Breath was cold, clammy against his neck.
It was the echo of a familiar voice which gave him shivers and comfort. The words were usually maniacal nonsense, but what he heard made him freeze.
Sounds of struggle and Shadow Whispering drowned out. Muted vibrations warped, were mangled in blaring volume and then dropped to white noise before repeating the cycle.
"Minato-kun…"
The voice spoke his name.
…
Sachiko chewed her lip as Takaya and Jin unleashed their Persona against the remaining three members in the room. They handed her to Kishumaru, who merely watched the scene play out with grim amusement.
Throwing his head back with laughter, Hypnos' wings arched and zigzagged with gale force at Hermes. "What feeble resistance can you three give us?" Takaya's expression spread into a thin smile.
Shinjiro gritted his teeth as he summoned his Persona. Castor's horse swung its blade-like horn into one of Hypnos' wings, allowing Hermes to tuck his wings in and dive in.
With a fearsome crack, the wing dislocated. Feeling the same pain to his spine, Takaya's gasp turned into a hacked out cough, morphing again to rasping when Hermes slammed into his Persona's fragile frame.
What Junpei didn't expect, however, was the influx of negative emotion that welled up within him as Hermes backed away from Takaya's Persona—his knees shook as he felt the sheer malice and nihilism bear down on him as if the air had gained weight.
Kishimaru turned his attention to Minato and Sachiko.
She seemed still in resignation at their situation. "M-Minato?" Sachiko spoke in Shadow Whispers.
Minato looked around blearily, his hands, arms and voice shaking as he to hold his compendium. "How could it be you? What happened to you…?" he whispered.
On one hand, Minato wasn't in any condition to resist, let alone fight. On the other, there was something wrong with him, although Kishimaru didn't know what. "H-He's…!" Sachiko stifled her gasp, neck and mind flashing back to that day, just before the summer festival.
After a moment, Kishimaru asked very simply, "What?"
"It's the voice in his head…"
Ken had Nemesis face off against Moros. Hearing the faint whirring sound of Jin's robotic Persona spinning wildly with darkness and flames, Ken hopped nimbly away. The Mudoon orbs flung into Nemesis. It was commanded by Ken to counter the weakness with Hama and floated from its trajectory.
Halted temporarily by the opposing attack, the Mudoon curse pulsated and finally drowned out the seal tags before dissipating against the walls. "Zionga!" Ken called. The rings of raging Agilao were cut through by Nemesis' electrified buzz saw.
He felt burns as Nemesis passed through, making Ken flinch even as he approached Jin. The dread that pulsed through him upon contact with the leftover flames was far too noticeable.
"What… is that feeling…?" Junpei gritted his teeth as Hermes broke into mist and glass. Hate and misanthropy throbbed in his chest and in his head, spies piercing, infiltrating the corridors of his mind.
Takaya hummed as Hypnos backed off from Castor, now gathering Almighty magic around its body. Shinjiro grunted as he felt a similar, but lesser assault on his psyche; enough to make Castor pause as it completed its Fatal End attack.
For him, it was a lot more familiar. The clashing of their wills. Opposing minds, psyches and philosophies seeping into another's with every injury inflicted and upon each contact with their opponent. He vividly remembered when he sparred with Aki in the past, growing used to the burning determination behind Polydeuces' power seeking fists.
Still, Ken shrugged off the strange pain and let loose the electrical attack as he leaped towards Jin, spear poised to strike. White blue arcs of voltage scarred the air and lashed at Moros. The fear that now settled within him sowed doubt. His first major battle against the Shadows now against a Persona user, just like him.
With Shadows, it was easy. Ken's mind wasn't set on becoming a killer, even if it was manslaughter. He focused more on hitting Jin in such a way that would incapacitate him than hitting him in the first place.
Jin growled as he felt searing anguish shock his nerves, but holding onto what concentration he had left, a pulse of dark energy unleashed from Moros. Mudoon hit true into Nemesis, engulfing it in curses which took the form of arcane circles and spheres.
Dark flame enveloped it, shattering Nemesis and Ken's psyche, blowing energy out of his body. The cold animosity that Jin had for him and quite easily the rest of SEES surged through his mind, making him only capable of the slightest movements in his stunned state. He couldn't even concentrate on making Nemesis use a Diarama spell.
Revolvers and pistols were not his area of expertise. In fact, he rather preferred the large area of effect that bombs and other incendiaries gave him. However, Jin, now retrieving such a pistol from within his jacket, knew that even they weren't the most efficient methods of killing. It was pointed squarely at his shivering opponent. He tried putting up a fight, but hell if the kid was just unlucky—Moros specialised in the Mudo branch of spells which happened to be his Persona's weakness.
Shinjiro looked between Junpei, now regaining his bearings; Hypnos and its new attack; and his downed teammate. "Junpei, get your ass back in gear before his Persona blows us to smithereens dammit!"
As much as he would hate to admit it, he couldn't handle both dire situations at the same time. Castor rushed towards Jin with a hollow roar. Even though Jin's Persona had been dismissed prior, he wasn't concerned. Seeing the attack telegraphed from a mile away, he managed to jump away from Castor, unscathed.
Junpei barely registered his senpai's warning and the dangerous humming of a Megidola spell. He wasn't close enough to Takaya yet. At this point, if he could make him lose his concentration or something like that, it would be the safer option.
Hermes swooped towards Takaya and although he saw the attack coming, he barely managed to get away. With a few scratches, Hypnos only flickered for a moment. He didn't expect the Agilao that hit him from behind once Hermes had stopped. Letting out a yell of pain, Hypnos shattered, along with its attack.
Ken looked on in stupor at Castor and the quickly retreating Jin. His vision felt muddier as he struggled to retain consciousness. His brain had been trying to hide something from him, now resurfacing in fuzzy static as the tint of the Dark Hour clouded it, barely muffling the screams of his mother's voice.
"Interesting…" Takaya laughed, his barks fading as he held up his revolver and shot at the now rushing Junpei.
Blindsided by his prowess and the speed of his bullet, it pierced into the side of his torso, now bleeding profusely. He let out a strangled gasp, concentration on the grip of his katana quickly slipping from his fingers. Junpei pressed one of his hands against the wound, flinching as agony shot through him.
Takaya had surely been injured by the burns of Hermes' Persona; it was more or less even, depending on how Jin would be able to deal with their old benefactor.
…
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. A cacophony composed of his heaving chest, heartbeat, the pounding in his ears and the all too familiar voice speaking odd dulcet tones amongst it all was at its chorus. Minato swallowed back his saliva and blood. "I-I'll… Yes… You're right… Arcana Hermit… Attack those three…" he whispered, his eyes glazing over as he held out his compendium and set the full moon Shadow free.
"Psychosis or not, this is turning out better than I expected. I never thought Minato-kun would take such a proactive role in his team's downfall." Kishimaru folded his arms even as he felt Sachiko stare at him like a caged animal.
Sachiko licked her dry lips. "Y-You can't be serious. Minato's mental state is making him completely unpredictable! He could hurt the others… and himself!"
The form of the transformed Arcana Hermit bloated from page form into the black and crimson chrysalis. With an ear splitting roar, the Shadow emerged and prowled towards the engaged Persona users like a wolf stalking its prey. "Magarula…"
The two still in the fight, found it was impossible to ignore the Shadow. Junpei braced himself and Shinjiro immediately went to cover Ken. If the others weren't able to help them, then they'd all be screwed.
Arcana Hermit spun its sceptre, whirling with an unprecedented speed and ferocity that hadn't been seen from the lumbering Shadow prior. The wind spell grew fiercer as spiritual power was injected into it.
"Io! Heal and protect Junpei!"
The impossibly strong wind blast arched around Takaya and Jin, clearly aiming for Shinjiro and Junpei. A familiar Persona took the hit however, before casting a quick Diarama spell to quell his anguished torso. As she burst in, Yukari didn't look overly hurt or fazed by the attack, but seemed to be running low on stamina.
With the fight outside, they'd used up a considerable amount of energy dealing with the hordes of Shadow. Their ichor created a sea of inky blackness above, pooling about Paulownia Mall's fountains.
Shinjiro was knocked aside by the powerful wind attack, only to be met by Akihiko and Mitsuru, both with their Personas out. He felt some of his energy return after Penthesilea's healing wave, while Akihiko attended to Ken. "What took you so long…?" Shinjiro scowled as he struggled to his feet.
"Mazionga," Minato whispered.
Koromaru jumped nimbly from the thunderbolts while Aigis blasted her shells into Arcana Hermit with her dodge.
"There was an unusual amount of Shadows outside… It took some time to…" Mitsuru took deep breaths as she turned her attention to Takaya, Jin, Arcana Hermit and the rest of the group huddled near the back of the basement.
Shinjiro scoffed. "I was kidding. We already know."
"What happened? Why isn't Minato-kun fighting with you guys?" Yukari asked Junpei. As Takaya fired off his revolver, Io used a Garu spell to deflect the projectile, rendering it harmless.
Junpei gritted his teeth. No. He wasn't doing this because he wanted to. He was doing it because he felt like he didn't have a choice. "They took that girl hostage and if he didn't join them, they'd… probably…"
"Those…!" Yukari gritted her teeth as Hypnos blared from behind Takaya in a blast of red light.
"Can you confirm, Yamagishi?" Mitsuru asked, sending ice at Jin with her Bufula spells. They exploded in a flurry of cold, countered by the rings of Agilao sent by the now spinning Moros.
Fuuka gave a response of affirmation. "In fact, he even fought against them until Sachiko-chan was brought here…" She sighed. "None of your opponents have any weaknesses! However, Jin's Persona repels fire and blocks darkness!" Fuuka informed. She had to focus. Lucia had finally been able to scan the members of Strega.
What was most odd, however, was the energy that Arcana Hermit seemed to be sharing with Minato. It was almost as if it was siphoning his spiritual energy to power its own attacks—even if it was a second tier spell, it appeared to have the strength of a third tier one.
He ran and leapt towards the Arcana Hermit, stripping Shadows from the compendium and morphing them into shields, marked by their Rampage Drive-like appearances. Aigis' rain of bullets barely left dents in them and seeing Koromaru summon Cerberus, Minato summoned Sati to counter the Agilao billowing towards the much larger Shadow.
The flames whirled into Sati's body, engulfing her, then dying out, leaving her unscathed. "Diarama." Green-white light covered Arcana Hermit, healing the wounds that Hermes and Aigis had inflicted on it earlier.
"Minato-san! Please come to your senses!" Aigis called. Koromaru barked repeatedly, trying to reach Minato's ears. Knowing that he was a good person, he didn't want him to hurt the other humans living with him in the dorm.
If he ignored them or simply couldn't hear, no-one knew. "Unleash your power!" Minato whispered. Arcana Hermit roared as it felt his Persona's energy revitalising it and responded to his will. The generator on its back had cords of lightning coursing into it, flashing brightly as it cut through the darkness.
Fuuka gasped. "Everyone! It's gathering power for an attack through those cables attached to its back! Maybe if you disable them, you can slow that Shadow down," she informed.
Hearing her explanation loud and clear in their minds, Penthesilea made a beeline towards one of the many cords, slashing them apart with swipes of her rapier. Grasping cables of electricity soon fell lifelessly on the floor, cutting off part of the Hermit's source of power.
Shinjiro frowned as he and Akihiko stared Jin down. Both of them had been weakened already. It was a question of who would be able to outlast the other. Knowing that, Jin knew that he was at a disadvantage; Shinjiro had no problems with close quarters combat with his close range weapon, while Jin had a revolver and incendiaries to rely on. He appeared to be a stamina and strength based Persona user with no apparent weaknesses for him to exploit. That and he had a second, unknown Persona user to worry about.
With the stubbornness of a mule, Shinjiro raged forth with his Persona. "Fatal End, Castor!" Moros and Castor were about to meet mid-air.
Knitting his eyebrows together, Jin realised that the best chance he had was to distract them. Throwing a bomb down, the three's vision was obscured by an acrid plume of smoke.
"Argh…" Coughing madly to get the hot, poisonous air out of his lungs, Shinjiro and Castor were paused. Shinjiro in particular, was now backing away from the smoke.
Smiling to himself, Jin immediately commanded Moros. It threw flurries of shadowy orbs upon them, while he managed to steady the hammer of the gun against the palm of his hand. Disoriented and unable to see, let alone dodge, the revolver let loose.
Castor, bombarded by the Mudoon spell, struggled to stand against the onslaught of darkness—the pain was transferred to his master.
Ken bit back a yelp of pain as Nemesis shattered. The two bullets stuck fast into his Persona, but didn't let a single one go through. He was knocked unconscious onto the floor.
"Tch…" Jin clicked his tongue. They were running out of time.
Shinjiro registered what had just happened. "K-Ken…!"
Yukari and Junpei faced the struggling Takaya together, determined to end the fight. "H-Hey Yuka-tan… remember that trick you and Minato pulled on the monorail?"
She gritted her teeth. How could she forget? "What about it?" Io floated above Yukari, now gathering a ball of wind in her hands. "No, don't tell me." It completely destroyed the Priestess Shadow with their combined spell power.
Seeing that she'd caught on, Junpei grinned and summoned Hermes, gathering a sphere of heat and flame in front of the two Persona users. "Agilao, Hermes!" he commanded.
As Takaya struggled to regain his bearings from the burns inflicted upon him and the recent Garula spell, he heard the hum and roar of magic heading towards him. "Hypnos…!" he growled, sending a quickly charged Megido to meet the attack.
"Garula!" The wind and flame blasted at Takaya in a rampage, quickly filling the basement with heat. Embers flew from the combined spell, overpowering Takaya and Hypnos. The Persona descended in front of Takaya, taking the hit.
The pain came in droves, making Takaya double over and Hypnos completely shatter. Holding his head in his hands, mind crushing pain assaulted him, sending shivers—his body writhed as it struggled to overcome it.
"I thought you were better than that, Shinji!" Akihiko looked tired, but much fresher than Shinjiro. As his Persona disrupted Moros with a Sonic Punch, he heard Shinji mutter a 'screw you' in response. Jin felt the pain also, staggering as if he was hit by Polydeuces' right straight.
The Mudoon spells spilled about as Moros spun and dissipated, sending the curses flying at the walls and floor. Sparking electricity died out as they damaged the cords—the cords connected to Arcana Hermit.
…
Fuuka began sensing something else; something other than the struggle occurring in Club Escapade's basement and the dying web of electricity that Arcana Hermit was feeding on.
Quietly, avoiding being stained by the remnants of Shadow, she stepped towards her. Medea's life masking energy was strong, but at a close proximity, any sensor would be able to detect stronger presences.
"Medea…" The Persona came to her aid, flashing with energy as she activated Mind Charge. Quickly approaching Paulownia Mall, Fuuka turned to face her.
She immediately communicated to her fellow members, "There's another Persona user!"
That was all she was able to say before a mind charged Agidyne exploded Lucia to shards of glass, sending her to the ground. Fuuka looked up in horror at Medea, glancing at Chidori who towered over her, chain and hand axe dangling from her hand. "You. You must be their sensor. Do exactly as I say… or…" Her weapon shifted.
She immediately understood. "W-What do you want?" Fuuka stammered.
"Summon your Persona."
…
"T-The end of the Dark Hour is a-approaching," Fuuka spoke into her team's ears. "Y-You have to w-withdraw…" she struggled to explain.
"Yamagishi! What happened?!" Mitsuru exclaimed.
"O-Oh um…" She paused for a moment. "The Persona user attacked me… and if you don't stop trying to fight against the Dark Hour, they'll kill me…" Fuuka's voice dropped to a whimper, followed by a gasp.
They all felt a pit of dread form in their stomachs. They'd been overwhelmed and lives were most certainly at stake. Akihiko furrowed his brow as he looked at Mitsuru, cursing under his breath.
"Giga Spark." Arcana Hermit let loose a roar and with its body as the nexus, a bright flare of electricity erupted from it. Excruciating pain burned away at their nerves, making it near impossible to stifle their cries of pain as racing bolts of lightning ran through their systems.
Akihiko groaned, "M-Mitsuru!" Despite his resistance to electricity, even he was shocked by the attack. Yukari and Aigis were knocked out of commission and the others were in no better condition.
"W-We have to retreat," she rasped, struggling to her feet. Koromaru whined, swaying and shuddering as he did the same.
Taking that as their cue to escape, Jin ran over to Takaya and rushed from the basement as fast as he could. "Minato! You have to stop!" Sachiko shouted, struggling out of Kishimaru's grip. Realising that her normal voice wasn't reaching him at all, she switched to Shadow Whispers. "Please! It's over! We have to go!"
He gritted his teeth, giving a look to the other three Shadow Whisperers. They began whispering to Arcana Hermit, who was shaking in place and beginning to shrink in size.
…
Breathing heavily, the spiritual tether forged between the two of them cracked, splintered and fragmentised. Minato shook his head as he felt some of his power flood back into his system, now noticing how Arcana Hermit had shrunken into a much smaller size.
Looking between the Shadow Whisperers, the downed members of SEES on the ground barely conscious and twitching on the ground and the Shadow, he sighed. "We have to go!" he heard Sachiko whisper.
Barring his teeth, he compressed Arcana Hermit into page form and summoned it back into his compendium. Eventually, he too, left the scene, mind, heart and hands heavy with pre-emptive blood.
This was all he was good for.
Edited: 14/12/16
AN: Not much to say! Just a few fixes this time to make Sachiko more empathetic towards Minato, reflecting the changes I made in earlier chapters. The fight scene was still pretty solid too, so I didn't really do anything too drastic; everything's mostly the same. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter!