Chapter 12
Little by Little
The sound of flesh met metal sprung Minato on his toes. His forgotten disciples returned to him bit by bit as he landed on concrete ground, innate grace propelled him backward as he met Akihiko back-to-back. That person's instruction barked out loudly, "Pull your fists to cover your heart and throat. Don't leave any room for counterattack!" Leveling the weight of blood-stained Sonic Fists around his torso, Minato saw the Senior smirked as Adamant Beetles surrounded them.
"Never know you used to boxing," came Akihiko's impressed voice as he followed up with a mean left hook.
"Not so much," Minato calmly replied, taking on the Shadow targetting Yukari's back and twirled his Evoker.
"Lilim!" his head jerked sideway as the devil's child obeyed his order and spun upward giddily, eager to please. Vile shock of Mazio threw the Shadow away as the lightning caught its wings, the smoke rose to the air like a polluted light. Minato rushed to the weakening foe, relentlessly charging even before those insects can grovel before his feet. He couldn't stop, he didn't stop before the cries of its downfall rang loudly in his ears.
"Whoa, dude! Dude! That's overkill," Junpei winced at the black goo around Minato's feet, somehow feeling sorry for the Shadow. He balanced the spiked bat to his left shoulder, the nails driven into the wood menacingly. Yukari approached them and gave a strange morsel to the Field Leader. "Found it near the staircase, Minato-kun. But hey, Junpei, isn't it good that he's on a roll?" she mused.
"Are you sure you don't want to join Boxing Club?" Akihiko flexed his fists as he asked.
Minato said with a noncommital shrug, "I won't be as better as you who trained for years, though," He walked onward and they went for the staircase.
"Man, I thought you'd at least chickening out from Tartarus for a few days 'cuz... y'know, trapped here and all."
"How was Tartarus, then?" Yukari leaned forward.
"...Same old, but more tiring," Minato said after a few seconds.
Lie.
"Figures," Junpei snickered goofily. But then his brows furrowed in question, examining the menacing spiked bat in the process. "Where'd you get this? I love baseball and all, but I don't wanna think that Kurosawa-san would sell something like this," he stated horrifiedly.
Akihiko pondered, " I don't think there's any weapon smuggler here. Where did you got it, then?"
A mysterious smile etched into Minato's face. "One of my..." What's the best word to describe Elizabeth now?
"...Friend is a collector."
"Well, that's... Quite a hobby," Akihiko pitched in and Yukari wished the boys would stop talking about weapon as if it's a toy.
Minato wondered what Elizabeth would say about being mistaken as a weapon smuggler.
...Maybe she is.
"Okay, next fight!" Junppei shouted excitedly as he bashed his bat to a blob of Shadows that greeted them as they went upstair.
"Ouch," Yukari grimaced.
"...Somehow I feel responsible for this," Minato smiled wanly and they joined Junpei shortly. The blob dispersed as the shriek echoed through the badly-lit maze, four Jealous Cupids took form and bows at ready. "Tch, ranged attack. This'll be annoying," Akihiko huffed but his eyes glistened at the notion of challenge.
"Fuuka, analyze them," Minato voiced through his earpiece as his foremind dismissed Lilim silently.
"On it!" the next second, Fuuka summoned the transparrent white-robed Persona in the lobby. Mitsuru stayed behing her motorcycle. The lantern swayed as the woman spanned out its arms. Teal eyes observed behind the Priestess's mask.
Angrily, one of the Cupids shot an arrow to Junpei in revenge. Junpei yelped as he swished to the side, the arrow grazing his abdomen in the process. "Not very flexible, aren't we," Akihiko remarked as he chased his prey.
"Good night!" he said viciously, jerking his dominant arm in a promising pain. The strike crushed the Cupid's mask, leaving it defenseless. "And...!" the Gekkoukan champion stepped to his left, sending a practiced uppercut before the Shadow's arrow could touch him.
"Amazing, Senpai!" Yukari cheered, her arms held the bow gracefully as she support-fired Minato's opponent. The arrow glided smoothly and nicked its arm. Three enemies left.
"C'mon, buddy" Minato fired his Evoker, Jack Frost waved at Junpei and casted Re Patra. Downed Junpei got up as a bright green light dispelled his bound. Junpei grinned, "Sorry to keep you waiting,"
He whooped the bat, "Guess who's gonna get their ass kicked!" and struck a mortal blow to the offending foe, rendering it to a hapless mess. A buzz in his earpiece notified Minato of Fuuka's observation. "...It's weak to Bufu spells!" came Fuuka's confirmation.
Minato said to the earpiece "Alright, we'll take over from here,", closing his eyes as he sensed Jack Frost's glee.
Yukari brushed imaginary dust from her skirt as she accepted Minato's hand that pulled her upward, "Well, I guess that's all." She said as she looked back on the havoc they wrecked. Sheen of sweat didn't deter her while her psyche slowly getting used to the taxing atmosphere of Tartarus. If their Field leader can survive half a day here, they have to catch up with him.
But his unfazed composure was daunting, to say the least. If she didn't stand in close proximity to Minato, she wouldn't have noticed the faint tremor of his bleeding arm as he led them upstair. His footsteps unwavering, assuredly navigating through the block. Minato sometimes signaled them to wait as the Shadows turned to their tails and ran past without encountering them, placing Yukari behind him as he stayed on the vanguard.
Minato turned his head, called out "Here we are," and drew her attention. Junpei sighed in relief beside her, "Whew, no Shadows here,"
She heard a chuckle from her earpiece and Fuuka informed them, "There are three Floor Guardians in the middle of this floor, Junpei-kun. But they won't attack first, so we should be okay,"
Akihiko said his thanks and turned to Minato, "Well, we should go find the warp first," as he scanned the area. His eyes found the warp, Minato walked to it and activated the machine. "I always wonder why something so convenient appeared before the mid-boss battle," Junpei craned his head behind Minato's shoulder as the Field Leader operated it.
"Well, there are always save points before boss battle, right?" Minato offered with a smile and Junpei guffawed before the sensation of being teleported surrounded them. They arrived in the lobby, Fuuka and Mitsuru greeted them behind Mitsuru's bike. A vast selection of Router equipment mounted above it.
"Great job, as always," Mitsuru praised as she took off her earpiece. A beautiful red sheathe attached to her waist as she stood up, ready to fight. Fuuka sat near the bike, floating lanterns surrounded her while Ixtab hovered above her. She wore a headphone around her head that connected her to the equipment, a small microphone was attached to it.
Fuuka suggested, "There are... Three Shadows on the 47th floor, called Golden Beetles. And it's weak to electricity."
Yukari looked astonished, "You scanned that far?" and their Router smiled meekly, unused to such attention. "Dang, you're good!" Junpei exclaimed as he propped up a thumb, making her flustered even further.
Akihiko smiled encouragingly, "Well, I guess you have to take compliments when it's due." Mitsuru continued, "It's a quality that you have to be proud of, Yamagishi," she stated, matter-of-factly.
"T-thank you," came the timid reply.
Saying that Mr. Edogawa is one hell of a long-winded teacher seems like putting it politely, Junpei thought as he tried and failed to keep his eyes open. He dozed off with half-lidded eyes as he observed the class. The guys at the back had it lucky and Kenji didn't even bother to wipe his droll. Ugh.
Somehow, Junpei just had the luck that he'd got called on if the teachers caught him sleeping and the students would laugh quietly when he got stood in front of the class. Heck, they didn't even have any use of friggin' whatever lesson Mr. Edogawa taught in the future. Psh, he didn't even care about his study, why should everyone else care?
Being laughed at was something Junpei got used to. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't get that angry over being called Stupei this, Stupei that. He didn't get angry when strangers threw the nickname at him. Yeah, he's stupid. No need to remind him that.
"Eeeheehee, who should I pick today? Pallas aron azinomas... It is thine lucky star today, Iori-kun,"
Motherfucker.
"H-Huh?" he snapped to attention. Yukari snickered in her seat and he swore that he won't give her the time of the day. Minato stirred quietly, his damn emo bangs hid the fact that he slept throughout the lesson and for some reason, Junpei envied the bangs.
Should Junpei grow out his bangs, then?
...Uhh, bad mental image is bad.
"So, Iori-kun, what formed the origins of magic? Animism, totenism, or shamanism?"
And that's the one million dollar question! A small sheen of sweat formed on his temple.
He quickly gave his trusty bro The Look and Minato nodded resolutely. He discreetly rose three of his fingers and— "Ah, ah, I see you there, Arisato-kun!" Mr. Edogawa's glasses glistened under the summer sun and he chuckled madly, all image of a nerdy teacher gone in an instant.
"Enjoy your next lives as chupacabras, you two!" he flaunted his white lab coat dramatically and thrusted his finger to the front of the class. Minato sighed and stood from his seat. Junpei pouted as he followed Minato in front of the class.
"Now, class! I'll demonstrate what does a Chupacabra looked like. Fortunately, we have two volunteers here, eeeheehee" Mr. Edogawa turned his attention to them and grinned.
He and Minato were posed against each other, both hands raised like a T-Rex and teeth bared. The students didn't dare to laugh, but the constipated smiles from the whole class was enough. Enough.
Junpei wanted to cry in the corner.
Even with their pose, Minato kept a straight face. That guy can even freeze hell if he wanted to. His mouth twitched, bared teeth showing the perfect replica of a Chupacabra. Mr. Edogawa even deliberately drew the supposed creature on the whiteboard and a hairless, ugly fusion of kangaroo-rat-crocodile manifested.
The topic strayed from Chupacabra to the supposition that its sightings were related to a satanic cult, then to how the figure of satan itself was viewed as the fallen angel, Lucifer.
"As a reminder, the origin of magic is strongly related to shamanism. Take witch, onmyouji, and shrine maiden as examples. The concept itself was embraced widely around the world and derived from the idea of being in-touch with the gods that they served or made contract with." Mr. Edogawa spoke, bringing attention to himself. His eyes shone with keen interest.
"Japan had Abe no Seimei and Kamo no Yasunori. Here, the concept of contracting gods to earn their powers is translated into Shikigami, similar to European witch's familiar. They learned to utilize their magic without losing control. That's how they originally awoke to magic." Mr. Edogawa swept his gaze throughout the class, some students were interested but most of them dozed off peacefully. Well, it didn't matter.
"Actually, there's a theory that all form of magic came from the same thing, human's subconsciousness. This mindscape is aptly called the Sea of Soul." some eyes widen and he can feel the gazes burned into his back. Interesting.
"If the summoner is well-experienced, his/her power can manifest, acting as some sort of a... Guardian of its master. But if the summoner is careless or afraid of their own power, his/her power may get out of control in time, eventually killing its own master in revenge."
He kept the smirk to himself, "Ah, also... In Greek, there is another name for this power that ascends from the Sea of Soul, although it was mostly unknown. This is called-"
"...Persona,"
Author Note:
I know this is no excuse, but my dear father had just passed away a week ago and I have to take care of the big matters before I got settled. Now I'm located somewhere in South Kalimantan and work in my father's hometown. It stings when I return to a city that each nook and cranny reminds me of him.
See Wikipedia fro Chupacabra. That's the pose I'm imagining when they got stood in front of the class *snicker*Ah, high school. We have our own mischieve back then, huh? Teehee
I guess there's no point in apologizing for a late chapter, again. And it's a bit too short for my liking but I have to end it here. You'll know in the next few chapters. Don't hold your breath, I can't promise anything.
Thanks for reading and I love you, readers :3
