#unchainedphantom

A notice has finally been sent. 

Hakuno debated against herself whether or not she should even go. Was there even a point? To risk her life in something she doesn’t even know where she’ll end up being at. 

In all honestly, going out of this city was probably better than staying stuck here and doing absolutely nothing for herself. This was who she was after all, Hakuno Kishinami must move forward and as a human, she has to follow her instincts for survival. Somebody once told her that there was no shame in what she does in order to live, if she has to grovel on the ground for it, so be it, after all, her Servant was a person to reckon with and also somebody she doesn’t want to be killed by. 

So the choice was obvious, she was going to that distortion that the A.Is mention, yes certain death awaits her there but nothing good will happen if she sits back and do nothing. Taking a deep breath, the brunette pressed the app that has been glowing on her Triplicata, white light clouded her vision until the sound of clashing metal grabbed her attention quickly. 

“....????!?!?!?!?!?!” 

Yes, she was back to her normal lifestyle of life and death once more, the sound of clashing metal that she heard were actually towards her direction! Hakuno would have stay frozen in place from shock but she could feel her Servant’s burning eyes at the back of her head for being so pathetic and that was more than enough to urge her to start running to a safer location. 

However, from Hakuno’s point of view, the person that tried to attack her seems...off. They didn’t feel like a human being nor did they acted like a NPC, no...even an NPC would feel human, so what in the world was that? No first off, why was she summoned in such a distorted village covered in dead bodies and the smell of blood everywhere. 

The whole setting just made her feel sick. 

Finally coming to a stop from her running, Hakuno took a deep breath and took a good look around her. Nothing, blood, corpses, and most importantly the aura of war taking place. No, it was best to describe this as a meaningless massacre. 

“Gilgamesh, was that a Servant that attacked me awhile ago?” 

If there wasn’t a problem to be solved, Sophie Hatter was in the business of making her own.  

It wasn’t that there weren’t any significant problems in this new world! Between the puzzle of the GRAIL and the notion of being tasked to, well, save the world, there was certainly a lot on her plate. However, neither of those problems seemed especially dire, and it was an unspoken agreement between Howl and herself that they’d much rather stay out of the proceedings unless there was no way around it.

The only issue with that agreement, however, is that Sophie was left to do naught more than be a housewife for the time being, and a Sophie bored is a Sophie left to entertain herself.

And that Sophie was left to stand outside a large, metal box filled with the trash of not only her household, but that of all those in the area surrounding. She’d heard that the best way to learn about one’s neighbors was to look through their trash, and truth be told she was dying to know about the shenanigans the people who lived next to her got up to.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she tapped the toe of her boot against the ground in an attempt to find the best way into the compactor.

Perhaps he should be more concerned upon hearing the destruction of his world, but the situation seemed so surreal that the implications have yet to fully register in his mind. So when faced with this automated orientation Goro shed no tears – he didn’t have any to spare for a lot of his world's individuals anyway. Instead, gears turned at the back of his mind.

These Messengers were nothing but suspicious for withholding information they have access to. A clever tactic, but one so commonly used in the service of manipulation. It didn’t seem like he was the only one who has been designated a Master in this city, which means they have been conversing with other individuals about these rules. Restricting their actions, setting them upon a predictable path.

But the question is…what is their true purpose?

‘Humanity rests upon your shoulders.’

They must be so desperate for salvation if they were asking someone like him for help.

No matter – with so little information he had at the moment, anything he could come up with would be nothing but conjecture. Best to proceed forward, and to see what may come out of it.

Goro wasn’t too sure on what to expect from a Servant. It probably didn’t matter what kind of person they were, as long as they would be somebody he could work with. Although, he mused as he pushed the door out of this room, it would be nice to have somebody I can talk freely to.

And yet, for all the possibilities he took into consideration, to see a familiar face with familiar frizzled hair was definitely not one of them. In complete shock, Goro never even had the chance to compose himself.

It was an absolute massacre. The sight before him wasn’t unusual, especially given the pretense of the battle they were taking part of. And naturally, some of the skirmishes that took part were one-sided, depending on the servant. So far, his own kill count was rather small, instead searching for more prominent problems. However, the one he found wasn’t at the hands of an enemy force, but rather a completely bloodthirsty show that left the enemies decimated in their entirety. 

And all at the hands of a servant. An air so wretched, it could only remind him of one other, a companion of his. But while she still walked upon the path he could justify, this was nothing of the sort. He did not deny the necessity of killing, but the sheer glee the other displayed from it, filled him to the core with disgust. Death was a course of action, not a means of enjoyment. Not like this. And at the center of his being, the Alter did not recognize him as an allied force, but the very enemy he was sworn to destroy. For his mission would always have priority over all other things. Even Utopia.

His trademark weapons were already in hand, and the sound of gunfire ripped through the air, taking aim at the other servant. When one gun clicked empty, he switched to the other while more bullets were traced. He doubted killing him would be as easy as filling him with holes, but suppressing fire would not go amiss whilst he thought of a strategy. This was stupid, especially by his standards, but he could not leave it be. And over the gunfire, he yelled out in anger.

“Did you enjoy that?! Was it fulfilling for you?!”

A battlefield like this was not a place a high school student should be in. Despite his convictions upon joining this farce of a mission, the young Persona user expected fear to sink in once he took in his surroundings. The ringing of metal, the smell of blood, the sound of flesh being torn apart – this was what war was like. Any innocent soul could be driven into madness if they stayed here for too long.

But then, after going through so much grime and rubble, the panic he expected never settled in. It was only then he realized that this was no different than fighting in Mementos. The mazelike tunnels were never of this scale of course, but the concept remained the same – a slew of enemies that would never end. It was a thought both comforting and discomforting at once.

Yet another corpse crumpled against his rapier. Goro was about to wipe the blood on it off when something made him stumble – a draining sensation, less disconcerting than nausea yet it kept him light-headed for some seconds regardless. He knew the source behind it, because it wasn’t the first time that happened today. His mana was being drained at a rate faster than what he was used to back in Utopia. Right now it was something manageable – being a fighter of his own right meant that he had plenty to spare – but the frequency of Satanael’s appearances in their battles have started being overkill.

       > Huh. 

       > You’d been expecting a number of things when the ‘distortions’ had been brought up. Anything similar to the Shadows you’d faced in life came to mind, and you had anticipated to face some sort of easily identifiable monsters.

       > But, European medieval knights? You almost thought the GRAIL was pranking you, until you saw the entire context. The never-ending war, the immortal soldiers trapped in it--you caught on within seconds. Resolving it was still a big question, but it was one that you could find the answer to later. 

       > Especially when you’ve got several guys running at you, screaming over your music.

       > This wouldn’t normally be an issue, given your status as a Persona-user, but something was off with these knights. They moved faster, hit harder, reacted quicker than what a normal human should be capable of. It was vaguely Servant-like, and you soon realized that, in a straight fight, you weren’t going to be able to just charge through them. Especially when you realized only a Servant could finish these enemies off.

       > Fortunately for you, while Saber wasn’t on standby, another Servant was.

              “Let us end it... Thanatos!!”

       > The otherworldly harbinger of death, sword drawn, let out a bestial roar. He tore into the surrounding knights, striking with a ferocity the already weakened knights simply couldn’t stand up to. Despite your Persona’s fury, that wouldn’t be enough to finish the enemy off. 

       > That job... was up to your current partner. 

              “They’re down, Avenger. Go for it!”

「

       [ Δ ] All-Out Attack

       [ O ] Break Formation

       [ ✖ ] Talk

That is perfectly fine. Welcome back, Akira!

As requested, your master is still Goro Akechi

Please do not steal everyone’s hearts.

That curly head of hair can only belong to one person and it’s with a wide smile that she skips forward to latch onto his arm. She can sense that he’s somehow different than her, which probably means he’s a Servant instead of a master, so she's careful to not use his name or even code name. She can't go giving his identity away, after all. What kinda Phantom Thief would that make her?

( And how does that work, she wonders? How does the GRAIL (or whatever it is, because it can’t be the actual Holy Grail; it’s way too nice and (probably) not planning the destruction of the world.) choose who will become a Master and who will become a Servant? But that's really something she should worry about later. )