Persona: Icebound In Medias Res

[Cassette-Disk]

Crystal's left fist connected with Max's face, knocking him out of the car door window where he rolled out like a sack of pudding. His head lolled out of the window first, then the weight of his body combined with gravity sluggishly forced his body downwards. Plop.
"Wake up already!"
"Hey! No violence in my car!" Val yelled.
"He fell out of the car if it matters," Crystal cradled her pain-filled arm. "Besides, it hurt my hand more than it hurt him. Probably. AND we have a killer robot tied up in the trunk!" Val just sighed. She had parked the jeep as soon as the group made the jump from their world to this one.
"Why are we here? I really really don't want to be here." Valerie turned around to face Crystal and Saito. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you miss shadow?"
"Oh yeah totally." Crystal brought her arms up and wiggled her fingers as if she were telling a ghost story. "I've changed my mind and decided to betray everyone here after you all helped me escape the killbot. I opened a portal so that I could feast on all of your souls. OOOooooOOOOoo."

In that instant, Sno's head peaked out from the back seat.
"Whasshappening? Professor? Did I do it? Am I the hero?" There was a minute as everyone still in the car shared a moment of silence as they all slowly pieced together what was happening--and nobody moved. Sno was the first to react by jumping up in sudden realization and bashed her head against the roof. This caused Crystal to run out of the jeep.
"Kill it with fire!" She screeched. Val only gaped as the android shut her eyes tightly against the pain. Sno struggled with her binds, but it was no use. Whoever tied her up had done so in a way that squeezed her (already damaged) recovery module, leaving her in an incredibly weak state. The jeep's back door swung open as a screaming Crystal grabbed Sno into a headlock. "I got her! I got her! Someone stab her, quick!"
"No wait, I--gah!" Crystal's angry grip was too strong for Sno to break out of and she did the only thing she could. Sno reared her head forward and slammed it backwards into Crystal's forehead. Crystal released her hold and rubbed both her hands against her head in pain as Sno rolled in the car's interior for the same reason.
"What is wrong with you?! Is this how you treat a prisoner? I've been treated better in actual prisons."

Sno sat up in the back compartment as Saito and Val made their way to the back of the jeep. Val made a detour to pick up Max who was mumbling something about friendship and dreams. Sno scowled at the floor as visible tears welled up against her cheeks. As one fell, it turned to ice before silently shattering against the ground.
"This is the worst thing that could have happened. Never in my travels have I been so humiliated." Sno looked out the windows and realized where they were. "And you've taken me to the Shadow World to finish me off? Overkill. Have you no shame?!"
"Would you shut up?!" Crystal slammed a fist against the jeep. "We want answers, damn it! Who are you and want do you want?!"
Sno shifted to her knees before speaking, "I told you. I'm from the Next Generation. I was supposed to be reversing a Time Shift that occurred because you--a shadow--took over a human's body. Idiot." She added. "Now it's my turn. Why are we in the shadow world?"
"That's MY question! What are we doing here?!" Crystal literally growled as Val pipped up.
"We were driving through the forest trying to get out when we suddenly found ourselves here."
"...With me in the trunk." Sno gaped at the roof of the jeep as a stupid expression crossed her face. It was a combination of shock, inconceivableness, and hopelessness. "I have a warp drive in my torso. If I was knocked out for more than ten minutes it was supposed to warp me back home. I think since you're a shadow and were spewing your disgusting dark energy in the jeep, it must have interfered with it and sent me--and the entire vehicle--here instead."
"So it IS your fault!"
"M-Me?! You're the one who messed with my functions!" Sno rose once more in anger but hit her head with the roof again. "Merde!" Fresh pain-filled tears washed her eyeline.

"What was that about a Time Shift? What does that even mean?"
"It means the time line is all messed up. Something changed--it happens all the time. But it's usually things that don't matter so no one notices. Items go missing or moved a few inches. Things that can be easily forgotten or explained away. 'the dryer ate a sock,' 'I must have misplaced my keys,' things like that. But a shadow taking over a human body and interacting with the outside world? That takes the cake. In theory, you're the cause of all of this. If I were to remove the shadow from the equation, the time line would revert back to normal."
"In theory, right? It would revert back in theory?"
Sno smiled, "That part's tried and true." She shifted around and sat with her legs crossed and sighed. "None of that matters now though. I wouldn't dare attack a shadow here, especially one with friends. Besides, if I'm being held prisoner it's not like I even could." Sno looked out the front windshield. "You're all Persona Users right? Because it looks like you have work to do." She motioned ahead of them where an icy garden awaited them. From this distance they could only make out a completely frozen row of hedges and flowers. They might have been green at one point, but the frost had taken them completely "I don't have a way out, so exploring and doing whatever it is you lot did last time is probably your best bet." Sno looked at Crystal and wiggled her left leg at her. Under her dress was a pair of shorts with zipped up pockets. "Hey, Shadow. Open that." Crystal made a face but did as she was told. Inside was what looked like a pack of breath mints. "That's medicine. It'll recover all of your stamina. It'll be like you guys took a nice long rest. They taste like blueberries. The professor was always fond of blueberries."

"You don't really think we're gonna eat these, right? After you tried to kill us?"
"Hey, I'm trapped here now. Same as you. If you die out there, I'm going to be locked in this jeep until I rust away. There's no way you're gonna let me walk freely with you, so if I can at least make sure you're at your fighting best, I'll do it. Check my pockets again. There should be half a dozen ear pieces in another container. They're tiny and unnoticeable unless someone knew about them. If you put them on I can see what you see and we can all communicate with one another. I can give advice about shadows from here. Think of it as mission control." Crystal took the tiny earbuds and shared a look with everyone.
"I'm not sure about any of this. I kinda wanna just punch you again." Sno squirmed against the jumper cables.
"I'm trying to be nice here! Hey, tough guy!" She looked at Saito. "You're out of your throwing things right? Here." Sno stared at the air in front of her as condensed air warped itself like swirling eddies in a rapid river. In an instant, the swirls were replaced by an icy clacker that landed inside the jeep. Sno breathed a bit heavier than before as a bead of sweat formed on her forehead.
"It's made of ice but won't shatter or break so don't hold back. It's cold to the touch though, and might melt if it stays near fire for too long. It's still ice, after all. How many do you think you'll need?" Sno looked at the group. Nobody said anything. "...Alright. Obviously, you don't trust me. That's fine--I don't expect you to. But what will it take for you to do as I ask so that we can all get out of here alive?"

---​

Charles took his glass of water and drank deeply from it as Chloe spoke.
"Oh, you guys have Back to the Future here? Can we watch it? ...Later? It's a great film." Chloe then brought a clear marker board from...somewhere and outlined the timelines like they did in the movies. "Have you thought about auditioning for a remake? I'm thinking a younger hot version of Doc would really hit it big. Anyway, that's pretty much the gist of it, yeah. That woman thinks she can cheat the system by removing the Shadow outright. Her company thinks that if they kill the Shadow, everything will right itself. Whether or not that's true doesn't matter--she won't be able to kill the Shadow. Not when she's outnumbered like that. What does matter is that we get the real girl out of the other world, fix the timeline, and everything will be just as it ever was. Easy peasy, right?

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Reluctant Ally-~

Mavis allowed Charles to touch her tarot deck, despite it going against her deepest instincts. Seeing the tower get pulled, Mavis almost stepped back words even as her airway closed off from shock. Allowing the conversation to happen around her, Mavis thought over the meaning of the words. Chloe seemed to have recovered the fastest to Charles bombshell of a revaluation, which just impressed the dark haired reader even more. Thinking of her visions, Mavis absent mindedly flipped through her deck, setting the cards that matched the people in the room up right on the table for everyone to see. She couldn't explain how she knew those cards worked, it just felt right to her to pull them and show them to the others.

"Igor's annoying, I'll say that much at least." Mavis whispered softly, doing it both to keep eavesdroppers from overhearing and because she didn't want to trust her voice.

Her mind turned over the dreams she'd been having recently, about a shadowy world and a world that somehow felt similar to hers but so wrong at the same time. Looking at the Empress card, Mavis pondered the meaning of it as her right hand started flipping more cards onto the table. Death. Priestess. Strength. Star. Ace of Swords. Nine of swords. Three of swords.

The new cards made her frown, all of these cards had been too frequent in her recent readings when she'd been thinking of her dreams. She knew that the suit of swords had been perfect for Adam, but the other ones were strange since she knew they were connected to Crystal's group, people who felt like familiar strangers to her and she wasn't entirely sure what to think of that idea. She did like the Back to the Future reference, even if she didn't usually watch it. (She may have had a tiny crush on the Doc when she was younger).

Hearing Charles following commentary on the situation, Mavis rubbed her forehead and finished her tea before she finally decided to continue her opinion. "I believe you Charles, even if I don't trust you. As for the Shadow world, it won't be that simple Chloe. I can't explain how I know that, I just do." She said cautiously, no other emotion showing through.

It's because of your dreams, sweetie.

She didn't know if it was this supposed "Persona" or her mother that said that, but she pushed it to the side for the time being. Looking to the others, she smiled a little bit and gathered up her cards, leaving the card of Death up on the table. It did fit, the life that they all knew had died, they weren't ever going to be the same as they were before this conversation. "I'd rather not get involved, but there's a couple of people that is missing still that's important to me. So, for now I guess, you can count me in on this trip."

 

[Peace]

Saito got into the passenger's seat of the jeep. After that, he shoved his gloves in his coat pockets and put his goggles back around his neck. He let his exhaustion take over and shut his eyes for a bit. His rest was interrupted by the all too familiar sound of fist hitting face. What now? he asked himself through Crystal's and Valerie's arguing. He turned around to see that Max wasn't in the car anymore. The next moment, Sno got up from the back seat asking something that a stunned Saito didn't process.

Saito was the third or fourth to react by jumping back towards the door. He opened it and followed Crystal to the back of the vehicle. After a quick scuffle between the golden-eyed girl and the android, the latter was complaining how she was being treated and humiliated. To which the Irishman crossed his arms then replied, "Hey, you were one pickin' a fight with us. You reap what you sow."

The red-eyed youth listened while Sno gave exposition her explanation of both how they wound up in the Shadow World again and why they were in a different Nyx. When the robot girl questioned her traveling arrangements, Saito chimed in up with, "If it makes you feel any better, that was my idea. We needed answers and you not trying to kill us again. And hey, we're getting both. Too bad your broken shit got us trapped here of all places."

Sno then brought forth some pills while she claimed that would restore their stamina ann some ear pieces for communication. He looked at the items, then Sno, and back to the items suspiciously. His attention was brought back to to the white-haired girl calling him out and creating a clacker for him. That was followed by asking how many more he needed.

The half-Irishman saw the tired look on the android's face and said, "Just these will do fine. I'm more of a brawler anyway." He pocketed the new weapon and finally looked out to the icy garden. Signing himself over to whatever comes next, he donned his gloves and goggles again.

Sno spoke up again with, "Alright. Obviously, you don't trust me. That's fine--I don't expect you to. But what will it take for you to do as I ask so that we can all get out of here alive?"

Saito took a few seconds to mull this over. As soon as he thought of something, he said, "I don't speak for the group, but, again, you can start by not attackin' us and I expect answers when we need them."

On top of that, he added, "Last time we were here, at least in our original timeline, we fought some girl's Shadow and her flunkies. But we didn't kill the former. Next thing we knew, we were were in this version of Nyx. Does not killin' someone's Shadow lead us into another one of these Time Shifts?"

Without stopping, he asked, "Like what if we knocked you out for another ten minutes and kept Crystal in the front of the car while you're in the trunk? Would that bring us back to the real world? I would prefer no more of this nonsense today."

He turned his body so he can point at Sno and Crystal, and added "And keep the bickering between you two to a minimum. We don't need 'Wabbit Season. Duck Season' goin' off in our ears when we're fightin' for our lives. I only ask that you guys tolerate each other."

"If you can fulfill these conditions, I'll consider untying you at the end of this excursion." He turned to the group and said, "If anyone has anything to add, speak now or forever hold your peace."

 

[Roxie1563]

Still lending on the edge of the table, Chloe had to chuckle at Charles' suggestion at doing some sort of revamping the Back to the Future films with a younger version of Doc in female form would help her already rising fame in the superstar business while noting the idea to store away for conversations between her and her manager in case he called again then got back in business in hand when Marvis voiced her concerns about everything, even mentioning the Shadow World as nobody knew anything about it except Charles and possibly the other group Chloe saw back at the Cafe.

Turning to Marvis as a way to calm her fears and to assure herself of the crazy situation they've found themselves in, Chloe smiled at her as she spoke in earnest, "I think as long as we're together, we can do this. We can find the missing girl, fix the timeline and save the world.. Right?"

While she was sure of holding the new group of Persona Users together, something was bugging her and it must had shown when she mentally snapped out of it to see Erin staring at her. Forcing another smile out of her, Chloe waved at him, wondering if he could see through her facade of self-battling between herself and something else inside her.

Turning back to Charles to ask something else, Chloe self-consciously intertwined one of her fingers with her hair, curling around and around, "Um, you said something about the girl that was hunting down the Persona Users," she asked before yelping as she indirectly pulled out one of her hair. "If she's that dangerous, should we just, like, get together and be like the Avengers, so to speak? You know, she's Loki and we're the Avengers with the whole 'destroy the girl to fix what's wrong' while we pretty much have to kick ass, yeah?"

"Course, it'd would mean we're unbalanced because we're so new to this and we're so different that it'd be hard to do what we do to make the timeline right." Chloe spoke as her eyes turned back to Erin, who hasn't even said anything during the whole thing as well Zoey.

In an attempt to get them both involved, she asked him if they were okay. "You haven't said a word since this started... You okay, you two?"

 

[Ðari]

what are you talking about charles

Ms. Bennett certainly had a way of making you feel welcome. It was an odd feeling, my memories didn't treat me this well, but I'd eventually find some comfort in her hospitality...eventually. Normally im so on edge, sharp, uncomfortable, its not easy to let your guard down especially as a detective. The job places a high amount of stress on you and the expectations at times could be almost unforgiving if not UNREAL. It didn't take a genius to recognize that, yes, I do think a lot, and I'm in my head a lot of the time due to the work load. I couldn't stop thinking about Pepper and Cures, now the students that missed class from the same class.

"Before I start, I need everyone to know that this all stays with us. Even you, detective.--"

My hyper focus snapped, as I looked up and identified the man. Holy crap, was I that oblivious up until now that I didn't even realize where I was...ugh...what is wrong me today. I couldn't help but get hung up on the students, but I gave my attention segway from my investigation.

"Understood...though, no one would believe me? I'm starting to be a bit questionable by that remark...Charles was it?"

My eyes quickly narrowed in on him. I continued to listen, when charles brandished two posters, there was a peculiar observation to be made, the club founders were different between the two posters. One read the name of student missing in my current investigation. I had a slight wince while the rest of my face remained relatively stern, i payed even closer attention the more he began to speak.

Discussing other worlds. Personas? Shadows?? What in all of creation made sense anymore...nothing thats what. I didn't have to listen to this, but the only thing that visibly gave any validity to what Charles was saying was the nonsense circulating around the 'Time Shift' something I can honestly say I seemed somewhat disillusioned to. The fact that what I recall about my family "now" no longer holds true, and my experience with them has been drastically different from what I actually remember. I stood and looked Charles dead on.

"You know charles. I've heard a decent amount of tall tales in my time, and as much I'd like to lend you 100% faith. Lets say you are telling the truth, lets say this time shift happened right. What do you intend us to do? It all sounds ridiculous if not superstitious, connecting murders to the lake? Time Shifts? How did I even end up on the receiving end of this conversation...you are right about one thing though. My superiors would NOT believe this story, yet I'm not convinced but I'm not opposed to being proven wrong. So show me theres some truth to this narrative...the burden of proof is on you."

I waited for the man to finish his water, reluctantly I couldn't help but stare at Chloe. It was almost as if this was planned, I can understand wanting an investigative power on board, but we're talking about the supernatural here. Even if I was prefaced before hand, I'm siding with what I see and feel, this was here say coming from charles without more evidence to support this claim. Yeah, I'm pretty unconvinced of maybe everything with just a slight nod to the time shift, which ironically was the most absurd sounding part of it all. Still, shadows...? Personas? Murders and disappearances? If it would lead me to the missing students, despite my reluctance, I would at the very least need to see something, the burden of proof was on those present.

"Ms. Bennett, at the very least i'll give what he's said a chance, but as of right now, I'm just not sold on the situation at hand."

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Exhausted Mental Facility-~

Mavis allowed the chatter to continue on around her, her hands shuffled the deck in her hands. It was a self-conscious action, she heard Erin say something in response to Chloe's question. She heard Chloe's pep talk, and it comforted her to hear the words. Closing her eyes to listen, she saw the images from a different timeline sliding into her mind. She saw Crystal and her friends, she saw the missing children moving through the school. Adam, her mother, so many people.

She heard Chloe's comment about finding the missing kids and setting the timeline straight. "I don't think it'll be that simple, Chloe. I think finding the missing people and reuniting the Shadow with its actual person would be the key." Mavis breathed, her eyes still closed during this statement. She didn't know why, but she was sure that was the case. The images continued to swirl in her head. Her first meeting Crystal and the others, she'd been a shy girl, standing in the corner.

The image was bumped out of her mind by images from that other timeline. Of Max and the others first being dragged into the Shadow World. Everything was blending together, making her question what was real and what wasn't. She flipped a card face up, it was Death. She opened her eyes, confirming the suspicion that she thought it was that card. Looking down at it, she traced the edges of it, a thoughtful look on her face as she thought her next words over carefully. "As has been stated, we should head to the lake first probably, but we need to find a way into the Shadow World." She could feel a motherly figure behind her, it brought her comfort as this "figure" wrapped its arms around her.

I am here for you child, you just need to believe in yourself.

Are you my "persona"?

Yes, my name is Isis. I'll assist you in battle, and even provide comfort to you. So until then, good night child.

It only lasted a few seconds, but the motherly figure soon faded from her awareness. Focusing back on the conversation at hand, Mavis tried to figure out if she missed anything important but she couldn't quite figure out if she had. So, instead of making herself seem like an idiot.

 

[Roxie1563]

Chloe slowly turned to Detective Lane, staring at him while repeating his own words as she stood, too. "Not sold on the situation at hand?" As much as she'd like to slap the guy, Chloe was more focused with the task on hand and that was getting the new group of Persona Users to the Loveless Pond without any incident.

'As if..!" The young actress snorted in thought as Mavis once again gave her thoughts on the task on hand. Realizing the near similarity of words between her and Erin brought the girl close to smiles. Close.

Returning to Erin, Chloe had something to say and maybe it may hurt his feelings but there was no time to lose when it came to fixing the crap they've found on hand. "Look, detective, I know we've just met each other earlier on and all of us here as well, but can you just stop with the 'unable to believe shat without proof unless it's something you can see and touch' role for a freaking minute and focus on the real situation at hand, which I don't need to repeat for the third time!?" Chloe scolded. "You're supposed to be the detective and that usually entails by keeping the peace and serving the people of Nix, right? Apparently, you don't want to and so I'll just have to be the detective from now on.." She added that with a drip of sarcastic in it to make her point known.

Turning back to the others with a plan in mind, Chloe explained her plan and while it was simple until they reached Loveless Pond, she found herself bit upset at Erin for not believing Charles and uncaring for the others trapped in the Shadow World. "I'll grab a bus or something so we can get there without walking in the snow and being cold, so I'll honk as soon as I pull in, okay? So, just use the restroom or what have you then get in and we're off."

With that, Chloe excused herself out while grabbing the board on the way out, making sure the board was back in its original spot before she dragged it out for the visual show. Once finished with it, she made her way to where the main office was and slowly opened the door, peeking while lifting the key to her Hummer that her parents got her for her 18th birthday back in January then closing it.

Grabbing her jacket on the hanger where the others jackets were as well, Chloe put it on and went out around the back of the hotel to see the orange Hummer of hers parking near the fire hydrant that became frozen ever since the storm started. Chatting and already cold, the actress managed to open the door and jumped up, thankful for the side step railing her dad installed the day before her arrival. Starting the engine and turning on the heat for a minute, Chloe couldn't help but feel the facade of being confident breaking apart and the true self of being lonely invade before shaking her head in frustration.

She couldn't spent the time fighting herself when Charles and the rest were waiting on her, so ignoring the struggle within herself, Chloe put the Hummer on Drive and made her way to the front before parking it then honked the air horn to let them know she had arrived.

Watching the others stow in and aware of Erin sitting beside herself as Chloe pulled out under the hotel roof and into the road that would lead the gang to central park where beyond the sidewalk lies the Loveless Pond, Chloe made herself a note to at least try to apologize to Erin for her outburst before they got there, but she had the feeling it would make the situation between them more awkward and so said nothing to him along the way.

After a brief stop at the gas station, they made good time as the snow has begun showing signs of slowing down and so Chloe found a spot where there wasn't any ice for the team to fall then parked there. Letting the heat warm them up one more time before stepping out, Chloe turned to Charles in the seat way back to himself and asked him the most important question.

"So, as the go-to guy, where is the door for us to get into that Shadow World?" Chloe questioned to him, expecting an answer from him.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Lost in Thoughts-~

Mavis wordlessly followed Clhoe's lead to the lake. Closing her eyes since she was a passenger, she rested her head against the window pane. Images swirled around in her head, images of Max and his friends fighting creatures she didn't quite understand but were familiar to her. Were these the Shadows that Charles had been speaking of? The creatures that they had to fight to restore balance to their world? She was acutely aware of the presence of her deck, and it brought her comfort to know that it was there.

The pane of glass though was cool, a refreshing presence to her chaotic mind. It was then that she noticed that it seemed as if she was suddenly running a fever. A frown flitting across her face, she dismissed the concerning thought. Opening her eyes when the van stopped, Mavis slid out of the car and walked toward the edge of the lake, listening as Chloe talked to the group. Glancing over her shoulder, Mavis breathed, "We need the others to restore balance." She didn't know why she said it, it just felt right to her.

Focusing back ahead of her, Mavis crouched low to the ground and allowed her hand to hover just above the icy water. She could feel the magical energy that swirled around the lake, and it brought images to her mind as she felt its pressure. She remained there, focusing on the glassy surface even as she listened for any sign of the others approaching her from behind.

 

[Roxie1563]

Even after asking Charles where the entrance to the other world would be, Chloe couldn't help wondering if maybe he doesn't know after all this time, aware that the girl, Mavis, had walked off in the direction of the lake. Glancing at the others first to see if they had came out of the Hummer only to find they didn't, Chloe couldn't help but wince internally at them and hoped that Erin wasn't following their examples.

Huffing at this and feeling like they didn't want to do much, Chloe turned her back on them and walked up to where Mavis was doing something and were able to hear Mavis' words as she too crouched beside her, thinking on what she said. Frowning as she stared into the glassy surface of the lake, she spoke gently as if it was meant to be between them girls, "I think you're right, Mavis. Somehow, to me at least, the team isn't the team without the other people that we saw at the cafe and the others that are missing."

Even as Chloe spoke, the glassy part of the surface appeared to move, almost as if it was telling them to follow it in to the others. Thinking it as a trick of the mind, she turned to Mavis and feeling the chills working down her bones causing her to pat herself up and down with her arms, her teeth chattering, "Er, did.. did you see that?" She spoke, her soul seemingly wanting her to just plunge into the water.

As she waited for an answer from Mavis, Chloe turned her head back to where the others were and still feeling annoyed at them just a bit, she wasn't aware that her right hand were hovering over the icy water until..

CRACK!!

Snapping to the sound of it, Chloe instantly popped up and away from the ice, not realizing one of her foot was on it and when the cracking spread wide and fast, the last thing Chloe saw before plunging into the very deep and cold water was the faces of everybody as they scrambled out and Mavis in shock.

As she drifted deeper into the cold, Chloe tried hard to swim back into life but the icy part of the lake seemed to pull her more as if it was hungry, wanting to eat her up clean. Before she knew it, her entire body felt like lead and fearing for her life, she once again tried to push more before letting go of her breath, feeling like she failed the others as her eyes closed.

Suddenly, as if it didn't like the object in its mouth, the lake itself spewed Chloe out and into solid ground. Coughing and gasping out loud as Chloe threw up, the mixture of spit and water coming out of her mouth before settling down on her back, groaning from the headache that followed, her hand on her face while the other folded into a fist.

After a few moment of quietness and staring at the strange mixture of red and black sky, Chloe slowly made her way up on her feet as she felt sludgy from the weight of the water pushing on her. Looking around her to get a sense of where she has found herself in, she became in awe then shock as Chloe realizing that while everything looks eerily similar to the real world, the only difference beside the sky was that the lake has turned from blue to green yet it was still ice.

That's when Chloe heard it. Looking above her, her mouth dropped as she could plainly see her companions in ice including Mavis until her eyes locked onto something: Cracks were appearing around them, even as Chloe spoke to herself, "So, that's what happened to me.."

The crackings intensified even more as Chloe found herself in the way then hauled her ass out of the way, one by one her friends fell from the sky. The last one narrowly missed her as the young adult rolled forward and out before landing on her feet, panting and shivering. Running toward them, she could see that nearly everybody was here with the exception of Charles as he wasn't with them. The first person she had to check was Mavis, seeing her as the first person that came down.

"Mavis, you okay? Mavis?" Chloe asked the girl, not wanting to deal with her shit right now. "Mavis?!"

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Shadow World -~

Mavis's eyes remained on the ice, she nodded in acknowledgement of what Chloe said. It helped to hear that the other girl agreed with her, her eyes narrowed as something shifted beneath the surface. This place was a portal, she could feel it now. She tore her gaze from the frozen look as Chloe asked, "Er, did.. did you see that?"

Mavis rose to her feet, she faced the other girl and started to answer. A crack split the air, and before she could react Chloe fell through the ice. A strangled cry tried to escape, Mavis reached out to Chloe but the other girl was gone. The ice broke beneath her feet, plunging Mavis into the icy lake. She didn't fight the cold, instead she closed her eyes as a voice whispered in her mind, Don't struggle, just relax.

A moment later Mavis hit the ground, shivering as a voice called, "Mavis, you okay? Mavis? Mavis?!"

Opening her eyes, she looked at the ground. The Empress was near her, it was in reverse and when she looked a couple inches from her the Lovers rested on the ground, in the upright position. Looking to the one talking, she saw the concern on Chloe's face. Shivering again, she answered, "Cold, but fine." She rose to her feet, shivering once more for emphasis she looked Chloe up and down. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Her eyes scanned their surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. "Is this the Shadow World?" She asked, even though she knew that Chloe wouldn't know the answer to it. Looking back at the others that had successfully crossed over, the list of Arcana she personally associated with them whispered through her mind. Glancing to Chloe, she pursed her lips as she tried to figure out the next thing to do. Another thought from the earlier group entered her mind, and a ironic smile spread across her face as she added, "The one group is not meant to be here, they're responsible for the Shadows."