Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
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[06/13 Rooftop, Yasogami High, Inaba]
Yu, Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko were on the roof. The warm part of the year had begun and as such it was boiling hot, but not unbearably so.
"When it's boiling hot outside a big bowl of steaming noodles is the absolute best. " Chie cheered eating her noodles.
"It is nice and sultry…" Yukiko commented.
"Hey bro, this like totally rocks right?" Yosuke asked with a grin.
"Yeah… definitely." Yu agreed.
"Wait, what does?" Chie asked looking up from her conversation with Yukiko and shooting Yosuke a look.
"Summer clothes…!" Yosuke answered with a cheerful tone.
Yukiko sweat dropped while Chie looked annoyed.
"You've got a weird pervy look in your eyes." Chie stated.
"And that sounded kinda creepy," Yukiko said agreeing with Chie.
The girls were wearing their white summer "sailor" uniforms, each accentuating it with their own flourish. Yukiko wore a red light open jacket over. Meanwhile Chie had chosen to tie her track sweater around her waist. While Yu and Yosuke were wearing their uniform shirts.
"Hey come on he agreed with me, why am I always the one getting all the crap?" Yosuke demanded.
"Well, to change the subject…" Yukiko decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"Don't You DARE!" Yosuke yelled.
"When the rainy season hits, we should start checking the TV every night," Yukiko continued as if Yosuke hadn't spoken, causing the boy to sweatdrop and hang his head in resignation.
"Right for the Midnight Channel?" Yu stated nodding his head.
"They say we're gonna get tons of rain this year. Chie said, looking up at the sky.
"Well I hope the weather clears up a little bit for this weekend," Yosuke sighed.
"Why is that?" Yu asked.
"The school camping trip!" Yosuke informed him with a grin.
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[06/16 Grocery Department, Junes, Inaba]
Three days later the gang minus Kanji had gone to Junes in order to do some shopping in preparation for the camping trip.
"Hey guys This is your first camping trip, isn't it?" Chie asked.
"Yeah and from what I've heard each team has to prepare their own meals." Yosuke explained with a smug smirk.
"So then what should we make?" Yu asked.
"I've been debating over Ramen or Curry…" Yukiko said, apparently she hadn't decided what she wanted to cook just yet
"Personally I'd go with curry." Yu suggested.
"Cool, then curry it is." Chie agreed apparently liking the idea.
"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna put in my two cents… Curry is a must for camping…" Yosuke said excitedly.
"Thank you for that, so helpful!" Chie growled, gritting her teeth.
They proceeded to head towards the produce department.
"Let's see… Carrots… Potatoes…" Yukiko listed off vegetables while looking over some of the produce.
"So what do you guys do on the camping trip…?" Yu asked with curiosity.
"In the afternoons we usually pick up trash." Chie replied.
"Bleh, seriously? No one ever told me that." Yosuke grumbled.
"Chill there's other fun stuff to do too… we get to sleep in tents and cook all the meals outside." Chie explained.
"The four of us make one complete team right?" Yosuke asked. "So does that mean we're all sharing a tent? Huh?"
"No guys and girls sleep separately!" Chie yelled
"Oh man, that blows" Yosuke groaned as Chie quickly killed his pervy line of thought.
"Hey now that I think about it, didn't we swim at the riverbank after we were done last time? " Yukiko asked noticing Yosuke straighten up and a smirk cover his face.
"Yeah, we did." Chie responded. "And it was way fun."
"This river can you swim in it?" Yu asked.
"Yeah…I don't see why not; people have done it in the past. " Chie stated.
"Uhh… I'm sorry, I just remembered something, I've gotta get going!" Yosuke said hiding his smirk as he turned to go.
"Wait, what about shopping?" Chie asked. But it was too late Yosuke was already running off, leaving the other three stare after him. "What just crawled up his butt?"
After Yosuke ran off Yu stayed with the girls to continue shopping for ingredient for the curry.
"What do you put in Curry again?" Chie asked causing Yu to get a bad feeling.
"Carrots, Onions, Potatoes… Mushrooms, Green Peppers, and… Radish's?" Yukiko said.
"Are radishes the same as Turnips?" Chie asked
"Hmm… Hey Chie do you use Potato starch for Curry?" Yukiko asked.
"Uh, of course you do," Chie said.
"Of course, otherwise the sauce wouldn't thicken." Yukiko stated. "Then we need potato starch and flour too."
"Th-There are different types of Flour, which one do we use?" Chie asked.
"Uh… the whole wheat sounds healthy, maybe that one?" Yukiko said. "Oh and we should get some of these Chili Peppers too, it isn't curry if it isn't spicy."
As they continued to talk about cooking this curry the bad feeling that Yu had from earlier began to grow.
"Ah… there's so much to get, let's just get everything that seems right. We should get some Kimchi and some Black Peppers too," Chie suggested.
"They have black and white kinds though, which one do we get?" Yukiko pointed out.
"Whoa! Way to go, Yukiko...The Amagi family sure knows their stuff!" Chie cheered "Let's get both, just in case."
"Oh yeah...We'll need some special ingredients, too, to spice things up." Yukiko stated.
"How about mint chocolate!? I love that stuff! I don't like coffee that much, though...Oh, I can drink mocha, so let's get that." Chie said excitedly.
"How about some seafood? That should make the sauce taste better." Yukiko suggested.
"I have a bad feeling about this meal." Cu Chulainn commented.
"So do I." Drake said taking a swig of her rum. "I've watched her cook at home and let's just say, the lass shouldn't go into the restaurant business anytime soon."
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[06/17 Camping Trip Grounds, Inaba]
The next day the team all went to the camping ground and spent the whole of Friday morning picking up trash that had been left in the area. Eventually much to everyone's relief the afternoon rolled along, and much to Yosuke's excitement time to eat the meal Yukiko and Chie had cooked.
"Ugh, picking up all that trash was murder on my back." Yosuke complained as he ad Yu sat at a bench waiting for the girls to bring the curry they had cooked. "I can't believe someone threw away an entire bike. Dammit, litterers should have to deal with their own garbage." Yosuke let out a groan of frustration before perking up again. "Anyways, time for dinner! Man, I'm starvin'. Dude, the girls cooked just for us! Not that I expect much outta Chie, but Yukiko's got the full tradition of the Amagi Inn behind her food! You know it's gonna be out of this world!"
"You shouldn't eat it." Yu warned Yosuke having heard half of the ingredients that the girls used and knowing for a fact that nothing edible could be made with all of them.
"Ohh, no way. I'm not falling for that. You just want it all for yourself, huh? I can't wait to dig in!"
"It's his funeral." Cu Chulainn sighed shaking his head while leaning against a pole in spirit form nearby.
'Please go hunt a wild boar.' Yu begged the Lancer telepathically as he materialised him. 'I can cook it and make a meal that won't give us food poisoning.'
Thankfully there were very few people around and none of them saw Lancer materialise out of thin air and as such none of them paid attention when he ran into the forest at high speed.
Yu had spent more time than the others had at privately materialising his Persona's and trying to hold them here in the real world. It was taxing certainly but it got easier the more he did it. As such the strain of holding Lancer in the real world was not as taxing as it would have otherwise been.
"Oh man, here it comes." Yosuke whispered excitedly as Yukiko and Chie came up the table each holding a plate of curry.
"Uhhh, sorry for the wait. Um...We...put a lot of love into it..." Chie stammered as she tried to be confident in her creation.
"Whoa, really? That's kinda clichéd, but still awesome!" Luckily for Chie Yosuke seemed to not notice her lack of confidence. "Okay then, chow time!"
The moment Yosuke put a spoonful of curry in his mouth he immediately collapsed and began gagging.
"Yosuke what's wrong?" Yu asked even though he had a good idea of why Yosuke looked like he was dying and silently prayed for Lancer to be faster.
"mu…no…ea…" Yosuke gagged unable to form the words properly.
"Mosquitos?" Yu guessed hoping to drag the situation out as long as possibly before the girls tried to get him to eat it.
"Wa…."
"Worms?"
"Mosquitos and worms?" Yukiko repeatedly aloud.
"I didn't put any of that in the curry." Chie cried defensively.
"Here drink this." Yu put a glass of water up to Yosuke mouth and poured it in "Is the curry too spicy?" Yu wondered while silently begging Lancer to hurry.
"You were going to make the curry mild right Chie?" Yukiko asked her friend.
"Er…..yeah but if you guys don't trust me then you can taste it yourselves." Chie said with a nervous expression.
"Good idea, why don't you take a bite." Yukiko suggested to Yu who froze up for moment.
'That poor fool.' Drake sighed from nearby.
'Indeed, to be forced to eat such a thing, truly he is to be pitied.' Li Shuwen agreed.
Diarmuid could only look over his master silently with a look of concern.
Yu gulped and realised that he was at the end of the line. His nervousness was not helped by his Persona's giving him their condolences and offering to pray to their deities for him. He held a spoonful of the 'curry' in front of his face and looked at the girl's hopeful expressions.
"Well here goes."
Before Yu could put the spoon in his mouth however he felt another drain on his prana as a flash of blue light came from beneath the table. A red blur came from beneath the table and snatched the spoon from his hand.
"BLEGH disgusting how can you two call this food?" The owner of the voice (and Yu's saviour) demanded, she was a girl who was wearing a military-styled red dress with a translucent portion in the front of the lower skirt.
"W-who are you?" Chie asked incredulously.
"Fool, I am Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus." Nero proclaimed introducing herself dramatically. "Perhaps almost as importantly, how dare you call this travesty food. Were you chefs of mine I would have crucified you both personally and set you on fire."
"You look kind of short to be an emperor." Chie commented.
"Ha! only a fool would judge a book by its cover." Nero laughed "Your 'food' looked like something my many dogs vomited up and did I not try it regardless? Yet it despite the fact that your friend here helps run an inn, it still tastes like something I would not attempt to poison my most hated enemies with."
Chie and Yukiko stood there stunned as Yosuke recovered from his serving. Nero put her index finger and thumb into her mouth and let out a whistle as though summoning a dog.
"Lancer, here boy!" Nero called out looking at the forest, suddenly Yu felt the burden on his Prana lessen.
All of a sudden a large and very dead boar fell out of the sky on to the table.
"I AM NOT A DOG DAMN IT!" Lancer yelled angrily at Nero as he ran up now in spirit form.
The Emperor looked over the boar ignoring Lancer's yells before nodding approvingly.
"Good boy." She praised Lancer patting his head like a dog.
"DID YOU EVEN HEAR ME?" Lancer yelled as Nero kept patting his head. "Damn it, forget this, I'm outta here."
Cu Chullain promptly returned to his place inside Yu's soul far too angry to continue arguing with Nero.
"Now come Praetor." Nero called as she lifted the boar up and took it over to an empty yet solid table. "We must prepare this beast and for a proper feast." Yu silently relieved stood up and walked over to help. "You two!" Nero pointed a knife at Chie and Yukiko who stood up straight.
"Us?" Chie pointed to herself and Yukiko.
"Do you see any other terrible cooks?" Nero demanded "You two will watch and see how a proper meal is made. Praetor, take the jester to a healer and settle his stomach for the feast that is to come!"
As Yu carried Yosuke over to the medical tent he looked and saw a boy wearing one of the schools camping trip uniforms, he had wavy, slicked-back light brown hair, grey eyes, and a sharp nose.
"Excuse me do you have anything for him?" Yu asked the boy "He ate something bad."
"My stomach is in major revolt, you've gotta help me dude. "Yosuke pleaded before pausing in recognition of the boy.
He picked up a bottle and offered it to the Fool, but he held onto it as Yu tried to take it.
"Hold on…I'm Naoki Konishi."
Yu gasped as he realised just who this person was.
"And just so you know I hate you. AND YOSUKE." Naoki declared glaring darkly.
Then he let go of the bottle, Yu quickly left with Yosuke managed to find a secluded area.
"That kid, he's Saki little brother," Yosuke explained after having taken the medicine.
"Oh I get it now." Yu stated.
'I suppose that would explain his dislike of you.' Diarmuid commented appearing in Spirit Form.
"We talked a couple of times when I was hanging out with Saki." Yosuke continued "I heard that since the murder he's basically withdrawn."
"I see." Yu sighed.
"Guys, hey guys!" The two looked up to see Kanji further down the path calling them. "Guys, Over here!"
They followed Kanji to a shady clearing where Nero was almost done cooking the boar. While Yosuke went over to sit down Yu decided to help Nero out.
"Ah Praetor, you are finished healing the jester I see." Nero smiled as continued cooking the boar along with some vegetables that Yukiko and Chie had not used. "I am almost done with our meal; it will be a meal even greater than those held on Olympus…..gah!" Nero clutched her head as a pain shot through it.
"Are you alright?" Yu asked his Persona with concern.
"It is nothing, merely a passing head pain." Nero said waving off his concern. "Now go and sit I shall serve up the portions."
Yu gave Nero a look of concern before he reluctantly joined the others, apparently the subject was about Naoki.
"Kanji, do you knew Naoki Konishi?" Yosuke asked Kanji.
"Yeah, he and I go way back." The delinquent answered as Nero suddenly gave out bowls with portions of Boar stew to everyone before giving Yu a wink as she dematerialised and returned to Yu's soul.
"Say, wasn't his sister…?" Chie trailed off.
"Naoki is Saki's little brother." Yukiko confirmed.
"Yeah, the two of use hung out a lot in elementary school." Kanji explained. "Lately, it seems like we've drifted apart."
"You have classes with him don't you?" Yosuke asked "Is it true his classmates are ignoring him?"
"Hmmm…don't know." Kanji answered taking a bite of the boar.
"Whattya mean you don't know?" Yosuke asked
"I don't know because we don't have any classes together." Kanji stated.
"You're no help at all," Yosuke groaned.
"I don't gotta take this crap from you guys" Kanji started to get up.
"He's just joking." Chie called after Kanji.
"There's still more food here." Yukiko said as Kanji left.
After a few minutes Kanji returned holding Naoki.
"What the hell, let me go!" Naoki yelled at Kanji as he set the boy down.
"If you wanna learn more about him then just ask him those questions yourself." Kanji pushing Naoko towards them
" So just what do you guys want with me?" Naoki demanded caught off guard.
"Are people in class?" Yu asked bluntly getting straight to the point.
The bluntness caused everyone save Kanji and Yu to freeze in surprise.
"Dude, a little subtlety..." Yosuke stressed.
"That's the first time anyone's had the nerve to ask me that straight to my face" Naoki said with surprise although it seemed more like a pleasant kind. "It's actually kind of a nice change."
Naoki smiled and looked at all of them.
"It's true." Naoki confessed "I do feel like I'm being left out, it's like nobody knows what to say so they stare at me from a distance. I'm tired of being coddled."
"So have you been skipping school because of this?" Yu asked.
"Yeah I have." Naoki answered cheering up a bit. "And not just because of that, I'm helping my family fend off the press all the time."
"I understand that." Yukiko said sympathetically. " I had to do the same thing at our inn."
"Lately our neighbours have been taking shifts and coming together to help out with the press. See they tell me to live my life because that's what my sister would want and then they just start crying. It's really depressing."
"Here." Yu held out a plate of the roasted boar that he had cooked. "It's all yours if you want. It's not professional cooking like Aiya's but it's the best I could do with a lack of quality ingredients."
Naoki took the plate and tried some of the pork. When it went into his mouth his expression instantly brightened into a wide smile.
"Wow, you made this? This is amazing." Naoki exclaimed
"Hey! Those are my seconds there!" Kanji yelled angrily as Chie and Yukiko held him back.
"Suck it up and deal Kanji." Chie chided him
"Be nice!" Yukiko insisted.
"You owe me for this punk!" Kanji yelled.
Behind some trees nearby the giant claws of the unnatural being moved as it stared with curiosity at the scene. It saw the kindness that grey haired boy showed the other boy even offering him food. The watcher couldn't help but feel a sense of longing, it wanted that kindness for itself. It didn't linger long before it darted away from sight.
Another shadow caught only the movement of the watcher but did not follow, it clutched a crucifix for a few moments before concealing it again and walking away.
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After they finished eating and clearing up the group all walked back to the tent area along with Naoki who stopped.
"Hey guys I know I said I hate you when I don't even know you, I'm sorry about that." Naoki apologised bowing to Yu and Yosuke slightly. "I think that I actually had fun today, maybe we can all hang out again sometime."
"Sounds good." Yu nodded.
"Just say the word." Yosuke agreed.
"Cool thanks." Naoki smiled and walked away.
As he watched Naoki run off Yu felt that a new bond that had been forged. Deep within he felt another soul connect to him from Beyond, with the number XII representing Naoki.
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Night had finally fallen and the boys had gone their tent to sleep for the night, Kanji had joined them after he got tired of the silence in the first year's tent. Currently Yu and Yosuke were facing the sides of the tent and Kanji was in between them, scowling upwards. Yu was attempting to sleep but Yosuke and Kanji were making that difficult.
"Hey, not that I care… but do you really swing that way?" Yosuke asked Kanji.
"Huh? What way?" Kanji asked.
"I mean, I'm not judging or anything. It's cool. But since we're sharing a tent and all I just…" Yosuke continued.
"Wha-? I have had about enough crap out of you guys for that! Let it go already!" Kanji protested getting annoyed.
Yu held his head, he could feel it pounding after the stress of holding two of his Persona's in the real world, when combined with his prana exhaustion he was finding it very difficult to keep his annoyance at not being able to just sleep in check.
"Then why are you so touchy about it?" Yosuke asked defensively "That's just more suspicious!"
"Then STOP Grillin' ME ABOUT IT!" Kanji said. "And besides, who'd want your ugly mug!"
Yu felt his annoyance at the two's bickering growing.
"Hey, you know what they say…all good friendships are based on honesty, right?" Yosuke said.
"C'mon! I like cute things so what!" Kanji growled. "I'm telling you that I have no problem being around girls now!"
"Can you prove it?" Yosuke asked causing
"FINE! IN THAT CASE" Kanji yelled standing up and getting angry. "I'M GONNA WALK OVER AND SLEEP IN THE GIRLS' TENT! THEY'VE GOT MORE BALLS THAN YO…"
Kanji suddenly trailed off as a he and Yosuke felt something grip the back of the heads, it was like steel and the third person in the tent was giving off a dangerous aura.
"Go. To. Sleep!" he growled and that was all they knew as their heads were banged together and they were sent forcefully into Morpheus's embrace.
Yu fell backwards onto his pillow and felt relief at the silence. As he fell to sleep he swore he heard what sounded like prayer.
Meanwhile in the girls tent when Chie finally did get some sleep (which was made difficult by Hanako) she was tossing and turning eat the images she saw.
Another day had come and once again fools rushed to challenge her. Some out for glory, others for revenge.
Chie saw in front of her several men armed with swords and spears, with fierce scowls on their faces.
"Today you die Li Shuwen!" one of them yelled waving his weapon threateningly.
"Just like all who have challenged me, for you fools a second strike will be unnecessary." Chie boasted unconcerned by the fact that they were armed.
"Arrogant fool!" The first charged and his friends followed, they were fast but not fast enough.
In the blink of an eye it was over, Chie was standing behind them and continued walking down the path as she heard their bodies drop to the ground.
"Will I ever find a worthy challenge?" Chie mumbled to herself "These assassination contracts get so boring when none of those I kill are able to take more than a single blow."
Chie Satonaka promptly woke up with a start gasping for breath. Ignoring Hanako's snoring she wondered what the hell she just saw.
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[06/18 Camping Trip Grounds, Inaba]
The next morning the entire team had gathered at a clifftop near a waterfall in the river.
"Looks like we're the only ones here!" Yosuke loudly exclaimed as he looked over the sight before him.
"What's wrong?" Yosuke looked questioningly at Kanji. "Got a stomach ache?"
"No, it's just…I don't remember anything after getting pissed off. Whenever I try my head hurts."
"Yeah mine too, by the way, I would like to apologize for what I said last night." Yosuke coughed into his hand. " ANYWAYS…let's go swimming!"
"Are you seriously taking a swim?" Kanji frowned. "I'll pass…I'm still all stiff."
"What're you looking at us for…?" Chie snapped when she noticed Yosuke was staring at her and Yukiko who were both extremely tired due to getting little sleep last night. "If you guys wanna swim, go right ahead."
"You know, you two still owe us," Yosuke remarked.
"Huh?" Chie blinked. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa, we're not going in there. I mean, we do owe you, but…Oh yeah, we don't have swimsuits with us! Man, of all the luck!"
"Y-Yeah, it really is unfortunate."
"Tadaaaa! I've got you covered!" Yosuke pulled out two female swimsuits. "They're Junes-brand originals, from our brand-new line of swimwear that just came in for the summer. I had a clerk friend of mine choose 'em for me. Pretty swanky, huh?"
"Dude, that's just wrong…" Chie remarked.
"Did you have those this whole time…?" Yukiko asked rubbing her tired eyes.
"C'mon, let's all go swimming!" Yosuke insisted.
"What should we do…?" Chie asked her friend.
"You owe us remember, Or I could call the favour in by having you payback all those steaks you've put on my tab." Yosuke suggested rubbing his chin thoughfully.
"Urgh…" Chie groaned.
"Y'know, we really were looking forward to dinner." Yosuke began. "We got lucky Yu and Nero had us covered…"
"Ngh…" The girls flinched at the thought of the botched curry.
"I wonder what would've happened if we didn't help you guys last night…" Yosuke continued.
"We get it already!" Chie snapped. "Sheesh, you just never let things go!"
"Alright! That's more like it!" Yosuke said with a grin
Sometime later, Yu and Yosuke were waiting with Kanji for Yukiko and Chie to come back from changing into their swimsuits. Yosuke was wearing a pair of red swim trunks with a floral pattern on it. Yu was wearing the swim trunks Dojima had gotten him for Children's Day.
"Ugh, how far off did those two go to get changed…?" Yosuke remarked.
"C'mon, let's get in." Chie's voice said as she and Yukiko returned.
"O-Okay…" Yukiko squeaked out.
The two were now wearing the swimsuits Yosuke had given them. Yukiko wore a two-piece swimsuit that was mostly light pink in coloration and had a skirt-like bottom. Chie also wore a two-piece, but unlike Yukiko's swimsuit, hers had a sportier appearance, had shorts for bottoms, and was a mix between yellow and light blue.
"Whoa…Man…" Yosuke was impressed with what he was seeing.
Kanji's face turned red as he saw Chie and Yukiko. "…"
"S-Stop staring like that!" Chie demanded nervously as she blushed.
"H-Hey…" Yukiko's face was just as red as Chie's.
"You two look cute…" Yu stared wide-eyed at the two girls.
"Wh-Where did that come from?!" Chie sputtered.
Chie and Yukiko's faces were even redder than before. They seemed rather embarrassed.
"Man, this is going even better than I expected," Yosuke remarked. "Kinda makes up for having to eat that Mystery Food X last night. And c'mon, you guys gotta admit I chose some good suits. Those girls might be childish on the inside, but I bet they're gonna turn into some fine-looking women before too long! Don't you think so, Yu?"
"Yeah, definitely." Yu agreed.
Yukiko and Chie were no longer amused.
"You guys crossed the line…" Chie glared at Yu and Yosuke as she placed her hands on her hips.
"…Definitely." Yukiko nodded to her friend.
In sync the two made to push Yu and Yosuke off the cliff, sadly tired as they were due to being kept all night by Hanako's snoring they stumbled into each other and missed their targets, they began plummeting off the cliff, however unfortunately for Yosuke his E ranked luck kicked in and Chie's foot caught his trunks pulling him off the cliff with her.
There was a loud splash as the three landed in the river below. Kanji and Yu saw all three of them shivering.
"D-damn it, this r-river is f-f-freezing!" Chie yelled.
"Why the hell did you take me with you Chie!" Yosuke yelled.
"You shoulda stayed still!" Chie argued.
"And let you push me? Where's the sense in that?"
"Hey do you guys hear something?" Yukiko asked causing the duo to pause in their arguing.
As they listened they heard a familiar voice heaving upstream.
"Hey isn't that King Moron?" Kanji asked.
Sure enough upstream near the top of the waterfall was King Moron, heaving into the river and complaining about drinking too much.
"Good thing we never went in huh Kanji?" Yu asked the other boy.
"Yup."
"This is all your fault Chie." Yosuke groaned.
The Kung Fu girl had nothing to counter the argument and instead opted to get out of the river as fast as possible.
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After having dried themselves off Yukiko, Yosuke and Chie headed back to the campsite to pack up and go home. Yukiko and Yosuke were talking with Yu and Kanji while Chie hung back. The path was deserted so no one would be around to see her. When the others were far enough ahead she walked over to a tree and lent against a tree, her fringe shadowing her eyes.
"Shuwen, show yourself." She commanded her voice shaking.
"Is something matter student?" The assassin asked appearing nearby in spirit form.
"You killed those people." Chie stammered out accusingly.
"I assume you've seen some portions of my life through the Dream Cycle." Li Shuwen sighed looking otherwise unconcerned at the accusation "But I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific than that, after as many have fallen to your fists as they have mine you eventually just stop counting."
"But, you didn't have to kill them! You could have just let them go...so Why?!" Chie demanded angrily.
"Girl, throughout our time together can you ever recall when I said that I was a good person?" Shuwen asked casually.
Chie froze, she realised that throughout this whole time she had been so excited with have a proper martial arts master that she had never questioned him about things like morality, she had simply assumed that because he was her Persona that they shared the same morality.
"I am a killer, and I will not deny that." Lu Shuwen confessed with a shrug "Killing is something I was good at and none could stop me. Good, evil they mean nothing to me. Weak or strong I will crush any who oppose me until someone stronger comes along and defeats me. The strong devouring the weak is simply the way of the world the sooner you learn to accept that the better off you will be."
"Never!" Chie growled.
"Hmmm?"
"I'll never accept that!" Chie yelled "I'll learn everything you have to teach, and then I'll use that skill to protect the weak! Even if it takes all my life I'll keep protecting those who are weaker than me and, one day, I'll become a Heroic Spirit too! And then I'll use all my skill to CRUSH you!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Li Shuwen burst into a hysterical laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Chie demanded fiercely. "I'm serious!"
"I accept your challenge." The assassin said after he got his laughter under control. "Chie Satonaka I will teach you everything I know; no move or technique will be kept secret from you. Then when that day comes when you ascend to the Throne of Heroes know that your teacher will be waiting for you. Be warned that if you cannot live up to your words and crush me, then I will spend all of eternity torturing you until you see the world my way."
"You don't scare me." Chie growled. "I will crush you no matter what it takes."
With that declaration, the day ended and the students were taken back to the school so they could make their way home. One girl I particular had a fierce new determination burning inside of her.
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[06/18 Location Unknown]
Lord El Melloi the second and Zelretch had arrived in the realm that represented Yu Narukami's soul. Waver had allowed himself to be dragged here after the Wizard Marshal refused to leave him alone.
"So why are we here?" Waver asked with a sigh.
"We're here because A, I wanted to see what it was like in here and B, you could use a laugh and this is just the place for it." Zelretch replied smugly.
In front of them was a large blueish purple three story building with a neon sign above the doors saying Velvet Club.
"It looks like a nightclub." Waver observed "What is it doing here?"
"Well Narukami's Persona's need somewhere to hang out when they're not on the clock right?" Zelretch said with a smirk.
"I swear being with you is more a headache than its worth." Waver groaned massaging his temples to stave the oncoming migraine.
The two approached the front door, near it was a greyed out little girl a sleeveless jacket with a belt going across it just below her small chest. On her legs were thigh high stockings and on her feet were shoes. Bandages were wrapped around hands; belts were on her arms as well tied just above the bandages.
They opened the door and peaked inside. Nothing could have prepared Waver for what he saw.
Inside Gawain sat the bar with Lancelot drinking a mug of beer watching the scene nearby.
Nursery Rhyme with Semiramis stood wearing crowns while looking at Lancer who was dressed as an Ace of Clubs Card Soldier. He was forcefully knelt down by Medusa and Atalanta, while Medea stood snickering at his predicament. Unnoticed by all of them a golden armoured man watched the scene with amusement.
"Hello my adoring audience and welcome to the Velvet Club." Nero spoke to the club while standing onstage using her sword as if it was a microphone. "I your generous emperor have granted you the privilege of being your lovely host from this night onwards, are you not honoured?"
Everyone in the club save a certain golden armoured person on the second floor clapped. Although whether it was because they liked Nero or the fact that the spotlights allowed them a better view of the transparent portion of her dress none could say. Though Waver was struck speechless while the Old Man of Jewels chuckled at the scene.
"At the Velvet Club, we have drinks, we have games, we have prizes for some of the games." Nero announced theatrically while making motions with her free hand. "But now, we some special entertainment lined up for you tonight, it would seem everyone's favourite dog's E Ranked Luck has struck again. Give a round of applause for our own Lancer and see what he's put his foot in this time!"
Cheers erupted from the audience as the spotlight focused on Cu Challain and his current predicament.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lancer yelled angrily, he was currently dressed as a card soldier. "Why the hell am I dressed like this and why am I kneeling?"
"SILENCE!" Semiramis yelled at the top of her voice. "You have committed a high crime now you will be judged for it."
"What crime? YEOW! WHAT THE HELL?!" Lancer yelled as Medusa jabbed him with her weapon to silence him.
"You painted the roses red." Nursery Rhyme stated in a cold tone.
"What roses?"
Atalanta simply pointed to planted pot of white roses that had been sloppily painted red sitting the middle of the room.
"I've never even seen those before and besides you have no proof that I painted them." Lancer objected loudly.
"You've been caught red handed." Nursery Rhyme contradicted him pointing to his hands one of which had a freshly used paintbrush in it both hands were dripping with red paint.
"What the hell?! You assholes are setting me up!" Lancer yelled getting angrier, but was unable to break free of the grip that held him.
"It is quite lucky for you that I am merciful Queen." Semiramis said "I have decided your punishment shall be a light one..."
It was then a certain king of heroes began getting bored. None of the idiots below could see him, and none of them bothered to look up when he spoke, almost as though he was invisible to them. However, they did hear him and he could still get more amusement out of this and so doing his best impression of Semiramis voice he prepared to cause more chaos.
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" Gilgamesh yelled his voice sounding very much like Semiramis own, so much so that none of the others objected.
Medusa and Atalanta promptly forced Lancer into a position so he was facing the ground. He managed to look up and saw the Jabberwocky wielding a large Warhammer that was bigger than half of Lancer's body.
His screams of panic went unheard as nearly all the Persona's burst into a small song.
"He's going to lose his head, for painting the roses red, it serves him right, he planted white, the roses should be red." The Jabberwocky raised the Warhammer. "Oh, he's going to lose his head…"
Lancer screamed as the Warhammer crashed down on him creating a Lancer shaped hole in the floor. After the dust settled Atalanta peered down into the hole.
"Lancer died." Atalanta reported using her Archer class vision to see his partly crushed body.
"They're not human." Waver griped unsure what to make of the scene, seeing Gawain and Lancelot snicker at Lancer's fate.
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AN: So for those of you who are wondering, here are the Arcana and their corresponding Heroic Spirits that Yu has unlocked. Also for the Velvet Club, I've been watching Carnival Phantasm and was inspired, also I got sick of coming up with segments for Waver and Zelretch I decided to do those instead. I hope you enjoy them. Also for the scene between Li Shuwen and Chie give some thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for contributing to that scene.
0. The Fool Arcana: Gawain. Class: Saber
I. The Magician Arcana: Semiramis. Class: Assassin
II. The Priestess Arcana: Nursery Rhyme. Class: Caster
III. The Empress Arcana: Atalanta. Class: Archer
IV. The Emperor Arcana: Nero. Class: Saber
VII. The Chariot Arcana: Cú Chulainn. Class: Lancer
VIII. Strength Arcana: Lancelot. Class: Berserker
XVIII. The Moon Arcana: Medea. Class: Caster
XX. The Aeon Arcana: Medusa. Class: Rider
