Author's Notes: There'll be some liberties taken with the material in this chapter (like I haven't been doing that all along.) As to what and where, I'll let you all read the chapter and see for yourselves.
A few replies, and then onto the show!
Ramix: Glad you're liking the show, and it's great to see you again! I aim to be the best fic writer out there as part of my plans for world domination, so it's good to hear I'm well on my way! On that note, enjoy the chapter.
SomebodyLost: Glad you're liking it! I can't comment on what the ending will be since that's the lynchpin of the whole work, but I will say that I have given it a lot of thought and will address it in the same way that I have all the other ideas of the game. Thanks for the review, and enjoy the chapter!
Rayify: Welcome back! Ken's rehab has been quite the trip to plan and get down, and it's not even over yet. Glad you're enjoying it, and that Abe and Maeda have had such an influence is encouraging to hear – it suggests I know what I'm doing! As for those arcs you mentioned, we're going full steam ahead from here on out, so I hope you like the chapters to follow. And you'll see a fair bit since I'm not stopping this until it's finished. Hope you like the chapter!
As always, thanks to Firion for his help on this one. Lingering mistakes are mine.
Chapter 15 - Avertissement
"This is it," Junpei grinned, tapping his sword on his shoulder as they walked to the Moonlight Bridge. Cars were stopped on the road and glowing coffins stood all around them, the consequences of the full moon falling on a Friday night. "We win this one and we're in the clear."
Yukari and Fuuka nodded and chatted to keep the mood light, but Minato stayed quiet. Indeed, this was it. The night of the full moon had come upon them inexorably, like the slow tightening of piano wire until the frame began to crack. He'd tried distracting himself, tried to focus on his dates with Mitsuru-senpai, but Pharos's warning kept echoing in his mind. Things were going to get worse after this? How? Why would they get worse if this was the last Shadow, as Kirijo-san and Ikutsuki said? Did the kid mean Strega was going to be a bigger problem than they already were? Unlikely, given how Pharos and Igor didn't think Takaya was a notable threat. But the warning had been clear, so what did it mean? What made Pharos's advice – and Igor's lack of it – so irritating was they were indicating something outside the full picture Minato had of the circumstances. They talked about important events that clearly involved him, but he was left without any idea where he had to look to find out what those were.
He knew that Mitsuru-senpai was anxious. The smooth grace was missing from her stride and she was scanning the gloom around them more intensely than usual. Akihiko-senpai was no better, giving the feeling of a predator stalking the edges of its cage. The discussions and planning sessions Minato had had with them had been somewhat productive, but more often they circled everything the group didn't know rather than effectively using what they did. Circular logic and baseless suppositions had abounded, and often the meetings ended with nothing gained. Minato knew that they didn't blame him for the situation, but he felt useless when so many questions were unanswered. No matter what they thought up, they were still going in blind, and none of them like it. The only silver lining to the situation was that the others seemed to be in good spirits, chalking the tension up to pre-battle jitters. Minato tried to attend to the conversation, but he couldn't find his usual calm. His sleep had been restless all week, he couldn't focus on training or schoolwork, and even with his senpai telling him they were in his corner, the persisting sense of uncertainty was wearing down his edge. Every unanswered question circled him, taunting him from just out of reach no matter what he did. Now the Dark Hour felt different, larger and foreboding instead of just dangerous. Something was going to happen, and he had no idea what.
"Are you unwell, Minato-san?" Aigis asked, her footsteps light in spite of her weapons and armour. She'd been quiet leading up to tonight, probably preparing in her own way. Minato didn't know what her rituals were, but he trusted her enough to not think about it. Machine or not, there was a lot about her that was human, and she had her reasons for doing what she did.
"I'm fine," he told her, trying to project a confidence he didn't feel. "I'm just thinking of how far we've come. It hasn't been that long since April, but it seems like a lifetime ago that things were normal." Up ahead, the Shadow was floating above the bridge, held aloft by what looked like wires attached to winged rings. How they held up that much mass, he couldn't begin to guess. Normal physics were warped in the Dark Hour, but this was definitely stranger than anything he'd seen so far.
"Combat and repeated experiences of adrenaline and stress can dilate the sense of time," she noted. "Mature combatants apparently undergo a similar change in their state of mind due to their training. It would be logical to assume that effect would be amplified for adolescents, even with Personas to help endure mental trauma."
Minato knew that she was trying to be helpful, but her observations and advice weren't much comfort right now. "I suppose so. Do you have any plans after this?"
She looked surprised by the question, but answered as steadily as always. "I would like to speak to Ken-san and view his progress once the Shadow is dealt with. I feel like his recovery should be a priority, and I have some ideas that might aid in his rehabilitation."
Minato nodded, grateful to have something to distract him from the feeling of wrongness around him. Thinking past this fight wasn't easy, and someone else's plans were a welcome distraction. He regretted not taking the chance to visit Ken before, and by the time the right words came to mind, it was too close to the full moon to do anything. Hopefully the message he'd sent had meant something; it was the best he could come up with at the time. "That's a good idea. I'll come with you."
"I would welcome your company, Minato-san."
He was about to reply when he felt a twinge against his mind, like the jolt of licking a battery only it flashed along his scalp. His eyes were drawn to the bridge where a dark shape stood, too far away to see. But Minato knew who it was – only one person had that effect since Shinjiro-senpai died. Strange that Fuuka hadn't detected anything; maybe their proximity to the Shadow caused too much interference. Had Takaya learned how her powers worked? Or was this a coincidence? Probably not; Takaya didn't seem to leave anything to chance. Minato stepped to the front of the group and drew his Evoker, hoping the others wouldn't fly off the handle too quickly. Once they were close enough to see who it was, the mood changed into a killing fury.
"I shouldn't be surprised," Minato called to Takaya from about ten yards away. The twinge had grown into an itch he couldn't scratch, a rustling between his ears and down the back of his neck as the sea of his soul churned. The discomfort had become more and more common since his conversation with the killer, like there was something under the sea rolling around in its sleep, sending waves and eddies every which way. Being this close to Takaya and Hypnos made Minato feel like he was clinging to a raft in the storm. This wasn't normal; what had the sick son of a bitch done? "You had a chance to stir the pot and couldn't resist, I'm guessing?"
"Allow me to defy your expectations," Takaya replied smoothly, holding out his hand in an invitation to pass. "I am here to observe, not to fight. I want to see what you will do with the Shadow, and what will happen if you kill it."
"You expect us to believe that?" Akihiko-senpai growled, the air hissing around him.
Takaya barely spared the boxer a glance. "What you believe is irrelevant to me. You don't matter. Only Arisato does, and he knows that I've been nothing but honest in our conversations." His smile had the feeling of a smirk. "By now I'm sure you've investigated the matters we discussed, haven't you? Was I right about Amada and the Kirijo Group?"
Minato bit his tongue, anger tumbling around and tripping on itself. This wasn't a conversation he could have right now, not with the others hungry for blood.
"You're a murderer!" Junpei snapped. "Why should we believe anything you say?"
"Because I've told you the truth," Takaya said as though the answer was simple to see. "Ask Arisato."
"That doesn't mean you wouldn't be lying now," Minato noted, trying to avoid the question. He hadn't told everyone the full details of that conversation, not certain he could explain the churning feeling in his soul without raising uncomfortable questions. All the questions Takaya raised, along with everything about the Shadows becoming suspect, wasn't what SEES had needed back then. They needed it even less now. "The best lies are mostly truths, and this would be the best time for you to screw with us, wouldn't it?"
"A fair observation, but you are wrong if you think I want you to fail. Whether your comrades live or die is immaterial, but I do want to see you succeed. If you don't, nothing will change, and the changes you bring about have been eminently amusing."
"So this is a game to you?" Yukari spat. "Your way of having fun?"
Again, Takaya looked mildly annoyed at the interruption. "I doubt you would understand, given your narrow-minded grudge against the Kirijo Group and foolish belief in justice and pursuit of revenge. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it. As I said, you and the others do not matter. Arisato does. The Shadows do. And they are the ones driving these events forward, whether you can feel it or not. Why would I not be interested in what happens next? Especially given Arisato's development last time we met."
Minato bit his lip, trying not to let the surprise show. He was immediately glad he was in front of everyone and they couldn't see his face.
"What do you mean?" Yukari asked. "You're lying again; there's no way we'd believe you!"
Minato knew that wasn't the case. Takaya's grin and narrow eyes showed that he knew too. The next move was a checkmate, something that could crack their morale right before a fight.
Yet Takaya took two steps forward and lowered his voice, seeming to want to speak only to Minato himself. "That thing you felt when we spoke," the pale man murmured, power thrumming quietly with each word. "It's not a normal Persona, not in the way you think. There's more to it, and I want to know what it is for certain. I think it's tied to the Shadows, and I think this will be when you find out."
Takaya knew something. He had to. He was as twisted as a snake with a broken back, but the words rang with a dreadful sense of truth. Minato couldn't stop from asking, "What are you talking about? What do you know?"
Takaya smirked more, shrugging this time. "Who can say?" His voice was up to its normal volume again.
"Who cares!? You're about to die!" Junpei pulled his Evoker and pulled the trigger. Hermes swung its blades at Takaya, stopped by an upheld hand and Hypnos's wings. Lightning and steel sizzled against each other, smoking spitefully until Takaya stepped back and let the strike miss him. He looked bored again.
"I assume you're angry over Aragaki's death," he noted dispassionately, "but is that the best you can do? If you think your skills are sufficient, that you can make any difference in this fight, you're quite mistaken."
"Your talk is empty. You can't beat all of us on your own," Akihiko-senpai told him, summoning Polydeuces in a flash of light.
"I don't have to," was Takaya's reply. He pulled his gun out and pointed it at a nearby coffin, cocking the hammer. The threat was clear. Junpei and Akihiko-senpai stopped in their tracks, growling hatefully like dogs ready to lunge. "Not willing to sacrifice the weak even if you clearly want to fight? Will you stop every time someone else is in danger? How can you get anything done like that?"
"We've beaten every Shadow up to this point without becoming like you," Mitsuru-senpai pointed out. "We defeated Yoshino, and that you've resorted to underhanded tactics speaks about you, not us."
"A valid point," Takaya conceded, looking at her with a hint of interest. "You must be the one who leads this group. The Kirijo chairman's daughter, correct?"
Senpai's expression was hard. "If I were, it wouldn't be wise to tell an enemy, would it?"
"Perhaps not." Takaya grinned, his eyes glowing under the light of the moon above. "Your prowess as killers of Shadows must be a point of pride, if you are prepared to boast about it. I look forward to your victory and whatever comes after it." He spun ninety degrees and pointed his gun at the hovering Shadow, firing four glowing shots in two seconds.
The monstrosity flinched, then roared and launched itself toward them. Minato couldn't believe it. Takaya watched for a moment, then ran toward the bridge railing and jumped off, blue light all around him.
There was no time to wonder what had just happened. The Shadow descended upon them and swung its cables through the air. The group scattered, and Minato found himself alone behind a car. He swore at Takaya for tripping the trap early and putting the plan into jeopardy. Now he had a fight on his hands, and focusing like how he'd discussed with his senpai became much harder.
Aigis's explosives and Yukari's arrows flew by him. Minato expected the Shadow to keep pressing forward, but instead it retreated behind a set of upraised statues, using them as shields.
Minato glanced around his cover, feeling his enemy out. This Shadow wasn't aggressive or daring, and when faced with firepower it tried to buy time. It would make sense if it attacked from a distance; in that case, and if it decided to hover over the river, they'd never kill it. Minato heard the whispers again, the alien pressure against his body firmer this time. The words were nonsense, but they were actually words this time, instead of the gibberish of the two Shadows at the train station. He might be able to work with this.
He waved at his senpai. They called for a halt and the barrage stopped. Minato ran past the statues and cut through the stray Shadows that came too close, ignoring the shouts from the others and Mitsuru-senpai's iron-clad orders to not interfere. What Minato was doing was risky, if not outright insane, but he didn't take cover as he approached the Shadow. Instead he stayed in the open where the beast could see him, and once the smaller ones had been dealt with he looked up at it. It hadn't attacked, and didn't look like it was going to. The eyes of the strange mask it wore were focused on him, the heavy weight of its gaze chittering along his skin, almost enough to push him back.
Minato squeezed his Evoker, finger off the trigger. This was it. Throw the dice and take whatever came up, one way or the other.
The Shadow descended to the ground on its wires, lumbering over like a top-heavy ape. The others had come up from behind, ready to assist, but Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai held them back. Everyone protested, but the older students were firm.
Minato heard a strange sound then, an echoing voice that felt like it was coming through a tunnel miles long. The words were clear, but they were in a dialect of Japanese so archaic that he could only understand a few words at first. "What did you say?" he asked as the Shadow stopped in front of him. Every instinct and response trained into him for months screamed at him to either fight or run. The alien pressure grew heavy, and the smell of wrongness made him want to gag. But he needed answers, and that meant thinking outside the box.
"This one humbly offers greetings," the Shadow repeated, its voice so bass-heavy that Minato could feel it in his sternum. "It cannot properly express its regret for its actions. It did not realize who was in front of it."
"Don't do anything," he told the others.
"Shadows are our enemy," Aigis protested. "Our purpose is to eliminate them, and any communication with them should be treated as highly suspect. Lowering our guard also puts us all in considerable risk at this range. What is the purpose of this, Minato-san?"
"We need answers about what's going on, Aigis," Akihiko-senpai told her firmly. "Arisato knows what he's doing. Unless we say otherwise, don't interrupt or do anything to provoke it."
"Minato-san can communicate with Shadows?" Aigis persisted. "We were not told this, and we had been instructed before to tell the group of any secrets or unexplained occurrences after Shinjiro-san died. Isn't this a violation of those instructions?"
"I hadn't heard of this either," Yukari noted, suspicion in her voice. "What's going on?"
"An experiment," Mitsuru-senpai told them in a tone that didn't allow protest. "It didn't work last time, and we had no way to know if it would work tonight. I didn't think it would get anywhere, so this is new for us too."
"Obviously not completely new if you knew something before now," Yukari protested.
"It's not that simple, Takeba," Akihiko-senpai growled back. "And it's too late to explain now, so just stay ready."
"Is he actually talking to the Shadow?" Junpei asked. "And it's talking back? How? I'm not hearing anything."
"I can hear some noise," Fuuka supplied in their minds, "but it sounds like static."
"This is a chance to get some answers," Mitsuru-senpai told them. "To those questions and many others. Don't attack it unless we give the order."
"The others intend to kill this one," the Shadow observed. "The others feel this one is a threat that must be eliminated. This one understands."
"They won't do anything," Minato replied, thinking of how insane it was to try and assure the Shadow of its safety, to not rock the boat and start a fight. What was he going to do once it stopped talking? Would it try and attack? Would it sit back and let them kill it? Things really had gone insane since April. "I have some questions that I need answered."
"This one will answer."
"One of the other Sha– That is, one of the others referred to me as the Appriser. What is that?"
A low groaning came from the Shadow's body as it tilted its head. "Please forgive this one. If it may be so discourteous, it is surprised that such a question would be asked."
The only time Minato had heard vernacular so self-effacing, where the person referred to themselves as "it" and "this one" out of extreme politeness, was in samurai anime and movies showing peasants brought before the emperor. The highest form of politeness and courtesy, not to raise one's head or speak unless told to. Hearing it in actual conversation made this insane conversation so surreal that it actually felt real. "What's wrong with the question? Why is it strange?"
"This one did not intend offense. It is surprised." The Shadow drew itself up, then settled back down like a teacher across the desk about to explain a new theory. "The Appriser is Her agent. Her Herald. This one does not understand why the one before it is asking that question – the Appriser's role is that of the one before it."
Minato went cold. Something about the Shadow's words, how it said 'Her,' turned his stomach on the level of his Personas. That thing that had reacted to Takaya shifted and rumbled, and Minato felt sick. When he was sure he could speak without puking, he asked, "What function do I serve? Why am I different from the others? Why can I understand you when no one else can?"
The Shadow's attention went to the rest of SEES, then back to Minato. "Those others are themselves. Those others are not the Appriser. It is the Appriser's nature to act as the Appriser must, therefore the Appriser is capable of achieving its goal. Communication with this one and the others like it, for example."
That was something, though it immediately led to more questions. "Where did this come from? What makes me the Appriser and not someone else?"
"This one cannot answer; it does not understand the question. The Appriser is the Appriser. Its role is not adopted or lost. It simply is."
"Where did the role come from?"
"From Her."
Again Minato's stomach churned. "I don't know who you mean. Who are you talking about?"
"This one cannot give such an answer. If the one before it does not remember, this one cannot presume to explain – it is beyond this one's abilities."
A clear answer, finally. Why hadn't the other Shadows been like this? Was it because this one was more cautious than the one in the hotel and the club? Could the one on the train have talked like this if Minato could understand it? Or was it just the luck of the throw? "Are you the last Shadow?"
"The last?"
"We were told that killing you would end the Dark Hour, that you were the last of the Shadows that escaped ten years ago. Is that true?"
The Shadow shifted, and its far-off voice rumbled in the distance for a few seconds before it spoke again. "This thing which is called the Dark Hour, this one does not understand what is meant. This one does not know of any other time but this one. Is it possible for time itself to end?"
That made sense; the Shadows wouldn't understand the normal world if they were here all the time.
"But this one is not the last. The others have died, as this one will, but there is another."
Minato jerked, staring at the creature incredulously. "Another Shadow? You're sure?"
"This one is certain, though it is confused again. The question of a last Shadow from the one before it is very strange."
When Minato relayed the information to the others, their reactions were predictably varied and intense. Yukari demanded to know why they were learning about this now, wanting to know who'd been keeping secrets; Junpei was grinding his teeth; and both the senpai looked grim. The reason was clear: They knew they'd been lied to. Even worse, they'd helped perpetuate the lie. Oddly, Aigis didn't look surprised, but then again she didn't look anything right now aside from ready to kill her target.
"If the Shadow is a threat then we'll need to deal with it," Minato said. "That's what we're here to do."
The Shadow hesitated, the distant rumblings more like bemused murmurs now. "This one understands." Even its tone felt more like it was a concession than an actual answer, like it was agreeing out of politeness. "But it cannot offer an answer."
"Let's go back to what you said before, about the Appriser being a herald. What does that mean? And what is the Appriser supposed to do?"
"The one before it is fulfilling the Appriser's role already. To say what the Appriser is would be, in this one's most humble opinion, redundant."
"But what is it? All I've been doing since I got here is fighting Shadows." Minato knew he had his answer the moment the words crossed his lips. It was the same answer that Igor and Pharos had given him right from the beginning. "I'm supposed to kill the Shadows? You and the others?"
"That is the Appriser's role."
"Why? What's achieved by killing you?"
"The Appriser does this because the Appriser must. This one cannot speak to Her greater goal – it is not this one's place to question – but the Appriser's reasons are Her reasons."
Again, the word Her twisted in Minato's stomach. What was going on? Was this tied to Takaya and what he'd done? "I have my reasons, but what are the others reasons I should do it? Why is the Appriser supposed to kill Shadows?" He remembered what Igor had told him back in the Velvet Room. "What future is the Appriser supposed to bring about?"
"Her future."
Except Igor had said that was only one possible outcome, where the Shadows would overtake humanity. The other outcomes were still a mystery. "What does that look like? Why does it require killing you?"
"It is Her will that this one dies at the Appriser's hands. It was Her will that the others die the same way." The Shadow bowed, its giant head nearly touching the pavement of the bridge. "This one is prepared."
The others rustled and talked among themselves, probably not knowing what was going on. Minato was even more lost. "What?"
"This one's life must end. That is its purpose."
What sort of creature sought its own death? A new thought came to mind, and Minato paused as it ran its terrible course. The Shadow was suggesting it was planned for the Shadows to die at his hand. The Kirijo Group had transferred him to the island, and Ikutsuki had put them all on the path of finding and killing the Full Moon Shadows. Now this Shadow inferred someone else had planned for the Shadows to die, that it was required for something further, reinforcing what Pharos had suggested. Were these agendas separate? Were two parties aiming for the same goals with different intentions? Or was there more? Worse, was this what Takaya had been referring to all this time? Did he know the truth already? Was that what he found so amusing? Minato couldn't believe that, but the pieces were aligning and they resembled a very clever set-up. "Tell me who She is first," he demanded hoarsely.
"This one cannot," the Shadow intoned. "This one would not dare to speak of Her more than it already has."
"If it wants us to kill it, we should do it," Junpei suggested when Minato caught them up on the exchange. "Makes things a lot easier for us."
"We're no further ahead than when we started if we do that," Mitsuru-senpai countered. "We need what information we can get, especially if there's more that we're not seeing."
"You're not suggesting we spare it, are you?" Yukari demanded.
"I'm saying we shouldn't kill it just because we have the advantage."
The arguments began to circle again. Minato turned to the creature, still prostrated before him. "Why do you want to die? Because someone told you to?"
"This one's purpose is to die at the hands of the Appriser. This one has no purpose beyond that, and that is a purpose this one is glad to serve. The Appriser has appeared, so this one must die."
The foreboding feeling ran around Minato like water, floating up into his chest and surrounding his heart. His Personas went silent all at once, and the thing in the sea of his soul rumbled like distant thunder. Whatever it was, it was real, and that had been a warning. Minato clenched his Evoker and forged ahead anyway. "I want answers first. I want to know who She is and what part She plays in this."
"This one cannot answer. This one's life must end. It must happen."
Minato couldn't believe what he said next. "I'm not killing you until you give me what I want." Even entertaining the idea of sparing a Shadow was lunacy, and he was certain the others would be happy to tell him as much. "If I have to, I'll leave you here, and you'll have lost your chance to do your duty."
Silence fell around him, from his companions and from the Shadow. "The Appriser would do this?"
Minato's left arm began to tingle, from his shoulder down to the hand holding his Evoker. He fought it down, not sure if he should risk dropping his Evoker. "Yes, I will, unless you tell me what I need to know."
The Shadow's voice changed, feeling like it was coming from closer than before. "This one must die. The Appriser is needed for this. It must fulfill its role."
"Give me what I want first."
The Shadow's voice went quiet, then the far-off sound suddenly became a roar right in front of them. A shockwave of raw power erupted against them, sending coffins tumbling and flipping over cars. Cables lashed out, grabbing Akihiko-senpai and Yukari and lifting them in a sinister twisting motion. "These ones will die!" the Shadow bellowed into Minato's mind. "If the Appriser will not fulfill its role, then the others will!"
The others attacked immediately, Personas coming to life and explosives flying forward. Minato felt disconnected, like he was about to slip backward while everything came into perfect clarity. Mitsuru-senpai giving orders, her voice shrill with fear. Aigis reloading her weapons and taking aim. Koromaru glowing like a small white sun and Junpei bringing his Evoker up. The Shadow's mask contorted into a visage of madness and fury, its cables waving Yukari and Akihiko-senpai like dolls about to be torn apart.
It hit. A heartbeat from the depths, an undiluted urge to kill. Overwhelming anger, a thirst for blood. Knowing where to hit, where to rip and tear. How to kill. Minato clutched his head, gritting his teeth as his vision strobed. The sensation was familiar – he'd felt this once before. When? How?
Another heartbeat almost bowled him over. The cramp in his left arm tightened, and Minato watched in horror as it raised, independent of his will. He couldn't control it, and his finger was on the trigger of his Evoker. "Stop," he grit out, clamping his right hand onto his left to hold it back. To gain some control. To do something.
The third heartbeat was like a growl, a threat against disobedience. Minato pushed back, terrified of what was coming, of whether he could control whatever it was. Where had it come from? Was this Takaya's doing?
"Akihiko!" Mitsuru-senpai shouted, fear rich in her voice. "Takeba!"
Minato's eyes went to the Shadow. Time dilated. He took in the frozen image of the Shadow, wounded but still raging, brackish blood spattering the bridge. He heard the echoes of gunfire and Persona summonings. The others were fighting hard, desperate now.
It wasn't enough. The low chattering from the Shadow told Minato something very clearly: Those two were about to die.
Minato stared in that frozen moment as terror for his friends struck. Control slipped through his fingers like it was covered in oil. His left hand flashed up, the trigger pulled when the barrel touched skin.
It felt like being blown apart.
Whatever was pushing him from the inside erupted from his entire body, head to heels, flooding out of every pore. Something blacker than the Dark Hour flew forward, amorphous like sable mercury, with the speed of a bullet train. Minato felt ceaseless bloodlust and hatred. He heard a collision like a wrecking ball destroying a model house. It felt like his limbs had been severed at every joint, like he was floating and fractured and forced to watch.
Then it was over.
Yukari and Akihiko-senpai fell to the ground, gasping for air as the Shadow's cables fizzed away. The others looked at Minato with amazement then rushed over to help their friends, edging around the Shadow like they couldn't believe the fight was over so fast. It was hard to argue with what lay before them, however.
Their enemy had been shredded. Its arms and legs were either bent backward or sheared off entirely. A ragged, man-sized hole was torn through its chest. Its mask was in pieces. It teetered back like it wasn't certain what had just happened. Then it toppled and began to die.
Minato's left arm cramped as reality crystallized and forced him back into focus. Then he ran past the others, holstering his Evoker and trying to get to the Shadow before it disappeared. "What was that?!" he demanded. "What the hell just happened?!"
The far-off voice brushed his ears. Unintelligible this time, gurgling like the Shadow was choking on its own blood.
"Why did you want to die?!" Minato shouted, reaching impulsively for the mask. "Who were you talking about?!" He picked up a mask fragment, and un-reality flashed through him. The Shadow was fading fast, but its thoughts brushed him. Pain, surprise, and pride at a task accomplished. The something inside Minato rustled beneath the surface, silent but no longer sleeping. Minato felt his eyes being pulled skyward, to the full moon, but then the Shadow's mind nudged him. Further, it seemed to say. Look there.
Minato let the feeling swell up. It was like seeing the picture only when his eyes went out of focus. Something was out there, something the Shadows answered to, that sat above the events until now. It was far off, but... approaching. Minato couldn't explain how he knew, but he was certain, beyond any word or feeling, that he had his answer. He knew why Igor had been so wary of the Appriser. He knew that Pharos had been right and the fight wasn't over, that things were about to get much, much worse. And as the Dark Hour wavered even while the Shadow disintegrated into nothing, he knew they'd all just made a terrible mistake.
The mask fragment in his hand crumbled into dust, falling onto the stagnant breeze. Minato didn't look back at the others, no idea what to say or how to explain his attempted gamble that might have killed two of them. The plan had worked, but now the only thing he was certain of was that this wasn't a victory at all.
"Are you unhurt, Minato-san?" Aigis asked, stepping up next to him.
Minato didn't answer, and it wasn't until she repeated the question that he looked at the road. Even the bloodstains were gone. The last chance of a link, of any more answers, had vanished. "I don't know."
"I wasn't aware you could speak to Shadows."
It was impossible to give her the due attention. Minato gave what auto-pilot responses he could. "This was the first time I ever tried."
"Such an attempt would be predicated on a knowledge that the Shadows could speak or be spoken to," Aigis persisted. "I did not have information that suggested as much, neither in my original duties or during my reassignment to SEES. What information prompted you to make the attempt? When did you become aware of this ability?"
"A while ago."
"Could you be more specific?"
"Months."
"Before Ken-san left for the Kirijo Group's facility, then."
He turned to her, biting back a response. He knew where she was coming from. While he didn't want to put up with an inquisition right now, he couldn't blame her for feeling like she'd been left out of the loop – keeping secrets when he'd demanded honesty from the others was pretty hypocritical. And with how literally she took things, this probably seemed like "do as I say, not as I do" from him and Mitsuru-senpai. "That's right. I didn't know what it meant or who to talk to about it, so I didn't tell the rest of the team. What of it?"
"You asked us to be forthright with any secrets we might have that could jeopardize the mission. No matter how innocuous, that was your sentiment." She was sounding accusatory.
"I told our senpai," he told her shortly. "What they decided to do with the information isn't in my control."
"That Persona you used. Where did it come from?"
Minato was surprised. He expected her to keep digging, not switch attack vectors entirely. "I don't know. It's like it took me over, like I flinched and it got out. I've never felt anything like that before."
"The statistical probabilities of one Persona inflicting such damage to a Shadow of that size is 0.0256%. For it to move that fast is also unprecedented; I had difficulty seeing what it looked like."
"And then it disappeared," Minato noted. Whatever the thing had been, it tore through the Shadow and disappeared back into its hidey hole. Except it wasn't gone. It rested under the surface, waiting like a tiger watching the door of its cage.
"Is it under your control, Minato-san?"
How could he answer that? He didn't even know what that thing was, what it could do or why it felt like no Persona had before. He had to come to terms with the reality that there were even more things he didn't know, and that the assumptions they'd been basing their actions on all this time were wrong. How was he supposed to know what was going on anymore? "Come on," he told her. Anything he said now would lead to questions he couldn't answer and accusations he couldn't deflect. He needed a break before the barrage. "Let's get back to the dorm."
"As you wish," she said, walking over to see if Yukari needed any help. She seemed only lightly injured, Akihiko-senpai much the same. Minato counted his blessings. Whatever that Persona was, it was easily strong enough to have killed them both along with the Shadow. To get away from that situation with bruises and scrapes was beyond lucky.
"Is she okay?" Minato asked Mitsuru-senpai, nodding toward Fuuka. The girl was leaning heavily against the bridge railing, wiping her lips while massaging her head.
"Whatever you did caused an intense blast of feedback for her," Senpai explained, remarkably calm. "The Shadow attacking, you summoning that Persona, and then it killing the Shadow seems to have hit her all at once. She couldn't defend against it, resulting in vomiting and an intense migraine."
Minato winced. Fuuka had also been getting signals from everyone at the same time, so that Persona getting out must have hit hard. "That's never happened before, has it? Will she be okay?"
"She hasn't been sick to her stomach like that before, not that I've seen. That never happened to me when I was performing support roles, but I suspect I didn't feel things as strongly as she does. I gave her some pills for the pain. We'll see how well she sleeps tonight and I'll keep her under observation."
Minato hoped Fuuka got better – he was becoming a connoisseur of pain and he didn't wish it on anyone. He didn't want an answer to his next question, but he had to know. "Did you pick up anything? Do you know what happened?"
It was a moment before Senpai spoke. "I couldn't hear the Shadow speaking. Like Yamagishi, all I heard was faint static. And that Persona you used was more powerful than anything I've felt before. Everything happened too fast for me to get a clear read on it, but what I did feel... it wasn't normal."
Minato shivered, not meeting her eyes. He looked at his left hand and flexed it, making sure it was still under his control. "Right."
"What happened?" she asked softly, leaning forward. "Are you okay?"
"I have no idea. Things might be bad, Senpai. Really, really bad."
"Is that what the Shadow told you?"
"In part. That Persona I used, you're right. It's not like anything I've ever felt before, and it wanted to kill the Shadow. It took me over, and I–" He bit back against the panic rising in his throat. He didn't dare say the words that wanted out: "I lost control." If he said them, they'd be real, and the last time someone in SEES lost control, Ken's mother died. He couldn't say that, not with everyone confused. Not with what the Shadow had said. "I don't know where it came from," he continued awkwardly. "That's not all. I felt something when the Shadow died, it could be its last thoughts. I think I can confirm some of what it was saying, that there's something behind them and the Dark Hour. Killing the Shadow changed things in a big way. Bigger than we expected."
She was quiet as she processed everything. It only took a few seconds before she nodded, stepping back. "Let's get the others back. I want to make sure they're all right. Once you're ready, we'll talk."
Minato's breathing shook. She had every reason to mistrust him, to be afraid of what he'd just shown her, or to be angry after he put the others in danger to satisfy his need for answers. Instead she was giving him his space. "Thanks, Mitsuru-senpai. For understanding."
"Of course." She said it like it was natural. "We're in this together."
Minato couldn't believe how much her trust calmed him down. Simple words, but they made him believe that he could take the next few steps without breaking down. His breathing steadied and he felt, just for a second, like things would turn out in his favour.
She turned to the others and began doling out orders. Junpei was to help Akihiko-senpai back, even of the boxer objected strenuously against any assistance. Aigis helped Yukari, who accepted the help with far less opposition. And Mitsuru herself helped Fuuka, letting the girl lean on her as the Dark Hour ended and they began their trek home.
As far as victory marches went, even just to where the Kirijo cars awaited, it was uncomfortable beyond description. Minato stayed at the back of the group, not saying anything as he walked. Junpei and Yukari looked back frequently, obviously having questions, but both Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai herded them forward. Questions were being quashed and Minato looked anywhere but at his friends. Off to the left was the river, but he found he couldn't walk straight without looking at the sidewalk. When he looked to the right, he had the shoreline to watch, but his eyes were being pulled up toward the moon again, calling to mind the nameless presence he'd felt through the Shadow. The best he could do was watch the road in front of him, eyes downcast and mouth shut like he'd been cast out of the group.
The ride back to the dorm was a small reprieve since the others were in different cars, but it didn't last long. Soon they were back out on the street, together, and the tension was heavy.
Mitsuru-senpai raised her hand, calling their attention. "You all have questions, about what happened tonight and why we did what we did. Right now isn't the time to address them, not when some of us are injured and unwell."
Minato expected Akihiko-senpai to object again. The boxer didn't say a word. Yukari and Junpei, on the other hand, looked like they had a few words in mind. Fuuka just looked pale, like she wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out.
"But right now we need to rest and recover from the fight," Mitsuru-senpai continued. "Tomorrow afternoon we will have a meeting about these things. You can ask any questions and we will give whatever answers we have. Some of those answers might not satisfy you, and that's because there's still a lot we don't know about – the whole point of this experiment was to get information and, as you can see, we weren't entirely successful. But we will give you what answers we can. This will also be when we discuss what to do next. Clearly we weren't told everything if there's one more Shadow, and that needs to be addressed."
"Will this really get us anywhere?" Yukari asked grimly. "Even after getting this far, it feels like we're still running in circles."
"I agree, and that's what we're going to try and find out. But not right now. Everyone needs to get some rest. It's been a long night for all of us."
Yukari didn't look happy, but she nodded and helped Fuuka into the dorm. Junpei was scratching the back of his head, probably trying to figure out how their expected last fight had gone sideways so quickly. Aigis entered the dorm without a word or a look to anyone. Even Koromaru seemed distracted by something.
Minato leaned against the wall about ten yards down the street from the door, trying to make sense of everything and failing spectacularly. Every answer jumbled together until he let out a frustrated breath.
"It's not going to go well," Mitsuru-senpai predicted as she joined him. "Takeba's probably fed up with what we're not telling her. She might think the Group is hiding things again."
"This time we can't even tell her she's wrong," Minato noted, glad for something familiar to talk about. The minutiae of SEES and how to talk to his friends was better than chasing his tail for answers he didn't have. "Aigis might be a problem too."
She nodded, not looking happy but handling the situation pretty well. "I expect so. Akihiko knows what's coming, but this might be the worst outcome to result from a victory."
"I've been thinking about that. About our options, about what we could have done differently."
"What have you come up with?"
Minato let out a breath. "There are a few things I can't make sense of. Killing the Shadows helps people and decreases the number of the Lost in the city. We've seen that clearly so there's no way we're wrong there. The Shadows are dangerous, like they're the predators of the Dark Hour, so we don't have a choice but to fight them, and we don't have a way to interrogate them or neutralize them without a huge expense of resources, and that's assuming that confining them would even do anything. Killing them isn't the wrong course of action, and that's what your father and Ikutsuki have said all along."
She stood across from him, nodding. "It's why we started SEES, and it's what I've heard all this time too. All the evidence bears those explanations out."
"Only now we find out that killing the Shadows also helps push another agenda," Minato continued, "by something or someone who that Shadow talked about like it was a god. Taken in that light, we've been helping this thing by doing what has helped other people, and we had no way of knowing. It feels like we've been set up, but what we're doing isn't ambiguous or wrong somewhere we're not seeing. What we're doing is right, and if we don't do it then things get worse, so not killing them isn't an option. We're damned if we do and damned if we don't."
She raised an eyebrow as his choice of language, but nodded. "An apt description. The only way forward was to do what we did, but that might have had unintended consequences that could work against us."
"I think this is more than 'might.' This one might have tipped the scales in a big way."
She pursed her lips, turning things over in her mind. "Why do you say that? Is it because of what Pharos and Elizabeth-san said?"
"It's not just them. When the Shadow died, I felt something else. I'm not sure, but it could be whatever the Shadow was willing to die for, the Her it was talking about. I could only get a brief feel for it, but that was enough."
"Did you feel anything else?"
"That it's coming," Minato said simply. "It's definitely real, and I don't think it's friendly."
"Pharos said things were going to get harder after this fight," Senpai noted. "If this is what he meant, then the pieces connect. I am curious how he knew that, or if there was anything we could have done if we'd had this information before."
"I've been wondering that myself," Minato told her. "If we were being set up to help the enemy in the long run, then did someone know about it? It seems strange that we played right into this plan without anyone considering alternatives, but then we have to reconsider everything we've been told right from the beginning. And then there's the matter of whoever's been misleading us. Did Ikutsuki and your father have bad information? If Ikutsuki knew this before, has it all been a set-up? If so, to what end? If bringing this thing out was someone's plan the whole time, I can't see what their end goal would be."
"And if not for your intervention, we wouldn't even know this much," Mitsuru-senpai added. "Igor-san and Elizabeth-san said you're a catalyst for change. That has made me wonder what would have happened if you hadn't come here. Would we have been able to fight the Shadows? Perhaps so, though not as efficiently, so let's assume that the grander plans didn't change because of you, but were already in place and you just accelerated them. Our objectives haven't changed since Takeba moved to the dorm, so you arriving didn't change things in any great measure."
That was a good point. Aside from Minato being given the job of leading the forays against the Shadows, their mission had been the same right from the beginning. "You're saying if there is a plan in the background, it's been there the entire time?"
"It must be," she asserted. "Otherwise there would be no way of concealing the lie once you changed things. If we'd killed the Shadows without you, then we might well have walked into this trap and never known what was really going on with the Shadows. The only question, therefore, is whether the source of our information knew that killing the Shadows would forward this other agenda, or if that source passed on incorrect information, not knowing the truth. The latter would be understandable, if lamentable, but the former would be an act of malicious intent."
It felt like they were getting somewhere now. "The information on the Shadows and their connection to the Lost, where did you get it? Your father, Ikutsuki, anyone else?"
"Records we were able to recover from the lab ten years ago, though those are incomplete and fragmented. Aigis's memory is unreliable, as we've established, and she was made to kill Shadows without a grander directive in mind. The only other source, and perhaps the most concise one we have, is the recording from Takeba's father that we showed you at Yakushima. He said that if the Shadows weren't killed, then the Lost would grow in number. He didn't say anything about something manipulating the Shadows, but I doubt he would have had that information. Given that he recorded it shortly before he died, I can hardly blame him."
Minato remembered the recording. It had seemed fairly straightforward. "Was there anything else to it?"
"Nothing, and I saw the footage before she did. That doesn't discount the possibility that there might have been information before or after that message that was lost, but my father trusted him."
"Then that leaves Ikutsuki," Minato concluded. "If he wasn't already under investigation, it seems like this would be a good reason to ask him some questions."
Senpai looked grim. "I agree, but if he has been orchestrating this course of action the entire time, then we've been playing into his hand with no idea of his end goal. We'd never have known if you hadn't come along. If he's just been wrong this whole time, then we've come a long way based on a fiction. And if he's been planning this the whole time, then what else could we have been made to believe?"
"I think questioning him is a good place to start," Minato concluded. "The more we know, the better the odds are of us being able to ask the right questions. Maybe we'll find out more about this thing the Shadow was talking about."
She nodded, and they turned toward the dorm, hoping the others had retired for the night. They had just reached the steps when Akihiko-senpai pushed through the doors. "Good, you're here," he told them tersely.
"What is it?" Mitsuru-senpai asked, all business.
"Ikutsuki's not here."
They both looked at him sharply. "What?"
"He's gone. I wanted to talk to him, but he wasn't in his office. The command centre's been accessed using his codes, I'm not sure for what, and when I looked through his room it looked like he'd packed up and left. No one at the Kirijo compound knows anything."
"There's no way that's a coincidence," Minato noted. "I think we can say with certainty that he was behind something."
Mitsuru-senpai's eyes narrowed. "But we don't know what. He might have manipulated Amada into fighting Shinjiro, but he might have been ignorant of the Shadows and the larger picture. He might not have been working alone if he's had this strong of an influence on us for so long, and now we can't answer those questions."
"Questions about the Shadows," Akihiko-senpai noted, looking at Minato. "That has something to do with tonight, I'm guessing."
Minato nodded and gave his report to the boxer.
Akihiko-senpai looked like he wanted to hit something. "Coming this far and we're still on someone's strings like puppets. What the hell was he thinking?"
"We're going to have to tell the others about this tomorrow," Mitsuru-senpai informed them. "Even if it's not much, they deserve to know about our suspicions of Ikutsuki, in case he tried to manipulate them or told them thing we haven't heard about. We also need to make sure they're ready to fight whatever Arisato felt, whether that's the next Shadow or something bigger."
"That means we're fighting blind again," Akihiko-senpai noted with a grimace.
"There's no choice. We have to reconsider everything we've been told. Arisato's experiences and Igor-san's directions might be the only things we can rely on right now."
"All he told us was to keep killing Shadows and not ask questions about the bigger picture," Akihiko-senpai countered. "He implied that he knew more than he was sharing. How much does he know? And can we trust his intentions when the stakes are this high?"
"I think he would have told us if he could," Minato offered. "He's helped us when and where he can, especially with me and my Personas. If his hands are tied then this might be where we're supposed to be. He pretty much said as much before, and he seemed to think we could handle whatever's coming." He could see the protests coming, and he knew they were valid. "I'll talk to him tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Now that we've gotten this far, maybe he'll have some more answers for us. If not him, then maybe I can get something out of Elizabeth."
Mitsuru-senpai nodded. "We'll have the meeting as planned, whether you learn more or not. If your suspicions are correct, then this isn't the time for us to fall apart."
Minato swore under his breath as he left the Velvet Room. He'd barely gotten any sleep, up most of the night thinking through the possibilities in front of him and trying to connect the pieces. Before he knew it, morning had arrived and he felt sandy and cranky. He ate his breakfast alone and left the dorm, writing a note for his senpai and planning to make good on his promise to get whatever answers he could. During the ride to Paulownia Mall he went over possible outcomes and arguments he could make to get those answers.
In all the scenarios he ran through his head, he hadn't considered the idea that they wouldn't be there. When he went into the Velvet Room, Igor and Elizabeth were nowhere to be found. The desk where Igor sat was empty, there was no sign of where they might have gone, and the room had been quiet. He knew Elizabeth could enter the real world, given how liberally she did so before, but Igor had seemed content to stay in the Velvet Room and maintain his distance. Minato had never minded the old man's habits, especially when he needed to merge Personas and use the Velvet Room's services, but now those habits were cutting the other way and Minato didn't like it at all.
There had been no note left in the Velvet Room to explain the absence of Igor and his attendant, but Minato had a feeling that the timing of the absence wasn't a coincidence. Igor had told him that he needed to keep fighting Shadows and continue on the path he was on already, that no other matters were of consequence. This absence felt like an affirmation of that sentiment, saying without words, "keep doing what you're doing and stop asking so many questions." Minato had to wonder if he was expected to figure out his next moves on his own. If Pharos was following his usual schedule, then he should appear tonight or tomorrow, and that might shed some light on the matters at hand.
Minato looked back at the phantasmal door and swore again. He'd taken the Velvet Room attendants for granted, thinking they would always be available to help him. Now that they weren't, he felt isolated. He'd have to rely on Senpai and her investigation for answers, and hope that the information they already had was going to magically spawn answers just because SEES so desperately needed them.
It was a bad start to a worse day. The meeting Mitsuru-senpai promised happened, and it felt like a lot of blind firing and grasping at straws. Fuuka was still suffering from her migraine, so she stayed at the edge of the room as the others argued. Koromaru stayed nearby, but he seemed listless and discontent. Junpei tried to make sense of the information but couldn't reconcile Minato's talk with the Shadow with Ikutsuki's disappearance. There was every possibility that the Shadow was lying, he argued, especially after the one in the love hotel screwed with their heads. It was a hard point to dismiss. "And if Ikutsuki was behind this, and let's say this thing Minato felt is going to kill everyone," he continued, "why would Ikutsuki want that? He's human too, he doesn't have a Persona, so he'd die if things got that bad. Why would he want that?"
Yukari's points were, as Mitsuru-senpai predicted, more toward the Kirijo Group and how nothing was what it seemed. "Why are we relying on their information when they've been wrong on so much up to now? They've been behind so much of this – I mean, their experiments were what caused the Dark Hour and the Shadows in the first place – so why should we take their word on anything? Their resources haven't helped us anywhere near as much as they should, and we're the ones who are doing the fighting. I'm not trying to offend you Mitsuru-senpai, but this is a lot of wrong turns for the Group to make when we're supposed to able to trust them."
"Because they're the best we can do right now," Minato argued back. "It's not ideal, but they're doing all they can and they're the only ones who're in our corner. Unless someone knows of another organization with their funding and research into the Shadows and the Dark Hour, I don't think we can make the argument that we'd all be better off without their help."
"I'm not saying that, but this is a lot of mistakes for them to make."
"I agree," Mitsuru-senpai replied. "And I won't make excuses for the Group or for how SEES has been misled up to now. I don't know the extent of the damage, but I won't pretend that there haven't been problems. Whatever the Group tells us will be met with scrutiny, and to a great extent we will be on our own in dealing with the next Shadow. I don't know that anything they can offer us at this point would be of any real use, and I won't ask anyone to ignore what's in front of us. And if Ikutsuki has been manipulating what's been happening with Amada and Shinjiro, then the damage done by the Group resources almost outweighs the benefits. But unless we have an alternative, then this is the best we can do."
Yukari sat back with a huff. "I get that, and I'm not blaming you, Senpai. But this really, really sucks."
Mitsuru-senpai chuckled, a brief bout of levity in the conversation. "I agree."
"Does anyone know where Aigis went?" Yukari asked.
That had stood out the most in the discussion. Aigis had left the dorm without telling anyone and wasn't responding to calls to find out where she was. The meeting had started late because everyone waited to see if she was going to show up, but to no avail. The absence of their companion had left an uneasy air in the room, and the meeting had dwindled out until they all went their separate ways. Minato went for a walk with Koromaru, trying to clear his head, but he ended up in his room for a fitful nap, his dreams murky.
It was dark out when he awoke, feeling less refreshed and more groggy. He changed and did his homework but when he checked the clock, he frowned. It was time for Yukari's regular shower, but he didn't hear the water running. He wanted one for himself, but he wasn't going to get started only to have it turn cold partway through. When he stopped to listen to the dorm around him, he found it odd that he couldn't hear any of the usual ambient noise he'd become familiar with. Not the faint murmur of the TV in Junpei's room, not the impact of fists against a punching bag from Akihiko-senpai, and not the clicks of Koromaru's nails on the floors.
Maybe they'd gone out for the evening, or to get groceries. It wasn't common for everyone to be out when they didn't have school, but it wasn't completely out of the ordinary. Maybe they all needed their space right now, but it was strange no one had talked to him before they did. Minato decided to find out and then check up on Fuuka. If she still had a migraine, maybe he could help her somehow. He left his room and went down the stairs to the lobby, seeing Yukari asleep on the couch. That was strange given that she didn't like the fabric on that one, complaining how it was too rough on her skin even to sit on for very long. Maybe she was still tired from the night before. Minato approached, noticing how it seemed less like she was sleeping on the couch and more like...
Like she'd fallen there.
Minato's combat instincts flashed to life when he heard the whirring of servos, when he smelled high-grade oil. He spun to see Aigis behind him, a sharp prick in his shoulder registering before the turn was complete. "Aigis, what's wron–" His tongue turned heavy. His knees wavered, things turned fuzzy, and a second later he was falling into darkness and toward the floor.
