Chapter 9: The calm in the storm
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April 11/09 Morning: Iwatodai Strip mall...
I had just finished fifth bowl of ramen. I would have ordered more but people around us were staring. Under normal circumstances I would ignored them and continued eating. However, they were not looking at me but rather...
"What?" Nyx glared at the onlookers around us.
They quickly returned back to their own food.
In hindsight, I should have brought her somewhere with less people around.
"And you." She turns to me.
We should probably leave before she smashes the table between us. She had already finished her breakfast when I ate my second meal.
"You look like you have something to say." Nyx continued, giving me that look again.
"I was wondering if you calmed down yet, but I already know the answer." I got up and moved to the main reception to pay for our breakfast.
"What makes you think I wasn't calm?" She followed me out the door.
I could hear sighs of relief from within the restaurant we were in.
"The fact that you destroyed our bed this morning the moment I told you the truth about our circumstances gave it away." I say, walking to a nearby abandoned bench.
"It just makes sense now." Nyx sat on it beside me. "Like all of the puzzle pieces finally fit together."
"So you split our bed in half because it make sense?" I said in a dull voice.
It was very awkward for me to explain to the receptionist at the main desk that we need a replacement bed without giving too much away. Due to the nature of the hotel we resided in, she can only come up with one conclusion.
I'll say. Thanatos commented. I didn't think humans can be more red than their own blood.
"Perhaps I went overboard." She admitted. "But to finally get some new information after so long, and the fact that I was being manipulated the whole time kind of brings a certain kind of emotion that is appropriate!"
I just wish that it wasn't directed at the people here or myself.
"Speaking of which." The goddess narrows her eyes at me. "How long were you sitting on that but of information anyways?"
"The day we got back here." I answered.
"And you waited until now to tell it?" She says, clenching her fist.
"I needed a few days to process the information." I replied, slowly inching away from her.
Nyx sighs loudly.
"I was with you that while night and unless you somehow got transported further back, there is no way you can get that information without me."
"It was given to me in a dream."
"A dream?" She deadpanned.
Yeah, I realized how crazy that sounded when I said it out loud.
I nodded anyways, it is the truth no matter how strange it was.
Nyx threw her hand ls up in the air and sounded off her frustration.
Anyone that wasn't freighted by Nyx before had now evacuated the area. Leaving just the goddess and myself alone.
"You know what? I don't care anymore." She says after calming down. "Does your source of information have credibility at the very least?"
"They haven't done any harm to me yet, so I trust them for now." I answered, nodding my head again.
We both sat in silence.
There was plenty of time before school starts and Akihiko called earlier to tell me that he wanted to train after school for some reason. While I find it strange that he wanted to delay training, I have to assume it was SEES related reasons.
Out of boredom, I pulled out the Alice card and started playing with it.
Apparently, during my mental breakdown, Alice had returned to her original form to save me right?
That's correct. Orpheus answered.
Did Alice choose to do it or was it an automatic feature?
We voted on it. Messiah says.
And you all voted for Alice?
Well, I voted for Orpheus. Thanatos admitted. He was holding back most of your bloodlust.
Right.
Well, I will get back to this conversation later. Nyx looks like she wants to say something.
"These Sins of Humanity people, did your dreams say anything about them?" The goddess asked.
"Only that they were the mysterious third faction that we talking about."
"Anything important?"
I shook my head. "They know who the mastermind is, but they don't know anything about the others."
"Some help that was." Nyx rolled her eyes.
"Well they didn't say anything about those Sins of Humanity people at all when I last talked to him." I shrugged. "That either means it was not important at the time, or he didn't know about it as well."
Nyx sighs loudly. "So there is nothing for us at all. Damn, if only we have some sort of lead."
I know. Based on what we know, there are seven of them, Envy is accounted for, three are out of country, and the other three are still in Japan, assuming they haven't left yet. All useful information, but not helpful in finding them. We need some lead.
…I might have something of that nature.
I pulled out the small box that I grabbed yesterday and handed it to Nyx.
"Think this might be the lead we're looking for?" I ask.
She cautiously looked at the small container before touching it.
"Where did you get this?" The goddess says examining the object in her hands.
"Envy dropped it." I simply answered.
"Envy?" She raised her eyebrow.
"The guy in green? The man who we have right now?" I say, clarifying my point.
"Oh, right." She was still turning the small box around. "Ah, there we go."
As soon as she opened the box, I immediately felt ill and fell to the ground. It feels like my body is rejecting everything inside and is trying to destroy anything it doesn't like. Slowly, I used my arms to push myself off the ground. Geez, my arms feel like noodles.
"I see." I hear Nyx from above, followed by a snapping sound.
The immense pressure I felt has lifted. Slowly, I push myself back to my seat and looked around. All the plants within a few meters of us withered away, leaving the brown remains behind.
"Looks like something within the box is not meant for mortals to withstand long." She continued.
"I don't remember the effects being that strong." I leaned back at the seat.
"Most likely because of the Dark Hour. " Nyx replied.
"The Dark Hour mutes our senses?"
"Can you smell the blood when the Dark Hour occurs?"
"Sort of." I shrugged. "I mean it's not strong as I would expect with all the blood around... oh."
"There you go." She says, continuing to play with the box.
That actually makes kind of sense. There is no way normal humans can withstand that pendant long, so The Sins of Humanity only take it out during the Dark Hour.
"So, can that thing help us in some way?" I ask Nyx.
"Not without proper investigation." The women answers. "Plus with the effects preventing you from being near that thing, I need to be in a proper location to open this."
"We're not going to look at it during the Dark Hour?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Too risky." She shakes her head." We know nothing about these guys, and they could have trapped this thing somehow. I rather not have to wait for another iteration because you died."
"Won't you get caught in the trap then?" I questioned her choice.
"Which is why I'll be gone for a few days." Nyx gets up from the chair and walks away.
Huh? What does she mean?
I get up as well to follow her.
"How would that help?" I asked.
"I'm taking all precautions with this." She keeps walking until we are out of the area. "That is why I'll be in my plane for a while."
"Your plane of existence? You're going back?" How would that help?
We ended up in an alley far from any potential onlookers.
"Like I said. We don't know if there are any traps or in this thing has a way to be tracked. That is why I'm going back."
Oh, I see.
"You're going back in case there is a chance of that thing being traced and they won't be able to track it back to where you are." That makes sense.
"You catch on quick." She nods. "Plus if anything were to happen to me, I know someone there that can heal almost anything. Or at the very least, know what to do."
Nyx then place her hand in the ground. Soon after, some sort of circle of white light surrounds her. There for some sort of characters were written within the borders of the circle.
"Right." I nod and turn to leave.
"One more thing." Nyx says.
I turn back to face her. She was standing up.
"You want me to make an excuse why you are not going to be in school in a few days?" I'm sure she doesn't need to attend school, but people will ask questions.
"Well, that would be helpful as well." She answered. "But I have something else to say to you."
I nod, waiting for her to continue.
"Don't get yourself involved with the Dark Hour for a while."
I raised my eyebrow in confusion.
"Do you think you can fool me?" She crossed Her arms. "The first time we went to Tartarus and you used one of your persona cards, you didn't last more then half the Dark Hour. The result was that you were sore for a few days. Do you really think that you use 2 cards longer then last time and suffer no effects?"
She only saw me use one. How did she know?
"Wh-."
"If you are asking for evidence." The goddess interrupted. " You were responding slowly this morning. While you are speaking normally now, you are still walking differently than you were yesterday morning. Plus I can tell because you don't respond as much as you usually do."
"I have to admit that I did expect to feel worse like last time." I said.
Perhaps I'm adapting to the effects?
"That's because I was healing the effects like last time while you were sleeping." She replied.
I feel like I should say something. "Yet that still is not enough?"
"I should add this as well." She continued, ignoring me. "Don't even think about going there and lying about it. Even if you were to lie, Someone will the truth. Got that?"
Who would… you are kidding me. Thanatos?
I'm sorry. Thanatos apologized. But I can't lie to her.
You really are a momma's boy aren't you? Orpheus commented.
Insult me all you want. Thanatos says, not really looking at Orpheus. What you can say is nothing compared to what she'll do to me.
That was the conversation you had with her right?
…
Fine. Looks like I have no choice.
"Got it." I answered.
"We'll see."
Light fills my vision, forcing my to cover my eyes for protection. Moments later, everything became dim enough to see. There is a small pile of ash where Nyx used to be.
Great. I'm basically banned. Thanks for nothing stupid human body.
Ah, the perks of a metal body. Orpheus commented.
The perks of a body of a god. Thanatos added.
The perks of a body made out of magical snow. Hee ho. Jack spoke out.
Show offs.
I pulled out my phone to check the time.
Good, I have enough time to buy some replacement electronics before school starts.
April 11/09 Afternoon: Gekkoukan High...
After another day of School, I decided to wait at the front entrance of Akihiko.
"Hey." He calls to me.
Speak of the devil.
I turn to face him. He was standing near the hallway to the teachers' office waving to me. Standing next to him was a female student.
She has elegant long red hair that cover one of her eyes. The student wearing the school uniform's skirt, a white blouse with a red ribbon and black high-heeled boots. She is the president of the student council and the Leader of SEES, Mitsuru Kirijo.
Though I would guess we are now technically strangers now.
I walk towards them and nod at the two in greeting.
"Sorry." Akihiko spoke. "I was busy with something that I had to push our training after school.."
"It's fine." I replied. "I'm sure you were busy with other matters."
Like SEES for example.
"Still." He replied. "Like me make it out to you by treating you something to eat."
"Alright." I'm not complaining about free food.
"Oh, right." Akihiko snapped out of something. "Arisato, this Mitsuru Kirijo. A friend of mine. Mitsuru, this is Minato Arisato. My training partner."
Well there is no harm in introducing to each other, It's not like he knows that I'm a time traveler and had met her before. Still, I have a strange feeling that Akihiko is doing it for a reason.
Whatever, it'll be nice to talk to her again.
"Nice to meet you." I greeted Mitsuru, nodded at her again.
"Nice to meet you as well." She says back, nodding as well. "So you have been training with Akihiko?"
"We just started recently, but yeah." I answered.
"I see." Mitsuru crosses her arms. "I hope he isn't pushing you too hard."
"It's fine. I'm use to much worse before."
Exploring the Monad block of Tartarus makes jogging look like child's play.
She nods. "If you say so."
"Come on." Akihiko joins in the conversation. "You act like I take things too far."
"That's because you do." Mitsuru says, turning her head to the silver hair teen.
Yeah, I know why.
"Anyways." Mitsuru says after a moment. "I am very busy at the moment, so I apologize that I must leave now.
"It's fine." Akihiko said.
"Then I'll be on my way."
The redhead turns to leave us
He soon turns to me.
"Now, shall we get started on our training?"
"Ready." I nodded.
I won't get stronger standing around, doing nothing.
April 11/9 Afternoon: Iwatodai Strip mall...
"I've got to say." Akihiko commented. "Despite how you look, you can sure eat a lot."
"A meal is often better after a hard days work." I say, throwing my empty energy drink can away.
"While I agree with you there. You just finished three beef bowls and 7 drinks. On top of that, You already finished an energy drink before we resumed training. Should we wait a bit more for you to digest all of that?"
"I'm fine."
Hell, I would normally eaten much more because I didn't get enough in the morning. However, I'm holding myself back just because I don't want to put Akihiko in financial trouble. Though I'm sure Mitsuru could help him out.
"Anyways." Akihiko tries to change the discussion. "What do you think of Mitsuru?"
"Kirijo? She seems like a good person. Busy being the president of the student council, trying to make our school a better school a good place." I answered.
I also respect her decision to try to fix the mistake of what her family did even though she was not personally involved. Though I say she doesn't have to burden everything on her own, whether the Kirijo group was involved or not. She does have friends like Akihiko for example to help her after all.
"I see." Akihiko nods.
"Why do you ask?" I'm curious to know why he would bring her up out of nowhere.
"Well..." He draws out the word, looking away from me scratching the back of his head.
My eyes widen for a second before narrowing again.
It can't be. Did he figure out that I was the one that called out to him during that night? I was hoping with all the stuff that happened that night, he would forget about it. What is he going to do? Ask me to join SEES? As much as I like to, I can't get them involved with this.
I know I'm being hypocritical right now. However there is a difference between knowing the origins of the Dark Hour and Tartarus, then asking them to fight people much more powerful then the shadows and Strega being lead an Outer God. At the very least, I can't ask for their help at this moment where they are more likely to die.
Of course I could hide that knowledge, but with Ikutsuki watching SEES I don't know if I can sneak out without drawing attention.
Worst comes to worst, I may have to get Horace to remove Akihiko's memory. No good, he may of already told Mitsuru about me.
Perhaps I'm being paranoid but what else could it be about?
"It's because Mitsuru is a good friend of mine." Akihiko said, continuing from before. "Lately, she has been busy with all the work placed on her and I couldn't help but feel worried about her. I was hoping you would spend time with us once in a while."
Alright I was being paranoid. That is both good and bad. I'm glad that he didn't figure it out, but the fact that I easily suspected one of my friends this fast worries me.
"Then the reason you asked is because you want me to hang out with her as well?" I ask for clarification.
"Right." He nodded. "I ask, because lately she has been working really hard. Because of that, people are having a hard time really getting to know her with all the work."
"I'm glad that you worry for her, but don't you think that how she spends her time is her business?"
"I know." Akihiko says, after taking a sip of his drink. "But I want her to know that there are people that care for her, even if they are not involved."
"Involved?" I know what he is talking about the Dark Hour, but I have to play along for now.
"Ah? Sorry, didn't mean to bring that up. Private matter, but that's I mean. I know that she is very capable and can handle herself. I want to show her that she doesn't have to do everything by herself, we can support her."
Ah, this what he means. I guess because his arm isn't broken, he isn't spending time at the hospital getting it fixed. That pretty much gives him more free time to do something like this until Hamuko wakes up. Then again, Akihiko always did look out for us, so this is not much of a surprise now that I think about it.
Plus, it would be nice to talk to Mitsuru as a friend before the end of the world.
"Sure." I answered.
"You mean it?" Akihiko's face brightened up.
"I have no reason to refuse after all."
I do enjoy spending time with her whenever I have the chance. Even if she was awkward to be with in the beginning.
"Thanks." Akihiko smiles. "I know she seems like a cold person, but she can be friendly you know."
Oh, I know alright.
"Come." Akihiko runs ahead. "Let's finish what we started."
April 11/9 Afternoon Paulownia Mall...
After Akihiko and I went our different ways, I ended up in Paulownia mall. There was still time before night so I decided to get some answers while I have the chance. That is why I'm standing in front of the blue glowing door to the Velvet room.
I checked around for anybody watching before I summoned the Velvet card. After the usual procedure of swiping the card and entering the door, I was sitting at the counter facing Horace once again.
"Welcome to the Velvet Bar." He greeted me. "How may I help out?"
Cheerful as always.
"I would like some answers." I replied.
"I'll help what I can." Horace nods. "However, I can't just flat out tell you what to do."
"That's fine. I just need something to help fill in some blanks.
"Certainly." He says, filling a cup of clear liquid and handing it to me.
I took one look at it.
"Don't worry." The bartender said. "It's just water. You looked thirsty. So anyways, what did you want to ask about?"
"You have information about me right?" I started after taking a sip of water.
"Oh, yes I do." Horace pulls out a book from under the counter and opens it. "On 1992, you were born in-."
"Does that mean you have information that is present as well?" I interrupted him.
"Naturally." He nods.
"Then I'll be blunt. Why was my memory removed?"
Horace seems stunned. I took a sip of water while I wait for him to recompose himself.
"What do you mean?" He speaks at last.
"During my last trip to Tartarus." I explained. "I had to improvise."
"Right." Horace picks up a cup to clean.
"I had to use two arcana cards to survive."
Horace adopts a more serious looking face right now.
"This soon? Damn, I'm surprised you can still move right now." He puts down the glass he was cleaning.
"I do have a reliable partner helping me after all."
"I bet. It'll be hard to top the goddess of night for a partner. Why are you telling me this?"
"When I crushed the death arcana, I had images flashing in my head." I look right at Horace. "Images about my family, friends and places that I was familiar with. I also had images of unrecognizable places and complete strangers. Yet for some reason, those images bring familiarity and warmth to me."
"And that where you considered memory lost?" Horace asks.
"One of many hints, but yes." I answer.
"Well sorry to say, but I have no idea about it." Horace turns away from me, reaching for something. "I don't know if it is memory lost, but-."
*Crack*
He stops what he was doing and turns to me.
"Horace." I say calmly. "Ever since the last cycle, I had a feeling that something was off. Because I was repeating time for so long, I assumed I was forgetting my life because the whole time loop situation and put it off.
The problem is that because I was living in time for so long, why is it that my memories from before my parents death are a lot more clearer than my memories after it their death? Am I not supposed to forget my earlier memories first? Or even forget them all at the same time?"
I unclenched my hand. Blood and shards of glass fell out from my open palm.
"Then there's the fact after I used both the fool and death arcana." I continued. "These people in my head are unfamiliar, yet thinking about them would bring good feelings like how I would think an old friend like Junpei. They are complete strangers yet I would compare them to Junpei.
With all this evidence, I have eliminated the possibilities of memory tampering and false memories being added. All memories after my parents death up until I came to this city were a blur. I can only guess that something happened some cycles ago and my memories were removed because of it. Memories being removed is the most obvious answer and I would like to know why. I would appreciate it if you didn't lie to me."
"Unfortunately for you, Horace is not lying about not knowing about your memory lost." Another voice said from the side of the room.
Horace and I turn to face the source of the person that came to join us.
"Philemon." I said his name.
"Ah, master." Horace bows to him. "Do you require my assistance for something?"
"I would just like the usual, my friend." The masked man answers.
"No problem." Horace pulls out a strange cup with a strange glowing liquid filled nearly to the brim and hands it to Philemon. "Anything else?"
"You may leave us."
"On it." Horace goes to the far end of the counter to continue cleaning his glass
Philemon sits down next to me and takes a drink out of his cup.
"Now." Philemon turns to me. " I can assume that you want me to tell you about your memory lost?"
I say nothing to him, waiting for him to continue.
"Tell me Minato, do you remember how many times you had to repeat a new iteration?" He asks.
I shake my head. "To be honest, I lost count around the tenth time."
If I have to guess 20? 30? Maybe 40?
"If I counted correctly, this should be the 252nd cycle."
"What? 252 times?" That much? How have I not gone insane yet?
"You were a strong person, Minato. Even without the Universe arcana assisting you." He says, after taking another sip. "But even you have a breaking point.
At this point, you are self-trained in many forms of weapons and power. You are an effective leader. With your talent and charisma, you can command your allies efficiently and inspire loyalty should the need arise. Your sharp mind allows you to be able to quickly calculate numerous tactics to give you the edge and quickly eliminate shadows with such efficiency. Clearly, you were a force to be reckon with.
Obviously, that came at a price. While you are mass destruction incarnate, who you are as a person was diminishing. At this age and time, a normal human has an average lifespan around 80. Possibly reaching over 100 if they are lucky. Obviously reaching 200 biologically is impossible right now for a human and mentally is no exception, yet here you are. Don't get me wrong, you can keep up a great persona when in public. Mentally however, your psyche was like a funhouse but with all the mirrors shattered."
"That bad huh?" Then again, spending over 200 years doing the same thing over and over would get pretty much any human mad.
No wonder Nyx went after me just before time restarted again. She did thought I was the culprit because of my sanity after all.
"That's not all." Philemon added. "Had I not came to you on the 250th cycle, I have no doubts you would have ended your own life to get away with it."
That revelation shook me to the core, or it should have. I would guess dying multiple times really done nothing to make my mind better. Still, to contemplate suicide. What that even accomplished anything? Assuming that my death doesn't simply bring me back to square one when time resets, I would be giving Nyarlathotep victory on a silver platter.
"Is that why my memory erased?" I muttered at last. "To prevent me from doing that?"
Philemon finished his drink before talking again.
"It's one reason."
You're kidding me.
"When I met you." He continued, somberly. "You were already standing near the edge in your mind. Your eyes were blank and empty. Obviously, you can't kill yourself like that but the implications is enough."
I guess that was part of Nyarlathotep plan or something. Why not show Philemon the person that stopped the fall, kill himself because he can't handle the pressure anymore. If that person with the greatest chance of pushing past the human limits fail, what makes the rest of humanity have the chance?
"As much as I like this room." Philemon pushed his cup away from him and stood up from his seat. "Why don't we talk this conversation somewhere else."
"You mean outside?" I know they can go to the outside world because of Elizabeth, but is he going out there with that mask on?
I stand up as well and follow him.
The man lead me to another door on the other side of this bar. He opened the door and gestured me to enter. What was on the other side of the door was a black space with stars in the background..
I guess I'm going in first
Despite seeing no visible ground, I was somehow still able to stand on outer space somehow.
"This isn't space." Philemon entered behind me. "It may look like it at first, but those aren't stars."
Not stars? Then that can only mean that that place.
"The Sea of Souls." I looked around at all the souls around us.
The Sea of Souls is an area linked to the collective unconscious. A place where it is said that all souls come from the sea. It is said that when a person dies, their souls will return here as well. Even with all I've been through, part of me is a bit skeptical of that fact.
"I'll be honest here" Philemon says, walking beside me. "I still don't understand the entire purpose of repeating time over and over. Perhaps you are the cause for him doing it, which is why things got desperate."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"Like I said, I don't know the entire reason for his plan. All I know is you are involved and we needed you to get ready. That is why I had to alter history."
"How so?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Well your past to be specific." He says, after sighing. "With the way things were going then, you were evolving your powers but it was at a slow rate and that's ignoring your physical prowess."
"So you had alter my past in order increase my strength as well?"
"I used my powers to make the 251st cycle go back around in 10 years. For you to gain more power and to hopefully heal your mind."
The year of my parents deaths? What a minute.
"I thought you don't have the power of time." I raised an eyebrow.
Philemon nods. "That's right. Even now I still don't have control over that magic of such complexity. That is why I had some help to compensate."
"You had someone to help?"
"I tell you about it another time." He waves it off. "After all, you're here because you want information about your memory lost right?"
That's true. I'll ask about it another later. If this gambit works, I'll have all time in the world to ask when this is over.
"So you used your 'help' to bring the previous time loop 10 years in the past, and then…" I continued the flow of the talk.
"And from there, I changed the life of You and the girl from that point on." He finished.
"Hamuko?" I don't remember her be- never mind. Memory loss.
"That's right. I made a little changes throughout the iterations and she is now another Fool to take your place while you get stronger without interfering with the main timeline."
That's right last cycle, Hamuko develops the power of the wild card as well.
"Still, I remember still dying in the last cycle however."
Heck, I fought Nyx one on one before the reset.
"They're complications, obviously." Philemon says. "First off, while I did had help, I still had to use my energy to make this work. Unfortunately, I was using more than I initially thought. I was not able to contact you most of the time. It wasn't until near the end of the last iteration that I have enough to move around freely."
"Because of that, you couldn't contact me until now?"
"Right. Time is a lot more complicated than I initially thought. Even with her doing most of the work, my energy use completely drained. Anyways, With Hamuko taking your place, I thought it would be best if you were train outside Iwatodai."
"Make sense." I nod.
With the Kirijo group still here, I'll risked getting caught eventually sneaking in and out of Tartarus.
"Even now." Philemon looks out into the sea. "I still considered what happened after you were placed in the orphanage to be an incredible stroke of luck."
"What do you mean?" I ask.
I fail to see how me being placed in an orphanage because the death of my parents is considered lucky.
Philemon turns to me. "You see, I had originally planned to adopt you and moved you out of Japan to help you train. However, with my condition, I was unable to manifest in the outside world."
"Because of your drained energy. In that case, why not have Elizabeth do it?"
"Oh." Philemon raised his visible eyebrow, with a amused expression in his visible face." Did you want Elizabeth as your adopted mother?"
…
"I see your point." I dropped the subject.
Don't get me wrong. I like Elizabeth a lot. However, there's the fact that we have gotten intimate several times in the cycles that I can remember. It would have been very awkward for me, especially since she doesn't remember them. Knowing who she is and how she would act, I can only imagine how eerie those ten years would have been.
"Tell me. Do you remember your original time in the orphanage?"
I shook my head.
I know he was meaning to go somewhere with that, but it was still weird.
"Right. A few weeks after you were staying there, the Dark Hour suddenly occurred in noon."
"What?"
"Under normal circumstances, you would simply hide in your room until it was over."
I know it was when I was seven years old, it still makes me sound pretty weak when he says it like that.
"I fought off shadows this time, didn't I?" I don't even need to ask. It's the logical conclusion.
The Universe should still work for me, even if I did go back ten years. Assuming the same happened when time moves back.
He nods. "Because of that, you have greatly impressed the man who would adopt you."
"Wait. He was able to walk in the Dark Hour?"
"Yes. Rest assured, he was not a part of the Kirijo group. In fact, he was here for an entry different reason. He was very impressed at your powers and ability to handle yourself despite being only seven years old. After he adopted you, that man moved you out of country and helped you train your powers."
"He had the power of persona as well?"
Philemon shakes his head. "No, he is more skilled in magic if I were to say."
"What?" I know I shouldn't be judging because of my power but what?
"Minato, all powers manifest in different ways and interpreted in different ways. For example, you power is the power of persona. The power from your mind is used to shield yourself and fight for you. From an outside perspective, that power can easily be seen as summoning, a form of magic."
Now I get it. "But how would he help me with my powers? I mean what reason could he had to help me?"
I mean, I'm grateful for that person to help me home my powers. However, doesn't explain how he can help develop my kind of powers. Or the fact he would help me even though he had no reason to.
"It doesn't matter now. What's important is that he helped to help you become even more powerful than the before."
Something doesn't add up. "If it's just that, why was it necessary to remove my memories then?"
"Minato, let me say something before I answer that first."
I turn to look at him. His face had adopted a very serious expression.
"Let me say that it was you that wanted your memories remove.
"I did?"
What happened to me that I, of all people wanted to forget?
"You had returned to Japan early for a personal reason. Because of that, you became involved in a very dangerous event. You were involved in a conflict."
...
I can only remain silent while he continues.
"The conflict that took place in a few years ago. The people that participated in it had personal reasons to be involved. Some like you, had personal goals to fulfill. Others wanted to stop unnecessary bloodshed, while some only wanted destruction."
"Why?" I couldn't help but stare at my feet while we are still walking. "What was the point of this conflict?"
"Tell me, Minato. If you could have one wish, what would it be?"
I looked at him with confusion. What does that I to do with this?
I answer anyways. "To be free from this time loop I'm stuck in."
"What if I were to tell you that your wish could be granted, if you were to be involved in this conflict? Would you participate?"
I stopped in place.
Would I? Am I willing to end lives to fulfill my goal? If I lose this thing, my wish would not be granted and all the lives I ended will come back to life when time loops again. No consequences for me if I fail.
No that was a one time event. Philemon only did it once and he was out for the whole cycle. Still whether I fail or not, I won't toy with peoples lives like they were NPCs in a video game.
"No, I won't." I answered.
There was still doubt in me however. I only answered like that because my memory was erased. I don't obviously remember the hardships of what I've been through. Hell, it makes sense.
I remember what happened a few cycles ago. I thought it was strange that I was avoiding my friends for a while, and the next cycle I was better. I simply thought I went through a depression phase and got over it.
I remember very little of the many cycles I have been through, and that is after the removal of my memory.
Did the me from before rejected the same question? Or did he accept it?
I felt something rest on my shoulder. I look up to see Philemon had placed his hand on me, smiling warmly.
"You don't need to worry, Minato." He spoke. "Even with that wish, you did not participate."
I suppose I should be thankful I still have some sort of morality back then.
We resumed walking afterwards.
"Like I said." He continued. "You were involved in the conflict, just not the main center of it. While doing your own goal, you came across a group of people that wanted to end the event with little bloodshed as possible. The group were directly involved with it so you interacted with them occasionally. Eventually, they become close enough to you to be your close friends and family."
Sounds too good to be true.
"Yet in the end, I chose to forget." I looked off into the distance.
I have been through the Dark Hour, Strega, Nyx, Erebus and the Fall many times and came out strong, sort of I guess. If this event actually broke me, I couldn't help but wonder what happened then.
"Did you perchance, want to remember again?" He asks.
I have enough problems as it is. As tempting as it is to know who these people are, I don't need more issues to bother me right now. I'll face them when I'm ready and Nyarlathotep has been dealt with.
I shake my head.
"That's fine." He nods. "I only heard what happened to you by hearing about it, but It sounds like you'll remember more of it when your mind is completely healed."
"Wasn't the point of this thing was to gain power and to fix my mind?"
"That was the original plan. You gained more power and your psyche was better than last time we spoke. Unfortunately, something unexpected happened. In the end, we should be grateful that we still fulfilled our objective; even if the second part was sabotaged a bit."
Was Nyarlathotep involved? It's the only explanation that would make sense.
"One last question." I said.
If all what Philemon said was true, I need to know this.
"What is it?" He turns to me.
"Those people that helped me. Are they alright?"
Memory lost or not, I still feel a strong bond with those guys that resonate within my heart. I want to know if they are OK.
Philemon smiled. "They are doing well."
That is all I wanted for now. Perhaps when this is all over, I might visit them someday. Maybe.
Philemon and I eventually stopped at a rather familiar place. Granted, it's pretty empty right now but it is where I performed the great seal on Nyx.
Wait a minute, I remember something else being here.
A load roar sounded off behind us.
I turn to face to source, summoning my Velvet sword.
Off then the far distance, a black figure moves towards us. The being that make that noise was black as the night. It moves in four giant arms and there are two heads on both side of it's body. One masculine and the other more feminine.
"Erebus!" I took a step forward and got ready.
Damn. With the threat of the Sins of humanity and their cosmic horror god looming over head the whole time, I had completely forgotten about the deity in front of me.
Erebus turns both if his heads to face me. It's eyes shined upon seeing me in my human form.
Birth of its heads roared and charged right at me.
"Let me handle it." Philemon walks past me. "I have been incapacitated while a while and I would like to stretch my legs."
Philemon stands just a few meters ahead of me and extend one of his arm out. A huge yellow-like figure appears behind him. The figure looks a lot like Philemon, just without a lower torso.
"Persona?" I take a step back.
I could feel power emanating from the figure. Philemon's persona shifted its body and a familiar circle appeared below the Erebus, keeping up with the beast.
"I don't often use this attack unless there is a specific reason." Philemon said, turning to me. "However, you have been restricted from fighting because of your ally right?"
Ok. How does he know about that?
"Besides. I want to make sure about something as well." He turns back to Erebus, who was already close enough to start leaping at him.
The circle exploded underneath Erebus, releasing purple flames. The flames completely surround the two-headed monster, causing it to roar in pain. Clouds formed above Erebus and purple lightning strikes the around the circle. An explosion soon followed afterward. The blast was so intense, that I almost had look away.
When the explosion stopped, I turn to look at the dissolving body of Erebus and I swore I could've seen something like a skull for a second.
Armageddon. There's no doubt about it. The intense fire, and destructive lighting and the overwhelming power. Granted, it was purple and I thought I saw a skull, but it's the same as my most powerful attack.
I see that Philemon doesn't even looked fazed at all. Truly the powers of the deity are frightening.
"I see." Philemon muttered.
"What is it?" I walked up to him.
"This is the first time I have directly interacted with Erebus, but something about him feels off somehow."
"Off?" I raised my eyebrow.
He felt the same ever since I met him.
"Erebus, he felt incomplete." Philemon look up in the 'stars'. "Like he is not fully there, it feels like his mind is empty."
"What do you mean?" What does Philemon mean by incomplete?
"Perhaps I'm being paranoid." He turns to me. "I still want you to be careful though."
"Hmm?"
"Sorry, I may be assuming things but I may believe that things are going to be a lot more difficult for you."
April 11/9 Evening: Paulownia Mall...
I had stepped out of the Velvet room, sighing to myself. Before I left, Horace gave me another glass of water. After hearing revelation after revelation of my past, I needed another drink. With the sun now starting to set, I walked out of the mall and decided to walk back to my hotel room. Maybe the replacement bed is ready by now.
I may have gotten myself in deep trouble here. With Nyarlathotep wreaking havoc somewhere unknown to earth and the Sins of Humanity spread all over the globe, I may also have to keep an eye out for a certain individual in the future. At least I have figured out the cause of my memory loss and that that strange dream about them last night. Hopefully Nyx would be back soon so we can plan our next move. I'll try to look up anything that can help me in the meantime.
Hey, I don't mean to sound negative here. Orpheus says.
Too late. Thanatos interjected.
Not now. Orpheus snapped. What I'm saying is how are you going to look for anything that can help you? You are banned from exploring Tartarus for now and I doubt the local bookshop would have anything that could help.
I know. I also know that the real important events won't happen until much later on and the things I can look into right now won't help me in this situation or is in the Kirijo group's custody.
Wait. Doesn't that mean you have free time until she comes back? Thanatos inquired.
Well that is true. Huh, it's been so long since I have actual free time that does not involve SEES, Tartarus nor social links. I had completely forgotten what it is like to have such a free time like this. This is what I wanted after all, so I might as well enjoy it for all it's worth.
Five days later...
I never thought I would say this, but I'm bored. Well I did just hang out with Akihiko and Mitsuru but we had just finished up and they are heading back into their dorm.
Nyx still hasn't came back yet. Maybe Thanatos' blood lust is getting to getting to me but I'm anxious to get back to Tartarus soon.
Worst off (or thankfully) I haven't hear anything about the SoH in any form yet so I have no idea what's going on.
Screw it. It's a bit early for her but I'll visit her just to see how's Hamuko is doing.
A/N: Well I did say I completed two more chapters. That's one down and one more to go.
Anyways, It's good to be back and I'm glad some of you like the way this is going.
While I was going over the notes and re-reading the posted chapters, I noticed the Minato's back story and powers were a bit inconsistent. Vague backstory aside, I'm talking mostly about his power. I mean normally when you start NG+, your powers and strength carry over from your previous playthrough yet here, Minato's powers are increasing while his physical power seem to decrease a bit when time resets. Don't get me wrong, he's still strong as hell but it's kind of weird that only the physical is effected. To be clear, I don't mean that his mental powers has no side effects. (Persona limitations for example.) It's like all the negative effects seems random and unconnected to each other.
The power of Persona is in the mind after all, and he's been repeating time for over 200 years. So I figured that I should put the two together in a believable situation. Of course with his mind being broken as it was, Philemon would try to fix it. That is why I had him Alter Minato's past in the 251st iteration. That way, Minato can be believably powerful but not overpowered to make the fights with Sins of Humanity more interesting.
I don't know. I probably went overboard with it though. What do you guys think?