"Another chapter will be coming soon". Yeah, whatever I say, right? Well, some hicks here and there, but here it is. I'll be working on the next chapter, and well, the next one after that, so stay tuned, or keep an eye out for the next one coming. Until then; see ya... Also, quick plug, but check out my original story on RoyalRoad. Link is in my bio. Thank you, have a wonderful day.

Forest of Gluttony - Kazuki

Bloodied, razor-sharp fangs, leaking thick saliva. It had lunged at me, almost biting my head off earlier, but I somehow dodged it. Its big maws keep chomping down on nothing, wanting to get me in its stomach already. A single bite from those things will kill me if it gets my head in there.

"Kazuki, kill it already!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

Everyone else is fighting off demons, so I can't rely on them to help me now. I'm not sure if I can even attack with how persistent this thing is. It's faster than it looks too. Summoning was the first thing I tried, but I couldn't find him; Janus is gone. I was using him just fine during the Full-moon operation, but it's like wading through a bog, trying to find the shape of something I can't remember. Whatever, I don't need it!

I gain some distance. From here, I can anticipate the demon's next attack, or charge forward to land a solid hit on it. Either way, I can't waste any more time with this thing. Rushing towards me on all fours, it jumps, wanting to taste the piece of meat in front of it. Now! I dash forward, watching its claws. They seem just as sharp as their fangs, so one screw-up can is a death sentence. I weave under them, getting behind the demon. I slice at its back, cutting through its large body.

Good, but I need to help the others! I head to Shizuka, who's dealing with several feral demons. She slices at their heads, stabbing through their chests in specific locations, fighting like she usually does against Shadows. Eriko-san and Naoya are summoning their Personas, wiping out whatever demon is in their way with incredible flames and biting ice. From Shizuka's precise, well-timed attacks to the adult's expert persona-summoning skills, they're all pros…

"More of them! Kazuki, pay attention!"

Another batch of demons, same as the one I just killed, charged at me with hungry eyes. You gotta be kidding me, one was enough. More of them aren't making things better! Shadow-mog, I have to use it! Hopefully, it still works…

"Kei! Vishn–"

The large demons, close to baring down on me with their monstrous teeth and unrelenting hunger, are severed into pieces with a single swing. They couldn't make a sound before their severed bodies hit the ground… Looks like it still works.

"Kei. how did you–"

"Kazuki, over here!"

"Coming!"

More of them pour out from the forest. They're easy enough to kill in Shadow-mog. Without it, this would be difficult. We slay scores of monsters, lessening the demons coming out of the woods as the fight goes on. Only three demons are left; Pixies, who're watching from the sidelines. They squirm away but Shizuka's sword decapitates them, remorseless in her brutal strokes to the fleeing demons. She cleans her blade off and slides it back into its sheath. Seems like we're in the clear, for now.

"Hey, Shizuka, why did you do that," I ask her. "...They gave up."

"Demons are duplicadious, they'll feign defeat to make you drop your guard, and even if you don't, a moment of mercy can be fatal."

The idea of cutting down an enemy that gave up is…disturbing. With Shadows, they just keep fighting without any sense of self-preservation, but demons are different.

"She's right, Kei. Demons will do any dirty trick to kill their victims, even the weaker ones can do big damage if you let them."

"It is cruel, albeit, these are fundamentals you will have to grasp quickly."

"Um, yeah, okay…"

Killing something with intelligence is unthinkable to me, but they're right. They're demons, monsters, and they're in my way. I'll blow through thousands of them just to save Fuuka. So get over it, Kei, they're not human…

"But, hey, you did pretty good! You looked all professional, too."

I rub under my nose with my finger and puff my chest out. "Of course. I do deal with monsters on a near-daily basis at this point."

"Speaking of, I have been meaning to ask about that," Eriko-san raises.

"Let's keep moving. More will come, worse than these."

Shizuka walks ahead of us, not sparing a second glance. Can't image what would be worse than these things, but then again, I've been thinking things couldn't get worse for a long while now; been one bad thing after another.

"The demons here, there are more powerful ones, yes?"

Shizuka nods her head, keeping forward. "The ones we encountered are lower on the food chain."

"Food chain?" Naoya repeats, glancing back at me like I would know anything.

"I do mean literally."

"Let me guess: they eat each other?" I ask, somewhat hoping she would say "psych".

"Did you forget what happened to that dead Pixie?"

"Wait…they…they actually eat each other?"

"I see, so this place…the scenery…all of this is nothing more than a beautiful ruse."

"Beautiful ruse gives it far too little credit."

"Then what is it? You describe this place as hell, but why so?"

"Why have me tell you, you'll see for yourself." Shizuka's expression darkens, casting her eyes towards the dense forest. "...And when you do, you'll understand more than enough…"

The road continues onward, nothing comes out of the woods, and there aren't any eyes watching us, so we should be safe, I think. Naoya and Eriko-san listened to my recollection of the past six months. All of the good stuff, and the pretty bad stuff too… Not the more lovey-dovey private stuff though; I don't need Naoya teasing me about it. Shizuka doesn't chime in once during the whole conversation though. She keeps trudging on with her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"You know, there are many forests in mythology, many being attributed with death and aimlessness," Eriko-san muses. "...Yet, other than those demons, I sense nothing of the sort with this place… What a shame"

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"

"Yes, but I can't help but feel disappointed all the same."

"Naoya, do you think Eriko-san is a little too…into the 'supernatural' element?"

"Don't even get me started. She got turned into stone once. Instead of being scared, she said it was a 'thrilling experience'."

"Seriously!?"

He just nods, wearing a slightly nervous smile, and that's all it takes to shatter the perfect, lady-like image of Eriko-san that I always had in my head.

"It was an otherworldly experience."

Eriko-san…words fail me. I just hope she won't let herself get hurt for any "thrilling experiences". Though, I doubt she would let it get in the way of the rescue mission.

"Hold." Shizuka stops, baring us with her arm. "Look…"

A pair of large, dog-like creatures, the same ones from before, are tearing into demon pixies, biting on their corpses and chewing them up inside their mouths. Reminds me of Koro-chan playing with that chewable toy we got him… It's just so wrong watching this.

"NOT ENOUGH! MORE, NEED MORE!"

"MORE! MORE! MORE!"

The monsters retreat into the forest to hunt for something else to eat.

"So…there's a food shortage."

"A shortage?"

"I think it means something is eating everything in here," Naoya guesses.

"Correct. The food chain, or rather, the monsters that inhabit this stratum abide by a structure, in this case, a food chain. Fairies ordinarily tend to be on the lower end, picked off easily by the others."

"Okay, then why did they help them?"

"Pixies tried to use us as bait, so it can avoid getting eaten itself. It's pointless…it would have gotten eaten eventually."

"Looks like negotiating won't work then."

"A shame too, but it's not as if we need their spell cards or anything."

"Spell cards?"

"Ah, it's a whole thing. We should keep going, right Ms. tour guide."

Shizuka sighs at the nickname and just walks onward without a word. Our trek down the woods continues. Some enemies popped up, but they were nothing. Our enemies bear their hunger at us, sharpening their attacks with it. Not that it matters when we shred them to pieces. And I have to be honest: is this the worst here? Compared to that angel demon back in Port Island, these things don't even measure. Don't get me wrong, I barely won that fight, but it has me skeptical. I want to ask Shizuka, but would it be alright for me to ask? I don't know what's going to set her off or not. Good thing I have another demon expert here.

"Naoya…"

"You okay, Kei?"

"I am, but this feels too easy."

"Glad to know it's not just me. Nyarlathotep wanted us here, I expected it to be packed with worse demons… So far, it's just a bunch of fodder."

"Do you think he's just messing with us?"

"I don't want to say yes to that."

"Why not? It isn't like these things are strong, and if more of them show up, I'll just wipe them away."

"You mean with that power you used?"

Oh shit, he noticed! Well of course he noticed, I wasn't exactly doing my best to hide it!

"Well, I can explain…okay, maybe not explain, but yeah, I guess so."

Since Janus doesn't want to help me anymore, I got no choice. Besides, with power like this, why wouldn't I use it?

"...Kei, you shouldn't rely on something like that, and your attitude isn't any better."

Wha– My attitude?

"Wh–what's wrong with my attitude?"

"You charge in head-first without thinking things through."

"That's because we can't waste any time thinking about it."

"Wrong, we have to. A fight can be decided by good judgment and rational thinking. Also not underestimating your opponents helps."

"I'm not, and didn't you just–"

"You are. They're weak, but not harmless. These are demons we're up against. They'll fight tooth and nail, and act damn craft doing it. Besides, don't you trust Shizuka?"

"What?"

"If she keeps calling this place 'hell', then she's doing it for a reason. There's probably things we're better off not seeing."

…Am I really doing that? I just thought that since all we've been fighting were weak enemies we didn't need to worry about anything. But him telling me not to rely on Shadow-mog is just wrong. I have to rely on it, it's the only power I have now; Janus is gone, and even then, he was never going to be enough… I needed more power to protect everyone, and this was it. So what's wrong with me relying on it!?

"Shit." Shizuka cursing immediately calls for my attention. The road is gone, devoured by the sudden sea of trees in front of us, The light of the forest seems to die out further in, as if it were a bottomless chasm. "We…we have to go through here."

"Is there no other path available?"

"No…this it. This road is the only one here… No matter how far you search, we must go through. Listen to me: you all follow me, and don't leave my side… If I lose sight of you, or you lose sight of me, then consider yourself dead. I won't repeat myself twice."

"Quite a cruel president to place."

"Just a matter of fact. You can scream at the top of your lungs until they burst, or even wander around until your stomach turns inside out, waiting…and waiting for someone to come find you, but it's all the same; you'll die in here if you get lost…"

My vision blurs out, tv static buzzes in my mind for a brief moment. It's like my brain became a DVD player and TV screen all at once. This sensation of having something lodged into my head is perverse compared to Fuuka's communication ability. The colors are nonexistent, only a terrible dark gray hue is all I get.

"Don't leave my side," a serene, gentle, yet courageous voice says. Sounds like a girl. "They haven't come back yet. So everyone, don't leave my side, no matter."

The short movie abruptly ends, sliding out of the DVD tray and shutting off the TV. My vision is back. What the hell was that? Voices are one thing, but now random stuff playing in my head, yeah, that's just a bit much. But that girl—she said something similar to Shizuka. Not as blunt, but similar.

"…Let's just get this over with…"

"Wait a second," Naoya says aloud, holding his hand up. "I think we need a break."

"Are you kidding me? Did you not see demons wandering this place, starving at that?" she ends with her voice raised.

"Duh, course I do."

"Then–"

"Don't worry, Shizuka-chan. Elly and I can keep them away with our Personas."

"Even then, aren't we in a hurry? Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this."

"Yeah, we can't take any breaks! Come on, Naoya, I don't know how long Fuuka has."

"I'm not just saying it to be lazy, or for the hell of it. The two of you are worked up, and that can lead to mistakes."

"I wouldn't make any. Besides, I'm not tired."

"It's just for 10 minutes. After that, we get going. We all need to be in the right mind to get this done, and acting all moody and stuff isn't gonna help, especially since you're our guide." Naoya places a hand on Shizuka's shoulder. "...Besides, I'd feel bad if we pushed you kids to keep fighting."

She shuts her eyes, regaining her composure. "Fine…suit yourself." Her voice is colder than before, and I doubt it's going to get any better. Every little thing is close to setting her off, no matter how calm she tries to get. If this place is hell for her, then just being here is only going to make things worse for her…

"I didn't handle that too well, huh?" Naoya asks me, rubbing the side of his head with discontent.

"I think you did fine, but I don't think anything will help her right now. The way she's acting…"

"It's like you when we were in Mikage-cho earlier."

"Yeah… That place… Bad memories always pop up when I think about it, and going there makes it worse… I can't imagine what she's going through coming here."

Since I can't begin to understand her pain, all I'll do is aggravate her. I want to tell her everything going to be okay, that nothing can beat us, but I don't think that's the sole problem. There's gotta be more to this, more to what she experienced here. But is it right for me to poke my nose into that? Who would I be to uncover something like that; I did my hardest to keep my past hidden from everyone, especially Fuuka. I don't want to force my way into her business, but…I can't help it. I have to try to help her, not just as a person who gets somewhat of what she's going through, but as her friend.

"Just leave Shizuka to me."

"You sure?"

"I am, so don't worry."

Shizuka's staring out at the forest, motionless as a statue. Was she looking for lurking demons, wanting a reason to draw her sword and cut something to pieces to vent her feelings, or maybe she was just looking into it? I never felt scared of whether or not something was in the darkness… Rather, it always seemed to reflect something, shaping itself into the things we see inside ourselves. For me, it was loneliness, an all-encompassing, abysmal loneliness that consumed all light. What Shizuka sees when she gazes into it.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, attempting to lighten things.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"No, but it was important to ask."

"I getting tired of telling you to not be concerned with me."

"Sorry, I just thought I should ask." She keeps her eyes fixed on the forest. "...It's gonna suck going back to the dorm after we save Fuu-chan. I left a letter but I doubt that's going to cover it. And don't get me started on the homework. Man…this is gonna blow!"

"Ah…"

"But when we get back, maybe we should go somewhere to eat. What do you think?"

"I… It doesn't matter to me."

"We always go where I want to though, so you should choose. Pick anywhere you want, I'll pay."

She clenches her hands. "Kazuki, just stop… This isn't making me feel better." Kinda figured it wouldn't, but I had to try anyway. "We have to focus, nothing else matters. So just keep your eyes forward and your mind on saving Yamagishi."

"Ah… So, you don't want to get Takoyaki?"

Shizuka turns to me, disheartened by the comment, unaware that she's showing her dissatisfaction, let alone something other than stoicism. "I…I do not care for that."

"Not what I remember."

"Your memory is faulty."

"Then you weren't wolfing it down?" No longer perplexed, instead, she stares me down with a fierce look, digging at me with sharp, cutting eyes, deflating whatever comfort I had poking fun at her. "Sorry, ma'am, my memory is faulty."

If looks could kill, I'd been dead by now… Still, it's nice to see her somewhat distracted from this place, although I'm not too sure if irritating her counts.

"We've spent more than enough time here," Shizuka states, back to her previous state. "No dawdling around."

"Right… Hm?"

There's a pixie at the edge of the forest, watching us with its wings fluttering about. There's something off with it. There's this green mold spreading from its wings, covering its eyes and the weird dust that came off of it before isn't coming from its wings. Still, it looks weak.

"I'll finish it off."

It seems weak, but I can't just leave it alone cause it is. I have to get used to this; killing them without any remorse. I'll drag everyone down if I don't get with it. I raise my sword, planning to cut through its body with one swing.

"F…F…F…OO…D!"

My arms freeze up for a second. In that second, the Pixie's tiny jaw opens wider than it should, showing off jagged teeth inside its mouth, spanning farther inside than need be. Blood painted over them and its gums. My mind goes blank, and I can't get my legs to move. Lightning pierces the monster before it can bite my head off. Half of its head is missing.

"Kazuki!"

My sword tears through the monster, almost on instinct alone.

Naoya jumps to his feet with his sword out. "What the hell was that!?"

"There's more of them!"

"FO…oD… F…oOD!"

More Pixies are coming out of the woods, covered in disgusting pulsing green mold. They're smiling, cackling, and mumbling in broken speech, closing in on us. They gnash their hideous teeth, grinding them into a horrible sound that grows louder by the second.

"These are…no…but we!"

"Shiz–"

My sight flashes elsewhere before I can finish. Everything went grey again. I'm running, I can see everything bouncing with each urgent step I take. But I can't feel anything below my neck, and my heart isn't pounding to match the panting breath. This isn't me.

"Ah!"

Another girl? She trips over herself running in this densely packed forest. Her small hands, covered in dirt and bruises, clamber all over, grabbing at the trees just to keep her up. She keeps barreling past them. However, her legs give out. Pain flares up from the wound on her leg, sapping whatever strength she has left. She crawls up to a tree, watching a demon, covered in green mold slowly march to her. Its large arms hang from its side, with the mold covering its head, down to its spine; it is a troll. Wait, how would I know that?

"HUnGrY…HuNGRy! GIvE Me fOoD!"

Its giant maw opens, revealing the inside of its mouth. As it gets ready to devour her, something is forcing its way into my head, filling me with someone else's thoughts and emotions. It's nauseating like someone cracked open my skull and keeps pouring mercury inside. Searing, burning, all these emotions keep stabbing at my brain. Fear, overwhelming, unbearable fear swells within them; in her. She digs out a small knife. There's nothing that thing can do and she knows it. All she can do is swing it wildly. She knows she won't hit it, and if she does, that won't stop it. Screaming and flailing about is all she can do before it eats her, ripping her apart with those teeth inside its mouth.

"Get the hell away from her!"

Someone lands on the monster's shoulders, plunging a katana through its head. Blood splashes out of the wound but the demon's large hands reach for them. They tear the blade out by splitting its head. Its corpse collapses to the ground and the green mold just dissipates.

The tall girl with her hair tied short steps towards the one on the ground. Her heart feels lighter and her mind isn't racing anymore. She's relieved by this girl's arrival.

"Re–Reiko-san, y-you fou–"

"Why did you run off on your own?" Reiko's voice booms with scornful authority, and her posture imposes her stance. "I said stay by my side!"

"I– I'm sorry. I– There were too many, and– I, um–"

The injured girl's voice is young and smaller than the older girl's, somewhat fitting the image in my head.

"Idiot," she roars, causing the injured girl to flinch. "Don't run off like that again… What if you got killed, or even lost, huh!?" She gets down to her level, taking out a damp cloth to clean off the girl's face. "Don't cry… I'm sorry for yelling."

"Sorry…I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, look, just don't do it again, okay," she instructs, speaking in a soothing voice, fitting an older sister. "...It's all in the past now, all right?"

"Re–really?"

She flashes a bright smile, patting her on the head. "Really. Just don't do it again, promise?"

The turbulent emotions inside the young girl are settling, but they're still lingering inside her. Embarrassed, guilty, and sad that she had gotten in trouble with Reiko, yet happy that she said everything was okay.

"Luckily, we aren't too far from the others, so follow me and I'll protect you. Got it?"

"...Okay…"

My vision flashes again, however, I'm not stuck in the girl's perspective anymore. Her innocent eyes despite the dirt and blood on her face throw me through a loop. She doesn't look older than ten! Her hair is a short, messy streak of black.

"Good, then let's get going, Shizuka."

Her smile reflects the happiness beaming inside her tiny body. "Okay!"