Exalted

Chapter 2, I am become DEATH

A Persona and DxD Crossover

I do not own anything relating to either series. Seriously.

[EX]

Minato had half a mind to withdraw himself from this Kuoh Academy. Why would anyone want to go back to school when they had already completed every course they had offered with honors?

While he did not have a diploma from Gekkoukan, or even any of his course work, he still remembered studying and mastering the many subjects available from a higher education and had even begun studying college level subjects with Fuuka and Aigis before being sealed.

The Arisato had finally pilfered the closet for clothing after deciding that he did not enjoy the feeling of being bare to the world. The clothing provided was a dark black version of Gekkoukans uniform, minus the crimson SEES armband that signified his allegiance, giving the teen something comfortable and familiar to wear.

Say what you will, but the suit of black and white had been breathable and had fashion appeal. The school crest was no longer present on the left breast pocket and no labels were present, making Minato wonder if it was Elizabeth or her rarely mentioned older sister who had created the suits for him.

Deciding to question it later, Minato grabbed the wallet and flipped it open, revealing identification cards and a few more Yen notes. The ID cards were filled out with information unlike what was on his previous ID, showing that he was a legal resident of the city of Kuoh.

He was certainly thankful that the Velvet Room attendants had given him such items, because otherwise he would have had to go through the trouble of doing it himself, and he had no idea where to begin even forging such things. Involving himself with the criminal organizations that usually dealt with such requests would have left him broke at the end of the transaction, he was sure.

Pulling open the drawer of the desk, the Arisato found a manilla folder containing a birth certificate and other documents showing his transfer from one Fujima Academy to Kuoh. Next to the Folder was a sleek black pistol, not unlike an Evoker. It was the weight that told Minato that it was no normal gun, as well as the fact that the magazine refused to release itself, signifying no real way to load ammunition into the weapon.

That was fine and dandy, he supposed, having a familiar object with him had in some form relieved some of the stress he felt building up within him at his situation. He was going to peruse the paperwork before familiarizing himself with the area, but a gurgling noise erupted from his abdomen, forcing him to put his plans on the back burner.

Leaving the room, Minato made his way out of his room and into the hallway, revealing two more doors to his left and right that led into a guest bedroom and another bathroom.

'This apartment is new.' Minato thought to himself as he took a deep breath, smelling the fresh paint and leather that permeated the air within the apartment he found himself in.

Passed the hallway was a large living room with two more doors to the right while a kitchenette furnished with cooking utensils was to the left. The fridge and cabinets were empty, of course, but Minato knew he had enough money to sustain himself for months if he was frugal.

In the living room, a leather sofa rested in front of a glass coffee table, colored black and covered in a sheaf of plastic to keep the dust from its surface. To the right of the coffee table was leather recliner, also colored black and covered in plastic.

There was no television or any form of electronics in the house outside of the fridge in the kitchenette and the smoke detector in the hallway, though that suited Minato just fine. Junpei and Fuuka spent more time playing video games and watching television than they had any right to, in his opinion, whereas he spent most of his time doing odd jobs around town to earn more money and upgrade his Social Links.

He was of the opinion that both Television and Video games rotted the mind, and would much rather read a book or learn a new subject.

He stood corrected on the lack of electronics, for as soon as he looked back to the coffee table he found his old phone, mp3 player and headphones resting on top of a map of the area around him.

'Convenient.' Minato thought to himself as he reached down and folded open the map, drinking in the geographical locations of anything of interest within the town.

"You are here..." The Arisato read aloud as his eyes locked onto the red circle towards the center of town, just outside of the business district. Kuoh Academy was also circled in red, just ten or so blocks away from his present location. Pulling the map closer to his face, the Arisato did his best to memorize the locations of any restaurants and stores in between himself and the school he was forcibly enrolled in. The maps boundaries ended at the end of Kuoh, preventing Minato from finding out just how far he was from Tatsumi Port Island, the very place most of his meaningful memories were from.

Feeling confident that he could make his way around Kuoh with little difficulty now that he had a map, the Wild Card of SEES grabbed the phone, mp3 player, headphones and the set of keys to his apartment resting on the kitchen counter before making his way out of the pristine apartment building.

The sound of chirping birds, people greeting one another as they passed each other and traffic filled his ears as he started his way down the sidewalk towards the Junes shopping mall. Placing his headphones around his ears and letting his mp3 player hang around his neck, Minato quickly found himself in his comfort zone as his mind wandered back to the note from whoever PHIL was once more, his body on autopilot as he walked.

'What could he have meant by my Persona abilities being different?' Minato questioned as he sent a probing tendril of energy into his Sea of Souls, trying to replicate the process that required an Evoker for him at one point. Thanatos was quick to answer his beckoning, bringing much comfort to the Arisato upon hearing the familiar roar of the God of Death.

The aura of the Death God began to leak out from Minato, however, causing the teen to cut the link before the black energy could manifest itself in the physical world.

He did not account for a boost in the potency of the energy, however, thus he was surprised as he felt the energy struggle to remain unleashed. The birds around him stopped chirping and flew away quickly while the couple walking next to him began to send him nervous glances upon feeling an uncomfortable presence settle around them.

Gritting his teeth, Minato was able to finally reign in the deathly miasma that had been present within him since the age of ten, but not before more people began to send nervous glances in his direction. Quickening his pace, the Wild Card tried to place distance between himself and the crowd of passersby lest he continue to cause discomfort.

It seems that his very presence was capable of being drawn out in the world now, no longer bound to be isolated to Tartarus or the Dark Hour alone. While no longer leaking out a deathly aura, the power of the Universe Arcana still trembled beneath his fingers, roared through every fiber of his being, ready to be summoned at a moments notice.

He couldn't trust himself to test his abilities until he was far away from prying eyes, not wanting to bring harm to this worlds natural inhabitants in the slightest. While apathetic, he was not one who wanted to cause discomfort for the sake of satiating his curiosity.

Filing away his thoughts of testing himself for a later time, the Arisato soon found himself enjoying the scenery as he made his way closer and closer to the Junes shopping mall, unaware of the figure keeping pace with him just a few feet behind.

[EX]

"Thank you for your patronage!" The cheerful Junes clerk called out as Minato gathered his bagged goods and departed from the line of customers. He nodded his head at the boisterous female and proceeded to leave the supermarket area of the local Junes, not feeling the eyes watching him from a distance as he made his way to the exit of the store.

With one hand, he replaced his headphones and continued to listen to the music he was most familiar. Night was soon to fall, he noticed, as the street lights flickered on around him, casting eerie shadows that seemed to writhe much like the enemies he faced during the Ascension of Tartarus with SEES.

So caught up in his thoughts, the Arisato did not notice as a light purple trench coat wearing man made his way down the same sidewalk he found himself walking along. Closer and closer the man walked until their shoulders roughly collided with one another, causing the Wild Card to lose his grip on his groceries.

Reaching up with a single hand, Minato removed the headphone around his left ear before speaking to the man who seemed to stop in his tracks after their collision.

"My apologies." The Bluenette murmured, reaching down for his groceries which had spilled across the concrete, "I was not paying attention."

The man did not respond, instead fully turning his body to stare at the young man he had just bumped into. After a few seconds of silence, the Arisato cocked an eyebrow in curiosity at the mans apparent animosity, as he could feel the intent to attack roiling from the man in waves. When the fedora wearing man continued to remain silent, Minato shrugged his shoulders and turned to depart, having finished gathering up the spilled ingredients.

It was only his sharp instincts that saved him from being impaled upon the spear that roared passed the space he previously occupied. A flexing of his hand caused the Blade of Lucifer to appear within his grasp while his groceries once more clattered to the ground. He wasn't quite sure how he summoned the blade to him seeing as he always had to carry his weapon, but he was thankful that the deadly weapon still responded to his touch as the beautifully crafted blade began to glow a baleful crimson.

He would question his instincts and abilities at a later time, he had more pressing issues to deal with at present.

"So you ARE a filthy devil." The unnamed man murmured, watching as the bluenette settled himself into a readied stance, "I was hoping that energy I felt wasn't my imagination."

"You are mistaken." Minato stated simply, eying the man while readying himself for combat. He did not summon a Persona nor fire off any spells, worried about collateral damage and any innocent life that might get caught in the cross fire. "Cease this foolishness, I have no qualms with you."

"That is where you are wrong, devil. You see, you exist, and that is a problem for a Fallen like myself. Another bonus is that you are all alone with no peerage and you haven't used a summoning circle, making you a stray correct?"

Minato fought the urge to scoff at the mans assumptions, "I am Human. This will be my last warning, stop attacking me and go away."

The fedora wearing man threw his head back and laughed, truly laughed, at Minatos statement. "You are also a liar, it seems. No human gives off such a foul energy, hell... even most devils don't have such a dark taint that I can feel from you." Another spear formed in the mans hand, glowing a bright blue that looked positively dull in comparison to the blade once wielded by the Morning Star clenched in Minatos left hand.

The man lunged forward, stabbing with the spear three times, though each time was deflected with skillful strokes of the Morning Stars blade. Minato pressed his advantage after the third stroke he parried caused the man to overcompensate, the baleful blade biting into the right side of the fedora wielder.

First blood was in Minatos favor.

"You were warned." Minato stated with a firm tone before landing a heavy knee the man in the same spot he just cut into. The Arisato was glad that Akihiko took the time to teach him the basics of hand to hand, mainly in the form of a mixture of kick boxing and Muay Thai.

The fedora wearing man roared in pain before leaping into the air. It was with wide eyes that Minato watched as massive black wings erupted from the mans back, allowing him to remain in the air while Minato remained grounded.

"You will pay for that, you little shit!" The man roared, flinging spear after spear at the Wild Card, though the boy continued to dodge left and right around them. Finally, the bluenette tripped up on a large chunk of concrete after quite a bit of time dodging, causing a spear to bury itself in his chest, directly through his heart and all the way through his back.

Coughing globs of blood up, Minato looked down at the spear planted in his chest before reaching for it shakily.

"My name is Dohnaseek, and it was your fate to die this day, you filthy stray devil!" The now named Dohnaseek roared in triumph as he finally scored a direct hit, and a fatal one at that. The man thought the fight was finally over and prepared to leave the scene until he felt a presence settle upon the battlefield.

Said presence continued to grow in intensity until it grew to a level that caused the fallen angel to fall from the sky after his wings refused to continue beating. Primal fear began to grip his heart as the heavy presence refused to stop growing in intensity. Struggling to breath, Dohnaseek lifted his trembling head from the concrete to find the source of the presence, only to lock eyes with the blue haired boy he was sure he murdered.

The circular silver eyes that stared back at him glowed brightly through the shadows that seemed to cling to the boys skin while multiple sets of coffins began to appear around him, acting as if they were wings. The sounds of rattling chains filled the once silent streets before they erupted from the ground and began to coil protectively around the Arisato. The light spear piercing through his heart was absorbed into his body and the wound began to stitch itself back together in an unnatural display of healing.

The Blade of Lucifer disappeared in a shower of sparks before the hand that had previously held the blade was aimed in Dohnaseeks direction. Black seals began to appear in the air around the raised hand, each glowing the same sickly shade of blackish purple as the wielder of the magic circle etching itself in the air, causing the fear Dohnaseek felt to skyrocket again after reading the invocations present within the circles.

'Oh no... nononoNoNONONONON!' Dohnaseek screamed to himself as realization finally dawned upon him. Only one being could summon such magic, only one being could wield the black powers of Death in such a way, and that was Death Itself.

The Fallen Angel had not always been a fighter. In fact, he once held a very high position in heaven for someone with only a single set of wings. As the Record Keeper of the Lower Realms, it was Dohnaseeks job to know everything there was to know about foreign pantheons, and it was this knowledge that caused him to realize his folly.

Dohnaseek had attacked one of the very beings that had existed for as long as his Father, the very being that even his Father felt trepidation towards angering. The being that has existed as long as Life, for as long as the concept of Infinity and Dreams.

It was the raw panic that allowed the Fallen to regain control of his body long enough to flee with his tail tucked between his legs, and just in time.

"Mudoon."

The pillars of purple light that erupted from the seal tore through the air and narrowly missed the fallen angel as he dodge rolled to the left, face first in to a tree. The grass around the area began to wilt rapidly as the tree Dohnaseek impacted shattered from both the decay from the deathly attack that was released in its area and the force behind the body that hit it.

Minato watched with dispassionate eyes as the man picked himself up and continued to flee, this time unabated. The chains and coffins that surrounded him began to break apart into pieces before those pieces decayed into nothingness, leaving the blue haired teenager alone in the middle of a slightly destroyed street once more.

The deathly miasma that came to the surface of his skin began to recede and his eyes returned to their normal shade of steel grey. As if sensing the danger passed, the street lights that flickered out when the fighting began once again became luminous, lighting the area once more.

With a sigh, the Arisato walked back to his previous position to gather up his groceries so he could head home for the night. 'The streets are surprisingly clear...' Minato frowned as he made absolutely sure he was alone in the area, something that made no sense to him.

He could have sworn he felt a presence hiding in the tree line not far from where he was standing, though he saw neither hide nor hair of anything that would be a threat to him.

As he disappeared down the street, a white haired figure with wide golden eyes watched in fear and some amount of awe as his figure receded into the dark of night.