A/N: A new story has appeared. This is based off of the P3R version of Persona 3, with nothing taken from the anime. Sorry to the majority of people who did not pair Makoto with Mitsuru, but that's who he's with in this story lol.
Makoto stared at the heart of Nyx, hand raised as he prepared to seal it away. The hopes of his friends, his family, everyone that he had met in the last year and become so close to, bounced around in his head. They were the reason he was willing to sacrifice himself, after all. With the power of the Wild Card, he could end this here and now.
And then, another hope came. From someone he hadn't thought to truly speak to ever again. He could see the diminutive figure of the boy dressed in white and black striped rags in his mind's eye. Pharos. Ryoji. Death.
It's because of me that your life has been irrevocably changed, and ultimately cut short if you choose this. My friend, you have my deepest sympathy for the hardships I've brought upon you… I would like nothing more than to see you grow, and be happy. With your family.
Koromaru. Aigis. Yukari. Junpei. Akihiko. Ken. Fuuka. Shinjiro. His family flashed before him, until only one person remained. Mitsuru.
He was the only person left she cared about on a truly personal level. He had seen the pit of despair she had fallen into when her father had died. It had broken something in him, seeing her like that. And he knew that his loss would send her into an ever deeper pit. They were family, after all. Best friends. Lovers. Even now, his pocket burned as he was reminded of something he wanted to do on her graduation day.
And for once, he realized that he truly, desperately, wanted something for himself. Pharos, Ryoji, whatever Death went by… he was right. And Makoto didn't care about the consequences. If Death could be sundered, so too could Nyx with the power that Igor and Elizabeth had helped him achieve. The Wild Card. The Universe Arcana.
In an instant, the white light that had gathered in his hand, prepared to make himself the barrier to prevent Nyx from ever coming again… the light began to take upon itself a golden hue. A curved single-edged sword began to form, created seemingly from some kind of crystal. It felt… right. Selfish. But he felt he had earned the tiniest bit of selfishness if it was to keep Mitsuru happy. Makoto didn't hesitate to bring the single edge down upon Nyx as he thought of Mitsuru and their future.
The ground shuddered as his blade struck true. In his head, he could hear Pharos speak, even as he felt himself lifted up similarly to how he had arrived.
I'm happy for you. But I can only hope you're willing to deal with the consequences… not just for your own world, but others too. I'll always be with you, my friend.
The pressure keeping SEES down on top of Tartarus relented with an abruptness that nearly sent each of them careening the opposite direction. As one, they looked to the void leading inside Nyx that Makoto had disappeared into expectantly. Gasps came from all of them when a large crack appeared across the dark opening, as if there was something in front of it.
"So, he managed to do it…" they heard Ryoji say. All of them glanced to the side, surprised by his sudden appearance. Instead of what they had been fighting, he was now as they had all met him initially, looking like a human. "I'm impressed."
"Do what?!" Mitsuru demanded, taking to her feet. That she swayed as she stood meant nothing to her, not right now. "How do we get him out?"
Ryoji turned to face her with a saddened smile.
"He… beat Nyx. Sort of. He did what I never thought he could do. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, he's Makoto after all. He took a leap of faith, and inspiration from Takeba's father. Nyx still exists, but now she's being split into so many different pieces…"
"Look!" Fuuka exclaimed as she pointed toward Nyx. "There he is!"
Everyone swiveled to look at Nyx, and the figure emerging from the opening. Quite quickly, Mitsuru noted. Too quickly.
"We need to catch him," she muttered. Beside her, Akihiko glanced at Ryoji as the black-haired teen pointed at Makoto.
"No need. He'll land right back here next to us, safely. It's getting out of Tartarus before it collapses that will be the hard part."
"Wha-!" Junpei's exclamation was cut short by a rumble beneath them. When he stumbled, he looked back towards Takaya's body and the stairs below. "Dude, this is so not fair! We've got Shadows incoming!"
Now wasn't the time to panic, Mitsuru realized. They weren't done yet.
"Iori, Takeba, Amada! Get on those Shadows! Akihiko and Koromaru, protect Fuuka. Aigis, is there anything you can do to get Makoto down here safely?" The redhead asked. The answer that came wasn't from Aigis. Instead, Ryoji placed a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward. Strangely, he seemed to shrink, and his hair went from black to a somewhat faded blue. His clothing was replaced by striped rags, and his voice sounded younger.
"It might not make up for what I've done, but… leave Makoto to me. He and I share a rather special bond, after all. We spent ten years together… and we shall spend many more as such." His gaze turned to meet Mitsuru's. "You mean the world to him. Don't let him be sad. It makes for a very depressing day inside of him."
And then he disappeared in a whisp of black smoke. Mitsuru heard a distant gasp, bringing her attention back to her boyfriend. His eyes were open, and an arm began to flail as he realized how fast he was descending from Nyx. His other arm shot towards his holster instinctively, only to find it empty. His eyes hardened as that same arm rose next to his head and snapped instead. While she couldn't hear what he said, she could read his lips easily enough.
"Persona."
A brief shimmer of blue appeared behind him, then solidified to reveal Thanatos. Its arm wrapped around him protectively, then spun him around so that it could take the brunt of the fall. The landing was surprisingly gentle, though she still heard Makoto's grunt. Thanatos disappeared, leaving him to stand whilst holding a hand to his head. She could see the pained grimace he had tried to hide, though she understood the mental pain that came from a Persona taking a solid blow very well.
Makoto dashed for where he had been before entering Nyx; a quick look and Mitsuru understood why. Both his sword and his Evoker were laying where he had dropped them when they had all been forced to the ground.
And then he was a whirlwind of action and commands. Makoto didn't speak very much very often, it was a known fact. But when it came to his friends and ensuring their safety, he became a veritable chatterbox when things were looking grim. This was no different.
Akihiko, Koromaru, and Fuuka were immediately placed behind himself, Aigis, and Mitsuru, while his orders were carried down to Junpei, Yukari, and Ken through Fuuka. They weren't far enough away to require her to summon Juno, which meant she could follow Akihiko closely.
The trio in the lead pushed through the oncoming Shadows with the intent of just breaching the masses. Mitsuru and Makoto cut through the remnants, Artemisia, Athena, and Cindrillon making quick work of what the advance team left behind. It wasn't until they had reached the staircase that led to the lower floor when something strange reached Mitsuru's ears. Judging by everyone else's reactions, she wasn't the only one who heard it.
Junpei, Yukari, and Ken all stopped halfway down the stairs to glance up at Makoto, who blinked and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. Which was ringing. During the Dark Hour.
Makoto and Mitsuru's eyes widened, turning around to look at Nyx. No longer was the moon a sickly shade of green, having returned to its normal hue at some point. The Dark Hour was over… yet the Shadows and Tartarus remained.
"Elizabeth?" Makoto muttered, causing Mitsuru to glance at him. He had raised his phone up to see who was calling. Who was Elizabeth? She didn't recall anyone by that name being in any of Makoto's friend circles. He answered the phone immediately. Whatever was said on the other end caused him to drop his phone and turn to the stairs again.
"Run! The tower's collapsing by sections, we need to reach the teleporter!"
That spurred them onwards, Fuuka having reached down to grab his phone in the process, yet it seemed that it was too little, too late. The floor they stood upon crumbled, stopping at the staircase that the advance team had already started down.
Makoto acted before anyone else. He pushed Aigis in front of him and grabbed onto Mitsuru's arm. Thanatos manifested behind him, its hand reaching backwards to grab Akihiko. The boxer understood immediately, grabbing onto Fuuka and ignoring her squeak of surprise. Thankfully, she grabbed onto Koromaru. The Persona threw them forward far enough to reach Makoto and Mitsuru, who had grabbed on to Aigis. The mechanical girl for her part, had grabbed onto the top stair and began to hoist them up. Yukari stood at the top, helping pull them up one at a time.
"Keep going. Same formation, no looking back. We have to reach the teleporter."
Makoto's calm voice soothed the panic that had slowly gathered in the others. One of his greatest qualities, Mitsuru admitted, was how level-headed he was even in the most extreme circumstances. This was merely another example. A natural-born leader.
They kept moving, finding the teleporter on the floor below quickly. The lack of Shadows put them on edge, but the sighs of relief that came from each of them let them all know that they were still moving, still alive. Makoto gestured to Junpei.
"Advance team first, we won't know what's waiting for us on the ground floor. Hopefully nothing."
"You got it, Leader!" Junpei replied. "Come on Yuka-tan, we've got a floor to clear. And, uh, you too Ken."
One by one, they entered the teleporter. Makoto turned towards Akihiko and Fuuka, the latter of whom was still holding onto their four-legged friend, motioning toward the teleporter.
"You three next. We'll bring up the rear."
They nodded in sync, and Fuuka stepped forward first. She and Koromaru disappeared, followed shortly by Akihiko. Makoto glanced at Mitsuru and Aigis, all of them nodding together. Aigis went first, then Mitsuru stepped forward. She felt the familiar sensation of the device, a feeling of energy going through her, then leaving her as her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She blinked and allowed a momentary drop of professionalism as she processed that something had gone wrong. Surrounding her wasn't the bright entryway and staircase of the entrance to Tartarus. Instead, she found herself surrounded by the darkness of the Arqa block.
"... Fuck."
She turned and raised her rapier as she heard a scuffle behind her, only to find her boyfriend standing and staring at her in shock. She felt the heat rise into her cheeks that came whenever she was alone with him, knowing that he must have heard her. She didn't curse outside of their intimate activities, it was a known fact.
"You didn't hear that, Makoto! We need to move."
The Field Leader nodded in acceptance, giving her his by-now familiar smirk. Her boyfriend gestured towards one of the directions.
"Let's start that way. Hopefully Fuuka will be able to-"
"Makoto! Mitsuru! I found you! Don't worry about us. Koro-chan, Akihiko, and I ended up on the ground floor. The advance team is in the Thebel block and making their way here already. Aigis is only a single floor below you, but you guys have a long trek ahead of you. You're near the top of the Arqa block, on floor sixty-two."
Mitsuru shuddered. That was a long run. She knew Makoto could do it, the man seemed inexhaustible. But she was already on her last legs after fighting Jin, Takaya, and Ryoji back to back. She took a deep breath; if her boyfriend could do it, then she would just have to keep up. She refused to show her doubts.
"Focus on getting Iori, Takeba, and Amada down to you first. We'll rendezvous with Aigis, and make our way down to you. I have sensor capabilities as well, though without my bike, they'll be extremely limited." Mitsuru stated.
"Understood, senpai. Be safe!"
Makoto took the lead. Thankfully, the Shadows down here on the lower floors seemed to avoid them with the exception of the more powerful ones. They met Aigis in short order, and began to descend as fast as they could. The Kirijo heiress kept a mental tally on the floors as they went, until they reached the Thebel block. It was here when they heard Fuuka in their minds again.
"Be careful! The Shadows chasing the advance team turned around and are heading towards you! They're all stronger. Like the ones we would find on the top floors!"
Makoto stopped them in short order, his eyes falling upon her gasping form. She hated to admit that she was the reason why they couldn't move faster, but her physical condition, while extremely admirable, was nothing compared to Makoto and Aigis. One had the body of a machine, and the other could as much be considered to be for all she could tell. He was panting and sweating, but looked ready to continue at a moment's notice.
"Fuuka, we're running out of steam here. Getting through them is going to be… challenging."
Mitsuru heard Aigis gasp, and if she herself wasn't busy trying to get precious oxygen, she would have as well. Makoto saying something like that was akin to saying that something was impossible.
"B-but… wait, what's that? There's something coming towards you, something incredibly strong! It's running through Shadows at an alarming rate, killing them. Now might be your only chance!"
Mitsuru noted the gleam in Makoto's eyes as he turned towards her, his smirk coming back. In an instant, he reached towards her, intent on picking her up.
"Excuse you, I can keep running-!"
Her words were cut off as a large arm wrapped around her from behind and picked her up. Orpheus Telos.
"Keep Artemisia summoned, we'll have to make this count. No stopping. I'll let you down after a couple of floors; regain your breath. It's the final stretch, Mitsuru."
Fighting his decision was illogical, she knew. Grudgingly, she raised her Evoker and summoned her persona. They continued once more. Whatever was keeping the Shadows occupied was doing an exceptional job at it; they only encountered a couple of Shadows along the way.
"We have another problem! Shadows are starting to come in from outside Tartarus! The advance team is trying to hold them off, but they don't have the room they need to fight them properly!"
Fuuka was frantic; they had gone through five more floors of Thebel before she had spoken to them through Juno. True to his word, Makoto's Persona had set her down after two floors while Aigis did her best to protect them with the support of Artemisia.
"Connect me to them." Makoto muttered.
"You're connected!"
"Junpei, take Yukari and Ken outside the front entrance and stop them from coming into Tartarus. Leave whatever is left inside to Akihiko and Koromaru. We'll be there as soon as we can."
"You got it, Leader. Better hurry, we're starting to run on fumes here."
"Understood."
They were forced to stop as they came across a larger than average Shadow, both of them dodging the samurai look-alike's sword. Then it split apart into five pieces, each of them a variation on what they had fought on the upper floors of Tartarus.
That had caused Mitsuru to curse. The first time they came across a similar configuration of Shadows, they had everyone available to target their individual weaknesses. As it was, Artemisia was nearly useless against half of them without some prep work. Such prep work was something they simply didn't have time for.
She forced herself to blink as they were engulfed in white light, then disappeared with pained screams. Behind them, she saw a tall white-haired woman wearing a blue dress and boots, with a conductor's cap placed on her head. In her hands rested a large tome, with the hand on top holding cards of some kind.
"There you are! Come along, we need to leave. We have approximately five minutes to get out of here before this block begins to disappear as well."
Questions could come later. Whoever this woman was, she was powerful. Having another heavy hitter with them was a godsend, one she wouldn't complain about. She counted down the floors as the four of them descended as rapidly as they could. By now, even Makoto's stamina was depleted, yet he kept running at her side. Aigis had slowed with them, while the strange woman had taken to clearing the Shadows standing before them. Despite their weariness, Mitsuru found that they had reached the floor above their destination in record time.
"Oh, dear. It seems that the Shadows are gathering behind us as well as before us. I do not believe you would like to guide them to your friends. Perhaps now would be the time to use your technique?" The stranger stated and asked, turning to face Makoto. He nodded, fingers gripping his Evoker numbly as he raised it once more. It didn't take a medical professional to see the strain it was putting on him to summon his personas by this point. It hurt Mitsuru to see it, and part of her noticed the grimace that both Aigis and the stranger gave when they saw it as well.
"Messiah." The Evoker fired, and the tall figure shimmered into existence. Makoto's flinch of pain and the slight twitch of his hand towards his head made her worry even more greatly for his health. "Keep running. We're out of time." As he spoke, the persona raised a hand as it began to cast Megidolaon. It wouldn't kill all of them, but it would slow them.
He wasn't wrong, Mitsuru knew. Even now, she could feel the ground beneath her beginning to rumble similarly to the very top floor, moments before it began to come undone. They ran as fast as they could, but it didn't seem to be enough.
"The floor's crumbling! You're almost out, but I don't know… please, keep going! Wait, Sanada-senpai! Where's Koromaru going?!" Fuuka transmitted. Apparently she still had all of them connected, because they could hear Akihiko's reply.
"Dammit! Koromaru's going up to you guys, be on the- wait, look out Fuuka!"
"I'm okay! I lost contact with the advance team, but I can still sense them fighting! They're not able to hold all of the Shadows outside off anymore. There's too many for you alone."
"Then we'll head to the others still inside. Takeba can handle getting Amada and Junpei to safety, but it's our job to ensure everyone else gets out. Climb onto my back, Fuuka."
"Wait-" Makoto started, frowning as he realized that their connection to Fuuka had severed after Akihiko's words. There must have been too much disturbance to keep them connected without being inside of Juno.
"Come on, we'd best meet them on the way out." Mitsuru said, prodding them all onwards slightly faster. It didn't take long for Koromaru's worried barks to become audible ahead of them, joined shortly thereafter by Akihiko with Fuuka on his back. Her eyes were closed in concentration.
"She's helping the others outside as best she can, but she can't talk to us while she does it." Akihiko explained. "Let's go, Koromaru and Caesar cleared the path from the entrance to here."
Once more, they moved as fast as they could. Akihiko glanced at Makoto and Mitsuru worriedly, seeing how worn down they both were. Mitsuru felt like she was going to pass out at any moment, and for the first time she noticed that Makoto was looking far more pale than he normally did. Almost sickly, she realized. Judging by the state of his clothes however, it made sense. His jacket was damaged in various places, one of the sleeves almost completely ripped off. His pants hadn't fared too much better, though he himself didn't look like he had been hit hard.
She knew her own clothing wasn't in a much better state; she could feel air where her shirt had been torn, and she knew for a fact that Takaya's persona had nearly cut her in twain at her waist. A red stain covered a good portion of her side from that blow, though Takeba had healed it. That didn't account for a variety of other red stains across her clothing though, obtained during their descent. Akihiko didn't look much better, but at least Fuuka seemed to be mostly untouched. Juno had done its job protecting her, along with Koromaru and Akihiko.
But they had to survive this first before she could worry more about their injuries. They followed Akihiko and Koromaru back the way they came, until they got within sight of the staircase leading to the entryway. And that's where it all went to hell.
The ground beneath them shuddered one last time, then crumbled. With a conglomerate of shouts and a bark, they all leapt for the ledge that was the staircase. Akihiko made it easily, as did Aigis. Mitsuru grabbed onto the top stair, feeling herself fall beneath it but able to halt her descent. She waited for a split second, expecting to hear Makoto's own grunt of exertion, but instead was met with a gasp and a whine. She didn't think; she let go with one hand, glancing down to see both Koromaru and their Leader falling. The dog found itself in his arms, and she noticed that Elizabeth had seemingly chosen to fall with him.
"Makoto!" Mitsuru cried out, releasing the ledge. Wherever the darkness below led, he wouldn't be without her. She heard Fuuka shout, and Akihiko responded, but she couldn't make out the words. All she knew was that they had also chosen to leap down after them. Aigis fell even faster than they did, reaching Makoto and Koromaru before she leveled herself out.
It took a few moments, but they eventually were all able to reach one another as they fell, waiting for the painful arrest that Mitsuru knew would bring about either heavy injuries or death. At this point, she didn't even care. At least she was with her friends. Her family.
"Oh, how exciting! Something is happening to the area around us! It reminds me of the door to the Velvet Room…" the stranger stated oddly. "I do believe we're about to arrive at wherever our unknown destination is. I suggest we all close our eyes and take in a deep breath."
"Do it," Makoto confirmed, already putting the woman's words into practice. "Elizabeth is far more sensitive to these things than us."
And so Mitsuru closed her eyes. She trusted him with her life. To do otherwise would mean that she didn't, and that was unacceptable. Something lit up the world around them, flashing in front of her eyelids. Then it became constant. She took a deep breath, glad that the others did the same as she did and at the same time. When she exhaled, she knew that something had changed. A cool breeze tickled her waist through the slashed fabric of her shirt, and she could feel the same breeze caress her head, blowing her hair ever so slightly.
And, she noted, she was standing. No longer falling, as if she never had been. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the sight of the shattered moon she had found herself staring at.
"You… actually did it." Mitsuru muttered. "You broke Nyx apart. You've saved us." Her head swiveled immediately to take in Makoto's own gaze, nearly emotionless as it was. She couldn't help herself.
Her hand reached out and grabbed the collar of his jacket, pulling him towards her. Their lips met for the briefest of moments, as close to a display of public affection that Mitsuru had ever made to date. She knew that they hadn't really made their relationship officially known to the others, but now she just didn't care.
They had survived. But now came the question of where exactly did they end up?