Author's notes: I decided to update it anyway. My proofreader (whom shall be known henceforth as Trace) has a strict computer usage schedule though, and it takes some time to pump out 30 pages worth of words, so don't mind the long time it takes for an update.
Before you start though, I must tell you that you should not see any of the attacks I write in battle scenes as those from the Persona series, because some of them might not be what you think they are...(More on this at the end.)
Anyways, hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed typing it out!
I can't sleep. Kazou stared at the white ceiling of his apartment from his bed, his hands placed behind his head. Aside from the occasional noises of nature from outside the window, the only other sound in the apartment was coming from the slow ticking of the clock on Kazou's desk. He turned a lazy eye to it, then groaned as he realized how early in the morning it still was. Four in the morning...and I've just been staring at the ceiling all this time?
Sleep was avoiding Kazou, and he knew the reason for it only all too well. He had killed someone. It wasn't him that directly did the killing, but Kazou was the one who had given Raigura his order. When he first left the school Kazou haven't placed much thought into it, but after he returned to his apartment, the guilt started to catch up to him. Conflicting thoughts had been clashing in his head since the afternoon, and it was all Kazou could do to prevent himself from breaking down.
Kazou never thought that the gnawing feeling of guilt could be so powerful. He had always believed that he could watch someone get killed and not bat an eyelid. However, it was one thing to claim that you could do something, and another to really do it. Right now, every time his eyes closed, Kazou would see Harold's haunting face sneering at him. The dead student didn't have any legs, and would drag his body slowly towards Kazou, extending his hand as though he was silently inviting Kazou to hell with him.
"Argh, fuck it!" Kazou jolted out of bed, the image of Harold melting away from his eyes. Even though it wasn't in the least hot inside the apartment, Kazou could feel the sweat on his back causing his shirt to cling onto him. Walking to the window, Kazou quietly observed the neighborhood. The entire street was lit up by a combination of street lights and moonlight, giving it a somehow soothing glow. Not surprisingly, there was no sign of activity anywhere, aside from the movement of a few nocturnal animals out on the prowl.
"I don't know if it's possible for me to go on like this," Kazou groaned and held his right hand to his head, feeling the wounds that had been inflicted on him during the battle. The only thing that offered him respite was the fact that he tomorrow off due to the doctor giving him approved leave. "And this was like, what, day one?"
"And? What do you want me to do about it?" Raigura's scornful voice came from his bed in reply. "Offer words of comfort? Tell you it's going to be alright, and that the day after will be better? This is a war, Kazou. People die, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Kazou bit his tongue to stop himself from countering Raigura's statement. The latter did have a point about it being a war. Stepping into the school was now like the equivalent of stepping into a battlefield, where one's life may be put to an abrupt end in a fight any time. It wasn't anything like the fights Kazou had been in before in his previous schools. Those were merely brawls with fists, and aside from a lot of pain, were mostly free from the risk of death.
The fights in Pegutori High didn't have that luxury, however. But there was no escape, and Kazou didn't doubt the email when it stated that attempting to escape will result in him being hunted down. So what could he do? Kazou looked at his Persona idling on the bed with a hopeless gaze. The swordsman could handle himself in any situation, Kazou didn't doubt that, but that happened to be the problem. Since Raigura was strong enough, people who tried to attack him would end up dying, and the last thing Kazou wanted was another death on his hands. But if he didn't fight back, hewould end up being the one dead.
"Fuck it all, I'm doomed either way!" Kazou rubbed his head harshly, causing his hair to become disheveled.
"What's so difficult?" Raigura watched Kazou with a fairly bored expression. "Just cut down anyone who stands in your way and move on. Soon enough you'll become numb to it."
"Easy for you to say!" Kazou yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his Persona's blades. "Fucking swords of judgment probably killed more people than there are the numbers of students in the school."
"Why, thank you for the compliment," Raigura replied sarcastically, standing up and moving close to Kazou, stopping before him with narrowed eyes. "Now listen well. This is a world where it's kill or be killed. It's your life that you risk losing if you want to be all goody-goody with everyone, not mine. So keep that in mind when you go to school the day after."
"Wait, hold on there. Aren't you my Persona? If I die, won't you perish alongside me as well?"
"You wish. Sure, I'd feel some pain as you lay there dying, but once your life force is gone, I'll just go back to where I came from until another user summons me," Raigura explained with a confident smile. "So you see, there's not so much at risk for me as there is for you."
"Tch," Kazou clicked his tongue. Perhaps he had misjudged how trustworthy his Persona was. "So what's stopping you from simply leaving me to die?"
"I have my honor, Kazou," Raigura sounded as though he had been insulted. "And the contract we made enforces me to protect you, until my last breath on this plane."
"Well, that's dandy and all, but tell me. What if we meet something which neither one of your three swords can cut? What then?"
Silence permeated the air for a moment as Raigura looked at Kazou with an odd expression in his eyes, the golden pupils studying Kazou intensely. "Remember when I told you I didn't dabble in sorcery...no, never mind that. Forget what I said."
The swordsman turned and started to walk back towards Kazou's bed, his body fading out with each step he took. Before the Persona vanished completely, he turned to look at Kazou once more. "Now stop whining and just accept it as your fate. You can't turn back time. The only option I see you have here is to keep on fighting."
Kazou found himself alone in his apartment once again, the awful truth having been tossed in his face. Indeed, he didn't have much of a choice. Kazou just had to keep on fighting to survive. It was that simple, if he could come to terms with his conscience. He had to move on. And to do that, he had to accept death as something to be dealt with daily, just like eating and drinking.
"The question is, can I do it?" Kazou lied down on his bed once more and found himself looking at the ceiling again. His eyelids grew heavy at last, and although Kazou waited, there was no sight of the dead Harold appearing. It seemed his Persona was right after all. "You know Raigura, sometimes the truth fucking hurts."
A shower of blood and bodily organs, the surroundings dark and gory. Kazou looked down at his hands caked with the dried blood, his two limbs still holding on to the silver katana which was now colored red with the liquid of life. A body laid battered and mutilated before him, and Kazou backed off in shock, only to fall and find himself in the midst of even more corpses, stacked high enough on top of one another to form a literal mountain of death.
Was he the one who killed them? Kazou could give no other explanation. No one else but he was alive, and only hollow dead eyes greeted him as Kazou looked around. Why did he do it? Because they were in his way. What way? The answer didn't show itself to Kazou. He scrambled to his feet and staggered forward, leaning on the katana for support. A large lake of blood from the bodies flowed before him, and as Kazou limped across it, he caught sight of his reflection. His face wasn't his own; neither was his body. Who was he, then? The answer came this time as clear as day: Raigura.
"Fuck!" Kazou awoke to the rays of sunlight that beamed in from the window outside, his back drenched from sweat. His head had felt like it was being split apart during the first few seconds of waking up, but the pain was quickly subsiding. Still, the vision Kazou had remained crystal clear in his mind. "What the hell was that all about?"
"A word of advice. Don't pry too deep. You might not like what you find," Raigura was seated atop one of the boxes that contained furniture. "Now then, you have the whole day free, correct? What are you going to do?"
"I could start with unpacking everything," Kazou stood up and shook his head, the phantom pain now all but gone. As he moved past Raigura and into the toilet, Kazou had a sudden urge to question the swordsman's past. This urge was increased by what he had just seen in his dream, but something told him his Persona wasn't going to reveal it anytime soon. "And you're gonna help."
The work was done quickly with Raigura's assistance, and Kazou found himself looking around his apartment with a satisfactory smile on his face. He didn't have much aside from the bare necessities, but each piece of furniture was the result of painful months of saving up from months of hard work. Kazou did receive some help with the apartment and some of the furniture from his guardians, but he intended to repay them both once he started working again. The school was giving him a hundred dollars per day, so ideally it should be easy to pay them back as long as he doesn't die.
"That's all?" Raigura didn't seem impressed.
"Well, what did you expect? Some luxury furniture fit for a king? Piss off," Kazou scoffed at his Persona and sat down on the single seat sofa. "Everything here was meant for only one person. I didn't need much material comforts, you know?"
The swordsman walked over to a cabinet and opened it up, took in the fact that it was empty with an unsurprised expression, then moved on to another one. This continued for quite some time until Kazou started to get irritated at how someone was poking around his apartment without permission.
"What gives?"
"Empty," Raigura closed another cabinet door and opened up the next. "Empty. They contain nothing. What's the point of having so much space?"
"Of course they're empty. I haven't bought anything yet," Kazou chewed his lower lip for a moment. He wasn't working yet, so his cash reserves were beginning to run low. He did still have the leftover money from the visit to the doctor yesterday, though. "Aw, what the hell. I'm gonna go buy some instant coffee and noodles or something. Don't wanna run low on those."
Kazou left the apartment and locked the door after him, leaving his Persona alone in the room. Raigura sighed and started to fade out, starting with his legs. Kazou had not caught the hint that he had given. "Maybe this was the reason he could summon me. He has the same empty heart that I once did."
A relaxing midday breeze blew in Kazou's face as he looked around the busy shopping district of Sendai, trying to find a shop that might sell the things he was looking to buy. This was the problem with transferring schools so many times. Kazou had barely just begun to get used to his neighborhood before he was transferred again and thrust into unfamiliar surroundings. He didn't have anyone to blame though; every school he had been in before considered him a problem child due to his attitude, and the teachers tended to shun him along with the students.
The only ones who had interacted with him were those who wanted to pick a fight with him. Kazou didn't consider anyone he met in schools as his friends. Maybe he had some in grade school, but somehow, halfway through middle school, most of his classmates became just that: classmates. If they met outside, he wouldn't even acknowledge them, much less converse with them. Going to school everyday was a chore, and having to face people who annoy him to no end was even worse.
But the situation in his current school was different. People's lives were being toyed with there as though they didn't matter, and that was one thing Kazou couldn't overlook. Some might call him a hypocrite since he will not care if someone was being humiliated in front of him, but having someone die on him was another matter altogether. Life was precious, and Kazou knew this firsthand.
When he was younger, at the age of only seven, he had been shoved onto the middle of a busy road, and destiny had picked this moment for a large truck to swerve around a corner and head towards him. Kazou's life should have ended right there, was it not for a passerby who had rushed out and pushed him to safety, at the cost of himself getting hit. Kazou never knew the fate of his mystery savior, but the incident had remained etched in his memory since then, and it was the reason he treasured life so much. This was why Kazou didn't like being around people or making friends; while he never admitted to it, his fear of death made Kazou want as few people to die around him as possible.
Of course, his judgmental personality got into the way of this at times, and when Kazou sees someone as being guilty, most of the time he would be dead set on believing that the person should be condemned to hell. This particularly applies to his parents, his father physically abusing his mother on a regular basis, and the abuse being turned onto him by his mother in turn. Those two had earned a permanent spot on Kazou's blacklist, and they were never going to be removed. But the students in Pegutori High haven't really proven themselves to all have as perverse a mindset as Harold's, and there were definitely people who honestly just wanted to live an upright life by studying and going to college, so Kazou firmly believed that they didn't deserve their fate as cannon fodder.
"If only there was a way to put an end to this," Kazou sighed as he walked along the pavement, stopping before a convenience store in the middle of the district. Entering the shop, Kazou took quick glances around, and easily spotted the items he wanted to buy. Grabbing the most efficient packages, Kazou moved to the queue and readied his money.
"Oi, fuck ye! What do ye think ye doing, bumping into me like that. Wanna die or something?" A commotion from outside the store caught Kazou's eyes. Three men dressed in shady clothing were surrounding a single individual, and Kazou's attention was drawn to the clothing the individual was wearing. He had the same uniform hanging in his closet, after all.
"What stupid school is he from anyway?" One of the men sized up the student and ruffled his hair, despite them being of roughly the same height. "Hey, there's a label here or something. Pe-gu-to-ri. The fuck is that?"
"Gentlemen, if you're going to make fun of me, I advise you to do it elsewhere. I do not take kindly to insults," The appearance of the student was being blocked off by one of the men, and Kazou couldn't see whether it was someone he knew. The voice didn't sound familiar though, and Kazou decided to just silently observe what was going on from the safety of the shop.
"Ha, this idiot really is trying to be funny. Bumps into one of us, then tries to pull some 'gentlemen' shit on us. What say you guys we teach him a little respect at that alley over there?" One of the men suggested as he pointed to the alley opposite the store. It was dark and shady even though the sun was up, the buildings on both sides providing good cover. If an accident were to occur there, no one would be able to know anything until it was too late.
Kazou kept his eye on the four as they moved into the alley, and when his turn at the queue came, he quickly paid for the items and left. Rather than heading home immediately, Kazou's instincts compelled him to stay put outside the store and watch the results of the beating. If the student was heavily injured, Kazou decided that he would move in and call for help. A minute passed, and Kazou felt himself getting nervous.
"How long do they intend to keep thrashing that guy?" Kazou shook his head and made his way across the road, entering the dark alleyway with his hands still holding the goods he had just bought. The rotting smell of garbage made Kazou wrinkle his nose in disgust, and he quickened his footsteps. He had already formulated a plan to take care of the men, and it involved the element of surprise. Kazou was almost around the corner when he heard the screams of pain and apology from not one, but three voices. Slowing down and only peeking around the corner, Kazou's eyes widened as he witnessed what was happening.
The student was breathing heavily in a pool of blood, obviously worn out from the task of taking out the three men. In his hands he held a large hammer, which had undoubtedly been used on the three attackers. The three were sprawled out unconscious around the student, heads and bodies bleeding from the crushing impact that had been delivered to them unexpectedly. Two of the men had their faces beaten to the point of being unrecognizable, and the expression on the face of the last one was a mixture of shock and fear. After all, none of them had anticipated that a high school student would be carrying a hammer around with him.
"Uh oh, I've been seen," The student had noticed Kazou peeking around the corner, and started to move towards him, keeping the weapon into his bag nonchalantly.
"Shit," Kazou backed off and started to run, but the student managed to grab onto his shoulder with an iron grip, causing him to fall over. The cup noodles and instant coffee packets fell out of their plastic bags and scattered around the floor, and Kazou let out another curse as he looked from them to his pursuer.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Here, let me help you up," The student extended a hand, and Kazou hesitated. For all he knew, the student could just be playing nice, since they were in full view of the street now. Rather than risking it, Kazou shook his head and picked himself up, salvaging what he could of the items he had bought.
"Ah, don't worry about that. Here," The student fished out a fifty dollar note out of his brown wallet and pushed it into Kazou's hands. Kazou studied the student's hazel colored spiky hair that was orientated backwards, giving him an appearance similar to a hedgehog's. His sharp face and laid-back expression, complete with eyes that matched the color of his hair, gave no hint as to what he was thinking. Nodding for a moment before accepting the money silently, Kazou turned and prepared to leave.
The student stopped him before he could turn fully and brought his face closer to Kazou, the latter got a good whiff of the shampoo from the former's hair before he spoke. "I must ask that you do not tell anyone what you saw earlier. It'd be...unfortunate if something bad happens to you because of that."
"Tch," Kazou backed a few paces away from the student and turned his attention to the latter's uniform. There wasn't any sign of a feather on his collar, but that didn't mean he was safe. "Purgatory High, right? I'm a student there too."
"Oh?" The student seemed surprised, but the look in his eyes was quickly replaced with suspicion as he took a step towards Kazou. "Then you wouldn't happen to be one of them, would you?"
"Them?" Kazou feigned ignorance, knowing full well the student wouldn't be able to talk openly about Personas outside of school.
"Hmm. Guess not. Anyway, if you're from the same school, I guess we'll be seeing each other some time. Might as well do some introductions here," The student's darkened expression lightened as he shrugged to himself and offered a hand to Kazou. "Ikuto. Ikuto Raishin."
"Kazou Okumura," Kazou accepted the handshake, and something akin to electricity shot through his hand as he did. He squirmed uncomfortably as his hand began to feel numb, and Ikuto narrowed his eyes upon seeing Kazou's reaction.
"I guess that settles it. You really are one of the users," Ikuto released his grip and flexed his hand. "Don't know why I didn't see you amongst the spectators today in my battle though. It matters not I suppose. You'll be seeing me tomorrow. Later."
The student turned and merged with the crowds, quickly disappearing amongst them and leaving a dumbfounded Kazou behind with his hand still trembling slightly from the literal shock he had just received. Kazou frowned a little as he realized that what Ikuto had said probably meant that the student was going to try and kill him the next day in school.
And what was that about spectators...? Shaking his head in confusion and snapping himself out of his reverie, Kazou headed towards the convenience store once more to buy the stuff he needed. Ikuto didn't show up again, but Kazou constantly checked behind him just to be sure. Even if the email had stated that attacks outside of school was prohibited, after witnessing what Ikuto had done to the three men, Kazou was sure that the student would not hesitate to break the rules if it was necessary. And if that really happened, he would be defenseless, seeing as to how he had left his all important weapon at home. Next time I'm bringing my katana along, no matter where I go.
"Here we go," Kazou tossed the cup noodles and instant coffee packs into the cabinets. It didn't occupy much space, but at least there was something to fill the empty cabinets with for now. "Now then..."
Kazou tossed out a pamphlet of Pegutori High onto the table, opening it up and reading the map of the school thoroughly. If he was going to go to war, then the first thing to do would be to understand the battlefield. If he was going to live, Kazou was going to need to commit the entire area of the school to his memory, and know each nook and cranny that he could duck into. The information would prove crucial during the first few days until everyone got used to the environment of the school, but by then Kazou was sure only the strong users would remain, and that the information would become obsolete anyway.
The layout of the school was surprisingly simple, and with plenty of extra space that Kazou now knew was meant for the Persona battles. Even the corridors were at least a few feet more spacious than the previous schools Kazou had been to, to allow for more movement during combat. The first floor was where the field and cafeteria were, and Kazou made sure he remembered the routes to bring any potential battles away from them. Those two areas were where students mostly tend to gather anyway. The field would do good as an open battleground though, since there was plenty of free space, if Kazou could somehow manage to get the students away.
There were other special rooms for different subjects, and the amphitheater at the back of the school would be perfect as a battle stage. Kazou grinned as he imagined defeating an opponent while the school watched him, then grimaced as he realized that it would mean killing someone whilst being recorded. Shifting his eyes, Kazou saw the swimming pool located further out from the amphitheater. A swordsman doesn't exactly work well underwater, even for someone like Raigura, and Kazou made a mental note to avoid bringing battles anywhere near the pool.
There was a recreational center out back as well, and Kazou wondered how he had managed to notsee all these facilities during his first day in school. Then he slapped his forehead as he remembered how he had decided not to go out during break and simply head home immediately after class. He had missed out on a good chance to explore, and now it was going to cost him. Still, the school was much larger than he had originally anticipated it to be. This was likely due to the space they have had to construct everything, since behind the school were simply large plots of land.
But to be able to buy so many plots of land, construct these facilities on them and still have enough to give Persona users a hundred everyday...whoever is funding this is probably rich as all hell. Kazou thought back to the dilapidated mansion that stood beside the school. It was a possibility that the one providing all the money lived there. Jeez, if he did, wouldn't that mean he can spy on us without us even knowing...?
Kazou made another mental note to himself to check out the mansion, then closed the pamphlet and redrew the map of the school in his mind's eye. Double checking to see that he got everything right, Kazou slouched back onto the sofa and closed his eyes. He hasn't slept well last night, and now the exhaustion was beginning to show. Just before he could doze off however, a light twinkling sound that Kazou identified as his doorbell sounded.
"Darn it," Kazou snapped himself awake with a quick trip to the toilet and a splash of water on his face, then rushed to the door and checked the peephole. Although the doorbell was still ringing, there was no sign of anyone on the other side of the door. He had thought that it was one of the delivery movers, since he was supposed to be expecting them today, but the peephole showed otherwise. "Strange."
Opening the heavy wooden door warily, Kazou peeked out of the crack, his hand already gripping the katana handle tightly. The email might have said that users can't engage one another outside of school, but for all he knew Kazou might be facing some sick psychopath who didn't care about his life. An elfish face greeted his eyes, and before Kazou knew what was happening he found himself staggering backwards as a result of the assault of poker cards that flew forth from his visitor's hands.
"Afternoon K-boy," Reikio pushed the door fully open and stepped into the apartment, evidently making himself at home by jumping onto the couch. "You didn't show up today, so we thought we'd visit to check up on you."
"How did you know my address?" Kazou rubbed his irritated eyes and looked at the student before him suspiciously.
"He doesn't. Loki simply followed me here," Someone else answered his question, and Kazou turned his attention towards the source of the voice standing at the door. The female councilor he had encountered yesterday stood outside, regarding him with questioning green eyes and a tilted head. "Well? Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Kazou ripped open three packets of instant coffee powder and emptied them into the porcelain cups on the kitchen table, secretly glad that he had stocked up on them earlier. As he poured the hot water into the cups and stirred each slowly, Kazou observed the councilor and Reikio sitting on the living room floor with a watchful eye. He wasn't sure what they were here for, but having a councilor show up in your house on the second day of school couldn't be good.
Once he was convinced that the coffee was ready, Kazou brought the three cups to the living room on a tray, settling it down nicely on the table. He didn't often have much guests, if at all, so Kazou wasn't exactly sure what he could offer to the two who just turned up abruptly in his house. Reikio looked at him with an eyebrow raised as the coffee was placed on the table. "That's all?"
"Loki, do not be rude," The councilor chided Reikio, then turned to Kazou. "This wasn't necessary, since I will be leaving soon. But since it is a gesture of goodwill, I accept."
Kazou watched the councilor drink from one of the cups with a delicate motion, replacing it onto the table as soon as she was finished. He considered asking her the reason the two were here, but the councilor seemed to have read his mind and spoke first. "Alright, let's see it. Your proof of approved leave."
"Uh?" Kazou was stunned. The councilor had traveled all the way to his apartment from school simply with the intention of seeing his medical certificate? "Sure."
Rummaging around his bag, Kazou took out the crumpled certificate and passed it to the councilor, who regarded it with a look of contempt. She held it up against the window, scrutinizing the tiny piece of paper in her hands. Then, seemingly satisfied that it was legitimate, the councilor folded the piece of paper into fours and placed it into a pocket on her chest before turning to Kazou and speaking. "It would be for the best if you do not take leave from the school for reasons other than genuine illness. Superficial injuries like yours can be easily nursed and tended to at the sick bay. Just look for Raphael."
"Uh, okay, I guess?" Kazou wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Was he to believe that the school nurse was better than a certified doctor out in the city?
"It seems you doubt our abilities," The councilor seemed to have read his mind yet again as she jerked a thumb towards Reikio. "Just ask Loki. He experienced the healing first hand. Three ribs broken, and now walking as though nothing had happened. It is effective, no?"
"It's amazing I can still walk after being hit by that attack," Reikio mumbled grumpily. "Damn thing packed a way bigger punch than I thought my Persona could take."
"It was your own fault for thinking that you would be able to take on a hammer thrown at you head on with those little card tricks of yours," The councilor regarded Reikio coldly, and Kazou couldn't see why the student would still follow her around willingly. "Anyway, it is mandatory for me to update you on any battles that had occurred today. After the initial culling of the weaker Personas yesterday, today's number of battles have dropped to a disappointing one, which involved Loki over here. The battle ended in a draw, and would have almost destroyed the entire amphitheater if they had not managed to knock each other out at the same time."
The news of the number of battles dropping didn't surprise Kazou; he was sure the other users felt the same as him when they killed their opponents and and realized that this whole tournament thing wasn't a game. However, something the councilor said caught Kazou's ears. "You said Reikio was involved in a battle, and it ended in a draw?"
"I think that battle alone made everyone bloody awestruck," Reikio muttered several curse words under his breath as he recollected the events of the battle. "Crazy fella waltzed right up to my face, called me out on a challenge and then proceeded to try and hammer my face in."
Hammer? Kazou instantly thought back to Ikuto. It couldn't be that huge of a coincidence, could it?
"Long story short, his petty magic tricks barely helped him escape from each situation that should have resulted in his head being smashed apart," The councilor sniffed with disdain, and Kazou got the impression she was hoping Reikio would have died in that battle. "You missed a real spectacle by not coming today. The non-users were running wild everywhere around the school. Good thing Uriel was standing guard at the gate. The other users were silently following the battle around the school, watching quietly from the sidelines."
Spectators. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place. So it really was Ikuto that had been Reikio's opponent today. "His name didn't happen to be Ikuto, did it?"
"You know him?" Reikio jumped up and almost screamed into Kazou's face.
"Well, yes, just met him earlier today when I went out actually," Kazou calmly wiped a few specks of saliva from his face, "You don't meet many students who hammer people to near death in dark alleys anyway."
"Hammer people to near death?" The councilor frowned. "But I didn't sense any disturbance in the flow of energy today...maybe he just used his physical strength and not his Persona. He might be in some trouble from the law this way though. I think I'm going to go check up on him."
"Screw that, I'm going home," Reikio was out of the apartment in five quick hops. "No way am I gonna go see that crazy guy after school. And you, K-boy, better watch out for that homicidal maniac. Bastard just doesn't know when to give up."
Kazou found himself wondering what sort of battle had happened to cause Reikio to be this on edge. He had a sinking feeling he would know tomorrow, though. The councilor stood up to leave as well, and Kazou suddenly recalled the dream he had. Taking a shot in the dark that she would know, he called out to the councilor before she went past the door. "Tell me, what is a Persona, really?"
"Did you not read the email carefully?" The councilor's answer was curt. Looking into Kazou's determined eyes though, she continued, "A Persona is a manifestation of your deepest thoughts. It is something you used to be, who you currently are, who you want to be and what you will be. In short, you and your Persona are one and the same."
"One and the same...?" Now Kazou was worried. Was what he had seen in his dream then simply an ominous omen of what is to come?
"Why do you think they said 'I art thou, and thou art I'? Your Persona is what your true feelings really are deep in your heart. If one gets a savage beast a Persona, you can bet your life that the user's heart would be more drawn towards the wild side rather than a refined way of living," The councilor paused for a moment to let Kazou digest the information. "That's also the reason why those who reject or refuse to acknowledge their true feelings end up dead, killed by their very own Personas. Any other questions?"
"N-not really," Kazou pondered for a moment over the bit of information he had just received, then looked up at the councilor again.
"Ah, and before it slips my mind again," The councilor took out something from her pocket which Kazou quickly identified as a thumb drive, "Here you go. They passed this out to every user in school today. Mind you, the information is meant to be kept strictly confidential. I don't have to remind you what sort of punishment you risk taking should it be leaked out, do I?"
"No, you don't," Kazou gulped as he caught the thumb drive thrown by the councilor in his hands, details of the penalties written in the email coming back to him. "I suppose I should thank you or something, miss...?"
"Gabriel," The councilor nodded and left the house, leaving Kazou sitting alone in the apartment with two quickly cooling cups of coffee, wondering what data could be contained inside the thumb drive.
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, and the orange light of sunset was shining in from the windows as Kazou sat in his room, typing away on the keyboard of his laptop. He had just received several positive responses for his job applications, but Kazou had to turn them down with a heavy heart. The situation at his school now called for him to be fit at all times, and tiring himself out by working late into the night like he used to will simply not do him any good.
Kazou's eyes shifted over from his laptop to the thumb drive sitting innocently beside him on his bed. He had not bothered to touch it at all after Gabriel had left, being more preoccupied with forums in the internet and the multiple job offers that he had to reject. But now that he was finally done with those, Kazou felt his interest in the tiny object rising once again.
He picked up the thumb drive by pinching it between his thumb and index finger, looking closely at the device that was painted black on one side and red on the other. It definitely looked innocent enough. Something in Kazou's guts told him the data contained within wasn't anything close to innocent though. On the black colored side of the thumb drive, Kazou could see his name labeled on it, irrefutable proof that the school meant for him to keep this.
With a mixture of curiosity and fear, Kazou plugged the tiny device into the USB port and waited for his laptop to load up the data stored inside it. A click and a whirl, and a window showed up on the laptop's screen. What was displayed in the window was simply two buttons on a red background, one labeled 'In' and the other 'Out'. His hands trembling slightly, Kazou moved the cursor to the 'In' button and clicked.
Multiple rows of pictures loaded, each one displaying a closeup of students from Pegutori High. Kazou took one look at the pictures and quickly concluded that they were supposed to show the Persona users inside the school, as the total number of pictures did not tally with the huge amount of students inside the school itself. But while the pictures showed the attire of the students clearly, their faces were covered by some sort of shadowy veil, just enough to make out the silhouettes of the student out, but not enough to show any other features.
Kazou assumed that this was meant to show the users that were still alive and kicking inside the school. It was easy enough to find his own status, since Kazou's face was the only one revealed to him. Underneath his name were a few question marks, which Kazou concluded was meant for his Persona. A click on his picture caused the window to expand and reveal several rows of data, including strengths, weaknesses, what he enjoyed doing most, his favorite sport, and other information relevant to his everyday life.
A chill was sent up Kazou's spine as he realized that everything posted was completely accurate down to the last word. It was as though someone had been watching him the very day since he was born, and had recorded down every characteristic he had ever displayed. There was even a list of major events that had happened before in Kazou's life, with the latest ironically being 'Enrolled in Pegutori High'.
Needless to say, it was daunting for Kazou to realize that his safe apartment wasn't as safe as he had liked it to be. He began to get paranoid as he looked around the apartment, half hoping to catch sight of some hidden pinhole camera. But everything looked as normal as normal could get, and nothing appeared to be out of place. There didn't seem to be anything foreign in the apartment though, and for a moment Kazou considered the possibility that it might not have been through technological means that these people were watching him through, but rather supernatural ones.
Frowning and returning his attention to his laptop, Kazou clicked on the other button, having an inkling about what it was before the page even loaded. True enough, a whole row consisting of ten-odd students appeared, their faces fully revealed together with their Personas, and a huge skull slapped over each one of them. The button had aptly labeled them 'Out', since Kazou had no doubt that each student displayed here was already dead.
Harold's static grinning face stared back at Kazou from the monitor, and Kazou felt the pang of guilt hitting him once again. His eyes moved quickly away from Harold's image, focusing more on the other students. All of the faces of the students were unfamiliar to Kazou, and their Personas didn't look like anything too powerful. Gabriel had called it a culling, and judging from the amount of students displayed, she wasn't wrong.
"And this was in the first day, huh?" Kazou sat back and sighed, wondering how many more people will have to die until the whole thing was over. A simple glance back at the rows of students that were still participating in the battles made Kazou put his estimation at well over a hundred. Kazou shook slightly as he recalled the vision he had the night before. "Over a hundred more deaths before we reach the finale..."
"Damn," Kazou found himself wide awake and looking upwards at the white ceiling once again, his body and brain simply unwilling to let him sleep no matter how hard he willed them to do so. The imminent battle with Ikuto the next day was partly the reason, but more importantly, Kazou was worrying about whether or not he would be joining the ranks of those in the 'Out' section.
"You, thinking about death this early in the morning? That's a new one," Raigura appeared at the sofa facing away from Kazou, his legs crossed and arms put together in a pose of meditation. "If you're that worried, then all the more you should go to sleep. Having a lack of energy will only hasten your death in a fight."
"Can't say you're wrong, I suppose," Kazou sat up, the muscles in his arms groaning in response. He still hasn't fully healed, but a few superficial wounds weren't about to put him out of a fight. But when his opponent is wielding a dangerous weapon like a hammer, Kazou wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it. All the other fights he had been in before, and to some extension the fight with Harold, had been mostly involving fists and legs. "Hey, Raigura. How do you think I should handle the fight? I mean, I got no skill in handling katanas, but Ikuto clearly knows how to use his weapon."
"Are you sure? Looked to me as though he just swung it wildly at those men," Raigura didn't sound impressed with what Ikuto had done in the afternoon with the three men who had intended to attack him. "Your katana is a delicate blade, more useful as a summoning equipment than as a weapon. Although if it comes down to it, I'm sure you can handle a fight as long as you don't let the hammer hit your blade directly. Or..."
"Or...?"
"You can just summon me," Raigura turned and winked, a shadow of a smile appearing on his lips. "Can't be too difficult for me to handle both the user and his Persona at the same time with my speed, no?"
Kazou shook his head, for this was exactly what he was worried about. Summoning Raigura took up a lot of his mental and physical energy, as he had learned the hard way during the battle with Harold. And if he found himself in a bad position without enough strength left to avoid an attack, it could be all over in an instant. "But summoning you is going to make me helpless to do anything much aside from holding onto something to prevent myself from falling headfirst onto the floor..."
"That was only because it was the first time. See, I believe all the other users tested out summoning their Persona at home first, unlike a certain someone I know, so their bodies were naturally more used to the strain of summoning," Raigura smiled mockingly, the cool night breeze coming in from outside making his robe flutter slowly around him. "I have the utmost confidence that your life will not be ending any time soon, Kazou. Now stop worrying and turn in. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow."
The Persona faded out in front of Kazou, turning first transparent then becoming fully invisible, as though he was never there in the first place. Kazou looked away from the couch and towards the katana lying in the bed beside him, the words 'Memento Mori' glowing softly in the moonlight that streamed in from outside.
"Remember your mortality, huh?" Kazou whispered, his eyes closing as he pondered over why Raigura had etched those words on the katana. He was only mortal alright, and he might very well be dead the next day. The words on his weapon only seemed to emphasize on that, and Kazou found himself slowly drifting off to sleep with his hands tightly clutched around the weapon.
Kazou had to stifle a yawn as he waited for the train at the station, the noisy hubbub of the morning not helping much with his exhaustion. It had been a bad idea to sleep with his weapon in his hands. Whilst it had done its job of making him feel safer for some reason, when Kazou turned unknowingly in his sleep, the sword guard of the katana had prodded him and caused him to be jolted awake thinking he was under assault from someone.
If not for the feeling of impending doom that Kazou was feeling, he would have laughed at his silliness. However the chance of getting assaulted in school was as real as the air he was breathing in, and Kazou couldn't find it in himself to smile at all. Needless to say, he had spent the last two hours wide awake, practicing clumsy swings with his sword. He wasn't getting any better, but at least it didn't felt as awkward as it did when he first wielded it. When he decided that he had somewhat gotten the hang of it, Kazou had booted up his laptop and done some research on Pegutori High.
What he had found had been surprising. The school itself had opened up only recently, and Kazou's first day there had been the first day of a new term. Still, the school was situated in an extremely remote area, and it made no sense for anyone to want to willingly be enrolled in it. Unless, of course, there was no choice. Finding the large number of total students in Pegutori High mightily suspicious, Kazou had decided to find out why the students didn't want to pick any of the other high schools in the area. The reason was simple: several other high schools in the surrounding area had been shut down, each citing different reasons, but nearly all happening within a month of each other.
With the drastic drop in the number of available schools, the remaining high schools were forced to reject majority of the students due to the sudden surge in applications and capacity limits. A newly built school boasting state of the art facilities and welcoming every student into their fold suddenly sounded much more appealing, despite being quite a long trip away from the city. This was part of the reason most of the students seemed to know each other; they had already known each other for quite some time before being forced to transfer schools. It also explained why there were quite a number of foreign students in the school, since even if every high school only had a small bunch of them, adding them all up still makes for quite a good number. And then there were the few odd ones out who transferred here last minute, Kazou himself being one of them.
Kazou silently lamented his plight as he breathed into his hands to fight off the chilly air of the morning. The weather forecast had stated that it would be bright and sunny all day long, but evidently it had been wrong. Taking a seat in one of the cold cement benches, Kazou found his eyes shifting alternatively between the time displayed on a white clock to the students in the station that were slowly increasing in numbers.
He tapped his black shoes impatiently on the floor as a group of students gathered ten feet away from him, chattering loudly about computer games and television, blissfully unaware of the fate that awaited them once they stepped into the school. Observing the students talking amongst themselves made Kazou realize that in the situation he was in now, having some friends sharing his cause could prove immensely useful.
Kazou was sure that most, if not all of the students were against this senseless tournament in the school. If he could somehow gather up a group of them, Kazou could potentially root out the mastermind behind the whole thing. Granted, friendship worked two ways, and even your best friend could turn and bare his fangs at you in times like these. Kazou's attitude was an automatic turnoff for most people, and the few that actually communicated with Kazou were those who wanted to beat him up. And, of course, there might be people whose mindset were as perverted as Harold's. But maybe, just maybe, if he can somehow get people who think similarly to him on his side, there might just be a chance...
The train pulled into the platform with a screech, and the white doors opened to allow the commuters to enter. Normally the interior of the train would be packed full despite its large size, but since it was still quite early in the morning, Kazou found himself easily able to find a seat. All of the students avoided the row of seat Kazou was sitting in, no thanks to the katana that made him stick out like a sore thumb. It wasn't like Kazou minded though, and he kept his face low, pondering over what to do when he meets Ikuto in school. The sound of footsteps approaching him broke Kazou's concentration, and he looked up to see Reikio grinning playfully at him.
"Morning, K-boy," Reikio seemed to have taken a liking to that nickname, despite Kazou having never told him his name. Knowing how Reikio liked to stick around Gabriel, Kazou had no doubt that he had obtained the information from the councilor. The student took out a fresh packet of poker cards, the seal still firmly intact, and emptied the contents onto his hand. "We got a big day ahead today, huh? Crazy bastard's gonna be after both of us."
"As if," Kazou scoffed in reply. The email had specifically stated that there could only be one battle per day for each person. "We got a fifty-fifty chance of being on the receiving end of the hammer. You've read the rules, haven't you?"
"You reckon?" Reikio grimaced as he began shuffling the cards in his hand at an incredible speed. With a jerk of his hands, one of the fifty four cards shot out of him and landed precisely on Kazou's lap: the Trickster. "I've done some talking with my Persona yesterday night. Turns out him and the Persona of that fella goes back a long way."
"And you're telling me this because...?" Kazou held the card up, observing it carefully. He had forgotten where the other one Reikio tossed at him on their first meeting had gone. It could be inside the washing machine now for all Kazou could care.
"Means he's more likely to want to go after me first instead of you, kapish?" Reikio looked decidedly more grim as the train neared its destination. "Yesterday was kinda a major fluke. His hammer fucking hurt. Don't let your Persona be hit by it."
"Then all the more you should be concerned, no?" Kazou didn't understand what Reikio was trying to tell him, although the last part did seem like sound advice. "What was that about not letting your Persona get hit?"
"You don't know?" Reikio seemed genuinely surprised about Kazou's question as another card flew out from his deck, this time an ace of spades. He caught it squarely in his palm before continuing, "Damage to your Persona is dealt directly to you. You must have had one heck of a first battle if your Persona didn't get hurt at all."
"Yeah well, mine is slightly over the top in terms of power and speed," Kazou mumbled. He wasn't lying after all, since Legion didn't stand a chance the moment Raigura appeared. Legion's strength had been in numbers, and once those numbers had been decimated, only a weak lump of darkness remained. Still, Ikuto didn't look weak at all, and he had survived two days thus far and even managed to tie with Reikio, so his Persona must have been tiers higher than Legion.
"Humph, good for you," Reikio snatched back the Trickster card from Kazou's hands as the train pulled to a halt, signifying that it was time to leave. Reikio's anxiety could easily be seen from how he looked over his shoulder every now and then, and by the way seemed to quicken his walking pace every half minute. What should have been a five minute walk was cut down to just three due to the walking speed of Reikio, but Kazou didn't argue as he matched the former's pace.
Soon enough the two arrived at the wide open front gates of the high school, the student councilor standing at the gate staring at the two of them questioningly as they stood outside, neither one wanting to enter first. Kazou turned to Reikio, who was shuffling cards with an even faster speed than before. He suspected that the cards was a way of relieving stress for the blonde haired student, and possibly were a form of weapon as well. How they worked was for all to guess though.
"I just realized," Kazou broke the awkward silence, then yawned before continuing, "You've been playing nice with me since this morning, to the point of walking with me to school. What gives?"
"I told you I'd be the one to kill you for trying to steal Gabriel away from me, didn't I?" Reikio's mood lightened as he flashed his usual playful grin at Kazou. "So I just didn't want either of us to die before that happens, ya know?"
"Ah, thought it was something along the lines of that," Kazou shivered a little as a cold wind blew around him, the black uniform he was donning doing little to insulate him. Somehow, Reikio didn't seem to annoy Kazou as much as other people did by simply being around him. The benefits of having someone to count on was invaluable in times like these, but Reikio's statement had quickly crushed Kazou's wishful thinking. "You know, we could always just get that battle over and done with right now..."
Reikio's shuffling stopped at Kazou's proposal, the cards all dropping perfect into the palm of his hand despite him no longer looking at them. Kazou could almost hear the student's brain working as he considered the offer, the grin momentarily wiped from his face. And then, just as quickly as it had vanished, the playful smile returned. "You know, I like the way you think. Let's do this right now once we go in, you and me, one on one."
"Sorry to interrupt you two, but I doubt that's gonna happen," The councilor had strayed from his post at the gate and was now standing before them, running a finger through his black hair and taking out a single strand. He pointed back at the school with his other hand before continuing, "Seems someone was waiting for both of you. Dedicated guy came here half an hour before school even opened. Naturally, I let him in. He's been stoning at one of the pillars ever since, just staring at the entrance."
Kazou struggled to remember the councilor's name. He was sure Gabriel had mentioned it during their meeting yesterday, but his memory failed to place the word. Still, the name of the gatekeeper didn't exactly happen to be as large a concern as the student awaiting their arrival inside the school. Kazou didn't have the least bit of doubt that the student the gatekeeper mention was Ikuto, and when he looked at Reikio's face he was sure the other party felt the same way.
"You're...Uriel, right?" Reikio's voice sounded somewhat strangled. "That student...was it the one who battled with me yesterday?"
"Gabriel's been giving out names, I see. I know she's the messenger, but that's still no excuse to drop names like candy," The councilor mumbled to himself, then nodded in response to Reikio's question. The strand of hair he still held in his hand suddenly glowed red before bursting out into flames, and Uriel let it fall to the ground. "Looks like one of you is going to burn out like that strand today."
"Ah fuck," Reikio's face turned pale, his hands moving to shuffle the cards once again. He turned to Kazou, the smile from earlier now all but gone. "Still wanna have that battle?"
"Remember, you have to be inside the school grounds to initiate any battle," Uriel reminded them as he headed back to his position as gatekeeper, having spotted several students approaching the school. "I recommend you both stay out here as long as you want until school starts and make a decision, since it's clear enough that the guy won't be moving from his spot until he sees either one of you."
"What do you think?" Kazou asked Reikio, whose eyes were solely concentrated on his cards as he shuffled them in his hands, the movement fast enough to cause them to become a blur.
"Prolonging the inevitable for another fifteen minutes or so huh?" The shuffling stopped, and the cards snapped perfectly into Reikio's hands. "Sounds good to me."
The two of them sat outside the walls of the school in silence, using the part of the surrounding wall that jutted outwards as a makeshift bench. Kazou wasn't even sure why he was doing this with Reikio, since the latter had made it clear that Ikuto would put priority on him. Still, Kazou believed it was a fifty-fifty chance. If one were to die, the other would be next. Kazou had a feeling that even if the situation was reversed and Ikuto was more likely to target him than Reikio, the latter would do the same and sit outside with him, 'prolonging the inevitable' as he had put it.
Aside from Reikio shuffling his cards, the only other sound Kazou could hear was the sound of footsteps from students arriving in the school, sometimes alone, other times bunched together. They didn't seem worried in the least about what had happened on the first day of battles, nor on the second day. Gabriel had said that the non-users had all ran wild in the school when Ikuto battled Reikio, and yet today they were all acting as though nothing had happened. Whatever the school used to temper with the memories of these students, it was clearly doing its job.
A few of the students that went past shot curious looks at the two as they sat outside, but neither one found themselves disturbed by any comments from outsiders. The morning sun's rays had finally started to warm up, and Kazou felt the chill that had followed him since he left his apartment finally beginning to dissipate. The sunlight shining down on the entire route and school gave the area a serene look, and Kazou observed the tiny particles of dust floating around in the air soundlessly.
Looking at dust was quite a slow way to pass time, and Kazou felt the minutes tick by lazily. The small leaves from the huge trees planted around the school fell around him and his sitting partner, and Kazou brushed them off every few seconds or so with some annoyance. Eventually the silence proved a bit too much for him, and Kazou found himself starting to curse at the trees as they dropped their leaves onto his hair and uniform. "Damn shitty trees. It ain't even autumn yet, why the fuck are they shedding their leaves?"
"Maybe the leaves know that their time has come," Reikio replied grimly, the speed of his shuffling having been maintained throughout the whole time he had been sitting down. "And maybe they just want to cling on to something, like clutching at straws, ya know?"
"You know, your pessimism is contagious. I mean, I don't even know how powerful Ikuto's Persona is yet, but just looking at you got me quaking in my fucking shoes. I mean, what the hell, man?" Kazou stood up and looked at the large clock displaying the time at the highest point of the school. They still had another two minutes or so before the bell rang. "Is he really that all powerful as you make him out to be? Does his Persona have some sort of instant kill ability or something?"
"Look who's all worked up now, eh?" Reikio stood up as well, his speed shuffling not slowing down in the least despite the movement. "Just got a bad feeling about today, that's all."
"Know what, I'm just gonna walk into the school, and if that bastard challenges me, I'm gonna cut him a new hole with this katana," Kazou held out the blade before Reikio. "Wait, fuck that, I'm gonna cut a lot of holes in his body if he picks me. Let him try."
"Trying to garner up some courage? Keep trying," Reikio flicked the fingers on his right hand multiple times as he threw the top four cards of the deck into the air, then collected them all in one smooth motion with his left. Kazou saw some of the gleeful glint return to his eyes as he revealed the cards in his hand. "You know, it just might be working. Ace of every suit."
Reikio's fingers moved twice more, sending the top two cards flying into the air. This time, Kazou darted forward and caught one of the two before the student could. He looked down at the picture of the winged demon, the crooked and misaligned wings somewhat fitting as it sat in a relaxed but confident posture. Holding it up to show Reikio, Kazou spoke the name of the card out loud. "The trickster."
"The trickster," Reikio grinned in reply, flashing the same card back to Kazou, the mischievous smile on the printed demon's face not unlike the one on the student's. Letting the rest of the cards fall to the floor and scatter all about, Reikio turned towards the school gate, just in time as the bell for class rang.
"Aren't you going to use those?" Kazou looked at the cards as they fell from Reikio's hand. "I thought they were your weapons."
"They are. But I've got plenty, and it's natural for me to use a new pack every battle," Reikio watched as the last of the cards landed on the floor, with the Trickster card landing on the very top of the stack. "Let's go, K-boy."
"Don't call me that," Kazou grumbled, hopping over the cards on the floor and adding the trickster in his hand to the stack. It may not have been much, but he felt as though something had developed between him and Reikio during the time they sat together contemplating about the battle with Ikuto. Something that could very well prove to be the start of what people call friendship.
Uriel's head was cocked to one side as the two approached him, knowing full well that it was time to them to accept their fate, for better or for worse. "Made your peace with the gods?"
"I'll make peace with the gods after I'm done with Ikuto," Reikio's hand reached into his bag as he took out a fresh pack of poker cards, ripping the seal and wrapping off with ease. "Things would be so much easier if you guys actually allowed ranged weapons, but eh, too late for that I suppose."
The two stopped one step before the school, taking in the sight of Ikuto leaning against a pillar and being surrounded by girls. It would seem that he was quite popular with them, and Kazou could see why. There was this calm and collected aura about the student that Kazou would have called cool, was he not aware that his life might be ending by the student's hands. Ikuto noticed them at the same time they saw him, and he ceased entertaining the girls instantly as he shifted from his spot.
"Ladies," Ikuto addressed the circle of girls around him with an air of chivalry, "Pardon me, but I have some business to attend to. Class have started, so you should all be on your way as well."
The group of girls giggled as they nodded and moved out of Ikuto's way, presumably going up to their respective classes. Ikuto watched them leave with folded arms and a far off expression, then turned to the two standing at the gate, his eyes solely focused on Reikio. "About damn time. Was beginning to think that you wouldn't show up."
"'About damn time', he says," Reikio mimicked, "Well, of course it is. It's eight in the morning, innit?"
"What you just said made no sense," Ikuto looked around them, the school compound being completely deserted save for a few scattered individuals here and there on the different floors. Kazou was sure they were users who had observed the battle between the two yesterday, and were here just to catch more of the action. The number of observers started to gradually increase in numbers as Reikio and Ikuto stood before each other, staring each other down. "Yesterday was an unfortunate turn of events, what with us both being knocked out, but I shall make sure that history does not repeat itself."
"What, the councilors chided you for almost destroying a whole facility with your lightning shit, so now you have to engage me at the school gates?" Reikio sniggered as the speed of his shuffling slowed down. "What if I don't want to step into the school? What can you do then, scream in rage at me whilst frothing at the mouth?"
"Oh please," Uriel rolled his eyes, a tiny ember of red barely visible in them as he did. "You have one minute to enter of your own free will, or I will make you do so. And you don't want the second option happening, mark my words."
"There you have it," Ikuto smiled confidently, unzipping his bag and taking out the same hammer whose strength Kazou had bore witness to a day ago. Now that he had time to properly take in the details of the weapon though, it didn't look too special or unique. Kazou was sure that underneath the uniform Ikuto was wearing was a body that had been through countless training, if the outlines of the muscles in his body was anything to go by. "You got one minute to prepare to meet the business end of my hammer."
"Aren't you going to accept his challenge, Loki?" Gabriel had appeared without warning on the other side of the gate, the beeping that sounded from a device on her hand quickly quietened with a push of a button. She was holding onto what seemed to be a notebook of sorts, and writing something in it with a vacant expression. "First battle of day three, and you have the privilege of it being delivered to you on a silver platter on your first step into the school. You should feel honored."
"Honored that I'm about to enter a match that could be spelling my doom, sure, why not?" Reikio sighed as his shuffling ceased completely and he turned over the top card, revealing the Trickster once again. "Looks like lady luck's on my side today."
"Luck shall play no role in our duel today," Ikuto refuted as the air around him started to crackle with energy, small blue bolts of lightning emanating from him and dispersing as they hit the floor. "Come, Reikio. I'm waiting."
Kazou patted Reikio's shoulder as he entered the school first, now positive that Ikuto wasn't going to target him. True enough, Ikuto barely seemed to even register Kazou's presence, his eyes firmly locked onto Reikio. "Don't die."
"I told you, I ain't dying till I get back at you for trying to steal Gabriel from me," Reikio sneered in response as he turned back to Ikuto. Holding the card of the Trickster up, he stepped into the school as a cold wind began to blow around him. "Alright, let's go."
"Ha, finally," The electrical energy around Ikuto was beginning to increase in quantity as they spread out more and more, the bolts now randomly striking things and leaving a black charred spot where they struck. The hammer in his hands seemed to be a magnet for the stray bolts after a while, and with each strike it glowed decidedly more blue. "A duel between gods."
Around Reikio, it was the exact opposite. The cold winds that surrounded him was causing his two locks of hair to flutter wildly, and the path he walked on turned into a freezing white with each step he took. Kazou could feel the cold air even though he was a good five meters or so away from Reikio, and it only got more frigid as Reikio moved. "Just to finish what we started, eh?"
The two slowly approached each other, and Kazou was sure this confidence only came because they were both sure that they knew what kind of attacks the other party would try to pull due to their battle from before. The bolts of energy and chilling wind finally met at the middle, then passed by each other without as much as a falter. Both of them proceeded to move another few feet away from each other, and then whirled around to face their opponent at the same moment. Ikuto's hammer seemed to be fully charged, and Kazou saw the printed demon of the card in Reikio's hand start to move. At the same moment Ikuto smashed his hammer down into the ground to bring forth a large surge of electricity, Reikio tossed the card in his hand onto the floor, and together they screamed the same word. "Persona!"
"LOKIII!" A loud voice rang out from the heavens as the sound of glass shattering reached Kazou's ears. Thunder rumbled in the skies above the school as the surroundings turned dark, the sun being blotted out by an ominous black cloud of lightning. A single strike of blue lightning came shooting down from the cloud and into the spot Ikuto had hit with his hammer, the resulting energy shattering the cement floor easily and kicking up a fog of dust. Kazou could make out the outline of two humanoid figures in the dust, one of them being Ikuto and the other, his Persona. The fog cleared away just as quickly as it came, and Kazou finally laid his eyes on the Persona that was responsible for the electrical energy surging all around them.
To say it looked human would be underwhelming, for Ikuto's Persona towered at least a head and a half above the already tall Kazou. The Persona's muscular arms and legs were fully revealed in all their glory, and there were odd black markings on the tanned skin of each limb. He was donning white gauntlets and greaves that complimented his muscles perfectly, and on his chest was a golden piece of mail, each piece of the armor perfectly interlocked with each other to form a formidable defense. The mail was laid over what seemed to be a belt of sorts, and Kazou resisted the urge to laugh as he realized that the Persona was only wearing his underwear.
On his head the Persona wore a golden viking helmet, the two black horns on it orientated downwards. The helmet covered the entire face of the Persona, and revealed no facial characteristics save for the two electric blue eyes that shone forth from it. Two long locks of black hair that emerged from underneath the helmet flapped in the wind together with the long white cape tied around the neck of the Persona as it pointed its weapon at Reikio. Coincidentally, the weapon the Persona held in its hand happened to be a hammer as well, although it was much larger than the one Ikuto wielded, and had a sharp point jutting out at the top. "Loki, cower not before thy destiny."
"Cower? You make me laugh, Thor. Even after eons, you never change," A sly voice replied to Ikuto's Persona, and Kazou looked to see the card that Reikio had thrown shimmering on the ground. It appeared to have become completely frozen, a white sheen of ice wrapped around the card and causing it to reflect the sunlight. A crack appeared in the middle of the card, and from that fracture a literal snowstorm poured out, dropping the temperature around it as it did. Amidst the ice a single figure took form, its shape familiar to Kazou, who recognized it instantly as the demon printed on the Trickster card.
With the demon in full view, Kazou could make out more of the finer details of Loki that could not be seen when it was still inside the card. The Persona was hovering in the air, his arms folded in a posture of arrogance. The wings that kept him afloat were colored black with a tinge of blue on the underside, and resembled those of a bat's. Majority of his body was covered in a skin tight purple suit, with silver latches attached to each other being used in place of buttons.
Loki looked relatively human aside from the wings, and was about even height to Kazou, so Thor easily dwarfed him. His hair was the same blonde color as Reikio's, but was long and flowed behind him, easily reaching the part of his back where his wings appeared from. The two locks of hair that stretched down from his head in front of him was ridiculously lengthy though, and rivaled his entire height even though he was standing up straight. What little of his true skin color could be seen from his face, the green hue a stark contrast to the dark colors that made up most of his image.
A splatter of purple replaced the green on the left side of his face, looking almost akin to a mask of sorts. True to his title, behind his cunning eyes and wolfish grin Kazou could almost see a playful, if sinister mind. The trickster unfolded his arms and lowered himself down, legs merely inches off the floor. His wings arched in an awkward angle, and Kazou was sure the Persona could twist them howsoever he wished without fear of pain. Sneering at Thor, Loki watched as his opponent's grip on his weapon tightened, a sure sign of mounting rage. "My, my. You still harbor such hatred for me, even after so much time has passed? It isn't good to bear grudges. You should let bygones be bygones, brother."
"Do not group me together with the likes of you!" Thor's hammer glowed a dangerous blue, Loki's words seemingly having hit a raw nerve. "I will not acknowledge someone such as you to have the same blood as father's running through our veins."
"Hmm, speaking of father, you don't think he's watching, do you?"
Loki seemed unperturbed by Thor's reaction, and rather, seemed to be enjoying poking fun at the Norse god.
"If he is, then he shall bear witness to my smiting of thee with Mjolnir!" Finishing his sentence, Thor tossed his hammer towards his opponent, the weapon discharging lightning as it flew.
Loki's wings spread out to their full span as he placed his hands together, conjuring up the winds and forming a physical wall of ice before him. The hammer struck at the wall, but didn't lose any of its velocity upon impact, continuing to move forward stubbornly. Sparks flew as ice and metal clashed, but with a sudden crack the frozen wall gave way and crumbled apart. Neither Reikio nor Loki could be seen though, for the two had mysteriously vanished when their defense fell.
"Coward!" Mjolnir returned to Thor's hand with a swift turn, and the Persona gripped it tightly as he hammered the ground, causing a shower of sparks to rain down on the area before him randomly. Ikuto wasn't in the least concerned about the risk of being struck by the bolts, and was keeping his eyes peeled for anything that might give the location of Reikio and his Persona away.
"I prefer the term, 'Trickster'," Loki replied, his voice springing forth from everywhere around the combat area. Kazou now knew why Gabriel had said that Reikio used petty magic tricks. No matter where he looked, there was no sign anywhere of the blonde Persona and his user. "Shall we play hide and seek for the rest of the day? Only this time I'll find a perfect spot, and I can guarantee you, you'll never find me."
"Everyday you hide, never daring to face someone in direct combat. If I ever get my hands on you..."
Thor looked at Ikuto, who seemed just as frustrated as his Persona, trying to figure out where his opponent was hiding.
"Yesterday he took to the skies, but today's a new one with a magical disappearing act," Ikuto narrowed his eyes at the area before him, turning from the school gate to the spectators watching from afar. Then, as if he just had a stroke of inspiration, Ikuto made a circular gesture with his hand as he spoke his command aloud to Thor, "I got feeling he's still here somewhere. For instance, he might just be using some trick to appear invisible...in that case, then we'll just bombard the whole area with lightning."
Thor nodded in response as he held Mjolnir up high, the weapon's glowing getting brighter as he charged it up. And then in one swift motion, the hammer was brought down to meet the ground, sending out a large pulse of electricity as it did. Kazou felt his hair beginning to raise, a sign of the static electricity in the air. He didn't have enough time to move though, for Thor's attack fell a split second later.
White and blue energy rippled outwards in a dramatic fashion from the point Thor had struck with his hammer, causing destruction to each spot that was unfortunate enough to be in their path, and leaving a trail of singe marks behind them. However, despite the wild looking nature of the attack, Kazou realized that it was in fact being controlled very expertly by Thor. The lightning did not come close to the spot that Kazou was standing on, and also avoided landed near either one of the councilors.
"Quite a show of power and talent, isn't it?" Gabriel commentated as she continued writing on her notebook, occasionally looking up, but otherwise not really paying attention to the battle. "Makes you wonder how Loki managed to survive the first day."
Kazou kept silent, for now the reason that Reikio had been so afraid was clear to him. Ikuto's Persona, Thor, had undoubtedly enough strength to put him amongst the top tier of Personas. His power could very well rival Raigura's, and Kazou wasn't sure how long Reikio could last against such an opponent.
"Fuck!" Reikio's voice cried out not too far from Kazou, and he looked forward to see something shimmering away, revealing the student having been brought to his knees. His Persona was in a similar pose, and it wasn't too difficult to guess that Loki had been the one hit by Thor's attack. Reikio clenched his teeth as he struggled to pick himself up, the cards in his hand scattering all over the floor. "Didn't think you'd really use that attack in the beginning. Overpowered piece of shit."
"You're trying to pull some stunt with an invisibility magic? I didn't know you could pull something like that with ice," Ikuto snorted in contempt, then rushed towards Reikio with his hammer raised. "Too bad it's the end for you!"
"Loki!" Reikio tossed a card in front of him as Loki lifted a hand, sending the card flying towards Ikuto. It stopped directly before the spiky haired student, and a huge blast of wind shot forth from it without warning, flinging Ikuto backwards a good ten meters. Thor felt the attack on his user as well, but to a lesser extent, as he only staggered back a step before regaining his balance. "Darn it, five of hearts. Not nearly enough power."
"Hey, what gives?" Kazou looked at Gabriel, who was apparently still uninterested in the battle before her. "I thought the rules said no ranged attacks were allowed."
"It's his style," Gabriel shrugged, "Besides, he didn't attack the user directly using those cards, so we consider it an attack by the Persona. As such, it's allowable."
"You can do that...?" Kazou never thought that the rules could be bent this way. Now that he thought about it, there might be some loopholes in the rules that he can exploit, some way to end this conflict in the school without killing. His thoughts were interrupted by a clap of thunder, and he turned his attention back to the battle.
Thor had just helped Ikuto to his feet, the giant easily lifting the student up with one hand. The wind attack from Loki didn't seem to have fazed either Ikuto or his Persona, but Reikio and Loki, on the other hand, were still recovering from the lightning that had hit them. Ikuto flashed a victory smile at Reikio as he slowly approached his opponent. "When I couldn't see you, I had to reduce Thunder Reign's power to allow it to spread out evenly. But now that you're completely in the open, it'll be easy to finish you off."
"Says you," Reikio replied through his ragged breathing, his body shaking due to the damage Loki took being transferred to him. It was fortunate that the Persona had a much higher electrical resistance than a normal human, and as such no fatal amount of electricity was passed on to Reikio. Still, the damage from two direct shots of lightning wasn't anything to scoff at, reduced or not. "That attack requires a huge amount of concentration and charge up time, and since you used it this early in the fight, you won't be able to use it again any time soon. Besides, it's not as if I'll be stupid enough to stay here and let you zap me."
"True, but who said anything about zapping you?" Ikuto was drawing close to Reikio's position now, no more than a mere six meters away. Thor stood beside him protectively, probably to guard against another wind attack like the one Loki had pulled when Ikuto approached alone. "Smashing your face in with this hammer would be good enough."
"Tch, as if. Loki, plan B," Reikio managed to take a few steps backwards as his Persona conjured up a huge cube of ice. It looked fragile and appeared to be breaking apart though, and Ikuto laughed as he took in how weak the ice looked.
"What's this, a joke? Is that supposed to impede me in any way whatsoever?"
"No, but this is," Loki replied, a sly smile having formed on his lips. With a sudden movement of his arms, the cube shattered into countless pieces, the sharp icicles flying towards Ikuto. Thor easily swatted all of them away, but as the pieces of ice hit the floor they began emitting something not unlike fog.
"This...dry ice?" Ikuto looked around at the scattered pieces of ice around him, each doing their part to add to the ever increasing fog. Rather than the usual thin layer, the fog emitted by each piece of the ice was thick and hampered vision greatly. With at least one piece in nearly every corner of the battlefield, Ikuto found himself quickly becoming hopelessly lost. "How many damn tricks do you intend to keep pulling..."
"Don't move. That's exactly what he wants," Thor placed a hand on Ikuto as he started to take a step forward, preventing the latter from moving. "If we can't see each other then we'll be at a disadvantage. It'll be a fool's errant for us to play into Loki's hands. We'll watch each other's back, that way he won't be able to get either one of us."
Ikuto nodded as he brought his back to his Persona's, taking slow, deliberate steps forward. Ordinarily this sort of fog wouldn't have hampered Ikuto and he would have just used the clock displayed in the school as a sort of landmark, but the fog this time was caused by supernatural powers, and as such was dense enough to reduce vision to a mere meter or two ahead of them. With both his movement and attack restricted, Ikuto could only cuss quietly under his breath as he and his Persona leaned against each other, both ready to move at the first sign of a surprise attack.
"That Loki...what is he playing at?" Thor flexed the fingers of his free hand as Mjolnir's slowly began to regain its glow. It wouldn't be too long before his most powerful attack became available once more. Until then though, his attacks were limited to physical ones. A movement in the fog caught the Persona's eye, and instinctively Thor flung his hammer towards where he had spotted the fog shifting. It passed through the spot harmlessly...and then didn't return. "What trickery is this?"
"MY trickery, brother," Loki's voice came in response, and the fog around the two began to shift as though it was alive. It moved with intent, dispersing and then reforming until Ikuto and Thor realized too late what Loki had really planned: A thousand pointed needles of ice positioned themselves in the air mere centimeters from Ikuto's defenseless body, forming something similar to an iron maiden. With the fog now completely cleared away, Thor could see why Mjolnir had failed to return to him. Loki had encased the hammer in a chunk of ice, and was constantly keeping an eye on it to make sure it never burst free from the icy prison. He had also positioned himself a good fifteen meters or so away from Thor, and as such did not have to worry about being physically assaulted. "I win this one, do you not agree?"
"Not yet," Thor mumbled, keeping an eye on both Mjolnir and Ikuto. The latter was in an uncomfortable position, with any unnecessary movements causing the icicles to prick him and draw blood. Loki's concentration and power was divided between maintaining the prison of Mjolnir and positioning the icicles around Ikuto though, and a quick glance at his hammer assured Thor that there was a way out of the sticky situation Loki had placed him in. Kneeling down to get to eye level with Ikuto and keeping his voice low, Thor explained his plan to his user, who could only listen with beads of sweat falling down his forehead. "Mjolnir is almost fully charged. I can free it from the bind Loki placed on it if I concentrate enough, but in turn I'm sure Loki will not hesitate to plunge the ice through your body. The speed of my hammer might not be fast enough to reach us, and if it isn't, your life will end here. That is why I must ask if you're willing to take this risk. Are you willing to trust me on this? Blink once if you are, twice if you aren't."
Ikuto closed his eyes once slowly and deliberately, then reopened them and looked at the Persona before him with faith. There was a risk of him dying either way, and having a chance to be able to cheat death was certainly a far better choice than certain death. He winced as another icicle pricked him, this time on his face. Ikuto could see the pure white of the ice being tainted red with blood out of the corner of his eye, and a warm trail of the red liquid slowly trickled down his chin. Either it was just him, or the icicles were increasing in length slowly, and Ikuto was plenty sure that it wasn't the former.
"Very well. You're indeed a user worthy of someone of my caliber," Thor turned his electric blue eyes towards Loki, who had both hands up in the air as he maintained the power to keep both Mjolnir bound and have the spikes move in closer on Ikuto. Rather than standing up, Thor remained kneeling, and his hand flew outwards as he summoned his hammer to his side forcefully. "Mjolnir, to me!"
Ikuto watched the whole thing happen in slow motion: first Mjolnir began to rock violently in the cage of ice, then in another second the power in the hammer proved too much for the prison it was encased within to handle, and the ice shattered into pieces as the weapon flew towards its rightful master. Loki's face displayed surprise and fear, which quickly transformed to anger as he turned his baleful eyes towards Ikuto. Without the need to contain Mjolnir any longer, Loki could now fully focus his power on the ice around him, and the Trickster brought his hands together as the icicles increased in length, heading towards Ikuto's skin with every passing millisecond.
Mjolnir was still in midair, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that even at the incredible speed it was flying towards Thor, there wouldn't be enough time for it to reach its owner before the ice pierced Ikuto's flesh. Ikuto closed his eyes and prepared to accept his fate, but as he did so he felt something grabbing his leg. The ever extending icicles, the flying hammer, all of it vanished in a blur as Ikuto felt the whooshing of wind and found himself face to face with the Norse god that was his Persona, completely at a loss for words.
Thor winced as he took the icicles that were originally meant for his user. The ones that hit his golden mail bounced off harmlessly, but his arms were unprotected, and as they pierced his tanned skin, the pain that Thor felt was echoed to his user. Ikuto felt the echoed pain tearing through the muscle and tissue on his arms, but he choked back the urge to yell out. If Thor was hurting, he certainly didn't show it, and the Persona pulled out the icicles stuck in his arm without hesitation.
Drops of blood flowed freely from the puncture holes, but Thor took it in his stride as he picked up Mjolnir in his hands. The hammer felt heavier than before, no doubt a result of the wounds he had endured, but it was going to take a lot more than some ice to stop him from wielding it. Mjolnir was glowing the same electric blue as his eyes as he raised the hammer towards Loki, who was looking decisively vexed. "It ends now, Loki."
"Shit," Reikio staggered out from behind his Persona, falling forward and barely able to stand. "Didn't you tell me to leave it to you, Loki? Fuck, look at the mess you've got us into now."
"Aye, what a mess," Loki's tone had dropped to a soft one, the confident edge he had before now all but gone. He should have expected Thor to pull something like protecting his user from the ice. He had one perfect chance, and he had wasted it, and now the tables had turned. Loki's mind worked feverishly as he tried to find a way out of the unfortunate position he and his user was now in, but for once the Trickster's mind came up empty. "What a mess indeed."
"The effects of that lightning is finally starting to get to me," Reikio dropped to the floor, his expression pained as his left hand began to spasm. "Can't even feel anything in the left part of my brain right now. Fuck."
"You know," Loki drifted down beside his user, his expression brightening up a little as he thought of something. "We could always try Niflheim."
"But we...no, you're right. If we don't use it now we won't have a chance to use it at all," Reikio slammed the deck of cards in his hand onto the floor, causing them to scatter all around. Gathering the four aces from the scattered cards with his right hand, Reikio placed them in the pattern of a pentagon, leaving the top spot open for the card of the Trickster. "It's all or nothing then, Loki. Anytime you're ready."
"In case we don't make it, I've had fun the past two days. And today was even better, since it's been a while since my last clash with a god. And who better to go out with a bang with than Thor himself?" Loki was shrinking in size as he spoke, and soon he had returned to the form of the Trickster card he originally took. "If we live through this, I got a feeling that girl you're after might finally start noticing you."
The card took its place in the pentagon, and as it did the air around Reikio started to blow with a cold wind, the moisture in the air beginning to condense rapidly, as white mist started to emerge from the cards laid on the ground. It resembled the fog that Reikio and Loki had utilized earlier, but this time Kazou felt a terrible power emanating from the pentagon together with the mist. This was going to be Reikio's final attack, his ace in the hole.
All this time, Ikuto and Thor moved ever closer to the two, a defiant stubbornness displayed in both the eyes of the Persona and his user. The air around the two was beginning to crackle with electrical energy once more, and Mjolnir had regained the glow that it first possessed before Thor used his most powerful attack to force his opponent out of hiding. Still, Kazou could see that Ikuto was physically tired from the effort of using his Persona's special attacks, his breathing heavy and ragged, his facial expression one of suppressed agony. The physical wounds to his arms he had recently suffered only served to further increase his exhaustion.
Ikuto and Thor stopped moving six meters away from their opponent, leaving enough space for their attacks. The two looked quite the sight, Reikio sitting on the floor with the left part of his body shaking uncontrollably, Ikuto standing and looking as though his knees might buck at any moment. The battle had taken its toll on the uniform of the two as well, and both articles of clothing were torn in more places than one. But neither one was willing to stop what they were doing, both hellbent on finishing what had been started.
"Niflhelm?" Gabriel had finally stopped jolting the notes down on her notebook, and was now looking at the two combatants readying their final attacks. For once the councilor appeared worried about the battle happening in front of her, a frown forming on her thin lips. "If that clashes with Thunder Reign, we might have some problems..."
"Let them play, I say," Uriel was looking in the directions of the classrooms, where a lot of students had been drawn out of by the sound of thunder and lightning. Already some were running amok in confusion, although a few of the more courageous ones stayed in the relative safety of the walkways on the upper floors and watched the fight with curious eyes. "Those non-users are gonna try and get out of the school again...at least with the battle occurring here and blocking off the only way out, they won't be able to attempt an escape until it is over."
Kazou watched Reikio and Ikuto worriedly; he had a gut feeling that if their attacks were to hit each other, it was really going to end with someone dying. And that was the last thing he wanted, since they were both powerful Persona users, and would be formidable allies if they helped him in his cause. And the last thing he wanted was to lose any potential allies to the cold of the grave. Kazou's eyebrows furrowed as he thought hard of a way to stop the two.
It doesn't look like I can stop them with mere words, but they are both tired out. If their attacks fail to hit their target... Kazou covered his mouth with his hand as he continued thinking. How could I interfere with a battle though...? There just has to be some way to bend the rules like what Loki did.
And then an idea took root in Kazou's head as he stared at the two battlers. Turning to Gabriel, confident that she would have the answer to his question, Kazou asked, "The rules never said anything about not being able to jump into a battle that's already started. If I join in now, it's still considered one battle, because I haven't used up my chance today yet, and those two aren't finished with theirs. So it's allowable, right?"
"Hmm? I guess so," Gabriel looked at Kazou inquisitively. "You've been hanging out with Loki quite a bit, haven't you?"
"Heh, is it that obvious?" Kazou drew his katana from its scabbard and thrust the blade into his chest after a moment's pause, the fiery pain from the fulminating inferno of white that burst out within him assaulting his every senses. His Persona's words to him the night before rang true though, and the flames went away as quickly as they came, taking the pain along with it. Raigura stood where the final embers of the fire was quickly flickering away to nothingness, his attention fully focused on the ongoing battle before him.
"Orders?" The swordsman obviously wasn't in the mood to talk, having seen the entire situation through Kazou's eyes and understanding what was going on perfectly.
"Your blades can cut through anything right? Slice their attacks in half," The words came out of Kazou's mouth quickly, and even as he said it he realized how ridiculous it sounded.
"You understand that you're practically asking me to cut lightning and mist?" Raigura's hands were already on the handles of Sanzura and Xeletho. Normally he would have used Cenoren, but his targets were using ice conjured from the coldness of Norse hell, and lightning from the divine realm above the clouds. Neither of those could be truly considered to have come from the mortal realm, and Raigura was aware of that fact. "Not that I'm not confident in my speed, of course. But it's your own life you're putting in jeopardy here for the sake of two people, one who was going to kill you for stealing his girlfriend, and another who wants to smash in your face in when he has the chance. Are you sure you want to endanger your own life for those two whom you scarcely even know?"
"If you are truly my Persona, then you should know only too damn well I don't like people dying in front of me. Besides, those two got-" Kazou's eyes flashed to Gabriel and Uriel beside him. He was certain they were part of the organization who set the whole Persona tournament up, and as such had to pick his next word carefully. "-potential."
"Well said," Raigura nodded and turned towards his targets, walking forward whilst unsheathing his two katanas. His prowess was going to be reduced due to wielding such long weapons with one hand each, but the blades felt light and comfortable in his grip. "I never thought I'd have to use two hands again."
Raigura approached Reikio and Ikuto cautiously, the energy emitted by the power of their Personas now so powerful that it seemed to be tearing the very air around them apart with raw force.
On Reikio's side it looked as though winter had come early, with white precipitation flying all around in conjunction with a gale whose temperature was low enough to freeze the scattered poker cards as they were picked up by the wind. Fallen leaves from the trees were not spared either, and those that drew too close to Reikio and the pentagon were frozen in a cube of ice instantaneously.
Around Ikuto and Thor it appeared as if they carried an entire thunderstorm above their heads, with the lightning freely spewing forth randomly and striking against the cold wind that Reikio had generated. The blizzard seemed to act as a sort of shield though, and each bolt stopped a meter away from their target, blocked off by the white mist.
The three turned a questioning eye to Raigura as he stood before them, unsure what was going on with the swordsman suddenly appearing before them. Raigura pointed his katanas at the students and Personas both sides, showing his intentions clearly. He still kept in mind the details of the email though, and spoke out loud nonetheless. "Reikio and Ikuto. Kazou issues a challenge to the both of you. I'm his Persona, and my orders are to retrieve the both of you alive. So take my suggestion: both of you drop the sorcery you are evoking right now before I take action."
"What the hell?" Reikio turned and looked at Kazou, who only returned the stare with an apologetic look. Lifting his good right hand with the middle finger raised at Raigura, Reikio flinched a little as he felt the effects of the electricity starting to affect his entire body. "K-boy thinks he can just jump in like this and get a slice of the action? Fuck off, ain't happening."
"For once I'm in agreement with him," Ikuto growled at Raigura. "What is the meaning of this intrusion? I have neither the time nor the energy to entertain you. Thor, get him away from here."
A discharge of energy flew towards Raigura's face at Ikuto's command, but the swordsman cut it without as much as flinching. His face stoic, Raigura kept both blades raised as he walked in between the combatants. "Do not contest my blades. It will not end nicely."
"Fuck contesting your blade! You want to get in the middle of our attacks then you better be ready to get your ass kicked hard," Reikio raised his right hand and pointed a finger at Ikuto. "I'll get rid of both of you at the same time!"
"My sentiments precisely," Ikuto's hand flew out in response to Reikio, his palm open. "Thor, you know what to do."
Thor held Mjolnir aloft as the hammer began to discharge bolts of blue and white lightning, and the pentagon around Reikio lifted off from the floor and faced his opponents. The white mist was pushed back and forth by the electric field Thor generated, and Raigura felt his skin tingling as he stood in the middle of it. He brushed the feeling off though, for the attacks of the Personas would come in any instant, and Raigura couldn't afford to let his concentration lapse for even a second. Ikuto closed his palm forcefully after a moment as though he was crushing an insect with it, and Raigura took that as the signal that both parties were going to attack. His intuition was spot on.
"Thunder Reign!"
"Niflhelm!"
Thor's hammer struck the ground forcefully as Ikuto yelled the name of the attack, and with it the plasma energy that Raigura had witnessed through Kazou's eyes earlier pulsed out in a circle on the ground, a harbinger of the deadly force that was to come from the clouds above. Thor fell to his knees as soon as his hammer hit the ground, the Persona now truly out of power and putting his trust in his final attack. Raigura held no doubt in his mind that the concentrated version of Thunder Reign would have enough speed and power to easily pierce through him and Reikio, but the lightning wasn't the only concern the swordsman had to face.
On his other side the white mist had surrounded his body and was reaching out for Ikuto's. The mist held malevolent intent, moving forward like a malicious specter. Raigura presumed that once it managed to get its icy grip on Ikuto, it would completely freeze them both. A cracking of ice sounded behind Reikio as the air around him began to solidify, forming large glaciers that followed the path the mist had laid out for it moments before. The ice moved forward and spread out at a constant speed, and Raigura knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he found himself frozen where he stood.
His long hair rising due to the static in the air, Raigura decided on the most suitable course of action. He would have to cancel out Niflhelm first before dealing with Thunder Reign. His left hand holding Sanzura flicked, and the mist that had encircled him faltered for a moment as the blade cut through it. Then, turning to look at the skies, his right hand held Xeletho up high for a moment, watching the lightning flying towards him. When the trajectory of the lightning bolt brought it close enough, Raigura let Xeletho fall upon it, the edge making contact with the raw force of nature. There was a huge amount of resistance as Xeletho forced the lightning backwards, the blade of darkness small in comparison to the large blue stream of energy that the heavens spewed forth.
If it was an ordinary human in Raigura's position right now he would have been killed countless times over by the catastrophic energy that came forth as a result of both the lightning and ice, the latter having wrapped around Raigura around the lower portion of his body and chilling him to the bone. But the swordsman was unable to effectively use the power of the katanas in his hands to their full extent while wielding them with one hand each, and as such it was all he could do to hold the lightning from Thor in place. Holding something like lightning in place didn't mean that the power it had was ignored though, and even though Xeletho could keep the attack at bay, it was unable to dissipate the energy of the electricity it was holding back.
Raigura's body started to tremble, partially from the electricity that was running through it, and also from the coldness he felt in his legs that was steadily moving upwards. Blood flowed out without restrain from his right hand as the electricity created blisters on it, but Raigura's hold on Xeletho was adamant, and his face did not even display the slightest bit of pain despite the blood. Kazou was feeling all of the pain as well, but unlike his Persona he was freely screaming out in pain on the floor as he felt the skin on his palm being ripped open again and again. Lurching forward before his knees buckled on him, Kazou let out another scream of agony as he felt his legs becoming painfully heavy, the feeling akin to being bind down with thick steel chains that were clamping tighter around him with every passing second.
With the lower half of his body already encased in ice and unable to move, Raigura clenched his teeth and looked towards Reikio for a moment, a plan formulating in his head as he did. The blade of Sanzura was just long enough to reach the pentagon from which the mist was pouring out of, and this was what allowed Raigura's plan to work. Memorizing the location of the cards, then turning back to the onslaught of electric energy still attacking his Xeletho, Raigura's left hand moved once more. Sanzura's white holy blade attacked each of the four ace cards on the pentagon with incredible precision, cutting each one perfectly in half and causing them to flutter down to the ground harmlessly.
The crystallization of the mist slowed down considerably due to the attack losing its mediums, and Raigura returned Sanzura to its scabbard as he turned his attention towards the crackling energy Xeletho was still slicing through. Both hands clasping the handle of his katana tightly, and knowing that Kazou would not be able to last much longer if he took in any more electricity, Raigura swung Xeletho upwards with all his strength. The blade severed the lightning cleanly in two, and the two rouge bolts were redirected to the only spot behind him: the gates of Pegutori High.
A loud explosion sounded as the destructive power of lightning hit the white gates and sent it flying into the air, broken into multiple pieces. The metal hissed red hot with heat as it crashed onto the floor meters outside the school, blue sparks still visibly traveling across its wide frame.
Uriel appeared unhurt by the attack that should have hit him since he was leaning against the gate when it exploded, but his eyes twitched with a spark of anger as he spoke, "He just destroyed my gate."
"Holy...shit," Reikio was shaking his head in disbelief, the Trickster card that Loki had took the form of falling to the floor. Those were his last words before he fell into a slump on the floor unconscious.
Thor started to vanish, and as he turned transparent the muscular Norse god's eyes looked somewhat disappointed. Ikuto collapsed onto his knees, feeling completely drained of energy after his last attack and knowing that he could no longer fight. "Bested in combat."
Raigura himself stood alone between the two, the ice on his legs defrosting quickly now that they had completely lost their source of power. Sliding Xeletho back into its scabbard on his back, the swordsman turned towards Kazou and issued him a nod before he started disappearing from the material plane.
"Hey, Gabriel," Kazou spoke to the councilor as he lay on the floor, his body absolutely worn out and hurting everywhere. "I hope the school nurse is as good as you made him out to be."
"Hm? Why?"
"Because my body feels like I've took a trip into the oceans of Antarctica while hugging a transformer from a power plant that's been programmed to run at full power underwater. Oh, and I'm seeing two of you in front of me right now," Kazou's vision began to swim, and he did not fight it as he closed his eyes, allowing sleep to claim him and numb the pain.
"Oh man," Those were the first words out of Kazou's mouth as he woke up, followed by a groan as his head throbbed with pain. After a moment the pain dulled, and Kazou managed to let out a confused grunt over where he was. His eyes shifting into focus, Kazou saw his bag and weapon lying on the floor beside the bed. Turning back to look at the ceiling, he flinched as he realized that there was a bright fluorescent light directly overhead him.
The light nearly blinded him as Kazou turned away to the side, the afterimage remaining for a couple of seconds as he blinked. Kazou winced as he tried to push himself up from the white cushioned bed. His bones ached and protested at the effort, but eventually he managed to get into a sitting position and had a better view of the room he was in.
The entire room was painted white, and there were a few light blue curtains providing some privacy to people who were on the lying on the bed behind them. Cabinets and drawers of all sorts and fashions were nearly everywhere in the room, and those that weren't locked revealed their contents to be some sort of medical equipment or bottles of nasty looking medicine. Files were scattered around the single brown table in the room, and sitting on a green office chair was the same councilor with purple and pink streaks in his hair that Kazou had seen entering his classroom during his first battle in the school. A doctor's coat was draped over his black councilor uniform, and it made his appearance all the more odd. The councilor had evidently noticed Kazou stirring awake, for his eyes were locked onto him.
"Afternoon. You were out for two hours straight, and that's a lot considering my healing abilities," The councilor slid over to Kazou whilst still seated atop his chair. "You caused a lot of trouble for us today. Uriel was this close to finishing you off while you were still in dreamland. See, he absolutely loathes people who mess with the gate that he was guarding."
"Reikio...Ikuto...where?" Kazou wasn't interested in what the councilor had to tell him about the gates of the school. He had risked life and limb to stop the battle between those two, and there were his first and foremost on his priority list.
"Isn't it obvious?" The councilor jerked two thumbs in opposite directions, pointing towards the beds that were beside Kazou's. "I figure you guys will want to have a good long talk about how you're going to massacre each other when you get the chance again, hmm?"
Kazou shifted the curtains that were blocking vision of the other beds out of his way, and found himself face to face with the accusing eyes of Ikuto and the playful grin of Reikio. The former was looking sombre as he snorted at Kazou before returning his attention to the window beside him. Reikio didn't seem as perturbed by the incident though, and was sitting on his bed with his legs dangling down the side of the bed leisurely.
A sudden scream outside the room caused all four to turn their attentions towards the door, and the loud sound of running footsteps could be heard as several students zoomed past, followed by more. The councilor sighed as he stood up and walked to the door before addressing the three students in the room. "Now the whole school is in even more of an uproar than yesterday, thanks to your silly antics of destroying the gate. I'm going out to check up and see if Uriel can handle everything. Stay in your beds and don't move. The healing takes some time to work."
The noises made by the students from outside increased in volume as the councilor opened the door and stepped outside, then softened once more as it clicked shut. Kazou turned from Reikio to Ikuto, unsure what to say to either of them. With the councilor out of the room it was the most opportune moment for him to explain to them why he had stopped them from killing one another, but Kazou had no idea how he should start.
"Why?" Ikuto spoke first, saving Kazou the trouble of thinking up a suitable conversation starter. "Your Persona interrupted our fight, took on both the attacks we launched at each other, and then didn't cut us down with those swords of his when we were vulnerable. Why?"
"Because I hate to see people dying, that's why," Kazou answered honestly. "Tell me, if you had a choice, would you willingly participate in this battle the school set us up for?"
Ikuto stared hard at Kazou for a moment, then looked out the window once again, the clouds outside moving lazily over the blue sky. "Of course not. I doubt most of us would."
"But what we want doesn't change anything," Reikio slumped down on his pillow and yawned. "So tell us, really, what's your intention for not killing us both?"
"Don't you want this senseless killing to stop? If you don't like it, don't you want to put an end to all of it?" Kazou paused, allowing the question to sink into their minds. "Or would you rather see the amount of people in this school die off one by one, with their blood on your hands because you didn't want to stop whoever set this sick tournament up?"
"We're all just trying to save our own asses, K-boy," Reikio yawned once again. "We don't know anyone in this school, and those that we do know are the ones that will try to kill us. And I know I definitely don't want to die, even if I have to murder someone in cold blood to avoid that fate."
"That's what I'm saying," Kazou was beginning to get worked up. "We don't have to kill anyone anymore, if we just stop this whole stupid competition thing in the first place. Just as the school gave us the ability to kill each other, it also gave us the ability to stop them. If we can just work together-"
"So that's your motive for not finishing us off?" Ikuto cut Kazou off. "Then let me tell you, I outright reject your proposal. I am not going to work together with people in an environment where anyone can turn on you on a whim. Especially not with my life at stake. You want to save people, fine by me, but you do it yourself. Just don't expect me to bend over and accept your philosophies."
Kazou bit his lips as he was left flabbergasted. He had not been expecting to get rejected this hard, and certainly not in this matter. In hindsight, he should have guessed that they wouldn't go along with his plan though. After all, everyone placed their own lives above the life of someone else. Still, it had been worth a shot.
"Only the strongest Persona user would be left at the end, Ikuto," Reikio spoke softly. "K-boy does have a point. If we can strike at the heart of whoever is behind this whole thing, we won't have to worry about getting killed by someone stronger in the later part of the school year."
"You, of all people, agree with him?" Ikuto squinted his eyes at Reikio, then stood up, grimacing slightly from the pain as he did. "Because your Persona spared me, I'm going to call a temporary truce. I will refrain from engaging you for now, Kazou. But mark these words, you're going to regret leaving me alive today. Next time, Thor's lightning shall strike true."
Limping slowly, Ikuto moved over to the door and opened it, flashing one last look of vengeance at Reikio before he left. The blonde haired student grabbed a fresh pack of poker cards from his bag on the floor and proceeded to spread out the whole deck on the bed. Kazou was about to ask him what he was doing, but Reikio explained even before he asked the question. "For your information, Niflhelm and Thunder Reign...neither of us had perfected our techniques yet. But Thor and Ikuto both clearly had the power advantage over me and Loki, since he used that technique yesterday as well. I heard he actually learned how to use it during his first battle, and Ikuto had been training with it since then. And of course the more you use it the better you get."
"So it really was a major fluke that we tied on our first battle yesterday, since I melted the ice into water just in time as the lightning hit Loki, causing both him and Ikuto to get electrocuted. Thor shoved him out of the water after a second of course, but he had been knocked out by then, as was I due to the echoed damage from Loki's injuries," Reikio sighed. "That day after I left your house, I went home and begged Loki to teach me how to use his powers properly. He merely told me the basics for Niflhelm, and like I said, the more you use it the better you get. Right now five cards is all I can manage; any more and I'd knock myself out cold before the attack did anything. Someday though, I'm gonna be able to use the whole deck. That will be a sight for sure."
Reikio folded his arms and looked serious for once. "So...yeah, Thunder Reign would have triumphed over Niflhelm earlier today if your Persona wasn't there. I guess you could say I'm thanking you for saving my life?"
"Don't worry about it," Kazou nodded at Reikio, causing the latter to regain his jesting smile. "I'm sure I'll be able to get more people on my side in due time. We'll definitely stop whoever is behind this whole thing."
"Yeah," Reikio agreed, then his grin became lopsided as he kept the cards and giggled like a child. "By the way, you do realize that this still doesn't excuse you from trying to steal Gabriel away from me?"
Gabriel shook her head as she looked at the two students interacting inside the sick bay from outside, having heard every word spoken by them through the door. After a moment, she lifted the communication device on her wrist to her mouth. "Metatron, should we quash the rebellion before it gets too far out of hand?"
"Nay, let them do as they please for now. Human nature is really quite captivating. It's only a matter of time before everything starts breaking down for them," The heavy voice spoke with a slight metallic twang, and as it laughed one could almost hear the gears grinding in the owner's throat. "I trust you and the other will know what to do should they ever pose a threat?"
"Certainly," Gabriel lowered her wrist and began to play with a lock of her white hair as she looked into the room Kazou and Reikio were in. "I wasn't wrong the first day. Befriending the Trickster and attempting to get the Norse god of lightning on your side in a situation like this...Kazou Okumura, you really are something else."
Author's notes: Couple of things to say here.
Firstly, the mechanics of the battles does not follow strictly P3 or P4 mechanics. So yes, that is why Loki has powers over both wind and ice. And I don't blame you if you saw Thunder Reign (concentrated version) as a giant beam of obliteration from the skies. You don't necessary have to follow in game graphics and the likes anyway. Besides, it's Thor. Thor is cool, no?
Secondly, holy crap my English fails. You don't have to remind me of how little I described things or how flat my characters' personalities and how many times I reused the same words, thank you very much. See, the last time I took English class is over a year...so yeah.
Well, I guess that's all. Review or something, although viewing would be good enough. If you want to blast me about how much I suck and should stop updating, feel free as well. Although you should blame any mistakes in text on my proofreader, because I'm too lazy to proofread. Ha! ...Okay, I jest, you can pin the blame on me. Still, mistakes are aplenty with a story of this amount of length even with two of us proofreading, so forgive me if you spot a mistake. Now, excuse me while I go think up something for the next chapter. (And possibly adjust the rules I made in chapter one. So many loopholes. Then again, that's what allowed Kazou to fight in the first place in this chapter, eh?)
Couple of words from my proofreader before I end this.
Trace: And with a simple incantation, Aoa released the tempest she held in her fists, a wild storm flowed through her target, shredding it into a million pieces...
Or something like that. Whatever.
Well, I hope you liked this part. I did, at least.
Though, I really do suggest throwing away your Persona visions of the -dynes, mudo/hama, and basically every move you've seen in the game. They don't work here. (Creepy foretelling.)