"Dammit!" He exclaimed as he shoved the Evoker back into its holster and turned away from Tartarus. If SEES caught him here, things wouldn't end well for him.
He fumed as he quickly made his way towards home. This had been a complete and unmitigated failure. The Reaper had taken years to regain its strength after being separated from the host, and now, it never would again. The Reaper (and by extension, the other fragments it had absorbed,) and its power had been totally absorbed by the fragment. All that was left was a shell of a shadow, a hole that constantly tugged at the back of his mind.
All his years of planning, hardship, and pain had been ruined in the blink of an eye.
The plan had been perfect; Attack the vessel's friends, get him alone, and then kill him and take the fragment. Things had gone perfectly… right until that brat had broken the rules. "The boy refused the contract, and so, he cannot be granted the fragment's powers. This will make him easy prey…"
That was what the Reaper had told him, and yet the boy had done exactly that. He'd assumed the appearance of the boy's Persona had been an assurance of that fact, but obviously he'd been wrong.
He sighed in defeat. At least the back-up plan was still in effect. Perhaps they could still retrieve the fragment that was hidden within the boy. They had to. Without the Reaper, it was the only hope he had left to pull off his objective with little fuss.
He smirked. One way or another, the fragment would be released from its prison.
After all, Death could never be completed without it.
"So," Minato said matter-of-factly, "Stop me if I get this wrong: The thing that came out of me that night on the roof…That was you?" Pharos nodded hesitantly, and Minato scowled. "Then why the hell would you tell me some bullshit about it being made up of some of my "repressed emotions," or something like that? Why not just tell me the truth?"
"Be honest, Minato," Pharos said lightly. "If I had said during our first meeting, "Hey, remember that Persona that came out of you tonight and scared you half to death? Yeah, that was me," would you have trusted me at all?"
"Hell no," Minato scoffed, "I'd have asked how the hell you got in my head, cause you definitely aren't a part of my subconscious, which, by the way, is my next question. What are you and what are you doing in my head?"
"This is exactly why I didn't tell you before." Pharos said exasperatedly. "Look, you need to trust me on this, Minato; I. Want. To. Help. you."
"I noticed you still haven't answered my question."
"Fine." Pharos sighed and said, "I don't know how I got in your head yet, but I have figured out what I am… or was, rather."
"What?"
"I am…" He swallowed nervously. "Rather, I was… a fragment of the personification of Death itself."
Minato's jaw dropped. Pharos threw up his hands in exasperation. "See, I told the old man this would end poorly… Relax, Minato. I can't actually harm you while I'm in here, nor do I wish to."
Minato's mouth tried to form words, but he couldn't get his brain to work properly. His world had been completely flipped around. He had Death incarnate inside of him? How? Why? A million different questions ran through Minato's head, but before he could ask any of them, he felt his grasp on the dreamscape slip, and Pharos's image started to swim. Pharos noticed, and stood up concernedly.
"Minato, I promise you, the next time you come here, I will have answers for you!" Pharos shouted as he drifted further and further away. "For now, know this: I mean you no harm!"
The room faded to black.
July 28th, 2009
A steady beeping sound greeted him as he awoke. He slowly opened his eyes to see the sun streaming through the windows to his left, highlighting a familiar white tiled roof overhead. Groaning, he quickly shut them again.
Great, back in the hospital. I can't go a month without a visit, can I? Well, to be fair, I did just find out I have a part of freaking Death making a home inside my subconscious, so maybe that's part of the problem.
So many things had happened in the past day, and he was still reeling from it all. That creature, the battle, Pharos… He was a part of Death? What was his end goal? How had he gotten inside of Minato's mind? The Shadows themselves were abstract beings; maybe Pharos was a personification of the self-loathing and suicidal thoughts he'd had up until a few months ago.
He shook his head in exasperation. The only way he'd find out what Pharos was for sure, would be to ask him. He had promised to answer Minato's questions the next time they met… but Minato had no control over when he entered the dreamscape, so that could potentially take a while.
"Minato-kun?" said a curious feminine voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.
His eyes shot open and he sat up in alarm. Aigis was standing at the foot of his bed, her eyes wide with concern. He immediately noticed two points of concern.
First, her presence no longer sent his gut into its best imitation of a centrifuge. Perhaps between fighting alongside her and nearly dying to save her, his instincts had finally caught up to what his brain already knew; he could trust her.
Second, Aigis was still bearing most of the damage she had sustained during the fight. A massive pile of guilt, remorse, and anger settled into his gut as he took in her damaged condition.
What the hell is she thinking coming here so damaged?!
"Aigis?" he said angrily, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting repaired?"
The concern she showed quickly disappeared, and she bowed her head apologetically. "Yes. I should be. Forgive me." She turned to leave, and somehow, watching her turn away caused his guilt to get worse.
"Wait!" He called out. She flinched visibly, then stopped and turned back.
Her demeanor had become cold and robotic once again. "Is there something else you require, Minato-kun?" She asked with no emotion whatsoever, causing Minato to flinch. He'd definitely hurt her, asking her to leave him behind. She'd thought he was dead, for god's sakes. Whether it was programming or legitimate concern, she felt genuinely guilty about leaving him behind.
And he'd been upset because she cared enough to put off her own health to make sure he was ok.
Way to be an asshole, Minato…
"Aigis, first off, I want to say that I'm sorry," He said, eyes dropping to her feet. "I've treated you like crap ever since I met you, and for no discernable reason. I've mistrusted you, and made your life as hard as I possibly could, and for that, I am sorry."
He felt his anxiety begin to return, but he forced it down. He was the one at fault here, not her. "I also hurt you by asking you to leave me with that… thing." He saw her feet shuffle uncomfortably, and he winced. "I'm not sorry for trying to save your life, but I am sorry that I hurt you, Aigis. That was unfair of me to abuse your trust like that."
She didn't respond, causing him to swallow nervously. "Finally," he said remorsefully, "I'm sorry I snapped at you just now. I was just worried about you. You're obviously hurt, and… I don't want you to suffer because of me anymore. You didn't ask to be programmed to protect me, so I should at least be more respectful of that."
"If you would like…" He said as he looked back up at her face, "Maybe we could start over?"
Aigis' cold exterior melted away, leaving the familiar balance of curiosity and warmth that he'd come to expect from her. She smiled brightly at him… then tilted her head to the side in confusion. "I do not understand," she said lightly, "How can we 'start over'? As far as I am aware, time travel does not exist, and-"
She was cut off by Minato's bark of laughter. He shook his head in amusement and said, "I meant figuratively, Aigis." When her look of confusion grew, he added, "When someone says that they want to start over, they want to start their relationship over by ignoring how they initially treated each other. That way, your relationship in the future isn't affected by the things that you may or may not have done to each other in the past."
She blinked confusedly for a moment and then nodded slowly. "I comprehend. You wish to create a new relationship with me, not dictated by any actions that we have took in the past. To 'start over'."
He nodded, smiling. "Got it in one."
At that moment, the door to his room opened and Mitsuru stepped in, flanked by two men in suits. "I thought you would be here, Aigis." She nodded to the two men and they stepped behind Aigis. "Take her back to Kirijo HQ. Make sure that she's tuned up as well as repaired. We'll need her back in action as soon as possible."
The two men nodded in acknowledgement, and gestured for Aigis to walk out of the room. She turned to Minato, who offered an encouraging grin. "Get fixed up. I promise not to get myself killed any time soon."
He had meant it as a joke, but he couldn't help but notice the flinch that Mitsuru gave at his words. Aigis didn't appear to notice, however. She nodded back to him with a small smile on her face, and then stepped past Mitsuru and out the door, the guys in suits shadowing her.
As Mitsuru closed the door behind them, Minato took a shaky breath. The temperature in the room had dropped noticeably since she had entered, and now that they were alone, it was downright frosty. "So," he said shakily, "How are Junpei and Yukari?"
Good plan, moron. Putting this conversation off isn't going to make it hurt any less for either of you.
She turned around and gave him the iciest glare he had ever seen, sending shivers down his spine. "Iori has a nice set of bruises, but is otherwise fine," She said, her tone clipped, "Yamagishi is with him right now. Yukari is physically unharmed, but exhausted. She's back at the dorm, resting. You, on the other hand…"
Somehow, she managed to turn up the intensity of her glare by several notches, and Minato shrank away from it instinctively. "You had several large contusions on your extremities, consistent with grazing shots from a firearm, and a heavy concussion when we found you in Tartarus."
Minato's eyes widened as he finally noticed the bandages covering his arms. "So that was real…?" So much of what had happened after the team had left had seemed like a dream to him. When he'd woken up, he had thought it was a dream. What was strange about it was that he didn't feel like he'd gotten his ass kicked. In fact, he felt pretty good right now… though it remained to be seen if he would stay that way, based on how this conversation was going.
"Well," he stated nervously, "The doctors did a pretty good job fixing me up, huh? I don't even feel hurt right now."
"Don't feel hurt?" She said icily, and he knew that he had said the exact wrong thing. "You were lucky to still be breathing when we found you!" She said, her voice growing in volume. "If it hadn't been for that… thing watching over you, the Shadows would have gotten to you before we could have!"
He stared at her in terror as she began to stalk toward him menacingly. He put his hands up pleadingly. "L-Look, Mitsuru, I-I'm really-"
"You," she said, cutting him off, "are an insufferable, arrogant, self-centered jackass!" She let out a loud and angry noise of frustration before charging straight at him. He threw up his arms instinctually in an attempt to defend himself, but she quickly batted his arms out of the way and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The blow snapped his head to the side and caused his ears to start ringing.
"Ow!" He yelled as he turned back to her, rubbing his face. He could understand why she was upset, but this was taking it a bit too far. "Jeez, are you trying to give me another concussion?!"
"Maybe I should!" She said angrily. "It might knock some sense into that thick head of yours!"
"I'm thick?!" He yelled back, anger seeping into his own tone. Now she was just being nasty. He put his hand next to his head like a phone. "Hello, Pot, this is Kettle, over!"
"What?!" She shrieked at him, taken aback. "I'm not the one who decided to take on a Death Shadow on my own!"
"No, but who decided that it would be a good idea to bully me out of SEES just because they thought I would be too much trouble to train!?"
"I didn't even know you back then, and besides, you essentially blackmailed your way on to my team!"
"So? Who does that kind of thing? I offered to help you guys out, and you basically said I wasn't good enough!"
"You…! You…!" She fumed, trying to come up with an appropriate response before she gave up and launched herself at him again. This time, instead of hitting him, she wrapped her arms around him and mashed her lips against his.
There was nothing romantic about this kiss. Mitsuru was kissing him with such passion and fervor and need that it was stealing Minato's breath away, as if her lips were trying to convey what her voice could not. He could feel all the sadness, despair, joy, anger, need, and anxiety that she had experienced in every moment since they'd separated at the entrance the previous night.
When he had made that decision to sacrifice himself for his friends, it had been a simple math problem to him. Four definitely dead versus one probably dead had sounded pretty simple in his head. What he hadn't thought about, what he hadn't let himself think about, was what it would do to those who survived him if he did perish. It was pretty clear now how Mitsuru would have felt, not to mention Aigis, but what about his other friends? What about Gramps and Naoto? How would they have reacted to his passing? He shuddered to think about it.
He wrapped his arms tighter around Mitsuru, pulling her closer to hide the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. For 10 years, he had thought about nothing but death and those it touched, fighting to give justice to those whom death had taken and taken from. Hell, even now, he was fighting to prevent the deaths of thousands of innocent people by putting his own life at risk. The concept of death had followed him for most of his life. It had poisoned and infected an important part of him, perhaps even the most important part: His will to live.
He had always thought of himself as a protector, someone willing to surround himself with death to protect others from it. He'd always thought that if he died protecting others, then it was a worthy sacrifice. He'd taken that feeling to heart so much, that it had prevented him from seeing the problem it inherently provided.
If death took him, what happened to everyone else? Who would protect them when he was gone?
In order to survive the crippling depression and cynicism his life had saddled him with, he'd had to reach out and connect with other people on the deepest level he could. In order to make sure that death did not swallow him completely, he needed to live, to be happy and enjoy all that life had to offer.
And that was exactly the problem.
How much would he be willing to sacrifice now he knew how much it would hurt those he left behind?
It was a double edged sword. He was willing to die to protect others, but wanted to live for those he cared about. Which one was right? Which one was wrong? Should he fight as hard as he can to live, putting himself above others to protect those closest to him? Or should he be willing to lay down his own life so others could live, even at the great cost it would take from those he cared about?
Maybe there was no right answer. For today though, he and his friends had made it through, and Minato could be happy with that.
As Mitsuru pulled away, her eyes glistening with tears, she said in a low, warm voice, "If you ever do something like this again, I'll execute you."
He nodded seriously and grasped her hand in his. "Understood." And he meant it.
He tried to keep the moment serious, he really did, but he couldn't help himself. Escaping death will do that to you. After a moment of solemn silence, Minato smirked devilishly and said, "Wait, how are you going to be able to execute me if I'm already dead?"
She blinked in confusion for a moment, then shook her head in exasperation and groaned, causing Minato to burst into laughter. She put her head in her hands and said in an amused, muffled voice, "Your timing is the worst!"
He simply laughed harder.
The sound of Minato's laughter carried across the hall, causing Fuuka to sigh in relief. "Thank god. I was afraid she'd kill him."
"Me too, based on the way she was screaming at him." Junpei added as he stepped into the bathroom to change back into his street clothes. "Please tell me that you weren't that angry when I showed up unconscious?" he said as he closed the door behind him.
She chuckled. "No, but I could tell you were still alive. Mitsuru-senpai didn't have that luxury at the time. I can understand why she was so angry though."
"Oh, really?" Junpei replied through the door, pain seeping into his tone as he pulled his clothes on gingerly. "Why is that?"
"She's finally found someone she can count on," She replied, "And he was almost taken from her. I'd be upset too."
The door to the bathroom opened and Junpei stepped out, his walk stiff. "Wait," he said, confusedly, "Upset with him, or about him?"
She smirked at him and said, "Both."
"Well, I'll try to keep that in mind the next time we get ambushed by a creepy death monster."
"Who said I was talking about you, Junpei-kun?" She said with a sly look in her eyes and a smile on her face.
Junpei made a wounded noise and put his hand over his heart. "Ugh, that hurts, Fuuka-chan, right here." She laughed, causing him to smile. She quickly crossed over to him to envelop him in a hug. The sudden contact with his bruises caused him to hiss in pain before he sank into the hug.
After a moment, she pulled away, concern in her eyes. "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No, I'm fine. Although…" He grimaced. "I know that I promised to take you out tonight, but I don't think I'm up for it." Fuuka's face fell, and he closed his eyes in shame. "I'm really sorry, Fuuka-chan."
"W-Well, I can't really expect you to want to go out when you're in pain, right?" The despondent tone in her voice broke his heart. She was getting better about her self-confidence, but she still obviously thought he was wasting his time with her. He needed to prove to her that she was what he wanted.
He quickly pulled her back into a hug and said, "I want to go out with you, Fuuka, believe me. I mean, honestly, I can't think of anything I would like to do better than spend time with you," He pulled away, and looked into her eyes. "But I don't think that we'd have a good time if both of us are worrying about my health the entire time we're out, right?"
She stared back at him for a few moments then nodded. "In that case," she said lightly, "Maybe I could…"
"Could what?"
"…C-Cook something for you?" She asked nervously, and Junpei's eyes widened in surprise. She immediately launched into a nervous babble, mistaking his expression for fear. "I mean, that way you can rest at the dorm while I make the food, and we don't have to worry about paying for anything but ingredients, and we can just relax and-"
He held up a hand to stop her. "Fuuka, I'd love that!" He replied enthusiastically. "It sounds great, so if you're up for it, then so am I!"
Her face lit up happily. "Of course! I could make curry or maybe some chicken piccata… Hmm…" She said as she slipped into deep thought. Junpei smiled as he watched her contemplate what dishes she wanted to make for him.
Maybe their night together could be salvaged after all!
After Mitsuru had left for fencing practice later that day, it had taken Minato the rest of the day to convince the doctors that Jehuty had been able to heal all of his wounds past the point of their help. Even after he'd accomplished that goal, they'd still kept him under concussion observation for a few hours, purely out of spite. As such, he was not in the best of moods when he finally reached the dorm later that night.
Tonight was set to be an awkward one, as Ikutsuki was bound to want an explanation as to what the hell happened up in the tower, and, more worrying, how Minato had singlehandedly destroyed a creature that had taken everything the group had dealt out and kept on coming. He didn't really know how to tell them about what Pharos was yet. There was still too much he didn't know about the mysterious boy in his head, and he didn't want to reveal Pharos's true nature to everyone without some definitive answers. Still, he had to come up with some way to explain his presence that didn't sound bat-shit crazy.
Then again, bat-shit crazy pretty much described their lives to a T, so maybe it wouldn't be that much of a stretch.
When he walked in, he saw Mitsuru sitting in the lounge, reading a book. She looked up as he closed the door and smiled at him, closing her book. "Good, you're back."
"No thanks to those meddlesome doctors," Minato grumbled as he plopped down next to her tiredly. "I swear, how many different blood tests do you need to determine if I have a concussion or not?"
"Maybe you shouldn't have been so ornery around them when they told me to leave," She suggested sarcastically. "Then they wouldn't have gone out of their way to keep you there."
"Freaking hospitals and their freaking doctors with their freaking needles…" he mumbled. "It's a travesty that hospitals have to exist."
"Not all of us have the ability to heal our wounds almost instantaneously, Minato." She said with a smile on her face. "Give them a little credit. They're just doing their jobs."
"I guess…" He sighed. "So, is the Chairman here yet?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. He said that he was going to check on Aigis' repairs, and that he'd be here within the hour."
"Great." He breathed out nervously. He really wasn't looking forward to this.
"Minato…" Mitsuru said hesitantly, "I didn't want to bring this up earlier, but… What was that thing that was protecting you up there? It resembled your Persona, but… wasn't."
So that's what she'd meant earlier today. He'd hoped that Pharos had made himself scarce after defeating the Reaper, but apparently, Minato wasn't that lucky. The little punk was still making his life harder. He stared back at her anxiously. What could he do here? He couldn't lie to her, not without losing her trust, but he also didn't want to come across as crazy either.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't… Story of my freaking life…
"I don't know exactly what Pharos is," He said after a moment. "All I know is that he says he wants to protect me."
"It… or rather, he… talks to you?" She asked in surprise.
He nodded. "I have these strange lucid dreams sometimes. We have conversations about…well… all sorts of different things. About the Dark Hour, the Full Moon Shadows, my past and missing memories…" He glanced at her guiltily. "…Even my personal life."
She stared at him suspiciously. "How long have you been having these… dreams?"
"Since using the Evoker," He answered truthfully. "But I met him on my first night here."
"What? Where?" She asked, alarmed. He pointed straight at the reception desk across from them, and she shook her head in recognition. "Hah, so that's why you looked so lost when Yukari found you that night. You were just as confused as we were…"
"Mitsuru, I'm telling you all of this because I trust you, wholly and completely." Minato said gravely. "Believe me, it was never my intention to keep any of this from you, but…" He shook his head and snorted. "Think about how crazy this sounds! I have an imaginary friend who talks to me in my dreams that, as it turns out now, isn't so imaginary. I mean, I didn't even know that he was real until last night, and on that you have my word."
He looked at the floor guiltily. "You guys already thought I was crazy once, so I'm not so keen on going back to that assumption."
She looked at him for a moment then sighed. "I trust you too, Minato, and I know you aren't crazy. So just answer me this: Is he a danger to you or anyone else?"
"Pharos is dangerous. You've seen that for yourself," he admitted, "but he's also… limited. He was only able to manifest himself with my permission, and only when I was in severe danger. Otherwise, he only appears to me in some of my dreams. So all in all… No, I don't think so. He's been nothing but helpful." He sighed again. "Then again, I just don't know enough about him to be completely confident about that either."
"In that case," she sighed, "I see no problem with it for now. It's simply another mystery of the Dark Hour that we must solve." He let out a sigh of relief and she smiled at him. "He saved your life, so I feel that gives him the benefit of the doubt."
"Thank you, Mitsuru. It means a lot." He smiled as he added, "He's promised to give me some answers the next time I see him, so there's something."
"There you go," She said teasingly, "Thinking pragmatically."
He burst into laughter, and she followed soon after. How he'd gotten blessed with such a good friend was baffling to him. As a detective, he had a tendency to assume the worst whenever something bad came up. She, somehow, defied all his expectations by showing him that life wasn't as bad as he assumed.
Great, now I want to kiss her, and Ikutsuki's probably gonna walk in right now.
At that moment, Ikutsuki walked in, a large smile on his face. "Ah, Minato-kun! I'm glad to see that you're alright. Are you two ready?"
I freaking knew it!
The two teens looked at each other, one nervous, the other encouraging. Mitsuru nodded, and said, more to Minato than Ikutsuki, "Yes, we're ready."
I sure hope so…
"So where's Junpei?" Yukari asked as the team settled down in the command room for their debriefing. She'd seen him and Fuuka hanging out in the kitchen when she'd woken up a few hours ago, but now the teen was conspicuously absent.
Fuuka turned bright red. "Oh, he's just resting. He said that he wasn't feeling too well and for us to start without him."
Oh, if only that were the truth.
Their evening had started out so well, too. Junpei had been so sweet and nice, and everything had been going perfectly, with tons of laughter and smiling… and then she'd ruined it by making him taste her cooking. The moment the food touched his tongue, he'd instantly turned an unpleasant shade of green and quickly spit it out into a napkin. He'd tried to spare her feelings with words of reassurance, but when he'd refused to answer her when she'd told him to come out of his room for the team meeting, she knew she'd screwed up. She just hoped she could make it up to him later…
"Very well then. If the rest of you are ready?" Ikutsuki asked genially. The rest of the group nodded, and Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "First of all, I'm glad that all of you are alright… relatively speaking. I checked on Aigis before heading over here and her repairs are coming along nicely. She should be back in a couple of days, good as new." A round of smiles went through the room before Ikutsuki continued. "Now, concerning the attack that took place in Tartarus… I'm still a little fuzzy on details."
"What would you like to know, Ikutsuki-san?" Yukari asked.
"What exactly happened to you up there?" He shook his head. "I've never heard of a Shadow that has actively hunted us apart from the Full-Moon Shadows a few months ago. What did you notice about it, Fuuka-chan?"
"From what little I could actually glean from the creature," Fuuka said, her tone professional, "It was of the Death Arcana, and was very targeted in who it wanted to kill."
All the SEES members in the room turned to look at Minato, who shirked away from their looks instinctively. "Jesus, mind warning a guy before you guys do something like that?" When no one replied to his quip, he added, "Seriously, I could develop a complex, you know."
Mitsuru's developing glare had a clear message in it: Stop stalling. "Fine," he sighed, "I have no idea why it was after me, so asking me that is a pointless question." He narrowed his eyes at Ikutsuki. "…Unless this is an interrogation?"
"Now, now, Minato-kun," Ikutsuki said reproachfully, "We aren't suspecting you of anything. You've shown your loyalty and dedication several times over, and what you did for the rest of the team…" He shook his head in admiration. "That is one brave thing you did. Your grandfather would be proud."
Luckily, Ikutsuki missed Mitsuru and Minato's shared flinch. "Anyways, the report said it talked to you," Ikutsuki said lightly.
He smirked. "Yeah, in Greek, a language I recognize, but have no faculty in. I have no idea what the hell he said any more than anyone else here."
"Very well… We know what happened to the team after you sent them back to the lobby, but you are the only one who can fill in the gap, so…" Ikutsuki inhaled then exhaled deeply. "What happened after you sent them away?"
Minato took a deep breath. "Well, I don't remember a whole lot after a certain point, but…"
The flash of green light signaling his teammates' departure sent his heart into free fall. Without them, he didn't have much of a chance, but at least only one person would die tonight. He heard the click of the creature's revolver being cocked behind his head, and something inside him snapped. He wasn't going to let this piece of garbage hurt his friends like that, and then kill him without a fight. That wasn't how he rolled.
Almost instinctively, he dove to the side, watching as the bullet slammed into the teleporter pad's control panel, causing it to smoke and spark. He rolled and came up from the dive on his feet, his hand already pointing at his head.
"Jehuty!"
His Persona shimmered into existence a moment later, his blade already extended. With a gesture, he sent Jehuty at the monster in a full frontal attack.
If the creature was surprised at his defiance, it sure hid it well. Its shoulders started to jostle up and down in the motion that he'd started to associate with its laughter, and it brought its revolver up to block the strike from the Persona, just like before. Minato had learned his lesson from last time though. Drawing his rapier from its sheath, he charged at the creature from a different angle. When the creature blocked Jehuty's strike, Minato's struck true, driving the blade of the rapier down to the hilt, straight into its body.
The creature hissed in pain as a small jet of black blood spurted out around the blade, and then swung its other revolver around at blinding speed. He had no time to dodge, and ended up taking the blow right in the temple.
When his world had finally stopped spinning, he saw the creature standing directly over him, its revolvers pointed straight at his head. It snarled something in Greek, and then pulled the triggers.
Time stopped.
A familiar voice called out. "You know, one of these days, I'm not going to be able to help you with one of these things. What are you going to do then?"
"Wait, you recognized who called out to you?" Ikutsuki asked with a look of confusion on his face.
"Yeah," Minato chuckled. "It'll make sense in time, believe me."
"Pharos?" he croaked. "What are you doing here?"
A familiar head of hair slipped into his unstable vision. Pharos was standing over him, a smug grin on his face. "What I've been wanting to do from the beginning: Help you. Why do you have to make it as hard as possible for me?"
"What can I say? I'm a bit of an asshole sometimes." Despite his glib comment, Minato felt his vision becoming watery as his grip on the world loosened. He was losing consciousness. "Sorry buddy, but I'm checking out here…" He said as his eyes started to close.
Pharos made a tutting noise. "Ah, ah, ah, I can't have you passing out yet. Jehuty, help out your clumsy master, would you?" With that command, Jehuty appeared next to them and looked down at his master.
"You're awfully slow. I would have dodged that blow no problem."
"Bite me, bird-brain. Not all of us have rocket boosters shoved up our ass." Minato said with a weak laugh. His Persona mirrored his chuckle, then let the familiar warm green wave emit from his body. Instantly, Minato felt his head clear and his vision snap into focus. He made a movement to try and get up, but Pharos held him down.
"Not yet. I can only hold this level of time dilation for a few minutes, and you aren't 100 percent yet. You had a severe concussion, and, as good as Jehuty is, he can't heal that kind of damage all the way without some downtime."
Now that his head was clear, he finally noticed what was going on. Pharos was here, in the physical world, interacting with things. "You… You… aren't just some figment of my imagination, are you?" he asked lamely.
Pharos lowered his head in shame. "…No. I'm not. I'm sorry for lying to you, but it was the only way to get you to trust me enough to-"
All of a sudden, Pharos gripped his head in pain. "Ugh!"
"Pharos, what's wrong?" Minato said as he hopped to his feet, a little unsteadily. It seemed that Pharos had been right; he definitely wasn't 100 percent yet. Pushing the throbbing in his head aside, he stumbled over to Pharos's side. The kid was mumbling something too low for Minato to hear. He leaned in, right as Pharos raised his voice just enough to be heard.
"Head hurts… Need to help him…"
A sudden cracking noise sent a wave of pain through Minato's head, and Pharos instantly disappeared. The creature, which had been frozen in time, started to move again, albeit slowly. Despite the loud cracking reverberating through out the room, a faint voice could be heard at the back of his mind.
"Listen, we don't have a lot of time. He's going to get unfrozen and kill us any minute now, so I'm going to make this quick… Use the Evoker. It's our only chance."
"What? Why?" He asked. He got no response, and the cracking noise grew louder as the creature's movements picked up speed. He quickly began glancing around the room. After a second of searching, he located Junpei's Evoker lying on the ground a few feet behind the creature.
Minato began stumbling over towards the Evoker, the cracking noise growing in volume with each step he took. As he stepped within a foot of the Evoker, the cracking noise built into a crescendo, causing his throbbing head to burst into pain. He fell to the floor, nausea and vertigo causing him to lose his balance.
A set of loud cracks sounded out as the gunshots rang out from behind him. Time had evidently resumed its normal pace, which meant he didn't have a lot of time left. He reached out and grasped the Evoker, then flipped over. The creature attempted to bring its guns around to where he had fallen to the floor, but it was too late.
He leveled the Evoker with his temple and fired.
A flash of blue and the sound of glass cracking bade farewell to his fleeting consciousness. The sight of a large Persona surrounded by coffins was the last thing that he saw before blacking out.
As Minato finished his story, he looked around the room. No one made a sound. They were all too shocked. He folded his arms and said, "Well, are you guys going to call me crazy or are you gonna make me wait?"
Akihiko was the first to break the spell. "How long has Pharos been talking to you?" He asked, "And why haven't you told us about him before now?"
"Since I used the Evoker the first time," Minato replied. "And the answer to the second question is quite easy: He was just a voice in my head. You all would have thought I was crazy if I said that a voice in my head was a point of concern."
"A voice in your head that has a very powerful ability," Ikutsuki said reproachfully, "is a point of concern, Minato-kun."
"…This is why I'm bringing it up right now." Minato said with a hint of sarcasm. "If I'd known he was going to turn out to be some kind of weird being living inside my head, I'd have told you all immediately."
"Would you?" Ikutsuki said bitterly. "Your family has a reputation for keeping secrets, after all." All eyes turned to him in surprise. Ikutsuki sounded… angry.
Minato scoffed in amazement. "Okay, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like, Shirogane." Ikutsuki said, spitting out the name.
"First off, Shuji, my name is Arisato, not Shirogane." Minato bit out angrily. "Second, whatever has gone on between you and my grandfather needs to stay there."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll show you just how much like my grandfather I really am!"
"Enough!" Mitsuru's voice cut through the thick tension in the air like a whip. "Arisato, Ikutsuki is your direct superior, and you will show him the respect he deserves."
He grumbled something under his breath, but said, "Very well. I apologize for my words, Ikutsuki-san."
Ikutsuki nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned to smile at Mitsuru. "Thank you for that, Mit-"
An icy glare cut him off. "He was in the right, not you. Whatever issues there are between you and Shirogane-san had better stay there, or my father will be hearing about this incident. Now, apologize."
Ikutsuki glared across the table at Minato before finally saying stiffly, "I apologize, Minato-kun. I was out of line."
"I accept your apology, Ikutsuki-san." Minato said, just as stiffly. "This won't happen again, I take it?"
Something in Ikutsuki's eyes sent a shiver down Minato's spine as he said, "No, it won't."
No one else appeared to notice the look that he had given Minato. They were all too shocked by what had just transpired. Ikutsuki had always been goofy and excited around the team. What had Minato done to set off this kind of reaction from him?
Seeing that no one was liable to want to continue after that debacle, Mitsuru said, "Very well, everyone. We'll adjourn this meeting for now. Dismissed."
Ikutsuki got up and walked out of the room as quickly as he could, anger seething through him. First killing the Reaper, now this?! The brat was apparently only just getting started ruining his plans, it seemed. If Ikutsuki wanted to reunite Death successfully, he needed his puppets to be unaware of their true role in things. If the Shirogane brat figured out the fragment's true nature and then revealed it to his team…
Ikutsuki's role in SEES would be revealed. His dream would sputter and die.
He snarled and punched the wall. A Shirogane would not kill another one of his dreams. Not this time.
He needed to accelerate their schedule. Things were getting too dangerous for him now.
Ikutsuki quickly walked up to the roof, and then pulled out his mobile phone, inputting a number that he'd purposefully memorized for just such an occasion. The phone ringed twice before a young voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Jin-kun? We need to accelerate the timetable. The brats are getting too close to the truth."
"Plan B?"
"Plan B."
A cruel laugh echoed through the phone's tiny speaker. "Fantastic…"
July 29th, 2009
The second he touched down in the dreamscape, he called out, "Pharos! Where are you?"
"The little one isn't here, master."
Minato whirled around. Jehuty was standing next to a large, glowing blue door, elaborately decorated with gold and silver filigree. He gestured to the door.
"He's inside."
He observed the door. He had a feeling like he'd seen this somewhere before… like in a waking dream. Shaking off his amazement, he stepped up to the door and grasped the handle. It was warm to his touch, as if it was welcoming him. He turned the handle, and a burst of blinding light came through the crack in the door, causing him to lose all perception for a moment…
When he finally came to, he found himself in an opulent throne room. There was one large throne in the center of the room, a long blue carpet leading from the throne to the door he had come from. The walls and ceilings were covered in beautiful velvet and blue tapestries. Off to the side of the throne was a round table with a large velvet tablecloth and 3 chairs. 2 of the chairs were currently occupied. One was occupied by Pharos. The other one was occupied by a man in a mask with a blue butterfly on the forehead.
The man had hair in similar color to his, bound up into a ponytail on the back of his head. He wore a white suit jacket with black slacks, shoes and shirt. Something about him felt so familiar to Minato…
After a moment, the man in the mask finally noticed Minato, and stood up, smiling brightly.
"Hello, Minato. It's nice to finally meet you."
Minato shook his head in utter confusion. "Who are you, and where the hell are we?"
The masked man snorted in amusement. "You may call me… Philemon. As for where we are?" He chuckled lightly, as if it was a stupid question.
"Welcome… to the Velvet Room."
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Oh, man, I got chills writing that last part.
Things are starting to look like they're going pear-shaped, huh?
As always, please leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter or if you have any criticisms, and PM me if you have any questions or concerns that you would like me to address.
See you next time!
-Dr. Ninja