Conquest Arc:
Chapter 27: The Lonely Desert
Naoya Toudou
Sandy – Late Night – 21/11/2012(Wednesday) – SEBEC company entrance, Mikage-Cho
(2 days before Conquest arrival)
"Kazuya…Toudou?" Eriko gasped. "But, isn't Kazuya's dead-"
"I know, Eriko. I'm not getting fooled again." Naoya said, clenching his fist, "You're not from 'me', that's for sure. What I know is that you're trying to mimic me."
"Aw come on, don't say that." Kazuya said, "You already have Eriko, so why can't I have Erio-chan? She looks fine."
"She has nothing to do with this! Stop involving her!"
"Me? I dragged her into this prophecy? Do you even hear yourself brother?"
"…" Naoya wanted to retaliate, but he turned silent.
"Who was the one that decide to approach Eriko in the first place?"
"…"
"No, it's not me. It's you. You're the one that dragged Erio into this mess by meeting Eriko. And I already know-"
"Enough!" Naoya suddenly turned angry and cut Kazuya's words. "You're not anyone shadow's, you're just made by Nyarlathotep to fulfill his desire!"
"Ahahaha!" Kazuya suddenly burst into laughter, "Then what about you, aren't you being used as well?"
"Kazuya!"Naoya almost lose himself before Eriko pulled him backward.
"What's going on? What are you two talking about?" Eriko asked, her face clearly tell that she's dying to know the situation.
"Oh, poor lady… How could you not tell her, brother?" Kazuya teased, "Are you so afraid that she will hate you-"
"That's enough! Where's Erio?!"
"She's fine." Just as Naoya tried to take another step, Kazuya stopped him, "But don't even try. I put a poison inside her, and the antidote is somewhere behind me." Kazuya pointed to the tall building behind him. "So this is goodbye."
"Erio-chan…" Eriko grimaced, watching Kazuya carried the sleeping Erio from the car and slowly proceed inside the building. Bringing the keys with him, he opened the lock on the gate and disappeared from sight.
"Eriko…" Naoya called out for her, but she spoke first.
"What did he mean by you dragging Erio?" Eriko turned to Naoya, "If you didn't get close to me, does that mean my sister will be safe?"
"…Not quite, he might already targeting your sister without me knowing." Naoya answered, "We'll save her for sure."
Just then, a black car approached them and stopped in front of the gate. Exited the car was the rest of the team along with Ryoji, weapon ready in hand.
"What happened here?" Reiji asked.
"You miss the spotlight." Naoya replied, "Tell them what happen, Eriko."
"…Alright." Eriko proceeded to tell the whole incident to the team.
"So he's the one who put those nails on my car's tires to prevent me from catching him, that bastard." Reiji growled.
"Maya contacted me a while ago, informing of the situation at Sumaru City. We better proceed fast." Yukino said.
"And just about time."Ryoji said, "It's almost midnight."
3…2…1…
Clear Sky - Dark Hour – Ankh Pyramid
In a matter of seconds, the tall building fell apart and replaced by blocks of stone that rose from the ground. The blocks began to form itself into prism shape and end with a single point on top of it. A symbol of Ankh was placed at the center, and the pyramid was formed.
"Hmm, it's not as big as I thought like Father Time's tower and Tartarus." Ryoji said, "Maybe this tower only mean as an entrance to another realm."
"I see. Hold on." Nanjo parked the car on the road side and prepared himself. "Then let's not waste our time."
"I know." Naoya said, bringing his sword with him. "Our first priority will be ErioKirishima."
The group entered the pyramid through the small staircase.
Inside, a long stone tunnel was leading them somewhere. Yellowish torches were aligned along the tunnel, ancient language was written all over the walls. After a few minutes of walking, they reached the end of the line and became speechless.
It's a sand desert without edge under the moonlight. In front of the small temple where the team exited the tunnel, stood a building on the left side, a clean lake on the right side and a pyramid with over 20 floors, right in between the building and the lake of that lonely desert.
"Good guess, Ryoji." Naoya said, tapping on Ryoji's shoulder in praise. "My 'brother' should be in that building." He pointed to the building that only had about 10 floors above the sand. The absence of the main door indicated that the building was not at its true height, the other lower half was probably buried under the sand.
"Then we should head there." Ryoji said, walking down the sand towards the building. From estimation, the distance was only a minute walk. As if a real desert, their shoes left a print on the yellowish sand, an extra vacation experience of going on a trip.
Upon reaching the building resembling the SEBEC building, the group entered from the broken window. Just as they expected, this is SEBEC building, and they were 10 floors away from the top floor. The inside was clearly dusty and old, to the point where the ground will collapse and fell. After Hidehiko almost fell by the crumbled stairs, they took extra caution on their next step.
On the next floor, shadows began to show themselves, and their levels were amazingly high as they pose quite a challenge for the oldest generation of persona users. Neither less, they made it through, and made their way to the highest floor.
Upon reaching the top floor, a double door awaited them at the end of the hallway. "Take your position." Naoya ordered. With their increasing heartbeats, Naoya slowly opened the door and went inside.
The room was wide, very wide, and spacious without any furniture. The wall facing the door was made of glass, acting as a window that revealed a desert, the small pyramid and lake on sight. Near the large window, a table and a chair facing backward were seen, as if welcoming them.
"Is this the top floor?" Ryoji asked, scanning around the room.
"It's a little different than the original, but yes, this is the top floor." Yukino said.
"I don't like it here." Maki commented.
"Nobody does." Reiji said, as he felt a presence behind that chair.
"I don't see my sister anywhere." Eriko said regretfully, which she was comforted by the rest.
"Don't want to break it to you, but… is there someone behind that chair?" Hidehiko pointed his index finger towards the chair.
"Show yourself!" Nanjo shouted, weapon in hand. As the shout echoed throughout the room, the chair turned itself. Their pulse and heartbeat increased, and they almost couldn't believe their eyes. The presence of a man that sent shiver to their spine was there, again.
"Takahisa Kandori." Naoya said it, the name of their long lost enemy. The man smiled, his grotesque scar almost went too perfect on his face.
"Greetings, my old foes."Takahisa Kandori(Ex persona: Nyarlathotep) greeted them in his chair, crossing his arms with a pair of black spectacle covering his eyes, wearing a modern suit. He was much older looking since the last time they saw him. He has a small beard on his chin and pale colored hair. Still, he looked healthy with that wicked smile of him.
"Sorry, but I don't have time to greet you, where's Erio Kirishima?"Naoya asked. "And where's that self-proclaimed brother of mine?" His response was a chuckle from the man.
"They aren't here. But if you would please take a moment for a little chat?" Kandori said in easy-going manner. Seeing how relaxed he was made the group's blood boiled.
"Is it true that you assisted Tatsuya Sudou in kidnapping Maya?" Yukino was the first to ask.
"Indeed." Kandori leaned his head forward and answered easily, "I did assist in fulfilling the prophecy."
"But why?" Maki gave the second question. She clearly looked restless seeing the man who used her years ago to destroy the world. "What about Chizuru, what about that time in Undersea Ruins?"
"…" Kandori's expression changed drastically. It's impossible to read what's in his mind through his eyes, but silent is often the clueless answer.
"I hate you for years, brother." Reiji stepped ahead and spoke. "But one thing for sure, this isn't you. I had forgiven you ever since you were pronounced dead that day, and I still do." 'Except for what you did to my car…' "You're not doing this unless you had your reason."
"What did Nyarlathotep told you, Kandori?" Nanjo said. "What makes you want this prophecy to happen?"
"…*chuckle*" Kandori gave a small laugh, shaking his head, "I'm not telling you."
"Since you're not going to say anything unless we force it out of your mouth, how about you step forward and fight us?" Nanjo said, leading everyone for another step towards him.
"Too bad, I'm not in a mood for a fight." Kandori said, removed his hand from his chest and reached for something under the desk. "But my pet will be more than happy to play with you."
"Huh?" Reiji said, "What else trick under your sleeve-"
Click!
The sound of something's clicking was heard. Before they could realize what was happening, their feet were already far from the ground.
"It's a trap!"
"AAAAAHHHH!"
"KANDORIIIIII!"
From the above, Kandori watched as the team fell into his pit hole that was probably 100 meters from where he stood. He took out his phone, calling someone.
"Yes, they're here. Hide her well, just two days away from lord Conquest's day for us to welcome him."
Dark Hour - ?
"…Ahhh! *cough* *cough*…" Naoya's gasped for air in the absolute darkness. He didn't know how deep the water is that was deeper than his feet could reach. Struggling for a while, Naoya finally felt that he finally broke the surface, yet darkness once again awaited him above water that he couldn't even see his own hand.
"*cough* …Is anyone there? Sonomura! Reiji! Nanjo!" He heard Hidehiko screamed.
"I'm here!" Sonomura replied.
"Someone got a torch?" It was Yukino's voice.
"Lighter wouldn't help." Reiji stated the obvious in case someone brought one.
"Hold on, Agi!" That was Ryoji, casting a small fire attack. Finally, they saw Ryoji standing on a pile of stone with a burning fireplace nearby.
They were at the lowest floor, where underground water covered most of the floor. The small lake where they fell into was dirty and slimy, dirtying their clothes.
"It's so dark in here." Eriko said, cleaning herself.
"We're currently 30 floors below the ground. Added with a Dark Hour, it's impossible to see anything." Nanjo said, observing around the weak ceiling like it could fall any moment.
"Shhh, did you hear that?" Maki silenced everyone to hear clearly. From distance, a faint sound of something crawling and walking could be heard.
"Shadows. Everyone, don't go too far from the fire. Kill anything else that move." Naoya ordered, "Let's move."
Ryoji made a torch out of old clothes and proceeded towards the maze.
? (2 floors cleared)
The shadows were increasing in numbers and the path was getting more complex with each floor. It was extremely difficult to see shadows in their greatest hiding place, the shadow itself.
Reaching 5th floors from the lowest, there was no sign of ending.
"How many floors till we get to the surface?" Hidehiko asked in tiredness.
"I'm not sure. The structure had change from the original. Plus, each floor is wide and complex." Nanjo explained.
"There's no way in hell I'm sleeping here. Is there a shortcut or something?" Naoya asked, growing tired of the endless maze.
"I don't think there's a shortcut though." Maki said, but stopped when Ryoji stopped his pace. "What's wrong, Mochizuki?"
"I felt a weird presence behind that door." Ryoji said, pointing to the door at the end of a hallway to their left.
"…Should we go and check?" Reiji asked, glancing at Naoya and Nanjo.
"…I think we should." Naoya finally gave his decision. "Let's go."
Luckily none of the members suffered from Claustrophobia, since the hallway was getting smaller by each step they took. As they finally reached the door, Naoya volunteered to open it.
Criiick…
They all smiled in relief when they saw a big four cornered stairway leading to somewhere above. It was extremely dark, and they had no idea how far this stairway will lead them. Still, they were grateful and made their way upstairs.
"I told you there's a shortcut." Naoya said.
"But the stair is old, what if it fall?" Ryoji said with a torch in his hand, suddenly screamed when he saw the crumbled steps where Eriko placed her next move. "Eriko, watch out!"
"Ah!" Eriko's right side lost its balance and fell before Naoya quickly grabbed her hand. A few stones fell to the pit that seemly bottomless.
"Hah, hah, are you okay?" Naoya asked.
"I'm good. Pull me up-"
GROWLLL!
A loud growl from the bottom floor shook the entire building. The voice was too loud for it to be a small shadow.
"Hurry!"Yukino lend a hand and pulled Eriko up.
"What's that sound?!" Hidehiko said, pulling out his spear and aimlessly swung it before Maki stopped him.
"We can't fight here, it's too risky!"
"Naoya, your order!" Nanjo said.
As if the stairway was going to fall apart any moment soon, a powerful presence approached them from below.
"Listen to my order." Naoya said, all the members focused on him.
The giant was going up at a terrifying speed and they didn't even see the creature to know their position.
"RUN-LIKE-HELL." Naoya ordered.
20th floor
"Hah shit! My legs hurt!" Hidehiko screamed when he tripped on one of the steps.
"Let's enter the door on that floor!" Naoya ordered. In a flash, they entered the door and back to the maze.
"Ryoji-kun, not too fast! It's dark behind here!" Maki shouted, trying to catch up when she heard a door broke open and something hissing.
"I can't! We'll get lost!" Ryoji said, preparing to take out his sword.
Being chased by unknown being, they continued to proceed to find their way out inside that dungeon.
30th floor
As they reached 30th floor, hope began to enshrine them. The white lights were on, the place was cleaner and a door written 'EXIT' was seen in front of them. Ryoji finally let go of the torch that had been burning for half an hour straight.
"Finally, we're almost done with this place." Eriko said gladly, until Naoya interrupted her.
"You think so?" Naoya observed around where they're standing, "Don't you remembered this kind of place?"
When Naoya said it, the group became alert. It's obvious what will happen at the only opened space that combine two floors height, 20 meters wide ground. They stood at one end of that room, while the exit door was at one end opposite them.
"Get your weapons ready." Naoya said, "It's a boss fight."
From their right side, the wall crumbled down being crushed by brute force. Smokes enveloped the room. Loud growl echoed their ears and sent shivers down their spine. As the smoke faded, their jaw dropped after seeing their opponent.
Apep
"Have you no fear over me?"
Known as: Apophis, Apipe
Arcana: Strength
God of Evil and darkness, opponent of Ma'at the order in Egyptian mythology. He was Ra's greatest enemy before Set overshadowed him.
Covered in dark purple and steel skin, Apep was a serpent monster with 5 meter tall, length unknown. His face resembled a snake or a serpent dragon, or mixed to be precise. Two people could fit inside his mouth alone.
"Holy shit…" Reiji said, supported by Naoya who tapped his shoulder. "Let's go."
St Hermelin High persona users VS Apep
"Brave indeed…"
Apep said with a deep voice, marching towards the group with extreme bloodlust. The group jumped side way to evade the attack. Ryoji made the first move by transforming into Thanatos and blasted Agion Apep's right head. Not surprisingly, it was nulled.
"See that? That means no fire!"Naoya shouted, giving his first warning.
"Got it!" All members responded and surrounded the long body of the evil serpent, each summoning their persona.
"Verdandi: Grydyne!"
"Durga: Ziodyne!"
"Mot: Mamudoon!"
"Tyr: Zandyne!"
"Gabriel: Aquadyne!"
"Yamaoka: Rain of Arrows!"
"Marduk: Twin Slash!"
Seven personas attacks from all direction went straight to Apep's head, causing a smoke that blinded his eyes. The rapid attack was merely a spam to see his weakness, since they're at disadvantage without a support type persona.
"…Okay, that didn't work." Nanjo said when Apep resurfaced his head from the smoke, seeing only small damage taken. Yamaoka took a moment to greet his master.
"My guess is that elements won't work. His skin is immune to outside nature." Thanatos said, shifting his sword backward and on guard.
"So we need to attack up close? Physically?" Eriko suggested. The others nodded, but they were careless as they didn't notice Apep's first move.
"Talk enough?"
Evil Bashing- Apep revealed his jaws and began to rush his head towards Reiji. "Reiji, out of the way!" Maki screamed as she took out a small bow and an arrow, aiming for Apep.
"Grydyne!" As she released the string, Verdandi was summoned and send down powerful blast on Apep just as the arrow reached him. Apep quickly changed direction and avoided it, before crashing towards the wall next to Reiji. A long tail followed him as he disappeared behind the broken wall.
"You okay, Kido?" Hidehiko asked with concern, but still searched around the giant room for the snake.
"Where the hell did that snake go?"Naoya searched around for the giant's presence. "What is that thing anyway?"
Thanatos gave his suggestion. "That should be Apep-"
Gulp!
Like a predator that caught his prey, Apep emerged suddenly from another wall and swallowed the flying Thanatos full. A sound of gulping was heard as the monster turned to the group.
"Who's next?"
"Well... how does Death taste like?" Naoya asked.
Spiral Blade- Apep swung his giant tail from the side to swipe the group, but they jumped and dodged the tail. Maki, Yukino and Hidehiko however was casted away by the strong wind, Maki quickly use Diarahan to recover health.
The rest, Naoya, Reiji, Nanjo and Eriko jumped high on the body of serpent and grabbed onto the steel skin of Apep.
"We need to get Ryoji out of him!" Eriko said, beginning to pierce her rapier to the skin.
"Don't worry, he's a persona. He'll make it somehow." Naoya said, dashing away from his location and towards Apep's head. "Reiji, Nanjo, Eriko, make way for fusion skill! Hidehiko, we need you here!"
"I'm on it! Maki, Yukino, stay here!" Hidehiko shouted and grabbed hold of his spear. He dashed towards where the other four were.
All swords were in position as the five blade users jumped from Apep's body and gathered in front of the serpent.
"Fusion Skill: Pentagon Blade!"
Naoya, Reiji, Nanjo, Hidehiko and Eriko's stats and speed were increased temporary. With everything ready, the five blades rapidly slashed around the long body of Apep. Apep growled in pain with the continuous pierce and slash attack.
The five vanguard weapon users jumped from the serpent body as Apep gave a roar in pain. "How's that, A… What's your name again?" Naoya laid down his blade.
"…Huh? I sense something from Apep's body." Maki alerted, focusing her eyes towards the serpent. "I think it'sRyoji."
"So he's still inside?" Hidehiko said, checking on Apep before screamed. "HEY HEY HEY, INCOMING!"
Megidolaon- Apep blasted a giant energy ball onto the group.
"Verdandi!"
"Durga!"
"Gabriel!"
The three personas shielded the group to withstand the energy ball. Shockingly, the wall around them cracked open, as if the entire building starting to collapse.
"That damn snake's been crashing down too many walls!" Reiji said, piercing his sword to the shaking ground to avoid falling. The others followed suit, reducing their height to increase momentum.
"We're not missing the exit again! Come on!"Naoya made his way upward to reach the exit door that was furthering away from him. The others followed him after tripping a few times. But just as the group was half way there, Apep moved in between.
"Too early to go home…"
Serpent of Evil-Apep opened wide his mouth, charging a huge amount of darkness energy, unknown probability of instant kill, but possibly extremely high. The persona users merely stood still, unable to find a way to dodge the massive attack on the unstable ground that slowly sinking down.
"…! *growl*!"
Slashslashslashslashslash!
But something strange happened, the charged darkness ball dispelled suddenly, Apep growled in pain and a sound of sword swinging inside his mouth was heard. Maki smiled, turning to her friends, "It's Ryoji! He survived!"
Just as Maki said, Thanatos used his bare hand to open Apep's jaw and jumped out of his mouth."Your breath stink, Apophis!"
"Gah! …Thanatos, the vessel of Death…"Apep growled again, but calmer than before when he realized the person he ate. Apep remained quiet, like remembering something before he made a surprising move.
He disappeared into the darkness behind the wall, leaving the group in confusion and silence.
"Wait! Apep, he-" Before Ryoji could spoke anything further, Naoya stopped him. The building was shaking like mad like it could fall any second.
"Let's get out first! Erio and my 'brother' obviously aren't here!" One by one, the group exited the door, leaving only Naoya, Eriko and Maki left to cross the escape line.
"Ryoji-kun, come on!" Maki called for Ryoji who didn't move an inch from where he stood. Ryoji revealed a serious face, and turned to the rest.
"Leave, don't worry about me. I'll be fine." To their shock, Ryoji parted away from them and chased after Apep.
"Ryoji-kun, where are you going?!" Maki screamed, wanting to break free and chased after him but once again, Naoya and Eriko stopped her.
"Sonomura, let's go!" Eriko shouted, the light in the room has begun to dim and the place swallowed by darkness. Even with extreme worriedness, Maki finally agreed and exited together with Naoya and Eriko.
Dark Hour – Sand Desert
(40 minutes of hour)
They stood speechless, watching the building fell like a sand castle washed away by the sea. The yellow sand somehow 'pulled' the remained of the building into the ground. It was as if the sand is alive and ate anything dead to it.
"Wait, where's Mochizuki?" Yukino searched for the lost member, but was unable to find him. Maki remained silent, looked guilty.
"He didn't make it out." Naoya said, giving up his legs and sat on the sand. Some of them did the same, the tiredness from the running could still be felt.
"…" Maki didn't budge, and Naoya finally spoke up.
"It's not your fault, Maki."
"…But he's searching for the Pandora's Box, directly from me."
"You don't know what Pandora's Box really is, you don't even remember the time as Pandora."
"…Will he be okay?"
"He's a god of death, impossible for him to die." Nanjo butted in; crossing his arms glancing to his newly watch given by Kirijo's to check the time limit in Dark Hour. "40 minutes already, maybe we should leave."
"Yeah, we should head home." Naoya finalized the conversation. "This place is cold… it's hot the last time I remember it…" But he mumbled the last part.
That dark hour, they left the lonely desert with one less member with them, without Erio Kirishima, Kazuya Toudou or Takahisa Kandori.
Looking back, there was nothing gained from this mission but tiredness and pain.
A/N: What a tiresome chapter for me as well. I had a hard time describing the stage and battle scene. Still, is it too short? Please forgive me on that. Next chapter will return to Inaba and Tatsumi Port Island.