Disclamer: I don't own Persona and Xenoblade Chronicles.

Hi, it's me again. Before starting the chapter, I have a few thing to say.

First, since I published the first chapter, I have made a few adjustments, including the "Mechanis's arm was cut off" part. Initially I made a mistake and wrote "Bionis's arm was cut off." As I am still a newbie, mistakes are unavoidable, but it is not an excuse for my fault. So I apologize for providing incorrect information and thank you for pointing it out in your review. Besides that, I also adjusted Na- I mean Venista's age to around 1600 and some vocabulary which won't affect the plot much.

Second, the last chapter was about P4 side, so this time it will be P3 side and the next chapter, of course, will be P5 side. Why the whole trilogy you asked? Because the idea of letting them get isekai is fun.

Third, from this chapter onward there will be spoilers for the Persona series and Xenoblade Chronicles. If you haven't played the games yet, I recommend doing so before continuing, otherwise feel free to read on if you don't mind being spoiled.

And the rest will be like last time. I'm not a native speaker so it's your freedom to correct me in the review.

And that's all, please enjoy!

'Hah... agh...'

There was a blue-haired boy trembling in pain, his hair covered his right eye.

'Ah... agh...'

Including wearing a black uniform, he also had a neck-strap music player and an earphone.

'Stop... it...'

Before him was an unbelievable, hopeless scene.

There were twelve strange black creatures varying in shape and size. To talk about them shortly, they are Greater Shadow, and their presence right now was impossible. Because they had been defeated by this boy's team. All of them were surrounding his body lying on the ground covered in blood.

And in front of his eyes was the body of a humanoid robot. She had the face of a human girl and a white body.

But the problem was... her right arm was ripped off, and there was also a hole on her stomach like a donut. She was just lying there, no moving. If it needed clearer, it would be said that she had... died.

The boy tried stretching out his hand to the unconscious girl until...

Crashhhhhhh

One of the big creatures used its leg to stomp cruelly on the girl's head. Mechanic parts on her head flew all over the place as blood on the head splashed. Whatever you could imagine, the scene was too horrible to watch even though she was just a robot.

'No...' The boy grunted in anger and despair.

He then looked straight in another direction to see a humanoid silhouette. Just from the silhouette, he could tell that it was a man wearing a strang armor. He was holding a big sword in one hand. To be more specific, the sword he held had a weird design and it even emitted a strange light, but he could be sure that it was a double-edged sword.

'Give it up. You have lost your future.' The man said.

'Why are... you... doing... this...?' The blue-haired boy asked.

'I just do the inevitable.'

'Who... are... you...?'

'Remember me as the one who could manipulate time, memory and death. The one who wields the Blade of Sorrow, Eternity.'

'You-'

Before he could say anything, a sudden pain caused him to pause. One of the Shadows had just used its sword-like object to stab him.

There was no sign of life on his body.

He didn't know what happened after that anymore.

Fallen Arm, Hidden Machina Village, Day 1, 21:35

'Wake up.'

That was a familiar voice.

'Please wake up.'

After regaining consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and... yes, a familiar face.

For general look, her body obviously showed that she was a robot, but her head was a face of a human. Her body was white with gold strips, and a red ribbon was attached to her chest. Her face showed that she was a blond hair girl. An armband with the word "S.E.E.S" could also be seen on her upper arm. Her name was Aigis, she was an Anti-Shadow Suppressor Unit, a special android which was used to take out the Shadow. For some unknown reason, she was attracted to this boy and was trying to monitor and protect him (not in the romantic way, maybe?).

To talk about "S.E.E.S", you may think that it is the name of a secret organization that does secret activities. It was true, except it was disguised as an after school club and its members were a bunch of high school students at Gekkoukan High School. SEES stands for "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad". The group was found in order to investigate and destroy a mysterious period of time that could only be known by someone who has "potential" and was said to be responsible for "Apathy Syndrome" on Tatsumi Port Island, namely the "Dark Hour". And that led to our boy here.

He had blue hair, blue eyes and appeared to be wearing a black uniform. There was also an earphone and a small music player strapped to his neck. A same "S.E.E.S" armband was on his left arm too. His name was Makoto Yuki, a student of Gekkoukan High School and a member of SEES as the armband on his arm suggested. He was a transfer student to Tatsumi Port Island. And how twisted the fate, this was the place where his parents had died in an accident when he was a child. By showing his potential, he became the leader and together, they defeated Shadows, twelve Greater Shadows and so many other missions in the Dark Hour.

'Aigis?' He called the female robot by her name.

'Finally, you are awake.'

He tried moving to see if his body would move. And he realized that he was lying on a bed.

(Did someone save us?)

While he was wondering about that, he suddenly noticed something.

The ceiling... was made of metal?

'Can you sit up?'

'Aigis, where are we? What about the others?' Makoto asked.

'I don't know. But those people might.'

'Those people?'

'Aigis, here you- Hm? Have you awakened already?'

All of a sudden, he heard a feminine voice. Assuming that the voice's owner was the one helping them, he quickly sat up. But soon he couldn't believe what he had seen.

That was a… robot? As far as he could tell, her entire body was made out of metal. Unlike Aigis, her body was bulky but still had some feminine attributes. Makoto even thought she might be some kind of new model of Anti-Shadow Machine like Aigis. But soon he realized that wasn't the case. She was standing in front of the door and staring at him.

'First time seeing a Machina perhaps? Please don't be too cautious, we don't try to harm you. We just need you to answer a few questions for us.' She talked while coming to him.

'Machina? Like in "Machine"?'

'Luckily for you, I am a doctor and I have experience with people like you. We found you outside, so we brought you here.'

'...I appreciate your help, but can you tell me who you are?' He hesitated a little before starting to speak.

'Just like you Homs are born from the Bionis, we are Machina, a race born from the Mechonis. Oh, how rude of me, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Linada.'

'?'

(Homs? Bionis? Mechonis? What is going on? Wasn't I in Tartarus?)

'Hm... You seemed to be in normal condition.' Linada said while checking up on him. 'Do you remember what happened to you?'

'What happened...?' Makoto tried to think.

The last thing he remembered was that their team had been exploring Tartarus, a strange building that only appeared in the Dark Hour and was believed to hide the secret of this deadly time block. But for some reasons, an unexpected situation took place.

'Ah... right, I have been killed.' He said it out loud.

He couldn't forget that awful moment. Twelve Shadow Arcana had suddenly been resurrected by a mysterious man and simultaneously attacked them. If it was just one of them, SEES would have been able to handle it. However, as a result, their efforts were in vain. Their team managed to escape, but not Makoto and Aigis. As far as he remembered, both he and Aigis were killed, brutally. He could even still feel the pain lingering in his body. And there was one thing he knew in the final moment.

The one who killed him called himself "Eternity", and he held a weird sword which he called "Blade of Sorrow".

And temporarily ignore it, he wondered how he could still alive. He was sure that they had been under critical condition to the point that if they had gotten emergency and proper treatment, the chance they survived would be too slim. He had felt and seen by himself so he was so certain of that. And of course he was glad that Aigis could move around normally, but he had seen Aigis had been broken apart to the point that repairing was impossible by his own eyes too. So how?

'So what you said is just exactly the same as Aigis. However, I didn't find any fatal injuries on you two. Both of you were just unconscious and that's all.' Linada said.

'No fatal injuries? But I was pretty sure that I lost a lot of blood.' Makoto claim. 'Wait, what about Aigis? Is she really okay?'

'I haven't seen any strange body structures like Aigis. But she didn't have any damage on her, so don't worry.' Linada said.

'Just as she said, the reason is unknown but my function is still perfectly normal.' Aigis claim.

'I see. Thank goodness.' Makoto felt relieved. (So that was a dream?)

'Do you remember where you were killed or where you came from?' Linada asked.

'Where were we killed?' He intended to say it was Tartarus, however it was supposed to be kept secret so he hesitated. 'We are from Tatsumi Port Island.'

'Tatsumi Port Island? Uhm... exactly where was it on Bionis?' Linada confused.

'Bionis? Aren't I in Japan?' Makoto asked back.

'...This "Japan" again? I think Aigis just said some strange things. But even you said exactly the same.'

'I already told you.' Aigis interrupted.

'S- so you don't know Bionis and Mechonis like her too?' She said it in an awkward tone.

'...Those were what I wanted to ask.' Makoto said.

'...'

The conversation became more and more confused. Linada could only think in astonishment. She seemed not to know how to react to this.

'Uhm... would you mind if I go outside?' Makoto said. 'Maybe I can know something.'

'If you insist then I don't mind. I originally thought you were just a lost Homs with a strange Machina, but this is more complicated than I thought. You can freely take your time to see our village. But it was already late, so I suggested going to rest soon.'

'What about you?'

'I will go report about this bizarre situation to our chief. Tomorrow, please come to the building called "Junk" and we will have a chat about this. And... Aigis, surely you can go by yourself?'

'Yes, my priority is to be with him after all.' Aigis answered.

'Then I will let you go with him, but if you feel anything strange on your body, report it to me, ok?'

'Roger that.' Aigis replied.

'Then see you tomorrow.' Linada then went out, left the blue-haired boy and the android girl behind.

(...?) His thought process couldn't help him understand what was going on.

'Makoto-san, from what I observed, they called humans Homs.' Aigis explained. 'I don't have data about them, but they helped me too, so I think we can trust them.'

'...Perhaps. But humans are called Homs, and there were robots called Machina...? I felt like we were in an undiscovered civilization.'

Personal opinion aside, he got out of bed and stood up. He could feel that his body could move normally and there were no dangerous wounds on him either. While looking around, he saw his two-edged sword next to his bed.

(They don't confiscate my weapon either?)

If he had been one of them and discovered an outsider, the first thing he would have done was a few cautious processes. But everything so far showed that they were too friendly to do that.

(If those "Machina" had bad intentions towards us, they could have done something sooner. However, the fact that both I and Aigis are unharmed proves otherwise. Let's just trust them for now.) He drew his conclusion.

'Makoto-san, here.' Aigis gave something to him.

It was a silver gun with the words "S.E.E.S." engraved on it, indicating this thing belonged to the group.

'My Evoker?'

'They said they found it next to you. They think it belongs to you so they tell me to give it to you when you wake up.'

It was true that this belonged to him. To talk about this thing precisely, it was SEES's special device in the shape of a gun. It allowed them to summon "Persona", the power coming from their hearts. We might go into detail about the "Persona" later.

'Thanks, Aigis.' He said it shortly.

'No problem.' She replied.

He put the Evoker in his pocket. Then he came to the circle door and went outside. This place was made of metal, which made him feel like it was some kind of shelter.

What he saw when he was outside was something he had never seen.

It was already nighttime, but he could see that the entire area was enclosed by a big wall that formed a circle. Despite only being able to see from the inside, he could tell the wall was thick and stiff like a wall of a fortress. There was also a big lake probably occupying 80 percent of the area, and by the lake he could see a ship. A few big cylindrical objects could also be seen and Makoto had just gotten out of one of them making him think they were their house. But their size was quite small to be called a house, which made Makoto wonder. This place also had some slopes made by metal nets instead of stairs to make a path on the lower platform. Most of the things here were made of metal which made the atmosphere feel like this was an old factory.

While looking around, he could see some mechanical people like Linada. He presumed that they were the Machina too. While they looked similar to each other, there were some parts that were different, such as their faces, their colors, and how bulky they were. He believed that if he could distinguish between those differences, telling who was who wouldn't be a problem.

'Oi, hi there.' Makoto was called by a voice of a woman.

That was a woman, a exactly human woman. Despite a long skirt, the clothing cover her upper part was a... let just say it was a bikini. She was also wearing a headband. Makoto was surprised a little because he just thought this place didn't have human.

'And you are...?' Makoto was curious.

'You can call me Natalia.' She answered. 'If you are wondering what a Homs like me are doing here, actually I'm a survivor from the Battle of the Sword Valley. When I fell from the Sword, the Machina saved us, just like you.'

'Uhm... I'm sorry but... what is the Battle of the Sword Valley?'

'Hm? You don't know? It had decided the entire Homs's fate and you don't know?' The woman expressed her surprise.

'Well, I...'

'Forget it. Speaking of which, why don't you introduce yourself?' Natalia asked.

'...My name is Makoto Yuki, and this girl here named Aigis.' Makoto introduced himself.

'Pleasure to meet you. I'm Aigis, an Anti-Shadow Suppressor Unit.' Aigis bowed down to introduce herself too.

'Makoto Yuki...? What a strange name. And Anti-Shadow Suppressor Unit? ...I haven't heard that before. Is this some new kind of Machina?' She crossed her arms.

Makoto was one hundred percent sure that she wasn't a Machina, unless that how they called robots and androids here.

'Anyway, I just walked by to said hi. If you need something, just say a word. As we are Homs, you don't need to hesitate.' Natalia showed her kindness.

'Thank you.' Makoto said.

'There was two other Homs here. You should get acquainted to them too.'

'I see. We'll make sure to meet them too.' Aigis said.

'See you later.' She waved her hand and walked away. Then Makoto and Aigis briefly went in another direction.

They wandered around for a bit of sightseeing but it didn't have much to see because it is a small village, with only cylindrical houses and the lake. In Makoto's impression, this place felt like a refugee camp because it was frugal and simple.

'So where should we go?' Makoto intended to ask the Machina villagers while looking around. Then there was a certain thing by the lake that caught his eyes.

'Is that... a lamp? So this place has electricity?'

To say it more clearly, it was formed by three petal-shaped stone slabs. They were bound in order to make their tips touch each other, which formed a cone. There was a blue light inside the cone. But the light appeared not to be fire or electric, it was just... some kind of energy which the two can't explain.

'The light...' Aigis said. 'It has something strange that I cannot describe.'

'Let's take a closer look.' Makoto suggested.

'I agree.'

Makoto and Aigis approached the lamp. When they got close to it, they could see that the lamp was huge, its height might be about 3 meters. The light was inside the three petal-shaped slabs, but they still didn't know what this light was made of. Even when the two stared at it, the light was weak enough not to blind them.

'It seemed this is an energy type we haven't known yet.' Aigis said. 'Almost everything here didn't exist in my database either. Just what is going on here?'

'...' Makoto just crossed his arms and stared at the light while thinking. It was when they heard someone.

'Xekit, how are you doing?'

Makoto and Aigis incidentally heard a voice from nearby. They promptly turned around and saw the owner of the voice.

It was... a floating capsule. The front of the capsule was transparent, revealing someone inside. She had a white-haired human face and appeared to close her eyes, but the body was still mechanical, and there were no arms or legs attached to it.

'Oh, hello Mixik, I was just done inspecting a few pieces of equipment as scheduled.' Then another Machina stepped out from the other side of the lamp. Makoto could see she had purple accent color on her body.

'Great, I want to talk to you. But who are these people?' The capsule turned its direction toward Makoto and Aigis.

'Hm? These people?' The Machina called Xekit noticed them. 'I think they are a lost Homs and a Machina we found this morning. Haven't you heard?'

'No... I was too depressed for my parents's quarrel to know anything.' The voice from the capsule was in the tired tone.

'This again... they should think about their child...' Xekit signed.

'Can I ask what type of energy this light is?' Aigis asked.

'You mean this Ether Light? And you asked about its energy type...? It's ether.' Xekit answered.

'Ether? Can you elaborate?' Aigis showed her curiosity.

'You seriously don't know ether?! It was basically the base element of all life!'

'Does this count as a Machina?' Makoto suddenly spoke up when he looked at the capsule.

'What? Ah, that's right, you don't know. This is Mixik, a Machina child. Normally, a Machina when they are young will be like this. In around two thousand years, they will change its form to be like me and you.' Xekit explained.

'You don't know?' Mixik was confused, then turned her direction to Aigis. 'Hadn't this girl supposed to be like me?'

'I'm not a Machina.' Aigis said.

'What do you mean? No matter how I look... Now when I think about it again, she seems weird...' Mixik uncertained. 'He is a Homs so he came from Bionis, right? I thought Machina only came from Mechonis.'

'I don't think so. I never heard any Machina come from the Bionis.' Xekit expressed her opinion.

'Sorry to interrupt, but what are Bionis and Mechonis you were talking about?' Makoto showed his bewilderment. In fact, he had heard this from Linada but hadn't had a chance to ask. 'Is this a name for locations?'

'What?' Mixik and Xekit gazed at him. Mixik's eyes inside were still closed, but instead she turned the capsule to him making this feel weird when saying she "gazed", so let's just pretend she has hidden eyes somewhere on the capsule.

'Are you okay...? Just where did you come from? Are you the kind of people who separate themselves from the world?' Mixik threw questions at them.

'I believe we're okay. We come from Japan.' Aigis answered (in a little robotic way). 'And I'm not sure what you mean by "separate", but we still meet our friends after school.'

'"Japan"? "School"?'

'Do you have a map or a world map? If you do, can you point out for me where those Bionis and Mechonis were?' Makoto calmly said.

'...Unfortunately, I don't have. But you can see them from here.' Xekit said while looking up diagonally.

'?'

Makoto didn't understand why she was looking up at the sky until he saw it himself when he looked up too. The sky was dark, but there were two massive titan silhouettes standing opposite each other. Even the word "super massive" couldn't accurately describe their size. Makoto guessed they might even be taller than a big mountain.

'What... is that? How can this size be possible? ' Makoto commented.

'Size? Of course they are big, they are the two Titans. You are a Homs so you should know too.' Mixik surprised.

'I believe these things don't exist in my database either.' Aigis said.

'Really? So you two don't live on them?' Xekit wondered.

'Live on them?' Makoto surprised. 'So this means there were people living on them?'

'...' The two were just looking at them in astonishment. 'Just who are you and where do you come from?'

...

There was a long silence.

'Makoto-san, from what we know so far. Our common sense doesn't apply here.' Aigis summed up the information. 'It just feels like this place doesn't belong to the part of the world. So it could have been...'

'...' Makoto was just silently thinking.

About those two super colossal Titans, if something with this size had even existed, they would have become famous. They may become one of the Wonders of the World and everyone in the population would have known about them, including him. But he hadn't even heard of their existence. So it might sound crazy, but the only explanation for this was...

'...We are not on Earth, we are in another world entirely.' Makoto deduced while putting his finger on his chin.

The two Machina's obviously curious looks on their faces showed their difficulty in understanding.

'A- are you saying you two came from another world?' Xekit tried to grasp what Makoto said with a confused tone.

'Considering that you lacked knowledge about Japan and we lacked knowledge about so many things here, like those two massive structures for example, that was our final conclusion.' Aigis asserted.

...

What happened next was a long silence. Then Mixik broke it.

'Were your head got hit or something?'

'You don't believe us?'

'Did you expect me to believe that?! No matter how I think of it, it was too insane! That's it! The most logical explanation is your head has been hit somewhere!' Mixik argued.

'...' Makoto didn't know what to say.

It was true that if someone had appeared in front of them and said he came from another world, nobody could have believed that.

'Can you share with me information about your world? Maybe with that we can know what happened and how to return.' Aigis said.

'Our world?' Xekit asked.

'Ah that's right, we don't need to make you believe us. We need information.' Makoto said.

'I agreed with Makoto-san.' Aigis supported. 'We will really appreciate your help.'

'Hm...' Xekit was deep in thought for a while. '...Well then, maybe filling up your lost memories can help you remember.'

'...I didn't even lose any memories.' Makoto gave in. 'But I don't see that is a problem.'

'Then... what should I talk about...?'

'What about the two colossal statues outside? You called it "Bionis" and "Mechonis", right? Who was made it and how?' Makoto was curious.

'They were the Titans that had died in the battle a long time ago.' Xekit said.

'Died? You mean they used to be alive and... move? Were they not man-made?' Aigis asked.

'Yes. And people living on them.' Mixik backed it up.

'You are saying people here live on the Titan?' Aigis surprised.

'Correct. On the Bionis, there were Homs, Nopon and High Entia. On the Mechonis, there were Machina. But it has become the past...'

'The past? You mean... the Machina don't live there anymore? What happened?' Makoto wondered.

'To explain, maybe I should start here. As you can see, the one with an organic body is Bionis, and the one with a mechanical body is Mechonis.'

'Natural and artificial concepts. Got it.' Aigis stated.

'Long ago, the two had lived peacefully together, as did the races that inhabited them. But one day, the Bionis suddenly began to attack the Mechonis and attempted to eradicate the Machina. Lady Meyneth fought valiantly to protect us and ultimately sacrificed herself. The result is what you see now, two Titans locked in their final positions until this very day.'

'So you are the descendant of the Machina survivors?'

'Not all of us. I heard that there were a few of us who had witnessed the battle. You know, our lifespan was way longer than yours. The oldest one here has reached 9000 years old.'

'So Machina's lifespan can reach that long...' Makoto said. They might be machines and robots so they could exist longer than organic life, but to the point if they had existed in Makoto's world, there would have been one live through from before Stone Age to the modern day, was something Makoto didn't expect.

To be honest, he was a little surprised, but he was the type who could adapt to the situation so quickly. He could also see that the story was quite interesting, as if it could become the idea for a film or game. But there was one thing bothering him.

And that was the name "Lady Meyneth".

(Meyneth, that name...) He tried to think about the name, which was bothering him. (Why do I feel like I heard that name befor-?)

'We're in trouble!'

Before he could ask, a terrified Machina came running from a narrow path on the thick wall from afar and interrupted their conversation. The narrow path seemed to be the exit of this village.

'What happened?' Another Machina there asked.

'Outside the village... there was... there was a Mechon attacking!'

'Mechon?' Makoto surprised.

'Can you fill us in what Mechon is?' Aigis promptly asked.

'Uhm... Let's see, Mechon are mechanical weapons. They walk around and attack anyone in their sight.'

'In other words, they're dangerous, aren't they? So the wall is for this purpose?' Makoto guessed.

'I could say you were right...' Xekit answered.

'I want to know how Mechon looks like.' Aigis said.

'Then let's go see it then.' Makoto said while leaving.

'Couldn't agree more.' Aigis quickly followed.

'W- wait for me!' Mixik and Xekit followed too.

The four ran up the narrow path that was like a small tunnel on the higher platform. When they ran past it, they saw some Machina with a gun shooting something looking like a robot. The robot's body was mostly rusted, and there was also an eyeball sticking out. It moved on two small legs and two curved, sharp forelegs. It would be easier to say it's similar to a mantis's forelegs for description.

Bang Bang Bang Bang

Crashhhhhhhhh

The robot was continuously shot until it collapsed.

'That Mechon... it was a M56 Prototype. It should not be strong, so why were you so panic?' Xekit said.

'You don't understand! This Mechon is-!' One of the Machina there said, but his sentence was cut off.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The Mechon was obviously damaged and smoke was rising from it, the damage could also be seen on its armor, but for some unknown reason, the damage was repairing itself, and Mechon still stood up as if nothing had happened.

'W- what?! How can it-?!'

'I want to know too!'

The Mechon move toward them with a plainly offensive intent.

'F- fire!'

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

Crashhhhhhhh

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The Mechon was collapsed again... just to stand up one more time.

'Can a Mechon normally recover like this?' Makoto asked.

'N- no, not at all. This is unusual!' One of them answered.

Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang

Without a break, the Machina continued to use their guns to shoot restlessly at that one and only Mechon. However, no matter how hard they tried, the Mechon still regenerated itself. They had never faced such difficulty in dealing with the Mechon before. It wasn't because this Mechon was particularly strong, rather, it was because no matter how much damage it sustained, the Mechon stubbornly stood back up like an indestructible zombie.

'We're out of ammo!'

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Without anything to be stopped, the Mechon immediately charged toward them. But...

'Don't worry, we got this!' Makoto suddenly exclaimed. 'Let's go, Aigis!'

'Roger!' Aigis said, the voice showed her determination. After she said that, the two stood in front of them.

'?'

That was when Makoto pulled out his Evoker, which has the shape of a gun. He held the "gun" tight and pointed it at his head.

'Wait, what is he doing?!' The Machina surprised.

'Please don't be alarmed. That is how we fight.' Aigis answered.

'By pointing your weapon at yourself?!'

'That was not a weapon. It was a device called "Evoker". It is used to channel our special power.' Aigis explained.

'S- special power?!'

In that moment, the Mechon noticed Makoto. As soon as it did, it immediately swung at him with its mantis-like foreleg blade. Makoto, with no sign of worry showing on his face indicating that he had done this many times and gotten used to it, calmly pulled the trigger of the gun and shouted.

'PERSONA!'

Crack

A few blue shatterglasses could be seen flying out of his head, then they materialized themselves to form a figure behind him. It had the shape of a crimson-skin warrior holding a sword in his hand.

'Siegfried! Tempest Slash!'

Slash Slash

The warrior immediately swung his sword with no mercy. The Mechon took two heavy slashes and was badly damaged.

'Whoa! What is this power?!' The Machina was amazed.

But that was not all, Aigis quickly opened holes on her fingertips. After she pointed them to the Mechon, her fingertips continuously shot out bullets like a machine gun.

Tat Tat Tat Tat Tat Tat Tat Tat

The machine gun attack attracted the Mechon to Aigis. Then it charged toward her and swung its blade. Aigis, with no sign of fear, stopped shooting and used her arms to block the blade.

'Summoning Persona!' She said.

Crackkkk

A figure immediately manifested itself when Aigis stretched out her body. It looked like a statue in a sitting position, covered by a cloth. It also wore a Greek warrior's helmet. Then it suddenly opened and transformed itself into a big metal lance.

'Palladion! Fatal End!'

At that moment, the "lance" pointed itself to the sky, and swung it down vertically.

Slashhhhhhhhhh

The mechanic part on the Mechon was broken apart while all Machina there were just... looking in astonishment.

'Everyone! Please get to a safe place!' Aigis yelled.

'O- ok!' The Machina quickly stepped back.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The broken parts just flew and gathered themselves around the Mechon, returning it to its normal state.

'Makoto-san.' Aigis said.

'I know. If physical attack won't work, then how about magic?!' Makoto said when he used his Evoker again. 'Thanatos! Ragnarok!'

A new humanoid figure wearing a long coat appeared. It held a long sword while its sheath was on his waist. At first glance, it seemed somehow scary. Its helmet was like a beast's skull with the jaw opens to show its faceless face. The catching eyes part of it was multiple coffin-shape objects that attached horizontally and formed a curve hovering behind his back. If you had good eyes, you could also see a chain connecting the coffins and his shoulders.

Boooooooommmmmmmmmmm

A big flame pillar was raised right under the Mechon, from afar, the Machina could feel its temperature. Anyone there could see that the Mechon was melted when the flame went off.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

And as an inevitable thing, the melting part was recovered like nothing had happened.

'The enemy is still alive.' Aigis confirmed.

'Actually, I have this idea, if the parts still remain, it can recover. So if we destroy it completely, there will be no way for it to do that.'

'Completely destroyed? You mean we must end this by destroying it down to the very molecules? According to my calculation, its recovery speed is faster than our attack.'

'Then that is the reason why we must finish this in one attack!' Makoto pointed his Evoker again. 'Thanatos! Mind Charge!'

Roooaaaaarrrrrr

The deadly Persona appeared and started to roar. Then he focused his energy on a big attack.

'Providing support. Tarukaja.' Palladion manifested itself to make an orange aura around Makoto. He could tell that the aura made him stronger.

The Mechon continued attacking Aigis. But this time its blade seemed more aggressive as if it wanted to cut Aigis in half.

'!' Makoto gasped.

But the damage wasn't severe and the android girl was standing still. It shouldn't be surprising given the fact that she was an Anti-Shadow Machine so that she had high endurance. However... this made Makoto remember the moment Aigis was brutally killed by the twelve Greater Shadows. So when he saw this, it almost gave him a heart attack.

'Makoto-san! Now!' Aigis shouted.

'!' Coming back to his senses, he quickly used his Evoker again to call back Thanatos.

'Ragnarok!'

Booooooooooommmmmm

Without warning, the Mechon was consumed by a pure-flame explosion. The flame pillar this time was bigger and stronger like a merciless monster. When everything returned to normal, the grass around was burned and the Mechon was nowhere to be seen. It was truly defeated in one attack.

'It's over...' Makoto sighed.

The Machina stepped out when they saw the battle was over. Makoto and Aigis quickly returned to them too.

'Wha- What was that power?!' Mixik asked in excitement. 'How could you do that?! And what is that gun?!'

'This?' Makoto showed the Evoker. 'Just a device to summon our "Persona". It was called "Evoker".' Since all of them saw it, he decided not to hide the secret anymore.

'Interesting. A device that is used by pointing it to the user's head. I don't know how that works, but this kind of technology may truly come from another world.' Xekit said.

'So you believe us now?' Makoto asked.

'No, I think that is the reason they lost their memory.' Mixik interrupted.

'What do you mean?'

'You point it to the head in order to use it, right? Who knows it has done something funny on your head.' Mixik explained.

'Uhm... I don't know how to explain that- Hm?' Makoto said before he paused.

'What's wrong?' Aigis asked.

'I think I saw someone's shadow... with a big sword over there.'

'I didn't see anyone.' Aigis said.

'...Maybe I mistook.' Makoto unsure himself.

Regardless, it will take some time to let them believe this. For now, they were just being bombarded with questions by the Machina there.

'...'

Meanwhile, at a dark corner of the wall nearby, there was a man holding a sword. It was quite big two-edged sword and had just stopped to emitting the strange light. He was standing there looking at the group without let anyone notice.

'...' And he just quietly walked away.

Makna Forest, near Bridge Two and Bridge Three, Day 2, 00:12

There is a tropical forest with many high waterfalls along a certain stream that flows through a deep gorge. The gorge is so deep that if you were to measure it, you would estimate its height to be about fifty stories tall. It's impossible to look down into the depths because the sight is too dizzying. Despite the height, there are three intact wooden bridges and a broken bridge visible spanning the gorge.

In addition, there were two girls who could be spotted. They were carrying wooden sticks they had picked up from nearby.

One of the girls has short, light brown hair that is longing for her neck. She was wearing a pink cardigan, a short black skirt, a white choker on her neck, a red ribbon on her chest and a armband with the word "S.E.E.S" on it. She was also holding a gun engraved with the same word, which was called "Evoker". She is Yukari Takeba, a student at Gekkoukan High School and a member of SEES.

The other girl's name was Mitsuru Kirijo. Just like Yukari, she was a member of SEES too. In addition to being a student at Gekkoukan High School, she was also the heir to the Kirijo Group. She had long, curly red hair and wore a white shirt. Except for all of it, she had the same red ribbon, the armband and the Evoker too.

'We're backed. How do you feel, Ken? Koromaru?' She looked and talked to other people presented there.

One of them was a little boy, appeared to be an elementary student. He wore a Gekkoukan uniform jacket outside of an orange jacket and had a SEES armband. He was Ken Amada, a member of SEES who had lost his mother in the Dark Hour. He was badly injured but was already bandaged.

The other was a white Shiba Inu dog. He had a small white t-shirt and a SEES armband on his front leg. There were also angel-like wings on its back. His name was Koromaru. As the armband showed, he was a member of SEES too. Unlike other human members, he used a special device for dogs to call out his Persona instead of using an Evoker.

'I'm getting better.' Ken said.

'Woof!' Koromaru barked, showing he had regained strength.

'If only we could use our Persona to heal...' Ken lamented.

'I don't think that thing will allow us to do that.' Mitsuru said while looking at the orange clouded thing floating around. It seemed to be attracted to and attack them when they summoned their Personas. Ken was injured, so they couldn't move around much. At least it wouldn't be a threat if they didn't do anything to it.

'Then I think it's time to figure out what is happening here.' Yukari said while sitting down. Mitsuru quickly sat down too.

They quickly gather all the wood sticks them and start a campfire with a lighter.

...

They were just quietly looking at the fire.

'...Uhm... are we supposed to talk...?' Ken tried saying first when he felt the pressure of this silence.

'...I think it's because... we can't still believe what happened to us...' Mitsuru said.

'Uh... we just lost him. And now...' Yukari said in a depressed tone.

...

The silence was still continuing...

'But I thought I couldn't see you again. I mean, I heard you had died in the afternoon.' Yukari tried to speak again.

'Right... I remember I... vomited blood when I lied on the hospital bed by that strange illness.'

'In the end they couldn't find what it was. All we have known is you got it from "that day" one month ago...' Ken said.

'Right. But... is it true that Iori and Yamagishi...?' Mitsuru asked in an awkward tone.

'"Word travels fast, huh... It's true. Some terrorists bombed the Paulownia Mall just past noon. They found Junpei's corpse near the fountain... Then Fuuka fell from the rooftop of Gekkoukan High School. There were a few witnesses who claimed to have seen someone on the roof. It was possible that someone had pushed her. Moreover, Akihiko-senpai was found dead after you... He was... hit by some steel frames falling on him while he was walking past a construction site..." Her voice started to break as if she was too stressed to continue.

'What?! Even him...' Mitsuru surprised. '...But if you're here then...'

'...' Yukari was silent.

'I remember...' Ken said. '...She was found dead in the dorm. They said she was stabbed on her stomach... and the cause of her death is... losing blood...'

'I... I think a man came to the dorm. I came to open the door for him but suddenly... he held a knife and stabbed me.' Yukari tried to bring herself to answer.

'...And you, Amada, what has- ...Actually no, you don't need to tell.' Mitsuru stopped herself from asking further.

'No, it's okay. I think it was after Koromaru was found dead because of being beaten to death by someone. I was too depressed that night since everyone was...' He nearly cried. 'And I... was hit by a truck when I crossed the street. O- of course it was still green light, I'm sure of it.'

'whimper' Koromaru whimpered and looked down while hearing him.

'...'

...

A long silence again. They couldn't bring themselves to talk because they still felt the pain in their bodies when reminiscing about their dreadful moment.

'Do you think... "he" was here too?' Yukari asked.

'You mean our leader? I don't know, he was gone sooner than us... But I think it's high chance that he's here too. At least... that's what I hope.' Ken spoke out his thoughts.

Since they could meet their dead teammates here, it was to be expected that they would have hoped to meet the others as well.

'He must be here, I can feel it. Actually I was glad we could meet together like this. Junpei, Fuuka and Akihiko-senpai should be here too.' Yukari tried to stay optimistic.

'Uhm, we must look for them.' Ken followed too.

'...Regardless...' Mitsuru tried to smile. 'This cannot be a coincidence, all of SEES's members died in just one day and somehow we appeared here... with our Evoker and our uniform. I can't help but think someone was behind all this. Whoever he is, he had make a mistake for doing this to us.'

'Right, we are SEES, the ones who made the impossible possible.'

The heavy atmosphere finally was lifted, at least for now.

'Mitsuru-senpai, what do you think about "that day"?' Yukari asked.

'What do you mean?'

'Is his sacrifice... worth it? Was there really no other way?'

'I don't know. But I trust his decision, we were just simply there when he need us most.' Mitsuru stated her thought.

To Yukari... no, to all of the SEES member, they all knew what death is. So it was clear as fact that they wouldn't never see him again. Because no matter how much human desires, they can't and shouldn't try to revive the dead. They must carry the legacy of the fallen one and continue towards the future.

But what if... there was a small chance that they could reverse that natural rule? Would they just simply refused that chance?

'I wonder what Aigis think...'

'I wish I could know, but we can't asked her anymore. She was disappeared without saying a word from "that day" after all. For now let's just rest, we will think about our next move later.' Mitsuru said.

'...'

The four lied down to the ground (they would prefer a more comfortable bed but this was not the time for being picky) and closed their eyes to sleep.

(I want to see him again...) Yukari thought, while wondering the remain SEES would think the same.

The SEES had done the impossible thing on that supposed final day, so nothing was impossible for them.

After all, they were the ones who had stopped The Fall and saved the world.