Chapter 1
Return
Aigis looked around her small but comfortable dorm. It had already been 2 months since their battle at the Desert of Doors but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong. The Dark Hour still existed.
"Is something wrong?"
Aigis looked up and found Yukari's worried eyes looking at her. "It is nothing…" She replied with a smile.
She looked at the clock. It was already 9:00; 3 hours before the Dark Hour started.
Yukari yawned, "I'm going to bed… See you in the morning!"
Aigis stared intently at the busy streets of the Bay Area through her window. She couldn't sleep these past few days because dreams of "him" had returned to haunt her. These dreams were what confirmed her suspicions. Something was coming.
Aigis looked up and found the moon glowing an ominous green. The Dark Hour has started. She didn't realize that she'd been looking out for quite some time.
Her head tilted up and she suddenly felt a rush of alarm. Shadows. She quickly left the room and rushed upstairs. The presence seemed to be coming from the rooftop.
Aigis blinked and activated her x-ray vision. Her bright blue eyes glowed into a brilliant crimson. She saw a silhouette of a man facing the moon and gasped. Her red eyes shifted back to blue and she quickly opened the door to see her long-lost comrade.
"Why have you come here?" Aigis cautiously asked.
He looked back at Aigis but said nothing. Instead, he took out something from his pocket. It looked like a revolver but it had no magazine. Aigis then knew what it was: An evoker. He put it close to his forehead and pulled the trigger.
A figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. It looked like a male puppet with shiny silver skin, eyes that glowed a scary red color, and an oversized lyre strapped to its back.
"Orpheus." Aigis muttered. "But why?"
Before he could answer her question, Orpheus lunged at her and swung his lyre, smashing a pipe into fine powder. Aigis rolled to the left and started firing a few shots from her fingers but the bullets seemed to fly through Orpheus as if he was made of air. She then knew what to do. She closed her eyes and focused hard. A familiar sound of glass being shattered rang in her ears as she yelled, "Athena!"
An elegant warrior charged from nowhere and rammed Orpheus hard enough to dismantle his joints. Athena then looked back at Aigis. Her long white dress flowed gracefully as her revolving shield danced around. Her gray skin made it impossible to tell if she was smiling but somehow Aigis knew that she was.
Just then, Orpheus retaliated with a swift strike. Aigis allowed herself a tiny smile. Orpheus was a special persona but he was incredibly weak compared to Athena. She dodged and called upon Athena again. This time, she yelled out, "Tarukaja!" Athena raised her hands and a glowing red aura enveloped Aigis. Instantly, Aigis felt twice stronger than she was earlier.
She was now sprinting towards Orpheus with her hands getting ready to shoot. She leapt high into the air at the last minute, allowing Orpheus to lose balance as he tried to grab her. A grenade fell from high above and got caught in Orpheus's lyre. As Aigis landed, an incredible explosion occurred, enveloping the entire area in light. Grenades wouldn't work against special shadows like personas so Aigis had formulated a special grenade that's lethal to all kinds of shadows.
When the light had faded, Orpheus was nowhere in sight. Instead, Aigis found herself on the rooftop of Tartarus or at least, what looked like the rooftop of Tartarus where they had fought Nyx. There was a large marble archway intricately carved with gold and silver before her. She approached the archway and stuck her hand into the white light that filled the arc. Aigis suddenly felt a cool breeze from the other side. This was definitely a portal leading to someplace infested with shadows like Tartarus.
Aigis turned around and found the door leading downstairs was still there. She had to inform the others but she doubted they hadn't already felt the presence. Just then, the door swung open and a pair of students rushed out. One was a boy and one was a girl. The girl approached Aigis. Her long red hair flowed gently down her right shoulder. She carried a long rapier that had a delicate yet deadly blade. The boy then followed behind. He was a bit taller than the girl and his short silver hair was arranged messily. His arms crossed against his chest revealing leather gloves wrapped around his hands.
"Akihiko, Mitsuru, what kept you?" Aigis asked.