Chapter Text
“Come on now… You’ve rested long enough…”
“Who are you?”
“That is a fair query, Miss Novella. We’ve both been asking that question for a long time. But there’s no time for that. You must wake up now.”
“I don’t understand…”
“You do not need to understand, you just need to act… So come on… WAKE UP!!”
She snaps awake as pain courses through her body. She could feel aching in her muscles and joints, a dull burning sensation within her chest and stinging pain from the side of her head. She doesn’t know if the faint ringing in her head was from the person hitting her or from the voice that she heard shouting at her.
In her attempt to recall what happened, she’s hit with the vision of Nerissa being struck and how she was knocked out as well. That and her… Understandable breakdown. It still felt awful to think about how quickly she jumped to violence again.
In her attempt to reach up to check her head injury, she finds her wrists are bound to a chain against the concrete wall. She pulls harshly, feeling the icy metal dig into her wrists. The spot on the side of her head kept stinging quite a bit. She wasn’t so sure if she had a concussion or not.
“Shit, I thought it was a bad dream or something. Okay, Novella. You can figure this out. Figure out where you are…”
Shiori groans as she lifts her head, trying to focus on the room she’s in. It looks like a deep basement, pipes lining the walls. The dull smell of rust fills her senses… As well as something else.
“It smells like fresh blood… Wait—!”
Across from her, she can see the barely conscious form of Nerissa. She had a nasty looking bruise on her left shoulder, which was already turning purple. She seemed to be bound to a chair instead, next to a table of… Various rusted torture instruments. Despite their appearance, it seems none of them have been used recently…
“Thank god, you’re okay— Nerissa, are you awake? Nerissa!!”
Shiori’s whisper shouts manage to make her unconscious body sit up sharply, her bonds keeping her body secure against the chair, “H-Huh??”
“Are you okay?” She asks, trying to pull herself forward. The chains look sturdy enough to keep her there, but she can see that she seems okay.
“Shiori? Um, I’m fine. My head hurts. Actually, everything hurts from when they hit me…” She groans, sinking against the chair. She winces a bit as her shoulder shifts, making a pained whimper. She did seem very fragile and crumbled on the first hit, perhaps the hit was much harder than I expected, “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know— Either this is a sick prank or our school got taken over by… I dunno, the yakuza or something.” Shiori says as she tries to inspect her bindings. The metal was rusted, just tough enough to hold her in place and keep her there. But the bolts seemed weak enough, with enough force she could break it.
“This is my fault…” Nerissa whimpers as she pulls her legs in closer, “If I didn’t rush in, we wouldn’t have been in this weird place!!”
“… I mean, probably?” Her honesty somehow manages to make Nerissa more upset.
“W-Well, you could try denying it!!” She huffs as she kicks in her direction out of annoyance. Of course, being across the room, she gets nowhere close.
“I’m not trying to blame you, at least not completely. We didn’t know what would happen. And besides, you’re probably more hurt than I am.”
“Yeah, but you’re bleeding! Did they break your nose?”
Shiori looks down and realizes the blood she was smelling was her own. As it drips down onto her new shirt, staining it a bright crimson red. The sight of her own blood made her nauseous, making that headache intensify. She tries to look away, focusing on something else.
“Ouro-San just got this for me too…” She groans as she rests her head back against the stone wall, “Ok, I’m filing that away in the corner of my brain, I’ll worry later. Are you able to move?”
“Obviously not.” Nerissa grumbles, holding her hands up as much as she can. Which means she just barely tugs them from under the ropes.
“Yeah, but your legs are free! Try moving the chair! Come on, it’s better than doing nothing!”
The taller girl nods as she uses her leg to push the chair backwards. They both seem optimistic, up until the chair gets caught on the chain bolting it down.
Nerissa groans in annoyance, kicking at the table holding the tools. “Fuck… We’re stuck here. We’re going to die.”
“Don’t say that!” Shiori huffs as she tries to rattle her chains more, tugging against the base rooted in the wall. Pulling roughly and ignoring the burning in her wrists.
“I’m never going to see my family again… They won’t know what happened to me, oh goddddd!!”
“That’s not helping, Nerissa—“
“Well, I can’t do anything else!!” The girl shouts, clearly frustrated, “I-I couldn’t fight back like you did!! And I’m hardly useful like this!! So SORRY if I’m a bit tense and emotional about our inevitable—“
“Could you two just shut up?!?” A voice hisses from above. They both look up towards the source of the voice and see something strange swinging from the ceiling.
It looks like a strange shadowy tail with a hand-like shape at the end, covered with black fuzz to the tips of its three claw-like tufts. In the middle of the palm is an orange eye, which seems to be glaring at the two.
“Seriously, your whining is already attracting the guard’s attention! You’ll blow my cover at this rate.” It hisses, wiggling in annoyance.
Nerissa seems almost disgusted and creeped out by its appearance, “What the heck is that thing…”
Meanwhile Shiori huffs in annoyance, “Sorry, we’re trying to save our lives here. And my mother taught me not to talk to strange shadow limbs…” Her hands keep trying to pull at her cuffs, attempting to loosen the bolts keeping it in place from the wall.
The strange tail attempts an eye roll, “And I can help you two after my mission! Just try not to let them kill you while I’m working. I’ll be back in a flash!” It disappears into the rafters, leaving them alone.
“What was that— Does that thing really expect us to just sit around?” Shiori tries to twist the chains, looking for a weakened link to snap. Somehow…
“I’ve dreamed of being a damsel in distress, for a Prince Charming to save me… But it’s less than ideal in real life.”
“… You’ve dreamed of a hostage scenario?”
“N-No, not like that!! Honestly… I meant that I— Ugh I don’t know, I’m trying to distract myself! I can’t do anything else…”
Right, freaking out right now wasn’t going to fix this. But neither was Shiori’s sarcastic comments. The guilt starts to settle in, not just for her words but for leading them to this place.
“I should apologize. It’ll be my only chance to do it.” She thinks to herself. But as she goes to speak, Nerissa clears her throat.
“Hey, I’m sorry we got kidnapped on the day we met.” Nerissa sighs, crossing her legs, “So much for a good first impression.”
“Eh, it’s fine. We don’t need to take the blame here. Especially since we don’t know how we got here…”
“It was something to do with the roof… Or maybe the stairs?”
“And I’m the one who rushed down the stairs with you, like an idiot. I’m sorry…”
Shiori manages a playful smirk, “You apologize a lot. You know we had no control over this… If anything, you’re the one that jumped in to protect me.”
But she clearly blamed herself for all this, she could see it in her eyes. Maybe that’s why she took the hit earlier to protect Shiori. She thought she was just being stupid and buying her some more time, even in a helpless situation.
“Maybe that’s what I tried doing back then…” She ruminates, feeling the deep aching in her chest get stronger. “I guess when you feel helpless, you think anything will help…”
She doesn’t notice that she mumbles her thoughts aloud before Nerissa chuckles weakly, “I mean… You said it earlier, it’s better than doing nothing. I’ve felt like this my whole life… If I’m going to die soon, it’s good to know I tried.”
Before she could protest, the door suddenly slammed open. Two masked guards come in, standing at either side of the door. As a familiar person strides through, dragging a metal bat across the ground.
Her wild red hair is slicked back out of their eyes, as rat ears twitch atop their head. Their bandaged hands toss the bat up and catch it, getting a bit of the dried blood on them. They give a cocky smile to the two.
“Well well well… It’s you two! Imagine my surprise when my subordinates tell me that two troublemakers have wandered into my territory!” Hakos Baelz chuckles, handing her bat off to one of her goons.
Nerissa seems surprised by her appearance, “Bae?”
She shakes her head, “Tsk tsk tsk— That’s Baelz to you, Ravencroft. You’ve got some explaining to do.” She hums, smirking. She can see her pronounced front teeth, as sharp as her canines.
“I— We came here from the roof. But we didn’t mean to show up here, we just… Um, went the wrong way?”
“Ohhhh I see… So you just… Went the wrong way and appeared in one of my most well guarded areas, huh?”
Nerissa glances between her and the masked figures, “… When you say it like that, it’s stupid—“
“That it is! Let me make something clear…” Baelz paces around Nerissa, slowly circling her as her tail drags on the ground, “You see… We’ve got a problem. An intruder trying to make trouble for me and my guys… Someone who has been able to infiltrate my stronghold.”
“An intruder? Your stronghold?”
She grabs onto the back of the chair, leaning Nerissa back suddenly to look her in the eyes, “Yes! And that intruder… Already has a way in. It’s a real pain… So my Brats and I just need that. Information on who gave you the way in… Sounds fair, right?”
Under that harsh gaze, they both seem nervous about the outcome of this interrogation. They still don’t know how they got here… But the other intruder might be who she’s referring to. Whether it’s out of her own interest or to protect the intruder who promised to come back for them, she knows she can’t risk divulging that information.
Nerissa digs her nails into her palms, trying to keep a straight face, “I… I’m not sure what you mean. We just came down from the roof, okay? That’s all we kn—“
“DON’T try to LIE to me, Ravencroft!!” She snaps, shoving the chair into the upright position, “TELL me what you KNOW!!”
“I swear I don’t know who or what you’re talking about… This is all one big misunderstanding… I know we're not supposed to be here but—“
“You’ve got that right! It’s a lot of trouble for me… You see what I am now. And that’s a problem.” Baelz snaps her fingers as from the shadows, two more masked minions appear. One of them pushes Nerissa’s chair closer to Baelz as the other one starts to go through the rusted tools.
“W-Wait hold on— We promise, we won’t tell anyone what we saw!!” Nerissa gasps as the one holding her chair grabs her head, tilting it back.
“Heh, I’ve heard that time and time again. You’ve always been so nosy, Ravencroft. And you know? Someone oughta do something about it.” Baelz snaps her fingers as one of the shadows hands her a scalpel.
“H-Hey, wait a second! I’ve never said anything to anyone back then, right?” She struggles against her bonds, “Whoever you’re talking about, I would never—“
“It doesn’t matter if you’re connected or not. I can’t afford any loose ends…”
A chill washes over Shiori as she watches her struggle, kicking against her restraints. Even in her confusion of what Nerissa could be alluding to, she feels a rush of panic. She can’t let this happen…
She needs to think fast- What can stop Baelz? What can get under her skin? She looks around the room, eyes darting between her and the shadowy servants.
“S-So that’s it, huh? How pathetic!” She shouts out, trying to get her attention. The blade stops at Nerissa’s throat as those wild blue eyes glare at her.
“Excuse me?”
“I thought you were hiding behind your Brats before… But this? This is laughable- You make an example out of her, after your minions did all the work to knock her down? I-I can see that you’re nothing without them.”
Her voice quivers at the end, bracing for the worst. But she gets the desired outcome as Baelz walks towards her, “You better watch your mouth…”
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” She snorts, making a show out of rolling her eyes, “Especially with that tiny knife… I doubt I’ll even feel it.”
“S-Shiori, don’t let her—“ Nerissa’s shouting is cut off by one of the shadows covering her mouth. But directs her gaze towards Shiori, letting her watch as their boss prepares to strike.
“C’mon, don’t you wanna finish the job you started back at Timeless—“ She’s grabbed by the shoulder and pulled forward, with enough force that her bonds connected to the wall are shattered in an instant.
Baelz grabs her face harshly, glaring, “Such a noisy brat… I can’t believe I considered you as a potential ally. You’re just a liability…” She scoffs, narrowing her eyes.
“Fuck. You.” Shiori sneers, completely content that those could be her last words.
“Why you little—“ Baelz’ words are cut off as there’s sudden yelp behind her. They both turn to see the shadow that was holding Nerissa’s chair in place had disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling above.
The shadow at the table of tools looks up, tilting its head as it tries to spot something. As inky shadows drip from the ceiling… A mask suddenly clatters to the ground at its feet.
"YAAAAAAA—“
Shiori watches as a bright orange flash from the ceiling as the intruder drops down onto the shadow. They lock their legs around the “neck” as their fingers dig into the edge of the mask.
“C’mon, show me that ugly mug already!!” They bark as they steer around their body. The other shadows run to their aid, only to get hit by their wild flailing tail.
They bowl over Nerissa, knocking her and the chair on its side, “Ow!! Hey, keep me out of this!!” She shouts, kicking at the leg of one of the panicked shadows.
“Sorry, lady!!” They shout, grabbing an overhead pipe as they kick off from their body, shoving them into a pile of fallen foes. They’ll point at the group, their body starting to spark with electricity, “Zio!”
Lightning erupts from their outstretched arm, striking one enemy in the chest. A ripple goes through its form, causing it to burst apart. She cackles as she throws multiple lightning attacks, cutting them down before they can get to her.
One goes to leap at her before she smirks, pointing at its head, “One more—!!” The bolt strikes it right between the eyes and causes the head to explode.
It falls at her feet before erupting in shadowy viscera. A bit of the goop splatters onto them, which they instantly recoil at, “Bleughh, so gross…”
Now that they aren’t hopping around, they finally get to see their savior. Although their appearance felt just as strange as the place they found themselves in.
She had unnaturally sharp teeth, like the proper fangs of a beast. Her right eye was a vibrant pink color while the other seemed to be obscured in some way by a strange, almost cartoon-like X.
Her outfit was surprisingly casual and normal, just wearing a pair of black shorts and a worn out looking orange hoodie, with a cartoony looking bag buckled over her shoulder. Her shoes had weird claw-like shapes on the tips, which seemed to move individually.
They finally got a good look at the tail, which seemed connected to her lower back. It swayed lazily behind her, seeming completely prehensile and balanced her movement.
She turns to look at their captor, “Finally… It’s good to see you again, Baelz!… Is what I would say if I don’t enjoy your frustrated face even more~” She says, sticking out her tongue.
Baelz glares, “You… I told you that if I saw you again, I’d have you chopped into little pieces!”
They giggle as they flash a sharp toothed smile, their bright pink eye leers mischievously at the boss, “Yeah, that doesn’t bother me one bit. As long as your treasure remains in your possession, I’ll come back to try and take it~!”
“So she’s a thief? She really wanted to just steal stuff while we were stuck down here… But if she was after the treasure, why was she here to save us now?” Shiori’s racing thoughts don’t help her splitting headache at all.
“How annoying… Brats!!” The girl barks, the shadowy ichor slowly starting to reform. They seemed much weaker this time, but in bigger numbers.
The cocky smile seems to melt off her face, “Oh shit—“ The onslaught starts all at once, shadowy minions attempting to slash at her. Their attack methods see much more animalistic as they swarm her. Even as she thrashes and summons more electric strikes, she can’t handle them all at once.
“Hahaha!! I’ve got you now!! And after I’m done rippling you to shreds, I’ll do the same to these two!” Baelz cackles as she throws Shiori to the ground.
She falls to her knees, breathing heavily as the pain fully starts to set in. Her distraction barely helped, she’s aching all over. She can’t do anything here… She’s helpless…
Her head starts to pound as she’s assaulted by visions of her life, of what led her to this moment. She sees her peers, looking down on her as if she was a mistake. As she desperately tries to please them, to step back in line like she was always meant to.
“Was this all my life was? Keeping my head down, trying to fit in… Following my role with blind obedience as if it would spare me…” She grips her shoulder, feeling the faint pain pulsing through it, “I’ve done my best to be good… And this is what it’s gotten me… Why would I even bother to fight now…?”
“Already giving up?”
Her eyes widened as she looked up, everything was frozen in time. She could see the girl with the tail furiously trying to fight off the hordes of shadows. Nerissa attempting to kick at the two Brats restraining her. Baelz getting ready to summon more of her minions.
In her blurry vision, she can see it. Resting on the rusty scalpel was a bright blue butterfly, its wings flapping slowly. As it seems to speak in the voice she just heard in her mind.
“Your story isn’t over, Trickster… This is truly an unjust game… Your chances of winning are almost none.”
What was this voice? It felt… Ethereal, unfamiliar but alluring… She pulls herself along the ground, a hand reaching out towards the glowing blue insect.
“But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet to be another possibility open to you… So go on… Take it…” Its voice is overlayed with another, echoing through her mind.
She grits her teeth as she grabs the small blade, swinging it wildly towards Baelz. It catches on her leg, making her yelp in pain and surprise, “Augh, you bitch!!”
She stumbles to her feet, holding out the bloody blade in front of her. Glaring intensely at her as she grips a hand over her heart, the pulsing pain gets so strong she can feel it rippling through the adrenaline rushing through her body.
“This whole time, I was sick of people thinking they know what I am. What I’m capable of. What I’ll end up being… I refuse to play that part anymore! I’ll rewrite my story myself!!”
Her headache suddenly spikes, almost knocking her down with it’s overwhelming intensity. In the back of her mind, she hears the rattling of chains and creaking metal. The thick smell of blood and ink fills her senses.
“I heed your call, Trickster. Your story will not end here—“
A voice speaks clearly through her mind, followed by the worst migraine she’s felt in her life. Her head starts to pound, deafening everything around her. Even her own screams of pain.
“Such a courageous soul would be wasted… You have the power to act. You have the power to save them.”
She can see Nerissa looking at her with panic in her eyes and the girl in the orange hood shouting something from under the pile of minions. She can barely hear anything else but the voice, gripping her head with her spare hand. Her eyes are blurred with tears, which are dissolved as blue flames lick at her face. Something solidifies and burns at her skin…
“So a valiant path is formed… I am thou, thou art I— Take up arms and strike fear into your foes’ hearts!!”
She feels a burning in her whole body, almost as if every muscle had erupted and burst into flames. She grasps the edge of the object that appeared on her face, breathing heavily at the burning coming from underneath it. Tearing with all her strength, a pained scream erupts from her chest as she pulls it off.
Dripping blood, crimson and fresh drips down onto the porcelain. Just from the back, it looks like a Venetian half-face mask. Her blood starts to drip a darker shade until it’s as black as ink… Then erupts with the bright blue flame, traveling across her body.
Her jacket is the first to burn away, but the flames travel further to extend it into a proper coat. The collar erupts into a flame which becomes a pronounced fluffy trim, as it exaggerates to an almost comical degree. With the addition of a musketeer's hat, her outfit radiates grace and regality… But the quill-shaped short sword that manifests from the scalpel radiates an energy of sophistication and danger.
“Your blade is an extension of my wisdom and cunning. Speak my name and claim my power.”
As she holds it up, she sees another blade appear at her side. A long lance in the hand of a spiritual figure made of ink and steel, with puffy quill pen for a head and a barbers basin for a chestplate. Only one fool from literature would speak so brazenly and wear such a stupid item as armor. Not that she would need to know it, as the chanting of its name grows louder and louder.
“Well? I’m waiting, Trickster…”
The tone that it speaks in is almost playful and familiar, almost similar to her own. She supposed that’s an effect of it being a reflection of herself.
“Tch, my persona has such an attitude… Very well, Don Quixote… Let your madness guide my blade!!” She shouts as she leaps towards the guards. Blade and Persona at her side, ready to spill blood.