Chapter 11: Not Over Yet

All of the SEES ran up to the rooftop, where Shinjiro senpai hugged tightly onto Sakia's corpse's torso.

"What… Happened to her…?" Junpei asked in horror.

"She gave up her life to seal Nyx." Aegis reported, sad that this had to happen. Shinjiro kept gripping her when a glow started to emanate from her body.

"Wha-?" Her body disappeared in the balls of luminous glow, flowing into the sky.

"…She is gone." Aegis reported. Ring ring. Junpei's cell phone went off.

"Hello?" He answered the phone. "Yuka-tan? You gotta get over here, Sakia's-"

"Junpei!" Yukari had a sob in her throat. "Minato's…! Minato is gone…!"

"Wha-?"

"Aegis! Did Arisato disappear too?" Mitsuru exclaimed.

"…Affirmative."

Back at the dorm, everyone sat on the couch. They looked very grim.

"This is unfair…! They did so much for us, and…!" Fuuka cried into her handkerchief.

"…It was Sakia's choice." Shinjiro stood up and started to leave.

"Shinji!" Akihiko said when KNOCK KNOCK. Mitsuru went to open the door. A girl with a 70's style dress and beret was at the door.

"Hello." She greeted. "My name is Elizabeth. I have come from the Velvet Room, young persona users."

"So, only Sakia and Minato could see you?" Yukari confirmed with the Velvet Room attendant who sipped at tea that she was offered by SEES.

"When I was in the Velvet Room, yes." She placed her tea cup on the saucer. "…I see that Sakia and Minato have gone to become the seal."

"…Yes." Mitsuru said sadly.

"Would you like to get them back?" Shinjiro gasped as he stood against the wall.

"Is there a way?" Yukari said desperately. She wanted her boyfriend back, no matter what.

"Yes. I will use my power to bring you to the dimension where they are. Would you like to hear more, Shinjiro Aragaki?" Everyone looked at him, and he sat down at the couch.

"Go on."

"Understood." She smiled. "There are a few steps in the battle…" She projected a graph on the table with her powers.

Infiltrate the seal room

This should be easy if I can unlock the codes fast enough. It will take a little while to hack in, so protect me while I do this.

Cut open seal.

To slice open the seal will take a long time. Fight at it until it breaks! However, this is one of the hardest parts. I do not know if it will break…

3) Create a new seal

This will be the hardest thing for you to accept. To create a new seal to lock away Nyx, you will have to use your persona's full energy. That means your persona cannot take form anymore, no matter what you do. You will become a normal human.

"Wait, so… We're going to lose our personas?" Junpei said in shock.

"Chidori lost hers, and she's still alive… Does that mean…" Yukari confirmed.

"Yes. Personas are a part of you, and cannot die unless you do. Therefore, they will live on, but not take form." Elizabeth told them.

"I'm for it!" Yukari stood up. "I won't let Minato run out on me! Not now! Not ever!"

"Sakia and Minato are our friends! We can't let them die!" Mitsuru and Akihiko said with determination.

"I agree! I have to pay them back for what they did for me!" Ken nodded.

"Me too!" Fuuka held her hand to her chest.

"Arf!" Koromaru jumped. Junpei gripped his fist.

"Shinjiro-san? You are the only one left." Aegis asked. He scratched his head and pulled off his jacket.

"Are you guys retarded?" He laughed. "There's no way I'd let her stay for eternity in a dead shithole like that! She's my woman!"

Elizabeth had teleported all of the SEES to the dimension of the seal at midnight. Although the dark hour was no longer there, this was the only time the dimension was open. The dimension was a place of much contrast. Although the "sky" was grayish with clouds and fog, the "floor" looked like blue slices of glass, sealed underneath the hard, indestructible flooring. Elizabeth trotted over to the keypad floating in the air next to a grand royal blue and white door and began looking at the code hints written on her arm.

"Once I press this button, monsters will most likely come to attack. Are you ready?" She confirmed.

"Ready!" Yukari nodded with a determined look on her face. Elizabeth flicked her finger at the start button.

"Code 1: The shadow defeated on the train!"

"These are riddles?" Junpei exclaimed as a giant lion-like monster ran up to attack the SEES members.

"Quickly, answer!"

"Priestess!" Yukari yelled as she pulled an arrow back and shot it.

"And the letters of the alphabet in numbers!"

"What?" Akihiko questioned.

"…I see! 16-18-9-5-19-20-5-19-19!" Mitsuru spouted out of nowhere.

"How did you do that so fast?" Ken slashed at the lion with his spear. Mitsuru, the high school genius, had figured out the riddle. Every letter has a number, 1-26.

"Correct! Code 2: Name of the man who gave the Social Link of the Sun!"

"Wait, that guy's name was…" Junpei got a brain block in the midst of battle.

"A-Akinari! That was it!" Yukari yelled back to Mitsuru for her to decode.

"1-11-9-14-1-18-9!" Mitsuru said as she pulled the trigger of her evoker to summon her persona.

"Dammit! I don't think we can hold this guy off for much longer…!" Junpei slashed at the giant lion, who roared and swiped his paw at the high schooler. He jumped out of the way just in time.

"Last Code! The combined first names of the ones Minato and Sakia find dearest!"

"Whaaaa?" Junpei exclaimed. "Seriously? That's like, what the crap man?"

"YukariShinjiro!" Shinjiro yelled out to Mitsuru.

"…Right!" She nodded, a bit surprised. "25-21-11-1-18-9-19-8-9-14-10-18-15!" Buzz. A few computing noises were created as Elizabeth placed in the last code. The lion disappeared into a puff of light, and the door to the chamber was opened.

"Thank… Jesus…" Junpei sighed with pure relief that he wasn't lion chow.

"Minato… Even when you're asleep, you're thinking about us, aren't you…?" Yukari covered her face and cried. "Minato…!"

"Sakia… We're coming." Shinjiro raised his axe onto his shoulder and passed through the door with the others.

"Minato!" Yukari called to her boyfriend. What she saw as she entered the room was a a large blue sphere with both Minato and Sakia floating inside.

"Let's get them out of there!" Shinjiro slashed at the sphere. "Sakia…! Get out of there…!"

Suddenly, a light flashed and blinded the team. Two figures appeared.

"What are these?"

"They're their favorite personas. They've appeared to protect them." In front of them stood Minato's persona, Orpheus, and Sakia's, Alice.

"I guess we'll have to break through them!" Akihiko got into his Southpaw stance.

"We'll take care of these enemies! Shinjiro, Yukari! Go on ahead and break the seal!" Mitsuru turned around and yelled. They nodded and ran ahead.

"Haaa… Haaa… *cough*" Shinjiro and Yukari had been fighting for hours, but still, they could not rip open the seal. In fact, they could not even scratch it. It was a blue plasma that bounced back whenever they hit it.

"If we can't defeat this thing soon, then Junpei and everyone else will…!" Yukari tried raising her bow once again in her tired hands. "Minato…!"

"We might have to retreat…" Elizabeth said sadly. However, just then, a light flashed in front of her. "Impossible…!" The three looked at the light coming from the seal where the two were held. "Before there were two life forces in there, but now… There are three!" A glow came from Sakia as she slept in a fetal position. "Now's your chance! The seal has weakened!"

"Haaaah!" Shinjiro raised his axe and slashed the blue orb, while Yukari shot a holy arrow. Like a balloon, it popped, sparkles of energy floating out.

"Now!" Elizabeth called. "Everyone, put your personas together and seal Nyx before she gets out!" As Orpheus and Alice retreated back to their owners, everyone joined hands in a circle (even Koromaru, who jumped on his hind legs).

"Persona!" They yelled. Their power raised from their bodies and all the personas joined together. Penthessilea, Caesar, Cerberus, _, _, Lucia, and Isis gathered, and smashed together against the dark form that was Nyx. The group heard Nyx's evil cries as their personas and Nyx were sealed away forever. The dark place suddenly turned to pure white. Sakia and Minato floated softly down from their prison that had now vanished. When Minato came down, his knees met the ground, and just as he was about to fall on his face, Yukari hugged his torso and held him up.

"Thank god…!" She hugged him tight and sobbed. "Thank god you're back…!"

Like a princess rescued, Sakia's light body fell into Shinjiro's arms softly. He did not cry. He did not smile. He just hugged her body and placed his face against hers.

"Welcome back." He said softly and brushed his lips against her cheek.