Author's Note: How long was it been? I lost track of the days. Well, in any case, shout out to Coldman9 for beta-ing the chapter! WHOOOOOOO! YAAYYYY! Clocking in to over 13 thousand words in the word count department, I present to you, CHAPTER 13!
Chapter 13: Rising from the ashes
"I never wanted to be born here. I never had a choice. Do I really have to submit to the will of the Gods? To submit to a life that I detest? Isn't there a way for me to live a life of my own? To live a life that I myself have chosen?"
JUNES
After School
"Lunch Hour just ended. We just gotta wait 5 more minutes for the crowd to thin out, then we should be able to sneak into the electrical department without getting seen."
"Alright," Chie nodded surely. She then turned towards Yosuke and narrowed her eyes, her arms across her chest, "5 minutes, and we're going in. I can't stand waiting out here!"
"Me neither... It's hot out here..." Souji muttered softly, not really intending for either Yosuke or Chie to hear him. The heat of the afternoon sun was sweltering. Most of the consumers were sitting in the air-conditioned section of the food court, unlike them, so they didn't feel the full extent of the great mid-day sun. Souji's hair stuck to his forehead with sweat rolling down his cheeks. It didn't help that his sword was, once again, stuffed down his pants with the hilt poking out.
Yosuke and Chie weren't any better off either. Hanamura sat leisurely, rocking on the two hind legs of his chair, but his jacket had half of its buttons undone and his shirt stuck to his chest like glue to paper. Chie was stationed anxiously on her seat, one hand grabbing onto the hinge of her chair and other was holding her cold canned drink protectively. Souji noted with slight amusement that she'd angled her drink a little away from Yosuke's indiscreet stare.
"Damn it... Isn't it a little too early for the heat to come down on us?" Yosuke grumbled, fanning himself with his hand, "technically, its still spring."
"Its spring, but we're sitting directly under the sun, Yosuke," Chie sighed.
After sitting out in the sun for what felt like forever, the lunch crowd finally left the premises and what was left were a few window shoppers and grocery shoppers. As they walked together towards the electrical department, they didn't seen another soul except for bored employees and janitors. The electrical department of Junes was almost always empty. This was because of the fact that their prices weren't exactly the lowest and that there were at least two electrical appliance stores on the same street.
This worked to their advantage, since it meant that they need not worry about getting caught or seen. Another thing that worked for them was that their TV was right in the middle of the security camera's blind spot, something that Yosuke had found out. He had been panicking that they might've been caught on tape and went ahead to check the footage, only to realize that their entering and leaving the TV have been completely obscured by the shelves.
Now, they stood in front of the TV with Chie and Yosuke glancing furtively towards Souji, waiting for his cue. The taller, silver haired teen pressed his fingertips onto the screen ever so gently, feeling his muscles tense up, "Alright then. Let's go."
Yukiko's Castle
"Who would take me away from this place? I'm trapped here like a bird in a cage. Why...? Why did I have to be born here? Am I only good for inheriting the inn? Don't I have another choice? I want to be an astronaut! A five-star chef! I want to travel the world! I want to do something silly and not have to worry about ruining the stupid inn's image...! I want to laugh and giggle and not be judged! So why...? Why?"
"We're here." Teddie announced gravely as he stood next to his sensei. For some reason, just by being next to Souji, he'd felt better about himself. Or something like that. Yosuke had told him that he had a man-crush on Souji, but Ted had shrugged him off. What wasa man-crush anyway? It sounded painful.
Soon after they had dropped in on Teddie, he had courteously given Chie her very own pair of glasses that would help her see through the fog. That whole day he was alone on this side, he had been thinking about that fight against the shadow. For some reason, he felt a strange kinship with the shadows. They stared at him with betrayal in their yellow eyes, but they did not attack him. It was weird.
"Alright. We head in once you're ready Souji," Yosuke said loudly, his eyes glancing towards Chie. It was a mighty clear signal that Hanamura didn't want her to run off on her own again. "And, when we come out..."
"We'll bring Yukiko back," Satonaka nodded surely, completing his sentence. She was jumping on the spot as if she was warming up for something. Her legs were itching to kick something, and this time, it wasn't going to be Yosuke.
Souji glanced between his two friends and nodded. The red, swirling portal seemed to taunt them as they stood in front of it. Closing their eyes, the trio, and Teddie, stepped in together. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves standing in front of a large door, much like the one they had to open before they entered Chie's chamber.
Actually... This IS the one leading to Chie's chamber...!
"Whoa, whoa!" Yosuke gulped as he squeezed the handle of his kunai, "What's going on here? Why are we on the second floor!"
Souji turned behind and saw a set of stairs leading down, presumably to the first floor. He glanced towards Teddie, the mascot simply shrugged.
"I dunno."
"I can sense the shadows ahead." Izanagi whispered softly in his head, "We have to move on. Ponder this another day."
Nodding to himself, much to the amusement of Yosuke and Chie, Souji gestured towards the door, "We think about this later. Right now, we have to save Amagi-san."
"Right!" Chie approved, then turned to Yosuke, waiting for his positive response.
"Eh. At least we don't have to run up the stairs again," Hanamura simply nodded, then shoulder bumped Souji, "I gotta ask ya though. Why do you refer to Yukiko-san as Amagi-san? I mean, aren't we all friends?"
"W-Well..."
"Talk about this later, Yosuke," Chie rolled her eyes as she tried to urge the fuffy haired teen forward, "Saving Yukiko should be at the top of your head right now, not silly formalities!"
"Okay, okay! Quit pushing me!" Hanamura shouted exasperatedly as he stumbled, landing clumsily on his left foot and almost falling over, "Augh! Geez, lady!"
Chie huffed indignantly, "Y-You don't have to scream about it!"
Souji sighed in relief as Yosuke dropped the subject and went on to bicker with Chie. It wasn't that he didn't think of Yukiko as a friend...
Actually... That might be it...
He didn't think of Yukiko as a friend. It was a sad notion, but deep inside, Souji couldn't deny it. He always had a hard time making friends. Mostly it was because of his wide ranging experiences with people. But he'd talked to Amagi before, right? At the pavilion that day? She was a nice girl. She was really fond of Chie and she seemed to be rather wound up from the business at the inn. But that talk was merely on an acquaintance level. They weren't exactly on a first name basis.
Souji sighed heavily, God... Why'd Yosuke even bring this up?
Friend or not, he had to save her. There were no terms and conditions to this, and he was sure of that. Nobody deserved to die, and Yukiko had a family and a distraught best friend to return to, and if Souji had the means and power to help her out of this, he'd do it. He had to. An image of a shy, smiling Yukiko, dressed in her kimono flashed briefly in his head, stunning Souji for a moment, before he shook it out and concentrated on the battle ahead of him.
What was THAT all about?
Souji led the way, his body tensed up and he parted his legs widely, allowing him to react swiftly should they get ambushed. Teddie noted that the castle grounds below them had shifted and changed, becoming totally different. But he said that the second floor had remained unchanged.
"Alright then," Yosuke nodded confidently as he twirled his kunai, "Full speed ahead!"
"Someone's feeling pretty confident today." Jiraiya chuckled, causing Hanamura to roll his eyes.
"It's not your place to say that, Yosuke," Chie rolled her eyes, "Souji's the leader here. He makes the decisions."
Teddie started to chortle, "hee hee hee..."
Souji watched uncomfortably as Yosuke stared indignantly at Chie, his lips twitched ever so often, ready to snap back at the equally ruffled Chie. He sighed heavily. There was no need to emphasize their roles, Souji thought. He may be the appointed leader, but in truth, Souji had never taken on any leadership roles. He hated it. The thought of having to bear responsibility for the actions of others was unappealing to him.
"Whether it appeals to you or not is irrelevant. You are their leader now." Izanagi whispered.
Sighing heavily, Souji nodded. He stepped forward, straightening his back, "Let's not get overboard with the whole leader thing. What matters now is that we don't get each other killed in battle because of some miscommunication so just follow my lead."
Yosuke shrugged, "Aye aye, captn'!"
Chie rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath, "Tsk... Yosuke..."
Teddie announced that he could sense the Shadow energy building up around them and they quickly came to an agreement that staying too long in one place was a really bad idea.
Seta readied his sword in his hands as he parted his legs into his battle stance, "Alright then, let's get a move on."
The trio ran. Legs pumping and hearts jumping, they burst through waves of shadows that seemed adamant about not letting them through.
"Damnit!" Yosuke groaned as the last shadow faded in a burst of black wisps, "Where do they keep coming from?"
The shadows were getting stronger with every floor they cleared, but, they were getting stronger themselves. Aside from Izanagi, Souji had obtained new Personae that would help him fight. A particular creature caught his attention. Pyro Jack.
As they ran and ran, they found themselves distracted by the voices that seemed to follow them, mumblings that made no sense. It was only until when they reached the fifth floor that they realized who the voice belonged to.
"Welcome to the Amagi Inn... Please enjoy your stay..."
"W-What was that..." Yosuke seemed startled. The voice resonated around the long corridor that seemed to lead down to a large double door at the end. For some reason, there were no shadows in this corridor.
Chie shifted uncomfortably between her left foot and her right, her light brown eyes darting around their surroundings. The walls were similar to that of the walls in the Amagi Inn, but much taller and in a sinister shade of red. The floors were also reminisce of the wooden floors of the Inn, but with every step, they made a sound, a squeak that nobody would notice unless they were actually listening for it.
"Calm yourself, Chie-san. Panic now and your mission will only become more difficult to complete."
"Right. Right. I-I gotta focus." Chie thought, almost deperately.
"This must be Yuki-chan's inner thoughts..." Teddie nodded to himself, "There's a huge shadow presence beyond that door."
Yosuke grimaced, "Then we gotta-"
Again, a voice floated through the walls and seemed to settle in the stagnant air, startling the group.
"Why must it be like this...? To have my fate sealed even before I was born... To have my life planned out for me even before I could say my first words... To have my very existence dictated by the people I trust…"
"We have to go," Souji commanded. The voice was getting more and more desperate. If they delayed any longer, Yukiko might not be there for them to save.
Both Chie and Yosuke nodded confidently. They clutched their persona cards in their sweaty palms with their hearts beating so hard, they feared that it could be heard from miles away.
This was for Yukiko.
Mid-Chamber.
They're here...! They're finally here!
"Yukiko-san! Are you alright?"
Hm... The prince of Junes...? Lowly, but still a prince. But then again... You're stuck out here, just like me, and you can't do anything about it...
"Yukiko... Are you hurt?"
Ah... Chie... You're my prince too... Strong, over-protective Chie... But you... You won't be enough to save me from this hell hole...
"Amagi-san..."
Oh, well of course... Here he is! Mister Transfer Student! The foreigner from the big city! Tall, mysterious and handsome to boot! Surely you're the one? Ohhh...! Take me away, my dear Prince...! TAKE ME AWAY FROM THIS BRIMESTONE AND FIRE.
What's wrong with her...?
Souji could sense it in his bones. The dark, evil aura that surrounded the beautiful girl that was Yukiko Amagi. Her pink and white princess gown was just as they saw on the Midnight channel, with her long black hair flowing right down to her tiny waist. But it was all wrong. This wasn't Yukiko.
"Keep your mind focused and your blade ready." Izanagi commanded, his voice now stern.
A soft chuckle that soon erupted into a wild, maniac laughter. It was as if somebody had just told her a silly joke. But it wasn't as funny to the team as to Yukiko. She turned around, her raven black hair whipping the air around her as she did. Her face was still the same, flawless Yukiko. Porcelain cheeks and small, cherry lips, Yukiko was the embodiment of the perfect Japanese girl. The only thing out of place was the ugly, yellow glare where her ivory black eyes should be.
"Oh... Heeheehahhahaha...!" the false Yukiko giggled, eyes scanning the trio who'd taken a step back cautiously, "My, oh my! Special guests? I wonder how they'd all play into this?"
Another sinister chuckle, "Things are really heating up!"
Souji flinched. Her laughter was so out of place and she spoke as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.
"Okie-Dokie! I'm going on a hunt for my prince Charming! I wonder where he could be...?" She teased, a seductive smile spread across her lips, "This places is soooo big... It's sooo exciting... But it makes it so hard to find him..."
Chie glanced over to Yosuke and found him getting a little hot under the collar, his cheeks growing pink. She rolled her eyes. The things that Yukiko was saying were really out of it. It wasn't something that Chie would ever expect from her best friend, and frankly, she was freaking out inside.
"Hmmm, maybe he's playing hide and seek in this fog?" Yukiko seemed to ponder seriously, she then licked her lips and smiled, her voice sultry and suggestive, "... Let's go further in then, shall we?"
What happened next confused the hell out of Souji. A large, title appeared from out of nowhere, complete with bright lettering and cheesy sound effects. The title read, 'Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince Charming!'. Suddenly, cheers and wolf whistles erupted from the walls, startling the everyone. Yukiko started giggling again.
"W-What the hell is this?" Yosuke asked frantically.
"Oh, I love this show!" Jiraiya sounded like an excited child.
Chie continued to scrutinize the false Yukiko. She knew that it wasn't her. Her Yukiko would never say anything like that. And the way the false Yukiko stared at them with those evil eyes of hers... "You're not her... Where's the real Yukiko!"
Princess Yukiko shot Chie a look of disapproval, pouting, "Silly Chie! Of course I'm Yukiko! I'm Yukiko... and Yukiko is me!"
"W-What? No! You're not Yukiko-" Yosuke was cut of abruptly by a sudden eruption of voices, deep, growling and upset voices that spoke no real words. Just noises that indicated that they were unhappy. "What's with those voices..."
Teddie, who'd been hiding behind the safety of the united front the team provided, spoke up cautiously, "The shadows are getting agitated!"
In front, Princess Yukiko yawned loudly, stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes, "Hmmmmm, well I'm off again! Ohhhh dear prince, where ever could you be?"
And she was gone. Running off, giggling like a grade school child on a scavenger hunt.
As the team watched her leave, Chie growled angrily, frustration clearly showing on her face, "That wasn't Yukiko! It had to be-"
"-I think it was. It must've been the other part of herself. Her shadow." Teddie nodded seriously, "I don't think she was excited for nothing. The real Yuki-chan wants to show us something, I can feel it."
"...It's just like the first two times," Souji mumbled to himself, he then looked up at his friends, "Alright. We have to find Amagi-san-"
"Augh! Yukiko!"
Suddenly, Chie bolted off in the direction where the shadow had first disappeared to, rounded a corner and shouted angrily, "Tsk! Dead end!"
Yosuke grumbled something under his breath and kneaded the bridge of his nose with his knuckles, a vein popping out from his forehead, "Not again... Dammit, what's with her and running off on her own!"
Souji frowned deeply. Chie's recklessness could get her killed in a place like this. He nodded towards Yosuke and Ted and started running again. His chest was starting to hurt and his lungs burned. The air in this world had been unkind to them, and with these extra vigorous exercises, it was a fate worse than Mr Kondo's Phys Ed lessons. As they ran, with the sound of Ted's squeaky footsteps trailing not far behind, Souji could sense a dark and oppressive aura getting stronger. And then he heard the menacing growl of a shadow nearby.
"Tsk," he shot a look at their enemy, but his legs still lifted and he was still running, "We don't have time for this. Run, don't let him catch us!"
He saw Teddie and Yosuke both nod in agreement and they ran even faster. They'd realized by now that the shadows may be strong, evil, and whatever adjectives one may come up with, but they certainly weren't too persistent. If they ran far enough, eventually, the shadows gave up. And true enough, after a while, they could no longer hear the growl of their chaser and realized that it had turned around and left in the opposite direction.
Souji knew that Chie couldn't have gone far. It was just a matter of time before she bumped into a shadow and she'd need their help. She may be strong and she may have better endurance than both him and Yosuke combined, but she was too reckless, too predictable. The shadows may look like creatures that ran on pure animal instincts, but they weren't stupid. They wouldn't just stand there when they saw something charging at them. They knew how to dodge and counter-attack. And this being Chie's first run in the TV world, she wouldn't know that.
This was the fourth turn they had made and Souji was starting to think that Chie had been incredibly lucky if she was able to handle her own for this long, but his relief was short lived when he suddenly heard a cry from the corner all the way at the end of the path. He heard Yosuke mumble something about Chie's legs and quickly shoved that aside as he bolted towards the voice.
Chie Satonaka could hold her own. She didn't need help from the boys. At least that's what she'd hoped. But alas, here she was, sitting on the cold, hard floor, staring into the yellow eyes of the puny shadow she'd looked down on just seconds ago.
Didn't know you had it in you, hahaha... oh who am I kidding.
She was hurting all over the place. Her legs were heavy as lead from all that running, her lungs were burning as if she'd been breathing gaseous acid and that flame attack to the chest wasn't exactly helping either.
I guess this is the end... Damn it... I should've stayed with Yosuke and the rest of them...
"Chie!"
She quickly turned her head as much as her neck allowed, towards the voice of Yosuke Hanamura. He was falling behind Souji, but he was here, coming for her, panting like a dog. And then there was their leader, confident and strong, quickly retrieving a card from his trouser pocket and with practiced movements, crushed the card as a blinding white light surrounded him.
"Pyro Jack!" he shouted confidently.
A strange, new creature appeared. Pyro Jack was a pumpkin, with a face carved onto it. He wore a navy blue cloak and a matching, pointed hat and a single white glove held an antique lantern. He was much less impressive then Souji's previous personae, but Chie still couldn't help but stare in awe. The shadow that attacked her growled angrily at the new arrivals and proceeded to launch a great fire ball at Souji.
"S-Souji-kun!" Chie screamed, but it was too late. The fire ball was already half way towards him. However, to her surprise, Pyro Jack flew right in front of Souji and lifted up its lantern, as if trying to shield Souji from the flames. Chie expected a plethora of broken lantern and half burnt, smashed pumpkin, but Pyro Jack surprised her yet again. The fire ball, about three times the size of little Jack, was sucked into the lantern, as if the lantern had some kind of wormhole or vortex. After which, Pyro Jack seemed even stronger, the pumpkin seemed to grow a little larger.
"W-whoa..." Hanamura gushed. He couldn't help it. The fire ball was three times the size of that persona, but it vanished, eaten up by that little thing, as if it was nothing.
The shadow seemed just as surprised. It growled and charged at Pyro, its claws swinging towards Jack. Souji flashed another card from his pocket and crushed it swiftly, summoning Izanagi. The deity quickly heaved its spear and pierced the incoming shadow before it could come any closer. With a final twist, the shadow screamed and disintegrated. Souji heaved a sigh of relief and Izanagi disappeared back into his psyche.
It wasn't that Souji had just destroyed a powerful shadow or anything, but this display, this show of strength of heart and confidence, this was really something else. Souji was emitting the aura of a true leader.
"It is amazing what people can hide beneath the face they show everyone, is it not?" Tomoe whispered.
Chie simply stared. She was seeing this new side of the shy, mysterious transfer student. He had become confident and strong, what a real leader looked like. Souji was like a super hero. A new found respect for Souji grew in everyone's hearts as they watched him offer a hand to Chie with a shy smile. Yosuke felt a little something stir in his heart. Now, more than ever, he wanted to prove himself to Souji. He glanced towards Teddie and saw the same determination in his eyes. The mascot glanced towards Yosuke and nodded surely.
"Alright, now that everyone's back together," Seta announced as he wiped his palms against his pants, "Let's have a chat, Chie."
Before Satonaka could justify herself, Yosuke blurted out angrily, "GOD DAMNIT CHIE! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!"
"I know, Yosuke! I know!" She raised her voice just a tad louder than Hanamura's furious shouts, "I'm sorry, alright?"
Yosuke was still visibly shaking, his breaths slowly becoming regular again as he struggled to calm himself. Finally, he was ready to speak again, "... I'm sorry I yelled. But damn it Chie, You have to stop being so damn selfish."
"W-What? !" Satonaka was shocked that Yosuke had thought of her as selfish. And here she was doing the most selfless of all deeds, so throw her life out there to save her best friend. How in the world was she being selfish?
"Chie, we all know that amongst us, you worry the most for Amagi-san," Souji reasoned in a voice so calm, Satonaka had to stop and listen, "but what you did just now, it was selfish. You abandoned the team, Chie. We were all so worried for you."
"We know you're anxious to get Yukiko-san," Yosuke added quietly, "we're anxious too. But this place is too dangerous and too unpredictable and we don't wanna lose anymore people to this crazy TV world..."
Chie saw, so a very brief moment, a flash of pain in Yosuke's eyes, before he looked away, gripping his kunai a little tighter than needed. She knew that instant that he was thinking about Saki. Chie sighed heavily and nodded, indicating to him that she understood.
"... You have to trust us, Chie," Souji said suddenly, "We'll get her back. And when we do, you're gonna think back and laugh about just how stupidly anxious you were about all this when everything turns out alright. I know I have no right in saying all that when right now, we're struggling our asses off to accomplish that, but just trust me, as your leader, I'll get us through this. I'll do all in my ability to get us all home safely, including Amagi-san."
This was new for Souji, it was his own way of trying to get them to accept him. To put their trust in him and believe that he can help them through it. Chie could hear the voice of Tomoe, the warrior woman obviously supporting Souji's views.
"You have to learn to put your trust in others, Chie-san," she said wisely, "The difference between us and the Shadows is that while those creatures attack in groups, they each act alone. We, on the other hand, have the ultimate power of Teamwork. Our combined abilities can do much more than what we can do individually."
"... I guess I can't argue with that," Chie sighed, a reluctant smile slowly appearing upon her face, replying to both Tomoe and Souji.
"Let's go then," Teddie chimed in, trying to lift the heavy atmosphere than had befallen upon them, "We're gonna save Yuki-chan!"
The Princess Chamber.
Yukiko awoke to a terrible headache. The air was stagnant and heavy and she knew that she was no longer in the safety of her Inn. She tried to open her eyes, but even this movement was taxing for her frail body. She could still feel the fabric of her kimono against her skin and the weight of the garment was excruciatingly heavy, as if it was tying her down on the cold, hard floor.
She sighed and forced herself to at least, try to sit up. Using her arms to push her body off of the floor, Yukiko sat gingerly with her legs tucked aside, like a mermaid sitting ashore. She couldn't move too suddenly since her head still felt faint and throbbed ever so slight with every little movement. Glancing around, Yukiko noticed that she was sitting in a strange room- no a chamber would more properly describe it- with a large, pink, throne right at the top of a short flight of stairs.
H-How did I get here...?
She tried to recall. She was at the Inn and somebody called her name, and then that was all she could remember before suddenly being hit with a sharp, painful headache. What was most important now was to find a way to escape this strange, medieval chamber. Yukiko sighed heavily, getting up and actually escaping was another problem in itself. She wasn't strong enough and her legs was still as heavy as lead. For now, Yukiko was very much alone, sitting in the throne room, waiting for someone to rescue her.
… What a terrible thought.
Yukiko's Castle.
They had lost count of the number of flights of stairs they had climbed. With every level they reached, the shadows grew stronger and stronger, each getting trickier and harder to avoid. Fatigue was catching up to them. Sometimes, they made a short pit stop in one of the treasure rooms and ate the granola bars Chie stashed away in her jacket pockets. Yosuke made a sarcastic remark about the depth of her jacket pockets and very swiftly received a galactic punt to the nads.
"Chie, we still need Yosuke in fighting condition," Souji noted with an amused smile.
Chie shrugged nonchalantly, "We can use him as live bait."
With the fate of Yosuke sealed, the team continued up the castle, hoping that they weren't too far behind the shadow Princess.
It was a while before Teddie finally announced that he'd sensed something. They found themselves standing in front of a tall, gigantic double door with intricate designs. Souji squinted and realized that the carvings on the door were memories of Yukiko's life. He could make out the Inn, some Inn helpers in their kimonos, a young Yukiko serving the patrons, Yukiko and Chie in elementary school, Yukiko standing on stage in front of a graduating middle school cohort, Yukiko and Chie in the high school orientation ceremony...
"She's a pretty lass, ain't she," Setanta, an Irish Persona Souji had acquired recently, commented thoughtfully, "Reminds me of someone I used to know."
Wait... There's more...
He squinted again, trying to make out the rest of the memories. There was a figure carved into the door that looked like him. And then he realized that it was a memory of when Souji had first arrived in class. The memories then ended abruptly. Yosuke and Chie didn't seem to realize the significance of the carvings and Souji decided that it was pointless to tell them now. What was important was that they rescue her as fast as their legs could carry.
He pushed the large doors open and saw the Princess standing in front of a large, hulking black Knight. The shadow giggled, an evil smile spread across her lips.
"My dear Princes... You won't lose to this lowly knight... would you?"
The team tensed up. The opponent before them was much more than a lowly knight. He was a towering giant. His steed was a giant shadow horse made of heavy black armor that had spikes in every inch of surface. The steed had no eyes, even with this disadvantage, the team could see that the dark horse knew exactly where they were and didn't need eyes to see. The Knight was no knave. He was wearing a thick, impenetrable armor in a similar style to his horse, and decked in full black, the towering Knight and his steed was the size, and bulk, of a monster truck.
With a giggle, Princess Yukiko ran off towards a large double door behind the Knight. As the door swung open, Souji thought he caught sight of a dark haired girl sitting on the floor of the chamber, and then his view was obscured by the Knight.
Teddie scampered behind a pillar near the door where they'd come in, "I-I th-think I should just stay o-out of your way."
"Jesus..." Yosuke blinked wildly, "This guy's huge! How are we gonna beat this thing!"
"I don't like this..." Chie whimpered, "I have to agree with Yosuke this time... How are we gonna beat him? H-he's too big!"
Souji pondered for a moment, but just a moment. Adrenaline was already pumping in huge loads into his bloodstream. He could feel his senses heighten and his heart beating loudly. He could sense his Personae growing restless as well.
"He's a strong one... Physical attacks would be pointless... The only open surface is under his helm," Izanagi commented, "Although, all that metal on him and his steed would prove... fatal in a lightning storm..."
Souji registered what Izanagi had told him and couldn't help but smirk. A lightning storm would be under his jurisdiction. Izanagi had an electrical skill, Zio, that could really help and no one but him had the skill right now. Chie's Tomoe was a warrior and had an ice skill that would be rather useless here unless they wanted the Knight to catch a cold. Yosuke's loud-mouthed Jiraiya was a wind magician that was absolutely useless here unless he could summon up a tornado.
"Look at all that metal he's wearing," Souji pointed out smugly, "I wouldn't want to wear that during a lightning storm."
"What are you talking about, Souji?" Yosuke asked with a brow cocked up, looking incredulously at Seta, "we're indoors and I don't really think the TV world has weather-"
The Knight was growing impatient with their strategizing and proceeded to swing its spear straight towards the boys, nearly decapitating them if not for Chie pulling them down.
"W-What's wrong with you guys! You were nearly killed!" the distraught girl stuttered as her eyes grew wide, staring at the Shadow.
"W-whoa... Damn it..." Yosuke spat, narrowing his eyes at the Shadow.
"Little girl, you're gonna have to pay attention if you want to survive," Yosuke heard the voice of Jiraiya floating around in his subconscious, "I can't exist if my owner is decapitated."
For once, Yosuke didn't feel like retorting. Jiraiya sounded serious, and he was pretty sure that like him, his persona was scared shitless that moment that he realized how close they were to death just seconds ago.
"Listen to me," Souji snapped his fingers in front of Yosuke's face, "I was planning on getting Izanagi to use his Zio skills. The shadow is wearing heavy metal from head to toe, he's not going to survive for very long if I just keep shoot him with electricity."
"O-oh... So that's what you meant..." Chie laughed nervously.
They quickly dodged another swing by the Shadow. He was powerful, but he was slow, which was an advantage for them.
Yosuke nodded hurriedly, agreeing with his leader, "Alright, that sounds good... But what about me and Chie?"
"Physical attacks are just probably gonna bounce off of him," Souji croaked, "I think it's best you guys stay as far away from him as possible and just throw everything you got at him."
"That can be arranged," Yosuke smirked confidently.
Souji was stunned for a second, wondering where Hanamura had suddenly gotten the confidence from, but quickly refocusing on more pressing matters.
The Shadow was growing very impatient with the lack of action from the trio and plunged its spear towards the clustered group. The weapon's tip came right between Chie and Yosuke, the cool metal sliced cleanly across their jackets, though not deep enough to touch their skins and draw blood. That was a little too close for comfort.
"All right," Hanamura exhaled, gritting his teeth as soon as he could breath normally again, "Let's do this!"
This was something everybody could agree on and once again, all three jumped out of the incoming spear's path. The rush of adrenaline was all they need to get their fight on. The Knight and his steed responded to this with an angry snarl and a deadly chorus of primal screams.
"Spread out! He can only fight one on one! We can get him from all sides!" Souji yelled over the loud neighing of the demon horse.
The Knight growled, his voice too deep and inhuman. He surveyed the situation, noticing that the team had spread out; leaving him exposed in the middle of their attack spheres. Growling angrily again, he thrust his spear towards the closest target, Yosuke.
"H-Holy Shit!" Hanamura stammered, jumping to the side before the attack connected, he could almost feel the clean, metal blade against his skin as it barely missed his face, "Damn it! What's wrong with you!"
"Yosuke! Stop trying to make conversation with the shadow!" Chie yelled at the top of her lungs from the opposite side of the room. She quickly refocused herself and summoned Tomoe.
The female warrior appeared in front of her in a great white light and with a swing of her naginata, conjured a powerful ice spell that exploded in the face of the demon horse, causing it to spook and throttle around. The Knight shot a glare towards Tomoe, its mild yellow eyes suddenly burning red and he launched a piercing attack, plunging it's spear right into Tomoe.
"Augh!"
"Chie!" Yosuke screamed.
The Persona disappeared and Chie was left kneeling on the floor. She seemed unharmed but she looked like she was in pain, clutching at her abdomen as if it was she who had been stabbed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine... Just stings, that's all," Satonaka sighed, she then stood up slowly on her own and shot a look at the shadow, "Tsk! Aughhh! You're so gonna get it from me!"
Yosuke couldn't help but laugh, "And who was the one who told me not to make conversation with the shadow?"
Souji sighed in relief. At least they were all safe. He quickly summoned up Izanagi and let the deity do his thing. The tall figure emerged and with a quick flick of his wrist, sent down a thundering lightning bolt that ate into the armor and gave the shadow inside a good shock. The current went right down into the horse as well and the demon steed neighed loudly, as if it was screaming in pain. It thrashed about and the Horseman was almost thrown off.
"It's working!" Yosuke cheered, pumping his fist up in the air.
Chie bit her lip, "Don't get too cocky, Yosuke!"
Just as she said that, a piercing growl echoed in the room. The Knight was enraged. He tugged violently at the reins and it brought the demon horse back into position. He pounded at his chest as if he was taunting them and charged quickly towards Souji.
Souji jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding the spear as it shot by. The Knight's momentum buried the spear's tip into the wall, only to be ripped out, a large chunk of the wall coming out with it. With a twist of his hand, Izanagi was standing behind Souji again, his blade poised for a fight. The Knight charged again, his weapon pointed to kill. Izanagi shot forward, his sword clashing against the spear and sending it into the ground. The Knight and steed jerked to a stop, the spear stuck in the ground as the Knight tried to pull it out.
"Chie! Yosuke!" Souji called, and idea in his head, "From above."
"Above?" Yosuke shot a questioning look at Chie before his eyes lit up with realization.
The two didn't need another hint, and their Personae appeared behind them. Tomoe and Jiraiya flew up, angling themselves at the Knight before launching their attacks. Izanagi jumped back, the Knight having freed his weapon, before flicking his wrist and adding his own attack to the Garu and Bufu already barreling down at it.
The combined elements smashed down on the shadow, sending both the Knight and his horse to the floor. It took a moment for the large shadow to get its bearing again, and it roughly yanked on the steeds reins, pulling the horse back up and into the battle. Before any of them could move, the Knight charged towards Chie, swinging its spear around. Chie jumped back, the tip of the spear leaving a cut on her side. Yosuke wasn't as lucky. The Knight spun the horse about, continuing to swing the spear at him. The Prince of Junes was caught by the weapon, the rounded edge catching him before sending him crashing into a wall.
"Yosuke!" Souji shouted, watching as the boy tried to stand up. His attention was diverted as the Knight took notice of him, sending his steed charging at the Fool, his spear pointed straight for his heart.
Seeing this, Souji dodged to the side, barely avoiding getting a broken rib, or maybe a smashed skull. The Knight had charged right into a wall and a large chuck of pink fell on the Shadow. He summoned Izanagi again and yet another lightning bolt struck the shadow, throwing its horse into a mania once again. It neighed and thrashed, smashing its master against the wall in its madness. The horseman snapped.
He grabbed the reins and swung it around the neck of the shadow steed. In his rage, and to the horror of the team, he pulled as hard as he could, and the mad neighing died with a painfully loud crack. The shadow Knight had killed his own horse.
"Damn... This guy's down right evil..." Yosuke spat, finally getting back to his feet.
"He disgust me," Chie added, crushing the card in her hands and summoning Tomoe. The Persona emerged in a bright light and with a swipe of her naginata, created a powerful glacier that encased the head of the Knight.
"This monstrosity," Tomoe growled, "I can sense the evil aura all around him... A painful death, he deserves..."
"You got that right," Chie muttered to herself. She knew that the shadows were gross and that they were their enemies, the ones who are trying to kill them. But none of the shadows that they'd encountered up till now had been as evil, ruthless and sadistic as this black Knight.
Souji was getting worried. With every attack, the Knight was getting fiercer and angrier, and he didn't seem to be as affected by the lightning attacks as Souji had thought he would. The armor was conducting the electricity, and he could see that the plan was working, but the Knight was more resilient than he'd thought. What they needed was more power. There had to be something they could do to help amplify Izanagi's powers.
"Do not think with your fists, boy!" Izanagi chided with a stern voice, "Not everything can be solved by brute force or power. Sometimes it is best to simply take a step back, watch, and learn. Sometimes the best strategy comes when one observes."
Souji sighed heavily. But this was no time to argue with the voice in his head. He watched as Yosuke bombarded the Knight with wind spells that more or less bounced off of him, the winds merely destabilized the Knight's footing as he charged head first towards Yosuke and Jiraiya. Barely missing Yosuke, the Knight fumbled and fell to his knees.
He charges head first in his rage... His movements are predicable and if we can just...
"Souji, watch out!"
The silver haired teen blinked wildly. The Knight had gotten up and was now running right towards him, his spear touching and subsequently, tearing across his left shoulder as Seta barely had the time to dodge the deadly weapon. With his momentum too large, the Knight had rammed right into the frame of the doors that the Princess had run off to, chipping off a large chunk of the hinge.
Let him ram the door. Let him break down the door for us!
"Let it work." Souji muttered. Smashing the card, he summoned Izanagi and with great grace and power, he flew straight towards the distracted Knight and stabbed right through its armor, twisting it, and let off a large current of electricity through the spear, right into the Shadow. The Knight, pinned against the frame, started to spasm and twitch in odd angles. The spasm was so violent, the armor had rattled so loudly, and the scream of the Shadow so painful, the team couldn't help but look away.
Get him angry. Like a matador, let him chase me then send him towards that door. Y-Yeah, okay. Let's do this.
The Knight's screaming and growling grew louder and louder, but in his great rage and with a final burst of primal strength, he grabbed Izanagi's head with an arm and smashed the Persona into the door. At that instant, Souji could feel his head explode. A splitting headache so powerful he's fallen to the ground with a painful yell, clutching his head with tears threatening to form.
"AUUUGHHHH!"
"Souji!" Yosuke called out worriedly. He'd felt it before, Chie had felt it before, the same pain that their Persona felt when they were attacked. He knew that Souji felt the same pain as Izanagi, he felt the same pain of being slammed against the door.
"G...Get the shadow... Get him to ram the door..." Souji said breathlessly, the throbbing in his head was killing him. He glanced up from his crouch and realized that they couldn't hear him, that they were, once again, being chased around by the Shadow.
He couldn't summon his Persona anymore. He was just too tired. But the Knight wasn't going to live long either. He was still charging mindlessly, but his attacks were getting weaker and weaker.
Only one chance left.
Pushing himself off the ground, he stumbled over to the half ruined door. He felt like a truck just ran over his head, the painful throbbing worse than his first hangover. The blood dribbled lazily from the cut from his left shoulder and stained a portion of his shirt red. He licked his dried lips and stood right in front of the door, waiting. He had only one chance.
The Knight sensed his presence and quickly turned around. In his primal rage, he charged towards Souji, his spear in hand. Yosuke turned around, noticing that he was no longer chased by the shadow. And that instead, the shadow was no charging towards a battered Souji, who didn't seem to be taking any evasive action.
"T-The hell's he doing!" Yosuke shouted angrily.
Chie spun around, finally realizing the situation, "W-What! Souji-kun!"
Just wait for it...
"Get away! Get away from there! He's coming right at you, YOU MORON!"
Just wait... I know what I'm doing.
"S-Souji-kun! D-Does he want to die? !"
The adrenaline pumped into his bloodstream and time seemed to slow down. He recognized this feeling. It happened before. His senses were heightened so much, it was almost impossible for him to get hurt. The Knight was moving towards him, but his speed was so much slower than it actually was, making it much easier for Souji to evade. With a quick, practiced side-step, he was out of the way of the raging bull.
And then the Knight crashed. His heavy metal plates smashing right into the door, destroying the large frame that took up half of the 2 story tall wall. The Shadow cried out one last time before disintegrating into mush. The wall was threatening to fall down on them, but thankfully, it remained intact. Where the elegant door used to be, was now an ugly hole with ragged edges. And Souji was unscathed, standing tiredly over the wreckage. He heard Yosuke and Chie cry out his name, along with some chiding, but he couldn't care much right now.
Yosuke took the chance to catch his breath as the dust settled. Teddie was still shaking a little while Chie rotated her arms in a clockwise direction, stretching out her worn out ligaments. However, as soon as dust dissipated and visibility was fine again, they realized Souji had stopped there, not to catch his breath, but to process what he was seeing.
The Princess Chamber
There was a girl. A beautiful, Japanese girl, sitting on her faint, pink throne. The throne sat on a tall foundation, accessible only by climbing a short series of stairs. The throne room was obviously pink, with dashes of red on the banners and cushions. A long, red carpet directed Souji to the Princess, who had her head tilted, watching the team walk up to her with a curious smile. But what really caught their eye was the twin of the shadow Princess, pushing herself off of the floor carefully, an action made difficult because of her form fitting kimono.
What was important though was that there were two Yukikos present in the chamber right now.
"Yukiko!" Chie shouted, a name that she'd known since she was a child.
Yosuke growled softly, "I knew it... There's two of her!"
The Princess sighed heavily as she shifted her legs, making herself comfortable on her throne, "Oh? All three Princes made it through? I'm impressed!"
Chie cocked a brow up, "Three Princes...?"
"Aw... I wish I had a better look at you..." the shadow pouted. She lifted herself off of her throne and stepped over to the edge of the stairs, "My, it's getting crowded here... Why don't you and I go somewhere else...?"
She scanned her evil, grotesque eyes over Yosuke, Souji and Chie, as if appraising them. Her eyes lingered over Souji, lips twitching ever so slightly.
"A land far, far away, where no one knows me," She continued, her eyes still boring into Souji's soul, "If you're my prince, you'll take me there, won't you? And we can live happily ever after?"
She grinned, folding her arms across her chest, pushing her breasts together, empathizing the cleavage that revealed, "C'mon... Pretty please?"
Oh God.
"Keep your mind on the task at hand." Izanagi chided in a disapproving voice.
Teddie pushed himself between Souji and Yosuke, eyes gleaming, "Ohhhh! Is this 'scoring a hot stud'?"
Yosuke shot him a look.
Chie didn't have time for Teddie's tom-foolery. The false Yukiko had mentioned time and time again during their encounters.
"Three Princes... Wait... Does that include me...?"
Teddie, refusing to let himself be cut out of the conversation, cut in once again, "Duhhhh! The last one's gotta be me!"
Yosuke rolled his eyes, sighing heavily, "Ted... I highly doubt that."
"He's not even the right species to be a prince." Jiraiya chimed in.
The Princess rolled her eyes at the boys' antics and returned her attention to Chie, "Chie... Yes Chie... You're my Prince."
The trio could feel their eyes widen and their jaws hanging slack. Yosuke shot a look at Chie, who in turn gave him a hard glare. Her eyes told him to mind his own business.
"She always leads the way... Chie's a strong prince," The Princess cooed, and then her voices, and eyes, became hard, "... or at least she was."
Those words, even though they didn't belong to the real Yukiko, who was staring at the imposter in shock, it hurt. What did she mean, anyway?
"When it comes down to it, Chie's just not good enough!" The false Yukiko flailed her arms, as if throwing a tantrum, "She can't take me away from here! SHE can't SAVE me!"
As if sensing where the conversation was going, the real Yukiko finally spoke up, her voice faint and tired, "S-Stop... Stop it...""
The Princess smirked, "Historic Inn? Manager Training? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down! I never asked to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From where I live to where I die! I'm so sick of it! Fuck it all!"
"W-Whoa... Yukiko-san..." Yosuke blinked wildly. He never knew that the pure and innocent Yukiko Amagi had such colorful vocabulary.
"That's not true..." Yukiko protested feebly.
"Someone please take me away! I can't leave here on my own..." the false Yukiko taunted, "I'm completely useless. I have no hope if I stay, and no courage to leave..."
Suddenly, the Princess jumped into her throne, snuggling into the seat like a child making herself comfortable in a kotatsu in a cold winter day, "So I sit on my ass, hoping that someday my Prince would come."
"And what do you know, there's three of them to choose from!" she giggled maniacally, nibbling on her fingertips, "Who to choose, who to choose... The Prince of Junes Yosuke...? My strong Prince Chie...? Or maybe..."
"Maybe the Prince Charming from the far away lands...?" She eyed Souji lustfully, then broke into laughter again. She then suddenly became somber again, "... I'm always waiting. Always waiting for someone to help me. I'm useless. I can't do anything on my own."
Chie felt her words pierce through her heart. Satonaka was always protecting Yukiko. Always standing up for her, always around her, to help her. But thinking back, she realized that by doing that, she was denying Yukiko the chance to help herself. Denying her the chance to do things on her own. The guilt clung unto her chest, making it hard to breathe.
"So I wait. I wait in the comfort of that smelly ass Inn." The Princess growled, each word spat out with vile expressions, "Historical traditions? Pride of Inaba? What a bunch of bullshit!"
Yukiko felt each word stab her in her chest, like spears piercing through her flesh, "H-How dare you..."
"Oh?" The false Yukiko narrowed her eyes, "But that's how I really feel... Isn't that right, me...?"
W-What? !
"No!" Yukiko snapped.
Yosuke realized what this could lead to and quickly stepped in, "No! Don't say it!"
But he was ignored. His words made no impact, for Yukiko had completely blocked out the rest of them. The shame of having her secrets revealed... and to have her image soiled by this promiscuous villain... It was too much. She had to make this right.
"YOU'RE NOT ME!"
Velvet Room
He awoke to the melodic, soprano voice of a woman singing. The melancholic tune that could only be heard in the confines of the Velvet Room. It wasn't much of a room. More like, it was the passenger cabin of a stretched limo. Bottles after bottles of expensive alcohol sat neatly in rows on the shelves to Souji's left and the familiar scent of Igor's mysterious cologne brought him back to the situation at hand.
"The time has come..." the wise old man grinned, or rather, he grinned even wider than he usually did, "The battle will be hard... Harder than what you've faced thus far."
Margret shifted in her seat, "You may be the leader, but not all situations you can solve on your own."
"Make good use of your friend's abilities," Igor said in a wispy voice, "Brute force cannot get you very far."
"Not everything can be solved by brute force or power. Sometimes it is best to simply take a step back, watch and learn. Sometimes the best strategy comes when one observes."
The voice of Izanagi floated around in his head briefly. The deity had chided him when he was looking at things too literally, when he was too obsessed with beating power with power. He straightened his perspective, cleared his head of the fog that mired it.
"Well then, I believe you have more pressing matters to attend to," Igor gave Souji a nod, "Until next time..."
The Princess Chamber
Once, Yukiko had found a small, red lovebird lying in the grass while on her way home from school. It was a lovely little thing with shiny red feathers and pretty black eyes. The bird was injured, one of its wings was limp and Yukiko couldn't just leave it to die. So she brought it home.
Her parents didn't mind, and had even let her keep the bird even after Yukiko had nursed the beautiful little thing back to health. Every morning when she woke up, she'd feed the bird. Every evening, after her duties at the Inn, she'd feed the bird again and chat with it until she fell asleep in her futon. She knew that the bird probably didn't understand her when she talked about school or her duties at the Inn, but it made her feel better to get it off her chest.
She liked to sit by the window where she'd left the cage and stare outside in silence. The little lovebird chirped a lot, especially when Yukiko was around, and it made her happy, it was as if the bird was greeting her, talking to her in its own language.
Day in, day out, with the Inn getting more and more busy, life started to get the better of her. But every day, she had something to look forward to.
Until one day, the little red lovebird vanished.
She never saw it coming. She'd come back from duties one day to find that she'd forgotten to lock the cage, allowing the little bird to escape. Yukiko never talked much to the others about her pet, she felt as if the little lovebird was hers and hers alone. She talked to her little friend about everything, even things that she never told Chie.
They were the same, Yukiko felt. The little bird was trapped in the metal cage, while she was trapped in the cage that was the Amagi Inn. They were the same, but how was it that the little bird could find a way, and take that first step to leave, while she was still stuck here?
Because you're useless.
"YUKIKO!"
Chie quickly dodged the giant flame ball, letting it smash behind her. She glanced behind uneasily, watching as the flames burned intensely at the spot where she was standing just seconds ago. Gulping heavily, Chie pushed herself off of the floor and stumbled forward, avoiding yet another flaming projectile.
The shadow had turned—transformed- into a large, red feathered lovebird, its neck was elongated and it was trapped within a humongous metal cage. What disturbed her greatly though, wasn't the fact that the Shadow transformed into a grotesque creature, but the fact that the head of the monster, was in the shape of Yukiko's own head. Her distinctive black hair, long and shiny was adorned on the Shadow, with round yellow eyes that were disturbingly blank. It made Chie want to gag.
"Yukiko-san's unconscious!" Yosuke shouted from across the chamber with Jiraiya floating next to him, "Damn it, this is just like the last two times!"
Everything was set ablaze. The chamber the size of a ballroom, its corners each hung a banner with the castle insignia embedded, was burning to the ground. The silky fabrics that were hung decoratively around and across the ceilings of the chamber had caught on fire when the demon Yukiko had started spewing flames from its lips. Howling and crying, every time she opened her mouth, bright, red flames escaped.
Souji had the team split up to dodge the fire. Teddie, after witnessing the Shadow gathering energy, quickly pulled a faint Yukiko out of the way, dragging her behind a pillar. He crouched just as a jet of flame burned just above his head, lighting his little mohawk on fire.
"G-Gyaaaaaa!"
"Ted, would you cut it out!" Yosuke screamed. The heat within the chamber was getting unbearable. It felt as if he was stuck inside a furnace. He had tried to get Jiraiya to blow the flames out with Garu, but the flames were too big, and it was hard enough to dodge the jets of flames without accidentally jumping into a fire. He glanced around, trying to look for Souji.
The flames were burning higher and the angry, the caged demon still spewing its flames randomly. Chie was having a harder time than the rest, seeing that she didn't do so well with fire. Tomoe, for some reason, was terribly weak to flames. Her ice attacks weren't doing very well either. The moment she tried to use her Bufu skill, the ice melted immediately. It was just much too hot.
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad," Chie repeated anxiously as she tried to keep up with the wild jets of flames. The shadow had gone wild, it was just crying and crying, spraying the flames aimlessly.
"ShOw Me YoUr StrEnGtH!" the creature screeched. It curled into its cage, swinging it around, trying to hit a frantic Chie, "Chieeeeeee! Oh my princeeeee Chieeeeee! HAHAHAHAHAHHA"
"Geez, she's gone crazy!" Hanamura breathed, "We gotta do something, and fast. This whole place is gonna fall on top of us!"
"You may be the leader, but not all situations you can solve on your own."
"Make good use of your friend's abilities," Igor said in a wispy voice, "Brute force cannot get you very far."
"Ice and Wind..." Souji muttered, ducking under another stream of flames, "They can't do anything on their own, but combined..."
Combined, they could do some serious damage.
"You seem to be doing fine," Izanagi said, his voice sounded pleased, "Well then. I believe that this isn't my element, nor is it my fight. It's up to you then."
He swallowed hard, summoning his last reserves of energy. It was only enough to bring out one last Persona before he was completely dry. Souji grinned, holding out a glowing persona card with a pumpkin on one side, "Pyro Jack."
In a bright light, Pyro Jack appeared from behind Souji and quickly flew in front of the Demon. He wiggled his lantern at her as if taunting her and gave a cute little laugh. The bird was irritated, squawking and screeching, trying to burn little Jack, but the flames were eaten up by his lantern before they could even touch Jack.
Yosuke and Chie stood as they were, staring in disbelief. Souji quickly ran to Yosuke's side, "I have a plan."
"Good, good," Yosuke nodded his head furiously, "So, what do you want me to do now?"
"Do it with Chie."
"W-WHAT? WHAT DID Y-YOU-" Yosuke choked on his own spit, "J-JESUS, WHAT THE HELL MAN! DON'T GO SAYING THINGS LIKE THIS-"
"I meant," Souji corrected himself seriously, "Use your wind attacks together with her ice ones. Kind of like how we did against the Knight."
They both barely dodged a stray jet of flame that Pyro Jack couldn't intercept.
"What are you talking about," Yosuke sighed, "You saw! Our attacks just aren't strong enough! My winds are just blowing out her candles and Chie's ice is melting before they can even form!"
"Then you both work together, your wind and her ice! Don't go at it individually! Cast the spells simultaneously!" Souji suggested, his voice had an edge to it, "See if that works."
"... You know, that might actually-"
Another stray jet of flame shot towards them and both boys barely had time to dodge.
"JUST GO!"
"R-Right!"
As Yosuke ran off to find Chie, Souji quickly returned his attention to Pyro Jack. He glanced around the burning chamber and saw the flames lick at the walls and carpets. Holding up his hand, Souji directed Jack towards the flames, collecting and putting out the fire that was surely going to cook them all alive, or at least bring the whole castle down on them.
From the corner of his eye, he could see that Yosuke was directing Jiraiya through the plan. Chie was next to him, doing the same as Yosuke. The winds Yosuke summoned blew weakly, but as Chie injected her ice into the tiny tornado, the winds became colder and her ice did not melt. She shot a look of happiness at Yosuke and he did the same. They'd created their own little snow storm.
"I like you, you like me, let's go make a family," Jiraiya wiggled his brows at Tomoe.
"If not for the fact that without your winds, my ice is useless here, I would've impaled you on the spot." Tomoe retorted calmly.
When the snowy tornado hit the Shadow, it screamed painfully, retreating into its cage, twitching erratically. It then screamed again and attempted to fly out of the cage.
Yosuke and Chie tensed their muscle, ready to run should the Shadow come out. It was dangerous enough with it inside the cage, but if it came out...
The shadow had its head and body out, and its claws were already on the edge of the cage, but it seemed to hesitate. And then it screeched, a cry of high pitched and loud they feared that their ears would bleed. Souji saw and realized that the Shadow, like Yukiko, was trapped within its cage.
Even when it could very well just fly out, it hesitated. The opening was right in front of it, but it chickened out. He finally understood what Yukiko felt, finally understood what the shadow was previously blabbering about
This fact was not lost on Yosuke and Chie either. They both nodded at each other and made haste with their manufacturing of the snow tornadoes. With each hit from the combination, the shadow screamed painfully and retreated further and further in the cage, even as its back was pushing against the end of the metal bars, it still continued to retreat back. The flames burning within the chamber were more or less eaten up as Jack and Souji finally put out the last of the fire.
"Yosuke, Chie, keep attacking!" Souji shouted.
The two looked at him before nodding, their Personae moving together as they formed more ice storms. The shadow screeched and cried as the attacks hit it, but Pyro Jack was there whenever it tried to spew more flames.
All that's left...
Souji ran over to the pillar where he thought he last saw Teddie and Yukiko. Sure enough, the large sized mascot was hovering over Yukiko worriedly. Sensing his presence, Ted glanced up, "Sensei! She just woke up, but-"
"I-I'm fine... Really, just help me stand, please," Yukiko muttered faintly while holding out her arm, waiting for someone to hep her up.
"If that's what you want, Yuki-chan," Teddie nodded. He grabbed her arm gently and helped her up, with Yukiko leaning heavily against Teddie's short, but bulky form.
The three of them walked away from the pillar as Souji led them towards where Yosuke and Chie were. Yukiko watched with her eyes wide open. The strange, deformed lovebird in the cage. It looked just like her. And yet it reminded her of that little bird she used to have. And that cage. It was the very same cage that she kept the bird in.
The grotesque creature screamed and screamed, and Yukiko flinched every time it cried out in pain. It felt as if it was her who was getting attacked.
… Isn't it though? The bird in the cage...
And finally with a final cry of pain, the cage fell to the ground and the shadow disintegrated into black mush.
Souji called out to Chie and Yosuke. The two quickly turned around and spotted Yukiko. Chie was the first of the two to react, bolting away from Yosuke's side and towards Yukiko.
"Yukiko! A-Are you hurt?" she asked frantically.
A strange sound came from behind and Yosuke, who was closest to it, jumped back in fear when he saw that the black mush had came into the shape of a woman, and finally into the shape of the Shadow Princess. But she was quiet this time, not making any more attempts to get Yukiko to accept her as herself.
Yukiko, seeing this, blurted, "N-No... I'm not-"
"We understand," Yosuke interjected quickly, "You're not the only one like that Yukiko-san."
Yukiko looked at Yosuke in awe.
"Everyone has something they can't show to other people, or don't want to admit to themselves," the teen continued.
At this, Chie felt that she had to say something. The things that she had promised to say to Yukiko when she saw her again, "Yukiko... I'm so sorry... I was so self-centered that I never understood what you were going through..."
O-Oh damn... I can't hold it in!
Chie started to sob and tears reined free, sliding down her cheek, mixing in with her sweat. She felt pretty horrible right now, "I-I'm so sorry! I-I'm your friend and still I-!"
"Chie..." Yukiko swallowed back tears. She didn't want to further embarrass herself in front of the two boys.
"I was always jealous of you, Yukiko," Chie continued between sobs, "You had everything that I didn't and that jealously was like a wall a-and... I was so lonely..."
Souji shoved his hands into his pockets as he kept an eye on the shadow, making sure that she didn't do anything while Chie and Yukiko were sorting things out.
"I wanted you to need me... But it was me who needed you..." she rubbed her eyes furiously, but the tears refused to stop, "I can't d-do anything right on my own! I-I cause so much trouble for Yosuke and the others..."
Yukiko felt her own tears threatening to fall at Chie's heartfelt confessions.
Chie finally had the courage to look at from her tears, at Yukiko, "If you weren't by my side, I-I wouldn't know what to do..."
"Chie..." Yukiko said softly, casting her eyes down at her feet in shame, "I... I never saw the real you either... I was always preoccupied with find the easy way out."
Finally, Yukiko looked at Chie in her eye, and they both smiled. Amagi glanced over to her twin who had been silent throughout the conversation. Pushing her body away from Teddie, she limped over to the yellow eyed Princess and sighed, "I wanna run away, I want someone to save me... You're right. Those feelings are part of me too."
"I understand now..." Yukiko smiled gently.
She then suddenly took a step forward and embraced her twin. The rest of them, even the Princess herself, felt their eyes widen in shock, but their surprise was quickly subdued and a smile broke onto each of their faces.
The Princess nodded and just as her head lifted, a bright light engulfed her. The light slowly disappeared and in its place was a tall, bird-like entity. It wore a pink metal helm and had donned a pink and white short dress that came up to its thighs. With black leggings and pink boots and holding a strange... flail?
Souji tilted his head to get a better look. Was it a shawl? What else do you hold around yourself? Souji thought harder. The pointy things reminded him of feathers, so was it supposed to look like wings?
Whatever it was, the Shadow disappeared into Yukiko's psyche as quickly as it had appeared. The bright light engulfed Yukiko and she felt a warm, pleasant feeling fill her chest.
"I am Konohana Sakuya. The blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. We have a lot in common, Amagi Yukiko." A faint voice whispered to Yukiko.
As good as that feeling was, the exhaustion of all that had happened finally caught up with her and Yukiko no longer had the strength in her knees to stand. Yukiko fell, but it wasn't as painful as she thought. No. She fell into something hard, but warm and heavy. She felt fabric and she could smell an unfamiliar scent. Prying her eyes open, she saw a pair of arms that held her up.
"Souji! Damn you're fast!" Yosuke exclaimed with a whistle, "She could've take a hit right there."
S-Souji?
Turning her head a little, Yukiko saw that it was the transfer student who had managed to catch her as she fell. In fact, Yukiko fell right into his chest.
"G-Gods, I'm so sorry!" she apologized quickly before any misunderstanding cropped up, her cheeks started to burn pink.
"Eh? Hey dude, when'd you get that cut on your shoulder?" Yosuke asked suddenly, "Didn't notice till now."
Souji glanced towards his left should and saw a splotch of red staining his shirt and feeling a sting on his skin, "I don't really remember... The Knight, maybe? It stings a little so I guess it's just a surface injury."
Yukiko squirmed, "Oh I can't possibly-"
"Don't worry about it," he added with a smile.
She liked it. She liked his smile. And she liked the sound of his voice. It was a very pleasant tenor voice. He helped lift her up and allowed her to leave her arm around his neck as support, though their close contact was making her uncomfortable.
"You all came to rescue me..." Yukiko noted as she gave her surroundings a thoughtful glance through.
Chie nodded enthusiastically, "Of course!"
"Right on!" Yosuke grinned.
Behind him, Teddie poked his head through, startling the teen, "So, who put you in here?"
"H-Huh? Who are you?" Amagi blurted out. She could faintly remember the strange mascot by her side when she was half conscious, but the rest was a blur and she was a little preoccupied as well, "Rather... What are you?"
The mascot didn't seem to take offense, "I'm Teddie!"
Yosuke rolled his eyes as he folded his arms across his chest, "That answers the question."
Ted ignored Yosuke and continued, "So, who threw you in?"
Yukiko seemed too tired to make sense of it all and just decided to ignore the burning questions, leaving them at the back of her head, "...I don't know. I think... Someone called my name...?"
With a heavy sigh Yukiko closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, "Augh... My memory's a blur... I can't remember who it was..."
"I'm sorry... um... Teddie?" She looked at Ted apologetically.
Teddie shrugged sadly, "No new clues..."
"Not necessarily. Now we know for sure that someone threw Yukiko-san in here," Yosuke pointed out helpfully.
Teddie looked up at Yosuke and pouted, "Hmm... Then it really isn't you guys then."
Souji shot a look at Ted, "You still suspected us?"
The mascot laughed nervously, "C-Course not! I-I was just making sure, that's all."
"Y-You little!" Yosuke bit his lip, "You're one lying sack of honey..."
Souji felt the weight of Yukiko getting heavier, noting that she must've been fatigued. It was just the same in the case of Yosuke and Chie. The TV world really took a lot out of them.
"Enough of that Yosuke," Chie said worriedly, "We gotta get Yukiko out. She looks exhausted."
"Huh, oh yeah," Yosuke glanced over to Amagi, "How're we gonna get her out like this though? Looks like she can't even walk."
"I can..."
Before Yukiko could finish, she was suddenly hauled up by the boy who was helping her stand. He held her bridal style, lifting her off the ground.
"W-Whoa, Souji Souji!" Yosuke chuckled suggestively, "Dude! A little forward, ain't ya?"
"You could stand to learn or thing or two from him, Yosuke." Jiraiya struggled to contain a chuckle, "Beat around the bush and I'm tellin' ya, you ain't gonna see any action until the cows come home."
Yosuke bit back his tongue. He didn't want to blurt out anything that might make the others think that he's gone crazy, though Jiraiya's comments were starting to piss him off real bad. Why did he have to be stuck with the loud mouthed bastard of a Persona?
"It's this, or a piggyback," Souji shrugged, "and she's in a kimono so that's out."
"U-Uh..." Chie furrowed her brows, "Is that okay with you, Yukiko?"
Yukiko had never held hands with a boy before. In fact, Yukiko had never even spoken in great lengths with a boy before, but here she was, skipping all those steps, and she was in his arms, cradled to his chest. What else could she say?
"Y-Yeah, i-it's a-alright..." she said softly, hiding her reddened face with the kimono as much as she could.
It was incredibly embarrassing, but somehow, it felt nice. Maybe this was what it felt like to have a boyfriend? Yukiko blushed. Now she started thinking about what she's missed out on when boys asked her out. Then again, she wouldn't know that a boy had just asked her out, until Chie told her so.
The moment was broken, however, just as they started walking back. Teddie screamed, his voice full of terror, "W-What? You're just leaving me here?"
Yosuke asked curiously, "Leaving you? What are you talking about? You live here!"
"Well... Yeah but..."
Yukiko felt sorry for the little guy reached out with a hand. Souji realized what she was trying to do and stepped forward, allowing her to pat the mascot on the head, "Ohh, I'm sorry Teddie... I promise I'll come again. So be a good boy and wait here until then."
Teddie looked up at Yukiko with eyes bigger than Souji's ever seen, even bigger than the first time he'd summoned Izanagi. He'd suddenly made a noise that sounded strangely like a purr, "My it's getting crowded here. Why don't you and I go somewhere else...? C'mon, pretty please?"
It took all of Souji's self-control to prevent himself from bursting into laughter. The look on Yukiko's face was priceless. Yosuke rubbed his arms furiously as Chie flinched openly.
"Tsk! Dude! You're giving me the creeps!" Hanamura grimaced, "That's it! You're stuck here for the rest of your life!"
With that, both him and Chie turned and left. Souji offered Teddie a shrug and walked away as well, with Yukiko in his arms. Teddie huffed and ran to catch up with the rest of them. They would need his help to get out of this realm after all.
The journey down was surprisingly clear. The shadows had mostly been cleared by their first run up and the remaining ones that still lingered were easily dispatched by the team of Yosuke and Chie. Occasionally, Souji would ask if Yukiko was feeling alright, just to make sure she was still conscious. He could feel the heat from her body seeping through the thick fabric of his shirt despite her wearing her kimono. It was a pleasant feeling.
They were making good time. As they were passing through Chie's chamber, Souji asked her in a small voice, not wanting to distract Yosuke and Chie, "Can you remember anything, Amagi-san? A face, maybe? Or the gender of your kidnapper?"
"N-No... I'm sorry..." She replied meekly, a soft pink hue glowed on her cheeks. It embarrassed her to be so useless. They've come all the way out here to rescue her and she couldn't even do a thing to help them. She didn't even have the ability to answer a simple question.
"It's alright," Souji smiled assuredly, "I guess it was thoughtless of me to ask anyway. We should first get you out of this hell hole before we start asking any questions."
They quickly reached the bottom of the castle. Another few minutes and they returned to the studio. With a quick, strange, dance, Teddie made a couple of sets of TVs appear and Yukiko couldn't help but stare.
"I'll go first, then let Amagi-san come through so at least I'll be there to help her up," Souji instructed.
The rest of them found no flaws in his plan and agreed. Letting Yukiko down, Souji slipped through the TV. Yukiko blinked wildly, but didn't have the energy, nor was she in the correct state of mind, to oppose to this. Nothing made sense anymore.
"Alrighty, let's go home, Yukiko," Chie grinned as she help her into the Television.
Home.
The Amagi Inn.
Yukiko broke into a silly grin. Somehow, going back to the Inn doesn't sound too bad right now.
Author's Note: It's been a while! I've been busy with lots of stuff lately and haven't had the time, nor the focus, to finish writing this chapter for a long time. Well, my exams are over. I've gotten my results and I aced my English and my Math. MUAHAHAHAH I failed my Biology tho. Meh. Who needs it anyway. Pffft. (Heh.) Anyway, hope the chapter was up to expectations and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've had fun writing it! (Especially the Knight scene. What a hot mess that as. HAHAHAH) And big thanks to Coldman9 for beta-ing! Oh and on a unrelated note, I've put up a poll on my profile so please check it out, AND, I've started an ask blog on Tumblr so do check that out too! Drop a question once in a while! :D My drawings aren't that horrible so feel free to ask away! (Tumblr: Asktheprotags)
Review Replies:
devilhamster: Hope you enjoyed this one too ;D
Astrih Konnash: Thanks! Hope this one works for you too!
arkee: No worries! I'm not planning on putting those two on a bullet train of romance. What I was hoping to highlight was that they both have underlying affections for each other, just that while Yosuke has accepted it, Chie has a little more trouble realizing it. And you can imagine the crazed mania she'd fall into that fateful moment she realizes that she actually like likes Yosuke. Oh and about Angel. I'll leave it as that so it's up to you to decide how you'd interpret it ;)
renielle14: Yaaaaay review! :B
princesskisara: Ask and you shall receive! The new chapter is here! Whoooo! :D I've seen the latest episode! SO MUCH PERSONA 3 MEMORIES. I CANNOT HANDLE ALL THESE FEELING. TOO MUCH LOVE OVERFLOWING. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS.
Nameless Anon of whom I shall name Bob: Glad you enjoyed it! And I did watch the show! In fact, you might notice that in this story, I've utilized elements from the game, the manga AND the show!
SpecialAgentOrange: Shall give you a full reply in your PM. Thanks alot for your detailed review! Helps me alot! :D