Hamuko wasn't sure when exactly she had lost her fear of death. If she had to guess, it was probably around the time Ryoji revealed to her and the rest of SEES as to who and what he really was. Or maybe it was earlier. Perhaps it was when she first befriended him, back when he was still going around as Pharos. It would make sense, given that his true identity was Thanatos, the god of death in Greek mythology. Though if he was the god of death only from Greek mythology, what about all the other death gods? Did they even exist? The possibility was there that they existed in some form or other. Thanatos was the thirteenth arcana shadow, yet at the same time used to be one of Hamuko's personas. Nyx was the one who gave birth to death in Greek mythology and was also dubbed as the mother of all shadows. Maybe there was something shadow or persona related to every myth. It would make sense, seeing as Hamuko had used a wide variety of deities, gods, devils, spirits and so much more during the time she was still alive.
Thinking back to those times, Hamuko figured she should have done a bit more research regarding the different personas she had used. She only did it with very few of them, usually, those that piqued her interest in some way or other. Her first persona Orpheus, for example, was supposed to be male. He descended into the depths of Tartarus in order to save his wife, Eurydice. Hamuko had often wondered why her persona wasn't Eurydice. Sure Orpheus made much more sense, given that she was in a way taking the same journey as he once did, but still, the man was a man, not a woman.
Gender confusion aside, since Thanatos had appeared both as a shadow and a persona in Hamuko's life, the girl often wondered if it was possible for Nyx to be a persona. Sure, she was the being who would inevitably end humanity at some point in time, but hey, Hamuko had used the four apocalyptic riders and the world was still in one piece. It indeed was an interesting idea to fight Nyx with Nyx.
Speaking of the goddess of the night, Hamuko could feel the mother of all shadows invading her mind. This was a usual thing by now. Since Hamuko and Nyx were the only two beings here at the great seal, it didn't take long for the two to become acquainted with one another. And while Hamuko would have been perfectly fine waiting out the rest of her existence in tranquility, it was nice to have someone to chat with, even if that someone almost killed you at some point.
Well, technically speaking that hadn't been Nyx' fault. She had merely tried to grant the wish humanity was subconsciously yearning for that being The Fall. The Fall was basically an apocalyptic event in which Nyx will destroy humanity. The thing was, the end of humanity wasn't supposed to happen so early. As such SEES had done everything in its power to stop the Fall from happening. They succeeded at the end, but not without sacrifices being made in the process.
"Are you reminiscing about the past again?" Nyx asked the human, who would have nodded if she had been capable of doing so.
"Somewhat," Hamuko replied inside her mind. "I'm just wondering a little bit about personas. Like what kind of personality one would need to have in order to get you as a persona."
"Me, a persona?" Nyx sounded amused. "An interesting thought process. Though, I doubt many humans would be capable of wielding me without consequences."
"Tell me about it. When Thanatos first made his way out of my mind, it felt like my skull was being cracked in half from the inside." Hamuko remembered the night she awakened to her power and how she lost consciousness for more than a week afterward. "I guess that is why Igor would never let me have any personas that were too strong for me to handle. I'd have probably ended up as an apathy symptom case myself."
"I am rather curious as to who this Igor really is," Nyx thought to the former wild card. "Is he something akin to a persona, a being born out of the collective subconsciousness? Or is he an outside observer, trying to help humanity whenever the need arises subtly?"
Hamuko had talked a lot with Nyx those past years. The Velvet Room had come up at some point and the two had often discussed how the room could have possibly come to be and sometimes even speculated about the other guests that Igor had very briefly mentioned at the beginning of Hamuko's journey.
"You know, if other persona users are out there, I wonder how they could miss something so big like the Dark Hour?"
"Perhaps they simply couldn't find the source?" Nyx speculated. "The world is a big place and humans are limited to where they can go by money alone."
"Guess you're right. That's probably the case," Hamuko conceded. "By the way, have you ever been to the human realm?"
"No. Until meeting you, I was indifferent to humanity as a whole. Despite my role as the bringer of the Fall, humans were just things that existed. Similar to how most humans view ants and other insects, humans were just that to me."
"You used past tense," Hamuko noted. "Does that mean you changed your mind?"
There was a moment of "silence" until Nyx spoke up again. "I admit, my curiosity was piqued, when the two of us faced each other on the promised day. I was aware of you fighting back my avatar, which wasn't as surprising, seeing as you had been climbing the tower for most of the year. However, I wasn't expecting you to take a stand before me."
"That wasn't all me," Hamuko argued.
"I am aware of the power of the wild card now. What you did was nothing short of a miracle. Using the power of the bonds you made to stop my descent and end the Dark Hour. I have been thinking about that day all this time."
"You have?" Hamuko asked more for confirmation's sake. The girl wondered why the bringer of the end was still thinking about their confrontation when it had been already so long ago. Hamuko herself wasn't so fond of remembering that day, mostly because the attacks Nyx had launched at her had hurt. A lot.
"Indeed," Nyx confirmed. "Talking with you about human society, their accomplishments, their failings, has only increased my curiosity to watch humans from up close. I wish to know why so many carve for the end of days and how so few managed to prevent it from happening."
"Er… that'll be hard. Sorry, but I don't think it would be a good idea for me to move away. You know Erebus, wish for death and all that good stuff."
Hamuko could hear the equivalent of an adult woman chuckling inside of her head.
"Don't worry. I am aware of the consequences of Erebus reaching me. In fact, I have also been thinking if there was a possible way to free the both of us, without any consequences."
"You did?" Hamuko was baffled. She heard the equivalent of a human scoff inside of her head.
"Of course, I did. As good as a company as you are, I do not enjoy being locked up somewhere against my will."
"Oh… makes sense…" The wild card was sure if this had been an anime, the seal would have sweatdropped. "But how would we do that? It's not like we can fight off Erebus. He'll just be reborn in a year, two at most. And then there's the problem with the lack of a body for me. In Japan, we usually burn the bodies of the dead one or two days after they died. And even if we didn't do that, my body would have decayed to the point where it would be uninhabitable for my soul now. Wait, does that mean I would technically be a ghost?"
Nyx didn't answer the question. "Creating a body to inhabit is child's play for us gods and goddesses."
"Really?! Well, I guess it makes sense. Gods are kinda supposed to be those things that humans cannot even begin to comprehend and stuff," Hamuko thought more to herself than to Nyx. "What are you gods actually capable of?"
"Listing them all here would take a lot of time."
"We do have eternity, you know?"
"Yes, but what if we could spend this eternity in your world, rather than here?"
Hamuko fell silent upon hearing that coming from Nyx. It didn't sound like it was a hypothetical question, nor did the tone of the goddesses' voice indicate that she was joking. The mother of all shadows took this as her cue to continue.
"Right now, your soul is separating me from Erebus, using the power you have acquired over the year. Due to your limitations as a human, you had to use all of your life energy to create this seal. But what if you were not human? Or to be more precise, what if you had a body stronger than that of any other human? What if this body was strong enough to contain not only me but yourself as well?"
"You sound a lot like a demon that is trying to make me sign a shady contract," Hamuko noted in a dry tone. "Look Nyx. I'm not stupid. I can already guess where this is going. The two of us would live inside a body you would create, with my soul still acting as the seal, correct? Sorry when I say it sounds too good to be true."
"You're not trying to get your hopes up, I see."
"I have just accepted a long time ago that this is the only way. Sure I miss my friends and I would love to be alive again, but still, I am happy with how things are." The wild card sounded genuine.
"You're an odd human, Hamuko Arisato," Nyx commented. "Anyone else would have jumped at the opportunity to have a second chance in life. Then again, you're hardly anyone else. You're right with one thing: it wouldn't be so simple."
There was a small pause.
"For this endeavor to even have the slightest chance of succeeding, we would have to combine our powers to make a second miracle happening. Additionally, you would have to forsake your humanity."
"Forsake my… humanity? Okay, now you have me scared," the messiah admitted.
"If you were to accept my proposition, your role would be twofold. Your soul would continue to act as the seal, separating myself from Erebus."
"And my body?" Hamuko asked with wariness entering her voice.
"Your body would fulfill the same role, as he did when he was infused with the Arcana Shadows. It would be inevitable for the thirteen Arcana to merge with you if we were to endorse in this endeavor. Simply put, the result would be of a new Avatar being born into the world of mortals. You would become the new harbinger of the end."
That was a bombshell Hamuko should have seen coming from a mile away, but it still took her completely off guard. She was shocked into silence, as Nyx' words echoed inside of her mind. She knew if Nyx' words were true that there had to be some catch. But if she interpreted the words of the goddesses right, it would mean that she would be the one who would inevitably bring the end to humanity. Of course, if this were the case, it basically would mean she'd become immortal until the universe died. This by extension brought a new set of problems with it. She'd outlive her friends, she'd no longer be human, she'd have to kill other humans at some point. That's not to mention from the way Nyx said all of those things, there wasn't even a guarantee this all will work with a 100% success chance.
"I know asking you this is probably pointless, but are you fucking with me right now?"
"I assure you, I am not jesting. I cannot say with certainty that it will work, nor can I even predict all of the consequences a combination of our powers would bring with it. But as you have already guessed, you will live for as long as your role has been unfulfilled. I can easily create a body that will look exactly like your old one, but you will only appear to be human. You will outlive everyone you meet, inevitably putting a heavy strain on your soul. Do you believe you can handle the thought of watching countless companions come and go without the end being in sight?"
This was obviously a decision Hamuko could not take lightly. She had to seriously consider if the benefits outweigh the risks or vice versa? On the one hand, everything would be fine if she just stayed here for the rest of eternity. And like she previously mentioned, she had long made peace with herself, knowing that she would have to leave her friends behind. On the other hand, the possibility of seeing her friends again and maybe even reuniting with her lover, those were two baits with which you could get the wild card to sign a contract with the devil himself. After which of course she would shoot the devil in the face.
Hamuko mentally chided herself for getting even slightly distracted. This was a serious decision she had to make, where for once she couldn't just take things lightly and make her choice on a whim like she did when joining SEES or signing the contract or pulling the lever on the train or deciding to fight Nyx or praying to get smarter instead of studying or…
Hamuko would have blinked if she still had eyes. "Wow, I'm pretty reckless, aren't I?"
XIII
No one can escape time.
It delivers us all to the same end.
You can't plug your ears
and close your eyes.
And so it begins…
XIII
When Hamuko came to her senses, the first thing she noticed how every muscle inside of her body was aching and complaining to her brain that they had been overused or something. The girl groaned in pain, as she slowly uncurled herself in her lying position and started rubbing her sore limbs.
"Damn it, why do I feel like I've been crushed by a truck?" the girl asked to no one in particular, before stopping entirely in her movement. She just remained there frozen in her half ball position of sorts, before, after a few seconds, she squealed in delight and got on her feet in less than a second.
"Wohoooooo!" she screamed, pumping her arms into the air. "It worked! It actually fucking worked! I'm alive! I'm fucking alive! Eat shit death!" Hamuko proceeded to point both middle fingers into the sky.
"You are aware you're technically insulting yourself, right?" Nyx asked in amusement, causing Hamuko's eyes to widen in realization for a second, after which she sported a sheepish grin.
"Whoops, forgot about that part," she said while scratching the back of her head.
"Speaking of awareness, I think you should take a closer look at your surroundings."
"Huh?" Hamuko did as Nyx told her and looked around. It only took a moment for her to realize that something was off. For one she could barely see any further than an arm's length. This was because a thick fog was covering her surroundings, making it scarcely possible for her to see the street she was standing on. There was also something strange about the mist, namely the color. For some reason, the fog had a yellowish tint to it.
"What the hell?" Hamuko spoke aloud, her cheerfulness draining faster than an open bottle that had been turned upside down. "What the hell is going on? Why is the fog yellow?" Hamuko looked down and inspected the road she was standing on a little more. It appeared to be in rough shape, but there was nothing else she could make out. Looking up, the girl couldn't even make out the sky.
"Something is seriously wrong here. Or is this some sort of climate phenomenon?" the girl wondered aloud.
"I highly doubt this is natural," Nyx voiced her opinion. "This entire place feels somewhat off. I cannot describe it in greater detail, but something is aloof. That much I can tell."
"Aloof?" Hamuko asked confused before a terrifying thought entered her mind. "H-Hey, Nyx! This isn't like one of those consequences you spoke of is it?! We didn't accidentally break reality! Did we?" The last two words were spoken with much worry. To the former wild card's relief, she could feel Nyx mentally shaking her head.
"No, this isn't our doing. Rather someone or possibly something else's. As I said, I cannot say who or what is responsible for this, but I am sure it is not something man made. For one, I can feel the presence of shadows nearby."
"Shadows?!" the former high school student repeated alarmed, looking around frantically. However, due to her lag of vision, she wouldn't be able to make out any enemies, before they got too close.
"Do not fret. The shadows won't attack you unless you provoke them in some fashion."
"What makes you say that?" the girl asked, her body still tense.
"Have you forgotten? You're now something akin to a shadow," the goddess explained. "They will see you as one of their own, even though you're more than them. However, Shadows do not lack a self-preservation instinct and will fight back, if you decide to engage them."
"Wow, that's a lot to take in," Hamuko commented. "Then again, be now I'm used to all kinds of crazy shit happening to me. So," the girl clapped her hands together "if this isn't normal, is it something similar to the dark hour? Will the fog disappear after a set amount of time and people start appearing again?"
"I am currently lacking information in all of those regards. For now, we should explore and gather as much information as we can."
The girl crossed her arms. "Easier said than done. I can barely see my feet. Oh hey, I'm wearing my high school uniform!"
"A little perk that comes with being dead. When the body dies, the soul will automatically recreate the last things its former body has worn in the afterlife. It is purely instinctual and in all actuality unnecessary, as a dead soul usually disappears after a set amount of time."
"That's interesting. I guess you know a lot about this afterlife stuff because you're the mother of death?"
"Correct. Since your soul wields far greater power than any other human, my theory is that it was capable of generating real clothes."
"Better than running around naked. Still, I'll be running around like a chicken without its head, if the fog does not clear."
"I might be able to help you in this regard."
All of the sudden Minako felt something rising from within her. It heavily reminded her off whenever she called out one of her personas, though it felt ever so slightly different this time. The feeling vanished just as quickly, though as it disappeared, her vision all of a sudden cleared.
"Wowzers! What was- What the fuck is wrong with my voice?!" the girl shouted in anger and slight fear. Her voice sounded distorted and had taken on a deep bass undertone.
"Ah, my apologies. I infused you with a tiny amount of my power. It seems this is a slight side effect, a kink if you will. I will work on it in the future."
"Phew, don't scare me like that. But thanks, a lot. Now I can actually see where I am."
And seeing she did. The fog wasn't completely gone, but at least now her vision was more akin to a light fog covering the area. The new avatar noticed first that she was in the middle of a town of some sort. In the shadowy distance she could make out some buildings, but only their outlines. She was surrounded by a lot of different shops. A pharmacy, a textile shop, a barber, further down the road was a gas station, to her left was a shrine and there were even some vending machines on the side of the road. All of this could be considered relatively normal if it weren't for the fact that everything looked like it was about to collapse.
Shutters were down and rusty, the shrine looked like it was about to collapse under its own weight, the leaves on the trees were brown and overall Hamuko got the feeling she had just landed in a ghost town. But that wasn't all of it.
She noticed that everything appeared to be tinted in red light, like as if someone had put a filter in front of everything. The answer to that particular mystery lied in the sky. Instead of a pure blue sky with white clouds, the atmosphere was a red and black vortex. Looking down at her shadow, it too was a red and black vortex, instead of being a black outline.
"This kind of reminds of my first time experiencing the Dark Hour…" the girl muttered. "And that voice will take some getting used to."
"What a peculiar place. It certainly looks like a human-made settlement, but I have my doubts regarding that."
"I'll look around for a bit. Maybe this is something like Tartarus, you know?"
"Hmm…"
Hamuko decided to walk down the street at a slow pace, allowing herself to take in the surroundings. She was wary of any potential shadow jumping out of the many buildings and ambushing her. Human or non-human, the avatar simply had spent too much time fighting shadows. Her instincts didn't allow her to take down her guard.
She didn't walk for long until something caught her attention. There was a liquor store that stood out a little bit. Where usually the door would be was a red and black vortex inside the doorframe. It was the same as the sky.
"This might be worth checking out…"
Hamuko didn't feel anything as she passed through the vortex. Indeed it could be compared to walking as if there was nothing. Inside the store, the fog changed color. It was now blue, which was more fitting to the inside of the store. However said inside turned out to be a mess. The cash register had been flattened, bottles and boxes alike had been smashed and were lying all over the place, alcoholic drinks had been spilled over almost the entire floor, causing quite a stench to be in the air.
"Damn. It looks like a tavern brawl happened here. Did somebody get attacked here?"
"It's hard to tell. But I doubt we will find anything useful in this mess."
"Hmm, let me just check this out…"
Carefully dodging the broken glass and making sure she didn't accidentally slip on the wet ground, Hamuko walked over to the cash register or what was left of it and checked its contents. There was nothing inside.
"Damn, some money would have been nice," the girl huffed and turned on her heels. She was about to exit the building when something shimmering on the ground caught her attention. The girl looked down and almost slipped on the liquid, as she was quite taken aback by what she was seeing. The crystal clear alcohol showed a reflection of her face. It looked just like she remembered her face being with the only difference being the yellow, glowing eyes.
"Another side-effect?"
"It appears so. We should ignore it for now and find some clues."
"You're right. This can wait."
Hamuko walked out of the liquor store, once again passing through the weird vortex. Outside the avatar contemplated where she should investigate next. There were quite a few buildings for her to check out at this place. However, before she could make a decision, she suddenly heard the scream of a male voice.
"Look! Over there!"
Slightly startled, Minako turned towards where the voice came from. She was considerably surprised when she saw three teenagers and a bear costume (?) standing further down the road. It appeared as if the fog wasn't affecting their vision, as one of the teenagers was pointing directly at her. There were two boys, one girl and that freaky bear costume.
The bear costume had blue fur on top, with the face having human skin color. The eyes looked like they were plastic ovals filled with a black, round object. The main body was red on the sides with a white line in the middle and three red dots were going from top to bottom. The feet were blue. Hamuko sweatdropped, wondering why and who was wearing the bear costume.
The boy pointing at her had brown, short hair, which was a little longer on the sides. He wore some kind of black school uniform. The top button on his uniform was opened, revealing a white shirt with a red outline. The only other thing standing out was the boy's headphones hanging around his neck.
The second boy wore a similar uniform and had no outstanding features, aside from his silver hair, which was kept very short and tidy. He had, however, hanging a sheathed sword from his belt!
The girl was wearing a school uniform as well, although she appeared to have modified hers a little. She wore a green vest with yellow stripes. Hamuko could even make out some buttons attached to the vest. She had a short bobby haircut and the color of her hair was a slightly darker brown than that of the boy.
Aside from their school uniforms, those people had another thing in common. They all wore glasses, which was a funny coincidence in Hamuko's opinion.
"People. Maybe we will get our answers sooner than I anticipated."
"I think my voice and eye color might be a little off-putting," Hamuko thought back. "But I won't be able to see them if we just turn it off. Oh man, it's gonna be another one of those days."
The group, including the bear, which made some funny sounds with each step he took, ran up to the avatar and closed the distance fairly quickly.
"Who are you?" The brown-haired boy spoke up before the group even came to a stop. "What are you doing here?"
"Huh...?" Hamuko was still taken aback by the fact that there was a dude or chick inside a freaking bear costume, so she didn't manage to produce an answer right away.
"Were you thrown in here too?" The only girl in the group asked.
"Thrown in?" Hamuko asked, getting only confused.
"Guys, wait. Look at her eyes," the silver-haired boy said, his voice being surprisingly calm, yet at the same time on edge.
"Huh?" the brown haired duo looked at each other for a moment, before looking at Hamuko again.
"Hey, you're right! It's like what happened to us!" the girl in green exclaimed.
"W-wait, but doesn't that mean she's someone's shadow?!" the brown haired boy asked.
"It must be the case," the bear all of a sudden spoke up, his mouth moving and all.
"Whoa, the hell?! The costume can talk?!" Hamuko exclaimed in surprise.
"Hey! That's a very rude thing to say. I am not a costume. I am Teddie," the now dubbed Teddie introduced himself.
"Dude, you're literally a walking, talking bear costume," the brown haired boy told his companion with an unimpressed voice. Hamuko couldn't resist the urge to facepalm.
"I have officially seen it all..." she muttered. Then she remembered the words the brown-haired boy said earlier. "Hey! What do you mean I am someone else's shadow?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" the girl in green asked. "The yellow eyes, the distorted voice..." she pointed out.
"I don't get it," Hamuko answered with a frown. "Yeah, I kind of get my eyes and voice are a little... off today? Okay, I definitely could have come up with a better excuse there."
"Why not simply tell them the truth?" Nyx asked.
"I'm still trying to get a grasp on the situation here. I don't know who they are, where we are or what the hell is going on in this town. Plus so far, those three have been pretty confusing."
"Have you seen anyone that looks like you?" the grey-haired boy asked. "Someone who doesn't have a distorted voice or yellow eyes?"
"Er... nope," Hamuko crossed her arms. "Why would there be another "me" here? What is this place anyway? Looks like some sort of shopping street or something, I dunno."
"Huh? How can you not know where you are?" the brown haired boy asked. "You're one of them, so you obviously gotta know what is going on."
Hamuko got slightly irritated at that statement but managed to keep her composure. "One of them? Could you please speak more clearly what you're talking about? Okay, how about this, let's start with introductions first. I'm Arisato Hamuko."
"Now it's trying to hold a conversation?" the girl asked.
"Don't look at me, I'm just as confused," the same hair colored boy replied.
"I'm Narukami Yu," the grey-haired boy introduced himself, seemingly ignoring his two companions.
"Dude, why are you talking to it?!" the other boy shouted.
"Obviously Sensei has much more manners than you Yosuke," the bear spoke to Yosuke.
"Dude, not now."
"Well at least I got three names now," Hamuko thought to herself. She considered waiting for the girl in green to speak up, but seeing as everyone was tense and one of them had a freaking sword with them, while she remained unarmed, she guessed that the best course of action was to continue with the conversation.
"Alright, Yu-san it is. You four seem to know a lot more about this place than me. For starters, you asked if there was another "me" running around, only without the eyes and weird voice. Would please kindly explain to me what exactly you mean by that?"
"Huh? But aren't you somebody's shadow? Shouldn't you know this stuff already?" the yet to be named girl asked.
Hamuko took in a deep breath, in order to not lose her cool. "Like I said I have no idea what you're talking about. As far as I am concerned, there is only one "me" here and no one else."
"Only one you...?" Narukami spoke slowly as if he was contemplating something. "You say you have never met someone without those eyes of yours?"
"Grr, I'm gonna lose it if I don't get any answers soon. Ah, that's it! Nyx can you undo the eyes and voice for just a second?"
"They will be suspicious afterward," the goddess pointed out.
"They already are. I'll just bullshit my way through it. I'm good at that."
"If you say so."
"Whoa!" All four of the party exclaimed when they saw Hamuko's eyes return to her normal color.
"Happy now?" the girl asked. "God freaking damn it, I can barely make out you guys like this. How can you see through all of this fog?"
"Wait! Hold on! I said wait a second!" Yosuke frantically waved his arms around. "What's going on here? First, she's a shadow, now she's not a shadow, what the heck is going on here?!"
"Hey, that's what I want to know!" Hamuko retorted but sighed afterward. "Ngh, this fog..."
"Hey... so... is she a shadow or is she not a shadow?" Chie asked.
"I'm at a loss, too." Teddie frowned. "She smells like a person, but that's how Yosuke's and Chie's shadow smelled too. It's hard to tell what is going on here. Oh," Teddie grabbed his head and shook his entire body "when did my world start becoming such a mess?"
"Your world?" Hamuko repeated with a raised eyebrow. "I think I'm starting to get a headache..." the girl put a hand on her forehead.
"Let's all calm down for now and try to sort this situation out. At this rate we'll only continue to talk past each other," Yu said with a raised voice, in order to get everyone's attention.
"Fine by me," Hamuko agreed. "And maybe we'll finally get somewhere."
"Ah, guys!" Teddie's eyes appeared to shrink and he began shivering.
"What is it now?" Yosuke asked annoyed, turning towards his companion.
"The shadows!" Teddie screamed. "They've found us! And they're directly coming for us!"
"What?!" Yosuke and Chie exclaimed. Yu's expression turned grim and he unsheathed his sword.
"Where?" the grey-haired boy asked. Teddie turned around and pointed with his finger in the direction he and the others just came from. Yosuke and Chie also turned in that direction, with Yosuke taking two short knives out of his pocket, while the girl took on some kind of fighting stands that was unknown to Hamuko.
"There they are!" Yosuke exclaimed pointing with his knives into the fog. Nyx was helpful enough to allow once again Hamuko to see through it. The incoming shadows were pretty much an unknown to Hamuko. Of course, no one could expect her to remember all of the different shadow variations she has ever met. It was just that she had never seen this particular form of shadow. They were mouths, flying mouths with gigantic tongues sticking out and they came flying towards the group.
Teddie was smart enough to run away a fair distance. Hamuko considered following him, but then something on the ground caught her attention. It was a long, rusty pipe and it looked like it had come off from one of the buildings.
"Not much," the girl muttered. "But it'll have to do."
She picked up the pipe and took on her usual battle stands.
"Wait, you're fighting with us?!" Chie exclaimed.
"Focus on the enemy," Hamuko told the girl, her voice carrying the authority of a leader. Chie was startled by that tone but returned her attention to the shadows nonetheless. Just in time too, as they were almost in striking range.
"I smell four enemies! Be careful!"
"Four?! But there's only three!" Yosuke shouted back.
Hamuko was immediately alarmed and on sheer instinct alone she turned around. Her instincts proved to be right this time, as there was a fish-like shadow made of colorful paper, approaching them slowly. It completely ignored the fact that Hamuko had found it.
"Shadows will ignore you unless you attack one of their kin," Nyx repeated.
"Let's see if I still got this." Hamuko ran up to the unaware enemy and swiped her pipe down as soon as she was in reach. She hit the shadow on the head, sending the creature flying a few feet away until it crashed into the ground.
"Hammy-chan knocked down an enemy!" Teddie cheered from the sidelines.
"Is that bear talking about me?!"
"Izanagi!" The all too familiar sound of glass shattering caught Hamuko's attention. Turning her eyes away from the shadow, the avatar turned around and saw a blue mist surrounding Yu. Behind him rose a humanoid figure in black clothes. It stretched out its body and unleashed a zio spell on one of the attacking shadow. Said shadow was hit mid-charge and lost its flying capability, causing it to roll over the ground.
"A persona?!" Hamuko exclaimed.
"Now this is interesting," Nyx commented.
The persona, Izanagi, disappeared as Yu readied his blade and slashed the incoming shadow downside up, causing it to disappear in a black mist.
"No one stands in Sensei's way," Teddie proclaimed proudly.
"This has some thick skin," Yosuke complained, as he kept on slashing the shadow in front of him. His attacks were sloppy and he was obviously not used to wielding his weapons, but his onslaught had the side-effect of the shadow not being able to counterattack.
Chie in the meantime was jumping in the air and attempted to kick the shadow. However her opponent managed to time its attack just right, so it licked her before her boot could connect.
"Ah!" the girl screamed, as she flew backward and landed on her butt. "Ow..." The girl however immediately managed to jump back up. In this timeframe, Hamuko had closed the distance between herself and the licking shadow and slammed her "weapon" down on the thing. There was a clanking sound before the shadow disappeared in a black mist.
"One less," Hamuko announced. Communication was very important on the battlefield, given that only the support had a good overview of everything.
"Got one," Yu shouted and Hamuko heard the familiar sound of the black mist disappearing.
"Aah, it got back up! Hurry and beat it!"
Teddies warning came just in time. Hamuko turned around and saw that the fish was swinging its tail in her direction. The avatar jumped backward, raising her pipe. The sharp tail end of the shadow slashed through the rusted metal like a hot knife through butter.
"Come Jiraya!" Yosuke shouted and once again glass shattering could be heard. A strong, concentrated gust of green wind hit the shadow, causing its body to destabilize and disappear.
"Great work, guys!" Teddie shouted and ran back to the group.
"Urgh, why do those guys have to lick me..." Chie complained.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hamuko asked. "You're not bruised underneath or anything?"
"Uh... no. I'm fine." Chie opened the zipper on her vest, revealing that she was wearing a chainmail underneath her clothes.
"Smart thinking. Though, where did you get that?"
"Let's save up the questions for later," Yu intervened while sheathing his sword. "There is a lot we have to discuss, but we should do it at a safer place. Let's walk back to the entrance and talk there."
"If you say so," Yosuke replied.
"Alright, lead the way."
XIII
"Sheesh, what a way to start my new life. Persona users, shadows, can't I catch a break like ever?"
"I find this a rather fortunate turn of events," Nyx said, clearly pleased. "If one of them turns out to be a wild card, I may get my answers sooner than I anticipated."
"I hope one of them is a Wild Card. 'Cause, even if I had an evoker with me, I can't use any persona anymore. Speaking off, how did they manage to summon their personas?"