunno, I guess I just liked the idea of doing something to help people."
Both stared at her, and she smiled ear to ear. "It's like being a real life superhero you know, fighting monsters at night, protecting the people of our city from death and despair. I don't know about you two, but every time I go into combat, and you have my back, I feel a whole lot safer and braver."
"Jeez, Kotone." Yukari turned away, blushing.
Makoto chuckled. "Well, I guess I can't quit after that."
Kotone grinned. "I dunno what's up there at the top of Tartarus, but I'm in it for the long haul if you guys are."
"So you've decided to join?" Kirijo asked, obviously pleased.
"I've thought it over very deeply." Makoto responded. "I'm not making this decision lightly."
She nodded. "Very good. I'm glad you're taking this more seriously than...some of our members are." She stood up. "Allow me to get your armband."
After she left, Makoto sighed and sunk into the chair. It took them a couple weeks to climb a dozen and a half floors. While he was fairly certain things would be speeding up in the coming weeks, it would still be a long time before they reached the top of the tower. He was in it for the long haul, months at the least.
But...he wasn't alone. He had Kotone, Yukari, his senpai, Junpei and Yamagishi.
"Here you are." She said, handing him his red SEES armband. "I'll be sure to inform the Chairman on your decision. Have a good day Yuki-kun."
Makoto looked down at the armband. His nose crinkled. "6" was his number.
Yamagishi was an assiduous person, she always wore her armband emblazoned with the number 7. Junpei, meanwhile, never wore his armband, much to the chagrin of Kirijo each and every time. Makoto never actually saw his number.
Even before Makoto had officially made his decision, she had decided to give him this one. Sure, he preceded those two in being introduced to SEES, but...
Makoto sighed. It's not that big of a deal. It was too late for him to back down, or have any second guesses. He was in it for the long haul, end of discussion.