"Minato, I don't believe that fighting with the other two leaders will help with our situation."

Mitsuru set the tip of her rapier on the floor with a soft tink. They had been trying to navigate Inoshi's temple, a giant freezer-esque place. She had been trying to avoid looking at the hanging things that blocked their way. It made a sort of a maze, so the party thought it best to split S.E.E.S. up and have the leaders lead them through.

Minato slashed his sword through one of the suspending chains, sending its contents splattering down. "I can't trust them." He stared at the floor, his knuckles white as he gripped hard onto his sword. "They're rude and brash, and I can't trust people who think with their hearts and not their brains." Mitsuru could almost understand that.

Except for the fact that she knew Kurusu and Narukami were the leaders of their teams for a reason. Even if they tended to run head first into danger, their friends trusted them. She saw no reason why they couldn't trust each other.

"That doesn't mean you can't work together with them." Mitsuru talked as the two walked through the maze. "They're leaders like you, and I don't think that we can defeat these cultists by fighting amongst ourselves." The meager Shadows they had encountered here were easily taken out by a simple attack, and the one that approached Mitsuru now was no different.

Minato watched as she slashed through it, sighing. "I still don't like them, and we beat Hokori by doing our own thing." The flat of his sword tapped, irritated, against his shoulder. "Narukami's weird friend stole my sweets too."

"Hanamura did say he would repay you for those."

Minato sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair. "And I know that weird cat of Kurusu's stole one of my candles." He fidgeted with the snap on his holster, the popping sound echoing through the maze. "I know it sounds like I'm nitpicking but this is an actual problem!"

He IS nitpicking, but I can't tell him off. Mitsuru shook her head. It still made no sense to her. "We should really keep moving. Fuuka said this place was bigger than it looked."

"And there are more Shadows too." He swept past her, pointing his Evoker at his head. Mitsuru could tell that these Shadows were stronger than the ones from before, meaning that they were getting closer to their goal. She smiled a little.

Seeing Minato operate in battle was always breathtaking. Even when he was still getting adjusted to his Persona, his fighting was smooth and powerful. And now, his skill was greater than anyone else in S.E.E.S.

With a bang, Orpheus rose from behind Minato, flames spurting from his mouth. Explosions of fire rang out through the room as they slammed over and over into the largest of the Shadows, each time it got knocked back a little further. Mitsuru wasn't going to let Minato take all the credit of course, pulling her Evoker from her hip and summoning Penthesilea.

With a snap of her fingers, ice spun from her hand and wrapped around the other Shadows. Mitsuru charged forward, her rapier gleaming in the black and white lights of the Chaos Realm. In rapid succession, she slashed through the frozen enemies, reducing them to nothing. Letting out a breath, her Persona returned. Mitsuru sheathed her sword right as a large Shadow growled behind her. She whirled around, panic starting to build in her chest.

Right before she could pull her sword back out, a blade emerged from the Shadow's body. It poofed into dust, leaving Minato standing right behind it. He was panting a bit, clearly the fight had left him a bit winded. He sheathed his sword at his hip, and tucked his Evoker away.

"These Shadows are persistent." Mitsuru dusted herself off daintily, rolling her shoulders around a bit. She could tell that they were starting to get tired, as was expected for this place. The Persona users had greater strength here, but at the cost of their stamina. She sighed. "I'm going to contact Fuuka and see where the other two groups are."

Minato grumbled a bit but sat down as she pulled a communicator from her belt. Using the power of Penthesilea, Mitsuru waited for Fuuka to respond.

"Mitsuru! Minato! I see you're doing well in making progress." The soft voice crackled to life. Mitsuru sighed again, this time from relief. "All three groups are getting closer to where Inoshi is. It shouldn't be too much farther now!"

"Excellent work, Fuuka. Keep us up to date."

Mitsuru almost shut off the connection before Fuuka let out a startled squeak. "Ah! Please watch out! There's a huge Shadow coming your way!" As soon as she spoke, the ground began to rumble from the Shadow in question. Mitsuru quickly tucked away the communicator and whipped her rapier out.

"Minato."

"Got it."

The Shadow ripped through the maze walls as it thundered towards the Persona users. Mitsuru raised her sword and ran forward. I only have Minato by my side, but that's all I need. She slashed the arm of the Shadow as she leapt over it, her eyes meeting with Minato as the two flipped in unison. Her feet slammed into the ground, pushing hard against the floor as she raced forward again. The Shadow didn't have enough space to turn around, but lashing tail would give them enough problems as is.

Mitsuru couldn't move fast enough to avoid the tail scraping against the floor, it hit her legs and sent her sprawling. She hit one of the walls hard, groaning from the impact. Her sword skittered away from her reach. Minato had managed to hold onto his sword when he flew back, landing smoothly on his feet. Anger burned in his eyes as he ran forward again.

"Grrrah!" With a cry he leapt through the air, sword gleaming with lethality. He brought it down into the tail, his aim hitting squarely in the center. It sank up to the hilt, effectively pinning the Shadow to the floor. "Mitsuru! Go for it!"

In a smooth motion, Mitsuru swept forward, picking up her rapier from the floor. She leapt up the monster, Evoker gleaming between her fingers as she summoned Penthesilea. She planted her foot on the Shadow's shoulder and flung herself over its head, her eyes narrowing in on the top. My aim never falters! She dived down, sword spearing through the Shadow's head. It screeched in pain, and a second later, her Persona's blade slammed all the way through. The screeching stopped abruptly as she Shadow split apart under the cold steel of Penthesilea's sword, falling to the ground before dissolving to dust.

Mitsuru landed and stumbled a bit, but caught herself. Her entire body ached from both the exertion and the impact, and her leg was bleeding from where the tail had hit her. Minato ripped his sword from the floor, sheathing it with finality. His face was cut and bruised, but other than that he seemed fine.

"Excellent fight, Minato." Mitsuru sheathed her rapier as well as she limped over to him. Her leg was the most injured, but a rest outside the realm ought to fix it. "Let's go see Inoshi, shall we?"

Minato draped her arm over his shoulder, giving her his support. There was a tiny smile on his face, one that cut through the maze of pain. "He'll get what's coming to him soon."

"Of course. It's what we're here for, isn't it?"