Chapter 7: Stamp on the Ground

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3, work at Atlas, or own the myths and legends mentioned in my story

Warning: There will be strong language, graphically detailed violence, crude humor, dark angst-y moments, deep thought, and the occasional feminine joke. The list will potentially change to reflect changes in the story without advance notice. You have been warned.

"This," Mitsuru gestured at the massive structure, "Is Tartarus, the labyrinth that reveals itself during the Dark Hour."

I'm mildly sure that she either didn't hear me or just decided not to respond to it.

"What happened to our school?" Junpei shouted, "This is the 'nest' you were talking about?"

"Once the Dark Hour passes, everything returns to normal." Mitsuru continued.

"But, why?" He asked. "Why'd our school turn into a giant tower?"

For a moment no one said a thing, and then the crickets began chirping, officially making it awkward.

"...You don't know either, do you?"

"...No."

Yukari actually tried to break the silence, "I'm sure it's really complicate-"

"Aw who cares?! I'm bored already, let's get inside to see what's going on!" Whooping and sprinting off before anyone can stop me I was first to enter and man, was it cool. Big ol' clock right in front of me. Some kind of DDR machine and a motorcycle off to the side. Glowing blue door... Rubbing my eyes a bit, Yup. Still there. Seeing as how the others weren't in yet... Unclipping my keyring, I look for a keyhole to place the Velvet Room key. Pursing my lips, I just ended up tapping it right on the door.

When the blinding flash faded I was in Velvet room, though this time, Lucifer and Igor greeted me.

"We've been waiting for you." Double snapping fingerguns.

"The time has come to wield your power. The tower that you are about to venture into... How did it come to be? For what purpose does it exist? Regrettably, you are not yet capable of answering these questions. That is why you must be made aware of the nature of your power."

"Alright. I'll bite. What's the nature of my power?"

Placing a drink in front of me, Lucifer places a hand on my shoulder, "Your power is unique. It's like the number zero... It's empty, but at the same time, holds infinite possibilities. You, my boy, are able to possess multiple Personas, and you can summon them as needed."

"Fucking sweeeeet."

"Indeed."

"Igor here will help you with the summoning and creation of personas."

"Personae."

"Not doing this with you right now, kid. Anyways, I'll be providing you with some demons. That is, unless you don't mind stealing a couple priceless artifacts for me?"

"Not thank you!"

"Thought so. Another thing, Igor and I have had a heart-to-heart. (You have a-) Don't you even dare finish that thought. We had a heart-to-heart and reached an agreement, if you wish to convert a demon into a sentient persona, we'll do that for you free of charge. The only catch is, you need to possess a soul of sufficient strength to bridge the change."

"Cool. Can you do it the other way around?"

"I honestly would rather not."

"Fine with me. So. All the demons personae are classified under the major arcana?"

"That is correct."

"That reminds me, something's been going one with my left arm."

Lucifer just grinned, "A gift from me to you. Every time you initiate a social link for Igor, a small tattoo will appear somewhere on your hand, every time you gain a arcana soul for me, you get one along your arm."

"Wait, what?!" Rolling up my sleeve, roll down some bandages and low and behold, in the middle of my bicep was a tattoo. It was a a ring of the Magician's daggers and it looked like those douche-y ass thorn/barbwire tattoo I see in back home...

"What's with that look? Okay. I admit, my tattoo for you isn't the best, but it does serve it's purpose. Oh come on! Look! It does other things too. By gathering souls for me, each one will restore sensation, strength, and dexterity to your arm. Each completed social link for Igor will restore your arm cosmetically. Not bad right? Anyways, I've still got a few more gifts for you. First off, I'm going to set up housing for the demons and persona. While the demons can bunk in the Satin room, I'd rather they didn't." Snapping his finger another door appeared a bit off to he side. "Now, I'm going to have to teach you how to make a memory palace because apparently, those things are in fact palaces."

"I don't think you-"

"I think I do. Look, I'll set the foundation, you just come with." Walking through the door, it didn't take Lucifer five seconds to come back with a rather bewildered look on his face. "What. The. Fuck. Was that?!"

Smirking innocently, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you 'what's wrong me!' That wasn't a fucking memory palace! It's the bastard offspring between Mall of America and Sears Tower! Holy crap!"

Igor slowly turned to look at Lucifer, "What's wrong? It isn't like you to overreact like this."

"If Sigmund Freud saw what I just saw... He would shit himself. I don't know how long I was gone out here, but I'm pretty sure I was gone for about a month. Jesus Christ. The thing was ever changing. I nearly died when the floor I was one started to collapse on itself!" Throwing his hand in the air, while mouthing the words 'Fuck it.' Tapping his foot twice before heading to the bar for a drink. With a small poof and a cloud of smoke, a horse was standing before me. Calling it a horse would be wrong, it humanoid with a horse's head, haunches, and feet. On his shoulder was a tiny female in blue leotard and wings.

"Don't be worries, that's your new friends. The humanoid equine is Orobas. The little girl is pixie."

"Orobas?"

"Yep."

"The Orobas?"

"Yup."

"The Orobas from the Goetia, The Lesser Key of Solomon?"

Orobas bows deeply before me, pixie had to flutter off his shoulder or risk falling, "That is correct my summoner. The Overlord has asked me to be your adviser. Your future is filled with peril and while I am may not confer any martial prowess, I will be able to protect you from temptation so long as I am bound to your soul."

"Sorry, not interested. From what I read about you, your abilities include bestowing honors, friendship with my foes, and protection from temptation and falsehood. Those alone, combined with your absolute loyalty is enough. But what worries me is your ability to predict the future. I don't want that."

"I understand Summoner. While I dare not claim knowledge of you, I was informed by the Overlord. I bound my ability to predict the future unless commanded and only at a specific time and place. I only serve as a guide to what your heart's desire regardless of what it may be."

"Just a guide? Nothing more?" Rubbing my head and sighing, "Is there anyway you can become a persona?"

"Only when you find my persona or wish to summon me. Until commanded otherwise, I am just another voice in your mind."

Patting the back of my neck, I knew I wasn't going to get out of this without gaining the servitude of a sentient being. Puffing out some air, I bow to Orobas, "I gladly accept your aid Great Prince of the twenty legions. My future is in your hands."

Standing up Orobas, heads to the doorway leading to my soul/mind. No sooner had he enter did the fog behind my eyes cleared. I felt... clear-headed. I didn't snap out of my stupor until pixie plucked out a nosehair.

Floating in front of me, the way she pouted reminded me of Minako, "Stop ignoring me!" She squeaked. Brushing her away so I don't go cross-eyed, the beads on my left hand touched her and she vanished.

Lucifer came back over with a Bloody Mary, "Oh, good. You figured how you bind a willing demon. Save me trouble. Now, your beads might work if they wish to you join, but sometimes you either have to beat them into submission or just let them attune to you. I'll let you know whenever I get a demon for you. One last thing. With Orobas as your current bind, you will start to see tarot cards and the occasional persona on people. Don't be alarmed. The tarot represent who they are, befriending them will power your social link. More importantly are the persona. Do not try and summon them. I repeat. DO. NOT. TRY. TO. SUMMON. SOMEONE. ELSE'S. PERSONA!"

"Ow... Why not?"

"For one, you'll gain it, but at the same action, you're effectively tearing out their embodiment. If they are lucky, they'll die off the get-go. If they survive, they'll either go catatonic or Apathy Syndrome or they just wander through life with nothing. Just a hollow shell of what they were." Producing a mirror out of thin air, he holds it front of me. "Focus on the space above your head. Shouldn't take more than a second."

He was right, it took less. Suddenly above my head was the Emperor and the Fool.

"The first card is the card you are born with, the second is what your current life is going on. Most of the time, you'll only see one. But special cases and all that. Any questions for either of us before you leave?"

"Two. First, directed at both of you, does this place still count as another dimension?"

Igor just seemed glad to be able to speak finally, "Absolutely my boy. So long as you're in the Velvet Room, time does not flow in the outside world."

"Same with the Satin Room. Difference is, if you wish, I can pull your body into the Satin Room and allow time to progress normally. Think of it as an 'oh shit, I need to bail' button. Not free by the way."

"Cool and fair. Question number two: how does summoning and persona work differently? Either ways I get to use the power of some eldritch being right?"

"Te he he. You would be half right on that regard. While persona would be easier to gain, a non-sentient persona doesn't affiliate itself with you. By that, I mean the magic a persona is at your command, it is powered by your own mental energies. Martial abilities would be powered by your physical stamina. Through persona, they are safe to develop their abilities and strengths."

"Summoning on the other hand, forces the demons out into your world. As such they must use their own power. By summoning them, they must learn to conserve their own magical and physical energies. In game terms, they will gain new spells and stuff and it teaches them to lower the costs of their spells and techs. The trade-off: their stats won't improve at all."

"Sweetness. I can live with that. Either ways I got backup helping me beat my enemies."

"Indeed. And when you have defeated your enemies, you will see the faces of possibility before you. There may be times when they are difficult to grasp... but do not fear. Seize what you have earned. Your power will grow accordingly... be sure to keep that in mind."

Nodding, I headed for the exit before Lucifer stopped me, "Summon pixie here. Trust me, you want to do your first summon here. If only to get used to it."

Feeling a bit foolish, Lucifer just told me to search through my memory palace and locate pixie. The second I found her, I could have sworn she fluttered in a circle in joy. Focusing on summoning her, I realized why Lucifer told me to do it here. The beads on my arm glowed and started separating outwards... taking parts of my arm with it! My fucking left arm looked like a peeled banana! I could see the inside and I could count the layers from the side with my duster sleeve being layer one. It was disturbing as all fuck! But at least it didn't hurt... Thankfully, pixie was tiny so the arm didn't need to open too wide and as soon as she was out, my arm reformed like nothing had happened.

Needless to say, I barfed while Lucifer laughed. Pixie tried to rub my back to comfort me, but the fact she was tiny meant she quickly gave up my back and worked on my neck. When I finally stopped, Lucifer placed another ginger beer cocktail in my hand before vaporizing the puddle with a snap.

I grumbled until I left with drink in hand.

Sitting out side of my magical space drink in hand, me and pixie each sipped quietly as the others arrive. The moment the passed the threshold, pixie made a little popping noise before disappear. For a moment, I though she had exploded. Until I saw the sipper move so she could drink some more. Standing up, Mitsuru greet me by pointing at my drink. Before she could start, "Ask no questions, get no lies."

She quickly let it go.

Junpei didn't even notice my cup since he was gazing around the room, "Woah... it's just as cool on the inside..."

"But it sure is creepy..." Minako nodded with Yukari's statement.

"This is only the entrance." Mitsuru stated. "The labyrinth lies beyond the doorway at the top of the stairs."

"First, we'll give you five a feel for this place. Why don't you go have a look around?"

"What? By ourselves?"

Mitsuru shook her head, "We're not asking you to go very far. And I'll be feeding you information from here."

Minato just deadpans at the senpais, "You two never planned on coming in in the first place?"

"That's right." Akihiko nodded before snapping his fingers, "We're also going to appoint a leader to make any necessary decisions."

"For real? One of us? Oh! Oh! Me! Me me me! Pick me!" Junpei was literally bouncing on his toes making monkey noises. God it was annoying the crap out of me. I honestly didn't give a damn who was made leader, I was just curious what Mitsuru was doing over in that corner of the room. Minako was hiding behind her brother and looked like she was praying Akihiko didn't see her. Minato looked like he wanted the role but didn't want to act like Junpei for it. Yukari-

"Dark, you're in charge."

"The fuck?" Judging by everyone's reaction, I think I said that out loud.

"W-wait a sec, why him? He doesn't look like a leader."

"Dude. Not cool man." I didn't notice I was about to crush the glass in my hand until pixie bit my lip. Seriously, why was I acting like this?

Orobas: Have you not seen his persona? Summoner, with me bound to you, you will see everything the present has to offer.

Focusing on Junpei, I could see it. He was a Magician and his persona Hermes. Hermes? The messenger of the gods? Why the hell am I so hostile toward him.

Orobos: Because the persona that you have equipped is Orpheus.

And Hermes was known to deliver soul of the dead to the underworld. Am I really going to have to worry about how each of my personae will interact with the others?

Orobas: Will it make you feel better to know that your relationship between the twins is improving?

Not at all seeing as how my persona is the son of Minato's and the nephew of Minako's... kinda makes it a bit weird...

Minako jumped in to defend me, but I could see Artemis getting a bit ruffled while trying to keep Apollo from drawing an arrow, "Well, he has fought them before Junpei-san."

"Seriously?"

"She's telling the truth. There's also another reason. Yukari. Junpei. Can you two summon your Persona without any difficulties like they can?" Pulling out his evoker and placing it on his temples.

"Y-Yeah, Of course I can!"

"I-I think so."

"These are shadows we're talking about here. Without your Persona, you're dead."

"Hang on there a moment Akihiko-senpai. Like you pointed out, I wasn't the only one. Why didn't you nominate Minato? I perfectly fine with him being leader. There's no shame in being second or third chair."

Akihiko gave me a confused look, "To be honest, I had considered it. But of the three of you that summoned, you were the only one that displayed any fighting experience."

"Great... If I'm leader, I want Junpei as my adviser."

"Wait what?"

"Before you get all giddy. I want to get this out first. I am your leader. As such, I expect you lot to obey my command to the letter."

Minato rolled his eyes, "Great... he's one of those guy-"

"In return!" Shouting over Minato, I was in business-mode so I was making eye-contact with each person individually, "I will do everything to keep you all safe. If that means staying behind to buy time, I will do it without a second thought. All I ask, is that you do not put the team in danger. Repeatedly doing so will force me to make a difficult decision. But I would rather us return with only four out of five instead of three or less. I will not think twice before leaving someone behind if it means the group will survive. You can hate me, but if it must be done, I will do it. For that reason, I want Junpei as my second-in-command." Turning to him, I place a hand on his shoulder, "You alone will be allowed to question my anything I do and your job is to stop me if I go past a line. I need someone I can trust. Can you do this for me?"

For a while we just stare at each other, but he nods and pats my hand, "I gotcha."

"Good. Now that that is all settled," We turn to watch Mitsuru wheel a rack of weapons. Really cruddy weapons. Really cruddy weapons in bad condition. Pushing the rack toward us, she continues, "Now, I don't expect there to be much trouble, but just in case, I would like you guys to grab something." I have no idea why they had a rack of weapons, but it made sense where Yukari got the swords.

Junpei grabbed the katana, "A real man uses a sword!"

Yukari just unslung her bow.

Minato grabbed a short sword.

Minako opted for the naginata.

I shook my head.

"Dark? Not picking a weapon. Little cocky don't you think? Going barehanded?"

"Big sword backed-up with big words Junpei. You compensating for something?"

"Hell no! This is a man's weapon!" As he was giving the katana a few test swings I immediately got a bad feeling. First off, he was holding it all wrong. Second, katanas required a push-pull motion to cause significant damage, he was swinging the sword around like it was a baseball bat. I actually had to stop one of his swings with my bowie when he nearly hit me in the neck with it.

I was giving him a withering glare when Minako went up and smack him in the shoulder, "What's wrong with you! You could have hit one of us!''

Junpei was rubbing his arm when he turned to look at me, "I'm really sorry dude."

Fighting off Orpheus's anger, I exhaled as much negativity as I could, "Look, forget about. Just, be more careful. I don't want us getting injured unnecessarily."

"... So. You use knives?"

"They aren't all I use. I just prefer light weapons that can also be thrown. Spikes, knives, daggers, darts, hell even the occasional handaxe."

"Aren't they kinda weak?"

"I dunno. I'd ask the shadow how it felt when I sunk a dart into his eye, but he's kinda busy being dead." Granted I didn't kill him, but Junpei doesn't need to know that.

"Bullshit."

"Junpei. Much as I hate giving Dark any credit, I was there. I saw him sink that dart into the eye of a shadow."

While Junpei was busy being in awe of my mad skills, I took one of my auto-spikes and slipped it underneath the left index finger of my glove. Getting sensation back into my left arm is great, but I gotta say, it's a bit uncomfortable. I probably won't be able to keep doing this.

Okay. Enough was enough! Mitsuru has been staring at me rather curiously since I stopped Junpei's swing. Turning to stare at her, she finally decides to ask me what was on her mind, "Phatiamos-kun, how many weapons are you carry on you right now?"

I honestly didn't expect that question, closing my eyes, I begin to tic off my current inventory on my fingers. When I was about sure of my answer, "Around twenty or so."

It looked like Mitsuru wanted to say something but in the end, sent us on our way.

We had just taken a step inside when I heard a blip in my head, It's Mitsuru, can everyone hear me? I turned around to look at the other and apparently, this time it wasn't just me. I wasn't sure if she could hear me, but all the same, "Hello? Mitsuru?"

Yes?

"Loud and clear."

"Whoa, is that you senpai?"

I'll be providing audio backup from here on out.

Surprised Junpei is surprised, "Wait... Ya mean you can see inside here?"

It's my Persona's ability. I'd like to join you, but the structure of Tartarus changes from day to day. That's why outside support is imperative.

Minako let out a small whimper and Yukari switched to period-mode, "Well THAT makes me feel a whole lot better..."

Judging by your location, you can expect to encounter enemies at any minute. They shouldn't be too tough, but proceed with caution. Practice makes Perfect.

"Better, senpai. Practice makes better."

While everyone else was psyching themselves up for the fight, I could help but overhear Yukari mumble under her breath, "Why is she always like that…"

Let's begin. Keep in mind, these are real battles you'll be engaging in. Now, see if you can eliminate all the Shadows wandering around on this floor.

We had barely rounded the corner when I saw something ahead of us. Since the group was behind me and the senpais were downstairs... Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out Leatherman folding knife and held it by the blade. With the first flick of my wrist, the handle locked in place, with the second flick of my wrist, I sent the blade tumbling through the air.

Watch out! I detect a shadow in front of you. Move in and- Thunk, the blade scored a direct hit. With a gurgle, the blob released a massive cloud of smoke. Having shielded our eyes, we never saw how the walls expanded outwards in contact with the smoke. By the time we looked around, the hallway we were in was as wide as a basketball court. To me, it wasn't the change in dimension but the fact that we seem to be floating on a platform floating in space. Recovering the fastest, I sidestep a clumsy attack from the shadow and buried a spike in its arm. So it shrunk from a big blob to a smaller blob with a mask after expanding the room. Worst. Enemy. Ever- Before I could finish my thought, something slapped so hard on my ass I thought my head would pop off. Seriously. I swear that I was just spanked by the champion ass-spanker of the world. "YEEEE-OW!"

Dark, be careful! There are more than one enemy!

In my embarrassment and pain, I had unconsciously switched back to English, "Thanks a lot Mitsuru! But my ass wants to tell you, YOU'RE A BIT LATE! SUNAVABITCH!" Looking at the one that wanted to get kinky with me, I noticed my Leatherman sticking out the back of it's head. Pulling out another Leatherman, I could see the thing recoil a step. Orobas? I want you to keep a lock-on on that shadow. If you could kindly tell pixie to support these guys, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Orobas: Yes, Summoner.

And with that, I sprinted off after the ass-smacking little shit.

The others hear my screams of pain and started fighting. I didn't even know they were done. Apparently the space in which we fight actually has a set limit, falling off it, however... I'm still waiting for a splat. Once the battle was probably over, the space became the same dimensions as the hallway we were in. Feeling a strain on my 'tock, I apparently ended up right where we first entered and had to limp back. Once again, Minako plows right into me for a bone-crunching hug when she noticed my hobbling form making the corner.

"Dude! Where the hell were you? The smoke kicked in, it looked like we got teleported into space, we heard you scream and you were nowhere to be found. Mitsuru tried to contact you, but got only static. Minako thought you got thrown into space or something." Noticing my hobble and pained wince, "Dude? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. When the fight started I got ambushed. The attack might have struck a tendon or muscle." Waving my hand dismissively, "I'll walk it off."

Minato gently pulls Minako off me, "But that doesn't tell us where you went."

"After the thing bushwhacked me, I saw it take off. I went off after it to make sure it didn't double-back to get you guys."

"Phatiamos-san..." I have no counter-attack for the shiny look of admiration Minako was giving me.

"Um... So... Did you guys summon your Persona?" And judging by how interesting the floor not one of them did it.

"Actually, it was kind of weird... Every so often I bit of lightning would go off and hit the shadow before it could hit any of us. Mitsuru-senpai couldn't figure it out." Yukari then raised an eyebrow at me, "Was that you?"

"Uh..."

Feeling a presence on my left shoulder, a soft-girly voice whispers a bit tiredly into my ear, "I had to fire off six bolts, but none of your friends got hurt. Did I do good?"

Letting out a nervous laugh, my right hand starts to scratch my neck (I was really giving pixie a gentle back rub), "It did good! Right? ... Ha... I tried summoning my persona... about six-ish times. More or less, when he didn't show I kinda ended up... Nevermind! What I learned today is: Orpheus seems to appear where my team is. Let this be a lesson to not solo on your own. On a side note! I pull out a handful of coins. When the shadow died, it kinda collapsed into some coins, it happened with you lot?" Judging from the look on their face and how quickly they ran back, they totally didn't check. As they sprinted off, I took this chance to check on pixie. Holding out my right palm, "You okay there sweetie?"

Dropping her invisibility, she gave a small spin in my palm before placing her hands behind her head to give me a smile, "No problem!"

She couldn't fool me. I could see her struggling to stay afloat and with how fast her chest was going, she was trying not to give away her exhaustion by taking deep breaths. With one glance from her to my face, she knew she was busted. What I didn't expect was her breaking into tears and then clinging on to my thumb nor how sad I would feel when she told me why, "Don't throw me away! Pixie will do better! Pixie will fight harder! Don't throw Pixie away!"

Orobas?

Orobas: Pixies are the weakest and the most plentiful demons on our realm. They are often contracted by novice summoner to start, but are also the first to be discarded. Unfortunately, pixies quickly grow attached to their summoners and thus rarely allow their contracts to be broken. As such, it is common practice for crueler summoners to call forth pixies for 'suicide' mission. It is unfortunate, but after a period of neglect a pixie will allow herself to be summoned without a toll and thus... Pixies are among the most innocent and child-like demons of our realm and you know the saying about children.

"Children feel emotions more intensely than adults. They are quicker to laugh and swifter to love. More vulnerable to sorrow and faster to whither when abandoned..." Letting out a shuddering breath... born from the throbbing pain in my ass and the chase, I look at the small figure still crying on my thumb, "Amy." That stopped her crying as she gave me a confused look. "Pixie isn't a name, that's what you are. I'll name you Amy. It's old French. It means 'loved' and to prove it, I swear that I will never unsummon you. No matter how taxing it gets."

At first, she didn't seem convinced. But, "Do you promise?"

"No. Promises are just words and words can easily be broken. Vows are bound to your soul. I swear I won't abandon you."

Sniffling a bit, Amy ended up blowing her nose on my thumb before fluttering up and taking a seat on my shoulder. I know she's tiny and all and the amount of snot was probably negligible... but I still ended up wiping my thumb on the walls.

Orobas: Very good Summoner, but how did you know that you can summon more than one demon?

I can do what now?

Orobas: You didn't know? ... *smack* And there was the facepalm. I think Orobas is finally understanding the situation he got himself in.

With that bit of drama over with and Amy going invisible, I joined up with the rest. Apparently they did in fact miss the loot and was now bickering who should get what amount. "I'm gone for a few moments... again... and teamwork goes down the drain? Look, how about this. We all give everything to me- HEAR ME OUT FIRST! Good. We give everything we find to me, cash will be divided up evenly at the end of every Tartarus run. Excess goes into a pot that will benefit the dorm."

"Yeah, but what about the one doing all the heavy lifting?"

"Fine. If we find items and I'm sure we will, because this is feeling like a RPG every second. IF we find items, I will hand them out based on overall merit after chatting with Mitsuru."

M-me?

"Yup. Merits include damage or number of shadow killed, not getting over your head... like I did..., not endangering your allies, stuff like that. Are we in agreement?" And like I had planned, everyone nodded.

Well put Dark.

"Thank you. Now, I think I can hear another shadow somewhere further down. This time, I'll initiate but I'll hang back to watch the fight. I know that sounds bad, but I need to know how you fight so I can come up with some for of strategy." Good news was, I was right about there being another shadow, bad news, it spotted me. The thing nearly got me if I didn't point-blank it right then and there.

The fight started and I immediately started lurking around the back taking mental notes. Junpei and Minato was hitting hard, but there was a trade-off for the damage they were doing. Junepi's wild swings ended up missing more than they were hitting while Minato would make a good hit and immediately pull back defensively rather than follow-up. Yukari was accurate and her damage wasn't terrible, but it took her the longest to make any attack because she had to make sure we wouldn't get hit. Minako was pretty light on her feet, the naginata was definitely a good choice for her. The problem was: she was opposite of her brother. While she couldn't make a single heavy hit, her first hit opened up the enemies and she would launch multiple attacks as follow-up. But at that point, rather than pull-back, she would switch targets and go after another enemy's opening and some of the times, she wouldn't make it in time. While she was busy running around, twice I had to go Assassin's Creed on a shadow that was creeping up on her. Other than the individual problem, there was also the fact that no one was communicating. No one. At one point everyone had tried to attack a shadow that Yukari had finished off, only to stand around for a second looking dumbfound...

Thankfully, the skirmish ended safely and as everyone gathered up the loot, I had some serious thinking to do... Stuffing our spoils into a pocket in my duster, "Okay. Wasn't bad. I'm going pair everyone off as follows. Yukari and Junpei, You two are responsible for all shadows that appear on the left, You start from the furthest and move toward the center. Minako and Minato, you two are together and you go right."

"Why do I have to be paired off with Junpei?!"

"Because he hits harder than you but needs time to set up that hit. You job is to make sure he's covered and has time to recover after each attack. Any questions? Good. Mitsuru? Is there any more shadows for us to wail on?"

You've cleared the floor. I would recommend that everyone split up and explore the floor for a staircase that leads upward.

Nodding my head, "Well, you lot heard the boss lady. We divvy up in pairs like I assigned. No heroics. You stick with your partner, you go where they go, you keep verbal communications, and you play nice. Your partner's life is in your hands and the last thing you need is a pissed off partner watching your back. Yukari, Junpei, you guys go left. Arisato twins, right. I'll take center."

"Are you sure that's safe Phatiamos-san?"

"Not at all. But if I get into trouble, it's easier for the four of you to back me up than anything else. Good luck."

The walk was a bit lonely, but I was fortunate to have Amy the pixie and Orobas to keep me company. I had just rounded a corner when Mitsuru blipped in my head.

Takeba and Iori found a briefcase filled with some sort of medicine- The Arisato twins has just found a briefcase filled with money Both will now head towards Dark-san's location.

"Mitsuru, would you please tell the others to announce how much of what they found next time? That way we don't have any misunderstandings? Whoa." In front of me was a staircase bathed in light. Without putting any thought to it, I just walked pass the threshold and felt a sense of safety. "Mitsuru? I found the staircase."

Got it, I'll let them know.

There's another Shadow ahead of you! With my power, I can analyse an enemy to determine its weaknesses and strengths.

"Well! Let's get on it. Junpei. You're lead on this one."

Junpei was bursting with excitement, "Really man!"

"All yours."

Junpei ended up running toward the shadow with a whoop. It gave away our position and we didn't get to ambush it like I had wanted, but so long as it kept his morale up and didn't get anyone hurt. Meh. As soon as the battlefield unfolded I had Mitsuru analyze the enemy.

Despite the fact that I was hanging outside of the battle against four shadows, I could immediately see the plan had worked! There was no confusion over enemies. The twins were flawlessly weaving between each other as they shredded the...

They're called Cowardly Mayas. I need a moment longer to discover their weakness...

"No rush." Looking over to the left, Junpei and Yukari was working well. But it was rather stiff. It kind of reminded of that one episode of Firefly where Zoe walked up to Malcom and just deadpans the line "Take me sir. Take me hard."

Magician shadows like them are usually weak against fire.

Summon me and use my skill Agi...
Summon me and use my skill Agi...

Looking between Minato and Junpei's persona I could see they heard Mitsuru. Apollo and eagerly plucking his bow while Hermes's formless mass seem to be rubbing his... fingers? Problem was, both of them was visibly trying to ignore their respective personae and it was starting to affect their abilities. "Guys? What's going on? Start using your persona!"

"Dude, I'm doing great without it!"
"I don't need to just yet."

Neither of those statements made the personae happy. I'm not sure what might happen, but I wasn't going to wait. In a low voice, "Amy, I need you to stay away and do nothing... This is going to hurt..." Shrugging off my duster along with my evoker and bowie. Taking a nervous breath, I slowly walk toward the center.

DARK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

Mitsuru's shout instantly drew everyone's attention to me as I made center. Entwining my fingers together and placing them behind my head.

"Phatiamos-san?!"
"Dark-san!"

Grinning as I look down on the floor, "Hey. They're weak to fire. Good hunting." The moment I dropped to my knees, everyone hesitated. Except the mayas. They immedately broke away from whoever they were fighting and went straight after me. The first strike landed on my chest, it didn't break bone, but the compression was bad enough to stop my breathing for a few moments. Next one hit the back of my hands, I was glad my hands cushioned most of the damage, but that also meant I landed on my face from the force of the blow causing a nosebleed. The last two caught my kidneys and the resulting exhale splattered the blood pooling around my head all over the place.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait any longer as two shots rang out. The first was Minato's, I watched as Apollo's face contort with rage and two arrows shot out and incinerate the mayas to my right. To my left, I watch as Hermes took the form of someone in a sleek black and gold armor while layered golden plates formed a pair of wings behind him. Both his wings and winged helmet held an edge that glinted dangerously, warning his foes that they were not just simple decorations. For each snap of the fingers Hermes created a flame so strong that had I not turned my head, I might have been blinded. All-in-all, I might be suffering from renal failure, but at least the guys summoned their persona, not bad overall. As soon as the soft chime of falling coins were heard, the girls rand toward me or at least, the ones that could. Yukari and Mitsuru was giving me an earful, Minako was actively slapping the back of my head and crying, and Amy was biting my earlobe. It wasn't until I didn't respond in anyway did anyone start to realize it might be serious.

Summon me and allow me to tend to him.

"Persona! Dia!"

Turning my head slightly I saw a Yukari's persona take form. Seated upon and chained to a throne in the shape of a white bull was a figure made entirely of onyx that greatly resembled Yukari but with long blonde hair. Opening her eye to look into mine, she raised her hands above her and a gentle shower of sparkling light wash over me. Instantly, most of my pain vanished. Releasing my hands, I roll my shoulders back to relieve the stiffness. Scooching a bit away from the pool of nose blood, I roll onto my back and sit up with a grin. "Well... good morning everyone."

Their response was less than pleasant, Mitsuru immediately told me that we were going to have a meeting, Yukari smashed her bow on my head, Junpei and Minato each kicked me in the back of my head, and Minako jumped up and sat on my back to keep me pinned.

It took a lot of apologizing and the promise to explain myself before Minako got off me and even then I was starting to black out.

When they surrounded me with a rather menacing black aura, I really knew I wasn't going to get out of this safely if I didn't explain...

Orobas: No Summoner. You will not be getting out of this unscathed without explaining it to them.

"I can see persona."

"..."

"..."
"... You guys hit him again and I'll sit on his back until he's about to pass out again."

"WAIT! I'M BEING SERIOUS! I CAN SEE PERSONA!"

"So can we whenever we summon them."

"I can see them before their summoned." When Minato and Junpei started to grab my arms, I began to panic. As much as I love Minako, she was bloody heavy when she say on my back! "APOLLO AND HERMES WAS TELLING YOU TWO TO SUMMON THEM AND USE AGI WHILE IO TOLD YOU TO SUMMONER SO SHE COULD TEND TO MY WOUNDS!" That got everyone's attention. Pulling my arms out of their grip, I scamper a bit so I can get to my feet in relative safety.

Looking back, Minako was the only one to look confused rather than surprised, "Wait, you mean he was telling the truth?"

"Look, I don't know what I can, but I can see persona in each person. More than that, it's like looking at the stat of a video game character: I can see name, arcana, spells and abilities, consumption rate, I can see them interact within you, and I can hear them. Like even now, I can hear Apollo and Artemis whispering to you, telling you to forgive me and to trust me. Look. I did stupid. I know that. But if I didn't... I could see Hermes and Apollo going stir-crazy inside you and judging from how you started to fight, I'd say ignoring your persona does in fact affect you. ... Liiiightbulb!" Orobas, I just had a thought. Remember how Lucifer first told me that persona was an avatar of their respective representative but only had a fragment of their power and personality?

Orobas: Yes Summoner.

Doesn't that mean that the personae can interact with each other in some capacity?

Orobas: It does and seeing how the persona was successfully summoned, they can now be summoned outside of this time and place for interactive purposes, though, they will be no different than a ghost to anyone without the potential.

Good enough for me! Orpheus, you ready to meet your dad?

Orpheus: ...

Orpheus?

Orpheus: ...

Orobas?

Orobas: Orpheus doesn't like to speak very much is all.

Um... Oh! Harmonious chord for yes, discord for no. Are you read-

The moment I heard a few notes, I smirked. "All set. Minato, I need you to summon Apollo for me, but don't give him a command, just summon."

"Okay..." Both Minato's and Apollo's eyebrow went up but they went with it. The moment he summoned Apollo, I called Orpheus. For a while the two personae just floated there, staring at each other. It wasn't until Orpheus unhook his lyre and strum a few notes did Minato started sniffling and the two personae disappear.

"Onii-san? Why are you crying?"

"I dunno. I just felt sad..."

"It's because Apollo just saw his son." Apparently no one here reads Greek mythology... "According to Greek myths, Orpheus is Apollo's son, Artemis's nephew. That's right even your personae are brother and sister. Anyways, Orpheus's beloved wife dies from being bitten by a poisonous snake and he goes to the underworld to find her. You girls shouldn't look that happy. It's romantic, yes, but the ending is like Izanagi and Izanami." And I just ruined their happy moment, "After losing his wife a second time, he swears off the gods except his dad, who gave him the lyre, by-the-way, and he gets torn to shreds leaving behind a head and the lyre."

Wiping away his tears, "Wait. So all those times I was nice to you..."

"It was probably Apollo unconsciously detecting Orpheus. Apparently, unless directly summoned to interact with each other, they don't even know who's with who. Oh and Junpei, don't summon Hermes near me for the same reason?" Cutting him off before he could open his mouth, "In the myths who lived or died was determined by three sisters BUT! They were collected by one of three beings as well. Death himself did most of the work. Thanatos who, while grim, comforted and collected those who were alone. Finally, there was Hermes, the messenger of the gods who did it because he usually had nothing better to do than to deliver the dead like mail. Two guesses on which of the three delivered Orpheus's wife."

Immediately, Minako went up and started taking massive bites out of Junpei. Despite the fact that it wasn't Artemis's intention, it sure as hell was Minako's.

Having accepted my explanation (finally)... we went about taking out some shadows on the second floor. The next fight went smoother than the last, 'cept Minako still hasn't summoned and for some reason no one summoned either... It was just I finished off the last Maya did something different occur. Time froze and three cards appeared before me. Because everything seemed to be going on the tarot theme, I recognized them as the one of wand, the one of cup, and the two of sword. I have no bleeding idea what the hell I was doing. But since the sword was the largest number, I was about to reach out for it when the cards came to life and started orbiting around me in different speeds and routes. Really? Three Card Monte? I could do this with one eye put out. Reaching out, I snag the sword right as it crossed in front of the cup. As soon as my hand closed around it, time started up again. I didn't notice the weight until Junpei started screaming.

"D-dude! What the hell!"

Looking at where he was pointing, if that last hallucination was to be believed, the sword card had actually turned into a real sword.

Iori, what's wrong?

"Right after we beat the last shadows, a sword just appeared in Dark's hand. I was watching. First there was nothing, then poof! Sword!"

While Mitsuru was trying to comprehend the situation, I was giving the sword in my hand a once over. It was just another katana. Wasn't my cup of tea. Seeing as how Junpei was using two-handers, I reverse the grip and offer it to him handle first. He was hesitant at first... for three seconds. Now he's giving that silly thing a few test swings and I'm left picking up the sword he dropped. Giving a small dust-off, I rest it on my shoulder until I can decide what to do with it.

The second fight was exactly like the previous. 'Cept this time there was a card that looked like pixie instead of a sword. Figuring I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, I snagged pixie. Hi, I'm pixie! I'll be helping from now on!

... Cool, I just grabbed the persona card for pixie, now she can live in my soul! Dude! She doesn't have access to zio yet! WTF!? Fuckitall... Dia for healing is better than nothing... Deciding to keep that tidbit to myself, I follow the group as they started chattering about something when we hit a crossroad. It was strange, there wasn't any more shadows anywhere. It was just quiet. Thinking nothing of it, I took advantage of the brief stop, Hey, Orobas. Is Amy still-

Orobas: She is still rather crossed with you is hovering about fifteen feet above your head. She is considering whether or not to start dropping rocks on your head.

Sighing a bit, I thought I saw a bit of motion off in my peripheral. I swear, it looked like something waving at me or something. When I felt a ice in my stomach, I knew it was time to go. "Guys. Guys! EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP AND BACK UP! N-!" The scraping sound drowned out my words. Oh, I was going nuts trying to source it, but the crossroad was just echoing everything everywhere. I couldn't even be sure that it wasn't coming behind us. By the time I spotted it coming from the left, there was no way for me to draw. The shadow was red as blood and was blitzing toward us. No way Junpei was going to make it in time. No way. I know I had just promised to not doing anything stupid... but like I told Amy, 'promises are just words'. Putting everything onto my toes, I spring right at it and shoulder rammed it before it could get to Junpei.

Unlike the others, this shadow EXPLODED. The blast hit me hard enough that I actually bounced a bit. By the time our battlefield had opened up, everyone was on their ass. Before were Cowardly Mayas, but not the four or five we've been fighting. Nope. There was ten. Ten! We just got to our feet, but it was their initiative. Three immediately went after Junpei to hamstring him, knocked him right on his ass. The third followed up with a nasty crack to his ankle. I couldn't hear a break, but it was at least sprained. Minako, Yukari, and I got a single bitchslap a piece, the remaining for just went to town on Minato.

Minako was hysterical. She pratically jammed her evoker into her temples and started pulling the trigger as fast as she could when her Maya the mob that was beating Minato, "Get away from my brother! Artemis! Bufu!" For each time she pulled a trigger, Artemis was fire another arrow of ice. Each shot hit its mark, but did nothing to stop them from wailing on Minato. It was getting bad, Minato had turtled up to stop some of the damage, but I could his defense crumbling. He needed help, but we were surrounded. I had to make a bad decision..., "Yukari, focus on backing up Junpei! Join us when you deal with yours!"

"Dude! Minato!"

"They are weak to wind and fire. Junpei keep summoning Hermes. Yukari, use arrows and healing. Do what I say. DON'T COME OVER HERE!" I was glaring holes into them. Minako heard me, heard my command. She'll hate me, but I had to make sure that most of us got out alive. There was no way Orpheus was going to be able to stop them all. Not in time... But that wasn't stopping me. I had pulled the trigger three times, and I watched a three of the mayas flipped on its back, stunned. I never got a fourth shot off, I got careless. I knew Junpei and Yukari was fighting four of them leaving us with six, but there was only five attack Minato. The sixth one, did what I was doing the whole time, it used the chaos to slip outside of the fight. It quietly lurked in the darkness and waited for everyone to get immersed in the fight to notice its approach and just like me, it went for the head. The rabbit punch laid me out, my evoker clatter off somewhere. Before I could even start seeing double vision, the shadow flipped me over, sliding over my left arm, and pinning my right, this Maya decided that strangling me would be easier than beating me to death. Looking at the mask, I could see the mouth contort into a smile. No! I beat you! I bested you! I'm not dying here because you're a sore loser! Sucking in as much air as I could, I let out a hoarse shout, "AMY! BOLT!"

A zigzag of energy struck the Maya on me and it's muscles instantly locked up. My chest felt like someone had just punched it, but my heart sure as fuck wasn't going to stop now! Growling, I shoved the little fucker off me. As I tried to catch my breath, everything went bullet-time. Yukari was having her hands full trying to keep Junpei fighting fit while he wasn't doing as much damage because he couldn't put weight on one of his ankles. Minako looked exhausted and was dropping her evoker to charge in when Minato's arm started to fall limply to his side.

"Amy... drop the invisibility and don't worry about being caught. The second I clear Minato, heal him. Use everything, keep him alive..." I had no evoker and my knives where enough. But I had Magician MK2 next to me. Staring down at his stunned form, I grinned spread along my face. Jamming my left hand into Magician v.2's eyes, I spear my right hand into the tiny slot where the mouth was. I heard my pinky snap when it hit the solid mask, but I didn't flinch. I felt fingernails being torn from the fingers, but I didn't care. As I tightly gripped Magician's face, I cool feel the mask cut into the bone of my hand, but I wasn't going to stop. The twins only had each other. I wasn't going to let Minako kill herself in despair. If my hand was the cost- "I'LL GLADLY PAY TWICE!" Using everything I had, I swung Magician 2.0 like I was going for the gold in the Hammerthrow. From what the others told me after the fight, I had turned into a literal, hulking berserk up until the end of the fight.

POV: Minako

I couldn't think of anything else at the time but get to my brother. Artemis had used up everything and the Mayas didn't stop. I was so scared when I saw onii-san's hand fall. I was just about to reach the closest when something black and fast slammed into the Mayas. I had to stop before it hit me. Standing there, holding a Maya in his hand like a weapon was Phatiamos-s.. Phatiamos. I'll never call him 'san' again. He told Yukari-san and Junpei-san to stay back and not help my brother. I hate him. If something happens to onii-san... I-I'll never forgive him!

I was about to go and smack him, yell at him, something! But he was just standing there breathing loudly. He wasn't checking on onii-san, just standing there. That was went I felt a pinch on my nose and with a small pop a little fairy-thing appear in front of me. She was so cute.

"Stop looking at me and drag Minato out of there! Dark is buying you time! Gogogogogogo!"

Snapping out of my stupor, I couldn't help but wonder how she knew about Phatiamos or my brother, but I didn't wait. Grabbing onii-san's legs, I dragged him away. His face was a mess. There was so much blood everywhere! I didn't even know if he was breathing... But the fairy. She just rubbed her hands and shouted 'dia' and a small shower of sparkles covered onii-san and some of the cuts stopped bleeding. She kept doing it and each time onii-san got better! By the time the fairy fluttered out of the air and started casting dia from onii-san's chest, he was groaning! I was so happy when onii-san sat up that I didn't see the Maya charging at us until it was nearly too late. The fairy shouted 'ce-oh' or something but a few sparks just flew out of her hands before she just collapsed to her knees. When the thing got close enough to hit us, Phatiamos kicked it from behind and it smashed into the pillar behind me and bounced somewhere.

This was the first time I actually saw him since the fight began: he was bleeding from the mouth, a bruise was forming under his jaw, blood was seeping beneath his torn jeans, the only thing that even looked pristine was his upper-body where his duster covered. I couldn't help it, I just thought to myself, Good, I hope it hurts. I hope it all hurts him. When Yukari shouted for help, I really wasn't sure what was going to happen, what with me out of energy and onii-san just waking up. What did happen was Phatiamos started to spin really fast. Not really really fast, it was about 30 revolutions per minute, 1 revolution per second, but all the same, pretty quick. Only reason I could count that was because I could keep track of the Maya. Anyways, he started picking up speed when he let go of the Maya with his left hand, by the time he let go of the Maya completely, the thing hurled at the other Mayas attacking Junpei like a bowling ball. I heard Phatiamos fall down, but I didn't get to see it. When I had turned to look, something splattered on my face and it made me squeak and flinch.

I felt onii-san's hands on my face, wiping something away. His voice was full of concern, "Minako, you're bleeding."

Wiping my face with my sleeve, I could see smears of blood on it. The little fairy had just climbed up on my shoulder and started screaming 'Dark! Dark' at the top of her lungs. I didn't care. I didn't, until I heard her started crying. She whimpered out, "You hand..." I looked up... mostly out of curiosity. When he finally let go of the Maya, the momentum caused him to roll, until he was just a few feet from us. He was dizzy from the spinning and was only just starting to get up. Whenever he slipped and his right hand hit the ground, it left little pools of blood. But I didn't care! He was going to let my brother die. I didn't care!

Hello? Am I getting through?

"Mitsuru-senpai?"

Thank goodness! I was trying to reach you the whole time! I'll ask what happen later! The enemies are down! Attack them with everything you have!

Standing up, Phatiamos started laughing rather creepily for a bit before using the side of his right hand to draw a line across his throat, leaving a trail of blood, "About damn time... You heard the boss-lady! BOOTS! MEDIUM-STYLE!" And with that, he sprinted after the fallen group of Mayas and began to jump up and stomp down on the big one. Junpei and Yukari joined him soon after, with Junpei stabbing downward with his katana and Yukari smashing the shadow with her bow. When onii-san scrambled to get up and join in with his sword, I vaulted in after him to help stomp. My weapon was too big in the tight-quarters for me to use properly. We attacked so hard that it kicked up dust.

When we did as much as we could, we were standing around catching our breath when Phatiamos let out this feral roar and the dust seem to clear up in fear. I could have sworn, that for a moment, the dust took on the shape of a skull before dispersing. Standing there for a moment longer, he fell flat on his ass with a groan.

Author's notes: Waay longer than expected. Don't regret it though. Turns out Minako's smarter than she acts. ^^; Enjoy and drop a review when you can.