“Blaze, can I talk to you?” Vox seemed nervous as she entered his tent. Blaze had been working on the maps Penzance had given him over the past four days. Meaning, he hadn’t had much of a chance to talk to Vox. Since he had described what happened to him in the lake she had seemed distant. Normally she would have come to check up on him even if he was busy with work, but over the week he had only seen her at dinner. She seemed to be avoiding him.
“Of course,” Blaze got up from the book he was reading, and tried to give Vox a hug. She put up a leg stopping him. “What’s wrong?”
“I just have a lot on my mind that I need to talk about,” Vox walked around Blaze, and sat at the chair across from him. Slowly, Blaze followed and sat across from her. “I’m going with you into the lake.” Her gaze was cold and her voice was soft. “I can’t just sit here in camp worrying about your safety. I hate thinking that you may not come back, that there is nothing I can do to protect the stallion I love.”
“Vox, I can’t put you in danger like that.” Blaze softly replied.
“You don’t want me to go because I would be in danger, but I couldn’t go on if the only pony I care about is dead. I’m going with you.” She spoke with a conviction that Blaze had hardly seen.
“Vox... please,” Blaze pleaded.
“No Blaze. I’m going. You of all ponies should understand why I’m saying this. Think about your father. How did you feel when he was off exploring and you were at home?” Vox was becoming increasingly frantic.
“That’s enough Vox!” Blaze’s response cut her off, and he met her stare. His voice trembled as he spoke, “My father is the reason I can’t let you go, I remember the pain I felt when Penzance told me he wasn’t coming back. I still fear that I made the wrong choice coming on this damn expedition, but I can’t let you risk your life like that. I can’t lose somepony else I love. I just can’t.”
Vox was in tears, and whispered, “You asked me to read your thoughts a few days ago. Now it’s time for you to read mine. I want you to know how I feel.”
Blaze’s horn lit up as he reached out with his mind; although his magic was nowhere near as powerful as Vox’s, he could still feel her emotion. Blaze felt all of her fear, isolation, and despair. He was all too familiar with these feelings since the death of his father. Although these weren’t new feelings for Blaze they punctuated Vox’s point.
“Okay,” Blaze sighed. “I won’t stop you.”
“Thank you, as long as we’re together everything will be okay.” Vox, still crying, stood up, and walked to the exit. “Arata should be here soon, I’m going to go get equipment ready. I’ll see you again soon.”
Arata showed up shortly after Vox left. He was carrying his machete and saddle bag with him already. Something about the way he looked today gave Blaze a sense of confidence. The new kid, who had been thrust into the center of all of this, was now ready to go back into the lake, and face whatever it held.
“Hey kid, how was your break?” Blaze hollered turning his gaze away from Arata.
“It was… eventful,” he replied.
“What do you mean eventful?” Blaze pressed.
“I drank some acid and couldn’t talk for a few days… it wasn’t that bad.” Arata had walked over.
“You drank acid…”
“I was trying to help a friend get a cutie mark…”
“That sounds like an interesting cutie mark to have,” Blaze responded.
“This isn’t really related to any of this, but on my walk in from town I could swear there was a little filly following me,” Arata said.
“I’m sure the kid is just interested in the camp. It can’t cause too much trouble.” Blaze didn’t really seem interested in this, and Arata didn’t see the harm in a kid following him to the camp.
“So what’s the plan for today?” Arata asked excitedly.
“We’re testing a theory I have, and if I’m right, Vox should get a persona out of it.” Blaze said with a hint of hesitation.
“You don’t mean she’s going in first do you?” Arata asked.
“That’s exactly it. I only have two data points to go on here, but the lake seemed to be themed to whoever went in first.” Blaze frowned, and tilted his head down. “I’m not keen on sending Vox in as a test subject, but she insisted.”
“You two ready to go?!” Vox exclaimed as she burst through the tent’s entrance.
“Yeah!” Arata shouted.
“You’re sure about this Vox?” Blaze asked one final time.
“Yes, I am.”
“Then I’m ready too. Let’s get going.” Blaze led the trio out of the tent and down the path to the lake.
On the walk over, Vox was asking every question she could think of about personas, shadows, and the places they were transported to. Blaze was too worried to answer any of her questions, although he tried not to show it. When they finally arrived at the lake, Vox wasted no time dropping her bags, and unloading some new equipment.
“Okay guys, I have some stuff here that I think will make exploration a bit easier.” Vox pulled out three heavy looking black jackets and gave one to each pony. “They’re not as good as actual armor, but these jackets should give you guys a bit more protection from attacks. I tried to find something better than machetes for you guys, but we didn’t have anything on hoof.”
“They’ve worked this long,” Blaze chimed in as he put on his jacket and slid the E.W.E.F band over his right foreleg.
“Good, I also have these.” Vox pulled out three of the radios she had been tinkering with over the past few weeks. “These should let us stay in contact with each other; if they even work in the lake.”
Blaze and Arata both took the radios, and double checked their equipment.
“Hey Vox, why didn’t you give us this kind of equipment earlier?” Arata asked.
“Well, before you two were doing ‘Anthropological research’ but now I can classify this as ‘exploration’ and ‘hazardous’. Basically, what I’m saying is the Major General told me I could.” Vox smiled and pulled one final tool from her pack.
Suspended in front of her surrounded by her magical aura, was a ‘L’ shaped device. Blaze and Arata had never seen anything like it before.
“This is a little something I’ve been building since our time in Everfree. It compresses my magic into projectiles, and I can decide how much power each one has.” Vox smiled and slipped it into a holster.
“How did you come up with that idea?” Blaze asked.
“Well I realized that my magic isn’t nearly as powerful as other unicorns. So I decided to make something that will let me hit a little harder. You two ready to start?” Vox finally added.
“I am,” nodded Arata.
“You’re going in first. We’ll follow. Don’t open the door that will appear in front of you until we are there with you.” Blaze cautioned.
“There’s no point in putting this off any longer. Let’s do this!” Vox walked over to the lake peered into the still water and stepped in.
Blaze and Arata ran over to the edge of the lake, the water was still as if no one had entered.
“We’ll it looks like she’s in. Let’s go!” Arata shouted, leaping into the lake, shortly followed by Blaze. The two were both familiar with the falling sensation they immediately felt. When they reached the bottom Arata was almost able to land on his feet, but the impact was too much for him to take. Blaze just landed on his back.
“Arata, there’s the door, it looks like Vox already went in. Let’s get going!” Blaze darted into the already opened door, shortly followed by Arata.
The pair now stood in a completely black room, the door disappearing behind them. Both had their machetes drawn, and were ready for whatever they faced.
“Arata, you’ve had the most experience with personas. Plus, you’ve saved my life twice now. You should take the lead.” Blaze stepped in file with Arata.
“All right, if you’re sure. Let’s keep close, I can’t see a thing.” Arata took a few steps forward and stopped to pull out his radio. “Vox, do you copy?” The line buzzed with static, but there was no response. “No luck, I don’t like the looks of this Blaze. Each of us was transported to a place, but this is just empty. What do you think it means, Blaze?”
“No idea, but I guess were about to find out. Stay on guard no telling what will happen.”
The two walked forward into the darkness. There was nothing around them, not even the strange mist that seemed to fill every other dark corner of this world. Even the shadows that had attacked them seemed to be absent or in hiding. Yet despite all of this the pair still felt like something was watching them.
“Blaze…. Arata…. Help” A dull voice echoed in the back of their minds. Blaze was all too familiar with this feeling.
“It’s Vox! She’s reaching out to us telepathically!” Blaze closed his eyes, and his horn began to glow. He stood in silence trying to concentrate for a few moments. “I can’t get in contact with her. I don’t like this.” Seconds after Blaze spoke a blast of fire consumed him.
Arata stared at the ball of fire that now burned where Blaze once stood. The blast had caught him off guard. All he could do was stand, and watch the inferno swallow Blaze.
“Man at arms!”
Blaze’s persona leapt out from the conflagration, followed shortly by Blaze.
“Looks like fire doesn’t hurt me in here,” Blaze grinned.
“That’s kind of ironic considering your name…” Arata joked. “My persona Virtue was resistant to lightning.”
Blaze just glared at Arata for a moment; before pushing Arata aside and blocking another fire blast that hurled toward them.
“Careful kid,” He cautioned peering into the darkness in front of them, looking for the source of the fire.
“Blaze, Arata, help me” The words echoed in their minds again.
“Blaze look,” Out of the darkness a familiar figure began to appear. Floating as if suspended by string Vox came into view.
“Help me,” She thought, her horn’s glow visible against the darkness behind her.
Before Blaze or Arata had a chance to react the ground below them froze, followed by a burst of ice that covered both of them. Once Arata’s ice broke he was back on his feet, and moving toward Vox hoping to find their assailant. Blaze on the other hoof had been knocked down and was shivering, it seemed that most of him had not yet thawed out.
As Arata got closer to Vox, he noticed that she was in fact being held up by five thin wires; with one going to each of her legs and one on her head. He traced the path up to what appeared to be a hand with each string connected to a finger.
“Blaze, there’s something controlling her!” Arata shouted turning to face Blaze.
Blaze was still frozen and unable to move. Arata decided it would be better to fight whatever was controlling Vox than to go back, and pull Blaze off the ground. He called out his persona and charged in. Taliesin floated above Arata, and it was his hope that his persona would be able to sever the strings that suspended Vox. Before his persona’s blade met the wire, a wave of fire erupted from Vox. Arata, while a little hurt, was able to brush off most of the damage. Blaze was hit, but unaffected and was now charging in to help with the fight.
The pair tried to block the flurry of magical attacks that were coming at them. All while trying to locate their true assailant. Both Man at Arms and Taliesin wildly slashed and stabbed at the cables that were holding Vox, but all of their efforts seemed to be in vein. Arata then directed a blast of wind toward the hand that was pulling the string. The blast was completely negated by some kind of force field.
“Blaze, did you see that?” Arata called.
“Yeah looks like we need to find another way to take this thing down.” He replied dodging another burst of ice.
“Let’s push past it!” Arata sprinted past Vox into the darkness behind her.
Arata was barely past her when he ran into something solid. Before Arata had a chance to call back to Blaze, he was struck with a tremendous bolt of lightning which knocked him out instantly.
Blaze, seeing Arata take the hit, attempted to help him, but as he approached his friend another hand slammed down in front of him, and immediately slid towards him, knocking him back. The hit didn’t hurt nearly as much as he had anticipated. Two red eyes slowly opened behind Vox.
“There is no hope, she has embraced her fear, and now I shall use it to destroy you,” A deep voice bellowed through the darkness.
“Vox, can you hear me?!” Blaze shouted, calling for his persona to protect him from the demonic hand in front of him.
“Blaze, help me..”
“Vox, your fear is feeding this thing, you need to fight it! That’s the only way we can help you!” Blaze guarded against another swipe from the hand. Vox looked panicked; her eyes were wide and staring at Blaze.
“Blaze...” The more panicked Vox became, the harder the shadow struck Blaze.
While still blocking and dodging the shadow, Blaze reached out to Vox with his mind. Concentrating enough to make a telepathic connection was almost impossible while under attack. While he attempted to focus on his connection, his blocks became sloppy, and he was hit by the hand more and more.
“Vox! If you can’t find peace in yourself, then find peace in me!” He shouted, reaching out with his mind one final time.
…
“Arata, it is good to see you again. I apologize that I missed your last visit; Caroline tells me that you were able to learn much about social links.” Igor’s voice was becoming a common thing for Arata to wake up to. “Do not worry, Blaze is holding off the beast for you while we speak.” Igor paused and flipped two cards onto the table. Arata immediately recognized them as Taliesin and Virtue. “It is now time I explain my main role in your journey: fusing personas. With my assistance you will be able to combine personas into something even more powerful, and with this you gain infinite possibilities. Now go and help your friends. Your power may be the only one that can help them…”
…
Arata stood, all of his body fought against him. His mane had been partially singed by the bolt of lightning that had struck him, but now he knew he had the power to stop whatever this shadow was. His red eyes grew wide with anger, and a card appeared in front of him.
“Taliesin!” he screamed leaping towards the creature. In the side of his vision he could see Blaze trying to focus on something while dodging strikes from the creature’s hand. Arata wasted no time, and seized this opening. He ordered his persona to strike the hand holding Vox. Taliesin darted towards it, letting out blasts of wind. In reaction to this the shadow let out a burst of lightning.
“Virtue!” At his command, his second persona seamlessly traded places with Taliesin, and absorbed the attack. Virtue pressed on almost reaching the hand, but one final blast of fire was sent hurdling its way. This was Arata’s chance to test his new power.
He stood up on his hind legs and stretched his fore legs. In front of each hoof appeared a card, one for Taliesin, and one for Virtue. He swung his legs together, combining the two cards into one.
“Hua Po!” Virtue was instantly replaced by a small red pony, suspended by gossamer wings. The blast hit her, but there was no effect. She charged toward the hand, and let out a focused burst of magic, nullifying any resistance to fire the enemy may have. Then a conflagration shot forward at the hand.
Although the blast didn’t destroy the hand it did enough damage to separate Vox from the wires suspending her. Vox dropped to the ground, and both hands recoiled, giving Blaze a pause from the combat.
Vox slowly rose, and turned to face her demon. “You were right, I did let my fears consume me. But luckily, I’m not alone. It just took Blaze to put my fears into perspective.”
A card appeared before Vox. “Now I will destroy you!” The card shattered “Morgana!” before her a unicorn appeared.
Vox’s persona stood on its hind legs, one hoof extended in front of it, the other holding a book up to its face. Her eyes were covered by a bandage. It was completely black except for a faint red glow coming off of its horn.
Vox paused, taking a moment to calm her mind, and charge up an attack. A white glow appeared in front of her persona, and the shadow before her was slowly encased in ice. Once it was completely frozen, Vox drew her pistol, and shot the shadow, shattering it into pieces.
The fragments of the shadow evaporated, and a door appeared in front of Vox. Arata and Blaze rushed to her side.
“You okay?” Arata asked, directing his question at Blaze.
“Yeah, but a little bruised.” Although he tried not to show it, Blaze had taken a beating from the hand.
“You two ready to leave?” Vox added. With their affirmation the trio stepped through the door.
…
Blaze and Arata were the first ones at the surface of the lake. When they emerged, all of their wounds had healed, and they wasted no time returning to the surface. Vox reached the surface by the time Blaze and Arata had reached the shore. Although it had taken longer for her to surface she seemed to be okay.
They wasted no time returning to camp, and documenting what had happened. Vox and Blaze went back to their duties with the E.W.E.F. and Arata went home.