April 21:
As Yu woke up the next day, he couldn't help but make a mental note about his current state, considering the adrenaline-pumping practice run he and the others had in Tartarus the night before; he was exhausted, sure, but since he was already scampering around in Tartarus for nearly a week, he wasn't nearly as tired as, say, the days after he saved Akihiko from the Magician Shadow's clutches. Anyways, just as Yu put on his Gekkoukan jacket, he heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Yu asked politely.
"It's Junpei," Junpei replied. "Hey listen, do you wanna walk to school today?"
"Did Arisato-san refuse your offer?" Yu asked back.
"Actually, he was long gone by the time I knocked on his door."
"And you don't want to go on your own today?"
"Y-Yeah, that's right."
Yu thought about this for a few moments. "Sure," he replied. "I'm ready to go anyways." While he said this, Yu made his way to his room's door in record time, opened it, and was greeted by Junpei, toothy grin and all.
"Thanks man!" Junpei thanked.
"Let's go then." As Junpei began walking, Yu following close behind him, Yu couldn't help but stare at Junpei's backpack; it wasn't anything special, but it did have an unusual, eye-popping color: purple. Yu didn't have anything against the color, but it seemed a little out of place; or at least, it would be if he were talking about anyone else but Junpei. In the time Yu contemplated this small, innocuous detail, he and Junpei were already down to the ground floor, and in even less time, they were out the front door, heading to the monorail station like a clockwork task.
"So what did you think of Tartarus?" Yu asked as they walked.
"Didn't I already answer that question to Mitsuru-senpai last night?" Junpei asked.
"You did," Yu replied, "but I'm asking you now, after you've had some time to soak it all in."
Junpei shrugged. "It's… interesting, to say the least. And kicking the Shadows' asses was a lot of fun."
Yu chuckled. "That it is."
Junpei frowned. "But man, that big one we fought at the end was really tough. I almost thought we were gonna die."
Yu nodded. "And that's what makes Tartarus such an unpredictable place."
"I'll say." Junpei paused. "Still, I can't believe you and Arisato managed to take that thing out like that. It's like the two of you were fighting them for years."
Yu shrugged. "Maybe we're just naturals." Junpei then hushed up until they made it to the station and boarded the monorail, but even then, neither of them spoke until the monorail began moving.
"So what's with the purple backpack?" Yu asked out of the blue.
"Huh?" Junpei asked before looking to his backpack. "I-It's just a backpack."
"But the color," Yu continued. "It just seems off to me."
"Says the one with a gray backpack."
Yu looked to his own backpack before returning his gaze to Junpei, nodding. "Touché."
"Anyways, why'd you ask about it?"
Yu shrugged his shoulders. "No reason. It just kinda… stands out."
"Well, maybe I want to stand out. Ever think of that?"
Yu shook his head "No. No I didn't."
"Well, does it make sense that way?"
This time, Yu nodded with a light smile. "Yeah, it does."
Junpei scratched his head. "Do you have to answer like a robot?"
"And I guess calling Arisato-san a zombie is better?"
"Whoa, you got me there." This time, Junpei was the one to lightly smile. "I guess it doesn't matter anyways. In fact, the way you act can be pretty funny." Junpei realized what he said and rebounded. "I-In a good way, of course."
Yu nodded. "Thanks, I guess."
"I mean, compared to Arisato, you're like a normal, everyday person."
"That's still seems like an insult, don't you think?"
Junpei chuckled lightly. "You really are something, you know?"
Yu nodded. "And I wouldn't change for anyone."
"Then don't give me crap about the way I act. Deal?" Junpei then extended his hand, of which Yu accepted swiftly.
"Deal." Suddenly, the crashing noise went off in his head, and a familiar voice informed him his bond with Junpei ranked up. After this, Yu looked out the window to see that the school was coming into view once again.
"Oh, did you hear?" Junpei asked.
"What?" Yu asked back.
"Apparently, there's an assembly being held today."
Yu arched his eyebrow. "Is that so?"
"Yeah. It's gonna be a drag."
Yu shrugged. "It could be worse."
Again, Junpei scratched his head. "Yep, you're a pretty unique dude alright."
"That concludes the main portion of today's assembly," a somewhat cheerful student announced to the auditorium full of bored high school students. He hated to admit it, but Yu was only halfway listening, thanks in part to his mental exhaustion; in Yu's defense, it looked like Junpei, who was sitting directly in front of him, and Minato, who was sitting to the left of Junpei, didn't give the impression they were paying close attention either.
"Next," the student continued, "we'll hear a word from the Student Council." As Yu's attention waned, took a closer look at the stage and saw that Mitsuru was standing quite a few paces to the left (his left) to the podium.
If Mitsuru is up there, then she must be part of the Student Council, Yu thought. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she was the President.
"So without further ado," the same student continued, "please welcome the new Council President, Mitsuru Kirijo of Class 3-D."
Yu put his hand to his face in shock. Damn, I was spot on, Yu swore to himself. In hindsight, he did see it coming, and the fact that Yukari, who was sitting to his left, seemed unsurprised too was also unsurprising.
"So she did get elected," Yukari replied, with a similar hint of hostility that Yu picked up on in Tartarus. "Well, I guess she IS the most popular girl in school." Despite that, Yu couldn't really argue with her there.
"No kidding," Yu added. "There's just something about her..."
"Besides," Junpei butted in, "the school's owned by the Kirijo Group, isn't it?"
Yu nodded. "That's what I heard."
"I try not to think about that," Yukari replied sullenly. Then, the lot of them refocused on the assembly, as Mitsuru looked as if she was about to start speaking.
"As I begin my term as Student Council President," Mitsuru began, "I'd like to share with you all my vision for the coming year. It is my firm belief that each one of us accepts the responsibility of bettering our school. However, change cannot occur without sustained effort and an unprecedented level of commitment." As she spoke, Yu looked around at the people he sat around, wondering how much of this speech was sticking to them, because he knew Junpei probably didn't understand a single thing that Mitsuru was saying.
The speech continued. "That is why we must restructure our daily lives to accommodate this lofty goal. I'd like each of you to dig deeply into your well of motivation, and reevaluate your convictions, to imagine a bold new future without losing sight of the realities around you. THAT is the key. I'm certain that many of you have your own visions of the future; for us to reap the full benefits of our education, your participation, ideas, and enthusiasm are essential. Thank you." As she stepped away from the podium, the entire auditorium erupted into applause, even if the student body didn't fully understand Mitsuru's speech.
"Dang," Junpei replied in awe. "That was freaking amazing. But, did any of y'all understand what she said?"
"Sort of," Minato replied.
Yu nodded somewhat confidently. "I think I've got the gist of it," he replied.
"I mean, it doesn't sound like something a high schooler would say." Junpei then turned his gaze from Minato to Yu. "Plus admit it: if it were anyone else, we'd be laughing our asses off."
"For some, this is true," Yu replied nonchalantly.
"So how much longer until this assembly ends?" Minato asked.
After the assembly concluded, classes resumed as normal, with Yu's next class being composition.
"Today," Ms. Toriumi began, "we'll be going over Meiji-era literature. Please open your textbooks to page 12." As Yu opened his textbook, Ms. Toriumi spoke up again. "You know what? I'm sick of the textbooks. I've got a great poem we can cover instead. Just close your textbooks and listen..." As Ms. Toriumi went recited the poem, Yu was tempted by the graceful escape of sleep, but fearing the worst, he forced himself to stay awake for the remainder of the class period; some did take the bait, however, since not too long after she finished up the poem, Ms. Toriumi unsurprisingly caught one of them.
"All right, Kenji," she began, "You'd better not be sleeping back there! You should be ashamed of yourself by taking a nap while I pour my heart into reading this poem!"
Sucks to be that kid, Yu thought.
"Just for that, you get another essay on top of your regular assignment TONIGHT! And I'll expect a slice of cake with it, too. And don't cheap out on the store bought stuff from last time either."
Yu winced. It REALLY sucks to be that kid, he thought, a tad more apologetic.
Once class ended, Yu left his classroom and went straight to the right hand staircase, with which he planned to head down to the floor one hallway and off of school grounds. However, once he made it to the ground floor, he noticed something going on just outside the door that led to the gymnasium; curious, Yu opened the door, entered the outside corridor, and was shocked to see a familiar blue haired girl, her belongings scattered on the ground, being seemingly tormented by three other girls.
"Moriyama-san, please stop," Fuuka pleaded.
"Why?" one of the girls asked. "We were just inspecting your things for you."
"That's goody two shoes Fuuka for you," another girl added. "There's no fun stuff on her at all." As the third girl prepared to open her mouth, Yu approached the group, a serious look etched on his face.
"Um, just who the hell are you?" the third girl instead asked.
"It doesn't matter," Yu replied coldly. "Is there a problem here?"
"Um, no," the first girl replied. "Why don't you just stay out of other peoples' business?"
"Really?" Yu moved even closer to the girls. "'Cause from my perspective, it looked like you were bullying that poor girl. Am I wrong?" The least that Yu was expecting was some flinching, but surprisingly, the girls turned around and proceeded to leave.
"Ugh, forget THIS loser," the first girl snorted. "We'll just deal with Fuuka later."
"Yeah, see you never, Mr. Tough Guy," the second girl rudely said to Yu. Once the girls were out of sight, Yu knelt down to help pick up Fuuka's things.
"T-Thanks for your help," Fuuka thanked, "but you didn't need to do that."
"Sorry," Yu began, warmer than he was a minute ago, "but it's just not my style to let someone get harassed like that."
"I-I see," she replied before facing Yu, her eyes widening as she realized who'd come to her rescue. "Hey wait, you're the one from before. A-At the bookstore."
Yu nodded while smiling. "So you remember me?"
Fuuka nodded softly. "Yeah. O-Oh, I never caught your name."
As Yu handed Fuuka the last of her things, he stood up and bowed solemnly. "Yu Narukami, at your service."
Instead of a repeat of what happened last time, Fuuka instead laughed softly.
"Uhh, what's so funny?" Yu asked.
"T-That was just a pretty cheesy way of introducing yourself," Fuuka replied. "That's all."
Yu rubbed the back of his head. "I was just trying to be friendly."
"Well, you sure made me feel better, so thanks for that."
Yu nodded. "No problem, Fuuka. And if you ever need a helping hand, just ask."
"I-I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer." Suddenly, when Yu wasn't expecting it, the crashing noise went off in his head as the Priestess tarot card appeared before him.
Thou Art I… And I Am Thou… Thou hast established a new bond… Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas of the Priestess Arcana.
"Well," Yu began as the flow of time continued, "I've gonna get going. See you later, Fuuka."
"Y-Yeah, see you," Fuuka replied. Satisfied, Yu turned around, exited back through the same door he came from, and began to walk down the first floor hallway, which in turn led Yu back to the main lobby; once there, Yu exited the school and headed to the Paulownia Mall, where he would return to the Velvet Room once more with a few more questions he hoped to get answered.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor greeted.
"Thank you, Igor," Yu replied. "I have a question regarding the Compendium."
Margaret looked up. "What is it?"
"Do I still have access to my previous Personas?"
"Let's find out," Margaret replied as she pulled out a rather large brown book, with the words "Le Grimoire du Coeur" written on the cover, and when she opened it, her expression, regardless of the discovery, told Yu that something had to be wrong.
"What is it?" Yu asked.
Margaret looked up from the Compendium, her composure regained. "I'm not quite sure how to say this," Margaret began, "so I'll just be blunt: your Compendium is… empty."
Yu's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "A-Are you serious?" he asked.
"I'm afraid so," Margaret replied sadly. "As to why this is, I do not know. But, like your social links, you'll have to build up your Compendium from scratch."
"I was afraid that might've happened," Yu murmured silently, then turned back to Igor. "At least tell me what my power level is. It can't be too low, can it?"
"It is true that pertinent to your current situation," Igor began, "you are no longer as powerful as you once were in your true time. But rest assured, your current level of power should be acceptable for the time being."
"So what is it?" Yu asked again, anxious for a reply.
"Currently," Igor continued, "your power level stands at six."
"Six, huh? That's not bad, I guess."
Igor nodded. "Indeed."
"But that means I can't really fuse anything now, and that was the whole point in me coming down here."
"I know it must be tough," Igor continued, "but do not worry. As long as you continue to carry on in this time as you did in your own time, I'm confident you'll be caught up in no time."
Yu smiled warmly. "You know, that's actually strangely comforting, Igor."
"It is my pleasure."
Yu turned around to face the exit. "And on that note, I'll be going now."
Igor nodded. "Until next time, farewell."
"How was your visit?" the familiar voice of Minato asked as Yu slipped back into reality; Yu turned a full 360, revealing the familiar, bored face of his fellow Wild Card member.
"It was alright," Yu stammered. "Why do you ask, Arisato-san?"
Minato shrugged. "No reason," he replied. "Actually, I was waiting here for you."
Yu arched his eyebrow. "You need to talk to me?"
Minato nodded slently.
"Alright. What is it?"
Minato stayed silent for a moment, but Yu knew from past experiences that it didn't necessarily mean he was coming up with a question; in fact, he'd come to learn that even the slightest change in his facial expression could tell a much different story.
Finally, Minato spoke up. "Who are you? Really?"
"I'm Yu Narukami," Yu replied. "I'm the same guy you fought with in Tartarus last night." He tilted his head. "Why? Did you see someone that looked similar to me?"
Minato shook his head lightly. "Then where did you come from?"
Yu now felt like he was being interrogated. "Tokyo," Yu replied. "And before you ask another, where are these questions coming from?"
"Well," Minato began, "when I first encountered the Velvet Room, the long nosed fella, Igor, was telling me my future, using tarot cards to do so. I won't divulge the results, but the last time I went to the Room, while we were at Tartarus, something strange happened."
Is this going where I think it's going? Yu thought. "And what's that?"
"Well, I got curious about how you could see the Velvet Room door as well. When I entered, I asked Igor about it, and while I didn't get a straight answer, he did look at my fortune again as I requested."
"..."
"And what we saw was something that didn't happen the first time: two of the cards indicated the Fool, and since only a resident of the Velvet Room could possibly know about it's existence, that means one thing."
"And you're correct: I only recently entered the picture, but how I did might seem a little… far fetched."
"I'm listening."
Yu cleared his throat. "You see, I'm not even from this time at all. I'm actually from 2012, from the sleepy town of Inaba where a serial murder case will take place; while there, me and my friends, a band of Persona users, were battling a maniacal goddess named Izanami, and when she pretty much killed my friends, she offered for me to come back to this time in order to stop some sort of end of the world scenario." Yu huffed, unsure of what sort of time paradoxes he'd just opened up; regardless, he faced Minato once more. "And that's pretty much the short version."
It seemed like the unbearable silence was never-ending, until Minato cleared his throat and proceeded to speak. "Alright."
"What? That's it? Just an 'alright?'"
Minato shrugged. "Sure sounds like something Igor would want to hide."
Yu nodded. "Yeah, I'll give you that. He's good at staying hush hush."
"Regardless, I'm glad you told me now."
Yu stayed silent for a moment, then continued. "So, do you think we've just destroyed the time line?"
Again, Minato shrugged. "I doubt it. I mean, if you've been here since the 9th and nothing has happened, I think we'll be good for now."
"Just don't tell anyone about this," Yu warned. "I almost tripped up last week with my facts, like how right now, my parents are technically dead."
"You said they were alive?" Minato asked in amazement.
"Hey, in my defense, they were alive in my own time!" After this comment, Yu swore he heard Minato actually chuckle. "Man, how can you be so laid back?"
Minato's expression grew darker. "I dunno. And if we're still being honest, my parents are actually dead, but I doubt that excuses my behavior."
Rather than say he knew, Yu nodded apologetically. "I see. You must have been a lonely person, then."
Yu nodded. "And growing up with actual family might explain your outgoing, friendly nature."
"Don't forget friendships," Yu interrupted. "Plus, I think you could become a little more like me if you tried."
"How so?"
Yu shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we're friends, aren't we? Try hanging out with me sometimes."
"It can't be that simple, can it?"
"You'd be surprised." Yu held out his hand. "At least try, alright?" Yu stood there like a statue, expecting Minato to decline; however, Yu was a bit surprised to see Minato accepting and shaking his hand.
"I'd like that. And please, call me Minato from here on out."
Yu smiled. "As you wish, Minato." Again, a crashing noise went off in Yu's head, and the familiar voice informed him his bond with Minato has ranked up. After time resumed, the two released their hands.
"But seriously," Yu reiterated, "let's keep this little detail between us. There's no telling what might actually happen to the time line if someone else knew."
"Sure thing," Minato promised. "But something's not right: if you telling me hasn't messed anything up, the real question is why?"
Yu scratched his head. "That's a good point, but I'm not too sure about that."
"Well, let's not worry about it right now. We're still here, so that's all that matters right now."
"I guess you have a point." Just then, Yu yawned. "But man, I'm still beat from last night."
"Then I guess it's time to head back to the dorm, don't you think?" Minato suggested.
Yu nodded. "Yeah. Besides, Akihiko told me once before doing a lot while tired can make you sick."
"Isn't that just common sense?"
Yu smiled. "And I thought you didn't have a sense of humor."
Minato shrugged. "I guess not everything is what it seems."
After returning to the dorm, Yu's first instinct was to head straight to his room and collapse on the bed; but despite this resolve, he nevertheless woke up right as the Dark Hour commenced, when the rest of the group were likely to be headed to Tartarus. Regardless of this fact, Yu got up, dressed in his school uniform, exited his room, and walked down the stairs to the ground floor; although he expected Akihiko to be sitting around at the lounge, there was, again, no one there.
Great, so now what? Yu thought. I could catch up with the others, but I'm still a little tired. I could go back to sleep, but I'm wide awake now. He entertained both ideas, but decided to take a leisurely stroll around the area to clear his mind; Yu then walked out the front door and decided to walk in the direction of the Moonlight Bridge. As he walked, he still couldn't help but marvel at the number of coffins that littered the streets, if only slightly by this point.
As Yu neared the Bridge, his thoughts drifted to that of his friends back in Inaba; more specifically, he thought about what they'd be doing right now. Was Yosuke hanging out with friends in the city? Was Kanji knitting away, not giving a damn about what others think? Were Chie and Yukiko having fun in their middle school years? Heck, did Teddie even exist yet? He especially thought about his cheerful and precious Yukiko; was she turning down the umpteenth fool's offer for a date like she always did before meeting him?
However, Yu's reminiscing was swiftly cut short as, in the corner of his eye, he spotted the familiar green dot from the night before, and this time he was able to determine where it was at: Port Island Station. He then took off like a rocket to cross its path, but as he got closer to the station, he realized that he was slightly more out of shape than he remembered, and he had no one to blame but himself; in fact, by the time he crossed over to what was technically Tatsumi Port Island, Yu decided to stop running and just speed walked the rest of the way there.
Finally, after an additional fifteen minutes of monotonous walking, Yu was standing in front of the station, and he spared no expense in attempting to locate whatever, or whoever, this green speck was. Another 15 minutes passed by, and as he was about to give up his search, he heard footsteps approaching while standing in between two shady locations' entrances, leaving Yu to scamper around for a hiding place. Since this particular section of the station had no real places to hide, Yu dashed out to the front of the station and decided to take cover behind the large stone staircase near the movie theater.
As he stood there, unbeknownst as to whether or not he would be spotted, Yu decided to sparsely peek around the corner to see who might be passing by; the first four peeks turned up nothing, but the fifth time did, as he caught a small glimpse of three figures: a white colored one, a familiar, green colored one, and a pale skinned one. After catching this, Yu returned to his original position, short of breath, hoping that the three figures didn't spot him, while each passing second, to him, felt like an hour. At one point, Yu's heart almost skipped a beat when the footsteps stopped abruptly, which was followed by a jumble of words being exhanged by the three; fortunately for Yu, the footsteps continued before too long and slowly faded away, which Yu took as a sign that he was safe.
Dunno if I should've hid, Yu thought as he stretched his limbs, but I'm not taking any chances. With that minor disaster averted, Yu wiped sweat off his forehead, decided to call it a night, and headed back to the dorm in silence.
April 22:
The next day went by as usual, with him learning the set curriculum for the day before leaving the school grounds almost immediately after classes were dismissed; he didn't have anything in particular planned, but he did go poking around at various stores for any helpful items at the Mall before returning to the dorm and, inevitably, retreating to his room.
Hours passed silently in Yu's head, and the next thing he knew, there was a knock at his room's door.
"Who is it?" Yu called out.
"It's me," Minato replied. "You coming along to Tartarus?"
Yu replied by walking to the door and swinging it open, coming face to face with the stone faced leader. "Yeah. I'm feeling much better tonight."
"Then let's go," Minato replied, which was followed up by the two youths walking down to the ground floor, and then out the front door.
"So what all happened in Tartarus last night?" Yu asked as they walked in the direction of the school.
"We cleared the first three floors," Minato began, "and we all leveled up pretty decently."
"Why only three floors?" Yu asked curiously.
"We were warned by Mitsuru-senpai that there was a trio of tough enemies waiting for us on floor five."
"I thought you said you cleared three floors."
"Yeah, well, the lobby counts as a floor."
Yu scratched the side of his head. "Oh, right."
"Anyways, since Junpei and Yukari weren't willing to face it last night, we stopped."
"Was it because I wasn't there?"
Minato frowned. "Something like that."
"Were you not ready either?" This time, Minato went eerily silent, a first since a few days ago.
"I guess I'll leave it at that." For the rest of the walk, neither of them said anything, and as they approached the school gates, Yu waved at his other teammates, specifically Junpei, who was waving back.
"'Sup, man?" Junpei asked Yu.
Yu shrugged. "The usual, I guess."
"Feeling better?" Yukari asked.
Yu nodded. "Very much so. I feel like I could take on anything today."
"Sweetness!" Junpei exclaimed. "Guess tonight's gonna be fun!"
"We'll see," Yu replied as the clock struck midnight, and the tower unceremoniously rose up to reveal itself. Once inside, Yu engaged in some small talk as Minato made a visit to the Velvet Room; once Minato was done, the four of them gathered at the teleporter which, in an instant, sent them directly to the fifth floor.
"Remember," Mitsuru began, "there are three powerful enemies in the center. Be on your guard!"
"Understood!" Yu and Minato replied in unison as the group moved down the long, foreboding hallway to the right of the teleporter; not even a few steps into the hall, and the group could see what they were up against: three giant eagles, all sporting the Empress Arcana mask.
"These enemies are of the Empress Arcana," Mitsuru pointed out. "Good luck."
"Alright then," Yu replied back before looking to Minato. "Which attacks should we try?"
"Probably not wind skills," Minato replied nonchalantly.
Yu nodded. "Agreed. Why not take the first hit yourself?"
Minato nodded in agreement as he pulled out his Evoker. "ORPHEUS!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger, and Orpheus appeared promptly afterwards. "AGI!" Orpheus obliged by swinging its arm at its harp, but the fire that engulfed one of the eagles did nothing; in fact, the fire was seemingly absorbed by the enemies.
"Looks like fire doesn't work either," Minato replied to Yu.
"I see that," Yu replied as he pulled his Evoker out. "Well, here goes nothing. IZANAGI!" Yu pulled the trigger, and the sleek and cool Izanagi appeared. "ZIO!" Izanagi then released a bolt of lightning onto one of the eagles; it connected, but the attack just wasn't enough.
"Damn," Yu swore as he turned back to Minato. "Alright, I think Junpei and Yukari should try using their weapons." Minato nodded in approval, and Yu turned to the others in question. "Yukari! Junpei! Attack with your weapons!"
"Right!" Junpei replied.
"Got it!" Yukari replied. Junpei then attacked the eagle that Yu struck with his sword, but, like before, the attack didn't bring it down; however, when Yukari shot an arrow at one of the other eagles, it actually brought the enemy down to the ground.
"Alright, Yuka-tan!" Junpei congratulated.
"Keep shooting, Yukari!" Yu encouraged; Yukari responded by shooting an arrow each at the other two eagles, leaving all three eagles on the ground.
"Minato!" Yu shouted. "What do you say we hit 'em all at once?"
Minato nodded, and the entire group gathered to attack all three at once, or an all-out attack as Yu remembered it. After all their crazy slashing and piercing attacks were concluded, only two of them were left standing, as the one Yu and Junpei had attacked earlier faded to nothing during the all out attack.
"One down," Minato noted. Then, both eagles used a garu move, one that hit and knocked down Yu, while the other did very minor damage to Yukari.
"You alright?" Minato asked.
"I'm fine," Yu replied as he slowly got back on his feet. "Me and wind just don't go well together."
"Alright, then it's my move." As Minato put the Evoker back to his head, he shouted, "CHANGE! APSARAS!" He then pulled the trigger, and an entirely new Persona appeared before the group; it appeared as a blue skinned humanoid with violet hair, wearing a white unitard and a blue "belt" of sorts.
"BUFU!" Minato shouted, and Apsaras sent out an ice skill that, while it connected, still wasn't enough to bring the eagle down.
"My move," Yu followed up. "IZANAGI! ZIO!" The attack connected with the second eagle, and it, too, was still standing.
"Check this out, Yu," Junpei encouraged as he summoned his Persona. "HERMES! USE CLEAVE!" As Hermes appeared, it took a mighty swipe at the first eagle, which finally resulted in its defeat.
"Not bad," Yu congratulated.
"Guess that leaves me," Yukari added as she brought her bow into an attacking position, releasing another arrow that connected and brought it back down to the ground.
"Let's get em, partner," Junpei suggested to Minato, which Minato shook his head to.
"Let's just let Yukari take it out," Minato replied.
Although disappointed, Junpei nodded. "Alright." As he said this, one more arrow from Yukari finally forced the final eagle to dissolve. The room remained silent, then the group cheered, congratulating themselves with their success.
"Great job!" Mitsuru congratulated. "You all performed beautifully. You can go ahead and continue or head back."
"I say we return," Yu suggested. "We shouldn't take any unnecessary risks."
"Yeah, I agree," Yukari added. "We should rest up for what's coming next."
Minato nodded softly. "Alright, let's head back."
Whew, was that a doosey of a chapter to write. If I wanted to, I would've cut this chapter into two, but I didn't want to upload any more 2,000-2,500 word chapters, so here's this extended, 5,000-plus word chapter, and I even squeezed in another battle sequence. Don't worry, though, because from this point onwards, I'll try to keep things more balanced, but I can't promise anything regarding social links. Speaking of, I'm currently having trouble coming up with social link characters for the Hanged Man, Death, Devil, Tower, Star, and Sun Arcanas, since I don't want to duplicate too many of P3's original social links, so if any of you have suggestions, I'd like it if you PMing me them.
Also, just so you're aware of Yu's current links so far, here's a list with respective ranks:
Fool (SEES) – Rank 2
Magician (Junpei) – Rank 2
Priestess (Fuuka) – Rank 1
Empress (Mitsuru) – Rank 1
Emperor (Akihiko) – Rank 1
Lovers (Yukari) – Rank 1
Aeon (Minato) – Rank 2
And any other Arcanas not previously mentioned will be coming up later, so don't worry about them.
This time, I'll be doing something different regarding reviews. I'm gonna be replying to them, even if they don't have questions. So without further ado:
Gilgamesh The King of Heroes – I would hope that what Yu saw will be interesting. The answer might just surprise you.
SeventhAssasin – If this chapter didn't say it, then I will: Minato will be a little more open to Yu with time. Oh, and now Minato knows Yu's secret through his own observations, so there you have it!
Sulphur99 – Glad you enjoyed the action. Interestingly enough, I don't like/have trouble with writing action scenes, and I may or may not use way too much dialogue as a side effect. And don't worry about the foreshadowing, for I hope this chapters' is easier to see.
Lovadren – Thanks as usual with your kind reviews! Like with Gilgamesh, you'll find out the truth about the green speck pretty soon if not already.
And now with ALL that typed out, I'm taking a well deserved break, and until next time, read on!
-rjm324