Persona: A Less-Than Cinematic Tale (Starring Hikari of PQ2)

Still, more people to go along with them had never really hurt. "Does everyone here feel well enough to go exploring? We... never actually checked out the rest of this theater." It had been something to consider at first, and then Tsukane had gone missing... Hikari couldn't have considered it when someone needed her help.

"It might be nice to take a closer look," Ribbon agreed. "While you were away, I inspected the main area. There appear to be four theaters, but the doors may be hard to open."

"They're not locked or anything," Shinjiro noted. "They're just really heavy. We should still be able to open at least some of them."

...Right. The two of them didn't really have much to do but sit around the theater. Hikari couldn't think of much that could be done to change that, short of somehow being able to run an ethernet cable between worlds. And that was probably against the dorm rules.

In this case, it worked to her advantage. "Really? I'll... take a look at them for myself."

She approached the theaters themselves, summoning Gullveig and taking a close look at the doors.

There were, as noted, four of them. Theaters Two and Four looked like they could be opened immediately. Theater Three looked like they might have needed an extra person, or some way of making the people they had stronger physically. Theater One looked like they would have needed at least two no matter what enhancements they had.

"We should prop open these doors," She suggested, pointing at the two with even numbers on them. "So... so we have more space to work with. It don't seem like there's anything immediately dangerous... it's even farther in."

"More space sounds nice." Ribbon jumped to try and reach the door handle, but she was just too short for it. "...I wish I was tall."

"I'll handle that part." Shinjiro walked up to her. "Akabori? Hikari-chan?"

Gullveig flickered away. A non-combat Persona was no help when it came to moving heavy objects. "...Right! I'll help!"

---

The doors opened into what appeared to be normal movie theaters. They both looked the same, with rows of soft seats leading down to a wide silver screen. It was the kind of place Hikari always imagined showing her own movies, once she had movies that were good enough to show.

One day, this sort of thing would be hers.

Today, however, she was more focused on the actual contents of the theaters. "I'm sure there's a way to somewhere with Shadows here..." Summoning Gullveig, she cast her senses around. "...Oh. It's the screen."

"Makes sense." No, this didn't make any sort of sense. What was Shinjiro talking about? "There's places you can do the same sort of thing with TVs."

Hikari made a mental note to be very careful with her own television. She was pretty sure Shadows weren't going to jump out, but it wasn't like she could tell for sure. She'd never tried summoning her Persona in the real world, but she already knew it wouldn't be easy.

"So, which one do we explore first?" Tsukane asked. "They must lead to different places."

He had a point. If the orchestral hall and the areas leading up to it were any indication, each area would revolve around a specific concept. Hikari wasn't sure what those concepts were, but it meant the decision did matter. If only she knew what choice to make.


[ ] In the end, Hikari chose to explore Theater Two.

[ ] In the end, Hikari chose to explore Theater Four.

Tsukane Akabori


Age: 18


Arcana: Lovers



A fellow resident of Building 9 who Hikari saved from Phantasmagoria. Plays the viola, and dreams of one day doing so on a public stage.

If given the option, Hikari would have entered Theater One. Doing things in order was a simple way to go about them, and simplicity was rare in this supernatural world.

But Theater One wasn't open. She'd go with the next best option. "How about Theater Two? It... doesn't feel any more dangerous than the other one." That felt strange- like there should have been more of a difference, in one way or the other- but the place she'd found Tsukane had also been like that. Excepting the FOEs, no area had been particularly more dangerous than the others.

"You're the Navigator here," Shinjiro pointed out. "If you think it's safe... you'd know better than the rest of us."

Ribbon nodded. "I cannot offer any assistance. This is not the theater I came from. That theater was mostly destroyed in the battle."

Right... Ribbon was from this place. Her home had to be accessible from one of these theaters.

That was three people in agreement. "Akabori-kun? Any objections?" She didn't want to just discard one person's thoughts if they had another idea. Maybe he was the kind of person who preferred counting from a different direction.

But he just adjusted his scarf with a smile. "One place is as good as the other, isn't it? Maybe if I knew where this was going, but I don't."

They were all in agreement. Good. Hikari would have spent the whole trip doubting herself otherwise, no matter what path was chosen.

"In that case... follow me." It still felt strange, saying that and knowing people would listen. But she didn't doubt they would follow her, as she walked down the aisle of Theater Two and up to the screen.

As she approached the screen, it burst into light. She stepped through, telling herself it couldn't be any weirder than coming to Phantasmagoria in the first place.

The light flowed around her like liquid.

---

It was hot, and it was humid, and the setting sun was getting in Hikari's eyes. Leaves brushed together in the wind, and in the distance, she could hear the calls of jungle creatures.

She turned around, and mud squelched beneath her feet. Where she'd entered the area was a large rectangle of empty space leading back into the theater. The others stepped through after her, and the mud squelched under their feet. It felt like an entirely different world from either Kusoka or Phantasmagoria.

"Maybe we should have brought bug spray..." Tsukane looked like he was already regretting volunteering for this.

"Query: Bug spray?"

"I don't think that'll help us with the Shadows," Shinjiro said. "...Not in any amount we could carry, anyway."

...Well, that was foreboding. "...How big do they get?" Hikari asked.

"I think one of them was bigger than me." Yeah, there was no amount of bug spray that would fix that. "...Hey, what happened to your outfit?"

"My... outfit?" She looked down at herself. Instead of her favorite hoodie, she was wearing a dark blue buttoned jacket with a red ribbon and a gray skirt. "This is... the uniform for my middle school..." It had at least been resized to fit her current self, possibly better than the real thing ever had, and her hat was still there, but... "I haven't worn this since I graduated."

She hoped this didn't mean something had happened to her clothes. She'd liked those clothes. Her middle school uniform was just a collection of ill-advised denim and bad memories.

Tsukane looked down at himself. "Why don't I get a new outfit?" That was a good question. Hikari would have been a lot less unnerved if it wasn't just her.

"There must be something about Hikari that allows her outfit to change. Whatever that quality is, it must be something you do not possess." Ribbon stepped forward, and her foot sank into the mud. "...Similarly, it appears that I am not suited to this environment."

"I don't think anyone wants to go through this mud." Shinjiro pointed ahead, at a central path going straight ahead that was covered in wet mud. "Dunno bout anyone else, but I've only got the one pair of shoes." The two other paths appeared drier, at least. The one on the right looked like it looped around behind the theater portal, while the other curved off in a way that might have connected with the main road, except a quick glance with Gullveig told Hikari it did not.

"Well, that's what you have me for!" Tsukane declared. "Endymion and I can just dry up all the mud!" That did feel tempting... even if it would probably take some time. But what else was fire for? It had been useful for clearing obstacles throughout Phantasmagoria so far, so maybe that pattern would hold?


[ ] Hikari chose to trust Tsukane, and let him dry off the path with Agi.

[ ] Hikari decided to follow a different path.
-[ ] The one on the left.
-[ ] The one on the right.

Hikari eyed the mud. It sat there menacingly. "Akabori-kun... if you think you can do it... then go ahead."

Tsukane didn't need to be told twice. He stepped forward until he was at the very edge of the muddy area. "Endymion! Agi!"

In a swirl of blue light, the shephard appeared above him. He waved his crook, and a line of fire spurted out from it, like it was a magic wand. It wasn't particularly spread out, so it would take a while to dry all the mud, but it was hot enough Hikari was sure it would work.

"Temperatures are rapidly increasing," Ribbon reported. "We should step back, to avoid burns from steam." She followed her own advice, and there was a loud popping noise as her foot was drawn out of the mud.

The steam she spoke of began to appear soon after. It started at the part of the path nearest Tsukane, and spread forward over time.

For a moment, this was all there was.

And then the creatures that lived in the mud started to stir. A pair of black shapes reared their heads, which a red mask sat on top of just like a hat. Two snakes, with metallic symbols attached to their bodies. They could, in theory, have slithered out of them, but... that wasn't how Shadows worked, was it?

Shinjiro hefted his toy axe, which mostly looked threatening because Hikari had seen him defeat Shadows with less. "Looks like we've got company. We'll have to hold them off Akabori while he does his thing."

Well, at least Hikari could contribute now. She examined the serpents with Gullveig.

Lustful Snake. ...Well, that explained the symbols.

Lovers Arcana. ...And that explained the name.

Weak to Ice. ...Which they didn't have. Typical.

Still, there was one good side. "It doesn't have any resistances!" She declared. "So... that's good."

Shinjiro sighed. "...We don't have its weakness?"

"We don't have its weakness." To be fair, they had exactly one element, and he was preoccupied. But this was really getting old.


(Tsukane cannot be commanded in this battle.)


[ ][Party Member] Act Freely.

[ ][Party Member] Full Assault.

[ ][Party Member] Guard.

[ ][Ribbon] Orgia Mode.

[ ][Party Member] Heal/Support.

[ ][Party Member] Debilitate.

The snakes, if Hikari thought about them closely, felt sort of like Ribbon. Like a harmless exterior hid dangerous power. Except these snakes didn't even look harmless.

Fortunately, Ribbon herself was around. "Um... Ribbon... could you try and... stop them from doing things?"

It felt strange to encourage use of that kind of magic. Part of her still expected that most of this adventure would be spent breaking those kinds of chains. She wasn't sure where that idea came from, she hadn't used that power very much, but it was there.

She could put that hesitation to the side, though, if it meant Ribbon could fight more effectively. "Summoning Persona: Ninshubur. Executing skill: Makajam."

The chains wrapped around the snake on the left. It hissed in frustration before lunging at Tsukane... and being knocked back into the fire by Endymion's still-burning staff.

The snake on the right observed this, and, choosing not to repeat that mistake, started slithering around on the ground at the edges of the flames, symbol decorations scoring the path as it went. With any group that didn't have a Navigator, it might have succeeded at its attempt at stealth.

However, this group had Hikari. "Aragaki-san, it's coming around on your side!"

Part of her had wondered, back when they found the toy weapons, what a plastic axe was going to do to anything. Now, watching as Shinjiro landed a blow directly on the serpent's mask, she had to admit it worked pretty well.

Ribbon watched, as well. "Should I assist?" She asked.

"If... if you want to." She was the combat Persona User. She'd know if she was able to effectively contribute.

"Executing skill: Makajam." And the poison that had been gathering around the snake's fangs vanished. From there, it was really just a matter of hitting them both hard enough.

Fortunately, that was the one thing this group excelled in.

---

Even after receiving the Agi treatment, the path was still soft enough for them to leave a conspicuous trail of footprints.

Hikari wasn't that worried, since she hadn't sensed anything in the area that might want to track them, but... she remembered Overseer Eye. That fact could very well change. She'd keep the thought in mind, even if there was nothing she could do until it happened.

"I think we must be getting somewhere." Tsukane pointed down the trail. "Look!"

Off in the distance was an electric fence. It was clearly turned on, the electricity arcing along the bars completely visible and white-hot. Hikari thought it sounded a bit like an old television, like her schoolteachers used to use when they wanted to use a video to demonstrate.

...Or maybe like a bug zapper. This was the jungle, after all.

"If any of us were to touch that gate, it would surely be fatal," Ribbon declared. "We should try to find a way around it."

If only that were possible. "I... I don't think we can do that. When I checked with Gullveig earlier, none of the other paths led near here." She also didn't need her Persona to know that Ribbon's assessment of the fence was correct. "There must be some way to turn it off." If only they had a brilliant hacker, like in spy movies...

"Perhaps that terminal over there?" Ribbon gestured at a green metal box. It was covered in dirt, as if it had been abandoned there a long time ago.

Shinjiro inspected the box. "I don't see a switch or anything."

He was right. Where there might normally have been some kind of button, there was instead a hole shaped like... a human face? Or maybe a theatre mask?

"It looks kinda like those masks the snakes had," Tsukane remarked. "Maybe we should have grabbed one?"

"Wouldn't work. The masks die with the Shadow." Shinjiro poked at the hole. The hole didn't respond. "There must be something we can use for it somewhere else."

"We could... check another part of the jungle," Hikari suggested. "We still have some daylight." And even if they didn't find something for this particular hole, maybe there'd still be something useful.

...She still needed to figure out what to do with all that candy. For now, though, that would remain a problem for Future Hikari.


[ ] "We... could take the path left of the entrance?"

[ ] "We... we could take the path to our left?"