Don't Lose Your Way (Soren/Awakening/?)

[Alouette Pendleton]

Ally hummed slightly as she slowly walked through the halls of the hospital. She was in a good mood after that little unexpected exchanged. In fact, it was the first time she was even remotely cheerful in a long time. Despite her carefree demeanor, she still had the task of exterminating shadows, which could be considered a less than preferable way to spend one's time. Despite this, the girl walked with a slight hop to her step. She had been freed from a burden that had held her down for a long time now. With nothing to hold her back, she could continue forward with little worry and find a new purpose for her time. Whatever she picked though, Ally felt that it would be impossible for her to fail.

With her gun in hand, the girl stealthily wandered around the hospital. It was just another routine extermination. Nothing special. Yet, Ally could only help but believe that tonight would be an exception.

She felt that tonight would be a very good night.

[Soren Jensen]

Soren felt genuinely bad for his negligence. Some time had passed since he failed to save the guardian at the hospital. He had not paid those humans back yet. In fact, he had not encountered them again. His fortune was a fickle thing, it seemed. The armored wargod dropped to one knee in the hall where that carnage had occurred. He was filled with regret. He was filled with self-contempt. The Shadow shook his head before placing the flowers down against the wall. Even if nobody else would remember that Shadow, Soren would. It would be among his failures, yes, but he would not forget that Shadow. No, it was just another of his brothers that he would have to fight for. A piece of his renewed conviction. The Shadow sighed. It would have sounded like a metallic rasp, had anybody been there to hear it, though.

”It took me a while to do this. I'm sorry, friend. One day, I'll get the ones that did this. If I don't get to them first, though, I'm sure some of our allies will. Please, be patient, and know that I am working on this.” The words were disembodied, something to be expected from an armored entity. All the same, it didn't matter. He didn't exist to please humans, so what they thought of his voice was their own issue. After remaining there, the Shadow grabbed his spear from its spot on the wall, then began to head back down. It was time to leave.

However, as the Shadow made his way down, he realized something was off. Sounds shifted about, and they were not connected to his brethren. Even the lesser Shadows would have given off something. In other words, whatever was moving around was likely a human. While it was doubtful that it was one of the trio that had slain the poor Shadow upstairs, killing a human there had a bit of justice to it. The armored being made his way down a hall. A shadowy figure was there, going about its own business. That would soon end. Extending his arm, Soren conjured a fireball. Agilao was a weak attack compared to Dream Needle, but, given the distance, it would serve as a good initial attack to stun the target. Firing it at the figure, he then prepped his spear and began to close the distance between them. He had to exert caution, given his weakness compared to his prior self, but if it was a single human, even a single User, he should have been fine.

[Alouette Pendleton]

The girl's hum was faint. Someone would need to be rather close to hear it at all. Even so, the girl remained cautious as she walked about. That was, until she noticed something coming right at her. Turning her head, she saw the large fireball that was incoming and jumped back and behind some cover. The ball exploded against the wall that was behind her. It wasn't especially powerful, but it was certainly a threat nonetheless. Turning towards the source of the attack, the girl spotted an armored figure coming straight for her.

Slowly, Ally watched the figure close in on her. The spear that it held up as it charged at her seemed to glimmer a bit. She knew all to well what that thing was planning to do with that spear. She had a very bad feeling at that moment. The feeling that the moment that spear reached her, her journey would come to an abrupt end. She couldn't let that happen. Not after just gaining the will to pursue something new in life.

Pulling out her gun, the girl aimed at the figure that drew near. Several shots rang out as she fired at the armored figure. And yet, even though each one clearly connected, none had any effect. Ally's breathing became irregular as the figure approached. This was no ordinary shadow. This was likely something much more powerful than she was. What was it doing here of all places. Suddenly, the girl's arm froze and the barrage of bullets stopped. Ally was at a loss for what to do. The moment that spear connected, it was all over. Her journey would end. With wide eyes, the girl still held her gun out at the figure but was clearly in no state to actually fire it. For the first time in a while, she was terrified for her own life.

[Soren Jensen]

The target had avoided the blast of fire. It was one thing for a human to avoid, but another for a User. This human chose to use a gun. Was it the first choice, or was it necessity? Either way, it didn't matter. The bullets collided with the Shadow's armor, but their effects were questionable. No, not even questionable, if one really considered the finer details. The Shadow wasn't even slowing down. Soren was immune to piercing attacks, after all. Had the girl entered a state of panic? Animals had a state in which, when death was certain, a state of euphoria was induced to lessen the pain. Did this mean that she had given up? All the same, it didn't matter. What a human did in their last moments did not matter to the Shadow. He was within range. Leveling his spear, he prepared to use Dream Needle, thrusting.

[Nisha Dovickssen]

Nisha had parted from the young girl, Alouette Pendleton, after exchanging words with her and answering her questions. Meeting the blonde was a small bit of fortune that the giant had managed to stumble across. The doubts that had plagued her for the last few weeks seemed to have completely vanished. She honestly could say that she would have been able to focus on the work at hand without losing track of what mattered for a good while. Meeting more of these people while just aimlessly wandering would have helped, she believed. Being able to think things through on her own was handy, but too much was simply detrimental.

Now, the giant had had every intention of leaving the building after that, but she had caught wind of some lesser Shadows. One thing led to another, and she had eventually gotten lost. It was a good thing that nobody was there to see her, as she tried to figure out exactly where she was on that floor. When she finally poked out into a proper hall, she looked about. Then she saw Alouette. Well, that was certainly not planned, but it wouldn't harm to hail her for a mo- she was shooting something. Then again, she did hear something crackle earlier. She half-thought it had been the fire before. That had made sense to her at the time. Now, it wasn't nearly as innocent. Pressing on to assist the girl, Nisha noticed the incoming armored figure. Could the girl take an attack from something like that? This wasn't a fight where there were plenty of healers. If the girl couldn't take the attack, she would certainly have ended up dying.

That was why Nisha acted without hesitation.

The spear never met the blonde. It feel short. All that reached Alouette was the initial spurt of blood from the injury the giant sustained. That really did figure, didn't it? The giant fought plenty of Shadows on the upper floors, then chased the weaker ones around on that floor. Of course she was tired. Of course. . . it made sense that the spear penetrated her so easily. More than that, though, it made perfect sense that everything would come together, that her doubts would be blown away, only to find herself spitting up her own blood. An armored foot collided with her torso. Sent her back, and it caused the tip of the spear to rip through her innards as it broke free. As her body fell back, she accepted it. She was far too gone with something like that. It would have taken miraculous powers to heal her. She knew that. She fell and crumpled over, coughing up blood, as she looked up to Alouette.

”A-ah. . . you're okay? You should. . . run. I can't. . . heal anybody.” She was dying, but she wasn't disappointed. Her last day on that earth was filled with assurance that she was right in her actions. And her cause of death? Following through with her convictions. So, when she could have whimpered or cried, she instead focused on the girl she had only shared a few minutes and words with. With those words, trembling with weakness, she urged the blonde to run.

She had her answer.

[Alouette Pendleton]

Ally simply froze as she watched the spear come for her. Had she accepted her fate? Certainly not. The girl simply felt trapped and unable to move. For once in a very long time, she was beginning to think of her own life as precious rather than a tool to meet her own goals. And so, the figure with the large spear plunged forward until it met her. Only, the spear seemed late for some reason.

The girl seemed to fade out of consciousness for a moment as the spear came. It wasn't until she felt something splatter against her face that she finally began to look at the scene before her. A body. A spear through it. Blood. That was blood on her face? Who was this? She knew this person. And yet, before she could simply realize that fact, she watched the figure get pushed off the spear and onto the floor in front of her. Looking down, Ally's eyes widened for a moment as they took in the scene before her. Nisha. Slowly, the girl was beginning to piece together what had just happened. She felt her body tremble as she dropped to her knees and reached for Nisha's hand. She was told to run. Shaking her head, tears began to form in her eyes. For that moment, Ally couldn't articulate any words. She simply gripped the girl's hand in her own and looked down at her.

The wound she had received was fatal. That much was obvious. No. I can't run. You're here. Finally, words came out of her mouth. She at least wanted to say something positive to the woman. Everything is going to be fine. You'll make it through this. See you again. None of these fit what she could say. The only thing she could do was watch the life slip from her vision. Slowly, the tears continued to build and trickle down her cheeks. A few of those tears dripped onto the woman's face. And so, Ally simply cried. There was nothing more that she could think of doing at that moment.

[Soren Jensen]

His strike connected, though not with the intended target. Some giant put herself in between the spear and his target. All the same, it appeared that he had gotten through her defenses. After kicking the weight of the body from his spear, the Shadow slowly turned around and began to walk away. He could have struck at the other while she mourned, but he was not a monster. Even if humans would not grant Shadows the time to grieve their own, that did not mean he could not respect life enough to do it for others. Her had some mercy, after all, as well as standards. Besides, he simply wanted to kill a human to make temporary amends to his brother upstairs. For the time being, that would do. He'd make sure to take care of the smaller human at a later time, though.

[Nisha Dovickssen]

The girl refused to listen. She was in danger and she stayed behind? Fortunately, it seemed like the Shadow had no intentions of lingering. Whether it was due to having killed someone, or because it was no longer worth his time, or whatever, was irrelevant. The woman was grateful for that fact. She offered a slight smile to the blonde. Her face was damp, but she wasn't crying. Ah, it must have been Alouette's tears. A weak laugh escaped her lips. She coughed up a little more blood. Despite that, she squeezed the girl's hand. It was meant to be reassuring, but she couldn't put any strength behind it. She had always been pale, but it was obvious something was wrong, staring at her complexion.

”You know. . . you got lucky. . . just then. I had . . . gotten lost. It was em. . . barrassing, but it. . . let me find you. You know. . . I came to this. . . city to fix this. . . stupid strength. The doctors failed. . . so I figured. . . I'd be stuck with it. . . it only makes. . . sense that . . . death would fix this. . . strength. I'm putting. . . all of my strength. . . into holding your. . . hand. It doesn't. . . even hurt now. . . does it?” She half-laughed, half-choked as she produced a bit more blood. How long did she have? Not long, she knew that.

”A-ah. Hey. . . I'm not. . . in the position. . . to ask you things. . . but. . . please go to. . . my apartment. Even if. . . you just let. . . him out, it'd let. . . Yippa get food. . . so that'd. . . be appreciated.” A weak, nervous laugh escaped her, though it was more a gurgle than anything. A half-blood, half-saliva solution leaked from her lips before she took a pained breath. What more could she say? It wasn't safe to stay there. Hopefully she'd leave once. . . once she died. It was disturbing how at peace she was with that.

”Keep your. . . goals in mind. You should. . . be fine. Just. . . be careful. . . okay?” She reminded her of their previous conversation. Hopefully it'd keep her out of trouble. Whatever the case, the woman let out a sigh. Her eyes slowly drifted shut. At some point, what strength she did have left faded. Her breathing slowly whittled to nothing. Then her heat began to leave her body.

[Alouette Pendleton]

Ally continued to cry while looking at the dying girl. The red from her wound was beginning to spread, even getting onto the floor and staining Alouette's jacket. The figure that had done the deed began to walk away, though Ally paid it no mind. She was completely focused on the dying girl before her. She watched the hand she was holding grow more and more pale by the second. Finally, more words came out of the girl's mouth.

They were slow like her usually speech that she had become familiar with, though it was clearly pained. Blood spurted out of her mouth as she spoke. Ally wanted to tell her to stop talking, but even so, she knew that it would still be too late for her. Her words only made the tears come in greater volume. When the girl said that she was holding her hand with all of her strength, Ally froze and felt her hand. It didn't hurt in the least. Gripping her hand even tighter, the girl tried to not make too much noise as she cried.

Following that, she was asked to go by her apartment to let her pet out. She would remember that, even if it was something she clearly did not want to realize. She simply nodded to the girl, squeezing her hand just a bit more. I'll do that. I promise. Her voice was clearly pained. She watched more blood spurt out from the girl. This was such an awful sight to witness. Why did this have to happen? A few more words came out of her mouth. They were familiar words, like she had heard them not too long ago. "Just. . . be careful. . . okay?” She burned the image of Nisha into her mind as these words were spoken.

And then, it finally happened.

Ally watched the girl close her eyes; the life leave her form. No longer was Ally crying. She just stared in a daze with tears still streaming. It took her a moment or two. Eventually though, she put down the girl's hand and let it rest. She would be back for her soon enough. Getting up, Ally took one giant breathe of air and glared at the figure that was now walking away. YOU BASTARD!

She yelled at the top of her lungs. Her demeanor was unlike any anger she had previously shown. This was pure white motivation. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists at full force. What this thing had done was unforgivable. She was going to make it pay for what it had done. Do you even realize what you just did!? This girl was probably the closest thing to someone who could sympathize with shadows! No. She did sympathize with them. And yet, you killed her! The tears came back for a second time, if only for a moment. She just wanted them to have meaningful existences! How could you!? She couldn't expect this figure to understand what she was speaking. As she spoke, a faint blue aura began to form around the girl. Slowly, it grew in intensity as she continued to speak. Until finally, she snapped. "Just. . . be careful.

. . . okay?”

One last time, she gazed at the figure as an intense crackling noise formed behind her. Taking a quick breath, the girl began to speak. Jeanne D'Arc! And from those words, the armored figure of a girl appeared behind her. She was blonde just like Ally, only taller and wielding a sword. Ally continued to stare down the figure for a moment more before reaching into her bag for a grenade.

Pulling the pin, the girl ran up to the figure and let it explode on the both of them. Normally, it would have been suicide for the girl. Yet, she knew she would be fine. She just knew. Yet, after exploding, she saw the figure still there. Jumping back, the girl thought quickly as she saw a sharp piece of metal stick out of the ground. Pulling it out, she charged out more and began to swing wildly at the figure. Each attack hit; it hit hard. And yet, nothing happened. None of her attacks were working. But the girl preservered. She continued onward. She would not lose her way.

[Soren Jensen]

Apparently, the body he stabbed had finally lost its life. Like a cliché protagonist, his original target screamed some degree of profanity and charged after him. He stopped, but it was not out of fear or concern. It was because he was deigning to hold a conversation with this girl who spewed all manner of nonsense at him. Realize? Sympathize? Existences? Reasons? Perhaps it would have been better if the woman had not gotten in the way. Perhaps a discussion of beliefs would have occurred, though he doubted anything interest would have come from it. And then it happened. Not a normal human was this child. She was a Persona-user. Whether that was her awakening or just her developing some new semblance of an idea was irrelevant. He would still show mercy that day, yes, but his earlier mental declaration only developed further substance in his mind. One day, he would find this girl and kill her as well, as she was a threat to his lesser comrades.

”If she sympathized with my kind, why did she kill them?” The question was simple, though his words were distorted. A human could understand him if they bothered to pay attention, but otherwise, they were just a deep, resonant groan of vocal cord projections in a steel cage. Of course, he did ask this as the girl practically tried to kill herself- oh, grenades didn't work on her. At all, it seemed. Interesting. Following the failed suicide bombing- it failed on both ends- she tried slashing at his armor with random pieces of metal. That was both inelegant and stupid. Either way, the armored Shadow sighed, and the breath sounded like a metallic growl.

”You cannot defeat me as you are. I gave you the chance to tend to it and put it away. Do not waste that mercy, as my patience does have its limits.” “It” referred to that woman's corpse. It had no life. It was nothing but decaying matter. Therefore, how he referred to it was irrelevant. He figured that the human would grow angrier, but if she pushed him, then he'd take a second life that day. Either way, Soren stood tall and still. The butt of his spear rest on the ground, while the shaft was tilted back, towards his shoulder. He could, in a heartbeat, have it ready for use, but, just like his words suggested, he was not about to attack her.

Yet. If she continued, he'd just end it for her.

[Alouette Pendleton]

Why did she. . .? It had become evident that this shadow could talk. It wasn't too surprising given the few shadows that she was presented with previously. They seemed more than capable of speaking as well. More than that, this shadow had responded to what she had said. Specifically, he called out a contradiction in her words. Well to be fair, it was hardly a contradiction at all. There was surely a logical explanation to what Nisha believed. But that reason? It was lost along with her life. She wouldn't have a way of answering this shadow without that reason.

Furthermore, the shadow seemed to be giving her a chance to simply stop and leave. He had pointed out that none of her attacks had any effect on him. She had realized that as well, yet, could she really sit back and do nothing? Surely there was something that she could do. She had overcome countless trials in the past. Surely this was just another one! And so, the girl clenched her fist once more. It? Mercy? Patience? You. . . I'll waste you! For Ally to hear the shadow speak about Nisha like that was something that she could not forgive. With an intimidating and unwavering look in her eye, the girl called out her persona once more. At least. . . for a moment.

Immediately after her new persona was called out, it disappeared. The girl who had summoned it was slowly becoming dizzy as her vision faded. . . .why? Why now? Her words were in audible, but that had been what she was trying to say. Nisha. Alouette dropped to her knees, then flat on the ground as she lost consciousness. The blade that she held tightly in her hand remained strong in her grip despite this. So now with tear-stained cheeks and a mind full of regrets and sad thoughts, the girl drifted off to sleep.

"Just. . . be careful. . . okay?”

[Soren Jensen]

The Shadow just stood there and watched the blonde. He did not receive a response to his question. More than that, all he did receive was aggression. Did she seriously think that willpower alone would turn the tables in a real fight? Was she simply that young and naive? Or was she one of those disgusting kids that clung to fictional stories so desperately? Either way, her emotions were filled with rage and despair. Alvis would have had a nice enough banquet, were he there, likely, but Soren had no interest in those feelings. And, without warning, the child crumpled forward like a puppet. For a moment, the wargod stared on. Part of him was surprised. The rest was filled with disbelief.

"Hey." His words were filled with neither concern for her nor worry for the situation. It was just an attempted hail. Given a moment, the Shadow stepped forward and hooked the butt of his spear against her side, turning her over. She had the audacity to sleep in front of a threat? Ending it would have likely been a favor to the girl. Either way, he increased the pressure against her side with that butt. Her body shifted slightly from the force, but there were no signs of awakening. It was just that his force exceeded the amount necessary to actually push her. It seemed that she wasn't faking it. Just. . . what?

Shaking his head, Soren retracted his spear and began to turn away. It wasn't one of the transgressors from before, but he had taken the life of one of the blatant murderers of his kind. While it wasn't necessarily a good day, it was certainly much more tolerable than it could have been. The wargod made his way into some of the lesser disturbed areas of the building before finally reverting. Eventually, he made his way out of the place entirely, heading back to the city.

He likely kept a patron or two waiting with that distraction. He'd have to find some way to make it up to them.

[Alouette Pendleton]

The world was a blur.

As Ally slowly regained consciousness from her unintended slumber, the girl slowly began to pull herself up to a sitting position. She had a splitting headache and felt like she had been hit by a truck for some reason. Slowly, she was beginning to remember just what had happened in such a short time. She met a girl. This girl revealed the fate of her father, who was her entire drive during this whole incident; her main reason for fighting. She had lost that meaning, yet thanks to that girl was able to take the first step in moving on. She remembered a happy time. Yet, she was beginning to remember where everything went so wrong.

She was attacked out of nowhere only to be saved by the girl at the cost of her life. And now that she remembered that, she recalled the girl's name. Nisha. . . Nisha! Recalling the moment she was saved, the girl instinctively got up and ran towards where the "fight" began. It only took her a few steps to see what she was looking for. Alouette froze in her tracks, staring at the now cold body with a pool of blood under it. The rest of her memories came back after that. She remembered the words they left each other with, the awakening of her new persona, the meaningless fight, and then. . . darkness.

With an outstandingly depressed look on her face, the girl walked over to the body to feel for a pulse. She knew that she was dead, but Ally wanted to feel it once more. She did that for a moment as she remained deep in thought for a little bit. She knew what she needed to do now. The first thing she did was bring the body somewhere where she could bury it. It was certainly no easy task especially in a building filled with shadows. By her count, she was attacked about four times by shadows. Each time, she fended them off with that metal shard that she had used in the fight with that shadow all while carrying that body. It took her a while, but eventually she reached the spot that seemed most appropriate. The Gap.

It took a bit longer, but Ally managed to dig a grave and make a small "tombstone" that simply read:

"Nisha
Guardian Angel"

Ally remained there for a little while longer despite it being well past midnight by now. She was exhausted, yet, this was far more important. When she was finally satisfied, she pulled out the keys that she had taken from her body. She still had one more thing to do. I'll talk to you later. For now, Yippa must be hungry. And on those words, the girl slowly trudged to the apartment complex based on the keys she found.

Finding the apartment number, Alouette opened the door to find what she could only assume was "Yippa" curled up by the door. It was a bit of a surprise for the girl who had been expecting some sort of dog. However, this was a fox of some sort. It seemed rather defensive around Ally, which was to be expected. She was a stranger. Yippa. She called out to the fox in a pained voice, to which it responded almost immediately. With her hand extended to the fox, she slowly petted it with a slight smile. Let's get you some food before I decide what to do. And that's just what she did.

Yippa ate rather well. Though as Ally watched, she could tell that it was clearly looking for its "owner." With a solemn look, Ally also realized that she needed to decide what to do with the girl's apartment. That was something she could decide on another day of course. As for Yippa, she had already decided what was to be done. Luckily, she seemed to gain Yippa's trust quite easily. Walking over to the small fox, she petted it once more and got on its eye level. You'll be coming with me, okay? She spoke in a kind voice coupled with a little sadness. And on that note, she brought the fox to her large, empty, lonely home. Suddenly, Ally had the feeling that it wouldn't be so lonely now. On this instance, the girl could remain positive.

Later that night, as the sun finally began to rise, Ally still had not slept. Yippa was given his own bed right by her side in her room and was sleeping soundly. However, Ally was at the house's balcony, overlooking the city. She had quite a bit on her mind at this time. Her father, Nisha, Yippa, her purpose, and everything else. She was slowly beginning to sort out that which had overwhelmed her. Finally though, Ally decided her "purpose." At least, for now it would remain her purpose. After that, she could continue to search for what she truly needed to do. I will defeat that shadow. I will overcome that mountain that I was presented with and move forward. I swear it.

Ally remained on the balcony for a little while longer before finally going to bed. The girl slept for nearly two days after that. She clearly needed the sleep. But now awake, she was more alive then ever. She would carry on.