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Entry tags:

persona 4: seito souzen (au1)

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Who: Seito and anyone
What: All this time pretending to be sweet and innocent is starting to bother Seito...
Where: Summer Forest
When: Sunday, evening
Warnings: None at the moment.

Seito thought he was going to go insane.

Appearing in a new world, just at the point where everything was coming to a head in his life, had been jarring and disturbing. He had managed to keep himself calm, to keep himself from losing his cool. It had served him well, though not entirely; he was fairly sure more than a few people suspected he wasn't all he seemed to be. He could only keep up the innocent and shy teenager act for so long while being so empty inside.

That was why he was half hidden in the forest right now, hunched over and struggling with a headache that had started last night and had yet to stop. He needed to make his life feel full again; he needed to hold the life of something in his grasp, to watch it vanish before him and let that high fill him. But he couldn't figure out how to do that; there was no TVs here, which meant he would have to do the killing himself. It didn't sound too horrible, to take someone's life with his own hands, but he had never actually done so before.

But he needed something, anything; he felt so empty that he was clawing at his face and arms, struggling to even breathe as it felt like something was going to burst out of his skull at any moment.

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...Shit. It's over, isn't it? This circling game of theirs, pretending to be friends when they both knew neither one trusted the other, constantly trying to figure the other out. The cat's out of the bag now. Nothing is fully revealed yet, but there won't be any more pretending.

Minato stands quickly, stepping back with the reflexes of a trained fighter. He isn't sure how similar Seito is to Takaya - are the same drugs involved? The same kind of experiments Jin told them about? Minato will have to keep observing, keep working on this, but for now he has to focus on the conversation that's already become dangerous. Thank god he brought his Evoker.

"He stopped making sense." He has to be careful of his words. This is true, though - to most people, monsters appearing from nowhere makes no sense. Minato still isn't sure how Takaya did it without an Evoker.

"Really? That's a shame."

Seito let out a soft breath, a hand still holding his throbbing head, as if that would help. He wanted to curl up and cry the pain was so intense, but the thought of having Minato cornered kept him from giving in to the pain. This wasn't murder, this wasn't holding someone's life in his hands, but it was still exciting, and he could feel that presence in the back of his mind clawing at his brain, trying so very hard to break loose. It was through sheer force of will that Seito kept that presence back, though it only made his head hurt worse.

"Ahh... I guess our little cat and mouse game is over now, hunh?" he finally asked, his voice still maintaining his monotone, almost like he didn't care what was happening. He reached up with his free hand, loosening the collar of his shirt. "So... what do you see when you look into the Shadows, Minato-kun?"

Minato has a different aspect to him now than just a few minutes ago. He isn't the worried friend, nor is he the curious teenager from the first time he communicated over the orbs, nor is he quite the same as when he promised to protect the natives. He's strong, but calm. The Fool who doesn't fear death.

"Yeah, it is. You caught me." He'll concede that. He considers the question carefully, hand hovering over his concealed Evoker. He knows what Shadows are, knows their nature and purpose. The corners of his mouth quirk upward just slightly. "I see my old friend Death."

"More Arcana jokes?" Seito asked blandly, narrowing his eyes. For a moment, it almost seemed like glowing yellow was trying to creep into his irises, but he blinked and it was gone. "You didn't make it that hard, you know. All those damn puns, especially recently... it's like you didn't even try to keep back what you were capable of."

"No, this time it's literal." Death - Ryoji - was a very good friend of his. "I thought you might have seen that. I realized too late I hadn't made it private."

He won't explain that that was only semi-voluntary. Once they got going, it didn't feel possible to stop until they'd been through all of the Arcana. "But you were suspicious of me from our first meeting, anyway."

"The Fool comment gave you away," Seito replied mildly. "It's not your fault though; I doubt you've ever been somewhere as boring as Inaba. You wouldn't have been familiar with the Fool of a detective I have to deal with."

He paused a moment, letting out a pained noise. Dammit, he didn't know how much longer he could hold himself together. That presence wanted out; it had longed to get its hands on Adachi, and now being presented with someone just like him? It was the next best thing, and the overwhelming blood lust was making the yellow creep into his eyes, and no amount of blinking was getting rid of it that time.

"Ngh... you're making this very hard, you know?" he hissed, looking more like a Shadow given human form, he was so overwhelmed by his own Emptiness and the need to have it filled. "I was hoping to play with you a little longer; it would have been just as entertaining, at the very least."

"And your reaction to it betrayed you." He remains calm. He isn't afraid - he's confident. His journey is over, but he gained so much. Whether or not he loses he isn't afraid.

He draws his Evoker. This is going to turn into a fight soon, by the looks of it. More and more, Seito is looking like a Shadow...not a good sign. He doesn't need to wonder if the other teen is mentally capable of taking another person's life, that question has answered itself. There's just one thing Minato can think of to ask, based on what Naoto told him before.

"Despair, or Emptiness?"

Seito let out a hollow sounding laugh. Really, that sound was answer enough, but he continued anyway, "You've been talking to Shirogane-san, I see... if she's really supposed to be from 'the end'."

He let out another empty chuckle. "Doubt it's from the same 'end' though. Shirogane-san never did like me very much."

Another laugh escaped from him, short and empty like the others as Seito finally removed the hand from his head. Ah... he couldn't keep it back any more; that Lust had given up on begging and was now forcing its way through his skull, feeling like a clawed hand was closing in around his brain and tearing apart bone and flesh.

"Ah... maybe toying with you for awhile will be enough to fill that Emptiness..." he began, a smirk working its way onto his face. "Maybe I'll play around with someone else when I'm done with you. The French girl seems sweet and innocent enough... it wouldn't be the first time I dated someone just to use them..."

That was it; he couldn't take the pain crawling through his head anymore. Both of his hands came up, running through his hair as if he was trying to keep the presence from cracking his head open. He leaned back, his head tilting up toward the air as he let out an insidious cackle, that power within him exploding around him. The trees around him seem to darken or reddening in response to him.

"MAGATSU IZANAGI!"

That power burst out of him, looking like it was tearing apart the fabric of reality. A clawed hand broke out of the darkness, tearing through and revealing a monstrous, corrupt creature in a long banchou coat covered in pulsing red veins. It was holding a large nodachi in hand that it swung back to rest on its shoulder, beady yellow eyes glaring down at Minato as Seito let out a soft, pleased noise.

"Ah... my headache's better now..." he murmured, a dark expression twisting his face.

Threatening his friends. Whatever thoughts Minato had about what came before that are overtaken by cold anger. He won't accept that. He isn't worried about Marie - he already made sure she knew better than to trust you, and there are also Kazumi and Naoto to keep an eye on things.

So what fills him is his greatest strength: his bonds with others. He still hears the voices of his friends from home ringing in his ears as he raises the Evoker to his head and pulls the trigger without thinking.

"MESSIAH!"

A completely different kind of power flows from Minato. He doesn't expect to need it, but he still holds the Universe. Infinite power, infinite possibilities...

He waits, now he's summoned Messiah. He won't make the first move, not until he's seen what Seito's Persona is capable of.

For someone that had never summoned his Persona before, Seito was carrying himself with the same sort of confidence or someone that had been doing so for years. He smirked as the brilliant creature that was Minato's appeared, a faint chuckle escaping from him.

"Messiah?" he asked as Magatsu let his blade drop from his shoulder, rolling his head on his shoulders. "Don't make me laugh."

It didn't even look like Seito was giving Magatsu Izanagi actual orders. One moment, the Persona was behind him, the next it was launching itself at Messiah. Minato would be able to see the blood Lust in the Persona's eyes as it got closer, blade flashing, intent on spearing through his.

"Just what do you think you are?" he asked, casually stepping away from the tree he had been curled up against. "Some kind of savior?"

Messiah moves in accordance with Minato's will, watching Magatsu as intently as Minato watches Seito. Minato isn't surprised by the reaction - no way the other teen would actually know anything.

"I wouldn't describe myself that way." He's never thought of himself as a savior or some big hero. Sure, he joked about being superheroes with Junpei a few times, but he never really thought about it. it's just what he did. Still, he does fit some definitions. "I just already know what my role in both life and death is."

Messiah moves quickly to dodge the strike, quickly retaliating with Megidolaon. He isn't going down that easily. It's clear the other teen has no idea what he's dealing with.

Seito let out a pained noise as Magatsu was hit full on by the spell, falling to his knees and clutching at his chest. That hurt... that really fucking hurt. His dragonfly flitted around, almost like it was concerned, despite the fact that it went from the cheerful, light purple color it always was to blood red.

Gasping for breath, Seito glared up at Minato, yellow eyes blazing in rage.

Minato's cold grey eyes meet Seito's yellow. It doesn't take too much for him to realize the other boy doesn't really know what he's doing, that's he's never used a persona before. Minato's fought experienced Persona-users before, after all.

"Stand down, Souzen. You don't know what you're dealing with." He doesn't expect him to obey.

Seito glared up at him, gasping fitfully for breath... before he suddenly smirked as Magatsu Izanagi returned the favor, casting Megidolaon on Messiah and Minato both.

The attack catches Minato off guard and he's left on his hands and knees. His cobalt blue dragonfly squeaks and turns an inky midnight-navy. He can whether another hit like that, maybe two. Three and he'd be downed for sure. He has to finish this before that happens, then.

Messiah fades. He shifts Personas. He doubts any dark or light attacks will work... So he'll try physical.

He raises the Evoker to his head and fires again - this time Thanatos comes forth, swinging its blade rapidly for Tempest Slash.

Seito stood up, brushing himself off like that was just a minor inconvenience. Magatsu Izanagi, meanwhile, was just evading the slashing like it was nothing, as if he had been faking his inability to control his persona. He idly approached him as Magatsu retaliated with Vortex Blade, reaching down to grab Minato by the neck.

"Did you think I would be beaten so easily?" he purred at him, an evil little smile on his face. "I may not dive into televisions and pretend I'm a little detective like the rest of the fools on my world, but I am far from incompetent!"

Shit. Not good. How is it dodging all those? Minato misjudged Seito's skills - what he wouldn't give to have Fuuka right now. The slashing attack hits, thankfully not heavily due to Thanatos's Slash resistance.

The hand that isn't holding his Evoker flies to your wrist, his grip firm. Off. "You can't blame a guy for hoping." The words come through gritted teeth as he concentrates, prompting Thanatos to use God's Hand.

He can't keep this up for too much longer. Needs to use more magic, less physical skills. His dragonfly has shifted to a very pale, ghostly shade of blue.

Seito flinched as God Hand hit home, his own dragonfly shifting over to a shade of red it was nearly black. That didn't keep Seito's hand from tightening around his neck as Magatsu cast Heat Riser on himself. Mazionga followed soon after, bolts that missed Thanatos scorching the earth.

He couldn't help but laugh as he brought his other hand up to Minato's neck, laughing as his eyes blazed yellow. This was amazing, this kind of power, being able to actually hold someone's life in his hands. It was better than being able to shove someone into a television; he was literally master of life and death right now. He could end him so easily...

Can't breathe. Shit. Thank god the electricity misses or he'd be done for. He can't focus enough to shift Personas again, so he can't use one that's more suited to magic.

The longer he goes without breathing, the harder it gets to focus. He needs to finish this, now. It takes all of his concentration to have Thanatos cast megidola.

Just because Minato doesn't fear death doesn't mean he wants to die. No, more than anything, he wants to live, and that fuels his power. The air starts trembling slightly as his power expands. It's barely a fraction of the Universe's power, but it's enough to warn, to threaten. He's far more powerful than he seems.

He almost had him... all he needed was one more solid hit, and this Fool would be done. Unfortunately, Megidola could not be avoided, and that added to Minato's gathering of power made Seito's grip on him waver as his dragonfly disappeared entirely. Dammit, he was so close... so close...!

Finally. Minato takes the chance to break Seito's grip, coughing and gasping for breath the moment he's free. He scrambles away, and he'll use another cast of megidola to ensure you won't be following him.

"Stay down." He pushes himself to his feet, and that aura of power spikes to add threat to his words despite his weak voice.

He'd do something about this now, but it still hurts to breathe, he's hurt and tired and he needs to get somewhere private so he can tell Naoto about this. And Marie. And Chou, and Kazumi if she's still around. He needs to make sure his people know.

Somehow, through sheer luck, Magatsu managed to avoid the second Megidola, raising his sword over his head before bringing an Atom Smasher crashing down Thanatos.

Seito, meanwhile, went stumbling away from Minato, clutching at his chest. It hurt... he could feel that emptiness starting inside of him, hollowing out his chest and threatening to consume him. He didn't want to feel so empty... he just wanted to have that emptiness filled, so he didn't have to be so dead inside; so he didn't have to think about how dead he had been since she died. Was that too much to ask for?

"Bastard..." he hissed, reaching out, like he was clawing for that desperate need to feel alive.

The Atom Smasher hurts like hell and Minato yells loudly. His dragonfly disappears.

"D-Damn you..." The balance will be different from now on. No more playing at being nice, or being friends. No more hiding their anger and opposition toward eachother. He can't risk another physical skill, and he needs to be smart about his spiritual energy. Thanatos fades from view as he switches Personas again.

This time, when he fires his Evoker, Alice appears. Agidyne is the spell this time, he just prays fire is going to work.

Magatsu certainly tried, but the Agidyne still hit it full on. Seito let out a weak sounding cry, his out stretched arm dropping to his side. The yellow faded from his eyes, and for a moment, he looked like any other scared and lonely teenager before he crumpled to a heap at Minato's feet with barely a sound.

Magatsu Izanagi, yellow eyes glaring out at Minato from beyond its mask, slowly faded away soon after.

Finally. Minato exhales as well as he can with his aching lungs, letting Alice fade. He doesn't have the strength or time to deal with Seito directly right now, he needs to get out of here before the adrenaline rush ends.

He gets the hell out of dodge as quickly as he's able. Needs to call Naoto, get some help...Warn people. And put things together, once he's in private. There's a lot of new information.

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