"It'll be okay…" A soft voice faded into the darkness that engulfed his being. "I'll always be by your side, protecting you."
Vision blurring, he caught one last glimpse of her face. It was unnaturally perfect like a porcelain doll. Yet this was the most human she had ever looked since they had met on Yakushima Island.
I'm sorry, Aigis.
He had already made the sacrifice months ago, to act as a seal to prevent Nyx from bringing forth the end of humanity. Only through a promise to meet again was he able to continue 'living' for a few more months. Severely weakened, barely able to leave the bed on some days, he only made it to this day by sheer willpower.
Unfortunately, his time had finally reached his end. To sustain the seal, he had to return and leave them all behind.
His eyelids felt heavy as though they were forcibly being closed shut, his limbs anchored down by an unseen weight. Using the last of his energy, he turned his head to the side as the rest of S.E.E.S barged through the door to the rooftop where he lay.
So, they kept their promise after all. He faintly smiled. Now I will keep mine.
Makoto Yuki, a mere high schooler who managed to prevent the downfall of humanity, closed his eyes for the final time, surrounded by those he cherished the most.
Then he started floating through a void. His senses were mute, failing even to grasp the passage of time. This state was going to be the rest of his existence; forever stuck here until humanity naturally ceased to exist, their collective desire for death vanishing alongside them.
However, it seemed like fate had different plans in store for him.
Rather than spending all of eternity within the Great Seal, Makoto suddenly found himself being bombarded by torrents of icy wind that felt as though frozen belts were lashing at him.
Impossible.
He weakly opened his eyes and found himself in a dark, filthy alleyway. Rats and other bugs were crawling around looking for any scraps they could find and decided he was one of them. Makoto hurriedly shooed them away before they could bite him and stood up.
An immense wave of confusion washed through his mind. This was not what was meant to happen. There was not meant to be a happy ending for him, he chose to sacrifice himself to save his friends. So why was he alive? And more importantly, where on Earth was he?
He dusted himself off and noted he was still in his Gekkoukan High uniform, albeit a bit dirty from lying on the ground. His Evoker and armband were still tucked away within one of the inner pockets made for the sole purpose of concealing it and he still had his other belongings.
His body was surprisingly energetic, the best it had felt in months, and he showed no signs of the fatigue that had become the norm of his dying self.
Makoto exited the alleyway and only as he entered the street, did he realise the gravity of his situation. There was a reason this city was so dark, and it was not caused by nighttime, but rather by a giant floating boulder in the sky which cast an enormous shadow upon him.
"What?"
The last time he checked, no cities on Earth were built beneath magical floating boulders. Despite having experienced an extra hour of the day and fighting monsters in a tower that only appeared during the said hour, Makoto could not help but feel shocked by the very sight before his eyes.
This was not Tatsumi Port Island, let alone anywhere in Japan.
"Are you alright there, young man?" Asked a gruff voice from behind him.
English? Fortunately, the language barrier was not an issue. Despite constantly napping in class, Makoto was the top student in his grade and spoke enough English to be able to hold a decent conversation with a foreigner.
"Sorry if I startled you." Said the man. "I know we all like to hatefully glare at those assholes who sit on their little thrones above us from time to time, but we people of Mantle have to make the best of what we have, right?"
"Yes." He nodded thoughtfully at the information he received. "You are right; I should leave."
"Good, see you around kid."
Makoto proceeded to walk down the street as if he knew where he was going when he in fact did not.
The city of Mantle itself appeared to be out of dystopian fiction, highly compact and filled with an unpleasant smog that permeated throughout. The streets were miserable compared to Tatsumi Port Island. By listening in on passing conversations, he quickly learned that the name 'Atlas' referred to the giant rock above him, as if it was a floating city.
"Is this the distant future?" he wondered. "Or I am on an entirely different planet?"
Makoto could not even imagine what had happened to him to be freed from the seal in the first place. Humanity was very obviously still around yet something did not feel right. With all that he had experienced, being in an entirely different world was not an absurd possibility either.
However, at this point, these speculations were of little importance as he had bigger and more immediate issues at hand. Finding food and shelter was not going to be easy. The Japanese Yen was nothing but worthless paper with ink on it and would not be able to purchase any of the essentials he needed to survive.
He already knew his life from here on out was going to be tough, but he supposed he would have to make the most of it. This was a second chance to start over and live not as a husk like he did for most of his life but as a real person.
The trials he faced in Tartarus did not break him; he would not allow this to break him either.
Two weeks had passed since Makoto found himself in Remnant, the world of the shattered moon. He found it amusing how the moon, which had been the symbol of strife and arbiter of death for the past year, was shattered into hundreds of fragments.
He took solace in the fact that no Nyx was hiding within it. But what could have shattered the moon and stopped its fragments from destroying the world in the first place?
So far, he had managed to scrape by thanks to him getting a job at a local restaurant. It was only through his natural charm, that they had even bothered to interview some undocumented person, who was very obviously lying about their age.
The pay was decent but not even close to enough to get him off his feet. This led to him squatting in an abandoned building as a temporary measure. The cold was unforgiving, so he found himself wearing a sweater beneath his jacket and a red scarf during outings.
"Hey is my cheeseburger nearly ready?" A patron yelled out.
Makoto cooly slid over, plate in hand, and placed it on the disruptive man's table before he could raise a fuss.
"Sorry for the delay, sir. Here's your soda as well."
"Yeah, whatever."
His English skills had greatly improved as a direct result of being immersed in a culture that only spoke it. However, his reading was still lagging a bit behind and needed some dedicated work.
"Oi Makowtoe quit slacking off." Makoto winced at how his boss butchered his name. "We got orders that need serving."
"On my way."
Makoto had only experienced working in a restaurant environment when he did a short work placement at WildDuck Burger. But nothing could have prepared him for how hectic an American-style diner could get during dinner time. It was not physically exhausting per se, but rather mentally.
Dealing with dozens of customers, all at one time, required a different kind of strength he had yet to cultivate.
Once his gruelling shift ended, Makoto sat down at one of the empty tables and wolfed down a burger by himself. He was fairly certain his boss, an old man in a beige shirt named Reed, recognised how broke he was as he gave him a free dinner at the end of every shift.
Even when he insisted on paying for it, the stubborn old man would not budge.
Cheeseburger for the third day in a row… better than starving, I guess. Though, half a month without a single rice-based meal hurt his soul.
"Say, Makoto… what exactly is your plan?"
Reed took a seat in front of him with a plate of his food. He was not sure why the old man was so insistent on chatting with him out of all his employees. Every day it was always some small talk.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're obviously some kid who's run away from home up there." His head pointed towards Atlas. "I know you all go through rebellious phases but isn't it time to put an end to this? "
It appears that there has been a severe misunderstanding…Makoto sighed. I better clear things up.
"You believe that I'm the son of some rich family in Atlas?"
"Well… I mean, on the day I met you, you were wearing that fancy private school uniform."
That was true.
"I'm not." Makoto shook his head. "I've never even seen Atlas before, aside from photos."
"Then where do you come from? Where are your parents?"
Makoto paused. He could not just tell him he was from another world; the man would call him insane. "…It's complicated," he said, dodging the question.
"Look I'm not going to push it, but I want some answers eventually."
Makoto left shortly after their conversation and began making his way home, hands tucked into his pockets as per usual. He did not have the funds to purchase a vehicle so he had to walk through the seedier part of town to return to his lodgings.
His MP3 player had long run out of battery, so he merely wore it for cosmetic purposes along with his clip-on headphones. The dreadful sounds of an impoverished city and his humming would have to do until he found a way to recharge it.
A Bullhead, a flying transport ship of this world, flew overhead bound for the city above. He saw many of these daily, usually filled with Atlesian military personnel or cargo being transported. It seemed to be the latter in this case as the vehicle had Schnee Dust Company insignia written all over it.
I wonder what it would be like to fly inside one of those. Is the city of Atlas as beautiful as they say it is?
Suddenly, a rocket flew towards the Bullhead from one of the surrounding buildings. A harsh explosion rippled through the air and the crippled aircraft plummeted to the ground with billows of smoke trailing behind. It barrelled towards him at a startling rate.
Alarmed by the sudden turn of events, Makoto broke out into a sprint to avoid the incoming debris. However, luck was not on his side as the Bullhead crashed directly into the road beside him.
The impact shook the ground enough to send him to his knees.
"Run for your lives!"
"It's the White Fang!"
White Fang? The terrorist organisation… He wondered what these Faunus hoped to gain from this attack aside from a swift death. It was suicide to even try to fight the Atlas Military on their home turf.
Sirens started blaring mere seconds after the ship had crash-landed and residents were already evacuating the area before he could even blink. A group of masked assailants flew passed him towards the wreckage.
They're here.
"Open it up, we gotta grab him and go quickly. We already messed up by allowing the ship to take off in the first place. No more screw-ups, got it?" Their leader called out, scanning the surroundings for any threats.
Makoto lifted himself from the ground and winced from a wound on his arm. A flying piece of metal must have grazed him. He quickly decided to flee the scene rather than stay to see what would happen. These were not friendly individuals by any means, and they outnumbered him by a significant margin.
Escape was the safest option, and he had nothing to gain from fighting terrorists.
The leader must have noticed him leaving as they said, "Kill the witnesses. We don't want anyone giving away our escape routes to those Atlas pigs. We got two minutes, hurry."
Conflict was inevitable. A pair rushed towards him with inhuman speed, their blades drawn and ready to spill blood. In mere seconds, sharpened steel was already nearing his throat.
Despite his last battle having been against Nyx months ago, Makoto's combat instincts instantly flared up like a freshly tuned engine. Tartarus was cold and unforgiving towards those who endeavoured to climb it, Makoto fought tooth and nail to reach the top. His current opponents were fast, but nowhere near the level of the shadows he had battled.
Easily side-stepping their attacks, Makoto responded by drawing his Evoker and pointing it towards his head in a single smooth motion that he had performed thousands of times before.
This odd action confused his opponents greatly. They had no reason to believe that they had already lost the moment they allowed him to point a gun at himself, it was ridiculous.
"Persona."
He squeezed the trigger and a sound akin to glass shattering echoed throughout the area. Blue flames emerged from the very ground he was standing upon, and a robotic figure bearing Makoto's likeness manifested into reality. Orpheus, the master of strings – his original Persona.
An uncanny smile emerged on Makoto's face as his heart rate surged. He had forgotten the blood-pumping rush of using the Evoker. The threat of immediate death that the Evoker simulated jolted his body into action and forced his persona to manifest.
"What the?" The Terrorists were now very aware of their grave mistake. "Quick, he might be a Huntsman. Kill him!"
Orpheus spared no time in dispatching its enemies. With the same ferocity that was used against him when he was ripped to pieces in his tragic tale, he used his lyre to smash one of its foes straight into an adjacent building. Their aura was instantly shattered on impact, knocking him out and creating a sizeable hole in the wall.
The other White Fang member stood still like a statue. Likely, shocked by how quickly his partner was dispatched. Orpheus ripped his blade from him and smashed him into the ground.
It would be best if I avoided collateral damage… He calmed himself down, maniacal smile fading back to his neutral stare. Orpheus is feeling far weaker than usual, am I out of practice?
"Shit, Rabbit's down! Dammit, everyone after him!"
Why can't they run away… Makoto yawned, summoning Orpheus once again. "I will finish this quickly."
They swarmed him without mercy, intent to kill was almost palpable. However, Makoto was not going to let them succeed. Deflecting any close blows with a sword that he had requisitioned from his previous foes, Makoto willed Orpheus to unleash a wide-area fire spell.
"Shit!"
"Arghh!"
It was a one-sided slaughter. While the spell was only a low-level one, they stood no chance against it being cast repeatedly. They were not dead, but not even one was capable of standing.
"H-how is this possible? What the hell are you…" Their leader fell to the ground, skin red from the constant burning.
Makoto chose not to entertain any conversation, and pommel struck the man in the face, piercing the last of his aura and knocking him out. Thus, putting an end to the White Fang's ambitions to kill him and whoever was in that ship, if they were even still alive from the crash.
Atlesian Military Forces arrived half a minute later and were met with the sight of an entire group of smoking terrorists lying on the road. Makoto was the only one left standing in the mess. They moved to rescue the inhabitants of the ship without delay.
"Those creatures nearly had me!" said a furious SDC executive as he was being freed from the wreckage. "You call yourselves the best military in the world when you still let these animals commit these acts of violence. When are you going to hurry up and wipe those freaks off the map?"
So, he was the one they were after? The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place for Makoto. The Schnee Dust Company were notorious for their inhumane treatment of the Faunus, outright evil in some instances.
They were intending to capture the executive and make a gruesome example out of him as they had done in the past.
An Atlesian soldier approached as he was putting his Evoker back in his pocket. "We request that you come with us for questioning. Your wounds will be tended to on the way there. We assure you that no harm will befall you."
"Alright." He sighed. It was highly likely that they had already reviewed the camera footage of the battle which included his persona summoning. Despite it all being done in self-defence, the foreign nature of his powers was bound to draw their attention.
"Thank you for your cooperation, follow me."
He took a seat within one of the Bullheads which went straight for the floating city above. Thankfully, the soldier kept to his word as he was greeted by a medic within the aircraft. After a quick cleaning and bandage application he was already starting to feel better.
The trip to Atlas was quite short and uneventful. It entirely consisted of him staring at a metal wall inside the ship as it had no windows in the back. Riding in a futuristic ship was not very entertaining when you were being taken in for questioning.
When they arrived, he bid the medic goodbye and exited the ship with one soldier accompanying him. Makoto was greeted by the stunning view of a metropolis amongst the clouds the moment he stepped outside onto the landing platform.
He paused for a moment and murmured "They weren't lying."
Atlas truly was a beautiful city. The urban landscape was mesmerizing blend of colours and reflections with vibrant lights creating a dazzling display against the night sky. Not even the biggest cities on Earth could compare to the sheer grandeur of it all.
Makoto was escorted to a small room within the building where they had landed. There was a simple metal desk accompanied by two chairs and a one-way pane of glass. He waited for nearly an hour before someone finally came to take his account of what had happened.
Despite the lack of cuffs, he felt like a prisoner in all but name.
"Name, Makoto Yuki. Age is estimated to be from sixteen to nineteen. "A tall black-haired man walked into his room reading off a dossier. He was dressed in a white coat with fancy shoulder insignia only capable of belonging to an officer of the military.
Makoto recognised his face but was unable to recall where he had seen it.
"Undocumented with no known relatives. Two weeks ago, you were seen walking out of an alleyway with no footage existing prior to that. As far as the world is concerned, you didn't exist until two weeks ago."
It looks like they did their digging, How much of Mantle is covered by security cameras? He quickly realised that Atlas was one big surveillance state. They must have already tracked everything he had done in the past two weeks. But why were they dedicating so many resources just to him?
"I thought I was being asked about the terrorist attack by the White Fang. Was it bad for me to defend myself?" Makoto asked with a flat tone.
"On the contrary, I was rather impressed with the way that you handled those terrorists. Brutal and efficient." The man smiled. "However, I am very interested in how exactly you handled them."
A screen was lowered from a hatch in the ceiling, which replayed the fight.
Makoto was afraid that something like this would happen. foreign element wielding mysterious powers was a major security risk in their eyes.
"If I refuse to answer, am I going to be disposed of?"
"Of course not."
The interrogator was caught off guard by his unexpected question and furrowed his brows.
"We have no reason to punish someone who did a service to our nation. Regardless of what happens here, you are still the young man who fended off a terrorist attack on his lonesome and came out victorious. Although-"
"In that case, am I free to go?"
"Not yet." His tone got more authoritative. "I still want to know how you conjured that being without even having your aura unlocked."
This is getting nowhere; I guess I have no choice.
Makoto retrieved his Evoker from his pocket and placed it on the table. The false gun was well maintained with only minor scratches marring the metal barrel and S.E.E.S carvings.
"What I summoned was a manifestation of my soul—my Persona. This tool helps me to do so." He pointed towards the Evoker.
"A manifestation of soul that is not aura or semblance, it almost sounds like magic."
Makoto tilted his head in confusion. What an odd comment, was he trying to imply something I'm unaware of?
"No, it's not magic. If anything, what I did is comparable to using a semblance that Huntsman, and likely you, seem to possess."
The man inspected the Evoker, tracing the engravings with his fingers and testing its weight. He aimed it off the side and asked, "Why a gun if it's just a tool to allow you to summon these Personas, as you call them."
"It's not easy to turn a gun on yourself and pull the trigger. To do so induces extreme stress on the user, mimicking imminent death. Those who have the potential will be able to perform a summoning. For others, nothing will happen."
"I see." The man rapidly aimed the gun at himself and pulled the trigger without an ounce of hesitation. It clicked and the Evoker fired yet no Persona emerged. "A shame." He said, placing the weapon back on the table and sliding it over.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Not exactly, but for now this will have to do. However, before you leave, I'd like to offer you something."
Makoto remained silent.
"We are both aware of your bleak financial situation, to put it lightly. Working at a restaurant like that isn't going to get you anywhere. I see wasted potential, a young man squandering his life away when he could be doing so much more."
"Get to the point," said Makoto.
"With the skills you displayed today, I'm offering you a spot at Atlas Academy. This is the opportunity to receive an education from the best academy on Remnant in both academics and combat. Should you accept, your expenses will be paid for, and you will receive a monthly stipend until graduation."
"You're really giving this to me, an unknown you only just found out about today? Am I not considered a threat due to mysterious origins?" Ikutsuki's betrayal still roamed fresh within his mind.
"If I deemed you to be a threat, this conversation would have gone very differently." The officer sighed. "Look, kid, you are already very strong, and that's without having your aura unlocked. An anomaly like you has the potential to be one of the strongest Huntsman of your generation, even history."
Makoto internally debated the man's offer. On one hand, he thought that he had finally gotten away from all the fighting and was able to live peacefully without the destruction of humanity looming over his head.
However, he needed money very badly and the soulless Grimm that populated this world could destroy everything anyway. They were the main reason why humanity had to live in walled cities in fear of the next incursion and why Huntsman existed in the first place.
"I accept your offer," said Makoto, comparing this to when he accepted Mitsuru's offer to join S.E.E.S last year. It's the only realistic choice I have unless I want to keep being homeless. I guess I'd better tell Reed I quit.
As he accepted, it finally occurred to Makoto as to why he faintly recognised the man sitting in front of him earlier on. There was only one person in the entire country who had the authority to offer this type of deal.
"Very good. I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? My name is James Ironwood, the Headmaster of Atlas Academy and the General of the military. I expect big things from you, Makoto. In fact, I already have the perfect assignment… "
Ironwood grinned; he had finally found a way to one-up Ozpin and his abominable smile.
