TARTARUS ● DARK HOUR ● NEW MOON ● HARABAH 3 FLOORS LATER

Waking up is okay.

Waking up from a death trance: TERRIFYINGLY WEIRD.

After Ryoji disappered into a blinding dust of golden light, Minako thought the scary part was over. That was until she's woken up gasping and clawing her throat for air like a fish out of water (at least that's what she felt it as). She assumed her body was dead for some time now and then all of a sudden the organs began functioning again which gave the system a shock thus, the extreme disorientation.

Having regained better sight after the various clawing and coughing, she now recognize the ceiling she has come to wake up to. The familiar color of red and violet printed with random circles patterned like an 80s disco center relieved her. At the same time, the view made her feel queasy and disappointed for ending up on the same place.

She managed to pull herself up into a sitting position with her legs still sprawled out feeling like jello. The image of a gelatinous desert made her hungry, but worried whether a used-to-be dead body should eat immediately after rebirth. Her mouth set on a hard line. Thanks to her trip from the afterlife, her priorities have become more messed up than usual.

She quickly scanned around her trying to detect whether she was on the same floor. Sadly not. Not the same floor but same block, a good start, she thought.

She pulled herself up to her feet, holding the Naginata and the adjacent wall for balance, testing her legs out when a sudden ripple of energy came out from her then bounced right back. At first she got confused what that was thinking she developed some kind of vertigo post death, until her brain began mapping out the entire floor giving her a full view of every nook and cranny there is to see.

"Whoa." She blinked. "That's new."

That wasn't the only thing that shocked her. Tartarus before felt like a prison. A place of darkness and looming death. But this time, Minako felt as if Tartarus welcomed her. Weird but better. She patted the walls as if saying thanks to the labyrinth for not eating her alive (only almost), and for spitting her back out despite being a corpse then allowing her to be revived.

As if a response, a pulsating feeling reverberated in her gut. She touched the wall once more and there she felt a sign of life seeping through the cracks. She wasn't sure which floor it was from but she was positive it came from above.

Minako began to wonder whether she's becoming like Fuuka who could sense other people wherever she was, but a voice inside her told her Tartarus's influence was affecting her because she almost became one with the dungeon. Nevertheless, she was thankful for the additional power. It'll be easier for her now to locate the missing human. Not knowing until when Tartarus's gift will last, Minako trudged to the nearest route her mind map could provide.

* * * *

Having Tartarus Maps is very convenient. Like Google Maps but better. Not only does it allow you to have a perfect full eagle's eye view of the whole floor in one tap of the wall or the floor, it also helps you detect the closest route and the least shadow crowded route for ease of commute.

Although, the shadows were the least of Minako's problems. There were fairly plenty of them in one floor but once the creatures sensed her, they either ignored her or ran away from her. What bothered her was whether she'd feel glad that they were not trying to attack her or be sad because she's being treated like an insect repellent―a shadow repellent to be precise.

Waving the idea aside, Minako continued her scouting. It was an easy walk knowing where the stairs were and which areas to avoid. It did seem like that, until three floors later.

Reaching her current floor was fine, but receiving the abrupt blast of energy on that floor was intense.

The sign of life feels the strongest here, she thought.

She touched the nearest wall on her side and immediately the map panned out in her mind. At first it felt fine, but when the map finally finished sketching the courses in her head, her mouth hung open. The floor was four times wider than the previous floors she's been to. Earlier it felt like a stroll in the park, but the view was too overwhelming that it was making her feel nauseous.

She winced, staggering to her side, "Ah crap, that felt like a roller coaster drop."

Anybody who's been to a roller coaster that had a high drop plunge will know that the feeling is no joking matter.

Still uneasy of the floor, she anchored herself to a blind spot hoping no shadow will detect her for a while. She began to think of a faster method to seek out the missing human. There was no way she could search for the person in this large of a maze. She'll exhaust herself even before she could find him or her. Plus, her head was throbbing. If only she could detect where the sign of life was coming from like how she could detect shadows, it'll give her the leverage to spot the person easier without exerting more energy. Then it hit her.

She closed her eyes and remembered what she pictured in her head to detect the shadow. Then she shifted the image to a more suitable symbol to imagine for the sign of life.

"Show me the strongest heart beat from mine."

Instantly a rupture of energy escaped from her feet forming rings of charges on the ground. She squeezed her eyes tight focusing on the image.

In about ten seconds, a lub-dub-lub-dub echoed in her head somewhere East. Guided by her radar, she sprinted towards the pulse, carefully following the marked routes in her head. In less than a minute, she found herself face to face with a small girl in a jumper skirt over pink striped sweater and sneakers, crouched next to the access point; a glowing green like couldron that serves as a portal directly connected to the entrance of Tartarus.

She ran to the child's side tapping her lightly on the shoulder.

The child looked up and her eyes were swollen from crying.

"It's alright now." Minako pulled her in for a hug and the child started stifling a sob. "What's your name?" She whispered as she pulled away.

"Akira." the child said wiping off her snot.

Minako put down her Naginata and brushed Akira's disheveled fringe away from her face, "Hello Akira, I'm Minako. I'm here to help. I can help you go home."

Akira's eyes widened. She clung to Minako's arm, staring at her intently. "Then you must help mister too!" She exclaimed.

"Mister?" Minako repeated. "Weren't you the only one missing?"

Akira shook her head, "A boy your age found me and told me to use the portal to escape. I was being followed by a huge monster larger than a statue, so mister lured it away so I could escape. But I don't know how to use the portal."

Minako fell silent. She thought to herself: Finding the child was one thing, but now there's another? Theodore said there was only one. Why is there―

A memory stunned her thoughts. If her hunch is correct, it's definitely that person.

She smiled back to Akira and hoisted her up to stand up. "Akira, I will save that mister, okay? For now you should get out of here."

"Will you really be able to save him?"

"Of course!" Minako posed for a strong look.

Akira smiled.

"Now," Minako led her to the access point, "Listen up. This portal will send you directly back to the entrance. You will meet two of my allies there: a girl and a pup. Make sure to tell the girl how you ended up here up until the part where I found you. Tell her as well that I'll be back soon along with the mister who saved you. Can you do that?"

Akira made a salute.

"Good girl." Minako patted her head.

Minako gave her a tight hug then proceeded to activate the access point for her. She gave her a tight smile until Akira disappeared into glowing green light. As soon as the child vanished, she gripped on to her Naginata tightly.

She tried to do that trick with the radar earlier, but there was no sign of life similar to hers. If Akira hadn't mentioned another human was also here, she wouldn't have thought about the possibility that he was still in there.

Minako began to panic. How can she find a sign of life if there was no such thing left on that floor. She recalled what Akira had said: The mister lured the monster so I could escape.

If her wits weren't failing her, the monster meant a shadow. The mister was luring a shadow so big, bigger than a statue. A golem? A tower? But none of those clicked. Floor shadows are territorial and would stick to the area they began to form. Why would a shadow need to be lured away and how come it can be lured away?

She winced. Something felt wrong. Earlier when she scanned for a shadow first before searching for a sign of life, the floor felt easily barren as if it had been abandoned for a while now.

A chill ran down her spine. She didn't like the idea she was having. It was as if she had heard Fuuka tell her she has a bad feeling. And Minako hoped, it wasn't what she think it was.