Here's the next chapter! This time we'll be seeing our characters fight against Shadows. I hope you all enjoy!
April 7, 2009, Tuesday, Morning
In the school's auditorium, every student and teacher in the school was in attendance. As the principal's speech started to get too boring and long-winded, most of the students started talking much to the teachers' expense. Homura was still trying her best to pay attention to the speech, but the noise from the audience made it difficult to make anything out.
"Seth, do you know what he's-" Homura was about to ask Seth, who was sitting right next to her.
However, she noticed that Seth had nodded off in his seat. At first she tried to lightly tap his arm, only to have no response from him. After a couple of taps, she slapped him in the arm and his eyes shot open.
"Waazza!" Seth exclaimed as he snapped awake.
"Seth…" Homura whispered. "You fell asleep during the principal's speech!"
"Sorry…" Seth whispered back. "When it comes to school, I get bored easily."
"How long have you been asleep?"
"Um… Last I heard was something about a job worth doing."
"You've been asleep since the beginning?!"
"… No?"
Homura just sighed in exasperation.
April 7, 2009, Tuesday, After School
Once the last class had ended, Homura leaned in toward Seth, who was sitting in the seat right in front of him.
"Be back at the dorm by 8:00." She whispered. "I'll explain later."
"What?" Seth asked as he turned to face her.
Homura was already out of her seat and carrying her bags. "See you back at the dorm." She cheerily said before leaving the classroom.
Seth was left dumbfounded for a few seconds until he heard someone yelling.
"Listen!"
He looked to see Minato standing with a guy with a goatee and a girl wearing a pink shirt and black skirt arguing with the goatee guy.
"I just met him yesterday and there's absolutely nothing between us!" The girl yelled again before sighing. "Geez… I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But you better not start any rumors!"
The girl walked away and Seth quietly chuckled to himself.
"Why do I get the feeling Homura and I would have had a very similar conversation?" Seth mumbled to himself.
"Ah, who cares?" The goatee guy scoffed. "No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid…"
Seth walked up to Minato. "I see we're in the same class."
"Huh?" Minato turned around. "Oh, hey, Seth." He said in a voice that sounded almost uninterested.
"I see you've already made a few friends." Seth patted Minato on the shoulder before turning to Junpei. "The name's Seth Carter. I just transferred here, same as Minato here."
"I'm Junpei Iori." The goatee guy pointed his thumb to himself. "So you're American?"
"I moved to Japan a few years ago." Seth said. "Let's just say I have a new guardian looking after me."
"Something tells me it's gonna be a fun year." Junpei said. "I can feel it!"
The three guys left the school together, chatting about a variety of things before heading back to their respective dorms for the night.
April 7, 2009, Tuesday, Evening
Seth came back to the dorm to see Homura, Daichi, Nobuo and Emi sitting in the lounge.
"Good." Daichi said. "You made it. I'm missing the girls tonight."
"You have girlfriends?" Seth asked.
"He's talking about his porn." Emi said. "Mizushima's a complete perv."
"D-don't say that out loud!" Daichi panicked.
"Anyway, Ryukawa, mind telling our new recruit about the mission?" Nobuo asked.
"My first day here and there's already a mission?" Seth questioned. "I was hoping to be lazy for the next few days."
Homura nodded. "Seth, I heard from Headquarters that you're good with directions."
"I am." Seth said. "I have a really good memory when it comes to locations."
"Good, we'll need it for where we're going." Homura said.
"Huh?" Seth looked at them quizzically. "Where are we going?"
April 7, 2009, Tuesday, Late Night
Seth, Homura, Daichi, Emi and Nobuo, each armed with an Evoker, arrived at the closed gates of Gekkoukan High School, with nobody else around in the area. Daichi was also carrying a bunch of weapons: a pair of gauntlets, a large shield, a scythe, a double-sided sword and a revolver.
"What are we doing here?" Seth asked. "Are we sneaking into the school or something? I signed up to stop the Hands of Anarchy, not play practical jokes on the teachers."
"I wish we were doing that." Emi grumbled.
"It's almost midnight." Homura said as she checked her watch to see that it was 11:59.
"Take in the awesome sight you're about to see." Nobuo said.
"Seriously, who talks like that?" Seth asked in exasperation.
The clock struck midnight and the lighting turned green, signaling that the Dark Hour had come once again. The second the Dark Hour arrived, the school began to bend, twist, contort and transfigure until it took the form of an enormous tower. Seth looked in awe at the sight that occurred before him.
"What… What is this?" Seth asked.
"This is Tartarus." Homura answered. "Every night during the Dark Hour, the school transforms into this massive tower. When it's over, the school turns back to normal."
Seth looked back toward the main city to see that no other buildings had changed like the school did.
"How come the school changes shape, but nothing else?" Seth asked.
"That's what we're here to find out." Daichi replied. "We might find a clue within Tartarus. It's also a good place for us to strengthen our abilities."
"Countless Shadows are crawling all over the place in there." Nobuo said. "Fighting the enemy is the only way we can get stronger."
"I'm going to enjoy tearing those Shadows apart…" Emi mumbled.
Seth took a step back away from Emi in fear. "Shall we enter?"
The five of them entered the front gates of Tartarus and into a lobby-like area with a staircase leading to a large golden gate. Seth looked around to see that nothing else was there.
"I thought there were supposed to be Shadows here." Seth said.
"They patrol the floors beyond the staircase." Nobuo said.
"Since this is your first day, we'll just explore the first floor to give you a feel for the place." Daichi said. "Come on, let's get going."
They all started to walk toward the staircase until Seth stopped when he saw a blue butterfly fly right in front of him. Homura turned around to see him just staring at nothing.
"Seth, is something wrong?" Homura asked.
"Sorry, I just saw a butterfly." Seth shook his head.
"What butterfly?" Daichi asked as he looked around. "I don't see anything."
"It was glowing and blue." Seth said. "How could you not see it?"
Everyone just looked at him like he was crazy.
"… Okay, even I think he's acting a bit loopy." Nobuo said.
"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow." Daichi said. "Seth, you should really clear your head before coming to fight Shadows."
"I-I'm not hallucinating!" Seth argued. "I'm ready to fight! Isn't that why I was commissioned here?"
"Alright." Homura said. "But if you start spacing out during any battles, we're heading back to the dorm."
"You're too nice, Homura." Daichi said. "If only you were that nice when I look at your boobs."
Seth didn't pay much attention to it before, but Daichi's comment just made him realize that Homura had really large breasts. While he looked at them for a second, he just briefly jammed his eyes shut and opened them once that perverted thought was out of his head.
"A-anyway, let's get going." Seth said.
They entered the door at the top of the staircase that led to what appeared to be the school's hallway only the layout was completely different and puddles of blood could be seen on the ground.
"Not surprised the inside looks like our school." Seth said.
"Alright, here are our weapons." Daichi said.
Homura took the gauntlets and placed them on her hands, Nobuo took the revolver and loaded it with bullets and Emi took the scythe. Then Daichi walked up to Seth and handed him the double-sided sword.
"I was told this was your weapon of choice." Daichi said.
Seth took the sword and examined it.
"I'm curious." Daichi said. "Why did you choose that over a regular sword?"
"You get the versatility of a normal sword, but the double-sided one always reminds me of how even one mistake from me or my opponent can mean the difference between victory and defeat." Seth answered before looking at Emi. "So you use a scythe, too?"
"What's it to you?" Emi asked.
"Nothing, it's just… My little brother really likes that weapon…"
As Seth continued looking at the sword, memories of him and Luke started to surface.
(Begin Flashback)
Seven years ago, in an American home's backyard Seth and Luke were playing with toy weapons. Seth was carrying a plastic double-sided store and Luke had a scythe from his previous Halloween costume as the Grim Reaper. They were pretending they were knights in a fantasy world they made up, playing and laughing the entire time.
(End Flashback)
Seth smiled and clenched his weapon tighter.
"Seth, are you okay?" Homura asked with genuine concern on her face.
"Are you spacing out again?" Daichi asked. "That's it, we're going home."
"Don't be such a dick." Seth said. "I'm raring to go."
"A Shadow's coming!" Emi said as she readied for battle.
In front of them appeared a black blob with arms coming out of its form and a blue mask on its face with the symbol 'I' on its forehead.
"It's a Cowardly Maya." Nobuo said. "This won't be a problem."
"Nobuo's right." Homura said. "This is one of the weaker Shadows. You can probably take it out on your own. You know how to fight Shadows, right?"
"Of course I do." Seth said. "Just aim for their weakness and once they're all down, we go all out." Seth pointed his Evoker at his head, ready to pull the trigger. "… Helios!"
Seth fired the Evoker and with the sound of shattering glass, behind him appeared a man with an eagle's head, red wings, talons for feet and wearing a golden cloak with a red cape. Helios held out its hand and a small burst of fire exploded in front of the Cowardly Maya, causing it to disintegrate upon defeat.
"Wow, you're pretty strong." Daichi said.
"A worthy ally to fight by our side." Nobuo nodded.
After Helios disappeared, Seth turned around to face them.
"… Before we continue on, I have a question." Seth said. "If you need a map, how come you just didn't draw one out as you explored?"
"The layout of Tartarus changes by the day." Homura answered. "A floor could be small and simply one day and incredibly large and complex the next. It's best to have someone with a really good sense of direction without a navigation Persona user to keep track of where we are."
"None of you seriously have any sense of direction?" Seth questioned.
Nobody responded to Seth's question.
"… Are you fucking kidding me?!" Seth shouted. "You're members of Heiwa! Wouldn't they make sure that their field agents have basic navigation skills? And while we're at it, how come you can't find your way through one floor of this place when you can find your way to school without any problems?!"
"… The school doesn't have Shadows trying to kill us." Daichi raised his finger.
Seth's eye twitched and he was about to yell again when he saw someone in a white cloak, a white cloth wrapped around their face to conceal its identity except for the eyes and wielding a halberd about to bring his weapon down on Daichi.
"BEHIND YOU!" Seth screamed.
Daichi tried to look behind him to see what Seth was talking about, but Nobuo tackled him and they both rolled out of the way as the halberd's blade struck the floor. Homura and Emi ran over to Seth's side and the former noticed the emblem on the figure's torso.
"He's with the Hands of Anarchy!" Homura shouted.
"Can we take him?" Seth asked.
"I don't think that' a good idea." Homura answered. "These guys are trained to kill us. We'll be lucky if any of us make it out alive."
"Then I'll buy you some time." Seth stepped forward with his double-sided sword in his right hand and his Evoker in his left.
"Seth, stop!" Homura tried to hold him back. "We have more experience fighting. It's better if you leave it to us."
"Did you just see the guy nearly split open Daichi's head?" Seth asked.
As Nobuo and Daichi regrouped with their allies, the latter contorted his lips in guilt from Seth's question.
"You four just get out of here." Seth said. "We don't know if this guy's alone or not."
"Seth…" Homura said.
"Go behind me, turn right and you should see the stairs back to the lobby." Seth interrupted.
"But-" Homura was about to say.
"Are you done yet?" The figure asked. "I've been nice enough to let your friend give you a chance to escape, but it won't matter. I can deal with him and come after the rest of you."
"I've had enough of this!" Seth said as he pointed his Evoker at his head. "I'm taking this guy on while the rest of you escape!" Then he thought to himself. *I can no longer protect Luke… but I can protect my friends!* "PERSONA!"
Seth ran toward the figure, shot his Evoker at his head and summoned Helios. A pillar of flames appeared behind him to block Homura, Daichi, Nobuo and Emi from the figure.
"Seth!" Homura shouted.
"Get going!" Seth shouted.
"We don't have any choice now." Nobuo said. "He's giving his life to save ours and there's no changing his mind."
Homura wanted to say something, but gave up and looked down at the ground.
"Let's go!" Emi said as she ran off.
Nobuo and Daichi ran off with Emi, but Homura looked back at the pillar of flames one more time before following the rest of her allies. On the other side of the flames, Seth and the figure stared each other down.
"You'll regret your decision to face me, boy." The figure said. "Hades!"
Behind the figure appeared a large man with most of his body surrounded in what looked like blue, ethereal flames, chains wrapped all over its body, gleaming red eyes and a muzzle made out of bones. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that there were screams coming from the flames, revealing that the flames were actually the souls of the dead. The figure held out his arm and a purple circle appeared in front of Seth.
"Oh, shit!" Seth quickly rolled to the side and avoided the purple stream that erupted from the circle. "I see you use Darkness skills."
"And you use Fire skills." The figure said. "But it seems your Persona is weak to Darkness skills."
"Well, time to show you what else I've got up my sleeve!" Seth said as he fired his Evoker at his head again.
As Helios appeared again, a circle of light appeared underneath the figure and he leapt out of the way to avoid the light stream that came out of it.
"I see you also use Light skills." The figure said. "But that won't save you."
"We'll see about that!" Seth said.
As the figure charged at Seth with his halberd, Seth fired his Evoker again and a small explosion of flames burst in front of the figure, leaving a small cloud of smoke. Seth kept his eyes on the cloud, waiting to see whether or not the figure survived the blast or not. In a flash, the figure leapt out of the smoke cloud and swung his halberd down. Seth tried to jump out of the way, but he was too slow and the blade chopped his right arm off with the double-sided sword still in it.
"GGGAAAAAAH!" Seth screamed in pain.
As soon as the rest of the Heiwa members arrived back at the Tartarus lobby, they saw no one else around.
"It seems like the coast is clear." Daichi said.
Daichi turned back to check on the others to see Homura looking back inside the labyrinth.
"Homura, come on." Daichi said. "We need to get out of here."
"… You guys go back to the dorm." Homura said.
"What?" Daichi asked.
"I'm going back to help Seth!" Homura said as she ran back into the labyrinth.
"Homura, stop!" Nobuo shouted.
"Let her go, Nobuo." Emi said before a devilish smirk scrawled over her face. "I have a feeling things are going to go our way."
As Seth was kneeling on the ground while clutching his dismembered arm, the figure pointed his halberd at his face.
"I told you it was futile." The figure said. "Now you'll die for your arrogance."
Seth just glared at the figure and gritted his teeth. "Heheheh… I'm not going to let you kill me…" He pointed his Evoker at his head once more. "I control my destiny! PERSONA!"
After shooting the Evoker at his head again, a man wearing golden armor with its face concealed in shadows except for its white eyes underneath a golden helmet adorned with red feathers and carrying a spear and a shield.
"Two Personas?!" The figure gasped.
"Thou art I, I am thou." The new manifestation said. "From the sea of thine soul, I cometh. I am Jason, the Golden Hero."
With a thrust of his spear, Jason pierced the figure's left arm, causing it to fall to the ground.
"GRAAAAAGH!" The figure shouted as he clutched the wound and looked at Seth and Jason in profound fear. "What… What are you?!"
Seth smirked and Jason pierced the figure through the chest. The figure gargled blood until he took his last breath and the life disappeared from his body. With the battle over, the flames dissipated, Jason disappeared and Seth fell to the ground in exhaustion.
"What… what did I just do…" Seth muttered under his breath.
"Seth!" He could hear Homura's voice calling to him as she ran to his side. "SETH! Oh my God, your arm!"
Seth lost consciousness just as he saw Homura's body kneeling next to him.
A/N: What just happened? I think it's pretty obvious. If Aigis was able to awaken to the power of the wild card, so can anyone else if they have the potential. I do plan on making Social Links for Seth, though I don't plan to make as many of them as original as possible. As for the new Persona Seth acquired, it is Jason from the legend Jason and the Argonauts. For anyone who still thinks Seth isn't very interesting, something you'll notice next chapter is that he has no regard for his own physical health, in both good and bad ways. In other news, wasn't that Persona 5 trailer awesome? That only raised more questions about the game. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!