Chapter 21
April 28, 2021; Wednesday
2:17 PM
Kyuto High; Classroom B-2
tick-tick-tick-tick-tick…
Johei's eyes were staring at the clock near the door; He felt the need to jump out of his seat and run to the mall in a hurry, whether it was because of their deadline or the need to escape from Mr. Ozuma's lecture, he wasn't sure. He placed his head down on his desk and brought it back up again to look at the taunting hands of the clock.
"2:18…" He muttered to himself.
He looked around the classroom to see if he was the only one who was antsy in the classroom. His gaze fell on Daichi who was spinning a pencil between his fingers. To his left, behind him, Iselin tapping her fingers on the desk. Only Kazuhiko seemed to be the calm at the time, then again, he always seemed a bit spaced out when he wasn't called on. He checked the clock one last time.
"2:19… and only a few seconds left…"
He felt his hand instinctively reach for his back pack, stuffing his pencil pouch into it and pulling it into his lap. Time seemed to slow down as he the clock's hand almost reached the top. Until…
RRRRIIIIINNNGG!
"Whoops, looks like I got carried away. Remember that tonight's homework is on the notes that we went over today. I will see you all tomorrow."
And with that, everyone had the rest of the day to themselves. Johei slung his back pack over one shoulder and walked to Kazuhiko's desk.
"So, we gonna go there or what?" Johei asked.
Iselin walked up to them.
"Of course we're going there today. We don't have a second to lose!" She said as she brought her fists up.
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Yeah, and we've got the entire area mapped out to the 19th floor. We're going to finish this today."
"We also have sufficiently prepared our materials for today. They are all inside Kazuhiko's bag." Tyr said, motioning to the baseball bag next to him.
"Alright, cool. Say, how about I help you carry that?"
Johei grabbed the bag only to be stunned by it's weight.
"Holy-! What the hell's in this?!" He asked as he struggled to keep himself upright.
Kazuhiko chuckled to himself slightly.
"Well, you remember how those soft drinks actually help us cast more spells?"
Flashback
"So, a single can of Madbull increases MP by 5 points? Better get a lot of these just in case."
Present-day
"Yeah, I might have been the cause for all the vending machines being out of drinks." Kazuhiko said with a little embarrassment.
Johei was still struggling with the weight of the bag.
"And you carried this with you the entire day?!"
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Yeah, I've been going to the gym every now and then to beef up when I'm not in Niflheim."
Kazuhiko got out of his seat and picked up the bag with ease. Johei looked impressed and slightly jealous at the same time.
"Wow, you're really dedicated to this aren't you? Well, I'll leave that bag to you then."
"Actually, I think I'll be able to handle it." Daichi said as he held the bag in his hands.
"W-what?! How are you doing that?!"
Iselin picked up the bag herself.
"It is kinda hefty but I can hold it for a little while. Seriously Johei, how weak are you?"
Johei was sitting at a desk with his face on the top.
"I can't take much more of this…"
"Man, I'm not even gonna make fun of that. Your strength is at the point of depression." Loki said, patting Johei on the back.
Mikan walked into the classroom with her bag at her side.
"Are you guys ready to go yet? We don't have a lot of time, you know."
Mirror Dimension; Niflheim
Floor 19
The group had just finished off a horde of shadows and were taking a quick break to heal up and drink some Energy drinks from Kazuhiko's seemingly bottomless bag.
"Ahh, that really hits the spot." Johei said as he crushed his can and threw it into his bag.
Hugin and Munin nodded approvingly.
"Well done, mortal."
"You are finally realizing the insults that you were casting upon Frey."
"This will do as a sign of repent."
"Hugin, Munin, please shut up. We're trying to talk strategy here." Daichi said as he was sitting at a table with Kazuhiko and the rest of the group.
They were currently in a safe room and found the need to strategize.
"Alright, so Iselin, you said that the father tends to do most of the arguing with Rika and the mother always supports the father?"
Iselin nodded.
"Yes. I've been over to Rika's house a few times before and it doesn't look pretty."
Kazuhiko scratched his chin and nodded.
"Well, the shadows represent them so I'm guessing that the father will do most of the attacking while the mother will deal buffs, heals, and debuffs. Iselin, we'll need you to counter those and give us some healing from time to time. Your our main healer, but if you see an opportunity to attack, take it."
Iselin nodded while Kazuhiko turned to Johei and Mikan.
"Johei, if we need to stun them, use one of your stun bombs. I assume you have about a dozen, right?"
"10, but I'll make the best of them."
"And if your run out, Mikan will make a pillar of ice and you aim a Garu at it. It'll work as a small snow screen. Mikan will be the long range support. If any of us are in trouble, draw attention to yourself long enough for us to find some cover or to get back to our feet."
Mikan flashed him a thumbs-up.
"You got it."
Now, Kazuhiko turned to Daichi.
"Daichi, you'll be part of the main attack force along with me, but you'll specialize in the physical attacks. I'll focus on elemental to see what their weakness is."
Daichi nodded in understanding and stood up.
"Well, now that we have all the positions in order, I say that we crash the party. Let's end this!" Kazuhiko said as he drew his sword and stepped to the door.
Niflheim; Floor 20
The gang ran into the room to find two figures waiting for them, each with their own menacing glare, which seemed to be focused mostly on Iselin.
"So, you finally decided to show up, did you?"
Iselin scowled right back at them, but remained silent as they continued.
"Our daughter, our entire life's worth of working gone to waste! Because you just had to corrupt her!"
Iselin tightened her fingers around her stiletto knife and gritted her teeth. Her anger was nearing it's boiling point; She didn't know how much longer she could go until she would burst at them in anger. A reassuring hand patted her shoulder; She turned around to see Kazuhiko, his eyes telling her to hold out for just a little longer. Deciding to trust him, Iselin lessened the intensity of her gaze towards the reflections.
"We raised her knowing that she wouldn't be able to do great things without our guidance, and so we trained her. Little did we know that you were interrupting our plans."
This time, Daina Colburne spoke.
"We tried everything in our power to stop you from meeting her, but you were such a thorn in our side. Eventually, a bad apple spoils the entire basket; We had been fearing this from the beginning but the damage was done. There was no bringing her back onto the right path."
"So you thought it was okay to just kill her?" Daichi suddenly said.
The entire team turned to him. He was facing the ground so they couldn't see his face, but his tightened hand showed all the anger that he was containing. His knuckles started turning white as he continued speaking in short, cut words.
"So you saw your daughter as a rotten apple that was too late to save, and that's why you decided that you'd rather have her die than to be a bad mark on your parenting?"
The atmosphere felt tense as Daichi gripped the handle of his jian, but the reflections of Rika's parents refused to keep silent.
"What are you talking about? We were never the cause of our daughter's death; It was you!"
Rika's father pointed an accusing finger at Iselin, his eyes turning slightly bloodshot.
"You made her commit suicide! When you saw such a pure thing like our daughter, you couldn't help but use your own reputation to drag her through the mud!"
Now, Iselin felt more confused than angry.
"What? I never did anything to her! You were the one's who sent her that phone call! You threw her into depression! That's why she murdered herself!"
But the reflections wouldn't listen anymore; Already, the shadows started to crawl onto them.
"No… you did all of this. Did you ever notice at how people talked about her? How she was friends with the school's lost case?"
"Now do you see why she killed herself? Now stop lying! There's no other explanation for this! If you're here to stop us from seeing our child, then you won't survive!"
The shadows started to swarm them until they were practically being added by the masses. Kazuhiko covered his face and started to step back.
"Everyone! Get to some cover!"
He ducked behind a knocked down pillar and saw that Iselin was gripping her knife a bit anxiously. He was about to ask what was wrong but heard a loud explosion behind them. Then, a large hand grabbed the pillar they were hiding behind and picked it up.
"Shit!" Kazuhiko yelled as he and Iselin got back to their feet.
The reflections of Rika's parents were now giant monstrosities towering over everyone. Rika's father was the owner of the large hand. His body was completely made of stone and his shoulders carried great mountains. His head was a large boulder that was roughly shaped as a face and his body had magma dripping down from it. Rika's mother, however, was a humanoid figure about 9 feet tall carrying a staff made of wood. She was floating with her legs crossed with a cauldron rested in her lap. Kazuhiko pulled on his chains to summon Tyr for help.
"Now then, if you all are as corrupt as she is, I'm guessing it's our duty to strike you down as well." The reflections said as they started their attack.
"Marakukaja!" Volva(Rika's mother's shadow form)said as she mixed some herbs into her cauldron and poured the contents onto Surt (Rika's father's shadow form).
Instantly, Surt became stronger and launched an Agi attack on them. Kazuhiko blocked the attack with his sword with minor injuries. Spreading his arms, he summoned Tyr to attack.
"Zionga!" Tyr yelled as he sent volts of lightning to the giant.
Surt took the entire hit directly but only flinched.
"Looks like he's resistant to lightning. Try switching Kaz!" Johei said as he sent Loki to deal a Sonic Punch.
Mikan, who was pelting Volva with arrows broke her chains.
"How about we try something new, Skadi?"
"Bufula!" Skadi yelled as she cast a blizzard towards the levitating witch.
Volva staggered slightly but quickly recovered her balance. Quickly, the with started to mix more herbs into the cauldron at a more rapid pace. Johei broke his chains to call Loki.
"Let's see if some wind'll work."
"Garula!" Loki yelled as he conjured up great bodies of wind towards Volva.
But Volva, instead of trying to dodge the attack, turned it so that the tornadoes got sucked into the cauldron.
"It's absorbing the attack for a later use! Everyone, guard yourself!" Daichi yelled as he called Hugin and Munin to his side.
A split second later, Volva turned her cauldron to Iselin and banged the end with her staff.
"Garudyne!" She yelled as a massive whirlwind erupted from the cauldron straight towards Iselin.
Iselin saw the attack coming and called Hildr.
"I'll be needing you!"
Hildr appeared in front of her just as the whirlwind came in contact. The attack sent Hildr ack a few feet.
"Hrgh… I don't think I can handle this." Hildr said as her defense was being pushed back.
Suddenly, Hildr was sent flying along with Iselin to the ground. Daichi rushed to her and helped her up.
"You alright?" He asked.
Iselin nodded.
"Yeah. It's just that the attack was more than I expected." She said wincing when she supported herself on one side with her bruised arm.
"She absorbs the attack and builds it up to a more powerful move! Stick to physical attacks for now!" Kazuhiko yelled as he broke his chains to summon another Persona.
Mikan was continuing to rain arrows on Volva but didn't notice Surt moving in for an attack.
"Might of Thor!"
The fire giant threw a powerful punch to Mikan and sent her to the floor in pain. Johei quickly ran up to her helping to get her up.
"Thanks Joh- HEY! WATCH THOSE HANDS!"
Mikan smacked Johei in the face for good measure but winced in pain as she felt that one of her ribs were broken.
"Ow… sorry Mika-senpai, I was only trying to help you up."
"Mmhmm." Loki nodded with a raised eyebrow.
"Just shut up and help me heal her." Johei said as he broke his chains.
"Dia" Loki said as a shower of light was cast from his palms.
The healing spell fixed Mikan's broken rib, but she was still weakened from the direct attack. Standing up, she picked up her bow and tested it to see if it still worked.
"Kaz! We're going to need another plan." Johei said as he supported Mikan.
Kazuhiko nodded and changed his Persona back to Tyr.
"So, time to strategize?" Tyr asked.
Kazuhiko nodded.
"I assume you were watching, right? Volva can absorb our attacks and return them in a more powerfull form. Surt is buffed by her as well which makes her the ideal target to take down first, but we can't keep attacking if she just sends our attacks back."
Tyr blocked an attack from Surt and grunted.
"So can absorb anything and return it to us with more intensity? Not just our attacks."
"Well, right now, she only absorbs elemental attacks. Physical attacks work but we won't last long with Surt attacking us all the time. She also casts buffs from that cauldron in her lap. Mighty Slash!"
Tyr swung his sword in a wide arc making contact with Volva, but she stayed afloat. Iselin tried to debuff the witch.
"Try and weaken me all you wish. I'll only absorb it and make it strengthen Surt!" Volva said as she continued to mix herbs.
Kazuhiko went for a slash at Surt and succeeded in slicing of a but of his stone face, but didn't cause a lot of damage.
"So, now she can reverse our debuffs and turn them into buffs for the giant. How are we supposed to use that?" He muttered to himself.
As Volva cast a debuff to Daichi, Kazuhiko noticed how the it was cast in the same way she did with a buff. Then, an idea sprang into Kazuhiko's mind
"Kazuhiko, what was that thing you told me about before? Reverse something?" Tyr said, coming to the same conclusion.
"It's called reverse psychology. And I think it could come in handy right about now."
Kazuhiko shattered his chains and summoned another Persona.
"Thanks Tyr. Orobas!"
"NEIGH! Who dares to summon me?!"
"I fused you quite a while ago. You should know by now."
"NEIGH! I require your status! I may only be summoned under the commands of a Demon King!"
"Just the floating witch with Marakukaja."
"NEIGH! Are you crazy?! She'll get stronger!"
"Shut up or I'll take you back to Igor and exchange you for Matador."
"NEIGH! Fair enough."
Kazuhiko cast the buff spell towards Volva while Johei protested.
"Dude! Why did you do that?"
Kazuhiko stopped Johei with his hand.
"Just wait."
Volva began to mix more herbs into her cauldron and caught his Marakukaja. Then, she poured the contents on Surt
"AGGH! What is this?! I feel weaker!" Surt yelled as his defense of obsidian fell.
"You see, debuffs and buffs look nearly the same. I figured that she wouldn't be able to tell the difference and would change my buff to a debuff that was strong enough to finish of Surt. Now, let's give it all we've got!"
The others gathered around Surt and charged for an attack that sent him to the ground, writhing in pain. He tried to get up, but the shadows that surrounded him were peeling away. Johei put his foot on top of his chest.
"I'd stay down if I were you." He said as he glared into the reflection's eyes.
Volva continuously tried to defend herself, casting spells but none of them really doing her any good. Iselin quickly jumped and slashed her arm, sending the cauldron onto the groud, preventing her from casting anymore spells.
"And now for the finale!" Daichi said as he broke his chains.
"Hugin! Munin!"
"Twin Assault!"
The attack sent the witch falling to the ground. The shadows crawled off of her as the reflection finally became exposed.
"Now look what you've done…" Rika's father said.
"Killing her wasn't enough for you, was it? You just have to go after us too, don't you?"
Iselin shook her head.
"This is justice! For what you did to her! I never did anything to her except be her friend and help her! You killed her!"
Now, for the first time, the reflections seemed to register what she was saying.
"What?… How did we kill her?" Rika's mother asked.
Iselin scowled even more viciously.
"You sent her a phone call when she was in Nuzoko! You threatened to sell her away if she didn't live up to your expectations! How could you possibly forget that?!"
"They didn't send that call." A familiar voice called to them from the staircase.
Everybody turned around to face a group of hooded figures. Daichi gritted his teeth as he looked at the one in the front.
"Shiroe…"
The figure who seemed to be the leader nodded from under his hood, then continued to speak.
"That soul was doomed to die one way or another. We just had to speed up the process to ensure that all goes according to plan. Besides, her death brought you your new teammate, didn't she? You should be partially grateful."
Iselin lunged at the hooded man with her stiletto knife and slashed for his head, but he quickly dodged.
"You planned it?! I'll kill you!"
Shiroe sighed as if he was bored with her and broke the chains on his wrists.
"You won't mind if I borrow Vidar for a moment, right?"
One of the other hooded figures grunted angrily.
"Oh, sure. Just because your a higher rank means you can use my Persona?"
"Herculean Counter!"
The leader summoned the scale wielding Persona and sent Iselin flying back.
"You're time to fight us is not now. It's quite obvious due to the difference in power. For now, realize that you only live because we allow it. You are all pawns of fate, sooner or later being sacrificed for a larger picture."
And with that, the leader waved his hand and the entire group disappeared, leaving the party with Rika's parents. Rika's parents had watched the entire thing and turned to Iselin.
"So… you really weren't the one?"
Iselin shook her head.
"No, I wasn't. But now that we know, we'll stop at nothing to avenge her. You have my word on that."
"And mine too! I still have something in store for that Shiroe guy." Johei said while punching his palm enthusiastically.
Daichi pitched in too.
"He lied to me. He made me kill innocents that still weigh me down today. I shall put them to rest soon enough when I make sure that he can't harm another soul."
Rika's father nodded.
"Very well then. When we show up, we won't blame you like we did before. I hope that you forgive us. For all that we've done… "
Iselin shook her head.
"I don't give two shits about what you did to me. The only thing I care about is that you recognize what you did to your daughter. It's the least you can do as her parents to go to her grave."
Rika's parents nodded with tears streaming down their faces.
"True… We are her parents… after all…"
The reflections disappeared into the air with their last vow. Kazuhiko finally sheathed his sword and looked at what they had left behind.
"Hey, it's photograph." He said as he picked it up.
Inside the picture frame was an image of Iselin's parents smiling together as they held an infant in their arms. The baby looked forward with wide eyes, as if it was looking right at Kazuhiko. Tyr made slight sniffling noises.
"Tyr; Are you… crying?"
Tyr quickly wiped his face with his arm and looked back at his user.
"A-absolutely not! Well… maybe a little… *sniff*"
Tyr turned to Iselin and showed her the photo. She gasped as she looked at it.
"I… I can't believe this… They really did care for her at one point… "
She was about to give it back but Kazuhiko pushed it towards her.
"I think you should be the one who keeps it."
"Indeed… You shall carry… her memory in… your mind and… her image with you always." Tyr said between sniffs.
Iselin smiled and put the photograph in her bag.
"Well, thanks. This really means a lot to me."
She turned to the rest of the group and saw that Johei and Loki were crying too.
"That's… that's so sad! WAAHH!"
"Dude… stop crying… I'm almost at my limit as well… *sniff*"
"How about you think of your dead children?"
"DAMN YOU SKADI! WAAHH!"
"Why did you do that?!" Mikan asked her Persona.
"Just let me have this. Besides, crying doesn't weaken you. It… it makes one… s-stronger…" Skadi said while wiping a tear from her eye.
Daichi was meanwhile trying to calm down his Personas.
"Hugin! Munin! Will you try to calm down? It's alright!"
"All this time!… *sniff*"
"They really… *sniff*"
"Didn't care at all! WAAHH!"
"Wait, what are you talking about?!"
"The cauldron! Leader of the pots and pans!"
"It attacked us! It never really cared about our rebellion at all!"
"That's what you're crying about?!"
Kazuhiko scratched the back of his head and got out a Goho-m.
"Alright. I think we've had enough for today. Hold on you guys."
5:54 PM
Nuzoko Mall District; Cafe
Evening
"Oh man, that hits the spot!" Johei said as he finished his soda.
The group made haste to their usual cafe and placed their orders. Pretty soon, they were relaxing after their recent victory.
"We should come here more often" Loki said as he felt the effects of the soda wash over him.
"We come here every time we go to the Mirror Dimension." Skadi pointed out.
"Still not often enough."
Kazuhiko thanked the waiter and took a sip of his latte.
"Well, looks like it's gonna be a while until we have to go in there again. I think we deserve a good break."
"Yes, I think so too. You all have gotten stronger than before and I think this so-called 'break' could do you all some good."
Hildr nodded solemnly.
"Well, I was only here for a few days. I've gotten a lot stronger, but I was hoping for some more action. I want to relive my Valkyrie days."
Iselin sighed.
"Give it a rest for a little while. Running ourselves ragged won't do us any good. Besides, Golden week is coming up!"
Johei put down a croissant he was eating and nodded.
"Ovyeah! Ivalmosht forghot abought dat!"
Mikan slapped the back of his head.
"Chew properly before you speak! Honestly, it's like I'm your parent."
Johei gulped his food.
"Well, you are my senpai. It's close enough. Anyways, the school was planning on making a field trip to Tokyo!"
Daichi turned his head.
"Is that what everybody was talking about in the hallways? I didn't know that."
Daichi sipped his tea and put his cup down as Mikan spoke.
"Well, they only allow students who score a top ten grade for their class and gender, meaning you'll have to score the top ten for the second years male division along with Kazuhiko and Daichi."
Johei waved his hand in her direction.
"Come on, you're talking to the guy who made the top ten and only studied a single day."
"You studied content that you should have known last year." Loki pointed out.
"Oh, shut up!"
Kazuhiko chuckled at the two.
"Well, Johei getting top ten once is a miracle in it's own sense. But, just in case, let's all study together at the library for when we apply to take the test."
Everybody agreed and cleared the table. Kazuhiko paid the check using some Niflheim cash and quickly joined the others.
Nuzoko Library
6:44 PM
"Ughh. This stuff is so boring…"
Iselin lied down on the table and groaned. Everybody else either stared at her or continued studying. Mikan patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry. We've only got a few problems left to finish. We'll take the test tomorrow."
Iselin pulled herself back in her chair and wrote some notes in her notebook. Daichi shook his head.
"Honestly, how are you going to make the top ten with that attitude?"
Iselin glared at him fro m beneath her glasses.
"Shut up, feather brain. It's not like you've gotten any better. In fact, I doubt you even had schooling in th Mirror Dimension."
Hugin cawed.
"Actually, Master Daichi passed the entrance exam with flying colors."
"His knowledge is limitless!"
"Although Lord Odin may be smarter."
"Is he really?"
"Let's find out!"
"Alright then! Let's ask Master Odin!"
"He knows everything!"
"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Iselin said as she held her head in her hands.
She finished up the last questions and leaned back.
"Finally! I'm done!"
"Save that for when you finish the test." Johei said as he closed his own textbook.
Seeing that everybody was finished with their studying, Kazuhiko stood up.
"Okay, I think that's enough. You guys ready for the test tomorrow?"
Everybody nodded and Kazuhiko smiled.
"Alright then. Let's go home now. Take it easy, too; We don't have any more suicides coming up."
The entire group returned their books and walked out of the library. First to leae the group was Johei, then Mikan. Soon it was Just Kazuhiko, Daichi, and Iselin left.
"Hey, if you guys don't mind, can we stop by the cemetery?" Iselin asked.
Daichi threw her a questioning glance.
"It's getting dark though."
"What? You afraid of the dark, Hawkeye?"
"Don't call me that." Daichi said as he glared at her.
Iselin being Iselin, didn't seem to notice. Kazuhiko, however, caught on quite quickly.
"Hey, let's just go with her for now." He whispered to Daichi.
Daichi started to protest when he saw Iselin turn the corner.
"Come on, feather brain! Don't tell me you're chicken!"
Daichi grunted and followed her with Kazuhiko.
"Bad pun… That was a horrible pun."
Then, he smiled wickedly.
"Say, did you know what your last name means?"
Iselin looked at him confusedly.
"Yeah, it means bear."
"I can't… bear those horrible puns."
Iselin stared at him then rage filled her eyes. Daichi noticed his mistake and quickly rushed past her.
"I WILL BURY YOU ALIVE!" She screamed as she chased after him.
Kazuhiko turned to Tyr.
"So, should I stop them or… ?"
Tyr shook his head.
"No, I think that it would be best to leave those two lovebirds alone to their antics."
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Yeah, those tw- wait, lovebirds?"
Tyr quickly turned around avoiding eye-contact with his user as Kazuhiko eyed him suspiciously.
"Never mind. Let's just hurry up."Kazuhiko said as he started into a running pace.
A few minutes later, Kazuhiko caught up with them; Thankfully, both of them seemed calm. They were standing in front of a gravestone. On it, read:
Rika Colburne
Died at Age 17
Living Within Our Hearts and Our Memories
At the foot of the stone lay the picture that they captured from Niflheim.
"Truth is," Iselin spoke.
"I kind of knew that she was putting her reputation at risk when we became friends, but I was just so excited that I had someone to talk to, I didn't even notice."
They stayed silent for a little while, but Kazuhiko felt the need to say something.
"Do you want to say a prayer for her?" He asked.
Iselin smiled.
"A prayer from an atheist. That sounds ironic already. But, sure."
They all put their hands together and Kazuhiko led the prayer.
"Rika Colburne, may your spirit finally be at rest in the afterlife. You experienced hardships in life that were not meant to be experienced. Be at peace, knowing that there were people in this world that cared for you and loved you with all of their hearts. May your spirit rest in peace."
More silence followed, until Daichi spoke.
"I never met Rika in life, but I learned more about her after her death. That she was a caring person; She put her friends as her priority and wanted to make sure that people didn't suffer the same way she did. For that, she will live on as a figure of motivation for us all. For that, I will never forget her as long as I live."
Iselin started to weep and Daichi felt the need to put his arms around her and give her a hug. Before he could do that, she shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. It's just that, you guys didn't even know her and you speak about her like you've known her your entire lives. It's like she has that effect around her."
She wiped her tears and turned to both of them.
"Thanks for being here with me. Both of you. Let's meet up again after the test. I'll see you soon."
They eventually left their separate ways, actually, Kazuhiko kind of left them. Iselin and Daichi just left for the dorms. But that left Kazuhiko with a lot of thinking time.
"Hey, Tyr. Do you ever think we'll be able to catch them? The Bringers of Death?"
Tyr pondered on the subject for some time.
"Yes. One way or another, we will catch them. It's a resolve that I have made. No matter how dangerous a task is, I fell like I have to face it with all of my courage. I am based off of a god of courage, after all."
Kazuhiko nodded.
"Yeah. And to succeed, we need everybody to have the outlook. These bonds that I make, They are what's most important; It's like I have to do this. I brought the entire group together, either by chance or by fate, We were meant to meet each other. And our goal will be the same as one another's."
"Well said. I can see now why everybody saw you as the leader."
Kazuhiko turned to him.
"Really? Huh, I guess I have been the leading them this entire time. Thanks Tyr. I really appreciate this coming from you."
Tyr smiled back at him.
"You are very welcome, Kazuhiko."
In a split moment, Kazuhiko and Tyr both felt something click. Then, the entire world stopped.
"What's going on?"
Kazuhiko asked.
"I'm not sure." Tyr said.
Then, they saw a card appear before their eyes. A voice called out to them.
I art Thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a new bond
It shall be the beginning of the struggle against the chains of despair
I present to thee, the Fool Arcana
So, we are back baby! Man, this chapter was kind of stressful to write with all that I have right now. AP Phys is really mopping the floor with me right now, but I'm doing better in APUSH. Hope you all are doing pretty good too, both in your professional lives and your personal lives as well. Also, don't be surprised if I don't post a new chapter in a few weeks, I'm thinking of taking a break after the next chapter to collect my thoughts and make a new character that will be coming up, but they won't be appearing in another 3 to 4 chapters. One last thing is that I'm thinking of making some social link characters for Kazuhiko that aren't part of the team. If you guys have any suggestions, feel free to share your ideas! I'm all ears! Oh, and for those of you who remember Daichi and his phantom thieves dilemma, he's making the first steps in his revenge…
Persona 5: Daichi
Akira: Ugh… where… am I?
Daichi: You are in an interrogation room, Kurusu. Then again, you should be quite familiar with this setting.
Akira: Wha-? Hey! This is illegal! I demand my rights!
Daichi: I believe that you have no rights in here, criminal.
Akira: What did I do this time? I swear I didn't do anything!
Daichi: This can all be over in a second. Just answer my questions and you and your friends can go free.
Akira: Wait, what have you done to them?!
Daichi: Officer Hugin and Munin, please report on the prisoners.
Hugin (on the radio): The blond one is quite feisty for someone who can't even say the "f" word
Akira: Wait, is that Ryuji he's talking about?
Munin (on the radio): The girls are quite secure. Although one of them won't stop cussing so much. Please hurry it up sir.
Daichi: Now, just answer my question; Where is my wallet?
Akria: Wait, what?
Daichi: Yeah, you heard me. Which one of you stole my wallet? Where is it?
Akira: … I really have no idea what you're talking about.
Daichi: Oh do you now? Well, I guess that your friends might know something. Officer Hugin, take the blond cusser to room 101.
Akira: Wait! Leave him out of this! We don't know anything!
Daichi: I'm not hearing any information about my wallet. You'd better hurry it up. Room 101 is just a few rooms down the hall from where your friend is.
Akira: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T!
Dangstaboy: Oh, hey Daichi! Sorry I played that prank on you. Here's your wallet back!
Daichi: Wait, you stole my wallet?
Dangstaboy: Yeah, sorry about that. Wait, what is Akira doing here?
Daichi: I thought he took my wallet!
Dangstaboy: Oh God no! Atlus is gonna sue me until I'm broke!
(Atlus corp. breaks down the door with the police)
Atlus: Freeze right there!
Dangstaboy: Wait, please understand!
(Atlus officer hand cuffs me)
Atlus: Dangstaboy, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of official Atlus characters!
Dangstaboy: Wait, I didn't do any of this! The red-head! He did it! Not me!
(Dangstaboy is dragged off by Atlus police)
Daichi: So… what are the chances of you guys forgetting this ever happened?
Akira: You might want to ask her about that.
Daichi: Who?
Makoto: Me!
Daichi:… So, can we just drop this in good faith?
*BAM*