Fandom The Fool and The Empress

[Ploegy]

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Determination. That was the feeling that coursed through Makoto's body as he pushed on. Exhaustion dared to take its claim on him, yet he dared to ignore it. A reckless decision? Perhaps, but there was work to be done. With much of their team calling it quits for the night, his urge to keep trucking along only heightened. How long could he last though? Even he wasn't sure at this point.

He pushed that to the back of his mind as his sweat covered palm gripped tighter on the hilt of his sword. With only him and Mitsuru still winding their way through the seemingly endless labyrinth of Tartarus, Makoto was more wary than usual. His blue eyes were on constant patrol in search for danger. For the time being, their path seemed to be devoid of shadows, but even then there was no telling when that would change. This place had a cruel way of lulling them into false security only to turn around and hit them twice as hard. He had been careless enough to fall for it before, albeit he'd blame Junpei for it all. His carefree nature was infectious at times, and while Makoto wasn't one to easily fall for it, even he had his moments. He was only human after all even if he hardly expressed his emotions in the same way as the others.

Luckily, he was sure such slip ups wouldn't be occurring this time around. Mitsuru wasn't that kind of person. The way she carried herself was much different than the way of Junpei or any of the other SEES members for that matter. She was dignified and calm- always keeping a watchful out out. In a way, that very nature put him at ease. While he himself was a levelheaded individual and hardly was shook, it still was nice to have another presence that complimented that demeanor.

Breathing out softly, Makoto's head tilted in effort to glance back at his older companion, assuring himself that she was still there as they proceeded onto the next floor, but much to his dismay they had momentarily been separated. It was a cruel trick that the labyrinth dared to play on them, though it wasn't the first time it had occurred. That was the only reason he could remain calm, though it wasn't as if he would react much differently even if it was something new.

"Mitsuru..." he murmured out, though it was hardly loud enough to be heard.

His shoulders rolled back as the situation settled with him and he lifted his free hand up to quickly run through his messy, blue hair. What a pain this was. Maybe he should have called it quits when he could have. He should have known the moment that Akihiko felt the need to pull out that he should have followed suit. Now he had his own mess to deal with.

For a moment, Makoto remained frozen in his place as if waiting for Fuuka's voice to cut through the eerie silence that hung around him, but nothing ever came. He could only presume he was completely cutoff from the others and would have to deal with his own navigation until he reunited with Mitsuru once more. It was more trouble than he had asked for, yet he couldn't complain. His actions had led to it after all and he had no one to blame but himself.

Little did he know his predicament was much bigger than it appeared. The thought of being completely trapped within the walls of Tartarus would never even cross his mind. All he could think of was finding his teammate and after that they'd figure out what to do. With an air of calm around himself, Makoto slowly began to wander down the dark, foreboding hall. The only sounds that echoed out was the clicking of the heels of his shoes against the ceramic floor and his own soft, well controlled breaths. His determination still lingered, but it's goal now had long shifted. No longer was he trying to keep pushing deeper into Tartarus, but rather pushing forward to find Mitsuru. She couldn't be far. He could feel it.

 

[SilverDingo]

Mitsuru had been separated from the others. Why she had gone off on her own, she didn't know. Weariness had filled her mind, confusion in a battle had caused them to go separate ways. She was now separated from the rest of SEES, and Makoto in particular, and it was getting later and later. Had the Dark Hour ended? Was there still time? She pushed forward, thoughts racing through her head as she moved through the winding hallway to, hopefully, either the entrance, a teleporter, or another member of SEES. She was the leader of SEES, how could she get separated? How could she have made such a miscalculation?

She hoped, at the very least, she could find Makoto. He was the most different member, the new student who could summon multiple personas, was acing his classes, and had a charm about him. She wanted to find him, to escape the green halls of Tartarus together. She continued down the dark hallways, the moonlight coming through the twisted windows, bathing the rooms in its sickly green.

Her footsteps echoed throughout the cavernous hallways, until she heard a second echo coming towards her. She perked up, pushed some of her hair out of her face, and held the rapier in front of her, ready to strike forward if it was a shadow.

"Who's there?" She shouted into the dark. "Identify yourself!"​

 

[Ploegy]

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The sound of heels clicking echoed off the walls and brought Makoto to a temporary halt. It was a familiar sound to his own ears, but before he could even dare investigate his assumption further, Mitsuru's voice rang out, confirming it immediately. It was a relief, though his expression hardly showed such.

Pushing the thought aside, he moved forward once again. While answering her right then and there would have been smart, he figured it was better to show himself than speak. Besides, shouting wasn't something he did often. It was much easier to simply reveal himself and give definitive proof that it was him. Who knew how believable his voice alone would be. There was never telling if Tartarus might try to pull some trick of the mind and mimic something as simple as a voice. Could it even do that? Makoto figured not, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

It was only a moment longer before the blue haired teenager rounded the corner and held one hand up defenseless while the other still gripped his sword rather tightly.

"It's me." His voice was a plain and quiet as always, yet it held a certain kind of calmness to it. Even when faced with such unknown, he was as levelheaded as always. His eyes backed that, as they remained focused and devoid of much emotion. His stoic nature made it hard to tell his actual emotions, but even so it offered an odd air of easiness which tended to go quite far.

Lowering his hands back to his sides, Makoto moved closer to join Mitsuru. Much like him, she was alone, though that came as little surprise to him. He would have been more surprised if there had been others. He brushed it off and focused on things that were more important in there current situation.

"You didn't run into trouble did you?" he asked, while his eyes quickly looked her over. She didn't appear to be injured, but it was better to ask than to remain quiet. There was always the possibility of her being exhausted in other ways as well, though in those regards he couldn't offer much help. Admittedly he hadn’t come equipped with anything to help with exhaustion. “You haven’t heard from Fuuka, have you?”

He figured he already knew her answer given she had no clue he had been approaching and Fuuka would have definitely told her, but it was better to ask just in case. If she had been in contact it might make getting out easier than it would be without such assistance.

 

[SilverDingo]

Hearing Makoto's voice, she lowered the rapier. It was somewhat of a comfort to hear the voice of an ally after being alone for a while. "It's almost as if this floor is empty. I haven't seen anyone except you." She said, looking around. In response to the question about Fuuka, she shook her head and added her gratuitous French. "Non. Have you heard anything?" She felt she knew the answer, but still felt the need to ask. Maybe it was just nice to make conversation.

She leaned on her sword slightly, as if balancing on it. "I hope you didn't face any trouble either." She said, brushing aside a strand of hair. She seemed to be hiding a small smile behind her calm facade. She was glad Makoto was safe and that they were reunited. She adjusted herself and picked herself back up. "Either way, we should get going, see if we can find an exit from this level."​

 

[Ploegy]

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Makoto gave a small nod of his head as he heard her speak. It wasn't surprising that none of the others seemed to be present. Last he had seen them Akihiko had departed with their tired members to return to the first floor. Even he had looked exhausted at the time so it was no surprise that he hadn't returned, though he would have expected him to eventually come back.

"As far as I'm aware, Akihiko went back with Yukari when she became exhausted," he said plainly as his eyes quietly flickered about and took in the area immediately around them. Even without their teammates present, this floor felt weird. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was unsettling. Maybe it was the lack of shadows or the fact Fuuka hadn't contacted either of them to update them on their situation. It wasn't like her to be unable to reach them. Pulling himself from his momentary daze, Makoto gave a small shake of his head. "No... I haven't spoken to Fuuka since the others departed."

His eyes finally moved back to Mitsuru after he felt he wouldn't learn anything new from looking around. Seeing her smile, a faint one crossed his own lips before once again he shook his head. Luckily he hadn't come across any trouble on his own. Generally he wasn't too worried if he did. Maybe he was getting too comfortable with his situation. A few months ago, everyone would have been worried if he was alone against the shadows of the lower levels, but now he had found confidence in himself that allowed him to believe he was strong enough to fight alone if he had to. Maybe that potential had been buried inside him all this time. He had done such a thing back in April when he awakened his persona after all.

Pushing the thought aside, Makoto nodded his head at her suggestion and took a small step forward, deducing which way they needed to go purely based off which way he had come from and the supposed direction she seemed to have come from.

"Maybe if we reach the next floor we can contact Fuuka or find some teleporter back down," he stated before moving a bit further ahead. It was a hopeful out look, but he figured it was all they could ask for, though he oddly sensed it wouldn't be the case. He kept those feelings to himself though, figuring his gut was merely trying to guide his actions without any definitive kind of proof that it was true.