Devil Survivor 2 - Prometheus: Of Flames and Steel
Hey guys, Arsony here! I've been replaying DeSu2 a lot lately (currently on my 9th or 10th play through, LOL) and I've been itching to write a fic about some things I came across with in my mind while playing the game. This is sort of a "what if" kind of situation I wanted to explore after having read a few light novels like Highschool DxD, Campione, and SAO, so I hope you'll forgive me if things like OOCness and different plot twists occur. Then again, this is a fic, so those things really have to be allowed to slide some of the time. :)
Updating period of this fic may or may not be as fast as you would be expecting since I am mainly focused on my Persona fic, Velvet Room Inc., so if you are one of those who come to like this and itch for another chapter, then patience be the virtue my good reader/s. Haha.
Also, the Velvet Room ain't dead! I just got hooked up on this for a while that I wasn't able to work much on the next chapter yet, so I apologize. Don't worry - the next chapter would be appearing soon. You might get a li'l shock from the Personas though - I crossed over some characters. ;)
Anywho, here's the first chapter of Prometheus: Of Flames and Steel. Please enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: Atlus owns the SMT: Devil Survivor series. That's why I took the liberty of letting you know if you didn't.
THE DAY BEFORE, PT. 1: The Flames Lit; A Blade Forged
It was I who had presided over them -
Those who had the capacity for limitless possibilities.
Yet with every single one of them that I saw shivering from the cold, sick from under-prepared meals, injured from the dangers of the wild, blatantly ignorant of the ways of the world -
With every single human being I saw, a jagged blade cut through the recesses of my very being.
That was why I had to change them.
That was why I took the initiative to guide them.
Why did the gods forsake these children?
Why did they leave them to their own doom?
Why did they not bother to look down from their thrones, only maintaining their eyes level from where they so sit upon?
I sought an answer, yet the time spent for searching only managed to endanger the children more. This was why I finally chose to defy the will of the heavens and give them knowledge, coupled with radiance and warmth they have never known before.
And that very gift has shaped civilization after civilization.
Though the present has changed, my gift remained used up to this moment.
But these children could not have my gift serve only one purpose -
It became something for both good and evil.
It has tipped the balance of this planet.
And so the gods decided to Purge this world of these children.
They believe that there is no more room for any kind of good change, that my gift has turned these children into nothing more that accursed beings.
And so YOU, who shall be given the chance to redeem your brothers and sisters,
YOU must go through that hellish week for the final time,
YOU shall once more receive all I have given.
YOU shall take what your brothers and sisters have used.
YOU shall unite all through a will, and display a reason that the gods will not fail to overlook, and cease the Purging of this world.
My child, YOU shall use my knowledge; my flame; and the steel your kind has so made use of for the building of eras of greatness.
My child, YOU shall be the one to defy Fate, and bring forth what remains in that accursed box-
Hope.
I shall be watching closely, and stand together with all you children of possibilities.
My dearest child, o Shining One who shall save your brethren -
Peaceful days are over.
Let us survive.
Easy-piecey.
It was alrady nearing midday. Students were busy packing up their materials so as to leave early, while others still enjoyed the company of one another and chatted away about the just-finished mock exam. Though it was said to have been a challenge, I had found the test to be easier than what I had expected. It may have been because of my frequent studying that I was able to breeze through, or maybe the teachers were just too lazy to bring out the big guns.
Still, it was a blessing to have had such a test.
Lately, I've been devoting lots of my time studying. It wasn't because I was such a nerd or my parents had such high expectations of me, but because I had wanted to prepare for whatever was up ahead. It's still too early, but thinking about what to do after college and planning for the future was something I had wanted to do personally in order to secure a promising tomorrow for my own sake. That sounds like some bank commercial crap, but hey, it's my life here.
People often said that I acted too mature for my age, due to the reason that I paid far too much attention towards things that significantly impacted my so-called life progress, and that I had too much of an initiative for stuff that needed to be done. I didn't mind it too much if people did say so, as they often said it with a hint of respect rather than humor or ill-wills. They even went as far to saying I might end up losing all interest on present things that would require a lesser sense of maturity in order to fully appreciate and use to the fullest.
That didn't sting, but I still felt indiffernt from that.
As I started to pack up my stuff, no sooner than I began to open my bag that the room's door bursted open, welcoming in a person I knew all too well.
"Hey, Hibiki! How'd you do?" the person asked.
I grinned smugly, replying "It was easy. Didn't pose much of a problem. How'd you do, Daichi?"
Though he looked like he wasn't that dependable, Daichi Shijima was my best friend. We've known each other for quite some time now, and so we knew each other pretty well. Daichi was the sort who'd avoid things that put himself at any risk and showed little to no backbone, but made up for those with his determination once set on doing something and how he was such a reliable person.
Daichi scratched his head and chuckled slightly. "Well, I just barely made it through the test! Thank god I remembered some stuff down." He then sighed and faced me with an expression of annoyance. "Man, you wouldn't believe how many distractions I've had to face last night while I was studying. I mean, c'mon! There should be a limit to how stuff like that affects you, right?"
"Don't tell me the TV walked into your room."
"Heyyy! What are you trying to say here?"
I shrugged off the question. "Oh, nothing." Before Daichi could come up with a retort, a proctor appeared by the door and called his attention. "Excuse me, Mr. Shijima! You left your phone by the room!"
Daichi reacted to the statement by checking his pockets first, realizing that his phone wasn't really there, then half running to the proctor and retrieving his phone. "Ah, thank you very much, sensei. Glad you found it. Hehehe. . ."
After handing over Daichi's phone, the proctor chastised him for leaving his things unattended, and reminded him to pay better attention to his valuables. As the proctor left, I stood up and joined Daichi since I was already done packing my things. Since he was already with his bag and stuff before having come here, we decided to leave and spend the day elsewhere.
Just as we were walking out of the room, Daichi started scratching his head with look that people made when they've forgotten something and desperately tried to remember it. I didn't hold myself back and straight up asked "So, what'd you forget?"
"Eh?! How'd you know I was trying to remember something?!"
I chuckled at his retort. "Oh, simple - it was written all over your face."
Daichi scoffed at my reply. "Pfft, as if I'm that easy to read. You can do it since we've been hanging out for some time now as pals, anyways."
"That's not it. You just let people on that easily."
"Hey man, that's not cool! Although. . . . . *sigh* You may be right."
"1-0 Hibiki. Boom!" I laughed while fist-pumping.
"Ehhh. . . Just you wait, one of these days Hibiki. . . . Ahhh, dammit, I can't remember what I was gonna tell you. Was it about joining something. . .?"
"Well, if you can't remember it, set it aside. You know how some people forget stuff and then remember it sooner or later when they don't think about it?"
Daichi nodded. "Yeah, happens to me sometimes. Well, might as well do so. Hey, you busy by the way? I need to do some shopping down at Shibuya."
"Sure, as long as I don't bring along any of your shopping bags," I chuckled.
The afternoon flew by as Daichi and I spent time buying whatever he needed, eating, playing at some arcades, and a whole lot of window shopping past a few stores. As we were walking towards the station, Daichi struck up a kind of too mature conversation not too befitting of him.
"Hey, Hibiki."
I turned to him and replied. "What is it?"
"You know how we're already nearing the end of our school life? I wonder how we'll be spending college soon, then moving on after graduation and looking for jobs. . . Damn, makes me think life is too short, y'know?"
I closed my eyes and sighed. Looking at it from that point, Daichi was quite right. No matter how long you spend on certain things, the thought of time continually creeping up from behind and taking whatever valuable moment you can spend away was quite dismaying. Life is played out in one shot - no second chances are present. You might as well do something very memorable before you crumble into a pile of ashes and disappear for all of eternity, as death can happen anytime, anywhere.
Truly, death was inevitable. Once it comes, there's no cheating fate - your time is up when it faces you right in front, and flashes all of your life before you once he backs up the scythe. And when you've seen enough, you sleep forever - never to wake again. . .
"It's true that life is always a step behind you, so you just have to widen that gap and do all the necessary things ahead of time so you can fully enjoy the rest of your life. That's why I really want to study hard and find a suitable and stable job after graduating."
Daichi chuckled, embarrassed. "Man, hearing you say that makes me feel like I really am lagging behind. And to think that I've got a driver's license to boot. . ."
"Hey, that comes in handy too, y'know. You might even become a racecar driver, for all we know. Hahahaha."
"That wasn't what I meant though. But- OhShit! My bladder's acting up again!" Daichi exclaimed, suddenly putting his hands over his crotch like reflex.
"Told ya to keep your hands off the Iced Tea Mega-Served Shake," I smiled, wryly.
"Bahhh, I can regret that later! Right now I have to look for the public toilet! Wait for me, 'kay bud?" Daichi said, jumping around.
"Yeah, sure. But make it fast though, we still need to get home."
As soon as Daichi disappeared with his small-capacity bladder, I put on my headphones and scrolled through my rock playlist to kill some time before he got back. Spotting a nearby bench, I took a seat and looked around, quite at unease with nothing to do.
"Oh yeah, better get to downloading those Aerolyn songs later. . . ." I suddenly recalled, having listened to a single from the band and promising to fill my MP3 player with some of their power-packed music. Somehow, I found the powerful plays and energy-driven beat Aerolyn something about my taste, apart from the usual rock I listened to.
Dammit, I need to hurry!
The man's thoughts were solely focused on two things: one, was to escape the people after him; and two, was that he needed to find someone suitable for the "package" he was carrying with him.
"Really, making me go through all this trouble. . . . That client was something else for making me sniff something outta the Hotsuin family again. . ."
He inadvertently thought back to five days ago, when some white-haired guy in red and black clothes approached him with a large wad of cash and a job. Somehow, this client was looking high and low for him, having heard from who-knows-where that he was some sort of odd-jobs man wandering the country, doing this and that and ultimately just helping people out of good will.
The nerve of some people. . . . I'm supposed to have "retired" from my detective job ages ago and be at peace with some people hunting me down – but NOOOOO. Someone just had to turn me into some Jason Statham transporter man. . .
.
.
.
.
But damn, that doesn't sound too bad.
The man continued running down the streets with his pursuers unknowledgeable as to his whereabouts, and after having spotted the nearby park, he decided to head there in order to change his course. Once in the park's vicinity, he hunted down a decent group of bushes and decided to conceal his presence there. Finding one near a bench, he jumped in and crouched down.
"Tch, this is so damn clichéd. I can't believe I'm back into doing something so dangerous again. Then again, I DO need some cash if I don't wanna be a hobo in Tokyo. . . . Hehe. That actually rhymed."
The man then placed his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out a black rectangular case. It was painted with ornate, golden designs that depicted some very familiar sketches to the man.
"Huh, it's actually got the constellations of the northern hemisphere on it. . . And lookie here – the Big Dipper's actually smack dab on the middle. . . Alright, step two – that weird client said to use this," reaching for his pants' left pocket this time, he pulled out something circular, "mirror or whatever to find the man to deliver this box to."
Admittedly, he wasn't the sort to believe this sort of crap. He would stop and think C'mon, magic and shit doesn't exist! Nor do any supernatural entities!
Yet somehow, he found himself dumbfounded and shocked upon seeing his client float, summon some weird creatures, and turn them into dust with a flick of his fingers. Oddly enough, he found himself believing.
A'ight. Here goes.
He opened the round object and inside was a mirror, the sort you would see girls use when pampering themselves in public. He then muttered some phrase, and the mirror glowed light blue before finally showing the image of a black haired boy, fiddling with his music player by some sort of bench.
. . . . A kid? This thing's seriously telling me to entrust that to some sort of high school kid?! Who the heck is this kid, even?! It'll take me weeks to find this guy and by that time, JP's will be gnawing at my neck by then! Godda—
Wait.
That bench looks oddly familiar.
And why is a hat on that bush? There's some pink cotton candy underneath it too. . .
Mental facepalm.
And the man then knew what he had to do, briefly sighing heavily before proceeding with it.
Minutes later, my phone rang and to my surprise, Daichi was the one calling. I answered the call and began conversing with him.
"You have reached Hibiki Kuze's answering machine! If you're hearing this, that means you've been gone long enough to take a piss and Hibiki nearly fell asleep! Please leave a message!"
"Huh. And here I was, nearly falling for that. Anyways, my mom called me to buy some parts down at Akibahara since dad somehow managed to fry the CPU's motherboard from a messy overclock. So. . . ."
"You won't get to ride with me home, right? It's fine, no worries," I answered, smiling. I've been friends with this guy so long I practically considered him my sibling.
Daichi sighed in relief over the phone, and replied back. "Thanks a lot, dude. I appreciate it. I'll be sure to make it up to you soon, 'kay?"
"Sure, sure. Ramen would be nice. You know, at our usual place? I'd want the special."
"What?! Don't you know how much that costs?!"
"Oh, I do. Hahaha. Kidding! Just the usual."
"Ahh, that's better. Hear that? That's my wallet sighing in relief. Anyways, gotta go, man!"
"Okay, 'til next time, Daichi." I hung up, rose from the bench, and walked towards the station. Suddenly, I was grabbed from behind and dragged back into the bench. Sitting beside me was some middle-aged looking man wearing a brown coat and a hat, with his pink(?) hair sticking out like cotton candy.
"Uhhh. . . Excuse me but. . . who are you?"
"Name."
I gawked at him.
"What? Sorry, but I asked first, sir so-"
"Name."
I better answer or this'll go round and round. "Kuze. Hibiki Kuze."
The man stared into my eyes with a serious expression. "Hibiki. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, but you really have no choice here so you might as well take the mission, is to safeguard this item which is one that would greatly help with your luck in life and maybe help you lose your chastity."
"Whoa, whoa, wait! What the heck are you talking about?!" And how the hell could you say something like that with a straight face?!
"In any case, give me your phone. Now. Or else the world blows up."
"You're joking." I don't even know you!
"Try me." Poker face.
.
.
.
What is up with this guy?!
I took my phone out, and the moment I did, the man snatched it and put it on his lap. He then proceeded to open some sort of rectangular case he took out from his coat pocket and attach whatever was inside onto my phone.
"Here."
I hastily took back my phone, and found some sort of phone strap now attached to it.
It was a miniature katana and the head of some white dragon with an odd look.
Wait, this dragon. . . It looks. . . Familiar? What was with this weird sense of deja vu. .? Now that I think about it, even this weird guy looks. . .
"Hey, mister. Who are you? What's this supposed to be?" Nausea filled me.
"No one in particular." He then rose from the bench, and turned his back on me. "Someone told me to pass this message to you."
I fought back the dizziness and left behind my thoughts of familiarity about this man and the dragon. "What did they want to say?"
"Well, he said: If you wish for this to be the final try, then let this be a new path towards the ending you seek – for yourself, your friends, and for the world."
. . . .? What was this weird feeling?
"That's all kid. Now, please excuse me."
"Wait, I've got questions! What the hell is this about?!"
The man paused, tipped his hat—
And ran away faster than I could have shot questions about anything else.
"Damn, that was weird."
Getting ambushed by a weird man with weird intents and avoiding your questions seemed so surreal to me. I couldn't think of any other explanation other than it being a dream.
But it definitely wasn't.
Plus, thinking back properly, something was oddly familiar with the pink-haired man and the dragon on the phone strap in my possession. It felt as if I had already seen them some long time ago, but at the same time I had no faint inkling as to their connection.
"What is up with this situation. . . That weird message too. . ."
Deciding to pursue this when I've had some rest, I hastened my way through the station in order to reach home.
The late-afternoon crowd at the station today wasn't quite as packed as I expected it to be. As I wandered over to the waiting platform, it was a bit refreshing for me to see less people crowding, as I always got dizzy from seeing so many individuals going in and from the station, moving about in various directions, and squeezing through any small space available to squirm through just to make it to the scheduled commute.
As I walked, I felt something connect with my right shoe. I lowered my gaze and found an object on the ground that my I managed to kick.
I picked up what looked like a cellphone strap - it had a pink leather strap with a set of blue star-shaped beads glued into some form.
Looking at the star beads, I couldn't help but feel like having seen its form somewhere. Closing my eyes for a moment, my thoughts clicked into place and I realized what the beads were made to look like.
It was a constellation, and a famous one at that - the Big Dipper.
While I smiled at the amusement I found over figuring out something simple, I was brought back to reality after a briefly bumping into an office worker, who I then apologized to for spacing out. I then had the inkling of finding the owner of this phone strap, thinking that they may still be around here searching for it.
I looked at my watch before moving out.
"20 minutes before the train comes. . . Okay."
Plenty of time.
"O-oi! This is really bad!"
The man ran out from his seat and into the train's next car. He frantically searched for his other co-workers aboard the commuter train, leaving behind the train's driver up front.
Minutes ago, some sort of rumbling had started to fill the third and second cars of the train. All of a sudden, the lights then started switching on and off, and the train's speed began reaching an abnormal rate that endangered the whole ride.
Having entered the second car reserved for the workers who managed the driving and communication with the station, the man faced a sight far more gruesome than any horror movie he's seen in his entire life.
Mangled body parts lay strewn all over the car. The entirety of the section was repainted with the blood of four men. The larger parts of the corpses were no longer recognizable. Just the sight made the bile in the man's stomach grow restless.
". . . . w-what the hell's going on. . ."
The man fell down and suppressed the urge to hurl whatever his stomach held. As he stared at the scene in pure fear, something told him he wasn't the only living being on this car. Paranoia taking over, he shuffled to his feet and turned towards the door back to the driver's compartment.
"H-hey! What the fuck is going on here! Everyone back there's dead! What's happening to the train?! We gotta. . . ."
Turning towards the driver's seat, he found a body minus the head.
And as he turned for the door and screamed, darkness filled the compartment, and his existence was extinguished by a monstrous arm that went through his chest.
Ten minutes in and still I had no luck finding whoever it was who owned the cellphone strap.
"Man, the train might come anytime. . . I better search one last time."
I moved back towards where I had found it, thinking that whoever dropped it may go about this area. With good luck, I found a girl around my age searching the dust-filled floor around where I found the strap.
That girl. . . She seems familiar. . .
I moved towards the girl and called out to her. "Excuse me! Are you searching for something?"
The girl turned to me, a panicked look drawn on her face. "Ah, yes I am. I'm sorry, but is there a problem?"
As she stood up from the spot, I took the cellphone strap out of my pocket and showed it to her. "Is this perhaps yours? I found it on the ground around here."
Snatching a look at the strap, she gasped in surprise at the sight of the trinket. "Y-yes! That cellphone strap's mine!"
I placed the strap in her hand. "Then, take care of it properly, 'kay? It seems like it's very important to you."
"I-it is! Uhm, thank you very much for what you did!" The girl bowed meekly as a gesture of thanks, leaving me embarrassed and scratching my head.
"Hehe, you don't really have to thank me for something so trivial."
She shook her head in earnest. "Unn, it isn't trivial. This was something really important. May I ask for your name?"
"Ah, my name's Hibiki Kuze. And yours?"
The girl smiled and bowed a little. "My name is Io Nitta. It's my pleasure to meet you, Kuze-kun."
"Nitta-san. . . huh. . ."
Io. . . Nitta?
What was this nostalgic feeling?
Hearing that name, I felt like something went through my chest and tore my heart out in the worst possible way.
"Kuze-kun? Are you okay? You look really pale." Nitta-san asked, concern glinting in her eyes.
"Eh? Ah, Hahaha. It was nothing. I just thought of something."
"Is that so?" I could easily feel her doubting my answer.
"Really! It's nothing! I just—"
*Beeeep-beeeep-beeeep*
"Oh, excuse me."
As if it were divine providence watching over me, Nitta-san's phone rang and interrupted the whole conversation.
Having flipped it open, the screen read:
A friend's death clip has arrived!
"Death. . . clip?" I muttered.
"Oh, you aren't familiar with this, Kuze-kun? It's that new website that's been gaining popularity lately, Nicaea." Nitta-san explained.
"Nicaea. . . Yeah, I think I've heard of it before. Some of the people talking after our mock tests mentioned some sort of website accessible in mobile phones."
Nitta-san nodded, and continued her explanation. "After signing up, people receive some sort of 'death clip' that features a friend, sometimes even themselves, in a situation where they're dead due to some reason. The clips are about a few seconds long, and although creepy as it is, I think they're just jokes or pranks the admins thought of."
"I see. Can I take a look at the clip you got? I'm kinda interested."
Nitta-san grinned. "sure, why not?"
I looked back into the screen of Nitta-san's phone, which was still flashing the same message earlier. Nitta-san then switched options and prompted the phone to play the video attachment.
What we saw froze me in place.
It was a scene of me and Nitta-san on the station platform, looking into her phone when suddenly, the train comes in and gets derailed. The train's front cars tumble into the subway and fly towards my and Nitta-san's direction. Both of us were transfixed into watching the front car slowly fall unto us, as if still in a daze and refusing to believe that what was about to hit us was all real.
I heard Nitta-san gasp beside me, and I felt my jaw slack open as I witness the end of the video – the subway in shambles, Nitta-san bloodied and beside rubble, and—
My body, bleeding under the weight of the train – crimson liquid accumulating under my head, with my eyes having lost the last specks of life contained within them.
The video faded to black, and I found myself unnerved by something that was supposed to be some sort of "joke or prank the admins thought of."
"That's weird. . ."
I perked up. "What do you mean, Nitta-san?"
"Well, the videos that come up are usually of people I've already known for some time." she answered.
"Does that mean that you've already had an account for some time in Nicaea?" I hypothesized. Nitta-san smiled, and nodded.
"It's not as if it's been really long, but maybe just about a week and a half. I've already received five death clips during that time, and they belonged to people I've already known."
I put my thinking gears into motion. "And since we've only met today, it's weird receiving a death clip of someone you've only met, right?"
"Yes. Although. . ."
"What is it?" I asked.
Nitta-san's face lightened up for a bit. "I have this feeling that, well, it's like I've met Kuze-kun somewhere but I just don't really know. Being with Kuze-kun doesn't really feel the least bit uncomfortable for me, too."
I blinked. "Is that so. . . Oh, the train's coming. Where are you headed, Nitta-san?"
"Ariake. That's where I'm going home. How about you, Kuze-kun?"
"Well, I. . ."
I trailed off as I felt a tremor fill the subway. The lights flickered, and I could hear a screeching sound from overhead. The people in the subway turned uneasy as well, curious as to what was happening. Light murmuring of panicked and tensed voices could be heard talking about having a light earthquake and that it wasn't anything much.
My intuition screamed at me to get the hell out of here, and I felt cold sweat drip run down my neck. I turned to Nitta-san, and she was transfixed on her phone. Upon closer inspection, her face was pale, and I too understood what was going through her mind.
The death clip was real.
The screeching turned louder, turning into a sound that irritated everyone's ears. Just then, I felt my head pulsate begin to ache; the pain exponentially escalated so quickly that it was enough to drop me on my knees.
Nitta-san bent down beside me, asking if I was okay. I couldn't hear anything.
The screeching came closer.
The tremors intensified.
The headache kept getting stronger.
The people were panicking, running towards the exit and causing a stampede.
And Nitta-san was on the verge of tears, not wanting to leave me behind.
It all seemed so familiar, like something I've done so many times. The headache turned worse, and I felt a surge of tremendous amounts of information flow into my brain.
And suddenly, I understood.
The train.
The clip.
Nicaea.
Death.
A week's worth of ordeal.
Io Nitta.
"T-this. . . is. . . the fourth. . time?
The trembling finally got to its worst, and the train's first three cars came tumbling into the subway. Nitta-san's frantic screaming echoed through the halls, and she tugged at me, tears streaming down her face.
I still couldn't stand up. The pain was too much.
My vision turned black.
Was this. . . the end?
.
.
.
.
.
Is dying really all you can do, child?
What else can I do. . . I've been doing the same thing now for three times already. . .
I'm weak.
The first try, I wished for the same equality my friends sought, and yet—
They died because of my lack of strength. It wasn't enough.
The second try, I quested for power in order to protect everything dear to me, but—
I became too drunk on it, forgetting the reason I longed for it.
And the third time was the worst.
I lost an important person because of my recklessness. Just to keep me alive, she shielded me with her own body, seemingly not regretting her decision of sacrificing her life to save mine.
Io Nitta.
Someone I've learned to love thrice.
And someone I've lost thrice.
If that was the case, then it would be better for me to just stop.
Do you really think it's that useless?
It is! The future is set in stone; what the hell can I accomplish by challenging something that's impossible to change?!
But it is you yourself who wished to see all the possibilities. It was you who wanted to protect what was dear.
But I can't! I'm too damn weak. . .
Then by accepting your own weakness, we acknowledge your heart's strength.
My heart. . .?
True power lurks in the act of a genuine reason, child. You who care not for your own but for the rest, we see that you are the chance humanity has to take.
Can I really finish it this time? Can I really protect what I want to protect?
Fear not the hands of Fate, for the way to see it lies now within you. What is in the future, you cannot change merely in seconds – do so with the last week you have been granted.
. . . .I see.
I know I'm weak, and I'm scared of what would happen with the power I'll find within me, but—
If this is my final chance to save everyone, and I turn my back on this,
I'm damning everyone to a fate worse than the burden I'll have on my back forever.
That's why,
I'll do it.
Then, with the strength your heart has gathered, forge your path forth with your own power, child!
I opened my eyes.
The train car was still falling towards us, and I could hear Nitta-san, no, Io's desperate pleas for me to stand and run with her. Every sob she let out stoked the fire inside me.
I did not want her to shed tears again.
"E-eh, Kuze. . .kun?"
Io stopped sobbing as I put my left arm around her and faced her. "Don't worry; I won't do anything rash to get you hurt. Not this time."
"Kuze-kun, what are you. . .!"
What happened next was all in a matter of seconds.
Letting Io speak no more, I seal her lips with mine.
A bright light engulfed us, and some sort of circle appeared beneath us and releasing what I felt was an incredible amount of energy.
I felt my heart rate go faster, with adrenaline pumping into my system. Energy seemed to flow into my body, and I felt my senses grow sharper.
Good! Now, imagine the outlet of your power, and let it manifest!
Lightning. . . That katana and that dragon—I remember them now.
I kissed Io deeper, feeling her do the same, and channeled my will and power into the form I wanted.
Now, to forge my path forth, and protect—!
Io Nitta was your average high school girl.
She was of average looks, dressed in normal fashion, ate ordinary things, and had average hobbies.
She studied hard for school, learned of the usual skills women needed, mingled with her friends, shopped, and relaxed during her free time—
Io did mostly what many considered being normal, under society's standards. However, her everyday rhythm was broken once she had signed up for Nicaea.
Upon receiving her very first death clip, she never got used to seeing the faces branded with the palest of colors and utmost despair. The blood was something you can get used to, but the expressions filled with fear, regret, and torment ate away at her very core.
In all honesty, she didn't want to experience any of the sorts.
Io wanted to live her life to fullest and be with everyone she held dear to her for as long as she could, but she could not bear the same despair some went through when death came knocking at their doorstep. The feeling of being helpless and alone in the face of death, with no one to save you or any chance of escape at all. . .
And now, even if she had wanted to run away so fast out of the subway and be able to live her own life, she chose to try and save some stranger she had only met ten minutes prior to the incident unfolding before them.
For some reason, she felt that she wanted to save Kuze not because she didn't want to feel guilty about leaving him behind but because she thought that there was something about him that just pulled her in—some sort of very warm feeling that she just wants to take hold of in her arms.
Something that she might just want to hold onto forever, like it would complete her life.
And the price she paid for staying behind to feel that warmth? Simple.
She, a very normal Io Nitta, found herself locking lips with the strange boy, Hibiki Kuze.
It was too sudden, alright. She wanted to push him away, crawl into a hole, and die of embarrassment. Sure, Kuze seemed cute to her, but she was one of the firm believers of the "stages of love" to be followed when in a relationship.
But what was weird for that moment was that she instead reacted much too differently from what was going through her head—she clung on to his neck, and indulged into the kiss. For some reason, she felt that this was fine for them, as if they have been lovers for quite some time now. Like a feeling of déjà vu, she felt as if she had already met him somewhere, and all that was left was for her to know it; almost like a situation where you've got an answer on the tip of your tongue.
The light surrounding them intensified, and before everything turned white, she felt Kuze's warmth go away much to her chagrin, and at the same time, she heard words she would never learn to let go of.
"Wait here, Io. I'll protect you with my life, so please wait a bit while I change fate."
The light finally engulfed them, and moments after she had recovered her vision, an unbelievable feat unfolded right in front of her.
The train cars that flew towards them were sliced into halves.
And in front of Io, was Hibiki Kuze—
A shimmering blue katana in his right hand, a serpent wrapped around his left arm, and a white tiger of sorts beside him, with its fur standing on edge and emitting electricity.
"Kuze. . .kun. . .?"
"Stay put for a while, Io. . ."
Kuze dashed forward, and slashed once more through one of the wrecked train cars, revealing what looked like ogres, three of them, all bloodthirsty and in rage.
The tiger beside Kuze growled at the ogres, baring its fangs and emitting more electricity than before. "Easy, Byakko. It isn't time yet."
Kuze then turned back and looked Io, smiling softly. "Wait for a while, okay Io? I'll be right back."
Though still very confused as to what was happening, Io felt much secured despite the seemingly dangerous situation. And after seeing Kuze act that cool in front of her, she couldn't help but feel the color rose tint her cheeks.
"P-please take care, Kuze-kun. . ."
Please rate and review, criticisms and compliments are welcome too. The next chapter may take a while, so please be patient. Tell me what you think in the reviews, and I hope to have some positive feedback. Peace out.
~Arsony
PS. This might turn into a HibikixHarem story, and I might add Miyako Hotsuin if I could work out how I envision her character. So, tell me if you'd want Miyako here ('cause I want to, really, she looks awesome).
