Yu had been watching Joker come into his own as a leader and he had to admit it was rather interesting to watch. Yu didn't claim to be the one that taught Joker everything. After all, he had been managing just fine up until Yu had shown up. Still, this was his pinnacle thus far. He needed to use his bonds to talk his friends out of the cells they allowed themselves to be captive in. Each of his friends seemed to share some doubt about their journey so far with him and how this Holy Grail had defeated them. But Joker would throw the statement back at them and inspire them in the process. A shift to their Phantom Thief attire seemed to seal the deal. It was something Yu didn't think he could ever get tired of watching.
So far Fox, Skull, Noir, and Panther had all been talked out of their cells. Ready to join the fight that lay ahead. Joker wished Panther off before they turned and started to head down the jail cells. It was then Yu caught sight of the first member of his team. Joker stepped up the cage briefly before stepping back and looking towards Yu.
"Your turn." Joker explained seeming to tag out so Yu could step in.
Yu nodded to the younger man before he stepped up to the cell and looked at the occupant inside. Kanji laid in the middle of the cell. He had his arms folded under his head as he stared up at the ceiling almost bored. He didn't even acknowledge Yu as he appeared at the door, instead he just stared up at the ceiling.
"Ya know, mom always worried she'd see me in a place like this." Kanji suddenly said. "Everyone used to think I was some kinda delinquent back in those days. I fought hard to keep my nose clean, but ya know it's a stigma. I almost spent the night in one of these cells a few times. Didn't though. It woulda broke mom's heart. Good thing I met ya and the rest of the group. Who knows what kinda things I woulda gotten into without everyone. But here we are. Back then I use ta rebel against society because of stigma, now I rebelled against society to try and save it, but a fuckin' cup won." Kanji sighed. "That's some messed up shit ya know?"
"The fight isn't over," Yu stated in a calm voice as he watched his friend.
He had already watched Joker talk his friends out of one of these cells. Now it was time for him to step up and do the same. He did not doubt his bonds with his friends, still the prospect of failing weighed like a heavy elephant on his chest. Just the very thought of one of his friends being stuck inside these jail cells and fading away pained him. He couldn't mess this up, luckily Joker had shown him the path to their freedom. It was time to implement what he had seen.
"But what if I want it to be over? I mean we went wild on that fuckin' thing and the damn thing kept regenerating. The will of the ass-hats that were chained all around it wanted it. Tsk, it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen. Now that I'm here I kinda see the appeal, I can just stay here and not think. I ain't ever been the smart one in the group, it's always you or Naoto that tell me what to do so this is easy for me. Just don't think…" Kanji closed his eyes and for a second he seemed to be fading away.
It was time for a change in strategy. Yu refused to let his friend fade like this. Racking his brain a second, Yu's heart suddenly took over for his brain. Words came to Yu that seemed to come from the heart more than the mind. Maybe that was how it needed to be...
"Kanji, stop this. You may not be book smart but you are heart smart. You think more with your heart than your head and that's something we need right now. Your damn right you guys lost, but we aren't dead yet! Get up Kanji, or are you not the kind of man I thought you were?!" Yu yelled to his friend.
"Huh?" Kanji blinked before he sat up, the parts of him that were starting to fade away snapped back into reality. "I'm not a man Yu?!" There was an aggressiveness to his voice that Yu knew he had hit on.
"No man would wallow like this. Who is going to take care of Naoto? Who going to take care of your mother? Now, are you the kind of man your father wanted you to be, or are you some coward that slinks away when things get tough!?" Yu knew he was hitting all of Kanji's buttons.
In an instant Kanji was on his feet, his fists balled at his sides. Yu could almost feel the anger radiating off his friend as he turned towards the cell door and Yu. A blaze of anger lingered in Kanji's eyes as he reeled back. Yu who had seen Kanji fight more than once quickly stepped away from the door. Kanji lashed out slamming his fist against the door and like Joker's friends, the door shattered into a million tiny blue pieces that faded away. Yu looked at Kanji as his friend retracted his fist and looked towards Yu. For a second Yu felt himself in very real danger before Kanji sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yer right. This ain't me, for a moment there I lost track of the real me." Suddenly Kanji stepped up and entrapped Yu in a sudden bear hug slightly lifting Yu off his feet. "It's good to have ya back, man. I was worried we would never find ya and now yer here like some freakin' phoenix solving my problem." Kanji let Yu go and stepped back before glancing towards Joker and Aigis. "Where are the others?"
"We need to find them. Everyone is captured within their own prison, we've managed to free a few but there are still several to go. We are probably going to fight that Holy Grail thing again after this, will you be ready to fight?" Yu asked.
"Hell yeah!" Kanji punched his fist into his palm and loudly cracked his knuckles. "Just point me in the direction and I'll smash through 'em!" Kanji paused. "Ya found Rise or Naoto yet? They should be here, along with Yosuke."
"No, but Yosuke's here?" Yu asked letting the surprise make an appearance in his voice.
"Yeah, guy quit his job at Junes to join the search to look for ya. Your best friend won't let Naoto say no." Kanji explained.
"Can't say I'm too surprised when you put it that way, but you are the first one from the Investigation Team that we found," Yu answered.
"Huh, well go find the girls. Get Naoto out for me cuz ya seem to have a better grasp on what's goin' on than I do. Granted if ya need help let me know. I ain't afraid to break a few things if needed." Kanji pat Yu on the back.
Yu glanced towards Aigis and Joker. "You two ready?"
"Yeah, let's go." Joker took off past him to continue down the hall.
"I'll bring Naoto back to you Kanji," Yu smirked before he turned and headed off with Aigis after Joker.
"I'm countin' on that!" Kanji yelled after him.
They didn't need to travel down the hallway long before they found Ken. Ken was sitting against the door of the jail cell away from everyone. He looked as if he was a puppet someone had just discarded as his body held no real point of tension to it except for the easy ebb and flow of his chest. His head rested against his chest as his eyes stared off blankly. All the fight had been taken out of him. Joker looked to Aigis and took a step back to allow the android to ease the soul of her companion.
"Ken-kun…" Aigis called to her companion, even if Aigis was a robot there was compassion in that tone that showed she had transcended far beyond her programming.
"We lost Aigis… The world has fallen. The dark hour is back… I thought that now that I'm a year older than Yuki-san that I'd have all the strength he had. I wasn't a child anymore, I was a man. I should have won, I should have done better. I keep fighting, but I always lose. Why can't I be stronger? What have I done so wrong that I am still under everyone's shadows?" Ken's body suddenly tensed all at once as he put his hands to his head. "Why am I so worthless!?"
Aigis slowly bent down to sit in front of the jail cell. She tucked her legs to her side before she looked at Ken. There was a gentleness to her as she gazed upon her companion. Aigis had known Ken for several years by now and if there was anyone who was going to talk him out of that cell it had to be her. Yu trusted her with this task as he stood back with Joker.
"Ken… You have gotten stronger, but you have always been strong." Aigis reached out and placed her hands on the bars that separated him. "You shouldn't use that battle to measure your strength, all of us fought and we still lost."
"I can't help it. How do we move on from here? That was an impossible fight…" Ken's arms once again fell loosely to his side. "The world, we have fought so hard to protect it against something like this. Where did we go wrong? He entrusted this world to us and we swore to help him with that burden by making the most out of our lives. Yet the world turns to this?! People wallowing in their own prisons because they don't wish to make decisions for themselves?! Did his sacrifice to stop Nyx mean nothing? Is this world just doomed to fall to some mad god's desire?" There was a pain in his words, as he started to choke on them, a small sob echoing from the cell.
"We keep going just as he would have done! He bore it all on his shoulders and still kept moving forward. You must as well. If you choose to sit here you will become no better than those people who gave their lives to the Holy Grail. However, if you truly wish to both honor Makoto Yuki and have strength like his you must get out of this cell. Your own heart is what this cage is made off and you must resolve with your own heart to step forward and out of the shadow you believe you are under." Aigis' voice was firm, like a mother talking to a scared child.
There was a moment of silence as Ken seemed to take in Aigis' words before he leaned forward and slammed both of his balled fists against the floor. A scream of determination echoed from the cell that quickly came to ring in the halls that surrounded them. Yu could feel that that yell was Ken letting go of something deep down. The cage door shattered at the sound, falling around Aigis and momentarily casting her in a blue glow. The glint of a tear on her cheek could be seen only in that split second.
Ken tried to lean back expecting the cell door to be there before he fell back and collapsed into Aigis' lap. A look of shock ghosted Ken's face as he looked up at his android friend. A slow smile started to work its way to his lips before he reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I'll try and be more like him." Ken's voice was soft.
"Rather foolish if you ask me, you already kind of remind me of him, but you don't need to be him to be strong." Aigis grinned down to him.
Ken glanced over at Yu and Joker. It was only as he realized the other two were standing there did he scramble to his feet, his face a rising color of red. Yu silently admitted to himself that had been a private moment between the two, but he didn't sense anything too overly private. Ken and Aigis were just really good friends, having shared a bond over their struggles. Ken helped Aigis to her feet before he nodded to the other two.
"As Ken-kun is the only one I believe I can help free from these cages, I'll gather up the rest of your friends and return to the main room. Are you two okay continuing on your own?" Aigis questioned the two protagonists.
"I think we're good," Joker affirmed. "If Crow is done talking send him down to us."
"Affirmative. Come on Ken-kun." Aigis motioned Ken to follow her.
Yu watched both of them disappear together back down the hall they had come from, no doubt to wrangle up the rest of the crew back into the central area. This left Joker and Yu to continue down the unexplored part of the jailhouse. The area up ahead began to curve so they followed it around. The next jail cell they found was Yosuke's. Joker motioned Yu to take it as he made himself comfortable along an opposing wall.
Yu stepped up to the bars and looked down at his best friend. Yosuke was sitting along the velvet blue wall of his cell; one leg extended, the other propping up his right arm. The small sound of music echoed in the cell from the pair of wireless headphones that Yosuke had on his head. He must have been wearing them before he was brought down here. The song that echoed from them seemed to be playing music that sounded American. Yu knew Yosuke well enough to know what kind of music his best friend was into... It was all kinds of music really; Yosuke and Rise would talk for hours about it if given the chance. Yosuke looked straight ahead of him, looking more bored than anything else as his foot bobbed in tune to the music coming from the headphones.
It took a second or two before Yu approached Yosuke's cell door. Yu wanted to have a bit of a game plan before approaching. Yosuke seemed to instantly realize his friend was there and Yu was greeted with a look of surprised shock for a second. Once the shock wore off, Yosuke to pull down the headphones he was wearing. Yu offered his partner a warm smile.
"Hey, partner," Yu said.
Yosuke pressed a button on his headphones causing the sound to stop. "So you're down here. I guess that means it ain't hell. I got a feeling we aren't dead, just beaten down. Though doesn't seem to matter much does it? I thought about escaping, but y'know, what's up there? A world that's dead. Nothing but a mindless mass. Like a bunch of zombies lingering from one thing to the next not having to think, just act. I might as well just stay put, there is no future up there anymore."
"Are you so sure about that?" Yu leaned against the cell
"Kinda? Maybe? I dunno." Yosuke sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm getting the distinct feelin' you are going to talk to me about how great it is out there and I'm going to believe you because frankly you know I'll listen to you. Then again you weren't there, you didn't see what it looked like. It looked like hell had come to Earth and no one cared. They just carried on like this was any normal day. It felt like for the first time, we were going against something everyone wanted."
"I'm sure you'd come out of that cell if I was in a nurse outfit." Yu decided it was a good time to change tactics as something deep down spurred him to make this comment.
Yosuke froze for a half a second before he shot an icy glare at Yu. "Dude! You can't just be going around saying things like that! Here I was being all serious and then you drop something like that!"
"If you don't like it I'm standing right here." Yu took a step back and extended his hands with a smirk.
"You're trying to rile me up aren't ya?!" Yosuke got to his feet and cracked his knuckles. "You and that damn pretty face of yours."
"I didn't know you found me pretty. I'm flattered...Really" Yu dryly commented. "But you know Joker is going to start wondering about our relationship."
"Huh?" Yosuke blinked.
Yosuke leaned against the bars of his cell, but just as he did the bars seemed to dissolve away into the blue light. This caused Yu's best friend to fall forward, but luckily Yu was there to grab in his arms. There was a second or two that the situation must have looked quite awkward as Yu held Yosuke in his arms. Yosuke seemed to realize the situation and quickly jumped back from Yu trying to compose himself. After clearing his throat, he looked towards Joker.
"J-Just so you know our relationship is purely platonic." Yosuke felt the need to clarify.
An amused twinkle appeared in Joker's eyes behind the mask as he seemed to struggle to keep a straight face. "I believe you."
"You just had to clarify, didn't you?" Yu interjected sounding a bit sad.
Yosuke shot his best friend a glare. "You're givin' the kid all the wrong ideas!"
"Sure am, but I'm doing it on purpose," Yu smirked.
"I'm so going to punch you in the face later… Partner." Yosuke promised.
"You can give it to me later, but right now I need you by my side because we are probably going to fight again," Yu explained.
"Phrasing… But yeah man. I got your back." Yosuke shook his head.
"The others are meeting that way if you want to excuse yourself before we give Joker any more ideas." Yu motioned back down the way they came.
"I think that's for the best. See ya in a bit partner." Yosuke turned and headed down the hallway.
Yu watched him go as Joker stepped up to his side. Now that Yosuke was gone he let the smirk appear on his lips that he had been trying so hard to hold back. He had been amused by the display from the two best friends. Without a word, the two continued down the hallway to hopefully free their remaining friends. The next couple of jail cells were all empty, but after those Makoto's cell came into view. Yu hung back allowing the love-struck thief to take this one. Joker understood that Yu was giving him space to talk to his girlfriend and quietly stepped up to the cell.
"Joker!" Makoto suddenly called as if a wave of relief just hit her. "I'm so glad you are safe."
"That should be my line." Joker smoothly replied.
"Maybe…" Makoto sighed. "If I said I didn't want to be a Phantom Thief anymore, what would you say?"
Joker reached up and took off his mask. There was a silence to the younger man as if he was carefully thinking about the words Makoto had said. In the context of her words, she seemed to be asking to leave the group. However, did leaving the group truly mean walking entirely away? If it did, that was why Joker was reduced to silence. While their relationship was still new, it was strong and Joker didn't seem the type that simply could walk away from it without some deep level of heartbreak.
"I couldn't hold it against you…" Joker's voice had an uneasiness to it before he looked up to the girl locked in the cage. "Why do you ask?"
Now it was Makoto's turn to go silent. There was no mistaking the pain in Joker's previous words and it probably made what she wanted to say all the more difficult. From Yu's vantage point he could see the silent pain etched across his protégé's face. Yu wanted to offer some words to the couple, but at that moment nothing seemed appropriate. Also, Joker needed to do this on his own, he needed to give Makoto the strength to want to break free from that cage.
"I… I feel like I've lost my will to fight Ren. That Holy Grail beat us and now that you're here in that outfit it can only mean you are preparing to fight again. We lost and I don't know what will happen if we lose again. Will I be put back in this cell or will I lose everything the next time? That thing is the will of the people Ren. What does a bunch of high-schoolers and a hand full of adults have that can fight against that? I can't Ren… I felt like I lost you once. I don't want to feel that way again." Makoto's confession came straight from the heart and that's why it was so painful for Joker to no doubt hear.
Joker's shoulder lost all tension as if all that cocky confidence he normally wore like a chip on his shoulder evaporated. For a minute he didn't seem to know how to respond, but Yu had faith he'd find his words again. And he did. Joker looked towards Makoto as a flash of rebellion seemed to light up his face.
"I won't lose a second time." Joker squared his shoulders. It was that confidence he normally had that came rushing back to him.
"What? You can't make that kind of promise Ren! You know what we are up against! What makes you so confident that we can even win in the first place? That thing is a god and has the entirety of society backing it!" Makoto's flustered tone was cut off as Joker raised his red gloved hand.
"Because, for one thing. We now have him." Joker pointed to Yu. "Hey Yu-senpai, how many of these gods have you and your friends taken out?"
Yu paused thinking. Ameno-sagairi was the first then there was Izanami which was Kasumi-no-Okami, Izanagi-No-Okami, and Kunino-sagiri. Did those count as one or three? Yu didn't know. Then there was Hi-no-Kagutsuchi who was the cause of the whole P-1 Grand Prix mess. Lastly, Mikuratana-no-Kami who yearned for bonds. He had never really thought to count before, but he did have quite the record.
"About four to six depending on definitions. Come to think of it, maybe people should start calling me a God Killer. Either way, I'm looking to add another one to my list." Yu reflected Joker's confidence right back at Makoto, mirroring the teen's cocky grin.
"Six?!" Makoto sounded shocked.
"The guy might have a little experience on the matter. Regardless, we all know what we are up against now. We can discuss our next move. We don't have to go into that fight without knowing what our next steps are going to be. Even if you don't want to fight anymore, that's fine. I'll fight for both of us. But Makoto… I need you to get out of that cell…" Joker's voice was calm, but Yu could tell he was starting to get desperate. "Makoto I need you…"
Another long silence before Makoto spoke again. "Alright. We have to win this time."
There was an explosion of bright light that burst forth from the cell that caused Yu to look away. Once the light died down, Yu turned back to the two teenagers. Queen now stood in front of Joker as the door had melted away between them. Yu could see the wave of relief that washed over Joker as he reached out to pull Queen into his arms for an embrace. Yu did a quick mental check knowing that only Futaba, Morgana, Rise, and Naoto were left unaccounted.
"I'll give you guys a moment." Yu nodded to the two teenagers before he moved past them and down the hall.
There were no complaints as Yu advanced forward. Seeing Joker and Queen spurred something within him that made him want to find Rise. He had to wonder how she took his disappearance. Probably not too well seeing as she always seemed to have some sort of fear of him leaving in the dead of night. Because of his night terrors, he had disappeared too many times to clear his head. Rise would get worried but normally she'd find him by a phone call or just by walking around the house. How upset had she been when she woke up and he had been nowhere to be found?
Moving past another stretch of empty jail cells a flash of someone familiar caught his eye. It wasn't Rise, but someone almost as important to him. Yu stepped up to the cell that currently held his partner and female best friend, Naoto. The female detective was leaned against the wall, one arm across her chest cradling her other arm that was propping her chin up. With her eyes closed, Yu recognized that posture since she normally took it when she was lost deep in thought about something.
"Naoto," Yu called to his partner.
"Hmm?" Naoto snapped to attention before surprise flashed across her face. "Yu!"
"Hey." Yu offered Naoto an easy smile.
"What are you doing here? Or better yet, do you happen to know where we are?" Naoto questioned.
"This place? This is part of Ren's Velvet Room, I've been held captive here for two days from what I've been told." Yu explained.
"We are in a velvet room…" Naoto looked at the blue wall before her, probably remembering Yu's description of the blue coloration of his velvet room. "I suppose that makes sense. Are you free or are we all trapped here with you?"
"I'm free, now it's your turn. It's some sort of lingering doubt that is keeping you locked in there. Something about it making you not want to think for yourself." Yu knew if he just explained everything to Naoto that she'd use her logic to overcome her emotions, or at least that was the hope.
"Lingering doubt… Hm." Naoto stepped up to the cell door, a pensive look still firm on her face.
Naoto reached out to the bars and instantly they faded away under her touch. Yu blinked, he expected Naoto to be easy to get out but the fact she just reached forward and let herself out was a bit shocking. Why couldn't everyone else be like this? Or was there just something about Naoto's doubt that was so easily solved. Yu took a step back so his partner could step out into the hallway.
"That was fast," Yu commented unable to keep the impressed look off his face.
"All of my doubt involved you and your abduction. Also, all that nonsense about not being able to think for yourself goes against who I am as a person." Naoto scoffed, "So what's the plan now?"
"We finish rescuing Morgana, Rise, and Futaba then we meet in the central part of this area to talk about our next steps," Yu informed his partner.
"Go to Rise now, Yu Narukami!" Naoto ordered in a firm tone.
That was the kind of tone Yu didn't say no too.
"Okay, head down that way. You should eventually find the central room." Yu motioned back behind him.
"Go Yu." Naoto pressed before she headed back down the way he had come.
Yu watched his partner disappear down the hall before he moved on. By now it seemed the jail cell had looped in on itself. Yu moved through the cells before catching a glimpse of a figure huddled up within it. Yu moved up to the cell to find Futaba curled in the corner of the cell. The girl looked just downright depressed as she sat in the farthest corner of the cell. Her image was already starting to fade away slightly.
"Futaba!" Yu called to the girl.
No answer. However, the sound of footsteps coming back from the way Yu came drew the detective's attention. Joker was coming down the hall with Crow. A look of relief play across Yu's face. He didn't have the kind of bond needed to snap whatever was going on with Futaba right now, but at the very least Joker did. Joker stepped up to the cage along with Crow and they both instantly looked seriously concerned.
"Futaba… look at me," Joker called out to his sister.
Again no answer.
"You guys got this? I want to go find Rise." Yu explained.
Joker looked at Yu and he seemed to understand something. "Go, we got this."
"Thanks," Yu called leaving the affair to them so he could press on.
Morgana and Rise were the only ones they had to collect. Moving just a ways from Futaba's cell, a sweet sound filled Yu's ears. The tune was instantly recognized. It was the one Rise was working on. Empowered by this knowledge Yu picked up his pace, following the sound of the tune as if it were a siren's song. It led him to the last cage before the whole area seemed to wrap around again. He wondered why he hadn't heard the tune when they entered.
"Rise, I'm here!" Yu called to his fiancé.
Like Futaba, Rise was at the back of the cell. Her guitar sat in her lap as her fingers danced across the strings of the instrument. The rest of her body seemed fairly limp. Her head kind of sat cocked on her shoulder as her half-closed eyes stared off. There was no life in her gaze and if it wasn't for the rhythmic strumming of her guitar, Yu would have thought she was dead. Even her skin had an ashen tone to it, but that might have been the dim lights of the cell. Yu wanted nothing more at that moment than to charge into that cell and take her into his arms.
"Rise!" Yu called to the woman his heart belonged to.
Like Futaba, Rise seemed to be in some sort of catatonic state. She didn't move an inch at Yu's call, her fingers only continuing to dance over the strings of her guitar. Yu put his hands to the cage door to see if there was a chance it would give way at his touch. He only managed to rattle the door as it held firm at his assault.
"Rise! I'm right here. Please, look at me!" Yu pleaded with the woman in the cell.
Again no response. Yu didn't know what to do as he watched Rise. Right before his eyes, she seemed to be fading right in front of him. Yu fell to his knees as he felt all of the energy leave him. His hands curling around the bars that kept him separated from Rise. Resting his head against the cool metal Yu tried to think of something, anything he could do to reach out to Rise. He was getting rather desperate and with that desperation came an idea.
Getting once again to his feet, Yu took a step back from the bar before he searched his sea of souls for one Persona in particular. Reaching out he crushed the tarot card as Yu's oldest and first Persona appeared by his side. Izanagi gave him a passive look before looking at the jail cell in front of it. Raising his blade he struck it against the bars. A loud clang rang across the halls of the pseudo-prison as sparks flew across Yu's vision.
"Again." Yu's voice was a low growl, as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants.
So again Izanagi struck the bars, but just as the first time nothing seemed to happen. That mattered little. As Yu encouraged the Persona to keep attacking, sparks fell all around him as the Persona hacked at the bars. Nothing visible seemed to change for several long moments when from the back of the cell, Yu thought he saw a flicker of response from Rise. Izanagi stopped mid-swing as Yu once again stepped back up to the bars. There had been a change. The music had stopped and Rise slowly lifted her dulled gaze to the threshold of the cell. For a second Rise locked eyes with Yu, but there wasn't the deep sparkle of recognition.
The only thing he found was a gaze devoid of life.
Yu felt his heart jerk violently in his chest before an indescribable pain started to fill it. Was it too late? Was Rise lost to him? Is this what happened to those that became lost in the cells of regression? Were they just lifeless husks of the people they once were?
"Rise… No…" Yu gripped his chest as the pain became too much to bear. "Izanagi! Cross Slash!" The Persona hesitated, causing anger to mingle with the pain within the wild card. "I said, Cross Slash!" Yu commanded throwing out his hand to the Persona willing it to obey.
The Persona glared at Yu before it pulled its blade back and slashed forward. The first part of the slash simply clang against the cell, but as Izanagi reeled back for its second swing; it was then Yu realized why the Persona had hesitated. As the blade was brought back Yu was standing in the path of that fearsome weapon. Battle experience from years of fighting caused Yu to back up just in time, but the blade tip ripped across his chest taking out his nightshirt and leaving a long cut along his chest. Blood splattered from his wound into the cage across Rise's face as Izanagi's attack smashed against the cage, doing nothing. Yu hissed with pain. The wound was merely superficial but it still stung. He might have been cut in half if it wasn't for his reflexes.
Rise's despondent stare was still on Yu as his blood splashed on her face. For the first time since he arrived, there was a small voice from the woman he loved.
"..Yu…?" She called in a tone that suggested she was trapped in a distant place in her mind.
"Rise! I'm here now! Come back to me!" Yu encouraged, the desperation in his voice becoming more apparent as time went on.
Rise blinked several times as her eyes slowly filled with life again. "Your shirt… Why is it torn?"
Her eyes fixated on the bleeding wound in the man's chest and the shirt that she had bought him. Suddenly a light of realization filled her eyes as her hand shot to her face. Pulling her fingers away, she gasped as she noticed the blood on them and took in the events of what was happening in front of her for the first time.
"It's really you! I thought you were just another illusion!" Rise cried out as tears swelled in her eyes.
"It's really me. Sorry I kind of messed up the shirt you got me." Yu weakly responded as he fell to his knees, happy that his other half was finally back to her senses.
"That's not important right now." Rise quickly got to her feet and closed the distance between them snaking her hands through the cell door to embrace him.
Yu instantly reached out through the bars and embraced her. As he did so he felt a spark shoot up his arm and the Izanagi that stood next to him suddenly shifted. No longer was he just Izanagi but Izanagi-no-Okami. Even with the bars of the cage separating them, Yu felt his heart lift. He had Rise back in his arms and for the moment that's all that mattered.
"I-I thought… I lost you f-forever." Rise's voice starting to break as sobs racked her words.
"Shh… I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." Yu soothed her.
Suddenly the bars between them dissolved as Rise snuggled against him. It would seem all of her worries melted away now that she was in his arms again... For that fleeting moment, no matter what may lay ahead, everything was perfect.