Prologue: Remnants of The Crawling Chaos
Itsuki
Itsuki stood in a dark room, the call being a mere echo, gained no attention from him. He loved the feeling of the cool night air, carrying a wisp of fog, against his skin. His Devil Hunter's gear felt heavy on his slender, but muscular frame.
Itsuki
The call was a bit louder now, but not enough to draw his attention. The moon shone brightly on him, he noticed that it seemed much wider than usual, though he paid it no mind as he bathed in it's light.
ITSUKI
He looked at the moon again, seeing a looming figure approaching him. His COMP whirred to life, and he moved the goggles into position. After a moment of scanning, data flared on-screen: NYX Avatar, weakness ?, resist all. He rechecked the data on the COMP itself, through a small touch screen panel built into his left arm's leather vambrace. Never has he seen the COMP put a demon's name in all capitals. With the assumption that he may be overpowered alone, he drew his demons out-
ITSUKI!
Itsuki snapped awake to Katsuo shaking him. Katsuo, a man of his 30s, with a hulking body and hair falling over his face to hide a missing eye, shot Itsuki a worried expression. "Dazing out again? It's the 3rd time this month. Are you sure you're fine?" Itsuki knew deep down Katsuo had a heart of gold under that bulk of a body, but he would also abandon Itsuki if he couldn't keep up as the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one in his eye. "I'm fine" Itsuki stated, feigning calmness. In reality, it had been the same vision every time.
and if they don't wake him, he sees the same result every time…
He clenched his teeth as they moved forward. Katsuo's long beard swayed in the wind as he marched. Katsuo stopped suddenly, giving the signal to stop, "there" he said, pointing in the distance towards a clearing in the ruined buildings, "your 1st demon". Itsuki lowered his goggles and slowly approached it. 'Keres, weakness light', the display informed Itsuki as he walked. It had a slender womanly shape, with wings of a vulture and sharp pointed teeth, dark hair cascaded down onto weak-looking shoulders. "I would like to make a contract" Itsuki said plainly, The demon was taken aback "Getting to the point awful quick aren't we?" she replied "Usually one looking for a contract would try to appease me in some way. How about a kiss?" Itsuki looked down momentarily, as if considering it. In a snap of his body his katana was at her throat. "I'm sure my sword would like a kiss first, if you don't mind" He hissed cooly. The Keres appeared distressed momentarily then recovered her calm as quickly as she lost it. "Fine" she said, "let's settle this in magicite". Itsuki produced a glowing crystal of magicite from a pouch on his belt. As the demon grasped the magicite, its form warped and it vanished. Itsuki began to question whether the demon abandoned him or not, when the COMP flashed. Under the "Demon" tab, Keres showed plainly. Katsuo approached on his right "how's it feel?" He questioned, grinning under his bushy beard. Itsuki shook his head "It's a beginning, though I think it's a bad omen" he stated. Katsuo placed his hand on Itsuki's unkempt violet hair. "A bad omen?" he snarked, "You come back to me when you lose your eye on your 1st demon catching, then tell me about bad omens." He paused as if unsure about how to continue from there "Anyway, we should get going. Iwatodai's just a few more miles. We'll have to use Charon to get across". His sigh echoed, Itsuki has seen how easily he is ripped off by Charon for his ferrying services. "What's in Iwatodai?" Itsuki asked, hoping to get more information from his teacher than just the location. "The Gekkoukan Fortress" He remarked "Finest Persona Monks outside of Sumaru. It's a shame St. Hermelin isn't around anymore. It was a lot closer". A glimmer appeared in Katsuo's eye as Itsuki realized his intentions. "We are not delving into the Collective Unconscious" Itsuki stated firmly, "Nor will I allow some Persona wielding idiot into my mind". Katsuo laughed "Inaba was-" He began, though Itsuki cut him off "a mistake". Itsuki remembered the glimpse of NYX in reality. "They chased us off and threatened to kill us, so you bring us somewhere with even STRONGER Persona users?" Katsuo grew silent as Itsuki grasped his collar, but he dug deep and cut Itsuki with the most seething of phrases:
"You can leave anytime you want"
Itsuki let go, shocked expression on his face, as Katsuo began to apologize, he felt the looming shadow behind him, before his head was cleaved by a vicious strike of the Oni's spear. Itsuki froze as the blood sprayed over him, accompanied by chunks of the flesh of his fallen master as the Oni devoured him. He scrambled to summon his demon, but it was too late. The Oni was above him, naginata raised in preparation to cleave into his flesh. He felt his blood chill as the mix of fear and adrenaline made his impending death feel as if it was arriving in slow motion. "Kouha!" a man with a deep blue hooded cloak approaching yelled. Suddenly a bright light pierced the Oni, giving Itsuki an opening, he summoned his Keres and raised his sword and gun in anticipation. She dug into the Oni with her sharp talons as Itsuki unloaded a barrage of bullets at him and with another Kouha from the man in the distance, the demon was killed. As Itsuki looked over he could see the Trumpeter's skeletal form melt into the man and dissipate as if it had never existed. Itsuki readied himself for battle, though could feel himself growing weak. The last he saw before fainting was the man, raising his pace to a sprint towards him.