Chapter 2-
Awakening
Slowly, his eyes flickered open. The sudden influx of light created a haze of fogginess, as his vision was filled with nothing but white. The white plaster on the walls was strange at first, but as he began to regain more of his senses, realization slowly kicked in.
He was in a room.
It was a room that he was unfamiliar with. Slowly, he began to sit up, the white sheets that had once clung to his body sliding off to reveal a loose-fitting shirt. Glancing down, he could see bandages taped over various places on his body. He decided to test his limbs and flexed his right arm before a sudden sting of pain laced through his muscles.
Pain was good; it meant that he was still among the living.
A slight breeze blew in from the open window, and he couldn't help but wish he still had his blazer. He swung his legs towards the side of the bed and forced himself up. He managed a grand distance of two steps before he all but toppled over, falling to the floor in a loud thud.
Another sharp wave of pain stabbed through his body.
A soft, frustrated grunt managed to escape from his lips. The feeling of stiffness in his limbs was a familiar one for him; it was a feeling that resulted from a lack of use. It was the same feeling of stiffness that he had felt when he had awoken in that hospital bed, after he had first summoned Orpheus.
Minato rolled his body over until his eyes were facing towards the ceiling once more. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh. After all of that effort, the window still remained open and he found himself even colder than before. As he lay sprawled out on the floor, he wondered if he would even be able to manage the climb back up into the bed.
It seemed that he wouldn't have a chance to find out, as the door soon creaked open.
The woman that walked into the room seemed to possess such elegance and grace that he was immediately reminded of Mitsuru. The similarities however, ended there as rather than the long red flowing locks of hair he was used to seeing, this woman's hair color was instead, a bright emerald green. Her clothing was strange, instead of the familiar white nurse uniform he was expecting to see, a large grey cloak draped over most of her body, pinned together by an elaborate looking crest.
And then he saw them.
A pair of sharp-pointed ears that very clearly stuck out from underneath the woman's green locks of hair. He couldn't help but stare, as two jade-colored orbs stared back into his own.
"You should not be moving about just yet."
The woman's voice sounded as refined as she looked.
"It was cold. I wanted to close the window."
In contrast, his voice was hoarse, as expected from a prolonged lack of use.
The strange woman knelt down and helped him up back towards the edge of the bed. It took a good deal of effort on his part, but with someone's shoulder to lean on, he managed it without falling flat on his face again. He watched as the woman walked over towards the window and closed it. Even in the way she moved, with such aristocratic like grace, he couldn't help but be reminded of Mitsuru.
"How are your injuries?" The woman asked as she took a seat on a nearby chair. "Any pain?"
Minato flexed his right arm once more, and a sudden surge of pain raced through the limb.
"In my right arm," He eventually answered.
"I see." The green-haired woman replied. "Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."
The woman quietly rose up and stepped out of the room. Once more, he found himself alone as his mind began to wander. Now that he had some time to regather his thoughts, the memories began to flow back in. This wasn't Earth, he wasn't in a hospital, and that strange woman wasn't cosplaying as an elf from one of Junpei's video games. Given the fact that he had fought with an actual fire-breathing dragon, it wouldn't be too far off to say that the woman wasn't cosplaying as an elf, and rather that she was an elf. An elf that apparently spoke Japanese for that matter.
It was a lot to take in all at once.
He wouldn't have the time to ponder though, as the door soon slid open once more. The emerald haired woman from before stepped into the room once again, closing the door on her way in. In her hands was a vial filled with some kind of purple-colored liquid.
He raised an eyebrow when the vial was gently handed to him.
"It's a potion." She explained, answering his unvoiced question. "Drink it."
Minato stared at the vial for a brief moment, mentally debating whether or not he should actually ingest the strange liquid. Eventually, his thirst won over his skepticism and he uncorked the top of the vial. It smelt of herbs, of what kind, he could not discern. Tipping the vial over his mouth, he downed the potion in one go. The liquid was as warm as it was rough, but the taste wasn't too bad.
His right arm began to twitch. He assumed that was the potion taking effect, and while it was not exactly painful, it could be described as an uncomfortable feeling. The feeling soon began to spread throughout his body and he could feel a tingling sensation. It was a strange experience, different from that of Persona healing; a strange one, but not a bad one altogether.
"Is that better?"
He flexed his right arm again.
This time, the movement wasn't accompanied by any more pain. He tested the various other muscles of his body as well and found that not only was most of the pain gone, most of the stiffness was as well.
"Yes," He eventually nodded. "… Thank you."
"You're welcome," The elf-woman replied. "Tell me, stranger, what is your name?"
"Minato Arisato."
A pause.
And then a gleam of recognition seemed to flash across her emerald-green eyes.
"Am I correct to presume that you hail from the Eastern lands?"
He blinked, unsure of how to answer that question. Was there perhaps a nation equivalent to that of Japan in this world? He did not know, and as various thoughts and questions raced throughout his mind, the familiar voice from before dragged his attention back towards the woman in question.
"Your name is similar to those that do," She helpfully added.
In the end, he supposed that it was technically true, so he simply nodded.
"I am Riveria Ljos Alf of the Loki Familia; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
He wasn't sure what to make of that introduction either, so he simply nodded again.
"Arisato-san then." The woman began. "Tell me, what exactly were you doing alone on the 51st floor of the dungeon?"
That was another question that he had no answer to. Terms like the 51st floor or dungeon meant nothing to him, the only dungeon that he knew of was Tartarus, and wherever he was earlier, it was definitely not Tartarus.
"I don't know."
Riveria had a skeptical look on her face.
"You… Don't know?"
Minato hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to explain.
"… When I woke up," He eventually began. "I found myself there."
Riveria did not immediately respond.
"You do not believe me," He blankly stated.
"Did you expect me to?"
He simply shrugged at that.
"… It's not impossible," She pondered. "And if you were going to lie, I doubt that you would have decided on such a ridiculous tale. But…"
He raised an eyebrow when she trailed off.
"But…?"
"You would be implying that somebody was responsible for your predicament," She replied, a frown etched onto her face. "There is a rather short list of people that can accomplish a feat like that."
He grew quiet at that. It seemed that Riveria had the idea that somebody had knocked him out and left him there. While that wasn't the case, just how believable was the actual truth? Should he tell her about the fact that he was more than likely from a different world?
"Tell me Arisato-san, whose Familia are you in?" Riveria asked, breaking him out of his stupor.
That was another question in which he had no answer for. Evidently, there were a lot of those. Familia was another term that he was unfamiliar with as well. He mulled it over, and in the end, decided that he was better off simply answering her questions truthfully. He owed her that courtesy at the very least, for her hospitality.
"I don't have a Familia."
Riveria crossed her arms over her chest.
"Arisato-san, do you expect me to believe that you survived the 51st floor of the dungeon without a Falna?"
He didn't know what a Falna was, but he doubted that he possessed one, so he simply nodded.
"Enough with the games Arisato-san," The elf's voice took on a colder tone. "If you do not wish to answer my questions, then please say so from the beginning. Otherwise, you are wasting my time and your own time."
Minato frowned.
"… But it's the truth."
Riveria leveled a cold, calculating glare at him. He did not back down and instead chose to hold her gaze as a couple of tense seconds passed by in silence. Time seemed to have slowed down to a crawl, as the seconds continued to tick by. Eventually, after a good minute had passed, Riveria finally spoke.
"There is a way to find out if you are speaking the truth or not."
"How…?"
"It is quite simple," The elf stated. "If you are willing to allow us to check for your Falna."
"… And how would you do that?" He dubiously asked.
Riveria stood up and made her way towards the exit, before pausing underneath the doorframe.
"Through the help of our Goddess of course."
When Riveria had used the term Goddess, he wasn't sure what to expect.
A short scantily-clad red-head however, was definitely not on his list of possibilities. When the red-head had introduced herself as Loki, the goddess of the Loki Familia, he had been quite surprised. The red-head definitely didn't give off the powerful vibe that one assumed that a deity would. In fact, out of everybody else in the room, she was probably the least imposing of them all.
It was a good thing that he had learned early on that appearances could be deceiving.
"So, to summarize, you woke up and found yourself on the 51st floor of the dungeon, with no idea how you got there," Loki narrated, as she sat behind a wooden desk with her arms crossed over her chest.
He nodded at that.
"Arisato-san claims that he does not possess a Falna, Loki-sama," Riveria added, "Or a Familia either, for that matter."
"Hmm… I see. I can tell you that he's not lying, but... " Loki mused, "What do you think Finn-kun?"
"Finn-kun", who had introduced himself as Finn Deimne, was a rather short individual with almost child-like features. Given the fact that Loki was apparently a goddess, it didn't really surprise him when Finn had introduced himself as the captain of the Loki Familia, despite his child-like appearance.
"Well, it certainly is a bit of a far-fetched tale," Finn replied, before shrugging, "If you say that he's telling the truth though... I suppose stranger things have happened in the past..."
"And you Gareth?" Loki asked.
The final person in the room that had yet to speak, Gareth Landrock, had an unreadable expression on his face. With his rugged beard and short muscular frame, he couldn't help but be reminded of the Dwarves from Junpei's video games. Seeing as how Riveria was apparently an elf, it probably wouldn't be too far off to assume the older man to be a dwarf.
"We can always just check to make sure." Gareth gruffly answered. "You can't lie to the gods but... things haven't exactly been normal around here, have they?"
"Yeah, that's true," Loki agreed, as she stood up from her chair, "Finn-kun can you hand me a knife?"
"Of course, Loki-sama," Finn replied, before pulling out a small dagger, "Here you are."
"Thanks, Finn-kun~" The red-head hummed as she took the dagger from the blonde, "You know, I believe you Arisato-kun," Loki continued as she merrily skipped over with the dagger in hand, "Buuuut, we still have to check, just to make sure."
Minato watched as the red-head pulled out an empty chair and sat it in front of him.
"Hey Arisato-kun, I'm going to need you to do something for me."
He raised an eyebrow at the redhead that now sat in front of him.
"I'm going to need you to strip~"
He blinked.
"… What?"
"She means that she needs you to remove your shirt" Finn helpfully supplied, "She needs to see your back in order to check for your Falna."
"Yeah, so come on, strip already. I don't have all day," Loki replied, with an amused look on her face, "I'm a very busy woman you know."
With a slight frown, he slowly stood up and began to slip out of the rather loose shirt he was in. While he would rather not go without the shirt, as it was already quite cold even with one, it wasn't as if he was left with much of a choice in the matter. He needed answers as much as they did, and failing to comply with them would only lead to more problems he would honestly rather not deal with.
The clothing came off, revealing his pale, slender build. Turning around, so that his back was the side that faced the would-be goddess, he found himself staring straight at the vicinity of Riveria Ljos Alf. The elf in question briefly returned the eye contact, before hastily turning her head away.
He raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing.
The sharp point of the knife could be felt on his back. After a brief moment, he could feel the bandages that had been wrapped around most of his torso and chest slowly fall to the floor. He could feel her fingers trace over his now exposed back, the warm, wet sensation that felt oddly similar to that of fresh blood. It was a bit unnerving, as it felt as if he were the subject of some kind of strange occult ritual.
A cold, almost indescribable tingle, traced through his back like an electric current.
He could feel his muscles go rigid in response.
"Mmm… Relax, will you? If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already," Loki hummed. "We're almost done anyway."
He didn't doubt that, although her comments did little to ease the unnerving feeling that had been building up inside of him. He let out a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax. A few more minutes passed by in an almost anxious-like silence.
Unsurprisingly, it was the scantily-clad Goddess that had been the one to break the silence.
"Well, would ya look at that? He really doesn't have a Falna."
The amusement in her voice stood out in stark contrast to the atmosphere in the room. While subtle, he could still make out the brief flashes of surprise and shock on the faces of the various individuals in the room. Now whether or not that was a good thing, he wasn't sure.
Finn let out a soft chuckle.
"That only brings up even more questions though."
"Finn's right about that," Gareth agreed, "Just what exactly happened on the 51st floor?"
All of the eyes in the room were soon zeroed in on him once more.
"Ais-tan told me that when she found you, the Cadmus inside had already been dealt with," Loki explained, the amusement from before no longer present. "What happened in the Cadmus' lair? How did someone with no Falna manage to defeat a high-level monster like that?"
It dawned on him at that moment, that everyone in the room had come to the conclusion that he had been the one to slay that dragon back in the dungeon. They were mistaken in that regard; he had not been the one to kill that monster.
Rather, the ones responsible were something else entirely.
So, he corrected them.
Blazing red flames spit out from the jaws of the dragon once more.
This time, however, he was prepared. Quickly bringing the evoker towards his right temple, he pulled the trigger. A familiar rush of power followed, along with the sound of shattering glass as a surge of raw energy filled the air.
Bufula.
A wall of ice rose up from the ground, standing in between him and the flames. The red-hot stream of fire crashed into the pillar of ice, creating an abundance of steam in the air all the while. While the wall of ice lost some of its size, the icy pillar held firm in its defense.
Seeing its chance, Siegfried advanced forward and attacked. Balmung tore through rock-hard scales as the dragon-slaying sword embedded itself deep into the side of the dragon. The beast let out a howl in retaliation and flapped its wings, creating a mighty gale that sent the Persona flying backward.
Zionga.
A bolt of raw lightning shot forward. The electricity did its damage, as a good chunk of flesh and scales were all but seared off from its left forelimb. Another stream of flames was the dragon's angry response, and he returned in kind with another layer of ice.
The battle continued on in a similar fashion.
Flames and intense heat would continually spew out from the creature's mouth while pillars of ice were hastily formed in defense. A good distance between him and the dragon was always maintained, as to avoid stepping into the range of those rather dangerous-looking claws. Siegfried would weave in and out of the fight, avoiding swipes from a meaty forelimb or swings from its massive armored tail all the while.
Fighting against the dragon was no different than fighting against one of the Arcana Shadows. Against enemies of this magnitude, patience was the key, slowly chipping away one piece at a time, all while withstanding all of its attacks the entire way; until an opportunity for a lethal blow presented itself.
That was how SEES dealt with the immensely powerful Arcana Shadows.
Through a mental command, he positioned Siegfried into a spot where the dragon-slaying hero would command the dragon's attention. Naturally, because of how much of a threat Balmung posed, the dragon lashed out at the Persona as soon as it moved within striking distance. That provided the opening that he needed as he dashed forward, away from his hastily formed shelter of ice.
With Aroundight firmly grasped in his hands, he plunged it into the eye of the beast. The dragon let out another howl as it flailed about, throwing him around like a ragdoll before he was forced to let go of the short-sword. As he sailed through the air, another mental command was issued and Siegfried easily caught him before he became a splattered mess of blood and guts against the wall.
The Persona gently brought him back down towards the ground. The dragon roared and swiped its large forelimb at the ground in pain, kicking up large piles of dirt and debris all the while. Keeping a good distance away from the frenzied monster, he kept a tight grip on his evoker as he watched the beast continue to thrash about. The ground continued to shake as the dragon began to charge forward in a rage. As a giant forelimb came swiping down at him, he did the most sensible thing to do in that situation.
Run.
Ducking underneath its claws, he began to run, before a massive scaled tail smashed into the ground in front of him, blocking the path. Scrambling, he jumped over it in a hurry as he tried to gain some more distance between him and the dragon. Siegfried attempted to draw the monster's attention, but the beast was having none of it, as another flap of its wings sent the Persona flying back once again.
The dragon-slaying Persona was quickly returned to the Sea of Souls as he began to cycle through the various Personas in his mind. Bringing the evoker up towards his head, he began to pull the trigger before the walls behind him burst open. They came from every direction, hundreds of large caterpillar-like creatures flooded into the dragon's lair.
In a panic, he pulled the trigger and the current Persona in mind came to form.
Luckily, it was a powerful one as Surt, in his charred blackened form materialized in front of him. The ruler of fire gave a maddening grin as it saw the massive amount of enemies for it to slay. That specific Persona had always been a bit too eager for battle, but this time, he couldn't wait to appease it, as he had no wishes of being trampled by a stampede of oversized caterpillars.
Maragidyne.
An explosion of fire. As if the flames had spewed from the jaws of the very dragon he had been fighting, the fires from his spell burned through the waves of monsters. They burned and burned until the outer layers of their skin all but melted away. Rather than exposing an exoskeleton and muscle, however, a strange grey liquid instead, splurged out from their bodies. As the flames burned through the rest of them like wildfire, the fluids continued to leak out, flooding the entire area.
Corrosive liquid.
The grass on the ground melted away to the touch. As the liquid splattered throughout the area, Surt shattered away on impact. An agonized howl from the dragon behind him alerted him to the fact that the beast had made the same mistake as he had. Time seemed to slow down as his brain continued to process the rather absurd situation he was currently in.
The first thought that came to mind was protection.
Makarakarn.
And thus, the barrier was formed. The sizzling sound that resulted from the corrosive fluids making an impact with the barrier indicated that it wasn't meant to last. It needed to be stronger, so he poured even more power into it. At this point, it became a battle of attrition.
It was a battle that he was not going to win.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the barrier finally gave out. Out of reflex, his arms flew up to shield his face. Pain immediately registered in his mind as his skin felt as if it were being burned away. Pain continued to flare throughout the various parts of his body.
Pain.
And then…
Darkness.
Loki was skeptical.
In spite of what her intuition told her, she couldn't quite wrap her head around the fact that the blue-haired boy had managed to go head to head with one of the monsters on the 51st floor of the dungeon without a Falna. Mortals couldn't lie to the gods, and while his alibi seemed to match up with Finn's recalling of the battles on the 51st floor, including even the strange caterpillar-like monsters that leaked out corrosive fluids, the doubtfulness in her mind refused to go away.
That was strange, for it was unlike her to be indecisive.
And then Minato Arisato had done it. As if to back up the claims that Loki's intuition was never wrong, the blue-haired boy showed everybody in the room the proof that could not be denied. With a sound that distinctly sounded like shattering glass, in a light shimmer of blue, a strange creature emerged.
It was humanoid in shape, and yet it was obvious to everyone in the room that the creature was no human or God. Its skin was metallic and its limbs were so mechanical that one could very clearly see the screws embedded inside of the joints. The eyes held no pupils and instead glowered with an eerie shade of red that reminded one of the monsters in the dungeon.
Orpheus, he had called the creature.
And then as if that feat in itself had not been enough, Orpheus lifted a mechanical limb in the air and a thick sheet of ice coated the entire surface of the wall behind her. It had cast magic with a spell that required no chant. A light torrent of flame followed next, melting the frost off the walls. It had cast a different spell with no chant.
The quiet stares from everybody in her Familia spoke volumes of the amount of surprise and shock that seemed to hang in the air. No chant magic was rare among adventurers, but having multiple spells that didn't require chants? She didn't think she knew of any adventures with magic like that. Her poor little Riveria-chan's eyes had grown so large that they almost looked comical.
If one could invoke a reaction like that from her Riveria-chan, then it had to have been some impressive magic.
At that point, Loki couldn't help but throw back her head and laugh.
Really now, this was precisely why the lower world was so much fun. Mortals were such interesting creatures, so unpredictable, which made them all the more amusing to be around. The game of Gods and Familias in Orario was like a never-ending game of chess, only it was one where the rules were unknown and every move led to a new revelation that was just chock-full of surprises.
She wanted him.
So naturally, being the Goddess of Trickery that she was, she began to plot out the necessary steps to obtain him.
"Hey, Arisato-kun," She began, a grin on her face, "How about you join my Familia?"
When the Goddess of Trickery wanted something, more often than not, she would get it.