Persona: One World
Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona series or the characters in relation to the series. However, I do own this series, and the characters I introduced in this series. The character Kyoji Kinomura and his Persona, Musashi Miyamoto, are the creations of Minako the Dragon Maiden of DW.
Persona: One World
Chronicle Ten: Full Circle
"Tsukuyomi!" "Musashi!"
Only blurs of blue and gray, and swift flashes of silver marked the titanic battle between the two samurai Personas. Kyoji Kinomura's Persona, Musashi Miyamoto against Shibuya Hiruma's Tsukuyomi.
Musashi's twin sword style, the Ni-Ten Ichi Ryu, provided him with a wider range of possible attack angles, but Tsukuyomi's adeptness at his battojutsu techniques and lightning quick draws provided no quarter for Musashi to take advantage of.
"Not bad, Hiruma-kun…" said Kyoji, who was drenched in sweat as his Persona fought hard to keep up with Tsukuyomi's speed. "You're no slouch yourself, sempai…" Shibuya replied, he too sweating from the heavy blows dealt by Musashi Miyamoto's two katanas.
Only after the two fighters parted for the seventh time did they stopped to catch their breath. Kyoji and Shibuya both were exhausted, but refused to let the other have the upper hand in this battle.
The Personas went at it again, this time their attacks were faster and deadlier than ever.
"Time to end this! Boufuken (Gale Sword)!" Kyoji shouted. His samurai Persona summoned six more astral swords around him. Each of the swords rotated around its summoner with their points facing outwards; which generated a great gust of wind and lightning.
The wind raged throughout the Nightmare Zone, destroying any surviving Shadow which was inhibiting the area. However, one figure stood stoically in the hurricane. The blue-clad samurai Persona and his user stood; their hair and clothes billowing in the wind but not backing an inch in the face of the mighty attack. Through the raging winds Kyoji saw Shibuya's eyes glow a curious blue.
The Persona jumped back, his hand on his sheathed sword as Shibuya shouted, "Shichiyou-Iaidou (Seven Luminaries Sword-Draw Arts)!" In what seemed to be one split-second flash draw, Tsukuyomi slashed seven times in quick succession, each slash marked with a different colored arc. The color of each arc represented the days of the week in traditional Japanese.
Musashi managed to dodge the first slash (nichiyobi – Sun day) and block the second one (getsuyobi – Moon day) but received the next five slashes full on (kayobi, suiyobi, mokuyobi, kin'yobi, doyobi – fire day, water day, wood day, gold day and earth day respectively) and was thrown far across the Nightmare Zone. The Persona didn't seem to be wounded by the attack, but didn't get back up again.
Kyoji was also knocked down onto the floor Shibuya's finshing move; he held his chest in pain and recalled his Persona in defeat before staggering back onto his feet. Shibuya recalled his Persona too, and helped Kyoji in getting back up.
"You're strong. I respect that." Kyoji complimented. Shibuya grinned, "Heh, you too Sempai!" The older student smiled, but said nothing in retort. Both guys stood facing each other before bowing ceremoniously to each other.
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Wang Soi Feng and Ai Si Ying got back safely from their New York excursion. Both however, seemed to have grown apart from each other, as Wang had been spending most of his time in the library doing researches on the Nightmare Zone and spent less time with his friends or Ai.
She knew that their relationship is nothing more than close friends and fellow Persona-users, but she was really hoping that he would at least spend some time with her instead of being cooped up in the library.
On the flip side though, she had been thinking a lot about the Persona-user that she and Wang met at the Statue of Liberty and found herself wondering the possibility of the presence of other Persona-users around the world. It was during one of her usual day-dream sessions that her phone went off again, signaling another Nightmare Zone.
She looked at the alarm and thought of Wang. She immediately composed a mail but instead of sending it to Wang, she sent it to Trance, telling him to join her at the Nightmare Zone immediately.
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It was the fifth night after Shibuya's departure and there was no indication that he is going to come back. Every night Lyla sat on her bed, wishing that Shibuya would be coming through the Nightmare Zone in the Academy's hall and would join them in class tomorrow. Even tonight, she sat hugging her pillow thinking of him…
Tonight was yet another sleepless night for Mellissa. She left her empty house four nights earlier to study in the Beaux-Evangel Girl's Academy as an exchange student before later being transferred here officially. She learned some quick French too and within the four days was able to get into conversations, although she's still more comfortable speaking English with the other students.
It took Lyla quite a while, but she finally realized that her phone was vibrating softly in the pocket of her pajamas. She checked it and saw that the red dot was in France again this time.
"Ly!" Mellissa whispered from without of Lyla's bed curtains. Lyla quickly jumped out of bed, and put on her school uniform before joining Mellissa, who was running quickly towards the Academy main building.
The Academy entrance hall had once again been transformed into a Nightmare Zone, which was indicated by the bloodstains that had mysteriously appeared on the marble walls. Mellissa and Lyla rushed into the hall, their hand on their phones and ready to summon their Personas whenever needed.
"There's nothing here…" Lyla said, scanning the hall. There was clearly no sign of any damage to the hall, though this area had been confirmed to have been transformed into a Nightmare Zone.
"We shouldn't be too sure yet," Mellissa said matter-of-factly. "The last time we were here the Nightmare Zone reached up to the other floors; we shouldn't make any decisions unless we've seen the rest of the floors."
"Or maybe if I can…" Lyla whispered to herself and held out her phone. "Diana!" she shouted softly, and the hunting goddess Persona took form in front of her. The Persona bent over and touched the ground lightly, tracking for nearby enemies.
"There's one…" Lyla whispered; her eyes closed to try to focus on the faint presence she had detected earlier. "It's on the roof! And it's flying!" she said finally, before turning to Mellissa who nodded in a silent agreement. Together they ran up the marble staircase up towards the roof of the school building.
On the third floor, however, they heard a noise from along the corridor. It sounded like people, but Mellissa summoned her Persona Gefjun anyways, just in case.
"Humans, three of them." Lyla confirmed through Diana's power. "They're heading this way!" She warned. Both she and Mellissa took out their phones, ready for anything to come.
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Wang, Ai and Trance had just met up earlier in the Nightmare Zone and started exploring the place a little when suddenly a lightning bolt shot through the air and missed Trance by a hair's breadth.
"What in the world!" Trance jumped, his hoodie was slightly singed by the lightning bolt. He quickly pulled out his phone, as did Wang and Ai, who was just as surprised by the ambush.
"Anansi!" "Sui Ren!" "Areong Jong!"
The three Personas appeared in front of their respective users, ready for a fight. They looked up and saw two female Persona-users and their Personas. They were quite surprised by the three Personas, but quickly got back to fighting form.
Wang looked Trance who nodded in return. Sui Ren and Anansi both took vanguard against the two enemy Personas, while Areong Jong stayed in the middle of the formation. The two Persona-users weren't too bad either as their Personas quickly got out of the way of the charge, minding to stay out of Sui Ren's iron ball reach.
The masked female priestess Persona which had shot the lightning bolt at Trance turned and fired smaller, but quicker shots of electricity that was easily parried by Areong Jong, who had put up a wall of water. Areong Jong countered with a whip-like water attack, which was nimbly dodged by the enemy Persona. Both magic-using Persona-users looked at each other, each clearly impressed by the skill of the other.
The huntress Persona shot a quick volley of arrows at Anansi, but the arrow shaft lack the sharpness to penetrate the spider's thick hide. The spider Persona jumped on the stairs to catch up to huntress Persona, who was quickly putting on distance against the spider. Anasi fired a wind vortex bullet at the running huntress Persona, only to have it countered by a similar attack by the Persona who fired a wind element-enhanced arrow against the attack.
The two wind attack collided dead center between the two Personas. Anansi fired more of the vortex shots, which forced the huntress Persona to jump and dodge them. Trance could see the female Persona-user grimacing to see her Persona being driven into a corner like that. Anansi stopped his chase however as a red human-shaped being cast a shadow behind the huntress Persona.
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At such a distance, there was no hope for Diana to dodge the coming attack. The red armored warrior Persona had effectively got behind without her detection, and now Lyla is going to pay the price for her lack of attention. Lyla closed her eyes, preparing for the pain of being bludgeoned by an iron ball.
She waited for a few seconds, but the pain never came. Instead there was a loud clanging noise of metal hitting metal, and then the sound of something heavy crashing into the ground.
She opened her eyes again, and saw a familiar blue robed samurai Persona standing over the red armored Persona, katana in hand. She quickly turned and found the face she had long dreamt of. Before she even knew it, she shouted out his name. "Shibuya!"
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Shibuya realized Lyla calling out to him, and the two other Persona-users are looking at him obviously surprised by his sudden appearance. He saw Mellissa's Persona Gefjun locked in combat with the Korean swordswoman Persona, and the two male Persona-users who were fighting Lyla earlier talking to something amongst themselves. Apparently finally reaching an agreement, the spider-like Persona and red-armored Persona jumped up towards Shibuya's blue clothed Persona.
Shibuya's eyes blazed a furious blue. Tsukuyomi appeared above him, holding his katana high over his head.
"STOP IT!!!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, as Tsukuyomi brought down the katana. The slash released a large amount of energy in one bright flash of light and split the battleground staircase into two. The attack seemed to have successfully knocked some sense into the five combatants, whom all stopped their battles dead in their tracks.
"Thank you." He sighed, though he made none of the other Persona-users heard him. He began descending the stairs looking at each of the Persona-users in turn. "The Shadow on the roof had already been dealt with."
"Wait, you did it on your own?" asked the African-American Persona-user, looking a mix of anger and disbelief and a trace of awe. The other two users, who Shibuya suspected to be Chinese, looked at him in disbelief.
"Of course." Shibuya said confidently. Still the look of doubt crosses the face of the other Persona-users, including Lyla and Mellisa. "It's up to you to believe me or not. But I think the real dumbasses around here are the five of you."
All five Persona-users are looking at him angrily now. Even Lyla looked angry at the remark. "I mean," he tried to explain. "What is the point of being given the power of the Persona is all you guys wanna do is beat the crap out of other Persona-users, right?"
"Hold yer horses, boy." The African-American spoke up again. He was quiet for a while before pointing at Shibuya. "First things first, who in the world are YOU?!"
"I'm Shibuya Hiruma, a Persona-user from Japan," Shibuya introduced himself calmly. "Nice to meet you."
The African-American rolled his eyes. "Japanese, huh? Well then, I'm Trance."
"Wait, since when are we on good terms with him?!" the Chinese guy retorted against Trance. However, Trance just shrugged it and told him. "This guy's right. Why in hell are we fighting each other? We're all Persona-users for Pete's sake!" To prove his point, Trance looked at the Mellissa and Lyla and shouted. "Hey! No grudges, okay?!"
"Trance…" the Chinese girl said, holding her head. "My name's Ai Si Ying, you all can call me Ai."
"What?! Not you too!" the Chinese guy shouted, clearly furious. He looked back and forth between Ai and Trance, before looking angrily at Shibuya.
"Well, since everyone's finally talking and not fighting I guess I'll jump in the bandwagon as well…" Mellissa said smiling at Ai and Trance. "My name is Mellissa Belle, and this is Lyla Jean Guelle!" She said cheerily, and gestured to Lyla who waved happily at Trance and Ai.
Shibuya smiled as Trance, Ai, Mellissa and Lyla started to talk and getting to know each other. He looked at the Chinese guy, who was torn between his own principles and the path chosen by his friends. He struggled to find words for a while before spitefully saying. "I…I'm Wang Soi Feng, happy?!"
The six Persona-users are now converged. That's more than what Shibuya could ask for, maybe now they'll stand a fighting chance…. Against the horrors that would test them to their limit. In Shibuya's heart his silent resolution resounded, unheard by anyone. As he thought about it, he had to fight back the tears that had started forming in his eyes again…
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Ten chapters! I want to thank all those who had been reading this fic, I thank you soooo much! And more so to those who had been reviewing and rooting me on all these times, thank you again! Please, please do review and help me improve this story in any way you can!
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Lyla: Shibuya, did you cry?
Shibuya: No (wipes tear)… No way, I'M crying...
Trance: Dude, you were crying. Everyone can see that...
Shibuya: No, I'm NOT crying, get it?!
Mellissa: Is something wrong, Shibuya?
Shibuya: No… It's just… I've made up my mind… My resolution to fight, I'll have to be stronger! Next time on Persona: One World, "The Chaos pt 1", a battle that sparked my fierce resolution! Let's go Kinomura-sempai!!
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