Moment of Truth, There Ain't No Truce [CLOSED]

[orphism]

Characters: Minato Arisato (orphism) and Souji Seta (find_my_truth)
Content: Doing everything Persona protagonists do best - fighting and talking. Yes, at the same time. OR: How do you interact with someone as charming as yourself?
Setting: An empty field south of Balisier
Time: Backdated to the middle of the Hanami Cloud Festival
Warnings: Fighting, talking, and

Comments

[find_my_truth]

Souji's feelings on the matter oddly echoed Minato's: finding someone else who had their power. Someone they hadn't saved, someone not from Inaba... made it all more real, and eased the heaviness on Souji's shoulders just a tiny bit.

There had been something about Orphius, something that called to him, that was familiar. He wanted to see the lyre player again, test himself against him. Would Izanagi stand up well to him? He had to know.

The young man arrived not long after Minato, the long two-handed sword resting on his shoulder, and his gray glasses perched on his nose.

"...hey."

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"Afternoon," he replied. Already, he was gathering information. Souji favored the two handed sword, just like a certain someone Minato knew. However, he suspected that Souji probably used it a bit more properly than his dear friend. The two handed sword was a strong weapon capable of doing some serious damage. Did this mean that Seta-kun was offensively inclined?

Also, the glasses were new. Slightly impaired eyesight, maybe?

"It's a lovely day," Minato continued, watching a flower fall. "Perfect to spend outside."

[find_my_truth]

"Yeah. Much better then sitting in a ship all day." He smiled, stretching his arms over his head, careful to not poke himself with his sword, followed by popping neck. A sigh, and he finished walking over, calm and relaxed in his stance, as if Minato was no concern at all.

The spear was surprising: none of his team used such a weapon, and it'd be hard to get in close with something like that. It'd force him to rely on magic more then he might have intended. Interesting.

"Are you ready, Arisato-kun?"

[orphism]

Were it not for the presence of their weapons, Minato would almost think that they were just here to enjoy the weather.

"I am," he answered with a yawn. He might have looked tired, but he was nothing short of excited for this match. Slowly, but deliberately, he held his spear in a fighting stance. (Or, the best fighting stance possible with someone who had as terrible posture as he did) "You can start anytime, Seta-kun."

He wasn't particularly worried about getting hurt. Actually, he was a bit more concerned about hurting Souji instead.

[find_my_truth]

He nodded, slipping into battle stance. Anyone with any real training could tell that Souji wasn't a professional. His body was hunched, almost as if he had to compensate for the size of his blade. But he didn't seem uncomfortable, exactly.

He only waited a moment before charging in, swinging the sword down in a overhead attack. He had to get in close, some how.

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Even when Minato raised his weapon to block the attack, he could feel the strength behind the swing. Months of experience fighting shadows taught Minato how to brace for powerful blows, but there was something fighting hundreds of shadows couldn't do: teach him how to fight a human.

Minato was more of a defensive fighter, which is why he eventually settled on the spear for a weapon. The range it afforded him was valuable, and it was able to be used defensively. He really disliked launching an offensive until he knew exactly what he was up against. So far, he had learned that Souji had a strong swing. If he wasn't careful, he was liable to get a serious injury.

He pushed back against Souji's sword. He didn't quite have the same raw power the other boy had, but all he needed was enough to push the blade away and use the free second to turn and attempt to strike Souji with the (non bladed) end of the spear.

[find_my_truth]

The bad thing about using such a heavy blade was that there was almost no chance to play defensive. He couldn't move to block when he was already attacking, and the butt of the spear gave him a solid hit to the ribs. Souji grunted, backing off and rotating his head slightly, popping his neck before falling back into stance.

"I've never fought a spear before. I think you might have the advantage here." There was no bitterness, just an observation of fact.

[orphism]

Minato had no reason not to believe Souji. It seemed that not only had he never fought against an enemy with a spear, he probably didn't have any friends or allies who did either. This meant that it was true Minato had a slight advantage in that he knew the pros and cons of his enemy's weapon. He had even tried one out himself, but didn't find it to his liking.

"Then you'll just have to take that advantage from me," he replied. There was no aggression in his voice, but it was a challenge. He reached for his evoker, putting the barrel to his temple. "But I will do everything I can to keep it."

He pulled the trigger and Orpheus materialized. However, this time it was to fight and not to be shown off. Silently, the Persona reached for his lyre and played a chord, a burst of yellow energy starting to form around Souji. Even if Minato successfully fended off the first attack, he wasn't certain he could take such strength repeatedly. Thus, a Tarunda to weaken Souji would do.

[find_my_truth]

He nodded. Like Minato there was no aggression in his stance, but there -was- a kind of subtle eagerness set in his shoulders. He never got to just spar: he and his team could rarely afford to be seen fighting, especially with their Personas

[orphism]

Despite the fact that it was not at all a good idea in terms of battle strategy, Minato watched and allowed Souji to summon his Persona, finally able to see it for the first time. It was quite an interesting looking Persona, face covered by a metal mask and dressed in black, carrying a sword

[find_my_truth]

If Minato had been a Shadow, Souji would have been on him in a moment, either to attack again with Izanagi or to take a cheap hit with his sword.

But seeing his fellow Persona-user in pain stilled his hand completely. It was almost as bad as seeing one of his own team down, though he didn't move over to help him up. Instead he waited, surprised that he had been that lucky.

"Arisato-san?"

[orphism]

It hurt, but he could deal with it. What getting hit with a weakness Minato hated was the sheer helplessness of it. Until he recovered, he wouldn't be able to move, defend himself, or help anyone. An inability to do anything. He heard Souji call his name, but didn't respond.

At last, it faded, and he found his strength returning, and his mind stopped racing around, panicking and worrying. Right. Still in a battle, even if it was just a practice one. He relegated Orpheus to the back of his mind and brought forth a different Persona, one that couldn't be felled so easily by electricity. Before even getting up, he quickly put the evoker to his head and pulled the trigger. He did not have anything that resisted electricity, but anything was better than being weak to it.

The High Pixie materialized before him, spreading her arms as the air around Souji began to grow cold. A minor Bufu spell to test his defensive prowess.

[find_my_truth]

High Pixie, he recognized her, even if he didn't have her. But there was no time to defend, not with how worried he had been over Minato. Instead all he could do was grunt in surprise, lifting his arms to protect his face from the cold.

Soon flecks of ice began to form on his coat and pants legs, not enough to hurt him seriously, but enough to get his attention, that was for sure. His teeth clattered, and he couldn't focus on getting his weapon up to counter.

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Minato made it to his feet, the effects of the electricity completely gone. There was no denying that he did take advantage of Souji's concern and lowered guard, and make no mistake, he felt bad about it, but being struck with a weakness was not about to put him out of a fight.

Souji seemed to be struggling with the cold. It was not a very strong spell, and it didn't seem like Souji's Persona was weak to ice. And then it hit Minato. Minato had been using Personae for a couple years now, he was experienced and adept. Souji was younger than him, and most likely not as skilled.

...still.

Minato still held his weapon with his right hand, the left one casually going into his coat pocket. He strolled right over to the struggling boy. Standing beside him, he leaned in close.

"Move," he hissed in Souji's ear. "I know you can do better than this. Show me, Seta-kun. Show me what you can do."

[find_my_truth]

He had to admit to being surprised at how strong such a simple spell was. Even when he was hit by Teddie during spars it hadn't rattled him so much. The fact that Minato was that much more experienced blew his mind.

He still had a ways to go.

But any thoughts about Minato's power were fuzzed out when the older Persona-user hissed in his ear. Souji didn't think of himself as easily unbalanced, but even so, he couldn't help a bit of red around his ears. THAT was a surprise, for sure.

He grunted, scowling in concentration, and spun, trying to get an attack in with his sword. He wouldn't look like a amateur in front of Arisato-senpai.

[orphism]

If Souji was hoping Minato would miss that bit of red, he would be sorely disappointed. Minato made no comment, but filed it away in the back of his mind. Perhaps it would come in handy sometime in the future.

That, and he found it amusing.

Souji's grunt and the spin was all the tell Minato needed to know he needed to defend again. With practiced ease, he held the spear at an angle with both hands in time to block the blow.

If there was one area Souji clearly outclassed him, it was pure physical power. This fact was no surprise to Minato: he was shorter and smaller in stature than other young men his age. Even Souji, who was younger, had a distinct height and weight advantage over him.

It was one of the reasons why Minato liked defense and magic: he simply couldn't match up to his peers in power, and instead worked on his own strengths.

This swing was much stronger than the previous one, and Minato was forced back several steps, nearly losing his balance. Despite this, there was a small smile on his face.

"Much better."