madimpossibledreamer

main points: persona 4 .hack inspired au, this strange lack of capitalization only occurs in main points & stuff, not actual story. lack of capitalization is strangely fun but i'm not going to write a story in that because even i have trouble reading it sometimes.

chapter summary: the battle between souji and the Immortal begins. in the past, souji hears about saki-senpai and creates his first character.
word count: 2478
rating: T
note: ceirahn continues to be super flirty. i think that's just a thing that happens, or something.

Souji has mere seconds before that superior strength will tear away his weapon. It won’t be the end of the world, but a weapon is one of his main protections from this Immortal. With it, he has greater reach, and he’s not sure how the hama spells will work. Of course, it’s entirely possible that the Immortal’s just trying to make sure he doesn’t fight and hurt himself, but just stepping aside and letting whatever happen to them both isn’t in the cards. Instinct intervenes, and he pushes, rather than pulling. Ceirahn, it seems, isn’t expecting that, and it’s enough for the grip to weaken. The katana cuts the hands, and blood falls.

“Good! You’re no weakling, are you? You’re interesting!” Ceirahn grins, stepping back a little. “Not like this one.” He gives the corpse a kick. “They’re all so boring.”

“Y-you put them in comas, just because they weren’t entertaining?” His lack of reaction begins to break, just a little.

“Don’t worry. You’ll never be boring, my little Sou-chan.” Why is he so sure?

He swings again, remembering the thing about mist, and sure enough, the Siren disappears before the blade, appearing right behind him again if the breath is any indication. “If you want to get your blade into me, you’re going to court me a little more strongly than that.”

He turns instantly, swinging again, and again his blade is caught by a gloved hand. Time to try something else. Let’s see—the Order spells were instant casts, which was incredibly useful considering the circumstances.

“Hamaon!” he yells, and he sees the red eyes widen in shock. Good. Yosuke wouldn’t be expecting that. He hadn’t been around when Kenshin had learned that spell, after all.

Ceirahn tries the trick with the mist again, but he isn’t quite fast enough, and the spell connects. Souji tries not to let the unearthly screeching howl get to him and quickly blesses his blade so maybe Ceirahn won’t be so fond of grabbing it anymore.

“You ass, that hurt!” The face is twisted with agony and rage, and the eyes are red again. He’s nearly lost control.

“But that won’t be enough!” He actually tries a tackle this time, clawed hands grabbing at and pinning Souji’s arms. The nekomata in question lets out a grunt as the fingers pierce his flesh—still as gentle as could be expected, given the circumstances—and feels fangs bite at his neck.

Suddenly they’re in a world of black mist. A body part floats past. A blue butterfly, brilliantly blue and somehow more real than anything else here, flies past as if it’s normal air, but it isn’t, is it? Then it’s out of sight, and Souji’s head is foggy. He thinks it’s from being hit against the ground repeatedly, but he’s not certain. Or the rock.

That’s right, they’re underwater, and he’s drowning, drowning as he breathes in this black mist, as he’s pinned beneath a man who’s his enemy? Friend?

There’s music, beautiful music, and it’s telling him that this is indeed a friend, a man he loves, someone who only loves him, is trying to save him.

There’s enough of his mind left to reject this conclusion, but only for a little. Long enough for him to grab the katana again and pull it to his own throat. He can feel the music falter, giving him just the littlest bit of sanity again, as a voice—Ceirahn’s, Koual’s, Yosuke’s—screams for him.

He tugs the sword closer and feels the wet cascade at his neck, and closes his eyes…

Souji opens his eyes, confused.

He’s in what looks like a limosine, at least from what he’s gathered watching television. It’s one of the few things he actually hasn’t done, despite his parents’ lust for the rich impression. There’s a bar and a television. He’s not sure what he’d be doing in a car with a well-stocked bar, considering that’s not a vice he’s ever even considered.

The room is a brilliant blue, all but a few of the bottles. They’re driving through mist, but the mist is black, not white. That should mean something to him, he’s sure, but he’s not sure what it should mean.

And there’s a woman with yellow eyes and a blue dress. She’s beautiful, and she’s staring at him with what looks very much like disapproval. Yellow eyes don’t bode well, and he scrabbles at his side before realizing he doesn’t have his katana here.

“You’re late,” she states in a manner that suggests he should have a clue what she’s talking about.

“I’m…sorry?” he says slowly, though he’s still confused.

“I don’t suppose you realized.” She’s like royalty, he thinks in a daze, how she dismisses a transgression like that. She sighs. “I’m Margaret. And this is all out of order. Welcome to the Blue Room. You’re one of the few my master hasn’t welcomed personally to this place.”

“Where am I?” he asks politely, and this at least earns a smile.

“The Blue Room. You may learn its true name—in time. You’re lucky you were being watched, or we wouldn’t have intervened in time, and your story would have been lost.”

He gets the idea that when she says ‘story’, she means something very different. “I’m grateful.” He doesn’t remember everything, but he suspects it’s because he doesn’t want to. Instinct tells him that what he’s not remembering isn’t pretty.

“Well, at least you have manners.” That’s the slightest of smiles. “I’m allowed to awaken your potential, with which you can save yourself and your friend. Beyond that, you have your own choices to make. Should you wish our help once more, you will have to find this place again, but when you do so a contract for our services will be needed.”

Memories come flooding back, and he gasps in horror. I should be dead, but I’m not. I don’t think they have anything to do with Nyarlathotep, but I can’t be sure. If she is, I will fail to save us both, but still…if it really is a means to fight back…and if it’s not, at least I won’t be alone. He looks directly at her, determination filling his body, and nods.

She opens the book on her lap, and the pages flash, turning impossibly fast, accompanied by a blue light. She reaches out one hand and touches his chest, and he jerks, pain lancing through him like fire. “I apologize for the method, but it is necessary. I hope we meet again, Souji Seta. You were indeed an interesting guest.”

Once again, he closes his eyes.

Previously:

Sadly, on Sunday, Nanako still has a ton of homework, so they basically repeat the day before. Souji never knew how much less lonely it was to do homework in a room with someone else, even if they didn’t get to talk much. He does download the game on the main computer in the living room and makes them both accounts while he waits. He decides on the user name of CATMAN and carefully reads through the Player’s Code of Conduct. Nanako-chan gets excited when he actually asks her for her opinion on a user name, and decides on Loveline. She attacks her homework with a renewed sense of purpose, and Souji hides a smile.

The day after, when Souji goes into school, Yosuke’s absent. At first, he dismisses it as Yosuke having collided with something else on his way to school. Maybe it’s a mercy that the guy just wants a motorcycle, not a car. The brunet is a menace on the roads. However, he hears the gossipers sitting in the row across from him. They apparently don’t have situational awareness, since they don’t bother to lower their voices.

“Anyone want to bet he’s at the hospital again?” one guy asks, excited.

“You know, if you keep going for obvious stuff like that, no one’s going to want to bet with you,” is the answer. “Of course he’s at the hospital again.”

Chie notices his frown and leans over to elaborate. “They’re talking about Saki-senpai. She’s one of the people in a coma in the hospital. They say she’s one of the ones who went into a coma playing ISO, but there’s no proof, and the Konishi family isn’t saying much one way or the other.”

Souji’s not sure why he disapproves. Probably lingering influence from his parents. “He’s dating a senpai?”

Chie lets out a merry laugh. “He wishes,” she states with relish. “She used to work at Junes despite the fact that it’s practically driving her parent’s store out of business. Dear old Hana-chan took her under his wing. It’s kind of funny the way he practically followed her around like a loyal puppy. All he needs is a wagging tail.”

Souji very, very carefully doesn’t react. The expression he’d make in response would not be ‘acceptable’ for her.

Maybe he’s falling back into his old ways, wearing the mask that everyone wants to see, but on the other hand there’s being diplomatic, and he still hasn’t learned enough of social reactions to deem what would be an appropriate way to tell her that no matter how much of a jerk the guy can be, that doesn’t mean that that gives her a right to gossip in such a rude manner.

Luckily, he’s saved having to actually reply by the class starting, and carefully disappears with what is probably one of the last store-bought lunches he’ll have. He’s really starting to miss his own cooking, however egotistical that sounds. This time, Yukiko has to leave before school is even over, so Chie heads over to his desk. “There’s a martial arts movie showing in Okina, and I’ve been dying to see it. Do you want to go see it?”

“I’m hanging out with my sister today. Maybe some other time.” Utterly smooth, and there’s nothing she can say to that. Was she asking me out on a date, after that mess today? It’s probably best not to show off your worst side to someone you’re planning on asking out.

Again, Nanako has a lot of homework. She’s about to the point of crying, so Souji sets aside his own homework for the time it takes to walk her through it. There’s still no sign of Dojima today, which is probably part of her teariness, but Souji helps her prepare the ramen and shows off a few magic tricks that it turns out she absolutely loves. She’s smiling by the time he tucks her in to sleep and wishes her pleasant dreams.

Souji signs in to Innocent Sin Online, and this time a different scene plays. There’s a few of what he suspects are characters fighting various demons, talking on the phone, the blue butterfly again, a darkness descending over the city. It’s interesting and cinematic, but hardly tells him anything.

He hits ‘create character’, and the first option, as he was warned, is a list of various servers, some in Japanese, some in English. He consults the list and eventually chooses Takamagahara Field. He can mess around on one of the European servers later, to practice using various languages. The next choice is that of Type. It’d been one thing to read that he could play a cat character, and another to actually see it. He quickly chooses the Wildren and cat options. The next screen…he doesn’t have a full option of Classes to play. Of course Nature’s Fury, Banisher, Wind of Fate, and Equilibrium are greyed out, but he also sees that Wildren can’t be Spellbinders or Champions. “A Herald sounds interesting,” he muses, and chooses that option.

However, there was a problem.

What kind of cat should he play? All the options are far too adorable! If he’s a male or female cat doesn’t seem to make much of a difference, except in choice of fur coloration. Male cats can’t be tortoiseshell, a move that speaks of knowledge.

Eventually, he comes to the decision that if necessary, he can create a herd of cat characters and chooses the lofty Siamese and a female, out of curiosity. Now time for a name.

He likes the sound of Rei, but the ones with the other characters are taken, so he ends up spelling it with the kanji meaning ‘nothing’. He clicks ‘play’ and feels a touch of excitement. The loading screen is also a little interesting, a city that slowly changes to a dark, twisted version of itself. He hopes the game isn’t too scary for Nanako. He becomes absorbed enough that he doesn’t notice, right away, when the game finally loads. He does, however, notice when a character runs into a nearby wall.

“y you don’t eat w/ 2 hands when ur playing a game, kids ;)” The fox-man then logs out.

Another character, a female with a staff and orange hair, types “lol” and walks away.

Souji’s tempted to ask, ‘what just happened’, but doesn’t. There’s no one to answer the question, after all, and two boxes with text have popped up. He quickly reads them. “Pet: Rei is happy in a home.” “Stray: Rei is a free agent.” Oh, right, this must be the choice of keyword. One of the posters mentioned that keywords worked a little differently for Wildren.

It’s a hard decision. Both are really tempting.

Stop thinking so much. Just choose.

Home. What he’s wanted all his life. To not be alone. To feel safe, comfortable.

The loading screen comes back up, but this time it’s of a house and a cat being petted.

Souji can’t help but smile widely. How did he not know about this game before?