Portcullis
Tuesday 4/12
Sunset's deep and easy sleep turned out to be good, because her day got weird faster than she'd expected.
As soon as she got out of the shower and dressed, she checked the time on her phone. She had some to spare, but the screen had a notification from a program she'd never used before, with a little word balloon icon. She consulted the manual and saw it was the text message icon, so she opened it up, finding a message from "Unknown Sender." The name was accompanied by some kind of cartoon, a picture of a black oval, featureless save for two pointed ears and a grinning, toothy mouth.
You need my help, the message read.
Sunset fumbled with the keypad, and with her confusion about how to reply to this.
Who are you? And why?
The reply appeared nearly instantly, and Sunset wondered how anyone could type that quickly.
Call me Alibaba. Your phone is compromised. I stopped it from reporting. But you need to remove the evil program. Follow my directions exactly.
Sunset pondered, starting a half-dozen messages and abandoning them. She had so many questions, but already had a suspicion she wasn't going to get answers. Just trusting someone who communicated like this seemed questionable at best. Still, she had her own concerns about Akechi, and her friends had told her about spyware. A device he provided, that she didn't understand, but that she knew could listen to her...when she thought about it that way, she felt like maybe she should just throw the phone away.
But it had the mystery app, and didn't want to lose it.
She finally went with, How do I know I can trust you?
Ehehehe, you don't! Paranoia's good if someone's bugging your phone! But do you trust me more than the person who gave you the phone?
Before Sunset could reply, more messages flashed out rapid-fire.
I know what you talked about in the cafe. I've heard of a metaverse. I want you to find out about it.
So I'm going to share a secret to earn your trust. I have ears in Leblanc. Don't talk there if you don't want me to know, but if you do, I'll hear it, even if no one else is around. If you tell me what you find about the metaverse, I'll help you keep your secrets.
At first, Sunset didn't think this was much of an offering. On the other hand, Leblanc seemed like a good place to meet, so they likely would have kept using it without that information. And there was the Akechi issue. He'd helped her, sure, but it was a lot of resources to dedicate to helping one girl, in a world that looked increasingly unlikely to spare resources like that. If Akechi suspected the truth, or otherwise thought she was more than she seemed, that would explain his willingness to help. And it would make spying on her via her phone a likely move. Realistically, her position here was terrible, and she was going to have to make some risky choices.
So she committed. All right, deal. But I don't know anything about cell phones.
Some kind of strange face picture appeared, that looked like it had one eye closed and a grinning mouth.
Don't worry, I got you a picture guide! Press the letter icon, that's your email. Press the message with my name on it, it'll show you what you need to do.
The process was convoluted, and Sunset had to do it in stages, following several instructions before going back to look at more of the pictures, but thanks to rising early, she managed to get through the whole thing before she had to leave for school. As soon as she'd done the last step, another message from Alibaba popped up.
Good job! I'll be in touch. Remember, if you need me first - Leblanc.
Sunset typed back a thanks, wondering why they couldn't just talk this way, but the message didn't go through. Her phone claimed, despite all recent evidence, that Alibaba didn't exist.
Sunset muddled through her classes again. She'd had no time to follow up on her notes from earlier, so she just accumulated more things that seemed like common knowledge among her classmates that she'd have to look up before her proper notes would start to make sense. The math class that followed remained blessedly comprehensible in comparison. Still, by lunchtime she felt like she was drowning, and was wondering if she could just ignore school, claiming amnesia, and focus on her friends.
Ann and Akira met her at lunch, to the scandalized glances of some passing students, though Sunset wasn't even sure why - they were all scandalous, so surely hanging out together shouldn't be a surprise.
"You okay, Sunset? You were writing up a storm in history," Ann asked.
"Don't even start. I know nothing. I need to make notes about what I have to look up before I can understand my actual notes."
"Oh, yeah, wow, you're basically starting second year high school just knowing how to read and write, huh? Ouch."
"I'll get through somehow. Look, I have something more important to talk about."
She filled them in on her experience in the morning, and showed them Alibaba's messages. Ann gave a big grin.
"Ooh, a real super hacker! And they're helping you out! That's so cool!"
"Are you sure I can trust them?"
"I'm not," Akira said. "But do you really have much choice?"
"That was what I thought. They did seem like they could hear us in Leblanc, and I don't trust Akechi. The more I learn about how much help he and this Shido gave me, for nothing, the stranger it seems. Plus, the instructions did something, and Alibaba could tell when I'd done them."
"Can I see them?" Akira leaned over her shoulder. "I'm not an expert, but I can tell if they look plausible."
She shrugged and handed him the phone, and he scrolled through.
"That's advanced. I didn't know you could do most of this stuff. It removed something, and didn't add anything, though, so it's plausible."
"It feels kind of creepy, knowing someone was listening to us, even though Sojiro was outside," Ann said. "I wonder if he knows?"
"I'm not going to mention it," Akira said. "He's scary when we're alone."
"If we told him and he didn't know, Alibaba might think we'd betrayed them," Sunset said. "I don't think I want that."
"Yeah," Ann said. "But like, can they hear Akira's room? Are they watching him sleep?"
"Maybe we should ask," Sunset said.
"I'll think about it," Akira said. "I hope I don't say anything embarrassing in my sleep."
"Yeah, and I guess we'll just keep them up to date and see how the deal goes," Sunset said. "But let's talk after school. Where can we meet up and get some privacy?"
"We could go to the bottom of the stairwell," Ann said. "The basement's locked, but there's a landing outside the door. No one really goes down there after school."
They all agreed, and Sunset returned to class. At least her post-lunch schedule was mostly languages.
As a secret hideout, the stairwell did have some unfortunate features. For one thing, there wasn't a door, leaving them in view of anyone who might look down from higher in the stairwell. Even more importantly, with everyone gone after the end of classes, sound echoed, leaving a constant fear of eavesdropping.
Of course, they knew for sure that Leblanc wasn't secure, and everywhere else in the school was locked or occupied, so Sunset wasn't sure what their other options were. Doubly so if they wanted to try out the mystery app, which clamed to require proximity. So she spent an awkward few minutes feeling horribly exposed, huddled against the wall under the lowest part of the stairs to maximize her cover, before Ann and then shortly after Akira arrived. Then all three of them huddled, speaking in whispers, ears pricked for the sound of the door opening.
"Okay, this isn't as good as I thought," Ann admitted. Sunset just shrugged.
"I couldn't think of anything better, at least not close to school," she said. "But it's going to be hard to talk much here. Should we just see what the app does? Then we can go to my dorm or something and talk more."
Akira already had his phone out, and nodded. Ann waited a bit, then nodded too. Akira pressed a finger to the screen.
Sunset felt the difference even before she saw it. A powerful spike of magic washed over her from Akira's phone, making her feel like she could almost float or glow. Before any such thing could happen, though, it faded to a pleasant background hum, a feeling of ambient potential she'd forgotten she was missing. As it did so, the school faded and vanished as another world snapped in above it - one that was much more familiar to Sunset than the industrial architecture of Shujin. It was a dungeon, complete with irregular masonry walls, uneven stone floors, torchlight, and barred cells. In the distance she heard rushing water.
"Wow," Ann's voice was still a whisper. "I didn't expect it to work..."
Sunset felt a pang of guilt for not telling her new friends about the magic she'd sensed from the app, but she replaced it with resolve. Once they were done here, she promised herself she'd tell them the whole story.
And, now that she thought of it, the background buzz of magic meant that should probably be soon. Without her horn she wasn't sure she could manipulate it, and from the lack of reaction on the part of the others, she assumed they couldn't feel it at all. But if anything lived here, presumably it would have no such disadvantage. She pulled out her own phone and opened the app. Akira and Ann looked over her shoulder.
Kamoshida's Palace, flashed red at the top of the screen. Below was a stopwatch counting up labeled Subjective Duration, along with a second timer, External Duration, that seemed to be counting up significantly more slowly. A single large button labeled Return was greyed out, much as the Enter button had been the night before. Sunset pressed it, but an error box appeared: Distortion too strong. Try again at the edge of the distortion, or in weakly distorted location.
"We can't get out?" A hint of fear crept into Ann's voice.
"We can't get out from here," Sunset corrected. Her mind raced trying to interpret the unfamiliar terms, but her background in magic at least gave her clues. "If the location was Shujin, maybe the edge of the distortion is around where the school grounds would end?"
"Huh," Akira said, "that's a good guess. You got a lot from that cryptic error."
Sunset felt a flash of guilt.
"I wanted to tell you--" she cut herself off as a metallic clanking echoed off the stone walls.
"W-what's that?" Whispered Ann.
Sunset was already looking desperately for cover, but none seemed forthcoming. She grabbed Ann and tried to scrunch them both behind a pillar that didn't really seem big enough, while Akira pressed against the wall, optimistically hoping for cover from a support beam.
"Keep up the patrol," a harsh but familiar voice rang out. "We can't be too careful with these new delinquents around."
Sunset and Ann shared a wide-eyed look - it was unmistakably Kamoshida's voice.
The metallic sounds drew closer, now unmistakably accompanied by footsteps. The strange short hairs on Sunset's forearms stood on end and she could swear she felt a tingle where her horn should be - the ambient magic was increasing.
Ann pressed tight against her, motionless. She tried to breathe silently. The footsteps were close now - clearly coming their way.
Sunset caught Akira's eyes, and he turned his head down the hallway. It sloped down, which seemed like a bad sign, but there was an open passage visible to the right at the end, and no one in sight. She gave him a nod and Ann a nudge, tensing herself to run. Akira held up three fingers, seeing both girls watching him, then lowered them one by one.
When the last fell, they all broke and ran. Kamoshida's voice echoed behind them, but Sunset ignored it and went flat-out, hoping her unfamiliar limbs wouldn't let her down at speed.
So far so good, but the metallic clanking behind her was disturbingly familiar from her experience with Celestia's Royal Guard, and the growing magic made her concerned that Kamoshida was somehow using it. She just hoped that the passage ahead of them would offer a way out. She turned the corner...and nearly ran into Akira, who'd hesitated.
It was a dead end, an open cell, larger than the others, but still without other exit. Lacking anything else to do, Sunset let her momentum carry her to the back wall, letting Ann stumble into the room with her. She turned to watch the door, but without much hope of what she'd see. Along the wall, Akira raised his fists. Sunset tried to mimic the pose, though she was painfully aware that her already nonexistent close combat skills couldn't possibly be enhanced by her new body.
With a metallic clank, their foe entered. It was a massive figure clad in plate armor, though Sunset felt the magic seeping off of it, and her focused attention caught the wisps of dark mist drifting out from the armor's joints. The power made her itch, particularly around her eyes, which felt strangely familiar.
Akira launched himself at the figure, clearly hoping to take advantage of the element of surprise, but the size differential alone was ludicrous. He seemed to be trying some kind of hold, rather than an outright attack with his fists. Sunset, of course, had no understanding of wrestling, but it at least seemed more sensible than slamming a fleshy appendage into metal armor.
Either way, he didn't get far. The enemy was briefly caught off guard, but wrapped a massive armored hand around Akira before he even managed to find a grip. Casually, the figure deflected him and slammed him face-first towards the ground. He caught himself with his arms, but there was a sickening crack and he groaned. He rolled over to face upward and raised one arm in defense, but the other hung limp, and he seemed unable to rise.
It was so fast Sunset had barely begun to consider intervening before Akira was on the ground, and the shock of the sudden, casual violence left her reeling. She shrunk back instinctively, pressing against Ann. The armored figure moved aside, and Kamoshida entered, bringing with him a wave of magic than nearly sent Sunset, already staggered, to the ground herself.
"What the hell," Ann whispered.
The figure before her, she decided, was not the Mr. Kamoshida she knew. For one thing, his eyes were a rich gold, a color she'd never seen on a human, certainly not on dark-eyed Mr. Kamoshida. For another, this Kamoshida wore an ornate crown, a luxurious fur cape...and nothing else. It was appropriate attire for a pony, but, she realized, nothing like she'd seen anyone wearing in this world, and judging by Ann's wide eyes and Akira's averted ones, not something anyone should wear.
But she quickly lost that thread, drowned in the itchy feeling of the high magic, and in her growing fear. She still wasn't an expert at human expressions, but nothing about the smirk this Kamoshida wore could possibly be good.
"Useless," he tilted his head at Akira. "If that's the best you can do, it doesn't even deserve to be called assault. Not that you'll get a chance to try again, of course. I suppose I could be merciful, as thanks for bringing me these wonderful new slaves...but I won't. You!" He gestured to the soldier closest to Akira. "Take out the trash."
He stepped aside, allowing two more soldiers to enter. Sunset dimly registered Ann's eyes locked on them in horror, and some unfamiliar objects in their hands that might have been restraints, but her attention focused rapidly on the one looming over Akira. From some unseen space, they pulled forth a massive sword, and raised it high.
"No," Sunset thought, numb save for the skin around her eyes, which now felt scorched. "It can't be like this. This is my fault! I should have told them..."
As she was about to descend into self-hating despair, she heard another voice, soft, quiet, but familiar.
"When things look hopeless, call my name, and my aid will find you."
"Luna..." she whispered.
In the near silence of the unfolding horror, Sunset's whisper nearly echoed. Everyone stopped and turned to her.
The skin around her eyes felt like it was melting. She reached up, desperate, and felt...cloth? No, harder. Somehow she wore...a mask? It felt so wrong, she knew she had to be rid of it. She curled her fingers around the edges, nails digging into her flesh. More pain bloomed, but she knew, knew she had to remove it. She pulled. It felt like it took skin and flesh alike with it. She pulled harder.
"Luna!" She yelled in defiance and pain, and power answered. She felt it in her bones, washing over her still-unfamiliar body in a familiar way. She even felt a horn, bursting forth from her forehead where she'd just pulled off the mask, though she had no idea if it was really there or not.
Then the power burst forth, and unlike unicorn Sunset, she couldn't shape it. It lifted her off her feet, her hair rising to the ceiling in an unseen wind. A massive compression wave slammed out from her, throwing friend and foe alike to the floor or wall - the result of a large object appearing beneath her. She settled, and found herself sitting on the pony from her dream, dark as night, mane flowing with stars.
Only...it wasn't that pony, not really. Even as she touched it, Sunset understood that it was her, or part of her. Almost like the horn she now lacked, this pony-seeming was a way to manipulate magic. And she knew at least some of what she could do with it.
"Luna," she said softly, "take care of them."
The spectral pony reared. Sunset knew she should be thrown, but felt completely secure, riding with ease. Luna's hooves fell, impacting the chest of the fallen armored figure that, until recently, had been threatening Akira. Instantly, it vanished into smoke. Sunset gestured, an instinctive action, and Luna turned to face the other two, who were struggling to rise and form up in front of Kamoshida. Luna lowered her head, and a beam of light sprang forth from her horn. It struck each figure in turn, and they too evaporated.
Kamoshida, though, rose, and threw off his cloak. He looked, if anything, even more muscular than the coach, and still he was sneering.
"So one of you has some spine. Fine. I don't mind a girl with spirit. But I'm the King here. You can never defeat me alone."
Sunset looked aside. Apparently without noticing, Akira and Ann both now wore masks. His had a striking, jagged outline, and was white, with black edging around the eyes. Hers was pure red, with stylized catlike ears atop it.
"I'm not alone," Sunset said. "Ann, Akira - take off your masks! If a name comes to you, call out to it!"
Kamoshida's grin faded.
"I've seen enough anime," he said, "I won't give you the time!"
He launched himself at Akira, but as easily as moving her own body, Sunset caused Luna to leap forward, interspersing herself between them. Kamoshida's fist landed on her side, a heavy blow, and she gasped for breath, but she found staying on Luna easy, and checked back with her mount's flank, knocking him off balance.
"Arsene!" Akira's pained voice sounded from beside her, and a figure in a dapper red suit and tall hat appeared behind him, hovering on black wings. A burst of darkness launched forth from it, arcing over Luna to drive Kamoshida back.
"I'm done with you, you pervert!" Ann jumped up, hands around her mask. To Sunset's shock, blood flowed around it, though Ann stood unbowed. "No more! No more for Shiho, no more for me, no more for anyone! Carmen!"
A roaring inferno burst forth around her, and both Sunset and Akira jumped back. Through the flames she could see a figure in a dress, standing confidently. Then Ann strode forth from the flames and pointed at Kamoshida. Fire raced down her arm to her finger, leaving her apparently unharmed, and there was no trace of the blood on her face. Then it lanced out, and Kamoshida fled headlong from it, barely making it out of the room ahead of the inferno.
"Yeah, you better run!" Ann strode towards the door. "I'll never forgive you! Never!"
Before she reached the door, though, Carmen and the flames faded, and Ann sagged. As she did, Sunset realized just how much of her own reserves she'd burned, as her adrenaline started fading. Perhaps because of her training in magic, or just her own increased sensitivity, she didn't immediately sag, but she let Luna vanish, and felt her own fatigue creep up as she did so. She felt as drained as if she'd just finished an advanced magic lesson. She felt Akira sway next to her, and reached out to support him.
"How...how did you know to do that," he managed.
"I promise I'll tell you," Sunset said, "but I don't think that King is the kind to give up forever, and I don't think we want to have to do that again. Let's get out of here first."
Akira nodded, and she felt Ann sag against her from the other side.
"I hear that," she said.
They didn't make very good time. Akira's left arm still pained him, and Ann was breathing heavily.
All of their clothes had also transformed to fit the scene. Sunset now sported what she considered a quite dashing blue long coat with golden buttons over a white undershirt and brown trousers, complete with an odd triangular hat, and her own mask was an unadorned one in midnight blue. A long leather case hung from her belt - Akira called it a scabbard, but sadly it didn't come with a sword. Akira had a black outfit featuring an even longer coat and striking red gloves. And Ann had a suit of skintight red leather, matching her mask. Sunset thought this last didn't fit the castle decor, but Ann herself seemed pleased with it, though she blushed at the tight fit.
Sunset found this development worrying. Some magics, she knew, became harder to escape the more embroiled you became in their world. Still, it wouldn't do any good to worry the others with that thought - they'd make it to the entrance then take what came.
There were at least two silver linings - first, that they were able to follow passages that generally sloped up, and second, that putting King Kamoshida to flight seemed to have driven off his soldiers as well. The dungeon halls were eerily silent. They talked in hushed voices as they walked, both out of respect for the silence, and a desire for stealth, but it stopped them from saying much. They wondered at their new outfits and the situation, and swore to discuss it fully once they escaped.
Finally they reached what seemed to be the end of the dungeon. Ahead the passage opened into a circular chamber containing a large spiral staircase; Sunset assumed it was the bottom of a tower. To the, right, though, was a heavy wooden door, and something about it gave Sunset pause.
"Hold on," she held out a hand, stopping Ann and Akira, who were moving towards the stairs.
She stood still for a moment, listening, in case she'd heard something, but the silence held, broken only by an occasional plink of water dripping. Then she realized it wasn't what she was hearing, but what she was feeling - the background tickle of magic was slightly weaker near the door. Could that mean it was an exit?
She was pretty confident she could bring Luna back if she needed to, but still, she held the name and feeling in her mind, ready in case some monster waited for her on the other side of the door. She pushed it open.
Inside was a guard room with a table in the middle, and chairs gathered around it. Only...it wasn't quite that. Everything in the room, even the walls, was slightly translucent, and below she could barely make out one of Shujin's library meeting rooms. As she watched the wooden furniture and stone walls faded, until they were only barely visible "behind" Shujin's industrial equivalents. After a moment, the fade reversed.
"What the heck?" Ann shied away from the door, but Sunset walked in. She felt the magic fade as she did.
"The app said something about 'weakly distorted locations,' right?" Akira said. "Maybe this is one?"
Sunset pulled out her phone. Indeed, the app looked the same, except that the previously grey Return button was now green. She pressed it, and let out an involuntary heavy breath as the magic drained away. Her outfit faded to her Shujin uniform, and the dungeon decor fell away for the solid and familiar meeting room.
"Whew," Ann said. "I'm beat."
Sunset nodded. "I still have something I have to tell you, though. I feel like we have a lot to talk about. Where can we go?"
"Leblanc," Akira said.
"But that hacker said they could hear us there," Ann said. To Sunset's surprise, Akira nodded.
"Wait," she thought it over. "Alibaba also said they knew what the metaverse was. We're still clueless, only now we know it's dangerous. So...maybe we want them to hear?" Akira nodded again. "And telling them about what we found was in the deal, after all. If we want to talk in private we can go somewhere else after."
"Smart," Ann said. "It's still kinda creepy, but let's do it."
They made their way to Leblanc lost in their own thoughts, eyelids sagging. Even used as she was to harnessing magic, Sunset felt the toll on her body and mind. She hoped that if they kept doing this, they'd all get better at it in a hurry.
They arrived right in time for dinner, though even so the café was deserted. Ann ordered curry and coffee for all of them, and insisted on paying.
"It's from modeling," she said. "Even though I'm not at the top, at least I get a bit of spending money."
Sojiro served them and excused himself again to "smoke," though Sunset was pretty sure he was doing no such thing.
"Hello Alibaba," Akira started. "We're talking here because we're hoping you can help us. We went to the Metaverse today and nearly died, but it was a heck of a trip. If you know anything about it you can share, please help. And feel free to listen in on the rest of what we say, maybe you'll understand something we don't. Speaking of which," he turned to Sunset, who felt herself blushing.
"I almost told you right at the start," she started. "It's not that I didn't trust you, only I wasn't sure how you'd react, because everything here is so strange. But I didn't forget my past. I came here from another world."
Ann started, and even Akira's face twitched a little.
"You mean...the metaverse?" Ann said.
"No, but my world seems to have some things in common with it. For one thing, there's magic there. Whatever was happening in the metaverse shares some logic with it, as much as magic has logic, anyway. That helped me figure out how to help you use the power there. And I could feel it too, prickling on my skin, even though I don't have my horn here."
"You have a horn in your world?" Ann looked confused. "But wait...your hair isn't a dye-job at all, is it? Does everyone in your world have such cool hair?"
Sunset blushed harder.
"In my world, I'm...not human. I'm a unicorn. I'd never even heard of a human before I came here. But yeah, this is my natural coloration, and we seem to come in a lot more colors than you do."
"So, wait, that horse you rode on in the metaverse..."
"Yeah, that's the kind of body shape I have, though I don't have wings."
"So what happened? Why are you human now?"
Sunset slumped.
"I have no idea. As for how I got here..." She filled them both in on her abbreviated tale, which still took some time. "I hope it's okay that I didn't tell you right away," she finished. "I wanted to get a feel for people before I told them, and then I was getting a feel for the world, and it seemed like it'd be unbelievable."
"Yeah, before today," Ann said. "Now...I believe you." She reached over and squeezed Sunset's hand, an unfamiliar but oddly comforting gesture. Akira just nodded.
"So, do you have any other ideas?"
"Well," Sunset said, "magic doesn't exactly make sense. That's what makes it magical. And just because I can sense the magic in the metaverse doesn't mean it's the same. It certainly isn't, actively shaping magic like that requires a specialized organ in my world, like a unicorn's horn. Instead it felt like we were invoking something about ourselves that in turn let us shape the magic in limited ways, which I've never heard of.
"But one thing that's usually true of magic is that it follows feelings, not rules. Maybe your feelings, maybe someone else's, maybe even its own, or feelings from something we can't even understand. But strong emotions can influence it, like friendship, or anger, or hate.
"So that's why I sort of understood that app jargon, like what it was looking for. It feels like the metaverse, or maybe just that part of it, is somehow connected to Kamoshida. That's why we had to look him up in the app, and why his thoughts about the school seem to influence it."
"And that's why he's king there, the creep!" Ann said.
"I don't think that was him," Akira said. "Did you see his eyes?"
"Yeah and he was incredibly magical, way more than any of us, even when we were channeling," Sunset said. "I think Akira's right. I think it was a fake, or a reflection, or something."
"So...what's the point, then?" Ann said. "Why is there an app to let us go there if none of it's real and it's dangerous? Or is it even dangerous? Could that weird guard really have killed Akira?"
Sunset shook her head.
"I don't know. Magic can certainly hurt or kill in my world, but if that's a parasitic world it works by its own rules, and we just don't know them. But we're still tired here, after exerting ourselves there, so it's not purely an illusion. How's your arm, Akira?"
Akira rolled up his sleeve, revealing a nasty bruise. "Not great," he admitted, "but I think it was broken there, and it just feels like a bruise now."
"I got hit pretty hard," Sunset said, "and I'm not really feeling that at all. So it seems like it was worse there than here, but that might not apply to death. And there are lots of ways to be not-dead that you still really wouldn't want."
They sat in silence for a moment, considering that, then Ann sat up a bit.
"Wait...not dead, but still bad...like...a mental shutdown?"
"I guess maybe?" Sunset said, but Akira had also perked up. "Why do you ask?"
"Oh right," Ann said, "you just got here. Look," she pulled something up on her phone and handed it to Sunset.
It was an article from the day before school started, April 10th. She'd been with Akechi's helpers that day, though he'd not been there himself. She was getting situated in her dorm, getting her uniform, and so forth. Apparently a train had gone off the rails when the driver suffered an unexplained mental shutdown going into a station, causing extensive injuries and several deaths, including the driver. She thought it over more.
"Sympathetic magic can be powerful, in my experience," she finally said. "If the metaverse contains reflections of real people, and those reflections are injured or killed..."
"Like a voodoo doll," Ann said.
"It's all just speculation," Sunset reminded them.
"Maybe Alibaba can help," Akira said. "But if it's a coincidence..." he shrugged rather than finishing, but Sunset could tell he didn't think it was likely.
"So, wait, if I'd burned that King Kamoshida up..." Ann said.
"The real Kamoshida might have burned," Sunset said. "Or maybe had a shutdown. But we don't know."
They sat in silence for a long time.
"I want to stop him," Ann said. "He's going to go too far. Maybe he already did with some other girl. But I don't know if I want to...kill him..." She paused and thought. "I might, if he did anything to Shiho. But it's a lot, you know?"
Akira nodded, and Sunset returned the hand-squeeze.
"If the metaverse is the source of the shutdowns, though," Akira said, "then maybe we aren't the only ones with this app."
"Should we go to the police? Or that politician of yours, Sunset?" Ann asked.
"I've had enough of the police," Akira said.
"I don't trust him," Sunset said. "Besides, we know nothing about how we got this app, or why. And...I think there's more going on here. Luna, the construct I used there...I saw her in a dream last night. That's how I knew to call out to her."
"I had a strange dream, too..." Akira said. "But I don't really remember it. There was a prison, and something about rehabilitation?"
"I slept like a baby," Ann shrugged. "But I'm glad you don't want to, anyway. It feels like this is on us. But...what can we even do?"
"We just don't know enough," Akira agreed.
"Maybe Alibaba will come through," Sunset said. As if on cue, her phone pinged, and the familiar image popped up.
I think I can get something for you. But it'll take time. Will message this time tomorrow.
She showed the message to the others.
"I want to go back," Ann said. "Or, I want to be able to, anyway. I don't know how bad things with Kamoshida will get, but if they get too bad..."
Sunset nodded. "It might be your only hope. If it comes to that, I want to help."
Akira waited a bit, then nodded.
"Besides," Sunset said, eager to lighten the mood, "Alibaba might turn up something better. Sympathetic magic can be very flexible. We might be able to use this King Kamoshida to get through to the real one, or to make him back off, in some non-lethal way. Friendship and harmony can have a magic all their own. I don't want to just experiment with it unless we don't have any other choice, so we should wait on Alibaba first."
"Right," Ann said. "But I don't want to just do nothing."
"My outfit had a sheath, right?" Sunset looked at Akira, who nodded. "Maybe we should get weapons, then. Using our powers is exhausting, it wouldn't hurt to have a backup. And we might be able to use them together, too. Can we buy swords?"
"Not legally," Akira said. "Unless you have a special permit. Maybe Ann could get one, but I doubt you or I could. And they're really expensive anyway."
"What about fakes?" Ann said. "If the metaverse is about how people think, would it matter if the sword was real?"
"Maybe not," Sunset said. "Worth a try, anyway. Where could we get something like that?"
"Shibuya, maybe? They've got a lot of shops," Ann said. "Want to go after school tomorrow?"
They agreed, and just as they did, Mr. Sakura returned.
"It's almost nine," he said, "don't you have a curfew, Sunset Shimmer?"
"Wow, thanks!" Sunset had totally missed how long they'd been talking. "I'll see you two tomorrow, then."
"Wait," Ann said, "let's exchange numbers so we can text."
They did, then Sunset hurried to her train.
Her fatigue fought with her desire to tell Hifumi about her incredible day, and even as she reached the door to their suite common room, she hadn't decided how much to tell the other girl before turning in. But for better or worse, the decision was out of her hands - Hifumi wasn't in.
She'd left a note, though.
Dear Sunset,
I was hoping to hear more about you tonight, but I just got good news! There's a shogi tournament this weekend I was on the waitlist for, and someone bowed out, so I get to play after all! I'm excited, but I need to be ready, so I'll be practicing in the evenings for the rest of the week. I'll catch up with you next week.
Hifumi
Sunset considered staying up and doing some studying, but after less than an hour her eyes were glazing over and she could barely stay awake. Her long experience of magical fatigue meant she knew better than to fight when it got to that point. She sent a quick text to Akira and Ann letting them know they shouldn't either, then turned in for the night.
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10656725
Always a good question to ask of a narration style like this one.
The Kamoshida change is pretty inconsequential but the fact that they didn't run into Mona while escaping the dungeons is concerning. Alibaba reaching out right away is also weird since she isn't really in a good enough headspace for her reaching out to make sense this early on (in canon it was done out of desperation after she learned that the phantom thieves were capable of changing hearts) and she really has no reason to think she can trust them (again not in a good state of mind).
I'll say I'm not really a fan of arbitrary changes in general as I personally feel that any change to canon should occur naturally and not simply at the whims of the author but we'll see how it goes.
Currently, I'm wondering if Sunset is just replacing Ryuji in this story? Personally, I'd be fine with that since it's better than Akira just not meeting him like he did in canon for no good reason.
10658318
I’m not particularly interested in doing a story that tries to change canon very little, because P5 is a super long game and many readers will have seen it all (in some cases several times, heh). At the same time, I want the story to be readable for fans of Sunset Shimmer doing weird things, even if they don’t know P5, so including things from P5 canon purely for the sake of their being P5 canon isn’t great on that level either.
I try to pick changes that make sense in terms of the themes of the work, that are believable consequences of the basic change of Sunset showing up, etc., but I’m also not against making some changes that are basically a die roll going a different way, like Ryuji not running into Akira on that first day of school, if I think it’d improve the work overall.
P5 of course is a narrative that hides a lot of important information too, with lots of impactful things going on outside the view of the characters. That’s also relevant to any changes, especially since Akechi and Shido are aware of Sunset being around and unusual...
This is pretty good going to follow in hopes it rises again.