I do not own Naruto or the Persona Series.
"Fuuka!" normal speech
"Persona!" thought/mind speak
"Persona!" demon/Shadow/Persona speak
Chapter VIII
[Dark Hour]
*Tartarus; Arqa*
Naruto laid on the floor of Tartarus for a moment before stirring back into consciousness as he slowly pushed himself up.
"Ugh…" the blond groaned as he focused on ridding the cobwebs in his skull, "…What happened?"
As he sat up, Naruto began to remember the past events that led him to this situation…
[End Dark Hour]
Flashback
*Gekkoukan High*
The members of SEES had just made it inside of one of the homerooms in their school in the midst of night through an unlocked door thanks to Junpei.
"Can we turn on a light?" Yukari asked as she hugged herself and looked around, "This place is just as creepy as Tartarus."
"Sorry Yukari," Naruto said as he leaned against the chalkboard, "but this requires stealth, meaning that we have to stick to the shadows and hide our presence if we are to save Fuuka-chan."
"Naruto's right." Mitsuru said as she kept her cool in the darkness, "I suggest we split up and search for the key to the gym."
"Most likely the key will be either in the teacher's lounge or the janitor's closet," Naruto said as he kept an eye out for anything, "We need to look at both places in order to find that key."
"I'll look in the teacher's lounge," Junpei offered as a sly grin formed on his face, "might stumble upon a few report cards by accident."
Akihiko gave the hat-wearing teen a curious look before he said, "I'll go with Junpei…just to keep him out of trouble."
Sensing the hidden message, Mitsuru glared at the two before she said, "Sorry, but I think it would be best if both Iori and Akihiko go with me to the janitor's closet while the rest go to the teacher's lounge. Understood."
Busted, Naruto thought with a quiet chuckle before seeing his cousin leave the room with Junpei and Akihiko following her.
"Alright," Yukari said with a nervous look on her face, "let's go get that key."
"I suggest we split up as well," Naruto said as he walked towards Kotone, "We're not going to stick out more than we already do if we have small groups."
"What do mean about sticking out more than we already do?" Yukari asked with a slight insulted tune in her voice.
Naruto gave the girl a deadpanned look before he, Minato, and Kotone walked close to her as they were wearing their BLACK Gekkoukan High jackets while Yukari was wearing her PINK jacket.
"Point taken." Yukari said as she realized what the blond was meaning before she and Minato went out the room and headed towards the left.
"Lead the way." Kotone said as Naruto nodded before they too had left the room and headed towards the right and down the stairs.
They had passed a few of the class rooms, remaining ever so quiet as to not raise any alarms.
"Yukari's right…" Kotone whispered to herself as she stuck close to the blond before her with hands gripping the sleeve of his jacket, "this place is creepy like this."
"Reminds me of a game I had played some time ago," Naruto said as he kept a sharp lookout for anything, "except there's no killer robots out to get us."
The two continued to travel until they made it to the entrance where Yukari and Minato had just made it as well.
The sound of footsteps had alerted the group of a guard walking by, causing Minato and Yukari to hide behind one of the columns while Naruto and Kotone hide behind the archway into the hallway. The blond saw the triangular shape of the light from the flashlight while seeing the frightened look on both girls while Minato had a hardened look of anticipation on his face.
*kerash!*
"What was that?" a gruff voice said as the beam of light quickly vanished while the footsteps echoed away from the group until they could no longer be heard.
Sensing that the guard was gone, the group let out sighs of relief knowing that-
*du-du-ding!*
*du-du-ding!*
"Ah!" Yukari yelped out, causing the group to tense up in fear of the guard returning and discovering them.
Knowing where the noise was coming from, Yukari quickly pulled out her cell phone and looked to see what it was before putting the device back in the pocket of her skirt and said, "Figures…spam."
Holding back his thoughts, Naruto quietly growled out, "Let's just GET to the teacher's lounge before anything ELSE happens!"
The trio quickly nodded as the memory of that frightening look on the blond's face was still fresh on their minds.
Once they made it to the hall were the lounge was located, Naruto looked at Yukari and Minato as he said, "Kotone and I will keep a lookout while you two go get that key. I'll signal you when to hide and text you when it's safe."
The duo nodded before entering the teacher's lounge as quietly as possible through their limited sight.
Hope no more surprises happen, the blond thought as he wasn't sure just HOW the guard didn't double back due to Yukari's scream.
It felt like hours while the blond continued to keep an eye out for anything after he had texted Mitsuru that they had made it to the lounge.
How long does it take to find one freaking key!? Naruto thought to himself until he felt a tug on his jacket before looking to find Kotone with a slightly distressed look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked while still keeping a sharp lookout, "Is someone coming?"
Kotone shook her head before the blond then asked, "You think the guard might check here in a few minutes?"
Another shake of the head caused the blond to then harshly ask, "Then what IS it!?"
The girl was quiet until she bluntly whispered, "I gotta pee."
The blond face faulted at the answer as he thought, Is there some mystical force out there that's getting a kick out of my misery?
Seeing that there was a bathroom nearby, Naruto looked at Kotone and said, "The bathrooms are right over there, so go on…but make it quick!"
The girl remained unmoving until she said, "Go with me?"
"Oh you've gotta be…" Naruto said as he shook his head in disbelief, "How old are you again?"
"Please." Kotone said as she looked at the blond with wide, sparkling eyes, getting a shocked and frightened look from Naruto.
Anything but those eyes! Naruto thought as he could feel his heart getting tugged by the girl's look.
"F-Fine!" Naruto said as he was hoping that the darkness was hiding his blush, "But you better not breathe a word of this!"
Kotone smiled before dragging the blond with her while Naruto himself had only one thought…
Dammit…
Once in the bathroom, Naruto was waiting impatiently as Kotone was in the farthest stall for privacy.
"Mind telling me why you're in the girl's bathroom?" said a familiar voice as Naruto looked to find Kichi jumping onto the floor from the window and walking towards the blond.
"Someone was afraid of going in the bathroom by herself." Naruto answered with a slight growl in his voice, "Not the stealth mission I had envisioned this to be."
"Well you will be happy that I got the a couple of the guards to chase after a few stray dogs that just happened to be in the area." Kichi said with a smirk on her face, "They won't be much of a problem for the rest of the time."
"That's good to know," Naruto whispered as he peeked to see that the stall Kotone was in was still closed, "now I just wish that Minato and Yukari would hurry up with finding that damn key!"
*ker-floosh!*
Naruto froze in fear as Kotone opened the stall door and skipped happily towards the sink.
She was about to turn the faucet on until Naruto quickly, but carefully, grabbed her shoulder while placing a small packet of sanitizing wipes on the counter and said, "We don't need to be making any more noise or doing anything that would cause us to get caught…okay?"
The blond watched as Kotone opened the packet and rubbed the sanitizing napkin all over her hands as he then thought, I swear if ONE more irresponsible action happens, guards or not, I am going to headbutt a freaking wall!
End Flashback
[Dark Hour]
*Tartarus; Arqa*
Naruto got to his feet as the rest of the memories came to him easily afterwards.
"I wonder where the others are?" Naruto asked out loud as he didn't see Akihiko, Minato, Kotone, or Junpei around, "Note to self: Never enter Tartarus that way again."
"What am I, your secretary?" Kichi asked as she sniffed the air before holding a defensive stance, "There's Shadows nearby, but I am getting another scent. It's faint, but familiar; maybe if we got closer, I can get a better grasp."
Naruto nodded as he and Kichi dashed through the halls and decided to avoid any of the Shadows that they could since they were focused on one objective: Finding Fuuka.
The duo had just quickly dashed down an adjacent hallway to avoid a Shadow's sight when something had entered their ears.
"Hello?" said a familiar voice, "Is someone there?"
"That voice…" Naruto said as it suddenly donned on him, "Fuuka!"
"Kit, wait!" Kichi said as the blond suddenly made a mad dash towards the voice's location.
Naruto ran through the halls until he found himself in a large room that had another adjacent hall connected to it.
"Fuuka!" Naruto called out, ignoring the possibility of a Shadow attacking, "Fuuka, are you there?"
"Naruto-kun?" said a voice from the adjacent hallway as Naruto looked to find Fuuka carefully walking out of the shadows, "It IS you!"
The small girl ran towards Naruto and wrapped her arms around him before burying her face into his chest.
"I'm so glad that you and not one of those odd creatures!" Fuuka said as tears began to well up in her eyes before staining the blond's jacket, "I was so alone and I was lost in this creepy place and-"
"Hey, hey, hey…" Naruto said as he gently wrapped his arms around the frightened girl and slowly rocked her, "It's alright; I'm here and I won't let anything hurt you again."
Fuuka looked at the blond with reddened eyes and smiled when he then said, "I promise."
"There you are!" said a voice as Kichi dashed out of the hall behind Naruto, "What in Kami's name were you thinking when you ditched me like that!?"
Naruto let go as he then looked at the vixen and said, "S-sorry…"
Blinking in confusion, Fuuka looked at the vixen before her and asked, "Kichi-chan? How did you and Naruto-kun get here…whatever here is? I've never seen a building like this."
A screech was heard as Naruto looked to find a Shadow in the form of a man and woman, both headless, that had a large heart floating above them as they dance romantically with a rapier that was the size of a claymore. The man wore a tuxedo with a white jacket while the woman wore an elegant pink dress as the heart had a red mask in the center.
"Dammit!" Naruto said as he drew his katana and quickly pulled Fuuka behind him, "Get behind me!"
"Naruto, wait!" Fuuka cried out as the blond quickly dashed out to give the Shadow a powerful slash.
The Shadow gracefully dodged before thrusting its weapon towards the blond, but Naruto quickly deflected the attack away with his own sword. Using the opening, the blond was able to kick the man half of the Shadow in the knees before following with a katana slash on the woman half.
"Naruto…kun?" Fuuka asked in awe as she watched the blond continuing to deflect attacks while dishing out some of his own.
Said person was in a deadlock with the Shadow until he was able to swiftly disarm it before going in for the kill with a horizontal slash, causing the Shadow to fall onto its backs and dissolve away.
"Done and done." Naruto said before looking at Fuuka, who still had a shocked look on her face, "Guess I have some explaining to do. Why don't we meet up with the others while I tell you everything you want to know?"
Fuuka slowly nodded as she and Kichi followed the blond through the eerie building.
"I'll start off by saying that this building is actually Gekkoukan High," Naruto said as he kept a lookout for any of the others or more Shadows to avoid, "but this only happens during the Dark Hour, a hidden hour between midnight and a minute after midnight."
"A hidden hour?" Fuuka asked before she then asked, "What was that creature you fought?"
"That creature is just one of the many monsters that we call a Shadow." the blond answered as he saw a turn up ahead, "They like to feed on other people's minds, causing the symptom known to the public as Apathy Syndrome."
This surprised the young girl as she had heard of people and other students falling victim to this illness, but monsters causing the illness?
Naruto was about to tell Fuuka to stay, but the girl then said, "It's safe around that corner; none of those…Shadows?…are there."
This surprised the blond as how could anyone, save for Kichi and Mitsuru, could see around that corner without even looking?
Unless…
"I am also feeling that there are others up ahead of us." Fuuka then said, surprising Naruto once more, "They're more human than those monsters."
It must be the others, Naruto said as he and his group continued walking through Tartarus, but how would Fuuka-chan know that?
The group continued until they had reached a room where Akihiko and Junpei were waiting while Minato and Kotone had also appeared at the same time.
"Finally!" Junpei cheered with a smile on his face, "Now we just need to find Naruto and Fuuka before the Shadows do!"
"No need for that," Naruto said as he, Fuuka, and Kichi approached them, grabbing their attention, "because we just got here ourselves."
Akihiko smiled a bit before turning his attention to the small girl and asked, "Are you okay?"
Fuuka smiled as she said, "I am, thanks to Naruto-kun; he protected me while we avoided the monsters."
The boxer nodded as he then said, "I'll see if I can contact Mitsuru, but we need to get out of here as soon as possible."
Akihiko pulled out his walkie-talkie and heard only static on the line.
"Damn!" he said as he clipped the device back onto his belt, "Nothing but static."
"So you said that Naruto protected you from the monsters, right?" Junpei asked Fuuka as he remained serious due to the situation.
"Yes." Fuuka answered with a nod of her head, "I had managed to avoid them until I had found Naruto-kun when one of them had attacked. You should have seen him; he was so brave fighting that monster all by himself! I was worried that he might get hurt, but he had beaten it without a scratch on him!"
None of the others had missed the blush on the girl's face as she then turned to Naruto and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun!" Fuuka said as said person began to blush brightly at his reward.
"I…duh…uh…welcome?" Naruto said as his words got mixed up in his flustered state.
"Somebody's crushin'!" Junpei said with a smirk as he then looked at the blushing blond, "And it seems like he's also digging his reward!"
"We have no time for this!" Akihiko said as he handed Fuuka a spare Evoker he had on him, "Hold on to this."
Seeing the gun, Fuuka gasped as she said, "But this is…!"
"It's not a REAL gun," Naruto said as he placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder after his blush had subsided, "just a…special…charm."
"Smooth." Kichi said as she heard the nervousness in the blond's voice, "Real smooth."
"Alright," Akihiko said as he looked at the group before him, "let's get out of here."
Everyone nodded as they walked through the eerie halls with Fuuka sticking really close to Naruto by wrapping her arms over one of his.
The group continued to walk through the halls until Junpei had looked one of the windows that were in Tartarus every now and then.
"Whoa," the hat-wearing teen said, getting everyone's attention, "check out the moon; never seen it so bright!"
"Pretty damn spooky if you ask me," Naruto said as the sight of the shining full moon caused him to shiver, "gives me chills when it's this full."
"Some research indicates that Shadows are affected by the phases of the moon." Akihiko said as he looked at the eerie planet, "The same could be said for humans."
"Guess that explains Yuka-tan's mood swings." Junpei said with a slight chuckle, ignoring the looks everyone was giving him.
Maybe that's the reason for this odd feeling, Naruto thought as he remembered having an odd feeling coming from inside of him during a full moon.
"It makes sense now." Kichi said as she managed to climb up onto the blond's shoulder, "Humans have always been affected by the phases of the moon, but since you're also a jinchuriki, Naruto, you are more affected by it; the demon chakra is reacting to the full moon's aura along with your human body."
"Wait a minute…" Junpei said as he remembered something, "Wasn't it a full moon on the night we went to the monorail?"
"Yeah it was." Naruto answered as that question had also brought up another memory, "Minato, Kotone, wasn't there a full moon just a few nights after you both had first arrived at the dorm?"
The duo in question nodded at the same time, getting an alarmed look from Akihiko as the boxer then quickly reached for his walkie-talkie.
"Mitsuru, are you there!?" Akihiko asked with urgency in his voice.
Static rang out until Mitsuru's voice suddenly chimed in.
"Akihik…? Is tha…Shadows…" Mitsuru's distressed voice called out from the radio.
"Hey, Mitsuru! Can you hear me!?" Akihiko quickly said as something was wrong until he lost the signal, "Dammit!"
An odd feeling of dread suddenly crept up on Fuuka as she said, "What is this thing? It's bigger than the others that I've seen…and stronger too!"
Not wanting to waste any time, Naruto looked at everyone and barked out, "Everyone, MOVE!"
Getting the message, the group quickly ran towards the nearest access point that they could find, praying that they were not too late.
*Dorm*
Natsuki was sitting on the bed in one of the room on the girl's floor, holding her arms as the room looked eerie.
She wasn't sure what had happened as the room became like this at midnight and her cellphone wasn't working.
"What's going on here?" Natsuki asked as she was tempted to walk out and asked someone…hopefully anyone besides Naruto and Mitsuru at the moment.
After being confronted by the two and seeing Naruto's enraged look, the girl was scared of the two of them.
She was afraid of Mitsuru as she's from a huge family that practically OWNED the school she was going to and wouldn't be afraid to convince the board to expel her if Fuuka was found dead. You don't want to cross someone like the Kirijo Group; Mitsuru always had this intimidating aura of her that could literally chill a person to the bone.
Then there was Naruto…her ex-boyfriend…and possibly former friend.
Natsuki had seen the blond annoyed or mad, but she had never once seen Naruto at that level of anger. She knew that her ex was pissed off deeply by what Mr. Ekoda had said…and thinking back, Natsuki did understand just why: A teacher had shirked off one of his responsibilities towards his students just so no one could go into a panic should a student go missing all of a sudden.
But that aura Naruto had…it didn't even feel human at all. It was as if some sort of demonic entity had switched places with her ex right when Mr. Ekoda had crossed that line.
But then her thoughts returned to the one person that this was revolved around.
"Fuuka…" Natuski quietly said to herself as a tear rolled down her face, "…I'm so sorry…"
"…go…" said a mysterious voice, alarming the now frightened girl, "…go find Fuuka…tell her how sorry you are…"
"Wh-Who's there!?" Natsuki said until her eyes began to droop.
"Go to the tower…" the mysterious voice said, "…she is there…Go now while you have time…"
"Yes…" the girl said with a robotic tone in her voice, "I must go…Fuuka…"
Natsuki stood up from her seat and began her trek towards Fuuka…towards the tower…
*Tartarus; Entrance*
Naruto and the others had finally made it back to find Yukari on the floor and Mitsuru's bike badly damaged.
"Yukari!" Minato called out as he rushed towards the fallen girl.
"What in the world!?" Fuuka gasped out as everyone looked to find two incredibly large Shadows standing before them.
The first Shadow was in the form of an incredibly tall and slender man wearing armor from ancient Roman times while its face was covered by a purple mask that was in the form of a crown. The red cape it had was actually much shorter than the Shadow's body as it only draped halfway down its back. The Shadow also held a large sword in its right hand while it was also holding Mitsuru in the other.
The second Shadow was almost as tall as the first Shadow, just barely reaching up to the first one's face, and was in the form of an obese woman that had tiny feet, that surprisingly held the Shadow's weight, and a long, swan-like neck. This Shadow was wearing what appeared to be a dress, a long, white cloak that seemed to drag on the floor, and a golden mask in the form of a feminine version of the other Shadow's mask. In her hands was a scepter that she lightly twirled around as if it was a child's toy.
"Mitsuru!" Akihiko roared out at the sight of said person in the first Shadow's grip.
"They just appeared out of nowhere!" Yukari said as she held her injured arm, "We couldn't even hurt them, no matter what we threw at them!"
"That is because none could ever surpass those born from Lord Death!" the purple-masked Shadow roared out…or at least it tried to roar out with its husky voice, "The power our younger siblings, Magician and Priestess, could never match the power that WE, Emperor and Empress, possess!"
"Ohohoho! Those two little wenches thought they could defeat the two of us with their silly little attacks!" Empress laughed out as her voice actually sounded just as bloated as she was, "I was thinking of making them my little pets as pinky over there would be an adorable addition to my collection while my weak and pathetic brother could have the red one…if he exactly knew just what to do with her."
"Hey!" Emperor shot out in embarrassment, "I knew just what to do with her…you feed her to other humans, right?"
Before another word was said, the sound of footsteps caught everyone's attention as Natsuki lifelessly walked through the entrance.
"I was wondering about her," Empress said as she eyed Natsuki with a hungry look, "While the others weren't as entertaining as my little pets, I'm sure that she would be a much better pet…perhaps even as my own little toy doll that I can do whatever I want with."
"Fuuka…" Natsuki said as she stopped dead in her tracks before falling to her knees.
Surprised at the other girl's appearance, Fuuka quickly rushed over as she called out, "Moriyama-san!"
"Fuuka," Naruto called out as said person rushed towards Natsuki, "wait!"
Grabbing Natsuki's shoulders, Fuuka then said, "What are you doing here!? It's dangerous!"
Snapping back to her senses, Natsuki looked to see Fuuka in front of her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm so sorry Fuuka!" Natsuki cried out as tears rolled down her cheeks, "I never wanted any of THIS to happen! Please…forgive me!"
With a disappointed look on her face, Empress took a few steps forward, readying an attack with her scepter, and said, "You little wench! How dare you break one of MY new toys!"
Finding her resolve, Fuuka got to her feet and pulled out the Evoker she was given.
"Wait!" Akihiko called out, "That's not a weapon!"
"I know…" Fuuka's voice rang out as she pointed the Evoker's barrel to her temple.
Empress gave her scepter a mighty heave as Natsuki covered her eyes to not witness the inevitable death.
*BANG! Shatter!*
A flash of light quickly appeared as something had knocked Empress back into Emperor, in turn causing it to drop Mitsuru from the sudden incident.
"What the…?" Naruto asked as the smoke soon cleared to reveal a shocking surprise.
A woman with the top half of her red face covered in bandages wearing a pink strapless gown and long pink gloves that almost reached her shoulders was now standing before everyone. She had long, flowing blonde hair and her lower body was in the form of a glass dome, revealing Fuuka and a now awe-stricken Natsuki inside.
Everyone rushed towards the new woman while Akihiko rushed towards Mitsuru's side.
"I'm alright, Akihiko," Mitsuru said despite some of the minor injuries and slowly forming bruises that were hiding by her clothes, "but be careful; none of our attacks are working and our equipment has been destroyed."
"It's alright," Akihiko said with a confident smirk, "since we have a trump card in our hands."
Fuuka opened her eyes and looked through the glass dome she was under to find archaic symbols that she somehow could understand.
"Do not be afraid," said a mysterious, yet soft and elegant voice echoed inside the girl's skull, "What you see is part of our power."
Not recognizing the voice, Fuuka looked around to find this new person as it sounded like someone was standing above her.
"You can already see me, Fuuka Yamagishi," the voice said once more, "because I am a part of you. My name is Lucia."
"Lucia?" Fuuka asked curiously, "So what am I seeing, Lucia? Those two monsters are surrounded by odd pictures, but yet I know what they are."
"What you are seeing is everything about those before us." Lucia answered knowingly, "What they are strong against, their weaknesses, and even what skills they possess. You and I both know that we are not fighters, nor could we ever be, but we can help our rescuers with this ability."
Fuuka nodded as she knew that she, Lucia, and Natsuki would be protected by Naruto and his friends.
Once they had recovered from the surprise, Emperor and Empress growled as they saw that the group before then were ready for a fight.
"If you wish to die that badly…" Emperor said as he held his sword out, ready for an attack.
"…then we'll grant it for you!" Empress said as she suddenly rushed out towards the group in an attempt to ram them.
"Titan!" Naruto roared out as he quickly used his Evoker, "Kill Rush!"
Said Persona quickly appeared and gave Empress a massive punch to its face before spinning around and deliver another punch to the face that had launched the Shadow into Emperor.
"How dare you hit a regal woman such as I, you impudent brat!" Empress roared out as she was struggling to get up.
"You're not exactly a 'woman' in my book," Naruto said as he was thinking of what to do next with what time he had, "nor are you the 'regal' type."
Making his decision, Naruto decided to go for a regular attack on Emperor…
*klang!*
The reverberation from the blond's katana hitting Emperor's armor had nearly caused the blade to shake itself free from Naruto's grip.
"You're pathetic little attack won't work on me!" Emperor declared in confidence, "No amount of your slashing, piercing, or even barbaric smashing could ever dent my armor!"
"You idiot!" Empress roared out in agitation while still trying to get up, "You just blurted out what CAN hurt you!"
"That's because with you at my side," Emperor said, still high on his pride, "no manner of magic could ever hurt me!"
"You mean magic like this?" Akihiko asked as he summoned Polydeuces, "Zio!"
Lightning formed on the tip of the giant needle on the Persona's arm before being launched in the form of a sparking ball of energy. The lightning ball zipped through the air before hitting Emperor, causing the Shadow to violently twitch around before falling on its back.
"Everyone!" Minato and Kotone called out simultaneously, "All-Out Attack!"
Without wasting a moment, the group jumped in to deal serious damage to the two giant Shadows with Junpei, Akihiko, and Naruto using their regular attacks on Empress while Minato and Kotone used their Personas' spiritual skills on the Emperor.
"Lowly knaves!" Empress shouted as she and Emperor were able to get to their feet, winded but still standing strong, "Take this! Paradigm Shift!"
"Kill Rush!" Naruto roared out as Titan gave the feminine Shadow a punch to the face.
Seeing how the attack wasn't as strong as last time as Empress had only stumbled back a couple of feet before regaining its balance, Naruto quickly went on the defense as Titan ended up taking a back-handed hit to the face from the scepter.
"Gah!" Naruto grunted out as he soon held his jaw, "My jaw! Strike attacks aren't as affective now!"
Quickly turning to Fuuka, Kotone said, "Fuuka, we need you to scan Empress and find her weakness!"
"On it!" Fuuka said as she focused her attention on the feminine Shadow, "Just give me some time!"
"Zouchouten!" Minato called out as Orpheus soon vanished and was replaced by an armored warrior holding a charm in his hands, "Use Zio on Emperor!"
Zouchouten nodded as the thrusted an open palm out towards Emperor's direction.
"Not again!" the Shadow cried out in panic, "Paradigm Shift!"
A bolt of lightning erupted from the Persona's palm and had struck the Shadow dead center of its body, but the force of the attack had only pushed Emperor back a few feet.
"Whew! Close one…" Emperor said before realizing that there was still a battle going on, "Uh I mean…Nice try, little squire!"
Minato growled since he needed a way to find out the lanky Shadow's weakness and since Electricity was out, there were only three other elements left: Fire, Ice, and Wind. The bluenette also had a gut feeling that Light or Dark attacks wouldn't even hurt either Shadow one bit.
"Alright Hermes!" Junpei called out as his Persona bounced on his feet excitedly, "Let's Cleave that bitch in two!"
Getting the message, Hermes dashed towards Empress before going into a slide and slicing the Shadow's thin legs with his blades. The Persona quickly jumped to his feet and pumped a fist in victory that was short-lived when Empress quickly gave him a powerful slap to the face.
"Dammit!" Junpei said as his cheek was stinging, "We couldn't cut her down!"
"I found Empress's weakness!" Fuuka cried out, "She's weak to piercing attacks!"
After looking at each other, Naruto and Kotone swapped opponent as the young girl stabbed Empress with her naginata while the blond summoned Jinn before having his Persona send a spear of ice towards Emperor. Both spears had hit their targets and had enough force to knock them off their feet.
"Quick!" Kotone roared out as both giant Shadows were down once more, "All-Out Attack!"
Everyone quickly rushed in and began to pummel the two Shadows ruthlessly as dust and ichor were flying in the air.
Once the dust had settled, both Emperor and Empress were looking ragged and breathing heavily as they had recovered from the attack.
"You shall meet you end through the glory of Lord Death!" Empress declared before her stance had faltered and she began to fall, "But not…by…my hands…"
The large Shadow disappeared in a mixture of black mist and dissolving ichor, leaving just Emperor left to face the wrath of SEES.
"Sister!" the Shadow cried out after the mist and ichor vanished, "Don't leave me; I can't face them by myself!"
A powerful chill had suddenly knocked Emperor off of his feet, causing him to look as see each of his opponents had their Personas out.
"Just you and us now…" Naruto said as Jinn had his arms surrounded by wind and ice.
"This'll be fun!" Akihiko said as Polydeuces had electricity surrounding his lone hand.
"Your ass is grass!" Junpei chuckled as Hermes had flames in his hands.
Minato and Kotone remained silent as their respective Personas had their elemental attacks ready.
Seeing just how much trouble it was in, Emperor whimpered as he said, "…mother…"
The other girls had covered their eyes as the onslaught looked really nasty and once the dust settled, Emperor now had black mist and ichor dissolving from his body while his body was falling apart.
"Never thought…" the dying Shadow weakly said as it tried to keep itself supported with its sword, "…that one of Lord Death's aspects could be defeated…by a bunch of brats…"
Taking a careful look at Naruto, Emperor chuckled as he then said, "Now…Now I see just how I lost…Jin…churiki…"
The giant Shadow finally vanished, but not without bringing up a defensive look on Naruto and some questions for some of the younger members of SEES.
"Are there any of them left?" Fuuka asked as Lucia vanished before seeing that everyone was safe, "They're gone…that's good."
Fuuka looked at SEES and chuckled as she then said, "Thank you for everything."
All of a sudden, the girl then began to fall down as Naruto quickly dashed towards Fuuka and caught her before she had hit the floor.
"Fuuka!" Natsuki cried out as she looked and the girl in Naruto's arms.
"It's alright," Mitsuru said as she was on her feet, holding her injured side, "she's only suffering from exhaustion; Fuuka Yamagishi will be alright."
"But what about her?" Yukari asked as she too was on her feet, holding her arm as it too had been injured, "She saw everything."
"She won't remember a thing," Mitsuru answered professionally, much to the shock of the SEES Rookies, "but after everything that has happened, I believe she had learned her lesson."
Yukari watched disappointedly as it just didn't seem fair that Natsuki will forget what had happened tonight, but her thoughts soon turned to what the Emperor had said before it had vanished.
What's a jinchuriki?
Now that Fuuka has been rescued, how will SEES handle future battles now that they know that stronger Shadows come out during a full moon? What more will be discovered as Yukari ponders on what Emperor had said?
I know that the battle between Emperor and Empress wasn't as...much but if you had played either version of Persona 3 (regular, FES, or Portable) the battle with those two can actually be easy if properly prepared for them.
As for Naruto being affected by the full moon, you will see how each full moon would affect our favorite blond on the Full Moon Missions.
Don't forget to rate and review!
Ja ne.