Blood-soaked (RE)set, a persona series fanfic

Persona 3: Blood-soaked (RE)set

A Chorus of Grace and Shadow Story

By Centurious the Azure

Prologue: The Girl Who Was Made of Nothing (And the Boy Who Was Made of Everything)

Everything faded into nothing. I was nothing, right? Not anyone anymore. I was just a soul without a body now. I didn't feel anything. I didn't see anything. I didn't even get hungry anymore. Which was fine. All I knew was that the sacrifice of everything, of myself, was worth it. Without this, everything else, including my friends, would be reduced to nothing. It was fine. It was fine. I kept telling myself for eternity.

IT'S FINE…

I kept telling myself it was for a reason. For a reason I forgot. I kept trying to ask myself why things were like this. Aki…who? Mitsu…who? Ju-where? Yuka-what? Shin…whatever? Ken-kun…who the hell was that? Ai…haha. I don't remember. NYX…? Ryo-? Who cares. What the fuck was a "SEES" again? It had been so long that I had actually forgotten. I shouldn't have been able to think. Yet, here I was…eternally pondering why I still existed.

I should have descended into madness by now, but how could I go crazy when I didn't even have a physical brain? I didn't even know if I was ever anyone. Was I a boy? A girl? Gender wasn't even a thing when you were just a stray soul attached to some weird door. Was I a door? Was I always a door? Maybe I was a lock… A great big lock for the bigger door. What, or who was I meant to keep out? Maybe the better question was what I was keeping in. Fuck if I know. I'm just a door. Ask somebody else!

ARGH! I was SO frustrated! I wanted to scream! I wanted to SHOUT! I couldn't begin to do anything! I didn't have a mouth to vocalize it. Why was I even conscious? What was the point? What was existence to somebody who didn't even remember their own name? I was all on the tip of my tongue… On the sharp point of my brain… Wait… I didn't have a brain! DUH!

Haha. It was funny. I don't get why it was so. Maybe all of this was a cosmic joke, and I was the punchline. Speaking of the big G…O…D… Where was he? Was this hell? Was this heaven? Was it neither? Surely, this was punishment rendered by some almighty creative force. It didn't feel like a reward. If I was being rewarded, where were my seventy-two virgins? Or was it seventy-two Virginians? I was so lost that I couldn't keep anything straight.

All I knew was that I was in the big empty. A big cosmic void where only the infinite, the door, and little old me exist. Maybe I should take a nap for another eon, and approach this from a different angle. I wasn't going anywhere. I had no legs to even try that. Not that there seemed to be anywhere to be.

I sat there. I sat there for a long time with my mind wandering. Trying to piece myself together. So desperate. So hopeless. So nothing. I was made out of nothing. All I was nothing. I had come to the conclusion that everything was pointless. Better to vanish. And become one with the universe rather than keep suffering like this.

It was then that something happened as I was beginning to give up. There was a rumbling. A crack. A shudder. A loud crash of glass. And finally, a great shattering. A force like nothing I had ever felt had split what I was before, the door, into a million pieces. It was then I realized a great something. A reason for being. Why I was here.

YES! This was it! I was FREE! My elation, however, was replaced by great terror. The door hadn't been destroyed from without. It had been destroyed from within. Noooo… No-nononononono! This shouldn't have been. I remembered that my purpose was to keep two things of great powers from meeting. An unstoppable desire to meet the provider of the Great Equalizer: DEATH. Yes, it was in all caps because I was screaming. I knew how things were going to go.

I remembered it all. How I had come to the twin cities of Iwatodai, and Port Island to escape my dull, hopeless existence. I had made so many friends. Experienced great loves. Had seen things, and felt things that made life worth living. I vanquished foes unexplainable, and indescribable. I had a year that fulfilled me in ways I never could have expected. All of that, all of the people I had come to cherish and love, would become undone here.

This was it. The Great King of Terror ascended from the void itself. Becoming something born of shadow. There was no light without it. As such, the human mind was not without the flicker of life casting it in all its terrible horror. All of our selfish hatred of the world, of the self, became manifest. Becoming an elongated, two-faced titanic devil with a dual set of mocking grins. Something so horrendous that it was a mockery of all life. There was no mockery, no joke greater than living itself. Crowns made of devilish horns sat upon its dual heads, marking it as the king of desire. The ruler of all man's childish cries for its horrid, terrible mother to embrace them with dark love and meet their dank disgusting lust unconditionally.

I heard a march of feet. A vile parade. A song of dark desire. All of humanity chanted. Sang, and gleefully demanded it. They all came for it at once. They were one, but also two. And the two were endlessly many, in truth. Many more than any one person could count. Many more than one could comprehend because its cries drowned all my thoughts.

Death surrounded me. It spoke to me softly. I spoke to the boy. The one who loved me as both brother, and lover. He said resigned, almost regretful, yet there was a tinge of regal ennui tied in it, "I must meet them. For this is how it must be. The Arcana does not lie. And I will not be made one."

I tried pleading, and bargaining. I tried crying and screaming. Begging, even. I would not be heard. This was destiny. I had failed. Every effort I had made was simply that. A failure intended by destiny. I laughed and cried at once. This was it. This was how it all ended. I'm sorry, everyone. I hope you all had full lives, my friends.

Now by fire, we must hang. For the end of days was numbered in the heartland of madness. All worlds from here would burn as god demanded in his grand accord. Was I laughing? Yes. Was I crying? Yes. All I could say was "Good night, good night, goodbye" to life. The pain of a life never fully realized hung on my nonexistent lips.

It was then that I saw someone rise out of the shadow of the muck. A man. No, a boy no more than a teenager like I was in life. He had the features of a Westerner. He was tall, taller than most Japanese boys ever could be. His brown hair was wet with the muck of the cosmos. Of the shadow of man. It was hard to see what he was completely like feature-wise underneath the coverage of the goop. But there was an allure, the glowing of chipped jade in his eyes. His head was unbowed, and his eyes possessed no fear. Only anticipation. Of death? There was no victory to be had here. We couldn't beat Death, so how could he best the cries of man's desire for nothing made manifest?

He stood there, red glaive in hand. No, it was more of a broadsword of the European variety half covered in goop. Red as the flame of life itself. Yet, I knew how easily it was snuffed out. No hope. It was all gone.

He took a step forward, the creature known as Erebus took a step forward in kind. One head roared in chorus with the other. It was a screeching cry. The sound of a pig being butchered, and of a baby crying at once in the form of a trumpeting victory cry. He was not cowed, though. If anything, he seemed thrilled.

He shouldered the sword with mad glee in his jade green eyes. "well, well…" he said aloud in a deep, rich voice unfettered by the tremors of fear. If anything, he sounded pleased. "This was where I ended up, huh? I fought through the end of the fucking world, and a shitty world filled with metal fuckheads to end up here."

"And you," he shouted, pointing his free gloved finger at the colossal thing accusingly. "Mind not sneering at me like that? One fucking set of choppers is bad enough, but you have two sets of 'em. Double the motherfucking ugly if I ever saw it."

It cried once more as if in response. Almost sounding insulted by his bravado-laden jibe. He leaned forward as if he was trying to hear it with a cupped hand curled around one ear. He laughed mockingly, "sorry." he said in faux apology. "I don't speak monster. You mind trying the Common Tongue? Or maybe Elvish? Not that I expect you to be that smart. Given you're probably as stupid as you are ugly."

Ugh..! Why was he egging it on? Did he have a death wish? Or was he really the stupid one? Go! Run! Do anything else other than fight!

Not that he heard me. He stood there, a self-assured, hopelessly glib smile cracked his lips apart into two. Erebus cried a thunderous, trumpeting roar. And he grinned larger if that were possible. "A nice rebuttal," He said sarcastically, kicking the muck of the cosmos itself. Stars rippled on the surface, and undulated like a body of water would. Galaxies rippled as if a stone had been dropped in the grand lake of creation itself.

He bounced up and down, loosening himself up for the unwinnable battle to come. "So," the young man chuckled, looking like the spitting image of my senpai for a moment with his sheer overconfidence. "How do you wanna do this? Are you both gonna come at me, or is this a handicap match? Not that it matters! I can take you any day of the week!"

It was then that the thing roared louder than ever before, shaking all of creation itself. Stars, and galaxies overhead and below shook in trepidation. As above, and below, it was the reigning champion of terror, apathy, and hate. It was a demon unparalleled by any other hellish creature the human mind could conjure.

Yet, the boy stood there unmoved. And very much unimpressed by its unimaginable fearsomeness. He dusted off his shoulder, looking bored by it all. "You done?" He asked blandly, brandishing that red blade dirtied by shadow in challenge. "Because I certainly am! Let's go!"

He was suddenly awash in honeyed golden starlight. He roared, shooting forward like a rocket powered by holy light. It was then that a fierce battle was joined. Beyond any that human eyes could see. Let alone comprehend. It was a quick, somehow titanic exchange. A grand blow was struck. And Erebus was now missing an eye, and now most of its second face. He was now on its back, running up its entire length. His large blade traced a large fiery gash along its back. And he was now on the other head in a moment, plunging his blade into its temple. He let out a battle cry as the thing cried out in exquisite pain. Cosmic starlight danced as it came out the other end as a giant spectral blade. Yet, Erebus was not done.

Dark lightning cracked through the calling of the horrid King of Mankind. And the boy was sent flying. He was made to cry out as Erebus had. He was not done, though. It was just the start. The battle carried on. Fire, and shadow were exchanged as the boy flew in the air. Angelic wings of light stretched out behind him greater than the span of his entire being.

He chanted something in a language I'd never heard before. It sounded like something out of the world of Tolkien. And maybe he was. I understood he was no ordinary person. God wasn't the right word. Angel was not the right word either. All I could say is that he was extraordinary. And I was in awe that this was playing out at all. Even my battles against the Shadows during the Dark Hour paled in comparison.

Starlight flew out at his command. And pierced the shadowy hide of the great beast marked as revelation by the wishes of man. And Erebus answered with a huge paw, slapping the boy out of the sky. And onto the watery ground below with a sickening slapping thud. He laid there on the ground for several moments, groaning in pain. He struggled to get up, his head bloodied from the strike. He leaned on his sword for support. "Okay!" He said with a pained grimace, somehow beginning to stand tall despite falling from dozens of meters in the air. "That wasn't bad! I'll say you scored some points on me there!"

It was then he chanted something under his breath. And orange-red flame overcame his entire being. And his wound was gone like magic. No, it was literally magic. Runes dithered in the air for a moment before dissipating entirely from sight. It was nothing like the magic we had used. It was more potent. More powerful. Purer in its force. If we had power like this, maybe we could have beaten Nyx more outright.

He grinned, letting out a refreshed noise. As if he had just stepped out of a warm bath. "Yeah…" He muttered to himself, basking in the warmth of his flame. "That's the stuff!"

The beast stood there, looking like a wounded beaten dog in comparison even in its titanic form. It whimpered and shuddered. It was no longer a king, but a pathetic cur in the face of someone who was more than he equal. Unlike the boy, it had no means of repairing its wounds. Not within that moment. The boy wouldn't give it the chance. Not while he still breathed.

The boy raised his sword high in the air, both hands taking on the length of its hilt. His eyes glowed with power. And they dangerously narrowed on the terrible thing, promising only demise. "I'm afraid…" the boy began, his voice as chill as the coldest ice. "This is where our business ends!"

There was a shrill scream from seemingly nowhere. And the boy was consumed with starlight, and honeyed angelic runes. Then, a song began playing from nowhere. The voice singing was peerlessly beautiful and angelic in nature. Yet, somehow there was a fierceness to it that couldn't be denied. It was as if the sword was singing itself. He closed his eyes, listening to the song speak to his soul. Yeah. I felt it despite not understanding the intensity of the lyrics. If the beast was a wish to embrace darkness, this was a song that spoke in defiance of humanity's dark lust for death. I felt the light of hope well up from within me for the first time since I entered into my role as the seal.

A golden blade thrust upwards into the rolling clouds of space dust, blowing them out in all directions. All that remained was a night sky, illuminated by countless stars. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life. And then to my surprise, the stars started falling toward the tip of the blade. As each point of light drifted down, it made ethereal extend more and more. And the radiance became ever brighter. It was all so overwhelming in its radiance. I felt as if I were standing in the middle of a field on a bright, sunny cloudless day. It made me feel as if I were alive, and in my body once more. A dream that was both real, and illusion at once.

The boy's eyes snapped open fiercely, sneering at the thing contemptuously. The blade screamed bloody murder, and the boy let out a beastly roar as he swung the giant blade downward. The thing was cleaved in twain, exploding with a sharp pop as it fell apart in flames from the sheer heat of the sun. There was no cry of pain. Just an end to it all. To all the pain, and suffering of man made into terrible form.

There was a titanic wave of the beast's ichor, though. The ichor of a dead manmade god washed over the boy. But, he spread his arms out as if to embrace it all in all of its disgustingness. He accepted it, completely and utterly. It was all over, and the boy stood there all coated in blood. He smiled like a child would. Happy that he was alive, and able to embrace this victory.

He laughed, content with these circumstances in all their unexplainable madness. He needed no explanation. It simply was. But that was when he saw something, seemingly out of the corner of his vision. He walked to a certain spot, crouching over something in all the crimson ichor.

It was me… I had forgotten what I looked like. Even blooded, and in statue form, I suppose I was beautiful. It was merely a severed head, though. All made of unearthly stone, and my ethereal spirit. It was funny. Looking at him in the eye, and seeing everything from a third-person perspective was trippy. It was like I was a video game character, or something.

Despite him being covered in blood, I couldn't help being charmed by his smile. Somehow childishly jovial in all its splendor. "Hey," he said in soft voice, picking me up both hands with great care. I saw the wryness written on his face, but I couldn't help feeling as if were a compliment. "I know this might be weird, but you're pretty in red." He caressed my head gently as if I were his lover. Somehow, I felt the electricity in his loving touch. Something went off within me. And I remembered… Something key, my name: Kotone Shiori. It was so important. I should have known sooner. I spent all that time improving my intellect, and memory. Yet, I couldn't recall without his help. This boy defeated a god of despair by himself. It was unreal, and I knew I could carry on like this. Knowing that it was only half done. Could he kill death itself with that angelic blade of his too?

I suppose I never would know. Darkness washed over me. But I saw the light in his jade eyes. Something I promised to recall if I had a moment in the flesh.

I heard his voice once more. I knew he screwed up everything I ever worked for by coming here, but I couldn't be mad knowing it likely wasn't his fault. How was anything our fault when we were just the pawns to the whims of fate?

"Next time," he said in a quiet voice as I faded into nothingness once more. "Let's meet on better terms, eh?"

I thought that I would like that if there was such a thing as an afterlife, or maybe a chance at a redo. In the depths of the Sea of Souls, anything could be possible.