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.
Well, I'm thinking I'll wait a bit to upload the latest chapter. My reasoning because it is tied pretty well with this chapter, we are in the endgame after all. Everything ties to together. The final boss is pretty much around the corner, starts next chapter even. We just have one more hurdle to climb and based on the title you can guess what that is.
I've overviewed the chapters of the story and I think the only inspiration I ever gave as to why I decided to do this is because no one else did. Yes that is true, but to also note a story that vehemently inspired me was DrakeHellrath's Shin Megami Tensei I Digital Devil Story, which was a novelization of the ORIGINAL Shin Megami Tensei, the only one on the site. It was fucking awesome. To all our dismay; however I'm fairly certain it will NEVER be finished, or updated. Pretty much abandoned. You could say my inspiration almost became the status of this story. I'm rectifying that as you can see.
With that aside, welcome to Persona: Be Your True Mind Chapter Twenty Seven.
Chapter Twenty Seven: Alaya Cavern: Naoya Todo
The Alaya Shrine was no different from when they had previously visited. The plethora of cultural masks of thousands of styles and designs adorning the wall were as neatly hung and polished as they were when they set out to the Historical Society to gain the Expel Mirror. The shrine's lone denizen, remaining to the familiar golden, featureless butterfly fluttering around the newly arrived group of Persona Users.
"That butterfly!" Maki exclaimed.
Philemon's corporal form lapped them at high speeds as he usual did. Their consciousness was strung along with his flapping wings. He was hooking their minds and reeling them to his dimension. They lost themselves, to be railroaded between the unconsciousness and the consciousness.
The fourth or fifth instances in their enduring days of battle against Kandori, the Deva System, and Maki Sonomura's demons did not change the weightless drop of their worn shoes on the pearly platform with its majestic emblazonment and jutting bronze pillars. The mask deity, their compatriot that granted the exclusive fighting chance in the convoluted games of those in realms mucked with nebulous sediment mortal attentiveness could not clean, stood stiff with his coat tails fluttering as his insectoid wings had previously
"Well done in returning here." Philemon spoke clearly through his mask that simply seemed perfectly molded to fit every curve of his original countenance. "I see my faith in you was not misplaced."
"Yes, it has been quite the staunch effort on our behalf." Kei said.
Naoya gave the god a knowing look for he had not filled his companions in on what exactly transpired between himself and the rivaling gods, for he deemed it not as relevant for what they had to deal with at the time. "We have to enter the Alaya Cavern. Mai told us it's behind the shrine."
"The Alaya Cavern behind this shrine leads to the sea of all mankind's souls. All souls are born there and someday return there. Maki Sonomura's soul is about to return to that sea right now. It calls for you, my friend, Naoya Todo, and her ideal self."
"Maki and I," Naoya said.
"Why just them?" Masao asked.
"I don't believe we have the sufficient time to chatter any longer." Kei reminded.
"Pandora can act whenever she pleases." Eriko grimly said.
"Just Maki and N.T. can go then." Brown stated.
"It's settled. Unless somebody, specifically one with a yellow hat wants to argue." Yukino proposed.
Masao whistled at her. "Nah, I trust Nao and Maki both."
"Now go!" Philemon boomed, hurrying them along with an extended index finger. "Only those who have been called can enter that cavern. Work together to help the lost soul; I shall open the path to the sea of consciousness."
A brilliant flash of light made it as if they had not experienced Philemon's presence at all. As they readjusted their equilibrium in the Alaya Shrine, they pondered how dream-like each swim through the cogs and gears, how unreal the impression was.
In their knotted stomachs, they were layered in a cobalt light brimming through a tunnel opening. The displayed mask and its enclosure on the offering portion of the shrine had been drawn apart at a alarming rate, like wool curtains yanked back to unleash the intense rays of heat of a dawn's new day.
"I'm putting Maki in your hands, man." Masao calmly stated, barely perceiving the blue mineral, coral-esque structure funneling inward, compacting to a structure they had to bash throughout their dungeon crawling. A door made of lacquered wood.
"We'll be waiting here. Don't take any silly risks." Kei said with general compassion.
"I hate to be redundant, but be careful." Yukino said.
"Yes, Brave Leader, we do not know the broadness of this sea of all mankind's soul."
"Like, I miss those hardhats we wore as I kids. They were totally stylish."
Brown sweat dropped. "Hey, N.T., remember in spelunking to avoid killing shopkeepers (A/N), 'kay?"
Naoya was attempting to decide if Brown had officially cracked permanently or if he had made some obscure reference. He decided to smile and agree. "Okay, Brown…I guess."
"Then we'll be off!" Maki exclaimed. "Let's go, Nao-kun!"
As they made their way up the stairs, Naoya waited at the apex. Their departure was lacking something.
"Hey, Punk," Reiji called, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, chin in the nape of his neck, and his eyes closed.
There it was. "Yeah, Reiji,"
"Don't die."
Naoya sighed in contention. He felt comfortable as he and Maki progressed in the claustrophobic cavern.
"SO…" Brown announced. "Anybody up for some Omaha hold em'?"
Persona: Be Your True Mind
The wooden door led to an anteroom which let to the landscape of the universe. It was the same abyss present in Philemon's platform. The same all-consuming black, dotted with stars. Millions of orbs, eggs zoomed, formulating branches and bundles above Naoya and Maki's head. They glowed a healthy green. In truth, they were less like eggs, more like embryos. There before their eyes laid millions of souls. The souls of mankind birthed in their universal uterus, the placenta of the mother. The patriarchal universe, convening the consciousness of humanity; men, women, children all who they were beget from these opaque bubbles, and later accrued to individual prisms. The glistening orbs, doted on by the eyes of gods and each other, nurtured inside them who one was. They could see the fetal, matured souls slowly as the texture of their embryos washed from clear to a overcast film. The Alaya Cavern must have been an interdimensional connection to the Alaya Shrine, Philemon's guiding gauging hook to reality. Even in Maki Sonomura's paradise, the collective unconscious was a real concept in the world to mankind. Here Jung's analytical psychological thesis prowled as a covert, privy well for earth's permutation.
"Oh my God, this is…this…what? This is where the souls, the essences of our bodies are created. Our souls are our consciousness, inadvertently confirmed by Philemon. Maki, my Maki's consciousness is her. Her life force preventing her real body from thriving is in here, somewhere."
Maki treaded lightly, practically walking on an invisible carpet of space's abyss. A startling descent of a soul-full bubble halted her precise steps. The hazy film was defogging, revealing the all-to familiar personage of Maki Sonomura, naked as birthed, and clutching her knees to her breasts to provide herself with decency. Her skin was still the pasty, lifeless pale, her hair was still sans-trademark red ribbon, her eyes still looked through you as opposed to at you.
"Aha!" Maki exclaimed in excitement at her discovery. "Found you, real-me!"
The bubble slightly retraced its arrival path to retreat at the elated sounding coming from its occupant's mouth.
"Hold it right there!" Maki sternly ordered. "Where do you think you're running to?"
Listless in forgetfulness, the real Maki Sonomura's consciousness wanted to dismiss her summons. She floated further back to the bunches of flimsy dressed souls, away from her invited guests.
"Damn it, Maki. Why are you running again? You wanted us to come here!"
"There's no where left to hide!" Maki shouted.
The consciousness prison reformed its descent, its willing captive addressing herself. "Those countless bubbles," The real Maki arced her picked nails at the bushels. "Each one is a different person's consciousness. People's minds are nothing more than a fragile bubble born from this sea. I was a consciousness that should never have been born. If you'd been born first, my life would have turned out much differently."
"If Maki was…born as…the ideal Maki…it would have turned out differently?"
"Stop that!" The Ideal Maki retorted. "I don't want to hear that kind of talk from my own mouth! Did you ever try to change?"
"Maki…change? I don't know myself. I've known her bubbly side for all our years, but it she had such internal conflicts especially six months ago, I don't know if she truly would change herself. I don't know if I could truly change MYSELF. I'd like to believe I did, but really have I. I speak openly now, I led my class to stop a madman. Is that change or just adaptability? Am I even still myself anymore, with the Alignment Dogma dictating my rationality. Does deciding your choices are for the better interest of everyone actually indicate I am a changed person or am I only pretending to be changed for the sake of fulfilling the Alignment's balance? In that case, who am I if I'm not pretending? I'm not Naoya Todo."
Irked at the non-answer, the idealized Maki asked again. "Answer me! Did you ever try to change?"
The crestfallen real Maki Sonomura flipped her split-ends and halfheartedly nodded.
"How," Ideal Maki demanded, garnering a momentum. "All you did was hide under the sheets and cry! I saw it! I felt it! I did it myself! But now's our chance! We can change along with Masao-kun, Kei, Eriko-chan, Ayase-chan, Brown, Yukino-chan, Reiji, and…Nao-kun. Doesn't looking at those guys make you feel like nothing is impossible? They all have dealt with challenges! They have all changed! You can change, me! You just have to get over yourself!"
The real Maki closed her mouth, looking right through Naoya and Maki.
"I changed! I decided I won't run away anymore. I'll own up to the mistakes I've made! If I can, you can!" The Ideal Maki shouted.
She licked her lips, skeptical to speak. At her reply, she pushed a trinket passed the subtle surface. "You should take this. You can use it to enter the gates to the Avidya World, where Pandora is."
Naoya went long for the real Maki thrust it at his direction. He narrowly caught the shining object in his hands and as he had suspected it was blue compact, the final compact needed to fight Pandora.
"I…really didn't want you to see me this way, Nao-kun." The real Maki said in contrition at her childhood friend.
"Maki…" He said.
She faded into space, joining the vacillating sprouts. "That's why I hid my true mind."
"She's gone," Naoya gripped the compact coarsely. "She hasn't changed. Maki…Maki's never coming back. Guess Naoya Todo doesn't always keep his promises. Guess I have changed, I am no longer the true mind of Naoya Todo."
Ideal Maki gazed at the compact, compressed in Naoya's strained knuckles. "I wonder if what I was trying to say got across. Well, all I can do now is keep believing in myself."
Naoya agreed weakly. "Let's go back to the others…Maki."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Naoya now was the lethargic dweller of the Alaya Cavern. His motions inert, his spirit weary of the constant contrary adulation the world carpet bombed them with. The wooden door leading to the utterly pointless anteroom wasn't even germane to him despite he had to exit it, despite the fact the anteroom had not existed in the cavern road when they entered.
Maki nervously shifted. "Nao-kun, this wasn't…"
"Who cares, bizarro shit happens in this place, I'm used to it and I don't even live here."
Bleeps and bloops, smacks and crashes, jazzy and urbane music, a scintillating screen glistering around a figure sat at the mechanical cabinet. A figure dressed in a uniform of drab gray, seated at the stool in front of the powered arcade cabinet adjacent to Naoya and Maki. He was male, based on his build. His hair was noticeable for it was wavy, a mess in eight ways, colored jet black.
"Who's there? Nao-kun someone's here!"
"Of course someone's here." He grabbed the handle of his katana. "I suppose he's gonna try to kill us. A minion of Pandora's needlessly placed to prevent us from taking the last key. A block we had to sidestep without becoming enervated to the point of defeat. Typically for this place,"
The figure craned his head over his shoulder to hear the racket of Maki's squirrelly voice.
"No way," She gasped.
Naoya fumbled his katana into the scabbard. "What the hell?"
"Is that…Is that…" Maki was problematic in admitting the fact. "Is that Nao-kun?"
The identical face and single hoop earring of Naoya Todo returned his attention to the arcade cabinet, finding the gratis product of a fighting game more entertaining than a clone standing in the middle of his room.
"There are two…of me!" Naoya spat. "What? How,"
"Why is he here, Nao-kun, and why is he playing games?"
The bleeps and jostling of a control stick was met with a groan. "Could you shut up for a second?" Naoya Todo's voice from the entity at the arcade cabinet asked, vexed. "Who gives a damn what I do?"
Maki was offended. "Are you really Nao-kun?"
"That's right. I'm Naoya Todo, my friends call me Nao, but you can call me anything you want. Everyone else already does." The clone at the arcade cabinet said matter-of-factly. "I'm a second year at St. Hermelin High School."
"You can't be me." Naoya snapped. "I'm me! I'm Naoya Todo!"
"Don't believe me? Want me to tell you my height, weight, and favorite girl?"
"Huh?" Naoya replied. "What the hell is he on about? He can't be me, that's impos…no its not is it? Why can't there be two mes…there are five Maki Sonomuras."
"I'm you." The shadow revealed a second stool. "Have a seat. Let's play a match. You'll see your skills against you."
"Yeah, we'll see about that." Naoya sat firmly on stool. "Even if he's a part of me, he is NOT the true me! Like the Ideal Maki in this room is not the true Maki Sonomura. The Maki Sonomura who refused to change, whose consciousness we just left,"
Naoya took the second player joystick in the crux of his index and ring fingers, placing his right hand over the trios of punch and kick buttons. "Groove on Fight (A/N), huh? We both have similar tastes at least."
"I feel like I haven't played this in years. It's only been about three days, but this stress-reliever is something that I, the real Naoya Todo, require. This is my anti-depressant. This is my pain-relief! Awesome,"
Naoya selected his pair of characters to play as, including a shinobi with wild orange hair named Hizumi Yukinoue and the goggle-wearing Larry Light. Player one mirror matched player two.
"He's trying too hard to be me. What's his game? What's the purpose? If I could sense his breathing…I lost it…I can't hear Seimen Kongo again either. What is wrong with me? I'm devolving. If I'm truly changing from Naoya Todo, it is for the worst."
The match begins and Naoya lied on player one the classic fireball motion. To his chagrin, player one, waiting with baited breath for the artificial bell to ring retaliated with the same motion. Naoya sneered, rushing his opponent down, jumping diagonally left to cross his opponent up, but the two characters met their heavy kicks in the air, bouncing one another back. The two dashed at each other, inputting a light punch, heavy kick, middle punch combo that normally would have opened up the opponent for bigger damage or left Naoya sitting to be punished, but they mirrored exactly as if the same presses of the button were inputted on player one's side. Naoya frustrated, rolled his stick in the iconic dragon punch motion, but the animation his character was performing was canceled for he saw the opponent perform a similar motion, the starter was feint for the classic fireball to come out. Accept the string for the bread and butter was met with the similar sneaky tactic of canceling and attacking. Half the time had depleted and neither player had landed a blow.
"Damn it!" Naoya cursed. "What the hell?"
"I told you. I'm you."
"No!" Naoya wanted to break the arcade stick, his stress-relief simply piling on greater exacerbation. "You are not me!"
The screen went dead at Naoya's rejection. "Huh?"
"I know everything you've done up to now, and the kind of person you really are." His shadow relayed.
The arcade cabinet's display tuned itself, not unlike the portals of the future Naoya paid witness to in the realm between consciousness and unconsciousness.
"What how can this…"
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Yukino, Kei, and Masao pushed into the doors to the lobby. Naoya heard the dry, sinewy thuds of the limping zombies. He looked to the doctor and then down the hall they'd previously fought the horde in, more crowds of silhouettes projected on the tan walls.
"Nao! Hurry up! They're coming!"
Naoya clenched his teeth, putting his arms under the doctor's in a full-nelson. He grunted, dragging the doctor to the lobby. "You may be on the path to death, but I'm not leaving you to be zombie chow!"
Naoya fully dragged the bleeding doctor into the carpeted lobby floor. Kei and Masao slammed the doors shut.
"You kids go! I'll prop my weight on the door. I'll hold them back until I go. You four, please, stay alive."
Naoya helped the doctor against the door. The doctor let out a grunt of pain.
"We can still help you." Naoya said.
The doctor shook his head back and forth. "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."
Masao and Yukino grabbed Naoya by the arms, struggling to pulling him through the automatic doors.
"No! Let me go!"
"Come on, you heard the doc, Nao."
"Naoya, I'll hit you over the head and carry you out on my back if I have to." Yukino threatened.
Naoya stopped his tussling. The handles of the door, racked back and forth. The doctor averting their accessibility.
The doctor coughed blood on to his shirt, speaking to Naoya. "Thank you."
"Remember this?" The shadow of Naoya Todo asked. "You tried to save the man, heedless of your own safety."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
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. "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. "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. She 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!"
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. He 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. She parted her lips. "Like, I don't know. If you ask me, they both deserve it."
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 beading.
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.
"And here, you chose to save an old man at the risk of losing Kandori."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Reiji approached Naoya, his chain casting that subtle jangle and his shoes' taps on the concrete, grabbing Naoya's attention. He towered over the Ebony-haired boy, looking down on him with his weapon dangling from the carrying strap behind him. His eyes were drilling into Naoya. Naoya kept his composure, gulping, trying to maintain eye contact.
Reiji spoke first. "Well, if I'm joining your puny brigade, I'm leading the pact." Everyone else stopped their shuffling around into formation. "I watched your performance against that rat and it wasn't impressive. If that's the kinda strategies this punk's leadership displays, then I'm taking over!"
Naoya scowled, opening his mouth, but Masao spoke first. "Like he-"
Naoya cut him off, a scathing edge to his exclamation, "Like hell you are!"
Reiji half-smiled. "Didn't we already have this dance back at the S.E.B.E.C. Building?"
Naoya's fingers touched the hilt of his sheathed katana. "It hasn't even started!"
Reiji grinned even farther, wagging his finger to his right cheek. "Give me your best shot then punk! I dare ya! Make my d-" To everyone's surprise Naoya planted a burly jab to Reiji's cheek, sending him flailing backwards to the ground.
"If it's a fight you want, IT'S A FIGHT YOU'RE GONNA GET!" Naoya's hand darted across his face, Reiji recovering, a scarlet mist swallowing him up.
"Bring it on!" Reiji swung an uppercut in the air, the similar scarlet mist blanketed him as well. "HELL YEAH!"
"HERE IT GOES!"
"PERSONA!"
The battle moved to Naoya listening to Philemon on his platform.
"Yes, Naoya, I am sorry, but there is no-"
"SHUT UP! I don't care what you have to say anymore! I'M DONE! I refuse to take part of this! If my mind is at stake…if I'm not going to be the real me again, because I'm stuck by my own innocent thoughts, I want nothing at all to do with you, your competitor, or this Persona! I WANT IT GONE!"
"Naoya…I'm sorry again, but…the way to fully dismiss your Persona ability is to grant it to someone who doesn't, yet holds the potential to use it. Currently, there is no one in this counterfeit world that has the potential. You cannot remove it."
"Then, I'm stuck with it! DAMN IT ALL! Forget it, I'm done! I'm sick and tired of being ordered around by you and your enigmatic garble! I refuse to lead this group and I refuse to ever use this Persona again! I'M THROUGH PHILEMON! DONE!
The scene transitioned to Naoya speaking with Igor in the Velvet Room.
"You thought of everyone else, yes? Not only your own self. That is the key, Naoya Todo. Remember your free will, remember your friends, see beyond the basic concepts of good and evil, and most importantly be human. I wouldn't know the feeling, so I cannot be the one to give you advice on that." Igor jested.
Naoya laughed a little. It felt nice to laugh after yelling for such a long time. "I think I can feel this Neutral Alignment, all ready?" Naoya stood up straight, the stressfulness apparently completely removed from his being. "Igor can you give a message to Philemon for me."
"Yes, I can, Naoya Todo."
"Tell him…sorry…for taking a swing at him. I was pissed off, fed up with unanswered questions. Tell him, I'll help him. I'll use my Person and lead my friends against Kandori and his competitor, but not for his sake, not for my sake, not just Mikage sake, but for my friends."
"Asserting one's belief in the face of danger, it isn't easily done."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Four mechanical supports displayed a large orb of endless blue. Inside was various cogs and gears which focused in on a pinch that showed the sky's view of the new age S.E.B.E.C., Kandori's Deva Yuga. This was the portal and erected next to the supports was a station with necessary controls attached to the panel to manipulate the portal to do what it needed. They had found their way home except the portal was guarded by a demoness, draped in a swaddling cloak, and worn face. Tears were fresh from her blackened eyelids. Her eyes were emerald, smudged and muddied. Her hair was brown shaggy and a horn akin to a rhino's protruded from her widow's peak.
"Tch…so it was a trap after all!" Masao yelled, disappointed. "And Maki isn't here?" He hissed, nostril flaring, cheeks reddening. "Let's do this, Nao!"
"Maki..? Oh, Maki, I've finally found you. You're safe…" The demon scurried her feet towards Maki who was readying her arrow.
"That voice! It is Aunt Setsuko!" Naoya stated, completely sure with it not becoming muffled.
"I've been looking for you all this time…Please come to me, Maki…" She reached with her arms at Maki, who was reluctant to release the string in her fingers, off-put by the human voice the demon had instead of the usual demonic tone she had encountered before.
"Is it right to leave Maki be, brave leader?" Eriko asked, posing her rapier in the case they were to strike the demon approaching Maki.
"Kirishima's right, we should destroy that demon!" Reiji added, winding up for his uppercut.
"But that voice…that's Aunt Setsuko. I'm dead sure…" Naoya was hesitant.
"If it is really her mom, Nao, why does she look like that?" Masao's axe never lowered. He was not going to back down easily unless Nao told him to.
He sheathed his katana raised his arms to his sides. "Everyone put your weapons down!"
Maki anxious fingers loosened the taunt string of her bow, laying the arrow into it's quiver. Masao reluctantly tucked away his axe as Kei did with his broadsword and Eriko with her rapier. Ayase yawned, not bothering to roll-up the whip. Brown rested on his spear, tired of carrying it as well. Reiji hooked his thumps on his pockets and Yukino put away her razorblades.
With their ways of assault or attempt to assault discarded or lacking a violent presence, the demon with Setsuko's voice reacted. In a bright flash of light that mirrored Aki's magic casting, the demon's form was gone. The light dyed and resting on the ground, evenly laid and not sprawled, was Setsuko Sonomura, her glasses on, her brown blazer off, and only dressed in her black shirt and pants. Maki's mother rose awoken from a dream and the cowl of the phony demon.
"You had vision enough to see through to the truth. You see not only with your eyes, but also with your heart."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Kandori sharply exhaled, addressing Naoya. "You, boy…I haven't heard your answer yet."
Naoya was grinning as if invisible feathers were tickling his sides. His answer was readied to be launched again on this journey.
Kandori scowled. "Damn it, boy! What are you living for? Answer me!"
"I live Kandori to find my reason to live. It doesn't matter if life is worthless or sickly sour to you, finding your reason to live, your own personal motivation to carry on especially when you reach the top, achieve your dream, is part of living."
"This man's soul was sick with doubt, but you were able to soothe his soul's torment. You could do this because your own soul was free and clear of doubt."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Naoya grinned mirthlessly, wishing Seimen Kongo was there just to comfort him in his decision. "I'm sorry," The competitive deities listened intently at the despondent Naoya. Is his answer hedonistic or objective? "I'm sick of this counterfeit world; everything is so goddamn black and white. It pisses me off." Naoya scowled, bitterly sighing.
Nyarla chuckled. "Rather out of character, aren't you boy?"
"SHUT UP!" Naoya snapped. "You smug bastard…you think you've won, right? You think asking me to go to your side makes you the winner of this game?"
Nyarla nodded at his clever plan. "Yes, boy, if you die, I win the game, if you join me, I win the game. Either way victory over the ineffectual Monarch and his plagues of guinea pigs is mine. I am invincible!"
"Like I said, I'm sorry," Naoya gave a half-smiled to the Philemon, whose posture suggested nervousness. "As my best friend Mark would say, since you know us so well, 'you can take your offer and blow it out your ass!'"
Philemon chortled, Nyarla irate. "WHAT, BOY?"
"I'm not siding with you."
"YOU'D RATHER SIDE WITH HIM?" Nyarlathotep accusingly pointed at his competitor.
Naoya shook his head in disagreement. "No, I'll help Philemon beat you for my own reasons. My own personal purpose, not because it's the right thing to do for me, because it's the right thing to do for everyone! Forget chaos and forget law, I choose the middle, Nyarlathotep! I chose the NEUTRAL!"
"In the face of death, you chose to think of others, refused to be revived for the sake of those around you. You are a selfless man."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
"STOP IT!" Maki screamed surprisingly through the mask. The faceless being had a gargantuan vocal range.
"Stop lying! Stop playing sympathy with me! You know it in your hearts, that I am a terrible human being! You know it, don't you, Nao-kun? You know I'm the worst girl alive!"
Naoya shook his head immediately, giving the brunette an answer he had given her in another form. "Don't hide like that, Maki."
"You answered well. It's easy to run from one's problems, yes, but the further you run the more you resent yourself. You know all too well."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
"Get it now? I'm every inch like you. I'm you…and you're me. We are two sides of the same coin. No, not just two, there are tens of thousands of "you"s inside yourself."
"How can he know my choices? All the choices, even the ones the others could not have possibly seen. I have changed during these past days, but I still am myself. I feared I was another person. I feared my true face was becoming distorted, that the Alignments, the Persona, the many selves within myself were changing me, but my choice, they were all mine weren't they? I was not under the influence of Chaos or Law when I chose to save Nicolai and Kandori or when I wanted to risk my life to save the doctor back in the Hospital or when I told Nyarlathotep to get bent even when I was insanguinating, but I still attacked Reiji in Chaos, later on I drew my sword to his throat…for Eriko's sake! I almost lost it when Eriko was burnt by Suzaku, if Maki hadn't revived her…I would have…I would have lost myself to Chaos…I'm sure."
"Someone seems to be aiming to take your place, but that won't happen. Your will is rooted nice and deep. You have a good grip on yourself."
They stood from the cabinet. "You have the keys to awakening the Ultimate Persona in your soul. Just don't forget. The "me" you see here is still you. As long as you're aware of it, you'll be fine. You're one strong guy."
"I'm one strong guy? Why am I strong? I've lost control of who I am. That is if I really am me. Maybe this…this shadow is the Naoya Todo and I'm the fake! Maybe I'm a figment of my own psyche like the ideal Maki! Maybe the real Maki switched us, created this one! What does a thousand selves within me mean? What does seeing him as me mean? Does it signify I am many people or that many people are within me? Yes, the bonds I have…are in me. My many masks to protect myself from the world are in me, the facets of myself, the faces I show to my friends, to my enemies, to my family, to the world. The masks I used to hide like a turtle, afraid of communication, afraid of speaking. The bonds I hold, Maki, Mark, the others, they helped me…I changed…the masks I wore to deflect my cowardice…I didn't need them anymore."
"Maki, she was…no…she is my friend, we survived using each other for happiness and company. Mark defended the silent kid, I can't repay the debts I owe him, but I can watch his back for all he's done for me. The defense he has provided for my mask. Eriko never questioned her belief in me, she gave me confidence and cheered me to be a confident leader. She made me a confident leader. My decisions, they have got us this deep haven't they. We are all still alive. Kei, we never spoke much, but he saved us from a walking disaster. His tongue was sharp, he buttressed me, always kept us on track, took over when I was unable. Brown and Ayase, I can't say I spoke much to these two either, but both have changed. The ambiguous disastrous duo changed and perhaps in my soul I felt that and recognized I also changed. Yukino looks out for everyone like Ms. Saeko. She cared, when she came to St. Hermelin and changed her personality drastically, our well being was number one. She guarded us, even in the Ideal World, she saved us. I have to thank her, it's the sanctity she provided that allowed my mask to crack. Reiji, he tested me, just as I tested him. He didn't kill Kandori. I was capable of leading. The two souls whiskey soaked in Chaos have shifted away. We changed. Yes, we did. Reiji lost the Chaos lost his hatred of Kandori. He let him live. I lost the Chaos lost my doubts. I lead us to the end of the board."
"I may have stumbled in the worst side of the balance, but I'm here though. Not the Chaos, not the Law, me. I am Naoya Todo, the Neutral. I lapsed in Chaos, but…my friends always brought me back to who I am. They are me! I told Kandori that to his face! My friends are me. I live for them, that is my purpose. I'm the middle; I don't drift to the left or right side. I pave the way for both to merge. I am the leader, I am me, and this Naoya Todo is me. I changed myself, but I cannot change that fact. My shadow is me, my friends are me, the innumerous masks resting in the sea of my soul are me. I accept this, for I am unable to change it. My name is Naoya Todo, my friends call me Naoya, but you…you can call me whatever you want…for everyone else already does."
A shatter of glass was heard in Naoya's mind. "Thou art I and I am thou! Thou hast proven thyself worthy of the power of the Emperor! Thou hast had a revelation of the heart and demonstrated leadership, hardship to achieve what you desire, and understanding of fate and life's uncontrollable nature! Thou hast earned his Ultimate Emperor! Seimen Kongo hast become Amon Ra, the King of All Gods!"
"Per-so-na…" An aura of milky white energy erupted around Naoya, surprising the entranced Maki.
The blue ape-like protection god, Seimen Kongo, appeared behind his User, his arms crossed. "Goodbye, Myself. I am glad your have quelled the wind of turmoil inside your soul without my inner counsel."
"Partner, wait," Naoya was staring at his Persona, both enveloped in their Neutral energy.
"Do not be sad, Myself. I enjoyed our bond, but you have grown stronger in your heart. You are a true Emperor, and thus you do not need me as your Persona."
"No, what if I doubt myself again? I need you to help me, to synchronize with me."
"No, Myself, you do not need my help. You have proven it yourself. You were able to guide your heart correctly. You are a changed man. I came to you as a boy who needed my protection and I leave you as a man who knows what path he is on. Farewell…Naoya Todo."
Naoya shut his mouth as his Persona moved his hands to the sides of his countenance. "See ya…Partner. Farewell…Seimen Kongo."
Seimen Kongo removed his face, a mask for a mask, and the room was cramped with a blinding light. The sheen devoured Naoya. His body assimilated the energy, lapping at it, slurping it, unloading the epic eddy of power, to the point of engorging his soul's container.
Naoya saw the card in his mind, having taken in his Ultimate Emperor. "Seimen Kongo…he was right. I know what path I am on. I can walk by myself. I can lead my friends to what we desire. I accept the uncontrollable nature of life. I am a follower of the Emperor Arcana and I have earned my Ultimate Emperor."
"You awakened to your Ultimate Persona, self. Congratulations!" Naoya's shadow smiled the original returning it while Maki was aghast.
"Thank you." Naoya said the apathy purified.
"You're welcome." His shadow replied. "Hurry up and go. Your friends are waiting."
The two shared a mega watt grin, flicking their ear rings together.
"See ya, self," They both said.
Persona: Be Your True Mind
A/N: Groove on Fight is the actual description of the game cabinet in the game. It is a fully Atlus developed arcade fighting game. In Japan, it's referred to as Goketsuji Ichizoku 3: Groove on Fight, in English speaking countries I believe the title of the series was translated as Power Instinct, but the third game was labeled as Groove on Fight. Brown made a Spelunky reference, where in your spelunking travels if you kill a shopkeeper, all future ones in the run will want to kill you.
I don't know what to say for this chapter, gonna be honest. The first scene was abrupt and shallow, because I can't do much with the interactions between Philemon and the gang anymore. It was put in the game probably just to give a reason that you could only take the main character and Maki into the dungeon. Why is there a dungeon filled with demons that connects to the literal collective unconsciousness, the birthing canal of all the souls in the world in the Persona Universe, who knows. The devs probably just wanted to give you the opportunity to level up Maki who had been out of the party for basically a dungeon.
The whole Naoya's shadow scene CAN occur in the Alaya Cavern dungeon in game. It is a room you can go into and have the scene play out pretty much exactly the same accept for him offering Naoya a match. I added that scene, because my Naoya always wanted to go to the arcade in the story when he was feeling down, so this was his chance and also gave me the opportunity to really show you that he was Naoya and not just a faker or a figment. He does show all the choices in the game though, the right choices you HAVE to make. Saving the nurses, in my story's case trying to save the doctor. Saving Nicolai from killing himself just to kill Kandori. Telling Chisato even when everyone but the mc and Maki are turned to stone that Maki's painting is better, in my story's case Naoya's decision to stop working for Philemon for he did not feel right with it only to enviably change his mind. Not engaging Setsuko in battle in the Haunted Mansion. Telling Kandori, you live to find your reason to live. Telling Maki not to hide. Of course, since I added the additional scene of Nyarla trying to sway Naoya to his side with threat of completion of death, I had to put the scene in between. It is an important part to his character after all. He has the chance to live, he doesn't know Reiji is gonna shoryuken up outta the floor, he accepts death for the sake of his friends, for the sake of humanity, for the sake of those future characters. For some reason the game doesn't count your choice of why you live to Mai as a determining choice though I believe if you do not answer that you can't even get to this part of the game.
To the subject of Naoya, and his shadow. The purpose of the shadow is to say, you know, the main character is the avatar for all the players of the game, that is why he is playing a game when you find him in the Alaya Cavern. (If you make all the correct choices as well, he gives you the items needed to fuse the party's Ultimate Personas BTW.) It's a very meta moment and that was the point and meaning behind the thousands selves. Since I decided to not make Naoya a silent protagonist, but use the characteristic as a part of his development I couldn't use that excuse, I had to have all the things Naoya has done culminate to his revelation. Like Seimen Kongo says he does not need a Persona to help guide him any longer, he can do it himself because his relationships have established his identity. He no longer requires a mask to wear to be himself he can do it all on his own. I technically have a little more to add to that but it is for the epilogue. Now, Nao has his Ultimate Persona, he is on a new path of life, he no longer is struggling with the Alignments, he is no longer struggling if he was his true self. He knows now, if he ever falters and wants to put the mask on that he doesn't need it anymore.
I think it ties in with the entire games theme of wearing masks. Philemon has no face, the main character has no identity. The real Maki hid herself behind a mask to her friends. Chisato hid her true intentions behind the Harem Queen's façade as symbolized by the moles. The ideal Maki hid herself from the others, because she didn't want them to see her for she believed she was as bad as the deeds done, therefore she loses her face. The Alaya Shrine is basked in a plethora of masks and technically hides the truth about the consciousness and personality of everyone in the Persona universe. Tsutomu wears a mask. In the Snow Queen quest, Ms. Saeko is possessed by the Snow Queen Mask which instigates the whole side quest. During the quest you see a young Kandori and a Maki who both wear masks as faces and sympathize with the Snow Queen's cause. Kandori hides his neurosis behind his corporate facade. SEBEC is a place that is meant to advance the world but in truth behind closed doors wants to destroy it. Setsuko is disguised as a demon, masked as a harmful being, when the exact opposite is the truth. That's not even included the personal back stories I gave each character that also tie in to the theme. Ayase's fake face to prevent the anxiety, Brown's goofball ego-maniac front when inside he knows he's lonely and pathetic, Yukino's tough girl face when inside she is more a tender heart and sometimes worries she can't feel for others, Reiji uses his harsh exterior to somewhat hide the concern and gentleness of his bountiful, new friendships, Kei is Kei in the game, he always hides the more sensual proclamations behind the intelligent, blunt words.
As for the exact understanding and existence of the shadow of Naoya Todo, well…I don't know. Its kinda of one of those moments where the game just wants you to take it as face-value. For the record, the same writer for the scenarios in this game also wrote the P2 dualogy where Shadows also appear and are better down in terms of presentation and explanation as to why in those games. (They're a hell of a lot better in developing the characters they represent than Persona 4's cheap plot device Shadows too. Oops, fired some shots, gotta back paddle)
Either way I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Persona: Be Your True Mind and I'll see you next time for Chapter 28: Avidya World.