has booted up again. (thanks Yuki!)
Back with this. A pretty brutal and sad chapter ahead so just warning.
Guest : Glad I inspired some terror with my bad writing. :P and yes, I am cruel but eh, everything happens for a reason here.
Guest 2: I'm not that merciful. Minato would have battled against Sho and it would have been much easier for him. This is going to test him because he isn't going to hurt Hamuko.
Guest 3: Yes. As a matter of fact, the lemon is already done, my co-author was swarmed with work so I had to write most of it *facepalm*. Now it's just about getting to that part before 2018 because deadline.
The city was in panic and the united screaming of the citizens of Iwatodai was grating to everyone as it pure torture to their ears but at the same time nobody could bring themselves to even move or think of running into the city and calming the people down because what happened in front of them was far more horrifying.
"H-Hamuko…" Minato didn't know whether to take a step forward or backwards as he was hopeful and terrified at the same time. Hamuko was standing there, not hunched, not hurt, not transformed into an ugly demon; everything was the same except for the mask on her face and the aura of a God rolling off her in waves.
The agonizing shouts from the citizens continued but for some reason, despite a stampede happening all around the island, nobody came running into the area, most likely because they had felt her, felt the Night Queen.
"Are you…" Minato ended up taking a step forward, holding out his hand. Hamuko was still quiet, breathing very faintly. "H-Hamuko?"
There was response.
Mitsuru gulped, wanting to yell at Minato to get the hell away but she was a little too occupied with the questions in her head because the Dark Hour was over minutes ago and yet everything was the same, the only difference being that the people were out of their coffins.
Hamuko breathed out and her voice was almost the same, giving Minato some more hope.
"Don't do it," Fuuka said, biting her lip. "Minato-kun, stop…."
Minato just didn't some fucking good news for once in the day as everything was falling apart and so he reached out to grab her shoulder, hoping and praying that Hamuko would be normal-
Hamuko snapped her head in his direction and sent the blue haired boy flying for yards with a quick smash to the side of his face, fast and accurate to the point that almost nobody could-
"Minato!" Akihiko yelled but was silenced when Hamuko roared out to the skies, clenching her fists and bringing them down to unleash a brutal wave of darkness that crashed into their bodies, blowing them far away.
"Shit," Sho had managed to block the attack but had no idea what to do. Attack Hamuko? Yell at her to get her senses? Just wait and take her attacks!?
"Pathetic and weak," Hamuko spoke, her voice familiar but at the same edge, it had an unusual edge and certain coldness, somewhat similar to Ryoji. The rest got up and the redhead took a look around, mumbling something under her breath. "You defied fate and I will punish you for that, especially you."
She pointed at Minato who had gotten up to his feet, a bruise on his face because her punching power had gone through the roof.
"Boy," Hamuko said. "I will make an example out of you."
"She's not Hamuko anymore," Yukari panted. Holy hell, what were they supposed to do? She had a few spats with Hamuko before but the idea of fighting her never crossed her mind before and she couldn't imagine hurting her in front of Minato.
"Hamuko snap out of it," Minato almost pleaded, knowing he couldn't even a point at her. From all the possible victims, the mask chose the last person he wanted to face.
The zombies stood, some of them even bowing at the possessed female because their goddess had arrived and despite having no wills or souls, the lost felt a good deal stronger just by her presence alone.
SEES were already exhausted after their desperate attempt to help Minato but the biggest drain on them mentally was the fact that their teammate was now an enemy and they had no idea how to deal with that.
Hamuko kept her stare on Minato, the boy who had stood up against Death, the boy who had disrespected him, had bloodied and beaten him and he was going to pay in blood for what he did.
"Are you going to strike?" Hamuko asked.
"…"
"Are you, boy?" she spat.
Sho looked over at Minato and cussed, knowing that his leader had already lost the battle as he looked like a lost kid out there. There was no chance he was going to attack Hamuko, he could but Minato was not going to appreciate that either….
Minato took a step back-
"Kill them all!"
The zombies nearby listened and shouted in unison, displaying a massive boost in speed and strength as they ran over to the persona users and latched on them, biting and clawing their flesh and crowding them with sheer numbers-
"Guys!" Minato was snapped out of the miserable trance by their screams but Hamuko had other plans for him-
Minato moved out of the way of the first punch and she bolted, running into him and picking him up with ease. She grabbed a harsh grip around his throat and hair before slamming his head first into the ground. All of that happened quickly and in one fluid motion and Minato had no idea what just hit him.
"Minato!" Sho bolted after overpowering the nearby zombies. He pushed the blade into his sheath and clenched his fists because there was no way he was going to cut her-
Hamuko looked in his direction and fired a razor of reddish black energy with a simple wave of her hand, sending Sho flying to the horde of zombies that quickly ganged up on him, pushing him down and keeping him glued to the ground.
Minato got up and bolted, clenching his fist and rifling it towards Hamuko as soon as she turned and laughed as the punch stopped shy of her face and Minato winced, just losing control halfway through and by now, he realized that he was in for a beating for a life and nothing was going to save him.
"Fool!" a nasty slap to the side of his face made him stumble but he managed to dodge her rush, quickly whipped around and looking to make a run to save his friends and get the hell out of-
Hamuko grabbed a fistful of his hair and ripped him back, grabbed a hold of his neck, gave a brutal twist and then smashed his face into the ground as hard as she could, sending the other teenagers on high alert because it looked as if she had broken his neck-
Minato's body trembled when she stomped onto the back of his head, laughed and mocked him for being a pathetic mortal and then raised her boot up to stomp the back of his neck and kill him on the spot as he laid motionless under her-
"Tarukaja!"
The teenagers screamed in unison and powered their way through the zombies holding them, rushing forward at full speed to save their leader from certain death-
Hamuko just screeched in their direction, her red eyes glowing with a demonic glint that was frightening enough to stop their charge but Sho was kept his running, albeit more slowly because this was his fault to begin with-
Hamuko held out her hand towards the children and they froze, gasping in shock as some invisible force took a hold of them and then took them high into the skies where they struggled to break through whatever was holding them but found it impossible as every time they tried, the hold around them intensified, knocking the breath out of their lungs-
With a wave of her hand, the teenagers were sent flying through the air at speeds faster their own bodies could generate and following the movements of her hand and fingers, they started crashing into each other brutally, over and over again, high up in the sky where they kept colliding, head into head, spine into knee, body into body with sickening sounds coming from the collisions-
"No," Minato had gotten up and he bolted, cupping her ankle and throwing her down to the ground, finally releasing the telekinetic hold around his friends. As soon as he was down, Minato pushed himself forward and grabbed a hold of the edges of the mask, looking to pull-
Hamuko punched him in the middle of his throat and he coughed out blood but still refused to let go until the next punch threw him off of her-
Minato got up again and tackled her, grabbing the edges of the mask and pulling as hard as he could, looking to free Hamuko from the evil spirit that haunted the mask-
"What the fuck!?" Minato cried out in pain and his hands went numb, mind rendered blank momentarily when he saw blood running down the edges of her face, blood from her bare skin and not from the mask as he could see the wounds he had opened up by applying pressure. He immediately released the hold around her and scrambled backwards, only for Hamuko to smash the unbreakable mask on his forehead, pricking it and opening up a shower of blood that splattered on her.
"Stupid boy!" Hamuko kicked him on the open wound and sent him flying before turning her attention to the injured teenagers. She held her hands down towards the ground and looked up at the skies, summoning a thick circle of darkness under her feet that expanded rapidly and then opened up like some sort of portal, worrying Mitsuru and Fuuka because they knew what was coming-
Within mere moments, Hamuko summoned dozens of new shadows and they burst from the darkness on the ground, streaked over to the persona user and started mauling them with sheers numbers along with the zombies, eliciting more screams of pain-
"Minato!" Sho endured the bites and claws on his body and desperately tried to run over and save him because Hamuko…. Or rather, Nyx was straight up abusing him by repeatedly targeting the fresh wound on his forehead, stomping, kneeing and even pushing her finger into the wound so she could get her hand in there and rip his skull out.
Minato vomited due to the increase in intracranial pressure and started seeing double. Soon his side visions started darkening and his mind kicked into instincts, yelling at him to get the hell away and he started pushing himself backwards but he was not able to get away until Hamuko smashed her knee into his jaw and kicked him away-
"Holy shit…" Akihiko breathed out. Nyx was merciless in her attacks and she made sure to cause maximum punishment if she couldn't outright kill him in one shot. "W-What the hell are we dealing with…!?"
Hamuko hardened her vocal cords and let out another bloodcurdling scream towards the skies, painfully brutal and just outright horrendous to listen to as a splitting headaches started pounding against their heads and above, even the skies started dividing because of the sheer pitch of the shout which was heard all around the city as Nyx wanted to let them know that the goddess had arrived and the city belonged to her.
Upon her call, the shadows started running out to the streets, attacking whoever was in sight. Another widespread panic spread over the demon city of Iwatodai as nobody else had even seen the shadows before, those who did couldn't remember it.
A stampede broke out as the civilians started running for their lives, their screams further panicking the teenagers because they were the only ones capable of defending them and yet they were at the complete mercy of Hamuko, held down by the shadows and Nyx-
"Persona!"
Phantom slashes went off in different directions, cutting through the shadows and giving Sho enough room to move forward and he quickly did, his persona sending the shadows flying and freeing the other members of SEES. They quickly grabbed their weapons to counterattack but Sho had something else in mind-
"Retreat!" Sho shouted. "Split up right now! We can communicate using Fuuka, run for your fucking lives!"
As soon as he said that, Sho ran ahead to clash with Hamuko, suffering a brutal punch to his nose and he quickly moved and held out his chin, taking the punch to the side of his face which sent him rolling backwards, in the direction of Minato-
Sho quickly grabbed a hold of Minato and screamed, evoking the Lunar God and covering the area with dense darkness. "RUN!" he shouted and heard rapid footsteps, indicating the others had listened to his advice and were on the run-
Hamuko flicked her hand and the darkness dissipated and she chuckled at the sight of Sho holding onto a battered Minato but there was no way he was getting out alive.
The boy was a sinner.
He had defied the gods and needed to suffer and what better suffering than to get killed by the girl he loved. He was too devoted to fight back and too shook to actually plan something and with all that, Nyx knew his death was going to be horrendous, unless she could think of something else….
"Time get to worship," Hamuko said and bolted-
Sho kept the hold around Minato and a surge of dark energy spawned beneath his feet, cloaked the two and took them away from the area, missing Hamuko's charge by mere inches-
The possessed redhead found her ground and shook her head, clenching her fists to get a feel of her new vessel. It was strong, much stronger than she had anticipated and her personas, her masks were nothing to scoff at either. She hadn't seen Minato fight back but she knew he was no match.
This was merely a fraction.
A figment…
A dot…
Insignificant but enough to deal with the weaklings in the world…
The fall was still going to happen and every living thing on the planet was going to perish but before putting an end to the life in the entire world she was looking forward to take over Iwatodai and slaughter Minato, break him and show him his place a filthy mortal who had committed the ultimate sin.
Another series of deafening screams were heard all around the city because Nyx had arrived and she had brought hell over with her.
…
Akihiko punched the last shadow off the victim and yelled at the others to the run and run they, like bats out of hell as Mitsuru and Yukari regained their breaths on the ground. Soon enough, Akihiko collapsed down too, panting hard because he had gotten the holy hell beaten out of him out there.
"This is a nightmare," Mitsuru breathed out. "I never imagined it would come down to this…"
"Imagine what Minato must be going through," Yukari winced, almost tearing up when she remembered the merciless beating he took and the fact that Hamuko was doing it made it all the more painful for him. "Dammit, why did this all happen!?"
"Nyx is terrifying," Akihiko breathed out, pulling on his silver hair. "Why does this never seem to end? First Ryoji and now Nyx…. I was petrified out there…"
"We are facings Gods," Mitsuru said as she stood up. "And I do not mean that lightly, these are literal Gods worshipped and praised by millions."
"This seems so hopeless," Yukari mumbled, leaning her head against the wall to regain her breath. She looked around the area and sighed as there was nothing different. The sky was green, the moon was yellow and water was blood. "So, so hopeless…"
"Remember, all seemed hopeless with Ryoji too," Mitsuru reminded. "And yet we are still alive, we fought against the God of Death and came out of the dungeon with our lives, Yukari."
"We had Minato back then," the brunette replied.
"We still have him," Mitsuru said. "And he is not the type to die so easily. Have faith and…." she picked up her sword after hearing some more growls. "Keep working. We have to protect the people here."
The other two nodded and picked up their weapons, rushing towards the shadows and zombies but there was one horrible question on their minds: If nothing else worked, would they have to kill her….?
…
"Are they safe?" Junpei asked and Fuuka nodded, having relayed the message to Mitsuru as well, much to her relief. "Yes, Sho and Minato are safe, thank goodness…"
"Thank God," Junpei gave a sigh, almost collapsing backwards. He rubbed his head and leaned against the wall. "I was worried…"
Juno disappeared and Fuuka stepped out, patting Ken on the shoulder because he looked visibly distraught.
"I thought the last month was going to be peaceful," Ken said, looking down at his shoes. "Then this happened…"
"Ryoji did say he cursed us," Junpei reminded. "Over and over and over again…"
"This never ending Dark Hour worries me," Fuuka said. "People won't have any decent means of defending themselves against the shadows, no transportation to run away either."
"I see a lot casualties happening," Junpei admitted. "To make this all worse, our team is lacking firepower. The strongest one of us right now is Sho. Hamuko is gone. Aigis is gone. Minato is…. I don't see him fighting her…"
"He can fight the shadows," Ken said. "While we take care of…. Hamuko-senpai…."
"Take care how?" Fuuka questioned. "Minato pulled the mask with all he had and nothing happened…."
"There is no way we are killing her either," Junpei declared. "She's my best friend and not to mention, Minato will kill all of us if we even say that to him."
"What do we then!?" Ken screamed.
"We wait…" Fuuka said. "And pray…. For another miracle…"
Without Minato, a miracle seemed hopeless….
…
Sho was exhausted and beaten and yet he still picked Minato up and kept running. He sighed in relief when the blunet started regaining his senses. "Oh thank fuck," he cried and stopped, putting him down and looking around the place, noting that there was nobody else around, thankfully.
"Hey," Sho sat down next to Minato on the ground and mulled over his words as Minato squeezed the massive gash on his forehead, trying to close it up and stop the shower of blood. "Are you alright?"
"Fucking…" Minato cursed. "Do I look alright to you!?"
Sho noted that his voice was hoarse and he brushed that off to pain and stress. He sighed and panted some more, the repeated summoning taking a toll on him but at least they got out of there with their lives.
"What do we do now?" Sho asked.
"I-I don't know," Minato said, face still lowered and his bangs obscuring his eyes and most of his face. "I-I just don't know what to do…."
"Better find a solution fast," Sho said, hearing the screams coming from miles away. "A lot of people are going to die if we don't do something."
"…"
"Minato?"
"…"
"Hey, Minato!"
Sho was expecting a snap, a shove or just even a slap, just an explosion of anger from him but to his surprise; he heard something he never thought he'd get out of him.
A whimper…
"Minato…?" Sho couldn't help but lean forward and true enough, Minato was whimpering and sniffing, shaking and shivering like he had never seen before.
"I-I don't get it," Minato's voice was completely cracked at this point and the sniffles coming from him meant he was just about ready to cry. "Why did it come to this….? Why her….? Why me….?"
Sho widened his eyes when he saw a few tears running down his face and dropping onto his hands, tears…..the psychotic teenager was actually crying….
Sho had seen him cry before, he cried a whole lot during when Ryoji roamed the earth but Sho always told himself that was not the real Minato. The real Minato was the psychopathic, fearless warrior, the one who was strong enough to harness death….
He could still smell the scent of death and feel the power of it… and yet he was crying….
He had never seen his fearless leader and rival cry…. Not the real one….
Minato looked up and tears were streaming down his face and his eyes were clenched shut tightly, in denial and the horror of the situation because this was his worst nightmare.
"Fuck!" Minato cried louder, his scream echoing in the area. "What did I do to deserve this!? I've suffered enough already so why!? Why does this keep happening!? Tell me why!"
Sho had no answer and Minato kept crying, burying his face into his palms, not caring about how ugly he looked or the fact that his rival was right next to him, watching on with wide eyes what was most likely his most vulnerable state he had ever seen.
"Dammit…" Minato cursed, voice breaking and breath hitching inside of his throat. "Hamuko…" he recalled hre beating the shit out of him a few minutes ago and he knew more of that was in store because there was no way he was going to fight back, not against her. "This is all my fault…"
Sho widened his eyes. No, this was HIS fault….
He had raised the ruckus and forced Minato out of the dorm. Hamuko getting possessed was his fault, not Minato's….
"Fuck," Minato cursed, forcing his breath out and stumbling as his vision got blurry. His head started pounded and he stumbled, almost falling down until Sho caught him and Minato rested his head on his shoulder for support. "Fuck this all…."
His breathing became shallow but he kept sobbing, straining to get the air in his lungs with his forehead still on Sho's shoulder. The redheaded male sat in stunned silence for a couple of seconds before looking up at the sky and recalling old memories.
He had wanted this….
There was no point in making the broken Minato cry because he was a weakling. This one was the real deal, the strongest dude in the world.
For so many months he had wanted to see this. He made it his life mission to see Minato like this and make him feel like this, make the psychotic bastard cry because there was no sweeter victory than that….
Sho recalled daydreaming about the moment and he had even prepared lines to mock Minato and now here he was, a whimpering and sobbing mess holding onto him for support, at his mercy and looking back at it, Sho was the only who made him cry as the whole thing was his fault and he had completed one of his goals by breaking him down…
"Minato…"
Yet, the whole thing felt empty….
He expected to feel joy, pride and victory but he was feeling the exact opposite.
He felt angry, at fault but most of all, looking at the blunet cry made him miserable as despair bubbled in his chest. He had finally made him cry, not in battle and not by giving him a wound, he made him cry because he fucked up and it cost Minato someone he loved above all else.
Minato sniffed again and Sho moved his hand, cupping and squeezing his shoulder as he tried extra hard to get his own breath out as the whole thing was suffocating but he took a deep breath to calm himself down just so he could console his rival, leader and friend...
A friend in need….
"Hey, Minato," Sho forced him to look up and stared into his puffy red eyes, trying to sound calm and composed as possible but it was difficult and he couldn't believe he was doing this. He hated whimpering, the sound sickened him and tears were for weaklings….. but not when it came to Minato and not when it was his fault.
"I promise you," Sho said. "I promise you man, we'll bring Hamuko back."
Minato cringed.
"Come on man, don't cry," Sho pleaded, exhaling. "I agree with Hamuko on this, I think you're the toughest guy ever, the strongest persona user ever, being venerable just doesn't suit you."
"…"
"I'm sorry," Sho apologized. "I'm sorry okay? This is my fault… I grew paranoid of you and then this happened. This is my entire fault…. Hamuko got possessed because of me…"
"Since this is my fault, I promise you," Sho continued. "I swear on Minazuki and I swear on our friendship, I will do whatever it takes to bring Hamuko back, even if it costs me my life."
Minato took a deep breath and started calming down somewhat, to hear that much support from someone like Sho was encouraging and his voice was sincere and he was pleading him to stop crying because he couldn't take it.
Sho smiled a little when Minato sat straight and looked up, closing his eyes and wiping the tears on his face. He inhaled as much air as he could and gave out a soft sigh, exhaling moments later to breathe out and calm himself down.
"Thanks Sho," Minato said, nodding at him. "I-I owe you one…"
"You don't, I owe you one," Sho replied.
"I know you are going to say that you should have fought back," Minato said. "My head was telling me to attack and that was Nyx, not Hamuko but my heart…. My stupid heart-"
"I understand," Sho said. "I wouldn't be able to attack you if you got possessed…"
Minato widened his eyes. To think that Sho would show all of the maturation right now…. It was obvious that their bond had changed him because he would have never expected the old Sho to console him, take blame and then swear to right his wrong and give his life away to bring two loved ones together.
"Thanks man," Minato got up and Sho followed. The two friends looked over at the city and took a step forward. "I really needed that one…"
"Are you ready to work?"
"Yeah, I'll try," Minato said. "Hamuko is everything to me. She's literally my life preserver if I'm lost. The pain, the suffering, the blood, the sweat, the tears, all of the problems in my life, I can handle all of that as long as she's next to me…."
"I'm not going to attack her back because I can't," Minato said. "But that doesn't mean I'll sit on my hands anymore. I'll do something…"
"We'll do something," Sho corrected.
"Yeah," Minato chuckled softly. "Come on, let's go, I can definitely kill some shadows."
After running into the city, Minato and Sho slowed down somewhat when they heard some commotion and a familiar voice.
"Hamuko…" Minato said as he moved with caution with Sho right behind him. With every step, they got closer and closer to the voice and soon, they were in hearing distance.
"What's going on…?" Sho asked.
Minato poked his head out slightly and saw Hamuko standing in the middle of people, shadows and zombies, the wretched mask still on her face and the aura of a God still around her, most likely the reason why people were staring at her like they had seen something outworldly.
Minato got a better look and saw a number of wounds on the humans, indicating that the shadows and zombies were attacking them before Hamuko came to stop them…. But for what reason…?
"This world will soon come to an end," Hamuko said and pointed at the falling moon, a hot topic of conversation with doomsday cults and end of the world believers. "Do you believe me…?"
Most of the people nodded their head yes, unable to say no because she just oozed fear but at the same time, they believed her because they couldn't doubt a goddess.
"Don't talk," Minato said. "Not a sound…."
Sho nodded and strained his ears to listen more.
"If you want to live, you will worship me," Hamuko said. "If you want to be safe from their attacks…" she pointed at the horde of shadows and the zombies and they grunted, bowing at the queen to show they were obedient. "You will do as I say, is that understood?"
The nearby people nodded.
"Will you worship me, pray to me and do my bidding with nothing but devotion, is that clear?" Hamuko asked and got another round of nods.
"Hm," Hamuko held out her palm and clenched it into a fist, literally exploding the heads of a few people, much to the shock and horror of the rest and the two persona users as the beheaded corpses slumped down and started gushing out blood. "I despise lies…. And these fools were not honest. Pray to me as I am God. Devote your life to me for I am Nyx."
The humans grew more fearful and bowed at her feet, drawing out a laugh from Hamuko. She clapped her hands and forced them to look up but ordered them to keep bowing because that was their place.
"I also have to inform you of a select few individuals," Hamuko said. "They are easily noticeable if you look close enough as they can summon mythical creatures… and one of them…. a blue haired boy…"
Minaot gulped and hid behind the building, pulling his head back and just listening.
"I want him next to me feet, is that understood?"
"Yes!"
The group nodded with fear in their hearts and took off running to search for the teenagers because the goddess wanted them. Hamuko looked around for a while and then walked off with her army behind her, mumbling something about summoning towers and more shadows.
Minato came out as soon as she left, looking over the unfortunate few people who had their heads blown off with a simple motion of her hand.
"She's gotten more powerful than even you," Sho said, stepping out from behind the building. "And this whole cult thing doesn't look good…"
"No doubt she's more powerful," Minato said. "Hamuko was already pretty strong and Nyx just added to her strength…"
"I'm not mocking you and it's honestly a compliment but…" Sho sighed. "You're pretty much the only one who can handle her beat downs because crazy resilient."
"Not looking forward to that-"
Fast footsteps alerted them and Minato knew she was coming back. "Let's move…" he took a look around the place and checked his pocket. "Bingo…" they were close to the mall and he knew just the place to hide for the time being.
"Follow me,"
Sho ran after him and the two made their way to the mall and the back alley. Minato pulled out the Velvet Key and gave it to Sho who took a step back when he saw a giant blue door appear outta nowhere. "What the fuck man!? This is some voodoo shit!"
"Do you see a door!?"
"Y-Yeah," Sho responded and Minato grabbed his collar, kicked the door open and threw Sho inside. He looked back and knew Hamuko was still walking nearby. He ran into the velvet room and slammed the door shut.
"Welcome, Minato-sama!"
"Sama!?" Sho gawked and the realized the girl who said this was the same girl who healed Minato after the battle with Theodore… and she looked a lot like him. "W-Where am I!?"
"Welcome to the Velvet Room…. I will allow this just for now," Igor said, staring at Minato who walked up to the table and slammed his fist down.
"Igor, you probably know what is going on," Minato panted. "H-Hamuko, she-"
"She is possessed, yes?" Igor said. "Taken over by the Night Queen…"
"Is that really Nyx...?" Minato asked.
"Yes but a mere fraction," Igor explained. "A drop of water in an ocean. Her true power is far more terrifying."
Minato's shoulders slumped and he looked down. This was just a fraction...?
"How does this old guy know?" Sho blinked. "Does that nose help or something because supernatural looking."
Igor frowned but chose to ignore him. He looked Minato in the eye and continued. "Your world has been thrown into hell and will remain there as long as Nyx walks the earth."
"I'm not concerned with the world," Minato spat, widening Igor's eyes until he took his words back. "Sorry, didn't mean that- Just tell me, what can I do…!?"
"There is a mirror…." Igor said. "That will remove the hold around Hamuko… They say it was created by a demon and had the ability to reflect only the bad things in the individual."
Minato widened his eyes. "W-Where can I find that mirror?" he asked. "Tell me, I'll go around the whole world if I have to!"
Igor held out his hand and a golden frame materialized in his grip. It was fairly large and covered with several diamond and other jewels but it was not a mirror, more like a frame with the glass missing.
Minato took it from Igor and glanced at it. "This is not a mirror you old fool!" he spat.
"Minato-sama," Elizabeth said, holding out her and telling him to calm down.
"This is not a mirror, do I just pick one and shove it inside," Minato hissed. "My girlfriend is out there and you are still fucking playing games-"
"There is still an evil in your soul," Igor said and Sho leaned in closer, listening attentively. "Calm down and listen to me…"
Minato took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, gesturing him to go on.
"You must find the glass shards as they were broken by Nyx," Igor said. "Complete the mirror and force her to look at it."
"Where do I find the shards?" Minato asked.
"In the towers of the Gods," Igor replied, cryptic as ever.
"I am getting tired of your bullshit," Minato said, eye surging with hatred and bloodlust, much like Ryoji. "Give me an answer, straight; are the glass shards in Tartarus?"
"No…"
"You fucking-"
Sho took a deep breath, knowing Minato was losing control but why…?
"Let me tell you something else too," Igor said. "A God is as strong as the number of people worshipping him…. I think you get what I mean…"
"Y-You…"
"Goodbye," Igor clapped his hands and sent the two out of the room. He sighed and leaned back on his chair, looking over to Elizabeth who looked sad.
"Master, what is…?"
"Like I said before, there is still darkness in his soul," Igor repeated. "I hope he does not get lost in the shadows again…. Especially since Hamuko is no longer there…"
"Poor Minato-sama," Elizabeth sighed. He just never got a rest….
…
Sho quickly followed Minato as they walked out of the alley and took a look around to make sure Hamuko wasn't around. Sighing to himself, Minato came out and took a step back, bumping into Sho and sending him to the ground.
"What the hell!?" Sho said and got up, going silent much like Minato because something had happened, terrible or good he did not know.
"T-Those towers," Minato said, taking a step forward, glancing at the sudden appearance of two new towers. One looked like a huge clock tower and the other one was a pyramid of some sorts.
Towers…
"The towers of the Gods," Minato smiled a little, apologizing to Igor for his angry outburst. "Sho, those towers, w-we can find the glass shards there!"
"Y-Yeah, like the old guy said," Sho nodded. "But gotta be careful-Hey Minato!"
Minato was already running for the clock tower, hope bubbling within him because he had finally found the answer-
That is until…
Nyx came in….
"Greetings you filthy mortal!"
Minato looked at the side and saw a forearm flying for his face. He blackened out momentarily and was sent flying into the wall with a single blow-
Hamuko immediately followed him and smashed the back of his head into the wall. She pulled him back and drove his whole body into the bricks, almost shattering the wall behind him.
"You are worthless!" Hamuko yelled in his face. "You pulled a lucky fluke against one God and it will not happen again!"
"Minato!" Sho caught up and saw Hamuko pressing him against the wall. He immediately ran over and dragged her away from Minato-
"Tch," Hamuko powered out of his attempt and tossed Sho into Minato, running moments later and then crashing against him, further breaking their bones against the building.
"Foolish," she flung Sho backwards, sending him crashing through a nearby house and then focusing her attention on Minato-
Minato moved to avoid a punch and pivoted, rolling his head to avoid her next strikes. He couldn't hit her but he could dodge her attempts and he did so, for a while until Hamuko surprised him with her speed and threw him into a nearby fountain-
"Ugh," Minato tried getting and was slammed back first into the fountain. Hamuko pulled back and speared him through the structure, breaking the hard surface against his back which made him scream out loud-
Hamuko grabbed a fistful of blue hair and shove his face into the pool of blue water, brutally punching the back of his head and neck to force more water down his throats and lungs-
Sho came right back and freed Minato, dragging Hamuko along and then shoving her away. He was really tempted to draw his swords but reminded himself of his promise, charging ahead to keep her away from Minato.
"Shadows!"
Hamuko yelled and immediately summoned a horde of shadows to do her bidding and they lunged at Sho, clasping onto the redhead male while Hamuko ran ahead to take care of Minato-
Minato avoided the kick that would have cracked his skull against the fountain and caught the lunging one two punch in his grip-
Hamuko lifted him with a brutal knee strike but his stomach and then caught his leg, flinging him into another building. She bolted and grabbed his face, ramming it so hard against the wall that Minato's head shattered through and ended up getting stuck inside the shop-
Hamuko grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him out, launching him like a paperweight towards the other side with absolute ease. Dominating him like him, throwing him around like he was nothing was meant to show superiority, to remind him of his place-
"Minato!" Sho cried, yelling and hissing in pain because he was still exhausted from earlier and could not find the strength to power through- "Run, get the hell out of there!"
As soon as Minato got up, Hamuko tore into him with a volley of brutal shots, putting his back against the building before picking up speed and landing a literal hundreds of punches into his already wounded body, grinning behind the mask and enjoying his pitiful screams as her punches struck him without pause, without a millisecond of a breath, nonstop, over and over again with every punch thrown with the intent to kill-
Minato collapsed down when the assault ended. He did not like pain and wanted to dodge the punches but her speed and power was on another level, far stronger than before-
"Time to put you in your place," Hamuko said, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him to stand up. She pushed him against the wall and held out her thumbs, pressing it against his eyes-
"NO!" Sho screamed. She was looking to blind him permanently!
Minato cried out in pain as she started putting more pressure on his eyes, keeping him in place with that vice grip of hers and soon, the pain on his eyes started spreading to his head and neck. He tried to power and squirm his way out but the brutal assault had left him exhausted and Hamuko just kept pushing into his eyes, forcing blood to leak out from the sides-
"No!" Sho yelled. "Let him go!"
"Hahahaha…" Hamuko laughed in response, brushing away his attempt to break free-
"Dammit, Hamuko, he's Minato!"
"There is no Hamuko anymore," Nyx spoke, watching more drops of blood escaping his eyes. "I suggest you get used to her absence because she is not coming back."
Minato gave a scream when he felt the pressure was high enough to damage his retinal cells. He thrashed around and got put in his place with a knee up his solar-plexus, making him collapse down again-
"Blindness is the first step towards punishment," Hamuko said. "I have something much worse in store for you, I promise you-"
"Palladion!"
Hamuko stumbled or more like inched forward slightly when the persona collided against her back and dissipated instantly. It didn't do much but the shock was enough for Sho to power his way out of the shadows while Hamuko whipped around to see someone running at her-
"Who is this…." she took a step forward and saw a blonde haired android running for her.
"Aigis?" Minato blinked to get rid of the blood spots in his vision. It was really her…. Aigis had returned….
"Minato-san!" Aigis cried, voice markedly more different than before. She dug something out of her pocket and barely rolled past Hamuko, coming to a stop next to the two boys and immediately smashing the gem next to their feet, removing them from the area with a blast of green light and mist.
Hamuko thought for a few seconds and started walking away, not bothered much. As long as she was able to put her hands on Minato and abuse him, she was happy.
"Hypnos…"
"Nemesis…"
"Rise and kill…."
Hamuko was answered by a roar from the Gods.
…
Aigis crouched down next to Minato and slipped a few beads into his mouth. The blunet gulped them down and exhaled, the damage somewhat lessening. He got up and stared at the android who was looking at him with normally stoic eyes wide in worry.
"Minato-san!" Aigis quickly hugged him close and held him tight. "I finally located you…"
Minato thought for a few seconds and hugged her back, somewhat awkwardly.
"Do you hate me?"
"Um," Minato looked down and Aigis broke the hug.
"I deserve your scorn, Minato-san," Aigis admitted, wincing when she remembered what she had done. "I…"
"Let it go," Minato said. "We'll have a chat after this is over… I want to talk to you, a long talk, we both need that…"
"Yes," Aigis said.
"If you don't want me to hate you then help me free Hamuko," Minato said. "I want her back, Aigis, no matter what happens."
"I will do my best," Aigis promised. "I will not let you down this time, Minato-san. We will bring Hamuko-san back."
"Yeah," Minato said, pulling out the frame from his pocket.
"Minato-kun?" Fuuka blared into his head and the fool looked up.
"What?" Minato said, glancing back at the two new towers.
"Two towers have appeared out of nowhere and-"
"And you are going to explore them," Minato said.
"…. Explore them?"
"Yes," Minato said.
"What about Hamuko?" Sho asked. "Remember what the old man said, the more followers she has the more powerful she becomes."
"I'm fine being hunted…." Minato said, pocketing the frame and walking ahead.
"We're getting those glass shards no matter what-"
Two primal roars came from within the towers as the Gods sleeping inside were awoken by Nyx. A terrible surge of energy was felt by the persona users as they stopped running and battling, looking back to see the entities coming out from the top of their towers.
Minato glanced at the two Gods, their newest foes and took a step forward, ready to drag himself through miles of shit to bring Hamuko back.
"No matter what…." he finished and took off, telling Fuuka to meet up as Sho and Aigis followed his footsteps and disappeared into the shadows.
Build up chapter with brutality. Not much to say cept I'm sleepy, might have been more typos, I'll try to clear them later. But yeah, Minato got his ass handed to him and it's not because he's breaking down, he'd gladly dodge her attacks but Hamuko has gotten a powerup and a lot of new powers, she's also starting a cult and two Gods and out to kill Minato and his friends, along with zombies, cultists and shadows (which she can summon with a flick of her wrist)
And please, no Minato x Sho ship, that was a totally bro moment... I hope...
You may wonder wtf I am doing this but the answer will be clear later on. I do this for a purpose and that will be clear, not now but later on.
As always, do review, 2018 is near and I'm really motivated/want to finish this. Anything over 10 is a good number (keeps the ratio constant) so do send me your thoughts because... *counts* 8-9 chapters left for this.
Cheers! I thank everyone for the support, I love reviews and your kind words. Have a great day/night.
/crashes.
zzzz...