Chapter Eight: Swallow's Tale
Almost on its own, Takuma's hand reached toward the screen…and passed through.
Takuma thought his heart was going to stop from the shock of it. He couldn't do anything but stare in disbelief at his arm. Ripples were spreading across the screen from where his hand had gone in.
Suddenly, he felt his arm being sucked inside. Startled, Takuma tried pulling his arm out, but it was like trying to escape quicksand. More and more of his arm slid inside. Takuma began to panic, pulling with all of his might against the mysterious force, to no avail. Within seconds, he was up to his shoulder.
Then, with a lurch, the screen swallowed him whole.
Something tugged on the fishing pole and snapped Takuma out of his reverie. He held the line steady, until he felt another tug, stronger this time. Takuma stood up, pulling back on the pole and pumping the reel. The trout on the other end came out of the water, thrashing violently. Takuma swung the pole, bashing the trout against a rock. After repeating the process two more times, the trout stopped moving.
It had been four days since Yui and Takuma had left Tokyo, and just the previous day they had found the main body of the Samegawa River. They set up camp, and Takuma had gotten right to catching dinner. He roasted the fish with a spit made of a sharpened twig he'd cut down with Gaia, and seasoned it with some herbs and berries Yui had managed to find nearby. It was still rather bland, but after living off of roots and berries for the past three days, both of them had been glad for some meat.
Takuma picked up his haul—a total of three trout and an amber seema—and headed back to camp. He skewered them on the spit from last night, and attempted to start a fire. After a few minutes of striking Yui's knife against a piece of flint, the moss he'd put on the fire still refused to light. Frustrated, Takuma stood up and walked over to one of the sleeping bags and gently shook Yui. "Rise and shine, Yui."
Yui groaned and rolled onto her back. She slowly opened her eyes. "Good morning, Yuuto-san."
"This is a bit embarrassing, but…I need you to start the fire."
"Again? You're hopeless, Yuuto-san," Yui giggled, worming out of her sleeping bag and walking over to the fire. After about two seconds, a trail of smoke rose from the pile of tinder.
She makes it look so easy, Takuma thought. He stifled a yawn; he hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights, between his recurring nightmares and standing watch for Gastrea. As he moved back towards the fire, he could feel that his clothes had gotten stiff again. So much for fresh clothes.
Takuma began rotating the spit over the fire, allowing the meat to cook. "I hope you're hungry for Inaba trout, kid."
"Anything's better than more roots," Yui replied.
Takuma chuckled. "You can say that again."
It took about twenty minutes for the fish to cook. The two of them ate their breakfast in silence. It was, of course, bland, but food was food. After they ate, the two of them packed up, Yui carrying the fishing gear, and Takuma carrying the rest, and began to walk upstream.
Inaba, ho, Takuma thought to himself, smiling slightly at the thought.
BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK
"So, Yui, I was wondering something," Takuma said as the pair of them trudged along.
"What's that, Yuuto-san?"
They had been walking for a very long time, only taking a break once, for lunch. It was entering dusk, and both of them were exhausted.
"Where did you learn how to wield a knife like that?"
Yui froze up, startled. "H-huh?"
"The way you hold that knife, and how you fight…that takes training, kid. I mean, I've been using this sword for about six months, and I can still barely handle it, and it's specially designed to be easier to wield." Takuma stopped and turned around. "Granted, a greatsword requires quite a bit more finesse than a knife, but if you try to tell me you were fighting on instinct, I'm going to call bullshit. So, how did learn to use it?"
Yui opened and closed her mouth several times, then dropped her head, abashed. "I…I…I was…I was an Initiator."
"Initiator…?" Takuma repeated. "Some doctor said that to me my second day here. He asked where my 'Initiator' was. What does that mean?"
"Civil officers fight Gastrea in pairs. The Promoter will hold off the Gastrea until their partner—the Initiator, one of the Cursed Children—can finish it off."
"I see." Takuma turned around and resumed following the river. "I guess you could say that my Personae are collectively my Initiator. Except they're 'facades I erect to face hardships', and I summon them with a gun. Oh, and I fight Shadows, not Gastrea."
They walked in silence for a while. "So, how come you're not an Initiator anymore?"
Yui looked down, obviously remembering something painful. "My Promoter…died."
"Oh," Takuma replied. "Um. S-sorry for bringing it up."
"Many Promoters treat their Initiators like…like things. But mine…he was different. He treated me like a person." Takuma heard Yui sniffle. "I really miss him."
Takuma couldn't think of anything to say, so he remained speechless. After about a half an hour, he said, "What was his name? Your Promoter, I mean."
Yui didn't say anything, so Takuma resumed walking like nothing had happened, until Yui said, "Sanada-san."
"Sanada?" Takuma turned to Yui, shocked.
She nodded.
"Are you certain his name was 'Sanada'?" Takuma reiterated.
"Yes!" Yui said. "I wouldn't forget my partner's name!"
"You're right. Sorry. It's just…well, I know someone named Sanada."
"Y-you do?"
"Yeah." Takuma unbuttoned the holster on his Evoker and twirled it around on his finger. "He's actually the one that gave me this."
Yui had nothing to say.
Takuma put his Evoker away. "If your Sanada was anything like the Sanada I know, then he was an amazing man, and I don't think I could ever live up to him."
Yui was dumbstruck. "Th-thank yo—"
Takuma suddenly put a hand on Yui's mouth. "Shh."
Takuma closed his eyes and listened intensely. Before long, he heard a snap, and what sounded like a low growl. Takuma shrugged off the camping gear and reached back for Gaia, pulling it partway out of its sheath. Yui picked up on what he was doing, and quickly drew her knife.
Takuma heard the growl again, and what looked like a massive wildcat lunged out of the foliage towards him. Takuma quickly drew his sword, swinging it up and down on the Gastrea's head.
Two more lunged out at him. With a horizontal sweep of his arm, Takuma slashed through flesh and muscle, opening one throat and splitting bone in the other.
It was hard to keep track of where Yui was when she fought. She was springing all over the place, making pinpoint turns and jumping off of trees to slash her enemies. The feline Gastrea were fast, but she was so much faster.
Before Takuma knew it, he had been surrounded. Takuma shifted his sword to one hand, grabbed his evoker, twirled it up to his temple, and squeezed the trigger. The massive oni Kin-Ki materialized, and with a devastating sweep of its arm, decimated a swath of the beasts. Kin-Ki turned around and punched another one into the ground, flattening it. A half a dozen of the Gastrea jumped onto the Persona, but to no avail.
Takuma then noticed the ground shuddering. He spun around, and saw what looked like a lion the size of a semi. Takuma raised his Evoker, but the huge Gastrea shot out a tongue like a frog and wrapped it around his hand. Takuma yelled as his hand was compressed into his Evoker. He heard something snap.
Takuma raised his sword in his right hand and swung it down on the tongue. The beast howled in pain, and the severed tongue fell off of Takuma's hand. He gripped his sword in both hands and swung it with all of his might into the giant Gastrea's throat. It sliced through muscle and sinew, becoming lodged halfway in the leonine monster's throat. Takuma shoved the Gastrea with his foot, and Gaia came free, covered in violet blood.
"Yuuto-san!" Takuma heard, and spun around. He saw that Yui had been surrounded by Gastrea, with no hope of escape. Takuma reached for his Evoker—and it was gone. Takuma looked around, and saw it lying on the ground, in pieces. He felt a twinge of sorrow, then pushed it aside and charged. He managed to kill three of the feline monstrosities before another dozen plunged in from the undergrowth. He fought hard, but before long, he saw that he, too, was trapped.
I need a Persona! he thought desperately. However, without an Evoker, he didn't stand a chance.
Well, there was one other way he could summon a Persona. He held out his hand, concentrating on the image of his very first Persona. I need your help. Please! Persona, Persona, Persona!
He thought he could see the faint outline of a luminescent blue card, but then it flickered away. No!
Just then, one of the feline Gastrea took advantage of Takuma's lapse in concentration and tackled him to the ground. It glared down at him with burning red eyes, licking its chops. Takuma could only stare back, terrified. Is this the end?
Suddenly, there was a gunshot, and the Gastrea exploded. There were several sounds of conflict while Takuma lay on the ground, dazed.
After a few minutes, everything was quiet except for the sound of heavy breathing and the rushing of the river. Takuma struggled to sit up, then his vision was filled with a mechanical arm, offering assistance. Takuma grasped it, and was pulled face to face with his savior.
When he saw who it was, Takuma let out a startled laugh, which became an amused chuckle. "Well, I suppose we meet again…Satomi-kun."
