Persona 4: Golden Music

Chapter Thirteen

Exploring the Unknown

“Vinyl…Vinyl?” Octavia said as the unicorn let out a low groan of pain. “Oh for the love of Celestia. Wake up you stupid mare!” She yelled before raising a hand and slapping Vinyl’s face a couple of times. On the eighth slap, the DJ pony quickly woke up and stopped the earth pony from slapping her again by using her magic to stop her.

“I’m up! I’m up!” Vinyl yelled as she quickly backed away from Octavia while rubbing her face from the pain she felt. “Geez, did you have to slap me that hard?” She asked before looking around the area they were in. She soon notices Chie and Yosuke pulling themselves up from the ground. “You guys okay?”

“I think my butt’s cracked now.” He said before looking around the area they were in. “Whoa!”

“What now!? Did you wet your pants!?” Chie said as Yosuke glared at her.

“No, stupid! Look around!” He said as she along with Vinyl and Octavia looked around to see that they were standing in the middle of a studio.

“Is this…a studio?” Chie asked as she tried to knock some of the fog away but to no avail. “All this fog, or is it smoke?”

“Are we on some kind of set or something?” Octavia asked. “Do TVs let you be able to enter into places like this?”

“No…at least to my knowledge. There’s no place like this in Inaba…right?” Chie asked as Yosuke shook his head

“Hell no. But man, this place is huge.”

“I know right…this would be a cool place to host a party.” Vinyl said as Octavia rolled her eyes.

“Now’s not the time for thinking of that Vinyl. What are we gonna do?”

“We could always look around to see if there’s anypony in the area?” Vinyl suggested.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Yosuke said as she tried to brush the fog away. “Especially with all this fog or smoke covering this place.”

We should head back home and-” Chie paused upon realizing something. “Wait a minute. Which way did we come from?” She asked before quickly looking around to see if she could find an exit of some kind. “I don’t see a way in or out!”

“Relax, I can just teleport us out of here.” Vinyl said as her horn began to glow, only for the magic in her horn to vanish. “....Okay don’t panic everypony.”

“Don’t panic!? How can we not panic if we can’t find a way out of this place!?” Yosuke yelled as he started to panic.

“I-I don’t know!? Don’t yell at me!” yelled Chie as she started to panic as well. “Oh, I just want to go home! Why did that stupid midnight channel have to be real!”

“Settle down everypony,” Octavia said as she placed her hands on Chie’s and Yosuke’s shoulders. “We can’t start panicking just because we’re in an unknown place…that's kind of how I was when Vinyl and I came to Inaba. All we have to do is look around for an exit like Vinyl suggested.”

“Y-You’re right,” Yosuke said as he and Chie slowly began to calm down a bit. “Okay, let’s think about this for a second. We need to find a way out of this place. Any ideas on where to start looking?”

“So far there are two paths on our left and right.” Vinyl said before taking the lead and heading to the walkway to her right. “I suggest we go right.”

“What makes you say that?” Yosuke asked.

“Well, I read in most horror books that if you go left, you’ll end up meeting a bad end at the hands of a monster, or worse, trapped in a room for all eternity~!” Vinyl said in a dramatic fashion, which caused Chie and Yosuke to gulp in fear at the idea.

“Vinyl can you please take this seriously? We’re in another world with no means of getting home…again.” Octavia said as Vinyl lifted her shades to look at her and the other.

“I know, I know, sorry. Just trying to lighten up the mood so it’s not so stressful.”

“I’m more surprised you can act like this. Especially given the situation we’re in.”

“Someone has to be the level-headed one out of the group. Might as well be me seeing how I’m the one with the magic and can keep a cool head.”

“And you’re saying I’m not?”

“Remember our first day in Inaba?”

“You mean before or after you got taxed?” Octavia asked with a smirk on her face.

“...You’re not going to let that one down aren’t you?”

“So long as that video is up on that internet thing, then I’ll never let that one down…I should ask them if I can keep a copy of it later.” She said as Vinyl glared at her.

“Just follow my lead before I throw you off this studio…set…whatever this place is!” She said before the trio followed after Vinyl.

For what felt like hours of walking through the strange place that Vinyl dubbed the backside of the tv. So far from what they could tell through most of the fog, it looked like they were in some kind of run-down city that you would see in a horror movie. No people, thick fog everywhere, buildings that look like they were about to crumble with enough force…yep horror movie. The only thing missing was either a serial killer or monster with sharp fangs chasing after them.

“What is this place? It feels different from where we were before.” Chie said as Yosuke groaned in annoyance.

“It looks like we’re in some kinda building, but…damn, this fog’s so thick I can hardly see.” He said before noticing Vinyl’s horn glowing as she cast some kind of wind spell to blow the fog away. It worked for a good few seconds before the fog returned.

“Not even my magic can make this fog go away. Reminds me of the Everfree Forest, only without the monsters and weird plants.”

“You sure we’re not wandering farther away from getting out of here?” Chie asked as Vinyl shrugged.

“I’m just going by instinct. It’s not like this place has a map or something. But if it makes you feel any better, I did leave a trail behind us in case we get lost.” The unicorn said as she pointed a thumb behind them. Yosuke, Chie, and Octavia looked behind Vinyl to see some glowing stones on the ground that lead back to where they were before.

“Wow…I didn’t think you would do something like that.” Octavia said as a smug grin appeared on Vinyl’s face.

“I may not be as smart as most ponies, but I know when to keep track of where I go when it comes to places like this.” She said before letting out a low yawn. “Maybe we should take a little break from all this walking.”

“Is that a good idea? Especially in a place like this?” Chie asked.

“Well, so far we haven’t seen anything that would or could attack us,” Yosuke said as he looked around himself for a moment before seeing a doorway giving off a strange red light. “Just to be on the safe side, let's head inside that room over there.”

“Yeah, let's head into that doorway with the creepy red ominous light it’s giving off.” Vinyl said sarcastically before hearing Octavia speak up.

“Would you rather stay out here for the monsters or Celestia know what to come and attack us?”

“....Fair enough. Let's head inside.” Vinyl said as she motions for them to enter the room. Upon entering the room, they noticed that it looked like a person’s bedroom that you would expect to see in a house or an apartment building…Minus the paint on the wall and posters of female humans with their faces ripped off. “Okay, if this doesn’t scream horror book material, then I don’t know what it is?”

“Hey, is it me or is the fog lighter here?” Yosuke asked as he pulled out his phone to see if he could get some kind of signal. Sadly he couldn’t get one even after waving his phone around a bit to get said signal. “No service here as well. What a surprise.”

“This place just keeps getting creepier by the minute,” Octavia said as she decided to look around the room they’d entered.

“What are you doing?” Chie asked as she noticed the earth pony opening the closet door and searched inside it.

“Trying to see if this place has some kind of clue or something that could get us out of this place. I’m sure whoever lives here would understand if we just looked around his or her place for a means to get back home?” The earth pony said as she started pulling stuff out of the closet. From what they could tell, the earth pony was pulling out bed linings, pillows, clothing, etc. As she was doing this, Yosake’s eyes widened before placing his hands in between his pants and began to jitter up and down in place.

“Aargh! I can’t hold it any longer! My bladder is gonna explode!” He yelled before heading over to the side of the wall in the room they’re in.

“Yosuke!? What’re you doing!?” Chie yelled.

“I gotta let it out before I piss my pants!”

“You’re going here!? Oh, you have got to be kidding me!?”

“...I mean, given how we’re in a horror book-like setting, it’s understandable that he would take a piss here where we can watch his back, and not get eaten or killed by a monster.” Vinyl said as Octavia popped her head out of the closet.

“Yes, but having him do it here isn’t something a gentle colt should do!” She said with a blush on her face. “Vinyl, do something about that!?” The unicorn places a hand on her chin for a moment before an idea appears in her head. She looked over at Yosuke with her horn glowing as she created a dome around the boy, which took him by surprise.

“What the hell!? What happened to the lights!? Why is it so dark here!?” He asked before noticing a small window opening up from the side. He blinks upon seeing the window open as Vinyl levitated an empty can that Octavia pulled out over to him as the window closed.

“Dude, relax. It’s just one of my spells for when I want privacy.” Vinyl said as she hops onto the bed. “Just yell when you’re done. And don’t worry, we can’t hear anything on our side besides your voice.”

“Wait they have spells like that we’re you’re from?” Chie asked as Vinyl and Octavia nodded.

“We just have a spell for just about almost everything. Teleportation, mind reading, levitation, etc.”

“Is there anything magic can’t do?” Yosuke asked.

“I mean there are some limits. But that just depends on the unicorn or alicorn.” Vinyl said before levitating some stuff around her. “I’m kind of on an average level when it comes to certain magic spells. I can teleport, create soundproof domes, shoot lasers from my horn, create small things that give off light, levitate, and a few other things.”

“You think you can teach me how to use magic?” Chie asks as Vinyl was about to shake her head, but soon ponders the idea of teaching her magic.

“Hm, maybe. But how about we do that after we get out of this place.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Chie said before examining the room they were in. “What’s with this room? All these posters, their faces are all cut out. Someone must hate this person.”

“I’d be more worried about the noose with a scarf hanging above the chair.” The unicorn said as she pointed a finger off to the side of where Yosake was. Both Chie, Octavia, and Yosuke were taken by surprise by seeing and hearing this.

“How did we not see that!?” Octavia asked.

“In fairness, we weren’t that focused on what was around the room, but the closet…and on how we can get out of here.”

“O-Okay, I’m done. Can you lower the dome so I can leave please?” Yosuke asked as Vinyl snapped her fingers, causing the dome to vanish as he rushed over to the girls. “...Hey…am I the only feeling…kind of sick to their stomach?”

“Now that I think about it, I feel heavy for some reason. Like I just got off from a three-day marathon run.” Chie said as Vinyl noticed a tired expression on her and Yosake’s faces.

“Strange, I don’t feel sick.” Vinyl said before looking over at Octavia. “What about you Tavi? Do you feel sick or tired?”

“I feel perfectly fine.” She said before walking over to the two humans and placing a hand on their foreheads. “Hm, you’re both feeling sweaty and kind of cold. Did you two eat anything that might have caused the way you’re both feeling?”

“Other than what we ate for lunch, we haven’t eaten anything else before coming to this place,” Chie said as she felt Octavia lead her and Yosuke to the bed Vinyl was on.

“If that’s the case, then it must be because of this place we’re in.” The mare said before looking over at Vinyl. “Think you can try and teleport us out of here again?” Vinyl nodded as the unicorn tried to use her magic to teleport them out of this place. At first, she could feel the magic surging in her horn, but it soon vanished like a match in the wind.

“Oh buck me sideways.”

“Language!” Octavia yelled which caused Vinyl to roll her eyes.

“I’m gonna scout ahead and see if I can find a way out for us.”

“You’re going to leave us?” Yosuke asked as Vinyl shook her head.

“Octavia’s going to watch over you two. She may be a musician in classical music, but she’s still an earth pony, and they’re really strong when it comes to muscles.” She said as the humans looked over at Octavia who was blushing a bit.

“W-Well you have to be when carrying a cello…or if you need to help carry a heavy piano with the help of others. But are you sure you should be going ahead by yourself?”

“I have my magic on me, so I can make a barrier around myself if something comes after me. If you need to come after me, I’ll leave a trail for you all to find me.” The unicorn said as she pulled herself off the bed and began to make her way out of the room, leaving Chie, Yosuke, and Octavia alone together.