Disclaimer: I do not own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, or Devil Summoner as most of the characters within this story as they belong to Atlus.

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Veluti In Speculum

Chapter 17: Molten

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Just as she suspected, Naoto had found Kanji wondering aimlessly in the fields outside of Inaba. Unlike the others, he didn't look too shocked at Cerberus. Instead, he turned red and asked if he could pet the demon (surprisingly, he was taller than the demon by almost a foot). Well, he was able to hold onto the big cat as they walked back into town and didn't question much on Sukuna-Hikona flying about.

As they walked, Sukuna's antennae twitched and he looked around. Cerberus paused, growling lowly.

Kanji stopped walking and Naoto looked over at Sukuna-Hikona, "Minato, what's wrong?"

"There's a convergence of demons near the police station…" Minato replied, flying higher to scout out the problem.

Cerberus grunted, "I SMELL BLOOD AND HEAR DEMONS CHATTING. THEY'RE SURROUNDING A HUMAN."

"This isn't good. How many demons?" she asked, drawing her revolver. She clicked it open, checking the number of bullets and reloaded before snapping it shut. Minato floated down while Cerberus sniffed.

"… TEN… ONE IS A RAJA NAGA," Cerberus said after a moment.

Minato flapped his wings to draw attention, "There's some undead this time, at least three, two Raijus, two Leanan Sidhes, and two Satis. Naoto, we need to move fast though. The person they're surrounding is Dojima-san! He's been shot!"

"What!? Tch, Kanji-kun, stay here and hide," Naoto said before jogging forward. She heard Kanji say something, but she didn't catch it, pulling her hat down a bit. Cerberus pounded behind her while Minato darted forward to distract the demons. He destroyed the zombies with his blade, but had to move fast as the lightning Raijus dashed after him, roaring in annoyance.

The Leanan Sidhes and Satis followed, but didn't attack. Raja Naga rose high over the demons around him, a long spear in hand as he watched Minato as well, but he turned on the downed form of Dojima in a second. Naoto fired several times, hitting the Raja to startle him and causing alarm to one Leanan and a Sati. They drew away from Dojima's body now that a fighting opponent appeared. A burst of flames drove the Raja and Leanans back, but the Satis absorbed the fire, irritated. They casted their own flame spells back at Naoto, but she rolled aside, feeling the blaze burn behind her back.

Cerberus took out the Leanans with little difficulty, but yowled, his fur freezing over as the Raja Naga casted a rather powerful ice spell on him. Naoto trained her gun on Raja, but double flames caught her this time. Damn, those two Satis were getting closer and Cerberus was struggling with Raja Naga. Minato darted past the Satis quickly, causing the Raijus to collide into the two flaming women. Both Raiju disappeared and Minato floated back over to Naoto, "What did I miss?!"

"Go help Cerberus! I can hold them back!" she yelled, reloading her gun while the Sati rose. He nodded and darted at the Raja Naga, blade blocking its spear as it came down at Cerberus. To say the least, the snakeman was startled as Minato's tiny body blocked him, but then yelled as Cerberus blasted fire under his scaly body.

Naoto fired once, twice, three times, but the Sati continued coming forward, bullets not even leaving a scratch. "Impossible… they have no effect…" she hissed. She glanced down briefly as something rubbed against her legs; Gouto.

"Demons have strength and weaknesses like Shadows. These ones can't be affected by bullets."

"That would've been nice to know…" Naoto muttered, but then leapt back as fire scorched the ground she had just been standing on. Minato and Cerberus were occupied and she was out of a weapon. She gritted her teeth at a painful throb in her head and took a knee. Gouto looked at her, eyes wide.

"Naoto! You need to move!"

"G-Give me a second!" she snapped, shutting her eyes. What a time for this to start! She could feel the heat of the Satis drawing closer and their power welling as they prepared to cast fire again.

"Outta the way!"

A chair flew through the air and smashed into one of the Satis, making it fall to the ground. Its flames extinguished before it disappeared, leaving the lone one. Naoto looked back, her brows furrowing, "Kanji-kun! I told you to stay back!"

"Shit! I can still fight! I jus' can't summon!" he yelled back. Sati would've attacked both of them, but Minato shot past, cleaving her in two before the fire demon disappeared.

"AREA IS CLEARED," Cerberus growled, his tail slamming against the ground. Naoto nodded and then jogged over to Dojima. He was pale, but not an alarming shade and his left shoulder bled sluggishly. The entry point of the bullet was close to his heart, but it wasn't fatal fortunately. His chest rose and fell slightly, confirming he was still breathing. She looked back and waved the others over before removing her jacket

"I wonder how long he's been lying here. We need to get him back to the Estate now," Naoto sighed, placing her jacket over Dojima, but it didn't cover much of his person. "Cerberus, do you mind lending your back?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

Cerberus trotted over and crouched down, closing his mouth as he waited. Kanji walked over, tilting his head, "Anythin' I can do?"

"H-Help me get Dojima-san onto Cerberus's back…!" Naoto said, trying to lift Dojima's torso up. Kanji nodded and picked up Dojima's legs.

"… Uh, on his back or stomach?" Kanji asked as they walked over to the white lion. She paused, frowning.

"… His back. We'll hold onto him so he doesn't fall off," she replied after a moment. Minato landed on Cerberus's head as they set Dojima down, hearing the older man grunt, uncomfortable in his unconscious state. "It will only be temporary," Naoto mumbled and then nodded to Kanji, "Let's hurry."

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Yukiko used the medical supplies in the Estate to treat Dojima's gunshot wound to the best of her abilities, but he was still going to be out for a while. Nanako had started crying her eyes out the moment Kanji and Naoto brought him in and Souji quickly went to console her. Gouto sat calmly next to Naoto, his ears low.

"I know the name is feared and hated by demons, but… I'm sorry your friends got involved."

Naoto didn't say a word, staring at the polished oak dining table. Demons, siblings, family, all the tangles of her line and still, what influence did this part have on her family? She still didn't know why Minato and her were separated or why her grandfather loathed her finding out so much. Did he know this was going to happen or was it something else? Gouto had mentioned the Kirijo Experiment. It had taken her parents, but… the experiment; the shadow collecting. How did…?

Footsteps pulled her from reprieve and she looked over at the others minus Nanako. It was obvious; she had a great deal of explaining to do. Cerberus flopped down on the ground, licking his paws while Naoto gestured to the others to take a seat.

"I'm sorry you all got dragged into this mess," she sighed, removing her cap, "I don't even know why this all started… Just finding out about my brother has become a… chore."

"Not that bad is it?"

She didn't say a word, closing her eyes. Minato landed on the table, walking towards her, frowning, "Naoto…"

"Don't apologize Naoto-kun. Just tell us exactly what's going on and where the hell we are," Chie said, smiling, but Naoto didn't return it. Souji nodded in agreement with Chie, looking at her calmly. Gouto laid down; his ears low while Minato jumped onto Naoto's shoulder, touching her cheek.

"Naoto, come on. You can't keep yourself burdened with everything. Reach out for others…"

Naoto glanced at Minato, silent, but then nodded. She turned back to the others, bowing her head, "My family… apparently, our line of detectives goes beyond the five generations I knew. I'm the unofficial nineteenth in the Kuzunoha clan set forward by my ancestor, or in this case, Gouto-Douji."

"W-Wait, the Kuzunoha clan is real!?" Chie exclaimed. She looked over at Gouto. If it was, then… Everyone blinked as Gouto spoke from his spot.

"Naoto will be the first female who will take the title. Her brother was meant to begin training when he was ten, but… one thing or another happened and all that remains of him is a shard of his soul in the form of Naoto's persona, Sukuna-Hikona."

"Uh, yeah, hi," Minato said, waving from his perch on Naoto's shoulder.

"Oh, so that's why she said you were her brother. That was a bit… shocking," Yosuke said.

Chie sighed, "Don't beat around the bush. This is hard to grasp."

"Hey, if shadows 'n goin' into a TV are real, it's kinda hard to say this is… uhm," Kanji scratched his head.

"Far-fetched? Unbelievable?" Rise guessed and Kanji nodded.

"Well, you got a point there. What happened to you then Sukuna-Hikona?" Yukiko asked.

"Minato's fine, Amagi-san. After the separation from home, I traveled around for years, coming back to - what I believed was home by then – Iwatodai. I was seventeen, attending Gekkoukan, and staying in a dorm owned by the Kirijo Group," Minato explained, "However, like all of you, everyone in the dorm was a persona-user. I awakened as the unlimited number 0."

"The Fool?!" Souji exclaimed.

Minato nodded, "That's right. You need to say hi to Igor and Elizabeth for me… anyway, unlike your TV, we had the Dark Hour at Midnight and instead of murders, Apathy Syndrome. They rose and fell with the full moon, but there was more reason. The accident that killed our parents caused a chain reaction. We were lead falsely by a man named Ikutsuki and almost let the world end…"

Naoto blinked as the others stared. Rise's eyes widened, "W-Wait! Like doomsday or something?!"

"Yes. The being Nyx was going to descend and end mankind. We intervened, of course, but I sacrificed my body and most of my soul to make sure it didn't happen again… it's been over a year. I hope my friends are well," Minato sighed.

Naoto raised a hand to him, patting his head gently, "They are. Don't worry Minato." She forced a smile, but then dropped her hand, shaking her head, "I know all this, yet, I can't fill the gap as to why grampa separated the family. A lineage of detectives and summoners needed to be upheld, but he didn't call you home when mother and father died. He just... abandoned you."

Souji frowned, but then dug into his jacket. He walked over to Naoto, holding a sealed envelope to her. She looked at it, confused, but then took it. He nodded, "I found this while looking for a way out. It's marked to your grandfather."

"… Thank you senpai. I'll give this to him as soon as I can," she replied and tucked the envelope away. He stepped back while she rose to her feet, "Well, I think that's enough for now. I have to find Adachi-san and Namatame."

"Wait a sec. Thass not a good idea, ya know?" Kanji grunted, frowning, "You almost got hurt in the last battle cuz you were... tired."

"It's the effect of the Dark Realm on an untrained body. The effect come slower to those not fighting, but for how long is unknown."

"That's why you all need to leave as soon as possible. I'll be fine," Naoto said, reloading her gun out of habit. Cerberus rose to his paws, jaw opening and closing and a faint growl emanating from his throat. She walked over and placed a hand on his head, keeping her back to the group as she continued, "The Herald warned me about the consequences. I said I would come here anyway to save everyone and defeat the demon that dragged you here. Gouto…"

Gouto leapt off the table and walked over to Naoto. He looked back, his emerald green eyes gazing at the others.

"Watch over Dojima-san. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"But Naoto needs to rest," Rise said, frowning. Gouto shook his head.

"Let her do as she wishes. It is how the Kuzunoha and Shirogane blood is; pursue and solve the case until the end."

"We'll talk more when we go home; all of us," Naoto said and smiled to the group. They listened as she left the room and remained staring at the spot she had been standing, silent even as the front door closed.

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Me: Testing for the younger grades. I have some free time. Please review.