Chapter XV: Tripped Out
Osaka Castle (大坂城)/Chūō-ku, Osaka (中央区, 大阪市)/11:30 PM (JST)
As they slipped through Distorted Osaka and escaped Datenshi, the Phantom Thieves, Hifumi, Sion, the Spiritual Gamblers, Mina, and Kyosuke made it out in one piece. As they recovered, they checked their time and realized several hours had already gone by. It was dead in the late night hours. Not a single tourist or bystander was seen in the area.
"Man, how long were we in there?" Mary wondered.
"A few hours, give or take," Yusuke answered the blonde gambler.
"That was a close one! I thought for sure we weren't gonna get out of there!" Futaba breathed hard, catching her breath.
After a few breaths, Makoto looked over to Sion, who was down on his knees. "I can't believe all we've heard about Sion's origins, whether they're true or not. I still cannot fathom how that Datenshi person has a god for a Persona! And that alternate timeline where we die?! This is seriously too much to take in."
"And then those freaky Knights of Control versions of us showing up and kicking our asses like that?! Man, this is some serious bullshit!" Ryuji cursed and kicked the ground out of frustration.
"I'm not sure if we have enough courage to beat them," Haru said, her confidence diminishing.
"Can we beat them?" Sumire wondered, fearing her strength wasn't enough to defeat her Knight of Control counterpart.
"They were on a whole other level than we are now," Akechi plainly stated.
"Maybe we need to make our Personas level up again or something?" Futaba pondered.
Mona, being as level headed as he can, reassured his teammates. "Let's not give up! We'll come up with a counterattack when we meet them again!"
Ann then approached Mina. "Hey, thanks. You two didn't have to come with us, but you did anyway."
"It was no problem," Mina genuinely replied. "Kyosuke and I wanted to investigate the source that's releasing these Yokai into our world. Now, we've learned Datenshi is indeed someone from the past."
"I feel we must seek out this source and destroy it. Now, we know we can with your help, Phantom Thieves and company," Kyosuke stated.
"Yes, and we have new Guardian Spirit wielders in the mix, too," Mina acknowledged Yumeko, Mary, and Ryōta.
"I hope we'll continue to work together, Mina and Kyosuke!" Yumeko kindly responded to them as the Nine Tails materialized beside the Compulsive Gambler.
Just then, Nekomata materialized and interacted with the group. "Yes, now I hope you understand the enemy we now face. He was a man named Seishin, who was turned into a Yokai by the Amrita. After being turned into a Magatsu Warrior and like many Yokai, he fell to William's blade."
"I still can't believe he was just some random guy who happened to get cut down by William," Ryōta pointed out. "I would've thought he'd be some big historical name."
Makoto nodded. "Did he need to be? While he's been forgotten among the victims killed during the Siege of Osaka, he clearly wants to make his name known now."
Yusuke added. "But the fact he's survived into modern times astounds me. By becoming a Yūrei, he observed Japanese society change over the centuries. He's been able to elude detection from Onmyo mages and those with powerful spiritual awareness."
"Yes, and all because of the Amrita stones' energies that continued coursing through him and protected him from anyone's detection," Mina stated.
"Then, after the other me made the deal with Yaldabaoth, we know we finally made contact with Yaldabaoth and as a result, it ended badly for every one of us," Ren addressed their alternate selves' terrible fates.
"Dude, we die and then Datenshi created separate versions of us as those twisted freaks we just fought!" Ryuji pointed out.
"Since we're talking about the dead, do you all believe anything Datenshi said about Sion?" Haru asked the others.
"That he's just a clone of the real unnamed Chosen Revenant and created with the sole purpose of coming here? And with those two closely linked, if one dies, the other ceases to be?" Makoto said while observing Hifumi comforting Sion in the distance.
"It has to be mind-boggling to learn you might not be who you think you are, but Sion had no idea. He had no idea he was a clone of the unnamed Chosen Revenant," Morgana said.
"Sion?" Hifumi gasped as Sion stood up and walked away.
"What's wrong with him?" Mina queried, watching him walk the opposite direction.
"Is Sion ok?" Ann asked Hifumi.
"He started mumbling and now he just started walking away," the Shogi player replied, walking right up to Sion. As she approached him, he brushed her hand away and screamed vehemently, venting his frustrations over being told flat out his current existence isn't real.
"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU HAVE CREATED ME?! I REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED BEFORE COMING HERE! IF I HAVE ALL OF MY MEMORIES, HOW CAN I BE JUST A FUCKING FALSE EXISTENCE?!" Sion screamed to the heavens, hoping his voice reached Datenshi wherever he was at the moment. "I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE, DATENSHI! I KNOW YOU CAN FUCKING HEAR ME!"
"SION!" Hifumi called out to him, but her pleas fell on deaf ears as the Revenant continued going off on the Angel of Control.
"YOU WANT TO SAY MY LIFE SINCE COMING HERE HAS BEEN A BIG FAT LIE?! THAT EVERY BOND AND FRIENDSHIP I FORGED HERE MEANS NOTHING?! THAT MY BOND WITH HIFUMI HAS NO MEANING?! YOU'RE TELLING ME I WON'T BE ABLE TO SETTLE DOWN WITH TOGO HIFUMI?! THAT IF YOU DIE, I'LL CEASE TO BE?! WELL FUCK YOU, DATENSHI! FUCK YOU!" The Revenant forged his Queenslayer sword and prepared to cut down a nearby tree with it, but Hifumi grabbed his arm.
"STOP, SION!" Hifumi pleaded to him. Struggling to hold him, Sion effortlessly jerked his arm away.
"Get back, Hifumi…" Sion muttered as he turned and ran off in tears. "Don't any of you follow me!"
"Sion, wait!' Hifumi called back to him.
"Dudes, we gotta do something, or else he's really gonna go off the deep end and hurt someone!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"He's right! We can subdue him if we hold him together!" Mary suggested.
"I'd be glad to knock some sense into him," Makoto openly vowed, clenching her right hand into a fist.
"Wait! Please, let me go after me!" Hifumi quickly pleaded her case to the others. "I'm the only one here who can bring him to his senses."
"No offense, Hifumi, but he's not in the right state of mind," Ann dismissed Hifumi's idea.
"Yes, we can't let you go alone!" Haru stated.
"Let some of us go with you," Yumeko offered. "I bet some of our Guardian Spirits can hold him."
"Please, everyone. You'll have to trust me. And I doubt Sion will hurt me," Hifumi continued to press to find the Revenant. Placing a hand on her chest, she smiled. "He won't hurt me so long as I have Io's essence in me. If Io means a lot to him, then he won't hurt me."
"But, Hifumi…" Makoto muttered, shaking her head. "We can't take any chances with him in his erratic state."
"It's fine," Ren interjected as a smile formed on his face. "Let her go. I trust you can bring him back to us, Hifumi."
"Thank you, Ren. It won't take long. I promise," Hifumi quickly turned and followed Sion.
Leaning over toward Ren, Ryuji muttered. "Dude, are you sure about this?"
Sumire turned to Ren. "Is it safe to let her go after Sion, Ren-senpai?"
Morgana nodded. "I suggest we follow, but let's keep our distance, too. We should give Hifumi a chance to reason with Sion. I don't blame him after what Datenshi told him."
"When someone tells you that your existence is a lie, I don't blame one for venting the way he did," Ann said, pitying Sion's situation. "I hope when Hifumi finds him, he has time to feel better."
"Sad to say, time is not our luxury," Mina reminded the group. "Datenshi is surely going to initiate his next move very soon."
"He'll surely shift operations to another city if he chooses," Kyosuke warned.
"Yeah, he clearly said he's setting his sights on Tokyo next," Ren said. "You're right that we don't have time, Mina."
"It's paramount that we take action before it's too late, my friends. Let's hope Hifumi can bring the Revenant to his senses," Nekomata added to the conversation.
With that, the group followed Hifumi while keeping a distance to monitor her interactions with the mentally frenzied Revenant.
12:56 AM (JST)
Having separated himself from the rest of the group, Sion sank to his knees. He sobbed heavily into his hands, still processing every preconceived remark made by Datenshi. However, the one that ate him alive the most: the notion that he and Datenshi's lives are bound. Should either one of them die, the other will cease.
As he learned this, Sion wanted to deny it. He adamantly refused to accept his entire experience with Hifumi, the Phantom Thieves, and the others to be a lie. He continued wondering if he is a clone, then why does he still remember about his life in his original dimension? Why does he remember his friends? Why does he still remember Io and the amber Blood Bead?
Now, he has this sudden fear of Datenshi, not of the man himself, but the possibility that if he kills Datenshi, then his own existence becomes forfeit. The Revenant thought if the risk was even worth the sacrifice?
Bottling up his emotions, Sion once again vented against his supposed false existence with unbridled anger. "UGH, DAMN YOU, KANASHī SEISHIN!" He punched the ground several times, leaving two holes in the ground with his Revenant strength.
"Sion! There you are!" Hifumi called from a distance. When Sion glanced over to her, his eyes glowed red, causing her to flinch and pause.
"Stay back, Hifumi!"
"Sion, please hear me out."
"Why? What's the point? I might as well not exist."
Hifumi dismissively responded. "Don't say that, Sion. The fact you came here, I found you, and Io's essence passed over to me. There had to be a reason why those events happened."
Chuckling, Sion sardonically rebuked. "Oh yeah, those are legitimate reasons why I was sent here… to pass Io over to you… and for Mako-kins to disparage me the way she did… and now some asshole with a god's power tells me our fates are somehow linked. When one of us dies, the other just ceases. You have no idea how I'm taking this, Hifumi."
"That's not true! Listen, Sion. Our interactions have been genuine! Not once do I feel our bond is fraudulent. The fact I've been able to touch you with my own hands is proof of that. Io passed her power to me because she entrusts me to protect you, Sion. If that's not proof that our relationship isn't genuine, then I don't know what else to tell you." Hifumi slowly walked up to Sion and crouched next to him. As he tried jerking his arm away, Hifumi grabbed and embraced him. "Don't reject, Sion. Please after all we've been through up to now!"
Feeling the warm and loving embrace from Hifumi, Sion's eyes wetted with tears. Putting a hand on Hifumi's right shoulder, the Revenant turned and leaned against her.
"But, what about Datenshi? What he said if one of us dies, the other goes, too?"
Hifumi grasped Sion's face and kissed his lips. Taken aback, the Revenant wasn't sure how to react to her kissing him out of the blue, but he didn't complain either. Folding his arms behind her neck, Sion kissed her.
Then, as he leaned on her left shoulder, Hifumi embraced him tightly.
"What if we're able to kill Datenshi? What about me? Do I die, too?"
"That's not going to happen, Sion. I won't let it happen," she whispered softly, keeping Sion in a loving embrace.
Hiding from afar, the group monitored Sion and Hifumi sitting together. Choosing to remain by the Revenant's side, the young woman vowed to protect him.
Shinkansen (新幹線)/August 7, 2020 (2020年8月7日)/5:30 PM (JST)
Two days pass on. It is already close to the evening. The Phantom Thieves, Hifumi, Sion, and the Spiritual Gamblers have boarded the bullet train heading back to Tokyo. Mina and Kyosuke joined them as well. Naturally, and especially after Datenshi's startling revelations, the group is not in the mood for light banter.
"Farewell, Osaka," Yusuke solemnly said, missing the city's culture.
"You sure miss the place huh, Inari?" Yumeko playfully teased.
"Yes I am, and shouldn't Futaba be the only one to call me by that nickname?" He asked, glaring intensely at the raven-haired gambler.
"Aww, don't be such a stick in the mud! I just want to lighten up the atmosphere since this ordeal!" Yumeko gleefully smiled.
"Maybe none of us are in the mood right now, idiot," Mary scoffed, causing Yumeko to pout and sit back down in her seat.
"Thank you, Mary," Yusuke sighed.
"Yeah, only I get to call him Inari! Pfft!" Futaba blew a raspberry at Yumeko. Just then, something caught her eye while she scanned through pictures and articles on her smartphone. "Whoa! Guys, look!" Futaba called her friends' attention.
The others approached Futaba as the hacker showed them her phone. Needless to say, their expressions conveyed aghast as photos showed Tokyo sceneries full of Yokai and Lost. Countless civilians are shown to be pursued like wild game and others killed. The vicinity within Chiyoda has been converted into a horrific cityscape similar to Distorted Osaka. A distorted dome is encased around Chiyoda. When Sion glanced over the photos, some of the distorted imagery reminded him of his post-apocalyptic dimension. Jutting out and surrounding encompassing areas are tall obelisks shaped like massive spikes with trims of golden yellow crystals. Similar tall, spiked golden obelisks are also seen in the photos.
"I've seen those black structures before from my dimension!" Sion pointed out.
"And those golden stones are Amrita!" Mina pointed out.
"Our home! Chiyoda is under attack by those monsters!" Haru cried out in horror.
"Most of the people either fled safely or got killed by those things! Tokyo's other wards are under lockdown!" Futaba reported, trembling fearfully while reading the reports. "Oh no, dad!" She cried out with Sojiro on her mind, almost dropping her smartphone.
"No…!" Ann wept out within a mix of shock and anger.
"This can't be!" Makoto cried out in emotion.
"My god, our home…" Sumire gasped, clamping her mouth shut in despair.
"Guys, are you seeing this?" Mary dreadfully asked Yumeko and Ryōta, both of whom shared horrified looks. Yes, even the Compulsive Gambler conveyed absolute trepidation.
"We cannot let this go on!" Akechi grimaced, his face twisted with a provoked scowl at the happenings taking place in Tokyo.
"No, this is horrible! My family… our families are in danger!" Hifumi exclaimed in fear.
"Those bastards have gone too far!" Ryuji angrily shouted, punching the side of the train cart.
"We can't wait that long!" Ren exclaimed.
Sion can only say nothing, knowing he doesn't want to release his grievances again. Yet, he understood the pain and anger of his human companions. He glared towards the train window, knowing he's going to fight for his own sake.
"Guys, I'm in," Sion spoke up as the group turned toward him. "I'm ready to face Datenshi."
"That's good and so are we," Ren nodded. "And we'll bring down the Knights of Control."
Placing a hand on Sion's shoulder, Hifumi leaned her forehead against his. "And I'm ready to fight with you, Sion. Let us stop Datenshi together."
"Thanks, Hifumi. Now, let's put an end to this nightmare."
Chapter Soundtrack
Lacuna Coil - Unspoken (Acoustic Version) - Sion's breakdown/meltdown in lashing out at the protagonists upon returning to the real world of his existence. The lyrics also give a meaning to Sion's existence.
Lacuna Coil - Heaven's A Lie (Acoustic Version) - After Sion's breakdown/meltdown, he wants to be left alone. The lyrics also give a meaning to Sion's existence.
Shin Megami Tensei IV OST - Tokyo - The protagonists hear the shocking news of Tokyo is covered by Datenshi's distortions.
A/N: After an eventful chapter and a series of battle-centered events, this called for a short entry. Not quite a sweet chapter after Sion's scornful rant toward Datenshi. Leave to Hifumo to calm Sion down and the couple finally kiss.
And as they return home, awaiting them is more hell. Datenshi has now shifted the war on their hometown.
And that's all for this chapter. Leave a comment and review!