Sorry for the very late update, guys! (School is a bitch to me when it comes to scheduling.) Hopefully, I don't upload this late too often. (Hopefully...) So, without a further delay, let's get started!
Gekkoukan high, outside of the gym
I was trying to break the ice on the door. I heard the ice breaking but nothing was working. "*Grunting*" The ice wasn't breaking whatsoever. *Impact against ice* "DAMN IT," I screamed in anger. Makoto was right there and I couldn't do anything!
"Shit, SHIT!" If only I had my an Evoker... "Tch, I still can't reach you, even after all this time... This is such shit!"
I kneeled down in front of the gym door...
"If only I-" Wait! I just remembered something. Fuuka and Kazuki mentioned something about shards.
"Hmm..." I was thinking about what to do... "That blue door!" I remembered the blue door in 2-F that I saw Kazuki go into. "...Maybe I should pay it a visit."
With that in mind, I left for the blue door; I think it has what I need...
Class 2-F,?
I was inside of my classroom with the blue door in sight. It a appears that no sees the door. (except me...)
I put my hand on the doorknob but it didn't budge at all.
Knock* *knock* *knock* "Hellooo?" Nothing was happening. "Hello!" I started banging on it instead. "Hey, Minako, what are you-" "Be quiet!" "..."
I saw the door open a tiny bit. Finally! "Please, come in..." This voice, it was...familiar... And as the voice asked me, I went in through the blue door.
The velvet room,?
When I entered through the door, the first thing I saw was a giant clock on top of a giant cage. (Is this an elevator?)
"Welcome..." I looked down to see the person sitting in front of me... "You!" "Ah, I see you remember me!" "Yeah, and let me tell you, I got a beef to settle with you!" I walked over to with my fist balled up. "Before the violence begins, I like to ask you something." "What!?" "Why do you do what the Crawling darkness bids?" "Huh?" "Just answer, please." "Why: because I have no choice! If I don't, he'll-" "How can you be so certain about that?" "Huh?"
She opened the book on her lap... "You are a wild card; a person that is like the number zero." "Zero?" "...And yet, you are a puppet of a chaotic god," she stated. "What are you even talking about!?" "I'm saying you are supposed to hold infinite potential for your future and many others, but yet due to your decisions, you are locking away that potential; locking away all other potential futures."
"I-I don't care about that! What about Makoto?" "Ah, yes. As I said before: why would he hurt a Wildcard; he could use them for his own goal, you are a perfect example..." "Well, I-" "Have you never thought of this before? Have you only done what he asked for, like a pawn; no will of your own whatsoever?" "You don't think I know that! But what other choice do I have," I yelled in anger...
"That is for you to decide..." "Is it really?" "Yes, and hopefully whatever decisions you make will lead you down somewhere, whether good or bad; that is your responsibility," Elizabeth closes her book and throws something at me. "A key...?" "After this event is over, I want you to tell me what you want to do." "What do you mean," I was confused by what she meant. "I mean we can help you. We can save you from the crawling darkness." "R-Really!?"
"Yes, but we can't do it yet. My master is better suited for ridding you of this curse." "C-can you really?" "Yes, he can." I felt like I was about to cry but I bottled it up for now...
I gripped the key in my hand, tightly.
"Right, I guess I better get going then." "Oh, do you wish to venture into a tower, by yourself?" "Tower?" "*Gasp* I completely forgot," she said after putting her hands over her mouth.
"As you see, the doors that appeared in your classroom and among the other ones, are connected to an individual tower." "So, those towers are dungeons, like Tartarus," I said with a raised my eyebrow. "Exactly, if you want to go into one, I advise going to the one in the room: 2-E." "Why?" "You'll see..." Elizabeth looked at the clock behind her.
"You should get going on your quest." "Okay, and thank you," I bowed my head. "You don't need to thank me, just go and save our guest." "Got it!" "...And do be careful. the towers aren't anything to laugh at; especially the one you are going to." "Okay, I'll go in prepared!"
I walked towards the door with a ton of conviction right now. "Also, catch..." I saw two cards flying my way. I caught them. "What are these?" "Items that will aid you in your quest." "I-I see." There was nothing on the cards; they were blank. However, I felt a sort of energy coming from it.
"Well, I should get going." "I wish you luck on your mission to saving Yuki-sama." I opened the door and walked out of there with some hope. I can do! I will rescue Makoto and myself from this nightmare.
I watched as the female guest leave the room... I heard one of the doors open behind me and my master appeared. "How did it go," my master asked with intrigue in his voice. "Yes, she seemed very keen on our offer." "Good..."
I pondered for a minute on what we were doing. "Master." "Yes?" "Are we doing the right thing," I questioned. "We'll have to wait and see; if she is able to come back from the clutches of the crawling darkness, we must help her steer away from that path."
My master was convinced that this was the best way to help her, and so was I.
"However, why didn't you want me to give her the silver-clad weapon," I showed my master the Persona summoning tool. "If she still has the power of the Wildcard she will most likely be able to still be able to tap into that power; maybe she will still be able to draw power with her current bond with young Kazuki." "Either way, I do hope she is able to find her way back." "As do I..."
"Elizabeth." "...Yes?" "You are still in my seat." "*Gasp* Oh my! It as humans say, 'it totally slip my mind'." I let out a giggle and it seemed to have made my master somewhat tired.
Gekkoukan high, 2-E,?
I was standing in front of the door to the tower. It had a deathly feeling around it, however, I didn't feel uncomfortable around it. I got some items from some of the stores here before heading in there.
"Alright, let's go!" "Wait!" "Huh?" I saw a tanned girl walk in front of me and block the door. "You need something," I asked with some irritation in my voice. "You're one of the girls from the dorm?" "Yeah." "...Do you know where Fuuka and Kazuki are? I can't find them anywhere." "Nope, no idea." "Who do you think you're messing with, cuz it ain't me!" I don't have time to waste here.
"Natsuki, right?" "Yes." "Okay, listen: I am going to go through this door, you will let me go through that door, is this a problem?" "Yeah, because you're shady as hell," she spat out. I was growling out of irritation at this point. "Screw this!" I walked over to the Natsuki girl and I pushed her out of the way. "Ahh!" "Serves you right for being in my way!"
I put my right-hand on the door and I pushed on it. "W-wait!" "What the?" Something grabbed my leg before I entered the dungeon.
Thanatos tower,?
When I opened my eye, I was in an eerier corridor. It was darkly lit but had purple lighting on the walls, ceiling, and floor.
"So this is the inside." "...The inside of what?" I heard a voice coming from below me. "Oh, what in the hell!?" It was Natsuki!
After a couple of seconds of her panicking, she began to calm down and I was able to explain what was happening.
"I-I see... So we went through that door in the classroom earlier?" "Yes, but I didn't want there to be an 'us' here." "You sayin' this is my fault!?" "Yes, I am," I said outright. "Tch, whatever, I'll just leave this place!" "Didn't you notice?" "Notice what?" "...We can't go back now." "Like hell, I can't!" "Go ahead then, try it, but how are you gonna do it with no door." "Huh!?"
It's true, I noticed that there was no door while she was panicking; we're trapped here.
"Come on," I said while holding my weapon. "You wanna explore this place?" "Yes, I do," my words were starting to come out more than irritated...
"...If you don't come along there is no telling what might happen to you." "W-what," Natsuki stammered. "Yeah, I think they're monsters in here." "Y-y-you're lying!" "Really, does it look like I'm lying; look where we are." "..."
I started walking...
"Coming or not," I said with no care. "Y-yes!" Natsuki started picking up the pace to catch up with me.
I was able to destroy most of the enemies in here with every swing of my naginata, and Natsuki made sure to stay away from the fighting. (Maybe a bit too far...)
"Shit, this ridiculous!" "Are you okay, Arisato?" "Yeah, peachy! If only I had my Persona..." "Persona...what's that?" Oh, she heard me. "Well you see, a Persona is like a weapon of sorts." "Hmm... Why do I get the feeling that isn't right." "How would you know," I retorted. "I feel like I seen one before." "Hmph, yeah right." "But it's true!" This was starting to interest me...a bit.
"Oh, how do you know about Persona?" "I...don't know, I just felt like I heard it from somewhere before." "Not good enough!" "Well, I don't know," she yelled out...
"Well, this is boring." "W-what is!?" "You." "Huh," she seemed angered by that. "Yeah, I feel tired talking to you. (You're kinda boring.)" "Why I would-" "You 'would' what, hit me," I laughed after saying that... "If you try to touch a single hair on my head, I'll break you!" "..." That shut her up quickly.
"Okay, let's keep going." We walked in silence as if nothing happened...
After fighting a few battles and collecting some items, I kicked open a door with elegance. "Boom, bitch," I yelled out. I was scooping the area out. So far it looks good.
"Is it safe?" "Yeah, it is." Unfortunately...
"Why hello there" "What the-" I jerked my neck at the door to our right side. "Did I scare you?" There was someone standing in front of the door we were looking at. "Are you having fun in my tower?" "Yeah, having the time of my life in this godforsaken place!" "But there is a god here." "You, right?" "BINGO!"
The revealed himself, but this wasn't a person, in fact, I had no idea what it is. It had nothing or anything out of the ordinary; it had no physical features at all.
This "thing" walked over to us with a dark grin on its face. "You wanna fight because I don't mind duking it out!" "Hmph, go ahead and try it, if you like? As he said, I swiped my blade his way. "Stupid little girl!" When the blade struck him, the blade part disappeared. "What the?" "How did it do that," Natsuki questioned. "I am immune to your petty attacks." "Tch, shit!"He was laughing at my frustration. "What the hell are you, you creep," Natsuki yelled. "Hmph, don't you yell at me, you snake of a human being!" "What did you just say!?" I stop Natsuki from doing something stupid. "What, don't want to mess with someone stronger than you...?"
After this thing said that, there was an electrical field going off around it. When the electricity disappeared, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, because I saw another Natsuki in front of me. "What the...!?" "...I can only mess with people weaker than me, because I know I a weak, sad, and feeble human being." This thing was mocking her to a 'T'. "Hey, don't you dare mock me!" "Too bad, I just did."
The Natsuki-look-alike walked back over to the door. "W-wait!" The monster clicked its tongue. "If you wanna find me, Minako, you need to get to my domain." He pointed to the candles. "You better choose the right candle to proceed past this door..."
...And with that, the door shut behind that thing.
"What was that thing!?" "I have no idea..." I broke my concentration away from the shape-shifting monster, but now on the candles. I went over to the door but it wouldn't open.
"Choose the right candle to proceed... What the hell does that mean?" "Maybe it wants you to blow one of them out?" "..." I was skeptical about this whole thing, but if I want to go on I need to blow one of them out!
"Hmm... The left one, ah, it doesn't matter." I blew out the candle on the left.
"*Gasp*" I felt something being ripped away from my body. "Minako!? Are you okay?" "Y-yeah." Something was torn away from me; I can feel it. It felt like something important to me. Wait, don't tell me; it was my Persona!
"L-let's get going," I stuttered with a shiver going down my spine. "You don't look so good. We should probably take a break for now." "No, we are not doing that!" "But, you-" "I SAID NO!" My voice echoed throughout the room... I was getting sick of this room already.
"Come on, let's go." "Fine," she had a bit of a tone in her voice, but I didn't care. All I really cared about was getting these damn shards and getting Makoto back.
Fighting the monsters became more difficult than it was before thanks to me having no Persona. (And with my weapon being broken.) I was struggling against the enemies I was facing off against.
I saw a monster trying to hit me on the sides with its claws. "Minako, watch out!" "I know, you idiot!" I tried to get out of the way and for the most part, I was able to, but I wasn't far enough. *Slice* "ARGGHHH!" The claw sliced at my side, blood was leaking out at an alarming rate.
"Ahhh! Shit, this hurt so much!" "Minako!" The pain was searing. Why is so painful? This should be nothing to me; I had taken heavier and sharper attacks than this.
"...Am I gonna die here? If that's the case, I'm sorry Makoto. I'm sorry that I couldn't get you back; I'm sorry that I couldn't keep our promise to each other... I failed you."
I saw lion/snake thing walked over to me. I was too injured to move. "Come on then, let's get this over with...!" The monster's growl was louder than before. (Guess it's exciting.) I shut my eyes so I can get a clear picture of Makoto in my head one last time... I was thinking about Makoto but thoughts of him disappeared all of a sudden.
"Oi, Mino-chan, are you gonna die here?" That voice, it was Kei's! "I asked: are you gonna die here?" "I-I can't go on." "Are you sure about that? I thought you were fighting for Makoto; how can you fight for him if you can't fight for yourself, right now. Maybe you should take some examples from me" "(Quietly) You're wrong." "Huh?." "I SAID YOU ARE WRONG!" "Oh, how so?"
"'Take an example from you', don't make me laugh! You couldn't even protect Fuuka against me, so who are you to tell me that I'm not capable of fighting for nobody; especially Makoto!"
Kei began to disappear from my vision with a smile on his face, and before I realized it, I was awake and with the monster staring me down. "What you scared," I gave a dirty smirk at this monstrous piece of shit in front of me. "Huh, what the?" I saw a card in my hand. Wait, this looks like one of the cards that Elizabeth gave me. A blue mist was surrounding it. This card was producing power. And when I take a closer look, there was something on the card this time. "Wait, this is- "Summon thou!" When I heard the Persona's voice, it made me smirk a little. "Oh, I plan on it!"
I got up from the floor and I held out my arm with the floating card on my palm. "Minako...?" "I feel your power and your presence... Come to me, Orpheus!" I crushed the card and a Persona appeared to me. Orpheus; Makoto's Persona.
"Minako is that a Persona!?" "Orpheus: destroy this damned thing!" Orpheus swung his lyre at the monster's jaw. (If it has one?) *Bam* The attack sent the monster flying away from me. "Dia!" The wound on my side was starting to close up. "Ah, that's much better. Now, time for me to make an epic comeback!" I had the Persona embed his instrument with its own flames. "Finish it!" The monster tried to claw at Orpheus but he dodged. "You're boned." The lyre slammed down on the Lion/snake's back...
"Gotcha!" The Lion/snake started to fade out...
"Whoa, was that a Persona!?" "Yeah, it was," I said with a smirk on my face. I was smirking at the fact that I was able to summon my Persona without an Evoker. "Hehehe, now who's so special now, Kei!"
I felt like I can do anything now...
"Minako, what about Kei?" "Huh?" "...Why did you bring up Kei?" "None of your business." "It kind of is." "What, because you're friends with her with his girlfriend." "Yeah!" "Fine, I'll tell you." I cleared my throat...
"When I met Kei Kazuki for the first time, I thought he was a cool guy, but as with all things that are affected by time, so does opinions. And my opinion on Kei has changed." I put on an expressionless face and looked at Natsuki dead center in the eye. "...I hate him." At this point, I wasn't confused about how I felt about Kei. I now Realize that I dislike him oh so very much...
"You hate him, why?" "Let's just say, he cost me something." "Was it the eye," she said with a confidence "Yes, he cut it and now, I can't see out of it." "..." "And you know what, why do I have to suffer? Why doesn't he; can you answer that?" "N-no." Just as I thought, not a single person would be able to understand. "...But you better not hurt Fuuka." "Say what?" "I said you better not hurt Fuuka," Natsuki yelled in anger. "I did plan to," I stated. "Cuz if you do, I'll break you!"
Natsuki was starting to surprise me a bit, but not too much.
"Hmph, let's get going." "Whatever!" We walked down the corridors of this tower, trying to find that shape-shifting bastard's domain...
It took some time but I found the domain room. When we entered the room it smelled and felt like death.
"I-I don't like this place." "Then wait outside." "N-no! The monsters would kill me if I was alone." "How correct you are" "I see you decided to peered your ugly head," I mocked. "Hey now, you shouldn't disrespect me like that..." When he withdrew from the shadows, we were able to see who was masquerading as. "...And yourself." "Wow, you do know how to copy off of people and from a certain God." "At least I didn't copy one thing: being a god's pawn." "A pawn, huh?" This bastard isn't wrong, but...
"So, am I wrong?" "Yeah, you are." "Oh...?" "I was only working with that asshole for one reason: to get Makoto back! So, you can go ahead and mock me all you like, but I'm still going to get those damn shards; and I break your stupid ass to get them!" The look-alike had an irritated look on its face. "You think it's that simple!? You get Makoto Yuki, then what? You'll still be a lap dog for a chaotic god!" I saw this monster not a couple minutes ago, making fun of me, but now, his cool was broken. "...So much for me not disrespecting you, right?" "Why you..." "Hey, ain't disguising as other people being a snake, or are you 'special'; cuz if you are you should have said so. Loser," Natsuki retorted. "Tch, I grow tired of this conversation!" "I am too, but you don't see me bitchin' about it!" Natsuki is seriously making me reconsider my opinion of her now.
"Then let's get this started then! Thanatos, lend me your power to me-Doppelganger!" Cracks in the ground began to appear. After a few seconds of the ground shaking, four tentacles appeared. "Eww!" "That's all? Some power right there," I stated in a mocking tone. "You will die a painful, slow and an excruciating death!" "Hmph..."
A card was floating in front of me. "Orpheus!" I swiped my hand through the card, then Orpheus appeared. "Destroy him," I commanded. He flew over to doppelganger... "Witness, my power!" The tentacles were flying towards the Persona. "Maragi!" Orpheus sent several fireballs flying over to the enemy after stroking some of the string of his lyre. *Boom* Several of them hit the tentacles, while some of them burned, others were extinguished. "Damn, some of them nulled the fire!?" "Surprised are we?" The tentacles were coming back for round two, but they weren't going for my Persona, but for me instead... "Orpheus: fend them off!" He came flying back over to me in a heartbeat. He was fighting off the tentacles despite number gap.
"This is getting me nowhere. I think it's time for a new target." Before Orpheus could hit another tentacle, they all maneuvered around him and flew past me. "Huh!?" "Oh shit!" They were heading for Natsuki! "I'm gonna kill you first. Because of that nasty tongue of yours!" "Shit! Orpheus" I had him race over to her. "Natsuki: move away from the tentacles!" She was running as fast as she could. "*Gasp*" *Thud* She stumbled over herself. "S-stay away!" "Where did that smart mouth go; was that all a front?" The tentacles were nearing Natsuki... "Orpheus: Maragi!" Three fireballs struck the tentacles, however, only two of them were hurt by the fire spell. "This is the end for you, weakling!" "Not happening!" Orpheus was in front of the tentacle but it was too late to stop it. *Stab* "AHHH! the two tentacles impaled the Persona's body. "*Gasping in pain*" "Mi-Minako, you protected me!" "*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*" "W-why?" "Because, I-" "What a new, surprising production." The tentacles withdrew from Orpheus' body.
I was panting heavily due to the sharp pain coursing through my leg and arm. "Minako, answer me!" "I don't know," I yelled in annoyance. "I just didn't have time to think it through, fully." "..." "...I'll be fine, so do me a favor and stand back; this is gonna be where it really starts." "O-okay!" Natsuki moving away from Doppel and me... "Minako, knock him dead!" "I plan on it...!"
I began healing myself. "Aww, well it appears that the cold and ruthless Minako does have a heart," Doppelganger mocked. "Too bad it won't save you from this!" A black mist appeared below Doppel's feet. "Mudoon!" A dark circle appeared in front of me... "Say goodbye, Mino-chan. I hope you see Makoto in hell when-" "Shut up," I said calmly.
"Huh?" I summoned another card in front of me and I crushed it. "DIE"
The dark spell in front of me broke apart when I swiped it away. "What the-" I had swapped Orpheus with a different Persona by destroying that other card; Samael...
"...Die here, screw that! I'm not gonna let that happen!" "You little wrench!" "You better save up your insults, because you haven't seen nothing yet!"
I had the Samael card floating in my hand. "Do you think you still have a chance!?" "Sure do."
The stare down between Doppel and me only fulled the tension if this battle...
"ARISATO!" "ARISE, SAMAEL!" *Crush*
My battle for Makoto has begun, and I intend on winning...!
The next chap will be a side by side of the two different fights happening in the towers, so please stay tuned for that. Sorry, but due to fatigue, I'm gonna cut this short. Please follow or like the story, and also leave a review for this chap and chaps before this. (Maybe even future ones?) So, with that being said, until the next chap; see ya.