Persona Crossover Recommendation #1: Into Fire and Into Ice

(Persona/Multicross)

-I wasn't really sure what to label this story as so I ended up going with what the author categorized it as. This one could've been something absolutely unique and amazing but unfortunately it was dropped right when it was about to get good. I'm still recommending it just on the quality of the work and for what it could've been. If you're fine with that, give it a try.-

Author: Undying Soul98

Words: 56k

Rating: N/A

Link: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/into-fire-and-into-ice-persona-multicross-si.672388/

Synopsis: Another Fool steps into the ring and starts his own ever-winding journey to seek the depths of the Labyrinth. But some things are best left unlearnt, and all Dreamers eventually…

Writing Style: Plot-Centric

Note: For those of you who hate the comments that pop up after each chapter on Spacebattles, there's a button that's called "Reader Mode" that'll make all the comments go away.

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Chapter 1

There, steering us in an ancient ferry

Came an old man with a white bush of hair,

Bellowing: "Woe to you depraved souls! Bury

Here and forever all hope of Paradise:

I come to lead you to the other shore,

Into eternal dark, into fire and ice.

And you who are living yet, I say begone

From these who are dead."

Dante's Inferno, Canto III

The darkness was all consuming and silent. It wrapped around me like a blanket. Almost numbly, I realised that I was dreaming. I wasn't sure when I'd fallen asleep, or for how long I'd been here, but that wasn't important. No. I opened my eyes, and in the distance, I saw a painful glow and realised it to be light.

A blue butterfly fluttered away from me, moving almost sporadically. It was far away, to such a degree that it was only a speck, but it grew closer by the second, until eventually I was only meters away from it.

I continued to watch it, wondering whether my subconscious was having a joke with me about butterflies dreaming of being people.

Finally, it landed on my open palm. It studied me curiously for a moment, before fluttering away with great haste into the engulfing darkness.

With a voiceless cry I lunged out for it, unwilling to be alone like this, but it was already gone.

I had no clue how long I waited, hoping for it to come back, before my eyes slid shut once more, and I waited for the dream to end.

XXXXXXXXXX

I knew for a fact that I had just woken up, and yet for the life of me, I couldn't help but feel that I was still fast asleep. I hadn't even opened my eyes yet, and I already knew these weren't my ordinary surroundings. I wasn't lying in bed, but rather sat upright upon a comfortable chair. The lighting was wrong too- a lot darker than my own room normally is. And there was a haunting, melancholic voice ringing in my ears- just quiet enough that it was almost background noise. A song that sung to me on the deepest level.

And then I opened my eyes, and it only reinforced the idea that this had to be a dream. "Well shit, is this a hallucination?"

Across from me, a serene voice chuckled a little. The incredibly long nosed man leaned over his table to inspect me and offered a smile. "I believe you already know the answer to that question, Dreamer."

I did. Because even in my sleep deprived state, I recognised the sharply dressed man as Igor- the fictional 'servant' that managed the Velvet Room from the Persona franchise. The stereotypical, mysteriously vague Gandalf figure responsible for assisting his guests as they proceeded through their quests to inevitably fight some evil god of some kind for the fate of the world while enduring the horrors of Japanese highschool.

And I just so happened to be in a blue tinted room, across the table from an Igor lookalike, with a white/blonde-haired girl standing off to one side- an implacable expression upon her features. And so, if I was here, then that meant… "Please tell me I'm not a guest. Please tell me that this isn't one of those damned Self-Insert scenarios. That this is just some crazy dream."

Igor shook his head. "Again, you already know the answer."

"Damn. There go any hopes of self-delusion on my end." Unfortunately, I was far too cognizant for this to be a hallucination, and I wasn't dumb enough to block my ears and hide away from the truth. "I guess I can't deny it. As strange as it all is, for the minute I'm willing to accept that this situation is happening. I'm in Persona… somehow. And I'm in this Room. So… go on. Hit me."

Because the only time somebody shows up in the Velvet Room, it's when shits about to get real weird real quick. And I'd just started university- the perfect launching point for an 'adventure'.

"I am happy to see that you catch on quickly. However, do not be in too much of a rush. Allow me my pleasantries, at the very least."

I rolled my eyes, looking around my room a tad bit impatiently.

He cleared his throat. "My name is Igor, and it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Velvet Room. This place stands between dreams and reality, and mind and matter… though I fear the boundary is far less nowadays than it once was. And to my left stands Lavenza, another resident of this place."

I took the moment to look at the attendant a bit more closely and couldn't help but let out a whistle of surprise. I knew that she'd looked familiar, but the name confirmed it. This was the attendant of Persona 5's MC-kun, or rather the final fused form of his two attendants. She looked quite a bit older, however. Whereas in the game she handily filled the role of the 'token loli', she now looked closer in age to myself. She still had the same kind smile, and was still on the petite side, but her looks had definitely been refined with time.

At the very least, I didn't feel like a real pedo for admitting that she looked rather nice now.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you." I admitted.

She bowed respectfully but didn't seem offended. "While I have already served as an attendant for one Trickster, that was mostly through the capacity of my two separate selves. This time you shall have my aid as Lavenza, and I hope that you find that satisfactory."

"I don't think I'll have a problem." I admitted. She was polite at the very least, so I doubted that I'd have any problems interacting with her while Persona-ing. Heavens knows how I would have been able to put up with a brat like Caroline instead…

"So then, Dreamer, should we come to crux of the matter?" Igor asked.

"I think so." I shuffled forwards a little on my chair, eagerly. Part of me still couldn't quite believe that this was happening, but I didn't dare not take this seriously.

So, at my behest, Igor began. "You are about to go upon a journey- a vast Odyssey, one could almost describe it. However, unlike the heroes of old your path does not lead onwards, nor will you be ascending towards greater things. No. Dreamer, would you care to tell me what this Velvet Room looks like?"

"Well, I don't actually know." I admitted. I'd been taking in the decor ever since I first woke up, but I still didn't know what to make of it. Steel surrounded us on all sides, turning the room almost into a cage, and yet there were no bars. A single light fixture hung from the centre of the room, which bathed my surroundings in a dark blue tinge. I guessed it might have been an elevator, especially since we were definitely in motion, based upon the shifting of fixed lights I noticed outside of the 'cage' through thin, window like slots- but that didn't feel right.

So, I stepped up and walked over to one of the slits, looking for a more concrete look. As I approached, I noticed that I could hear a whirring sound. I gulped and stuck my head outside a little- it was so damned difficult trying to see anything. I saw rock and stone walls, too far away to touch, but close enough to feel oppressive. And then by craning my head, I saw an infinite blackness both above and below, with a chain hanging onto the top of the cage that I could narrowly see lead up into the shadows.

"We're descending." I said aloud. "This is a mining shaft."

Igor applauded, and motioned for me to return to my seat, which I did so. "You are correct. This is a Mining Cage, and I am sure you are aware of how the shape of the Velvet Room ties into the journey itself."

"Boy am I. And just seeing what my room looks like makes me despair for this 'quest'." I sure didn't like what the symbolism of an enclosed cage rapidly descending into the darkness of an infinite mine shaft represented for my future.

"If you truly despair for your future, then perhaps a reading could shed some light upon your circumstances." Somehow, a set of blue tarot cards were already in his hands and fanned before me. That Igor had some mad dexterity. "This is the least I can do as service. Would you care to see?"

"Sure." I shrugged. I had never exactly put much stock in fortune telling, which was funny considering how my mum actually made a living teaching yoga and selling tarot reading, but what could you do? I liked to consider myself an open sceptic. You can believe in what you want and I won't deny those views or thoughts even if I can't agree- and at the very least I try to remain open minded to things I don't properly understand.

And if Igor was offering it, then I was sure that it would prove metaphorically significant in some fashion.

"Very well then. I shall now begin." He deftly shuffled his cards, before laying seven down in a V like shape. He flipped over the first, revealing the image of a structure being melted down by a dragon's fire, while an all-seeing eye hung above- watching. "The Tower. A curious choice of a first card, especially as it represents your past."

"Ruin, destruction, upheaval." I listed out with my fingers. "That really doesn't seem to suit me at all." I'd lived a perfectly normal life before I woke up here and had no clue why I even was here. My life was no worse than anybody else's, and what painful moments I did have in my past I wasn't arrogant enough to consider them much worse than anyone else's. Suffice to say, I hadn't experienced any 'ruin' lately- that was for sure.

"Do not be so hasty. The Arcana reveals all, and just because you cannot identify the meaning, does not mean it isn't there." Igor chided me lightly. "The Tower also means the old making way for the new, spiritual renewal, and revelations. Suffice to say, your old burdens have definitely been lifted from your shoulders, and the ruin should not be feared so highly as it has already long since happened."

"So, if my past if Ruin, what is my present?"

Indulgingly, he flipped the second card, a man with a tiger latched at his side, while an umbilical cord wraps around him thrice. "As expected, you are presently the Fool. A new journey begins… though I will not claim that this was an unexpected card to either of us. The next one though…"

The third one, my future, was revealed. A sideways body with the head of an eagle, clutching a rod of some kind. "The Aeon."

"The Aeon?" I asked in confusion, mentally trying to roll through all the Arcana that I could remember. "That's not one of the standard Arcana."

"You are correct. However, sometimes different decks can yield different spreads, and while I have never been partial to Crowley's Thoth deck, I cannot deny that it has its own merits and charms."

An unusual deck for an unusual journey, it seemed. "Your journey will be a difficult one. Harmony has been lost, and it is only through critical wisdom that the correct path will be uncovered… finality and destruction or hope and liberation. In the end, your judgement will be the deciding factor."

"Well doesn't that sound pleasant. Not at all ominous." I wouldn't trust myself to fight my way out of a paper bag, let alone decide the fate of the world itself.

Flip. A man with wings upon his feet. "Fear not- there is clear guidance for what you must do reach the optimum outcome. As the Magus suggests, you must take action. Remain active. You must use all tools and actions to achieve your goals, and…" another flipped card. The Moon. "Most importantly of all, do not allow yourself to give into your fears. Your anxiety and self-doubt… cast aside such illusions."

And then, the sixth card was revealed. A skeletal figure with two faces accompanied by a serpent. "Death. External change, as opposed to the Towers Internal change. This is both your greatest hope and fear. Do not allow yourself to become Reversed- change is not something to be resisted. And as for your final result… how this shall all end…" The final card was turned over, displaying an upside-down man, hanging by his foot. The Hanged Man.

"I believe that this concludes your reading. I hope it proves enlightening."

"Thanks." I replied, though internally I wished that I hadn't bothered asking. These answers… they troubled me more than they helped me. With my limited understanding of the Arcana, I understood just enough of my reading to be worried about the results. Tower, Fool, Aeon, Magician, Moon, Death and Hanged Man.

I really hoped that this journey of mine had a happy ending.

"And now, I believe that there is but a single thing left to do." Lavenza spoke up, stepping towards the table. In her hands, she held up a scroll, which she placed before me along with a raven's feather.

I read the scroll aloud. "I agree to take full responsibility for my own actions."

"With this contract signed, you will fully become a guest of the Velvet Room, and your journey will truly begin." A dour look crossed Igor's face for a moment. "Events have already begun, and you will be drawn in one way or another, so this is more a formality more than anything. However… the choice is still yours."

Choice… that was what this contract was about. I was being drawn into a Persona based scenario, and I was clearly set to play the role of the Fool- just like those MC-kuns that came before me. If I refused to sign this then I would likely perish, but if I wrote my name there then there would be no going back. I would be stuck dealing with this scenario whether I wanted to or not. Refusing to sign at the very least gave me a small, slim possibility to escape…

But at the end of the day, whatever disaster was upon the horizon, it would happen with or without me signing this. The only difference was whether I would be willing to step up to try and stop it, or whether I backed out.

I signed my name. Either way I was damned, but I knew that I had been chosen to do this, and Igor was ultimately a beneficial supporter of humanity. Even if I doubted my ability to accomplish what he wanted, I had to hope that he knew things I didn't and had selected me for a reason.

Blink. "Unless he's an imposter doing a Person 5."

"Hey Igor, you'd totally tell me if you were tricking me about your identity and motivations and actions, right?"

Igor laughed a little. "Well, if I was tricking you, surely I would lie about whether I'd tell you or not, wouldn't I?"

"Fuuuck. I knew I was forgetting something." Lavenza looked like she wanted to break out into a little giggle, though for all I knew she was merely suppressing a cough. "Oh well. Guess I'll just have to take a Persona Protagonist rank in Badass and Git Gud enough to beat you… just in case."

The gaunt man inclined his head. "I urge you to try. Having goals is important, even if a milestone such as this stands oh so far ahead of you."

Suddenly, an alarm started to sound. It lacked the sheer volume or panic of a fire alarm, but instead possessed the low and constant buzz of an alarm clock- as if someone was trying to awaken me, and the me within the dream was only just starting to realise that it was time to wake up.

"It appears that our time is up for now, Dreamer." Lavenza noted. Quickly, she reached into a pocket and drew out a gleaming key- which she handed to me.

"Indeed. We shall meet again." Igor said, the velvet lights flickering and the sound of the alarm clock reaching a new crescendo. "Seek the depths, Dreamer. For that is where all your answers dwell. Seek the depths."

XXXXXXXXXX

Day 1

And so for the second time did I wake up, thinking that I was still asleep. I remembered my encounter with Igor and Lavenza in the Velvet Room, and so I anticipated that I would get mixed up in something supernatural… eventually. Certainly, not this quickly, anyway.

I couldn't remember exactly what I was doing before I went to the Velvet Room- where I fell asleep, or what I was doing about then, but I remembered enough to know that the last place I had been was not inside some hybrid piece of abstract architecture, lying upon a stone casket.

With a groan, I rose from my sleeping position, and got to my feet. "Where the fuck am I?"

As expected, no answer. "Oh well. Only thing I can do is try and figure it out personally. Either way, this isn't a normal place, so I should expect something crazy to happen soon."

First things first, I gave the room a good look over. All in all, the room had a rather contradictory appearance- as if I was in an ornate room in a temple that was somehow trying to masquerade as a modern building. Walls of concrete with inscrutable hieroglyphs painted on in what looked like spray paint, overhanging lampshades with will-o-wisps instead of bulbs. One entrance, and then there was the burial casket I'd woken up atop of that had stone outer walls, but a wooden lid.

"Confusing." I muttered, tapping the hollow centrepiece, but I moved on. I needed a way out, so my next target was the sole exit to the room- a fire escape door helpfully labelled 'No Escape- Need No Escape- Never An Escape' and with no handles. I gave it a strong push- no reaction. As expected, the lever next to the door was probably the key here. Without another word, I shifted the level, and watched how the door swung open on its own- revealing that beyond the door began a vast corridor- oppressive despite the regularly swinging light features running across the ceiling (Probably because they were swinging despite there being no breeze).

"Sweet… and now it's time to explore the creepy corridors. No problem." I started at a brisk walk. The sooner I left here the better.

The corridor went on for a good five minutes, with every small sound causing a jump of surprise from me as I expected something to go wrong. But no- things were luckily rather quiet. Until I finally met the bane of all gamers- a forking path. "Gah! Decisions!"

The left one started veering upstairs, featuring what looked like stairs in the distance, while the rightwards one merely seemed to go deeper into the darkness. It didn't take long for me to start jogging down the left one- because while Igor had told me to 'seek the depths', I would really prefer to 'seek them' with a little bit more preparation as opposed to diving head first into this place.

So I went up the path, taking the steps two at a time, until I reached the top and stopped sharp. A shut door- far larger than the one I had emerged from. Made of plain, sturdy steel. It was a Very Important Door. Let us be grateful that it actually had handles this time. I approached the door, expecting to have difficulty pulling the massive weight… and yet it slid open at my touch- almost eager to reveal the contents on the other side.

Up ahead was a long corridor that gradually narrowed from the width and height of the door, and ahead of that stood a crossroad of corridors. And shuffling across said crossroads was something distinctly inhuman. Under the fiery overhead light, I could see that its consistency was closer to a puddle than anything else, and it seemed to slide through the corridor, pulling itself forwards using its two hands.

Now, that was a Shadow. As in one of the dark representations of the human psyche that served as the enemy mobs in the Persona franchise. And since that was a Shadow, then I knew without doubts that wherever I was, it was definitely the Inevitable Supernatural Location.

I was in the Inevitable Supernatural Location… without a Persona… without a weapon… and I had just frozen. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was in an extremely vulnerable position. And yet, despite the danger, my body just would. Not. Move.

All I could do was stand in silence and hope that its masked face wouldn't look my way.

And luck must have been on my side, because several seconds later it was out of sight, having already continued down the path it had started upon. I waited a minute after it had vanished to sigh in relief- my body finally able to move.

"Damn, I'm pathetic." I muttered. Yes, I was undeniably powerless here, and had never been in a life-threatening situation in my life, but that didn't excuse anything. That thing had been creepy, but it hardly looked powerful, and Persona users often spent their time pummelling Shadows for fun. Without a Persona. So even without one, I had no excuse for freezing like that.

"This is serious now. It's not just 'escape the creepy place'. Now it's 'escape before they kill me'. So, I can't be freezing up." I took a deep breath, and lightly slapped my cheeks. "Come on… we need to make a move on."

Pep talk initiated, I began my exploration, albeit with a large degree more haste. The Shadow had gone down the left path, so I went straight on. The path twisted and branched again, and I cursed. "No time to ponder." I mused "Just keep picking- it doesn't matter so long as we keep going."

So, I ignored my hesitation, and went straight for instinct. Right this time. Wrong choice. Another shadow puddle ahead. Okay. Maybe if I shuffle backwards it might not notice me like the other-

Blink. Okay. Its masks swivelled this way. And fuck. Its noticed me. Run. RUN ALREADY!

It took way longer than I wanted to, but I managed to force my legs to move, and I sprinted back the way I came. I could hear it hot on my tails though- it had noticed me, and I had the feeling it wasn't going to let me slip.

I couldn't claim to have any kind of physical training or stamina, but I did have desperation on my side, so I was able to reach the branching path without too many problems. I turned, seeing it still pursuing me like a very persistent puddle. I took a moment to catch my breath and began jogging down the second path I hadn't picked. This one led to another crossroads and another Shadow- just my luck.

Left, right, straight on, left. I kept sprinting through the ruins, turning as soon as I spotted a Shadow, and taking small breaks around corners when I could. I was sweating like a pig, and my clothes stuck to me like a glove. I'd already pulled off my hoodie and tied it around my waist, just so it wasn't in the way. And yet, the Shadows were persistent. I think I'd lost the first two, but more seemed to keep taking their place. It was a nightmare- especially as I seemed no closer to escape.

All I'd seen were the same twisting, narrow corridors with no reprieve save for the occasional alcove or odd pieces of decoration: old pots, crumbling statues and rusted candelabras hung sporadically from the walls. No exists, no reprieve. Nothing.

"If I don't find an escape quickly, or figure out how to magic up a Persona, then I'm deadmeat." Though that was an idea. I turned around, to the four puddles sliming towards me, overlapping as they crowded towards me. Then, I bumped my fist high, feeling a little silly, and tried to imagine a glowing card. Finally, I shouted defiantly: "PERSONA!"

… and then nothing happened, save for me feeling a little silly and out of breath, and the Shadows being a bit closer than I'd like.

"Okay, so that was a bust." Back to running, in other words.

Right, left, straight on, dead end, double back and right, right, left. The directions practically blurred together by this point- navigation was impossible in my current state, and I was as lost as could be.

Then, finally, something different. A lever, like the one that I'd used to open the door to the room I'd awoken in. I pulled it down with a loud grunt and heard something clicking open nearby. I took a quick run to the upcoming corridor and saw it to my left: a passageway leading to an open room, with doors opened wide. I would have jumped for joy if I had the energy. Instead, I geared up another burst of speed, diving into the room. I saw that it was similar to the room I'd awakened in, save for the fact that the centrepiece for the room was a large pedestal with a gem on it as opposed to a casket, and a single, tinted window. The glass was dark, so I could see nothing beyond it, but it was perhaps a way out.

I rushed towards it and tried to whack it with my shoulder or elbow- something that could maybe break it without hurting me, but the glass wouldn't budge. Either it was reinforced, or I was weak. I spun, looking for another exit, and saw that there was none. The window, and the open door. The one five of the puddles were sliding down.

"Fuuuck. I messed up." When I saw the room, I should have gone elsewhere- because nothing is quite as bad as a dead end when you lack the ability to fight back properly. I had a final idea, and rushed to the doors, pushing the open doors shut. I heard no locking sound and knew that it would only remain as shut as I held it, but it gave me a moment of hope. "If I hold it shut long enough, maybe they'll get bored and go elsewhere?"

Then, beneath the door I saw a slither of shadow slip through, and I realised another mistake. The fire-doors had gaps at the bottom like most doors, and I was literally fighting puddles. Already, they were slowly sliding through the narrow gap, forcing me to jump back. I was pressed against the pedestal now- the stone digging into my back. In front of me, I saw a dark hand emerge from beneath the door, as the first Shadow pulled itself out from the floor- with its brethren close behind.

"Fucking hell! REALLY!?" I was sincerely pissed right now. Dragged into a supernatural mess by characters that quite frankly shouldn't exist due to being fictional, and then dumped into the Obligatory Supernatural Location without so much as a warning. "How they fuck did they expect me to handle this!?"

I couldn't fight. I couldn't run. I was trapped. And this terrified me. I hated the idea of being powerless, that for all my smarts there was nothing I could do against an unthinking opponent I couldn't talk down. Igor was a jackass who'd put my life at risk, despite knowing exactly how little I was cut out for this!

My fingers were clenched so tightly that I was certain my nails had pierced skin. I wasn't too much of a man to admit that I had the beginning of tears in my eyes. I was upset, terrified, and fucking pissed. Because I didn't want it to end like this. I didn't want to go out with a whimper.

My blood was boiling now, my palms bleeding, and my head pounding. On some level, I knew this was uncharacteristic of me, but I didn't mind. I felt that white hot anger, and I held it close to me, because it was better than the alternative. I wanted to live.

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump. My heart and mind beat as one, and then it was like my skull tore itself open, and something tried to desperately escape.

"So, you wish to live?" A confident voice whispered to me, his bold words reverberating throughout my whole body and filling it with a sensation I couldn't quite identify.

"Yes." I responded, fully aware that I was only speaking to myself at this point.

"Alas, it takes more than that, my other self, to venture into the eternal darkness. Say it. Say it with resolve."

"I… I don't want to die like this! I need to LIVE!" I screamed out. It was as simple as that. Beyond the base animal instinct for survival, there was so much I wanted to accomplish with my life. Finishing a novel, falling in love, being remembered… and here and now, I wanted to see Igor's pointed nose and smack it.

"Hmmm… that shall do. For now." And with that, the pounding in my head intensified, and my boiling blood became fire. There was a fire inside me now, and it was begging to be let out. "Go forth. There is still such indecision to you, but in time I see what you shall become, over the course of your voyage. Thus, allow your journey to commence now, and transform your hesitation into determination. Call my name, for Thou art I, and I am Thou! From the sea of thy soul I come, and I shall stand by you to the Nine Hells and back!"

The inferno inside me was overwhelming, and I knew I couldn't hold it in any longer… so I didn't. I pulled the metaphorical trigger. My right hand went to my chest, just over my heart, and then I pulled, and spoke the instinctive words. "Persona!"

Blue fire collected in my palm, and like a whip it lashed out from my torso as I tugged. Then, the burning inside me flooded out- exploding outwards above me as I could feel something forming. It was overwhelming, and I fell to one knee, and I looked up to see what I'd called.

From the depths of my soul, it emerged amidst fire and smoke and ash. A tall, handsome figure, floating in mid-air. His hair was black as night and was tied neatly behind him in a short ponytail, which clashed greatly with the ash white, porcelain mask that hid his features behind the smiling face of comedy. As for his attire? Tall, brown boots, lightly armoured legs, and a dark set of leather mail for his torso, with a billowing red cloak masking almost everything inside. Save, perhaps, for the Persona's weapon that was sheathed at its hip- a sword of some kind.

It stood there resolutely, as if pleased with my summoning of it, but did no more. Then, I understood, and shouted aloud. "Cleave them, Dante!"

Then, the sword was unsheathed, and my Persona dropped like a ten-tonne weight- utterly crushing the first Shadow as its short sword cleaved it in two. The other four Shadows stopped dead in their tracks for a moment, perhaps out of surprise, before lunging forwards.

Dante stepped into the path of the attacks, taking the hits in my stead, though I could still feel it as if the damages were my own. Enraged, I ordered a counter attack. "Dante, Agi!" The Persona flung out its free arm, and from his palm a fireball emerged and shot into the mass of shadows- instantly destroying the second. Seeing it burn… I somehow knew that the enemy was Weak to Fire and looked forwards to putting the rest of them in their places.

… or at least I did, until the Shadow furthest away from me flung a bolt of ice at Dante. The Spell felt like a sucker punch, and Dante disappeared like a flickering candle extinguished. This made an opening that the next Shadow was very happy to take advantage of- slipping right up close and slashing at me with an open palm. A shallow wound opened up on my arm, and with a wince I jumped back- hitting that pedestal again in the process.

"Looks like Dante has an Ice weakness. And my first enemies use it. Talk about the worst Tutorial ever."

Rather than voicing this annoyance aloud, I instead fell back on anger. "Fuck it. I'm gonna kill you!" My arm was bleeding, I was fairly sure I had a bruise on my back where I'd impacted with the stand, and these puny-ass low-level Shadows were putting up way more of a fight than I wanted. "To my side, Dante!" Again, my fiery protector appeared at my side, and flung a fireball at the closest Shadow. Another enemy down. "And again!" Boom, another one bites the dust.

Shitshitshiticeattack. Dispelled Dante before it hit him, then brought him back. Fuck though, was it tiring to summon him or what? Doubly so for those fireballs- I was already feeling as if my engines were half empty, and I'd only chucked three out. "Dante, Cleave it!" One final attack to finish it. An obvious swing, but too strong to resist or ignore. And so the Shadows fell.

With a laugh of relief, I fell to my knees. "Damn, I'm alive!"

Yes, I was alive. I'd somehow lived through the encounter and had even Awakened my Persona to boot. Results?

I stayed there, on my knees on the cold floor, for a good five minutes, just giggling happily to be alive. Also, I had motherfucking superpowers now! That was worth at least a little celebration.

"Okay, so the saving the world bit sucks, and the risking my life bit sucks. But I guess it kinda balances out for giving me the power to summon Pokemons from my head. If I end up with a Band of True Companions, then I might even forgive Igor for pulling me into this."

After five minutes of this self-congratulatory-patting-myself-on-the-back, I finally felt recovered enough to get back to my feet. I was still drained, my arm was bleeding still, and I was feeling distinctly half full as far as my SP goes (Because let's call it what it is, my MP by any other name). But at the very least, I felt human enough to carry on.

"So, what now?" That was the question. I had a Persona now, so I wasn't defenceless, and I even had the advantage in a fight if I could get the first hit in since the enemies here seemed a bit on the weak side. Theoretically, I could head deeper in…

But on the other hand, that would be fucking stupid. I was drained, alone, and I honestly just wanted to find somewhere to sit down for a drink and to recover from my near-death experience. Exploring eldritch locations based upon the human psyche could wait for another day.

"So. Let's find a way out." There was still that dark window in the room, so I decided to try something. "Dante, Cleave." My Persona appeared, and then the sword swung into the glass, and it shattered with a loud CRASH. Beyond the glass was… more darkness? I approached, letting Dante fade away now that his job was done, and did the obviously sensible thing of poking the blackness. It was a physical thing, swirling lightly, and had a consistency like water.

I took a deep breath, knowing that this was probably a dumb idea, but… when you find a portal, sometimes the best thing to do is dive into it. I took one last final look around, grabbed the loose change I found lying on the floor courtesy of the Shadows (Because who didn't love loot?), slipped the gem sitting upon the altar into my pocket (Because after all the pain I went through to find this room, it was only fair that I got something out of it all), and then I took a running leap into the portal.

As I crossed the threshold, I felt an intense chill spread through me for a moment. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't breathe. All I could do, was open my eyes. The darkness ended, and I passed out the other end. I struck solid floor and cried out with a swear word in two. "In hindsight… probably should have walked calmly through the ominous portal as opposed to diving head first through it."

Alas, one cannot lie on the floor all day, and I needed to find out where I was. I looked about. I was definitely out of wherever the hell I'd woken up in. The world seemed back to normal- I was just in an ordinary dead-end alleyway. A bin, several piled up bags of rubbish, and a backdoor entrance to what seemed to be a restaurant based upon the smell coming from inside.

"No smashed window? Where the hell did I come from?" I looked behind me, to the very end of the alleyway. The wall looked ordinary… to begin with. But closer inspection revealed the truth to me. There- a large crack running through the bricks. I reached out and touched the split, then leapt back with a yell as I saw the scar expand outwards- growing until a full shadowy door could be seen. After 10 seconds or so with nobody passing through, the scar narrowed and thinned until it reverted to its initial state. "Huh. Neat."

So. That at least answered where I came from, and where I would need to return to enter back into that damned labyrinth… labyrinth… fuck it. I'm calling it the Labyrinth. And I know Persona Q technically already had a Labyrinth, but what were they gonna do, sue me? It's a claustrophobic mess of deep passages and corridors filled with shadowy things that want to eat me- so I'mma calling it the Labyrinth. Anyway, it sounds kinda catchy in the edgy sort of way and is a lot shorter to say than Obligatory Supernatural Location.

Next step. Figure out where I am (Because this damn well didn't look like my home town and had far too many tall buildings to be where I planned to study). And then, find a place to sell my bigass jewel, because papa needs money to sleep at a hotel somewhere.

However, it was just as I left the alleyway that fate seemed to punch me in the balls… or rather smack me in the face with a loose paper. Because I did get slapped in the face with a loose newspaper. With a growl I pulled it off my face, cursing the strong breeze for embarrassing me so, and planned to chuck it aside. At least, I had until I saw the name of the paper.

'The Brockton Gazette'.

"Nope." I said, rather softly. "Nope. No way. We aren't doing that." Oh, but we were. A closer look at the front-page story and a brief skim through the rest was all I needed to confirm the exact thing I didn't want.

Brockton Bay. ABB. Empire 88. The PRT. Scion sighting. Endbringer taxes.

This… was motherfucking Worm.

"Am I dreaming? Am I being fucked with?" Because it was one thing to wake up in the Velvet Room and be told 'hey, suck it up, you're now an SI stuck with a Persona based mess to deal with for reasons I won't explain', and another to find yourself in another completely unrelated franchise altogether.

"Iggoooorrr!" I roared out aloud, clutching the paper so tightly I was sure that it would tear through intensity alone. "This is dumb! I want a refund! My Teenage Supernatural Adventure is Wrong, and I didn't expect it!"

AN- thus begins this tale. It won't be an odyssey so much as a drunken stumble. Because it takes a certain calibre of person to succeed as a Persona protagonist, and it remains to be seen whether our plucky protagonist makes the cut or not.

At heart, this is a Multicross story (Even if it has not been introduced yet), and Worm is our first little stop. Anyhow, hope y'all looking forwards to some really awkward Social Links…