Same day: 5:37 PM: Weather Moderate Rain
Dressed in her usual comfy jeans, her brown ankle boot and an indigo mid sleeved shirt with her backpack, the nineteen year old practices with her shotels, chaining together combos while waiting for Mitsuru to arrive.
"You've adopted a small portion of Yosuke's fighting style into your own I see." Mitsuru's voice rings out as she swiftly approaches.
Sheathing her weapons, Leiko turns her head to glance at the red haired woman sporting a full body skin tight black catsuit with heels, a white fur coat, a holster on her thigh with her evoker and a rapier hanging from her belt.
"That reminds me of the outfit that Reiko Kujakuin wore in the third season of Featherman Victory when she was undercover for three episodes. I've forgotten the actress' name, but I had a major crush on her when I was thirteen. She is so beautiful and gra…ceful with that…bow." Leiko's face turns scarlet out of embarrassment, admitting this fact about herself to someone she had barely known for two hours. She hadn't even told Izumi or Labrys about that crush or the fact she still has it.
"Yukari Takeba is the actress' name." Mitsuru answers kindly, while trying not to laugh at all, "She's my best friend and a reserve in the Shadow Operatives. Her skills with the bow pale in comparison to what she has shown off on that show."
"That's right! Yukari Takeba, how could I forget her name." Leiko answers as quickly as she can with an awkward laugh, partly dying inside from the added embarrassment while moving on, "With those clothes, are you sure you're ready to head down into Clotho?"
"I am. I've been wearing them on operations since starting the Shadow Operatives. You don't have to worry about me." The red headed woman responds softly as she and Leiko descend the staircase to the large azure stone room of Clotho hall.
"Have you been exploring this area since your initial visit on the twenty second?" Mitsuru strolls the breadth of the room as she approaches the corridor that the translucent tube disappears down.
"As best as we can in our free time. We've headed down this way and down that left one a fair bit, but I'm not sure how much stronger we are." The pink haired woman answers, joining the lead Shadow Operative at the mouth of the corridor.
Mitsuru steps swiftly into the azure corridor to inspect the leftmost door, taking in the triangular slot with the numbers three, fourteen and eighteen glowing in a light green script at the center of the door. Turning around, the woman strides to the opposite wall, the door there has a square slot, with the numbers zero, ten and twenty glowing in blue. "Are you able to use Badb to scan past these doors?"
"I'm not." Leiko answers with a shake of her head, "Even Fuuka has tried and we made an attempt to work together on it. It's just not possible to see beyond those doors clearly."
Mitsuru frowns as she faces the widening hallway, "With as powerful as Fuuka is, there are somethings she can't overcome." The woman resumes walking through the widening hallway.
The hallway eventually gives way to a well lit large near triangular amphitheater with a high ceiling held up with four decorated massive columns and a gradual declining slope with seats on multiple tiers that surround a sunken stage in the dead center made of brown sandstone. It is as if this stage is for an audience to watch a show. Behind the highest seats is an opening to another room that can't be reached. The translucent tube runs the length of the room, down through the stage area and out the back end. On the other end of the stage is a silver gate and darkness lurks beyond it.
In the dead center of the stage is the large brown turtle with the dragon sticking out from within its shell, stomping around as it focuses on what's ahead of it. It doesn't seem to be able to see or sense what's on the plane above it.
"You wanted to explore the other path right? We should leave the Genbu alone." Leiko suddenly looks over her shoulder as she activates Badb. "We got two Trance Twins inbound."
Mitsuru furrows her brow, her hand on the hilt of the rapier, "It would be best if I dealt with the Genbu…"
"NO!" Leiko snaps, her voice having a passionate tone, "This Genbu has to be dealt with by my friends and I! If it was any other Shadow I would ask you to help me deal with it, but this one has to be on us! You know what it's like wanting to deal with a situation yourself right?"
Mitsuru chuckles softly with a smile. She did know what that was like being the leader of SEES and wanting to deal with the Dark Hour, Nyx and a host of other things. It wasn't exactly in the same way this girl imagined, since she had heaped so much onto herself due to her family's legacy and sins. "I know that feeling all too well. Just don't put everything on your shoulders."
"I wouldn't dare do that after, not after saying something so stupid earlier!" Leiko answers, having realized on the way back to the dorm that she had interpreted Igor's words incorrectly during the meeting, "I'm stronger with my friends beside me because of our bonds and what we shoulder together. Badb, use Psi on the right twin!"
The two Trance twins float into the room as Mitsuru and Leiko talk. Badb's attack clobbers the first set of twins in the face. Mitsuru slashes her rapier through the second set of twins in one fluid motion through their chests. The two Shadows slowly dissolve, leaving behind a blue wispy orb.
"Thanks for the lesson about not shouldering everything myself." Leiko quips, reaching her hand out as she passes the wispy orb while following Mitsuru back to the entry point. The wisp imparts her with a Mandrake Persona.
"It's one lesson even I have yet to fully learn." Mitsuru thoughtfully speaks as she and Leiko traverse into the last remaining corridor, advancing in silence as they move along the curved tunnel.
"There's some flying type Shadows with bows in the room ahead, blocking a pathway on the far left." Leiko notifies the elder Persona user as she and Mitsuru stride into a trapezoidal shaped room with lit green flame braziers hanging on the wall.
Two purple cupid-like Shadows fly out into the green light, straight into the path of the women, both of whom draw their weapons. Without hesitation, Mitsuru thrusts her rapier directly at the mask of the cupid on her left, the shadow dodge away at the last second and counting with Garu, pushing the red-head away from it by a meter.
Lunging at the second Shadow, Leiko unleashes a flurry of slashes, slicing through the right wing of the cupid-like creature and badly slashing its torso. With the eraser of its equilibrium, the cupid plummets to the floor and is beset upon by a strike of lightning called forth by her pink skinned Mandrake Persona.
With its brethren beaten, The first cupid-like Shadow shifts its focus and blindsides Leiko with its Garu ability, knocking the girl and her persona on their asses.
"Foolish mistake." Mitsuru whispers, jumping through the air, stabbing the Shadow cleanly in the back for the kill.
Sheathing her weapon, Mitsuru grabs Leiko's hand, helping her to stand, "Are you injured?"
"One or two minor bumps and bruises, I should be fine. But what about you?" The pink haired girl remarks in concern as she slowly regains her senses. She had been hit harder by the group zio attack a few weeks back.
"I'm unhurt." Mitsuru answers with a grateful smile as she leads her young cohort into the adjoining room.
Entering that next room, the two women stride past a wall that is no higher than their chests behind them to the left, aiming for the open door into the next section, when the room starts to rumble. The threads in the translucent tubes embedded in the walls lining the room suddenly come to life as they swiftly move as they glow purple and pink. Adding to this calamity is a grinding sound that commences as the interior and half walls slowly sink into or rise from the floor, while the echo of the noise ahead tells them something like this is happening ahead.
The rumbling subsides, the noise dies and everything returns to being deathly quiet. Even the threads in the walls stop their movements and glow. Both women look back from whence they came, looks of relief crossing their faces when they see that the wall and its gateway remain unchanged. However the half wall that formed an x that is almost directly behind them has fully disappeared, sunk into the floor via closed up shafts.
"Have you come across anything like this before while dealing with Shadows, Mitsuru-senpai?" Leiko questions as she and the elder Persona user jump across a long section of a closed shaft, heading southwest. The lilac eyed girl attempts to reach past the nearby shaft in her mind's eye to locate the mechanism for it, but receives a static like interference when doing so.
"Not in an active manner like this. It's my first time witnessing such a thing in person." She responds as her eyes harden, hesitant to give any in depth details, wanting to keep things classified. While it's not like Tartarus' reshuffling, the principle could be the same. She thinks to herself as she tries to puzzle out the reason why the walls changed like this.
Crossing over a t-shaped intersection of closed shafts with Mitsuru, Lekio slows down as they approach an ornate archway a few meters ahead, "Does something feel off to you about this entire area's lack of Shadows?"
"I was having the same thought just now. Stay on your guard." Mitsuru answers as she passes through the archway. Mere moments later, a large stone slab springs forth, wedging itself into the center of the path, cutting her and Leiko off.
Mitsuru lurches around, pushing against the slab as the area rumbles, signifying the walls have once again begun to shift, "Mizaki! Can you hear me!?" She doesn't receive any kind of response. Of all the times to not bring my communications equipment. She berates herself for the mistake. Turning about, Mitsuru proceeds along the corridor, hoping she and the younger Persona user can rendezvous soon.
"Well fuck. Mitsuru-senpai! Are you alright!" Leiko exclaims, sighing softly as the walls finally settle into their new positions. There is no response, due to the nature of the wall's thickness Leiko didn't expect to hear any.
Closing her eyes, she tries to remain calm, beginning to search for the red headed woman with her Persona, but is unable to locate her through the walls due to interference. All she can do now is try to meet up with Mitsuru by another path.
Retracing her steps with an uneasy feeling, the pink haired girl travels northwest to the newly risen wall that stops just a few meters over her head. The sounds of rattling and scraping chains coupled with suddenly sensing an ominous aura causes her to freeze on the spot, fear reflecting in her eyes as she lightly bites her lower lip. She heard about some spirit that appears in Shadow infested areas called the Reaper from Fuuka and the sounds of chains were big indicators of its presence.
Gulping, the girl slowly creeps along the wall as she holds her breath, peering around the corner to witness some distance away, the large cranium of a black skull-like bull faced monster that is a foot taller than she, flames bursting from the end of its horns and with its fists and shoulders protruding from the ground. The lowermost portion of its body creates small flaming ripples in the azure stone, as if the rest is submerged. Chains connecting to its shoulders, arms and horns are the sources of the sounds against the stone. This Shadow has an ambiance of power behind it that Leiko did not want to tangle with.
Releasing the held breath and a portion of her fear that this isn't the Reaper, the girl watches the creature slowly slushes away, moving east and slightly south, the echoes of the chains not ebbing away. Taking her chance to progress, Leiko runs to her north, sliding behind another section of wall. Edging out to check for the creature, she begins to focus on it intently, wanting to completely analyze it.
No, I shouldn't do that. The pulse from scanning it might give my location away. I doubt it would even work with this interference. Leiko thinks to herself, shuttering that idea completely. She has to think her way through this. The best thing to do is watch its movements, so she could push forward with the correct timing.
Roaring in rage, the bull Shadow turns the corner at the easternmost edge of a diagonal placed wall heading northward, which is the location of the very first shaft she and Mitsuru had jumped over. Staying put to observe for over a minute, the Bull Shadow's horns and snout reappear at the break between the walls several feet north of Leiko's location, the nostrils flaring as its sniffs.
The Shadow suddenly charges around the corner, its chains clattering against the wall Leiko is behind, as she scrambles away from her position and deeper into the corridor she is in, which turns out to be a dead end.
The bull's fist slams into the stone where the pink haired woman had just been and its snout appears, the nostrils quivering as its sniffs. Leiko's heart pounds at the near miss while trying not to make a sound, wanting the beast to move already. The Shadow's snout slowly withdraws with a baleful cry as the chains once more scrap the floor as it moves away.
With one sharp breath to calm herself, the pink haired girl proceeds to the corner once more. The Shadow oozes past the diagonal wall heading north like the previous time. Taking a chance, Leiko sprints from her hiding place to the far corner of the wall that the Shadow has just gone around. Peering around it, the light from the Shadow's horns are barely visible as they act as a mini beacon from the east, the room where she and Mitsuru had entered with the x shaped shaft in it.
Crap, time to go move! Certainly can't go the way I wanted. The teenager thinks, as the flames from bull's horns flare with intensity. Darting from the side of the wall, Leiko runs as fast as she is able to the northwest, sensing the Shadow chasing her all of a sudden. An angry cry echoes from the east as the Shadow surges towards the woman, who peels off to the north at the sight of a new path.
"Fuck, fuck fuck!" Eyes full of panic, Leiko flits into the room and veers hard left, catching sight of an open gateway several meters ahead. To her right, the wall explodes inward as the Shadow bull charges through, debris raining down inches from where she strides with the Shadow' fist flying towards her.
Leiko's eyes widen as she glances over her shoulder at the incoming fist, when a silver looking whip wraps itself around the Shadow's arm restraining its movements.
A Persona donning a red mask with golden ornamentation in black, golden, blue armor and clothes with a cross over its breast, skates past, freezing the beast with waves of icy spikes that thrusts up from the ground, piercing the body of the Shadow.
As the ice breaks away from the beast, Mitsuru rushes forth from the gateway with rapier draw, but the Shadow bull's body sinks into the floor completely before her strike can reach it. It doesn't even leave a single ripple in the stone, only burning embers.
"I'm…not sensing its presence anymore." Leiko breaths out as some of the tension drains away from her. "Thank you Mitsuru-Senpai for driving it off, but are you alright? Was that bull some new version of the Reaper that I was told about?"
"I'm fine, I only had to fight through weak Shadows. What you saw was a Persona known as Asterius, it has no relation to the Reaper that Fuuka informed you of. It is however something myself and other Shadow Operatives have encountered over a decade ago." The woman answers, concernedly inspecting the girl for injury, "So what caused it to go after you like that? You didn't try to fight it did you?"
Leiko shakes her head, "I didn't nor did I try to analyze it. I observed it and tried to get past it to the best of my abilities." The girl sighs, crossing her arms across her chest, "It must have caught my scent when it attacked my hiding spot when it came back around that first time. I made the best choice I could with what I knew at the time when I couldn't clearly see it or sense it properly in its last location before it chased me."
"With all the stress involved in this situation, you handled it well." Mitsuru responds, placing her hand gently on Leiko's shoulder, "Are you feeling up to going a bit further? I feel like we should leave soon."
"I still have a bit of energy to keep on going." The pink haired woman answers as she follows Mitsuru back through the gateway, which has two more gates ahead and a larger stone gate archway to their right, which they take and enter into a passage that leads into a semi triangle shaped room.
The wall at the back doesn't even reach the ceiling but looks to have a flat top about twenty feet up with slanted walls giving the upper side of the room the same feel as the lower one. Above the upper section are several wooden beams hanging from the ceiling, two of them having small hoops that a hook can be caught on.
"I'll ask Labrys to help me set up a ladder or something after the midterms and when she's not busy with the Botany club." Leiko quips as she gazes at the walls to see more rotten cedar wood with the tubes with the threads exposed beneath.
"That would be the best course of action. We should press on, there isn't much else we can do here." Mitsuru answers, running her finger across one of the cylinders as she leaves the room, Leiko right on her heels as they leave the room and continue to the west.
Passing across the two gateways, the women stride into the diagonally shaped room, with walls made of crimson, sea green and azure stone, while the floor is constructed of stone metal and plant fibers of the same colors. A mid chest high brass guard railing engraved with water droplets, lyres and other little details runs around a large spiraling staircase and along the steps of sea green stone and fibers at its center to prevent those from an untimely tumble.
"Why would this place have such a different feel from the rest of this area to Clotho Hall?" Mitsuru questions as she begins descending the spiraling stairs, the walls themselves slowly taking on the color of the stairs.
"Maybe this was added lat..er." Leiko trails off in realization, digging into her bag to take out the ten point star token, "This might just be the Clotho hall annex."
"That's a reasonable deduction." Mitsuru answers in a positive tone, looking back to smile at the younger girl.
The walls start to shimmer with distorted light as the stairs open upon a hexagonal room with the back three panels made of glass with what looks to be water beyond. Four of the remaining five sides are made up of pure sea green stone with water droplets reliefs around the edges.
The remaining wall is more of a concave shaped door, a placard at the center is alight with two symbols in blue and purple.
"A motorcycle on its side with a rapier laid across it and a shotel and scythe with an unfinished drawing on a tablet with a stylus tucked between the blades of the weapons. What does this even mean?" Mitsuru gazes at the first set of symbols, recognizing the design of the motorcycle as her own. "Mizaki, does the unfinished drawing mean anything to you?"
"It does." Leiko answers as she takes a closer look at the art, which just happens to be her own unique style. "I think this represents a part of who I am, the part of me that loves to draw and wants to be Mangaka." The second symbol glows a brighter purple, causing the girl to blink in surprise.
"I see, so that's how it works." Mitsuru muses to herself, "Mizaki, if we're going off your theory, the motorcycle is the part of me that is rebelling and being free of my family's burden, but also shows off that I'm a motorcycle enthusiast."
The first symbol shines a deeper blue, which spreads and mixes with the purple light of the second symbol on the placard. The door rumbles as it slowly lifts upwards, dropping flecks of dust to the floor. Beyond this new opening is a short tunnel made of acrylic glass, its floor is constructed of silver plates and at the end is a golden door.
"So do we just call these things bonding doors?" Leiko questions having not come up with something better to call them as she walks with Mitsuru down the tunnel.
"For someone with your gift, bonds do matter. We'll go with the name for now." Mitsuru answers with a smile and a shake of her head.
With the tunnel being only fifty feet long, the pair arrive at the circular ten foot wild golden door, adorned with aquamarine gems along the rim. The outer edges of it are decorated with gaelic symbols that neither Leiko nor Mitsuru recognize. At the very center of the door is a thick circular window five inches across.
Off set from the center is a ten point star slot and above it aren't numbers, but a pictograph of a large penis that has a mouth with tentacles and claws reaching from its hindquarters, while it sits in a chariot with many deadly blades positioned in a cart at its front.
"What the hell is with this penis like beast?" The pink haired girl feels more confused than revolted as to why this was here of all places. She even looks around it for numbers, which there aren't any. "I guess this phallic creature is needed to charge the token."
"It's probably a Persona but I don't know the name of it and I've never seen it before . I'm sorry." Mitsuru answers as she drinks in the image, not taking offense to it. As an adult, seeing such images of sexual organs is perfectly natural, even if the penis in question is a monstrous Persona.
"It's not a big deal." With the answer fleeting to the name of the creature, Leiko takes a peek through the small window. On the other side is a chamber of some kind, but the only detail the pink haired woman is able to definitively discern is the midsection of a painted statue. She takes a quick photo on her phone of what's through the door and of the door itself.
The redhead steals a look through the window herself, wondering what kind of statue it is or what other secrets the room holds for Leiko and her friends. She steps away from the window, Mitsuru turns her attention to Leiko, "Let's head back. We're both tired and could use a rest."
"I couldn't agree more about needing the rest." Leiko yawns as she follows after the elder Persona user.
"Now be good for your sister Megumi. Your things will be arriving in two days." Miri says softly to the girl giving her a head pat. She and her daughters are just outside the dorm, standing before a SUV used by the Shadow Operatives to prevent themselves from standing out.
"I'm always good! I'll be making sure Leiko studies for her midterms." The girl answers with a large grin as she rocks on her heels with hands behind her back.
Miri looks to her eldest daughter, "Good luck in your exams and please no Persona related activities until after they're done. Not with this pall of dread hanging around town."
"I'll do my best mom, but I can't make that guarantee at all if it's out of my control if a Burrow appears." The girl answers softly as her mother hugs her so only she can hear.
"I know I don't say it that often or at all, but I'm proud of the woman you've become." Miri whispers in a motherly tone. "I'll get out of your hair so you can study."
Leiko opens her mouth in surprise at mother saying she is proud of her, but the woman's mind is on something else she said, "What do you mean pall of dread?"
"You haven't noticed? Must be a Persona user thing then." Miri sighs as she answers, "There is a feeling of dread that hangs in the air over Ainoska. The feeling is subtle in most of the town, but I can feel this prickling on my arms because of it."
Without waiting for her daughter to answer, the woman enters into the SUV slamming the door behind her. The vehicle roars to life and it drives off from the dorm, while Leiko and Megumi head inside. The elder girl begins mulling over what her mother just said, wondering about this pall of dread.
A/N: Firstly, I did actually draw a map for Clotho hall (as crude as it is) so this isn't just something slapped together willy nilly. Secondly Mitsuru's lack of knowledge on what a Mara, my thoughts on that is Makoto never fused anything to acquire one, so SEES never knew it existed and I doubt any Shadow Operatives have run into one. Anyway, if any of you have concerns or comment, please don't be afraid to ask or voice your opinions.