Chapter Text
It was so far and distant now, that elusive, silvery, beacon hanging ever present and vigilant in the night sky. No longer did it emanate that familiar, sickening, greenish tint nor that perverse yellow glow but it’s visage, perhaps a sign of some kind of scar, still caused discomfort in all moments she saw it. Even now, years removed, she fought her instincts and paranoia whenever it would happen into her line of sight. This reminder of a time long passed stirred memories many a time revisited, rarely by choice. Her eyes, guided along its rim, mentally reconstructed a web of red cracks. These cracks would slowly tear the moon apart, for each now freed slab of rock and mantle was connected by some strange coral-like bone that gradually revealed a great, red, eye peering downward upon the earth.
For, behold, the night mother, Nyx, had awoken.
She remembered, where others did not, that she once been forced to her knees before the eye of death.
She remembered, for a moment, how she’d helplessly watched as he, whom she had sworn to always protect, gave his life for a miracle that no-one would appreciate.
She remembered those feelings of aimlessness, sorrow, and emptiness at his death, and the recurring dream which had haunted her.
And yet, with the sudden rush of memories, with those images of her unsung hero, she didn’t feel any sort of anger at these men who she found herself amidst. While they laughed, and drank, and ate, they simply could not have remembered what He did, nor appreciate it’s severity even if they could. This deficiency was owed to no singular fault of their own, rather, an understanding that not everyone could experience the Dark Hour in its entirety nor retain knowledge of its events. Only those, who had this obscure quality they simply called “the potential” could.
It must have been fate that ordained a member of the Kirijo group, that elusive conglomerate of companies and corporations responsible for the Dark Hour, would be among those who joined him atop that tower. She had done so then in an effort to remedy the pain caused by the sins of her grandfather’s nihility. Now, even years after the Dark Hour’s disappearance, she continued to pursue atonement under the veil of corporate intrigue. That was why she was here-- among so many foreigners and notables-- to ensure the survival of her friend and confidant, Mitsuru Kirijo.
Aigis, turning her head back towards reality, snapped her attention to the woman at the center of the room. Across her upper torso was a fur white cloak—what she called a “chlamys” when Aigis had asked—that paired nicely with her long flowing, black, sequin dress skirting along the floor. A remarkable figure that would be guaranteed to draw attention. And, of course, perhaps to maximize that attention, she had placed herself somewhere Aigis couldn’t realistically guarantee her safety. If something were to happen, she’d have to push past the dozens in her way while preparing for combat.
Projections for this action, should the need arise, would likely cause substantive harm to roughly ten guests, require the release of three inhibitors, and take two to three seconds to close the distance. This was not Aigis, eventually determined. It only took a fraction of that time for a gunshot to connect or a knife to find it's way into her stomach. That is when Aigis noted a point to her right that offered a closer, clearer, vantage. Projections from this point, should she relocate, cut the probability of harming guests down to maybe one, minimized power usage to only two inhibitors, and cut the time to reach her into fraction of a second.
This would be ideal…for the time.
Moving quietly yet deliberately, Aigis slipped past a couple on her immediate right, too enamored by each other to notice her decidedly unhuman movements and waved away a waiter who had offered her Champaigne after she’d initially startled him. She avoided the Americans on her right, consumed by each other, and swiveled past the French on her left, who only acknowledged her in drunken surprise, and spun aside the Chinese who were there only as a courtesy. When finally, she found herself at the key location she’d identified prior, her heels clicked together. She would watch Mitsuru intently.
“I didn’t know they hired foreigners here,” Something rushed past Aigis’ mind as her head snapped to her left. Immediately, with a twist of her wrist, a firing pin snapped into place as she scanned for a threat. Instead, she found a thinner, withered, aged man approaching. He was rather plain but for his height, at least as far as Japanese men went, with faded silvery hair parted just short of the center. Across his face was plastered a somewhat crooked sort of grin. Adding in his decidedly nonthreatening physique would, with all taken in totality, be enough for the girl, in a split second, to disengage her weaponry. If need be, her fist would more than suffice.
“Excuse me?” Her voice was unexpectedly harsh, as she fell to wondering why she’d had that reaction. As best she could tell, he was just an ordinary older man.
“You work for Ms. Kirijo, right?” He seemed taken aback, motioning towards the gold pin on her black peacoat’s lapel with his champaign glass. It took Aigis a moment to realize what he meant, looking down quickly. She would take the following moment to correct her tone, remembering where she was.
“Ah. Yes, I am a friend of hers.” She nodded.
“A friend?” He laughed. “Woah, I didn’t know the Ice Queen had friends! What is she like?” He stopped, rolling his wrist. “You know, as a friend?”
“Well,” Aigis took a moment to consider her response. “…She is deeply caring and reliable. When we talk, it’s mostly to see how I am doing.” Aigis felt her mind trail off at that. Those conversations had been somewhat absent as of late and that simple fact worried her. Did she not trust her? She hadn’t even consulted Aigis on the decision to acquire Morton Grove Electrics, the very reason for this occasion, before she’d filed the paperwork. On one hand, she knew the machinations of corporate politics and management was a field best left to her levelheaded, and more experienced, friend. On the other, Mitsuru had developed something of a habit, hitherto, of involving Aigis in decisions normally left to administration. That she’d seemingly forwent her opinion in this matter gave them familiar pause.
“Huh.” He chuckled, tipping his glass towards Aigis. “Guess you’re one of the only people who knows her like that! How’d you two meet?”
“We went to High School together.” Aigis answered simply.
“High School?” He cocked an eyebrow. “…What, like in America?”
“No, we went to a school in Tatsumi Port Island.”
“…You went to Japanese high school then? That would explain why you’re so fluent. You’re very good, by the way.” He then extended his hand towards her.
“Thank you.” Aigis nodded towards him, returning her attention to Mitsuru as the conversation fell silent. She didn’t feel the need to add it was really the only language she was programed to understand and speak.
“So, if you went to Japanese High School, may I ask where you were born?” The man cocked an eyebrow. “You look like a foreigner.”
“I was created in Yakushima.” Aigis did not look away from her friend and responded simply, then seemingly realized that response raised more questions than answers.
“…Created?” He asked, dubiously.
“My apologies.” Aigis looked to him for a moment. “I had wanted to say I was born there.”
“…Ah.” He nodded for a moment, then the silence returned. “I-I’m sorry! I don’t think I’ve introduced myself!” He turned to face her.
“Hm?” She regarded him for a moment, scanning his body from the foot to the head.
“It’s quite rude of me to just keep talking and talking at someone who I—”
“It is good to see you socializing, Aigis.” Cool, calm, and collected, Mitsuru commanded the attention of both without effort as she interjected. As if a mental flashbang had gone off in the head of this individual, the poor man stopped to reconstitute himself as Aigis turned to face the so-called Ice Queen. “I was worried you would not mingle with these guests well but it seems I would be pleasantly wrong.”
“Ah, Mitsuru-san.” She smiled. “We were just talking about you.”
“Were we now?” Mitsuru looked between the two of them. “Well, whatever she told you, I assure you it is wildly exaggerated.”
“W-well,” The man started. “I-I was actually just…”
“I told him we went to High School together.” Aigis explained, the unspoken implication clearly being that it was all they spoke of. Mitsuru seemed to immediately detect that, if her quick glances between the two was anything to go by.
“…Ah, much simpler days.” Mitsuru sighed in relief, as a wry and nostalgic smile spread across her lips. “While I do sometimes find myself missing the absence of responsibilities, I would say my schooling prepared me well to assume my father’s position.”
“If your annual earnings are anything, I would be prone to agree.” The man’s composure returned as he spoke now, confident, in the moments he gave the surrounding area a scan. He seemed to mentally consider something, a pensiveness washing over his face. “It was, still, a shame to hear what happened to Takeharu.” He added, the gasconade only partly acknowledged by Mitsuru who faked a smile.
“Thank you.” She responded simply. “I wasn’t aware you and my father were close.”
“I’m not surprised he never said anything.” The man’s chuckle masked a wounded pride. Curious, Aigis mentally remarked. The question seemed to catch Mitsuru’s attention, who sucked in air quickly.
“Ah, I take it you haven’t you introduced yourself, Tobei-san?”
“Well, I was about to!” The man chuckled, then turned to Aigis. “My name is Ichiro Tobei.” He half-bowed. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” Aigis returned the gesture.
“A pleasure to meet you. My name is Aigis.” She said, simply.
“What a strange name. Where is that from?” The man asked, pointedly. The question caused something of a panic in her mind.
“It’s Greek.” Mitsuru interjected almost immediately, evidently detecting her discomfort. “You see, her family is from Nafpaktos in Epirus, but I’m sure she’s told you about how she was born in Yakushima. While she may be European, she considers herself more Japanese than Greek.”
“Yes.” Aigis tried her best to mask her relief. The lie seemed to convince Ichiro, who seemed rather taken by the story.
“What a worldly company you now have, Kirijo-san!” The man suggested with a smile. “You have holdings in the United States and Greece?”
“Hah, just the United States.” She laughed. It was clear she was only humoring him, which seemed curious to Aigis who watched the interaction in silence. “The European Union is a little too bureaucratic right now, even for me. Maybe in the future we can focus there, but certainly Europe is not at the front of my mind right now.”
“It would be a bad idea anyway,” The man suggested, sipping at his glass. “With right to repair and WEEE, you’ll be running a deficit within the year.”
“I don’t actually have a problem with those regulations.” Mitsuru admitted. “It’s important we all do our part to clean up after ourselves, this company included. I hope you won’t mind working towards that end, Tobei-san?”
“Absolutely not, Kirijo-san!” The man rushed to soothe her false concerns. It was around this time that she noticed Aigis’ expression.
“Forgive me, Aigis.” She placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder, covered by a black long jacket. "You see, Tobei-san was once an engineer for the Kirijo Group. He worked with us…I believe, between 1996 and 1998?” Mitsuru turned to face Ichiro.
“Yes, that is correct.” Ichiro chuckled. “After I left, Morton Grove approached me with a job offer at the end of that year, so I decided to take it.” He shook his head in remembrance. “Takeharu nor his dad were happy to see me go, so I can’t say I was on the best of terms with the group after that.”
“Yes, I was made aware of such…complications. It should help to know I do not hold any grudges against you for your departure.” She took a swig of her drink, gears visibly spinning away in her mind. “That said, working for the group again won’t be a problem for you, will it?” Mitsuru suggested with a smile.
“Oh, of course not!” The man rushed to assure her.
“Good. I for one am happy to put the past behind us. All I need to know is that my rooks fall in line.”
The man’s expression changed quickly, like their heart just dropped through the floor. The last part of her sentence wasn’t a subtle threat, as perhaps one might misconstrue; it was more akin to a proverbial flare, denoting something of importance. The man stammered and stuttered for a response, as he gripped at his neck in the moments Mitsuru, casually, sipped from her champagne glass. He gave Aigis a look, as if to question her own involvement, then looked back to Mitsuru who gave him a nod. The message was clear; she’s with me.
“You?” Ichiro finally managed, his voice low.
“Come now, you must have suspected.” Mitsuru suggested with a taunting smile, one which caused the older man’s mouth to flatten in rage. Clearly, he hadn’t.
“How do you want to do this then?” He spat.
“The function should end at eleven, when I give a conclusive speech. There is an empty conference hall on the western wing of the building. The Foxglove Hall. Be there by midnight.” She allowed her words to hang for a few moments as she took another sip of her drink. “Meet me there, along with the associates who I know you brought with you. I’ll come with my own.” Tobei tried to say something, as evidenced by his fluttering mouth, before his gapping jaw slammed shut in anger.
“…How do I know you’ll honor your end of the deal?” He spat.
“If I hadn’t intended to, I’d have already taken it.” Mitsuru spoke simply. Performatively, she glanced around the room. The man seemed to have received the message; he stood within a building financed and owned by the Kirijo Group, with law enforcement attending at the personal direction of its leader, likely with orders to prevent his escape, and with who knows how much personal security. It was a perfectly controlled environment, specialized to ensure he would comply. While it was an expertly crafted web, it was a web no less and its existence gave Aigis pause; why exactly had she gone to such lengths for him alone? What possible purpose could this exchange serve?
“Fine.” With shaking hands, his drink fluttered towards his lip, before he threw his head back and downed the entirety of its contents. With his glass now empty, he flagged down a server and passed off the crystal before he silently excused himself. With uneven steps, his exit from the room was quick and purposeful, almost more akin to a full-fledged flight, as Mitsuru’s previously calm demeanor melted into an expression of hatred. Her eyes, like glacial daggers, stabbed at the man as he slinked away from the room, in the moments before a scowl spread across her lips and a visible darkness filled her mind. She would be silent in the next minute, tapping the rim of her glass in deep contemplation.
“Misturu-San…” Aigis began, worry softening her voice.
“I’m sorry, Aigis.” She sighed. Her expression almost immediately softened as she turned to face her. “I should have told you sooner but…I knew you’d try to stop me if I had.”
“Stop what?”
“Do you remember that device my grandfather had built? The one that was destroyed by Ichiiro Takeba?”
“Yukari’s father…?” Aigis repeated, thoughtlessly. Her mind conjured the image of a loving but serious man whose eyes had sunken as a result of long nights and mounting worries. When she had pursued Death onto Moonlight bridge on that faithful night nearly sixteen years ago, it was Ichiiro Takeba’s actions which had originally scattered the composite pieces of Nyx. The fireball cost him his life, as it did many other in the immediate and over time.
“The very same.” She nodded, averting eye contact for a moment. “As it would happen, Tobei was an engineer on the earliest stage of the experiment.” Misturu explained, moving one hand to her hip. “But he wasn’t officially signed with the Group at the time, despite what he might claim.”
“If that is true, he clearly had no knowledge of the anti-shadow weapons.” Aigis’ eyes distanced as her mind sped ahead. He hadn’t recognized her true nature.
“Naturally, he wouldn’t. You and your sisters came about after his time.” Mitsuru elaborated.
“Odd… I thought your father was the only survivor…”
“Of the blast. There were other departments working with the group at the time.” Mitsuru’s unoccupied hand came to rest on her glass arm’s bicep. “But Tobei had long since left the primary department by then, having had something of a falling out between he and my grandfather. Since his name would not therefore be on the employee manifest, when casualty reports were taken…”
“He would not be among them.” Aigis nodded.
“Precisely.” Mitsuru smiled, contently.
“But I still do not… quite follow.”
“When he departed the program,” Mitsuru sighed, speaking in a hushed tone. “He took with him to America all of the knowledge he’d amassed. This meant he’d naturally be outside of the group’s influence and able to experiment with what he’d learned under Morton Grove’s, albeit quiet, auspices. That’s when it became known to me that he’d…” Her hand, the one gripping her bicep, tightened. “…kept a prototype.” Her voice dripped with venom. “And that he intended to sell it. No doubt, his mind was set on some central African warlord or the likes.” The mere thought of even a partly functional device akin to what they had created prior numbed Aigis in fear. She shuddered to think to whose hand it may fall into and what they might have intended to do with it, completely unaware of the alien and wild powers by which they meddled with. “Naturally, when I learned of this, I knew I had to acquire Morton Grove. That way, I could gain access to his company’s records and, more importantly, the man himself. Given how much I offered them, I knew Morton couldn’t turn it down.” She gave the venue an ostensibly neutral scan, but buried beneath the surface was a content pride. “So, through a web of intermediaries, I negotiated a deal with Tobei, of course with a few days of grace to mask the overt connection.” Mitsuru chuckled. “All this time, I was worried he’d connect the dots and figure out it was indeed myself behind it all but, it would appear, my worries were unfounded. Now, I have him in a building owned by the Kirijo Group which is secured by local law enforcement.”
“…You were right.” Aigis frowned. “I would have tried to stop you. This was exceptionally dangerous.”
“I know.” She sighed, her grin curved downward in a regretful expression. “But you have to understand why I cannot let this go.”
“I do understand.” Aigis’ eyes drifted towards the ground. “I just don’t want to lose any more of my friends.” Corporate intrigue was rarely deadly, as she knew, but it didn’t stop the paranoia from welling up from within her. That paranoia was worsened given their present situation, given that when dealing with such things where shadows and their strange powers are concerned, one of them alone rarely was enough. The machine her grandfather had built was specifically powered by them and, when the whole was destroyed, it fundamentally altered the nature of the world. Even a smaller version of this thing might have similar, and therefore dangerous, effects. On one hand, Aigis felt a level betrayal having not been sooner informed of this but, on the other, secrecy seemed clearly to be of utmost importance. If he vanished, so did that machine, and who knew where it would then end up.
“…I know.” Mitsuru’s reassuring voice helped Aigis to recenter as her mind’s wheels spun, dirt-bound. She would rest her hand on the girl’s shoulder and lean in. “That’s why I bring you along, my friend. You, among other precautions.” Aigis caught on to that immediately.
“Among other precautions?” Her brow furrowed as she looked up to Mitsuru.
“Why, haven’t you seen him?” Mitsuru’s brow furrowed, taking Aigis’ bewildered expression as evidence enough to conclude that, no, she hadn’t. “I requested that Akihiko be present as a member of the security team today.”
“Sanada-senpai is here?” Aigis’ eyes widened.
“I specifically held the party in Tatsumi for that reason. Anytime we’re dealing with anything my grandfather may have been involved with; I’d prefer as many of us are present as possible.” She meant the Shadow Operatives, Aigis mentally connected. “Just the three of us are enough, I’d wager, if anything went wrong.”
“I feel horrible…!” Aigis groaned. “It’s been so long and I just…missed him…” She fell to wondering how that might have occurred. Surely, if he’d seen her, he’d have said something. Unless…he was angry at her or thought perhaps they weren’t friends anymore?
“Well, why don’t you rectify that?” Mitsuru suggested with a smile. “Afterall, we’ll need him present for when our meeting occurs.”
“I see.” Aigis locked eyes with Mitsuru. “…What should I tell him?” To that, Mitsuru shot a glance over her shoulder. Her eyes rested on a distant clock. She did not turn back to face Aigis as she spoke her next words, instead taking the time to realign her chlamys.
“To have my bag and himself ready by 11:30. At my directive, Half-moon protocol is active, effective immediately.”
The landing of the building, just before one would pass along into mandatory security inspections, was decidedly simple and spacious, with smooth stone pillars arranged in a crescent formation around a similarly curved glass pane window that gave one a view of a distant many buildings. This room was filled only partly by a number of loitering police officers who stood around in circles nearby the exits. Their deployment, while by no means militaristic in appearance, did ensure that no person could realistically make it past them without being flagged down for inspection or questioning.
Those who were not on something like guard duty or loitering found themselves nearby a table whereby a neatly organized pile of bags, suitcases, and purses stood within reaching distance and a small congregation of young men and woman stood. They waited impatiently for a lone and diligent officer to finish inspecting one of the woman’s reddish bags, eventually zipping it shut with a smile and pushing it back towards her. His silvery hair was cut short, and his face was covered in faint scars. Aigis remembered a time when those scars were obscured by bandages and when his muscles hadn’t threatened to burst through the uniform he wore.
“Here you go, ma’am. Sorry for the wait.” Akihiko’s voice was as rough as ever, even as he clearly tried to soften it. The woman, who seemed more taken with him than he was with her, smiled broadly and took the bag back gingerly. She tried to say something as he turned away and towards the stack, before she and her friends pushed them along. The excitement within that group flashed images of a certain person, who took the place of the young man another girl clung to.
“Aigis?” She snapped back to reality, her eyes drifting towards the source. She would fall silent for a moment, with Akihiko momentarily becoming that young man in the red sweater vest for mental second.
“Sanada-Senpai?” She asked stupidly, regaining her composure.
“Hah, so it is you! Where’ve you been?” Akihiko chuckled, leaning onto the white folding table.
“I’ve been around, as they say.” She couldn’t help but smile. “Helping Mitsuru is much like a full-time job.” She approached the table at this point.
“You’re telling me.” He laughed. “She still got you doing security?”
“Of course!” Aigis nodded.
“Good. That’ll keep you sharp!” He chuckled, then turned back towards the bags. “These guests of hers are sure lavish, huh.” He took a suitcase into his hand and began back towards the table.
“They are quite the handful, yes.” Aigis admitted. “I admit, I have difficulty understanding them most days.”
“So do I.” Akihiko chuckled, placing the suitcase down on the table. He would unclip its lid and lift, eventually producing from it’s contents a plastic bag of nuts and laying it to the side, where it would clump lazily. “But Aigis, seriously! It’s been a year since we last spoke! How’ve you been?”
“I’ve been…” Aigis felt somewhat uneasy answering that. This past year had been very similar to the last. “I’m happy with where I am, even if not much has changed in my life.”
“Well, good to hear you’re at least happy.” Akihiko nodded, then slammed shut his suitcase. With a swift movement of his wrist, it fell against the laminated for with a soft click.
“How about you?”
“Eeh, I’ve got a new place.” Akihiko opened the bag. “It was just last month. Good location, right nearby our old dorm. I can go visit Hagakure or Koromaru any time I want…!” He shoveled some of the nuts into his mouth.
“Ah! I visit Koro-chan quite often actually!” Aigis perked up. “With Amada-kun going to Europe, he asked me to take care of him during this coming Senior year of High School.”
“I hope he enjoys himself. Looks like our little guy’s gone and grown up, huh.” Akihiko’s voice trailed off in thought. “I mean, he’s not so little any more… but good on him for trying to live a normal life, anyway.”
“Yes…normal.” Aigis may have smiled, but her heart sank as he said that. The more she spent time with these people, the more it became clear she was anything but normal. No matter how lifelike she became in her mannerisms or appearance, she’d never bridge the gap between organic and machine.
“Look, If you’re in the area, why don’t you come by more often?” Akihiko suggested, almost detecting her thought.
“Huh? Well, I have so much to do most days and…” Her voice trailed off, as her mind considered his offer. “…Would you mind?”
“No, of course not.” He scoffed. “It would be nice to get some practice in!” His left fist collided with his right hand for emphasis. Though he was clearly joking, as his propensity to think for and foremost of fighting had become something of a recent point of conversation, the connection it represented meant the world to Aigis who felt joy well up inside of her. She had been rather melancholy of late, she knew, and spending time with her friends may be exactly what she needed.
“Then… I will call you.” Aigis’ hand moved to where her collarbone would be. “But as fun as this has been, I did not come just to make conversation.”
“Whadd’ya mean?” Akihiko cocked an eyebrow, then seemingly caught himself. “Oh. Right. Of course.” He sighed, his eyes drifting downward as his shoulders slunk. “What else would she ask me to be here for?”
“Mitsuru-san has asked me to inform you that half-moon protocol is in place, effective immediately.”
“What!? Here? Now?” Akihiko’s brow furrowed. “…She say anything else?”
“To prepare yourself and her bag.”
“Her bag?” Akihiko cocked an eyebrow, looking to Aigis. “…Right, the big ugly one with the gold-buckles?”
“And leather quilting.” Aigis nodded in the affirmative.
“The hell is that girl doing that she needs to invoke Half-moon?” Akihiko asked this, knowing that there was a good chance Aigis was informed of the situation. He would be right to assume such, but incorrect in assuming she’d hand over that information immediately if that had been his assumption.
“Rest assured, it meets all criteria.” Aigis said, rather evasively.
“Except the advanced warning part.” Akihiko retorted, not inaccurately. Half-moon protocol moved all active members of the Shadow Operatives to standby status, meaning that they should prepare themselves for combating shadows and their derivatives. Reserve members were, of course, exempt for this directive, but active members, such as Akihiko, were to move all other duties aside to prioritize this one. Normally, this meant a two-to-three-day grace period so that people could prepare their schedules through whatever means necessary. That was notably absent here. “Do we at least have Yamagishi to run support?”
“No, but she won’t be necessary.” Aigis explained. Mitsuru’s persona could take up that role in a pinch. “It’s a precautionary measure.”
“Right…” Akihiko’s voice betrayed a level of, albeit deserved, disbelief as he bent over to retrieve the suitcase he’d set aside. A pensiveness overtook him at this stage, with his eyes trailing the ground.
“Are you without it?” Aigis asked, sure what gave him pause was the lack of an evoker.
“No. I never leave home without it.” Akihiko shook his head. “…I’m more concerned with whatever Mitsuru has planned for us.” He would then loose a deep and solemn sigh. “But…I’ll find out soon enough, right? You just help me sift through the bags.”
Say what one will about Mitsuru Kirijo; she undoubtedly had a sense of aesthetics. The black quilted leather suitcase was larger in width, length, and height than any of the others within the hotel’s lockers and sported a rim of glistening gold than ran along each of the bag’s edges. On it’s face was too a golden square buckle with the English letter “K” inscribed within its confines; a bold declaration to the world to whom this bag belonged to. That was a statement of wealth as much as it was necessary for her more clandestine operations was no secret, as it ensured no matter where she went, she had contained within it all of things she might need to wage war, be it from the board room or the strange lairs by which Shadows crept within.
When the empress spotted them from the across the hall, Aigis noted she had changed clothes, electing to lose the dress and short cape in favor of a simple black coat, white pants, and black boots. It wouldn’t have surprised her as Mitsuru never traveled far without a contingent of maids who could help her change quickly. Aigis further had no doubt that, concealed by that coat, she wore the combat suit she’d so recently developed.
“Akihiko. It is good to see you again.” She smiled, politely.
“And you too, Mitsuru.” Akihiko responded more as a formality.
“Are you equipped?”
“Of course!” He grinned. “But you still could’ve warned me.” Akihiko moved his right hand to his hip. “Let me get some practice in, ya know?”
“My apologies, but, as I’m sure Aigis has relayed, secrecy was of utmost importance.” Mitsuru smiled contently as her arm extended towards Aigis. “The bag, if you would.”
“Yeah, I get the picture.” Akihiko nodded, watching as the robot transferred the quilted leather briefcase to the empress. “Guy used to work for your gramps, right? Has some prototype of the device that caused the Dark Hour?”
“That would be a correct summation.” Mitsuru admitted, pulling from her coat pocket a gilded pocket watch. She would flip it open, conjuring a holographic green clock. The minute had sat maybe six minutes before midnight.
“I don’t get it.” Akihiko folded his arms. “It sounds bad, sure, but didn’t the last one need thirteen powerful shadows to create the Dark Hour, let alone do what the other one had?”
“In accomplishing their specific desired effect of bringing about the Fall, yes.” Mitsuru flipped shut the watch, then turned to face the man. “But at its core, the machine worked similarly to our evokers, energizing and manipulating a plume of dusk. While I don’t have time to go over the specific mechanics, rest assured I am convinced even a prototype may still have the capacity to manipulate time.”
“And he’s just had it sitting around all this time?” Akihiko cocked an eyebrow. “Why didn’t he move it sooner? Why would he think he could sell it anyway? You'd have to be pretty crazy to believe it was capable of whatever he advertised...”
“I imagine desperation. In his mind, it wouldn't matter if people believed in it, only that they bought it. Who is to say why anyone specifically would be interested? He needs the money, being several millions of yen in debt.” Mitsuru answered simply.
“So, he needs to escape it.” Akihiko nodded. “Makes sense. How do we know it’s legitimate?”
“Yamagishi uncovered some documentation early in the project’s life that suggested some of the first experiments remained unaccounted for in the aftermath.” Mitsuru explained. “From what I’ve been able to gather from his communications, now that I have access to his electronics through acquiring Morton Grove, what he’s described falls in line with our best knowledge of what those lost experiments should have looked like and been capable of. If nothing else, he is at least convinced it’s genuine. I’m sure he would have the requisite knowledge to determine such.”
“Maybe even to fake it.” Akihiko suggested, to which he received a death glare from Mitsuru. That seemed enough to unnerve the man, who shrunk back. “…But you’re right. If there’s even a possibility of a little version of that device floating around, we should be safe, not sorry.”
“Did he arrive already?” Aigis spoke up.
“Yes. Security told me he went ahead.” Mitsuru explained, pivoting to face her. “He brought two others with him. I’m guessing they are some sort of security, judging from their size.”
“Understood.” Aigis nodded. “Are they armed?”
“Maybe with knives.” Mitsuru admitted. “Nothing like a gun. They were checked thoroughly before they came in the building.” The look she gave Aigis communicated further than if a fight were to break out, she’d prefer a distinct absence of gunfire. It was not something the girl had been built for but something she could accommodate in a pinch. Virtually no normal human could withstand a solid steel hit, as she’d come to learn these past few years.
“I’ll prepare inhibitors for release then.” Aigis looked towards the ground, unease welling up from within her. “I feel as if I should mention that I am still uncomfortable with this plan.”
“Yeah, I agree. Being this reckless? It’s not like you, Mitsuru.” Akihiko interjected.
“I appreciate the concern, Akihiko, but you know better than anyone else that I am capable enough to handle myself.” Mitsuru smiled, confidently. “Besides, you’re not telling me you’ve lost your touch now, are you?”
“Hah, as if.” Akihiko scoffed, taking a moment to roll his neck. In the next, his arm snapped to his breast while the other crossed it in a brace, stretching his left before he repeated the movement on his right. He would turn to Aigis at this point, projecting as much confidence as he could. “…Eh, look she’s right, Aigis, it shouldn’t be too hard.” He shrugged. “With us here, they’d need at least seven times that to stand a chance.” To her mind, and her calculations, that was an accurate assessment. If she was concerned about her friend’s safety, the best thing she could do was protect her if the need arose, and towards that goal she was uniquely qualified.
“You are right.” Aigis smiled, as her hand rested upon her collar bone. “Together, we can overcome anything…!”
“That’s the spirit!” Akihiko grinned.
“Hah. Been some time since I’ve seen that part of you, Aigis.” The smile she gave the girl, unlike many of the others she was forced to make, was genuine and conjured images of a time long past. “Well…shall we?”
Unlike where the function had been primarily kept, this room was dark, large, and empty. Across it’s walls sat a number of folded plastic tables and chairs, with only the massive window above granting anything by way of light. The moon, full, reflected into the chamber just enough for the three of them to make out those who awaited them. The smallest man, Tobei, loitered in one corner with his phone flipped out. In his right hand was a silvery briefcase, which glistened as a result of where he stood and swayed lightly as his head perked up upon hearing the door’s wooden groan. What had been a somewhat crooked but welcoming face was contorted into a scowl as he laid eyes upon Aigis and then Mitsuru.
The other two were, as Mitsuru had relayed, larger men. The largest between them stood at roughly the same height as Akihiko and puffed a cigarette. The dim red glow of it’s lit head was trailed by silvery smoke, and gave Aigis just enough lit to spot the other man, who leaned against a wall in the distance. When the door opened, he pushed off of it and moved towards the center of the room, his hands dug within his coat pockets. This man was a few inches shorter than Akihiko but similarly built to the second man. Tobei appeared to lead them, taking up a position in the center while moving the case to the front with both hands now clasping the handle. By the time Mitsuru and her cohort reached the halfway point, Tobei threw up a hand.
“That’s close enough.” He commanded.
“Very well.” Mitsuru nodded. “Before we get started, why don’t we introduce ourselves?” Performatively, she tilted her head towards the man with the cigarette.
“Ike.” The man with the cigarette lifted it. His voice was coarse and rough, expected of a man who dressed as he did and looked as he did.
“Oda.” The other larger man said. His hard was cut short and darker, with a high-collared shirt and open black suit.
“I wasn’t aware you worked with these sorts.” Mitsuru turned her head to Tobei, who scoffed.
“Needed to if I wanted to sell this damn thing.” He spat.
“In that case, let us not delay this meeting any longer.” Mitsuru smiled. “Let me see it. I need to ensure it’s legitimate.” Tobei groaned at that but did not outwardly reject her proposal. He would lift the case and spin it towards himself, balancing it on one hand while the other unclipped the lid. With two audible thunks, the older man would pull open the case and spin it back around. Contained within its black foamlike interior was a strange steel cylinder, with a glasslike tube running across its center. It was glowing with a bright cerulean blue and the entire device was covered in a collection of wires. They varied in hue, and all led towards a black screened central display, which at this time meant the device was switched off, if it functioned at all.
“…Does it work?” Mitsuru asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“It works.” Tobei nodded.
“Show me then.”
The man would scoff at the request, but he appeared to acquiesce, as he looked to Oda and motioned for him to approach. He would then order the man to hold out his arm, of which he did, and place the case atop his now extended forearms. Tobei would then turn away from Mitsuru and run his hand along the central display unit, it sparking to life as a result of his touch. It would glow green as his fingers would then run along it’s face until, finally, a faint mechanical hum denoted the machine coming to life. Immediately, Aigis felt something shift in the atmosphere; something dark and foul permeating through and around her in a manner she found only comparable to one thing she’d experienced before.
The Dark Hour.
She felt herself ready, her hand snapping closed to realign themselves with the firing pins along her wrist, before her mind corrected her body and she forced herself to relax, if even slightly. She would instead lean into Mitsuru.
“I felt it too.” She beat Aigis to the chase, Mitsuru’s red eyes communicating a worry she could only spare to her friend at this time. Regaining her composure, Mitsuru turned back towards Tobei and forced a wide smile. “I am impressed. I see your boastings are well founded.”
“Hmph.” Was the man’s only reaction, as he stepped away from the device and towards the woman. He would cross his arms at this point, staring her down for any change her demeanor; one that Mitsuru knew better than to telegraph. She stayed still and cold like ice, the only expression on her face being that of pure and unbridled confidence.
“We had agreed to a price tag of…thirty-million yen?”
“Yes. We had.” Tobei spat. “That was before I knew a Kirijo was the buyer!”
“I see.” Mitsuru sighed in annoyance.
“I want seventy-five million now.”
“You surely must be joking.” Mitsuru scoffed.
“Absolutely not.” The man shook his head. “I want compensation for what your family did to me.”
“Compensation?” Mitsuru repeated in surprise. “I think being paid for what you possess is compensation enough.”
“You would, girl.” Tobei turned back towards the prototype as a darkness spread across her face. “The way I see it, you knew I had the device, and you knew I had associates. The way I’m thinking, you could’ve had it taken while we were at the party, but you still need something from me.” He turned back around. “Am I wrong?” The man smirked.
“…Yes, you are.” Mitsuru responded, confidently. The response she gave was not what the man was expecting, and it appeared to shatter his confidence. “I didn’t take it from you immediately because you were right where I wanted you to be the very moment you walked through that door. Every aspect of the location I control. But I am nothing if not a gracious host; for, I am giving you the opportunity to do this cleanly. You get your money, and I get the device.” She ran an unoccupied hand through her curly red hair for emphasis. “Just like that. It truly matters little to me whether this is quick and painless or long and difficult; Ultimately, I get what I want, as that device is rightly intellectual property of the Kirijo Group.” Her voice was calm and steady, exuding anything but complete assuredness if her statements.
“Tch. Typical Kirijo arrogance.” Tobei muttered, as sure a sign of defeat as any other. He’d clearly miscalculated. “What do you intend to do with it?”
“That is none of your concern.” Mitsuru answered plainly.
“None of my concern!?” The man snapped. “What fool do you take me for!?”
“Excuse me?” Mitsuru’s face hardened.
“Your grandfather and his insanity…” Tobei scoffed. “When I learned what his true intentions were, he had my name ruined before I could warn anyone! I was a pariah. No one would hire or take me seriously under his influence and by the time I knew he’d neared his goal, all I could do was watch helplessly. That that poor man, Takeba…” Tobei turned back towards the prototype. “Do you even care how many families that man ruined? What powers he meddled with?”
“More than you can possibly know.” Mitsuru’s voice fell. “Do you think me a fool? That I do not know the man he was? That I would only desire of that damnable thing because it once belonged to my company? If I had no knowledge of my grandfather’s true personality, this conversation would not be happening.”
“Then you’ll agree I deserve better…” Tobei shuddered as he turned back towards her, as the empress’ expression darkened. “I deserve Justice for what your family did.” The room fell quiet after that point. He had clearly been wronged by the Group, and his anger wasn’t unjustified…at least as far as Mitsuru’s grandfather was concerned. It begged an obvious question, of how much blame Mitsuru herself should or ought to bear by virtue of relation. To Aigis’ mind, people couldn’t control the circumstances of their birth, and that included knowing who their parents would be and the legacy any prospective person would stand to inevitably inherit. One couldn’t call heaping the wrongs of the past upon a distantly related person ‘Justice’, as such a designation to her mind necessitated distinct and personal connection. Mitsuru for her part, seemed unable to immediately respond, as that shame, the one she felt for her family’s past was then, remained the core of her motivations. Unintentionally or not, the man had struck where a nerve lay naked and exposed.
“That is not fair.” Aigis spoke up.
“Huh?”
“You are a victim of Kouetsu, not her family.” Aigis reasoned. “Nobody should bare the blame of their parents, not even someone who has benefited from those injustices. Kouetsu may have done you wrong, as he did many others, but you cannot use that against her and call it justice.”
“What would you know about justice?” Tobei scoffed.
“That one must do a real wrong for them to be guilty.” Aigis’ responded sternly. “She has done you no wrong deserving of your anger, merely been born a Kirijo.”
“Born a Kirjio is enough! That bitch and her family live in ivory towers and beach homes at the expense of myself and everyone else!” The man shouted; his hand extended accusatorially towards her. “I’m sure she’s no better than Kouetsu deep down!”
“How dare you!?” Mitsuru shouted. “I have dedicated my life to repairing the damage he has done!” Mitsuru’s mask slipped momentarily, as she rejoined the conversation with a seriousness overtaking her. “Every wrong he’s perpetrated against an innocent life has been a stain on I and my family’s honor; stains I toil endlessly to scrub away! Before I am gone, I will make right any wrongs he has perpetrated, so help me!” Misturu’s fists tightened as her head lowered. “…you do not know me or my story, Tobei-san, but know that I am not so timid as to stand for this slander…if what you want is the money you so covet and love, know that I am prepared to give it to you but I will not be shamed into giving a yen more than a philistine like you deserves!”
“Mitsuru,” Akihiko attempted to step in, to which he received a death glare from the woman.
“No!” Her eyes widened in rage as she snapped to Akihiko. “I have been nothing if not patient with this man, but I will not stand for this a moment more!” With purpose, she pivoted on her heel and faced Tobei again. “You, Tobei-san, are indeed a victim, and one I will not forget, but let us not further forget that you intended to sell that device to whomever, knowing it’s true nature. You have proven yourself to serve only yourself. For that, be thankful I offer you anything!”
“You stubborn brat, this gets us nowhere…!” The man scoffed. “I have the device, and I say I want more! If you wi—"
“Holy shit!” The man to Tobei’s left, the one holding the prototype, shouted as his body jolted back. The silvery case clattered against the floor as the man’s previously stone-like face shattered into a terrified scowl and the prototype itself rolled out. That is when Aigis, and presumably the others, noticed that the machine’s hum had risen into an active whirl, and the display of the device filled with row after row of letters and numbers. It shook where it landed, clattering and battering against the floor as Tobei’s eyes widened in fear.
“Fuck, what’s wrong with you, Oda?” The man with the cigarette, slammed it against the table he was leaning on. With it put out, he walked lazily towards the jumping machine and scooped it into his hand right. He gave it a dismissive look, turning it over to observe its top and bottom before a chuckle escaped his mouth. “It’s just shakin’. What, you got jumpy now?”
“Hey man, it just started moving!” Oda leaned down to pick up the silver case. “The ways they were talkin’ about it got me thinkin’, ya know. It just started a—”
Like a violin breaking, screaming, and playing simultaneously, a shrill, mind-bending sounded. The world, seeming distorted in the same impossible way, folded around them; stretched and contorted around the prototype like wet paper. In a blink of her eye, she saw streaks of light, of every hue and color, flash across the room in all random directions in a prismatic show of dancing rays. In the next moment, a greenish-black mist, tipped with twisted white power, fizzled its way into reality and the two men, nearby each other, blinked out of existence as white outlines of where they stood floated upwards like smoke. In the next moment, the floor—no, the universe—groaned and bent, as the boards they stood upon buckled like lone wooden panels. Then, the vacuum’s pull began. Tobei, for his part, watched helplessly as the sound of rushing wind filled the chamber and his body snapped towards the blackish mist. Aigis felt her hair rush forward, as did her coat and tie, as she momentarily stumbled but regained her balance in the same moment her head turned to face Akihiko and Mitsuru. She would find the later had been knocked off balance, falling to one knee as the former, rushing to her side, had managed to catch them both before they fell.
“Dammit, Tobei, turn it off!” Akihiko shouted.
“I…I’ve don’t…” He sputtered, the gears of his mind clearly spinning away.
“You don’t know how!?”
“No! I…I don’t know what it’s doing! I’ve never had it do this before…!”
“What!?” Mitsuru and Akihiko shouted simultaneously.
“I’ve only—” He was interrupted when that accursed sound, that screech of a thousand different instruments and things breaking at once, returned. It drowned out almost all other things, and it was only almost matched in severity by the shouts of pain that she, her friends and the old man Tobei loosed. Her vision would cloud as searing white pain shot across her mind. It would take nearly all of her willpower to keep herself standing and what little she had left to move away from the wrongness creeping towards her. She watched as Akihiko and Mitsuru did the same, and then as Tobei, unable to move, slid helplessly towards the blackness that awaited him. With a final, terrified, scream he would fall headfirst into it and cease just as those who had joined him had. With a burst of wind, the sound of shattering glass filled the air in moments before a rain of shards collided against the floor.
Then, time stopped. The crystal flecks of glass glistened like raindrops as a sickening greenish tint overtook the room. Her mind grinded too would be grinded to a halt as her eyes settled upon the black mist, it having also frozen save for the flagella like tails that lined it. They would, over some time, eventually straighten out and fold in on themselves as a faint white line carved its way across space and across the center of the black mist. For a moment, all seemed calm and quiet until dozens of slender, clawlike fingers, poked their way out from the line’s center.
They would grip the edges and part, like one might a door, revealing behind it a series of impossible shapes and figures dancing along a backdrop of varying hues. Within it, the silhouette of a person would float, its characteristics obscured by a white flame-like aura which overtook it. It’s eyes did not stay any one color over any period of time and changed shape from box, to triangle, to octagon several hundreds of times over the milliseconds Aigis observed the being. In a moment, it contorted and twist, beginning to take form; a familiar form she’d have recognized anywhere.
“Makoto…?”
Her heart fluttered.
Her mouth formed the words before her mind could process what she saw.
For a moment, she thought she heard a voice; a familiar cadence beckoning her forth.
As she watched, entranced, the figure would straighten out for what felt like an eternity. Then, in a split second, it’s mouth would swing open, agape and showing a decidedly hellish sight contained within it, as its further body twisted and contorted inhumanly. The creature’s fingers would become longer and longer still until they were vine-like and covered in points. At first one would slither its way out from the tear, before a series of them would spread out. These tendrils of a sickening scent were blackish brown in tone, scaly like a serpent, and adorned with prismatic thorns that jutted out in any which direction. The head of the creature was like a flower of hellish maws, adorned with rows of teeth, and guided by the thousands of eyes she saw attached to stalks running along the back of its head. They had neither one color or any; changing over ever moment they fluttered around aimlessly. The sight was unlike any Shadow she’d ever fought or monster she’d been forced to previously confront, yet her mind lingered on that familiar face and those eyes which she knew could only belong to one person in this entire world.
“Aigis! Get out of there!” Akihiko’s voice was enough to snap her back to reality. She gasped, realizing finally that her right hand had been outstretched towards the monstrosity as if to greet it. She had not seen in her trance the creature’s mouth shake violently, nor it’s teeth alight gold with energy she could not identify. Thinking quickly, she would throw herself to the side, seeing no other way to avoid what was assuredly an attack, as a stream of concentrated golden energy shot towards her.
Diagnostics reported what she already knew; her right arm’s support had been torn asunder from her body as the reinforced lining of her shell melted away under the stress of the attack. She watched, in the moments time slowed, as metallic shards sprayed past her like grenade. The cutting of wires and superstructure that followed it was audible like the snapping of a thousand branches in the moments before her body collided against the floor with an audible grunt.
“AIGIS!” Mitsuru shouted from across the room.
“I’m okay…!” Aigis’ grunted as her wrist spun towards the ground. With it oriented correctly, she could slam it flat, giving her the momentum to crane herself back up. “I’m fine!” With a push, she would quickly come to her feet, steadying herself where others might have been stopped by pain.
“Losing an arm isn’t what I would call fine!” Akihiko scoffed, his hand moving to coat and gripping. With a pull, it tore, revealing a black tank-top wrapped tightly around his abdomen and pectoral muscles. Tucked underneath his armpit was a holster; one which contained a snub-nosed revolver and the other a familiar silvery magazine fed pistol Aigis identified as an Evoker. To his chin he would call his fist, his back hunching over as he took up an offensive stance characteristic of the boxer he was.
“Aigis, fall back!” Mitsuru’s command was more panicked than she perhaps intended for it to be, as she ran up alongside her. Aigis noted in her left hand was a similarly silver sheen, while her right still held tightly the black-leather bag she’d asked for.
“No! I won’t abandon my friends…!” Aigis retorted stubbornly, as the creature’s flower mouth opened for a guttural roar. It’s screech, almost a choir of tortured voices, had a boom like a blast. She would turn to face Mitsuru in the moment it passed, whose eyes had widened in surprise. “Never.” There was a tension in the air following her declaration and Aigis felt she could safely guess what had given her pause, as both watched a tendril of this creature’s rise high into the air. Though it seemed intent to strike, it’s arm moved slower than Mitsuru’s mind as she considered her options. She must have realized that nothing she could say would be enough to convince the girl to backdown, as evidenced by her defeated sigh.
“…Good.” Mitsuru forced a smile as she turned from her towards the monstrosity. She extended her arm outward, dropping the back at her feet with a flip of her hair. “Together, we’ll banish this thing back to the pit it crawled out of!” She then kicked the side. With a hiss and a puff of smoke, a silvery sword handle leapt out from a concealed compartment, caught by effortlessly by the empress. Her wrist would spin, so that the now extending wings of the sword faced upward in the moments a brilliant red light flashed into existence and hardened into a fine point and a hardlight guard. With a flourish of her now materialized blade, of which trailed a faint red, Mitsuru cut effortlessly through the tendril which had come crashing down towards them, it's now severed arm landing behind her in a spray of blackish ink and viscera.
“Always one for theatrics.” Akihiko joked, having moved a safe distance from where he gauged the strike might land. “Well leader,” Akihiko, whose eyes locked on his opponent, rose both of his fists as he clearly addressed Aigis. “What’s the play?”
Leader.
It’s been some time since I’ve heard that.
“…Weaknesses.” Aigis spoke confidently and clearly, as her left hand snapped out of fine motility and into alignment with the firing pins contained within her remaining wrist. If they were going to fight this thing, it was best to gain as best an upper hand as they could. That started, like any opponent, with understanding where it’s weakest link lay. “Do you know if we can use our Personas?” Aigis watched as two tendrils rose above the monstrosity’s head; one seemed directed towards herself and the other Mitsuru.
“I can feel Artemisia.” Mitsuru responded, rolling to her side as a tendril slammed into wood.
“Good! Find me a weakness!” Aigis commanded, raising her remaining arm upward. In a moment, all inhibitors released, and a hail of gunfire exploded from her fingertips. The streaks of yellowish fire cut clean through the tendril’s skin, as black blood sprayed the ground. That volley reduced her ammunition capacity to 84% but it seemed well placed, as the tip of the Tendril would snap off from the remaining muscle; flung into the distance as it slammed into the wooden wall. The paneling would snap inward, buckling under the weight of the strike. Aigis would then kick back in a leap, somersaulting effortlessly through the air as a hail of gun fire trailed the back of the grotesque beast. 71%. From this high up, Aigis watched as Mitsuru’s graceful almost dancelike movements positioned her well to retaliate against any attack and as Akihiko narrowly dodged a strike directed at himself. He would take his temple his evoker in the aftermath.
“Give her some time!” Mitsuru shouted in response, her sword cutting cleanly through the tendril that had missed her.
“I’m not waiting!” Akihiko shouted. “Come, Caesar!” The man bellowed, then pulled the trigger. Like a hammer shattering the glass that separates the self from the mask, shards of crystalline blue shot out like geyser from the side of his head opposite of where the barrel pointed. Gathering at his feet was a bluish-white flame of super-natural power as a specter took form behind him. It was manlike, with black-skin and wearing roman-styled armor. In his right hand the specter wielding a silver sword and the earth itself in the other. It took a moment for the specter to lift their sword towards the sky and another millisecond for a spear of lightning to rain down on the creature’s head, breaking skin and flesh with a sickening pop.
Skin that mended, like a self-repairing fabric, in the exact moment it struck.
“What the hell is this thing!?” Akihiko shouted.
“It’s regenerating…!” Mitsuru gasped.
Aigis landed nearby her, watching in terror as the tendrils they severed grew a replacement head within moments. They rose again to strike, and to this Aigis would jolt aside it’s strike. Akihiko would do so as well, landing nearby Aigis as he slid his evoker back into it’s holster. When they made brief eye contact, both had the same understanding; they were wasting their powers trying to outwardly harm the thing.
“Its weakness is changing…!” Mitsuru shouted. “Artemisia is trying to narrow it down but…!”
“Dammit all!” Akihiko groaned, electricity gathering in his fist. With a spin of his upper body, he would come out from his kneel into an uppercut; instantly severing an attacking tendril. “It’s a good thing we have someone here who can change Personas then.”
“What does Artemisia say it’s weakness is now?” Aigis stood, preparing to activate her papillon heart.
“…Fire!” Mitsuru shouted, quite literally rolling into the conversation, as her evoker was pressed against her temple. She was trailed by a thin, white skinned spectral woman wearing a riveted metallic corset, pointed pauldrons, and a pointed red mask. In its left hand was a long, thin, metallic whip of segmented and thorned metal rods.
“I’ll change to Orpheus then.” Aigis nodded.
“Wait,” Mitsuru stopped her, grabbing Aigis’ remaining arm. “Wasting our energy cutting down tendrils isn’t a winning strategy. During the fight, I think I spotted the prototype behind the creature…” Her eyes momentarily went off her, shooting up in the same moment Mitsuru jumped to her feet, losing the robot’s wrist, and pulling the trigger a second time. This time, Artemisia’s hand sparked to life and a rain of icy arrows shot past them. Behind Mitsuru landed a severed tendril. “From what I’m sensing, this isn’t an opponent we approach that way. The longer we’re out here, the more likely we are to lose.” Mitsuru adopted a defensive stance as she said this.
“So, what do you recommend?” Aigis asked quickly.
“Destroy the prototype... this monster has to be coming from somewhere...! Maybe we can sever its connection.” Mitsuru’s fist tightened for emphasis.
“What about--” Aigis started to ask the question, but stopped, pivoting on her foot as her senses sparked to life. With a spray of gunfire, she would again sever a tendril. 58%. “What about you two?”
“We’ll hold him off!” Akihiko shouted as he rolled, evading a billowing plume of fire cast from one of its eyestalks.
“And if it doesn’t work!?”
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it…!” Mitsuru’s voice betrayed a level of desperation she’d rarely heard from the otherwise confidant woman. With that, Aigis felt herself level. She scanned the room, her eyes darting across shattered wooden paneling and flooring until they rested upon a spot clear of debris and damage immediately to the left of the monstrosity. Projections for combat effectiveness from this position were next to useless but if what Mitsuru said was true, this was their best chance to get vantage on the prototype. It was, however, blocked by several overlapping tendrils; tendrils which needed to be removed if she were to make the mad dash. With how much ammunition she had left, just shy of half, the thought occurred to conserve what she could.
Readying her Papillon heart, Aigis called from the sea of her soul a familiar mask; one which had served her well in her past. For she, akin to Aigis, was the guardian of a people and the protector of many. Stalwart and proud, she knew that this mask, of any could be used here, would certainly be her best chance at success.
“Athena!” Aigis bellowed. “I need your help!” With this declaration, at her feet sprung up a circle of bluish fire-like aura, snapping at her feetless legs and dancing around her fingertips. To her back, covered by a white cloth, came a spectral woman. She wore a plumed golden helmet, held a great gilded spear, and had surrounding her a ring of mirrors headed by a great blue shield. The goddess of the hearth raised her spear high as a thousand small lines across reality filled the air around her. In a moment, limbs severed and in her glorious call a swift strike cleared her path. Aigis would briefly look to Mitsuru as if to ask for permission once the way was open, and Mitsuru would nod. They lived now or died together.
“Affirmative. Relocating!” Aigis declared as she leapt to life, kicking of the floor with an audible boom. Moving with purpose, Aigis slid past a stray tendril on her right, too bulky and cumbersome to match her high adroit, decidedly unhuman, movements and somersaulted elegantly past a stream of pure ice, which transformed the broken wood that had been beneath her into a smooth floor. With her left arm outstretched, she would blast through a thorny and toothed leg, causing the being to lose another of its guttural, disturbing, cries. When finally, she found herself at the key location she’d identified prior, her eyes traced the rim of the sunken floor before they landed on the machine; its internal mechanics spinning away at a something contained within its steely confines. There was a stream of glass like fragments that formed something of a flower at the base of black mist of which it arose out of.
“Its…it’s an evoker…!” Aigis felt herself mutter, before her consciousness took hold and reminded the girl of her objective. With that thought, her remaining arm extended forward. A stream of golden lines would erupt forth then, only partly masking the distant sound of clattering shells, as the machine suffered a long and sustained volley of fire until, finally, its machinery gave way and one spark led to another which led to a cascade of additional such effects. The glass tank containing the plume would crack; before a glorious blue plume would bellow upwards and send shrapnel in every direction. For a moment, the shrapnel would jut out like a thousand knives but stop just some few inches from the burst.
In fact, everything stopped.
Aigis felt her body freeze, though she was still somehow aware of it. She noted the orange glow of her fingertips and the now spent casing, which had once flashed before her eyes, stood perfectly still. She could somehow change where she looked, eyes resting upon Mitsuru and Akihiko who by this point stood, back-to-back, surrounded by craters, jagged tendrils, and their Personas standing tall.
Then, time resumed. In a split second, the creature cried out, the glass shards from the ceiling window came crashing down, and the boards of wood that lined the room’s walls all simultaneously cracked. The creature would not go silently; as its sickening sounds were less now of an intimidating howl and more filled with confusion and pain as it’s body contorted, sank, and shrunk back towards the now closing mist. It would slam, cry, and claw at the ground with all it could, as Akihiko and Mitsuru leapt opposite ways to barely evade a stray tendril, before it’s form would be entirely consumed by the darkness before them. Then, with a pop, the greenish tint would vanish and time, as they knew it, would return.
Aigis would collapse to her knees by this point, an unexpected system load stressing her inhibitors and mechanics. It had been some time since she’d engage in battle of this kind, and the lose of arm certainly did not make things any better. Diagnostics informed her that she’d performed sub-optimally in her shadow extermination protocols and to report to the nearest engineer for repair…something she found at least partly entertaining given the absence of them.
“Aigis!” Mitsuru ran over to her, throwing their arms around the armless mechanic as her sword clattered on the floor aside them. The accompanying sigh of relief was long and spirited. When she pushed away from her, the Ice Queen’s stoic expression returned. “Well done.” Mitsuru’s arms rested upon Aigis’ shoulders.
“That…was getting hairy.” Akihiko was slower in his approach, holstering the evoker in the moments it took for him to kneel by the robot. “You scared the hell out of me!” The man smile masked his genuine worry.
“I’m sorry.” Aigis couldn’t help but smile, starting to stand but failing. Releasing all inhibitors may have caused her leg to seize, diagnostics revealed. To her attempts, Mitsuru would give the girl a stern glare, serving it’s purpose of dissuading any more attempts at movement.
“Please, don’t push yourself too hard.” Mitsuru started to undo her jacket. “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll have a mechanic take a look at you.” Mitsuru would throw it around her now missing arm to cover the mechanics now exposed by her jacket’s lack of an accompanying sleeve. To Aigis’ great surprise, Mitsuru had not worn the combat armor she’d developed; instead, sporting a simple white shirt reminiscent of her past.
“Damn right…!” Akihiko laughed, before giving the room a look. “…We did a number on this place, huh.”
“We did.” Mitsuru chuckled.
“What the hell are you gonna tell your investors?”
“…I’ll think of something.” Mitsuru smiled, then stopped as a question crossed her mind. “…Aigis…before the fight.”
“…Yes?” The girl’s eyes met Mitsuru’s. For a moment, buried beneath the blood red irises, was hesitation, almost, a fear buried within her mind. Mitsuru would take some time to verbalize what had crossed her mind, but when she had, her voice was lower, and her eyes drifted towards the floor.
“You said a name. His name.” She repeated, softly. “What…did you see?” To the question, Aigis’ mouth opened but no words materialized. A thousand questions bounced across her mind. Was it a trick of the light? Of her mind? Perhaps…it was a trick played by that creature to gain an advantage over her? It had through her inaction managed to take her arm. The possibilities of what she saw were literally endless, considering what they’d just dealt with, but if anyone would know his visage, it would be her. Who cradled him in her lap as the last of his lifeforce escaped his body. With nothing approaching a satisfactory answer, Aigis would avert eye contact and allow a solemn silence to permeate.
“I’m not trying to be rude but…is this really the time?” Akihiko interjected, to which Mitsuru, giving him a half-hearted glance, struggled to respond.
“You’re…you are right. This is hardly the time.” She spoke at first in a shaky tone of voice but ended her thought in that familiar confident one, as purpose returned to her eyes. She would look to where Aigis’ arm should have been with a clear understanding of her next steps; she would ensure her friend’s survival first and foremost.
“Come on.” Akihiko rolled his head as if to spur her into action, stepping around the girl and to her left to where her remaining arm was and lifting. Mitsuru slowly position herself opposite, wrapping her arm around Aigis’ waist, taking careful note to press her body into the missing port and, in so doing, keeping her jacket in a place to obscure Aigis’ machinery. Together, they would lift to some difficulty and begin to walk her out. All the while Aigis’ head would roll back and her eyes would glance upwards, towards the distant and glowing moon with flashes of the past barraging her mind’s eye.
It was so far and distant now, that elusive, silvery, beacon hanging ever present and vigilant in the night sky. No longer did it emanate that familiar, sickening, greenish tint nor that perverse yellow glow but it’s visage, perhaps a sign of some kind of scar, still caused discomfort in all moments she saw it. This reminder of a time long passed stirred memories many a time revisited, rarely by choice, of a leader who had once commanded her as she had them in a war neither of them knew they were party to. Her mind, conjuring an image of his blue hair and even bluer eyes, tried it’s best to grip on to this familiar feeling and hold it.
But alas, it would slip away.
As all things did.
In time, for whatever reason, she asked herself what might have happened if this fight had gone the other way? Would she too have slipped into oblivion or would she remain, unclaimed by death as a result of her true nature? If she could die, would it be time or wear that would claim her? She fell to wondering, in the event of her death, what memories of her would conjure in the minds of those she held dear? Would people know, surely, that her footprints left in a distant place were, in fact, hers? What would be her lasting impact, of which those who knew her would speak of?
What would her legacy be?