Hey guys, sorry I'm a little later than usual on my posts so I'll just get right to it. Also, I'll be putting the A/N between the chapter itself and the mini-story from now on.
Chapter 18
April 24, 2021; Monday
11:53 AM
(Lunchtime)
Rooftop
Kazuhiko sat on the bench looking at his phone. Mikan, Johei and Daichi with their Personas were waiting for him to finish skimming.
"Daina Colburne and her husband Samuel… And they're going to be targeted?"
Daichi nodded.
"Yeah, but I have no idea where they are. If we can't find their reflections, we won't be able to prevent their suicide."
Kazuhiko mulled over their profiles. It was strange looking at their portraits and bringing up how they caused the death of their daughter; They didn't seem like abusive parents, so how did this happen? He shook his head trying to stay focused on the current task.
"Wait" Johei said
"If they are being targeted, wouldn't they die the same way the past suicides went and at the same place?"
Johei brought up a good point. If this was a hit from the Bringers of Death, the targets would be sent to the top of the building and jump off with a noose. As far as Kazuhiko knew, Rika's parents were in Svalbard. If their reflections were there, it would be an impossible distance to cover over the course of a day without any transportation in the Mirror Dimension. His thoughts were interrupted by Daichi.
"Actually, you know what I said about Niflheim? The thing is, it connects the worlds reflections to one spot, but only those that are doomed to die appear in it."
The atmosphere began to brighten up for them, until Daichi brought it down again.
"But the distance from death is measured by the tower. Those closer to committing suicide get considerably closer to the top. Although they don't always die at the top; That's only reserved for very special occassions. The rate would probably a floor a day."
It had been difficult enough already to get to a certain point in Niflheim, but when their target was practically running from them made it even harder. Mikan had been staying quiet the ever since the meeting had started, as if she was deep in thought.
"Oh, hey Mika-senpai, you okay?" Johei asked.
"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." Mikan replied, but her eyes showed no interest in the conversation.
"Is there something wrong?" Daichi asked.
Mikan hesitated to answer but Kazuhiko decided to do her a favor and change the subject.
"Well, we all are kind of getting back to business. She's probably worrying about our mission."
Mikan gave him a grateful look while Johei looked confused.
"Yeah but we can't have her Ungh!"
Johei grabbed his foot after Kazuhiko stamped on it.
"Dude! What the hell was that for?"
"Probably for how dense you are" Skadi said.
Loki looked confused as well.
"Wait, why is my partner being abused here? Was it because of OW!"
Loki held his head after Skadi hit him with her bow.
"The same goes for you as well."
"Hey!"
"Guys, stop fighting." Kazuhiko said as he turned back to his friends.
"They're going to die in a week, right? That means we won't have a lot of time to waste. Let's get started right after school."
Everybody agreed to meet at the mall later with all their gear and left the rooftop, that is, except for Kazuhiko and Tyr. Tyr looked out at the campus and watched the students either walking around or sitting at a bench with some other friends. He let out a sigh.
"It must be nice to be young, isn't it?"
Kazuhiko turned to his persona and answered slowly.
"Y-yeah… Is there something you want to talk about?"
Tyr shook his head.
"Oh, no. Well, you remember how I said that I was based off the actual Tyr?"
Kazuhiko nodded his head.
"Yeah, I kinda remember that. What about it?"
Tyr turned back to the campus square.
"Well, from time to time, I have brief flashes. Like I remember something I should, but I can't get a grasp at it. What was that called? Am-something?"
"Amnesia"
"Right. Well, it feels like that. I have a recurring vision of a child. He had short black hair and seemed frail, but I obeyed him as if he were my master. It seems strange, but I really have a feeling that it happened to me before."
Kazuhiko looked confused as he mulled over his Persona's statement. Suddenly, someone opened the door to the roof.
"Hm? Oh, didn't know you were here."
Kazuhiko turned around to see, yet again, Iselin.
"Oh, hey Iselin. What brings you here?"
Iselin shrugged as she took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and a match. As she lit it, Kazuhiko scrunched his nose.
"Hm? What?" Iselin said as she put out the match, the cigarette in her mouth.
"Is there a place where you don't smoke?" Kazuhiko said.
Iselin scoffed.
"Well, I wouldn't smoke near a fire alarm. That's why I'm up here. What about you?"
"To enjoy the fresh air. Classrooms are getting too stuffy with the weather getting warmer."
"Ah, sorry about that." Iselin said as she put out her cigar.
The two stood near the fence of the roof looking at the students, neither one saying a word until Iselin spoke again.
"Who were you talking about yesterday?"
"Hm?" Kazuhiko turned to her.
"Who did I remind you of?"
Kazuhiko looked back to the courtyard.
"Well, it was my friend Johei. He had a friend who was recently killed the same way Rika was. He thought it was her parents, but it turns out he was wrong."
Iselin nodded but took notice to the last words. Kazuhiko continued.
"He tried to kill them, but I had to stop him and calm him down. Thinking back now, I don't think he really wanted to kill them, but to make them feel remorseful. He just really loved her, but could never tell her until it was too late."
It took Iselin a few moments to realize that tears were running down her face. Quickly, she wiped them off and replied to him.
"Rika was killed by her parents; I know that for sure. How I act though, I'm going to make sure that they pay in full for what they did to her."
Kazuhiko recoiled a little bit. Iselin noticed the darkness in her tone but ignored it.
"They drove their daughter to die and they will pay for her life."
Iselin looked angrily at the students on the ground, as if they were scampering ants.
"There is nothing that I will regret doing to the-"
Kazuhiko placed his hand on her shoulder and immediately, Iselin stopped.
"Are you you sure?"
Iselin stared at Kazuhiko.
"Are you willing to do anything to make them suffer?"
Iselin shrugged off his arm and turned away from him.
"Yes. There is no doubt in my mind. I'll make sure they suffer the same way she did."
In a split second, time seemed to freeze. Then, Kazuhiko saw chains forming on Iselin's arms. Tyr looked just as shocked as Kazuhiko was.
"S-She was the one. She ordered the suicide of Rika's parents!"
Time flowed back to normal and Iselin, who didn't feel like talking anymore, said goodbye to Kazuhiko and walked back to the stairs. Kazuhiko and Tyr froze in their spot, not moving for several seconds.
"We need to talk to everybody else."
3:26 PM
Nuzoko Mall District
(After School)
Iselin's POV
Iselin had arrived at the small bookstore and waited for 5 minutes. A strange letter in her locker had called her over here to discuss about some unsaid matters; what it was, she had not the slightest clue.
"I swear, if it's that Joe guy asking me out…" She muttered under her breath as she checked her pocket for cigarettes; No dice. Sighing, she rested on the wall with her back and scanned the crowd.
"Pretty empty today. Restaurant lines are pretty short. Ooh, a new branch of Wild Duck Burger, that looks interesting. Hm?"
Her eye caught a few people in front of a cafe talking with each other. One of them was that Kazuhiko guy along with Mikan from Rika's class, a red head, and… was that the guy who asked for her cup size? Iselin immediately felt pissed.
Deciding to check on what they were doing, Iselin walked to a nearby store and stared at the windows with an interested look.
"Hm, that's looks nice, a swimsuit that makes my ass look ten frickin' times bigger!" She thought sarcastically.
The group started to talk until the boy named Kazuhiko stood up and slung a baseball bag over his shoulder. The rest did the same and they walked to the end of the mall together.
"What? Aren't the batting cages in the other direction?" She thought.
She waited until they were just out of range and continued to pursue them. Suddenly, a large crowd appeared out of nowhere and got in her way, blocking her view. She pushed past them to find… her reflection in the large mirror.
Cursing herself, her eye caught something on the ground. She picked it up and realized it was a QR code.
"Huh, did they drop this?"
Thinking that there wasn't anything better to do, she scanned it. Immediately, an app appeared on her phone.
"The Mirror Dimension? The hell's that?" She mumbled to herself.
She turned up and looked at the mirror that she was facing, then back at her phone. She took a deep breath and psyched herself up.
"I must be out of my friggin' mind."
She touched the surface of the glass mirror. It felt solid like it should; Iselin scoffed at herself for being stupid and decided to draw her hand away, but just when she pulled her hand back, ripples showed on the glass.
4:10 PM
Mirror Dimension; Niflheim
Kazuhiko and Co. POV
"Let's go! Skull Cracker!"
Tyr charged up and sent his fist down on an unlucky shadow. After it melted into nothingness, everyone continued to wander through the tower floor.
The party encountered several more shadows, but continued without breaking a sweat. They were nearing the 12th floor by now and were nearing towards the designated area. By the 13th floor, they decided to take a break.
"Hey, you got any Mad Bull?" Johei asked.
Kazuhiko tossed him a can from his overflowing bag of items. He really needed to get a new backpack…
Johei chugged on his energy drink while everyone else did the same. Daichi checked the app and made a confused look.
"That's strange… it now says that the reflection's on the 14th floor."
Kazuhiko brought up a confused look of his own.
"The 14th? Wasn't it on the 15th?"
Daichi shrugged and put his phone away.
"Never seen something like that happen. Well, it looks like we've got less work to do."
Everybody nodded and finished their break. Johei crushed his can and threw it into the corner.
"How disgraceful!" Hugin cawed
"Disrespecting Frey in such a manner? You should repent!"
"It's in a god-forsaken tower full of blobs on the ground who want to kill us. The can might actually help the décor a little."
A little while later, they reached the stairs which emanated a strong force. Everybody took a step forward with Kazuhiko in the lead.
"You guys ready?"
"Abso-freaking-lutely"
"Hell yeah."
"Yes"
"We are prepared."
"Let's finish this."
"For the kitchen table!"
"And the water heater!"
"Will you shut up?!"
Kazuhiko rolled his eyes and opened the door. On the opposite side, there was only one reflection, but it wasn't anybody that Kazuhiko expected.
"Wait, isn't that Iselin?"
The reflection turned around and stared blankly at the four. It's gaze seemed to look right past them yet it's voice spoke directly towards them.
"What are you doing here?"
A few seconds passed until Johei spoke up.
"What is Iselin's reflection doing here? She's not in danger of committing suicide."
Daichi sighed.
"Kazuhiko told us about this. After she finished talking to him on the roof, he saw chains form on her. The chains of Despair cause you to do things because of your despair. It's regular course of action is suicide, but because Iselin wants revenge…"
"That's right." Iselin's reflection said.
"I am here to make sure that they suffer; That they die. Now answer me, what are you doing here?"
"We're here to stop the death of Rika's parents. Get out of our way."
Iselin's reflection stiffened and her eyes seemed to grow darker.
"You are here to protect those murderers?! They took the life of their own child! My best friend! I am making sure that justice is served!"
Kazuhiko looked back with a straight face, as if he expected the reflection to say that.
"If you are really here to prevent more deaths, than you should leave now! Leave or else you'll suffer the consequences!"
"She's getting more agitated, the shadows are getting closer." Tyr said to his user.
Kazuhiko nodded but made no sound. Iselin's reflection continued.
"This will be my life's work! Everything I've lived up to will be defined in this!"
"We're not here to stop you, we just want to bring your revenge down a notch." Kazuhiko said.
"You want to what?" A voice asked behind them.
They all turned around to see Iselin behind them.
"W-what?! How did she get in here?" Johei stuttered.
Daichi shook his head.
"It doesn't matter right now. She's siding with her reflection. On top of that, the shadows are covering our escape."
True to his word, the black blobs surrounded everyone, but were starting to crawl towards Iselin and her reflection.
"This won't be stopped…" Iselin said.
"You won't even reach them in time…" Her reflection followed.
The black slime crawled onto them and soon covered their torso and most of their necks.
"wE WoN't HeSiTaTe To FiNIsH YoU OfF, If IT mEAns tO mAKe ThEM Do ExACtlY wHaT ShE Did!"
The gunk covered their faces and soon, their figures rose to a greater height until it towered even the Personas.
Johei snapped his fingers.
"Oh! I remember now! I asked what your cup size was the other day! Is that why you're so mad?"
"Cup size? What is that?" Hugin asked.
"Is it the amount of mead that one can put into a mug?" Munin asked.
"I'm going to have to tell you guys later." Loki told them.
"Don't you dare." Mikan said threateningly.
I'm really sorry about my posting tardiness and the length of this chapter. I'm just a really busy guy, but I'll do my best to upload on time. As for the question regarding Texas, no, I am not a Texan nor am I related to anyone in Texas. I just want to help people as much as I can, be it through donating or writing. Anyways, here's the mini story!
Personal Talk: Protagonists
Kazuhiko: So you guys are able to summon Personas, huh?"
Minato: Yeah, although we do it separate ways.
Yu: I just enter the TV world and crush a card.
Kazuhiko: Wait, so you crush a playing card?
Yu: No, it's just a floating tarot card that appears when I summon it.
Kazuhiko: Oh, I break chains.
Minako: Whoa, you can do that? But you're so scrawny…
Kazuhiko: Scrawny?! (hunches into a corner) I mean, I know I'm scrawny, but not scrawny enough so that people would notice.
Yu: … So, how about you guys?
Minato: Well, we summon our Personas with these things called evokers
Yu: What's that?
Minako: Well, they're these things that look a lot like guns and we fire them at our head.
Kazuhiko: What?! Why would you do that?!
Minato: Oh, don't worry. They don't hurt us. They just force out our Personas. Apparently, they work with all Persona users.
Yu: Yeah, it felt a bit different using it for the first time; I definitely prefer my card-crushing technique.
Kazuhiko: Really? Hey, can I try it?
Minato: Yeah sure. Just put it to your head and pull the trigger.
Kazuhiko: So like this? Okay, I can do this.
Minako: Wait! Hold on!
*BANG*
Minato: …
Minako: …
Yu: … You think anybody heard that?
Nanako: Hey, Big Bro! I'm ho-… WHAT THE F*** HAPPENED?!
Yu: Ah! Nanako! It's not what it looks like!
Nanako: You killed him!
Minako: I told you not to buy that pistol.
Minato: Well, you never know when you'd need it…
