Conquest Arc:
Chapter 29: Something he knew
Tatsuya Suou
Rainy – Morning – 22-11-2012(Thursday) – Konan, Sumaru City
(1 day before Conquest's arrival)
Upon arriving, Tatsuya who was carrying Maya jumped from his bike and dashed towards those who were waiting for him at Eriko's house; Katsuya, Ulala, and Baofu. His eyes quickly observed the resident, seeing no trace of housebreaking or a fight.
"Anything?" Tatsuya asked, wanting a small brief of the situation.
"Nothing. She walked out of the house and slipped a key under the flowerpot before she entered the car. Perhaps you know better." Katsuya answered, slight disappointed.
"I wish," Tatsuya revealed the message he received from Erio Kirishima last night. The three read the message carefully and back away from him.
"I should have watched over her…" Maya sullenly said with her eyes looking down, but Tatsuya comforted her immediately.
"Stop saying something like that." Tatsuya turned to the house, "Anyway, let's go inside."
"If you say so," Ulala said, "But trust me there isn't anything worth finding."
"But you may want to look around if you want," Baofu said, leading them to the door.
The house was properly cleaned and tidied, it wasn't large, yet wasn't too spacey, a perfect home for one person. On the table were stacks of magazine and photos of different clothes. Maya glanced at the rows of pictures on the cabinet not far from the main hall, seeing a picture of Eriko and entire St. Hermelin friends back in the high school day.
"Eriko…" Maya pushed herself towards the picture, reaching her hands towards the picture and picked it up. A few pictures fell from behind the frame and to the ground. "Ah." Maya quickly reached her hand to the dropped picture.
A picture of Naoya and a small letter with heart shape fell to the ground. Maya picked it up and tried to open the letter before her phone suddenly rang. She quickly putted the pictures and letter to the way it was before answering the call.
"Yukino, I've been trying to reach you for hours!"
"I don't mean to make you worry, Maya-san. I know you and Suou-san must be confused right now."
"I don't mean to sound rude, but why did Toudou do that?"
"Maya-san, listen to me."
"Where is Naoya Toudou right now-"
All of a sudden, Maya felt her hand was grabbed. She turned to see Tatsuya, clearly pissed, asking for the phone.
"Yukino-san, where is that bastard?!"
"Tatsuya, it's not him."
"What do you mean it's not him?! Erio clearly stated that Naoya fetched her last night-"
"Naoya has a twin."
Tatsuya paused.
"Not many knew about Naoya's past, only we of persona user team knew of him. He has a twin, Tatsuya, I'm serious on this."
"…Tell me how I am supposed to believe that story." Tatsuya's voice finally calmed down.
"Kazuya Toudou: Naoya's older twin brother. When Naoya was a child, Kazuya passed away in an accident, something about buying something for Naoya. His mother, due to mental breakdown, mistaken him for Kazuya and treat him as such. After his mother finally accepted Kazuya's death, Naoya pierced his ear to so that anyone will know him as Naoya, not Kazuya.
We unintentionally found out about it during our battle against Takahisa Kandori, when Naoya's shadow manifested himself as Kazuya. All and well, Kazuya never appeared again, until yesterday night."
Tatsuya realized Maya was still watching him, along with Katsuya, Baofu, and Ulala. His voice must have caught their attention. Tatsuya relit and closed his lighter before giving a big sigh.
"Naoya must have known about him. He knows something important that we don't. That's for sure." He rubbed his forehead, "Watch him."
He returned the phone to Maya, "Sorry, letting my temper rise like that." Maya didn't say a word; instead she took back her phone and continued her conversation with Yukino.
Sandy – Morning – 22/11/2012(Thursday) – Motel, Mikage-Cho
(1 day before Conquest's arrival)
"Alright, I understand," Yukino said, "I will update the news. Don't worry, Amano."
Right after the call, Yukino exited her room and went downstairs. At the motel lounge, all members of St. Hermelin High persona users were there, excluding Nanjo, Naoya, and Eriko. The atmosphere was tense and dead silent, as everyone clearly hadn't recovered from last night's incident. Maki was very quiet, worried about the shadow who was looking for the Pandora's box, Ryoji Mochizuki.
"I informed Maya of what happened to Erio-chan and Kazuya, although I withhold the info about Ryoji's absence and Kandori's appearance." Seeing as no one noticed her presence, she broke the silence. "That information will suffice for now; we will explain the rest after we solve everything here."
"You know what?" Hidehiko who was laying his body on the three seat sofa changed into a sitting position. "I don't know what the hell's going on anymore. So we gotta beat Conquest? Impossible, but I'm ok. Then we got Kandori? One more problem, but I accept. But now Erio-chan and Kazuya are included? That's it, I'm done."
"We just have to ask the one who got tied up between all of them," Reiji said, shifting his stare to Hidehiko. "We have to ask him."
"You're right." Maki agreed, standing up from her chair. "He knows something, something big. And he doesn't want to involve us." Maki suddenly faced the group with a determined look. "Whatever he did, he must have his reason."
Hidehiko, Reiji, and Yukino twitched their eyebrows. "Wait, are you defending him?" Yukino said, surprised by her answer.
"Naoya isn't the type to do this." Maki continued, "He did know something about the prophecy, but he hide it for our sake. I believe in him, I want to."
They turned quiet; no one wanted to argue with that. Naoya is still Naoya, and Maki believe in him. Looking at how they wanted to blame their friend made them slightly guilty.
"I hope you're right, Sonomura," Reiji replied, shifting his attention to outside through the windows, "But what about Kirishima and Nanjo?"
"I hope they understand too, especially Eriko." Maki turned to the door leading outside.
"By the way, where are they?" Yukino noticed the missing member.
"Oh, them? I don't know, but Nanjo went out in the morning, Eriko is at the hospital. Naoya is, you know, 'disappeared without a trace'." Hidehiko answered.
"I see. By the way, I want to check on our classmate at the hospital. Who wants to join me?"
They all headed to the door following Yukino's offer.
Afternoon – Somewhere at the Ankh desert
Inside a certain room where only one window revealed the light, a woman with long, dark hair woke up from her sleep to see herself on a soft bed. She, bearing the face identical to Eriko Kirishima, was observing the room. It was an old room, not dusty and well taken care of, a curtain painted in yellow gold, wall and ceiling made of sand rock, and a desk set with sweet fruits and old jug, giving the impression of royalty of the Egypt people. She found her bag on the desk and she was still in her yesterday night's dress.
"W-Where am I?" she said, panicked after not knowing how long she had been unconscious. Shortly after hearing her voice, someone walked into her room. Erio dropped back to her bed after standing up.
"T-Toudou-san, where am I?"
"Somewhere safe. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." The man identical to Naoya redid his introduction, "Let me introduce myself again. I am Kazuya Toudou, twin brother of Naoya Toudou. It's nice to meet you, Erio Kirishima."
"Umm… why am I here? Are you the one who fetch me from my sister's house yesterday?" Erio had many questions in mind, but she didn't know what should be asked first.
"How about you take a shower first? I got some clothes right here about your size." Kazuya revealed a white dress and gestured his hand to the door leaving the room. "Come, I'll show you the bath, really amazing."
"Umm… Okay…" Erio quietly accepted, but her hand was still shaking as she took the dress from Kazuya.
Erio took a short detour around the place. She had no idea how the building looked from the outside, but the inside was completely twisted like a maze. Stairs, doors, corridors, maybe the residents here will get lost in such a huge place. But there was not a single soul, except Kazuya and her, but she felt like it was better if she didn't mention it. They eventually arrived at a wide indoor pond like a hot steam bathtub.
"I'll be waiting at the altar just straight ahead. Don't forget the dress. *chuckle*" Kazuya chuckled as he left the room. Erio still confused by what happened to her, but realized she couldn't do anything for a moment. So she undressed herself and took a quick bath.
Altar
"Ah, how lovely," Kazuya said upon seeing Erio at the altar room. Erio's dress has a long skirt and short sleeve, colored clean white in a gold palette, a small necklace along with small shoes. "Come closer."
Erio was amazed by the structure of the altar. It reminded her of a church but in Egypt theme. There were long chairs on left and right, a small stage at the middle of the large space. Many windows were placed at the high wall and the sunlight could barely reach her. It looks like a place for getting…married? Erio wasn't sure. But Kazuya looks like he's in his best dress, white with gold palette similar to her.
As she walked a few steps, a chill ran down her spine when she finally noticed something. "T-Toudou-san, what is that?" Erio pointed at the stage where Kazuya was.
"Oh, this?" Kazuya smirked as if mocking her cowardice, placing his hand on the thing where Erio's eyes were. "Let me introduce to you the 'sacrifice'."
A tomb that fitted one person was putted in a horizontal position on that small stage. Erio didn't watch many movie or history books, but she was sure as ever that a tomb was where ancient people put corpse inside after they were mummified. She knew that, yet she still asked him.
"Umm… 'Sacrifice'? Like, human sacrifice?"
"It's for the white rider of the Four Horsemen; for this world to end… for us to survive together in the next cycle."
"I-I don't understand. Four Horsemen?"
"That's right. The 'mummy' inside this is still 'fresh', you know? Try guessing how old this is?"
"…1000 years? 100?"
"Hahaha, silly, it's shorter than that."
Kazuya's smile might be one of the creepiest looks Erio have ever seen. It was like he's neither dead nor alive from his pale skin and face, more the fact that she's alone with him in the middle of nowhere. Erio found herself trembling, as she in her lifetime, never talked to anyone this close before, especially the scary type.
"Say, isn't this nice?" Kazuya observed around the altar. "If we're together, we can be even happier…"
"…" At this point, Erio was too scared to speak anything. Kazuya noticed this immediately and smirked.
"Can you do me a favor, Erio-chan?" Kazuya took something from his pocket and walked slowly towards Erio while Erio stood there unmoving and quiet. Suddenly, Kazuya took her hand and revealed a gold ring from his pocket to her, placing his right knee on the ground…
"Marry me, Erio Kirishima."
"E-Eh?!"
Erio's face was an utter shock. She quickly pulled her hand from Kazuya's hand. Kazuya looked disappointed upon seeing her rejected his proposal. What do you expect from someone who you only met for one night to say anyway? But he already knew of her rejection.
"Don't you understand how lucky you are?"
"No, I don't want to!"
"We can be powerful and everlasting if we want to, we can have everything we want, just like he promised…"
"I…I'm sorry, but I don't want it!"
Erio turned away from him and made her way to the outside of the altar, but she, unfortunately, tripped on the ground and hurt her leg. She growled for a moment before looking back towards the altar. Kazuya was marching towards her with his hand holding the ring.
"Where will you run to? You'll get lost in this maze. Come, Erio-chan."
She almost wanted to scream, but her throat was dry. So she could only run again, keeping her pace from the mad man. She had no idea where she was, but she kept on running.
"Some people said twins have the closest dreams and soul compared to other people, almost like telepathy…"
She could hear Kazuya's voice getting further away from her.
"…You noticed it don't you, Erio-chan? Your sister's feeling towards my little brother…"
She fell down the stairs and injured her back. Why did she keep falling?! It was as if the place itself was trying to stop her.
"…I'm aware of my brother's feeling too, that's why I know that he's just using your sister…"
She ran with one leg functioning.
"…come over here, Erio-chan…"
Kazuya's voice disappeared, but Erio kept on running.
"…come…"
She kept on running.
Naoya Toudou
Sandy – Afternoon – Nanjo's Mansion, Mikage-Cho
Knock! Knock!
"Ah, Naoya-kun. Good to see you." Chisato and Naito greeted him as the door was opened. Naoya brought a small pack of flowers for her, removing the old flower on the vase next to her bed and replaced it.
"How are you, Chisato?" He stole a chair from the next patient's bed and sat next to Yosuke Naito.
"I'm more or less- *cough* *cough* fine, Naoya-kun."
"That's clearly a no," Naoya said, seeing Chisato holding a small caterpillar doll on her bed. "Nice doll by the way."
"Eriko gave it to me," Chisato answered immediately, making Naoya raised his eyebrows in realization.
"Eriko came here?"
"Half an hour ago, she said she's going to the rooftop for a while."
"…I see."
"The others should be arriving soon, you want to wait?"
"No," Naoya stood and said, "I'll go and check on her."
Rooftop, Mikage hospital
Eriko was resting her arm on the ledge of the rooftop with a weak expression. Her worry for her twin sister was increasing after failing to save her last night in Dark Hour.
For a second, she felt a slight pain in her chest, a voice in her head like the voice of Erio calling out for her. She clutched her head slightly by the disturbance, resting her mind to ease the pain.
"You okay?"
"!"
She quickly turned to her back to see Naoya standing beside her, looking at her with a worried expression.
"Naoya…" She turned her face away from him, angered by Kazuya's action to her sister from Naoya's presence. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me."
"…" Naoya rested his arm on the ledge as well, seeing as Eriko refused to look at him in the face. They remained quiet for a moment, letting the wind blew gently on the two people on the rooftop.
"Sorry."
Eriko turned to him in quick glance after listening to the sad voice.
"I had no idea your sister will get involved in all this."
"But do you know about Kazuya's return?" Eriko asked.
"Yes."
"Then why don't you tell us?"
"Because I can't…"
"Naoya." Eriko turned her body to him and stood straight, "I won't force you to tell me anymore. But I just want to know one thing, can I trust you?"
Naoya formed a smile on his face, seeing Eriko's expression has softened."When the right time emerged, I will tell you everything. So please trust me for now."
"…Okay, Naoya. I choose to trust you-"
Ring! Ring!
Eriko's phone was ringing, it was Nanjo. "Excuse me."
Naoya was watching her talking to Nanjo like some top secret agent. Then he saw Eriko peeking at him. 'What is it now, Nanjo?' Naoya thought.
"I gotta go. See you later, Naoya."
"Sure, whatever you're doing."
Eriko quickly hurried downstairs as Naoya shifted his attention to his watch.
Afternoon - Nanjo's mansion
"Good, come here as soon as you can," Nanjo said on the phone. He put his phone on the table and sank to his single chair. He folded back all the paper on the table and arranged it neatly. He reached for his wine on the small table next to him but realized the glass was empty and there's no bottle of wine.
"Someone get me a wine."
"Right away, Nanjo-sama."
The butler answered his stiff voice upon hearing his request from outside the room, descending downstairs. He sighed heavily, somehow satisfied that he could finally tidy his room after finishing all research. He realized it was still noon, so he decided to reward himself with a wine.
He found something interesting, really interesting about Naoya, about his visit to Egypt, about his involvement with the prophecy more than just fulfilling it. During his research, something suddenly clicked in his smart brain.
"If this is true, then that explains it…"
He then heard his door being pushed open. 'That was quick…' He thought, without averting his eyes from the pile of paper. The sound of water being poured inside his glass was relaxing, which he immediately grabbed the glass on his right and drank it in one go. "Thank you, you may leave." He said after gulping down the sour taste of wine.
Eriko will be here in another half an hour, and it's for the best if she'll be the first person to know about this. Thought this might hurt her, she must know this. He felt bad for not trusting his former leader, but this prophecy is huge, thus he chose to be a little colder if that was the right way. Just thinking about it made him uncomfortable. It was that quiet moment, his body froze temporarily.
Nanjo felt extreme pain in his lung.
"Ugh!" He fiercely grabbed his chest, dropping the glass on the ground and broke it. The liquid was now invisible in color but strong in smell, he could have sworn the wine was red just now! He felt like his chest could burst open in mere seconds. He removed himself from his chair but fell on the floor when his legs gave up. His eyes shifted to the butler who served him a glass a while ago.
He made a huge, careless mistake for lowering his guard. He never expected enemies would enter his door, literally. 'Who are you?!' Nanjo realized his voice never came out of his mouth like something strung his throat with a sharp needle. As if the tall figure with cloudy crown understood him, the air god introduced himself.
"I am Shu, the god of wind and air." On his hand was a small jug made in gold, containing some liquid he never knew of. Nanjo tried to focus the remained of his energy into his hands and grabbed the table, but his hand slipped and he fell again, slowly losing his consciousness.
"You have known too much of the 'emperor's secret. Until the time for lord Conquest to announce your recovery, you must endure the struggle of keeping that secret from 'her'. Please forgive me, I promise to heal you when the destiny allows it."
Shu took the papers from the table and walked to the fireplace, throwing all of it into the fire. Like a cloud, he slowly disappeared into thin air, leaving Nanjo alone in the room. A short while after, his real butler came in with the real wine, shocked to see his master was unconscious on the floor. About 20 minutes later, Eriko reached Nanjo's house.
Evening - Mikage Hospital
Naoya returned downstairs after a long breather at the rooftop. Lots of things were going inside his mind, he felt that he need a time of his own once in a while. So he hung out at the hospital for a quiet peace.
But once he returned to Chisato's room, the rest of his teammate except Eriko and Nanjo were there, ogling their eyes on him.
"Look who's here," Naoya said, entering the group.
"Hey, Naoya…" Reiji answered, but his tone faded after that. Naoya threw himself slightly backward, seeing how 'different' the way they looked at him.
"I don't want to ask, but why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Naoya quickly took a hand sanitizer and wiped his face.
"No, we just…" Reiji said to Naoya before giving an eyes signal to Yukino to claim her support.
"We just want to apologize for doubting you since that day at Tatsumi Port Island." Yukino exhaled deeply and confessed, "We should put more faith in you."
"…" Naoya turned silent as he wiped his face with a towel before Maki continued.
"Naoya-kun, I want to trust you," Maki said. The others nodded to her word.
"*chuckle* Eriko said the same thing not long ago." Naoya chuckled and placed both hands on his wrist. "But it's okay to doubt me actually."
"We got emergency on the first floor. Kei Nanjo of the Nanjo Company is in critical condition, request immediate medic!"
The scream of a doctor from outside the room echoed throughout the floor. "…Except that."Naoya answered.
"Guys!" They turned to the door to see Eriko's panicked expression. Everyone turned panic as well, which Maki asked.
"Eriko, what happen?"
"Nanjo, he… I don't know how to say it, but he's in a critical state!"
Philemon
Evening – 22/11/2012(Thursday) - The realm of consciousness and unconsciousness of all soul
In the middle of that small palace-like realm, a white door suddenly appeared. Opening the door from the inside was Father Time, walking into the realm with both hands on his back. He searched around for someone as he took a deep breath and called out for him.
"Philemon, stop hiding from me already."
"I'm not."
Philemon gave an immediate answer. From behind of the spectrum colored pillar, a man with half butterfly mask appeared with unwelcome eyes. Father Time gave a quick smile upon seeing the half mask was creaking from the ear's side.
"My, my, my, what happen to you?"
"I don't see the joke in asking the obvious answer."
"I do, I do, but the question is "Why is it so soon?""
"I wonder about it myself."
"The first seal is approaching, yet you are already in this situation. Will you make it till the opening of the fifth seal?"
"If I don't, then you, possessing half of my power, must guide them."
"Don't be ridiculous. Conquest is doing this for your sake as well."
"…So you know." Philemon faced away from Father Time.
"Like you said, I don't see the joke in asking the obvious answer. And… so does 'he', isn't? He knows too."
"Yes, he does know…"
Sandy – Night – Mikage Hospital, Mikage-Cho
The rest of St. Hermelin persona users were gathering in front of ICU room, waiting for the doctor to tell them the situation. The doctor exited the room, and they all jumped from their seat to see him.
"He has been poisoned by unidentified liquid. He is unconscious, and he'll be unable to speak and his hands are paralyzed. We don't know when he will wake up. I'm sorry; I have done everything I can."
That was all the doctor could say as he left the group. They remained silent as the clock on the wall continued to tick.
"Nanjo, he…" Eriko spoke, "He called me to tell me something. His butler said it happen minutes after he called me. And…" She paused, gaining the attention of everyone. "…I saw papers being burned at his fireplace."
The corridor became quiet again.
"We can worry about that later. It's almost time, we should get ready." Naoya said as looked at his watch. "Who knows what happen to Erio at this moment. Tonight is our last bet to save her."
"What about Nanjo-kun?" Hidehiko rejected. "What will happen to him?"
"But my sister is still there, Ryoji too. I need to go." Eriko insisted.
"His butler will take care of him. I don't like this too, but it's for the best." Yukino concluded.
"Let's go, just the six of us." Reiji clenched his fist.
"Right." Maki nodded. "We're not getting out until we got Ryoji and Erio."
They slowly walked to the corridor and left the hospital. Without further thinking, they went straight towards Ankh pyramid and wait for Dark Hour to arrive.
Sandy – Dark Hour – Ankh Desert
"Hah!" Ryoji woke up to see the sky was already eerie dark and cold. He had no idea how long he's asleep, but from the way the environment is, it must already become Dark Hour.
"It's alright, it is safe," Ryoji said when he saw the sphere was still in his arm. He finally stood up, clenching the sphere beneath his armpit and left the lake. He walked a few steps before he froze, seeing a group of friends entering the giant pyramid between the building and lake.
"Guys!" He screamed, increasing his pace and rushed towards the group. But they couldn't hear him as they disappeared into the pyramid.
"This is bad, I got to hide this." Ryoji returned to the lake and dug a hole, buried the sphere and ran full force towards the group.
The Grand pyramid
They were in doubt to which place they should go after they entered the pyramid, whether to find Ryoji and Erio at the SEBEC building or checking the lake, but Naoya suggest one thing that made them choose the most appealing location in this desert, the Grand pyramid, stood in between the building and the lake.
Naoya and his team entered the most twisted dungeon they've ever seen. There were doors, stairs, corridors jumbled up like a puzzle. Upon entering, they knew the pyramid was old, the entire parts were covered in peach stone and sand, doors were of wood and brick, the floor was dusty and the air was cold. It was fairly dark with a torch on the wall, but it's not dark enough to not see anything.
"How are we supposed to find Erio here?" Hidehiko asked, dodging the walls as the corridors getting smaller before getting bigger again.
"This is even more confusing than SEBEC building. We need some guide." Yukino said.
"How about we go to the upper floor? Seem logical as the floor get smaller as it goes higher... I think." Reiji suggested. They nodded anyway, proceeding to go to the upper floor.
2th floor
"…help…"
"Wait!" Eriko shouted upon stepping onto the second floor, "I heard my sister's voice! Erio!"
Eriko, in the panic, ran towards the door at the end of the corridor. "Eriko, don't run on your own!"
Click!
It was too late, the door behind her was locked instantly after she entered. Naoya knocked on the sandy door rapidly. "Eriko, are you alright?!"
"Naoya, the door is locked! I can't get through!" Eriko said on the other side of the door. The door has no handle, yet pushing seems impossible.
"Look, listen to me! Find a stairs leading upstairs, as high as you can! Focus on regrouping first, okay? Now go!" Naoya commanded.
"No, I'm finding my sister first! I heard her voice again! I'm going after her!" The sound of Eriko's footsteps fading was heard.
"Nobody gets separated from me, understand?" Naoya turned to his team, only to realize something. "…Where Hide?"
When they turn to their back, another member was already missing. "I swear he's behind me just now." Maki noted.
"This pyramid is trying to separate us. Come on, let's go higher." Yukino said. They went another floor.
4th floor
And that's the last they heard of Yukino, as she disappeared between third and fourth floor. "Grab my hands tightly." Naoya lent both arms to them with a grin, only for Maki and Reiji to back away.
"What's with that grin? I'm married." Maki said.
"Me too." Reiji agreed, only to have Naoya growled.
"I'm not Tatsuya, idiot. Besides, you're not my type. And I was grinning to make us more relaxed!" Naoya said with a sigh. They clang close to each other and moved to another floor.
7th floor
"…Where Kido-san?" Maki noted when turned to Naoya's left, only to see Reiji wasn't there.
"Wait, when? I'm sure he's here just now!" Naoya said in surprise before grabbing Maki. "Maki, hold me."
"That's daring of you," Maki said.
"You serious right now? Don't you know the situation we're in? Come on, you're married."
After Eriko, Hidehiko, Yukino and Reiji, only two of them remained. They walked over doors and corridors and stepped onto the next floor.
9th floor
"Naoya, I've been meaning to ask. How are you and Eriko?" Maki suddenly asked, to Naoya's surprise.
"Just… fine." Naoya hesitated to answer. "Geez, what's with you today? Can we focus on finding Erio-chan and Mochizuki?"
"No, I've been thinking… Mochizuki asked me that day after we save Arisato, about the Pandora's Box. He told me with that, he can save someone. He told me it can help us prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. But…"
Maki stopped her feet, forcing Naoya to stop as well. "But what?"
"Why do I get the feeling that we can't change it? Like, we can't stop the Four Horsemen from arriving our world?"
Naoya turned silent, not sure which answer could stop her.
"And there's one more thing that bothered me. We know each rider needs a vessel and a sacrifice. We have a lead about War's vessel, both about Strife and something about Death. But if Takahisa Kandori is the vessel, then…"
His face turned stiff.
"…Who is Conquest's sacrifice? I don't see anyone specific to be the 'sacrifice'. Do you know?"
Naoya rubbed his face, facing away from her. He looked like he just heard something he didn't want to hear. Maki noticed this, quickly patted his shoulder.
"Conquest told me the same thing," Naoya said, "He said 'If it happened, it is destined to happen'." He moved a step away from her, releasing his hand from his face. "And about Conquest's sacrifice, don't worry. It is something 'he' chose to do."
Tap, tap, tap…
"!" Naoya and Maki shifted their attention to their back when they heard someone approaching them. "Who's there?!"
After midnight - 23/11/2012(Friday) - Alternate realm of unconsciousness
(Friday of Conquest)
In the middle of the endless black space, the white silhouette was seen sitting in the middle, meditating cross-legged. Strife, who was usually there with him wasn't there for some reason. Perhaps he knew of the white rider's time that closing by, thus decided to leave him till his arrival to the world.
Both of his palms were still intact when another presence interrupted him. He opened his black eyes and loosened his meditating position, turning to the god of air.
"Welcome back, Shu."
"It is all part of destiny to prevent anyone from revealing the 'emperor's truth. I had to use force on his friend."
"No, you did well. Your task is done."
"And it should be the time, lord Conquest."
"Certainly. Is my vessel and sacrifice ready?"
"More than ever."
"I guess it's time…"
Conquest, the first rider of Four Horsemen, finally stood up.
"…for me to fulfill my part of the prophecy."
A/N: Well, where should I begin?
Sorry for making you wait for months, kinda busy these days. So I made it a bit longer.
First of all: Erio and Kazuya, no chemistry, biology or physics at all. I don't have to say this, but don't ship this.
Second: Nanjo is dead! No, he's fine, just less screen time for him, I think?
Third: St. Hermelin persona users are trapped inside the Grand Pyramid, including Ryoji, Erio, Kandori and Kazuya, and Conquest.
Just a few more chapters before Conquest Arc will conclude. So, I will (probably) reveal Conquest's identity next chapter. See you another month, readers.