Shin Megami Tensei

Persona 3: RES

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Persona 3, SMT, or any characters within. They belong to Atlus, which is the Master of Hell.

Chapter XXIV: Into the Abyss

Death is imminent. Surely you know this.

The next thing Junpei knew, he was flying…well, not really flying so much as falling through the air, with the other members of S.E.E.S. and Takehiro Kirijo next to him. Fuuka had telepathically told them all to jump off the roof. To just "shut up and do it" as she had said. Admittedly, it had taken the best and worst in him to jump off a fifty story building with no possible way of survival, but it was a more obvious choice than getting executed for terrorism.

As the fell, Yukari and Chidori both looked at each other, nodded, and shot themselves using their evokers. The combined power of the two girls' garudyne powers was just enough to allow them to survive. Albeit, they all fell on their faces and several of them had a bloody nose afterwards, but other than that…

"Let's…not do that again," remarked Takehiro as he wiped dirt, sweat, and blood off of his pants. He checked his watch: it was 11:58 PM. "The police will be here in a few seconds, let's say hello, shall we?"

"Father…what the hell are you talking about!?" Mitsuru believed her father had gone mad from the events that had just transpired, before he pointed to his watch and started smiling. They could hear the police sirens and the rush of Tokyo SWAT officers rushing to where their supposed "bodies" were. When they found them all alive, waving and smiling at them, they didn't take it in light humor.

"You think this is funny! Do you! I think this is funny, old man!" one officer shouted, pulling up his rifle and aiming it at Takehiro's head. And just as put his finger on the trigger, he transmogrified into a coffin, as did the rest of his squad. S.E.E.S. burst into laughter. Part of it was the transmogrification of the officer. The other part was their sheer luck in surviving the past day.

"I cannot believe that just happened…" sighed Yukari, sitting down on a nearby bench to recover.

"Yeah…but, we can't forget out objective. We have to go to the Lake of Fire tonight…" said Mitsuru. Her father inquired about the Lake of Fire, asking what it was. When the Tokyo skyline instantly lit up from a bright orange glow from the Bay, Mitsuru pointed directly behind her.

"Fuuka, can you analyze where the entrance is this time?" asked Mitsuru.



"Sure…hold on – wow…you're not going to believe this, Mitsuru-san, but the entrance doesn't change. Although, I am sensing an alteration in the pattern of the maze since the last time I've analyzed it."

"So, the Lake of Fire changes its course every day, huh? But the entrance and Palace remain in virtually the same position…interesting."

"Ahem," coughed an impatient Akihiko. As far as he saw it, not defeating Takaya counted as a defeat, and he was all too eager to regain his lost honor inside the Lake of Fire.

"Yes, Akihiko?"

"Shouldn't we be going now? We only have the Dark Hour to explore the Lake!"

Everyone nodded to everyone else, before they set out running for the Lake of Fire. This time, however, they would head right into the belly of the beast…

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT #9

ENTRANCE TO THE LAKE OF FIRE

"Here we are…here it is…" said Akihiko, his eyes glancing up at the gate to their oblivion.

"I'm sensing an extreme deterioration in the spirit stream in the –" Fuuka was about to go on, before Junpei cut her off mid-sentence.

"Uh, Fuuka, what does that all mean?"

"It means that neither I nor Chidori can provide support for you here at the entrance, we'll have to come with you if you want our support. We just don't have enough power to get through the spirit energy that the Lake is emitting."

"I see…then that means no one stays behind! We have no reason to guard the entrance now…that means you too, father!" Mitsuru ordered to all of S.E.E.S. Her father simply agreed, asking to be lent a gun for their first foray into the heart of hell.

As soon as they stepped through the gate, everything changed. What once was a floor of pure lava was now water. Although the walls were still covered with fire, the stark contrast between water and fire was enough to inspire Fuuka to remark: "it's deceitfully beautiful."

Careful not to touch the walls of the maze, lest Hell rip their souls from their bodies, Fuuka, Chidori, and Mitsuru combined their psychic powers to lend S.E.E.S. a hand in the navigation of the abyss. Their combined analysis would (hopefully and theoretically) prevent them from going off track in the maze of fire. But what was really surprising wasn't the Lake or any of its details, but the fact that, while Fuuka detected shadows everywhere, none could be seen.



"This is really beginning to scare me…I'm detected a large contingent of shadows beyond that corner but…"

Junpei ran to the corner and back, then back to the corner again.

"There's nothing here, Fuuka! Do you think the Lake is interfering with our – oh my God!"

"Junpei, what is it!?" shouted Fuuka, distressed for Junpei. But he seemed to be in no physical harm, instead, he was backing slowly from the corner, looking down at the floor and reaching down for his evoker. "Junpei…"

"I think…we should all…back up…very, very slowly…" he said as he hurried his way back to the group, eventually hiding behind Yukari. She rolled her eyes at his immaturity and went over to the corner to find out what was the matter.

"Junpei, what the hell are you – gah!?" And there it was. Underneath the sheet of water she was walking on, staring her in the face was the largest shadow she had ever seen. The black, gelatinous body. The reddish-yellow eyes. The hands that seemed to want to rip her apart in an instant…

"Let's…Junpei has a good point now…run!" Takeba took off running without waiting for the remaining members of S.E.E.S. to follow her.

"Takeba, wait!" shouted Mitsuru who started running to catch up to Yukari. The other members of S.E.E.S. followed suit, none of them daring to look down at the sea of reddish-yellow eyes staring up at them through the abyss. "Takeba! Takeba!" shouted Mitsuru. Their psychic analysis told her that Takeba was nearby, but wasn't moving…a few more steps around the corner and…

They could see – from their position at least, that Yukari Takeba was not harmed, that she was alive, and that, if one discounted her current environment, she was well. If one looked passed her a few meters, then they could see a large clearing in the flames. If one looked up into the clearing in the flames, one could see a giant dinosaur-looking machine that fielded several weapons. It mounted several machine guns, a massive rail gun on its right shoulder, and a large sensor array on its left shoulder. On its torso was the emblem on the L.O.S.T., on its head was the emblem of S.E.E.S.

"What the –"

"I have tried to sway you all to the light of Salvation…you would not listen…why will you not listen?" it asked. The machine spoke in an extremely deep voice. Metallic. Commanding. Forceful. "If you will not listen…then you must die."

And in the blink of an eye, everything they had fought for changed. When once they had fought for the benefit of the world, now they fought for survival. And as they dodged the bullets of the mecha, they couldn't help but hear the slight splashing of water.