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SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 4 KINK MEME
In this scintillating post of mine, you can comment anonymously with any pairing ( Read more... )
SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 4 KINK MEME
In this scintillating post of mine, you can comment anonymously with any pairing ( Read more... )
Her name was Yukiko, and Chie was terribly fascinated by her. From the second Berserker had appeared before her in the moonlight, even when Berserker had burst to flames; she found Berserker endlessly fascinating, and saddening at the same time. Chie had lived in Inaba for her entire life, so of course she had heard of the tragedy at the Amagi Inn. In the past, she used to pretend that she saved the inn and rescued the girl inside the fire. Now she was struggling to grasp that this Berserker was the Amagi Yukiko, the girl who had died in the fire.
They were at Souji’s house, out of a lack of better place for all of them to stay. Berserker was still unconscious; Chie kept a constant vigil, waiting and waiting for Berserker to revive. She-she wanted to protect Berserker, her wish that she had confessed to Chie in a hushed whisper as they walked the streets of Inaba so Berserker could see how much had changed since she had passed away. “I wish,” said Berserker, “that I had been born a normal girl. I wish… I hadn’t been born a Magus.”
There were rumors that Amagi Yukiko had started the fire at the Inn, but Chie didn’t believe that. Not when Berserker was lying on the bed, her hair spread across the white sheets, thin, small body resting against the futon. She wanted to protect Berserker, even when she knew there was little she could do except help Berserker fulfill her wish. She’d do anything to help, even if it meant her own life.
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A-anon's ending there. Getting late and I'm all out of ideas. -__-;; s-sorry.
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“Chie-san.” It was Souji. “Please, come down. We’re having a group meeting to… clarify things.”
Clarify. More like explain everything to her. She didn’t want to leave Berserker, but she couldn’t fight in the Holy Grail War without knowing what was going on, either.
Yousuke was in the living room. So was a young man with serious eyes and semi-long blue hair, and a talking, animate bear.
“Chie,” Yousuke said, nodding to her. Then, shifting his attention to Souji, he said, “Where’s your uncle and Nanako-chan, anyway?”
“My uncle, Doujima-san, is currently out of town on business,” Souji said. He was serving tea to them-a weirdly feminine, but considerate, gesture, Chie thought. “He took Nanako-chan with him, as well. I think they were summoned away by the Magus association. He doesn’t know I’m a Mage.”
“Huh,” Yousuke said. “I see. Then we don’t have to worry about them coming back.”
“Not until next week.” Souji cleared his throat, and then said, “We need to get Chie-san up to speed. Chie-san, how did you summon Berserker?”
“I don’t know. I think… Oh, it’s stupid…” She sighed, and explained, “I went out for dinner with Takeshi, an old classmate from middle school, when we ran into some trouble. There’s been a gang of bullies walking around, and they wanted Takeshi’s money. He ran away at the last minute and left me to deal with them. Well, I could’ve taken on two or three of them by myself, but…”
“That bastard,” Yousuke said. “There were more?”
“About eight of them,” Chie confirmed. “I wound running away to that mountain behind the Amagi Inn, and fell into some weird cavern thing. Then… something happened. I don’t know how… but there was a bright light, and then she was… there.”
“You know nothing about the Magi, right?” Yousuke asked. “But I don’t get it. If that’s true, you shouldn’t be able to summon a Servant. You can’t become a Master without being a Magus!”
“Ehhehheh.” The bear began to laugh. “W-well… there are a few loopholes.”
“Loopholes? Assassin.” Souji’s face grew terrible for a second: hard and cold, almost like a demon’s. Then he relaxed, and said, “Could you please explain?”
“Sure, sensei.” The bear sat up a bit straighter at this, and Souji smiled. Weakly. “Well, it goes like this, hmm? Most of the time, the wars happen in the place where the Holy Grail was born, in Fuyuki city. However! This time, things are different. The gods decided to change things up a little, in order to determine ‘what humans really want’. And, depending on how you answer, that will determine the fate of this town, and eventually the world.”
“…” said Archer.
“…” said Souji.
“Um,” Chie said. “I didn’t get that at all.”
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“The Holy Grail is an artifact capable of causing miracles,” Souji said. “Essentially, the relationship between Masters and Servants is based around their shared desire for the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is what allows us Magi to summon these powerful familiars.” He gestured to the bear and Archer. … Truthfully, though, Chie didn’t think Assassin looked that intimidating. “The Servants are all Epic Heroes, in some way.”
“So, all we have to do is find the Holy Grail?” Chie asked.
“It’s not that simple,” Yousuke said. “This is a battle royale. The Holy Grail can only cause a miracle if there is only one Servant left standing. Once a Servant is defeated in battle, then their energy goes back into the Holy Grail. Furthermore, only a Servant can touch the Holy Grail, so it’s no good to kill off all the Servants.”
“But Masters are free for all,” said Souji. “Strategically speaking, the quickest way to win the war is to kill all the Masters, and wait for the Servants to run out of magical energy to sustain themselves. Basically, Servants rely on the Magus’ mana to take physical form.”
“I see… So you’re saying that Berserker won’t be able to stay in this world because I’m not a Magus?”
“That’s what I meant by loophole,” said Assassin. “There are a few special rules in place here. The first one is that all Epic Heroes have to be local heroes and local figures, or must have a connection to the town. The second is that heroic figures within the town currently living will be allowed to participate in the war.”
“… Wait,” Chie said. She pointed at herself. “Are you saying that I’m a heroic figure?”
“Yeah,” Yousuke chimed in. “You’re saying Chie’s a…” He trailed off. “Well, she does have that weird ‘I must protect you!’ thing going on…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“I’m just saying! You give off that kind of impression, that’s all!”
“Why you-”
“… You should quit.”
Chie and Yousuke stopped. The normally silent Archer had spoken, rather suddenly, in that quiet way of his.
“You should quit,” said Archer, to Chie. “There’s no point in you participating. If you go to the supervisor, he will be able to remove your command spells, and shelter you from the rest of the war.”
“Yeah, but…” She couldn’t bring herself to. Maybe it was because she had a hero complex, but mostly, it was because of Berserker. Berserker, who had made that wish to be free of being aMagus, of having the chance to be an ordinary girl. “Berserker’s wish…”
“Berserker can be contracted to some other Master.”
“Enough,” Souji said. “It’s her choice.”
“By the way,” Yousuke said. “Who is the supervisor for this war?”
“…” said Archer.
“…” said Souji.
“… Um,” Chie said. “Don’t look at me like that… Of course I don’t know.”
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“Aah?!” As a group, they all gave a collective jerk. Souji was the one who responded first.
“We hear you.”
“This is so weird,” Yousuke muttered. “We’re talking to someone we can’t see.”
“Uh, hi. I’m Caster… Just in case you wanted to know. My Master wants to talk with you for a while.”
“Great,” Yousuke said. “Where is he?”
“What?! I can’t tell them to do that! … A-anyway… He says that he knows the identity of the supervisor, but can’t reveal himself to you.”
“Well, why not? It’s obvious he knows who we are,” Yousuke said. “How is this fair?!”
“He’s the one helping us out,” said Souji. “We should listen to him for now.”
“But how do we know he isn’t trying to trick us? For all we know, he could just be luring us into a false sense of security, and then get us when our backs are turned! Look, this guy’s Servant is Caster, okay? Caster should be the only Servant who can detect other Servants from a distance-”
“Look, he’s not trying to hurt you or anything, okay? He says Archer-kun can prove it by summoning me. … Hey, wait a second, are you really sure that’s all right? I’m not that comfortable with being summoned by-”
“… Igor-san?” Archer blinked. That was about as much of an expression of ‘surprise’ as they’d ever get from him, Chie guessed. “Are you talking about… that girl in the Velvet Room?”
“Yeah, that was me.”
“I see.”
Awkward silence. Archer took out a gun and pointed it at his head. Chie opened her mouth, tried to stop him, but he shot, and then, standing before them, was… She didn’t even know. A girl. A girl who bore a striking resemblance to…
“… Kujikawa-san?” Yousuke asked. “No way. You’re the owner of the Marukyu Tofu Shop! O-only about fifty years younger!”
“Please,” Caster said, making a face. “Did you have to go bursting out my real name to everyone?”
“… Sorry, Kujikawa-san,” said Chie. “But anyone who lives here would know recognize you.”
Souji nodded his head. “Although this is a surprise,” he said. “You’re still alive, so how can you be both here and a Heroic Spirit at the same time?”
“Heroic Spirits inhabit a place independent of the time stream,” Archer said. “Heroic Spirits can come from any point in time… the past, present, or future.”
“I see. But still, this is a real surprise,” Souji said. “Excuse me, Kujikawa-san, but why were you chosen as a spirit?”
Caster sighed, and hung her head. “When I was younger, I was an idol. They called me ‘Risette’ back then. I guess that’s why I was summoned… I got pretty famous, and ran a few antibullying campaigns and stuff. Little kids used to really look up to me.”
“No way,” Yousuke said. “This is so weird. Just last week you gave me an extra helping of ganmo. You used to be…”
“A total babe?” Assassin filled in. Yousuke punched Assassin, hard, over the head, and to almost everyone’s surprise, the head dented, then popped back to shape.
“I never knew,” Chie muttered. She didn’t know what surprised her more: that this was Kujikawa-san of Marukyu Tofu standing before her, or that Kujikawa used to be so pretty. “But why did you take up the tofu shop?”
“I quit the idol world when I was sixteen,” said Caster flatly. “I hated having to put up a fake face. Anyway, are you satisfied now?”
“Yeah,” Yousuke said. “There’s no way I can imagine Kujikawa-san trying to kill me or anything.”
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Dead silence.
Noble what, Chie wanted to ask, but didn’t, lest she make herself sound stupider than she felt.
“My Master doesn’t want to reveal himself just yet,” Caster said. “But he does know where the supervisor is. Do you know that big foreigner mansion, just outside of the city? A woman named Margaret lives there. If you ever find yourself in trouble, he says Margaret will help you and shelter you. Although… He says he wants to meet with Souji-kun right now.”
“Me?” Souji pointed at himself, blinking. “Why me?”
“He’s intrigued by your power, Persona. He says he might be able to help you with it. But you have to keep something in mind… it’s up to you to find the door to where he lives.”
“…” Souji looked at Archer, who was pointedly staring at some point in Souji’s wall.
“Anyway,” Caster said. “I should get going.” And she vanished into thin air.
“… Well,” Souji said. “Five of the seven Servant classes have been confirmed. Me and Archer, Hanamura and Assassin, Chie-san and Berserker, Rider and his Master, and Caster and her Master. That leaves the servant Lancer and Saber unaccounted for.”
“Man, that’s not good,” Yousuke said. “Saber’s the strongest class, and Lancer’s a knight class. Whoever Lancer is, he’ll be a real pain in the ass to deal with.” He sighed. “I was trying to summon Saber, but instead I ended up with this guy.” He flicked Assassin’s head lightly. “Hey, I got an idea. Why don’t we keep this alliance for now?”
“Sounds good to me,” Chie said, although in truth, she knew she was the one who needed the alliance most. She didn’t know a thing about controlling her Servant or the Holy War or anything.
“I mean, I got saddled with this useless Servant here,” Yousuke said. “And then there’s still the matter of Caster and Rider to take care of. Plus, we still don’t know who Saber and Lancer are. Until we resolve that, we should continue to work together.”
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Souji and Archer were exchanging looks.
“… Sorry,” Souji said. “I’ll have to decline.”
“What?”
“It isn’t beneficial to me,” Souji said. “I did this out of decency, since Chie-san didn’t know what was going on, and allied with Hanamura-san because I needed help defeating Berserker. However, now everything has been cleared. Starting tomorrow, Archer and I will continue doing this alone.”
“Woah,” Yousuke said. “You really are a cold guy.”
“Don’t you know?” Souji said. “The Holy Grail manifests when there is only one Servant left. Archer and I both have our own wishes we want fulfilled. The same is true for your Servants, and for yourselves as well.”
“…” Yousuke grit his teeth. “That’s…”
“… However,” Souji said. “Should you need help taking down a common enemy, feel free to call on my help.”
“Sure,” said Yousuke. “Thanks, man. So the second we leave the house, you’re saying we’ll be enemies. That’s what you’re saying?”
“Exactly. Since we all have school tomorrow, we should make an agreement that none of us should try to attack one another while school is in session.”
“Sounds fair to me,” Chie said. She knew she had been hoping for too much, but Souji had seemed like such a nice guy... Who would’ve guessed he’d be so ruthlessly practical?
“You should wait for your Berserker to wake up before going home,” said Souji, gently. “Do you want to call your parents? Won’t they be worried about you?”
“Huh? Oh, right… It’s pretty late, after all-holy crap.” It wasn’t just ‘pretty late’, it was past midnight! Her parents would kill her when she got back home! “O-oh man!”
“Archer. Could you escort them home?”
“… Fine. Be careful, Master.”
Chie followed Archer up the stairs to where Berserker was resting. Archer gave her a wry look and said, “I won’t do anything to her.”
“I… I know that…” Still. It was her Berserker. She didn’t want another Servant touching Berserker. “I’ll carry her.”
“Don’t be foolish. As a Servant, I’m much stronger than a normal person.” To prove it, he picked Berserker up and went down the stairs carrying her.
“H-hey! Watch for that wall!”
And so, though reluctant, she let Archer carry Berserker home.
Her praents were, as expected, completely pissed off.
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… Souji was having a weird dream. He was sitting on what looked like a stage. Caster was sitting on one end, looking rather bored; a woman with a book, standing off in another corner; and at the center of it all, a man with a freakishly long nose.
“Welcome,” said the man. “To the Velvet Room. My name is Igor.”
“Where am I?”
“You are in a place between dreams and reality. No need to get alarmed. Your body is currently sleeping in bed as we speak.” Igor threaded his fingers together, and stared over his long nose at Souji. “What an interesting guest you are. Capable of fracturing your psyche at will, yet remaining whole at the same time. It’s a pity that I was not able to find you sooner.”
“My parents never told me about you,” he said. “Is this part of…”
“No, my boy, it is not. But perhaps you noticed the connection between yourself and your Servant? The similarity of your abilities. And, perhaps, you’re noticing the risk associated with your abilities? The destruction of your mind.”
“… It’s something I always knew was possible.”
“Yes, yes… what a pity, that I couldn’t get to you earlier. You see, Souji-kun, my abilities could have been of a great help to you. I can allow you to fuse your Personae to make them stronger. But now, as you are now, once you fuse your Persona, you will not be able to gain them back.”
“… I see.” Still, would it really be such a loss to lose some of his lower-leveled Personae, in exchange for getting Byakko back? There were some Personae that he couldn’t create, the ones made of legends and power; what possibilities awaited him? “I’ll think about it.”
“Hmm,” Igor said. “I see. Well, if you ever need my assistance…” A key materialized in Souji’s pocket. “I’m sure that will be of use to you. Now until next time… Farewell.”
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