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(True) Battle 01: Climbing Thebel

Dark Hour, Entrance of Tartarus

"We would like to apologize for wasting the readers time with the previous chapter," said Nero and Tamamo in unison. For some reason, their heads had a lump.

"Um… okay…" said Yukari, completely confused as to what had happened, "Can we get started with climbing Tartarus?"

Nodding in agreement, Mitsuru place a case filled with weapons on the floor. "Stronger weapons have been prepared for the three of you. They should last through the exploration, so long as nothing like the Shadow during the train incident appears," she said with authority, "Now, as for the one to lead the exploration…"

"Ooo, me! Me! Me me me!" exclaimed Junpei while waving his hands wildly.

"Akihiko."

A sudden metaphorical weight crushed Junpei as he slumped to the floor in an exaggerated way. Yukari sighed; it was obvious that Akihiko would be the one leading the exploration since his injuries were already healed. Though, she was surprised when she heard that Minato was supposed to lead if she was around. But since the group had agreed to let her take a rest from the exploration, that could not happen. And in the bluenette's place were Nero, Tamamo and…

"I want to lead!" shouted a cute but childish voice. The voice belonged to a Servant that Minato had just recently gained and sent along with the others. The Servant was a very young girl; no older than 5-years old. Her hair and eyes were aqua colored with a blue ribbon tied at the back. She was wearing a light pink blouse and a blue jumper dress over it and a pair of white socks.

She was a cute little girl and it made the rest of the group, the other Servants included, reluctant to bring her with them. Minato had said that the girl was labeled as 'Fairy' and if it weren't for the pair of ice wings behind her back together with her floating off the ground, the group would had thought of her as a normal little girl.

"Er… Is it really alright to bring her with us?" asked Akihiko who was obviously uncomfortable with the idea of letting someone so young to fight Shadows.

"Arisato insisted it," replied Mitsuru, who was also having doubts about the little girl, "She said that the Fairy would be a great help for us. Though I'm not sure how."

"She looks pretty weak," said Runako as she sized up the Fairy, "And she kinda gives off the feeling of an idiot."

"Ah, you just called me an idiot!" complained the Fairy loudly, "The one who calls others an idiot is the idiot!"

"Yeah, she's a kid."

The comment caused the entire group to sigh with worry. They could not believe that such a small child could help in their battles and hoped that they could leave her at the entrance. But it was not meant to be, as the Fairy was determined to follow them and they could not hold her down as she was giving off an air of extreme cold whenever they tried to do so. Leaving them with no choice but to bring her along.

Tartarus, Thebel Block

The group had climbed up several floors and had little difficulty in defeating the enemies that appeared. Though, quite a number of said enemies were defeated by the Servants sans the Fairy. In fact, every time the Fairy tried to aid in battle, it became even more difficult as she actually shooting icicles around the entire area. This caused the group to try dodging all of the stray shots that came at them as the icicles were completely unpredictable. 'Completely', because even the shooter was nearly hit by one.

"Argh! Could you stop shooting at us?!" screamed a very annoyed Tamamo, who looked like she was about to wring the Fairy's neck. "Can't you use a better attack than 'shooting randomly'?"

"But this is much cooler," argued the Fairy in a childish tone and with a smug look on her face. This caused a vein on Tamamo's forehead to nearly burst. The fox girl likes children, considering that she hoped to have one sometime in the future, but even she had her limits. She wanted to knock the Fairy's head but was stopped by Nero.

"Dost not act rashly, Caster," said Nero, "Praetor would not send this child with us if she were not strong. There hath to be a reason for her dispatchment."

After a few seconds of thinking, Tamamo decided to relent and lowered her arm. Sighing at the fact that she would not be able to knock some sense into the Fairy, the fox girl decided to go hunt for Shadows to appease her anger.

"Still, she's right…" said Akihiko who was panting a little, "I spent more time dodging the ice than fighting Shadows. If we keep this up, we'll be too tired to fight if a strong one were to appear."

"You're right," replied Mitsuru through telepathy, "But we can't do anything about it. And like Caesar said, Arisato must have a reason to send her with us."

"Unless she's getting revenge from the train incident," said Yukari jokingly. Unfortunately, the Servant did not like it when their Master was being badmouthed, causing them to lash out at the brunette.

"Our Master/Praetor/Onee-Chan will never do that!"

"S-sorry," said Yukari, a little startled at the Servants outburst, "It was a joke."

With a huff of anger, the Servants turned and walk away from the group. "That scared me a little…" said Yukari with a sigh of relief.

Strong wind blows; The Queen's blade strikes

Time slowly pass as the group had arrived at the 14th floor. They were at a good pace and were not as exhausted as Mitsuru had predicted them to be. Then again, they had help from the Servants who seemed to make short of the Shadows that gave the four SEES members a hard time. Especially if one were to compare the time when they encountered special Shadows along the way. These Shadows, which are called Guardians, are a lot stronger compared to the regular Shadows that walked the halls of Tartarus. While not as powerful compared to the Shadow that took over the train, they were still strong enough to give the group some trouble. If it were not for the Servants, the members of SEES would have been in grave danger.

That is not to say that the Servants are invincible. The Guardians still managed to give them difficulty due to how some of them could resist, negate or absorb their attacks. For example, the Guardian on the 5th floor, which held the appearance of an eagle; It managed to negate most of Tamamo's spells and Nero's attacks barely scratched it. The only thing that managed to cause severe harm to the Shadow was the Fairy's ice spears. While it was a good thing that it managed to defeat the Shadow easily, the fact that the group had to dodge the attacks as well seemed to outweigh the victory.

But still, they were glad that the exploration went off without many problems.

"I sense a powerful presence, be careful," said Mitsuru, "Hold on while I scan it…"

A strong feeling of dread filled the group's chest. It was indeed a powerful presence; so powerful that everyone felt it despite the one emitting it was nowhere to be seen. And it was getting stronger with each second of passing.

"This is… RUN! It's 'DEATH'!"

Upon hearing the name, Akihiko immediately ordered a retreat. But because they were on a new floor, they had to search for the exit anew. The structure of Tartarus changed frequently after all and the stairs that brought them there always disappeared when they climbed it.

"Death?! What the hell is that?!" asked Junpei in extreme panic.

"It's a Shadow," explained Akihiko with a strong tone of urgency, "It looked like a Grim Reaper so we called it Death. It's powerful; TOO powerful. Compared to the Shadows we've fought up till now, it's a monster. As in a true monster. Mitsuru and I came across it before once, and we had to run for our lives."

"A wise decision," said Nero as they ran, "Though I am confident in mine strength; I dare not challenge one with power that can kill even gods."

"My current power isn't enough to defeat that thing," cried Tamamo, "I need three of my tails to even stand a chance!"

Despair sets in the group's chest. If the Servants had doubts in defeated the Shadow, what chance would they have against it? Thus, escape became their top priority.

Following Mitsuru's direction, the group headed for the transporter, a strange machine in Tartarus that somehow sends the group to the entrance. But with each step they took, the uncomfortable feeling they felt grew. In addition, the sound of chains rattling echoed through the halls, getting louder and louder in sync with the uncomfortable feeling.

With the next turn around the corner, the group came upon the transporter. But before they could use it, a gun shot rang behind them. Afraid as to what gave off the sound, the group slowly turned their heads. Behind them was a creepy, torn and tattered robe. And as their sight made its way up, they see a bandaged head with only an eye being shown. Its hands were dirty leather gloves and it was carrying a pair of long-barreled revolvers. A large and long chain floated around the creature formed a large 'X' shape, furthering its creepy appearance. It had no legs and it gave off a VERY uncomfortable tension.

Fear.

That was what the creature was emitting. It was what the group was feeling. The creature, with immense power, was driving fear within their souls. If was extremely uncomfortable. It was extremely nauseating. They could not move a single step due to being paralyzed by fear. The exit was just beneath their noses, only needing a single step and they would be safe. But they could not move. They dared not move. They felt like if they so much as twitched, the creature would kill them all.

"Minus K!" shouted a childish voice.

A barrage of bullets surrounded the group. As they got closer to the creature it exploded into smaller bullets and when they hit it, whatever parts were slowly frozen over. This gave the creature a hard time in moving, however, the tension it emitted still lingered in the air; thus there was a long time before the group could register what had happened. It all went by too fast; leaving everyone very little time to realize who fired the bullets and that it gave them a chance to escape. When they finally realized it, it was too late; the creature managed to break free of the ice and was aiming its revolvers at the group.

"Tch, you guys are too slow," said the same voice, except it was in a very mature tone, "Well, I guess it's the role of the strongest to protect the weak, so I'll take care of it. 'Frost Sign: Frost Columns'."

Announcing the attack, a number of large pillars of spikes emerged from the ground, tearing a through the creature's robe and redirecting its aim to the ceiling.

"Umu, so thy power shows its true form," said Nero with a tone filled with admiration, "This beauty, if only it was red… My heart brims with jealously and admiration. To grant me both ugly and beautiful emotions, I thank thee."

When she had finished her words, Nero ran towards the creature with her sword tightly gripped in her hands. Nero unleashed a flurry of slashes but the creature managed to conjure a shield that protected it from the attacks. Fortunately, a few of the attacks went through, causing a little harm to the creature. With each strike, the creature gave out a muffled sound that was sounded like a person screeching in agony and rage.

Refusing to stand on the defensive, the creature once again directed its aim to the group.

"What are you waiting for? Get out of here," ordered Tamamo as she stood in front of the group.

"What about you guys?" asked Junpei, worried about the Servants.

"So long as our Master is still alive, we can be summoned as many times as she wants," answered Tamamo, getting into a battle stance, "So the rest of you should get out of here, we'll follow later."

When Tamamo had finished saying her piece, she ran straight towards the creature, undeterred by the guns that were aimed at her. "First Strike: Aim for the groin!" shouted the fox girl as she produced a powerful kick towards the creature's head.

Not wanting to waste the Servants' efforts, Mitsuru ordered the group to use the transporter.

A team effort; Lone victory

"That ist no groin," said Nero with a laugh as she stretched her arms.

"Oh hush, it doesn't have one, so the head is the next best thing," argued Tamamo as she groomed herself, "Anyway, I'm surprised by how powerful you are. And here I thought you were just some idiot kid but you were hiding your true form the whole time huh?"

The person in question was staring at a giant chunk of ice that was used to defeat the creature that looked like the Grim Reaper. Compared to her earlier appearance, she looked more mature, probably at her late teens. Her wings were slightly bigger as with her hair which was slightly longer.

"I'm just the Strongest Fairy," said the now mature girl with a smile, "And I was just doing what Onee-San told me to do. Anyway, did you two figure notice anything wrong with our battle with that monster?"

"Umu, this was obvious," replied Nero, "That abomination was not trying. The power it emitted before us was nary an inkling to when it chased us."

The Fairy was in deep thought. She wondered what the Reaper wanted. She wondered why the Reaper chased them. She wondered why it gave up on winning when confronting the Servants. Questions ran through the Fairy's head but she held no answers.

"Maybe it only wants the Persona-Users?" suggested Tamamo, "I mean, it kept aiming its guns at them."

"That could be it, but we can't conclude that yet. There are too many things we don't know about that thing. Either way, we have to be careful."

Nodding in agreement, the Servants walked towards the transporter and headed to the entrance.

Frozen intelligence; Sinful killer

End of Dark Hour, Iwatodai Dorm

"Man, that thing was scary," said Runako as she dropped towards the sofa, tired from the exploration.

"No kiddin', I thought we were gonna die," relied an equally tired Junpei as he made his way to a chair, "Say, did anyone know who saved us? I remember hearing the voice of some lady."

No one had a clue as the Fairy had reverted to her child form the moment the Servants had returned to the entrance. And because Tamamo had declined in summoning the ice bullets, the members of SEES could not tell who had saved them.

"Mitsuru, weren't you scanning the battle?" asked Akihiko, "Did you see who save us?"

"No… I was too busy ensuring your safety to pay attention," replied Mitsuru regretfully, "I apologize…"

The members of SEES went quiet. The Servants would not tell them who was their savior and had gone into Minato's room.

"Whoever it was must be really powerful," said Yukari with a small yawn, "I mean a covering the entire that Reaper Shadow with ice must take a lot of power."

The juniors nodded in agreement along with Akihiko. But Mitsuru stayed silent. In truth, she actually paid attention to the fight, but the amount of power that was released distorted her senses to the point that she could not accurately pinpoint the one who saved the exploration group. But the moment before her senses were distorted, she detected the energy near the Fairy. And seeing that the Servants were silent about the whole affair, she decided to stay quiet as well. Though she did not know her reasons, Mitsuru was sure that Minato had a reason to keep the true power of the Fairy a secret.

- I'll refrain from asking her for now… She must have a reason… She must…

Mitsuru did not know why she trusts Minato. She kept asking herself why, but could never come up with an answer. It was not pity, she knew that much. But there were no other options as to why she trusts the bluenette. After all, they did not really talk much as compared to Akihiko and Ikutsuki. And she did not know her as long. Yet she trusted her. It was creepy, to say the least. She did feel a little sympathy for the bluenette though, as no one deserved to be treated as a complete outcast.

- Outcast…

The word lingered in the red head's mind. She noticed that Minato had rarely talked to anyone in the dorm. Even to her own sister. Every day after school, Mitsuru noted that the bluenette was never in the lounge where everyone would enjoy mingling in the night. Even Mitsuru herself would engage in pleasantries with the others from time to time. The only time where Minato would even talk to the others was when it was absolutely necessary. Like the time when Minato informed her of the 'Velvet Room'.

Which was why she tried to talk to Minato with every chance she got. But it was a little difficult as she was very busy with her work as Student Council President, which did not present her much free time to enjoy a conversation with Minato. Not to mention that the entire student body seemed to be doing damndest to stop them from ever encountering each other in school.

It was sad.

It was frustrating.

It was annoying.

A flurry of mixed emotions filled the red head's chest as she thought more about Minato.

A long night; Blooming hearts

The Empress: Rank 2

Death: Rank 3

And…. Done. The exploration through Thebel is done. Now to move on to the block. Which is a few chapters later.

Anyway, a new Servant has arrived and I'm sure most of you readers know who it is. Yes, it's the circle 9. And she's here to show the Shadows who's boss.

And no, the Reaper fight was not actually easy. It just stopped trying to kill anyone once SEES has left the floor it was in. It will NEVER go out against just the Servants alone. And furthermore, the group will keep exploring Tartarus; or else they'll get their ass handed to them if they were to ever try to fight the Full Moon Shadows.

Sorry about the 'Mitsuru' rant at the last part, I figured that there should at least be one person to realize that how powerful the little Ice Fairy is.

Welp, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. Please R&R and I'll see you next time…