xxii_thefool | [musebox] clockwork maze, end unknown

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[musebox] clockwork maze, end unknown

"Aaaaah, stop screwing around!" The uncharacteristic shout rings through the twisting corridors; whirling around where she stands, Minako hauls off and kick the wall with enough force to halfway dislodge her shoe from her foot.

This whole excursion is really starting to seem like maybe it was doomed from the beginning. It was scraped together on the shortest of notice - Minako came clattering down the stairs of the dorm at all of a quarter after eleven to announce that they needed to go to Tartarus tonight and could not be talked out of it - and to make matters worse it's one of those nights when the maze is even more unstable than usual. Practically every other floor, it seems, has been a trick floor, as though the tower itself is throwing obstacles into their path, resisting their upward progress.

Maybe it is. Minako hasn't said anything, but there's a certain edge of impatience in the way she's torn through the Shadows they've encountered, as though the fighting is purely an inconvenience to be gotten quickly out of the way - a focus like she's looking for something, something more specific than the way up to the next level or whatever internal marker it is that she uses to decide when they've gone far enough for one night. Whatever it is, it's important, enough to keep her pressing stubbornly on even after a near-miss with the Reaper forced them to scramble madly for the stairs two floors ago.

Now Tartarus is playing its tricks again: they've come up the last set of stairs to find the maze blanketed in darkness, the team scattered. Even their contact with Fuuka has gone out, the last straw that drove Minako to kick the wall and yell at the labyrinth to stop screwing around! like she thinks it can actually understand her.

The fit of pique passes quickly; she draws in a deep breath, huffs it out again in aggravation, and takes a moment to collect herself and get her foot properly back into her shoe. Then she straightens and starts looking around, taking in the situation with calmer eyes. "...it's okay," she murmurs. "We've done this before, just gotta be careful..."

She adjusts her grip more securely on the haft of her naginata, propping her other hand against her hip, and the butt end of the weapon strikes a rhythmic little tap-tap-tap against the tiled floor as Minako peers into the darkness and considers which direction to take.

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For his part, Shinjiro cursed when he realized the team had been separated. Tartarus was in fine form tonight, and he was thoroughly sick of it. He let out an aggravated sigh as he looked around. It was dark enough that he had trouble seeing, but he was pretty sure there was only one way for him— forward. So he hefted his axe over his shoulder and started forward, intent on finding Minako and the others and getting on with it.

Being back in the fight again still felt odd to Shinjiro, although this certainly wasn't his first excursion since his unexpected return. The axe felt both familiar and unusual at the same time, and Castor rested heavily inside his head. There was that quiet, uneasy feeling that he would lose control again—

No. Not now. Shinjiro shook his head to clear the thoughts from his head. There were times to dwell on the past, but in the middle of Tartarus wasn't one of them.

Shinjiro paused suddenly as he heard a noise. His eyes tracked through the darkness, searching... searching...

"Aw, crap!" he cried out, swinging his axe into ready position. Although Fuuka's voice wasn't ringing out to warn him, he could tell this was one of the stronger Shadows.

And he would have to face it alone. Wonderful. In the corner of his mind, he cursed Akihiko for dragging him back.

Meanwhile--

Navigating the maze was tricky enough even with Fuuka mapping for them and relaying directions from outside. Without that guidance, Minako was forced to rely on the make-do tactic of taking every right-hand turn - keeping the wall perpetually to her right meant following it into and back out of every single dead end, but at least it kept her from going in circles without knowing it.

It wasn't a very efficient method, but she thought she was making some kind of progress... at least until she heard the echo of Shinjiro's voice from somewhere out of sight amidst the twisting passageways, and suddenly the longer, more careful path seemed far too slow.

Without pause for second thought, Minako bolted away from the wall she'd been following toward the sound of that startled shout, tracking the direction by guesswork and instinct. Thoughts drummed in the back of her mind with each slap of her feet against the floor - she'd seen for herself already how tough he was, but nevertheless, none of them should fight alone in here, and she was the one who insisted they come tonight, so anything that happened was her responsibility as the leader--

Sound echoed deceptively within the maze, giving precious little idea of direction or distance until the very moment that Minako darted around a corner and the Shadow was simply right there, so abruptly that she nearly skidded to a stop. "Whoa--!"

A quick look took in the sight of it, and Shinjiro standing alone beyond it - one of the big samurai types, and even without Fuuka's scanning abilities to tell them its name and Arcana she knew enough to know it was one of the tough ones, strong and faster than anything with that much armor should've been. This wasn't going to be easy.

First things first-- "Senpai!" Minako called out past the Shadow to Shinjiro, already reaching for her Evoker as she visualized the Tarot card turning over to show the face of the Priestess.

Shinjiro doesn't spare the breath to hiss out a sigh of relief as he hears Minako's voice. Every breath counts in battle, after all. But the feeling was there, a bright and hot flash of gratitude that someone had shown up after all. It didn't beat a whole team, but dammit, it was something. A pretty significant something, with her power.

And speaking of her power, he took one last swipe with his axe at the Shadow before moving back just a little farther from it to give clearance for whatever Persona Minako was about to unleash on it. He cast his thoughts to his next attack, narrowing his eyes as he considered the possibilities.

Unleash on it - not quite. The figure that took shape out of the air between Minako and the Shadow as the report of her Evoker reverberated through the darkness was the pink and white and gold of Parvati, and the Persona waved the lotus in her hand not at the monster but at Shinjiro himself. In the next moment, light welled up around him with the faint pins-and-needles sensation of a defense-boosting Rakukaja.

"Sorry I'm late!" Minako called out as her Persona vanished from sight again. She sounded far too cheerful for the situation - but then again, the disproportionately casual tone of her voice really didn't match up at all to the expression on her face. That was pure focus, alert and quite serious as she edged a few quick sideways steps to keep both the Shadow and her teammate in her line of sight, possibilities cascading through her thoughts.

In any case, there was hardly time for conversation. Even as Minako turned the card behind her eyes from the Priestess to the Fool, the Shadow moved to strike, sweeping out the blade of its entirely-too-long-sword.

"Look out!" Minako called in unnecessary warning.

Shinjiro would argue the necessity of that warning. He tried to dodge, but cursed as the Shadow nicked him anyway. Still, he thought with a grimace, he was pretty sure it would've gone worse without her warning. Or without that skill of hers. Defense was never his specialty, and he'd definitely been saved from worse injury.

"Better late than never," he called back even as his fingers closed around his own Evoker. The echo of reverberation sounded and he called out his Persona's name. "Castor!"

The cool surge of strength washed over him as his Power Charge took effect, and a slow smirk crossed his face. This next blow was going to hurt. But even as the words for his next attack were about to cross his lips, the Shadow was on the move again, its next attack aimed at Minako.

There were so many things to keep track of in battle. By this point Minako scarcely even thought about it - if she did it would honestly be kind of mind-boggling, but mostly there was a flow to it, knowing her friends' abilities and their preferred styles and which Persona would give her what ability to best dovetail with them and give them as a team the edge against the enemy.

She hadn't fought alongside Shinjiro for as long as she had the others, but she learned fast and he hadn't made it difficult. Castor's Power Charge flared brightly in the dark hallway, clearly illuminating her own next move: Rakunda to weaken the Shadow's defenses against Shinjiro's powered-up assault for an even more devastating effect.

All of this went through her mind in an instant, almost too quick for conscious thought. Holding the image in her thoughts, she raised her Evoker again--

--only to realize almost too late that the Shadow was coming at her, that long sword lashing out with the speed of a striking snake.

No time to dive out of the way; scrambling reflexively backwards, Minako fired the Evoker again, insubstantial fragments of bluish energy spraying through her head. The round and incongruously cartoonish shape of Black Frost manifested just in the nick of time to serve as an impromptu shield, and the Shadow's blade carves across the Persona's body instead of her own - she still felt it, couldn't quite bite back a yelp of pain, but it was better than being cut open.

By force of will Minako held Black Frost together long enough for the Rakunda to glitter off the Shadow's armor, then let it go, breath gasping out of her from effort and the lingering sensation of the sword sort-of-not-quite ripping into her. "--stupid--" she hissed at herself under her breath, and then her voice rose more loudly: "Senpai, wreck it!"

—wait did she—

Never mind. She wasn't falling yet, so he could wait a moment to see if she needed help. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the Shadow, and he could tell that his teeth were showing through the grin that illuminated his face. He may not have Akihiko's love of fighting, but damned if it didn't feel at least a little good when he knew he was about to kick some ass. He raised his Evoker to his head.

"You got it," he said. And then he fired once more, his vision momentarily filled with the bluish sparks of energy. But he knew where to aim, and more importantly, Castor knew what to do.

God's Hand. The attack took a bit out of him, certainly, but the sheer devastation it could cause— especially with his heightened offense and the enemy's weakened defense— made it the best choice to move forward.

Plus, Shinjiro had to admit to himself that it was really satisfying to see a giant fist pummeling a Shadow from on high.

WHOOM. Like the hand of God indeed, Castor's power crashed down upon the shadow with a tremendous CRUNCH of impact that reverberated through the dark corridors. Under that force, the Shadow seemed almost to crumple like an aluminum can, and for a moment it lay sprawled on the floor as though it had no fight left in it.

Then, with a scraping like metal on metal, it began to pick itself up. Black ichor oozed thickly from the cracks in its mangled armor, and its grip on that long sword sagged - that single strike clearly hurt it badly, but it wasn't quite dead yet.

"Geez, what's with this thing--?" Minako shoved her Evoker back into its holster and hefted her naginata back into both hands. Darting forward with a quick patter of footsteps, she swung the blade of the polearm at the Shadow...

...and cut only air. Despite its sorry state, the Shadow somehow managed to dodge away, and Minako's eyes widened momentarily in dismay as she watched it begin to gather its strength. The air around it fairly crackled with the familiar cool energy of a Power Charge.

"Not good--" She grabbed hastily for her Evoker again, turning the card in her mind on instinct: The Hierophant. A gamble, and her luck had been bad all night, but-- "Gotta finish this fast." Without Fuuka's support she couldn't be sure, but she thought she remembered the pattern of this type's weaknesses-- "Daisoujo!"

The Evoker's report rang out, and the eerie figure of the mummified monk coalesced out of nothing to regard the Shadow with its rictus grin.

Lines of golden light inscribed themselves along the floor, tracing the shape and symbols of an arcane circle around the Shadow, and then the bell gripped in Daisoujo's skeletal fingers chimed and the purifying light of Hamaon flared to dazzling life.

When effective, Hama skills were breathtaking in their simple brutality, and this was no exception. The light subsumed the Shadow, and just like that, it was vanquished. Shinjiro let out a rush of breath, a rush of relief flowing through him. His fighting style suited him, but he did appreciate it when others used more esoteric skills.

Now that everything was said and done for the moment, he tucked away his Evoker. It'd be needed again, and who could say how long with the looming darkness around them, but there were other things to take care of in this respite. He dug through his pockets, looking for something in particular as he headed over to Minako.

"Here," he said as he held out the Medical Powder to her. "You probably need this after that blow."

"Ah?" For just a second or two in the wake of the Shadow's disappearance, Minako seemed distracted, her attention elsewhere, but she snapped out of it immediately at the sound of Shinjiro's voice. She blinked up at him in momentary vague surprise, taking in the sight of the medicine he offered her, and then smiled. "Thank you. I think I'm okay, though."

Looking down, she gave herself a quick patdown by way of demonstration that she wasn't injured - as though physical injury were the only way for a Shadow to hurt someone. "Yep, insides all still on the inside."

The almost flippant assurance didn't keep her from reaching to accept the little packet of Medical Powder, but rather than opening it immediately, instead she looked back up at Shinjiro with brows drawing together in concern. "What about you, Senpai? It clipped you a bit, didn't it?" Even as she asked, she looked him over for signs of injury.

Shinjiro didn't look entirely convinced, but he decided to let it go for now. Instead, he nodded slightly at her question, indicating his left arm. The sleeve upper sleeve was torn from the Shadow's sword, and there was some blood seeping from it. It wasn't anything dangerous, but he knew it would need some treatment.

"Yeah, it got me a little," he admitted, shrugging slightly. "It'll keep for now, though. I'll just take a Medicine and take care of it later."

With those words, he dug again through his pockets until he found what he was looking for. Although he could tell he wasn't up to 100% after it, the Medicine did at least seem to stop the flow, so Shinjiro decided to count it as a win. He looked around into the gloom that permeated this floor, his mind already away from his injury.

"This place is really screwing around with us tonight, huh?"

At his shrug, Minako began to lift her chin, clearly prepared to be stubborn - a side effect of spending the past several months dealing with Akihiko and his tendency to try to "walk off" injuries in outright defiance of common sense - but seeing Shinjiro at least willing to take something gave her pause. In the end, she made a dissatisfied face but elected not to say anything more about it.

For now, anyway.

Instead, she occupied herself with taking her own medicine - literally and metaphorically - making a whole series of exaggerated ick faces at the bitter taste of the powder. Eugh.

The grimace had yet to leave her face when Shinjiro spoke again. "It really is," she agreed, the words coming out on a rueful sigh. Crumpling the now empty packet in her hand to stuff it into her own pocket, she turned an apologetic look toward him. "Sorry."

It was really a struggle not to smile at the faces Minako kept making at the medicine. Fortunately, Shinjiro persevered with what he hoped was no traces of the softer emotion on his face. It would be an awkward explanation, to be sure, and not one that was needed right here and now. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the leader, his eyebrows raising up until they disappeared entirely under the brim of his beanie.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" he asked, a mild edge of surprise tinging his voice. Truly, he didn't know.

Even as he spoke, his eyes were darting around for a sign of— something. The others, a Shadow, whatever there might be. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy spending time with her— far from it— but... there was a "but" there, but he wasn't sure how to define it. Just a vague feeling of some kind of anticipation whenever he was around her. Good? Bad? Who could say.

Minako met his eyes earnestly, a bit surprised herself that he'd asked - she'd half expected him to be at least a little bit annoyed, would not have blamed him if he had been. "I'm the one who said we had to come tonight," she pointed out.

That it didn't seem to have even occurred to him was encouraging, anyway. The beginnings of a smile flickered across her face, relieved and grateful and still apologetic in equal measures, before she too looked away. Counting floors in her head, she searched for some sense of orientation in the dark maze.

"Even though it's been a mess, we can't call it a night just yet, either." As she spoke, Minako shifted her grip on her naginata back into both hands... just in case. "We need to find the others, and then..." Her voice trailed off for a moment, before her face turned back towards Shinjiro again. "Just a few more floors. It shouldn't be any farther than that, I hope."

Shinjiro huffs, faintly amused. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be," he said. And maybe she didn't know all of his reasons for wanting to, but it was nevertheless the truth. He hefted his axe against his shoulder, using it to carry the weight. "I don't have anything better to do, anyway."

He glanced back at her again, again fighting off a smile when he sees hers forming. He shakes his head to himself, and then goes back to searching the darkness. There wasn't any sign of anyone yet, but... He strained his ears. He thought he could hear something, but if it was another Shadow or one of the others, he just couldn't tell.

"So, what is it you're looking for, anyway?"

Minako had her benchmarks, and hell if he could figure out how she came up with them, but she hadn't led them wrong yet. Still, he had to wonder... What was it this time that had her pressing forward?

"That's--" But then Minako stopped, and rather than say anything else right away she turned to look behind her, venturing a few steps down the corridor for as much of a better look as she could get while still remaining within sight.

"We probably shouldn't keep standing still," she said when she turns back to face him again, as that were all they'd been discussing. "I don't want to run into that Reaper thing again. I think I came from that way, so..."

'What are you looking for?' Simple question, complicated answer. There were a lot of things Minako hadn't been in the habit of explaining her reasons for, but then again, of everyone she thought that Shinjiro might understand what it was to have things one couldn't answer questions about.

To be trusted, you had to offer trust.

"There's someone lost in here," she said, with no more than a brief hitch between that statement and the one before as though it were all part of the same thought. "Like Fuuka was, but with no Persona to protect them. If we don't find them in time, they'll end up like all those other people, without their minds."

The Reaper. Now there's a guy Shinjiro had absolutely zero interest in facing. He nodded his agreement at that statement, falling into step behind her so that she could lead the way. It's funny how he'd gotten into that habit in such a short time, but he honestly didn't mind. She was so level-headed in a fight that it made it easy to listen to what she had to say.

Like now... "Now there's a damned good reason," he acknowledged. And a thousand more questions sprang forward— how did she know they were here, how did she know where— but he let them stay in his head. It was enough that she had answered.

And frankly, it was more than he'd expected. Not that she seemed like a secretive person so much as one who wasn't often questioned in these matters. Whatever reason she'd found to explain herself, it was appreciated. He opened his mouth to thank her, but—

He strained his ears again, listening. He was certain there was someone or something around here, but with the damned darkness around them, who could even tell? Damn Tartarus anyway, stupid tower and its stupid shifting twists and turns and tricks. They'd be well enough rid of it once their mission was ended.

Not that he'd be there to see it.

She couldn't even have said what it was that made her so happy, or why it seemed to important that Shinjiro should think of her as someone he could trust. Maybe why didn't matter. Buoyed by the reassurance of having him at her back, Minako flashed him a quick smile that lit up her face, and for a short distance along the dark hallway her steps had a bit of a spring to them that hadn't been there before.

Caution reasserted itself quickly, though. It didn't do to be careless in this place, especially with only the two of them and without the benefit of Fuuka's guiding voice. Pausing at a junction that branched off to either side into the darkness, Minako glanced back to Shinjiro again, and whatever she saw in his demeanor was enough to cause her to pitch her voice a little lower.

"What is it?" she asked him quietly. "Did you hear something?"

Shinjiro found himself thinking Her smile looks like sunshine and was suddenly pathetically grateful that Persona didn't give people the ability to read minds. He turned his eyes away from her, the thought that he could end up just staring at her lingering in his mind. He took a deep, steadying breath before answering her question.

"I'm hearing something, but I can't tell if it's one of the others or if it's another Shadow," he responded, glancing around again. "The way our luck seems to be running today, I'd bet on the latter."

Just in case, he gripped his axe a little tighter. It didn't hurt to be prepared, and if it was one of the others, they were probably just as wary. It's too bad Fuuka didn't seem to be in contact with them right now. It's strange how quickly he'd grown accustomed to her backup. This team really did work well together.

A wry little laugh hitched out of Minako as she dipped her head in acknowledgement of his point. "No kidding. Well..."

Facing the intersection directly, she squared her stance and drew in a long breath. The spark of humor from a moment before left her expression in favor of a look of intent focus; visualizing the face of the Priestess card, she brought Parvati back to the surface of her mind and closed her eyes, listening intently for the hint of sound that Shinjiro had heard. Her own Priestess Arcana Personas were no substitute for Lucia's true sensory powers, but in this kind of situation you worked with what you had.

The right-hand passage, she decided, and opening her eyes she looked over her shoulder toward Shinjiro and shrugged. "There's only one way to find out, right?"

And with that, she started forward again, turning to the right and striding along the corridor with purposeful energy.

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[musebox] clockwork maze, end unknown

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