Author's note
To all reader, thank you for reading my fanfic. It is my first fanfic I have written here.
It may be quite a lot of tautology or wrong grammar here; I will be trying to do my best to keep improved my writing.
Thank you again.
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010
Akihiko and the rest of the S.E.E.S members had reach to their destination, The Velvet room. Everyone except Akihiko was being stunned by the mysterious of the Velvet room itself. This room was still the same as Akihiko had been warped here in his dream.
"Wow dude! Look at a giant clock. It's friggin' huge!" Junpei intently looked at a clock, like a childish.
"So, this is the Velvet Room that Minako-san usually came here. The design of the room itself is magnificent." Aigis impressed about the Velvet Room.
"I agree. If the Velvet Room has been designed and changed its form, depending on what kind of situation they're facing with, that means we can understand about Minako' states." Mitsuru said.
"This elevator, when will it gonna stop moving and moreover, where does it lead us? Ken being a little scared.
"Well, I quite disliked about this sounds, it's never-ending, like you can be falling anytime." Fuuka displeased about a sound.
"Sigh…..We wouldn't never get our answer if we're only gonna standing here and enjoying this room like a stupid child." Shinjiro tired of this place.
"Ah! You always be like this, did you enjoy other things except being fake delinquent, Shinji?" Akihiko teased Shinjiro.
"Stop teasing me already, Aki" Shinjiro mumbled.
"Ah…And they're still be fun even from this? Eh…These are totally my friends, after all.." Yukari disappointingly thought in her mind, shook her head, was looking around, tried to find something that gave them a clue about what they should do next.
*bark*
She heard that Koromaru was barking at a desk, making her curious.
"Koro-chan, what's the matter?" Yukari said.
She looked at what was making Koromaru barked. She found something notably on a desk, there's book with some of kind of pentagram seal icon on the front cover. She speculated that what it is using for.
"Good work, Koro- chan." Yukari rubbed Koromaru gently.
"Hey guys, I think I found something here." Yukari called everyone, showing this book to them.
All of them was stunned and confused…They wondered…what kind of book is this? This front cover was made even too mysterious to read. It's just like they're reading Satan's sacrificial ritual's book. They could not even predict that what a detail in a book will help them.
"On the front cover. There's French's word here, what's it written here.?" Aigis suspected.
"Le Grimoire de Coeur." "It wrote "The book of the hearts" I suppose. Mitsuru said.
"Ah…It's just...Wow…" Ken silently shocked.
"Are we just being supernatural world or something? It's doesn't even make sense at all!" Junpei bewildered.
"We witnessed the Dark Hour, can summon our Persona, entering in this room; nothing is impossible now, Iori." Mitsuru deeply unsurprised.
"You're not wrong about it, Senpai. *chuckle*" Junpei hardly chuckled from his mouth.
"So what? We should check this book if we can find anything to rescue her." Shinjiro casually said.
Fuuka was searching around the room when everyone was interested in a book, she found nothing. This book is maybe the only being left here.
"I tried to check everywhere as I could but, it seemed there's nothing beside that book we had found." Fuuka reported to everyone.
"So, this book is the only clue we have here…So hopeless." Yukari dissatisfied, rubbed her hair.
"…..Aki, you lead the way. Open it, hurry!" Shinjiro commanded Akihiko.
"Okay, okay I got it."
Akihiko opened a book and check the detail each page, it is all about Arcana and a data of all Personas had been registered. He looked at another page, there are all description about each Persona, written below of the image. Furthermore, all fusion rituals methods had also been addressed here too. Everyone was being shocked again. They thought what Minako was actually doing here.
"…" Ken and Shinjiro being silent, not saying anything.
"Eh…. Could someone explain those things to me? It's friggin', too complicated again!" Junpei grumbled.
"Just stopping grumbling already, Junpei!" Yukari felt annoyed Junpei.
"Yeah, yeah." Junpei carelessly said.
"So, she can use these Persona that had been registered and fusion them as a new Persona. Wild card ability is truly incredible" Akihiko fascinated about what it wrote here.
"But to me, these rituals are too problematic to perform. These processes are too complicated for ordinary people's common sense. I wondered if Minako-san actually doing all this by herself." Aigis curiously wondered.
Fuuka made her hypothesis, tried to interpret. "With all such a detail of this book and these rituals that too difficult to understand, I don't believe she will do it herself. I think she must have some kind of assistance to assist her."
"I agree. With all information we have found, I quite figured out about the purpose of this room enough." Mitsuru said.
Everyone nodded. They began to continue speaking to Akihiko about incident between Minako and him.
"Aki, you're saying Minako went to that elevator's door, is that right "Shinjiro asked.
"That's right. No mistake about it." Akihiko confirmed Shinjiro's doubt.
"So that means some force may called her here and make an incident that allowed you to meet her." Shinjiro assumed.
"Hold up! How can you make sure about that, Shinji?" Akihiko directly asked.
Shinjiro rubbed his head, tried recall all incident that they had been faced.
"This key…. A whisper…About incident in the dorm…and even this book, there's no way to be a mere coincidence, don't you think? Shinjiro noted.
Mitsuru instantly understood what Shinjiro's meaning.
"Only one conclusion in my mind…. It's set up. Is that what you're trying to tell us, Shinjiro? Mitsuru said.
"Something like that."
"And why are they doing this anyways?" Akihiko still doubted.
"How the hell should I know? I just made my own assumption that make sense the most." Shinjiro mumbled.
Everyone seriously tried to figure out about all of incident they faced. There're a lot of question that hadn't been answered. They wondered why it must be Akihiko who being warped into the Velvet Room during his dream. Moreover, there's voices that wanted Minako and Akihiko to help someone, freeing from their pain. What that pain, actually? But in Akihiko's mind, he only thought to rescue Minako, nothing else.
While they were trying to find an answer, a key on Akihiko's pocket glowed again. Akihiko saw a light from his pocket, decided to pick up, checking a key.
"It's glowing again." Yukari suddenly panicked.
"Be careful, everyone. It's maybe a trap." Aigis warned everyone to not let the guard down.
Fuuka looked around, she saw a book, was also glowing a light too. She wondered what happened.
"Everyone, look!" Fuuka called everyone, pointed her finger at a book that Akihiko was holding.
Akihiko looked distracted by a blue light. He didn't get why this book suddenly glowed. Before he would think anything, he heard a voice from a book. It looks familiar to him again.
"This voice, don't tell me this is-"
Abyss of Times, Malebolge
Minako and other S.E.E.S had gone through a door, these structures were similar in the real world, but something was off. They felt the atmosphere was dark, gloomy, and unsafe more usual. It's totally not different from Tartarus they used to investigate.
Mitsuru decided to call everyone, preparing a plan about investigating the Abyss of Times.
"All right, everyone. This is a plan we'll proceed. We'll divided into two groups." Mitsuru said.
"Wait a minute, why should we divide our group? Aren't more people would make our investigation easier?" Minako questioned.
"We need to find a clue in the dorm as we cloud, about what the Abyss of Time is, or something that similar to a door we just went through, another thing is we need to check how much supplies is still left. It would be quite a lot of time to find all of that. Dividing into two groups will allow us, being able to do two things at the same time. That would be more efficient." Mitsuru explained her reason.
"I see." Minako nodded.
"I too agree with Mitsuru-san." Aigis seemed agreed.
"So, who's going to investigate the Abyss of Times? Minako, and Metis will officially join in investigation team since they have a knowledge better than us. Aigis will be leader in this mission. Fuuka would be join them as a navigator. Who will volunteer?" Mitsuru asked for volunteer.
"I'll go with them." Akihiko volunteered.
"Me too. I just can't let Minako being danger without her ability to fight," Yukari volunteered.
"Thanks" Minako thanked.
"Then It's settled. Others who don't join investigate, help me finding a supplies and information."
"Okay then, See ya later, everyone." Junpei waved.
"We'll be waiting" Ken said.
*bark* Koromaru happily barked.
Mitsuru's team exited a door, leaving Minako's team to investigate. They wondered where they should begin to search first.
"Mitsuru's team is gone. It's time for us to investigate." Akihiko slowly shook his head.
"But we can't randomly search in here. We need to find out how much floor we must go through." Yukari suggested.
"I agree." Metis easily agreed.
"Then let's Fuuka-san use her power, searching for us." Aigis suggested to use Fuuka's ability.
"In this situation, knowing about what direction we should go is the most important. I don't object." Minako noted.
"Yamagishi, about supporting during investigation, we shall leave that duty to you as usual." Akihiko said.
"Okay, leave it to me." Fuuka accepted her duty.
Fuuka summoned Juno, scanning all floors and finding the enemy. She found out that in order to get into next floor, they need to go down into lower floor.
"Judging what I could find during searching, it seems we need to go down into lower floor. It has a total 15 floors we must go down." Fuuka reported what she found.
"Go down below for 15 floors? This is totally nuts." Akihiko lightly knocked his head.
"And this is nothing different from Tartarus too, as I expect." Yukari mumbled.
"Ack!" Suddenly, Minako could sense about the presence of Shadows in this place. There's so much here, and she felt that Shadows in here were stronger in Tartarus.
"What's the matter, Minako? Are you feeling okay?" Yukari asked with worry.
"There…. There're a Shadows here! They're…so much being here!" Minako panicked.
"A Shadow! Even here? Damnit, I knew it's not that easy." Akihiko unhappily grumbled.
"Keep complaining wouldn't make us investigate easily. We should move forward immediately." Metis said.
They nodded and continued to investigate.
They looked around this place. These walls, windows, hallways, all detail they have found resembled to the decor of the Iwatodai dorm. They wondered how the Abyss of Times could completely replicate this place like a Iwadotai dorm.
After they walked for a while, they found a group of Shadows in front of them.
"Everyone, prepare to attack." Fuuka strongly said.
"Minako, you can't fight without Persona. Stay with Fuuka. I don't want another me to worry about you, okay?" Akihiko asked Minako to stay safe.
"Um….." Minako unwillingly nodded. She also wanted to fight with them, but she couldn't use her own power. It'll be hindrance to them. Minako fell back to Fuuka.
"Persona!" Aigis called Orpheus, cast Agi directly, seemed they got a weakness and died. Aigis' persona seemed terribly weak since this is the first time she had a Wild card.
"Come, Caesar!" Akihiko summoned his Persona, cast Maziodyne, instantly eliminated all of it.
Those Shadows looked not strong as Minako thought. All Shadows 'weakness was still the same as they're in the Tartarus, being disadvantaged by Caesar's skill. Then what was that feeling? She thought she might be overthinking.
"…Well, it's not strong as I hope." Akihiko disappointed.
"At least, we didn't need to have a problem with them." Metis said.
"Then let's keep moving, everyone?" Aigis asked.
They nodded and decided to move forward. They keep searching and sprinting to save a time. During fighting with Shadows, Aigis collected a new Persona after eliminating Shadows. Minako kept watching Metis since she had been too suspicious about being Aigis 'sister and knowing about the Abyss of Times better than her.
After they keep passing through and fighting all Shadows each floor, they finally reached at 7th floor.
They intensely tired while being here, sat on the floor to rest for a while. But when Yukari was trying to sit, she accidently saw something, similar to human.
"Ack! Who's there?" Yukari scared asked.
"Yukari-chan, what happened" Fuuka questioned.
"Y…..Do you see that? That human!"
"But others have joined Kirijo-senpai to collect a document and checked supplies, haven't they? No way, they can join us while not being caught." Fuuka insisted.
"…." Minako silently sat. Strange, while Yukari was talking, she detected something nearly but only a short time.
"What's the matter, Minako? You're unusually quiet. Is something bother?" Akihiko worriedly asked.
"We…. We shouldn't be here for long." Minako anxiously said.
They quite confused what Minako said mean. But when they let their guard down, A large group of Shadows had ambushed them.
"We got ambushed!" Metis said.
"How can they find us so quickly?" Fuuka dazed.
Yukari realized that a thing like a human she saw that time is a black figure, like a Shadow.
"That black figure, it brought those in here!"
Others seemed shocked as well. It must be the one that Yukari refer to. What did that black figure want from them?
"We wouldn't be able to go anywhere if we get stuck here." Metis said.
"Ah! We need to get through of them, Dammit!" Akihiko raged.
"Leave it to me. I'll distract them as I can" Metis volunteered.
"No, you ca-"
Minako tried to stop what Metis was doing. But it was too late, Metis activated Orgia Mode, preparing to attack.
"Psyche!" she summoned her Persona. So, she could summon her own Persona just like Aigis did, as a Minako thought.
"Fatal end!" Psyche chopped a Shadows with that hand, allowed them to escape.
"That's a chance!. We need to get lower floor, Run!" Akihiko ordered them.
After they killed one of Shadows, allowing them to escape, they ran as fast as they can.
"Is everyone all right." Metis asked.
"…No, look!" Yukari called everyone, faintly pointed her fingers in front of her. There're a Shadow here. They…. completely surrounded by Shadows. There was no way out here.
"Ahhhh!" Minako accidentally got sprained her ankle, collapsing on the floor.
"Ah! Minako-chan. I'll-" Fuuka panicked, tried to help Minako.
"No! Fuuka-chan, Stop! You can't fight with your own Persona. You need to keep stay with the others." Minako warned Fuuka, not to help her.
"But-'
"Just go!" Minako kept insisted.
Fuuka couldn't do anything but leaving Minako behind, following the others. Minako turned her back, seeing those Shadows was following her. She knew she couldn't run in these states. She slowly accepted all risk to test her hypothesis, waiting for Shadows to come.
Those Shadows still came, keep closing to her every minutes. She gradually closed her eyes and waiting them to attack her.
But for a while, she felt strange, she still didn't get any assault to her. She slowly opened her eyes to look clearly. Those Shadows didn't nothing but keep surrounding around her. They didn't have any intention to hurt her at all. Shortly, a Shadow with a red mask on it put its hand in front of her. She wondered what this Shadow wanted from her.
She deeply sighed, decided to shake its hand. As soon as she touched its hand, all echoes resounded in her inner mind. She felt headache. Those feeling…. looked painful, anxiously, sorrow and hopeless in those voices.
"I have failed everything in my life, I am noting but a trash of society. I couldn't do anything to my family ….to proud of me. I… I…want…to end my life."
"This isn't a fair! Why that bastard murderer survived the trial while my family had been killed because of him!... Did…did a cop just help him out? I'm go… gon… gonna kill all of you!"
"My life was empty. I have a job. I have a lot of money I can spend. But I'm still unhappy. I tried to keep working, devote to my co-worker, to my boss, so I can be useful to them. Why am I still being unhappy?"
"My love…*sob*… please…. stay with me please. I don't want you to leave me! How about our child. Where will they go?"
"Mom, Dad, what happened? Are you just bathing with a red water? Why both of you didn't move? Are you…. sleeping? Please wake up…*sob*..."
"I had been bullied and no one even my family listening to me. Why this fucking world haven't died already!"
"Why does this world exist? I only see nothing evil, corrupted adult in them. I'm just being pissed all of them! I wish they just died, like a trash!"
She couldn't count how many voices up there. But she didn't want to hear it anymore.
"Stop…stop... just shut up already! I…I don't want to…. hear it anymore. Someone, please stop it! *sob*" Minako shouted, slowly sobbed, her tear flowing down on the floor.
Those Shadows noticed her reaction, walked away from her. It seemed they're leaving her for good.
She still sat on the floor, keep recalling all echoes said, what they only said is nothing but a pain, sorrow, grief and emptiness in those voices. But those voices didn't really matter to her. What it really matters to her is help them solving about Abyss of Times, tried to regain her power, and find a reason to being trapped here.
She wiped her tears, kept slowly moving.
At Akihiko's side, after they hastily ran from Shadows. they finally reached to the 8th floor.
"I see no Shadows, I believe it'll be safe, for now." Aigis said.
"*phew* *phew* Is everyone okay? I felt…..tired" Akihiko heavily tired.
"We're fine. No exhausting after all" Metis said.
"Of course, you're robot! You shouldn't feel tired in the fi-" Before he would finish his speaking, Metis collapsed, completely shut her own power. It seemed she got overheat from using Orgia Mode.
"Oh, I totally forgot that she has a Orgia Mode too. Jeez!" Yukari blankly said.
"Anyways, where's both of them?" Aigis doubted.
They turned their back, seeing Fuuka was following them.
"Yamagishi, are you all right?" Akihiko asked.
"*phew* No…no good at all. I never run for my life like this, in my entire life. Even wandering in Tartarus still better than this." Fuuka yawned.
Akihiko noticed that Minako didn't come after with Fuuka.
"Where's Minako?" Akihiko questioned.
"She…. she accidentally got sprained her ankle. I tried to help her. But she keeps insisting to leave her. So,I…I..*sob*" Fuuka collapsed, slowly sobbed.
"Is she….." Yukari began to worry about Minako.
"Dammit! That idiot!" Akihiko pissed to himself.
While others were talking about Minako, Aigis saw something over there, at the middle of hallways. It's black figure that Yukari refer to. But she felt different when she saw it. It's nostalgia, like the loved one she tried to protect.
"Wait!" Aigis rapidly ran, begged it to stop. But she would reach it, she got ambushed by a Shadow that had a pale pink skin, green hair, and blue mask on its heads, called Gigas. They had a reinforcement of Shadows too.
*POW* Aigis quickly noticed, evading its punch attack. That black figure disappeared.
"Aigis! Are you all right?" Fuuka worriedly said.
"It... It disappeared.." Aigis shallowly said.
"You can't be careless now, Aigis. We must focus on the battle first!" Akihiko shouted.
"A…Ah…. Understood" Aigis nervously nodded.
Akihiko and Aigis keep distracting, let Fuuka had a time to summoned Juno, scanning all of Shadow, finding a weakness. Metis was still unconscious.
"…Hm. It seemed all blue mask Shadows are weak to fire. A large shadow that looks like a man, is weak to wind as well. We have our advantage. We should focus those little Shadows first."
"Roger that." Aigis nodded.
"Persona!" She summoned Orpheus, cast Agilao, a new fire skill that learned during fighting Shadows, collecting experience. But those Shadows could automatically evade fire like a press button. Making others heavily confused.
"Isis! Cast Garudyne!" She commanded her Persona to cast a strong wind to the Shadow Gigas, but it could also evade her skill too, just like those little Shadows.
"That's impossible! You said that Those shadows have disadvantages against our elements, why do they can dodge our skill?" Akihiko asked Fuuka.
"This is strange. I thought I have scanned them clearly, I'm sorry. I need a more time to scan clearly again."
Fuuka tried to scan all those Shadows again. But this time, it was shown that all of them had a Dodge passive in them!
"No way…. This is bad! All of them has a Dodge passive in them, it'll make them a chance to dodge that type of attack automatically." Fuuka reported to others.
"This is a joke, right? Don't tell me, they'll keep attacking us while they don't even get a single hit from us? This is a madness!" Yukari grumbled.
"But we can't escape. Behind us, there're also Shadows too. The only our option is to fight or else, we'll die here." Akihiko hopelessly said.
"Sighed…" Aigis deeply sighed.
They felt tired but, if they didn't do anything, all of them would die here. They had no choices but continued to fight against.
Fuuka forgot to mention that these Visceral Maya Shadows also reflected Slash and Strike attacks. Fuuka tried to tell him, but it's too late. Akihiko punched a Visceral Maya Shadows. all his attack had been reflected all to him..
"Ahhhh!" Akihiko had got damaged to his stomach, unable to stand up.
"Akihiko-san! Ah!" Aigis accidently got catches up by Shadow Gigas, being thrown into the wall, collapsing on the ground. She unable to stand up like Akihiko.
"Aigis! Sanada-senpai!" Fuuka looked her friend lie on the ground.
Yukari couldn't hold her emotion to see her friends being hurt like this, she picked her bow, preparing to shoot an arrow.
"Yukari-chan, what're you doing?" Fuuka looked with shock.
"Fuuka…..please…run away … I'll keep attacking them while you're escaping. You need to be alive." Yukari sadly said.
"No, You can't!"
"No, you're only one can run away from them, please tell Mitsuru-senpai…I-"
"I said NO, I wouldn't abandon anyone!" Fuuka resisted, disagreed.
While all of them had been in dire situation, Minako suddenly reached to this floor, being tired for sprinting. Others shocked that Minako was still alive.
"Minako-chan!" Fuuka shockingly said.
"You'…you're alive. Thanks god *phew*" Akihiko relieved to see her again.
*phew* "Everyone…" Minako looked around, felt painful to see her friend got being hurt like this.
Akihiko slowly began to stand up again, continued to fight.
"Minako…take Yama…no.. Fuuka away from here." Akihiko begged her.
"What did just you say! Are you gonna make me left you here? No! Absolutely no way!." Minako strongly disagreed.
"No, you can't be here… Fuuka's safely is the most important… to us. Just do what I say, please.." Akihiko lastly said before summoned Caesar again.
*crack* *klam* Caesar used a sword, trying to hold up the punch attack from Shadow Gigas, but it seemed it wouldn't hold that much longer.
*whoosh* *whoosh* Suddenly, a strong wind, blew those Shadows away from Caesar. It's Yukari summoned her Persona to help Akihiko.
"Minako, just do like Sanada-senpai ask. Please, take Fuuka away." Yukari asked, while keep spamming Magarudyne to drive them away, used Diarahan to heal Akihiko.
Minako was depressed. She thought all of this was her fault. She knew she could sense something but still hesitated to tell others, making them got ambushed, she knew she should even ask Fuuka before resting there. But to her, it was too late. She failed.
She slowly began to collapse on the floor, being in her reverie. Her eye was shallow, empty, just like what she used to.
"Minako-chan, what're you doing? We need to flee now!" Fuuka panickily said.
"Fuuka…I…. I…" Minako barely made to speak out.
"Minako-chan…."
Both stopped talking, being silent together. They wanted to help the others to fight with them. But with a condition and their power. It was useless to fight against them. Minako may be all right because those Shadows didn't hurt her because they thought she was side with them, but Fuuka's power could only do to gather information and supported team from behind, not attack type.
They're now become hopeless.
Some place in the while area, Minako 'mind was being here. She woke up and looked around what happened.
"… This is, a dream?" She thought in her mind.
Someone interrupted and approached her from behind.
"No, Minako. This place is inside of your mind."
She panicked and quickly looked her back. It was Ryoji who spoke to her.
"Ryoji! You….. How can you…." Minako heavily doubted.
"… It seems we have meet once again. Long time no see." Ryoji happily smiled.
Minako shocked, she met Ryoji again. She thought, he had been sealed with Nyx. Before knowing that, if she used The Great Seal and Cosmic Egg had been merged with her, Ryoji must also being sealed within her too. After all, she's also Nyx as a shallow, mindless mind.
"Do you realized everything that happened to you now?" Ryoji asked.
"A…Um…..I think I get it" She nodded.
Before she would speak any further, she wanted to know something from Ryoji.
"Hey, Ryoji."
"Hm? What's that, Minako?" Ryoji curiously said.
"About that time when you said that your love was "forbidden love" Do you mean.."
"Minako…" Ryoji seriously listened to her.
"Do you mean… you actually know what I am, didn't you?" Minako directly asked.
"Minako That's-" Ryoji tried to stop her speaking.
"Do you know that I'm Nyx all along, but you didn't tell me any of it?" Minako kept asking.
"Sigh…." Ryoji sadly sighed.
"Ryoji…. just why? Why did you keep that secret from me? Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" Minako angrily said.
"Minako… I"
"You know I have been blind about my true self without knowing! If I knew it sooner, everything would be end up like this." Minako argued.
"…" Ryoji being silent, didn't anything.
"Just why didn't tell me, Ryoji! Why… *sob*" Minako loudly sobbed.
Ryoji seemed not to know how to calm her down. He felt guilt that he didn't tell anything about her. But deep down, he did because he cared about her feelings, especially, if she knew that she's that fault. She would be blame herself, he thought.
"I'm… sorry, for not telling you" Ryoji guiltily said.
"…" Minako didn't say.
"I… I only did that because I don't want you to suffer and blame yourself, for the rest of your life. I want you to be remembered as a human, not a goddess who bring the end of the world. I even begged you to kill me, so you could live peacefully, no need to know a harsh truth."
"Sighed…Ryoji." Minako deeply sighed after hearing what Ryoji tried to tell her.
"But I was wrong. You regained your own self again, trying to save them all…. even means to end your life as a human. You bring the meaning of life back to them." Ryoji truly complimented to her.
"But…because of everyone, I can…." Minako tried to insist that it's not her doing.
"No Minako, you could forge those bonds into your power. Your bonds with them never be a lie. I'm sure you too, realized about that." Ryoji persuade her, tried to make her believe to herself again.
"Um.. I believe in your words." Minako happily nodded.
After they finished talking about themselves. They decided to change the subjects, about what's current situation she faces.
"It seems they have quite a lot of troublesome about finding a way to the outside world. And your friends in that world is in dire situation too." Ryoji sadly looked at her.
"Yeah, I have been trapped here with Minato' friend there. It must have a reason to occur this incident, including losing my power." Minako said.
"Hm… About your power.." Ryoji seemed to know about a reason her power had lost.
"Eh? You… know something about that?" Minako asked.
"Abyss of Times, it's not only separate from the real world, the one who don't involve in the Abyss won't got their power return with them until getting back to the original world." Ryoji noted.
"If I didn't involve with them, then why am I being teleported to their world?" Minako still doubted about her reason being trapped.
"I…."
Minako clearly gazed at Ryoji, calmly waiting for his answer.
"I believe a door you have found earlier may have an answer, laying in them." Ryoji guessed.
"So I still need to keep going, finding an answer in those doors until the end…Sighed." Minako disappointingly sighed.
Ryoji approached her, holding her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find your answer that you seek for so long. I'm sure about that."
"Ryoj-"
Before she would speak further, Ryoji' body began to shine around him. Minako confused what happened to him.
"Ryoji! What happened?" Minako asked.
"…" Ryoji didn't answer.
"Hey! Say something!" Minako begged him to tell her.
"… I… I'll be faded away."
"What! But how!" Minako shocked. They just met not for long, but he'll leave her…..like she answered him in that night.
"I…. will return to my original form, but not as The Appriser, I'll be your power once again."
Minako truly panicked about what Ryoji just said. She wouldn't believe that Ryoji would be back… as a part of her power.
"Wait! Don't tell me you.."
"A power when I was being Nyx Avatar and me as your Persona… You'll get your own power back as you should deserve, even just a little bit." Ryoji told her…like he never has his regret in his heart.
"But that means you…." Minako couldn't speak up, felt depressed, she was going to lose her friend again…just like a real Minako.
"I don't regret it. At least, I can be happy now. Thank you for saving everyone…Thank you for giving me a chance…to live as a human, to meet everyone. I truly appreciate it." Ryoji happily smiled.
Minako rushed, quickly hugged Ryoji…before he would be faded away.
"Ryoji, please…Don't leave me. You can go back with me. I.. I… * blubber *" She deeply blubbered, begged him not leave her, even she knew it's impossible now.
Ryoji knew this day would come to them someday, he hugged her back.
"It's all right. You'll be okay… Your friend's waiting for you…. You're become yourself again, now."
Ryoji said is last words before being faded away.
"I'll always watching over you…. Farewell…..Minako, my dearest."
…. At last, Ryoji completely disappeared…. left only a glimpse of blue light crystal. She kept it and holding a crystal with her own hand.
"Farewell…Ryoji… I won't forget you."
At Fuuka's side, they had been too injured to fight back, Yukari's healing power wasn't enough to fully recover others. Metis was still unconscious.
"If anything is continued being like this, everyone would.." Fuuka held her hand, prayed for helping.
*crack* *shing* *schwing* But suddenly, Fuuka just saw a Persona began to slaughter those Shadows instantly. She wanted to look back who summoned that Persona. It's Minako!.
"Minako-chan!"
*phew* *phew* Minako heavily panted. She reclaimed her own power, summoned Thanatos. Thanatos held something in its hand, it's her new weapon, a tome, a Persona Compendium.
Thanatos sent a tome to Minako gently. Minako gazed at her Persona, nodded with happily smile.
"Thank you, Ryoji. Please… watch over me. Arcana Shift!".
She picked a tarot card from the tome. shifted it into "Death Arcana", cast her power "Night Queen" into those Shadows. Those red beams stomped into them; black feathers were coming out from those beams. they… had been eliminated in the blink of the eyes.
Fuuka and others completely shocked what they just witnessed, her power, Arcana shift, Persona… is what Nyx avatar was! They finally fully believed in her words.
"*phew* I never thought that using my own power for the first time would be tired like this, look likes I still have a human side in me." Minako tiredly said. "Is everyone all right?"
"Wow, that power... "Fuuka amazed about Minako' power.
"That attack… That's Nyx' attack type we had been faced in the past! How could you…" Akihiko shockingly waded his eye to her.
"She's…Nyx. Sighed…." Yukari deeply sighed truly, began to fear her.
"A…. Ah.. Minako-san!" Aigis shouted.
Minako gazed at her, nodded her back. "It's all right, I'm totally fine, for now."
She looked back to Metis, tried to help you. "Anyways, we need to help Metis first."
"Roger that" Aigis nodded, helped Metis by using Pixie to heal her, along with Yukari.
Metis slowly regained her conscious, looked Aigis while being hugged from Aigis.
"Si…. Sister. I'm…"
"You'll be all right, Metis. Those Shadows has been defeated, thanks to her." Agis said while looking at Minako.
"Thank you…..Minako-san" Metis nodded, truly appreciated to her.
"No, not at all." Minako happily said.
Aigis and others began to stand up, decided what to do next.
"I don't understand why those Shadows suddenly stronger when we faced that black figure. Give me a break!" Yukari badly irritated.
"Moreover… It's just like him." Aigis sadly held her hand.
"Sister…"
"…-.-. - What's this sound?" Minako felt puzzled, finding what a sound came from.
She searched a safe spot, standing there while carefully listening sound, she noticed that those sound was coming from her tome.
"….? Minako?" Akihiko doubted what Minako was doing.
"….Mi….there…" Minako still unclearly heard enough. She summoned Thanatos to enhance her hearing. She spent quite a time to clearly listen a sound.
"Minako! Are you there?" It's Akihiko' voice. She thanked that she could reached him again.
"Aki! Isn't that you! Yes! Yes, it's me. Thanks god." Minako
"Finally, I knew we can find a way to contact you sooner, that book was actually helping us here." Fuuka said and stayed with Akihiko. She began to know that every S.E.E.S member in her world was trying to find a way to rescue her.
Aigis and others in the Abyss confused who she was speaking with. It seemed Minako is the only who can hear it.
"Minako-san! Are you all right?" Ken asked.
"Yes, Ken-kun. I relieved that all of you is all right." She sobbed a little.
"Minako, do you know how much we desperate to find you, you idiot!" Shinjiro furiously complained while being happy to hear her again.
Yukari interrupted and said to Minako "Even we can't see you in there, we still can contact you by using this book as our communication tool. I'm glad you're safe."
"But…Wow! I don't even know how this thing could work as a radio, anyways! This is crazy." Yukari loudly shouted.
"Hey! Hey! Yuka-tan that's too loud. You're too excited to hear her again." Junpei jokingly teased.
"Shut up, Stupei! You're too excited, just like me. Jeez!" Yukari blushed on her cheek.
"Yeah, yeah whatever." He carelessly said.
"I'm glad you're safe, Minako-san. Others and I was worried about you. I thought you'll leave us, far away again."
*bark* Koromaru happily barked when he heard her voice.
"I'm sorry to worry you all I'm… truly regretful." Minako apologized.
"Being knowing you're still be all right, that's enough to me." Mitsuru hopefully said.
Minako was still talking with her friend without noticing that others saw her with strangely gazing at her. They thought she may still be in her reverie again.
"I think it's time to tell you all. About my current situation."
Minako clearly told everything about Abyss of Times, Time's flowing and finding an answer alongside with them while others told her about what they found.
"Abyss… Of Times? Moreover that, Ryoji-kun…." Yukari sadly said when knowing about Ryoji.
"I know.. Sighed.." Minako regretfully sighed.
"He was doing his parts, until the end…I could only respect… for his doing." Akihiko respected Ryoji.
"Wait a moment! Minako. If time don't flow there and we're in different time, how can we contact you in the first place? Wouldn't it cause time paradox?" Mitsuru protested about Minako said earlier.
"No, it's possible. Kirijo-senpai" Fuuka insisted.
"I maybe not right at all, but if Abyss of Time has completely separated everyone from their world, maybe their time flowing doesn't connect to that dimension too. So, we can contact Minako directly without a consequence. Besides, this is a Velvet Room. This time doesn't flow here either. So, we should be okay, right?" Fuuka noted.
"Guys.. I couldn't follow this up. It's just like I'mma read a friggin' Sci-Fi novel." Junpei hopelessly moaned.
"But hey! how can she gonna get out hell of that place? Did anyone get suggestion? Shinjiro asked.
Everyone tried to help Minako finding a way to get out from the Abyss of Times, but this is the first time they heard about that, they certainly didn't know how to help her or even going to the Abyss.
"I dunno. Aragaki-san. I never know this kind of thing in my life." Ken bafflingly shook his head.
"Maybe we should try to break this elevator's door. Minako-san went through that door, isn't she?" Aigis suggested an idea.
"And how can you gonna break it anyways, Aigis? We don't know about that damn thing!" Junpei protested.
"Hmmmm…" Minako deeply ruminated, recalled her memories about the Abyss and the connection between her and the Abyss.
"I think I should stay with them and find the truth that lies in those doors alongside them." Minako quietly said.
"But Minako-san-" Aigis keep insisting.
"No, Aigis, let her be. I trust in her. She will find a way to get out, I'm sure of it." Akihiko begged Aigis not doing recklessly.
"Sigh…. I hate to admit, but Akihiko's correct. As long as she stayed with Minato' friend. She'll be okay." Mitsuru said.
"But should we trust his friends? They really attacked her!" Ken disagreed to let Minako be with them.
"Another me…. she tried to accuse Minako, for her lover's death… I wondered how much her grief in her heart or maybe we're no different at all. Maybe I'll do the same thing as her, after all." Yukari sadly ponder about "another her" in that world.
"Yukari…" Mitsuru sadly looked at her.
"No Yuka-tan, you're not!" Junpei disagreeably shouted. "You're different from her, we still don't lose her yet. We still can save her! Don't think that you'll to do the same thing as her!"
"Junpei…"
Yukari being silent for a moment after she heard Junpei's word.
"I…I never thought that you're truly saying that for me…. You're actually ace detective this time…Thanks, Junpei." Yukari being happy, inspired by Junpei's word.
"Yuka-tan… *giggle*" Junpei happily giggled back to her.
"Whatever. We shouldn't be stand here and find an information to help her or at least we can get inside of that place." Shinjiro suggested.
"I agree. We should search what was being left. I will go with Shinjiro at the lab. It maybe still a clue being left there." Mitsuru said.
"Eh?" Shinjiro blushed when Mitsuru said it.
"So, both of you actually dated together! Wow!" Ken surprised.
"Shut up! /Slience!" Mitsuru and Shinjiro embarrassedly said, blushed at the same time. They didn't even look their face each other. Others loudly laughed a lot.
"Well…. just leave them be. *giggle*" Fuuka giggled a little.
Akihiko shook his head while being around his friends. Akihiko continued to talk with Minako.
"Anyways, it seemed you have to stay with them while we're gathering our information to get there or at least, help them find the truth. It will be takeing a while, are you okay with that?" Akihiko worriedly asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine!" Minako answered.
"Then it's settled. If anything has been updated, I'll contact you later. See you later." Akihiko said goodbye before a signal was cut off.
Minako truly relieved that her friends were trying to find her. She quitted her summon and looking her back. Others confusedly stared at her.
"Eh…..Who are you talking with, Minako?" Yukari asked.
"My friends…" Minako clearly answered.
"Your friends! So, they knew you're here!" Akihiko shockingly said. He thought they would be completely separated and no chance to contact.
"They knew everything…yes" Minako said.
"I'm glad Minako-san's friends knew you're here. I'm grateful." Aigis delightedly said.
"But this is a first time I saw someone can contact from the outside of the Abyss of times. That's unbelievable!" Metis bewildered.
Minako brought a good news to them.
"They said they'll try to find out about Abyss of Times for us too. It will be clear about the purpose of this place when they can find about the true cause." Minako said.
"They'll help us too? That's a lot of help." Yukari relaxed.
"Then we should hurry. I can sense a door below there." Fuuka said.
"We nearly reached that door. We should be going." Metis asked.
Everyone nodded, decided to keep moving.
After they kept moving and fighting Shadows, they finally reached the final floor. They looked around this floor. Those sands fell down from upsides. Those stairs were constructed around them. In front of them is a door they sought, between two red fire torches.
"A door…" Agis said.
"It seems like we've reached our first goal." Metis said.
"This door is…..Eh…. How should I say? Fabulous?" Minako being stunned by a door' texture.
"Yamagishi, contact with everyone. Tell them we found a door and come in here." Akihiko asked Fuuka.
"Yes, senpai" Fuuka nodded and summoned Juno to contact everyone.
After waiting for a while, everyone in the dorm finally came here.
"Wow, dude…Look at this place!" Junpei shockingly said.
"It's clearly larger more than I thought." Mitsuru said.
"And how many more time we gonna do this? Akihiko asked Metis.
"I don't know for sure. But judging by the Desert of Doors, I'm betting it's not going to be just once or twice."
"Ugh... I was afraid you'd say that." Yukari boringly grumbled.
Metis looked back at the door again while ruminating what she knew.
"We're looking for the source of our troubles, so logically, it should be at the deepest level."
"Yeah this is just a first floor we found. I don't think this is a main cause neither." Minako supported Metis's idea.
"It's like Tartarus all over again." Ken mumbled.
"The two structures are very similar, in some ways." Fuuka said.
"Now you mention it… It's quite curious to me too. Those wall, floors and hallways in the past floors look similar each other. It's just like being replicated!" Minako suspected.
"Not only that, we've got the friggin' Shadows wandering around... Geez... I never thought I'd have to see another one of those. But hey... The Lost are all gone... So how come they're still around?" Junpei murmured.
"Another question that needs an answer... Though it's not like we can leave until we find out." Akihiko said.
While everyone was talking about a door, Mitsuru stared at Yukari. She noticed Yukari had been 8. gloomy on her face for a while.
"Hm...? What's wrong, Yukari?" Mitsuru asked with worry.
"Ohhh, nothing... It's just... After the hell we went through, we finally had some peace... I was determined to keep my eyes on the future, and not look back. But now I'm being dragged back to the way things used to be!" Yukari loudly raged.
"Yukari..."
"Time doesn't flow normally here... It's no surprise you feel that way. You'll find there will be many opportunities to revisit your past here." Metis said.
"What's that supposed to mean...?" Yukari confusingly asked.
"Or to be clearly, Time never flow, it's always looped in the same point." Minako said.
Metis nodded. She opened the door, and a shining light broke through to them, bring them to the unknown place.
Minako and other S.E.E.S had been reappeared into the unknown place. They heard a lot of people voices in here. They opened their eyes and shocked what in front of them. They saw a normal people in here, even shops. They failed to grasp about what happened.
"This is... Huh? Paulowinia Mall? But weren't we just inside...?" Yukari truly confused.
"I didn't get at all…" Minako confused, same as Yukari.
"What's going on? Did we make it out somehow?" Akihiko asked.
"I dunno... Something seems off... Isn't it kinda hot in here?" Junpei being clueless about their situation.
While they confused about their situation, a unknown police noticed them and approached them.
"You kids...?" Unknown police spoke to them.
"Kurosawa-san..." Akihiko shocked.
"What're you doing out here on a weekday? Shouldn't you be in school?" Kurosawa questioned.
"Oh, but it's spring break now..." Yukari said.
"Spring break...? That was a couple months ago. It's June now."
Kurosawa saw Aigis and Metis over there, making him suspicious about them.
"What's with those two in costume back there? Is there some sort of event going on...?"
"Uh, no... It's, um..."
"...Well, I'll let it slide. I know you kids are a little different. But if you try to use that as an all-purpose
excuse, I'll have to enforce the law. Don't forget." He said before leaving for patrolling.
They were all clueless about what was just happened, they went through that door and being a place they used to go. I wondered why it must be this place. The more I thought, the more they didn't' understand.
While they were trying to figure out about this puzzle, Mitsuru accidentally saw a calendar. She checked on it what today was.
"All the dates displayed here say 2009... That calendar, too. Could the June he mentioned be... June of last year?" Mitsuru surprisingly said.
"That's impossible... Are you saying this is the past? Hey, Aigis' Sister!"
Akhiko tried to look at Metis to make her answer his question. But Metis was being interested about fountain in Paulowinia Mall. She gazed it happily.
"Hey! Are you listening!?" Akihiko furiously shouted.
Aigis gazed at Metis while being a little happy with her. She thought Metis might not be a bad person as she thought.
"Are the things here that interesting to you...?" Aigis asked Metis why she interested into them.
"N-No, not at all. It's all everyday stuff, right? This is a "fountain," and that over there is a "store"... Metis said, looked around this place.
"It's true that I sometimes come here to gaze at the fountain..."
"R-Really? Then you feel the same—"
"But there is something odd about being here. For all of us, not just you... Tell me, what is this place?" Aigis questioned.
"...We came here by passing through a door, remember? Doors like that are in several places throughout the Abyss of Time, and each one is connected to the past." Metis deeply explained.
"Then... this really is last year!?" Akihiko was still being shocked.
"How else can you explain the different time and season? But it seems you can't go just anywhere in the past... Only somewhere from your memories. This looks like a mall, but I don't think it's connected to any place else either." Metis said.
"The past...? Aw, man..." Junpei mumbled.
But Minako had been speculated all these incidents they had faced. She assured there's no way this is actually the past because she couldn't sense about time flowing here. She decided to share her view with the others.
"No this isn't an actually the past." Minako protested.
Everyone was being curious about what Minako said earlier.
"Minako-san, do you… know something about this?" Ken asked.
"Yes, of course, I think I know everything." Minako nodded.
"Please… tell us, it would be delightful for helping us to understand this sort of things." Mitsuru asked Minako tell what she knew.
"Then we should find a quiet place to talk, shouldn't we?"
They decided to find a place they could talk without being interrupted. They chose Chagall Café as a place they would discuss. Everyone was being gather here and find a seat to talk together.
"Okay we're here. It's time to talk about your opinions, Minako-chan." Fuuka said.
"You're right. Ahem…. Where should I begin first?"
Minako began to tell her view with those structure they have found.
"First, those structures we have seen all in these our way. Doesn't it familiar to you guys?" Minako asked everyone.
"I wonder about that too…Wait! What's supposed to mean?" Yukari seriously asked.
"I will be honestly to all of you. What happened in here it's pretty clear that those dungeon has been replicated from your memories. Those structures are only us who have seen it every day. And it's only in the dorm."
Everyone began to panic. It was just like Metis was trying to tell them in the beginning.
"And when I saw Paulowinia Mall again with my own eyes, I thought we actually be in the past, just like Metis said. But I feel odd something in here."
"Something odds? What do you mean, Minako? Akihiko asked.
"This… is not a past. It's only fragment of the past… has been created based on your memories."
Everyone instantly shocked what Minako was telling them. They confused and couldn't figure out… Did she really mean it? They began to believe that this place must deeply connect to them in some ways.
But Metis seemed to not fully believe in Minako's word.
"How can you be so sure that this is not a past?" Metis asked.
"Time flowing. I don't sense it here, just like inside of the dorm. And when I thought how I can contact my friends from here too, everything is all clear. No matter what we're doing here, it'll not change the past."
"I see… I think I get it." Metis said.
Everyone seemed to slowly understand what Minako said. What they saw in the Abyss of Times was only fragment of their memories, not the past itself.
"Anyways, we prepare our supplies first. All of you wouldn't want to be starved, right? Minako said.
"You're right. We should buy something useful in a battle too." Fuuka suggested.
"Then I'll find medicines in shops with Ken, that shop has a lot of medicine type we want." Akihiko volunteered.
"Then it's settled. We'll gather our supplies as much as we can, immediately." Mitsuru commanded.
Everyone nodded, beginning to search all place for supplies. Akihiko and Ken found a lot of painkillers, wound kit sets and a variety of pills. Junpei, Yukari, and Fuuka found a lot of food ingredient for cooking. Koromaru, Minako and Mitsuru sneaked into Chagall Café and Club Escapade to get some drink powders and a lot of soft drinks while Aigis and Metis was guarding a door, not being suspicious to other people.
After finished gathering, everyone returned at the door with a lot supplies.
"Wow… It's truly crazy. I never thought we would actually have a lot of supplies like this!" Ken shocked
"Right! It's frigging easy to find all these things." Junpei complimented in him.
"We are totally tired to find a supplies, and you say you're proud of it! That's totally our Junpei…Sigh…" Yukari being irritated by Junpei, loudly sighed.
*bark* Koromaru happily barked.
"Anyways Minako, do you want to explain to me why we must be acting like a theft to get only soft drinks. This's totally shoplifting! Why didn't we just ask the owner directly?" Mitsuru furiously asked.
"And why we need to do something like that in the first place! This is just only a fragment of the past. We don't face the consequence anyways." Minako boringly argued.
"Ca…Calm down, both of you!" Akihiko insisted.
"That's not your concern, Aki!...Oops!" Minako accidently slipped up something she shouldn't speak.
Akihiko was being stunned by Minako's word.
"Akihiko-senpai… I don't really mea-"
"Not… my concern? *sob*" Akihiko regretted what Minako said to him, stood away from her. She felt quite bad about this.
"Look like I'm busted…" Minako a little giggled.
"It's our fault…I'm sorry Akihiko." Mitsuru apologized.
"Me too"
"Really! Hahaha!" Akihiko happily laughed like childish, making both of them shook their head and felt headache.
"We have enough supplies we what, we should get back and planning about the next move."
Everyone heard Metis's advice nodded and decided to go through the door, back to the dorm for planning to investigate the next door.
Minako's Power concept (Reawakening, In this FanFic)
Minako has reawakened her power after Ryoji was being returned to be a part of her power again.
She will be stronger than her normal version but not as a Full Nyx power.
All her power list:
Death's Endurance: No longer got inflicted by any negative status effect or instant kill from enemy. Change her Spirit Points (SP) gauge into Mana Point gauge (MP). All SP item will no longer efficient on her.
Invigorate Max: Restores 10% of Total Max MP each turn in battle.
Arcana Shift: In the Abyss of Times, she still has only a glimpse of power. She can only summon Thanatos as her initial Persona.
But with Arcana Shift, she can use skill that exclusively on Main Arcana's tarot by shifting her Arcana into a new Main Arcana. All Thanatos's skill set, and stats will be change during Main Arcana has been shifted.
Main Arcana' skill
0: Fool: No skills being here but picking her with Fool Arcana, all party will get more EXP than usual 0.75x.(Only 5 level difference)
I: Magician: Scholar's Determination: Spend 100 MP, doubles power of magic attacks and enhanced with ignore foe's resistant to all allies dealt next turn.
II: Priestess: Sacred Protection: Spend 42 MP, cure all any negative status effect except KO and give a one random buff (for 4 turn) to all allies.
III: Empress: Nyx's Embrace: Spend 100 MP, grant a unique buff to all allies with 50% reduction in incoming damage and restores 15% of each ally's maximum HP at the beginning of their turn in 3 turns.
IV: Emperor: Sovereign Resonance: Spend 90 MP, grant immunity (immune all negative effects) for 3 turns, after all allies' buff duration has expired, inflict decreased defense debuff to all foes for 2 turns.
V: Hierophant: Nyx's Salvation: Spend 73 MP, grant Endure (Survive one fatal blow with 1 HP remaining.) and increase Hit/Evasion rate to all allies for 3 turns.
VI: Lovers: Heartbreaker: Spend 50 MP, deals heavy Almighty damage to all foes. Damage is heavily increased against charmed foes, 20% to inflict Charm to all foes.
VII: Chariot: Goddess's Wrath: Spend 50% of total max HP, deal severe physical damage to one foe's (2x-4x), 50% to inflict Fear or Distress to all foes.
VIII: Strength: Shroud of Dominion: Spend 40% of total max both HP and MP, increase critical rate and doubles power of physical attacks to all allies dealt next turn.
IX: Hermit: Shadowbind: Spend 40 MP, Deal heavy Dark magic damage to one foe. Inflict decrease Hit/Evasion rate to one foe for 2 turns (couldn't be extend until debuff expired.).
X: Fortune: Wheel of Fortune: Spend 15 MP, creates a roulette that either damages, heals, buffs, debuffs, or inflicts status ailments to all on-field targets.
XI: Justice: Cavernous Light: Spend 90 MP, deal moderate Light magic damage to all foe's, (4x-7x).
XII: Hanged Man: Benevolent Eclipse: Spend 90 MP, Decrease Attack/Defense/Hit and Evasion all foes for 3 turns.
XIII: Death: Night Queen: Spend 80 MP, deal severe Almighty damage and random status effects to all enemies.
Other Arcana card will be received during story progression.