Chapter 6: Within the Great Seal
-Unknown amount of time passes-
When Seta regained consciousness, he felt like his body had grown weaker.
Standing up wearily, he found himself in a black void with nothing visible in sight.
It was lonely. Cold and Hollow.
From the darkness before Seta, a slim figured woman appeared.
She was giving off her own faint light source, illuminating a fraction of the dark with a dim blue.
Her short white hair and navy clothing became visible.
She stepped forth, taking small elegant strides.
[The mysterious stranger looks at you with a promiscuous smile… She may have been expecting you.]
-Who are you, and what do you want?
-Your aura feels similar to… Margaret's. (Empress social link Lv.10 required)
"Me? My name is Elizabeth. I'm pleased to meet you," Stated the feminine yet hypnotic voice.
Elizabeth smiled faintly at Seta who noticed something was moving subtly behind her.
"Do you know what this place is?" Elizabeth asked softly.
Seta shook his head but couldn't help get a bad feeling from what was hiding behind her.
"Just as the velvet room is the home of your subconscious… This void is the awakened world of another."
Seta could only guess who's... Minato's.
Elizabeth chuckled grimly, "Actually, it is not Mr Arisato's subconscious that we are standing in."
Seta's intuition had proved wrong... More worryingly, Elizabeth had read his mind.
She was not normal... Whatever she was.
Elizabeth suddenly took a step to her left and gently encouraged a young boy behind her to bravely step forward.
"Go on… You know what to do," Elizabeth said sweetly.
From behind Elizabeth, appeared a young boy with short black hair in a striped shirt. His eyes glowed the same blue as Minato's.
Walking his way over with an innocent look, he seemed perfectly harmless.
The boy was holding a small rod which slowly ignited at the tip with a bright white flame.
The boy held it out before Seta for him to take.
It was a torch.
Nothing more.
"My name is Pharos… I'm giving this to you now." His soft voice said. "It is a gift."
[There is a prominent dark aura radiating from the source of light… Should you take it?]
-Yes (Corruption rises)
-No
Seta thought for a moment, but soon refused.
The Arcana felt a cursed vibe coming from the object.
Hearing Seta refuse, the boy spoke apologetically, "I'm sorry… but I was not offering it to you."
What happened next was supernatural...
With excruciating pain, a colossal black hand tore through Seta's chest and left him roaring in agony.
Coated in blood, the ravenous arm reached forward violently and snatched the torch to pull it back inside Seta's body.
Once the hand disappeared within Seta, he crumpled in pain while desperately trying to stop the bleeding.
But… Seta very quickly felt his wound seal, dry and even his pain vanquish.
Looking down, there was no hole on his chest.
Did it even happen?
Now, it was just as though he had imagined the pain.
"Well done, Ryoji Mochizuki… You have passed on your torment. You are an avatar of the harbinger no more..." Elizabeth whispered in a congratulatory manner.
Within the darkness, the boy vanished into transparency with a tired yet blissfully relieved smile.
[Something is very wrong here... You turn to Elizabeth]
- "What have you done to the boy?" (Understanding up)
- "Why is there a monster inside me?"
- "What have you done to me!" (Influence down)
Elizabeth looked somewhat apologetic as she spoke her next words.
"Very well, I'll explain… When a young man named Minato Arisato gave his life for this world, he sealed away the deity known as Nyx. It was two years after his absence, that I found my life's purpose… It was to save him."
Elizabeth paused a moment.
"Unjustly sacrificed for the corrupted,
Ironically he was the only one who deserved the fruits of life."
Seta listened on as he sensed Elizabeth's inner turmoil.
"Do you ever question if life is… Too unfair?"
[How do you answer?]
-Yeah, my uncle eats the pudding in the fridge all the time.
-It's about perspective… (Charm up)
-Fair and unfair is often beyond our control. (Expression up)
"Well, I disagree." Elizabeth stated sadly. "Helplessly standing by while seeing Minato Arisato's bitter fate, I vowed to give him a life which was stolen from him."
Elizabeth took out a contract and held it up to show Seta.
On the area where the name was meant to be written, Seta saw his own.
Suddenly, his name began to mysteriously erase itself... and replaced it with Minato's.
Elizabeth spoke, "The second last step is done... I have nearly succeeded." Elizabeth said rolling up the contract and clicking to make it fade out of sight.
"With a new contract for him to live by, all that remains is to kill the abomination hiding inside your soul before it manages to poison Minato Arisato to death."
[Elizabeth looks reluctant, but fixated on fulfilling a duty where your death needs to take place. She will soon be ready to attack you... She has a strong aura and should not to be taken lightly.]
-"You've only freed a monster."
-"I don't fall easily." (Influence and Courage up)
-"Is there no alternative to this death?"
"You pity Minato's fate, but isn't this equally unfair?" (Expression up)
There was deep remorse behind the woman's hazel-gold eyes.. "Yes, His freedom is only bought with your death... I have done wrong by you indeed. Though... If I kill you, I destroy the monster planted within you and ensure a peaceful life for him."
Before continuing Elizabeth summoned a compendium from thin air into her hands,
she paused…
Her voice was truly apologetic as she opened up the front cover.
[Elizabeth looks reluctant… If you speak carefully, you may avert death.]
-I don't plan to die here. (Influence up)
-Face me... I'll end you here. (Win or lose, it's game over)
-What if I could eradicate what's within us both?
"Death is not an event one prepares for. I'm sorry it comes to you as a surprise." Said Elizabeth.
She then began to think to herself a moment...
"Wait… I suppose there is one alternative." she stated with a raised brow.
"It involves confronting the dark being 'Erebus' with the combined strength of your team and Mr. Arisato's... Though there is no guarantee of success..."
[Do you believe you can do this?]
-How do you know of my team.
(Corruption up)
-You haven't left me a choice.
-I respect those who make sacrifices... I will fight with him.
(AVAILABLE- Persona 3 save data required)
"I see… Perhaps you will be the one to truly save that man… and not I." Elizabeth stated with growing curiosity. "All that I beg of you, is that you do not let the poison, you share with Minato, destroy you before it is eradicated."
Suddenly a muffled voice began to echo in the far distance.
"Ahh," Elizabeth began with a trace of excitement. "Someone from your world has found your sea of subconscious. She is a talented young lady. Listen closely to her voice when I disappear, she will help you escape this void… Farewell, the next time we meet. I will introduce you to someone very powerful."
Seta nodded, not sure of what else to say...
Once Elizabeth disappeared with a few steps backwards, the faint voice in the void's background began to grow more audible.
"Senpai!? Can you hear me?" Asked a familiar trembling voice.
Seta called out to state his presence.
"Huh!? Senpai? You can hear me! Oh, thank goodness..." Rise sounded ready to sob.
Seta comforted her and explained he was fine.
"R-right… I have to calm down to get you out of there." Rise sniffled. "Listen, you've been asleep for a week! I've been detecting a faint presence of you for quite some time and I'm so glad I didn't give up on it. Everyone's been worried… Anyway, thank god you finally reached through. I'm going to pull you out of there and back to this side with my persona, I think I know a way how... but I might mess it up and that would mean," She paused with a sense of dread, "That we'll lose you in there forever… and I'm not ready to let that happen!"
[Rise sounds fearful as she begins to weep softly. Your fate is in her hands and she is worried. As a leader, you must direct her.]
- Is there someone else who can get me out?
- Stop being childish and get this done!
(Rise fails under immense pressure - game over.)
- You can do this, Rise… I trust you. (R.P up 3 points)
Rise suddenly calmed down, a smile could even be heard in her tone. "Senpai... Then leave it to me, I promise I'm going to get you out…" She said a little reassured.
Seta reconfirmed his certainty that she would do fine.
"Senpai! Stop flirting with me already," Rise teased with a giddy tone.
She sounded hopeful now, so Seta overlooked the fact that she stretched the meaning of his words to her liking.
Despite everything, Seta truly felt safe leaving his fate in Rise's hands.
She was someone he knew for a long time, and the only one who could pull through in such a crisis.
END CHAPTER.