Chapter 23: Reunion

|Albion Inc - Nathan's Office|12:30 pm|

Today was proving to be rather stressful. Many reports were due today, and despite being the son of the CEO, Nathan had a heavy workload like any other employee. He wouldn't have it any other way, of course. In fact, he loved being able to put his full effort into helping the company grow. If he wasn't related to the owner, he still would have been promoted multiple times by now. However, the excursions into the other world were taking their toll. Not only that, Joe kept trying to be friendly with him, with idle chit chat over the Motus golf season. Nathan had to politely tell him that he actually preferred tennis, only to instead be forced to hear about Joe's cousin, apparently a slightly popular star living in Luxembourg. Finally, Nathan was back in his own office, trying to sort through his paperwork. As he yawned, Priscilla stepped through the door.

"Nathan, are you alright?" Priscilla asked. "You seem rather tired these days. Or is it stress?"

"No...I'm alright. I just need to go to bed earlier, that's all." Nathan said, as he switched on his computer. "I have a meeting today, so we'll have to have lunch later on."

"Sure, that's fine." Priscilla said, as she sat down by her desk. "Say, Nathan, what do you think it would be like if you were in charge?"

"What? Priscilla..." Nathan said, a little flustered.

"Hey, relax. I know it's a lot of responsibility, but I'm sure you could do it. And I'd still be here, too!" Priscilla said, trying to smile. Yet, Nathan didn't seem reassured at all, and Priscilla's smile faltered.

"Well, it'll be a long while before that happens. I have a lot of other stuff I need to take care of." Nathan said.

"Like what?" Priscilla asked. "Is it to do with you going out at night?"

"It's related to that. I wish I could tell you more, but I was sworn to secrecy. Don't worry, it's nothing sinister!" Nathan said. "It's nothing that could put you in danger. If it was, I'd never go!"

"Aww, you're so sweet. Now if you could stop wearing mismatched socks, then life would be perfect." Priscilla said. After another kiss, she left the office. Clearly, Nathan wasn't prepared to takeover Albion Inc just yet. Hopefully, she could persuade him, but without making herself seem greedy.

Nathan, on the other hand, knew what she wanted him to do. And his father had indeed lost his passion for his work. He'd never refuse Nathan offering to take over the company. Yet, if he was CEO, how could he handle that whilst fighting Shadows? He couldn't just leave the others behind.

Tonight, they'd meet up again. Perhaps they'd be able to meet the Holy Cross again, and form a secret alliance just as planned. Just then, his phone rang, and soon, Nathan got into full swing.

|Real People Offices|13:14 pm|

Stella was late today, as she had a dentist's appointment to go to. So, when it came to lunchtime, Amara decided to sit with Karen, Colette and Lucy for a change. Juan wanted to join them, but the table only had four seats, much to his disappointment. However, he did notice a rather fetching woman from the gardening magazine downstairs.

"So, Amara, you need to tell me all about this Zao fellow. Is he handsome? What does he do? Does he still have a full set of teeth?" Karen asked.

"Hey, don't ask so many questions!" Amara said, blushing. "Well, yes, he's very handsome. He's a fisherman, following in his grandpa's footsteps. And I don't think his teeth are false, so bonus points there."

"You're so lucky! I wish I could find someone cute!" Colette said.

"Colette, all a guy would have to do is compliment every single outfit you wear. Then you'd be putty in his hands!" Lucy said, as Colette playfully smacked her shoulder.

"Well, you all know what my track record with men is. I'm staying single for a very long time!" Karen said. "None of them were like the one I really wanted to be with."

"You keep mentioning that. Who was that?" Amara asked.

"Last time I met him, he was about to study business abroad. I wanted him to stay here, but he wanted to see the world…it's silly, isn't it? We fell out over that. But I really wanted him with me." Karen said, drinking her water.

"Maybe you could get in contact with him again! What's his name?" Colette asked.

"Roger. I do wonder what he's doing now, but I doubt he'd want to see me again. We had a rather ugly break-up. Maybe he's found another woman by now. He could have kids, even!" Karen said.

"It was similar with my last boyfriend. Karl, his name was. I used to think he was the one, but then he got really obsessive and clingy, so I had to break it up." Amara said, eyes to the floor. "Still, I'm hoping things work out with Zao!"

"What about you, Lucy? Is there a special someone for you?" Colette asked, as she flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine.

"No, not really." Lucy said, hesitantly. "Knowing me, I'll probably stay single forever. Looks like I'm gonna be one of those women who say they're married to their career!"

"I think I'll join you in that. From now on, I'll be a spinster!" Karen said, cheerfully. Amara laughed, and the four of them continued their conversation. Nearly two weeks had passed since she started, and now she couldn't imagine working without the others. Yet she had something else to do, too…

|Secret Base|21:30 pm|

Kyle still wasn't at the computer - but everyone else was chilling out in the living room.

"Oh, hello again!" Priscilla said. "We were just discussing Aimee's birthday party."

"Sounds nice! How old will you be?" Amara asked.

"Eighteen." Aimee said. "It's tomorrow, so we'll probably just stay here and have a cake. Not really much else we can do."

"Maybe we could help out! We could bring over some stuff from our world, and really make it a party to remember!" Amara said.

"Um, Amara, are you sure party planning is at the top of our priorities?" Nathan asked.

"Hey, in a world like this, we need all the fun we can get. C'mon, let's give the girl something to look forward to!" Blaine said.

"Well, it can't be worse than my seventeenth." Serena said, looking glum.

"What happened then?" Dan asked. Serena didn't respond, and simply sighed. "That bad, huh?"

"Where's Kyle?" Amara asked. Aimee and the others looked at each other, and sighed.

"Sir Kyle seems reluctant to leave the safety of his room. Yet, I can sense that he will return to us shortly. We must remain patient, and give him time to recover." Seraphina said, in her usual dramatic rhetoric.

"Oh yeah!" Dan said. "Remember what we were talking about yesterday? Turns out the weird guy in bandages is gone!"

"Oh?" Amara still didn't understand why he was there. Come to mention it, there were still many things she did not know, but now, it felt really important. "Weird..."

"I sensed something malevolent has transpired with his soul. It has been suppressed, overwhelmed..." Seraphina said. "Yet, there is nothing we can do for now. If there is nothing else, you four are more than welcome to do some training."

"Great! Where are we off to this time?" Amara said. "The park again?"

"How about the power tunnels? Not the same bit you were at last time. They're still trying to repair it. This time, you'll go to the ones near the Nova Albion area." Priscilla said. "Oh, and I'm going with you!"

"Awesome! What about the rest of you?" Nathan asked.

"Well, Dan's staying here to look after Kyle, so me and Seraphina will investigate the park. Perhaps the Holy Cross will return there, expecting you guys!" Aimee said. "Priscilla, don't let them stay there too long, alright? The Power Tunnels are really hot near busy areas!"

"I know! Don't worry, I'll look after you guys. Let's go!" Priscilla said, and she led Amara and the others through the NDD.

|Power Tunnels, Nova Albion Section|21:33 pm|

"These are like sewers. Except gigantic. So they're video game sewers!" Serena said. "At least these ones don't have that terrible smell or diseased rats."

"Yeah!" Priscilla said. "So - oh crap." Four Ornatu Legion members burst into the area - all females.

"Intruders! This is a restricted area! You must leave at once!" said a short Asian girl with long black hair, with a thick fringe.

"You might want to leave first." Amara said, as she summoned Hathor.

"Oh god, it's them!" said a dark-skinned girl with purple shoulder-length hair. "We're finished!"

"Don't say that! We can totally do this!" said a girl with short green hair. "We've got some good Personas and stuff!"

"Yeah! We'll show you real power!" said a girl with blonde curly hair. "Come on, Moh Shuvuu!"

The artificial Persona she summoned looked like a girl with bird features. The green-haired girl summoned 'Leanan Sidhe', some kind of blonde beauty holding scissors. The purple haired girl called upon 'Fortuna', a female with a spinning wheel in her torso, and the Asian girl called upon 'Uzume', some kind of Japanese goddess with fans and purple circle emblems on her body.

"Hama!" said the girl with Uzume, but the cards failed to kill Blaine. He laughed, and managed to beat her with one Zionga.

"Miharu!" shouted the woman with Leanan Sidhe. "I'll make you pay for that! Tentarafoo!" A strange swirl effect emerged around everyone, and Serena looked dazed and befuddled after it.

"Aques!" she screamed, hitting Blaine. "...Wait, what happened?"

"Ow Ow OW! What the hell, Serena? I'm the good Blaine!" he whimpered, then he howled in pain.

"Confusion. Tentarafoo is a nasty attack. It's lucky only one person was affected. Quickly, finish her!" Priscilla said.

"Okay! Agilao!" Amara yelled, and the flames were enough to defeat her.

"Bummer! Miharu and Emma are out. What are we gonna do, Tess?" said the blonde girl.

"Calm down, Brittany. We can still do this. Your luck's about to run out! Magaru!" 'Tess' shouted, as Fortuna sent forth wind blasts at everyone. Yet, Magaru's strength paled in comparison to Garula, and Nathan was completely unaffected. "What the - we're dead!"

"Let's finish this! Aques!" Serena shouted, but in her confusion, she hit Priscilla.

"Let me do this one, please. Otherwise, you'll take all of us out. Frozen Tempest!" Uathach unleashed a number of ice crystals to rain down on Tess, and this was enough to defeat her. "Nathan, will you take this one?"

"N-no! I'm not giving up! Um...glory to Ornatu, and stuff!" Brittany panicked, but was able to muster up the courage to cast Bufu.

"Ow!" Amara shouted. It hurt a bit, but since it was a low-class Ice spell, it wasn't enough to render her helpless.

"I'll put an end to this. Garula!" Nathan yelled, and the supreme gusts of wind put a stop to her. All the red energy faded from their bodies…

"Like with last time, we'll have to leave them here. I don't think there's a safe place we can keep them." Priscilla said. "Now, let's get away from here and fight some Shadows!"

"Yeah!" Serena said. "I just hope they don't have that Tentacle Trifle or whatever move..."

"I'm sure I saw that on the menu somewhere..." Amara said. "Zao's probably eaten it. More than once, too."

Further Ahead

There were many varieties of Shadows, but the team were able to defeat them all. Using a variety of elemental attacks, weapon strikes, enhance spells, status magic and healing, they soldiered on. The power tunnels were a lot less stressful this time, since there wasn't someone holding them hostage.

"I haven't seen any other Ornatu Legion members since those girls. You think anyone will come looking for them?" Blaine asked.

"Probably. Since we left them alive, they'll know it wasn't Shadows who did it." Priscilla said. Just then, someone was sent flying backwards, towards them. They recognised his red hair right away.

"Urgh! You bastards won't get away with that!" the red haired man said.

"N-Nathan!" Priscilla said, stunned. Other Nathan turned around, and he gasped.

"Priscilla! Is it really you?" he asked. "Don't tell me-"

"Yes! I have the same power as you!" she yelled, and she immediately embraced him, holding him tight. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"I missed you too! Ten years, and I never forgot about you!" Other Nathan said. "We can talk later! There's Shadows coming after me!"

"Right!" Priscilla said, as she let go. "Let me help you!" The Shadows that had sent Other Nathan flying were ghastly monsters, in the form of floating dice. "Mabufula!" Rather conveniently, this caused them to crash to the ground, some of them were even frozen.

"Alright! Maragi time!" Amara said, as Hathor blasted them all with fire. Yet, this had absolutely no effect. "Oh."

"Mazio!" Blaine screamed, and two of the five Shadows were defeated, the other three hanging on - and they arose, yet were very weak. "Ha! I'll let the lovebirds finish this one."

"Okay! Ice Tornado!" Other Setanta and Uathach held hands, and span at incredible speeds, generating a tornado charged with extremely cold ice. This was more than enough to destroy the sinister dice, and they broke into many pieces.

"You were fantastic!" Other Nathan said, impressed. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"It's about time we found you again. A lot has happened since we last met!" Nathan said.

"Yeah. I mean, we know who the Commander is. Me." Blaine said, downcast. "The other me that killed your dad."

"That's right. Not you, though. Ten years ago, they tried to make me join the Ornatu Legion. I thought it would work out great, if I was able to contribute to eliminating the Shadows for good." Other Nathan said.

"So what happened?" Amara asked.

"Well..." Other Nathan said.

|June 12th 2002|Royal Blue Academy - Nova Albion|15:00 pm|

In a high school recently used to host prestigious exams, the first Ornatu Legion members would be created. The young people were scared, but knowing that they could work to get their city back to normal, believed in Aeternus.

Josephine Johnson, one of the Ater Vox, was the one presiding over this particular initiation. On the surface, she seemed very enthusiastic, and optimistic about the salvation the Legion could bring.

Nathan, eighteen years old, was ready to join them. Priscilla and his father were there with him, outside the auditorium. The former was looking very anxious, whilst the latter looked eerily apathetic. The past five days had been rough on them, with the the business suffering from the city's isolation from the rest of the world, constantly being under threat when going outside, and worst of all...Daphne Albion was found dead on her way home. Nathan had to hold his sobbing father in his arms for the remainder of that day...and Priscilla held him.

"Nathan Albion, it is your turn. Please, come inside." Josephine's voice said over the intercom.

"Nathan!" Priscilla said. "Will you be alright? This Persona thing sounds dangerous! If you die, then what will we do?"

"Priscilla, it will be alright. I'll come back, and I'll be able to protect you and father." Nathan said.

"Be careful." Reginald said. "From now on, you will be fighting day after day."

"I understand that, father. But I will be alright. I won't back down." Nathan said, as he walked into the auditorium.

Inside, it was just as he remembered it, except on the stage were several imposing black machines. Several young people wearing the Ornatu Legion uniform were sitting in the seats, some with completely dead looks in their eyes. This sent a shiver down Nathan's spine...

"Ah, there you are. We've been looking forward to having you!" The woman on the stage said. Wearing her light brown hair up in a bun, she had eerily pink eyes, and a mole beneath her lip. She had a rather pointed nose, and was rather slim for a woman of her age. "I'm Josephine Johnson, of the Ater Vox. Your father and I have spoken a great deal about you!"

"Really?" Nathan asked. "Are you and him friends?"

"I suppose you could say that." Josephine said, giggling. "I was sorry to hear about your mother's untimely passing. Now that Shadows are prevalent all over the city, it is up to people like you to stop them. You're rather handsome, just like your father. I'm hoping you'll be just as brave, too."

"...Thank you." Nathan said, a little disturbed by that comment. Josephine had a rather creepy smile, and Nathan started to get a bad feeling about this. Perhaps it'd go away.

"Oh, and this is the Commander. He's the only one so far to wield a natural Persona." Josephine said. "Well, we're still hoping to find others. This is Blaine Spencer." Josephine pointed to a tall man in a corner, wearing a red uniform. He didn't look much older than Nathan, but he had a weary look in his face. "He's not very talkative. Don't expect you and him to be kindred spirits."

"I understand. So, shall we begin? I can't wait to show my father." Nathan said.

"Of course! Let me get started, you handsome little thing." Josephine said. Nathan gulped - surely she knew he was in a relationship. Hopefully, she was just a flirt. She walked over to the machine, and it started roaring with activity, all sorts of flashing lights appearing on it. It resembled some kind of futuristic cockpit, out of a morning cartoon.

"Am I supposed to get inside?" Nathan asked. Josephine nodded, and the lid opened. Nathan gulped, but he went inside, and sat on the cold seat.

"This will be painful, but you will survive. I wouldn't dream of letting you slip through my fingers!" Josephine said, cackling to herself. Blaine just looked at her, frowning, but Josephine ignored him.

"Finally! What Persona will I get?" Nathan asked - but suddenly, something felt wrong. His vision temporarily went black, and he started hearing all sorts of dark voices.

"Join us...kill us...become one of us...Shadows...!"

"Huh?" Nathan's head began to hurt. The voices grew even louder, and he heard all sorts of voices screaming at him. Their words became lost in the sheer volume of voices, but their agony and sorrow laced every spoken word. Nathan couldn't take it anymore. He screamed himself, waiting for it to all be over.

"Ms Johnson...should we stop?" one of the other employees asked.

"No we should not. This isn't an unusual reaction. No one dare halt the initiation!" Josephine barked, and the employees nodded. Nathan started to feel as if he was floating away from this place...and his vision turned to darkness.

"What's going on?" Nathan screamed. All he could see was the endless darkness...and a blue butterfly fluttering in front of him. It spoke to him, about the power of a Persona, and how truth would shatter the falsehood that was trying to invade his body. This entity called itself Philemon.

Just then, he awakened, and something happened. As more dark power flowed into the machine, something burst out of Nathan and tore the machine to pieces. "What?" Josephine yelled. "It can't be!"

The power that emerged...Nathan somehow instantly knew it's name. 'Persona'. The Persona proclaimed itself to be 'Setanta', and as everyone gasped at what was happening, tons of Shadows emerged.

"So you had a true Persona all along! Do you understand how hard it is to make those machines?" Josephine screamed. "Not that it matters, of course. Your power far surpasses what is possible via that technology! Now you have no choice. Join us!"

"I..." Nathan stammered, watching. Just then, his Persona attacked the Shadows, defeating them. Nathan had seen the Ornatu Legion battle Shadows, but Setanta was truly greater than them. "I refuse!"

"Why do you reject me?" Josephine yelled. "You're a filthy coward, just like your father! Blaine, subdue him. I have to take care of something." Blaine stepped forward, holding out his gun, as Josephine ran through the NDD. The Ornatu Legion members were fleeing, and admist the confusion, Priscilla rushed in.

"Nathan? What's going on?" Priscilla yelled.

"Priscilla, get out of here! It's not safe!" Nathan shouted.

"Nathan, what do you mean? I can't just leave you on your own!" Priscilla said, as many people shoved past her.

"Please, go! Wait for me! I'll be back, I promise!" Nathan yelled, as Setanta brandished his spear.

"Alright! Please, be safe!" Priscilla turned away, running. Nathan watched, as Blaine stepped forward. It was just the two of them.

"Ever since I came in here, I had a terrible feeling..." Nathan said, angry. "You're the ones who created Shadows, aren't you? What the hell are you guys doing?"

"I can't tell you that. Don't try anything funny, and I won't hurt you!" Blaine said, as he called upon his own Persona - the mighty Tlaloc, who wielded a giant hammer. Nathan saw a pole lying on the ground, and quickly grabbed it. Somehow, it felt like a good weapon.

Nathan tried hitting Blaine with a Garu spell, which caused some damage. At this point, Blaine had yet to reach his current level, and thus only knew a few base spells. Blaine attacked with a Zio spell, and thus, they kept exchanging elemental spells, plus a few weapon attacks.

"Phew...you're good at this." Blaine said, panting for breath.

"I won't lose!" Nathan said. "Wind!"

"Ha!" Blaine dodged a Garu spell, and darted towards the entrance.

"Get back here!" Nathan shouted. He quickly ran out of the auditorium, and couldn't see anyone. However, he thought he heard a scream. Running down towards the entrance, he saw the one thing he never wanted to see. His father's dead body, in a pool of his own blood. Blaine was standing there, gun in hand. Without a word, Blaine ran out of the building, whilst Nathan fell to his knees, and clutched his dead father's hand.

Now, the future was wrought with despair.

Present Day

"Oh my god..." Nathan said. "So that's how my father died."

"The fuck? Why? He tried to save Bianca's uncle! Why did he have to kill Nathan's old man?" Blaine shouted.

"I honestly don't know. After that, Aeternus took over the company. They had a deal to produce technology together, but I don't see why they had to kill him to seize the business." Other Nathan said.

"Where did you go?" Priscilla asked. "I couldn't find you anywhere! I couldn't even leave the house, with all those Shadows! I was afraid you'd-"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't go back home, it was too risky. They were expecting me to come back, so I couldn't come see you. I didn't have any other way to get in touch, so I had to hide in the Power Tunnels. Up until now, my plan was to get stronger and find a way to destroy Aeterus from within!" Other Nathan said.

"Please...don't leave me again!" Priscilla begged, holding Other Nathan's hand. "You can join us! The two of us will fight Shadows together, and we can finally save the city! Together! Just don't leave me!" Amara was surprised to see her so desperate. Would she be like this if she and Zao were separated for a decade?

"I won't! Now that I've found you and the others, I can finally have my revenge!" Other Nathan said, and he held Priscilla in his arms. She quietly sobbed, as Nathan lightly stroked her hair.

"Isn't it wonderful to bring people together?" Serena asked. "C'mon, let's go back to the base and tell everyone!"

"Yeah! The Holy Cross might become our allies, and now we've got both Nathans! We can't lose!" Amara said, full of cheer. "C'mon, everyone!"

"I guess this is what true love must look like." Blaine asked.

"Yeah. Jealous?" Nathan said, grinning.

"...You don't even know, man." Blaine said, walking on ahead. Nathan shrugged, and all of them returned to the Secret Base.

|Secret Base|22:12 pm|

"And that's what happened." Other Nathan said, as he finished his story again. "Now that I finally met you guys again, I'd love to join you all!"

"That's not a problem at all! Although we don't have much space. We've only got five bedrooms." Aimee said.

"Nathan can share with me!" Priscilla said, with a huge smile. Amara had to admit, seeing her so happy made her happy as well. "I can't believe it, we're finally together again!"

"Yes! Thanks to my other self. In that world, you and I never parted. Kinda means we're meant to be, huh?" Other Nathan said, laughing. Amara couldn't help but notice Blaine glare at him.

"Well, as long as you two are happy, that's all that matters!" Dan said. "Everything's moving so fast now. I just wish Kyle was okay."

"I'm sure he'll be okay soon!" Aimee said, standing up. "Good job, everyone! Now that we're growing more and more, we might be able to pull off something huge soon!"

"Like what?" Amara asked. "Breaking down the barrier?"

"Actually, that would probably be a bad idea at the moment. If the Shadows spread throughout the entire world, we'd never be able to stop all of them. The thought of the entire planet being like this city is too much. I won't allow that!" Aimee said, determined.

"All is well. Two lovers are reunited, and shall fight together, no longer in pursuit of another. Yet, there is the ever present danger of being dependent on the other, unable to find one's own wings." Seraphina said.

"You're such a poet, Stella - I mean, Seraphina!" Amara said. "You must get it from your mom's - wait, never mind."

"What?" Serena asked. "You know something we don't?"

"Amara Furaha, you are a curious one. We shall have to discuss what you know later, but now you must go home now and rest. Also, no matter how fortunate we are, never let your guard down." Seraphina said, looking straight into Amara's eyes.

"Uh...okay!" Amara said, running through the NDD.

|Amara's Apartment|22:16 pm|

"I'm so sleepy. Bedtime!" Amara said, as she crashed onto her sofa. Fighting in the other world always made her tired, and right now, she didn't even feel like getting to her bed, or out of her clothes. Although the sofa was rather comfy, especially with the new cushions her father gave her. So, she soon dozed off.

"Argh!" At about 1am, her phone made a beeping noise - a text message. "Who the hell wants to text me now?" Grabbing her phone angrily, she soon felt her rage dissipate. It was from Zao.

Hey how r u? want to go somewhere tomorrow night?

Amara replied with the most elegant and ladylike reply she could muster at one o'clock.

OMG HELL YES! 3