Little Busters: Persona Intertwined
Chapter 32: The Great Goddess, Izanami...
...At the end of Yomotsu Hirasaka... ...
...Riki lies before this place, with him slowly regaining consciousness, with fog all around him, and then... ...he looked about, wondering where this place is... ... "This is... ..." By the way, it seems he's in his "Yami Riki" mode at the moment, and then... ...
"Congratulations in making it this far," A voice amidst the fog, said. Alarming Riki, at that, as the fog cleared out, revealing a robed woman or not with a godly presence about her, and she seems to be... omniscience. "This place is the realm of the gods, something that a mere mortal may not pass, until they give in to their subjugation of our own esteem—our judgement, as we glorify that of that what man may desire, such as that vile and misgiving such as truth, you would only damn yourself into the depths of bedlam of the torment, and that of... hahahahahahahahahahaha-! Like a lamb that has lost its way, this girl before me... ..." ...Mio is right behind Izanami, much to Riki's shock, and wondered why she's here-; though, he did followed her trail, after she, too, was sucked into the tv world. Well, if you could put it that-; "Like mortals would cling to the whims of their own perceived religion, they carry marry burdens on them, do they... ...? Like the distress that one encounters on one's everyday's life, one can see the vast universe, by simply looking-!;" Izanami's crimson-like colored-eyes, glowed all of the sudden, and then... ...Riki felt some sort of vines—dark vines—that penetrating through his eyes, ears, nose and mouth-;
"Gwaggch-! Gwaaaaaaggggggccggchaagch-!"
...Then, there was only blackness... ...and faceless cards, about... ...Like the back of the cards represent that of dark and the other of light, then, the omniscience voice of Izanami resonated... ... "This vast universe is that of the background of each cards that is laid before the possibilities laid before, one card already have a backside, such as light and darkness, through this, man stand above all creations, and thus, came the stars and the planets, and atop all creations, humans stand above all creations, creating many new possibilities, and culture is evolved into various forms-; eventually, humans would discover the existence of that of which that detests the truth—Shadows."
"What... ...?" Riki, with dark vibes passing still through his nose, mouth, ears and eyes, said in response to this kind of sermon speech, of the great goddess, Izanami, and as such... ...;
"This girl... do you know, that she is filled with malice, and that of bedlam of delusion, where even then, even she couldn't fathom the "dark" of the heart's desires in her heart, and she paid... ...the ultimate price, such is the way, that it seems mortals have foolish natures of being able to give up to their own misgivings of desires, and their desire to see to it, that their own version of fiction and reality, is what stands atop their own miserable misgivings of burden, and that of endless desires, to where only there is that of terrorism, discrimination, and that of, haha, lust, lust of desires, egotistical darkness flow, and that, the "dark" of the heart will eventually devour them, and to that, it would seem that the only thing that awaits the mortals in their final plight, is for how they realized they cannot atone so easily for their foolish pride, in stepping into that of which is forbidden-!; You can only, after all, know a fine number of people in this life time. But humans disregarded this fact, and tried to know much people beyond their scope, and this chaotic world that you see before you... ...is the byproduct of that... As I said, your desire is for a world, shrouded in fog-!" The goddess snarled, towards Riki's direction—who removed the vines around his face, forcefully.
"...What are you getting at... ...?" Riki asked, not falling to the temptation aura about this place, which he is noticing and feeling, 'What is this... ...? This painful aura... ...this fog... ... ...it encases you, telling you not to leave, telling to embrace the desires of the "dark" of the heart, and to that... ...is this... ...' Riki stares into the demonic eyes of Izanami, then, all of the sudden—
"Riki-!" Masato, Kyouhei, Kengo and Makoto arrived at the scene, in which before then... ... ...
...
...Flashback... ...
...The guys find themselves at the entrance of Yomotsu Hirasaka, the underworld where the great goddess, Izanami, is said to be entombed, and a boulder was sealed to locked this place up, but it seems... there is no boulder right now, Makoto, who is the first to regain consciousness, looked up at the entrance, beside him, Kyouhei, is also bewidlered by the grand scenery of this place...
"Wha... What is this place... ...?" Kyouhei asked, to which Makoto responded... ...
"The realm of the gods," That baffled Kyouhei, a bit, as Makoto remained expressionless, as usual. "We may be somewhere, where we are not meant to, to that, it would seem that our own persona powers might come in handy, in here-;" He noted.
"Oh man, I feel like I've been hit by a cart, oh man, since when did that crazy Kengo appeared out of nowhere, and out of the sudden-;"
"Hey, I was hit by a "confusion" spell by a Shadow, one that lacks manners and that of gentleman habits of being well-mannered masochists-!" The latter, Kengo, retorted to Masato's statement, which they seem to have been thrown—or fell out of this—of this place, as well-;
"Hey, are you guys okay...?" Kyouhei asked,
"Ah, we're fine. But... Where is this place... ...? And... man, it's hazy... ..." Masato said, standing up, as well as Kengo, with them being wary of this place, since this fog... ...is not normal, as they can feel like it's trying to engulf them, as of right now, then... ...they had a sensation of a goddess, and Riki, at the same time, at something that is similar to a foresight vision-;
"...That was... ...You might think I'm being nonsensical here, but I think... ...I just had the urge to run up to the end of this... shrine, of some sort, and there... ...Riki is waiting there... ..."
"... ..." Makoto stepped forward, and looked ahead... ... ...but visibility is 0, and this fog... ...is not normal, and Makoto spoke up-; "We better stir clear away from this fog, unless, something here may be wise enough to embrace their own dreams and desires, and at that... ...their own "dark" of the heart will speak for itself-;" He said, warning the guys not to give in to temptation, behind his own words... ...
...
...Later on, and back to the present, at the end of Yomotsu Hirasaka... ...
...The boys take their breath, "Riki!" Masato exclaimed, as they all stared at the great goddess, Izanami, as well, as Mio, who is held captive, and is surrounded by a barrier-; "Riki-! What the heck is going on here-!?"
"Never mind that, look at that-! Nishizono-!" Kengo exclaimed, at the sight of Mio being held captive,
"Hey, never mind her for now, I think we're the ones... ...in danger... ..." Kyouhei nervously said, as Izanami just surrounded—or poured out fog from her body, and it shrouded the entire place-;
...
... ...
...The fog is really dense and rather dark at its atmosphere, painful, in fact-;
"...Ugh... Man, it's hazy... ..." Kengo said, looking around nervously.
...Right then, they heard something like an out-of-place sound, all of the sudden—before the fog, that is now clearing is, Izanami-no-Mikoto-!
"Whoa, she's huge-!" Kyouhei exclaimed in mild surprise, as they just stand and stand bewildered at the sight of the great goddess, Izanami, with Mio floating behind—right behind—her, and seems to be intent on keeping her as hostage, to provoke them, perhaps...
"Now, for this matter, I can't no longer stand this idleness as mere foolishness. ...This may be fate as decreed by the world, and... ... ...the coming of the maternal being is upon us, now, for those of you who have lived in strife, and turmoil-; Be the opening act-! For in this, era, where gods have reigned for the mortals supremacy on based merits of fiction, and that of fact. Where the eyes of truth, of that of love... ...can they conquer the fog that stands before them, now, come, sinful sons of man-!"
*Battle Commence*
...The great goddess stands before them, in this midst of the realm of the gods, Yomotsu Hirasaka, where then... ... "Knowledge of the truth, is not everything... ... ...yet drunk with truth, you have exceeded that of the expectations of beyond the gods have imagined, and that of... ...now, learn for yourselves, if you can overcome that of the strife and turmoil-; or even, the Death itself-!"
"Gr, your big speech is over, goddess-! Now, I think it's time to deliver the one's in a pain-!" Kyouhei, enraged at her mockery, initially, and being the first, strike at her, using his persona, Jiraiya, which he summoned by summoning a card in mid-air, and punching it out-;!
*Buuunncghhcgtch*
-A barrier has prevented the attack, *Counter*, as it seems, which sent Jiraiya flying out or back,
"Hmph," Makoto summoned a persona card, crushed it, and summoned forth, Sraosha, the virtue angel, which sent out waves of beams towards the goddess, though, another barrier is cast, making the attack useless, and since Makoto is immune to light attacks, the attack is nulled.
"Bastard-!"
"You won't get away-!" Both Masato and Kengo decided to take her head-on, which they summoned their respective personas, by the usage of evoker, which is Giant Soldier of Stone, and Yoshitsune, that they then continued to relentlessly attack the lower part of Izanami, to no avail, as Masato's punches, cannot seem to reach her, for some reason—like a barrier is stopping his every punches.
Kengo is having a hard time, as well, as Izanami seems to be impregnable, "Then, I'll use... ...Hassou Toubi!"
*Hassou Toubi*
-;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;!
"... ..." Riki then summoned forth vast gathering of blue fog, pointed the evoker at his temple, BANG-!
-And summoned forth, Red-eyes Black Dragon-! Which snarled at the goddess, then, it soared viciously above, preparing a meteorite attack-;
*Dark Mega Flare*
"GROOOOOOOAAAAAARRGGRGCCH-!" *BLAAAAAAAASSSCCGCHTGCH-!* It fired a meteorite blast towards the goddess,
-BOOOOOOOOOMMMGGCHRGCH-!
-Red eyes soared behind Riki, with the others gathering around him, only to see... ...the goddess unharmed,
"What's the matter... ...? Did you intend to defeat me with such feeble strength... ...?" The goddess mocked, which irritated some of them-;
"Dammit, why can't we beat her!?" Kyouhei exclaimed, taking a bit of steps forward;
"That's because, it's HER underworld-!" Makoto exclaimed back,
"Gr, hey, if anyone has a bright idea, anything will do now-!" Masato said, after everyone has taken some steps backward.
"For once, I agree with this idiot, even though he's acting out of character, right now, though." Kengo said, sarcastically.
"You think that's the better time for this-!?" The latter retorted.
-Now it's the goddess's turn to make an attack, *Maziodyne*, which she sent out waves of lightning bolts from above, this place-; which created massive chaos, all over there-; BOOM, BOOOM, BOOOM, BOOOOOOOOMM-! ...Now that was real demonstrative of a goddess's power-;
"Damn it-! We're not going down, that easy-! We've been training, groaghing, groaghing, groaghing, groaghing-! For us to lose, we're not—"
"What the heck does that mean... ...?" Kengo, who felt stupefied by his quote just now, asked in ridicule manner.
"Haha, you mortals seem to be always good for laugh, haha." The goddess said, chuckling, at their jokes—or attempted jokes—at that.
Masato, not backing down, from her mockery, "Oh, yeah-! Here, take this, take this, TAKE THIIIIISSS-!" *Multi-Strike* Masato just sent out a bunch of forces that were sent towards the goddess's direction—
"Gr, I'm not backing down either, hiyaaaahh-!" Kengo lunged forward, then, pulled out his evoker, and pointed it at his temple-; then, BANG-!, pulled the trigger, summoning Yoshitsune, once again,
-;Slaaassh-;! -;Slaaassh-;!
"Hgyaaaagh-!" Kyouhei lunged forward, summoning his persona in the process, and goes to *Brave Attack* the goddess, once again-;
Makoto and Riki do the same, with them, launching the same kind of attack again, which seems to have dealt a critical-; but no effect; -on the goddess, which was enough to despair the boys.
"Gr, at this rate... It would impossible to defeat Izanami... ..." Riki said, as if surrendering to his fate,
"Ah, at this rate... This goddess is impregnable, somehow... ...Hm, perhaps... ..." Makoto said, trying to observe the goddess,
'Hm, what should we do... I...' As Riki is in deep thinking...
"Riki-kuuun-!" Midori Nishizono suddenly appeared once more, before Riki, inside his own psyche-;
"Huh... M-Midori-san!" Riki exclaimed, to which the latter just winked at him,
"Did you missed me? I'm back-!"
...
"Midori-san, what are you... and where... ..."
"Riki-kun, you cannot help my Sister if you remain in that kind of regimen, you need to do something unexpected! Like... Hm," She put a finger at the side of her head, pondering, "Like... ...do something you usually would, hehe~~" She said, with a pointed finger towards Riki, which baffled the latter, as Midori suddenly disappeared in thin air, and right then, she appeared beside Riki, holding or hugging him from behind, "At this rate, my sister will be forgotten... ...like she has wanted for some time, during our childhood, it's always like that, someone like feels like disappearing from the memories of others, and right now, even your own memories of Mio are fading, like that-;" She said, as if about to smooch Riki's cheeck—which she just pecked at his cheek,
"Eh...!?" Which caught Riki off-guard, as he just touched the spot where he's been pecked at, then, Midori looked him mischievously. "... ... ..."
...
...
...Riki's focus is reverted back to the situation they're in—with the goddess standing in triumph before them-; until, FLaaaaaaaaaSSHH-! Suddenly, a white orb is found in Riki's pocket, which he brought out, much to curiosity and wonders of the other boys, which they looked upon at-;
"R-Riki, what is that...? Some kind of... glowing gem... ...?" Masato asked,
"Idiot, it's an orb." Kengo corrected, though, not necessary.
"Orb, gem, it's all the same necessary to me. Hey, Riki, what are you... ..." Masato said unfinished, as Riki stepped forward, with an Orb of Truth, and let it fly away from his grasp, which also-;
-BLuuuuuuuuuuuRRRRRGGUUCGCH-! Which caused some massive accumulation of red fog, around the goddess—
"Very well, allow me to show you my full splendor." The goddess spoke up, in a creepy tone, as she just stands... ...tall, quite creepy, and very grostique, as she just rose up as Izanami-no-Okami-! "I... am a god. I'll teach the truth of your miniscule existences."
"What the heck...!?" Masato asked, taking a step back at the gigantic figure before them-;
"Is this your true form?" Makoto asked,
"You cannot defeat me with strength alone, this time, you will realized this." Izanami-No-Okami spoke up,
"... ..." Riki stepped forward, which alarmed both Kengo and Masato,
"Riki-!" "Riki!"
...Riki kept moving forward, and the great goddess, Izanami-No-Okami, snarled towards his direction—
"The stage is already set for your demise, I'll end your lives here." She said, snarling towards Riki's direction as he approached her, gradually... ...
*Thousand Curse*
...All sort of dark hands, that are the hands of Yomi, burst out of the ground, and tried to drag Riki, only to find that they cannot touch him-;
"...Wha...!? That's...! Impossible, can the will of so few, surpasses the will of ALL mankind-!?" The great goddess, Izanami-No-Okami, had her expectations surpassed now-; "How do you defy that-!? The blissful ignorance, the levity of the fog of reverie, all of that... ...shall be that... ...of the levity of the anchor of will, that will drag man to their own oblivious desire of tranquility, and that of "Void"! Where is this strength coming from, we shall be the ones to deliver that of the will of manking, for the "good of all, mankind", this shall be done-!"
"...You're not the one who decides that." Riki denies the goddess's claim,
*Oho Ikazuchi*
...Various thunder strikes appeared out like pillars all over the place, signifying the omniscience presence of Izanami-No-Okami, and all of them were directed towards Riki,
*-FlaaaaaaaaaaaassHH-!*
-But then, Riki summoned Red-eyes to protect himself, while the others took cover from the thunder strikes, all over, with them covering themselves, at that-;
-Makoto looked ahead, and saw Riki still going ahead, with them looking at him, and then, the goddess, Izanami-No-Okami, sent out more lightning strikes, to which they are deflected by Riki, even more-;
"You intend to defy me-!?" The goddess snarled, again, sending out more lighting strikes, and then-;
*-FlaaaaaaaaaaaassHH-!*
...Riki summoned a familiar card, which he actually summoned before—that is, *-FlaaaaaaaaaaaassHH-!*
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRR-!" Blue-eyes Shining Dragon—the strongest form of the White Dragon, which has aided Riki beforehand-; during that conflict with Diablos Diabiolical, once again, it comes to Riki's defense, once again-; "GROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRR-!"
*Oho Ikazuchi*
...The great goddess sent out another wave of thunder strike-; but-;
*BLAAAAAASSCHTCH-!* "GROOOOOOOOAAAAARRR-!" Blue-eyes Shining Dragon dismissed the thunder strike, with *Galaxy Curse Breaker* which nulled the attack-;
*-FlaaaaaaaaaaaassHH-!*
-Blue-eyes's shining eyes—glowed, all of the sudden, which it sent out pillars of light that destroyed a portion of the goddess, as a burst of sphere of light emanated, and engulfed the goddess, making it feel pain, and that of utter intense power from the White Dragon-;
-Then, Riki gestured his hand towards the goddess, "Go, Blue-eyes Shining Dragon, Shining Nova-!" Riki beckoned the White Dragon, to attack ahead on-;
"GROOOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRGGCCGHCGH-!" Blue-eyes let out a roar of pride, before being burst in white elastic light about him, which then, that elastic wave of light is sent towards the great goddess, Izanami-No-Okami, and the entire place is engulfed by blinding, elastic light-; which obliterated the goddess, once and for all-; "GROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRGGCCGHCGH-!" Blue-eyes disappeared in sight, as Riki is still gesturing his hand towards the goddess-;
"...Is this your answer, you would refuse what I offer... ...?" The goddess asked, as she feels her presence ending, now.
"...You should figure that out, yourself." Riki simply said, putting down his hand,
"...Very well, then, try to live your way, power enough to erase my existence, you have already surpassed what I thought humans were capable of, and you have lifted the fog in this world, as well as your own... and whether that will lead to girl's happiness or not... rest upon your shoulders." The great goddess said, referring to Mio, who has suddenly re-appeared, though she is surrounded by a dark sphere that is keeping her at bay-; Then, Izanami begun to emanate lights that she is now fading away, "...Children of man, well done-!" She said, before lifting into mid-air, then, started to disintegrate...
...With a last grunt, that is her echoing voice, Izanami ceased to be, and then, Mio is released from the sphere, as the entire place also disappeared, resulting in it—or rather, the environment—changing into that of the underwater or seawater level, where Mio herself is seen to be getting dragged to the water level below, and she reached out... ...
"Am I... ...drowning... ...this place... ...Where am I... ...Where am I... ..."
"...Twilight is upon us... ..." Riki's voice echoed, making Mio have a very surprised expression upon hearing it, and sees a sphere-like lighting above, which is like the sun... ... "And soon, night must fall... ..." ...Riki appeared to be also "drowning" in this sea body, where he is near Mio, and then... FLAAAAAAASH-! Another lighting emanated nearby, and there-Midori Nishizono appeared, and spoke with her Sister after a long while, at that-
"Sister, Mio, hmph, you have changed... but, not now,we can't be together just as of yet-but, we'll always be together-but of course, we weren't always like that-as in both of us were together, we were always together, and even now, but... it all changed,didn't it... ...? You may believe that change is necessary... but... I don't want things to change... that is why... everything is... ...staying... in the present... ..." With that, a sight of Midori flying overhead, and Mio, cannot stand it for her Sister to leave, reached out... ... ...
"M-Midori...! Sister...! Midori-!" Before her, there was only darkness... ...yes, night has fallen, and this is... ...gentle darkness... ... "I feel... ...serene... ..." Mio said, as the gentle embrace of the darkness of the night embraces her, and she goes further down this sealevel, until-There is a lighting at the end of this current, where then, even Riki, turned around and swam towards it, going towards Mio's direction, as well-; with them getting together-;
"Naoe-san... ..." Mio said...
"... ..." Riki, who is back to his usual personality, didn't say anything and just swam towards the lighting, with him holding Mio's hand-; which she felt the same kind of gentle embrace of the darkness of the night from his gentle, dark, hand... ... with them swimming towards the light, together-
...FLAAAAAAASH!
...
...At the Yakuma isle beach shore... ...
...
...Mio found herself back at this place, with Riki standing to the side, and also... ...the boys are also here, with them getting washed up at shore side, then-;
"""Mio-!""" "Nishizono-san-!" The others, all of the girls-female members, of Little Busters-came running towards them, and Kyosuke came as well, to join up with the boys, but amidst all of this happy welcoming back celebration-;
"... ... ..." Riki turned around, and walked away, with him feeling out of place of this situation, something that Makoto and Kyouhei themselves felt, and so, they turned to each other, and left as well... ...
...Mio is being welcomed back, after being rescued, then, she noticed something amidst... "Huh... ...?" ...Riki is going back towards the manor, where he seems to be not in the mood for talk, or even a slightest conversation right now, as he seems to deem himself out of place here, so it matters not, now it's back to his lonely demeanor and lonely lifestyle, once again-; "Ah... ... ..." ... ...Mio kept staring at his direction, until he was no longer in sight... ... ...
End of Chapter 32