Chapter 12
Fog Shrouded Truths
Location: Tokyo, Japan Kirishima Island, Narukami Dorms
Date: Fri, April 16th, 2182. Afternoon Sunny
"This is ridiculous." Sojiro declared and lowered the datapad he had just read. On its surface displayed the latest general news, and to say that he was concerned would have been a massive understatement. "Rioters meet with the quarians that were peacefully protesting, attack them, and now the local police are surprised that they don't take that lying down when the quarians retaliate? What are they thinking?"
"It's no different than some of the hate related crimes we had back home, except now they're actual aliens rather than members of our own species." Sae replied without looking up from the stack of legal case studies she had in front of her, one hand cradling the cup of hot steaming coffee Sojiro had given her earlier as she went. "But I agree with you, it's rather pathetic and sad that some things have been so slow to change, even among the other aliens that are so common place in this time period."
"What I don't get is why they aren't reacting accordingly?" The older man muttered angrily. "The quarians get attacked, and yet they're treated like they started everything in the first place! Haven't they had enough trouble already?"
"I'm sorry to say, but I think they don't particularly care about the quarian people." Sae observed with a deep sigh. "I've already read through dozens of case files, and there is a clear distinction between council member species, member species, and of course those that don't hold any standing within Citadel Space. Quarians are just above the vorcha in that regard, and from what I've been able to tell, it's because the Council themselves spread a number of propaganda stories and rumors after the now space faring people lost their home world to an AI construct called the geth. A construct the quarians themselves created."
"So you're telling me that, not only have these poor people lost their home, but that the rest of the galaxy hates them for a mistake?!" Sojiro could only shake his head in disgust at the whole thing. "And the asari, turians, and salarians have the gall to call themselves the top three species of the known galaxy."
"They have kept the peace, mostly, I have to admit that much." Sae concluded as she read through another datapad. "But… I'm concerned as well. Not so much about the fact that humanity has yet to gain a council seat, we are relatively new to the galactic stage after all, having only been out here for a few decades at most, but… let's take the elcor for example. They've been a part of Citadel Space for centuries, and yet they are no closer to a council seat now than they were before. I cannot help but think that such behaviour doesn't reflect well on the council itself."
"You think they don't want to share their power with even more people?" Sojiro questioned with a grimace on his face.
"It's a possibility." Sae admitted with a hint of hesitation present in her voice.
"Great." Sojiro grumbled and took a sip of his own coffee. "Better not tell the kids about this anytime soon. I don't know about you, but I don't want to see a change of heart in anyone half as important just yet."
"Do you really think we can keep this from them?" The former prosecutor asked, rather amused by the notion if the smile on her face was anything to go by. "Your own daughter was instrumental in dismantling the fake Medjed, and even before she joined them, they had a knack for getting the intel they needed with very little trouble."
"Ugh… they're already on the case aren't they?" Sojiro groaned in defeat since he couldn't argue against the woman's well founded logic.
"Most likely." Sae agreed, still smiling and chuckled. "I certainly wouldn't be surprised if Makoto would either confront me about this, or try to keep this secret, at least until a solid plan had been decided upon. I suppose I'll find out this evening." Taking another sip from her glass, Sae let a contented hum escape her as she glanced up at the nearby holoscreen, before she tapped at the omni-tool on her arm to turn up the volume.
"Hmm? What's got your interest?"
"A suspected, so far unconvicted, mass murderer from the Relay 314 incident. Hopefully they finally find the bastard." Sae explained before she held up a hand to silence any further inquiries from the former cafe owner.
"Another gruesome murder." The woman on the holographic screen declared seriously. "As before the victims are turians, a family of three, their alarm disabled without leaving any trace of the deed. Officers suggest that the murderer has military training, though have thus far been unable to identify a suspect. The police requests the help of the citizens and asks them to contact them if they possess any information that could lead to the arrest of the person responsible. This is Diana Allers, reporting for ANN's the Battlespace."
With a soft growl, Sae lowered the volume again, and clenched her fists. "New age, same old problems." She spat, eyes narrowed in anger. "This is the fourth murder I've heard about, and they've been all perpetrated by the same person, or group as far as I could conclude." One hand balled into a bloodless fist in her lap as she began to go over the details. "The victims are always ex-military, always a family more often than not with at least one child, and they always leave no survivors."
"Yeesh. That's downright chilling."
"It's nothing I haven't seen before, being a public prosecutor for as long as I was, I saw a lot of bad things in my time, but there's something particularly appalling about serial killers like this individual who have no qualms about murdering children as well as the adults."
"Is there any connection between the victims? Anything you could work out? You were after all one of the best, weren't you?"
Sae grimaced and looked away from Sojiro at that. "Tsk, I suppose so, but I also employed methods unworthy of a civil servant, as you no doubt remember."
"True, but even so, you're better than you give yourself credit for Sae. It takes a certain kind of cunning to have half a successful career as yours, even if yes some of your cases weren't on the up and up." Sojiro replied, having more faith in her capabilities than she felt she deserved.
"Then I'm afraid I have to disappoint you in this instance. I checked every record I currently have access to, which admittedly is rather limited, but aside from the fact that they were all military once, there is no connection. They weren't even apart of Shanxi, their units weren't deployed alongside one another, there is nothing that they have in common aside from their military service, their species and the fact that they have families… its killing for the sake of killing."
"Maybe it's enough that they're turian and have a military record?" Sojiro offered, and couldn't help but smile when something dawned on Sae because she perked up.
"Hold on." Picking up one of her long since set aside data pads, Sae raised an eyebrow when she found what she was looking for, which she quickly tapped into her omni-tool before picking up the next in the same stack. By data pad five, Sojiro had a feeling he knew what she was noting down. "If I'm reading these in the right order, there's a distinguishable path he's following, a pattern that at first seemed completely random because he was going in the reverse of where the war started, backtracking the turian ships' flight paths as they moved into our territory. He's working his way backwards from Shanxi, and I'd be willing to bet credits I know where he'll be next."
"How do you figure?" He asked, almost as excited as Sae now looked.
"Shanxi was the first and last planet the turians attacked during the Relay 314 incident, but they had to assemble their forces at various stations, outposts, and colonies. The turians are nothing if not thorough and meticulous about their military protocols, so it wouldn't take much for someone dedicated to their twisted cause to backtrace their routes to Shanxi, picking one they liked, and hunting down those same turians they deem worthy of their hatred."
"Okay… I'm with you that far, but how did you figure out the next planet then? You didn't look through turian, whatever protocols."
"No, but I checked every planet in the extranet and went from there to their next shipyard, staging areas, fortress world, whatever you want to call them." Sae explained with a frown as she began chewing on her lower lip worriedly. "I can't guarantee it's one hundred percent accurate though, and… it's an entire planet. There are billions of people in a single system, milions on even one colony. I can at least try to warn them, but if they believe me… or if they even can prevent it from happening again is another matter entirely but… I'd rather try and fail then sit by and do nothing while men, women and children are slaughtered. Humans, turians, or something else altogether, I don't care because I can't turn my back on something like this."
"Hold on, there might be a way to narrow it down a bit." Sae quirked an eyebrow at that as Sojiro picked up one of the datapads and displayed one of the turian victims' service record. "I might not be the smartest person, at least not when compared to Futaba or Wakaba, but does that look like he's got enough medals on his chest to give him back problems for the rest of his life?"
"Hmm…" Quickly going through the other commanders, generals, and the like, Sae blushed when she realized there was more to be found after all that she'd nearly overlooked. "Son of a-you're right Sojiro. All of them were highly decorated, the leaders of their respective ships, units, even a fleet admiral is here! Damn, how'd I miss that?!"
"Hey, I was just impressed you were able to find a trail at all Sae, a pattern to this madness."
"Well, if this is indeed a trail worth pursuing, you might have just given me the means to much better narrow down where this individual might strike next. It's going to take me time to verify, but hopefully we'll have aided in the apprehension of this monster." Her stack of case files forgotten for the moment, Sae's fingers were already flying over the omni-tool on her arm as she began to run a search for any well known officers on the next planet in line, hoping she'd get lucky to find one that fit the pattern.
"Wouldn't that be nice?" He mused and stroked his chin. "And we didn't even have to jump headfirst into danger either, I'd say those youngsters can still learn a thing or two from us."
"Indeed." Sae chuckled, a thin but still present smile on her lips as she continued to run her search. "Kinda wish I had Ms. Shirogane to help me with this in all honesty."
"That old and actually honest detective ace?"
"The very same. The original 'detetive prince' and as far as I know, that's where the similarities between her and Akechi end." Sae remarked with a nod. "Unless she was killing people in her spare time as well."
"Heh, I doubt it." Sojiro stated with such certainty, Sae had to look away from her omni-tool in curiosity, which he was happy to satiate. "I always had a weird feeling around Akechi, but the few times I heard Naoto's name pop up, I felt like I could trust her sound judgments and deductive reasoning. It also helped she wasn't an attention seeker like your former 'partner' though."
"Hmm, indeed. I also heard a rumor that one of her grandchildren was present within the halls of this school. If that's true, it'd certainly support your theory Sojiro."
"Hmm, if there is one of her descendants and he inherited her brains, you could try to see what he thinks of our littler theory." Sojiro suggested and made to take another sip only to notice that he had already emptied his cup.
"Can't hurt to try." Sae agreed and threw another look at the datapad before her. "Under different circumstances I also would have suggested Akira. He's rather intelligent himself to put it mildly, but I think he has enough to worry about at the present time."
"Yeah…" Sojiro agreed as he got up to get himself a fresh cup of his coffee. "Well, I can ask around, see if we can't find ya a sidekick of your own Sae, one that hopefully won't turn out to be bad news."
"That'd be appreciated, although you don't give yourself enough credit either." Sojiro chuckled at having his own remark turned back around as Sae smiled, grateful for his help and his kindness in equal measure. "You might have missed your calling by going into the cafe business as you did."
"Hehe, sorry but no, I'm not cut out for all this detective work Sae-san." Sojiro replied with a gruff smile. "I think I much prefer my work in Leblanc, at least I can say that I know my coffee."
"Just Sae is fine." She assured him with a light laugh. "And speaking of coffee." She said and lifted her empty cup. "I would love to have a refill."
"Coming right up!" He happily assured her and went to work, glad to leave the thoughts of mass murderers behind.
Elsewhere….
Walking into the dorms behind Amanda and Aigis, Akira didn't say a word when the current head of the Kirijo group pulled something from beneath her bodysuit. A key, attached to a silver chain, but unlike the key to the Velvet Room he'd gotten used to carrying around, this one felt….strange, well, stranger at least, as she continued towards an elevator next to two flights of stairs that led to the higher floors of the academy. Focusing his gaze on the object that now dangled from around Amanda's neck, he couldn't help but notice that the aura around the key was...gray, like it was trying to obscure its own presence even from his 'Third Eye', yet there was something strangely feminine in the way the curves and whirls accentuated the key, carved from what looked like ancient bamboo.
With a shake of her head when his friends started to board the elevator, Amanda slid the key into a lock below the holographic controls, she pushed the Stop button to keep the doors open. "Only Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana should come beyond this point since you've been with him since the beginning."
"Pardon me for saying so," Haru began as she squeezed into the large, red velvet covered elevator beside Aigis, "but after he was nearly 'kidnapped', I think I speak for everyone when I say we're not going anywhere without him again."
"Indeed." Yusuke agreed without missing a beat as he and the rest of the group followed her example.
Akira for his part only smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as helpless to dissuade them as Amanda was. "They've voted in favor of following me to Hell and back it seems." Aigis smiled at the softly sarcastic remark while Amanda sighed but nodded her head in acceptance.
"Very well, but I will not abide any interference once this begins, and neither will she unless things begin to go poorly." Amanda warned them sternly as she gazed at each of them with the threat of repercussions clear in her eyes.
"Interference? Such as beating my Shadow into submission?" Akira asked jovially and raised an eyebrow. "We've heard other students talking about something like that, about facing one's self in the fog. They didn't go into details, but it's easy enough to figure out."
"Ugh….I suppose I shouldn't be surprised some people can't help but gossip despite a strict request not to." Amanda grumbled, but didn't bother stressing about it further. "Yes, you're not wrong, but simply hearing about it and enduring the process you're about to undertake are rarely the same thing. Having all of your darkest desires and secrets laid bare, twisted by your Shadow self as it vomits forth everything you've only dared think about, it's not an easy thing to go through for anyone."
"Is that how you were able to get your Persona, Lady Kirijo?" Morgana asked, which Aigis translated before Akira could do so himself.
"Yes." Was all she'd say on the matter as the elevator doors opened then before she started forward into a darkened corridor, a number of display cases on either side, the items held within sealed behind bulletproof glass and kinetic barriers. "It turns out being the head of the Kirijo Group might afford me near unlimited resources and allies across the galaxy, but I felt it was a gilded cage. It was only my perspective on the matter, despite having been assured I could do anything I desired by my parents, but I had gotten it into my head I needed to take over despite what I'd be giving up in the process. A chance at a 'normal' life. At some point, what I wanted became the very thing I began to hate, made worse by the fact my Persona refused to manifest. Then I came down here." She paused then, and nodded her head towards a series of gun like objects on display with a name and a holographic representation of those that had once held them. "The original Evokers, of which my grandmother's number among them, but this isn't what helped me change my outlook so dramatically."
She gave them a moment to absorb the history literally laid out before them though, knowing they had met Mitsuru Kirijo shortly before making the journey here, and to see her gun but not the woman herself outside of a miniaturized copy made from hard light was no doubt hard to swallow for some of them. While they took their time to process what she was showing them, her own gaze turned to the end of the corridor, past the katana that Yu had once wielded to strike down a goddess, past the photographs and pictures of those he had gathered at his side, along with those that had come before during Minato's time, before her gaze settled on the large, ancient flatscreen TV bolted to the far wall.
Even at this distance, Amanda could just make out the wisps of fog that pooled at the foot of the wall as it emanated from the bottom of the TV screen. There was no danger here, she knew that, but when she felt Aigis over her right shoulder, Amanda released the breath she'd been unconsciously holding and relaxed somewhat from her mere presence. As necessary as it'd been for her to have faced herself, Amanda didn't envy anyone that chose to subject themselves to what Akira was planning to endure.
"So what? We gonna throw Joker into a TV?" Ryuji asked, clearly confused and scratched his head. "You know I don't get how that's supposed to work, but that never stopped me before so what the hell are we waiting for?"
"I have a proposal!" Morgana declared and looked at Amanda seriously. "Let's throw Ryuji in first, just to make sure that it works."
"That won't be necessary." Aigis said and smiled even as Ryuji made to kick Morgana across the hall. An attack he didn't follow through with, which was smart on his part because Morgana had positioned himself in front of another display case, this one holding a shield like weapon and a picture of Kanji Tatsumi with his equally massive Persona standing over his powerfully built physique. "But if you don't have a Persona or at the very least aren't on the verge of obtaining one, you wouldn't be able to open the gateway."
"So that's part of the reason why one of you must be present then." Yusuke stated, to which both Amanda and Aigis nodded at his quick deduction.
"There's also the possibility things go wrong and a senior or member of the staff has to step in to protect the one undergoing the trial, but that indeed plays a part of why we never allow just anyone this far unattended."
"And who will be able to see and hear what my Shadow says?" Akira asked and turned to regard Amanda. "I'm sure you can imagine that I'd like to avoid unnecessary attention."
"Says the show-off." Futaba mock whispered and hid behind Yusuke even as she pointed her finger at the artist in an attempt to shift the blame onto him.
Amanda smiled at their antics but was just as quick to return to the matter at hand as she soon stood in front of the large flatscreen before them, her hand just shy of touching the blank screen. "Only those who cross over, now that the Midnight Channel is no longer an issue, will be able to hear anything that happens on the other side. There are often groups of young children with one of the eternal guardians of the world on the other side, but they won't be allowed to stay where we're going."
"Well, no time like the present." Akira stated, and nodded for Amanda to open the way. With a solemn nod back, she pressed the palm of her hand against the screen, and it promptly sunk three inches past as the surface acted like the surface of a pond, rippling outward from where her hand now rested beneath the screen. Daring to put his own hand on the screen, Akira raised an eyebrow when he felt...nothing when his fingers pushed past the screen itself. "Huh, I expect-"
Amanda didn't react when Akira was yanked right off his feet and he was pulled right through the screen with a quickly cut off gasp of surprise his only protest. She simply stood aside as the rest of the group charged through the open gateway, sharing a knowing smile with Aigis who only rolled her eyes since they both knew they'd regret jumping in after their leader when they landed on the other side. Following after the rest of the Thieves, Amanda and Aigis were unsurprised to find them sprawled out on their backs or laid out on their fronts, some of them having landed on top of their fellows. "You coulda said there'd be such a long drop." Ann grumbled as she rubbed the small of her back as she stood with a pained groan escaping her lips.
"You didn't give us time to say anything." Aigis softly replied, her lips twitching as she tried to keep her amusement contained.
"Ggggtttt mmpphht!" A voice groaned from beneath Ryuji as he flopped his arms over his head with a groan.
"I think I broke my ass…..and now it's groaning? Wait, where's Morgana?!" Ryuji shouted as he sat up and frantically looked around their immediate surroundings.
He had his answer when Morgana managed to wriggle his head out from beneath the blonde with a loud gasp as he sucked down air like it was going out of style. "I said get off me! You landed on me, you vulgar ape!"
"And they're back at it." Futaba declared as she watched the two of them descending into one of their shouting matches.
"Nevermind that, where's Akira?" Ann asked worriedly and looked around.
"Behind you." Their leader answered calmly and chuckled as he stood, a beautiful field of flowers at his feet. "Just had to dodge otherwise you would have landed right on top of me… also to whoever pulled me in, that was just rude."
"That's all you gotta say to that?!" Ryuji demanded to know as he and Morgana ceased their aggression for the moment.
"I'm withholding judgement for the moment." Akira replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants, his gaze settling on the rest of the flower covered field they seemed to have landed in, the sound of a distant, pleasantly bubbling brook off in the distance. "But whoever controls this place….it's a very nostalgic feeling. Pleasant even."
"You're hardly the only person to say that Mr. Kurusu." Amanda stated as she started to walk, her path taking her right past a large sakura tree, its pink flower strewn branches heavy and glistening with dew from a recent rainfall. "Come, we've a bit of a walk ahead of us. And if you see a creature in what looks like a red, blue, and white bear costume, he's harmless I assure you. He's simply one of the guardians of this place I mentioned and he has a fondness for the children of the academy, but given his own childlike demeanor, that's to be expected I suppose."
"Huh, and here I was thinking Mona was strange." Ryuji declared as his gaze wandered about. "Still, guess its good to know that not everything in this weird world wants to hurt us."
"Well he IS a Shadow," Aigis informed them, but smiled fondly despite having just admitted as much, "but he's unique in that he has a very human like heart despite this fact."
"Huh, we were talking about something similar with Semaf." Makoto remembered before she blushed sheepishly. "Well… before we attacked him."
"Ah, thank you for reminding me Ms. Niijima, I will have to remember to discipline him later." Amanda mused with a devilish smile. "He really should know better."
"You're clearly enjoying the prospect I see." A quietly smirking Yusuke asked, to which Amanda's smile widened in response. "Heh, good to know you have a sense of humor after all."
"I can't always be the most mature person in the room." Was her simple reply to that as they came upon the entrance to what Akira took to be a shrine of some kind as they soon stood before a red rectangular archway nestled between two large upright boulders, ringed with strings of charm paper. Beyond the arch, fog roiled and covered almost everything before them, obscuring the immediate area to the point they could only see about a dozen feet ahead of them. No longer smiling, Amanda slowly crossed the threshold, her gaze fixed forward, as if afraid she'd see something she shouldn't if she looked around too much. "This is the beginning of her domain, what happens here depends on how well you accept what you're confronted with once things start."
Akira didn't hesitate to step through the entrance as well, nodding at Amanda seriously as he did so before he turned around to regard his friends. "Guess this is the last chance for you guys to turn back."
"As if we would let you face this alone." Haru told him fiercely, a determined look on her face. "You've always been there for us, now let us return the favour."
"Took the words right out of my mouth Haru." Ann replied as she too wore a matching, grim expression, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
"For real? You still worried about lettin' your dirty laundry out to dry with us around ya dude? Please, we've seen all kinds of sick shit since starting this adventure of ours." Ryuji added as he crossed his arms over his chest before casually waving one hand dismissively over one shoulder. "And it's not like you can surprise us at this point, so let's get this over with Joker."
When the rest of the group shouted out statements along the same lines, Akira could only smile and nod, grateful beyond what he could ever truly express for their continued support. "No time like the present then." He murmured, and followed after Aigis and Amanda as the former appeared the picture of poise and calm while the latter seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable the further into the fog they went. Not afraid, Akira noted, just uncomfortable, no doubt brought on by her own experience in this place.
It didn't take long for the fog to completely surround them, even at close range they had trouble seeing one another. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he hadn't re-awakened to his Persona yet, but to Akira it felt as if the mist was seeping into his pores, stealing the warmth of his body and leaving him shivering. He was starting to feel tired, and his head had started to ache. Whatever this fog was, it was making it hard to concentrate.
"You okay?" Ann asked as she stepped close to him a concerned frown on her face, one hand coming up as if to touch him before hurriedly withdrawing.
"Just… cold." Akira replied back with a grateful smile. "This fog is kinda weird."
"It's not normal fog." Morgana stated, confirming what they'd already begun to suspect. "If this fog does what I imagine it does, then it makes sense if you're starting to feel tired and exhausted. It's trying to draw out your hidden, darkest thoughts and give them a physical form, reshaping the landscape to reflect your psyche, except it's being restricted to some extent by whoever controls it."
"Whoa, you can sense all that Mona?" Asked an impressed Futaba as she glanced at her right arm in puzzlement. "I'm not getting anything like that, but on the other hand, my specialty's more tech based examination."
"Which means since Mona's unique, even by our standards, it stands to reason he'd be more sensitive to such things." Yusuke mused with a sage nod of his head.
"Naturally." Morgana declared haughtily and jumped upwards to climb onto Akira's shoulder. "I am the best there is after all."
"And humble as well." Akira snarked in mock agreement as he scratched the cat on his shoulder between his ears.
"Of course, I- Wait… what is that feeling?" Morgana murmured as he started to look around nervously. His head jerked forward, his hackles around his neck and back standing straight up as he gave an uncomfortable hiss, "there's something….ancient out there, just in front of us! She's old….powerful, scary powerful in fact."
"He's right!" Futaba cried out as Prometheus sent the equivalent of a mental alarm to the hacker's psyche. "Massive energy signature detected, I'm talking Yaldabaoth big, bigger even."
"Kusumi-No-Okami." Amanda stated as the fog, as if summoned by her very words, parted before them, and revealed a large stone coffin beneath an impressively large tree with pale white flowers hanging from every branch. A single string of charms was wrapped around the ancient, massive dark brown trunk, but it was the figure floating a foot off the ground in a pale gray cloak, her back to them, that had Amanda's attention. "You know why we're here."
"Of course I know, moron." The cloaked figure grumbled, her voice unmistakably feminine.
"Uh… not what I was expecting." Ryuji muttered and scratched the back of his head. "Just making sure, you seem to know her and all but… you sure she isn't in the need of a Sinful Shell?"
He immediately regretted his choice of words when the cloaked figure turned around, and Ryuji gasped and jerked back when he saw one of her eyes was far from normal. "If you try that shit on me, you'll regret it you bleach blonde jackass." The pale green, rippling orb that fell on him left Ryuji with the distinct impression she was stripping him down to the bones without ever laying a hand on him. "Ryuji Sakamoto, psh, stupid name for a stupid ape, at least you did something worthwhile when you took Kamoshida down a couple pegs."
"She's seriously creepy!" Ryuji declared, utterly freaked out. "Can anybody please answer me? Because right now I'm all for letting Joker loose on her."
"Thanks Ryuji." Akira noted dryly and sighed. "Always nice to get volunteered for even more fights."
"Marie." Aigis softly addressed the ominous woman before them.
"Yeah yeah I know." Marie sighed and waved a hand, her feet touching the ground a few seconds later. Now that she wasn't floating in the air, she didn't seem quite as intimidating. "You don't come down here often enough, you know? I get bored, so when I finally get company that doesn't come up to my waist, I can't help but play up the whole scary goddess image you warn everyone about."
"Bet the children love that." Akira noted wryly and took a step forward. "At any rate, I'm Akira Kurusu. It's very nice to meet you, miss scary goddess Marie."
"Troll." Marie grinned despite the reprimanding tone in her voice. "You're certainly unique, even for a holder of the same power he had." She mused, letting her mismatched eyes sweep over him. "Satanael huh? You certainly don't screw around do you?"
"Well when an evil god tries to erase you from reality… it gets kind of hard not to take that seriously."
"Tsk, Yaldabaoth, what an overblown assbag."
"I think I like her." Ann said softly which earned her a grin from the rest of the Thieves.
"So you're here to get your power back, and since Margaret kicking the shit out of you didn't work out, and Semaf's little ploy ended up with you as the bait, you came to me." Marie said as she crossed her arms over her covered chest, her rippling green eye morphing into a much more mundane brown, matching her left when she merely blinked. "As the creator of the fog, and an aspect of Izanami-No-Okami, you certainly came to the right place."
"Well, I suppose I could try to get beaten up more by Margaret and see if that helps, but I admit that I'm somewhat impatient." Akira confessed freely and cocked his head. "So, here I am."
"And here you are." She agreed before nodding her head, her hands reaching up to pull her low riding hood back before she shook out her dark brown locks so they fell more eveningly over her small shoulders. "Since you're already aware of what's expected to happen, I won't waste my breath explaining things. My only advice I can give is to be honest with yourself, if nothing else. If your Shadow goes apeshit, it'll be up to your friends to restrain it before it can kill you, and it will certainly try if it goes berserk because you refuse to accept it."
"Great, I've always wanted to face my darker impulses incarnate in mortal combat." Akira muttered but nodded at the goddess, somewhat, seriously. "I'll try to avoid doing that then."
"That's what they always say." Marie replied, no longer smiling as she stepped back before she promptly disappeared into the fog, dissolving right into the cloying substance on every side. Akira didn't move even as Amanda and Aigis beckoned his companions to back up a bit, which they did with great reluctance. Despite having disappeared, he could feel Marie, or Kusumi's, presence, her gaze still heavy upon his back. "Yet without fail, even the Fools find it hard to accept what they try so hard to hide even from themselves."
"Heh." Akira grimaced as he heard an all too familiar voice just behind him. Slowly, almost carefully, he turned around to face… himself, the Shadow in front of him had the same clothes he had, and aside from the glowing yellow eyes and the aggressive expression on its face, it seemed to be practically indistinguishable. "I am a Shadow, the true self."
Akira said nothing and merely stared his doppelganger in the eye with a neutral expression on his face.
"What's the matter? Usually you always have a line ready, even when you considered putting a bullet in Akechi's head." The Shadow declared gleefully. "You really hated his guts, you were even happy when he finally bit the dust."
"You… you're right. I despised him." Akira admitted and clenched his fists. "All the things he did… and why? Because he wasn't wanted? I wasn't wanted either! My parents made that quite clear early on in the mess that started with Shido, where before they were happy to largely stick to their far more important jobs. When my grandparents were still around, it was them that raised me, but I didn't complain much. I figured my parents were doing important work, or at least were trying to make sure I had a good life, but as I grew older, I learned better." He paused for a moment and took a deep, steadying breath that did little to help calm him down. "And then I saved a random stranger from being assaulted, and they didn't even try to fight the decision, hell they straight up told me that all they ever wanted from me was not to complicate their life… which I didn't until that point, so now that I had… well they were all too eager to get rid of me. But that doesn't give me the right to kill others, Akechi had a choice, and his mad ravings… I hate to admit it, but that could have been me. When I realized that, I wanted to do nothing more but to kill him, not out of hatred, but fear. Fear of looking at what I almost became, what I still could…."
"Hmph, so you say." Shadow-Akira muttered as its grin grew in size. "And yet, despite all you've seen, you still refuse to trust others. Only your friends are an exception, and even they knew little about your home life up until now."
"I-"
"Even now you're plagued by thoughts about how the woman you helped turned on you, how Mishima leaked your criminal record, how all of society was all too happy to make you the scapegoat… no good deed goes unpunished, eh, Joker? Even your codename is a farce, a mask you hide behind as surely as the one you tore off that first time." His Shadow revealed with a relish. "Even now, in this different time, you don't trust them. This Kirijo group is something to be observed, to be wary of, a tool to be used but not to be trusted!"
"It's true." Akira whispered weakly, and shook his head as his shoulders began to shake with almost mad laughter. "I… I can't trust others… not anymore. Ann, Ryuji, Makoto, Haru, Futaba, Yusuke and Morgana, you all have been with me through hell and back, the others such as Takemi and Sojiro and even Sae have shown me that I could trust them, that in turn they also trusted me, but… strangers… I know some people say strangers are friends you just haven't met yet, but for me, every stranger is a potential enemy, someone to be wary of, and the more they seem to know about me and want to get close to me the more wary I become." As he said his last sentence, he openly looked at Amanda but couldn't meet her gaze. "I try not to let this control me but it's… difficult finding a balance." If she took offense, she didn't visibly react save to run her hand through her hair so that it fell back across one shoulder.
"Balance? Control?" His Shadow spat and took a threatening step forward. "You've never had balance! There's no control with you! You're far too scared for either! Didn't you wake up, everyday, for the last two years fearing that all your adventures were nothing but a dream? That you would never see them again? That all you had gained within the span of a year would be lost in a fraction of that time? Admit it, you're nothing! You're just a scared boy clinging to the broken pieces of a life that is so pathetic that he can't even admit it to himself!"
Akira fell to his knees, breathing heavily, fist hitting the soft ground before him as he choked out. "I was nothing… when I was sent from home… I was leaving nothing but an empty space, I had nothing holding me there. Ryuji was the first friend I ever made… the people at Shujin… they treated me like a psychopath, but at least they acknowledged I was there, and not just part of the scenery." Slowly looking up into his doppelganger's face, Akira pushed himself up to his feet, tears in his eyes but his face was set in a determined scowl. "Even now I'm terrified of losing them, of pushing them away, but right now they're still with me, and I will fight till the very end and beyond to keep it that way. So, NO, you are not my true self! You are the doubts that plague my mind, the weaknesses of my heart, you are a part of me, but you will never be the true me."
"And you were doing so well." Shadow-Akira cackled as jet black particles began to be absorbed into his body. "You're at least right about one thing though, I'm no longer you! I'm my own self now Joker!"
"I have a question for you though." Akira said and took a step forward towards his Shadow even as it began to glow with a dark, malevolent light as it continued to absorb more dark shadow essence into itself. "If you are the true me, and all you have said, is true, then answer me this. If we're really this broken, and this distrusting and this afraid, then why do we still try?"
Everyone could only stare as the Shadow stopped glowing, and the power it'd begun to absorb stopped flowing into its body as it returned to a much more mundane appearance. "..."
"You're not me, just as I'm not you, but I'm not me without you, just as you're not yourself without me. We cannot be separated to be who we are. So we exist together, even if we might not even like one another."
"Dude, you're a jackass." Akira had all of two seconds to see Ryuji swinging a fist right towards his face before he was sprawled out on his butt in the fog covered grass. "Broken my ass. Hell, compared to the rest of us, you're probably the most sane person in our little traveling freakshow."
"That says more about you than me." Akira replied almost reflexively while he rubbed his aching jaw. "Also, ow."
"Not the time, dude." Ryuji grumbled and stomped angrily on the ground. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that I'd be concerned if you didn't have a few screws loose after all that shit you went through. You've been tortured and drugged by the police, damnit! If that doesn't mess with your head then what will?"
"And not trusting anyone you randomly bump into? That's not surprising either." Ann called out as she soon stood beside Akira. "We've seen exactly how many people's distorted desires, fought for our very lives in how many Palaces, and you think you're the only one having trouble trusting people or accepting all that's happened? I'd be worried if you were alright with everything we've gone through, but don't think for a moment you're the only one that expects to wake up one morning and come to the terrible realization all this has been one giant delusion or something." As he opened his mouth to speak, she gave him a light slap to the back of his head. "And no smartass remarks for a change!"
"Ow, stop beating me." He muttered instead and glanced around, wondering if there was something in the fog that made people want to hurt him. As he glanced around, he swore he could see his Shadow shrugging at him, as if to tell him 'I've got no idea either'.
He didn't get a chance to wonder before Yusuke stepped forward next with Morgana clambering into his lap about the same time. "You helped so many people and wanted so little for yourself, Akira." Yusuke began, purposely using his real name he was sure before the artist continued, letting his words sink in so there was no confusion as to his intent. "It's rather fitting, someone who could connect to so many, to ease their burdens in even small ways, would have so many problems of his own. For the longest time I wondered, but I could never prove it, if you were hiding behind that confident aura you seemed to exude with every breath, and now I know. And if anything, knowing this now, it makes you even easier to emphasize with rather than harder as you might've believed even if you never wanted to admit it."
"No one likes a perfect hero." Makoto softly added, which Morgana nodded his head in abject agreement with.
"Mmmhhhmmm, Queen's right Joker. Besides, it was pretty moronic of you to try and hide things from me. I lived with you after all, even after you went back to your hometown." Morgana reminded him and sat down in front of him, tail swishing from one side to the other. "I could see that you were unhappy, but even I didn't know that you had this much trouble, so next time I won't respect your privacy! I'll simply open every lock I find in my search for answers! And if that doesn't work, I'll needle you till you tell me."
"Thanks?"
"You're welcome." Morgana replied imperiously and strutted of, head held high. "If any of you want to hit him, you can now do so."
"Hey!"
"Stupid." Futaba declared once Morgana had sat down next to Ryuji's feet, and hit Akira on the top of his head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Each hit was accompanied by a half-hearted "ow" from Akira. "Why didn't you tell us? I could have totally done something!" Futaba shouted at him even as she continued to hit him. "Like you did for me, for us! Why didn't you let me help, Akira?!"
"I- I honestly didn't think there was a way for you to do so… not without getting you guys into trouble….well, more trouble anyway. I didn't want that, for any of you."
"Stupid!" Futaba declared once again and hit him once more. "You total… numbskull! We don't want that for you either! Think of us for a change!"
"That's kinda why he didn't Futaba-chan." Makoto replied, understanding where Akira was coming from as she too approached the pair of Akiras, his Shadow having remained unmoving since their little group intervention began. "That doesn't make it right however."
"He just has to think better then!" Futaba muttered, and sat down next to Akira and looked up at him, an adorable pouty expression on her face. "Tell us next time, promise?"
"I promise." Akira said and held out his pinky to her.
"Then it's a deal!" Futaba exclaimed cheerfully and jumped up. "Okay, Queen, you can chew him out now."
Makoto chuckled but smiled approvingly at the long brunette haired girl before none too gently clamping a hand down on Akira's shoulder. The wince he let cross his face wasn't quite as half hearted or feigned this time, but Akira didn't protest or try to wriggle free. "Unlike Futaba, if you decide to try and carry all of that around on your own shoulders again, I won't think twice about knocking some real sense into you. And you know how hard I can punch."
"Oh we know." Shadow-Akira grimaced while the real Akira visibly shuddered.
"Great, now we're getting sassed by his Shadow." Ryuji muttered.
Ignoring Ryuji's remark, too focused on Akira as she knelt down in the grass beside him, the hand on his shoulder loosening its grip just enough that it no longer hurt. "Good, because in case you forgot, let me remind you that Ann, Ryuji, Futaba, and myself have been in similar situations as you."
"I'm sorry." Akira told her softly and met her gaze head on. "I know, that you know, why I did what I did, but at the time it seemed to make sense. Now though…"
"I know exactly what you mean." Makoto assured him and took a step to the side to reveal Haru as the smaller girl knelt next to him.
"I'm sorry." She whispered softly. "You've done so much for me, but I never noticed how many problems you had, I never helped you with them as you did for me-"
"That wasn't your fault." He cut in quickly. "After all, I was trying to keep all this hidden from you guys."
"Great strategy, well thought out." His Shadow chimed in from the side even as Akira sent a glare his way.
"Not helping."
"I know."
"Uh… can we get back on track, please?" Haru requested firmly and started at the two of them as they nodded at her to continue. "That said, I am disappointed that you didn't tell us! You should have known better, didn't you always tell us to take care of ourselves? How can we do that if our leader doesn't follow his own advice?" She demanded to know and leaned forward. "Don't ever do that again. Remember, I do have a huge axe."
"That you do." Akira agreed and sighed, a soft, sad smile on his face as he wiped his eyes dry before he slowly pushed himself to his feet. Staring at his Shadow, neither at first said anything, but when he did speak, his voice started off soft as a whisper. "And now I have a better appreciation as to why even our formidable hostess didn't seem eager to come back down here. Facing yourself truly is quite a challenge."
"Indeed." His Shadow replied with a nod of his head. "We're not perfect."
"We never pretended we were, but admitting it aloud….not following our own advice we gave so freely, I see now I was premature in making light of this. It seems arrogance as well as our issues are also something we need to work on." Akira mused as he looked at his Shadow with a soft smile. "So… want to hit me as well? Seems rather popular these days."
"That won't be necessary, and we both know it." Shadow-Akira replied, no longer giving off a malevolent aura. If anything, he gave off a sense of nearing peaceful serenity as it approached so that they were eye to eye. "They aren't wrong you know. We've been through Hell yet we kept it so well contained they never knew how far our wounds ran."
"Pretty dumb, huh?"
"Well… we are Fools." His Shadow allowed with a smirk. "Still, let's make sure that we don't worry them again, they don't deserve that… and I'd rather not have Makoto slap some sense into us."
"You're not letting that one go anytime soon, huh?" Makoto grumbled off to the side.
"Nope." Both Akiras replied at the same time before the real Akira held out his hand to his Shadow. "You're me after all."
"And I'm you." His Shadow replied and grasped the offered limb moments before he began to glow a pale blue from head to toe. The light became so great that everyone save Akira had to shield their eyes.
"Akira!" Ann shouted, alarmed and took a step closer despite having to hold an arm over her face until the light began to fade. "Are you alright? And no lies this time!"
Akira stood with his back to her as his shoulders slowly began to shake with laughter, before it broke loose sounding truly maddened. "Unlimited power!" He cackled as blue flames began to dance around him before both his laughter and the flames abruptly stopped. Spinning on his heel, he flashed the rest of his team a truly grateful smile, even through the mischief dancing in his eyes it was easy to see he meant what soon followed. "Yeah, I'm good, better than ever even." Letting his head fall, he sighed and ran a hand down his face before saying, "I guess it's true what they say, it's far harder to lead by example than people realize. I might not have asked to become what I have, being our immovable center, the one you all came to when you needed a hand, but I was glad….glad to have that connection, to have had such a meaningful impact with you all even if all I did was smile and listen to your problems, never even thinking I should do the same."
"Damn right ya should've, ya jerk." Ryuji grumbled but was soon grinning despite his effort to maintain his angry veneer.
"You can make up for it with fatty tuna and sushi." Morgana informed him with glinting eyes. "Lots of them."
"My wallet will hate you but I'll see what I can do." Akira promised, his gaze having since fallen on Ann. With a mental shake of his head, he smiled but made a silent promise to himself to finally take the chance, soon, instead turning to Aigis and Amanda.
Before he could begin to say a word, Amanda merely smiled and shook her head at his expected apology. "Don't. It's hardly necessary, and honestly, I'm not at all surprised you don't trust my generosity. Given your history Mr. Kurusu, it's all too understandable that you'd find me suspect, but I hope now you're able to at least begin to see that I am as I've always been thus far."
"I think… I can say that I don't distrust you that much anymore." Akira told her with a guilty shrug. "I'll try my best to keep an open mind, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm somewhat paranoid… though… Lavenza and Margaret seem to trust you, so let's just say that you don't have to expect tr-... too much trouble from me."
"Heh, I can work with that." Amanda replied as a slow, approving smirk appeared on her face just as Marie stepped out of the fog as if she'd been there that whole time. "Thank you, for your help in this endeavor Kusumi-No-Okami."
"Ugh, I hate that damn name, even if that IS my real name." Marie grumbled but bowed her head towards the woman. "As for helping that jackass get his head together, I'll admit, it was rather fun for a change, not having to deal with a Shadow going completely berserk as it does nearly every single damn time."
"Perhaps they take after you in temperament, oh moody goddess." Akira suggested innocently. "Still, thank you, even though you called me a jackass, and you weren't very hospitable, and were grouchy the whole time, the list goes on but still, thanks."
"Yep, still a troll." Marie grumbled, but she was just as quickly smiling approvingly towards him. "You might not be like any Fool that's come before, but you wear the title well, Akira." When Satanael, while far smaller than it'd been when they'd fought Yaldabaoth, appeared over a noticeably more still and calm Akira, Marie's smile became much more open and warm at the sight. "A Demon Lord for a Phantom Thief, the perfect combination against a would be god. No wonder that assbag never had a chance, but you weren't alone then, and you aren't alone now."
"Something that should've been obvious to me." Akira agreed before he bowed his head respectfully towards Marie, grateful for her help even if she'd only shown him the way.
"Yeah yeah yeah you're grateful and all that, now go. I have other things to do then playing around with you brats."
"Such as writing depressing poetry?" Amanda asked lowly from the side and received a glare from the goddess.
"Tsk, you can go as well, I've got enough problems without you adding to them!" The stream of colorful curses that followed only made Amanda smile as she started away before Marie fell suddenly silent. Glancing over her shoulder, she was the last to see the curious pair of brown eyes attached to a young girl as she wrapped her little arms around Marie's waist. "Oh hey," Marie calmed and smiled fondly down at the girl, "don't worry I didn't forget."
"You're late!" The girl pouted, her bottom lip quivering. "You promised Marie-chan."
"Blame them, not me." She playfully protested but ran a hand over the girl's head. "Just give me a moment while I deal with those….stupid jellymuffins."
"Jellymuffins?" Makoto mouthed confused while the rest of the group couldn't help but smile at the 'insult'.
The girl was much happier whatever the case, and said as much. "Yay! I'll tell Nana-chan since she sent me to find you."
"Of course she did, she's just as persistent as Yu ever was." Marie grumbled, but the smile on her face turned far more matronly. "Between her and her cousin Seja, I swear I'm cursed with too many da-...darned Narukamis and Amagis."
"Then we'll take our leave." Akira told her with a wide grin. "Do try and be less grouchy with the children." Ignoring her eye roll, he nodded to the rest of his team as they turned around and left her realm behind, Amanda following them at a slightly slower pace. "Well, that happened."
"Only you would say something like that about what we just went through." Ann muttered, the annoyed if amused glare on her face all too easy to see.
"Don't tell me you want to hit me again?" Akira asked her, eyes wide in mock fear. "You are so violent Takamaki-san."
"Oh shut up." She grumbled with a smile and shook her head at his antics. "But… how do we get out of here?"
Akira could only shrug his shoulders uncertainty. "No idea, figured I'd start by looking for a yellow brick road."
"A what?" Morgana asked confused and looked at their leader like he'd just grown a second head.
"I believe it was an allusion to the movie called The Wizard of Oz." Yusuke noted neutrally as he walked beside Haru. "I remember watching it once while I was still in Madarame's care." Much to their pleasant surprise, they heard Aigis, who'd remained quiet for some time, start to hum one of the songs portrayed in the old classic. "You're also a fan?"
"I've had many years to catch up on human literature and cinema references, but for some reason I always seemed to enjoy the whimsical tale of a young girl and her dog just trying to find their way home. In a way, I wasn't so different."
"You'll have to show me that movie some time, Fox." Haru requested as she looked up at Yusuke and smiled.
Yusuke was more than happy to agree with the suggestion. "It'd be my absolute pleasure, Haru."
Getting back to their world was as simple as stepping through a similarly sized TV screen nestled against the side of a rock outcropping, a large, majestic waterfall only a stone's throw away. The next few hours were a pleasant blur as the rest of their classes were quickly knocked out, which finds Akira in the dorm lounge, a stack of homework assignments to go through with the rest of his friends on every side.
Nodding towards Sae, her omni-tool up by her ear as she talked to someone on the other end, Akira's just about to address a curiously excited Sojiro when something on the nearby holoscreen catches his attention. Without a word needing to be said, Futaba bumps up the volume while the rest of the group close enough to notice right away fall silent. The smoke and fire in the background from a nearby building clued them in that it wasn't going to be a pleasant news report.
"Another attack by radicals on aliens that have chosen to live here on Earth, the Terra Firma Party denies any involvement even though their leader, Charles Saracino, said that actions such as these are inevitable to preserve the individuality of human culture, and that alien influence of any kind must be fought. While this is hardly a new argument made by many who see alien integration as a possible threat, ever since Mr. Saracino took charge of the group, there's been a marked rise in incidents of this nature across the galaxy, with the majority being orchestrated here in the birthplace of humanity. But despite repeated attempts in the past to push for charges for being complicit in what many call acts of terrorism, any case made against Saracino has had a tendency to fall apart, leaving many to wonder just how far his reach extends."
"What're you thinking?" Sojiro asked, somewhat alarmed when the look he saw in the eyes of the Phantom Thieves began to remind him of sharks that had smelled blood.
Holding up a single finger to forestall further questions, Akira lifted his omni-tool and opened up the menu only to find a black and red eye motif glaring back at him. Without hesitation, he pressed it and spoke clearly. "Charles Saracino."
"Match found." The app replied monotonously as he lifted his eyes to stare right in Sojiro's with a confident grin.
"I think, the hunt is on."
End Notes: Nomad-117: And that was Chapter 12 of our little, crazy crossover between Persona and Mass Effect. We set up a few things that are kinda relevant in the future, also dished out a bit of mental trauma, snarky Shadows, moody goddesses, reliable teammates, and everything in between. Oh, and we got a potential first target for our legendary Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Wonder what his Palace could look like? At any rate I hope you enjoyed our latests bound of us being us.
Vergil1989: Considering Charles Saracino is a known xenophobe, racist, and a known public figure, (kinda like our current President 'cough cough'), it's reasonable to assume he's going to be on everyone's mind once and if they're able to shut his Palace down and steal his distorted desires. But it'll also be a challenge for them to get close enough to the man given he's likely always got a large group of loyal if foolish followers on every side at all hours of the day. Not that that's stopped them before, but this is a very different time period, their actions will have far more reaching repercussions once things start moving along. Either way, enjoy the show folks and we'll see ya soon!
