Minato had to dodge almost instantly. Thanatos had lunged at him the second he made a move, trying to get between the two other persona.

However, despite almost being skewered by the sword, Orpheus and Messiah were able to block Thanatos from getting closer. Orpheus was having a harder time doing so then Messiah, though that was a given.

Messiah had taken the chain of coffins, and wrapped it around Thanatos' arm. The coffins lined along the outstretched arm, encasing it.

Thanatos struggled to escape the chain, roaring as he thrashed his arm around. Seeing it was no use, however, even with his lack of intelligence, Thanatos did something unexpected.

Instead of trying to stab Minato, Thanatos twisted his wrist in a way that should have made him drop his sword. But, since he didn't, Thanatos stepped back, intent on stabbing Messiah through the back.

Orpheus, seeing what was going to happen, took his lyre in his free hand and bashed it on Thanatos' wrist. While he didn't drop the sword, he did pause, allowing Messiah to call the chain back and slam it into Thanatos's face, sending him back a good distance as he cradled his face for a moment.

Minato stood back up, both Persona taking positions in front of him once again.

"You must command us, young master. Just as in the accursed tower. Otherwise we will never win this fight." Orpheus said, keeping his attention focused on the stunned Thanatos.

Unfortunately, he did not stay like that for long. Thanatos shook his head slightly, growling at the trio opposing him. However, more anger was focused at the one who bore the chains. The mere sight of him made the wild avatar even angrier.

The black hand gripped the sword tighter, holding it tight enough that it should have started to crack from the pressure. That it didn't was enough to say about the blade's strength.

But, Minato noted that Thanatos kept a death grip on it. He knew that Thanatos was powerful, even without the blade, but it might give them an edge. "We need to get his sword away from him. It'll be tough, seeing as how he won't loosen his grip, but it would at least give us a chance." Minato said, making both persona nod.

Thanatos circled around them, trying to watch the three of them. He wanted to attack the one with the chains, the one who held his blade at bay. But his instincts were telling him that it would be a mistake to dismiss the other two.

So, the four of them kept watch on each other, Messiah and Orpheus keeping themselves between Minato and the wild Thanatos.

Thanatos snarled harder. They were keeping him from easy prey. The one he felt compelled to end. Yes, the human one shall die.

Thanatos roared, raising his blade into the air, gripping it in both hands.

Minato's eyes widened. He knew what Thanatos was about to do. But the only problem was, which one of them was he going to attack?

"Young master! Move!" Orpheus yelled, thrusting himself in front of Minato, taking the brunt of the attack. Both Orpheus and Minato cried out in agony as they got pushed back by the force of the blow.

Messiah whipped the chain out, slamming it against Thanatos' face once more and sending him back again. Taking this chance, Messiah slammed the chain of coffins against Thanatos' chest, sending him back further to give them a chance to recover.

Minato took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. "Damn. That hurt. Thanks Orpheus." He said.

Orpheus shook his head, playing a tune on his lyre to make an orb of light appear in the darkness over Minato. "No thanks are needed young master. It is my duty to protect you from shadows and their ilk. And, unfortunately, our friend is acting like one at the moment." Orpheus said, feeling slightly better as the light dispersed above Minato. When Minato felt better, his persona felt better, being connected to his soul after all. "But if you still wish to thank me, do so after our battle."

Minato nodded. "Messiah. Use Megidolaon in front of us when he charges again. As it stands, I think he'll dodge it if we try to attack him now when he is on guard." He said to the chain wielding persona.

Messiah nodded, and began to charge up the strange energy for the attack. "As you say." He said, his hand starting to glow bright white.

"Orpheus, I need you to draw him in to attack. Cast your strongest Agi his way." Minato commanded.

Orpheus nodded, strumming a few strings on his lyre. A fire-ball appeared, floating in front of Orpheus. It gained size and heat the more Orpheus played, soon at the size and almost the intensity of an agilao.

Minato kept watch on Thanatos, making sure he wouldn't try anything.

Thanatos watched them while he rubbed his chest, his mask cracked along the jaw. The one with the chain had gathered up a strange energy that he did not like. The other, the one who made that nice sound, had gathered up a small fire. Did they think that it would harm him?

"Now Orpheus!" Minato yelled.

Orpheus stopped playing, and hit the fire with his lyre, sending it at their opponent.

Thanatos took the fire-ball, to show how pitiful their attempts were. He was the strongest! Once the fire had stopped, which was soon after it hit him, Thanatos leaped at them, his sword ready to strike.

Only to be blasted down by a strong force.

Thanatos roared in pain. Whatever was hitting him was strong enough to actually hurt him. He did not like that. Pain was a somewhat foreign concept to him. Some had fought against him, but not like this. The attacks of those before were weak and made out of fear. This attack was made with strong convictions that they would not bow to him and die.

And Thanatos did not like that. He would always be the strongest!

However, his vision was filled with white as the strange force stopped pushing down on him and exploded.

Minato shielded his eyes as Messiah's megidolaon exploded right on top of Thanatos. He would not be down, but he would probably be stunned.

"Hm. That is strange." Messiah said, looking down at his hand.

"What?" Minato asked, keeping watch as much as he could on the spot Thanatos stood before.

"It seems my magic is stronger. When you have called on me in the past, near the top of the tower and during our fight against Nyx's avatar, my magic was defiantly weaker. There was a point at which I would start to lose control of the attack before it was fully charged. But now, I was able to keep full control of the magic and direct it how I wanted. Normally, it would veer away from the enemy and hit in the middle of a group despite how I targeted the strongest, or off to the side if we faced one. Just now, I commanded it to strike down on Thanatos, and it obeyed with no hesitation." Messiah said, keeping his gaze on his hand.

Minato said nothing, only thinking on what Messiah had said while he kept looking. The light was dying down now, and Minato wondered if Thanatos would attack the second he got up.

Thanatos growled to himself as the attack faded. The pain was immense, but he would kill those who did this to him first before anything else.

He stood up, his cape of coffins losing bits and pieces of the coffin lids. He used his sword as a means to stand up, though he did not need it to keep him up. He gripped it even tighter, the grip starting to crack slightly.

Thanatos kept watch as the smoke from the attack dissipated, the light faded from sight. Which one to kill? The chained one, who he felt immense hate for? The human, weak as he was himself compared to the other two? Or perhaps the one who made that nice noise and the pitiful fire?

"God hand!" Minato cried out. He would strike if he could while Thanatos was, hopefully, disoriented.

Messiah nodded, pulling back his right hand as a strange energy, this time yellow, gathered around his fist. Messiah launched his fist forward, at the spot he hoped Thanatos was.

Thanatos felt as an attack came his way. He jumped to the right, narrowly avoiding the large, yellow, ethereal fist as it blew through the smoke. He roared, not in pain, but anger. He charged out of the last of the smoke, running right to the one who was closest.

Orpheus.

Thanatos raised his blade high, intent on ending his existence.

Orpheus barely registered what was happening. He had watched as Messiah had sent another attack at the smoke, hoping to hit Thanatos once more. The roar they heard was not like the one they heard earlier, so they thought that they had missed. Then, Thanatos was next to him, the fell blade in his hands ready to cut him down.

Orpheus did the only thing he could think of, and raised his lyre up to protect himself.

The sword met the instrument, easily cleaving halfway into it.

Orpheus struggled to keep his footing against Thanatos. He was being pushed back as Thanatos cut deeper into his lyre, slowly but surely.

Thanatos watched as his prey struggled in a futile attempt to stay alive. He could easily have sliced through the metal thing in his way and into his prey, but he didn't.

No, he wanted to savor the moment, watching his prey fight hopelessly against him. These who struggled against him, would make him smile to see them die in fear and hopelessness as he ended their pitiful existence.

Orpheus watched as the blade moved slowly towards him through his beloved instrument. He grit his teeth, trying to push the blade to the side.

But it was no use.

Each movement he made only let the blade cut faster, slicing jagged lines through his lyre. If he did push hard enough to the side, it would send the blade right through his metallic arm.

But, at the same time, if he let it continue on the course it was on, it would slice him in two.

"To Tartarus with it!" Orpheus yelled, violently pushing to the left with his lyre. The sound of metal on metal sounded out, as the blade cut through his arm diagonally near the shoulder.

Orpheus cried out in pain, his other hand going to the wound where his arm once was. It didn't bleed, seeing as how most of Orpheus, other than his head, was robotic. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt. It was his body now. He had connected with it, and he felt through it. He was able to take joy in the playing of music through his hands, though they were made of metal. Each pluck of the string, he was able to feel. The hits he had defended Minato from, he could feel. His body may be made of metal, but it might as well have been his mortal one.

Minato felt a searing pain blaze through his left arm. No where near the amount of pain Orpheus felt, but enough to make him cry out as well.

Both persona and persona-user fell to their knees in pain, Minato grabbing his arm where Orpheus was doing the same.

Messiah grit his teeth. He felt the pain, but he needed to shrug it off as best he could. Considering he felt it, though diluted, through Minato, who felt a diluted amount of pain through Orpheus, it was easier than what Minato felt to deal with. Though the chain felt a little heavier in his hand.

Thanatos picked up the severed arm of his prey, still clutching half the metal thing. He grinned at it. It was another trophy for him. The sounds of the screams was amazing to him. The agony they were in gave him an animalistic sense of power, knowing that he had caused it in such a brutal way.

Messiah kept watch on Thanatos, guilt at the fact that not even the most powerful magic that was used for healing could save his fellow persona's arm. Even he was powerless to give back something that was taken by death and ripped from his body as Orpheus' arm was. He could heal disease, and mend bones. Cure the mad of their afflictions, and make those blind see. He had risen from the dead, fought back against death and won.

But he could not take from death for others. No matter how much he wished to. The balance had to be kept, after all.

Messiah sighed. "Very well. It seems that you have won this battle, old friend." Messiah said, floating in front of Orpheus and Messiah. He made to motion for Satan and Helel to proceed with binding Thanatos once more.

"Stop." Minato spoke through gritted teeth and slightly ragged breath.

Messiah froze his hand, keeping his gaze on his opponent. Thanatos continued to admire the robotic arm, his mask trying its hardest to show a shred of joy at the brutality. "Why? Orpheus is in no condition to fight, and after that, neither are you."Messiah said.

Only to feel a strange power come from Minato.

Messiah, curious at what it could have been, took his eyes away from Thanatos to look back at Minato. He had never felt this energy before.

Only for his eyes to widen at what he saw.

In front of Minato floated two cards.

One, bearing a man dancing towards a cliff. The other, blank.

The fool and the universe.

They floated in front of his face, with Minato's eyes fixated to them as they spun.

And then, two voices spoke.

We are thou, and thou art us.

You who fights against fate

and shatters the chains of destiny,

be blessed with the might

made of both emptiness and fulfillment,

the beginning and the end.

Thou shalt be bestowed a gift;

The beginning of a new miracle

The voices went silent, though the cards themselves began to act.

They flew from Minato over to Orpheus. He was still clutching the stump of his arm, the pain still coursing through him. Not just the physical pain, but the pain of knowing he would never be able to play any music again, and that his beloved instrument was gone.

The cards, however, had different plans.

They began to circle around the spot where Orpheus' arm was. Slowly at first, then gaining speed. A bright light formed, bright enough that both Messiah and Minato had to turn their heads away.

The cards continued circling, the light growing larger and brighter. The light soon began to take shape, becoming part of Orpheus.

Orpheus, too taken with his thoughts as he was, never noticed as the cards began their dance around his missing arm. His eyes were closed, keeping him from seeing the light as it formed. Only when it attached itself to him did Orpheus notice.

He opened his eyes, only to close them again from the intensity of the light. He still felt the light, or whatever it was, as it seemed to... grow? Yes, that was what it seemed to be doing.

Thanatos was still looking at the arm, until it began to fade, metal thing and all. He squeezed harder on it, thinking that it would keep it from disappearing. The arm was crushed, until it faded away completely. Thanatos snarled, his hand gripped tightly into a fist.

Thanatos looked back, the light fading before he even saw it. The screams had died off. He would make them scream more.

Orpheus opened his eyes as the light faded. He looked down at the spot the cards were spinning around. Only for his mouth to gape slightly.

Where his arm was missing, was now a new arm. It looked identical to his old one is shape, but the color was a rich gold instead of a silverish gray.

"Orpheus! Move!" Minato called.

Orpheus, still stunned at what was happening, did as he was commanded without thought.

Thanatos snarled at the area he had struck. His prey, the one who was screaming loudest, had moved at the last second.

Messiah watched as Orpheus jumped back, dodging the attack that would have taken his head. His hand gripped the chain hard. He did not know what was happening, but it only brought good news for them it seemed.

"Messiah! God hand!" Minato commanded, making said persona charge up his fist again.

Orpheus was still looking at his arm. He didn't understand. He had lost his arm, only for it to be replaced with a better one. He felt that it was stronger, much stronger, then his old arm. But the question still stood as to why he had received it.

Thanatos was spending so much time glaring at Orpheus that he didn't dodge the large fist of energy. It slammed into him, sending him flying backwards.

"Again! God hand!" Minato ordered.

Thanatos stood up from the assault, once again using his sword as leverage to stand up. His grip was still strong however.

Only to be blasted down by the same ethereal fist.

Twice!

The first fist had smashed against his head, cracking the upper part of his mask and knocking him down on his stomach. The second, though far less powerful, slammed into his back, cracking the coffins even more.

Minato looked at Orpheus, shocked that the persona had his new arm stretched out. Briefly, he wondered what this development meant, but he didn't get long to do so.

Thanatos stood up once again, using his sword once more. More parts of the coffin fell to the floor beneath him. He growled, seeing both of the beings who attacked him. The man with the chain, who he still felt the want to tear to pieces, and the one who he had taken an arm from.

But, the arm was not gone. It seemed, to Thanatos, that it had gone back to the man. It was outstretched in defiance, the hand balled into a fist as the yellow mist of the magic faded from it.

Thanatos did not like that defiance. No, the man would pay. Lose the arm again, and his head.

"Get ready to guard!" Minato ordered, seeing how their opponent tensed. He'd put aside this strange thing with Orpheus aside for now. More pressing matters were at hand.

Messiah nodded, pulling back his hand and raising the coffin chain with one hand. He placed one arm behind a coffin, making it somehow stick to his arm to use as a shield. The coffins were durable, despite Thanatos' own coffins being reduced to rubble. And he was more then capable with them to defend well enough.

Orpheus, not having his lyre to defend himself, stood behind Minato, just in case Thanatos attacked him. He was ready to make sure Minato was out of harms way, if Thanatos somehow evaded his fellow persona.

Thanatos wasted no time, seeing them ready to face him. He would kill them, starting with the one who stood in his way.

Gripping his sword tight, enough to actually cause fractures in the hilt, the avatar of death ran forward, swinging his blade over his head and down, connecting with the coffin.

Messiah took the opportunity to lash out with a leg, connecting it with Thanatos' chest hard. He followed up by moving to the side, letting the sword crash to the floor next to him, and slamming Thanatos in the back of the head with the coffin. He then grasped the end of the chain once again, the coffin sliding from his arm.

Thanatos whirled around, bringing his arm up to back hand his assailant, only to have the chain wrap around his arm once more.

Thanatos wasted no time, yanking his arm back with all his might, after grabbing the chain firmly in his hand.

Messiah felt time slow down as he was pulled forward. He saw Thanatos pull his other arm up, sword in hand.

Pain erupted in his right side, the blade cutting deep. He was only slightly aware of Minato yelling in pain, though he was just barely able to keep his own screams within.

Thanatos let a predatory grin creep onto his face, not that anyone could see. He watched as golden Ichor seeped from the wound he inflicted. He watched it run down his sword, drip onto the pitch black ground beneath them.

Though there were no screams, besides the one's from the mortal. Though sweet, they were not the same as the sound of the ones caught within his grasp. People cried out whenever he struck, but it was the one he struck that made the sweetest sound of all.

Not liking that, Thanatos started to slowly turn the blade, making the wound rip as it was forced apart.

Minato, and to a far lesser extent Orpheus, felt what the judgment persona felt. It affected Minato the worst, as he felt the unholy amount of pain that Messiah was feeling. He made this known by doing the only thing one could do when faced with pain beyond anything he had felt before.

And he had taken hits from a god bent on destruction.

Somewhere, in the very back of his mind, he sorted that info away for later. It didn't sit well to him.

Orpheus, though feeling the pain in his side, knew this would have to end soon. Either with them defeating Thanatos themselves, or the intervention of Helel and Satan. So, teeth grit in pain as Minato continued to scream, Orpheus made his way as silently as he could.

Thanatos, who was too busy trying to make Messiah scream to notice Orpheus approach him, took some small measure of glee in the grunt's that were starting to emit from Messiah. Maybe not a scream, but it would soon become one. He continued to twist the blade, but now he pulled to the left, cutting deeper into Messiah.

Only for a silverish gray hand to grab his own.

Thanatos looked up, snarling.

Only to have a golden spike smash into his arm.

Messiah cracked open an eye as he felt the blade stop turning and heard Thanatos roar even louder then last time.

He saw a large golden instrument impaled in Thanatos's wrist.

A lyre.

Thanatos roared in pain as he felt the sharp instrument pierce his flesh. Black, shadowy blood oozed up from around the spike. It ran down the side of his arm, dripping into the small puddles of golden Ichor on the floor and mixing with them.

Orpheus, gripping the strange new lyre with both hands now, pulled down. This caused the spike just under the lyre to pull and rip the dark flesh and spill more blood.

Thanatos tried to smash away at the gold hand, to make it let go or pull away, to no avail.

Orpheus, seeing how Thanatos struggled, quickly ripped the instrument from Thanatos's flesh. However, before Thanatos could react, Orpheus brought the lyre down onto his arm again, ripping it from the sword that was still stuck in Messiah.

As Thanatos howled in pain, Orpheus kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling back once again, this time cradling his arm.

"Sorry about this." Orpheus said as he gripped the hilt of the blade. Carefully as he could, Orpheus pulled the blade from Messiah's body. This unfortunately had the effect of making Minato scream more, though they died down to whimpers as the pain receded slightly.

Gripping the sword in his silver hand, Orpheus knelt down to Messiah.

"Can you heal yourself and the young master?"

Messiah nodded with grit teeth, not trusting his voice as he gathered a soft glowing white light in his hand, the chain piled on the ground next to him.

As Orpheus kept an eye on Thanatos, who was still cradling his arm and making whimpers of pain himself, Messiah let the magic raise from his hand and explode into a shower of small lights. He let out a small sigh of relief as his body put itself together and numbed the pain. Though it did little for exhaustion of body or soul.

Minato felt the cool feeling of sweet relief wash over him through Messiah. His body stopped screaming at him and his mind settled, though the mere thought of the pain made him cringe slightly.

He looked up, Orpheus floating above him. Orpheus was holding Thanatos's sword by the blade, offering the hilt of the blade to Minato.

"Take it young master. You wished for a weapon, and we have disarmed Thanatos as per your orders. I hope you remember the basics of sword play." Orpheus said, turning his head to look at Thanatos, who was quiet.

Minato took the blade from his persona, and stood up. Fingering the hilt, Minato took solace in the fact that he could now defend himself. Memories of fighting with a weapon such as this surfaced. The necessity of learning in Tartarus to fight the shadows had allowed him to build up a crude type of sword play, though he would admit that he would likely lose against even a decent swordsman.

Messiah stood up, grabbing his chain as he did so. He watched as Thanatos, still holding his hand, stood back up as well.

Thanatos let out a low growl as he felt the large gash on his wrist heal up slowly. He flexed his hand to return some feeling to it, as well as to test if it would hold or reopen the wound. Seeing as it held, and he was without a weapon, Thanatos would have to resort to tearing them apart.

Though even he, unthinking as he was for higher strategy, knew to be wary of his sword. And now he had to be wary of three, instead of one.

Thanatos turned to the three, growling even more. Though he locked eyes with Minato, seeing him touching his weapon as a challenge.

Minato, in response, narrowed his eyes at Thanatos. He would not back down, not now.

"Alright. I want you two to spread out a bit. Messiah, I want you to focus on keeping him occupied. You're the one that can do the most damage to him, and he'll see you as the major threat. Try and keep him from lashing out at me and Orpheus. Orpheus, you're going to attack directly with your lyre. It seems to work well against him. Try and leave as many wounds as possible with that spike. I'll try and cut along his arms and legs, hopefully rendering them useless."

Both persona nodded. They would follow his orders to the best of their abilities, though all three knew that even the best-laid plans fell apart upon contact with the enemy.

"Alright! Messiah, to the right, and Orpheus to left. Messiah, use megidolaon and god hand whenever possible. Other then that, use your chain. Orpheus, I want you to use Dia on any of us in the case that Thanatos gets a hit on us when you're waiting for an opening. Now move!"

With that, Messiah ran forward and to the right, drawing attention away from Minato and Orpheus. Thanatos lashed out with his hands, poised to rip at anything he could grab.

Messiah dodged out of Thanatos's reach, slamming the chain in an overhead-swing down on an arm, sending Thanatos off-balance. He followed up by kicking Thanatos in the chin of his mask, snapping his head up.

Orpheus ran to the left, watching as Messiah drew attention. He gripped his instrument tightly in his hands. Seeing that Thanatos was off balance, Orpheus rushed forward, impaling the instrument in Thanatos's back.

The avatar of death let out screams and roars as his back was impaled once, twice, three times before he turned to swipe at the one who was causing him pain.

Orpheus jumped back, narrowly avoiding the powerful back-swing that likely would have sent him flying. The spike was covered in black blood, dripping from it as it made a puddle.

Thanatos roared, turning his back on Messiah as he prepared to leap at Orpheus. However, Messiah lashed out with the chain, wrapping it around one of Thanatos's arms to keep him from doing so.

"Your fight is with me, old friend." Messiah said, charging up his fist with the gold energy of god hand at his side.

Thanatos snarled, yanking on the chain with his arm, pulling Messiah towards him incredibly fast.

Messiah smirked, bringing his fist up. As he neared Thanatos, who reached out to grab him by the head, Messiah punched at Thanatos, sending the magic forward.

Due to the sped at which Messiah was traveling, and the close proximity when he released it, Thanatos had no hope of dodging. The god hand met his own hand, causing it to explode and badly damage his arm, not to mention the backlash from the explosion sending pain throughout his body.

Messiah unraveled the chain from Thanatos's arm as he let magic fly, bringing up a coffin to defend himself from the explosion. Once the explosion settled, Messiah jumped back, in case Thanatos attacked from the smoke.

All three let the smoke settle. It would be unwise to attack without knowing if Thanatos was waiting for them.

Thanatos burst from the smoke, roaring in pain and anger. He charged at Messiah, his mask's jaw broken completely with the top half not far behind. He ran at Messiah, leaping at him with hands outstretched to grab his throat.

Messiah moved nimbly to the side, wrapping the chain around Thanatos's waist as he flew by, causing him to slid back a bit with the momentum. Using all of his strength, Messiah pulled Thanatos back, slamming him into the ground like the head of a flail in another over-head swing.

As Thanatos hit the ground, Messiah recalled the chain once more as he bounced, slamming the chain into him once more.

Minato, seeing his chance, ran forward. He would cut along the shoulder, hopefully deep enough to render it useless for a while.

However, as he got close to the downed opponent, he had a large black fist slam into his chest. It sent him flying back, skidding along the ground. At least two ribs were broken, as Minato coughed up blood when he skidded to a halt.

Orpheus felt a pain in his chest, and quickly began to play. The same white light that he summoned earlier appeared, though it was noticeably brighter. It flew over to Minato, swirling around him.

Minato felt the bones in his chest knit themselves back together, the pain numbing. He coughed up a little more blood, though that would be the last of it. The healing spell that Orpheus cast felt more like a diaraha then a dia. Did the lyre increase the power of his magic? It seemed so.

Minato stood up, running back to the area with the fighting.

Thanatos was up again, though he was missing the coffins completely, the chains used to connect them hanging uselessly behind him. He was currently attacking Orpheus, the persona just able to dodge, occasionally smacking away his wild, powerful swings with his golden arm. Messiah was catching his breath, having exerted himself with flinging Thanatos around.

"Messiah!" Minato yelled, running in the direction of the chain-wielding persona. "I have an idea! Try to charge up two god hands!"

Messiah nodded, though he was unsure. "I'll try." He said. He had never tried it. It could backfire, or drain him of too much energy.

Making the chain wrap around his arm and chest, Messiah gathered energy around both hands, trying to even it between the two. It was unstable, but he could hold it for a bit.

"Ready. Just hurry with whatever you have planned." Messiah said, grunting with effort at keeping the magic under control.

"Orpheus! Bring Thanatos this way!" He ordered.

Orpheus did as asked, making Thanatos leap at him as he jumped back, leading them both to the waiting duo.

"Messiah, when Orpheus brings Thanatos close enough, I want you to unleash one god hand at him from this direction. Orpheus will try to throw you to the other side, and I want you to throw the other at him. It should get him caught between the two." He explained, making Messiah nod as the magic in his fists grew unstable, though he tried his best to keep it from exploding.

Orpheus jumped back one last time, before moving just to the side as Thanatos jumped at him again. Orpheus slammed the lyre down on Thanatos, sending him flat to the ground, before jumping next to Minato.

Thanatos looked worse for wear, as he had multiple stab wounds in his back, black blood flowing freely from them with no end. His skeletal mask was completely gone, only the black metal mask that obscured his face remained.

"Orpheus. When I give the order, I want you to try to throw Messiah over Thanatos. That arm seems to have some power behind it." He said, nodding to the golden appendage.

"I'll try."Orpheus said, playing a quick melody which caused another little ball of white light to appear over him which dissipated before he placed the golden instrument on his back.

Thanatos struggled to get up, the wounds in his back healing very slowly as the black blood continued to flow. Using his shaky arms, he pushed himself up onto slightly unsteady legs. He growled, though it had lost a lot of the bite it had previously.

"Now Messiah!" He yelled.

The persona raised a fist, punching out at Thanatos. The magic fist sped towards him, the magic that composed it crackling in instability.

"Orpheus!" He said, making the composer nod.

Orpheus knelt down, laying his golden hand on the ground for Messiah to step on. Once he had, Orpheus raised his arm, taking note of how light his fellow persona felt in his grasp.

"Get ready." He said, Messiah nodding in understanding. This would be a wild shot.

Orpheus stood up, Messiah gracefully balancing on his hand with one hand glowing with magic. He reared back his arm, grunting with exertion as he threw his arm forward, propelling Messiah as he jumped from the mechanical limb.

Messiah flew through the air like a bullet. The power of Orpheus' new arm was incredible! He flew over the magical fist he had sent out, over the wounded Thanatos.

Twisting, Messiah barely managed to land upright, the remaining magic in his fist slowly stabilizing. He skidded back, knees bent from the impact. He used his free hand to keep from skidding farther than necessary, launching the magic fist at Thanatos.

As he tried to move, his legs gave. Thanatos fell to his knees, though he struggled to stand up once more.

Thanatos was brutally thrown back as the first god hand slammed into him, though he was quickly slammed from behind by the second god hand.

It was extremely painful, having two of the magic fists pushing on him from each side, crushing him. Not to mention the unstable magic coursing along one of the fists burning his black skin.

Thanatos howled once more, pain engulfing him as the fist's crushed him relentlessly. He felt his ribs crack and break, his spine snap under the pressure. Never had he been hurt this much before! The pain was unbearable!

As the fists dissipated, Thanatos fell to the ground with the heavy thud. His breathing was barely there, and that was labored.

Minato sighed. It seemed that Thanatos was done fighting.

Walking up to him, with Orpheus and Messiah flanking him, Minato looked down at Thanatos. He raised the blade to Thanatos's throat, black blood seeping from under the black iron mask.

"Do you yield?" He asked, not sure if the persona was even conscious. Could persona be unconscious?

He received some kind of sound. It wasn't a whimper, but neither was it a growl.

"I think that he does, Minato." Messiah said, looking down on the battered Avatar of death. "He can no longer fight. And I doubt he will try so again."

Orpheus nodded. "I, too, think he won't try to attack again. Hopefully, this will keep him in check."

Minato nodded, acknowledging their words, but he kept looking down at Thanatos. "I want one of you to be watching him at all times, especially near the full moon." He said, making them nod. "I don't want him going berserk later on, when he has more power."

Both persona shot him questioning looks, though Orpheus was the one to voice it.

"Young master, do you intend to let him free of his chains?" He asked.

"Not exactly." He said. "I'm just being cautious of what repercussions my speaking with Pharos will do to him, as well as my ability to speak with all of you and the increase in your powers." He shook his head. "But that doesn't mean that he can't be released from his bonds once in a while, if he doesn't try to kill us."

They nodded. "Very well, Minato. If that is what you wish." Messiah said.

"Thank you, both of you." Minato said, looking up at them with a small smile for a moment.

"Well, that was interesting."

Minato looked across the form of Thanatos, only to see the small form of Pharos.
"Hello Pharos." He said. "How are you?"

Pharos hummed for a moment, looking down at Thanatos. "I'm fine, thank you. I did as you asked and tried to dream of seeing him instead of myself." He said, looking up at Minato with his blue eyes. "I'm a little glad I did. I do not envy it." He gestured to Thanatos.

Minato smiled slightly. He was glad Pharos was not hurt. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Pharos nodded his head. "Indeed. In a few nights, an ordeal will make itself known. I would ask if you have the strength to overcome it, but I have no doubt of that now." He said.

Minato grimaced. The fight with the Shadowed Magician, the first piece of Death.

"Well, I should go now. I still feel tired, but I thought you should know." He said, letting loose a small yawn.

Minato nodded, managing a smile. "Thank you Pharos. Sleep tight." He said, watching as Pharos faded away, his eyes already closing.

Minato looked down at Thanatos once again, only to notice that it seemed that he was asleep. The breathing was a little easier, though not much.

"Messiah, heal him please." Minato said, making the judgment persona nod and start gathering energy. "Orpheus, would you mind chaining him again?"

"Of course not young master." Orpheus said. "Though I will have to go retrieve the chains."

Minato nodded. "And bring me Satan and Helel. I would like to thank them."

Orpheus nodded, fading from sight to go about his tasks.

"Hold off the healing until they get back, alright?" Minato asked, making Messiah nod once more. The white energy dimmed slightly, though not by much, as it continued to gather around Messiah's open hand.

It took a few minutes until Orpheus returned, chains in his hands, followed by his fellow persona.

Helel floated behind Orpheus, six angelic wings doing nothing to keep him afloat. He looked at Minato, nodding slightly to him in respect.

Satan, in his terrifying glory, walked beside Helel with a scowl on his face. He did look at Minato, but it didn't seem as if he was happy about it if the glare meant anything.

"What is it you want, Mortal." Satan spoke, his voice rough and demanding.

Minato cocked an eyebrow at the persona's gruff attitude, but mentally shrugged it off. If this was the ruler of hell, then he wasn't surprised.

"I just wanted to thank you for being there to help if necessary." He said.

"Think nothing of it." Helel stated, his voice heavily contrasting Satan's. "Until our time comes again, we are bound to help you."

"Until your time?" Minato asked.

"Ah, do not worry. Though, perhaps you should ask the long-nosed one if you are curious." Helel said, before looking at Messiah. "Or, perhaps, you could ask 'His' child."

"Helel." Messiah warned, giving the angelic persona a heated glare, surprisingly. The ball of magic in his hands turned more into the harsh light of a megidolaon then the soothing light of Salvation.

"Ah, did I strike a nerve?" The persona asked, a small smile that gave Minato the chills.

"Mortal, I ask that we be kept apart unless it is dire." Satan said, not asking despite what he said.

Minato nodded, though with slight nervousness. "Alright then. You can go now." He said, eager to have the two of them gone.

Helel gave a bow, not exaggerated but it was for show in a way, as he faded away. Satan gave a grunt, a terrible sound, as he faded as well, going to get as far away from Helel as possible.

Minato shivered a bit, happy the two were gone. "Remind me to never speak with them at the same time again." He said, looking to Messiah, who had calmed slightly. "But, what did he mean by-"

"Minato, I ask that you forget that for now." Messiah asked, the light returning to a soothing quality. "It's... It's something I'd rather not bring up right now. We have more important things to do as of now."

Minato hesitated slightly, before nodding. Some people needed that push, others needed to open up of their own accord. Messiah was of the latter it seemed.

"Alright then." He said, looking at Orpheus, who had chained Thanatos up once more. "All done?"

"Almost..." Orpheus grunted, pulling the chain tightly for a final time. "Got it."

Messiah nodded, casting the light of the spell called Salvation onto everyone there. Minato felt as the little aches and pains, not that he had many after Orpheus healed him, fade away. He felt as if he could relax under the light.

He watched as Thanatos's wounds closed, the breathing become easier. Even his skeletal mask fixed itself, attaching itself to his head once more. The coffins formed, though they floated outside the chain that bound Thanatos unlike before.

"Alright then, glad that's done." Minato said, before he felt the adrenaline that had coursed through him fade. "Whoa." He said, putting a hand to his head. "What a pain." He grunted.

"I think it would be best if you let yourself sleep, young master." Orpheus said, Messiah nodding.

"He's right Minato. Your body is getting sleep, but you haven't rested your mind for two days. Get some sleep, we'll put him back where he should be."

Minato nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. As much sense as anything else in our situation." He said, fading back from the sea of his soul, watching as Messiah and Orpheus picked up Thanatos.

He blinked open his eyes, noting that it was normal time. No green moonlight, no darker then average shadows, nothing that declared it the twenty-fifth hour.

He sat up in his bed, rubbing his head. "Oh, gotta not do that again." He muttered. "Note to self, do not go to sea of soul two nights in a row unless it's important."

He looked over to his clock. "Only one-fifteen?" He asked. "Man, that felt like it took forever. Oh well, more sleep for me." He said, yawning.

Rolling over, Minato closed his eyes, letting sleep overcome him.

End of chapter 6

A/N: I'm sorry people! This chapter kicked the crap outta me! It took a long time to get the concept right of fighting with persona like this down, and I guess I suck at action chapters.

For those still reading, tell me what you think about this. Should I try to find someone who can write actions chapters better, or is this good for now? Of course, I will practice.