Lost Fools and Wandering Wagtails
Chapter 1: Dreams and Truth
By: Alex T. Wallman
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Dood
Authors Note: This is basically me going out on a limb here and saying screw you to Atlus by finding a way to have Minato survive. How, you might ask, but listen closely because in this fic Sahashi Minato is Arisato Minato. There is a secret behind how and you can message me with your theories.
I have a few ideas for new personae, but I am always welcome to suggestions.
Anyone who would like to suggest a social link, go for it because I only have a few. Also, let it be known that each social link will end with a new persona. Those few being:
Izumo House – Fool/Judgment: Hastur (Fool) [I/XX]
Musubi – Chariot: Behemoth [VII]
Karasuba – Death: Grim Reaper [XIII]
Homura – Tower: Yog-Sothoth [XVI]
Kazehana – Lovers [VI]
Matsu – Hermit [IX]
Miya – Hierophant: The Lonely God [V]
Takami – Temperance [XIV]
That is all. Read, enjoy, and Review!
~}{~
"We're all stories in the end.
Just make it a good one.
A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away…
You'll dream about that box.
It'll never leave you.
Big and little at the same time.
Brand new and ancient.
And the Bluest Blue ever."
-The Doctor (Matt Smith), The Big Bang Two.
~}{~
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!' I thought as I ran, pulling the fetish miko away from the lightning-throwing twins who were pursuing us. This day could not get any worse could it- NO! I take that back! Best not to tempt fate.
This day HAS sucked though, no doubt about that. I mean, I failed to get into university (for the second time), and now I'm being chased by two girls who toss lightning about willy-nilly.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' I thought as I charged down an alley, trying to find a door to duck into to get away from these crazed, and now that I notice it BDSM gear clad, twins. The alley ended in a small open area that was about five square meters. 'Fuck! Am I really going to die here, worthless and nothing?'
'Does it really take thou to be at the end of thy life to hear my words once more, little Fool? Or is it that thou hast stagnated for too long? It matters not, thou knowst my power and my name, why is it that thou dost not call me?'
'E-Eh? I thought that those were just dreams…' I trail off as I remembered the dreams that I've had all my life; the sky and moon turning green, water turning to blood, strange monsters born from the suppressed feelings of humanity, a school turning into a twisted Tower of Demise, of Death, of the Fall, of SEES, and I smiled. I opened my eyes and realized that there was truth in those dreams, that they were not the imaginings of a creative mind but my own experiences carved into my very soul. My heart slowing into a state of controlled pounding as I breathed out one word.
*Ba-Bump*
"Per…"
*Ba-Bump*
"So…"
*Ba-Bump*
"Na!"
There was the sound of glass shattering around me as what looked to be a pair of tarot cards shattered in my hand, I knew that Orpheus was answering my call but it was rare for me to summon more then one persona at a time. I didn't let curiosity overcome me and waited to hear them announce themselves, something which I hadn't the need to wait long for.
I am thou,
Thou art I,
From the Sea of thy Soul I cometh once more,
From the Depths of thy Psyche I claw,
I am Orpheus, The Master of Strings.
I am Azathoth, The Daemon Sultan.
Azathoth was not a name that I was familiar with but that didn't matter to me because I could research it later. Based on what I could tell from the feeling Orpheus gave me he had regressed to the same state as the first time I summoned him whereas Azathoth knew: Cleave, Sonic Punch, Double Fangs, Evil Touch, Tentarafoo, Hunger of The Daemon Sultan, and another one that I couldn't quite make out. The lightning twins faltered at the sight of Orpheus and Azathoth as they hung in the air behind me, and asked, "T-The Hell are those monsters?"
"How rude. They are facets of my soul, now on to business I believe. Azathoth take vanguard, Orpheus stay back and act as directed." I ordered the Personae before me, slipping into my old 'leader' persona. This also provided me with my first real look at Azathoth, from what I can see it (he? It sounds like a he) has a wild mane of grey-black hair, and its forearms are well muscled and ended in grotesque claws. The twins charged Azathoth, their long black hair flowing behind them as electricity danced between their bodies.
"Orpheus! Agi!" I called, Orpheus responded by strumming his lyre, which caused a blossom of fire to erupt in front of the more cautious twin. The girl stumbled backwards away from the flame while her twin called, "Hibiki!"
I didn't leave them a chance to stand together once more and attack again, I kept my eyes on Azathoth and stated, "Azathoth… Sonic Punch."
Azathoth's fist lashed out and broke the sound barrier as it crashed down beside the bustier (and angrier) twin. I let my face fall into a neutral expression and said, "Get out of here. Both of those attacks were meant as warnings, I did not miss. The next time you attack those attacks will connect. Now go."
"Keh! Let's go Hibiki!" The twins stalked out of the small enclosure. I turned to the miko and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Ah! Y-yes! Musubi is okay!" The girl, Musubi, answered. She was cute, not beautiful like Mitsuru, or pretty like Yukari-san, but cute like Chihiro-chan or Fuuka-san had been. The second thing I noticed was that her bust was… impressive to say the least. The girl's face was flushed but it was probably due how much running we had done.
"Your name's Musubi? Nice to meet you, I'm Ari-Sahashi Minato." I said, quickly correcting myself before I gave anything away.
"Ah! Thank you for saving me, Minato-san!" Musubi said with a bow. I was about to respond but I was interrupted by a sound that I could only compare to the sound of a Jotun, a Minotaur, a Gigas, and The Reaper screwing while attempting to eat one another. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever heard of, thought of, or gained a mental image of. My lives will have been good ones if I never experienced any of that thought again.
Musubi proceeded to collapse and complained, "I'm hungry~."
I was both cursing and in awe of whatever fiend had the idea to create an organ that could create a sound so horrifying.
~}{~
I watched Musubi scarf down slice after slice of the pizza that I had bought on the way back to my place. Musubi was attempting to tell me something through a mouthful of food but I encouraged her to finish eating before telling me.
"Quite the stomach, this maiden doth possess.' Orpheus murmured inside my head to which Azathoth responded, "Food… I… Want food…"
Back when I had been Arisato Minato I had never heard my Personae speaking in my head, but hearing them now was rather interesting, even if Orpheus tended to state the obvious while Azathoth talked about how tasty things looked.
"We can hear thy thoughts, Fool." Oh. Okay. That was interesting. What am I thinking about now?
"GREAT ZEUS' BEARD! That is horrifying, Fool!" Yep, they definitely know what I think.
"Pay attention to the maiden, Fool. She looks to be ready to say something." Okay, we'll talk later. "Yes. Later. After I purge my mind of this ungodly image…"
"Minato-san really is a good person! First, you saved me and now you're giving me food. I wish that someone like you could be my 'Ashikabi'…"
"And what might an 'Ashikabi' be?" I asked, intrigued by this word, what it meant to Musubi, and what those lightning twins may or may not have to do with all of this.
"With thy luck Fool, it is a guarantee." Weren't you going to be quiet for a bit?"All 'Sekirei' are searching for their 'Ashikabi', the person who they will fight, and fight, and fight for, so they can Ascend!" Musubi gushed as she edged closer to me. I'm fucked aren't I, Orpheus?
"Indeed thou art Fool. If thou paid closer attention, thou may have noticed her cheeks flushing when she moved closer to thee." You didn't tell me, why?"It did not seem to be of consequence." Oh, I see. Have a mental image. "ZEUS DAMMIT, FOOL!"
At that point, Musubi had managed to clamber onto me in a very suggestive manner and whispered, "Minato-san…"
I kept leaning backwards in an attempt to keep the now panting Musubi from doing anything, but she leaned with me and ended up on top of me. Then she kissed me. I have to say she is good at kissing.
"Indeed, Fool. Based on the memories of thy previous romantic encounters, only the Velvet maiden and the heiress were better at kissing than this maiden." Elizabeth and Mitsuru, eh? Yeah… They were pretty good at the romantic stuff… HOLY SHIT DID MUSUBI JUST SPROUT WINGS OF LIGHT!
"I-It seems so, Fool." At least I'm not the only person(a) who is confused. I mean seriously, she sprouted pink wings of light what is this Tales of Symphonia?
SMASHThou hast formed the Chariot Social Link.
It will guide thy destiny.
Oh. Cool.
"Number 88, Musubi will be your Sekirei forever and ever, my Ashikabi-sama…" Musubi murmured as she embraced me. Then my phone went off. Damned phones ruining my ro-I mean heartwarming moments.
"Of course thou did." Shut up Orpheus!
"Hello?" I answered, only to be met with the sound of someone singing that song from video games that plays when you achieve something.
"Congratulations, Young Man! You have been chosen to be an Ashikabi!" The strange, clearly insane man shouted at me through the phone.
"Sir, if you don't start making sense or at least introduce yourself, I'm going to hang up." I told the idiot of a man with his stupid white hair.
"I have white hair…" Yeah but your hair is cool.
"Ah, hey wait, don't do that!" The man shouted. Musubi, who had crawled over, looked at the screen and said, "Ah! Professor, hello!"
"Hello number 88, Musubi! How are you?" The 'Professor' asked Musubi, revealing that he knew of Sekirei at least. The guy seemed familiar, but the way he was acting really pissed me off, so I punched the nearest wall.
"Wh-What was that about?"
"Oh, sorry, just looking at your face made me want to hit something." I smiled, my right eye twitching at how much this guy reminded me of Ikutsuki.
"My god, you two are similar…""Hmm? Did you say something?"
"Ah, no, nothing! Anyhow, welcome to the Sekirei Plan! The rules are simple! There are one hundred and eight Sekirei freed into the city and when they find their Ashikabi, they must fight, fight, and fight for the sake of reaching Ascension!" The man declared with gusto. Now I remembered him."Minaka Hiroto. I see that you're going to be using Shin Tokyo for something ridiculous. That doesn't matter right now, what matters is what you mean when you say 'Ascension', what do you mean by 'Ascend'?" I asked the CEO of MBI.
"They will hold the fate of the world in their hands! Plus it sounds cool! Anyways, this is meant to be a secret so I'll ask you to keep it one. Meaning that if you tell anyone, MBI will seek revenge. Toodaloo!" The clearly insane man told me before he hung up.
"Indeed, the man is insane, but thou must tread lightly Fool for he seems to have a clear goal. There is nothing more dangerous than a madman with a goal, and the resources to pursue it." Yep, you're right Orpheus. Just look at Takaya.
"Minato-san!" Musubi called, snapping me out of my reverie. "Let's fight together and reach Ascension! With the two of us, there's no way we can lose! Me with my fists and you with your monsters!"
SMASHThou hast increased the power of the Chariot Social Link.
May it guide thy destiny.
Twice in one night, sweet!
"Those aren't monsters Musubi, they are called Personae and I would ask that you keep them a secret for now."
"Ah! Okay! Musubi will do her best!" The excitable girl in front of me declared.
"We should probably turn in for the night." I told her with a pat on the head.
"Okay!"
~}{~
"My, my, this is a surprise indeed! I had never once thought that we would encounter one another again, young man." The long nosed man in front of me remarked from where he sat.
"This is as much a surprise to you as it was to me Igor. How are you nowadays?" I inquired as I looked about the current layout of the Velvet Room. Rather than being an old-fashioned elevator as I remembered it, the Velvet room had become an aviary that housed only one bird at the moment, a brown and pink tinged wagtail. Wait a minute, Sekirei means Wagtail, meaning that the wagtail represents Musubi. I chuckled about how clever it was.
"Clever indeed! I approve of the pun!" Why? "Because it is a linguistic pun." I see.
"I see you noticed the wildlife. I hope that you appreciate the pun. As for what I have been doing, in the three years since you died there has been another Wild Card who gathered a group of Persona users and kept the world from meeting its end. They killed the one attempting to end it rather then seal her, but I believe that it was for the best due to her state of mind." Igor explained as a door towards the back of the room opened, allowing Margaret to enter with… THE REAPER!
"Um, Igor, I don't mean to be rude about your clientele, but what is The Reaper doing here?" I asked the proprietor of the Velvet Room. Igor chuckled and said, "Due to the events that passed last year, a shadow gained an ego and a Persona and joined that Wild Card in his journey. The Reaper is curious about doing the same, and as such will be taking the form of one of the Sekirei, and will join you on your current journey as the one hundred and ninth Sekirei and will attempt to gain an ego. I hope that it won't be too much trouble."
"Nah, it's cool, but you guys are going to be doing quite a bit of memory and data tinkering if you want that to work." I chuckled.
"We have already taken care that. All that is left is for The Reaper to chose their form." Margaret informed me from where she stood with the shadow. I nodded to The Reaper, "I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Indeed, little Fool. It will be amusing to watch your journey again." The Reaper told me, which was indeed a surprise. "Any specific name I should call you?"
"Shinisasayaku is the name that I have chosen." The Reaper informed me.
"Alright. See you soon." I told the shadow as I turned back to Igor, "Anything else that I need to know?"
"Only that your original contract still applies and that you will have to find to find the entrances to the Velvet Room on your own. Here is the Velvet Key, and best of luck during the coming days."
Oh, that sounds ominous. And I'm fading out. "Later Igor, Margaret, Shinisasayaku."
~}{~
While Minato dreamt of the Velvet Room, Musubi and a number of figures that she couldn't identify were watching a nightmare unfold on an unfamiliar bridge.
They watched as a car was driving late at night, heading home from a party of sorts, filled with a family of four with the parents in the front and two children, a boy and his younger sister, trying to stay awake in the back seats of the car. None of the car's occupants were prepared for a strange wraithlike being to collide with the car and smash it against the bridge.
One of the figures said in a voice that couldn't be identified as male or female, "Death, The Arcana That Shouldn't Have Been. The Arcana Born Of The Sins Of An Idiotic Man Who Chased Immortality. It seems that we are watching the day that the Fool stepped onto his Path."
As the figure had been speaking, its voice had gained the identifiers of being female.
Musubi and the figures gasped in shock at the carnage that the wraith had caused, while the wraith shook itself off as it peeled away from the wreckage. There was the clanking of a chain gun being fired as bullets peppered the wraith. A gynoid, a robot with a female shape, was charging toward the wraith and firing the bullets from what Musubi and the other dreamers believed to be her fingers.
When the gynoid entered within fifteen meters of the wraith the first half of a bell toll marking midnight was heard, and then the world took on a green hue. The full moon hung low in the sky, revealing that the river that had once been filled with water was now brimming with blood. From the island behind the dreamers, combatants, and bystanders, the sound of metal being torn apart and reformed could be heard, as the dreamers turned around they saw an amalgamation of buildings towering into the now silent heavens. One of the dreamers murmured in a male but distorted voice, "Tartarus."
None of the other dreamers knew what the word meant, but they knew that the tower before them was called by that name. The dreamers whipped around when they heard the sounds of someone stirring in the car. The dreamers watched with morbid fascination as the boy navigated the car and discovered that both of his parents appeared to be unconscious in the front seat, blood flowing from their ears. Only four of the dreamers understood what that meant and the implications. Where the boy's sister had been sitting there was now a child-sized coffin. Only the figure that had spoken first knew what that meant.
During all of this, the robot and the wraith had continued their duel, not caring about their surroundings, only that the other be defeated.
"HEY!" The cry came from the boy who was now standing by the car's rear door. The wraith and the robot turned towards the boy, who charged at the wraith and started batting it with his fists, tears streaming from his eyes as he pleaded, "GIVE THEM BACK! GIVE BACK MUM, DAD, AND NATSUMI! GIVE THEM BACK! GIVE THEM BACK! Give them back…"
Most of the dreamers tried to run to the boy and comfort him but when they tried to touch him, they just passed through the boy's body. The dreamers standing near the boy were nearly blinded by a flash of light from the ground and backed of to get a better look, and witnessed a glowing set of concentric circles and runes beneath the wraith and the boy. A single, female, monotone voice rang out, "I apologize. This is the only way that I can finish my mission, the neutralization of the Arcana Shadow, Death. Even in its incomplete form Death is too powerful for me to defeat, so I must seal it within a living vessel. I am… Sorry…"
The scene faded to black as the people who had been dreaming bolted upright from where they lay, scattered about Shin Tokyo. Musubi looked at Minato, tears streaming from her eyes, she knew that the boy had been her Ashikabi, but something seemed off. The Sekirei hugged her Ashikabi tightly as she tried to fall asleep again.
~}{~
"Um, Minato-san there's an angry person at the door here to see you." Musubi informed me as I woke up. This definitely can't be good. "Thou art correct, Fool."
Thanks for the confidence Orpheus. I got up and went to the door where I discovered a very angry landlord. "Ah, Landlord-san is there something I can do for you?"
"You can start by packing your things Sahashi-san. I do believe that you were informed that this is a singles room and as such I can kick you out for bringing your girlfriend to live with you." The Landlord told me, damned old man that he is.
"Now, now, Landlord-san be a bit more reasonable…"
"No. You have until you find a new apartment. Don't take more than a week." The landlord informed me before he left.
"Well this sucks." I said as I slammed the door.
"Yes!" Musubi chirped.
"Indeed." Orpheus stated.
~}{~
After feeding Musubi, a task FAR easier said than done…
"Quite so. Where do you think she puts it all?" Somewhere beyond the ken of man, Orpheus, somewhere beyond the ken of man.
As I was saying, after appeasing The Musubi's hunger, we decided to head out and search for apartments. Which reminds me, I should phone Mum and explain what happened… Wait a minute, Mum works for MBI, therefore it's possible that she could be involved with the Sekirei plan, and she was really pushing me to become bio-engineer. This calls for some shenanigans.
"Fool, this could get very risky very fast." I know, but I just can't resist. So, I phoned Mum. She picked upon on the first ring.
"Hello Minato, is something the matter?" Mum asked me.
"All I wanted to do was tell you, was that I'm being thrown out of my apartment because I got a girlfriend. Aaaaand, wagtail." I spoke quickly, trying to throw her off her game.
"Wai-What? You were kicked out of your apartment?" Yes! She's taking the bait…"Yes."
"And you joined the Sekirei Plan?" She took the bait hook, line, and sinker!"I never said anything about that, but you just proved that you have foreknowledge of the Sekirei Plan and that you are most likely involved with its inner workings."
"When did you decide to be so clever?""Recently. Anyway, is there anywhere you would recommend to get an apartment?"
"If you value your sanity, avoid Izumo House like the plague." She advised me.
"Right. Izumo House it is!"
"Didn't I just warn you against doing that?""Yeah, and therefore it is quite logically the best choice."
"*Sigh* and why would that be?"
"Because the best place is usually either not recommended or the place that one would check last. Can you text me the directions?"
"Yeah, sure." My mother grunted.
"Also, can you front me my allowance for about a month while I search for a job so I can pay rent? If you don't then I might tell Yukari about who our father is, well either that or I tell her about the Sekirei Plan."
"You don't even know who your father is!" Mum exclaimed over the phone, causing me to hold the device away from my ear. I just chuckled and said, "Minaka Hiroto and I had a rather… enlightening conversation yesterday."
"Fine, but only for a month. Damned, lousy, stupid, boss saying things he shouldn't…" Mum swore before hanging up.
"Do thou believe that madman to be thy father?" It's possible, especially when you consider Mum's reaction to my bluff. If he is my father, I'm going to beat him half to death for doing this to the Sekirei.