Authors Note: And again this chapter has taken FOREVER! But here it is I hope the wait was worth it! So before I go let you go I would like to say that I am new to writing fight scenes Especially when it comes to magic but I tried my best! Any way, enjoy!
Ch III
o0o
Friday March 2012, Late Night
The team rounded a corner running at a fast pace. Their weapons and evokers at the ready for the inevitable encounters with the shadows of the Midnight Hour. Akihiko, Mitsuru and Fuuka took the lead while the others followed close behind, "Fuuka," Akihiko called, "How far before we reach the shadow?"
"The signature...huff….stopped….Huff...nearby." Fuuka answered between huffs and puffs. The girl wasn't as sickly and weak as she was in the past but Akihiko was setting the pace which meant it was either a sprint or nothing. Most of the team was winded, most notably was Junpei and Fuuka, but they kept up with him with no complaints. Except for Junpei of course.
Yukari's mind was too busy with questions popping in her head about the return to even care how winded she felt. Why was the Dark Hour back? Was every battle they fought so hard to win mean nothing? Did this mean Nyx was back? With the many questions popping up in her head there was one question that repeatedly popped in her head.
What happened to Minato?
She was too caught up in the questions she almost didn't hear Fuuka cry out, "There!" The group rounded another street corner without losing speed, "The signature is at the Shrine up ahead."
"Akihiko! Iori! Take point!" Mitsuru ordered taking the role as leader. It felt off hearing Mitsuru giving out commands and Yukari was sure she wasn't the only one who thought so. Mitsuru continued, "Aigis and Amada-Kun will support while Yukari and I…" before she can continue with the battle plan, Fuuka lets out a surprised gasp and seconds later a bright light was seen shooting into the sky and with it, a giant shadow.
The group stopped in their tracks just as the giant Shadow crashed against the street. The team got in their stances readying themselves however, the giant shadow didn't acknowledge them, instead kept its attention skyward, "Up there!" Fuuka said grabbing everyone's attention.
Standing near the entrance of the shrine was a boy. He looked to be the same age as her and stood looking down at the giant shadow with his left hand in his pocket and his right in a light fist. Before anyone could say anything the giant Shadow lunged two of its daggers towards the boy. The boy ducked the first attack before jumping into the air to dodge the second. The boy's right hand began to glow a familiar azure blue and then calls out, "Sunano-O!"
Snap
Seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was a light, the same color of light that was currently radiating off his right hand. Formless at first but quickly began to take a humanoid shape and then fully materialized into its own.
To Yukari, it was a silly looking thing with blue long-sleeved jumpsuit with a yellow belt, red gloves, and boots. It had what looked to be shurikens on its face along with goggles with blue lenses and a saw blade around the body. The persona placed its hands on the boys back causing the boy's body to faintly glow a green color before striking a pose and absorbed itself into the boy's body causing the faint green to brighten. without hesitation, the boy dive bombed towards the shadow with impossible speed.
The giant shadow began thrusting its knife wielding hands towards the boy but the boy dodged most of the attacks by moving at the last second to maintain his diving speed before snapping his fingers once again. Yukari half expected to see that silly looking persona appear to help him again but instead something else happened. Something she or anyone else expected.
A new persona Appeared!
Just as before, it started with a formless light but quickly took shape in front of the boy. This creature was in a suit of medieval armor with giant red and gold wings on its back. Just as the sixth arm came closer to the persona and the boy the persona pulled out its claymore and effortlessly deflected the Shadows attack away. The boy snapped again, this time causing the persona to disappear into specs of blue dust and reform into another persona.
What appeared this time was a beast of a man with muscles that made Akihiko look scrawny with long black crazy hair. The persona let out a mighty yell before grabbing the shadow's deflected arm and ripped the knife out of its grip and with all its might threw it towards the shadow. The shadow, who was still stunned, was hit with a force so powerful it pinned it against the concrete, digging further into the ground on impact. The Shadow writhed in pain, flailing its arms wildly while letting out a high pitch squeal.
Yukari, along with the rest of the group, stood dumbfounded by the series of events before them. There was only one other persona user, that they knew of, that had access to multiple persona at once but never like that. Even more astonishing was the boy didn't need a evolker to summon these personas, instead a simple snap of his finger and poof.
Meanwhile the boy flipped through the air, landing feet first on the tip of the handle of the giant knife. Standing the same way he did before with one hand in his pocket and the other dropped to his side, looking down at the giant shadow that was currently pinned to the ground. The shadow lay still for a moment before reaching with its unarmed hand trying to grab him but the boy simply jumped away, snapped his fingers, and disappeared before it could get ahold of him. Seconds later the boy appeared closer to the group with the silly looking persona, Susano-O, standing beside him. Both the boy and the persona gave off a green glow, an obvious effect of using the Sukukaja spell.
The group remained silent watching and waiting for the next move when Junpei spoke up, "H-hey, shouldn't we help him or something?" after no one responded he adds, "Standing here watching him seems…I don't know, a little counterproductive."
"He doesn't need our help." Akihiko says not taking his eyes off the boy the entire time he spoke, "In fact, I think he's about ready to finish this fight…if you can call it that."
"Huh?" Junpei said confused and that's when Fuuka spoke up.
"Akihiko-Senpai is right, I can feel his power building." She clasped her hands together and held them close to her chest. Yukari could visible see Fuuka's body begin to shake, "Almost like, he's building up to something." Akihiko, Mitsuru, and even Aigis nodded their heads in agreement. Yukari switched her gaze from the two eldest members back to the boy.
The Shadow freed itself by pulling the giant knife out of its mask and immediately got back in an upright position and faced Yosuke. The gaping hole in its mask oozed black liquid. It made a sound almost like a growl and began walking towards him but Yosuke stood unfazed and watched as the shadow began to pick up speed going from a walk to a full sprint. Its six arms flailing wildly as it did so. Yukari glanced at the shadow then back at the boy. She did this several times before she herself got in a combat stance readying herself in case he didn't move. However, she felt a familiar energy surge through the air tickling the edge of her skin and slowly began to intensify. When she looked at the others she could tell they felt the same thing and before they could question it.
Snap
Upon hearing that a sudden gust of wind surprised Yukari. The wind threatens to blow the group off their feet. Mitsuru and Fuuka almost fell but where helped almost immediately. Mitsuru by Akihiko and Fuuka by Junpei. Yukari dared a glance at the boy once she felt she wasn't going to get blown away and her eyes widen. She lost count how many times this boy surprised her. Seeing a new persona user was surprising, seeing the new persona user use multiple Persona's was even more so, but what she saw now was just impossible. Standing next to Yosuke was a persona they all knew they wouldn't or shouldn't ever see again.
Messiah.
o0o
The dark hour. A time no one knows exists except for poor unfortunate souls who only end up as food for the shadows. This wasn't a problem however for those with special gifts. Gifts forced upon them but gifts nonetheless.
The city was quiet minus the sounds of what he thinks is someone trying to escape a hungry shadow but after a few minutes it returned to silence. A small smile creeps on his face, "such is the circle of life." he said to no one in particular. He had a sick satisfaction of knowing someone was being eaten by a shadow. He could only hope it was that kirijo women he heard lived in this city but either way it didn't matter.
His footsteps seemed to echo with each step he took in the silent city. By now the others should be at the destination preparing to ascend. He felt excitement coursing through his body. There were times when he felt like he was going to lose control and begin jumping and screaming with joy like a child who got the toy he wanted but he composed. After all these years, he was finally going to get what he deserved.
Godhood.
He smiled inward. After everything those Kirijo's did to him, after leaving him for dead, he can now give them a dose of their own cruelty, "I'll make it a little quick." he said to the air, "after all, it was them that told me about this." his chuckling voice broke the silence before he suddenly stopped and looked at the city behind him. For a split second, he felt an enormous power that made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He heard about Takaya being defeated by someone with great power. Could it be that same person?
He smiled. Impossible, he thought, that person was gone. A periment addition to the seal that he will break and take what's his. He turned back on his heels and began walking towards his destination ignoring the power he felt just seconds ago.
o0o
Yukari's eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Her face unknowingly mirroring the others. Standing next to the boy was a familiar persona. It towered over him, its metallic body shone with a brilliant white, nearly blinding when she looked straight at it. Its right hand hung at its side holding what looks to be a sword while his left arm was wrapped in chains, attached to these chains where four coffin lids.
The boy held his arm out in front of him and the Persona mirrored his movements, lifting the chained arm. The shadow didn't notice or seem to care about the persona standing beside Yosuke as it continued its advance. Suddenly Yosuke let out a commanding yell, "Persona!" the persona, Messiah, whipped back its chained arm before lifting its arms overhead and bringing it down. The chain followed the motions and plummeted towards the charging shadow. The shadow braced for the attack but instead was confused when the coffin lids broke off the chain and landed around it. Messiah brought back its arm letting the now empty chain slid against the ground and brought its sword arm towards the sky.
The group noticed a bright white energy begin to form above the shadow and began to grow. The shadow didn't seem to notice until it grew to the size of a semi-truck. With the shadow finally taking notice, it tried to charge but found out it couldn't. Wrapped around its leg was a chain seemingly out of nowhere. It struggled for a moment and when it looked like it was about to break free the coffin lids opened and out of nowhere more chains flew out enclosing around each of the shadows limbs until it was barely able to move at all.
Messiah, after looking satisfied with how immobile the shadows was, swung its sword downward and on que the giant ball of energy began to descend on the Shadow. The Shadow squirmed, shook, and tried to free itself from the chains but it was no use and the ball inched closer until the shadow was engulfed by the brilliant orb.
There was a flash of blinding light, A violent wind more powerful than the one prior, and finally the force of an explosion. Yukari felt her body forced off her feet and expected to feel herself hit the ground. Instead she felt someone holding her up. There was a feeling of cool metal against her flesh giving her a good idea who it was. Yukari risked a look and could see Aigis' face lit by the bright light.
The grunts from the others could be heard as they all struggled to stay on their feet. Finally, the light began to fade returning it the sickly green that is the dark hour. Yukari took a second to look around to make sure everyone was ok. Akihiko was helping Mitsuru to her feet while Junpei did the same with Fuuka. The only one on the ground was ken but he didn't seem hurt and was comforting a worried Konomaru who was whimpering and licking ken's face.
Once she saw everyone was ok she looked over at the boy. Half expecting to see the Shadow as well as the street it stood on obliterated. Instead, there was no damage to the street and the only sign of the shadow was now a pile of black goo currently dissolving into the air. For a moment, no one said a word only stared. It wasn't until Ken let out a low, "Whoa." that the boy noticed them standing behind him. He turned to face them finally giving the group a good look at him.
Yukari and Fuuka both gasped slightly as they recognized the boy, "You have to be kidding."
"Yosuke?" Fuuka questioned but before he or anyone could say anything else Messiah began to fade away. Glowing bits and pieces began to break off him and dissolve into the air but Yukari noticed something. While it disappeared, it seemed to smile at them almost like it recognized them. Finally, it was gone completely and the boy's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground.
There was a sense of nervousness among the group as the same question kept repeating in Yukari's mind, 'why does he have Minato's power?'. Suddenly Fuuka ran towards Yosuke snapping everyone out of their confused, nervous state, "F-Fuuka!" Junpei exclaimed surprised by her sudden action and chased after her, everyone else followed soon after. They caught up with Fuuka just as she finished checking Yosuke's pulse and feel relieved, "He's breathing." Fuuka said with a relieved smile on her face.
"No sign of internal damage either." Aigis' robotic voice said from behind Yukari, "Besides loss of consciousness, and a couple bruises from his battle, this boy is going to be ok." Yukari could feel the tension loosen with the good news but everyone remained silent as Yosuke, once again, grabbed their attention.
"So...Uh...what's the plan?" Junpei asked out loud, "We can't leave him out here, right?" there was a collective 'hmm' from the group as they contemplated a course of action.
"I…"Fuuka began to speak, "I'll stay here." she looked up at the group and added, "I don't have a combat Persona, but I can still help you from here."
"I'll stay too." Ken spoke up, "Just in case any more shadows show up." Koromaru barked and Ken smiles, "Koromaru wants to stay too." Mitsuru looked at the three volunteers; Yukari could tell she didn't want to leave them behind but they couldn't leave the unconscious Yosuke behind. Finally, she concedes and nods her head going along with the plan.
"Ok," she simply says, "but be careful, if you need back up let us know." and with that said the remaining of SEES continued towards followed the group but looked behind her. Fuuka still had Yosuke's head laying on her lap and Koromaru was sitting protectively near her while Ken sat facing the opposite direction.
Yukari didn't feel right leaving them behind and she was sure Mitsuru felt the same but like Junpei said, they couldn't just leave Yosuke alone and bring him along was out of the question. It was at this point that Yukari began to feel a surge of determination; the faster they get to Tartarus and find out what's going on the faster they can return to the others.
Thanks to Akihiko's pace of full sprint the group managed to make it to Tartarus in no time. They stopped the moment they reached the entrance and Junpei took this opportunity to catch his breath. It was an odd feeling seeing the tower once again. It brought back memories. Memories of climbing the tower floors, fighting powerful Shadows, and ultimately fighting the Nyx Avatar also known as Ryoji while side by side with their leader, Minato. Once again, the questions of Minato popped into Yukari's mind again, just what happened to Minato now that the Dark Hour was back?
"What's the plan Mitsuru?" Akihiko suddenly asked as he kept his eyes on the tower ahead of them. Yukari noticed Mitsuru glanced at Junpei and then at her before looking back at the tower. Most likely formulating a plan that would lessen the chance of her or Junpei getting hurt. Something she took very serious after Minato's passing.
"Fuuka, can you sense anything inside?" Mitsuru asked knowing she could still hear them despite being away from the group.
"Give me a second…" Fuuka's voice echoed within their minds, "Strange...I can sense something other than Shadows inside…"
"Other than Shadows?" Junpei questioned, "Great, exactly what I need on my weekend."
"Akihiko," Mitsuru says once Fuuka confirmed someone was inside, "we will head in first." she turned to Yukari and Junpei, who finally caught his breath, "you two take up the rear and get ready to support." the two younger members nodded and followed them inside.
Once inside, Yukari surveyed the area. It was strange to see the entrance of Tartarus was still the same and just as eerily quiet. Their footsteps could be heard echoing in the large circular room as they drew closer and closer the center of the room, "Akihiko, ahead." Mitsuru suddenly said grabbing his attention as well as the others.
Standing at the top of the stairs was a lone figure with his back turned towards them looking at the entrance of Tartarus. It wasn't until the group was at the foot of the stairs when he finally turned around to face them. His hands were in his brown, dirty, stained and ripped jacket that sat over an equally dirty, stained, and ripped shirt with a black beanie on his head, "hello kids, isn't it past your bedtime?" he said with a cocky tone that instantly made everyone brace themselves.
"Who are you?" Mitsuru yelled, "And why are you awake in the Dark Hour?" the man didn't respond, just smirked. After a moment, he placed a hand on his chest.
"Why, Mrs, Kirijo, you wound me." he says in a playful hurt manner, "I can understand you forgetting about the others, but me? we hold a 'special' bound after all..." his gaze turned deadly, "I was first victim."
"Victim?" Akihiko says before looking at her. Yukari also found herself looking to Mitsuru for answers but all she saw was a confused look that questioned his claims. Yukari then quickly turned her attention to the other at the top.
"I guess you were too young at the time." he says before he scoffs. He takes one of his hands out from his jacket pocket and pulls off the hoodie revealing his face and the large scar across it. He smirks and points to his scar while looking directly at Mitsuru, "There, recognize me now Kirijo?" the moment Mitsuru saw the scar her eyes widen and an audible gasp escaped her lips.
"D-Daishiro?" Mitsuru gasped before she pulled out her weapon, "what are YOU doing here?"
"Just finishing what Strega has started." He says, "as the leader it's my job to fix Takaya's stupidity."
"Leader?" Junpei asks before adding, "but Takaya was the leader, wasn't he?" Daishiro laughs.
"Takaya? The leader?" he says with a shake of his head, "the fool lacked vision, so much could have been accomplished during the dark hour, but instead he decides it would be best to open a internet assassination and then try to use Nyx to 'lead' them to salvation." he tightens his hand into a fist he scoffs and adds, "The fool got what he deserved as well as the others who followed him. The fool nearly ruined my plans."
"But." Junpei says, "Whatever you had planned isn't going to work if it involves Nyx because of the…"
"The seal?" he finished with a sneer, "Sorry to break it to you kid, but that precious seal you're relying on is weakening as we speak." he said, "I figured the presence of the dark hour was proof of that." something seemed to click in Junpei's head and his eyes widen in shock.
"But there is no way! Minato..."
"Was a an even bigger idiot." Daishiro suddenly says cutting him off, "a mere mortal, no matter how much power they possess, cannot seal a god and allowing himself to be sacrificed in hopes in doing such a thing just shows his incompetence." The insult towards Minato caused Yukari's body to tense and Daishiro seemed to notice, because he continued, "But I'll have to thank him, at least he did something useful before he died." Yukari felt her grip tighten around her bow and was about to lash out but Junpei beat her to it.
"Shut your mouth!" Junpei yells, "I don't care about what you say about Takaya but I won't let you talk crap about Minato!"
"What are you going to do about it kid?" Daishiro challenged. Yukari could practically hear Junpei growl and judging by the smirk on Daishiro's face it was the exact reaction he was hoping for too.
"What am I going to do about it?" Junpei repeats, "I'm going to go up there and kick your ass!" he yells before he suddenly charges forward.
"Junpei!" Mitsuru tried to stop him but he didn't listen. He jumped on the stairs skipping two steps as he climbed towards Daishiro who made no attempt to move or defend himself. He just watched and smirked. Junpei swung his sword at Daishiro when he was within reach but something appeared in front of Daishiro and stopped his sword. It was a strange looking creature, humanoid but with a goat head. In one hand, it was holding a dagger that was currently preventing Junpei from hitting Daishiro and in the other, a cup holding a fireball.
"Wha?" Junpei said surprised. The persona seemingly appeared out of nowhere to block Junpei's sword.
"Agidyne!" a voice called out and a flame shot out from the creature's hand and sent Junpei sailing through the air and crashed hard at the foot of the stairs.
Yukari and Mitsuru quickly moved to Junpei's side and checked on him while Akihiko jumped in front of the group in case of another attack, "Junpei!" Yukari shouted before kneeling beside him checking his wounds. Junpei wasn't seriously hurt but the blow followed by the fall was enough to knock him out. Yukari's attention was snapped back to a chuckling Daishiro.
"I believe I have wasted enough time on you." He says before turning on his heels and began walking into Tartarus, "but It was nice seeing you again, Mitsuru." he says but adds mischievously, "but next time you see me, I'll be something more than you or your father can ever imagine." Yukari felt her hand tighten into a fist and she looked at Mitsuru who was currently using her healing spell to heal Junpei's wounds. She wanted to run into Tartarus and chase down Daishiro and give him a piece of her mind with the sharp end of an arrow.
"Fuuka." Mitsuru suddenly says, "Can you sense Daishiro?"
"Hmm." Fuuka's voice echoed in their heads, "It's strange, I can't sense anything inside Tartarus." she says before adding, "It's like I'm being blocked."
"Blocked?" Mitsuru says with a surprised tone in her voice, "How is that possible?"
"I don't know." Fuuka answered, "maybe some kind of force field?"
"Akihiko." Mitsuru says in a commanding tone but Akihiko was already walking up the stairs.
"I'll check it out." he says as he runs up the stairs towards the Tartarus entrance, "It's like Fuuka said." he confirms from atop of the stairs, "I don't know what he did but I can't even walk past the door."
"So, what do we do?" Yukari questioned as she looked back at Mitsuru and then at Akihiko when he joined them by Junpei's side. There was a moment of silence as the two eldest members pondered their next move. Both Mitsuru and Akihiko sighed as they have seemed to reach the same conclusion.
"We go back to the dorms." Mitsuru says. Yukari gasped at the answer that she wasn't expecting.
"But!" Yukari began to protest but Akihiko chimed in.
"Junpei is injured, "Akihiko started, "Fuuka, Ken, and Koromaru are back by the shrine taking care of the new guy." He crossed his arms across his chest, "Besides, even if we wanted to chase after Daishiro, the entrance is blocked."
"We will try again tomorrow." Mitsuru says, "Maybe by then there will be a way in." She said hopefully. Akihiko picked up Junpei once Mitsuru was done doing what she could with her Dia spell. It has been a while since they had to use any of their persona spells and judging by how dizzy she seemed the moment she stood up, it was obvious she or anyone else was not ready to go back in there.
Mitsuru and Akihiko led the way out of Tartarus while Yukari followed behind. She stopped, However, and looked back at the door. It felt wrong to just leave when Daishiro was in there doing whatever it was that he planned to do. The only thing they could do was wait until tomorrow and see if there was a way in.
There it was, that helpless feeling again. The feeling of seeing Minato getting pulled away from the group to fight against Nyx. While this was going on all Yukari and the others could do was voice their concerns, hoping, praying for Minato to be ok and to come back to them. Yukari remembered that hopeless feeling from that day.
And today, that feeling returned.
Velvet Room
There was a familiar feeling in the air. A sense of being in a dream while fully awake. Yosuke slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the same room, sitting on the same chair, looking at the same strange man, sitting at the same U-shaped desk. Floating in front of him was the same card he saw the first time he was in this place. The difference, However, is instead of the card switching between black and white, it stayed white as it rotated.
The man, Igor, had his elbows on his desk and his hands under his chin looking straight at him and the card, "You have chosen your path, However," with a flick of his wrist the card appears in his hand, "there seems to be something more that has to be done to realize the importance of this card."
"Yeah!" Beatrice suddenly yelled, appearing beside Yosuke, startling him, "what's that card all about huh?" Her hands were on her hips as she waited for Yosuke to answer. When Yosuke didn't answer she sighed and began walking towards Igor's desk, "Of course you don't know, you Dunce."
"Intriguing." Igor says while Beatrice sat on the desk, "I look forward to seeing how this path pans out before you." Igor bows slightly, "Until then Hanamura."
Farewell...
END
I hope you enjoyed! If you would like to give me advice for writing fighting scenes I would gladly take it! And if you know any people who would like to beta read my ish let me know because I am not confident in my grammar usage (and beta readers on this site are still not getting back to me .) ALSO! if anyone knows where I can find a cool Yukari X Yosuke picture for this story can you link it? I'm a fan of the picture I'm using now but I would still like a picture of them together :) and again thanks for reading, UNTIL NEXT TIME!
TJMike : I'll try to balance out the romance and adventuring so it's not more one than the other :)
Writer of Illusion : I KNOW RIGHT! but like I said, I think people start getting burned out after 10 pages or more of a chapter...Or maybe it's just me . but that's the main reason I left it as a cliff hanger.
Ulrich362 : Again, your flattery me with your review! :) I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations
I would also like to thank the people who read and saved my story under their favorites and alerts :) I hope to hear from you soon...If not it's all good too! I hoped you enjoy!
