~Chapter 12~
Akira made it to the school in time to see it replaced by a misshapen tower. However, S.E.E.S was nowhere to be found.
"What the hell? Did they enter without me?"
He entered the tower and inside was a spacious room with a large clock-like door on top of a staircase. Around him was numerous pillars supporting the ceiling, assuming there was one. The air was chilly and Akira had a dreadful feeling staying here. He took a moment scanning the area and found the blue Velvet Room door right next to him. Remembering that he had questions for Igor, he used the Velvet Key to unlock the door and enter it.
"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, my dear guest." Igor was the first to greet him, followed by a heartwarming smile from Lavenza. Akira felt at ease as he sat down. "You must have questions for me, yes?"
"You read my mind. Right, first thing first: why did I collapse after summoning Satanael using the so-called traditional method? It wasn't like a normal Metaverse trip fatigue. It felt like someone or something sucked part of my soul out."
Lavenza opened her mouth, about to say something but Igor shook his head. She nodded sadly.
"It is still too soon to reveal everything. I can only tell you that your soul and lifeforce have been split into two at the moment your world ended. One half is here and the other stays behind. For the reason why you became exhausted suddenly, it seems that whatever your other half is doing, they are draining your energy in the process, leading to the mental fatigue you mentioned. Though, as you may have known, there are also foreign factors targeting your weakened state. For example, the Apostles of Darkness."
Akira digested the information and if he was surprised to hear that he was split in two, he did not show it.
"Apostles of Darkness, huh? That's mouthful. I'll just call them Demons then." That made Lavenza smile; this is her beloved Trickster after all. "So, what is the deal with my 'other half'? Now I have a twin brother or something?"
"Shadow, to be precise. Even though you possess a Persona, as long as your heart still contain negative emotions, they will form a dark reflection of yourself. However, with you being the Phantom of Time, it may have transformed into a separate being. Not entirely a malevolent one, mind you." Igor continued.
"So, twin brother. Figures." Akira snorted. This was not a bad deal, actually. He always wanted a sibling and while Futaba fit the bill, a brother would be nicer. Not to mention, the body he was inhabiting had a biological sister.
Speaking of Naoto, Akira had not called or messaged her since grandfather called her back. Tomorrow, then.
"Second question: Is there some ways to counter the cost of summoning a Persona using willpower alone? You mentioned the first guests of Velvet Room used it on daily basic."
"Ah, the Emperor and the Sun. They were also remarkable guests." Igor smiled fondly. "You may find it difficult to adapt as your Persona answered to your rebellious spirit via masks first. The use of the Evoker device has no effect on you because you have died once, Trickster. Memento Mori, 'remember that you have to die'. Those who have experienced death can conquer the fear of death."
"Basically, I keep practicing until I don't feel anything?"
"Indeed."
"Got it. By the way, I got something for you Lavenza." Akira reached his pocket and gave Lavenza a small bag of cookies. "I found a store selling these and they taste good. I think you will like it."
"Ah, thank you very much." Lavenza beamed at him, which made Akira happy and lessened his inner turmoil. He stood up, bid them farewells and exited the Room.
Next day, on the train to Gekkoukan, Akira asked Yukari about the Tartarus trip cancellation last night and she could only give him a nervous laugh. He was not amused.
"Sorry. Mitsuru-senpai said that the chairman wasn't at the dorm and he has the final approval in any operations so…"
Akira suppressed the urge to groan; what was that clown doing?
During the lunchbreak, as Akira was heading towards the canteen, Mitsuru emerged from the corner and grabbed his collar.
"What gives?!"
"Go back to your class. I have something to inform all of you."
"At least let I get my sandwich –" Her icy eyes shut him up at the spot. "Yes ma'am."
Turned out there was something unexpected at the Kirijo Group's Science Lab and Ikutsuki had to stay behind to fix. Mitsuru informed the second-year members that they would explore Tartarus tonight and remind them to gather at the 4th floor at 6:00 PM.
"The chairman will elaborate the details in person. I'll see you there." Before leaving, Mitsuru sent a subtle message to Akira: DON'T. BE. LATE. He mockingly saluted her for that.
"Damn, not wasting even a second." Junpei finally spoke up.
"She's probably busy with things like Student Council, unlike us." Yukari rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Whoa whoa, do I sense some hostility there Yukaricchi?"
"Well, it's not that I don't like her... She's just..."
"Just NOTHING! I'm hungry as heck!" Akira shouted, slapping Minato's arm. "Let's go my brothers, to the canteen we go!"
As three boys were getting out of her sight, Yukari sighed with a smile. "Akira-kun is such a dork." Before joining them as well.
At 6:00 PM, all of SEES members were present in the 4th floor room. Ikutsuki gave a summary of what Tartarus was to newcomers like Junpei and approved tonight's exploration. Akihiko got excited and got a reminder from Mitsuru that his arm was still not fully recovered.
"I-I know. I've been checking on it regularly."
"I'm not too sure about this…" Yukari was unease, not confident in her ability to summon Io. Akira patted her back assuredly before turning to Mitsuru.
"Kirijo-senpai, my heart and soul are throbbing whenever I see you. I fear my performance might be affected." Akira made a dramatic faint into Minato, who caught him in his arms. "Can I skip tonight? *wink* wink*" He managed to dodge from an icicle from Mitsuru.
"No, you cannot." She gave him a terrifying smile.
"Ahem, so everyone is ready then. I will stay here because." Ikutsuki let out an exaggerated sigh. "I can't summon a Persona."
Mitsuru allowed a groan to escape as Akira was nowhere to be found, again. Not only that, she had to put up with Iori's unnecessary questions that were testing her patience. Takeba was fidgeting and Arisato was silent as usual. Without Akira, he would be elected as field leader. Which, of course, resulted in Iori's objection. Thankfully, Akihiko was quick to act.
"Can you summon your Persona without any difficulties like he does?"
Arisato took the cue as he casually leveled the Evoker to his temple and shot, calling out his Persona.
"These are Shadows we're talking about. Without your Persona, you are screwed. Got it?"
Iori took a loud gulp and shakingly boasted that he could as well. Takeba sighed and gripped her bow tighter.
"You three will go alone and I will be your mission navigator. Once you are inside, I will explain further – Arisato?"
Arisato suddenly turned left and headed to the pillars, much to her and the others' perplexment. He ignored her calls until few minutes passed.
"What?"
"I, ugh, nothing." Mitsuru had nothing to say; Arisato was starting to act like Akira at this point.
"Dude you stood there like a zombie. You're like that coach who fell asleep during that championship game! Come on, man. You're s'posed to be our leader!"
"Stupei, cut him some slack. It's his first time after all." Takeba chimed in. "If nothing's wrong, then let's get going."
They walked to the entrance and took the last look at their equipment. Akihiko gave them some Goho-M and Medicines just in case bad things happened.
"Are you ready?" She asked Arisato, who nodded and gave a small 'ready' before stepping into the portal with two others. A moment passed and Mitsuru immediately put on the headset and turned on the amplifier attached on her bike, guiding the juniors with basic combat instructions and enemies' information.
"The enemy is weak to Fire!"
"On it!" Iori shouted as his Persona, Hermes, threw a fireball in tandem with Arisato's Orpheus, creating a blazing stream that Mitsuru's Persona identified as 'Fire Storm' that consumed all current Shadows in the hallway.
'A Fusion Spell?' She vaguely remembered the head of Nanjo Group mentioned this in his documents regarding Persona's abilities. As the group almost clearer the first floor, she and Akihiko heard gunshots from outside. A large unidentified Shadow ran into the tower and saw them. It let out a roar and lunged at them, causing Mitsuru to drop the headset and use the Evoker. Penthesilea was strong but the Shadow was stronger, and it was pushing back the Persona while slowly breaking its hand.
"Mitsuru! Why you –"
"Red Rider, Terrorblade!"
From afar, a cloaked knight riding a red horse toward the Shadow and swung his blade to unleash a wave of orange energy that stopped the monster midair and chop off half of its body. Said knight began to stab his blade at the remains while laughing creepily until it was reduced to a mass of blobs. However, the mass grew back into a Maya-type Shadow and slithered toward Mitsuru but was put down permanently by a hail of bullets coming from Akira, who pressed the trigger repeatedly until the Shadow dispersed into nothingness.
"Phew, hope this is the last of them." Akira blew the smoke off of his gun's muzzle and grinned at the seniors. "Yo, good 'Dark Hour'-ing!"
Back to Minato's group, they were a bit alarmed when Mitsuru didn't answer despite their calling. Minato ordered them to slow down and be cautious while waiting for their navigator's guidance. It did not take long before the signal went live again alongside what was transpiring on the other side.
"T'es idiot! Who gave you the permission to hunt them on your own?! How many times must I yell at you so that you will listen to my orders?!"
"Well I headed to the Mall to find the officer you told and when I got there, bam, Dark Hour kicked in and the Shadows appeared!"
"That's why I instructed you to follow us closely, not wandering somewhere else! My god if you were Akihiko, I would execute you on the spot!"
"…Uh, you guys forgot I'm here didn't you?"
"Silence! Penthesilea!" There were sounds of glasses breaking, panic shouting and laughter.
"Should we…stop them?" Yukari asked, unsure what to do.
"Let's just go back. I'm tired."
"Me too man."
The teleporter brought them back to the entrance where a frozen statue of Akihiko greeted them. Behind him, Mitsuru was chasing a laughing Akira who effortlessly dodged her attacks.
"Get back here, you brute! I must execute you!"
"Not a chance in hell! Ahahaha!"
Minato sighed and nudged Junpei to do something with Akihiko. Yukari suggested using the Agi spell to melt the ice and the two boys did just that. He was eventually freed.
