Well... this is it. 2018 is just around the corner and... we still have 7-8 chapters to go... so...
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This will be the last one.
I know, I'm sorry but I don't see myself finishing this before 2018. I had most of this chapter written and instead of breaking the rule with an author note, I finished this and well... like I said, last one. There is no way I can upload 7-8 chapters in some 20 days. So yeah... sorry... we were close but... it is what it is.
Pity Bloodlust didn't end. I honestly tried guys... After this chapter, the fic is discontinued.
Sigh.
Ah well, read on. Dead motivation so... this might suck.
"All hail Nyx!"
Mitsuru stopped nursing her wounds and scowled as the shout rang in her ears, followed by several more saying the exact same thing, praising Nyx and embracing the fall.
"Just what we needed," Mitsuru hissed, pulling her rapier out of a shadow. "A doomsday cult."
"Ugh!" Akihiko punched a shadow into nothingness and looked around, spotting the two new towers. "And these…. These were the last things we needed."
"I sense two strong presences in those towers," Mitsuru said.
"What are they?" Yukari gulped.
"Gods," Mitsuru replied, gritting her teeth. "Just like Ryoji…"
"Great," Akihiko spat. He looked around after hearing a couple of noises, ordering the females. "We need to move, they're onto us."
"Right," Mitsuru nodded and the three took off running, hiding their faces because according to Fuuka, Nyx had sent the citizens to hunt for their dead bodies. "Do not show your faces, no matter what and do not summon until I say so."
"Mitsuru-senpai!"
"How is Minato?" Mitsuru demanded to know. "Where is he?"
"He is fine and he wants us to meet up. Follow my directions and be careful,"
"You heard her," Mitsuru said. "Pick up the pace!"
Akihiko and Yukari nodded, running through the transformed city, avoiding the shadows and the zombies for the sake of stealth.
Mitsuru almost wanted to sob after seeing the state of her city. Nothing was the same and the Dark Hour was never ending. They had no advanced weaponry to defend themselves or even water to replenish. It was a nightmare. Never in her wildest dreams she thought that Nyx would be this powerful, powerful enough to claim her city in mere seconds.
"I don't think we can survive more of this," Akihiko said. "It's like we're fugitives, criminals and I see nothing but running in our future."
"Let's hope Minato found something," Yukari sighed. "I don't want to die before the promised day."
Mitsuru gritted her teeth, a certain redheaded junior popping up in her head.
"I see casualties this time…."
…
Minato stopped running when he saw three of his friends, waving at them from a far as he slowed his steps and looked around for any signs of the damn minions.
"A-Aigis?" Junpei blinked, not believing that the android was standing beside Minato. She looked a little roughed up but otherwise she was fine.
"Greetings," Aigis bowed her head at the three and they ran over to her, hugging the mechanical maiden which provided a respite from the nightmarish situation they were dealing with. "I-I missed you all."
"Tch," Minato hissed and looked away, leaning against a nearby building and rubbing his eyes to get rid of the blood splotches in his vision. "And just like before, I was a little helpless kid."
"We survived, thanks to her," Sho said, panting and nursing his wounds to regain some stamina because he knew more battles were on the horizon for them. "Where are the other idiots?"
"A-Aigis?" Yukari said the first thing that came to her mind when she the blonde android standing there. She quickly hurried over and smiled. "Is that really you?"
"What a surprise," Akihiko smirked.
"I was on my way here when…. Something happened," Aigis explained. "Something terrible…. What is going on?"
"Nyx has invaded this world early," Minato explained with a scowl. "And she took over Hamuko's body. Everything since then has been fucking bullshit!"
Aigis took a step back, gulping when she senses the familiar surge of dark energy from the irate persona user. The others caught this too and looked in his direction, noting he was starting to look like what he was once before.
"Calm down, bro," Junpei gave a nervous laugh, telling him to chill-
"My girlfriend is out there; possessed by a fucking goddess and doing God knows what! Don't tell me to chill!" Minato yelled back at him, resulting in another tense silence and a few of them were concerned that Minato was going to snap and attack them. "Fuck it all!"
"Calm down," Sho said, patting his shoulder and surprisingly, Minato calmed down somewhat, forcing out deep breaths. "You had something to tell them, right?"
Minato pulled out the mirror frame from his pocket and showed it to his friends. "This is a mirror frame…" he started. "I got it from…. Fuck him…. Nutshell, this frame is the answer to all of this as it can release Nyx from Hamuko."
"How?" Mitsuru narrowed her eyes. It looked like a normal frame, decorated by a few jewels but nothing out of the ordinary. "Do you know?"
"Currently, the mirror is incomplete," Minato said. "Missing the glass, what we need to do is find the glass shards, complete the mirror and show Hamuko her reflection. If we do that, the curse will break and she'll be free."
The others let out a sighs of relief, thankful for some ray of hope and a solution they could work towards.
"Where are they?" Akihiko asked.
Minato pointed at the towers. "Inside those towers."
"Great!" Junpei groaned. "We need to explore more towers."
"Towers with Gods," Sho corrected. "That old guy…. Fuck him….. said that you'll find the glass shards in those towers…. And most likely, we need to beat the Gods inside, just like Tartarus."
"This mirror apparently reflects only the bad things in a person," Minato repeated what Igor told him. "It was made by a demon long ago but Nyx broke the mirrors and scattered the pieces inside the towers and we need to find them."
"Seems easy," Yukari added. "I mean yeah, we'll be fighting Gods but-"
"It's not easy at all," Minato interjected, getting sick to his stomach by the voices praising Nyx. "Here is another thing, the more followers she has the more powerful she becomes. She's on this preaching spree, converting people to pray for her and those who don't…. she kills them."
Mitsuru gasped. That explained the poor folks with no heads she saw on the way.
"In short, we need to protect the people that are not worshiping her, from the zombies, the shadows and most importantly, from Nyx," Minato sighed. "And that's easier said than done…"
"I don't think Nyx…. Or Hamuko will allow that," Yukari said. "How can we combat a God when she's after us?"
"That is where I come in," Minato chuckled, cracking his neck to increase the rush of blood. "I'll be bait, a punching bag, whatever the fuck to bring her back."
"W-Wait," Akihiko blinked. "Does that mean…?"
"I'll distract her while you explore the towers," Minato explained. "Won't be easy but-"
"How the hell can we do that!?" Junpei gawked, not confident enough to take on two Gods without their leader. They had survived Ryoji but a lot of that was thanks to Minato giving them courage to battle back and now…. "Dude, there is no way-"
"Are you just going to sit on your hands and let Hamuko die then?" Minato glared. "What happened to you? Didn't you swore that you'd kick my ass someday and become the leader?"
Junpei cringed. "…. I grew up."
"You have some more growing up to do," Minato replied. "This is the only way…. And be honest, do you really think I'll let anyone live if something happens to Hamuko?"
The tense silence took over again, the other teenagers exchanging nervous glances. He wasn't threatening them but rather, he was telling them that such a blow could very well mean him turning into an even bigger wreck that he was before.
"…"
"You all did a fine job protecting me from Makoto and I'm sure-"
"We had Hamuko back then," Fuuka murmured. "If it wasn't for her-"
"Well, now you don't have a Wild Card on your side, all is up to you," Minato said. "Get your asses into the tower and get those damn glass shards, come back so we can get the mirror, free Hamuko and go back!"
"This is just a fraction of Nyx's power," Minato continued, drawing out shocked and horrified gasps from his friends. "You all made up your minds to fight alongside me well this is the starting point. Man the fuck up and go out there."
"We got this," Sho stood up and walked over to Minato. "Like I promised, we'll get those glass shards no matter what."
"I will see to that," Aigis said. "We will bring her back, no matter what."
"You better," Minato said, facing the blue eyed android. "I will curse you for the rest of my life if something happens to her."
Mitsuru frowned. Minato was a lot colder than before. Maybe the pressure and depression was getting to him but she did not like what she was seeing. His attitude was concerning, especially in a situation such as a present one. Maybe he was not lying about killing the others if something did happen to Hamuko.
"I'm in for a beating of a lifetime now," Minato sighed, hopping a few times. He looked over to his team. "Remember this, every second; I'm out here I'll be getting beaten into a bloody paste. I can possibly die. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes," Mitsuru spoke up. "We won't take long, I promise."
"Good," Minato said, stopping next to Sho who gave a nod. "Remember, alright?"
"Hell yeah," Sho said. "I don't need you inspiring me. I promised myself I'll never be that weak ever again. I bow to no God."
Minato smiled. "Good to hear…" he started walking, resting his hands on the back of his head, casually strolling away from them. "Good to luck to you all, remember my life depends on you."
"Good luck to you too," Sho whispered and eventually, Minato melted into the darkness, disappearing from their view.
"Alright," Mitsuru took a deep breath. "We need to move…." she looked over to the scarred redheaded male and nodded at him. "Sho, you lead the charge."
"So I'm the leader for now, huh?" Sho shrugged. "Works for me…."
"We'll be in that one first," Sho said, pointing over to the giant clock tower in the north. "According to the old guy, the two Gods and Hypnos and Nemesis…"
"Hypnos?" Akihiko blinked. Takaya had a persona named Hypnos…
"Nemesis," Ken muttered the name of his previous persona.
"Only this time, they're the real deals," Sho started walking. "I'd suggest splitting up and exploring both towers but the quicker we finish this the better. I doubt Minato can be a punching bag for that long."
"All of us then," Mitsuru said. "I doubt…. Or I hope they won't be as horrifying as Ryoji but we have no choice. Remember, Gods are not to be feared."
"We just need to punch them…. like, really, really hard," Sho said simply. "Just that…"
"That sounds like something Minato WOULD say," Junpei said. "And well, we saw it work."
"Move out," Mitsuru commanded and they went running in the direction of the clock tower, the lair of Hypnos, the God of Sleep and son of Nyx.
…
Minato walked out of the store he broke into, pulling a dark hood over his school shirt. He had swapped his pants for black jeans and sneakers for his regular shoes because he was going to be on his bike a lot, especially against Hamuko.
In times like this, when he was mostly alone, he would look for Pharos, the little brat who always kept him company, even when Hamuko was off somewhere else.
"Tch," Minato spat and kept walking, pulling the hood cap over his head. "I bet you're laughing up there, you filthy son of a bitch…" he growled, remembering Ryoji who had repeatedly cursed him in his last few moments and now, Minato was sure the God of Death was having a time of his miserable existence right now.
"Just watch as I bring her back. I don't care if Nyx possessed her, at the end, it will be my way." Minato said. "I. Bow. To. No. God." he shouted, long enough for the wind to carry his message throughout the area.
A multitude of cries begging for help made the blunet fasten his steps, racing towards the direction of the voices. He was pissed and cornered but that didn't mean he was going to stand by and watch innocent people die-
"Might draw her out too," Minato mused and bolted, eventually stopping when he found a horde of shadows and zombies cornering a dozen or so people, probably people who had rejected Nyx and were now slated to die by her command.
"Hey!" Minato shouted at the horde of Nyx's minions, twirling his sword around and walking forward slowly. "Your target is right here."
The shadows and zombies whipped in his direction and started running, determined to bring his half dead body to their goddess-
"Run!" Minato shouted at the crowd of people. "Run and keep yourself alive, no matter what!"
Minato ignored their thanks and prayers but briefly he did hear someone calling him a messiah.
"Messiah, huh?" Minato murmured and started running, eventually crashing into the enemies with a roar of pent up frustration and hatred-
…
Hamuko stopped crushing the head of a corpse that had dared defied her when she heard the begging of her minions to come save them from Minato. She looked around the place that was drenched in blood, the filthy blood of the insolent mortals splattered everywhere, bathing all that she could see.
This was a reminder to the rest.
And Minato….
He was going to be an example.
The city belonged to her and in a couple of days, on the promised day, her true form was going to descend and enslave the entire world.
"Little boy," Hamuko followed the whispering of her worshippers and grinned behind the mask, hands itching to just punish and abuse the boy for his sins. "By the end of this, you will bow to us."
Minato stayed at the same place. He had knocked out the zombies, broken their legs but hadn't killed them as they were victims. The shadows on the other hand were nothing but pools of ichor, some of them on his clothes but he had brutally killed all of them within seconds and now, he was just awaiting for their goddess to arrive.
…
Sho stopped just outside the gate of the tower and looked up at the clock with a frown. There was something eerie and ominous about the mist around the whole structure and even standing outside, he could sense the overwhelming presence of the God of inside the tower.
"That presence," Mitsuru shivered slightly but shook her head, Minato knocking and hurting Ryoji in their battle flashing again and again in her mind, reminding her that Gods were beatable. "Proceed with caution."
Sho took the first step in and kicked the gates open, enduring the blast of energy that followed, managing to knock him back slightly but worst of all, his eye started burning-
"Tch," Sho hissed and rubbed his eyes, taking a step inside. "Come on, not much time to waste."
"For Minato-san," Aigis said and followed him inside. The others looked at each other and nodded, chanting what Minato had told them before.
Gods are not to be feared.
Sho stepped inside the tower and took a look around as almost everything he could see felt unreal and vivid as if he was in a dream.
"Welcome to dreams,"
The voice was cold but at the same time, sleepy, almost lethargic. Even then, the teenagers felt a shiver run up their spines because they knew who was talking to them.
"Hypnos," Mitsuru muttered. "The God of sleep…"
"I will show you just how terrifying the dream world can be,"
"Fuck you," Sho spat.
Hypnos didn't reply but another blast of energy came rushing in their direction, crashing into them but it didn't do any damage. In fact, the energy was somewhat relaxing, forcing out groans and relaxing yawns from their mouths-
"Ugh," Sho shook away the feeling and started running, determined to end the battle once and for all because he held himself accountable for every wound on Minato's body. "Come on! For Minato!"
The others were surprised that Sho of all people had said that but eventually, they smiled and followed him. They didn't have Minato or Hamuko but they did have Sho and he was no weakling either.
"Like he said, for Minato," Mitsuru reminded and they followed, running behind Sho who followed the voice, rounding corners and running up the steps, ignoring the shifting and distortion of the fabric of time and space around him. He was not here to play games, he was here to get the sin off his back.
…
Minato's bloodthirsty and confident smirk melted into a concerned and nervous frown when he felt her getting closer and soon enough, he started shaking, feeling the goddess getting close and closer.
"I-It's not fear that's doing this," Minato muttered, glancing at his shaking fist. "It's…. concern…"
He knew Hamuko wanted him to charge forward and kick ass. She had made him promise that he would attack her back if something like that ever happened to her, especially after the love hotel mission and while Minato had nodded back then, he couldn't bring himself up to even punch her-
Hamuko was not there. Nyx was in control but that didn't change the fact that she had possessed her body and he'd rather fight Ryoji again than to hurt her.
"Sorry, Hamuko," Minato said, taking a step forward when the possessed redhead came into his view. "I'm not that strong…"
Hamuko looked at the knocked out zombies and the pools of ichor around Minato, screeching out loud at the boy for ruining her work and harming her minions.
"You just keep digging yourself into a hole," Hamuko shook her head.
"Hehe," Minato gave a nervous chuckle, hopping up and down to get the feeling back in his legs because they had grown a little numb. "Eh, I'll be fine…. Did survive against the God of Death, so yeah."
Hamuko screeched at him again, drawing out another chuckle from Minato because he knew he struck a nerve with that comment. Nyx was racist through and through, believing mortals to be insignificant to Gods like her and Ryoji.
"Get ready to bow," Hamuko whispered and bolted-
Minato ducked underneath her lunging punches and held out his foot when she charged again, sending her tripping to the ground and he immediately whipped around and took off running.
Hamuko got back up and held out her hand, summoning a horde of more shadows.
"Kill him…" she ordered, slowly walking behind the shadows as they went running after Minato.
"I just need to keep running," Minato muttered. "Hopefully neither of us gets hurt."
The little piece of death was yelling at him to head back and bathe the area in her blood but he shook his head. There was no way he was going to harm Hamuko. There was no way he was spoiling his hands with HER blood.
God forbid, if she died at his hands…
"No," Minato pumped a speed buff into his body and ran as fast as he could from the nightmare behind him.
"Tuck tail and run," Hamuko whispered, still following after him casually until she started running. "But the Gods are not merciful, little boy."
…
Sho kicked the door open and rushed in, stopping and subconsciously taking a step back when he saw the God just waiting for them.
"Grrr," Sho growled, narrowing his eyes at Hypnos, the God of sleep seated just a few feet away from him, apparently waiting for them.
"You made it," Hypnos said, standing up from his seated position, reaching up to the roof of the room that they were in. "Welcome to the dream world, children."
Mitsuru and the rest barged in next-
"What…?" Yukari blushed and had to look away, like Mitsuru and Fuuka. "Good lord…"
Hypnos was much different than the grotesque abomination that Takaya used to summon. There were no ugly veins of bruises on his thin but pale body, barely covered up by robes that he was wearing, reason why the females were looking away. A large blindfold was wrapped around his head and long, flowing hair ran down from his face all the way towards the ground, much like the priestess shadow in the monorail.
Worst of all, the God was enormous, larger than every one of their personas, shorter than transformed Ryoji but he was still towering over them, able to see despite the blindfold on his eyes.
"You made a mistake defying the Gods," Hypnos said softly, sleepiness evident in his tone. His words were soothing, much different from the rough tone of voice Ryoji used. "And for you will suffer for it."
"We survived the God of Death and this will be no different," Sho shot back, pulling out the dual blades and crossing them, blue mist swirling around his body. "Underestimate just like Ryoji did, you know what happened to him-"
Hypnos' expression twitched and the tentacles like hair around him started moving, exactly like the shadow in the monorail. Yukari and Junpei recalled the operation and nodded to each other, knowing what they had to do.
The persona users drew their weapons and pulled out their evokers, looking up at the God towering over them.
"To repeat what a friend of mine said," Sho took a deep breath.
"We bow to no God," the rest said in unison-
Hypnos immediately responded with a brutal blast of energy that crashed into their bodies and sent them flying. Sho managed to break free first and landed on his feet, exhaustion flooding into his body and making him yawn-
"Fuck!" Sho hissed, forcefully opening his eyes as the God started the attack, roaring out loud and upon his shout, the surroundings were blown off, much to the horror and surprise of the teenagers and a rush of darkness followed, blackening everything around them and leaving just a faint glow of light. They looked down and blinked, glancing ahead to see mostly darkness, just a small sprinkle of light far, far ahead. The scenery was ominous as they were standing in the middle of cosmos, unnerving the persona users.
"W-What on earth?" Akihiko blinked. How the hell did he transport everyone to space? Was this even real…?
"Tch," Mitsuru rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, forcing herself to focus on the enemy.
"Dammit," Sho was already exhausted just seconds into the battle. His mind was yelling at him to sleep and rest, most likely due to Hypnos.
Aigis loaded on her guns and brushed past the rest, standing next to Sho and pointing her guns at the God.
"He's going to attack!" Fuuka yelled into their minds-
"Get ready,"
Sho growled at the rest and the God finally attacked.
"Allow me to teach you the wonders of the Dream World!"
Well, last chapter... I feel sad this couldn't see the end. Had so much planned, a pretty gruesome moment, more Ryoji development, more godly batles and a lemon... which will not be posted because there is no way I'm posting that without a story backing that up.
It's been fun. Couldn't finish this in 4 years. Fucking sucks but sigh, what can you do?
Sorry guys. Honestly...
Sigh.
Ah well..
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Before I mark this story as complete, I'd like to take this moment to thank...
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Absolutely fucking nobody!
BECAUSE THIS SHIT AIN'T OVER YET!
Trololololol-
Cough cough cough.
Fucking cold.
Please tell me I got a few of you? Anyone? Fuck sake, I hope I did. I love you guys and all but... trolling is fun, what can I say? :P
Big news, I am extending the deadline and this will go on, despite 2018 being around the corner. I promised a few folks to finish this and while college is giving me hell, I will finish this because we're so close and I'd hate to leave you folks hanging. The new deadline is... Feb, my last module exams start in May and since that will be my last semester of college before I graduate, I need a lot of time to prepare those monstrous exams.
I'm such a nice guy. Writing even when college is kicking my ass. Hahaha, right guys?!
*crickets*
Fuck it, I am a nice guy. Who else does this shit? Nightly, that's who!
To speak more seriously, this was a build up chapter. Big purpose was to let you guys know that this won't be discontinued but hopefully the chapter was hype enough. I'm still fine tuning a bunch of plot points but I got the basic gist down, this arc will have an impact on the ending so i assure you, not entirely BS and filler. :P
Hopefully you guys get the idea about the mirror and the gods. I always felt that persona was far more about humanity vs gods than romance (reason why I like p2 over the newer games, despite the outdated gameplay) and over here, they'll have to go through a gauntlet of Gods. Death, Hypnos, Nemesis and finally, Nyx so buckle up, imma try to knock your socks off.
And as always, do review. Seriously, I'd love to finish this within week. that would be fucking great but it's kinda hard writing when you see a bad view to review ratio since that is literally author's fuel so yeah... just say something.
JUST REACT DAMMIT!
To those who do review, thanks a lot you fucking champions of humanity. I'd send you all subway coupons... if business wasn't so down. *facepalm*
Thanks for reading. Hopefully none of you are looking to go BloodLust Minato on me. :P I thank you for sticking by the story, give gimme a hand and I'll see you soon.
Cheers!
Bloodlust ain't dead. Thank you!