In this chapter, Tao and Sahori will be reunited. And no, Sahori will not be reunited with Lahmu. That scene was messed up. At least not yet.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
And yes, it's going to be heartwarming.
But there's also going to be a giant snake.
You probably already know which one that is.
Chapter 8: Reunited
Yosuke and Sahori discovered an oasis.
"It would be nice if we had some swimsuits. We could go swimming in that." remarked the magician.
"Yeah. We could." nodded the devilish girl.
That honestly sounded like fun.
And there weren't any demons around, so they would be safe.
It would also allow themselves to cool off.
Fortunately, she discovered that there was a swimsuit store nearby.
"That's pretty convenient, don't you think?" asked Sahori.
Yosuke nodded.
"I'm starting to question whether humans used to live here. But there's no humans in sight." explained the redhead.
"Yeah, it's weird." nodded the boy.
Where did they all go?
"Maybe this was a world where humans used to live…but somebody replaced them with demons." noted Sahori.
"I wonder what our world is then." spoke Yosuke.
"Perhaps someone wished to replace the world that was lost." suggested Tao's BFF.
The two of them went to the dressing room.
Yosuke came out wearing yellow swim trunks.
Sahori came out wearing a strapless red bikini.
Both of their cheeks turned red from seeing each other in their swimsuits.
They thought each other…looked attractive.
"Are you…ready?" asked Yosuke.
"Yeah…I am." nodded Sahori.
The two of them went for a swim.
It was refreshing after wandering in the desert.
And of course, it was nice swimming with a buddy. It decreased the chances of drowning, though the oasis wasn't exactly deep.
And yes, it was nice to have a break after all that fighting.
Suddenly, Sahori noticed someone who was very familiar.
"Is that a desert mirage, or is it my best friend?" asked the redhead.
She hoped that it was the latter. They had been searching the desert for a while.
It would be nice if they found a sign of her.
"I can see a girl too, so probably not. Does she have a wide smile?" questioned Yosuke.
"She does!" exclaimed the redhead. That was often the first thing people noticed about her.
Well, that and her big eyes.
Immediately, she ran towards her best friend.
They had finished fighting some mandrakes.
"It feels nice not having them scream in our ears." spoke Yuzuru. They did not have earmuffs, unfortunately.
"Yeah…they were starting to ring." admitted Ichiro.
"Sahori, is that you?" asked Tao.
"I came in here looking for you." noted Sahori.
She didn't want to lose her best friend to the demons. Something told her she was making progress towards leaving the Netherworld, however.
"I have to admit, you're a pretty good friend." spoke the girl who had become an angel…which surprised nobody.
Sahori hugged Tao.
"Wait, you're an angel now?" asked the redhead. To be honest, that was probably the least craziest thing she had seen all day. Who would have thought that demons were responsible for the attacks on Tokyo? There were hints that the attackers weren't human, but it was surprising nevertheless.
"Mm-hmm." confirmed Tao.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You've always been one." noted Sahori.
"I guess I always have." nodded the angel.
Perhaps she and Abdiel would get along. She had issues with people becoming Nahobino though. She was worried that they would cause angels harm, since they defied the will of God.
"Let's head back home, shall we?" asked Ichiro.
It was nice that they had friends for support. Yosuke personally reminded him of himself.
"Actually, it says according to the book of rules, there can only be four members in our party at a time. One of us will have to leave." explained Yuzuru.
"Who should we choose then?" questioned Yosuke.
"Maybe me? I find demons to be scary." suggested Ichiro. And this place was filled with demons. Perhaps it was fortunate that they were fighting them so that they did not leak on over to the other side.
There were also angels, however. So it wasn't such a bad place.
He preferred it back home though.
"Personally I think you represent the justice arcana." remarked Tao.
He was fond of angels, after all.
They had helped him survive out in the desert.
"That's most likely it." noted Ichiro.
Though for some strange reason, he would like to think he wasn't a little girl.
An angel appeared and whisked him away.
"Alright, now we're a team of four." spoke Tao.
However, when they continued their trek to the Tokyo Diet Building, they were forewarned by her partner.
"Be careful. There is a powerful demon nearby. So I suggest you get ready." warned Aogami.
He wouldn't want anything to happen to Tao, though it also helped that anything that happened to her would happen to him as well.
They were connected pretty closely.
"A powerful demon? That doesn't sound good." remarked Yosuke. Were they going to survive this? He had survived a variety of different shadows in the past, but still.
"Chances are it will be stronger than the ones we've faced so far." admitted Yuzuru.
"Then I guess we better make sure we're prepared for it." noted Sahori.
Suddenly, a hydra emerged from the sand.
"Well, this cannot be good." remarked Amy.
The hydra let out a roar.
It looked they were hungry for human flesh.
"This demon seems stronger than the ones we've encountered previously. We need to work together to take it down." explained Yuzuru.
If not, they were going to be demon chow.
"I'm inclined to agree." nodded Sahori. This was the biggest demon they had ever seen. And they had seen a variety of different demons.
The demon attempted to crush Yuzuru with his head, but he avoided it.
"Hmm, I might have experience with demons, but this one represents a challenge." admitted the boy. It wasn't every day that a Bethel agent took on a demon that towered above them.
"Ah yes, something tells me that this is an apex predator." nodded Hayatoro.
Yosuke sliced off a head, but two more grew in its place.
The two heads then attempted to bite him.
"Something tells me I made the problem worse." noted the magician.
"Yeah…I don't think slicing the heads off is going to work." admitted Yuzuru. He and his sister both knew mythology rather well, and they knew that if they kept cutting off their heads, they would meet the same fate as God himself.
"Then how do we stop it?" asked Sahori. Surely there had to be a way.
"Maybe if we attack the body?" questioned Tao. She heard that the heads could regenerate, but the legends didn't say anything about attacking the body.
"That's a good idea." nodded Yuzuru.
Luckily, nothing happened when they attacked the body.
So it seemed this was the best choice of action.
The hydra noted to themselves that they were dealing with smart individuals.
However, this did not mean they were going to win.
In retaliation, it spat out fireballs.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Yuzuru.
Unfortunately, he had been hit.
"This snake can breathe fire?!" questioned Yosuke.
To be honest, it didn't make a whole lot of sense.
"I guess it's a snake mixed in with a dragon." noted Sahori. She had read about those creatures.
"That makes sense." agreed Tao. Snakes and dragons were both reptiles.
You couldn't exactly expect a snake to fly though.
She wondered if they should try attacking them with ice.
It seemed like a logical weakness.
Indeed, this was effective.
The hydra let out a roar.
In retaliation, they attacked Tao.
"Ow!" exclaimed the angel.
"You alright?" asked Sahori.
She might as well check on her best friend.
They had been best friends since the past year.
Tao nodded.
Luckily, being bonded with Aogami had made her supernaturally tough.
She attacked the hydra with ice once again.
Hayatoro followed by clawing the multi-headed monster. He personally found it baffling that a monster could have so many heads.
But then again, he was a demon himself, regardless of whether or not he was a reptile.
However, the hydra spat out a glob of poison.
"I don't find this too surprising." noted Hayatoro.
"I'm inclined to agree." agreed Amanozako.
Yosuke was hit this time.
"I don't feel so well." noted the magician.
Was it something he ate?
"I think you've been poisoned!" exclaimed Sahori.
"That's not good." remarked Yosuke.
Did they have an antidote by any chance?
If not, he was progressively going to lose health.
And that wouldn't be good.
It might make him collapse on the desert sands.
Sahori handed him a Dis-Poison.
"Thanks." spoke Yosuke.
He felt much better now.
He then hit the hydra with a Garu spell.
The monster recoiled from the wind spell.
However, they swept one of their heads across the desert, hoping they would be able to hit at least one of the heroes.
They succeeded.
"Ouch!" exclaimed Yuzuru.
This monster sure was resilient.
Tao fired a beam of light at the beast, which wounded it.
Sahori then blasted it with dark magic.
The hydra let out a final death cry, and then they knew no more.
"Phew! I was worried that the hydra was going to eat us!" admitted Amy. She hadn't been expecting to encounter a demon so big, though it hadn't been the first time that she had met a hungry demon.
For whatever reason, the Pretas always seemed hungry.
It would be a shame if such a cute little face ended up being swallowed.
But it looked like they would be safe.
"I feel like I'm on top of the world!" exclaimed Sahori.
Indeed, she felt stronger after beating the monster.
Likewise, her friends felt stronger as well.
It seemed her friends were gathering strength from all the demons they were fighting.
"Actually, there are much stronger demons out there. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a demon as big as that one." admitted Aogami.
They said there was a demon named Surt who was about the same size, however. He too was associated with fire. But to his knowledge (and not his long-lost knowledge), he was not in Minato.
"Oh dear." remarked Tao.
"Still, this is a cause of celebration. It would be bad if such a demon ended up in Japan as it would most likely go on a rampage. It wasn't truly malicious, but it was dangerous nevertheless. So something needed to be done." explained Tao's partner.
"Why do I hear that robot voice?" asked Sahori.
"Oh. He's my partner. He's helping me survive out here." explained Tao.
It was pretty fortunate that she had managed to find him when she did. Otherwise the demons might have eaten her.
"Is that why you transformed into an angel?" questioned the girl in the black dress.
"Pretty much." nodded the angel.
She had to admit, it was nice having someone give her advice as to how to survive out in the Netherworld.
"He's a bit too lawful for my tastes. But I'm glad you two get along." remarked Yuzuru. That was a likely explanation as to why they worked together so well.
He would personally prefer a partner that was more chaotic.
Still, Aogami seemed like a pleasant robot demon.
It was fortunate that Tao had met someone like him.
She wasn't going to survive in Minato by herself.
Though of course, she also had her friends to keep her safe.
At the next leyline crossing, Gustave introduced them to Sophia.
"This is Sophia. You'll find that both she and myself work surprisingly well together." noted the skeleton.
She would be a great help to them, just as Gustave himself was.
Typically, people came to her after selling their relics.
"Oh really?" asked Sahori.
"She looks…lovely." noted Yosuke.
"I kind of agree, actually. But remember there is more to women than their bodies." pointed out the redhead.
She didn't want any lady to take advantage of him.
"Of course." nodded the magician.
"If you wish to fuse demons, I shall help you. I can also summon demons…but that requires a price." explained Sophia.
"I guess that's where Gustave comes in." noted Tao.
"Seems that way." nodded Yuzuru.
"He is a very close friend of mine." admitted Sophia.
Meanwhile…
Fortunately for Chie and Yukiko, they were doing well fighting their opponent.
He swung his axe at them, but they dodged it.
"I have to admit, you're rather fast." remarked the ox.
Goko was impressed with their ability to work together.
It would really improve their chances of survival.
And not only that, but their abilities complimented each other's surprisingly well. Fire and ice were opposites, after all.
Only Yukiko had access to healing spells, however.
So maybe she was the slightly stronger of the two.
Chie kicked Gozoki, injuring him.
But he hit her with his axe.
"Ow!" exclaimed the kung fu girl.
Yukiko cast Dia.
"Thanks." said Chie.
She could always count on her best friend.
Likewise, Yukiko felt she could count on her.
Gozoki charged at them, but they moved out of the way.
Yukiko cast Agi.
"Oww!" exclaimed the demon.
Goko noted that both of these girls knew magic, which would be beneficial to their survival.
They would want to converse their MP, however.
If they ran out, they would find themselves at a serious disadvantage.
Luckily, there were ways to restore their MP.
Gozoki stomped Chie.
"Ouch!" shouted the girl.
Luckily, she had taken harder blows than that.
She used to fight shadows after all.
Though ironically enough one of them was a shadow of her best friend, Yukiko.
Gozoki let out a roar.
"It looks like his attack has increased." noted Yukiko.
Indeed, he was fighting harder than before.
The brunette ended up being hit with his axe.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the girl in the red dress.
However, she was able to heal herself once again.
Gozoki collapsed to the ground after being kicked by Chie once more.
"We did it!" cheered Chie.
Their strength was nothing short of impressive. Though it was on the fence to him as to where they had gotten their fighting skill.
"Good fight…" remarked the demon working for Goko. It seemed that Yukiko and Chie could fend for themselves.
"For some strange reason I get the feeling that both Yosuke and Sahori are having a good time." noted Chie. She got the feeling that they were nearby, though she wasn't quite sure where.
"It's good. The two of them are normally unfortunate, but they seem like a good luck charm to each other." admitted Yukiko.
"I know. It's really remarkable." agreed the kung fu girl. It seemed that they too worked well as a team.
"I would recommend you get demons to join your side. They will increase your chances of survival." explained the giant. After all, who would understand demons better than demons themselves?
He gave the two access to the demon summoning program.
Most likely, they would choose demons that reflected their personalities.
It looked like they would be able to fend for themselves.
I don't think I'll portray Lahmu the same way as he is canon. Namely because Sahori is one of the heroes in this one. She's still unlucky though, but considering how well she gets along with Yosuke, I don't think she's as unfortunate as she is canon. So chances are she won't go down the same dark path as her partner did.
I figured she can still become a Nahobino, but she'll still remain one of the heroes. One can say Ichiro and Yuzuru themselves are heroes, after all.
Though if you play the game, you'll end up fighting at least one of them. Their ideals don't blend in together well.