Chapter 14
Hamuko had long been told that she was a levelheaded person. Sure, she was exceedingly happy most of the time (too happy, some of her sulky critics said), but she was known for never getting out of hand. When her old clubs needed to get something (anything, actually) done, they called Hamuko. When her friends went out to drink, the auburn-haired girl was group Mom. And when Minato got all pouty (quiet, he'd insist, but c'mon, everyone knew what was really up), she would be the one to coax him back out of his shell.
But right now, when she was separated from the rest of her group in a dangerous environment…
AAAAAAAAHHHH!
She kept the screaming internal, fortunately. And she was even able to stay in control long enough to feel when Mitsuru was desperately calling her, staying calm and explaining the situation to her Senpai who, understandably, was freaking out and needed no extra mental shrieks from anyone.
But that didn't help her one bit after Mitsuru left her mind to seek out the others again.
Hamuko bit back a scream when a massive shadow-blob came stalking around a corner, fortunately looking away from the girl and giving her enough time to swiftly retreat and pin her back to the wall. She quietly panted as adrenaline thrummed through her, shaking her muscles and racking her shoulders in trembles.
She closed her eyes with a swallow, wishing now, more than ever, for absolutely anyone to be there with her. She wasn't her brother; she needed people around her to function, chatting, mumbling, or even just silently standing there.
In fact, Minato was the one person she knew who had learned to enjoy the absolute minimum social contact possible (Meaning, essentially, talking with her). It was usually a terrible thing, and especially so in school, where the entire experience revolved around friendships, clubs, and, y' know, talking.
But, Hamuko thought as she opened her eyes and shifted her sweaty hands on the nagitana, they might have stumbled upon the one situation where Minato's stoicism was preferable. God, what wouldn't she do to get a bit of Minato's introversion now…
She slowly leaned around a corner, darkish bangs hanging over her eyes as she focused on finding the black splotch, no doubt shimmying all over the walls-
Holycrapspeakofthedevil!
Just as her eyes cleared the corner, her vision was taken up by the same damned splotch. Hamuko couldn't help the shriek erupting from her as she blindly swung her lance, arcing widely from the girl's awkward stance. However, the demon seemed just as surprised as her. It turned and gave a little shriek of its own, just before the nagitana dug fiercely into its midsection.
As expected at this point, it split off into several sections. This time, the magic number was four, and Hamuko charged forward ('Four-ward,' maybe? Oh, whatever) as sticky black arms emerged from the blots and yanked their bodies up, pink masks materializing on rising heads. Switching her nagitana to one hand (and barely keeping her grip on the awkwardly long item), the shorter Arisato whipped her evoker out. "Mitsuru!" she called, trying her best to focus on contacting her Senpai. "I need you to scan these guys, now!"
Sadly, she didn't have the luxury of waiting for Mitsuru's analysis. Or reply. She brought the evoker to her head and fired it, glass smashing in her mind and almost covering her cry of "Agi!" Hovering above the auburn-haired girl, the persona raked its fingers across the harp's strings with a smirk, a harsh chord ringing out. A fireball emerged from the instrument, arcing over both girls' heads before racing down with sparks streaming from it like a comet and exploding into one of the blobs with a satisfying whoom, smoke covering the target from view.
Then, the sparks cleared, and the hovering girl's smirk faltered. The blob was merely shaking itself off, staring testily up at its newfound prey.
Until a black smile stretched up from below the mask.
Hamuko stepped back and glanced down with wide eyes as the shadows inched forward, small bodies quivering. They raised their arms up and towards the girl, each of their fingers lighting up with flame in quick succession. Foom! Foom! Foom!
One growled and thrust forward. Small flames trickled down and met in its palm, and a fireball shot forwards, crashing into Hamuko's leg. The girl gasped, barely holding in a yelp as the spell coiled around her leg, a red snake with a burning, smoky bite. The shadow squealed in delight at her agony, pointing a murky finger towards her as it cackled. Its partners took the hint and surged up in a line, bodies rippling hard in excitement as they powered themselves towards the girl.
The next fireball erupted from one of their fingers, but Hamuko was already on the move. She dashed forwards, disregarding the fireball that singed the back of her skirt (and the burning AAAGGHH! coming from her scorched leg), and raised her evoker. Steel touched flesh, and shattering echoed all around as Orpheus reappeared with a smash, glowering at the shadows with retribution promised in her-
Another Agi hit the persona square in the chest, knocking it back and slamming it into a wall. Hamuko involuntarily froze as it burst into glass, returning prematurely into her soul.
She was further stunned when one last fireball soared out of the final shadow and burst onto her face.
Hamuko screamed as the fire licked her, dead skin burning off as the girl careened back. She hit the uncaring ground hard, letting out a strangled cry on impact. Groaning, she tried to sit up again, numb fingers slipping on the bloody floor as she felt around for her weapons.
But if the ground was uncaring, the shadows were even less so.
There was no warning before a rending cut lit Hamuko's already sore nerves on fire. The girl instinctively curled up, protecting the malicious slash mark that split her uniform as a piercing wail cut through the air. It took her a few moments to realize the noise was coming from herself.
Hamuko wrenched open her unburnt eye. Unfocused blobs marched forwards, shivering and wavering (unless that was just Hamuko's sight blurring), with red masks glowing pale in the relative darkness.
Crap. This is getting pretty dire. One hand slapped the floor, searching for grip. And Mina's gonna kill me if I die here...
Arms like lead, Hamuko continued feeling around for her evoker, several seconds wasted until she found its now-comfortingly cold touch. Still lying on the floor, she returned her focus to her adversaries, ignoring the winces and hisses from her own mouth as she raised her weapon and-
"You sons of bitches! Take this!"
KRAK!
Whhisshh-thunk!
Hamuko blinked (well, tried) when the monster she'd focused on was split by a great sword and ejected from the vicinity with a squeal. Another shadow was impaled by an arrow, black gore spurting out its back as it yowled and grasped the projectile, feebly tugging on it as its energy slowly seeped out.
The auburn-haired girl started when a black shoe and dark pant leg stepped in front of her. "Get back!" Junpei roared from above, voice distorted by fury. "You want her?! Then you've gotta get through me!"
Hamuko could have cried. They'd found her. They'd actually found her.
Another voice burst into her mind. "Takeba! You need to heal Arisato, now!"
Mitsuru-senpai?
The name floated by Hamuko, just out of full comprehension's reach. And it escaped her memory completely as a shattering explosion resounded just outside of Hamuko's sight, and a soft light bundled her up. Relief washed over her, and she gratefully accepted it with a slight whimper as her skin regrew and her nerves hushed their screaming.
All too soon, the lights dimmed, and her leg and face restarted their moaning. But, hey, at least she could move a little now. Dragging her legs up, the shorter Arisato twin managed to swing herself into a kneeling position and glanced up. "Thanks, Yukari-chan."
Yukari didn't meet the girl's look. She instead stared obstinately at Junpei's fight with the last shadow, hands drawing her bow back in case the monster decided to change its target. "…Hm."
Hamuko would've quirked an eyebrow if it hadn't been mostly singed. Did Yukari just grunt at her?
A fireball that flew a little too close for comfort broke her from introspection. It streaked past the archer and scarred the ground next to Hamuko, lighting up a part of her skirt. The girl yelped and fell onto her back, madly patting out the flame.
Meanwhile, Junpei bellowed from across the room, swinging low at the shadow as it wriggled around the floor. He missed, Yukari sighed, and the shadow scuttled along the floor towards the two girls.
Hamuko straightened, though still not standing, and grasped her evoker tightly. She was about to fire it before a twang sounded from above her, and an arrow sliced through the monster's arm. The poor thing shrilled, darkened glop oozing from its socket, until a black-stained sword slashed through its main body, obliterating its mask and slicing the body in two.
The entire ordeal had probably taken around thirty seconds. But when the cries of the dead demons had finished floated through the hall, Hamuko could've sworn it had been years. A quick glance around told her that her friends weren't faring much better in the energy department, both of them showing droopy postures and lax grips on their weapons.
Regardless: "Alright, we've gotta keep moving," she said, not really digging how weak she sounded. "We need to find Akihiko-senpai ASAP, then get outta here. Sound good?"
"W-wait a second, Hamuko-chan," Yukari interjected. "Let me h-heal you first, ok?"
"I'll be fine. We really need-"
"Hamu-tan, you ain't fine," Junpei said, shouldering his broadsword. "Let Yuka-tan heal you."
"Arisato, get yourself healed now," Mitsuru ordered before Hamuko could interrupt again. "Akihiko will be alright for a few more moments."
Well then. Couldn't really say no to a direct order, could she?
Hamuko slumped back over as Yukari summoned Io and healed her, skin regrafting and muscles regrowing under the soft touch of the girl's dia. It was only then that Hamuko got why they had wanted to heal her so bad.
Jeez, was my entire face still covered in a burn? Hamuko grimaced. No wonder Yukari-chan couldn't even look at me.
With her face more-or-less back to normal, the auburn-haired girl turned to her brown-haired counterpart. This time, they made eye contact, and Yukari offered an apologetic smile to her friend. She was quick to receive an understanding nod in reply.
"Alright," Mitsuru started, and Yukari's smile immediately faltered, "We need to get you three out of there as soon as possible. I haven't found Akihiko, but if you find a warping station, I need you all to escape immediately! Understood?"
"…Warping station?" Junpei asked. "What's it even look like, Senpai?"
"A platform with a green light coming from it. Have you seen one?"
"Yeah!" Junpei grinned. "It was near where I started: from here, we've gotta take a left, then go straight, and then…"
He faltered, grin slipping off his face. The girls present shared a look before glancing at him when he didn't continue. "…And then?" Yukari prompted, eyes narrowing.
"I can't remember!" he blurted, eyes wide. "I-I think it's that dark-hour adjustment thing! I've lost another part of my memory!"
"You what?!" Yukari shouted, wheeling on the hapless boy with fists clenched and terror poorly hidden in her eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me! Dammit, Stupei, how could you be so-"
"HEY! Yukari-chan, that's enough!"
A stunned silence fell over the group. Yukari and Junpei had frozen at Hamuko's bellow and were now openly gawking at her, with Yukari's mouth frozen open mid-insult. Though now wheezing, Hamuko stood up as straight as Mitsuru and held Yukari's gaze. "It's not his fault… anymore than yours," she said, voice ringing with confidence despite the occasional gasp. "We need to work together if we're going to get outta here… so I don't want to hear another word like that while we're here… Got it?"
Yukari nodded weakly, and Hamuko turned away to snatch her nagitana from the floor. "Senpai!" she barked, tone still more commander-like than usual. "You there?"
"…Yes." Mitsuru's voice floated up, distracted. "…What is it?"
"Do you know Akihiko-senpai's position?"
"No," she replied, more focused now. "I am still looking for it, since he hasn't focused enough to contact me." The redhead's tone turned flat there. "But I need you three to escape STAT. Do not go out of your way looking for him, understood?"
"What if we happen to find him on our way there?"
"Then you should accompany him to the exit. But do not waste more time in here looking for him, under any circumstances!"
"…Got it. We're moving."
Hamuko turned back to the others, an order on her lips, but found them already behind her, Junpei to her left and Yukari to her right. She nodded and faced front. "Let's get a move on, guys. Junpei, you tell us what you remember."
"You got it, Hamu-tan." Hamuko's serious expression was apparently contagious as Junpei stepped in front of her, smile nowhere to be seen. Hamuko stayed right behind him as he led, but Yukari trailed relatively far behind them, arrow notched and eyes wandering.
The trio followed the capped boy's lead, rounding corners and evading shadows. This went on silently for a few minutes until Junpei whispered to his side.
'Y' know, Hamu-tan," he murmured. "I appreciate what you said back there, but don't you think it was a little…" he scratched his head. "I dunno, harsh?"
"I meant what I said." Hamuko said, matching the boy's volume. "We need everyone to work together, and we can't do that if Yukari's unnecessarily blaming you."
"…I'm not sayin' I don't agree with you here," Junpei started slowly, "But don't you think you've made Yuka-tan mad?"
"Right now, I don't care. We really need to survive. I can rebuild bridges later."
Hamuko's eyes then narrowed, and she glanced at the boy to her left. "And honestly? I stand by what I said. Even if it was your fault, what she was saying was not cool. And I've seen how she treats you at school, too. Y' know, for someone so focused on family, she sure doesn't seem to-" She cut herself off, closing her eyes and breathing out a deep whoosh. "…Nevermind."
Junpei walked in silence for a few more steps before yanking his cap tightly down, looking away from the girl. "…Thanks, Hamu-tan."
Hamuko let a little smile curve her lips as they approached an intersection. "Don't mention it."
Further conversation was stalled as something exploded from the left side of the junction. Heat rippled outwards, the resulting wind violently whipping Hamuko's clothes around, before the familiar form of a grey-haired boxer flew by and crashed somewhere to their right.
The three froze for a moment, shocked, before Junpei swung his blade off his shoulders. "Come on!" he shouted. "Senpai needs help!"
Hamuko nodded and Yukari narrowed her eyes and fully extended her bow. The trio charged, Junpei screeching around the corner while Hamuko slid to his side and Yukari leapt around them, searching for a target and eyes landing on…
…nothing.
The juniors stood there awkwardly, weapons pointed at the empty hallway, until a cough came from behind. "S'alright," Akhiko assured them, stumbling upright with smoldering clothes and a playful flame nibbling his sleeve. "There's no more of 'em." Another cough. "But believe me when I say you don't want to block an agi with a zio."
Yukari was the first to lower her weapons, sighing in half-relief and half-annoyance. Junpei and Hamuko followed suit. "You sure you're alright, Senpai?" the capped boy called. "You're lookin' a little ragged."
Akihiko smirked. "This? This is nothing. I've gotten worse from a punching bag."
"Then remind me to not train with you, Senpai," Hamuko said, eying his face (torched and riddled with cuts, blood leaking out and over one eye) and his uniform (totally ruined, with a corner of his shirt burning like dry kindling and one shoe missing its sole) with bemusement.
The grey-haired boy looked down and chuckled, wincing a little when he did.
"Are all of you alright!?" Mitsuru's anxious call brought them back to Earth. "And Akihiko, are you there?!"
"Yeah," he replied quickly. "To both. Have you found a warp point?"
"…Yes," she said, voice strained. "It's just to the left. But Akihiko... (The boy in question winced here) You and I need to talk after this. Urgently."
"…Yup. I know."
"Come on, you guys," Yukari demanded, already moving. "I think it's about time we left this… place."
Hamuko hummed in agreement as she fell in step with the other girl. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Yukari turned with an exasperated look. "…Pun intended?"
Hamuko openly grinned for the first time since the Dark hour began as they rounded the corner and the warp point came into view, its bright green light bouncing off the labyrinth's sicker green with a welcoming glow. "Pun intended."
The door to the dorm cracked open sharply, starting Minato straight out of his nap. He slightly jerked upwards, inwardly cursing and wincing when the motion made his cast bounce against the injured bone with all the gentleness of Erebus.
Resisting the impulse to groan, he turned to the door. And immediately widened his eyes as Yukari stalked in. She was honestly a mess, with her ripped skirt and burnt sweater being less of a concern than the dirt smeared on her face and drying blood covering her legs.
He shifted his gaze back to the door as the others piled in, all in a similar state of disarray. Mitsuru was immediately after the brunette, a glower burning on her face as a very sheepish Akihiko with fuming clothes followed her. Junpei was the next one in, blazer covered in irreparable scratches, and finally-
Minato's heart stopped as his sister walked in.
What the hell had happened?!
Hamuko seemed to sense Minato's worry from across the room. She looked over at the couch he was lying on, after a second giving him an 'Oh, not this again' look, but humored him, saying 'bye' to Junpei before wandering over.
The blue-haired boy awkwardly twisted himself as his sister approached, swinging his legs over to sit up. "What happened?"
Hamuko plopped down on the newly opened seat next to him, sighing in content as she took a load off. "Got to the second floor; got separated; found each other; escaped. A few complications ensued." She snorted when she detected his invisible switch to panic mode. "It wasn't that big a deal, Mina."
"Not a big deal?" he repeated, quietly incredulous. "You look like you've been steamrolled."
She waved a lazy hand in the air. "Details, details. It looks a lot worse than I feel now."
"Now," Minato stressed. "What about earlier?"
Hamuko let out a groan. "Yes, Mina, it hurt like crazy earlier. But you can't do anything about that now."
"Tell me what happened."
"Mina…"
"I want to know."
"Just lemme sleep!" She moaned, clapping both hands over her ears and sliding down the couch. "It's too late to argue with you about this. Or anything."
"Early."
"Hmm…?"
"You mean it's too early to argue."
"Oh, shut up, Mina!" His sister lightly slapped his leg in exasperation, ignoring the smile resting on her face.
The two fell into silence. But Minato's thoughts were deafening as he stared at the wall, sorting through what had happened. How had things gotten so… off? One thing had changed, but that already caused such a huge difference in the timeline. Sure, moving up to the second floor early didn't seem like much, but it could have cost the lives of several S.E.E.S. members. How the hell was he supposed to control this? How the hell was he supposed to control anything?
His eyes darted down at a low noise. Hamuko was still slumped over with her head lolled back, but was now snoring softly to herself, mouth opening and closing and inadvertently creating a spit bubble.
Minato's thoughts fled, and his shoulders relaxed. She'll get a backache lying like that.
A smile quirked his lips. And she'll get grouchy.
He gently shook her awake, remaining passive (though secretly amused) in the face of Hamuko's grumpy glare. "Lie down correctly," he told her, "Or you'll be annoying tomorrow."
"I'm always annoying," she retorted in a muffled voice, her head flopping onto Minato's lap. "And I'd thank you to remember it."
A familiar hum answered her as she dangled her legs off the edge of the couch. Minato watched as she squirmed her head around, eventually finding a comfy spot on his legs, and ran his hand through her hair, parsing through the dried dirt, sweat, and blood matted onto it.
She let out a contented hum of her own, and Minato's smile widened a smidge.
…He'd worry about the bigger problems tomorrow, he decided, listening to the tick-tock of the grandfather clock and the hum of the computer behind the desk.
For now…
He glanced down at the sleepy smile pasted onto Hamuko's face, and let himself close his eyes.
For now, he'd just help with the smaller ones.
When Yukari stumbled down the stairs the next morning, still exhausted from S.E.E.S.'s first expedition, she found the two of them still in that position: Minato leaning back, with his legs resting on the coffee table, and Hamuko's head in his lap; both snoring in kind-of-perfect harmony.
AN: Poor Hamuko. I was pretty hard on her, wasn't I?
Also, guess who's not a big fan of the joking verbal/physical abuse of comedic characters?
Shout outs to: nanasarpong30655, Snow-Soar, Magatsuzla, Silphix, Rimshooter, Lucius Falkner, Kyuubi04, MostRefinedPenguin, Vang93, paradoxjr, Nakiera, HammerOfZeeGods, and Blazing Badger for following; nanasarpong30655, Snow-Soar, akuma-chan25300, Lucias Falkner, BluFox15, spike111, and HammerOfZeeGods for faving; and Magatsulza, Yoshikunitsu, Snow-Soar, Doom Marine 54, Gu3st, and Hoshiro Raider for reviewing!
[In response to Gu3st: Exactly, I totally agree! And thanks for reviewing!]
Well, I promised you a certain myth corner last week, and I told you to prepare yourself. ...I hope you have.
MYTH CORNER!
DISCLAIMER: GREEK MYTHOLOGY IS M-RATED. TURN BACK NOW IF YOU'RE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH MATURE MATERIAL!
This week: Io.
The details of Io's origins vary, but many stories portray her as the daughter of a river god (Inachus) and… someone (it's not too important), making her a nymph (A nymph was any one of many minor female deities that represented an element of some sort. In this story, Io is a river nymph). She was also a priestess of Hera, the queen of the gods and goddess of Marriage (among other things), and Zeus' wife. Now, priestesses have several of many duties depending on the god or goddess they serve, but one thing usually remains consistent: they must remain virgins for life.
The story begins, as many Greek myths do, with Zeus noticing the girl. She was quite pretty, and, basically, Zeus wanted to hit it. The only problem, aside from the fact that he was married and had already had way too many affairs with other women, was that Io was a priestess and thus had to remain a virgin.
This is one part where the story splits depending on the version. One version says that Zeus seduced her. But the more commonly accepted version (and the reason why I dislike telling this story) says that Io rejected his advances. However, he was Zeus, King of the Gods and God of the Sky and yadda yadda yadda. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. Guess what that means?
Yup. Zeus raped her.
Regardless of the version, Hera suspects what Zeus has done, and comes to investigate. Zeus knows that his wife is naturally jealous and suspicious after so many years of him being unfaithful, so he changes Io's shape to protect her from Hera's wrath: he transforms her into a white cow. When Hera comes down from the heavens, she guesses that he's done exactly that. So, to test him, she demands that he give her the cow as a gift. Zeus knows that refusing to do so would give him away, so he gives Hera the cow: he gives her Io.
(Quick aside before we get too far ahead: in some versions of the story, Zeus rapes her when she's the cow. How messed up is that?)
Hera confines Io and assigns a guard, Argus the hundred-eyed giant, to make sure she doesn't escape. Zeus then orders Hermes (the messenger god) to kill Argus and set Io free, which he does. Io is now free to roam the Earth, but is still in the form of a cow. Moreover, Hera, enraged by the murder of her servant, sends a gadfly to chase Io for (presumably) all eternity.
She wandered the lands for a while, always being chased and stung by the gadfly, until she meets Prometheus. In a scene in Aeschylus's play Prometheus Bound, the titan Prometheus told her that one day, she would settle in Egypt and be returned to Human form. Even better, she'd eventually be the ancestress of many glorious heroes. And, sure enough, that's exactly what happens.
Now, before we go on to what this myth means, I'd like to describe one of the most heart-breaking scenes in Greek Literature (I think it takes place in the story of Io in Ovid's Metamorphoses). When Io is still being guarded by Argus, she wanders to drink from a river. Here, she's approached by none other than her father. He begins talking to the cow, not realizing that its his daughter, and laments how he's so worried about his daughter and how much he misses her and wishes she'd come back home. And throughout the conversation, the only thing Io can is moo mournfully. It's so damn sad, guys; I'm really not doing the scene justice, you really should read it if you can find it.
Ok, anyways: What's the significance of this myth? Well, the biggest thing it does is highlight the Ancient Greeks' misogyny. Remember how Hera immediately goes after Io instead of Zeus? Even in the version of the story where Io's raped? The reason for this is possibly because Hera can't do anything against Zeus. Sure, Hera's the queen of the gods, but what's more 'powerful' than a queen? A king, of course. At least, that's what the Ancient Greeks thought. Hera can't do anything against Zeus because he's her superior, and thus she instead takes her anger out on poor Io.
Further proving this point is the supposed "happy ending" proposed by Prometheus. He tells Io that she'll get returned to human form in the end; great, that's dandy. But that's apparently not enough for a truly happy ending. What is? Telling her that she'll be the ancestress of great heroes! That's right, for Io to have a truly happy ending, she has to have a bunch of great kids to her name. After all, what else are women good for aside from making babies? Nothing! Duh! (Sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.)
One other (less sexist) significant meaning of this story is revealed if you look at where she ends up: Egypt. The Egyptians have many different fertility deities, but one major one is particularly associated with cattle: Isis (who is more generally considered to be the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage, and love). Due to the similarity between Io's cattle form and Isis's symbolic association with the animals, some historians have considered the possibility that somehow, the story of Io and Isis got merged together, forming a sort of merger between the mythologies.
And finally, to wrap everything up with a neat little bow: if you haven't already made the connection, Yukari's ultimate persona is Isis, while her initial persona is (of course) Io. I wonder… do you guys think it's a coincidence that Yukari's final persona is simply the less-victimized counterpart to her starting persona?
Sweet Zeus, that was long. What'd you guys think?
Ok, that's all I've got for you now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next update!