Chapter 15: Sunset of Blood
|Augustus Square|19:23 pm|
Amara had seen a bizarre variety of Shadows so far. Even so, the Dominating Sorceress that stood before her was an ugly and terrifying creature. The horse could have come straight out of hell, and so could the malevolent sorceress riding it. The horse didn't seem to have a mask, which meant the sorceress and the witch were the same monster. Simply staring at it made Amara felt queasy.
"Burn!" Amara unleashed a Flare Hail, and the Sorceress became engulfed with flames.
"My turn! Agilao!" Other Amara used the same move, and this caused the feminine Shadow to go berserk, and stand on its hind legs, it started wildly swinging it's front legs at the two of them, at an impressive pace. Finally, it turned around, and kicked Amara with it's back leg.
"Oof! I wish Serena would hurry up!" Amara said, slashing the insidious creature before her with her blade.
"Me too! This thing's tough." Other Amara said, as Sekhmet impaled with the Poison Steel. "How about you cast your fire spells and I'll use Sekhmet's sword. Okay, um, me?"
"Sure...me," Amara said, grinning. Staring at the Shadow before her, she sent forth another Agilao spell. The Shadow, in its fury, cast a strange lightning attack that went all over the area, breaking a few of the street lights. A couple of screams were heard, probably from people in the buildings nearby. Amara tried her best to dodge the myriad of bolts, but got hit by quite a few. Other Amara got away with just one hit, and dodged the rest, lunging forward with her sword.
"C'mon, shake it off! You never got struck by lightning before?!" she shouted, as her alter ego stood up.
"Not until this week, anyway! As for you, you ugly witch, burn to ashes!" Amara hollered, as she hit the Sorceress with another Agi.
The sorceress, irritated, raised her arms in a rather sensual fashion, which considering her skeletal appearance was a nightmarish sight to behold. Then, a powerful aura of magic energy surrounded her, flowing into her body.
"That doesn't look good. Try not to die!" Other Amara dashed, and used Sekhmet to slash repeatedly, yet the Sorceress' spell was not stopped. An incredible crystal of ice appeared from the ground, trapping Other Amara, and with a massive shockwave, exploded, knocking her unconscious.
"Oh no... What do I do now?!"
Knowing she couldn't just leave Other Amara at the mercy of the Shadow, she had to keep attacking until help arrived. Casting yet another Agilao, she was starting to feel weary. If she was hit by that ice spell, she'd be finished.
|Aeternus Headquarters -Holy Cross Quarters|19:30 pm|
"So Ally, you failed again?" Richard asked his comrade. "You know how angry the Commander was yesterday! If this keeps up, we might get fired!"
"I wouldn't worry about that. After all, we're the only natural Persona users Aeternus has. Well, other than him." Kazuya said. "Besides, if we did get fired, who would they replace us with?"
"I..." Bianca said, nervously. "Let me deal with him. He's never raised his hand to me so far. Perhaps because of my gender..."
"So what? He barely speaks to you!" Kazuya said. "Anyway, what happened, Alastair? How come you failed again?"
"I saw them! Two Amaras! In the one place!" Alastair said, confused. "They're the same! The only difference is, the one we've been fighting the last few days didn't have a scar!"
"Really?" Bianca asked. "Then, what about that Nathan Albion fellow?"
"I believe there's two Nathans as well. Not only that, the girl that was killed two years ago! Serena Agnethe!" Alastair said. "You know, her sister!"
"You're talking about Nina, right? She's quite a fox!" Richard said, dreamily. "Uh...ignore that. Are we going to tell the Commander about this?"
"No. There's a very good reason we can't tell him, and you all know why. Except for Kazuya." Alastair said.
"I haven't seen this Blaine person yet, but from what you have all told me, he's...the same as the Commander," Kazuya said, with a lump in his throat. "The Blaine we've been fighting has the same Persona, too! Tlaloc! If the Commander knew, then it would be chaos. Until we can find out what's going on, we must keep this between the four of us."
"Yeah. The Commander's scary enough when he's in a normal mood. If he knew there was another guy that looked just like him running around, he'd go bananas. That's why we're only looking for the other three for now. Right?" Richard said.
"The Commander's coming here later. Alastair, get some rest. We'll just say you went on a training exercise and bit off more than you could chew." Bianca said, and as Alastair went into his bedroom, Bianca looked at the windowsill, where her red rose was in a pink vase. "Why are they so determined to not join us? Do they know more than we do...?"
|Augustus Square|19:32 pm|
"Dammit!" Amara cried. The Sorceress had somehow put up a barrier that completely nullified her fire attacks. Trying to make do with Hathor's sword skills, she wasn't faring very well. The Sorceress showed no signs of fatigue, which made Amara panic. Just then, the Sorceress charged up again. "Oh god, no!"
Just then, she felt someone shove her aside, and she fell to the ground. However, the mighty ice spell didn't get her - rather, it struck the red-haired man next to her.
"Nathan? Is that you...?"
It was Nathan, alright, but not the Nathan she knew. It was the one of this world. As she got to her feet, she saw her actual allies running towards her.
Finally! I knew they'd turn up!
"We're not too late, are we?" Serena said, worried. "Here! Dia!"
Artemis quickly healed her summoner's comrade, with a gentle smile.
"No, you're just in time," Amara said, now at full strength. "But watch out!"
The horse segment of the Shadow was about to kick Blaine with his legs, but just as it was about to hit him, he jumped back and fired repeatedly. Each bullet seemed to leave gaping holes, albeit barely visible.
"It's always nice to meet a holy lady, isn't it?" Blaine said.
The Other Nathan couldn't help but grin, whilst Nathan sighed. Noticing the other Amara, he rushed to her aid.
"She's still breathing! We have to kill this Shadow and fast!" Nathan said, running back. "Serena, can't you help her?"
"Oh! Right!" Serena summoned Artemis again, and with her new Recarm spell, managed to awaken Other Amara.
"Huh? Oh, you did that?" she said, standing up. "Thanks... But where did all of you come from?"
"I've got good backup." Amara said, with a sly smile.
The Sorceress screeched, and sent more lightning all over the place. Serena got hit multiple times, but she tried to hide her pain and struck the horse part of the Shadow with her whip. With dark blood pouring from its wounds, it collapsed, and the sorceress was in what looked like extreme agony.
"Come on, Setanta!" Other Nathan shouted. His version of Setanta was much the same as Nathan's, except it had a different outfit, of blue armour adorned with shining jewels and a white long scarf. He struck the Shadow with an Air Brake spell, which seemed to slow it down. Angry, the Shadow's horse part kicked Serena with it's front legs, and neighed demonically.
"No one does that to me and gets away with it! I'll send you to your death, you old hag!" Serena screamed, as everyone - including the Other Nathan and Amara - attacked with their weapons. The Sorceress finally stood up, and looking at Nathan, gave him an evil smile. Nathan started shivering, and try as he might, he couldn't bring himself to raise his weapon.
"What the hell are you doing, man? Don't tell me you're scared now!" Blaine jeered.
"I..." Nathan said, with a fearful tremor in his voice. "I can't move... What's happening to me?"
The Shadow seemed pleased with the result. With a deep breath, she let out an absolutely Ghastly Wail. The sound of this caused Nathan to scream in terror, and faint to the ground in a heavy flood.
"No! Nathan! Damn this witch..." Amara said. "Serena, hurry and help him! We'll distract her!"
"Okay!" Serena said, and she cast another Recarm spell. Nathan returned to consciousness, no longer afraid. In a violent frenzy, he took his weapon and swung it again and again at the Sorceress, then he managed to cast a powerful Garu.
"Alright, now we're talking! Try this!" Blaine summoned Tlaloc, and managed to cast a particularly shocking Zio. Everyone seemed to be encouraged by the Shadow's weariness, as it was losing a lot of it's 'blood' and was having trouble staying upright. Serena soon hit with another Aqua, and the Shadow was even more damaged, as it was soon standing in a pool of it's own blood.
"Hey you! Let's start a fire. A really big one!" Other Amara said.
Amara nodded, and Hathor and Sekhmet joined hands, and soon became enshrouded in flames.
"Blazing Burst!"
Soon, those flames grew and consumed the magical Shadow, causing her to burn all over. It was now screaming endlessly, perhaps in an attempt to beg for mercy. Or perhaps for its death.
"How about we finish this off?" Nathan said to his other self. "Setanta and Setanta together!"
"Sounds fine to me. Come on!" Other Nathan shouted.
Both Setantas clinked their spears, and a powerful windstorm swept the area.
"Triumphant Tempest!"
This windstorm soon surrounded only the Sorceress, cutting her to shreds with blades of air. Such was the strength of the wind that the horse's legs were cut off, and eventually, the witch's mount faded entirely, leaving only a groaning pathetic shell on the ground.
Go back to wherever you came from!
Unable to ensure it's survival, it let out another painful scream, and finally disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, leaving behind just a Priestess mask. This mask then broke apart, without a trace.
"Phew. That was one heck of a witch trial." Amara said. "If you hadn't shown up, I might not have made it. Thanks..."
"When you sent that message about the other Nathan, we knew we had to turn up to see it for ourselves." Serena said. "But then when we ended up in Nova Albion, this world's Nathan turned up."
"It was quite a shock, wasn't it?" Other Nathan said, apologetically. "Truthfully, I'm not sure what's going on myself. All I've worked out is that the NDD in Farawell sent me to another dimension where there are no Shadows, and no Aeternus. Which confirmed what I always suspected. That Aeternus is responsible for all of this."
"We've already come to that conclusion ourselves..." Nathan said. "Convincing the people of this world of the truth, however, will be quite an ordeal."
"By the way, um...Nathan Number 2, how did you end up in our world anyway? Did you just run through an NDD in Farawell?" Other Amara asked.
"No, actually. I saw a woman completely robed in black. At least, I assumed it was a woman from her body shape." Other Nathan said, in contemplation. "She threw a card at me, and it read 'Follow Me'. I decided to see what this was all about. Even if it was a trap."
"What? That's what happened to me!" Other Amara said. "I was so confused, so I went back to my old house and I saw Dad, alive! Everything was normal..." Amara soon realised. The creaky floorboards she heard that night was her other self, sneaking around. How strange it must have been, having to sneak around like a burglar in her own home?
"So it's just like the cloaked man who sent us into this world." Blaine said, stunned. "Wait, did she only manage to send you two in? What about the other me and Serena?" Other Amara and Other Nathan stared at Blaine for a long time, and there was a rather uncomfortable silence. "What?"
"It would be quite a challenge with your other self. I know of the other Blaine in this world, too. He's rather powerful." Other Nathan said. "I shouldn't say any more than that, though."
"Yeah." Other Amara said. Then, she turned to Serena, and looked her over carefully. "As for the other you, the Holy Cross don't have it quite right. In this world, Serena Agnethe was declared dead, an unfortunate casualty of a Shadow ambush. Yet I saw you shortly after that announcement, and you were rather lively for a dead person. I didn't get a good look, though. You really didn't want to be seen. I saw you run away into the night, and I never saw you after that."
"...So I'm not dead here after all. Thank goodness!" Serena said, full of relief. "Maybe we can find the other me someday."
Amara suddenly gasped, remembering what the Holy Cross's leader had said earlier. "He saw the two Amaras! What do we do know?"
"Don't worry about it. The Holy Cross is probably too confused to do anything." Other Amara said, looking at her counterpart knowingly. "But it's probably best we're not seen together. We don't want to cause panic, especially in a city where the people are too scared to leave the safety of their own homes."
"I agree." Other Nathan said. "Despite all that's happened, I have to focus on getting revenge. The Commander mercilessly killed my father, and I won't forgive him!"
"Father really is dead...?!" Nathan said, despondent. "This world truly is a nightmarish place. What of Priscilla? Tell me she's safe!" His face, desperate, caused his counterpart's stoic look to falter.
"I...I lost track of her whereabouts ten years ago. The last thing I heard was that she was being hunted down by the Ornatu Legion. Yet they seem to have given up the search." Other Nathan said, sadly. "Listen, don't worry. Please, forget about this rebel team and return to your world's safety. Your Priscilla is still alive. Look after her, okay? I'm glad she grew into such a beautiful woman."
"I..." Nathan said, avoiding his counterpart's gaze. "I can't just leave this be."
"Look, if you guys wanna keep doing what you're doing, fine. Just don't try and drag me into it. I've got to handle this on my own." Other Amara said, and she then sped off.
"You mentioned this rebel team to me too. I'll have to meet with them at some point, but I have things I need to take care of now. Don't worry. I have no intention of coming back to your city and trying to usurp you. Take care!" Other Nathan said, and with that, he left the area.
"Aww, they didn't join our party after all. What a bummer." Serena said, disappointed.
"...I've got to find the Commander!" Amara said, clenching her fists. "I'll make him pay for killing my father. Even if I have to take down the entire Ornatu Legion, I'll do it!"
"I'm in the same boat, too. If this Commander is responsible for my father's death as well, then he must be punished. I can see how my other self must feel..." Nathan said, determined.
"Okay, guys, can we report back to the others now?" Serena asked. She looked worried - perhaps at Nathan and Amara's determination, or her other self's whereabouts.
"Oh, sorry," Amara said. "Let's go."
|Secret Base|19:45 pm|
"So they didn't want to join at all?" Kyle asked. "I guess it'd be confusing have two Amaras and two Nathans around."
"At least they're safe!" Aimee said. "And even if they're not part of us yet, they're technically on our side. That's enough for me."
"Nothing ever gets you down, does it?" Kyle said, shaking his head. He turned back to his computer, looking through more and more files. Most of it was data on Ornatu Legion patrols and Shadow distribution around the city. Serena noticed that the bag of pretzels she brought were right next to him, already finished.
"Another vile denizen of the darkness, the Dominating Sorceress has been defeated," Seraphina said, in her usual melodramatic way. "With each avatar of malice that faces extermination, the city nears closer to salvation!"
"Yeah, I think I kinda understood half of that," Blaine said, scratching his head. "Anyway, are we done here for tonight? I need a drink! I had to skip a motorcycle race again for this! "
"Well, it's kind of my fault we all ended up here tonight. How about you guys come round to my house and we chill out?" Amara said. Her apartment was still in a state of disarray, but this fact had completely slipped her mind.
"Awesome!" Serena said, excited. "Let's go right now!"
"I really hope Priscilla doesn't find out about this." Nathan said, nervously. "Go on then, I might as well. Just for a little while."
"Great! Off we go. See ya, guys!" Blaine said. Waving goodbye to the others, the four returned to their world once again.
|Amara's Apartment|19:50 pm|
"Well, it may be small, but I'm sure it's...clean."
Nathan was taken aback as soon as they entered her apartment. With lots of pencils, paint brushes, erasers and other tools scattered all over the room, it was clear Amara didn't prioritise cleaning up. The place would look as stylish and modern as the rest of the apartments in the block, but with the leftovers of last night's dinner still on the kitchen table, it was definitely not looking at it's best.
"So...are you sure you wanted us to see this?" Blaine said, who seemed to be suppressing a laugh. Serena sat down on a chair, after removing numerous pencils. "It's...well, it suits you, I guess.
"Thanks. I think." Amara said, sheepishly. Embarrassed, she ran into the kitchen and poured everyone some drinks - although for Serena, she simply got her water. "Okay, so inviting you guys over tonight wasn't my smartest move. I'll clean up for next time."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Nathan said, and he quickly turned to a framed photograph on the wall. It was of a young Amara in the middle of her mother and father. "So that was you as a child? You all look so happy there."
"Yeah, that was so long ago. It was my first birthday after moving here." Amara said, and she gazed into the photograph, deep in thought. So many warm memories were flooding back, such as her father taking the family for a cruise down the river. Amara took so many pictures that day, and later that year gave her parents a painting of the boat for Christmas.
"You're thinking about the other you, right?" Blaine said, with genuine concern. Amara gulped - she wasn't actually thinking about her, but now she was trying to imagine what she must be feeling. A dark world, where her parents are both dead, and she had to fight to stay alive. How long she had been alone, she wasn't sure.
"I think I understand how she feels a bit more," Amara said, sitting down. "I can't force her to join, but I want to make a difference over there. So that she can be as lucky as I am."
"I'm the same. I want my other self to be as lucky as me. I've got a lot to be thankful for, you know. Being the heir to a successful company has it's advantages!" Nathan said. Blaine grumbled at this, but Nathan ignored him. "Ye,t my other self has nothing to his name, not even Priscilla. I have to help somehow."
"Maybe it's a good thing we got into that other world." Serena said, taking a sip of her water. "I mean, we've started to realise how fortunate we are in this world. And we want to help those in need, even if they're in another world. And this is going to sound really cliché, but we got to meet each other."
"Yeah. If this hadn't happened, we probably never would have even spoken." Amara said, smiling herself. "I'm glad we did, though. It's only been a few days, but it feels like it's been longer."
"It finally feels like we're a team now!" Blaine stood up, and held out his hand. "I mean, we don't need to have a name, or anything like that. Just four people with nothing in common, except for fighting Shadows."
"Sounds good to me!" Amara said.
"Me too!" Serena said.
"I suppose so. I'm actually enjoying spending time with you girls. Oh, and...Blaine too, I guess." Nathan said, and the four of them did a firm group handshake.
Something felt right, Amara thought. It felt right for her to be with these three people. With them, they would somehow bring about the end of Aeternus and return the other New Motus City to normal. They would vanquish the Holy Cross, the Ornatu Legion, the Commander and even the 'Ater Vox', whoever they were. It may be another cliché, but together, they had so much more power than being alone.