Chapter 9
Ruined Kingdom
With a final flick, Mitsuru cleaned her rapier and flipped a stray fringe, an earpiece equipped. The sensation of earpiece is unfamiliar but so is being in the frontline, having always stayed in the lower lobby as a Router. "Yamagishi, what's the status?" she asked while noticing the effect of Penthesilea's ice. She really was out of practice.
A buzz of an unfamiliar Persona tinged, " My Persona sensed no one except the four of you, Mitsuru-san," Fuuka took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "But it sensed something flickering in and out a floor above you. Let's try that," Mitsuru nodded in amazement. A blind search was what she had managed so far. But that strange Persona was on another level. They had agreed to another search party after Yamagishi joined and held witness to the Persona that heeded her call.
"Dude, that freakin' lanterns are freaky, I tell you no shit," Iori remarked with a roll of his shoulder, his eyes searching. Sometimes Mitsuru found herself perplexed because she can't understand what the other boy was saying. She can't imagine herself swearing for the life of her. The world would end first.
"Is it okay for her to stay in the lobby alone?" Takeba said worriedly, walking behind Akihiko. "Nah, it's not like there's any Shadow in the lobby, didn't you stayed in the lobby alone too, Mitsuru?"
She nodded, "With the lack of members, that's the only solution we can conclude." When was the last time she saw the maze that spread out in this tower? The existence of Tartarus itself was a premonition that the past mistakes of the Kirijo still held an omnipresent sin that persists till now, like a time bomb that wouldn't stop no matter which cable they cut. Like a blood-stained legacy that marked the rise and the low of this name. Her predecessors had abused their power to delete everything that stood in the way, strength that came from trampling on their enemies and use everything.
Two in harmony surpassed one in perfection. Even the words they instilled in her young mind had somehow became a lie that formed the existence of Kirijo Mitsuru. She was never a Mitsuru. She'll always be a Kirijo. Never a harmony, but a perfection. Clarity of such lie has became so clear that it was what fueled their ambition.
Ambition is a fearful thing, and she brought them with her to end this apocalyptic ambition. What'll they do once they found out? No one wanted to be used, after all.
Extracting herself from that tangling reality, Mitsuru told them "Let's move out. Yamagishi, locate the stairs," after hearing an affirmative, they moved out and found a staircase thanks to Yamagishi.
On the last staircase, they heard shattering glass.
BANG!
A body flinched away from the contact with the nuzzle, taken aback by the blunt force. Shrills of brilliant blue surrounded the maze and with a sap of his Spirit, Pyro Jack heeded his call and replaced Angel from his foremind. A silent command had Pyro Jack grinned as it bared his fangs and let loose. It struck the Change Relic with a hard hit and the difference of strength had the unfortunate Floor Guardian thrashed to the other side of the wall.
It screeched in rage as Minato pulled another shot to his head without pausing. The Evoker gave rise to Jack Frost as it casted Bufu and Minato followed up with a roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, his sword had disappeared somewhere along the way. The arc was avoided by the still-standing Shadow as it prepared a blast of Garula. Giving a disgruntled snort, he changed into Gurr in the nick of time and the harshness of second-tier Garu didn't frazzle him.
As the mask in the wall chipped away at the impact, Minato noticed the Relic's eyes, strange as they were, glowed. His view of the maze was clouded by a strangling mist and with realization, his body felt the beginning of nausea. Poison.
Forgoing the chance to cure himself, Minato continued with Power Slash and the dark-winged skeleton charged relentlessly at the taller foe. "Again!" Minato shouted as he traded his life essence for a stronger hit. The Relic bent down weakly and Minato tasted victory in his hand. But the effect of the poison left him immobilized for a second and he doubled over, a trickle of blood in the corner of his mouth. It won't kill him. Fighting alone after being used to Yukari's healing and Junpei's cover fire was taxing.
The headstart gust of Auto-Tarukaja given by Gurr weaned off. The Persona raised a bladed wing in front of its User like a protective custody. The Relic recovered from the critical hit and Minato was too tired to care. Just when he thought that the Relic was going on offensive, the atmosphere changed and Dia was casted.
He's a second away from screaming bloody murder.
As the cheater's damage repaired while he's not, Minato bit off his last Dis-Poison. His attention on his purplish fingers, cramped and twinged from poison. The sensation was familiar but unwanted. Everything's on standstill and Minato ticked off his options. He didn't know which floor he's in. For all he knows, his physical body could've been still in the same floor while he stayed in the Velvet Room. But seeing that he had arrived in this floor since he left and he's clearly facing a Floor Guardian, he's probably way up than before.
Coming into a decision, he put a dash and ran for the teleport warp. Not too far, the Relic pierced the pillar next to him, hell-bent on destruction. Tartarus was never a charitable host.
In the wider hall, he came to a stop. The Relic blocked his only escape but that's not his plan. Minato delved into what was left of his items. He didn't think that something so insignificant would come into play, either. Well, desperate person doesn't have any option, right?
Gamble requires faith and luck. He only have one of those. Fair is fair.
Spinning with the ball of his feet, he faced the Relic once again. Attack mirror in hand. He threw and bet his gamble upwards, surrounding him in a glinting sphere.
Fragmented glass reflected jaded light in this ruined battle ground, luminating the pale glow of sickly green as a defeated Shadow's cry echoed through the empty space. A slice of profile looked down at the patches on his feet and reached down. Shimmering cards hidden beneath the piling destruction of his enemy. A piece of glass cut his hand as he picked it up and his blood touched five Coin of Queen cards in his hand.
"Hi," a quarter of silence erupted from the empty area.
"This is the first time we met outside your room," Broken grey eyes found the boy he made contract with on the end of his periphery.
" ...Memories are precious. It held so much power over its owner," the boy smiled sadly at Minato and he skipped, suddenly standing afloat the glass fragments. "Ever since I met you, I've started to remember things. You too, right?" he leaned over Minato's form.
"Why are you here?" Minato questioned, the ghost-like existence chuckled.
"I'm always with you," he tilted his head, dark hair framed ethereal blue eyes. "Your friends are here, searching for you. But that's not what I came for." The boy walked and passed through a pillar.
"Tonight, there is more than one ordeal you have to face. But don't worry, that girl will appear as a favourable ally. I hope we can speak again, good night." The boy said his good bye and disappeared from his vision.
Voices that he's well-accustomed to called out.
"Minato!" rush of bodies clung to him and knocked the air from his lungs. Junpei bear-hugged him.
"Personal space..." he said between his squashed body.
Yukari called out to Io, enveloped him in her usual breeze of Dia.
Why hadn't they come to his life sooner?
Mitsuru had never been so relieved and she allowed the juniors their space while she and Akihiko watched in the side. The teen looked so disoriented as he glanced in bewilderment, "Why did you return? It's not safe here! That thing could ambush us again,"
Iori replied furiously, "What the heck are you talking about?! You're one to talk!" he was close to punch him when Yukari interrupted, "We searched for weeks! You never return," she clung to her bow like a crutch.
"...Weeks?" he said. That explains it.
"We suspect that the time in Tartarus operates differently than normal time. And seeing your condition, it seems that is indeed the case," Mitsuru came into a realization. "In reality, it has been two weeks since you..." she didn't continue. The closeness of death hung in the air.
"Tartarus changed into our school in the day and it only appeared in the Dark Hour. This is only a theory, but when you're trapped, time may pass differently for you with respect to Tartarus. Even though it's been two weeks for us, perhaps it may have been only a half day tops for you," Akihiko scrunched up the leather in his fists.
"Man, Dark Hour is pretty brutal, we can barely survive an hour. I don't know how you can survive, but then again, I don't really wanna see your corpse," Iori joked, noting Minato's battered uniform.
"...I don't know how, either," Minato said quietly and they exchanged a fistbump. Then, he took a guarded glance to his teammates, seemingly surprised that Mitsuru and Akihiko were there.
"A new Router?" he caught on.
"Yep, turned out that it's the weird girl we met in the pharmacy," Junpei quipped.
"Someone named Fuuka Yamagishi," Yukari filled him in as she handed Minato a new set of earpiece. Akihiko gave him a steel gloves, "Found it in the lower floor. Wanna try?" he nodded and wore the fisted steel. It was lighter than his usual weapon, but anything will do for now.
A weight in his hand reminded Minato, he turned to his teammates.
"Gifts," he held out his hand, the Coin of Queen cards caught the dim light of Tartarus.
"...For us?" the former Router asked, arching her eyebrow. The Field Leader nodded. "Found them in this floor," he said as he gave them a card for each one of them.
"Well, thank you," Mitsuru thanked him in puzzlement and held out the card in front of her chest. The card shone warmly and Penthesilea absorbed the card. The others mimicked her and thanked him. His teammates walked out from the destroyed area, called for him to hurry up.
A voice called, "...Arisato-san?" Minato nodded acknowledgingly, noticing the new pattern of an unfamiliar Spirit. "Thank God you're okay, I sensed everyone from the lobby," A lantern appeared in front of them, carried in the hand of a black-haired woman wearing a Mayan mask. Her white robe flowed unnaturally. Two black rings adorned her cheeks while her closed eyes showed nothing. Lanterns surrounded her like a gown made of glass.
It would've been normal if only the woman's arms didn't have slit marks.
"Guide them, Ixtab," Fuuka's voice told the woman. The strange presence walked out from them. Lanterns carved a pathway for them. Human-sized, the Persona led them through the maze with the lantern in its hands. Eventually, they reached a teleport warp not far from a big window that let many rays of eery moonlight seeped through. The Persona stood in front of the window and opened its eyes half-liddedly.
Teal eyes similar to its Mistress gazed at them.
The eery moonlight touched the Persona and its thinly veiled body disappeared. "Uuh... What was that?" Yukari voiced from behind Minato, a thick quiver coloured it. Junpei laughed at her, "Dude! Yuka-tan is afraid of a Persona!" to which Yukari glared at him and challenged him to say that he's not afraid. Junpei sweatdropped and admitted lamely that he's a teeeny bit afraid.
The full moon outside the window brought out everyone's attention.
"Whoa! Look at the moon," Junpei exclaimed. They huddled at the window and saw the brightness of the moon. As if you'd burn when you touch it. A strike of realization hit them,
"Full moon! It was full moon when we fought in the train!" Yukari said, Mitsuru quickly pressed the button on her earpiece and contacted their Router.
"Yamagishi! Come in!" a blast of eruption was what she heard first and Minato already moved to prepare the teleport warp.
"Mitsuru-san! Shadows!" flaring panic in Fuuka's voice alerted them.
"Dammit! She's alone in the lobby!" Akihiko cursed.
"No!" Fuuka's voice was cut off.
"Let's hurry!" Yukari pushed them away and ran to the warp. They followed her and a bright light enveloped them.
"H-Hey wait for me!" Junpei scrambled off.
"Yamagishi!" Mitsuru ran off after they arrived in the lobby. Her bike was totaled and smoked everywhere but that's not the worst. Their Router laid limply in the floor, clutching her stomach in pain. The weak presence of her Persona stood against the big Shadows.
"There's TWO of them?!" Akihiko grunted, losing his cool quickly.
Fuuka coughed, gripping her Evoker tightly. "I'm alright," she wheezed out. She stood up with Yukari's help and they faced the gargantuan Shadows. Ixtab fell into a blue fog as the Shadow's sword beheaded it. A pounding headache attacked Fuuka and she had to rely on the pillar to avoid her collapse.
Even as her thought muddled with ravaging pierce, Ixtab's presence in the back of her mind had returned and brought a sense of relief. It's not over yet. Not when the chance to finally proved herself came in an unbidden way.
Calling out to the piece of her soul, the yawning void opened and Fuuka reached out.
"Ixtab!"
The shock of a barreled gun didn't deter her and the deity spanned out its arms. Lanterns surrounded the area with its glow, footsteps encased her in a circle and she had never felt safer than now. The calm was almost automatic.
The Shadow on the left, the one with a staff and bird-ish features sensed immediate danger. It outstretched its arm and the staff gave rise to a multi-layered rings of light that surrounded both Shadows. Looking through Ixtab's mask, colours danced around her sight and she saw it.
"...I can see..."
"Everyone, prepare for battle!" a commanding voice resounded.
"I can sense these monsters' weakness!"
Her closed eyes opened, a different strength within them.
"Physical attacks would work on the Arcana Emperor!" almost immediately, battle cries exploded. The frontline raised their weapons and knocked off the gigantic body, focused their attack on one of the Shadows first.
"Tarukaja!" shattered glass fragments marked the ascend of Orpheus as it pulled its string and empowered Hermes. It roared with an invigorated shriek and cleaved the Arcana Emperor's left arm. Akihiko and Mitsuru teamed up to take out its legs, a particularly accurate hit broke the sturdier armor while Yukari stood in front of their Router, bow poised in offensive.
"Helenos!" Akihiko fired a shot, blue fragments formed the birth of a silver king. Its left arm moulded like an iron while its right arm held an averted scepter. Full-body armor shielded the Persona and crackling electricity filled the lobby. A crown of thorn embedded into its head.
"Sonic Punch!" Its Master shouted and the Arcana Emperor wobbled, toppling down like a house of cards as Helenos struck it with shocking swiftness.
"Knocked down!" Minato prepared another pull of his Evoker when the Arcana Empress retaliated with a strike on its own. It grazed his hurting arm and the dull pain made him closed his eyes, forced him to bit his lips to avoid the escaping groan. His arm shook with the impact but he couldn't lift it to check the damage. Minato saw most of his teammates focused on the Arcana Emperor, chipping away its armor at a steady rate. The Arcana Emperor was reduced to a kneel on its nonexistent legs and it parried their attack.
They'd win. He can see it.
"Fuuka! Analyze this one!" Minato eyed the Arcana Empress, the cool metal on his arms made him long for his short sword. "Right!" Fuuka concentrated and the lanterns glowed brighter.
Rounding his ways around the lobby, Minato baited the Arcana Empress away from their Router and Yukari. "Watch out!" Io appeared in front of him and deflected the shredding wind directed at him. Arcana Empress glowered at him and he felt unreasonable tremor of fear at the Shadow.
"Evil Touch affected him!" his dread now became a wave of tempestuous surge. The Shadow now replaced by a cruel smile and crookedly smug laugh. Where did he heard them? His memories refused his entry.
"Here!" Yukari shouted, still defending their Router and the taxing distress left him almost immediately. Minato scanned the area to find his teammates in a hurdle of an All Out Attack. Mitsuru yelled execution and the white smoke of intent to slaughter rose. He sensed pride swelled in his chest as the Arcana Emperor disappeared in a dying shudder.
"Arcana Empress is weak against magic attacks!" Fuuka informed him.
He put aside the dread he felt seconds ago and leveled the Evoker to his brow.
"Agilao!"
When they returned from Tartarus after the Dark hour ended, Miki covered Mr. Chairman's sleeping figure with a blanket in the common room while her brute companion stirred something in the kitchen. The blanket fell off as she ran towards to the missing member and unceremoniously hugged him. Sniffles of muted sobs attracted Shinjiro's attention, who raised a hand in a tired grunt to acknowledge his return. Mr. Chairman took a longer time to wake up from his wooziness. He wore his glasses and surprised to find the Field Leader alive and standing.
Minato gave a small grin at the Chairman and Ikutsuki found himself smiling at the teen.
Finally rested and fresh but still exhausted, Minato woke up to the summer sunlight. The dull headache left him after they ushered him to sleep, somehow feeling grateful to being alive. He took a deep breath and glanced around the bland room that had started to become familiar to him, rather than his previous room back in Inaba. A knock this early in the morning steered him towards the door.
"Yeah, yeah..." he said weakly. With a turn of the knob, Ikutsuki appeared in front of him.
The chairman chuckled, "Early bird catches the worm," to which he groaned at the lame joke and let the man entered his room. Ikutsuki pulled out a flashlight from his pocket. Minato sat in his study chair and let him checked his retina.
"So, how was Tartarus?" Ikutsuki fussed within his pocket and checked Minato with the various tools.
"Tiring," the teen replied, still exhausted. His grey eyes studied the carpet and the scrap of wood in the table.
"I remember, a bit" he muttered.
Ikutsuki tapped his flashlight to his chin, thinking "Well, memory loss is a very common defense mechanism. Your brain blocked it out for your own sake," he finally replied. Ikutsuki returned his tools to his pocket, "You should get ready, because the summer refused anyone without the springs in their steps," he cackled into a full-blown laugh at Minato's suffering and jotted down his jokes as he left the room.
Minato facepalmed.
"Moriyama? I expelled her," was Mitsuru's cool reply. The full entourage of SEES members approached the gate, red armbands blazing in the summer sunlight. Injuries that had started to heal yesterday now added with fresh bruises, but mostly attributed to Akihiko and Junpei, while Yukari's hands were callous and rough with bow marks.
"And that pussy teacher" Junpei kicked off a pebble and it hit a stray cat. Fuuka walked slower, "Mr. Ekoda, too?" she hid a gasp with her hand. With a satisfied smile, Mitsuru replied, "Let's just say that I relocated him," Shinjiro sighed, he had seen for himself the wrath of Mitsuru's execution. Nothing's worse than witnessing raw malice on someone usually so rational.
"I'm a simple woman. I'll destroy anyone who harm those under my protection," Mitsuru smiled evilly, and even though the beginning of summer is in the air, the temperature had dropped a bit.
Author Note:
Ixtab is the Goddess of Escourting Soul in Mayan Mythology and Helenos is the brother of Hector in Iliad. Please note that their skills and stats would still be the same as Lucia and Polydeuces. Lucia's Escape Route skill will be renamed into Escourting Soul for Ixtab in respect to its role as a psychopomp. I changed Fuuka's Persona due to the difference of circumstances in this fic and there will be more divergence later on. I kicked Natsuki out from this fic. Some may accept this, some may not. It's up to you. I also edited and reuploaded Chapter 7 and 8.
And to dear Guest (because I can't reply to you directly):
As in romance? I haven't think about it yet because it's still a long way to go. I did changed Liz's dialogue, check it out. And thanks for your review :)
