Nine – Episode Gemini
Tetsuya coughed painfully. Dark blood splattered out, running down the sides of his mouth.
He barely dodged the giant sword that had suddenly materialized, slicing Ryoji's coffin in half. He barely noticed the gore. The dark miasma that had enveloped Minato's body, turning him into the avatar of demise, had exploded out, specifically at him, flooding his lungs and ears and eyes. Suddenly nerveless knees betrayed him, sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Shit... shit..." was all he could groan.
Alex stared impassively forward.
"Takeba, cover Juno-san," said Mitsuru, snapping out of her shock. "Everybody, as we planned! Be relentless-"
The burst of wind scattered them, knocking them perilously close to the edge.
Do you not yet understand? Victory is mine. With your deaths, with your blood sacrifices, Nyx shall be unsealed upon this world. Oh, he screams. But I'm in charge now.
Another burst of wind. They scrambled for the statues ringing the perimeter, clutching tightly against the gale-force pressures.
Only Yukari found purchase against the onslaught, her persona shielding Tetsuya against the fury of the storm.
"Juno-san, focus!" she yelled over the winds. "C'mon, get up! Get up!"
His vision blurred and throbbed. His chest seared. What didn't hurt was numb, unresponsive.
He got up anyhow.
"I..." said Tetsuya shakily. "Am going to kick your ass. Save the world. And have a cigarette."
The clarity was painful. It blasted at his mind, tore at his sanity. The total, absolute, terrifying omniscience seared like hellfire across his thoughts, and a giant, putrid hand was pinning him down, keeping him from doing anything about it but scream as the burning nightmare roared.
He saw her, struggling through the storm, saw into her guilt, saw through her determination.
He saw the desolate wasteland of his mind, hope long since washed away under a deluge of loss and booze.
He saw something that surprised him. An idle thought of curiosity that, for a moment, distracted him from the pain.
Winds this strong should've snuffed out that fire.
"Give up," said Alex coldly. "You're just killing yourself like this."
"Takeba-san, thank you," growled Tetsuya. "Protect the others now. I'm fine." He took a faltering step, then firmly surged against the wind.
"Otouto-kun... stop being so reckless."
"Ha, that's something you haven't called me in a while, Aniki," spat Tetsuya. "But I ain't dyin' without kicking one more ass."
Alex chuckled softly, unaffected by the buffeting winds. "You're half-dead already. The cancer was accelerated. How can you even dream to go up against a god?"
"I wasn't talking about Nyx."
"...oh."
The sharp metallic sound of two guns being drawn and loaded at the same time.
Alex grinned, eyes hard and sharp. "That's an Evoker you're holding, idiot."
Tetsuya barked out a laugh. "So's yours."
"You really are my brother."
Gunfire.
"What the hell are they doing!" yelled Junpei as Yukari helped him back up.
"Part of the plan!" yelled back Mitsuru. "Iori, we need some defensive support. Keep Takaya on you!"
"Plan?! What plan! The plan's in shambles! The plan's falling apart like my department's budget! The plan-"
"Stupei, shut up and get to work!"
Mitsuru bit back a desperate, maddened laugh. She lied- it wasn't a plan. It was a gamble. God might not play dice with the world, but Tetsuya certainly will.
But what else can you do but hope?
Talons of incandescent wrath sliced through thick, dizzying webs of deceit. Ethereal screams shook the top of Tartarus. It was two battles, two storms.
What are you doing?
Trusting you.
Odd way of showing it.
You always come out on top. Always. Even if you're behind. No matter how many games of poker I win from you, you just make up the loss the next day from some sucker in Wall Street.
This isn't a game.
Wrong, this is the only game left in town. Only, your partner's a crook, your opponent's running a charity, and both sides are all in. Time to show your hand, cowboy.
You won't like it. Really.
Like hell I... you didn't.
Like you said- all in.
"You didn't hesitate for a second, did you?"
Blood dripped down.
"I guess I see what you did. To make sure he didn't renege on your deal..."
"...I imprinted his fate to mine. Neat trick, eh?"
A hand reached up and patted Tetsuya's shoulders.
"Don't cry, little bro. I'll make things alright again."
"...idiot..."
The hellfire roared... then shrank. The pain was there, still sharp, but suddenly it wasn't so important.
"The blood of kin's always been a powerful focal medium," said a wry voice, old and heavy with wisdom. "But that's no longer of concern to you. Rest now, dear boy. This time... undisturbed."
...you.
"Yeah, me," said Tetsuya listlessly. "Game over. Your powers are bound. The Appriser's no more."
You are sorely mistaken.
The Avatar of Nyx surged to the sky, and the moon grew vast.
How can you weaken the infinite? How can you stop the endless? Ten years ago, all that was done was to delay the inevitable.
The end has come.
"He only has strength enough to break the seal," said Tetsuya dully. "If he does anything else, he won't be able to."
"Right," said Mitsuru.
The shattering of ice. A scream of despair, of finality. The avatar's mask-like face crumbled, columns of terrible light searing out of the cracks.
"I'm tired," said Tetsuya.
He closed his eyes.
"A job well done indeed. My condolences for your loss, but I am sure you understand. All things have a price, and the price of life is always, eternally, death.
"But, before you ask, you are not... quite... dead. A situation that can certainly be remedied- either way. However, I cannot cure what ails you. I cannot manipulate your destiny, merely facilitate it. If it is rest you seek, I have ensured matters so that you, nor Arisato-san, will be bothered by such machinations again.
"The choice is, of course, yours to make."