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You woke up with a headache. The entire world felt wrong, but you were in your room. You climbed to your feet and tried to follow your normal routine. The laptop in your room didn’t turn on. A wave of nausea hit you. You tried to open the window, but the paneling was just paper. You managed to rip it off, but the ‘glass’ revealed itself to be painted images.
“What the hell is going on?!” Junpei screamed. You rushed from your bedroom. The strange feel of the door made you stumble, but the voices ahead kept you moving. Something was wrong with the dorm.
“Junpei calm down. We won’t get anywhere like this,” Fuuka’s voice was the first clear one as you walked into the room. The active members of S.E.E.S were there, all except for Aigis.
Ken sat in a corner, his arms wrapped around Koromaru. Mitsuru walked from window to window. She ran her hands across each before moving on. Yukari followed behind. She ripped the paper panels down at each. A bit of fear and anger clearly slipped through when she did.
“Junpei, help me try to break down the door,” Akihiko’s voice brought your focus back to the shouts you first heard. Junpei had a fist on the door, but Akihiko grabbed his arm. The two backed up before they ran into the door. Again and again and again. It didn’t budge.
You slid past them and up to the door. You ran your hands over what should have been wood. It felt like plastic. Smooth too. Nothing more than a design on the wall. You stopped Junpei and Akihiko from slamming into the wall again. Pointed out that this wasn’t a door any of you could open. A dark feeling settled in your heart. Something had gone wrong.
“I can’t find any way out. Some of the doors don’t even work. They’re just painted on the wall,” Mitsuru announced as she approached you. The members currently at the dorm wound up together in the entrance. “I couldn’t find Aigis or the chairman either.”
Just as you opened your mouth to speak the building started to shake. Ken screamed. Koromaru barked. Everyone else did their best to ready a weapon. Junpei grabbed a chair. Akihiko took on a readied stance. You grabbed a broom that was left out. Yukari luckily had a bow, but Mitsuru was left with a mop to match your broom.
“Guys, what’s going on?” Yukari asked. Her voice cracked. You shook your head. “This bow feels like plastic, I’m not sure I can fight with this.”
The building only shook more. A booming laugh filled the air. So loud it almost made you flinch. As suddenly as it began it ended. Everyone inched closer to each other. Prepared for a fight. Fuuka motioned for Ken and Koromaru to join her in the middle of a circle everyone formed. Koromaru could keep them safe if something went wrong. Ken didn’t need to be in more fights if it could be avoided.
“Does anyone remember what happened last night?” Mitsuru asked. Most of the group offered up negative mumbles. You shook your head, but put a hand to your chin. It was odd not to remember. Fuuka gasped and pulled you from your thoughts.
“I-I remember the chairman had made us dinner as a celebration for defeating the arcana. He left with Aigis, but I don’t remember much after that,” Fuuka said.
“Wait… now I remember. I felt kind of dizzy after eating. I tried to get up, but I couldn’t stand,” Yukari lowered her bow as the events played back.
Your own head pulsed with pain. The events trickled in slowly. A meal that tasted somewhat odd, but everyone was too happy to worry. The way it got hard to keep your eyes open. How Koromaru passed out under the table. Ken tried to check on him, but fell to the ground. That was when everyone else joined. The last thing you could remember was a feeling that things started to get bigger.
The building started to shake again. This time there were no screams. Everyone braced themselves for what could come next. Although no one fully expected the ceiling to move . Ken screamed as he hugged Koromaru. You and the others closed in to hide the noncombatants. There was no dust to signal a building had been torn apart. No rubble either. The ceiling came off cleanly as though it was meant to do that.
The light as the ceiling was pulled away blinded you. You held your arm up to try and see past it. Another loud, booming laugh hit your ears. This time you couldn’t keep away a flinch. It was familiar and wrong all at the same time. Someone grabbed your arm. Your best guess was Junpei, he’d been next to you. It could be Fuuka from behind you.
“M-Mr. Chairman?!” Misutru’s shout took your attention. You forced your arm down and braved the shining light until the dark shadow in it took on a solid form. The form of someone who’d guided you all this time. “No, no it can’t be. This has to be a shadow, we must not have succeeded in the last fight.”
“Now, don’t sell yourselves short ,” the giant Ikutsuki Shuji said with a chuckle. You shivered at the bite in the words. He’d never been close to you all, but this was far from what you’d known. A gleam in his eyes made your heart pound. “You did exactly as I needed. All twelve of the arcana are defeated and now they’ll reunite. Death the almighty shall arise and bring forth the Fall.”
“What do you mean?! I thought we destroyed the dark hour!” Yukari screamed. Ikutsuki laughed again. The building shook as he did so. A cruel grin spread across his face.
“The dark hour and tartarus exist because of the power of the shadows. The power we took to bring about the fall. I’ve fulfilled the prophecy. As ‘the prince’ I have orchestrated the fall and will rule the new world once I’ve delivered us all.”
“He’s totally lost it,” Junpei said. You swallowed, there was a good chance Ikutsuki couldn’t hear him. That was probably better.
“I do apologize for deceiving you, but it was for your own sake as well. It will only take a little longer, but I will deliver you to salvation with everyone else.”
“He can’t really think this is salvation,” Fuuka gasped.
“What about the video from my father? He said to defeat the twelve shadows.” Yukari shouted.
“Yes, those were recorded himself… of course I had to make some modifications.”
“You doctored it!?” Mitsuru yelled.
“I corrected it.” Ikutsuki’s face changed, a look of something similar to respect. “Your father was a superb scientist. I truly respected him. While others focused on the shadows' abilities he explored much more important things. Unfortunately he couldn’t understand the magnificent potential of the Fall.”
“What?”
Whether Ikutsuki heard Yukari or not wasn’t clear. The building you were all in moved. The force of it being lifted caused everyone to fall into a pile. The force of each of Ikutsuki’s steps shot through to you all. Vibrated your very spine. The gait of his walk made it feel like an unsteady rollercoaster. You wanted to get off as soon as possible.
“He used us… Used me and my father,” Yukari whispered. Even her spark couldn’t penetrate the fear the sheer size disparity caused. Ikutsuki held all the cards right now. You all knew it too.
“All of you should understand. This was for the sake of the world, how could it be wrong?” Ikutsuki’s voice had an insanity to it. If you were on equal footing it would be easy to try and fight him. Gather all the members of S.E.E.S to find a solution to what he tricked you all into causing.
“Our goal was to fix mistakes of the past,” Mitsuru mumbled. She was just as hesitant to argue right now. “We need to find a way to do that.”
Ikutsuki laughed again. He might have been talking. There was too much to figure out. They did have to find a way to get back to normal. Then return to the dorm in order to get their weapons. Most importantly stop the Fall. Everyone managed to move out of the pile they’d fallen into. A new circle formed. All of S.E.E.S close together. Most importantly shielding Ken, Koromaru, and Fuuka. Those three would be able to help if the rest of you fell.
“What are you going to do with us?” Ken shouted. His voice shook, he was terrified. He’d only just decided he wanted to live, there had to be a way to stop this.
“Oh you all still have a small part to play,” Ikutsuki laughed. The building moved again until his face hovered over you. A cruel grin and eyes filled with greed met you. “I need my sacrifices. The harbingers of the fall. Aigis will prepare you once I’ve finished reprogramming her.”
“No!” Everyone shouted together.
There had to be a way out of this. A way to save yourself and your friends. Aigis was more human than machine, you knew that. His reprogramming couldn’t make her hurt you and the others. That didn’t solve the bigger issue. You had to get back to normal size, and before the fall began…