[April 9th, 20XX]
The train cars shuddered as the bullet train rushed on along the tracks. The moon, fully shining in all its pale glory, hung high in the sky, illuminating the silhouettes of the numerous buildings making up the artificial island of Iwatodai.
A teen looked away from the window, brushing a strand of blue hair out of his eyes. A set of earphones covered his head, blocking most of the sound. Not that it mattered, as he was alone in the car.
A small sense of nostalgia welled up as he looked at the city… only for it to be smothered out with practiced ease.
"Nobody probably even remembers me here." He thought for all of a second, before huffing. "Eh, it's for the best."
A flash of blue at the edge of his vision caught his attention, but by the time he looked over again it was already gone. With a shrug, he pulled out his phone to change songs.
Only, what he saw on the screen was not the usual music app. Instead, a blue text box - "the same color as the flash," his mind supplied - occupied the screen.
[Preliminary conditions positive.
F.A.T.E. system active.
User: Makoto Yuuki
Do you agree?]
[YES] [NO]
"Probably some sort of scam, or whatever." He hummed, pressing the 'no' option.
The text disappeared, only to return a moment later. He pressed no again, and again it happened.
Makoto let out a long sigh. "Fine then, I'll play your game. Hopefully I won't need to buy a new phone."
He pressed 'yes'.
[Thank you. For your patience, please have one Summon Ticket (Bronze).]
[Ok]
With a roll of his eyes, Makoto simply pressed 'ok' and moved on. He had no idea what that ticket was, but he was sure he would find out soon… whether he liked it or not. After all, whatever this was, it still had his phone hostage.
Also, finally the song had changed. So that was a bit of good news.
[Help: Summon Tickets]
[Summon Tickets allow you to obtain a Servant from the Throne of Heroes. They shall be stalwart allies in your future battles. There are three ranks to Servants: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.]
[Head to the Summoning Room to summon your first Servant.]
With that, the text boxes finally stopped appearing. In their stead, a new program was displayed: a list of options, although most were blanked out. The only two Makoto could see were 'Help' and 'Summon'.
And, considering that he still couldn't back out of that weird app - which was sounding like a gacha game for some reason - he kept playing along.
Accessing the 'summoning room', he was presented with three more choices: 'bronze summon', 'silver summon', and 'gold summon'. Of course, the only one currently available was the bronze option, so that was what he went with.
After a quick animation, depicting what he assumed to be the 'ticket' being ripped like a card pack, and a card being pulled out, Makoto was presented with his new 'Servant'.
"Asterios, huh? High physical power, which makes sense as a minotaur. Oh, there's a bio section too."
Makoto had to admit that at least the artstyle was rather nice for a game that had randomly appeared on his phone and was holding it hostage. Also the lore of the characters seemed to take from mythological beings, which he did find nice as a familiar topic.
"Hmm… Asterios is the name of the original Minotaur? So he actually didn't do anything bad and just wanted to be free… well, sucks for him I guess."
Makoto was a bit too engrossed in reading Asterios' history, not noticing that the train was slowing to a stop. He jumped up a bit when the train's intercom announced they'd arrived at Iwatodai station.
Quickly gathering his luggage, Makoto stepped off the train.
[00:00]
Something changed. The station looked just as empty as before, but the lights had turned off. It could've been simply a black-out, but… there was something in the air.
He stepped through the streets, eyes darting left and right expecting something to come at him. Nothing did, but the sense of dread building up within him did not abate. If anything, it grew worse.
Finally, he reached his destination, Iwatodai Dorm. He was supposed to be starting school here, but arrived a week earlier in order to get settled in. Now he was very much regretting it.
Alas, he had to enter. Pushing down the dread just as easily as any other emotion, he made his way inside. Which, by itself, was weird. Why was the door open like that? It was midnight, geez.
The ground floor seemed to be a common room of sorts. Couches placed near a tv, along with a large table further inside. Off to the side, he spotted a kitchen.
Even here, the lights were off. Was there a curfew?
"Hello? Anyone there?" Makoto called out, feeling rather put out by the lack of life.
Thankfully for his nerves, he did hear someone walk downstairs. A girl, around his age. Pink cardigan, red bow on her neck, quite pretty too. Was she the one he was supposed to meet-
As soon as she spotted him, the girl pointed a gun at his face. An actual gun.
Makoto froze, confused out of his mind..
"...Is this the wrong building?" He attempted to ask. "I know it's kinda late, but there was an accident and my train had to be delayed-"
"Shut up!"
Makoto shut up.
"I- I don't know who you think you are, but don't you take another step, you hear me?" The girl yelled at him. With how loud she was being, he wouldn't have been surprised if she woke up everyone else in the building.
"...Is there even anyone else? Did I step into a schizo's domain?"
"Look, I think there's a misunderstanding here-" He attempted to explain himself again, only to be interrupted once more.
"Like hell there is! How did you get in here?"
At that point, Makoto was getting just a tiny bit miffed at being constantly interrupted. "As I was saying." He pointed towards the door. "The door was open. I was supposed to move here two days ago, and I'm sorry for getting here so late, but this doesn't seem like a good excuse to point a gun at me!" He finished his tirade with a bit more energy than he'd meant.
The girl had the gall to scoff at him. "Likely story," she said, keeping the gun still trained on him. "Next you'll tell me you didn't see the coffins outside."
"The what now?"
It was at that moment that someone else came downstairs.
"Takeba, what exactly are you doing?" The new arrival asked. "What is the cause of this commotion?"
Another girl. Luscious blood-red locks framed her face like a work of art, even at such a late hour. She held herself like a queen, piercing ice-blue eyes looking down on the pair of peasants before her as she walked down the stairs.
Or at least, the latter part was what Makoto assumed was going through her mind.
The girl with the gun - Yukari, she was called - fumbled around, obviously not expecting to be caught.
"K-Kirijo-senpai! This guy came in out of nowhere, and…" takeba's voice trailed off as Kirijo raised an arm.
"Makoto Yuuki, correct?" She asked, staring at him.
Makoto nodded, not trusting his voice. Whether that was due to embarrassment, shock, or annoyance he didn't know himself.
"You were supposed to arrive on tuesday. What happened?" The queen-like lady pressed on.
"...Train scheduling issues. Got here five minutes ago."
Kirijo nodded. "Very well. As it was not your fault, you can be forgiven for the tardiness, and for breaking curfew. This once. But let this be the last time you arrive at the dorm so late."
"...ok. When?"
"Ten pm."
Makoto nodded, the excitement draining out of him and leaving him way too tired to argue. Not that he wanted to. That girl felt dangerous just by looking at her.
"Tres bien. Takeba-" the girl stiffened up at being addressed "-will show you to your room. I'm afraid I have business to attend to."
With that, the two were left alone.
"So, uh… sorry about that." Takeba began, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "Nobody is really meant to come in at this hour…"
Makoto gave a nonchalant hum, picking up his luggage. "Where to?"
"Huh?" The girl took a moment to realize what he was talking about. "Oh, right, your room. You're probably tired. Uh, second floor."
As they made their way upstairs, Takeba tried to start a conversation again, only for Makoto to ignore her. He was tired, and really pissed. He didn't feel like chatting with the girl who held him at gunpoint - even though it ended up being fake.
The good thing was that he didn't have to share a room with anyone. He simply put his luggage to the side, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.
Still, what was that about coffins..?
It was not to last, though, as just a little later somebody began banging on his door.
"Makoto, wake up! We need to get out of here!"
Makoto let out a groan. Why did it have to be her…
Still, she didn't seem like she wanted to let up. He groggily walked up to the door, giving a death glare to Takeba as he opened it.
The girl didn't seem to care as she shoved something at his chest, grabbed his arm, and forced him to follow her.
"Come on, we don't have time! We have to run!" She yelled.
Makoto stumbled over himself, the girl pulling him up the stairs. "What's got her so spooked? Is there a burglar or something?"
An unearthly roar shook the building.
"Ok, that's why!" Makoto had no bloody idea what that was, but he really didn't want to find out.
That's when he realized that he was still holding onto the thing that Takeba had given him. It was actually pretty heavy- "Why did she give me a sword?!"
Makoto was screaming inside, while Takeba screamed out loud.
They burst out on top of the roof, and Takeba quickly closed the door behind them. They both worked to catch their breath, leaning against the door.
"What-" Makoto forced out "-the hell is this about? What was that roar?"
"Long story. Kirijo and Sanada-senpai are dealing with it. Just… let's just let them do their thing. We can explain later."
Makoto glared at the girl, but didn't find it in himself to get worked up. So long as they would answer, he could wait a bit. Even if he had to stay on the roof in his pajamas.
"First that weird gacha game, and now this? Either there's a connection, or I'm dreaming." Makoto nodded to himself. There was no way something like that was happening.
Although… The tiredness couldn't be fake. The ache in his feet from walking around the roof without shoes wasn't fake.
The roar that once again shook the building was definitely not fake.
Takeba froze in terror as she looked at something behind Makoto. He turned around, feeling that monstrous dread from before come back with a vengeance. A mass of black, tar-like fluid roughly shaped like a mass of hands pulled itself onto the roof. One of the hands held a mask, which it turned in their direction. The other hands held a large number of blades.
A small part of Makoto's mind noted that the moon - and sky - was a green hue, but that revelation paled in comparison to the massive monster in front of them!
Something deep within Makoto stirred. Takeba was babbling to herself, attempting to stand. She was unarmed- well, she held the fake gun. It wouldn't help. He had a weapon. He had to save them, or that… that thing, would kill them.
A beat.
The blades were raised to the sky, ready to come down on them.
Two beats.
Rage welled into Makoto, forcing a word to the forefront of his mind.
Three beats.
The blades came down.
"Asterios!" He called, letting the rage within explode. A massive pillar of blue light shone around him, solidifying into a familiar shape.
Two massive axes caught the blades, pushing them back with ease.
Makoto felt powerful.
Between the tar monster and Makoto, a massive man stood. Nearly three meters tall, his chiselled upper body was left naked save for the massive amount of scars criss-crossing his skin. From his wild mane of white hair, two black horns sprouted, pointing up to the sky. A mask with a bull's visage covered his face.
He was Asterios, answering his Master's call.
And he was furious.
The minotaur charged at the monster, bringing his axes to bear. The monster attempted to block his first swing, but the swords buckled under Asterios' massive power.
After the first limb was chopped off, others followed suit, every swing from the Bull of Minos rewarded with a splatter of black ichor.
The monster tried to escape, scuttling away with the few limbs which had survived Asterios' rampage. But the bull was not done. He dropped the axes, picking up the monster instead. And then he pulled.
An animalistic screech came from the monster as it was torn asunder, echoing in the dead of the green night. An echo that was quickly replaced by Asterius' own victorious roar. Then, silence reigned in the night.
"...Wha..?"
Oh, right, Takeba was here. He should probably make sure that she was safe, right? Then why couldn't he turn around?
"Makoto!"
Right, he was falling unconscious, that's why.
"I need you to tell me every detail, Takeba."
Yukari Takeba sighed. Of course, as the only eyewitness, she had to report. Even though she was terribly tired.
"It's just like I told you, senpai," Yukari began for the umpteenth time. "Makoto and I ran to the roof. I gave him the spare sword, since I… Well, he needed the protection more than me. He asked me what was going on, and I told him we'd explain after you and Sanada-senpai took care of it."
Mitsuru Kirijo, her upperclassman and leader nodded. "That matches the recordings. Continue, please."
"...Right. Well, Makoto started to pace around, and then the Shadow roared again. It climbed up to the roof."
"And what did you do, Takeba?" Akihiko Sanada, Mitsuru's second-in-command asked.
"I… I hesitated." Yukari was very ashamed to admit it. "I couldn't bring myself to call out my Persona, and Makoto was forced to summon his own. Without an evoker."
Mitsuru glanced to her left, meeting Akihiko's gaze. The silver-haired athlete was still staring at the screens on the wall, specifically the recording of the Persona's appearance. It was… different from what it looked like for them.
"No evoker's right," Akihiko mulled. "He just yelled something, then a flash of light and there it was." He turned to Yukari. "Do you remember what he said? Maybe a trigger phrase, or something?"
Yukari shook her head. "No. I don't think so, at least. He said 'Asterios'. Does that mean anything to you?"
The tapping of fingers on a keyboard brought everyone's attention to the fourth person in the room. An older man was sitting in a wheelchair, typing something on his laptop. Then, he stopped.
"Ah, there we go."
"Found something, Mr. Ikutsuki?" Asked Mitsuru.
"Ah, indeed I have, Mitsuru." Shuji Ikutsuki turned the laptop around, allowing everyone to see the article he'd pulled up. "Asterios is the true name of the Minotaur of Crete. I'd wager that he would make a great frontline fighter."
The three teens all gave a look at the article. There wasn't much, but everyone knew the basics about the Minotaur: a monster that was trapped by his own father in a labyrinth, fed seven boys and seven girls every year.
And Makoto had summoned something like that as his Persona. That… was concerning.
"Do his files detail a violent past, or anything of the sort?" Mitsuru picked up one of the folders on the table, flipping through it.
"Nothing of the sort, no." Shuji put away the laptop, picking up one of the folders himself. "The most noteworthy detail is that he was orphaned ten years ago in a rather… messy, car accident. Right here in Iwatodai in fact. Then he bounced between relatives until he decided to move back here for some reason. Nostalgia, if I had to guess."
"No matter. We shall figure out what to do with him when he awakens. For now, it is time we all get some sleep."
Everyone agreed, moving to their rooms - or in Ikutsuki's case, outside the building.
"Takeba."
Just before she could enter her room, though, Yukari felt her blood freeze.
"You will be punished for your negligence. I understand using an Evoker is hard for you, but if something like this were to happen again… we may be too late."
Yukari felt a heavy weight settle in her stomach at the thought. If Makoto hadn't awakened his Persona when he did…
"...I understand, senpai."
"Goodnight, Takeba."
Yeah… goodnight. Maybe she wouldn't have nightmares about tonight.
Maybe.
[?]
"My my, how… unusual. A wildcard so unpredictable that he evaded even us." A chuckle came from the old man. "Intriguing, isn't it, Elizabeth?"
The young woman standing next to the man nodded with a small smile. "Indeed. Has this ever happened before, master Igor?"
The old man shook his head, the wide smile never wavering for a moment. "Not in the slightest, dear. In fact, I fear that our wildcard might never need our services with this little 'game' of his."
"Is… is that allowed, master? Isn't it our job to help and guide the wildcards? Who could be behind this?"
"That, I cannot say. Perhaps my own master, or… a third party? There has never been one before, but it is not impossible."
"What do you suggest then, master?"
"How about… we play by our guest's rules, for once?"
[April 17th, 20XX]
Everything was pain.
"Yep, still alive. Fucking wish I wasn't…"
Makoto Yuuki was in a hospital. As if he hadn't had his fill of those already all those years ago.
Sterile white walls, medical equipment to the side, IV drip connected to his arm… yep, hospital.
"Mas… ter…"
Makoto blinked. That wasn't his own voice in his head. It was far deeper, and more gravelly than his own. Did he hit his head at some point?
His musings about mysterious voices in his head were cut short as the door to his room opened. Takeba walked in, not noticing that he was awake. Only when she reached the foot of his bed, did she notice the silvery eyes staring at her.
"Gah! Oh, uh… hey. Didn't think you'd be awake." She went to sit down on a chair next to his bed.
"I think there's some answers that you owe me," he muttered, not having the strength to raise his voice any higher than that.
"Yeah, ok. How do I explain this…" She whispered the last part to herself, though Makoto caught it. "Right, so let's start with that monster. We call those 'Shadows'."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "This 'we' being you and Kirijo-senpai?"
"There's us, Sanada-senpai, and the Chairman. You'll meet them soon, they… well, we all need to talk to you about last night."
"We are right now."
"Heh, yeah, we are. But I'm just telling you what they've told me. I've only known this stuff for a week or so myself…" Takeba went quiet for a moment. "Oh right!" She straightened up. "Persona, yeah, you should know about that."
He waited for her to go on.
"Shadows are…Well, we don't know what they are, but they prey on people. They leave them in a catatonic state. A Persona - the thing you summoned last night - is 'the facade used to face life's adversity', and we use those to fight back." She rattled off the information as if she were quoting someone else.
The words were familiar to Makoto, though. "Jung?"
"Yeah. He was surprisingly close, huh?"
"...Yeah."
They sat in silence for a moment.
"So last night, I summoned this 'Persona' thing?" Makoto mulled. "What was it like for you?"
"Eh?" Takeba was taken aback by the question. "You mean when I summoned my Persona?"
Makoto nodded.
"Well, I did go comatose for a while like you. I needed an Evoker for that- you'll see what I mean later. But it was… liberating. And very draining."
The following 'what about you?' was left unsaid.
"I see… I felt powerful. And angry, but I don't think that was me."
Takeba watched on with confusion as Makoto tried to explain his own experience.
"It was like… there were two people in my mind. One focused on fighting back, and the other, the one that didn't feel like me… it was enraged. I don't know for what, though."
"Ma...ster… safe…"
Again! A voice in his head, unlike his own! What… could it be…
"Say, Takeba… is it normal to hear voices in your head after you awaken your Persona?"
His question seemed to have taken her aback. "No? Not that I know of, at least. What are you hearing?"
Makoto wondered if he should've told her that. Perhaps this 'Persona' was different yet similar from his 'Servant'? He did recognize Asterios last night. Then again, he needed answers. And for that, he needed allies. Offering some trust to the girl might go a long way.
"I think it's Asterios. You know, my Persona. I've heard him twice now. Before you came in, he said 'master'. And just now, when I said I didn't know what he was angry about, he said 'master safe'."
Takeba was quiet, ruminating his words.
"I think we need to bring this up to the others. I haven't heard of anything like this before, but a Persona that can communicate… this might be huge."
Makoto felt justified in not bringing up the app just yet. He was sure that it would come up at some point, especially if he would end up summoning anyone new, but for now… well, he'd hold that card close to his chest.
Soon after, Takeba had to leave. She still had things to take care of, and Makoto had no intention to hold her back.
Once she was finally gone, he turned his attention to a thing that had been nagging at his mind the whole time. Spotting his phone on the nightstand, he went to open it.
Immediately, he spotted a few notifications. And they were actual notifications, instead of the text boxes from… however long it had been.
"The seventeenth? I've been out of it for a whole week?" Makoto mused. "Well, let's see what I missed."
Several of the notifications were inconsequential things: some artists posting new music, random spam messages… what caught his attention were some notifications directly from the 'F.A.T.E. system'.
[Asterios reached LV 3!]
[Your bond with Asterios reached Tier 1!]
[For defeating a powerful opponent, you have gained a Silver Summoning Ticket!]
He had to check that out, of course. The app had saved his life, whatever it was, so he'd better understand it.
Firstly, in the 'Equipped Servants' section he saw that each of his Servants - for now only Asterios - came with a 'level' and 'bond' counter. And just as the app said, Asterios was at level three, while the 'bond' was at tier one.
"Is it the bond that allows me to hear him?" Makoto had to guess. It felt like a decent guess, all things considered.
Apparently increasing a Servant's level, they would get stronger, as evidenced by Asterios' parameters having increased a little bit. A point in Agility, Magic, and Luck each, then two points in Strength and Constitution. Asterios was definitely building up to be a powerhouse.
Both counters had a limit, too. Asterios' level could only reach a level of twenty, while the bond could only go up to five. Considering that Asterios was a Bronze-tier Servant, Makoto had to assume that a Silver-tier would have a higher rank. And perhaps better parameters too, but that was just a hunch.
Going to use the silver ticket, Makoto took note that the screen had changed. The options were still there, but now they looked like cards laid out on a table, with a creepy old man sitting across from him.
When he tapped on the ticket, an animation played where the old man picked up the card, and flipped it, revealing the new Servant.
"Hmm. Jing Ke, Assassin class. Wasn't he supposed to be a man, though?" Makoto scoffed quietly. "Of course even something like this isn't safe from turning everything into women."
Her parameters were… actually pretty bad when compared to the likes of Asterios. Had he been duped? Was Asterios just that powerful compared to other Bronze-class?
"At least she has good agility. Fitting for an assassin, if anything."
Actually, that made Makoto reconsider himself. Jing Ke was an assassin, but Asterios was a berserker. It made sense that he was powerful.
Plus, apparently Silver-ranks could get up to level thirty-five. A significant leg up. Was it a question of 'early game' versus 'late game' usability?
Makoto shook his head free of those thoughts, putting away the phone. While he needed to figure this out, it could wait until he felt better. For now, instead, he felt too weak to stay awake for much longer.
[April 18th, 20XX]
It was a day later, when he was allowed to leave the hospital, when Makoto finally met these 'Persona experts'.
He'd already met Yukari Takeba and Mitsuru Kirijo, so there was nothing new there. The two new additions were Akihiko Sanada, a third-year student who looked like he could bench-press two of Makoto without issue...
"Note to self: do not piss off Sanada-senpai."
...and Shuji Ikutsuki, an older man in a wheelchair. Makoto wasn't sure if he gave him an 'archeologist' vibe, or a 'punch me in the face' vibe.
Considering that he was in a wheelchair, he probably shouldn't.
"Wait a minute. Wheelchair… the chairman? Are they all making fun of him?"
Only many years of training at keeping a straight face stopped Makoto from bursting out laughing in front of the people that would decide his future… or, well, that was what it felt like with the way they were intensely staring at him.
"So..?" He tried to prompt someone, anyone, into talking.
"So." the chairman - pfft - agreed. "I do believe it's time to catch you up with what has happened over a week ago."
Makoto nodded at that. "Takeba told me a little yesterday. I think I can sort of piece the rest together, though I still have some questions."
Ikutsuki motioned for him to continue.
"I know what Shadows are, and from what I've gathered we use Personas - like the one I summoned that night - to fight them. For what reason I can only speculate, but I assume it's to keep people safe?" He waited for a moment, receiving a nod from Mitsuru. "Right. And apparently you guys need a thing called an 'evoker' to use your Persona, while I don't, because… reasons, I suppose." He shrugged. "What I want to know is how that ties in with the green moon, if it does. I noticed that it wasn't a one-off, since it did happen last night too."
Shuji nodded once again once he was done. "Most of that is spot-on, yes. Perhaps a bit less articulate than how we would've explained it, but in broad strokes that is correct. We-" he waved his hand at the other three people "-are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. S.E.E.S. for short. Our goal is to discover the origin of the Shadows, and of the Dark Hour."
Makoto raised an eyebrow. "Is that what the green moon is about?"
"Indeed. A peculiar phenomenon that happens right at midnight: a whole hour in which the world is in stasis, and the Shadows come out to feast. Most people are safe from it, as they transmogrify into coffins for the duration of the hour, but there are some that do not. Some-" he motioned towards Makoto, and then the others "-are those with the potential to summon a Persona. Then there are the few like me, who simply remain conscious for… some reason we are still unaware of."
Leaning back into his couch, Makoto mulled over the information. "I see… then, now what? Are you going to make me join?"
"That was the plan," Akihiko piped up. "The way you handled that Shadow… we could use you with us. Plus, being able to summon your Persona without an evoker would be a massive advantage out there."
"Ok."
"Look, you don't have to choose now, I know it's a big… wait what."
"I said ok. I'm in." Makoto shrugged. "I want to understand this thing, so I might as well pitch in if I can."
From there, there was no big fanfare: after all, they were not an official organization or anything of the sort. They did have a little celebration of their own to make Makoto feel welcome.
They were nice people, weirdness aside.
[April 18th, Dark Hour, 20XX]
Makoto Yuuki couldn't sleep. That was not due to anything bad, of course, mostly it was due to his own curiosity.
He wanted to see just what he could do. And also, he wanted to talk to his Persona - or Servant, whether the case may be.
Making his way to the roof felt right. After all, that was where he'd first summoned Asterios.
He focused, attempting to recall how he'd summoned his Servant for the first time. He pictured the massive horned man standing in front of him. He brought back the feeling of power as he summoned the Servant.
In a flash of blue light, Asterios appeared before his Master.
The massive man knelt down to Makoto's level, holding his gaze through the eye slits in the mask.
"Asterios…" Makoto began, his throat feeling dry. "Can you understand me?"
The berserker nodded.
"Right, now how do I… what do I do now?" Makoto wondered. He had no idea what to do.
"What are you, Asterios?"
"Ser… vant. Ber… serrr… ker." Asterios' gravelly voice answered as well as it could. Makoto was starting to believe that the 'bond' wasn't the reason why Asterios' words were so… drawn-out.
"Alright. Well, thank you. For that night, I mean. You saved us."
Asterios didn't speak, but he nodded again. Makoto could feel a sense of satisfaction coming from - probably - Asterios' side of the mental link they apparently shared.
Makoto could feel himself beginning to grow tired, so he let Asterios disappear. The man faded away like a breeze, leaving nothing behind.
He was about to leave the roof and go to sleep, but… "Should I? ...I don't think a few seconds will hurt."
He tried the summoning process again, but this time he pictured the lithe form of Jing Ke. Instead of the sheer power from before, now Makoto felt more… focused. Attentive. Was that a side-effect of his different Servants?
Regardless, the Servant stood before him. She was just a few inches shorter than him, piercing blue eyes staring intently at him as her shining white robes and sleek black hair billowed in an ethereal wind.
He could already feel the difference in the drain that the two caused. It wasn't a massive difference, but holding Asterios manifested was significantly more comfortable than Jing Ke.
"Servant, Assassin. Are you my master?" She asked, not moving an inch as she studied him.
Realizing that she was waiting for an answer, Makoto nodded. "Yes, I am."
Asterios has called him Master too, after all.
Jing Ke seemed to accept it. "Very well. My true name is Jing Ke… but you already knew that. Name your targets, and I shall strike them down."
Makoto shook his head vehemently. "There's no need. Not for now, at least. I just wanted to properly meet you before getting thrown into a fight."
The assassin nodded. "I see. A wise decision, master. In that case, allow me to explain my abilities."
Unfortunately, Makoto was beginning to feel the strain from the continuous summoning. "Do you think we could do that while you're unsummoned? Keeping this up is rather tiring."
Receiving a solemn nod from the assassin, he allowed the summoning to cease, her form disappearing just like Asterios before her.
While Makoto walked down the stairs, he attempted to call out to his Servants.
"Jing Ke? Asterios? Can you hear me?"
"...Here…"
"We are always with you, Master."
Makoto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in beforehand.
"Alright then, what were you going to say about your abilities?"
"I possess the skill Presence Concealment, as all Assassins do, at rank B. It is extremely difficult to sense me in any way, shape or form. Furthermore, I possess Restraint A, preventing anyone from sensing my bloodlust until the last possible moment, and Planning B, which allows me to devise schemes to assassinate any target… although, I do not deal well with large-scale combat."
The teen reeled from the info dump. A number of that went over his head, probably the 'rank' thing meant that even if the servants acted like people they were still bound by the game's rules. Still, from what he could grasp Jing Ke was quite the stealthy person.
Who knew, if he could get used to keeping her out for a while then those abilities might prove useful.
"I see. That's quite the skillset you have."
"There is one last thing, Master. My noble phantasm. It-"
"Your what now?" Makoto asked with no small amount of confusion.
A twinge of annoyance came from Jing Ke, probably at being interrupted like that.
"You truly have no experience with Servants, do you? A noble phantasm is the core of a Heroic Spirit's legend. It is an ability, or item, intrinsically connected with a Servant's origins, and it is the strongest weapon in their arsenal."
Makoto nodded, opening the door to his bedroom. "Ok, I get it. Sorry for interrupting, please continue."
"Very well. My noble phantasm, Only For Killing, is my poisoned dagger. It is incredibly difficult to dodge, and even a graze can be fatal unless one has a high resistance to poisons."
He hadn't noticed her holding anything when she was summoned, but Makoto knew better than to challenge that claim, especially from a person that could, by their own admission, become nearly impossible to perceive. If she had a dagger, then she had a dagger.
In the meantime, he had finally laid down in his bed again.
"Thanks for the explanation, Jing Ke. I'll make sure to keep it in mind."
The assassin didn't answer, but Makoto could feel that she accepted his thanks.
"What about you, Asterios?"
The only answer that the minotaur gave was a sense of confusion. Deciding to let it be for the time being, Makoto shook his head.
"Nevermind then. We'll see another time. For now though, I need to sleep. Goodnight, both of you."
"Good… night…"
"Rest well, Master."
[April 19th, 20XX]
That Sunday was a day spent in a mixture of anticipation and stress… for Makoto, that is. Akihiko had apparently mentioned that there would be yet another new member of S.E.E.S. moving in that night, but that was secondary to the fact that Makoto needed to catch up to a week of missed assignments.
Thankfully Takeba - or rather, Yukari, as she insisted he call her by her first name - had no problems with helping him with the schoolwork. Probably as an apology for the whole 'gun' mishap, which Makoto had already forgiven but chose not to mention.
"Yeah, I don't think I should mention it again. Who knows, maybe she'll let me copy her homework a few times?" Makoto thought to himself, forgetting that he wasn't alone even in his thoughts.
"Master, I am an assassin and even I would find that far too cruel. Just accept the apology."
Makoto had to resist the instinct to roll his eyes, as he doubted it would have much of an effect when the one he was talking to wasn't actually there. "I wasn't actually going to do that, relax. For a killer you sure have a strong sense of honor."
"Honesty is an important value in life, Master."
"...Fight?"
Asterios felt worried. Immediately, Makoto backpedaled.
"No, Asterios, we're not fighting. Don't worry."
Once he felt the Berserker settle down, Makoto returned to his work. One last assignment, and then he'd have dinner. It was already getting late, and his stomach demanded food, but Makoto was nothing if not persistent when he put his mind to something.
He was almost done, when the front door opened, two people walking in. One he recognized as Akihiko, while the other he assumed was the new member.
The newbie seemed… a bit of a douche. Call it the way he walked, the look on his face, maybe the way he was dressed… Makoto had the impression of 'douche' when he looked at the cap-wearing, tan-skinned, swagger-filled guy that had walked in just after Akihiko.
"What are you doing here?"
Oh. He had history with Yukari, apparently. Wasn't that something.
The new guy held his arms up in mock-surrender. "Whoa there, Yuka-tan. I didn't do anything wrong, I'm just moving to this dorm..." He leaned towards Akihiko, stage-whispering to him. "Does she know about 'that thing'?"
The athlete held in a sigh. "Yes, Iori. Everyone in this dorm does."
"Oh. Ok then!" The guy now called Iori bounced back as if nothing happened. He then spotted Makoto.
"Oh no."
He walked towards him..
"Oh no..."
"Hello there! I don't think we've met before, I'm Jumpei Iori. And you are?" He asked, holding out a hand towards Makoto.
"Social interaction. My worst enemy. And without anything to break the ice, either." Makoto groaned internally as he reluctantly shook Jumpei's hand.
"...Makoto Yuuki."
Jumpei seemed a bit put off by Makoto's curt tone. "Alright then… Man of few words, huh? I can appreciate that."
"This is the new member?" Yukari asked, as if begging for Akihiko to say that it was a joke.
Instead, the upperclassman simply nodded. "He is. Found him a few nights ago in a store, scared out of his mind. Now then-" he turned towards Makoto "-would you mind showing him to his room, Yuuki?"
Makoto gave one last look at his nearly-complete assignment, and then nodded.
"Thank you. He's right next to your own room, now I'm sorry but there's some things I need to talk to Mitsuru about. See you later."
With that, he left, leaving the underclassmen trio in the common room.
"C'mon," Makoto murmured, and motioned for Jumpei to follow him. "Upstairs we go."
Makoto couldn't see it, but Yukari was left to stew in her own thoughts. Whatever history she had with Jumpei, it seemed like she didn't hold a high opinion of him.
Regardless, he had brought the newbie in front of his room.
"Here it is," He said, motioning for the door. "Get comfortable."
"Er, right. Thanks. Where's your room, by the way?"
Makoto pointed towards the door right next to Jumpei's own. "Please be quiet at night. I like sleeping."
Jumpei gave him a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I gotcha. But anyways!" He slung an arm over Makoto's shoulders. "How long have you been part of this group? There's a lot of things I want to know!"
"Since yesterday."
"Oh, so we're in the same boat, ey buddy? Well don't worry! Just stick by my side and we'll make it through!"
Makoto held in yet another groan. "I would better trust my chances to survive against Asterios."
Asterios got curious at hearing his name.
"Nevermind."
"Sure. Whatever you say." Makoto extricated himself from Jumpei's grasp. "I have an assignment to finish. Dinner at eight, don't be late."
With that, Makoto went back downstairs.
[April 20th, 20XX]
"Alright class, settle down. We have a new student joining us today. He was supposed to be here at the start of the year like everyone else, but he unfortunately had an accident and had to join us later." The teacher motioned Makoto to come inside.
He walked in, feeling everyone's stares on him.
"Of course they're gonna stare. Not surprising," he mused to himself.
Stopping next to the teacher's desk, Makoto gave a bow to the other students. "My name is Makoto Yuuki. I will be in your care," he said with practiced ease.
And practiced it was, as he'd spent a good chunk of last night and that morning to memorize that line in order to avoid further embarrassment.
He calmly took place at an empty desk, ignoring the whispers around.
Just another day, in another school.
Classes were finally over, with Makoto doing his best not to fall asleep. He was failing that battle.
That was, until someone stepped in front of his desk, and slammed their hands on it. He jumped up in fright, needing a moment to recognize the smirking face of Junpei.
"Yo, didn't know you were in this class too! What's this about an accident?" He asked, seemingly not caring about any who might be listening.
"You know what happened. I ended up in comatose for a week."
"...oh."
"Yeah."
Makoto finally got up from the desk, gathering his stuff. "Let's just get back to the dorm. I wanna sleep for the next century."
"A-men, bro." Jumpei agreed.
"I'm afraid you'll have to skip that nap, guys." Yukari approached the two out of nowhere. "Kirijo-senpai wanted to talk to all of us."
Was she in their class too? Makoto hadn't noticed her.
"Business talk?" Makoto asked, before Jumpei could start with 'the thing'.
A nod from Yukari was enough of an answer for them.
In the end, Mitsuru wanted them all to stay awake until the Dark Hour, to show them something important. Makoto was tired, though, so after taking care of the few assignments he had to take care of, he had his nap.
Awakening sometime after eleven, Makoto got ready for the Dark Hour, the sword he'd been given still in his possession. While he waited, He chose to assuage his curiosity.
The FATE app did have a section where it also detailed his Servant's skills. Jing Ke's were exactly as she had explained them, more or less, while Asterios'... well.
"Madness Enhancement?"
"It is a skill common to all Berserkers. It allows them to grow more powerful at the cost of their sanity, albeit it is only temporary. Though, most Berserkers tend to be quite mad on their own."
"Understandable. The rest of these skills make sense, though I'm surprised that he would have yet another strength-enhancing skill."
"A Berserker's strength is their greatest point. But they tend to be all rather similar in the way they fight, because of that. It takes either an incredibly powerful Berserker, or an excellent Master in order to win a fight against a well-functioning Master-Servant duo."
Makoto nodded slowly, taking in the Assassin's words. "I… 'll see what I can do about that, I suppose."
Someone knocked on his door.
"Makoto, we're leaving. C'mon, man."
He joined Junpei, meeting everyone else downstairs. They apparently had to go somewhere in particular.
As they walked through the nearly-empty streets, Mitsuru began to explain what they were doing.
"Tell me, Yuuki, do you remember what our secondary objective was?"
It took Makoto only a moment to remember. "Find out where the Shadows come from?"
"Exactly," she agreed. "We do actually know where they come from. A 'Shadow nest', if you will."
"Then why didn't you guys go wreck the place already?" Jumpei asked.
"It is not that easy. It would be impossible with only Akihiko and I, that was why we needed help."
"Question." Makoto popped up. "How long have you known about this place?"
"...A while. A long while."
"Then why get more members only now?"
Mitsuru and Akihiko shared a glance. There seemed to be something there.
Akihiko was the one who answered. "Persona-users… we're rare. The fact that we found you three so fast is only thanks to a lot of coincidences."
Makoto chose to drop the point.
"Regardless," Mitsuru picked up the discussion again, "there is also the issue that one of us needed to stay outside to keep an eye on the others. My Persona functions as a sensor, you see, so it made sense for me to stay outside and guide Akihiko. But with the number of Shadows there, he would be overwhelmed."
Akihiko stiffened up a bit at the comment, but didn't argue.
"Why would you need to stay outside?" Yukari asked her own question.
"The walls move," was Akihiko's curt answer.
He had successfully killed the discussion.
A few moments later, and only a minute away from midnight, they stopped.
"Here it is," Mitsuru proclaimed. "The Shadow nest."
Makoto blinked. Yukari blinked too.
"What do you mean 'Shadow nest'? This is our school!" Jumpei yelled.
Mitsuru looked at the watch on her wrist, raising three fingers. "Three, two, one…"
As the last finger fell, the night became green. And the ground shook under their feet.
The school building twisted and turned onto itself, stretching up to the heavens in shapes that baffled the mind. Within less than a minute, where a highschool was, now stood a massive tower, straight out of a fever dream.
"Everyone… Welcome to Tartarus."
I'm still alive. This was posted a while ago on QQ, but I forgot to post it here, thus I decided to bite the bullet now and post it now.
Edit: apparently I slipped into second person for a short moment there. My bad.