Author's Notes: And to conclude, sometimes perfection is neither rushed nor improved upon, but simply is, all by itself. Which is what this chapter is, naturally.
A few words to my wonderful readers before we get going:
Brightwizard21: Luckily you don't have to wait any longer. Hope you like it!
thirdegree101: Why of course I did. There's no point in just letting a chapter end all simple and calm, is there? No fun in that. Glad you like it, and enjoy the chapter!
LegendaryMob: Yep, we're almost there, and you're very welcome. As for Minato, will he indeed? I have an answer, but of course I can't share it yet. Do keep reading, however, and you'll see. Enjoy!
SomebodyLost: Thanks! Though it doesn't take that much confidence to speak the truth; it simply is what it is. As to the inner battles of the mind, that's a question that has a very long answer (private message me if you're that interested), but the short version is that Persona 4 did a great job of highlighting the fun that could be had by twisting someone's fears and inner demons until they came alive on their own. I'm a big fan of that, both philosophically and in terms of writing technique, so I took a good idea and ran with it. Hence, yes, the twisted little monster in Mitsuru's psyche being the thing that's been tormenting her, same as Akihiko running from his past and, well, all the others. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!
As always, many thanks to Firion for his feedback. Perfect as this chapter would have been originally, it's much more so with his input.
Oh, and for the fight scene (because of course there's a fight scene, right?), one tune I had running in the background was Ferdk's metal version of Persona 5's Will Power. If that's to your taste, I suggest giving him a listen on YouTube.
Now then, partake in the best chapter since the one before, and let me know what your favourite part was, yeah? And no saying, "All of it," that's just cheating.
Chapter 24 - Fleche
Months of planning excursions into the Dark Hour had taught Minato one golden rule: A good plan wasn't truly good if it didn't surprise even the people on your side. Everyone contributed to their mission plans and could surprise the others, whether that was Akihiko-senpai suggesting they go for subtlety and try a flanking strike or Junpei making a joke that hit right on the mark or Mitsuru deciding that winging it and hitting things was the best course of action. Minato liked the balance of planned execution and spontaneity for when things went wrong, and if that improvisation required even greater use of Personas, then so be it. Surprise twists in the plans helped prepare them for the unexpected in the field, and they all knew it. So when Minato's suggestion got startled looks, he knew he had a winner.
But then, no one would have expected him to suggest visiting Aigis and confronting her about the fight that put her out of commission. The others had tried to talk to her or inquired after her health and status, but had come back with nothing useful, and with everything else going on, it had been easy to forget what wasn't in front of them. Minato changed that by getting up early and putting together a list of questions, working through his lines of investigation until he was sure he had every angle covered. By the time the others had finished breakfast, he was champing at the bit to go. He'd even called the Kirijo compound and requested the meeting, getting the green light in short order.
Everyone offered to go with him. Yukari had to go in for observation to make sure she was healing well, Ken wanted to visit Abe-san and Maeda-san, Mitsuru had work to do there, and the others were curious to see how things went. And so they were at the Kirijo compound early, quickly dispersing to do what they needed to. Mitsuru went to talk to Abe-san about the aftermath at the hospital, Yukari visited her specialist, and Minato went to see Aigis. He asked that she be brought to the testing chamber that had resisted even Akihiko-senpai's best efforts to break it (though that had been before awakening Caesar), went through his questions again, and entered.
She was already there, waiting for him in the middle of the room, and the difference from before the fight and now were stark. She still wore a defeated look, shoulders slumped and face downturned. She didn't engage when he walked in, eyes to the side and glossed over. Even her clothes were wrinkled and put on with little care. Once she'd been taught the importance of them back when she'd joined the group, she'd been particular about her appearance. Whether that was because Yukari had told her that looking good was an important use of one's time, or because Aigis wanted to make sure everything matched as a distraction from her half-synthetic nature, she had always been pressed and clean. Maybe it had helped her feel human, like she was part of the group, or perhaps it was an extension of her meticulous nature to do things well, no matter how mundane they were.
Now that meticulousness was missing, and even her withdrawn silence was remarkably organic, her personal torment undeniably real. Minato clearly remembered all the problems he'd had with the uncanny valley around her before, and it was only after she'd tried to kill him that she seemed like a real person with genuine emotions. The irony wasn't lost on him. He dismissed any snark in the thought; if his guesses were right, there was a lot going on under the surface, and she could well have been a victim of Ikutsuki just as much as the rest of them. With so many things changing, he wasn't going to cling to grudges or preconceptions that could have been spurred on deliberately by a traitor.
"Good morning," he began.
She nodded, only an inch or two, and didn't meet his eyes.
"You look..." Not great. Not good or even passing fair. "... not too bad. They're treating you well?"
No answer.
"How have you been?"
No answer.
He cleared his throat. "You can talk, right? All the parts required for communication are in place? You're not suffering any mechanical problems?"
"I have been repaired to specification. I am functional."
Minato rubbed his fingers together. Despite the synthetic echoes in her voice, there was no disputing the emotional pain she was in. He didn't know if she'd always been this expressive and he'd been deaf to it, or if that fight had changed something in her too, but she sounded much more like a person now, rather than an android making a bad attempt at humanity. Unfortunately, what she was expressing was depression and pain. He could sympathize with a mental spiral like that, much more now than before, but he didn't have the luxury of treating her like she was made of egg shells and thin string. "Good. Then you can answer some questions. There have been some developments since you came here and we can't afford to ignore what might be going on."
No answer.
"You know what's coming for us, don't you? After the last Shadow died and Thanatos got out, the Dark Hour's been getting worse and people are going crazy with death cults and talking about the end of the world. That's not a coincidence, is it?"
"No."
"So you know what's coming? What its name is?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
No answer.
He cleared his throat. "Okay, that was a broad question. You probably don't know what this thing specifically is, but what label would you associate with it?"
After a long pause, she muttered, "Nyx."
"That's what we've heard too. Did you know about it before our fight?"
No answer.
Minato sighed. "Aigis, look. I'm not... completely angry at you. This isn't a loaded test, I'm not trying to sandbag you so I can lock you in a cage or dump you in cement or something. A lot has happened, and it could be that you're the only one here who knows some of the answers we're looking for, so we need your help. There isn't any time for personal grudges or cheap pride, okay? That includes me."
She looked up, still dull but warily engaged with what he was saying. "You have forgiven what I did?"
"I... honestly? I wouldn't go that far. I'm still mad, but I'm not going to let that get in the way."
"Does Mitsuru-san feel the same way? Our altercation resulted in the death of her father. By siding with Ikutsuki and combating you, I bear some blame for that. Such an act could never be categorized as cheap pride, not for anyone, and any grudge she bears for me would be appropriate."
"Did you know that Ikutsuki was going to kill him before you knocked us out?"
"I knew he wanted to capture the others, that he wanted to pressure you into releasing Thanatos. I did not know he would kill Kirijo-san, but I suspect that was an act of opportunity rather than design. Regardless, I did not desire that outcome."
"None of us did. I don't think she blames you, but the only way you could know for sure is to ask her. She's here in the facility right now if you want to find out."
No answer.
"I know this might sound hollow, but I went through a bad episode after our fight. I don't think I've ever been that low before. If you're going through the same thing, I can promise you that staying down like that isn't going to help. Instead of getting better, you'll just stay there. There are people around you who can help you get better, if you want to, and we could use your help again."
She glanced up, then back down. Still no answer.
Minato rubbed the back of his neck, trying a different tactic. "Let's talk about the fight, and more specifically why it happened. You knew what Thanatos was when it got loose and killed the Shadow on the bridge. That's what motivated you to attack me, to try and keep it in, right? Why? Is it because it's a powerful Persona and wants to kill things? Is it because of the Appriser and whatever that means? Or was it something else? For example, is Thanatos's nature connected to Nyx?"
She blinked and looked at him.
He pulled out his Evoker, pushing against the bounds of normal time and reality to pull the Persona from his soul. "I want to try something. Look at it and tell me if it's the same as before." He fired off and the room dimmed. Thanatos's cape and armour darkened the room, where no shadows had been a second before. Gloom pulled inward and coalesced, chains clinked and coffins hung in the air. The entity growled at being brought out for display, glared at Aigis with killing intent, but was held back by Minato's will. Not to say it didn't struggle – it pushed and yanked at its bonds hard enough to make Minato sweat – but it couldn't move or attack.
Aigis became animated, looking at the Persona first in surprise, then in dawning horror. "You can control it," she murmured, "but it is different. It is missing... How could it have..."
Minato tightened his control and dismissed the Persona. It went down grudgingly, rumbling in his ears before going quiet. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head, panic growing in her eyes. "It was different. It should not be like that, but how could it... Unless it got out?"
She spoke in circles for a few moments longer before Minato walked over and set a hand on her shoulder. "I have a theory. You were afraid of Thanatos because of its connection to Nyx. You knew it was in me and that it could get out, and it would kill everything if it did. Maybe that's why you joined us in the first place, and maybe that's why Metis attacked us, because she could feel it and she was programmed to destroy it. Perhaps Thanatos is tied to me being the Appriser and understanding Shadows; you didn't like either of those things when you heard about them, which tells me you knew about the ramifications before we told everyone. When Thanatos came out the first time and the stakes got too high, you tried to fight me before I could manifest it completely. But something changed between then and now, didn't it? And if you knew about Thanatos before, then your involvement goes back to before Yakushima, and the only time I saw you before then was on the bridge ten years ago, when–" the words still hurt, but he could say them while keeping his anger down "–my family died."
"What could have changed?" she whispered. "I am certain... I knew it was there before, I know I sensed..."
"When I came here in April, I had what I thought were hallucinations of a kid. He was around seven or eight years old, and he only appeared in the Dark Hour. First I thought I was crazy, then I thought it was a side effect of using a Persona. He gave me advice and seemed like he was trying to help, but I was the only one who could see him until Mitsuru and Akihiko-senpai were there one night. And then I had to keep him in place, because they couldn't see him otherwise, and they said he looked just like me."
Realization dawned in her eyes.
"He avoided you specifically, that night you were in my room. He warned me about Metis, and that's when she attacked. I thought it was all a coincidence, but between you knocking me out at the dorm and me waking up in Tartarus, just before we fought, he showed up and said he was leaving. I don't know how he did it or what 'leaving' meant, but I haven't seen him since." Minato gauged her reactions. "Was that when things might have changed? What you were looking for in me, maybe what you saw in me when you joined up, it's not there anymore, is it?"
"It... it is not. If you have lost that... No, if it has escaped–"
He directed her eyes up to his. "I need to know the truth, Aigis. Ikutsuki betrayed us and he's working with Strega now. Nyx is coming and the Shadows are getting aggressive. We've all gotten stronger, but we need the entire picture if we're going to have any shot at winning this fight, because right now we don't have enough to go on."
She cleared her throat. "You... you had spoken before about other sources of information. Someone called Elizabeth-san. What has her response to this been?"
"I haven't been able to speak to her or Igor since we killed the last Shadow. They've disappeared, so we've been flying blind."
"I see." She was quiet, but then she drew herself up. Her eyes showed she was clearly conflicted, but they were also sharp like the anti-Shadow fighter she'd been before all this stuff hit the fan. "Then I will speak. I intended to keep these events to myself, but the problem is such that no one is served by keeping such secrets. Perhaps no one was in the first place."
Minato nodded. "There are still things I don't know, so start at the beginning."
"First, I want to apologize for my silence on the death of your family. While I was present after they died, I did not cause it. I thought of ways to tell you this, but I did not know how much you remembered and I was... afraid I could not properly articulate my account of that night. Not only because of their deaths, but because of why I was present at that location."
Minato breathed. He hadn't come here about that, but it was good to know that much. "The car accident, that's how they died. You're not the one who caused that, then?"
"I was not. They died as I arrived at that part of the bridge, and I could not save them. I swear this to you."
"I believe you. Thanks for telling me." He squared his shoulders. "You were there because you were fighting something, weren't you? A Shadow that got out of the Kirijo lab when they escaped confinement?"
"All of the Shadows that appear on the nights of the full moon, they were present at the labs ten years ago. Kirijo Kouetsu was experimenting on them, for reasons he did not share with us, and those procedures were horrific. The Shadows destroyed their restraints, or perhaps they were set loose. I did not want to consider that possibility, but upon reflection of Kirijo Kouetsu and Ikutsuki's actions and considering their shared fascination with death and destruction, it might have merit. We – Metis, myself, others who fought the Shadows and were destroyed – were present only as safety measures. We were not told more than we needed to know, and we did not inquire – our mechanical sides did not allow it."
"I understand."
"The Shadows escaped and I pursued the strongest one, Death, to the bridge. I was strong enough to fight it, but I could not kill it, nor could I bring myself to take it back to Kirijo Kouetsu."
"Why not? Weren't you programmed to obey?"
"I was, but to have a Persona, one must have a soul, and that entails free will. I saw the experiments they conducted on children, the things they did to Mitsuru-san and others. I knew that the experiments had brought suffering to people, and if I brought Death back, I would be enabling more such experiments. I did not want that on my conscience."
"Did Ikutsuki know that? That you had that kind of free will and that an exception like that existed?"
"I assume that he did not. He believed that we were machines made into the shape of humans, that Kirijo Kouetsu had sidestepped the rules of a Persona and created powerful slaves. My programming is present, but it must be balanced by my human side, or I could not use a Persona. That required balance is something they did not appear to understand."
"That's a pretty serious oversight on his part."
"It was, though considering Ikutsuki's course of action, I suspect that he chose the ideas that would most easily grant him what he wanted, not the truth that was in front of him. He disregards the power it takes to have a Persona and fight Shadows. A grave oversight, in my estimation, and one born from a lack of a strong will. Ikutsuki is very intelligent and resourceful, but if he is still following Kirijo Kouetsu's will then his own will has been supplanted. He lives only to carry out the original design of the experiments, not for some desire of his own."
Minato nodded. "I agree. Regarding Death, you made the right decision, not taking it back."
Aigis shook her head. "You might not think so in a moment. I did not restrain Death and return it to the Kirijo Group, but I also could not kill it; I was not strong enough. And if it had escaped, it would have killed every living thing it found."
"That obviously didn't happen, so... what did?"
"I was stronger then than I was when I joined you, maybe even more than I am now. I had more programs and options available to me. I knew that Death would escape if I did nothing, but you were there. The vehicle your family was in had crashed when the Dark Hour was created, and you apparently had the potential for a Persona if you were active when others were not. I was desperate for an option, so I... I sealed Death within you."
Minato blinked. "You... what?"
Aigis continued, not meeting his eyes. "I knew there would be consequences, and I intended to guard you from then on, to observe you and ensure that Death remained dormant. The procedure would certainly affect you, and I intended that you would have as normal a life as I could offer, whatever that entailed. But the procedure was an imperfect one meant to restrain the Personas of the children at the lab – similar to what Metis enacted when she fought you. It was never meant to be used against something that strong."
"Personas and Shadows are similar, so the logic makes sense," Minato hedged. His apathy toward his family up to Kirijo-san dying, his proficiency with Personas, how he could understand the Shadows when they spoke, that he knew how to kill them, Thanatos taking control and killing the last Shadow, even Minato's connection to Sakaki and Hypnos, a lot of things were clicking into place. "But... to seal a Shadow inside a human, how would that work? Wouldn't that have killed me or driven me crazy?"
"Shadows are born of human desires and unconscious thoughts. Much like how a Persona reflects one's soul, an individual can harbour a Shadow without being killed. I suspect that pathological criminals and killers are examples of such people. I also suspect that you were able to withstand the process because you were young. Your personality had not fully formed and Death was weak enough to not affect you... too excessively."
"Not at the time, anyway," Minato noted, thinking. "You haven't done something like that since then though, have you?"
"No. As weak as Death was, it struggled, and my implementation of the procedure was flawed due to my injuries in the fight. To be specific, I overloaded seventeen matrices and burned out six of my eight cores in the process. I could not operate after I had sealed Death away. I was left in what would qualify in humans as a catatonic state, barely functional even at the basic level. It took years to restore my functionality, and even then some parts were not replaced – the knowledge of our construction and the resources to restore my functionality, let alone make more units like me, were lost." She shook her head. "I suspect that my reconstruction was not a high priority for the Kirijo Group, and I cannot blame them. It must have seemed like I was a failed unit that had been defeated in battle. I was not repaired to full functionality until Ikutsuki reactivated me, shortly before I met you at Yakushima. I suspect he intended to use me, even back then, and when I... woke up, let us say, ten years had passed since my fight with Death. Clearly, my plan to guard over you and observe you in your youth had failed."
"That's why you wanted to stay close to me right from Yakushima, isn't it?"
"Yes. I learned about you through the Kirijo Group's files, and I had not forgotten you. I intended to examine you and determine Death's influence on you, to protect you as I had planned originally. However, I lacked the social hardware and software to facilitate such proximity, and you seemed off put by my presence."
"Pharos, the kid I mentioned before, had a part to play in that. He told me to stay away from you. And when I first saw you, part of me didn't like you, but now I don't have a reason to feel that way. And I don't, so I suspect that was the Shadow's influence."
She looked skeptical. "After everything that I have told you, you are not angry with me?"
"I'm not happy about being kept out of the loop like I was. A lot of problems might have been averted if you'd told me, or Mitsuru, some of this. And obviously I don't appreciate being used as a Shadow repository. That affected my life and made me into something I don't like now. And who knows how things would have gone if I hadn't come back here. Could be that I'd have lived my whole life like that, working in an office on the other side of the country or something."
"You were drawn here by Death's influence, likely to encounter the other Shadows. I do not believe you returning when you did was a coincidence."
"Did Ikutsuki know about all this?"
"I told no one, and any memories they might have extracted from me, if they could even do that, would have been fragmented."
"We spoke to him last night. It sounded like he'd given up on me once the last Shadow died, like I wasn't of use to him anymore. He must know that the Shadows are all gone and he doesn't need me, need any of us, to get what he wants."
"What we fought on the bridge was not the last Shadow," she informed him. "SEES has eliminated twelve Shadows, but thirteen escaped from the labs."
"So Death is still out there somewhere," Minato mused, his plan coming into focus. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but Aigis had given him a firm foundation to rest his ideas on. Instead of disproving his insane ideas, she'd unknowingly supported them. "That's part of why I wanted to talk to you."
She looked startled. "You... Given the direction of our conversation, do you know where Death is?"
"I might. If so, would you be able to sense it? You knew it was in me before, and you knew when I'd lost it just now. If you saw it in someone, would you know?"
"I suspect so. You know of such a person?"
"Maybe. It's more complicated than that, but the timing matches."
"Then I request a return to active duty, effective immediately. Not just to sense this candidate you describe, but to fight beside you and the others. I have... I have missed all of you, and I would like to come back to the dorm, if I am welcome."
"Mitsuru's the one to talk to about that, but I doubt there will be any other problems. Fuuka and Yukari will be happy to have you back, and so will the rest of us."
"I would also offer a... how would you say it... a bonus? A branch of olive?"
"An olive branch? A peace offering? What do you mean?"
"When Ikutsuki left, did he take his computer with him?"
"No. It's still at the dorm, but we can't get into it. It's heavily encrypted."
"I saw his passwords and security measures when I spoke to him, just before our fight. I believe I can access it. The files he has might be of use to you and to the Kirijo Group – he knew about Nyx and the Lost, much more than he told us."
Minato blinked. "You can do that?"
"Yes. It seems the least I can offer, after the trouble I caused."
"Don't worry about that. We've all had a hard time lately and caused some problems, me maybe worst of all. You'll hear about it, I'm sure. If you're game, then let's talk to Mitsuru and get started."
"I agree."
She moved to pass him, but he stopped her. "One thing. Once we leave we're probably going to get busy, and I don't want anything to be left unsaid. It might be hard to believe, but I don't blame you for the decisions you made, and I'm not... as angry about what happened in my past. The stuff with my family, I understand why you couldn't talk about it, and I'm glad you told me now. You've made some hard decisions and I'm sorry I made things difficult for you. I'm sorry I lost my head when we fought, for the things I said. The circumstances were what they were, but you're still part of the team, and that's worth something. I trust you, and I want you to know that before something else happens."
Aigis looked surprised, then cautiously hopeful. "You do not bear me a grudge after hearing what I did?"
"We're all trying to do the best we can here, Aigis. No one can change the past, so don't feel guilty about what happened."
"My actions irreversibly changed the course of your life. They damned you to this fight that you might not have been drawn into otherwise. How can you forgive that?"
He smiled, sad at first but then with sincerity. He thought about the fights he'd been in that would have shattered the mind of a normal person, the enemies he'd made and the friends he'd lost. He thought of the pain he'd suffered and the scars he would probably carry for as long as he lived, and the weight of a fight that he'd never asked for. Then he thought of the friends he'd made, perhaps the first real friends he'd ever had. He thought of the constant drive to improve and grow, to be better than his past self because to be anything less would be to fall behind the others. And he thought of Mitsuru, the light and colour she'd brought into his life right from the minute he met her, through the hardships and uncertainty into the love they shared now. The fights of the present and the chance of the future they were all fighting for, he might not have been asked if he wanted to contribute, but he wouldn't trade them for anything.
"Crazy as it sounds, it's a net positive," he answered. "No matter what happens, these will probably be the most important things any of us do, and I'd be weaker if I hadn't gotten involved and met everyone. I include you in that, by the way, so please stop beating yourself up. You don't deserve it, and you'll be hard to deal with if you keep moping."
She smiled unsteadily and dabbed at her eyes. "I... thank you, Minato-san. I appreciate your encouragement, bluntly presented though it is. That means a great deal to me. I do not think a mere apology makes up for using you like I did, and I will, for a while yet, regret my role in Kirijo-san's death. I will apologize to Mitsuru-san about that, at least. But if you are able to forgive... then, all I can express is my gratitude."
He held out a hand. "Welcome back, Aigis."
She took it, and despite the synthetic materials that constituted her, her grip and her voice were warm. Human. "Thank you for the opportunity, Minato-san. I am glad to be back with you all."
News that Aigis could crack Ikutsuki's computer went through the team like a bullet train, scattering everyone and attracting spectators. Fuuka and Mitsuru eagerly awaited the chance to dig through the files while Junpei, Yukari, Ken and Koromaru welcomed Aigis back with open arms. Several Kirijo technicians and staff noted her marked change in personality and came out to say farewells and give well-wishes while arrangements were made to move her back to the dorm. Minato watched from beyond the group, Akihiko-senpai at his side. "You okay with this?" the boxer asked. "You had a hate-on for her for a long time. Has that gone away?"
"I remember feeling that way, but the basis for it is gone now. Seems pretty clear that Pharos, or Death or whoever, was influencing me. Mind you, seeing her in my room in the middle of the night is a good reason to be off put, right? If she does that again, we might need to talk."
"I dunno. A loyal blonde sitting next to you as you sleep, devoted to your safety and observation for your entire life, I'm pretty sure that sounds like some show that Junpei would pay money for."
"He has movies like that," Minato noted. "He has to keep the volume down for them."
Akihiko-senpai grinned. "C'mon, doesn't even the idea sound tempting?"
"Not really. I'm not into blondes."
"Or brunettes, or other Japanese girls, right?"
"Right." Minato knew what Akihiko-senpai was suggesting, and he smiled ruefully. "You can blame a certain special redhead for that."
"She's got you, huh? Well, that's good. I'd hate to have to kick your ass again because you got bored or took her for granted or something."
"It's Mitsuru we're talking about. Earth will break in half before I take her for granted."
"Good." Akihiko-senpai looked over. "That idea of yours, do you really think it's possible?"
Minato sighed. Even with everything they'd seen, the crazy ideas they'd had to entertain just to keep up to their enemies – the notion that Ryoji was Pharos, and the human manifestation of Death at that – was downright weird. He didn't know how the others would take it, and he didn't want to risk telling them; any prep work or uncertainty on their part and Ryoji would know something was up. Taking that into consideration, Minato had decided to limit who he shared his suspicions with, at least until he had confirmation from Aigis. "The timing's right, and I have the same negative feeling about him as I did for Aigis at first. I'd barely met him and I immediately didn't like him, same as I did with her. It's hard to imagine that's all a coincidence."
"Nothing seems to be anymore, does it? Makes me think of what Igor talked about, how we were supposed to keep fighting Shadows and not think about the bigger questions. Seems like that would have gotten us to this point anyway, if this is how things were laid out."
"Maybe. I'm not sure I believe that, even if we could prove it somehow. If things were really destined like that, there'd be no point to any choices we made, and then we wouldn't have to train or work at anything. I definitely wouldn't go that far."
"Me neither, and it feels like maybe we're getting some real answers for a change." Akihiko-senpai looked over. "Are you going to want any help dealing with Mochizuki? If you're right, that is?"
"I don't know yet. I want to keep things subtle and restrained if we can."
"What if it is him? Do we wait until the full moon? Would we be able to finish this if we got the drop on him?"
"I have no idea. Could be that would make things worse, at the rate we've been going. How is a Shadow supposed to go to school and walk around without people going crazy? How does he exist outside the Dark Hour? Would we be at a disadvantage if we waited? Would we even be able to fight him before the full moon? Way too many unknowns, and we won't know anything until we try."
Akihiko-senpai let out a breath. "Hurry up and wait. Great."
"At least we can find the truth this time. That's something."
Aigis came over to them, clearly happy after reuniting with the others. There was also a set, determined look in her eyes. "Will we be examining the person you spoke of?"
"Are you ready?" Minato asked.
"Yes."
"Then let's get started."
It didn't take very long, and required almost no effort. A few suggestions to Junpei that he hang out with Ryoji at the mall, a discrete observation from around one of the corners, and Minato and Aigis were set. They were in their normal clothes, Aigis wearing a bandana and a ladies jacket to conceal her hair and cybernetic parts. They didn't need the attention, and to the average passerby, hopefully they looked like a couple out on a stroll. Except they weren't moving from the same stretch of the mall, waiting for Ryoji to arrive.
It took Junpei ten extra minutes to get there, and a further fifteen before Ryoji came, claiming to have been busy with some girl. Minato was far enough away that he couldn't hear the conversation very well, but now that he was actively listening to his senses, focusing hard, he could clearly feel the distaste rising in his throat. He tried to examine where the feeling came from, looked for some accompanying stimuli or basic source for the distaste, but nothing came to mind. Some people just naturally didn't get along, sure, but this felt like encountering one's natural enemy, seeing someone who was antithetical to everything one believed. Like he'd suspected with Akihiko-senpai, it was a more fleshed out sense of what he'd felt for Aigis. The same feeling at the core, built up even more.
He looked over at Aigis. "Are you close enough? Should we get–" He stopped when he saw her expression: clear recognition and barely concealed rage. Perhaps she was feeling the same as he did, only with the clear antagonism against something she had been built to eliminate, something that had beaten her best efforts and kept on living. "I take it you have an answer," Minato noted.
"Yes." Even her voice was different, quiet but more intense than he'd ever heard before. "It is different from when it was inside you, like it took part of you with it when it left, but there is no mistake."
"So he's a Shadow. How is he walking around in real time?"
"I suspect it is because of how long he spent residing in you. Some aspect of the Shadow must have remained with you, or your control over your Personas could have suffered. Some aspect of you, perhaps who you were as a child, resides in him, and that is what gives him a human appearance and personality."
"You mean he's not completely a Shadow?"
"Not the way the others were. He is more sophisticated, more whole and human." She looked over. "But he is also Death, and Death is directly tied to Nyx. He was always more than just a Shadow."
A thought occurred to Minato. "Do you know where the Appriser fits into all this?"
"I do not. You stated that title was given to you by the other Shadows, that Igor-san recognized it in you. I knew it as something tied to Nyx, something mentioned by Kirijo Kouetsu, but I did not know the details. We should consider the possibility that he might have some aspect of that in him as well."
Minato sighed. "Just what we need."
Ryoji and Junpei were moving away. Minato looked at Aigis, but she made no move to pursue them. Instead, she asked, "We have confirmed the target. What will we do now?"
Minato leaned against the wall of the storefront, rubbed his face and thought it through. "We're not going to do anything right now, not in the middle of the day around all these people. And there have been enough secrets. Let's talk about it with the others."
"This fight with him, it involves you and me more than it does them."
"I agree, and I know where you're coming from. But every time any of us has tried to keep things to ourselves, they always go wrong. Even if this is our fight, I'm not leaving the others out of the loop. Junpei deserves to know the truth, and Mitsuru would skin me alive if I didn't tell her." He hated adding this possibility, but it had to be considered. "Besides, we don't even know if you and I are enough to bring him down."
Aigis was silent for a moment. "I do not like contemplating that last idea, but I understand your reasoning and I agree with it."
"Don't write the others off, Aigis. They're a lot stronger than you think."
"I have observed this. Everyone seems to have grown stronger in my absence, more than I thought possible even with a Persona."
"Then let's go."
They went back to the dorm and reported their findings to the others. There was some surprise among the group, but less than Aigis probably expected, and once Minato made the connections in timing and his own experiences, a grim understanding filled the room. Mitsuru decided that they needed to process the information, and Minato waited until Junpei came back and explained the situation.
"Kinda wish I'd known about that before you suggested I hang out with him," Junpei commented, though he didn't sound angry.
"There haven't been any cases of people being negatively affected by being around him, so I'm pretty sure we're safe. And Ryoji would probably pick up on us if we tried to pretend we didn't know something. Sorry, but it was necessary."
"Fair enough, and it was a good use of the day." Junpei smiled. "Actually, now that I think about it, something makes sense."
"What does?"
"Why it's so easy to get along with him – it's because you're so much the same. I know you don't like him, but hear me out. He's easygoing and tries to see things from the other side, a lot like you do. He listens to people and tries to help them out, even if he's pretty one-minded about it. You might not notice that you do it, but he's the same way and just comes across as more open than you do."
Minato rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, and don't take it the wrong way, you're cool as you are, but a lot of people have said that Ryoji reminds them of you. Probably why he's so popular at school."
"I thought people were saying that just to screw with me."
"No, I noticed it too. Happened today, actually."
That added weight to Aigis's notion that Ryoji had carried some part of Minato with him. "Well, thanks. I think."
Junpei nodded, then looked serious. "So what're we gonna do about it?"
Minato thought about that for the rest of the day. He went over the possibilities and turnouts and likelihoods and contingencies until he was sure smoke was coming out of his ears, and then he sat down and thought it over some more. It was later that afternoon when Minato went to the office where everyone was talking and shared his plan: "I'm going to meet Ryoji in person. During the Dark Hour."
"I protest," Aigis stated immediately. "Minato-san, if Ryoji-san is who you think he is, you could be in danger if you go alone. I volunteer to accompany you."
"I appreciate the offer, but if Ryoji recognizes you, that might set things off faster than if you're not there."
"You are anticipating a fight, then."
"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. But if it does, and he is who... rather, what we think he is, then I could be the only one who can get close to him. I have a connection with him; no one else does."
"I am not suspect to the same effects as normal people are," Aigis argued. "And none of us would qualify as normal to begin with, so some of us should be there to help you."
"Are you going to do it alone?" Fuuka asked.
"I probably should," Minato admitted
"If you think going alone is going to spare us somehow," Yukari pointed out, "like this is your personal fight or it's something you need to keep to yourself, you're wrong. We're a team, and that means we're here to help you when you need it. Don't act like this is some special problem you have to shoulder on your own."
"That's not my intention," Minato answered. "If this was something I thought I could get some help on, I'd take it. But I'm not sure it is."
Akihiko-senpai stepped forward. "None of us were sure about fighting the Shadows before we actually did it, but here we are. If he's one of them, then we can fight him. Like hell I'm letting you do it alone, not without seeing it myself."
Minato sighed. They'd caught him on that one.
"I'll go too," Junpei said. "My evening's clear, and if Aigis and Yuka-tan are here, that's plenty of firepower to keep things safe. If Ryoji is a Shadow, or something like it, I want to be there."
Seemed that made two. Ken and Koromaru looked hopeful, but Minato shook his head. "Either the three of us will be enough, or we won't. If you're going to offer to help, I appreciate the idea, but this is dangerous."
"It would be as dangerous for you as it would be for me," Ken protested.
"I get that, but this isn't something we can take chances on. You've only recently gotten back on the team, and while you've come a long way, this is too big to bring you along on."
It was a lame reason, Minato knew, but Koromaru stood up and looked at him, blinking and seeming to see something no one else did. After a second or two the dog nodded and bumped into Ken's leg. The boy clearly wanted to argue the point, but the dog bumped him again, harder. Ken huffed and gave in. "Okay, Koro and I will look after the dorm while you're gone. But be careful, Minato-senpai. We just got everyone back together, so it wouldn't be fair if you let something happen now."
Minato laughed. "I'll be careful."
"You're not serious," Yukari muttered. "You three are going to go off and fight like you're great big heroes, and the women and children are supposed to stay here at home?"
"You're still recovering. Persona or not, you're not at your best, and we can't look out for you while we're fighting."
"So don't worry about me, I can look after myself. And if not me, then at least take Mitsuru with you."
When Minato looked at his girlfriend, he saw the conflict on her face. He knew that a big part of her wanted to pull rank and ground them, or try to call the shots. He might be the leader in the field, but she was still the one who made the decisions. She knew that and she probably wanted to insist on accompanying them, or have all of them go with him. Never mind wanting to be at his side, she probably wanted to fight, to feel like she was doing something for the team. But she also knew that this was important to him, she knew that she had a place here at the dorm, figuring out what Ikutsuki's plans were and preparing the Kirijo Group for whatever else was coming. He had his role, she had hers, and she couldn't neglect that and smother him just because he was proposing something dangerous.
"This is your decision?" she asked after a few moments.
"Yes."
"If he really is a Shadow, you still plan on fighting him alone?"
"Only if I have to. Akihiko-senpai and Junpei will be there to help, otherwise."
"A minute ago you were planning on doing this on your own," Yukari put in.
Minato brushed her off. "Waiting for everyone else isn't going to change the facts. Whether it's now or on the full moon, he's what we're up against. And we're here to kill Shadows, right?"
"Evidently not, if you're leaving some of us here," Yukari growled.
Mitsuru ignored her. "Then do what you have to, and let me know when you're leaving."
Minato nodded and left the office, putting a few plans together with Akihiko-senpai while Junpei phoned Ryoji. It took some convincing, from the sound of it, but Junpei ended the call and nodded. "He'll be there. I think he was expecting the call, and when I said you were involved, he went right along with it. Pretty easy."
Minato let out a breath. That was as good as confirmation. Who else would agree to meet in the middle of the night like that? "Then it's on."
The guys went their respective ways and underwent their pre-fight rituals. Akihiko-senpai shadowboxed, Junpei read comics and snacked, and Minato filed his nails and caught a quick nap. Mitsuru shook him awake when it was almost time to go, and he stretched and cracked his neck, then looked at her. He could see the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Her conflict played out on her face, so expressive and easy to read that he'd wondered how anyone thought she was unapproachable.
He smiled, trying to be reassuring. "Don't worry about me. It'll be fine."
"This will be the first fight you've been in that I won't be there with you, you know."
Minato thought it over, realizing she was right. She'd been with him, either at his side or as his support, right from the beginning. "It'll be the only time it happens."
"It had better be," she whispered, beginning to crack.
He hugged her, not caring if any of the others saw them. She hugged right back, hard enough to squeeze the breath out of his lungs. "It will be," he soothed, rubbing her back. "I promised you I'd be here for you, remember?" he whispered. "I'll come back, no matter what."
"Even against this?" Her voice was quiet, and shaking.
Against the last, strongest Shadow. Against Nyx and the approaching doomsday they were facing. Against something they hadn't imagined, even in nightmares, would come to pass. "Yes. Against anything and everything."
She nodded, looking at him as firmly as she could. "Make sure you remember that promise. Be careful, and come back in one piece."
"I will."
She was reluctant to let him go, almost seeming to fight with herself to break contact between them. But she did and, mustering her resolve, looked at him, then at the other guys. "Then do what you have to. Be careful, and make sure you don't underestimate this opponent."
"We'll do that, Senpai," Junpei promised.
"And we'll bring Arisato back," Akihiko-senpai added.
"You had better," Yukari grumbled from the stairs. "And make sure you bring yourselves back alive, too."
Aigis and Fuuka nodded and voiced their encouragements, as did Ken and Koromaru. Minato separated from his girl, looked at her one more time before belting on his sword and Evoker.
With a breath, he looked to his friends. "Let's do this."
It was just before the Dark Hour, and the night was cold and the sky was clear. Traffic was quiet, the pace of life slowed to a crawl even for salarymen and local wage slaves. The location had been one of the first parts of Minato's plan. Symmetry and history suggested that the Midnight Bridge would be a good place to meet Ryoji, but Minato discarded that idea. Even if there was little chance of traffic, he wasn't going to risk someone being caught in the middle of a fight. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he caused a repeat of what happened with Aigis and his family, and he didn't need the distraction of stray memories or unexpected flashbacks. And even if no traffic was involved, there was still the risk of damage to the bridge and people being hurt the minute the Dark Hour ended. Things were bad enough as they were, and the Kirijo Group's resources weren't infinite.
No, Minato had thought about locations and settled on the park near the train station, right along the coast of the island. He could see the Midnight Bridge from here, the park was deserted, and there was enough open space that he would be able to move around if he needed to. Akihiko-senpai and Junpei were talking nearby, waiting for Ryoji and ready in their own way for whatever happened.
Finally, just a few minutes from the Dark Hour, Ryoji emerged from the trees, walking the path and dressed like he always was. Care-free, open, all smiles and laughs, he approached seemingly without a thought or concern for the time. "Junpei! Minato-kun! I'm glad to see you."
"Likewise."
"How can I help you? It must be something important if you wanted to meet this late."
Minato approached him. The distaste was there, stronger than it had been earlier that very day. Was it the close proximity? Or was it because Minato knew what Ryoji was? "There is, but why don't you come over first? When was the last time you were at a playground?"
Ryoji smiled politely, but quirked his head to one side, clearly not expecting the query. "It's... been a long time."
"What was your favorite? The swing? Monkey bars?"
"That's an odd line of questioning, Minato-kun, but I guess the slide suits me best."
"Funny, the slide was always my favourite too. My sister would go down it with me when I was really young."
"That sounds like a good memory. I'm a bit big for the slide now though, and it's been a long time since I was a kid, you know?"
Minato bared his teeth in a humourless smile. The anger rose, and he didn't try to stop it. "It hasn't been that long, Ryoji. Less than a month since you said you had to leave. It was right after we killed the Shadow on the bridge. That one over there, remember?"
Ryoji paused, his expression masked as he looked down and rubbed his face, hiding a little behind his scarf.
"What's the matter? Thinking of a convincing lie? It's okay, you can be honest with your Big Brother, Pharos." There it was, the connecting thread that had been missing all this time. The nagging sense of familiarity, the hints and half-truths he'd been too busy to listen to.
Akihiko-senpai cursed under his breath, and Junpei adjusted his ball cap.
Ryoji's entire bearing shifted. Maybe it was how his eyes had turned lively and laughing but deadly sharp; or maybe it was his stance or mindset, somehow exuding the feeling of a predator baring its fangs; or something else that couldn't be measured or explained. But the affable fool was gone, vanished like a final heartbeat, and the person who smiled coldly at them was both him and not him at the same time.
"That's a mean trick, Onii-chan," Ryoji said in both his voice and that of the absent child, two vocalizations overlapping, every tone striking in discord. "Setting me up and calling me out. You were supposed to help me, weren't you?"
The Dark Hour began, the distortion flowing over them and warping reality. In that instant, they knew that what they were facing was not – could not be – human. Ryoji's body was alight with a soft halo, his face his own and Pharos's and several others, foreign and alien in their striking beauty or indifference. The images were superimposed on each other, and Minato couldn't keep track of which image belonged where, which face went with which body with which voice. It wasn't just two voices, but several shifting in volume and emphasis, all speaking with a weight that pressed against the chest like a gravestone.
Minato shivered in the cold, whipping wind, but his anger kept him warm. "I don't owe anything to someone who lied to me, who used me all this time."
"That's not the whole truth, and you know it. Some of this was necessary, but I was as genuine as I could be."
"Like the stuff about my family? They died because of Death, because of the Dark Hour. Their blood is on your hands, and you co-opted that to use me."
"Aigis chose you as Death's host, Onii-chan. It could have been anyone else, like Minako-chan if she'd lived and you'd died. I'm not to blame for that. And even if I were, there are many forces at play in this. I am just the agent of one of them."
"Stop calling me that. We're not brothers." Minato drew a breath in. "No one in my family is a Shadow."
Ryoji smiled, a haunting expression that cut like ground glass. "A Shadow, and more."
"The Appriser, then? Did I always have that title? Or did you give it to me and that's why you took it when you left?"
Ryoji frowned, and he looked curious, lost. He looked like he did when they'd spoken at the inn, during that conversation that seemed like a dream. "You were the Appriser because of the power I granted you, the control over your Personas and the drive to fight in the Dark Hour. But as that power grew, you assumed that mantle on your own, and now it's something we share. The decision lies with us, you see, though it's a choice in name only. Nyx is coming and it is our role to pave the way for Her arrival. You and the others filled that role quite well, and now everything's wrapping up. Except that you're set on fighting Her to prevent the Fall."
"Nyx will destroy everything. Did you think I wouldn't fight against that? The other option is to roll over and die."
"From anyone else, even those around you, it would be folly to even try. But you have the potential to succeed, a chance to thwart her. It's a miniscule chance, keep in mind – you are talking about fighting a true god. But it does exist."
"Thanks for your vote of confidence. No need to guess which side of the fight you'll be on, is there?"
"I assumed the form of a human because humans have free will. Humans can choose, as you have chosen to fight."
"You're not human. You took that shape because... I'm not even sure why. But you aren't human, not in the ways that matter."
"Are you so certain of that?"
"Yes. If you were human and had the choice you talk about, then you'd be able to choose not to follow Nyx. You could choose to help us and put an end to this before things get any worse. Even if you decided not to, or just got out of the way and didn't pick a side, you'd at least have the option available to you. But you don't, do you? You're wired for one purpose and you can't go against it, can you?"
Ryoji tried to speak, then stopped. He tried again, but couldn't. He shivered as something powerful prevented him, every time, from saying what he wanted to, from even lying about it.
"I think I've made my point," Minato noted after several moments. "You walk around in that form, but any real choice isn't yours to make. Because Death is a servant of Nyx, isn't it?" Those words connected a piece of the puzzle, something he'd wondered for weeks. "It's how the Shadows return to her, isn't it? All the Shadows escaped at first, but Death is the closest to Nyx, so it became her agent to kill the others and send them back. That was why the one on the bridge wanted to die, wasn't it? Its purpose was to die and go back to her, and Death was the means it used to do it. When I wouldn't kill it, that's when Thanatos came out."
"You are smart, Onii-chan," Ryoji said finally. "You found the truth, without relying on the old man."
"Then there's not much else to say, is there? You're the last Shadow, and our job is to kill Shadows." Minato drew his Evoker. "After that, Nyx is all that's left."
Again, Ryoji tried to speak, but a greater force stopped him. Eventually his form began to glow brighter, and his eyes hardened. "So you will kill me, Onii-chan?"
"If it means protecting everyone from you and Nyx, then yes." In Minato's soul, Thanatos began to roil and bubble angrily.
Ryoji smiled. It was an alien smile, and Minato knew then it was the face of the Appriser, the agent of Nyx, that he was looking at. "As much as I am able to, I have a hope that you are strong enough to fight Her. If anyone could, it would be you." He looked at Akihiko-senpai and Junpei. "I understand your desire to aid your comrade, but I would fight him alone. This is between him and me, and I will not extend any leniency to you."
"We're here to help him," Akihiko-senpai growled, glowing as the air crackled around him. "You don't get to–"
A push of raw power rippled in the air, thick as a miasma and rich with the stench of death. Akihiko-senpai and Junpei had to back up, just outside its reach. "I respect your loyalty, but I must insist," Ryoji intoned. "Don't cross that line or you will die. Even your regeneration won't save you, Junpei, and I would rather not destroy you."
Minato waved them back, sweating in the face of this thing's power and at the strain of keeping Thanatos back. The atmosphere Ryoji had created was suffocating, but Minato could still fight in it. A remnant effect of hosting Death, in all likelihood.
"If you are intent upon killing me, then show me the power that will stop Nyx and prevent the Fall. Show me what your mettle looks–"
With a gasp, Minato's control slipped. With a furious roar that shook the earth, Thanatos broke free and manifested in a flash. It raced at Ryoji faster than should have been possible, chains flying and sword raised in a blow that would annihilate him, would split the world asunder, if it connected.
It didn't.
Something flashed into existence from Ryoji's feet, a figure that flew forward like black mercury, slipped between Thanatos's sword and chains–
–and slammed the end of a gun into its helmet, breaking into where its mouth was, cocking the hammer and rotating a cylinder that ended whole species, and blew Thanatos's head off.
The gunshot was like a cannon going off, breaking the air with the same force Thanatos had possessed a second before. The helmet exploded into silver shards, blood and light splattering back, carrying the body with it... and then it vanished into the Dark Hour without a sound before it could land.
Akihiko-senpai and Junpei gaped at Thanatos's destruction, the ender of lives so easily brought low. Minato grit his teeth against the feedback pain and looked at who, or what, could do something like that. He nearly forgot the headache when he saw what it was.
The figure swayed back, floating above the ground, bearing such power that it bent the very gravity of the Dark Hour such that it had no need for legs. Tattered robes hung on what might or might not have been a corporeal body, a dark hood over a ghostly face, one glowing red eye that promised the immediate end of existence for all it fell upon. Two enormous revolvers composed of wailing souls and maddening promises of extinction, surrounded by a wind of screams that made entire generations fear sleep for the nightmares.
It was a figure familiar from two encounters in Tartarus, where they'd had to run or be destroyed. A figure that had trumped any of their efforts and reminded them of their mortality simply by existing: The Reaper. It hovered behind Ryoji, awaiting his order or wish as though destroying a Persona was easy work.
No one in SEES would have imagined this if they hadn't just seen it.
Ryoji shook his head. "For shame, Onii-chan. I understand that you have gotten stronger, but to rely on something that base, that crude... if that's the most you can do, then I'm disappointed."
"We can't have little Pharos disappointed," Minato gritted, glaring and grinning, "can we?"
"Very cute. Truly, do you think Nyx would fall to the very power she gave you?"
Minato laughed, running through his mental catalogue of Personas. Without Thanatos taking up all that room and making so much noise, he could think and focus now. A dozen other voices rose to his attention, each ready for a fight. "She didn't give me anything I didn't earn, Ryoji, and that's something you'd probably never understand. But then, you wouldn't know about the work that actually went into fighting the Shadows, would you?"
Ryoji's eyes narrowed. It seemed he was human enough to be annoyed by trash talk. "I was there too, Onii-chan. It was my power that helped you in the first place."
"You were a hanger-on, Ryoji. An unwanted distraction and a tagalong while we did the heavy lifting. If you want a proper image, then you were a tapeworm. A parasite."
Ryoji hissed his breath in, and The Reaper's aura tripled in intensity, bowling him back as its power amplified. "You're about to die. Will those be your last words?"
Minato felt the edges of a phantom card in his hand, held behind his back. It vanished, and a throaty chuckle accompanied by the susurration of serpent scales echoed in his mind. "It's the truth. I was there, you weren't, and now that you have to get your hands dirty because your Big Brother can't help you, you're going to choke."
The Reaper screamed, blazed bright with lightning, and fired. Raw energy ripped across the intervening distance, homing in on Minato, who stood and did nothing. He smiled when the force hit him – and then rebounded back, even stronger, into The Reaper's face. The reflection had gone up just in time, and Minato fired his Evoker, striking The Reaper with its own power and as much of Lilith's as he could spare. The entity roared in rage, knocked back with ragged holes in its robes, twisting reality and space to rebuild its shorn and seared arm.
"One of us tagged along for the ride back then," Minato began, his tarot deck alight and spinning around him. "And one of us actually did the fighting. This is the difference real work makes." Without hesitating, he chose a different card and pressed his advantage. Archangel Michael rushed forward, taking bullets from The Reaper and striking with a flaming blade that ignited The Reaper's body. One, two, four cuts raked The Reaper's form before Michael stabbed the creature, but was shredded by its counterattack.
Before Michael could be completely destroyed, Minato changed it out and grabbed another card, summoning Surt. The burning giant sent a firestorm against Ryoji, igniting the very air and pushing Minato back from the yellow-hot flames. He couldn't see through it, and couldn't even breathe, and The Reaper shrieked.
That had to have done someth–
The flames wavered and were blown out by a press of air so stagnant that nothing could survive on it. Minato held his breath and watched as The Reaper glared at him hatefully, charred and furious. At Ryoji's snap of a finger, its power amplified. Minato knew that Lilith wouldn't work again, and when the blast came, he held a hand up and cast the battlefield in red light. The Reaper's attack broke against Alilat, the impervious guardian looking out for him in Mitsuru's stead.
Minato switched cards again, and Scathach cut at The Reaper from the dark. Even as the entity tried to catch her in its crosshairs, she slipped away at the last second, and just as Ryoji seemed to figure out her attack patterns, Minato picked another card. Thor emerged, lighting the ground around them in electric blue. The Persona sent its hammer flying at The Reaper and struck a blow so solid that the trees blew back on the impact. The Reaper lunged forward, sweeping a ghostly hand at Minato, and Thor could only fight back in brutal melee. The concussions of power drove the poisonous air back, set Minato back a couple steps, and when Thor struck at an opening, The Reaper shrieked and disintegrated into a hissing puddle of muck.
Minato breathed out, sweating from his efforts, and turned to see–
Ryoji, rushing up with a curved blade in hand.
Thor jumped in the way, but Ryoji cut the Persona down with two lightning-fast slices. Minato had just enough time to draw his sword and block a strike that would have opened his neck.
"You didn't think that was the end, did you?" Ryoji, and the other voices inside him, asked lightly.
Minato choked out a chuckle, binding their blades and cutting right back, getting his footing and adjusting his grip. "Hardly. I just thought that you'd remember why I stopped using Japanese swords."
"Because of your ego, wasn't it?"
"It's hardly ego if it's the truth; no one could beat me with them."
"Mitsuru-san didn't have that problem, if I recall."
Minato barked a laugh. "If she beat me, then she'd run circles around you. Theory versus practice, remember?"
Ryoji lunged and Minato cut, their blades rasping and scraping as they parried and slipped under each other's strikes. The exertion felt good, the burn of muscle and the pumping of blood, the movements familiar. Ryoji was fast and skilled, but his movements were mirroring Minato's. Because Minato knew how he'd fight, which tricks he'd use, he knew how to move around them. More than once he came close with a counter cut that would have opened Ryoji's leg or stomach.
Minato's armour also showed its wear every time Ryoji got a lucky strike in, but that was what it was there for.
Their blades binded again, and each pushed for the advantage. Ryoji grabbed at Minato in a flash, Minato's sharp footwork sparing his eyes from being gouged. It was close, though, and when Ryoji's hand touched him, Minato's mind trembled at the feeling of what was behind the skin and flesh of his opponent: power and death. The eradication of life without thought or intent, destruction simply for its own sake. Nyx's looming pressure grew, the shortened lifespan of the world ticking away with days and weeks left.
Minato lashed out, taking a cut across the chest but slicing into Ryoji's arm. Blood spilled for a moment, but then stopped. What was under the cut wasn't flesh and muscle, but black, twisting power. The facsimile of an arm was restored, but there was no disputing what he'd seen.
It was ice water on adrenaline, cold running through him with the full realization of what he'd seen. "It was all bullshit, wasn't it?" he grated, stepping back.
"What's that?"
"Your talk about choice, about things mattering to you. It seemed for a minute like you might have had the capacity to choose, either Nyx or us, like if you'd had enough human experiences you might decide differently. But you can't, can you? Because humans can choose and you're not human, you can't even pretend to be human." Loathing had entered Minato's voice as it became clear. He'd been prepared to fight, sure, but fighting wasn't enough now. Facts and distractions fell away leaving simple logic behind.
Ryoji was a Shadow. Shadows had to die. Therefore...
It was more than a mere thought this time. Minato was struck by a marrow-deep killing fury, a desire that felt as natural as a heartbeat.
You
must
DIE.
Every fight, every sacrifice to get this far, every wound and injury and victory rang in his ears. He remembered his promise to Mitsuru, the promise to come back. He'd do one better: he'd finish things here and now.
A black card appeared in his hand, scribed with a jagged XVII on its face. He pulled deep, drove past the resistance of summoning something that was beyond him. He drew on the Persona with all the fury and force of will he could muster, pushing past any boundary and throwing all of himself into the struggle.
He went blind with sweat, his body hot and cold, heavy and sore and trying to fly apart. Even Thanatos hadn't been a burden like this, hadn't taxed him this much. But he was nearly there. Almost, almost...
Then it gave. The spiritual strain of carrying Death for a decade had given him a deep reservoir to pull from, just enough to tip the balance. Power arose from the sea of his soul in an up-rush of energy and light that turned the card incandescent in his hand. Minato's body trembled as the words, "I am thou," ran around him, gentle as a whisper, but it was the whisper of a divinity. Six wings spread, marble skin and perfect features serene, light radiating from the favoured angel before his terrible fall.
The Light Bearer had answered. Its eyes opened, its power gathered in radiant arcs that shone in the Dark Hour, and Minato knew it would be enough. Knew that it had to be.
What Minato, dizzy and set on his struggle, didn't see was the conflicted look on Ryoji's face. He didn't see the impact of those words or how the sword had disappeared, hadn't seen the expressions on Ryoji's face that seemed eager, resigned, glad, and afraid in seconds each. Likely, Minato wouldn't have stopped even if he had seen them, even if he'd known their significance.
The emotion that settled on Ryoji's immortal face, however, was resolve. Not the resolve of Death or Nyx's agent, but the resolve of a human, and for an instant, he resembled the little boy rather than the adolescent. Darkness radiated from Ryoji, the blackest figure imaginable forming behind him; the end result of that six-winged angel, cast from Heaven to rule over the blackest, barest Hell. Power roared around Ryoji, a perfect counterbalance to Minato, and because of the noise in Minato's own head, he didn't hear the words spoken to him:
"I can't let you do this. If you kill me, you'll set something in motion you can never take back. I won't let you do that, Onii-chan. This is my choice."
Both combatants extended a hand at the other, letting their power loose. Light and dark crashed into each other, colliding and whipping around and ripping into reality. Opposite forces twisted, each seeking weak points, racing through cracks and whirling in a sphere that lit the Dark Hour and shrouded it, second by second. Noise roared and wind whirled, the impact of the collision pressing organs to the spine and ribs. Minato pushed hard, exerting every ounce of his will, trying to eliminate his enemy once and for all.
He failed.
The light dimmed, wavered, and disappeared. Minato fell to his knees, unable to stand or even raise his head, empty of any energy he had left. The darkness he'd pushed against, it vanished as well. Ryoji stood there. None of the other faces were present, and he was left diminished, but looked resolute.
Minato had thrown everything he had into that fight, and it wasn't enough. He could barely keep his eyes open, and he knew he was dead the moment anything came at him. He wouldn't even see it coming, let alone have the chance to do something about it. But seconds passed and Ryoji didn't retaliate. Footsteps approached from behind him. Right, the others...
Ryoji requested, calm as could be and sounding like they were at school, "Could you look after him? He's going to need some rest after this."
"What, that's it?" Junpei asked while Akihiko-senpai got under Minato's arm and lifted him. "You're done just like that?"
"Yes. Our match is over."
"You're not going to kill him? What about us?"
"As I said, this is over."
"So what now?" Akihiko-senpai asked.
The last thing Minato heard, before he fell unconscious, was, "I'll be by on the night of the full moon, four days from now. I have a few things to explain. Please take care of him until then."
Minato didn't see Ryoji turn and leave unmolested, walk into the trees, dark as the void, and vanish into the night. By then, he didn't see anything at all.
