Chapter 4: Crimson Wing

4/9/09-Thursday, DarkHour

"... How is he?" the man approached the screen and watched the sleeping boy. It was a sight to see, blood was everywhere and yet, he was sleeping soundly.

"... The same as last night" the girl sitting in front of the monitor answered in a stern tone. She had a hint of worry in her face and turned to the man. "His sister hasn't returned yet... but Arisato did inform us she'd be late..." she held her arms close to her and stared downward, opening the monitor of Minako's room. True enough, the girl wasn't there. The bed was intact and there was no sign of anyone going in ever since they left for school.

"If that's the case, there's no need to worry. She's safe inside the coffin" he laughed and turned off the girl's monitor. The red-head still had a hint of worry on her face, but she had no choice but to trust the man's words. After all, they wouldn't be able to tell which coffin was Minako if they did a search now. They were all identical. The chairman shrugged and continued. "In any case... This is very interesting. Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first... Memory loss... Disorientation... But this subject is rather unique. He hasn't exhibited any common symptoms"

"But... we're treating him like a guinea pig" the man turned to Yukari who held onto her arms rather tightly.

"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members. I heard he's in your class... Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?" the chairman smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. But, still..." suddenly, a ringing noise surfaced from the speakers, making the threesome turn their attentions to it.

"Command room... Is that you, Akihiko?" Mitsuru called out. Yukari was alarmed, but the older man kept his cool, hiding his eyes behind the gleam of his glasses.

"You're not gonna believe this...! This thing is huge! Unfortunately, I have no time to talk... It's chasing me... I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there" a male's voice called out from the equipment. He sounded quite distressed. He was running from his breath from the sound of it.

"Does that mean that... He's bringing that thing here?" Yukari exclaimed, slamming her hands on the controls. Luckily, it didn't do anything.

"Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!" Mitsuru stood up, ready to exit the room. Yukari followed from behind.

"...R-right! Be careful" the man said with a trembling voice

'What's with all that noise...? I just wanna sleep...' the boy opened his silver eyes, raising his head. 'This again...?' He sighed hopelessly seeing the blood everywhere. Minato shook his head and flopped his head back on the pillow. He tried to close his eyes again when a loud knocking banged him back up. He frowned, but seeing as it sounded urgent, he stretched his arms and slowly walked toward the door.

"Wake up! Sorry, I'm coming in!" the boy raised his brows and shrugged. He turned the door knob and the girl immediately jumped in. He was quite startled by her entrance. Judging by the look of it, she was troubled. No, not just troubled. She was in panic. "I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!" he was yawning when she took his wrist.

'Something is wrong here...' Minato pulled his hand away and tried to get her to calm down. "Wait... Shouldn't we get Minako too?" his expressionless face twisted into a serious one. They stared at each other for some time, or at least it seemed that long. She took him by the wrist again and pulled him with her.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's fine. You're in more trouble. So, let's hurry downstairs! We'll leave through the back door! Wait! … Take this, just in case" Yukari pushed a one-hand sword into his hands.

'…! What...? But... How about Minako... What's happening...?' he gripped the handle tightly and followed the girl. It was more like she pulled him around though. 'I have to trust her... Minako... Please be safe...' he bit his lip as they ran through the dark hallway...

"Alright, we should be safe now-" the girl huffed.

It was evident that she was almost at her limit, not in terms of stamina, but in terms of will power. She was shaking, her voice was trembling and she was very cold. Minato, on the other hand, managed to keep his calm, but he knew for himself that he was scared despite not showing it. His heart was pounding like crazy. The world looked different, just like the night he arrived. His fear was not because of the different environment, but because of the urgency of events. Surely, a girl banging on your door in the middle of the night, giving you a sword and pulling you around the place was definitely not normal.

'I knew it something was up...' he stared at the dining table, reminiscing the moments just that morning. What's more was that they finally began opening up to each other. More on her part anyway. The two of them, chatting, eating... Maybe he really shouldn't had let her go. It was common sense, a girl alone in the streets? Bad idea. For all he knew, someone might have lured her in with candy. Now that he'd thought of it, had Minako returned already? He didn't really know her meaning of 'late'.

The boy was to deep in his though that he didn't notice the conversation of Yukari and Mitsuru. His attention just turned back to them after hearing the word 'enemy'.

"The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!" it was surely Mitsuru's voice, but she wasn't anywhere. He shrugged. Things couldn't possibly get weirder.

'Enemy...? This is starting to sound like some sort video game...' he rolled his eyes when Yukari grabbed him again before he realized it.

"L-let's pull back!" she gasped, pulling him around again.

'… Now I know what Minako feels... I'd better lay off on my surprise attacks...'

The two hurried up to the dormitory rooftop. They were both worn out from all the running. Even Minato couldn't keep his straight face now. He was rather haggard as he tried to catch his breath. The rooftop was like the dormitory. The surroundings were freakishly green. The moon was full. One would think it's beautiful, if not for the abnormal mucous color.

"The door's locked. I think were safe for now..." the girl sighed in relief. Minato nodded in response.

'Hope you're right...'

A loud roar erupted in front of the pair. The two almost jumped up in surprise as they watched a hand grab onto the rooftop's railing. It was followed by another hand which raised some sort of mask. It seemed as though it was trying to survey the area. Then, more hands appeared, followed by more of them which were holding blades. Minato could've sworn he had ran away if his feet wasn't frozen. Yes, he knew he was scared. He could think of a hundred movies with scarier creatures. But this was no movie. It's real. He was trembling for the first time in his life ever since the accident. It came closer to them, he backed off, finally regaining control of his body. Without a thought he turned to Yukari. She too was horrified at the sight. Checking up on her didn't help... It just increased the tension he felt...

"You gotta be kidding me...! It climbed up the wall...?" she exclaimed. There was a hint of fear in her voice, but for some reason, she knew about it.

'What the hell is happening here?' He grasped the sword even tighter. His hands were shaking, but he managed to lock his attention to it, watching it's every movement. One wrong move and they might find one of those blades skewered on their heads...

"That's the thing that attacked this place... We call them Shadows!" she explained to him with a trembling voice. He gulped.

'Right... You have the time to explain...' a drop of sweat ran down his face as he stared squarely at the creature. One thing kept him in focus - the thought of protecting his sister. He couldn't let that thing run around, not under his watch. Then again, can he defeat this thing? It had like, ten arms... Or rather... It was just arms... Still, that would be enough to butcher him...

"O-oh yeah... I have to fight... I... I can summon mine... No problem..." she took out a gun. Minato's eyes widened. "Here goes..." She pointed it in her forehead and closed her eyes. She was shaking and breathing heavily as she attempted to pull the trigger.

'What? Killing herself? Don't leave me here dammit!' that was the first thing which came to his mind, but he couldn't do anything to stop her or the creature at that. It was as if his feet were glued on the ground again. It was a matter of life and death. This was no dream.

The creature finally closed in to her and spread its arms wide, producing a rather powerful blaze of fire. Yukari was sent flying, knocking her down. Her gun flung off beside the boy's feet. It was quite a sight though. Normally, a person should be filled with burn marks or maybe worse. An explosion like that would've caused serious damage, it could even cause decapitation. Seeing as the damage wasn't that bad, it's either not as strong as it seems to be, or she's just not a normal human. Wait... Not a normal human...? Then... Would that mean...

The creature turned to the blue-haired boy while he tried to figure things out. His heart was beating like crazy. He turned his attention below. The gun. It was lying beside his foot.

'… She couldn't have attempted suicide right...? Now that I see it up close... This is a strange...'

The boy bent down, he was about to pick up the silver object... When it was swiped out his sight by a bright red flash. It took a second before his mind processed what just happened. He turned to the figure in front of him. It was a female figure. The light of the moon illuminated her, showing long, straight, golden hair. She was wearing a beautiful crimson dress which had long sleeves almost enough to cover her whole arm. It was only knee-length though, so movement was not restrained it was also rather frilly. The frills running down from her chest to her stomach and the ones encircling her waist were pearl white in color compared to the rest of the frills on each edge of the clothing. She held a weapon on her right hand. It was a simple, sleek, red naginata, which seemed rather light and easy to wield even for someone of her stature. On her left hand was the gun. The boy's attention moved from her body to her face. Her bright red eye gleamed under the moon. She was wearing a crimson mask with golden streaks. It covered the whole right side of her face. The said mask was in the shape of a butterfly's wing. It was as if the time stopped as he stared at her, mesmerized by the girl's appearance. She gave off an ominous aura... A bright red ominous aura...

She pointed the gun at her left temple.

"PERSONA"

She muttered, pulling the trigger. A loud shattering of glass echoed in the dark of the night. Behind her appeared a strange being. It had a humanoid appearance. The creature was pure white with a bit of silver armor, it also had sad red eyes and had a chain wrapped around its arm which was further connected to four black coffins. It gives off a powerful bright aura as its body glowed in the dark night. But for some reason, it seemed as though it was bound by something on its back- a white pillar...

Minato could've sworn the girl smirked. She had a mask which hid her lips, but he felt she did. The Shadow turned its attention to her and shrieked using the same tactic it used on Yukari. An explosion was produced by the creature yet again. Minato covered his eyes with his arm, waiting for the smoke to clear up.

'…!' he stood in shock. She was left unharmed.

"Messiah, god's hand" she pointed at the 'thing'.

At that moment, the white figure raised its arm and a gigantic golden fist fell from the sky, crushing the Shadow, leaving a large smush of black sludge... He couldn't help but stare at the poor thing. Sure it tried to kill them... But the way it was crushed felt... Like it was slaughtered. When he finally realized the creature's fate, he turned back to the girl who had just turned away.

"W-wait!" the boy shouted, reaching out his hand to her. The girl stared at him for a short while. Their eyes met each other, the girl's bright red orbs and his platinum silver eyes. The moment seemed to have lasted forever, it was as if they tried to read each others' intentions, but no one spoke a word. Suddenly, the mysterious girl ran off and jumped down the dormitory building. He followed her, stopping at the sight of the railing. His silver-eyes locked on the ground all the way down, but she was nowhere to be found...

"Is... It over...?" Yukari huffed weakly, making the boy turn back to her. "...! It's still moving...!" she gasped as the black smudge began crawling closer to her again. "No... G-get away from me!"

Minato ran toward her direction and pulled his sword in front of him. He cursed at the back of his mind. The teenager jumped in between them and hacked one of the Shadows. The mask it bore was cut in half, disintegrating in the dark space.

"Behind you!" the terrified girl shouted, pointing to the far left direction. The boy turned around.

"Argh...!" he gasped in pain as he held the scratch mark on his side. He fell down on his back. It tried to attack him again while he was down, but he managed to roll away before it hit. He jumped back up and charged at the creature and slashed at it, but he missed by an inch after it effortlessly moved to right. It tried countering his attack after the dodge, but this time he was able to jump back to his right. He pulled up his blade again and slashed the Shadow in half before it had the time to aim again. It suffered the same fate as the first, melting in a hiss of smoke...

Minato fell on his knees, with the sword as his only support. His legs were trembling. It was actually a miracle he managed to fight at that condition.

"A-are you alright...? And..." Yukari approached him. His face twisted in pain as ruby-red blood dropped from his side. "Who was that?" She turned to look at the railing, staring at the distant sky.

"I have no idea..." he shook his head while he breathed heavily. The boy's silver-eyes slowly closed before he fell on the ground, with the final memory of Mitsuru and a silver-haired male running toward him... For a moment, a crimson masked in the shape of a butterfly's wing flashed in his mind...

I believe everyone knows who this masked someone is yes~?*kicks you if you don't*

... yeah... s'all I can say for this chap... =_=

Oh, and I know everyone knows about the upcoming Persona 3 Movie right? AMG. I'm so hyped. Heck I search for Japanese full moon calendars just so I can go to the site and check it out at midnight at a full moon XD

But then... even when I learn when its release will be... it would take time for the subbing and for it to be available on the net... so that means more wait time... T_T

-Persona 3 and any SMT series does not belong to me-