A/N: Alrighty so this is basically a story that takes place almost side by side with p4 the end. Some characters that appear here will appear in p4 the end and some from p4 then end will appear here. The two stories will (spoiler) lead to something much much bigger later on. I hope you guys enjoy this and just so you guys and gals know. P4 will be updating soon and will most likely be in rotation with this story. Then there's heart of snow which I know I've been asked if it will be continued. It is on hiatus and once I complete this project then I will definitely continue that. So I hope you like this and get ready because here we go
Mitsuru winced as she looked up at the large figure looming over here and her fellow companions. Its sword ready to strike as they all struggled to stand. There was on the other hand one person who had yet to hit the floor even once. Their leader, Minato Arisato. He stood with ragged breathing as he readied his sword for the next attack. "If you can't stand then don't push yourselves." His voice was calm but she could sense that he could only hold on for so long.
"No. We must stand!" Her cry rallied everyone else as they pushed themselves off of the ground and readied themselves as well. Her shaky hands settled as she brought her rapier up in its proper stance followed by the sound of glass shattering as a elegantly dressed woman appeared and lashed her whip to the monstrous enemy which called it self the avatar of the goddess Nyx.
The avatar swiftly deflected the weapon with its sword and instantly unleashed a beam of crimson light towards its attacker. The red head braced herself but instead her eyes widened as a man with roman armor and a flowing red cape intercepted the attack by throwing itself in front of the beam which caused it to disappear. The sudden disappearance caused a white haired man to scream in pain as he collapsed to his knees. "Akihiko!" She cried out but she immediately avoided another of the beams which was hastily fired.
Akihiko struggled to stand once again as he endured the pain of having his persona, an extension of himself, destroyed. He took deep breaths as he finally stood and drew his evoker once again and placed it to his temple. "Let's do this Ceaser!" The sound of glass shattering was followed by the large man appearing once again. He looked over to Mitsuru who was safe. He sighed in relief and charged into the battle being fought by the others.
As time passed, it was clear that they were losing the battle. The Avatar was far too strong and every time they thought they won it would always get back up and lecture them on their failures as humans by telling them about the meaning behind the arcana.
"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed. The tragedies man faces make them stronger in the face of adversity but a broken tower will never be as strong as it was once before. There will always be the one weakness that causes it to collapse." The avatar raised its sword which began to glow a bright red. "Yes. The arcana is the means by which all is revealed. This is the tragedy which will shape man's future!" With a swift motion, it plunged its sword into the ground causing pillars of crimson light to come down all around the group as it tried to withstand the attack.
Once all of the pillars of light disappeared, the sky above the avatar opened revealing a bright light. A person with crimson red hair stood in front of her with a sword drawn. "Burn in the heaven's light! Morning Star!" He proceeded to point his sword at the Avatar as an angel with six wings descended from the sky. It spread its arms, causing a single feather to hit the floor before an explosion of light engulfed the avatar in its holy light.
Mitsuru shot out of bed as she took deep breaths to calm herself down. "Its just a dream." She whispered as she pushed herself out of her bed and stood. "Its just a dream." She repeated those words as she walked out of her room and down towards the ground floor where the kitchen was. Her mind continued to think about the day when they faced off with Nyx. The day the fate of one of her closest friends was sealed.
She entered the kitchen and sat at a nearby chair as she looked down at the intricate wood table. "I keep having that same dream. I don't know why it keeps ending when Ryou shows up." She sighed as she let her head rest on the palm of her hands. She continued to think about the battle and the effects that it had on everyone until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Couldn't sleep?" The silver haired man that entered noticed that her body was shaking slightly. "And you came out with only your nightgown on. You know how cold it is out here right?" He chuckled as he walked over to a nearby cabinet and began getting some supplies together to make something. He hummed a light tune as he turned on the stove and placed a kettle on it. "Alright now that's done." He walked over to where Mitsuru was and sat next to her.
She looked blankly at the table as she tried to gather her composure. She didn't want anyone to see here like that. She hated the feeling of helplessness she would gain whenever she would have that dream. She sighed as she looked up at Akihiko with a wry smile. "I'm fine Akihiko. I just came down to clear my head a little. That's all."
He sighed as he tapped his knuckles on the table. "Come on Mitsuru I know you had that dream again. It's the third time this week." He stood and walked over to where the kettle was. "It happened and we're stronger because of it. We lost our leader but that doesn't mean we lost our way." The kettle had begun to whistle as he looked over at her. "You need to open your eyes Mitsuru." The last comment caused the red head to stand and slam her hands on the table.
"And do what?!" She tightened her hands into fists as she leaned against the table. "The battle haunts me because of the decisions I made!" She turned and faced Akihiko who was making something with the water he had just boiled. "I made him leader! I made him take all of the responsibilities! He sacrificed himself for us!" She was shaking from both frustration and sorrow as she held onto the top of her chair to keep herself steady.
Akihiko stopped and stared at her. She looked so broken but she had to let out all of those emotions she had to keep pent up through the day. Sometimes even at night she couldn't afford to lose control. She was the leader of the Kirijo Group, she would be gaining control of S.E.E.S in a matter of hours and now the nightmare she thought she was rid of was back. "Mitsuru its been two years since it happened. You need to let yourself heal." He clenched the cup in his hand and let out a quick breath. "I- We want you to understand that none of us hold your decisions against you. They had to be made."
She looked as if she had just gotten a bombshell dropped on her. She looked down and she immediately held on to the chair as tight as she could. "I'm relieved but. I can't forgive myself. I just can't. He meant something to everyone. It should not have been my choice to make him put his life on the line!" She held back a sob as tears slid down her face. "I...I miss him so much."
He sighed as he walked towards her and placed two cups on the table. "He did what he thought was best for everyone. He wasn't the selfish type Mitsuru." He gently helped her sit back down as he slid a cup over to her. "He decided the weight of his life was a good enough cost to end the suffering everyone was going through. In the end it was his choice. Not yours and.." He sat down back next to her and as he reached over for his cup, she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. "The stress is getting to you. Just cry as much as you need to. I promised him I'd make sure you would be okay and I don't plan to break that promise anytime soon." 'I miss him too.'
After a few minutes she felt herself calm down and sleep came soon after. Once she fell asleep in his arms, Akihiko sighed as he gently picked her up and began walking towards her room and with a sigh he looked back at the cups of tea. "I can always come back for mine later." After a couple of minutes after, he walked into the kitchen and noticed a crimson haired man drinking tea from one of the cups.
"She had another stress related freakout huh?" The man let out a sigh as he placed the cup down. He was wearing a black vest with multiple pockets on it as well as black cargo pants and combat boots. On the chair behind him was a jacket with the word S.E.E.S on the back. "She needs to let all of it out if she wants to get stronger than she was before. Especially if she's going to be leading S.E.E.S starting tomorrow."
Akihiko sat down across from him and took the other cup and took a drink before responding. "Yeah. She's been dreaming of the battle with Nyx for the past few months but this week seems to be the worst of it since she's seen it three times this week so far." He took another sip and placed the cup down as the crimson haired man reached behind his ear and removed a headset.
He sighed as he clicked a button on it which made the light on the side turn red. "I need you to answer one thing for me Aki." He placed his hand in his pocket and then pulled out a small box with the initials 'M.K.' on it. "You told me to hold onto this for the past year. Why?" He placed the box at the center of the table and then reached over to his cup so he could get another sip.
The silver headed man sighed as he grabbed the box and looked at it intently. "It was going to be a graduation present I bought for her. We were shopping for some farewell presents for the others when she saw this and instead of buying it, she walked away. I worked my ass off and bought this about a month before graduation. I never got the guts to give it to her." He placed the box back on the table and sighed as he debated if he should give it to her. Maybe it would ease her mind and allow her to finally open up more.
"You gotta make sure you don't wear yourself out Aki. She needs a person to keep her balanced especially since she lost so much in such a short span of time. I need to stick to my responsibilities as a squad leader. I have a patrol to attend to so goodnight Akihiko-san." He quickly fixed his gear and immediately began walking away until Akihiko grabbed his shoulder.
He chuckled as he held his hand out. "Its a good thing you visited Ryousuke-san. Good luck on your patrol and as for me. I'll be going to bed as I need to debrief your team since you came back from Inaba not too long ago. I'll see you at ten in the morning alright?" Ryousuke nodded as he shook Akihiko's hand and bowed before he left the building.
It was morning when a red-head opened her eyes and yawned. She looked around and then looked next to her which was an empty spot on her bed. She pouted and sighed as she stood up and walked over to a nearby bathroom. She looked in the mirror and noticed her red eyes were a bit brighter than they were before. "Hmm. I need to see what I'm going to wear today. Don't want to make em wait." She looked through a closet full of clothing and immediately began to try on different outfits.
"Nope. No. Nah." She muttered as she kept cycling through her outfits until she stopped at a white sundress which reached a bit past her knees. "Aha! Perfect!" She quickly ran into the bathroom and showered followed by a change of clothing which finally ended with her fixing her hair. She tied the back of her hair into a pony tail while the rest she moved to the side in an intricate pattern which was held in place with bobby pins. "He's gonna be so surprised when he sees me coming." She smiled and made a quick pose as she ran to her shoes and quickly exited the house.
The red head walked down the streets of port island with a smile as she thought of the person she was going to meet with. She looked on as a brunette wearing a beanie was cooking something in the kitchen. The hiss of the pan and the scent of the food were pulling her towards him but she was easily repelled when a pair of chopsticks tapped her forehead. "Ow! Shinji you meanie!" She rubbed her forehead as the light stinging sensation still remained.
The brunette chuckled as he continued to stir the food in the pan. "I told you not to get so close. You'll get burned." The corners of his mouth rose as a light smile crept onto his face when he knew the food was done. "Alright. Now you can come." He quickly loaded a plate with food and set it in front of the girl who happily began eating. "Geez if food makes you this happy. I wonder what it takes you to become a follower." Immediately she pouted and stuck her tongue out at him which caused the brunette to laugh. "Mina. Did I ever tell you that your face looks funny when you pout?" The glare he received caused him to recoil a bit since he knew what was coming next.
She smirked as she picked up the chopsticks and flung them in his direction only to miss and instead land in his cup of tea. "oops."
She continued walking, lost in thought until she ran into someone who accidentally knocked her down. "Oomph!" She looked up and stared at a boy who was definitely taller than her looking down at her with a look of concern on his face. "Crap! Minako-san are you ok?" She looked at his with a confused expression until she saw a scar on his face, over the eyebrow.
"Ken?!" She screamed which caused the brunette to wince in pain. "H-How?! How did you get so tall! and. Muscular." She paced around him, studying every last detail about him that changed at least until she heard him stutter nervously. She decided not to tease him and instead start a conversation with him. "So Ken. What brings you around here?" He stopped stuttering and then chuckled as he pointed to a building a couple of blocks away.
"I'm going to visit Aragaki-senpai. I was going to see if he could help me with my training for the S.E.E.S practical exams." She looked at him and noticed his spear was most likely in the long bag he was carrying behind his back. "Well I'm guessing you were going to the hospital to find him?" He tried his best to hide the smirk which was beginning to appear on his face.
Minako looked at him and then pouted as she turned away and began walking towards the part he had pointed at. "Yes I'm going to visit Shinji!" She continued walking until he caught up to her and bowed.
"I'm sorry senpai. I was just teasing." He said as he matched her pace.
She remained silent as they continued walking. The silence had grown thick to the point that they could hear a pin dropped from a mile away.
The silence continued until they stood in front of a door which had the name Aragaki Shinji on it. Minako quickly knocked on the door but there was no reply. A few seconds later, she knocked again and this time, a brunette wearing a beanie and a black sweater opened the door. "Ken. Minako. Come in." He silently walked over to the kitchen and continued to cook as he heard about Ken's intention to take the practical examination for S.E.E.S. "Ken if you want to join. Wait till after you're out of high school. You'll be out late and without rest you'll end up messing up."
Minako silently watched as both had their conversation. She wondered about what could have happened to change their relationship that much. "Ken. Run!" Shinji yelled out as he charged at a large shadow which was about to run him through with its lance. The two clashed as Ken was successfully able to run away from the shadow and closer to Minako. "Let's do this Castor!" He pulled the trigger on his evoker which summoned a large knight on a horse. The knight reached in front of its gut where a blade was impaled and charged as it drew the blade. "Fatal end!" He screamed out as both he and Castor sliced the shadow into bits.
Ken looked on and Shinji flexed his hand until a coughing fit took him over. The coughing became so much that he collapsed and struggled to stand back up. "Shinji!" Minako screamed as she ran over to him and helped him stand. "You pushed yourself too hard! We need to go back to base." Ken nodded as he helped carry the downed brunette back towards the large house that was nearby. "Fuuka. We need someone to help us. Shinji is down and Ken is injured." A voice in her head quickly replied and seconds later, a few men dressed in black combat gear ran into the house and helped them get back to base.
After the incident, Shinji took care of the brunette often helping him make decisions about what to do next when it came to where he wanted to go with his life. She was always there for him even if he wanted her not to be there. She saw him through his darkest moments and his greatest accomplishments. She looked at her hand and a silver ring was wrapped around her ring finger. She was snapped out of her stupor when he heard him call her. "huh?"
The brunette sighed as he walked over to her and pulled her off of her seat. She smiled as she pressed her lips against his. They held their kiss for a moment until they both felt the need to pull away. They smiled as they walked over to Ken who was trying his best not to imitate a fish. "Well then. How bout we go pay Mitsuru and Aki a visit."