The hound's shockwave struck true, the force of the impact slamming straight into Nao's chest and bowling her over as if she was nothing more than a flimsy wooden fence in a storm. Then came the fire. The screaming, searing fan of flames that scorched through their position and engulfed her entire body. A tormented cry escaped her lips. Choked coughs left her throat sore and sore and sore. Agony gripped her very body under the onslaught of the monster. She screwed her eyes shut. She was going to die. She had failed to protect them even with this ... with this power.

Except ... except she wasn't dying.

She gasped for air, breathing in as much of the sickly, cold atmosphere as she could. Her body was throbbing, wracked with spasms and aching. The heat still tortured her. Her skin felt as if it was melting. Yet she was still alive, her body entirely functional. The discomfort ... the torment of her injuries ... they were proof of her survival. Brown eyes opened to stare back into the grimacing visage of the hound. She was alive. Still alive to fight.

[center][i]Persona.

Dikē.

Zan.[/i][/center]

Words she had never known. Words that had left her as if instinct. The words that had been spoken by her own soul. She was unsure of when she had become such a poet, but she knew of no other description. They had emerged from her, unwarranted, unexpectedly. They had emerged to bring salvation, to give her a chance ... a chance to combat the beast. To protect everyone.

[i]Move.[/i]

Her pale palm pressed down against the cold, dirty floor of the traincar. Agony tore through her arm, a lightning strike of pain and overwhelming sensation that almost caused her to scream out. She did not. Her teeth bit down on her lip. She could feel the blood being drawn. It did not matter. She pushed herself up, legs shaking even as she stumbled to her feet. Was she a shambling wreck? It did not matter. She gazed harshly at the monster through dried tears, her breath ragged and coarse. It did not matter.

She had a duty to protect everyone.

"[color=00a99d]Those vines are commanding it,[/color]" shouted one of the other girls ([i]the blind one, Mari, had she gained power like her?[/i]) that had been trapped with her. "[color=00a99d]If we can get rid of those, it should go down. But don’t use fire![/color]"

Fire. Magic. Persona. The words swarmed her mind. They came to her on instinct, as if there was a part of her, deep within the heart, that knew of these supernatural powers. Supernatural powers. Had she been in any situation, they would have been dismissed as mere delusions. As falsehoods. Yet here in this train, against a terrifying monster, they were real. They allowed her to combat it.

She did not think further.

There was only one course of action.

To fight. To survive.

The vines were the target. The force behind the monstrous hound.

She would show it force.

"[color=a36209]Persona, come forth![/color]"

Dikē - glorious, transcendent justice - manifested once more from her outstretched arm. The drain did not bother her. The pain did not bother her. The fear, the beating of her heart. The pounding of her blood rushing against her ears. It did not matter. Her duty was to ensure the safety of every single person present. That was her responsibility.

She roared. Her heart leaped.

"[color=a36209][b]ZAN![/b][/color]"

A wave of kinetic energy shuddered and screamed through the air towards the vines gripping the hound.

She would stop it.

She would keep everyone safe.

She had to.