Gritty nudges

[takutomaruki]

Somewhere deep within mementos...

Path of Da'at: Level 1

---

Maruki exhaled sharply as the last Shadow dissolved into black mist, its metallic cries echoing faintly before fading into silence. He had started to grow quite used to the vast emptiness of this labyrinth, hell sometimes even its darkness that shrouded down the edges and threatened to swallow him whole. Azathoth’s tentacles hovered protectively around him, their glowing tips pulsating with a rhythmic light, as though catching their breath alongside him. The glossy floor beneath was cracked from the earlier battle, and faint wisps of smoke rose where his nuclear blasts had left scorch marks.

“...Finally,” he muttered, brushing sweat from his brow. His body ached, a dull throb radiating through his limbs from the strain of combat. He hovered briefly, suspended by Azathoth’s coiling tentacles, before letting his feet touch the ground.

Maruki hesitated, his gaze flicking between the strange, pristine room and the jagged, shadowy chaos of the path before him. It was soo...so different. The walls were painted in white, black and blue- similar to the appendages dancing at the tip of Azathoth's tentacles.

His breaths evened out as he carefully reached into his bag and the inner pockets of his white coat , taking stock of his supplies. A nearly-empty water bottle. A handful of medical patches. His mind wandered briefly—he wasn’t even sure how long he’d been down here. Days? Hours? Time felt meaningless this deep in the labyrinth or...a half built lab.

Azathoth, sensing his exhaustion, lowered its tentacles to him. The tips glowed faintly as they brushed against his side, and he felt a small pulse of energy as they began mending his injuries.

“Thanks,” Maruki murmured, his voice softer now. The tentacles responded with a slight writhing motion, their movements less aggressive now that the immediate threat was gone.

As the faint warmth of regeneration coursed through him, Maruki couldn’t help but feel the strange weight of this specific level ahead. He frowned, his fingers tightening around the strap of his bag.

“This place... why does it feel so—”

He stopped. His body tensed.

There it was again.

A faint prickle at the edge of his awareness. Something that sent the back of his hair standing up in fright. Like a pair of unseen eyes boring into the back of his neck. Slowly, Maruki turned, scanning the shattered battlefield he had left in his trail. The broken ground and dissolving remnants of Shadows were still. Silent.

Yet something was there.

“...I know you’re watching me,” Maruki said aloud, his voice steady despite the faint tremor in his chest. Azathoth responded instinctively, its tendrils rising around him like a defensive cocoon.

Maruki’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re trying to intimidate me, you’re wasting your time.”

He took a step forward, his movements slow and deliberate. His voice dropped and echoed

“Show yourself. If you are not a shadow I won't cause you any trouble.”

Azathoth’s tentacles lashed out into the air behind him, striking the ground with enough force to crack the pristine surface. The sound echoed unnaturally, almost as if swallowed by the room itself.

A distinct ringing flickered in Maruki's eardrums, the STRIKE from the tentacles now coming back like echolocation. If someone were following him, he would sense the disturbance in the waves. He's too used to sneak attacks now.

The prickle of awareness deepened, sharpening into something tangible. Something that crawled along the edges of his senses and made him brace for whatever was to come next.

Maruki took another step, his gaze locked ahead as his hand hovered near his side, ready to command Azathoth into action.

---

Comments

[pheasantboy]

But there's no sign of anything—nothing more than a whisper of wind reversing itself in the tunnels, and the beginnings of a tremor underfoot, like an earthquake. And, perhaps, the sense of a poisonous fear in the darkness, redoubling at Azathoth's strike.

The tremor in the ground intensifies, just a little. As if it's distant.

[takutomaruki]

The tremours moved back and forth like the synchronous treble of a pendulum swinging back and forth. Maruki closed his eyes as the tendrils around him twitched and wavered- picking up on motion. Not a presence but a shadow.

A breath in the wind.

The moment he felt a quake, his eyes widened. High alert, he spreads his arms as Azathoth extends- now growing in length as it practically punctured through the walls and the floor as it propped up- letting him hover as he was away from the ground as if it would explode right beneath his feet. He throws his arm up- now letting a tentacle latch to the ceiling. No vibrations. Nothing.

He heaves a deep breath as Azathoth removes itself from the floor- now hanging off the ceiling as it started moving. Steadily. Maruki floated as he looked around like a hawk- his white coat practically helping him camouflage into the environment.

The nightmares...

He knows this place. He isn't leaving without answers.

[pheasantboy]

But, as Azathoth penetrates the very walls of Mementos, gleaming iridescent white with their sickly light, the tremors redouble, quadruple or more. As if some beast in the depths is screaming, with all the force it has.

Maruki—or Azathoth—may even sense it, beyond hearing. Something down here will die by fire before it so much as allows them near it.

[takutomaruki]

The pendulum shook violently.

The corner of his mouth twitches in annoyance as he shakes his head- the tremors growing exponentially so. His conversation with Yoshizawa-san briefly echoes as he considers his next step. Should he leave? Come back some other time when he isn't being stalked by some creature or existence that breathes within the bosom of Mementos?
No.

He's already out of the loop on most things. His actions are not within his control, and if this place gives him some answers, he wants to try them.

"Sumire-san had mentioned I would run across anomalies here," he starts, speaking as he continues to traverse further and further. "You are here, aren't you?"
His words flow easily as if he's simply greeting a patient. He poses a smile as the tentacles lurch into the walls- now accelerating further as shadows practically stray away from the doctor. "Sparrow?"

[pheasantboy]

That was a mistake. The shaking redoubles; the ceiling starts to fall. Only Azathoth's tentacles, anchored in the very walls, will keep the doctor safe.

A voice echoes, closer than before, half-thought, half-memory in the body of the place: out... get out... GET OUT....

[takutomaruki]

Interesting.

This whole place is responding to Sparrow. Perhaps he's some hidden entity here, an existence For some good reason, the doctor's expression doesn't flinch as much- now flicking his fingers as they dig into the sides of the walls.
“So, Sparrow,” Maruki begins, his tone even but gentle as he continues forward. Azathoth’s tendrils remain anchored to the walls, securing his path amidst the chaos. Shadows shy away from him, retreating as if sensing the tempestuous force at his command. “It seems this place has tethered you to its essence. Perhaps you’re some deeply rooted existence here, bound to this labyrinth in ways I can’t yet comprehend.”

Despite the violent shaking, he keeps moving, cautiously yet resolutely. His words flow with a conversational ease, as though addressing a patient. “I truly apologize for intruding, I do. But... I couldn’t ignore the call of this place, nor the anomalies Sumire-san warned me about.” He slows his pace, Azathoth’s tendrils twitching and coiling protectively as his voice takes on a softer, more empathetic tone. “If you’ll allow me, I’d like to understand.”

Maruki’s gaze flickers solemnly, a twinge of sorrow creeping into his voice. “I’m not the Maruki you seem to remember, the one who wronged you, who caused... this,” he gestures faintly toward the crumbling walls, the oppressive atmosphere around them. “If he made a lapse in judgment, I won’t excuse it. I can only hope to rectify what’s been left behind.”

He halts for a brief moment, the rumbling intensifying, but he does not flinch. “My memories are fractured enough as it is,” Maruki admits, a bitter laugh slipping from his lips. “This place—it called to me, and now I see why. I don’t want to harm you. I never wanted violence to be the answer.”

His voice dips into a near-whisper, as though addressing the labyrinth itself. “But if you won’t let me pass... I’ll have no choice but to defend myself.”

Azathoth’s tendrils tense, awaiting Maruki’s unspoken command as the tremors around him reach a fever pitch.

[pheasantboy]

But the Shadow isn't open to reason. It's been too much, and lasted too long; he knows Maruki far too well. And perhaps most of all, now, he has something to protect: the small, bright remnant of Ren that shines within him.

LIAR! echoes the voice, distorted and inhuman—and close, far closer than before; the shaking is unfathomable. MONSTER! I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE!

And, through the dust of the crumbling tunnel, two yellow eyes shine hell-bright in the dark, before two thick, black tentacles fly towards Maruki, faster than the eye can see.

[takutomaruki]

The accusation reverberates through the trembling tunnel, distorted and venomous, carrying both fury and agony. Yet, Maruki’s composure holds, his expression caught somewhere between sympathy and weary determination.

“I see,” he murmurs, Azathoth’s glowing tendrils rippling at the edges of his vision. “You’ve suffered—deeply. It’s no wonder you see me as a monster.”

The air splits as the black tentacles hurtle toward him, moving faster than the eye could follow. But Azathoth, ever-watchful and unyielding, reacts with inhuman precision. Its own tendrils intercept the attack mid-flight, a crackling impact echoing through the collapsing space as the two forces collide. Azathoth’s limbs shimmer with iridescent light, pushing back against the shadowed appendages with immense force.

Maruki doesn’t flinch, his gaze steady even as the cacophony of battle shakes the tunnel around him. He takes another deliberate step forward, Azathoth’s tentacles forming a protective barrier around him as they strike down through the tentacles like a crashing wave cutting through rock.

“You can throw whatever labels you want at me,” Maruki says, his voice carrying over the chaos. “Monster, liar, fraud—if that’s what helps you hold on to the pieces of yourself, then I’ll accept it.”

The dust thickens, swirling like a storm, and those blazing yellow eyes gleam through the haze. Maruki fixes his gaze on them, his voice softening but not faltering.

[pheasantboy]

The injured tentacles thrash backwards out of sight, almost as fast as they appeared.

"You try to stick this on me!" hisses the voice, far closer than seems natural, as if the words are in Maruki's head. "But you're always in the right, aren't you, Maruki-san? Nothing could ever make you doubt yourself, could it?! No matter what you did! No matter your self-centred presumption!"

The eyes vanish, with a flash. And, next thing, the tentacles reappear—but surrounding Maruki, as if growing out of the walls themselves, thrashing, twisting, countless in number—and intent on murder.

[takutomaruki]

Maruki’s breath comes in steady, controlled bursts as the voice—angry, venomous, far too close—digs into his mind.

“Not like it matters now since I took that chance away from-” He hears his own voice reverberating through the accusations. “-both of us. I killed you in that hospital.”

The headache spikes through his head as he yells, clutching his own head as the voices thrash within him before he looks through the gaps of his fingers- catching the yellow eyes vanish in a brilliant flash, leaving only the echo of their hateful glow behind. Before Maruki can react, the walls themselves seem to come alive. Tentacles erupt from every surface around him, twisting and thrashing with murderous intent, countless and overwhelming.

“Damn it!” Maruki growls, his voice carrying an edge of desperation. Azathoth surges into action, its iridescent tendrils lashing outward to meet the onslaught. The two forces collide in an explosion of force and restrain, black tentacles carved in a green hue with light, the glossy white walls fracturing under the strain.

Maruki braces himself, his grip tightening around Azathoth’s presence. “Enough of this! Shine eternal radiance- Azathoth!” he shouts, his voice reverberating with anger—and something deeper, a flicker of pain.
The glow of Azathoth intensifies, and with a sweeping motion, its tendrils pierce through the writhing mass of black tentacles.

Explosions of white light and shimmering energy tear through the surrounding darkness, clearing a small space around Maruki. He uses the reprieve as he pierces a tentacle into the wall and flung himself up and away- hand wrangling out in a wild flourish as he grits his teeth.

"It was not in my actual intention to look for you!" Maruki yells as Azathoth thrashes- pulling at the shadow's tentacles with its own as if attempting to pull those glowing yellow eyes out from the darkness. It slices through, cutting each tentacle in small pieces and eating it away. "I don't remember anything after I awakened to this power! What you’re accusing me of! My own lab, my life’s work—most of it is locked away from me!"

The tentacles lunge again, faster and more frenzied this time, as if responding to his words with fury. Azathoth reacts in kind, its movements precise and unyielding. A glowing tendril slams into the ground, creating a shockwave that pushes back the darkness once more.

“I didn’t come here to fight you!” Maruki shouts, his voice hoarse. “I came here for answers! Answers about what I’ve done, about who I even am now!”

[pheasantboy]

As the walls of the tunnel are shredded, there is a tremendous whine. Then the tentacles are gone, the tremors quiet to almost nothing, and a small figure curls in the dust, gloved hands—but are they gloves?—clenched into fists.

"I don't give a shit about your answers." The Shadow stares up at Maruki with naked hate on its face. "Just do what you're going to do."

As he says that, the hate on his face shifts, leaving only dread and terror.

[takutomaruki]

The whine spears through his eardrums, rendering him quiet as he keeps his stance prepared by hovering just slightly from the ground by a few feet- eyes narrowed as the curtains fall. The tentacles retract, making him gulp in anticipation at the next attack, the next trap that could gnaw him away like his hand was riddled with bullets just a month ago.
The hate is worrying. His expression falls, the urgency in his tone shifting to uneasiness as he looks at the man who was supposedly a product of his own doing in another world. A world where Maruki envisioned that no one would suffer.

"I won't do anything to you," Maruki explains as he keeps his voice even. "I am not here to make you suffer."

"Azathoth."

His voice thunders. It almost feels like he will order another attack on the poor Shadow.
And then, almost as if it were suicide itself, he continues softly. "Fall."

The tentacles retract.
Maruki descends slowly, his feet touching the fractured ground as Azathoth’s tentacles retreat behind him, curling protectively but without hostility. His hands remain open, a gesture of non-aggression, as he crouches slightly to meet the Shadow’s hateful, terrified gaze.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he says gently, his voice carrying the same measured calm he might use with a struggling patient. “I know how this must feel to you. I know what I represent. But please, understand—whatever you think I’ve done, whatever pain I’ve caused you in another reality, I’m not here to make it worse.”

He pauses, watching the Shadow’s clenched fists and trembling frame. “Yoshizawa-san told me about your situation with the other reality, but I never expected them to come with so much suffering. The cognitive room... it’s more than a tool, isn’t it? There’s something about it—about this place—that ties deeply to you, to him. If that connection is hurting you, maybe I can help you undo it.”

Maruki straightens just slightly, still careful to maintain an unthreatening posture. His expression is soft, though his eyes are weighted with concern. “You don’t need to trust me. I’ve done nothing to earn that. But if there’s even a chance I can understand—if there’s something here worth saving—then I’d like to try.”

[pheasantboy]

But the Shadow shimmers, almost, as if trying to melt out of existence. Finding that it can't, its eyes pop with fear, then it scrabbles backwards, out of reach. For all the good it may do him.

Its lips draw back from its teeth—countless, crowded, splintered like glass. Its distorted voice echoes from the walls, as its hands knot in the dust. "Leave her alone. Don't go near her."

It makes a sound, almost like gasping for air, if it could breath. "You have no right. She didn't choose you."

[takutomaruki]

Maruki's expression shifts, annoyance simmering in his expression. Brows furrowed, his calm veneer slips just slightly as the Shadow’s words reverberate in the dust-choked air. He straightens, adjusting his glasses with a deliberate motion, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“‘Leave her alone’? ‘She didn’t choose me’?” Maruki echoes, his tone carrying a faint edge of incredulity. His eyes narrow, though his voice remains measured if a touch more clipped. “You don’t even know what you’re saying.”

He takes a careful step forward and carefully shifts to slowly but surely go around, keeping his gaze locked on the trembling Shadow. “Yoshizawa-san was the first person who showed me any kindness in… well, in a long time. She listened to me, spoke to me—not out of obligation or anger, but out of understanding.”

She is my patient.

All I did was help her. Perhaps- well- her Maruki was slightly stranger than he had anticipated but again; none of the residents here seemed to consider his position at all. It was frustrating but...it made his pursuit all the more reasonable.

Maruki gestures slightly, his hand sweeping towards the endless void around them. “So tell me, on what grounds do you get to decide what she chose or wanted? She chose you to speak for her?"

[pheasantboy]

"You're as deluded as you ever were," hisses the Shadow, from the dirt. "She faced herself. She chose the truth as much as I did. She bled for it. And you took that from her. You—"

The trembling reaches its peak, as the Shadow finally gains enough strength to stand. "You did to her what you did to me. Every part of me, you emptied out and you filled with yourself. Shall I show you, Maruki-san?"

Again withholding the title of "Doctor", he lifts his arms. And two black tentacles fly straight for Maruki, bent on... what, exactly? It can't be good.

[takutomaruki]

Maruki's expression flickers again, expressing a sense of hopelessness at what he's just witnessed. "I have not hurt her in any single way," he tries to say, but the trembling suddenly disrupts his speech, causing him to wobble as the shadow pierces his words with icy needles of doubt and pain.

"Every part of me, you emptied out and you filled with yourself."

"Shut up," He mutters under his breath, his voice seething with barely controlled rage, as he steps forward, the weight of his conviction forcing him to take control.

His body suddenly seems to tremble with the power rising within him—his pupils dilating into two perfect golden orbs, an ominous glow burning through his eyes as he spreads his arms, summoning the power within. The gold rings flare with a harsh light, the symbols of his authority over cognition and reality—only, this time, they don’t flicker. They pulse.

The black tentacles whip toward him, but Maruki's response is fast and deadly. With a sharp, forceful motion, he slaps them aside, not just with physical strength, but with the weight of his mind behind every movement.

"You are too foolish to understand," he grinds out, his voice low and dangerous, "Too foolish to realize that such minor things—"

His words falter.

And then, his breath catches, his right pupil flashing gold with irritation. His head jerks, eyes darting upward as a voice—no, an entity—interrupts him. Maruki’s entire body tenses, his mind snapping back to reality, his grip on the situation beginning to fray.

"Azathoth, what the hell are you doing?!" Maruki screams, his voice raw with frustration. His fingers run through his hair, undoing the neatness of his appearance as he violently tugs at the strands. The sleek, controlled image he so carefully cultivated shatters in an instant, as wild strands spill from the sides of his head, making him look unhinged.
His voice is laced with anger, but it’s not directed at the poor Shadow in front of him. No—he's speaking directly to the golden bead that stands to his natural brown gaze, that persistent, pulsing presence that nestles within and beside him. The voice in his head. Azathoth.

"You know, Takuto," The voice spills through his mouth that the shadow can hear him. "You’re more than capable of so much more. You’ve always been mine to command. Let me show you how powerful you truly are."

Maruki’s hands tremble at his sides, but his voice remains steely, though strained.

“No.” He spits the word out like venom. "You will never take over my body.Help me- don't use me.”

Azathoth’s voice grows quieter, almost a murmur of doubt.

"You can’t fight it forever. Why not embrace it? Why struggle against what’s meant to be?"

Maruki’s eyes narrow, his body stiffening as the golden eye flares again, its light burning with intense clarity.

“Stay. In. Your. Lane.”

The pulse of gold dims, the pressure inside him dissipating as Azathoth recoils, retreating back into the recesses of Maruki’s mind. The golden eye flickers out of existence, leaving only the shadow of its presence.

With a final, shaky breath, Maruki steadies himself, hands clenched at his sides. He looks ahead, the oppressive weight of Azathoth’s influence gone—for now.
Turning his attention back to the trembling Shadow, Maruki’s voice becomes measured again, though it’s tinged with undeniable weariness.

"No words of mine is going to reach you. Not like this," he says firmly, brushing off the Shadow’s earlier remarks. The anger still lingers in his voice, but there's a certain coldness to it now, a detachment. The words that once might have stung, now feel insignificant to him. "You're wasting my time. Get out of my way- now."

[pheasantboy]

... what the hell. So it's as he suspected. Maruki was perhaps not acting under his own volition—he was controlled by something else. Not Yaldabaoth, either, but a similar name. A Persona's name? The name of the Persona he awakened in the hospital, and on Christmas Eve?...

Drawing his tentacles back, he presses his fists furiously into the dirt. What difference does it make, anyway? There's nothing he can do to save the world. No way to save himself; nothing left to save. Even killing that thing that walks in his body won't save him. There's only—there's only—

The tiny light, golden and warm, growing by a hair here and there, pulses deep inside him, where only he knows of it. Summoning the last of his power, the Shadow disappears.

[takutomaruki]

Maruki glares at the Shadow, shoulders hunched- fury in his eyes as he waits. This was different. Wrong. He never anticipated this from Azathoth; a persona meant to be his other half and reigning itself to serve his own goals. The fact that he's here- whispered by his dreams and perhaps even nightmares was something he initially thought was Azathoth's way to help him regain his memory.
Now?

It didn't feel like that. Personally. Did Azathoth even want him here to help him fare better with others?

His frown grows even more, almost annoyed and irritated with himself, as he brushes away his dissheveled hair and whips his hands forward. The tentacles shift, slithering and plunging. It's almost as if he's a conductor of an otherworldly orchestra, as a flick of his finger sends debris everywhere or turns a shadow into goo itself. It's worrying; this tremendous energy that burns within his veins feels foreign.

He spears through the walls itself at some point. Whatever comes in his way is torn down and Azathoth has suddenly grown too erratic- as if anticipating this moment.

Together...

The walls start closing in.

Maruki finds himself falling to his knees, hair in complete disarray, as his lips part to draw in air. For a moment, he doesn't even feel like himself; he feels more like he is sitting in the front seat of a roller coaster that continues to zip down into the abyss itself. His heart ricochets in his chest as he hears the beat through his ears.

Sleek metallic surfaces and glowing neon blue circuitry running across the walls and floor. The pathway leading into the room is a narrow corridor, bordered by towering, symmetrical walls that hum faintly with an otherworldly energy.

Sterile, almost clinical but the overwhelming blue glow gives it a strangely dreamlike and disorienting quality.

As Maruki walks down the pathway, he notices the intricate designs etched into the floor, resembling a blend of circuit boards and mystical runes, hinting at the fusion of advanced technology and the metaphysical nature of cognition. The light pulses softly beneath his feet with each step, as if the space itself reacts to his presence.

Ahead of him, the corridor opens into a vast, cylindrical chamber, dominated by a massive tower-like structure in the center. This structure is encased in translucent glass-like panels that seem to hum with energy, stretching high above and below, as though it connects to the very fabric of this distorted reality.
The air carries a faint hum, layered with an eerie sense of control and order, contrasting with the chaos Maruki knows lies just beyond these walls.

He's finally here.

He will get his answers.

[pheasantboy]

Meanwhile, despite his having to all appearances vanished from sight, the Shadow lurks in the walls. So Maruki is reclaiming his place, is he? Well, fuck him. The Shadow has been there too long anyway. There are other realms he can access, and for that matter, other parts of Mementos that can be his.

But the tiny light, the last of Ren, glows insistently, too much for the Shadow to ignore. It grates on his nerves—if he had nerves, tee hee—like an old razor blade. So as the room below that has been his haven begins to crumble into cognitive dust, the Shadow reaches inside himself, to the gaping void left by Maruki's violation, to the tiniest silver thread that remains, between him and the thing with his face that walks above.

Very gently, and then more insistently, he starts to tug. Danger. Danger. Ren is in danger....