I hope you enjoy the series.

I enjoyed writing the series especially when we get to introducing new members of SEES and later events I planned.

I wanted you to just enjoy my story and hope you can give me what you think. The best reviews would always be encouragement and constructive criticism all the same.


Memento Mori


Chapter 4: The Voice Someone Calls


"Where did it go!?" Tsuna continued to scream, pointing frantically to what was once Ohtori Academy's Main Building. He looked ready to burst into tears.

"This is Tartarus, a 'maze' of Shadows." Milly repeated. "Once the Dark Hour passes, it would return to its original shape."

"But why our school?" Tai spoke.

"We don't know either." Milly bit her lip and opened the gates cautiously with the key. "This exploration is mainly for discovering the reason why it appears and why Shadows have this as its nest."

"We're doing this to protect everyone and save lives." Ichigo grinned. "That's why-."

"Ichigo!"


The underclassmen gaped in astonishment at the entrance. A gigantic staircase leading up to a circle-like mechanic with four clocks, one arrow pointing upwards was what catches the interest. Various buildings appear right behind. Tai raised an eyebrow at the sight at a small green circle on the checkered floor. The circular room towered with basilisks, holding the building in first.

"We'll leave the investigation to you three." Ichigo's voice shocked them out of their stupor.

"Only us three?!" Tsuna gawped.

"But we're-." Milly held up one hand.

"We won't allow you to go far." Milly pointed to the radio by a motorbike. "I'll help navigate by radio and my Persona from here."

"Since I am out of commission," Ichigo stepped up. "Milly and I will pick a field leader who will keep it organized." He turned to Tai. "You, you would be that leader."

Tsuna blinked. "Why him?"

"He fought them before." Amu whispered into Tsuna's ear. "WHAT?!"

"We choose him for not only that." Ichigo withdrew his gun from his holster and pointed it to his head. "Sawada, Hinamori, can you summon yours without hesitation like him?"

The two who were addressed exchanged glimpses and didn't answer.

Tai blinked when he heard a light smash from his left. He turned and saw a glowing violet door. Around him, his new teammates watched him curiously.

Tai approached the door and took out the key he still kept in his pocket. Breathing in, he opened the door and walked in.

Igor grinned sinisterly as he gestured him to sit. "I have been waiting for you. The time has come for you to wield that power. The tower you are about to venture into… How did it come to be? For what purpose did it exist and serve? Regrettably you are not yet capable to answer these questions." Tai chuckled self-decepriated.

"The nature of my power?"

"Your power is unique. It's like the number zero. It's empty but at the same time holds limitless possibilities. You, my boy, are able to possess multiple Personas and summon them as needed. And when you defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibilities before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp… but do not fear. Seize what you earned. Your power grows accordingly; Be sure to keep that in mind." He then motioned to the door. "My spare time is scarce. I'll tell you my true role…in the manner I can best assist you. Until then… farewell."

Tai exhaled the breath he had been holding. Curiously, Tsuna and Amu looked at him. "You look like you see a ghost."

Tai blinked. "You can't see the door…?"

"What door?"

Tai stared at them and shook his head. "Never mind, let's go."

Milly made it quite clear they would go in prepared so she checked to make sure they have their evokers, radio transmitter, certain potions ("What's this?" "Those are Medicine." "We're going to need more of these aren't we?" "Yes, there are Medical Powers, Snuff Souls, Beads, Somas, Chewing Souls, Revival Beads, and so forth." "…") and weapons. She nodded in satisfaction.

"Now, let's begin."


Tsuna once again adjusted his gloves. Amu gulped, tightening her grip on her bow. Tai held his own sword cautiously.

They walked past the many hallways of the second floor of Tartarus. A ghastly mask on one end of the hallway nearly made both Amu and Tsuna scream in shock.

"Can you hear me, you three?" Milly's voice echoed through the radio transmitter. They gave their confirmation, still wary and nervous. "I'll back you up from here."

"How…?" Tsuna asked almost inaudibly.

"It's one of my Persona skills. Tartarus changes its shape depending on the Hour. I can only support you to a certain extent but you three have to support each other. At any minute, you would encounter Shadows."

They all gulped and readied their weapons, walking again.

When a Shadow noticed them, they raised it.

Tsuna gulped as he raised the gun to his temple. "Penae!"

A being that vaguely resembles his face, whitened covered with a warrior's mask. Its clothes are plain and a tattered black cloak.

"Agi!"

Fire burst out of the Persona's hands, severely destroying the Shadows. Tai quickly joined the battle. "Orpheus! Agi!"

Both boys sighed in relief when the Shadows were destroyed. Tai blinked when he saw two cards in front of him, shuffling. His psyche begged him to choose. He picked one of the cards and then he was given another choice to just pick that card. As a result, two new Personas were gained, Pixie and Apsaras.

Tsuna looked at him in concern and murmured if he's alright. Tai grinned and nodded.

Amu bit her lip uncertainly, looking at her gun holster.

They then braved more of Tartarus. The dangerous hell that would only provide them with the experience to live.

Tai cried in pain when one of the Shadows clawed him. "Tai!"

Tsuna then ran up one of the Shadows, beating them with hard punches and thrown back.

Amu then raised the gun to her head, inhaling and exhaling. Breathe in, breathe out…

"Amechania!"

The Persona that rose from the broken blue shards was a figure held a broken globe designed with a broken heart, paintbrush, whisker, and diamond on one hand and the other a staff. It wore a half-broken mask that vaguely has her face.

"Garu!"

The wind attack destroyed the Shadows instantly. Amu breathed in and out and ran over to Tai, frantically trying to think of a way to heal his wound. Tsuna knelt down beside her anxiously.

Amechania whispered something… it fell from her mouth almost unconsciously. "Dia…"

Tsuna and Tai stared at the wound or what would have been the wound, closed up as if it's not there. Just a tiny bit of a scar was all that was left.

"Amu…"

Amu stared at her hands and smiled brightly. She bowed her head against Tai's collarbone in relief.

By each battle, Tai managed to culminate dozens of cards he wasn't sure to use.

Tired, the trio went for the transporter, the green-lit circle at the end Milly advised them to take. They nearly fell to the ground in exhaustion as the seniors crowded them and helped to their feet.

"Welcome back." Milly smiled. "So how was it?"

"I'm exhausted." Tai groaned.

"It must hit you all at once." Ichigo grinned. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"For some strange reason, I still feel like I need to catch a breath after running a marathon."

"It's the effect of the Dark Hour; you'll be fatigued more easily. You'll adapt to it soon. You all did better than expected."

Tai felt a small smash on his head. Fool Arcana… What is this? Rank up?

"Between school and this, we would have an erratic time schedule indeed." Milly grinned as she grabbed poor Amu by the wrist and tugged her to the entrance, the girl screaming for help. The boys looked at each other and hurried after them.

Tai stopped and ran for the Velvet Room instead.

"Ah, there you are." Igor grinned. "Well… I suppose it's time to explain what I really do here. My job is to create new Personas but in order to do so, I must fuse your Persona cards together… I merge them to a single Persona. The number of Persona you have buried is about 170… We never seen a visitor with infinite possibilities before…" He gestured to him. "If you establish social links, you may be able to create even stronger Personas. As you gather more, bring them to me."

"Social Links…"

With Elizabeth's help, he fused Personas of the Magician, Chariot, Lovers, and Emperor. He briefly wondered who he is going to make a social link with.

"Oi! Tai! We're going to leave you here alone!" Ichigo shouted from the doorway. Tai chuckled nervously, following them out of the doorway.


Tai was just about to finish packing when Milly barged into the room and practically kidnapped him to the Student Council Room.

She apparently won the election by a landslide. Then again, he heard from Tsuna that she's the granddaughter and heiress of the Ashford Conglomerate who also owns this school. He's not surprised that many rich kids were able to attend this school, heck the only reason he was able to get into the school was through a scholarship; Tsuna himself is the sole heir to taking over the Vongola Corporations (he learned from Tsuna's surrogate father and tutor) and Amu has a famous photographer for a father and knows certain people in the entertainment department (that detail he learned from Milly) and Kurosaki-senpai was from a family of doctors.

Milly sized him up. "I want your help with Student Council. You don't have to attend all the meetings since you also have Soccer to attend to as well. You'll just organize the files and throw in some festival ideas." Festival ideas?

She grinned madly as if she read his mind. "Of course! We have festivals here in Ohtori! But I do need your help; if I'm not here, you and the Vice President supervise to make sure they do their work…then again, the Vice Prez would be daydreaming as well…."

The Vice President, a tall handsome student with short black hair and the deepest violet eyes he ever seen, pushed her to the side and apologized. "I'm sorry what Milly had done to you." He smiled politely. "Nice to meet you, I'm Lelouch Lamperouge, vice president."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Tai."

"You're strong when you want to be, Lulu." Milly teased, getting up from the ground and dusting off her skirt.

"Oh, shove off."

Milly pouted and flaunted out of the room.

Lelouch sighed, covering his face with his hands. "She's really energetic and perverted at times." He gave Tai a ghost of a smile. "But it's okay. She's always there to help people, especially me."

Tai laughed. "I know. Amu is always the target of hers."

"I know, right?" Lelouch's eyes were practically determined. "One of these days I will throw back all those dresses she made me wear!"

"You crossdress?"

"What?! No!"

Tai continued to laugh, a small smash in his head said he just created a new Social Link with the Emperor Arcanum.


Tai stretched and sighed, grinning at the soccer field laid before him. He just can't wait for the upcoming competition this summer.

"Chop! Chop!" A young beautiful girl with large red eyes and long pink hair yelled from the field. "We are going to do sprints and then we are going to train hard to win that competition! That Kukai would never know what hit him!"

Tai stared wide-eyed at the girl, watching her order the members to kick with more strength.

The boy who sat next to him chuckled, his long violet hair worn from a beanie. "Don't worry, Tenjou-san wouldn't kill them…much…"

"Really, her regime is cruel… Even my coach won't do this back at my old school…"

"She didn't like the fact her team lost again to soccer star Kukai Souma, a friend of mine at Seiyo High School." The boy shrugged and beamed loosely. "I'm Nagihiko Fujisaki, a basketball player for Ohtori Academy."

"Basketball?" Tai blinked. He vaguely remembered Amu mumbling once during class about a Nagihiko. "Aren't you one of Amu's friends?"

"Yep." Nagihiko still smiled. "I'm amazed. Amu can make friends but she's really hard to crack."

"I know." Tai smiled weakly. "But you gotta tell me more what I'm going to head into her hands."

Nagihiko gave a low cackle.

Even after the Enlightenment of Tenjou Training, Tai could only shiver when he barely heard a smash in his head that he made a Social Link with the Chariot Arcanum.


Tai sighed as he closed his shoe locker almost tired on his feet. He has to get a convenience store dinner soon and then go back to the dorm.

"Hey!"

A shout in his ear was more than enough to shake him out of his stupor. A cyan-haired boy with an impossibly large grin stood next to him. "Sorry, sorry, just want to surprise you." Tai gave him a withering glare. "Okay! How about I get something to eat! It's close to dinnertime and I know a great place!"

Before Tai could even answer, he was dragged to the city and into Honou's famous ramen restaurant, Hagakure. He didn't even get to order his own ramen either…

"Could you please tell me the reason why you wanted me to go with you eating?"

"Why not? Isn't it more fun to eat with friends?" The boy grinned and faltered at the death glare. "Sorry, I was too ecstatic to have a transfer student in the class, y'know. I just wanted to get to know you better..."

Tai's death glare disappeared and in place was just an understanding smile. "I haven't made any new friends aside from Amu and Tsuna. I can make new friends with you."

The boy laughed. "Man, you're amazing. You understand me." He grinned. "Just call me Black*Star."

"Is that-."

"Of course."

Tai stifled his laughter in his ramen.

The ramen tasted extremely great.


When he opened the door to the dorm, he was met with Amu's glare.

"Um…"

She grabbed him by the wrist and grunted as she shoved him to the couch. "You got some explaining to do!"

"What did I do?!"

"You make fun of me with Nagihiko!"

Tai frowned. "No, we didn't. We talked just how much we knew about you and how much we wanted you to just be you."

Amu growled. "It's not easy!"

"Stop yelling." Tai sat up, his eyes stern. Amu stared at him and nodded. "I know how much it meant to you but don't overreact. Let's talk calmly."

Amu sighed. "Really, maybe Senpai did choose you to be leader for a reason."

"I played leader before with my friends out in Odaiba."

She furrowed her eyebrow. "I heard of several incidents there but never bothered anything else since rarely mainstream at Tokyo made it over here to a city at the corner of the sea like Ohtori. Too far."

Tai was relieved when she didn't press the subject further. "Tell me why you overreacted."

"I just don't like how people just talk about my personal issues behind my back. I never told anyone this. I thought it would be better just talking to me." Amu sighed.

"We want to know more about you but you refuse to make any other contact." Tai said wisely.

"I was working on that! I just don't know how to express myself properly without people having a backlash on me…" She mumbled.

"It's alright." Tai soothed. "So why don't we go to Tartarus tonight? Just to keep our minds off of things."

Amu gave him a weak smile.

A small smash in Tai's head emphasized his Social Link with the Lovers Arcanum.


I hope you enjoy the story thus far. I really had fun writing this and hope to see how you react. Please review; at this rate, I would this story hostage if I don't get any reviews.

Author Notes

Tarot Cards - I would get into that as we progressed with the Social Links. As things progresses, I would explain little by little with each card.

For now:

Amu Hinamori - Lovers Arcana

Nagihiko Fujisaki - Chariot Arcana

Lelouch Lamperouge - Emperor Arcana

SEES - Fool Arcana

Tartarus Battles - I would focus on important Tartarus battles in this fic. In intervals, you can figure whether or not they went to the Tower or not.