[IC] Persona 3: Dark Side of the Redux

[Theorist]

-Thursday, April 9th, 2009-
Evening
Full Moon

You have been growing accustomed to your new life in the Iwatodai dormitory. Now, after school on Thursday, you and the others are relaxing in the lounge. You notice that this was the first time you were all together since you all arrived at the dorms. Perhaps you should mingle?

---

Yoromatsu sat in a chair at the dining room table, eating his dinner.It was nothing special, simply a grilled chicken salad with water chestnuts. He kept an eye on everyone in the lounge, however. He had spent most of the week monitoring them and he was able to discern one thing; they all had the potential. Now, there was only one question; could they awaken? These three seemed promising, that was for sure, but they wouldn't know for sure they could awaken until it happens. He made a decision earlier that day though; they were ready. He would never know if they could awaken if he kept them out of harm's way. Saturday after school, they would have the chance to join SEES.

---

A boy with messy black hair came down the stairs and into the lounge. He opened the fridge, looking around for something. "Who drank my lime soda?" He called out in an irritated tone. This was Takahiro, the resident bad boy.

"That was me. Sorry, didn't know it was yours." Yoromatsu said casually, finishing his meal.

"Are you fuckin' serious man?" Takahiro slammed the fridge door. "Who else would it belong to?"

"Calm down, calm down." Yoromatsu put his chopsticks in his bowl. "I'll buy you one after school tomorrow."

"Tsk, whatever." Takahiro looked out at the rest of the lounge, his eyes just happening to lock on the only girl in the group. What was her name? Masako. Unmei Masako. Right. He got an odd feeling about her. She was different than the others. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about her was definitely different. She appeared normal enough on the surface, but he couldn't shake this feeling...

"Don't leer at the recruits." Yoromatsu said in a slightly joking tone. This seemed to get Takahiro steamed up. His face went beet red.

"I wasn't leering at her!" He shouted angrily loud enough for everyone to hear. He went even more red and sat next to Yoromatsu, trying to hide is face.

"Of course you weren't." Yoromatsu said with a straight face.

"The hell did you do that for, man? Now I have to go apologize to her." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"So, why were you staring at her?" Yoromatsu asked.

"Hell man, i've got a strange feeling about her." Takahiro pulled a candybar out of his pocket and took a bite. "Whatever it is, its bad mojo." He shook his head.

[Hexaflexagon]

Ms. Unemi Masako was still rather perplexed about the new situation at which she had been presented into. During the break before school had started it seemed as if for the first time in awhile she was going to actually be able to stay at the same school for more than a year. But out of nowhere her father told her that he had important business across the ocean and that she was to go to this place called Iwatodai apparently after doing some research she found out that it was one of those corporation cities that news was always talking about funded and constructed by the Kirijo Group one of the largest and influential corporations in the country you couldn't do anything without some technology or some project that was founded by them influencing it. Apparently her father was business associates or something with them whatever that meant probably just had coffee and went around golfing that was what influential business people did right? Because of this she was able to as fulfilling a favor go to the school their Gekkoukan where they had dorms so that she could stay and get her education while her father was away. Which was fine and all at least until she got there.

Masako didn't know why but the place rubbed off on her the wrong way. Don't get it wrong everything seemed great and wonderful the streets were impeccably clean even though one hardly saw any form of sanitation workers, the people seemed friendly enough and the high school Gekkoukan was well built and the faculty though eccentric at times seemed to know what they were doing, while the students were nice enough to her though she really couldn't call any of them friends not that was their fault in the matter. But whenever she entered the grounds of the building a dark presence overtook her as if Death himself had appeared to loom over her shoulder as if the place was not all that it seemed. That and of course whatever happened in the middle of the night on the first two nights of her stay.

She didn't know why but she couldn't go to asleep where usually it came very easily to her having to fight the urges to doze off in class and that was when something truly odd happened. As if she had entered some sort of alternate dimension the world around her even the moon turned sickly green in color as if some sick child had sneezed all over them in a very unappealing matter the first night she just thought she was dreaming and went back to sleep. The second night when it happened again she knew something was up but once again pushed it aside and went to bed. She tried to fool herself into thinking she was just seeing things again a common attribute she had growing up where she would claim to see all sorts of demons and monsters a fact that her father just put off as a very active imagination. Maybe it was just manifesting again she thought her own subconscious trying to tell her something maybe stop eating so many green things or something she had no idea. But that was the most logical conclusion because if she was right well wouldn't she hear the kids at school or the news talking about the creepy sickly snot world?

Beside that though everything was perfectly fine the school work had just begun to pick up speed again with no time to waste the teachers hit the ground running and she had just finished her work and studying some time before. She had then progressed downstairs from her dorm room to the lounge/lobby area. On her head was her headphones connected to her music player playing at a low volume and in her hands was the book that her father had given her before he left. That was just like him always pushing her to be well read and versed in the cultures and ideas of the world. This time it was Heraclitus: Fragments he was some old philosopher Greek she believed and all his writing was about the deeper meaning of life, Logos, etc and a certain quote transfixed her from it Ethos antropoi daimon Character Is Fate. She liked that idea that a persons actions, that the person determined their fate not any gods or higher powers. She sat on one of the unoccupied couches and was reading it the music still going with one headphone on her ear and the other just off of it so she could still hear what was going on around her always trying to be aware of her surroundings.

She had almost lost herself in a daydream like daze when she heard two masculine voices speaking together, curiosity getting the better of her she with a small motion lowered her music player until the music vanished into the void replaced with the sound of voices. She continued to read her book but still listened to the conversation as it played out one of them was complaining about his soda having vanished that was Takahiro right? Messy black hair and the bad boy slacker attitude every group had one she mused and than the one that replied to him in a calm fashion... that was Yoromatsu. Calm, collected, ace student, everybody seemed to love him and he was the heir to the Kirijo Group meaning calling him affluent would be an understatement. Her father must of have worked with his dad and that raised her curiosity about him just a little bit. Continuing to silently listen as she read the book the conversation topic changed and went in a different direction. They began to talk about... her. Amused she did her best to hid her smile as the two bickered back and forth well Takahiro bickered Yoromatsu was just playing him like a fiddle. Finally as they finished talking Masato finally thought it would be the polite thing to do to inform them that she was not deaf. Putting the book down she turned her head towards the pair and raised one eyebrow in a curios arch and with a bemused tone to her voice replied.

"You know the bad mojo has ears right?" She asked plainly with a small hint of a smile on her face.

[Lennon79]

There was but one sanctuary in this dark, foreboding dorm. One place that one could be certain not to be interrupted. Hotaru stood silhouetted on the rooftop as he lit up a cigarette, away from the vigilant eyes of the dorm leader and the... other one. He had taken to spending long periods up here, sometimes to do his homework or play games, or just to avoid unwanted contact. He gave a cynical sigh at his own thoughts; it wasn't as though he was an anti-social person, but... Well, at least no-one ever bothered him here. It was his place; quiet, relaxed and by now covered in stubbed-out cigarettes. ... I should really invest in a bin. That or just bite the bullet and go downstairs every so often... He stayed for an hour anyway, psyching himself up for it, before heading in. His nerves got the better of him though and he ducked into his room halfway to spend the next ten minutes beating himself up for his cowardice. There was one woman, one woman in this dorm and he still broke out in shivers when she was in the room. He managed at school through a mix of rapid escapes and the sympathetic attitude of his male classmates, but here... She was like a fucking panther, stalking around in silence, appearing when he least expected it; Hotaru's smoking budget had doubled from the stress.

Still, he couldn't be anti-social forever. The other guys in the dorm were alright, though he hadn't had much chance to talk to them; Kirijo was a typical rich boy, aloof and possessed of a certain irritating charm and Takahiro was a bastard, but a man's bastard. As for Tsukino, he wasn't sure; every time Hotaru had stuck up a conversation, that woman had appeared... Perhaps it was living a year in an all-male household, but now that he was once again living with a female in the house, Hotaru's issues with the fairer sex were verging on full-blown gynophobia. He shook his head to clear it and focus on the here and now; he had decided to talk to people, so he had better damn well do it. He would march right down them bloody stairs and greet everyone in a firm, outgoing tone and by God, he would act the man he knew he was.

. . . He crept down one step at a time, hanging onto the bannister like a frightened child; it was pretty pathetic, but in his mind's eye, Hotaru was oozing confidence. Wandering into the common room, his gaze darted about to find the others. To his alternating relief and horror, he spotted the three of them on the sofas, chatting way calmly. He tried not a feel a twinge of envy over how easily the guys could speak to women, not for the first time worrying about his own future... After a moment's introspection, he squared his shoulders and headed round to the bar area, giving the others a silent wave as he passed. He fixed himself a (sadly non-alcoholic) drink and, after several deep breaths, headed back to where the others were. Taking a seat as far away as humanly possible from the woman- I should really start using her name... - from Unemi, Hotaru silently sipped at his drink, doing his damnest to look at ease.

[Theorist]

Yoromatsu's eyes had a slight bit of surprise in them. He turned his head to Unmei. "Excuse us." Yoromatsu stood up and dragged Takahiro out of his seat and out of earshot of everyone. "Would you mind keeping your voice down when speaking of things like this?" Takahiro shook free of Yoromatsu's grasp.

"Don't blame me for her superhuman hearing." Takahiro rolled his eyes.

"She would not need superhuman hearing considering how loud you were. But tell me more about this... "bad mojo." you sensed." Yoromatsu kept an eye on Unmei. He definitely did not want her hearing this conversation.

"It feels... cold. And malicious." The two were careful to keep their voices down. "But the strangest thing is that when I try to get a lock on it, it's able to push me out."

"Her power?" Yoromatsu guessed, deep in thought.

"Not likely." Takahiro shook his head. "It feels foreign. I fear to see what will happen when she awakens. If she awakens."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Yoromatsu asked, straightening the tie of his school uniform.

"I think we should send her home. Dude, i'm scared of her. I fear what will happen if we allow her to realize her potential and awaken." Yoromatsu shook his head.

"Takahiro. I will not send her home. We need recruits. Even you can't deny that. The Shadows are getting out of control. It's getting to be more than you and I can handle. Our numbers are thinned. Whether by death or by resignation, we're not as large as we were before. If we're going to protect mankind, we have no choice but to accept all the help we can get." This seemed to put Takahiro out a bit.

"Tsk, whatever man. But don't say I didn't warn you." He turned off and walked away, back upstairs. He glanced at Unmei as he passed her. Yoromatsu approached Unmei.

"I'd like to apologize for my friend. He's a hard ass, not too easy to get along with, but he's mostly harmless."

[Hexaflexagon]

Masako shook her head with a face somewhere between empty stoicism and genuine amusement as the two looked at her in surprise, apologized and than moved their conversation elsewhere. She then wondered if it was the best idea to tell them that she was listening, did it make them trust her less, but it was only the polite thing to do right? She was always easily confused about the whole social interaction thing as a whole probably because by the time she made friends it was time to leave again but that really didn't matter at the moment. Complaining about the woes of her circumstance would never get her anywhere in life and she had to overcome them move past her obstructions as water flows past a rock. So she turned her attention back to her book.

She had just gotten through another two pages when she heard the sound of more footsteps approaching. It was another one of the residents of her dorm Hotaru. She had seen him once before and when they had made eye contact he quickly doubled out of the room, that was on the first day and she had not seen much of him since. She wondered if it was something she had done something, broken some ethical code that was present in Iwatodai about the use of eyes to look at people. Or maybe he just didn't like her or something. That happened a lot too and so it could always be the case even if the thought of it bothered her just a little bit, if they were to be living together they should at least try to be friends right? But if they should all try and be friends why did she speak up against Takahiro's claims that probably didn't do anything to help in the friend department. As she pondered these thoughts Hotaru sat down on the far opposite side away from her moving around as if he was stepping about a minefield or something and keep on giving her looks when he thought she wasn't paying attention like she was about to murder him or something. As she sat down she looked in his directions and with a small semblance of a smile she give him a wave. Hoping that she did not break any other deadly Iwatodai social norms and that he would be struck by her audacity to wave at him or something.

After that she was about to return to reading her book when Yoromatsu and Takahiro returned as Takahiro walked past her she felt a chill through the air as if Hell itself had frozen over and the succubi were making snowmen and the dammed were having snowball fights to the death. She tried her best to repress the shiver that ran up her spine as Yoromatsu approached her. She was a bit surprised when he apologized for Takahiro's actions it was not like it was his fault or anything but it was a nice enough gesture none the less. At least somebody wasn't treating her like a total freak of nature. She shrugged her shoulder and let out a sigh as she spoke.

"Don't worry about it. It happens a lot since I move around a lot. People always think I'm some sort sort of malicious entity come to ruin their perfect normalcy. Like I'm some kind of axe murderer not that I would ever kill anyone with an axe... They are too messy and ineffective when you can just as easily choke someone to death or hit a pressure point... And now I sound like a complete psychopath... Great Job Masako." Masako explained stumbling over her own words.

[Unlucky Knight]

Sat in the lounge, Ken'ichi had his headphones on his neck, the hard complicated riffs and clean vocals blasting from speakers as if he were carrying a radio. His eyes were dull, no life to them, and his his back, sinking into the sofa. It was easy to spot that he was in his own world right now, and what he was facing was just a blur. Suddenly something would drop, the sound made him jump back to life. The boy would shake off his embarrassment of slipping. "These lecturers don't know when to quit, talking to us constantly, then giving us work after class, then talking our ear off again." His voice went from calm to frustrated as he said these words.

A few moments later the boy would have a craving for something sweet, it was always the way when he loses his mind. He stood straight, his posture quite dominant, and would walk over to the bar to fix himself a glass of orange juice. Reaching the bar he would see a face of student that he rarely sees and never speaks to. He did not want to make things awkward and thought this would be a good time to talk. As he took out the plastic cup from the bag he would ask. "Excuse me, sorry to bother you but Would you mind passing me the juice?"

[Theorist]

Yoromatsu let out a chuckle. "Don't worry about it." He bowed deeply. "I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Kirijo Yoromatsu. It's a pleasure to meet you." He stood upright again. He already knew this girl's name. He actually knew quite a bit about her. But that wasn't something he figured he should tell her.

Once she introduced herself, Yoro would nod. "A pleasure." He looked at his watch. "It's getting late. Adjusting to a new place can be very tiring. You should go to bed early."

And so, hours passed...

Current Time: 11:49pm

Night had fallen and everyone was in bed, fast asleep. All except for Yoromatsu, Takahiro, and the Chairman of the Board. They were in the 4th Floor Command Room, monitoring the new recruits. Yoromatsu watched as they slept away in their beds. He was also the one to break the silence. "This will be the last night we'll be monitoring them." He said, hands folded under his chin. Takahiro turned to him, taking his attention away from the PSP in his hands.

"Eh? So we're going to try and recruit them tomorrow?" He asked.

"No, Saturday. After school." Yoromatsu looked at his watch. "It's almost the Dark Hour..." Right after he said that, the monitor, the lights, and most importantly, Takahiro's PSP shut off. The whole room was bathed in a sickly green light. "Speak of the devil." He put his phone back in his pocket.

"NNN!" Takahiro exclaimed and stiffened up.

"What? What is it?" The Chairman asked, standing up from his seat.

"I sense a Shadow. It's a strong one too." He shook his head. "Wait, no. There's more than one. A lot of strong ones that are headed by a leader."

"Outside Tartarus?" Yoromatsu asked, standing up from his seat and strapping his Evoker harness to his chest.

"Yeah, five minutes from the dorm, give or take a few seconds." Takahiro strapped his harness to his waist.

"We have to keep it away from the dorm. Takahiro, you wake the others up and evacuate them out the back. I'll head out the front and intercept them. You should stay here, Ikutsuke-san." Yoromatsu pressed a few buttons on the computer, causing a panel on the wall to open up that held Yoromatsu's chain. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.

"R-Right. Be careful Yoromatsu-kun." The Chairman sat back down, clearly uneasy.

"Of course." Yoromatsu headed out the Command Room door. Quickly, going downstairs and headed out the front door. He looked to the right, down the street. He could see a black mass of Shadows headed towards the dorm. He ran down the street as quickly as possible. Very quickly, he came on some of the Shadows. They appeared to be massive blobs of blackness that had appendages vaguely shaped like hands. With practiced efficiently, he lashed out with his chain, wrapping it around a few of the Shadows. With one hard pull, they dissipated into black goo.

---

In the dead of night, the new students were awoken by Takahiro banging on their bedroom doors and being dragged off without much of an explanation. They could hear many strange sounds outside. Unbeknownst to them, these were the sounds of Yoromatsu's battle with the Shadows.

---

The battle had gone on for a few minutes and Yoromatsu looked and felt tired. The Shadows came in wave after wave, showing no signs of stopping. He sighed. Only one thing left to do. Yoromatsu pulled his chain back to him and held it in one hand. With his other hand, he pulled out his Evoker and put it to his head. "I hate this... come, Magatsu Sraosha!" A black and red aura appeared around Yoromatsu, growing more intense every second. When Yoromatsu finally pulled the trigger, he was engulfed in the aura. When it dissipated, Yoromatsu stood there with intense yellow eyes. Behind him was a demonic-looking creature that held a scroll in its hands. The Shadows appeared hesitant for a moment, but after a few seconds, continued their assault. As soon as they got within thirty feet of him, he thrust his hand out with an eerie calm. The creature behind Yoromatsu let out a roar and unrolled the scroll in its hand. An aura of light surrounded the Shadows. After a blinding flash of light, the Shadows were all gone. The yellow from his eyes vanished along with his Persona. "URGH!" He coughed and fell to his knees, blood pouring out of his mouth. After a couple seconds, he wiped the blood off his face and stood up.

"Careful Yoro! The leader is still alive!" Takahiro telepathically communicated to Yoromatsu as he led the recruits to safety. That was when he saw it. A mass of black hands running awkwardly towards him. In one of the hands, it held a mask. This was presumably its face. Yoro fell back to the dorm to recover. As the Shadow approached him, Yoro held out his chain defensively, but it completely ignored him. It jumped to Yoro's left, latching on to the building and climbing quickly around the dorm.

"What..." Yoromatsu didn't know what it could be doing. That was when it hit him. "Tak! It's going around to the back door!"

---

Takahiro heard Yoro's warning the second he put his hand on the door handle.

"BAM!"

There was a massive hit on the door. "Shit..." Takahiro led the group upstairs. It was all he could figure to do.

---

Yoromatsu went inside just as the Shadow broke through the back door. This wasn't good. Him summoning his Corrupted Persona made him far to weak to beat this thing. As the Shadow again ignored him and ran up the stairs, Yoromatsu tried to give chase. However, his vision began to blur. The battle earlier took more out of him than he thought. He only took two steps before he fell unconscious.

---

As the group tried to outrun whatever it was that was chasing them, they made it to the roof. Takahiro closed the door behind them and locked it. He let out a sigh of relief. They were safe.

[Pudding]

It was all happening so fast, she was peacefully dreaming about kittens and marshmallows... But now Hanabusa was following her fellow dormmates to the roof. There wasn't any exolanation on what was happening but there was a lot, of running. As of, something was chasing them... No, that couldn't be it, this isn't some horror movie thought Hanabusa.

Trying to reclaim her breath, she questioned Takahiro.
"What's... What's going on Taka?" Hanabusa flicked hair back behind her.
"What's with all the comotion. Is something wrong?"
Taking some deep breaths her breathing became steady again.

[Unlucky Knight]

Ken'ichi stayed silent, trying to observe the situation, if it wasn't for the fact he wasn't the only one here, he would of lost his shit. He believed there was a good reason for it, ideas ran in his mind, possibly a burglar, or maybe a unidentified murder. Maybe the guy who woke him up, Taka might of done something wrong. He didn't know he was a hostage or an Allie right now, however he leaned more towards Allie. "I'm sorry if i sound rude, I got practice in the morning, so do you mind speeding this up a little." His voice was stern, it was the tiredness and nothing more, he was more concerned than irritated.

[Hexaflexagon]

Masako had awoken moments before Takahiro had came running down the hallway to awaken them. She could not explain why but something in her head told her that she had to get up that it was most vital for her too. As she did she saw the last glimpses of a purple butterfly outside of her window slowing flapping its wings away into the night which had developed a green haze. She got to her feet and got dressed quickly and as she did she heard some sort of commotion downstairs that sounded like something was trying to get into the dorm. She remembered her conversation in the elevator with the man what was his name... Igor? On the first night he had come she had signed a contract she thought it was some sort of dream but he warned her of things to come and so did that boy..... Was this what they were talking about? She could not say for certain but what she could was that feeling of dread and darkness had increased and it felt as if whatever was to happen was going to effect things greatly to come.

Knock, Knock, Knock Somebody outside was slamming their fist into the door and then moments afterwards she heard Takahiro's voice it was filled with panic and whispy as if he had just been running from somewhere or maybe something. She opened the door and was greeted by Takahiro who's demeanor was nothing of that of the arrogant jerk that had been talking earlier that evening. The other members of the dorm had been filed in behind him all of them in the same state of shock, apperantly this was not some night time evacuation drill she had not been told about. Having little time for pleasantries Takahiro yelled that they had to move quickly and that he would explain later. Another sound this time something similar to roar echoed through the sky and pierced through the thin walls of the dorm. She had no idea what was going on but she was not about to argue semantics with Takahiro and so she left following after but not before grabbing her gloves that she had thrown across her desk. As the older student lead them down the stairs at a breakneck pass sometimes skipping one or two stairs as he went down Masako slipped the gloves onto her hands she didn't know what was trying to get in or whatever was outside but at least she had her gloves and if needed she could hit whatever it was that give her a small sense of security.

They had reached the ground floor and Takahiro was leading them to the back door. The lights flickered and swayed as if an earthquake had just came through she wondered what was happening and where they were going. But Takahiro looked like he was not in the mood to answer any nonessential answer as he put his hand aginst the door handle leading out the back emergency exit. It was then that something with force that no human could hope to achieve slammed into the door which buckled under the weight. Stumbling backwards with the rest of her dorm mates they all looked at Takahiro who just pointed at them and told them to run back up the stairs towards the roof. That seemed like a very reasonable idea and so they ran for the stairs. Masato heart was pounding and the adrenline was pumping through her body as every fiber and inch told her to keep on moving. She chanced a look behind her and saw something dark as the night its self creep into the dorm floor. What the hell?! was all she could think as Takahairo herded them up the stairs yelling at them to not stop. They reached the door to the roof and Takahiro threw his body into it shoving it open as they hit the roof. They all piled through and then slammed the door shut behind them.

Everyone looked around at one another hearts racing and wondering what in the world was truly going on. Masato droned all of them out as she took a few steps away from the group. She didn't feel too good and a series of incoherent whisperers seemed to surround her. She could only make out one word out of all of it "Per-son-a" putting her hand to her head she closed her eyes and shook her head trying to force the voices out and after a moment they seemed to at least subside. Taking in a deep breath she observed the alien sky above her and her eyes were naturally drawn towards the moon a giant circle in the sky and colored a sickly hue. Did this mean she was not dreaming the past two nights? What did it all mean? Her eyes drifted to the horizion as she thought and pondered the voices of her dorm mates wondering and panicked behind her. She was facing the distraction of the school and that was the first time she saw Tartarus a large and monolithic tower stretching far into the sky glowing green. She could not look away from it and part of herself told her to walk towards it, to walk right off the edge of the building and progress towards it. But she fought the urge stepping away from the edge stumbling back.She looked back in the direction of the others none of them had seen her... she shook her head and joined the fold once again. As she did she looked up at the sky again and just whispered almost exclusively to herself. "Its still coming."

[Theorist]

After that whisper, that was when they saw it. A hand reaching up from the other side of the roof.



The hand gripped the ledge of the roof. Then another hand appeared, gripping the ledge as well. Another hand appeared. Then another. Then another. In an instant, the hands launched the main body of the creature up into the air, landing in front of the recruits. The creature appeared to be a big mass of hands. One of the hands held an expressionless mask. The hand turned the mask from side to side, as if sizing its prey up. However, when its gaze landed on Unmei, it let out what could be considered a roar that sounded like the wind on a stormy day. Each hand drew a long, slender blade. The fear the group was feeling was likely overwhelming.

Takahiro growled. He felt useless. He didn't even chew out the girl that called him "Taka". "Those creatures..." He said, his voice shaky. "We call them Shadows." He gasped looking down at the suitcase he only now realized he was carrying. As fast as possible, he opened it up. It seemed to contain four objects that appeared to be guns. He slid the suitcase towards the group. "Take them! You'll know what to do!"

---

Yoromatsu had awoken and made his way to the Command Room, trying to see where the Shadow was. He looked at all the camera feeds, finally spotting it on the roof. "There!" He moved to run to the roof, but the Chairman stopped him.

"Wait." He said calmly.

---

Takahiro was indeed correct. The group couldn't explain it, but they did know what to do. Unmei would be first. She would pick up one of the objects and put it to her head. It was as if she was acting on instinct. All thoughts were completely gone. All she could feel was fear. Her whole arm trembled. Unmei would hear the voice of a child in her head; the same child that welcomed her on the night she first came to Iwatodai.

"Go on..." He'd say in an encouraging voice. The sweat had begun to pour down her face as her breathing became more ragged. But when she heard the boy's voice, a wave of calm washed over her. She felt like a child that had just been comforted by their mother. Her arm stopped trembling. Her breathing returned to normal after a long, relieved sigh. A smile formed on her face. Unmei would be compelled to speak the following word;

"Per... so... na...!" She'd pull the trigger on the gun. That calm grew into confidence as a blue aura surrounded her, taking the shape of an expressionless humanoid with long white arms and legs. It spoke with a booming voice.

"Thou art I... I am thou... from the sea of thy soul, I cometh. I am Orpheus, master of strings." The Shadow seemed to let out a hiss and recoil at this new creature's presence. The others followed suit, each picking up guns, each saying that word, and each pulling the trigger. However, they would not have the little boy encouraging them. As their own creatures appeared, the Shadow let out another hiss.

Takahiro gazed at these newly awakened Personas. Finally, he came to his senses. "Sindarion!" He put his own Evoker to his head and pulled the trigger. A bearded old man in white robes appeared behind Takahiro, enveloping him in the robes and rising him into the air. The group would hear Takahiro's voice in their heads. "Don't worry about what's going on!" He told them. "Just do what feels right. I'll be here to support you."

[Pudding]

Hanabusa was scared. The entire situation was overwhelming her. She gazed upon the sky, the bright full moon hung in the sky. It was eerily high and large, larger than it should normally be. She was then distracted by a grumbling and murmers coming from the ledge of the roof. It was a monster, to strange to describe, whatever it was, it held a mask in... 'Its hand'.

Unable to handle her fear, Hanabusa dropped to her knees, placing her hands on her ears, shutting her eyes, trying to block it all out. "No... No no no! This isn't happening!".
Turning her head up she saw two of her fellow dormmates raise guns to their heads. Her first instinct was to shout 'no, stop!' But, they pressed the trigger before she could say anything. They vouldn't have been normal guns, as they didn't kill them, but realeased... Ghosts of some kind, though they muttered something about a 'Persona'.

Mustering up all her courage, she shouted out to the others.
"I.. I don't know what to do! But... You guys can do it!" She rose to her feet and braced herself for anything that came next.

[Unlucky Knight]

This giant, oozing creature that stank of evil and many other things had seen them as prey. On the outside Ken'ichi l looked slightly cool, truth is he was scared shitless. The most the teenager had seen was a man's fingers get broken and cut off one by one for not paying debt. But this, this was a whole different level for him. He stood frozen in fear, however his eye pupils dull and relaxed. However what reflected from them terrified boy not ready to die, not ready for this sort of thing. Taka's voice was muffled and all Ken'ichi could make out was, "You'll know what to do". He took one without hesitation, thoughts racing into his head.

His life was flashing before his eyes. "Is this the life i lived, and is this how it will end? He put the gun to his head, suddenly his facial expression would change, as if he were possessed. He felt exhausted, sweat dropping from the tip of nose like a loose tap. His throat became dry and hands clammy. "Persona" he whispered as if it were his last dying words. He pulled the trigger forcefully. "What?" The boy questioned. He thought this was meant to be his end, but it turned out to a be new beginning. He heard strong echoed breathing from behind his back. Turning around the purple skinned gladiator, Titan kneeled before him while staring him down.

[Hexaflexagon]

Masako stared back into the face of the inconceivable, the alien. She was not dreaming on the contrary she felt alive and awake energy seemingly coursing through her as every nerve ending and synapse was jumping at full throttle. The rational brain that had been buried under something much more primal that was running on instinct wondered why she felt almost happy when for all intents and purposes she should of felt dread and horror not the high of a lifetime. She was looking into the eyes or what she presumed to be the yes of a creature that was more at home with long nights and children telling stories of ghosts and monsters where in the end someone would jump out of the bushes and scare them and then the safe security of reality would embrace them once again. But their was no kid in a costume, no trick at the end of the story the curtain had been pulled away and all it showed was the black expanse of darkness hidden on the borders of our reality, a darkness full of creatures and things watching and waiting. The creature in front of her represented everything that Masako did not know. And yet she felt calm and warm as if some unseen figure had wrapped her in its warm embrace and everything felt truly right. As if everything in her life had been leading up to this moment and everything else would branch out from it. Takahiro's words somewhere in the distance muttled under a seemingly distant ocean but he was right.... she did know what she needed to do.

Raising her hand into the air she curled it into a fist and brought in downwards pointing at the creature in front of her. She felt a flash of energy around her as her whole body burned with a great sensation of power that seemed to have been dragged out of her. Orpheus responded and raised his large lyre high above his hand before bringing it slamming down right at the creature. The creature flicked one of its bladed arms up and the two clashed together with harsh metallic clang and the two rebounded off of one another. The creature let out a long hiss of anger and brought a tendril slamming down blade in hand, Masako jumped backwards going by instinct almost falling backwards upon her back as she did putting her arms up to protect herself as blade hit into the ground where she was once standing. She felt blood dripping down her face and onto the roof below her and brought a hand to her face feeling a cut the had been made by the debris that was cast upwards. "It's strong!" She observed wiping the blood with her sleeve and getting back into a defense stance waiting for the next attack.

[Theorist]

Takahiro had begun his analysis of the Shadow. In his mind's eye, data on the Shadow was listed before him. He relayed what he saw to the group. "Magic wouldn't be a good route. It seems to be strong against all types of magic. Try using physical skills."

Right after Takahiro was finished speaking, the Shadow prepared another attack. With a roar, it reared back and thrust its hands forward. A torrent of fire came forth from its palms, scorching the group significantly. Takahiro growled. He didn't know what to do. Perhaps they could retreat. This thing was incredibly powerful.

---

Upon recovering from the attack, Unmei would feel a dull pain in her head. However, it would very quickly become more painful than a migraine. This pain seemed to be affecting her Persona as well. Orpheus grabbed his head, letting out a pained roar. Its eyes turned blood red as its body began to twist and convulse. Eventually, Orpheus burst apart, revealing a monster dressed in black. It appeared slightly humanoid. Two legs, two arms that had hands with five fingers. However, it had coffins for wings and its head appeared to be the skull of some sort of mechanical sharp-toothed monster.

---

Takahiro gasped and gazed at this monster. It felt cold... cold and malicious... this was the thing he sensed earlier! He had a bad feeling about this. It appeared Unmei had control over the creature. Based on what he could tell from how he felt, though, that control was very limited. He attempted to analyze the creature.

[Hexaflexagon]

The iron odor of blood. Ice caressed her spine as the great north wind himself descended upon her. Lost, so small amid the darkness that surrounded her threatening to consume her. She heard the sound of thousands of voices as the darkness seemed to spin around her caught in a massive whirlpool of twilight. The voices the sound of humans crying out in agony the sound of despair and agony all of them craving for the sweet release of nothingness for an end to their suffering. The darkness called back to them whispering sweet lullabies into the ears of the dammed. The red fire found the pathways of synapses and nerves leading upwards to the brain. Pain, pain on a scale unimaginable beyond any name of which pain was given. The only action she could perform was wanting it stop, needing it to stop. In response somewhere far away from as if separated by some kind of large unfathomable ocean a roar that cut through the darkness and made the world shake around her as she slipped further into the dark floating away.

Home.... What was home to Masako? Was it the small house hidden among the fields of rice and the quiet forest away from the bustle of urban centers where the sound of a gentle feminine voice that made her feel warm and safe? Was it the fancy highrise apartment building that Her father and her dwelled within inside with the big TV and the bedroom that felt too big and too empty at times? Was it her grandparents house and the smell of home cooked meals and smiling faces that only seemed to care on a level she was not normally accustomed to? Was it her friends that she had once known scattered about the country distant faces and memories happy and sad, always sad at the end the goodbyes were always the hardest. No, none of these were home they all had been taken away from her before she could feel comfortable enough to call it such. Having a home meant that it could be taken away and she was not ready to have something else taken away... But maybe having a home right now would of felt nice the warmth and the sense of security. There was none of that just empty nothingness as she drifted through the void and everything felt cold almost cold enough to make her cry. Slowly though a light broke through the darkness, a light that embraced her and took her away from the void if at least temporarily. Voices, broke through the silence as reality came back into focus.

She was still standing and her right hand was outstretched and bunched together into an angry fist. The pain raced through her body as she realized her fingernails had been digging hard into her palm. Her breathing was heavy as if she had just run an entire marathon but how could that have been she did not move. It was then that she realized the silence. The only sound was her breath as if everyone else, everything else was looking at something of great excitement or horror. She looked away from her hand remebering quickly about the creature prepared to fight again and it was at that moment that she was taken aback.

It looked right out of a war movie, remnants of dark oozing shadow was cast about haphazardly in large splashes and poodles like the soulless ichor of a long dead god. At the center of it all was the creature held aloft by the thing that had come forth from inside. The creature which only moments before had been threateningly hissing and roaring its challenge at the group was now lifted by the shattered remnants of its mask limp and utterly lifeless. The other monster the one that she had seemingly brought forth from nowhere held its still twitching frame the blade in its other hand dripping in a black ooze like substance, the discarded limbs of the creature thrown about like chew toys to a great beast. It held on as the creature twitched in its death spasms for the last time before disintegrating into nothingness. Particles of white drifting into the sky as it went.

Masako felt a pang of relief sweep through her body as it vanished. Her "friend" turned to face her and let out a terrible roar into the sky that cut through the air. Masako looked at the creature and felt almost safe as crazy as it sounded amidst the dread. And as suddenly as the creature appeared it vanished into darkness vanishing into the void. She took two steps forward chasing after it before collapsing to her knees. Her body felt heavy, made of lead and iron even keeping her eyes open felt taxing. Seconds later she collapsed entirely the sweet embrace of unconsciousness took her into its arms and caressed her gently brushing her hair. Leaving the others too look in awe and maybe re found terror having seen power released from the girl on a scale unseen by mortal man for at least ten years hence. What it all meant was still uncertain. And all that could be said truly about that night atop the roof was that all their lives had changed that night if it was for the better that was yet to be seen.

[Pudding]

Hanabusa gasped at the sight. It was so unnatural, the strange spirit from before... Twisted and covulsed, spewing out a bigger, badder and more menacing... Thing! It was something out of a twisted anime. The demon like monster unleashed a wave of rage and destruction, litterally ripping the masked beast apart, throwing limbs accross the roof. The limbs seemed to ooze a black sludge, could it be blood?

It all happened so fast. The demon transformed back into the smaller, more serene version from a few moments before hand, it then faded off into nothing. Hanabusa's dormmate Unmei, walked a few steps towards the fading spirit, before collapsing. Hanabusa ran over towards her, placing her hand on her forehead.
"She's breathing! But, but we meed to get her to a doctor, the hospital! Or someone! Masa-chan's passed out!"

[Theorist]

Ken would feel very similar exhaustion, and he would soon pass out as well.

Takahiro dismissed his Persona, casually walking up to the group. "She'll be okay. It happens right after an awakening. When someone awakens, it's incredibly draining. That, and the fact that her body isn't used to the Dark Hour. We'll take her to Yoro and he'll take her to the hospital." Takahiro looked down at Unmei. That power of hers... it was dangerous. There was no doubt about that.

With a grunt, he picked her up and carried her to the Command Room where Yoro was. Takahiro was tasked with calming everyone down and assuring them that they will have all their questions answered in due time. He drove Unmei to the hospital just as the Dark Hour ended.

---

One Week Later
-Thursday, April 16th, 2009-
After School

Unmei would awaken in a hospital bed. Once she got the sense of where she was, she would notice Yoromatsu sitting in a chair next to the bed. "Ah, you're awake. Very good."

---

Ken would receive a similar greeting, but when he noticed Takahiro, the older boy would scoff. "'Bout time. How long were you planning on sleeping? Its been a week."

[Unlucky Knight]

One week later
-Thursday April 16th 2009-
After School

He stood in a field of roses, the sky quilted midnight. Ken stood straight, knee deep in roses, wearing all white. Opposite him stood a girl also dressed in white, however she had more skin to reveal than Ken himself. He marveled at her pale skin and jet black hair. He tried to move but he felt stiff, he wanted to touch her so bad. To abuse her, he didn't care it was just a dream, not like it was reality. He felt like a dog being yanked on the collar. He tried to shout in frustration, yet heard nothing. This dream had turned into a nightmare, already. Gritting his teeth, he blinked 3 times and awoke in a hospital bed. He heard Taka's voice muffle in the background as he began to actually wake. "Dam this is embarrassing, listen i'm sorry for what problem i caused, i will make it up to you, i promise this." He said, being so ashamed to look Takahiro straight in the face. He stared at the white blanket he was wrapped in, making him think of the dream he had. "I owe you anyway, for bringing me to the hospital, you can put that on top of my the debt i got to pay"

[Pudding]

Hanabusa stood outside of Ken Tsukino's hospital room. She had in her hand a small boquet of flowers. Hana came just about every afternoon once school finished. Ever since the incident, Hana has had... A strange resounding sense of responsibility to see him, thinking that he helped protect her on the roof from that strange creature. If only she wasn't so scared, he probably wouldn't have ended up in the hospital.

*knock knock*
Hanabusa ripped open the door, cheerfully singing a hello, to an expectingly unconcious Ken.
"Heeeeey! ... OHMIGAWSH! You're awake Kenny-Kun!" Walking over to Takahiro she happily placed the boquet next to his bed. She smiled and said hello to Takahiro. "Hey Taka!".

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything! I came to see how you were doing, I'm uber happy you're awake this time!"