I am nothing.
Where am I?
I am the emptiness.
Who is that? Cut it out!
I am the Void.
Stop it!
Darkness is me. I am Loneliness.
No! That's not true! I am not alone!
-Gah!
-He woke up.
-Are You okay?
I was lying on a sofa in a house unknown to me.
-Hikari?
-Hikari-kun?
-Dude, You all right?
-Kinda-I answered. I looked around. Chie, Rise, Naoto, Mitsuru, Yu, Yosuke, Kanji, and few people I didn't know were sitting near the sofa. I tried to stand up, but I fell almost immediately, before they could react.
-Don't overdo it.-Yosuke said.
-I have to go. I need to find him.
-Find who? Listen We found You because we felt an enourmous amount of power. When we came to rescue You, we found You lying near Nagi who used her Persona. What happened?-Mitsuru asked.
-Looks like I won't stand up for a while. Might as well tell You everything. My father was a Demi-fiend...
-That Demi-fiend? The one who stopped the Conception?-Mitsuru said
-You know about it?
-There were... certain research led by my grandfather, which showed that everything on this world had at some point a powerful energy source inside. But for some reason, they lost it. Further research showed what Conception was, and how it was stopped.
-Conception?-Chie was clueless.
-About 40 years ago, a certain fanatic cult re-opened the gates to the Amala Network, thus creating a Conception. It was a world of war, where the winner got to decide the shape of the new reality. It was also said, that only those favored by the Demi-Fiend Would be able to win.
-Amala...what?
-Amala Network. It is one of the many connections with the alternate worlds. It was closed since ancient times, before the world entered Conception. After that, my father and a powerful demon, by the name of Philemon, Closed the Gates once and for all, but...
-But what?-Mitsuru asked
-There's someone who wants to open them.
-We have to stop them.
-If it was that easy. He's strong, but there may be a chance if We find him.
-Find who?-Yu asked
-Eien.
-?
-As You may have already guessed, this isn't my real body. I became a Persona to save the remaining glimmer of my life. I was summoned by a boy who was terminally ill. Before he passed away, he asked me to "live his life". And since then, I've been doing that. But when I was still in my Fiend body... I had three brothers.
We all inherited the demonic power of our father. But one of us have changed. He wanted to have everything, no matter the cost...
-And?
-One night, he attacked. We had no chance against his attack...no. "Slaughter" is the better word. He also wanted to attack my older brother's son. I managed to take him and run away. After few days, I found him.
-Who?
-The master of all Personas, Philemon. He found a safe place for Eien (my nephew) and tried to save me. However my human part was nearly dead. There way no way to save me. So he made me a Persona.
-But how? How is that possible?-Mitsuru asked.
-A "Persona" is something that my father and Philemon came up with. After the Gates of Amala were closed, Enormous amount of demons was dying. They had to find a way to save them.
-Save demons?
-Not everyone of them is bad. My mother is a demon.
-oh, sorry.
-Where was I... And they found a way. By fusing demons with human emotions, they would become a Persona: a spiritual being capable of aiding You. But, it created a drawback.
-The Shadows.
-Bingo. Those who fused with negative emotions become a Shadow. Me and my brothers had some kind of control over them, that's why we named ourselves The Shadow Kings.
-And this Eien is the succesor of this "title"?
-Yeah. This and also his Persona is a little... Too big for a normal usage.
-Is it that gigantic?
-No. It takes the form of an advanced airship.
-WHAT?
-It can also get energy from sun or moon, which means that it won't drain it's owner power.
-What kind of Persona could do something like that?
-The true form of Eternity. Aeon Arcana, Eden.
-Eden?
I stood up.-Yeah. Eien is in the possession of the true Eternity. If he gets caught by Kazama, We're done.
-Hikari... What happened to Shitoki? You said that he was responsible for Your transportation.
-...Dead. Killed by Kazama.
-...-Mitsuru was left speechless.
-What wonders me is, why were YOU pursuing a way to manipulate time?
-...
-This is no different from what Your grandfather wanted to do! Why, why did You risk everything we all are protecting!?
-...
-Answer me!
-I know! I know what I was risking, but I promised...promised to find a way to save him. You wouldn't know the pain of losing someone dear!
-I know.-I tossed her a newspaper article about the terrorrist attack at my old school, that I've been holding to all this time.
-I know.-I tossed her a small paper plane, I made with this kid back at the hospital, which I was holding to for no reason.
-I KNOW!-I showed her scar on my hand from recent duel with Kazama.
-...
-I lost many things, including my old life. But it's pointless to live with that. You have to move on. Regret will only keep You in one place.
-Wait a minute. How do You know about Mitsuru's Grandfather?
-Universe-Mitsuru answered.-He's connected with Him, so He is able to read his memory.
-With who?
-The Savior.
-Okay, I explained about me and Kazama. But who are those people?
-They are Shadow Operatives, a special force of Persona users who are Kirijo Group's main anti-shadow force. They are the best of the best.
-I see. But why are they here?
-I told You I was going to call for backup. And here they are. Even though it hasn't been that long We were able to assemble a team that is a succesor to Special Extracurricular Execution Squad.
-That is impressive.-I really was surprised. There were almost fifteen people standing in the room. To find that many people who have awakened to their Persona... I shouldn't take Kirijo group's power too lightly. When I wanted to say something, one of the Shadow Operatives, a young boy, approached me.
-Excuse me, but... Are You that legendary martial artist?
-hmm? I am a martial artist(retired) but Legendary? Isn't it a little too much?
-No sir. You are a legend to me! I spent my whole childhood watching Your fights.
-Wow... Don't know what to say...
-There are more people like that.-Mitsuru said.-When I was asking them, who are they idolizing, almost everyone said Your nickname. Even the older ones.
I was left speechless. So many people were my fans? I never thought that I was That famous. I smiled.
-But I retired years ago. How come that so many people still remember me?
-Everyone who's been practicing martial arts have at least heard about the legendary Black Wind who suddenly left after an accident few years ago. You are a legend, to all of us.
-You said... that You want to get stronger...-I heard a weak voice. It was Nagi who came from the upstairs.- Why don't You return?
-...
-Yeah. That would be awesome.-Said another Shadow Operative.
But can I really return? One part of me wanted that. The other strongly opposed the idea. I decided to leave it in the hands of fate. I stood up and walked to the nearest Operative.
-I challenge all of You to a duel. If I win all of the matches, I will return.
-In your condition!? That is impossible!
-I want to see how strong You really are. I will wait outside. With that, I turned towards exit. Before I left, I stopped near Nagi who was leaning against the wall, and whispered:
-Thanks.
She smiled and passed out while standing.
Shadow Operative's 1 POV
Is it real? We get the chance to battle with our idol! But, he's still weakened. Can we really go all-out?
-Don't think about going easy. If he wants to check our power, he will get it. Twenty one times in a row.
-Sir!
Hikari's POV
-Next!- I said after twentieth victory. All Shadow Operatives were lying on the ground. (Hmm. They certainly have potential but they nowhere near my league.) I thought. There was one last Operative (the kid who talked to me first). I could see determination in his eyes.
-Well, looks like only You are left.-I said. He nodded. We stood 5 feet apart from each other, and readied our battle forms.
-Since I challenged You, the first move belongs to me.
-Bring it on!
I carefully approached him and launched a quick triple punch. He dodged it and kicked me in the arm. I managed to grab him and launched a counter attack.
-Hikari-ryu Kaze no Yami! (Wind of Darkness)
My attack was composed of three straight punches aimed at the stomach, hip, and Solar Plexus. But he was able to dodge two and block the last one. After that, he used my exposed arm to vault himself above me, and kicked me in the head. The impact threw him away from me. I staggered, and he approached me again, this time from my side. He aimed at my elbow, but I managed to deflect it, and throw him off balance. I used that to finish this with an open hand strike aimed at his abdomen while he was falling to the ground. He fell with loud "THUMP", thus ending the fight.
-All right, I won.-I tried to walk, but I couldn't move. I felt something dripping from my head. I realized it was my blood.
-Son of a...-This kid packed really powerful kick back there.
-Heh, not bad, kiddo.-I said before losing consciousness(again).
Hiya, Long time no see, huh? Well, I had some serious issues with my PC and the Internet, not to mention school related stuff, but I'm finally free, Yay![Insert Victory song here] And because of such delay, I decided to add a quick update regarding this story and my other one "The Chronicles…" I will focus mainly on "Persona Borrowed Life" Because making up a completely new crime and witnesses and God knows what else is pretty tiring, so I'm taking a small steps with that. I should have more free time from now on so I'll try to make up for the absence with Persona story. Well, guess that's it from me. See ya!