There was something about Aigis that Pharos hated.
She was with Minato only because of some kind of mission she couldn't even remember. The way she looked at Minato with empty eyes... Pharos felt like he was the one Aigis was glaring at.
Pharos didn't like this. That robot probably didn't like him either.
Also, Pharos was with Minato for ten years. It took him like, ten months, until the boy accepted him.
But this blonde became friends with him in ten days? And the dog became friends with him in ten minutes? That's unfair.
After school, Mitsuru gathered everyone in the command room.
"I think it's time. I have been keeping too much secret from you…" Mitsuru took a deep breath.
"Mitsuru," Akihiko said. "Are you sure?"
"Yes…"
Mitsuru was still a kid when she asked to join her father, Takeharu Kirijo, in investigating Tartarus lobby. She wanted to be by his side and Takeharu couldn't refuse.
A scientist said they had had their potential develop by the lab so they could protect themselves. But during that time, one of their bodyguards turns into a Shadow. The other bodyguards protecting them are killed, so Mitsuru had no choice. She managed to summon her Persona and protected her father.
Takeharu mentioned that, because of his work, Mitsuru was forced upon taking the task of cleaning the previous generation's mess.
'Now... Mitsuru can never escape from the destiny of atonement…' Mitsuru could clearly remember it from that day.
Everyone fell silent.
"I'm sorry, Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari said. "I, I didn't know. You... you're in the same boat as us too. It's not like you want this, but I yelled at you. I'm sorry…"
"It's okay," Mitsuru said. "From now on, let's try not to hide secret from each other."
Everyone nodded. Akihiko signed from relief. Finally, the tension between Yukari and Mitsuru was solved.
Midnight. Ken was sleeping in his room. Koromaru was in vet's care. The Shadows were underground in something the shape of a box. There's no way of knowing without actually going there, Fuuka said, so SEES went to Iwatodai northern harbor.
"Of course a boxer would say 'Don't box me in'," Minato said.
"Pun successfully saved for further use," Aigis nodded.
Akihiko facepalmed. "Please don't."
The underground was old and eerie. The ground was covered with dust, and the random belongings were a reminder that humans were here in the past. They reached a giant door.
Akihiko walked forward and pushed the door. "It's heavy…"
"Careful, Akihiko. You are not fully healed," Mitsuru said.
"Tch, I'm fine."
"It doesn't hurt to be more careful, Akihiko," Mitsuru snapped. "When will you learn to take care of yourself?"
Akihiko was about to step back, but Mitsuru stepped in and helped him pushed the door.
"Ask for help next time," Mitsuru said.
Akihiko blinked. "Thanks..."
Behind the giant door was a big dark room that looked like a cave, covered with dust. Fuuka said that the Shadows should be around here, and that something felt off.
"Well done."
A voice said from behind them. An unfamiliar voice.
Everyone turned around to see two men standing at the door. A pale, shirtless man with golden eyes was grinning, a creepy smile. A blue haired teen with glasses and suitcase seemed more normal, except for the grenade he was playing in his hand.
"This is the first time I've met you all in person." The first man with grey hair said.
"Who are they?" Fuuka gasped. "Lucia didn't sense a thing until now!"
The shirtless guy was holding a revolver. "Very well. My name is Takaya, and this is Jin. We are known to some as Strega. We've been keeping an eye on you…"
"Let's say, we know what you do at midnight," the teen name Jin said. "We know where you are going on full moon, and we will stop you from now on."
"From what we hear, you've undertaken a 'righteous' battle to save the world," Takaya said. "But we've come here tonight to put an end to that dream. This land still crawls with sin. Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always..."
These weirdo told SEES one important thing: If the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappeared, then so will their Personas, and they didn't want that to happen.
"Only a select few wield the power of a Persona…" Takaya said. "And the Dark Hour is a frontier that is ours alone to explore. Just like the Tower of Demise. Why would you abandon your luck?"
So, they didn't know there were people like Ikutsuki who couldn't use a Persona but was aware during the Dark Hour.
Wait… Then, how? Maybe he didn't have enough potential to summon a Persona? If he didn't have any potential, he should be eaten by a Shadow by now. But Mitsuru mentioned that Ikutsuki didn't have any potential, and she was a sensor, and Fuuka didn't interject. Hm...
"You're crazy!" Yukari yelled. "There's no telling what will happen if we don't do something about the Shadows!"
"What difference does it make?" Takaya smirked. "There will always be disasters, whether they are caused by Shadows or arise from human folly… Surely you will acknowledge the sense of significance the Dark Hour has given you. It's not too late... Join us, and we shall explore this magnificent hour..."
"That's selfish!" Fuuka shouted.
"I might like fighting," Akihiko said. "But letting people die just so you could fight is wrong!"
Scientist… Shadow… they existed even before the Dark Hour, but, after that incident with Yukari's father...
The files in Tartarus… it was from the Kirijo researcher, vague but reliable. There should be some kind of experiments that forcefully made someone being able to enter the Dark Hour. That's why some scientist could explore the Tartarus lobby. Probably.
"Is it not so?" Takaya asked. "How about the rest of you? Do you also wish to return to your pathetic, ordinary lives...?"
Junpei bit his lip.
Ikutsuki must be forced to enter the Dark Hour. That's why he didn't have a Persona. Mitsuru was the first 'natural' Persona-user. She was forced to enter the Dark Hour but could summon her Persona by herself. Her Shadow changed to Persona to protect her father.
Entering the Dark Hour means you could control your Shadow's space-time ability. So, most of the scientist didn't have Personas, but their Shadows were used to make them enter the Dark Hour. Their Personas could be artificially made as well, according to Mitsuru. When you lose control of your Shadow or your artificial Persona, you break down and become Shadow. Risky, but they all thought it was worth it.
All humans have Shadows, and Personas are controlled Shadows. You need a strong will to maintain your Shadow… Ikutsuki… What kind of scientist are you?
"Don't bother acting. It's sickening," Jin said. "You all are fighting for your own reasons. 'Justice' is only an excuse. And that makes you all hypocrites! So I say, to hell with you!"
Minato didn't consider himself a hypocrite.
He never said he was doing a righteous thing or fighting for justice. He didn't care about The Lost. He's not trying to be useful to the world or make friends.
"... I don't care if Personas and The Dark Hour will disappear," Minato said. "I just don't want to betray a certain friend, that's all. That's my reason for fighting, and I'll keep fighting. Call me whatever you want. I don't care and you can't stop me."
Pharos wished to be free, after all. They would meet each other after all this.
"In the end, you're fighting for your imaginary friend?" Jin asked. Wait, how did he… "That's as pathetic. Your fake friend wants you to risk your life and die? It's worse than us! He might as well strangle you one day. You can't even enjoy the the Dark Hour in peace!"
Jin regretted saying that really soon.
The Strega members couldn't move as if something was pulling them down, gravity. Their feet were rooted to the ground and the air became heavy.
Minato sent them a cold glare, and his strongest Persona manifested.
The harbinger of peaceful death raised the giant sword in its hand. Rattling chain resound when he straightened up. It opened the dinosaur-like mask and roared. Even SEES had to cover their ears and balanced themselves.
Yukari stared at the Persona with wide eyes. She could remember it, at the rooftop, the first full moon. Orpheus, torn apart and this monster roared. Her hands were shaking just like that night. The atmosphere was heavy and the night was cold.
Thanatos charged forward, the coffins chained on its back floated like a cape.
Free. He wished to be free.
A tank? Yes, it's a tank.
"Minato!"
What is this? A gun.
"Dude!"
Why am I sitting on a flying gun?
"Minato-kun!"
The was a voice from below. Minato looked down to see his dorm mates in fighting stances.
"Arisato, could you hear us?"
"... I can hear you," Minato replied. "What happened?"
Yukari whimpered. "You, you don't know...?"
"I felt like I was… sleeping."
"Let's not talk about that right now. We're trapped," Mitsuru said.
"Trapped?"
Akihiko sighed. "Strega locked the door from outside, and debris covered the entrance."
"Oh."
"Let's destroy this Shadow first!" Junpei said. "We are fighting two big Shadows. They can separate!"
"What?"
"They are the Arcana Chariot and the Arcana Justice," Aigis said. "We should damage them evenly. Orgia mode!"
It's an easy fight. Long, but easy. Hitting the tank. Hitting the gun.
"I no longer sense the Shadows. The operation is completed," Fuuka said.
Everyone drank some water, ate beads, took medicine, and did simple first aid. Mitsuru informed Ikutsuki of their circumstance.
"... Don't you get it, Junpei? He's helping you."
"Talk like that?"
"You punched him, remember? That was intentional. He wanted it to be fair."
"He broke my sword."
"Which he was the one who bought it."
"Isn't it Mitsuru?"
"It's Minato."
"Tch. Rich boy. I will never forget that punch, and that kick... and those words... but he probably just shrugged off them all."
"... He was charmed."
"You got the hardest beating...! You forgive him to easily, Senpai. And what he had said to you, to me, to us all, were his thoughts! Like, his real, real thoughts! Fuuka-chan said so. Mitsuru-senpai said so."
"Again, he was charmed, and he didn't mean to."
"And you just forgive him without doing anything? Just let it go...? Can't you see how Yukari was after that operation? She was straight depressed... You didn't know? Oh, Right! You were lying on the comfy bed, blindly forgiving him! Fuuka was sad, too. Even Mitsuru-senpai! He's basically hurting them, and I never hear a sorry!"
"Stop it, Junpei... Didn't you already clear it with him?"
"He strikes my nerve again today. He's not normal. Leader, eh...? Always the one who gets to talk, while some could only listen and can't even voice out their thoughts..."
Minato was standing still, looking at the debris of the tank and broken wall.
Did Thanatos do that?
He couldn't remember doing it.
He was unconscious again like the last mission at that hotel…
One thing Minato was proud of was his perfect eyesight and clear memory, but, in some point of all the operation, whenever it's full moon, Minato lost senses. At the rooftop… At the train… At the lobby… At the hotel… Here. He was… completely oblivious. He hated not knowing what he had done. Why did it happen?
"My purpose is to defeat you…"
"Aigis, no!"
Minato sharply turned back to see the gun on her fingertips pointing at him. The android eyes widened as if saying 'target locked.' She was not pretending.
"I exist for nothing else."
It's like everything was in slow motion.
Bullets and bullets flew toward him. Her metal hands turned red from heat. Her eyes were so machine-like. He was about to die…
The bullets stopped.
It stopped in the middle of the air like an invisible barrier was protecting him, like the gravity has stopped working.
Bullets fell to the ground.
Everyone stared at them with wide eyes.
"Minato-san!" Aigis ran to the boy and grabbed his arms, then quickly released it, realizing her hands were still overheat. She restrained the urge to touch him and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine…" Minato blinked a few times. He looked at the bullets on the ground.
"I, I apologize… I recognized you as an enemy. I do not know why." Aigis looked down.
"It's okay," Minato said.
SEES exchanged glances. Mitsuru wanted to say that it was not normal, but almost everything that happened around her field leader was not normal, and even Minato himself didn't understand, so she had no choice but to let it go.
Aigis glanced at Minato and he noticed her. His eyes looked at hers. She felt like someone else was looking at her, too.
Aigis didn't like that, that's for sure. That someone probably didn't like her either.