"Why?" Yukari asked Kei. "What happened in England during 1897?"
"There was a hurricane that killed around 20 people," I told her, recalling my history. "And there was also a big fire at Kings Cross Station."
Kei nodded. "They're related, but it's not the major thing." He said as he reached into his bag. "Have you ever heard of a man named 'Bram Stoker?'"
I stared.
Then I laughed.
Hell, I rolled over in the couch clutching my stomach I was laughing so hard. "Are… Are you serious?" I asked him, getting my breath back.
"Absolutely." Replied the manager of Nanjo Corp.
"Erm… who's Bram Stoker?" Yukari asked, feeling left out.
"He's the guy who wrote Dracula." I replied.
"He's also the man who documented the Hollow user." Kei added.
"I refuse to believe that." I pointed out.
"Oh, Dracula isn't it." Kei assured me. "That's simply a work of fiction which attracted the interest of the Hollow user."
Okay, that's slightly more believable. "So, what do we know about this guy?" I asked, getting back onto the couch.
"Not much." Kei Nanjo admitted. "In fact, we're not sure that this guy is the Hollow, but from what our research into the Arcana and what Tatsuya has told me, then this document is the best clue we have." He said, handing me a photocopy of some old writing.
"You sure this is real, not some new novel?" I asked, before reading.
"The events described coincide with police reports of that time," Kei replied, nodding. "And also of the newspaper articles describe one young man defeating many locals in a bar fight the night this document was written."
I looked at the copy and read aloud what it said, translating the olde Englishe into Japanese for Yukari.
The beast was shaped as a man, with the mannerisms and appearance of little more than a child. Its intelligence, however, was beyond that of a man, only as great as its incredible madness.
The beast was invincible, besting tens of men in combat with little ease.
The beast was invulnerable, withstanding the mightiest of blows from many men of large stature, so much so that the men themselves injured themselves simply by touching the foul thing.
The beast was majestic and beautiful, despite its inhuman scent.
The beast was a monstrosity, wearing the skin of a young man. When it revealed itself unto me, its cold, grey, lonely eyes became golden, as beautiful as they were terrifying. Blackness rode its skin, like many roads encompassing the great moors of Scotland.
While its face showed no hate, its unworldly aura was an affront to all things holy in the name of our lord, so much so that when I procured my holy crucifix to keep the foul beast at bay, it burnt to ashes with a wave of the devils fingers.
Darkness and terror clasped my chest, so much so that I lost the power to breathe as it approached me. It looked at me with scorn only a demon could master, and it spoke in a demonic tongue, one as unrecognisable as only the dialect of Beelzebub could be, before leaving me in my room, stealing away like a thief into the night.
"So what does this have to do with the Hollow Arcana?" I asked Kei once I finished reading.
"Share our Power, our pain, our madness?" Kei reminded me. "Also, remember when Tatsuya told you about the Punishment?"
I nodded, putting the pieces together. Yukari clearly wasn't getting any of this, but she didn't like it. Remember, I hadn't told her any of this.
"Well, since the Hollow Arcana acts as a Social Link," Kei continued, making me wince inside as Yukari's frown grew deeper.
Again, hadn't told Yukari about those either.
"Then I can assume that this 'beast' was looking to end his Punishment." Kei continued. "Since the book Dracula seemed to pique his interest, judging from the date of the document," March, by the way, about a month after the book was published, "Then we can assume that it was because the Hollow user had similar abilities mentioned in the book. Mind control could be an exaggeration of the incredible manipulative abilities Wild Cards seem to have, but…"
"You don't have much solid for me." I finished for him. He'd already been a big help.
"Well, I can also tell you that both England and Japan have a large concentration of Ley Lines." Kei said.
"Ley lines?" Yukari asked.
"Lines of energy that run across the earth's crust." I explained. That would explain why we were two of the highest countries for mythology, followed by India, Greece, China and South America. "Though do they actually have an influence?" I asked Kei.
"Looks that way." He shrugged. "You got any better idea why we get all the Persona users and you get all the wizards?"
"Fair point." Same follows roughly for the other countries I mentioned. "Plus your Mikos and our Spooks. Thanks for your help."
"No problem." Kei said, handing me a business card. "Call me if anything comes up. I already have your number from Naoya and Tatsuya."
"Thanks." I replied, glancing at the card.
CRACK
Oh hell.
SMASH
Thou art I… And I am Thou…
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou seekest the bounty of Coin Arcana.
That was… actually fairly normal.
"I'll see myself out." Kei told us, standing up. "It was nice meeting you both." He said.
"Good bye!" Yukari said, standing up and bowing after him.
I followed her up to my feet but waved instead. "Nice meeting you too."
Once he was gone Yukari turned on me. "So, what was he talking about?"
I had no choice. I told her about Social Links, that I get more power from my bonds with other people. I told her that the Hollow Arcana was a social link I activated recently with two previous Wild Cards, neither of whom had even heard of it, but I still didn't know much about it.
I told her that the cost of using Wild Card supposedly came with a price, or Punishment, but I'd worry about that later. I said that I wasn't supposed to talk about it, so she left me alone after that to an extent, but I could still tell that something was bothering her.
"More like you're bothered about being found out," Pharos offered, "But you can't tell her everything. She wouldn't take it."
Shut up, Pharos.
We ran through Tartarus a few times over the next week, but we'd made slow progress. Mitsuru refused to let me lead for the time being, until my hand was healed and until she was confident that I wasn't putting the team at risk with my reckless decisions and my behaviour. It gave me more time to get closer to Fuuka down in the lobby of Tartarus, but it didn't really feel… satisfying, like it does when I usually work with my Social Links.
Things hadn't gotten much better by Saturday either. There was talk about some revenge website, but what bothered me more was that Yukari was acting weirdly around the dorm. I'd asked her to keep what we talked about on Sunday to herself, and so far she had, but it was eating away at her and the team was suffering because of it.
Although, another problem was that it was a new lunar cycle. The Lost are turning up again, and this time in couples. The full moon would be on the seventh of July. Mitsuru said that I could lead again on probation, to prepare the team for then, but after over a week of little to no action, it was hard for to get back into the swing of things.
I held myself back in battle until I reached an acceptable level of violence in my battles, but by that time we had to go home.
Monday morning, Yukari spoke to me properly for the first time in over a week.
"Ya know, in about a week, there'll be another mission." she said on the way to school.
"I know." I replied, trying not to screw this up. "I'm not looking forward to it."
That surprised Yukari, but she showed a calmer face. "I understand…" she said. "I mean, we should be getting stronger and better as a team, but right now… it's like we don't trust each other…"
I'm surprised that she noticed, but apparently I'm not the only observant one. Junpei had started getting slightly more aggressive at me, Mitsuru still held me under suspicion, Yukari didn't trust me as much anymore and Akihiko seemed elsewhere.
Add me and my probation period, and Fuuka was the only one holding us together. "That's true, but there's another reason." I told her.
"What is it?" Yukari asked.
"Noticed anything about the Lost lately?" I prompted.
"They've been showing up in pairs, right?" Yukari sighed.
"Not just pairs. Couples." I corrected. "Numerically, we should be against the Hierophant next, but that Arcana focuses on defence and physical brawn, so it wouldn't behave like this."
"Behave?" Yukari questioned.
"Remember how the Empress manipulated those girls bullying Fuuka and targeted them?" I asked, getting a nod from Yukari. "This Shadow's targets say it's the Lovers Arcana, which suggests…"
"We'll be fighting two enemies again this time." Yukari finished for me.
"But that's not the worst part." I told her. "Lovers Shadows like Charming foes."
Yukari winced. "That's gonna be fun..." she groaned.
Charming. It was evil, and I hated it. Once Charmed, an enemy would think that its enemies were allies and would attack its allies as if they were enemies. The worst part was if they recovered, they just woke up with no memory of how they gave me that big sword wound. "If we have to fight two big Shadows with non-lethal weapons in order to protect ourselves from each other…" I started, seeing if Yukari would finish this for me.
"Then the state of the team is really unprepared for this one…" Yukari finished. Well, at least that's an improvement.
Exams were looming ahead, but since these were finals, not Mid-terms, things were getting slightly crazy. I actually spent as much time as I could trying to pull the team back together between working on my Social Links, but things weren't going so well. Even Fuuka was getting worried at the lack of unity we had. Maybe I was biased because of how pessimistic I was feeling, but school did not look happy as it usually did.
Yuko called me over to her house after school on Wednesday. Time for the party she was talking about earlier. Yay. I'm not really in the mood for parties, but I went with a smile on my face.
Edogawa was right, I am a fantastic liar.
Yuko, on the other hand, was awful at it. Right about when she started talking about babies, yeah. I could tell that she was trying to figure out what was going on in my head. Which means that I'm not as good as I usually am.
"Hey, you alright?" she asked me.
"Yeah, fine!" I smiled. "It's just that-" She leaned over and kissed me.
And not a peck on the cheek either, I had a tongue down my throat.
SMASH
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Strength Arcana…
Way to trust some freaky voices to ruin what little mood I was feeling.
What the hell, I started kissing back.
"Yuko! I'm home!"
Crap, was that her dad? I think I'm getting enhanced hearing, since I don't think Yuko heard it.
"Yuko, I'm…" Her dad came in. Chariot.
"DAD!" Yuko screamed, pushing away from me.
"Yuko?" dadman asked. "What's…?"
Yeah, he noticed me.
And what I was doing.
With his daughter.
In her bedroom.
On her bed.
Crap.
"Get. Out." He ordered me.
"Dad!" Yuko shouted as I got off her. "What are you doing?"
"Look, I'm sorry if I offended you Mr. Nishiwaki," I offered, getting to my feet "But this is-" I was interrupted by a fist in my face.
"DAD!"
"You could have dodged that easily, you know." Pharos offered.
It was a father's punch, thrown for his daughter. It would have been an insult to dodge it.
"It's probably more insulting to block it with your face though." Pharos shrugged.
Sure enough, I hadn't budged an inch after Yuko's dad swung his fist into my face with all his strength.
"DAD!" Yuko shouted. Now, I'm not gonna say that I wasn't in pain. As a matter of fact, my left arm killed right about now.
"Okay, now that you've let it out," I began as her dad pulled away, but then he reached for SHIT A SHOVEL!
"Duck." Pharos advised as her father swung.
I blocked.
"HOLY… DAD!" Yuko screamed again as I rolled back to an upright position.
"Sorrygottagobye!" I shouted, diving out of the window.
Then I noticed that I was three floors up.
So I grabbed a convenient drainpipe, swinging for the fire escape, running for my life. "See you later Yuko!" I shouted, waving at her before wiping the blood out of my hair.
"You seem happier." Pharos noted.
I let a smile form on my lips. "I am." Not one of the half assed smiles of late, but a pretty decent one. "It feels good to be running for my life again."
"That's all you really want in life is it?" Pharos asked.
"GET BACK HERE!"
I looked behind me to see Yuko's dad chasing me, again with the shovel.
This was what I needed. No therapy, no words, just the chase; the escapist and the hunter.
It was like being with the Reaper again, only with people in the way.
Come to think of it, that's all I ever wanted. I knocked over some bins and ran into an alleyway as Yuko's dad chased after me. For someone's dad, he was pretty athletic.
I didn't want to save the world. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to manipulate people to get great power. Hell, I don't even want to avenge my parents death. Not right now anyway.
All I really want is to run, and be chased. To be the underdog, even if I could crush the hunter with thought.
I love being the one to run, and not being the one who stands and fights.
A little escape from who I really am.
Like Aladdin, but the other way around.
Ooh, wire fence! I pot-vaulted it, dropping over the other side into a run.
Yuko's dad used the door in the fence. See? This is what it's about!
I twisted through the alleyways and came out at Iwatodai station. I could see Junpei and Kenji talking to each other in Wild Duck Burger, so I brushed my hair behind my ear and donned the fake glasses I bought recently for work and ran into the McDonalds knock-off, joining them at their table.
"Hide me!" I hissed, stealing Junpei's hat as I sat next to him.
"Minato?" He asked, surprised to see me out of breath. "Dude, what the hell's going on?"
I pointed my thumb at the window, and the two Magician's turned their heads to see psycho dad run past with a shovel, clearly looking for someone.
"Man…" Kenji whistled. "Who did you do?"
"His daughter. Well, no," I said, "Caught me making out with her, and chased me here. Don't squeal on me." I begged, making myself look as pathetic and adorable as possible.
Junpei laughed his arse off. "Dude… you actually got a girls dad to chase you with a shovel?"
"Now I can cross that off my list when I get home." I replied, jokingly.
"Man!" Kenji announced, "You have Balls!"
SMASH
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana.
See? This is what I miss. No serious, dark, mystic Arcana. No juggling two girls at once so they never realise about each other. Just hanging out with a couple of mates, having a good laugh. Preferably no angry dad threatening to cave my skull in with a shovel next time, but I'm not picky.
"There, that's the guy!"
Me and Junpei were walking back to the dorm later, and we turned around to five or so badboyz.
They're big, they're hard, they're gonna kick some ass and their mothers want them back by ten.
One of them looked familiar, the other's jaw was wired shut. The biggest one was big.
"I here you's the one who did this to mah boy!" the biggest one who was big growled. "I'm the Banchou of this place, and maybe if you both grovel and apologise, I'll let you leave here alive!"
"Um… I… I… Huh?" Junpei asked, already preparing to bow to these guys. I put a hand on his chest, getting his attention. When he looked at me, I shook my head.
Big man who was big was an actual fighter; someone who knew how to brawl, unlike the two flunkies Shinji and I owned almost a month ago.
"Don't you dare apologise to the guy who hurt you so he can kick your arse." I warned Junpei. "If someone dares threaten you, you let them know your place."
"Dude…" Junpei hissed, "He's not like the others! He's the boss, he knows how to fight!"
"And?" I asked him. "So am I and so do you." I nodded my head at a large lead pipe in the corner. "If you're worried, you could just use that." I turned to Da Boyz.
"Look, I deal with worse than you on a nightly basis." I warned. "And I'd rather not kill someone and have to leave the country again. Bugger off, alright?" I told the biggest one. "I'll pretend this never happened."
"Heh. I like your guts kid." Bossman walked over towards me. "Shame about your ATTITUDE!" He shouted, swinging a full haymaker into my face.
Remember when I said that he was a brawler?
Well, unlike Yuko's dad, he could throw a punch. However, also unlike Yuko's dad, he wasn't a dad. He was a Hooligan.
So, I gave him the Arisoto Hand. What was that? Why, my signature move of course. I've got it down to a reflex.
I grab him by the face and slam his head into the nearest hard thing, either the wall or the ground.
In this instance, I floored him, and stepped on his neck. "Now. New offer." I growled, leaning so close that my fringe brushed against his eyebrow piercings. "Apologise now, and your little friends get to leave before my friend kicks their asses."
"BOYS!" My hooligan friend shouted, spraying spit and some blood into my face. "GETTEM!"
WHAM!
Junpei decked the one who was aiming a lead pipe at my head. Guy was down in one punch. "Told ya." I told bossman as Junpei took out the other three underlings. "Now. Apologise and we'll let you leave before tying you all to a post with your trousers down."
"Dude, that'd be awesome!" Junpei shouted, clearly happy.
"Yeah, but it's best to offer them one Last Chance first." I said, toning slight sadness into my voice. "Sucks, but it's the polite thing to do."
"Guh… Fine!" Grunted bosschap. "I'm sorry about my boys! And for threatening you, Okay!"
"You know when to apologise." I noted, slamming my forehead into his, knocking him out. "Good trait for a leader."
"Dude…" Junpei was psyched about his first street fight. "That… was so… AWESOME!"
"Let's do it again sometime." I smiled. "Hey, how do you feel about the next Shadow?"
His face fell slightly. "Apparently there's a chance that it's gonna be another double Shadow…" he said.
"You up for it though?" I suggested.
"Yeah." Junpei grinned. "We'll rip it a new one!"
"Good." I told him. "I want you to look after Fuuka during the mission."
"Huh!" His jaw dropped. "What?"
"You said it yourself." I replied. "There's no guarantee that if it is a double, that we'll fight them together. I wouldn't put it past them to try to take us out from behind. That's why I need you to cover Fuuka, you're the heaviest hitter after me."
Junpei seemed shocked. "You... you just want me out of the way for the next battle… I get it…"
I looked him dead in the eye. "No Junpei, I'm serious." I said, not bothering to blink the blood out. "The team's going down to hell, and I need someone who I know can defend Fuuka long enough for the rest of us to get there." I didn't say the other reason I wanted him with Fuuka.
Fuuka's invulnerable when she summons, but she can't attack. Junpei, on the other hand, has great raw power with his Persona, so if he gets Charmed, we're screwed.
Thankfully, Junpei accepted my explanation, and wanted to know if anything could be done before the mission on Tuesday. It was Wednesday now, so we had six days to fix our teamwork. Now what could we do?
"Hey, Minato?"
Yeah Pharos?
"You wanna do something bang out of order?"
…
Go on then.