So at least one persona predicted that this chapter would be the shadow-Minako fight. Bingo! Hope you enjoy, and thanks everyone again for your kind words. Sorry to have kept you waiting on the reunion so long. :p
"No, he hasn't," a soft voice said from behind them. Aigis actually dropped Yu in shock and everyone spun to face the short young man in the yellow scarf.
"These weren't truly the arcana shadows," Ryoji explained, "Just as I am not truly the Nyx avatar. I am close enough to what I was then to understand, however."
"What do you mean?" Akihiko asked.
"This," he gestured at the building, "And the shadow arcana were all created from her mind, from the part of herself she refuses to accept. She is waiting for you on the roof."
"You're not gonna transform and attack us are you?" Junpei asked dubiously. Ryoji smiled.
"This is how she chooses to remember me," he replied, gesturing at his body. "The year she spent in Iwatodai was the best of her life, and she will remember that eventually."
"What is the point to all this?" Mitsuru asked. "Why is she back? Why is she here?"
"She does not know, and so neither do I. That is something you will have to figure out between yourselves. Goodbye and…" he hesitated and smiled, "Thank you, for helping her prevent the fall."
Ryoji turned and walked straight through the wall, out of sight. One by one, the members of the Investigation team were coming to, casting dark looks at their opponents. "I apologise for the violence," Mitsuru replied in a tone that suggested otherwise. "We believed that the destruction of that shadow would herald the return of Nyx."
"I guess we can understand the reaction then," Naoto coughed.
"Sorry about that," Shinjiro said. She nodded her appreciation at his words and after a moment the various members of SEES muttered similar apologies.
"Yu," Chie said, rubbing her shoulder. "When we get back, I wanna look at their abilities. Next time it's gonna be a fair fight." Mitsuru actually smirked at that comment. "I look forward to it," she said brusquely. "Yamagishi, how many floors to the top?"
"Three to go."
"We still have to talk about what you did," Mitsuru said evenly, "But after what happened here," she gestured at the room, "I suppose we can call ourselves even. Let's go."
"Can we wait for Aigis to recover?" Yukari asked, hurrying over to her stationary friend. "Orgia mode takes it out of her, remember."
"Very well, but we cannot wait too long."
Shadow Minako was waiting for them on the top floor. "You came!" she exclaimed. "I knew you would!"
"There!" Rise exclaimed, pointing at the ground beyond the shadow where Minako, the real Minako this time, lay huddled against the wind.
Various members of SEES shouted her name, and they all tried to run to her. Shadow Minako raised a hand and they stopped. "Look at them," the shadow crowed. "Look how much they need me!"
"Stop it," Minako gasped, her voice cracked. "Stop saying that. They don't need me. They can't."
"But I don't want to go back!" the shadow shouted. "I want to stay here forever, and now I have to – because they need me."
"No!" Minako shouted, raising her tear stained face. "I can't stay! I have to go back!"
"Accept what you want," the shadow laughed, "Only then can you truly live!"
"I don't want that! That's nothing like what I want!"
"Liar! I am you!"
"Oh boy…" Kanji muttered.
"Here we go," Yosuke grumbled.
"You're not me!" Minako screamed. The shadow laughed, throwing her head back as black fog began to seep towards her.
"Minako!" Akihiko tore forwards, diving past the shadow to catch Minako as she fell backwards. The shadow kept on laughing and began to swell in size. The laughter continued, the voice deepening until it solidified. It was the Nyx avatar in form, only what had been blue was now red and though a mask still covered the face, it was Minako's hair that escaped from beneath the black crown.
"Minako," Akihiko whispered, shaking her gently, unable to believe that he was holding her in his arms again. She was cold as ice.
She descended into darkness. Panicking she reached out for something (anything) to grab hold of, desperate to find purchase amidst the uncertainty. Blue light shone down upon her and instinctively she shouted a name. "Theodore! Theodore! Help me!" A gloved hand seized her arm and pulled her from that place, into a plush blue car. She collapsed back onto one of the seats, panting and desperate for air. "What was that?"
"That was close to a return, Mistress Minako," Theodore panted.
"A return?" she asked. "To the seal?"
"Indeed. I was very nearly too late to save you."
"Save me?" she exclaimed, attempting to stand and accomplishing only a knock to the head in the enclosed surroundings of the car. "I need to go back to the seal now!" she exclaimed, "My shadow it's…"
"It will only continue to run rampant if you return to the seal, and your presence in that place would do you little good."
"But…" Theodore held up a hand to halt her words and it suddenly occurred to Minako how tired he looked. His uniform was not as crisp as usual, his hair was in disarray and his eyes… his eyes screamed at her.
"Mistress Minako," he said softly, shaking his head. "You changed me in a way I never could have expected, showed me the human world and taught me of your people. Of humanity. I wish simply to repay that favour. I took them from you because I did not wish you to remember, but I can see now that this has caused more harm than good. Please, forgive me for this."
She flinched back as he lift his hand to her face, but all he did was press the palm against her cheek. His hand was cold. She closed her eyes and remembered.
"Spread out!" Yu shouted. "Make sure you've got a good aim and that no one's in your way. Naoto, Chie, Yosuke fall back!"
"Takeba, Iori, you fall back with the others! Aigis, you too!" This left a depleted attack force, but gave them far more room to manoeuvre.
"Takeji Zaiten!" Kanji shouted, sending lightning crashing down from the sky. The others unleashed elemental and physical attacks on the shadow, but it only laughed.
"Forneus! Decarabia!" the avatar shouted. Two personas appeared at her call, and those facing her felt their strength seep out of them.
"Keep fighting!" Yu shouted, summoning Loki and sending ice lancing towards the shadow.
"Valhalla!" she shouted, and golden circles formed in the air above their heads. Thor and Valkyrie charged forward and thunder reigned down upon them. Akihiko held Minako tight, shielding her as best he could. He realised she still wore the omnipotent orb on a cord around her neck, and hoped it would still have an effect when she was unconscious – they made no pretence to understand how that thing worked.
"Scarlet Havoc!" His blood ran cold at those words and he scooped Minako into his arms and leapt to the side to dodge the massive saws as they roared past once and then again. He could hear the firing of evokers and the smashing of breaking glass, but his attention was almost entirely upon the fragile body he held tight against his chest.
"Incubus! Succubus!" Pink arrows rained down from the sky, and Akihiko saw one hit Mitsuru and another Kanji.
"Amagi! Narukami!" he shouted, but they too had been hit. "Takeba," he yelled, knowing she wouldn't hear him from where she was crouched out of the way of the battle. Mitsuru leapt towards Shinjiro, her blade slashing towards him. He parried just barely, sparks rising as the Snow Queen Whip skidded down Mjolnir's handle. Cursing, Akihiko fumbled in his breast pocket, still clutching Minako close with one arm, hoping for a Me Patra gem. Instead he found a small blue bottle.
That'll do, he thought as he threw it down at Yukiko's feet even as she threw her fan towards Ken. The dis-charm smoked up and she breathed it in, the pink gleam vanishing from her eyes. She looked quickly around and took in the field of battle before summoning her persona. Sume-Omikami danced forth and Salvation wiped the charm from the others instantly. Next she darted towards Shinjiro, retrieving the pink Narcissus flower from his hat.
"Mahakala!" Yu called forth the persona instantly and used fire against the avatar, but still it kept on coming.
"Armageddon!" she crowed.
"No!" Rise's voice thundered across the roof and even as the attack crashed down upon them, pink shields sprang into existence in front of them all. Rise took and absorbed the entire attack and Kouzeon fizzled away, leaving her staggering back.
An evoker fired behind her and white light flickered across her skin. She flashed Yukari a grateful smile and summoned Kouzeon again. "It's weakening," she said, "But I won't be able to shield against that one again for a while."
"Keep fighting, but be careful – don't use up all of your spirit, we don't know how many forms it may have." Fuuka's voice joined Rise's, and they began to work together, scanning in unison. The combined powers of their personae were far greater than they had been alone; much like the fusion spells the shadow was throwing at them.
"Fight together!" Fuuka shouted in realisation. "Fusion spells!"
"Chie!" Yukiko called.
"I'm on it!" she yelled, running forwards and out from the shelter of the doorway. Together they summoned their personae and shouted "Twin dragons!" Two enormous golden dragons shot forth, circling the avatar and attacking. It cried out, the first obvious sign of weakness it had made.
"Let's do this Naoto!" Kanji shouted.
"Very well." They ran together and called their personae. Huge, spindly bone protrusions grew up from the edge of the tower and a giant skull reared up behind the avatar, biting down upon it.
"No!" It screamed. "I won't let go of you, I know how much you need me! Raktapaksha!" Garuda and Gurr attacked, and those fighting were knocked off their feet. Without any prompting, those remaining out of the way leapt forwards to pick up the fight.
"Trismegistus!" Junpei roared, his persona lancing towards the shadow. Aigis dashed to the side, gun chattering as bullets spat towards the avatar at a frightening rate. The thing only laughed, as though they didn't hurt at all.
"Dragon hustle!" Chie bellowed, the first back on her feet, and all of them felt themselves strengthen.
Yu was the next to push himself up. He'd dropped his sword, but raised a hand to crush the card, crying out, "Izanagi no Okami!" Almighty light blasted the shadow, knocking it from its feet. "Now!" Yukari shouted as everyone pushed themselves back up. Those who'd dropped their weapons reached for them, and they charged in a mad scramble, slicing, shooting and striking. Rise gave them all she could, but when the dust settled the shadow was only weakened.
It laughed and turned from the fight, looking straight at Akihiko, still clutching Minako against his chest. Behind the mask, it's eyes narrowed and it slowly raised a hand.
First there was the pain. Green light filled her vision and the only sensation was the pain that wrapped her arms and legs, the needles against her skin. The force behind her was not simply malice, but all negative feelings wrapped together; a beast of human imagination, far greater and more terrible than anything she had encountered whilst she still lived.
Minako wanted to scream, yet her form was fixed and solid. She wanted to cry out, to plead for help or mercy, but she was the only barrier between humanity and it's own destruction so there would be no mercy, no relief, no respite. Not ever.
That was the deal, after all. The consequence of her actions. She'd signed the contract. She'd put her name right there on the dotted line but not for a moment had she foreseen this, for who could have predicted the impossible. The human soul was not designed for this punishment, and desperately it sought distraction. It sought those it knew and it sought those who fought against despair, but distraction could never hope to be enough and in the end the pain always won, always triumphed, always beat her down until she could see nothing but the strange green light.
There was a voice, sometimes. It was familiar, and it apologised to her. It cried, sobbed and wailed at her. It wanted her to leave, and she wanted to go as well. She wished to be in any other place because she was so tired. She only ever heard Ryoji on the worst days, when the beast was at it's strongest, raging and crying and howling against her back as it gnashed it's hundreds of jaws, raked thousands of claws against her back.
The memories burned at her, the pain a hundred times worse for having been forgotten and the desperation a thousand times worse for the freedom she had tasted. She screamed, for finally she had a mouth to articulate the twisted mess that the seal had created in place of what had once been Minako Arisato. Then she opened her eyes, she saw Theodore looking at her with deep sorrow and the knowledge that what he had returned to her was unforgivable. She blinked again, and Akihiko was looking down upon her. To her own surprise, she did not cry.
"Narukami!" Mitsuru shouted even as the avatar began to raise her other harm, Armageddon building in the air. She raised her evoker and he smashed a card, shouting out "Loki!" as Mitsuru called, "Artemisia!"
The two personae rose together, and as Artemesia snapped her chain Loki gestured forwards. A great blizzard swept the tower and within it stood a figure of blinding white. It raised a massive fist and pounded it down upon the avatar as in unison Mitsuru and Yu shouted, "Glacius Maw!"
The snow cleared slowly, and as it did so the shadow began to shrink. Dark smoke leaked away from the battered form, leaving only the shadow behind. "Be careful," Mitsuru said slowly, "It may have multiple forms."
"The fool," Minako said quietly, her hand against Akihiko's chest. "My arcana is the fool. There's only one form." She tried to stand, but Akihiko held her back, his eyes full of worry. "Let me finish this," she whispered. He hesitated, but nodded. She leaned on him as they made their slow way towards the shadow.
"I kept telling myself I was strong enough to go back there," she whispered as the shadow sat up and looked pleadingly at her. "But I'm not." Her voice cracked, her eyes watered. "I can't do it. Maybe I'll have to one day… but I'll fight until then." She sobbed only once, her breath catching in her throat. She pushed herself upright and limped forwards to the shadow, kneeling before her. "I'm sorry. I need you, and that should be enough." The shadow smiled and faded away into smoke.
From the centre of the smoke rose a small glowing point of light, and it blossomed before them into a familiar persona: red and white, a lyre at her back. Orpheus Telos hovered above them for a moment and then vanished into a small blue card that fell until it floated before Minako's face and vanished.
She fell backwards and Akihiko caught her. "She's bleeding!" he exclaimed. Blood was seeping through her armour across her back, down her sleeves and legs.
"Diarahan!" Yukari ordered, Isis blooming above her head, and the blood seemed to stop spreading.
"Yamagishi, get us down there, now!" Mitsuru instructed. She could only hope that defeating the mock-avatar would prevent them scattering on the way down. After a moment, the people around them began to shimmer away, and Akihiko felt a tingle across his skin a moment before he blinked and found himself on the first floor.
"Sensei!" a voice wailed. "You came here without telling me! What if you'd got into trouble and Teddie wasn't there to help you! I was so beary worried!"
"We're sorry Teddie, we didn't expect to come out where we did," Yu said.
"Yeah, but someone kept us out of the usual entrance." Yosuke shot a glare at Mitsuru, who ignored it.
"Teddie," she said, the word an order. "Can you get us to an exit that will lead us straight to the Amagi Inn."
"I don't know," Teddie said thoughtfully. "I've never tried that bearfore."
"We could always leave where Mayumi Yamano came in," Yukiko suggested, her voice subdued. "She entered from the Inn, after all."
"That seems to be the best solution. Teddie, lead the way." They walked as a group, Akihiko carrying Minako. Eventually they came to the ruins of a small room. It was overgrown in places, plants creeping through the floorboards. On the walls, just barely visible, were torn up posters and scribbled words. "Here we are," Teddie announced. "And here's an exit."
One by one, they left the shadow realm, emerging into what had been Mayumi Yamano's room at the Amagi Inn, but which had recently been booked by one Mitsuru Kirijo for the duration of her stay in Inaba.
"Akihiko, lay her down on the futon," she gestured to her own mattress, and Akihiko complied, setting Minkao down gently on her front, just in case whatever wound there was on her back hadn't quite healed yet. Everyone stared at her for a moment.
"Is it really her?" Junpei asked finally.
"She looks older," Ken observed. "I dunno why, but I kind of expected her to look exactly the same."
"We should go…" Chie said uncomfortably, shifting from foot to foot. If nothing else, the room was way overcrowded.
"Yeah. We'll be…" Rise gestured something that might have meant around and began to head for the door.
"Wait," Mitsuru said, tearing her eyes away from the sleeping Minako. "Kujikawa… you should stay." Rise was obviously surprised, but she did as Mitsuru said and stayed behind as the rest of the Investigation Team filed out of the room.
"Kujikawa…" Mitsuru began before closing her eyes for a moment and starting again. "Rise." Junpei, who'd poured himself a drink from a jug on the table, choked and spluttered. He'd barely been aware that Mitsuru was capable of using first names.
"Can you tell us why Minako didn't want us to know she was back?"
Rise nodded unhappily. "It was because she was scared," she said. "She didn't want you all to know she was here because she was convinced she'd have to leave again."
"Why would she do that?" Akihiko demanded. "Is this what she wanted help for?"
"She wanted help to return to the Great Seal," a new voice answered. "The gate that prevents Nyx from re-entering this world." Heads turned and a woman in blue stepped towards them from the edge of the room.
"Margaret!" Rise exclaimed, jumping. She glanced at the others and began, "This is…"
"We've met," Mitsuru interrupted. "She tested us in the month leading up to the fight with Nyx. We defeated her."
"Miss Arisato defeated me," Margaret said lightly, "You helped."
"Quite," Mitsuru agreed. "Now, explain this seal."
"Very well. The Great Seal is a power created from the life essence of a human being," she said. "It is the force that prevents the thoughts and desires of mankind calling upon the destructive power you call Nyx. For a human, giving up their life essence means death. I believe that at that moment, she truly had no regrets."
"Minako?" Junpei whispered. "It's really her? She's back?"
"For now," Margaret said calmly. "The Great Seal will hold without her for a short time, but not forever. Theodore, although he likes to believe himself powerful enough, cannot hold the seal indefinitely."
"So she's back, but not permanently?" Mitsuru asked, frowning.
"That is correct."
"Let's say I believe you. How long does do we have to find some other way to keep the seal in place?"
"I cannot say," Margaret replied. "But I would be mindful of the full moon. Nyx is at her strongest then."
"What about..."
"I'm sorry," Margaret replied. "The time I can spend in this world is limited, and I must return."
"How can we find you?"
"You will have to search. The Velvet Room is closed." And she was gone as simply as that.
"How long is it until the next full moon?" Yukari asked uneasily in the silence that followed her departure.
"Seventeen days," Aigis replied instantly. It took a moment for that to sink in; they didn't have long.
"Should I wake her?" Ken asked, hand stirring beside his evoker, ready to cast samarecarm if it was needed.
"No," Mitsuru answered eventually. "Let her sleep. We all should sleep; it's been a long day. I'll call if she wakes."
"I shall watch over her," Aigis said, "I do not yet require charging."
"Don't be silly Aigis," Fuuka admonished her gently. "You took a lot of damage today, let me make sure you're working properly inside and then rest."
"I'll watch," Yukari said quietly, her eyes on Minako's peaceful expression.
"Thank you Takeba. It might be best if the rest of us tried to sleep." Mitsuru's expression told them that she, like the rest of them, knew that wasn't going to happen.
As the others shuffled away, Aigis looked down at her dearest friend sleeping soundly before her. Every part of her felt the confusion as it ran through the circuits of her mind and out into the rest of her body. Aigis had accepted Minako's sacrifice long before the others. She had grieved for her friend, but allowed Minako the decision she had made with no apportioning of blame.
Yet here she was. Aigis thought back to her words upon the peak of Tartarus. "I kept telling myself I was strong enough to go back there, but I'm not. I can't do it." Had Margaret spoken truthfully? Would Minako have to return to this seal? Aigis stared down at her friend, and softly shed her tears.
LOOK! SEE! I PROMISED IT WOULD HAPPEN! Yeah, the next chapter has no action. It's almost entirely dedicated to the part of the reunion in which Minako is actually concious. It'll be up as soon as the fine tuning is done, so probably a couple of days. :D