7

The Other Chance

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything connected with Persona, Atlus or ancient deities used for cultural influence. I only own myself. Yeeha.

Chapter 5: Long and Forgotten…Yet Returning

April 9, 2009:

The world had changed. Yet, to Akio, it hadn't. The world seemed…clearer, more in focus than it had ever been for him. He saw the world. In the purest sense, he had seen the face of the world and for a moment it stopped him. He wasn't sure they he had stopped but he knew he needed to continue.

As he pulled the trigger on the "gun" he felt his world become heightened. A miraculous sensation ripped through his being. As if his soul was pulling itself from its place in his consciousness and taking form.

It felt terrifying. It felt wonderful. It felt arousing. But most of all it felt as if he had returned. A feeling that he knew he had lived in was returning. And he never wanted it to end; for fear that he would never feel it again.

As his persona took form, all he could do was smile and greet it with utter elation in his soul.

Minako saw her brother shoot himself in the head. She panicked. He was leaving them, just like their parents had left them. She stood in shock unable to fully register what her loving, foolish, overbearing, and above all courageous elder brother had done. She couldn't feel anything and in that moment, she didn't want to.

Just as the despair was about to set in, she noticed…glass protruding from the other side of Akio's skull. Not blood or brain matter. Glass. Or so it appeared to be. It shattered in an instant and began to reform itself over her brother's head.

She stared. Unable to comprehend, and yet, so fully aware of the significance this event held. Not only for Akio but her and Minato as well. If she could have felt destiny, it would have been pulling her by the hair.

Minato, too, saw his brother shoot himself. The fear was overwhelming but for some reason he felt as if there was no reason for it. He also noted that no blood came. And the figure that began to appear above his brother seemed so…familiar.

He didn't know why but he suddenly knew that everything was going to be alright. At least for now. Future be damned, but at this moment, they were in the safest place in the entire world. He glanced to his sister and she to him. Her panic evident by the tears in her eyes.

Minato knew of only one way to reassure her…he smiled at her. A true smile. One that few had ever seen. In fact, the only ones who had seen it were his brother and sister; for only they were worthy of it.

Minako saw the smile and her soul began to calm. The smile that made Minato the caring, wonderful, determined individual he was shown brightly for her. Confidence began to take root in her. The kind that only comes from conviction of the heart. The conviction that you are doing what you must, not what you want, but what you must.

She smiled back at him. A smile she showed to all but few truly understood. A girl able to smile from the depths of her soul each and every time she did it was rare. Almost too rare. The man who could understand that smile would be the one to win her heart.

Minato saw it and he turned back to Yukari, who was still recovering from the Shadow's attack. He was sure she would be fine. She didn't seem to be injured, aside from rubbing her head.

Yukari turned to the scene and froze. She couldn't move. She didn't want to move. She was fixated on Akio and his developing persona.

Minato, still smiling, turned back to his brother. Minako did the same. Both feeling completely and utterly safe with their brother there to protect them.

Akio grinned at the mass of Shadow Hands. He was in control now and both human and Shadow knew it.

From the depths of his soul a voice echoed. "I am thou, and thou art I. I come from the ocean of your soul. Thou art I, and I am thou."

"Welcome back," Akio found himself saying. He had no reason why he said such a thing but he didn't spare a thought for it.

"Thou art I, and I am thou" the voice repeated in response.

The voice resounded through him, empowering him. As the persona took form, it was unlike anything anyone else had ever seen.

It was large and clad in a black duster coat. A monstrous metallic face with its lower jaw hanging down below the chin. Pointed feet and long pale legs. Chains embedded into its shoulders connect to seven coffin shaped objects floating behind its back. A long, exquisite katana on its belt.

It was truly…a monster. Or at least many would perceive that. To Akio and his siblings however, it was a creature of strength, will and determination. A long forgotten piece of strength that was finally returning.

The mass of Shadow Hands stopped suddenly. The mask of the hands was lifted to see the new adversary. The mass of Shadow Hands began to shiver with fear.

Death had returned to claim its power. And this time, nothing in the world could stop it.

Akio simply had to point at the mass of Shadow Hands. That was all it took to crush the monster.

Akio's persona shot forward, drew its katana at lightning speed, and proceeded to cut down the helpless Shadow.

The arms tried to flee. Tried to separate but it was no use. Akio's persona grabbed the center of the beast with one monstrous hand, holding it in place. The other hand swung the katana, this way and that, cutting the Shadow to pieces in mere moments. A struggling hand tried to move away after being cut but was intercepted by the crushing grip of the persona's hand. The persona stared at it for a moment before crushing it within its palm as if it was nothing.

Akio's persona roared to the moon high in sky and disappeared. It disappeared so suddenly that Akio barely noticed that it was not there anymore. Just then, a terrible pain ripped through his head.

His mind was burning and soon the rest of his body felt it as well. His body felt as if it was being scorched from within. He struggled to keep conscious but soon his world went dark. Before his body hit the ground he saw his siblings rush to his side shouting his name.

'They're…safe…good,' he thought as darkness consumed him.

Inside the command room…

None of the observers could speak. They all watched in silence from their boxed seat. The persona showed such power and aggression but also precision and grace. It was nothing like any other persona they had ever seen.

Mitsuru stared at the monitor, unable to find the words to express her feelings. Akihiko, however, had no such hardship.

"What on earth was that!" he shouted, startling Mitsuru. She looked to him but still could find no answers.

Unknown to them, Ikutsuki stared at the creature intensely. His rapturous expression hidden behind the glare of his glasses.

Back on the roof…

The twins ran to their brother as soon as his persona began to fade. As it faded, so did he. Akio fell to the ground with a sickening thud.

"Brother!" they both screamed as they ran to his side. Minako reached him first, patting him down, turning him over looking for injuries.

Minato checked his pulse. It was slow but stable. They looked to each other and breathed a sigh of relief.

He was okay. Unconscious but okay.

From behind them Yukari came up and sat next them, feeling drained herself. "It is over…?" she hesitantly asked, apparently to no one. Even so, her answer soon became clear.

Pieces of the nearly obliterated mass of Shadow Hands began clumping together. The plop, plop, plop was like screeching glass to the youths. They stared at the pieces of darkness as they combined to form four separate puddles, each bearing a melancholy blue mask.

"It's still moving!" Yukari screamed. The shadows immediately looked to the youths. Slowly, one by one, they began advancing toward them.

Minako and Minato looked to each other and then to their unconscious brother. They knew what they had to do. It was their turn to fight. They grabbed their weapons; Minato his wrench and Minako her broom. It wasn't much but they would have fought barehanded if need be.

Minato stood up slowly and began to advance toward them. Before Minako stood she turned to Akio and noticed the "gun" sparkling in his hand. She pulled it from his grip, with much effort, tucked it into her skirt and ran to join her brother.

As the twins proceeded with this dangerous new task, Yukari was frozen in fear. How could they so easily stand back up to fight? Weren't they afraid? But in the end all she could do was sit, petrified, as they moved to finish what their brother had began.

The shadows moved slow and clumsy but it was obvious they had the advantage of both numbers and strength. Two against four was hardly fair odds and being armed with household tools did not tip the balance of power at all.

Nevertheless, Minato and Minako stood together ready to destroy the shadows.

Minato looked to his sister; she noticed his gaze slowly moved to the closest shadow. It would be their first target. They knew that alone they had no change of hurting these monsters but if they attacked together…

Minato suddenly bolted for the first shadow. Before it could react he bashed the mask into its puddle of a body with a deafening crack. Before the shadow could recover, Minako came flying down on it from overhead, thrusting the broom down as hard as she could.

The dark creature could not get its bearing and slumped further into the ground but it was not over. The twins rushed the monster together and smashed their weapons into it with all their might.

The monster was sent flying back. It flipped and rolled before dissipating in a flash of dark puffy smoke.

The Arisato twins looked to each other in victory. But that very small victory had a price. Minako's broom had snapped in half and Minato's wrench was severely bent. The siblings had put all their strength into killing just one of the shadows but three yet remained.

The twins had no time to react because without warning, one of the shadows began heading right for Yukari. "No! Get away from me…!" she yelled at the oncoming assailant.

Minato grunted and sprinted directly at it, his sister not far behind. Just as the monster reached Yukari, the dark haired young man sped in front of her and crashed his bent weapon into its mask.

However, this did not phase the shadow at all. Instead it grabbed at Minato, who instinctively defended with the wrench. The shadow grasped the wrench and wrested it away from the boy, tossing it far behind him.

The monster then reach for both Yukari and Minato but before the hands could reach them, Minako landed a well placed kick into the center of the puddle. It then turned its attention to Minako, ignoring the others.

As Minako backed up she reached for the "gun" at her side. She pulled it out and stared at it intently. She could not contain her fear; it flooded her, nearly consuming her. What if it didn't work for her like it did her older brother?

As she stared at it the shadow grew close enough to swing a long shadowy hand at her. It bashed against her leg and she lost balance. She yelped as she fell backward onto her back. Her ankle was severely sprained, if not broken.

She looked up to see the shadow grabbing for her injured leg. She closed her eyes prepared for the painful grasp but it never came. Instead the sound of knuckles crunching was heard. Minako opened her eyes to see twin mercilessly beating on the shadow with his bare hands.

Blood began to flow from his knuckles as he continued. "Leave…my…family…ALONE!" he yelled between punches. He continued his relentless assault.

The shadowed found it unamusing. It turned its mask to face him and reared back a hand intending to strike him. Minato noticed it but had no energy left to move after his attack.

"Minato!"

Minako yelled and jumped at him. She knocked both of them away just as the shadow struck. The shadow was puzzled by not connecting and fell forward too much. Its mask was sent crashing into the ground and the whole puddle slumped into the concrete.

Minato looked to the shadow then back to his sister, who was lying on top of him. "Minako!" he screamed as she looked up at him, pain flooding her eyes.

"I'm…okay…" she barely managed to say. Minato knew it was a lie but didn't have the words to accompany his thoughts.

At that time, Yukari, finally adjusting to the shock, rushed to them. She helped lift Minako off the ground as the other shadows slowly began to move to them.

Just then, Akihiko rushed to the door of the roof. He was holding his injured arm, which was badly bleeding. A result of his earlier fights. In his other arm was his "gun".

"YUKARI!" he shouted loudly.

The wounded group looked to him. Yukari noticed his "gun" and reached out a hand. Akihiko reared back and threw the "gun" with all his might. It headed straight for Yukari. But right before it got to her; another hand reached out past her and grabbed it.

Yukari turned to see Minato holding the "gun".

"What do you…?" she tried to ask but before she could finish, Minato pushed her behind him and his sister.

Yukari fell to the ground and looked up to the Arisato twins. They stood, leaning on each other, a "gun" pointed at their own heads.

They shot a quick glance to their unconscious brother beside them and turned defiantly back to face the threat. The disoriented shadow finally regained its wits and advanced toward the twins along with the others.

Minato and Minako stared at them as they approached. All the fear in their eyes began to fade and as it did, a new feeling took hold. A feeling of power, of will, of confidence. They felt the power of persona welling up inside them ready to be unleashed.

The shadows became weary of this new feeling radiating from them and increased their pace. The shadows began to use their long arms to pull themselves toward them as fast as they could but it was too late for the creatures of the lost hour.

Slowly, the twins rested their heads against each other, holding their "guns" on the opposite sides of their heads. They closed their eyes and let the world awaken before them. Just as it had with their brother.

"Persona"

As they spoke they pulled the triggers and a large flash of light burst forth. The light blinded the shadows and they stopped their advance.

Above the twins, two forms began to emerge from the light. Out of the light stepped two nearly identical figures. Both were tall with long, pale arms and legs. Both had large harps on their backs. Both had scarves partially covering their faces. But the face defined them, explicitly.

One was male with short dark hair and piercing dark blue eyes. The other was female with long brown hair and shimmering crimson eyes.

The shadows quivered in fear before the miraculous spectacle before them.

Minako and Minato listened as soothing, sweet voices rang in their heads.

"Thou art I, and I am thou. We are Orpheus, master of strings. We come from the depths of the ocean of your souls."

The words of these beings comforted the twins. They were a part of these beings and they could feel the power and strength they possessed. The twin opened their eyes to gaze at the shadows. Blue and Crimson shimmered and shone in their eyes as their gaze pierced the creatures of darkness.

As one, both of the Orpheus personas pulled their harps from their backs and raised them high into the air. The shadows turned to flee but it was too late. Their fate was sealed.

The twins screamed in unison and the personas crashed their mighty weapons upon the shadows, rendering them to dust.

As the smoke cleared and the light began to fade the twins looked up to their other selves.

"Orpheus" they said together.

And with that, the Personas disappeared back into the depth of their souls.

"Wow…that was amazing, you two," Yukari exclaimed as the Personas began to fade.

The moment the personas retreated completely, both of their other selves collapsed. Minako succumbed to the pain in her ankle and leaned heavily on Minato. Minato could not hold her upright due to the pain shooting through his bleeding hands. He tried in vain to support both of them but collapsed still holding his sister.

As they started to fall, Yukari jumped up and ran to them. "Hold on you two!" she shouted to them as they hit the ground with a loud crash, "Please…! Can you hear me!"

Neither of them spoke, too weary to answer. "Answer me!" she practically screamed at them.

Just then, Mitsuru and Ikutsuki joined Akihiko at the doorway. Mitsuru rushed to the injured siblings, ready to apply the healing arts her persona could utilize. Akihiko made his way to Akio, still holding his bleeding arm. Yukari knelt over the twins trying to help them as best she could.

The Arisato twins made no effort to stand. While they were still conscious, they were in far too much pain to move or be moved. As Mitsuru attempted to heal them, they looked to each other and smiled.

They had done it. They had protected their brother.

To Be Continued…

How was this? I took a stab at letting Minato and Minako have the spotlight for most of it. After all, the game was originally about them. Plus I just love the image of them fighting off shadows but not being overly powerful like in the game. I enjoy characters that have a little bit of struggle. Thanks for the support. R and R please. Flames will be used to warm my hands during the cold winter.