Fate Rewritten by Wordsworthy
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own The Shin Megami Tensei series since obviously Atlas does, along with all other references made over the course of the story. This is, after all, just a fanfiction written for the sole purpose of entertainment and no profit motive whatsoever. So please just enjoy the story and do not sue me for this. If you wish to know more about the series, please support the companies producing them directly and purchase their merchandise if you like.
Chapter 25: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh
Two pairs of footsteps echoed down the flight of spiralling stairway made of what seemed like greyed marble, providing the only rhythmic disruptions of an otherwise companionable silence. The quietude was not uncomfortable, although it was soon to be broken anyway.
"Have you been here all this while?" asked the blue-haired man as casually as he could, despite the accusatory nature of the question.
"That's right." answered the wraith-like boy airily enough.
"What are you exactly? There's already a Ryoji out there no?"
"Hmmm… If I were to put my finger on it…" hummed Pharos thoughtfully. "I might be his common sense perhaps…"
An alien sound resembling both a choke and a cough rang out in the stairway.
"What?" asked the unearthly boy indignantly, evidently catching on to things.
"Nothing much… it's probably the first time I felt you were really funny."
"Eh? But I wasn't trying to be!"
Another camouflaged cough slash choke slash laugh followed from the taller of two, the blue-haired one totally ignoring the growls and stares from his companion. One can only be that scary when he's around a metre tall after all. It was probably a good thing that they appeared before a grey door that seemed to have been made of an unknown metallic material.
"This door leads to Chokmah, correct?" asked Minato casually.
"That's the idea."
"What's he like?"
"He's… well… you'll know soon enough, if you can find him I mean…" replied Pharos a little hesitantly.
"Hah…" went the person who was coincidentally both the visitor and host of the said place as he pushed past the door, the unexpected wooden texture giving him a brief pause in his thoughts.
What laid behind the door was both surprising and perplexing to say the least; a chamber of silvered walls and a maze of mirrors the length of pillars, yet a cursory glance into them revealed nothing but distorted, swirling images.
Pharos made to speak, but Minato pre-empted him with a sigh.
"I know, I know. I'm messed up. I get that already."
The taller of the two proceeded to scan the room for any visible signs of its steward while the other looked on with an amused expression.
"There's nobody here." uttered Minato a little belatedly.
"An astute observation like always, but one that's neither necessarily true nor untrue at the same time."
The seemingly source-less voice resounded around the room with an unearthly timbre as a navy eyebrow twitched in a frown.
"Chokmah I assume."
"You assumed correctly." replied the booming voice to the query. "I commend you for getting here via Gevurah. That couldn't have been easy, but it could also be said that I pose the greater test. I am the keeper of wisdom and intellect after all. If you wish to learn the full depth of knowledge your subconscious mind is in fact capable of, you will have to find your true reflection within this room."
"My true reflection…"
The blue-haired man returned his gaze unto the multitude of mirrored surfaces in his typical lazy fashion even as he took note of every single detail that was reflected within them. The silhouettes staring back at him resembled nothing like the man's image of himself. In fact, bizarrely enough, other than the warped versions of himself ranging from elongated or flattened bodices to various unMinato-like expressions, he recognised another hundred and sixty-nine images looking back at him as his familiar alter-egos from ten years back… his Personas…
"This… is too much work…" muttered the man as the images in all the mirrors waved back at him in his all too simplistic experiment. Nevertheless, he concluded almost instinctively that the trial shouldn't be as brainless and tiresome as that. It was his mind after all. Then again, there was also the fact that he could now…
"Reflections huh… hmm… I wonder…"
It was the small boy's turn to mimic a familiar expression of the taller man when he lifted his dark eyebrow at the latter, for he had lowered himself into a seiza position onto the floor of the chamber, an act that didn't quite seem congruent with the task at hand.
"What are you doing?" asked the Boy as he bent over and stared at his companion with those eerie luminescent blue eyes, his hands placed casually over his knees in a half-squatting position.
"Take a load off your feet. This might take a while."
"Huh? What are you…"
The rest of the thin whiny voice seemed to gradually fade into a withering whisper as his spatial awareness dimmed and converged within himself, losing even the sense of his own presence as he seemed to plummet even deeper into his being. A single flicker was his destination, an odd voice that seemed out of place in his own world of quietude.
"You've answered well. The answers you seek have always resided within you after all. Now, as for what you would like to know…"
"Great, more work…"
In a less complicated and much classier setting of tatami mats and wooden screens, a bevy of ladies, each uniquely stunning in their own right, were currently in various states of dress and undress as numerous rich traditional fabrics hung from the many racks that surrounded them. Light chatter and cheerful anticipation seemed to fill the room, although a certain brunette in a deep blue yukata with pink sakura patterns seemed intent to be the exception to the norm with a hefty sigh.
"Are you still at it?" admonished a certain older redhead as she approached with a pink obi in hand. "Honestly, I'm a little relieved to be off the hook if it comes with moping around as much as what you're doing."
The startled brunette snapped around, instinctively armed with a half thought-out denial. However, that knowing smirk on her sempai's face made her determination shrivel as she thought better of it, resigning herself to her fate as she accepted the pink sash for her Spring-themed yukata ensemble rather meekly.
"Mitsuru… are you ever going to get tired of that?" tried the cornered girl almost pleadingly.
"What do you think Yukari? Of course not! She learnt it from the best after all!" declared the tiptoeing green-haired woman who suddenly poked her head over the shoulders of the taller redhead, fondly resting her chin on the black silk despite the rolling of the latter's eyes. "I wonder when Aigis is going to get here… she's late… and I wanted to help dress her up…"
"Anou Fuuka… she's not really a little girl any more…"
Before their little conversation could continue however, they suddenly found their as yet untethered yukatas flare up and open as a bona fide giggling pigtailed five-year old girl brushed past them like a small mischievous tornado, causing the three women to quickly hold down their wayward garments with hapless squeals.
"Eh? Bijin onee-chans not going commando tonight?"
"MINAKO! Get back here right this instance!" hollered an older version of the little girl just before the chase was on. Nevertheless, the busy mother still had the grace to nod apologetically to the three of them before she was off with her hunt.
"Yare yare…" went Mitsuru dryly as she eyed the mother and daughter grand prix with idle bemusement before her eye began to twitch imperceptibly.
"It's getting so hard to tell who the bad influence in our little family is anymore…" muttered Yukari in a rather indiscrete aside.
"I'll say…" added a strangely distant-sounding Fuuka.
"Fuuka… please get your hands out of my yukata…"
"Ah… hahaha… I wonder how they got there…"
"Fuuka!"
The bright-eyed boy eventually got tired of pacing and skipping around aimlessly and settled for a cross-legged position beside his still friend, prodding at him every now and then with pokes from his thin fingers in between various expressions of boredom with his face on his palm.
Within the navy-haired man however, a chaotic tempest comprised of contemplation and inner turmoil was just beginning to settle as a lifetime of memories cycled to the watchful ministrations of the two distinct, yet identical consciousnesses that resided here. Information that was previously vague and ill-defined had been ground down to their vital and necessary axioms under their combined scrutiny and acumen, before being shifted and rearranged to form new truths that were uniquely their own.
"…no one would have thought that all things are essentially made of components smaller than atoms and even electrons, something I called Data…"
"Data…the fundamental elements that make up all things material and immaterial…"
"Hmm… the building blocks of existence…"
"You people have used magic before, haven't you? Not the theatrical kind but the evokational types. You do realise that you are using up your Magatsuhi, or your soul's spiritual energy when you do use them, or do you not?"
"Magatsuhi… the spiritual energy that sustains and defines life…"
"It's like the lifeblood of existence…"
"That power is called a Persona… It is a manifestation of your psyche."
"A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli… You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."
"I see… Personas represent the mask or appearance that we project to the world, a self-construed concept of the Self and at times, the self that we wish most strongly to be."
"Hence, many Personas evoked resemble great or mythical figures and beings while the rare few resemble the user him-or-herself."
"Your power is unique. It's like the number zero… It's empty, but at the same time holds infinite possibilities. You, my boy, are able to possess multiple Personas, and summon them as needed. And when you have defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp... But, do not fear. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly... Be sure to keep that in mind…"
"I never dreamed of seeing that card with my own eyes... This is indeed a surprise... Behold the last power you and I shall unveil... It is the power to bring about a new beginning, or the ultimate end. It may be possible now, with this newfound power... You may be able to defeat the one who cannot be defeated. What you have in your hands is the power of the Universe... Nothing is outside the realm of possibility for you now."
"The power associated with Personas is that of… possibilities, that of the variable and the unknown…"
"Interesting… it appears to affect the various concepts of possibilities such as material-immaterial being and the manifestation of one's inner potential and is in turn correlated to the paths that we choose…"
"A Persona is like a mirror. Which means a Persona-user can never escape from his true self."
"Mirrors again… our true selves… that means…"
"Once more then…"
"Those monsters… we call them Shadows!"
"A Shadow feeds on the mind of its prey; the victim becomes a living corpse."
"Shadows are probably… the opposite of Personas. If a Persona is a mask looking out to the world, a Shadow is what lurks on the other side of the mask."
"A Shadow should therefore represent the darkness, insecurities and failings of an individual, which at times can be consciously or unconsciously self-construed as well. Hence, shadows rarely take a formal and recognizable form since the self that acknowledges them wants to be as distinct and separate from them as possible at the same time…"
"The Shadows have many mysterious abilities. Some research indicates that they can even affect time and space. We think of them as our enemies, but what if we could somehow use them to our advantage? They would be a source of unimaginable power, wouldn't they?"
"The power associated with Shadows is that of… reality."
"It affects the various concepts of reality such as time and space eh? Hmmm… sounds too much like Kirijo Kouetsu's project…"
A momentary pause.
"And so what do we know so far?"
"Everything in the world we know is made up of Data at their most fundamental level. Those that we deem as alive are additionally sustained by Magatsuhi. This allows both change and evolution of Data, giving rise to the dynamics that we call Life."
"What about Personas and Shadows then?"
"Shadows and Personas are probably the moulds beyond our mortal disposition to which Data fills out in order to create our forms and appearances. They are… two sides of the same coin; the mask of possibility cannot discount the reality of the Self that lies beneath it, but yet that reality cannot deny the possibility of the mask which the Self aspires too…"
"Since they are merely moulds, then it would suggest that there is something else that binds the concepts together to form what we know as a person…"
"The core of a person… is the coin itself… the Self…"
"What then is a Self?"
"A Self… can be defined as the dominant unified being which is the source of idiosyncratic consciousness from which one perceives and interacts with the world."
"In other words, it is the collective character or identity that holds a person together despite the many facets there are within a human being. It is neither an 'all of' nor a 'part of' concept, but one that is determined by that which is present…"
"…we are never intimately conscious of anything but a particular perception; man is a bundle or collection of different perceptions which succeed one another with an inconceivable rapidity and are in perpetual flux and movement…''
"Are you quoting Hume now?"
"You're the one with weird reading habits."
"Well, his bundle theory of the Self did compare the soul to a commonwealth, that which retains its identity not by virtue of some enduring core substance, but by being composed of many different, related, and yet constantly changing elements. The question of personal identity then becomes a matter of characterizing the loose cohesion of one's personal experience. I think that works for us right now though…"
"In that case, from our current experience, our core elements would be…"
"The Sephiroths…"
"With the Sephiroths as the Self at their core, the Personas and Shadows will be able to function as a collective mould, holding the flux and interaction of both Data and Magatsuhi in place within its two sides, forming what we know as… a person…"
…
Two collective sighs reverberated in the odd mind-within-a-mind-within-a-mind phenomenon after they were finally done with what they had set out to do. The two consciousnesses seemed to have merged and intertwined during the process, not that differentiating the two was necessarily a given. They were quintessentially the same person after all.
…
"That… was hard…"
"You said it…"
"Who would have thought we would have to go through all that just to find out what we really are…"
"Saa… it's just our own ostentatious logics at work after all. Just one more question though…"
"Another one…?"
"Just where are we exactly? I thought I was already within my mind already…"
"Who knows… who was the one who decided that you can't be at more than one place at once? Time, space, realities, consciousness… they're all manmade concepts decided by people in the external world after all. Do you really want to be bound by such burdensome and incomplete notions in here as well?"
"Not really… I never really liked following rules anyways."
"Indeed… setting limitations and boundaries in order to reconcile and consolidate one's grip on the unknown is the myopic habit of humans. It's not suited for the likes of us."
"The likes of us… getting a little delusional here are we?"
"Hmmph… You're one to talk. Heck, you're the one who's been talking to yourself all this while in the first place…"
…
Irises the shade of greyed cerulean finally revealed themselves as the man came out of his meditative trance, startling the pale boy slightly when his cobalt-coloured brows scrunched into a frown in response to the latter's uncalled for act of scratching the other's nose.
"Ah, you're back… I was just… erm… well, I could swear you had an itch just right over there… Ow!"
"So much for common sense…"
In another location not too far from where the women of S.E.E.S. were, the male counterparts of the group gathered as well in order to change out of their day-clothes and work-clothes, in preparation for festivities later that night. Amidst the manly chatter of ego-boosting work matters, cheerful expectations of their yukata-clad partners and the odd hollers of "Get off my back already Junpei!", the absence of one particular voice stood out among those slated to participate in the festival. As it turned out, rather than being absent, the owner of that particular voice was having a short aside with a certain blonde figure away from the maddening crowd.
"What is it Aigis?"
Despite their synthetic origins, the cyan irises looking back at him seemed even more unnaturally focused and serious than one could imagine of the usually direct blonde lady.
"Ryoji… have you seen Minato lately?"
The dark-haired male smiled slightly before shaking his head with a knowing sigh. The girl was too easy to predict after all, uber-advanced algorithms or not.
"He's probably off doing some training or sorting out the stuff in his head. It's just the usual stuff, so there's no need to worry Aigis." supplied the dutiful friend of the two as he reached into his suit, revealing a thin silver case.
"I'm not worried about that… I'm more concerned with what comes afterwards…"
The man raised his head slightly in question as he tapped the case lightly, dislodging a single white stick halfway out of the box.
"Afterwards?"
"Yes… I can't explain it rationally but… I have a feeling he's going to go after the stolen Shadows on his own…" went the girl as uncertainty crept into her eyes.
The man leaned casually back unto the wall behind him and sighed deeply in a manner befitting of his other self, a faint trail of white wafting upwards from between his fingers.
"That sounds just like what he would do." admitted Ryoji matter-of-factly. "And then?"
The blonde seemed to suck in her breath hard, which was really quite silly a notion for those who know her well, yet another behavioural quirk that she had picked up perhaps.
"I am… unsure as to what to do. Part of me understands now that he doesn't want to tie me down due to our pasts…"
An image of Moonlight Bridge from twenty years ago rose unbidden from deep within her virtual memories.
"Part of me also understands how different we will always be…"
The scenery atop Gekkoken High ten Springs ago came up next, the final moments of his parting from her grasp, from within her own hands.
"How we may never be…"
The image on the cover of a certain book on her work-desk surfaced, that of a lonely pink rabbit standing on an unlit path while looking longingly at a distant silhouette on another lit path.
"But still…"
A tiny piece of stray sand bounced off the top of the blonde's furrowed brows, causing her to look up from her unconscious monologue of sorts with a startled expression.
"What are you asking me for? You should have already decided no?" commented her dark-haired friend airily enough, even though his eyes were staring intently at the new addition on her neck, a ribbon in the shape of a crimson rose. "Isn't that why you've gotten yourself another Evoker?"
"That's…" muttered Aigis reflexively as realization set in.
"Besides, if I know that guy well enough, he'll probably say something like this…"
Tugging part of his swept-back hairstyle free to cover one eye, the man's eyes suddenly became dull and sleepy as he completed his transformation with a bored monotone.
"It's your own life now, do what you want."
Those uncertain cyan eyes remained transfixed on her old friend for a few moments before they closed as she winced, a hand covering her mouth in a desperate attempt to stifle her uncontrollable rumble deep within her bosom. Even though it was rude to the perennial man on her mind, the urge to laugh won out this time as she began to giggle despite herself.
"Hmpphehehaa… Just how long have you been practising that?"
Ryoji smoothed his hair back in place before his trademark grin was back.
"I'm a mysterious person too you know."
Heaving a little sigh of relief, the blonde straightened herself out before turning back to her friend.
"What will you do then Ryoji?"
The dark-haired man pretended to think for half a second before replying.
"I'm going too of course, since I don't really care about his opinion on this at all. It'll be troubling for me if anything happens to him anyway…"
"Huh? Wha- "
"Ah," the man cut in before Aigis could articulate her query fully. "We should keep this to ourselves as well. It might be a little conceited for me to say this, but… I think this next mission is… beyond mortal hands now… especially if they have someone more powerful than Minato…"
"Hmmm… agreed… I doubt they can get away totally unscathed this time…"
Having concluded their little discussion, the blonde turned to make a move towards her other waiting friends before she stopped abruptly. Having finally noticed the rather alien looking stick between her friend's fingers, she raised an eyebrow before voicing the question that was begging to be asked.
"Ryoji… what's that for?"
The dark-haired man leaned back more unto the wall before him as one of his legs crossed beyond the supporting other, adopting a rather debonair look as he raised the hand holding the white stick, resting his head on the palm with an overly-theatrical sigh.
"Don't you think it makes me look more model-esque? My agent told me women usually swoon over something like this."
That forced yet another chuckle from the blonde, her sense of humour evidently as complete as the other spoils of her acquired humanity thus far.
"You're never serious, Ryoji." left Aigis as she continued towards the ladies' changing room.
The waft of murky white wisps became erratic as the man saw off his friend with rather enthusiastic waves using the hand holding the smouldering unadorned stick. As the back of his long time friend faded, the man held up the yet unpuffed cigarette with an idle gaze before his pupils sharpened suddenly and gained an infinitely more piercing glint, his fingers flicking away what could be considered as one of the more insidious of his agents with careless disinterest.
"Ye… it's been a while but… perhaps I should start taking thy role a little more seriously this time as well…" remarked the man in an unfamiliar and much more sombre tone as he walked away, the white stick disintegrating into black alien particles from the unlit end until the faint red glow was snuffed out of existence.
The odd pair picked themselves off the floor of the chamber of mirrors and stood around briefly as the taller of the two scanned across the room for something. He seemed to have found what he was searching for as he moved silently across the mirrored floor with unhurried measured strides, the shorter boy keeping up alongside in tow, his destination the tallest crystal pillar in the chamber.
The person reflected within the cold, crystalline surface this time fully resembled the man on the other side; save instead of dark midnight blue hair and bluish grey eyes, the reflection had both hair and irises of polished silver. The self on both sides of the mirror acknowledged the other with a slight nod and a barely noticeable lift in their lips before the silvered hair one turned his back and started walking away deeper within the reflection before disappearing into a vertical flash of white light.
The man heaved took in a lungful of air and exhaled it in a long breath as the boy pulled up beside him.
"One last stop now." reminded the smaller other politely.
"Let's do this."
The pair stepped into the reflection presented by the crystalline pillar together before that white light flashed before their eyes, bringing them to an entirely new chamber of unadulterated white.
In terms of architecture and of their various experiences up to this point, the new room seemed rather normal compared to the other more distorted areas that they had passed through. However, all sense of normalcy stopped there and then as a distinct sense of majesty replaced it, particularly the intricate pillars and designs on the walls, what appeared to be marbled floors and an elevated pedestal that resembled a familiar throne, except it was carved out of pure white like the rest of the room instead of pitch. A little distance behind it on an adjoining raised platform laid what seemed like a circular gate comprised of three strangely symmetrical slabs of stone, each resembling a wing and distinguishable only by the colours black, white and grey. A lone cloaked figure stood on the throne, attired in robes of corresponding white as one might have already expected.
"I see that ye hath arrived." greeted the shadowed face within the hood. "I hath been waiting for ye, as ye must have been waiting for me."
Armed with both resolve and knowledge that had been gathered thus far, the pair of newcomers raised their heads at the one that heralded the end of their eclectic sojourn.
"I am Keter, keeper of the Supreme and Total Consciousness and that which is Divine. Ye should understand by now that all things happen for a purpose. Similarly, all ye journeys and abilities hath been leading up to this point, by your intention or otherwise. Are ye ready to hear and bear the full weight of your destiny?"
"Hah…" went the navy-haired one with a quizzical lift of his brows with all scepticism.
"In other words… Perfect Knowledge, Absolute Power, Immortality… the spoils of Divinity… Take it, it's yours!"
A confident smile developed from cloaked figure.
"I've always wanted to say that."
"Right…"
"Where shalt I begin I wonder…"
The clatter and grate of hammer and saws filled the courtyard of the shrine as people from various walks of life went about their work fervently. Most were either making last-minute extensions and touch-ups for their respective stalls, or were simply running about to make sure that all their logistics were in place for the night. The scene would have resembled the frantic few hours before a normal festival… if only there wasn't an unusual undercurrent of anticipation. After all, it was the unusual for a well-known F&B group such as the Suemitsu Gourmet Association to participate directly in a mere matsuri event by providing the traditional foodfare, such as the humble candy floss, yakitori and yakisoba to the ever popular takoyaki as well, for what seemed like an event held by a modest temple. Furthermore, the scale and budgets involved this time round seemed almost excessive for the cause, leading to expectations of a much grander event. Needless to say, for the hapless executive committee who found out all of the wider implications way too late… they were edgy and hard-pressed to keep everything running smoothly to say the least.
As for the person responsible for heaping this absurdly extravagant burden on the poor committee members, she was currently… in the middle of some terse last minute negotiations of her own for the event within the main residence.
"No."
"Eh? Come on, it's a good chance to put those years of training to good use!"
"No."
"Aww… Don't be like that… it's just a one-off thing…"
"No."
"Come on, be a sport…"
"Yuko-nee, you're the miko here. You do it."
"Eh… but you're so good at it! I can still remember how pretty your last kagura was! You know, from that New Year celebrations at the sub-house five years ago…"
"Don't remind me… you're the one who got drunk on sake just before you were supposed to perform…"
"Ara, so you'll do it if I get stoned today too?"
"No!"
The premature wrinkles on the stony face of the younger brother got more pronounced at the high possibility of the thought but made do with nothing more than a low growl of annoyance as he stood up, having swapped his meditation robes into his usual black uniform. Walking softly to the sliding doors leading out, he made a point to stand a little distance away from them as he opened it, a precaution that seemed justified as the older sister who had taken to whining outside the door came tumbling through.
"Itai… Ara, are you trying to run away now? The festival begins in three hours! I can't have that."
Spotting the tell-tale tip of the yellowed ofuda paper more out of well honed instincts than reflexes, the younger brother managed to get his shadow out of the way with a timely jump just as the older sister slammed a kunai imbued with an immobilization charm hard onto the empty tatami.
"Hey, watch it. I'm just going to check on some things. I'll be coming back to make sure things dun go haywire with you in charge anyway."
"Ah, so you'll be doing it when you come back?"
"No." repeated the young Raidou as he beat a hasty retreat out of the room and escaped into a smattering of leaves in the summer breeze before the next flurry of knives could make contact. Nevertheless, however…
"Ne Kei-chan… don't be such a stiff…"
"No."
"Kei-chan…"
Yes… it would seem like having a psychic for a persistent and whiny sister can bring sibling interaction to whole new levels of pain and annoyance. Part of the Kuzunoha family's curse perhaps…
The atmosphere within the white chamber was unmistakeably heavy. It was hard to imagine that all that had passed so far was a rather long but illuminating question and answer session.
"You should be able to understand the gravity of the situation. Step up and accept the role that you had always been meant to take. It is your destiny."
For a few moments, there was nothing but silence. Neither of the three moved, and there was nothing else that could. A deep, jarring silence.
The boy with the eerie blue eyes was the first to break the stillness, turning his head around to face his companion with a hesitant expression about him. Even though they were in so many ways similar, at this moment, he could not even begin to predict his response or take on things either.
That response soon came as the said companion began to move forward, walking up the steps up the pedestal with deliberate, assured steps. It seemed like he had already decided after all. All that the boy could do now was watch.
The hooded white figure looked on as the blue-haired man approached his smile remained evident, in contrast to much of his shadowed face.
"Sou… we shalt now be as gods…"
That smug smile faded before the cloaked man could finish his sentence, for instead of stepping up to receive his mantle as it was previously thought, the other simply brushed past him nonchalantly as he made for the circular gate.
"W-Wait, where do you think you're going? Stop! Did you not understand the situation? Or did I make a mistake somewhere along my explanations?"
The man was decidedly not paying the keeper of Keter any attention at all as he continued his ascent towards his goal.
"Are you going to ignore the role that your were born and made for? Are you going to ignore your destiny and your duty to the world? Arisato Minato!"
The man finally stopped before the stone portal as its three stone wings revolved around some unknown axis and parted from the circular frame, revealing what seemed to be the way out of this weird labyrinth. Without so much as turning around, the man sighed before he addressed the query behind him.
"I have no interest in gods. I'm an Agnostic, remember? The same goes for things like fate, destiny or providence. I don't need to be prescribed a role. Well, in any case I'll handle things out there, so you just sit tight in here. As for whether or not I'll take up the position in the end… I'll just leave you with a 'maybe'…"
The man raised his right hand slightly and made a brief wave to the people behind him as he entered the mass of swirling energies within the portal, the stone wings swivelling around and closing the exit securely behind him with a loud rumble and aplomb just as the last trace of his back disappeared.
The figure in white continued to stare at the stone portal for a few moments with a blank expression while the cherubic dark-haired boy walked up the stairs and pulled up beside him.
"Don't you mean 'if I feel like it'?" uttered the taller of the two remaining inhabitants present as a genuine smile began to form.
"He is quite something isn't he? To think he passed the test that he didn't even know was there…" added the boy with a whistle.
"Saa… After all… even gods are bound by the same shackles of Fate. True freedom, even that of the mind, can only be obtained by someone who has seen through the limitations of the three realms. If he had chosen to accept my offer, the portal would have never have accepted him and he would never ever be able to leave this place intact…"
The white hood finally came down, revealing a familiar white-haired version of the man who had just returned back to the current reality. The boy smiled serenely as well before he began to glow, his physical exterior fading until he became a shining orb of white brilliance that hovered momentarily before moving to rest in the open palm of the remaining white-haired self.
"It's time for us to do our thing as well…"
In the throne room of frozen blood and brimstone, yet another cloaked figure, save this time one with an unmistakeably real physical presence and reality, reclined on his black altar languidly, idly observing the fight between his adjutants and the persistent blob of hands and knives before he sighed.
"He's more durable than I thought, but I have no use for another mindless Slime for my Fouls. Finish the job quickly. I tire of this."
As the man stood up and made to leave, a voice stopped him cold in his tracks.
"Sure you want to turn your back so soon? I do believe things are about to become interesting."
Returning his gaze to back to the fray, a strange phenomenon seemed to be happening to the Shadow entity. From the core of the black viscous blob, a separate ray of blue and purple light seemed to spiral outwards before the ethereal image of the previous black Persona form appeared alongside the Shadow. Golden eyes widened somewhat when eight orbs of prismatic colour began to rise up between them, each of them glowing with increasing brilliance as they arranged themselves in three columns of a familiar make to man on the throne.
"Eight… I see… even while lacking Tipheret and Chesed…"
The black amorphous Shadow began to stretch and wrap itself around the eight spheres of various colours, winding its way upwards until the black mask it held made its way to the top of the dark column. The ethereal black Persona then walked into the column as well, resulting in a tumultuous reaction as the darkened column seemed to mould itself quite forcibly to its shape amidst powerful arcs of conflicting energy that spilled out, scorching and tearing the hellish ground asunder. The inevitable explosion of contrasting powers happened at last, causing stray energy, dust and debris to pick up once again before they were quickly expelled outwards by a strange force, revealing the familiar navy-haired man from the beginning at the core of the small vortex once again, sans the Persona-Avatar exterior.
"Back to square one again hmmm, Arisato Minato?" asked the cloaked figure with just the barest hint of sarcasm.
"Not quite." replied the above-mentioned man with the slightest of smiles as he seemed to stretch his muscles casually, as though in some form of warm up or prelude to something…
"I hadn't realised it before, but I had grown a little too reliant on my Persona powers of late. While they had indeed become potent, as long as my mask stood strong the depth of my true Self can never be fully expressed. I suppose I owe you my thanks for taking apart the previous me. However, first things first…"
The decidedly human figure slowly brought up a clenched fist in front of him before spreading his hand out into an upward facing palm, the tips of its highest fingers tilting back and forth impishly in an impudent and direct challenge to the cloaked figure.
"It's time for some payback."
"Hmmph…" was the only response from the cloaked figure as he snapped his fingers, giving the seven who had been lying in wait all the signal they needed as they charged forward with their swords at the forefront once again.
The man retained his cool, lazy demeanour as he became momentarily engulfed in black flames once again, bringing forth his Odysseus Avatar form at the very last moment. Unlike the previous laboured confrontation however, the dark swordsman seemed to have little trouble keeping up with the movement of the seven adjutants this time as he deftly sidestepped the first assailant's blade before gripping his wrist and stepping directly into him, throwing him over his shoulder and into the next nearest attacker. The fact that his opponents were moving at ridiculously high speeds seemed incongruent with the slow, lazy manner that they were dispatched, even though the two entangled in a distant heap would attest to the reality of that situation.
Without a single pause in his motion, he turned around swiftly and caught the tip of another intended thrust for his throat between his fingers with incredible ease and precision, seemingly immobilizing his next opponent even as the other was visibly trying to free his sword to no avail. Ignoring whatever laws of physics that seemed to work in this place, the white-haired swordsman managed to bend the rigid steel of the unadorned katana at an acute angle before releasing it, causing the whip-back reaction to parry the other four blades coming directly at him. Taking advantage of his opponent's momentarily recoil, the man dropped into a low stance and struck out in a three hundred and sixty degrees slash with a newly materialised white blade, blowing away everyone with a circular flash of white and leaving only one person standing.
Undeterred by the unexplainable improvement of their common foe, the seven dark adjutants picked themselves up promptly and launched into a more powerful version of the same radial group attack that had worked against the dark swordsman previously, causing their seven silhouettes to blur as their velocities peaked beyond visual cognition. Nonetheless, the black Avatar remained unconcerned with the incoming attack before he appeared to spin around in place just as the seven blades re-entered the visual plane in order to execute their attack. However, instead of connecting with Odysseus as they had intended, somehow or another, their blades were redirected and shifted off-course such that each of the seven swords impaled into one of their own with the full extent of their initial attack. Without giving them any time to linger on their unexpected circumstances, the dark swordsman stepped out of his dance-like spin and revolved in the opposite direction as he fired off a spiralling vortex of white energy that slammed hard into his seven opponents that surrounded him, repelling them outwards much more forcefully than that previously as they impacted violently against the distant cavern walls, slumping limply to the red floor among the debris for the time being.
Having dealt with the seven side dishes, the dark swordsman gave out a little sigh before turning his attention to the main course standing on the black throne. He seemed aware that the cloaked figure had not doubt been observing and analysing his abilities thus far, but he remained nonchalant about it.
"I see… it would seem that you have somehow gained a rather annoying ability." began the cloaked figure as he descended the steps leading down from his perch with a deliberate gait. "After all, power and speed counts for very little if you can bend reality enough with an adequately potent human consciousness to nullify their effects. I've heard of similar theories in quantum mechanics, but I have to admit I'm surprised to see an idiot actually take it this far with just his mental strength alone."
"So you've seen through my trick already. You're not half bad yourself. Or should I say as expected for one such as yourself."
"Hmmph… So instead of accepting the dark reality and powers necessary to effect change, your answer is to change reality itself on your own?"
"That sounds about right."
"Matagu… you're one annoying Fool." sighed the cloaked figure with a strange mix of resignation and bemusement as he finally set foot on the same level as the dark other. Without any warning, the tattered cloak that had kept the other man veiled the entire time billowed up and was carelessly cast away unto the frozen ground, revealing what seemed like an unexpectedly fresh-faced dark-haired teenager despite his alien disposition, albeit with bizarre arcane markings covering almost the whole of his body. The newly revealed stranger smiled with disconcerting bloodlust and anticipation as he settled into a kenpo-like stance with an open palm out and a fist tucked into his side.
"Since you so adamantly refuse my guidance, the very least I can do now is to give you some training. Although the disparity in our powers should become evident soon, try not to die after coming so far."
"Die? What makes you think…" began the Odysseus-Avatar wryly as he raised a black gauntleted hand and turned it into an open palm. An intense flash of light erupted into being just within it as an unexpected object materialised within the core of the newly formed orb of white brilliance.
"… that I have even gotten serious yet." continued the black swordsman as he raised his gauntlet and waved the white orb in front of him in a casual wave. A tumultuous explosion of white burst forth from around the figure as he became all but obscured from view by both the intense white flames that emanated from his very being, and the translucent aura of overwhelming power that distorted the visage of everything around him in a way reminiscent of how steam distorts the appearance of things behind it.
"Yaro… guess I won't be holding back either then." went the other as his smile broadened with sadistic cheer, the runic marking covering his body immediately reciprocated the other's display of power with an increasing crescendo of intense blue light that began to burn through the frozen floor and walls while his own black demonic aura wrapped around his being, just raring to tear forth.
"Heaven calls."
"Go to hell."
Author's notes:
Hi again. I apologise for the rather lengthy delay with regards this chapter. Work kinda got in the way, especially since it's the examinations period again. Conceptualising and research took a fair bit of time as well, since I'm a big fan of details and reality in fiction. I also got a little sidetracked by a few really good stories and mangas which really made me sit up and think of my own writing. Hopefully, the new insights I picked up about certain plot dynamics and character dimensions will better my writing later on as well.
The title of the chapter is something I picked up on my research on sephiroths and the Kabbalah. Apparently, it roughly means 'I am that I am'. Kinda cool no?
The chapter wraps up Minato's journey through his mind with the final two sephiroths. I've tried my best to make it as confusing but readable as I can since I really think like the idea of the protagonist having a screwed up inner mind. Hope it came out alright. I also intentionally left out what was conveyed between Keter and Minato with regards to his destiny by leading the readers in afterwards. After all, I do have a thing for suspense as well.
I've also added my own take on how the various SMT concepts blend into each other. I'm sure many other hardcore buffs out there could probably quote me a plethora of various meta-physicists and occult theorists, but I preferred to stick to the stuff that I have at least some inclination of how they work, namely David Hume's theory of self and snippets of Quantum Mechanics. The reconstruction of Minato's physical form is a 'visual' demonstration of the theory that I put forth in the more abstract mental mono-di-logue within Chokmah. I hope the way I meshed it turns out believable.
As for the omake, well, I just needed a way to include Maiko and Chihiro into the next chapter. Whoopie, what fun!
Reference-wise, 1) bijin means pretty, 2) yakitori and yakisoba refers grilled chicken and fried noodles respectively, 3) kagura refers to the type of dance typically performed by mikos, 4) itai is used here as an expression of pain and 5) yaro is used here as a derogative term like jerk or idiot. 6) Orihime and Hikoboshi are the two stars that represent the cowherd and weaver-lady in the legend of Tanabata.
Okay, I guess this is it for now. Feel free to air your queries and comments through the reviews as always, but do keep them positive and stuff. As for the next chapter, I'll probably do a little fluff since I need a break from serious stuff from work and writing. Do look forward to it when it comes.
Right, later then.
Omake 22: Tanabakas
Previously during the day…
"Haiz…" sighed a mass of rust red hair that splayed out on an otherwise empty desk.
"What's with her?" asked one of the four associates of the abovementioned mass of hair curiously, raising her voice just enough to be heard over the buzz of chatter in the class.
"That? Ah… she's just having withdrawal symptoms." answered another girl matter-of-factly without sparing them a glance as she continued to write notes in her notebook.
"No way… Bancho's taking drugs?! This is bad!! Should we tell her mom or something?" began the previous girl in concerned but undue panic as she tugged on the other girl's sleeve repeatedly for attention.
The forehead of the girl whose sleeve was being tugged twitched as she found her captive arm no longer conducive for scholarly note-taking. Standing up from her seat, she dragged the girl clinging on to her to the said Bancho and pressed her ear to the sighing girl exasperatedly.
Even though it was faint, the syllables that make up "O", "Ni" and "Chan" could clearly be made up from the mumbled nonsense that was coming out of the girl's dejected trance-like state.
"Ah… it's just her old addiction again."
Another girl sitting just behind the Bancho giggled discretely before adding to the two's conversation.
"Bancho-chan sure is persistent isn't she? In a cute way."
"I'll say…" sounded the last of the four girls that made up the Bancho's Delinquents, having given up on note-taking as well, choosing to walk over so as to join the conversation properly. "Well, she ain't the Bancho for nothing though."
The exasperated, formerly note-taking girl sighed rather dramatically as the three others giggled in unison.
"Good grief. I preferred it when her cuteness only bothered us half the time like before and not twenty-four seven now. I can't even study in peace now, and I need to raise my average for the next test or my mom will throw me to the sharks!"
"Haha, our crucial Bancho's in no condition to lead our study groups in this state after all."
An eerie giggle soon began to sound from the mischievous schemer of the group.
"I recognise that all round spooky giggle of ill intent… what do you have planned now?"
"Hehe… watch this… Ara, time passes so fast these days, doesn't it? Do you know what day it is today?"
"Erm… no, not really… what day is it today?" replied one of the girls lamely as she played along.
"It's the seventh of July, Tanabata! You know, the one night in the year when the star-crossed lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi get to meet up?"
The ears of the lifeless heap of hair seemed to prick up slightly, a good sign as noted by the other four friends who were talking unnecessarily noisily around her.
"Ah… and then?"
"Well, I heard that this incredibly powerful miko just moved into Naganaki Shrine and they're holding this big matsuri event for Tanabata later today. From what my reliable but anonymous sources have told me, it seems that the miko's powers are a hundred percent genuine. In fact, I myself have heard good things about her divinations, especially when it comes to the affairs of the heart. Oh, and her love curses… I mean charms are absolute all the rage now in the other public schools…"
In yet another spooky and unexplainable coincidence, the last bell for the day rang just as the mass of red hair revived and stood up abruptly, knocking her chair over in the process. Without much ado, she pulled her bag from the hooks beside her desk and dashed out of the door, colliding and jostling fiercely with another similarly revitalised bespectacled teacher who had been blankly writing notes on the board for the whole of the previous lesson.
The four girls looked at the door to the classroom blankly as it trembled in the wake of the two redheads' warpath.
"Maa… at least they're alive now…"
"Great… you're no help! Who's going to help me with Classical History now that both Fushimi-sensei and Bancho are gone? I'm allergic to sharks!"