Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tatsumi Port Island.
June 19, x788.
About fifteen minutes before the next Dark Hour began, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca, after a day of rest, approached Gekkokan High School on foot. When they arrived, just as they expected, they saw Mitsuru waiting outside the gates, sitting atop her motorcycle. What they did not expect, however, was that there would be a silver-haired young man standing next to her.
"Fonzie! Fonzie! It's Akihiko!" Elicia whispered excitedly into Alfonzo's ear.
Hearing Elicia's excitement, Alfonzo only shook his head. Then, he thought about why he might be here.
'I guess he's awakened his Persona, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he comes here a lot to train. Especially since he's quite the training addict. He's still weaker than Mitsuru, though.'
By Alfonzo's estimates, neither Mitsuru or Akihiko should have any issue fighting up to the fifth floor at this point. However, with the amount of magic power they have, they would never be able to climb all the way up in one go.
And now that they know there is not another teleportation platform on the third or fourth floor, they probably won't climb any higher than the second for quite some time.
"Who's that guy?" Alzack asked curiously while examining Akihiko. "Do you think he works with the Kirijo Group?"
"No clue." Bisca replied. "But since he's with Mitsuru, they definitely know each other. And since he's out here so late, he probably has the potential Mister Kirijo was talking about, at the very least."
In response, Alzack nodded his head. Then, he looked to Alfonzo and Elicia, who did not seem to mind the presence of someone new.
"What do you guys think?" Alzack asked.
"I agree with Bisca." Elicia replied cheerfully.
"Doesn't really matter who he is." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "As long as he doesn't get in the way, he's too weak to affect our quest."
In reality, Alfonzo did not care if Akihiko got in the way or not. If Mitsuru wanted them to bring him with them, he would agree. They were more than strong enough to keep him safe, after all.
"Fonzie, be nice." Elicia said with a pout.
In response, Alfonzo only smiled. However, he did not take his words back.
"You're here." Mitsuru said as soon as the group of Fairy Tail wizards were in speaking range. "Allow me to introduce you to a member of my team. This is Akihiko Sanada. He's a Persona user, as well."
"Oh, I was right." Bisca said with a smile. "Is he going to help you with the remote scouting, Mitsuru?"
"Nah… I don't have an ability like that." Akihiko replied while shaking his head. "I'm more suited to fighting on the front lines."
"Oh…" Bisca replied in an understanding tone.
"I guess Mitsuru's Persona is a little unique in that regard, huh?" Elicia asked.
"Yes." Mitsuru replied. "Not that I've seen very many, the only Persona with that kind of ability I've ever seen is Penthesilea."
"By the way, I've wondered about something since I first saw you summon your Persona." Alzack said in a curious toen.
"And what might that be?" Mitsuru asked.
"Can you use your Persona at any time of the day?" Alzack asked. "Or can you only use it during the Dark Hour?"
"We can use them at any time." Mitsuru replied. "Though they are less effective and use more magic power. But it is possible."
"I see." Alzack replied with a nod, having somewhat expected that answer.
"I think training to erase that weakness would be a good idea." Alfonzo said. "The world is dangerous with magical beasts, dark wizards, and all sorts of other threats running around. It's better to be able to protect yourselves."
"I agree." Mitsuru replied. "I've actually been working with the Kirijo Group to develop a comprehensive training plan."
"Even without my Persona, I can protect myself." Akihiko said as he took a standard, southpaw boxing stance. "I've been training my body and my fighting skill since long before I awakened the power of persona."
When Akihiko took his fighting stance, he subconsciously started circulating his magic power all around his body. And when the wizards of Fairy Tail felt it with their [Magic Power detections], they were impressed at the speed he was able to circulate it.
"Oh, not bad." Alfonzo said with an appreciative nod. "You should be able to strengthen your body quite a bit with magic power control that good."
"Huh?" Akihiko replied in confusion.
In response, Mitsuru sighed audibly. Then, she looked at Akihiko in exasperation and slight envy.
"Akihiko has never trained his magic power control before." Mitsuru said, her feelings evident from her tone. "His magic power control is completely instinctual."
Hearing that, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca looked at Akihiko with impressed expressions. In response, Akihiko looked a little bashful as he scratched his cheek, not knowing what to say.
"He's pretty good." Alfonzo said with a nod. "About as good as I was when I was eleven or twelve."
While Alfonzo was giving genuine praise, since at the age of eleven, he was already a B-Class wizard, his choice of words left a lot to be desired. As a result, Akihiko could not help but frown. And Elicia, who saw that, could only smile wryly.
"I know what Fonzie said sounds like he's belittling you, Aki." Elicia said with a smile. "but me and Fonzie were B-Class wizards at eleven and A-Class at twelve. So, it's a pretty big compliment. Especially since you're magic power reserves are only at the peak of C-Class at the very most."
That caused not only Mitsuru, but Akihiko to open their eyes in surprise. Since they were a few years younger than Alfonzo and Elicia, they had not been as exposed to their accomplishments as those from the same age range and older.
"Wait! Aki?" Akihiko said, finally reacting to Elicia's term of address.
"Yeah, it's cuter, isn't it?" Elicia asked with a smile.
As a matter of fact, Elicia already knew that a former member of Mitsuru's team usually calls Akihiko that. So, she was just trying her luck and seeing if he would get upset. But it seemed like he was okay with it. Though, he was a little confused at first.
"Call me whatever you want." Akihiko replied with a shrug.
A moment later, however, Akihiko smiled daringly at Alfonzo before taking his fighting stance again.
"Are you really that strong?" Akihiko asked excitedly. "Then, how about having a fight with me. You know, a friendly spar."
Hearing that, the illusion of Akihiko's hair turning pink and spiking up while flames shot out of his mouth with every word appeared before the Fairy Tail wizards eyes, causing them all to smile. At the same time, they were all surprised that Akihiko seemed to be unaware of Alfonzo's strength, at all.
"Knock it off, Akihiko." Mitsuru said sternly. "Now is not the time for that."
"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Akihiko said as he lowered his hands with a disappointed expression on his face. Then, he looked at Alfonzo with some expectations in his eyes. "but I definitely wanna spar with you before you leave Tatsumi Port Island."
"We'll see." Alfonzo replied noncommittally.
June 20, x788.
Just then, the atmosphere on the island changed and Tartarus started growing from where the school once stood. And as soon as it finished, the group made their way inside. Then, like last time, Mitsuru set up next to the stairs on the first floor and summoned Penthesilea.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca made their way towards the teleporter, intending to head straight to the fifth floor. Before they activated it, however, Alfonzo stopped them. Then, he looked towards Akihiko.
"Hey, mind doing me a favor real quick?" Alfonzo asked.
"Sure." Akihiko replied casually. "What do you need me to do?"
"See if you can activate this." Alfonzo said while pointing at the teleporter.
"Okay." Akihiko replied with a nod before walking over to the teleporter.
At the same time, Alfonzo led the rest of his group to back away a few steps. Then, Akihiko stood on the teleporter. However, it did not light up, meaning it could not be activated.
"Doesn't look like it." Akihiko said with a shrug. "I guess I'll have to climb up the old fashioned way. But that'll be better for my training, anyway."
'That's weird.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I know this isn't the same as the game, but even people who had never been inside of Tartarus could use this to go to the highest floor the party had been to. So, why isn't it working for him.'
While Alfonzo was deep in thought, Akihiko lifted a foot to step off the teleporter.
'Oh, I think I get it.' Alfonzo said to himself.
"Hold on a sec." Alfonzo said, stopping Akihiko from getting off the teleporter.
Confused, Akihiko stopped in his tracks. Then, he watched as Alfonzo approached the teleporter. And when Alfonzo stepped on beside him, Akihiko's eyes widened when it lit up like it was ready to be activated.
"So, if someone new comes with someone who's already climbed to the next check point, they can come with them." Alfonzo said while looking down at the glowing teleporter platform.
"Then, can I come with you?" Akihiko asked hopefully.
"Absolutely not!" Mitsuru exclaimed sternly.
"Aww, come on, Mitsuru.' Akihiko said. "Going higher would be great for my training."
"I said no." Mitsuru said without budging.
Knowing it would be impossible to change Mitsuru's mind, on top of not wanting to make her angry, as she could be quite scary when angered, Akihiko backed off. Though, he pouted quite visibly to show his discontent. Then, without another word, he stepped off the teleporter.
At the same time, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca joined Alfonzo on the teleporter platform. While they watched Mitsuru scold Akihiko, Alfonzo activated the teleporter, sending the group up to the fifth floor.
At that moment, Tartarus shook. And had anyone been outside to witness it, they would have noticed that the entire tower grew in height. Though, no one would have been able to say what changes this would bring.
However, because of the change to the tower, it took a few minutes for the wizards of Fairy Tail to appear on the fifth floor. On top of that, Mitsuru began to panic, as she had completely lost track of them after the shaking began.
Luckily, that did not last for long. Not to mention, the wizards of Fairy Tail did not feel anything at all. They did not even realized how long they had been off the grid. And when Mitsuru explained it to them, they were all confused.
"What's going on?" Alfonzo asked with a frown.
Meanwhile, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca looked at him with worry. Even so, they were not frightened. They were only waiting for the leader of their party to give them instructions. Before Alfonzo could come to a conclusion, however, they all noticed a magic power signature appear in the arena area.
"Did the Guardian Shadow just respawn?" Bisca asked.
"No, that's different than what we fought yesterday." Alzack replied.
"{"Mister Connel is right."} Mitsuru's voice sounded over the comms. {"That Shadow is called, Ruthless Ice Raven."}
"Well, I guess we should go take a look." Alfonzo said, feeling a little uneasy about this.
Receiving three nods in return, Alfonzo led the rest of the team up the stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw a large raven with blue and red feathers holding an ice blue lantern in its talons while it flew around the battle arena.
"It really is different." Bisca muttered. "Do the Guardians change every time we enter?"
"We won't know that until we come back tomorrow." Elicia said. For now, let's just get rid of this thing."
The other three nodded in response. Then, they all stepped onto the arena.
As soon as the group entered the arena, the Ruthless Ice Raven was alerted. Then, the lantern it carried lit up, followed by a ringing sound. After that, four chunks of ice appeared above the party. However, that was nowhere near enough to do any damage.
"[Guns Magic: Firestorm Shot]." Alzack and Bisca chanted simultaneously as the party dodged the falling chunks of ice.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
In the next instant, Alzack pulled the triggers of his pistols while Bisca fired her magic shotgun. Then, three spiraling torrents of flames were fired towards the Ruthless Ice Raven. And as they got closer, the three fire twisters combined, completely engulfing the Guardian Shadow.
*Caw~~~~~~~!*
The Ruthless Ice Raven let out a pain-filled cry as it was hurt by the flames. And when the flames dispersed, it looked dazed as it lay on the floor while twitching every so often.
"Now!" Elicia shouted excitedly. "[Thread Magic: Thread Slicer]."
While Alzack and Bisca's flames were rampaging, Elicia had sent out her threads to cover the entire area. Then, with her shout, she jerked her hands backwards. As a result, all the threads spread around the arena converged towards where the Ruthless Ice Raven was downed.
*Swish!*
*Poof!*
With little resistance, the threads tore through the Ruthless Ice Raven, turning it into a puff of black smoke.
"Is it over already?" Alzack asked in a tone filled with disbelief.
"Usually that would be like chanting a revival spell, Alzack." Bisca said while poking Alzack on the cheek.
"Oh, you're right." Alzack replied with a smile.
"But since I can't feel any magic power signatures on this floor, I think it really Is over." Alfonzo said as he stretched his [Magic Power Detection] to encapsulate the entire fifth floor.
'This is so weird.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Why did the Guardian change?'
Unfortunately, Alfonzo and Elicia had no way of knowing what was going on. They died well before Persona 3 Reload was released in their old world. So, from this point forward, everything about the tower, from the number of floors to the Guardians, to the enemies they would face will be different from what they know.