1st August 2015

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or any of its characters, nor do I make any profit from it. This story is my only pride and (en)joy(ment).

Chapter 26: Keita: Rebirth

I was there in the operating theatre, holding Kanako's hand tightly as she screamed in pain.

Pain was not an emotion alien to me, but I cringe as I watch her in labour, about to give birth in the wee hours of the morning.

The doctors had identified that she was carrying twins; a boy and a girl.

I was happy, of course I am; but all I wanted was for her to stop screaming. Her cries as she dug her nails into my arm echoed in my ears. Looking at the pain she had to go through just to bring our children to this world hurt me more than the time when I had a dozen arrows pierced through my body in the Light Hour.

I never really wanted kids. I grew up as an orphan and my Persona, Zeus acted as my sole parent. I was sure that I was incapable of showing parental love because I never had any, and hence would make for a bad father. I didn't want the child borne out of my and Kanako's love to grow up with such a parent, and that was why I didn't want any.

There were complications, I was told.

My blood ran cold from those words.

The doctors prepared for the Caesarean. It was impossible, they said, and that this was the only way.

So they drugged her, and she stopped digging her nails into my hand. Her pained screams stopped.

It was like she had died.

I watched from the window of the operating room as they cut her up like a post mortem operation.

Despite considering myself to be fairly accustomed to the sight of fresh blood and raw flesh, it was horrifying; all in the name of bringing the new life we had created together into the world.

I suddenly recalled the phrase "Child of Satan", and now I understood why.

All I wanted is for her to be safe the moment I heard the word 'complications'. I didn't care if that meant I wasn't going to be a father anymore. I know she would fly at me in a rage if she heard me right now, but I would rather sacrifice those two lives for hers.

The first child out was the boy.

He came into the world screaming his lungs out, his body drenched in his mother's blood. On his head were fine blue strands of hair.

The first thought I had was, "That's my boy".

Maybe God had heard what I had said earlier, for the second one came out motionless.

Unlike her brother, the second baby they pulled out didn't move at all. She dangled limply in the nurse's hands without any signs of life.

I've been fighting angels since I was six when I awakened to my potential. In the ruthless environment of the Light Hour, I grew up watching people die one after another, and that was probably what helped shaped my cold heart out of an emotionless character of the Fool's arcana.

A cold heart that only Kanako could warm.

When I was in my darkest days from the relentless fighting and the constant hurdles thrown my way, Kanako pulled me out of my cold shell. Instead of judging me for my past, she saw me for who I was, and she accepted me. Before I knew it, Kanako became my world.

Now, as I stared at the nurses spanking the baby's bottom till it was a deep shade of red, I wanted to go up to them and tell them that it's pointless, for I knew that what they were holding was a corpse.

For the first time since my innocent days, I felt something from the sight of a dead body.

It was my own child after all, my flesh and blood. She even had the same blue hair that my son had on his small head.

More than that, Kanako was looking forward to the arrival of the twins. How would she become if she knew that one of the twins she carried was stillborn?

Be it in books, the slums I once lived in, or in the desperate society of the Light Hour, I had seen this scene countless times, and I knew what would happen to her.

She would be crushed, devastated by the loss, followed by depression, and then mental breakdown.

In less than a month, the Kanako I know would become a total wreck. Our young son would've literally lost his mother. Our family would be ruined.

It was a future I never want to witness.

I sat outside the operating theatre in silence, cradling my head in my hands.

Why did life have to be so cruel? I was the one with bad luck. Kanako didn't have to share that just because she ended up with me.

On the same bench sat an old woman. She was looking calm, a huge contrast to the distressed young man pacing restlessly in front of her.

I recognised them.

He was the one who'd came in with his screaming pregnant wife at the same time as I did.

Looking at where we both ended and how crappy we looked, things must not have went well for the two of us.

I suppose the Gods must've been kind to me, for this man lost his wife.

I know that sounds cruel of me to say such a thing, but his misfortune worked to my benefit.

He was now knelt down, his shoulders shaking as he cried with grief. The old woman, presumably his mother, was consoling him, saying that at least he had his daughter, the one thing that his wife had left him.

Instead, he slapped her comforting words away.

"That child is a devil! She killed her mother in order to survive! I have no such child!"

I wanted to punch him hard.

Saying that the child is a devil reincarnate just because the mother died in the process wasn't fair to the innocent young life.

I know that, because that was how my own mother died; from complications during childbirth. Coincidentally, my father died from the collapse of a building due to a strong earthquake that had occurred the very second I was born.

For the rest of my life then, I lived as the "Child of Satan" due to those coincidental string of events. From what I saw, that very same fate would play out to that baby girl if this man didn't awaken to his senses.

Long story short, the man never did awaken to his senses. He ran away shortly after screaming that he had disowned the innocent newborn as his own daughter. Once he was gone, the old lady finally shed tears.

Maybe it was because this girl shared the same fate as I did, that I decided that I would take her in.

It was perfect. This girl would replace my deceased daughter, and we'd all be happy. Nobody would have to know. I'd take her in as my own, and I'd treat her as my own. No problem, right?

But then, what would Kanako think if she found out years later that she is not her biological daughter?

I thought then, that there was only one way she could possibly find out; a DNA test.

A crazed thought entered my mind.

At that time, I was working as a researcher under the Kirijo Group on creating artificial potentials, personas, and everything Dark Hour related.

Coincidentally, my research had reached a point where it was possible to alter one's arcana by changing their DNA structure; a crucial point that later led to the extensive experiments on more orphaned children much to my regret.

All I needed to do was to infuse my son's DNA with hers, and with the help of the newest catalyst I formulated; the S-Gene-1, his DNA would override hers, carrying over his Fool's arcana as it was made to do.

To a well-informed scientist, fraternal twins of the same DNA structure would alert the entire world, but to an average layman conducting DNA tests, only numbers will appear; the percentages of similarities to the parent gene will be shown in a report, and that was all that mattered.

It was the perfect disguise.

I told myself that everything would work out fine.

While it was convenient for me, it came at a price for the young girl.

Because her DNA would be overridden to match my son's, the traits she would've inherited from her parents will lay dormant, though she retains the physical aspect. She will no longer walk down the path that was set for her, walking down my son's path instead.

In other words, I will have robbed her of her identity; her destined life.

Then again, should her destined life play out to be anything like mine, I'd rather be the one to shoulder that responsibility and give her a better life.

With full knowledge of the consequences, I unravelled her DNA structure, then infused my son's DNA into it. The untested prototype catalyst worked perfectly as theorized. I then introduced the new piece of DNA into the core of her brain, where the most important place that forms our thoughts and make us human lay.

That altered strand of DNA will spread over the other cells. The catalyst, S-Gene-1 made sure of that. Slowly, all the cells in her body will carry the new DNA structure.

All went well. Because I performed the transfusion on her in secret, nobody but Zeus and I knew of this.

To cover up the whole incident, I had Zeus pull some strings to alter the truth of the events. On paper, it became reported that the man earlier had lost both his wife and his new-born daughter, while Kanako had successful delivery of the twins.

It wasn't until a few months later that I realized the S-Gene-1 had a huge flaw.

It was the only available catalyst of the time that could bring the superior Fool's arcana to override another's, not to mention it being a mere prototype. As it turns out, the catalyst would only work assuming the overridden arcana was up till the ranks of the Magician to the Hanged Man.

Arcanas after the ranks of the Hanged Man such as Death, Judgement, Aeon, Devil, Star, and so on were more unstable arcanas with higher corrosion rates, hence resulting in an arcana leak and subsequently, overlapping personalities, else known to the average layman as a split personality disorder.

The girl I took in, which I had named Minako, was of the Devil's arcana.

To sum it up, the S-Gene-1 was ineffective against her arcana. In the end, it was nothing but an untested prototype, and should never have been used.

There was no way of changing it back, so all I could do was monitor her.

Unlike my son, who was named Minato after the place he was born in, Minako was a lot more active. I deduced that it was her original personality.

Maybe it was because of my keeping a close eye on her out of guilt, or due to her cheerful character, she grew on me more than my biological son did. I found that I doted on her more than I did on Minato, who ended up as an exact clone of myself, from my looks down to the emotionless character of the Fool's.

Kanako didn't seem to suspect a thing, and was more than happy to see me showing care for 'our' daughter.

Even though I had grown to love her as my own, it didn't change the guilt that I carried.

Every now and then, I can see her arcana flicker between the Devil's and the Fool's, and it scares me.

It scared me mainly because I didn't know how the Devil's arcana would manifest itself in the near future. I was afraid that in my selfish desire to protect her from the same fate I had, and also to protect myself from seeing Kanako turn into a horrible wreck, I had just crossed the line of what humanity should never step over and ruin her life in the process.

I felt the heavy burden of guilt for lying to both Minako and Kanako.

To make up for that, I worked hard to formulate the second version of the same catalyst; S-Gene-2.

It was one that could deal with the Devil's higher corrosion rate. While it couldn't undo the damage that has been done, it halted all further corrosions on the master DNA.

Much to my relief, it also helped stabilise her arcana. Her arcana stopped flickering in my eyes, staying put as the Fool's. However, it didn't seem to reverse the effects of the arcana leak, for she remained a cheerful child despite how Minato turned out to be.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

I discovered more and more things during my research; findings that are better left unknown.

Eiichiro Takeba was another brilliant scientist, and my junior from back in university. He was in a different research department concerning shadows, but eventually came to the same conclusion. The building of the time machine was a grave mistake.

The Kirijo Group refused to listen to our concerns, forcing Eiichiro to take his own actions in the name of righteousness. I warned him countless times not to do stupid things, for I know it would be for naught, but one night, he went and blew up the entire lab in hopes that he would destroy the mass of shadows that the Kirijo Group had amassed.

Not only did he die in vain, I took the consequence for his actions.

The amassing shadows had generated so much dark energy it formed an entity called 'Death'.

On the night when Death was unleashed, the Dark Hour awoke from its slumber, which the Light Hour had painstakingly kept it in control for decades. Naturally, Death came after me, for I was the most knowledgeable next to Eiichiro. It saw me as a threat to its existence, and sought to eliminate me.

Once again, life had to play out its worst cards for me. That night, I had taken my family out for a late movie. We were on our way home when the ground shook from the massive explosion.

When midnight approached, my biggest fears were confirmed when my car stopped, and the air turned stale with a tint of green, much to my dismay.

In the passenger seat, Kanako turned to me in a panic, asking me what was going on, but I couldn't find the right words to answer her.

We were both Light Hour persona users who were accustomed to the air of the Light Hour, and being in the inverse environment wasn't exactly the best for us.

To begin with, I wasn't familiar with the dark, greenish atmosphere of the Dark Hour. I held the potential to access the Light Hour, but with the pills made by the Kirijo's research team, anyone could enter the hidden Dark Hour temporarily. As a researcher, I had entered the Dark Hour twice, and I didn't like it one bit.

Rather, the bigger question was, why were we pulled into the Dark Hour? Was it because at that moment, space and time were distorted by Death's emergence?

My eyes soon adjusted, and I remember seeing Death and Aigis, the 7th generation Anti-Shadow Suppressant Weapon for the first time.

Still in shock, I was so mesmerized in watching the two dance across the night sky in a heated battle that it was too late for me to react when Death came hurling towards our car.

As clichéd as it was, we were fortunate that Death skidded past us.

I remember frantically trying to take my family away to safety, but Death noticed me.

One of the pillars from the ruined bridge came flying at us.

I summoned Zeus in the nick of time, who took the hit as a human shield while I hurried my family out of the car.

I had just managed to get them away from the bridge, telling them to make a run for it; to escape into a building for safety when a metal rod from the foundation of the pillar was sent flying towards my back.

Kanako saw what I couldn't, and pushed me aside.

The metal rod impaled her small body instead, and she died right before my eyes.

The sight of the dead body of the one person I loved more than anything crushed me.

My mind was blank, and my body paralyzed. I was in total denial.

I remember thinking that if this was how it felt to watch the one you loved die in front of your eyes to protect you, I would rather take the hit to protect her and die a thousand times over.

I laid her down by the roadside, muttered "good night", and charged towards Death.

It was like everything in my mind went code red at that moment.

My mind was clouded with fury, distraught and grief. I felt hot tears streaming down my face. My vision was limited to Death in front of me. As I threw every ounce of my strength out, the memories of Kanako kept replaying itself in my head.

From our days back in high school till now, I saw them all.

I was mad, for this creature who didn't even know how to think humanely had just taken my wife away from me.

More than that, I was consumed by hatred and revenge.

All my years of fighting proved themselves well as I thrashed Death, fuelled by my anger.

Even so, Death was a powerful entity, and would never go down just like that.

I was wrong when I thought Death didn't know how to think, for it did. The fact that it came for me already proved that.

It knew my weakness and went for my two kids, standing frozen over their mother's dead body.

Suddenly, I remembered the early days of when the twins were just tiny infants. I had promised Kanako I'd make her and our kids happy; I'd protect our little family. She had given me a sweet smile in return.

See? I knew you'd make a brilliant father, and I love you for that.

Kanako's words echoed in my ears, and I ran for them as fast as my feet could carry me.

How could I forget about the two of them?

Reaching them, they stared up at me with wide, frightened eyes. It was then I realized the two of them had also witness their mother's death and not just myself.

They were as devastated as I was, if not worse.

Yet, I could only think for myself, and I went on a rampage in avenging her, ignoring their safety as they stood over their mother's dead body.

I wasn't a brilliant father, I was a failure of a father.

I heard Aigis call out urgently and on impulse, I shoved Minato and Minako to the side.

The thought of protecting them now overwhelmed my desire to avenge Kanako's death. Where she is no longer here, the promise I made still was.

I felt a metal rod pierce my body precisely through my heart.

My two children stared wide eyed at me; at the rod sticking out of their father's chest.

Blood spurted out of my chest like a leaky pipe as I forced myself to keep moving and get my kids to safety, but when you're on a bridge in the middle of the highway with nothing but cars around, it was hard to do that.

I had Zeus hold Death back while I took the twins to safety.

However, one persona is no match for Death.

Back then, we weren't strong enough to defeat such a powerful being. For one, Zeus' power was significantly weakened being unaccustomed to the Dark Hour, leaving me with my fists as my biggest advantage. Against such a great entity of power, we were nothing more than pesky flies.

Death knew this, and like the sadistic bastard it is, more metal rods were sent piercing through my body.

By the time I managed to get them into a secure place behind the walls of the building at the end of the bridge, I had a bunch of rusted metal rods sticking out of my chest.

It was no scene for a child to witness.

Death must've figured out it couldn't kill me this way, for it used the power it was named for.

The last thing I saw was a ball of darkness fired at me.

My body felt like it was being drowned in acid while pulled apart in all directions. My cells retaliated, my very being wishing to wither off and die.

Even then, the pain I felt paled in comparison to the pain of losing Kanako.

As I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be so bad if I died, because then I could see her.

But no, I wouldn't die; I couldn't die. Fate must love toying with me so much that I was given a second chance at life.

A chance that came with a heavy price.

I could see my two kids crying over my death from afar. It was a natural reaction. Who wouldn't cry after witnessing the gruesome death of their parents? For children, parents are their sole support in life. Now that they are all alone in this ugly world, what's going to happen to them?

Red painted my vision, probably from my own blood. I could feel my life slipping away.

This is it, I thought. I'm finally going to die.

Then I saw him.

Whenever I view my current situation in a third person's perspective from those Flashbacks I always get, I can't help but call him a sneaky bastard.

He came when I was at my lowest. He offered me the life that I had wanted to end so many times, but couldn't due to certain circumstances.

Most of all, he offered the chance at revenge. I didn't even stop to think about anything else after hearing that word, and he knew it. Fury and grief filled me again, and with that I signed that contract.

Never would I have imagined myself signing a contract with my own blood; signing with the God of Darkness, Erebus.

But I did it anyway.

And I guess that would make me the first person who can really say that Erebus is made up of 100% asshole material.

First things first, I would say that by nature I am a good man, but my past circumstances have forced me to take the other path.

Since that night, my entire life changed. Erebus barged into my life as annoyingly as a parasite.

My attitude took a turn for the worse. Either Erebus's nightly brainwashing stuck in my head, or I had simply just reverted back to the cold, cold Keita from before. Perhaps given I'd signed half my soul to the devil, I gained half of the devil myself; the ugly personality of a devil manifesting itself in my mind as a side effect.

My memories were wiped clean. I forgot about the life I used to live, about my children, about who I used to be.

My morals flew into the gutter together with my emotions.

Physically, I became Keita 2.0 from fusing my old self with Erebus's strength, creating a beast that I would've feared myself had I been aware of my own condition.

It was like… I didn't even know myself anymore. Hell, I wasn't even aware of myself.

All I could think of was revenge, and it was the thought of disposing Death that fuelled my life. It drowned my other thoughts, affected my every decision, my actions, and my words.

Even now, the voice of Erebus is often stronger than my own. After all, I am now the equivalent of a half human, half devil.

I have truly become "The Child of Satan".

However, I don't doubt his words. We have the same goal; we intend to wipe Death, or as I learned, Thanatos, off the face of existence.

I thought it funny, considering in ancient Greek mythology Thanatos was Erebus' own child with Nyx, but I do not question it. Why should I, when Erebus is helping me accomplish what I wouldn't be able to on my own strength?

Then again, maybe I should have. At least then, I wouldn't be regretting it later.

When I woke up the day after the gruesome incident on the bridge, I was back in my bed.

Rather, it wasn't my bed.

I was back in Roppongi, the place where I had lived a traumatic childhood. While I was far from where I had "died", I was well alive now.

Nothing was different of my body. Old battle scars from my days of childhood abuse and the rough years of fighting remained as though to remind me of my roots. Across my chest was a freshly healed gash, evident from its redness in the form of a giant "X"; a new scar indicating that I had truly died from the metal rods.

It was like Erebus was trying to say, "Learn to stand from where you fell."

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I realized I couldn't remember a single thing but the word; 'revenge', a realisation that didn't bother me as it should have.

I thought of what I have to do; take revenge on Death for taking my family away from me.

Thinking back on it, maybe it was because I grew up without one that the idea of having my own family was something worldly precious to me.

Apart from that, I had no idea who my family was, or what had happened to end with my family being stolen from me.

I lost my Wild Card ability. The only persona I had left was my initial, Zeus.

But not all is lost. In exchange for the loss of my wide range of personas, I gained more physical strength, which could be seen manifesting in appearance itself. In fact, I could sense the surge of power coursing through my veins.

I also gained a new persona, Styx, along with the ability of the Double Hand; a rare ability to weld and summon two personas at the same time. Styx was a new persona I had never encountered, much less seen before, and it was a persona gained from selling half my soul to Erebus.

Like I said, it was like I'd upgraded to Keita 2.0.

That time, I just thought to myself, that this is how the power of Darkness felt like.

Vicious. Powerful. Amazing.

To a certain extent, some part of me recognised that possession of such power was not right. But any concerns were forgotten in an instant, for my new circumstances helped me to accomplish my mission of taking revenge, more so as I gained more and more strength after getting used to drawing Erebus's power.

For several years, I spent my life building up a company to extract revenge from the perpetrator; the Kirijo Group while I carried out my own research to locate Death. It was the perfect disguise.

I loathed them with all my heart, and for years after my resurrection, hatred and revenge seemed to be the only thing left in my heart.

It wasn't until I relieved Flashback after Flashback in the Light Hour that I regained my memories that way. However, the memories I relieved were stored in my head as 'knowledge', for I felt no emotion from reliving my traumatic past, or even from witnessing the death of my wife.

That was when I realised that Erebus had sealed my emotions away without my knowledge so that it would be easier to him to achieve his goal.

That realisation didn't bother me.

By sheer coincidence during my investigation of the incident by the bridge one day, I stumbled upon my children. I had been at Tatsumi Port Island in search of the remains of the blown lab, only to realise that it had been replaced with a school.

That was when I spotted a boy with striking resemblance to myself.

I had Zeus look up on that boy's backgrounds, and after conducting investigations, I confirmed him as my forgotten son.

I'd seen my children in my Flashbacks, but looking at them in real life now, I suddenly felt a strange emotion desperately reaching out to my cold heart.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling. In fact, it hurt, like someone was clutching my heart in an iron grip ready to crush me. But like a forsaken character in a comic book with the most tragic past possible, I couldn't entirely comprehend the emotion I felt.

Faced with the emergence of the family I had believed to have perished, I suddenly regained my senses. I became aware that my desire for revenge was somewhat unreal; it wasn't my true desire, but a secondary one, if not induced. Revenge remained my primary goal for the rest of my days, but not as passionately as it was before. I couldn't think of what I should be doing, but I began to wonder if what I had been doing was the right thing.

However, my realisation enraged Erebus, for it meant that all his brainwashing had been for naught. The puppet had begun to cut its strings and walk on its own. From that day onwards, the God of Darkness made sure to display his control over me. Every night, he whispered threats to me even more viciously than before; constantly reminding me that if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be where I am right now.

Sometimes I fall prey to his words, sometimes I don't. It takes a lot of mental strength to withstand the darkness Erebus tries to inject into my mind.

Because I am now fused with half of Erebus, I have a limited portion of his powers, and I hold access to a glimpse of his life as he does with mine.

Via his memories, I saw Minato and Minako battling Erebus. It wasn't until I relived all of his memories that I learnt about their previous Journeys and their time travel. But even then, the memories didn't add up, like why they were being sent back in time, or why they had to attempt to defeat the full moon shadows and Nyx to eliminate the Dark Hour.

By the time I had a rough idea about all that was happening, the Arisato Group had grown by leaps and bounds. If I wanted to, I could easily buy over the Kirijo Group.

I didn't do it.

It seems that not all of Erebus's brainwashing had gone to waste, for it was as though the idea of 'revenge' is hardwired into my brain. It was all I kept thinking of, and I wanted it done in the most painful way possible.

Even if I didn't want to, I couldn't. Without realising it, Erebus had conditioned me to think about revenge at every second of the day.

Malice would creep in often, thanks to Erebus. Impure thoughts filled every corner of my mind.

The worst part was that I often find myself agreeing with those thoughts.

If it weren't for revenge, it would be for the enjoyment of seeing people suffer like the sadist Thanatos, Erebus, the shadows, and all the angels were.

As the almighty God of Darkness, his power reigns superior to mine to the extent of being capable of giving me life. No matter how determined I am, or how stubbornly I resisted against Erebus, resistance often proves to be futile. In the end, I resigned myself to Erebus simply because it was easier that way.

Then one day, Zeus brought my children to see me.

I had watched them from afar before, but now that I am face to face with them for the first time since that incident ten years ago, I couldn't believe it.

The little boy that used to look up at me from the height of my knees was gone. Minato was now standing as tall as I was, sporting the facial features of my younger self.

The first thought I had then, was "That's my boy"; a thought identical to when I first laid eyes on his new-born self.

Standing by his side, Minako had grown into a fine lady, nothing like the playful little girl I used to watch over.

Looking at them now, I felt… glad.

I felt glad that in the time that I forgotten about them, they managed to survive the odds and grow up well.

I saw their flickering arcanas of the Fool, Death, and the Universe, and suddenly, I understood it all.

The puzzle pieces from Erebus's memories were set into its place with what I had just seen.

I felt an intense ache in my heart.

The painful memories of the gruesome incident by the bridge came crashing back to me at full force. I knew all along that my revenge was for my family, but I now clearly know why I wished for such a revenge.

The entity of Death, called Thanatos, may have killed me and robbed me of my family, but the real enemy is in fact Erebus.

Remember when I wondered why Erebus sought to kill his own child, Thanatos?

It was because Thanatos held potential to a power greater than his. Erebus wanted to safeguard his position next to Nyx, but Thanatos' presence threatened that.

Erebus' flashbacks of fighting the two was because Thanatos is now split to two parts and sealed in them. Every "past life" ended with the two siblings defeating Erebus, and the God of Darkness used every negative energy amassing from the world during that final fight to "turn back time". This "lifetime" however, Erebus has found his key to victory; me.

He knew that with me being a father to the vessels containing Death, he could easily get closer to them and slay them with Thanatos together.

I was just a tool for him to use in his plan against both of our own kin.

From that moment on, I knew that Thanatos is not my enemy; Erebus is.

As my thoughts became clearer, it became difficult for Erebus to keep his grip on me.

Aware that mental attacks are no longer effective, Erebus would take over my body at any chance he got; that is, when my thoughts are dark and cloudy where I am most vulnerable to his power. Betting on the fact that he had conditioned my mind to suit his needs, Erebus whispered convincing words to me at moments where I am likely to mistake his words as my own thoughts.

If I went against Erebus, he made sure my body knew what it felt like to die again and again. He would fill my head with an overwhelming amount of despair; despair of people from across the globe. It was overbearing, for I would remember my own despair of when I had lost everything that one night.

For the first time, I felt powerless despite having found a new reason to live for; largely due to my life support being dependent on Erebus. It is because my life force runs on his dark energy that Erebus could easily control my thoughts and my actions even if I resisted.

In fact, if he wished to, Erebus could just snap his fingers and kill me in an instant by terminating our contract under the clause of my betrayal in resistance.

But I know he will not do that, because he needs me as much as my life needs him. We both know this.

Inside, I may be a horrible wreck, but to the public, I am a successful and charismatic corporate leader. As such, known to only Zeus and myself, I am two faced; but more accurately, I am three faced with Erebus lurking in my shadow.

Quite the predicament.

The sufferings I had endured due to the conflict of interest and the struggle of power over my own will was the heavy price I had to pay in return for that second chance at life.

But I had a promise to keep, and that alone kept me resisting against Erebus.

For that reason, I cannot disclose much to the two of them. Picking my words carefully, I told them what they needed to know. Anything beyond the incident ten years ago wasn't disclosed in fear of Erebus taking over my body, because when he does, I become paralysed.

We had an agreement. Nobody must know that Erebus was lending me his power, silently residing in me and taking over my life; nobody but me.

As I end my explanation, I can see that Minako is horrified.

Minato was shell shocked, but nothing more. The one who received the brunt end of the stick was Minako.

Whatever, I thought. It's not as if I'm not used to getting hated. Over the course of my life, I had made many enemies; none of which I had paid much attention to.

After all, it was an unforgivable act.

Everyone has their right to the life they were born to, and I had taken away hers, forcing her to walk down a path that was not her own.

Just like that, Minako ran off. Minato gave me a look of disgust and gave chase, the open back of his hospital gown exposing his butt cheeks as he ran off.

It's not as if I wanted it either.

In a way, I had also saved her from the cruel life that awaited her; a life so torturous she would've wished she was never born, just like I did.

Knowing that was more than enough for me.

I didn't mind that she would end up hating me, so long as she would be free from the same suffering I went through, hopefully living life with optimism and happiness surrounding her.

I didn't mind that she would end up hating me, even if it hurts me so.

Now alone in the hospital room, I tugged on my shirt at where my heart was. Telling them a story like this greatly reminded me of the days when I told them bedtime stories.

The pain in my heart that I often felt whenever I saw them, I know what it is now that I've had proper contact with them.

It was a feeling I had forgotten, a feeling I was never shown to and never knew to have in me.

It was the feeling of unconditional parental love.

See? I knew you'd make a brilliant father.

Gods, I miss her so much.

A/N: Surprise, surprise! We have a change of POV in this chapter. I put it in such a way that if I'm writing from a character's POV, I would put the character's name before the chapter title as I have done with this chapter.

So how many of you weren't killed off by this chapter?

I apologise if you think that the plot thickened too much all of a sudden. Mind you, this chapter is a turning point for this fanfic. Shit is going to get real from now on.

But of course, the comedic aspect will remain, so fret not, my fellow readers!

Constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated.