Author's Notes: Hi there all. Been a while, hasn't it? I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and Godspeed in the new year.

Ramix: Glad you liked it. The Shadow's speech patterns were tricky to get right, but I'm really happy with how they turned out. Enjoy the chapter!

Velleitas: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!

Chapter 16 - Mordhau

Darkness. Suspended in place.

After months of fighting, Minato knew what restful, uninterrupted sleep felt like – it was the opposite of what he had almost every night. Having a cavalcade of Personas in his head, dreaming wasn't fragmented flickers of thought and emotion. It was clear and lucid, voices all around him, pushed by impulses he had since allowed to pass him by. And when the Personas were quiet, all things Mitsuru-senpai took centre stage (something that had been happening more often lately). Dreamless sleep was rare for Arisato Minato.

This was different. His Personas felt muffled and far away. There was no sense of up or down. He was aware of the dream, but movement felt like pushing against water without gravity, with minimum resistance. Was he getting anywhere? Opening his eyes was the same as keeping them closed. It felt like he was dressed – a detail that had never come to mind before – and breathing... breathing was normal – his lungs expanded and contracted – but he couldn't hear anything.

This was like when the Shadow at the hotel was in his head. He firmed up and reached for his Personas, grabbed for whatever he could.

Whatever had happened, however he got here, he wasn't going through that again.

Footsteps approached. Either boots or hard shoes, coming from the left. Minato turned as much as he could, and the black and grey began to form into an indistinct haze.

"You shouldn't try so hard," a familiar voice told him. "We don't have very long to talk."

Pharos. It was definitely his voice, but it sounded different this time. Older? Clearer? There was a gravity there that had been missing, even when the kid freaked out over the Appriser stuff during their last meeting.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Minato asked. The words came out reluctantly, like his jaw was wired shut.

The haze gathered, becoming a bit clearer, but the boy and his pajamas were missing. It was larger than the kid had ever been, too. About as tall as Minato himself. "That's not important right now." Pharos sounded sad. Genuinely sad, rather than the attempt at sad he'd displayed when Shinjiro-senpai died.

Minato's head cleared enough that last night's fight came to mind. The fight and everything wrong with it. "It is important. We were led on and lied to about the Shadows, weren't we? What happened with the one last night? What was that thing I felt? Why did you keep telling me to kill the Shadows? Did you know about this?"

"What happened was supposed to happen. You did what you were meant to do."

Minato paused. Pharos sounded serious. That felt significant, and it made him go cold all over. What was going on? "Who decided that? Who said I was meant to do any of this?" No answer. "Why did the Shadow want to die? It kept referring to 'her,' like she's a god or something. Who was it talking about? And what the hell did I do to kill it?"

"All of this was put into place before you came back here. You became a part of this before you... before we had a choice."

"How? Why?"

"The old guy and the funny lady," Pharos continued, apparently ignoring the question, "they want you to try and make things right. To do that you had to keep killing Shadows, which was what you were supposed to do anyway. You've always had the means to kill them, right from the start. You're just becoming aware of it, because of your meeting with that other guy. That's what you felt."

Minato clenched his teeth. He'd been used, a pawn moved by an invisible hand, and his best efforts had left him powerless to change anything. So far. "You didn't answer my question. Who is behind all of this? Why did the Shadow want to die? Because of 'her'? If you know all this, why didn't you tell me? Were we ever supposed to succeed, or we were set up to fail?"

A long pause. "You might have been. It's too early to say. You're close to the end of all this, but the old man and the funny lady think you can change things." Pharos sounded dubious.

Minato pushed harder. "Is that what you think? Why is it too early to tell? We've come this far already, haven't we?"

Pharos paused again, and there was weight to the silence. "I don't know. What's coming now... It's huge, Brother. Bigger than anything you've fought before."

"What's coming? The last Shadow?"

"Yes, that's coming. But I mean something else."

"You mean the thing the Shadow showed me? The 'her' it kept referring to?"

Another pause, and this time their surroundings wavered, like the water they were is had caught a current. "I can't answer that. You'll learn soon, but you'll be on your own."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to go now." He sounded regretful but resolved. Completely unlike a child. "I can't help you anymore. I've done what I'm supposed to do and now I have to move on."

Minato began to shake. This wasn't just a phantom kid finding a playmate and going away. Something serious was about to happen. "Why? Move on where? What's your part in this?"

"Stay close to the bright lady, Brother." Pharos sounded further away now. "I know it will be difficult, but she's your best hope. Her and all your friends. And... try not to fight too hard; it will only hurt more."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you're–"

"–risato!"

"Wait, what d–"

"Arisato!"

Minato jerked awake. His shoulders and wrists had cramped up. His shoulders because he was sprawled on something hard. And his wrists because they were tied behind his back. Familiar wrongness pressed in on him, and cold realization beaded on his skin and trickled down his back: The Dark Hour. The Dark Hour still existed, and when he opened his eyes he confirmed he was in Tartarus, on a balcony overlooking the city, underneath that bright twisted moon.

He struggled and pushed himself up. He didn't have his Evoker, and his Personas felt sluggish, but he wasn't taking this lying down. Pharos could warn against being hurt, but whatever was coming, Minato wanted to see it face to face.

"Are you awake?" Akihiko-senpai asked, bound and kneeling nearby.

"I think so," Minato replied, trying to clear his head of whatever had been used to knock him out. "What's going on?"

"There's a problem," Akihiko-senpai commented, his voice tight. "Kind of a big one."

That didn't sound promising. The boxer wasn't known for his sarcasm, so when he was cracking wise, things had to be bad. "What sort of problem?" Minato asked. The answer to that question presented itself, and he hissed in surprise. Several yards away were Aigis, standing with blank eyes, and Ikutsuki, who wore the smile that belonged to a psychopathic Cheshire Cat.

Minato remembered Yukari's unconscious form, Aigis sneaking up behind him. From how he felt, she must have drugged him. Seeing his cybernetic companion made his blood boil.

"You're awake, Arisato," the director noted. "Excellent. Now we can begin."

Minato glanced around, noting that the others were all bound and kneeling the same as him. Mitsuru-senpai, Yukari, Fuuka, everyone except Koromaru was accounted for. "Begin what?" Minato asked, trying for lightness until he could find a way out of the restraints. They seemed to be zip ties, and they dug into wrists when he moved his hands. "This wasn't necessary, you know. If you wanted a meeting, I would have come if you'd asked. I'm sure the others would have done the same."

"I'm certain you would have, but it's not me who wants to speak to you," Ikutsuki purred, sounding disturbingly similar to Sakaki. "Aigis here had a concern about you, and this was the best way to handle the matter without any distractions."

The pieces clicked together. The person who could best lead them on, someone who was under investigation for Shinjiro-senpai's death, for Ken's breakdown. Someone who could tip Strega off to the team's activities, who could hinder any investigation into Strega's whereabouts, and who could misinform SEES from the best place possible. Ikutsuki had lied to them right from the start because he'd always been the enemy, and he could operate in the Dark Hour without a Persona but stay in the background because no one expected him to fight.

Minato clenched his fists so hard they shook. True to form, Sakaki had been telling the truth the entire time. Minato hadn't given it any credit because the truth was too terrible to entertain, but this had been in front of them the entire time.

Yet another manipulator pulling his strings.

"The others will not be harmed," Aigis asserted. "This is about Minato-san, and him alone."

"That's a little hard to believe, considering where we are, Aigis!" Junpei shouted.

"Of course," Ikutsuki placated her, "but the others would have interfered if you had only abducted him. This way we can be sure your assumptions are correct."

"What are you talking about?" Mitsuru-senpai spat, her voice trembling with anger. "What's so important that you ambushed all of us, drugged us, and dragged us here? Aigis, Ikutsuki had a hand in Shinjiro's death, in Amada's mental breakdown. He's been the contact for Strega, and he might have orchestrated all of this from the very beginning! He's a traitor! Why are you working with him?!"

"This is necessary," the android intoned. "There is a threat in SEES that I cannot overlook anymore. I regret that I must do this, but there is no other choice. Last night's events have proven that to me, so I will do what I have to."

"Aigis, snap out of it!" Minato shouted. "Do you know who you are trusting right now? Everything Mitsuru-senpai said is true. If you work with Ikutsuki, you're serving his goals instead of your own. He's lying to you the same as he did us!"

"Harsh words, Minato-kun," Ikutsuki rebuked, his eyes alight with amusement. "And incredibly narrow minded. To say I have lied is simply not correct."

"But you set Shinjiro-senpai up, didn't you?" Minato pressed, his head clearing with each word. "That episode with Ken was your idea, wasn't it? Did you talk to Takaya too? Him being there was too convenient to have happened without help, and you could sit back and let it all happen once the pieces were in place."

Junpei growled hatefully, struggling against his bonds without success.

"Is that true?" Akihiko-senpai demanded. "Ikutsuki, if you've been working with Strega – if you had anything to do with Shinji dying – I swear to God I'll rip your spine out!"

"Such words from children," Ikutsuki noted disapprovingly. "You wouldn't understand if I explained it to you. But this is not about me, as I said. Aigis is the one who came to me with concerns, and that is what we are addressing."

"It was Aigis's idea to tie us up and bring us up here?" Minato shot back. "Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"It is true," the android replied simply, cutting off any protest. "I went to Ikutsuki-san with a concern, and he gave me advice that I operated on. He made suggestions and gave information, but the decision was all mine. It was last night's fight, how Minato-san killed the Shadow, that confirmed my course of action."

"How did that confirm anything? What are you talking about?"

"Minato-san, what do you know about the Persona you used?"

Minato shivered. She wasn't asking out of mere interest; there was a threat in there. He didn't want to summon them without his Evoker, remembering all too well what had happened last time, but he quickly began to go over how he did it while trying to buy time. "You asked me that question before. I already told you, I don't know anything about it."

"That does not surprise me, yet it is reason for concern. What about the title of the Appriser? You mentioned it last night. When did you hear it first? What does it mean to you?"

"If you're asking, that means you know something," Mitsuru-senpai inferred. "That's been at the core of our investigation ever since we heard the word. If you knew something then maybe whatever you're trying to do could be avoided. Maybe we could have helped you! Why did you keep it secret?"

"Minato-san's secrets are far worse than any I might have had, Mitsuru-san," Aigis insisted fervently. "You and he demanded that we be forthright, but he has kept this to himself when it is a danger to everyone. As the leader of SEES, he has been placed into a position that is beyond inquiry or reproach, yet he has the worst secrets of anyone here. I will not excuse this."

"Even if that's the case," Yukari protested, "does that justify what you're doing right now? You don't have to do this – you're one of us."

"You do know something then," Minato concluded. "And you're willing to go this far because of what you know. You're right. There's more going on than what I've said, because I didn't know what any of it meant. Let's work together on this. Tell me what you know so we can get some answers. You won't have to work with Ikutsuki in that case."

"I cannot," Aigis replied, loading her arm-mounted gun. The belt of ammo looked fresh, like she'd come ready for a fight. "The threat is greater than what I can allow to continue. I wasn't certain before, but I am now." She pointed the weapon at Minato, eyes narrowing.

Minato's heart stopped, realizing how serious she was.

"You're not serious!" Akihiko-senpai snapped. "Cut this shit out, Aigis! If you kill him, you can't ever take it back, and he's our best shot at understanding what's going on!"

"I cannot ignore this," she intoned, her arm rock steady. "He spoke of another Shadow, one that is unaccounted for. In this he is correct. It is a Shadow that will grow stronger if it is not dealt with. I must defeat it now."

"What does that have to do with Arisato?!" Akihiko-senpai demanded. "And how do you know this if we don't?!"

"He's not a Shadow, Aigis," Fuuka protested, pale and still apparently suffering from her migraine. "He's been on our side from the very beginning. He's been fighting the other Shadows, not helping them."

"Killing the others is what this Shadow is meant to do," Aigis informed them, her body glowing blue. "It must be destroyed before it can become stronger."

Minato clenched his teeth. He was out of time. He wasn't sure if his body could handle another Evoker-less summoning, but he had no choice. If he did nothing, she was going to kill him.

"Stop this, Aigis!" a new voice commanded.

"Father?!" Mitsuru-senpai looked aghast. "What are you doing here?!"

"Ikutsuki's using you," the chairman declared. "Whatever he's told you, whatever answers you think are true, they're fabrications. If you do this, things will only end up worse."

"A baseless accusation, sir," Ikutsuki noted, pulling a handgun from inside his suit. "I have always been loyal to the Kirijo cause."

Kirijo-san froze, glaring at his subordinate like one would a viper. "That would be Kirijo Kouetsu, wouldn't it?"

Ikustuki's smile twisted. "Ahh, a fine observation."

"It is irrelevant," Aigis asserted, the gun barrels spinning. "My mission demands this."

Minato straightened his arms, feeling his strongest Persona burn hot in his chest and race through bone and muscle. The air rang and shimmered around him, and the instant before the bullets fired at him, a Persona erupted before him. Bullets broke against a barrier, and his bonds snapped like ribbon. He rolled to the side, trying to get away from the others and keep them out of the crossfire.

Blue light and a firm voice made him stop in place: "Palladion."

Minato's Persona, barely formed, stood between him and the oncoming attack. Palladion struck like a cannon shot, blowing Minato's Persona into blue light.

Minato grit his teeth against the feedback, but everything hurt a lot less this time. That or he was going the shred himself without feeling it this time, but he was dead either way.

Palladion's servos whirred into motion, powering up for its next strike. The only warning as it moved faster than the eye could follow.

Minato dove to the side as the massive lance tore up the ground. He focused down the pathways of his body and pulled up another Persona. In the summoning's blue light he saw something that hadn't been on Palladion before: the red ribbon from Psyche, Metis's Persona.

Aigis had talked about linking with her sister to find out what had gone wrong. It seemed that wasn't all that had happened. More deceit. Another lie. Minato hated that it had come down to this.

His mind analyzed the situation, unhelpfully showing him just what he was up against. Aigis knew how he fought, what Personas he had, and had stripped him of his sword and Evoker. Palladion behaved differently from before, and Aigis had always been a hard opponent to overcome during practice. Now she was directing that inhuman will against him with the full intent to kill.

And he was fighting alone. No way was he involving the others in this.

Palladion charged him, spear flashing forward, and he blocked it as quickly as he could. His shield shattered as fast as it went up. The impact drove him back and down, creaking his bones. The force was incredible, and he knew, through the fear and battle rush, that he couldn't face it for long. He bolted to the side, his barriers blocking Aigis's bullets as she aimed to kill. Palladion charged him again, and only training with Shinjiro-senpai and facing Castor's immense strength kept Minato on his feet.

All he could do was dodge and run, though. He couldn't fight on two fronts, and Aigis was a perfect combatant with Palladion: an up-front Persona that could attack and defend at the same time, and a User that could lay down barrages of gunfire from afar.

In the split-seconds he had to think, he was infinitely grateful that she didn't have her grenade launcher.

Minato ducked under another strike, pulling lightning from as deep as he could and blasting Palladion with everything he had. It was a machine, so surely–

Psyche's ribbon glowed brightly, and a halo of rose-coloured light bore the lightning without faltering. The bright flash faded and the Persona stood untouched, protected by its sister's gift.

Minato stared. Even that weakness was covered.

His Persona dove in front of him, taking Palladion's lance and breaking into light. Minato shook his head and ran, truly out of options. From the corner of his tunnelled vision, he saw Kirijo-san standing between Ikutuski and Mitsuru-senpai.

He dove to the side, trying to get an angle of attack or find an escape. Nothing presented itself. Palladion struck like an avalanche, defeating a Persona before it was fully formed, and then impaling another. Minato was soaked in sweat as he moved. His stock wasn't limitless, and he couldn't react fast enough to fight back. He tumbled and rolled again and again, deflecting so he didn't have to block head-on. He came to his feet when the horrified scream of "FATHER!" rang over the din of the battle. Minato's head snapped up at Mitsuru-senpai's voice.

Everything slowed down.

Ikutsuki grinned, gun smoking.

Kirijo-san was doubled over, holding his stomach and slowly backing toward his daughter. Mitsuru-senpai up against him, one hand free and desperately trying to staunch the bleeding.

The image came into hyper-focus. Every one of Minato's senses went into overdrive, calling up a terrible memory.

"MINATO!" Minako had screamed, trying to shield his body from the impact.

The feel of the Dark Hour, the smell of gunpowder and the sound of a Persona. Aigis standing aglow, prepared to fight. This time, the missing piece fit into place: A body, and the sight of human blood.

"DAD!" She'd shouted.

Ten years vanished. Past and present superimposed. The sound of car brakes, the crunch of crashing into something so horrible his mind couldn't process it.

Minato clutched his head, the memory clear before him and real as life. The veil pulled back, and the terror of that night slammed into him. Every day since then flashed through his mind on fast forward, repressed feelings bombarding him without mercy. The loss of his parents, the death of his sister, came back. The weight of her body across his in the back seat. Dad crushed by the steering column punching back. Mom's bleeding face and weak, rasping breaths. She hadn't died fast.

"My family died when I was eight," he heard himself say. "It doesn't bother me anymore."

He'd said that.

He'd meant it.

For years.

The impact of what he'd lost hadn't gotten through to him. Something had kept it back until now. Self-loathing overwhelmed him. His family had died and he'd brushed it off like a rainy day. Every blasé quip tasted like acid. Every good memory twisted like glass screws. Every birthday, every moment of laughter. Every time he cried in Minako's arms, every time he couldn't sleep until his parents got home.

It was torment like nothing he'd ever felt. Shredding his body couldn't come close.

A decade of pain and grief flowed through him, pulled him toward the abyss. He stopped when his feet touched the edge, white-hot with fury in the darkness, eyes on his enemy.

"My parents," he whispered, tears cold on his cheeks. "My sister," he gritted. "Ten years ago. You were there."

Palladion had been about to lunge again. It stopped. Aigis cocked her head, her arm lowering a fraction.

"You were there when they died, weren't you?!" he thundered. Power raced through him, ringing blue in the air, every restraint torn apart. "Why?!"

"I didn't hurt them," she replied quietly. "Their deaths were a tragic accident. I had nothing to do with them."

"You're telling me this now?! That was my family, Aigis! Tell me why you didn't say anything!"

She was silent. Palladion glowed even brighter, its servos clicking into place. "I cannot answer that. So you know, I have not forgotten their deaths. But for the sake of everyone, I must kill you, and I will bear this burden for as long as I am functional." Blue eyes hardened, gun snapping back to centre-of-mass. "But I will not fail again." Palladion rushed forward in a blinding streak.

Minato bent every fibre of his being into the fight. He didn't hear the others, didn't see Ikutsuki slip away, didn't even think of dodging.

He didn't think of living past this fight – nothing else mattered.

Every Persona in his arsenal arose. Rangda fought like a demon, hammering against Palladion's shield. Atropos's winds whipped out like a bullet train, slamming the knight so hard Psyche's barrier wavered.

Minato kept behind them, watching as Aigis tried to line up her shots. The bullets shattered on his barriers, but they were dead-centre on him.

Palladion revved so high its gears were glowing orange. It fought back with fury, crashing through Minato's Personas without its usual precision, hammering against Attis. The concussions of their blows cracked the floor under them.

Minato was wearing Palladion down, but he was out of cards to play. This had become a fight of endurance, and that was his last Persona.

He grinned angrily, phantom cards glowing around him. There had to be something left. He'd seen Igor fuse Personas enough times. He could bring out more. There had to be more, another angle to attack from.

But he was out of time.

Aigis's gunfire and Palladion's shield bash sent his last Persona screaming into the void. Minato stood trembling, his whole body sore from his summonings. He couldn't run anymore, couldn't pull off anymore last-minute dodges. He didn't have the time to figure out how to bring more Personas up, to fuse them into something strong enough to win. She had him pinned and she knew it.

The others were out of the line of fire, too far away to be hurt.

Too far away to help. He was on his own, had nothing left.

Aigis pointed at him.

Palladion revved up, cylinders firing, torque spiking.

Something... pulsed. A second heartbeat, from far below.

No. Not nothing. There was something left, something that had always been there. Sakaki and Hypnos had reached it. The fight had stirred it from slumber.

Palladion roared forward, lance ready to pierce, to annihilate.

Minato fell back into his own mind. His power reversed course. Instead of reaching down to a Persona, he let go of all his control.

Something was there to fill the void. To race through his limbs like adrenaline.

To go down.

Palladion's lance was drawn back–

Down.

–ready to kill–

Into his shadow.

–it thrust forward–

Minato's hand rose. Stop.

CRUNCH!

Palladion's lance slammed into something solid, stopping the Persona cold. A granite coffin materialized from the darkness, held up like a shield. Palladion's lance had broken into it, but was held at bay.

The darkness slowly peeled back from the coffin, revealing more. Chains clinked, and the Dark Hour warped around what emerged.

A Persona stood before Minato. One summoned not from blue light, but from pure liquid darkness.

Coffins of stone and iron connected with clinking chains. An iron helmet and war mask formed in a visage of inhuman hatred for the living. A sable surcoat over black plate armour, pauldrons and gauntlets scratched from innumerable killings. A long sword held in hand, curved like the Reaper's scythe. Steel-shod boots that led to a pool of black at its feet.

An unstoppable force made manifest. An entity that cast darkness upon the Dark Hour itself.

One needed only look upon it to know it, to fear it, for it was the harbinger of the end of all things.

Power surrounded this Persona, so great it crackled against the skin, pushing against reality and buckling the stones underfoot. It stood against Palladion, fully formed, growling in rage.

To name it was to know it. Minato's last Persona, which had been sleeping all this time.

That which had annihilated the Shadow the night before.

"Thanatos."

The Persona growled louder, furious at being used by one of the living but awaiting its summoner's commands.

Aigis backed away, looking at the Persona in unmistakable terror. Whatever was human inside her knew what this was.

Minato smirked. He knew too: It was the end.

"Break them."

Thanatos crashed forward, sending the coffin Palladion's lance was stuck in to the side to leave the armoured Persona open. Palladion backpedaled, dodging while it struggled to regain control of its weapon. Its servos worked to orange-hot again to struggle against Thanatos.

The two were in a deadlock, their weapons locked together like dueling swordsmen.

Then Thanatos lashed out. Steel and stone coffins smashed down like colossal fists, hammering into Palladion and denting its shield. Thanatos cut at the Persona with its sword without any semblance of style or grace. It aimed not to protect itself, but to kill as brutally as it could. When Palladion blocked its swings, the coffins came down again, and Thanatos punched with a steel-clad fist whenever there was an opening.

Graceless and savage. Perfect defense and attack, like Palladion, only stronger.

Gunfire erupted from the side, and Minato stepped back instinctively, barriers in place. But Aigis wasn't firing at him; she was firing on Thanatos. Stitching the Persona's helmet and aiming for its eyes, trying to get its attention away from Palladion, to create an opening, or focus-firing where she thought Thanatos's armour was weak.

It was useless. Thanatos didn't need eyes to see its prey, to kill what was before it, even if she could hit them. Minato fed all his power to the Persona, pushing it forward as it struck Palladion even harder.

Yet she focused on Thanatos. Minato examined her movements and realized she was missing her footing in places, over-correcting when she fired, and becoming frantic as Thanatos ignored her attacks.

Minato knew what was driving her: Pure human fear.

She'd wanted to kill him before he could fight back. Was this why? Had she fought this Persona before and she was terrified of doing it again?

More questions without answers. Minato didn't care now. She had his family's blood on her hands. She needed to pay.

Palladion released its lance, letting the weapon flash out of existence and manifesting it an instant later, trying to regain its advantage. Thanatos barrelled forward. Coffins opened and spat more chains out, tangling Palladion's shield and lance together. Thanatos rushed in with coffins first, protecting itself and hitting like a wall going mach 2. The titans crashed into the walls of Tartarus, struggling and destroying everything around them. Palladion's servos smoked as it fought back while Thanatos brought the pommel of its sword down over and over, denting the mechanical knight's helmet and showing glowing circuitry underneath.

Aigis raced forward, trying to distract Thanatos with more gunfire.

The Persona seemed wise to her tactics this time. A coffin faced her and whipped chains out, aiming to grab or to destroy. She leapt out of the way, but the ground buckled where she'd stood a half-second before. She didn't dare fire now, trying to stay ahead of a Persona that could fight two enemies at once with ease.

Two chains flew at her, and she dodged with a backward jump.

Into the next attack.

Thanatos's sword flew at her like a spear, fired from the coffin's innards faster than the chains. She couldn't move in midair, and her gun-arm was severed above the elbow. The sword cut halfway into Tartarus's floor while cybernetic fluid showered the ground.

Aigis crashed down, tumbling on the ground and clenching her stump. She looked up in hopelessness as Palladion's coherence began to break up.

Thanatos hit even harder, breaking a coffin on Palladion's chest then hammering it with the stone fragments. The mechanical knight was beaten down, a hand raised in the beginnings of surrender.

Thanatos wouldn't have it.

The Persona grabbed Palladion's upraised hand and yanked up, chains grabbing about its torso, legs and head. Then the titan began to twist and wrench apart, flexing hard, bending reality in its fury.

With a grinding, sickening wrench, Palladion was torn in two.

Blight light flashed as the Persona died, and Thanatos screamed its victory to the night, a sound so powerful that the light around it dimmed and shuddered.

Aigis rolled to her feet and raced toward Minato, her remaining hand clenched. An android could still kill a human, even if she died in the process.

Thanatos turned and roared. Two stone coffins shattered and fragments flew at her almost as fast as the sword had.

Aigis dodged two of them before larger ones hit her hard. One in the hip and two in the back sent her tumbling, legs akimbo, struggling to get up.

The fight was over.

Minato stepped toward her. Thanatos loomed over him, the Persona having faded from where it had fought Palladion and manifested out of his shadow again. Power flickered around his fingertips. Power that could tear Aigis apart and end this, end the lies, for good this time.

She looked up at him, fear and pain in her eyes. She looked at him, then at Thanatos, and then down.

She raised her remaining arm. "I surrender," she whispered. She sounded more human than ever before. Utterly defeated and without hope.

Thanatos growled. Minato couldn't believe what he'd heard. "You what?"

She repeated herself. "Fighting now is meaningless. You have already done what I had hoped to prevent you from doing," she continued.

"You obviously knew that I could do this," Minato grated through his anger. "You put me in a corner and tried to kill me, and now you want me to spare you?"

"I never wanted you to use that thing." She looked up at Thanatos as it loomed over her, glaring balefully. "It is a monster beyond description. I cannot defeat it now, and I do not want to be terminated. I surrender to you."

Minato saw red. Thanatos wanted to crush her into the floor. "You drugged me, dragged me here, and tried to kill me," Minato listed off. "You consorted with Ikutsuki when you had to know he couldn't be trusted. You knew that, right?"

She nodded. "I did. The threat of the Shadows, of Thanatos, demanded that I ignore Ikutsuki."

"And you came after me instead. What will you do if I spare you? You've kept secrets and lied to me up to this point, and after this, I'll never trust you with my back again."

"I am not a threat to you."

"Not a threat now that you tried to kill me and wound up losing?!" he snapped. "Well that makes this all better, doesn't it? You kept what happened to my family a secret. You were there when they died, and you knew I had this Persona in me, but you stayed silent and then you try to kill me? What's stopping you from trying again?"

"There would be no point. The damage was done once you summoned that. I cannot reverse it, and I cannot win." She didn't meet his eyes. She didn't move. She held her stump of an arm as it leaked darkening fluids and waited for his answer.

Thanatos loomed. Darkness gathered. Minato's hands glowed with malevolent purple light. Aigis had been an ally, but now she was a traitor. A threat. An enemy.

Helpless or not, enemies didn't deserve to live.

He drew his hand back.

"Stop!" Fuuka shouted, throwing herself in front of him. "Please, stop."

"Get out of the way, Fuuka," Minato warned, Thanatos growling even deeper now. Light dimmed around them, darkness ready to release. "She's not one of us anymore."

There were tears on her cheeks. "I-I know that."

"Then move."

"I... I can't."

The Persona's pressure amplified. Minato stepped up to her, eyes narrow. "Fuuka," he told her coldly. "Move."

Enemies were to be eliminated. Collaborators deserved no better.

She looked up as the tears ran, trembling, reaching out to touch his hand. "Please stop this, Minato-kun. This isn't who you are."

His teeth grated. Minako said the same thing when he acted out or said something cruel. She told him he wasn't being who he was and that he'd hurt himself and others that way.

The Minako of his memories bled, lost in the darkness of a decade ago. How dare Fuuka make light of that? How dare she?! Minato clenched his fits, power surging–

Then he heard something past Thanatos, past the adrenaline and battle fury. Even through Aigis's betrayal: Crying. He looked toward the sound and saw Mitsuru-senpai clutching her father to her chest, face lowered over him and sobs wracking her body.

The wrath dropped out of him like a bucket with a cut bottom. He saw his companions, dirty and freed but looking at him warily and trying to comfort their leader. He saw Kirijo-san's body and knew that life had left him forever. He felt his Personas stirring again, some of which could have healed the wound enough to get medical help. And he felt the bloodlust of the creature above him, how it was hated and feared by the living, how it hated the living in kind and wanted them to suffer.

No. That was just an excuse. The desire to fight had been magnified by Thanatos, but Personas were aspects of their summoners. This was him. It had come from him. He'd fought to kill instead of to a standstill, and this was what his fury had wrought.

Something done in anger that he could never take back.

He stepped away from Aigis, the glow around his hands flickering to nothing. Thanatos growled at him, knowing that he'd come to a stop, but a snap of Minato's fingers dissipated its form and sent it back beneath the sea of his soul. "You owe Fuuka your life," he told Aigis raggedly, the tears fighting to get free. He kept them down; they could wait until the others were safe. "This is the only chance you're getting. If you ever fight me again, I'll melt you into slag. I don't care who gets in my way, I'll finish you off. Am I clear?"

"I understand," Aigis answered, head still down.

"Thank you, Minato-kun," Fuuka told him.

He didn't respond. The battle rush was gone, he'd left his allies behind, and he felt so hollow that he wanted to fall apart. The memories returned, voices of his family cutting into his psyche. The present was no solace. The girl dearest to him cried over her father, and he didn't dare go near her.

He didn't have any right to comfort.

There was one thing he could do, he knew. Something to protect his people from the Shadows and the Dark Hour. He wordlessly stepped toward them, brought Cu Sith up from his soul, and focused. Tartarus wavered around them as he brought them back to the base of the tower.

Minato knew he could have helped Kirijo-san. He could have done something to change this.

He'd failed. Then and now.

The Dark Hour ended, and for the first time ever Minato wished he'd stayed in that God-forsaken tower.

He walked away. "I'm leaving this to you, Akihiko-senpai," he informed the boxer. "Sorry to drop it in your lap."

"Where're you going?" the older teen demanded.

Minato smiled hollowly. "Look after them. I'll be back later." He left, deaf to the protests of the others. They had too much to deal with between Aigis and Mitsuru-senpai to follow him, so he made his escape into the city. Down the streets without seeing them, no idea where he was going, but when the lights of a familiar storefront caught his eye, he adjusted his course. He trudged down streets and cut through alleys where even the delinquents wouldn't go, and kept walking.


Ikutsuki stopped his ascent in Tartarus to catch his breath. Not from exertion, but from laughter that he couldn't keep down any longer.

And why should he hold it back? Everything had gone even better than he could have planned. SEES had been operating as he intended since Shinjiro died, Aigis's grudge against Arisato had come at the perfect time, and even Arisato's glimpse at the truth was a delicious bit of irony that he couldn't help but make the most of.

Then there had been the little drama just minutes ago. Takeharu-san interfering, jumping in the way of the gun aimed at Mitsuru; Arisato breaking free of his bonds and fighting Aigis; and, perhaps the greatest development of all, the "little secret" under the surface of Arisato's psyche that had finally come out.

Truly, everything had played out better than he could have dreamed. A nudge here and a word there and everyone danced to the tune of The End perfectly. It was a fitting tribute to Kouetsu-sama, bringing everyone this far only for them to break apart.

And to think – there was still more to come before She arrived. Ikutsuki couldn't hold back his mirth, thinking of how SEES must be flailing about right now. Would that he could have seen how the fight between Arisato and Aigis concluded. The anger and mistrust, the misdirected passions crashing together as their Personas did battle, it was hard to imagine a greater reward for his hard work than that.

Still, he knew better. There had been no way to arrange such a fight while remaining in the background as he had. And truly, who the victor was didn't matter. If Aigis won – highly unlikely given how she'd failed once before – then SEES would banish her from their ranks, and be blind to Her arrival. If Arisato won, then SEES would mistrust him for unleashing so much power against their comrade, would be afraid of what he'd been hiding from them, and they would fracture and despair. Mitsuru especially, and Arisato after from caring for her. And either way, the Kirijo Group and SEES would be left flailing about as it tried to hold itself together.

This evening had been delicious. Hopefully he'd be able to see the results in the coming weeks.

Ikutsuki continued up another floor, utilizing the techniques Kouetsu-sama had taught him all those years ago. The little tricks that allowed him to operate in the Dark Hour, to avoid Shadows without developing a Persona. Tricks Kouetsu-sama had taught his ungrateful son, but that had led to a great satisfaction all by itself. It brought another chuckle to his lips.

"I told you there was someone here," a hard, familiar voice said when Ikutsuki turned a corner. "Not sure what good it does us."

"Very little," the other one noted dismissively, hand by the revolver in his belt.

Shirato Jin. Takaya Sakaki. Strega.

Ikutsuki smiled. This was perfect. With so much work to do, he would need help. Truly, providence provided for the patient and the loyal.

"What are you doing here?" Shirato asked, looking like he didn't much care about the answer.

"SEES and the Kirijo Group have outlived their usefulness to me," Ikutsuki told them. There was no need to hide the truth, not when they could pick out his lies. "I have moved on from them."

"Betrayed them, you mean," Sakaki noted. "The final time, yes?"

"That's a matter of perspective," Ikutsuki replied, indifferent to the semantics. "And is irrelevant besides. This meeting brings something to mind. In particular, how we can help each other."

"You just double-crossed your last employer, and you want us to trust you?" Shirato spat. "Without the Kirijo's resources, without being able to cover your tracks anymore, what good are you to us?"

Ikutsuki frowned. "My loyalty has never been in question. It was never to the Kirijo Group, or to SEES, so I haven't betrayed anyone. And you have benefitted from my help all this time, haven't you?"

"My point still stands – you aren't much good to us now that they've cut you loose, are you? How can you get us what we need on your own?"

"I still have connections outside of the Kirijo Group, resources that I can utilize to your benefit, and to mine."

"Perhaps," Sakaki mused, thumbing his firearm again. "But it raises the question of why we would need you, even with those resources. Your goals and ours might be quite different now that the Shadows are dead."

"You're giving up the fight? I thought you would like the chance to fight Arisato and the Kirijo some more."

Sakaki's eyes narrowed, the sudden glow around him blindingly bright. "Do not presume to speak to us about our intentions," he warned dangerously, his voice overlapped with his Persona's. "Our goals are our own. No matter how useful a contact you were, we will not be your pawns."

Ikutsuki cleared his throat backing up a step and holding up his hands, conciliatory. "Of course. A poor choice of words. Still, I would think you might be interested in how things have developed. Your interest in Arisato in particular, surely that has not disappeared because the Shadows are dead."

"I can investigate such matters without your help," Sakaki told him, eyes dimming but still dangerous.

"What if you don't need to? Even if you don't believe everything I say, I can give you a place to start and save you time."

"And in return, you want our help? To protect you from the Shadows and help you so you can help us further?"

"In part, yes. But my goals will interest you whether you help me or not."

"Then speak."

"Arisato has evolved. Namely, that little something you felt after you fought Aragaki. That was you coming into contact with him, wasn't it?"

Sakaki frowned, thoughtful. Still glowing, but now thoughtful. "How could you have known that?"

"SEES confided in me back then. And I know a great deal about Personas and Shadows. It was an easy deduction to make, given how you two are connected."

"What would you know about that? He wasn't at the Kirijo labs ten years ago, and his Personas aren't artificial."

Ikutsuki bit back a grin. Sakaki had clearly thought about this, his bond from nowhere with the strange transfer student. Without a clear connection or point of origin, there was nothing to chase down, yet the questions still remained unanswered. "It's a question of source," Ikutsuki explained, gesturing to the two Strega members. "Moros. Hypnos." Then he pointed back to where Arisato and the others were. "Thanatos."

Shirato was impassive, the names not meaning anything to him. Sakaki, on the other hand, looked startled as understanding dawned on him. "How could that be?"

"It was Her design. Not that it be you and Arisato – the hosts were coincidental at best – but those powers awakening as the Shadows rampaged through the Dark Hour, here, where Kouetsu-sama conducted his experiments, is no mistake. Arisato lived here when the experiments failed ten years ago, yet he returned in time to fight the Shadows when they were at their strongest. You traveled Japan for years but came back now, when SEES became active. And the Lost have only grown in number in the last year. This is not luck."

"Suppose it isn't," Shirato interjected. "What makes you think we care? Even if this is all tied together, and even if we are a part of whatever's coming, why should we get involved? Two train tickets and we're out of here."

Ikutsuki let the answer hang for the moment, knowing that he'd caught Sakaki's attention. Shirato's bluster might well be genuine, and it would only show that he wasn't close to Moros, thus making him a secondary player in this game. But Sakaki and Hypnos were linked like few others, and that had to count for something.

"If we leave, then we lose our answers," Sakaki noted finally. "Assuming you aren't lying, that is."

"You can see for yourself. The next few weeks will show you better than I can explain it. And Arisato will not be the same after tonight. Another meeting is all you would need to confirm what I have said."

"The three children of Nyx," Sakaki mused, speaking Her name hesitantly. "Harbingers of the end of all life. She is the one you speak of?"

"She is. I suspect that you have felt Her?"

"Only since this morning. It has been... unsettling."

Ikutsuki bit back a sense of envy. Without a Persona, and without the means to acquire one now, he would never feel Her approach, the oncoming divinity that Kouetsu-sama had so passionately spoken of. If there was one regret Ikutsuki bore because of his choices, that was it.

Sakaki's eyes focused. "What part do you play in all this? Why do you care about Nyx and us?"

A foolish question, though many people would ask it in Sakaki's place. "I was Kouetsu-sama's right hand. His work became mine. I need no other reason, do I?"

"What are you planning?"

"For now, I need to establish my connections with some people. I said I can be of use to you, and I will. After that, I want to see what the Kirijo Group will do now that it has lost its leader. I expect there will be chaos, the sort we can take advantage of."

Shirato perked up. "The Kirijo boss is dead?"

"He is."

Shirato grunted, a grudging smile crossing his face.

Sakaki seemed distracted, then looked at Ikutsuki. "Your talk of Nyx and Her approach, how we're tied together in this larger plan. I assume you believe that Arisato will play a role in this. If you are telling the truth, then he has to."

"He won't have a choice, but I don't know what form it will take." Ikutsuki shrugged. "Even if he was central to killing the Shadows, given recent developments I suspect he will operate in a diminished capacity. At his best, his use is spent."

Sakaki shook his head, a look on his face resembling contempt. "If you think your plans will stop him, that he will allow your plans to proceed without interfering, you're a fool."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. You see SEES as puppets on your strings, and without you to make them dance they will fall to the side and stay there. But every fight has made them stronger, and it will take a force greater than treachery to break them. Keep in mind that they all hate you now, and that they can band together without you to interfere. Arisato, Sanada, Kirijo, even Amada are all strong enough to fight you. It would be careless to assume that you have won just because you've stabbed them in the back."

Ikutsuki was a little miffed from Sakaki's sudden faith in his enemies. For a killer without a direction in his life, he was surprisingly focused, and his insight into Arisato's character, bordered on offensive. Still, such faith was not insurmountable. Sakaki would see for himself that SEES was finished. And in the event that they could pull themselves together, it would only amount to a more amusing fight when She arrived. "That may well be. Time will tell, won't it?"

"It will." Sakaki was silent for a moment longer, then nodded. "You will join us, where we can keep an eye on you, and you will tell us what you know. Your resources are ours, and I expect you to make yourself useful."

"Of course."

"Much is about to change," Sakaki told them, eyes bright, tattoos shifting. "Whatever Nyx brings with her, Arisato will respond. He will fight, and the others will follow him into Hell itself. I have a feeling things will become... quite extraordinary."


It had been a retreat for him and 'Nako. She loved it because her friends lived in the area, so this was where they could gather. He loved it because being here made her happy. Dad said that he'd first met Mom walking by a park like this one, and they'd spend their free weekends here with boxed lunches and stories to tell, enjoying their time in a simple, loving existence. As Minato walked to the sand pit, he felt the tears. They'd run onto his cheeks blocks ago and now they were trickling down his neck. Every memory was there, picture perfect for him to remember. From Mom's cooking and her picking him up to put him to bed when he fell asleep in front of the TV to Dad's stories that grew with every telling, but kept him entertained anyway. Minako's botched cooking attempts, how she'd crawl into bed with him when he had nightmares, how she'd help him with his homework even when she had enough of her own. "You're my only brother," she'd say when she got in trouble over her grades, "so of course I'm going to spoil you."

Minato's legs gave out. He crumpled into the sand and curled as the sobs came up. He didn't even try to hold them back. A decade of repressing the trauma washed over him, no barriers left to hold it all back. No hiding behind humour, no pretending it was okay. "I-I'm sorry," he let out, brokenly, over and over as the pain twisted without reprieve. The memories continued long after he ran out of tears, and in the dead of night, alone, all he had were his ghosts.

Author's Note, Postscript: A bit of interesting trivia: Mordhau is a technique in German swordsmanship, and the word translates into "murder stroke."