Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any content from the Megami Tensei series as a whole. I do not claim to own anything. All contents' right belong to their respectful owners. Once again, I do not claim to own anything.

So, here we are Chapter Nine. If I had to put the whole novelization into story arcs, this would be the end of the first of three. The first arc is the S.E.B.E.C. Arc Chapters 1-9 The second to longest arc in the novelization. At Chapter Ten I'll reveal the name of the next arc, that one being the longest in the novelization. This chapter is most likely going to be three to four scenes, it's going to throw a lot of explanation at you and end on another small cliffhanger. Now, Chapter Ten is going to make up for the shortness of this and Chapter Eight. With that aside, welcome to Persona: Be Your True Mind Chapter Nine.

Chapter Nine: A Choice

Kei was the first to go into the Deva System chamber, everyone else following behind him. Kandori and Dr. Nicolai were by the chamber's entrance. They hadn't noticed their arrival. "Kido isn't here? Where could an ape such as him have gone?" Kei thought, checking his rifle, preparing to fire when ready.

"Dr. Nicolai prepare the system again."

"Please, reconsider this Mr. Kandori!" Dr. Nicolai pleaded. "Stop the system and atone for your sins!"

"It is the rest of mankind that must atone. What I have done here is nothing more than facilitate that process."

"But that young man…You didn't have to send him to the dimensional rift! What did you hope to gain by throwing away a child's life?"

Kei gasped. "Kido…Kandori sent him to a dimensional rift. What is that projection over there. It's Mikage. Is that the rift?"

"I won't allow anyone to stand in my way. Not even a child…especially Reiji Kido! Judgment will come regardless. It's only a question of sooner, or later."

"Kandori, you're not goin' anywhere!" Masao exclaimed swinging his axe in the air.

Kandori and Nicolai turned. Kei trained his rifle. Kandori leveled his saber. "Ah…I had a feeling you'd come. So you beat Takeda? He always was useless."

Kei's lip curled. He sighted his rifle. "Your time has come, Kandori!" Kei announced as if ready to fire. He had Kandori's head in the scope. He could end it all, but his finger was twitching back and forth, his vision blurring. "Why can't I fire? Is shooting a human being, no a monster in human skin, truly this complex. Can I not cast aside my reservation for this one instance to end the turmoil and replace it with the halcyon?"

Kandori snickered. "Loud noises from young children; I don't have time for you." The president snatched at Dr. Nicolai's arm, Kei's aim and trigger finger continuing to waver.

"Nanjo, come on shoot him!" Masao snapped.

"I have matters to attend to. Come, my good doctor." Kandori spun around with the Russian scientist and entered the chamber, the door closing.

"NO! Wait!" Masao ran to the door, his axe skidding across the steel surface, barely leaving a scratch.

Kei's furrowed, sweat-soaked brow relaxed, his rifle being secured to his back again. "This is the Deva System, then? What are Kandori's plans for this?"

Maki eyes were darting left and right, between the chamber, the holographic projector, the consoles, and the restraints. "This machine…I….where do I know this thing from?" She was examining the restraints and projection of Mikage intently, ignoring Kandori entirely.

Yukino aimed her shotgun at the door. "Move it, Mark!"

Masao pulled her arm down, harshly. "Are you stupid, Yukino? Do you know what'll happen if you fire the buckshot into that steel, it'll either "A" dent it and do jack shit or "B" ricochet and nail us instead."

Yukino grunted, jerking her arm free. "Damn it!" She slammed her fist on the guard railing. "Fucking damn it!" She was pissed. "How the hell are we going to get at him now. He's gonna get away to that rift thing he said he sent Reiji too? How the hell are we suppose to go after him? Wait, what's that noise? Gears are spinning, the structure is creating a ball of light, but something's wrong, the chamber Kandori and the doc are in, the neon lights on the parameter…are beeping red."

The bridge and building began to shake. "Gah! What the?" Maki nearly fell into the projection, Naoya caught her in his arms, placing her back on her feet, the bridge continuing to rock. "Somethin' tells me this isn't how the process goes?" He thought.

Kandori growled in detest. "Ngh! What's happening? GRAAAH! I'm disappearing, Nicolai! What's happening?" The devious man demanded.

"It's over, comrade! You and I are going down together! For your treachery, for your crimes, for all mankind…you will atone! The Deva System hasn't been fully calibrated to fire twice in a row!"

"Nicolai, you swine! How dare you betray me?"

"Outside, young ones! If we are reduced to our component atoms, the system will stop! The barrier enclosing the town will be released! The demon will be gone! Leave us and escape! We will both perish, but this town will be set free from this tyrant's control!"

"You out there! Boy! The one with the earring! Stop the system!"

"C'mon, old man!" Masao sliced the door with his axe again. "Death is the end of the line, man. As long as you're alive you can do good!" Masao sliced the door a third time. "You don't have to throw your life away!" Masao threw his head back, looking Naoya dead in the face. He was standing by the controls with Maki. "Nao, let's save him! There's no need for the old guy to die just 'cause of Kandori! We'll smack down Kandori ourselves! That's what we came for, isn't it, Nao?"

"Masao, wait!" Kei retorted. "We have to be adults about the situation. There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's actions." Kei tucked his scarf into his shirt. "The old man must have invented the Deva System. He's taking responsibility. We should respect his wishes, Todo. We don't even know how to stop the machine."

"Nao-kun!" Maki called. "I've had enough, I don't want any more deaths. No one wants to die, right?" Maki pointed to the console labeled with Dimensional Variable Accelerator System. "Here! This machine has two buttons! The blue increases energy output, but the red one is the emergency stop! If you push it, we can save him!"

Kei's eyed her, astonished. "Maki? Where did you learn that?" he shouted.

"I don't know how I know! I just don't know!"

"This "Maki" is quite an enigma. How does she tie into this?" Kei pondered.

Naoya hesitantly looked back and forth at Maki, Kei, and Masao. He shifted his gaze to Yukino, Brown, Eriko, and Ayase.

"Come on, Nao!" Yukino spat. "The answer is overt! Let the bastard die!"

Brown twiddled his thumps. "This is really, real right now. We hold the life of an innocent man and guilty man in our hands, only problem there both stuck in either death or life and we gotta choose." Brown was sweating. "FUCK, N.T., this is way too much for me! I can't decide!"

Ayase's hand folded behind her head, the whip curled up in her right hand. "This is kinda, like interesting, but I'm totally in the mood for a bath right about now. I want to go home, so..." She parted her lips. "Like, I don't know. If you ask me, they both deserve it."

"Oh, brave leader, I know deep in your heart you can make the right decision. Don't let a old man waste his own life on a black soul like Kandori." Eriko spoke up next. "Naoya…you're the leader you have to make the decision? Quickly, please!"

"Nao-kun! Hurry!"

Naoya's grabbed the sides of his head, his hair straggling between his fingers, his nervous tremors taking over, the cold sweat beeding. "Why do I have to make the choice? How can I please everyone? Kei, Yukino, and Ayase want them dead, Mark, Maki, and I guess Eriko want Nicolai to live! 'Go, son, I've lived my life. You four still need to live yours. So, I ask you again, please go and let me save your four lives in my final moments.' The doctor at the hospital, he thanked me for letting him die to save us. Is this the same? Nicolai wants us to let him die to save us. I tried to save him, he was on his last leg. He's begging us to leave him be, let him sacrifice himself and Kandori to free Mikage. His wishes are to pay for his crime, atone for his sins of developing a machine that allowed whoever controls it to play a god. The clocks ticking, everyone's looking to me to choose, their eyes digging into me, their faces burning themselves into my brain. I can't choose! I can't! 'You are The Emperor, Naoya Todo. You try your best to control the events and the world around you, striving to the fullest, but in the end some elements of life are just not controllable.' I strive to the fullest, trying to please everyone, but in the end some things in life are just not in my control. So, I shouldn't please everyone, I can't please everyone, I can't even please myself, I can't control the world around me. I understand. No more lives will be lost needlessly. I'm not doing this for anyone other than myself. It may be selfish, I don't care. I couldn't save one doctor, but I sure as hell can save this one!"

Naoya went to the switches. "Red or blue, what's it gonna be, Nao-kun?"

Naoya spotted the red button and slammed his hand hard on it. More rumble commenced. Maki gasped. "N-no way! It didn't stop!"

"Then what the hell's happening?" Naoya exclaimed.

Kandori's ecstatic voice pierced the sounds of shaking. "What in the…I'm rematerializing! I see…it's you…you're calling for me!"

Nicolai's terror-stricken voiced seconded Kandori's. "H-How can this be? Don't tell me…Is she-?"

The rumbling halted and a blinding flare filled the chasm with light. A girl in a ebony dress had materialized. She was three feet tall and stood up by retraceable door. She was leering straight towards Maki halfway across the room. Her hair was brown and her features fierce. The child's hair was tied back in a ponytail with a red ribbon tied in a bow, her skin colored a creamy pale, as white as fish bellies.

"YOU!" Maki shouted accusingly. "She IS here!"

The girl spoke, pausing for a moment. In a young, sickly sour tone she said. "I won't let you kill my Daddy! Let's leave now, Daddy!" She aimed a insipid finger up in the air.

A feeling of distortion and unease surrounded the students. The room itself seemed to bend as if matter was combining into one mass. Blue and red sparks sizzled over head, shooting currents of electricity at each other layering on top of each other. The blue and red merged, spiraling together, creating a lean disc, floating in midair. The center of the disc was a warped image of Mikage, the same as on the projector/restraints. The swirling void motioning them forth to the picture.

"Heh, heheh…HAHAHA! I refuse to die! Now…take me to your world!"

Persona: Be Your True Mind

Maki's ribbon un-knotted inside the void of turning gears and cogs. She snatched it before it flew away into nothingness. "Where heading back? She's must've meant to only transport Kandori there, but she's dragging all of us along. This is gonna be as brief as last time. I can't see either of them. We're deviating to another location. Where are we going to land? Back at the school? On the other side of the town? Please, let us land back at the school. I could real use there help to stop that brat! I also have to check-up on Yosuke and Tsutomu." Maki clutched the bow, quiver, and ribbon to her chest, closing her eyes, letting her bangs whip backwards at her descend into the abyss of black and blue.

Persona: Be Your True Mind

Kei skidded against a varnished wooden floor after the open-end of the white void spat the eight of them out. His glasses slid from his nose, gently hitting the floor. His broadsword and rifle were still secured to his back, now pressed into it. Yukino had landed on him, her rear adding weight on his weapons.

Naoya rose to his feet, helping Eriko up as well.

Masao, who had quickly recovered was examining his surroundings. "Always figured Yukino would end up on top." He joked.

Yukino blushed slightly, immediately replacing the embarassment with rage. "Shut up, Masao!" She jumped to her feet, aiding Kei.

"I think the more important matter is where are we, Masao." Kei retorted, fixing his spectacles.

"That's what I'd like to know! How the hell is an honest man, like myself suppose to make easy cash when shit keeps jumping-the-shark at every turn!" Brown was failing at twirling his spear, the TMP safely tucked in his pants, clearly flustered at the change of situation.

"Like, my ass is totally sore!" Ayase whined, rubbing said ass.

Masao rolled his eyes. "No surprise there. She's probably used to that." During the roll, his eyes caught Maki's ribbon. She was a heap on the floor, her hair loose and free, the ribbon grasped in her tiny palm.

"M-Maki! Are you okay?"

Maki, stirred with Masao's yelling, came to. "Nggh! Ma…sao-kun?"

Masao held her hands in his, pulling her up, red coloring his face. "You okay?" He sheepishly asked.

She replied with a wide smile, running to Naoya's side with Eriko.

Yukino jabbed him a few times in the ribs. "Hey, Masao, you really know how to blow your chances, don't ya?"

"Shut up, Yukino." He hissed through gritted teeth.

"All joking aside," Naoya said prominently. "Is any one injured?"

Each one shook their heads.

"Looks like everyone's unhurt. We certainly have the devil's luck." Kei stated, observing the surroundings as Masao did.

"You noticed it too, Nanjo." Masao chimed in. "Isn't this the school gym? The one they tore down six months ago?"

"We've gone back…" Maki said out loud without thinking.

Masao raised an eyebrow. "Gone back? To six months ago? C'mon, Maki, snap out of it!"

"Are you referring to a time slip, Sonomura? That's rather different than what your mother said," Kei said, assuming his signature posture, folding his arms, head raised high.

"I don't have a real mom, Kei. Now that I think about it, I never thought the stuff Yosuke was saying was…actually true…until I went there." Maki had retied the ribbon in her hair.

"Yosuke?" Masao spouted. "The Yosuke who went missing two months ago?"

Before Maki could answer, a girl wearing the St. Hermelin uniform burst into the gym. "Oh, Maki! There your are!" She was panicked. "It's really bad, Maki! Yosuke got seriously hurt! That girl in the black, came back again…"

"No way! Th-that's impossible! Yosuke!" Maki ran passed the girl through the swinging doors of the gym.

"Hey, Maki!" Masao called, but she didn't respond. "What the hell is Yosuke doing here? Does that mean Chisato is here too?"

Kei hmphed. "That dolt. I can't believe she took off on her own at a time like this. Come on, Todo. We'd better go after Maki." Kei sharply sighed. "Maki is acting strangely, especially with the familiarity with the DEVA equipment, Kandori's labs, that little girl who was striking similar to the crying child who appeared when we played Persona. Including her unfamiliarity with common logic of the real world. Also, is this really six months ago? That girl did come here looking for Maki specifically, but Maki was hospitalized six months ago. This mysterious has many pieces present. I just need to connect them to complete the puzzle."

"Kei's right." Naoya said.

"Hey, are you guys friends with Maki and Yosuke?" The girl asked. "I think they make a cute couple."

Kei's eyes broaden. "You there, how many days are left until the sports festival?"

"The sport festival is still a month off."

"So, the date's the same." Kei said to himself. "Tell me, which year am I in?"

"Do you have amnesia or something? We're all second-year students! Man, I gotta tell the others about this!" The girl ran off.

"Everything's the same as we left. Stranger and stranger…" Kei whispered.

"Hey, Nanjo, why'd you give the girl the third degree? We gotta go after Maki." Masao asked.

"Building on a hunch, Masao. Todo, let us leave. If we are indeed in the same St. Hermelin, we better conceal our weapons in case Hanya is roaming the halls."

Persona: Be Your True Mind

"Man, this place is exactly the same, bar a few details." Brown was astonished, the spear leisurely hiding under his coat. "Like, the hole in the room before the gym isn't there, the gym isn't new. The student body is abroad with stories of a girl in a black dress attacking the school."

"Brown, stop admiring and keep up!" Yukino scolded. "Maki went upstairs."

"I think she's heading for the library." Eriko added.

"She wasn't in the infirmary." Masao stated. "Nurse Natsumi and Ms. Saeko were there though?"

"Nurse Natsumi was, like, the same old too. She's a total skank." Ayase insulted, resisting the temptation of cracking her whip.

"Ms. Saeko wouldn't say anything. She wasn't the same." Yukino said, somberly.

"Where close to the library?" Naoya informed.

"Todo, when we reach her, I want to question her about this girl in black. She helped Kandori escape. She brought us all here and apparently is behind attacks on the school. I've looked outside, there are demons out there. I believe this girl and Kandori have everything to do with it.

Naoya nodded to Kei, assumingly. "I'm ready for some answer too."

They entered the library. Tsutomu, sporting his devil, pentagram-engraved mask, was standing by a black stone gate, shaped like a slab of concrete, chiseled to be a stone tablet. There were three small ovular indentation in the floor each on the point of a single triangle etched in. Tsutomu's hand was under his chin, pondering the gate, not noticing their arrival.

Yosuke, a six foot tall young man, wearing the St. Hermelin uniform, with clean-cut blue hair was sprawled against a bookshelf. His arms were bandaged with gauze, a Band-Aid was on the bridge of his nose and a sutured cut was on the rim of his forehead. Maki was with him.

"Naoya? Is it really you?" He said, disgruntled. "I didn't think I see people from the original world here."

"You're Yosuke Naito, right?" Masao asked. "The guy who went missing with Chisato Kasai, right?"

"Yeah, that's me Masao. About two months ago me and Chisato…" The realized hit him. "She and I wondered into this world, I'm from the same place you are!"

Kei's eyes broaden again. "You said "this world." Then this isn't the past, but another dimension, or another world, yes?"

"Yeah, I thought it was the past too, at first. Everything here is exactly the same as it was a year ago. Some things are weird, though. The police station turned into a forest and the hospital is on the other side of town and now it's a castle. And Maki there was just like you see her. Yeah…it was practically a paradise…until last month."

"A parallel world…The many worlds theory where countless worlds exist."

"Wow, Kei." Yukino regarded, impressed with his vast knowledge as always. "He nailed the situation dead-on. So, we are really in a another world."

"Really?" Masao exclaimed. "We all though you and Chisato eloped, but you were in another world? I want to say that's completely nuts, but then again we're in the same boat."

"It's hard to believe, Masao," Kei stated. "but it isn't out of the question for the Deva System."

Yosuke spoke up. "Yeah, I can see that kinda, though I honestly don't know what you're talking about. I didn't think you bring back this world's Maki."

Masao's jaw dropped. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You're saying Maki is Maki, but not the one we know?"

"I could have told you that, Mark." Naoya said seriously and sternly.

"I'm sorry!" Maki blurted. "I wasn't trying to lie! I just wasn't sure until I got back here. I went through the portal Chisato and Yosuke came in through to your world. I never even thought there was another world, let alone that I'd go over to it."

Kei gave an accomplished aha. "I see. No wonder you words and actions were amiss."

"I wanted to go after the girl in black. She was causing problems here."

"Oh, man." Maki slapped his face. "That means the original Maki is still somewhere in that hospital. Couldn't you have at least said something, uh….Maki?" Masao looked hurt, his eyes sagging sorrow obviously present.

"I'm sorry, Masao-kun. I really am, but if I did mention it, would you have believed me? I just thought, maybe if I helped you beat Kandori, both worlds would go back to normal. That's why I figured I wait until it was all over to tell you."

"So, where's Chisato in all this?" Naoya asked curious.

"Dammit!" Yosuke punched the floor. "The girl took her and sprung demons on the city and started attacking the school. Shit!" Yosuke cursed at the shifting of the building, the girl's sickly sour tone voiced reaching everyone's ears. "Ahahahaha! I'm gonna bring down this dumb school for sure this time! I took away the exits! Now no one can escape! Ahahahaha!"

"There's no mistaking that voice. It's the girl." Yosuke informed. "Did she say she removed the exits? If the demons show up now, we'll be slaughtered! Dammit I gotta go!" Yosuke tried to stand, but fell back down.

"Wait, Yosuke! Don't strain yourself! You tried fighting her and this is what happened." She turned to her fellow Persona Users. "Please, everyone…give me a hand. We have to do something!"

Masao shut his eyes. "I'm not sure what's goin' on here, but at this rate, we can't go outside. Let's do this, Nao!" Masao eye's shot open, a half grin on his face, axe brandished in his hand, ready for battle.

Naoya touched his earring, drawing his katana. "I don't know if I can. Last time with Takeda, I lost control, but I have to lead them. I'll just refrain from using my Persona." Naoya turned his head to Masao his own half-grin, faked. "Let go!"

Persona: Be Your True Mind

LOTS OF EXPLANATION TO SINK IN! KINDA RUSHED! KINDA ABRUPT! I KNOW! It couldn't be helped. I honestly couldn't build to it better than I all ready have. The reason this is too days late is primarily because I wasn't really pleased with how abrupt the transition between the two world was secondarily it was because I was catching up on One Piece and playing P2: Innocent Sin. I'm going to be taking a break, because I want to write a little teaser for the pseudo-sequel you could say for this. In the time it took to write this chapter I've planned the entire rest of P: BYTM out, so all at least have the scenes totally set, now I just have to write em' up. Either way, I hope you enjoyed Chapter 9 of Persona: Be Your True Mind, the end of S.E.B.E.C. Arc and I'll see you next time in the start of the Ideal World Arc, Chapter 10: Aki.