The Dark Tower [Isolde]

[Seiji Dalton]

It had been weeks since Seiji had been to the executive building. The looming dark tower had been where he'd first had an encounter with shadows on his own, it was where he met his first fellow Persona users. It was very weird that the place would be the location of what could only be described as a first date. Leaning against the entrance, he watched the dark sky and remembered how he felt when he first saw it. After a month of fighting tentacle reapers, drills, washed up 80's wrestlers, and all sorts of other things that go bump in the night, it was refreshing to be back here again.

His new bastard sword was hanging proudly at his side, ready for action. Thoughtlessly listening to music, he closed his eyes but extended his senses as he waited on the arrival of Isolde. He'd sent her a text requesting to meet up there if she was free. He certainly hoped she was free. Two heads were better than one and he wanted to see how good she was at fighting. Something told him that he wasn't the only one curious about the battle capabilities of the other. Hopefully she'd show up before he ran out of Merle Haggard, he didn't know how long he could keep from singing along to Waylon's tunes.

[Seiji Dalton]

And there Isolde was. Seiji smiled faintly when he saw her appear around a corner looking half a goddess and half a woman. Taking his headphones off, he smiled and towards her, embracing in a warm hug. "Isolde. You look dressed to kill, tonight." The joke probably wouldn't be lost on her. This was certainly a different way to meet than the usual 'meet and greet in the coffee shop'. Turning and looking at the tower that loomed above them both, Seiji calmly took steps forward, eager to explore the place with her. "Shall we? We don't want to hurt the shadows' feelings. They might just turn the whole situation around and go home."

[Seiji Dalton]

Isolde would probably notice, as one of the few people to see Seiji both in a casual setting and out there in the outer circle, that he carried himself almost totally different out here in the shadowlands. Holding his sword close, never straying very far from Isolde, and always on the lookout for shadows, they found themselves in the massive lobby of the building. His whole body was defensive, poised to strike. From underneath a chair, a Maya attempted to run off into the distance and Seiji savagely hacked the poor thing down before it could make it more than a few yards.

"Are the shadows down here scared of you, too?" He asked.

[Seiji Dalton]

Isolde was a pretty tenacious fighter herself. From his observation of her style, she seemed much more elegant than him. The shadows died cleaner, if not quicker. Staying by her side, he patrolled the hallway of the first floor with her to make sure the shadows were behaving themselves now that their Mama Bear Computer was dead. "Takeda, Dave, and me cleared out the shadow guarding this place and now you can go farther up. Granted...the barrier wasn't on the second floor anyway. It'd be silly for each section of this 'dungeon' to be a single floor, since it's a skyscraper and all." That'd just be silly.

If you forgot all about the shadows lurking behind every corner, it almost seemed like they were going on a lovely stroll with steel-forged weapons at their side.

[Seiji Dalton]

"There's an easy way to tell where the barrier here is in comparison to the rest of the shadow infested areas. Follow me." Leading her along to the backside of the lobby, they quickly found their way to an open elevator door. "Here's hoping this goes better than the Tower of Terror, I've been on this before, I promise." Stepping into the old timey elevator lined with red velvet, he pointed out the control panel for her. A number of floors were lit up but the higher ones were dim, inaccessible. "We'll be going up, then." Pressing a key for one of the highest floors accessible, the elevator closed and Seiji found himself holding Isolde close out of a protective instinct. Good thing they couldn't see very good as the elevator started going up, because Seiji realized after the fact that he was blushing pretty intensely.

[Seiji Dalton]

Getting safely to their destination, Seiji led the way as he exited the elevator. The shadows in this area were still weaker than the ones he was used to after delving into the mines. Finding a nearby window, he peered outside and whistled. They were a few stories up, roughly 2/5ths up the building. There was still quite a ways to go. Turning back and looking around, he wondered just what this building was used for before the bombs fell shadows rolled through. Most of the shadows they ran across scurried away. Some of them were weaker versions of shadows he was used to fighting. "I think you should take me along more often, the shadows won't hurt you with me around."

[Deleted]

"Yes, I think the Shadows won't hurt me if you're around. Of course, I'll take you along with me." she responded as she exited the elevator. She saw some of the shadows cower away in fear. Perhaps, they recognized that the duo were of a higher level. Either way, she still had a long way to go before reaching the barrier. At least, they have time to explore the other floors, so it wasn't so bad. Just as long as the shadows don't decide to attack them at the last second.

[Seiji Dalton]

"As a heads up," Seiji began as his attentive eyes scanned the horizon, "they'll eventually start grouping up if they sense someone they're not strong enough to beat in a fair fight." He remembered the encounter with Alisa. The shadows in the street weren't strong enough to beat him, so they grouped up and Alisa ended up saving his sorry rump a handful of times in a single fight. If these shadows were about to do the same thing, he found himself glad, infinitely glad, to have Isolde by his side.

A vein throbbed on his forehead, sending a shockwave of pain through his head as they pressed on. Rubbing it with his free hand, he instantly became more alert. It seemed like something big was always coming when he got a headache. Seiji's protective instincts kicked in and he stayed close to Isolde, but in front as they walked through the hallways. Something was gathering just out of their sight, and Seiji didn't like not being in the know.

[Deleted]

"I'll be on my guard, then." she responded. From what she observed, Shadows worked together in groups, but they could also work alone. And it seemed as if something big was about to happen, judging by how close Seiji stayed by her. Maybe it was a lone Shadow surrounded by others and if it was, they'll have to get ready for a world of hurt. The Shadows would probably ambush them if they were not careful. It was just like the past explorations she had been on, but the Shadows she encountered in groups didn't merge with each other.

[Seiji Dalton]

Oh no. They hit the next barrier near the stairs heading up. Either it was further down than the last one or the shadows could move it. Either way, the point of Seiji's sword prodded the barricade and he flew around almost instantly, sword held with bravado and determination. "Here comes the shadows, Princess. I'm not the only one who can sense." The hallways ran in several different directions but shadows were quickly pouring down all possible escape routes.

Breathing easy despite their sudden danger, Seiji muttered a single word. "Persona." Shattered a card, Sir Gawain emerged from the sea of his soul and stood proud, morningstar in one hand, a small shield on his left wrist, and a sword in his hands. Smashing his mace into the ground, he sent out a powerful, rolling wave of heat that sent many of the shadows back. It was a powerful attack and it gave them just the opening he needed to make a break for it. Unfortunately, a bolt of darkness hit him and the effect was immediate. Pain rippled through his body.

Seiji looked to Isolde with a pleading look in his eyes, remembering that she had healing magic.

[Deleted]

"Obey my command and heal him!" she ordered as Penthesilea had manifested by her side and casted Dia on Seiji which took the form of a green light surrounding him and patching his wounds. That wave took out most of the shadows that were about to attack them. It was all thanks to Sir Gawain's efforts that they can breathe easily this time around. She noticed that they were at the barrier already. There was now more danger lurking around the corner and she had to be on her guard lest the shadows decide to attack them once again.

[Seiji Dalton]

Taking a moment to admire Penthesilea as she appeared at Isolde's side, Seiji suddenly found himself happy that they were both on the same side. The healing magic she tossed his way wasn't as powerful as the spell Ran had used on him but it'd do. "No use staying in one place, let's give them a little chase before we cut them down." He proclaimed, announcing his course of action as the short, portly knight flew beside him as they bolted down a side hallway.

From around a corner, a Gigas emerged that punched Seiji, knocking him back. Surprisingly, the punch wasn't nearly as strong as it could have been. A Luchadore Gigas, this Gigas was not. Gawain ran it through with his brave blade and then launched his morningstar mace through the air. It landed near Isolde and sent out another Heat Wave to keep her safe.

[Seiji Dalton]

From the darkness before them, three idols emerged and blocked their path. Interesting...he hadn't seen idols like those since his last foray into the mine. Part of him wanted to see what Isolde could do. She'd healed him and speared a shadow on her fencing blade but he hadn't seen her fight. Taking a step back, he nodded at Isolde and said, "Maybe you'd like to take these on? Don't worry, nothing's going to attack us from the back." Gawain was hard at work keeping the shadows away, slaying mayas and keeping anything that looked at them wrong at bay.

[Seiji Dalton]

Seiji couldn't help but whistle when Isolde destroyed the idols one by one with ice. A bufula girl? She'd mentioned that but it was nice to see her in action. Numerous smaller shadows had ran away at the sight of Gawain and Penthesilea making short work of the other shadows. In the midst of their retreat, something ominous looking made its way down from the barrier. A samurai-esque shadow, like the one Seiji had fought before. The mutt and the samurai regarded one another coldly. Gawain's longsword clashed with its odachi. "I think our boss has appeared." He had to resist the urge to smirk.

The shadow seemed more on his own level...not an actual boss of course, but something drawn from the upper floors by the commotion. "If you see an opening, take it. If not...keep me healed. Those swords sting." Speaking from experience of course.