Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona belongs to ATLUS. Touhou Project belongs to Zun. I have no ownership of the copyrights of either series in any way.

Chapter 16: Good Bad Company

A lavish interior of a modern building; that was today's dream. It seemed that this room in particular was an office of some sort, however it seemed relatively new, and by that I mean relatively unused. While it was beautifully made, it was devoid of personal affects, plaques, or really any décor in general save for the basic furniture, and a very impressive looking laptop situated on the desk. The view outside indicated that it was at least the afternoon. It also made clear that this particular room seemed to situate itself in a high-rise building. Many of the goings on and such of the city, the people passing and the traffic moving, were but tiny indiscernible dots. What will I see now?

"Thanks for coming over Aigis." I turned my attention over to the door almost the very moment I had heard that voice, not only because of who was mentioned, but also for who spoke. The door opened to meet my expectations of who exactly was speaking. Mitsuru Kirijo walked into the room with a poise and grace that wasn't common even for those who have just graduated high-school as valedictorian and student council president. Her hair was still a beautiful red shade that was long enough to reach her lower back, and amazingly not a single strand seemed to be out of place or split. She wore a chic outfit of a black coat and khaki colored pants that hugged her figure, though if I were to guess right, her maids probably picked that outfit for her.

"It was not a problem. When I had heard what had happened, I myself felt inclined to investigate this incident. And besides, that's what friends are for." The one who responded to Mitsuru followed right behind. Her voice was stilted and robotic, though it somehow was still able to evoke emotion, or perhaps it was better to say there was a valiant effort to place her emotions in it. The person's hair was blonde in color and quite short. She seemed to wear a headband on her head that almost could seem like headphones, but I knew that it was actually attached to her head. She didn't wear clothes, but she didn't need to as her body was naturally covered. Overall Aigis would seem like a normal girl if it weren't for the joints at the torso that made it obvious otherwise. Even after all this time, even after meeting Ruukoto, it still amazes me just how much life can come from her blue eyes, and how difficult it is to not even remember, but think that she's anything less than human.

"Please take a seat," Mitsuru insisted. The two of them took seats near the desk. Mitsuru sat on the other side of the desk while Aigis sat in a chair nearer to the door before continuing their conversation. "So were you able to find anything that could lead us to our culprit?" I would love to continue to just enjoy their presence, but what is this about a culprit?

"Unfortunately, even when I was on the scene, I could not find anything more than what your staff had already found. It was as if it had all just disappeared," Aigis said with a noted level of frustration. Just what was stolen? "The only thing of interest on the scene that could be found was a single note that said the following: 'Returned to owner' with the initials Y.Y. in English at the bottom of the note." Oh no, is this her doing? Mitsuru seemed to contemplate what she had just heard, her expression having been quite serious from the very beginning.

"I see…" Mitsuru then reclined in her chair and placed a palm on her forehead, something I'd never seen her do. "I can't believe this is happening. I made sure to assign our highest level of security for the transport of 'his' belongings."

"The truck used was curiously not structurally compromised. Nothing was damaged, save for some minor blast residue at one location that was suspiciously cold." Aigis continued her report, perhaps to try and assuage Mitsuru in some manner. "Specifically near the area where we had kept 'his' evoker." Aigis' statement however, only seemed to send Mitsuru into further frustration.

"What about the footage from the security camera?" Mitsuru asked almost immediately after Aigis finished.

"We analyzed the footage, and found that it had not been tampered with in any manner, though we are still checking it just in case." Aigis then took out an SD card she had stored internally, and gave it to Mitsuru. "A copy of the footage is stored on that card." Mitsuru looked at the card for a few moments before putting it in her laptop, and giving it a few clicks.

"There… while that's loading, is there anything else you'd like to discuss about this incident, Aigis?" Mitsuru asked, a little calmer than before.

"I'm simply curious as to the motives of our thief. Besides the evoker, his other belongings should not have any inherent value besides those of sentiment. However everything was taken, from his clothes to his various other minor items that he valued. The truck was also carrying what would objectively be much more valuable items, but none of those were taken. Then there is the issue concerning that card… to return to owner…"

"Indeed, this is very strange. It's only been a couple of months, but even so, the owner of those things is no longer with us. But to return them… oh! The video is ready." Mitsuru invited Aigis with a gesture to the other side of the desk, and then started the video.

The video showed the inside of an armored truck, or what I would assume to be an armored truck. All was still, save for the odd jitter every now and then from bumps in the road. Suddenly a Gap appeared in the middle of the truck; one of Yukari's Gaps. A hand then came out of it, its sleeve frilly and white, and made a gesture which opened one of the suitcases on top of a small stack it was near; opening to reveal my evoker. The hand then retracted into the gap, when the suitcase suddenly jumped thanks to a bump in the road, and fell from its spot the evoker landing on the floor of the truck. A second later another gap opened and was still for a moment before another hand came out, this time with a black sleeve, and reached around on the ground before grabbing the evoker… that's my hand… then a small light exploded from the spot, and a cloud of dust puffed out of the gap for only a moment before the gap closed. After that, the rest of the items in the truck were then swallowed by gaps and disappeared. Lastly, one more gap opened, and a hand holding a card popped out, and placed the card near the empty suitcase. The camera footage then ended.

"Well that was certainly interesting…" Mitsuru said with a bit of disbelief that could be heard in her voice.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing either. I had thought that perhaps my optical sensors required maintenance, but the staff who had watched the video also saw the same thing," Aigis told Mitsuru. "There is one last thing you should know." Mitsuru turned slowly towards our friend Aigis, still just left in wonder over what was going on. "We had managed to find a set of finger prints, most likely from the hand that took the evoker. The card however was coated in a way that finger prints could not be lifted."

"Have they found a match for the finger prints that were able to lift?" Mitsuru asked, her attention completely waiting for Aigis' answer.

"Yes, however they only raise more questions." Mitsuru then took a deep breath after hearing Aigis say that as I think she noticed the hesitance in Aigis' voice.

"Whose were they?" Mitsuru asked.

"… Well… they're Minato's."

Break

"Hey, Sanae-chan!" I shouted to her, but I wasn't sure if she could hear me. The wind hit my face as I flew up, and seemed to deafen my voice to the point of incomprehensibility, even to myself. It was probably worse for Sanae who was actively flying away from me, but to my surprise, she turned around almost immediately despite the wind drowning my voice out.

"Minato!" She yelled, her voice cutting through with surprisingly immense clarity. Her flight trajectory curved to meet mine with a grace that resembled a leaf in the wind. It was like a ballet turn in the air, far prettier than anything I could pull off. As she descended, holding her skirt down to avoid unwanted angles from appearing, she started speaking again. "What are you doing here? D-did you come to see me?" Expectation seemed to eke out from her otherwise calm questions.

"I was in the neighborhood and saw you chase after… the UFO…" I can't believe I'm saying this. Sanae only for a flash seemed to be disappointed, but her response to my statement was devoid of any evidence of such.

"Is that so… well would you mind waiting at my shrine on Youkai Mountain? I'll be back as soon as I'm finished investigating this incident," Sanae asked. "Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama would love to have you over."

"That's fine, but you're chasing after that UFO?" I asked.

"Yes, I was told by Kanako-sama and Suwako-sama to investigate it," Sanae said as a matter of fact.

"Let me come with you, I'm free for the rest of the day." I've finished all I'd planned to do for the day, and hanging out with an old friend won't be such a bad thing.

"You can't!" Apparently it was if Sanae's apparent vehemence was any indication. She seemed to realize how loud her response was, and then looked downwards, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I-I mean you don't have to put yourself a risk. Incidents can be very dangerous and I… I don't want you getting hurt so…"

"Thanks Sanae, I mean it." I'm touched, even if I know friends do this sort of thing already. "However I can handle myself. I used to deal with much worse on a daily basis." Besides, with how battles work in Gensokyo, there really isn't any worry.

"Used to, Minato. Now you don't have to." Sanae sassily replied, but her voice seemed hasty there. "Just let me handle this. I'm a goddess after all." It's rare for me to see Sanae so adamant about something… However I can't just sit by. I've never been one to just sit by and let others handle things by themselves that they didn't have to do alone.

"Then you'll have to prove yourself Miss Goddess. You just have to make sure I don't get hurt, right?" Sanae sighed upon hearing my reply. I think she's realized I'm not budging. Relenting, she let out her reply.

"Then make sure to stay close, okay?" Her eyes widened for a moment before lowering her head and saying, "It's alright to be right behind me. I won't mind." She then turned around and walked off for a few steps before stopping to turn around and ask, "Well? Are you coming?"

"Right behind you."

Break

Sanae and I were making our way through the sky. I flew by her side, dolls deployed, as she led the way towards the direction of where the big UFO apparently flew by. However the trip itself hasn't been devoid of action.

"So how come these fairies keep flying by? In fact why are they shooting at us?" I asked her.

"They're just excited, they probably saw the UFO, and decided to just shoot everything in sight. They aren't very bright, though I suppose that still doesn't explain it," Sanae told me, trying to answer my question as best as possible.

"They seemed a bit more agitated than that though…" The fairies we encountered seemed particularly angry, shooting us quite fiercely, but we couldn't ask why as they just didn't listen to us when we tried. I guess Marisa saying to just shoot them was from experience.

"Maybe someone is ahead of us. Remember, we couldn't have been the first one to see the UFO." Sanae makes a good point. In fact the rumors she talked about imply somebody had to have seen it to begin with. "So what do you make of this?" She asked, both of us stopping in the air temporarily to see what she had picked up from one of the fairies we had blasted our way here. I had to make sure to stop my dolls as well.

"Looks like a piece of wood to me," I told her. I thought it looked like a UFO at first, not as big as the first one, but once I got close to it, it seemed to just be a piece of wood.

"What are you talking about? It looks nothing like a piece of wood. It looks like a mini UFO, like the one we were chasing." That is an abnormal level of discrepancy, and if Sanae's expression was any indication, she thought the same. "I know you aren't one to lie, so what do you think this means?"

"Well I'm not sure we have time to contemplate it as that UFO is getting away from us as we speak," It's already shaky enough for us to have stopped as is.

"True… do you hear something, Minato?" I was about to answer her that I couldn't as the wind was pretty bad up here, but before I could I heard something as well.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Reimu was flying into view at break-neck speeds. She was approaching fast, but Sanae and I managed to get out of the way before she got too close. Reimu flew right between the two of us, but stopped just as she got past us. "Did either of you see Marisa? She got ahead of me when I was distracted," Reimu asked, panting heavily while still sounding quite annoyed.

"No, the only one I've run into today was Minato," Sanae told her fellow shrine maiden. Reimu took a few moments to catch her breath. Once she did, she began to speak again.

"I'll deal with your absence at work today later," she told me with a glare. All I could do was scratch the back of my head and laugh nervously, to try and dispel her anger in some capacity, but to no avail. "Anyways, Marisa came to my shrine to tell me about the UFOs that apparently have treasure in them or something, and then just flew off. I chased after her, but I guess you can tell how well that went." Is Reimu worried about Marisa? "I'm not letting her get that treasure before I do. I need that money!" … never mind.

"Anyways shouldn't we be-" *BOOM!* A loud explosion from behind me cut me off before I could complete my sentence.

"That's probably Marisa!" Reimu yelled. "Come on!" Reimu then flew towards where the explosion.

"Let's go, Minato! We can't fall too far behind!" Sanae hurriedly said. She then flew right on Reimu's heels leaving me alone… well I guess I better go. Mustering my dolls, I rocketed after the rest of the party…

Break

Flying past a small cavalcade of fairies, Reimu, Sanae, and I saw two figures in the distance.

"Marisa!" Reimu called as we got closer. Reimu picked up speed, flew towards one of the figures. She reached Marisa just as I got close enough so that my sight could register that it was indeed the Witch, in a different outfit from before. Her witch's hat having been replaced with one shapped like a more generic sun hat, though still black, and her apron that she usually had was instead noe a brown mini dress thing that I couldn't name that had an 'M' emroidered on it.

On her opposite was what I assume to be a Youkai. It seemed to be a mouse Youkai, if her round ears and tail were of any indication, of which was holding a basket of more mice. Her grey hair helped and reddish eyes helped to accent her mouse like qualities. The dress she wore was mostly brown, save for the collar and sleeves, which were blue and white respectively. The skirt didn't reach past the knees very easily and also had rectangular cut outs in it for some reason. In her hands she held what looked like really elongated dowsing rods that had symbols at the end that look like the first letter for each of the four cardinal directions. Another colorful character has appeared I suppose.

"So where is that treasure ship?" Marisa asked the mouse youkai. I guess that explosion we saw was from their duel.

"You're still on that despite what I've told you?" she replied, countering with another question.

"You haven't told me anything, which is why I'm asking again." Marisa sassily answered.

"Oh? Really? Well sorry, but I don't have anymore time to spare." And just like that, the mouse youkai simply flew away. Before any of us could do anything more, was already out in the distance and into the clouds.

"That's one fast mouse. Well she is a mouse," Marisa commented.

"Aw… how could you let her disappear let that? She was a lead." Reimu told Marisa, a bit out of character from what I've come to expect.

"Oh you guys are here?" Marisa apparently only now just noticed us. "And as always, if it comes to making quick cash, you always soften up quite a bit."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but that still doesn't answer as to why you let her go." Reimu stated a bit nonplussed. Sanae and I could only watch from the peanut gallery, as the two of us didn't know how to enter the conversation.

"Well duh, I want to see where she goes, and apparently it's into the clouds!"

"Wait why do you want to follow her exactly?" I asked. From what I could understand of the conversation, there was apparently a treasure ship.

"Didn't you see it? The weird flying disc has to be a treasure ship, ze!" Marisa answered.

"The UFO? Yeah, we saw it. It's why we're out here ourselves," Sanae said, technically speaking for me as well in this case.

"Well then I guess, as always, let's see who solves this incident first, ze!" Marisa then turned to me and gave me a smile with a blush. "Get ready to have your socks knocked off, Minato! You better be watching!" Marisa then turned towards the clouds and then bolted upwards; a minor blast could be heard from the sudden acceleration.

"He-hey! Wait up! What the hell was that, Marisa!" Reimu was the second one to fly up towards the clouds. That left Sanae, and I alone again. Are incidents considered competitions or something?

"Minato, what was that?" Sanae asked me. I could tell the irritation in her voice was going to be a tad troublesome to deal with.

"I have no idea," I lied, trying to keep cool even as Sanae boiled. Even the wind around her seemed to be a bit more tumultuous, but it was significantly more controlled than the last time I'd seen it go off. "I think we should go after them," I said, mentally preparing to fly upward to give chase. I heard Sanae give a sigh.

"Were you always so popular?" Sanae quietly asked herself. Not always Sanae, but coffee helps. "Well anyways, let's get going. We can't let them beat the two of us!" Sanae then took off after them, flying upwards like Marisa and Reimu did. I readied myself for take off just, but then I heard a tiny sound off from the distance. It seemed to stay the same pitch, only growing as a result of the Doppler Effect. It was almost like a scream…

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" I turned the moment I could make out words, but they were still hard to fully register as they still sounded tiny. Once fully turned I could more clearly hear the- "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" as a black red thing seemed to fly towards me and-

Break

*Crash* Ow! What hit me? … Ok let me get my bearings… I'm on the ground… it's grassy and I hear birds, nature… and… breathing… wait that's not my own breath. I open my eyes to the skies above. It seems that whatever hit me knocked me into the forests below. I don't feel too hurt, and besides it's not anything my healing spells can't fix anyways… now about that breathing. I turn over to my right where I heard the breathing, and I find something… small.

There was a little girl, but not just little, I mean diminutive. I was sure that she wasn't any bigger than my hand, and could very well fit in it. She lay there, knocked out from our head-on collision. Since she was so up close to me, I could see the floral patterns that crisscrossed all over her pinkish-red kimono, tied with a dark-red and gold obi. She also seemed to be wearing something white underneath… Junpei lied about them going commando apparently. My eye however was then drawn to what she wore on her head… a black rice bowl with a gold floral pattern border. That is the weirdest head wear I have seen yet in Gensokyo. What little tufts of hair I could see underneath the bowl were a shade of bluish purple, similar to my own hair color but perhaps a bit lighter. She didn't, seem to be wearing any shoes… is this an inchling from those old children's stories?

My attention returned to the girl's face as I heard a groan. Her eyes seemed to struggle to wake up, but then her eyes suddenly snapped open, and a set of maroon eyes met my own. For a moment all was still, but then her face then began to morph slowly into one of abject horror.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Damn! For such a small set of lungs, they can really scream, especially even after having screamed earlier. Despite the inchling's apparent fear, she didn't hesitate in the slightest to pull out a needle she had sheathed behind her, and was abou- OH CRAP!

"Hey!" I yelled as I just barely dodged the inchling's stab towards my eyes. "Stop-" I tried to yell before she flew up to try and stab me again. "It!" I tried again as she came in for a third strike, but the little girl wasn't stopping, her fear having turned into anger.

"I'm not about to be food!" She yelled at me in a tiny voice as she was coming in for another attack. I suppose she saw me as some monstrous titan, but this was not time to contemplate such things.

"Beijing!" I summoned my doll which was only a little bigger than the inchling, and grabbed her, the doll's more robust materials taking the blow without effort. "Minerva!" I called, and had her grab the girl as well to strengthen their hold. Once they had her pinned to the ground, with her front to the floor, and the dolls holding her hands and feet behind her, I made a sigh of relief over the… well, danger having passed. I crouched down to see the inchling continuing to struggle. This one is feisty, isn't she?

"Let me go! Let me go! I don't wanna die!" She yelled at no one in particular.

"Just calm down; I'm not going to kill you." I said, hoping my calm tone could penetrate her wall of incessant cries.

"Please! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" It seems like she didn't hear me. Let me try one more time.

"You know Minato-kun, it doesn't seem like she's going to listen," I heard from a voice beside me that was too low to be Sanae's, though she had green hair all the same.

"So what do you think we need to do to calm her down, Mima?"

"Oh maybe this…" She took one deep breath, and then took my place in front of the inchling. "OI BRAT, SILENCE!" Mima yelled, her voice echoing with that Youkai sound. The inchling immediately shut her mouth, and the look of fear she had before had returned. Through my dolls I could feel she was shaking. "Good, now that I have your attention." Mima lowered her self towards the inchling. Holding the girl's head with two fingers, she began to explain the situation to the inchling in an almost sadistic tone. "Now be a good girl and listen, because I'm only going to say this once. We're not going to kill you; simple as that. In fact you could say that if it weren't for him, you'd be dead; a little smudge on the floor, forgotten and meaningless. He was the one who broke your fall when you were plummeting towards the ground. Do you understand me?" The inchling didn't do anything, still too paralyzed with fear to even think of doing anything. "I don't think you understand yet. Let's try this one more time." Mima then took her other hand, and began to charge energy into her index finger.

"Mima, that's enough, she gets the point." I told her, placing a hand on the phantom's shoulder to get her attention. Mima just looked at me for a moment before dispelling her conjured energy and letting the inchling go.

"Fine, fine; so long as she gets the point to not screw with us." Mima then placed her hands over her head, and turned away to let me handle the rest. I crouch down slowly so as to not startle her.

"Are you okay? It's okay to just nod to me." She nodded to me a yes, though with how shaky and slow the act was, it was apparent that she really wasn't. "If you promise to not attack us, I'll let you go, no fuss. Do you promise?" She nodded again, and I had my dolls let her go. She seemed almost surprised as well as relieved to feel free again. She slowly began to get up, but then surprisingly sat in seiza, rather than run away like I thought she would. I took a quick glance at Mima to find her still minding her own business. I turn back to the inchling to see her looking up at me, still in seiza… "Do you need something?" I asked her.

"Di-Did you really save me when I was falling?" Well it's more like we tumbled into each other, but I guess I did break her fall a bit even if I don't completely remember what had happened.

"I guess that's what happened. At least you're okay, right?"

"I'm sorry!" Now she's in dogeza. "I apologize for attacking my savior!"

"Um…" I said, not wanting any dead space, but not knowing what to do with this situation… "Sure…"

"I also want to thank you for saving me from that mean hag just now too!" She let out, I turned towards Mima, but she seemed nonplussed.

"What? Did you forget that I'm evil?" Mima told me. I guess she isn't bothered, though I suspect that something is amiss.

"Uh…" It's nice being thanked, but this situation has completely turned around before I could fully acclimate.

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Sukuna Shinmyoumaru. I'm an inchling."

"Oh? Maru? So you're a boy then? You're a bit too cute to be a boy though." Mima said in a voice that seemed to be used to rile up the poor girl.

"I'm not a boy. I'm a girl!" Sukuna said indignantly like a child.

"Okay, we understand. Let's not start something again." I know trying to stop Mima would be useless, but I could at least convince Sukuna to stop.

"Yes… um… uh…"

"Minato, Minato Arisato," I told her.

"Yes, Arisato-sama!" She seemed to light up after having learned my name. "To think I would meet a hero only after just having left my castle. The outside is amazing!" Oh boy… just what did I get myself into? I almost laughed nervously had it not been for what I heard next.

"Minato!" I heard from the distance. Looking up, I could see Sanae coming down towards us. She then landed with little noise as then ran up to me, and suddenly-oomph! "You're safe!" she said as she held me.

"Yeah, just a few scratches and bruises, but nothing I can't heal." I told her, as a means to undercut questions of my health, and to reassure her, though the tight hug is still nice.

"I was so worried when you weren't following me up. I thought that something may have happened to you," Sanae relayed to me.

"Aww, how touching." Mima's voice was laden with sarcasm. Sanae's body seemed to stiffen, and she then let go, turning towards the Youkai. Sanae then made sure to place herself between me and Mima, pointing her gotei at her.

"Sanae-chan, this is Mima, a friend of mine." I made sure to try and introduce them in a friendly manner so as to try and alleviate Sanae of her fears.

"Minato, I wouldn't normally question your sanity, but I'm sensing a lot of evil energy coming off of her." Before I could reply, another voice beat me to the punch.

"Yeah! That hag is really mean! How can you be friends with her?" I looked on my shoulder to find that Sukuna had managed to plant herself squarely there, sort of hanging over it, and clinging on to the cloth.

"An inchling?" Sanae said, surprised by, what I would suppose from her perspective, the random addition.

"I'm Sukuna Shinmyoumaru! Are you a friend of Arisato-sama's?" I see that she isn't going to be calling me anything less any time soon.

"Are you sure you have the time to dilly-dally?" Mima said, again before I could get a word in. "Those weird discs are getting further and further away." She's right…

"Sanae-chan, we should get going." She nodded a confirmation my way and I turned as best I could towards my left shoulder where the inchling sat. "Would you mind getting off? I'm off to do something that will require some pretty intense flying." I thought it would be better to ask rather than just grab her.

"If I may so humbly request of you," Sukuna's manner of speech just resembled that of royalty right then. I was taken by surprise, but before I could ask, she continued her request. "I wish to see what else the world outisde my castle has to offer. If it would not inconvenience you, would it be possible that I accompany you?" Okay, so just who is this Sukuna, because that tone of voice was actually fairly regal? I turned to Sanae and saw she was a bit antsy to get going. It will waste more time to argue.

"Fine, but you'll have to hang on as much as you can," I told the little girl.

"Alright! Thank you Arisato-sama!" And her manner of speech returned to that of a child's, but that still leaves me with a few quetsions. "I'll just hide in this coat pocket you have down there." She jumped down from my shoulder and swung on my mp3's necklace, then lept from there right into my coat pocket where I first kept Beijing before holding it in the ring's dimensional pocket. It was impressive how she did that all in one motion. "You don't have to worry about me!"

"Alright then let's get going," I said as I looked up into the sky. A ball of light then flew over head towards the direction of where Sanae and I were going before this interruption. "Did anyone else see that?" I asked them.

"I saw it, and that doesn't look good." Sanae's response reassured me that I didn't just see that.

"It looked familiar…" Mima said. Her face then curved into a smile. "You know what? I'll join in too. I haven't solved an incident in a long time myself, and this one looks interesting enough." I could already see that Sanae and Sukuna were about to start something when Mima said that, but this time I wasn't going to get cut off.

"Look, if we aruge about this, we're going to waste more time. Sanae-chan, Shinmyoumaru-san, I trust Mima. If she wants to come, I'll let her, for now. So let's go before any more time is wasted."

"I was going to come whether or not you wanted me to," Mima was quick to reply.

"I know, evil spirit and all right?" I replied as I began to set off the ground.

"You're learning; not bad," Mima said as she and Sanae followed.

*CRACK*

Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast tempered your bond…

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooses

To create a Persona of the Hunger Arcana…

"Alright, then, after that light!" I commanded, taking point as I did so. Sukuna then made one final yell in my pocket.

"Let's Goooo! After that Undefined Fantastic Object!"

Break

Through the clouds in the sky, we were making our way towards the direction that the ball of light had gone to, which was coincidentally the direction that we were going in to begin with. We had been flying for quite some time with little resistance. It was for the most part, fairly unremarkable. Well until Mima began to speak.

"It's a bit disapointingly quiet," Mima remarked. "Normally I'd expect fairies to swarm anything interesting, but none have shown up at all."

"Reimu, and Marisa passed by earlier, so maybe those fairies are still regenerating?" Sanae posited.

"Maybe they're over there and we can ask them?" Sukuna popped out and pointed towards… a flying ship. It looked like a ship that one would find on the ocean… except this time the ocean was made of clouds rather than… actually that's a form of water too.

"I didn't expect that," I said.

"No kidding. I've been here for more than a year and things still surprise me." At least Sanae's remark doesn't make me feel alone.

"You guys might want to hurry up," Mima said, bolting towards the ship.

"Hey, hold on!" Sanae shouted at Mima as she and I followed her.

"What's the hurry?" I asked, curious as to what's got Mima so bothered, the wind having become strong thanks to our velocity.

"I just don't like the direction of where that ship's heading. Let's leave it at that." I guess it would be best to just do as she says. The tone of her voice when she told us to not pry was fairly serious.

"Hey, you see that? It looks like a cloud in the shape of an old man!" Sukuna pointed towards someone who was on the deck of the ship. We all hesitated for a moment to at least register what it was we were seeing, but I soon then flew down and landed on the ship. The wood creaked as I landed, making me feel a bit uneasy, but thanks to the natural girth of the ship, I felt at ease not a moment later. However I did feel a bit of a falling sensation for some reason…

Looking closer at the cloud that was somehow lying down on the ship's deck, it was indeed in the shape of an old man, its pink color notwithstanding. If it were more human, I could easily say that it had quite a magnificent beard, but as a cloud, it was more difficult to tell. Under the cloud, or could it be in the cloud's arms, was what looked like a Buddhist Priestess. She was mostly covered conservatively, but while she wore a dress that was mostly white, the edges of it at the sleeves and skirt were blue. A necklace with a red orb hung around her neck, and in her hands were gold rings of some sort. Lastly, her sky blue hair could be seen under a blue hood that was attached to the rest of her dress. Like the cloud, the two seemed to be exhausted, if not outright out cold. Reimu and Marisa aren't around…

"You think Reimu, and Marisa did this?" I asked, vocalizing my suspicions.

"Well it wouldn't be out of the character for them," Mima answered, being apparently the most familiar with the two out the bunch here. "Well it's only a spell card duel. They'll be fine in, at most, a couple of hours. "

"Let's just leave them alone." Sanae's statement was met with a nodding Sukuna who seemed to agree for the most part. "For now, I think we should split up and see what we can find since we're here now." Before any of us could move though, the ship broke from the clouds… downwards. The land that had disappeared when we entered the fluff had reappeared below us. It seems the ship really is descending.

"Hey, where do you think this ship is going?" Sukuna asked. Actually that's a really good question.

"Makai…" All of us turned towards where the girl and cloud were to find the girl standing; a bit weak looking, but standing nonetheless, using the cloud as a crutch. The cloud guy however was still out for the count.

"I thought I didn't like where this ship was headed," Mima was first to comment.

"What's Makai?" I asked.

"It's like Hell, only not really." Mima's answer didn't really help to clear the air there.

"It's a world that exists in an alternate dimension to Gensokyo." The priestess spoke again, this time helping to clear my confusion in a greater capacity.

"I've never heard of it."

"Neither of have I, though I've only been here for a year or so." Sukuna and Sanae respectively made known their own level of intimacy with the topic.

"Why's this ship heading to Makai then?" I asked the priestess.

"We on this ship want to free nee-san." She's being awfully complaint…

"And she's trapped in that place of all places? Sheesh, even I'm not in there and I'm evil," Mima snappily let out. It seems Mima is the most familiar with Makai out of our party. It was hard not to notice, but the ship's descent made it clear that we were headed towards the mountain edge of Gensokyo.

"It seems we're almost there…" the unknown girl told us.

"Why are you so ready to tell us this?" I asked her, a bit suspicious of her motives.

"I'm already beat. I'd normally fight back, but with Unzan out of the picture, I'd be dead in the water. Besides, the fact that I'm still alive is quite telling." I was about to reply until I noticed the cave in the mountain side that the ship seemed to be going into. Sanae and Sukuna matched my gaze while Mima just crossed her arms and glanced at it from the side.

"Still the same old entrance…" Mima quietly noted.

"Well if you want to get off, now would be the time." I looked at the priestess after she gave us that warning. I'll just ignore it.

"I never caught your name." I went over to the railings of the ship and leaned on it since there was nothing to sit on.

"Ichirin, Ichirin Kumoi, though I don't know what you'd want with that information."

"It's just awkward not knowing your name." It's as simple as that. The world began to darken as the ship began to enter the unusually large cave. I guess this is it…

"Well now you know, so would you mind staying put for now?" We turned towards the doors that lead into the ship. The person who stood there was yet another girl, this time in a sailor attire. Not a sailor uniform like from a Japanese high school, but an actual sailor uniform, just with a skirt. She even had a little sailor hat tilted the wrong way on her black hair that went a bit over her green eyes. In one hand she held a wooden ladle while in the other hand there was an actual anchor. Even then, the thing that caught my eye was the minor green glow around her that reminded me of Youmu in a way. It seems another colorful character has joined the fray.

"Staying put?" Sukuna asked, a bit confused. "Wouldn't you normally kick someone out?"

"Hey, I drown people, but I don't just kill them, you know?" That's a bit contradictory…

"Isn't that the same thing?" Sanae asked.

"People who try to cover up their misdeeds are the ones that piss me off the most." Now it was Mima's turn to speak.

"Woah, hey! I'm just saying that for your own safety, you know? We're only going to be in Makai for a short while anyways. Besides, I just got beat by a two on one. I'm definitely not doing a three on one after that." The sailor girl said something interesting there.

"You mean four on one!" Sukuna stated, jumping out of my coat pocket from being a bit miffed at having been ignored.

"Ignoring that, two?" I asked.

"Yeah, a witch and a shrine maiden, like the one right there, only red instead of green," The sailor girl answered as she pointed at Sanae.

"I guess they're already here then," Sanae surmised, ignoring having been pointed at. Before anymore could be said, the ship began to shake violently.

"Looks like we're entering the breach," the sailor girl noted "You might want to hang on to something. It's supposed to get really bumpy from here." CRAP I shouldn't have leaned on the railing!

"WOOOOAAAAH!" I yelled as I lost my footing, and fell off the ship.

"Minato-kun!"

"Arisato-sama!"

"Kid!" I could hear voices as I tried to activate my flight charm, but the atmosphere of the place between Gensokyo and Makai was so violent that I was having trouble even righting myself. All I could do was feebly try to activate the charm as I steadily saw the ship grow smaller and smaller… This can't be it for me… not like this… A strange miasma seemed to fill the air as I fell farther and farther. The storm of the breach seemingly disappearing to reveal a sundown and some form of land, but the miasma I was breathing in began to blur my vision… until… it… it was… da…rk…

Break

"Oh? Are you awake now?" I opened my eyes to see a set of blue eyes meet my own.

"Woah!" I let out of surprise as I catapulted awake apparently hitting something soft on the way up.

"Don't get up so quickly, you were falling from quite a height before I caught you, and you breathed in a lot of the miasma. That stuff is quite harmful, you know?" I shook my head to try and get rid of my sleepiness. It seems that even when I try to stay awake, something still forces me back to sleep. After being satisfied with how much of my drowsiness I got rid of, I turned to the person whose lap I was lying on. As I remembered, from a second ago, her blue eyes once again met my own. I then noticed the long white hair that framed her face. It was for the most part, free and reached the far end of her back, maybe even past it, but a single ponytail was tied on the left side of her head with a pair of red beads. The pinkish turtleneck gave way to a simple but elegant red dress that seemed to be a bit too big, with much of the cloth dragging on the floor.

"I'm okay…" I told her. Something feels off about her…

"That's good. I haven't had visitors in quite some time, and it would be a shame something were to befall them." Despite how it was worded, there was sincerity in that statement rather than the sarcasm that usually addled that combination of words. "Oh, but you must still be tired after having just entered Makai, you can rest a little while longer if you need to. I'll even let you use my lap again."

"Wait Makai?" I'm here?

"Yes, Makai. Now don't be shy. It's fine for the time being." I got up completely ignoring the nice woman's kind gesture. I walked over to a cliff that was apparently nearby.

Now that I was up, I was able to fully see just where I was, for the most part. It was dark now For the most part the place seemed to be barren and unearthly. Much of was deep red, but seemed to be frozen like crystal. Even the forests that could be seen looked like they were made of crystals rather than the normal organic materials. It really looked like nothing on earth.

"It's not much to look at, but it is home." The woman walked over to my side, allowing me to be surprised by the fact that she was just a bit shorter than me. "Even in this harsh environment, there's something nice about it." I couldn't exactly see what she saw in the hellish landscape that was ironically more like hell than actual hell, but then again, I suppose she has lived here all her life. "Now are you sure you're okay? You're spacing out quite a bit."

"I'm fine. Spacing out is normal for me."

"Really? It must be hard for you to make friends then if you have trouble paying attention like that." Like before, the way she said it seemed to indicate a genuine concern rather than the usual level of conceit that would normally ooze from that sentence. "Well if you're going to be here for a while, then I'd gladly be your friend." I was taken aback a bit from her saying that.

"I'll think about it," I said as I continued to look at the ground below.

"It seems like you weren't the only visitor." I looked at her to find that she was looking towards the sky... and a flying ship. "If my hunch is correct, they're here to pick up a friend of mine." That's interesting.

"Who?" I said, turning to her with my attention solely towards her.

"Oh, just someone I became friends with after I found their seal in Makai. It wasn't hard for me to find them." She said nonchalantly. It's a bit of a surprise how relaxed she is despite what I've heard of Makai. I returned my gaze towards the flying ship, mentally readying myself to go after it.

"It seems like you recognize it, too."

"Was it that obvious?"

"No, you have pretty stagnant expression, but I've been around long enough to know what's behind a face like yours. Though I have to admit, there's something different about you." I made my way towards the cliff's edge, readying my flight charm, and checking my evoker, and sword.

"Thanks for saving me earlier," I said as I made it to the very edge. "I owe you one."

"You're welcome. I'm Shinki by the way," she introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Minato Arisato, likewise." As I turned around so as not to seem rude, I then began to let gravity take hold of me as I simply began to lean over the ledge.

"Be careful, on the way there, and be sure to say hi to Byakuran for me, okay?" She asked of me as I was more than forty-five degrees off the cliff.

"Sure." I didn't know who that was but I wouldn't hurt to keep it in mind. "I'll see you around?" I asked her as I was almost eighty degrees off the cliff.

"Of course. I'm looking forward to it," She said with a wave as I finally fell off the cliff, whilst also giving a wave of my own. I now fully fell off the cliff and began to plummet towards the deep red ground, but then I changed my direction and steered upward at a hard angle, almost one-hundred-eighty degrees.

As I rose above the cliff at break-neck speed, I caught a glimpse of Shinki still waving at me. I gave another wave back, and returned my attention towards my destination, the Flying Ship. I could see in the distance that lights were going off, most likely from a spell card duel.

"Alright, let's get this started." Time to crash this incident.

Author's Notes: One game after another, Xillia 2, Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth 1 and 2, P4AU which I got thanks to my Japanese PSN account, Layton versus Ace Attorney. I really need to stop that. So anyways, I'm back… I don't know how to segue off of that so I won't even try. I really wish I could say that I'm going to be working on my next chapter after this, but I already made a schedule to work on a new series after this, another cross over. If you've checked my profile page you'll see that I've had it in the works for a while. That one will still be more like a back-burner series, so once I get that first chapter done for the new series, expect my attention to return to FiEW for a long while.

Though perhaps more relevant, what do you guys think of this chapter? Too wordy? Not enough action? Missing something (in this case might be intentional)? I want to know, your opinions on it, as mine have stopped being useful a long time ago when I keep accidently picking god-tier characters in fighting games like Kat or Kokonoe, and thinking that they're going to be low tier in my initial impression. The most important part is that I don't improve unless I get told what's wrong though, so any constructive criticism is always more than appreciated.

I'm sorry about the scheduling, and I hope that I can get the next one out sooner after the new series' first chapter is out. I hope that if you have something to say that you'll leave a review, and even if you don't, I hope all of you enjoyed what you read today, and will have a good rest of the day. See you next time!