The Lobby of Tartarus - Dark Hour
"...Ready? For what?" I ask M.G., bewildered by his question.
"Are you ready to battle me? A simple question at that."
"Yeah, we are," Minako steps up with her naginata in hand.
"Not you, only him."
"Wha– Who cares what you want! We're both–"
"Yeah, I'm ready," I responded firm on my answer.
"What are you doing!? It's a trap!"
"...Maybe, but I have to do this. I can't explain why, but I get the feeling that I need to do this."
I know how stupid it sounds, but that's how I feel right now. Besides, even if we both go at him, we'll be wiped out. Fighting him by myself is better; if anything happens, I'll be the only one to suffer.
"Good, then follow me." M.G. moves towards the labyrinth entrance. "The girl has to stay here though."
"Like hell I am! I'm going with Kei-chan!"
"Minako, it's fine, I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?"
"It's nothing, this is my round two, and I plan on returning the favor."
Minako slumps her shoulders in defeat. "Fine, just don't get killed."
"I won't die, wait until I come back."
I walk towards the labyrinth. My heart is beating faster and faster. I'm a bit scared, yet excited.
"Kazuki Kei, you're going to need this." M.G. tosses something my way. This black blade… It's my sword!
"Why give it back?"
"Because I want to see something."
"Does this involve fighting?"
"But of course, did you expect anything else?" Hmm, guess not, but still. Why give this back to me? "...Now, let us be on our way."
...
I see Kei-chan and the masked person enter the labyrinth. He left without saying a word to me, also as if he wasn't certain he would come back. But if he isn't sure, then why would he even risk it…?
"I don't get it."
Doing something so stupid
Suddenly, a sharp, dark sensation looms over me. I can't help but feel as if moving would result in my death, despite my brain telling me to run as fast as I could. It's suffocating, it has a grasp on my neck! What is it, what is it, what is it, what is it, what is it!? All of a sudden, it disappears; the choking feeling on my neck, the sharp, dark, and terrifying sensation is gone. Where did it go? Where the hell did it come from? Whatever it was, it wasn't human.
Second block Arqa - FL: 27 - Kazuki
We arrive at the second block of the tower. It's a purple-lit floor with a stronger sense of danger. Coming back here so soon is off-putting, to say the least. I'll just have to choke it down and keep myself ready.
"So, we're–
M.G. dashes up to me without a word. He's bringing something out of his pocket. I leap out of the way of his attack. He had swung a tanto blade at me.
"Hey, you didn't tell me we would start fighting!"
"Why would I? This is a fight. If you are careless, or ill-prepared, then you will die."
He's coming back for me around! I pull out my sword from the scabbard. I'm able to block the attack in time. The force he's putting on me is absurd! If I let up for even a moment, I'm screwed. I push him away with all my strength.
I need some distance to summon my Persona. Even if it ends up like last time, I can still use Janus to get the upper hand, if I play my cards right.
"Janus!"
My Persona spawns from my soul, hovering above me.
"Will this be like last time, or do you have a plan of attack?"
Don't talk, just go. I follow behind Janus, who flies ahead. His first attack misses by a long shot, but I expected that to happen. I swing my blade towards M.G.'s back. His arm flashes upward, slashing at my sword with his knife. Janus breaks a pillar and grabs it. He's going to hammer M.G. with it, and I'm blocking him off.
"You're well coordinated…" A blue streak sparks around M.G.'s hand. Was that…? He raises his hand towards Janus, shooting a bolt of lightning from his hand. The pillar and my Persona are instantly done in. You have to be kidding me, this guy can do magic without summoning his Persona? "...However, you leave too wide a gap for me to respond."
Shit! I thought I had him. He's bringing down his knife. Instead of blocking, I dodge it. Each time he brings his blade at me, I feel like I'm playing Russian roulette. That blade keeps missing me by the skin of my teeth, but how long can I keep this up? His skills with a weapon are better than mine, it's a miracle that I haven't turned to sashimi yet. But if I want to keep that from happening, I have to get rid of his knife if I want to stand a chance!
The tip of the blade slices my cheek, leaving a hot stinging sensation. Ignore it, focus on getting that blade! Watch for it, wait for an opening… Now! My sword stops his, putting us in a lock.
"...You're too focused on my blade." My gut is struck with the force of a truck ramming into a brick wall. All he did was kick me, but it has that much strength behind it!? I crash into a wall, almost going limp from the impact. "Hmm, where did?"
"Looking for this…?"
In my hands, covered in blood, it's the enemy's weapon.
"That's a foolish thing to do. Still, I guess it did work. However." He pulls out another knife, making getting this worth jack shit! "...To be clear, I do not require a weapon, but it's best to fight on an even playing field." Even? "... I am finishing talking, from here on, I will be focused on the battle."
True to his word, he just gets in a stance. Not good, he hasn't even broken a sweat yet, and me… Well, I'm already bleeding and feeling sluggish. I have to run away, get as far away.
I call Janus to act as a decoy while I escape. Running for my dear life is a lot different from just running in general. My heart is pumping with all its might, and my lungs are pounding hard against my chest. I stop for a moment to catch my breath. He's not behind me, and I don't hear anything, so maybe I lost him. Right as I'm about to sit down, there he is, standing in front of me.
My mind goes blank.
"Running away is pointless."
Move, move, move! I force my body to move out of his attack. I trip on nothing but that saved my butt.
While on the ground, I turn my body around and press both my hands on the floor, I push off against the floor. I hit M.G.'s chest with both of my feet. Hmm, that's odd, I feel something. It's a bit...hard, yet, something...soft?
"Nice use of your legs, although..."
"Huh!?"
He has a hand on one of my legs and throws me towards a wall. My back meets the brunt of the force of meeting the wall. The throw alone did plenty of damage.
"I'm much sturdier than I look. Such a pitiful attack won't do anything to me."
Damn it! As soon as I get up from the ground I continue to run away.
Second block: Arqa - floor: ? - Kazuki
Run, that's all I can do, run. Nothing works against him, nothing I do never works against him. He nearly did me in on the last floor, but I was able to get away.
"Why am I doing this, there's nothing I can do against him, nothing!"
This is it, the final floor I can go up. Nowhere left to run.
"This is it, you can't run anywhere else." M.G. slowly approaches me, his sword in hand. That's the sword that's going to take my life. My limbs feel like jelly. If I can push my body one last time, then I can jump into the transporter.
"Stop running, it's pointless," he calls out my tactic as if he can read my mind. "...Even if you run to the dorm, I'll just go there and fight you. But I'm curious, would you also run away from there."
" No, I-" I bite down on my lip as if a part of me surrenders to the idea that I would. I wouldn't want to run away if he did but look at me now.
"You're scared of me. You know the difference in strength between us. You know you'll be killed if you fight me. You know it is pointless if you do; you know you're weak."
I drop my sword out of disbelief, I sink to my knees. He sees right through me, he's right, I'm weaker than him. Since the beginning, a part of me told me to run, and I listened to it. I came in here confident that I could hold my own this time. But I realized something while running away: I'm scared of this person! The fear that I feel whenever I see this person only magnifies the more I look at him. It's ridiculous, it's nonsensical. Why wasn't I this scared when I faced the Reaper, why wasn't I scared when I faced the shadow in the monorail?
Suddenly, Fuu-chan's crying faces come to mind; the tears she shed for me while I was injured… Why, why is this coming to me now? Is it, to save me, to keep me going? But how, when there's someone of insurmountable strength? Damn it, this is so pathetic, I'm pathetic! I'm nearly pissing myself. I said I wouldn't die, I said I would come back alive, so why am I on my knees, just whimpering like a coward? I don't want to die, and I certainly don't want to die like this! I lift my body and take up my sword.
"So you decided to rise back up?"
My body does its best to stay up. My grip on my sword has tightened. I can't let him push me down, I can't stand down now. No one is going to save me, I have to fight!
"So, you have the courage to stand up once more."
This isn't courage, this isn't bravery. All of this is a desperate act! I'm still scared, terrified beyond belief, but I'll use it for a desperate struggle! All the energy in my body swirls around me, circling me like a raging ocean. I focus all of it on my sword. This isn't something I'm doing consciously, I have no idea what my body is doing, but I'm not objecting to it. Something in me is telling me to just use it to destroy this person in front of me. It swirls around my sword until it is covered in a bright glow. Now, launch it! My arms go for a swing. All the accumulated energy is released as a projectile attack that hurls its way towards M.G., who attempts to block the attack. It's an attack that severs the ground below it, that cuts the air in its wake, and one that will eviscerate him. The attack hits its mark and causes a blowback in power, it's enough to send me off my feet. That had to have done him in, I hope.
"What a display of strength. To think you'd be able to turn the tables so easily."
M.G. Picks up his- No, her mask from the floor.
"You're a girl?"
"Is that a problem?"
Her voice is much more feminine than it was a moment ago, but it retains that cool, aloof, yet mysterious tone to it.
"No, I'm just surprised."
Holy crap, she was the one that kicked my ass! Now I just feel embarrassed
"More importantly, what was that attack?"
"I…have no…" I fall to the floor. "What the...I can't move my body?"
"You must've used all your Spirit energy using that attack."
"Crap!"
M.G. walks over to me. "Hmm, it seems like you were able to manipulate all the Spirit energy inside your body and you put most of it into that sword. Lastly, you released it at me as a projectile. Impressive..."
Yeah, awesome, but now I can't move a finger…
"...Are you going to kill me?"
"I think killing you would be a waste."
"Then what? Going to let me go?
She's thinking it over, staring down at me with those cold, black eyes…
"You may go…"
"Just…like that?"
"Sure. However, may I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Are you comfortable with your current strength?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Well, to cut to the chase, you're too weak, and I am sure you know that." Gee, way to hit me with a haymaker. But yeah, I know, more than anyone can ever know. "...Does it not bother you?"
"Kind of."
"Then, allow me to propose this: Allow me to help you get stronger." Huh? Maybe it's cause I got hit a few times on the head, or because I'm all taped out, but did she just offer to train me? "You may decline if you wish. After that, you and I will never cross paths again."
This isn't a joke or some brain-damage delusion, she's really giving me a choice. First, she tried to kill me, now, she wants to train me. It's crazy, totally crazy. But…
"...If I do it, can I be as strong as you?"
"That depends on the effort you give, but if you agree to this, and give your all, you will benefit, that I promise."
I…don't think she's lying, as much of a leap as that sounds. There's no reason for her to lie to me, if she wanted to kill me, now's the best time to end my life.
"I want to be strong enough to protect everyone."
"Then do we have a deal?"
I nod my head. "Yeah, we do."
She picks me up like I'm a duffle bag. "Excellent, then let us be off."
'Do you…have to carry me like this?"
"I don't see the problem. And were you not the one who said you couldn't move."
"I did, but–"
"Then let us be off."
She heads off for the teleporter without any room for argument. Yep, this is clearly going to be a fun time, I can just feel it.
On route to the dormitory - Midnight - Kazuki
The Dark Hour had ended. There's nobody out here except me and MInako. The occasional car passes by but it's not like the driver's gonna care what we're doing out. I can walk on my own now, however, my escort insists on helping me back.
"Kei-chan," Minako whispers, seemingly upset.
"What's up?"
"Are you really going to train with that girl?"
"I need to."
"But she might be tricking you."
"Maybe, but I'll take that risk."
"Why? It's stupid."
"So I can protect the people I care about, simple."
"Is it that simple?"
"Yeah, since she's offering me some help, I'm gonna take it."
Minako stops walking. "What if your life is put into danger?"
"Even then, I need to get stronger, or I can't protect anyone."
"Is it that easy?"
"Hm, I guess it is. Why does it matter to you?"
"Cause...I wish I had that kind of strength."
"How come?"
"For most of my life, Makoto has been protecting me, guiding me through life. He's done so much for me. At times, he even had to get hurt for me… Even if it's only one time, I want to be able to protect him, even if it's only once."
Her emotions are practically bleeding into her words, showing just how desperate she is when it comes to Makoto. "O-oh! W-we should get going. If we take too long, someone will notice that we left."
"Yeah, let's head home."
We continue to head back to the dorm... This girl - Minako Arisato - despite my first impressions about her, she and I do seem similar.