My breath is coming in short pants. I am lost in an endless maze of walls and shadows. My allies have left me here alone retreating to the entrance. The rattling of chains is getting closer; I have no time to spare. I tighten the grip on my weapon as I turn another corner. The red eyes of a shadow meet mine before it scurries away. Whether it fears me or my pursuer remains a mystery as I press forward. I hear Fuuka's voice telling me the exit is just ahead. Another turn and it will be in sight. As I round the corner, the sounds of chain rings eerily close. I chance a look behind me and see the Reaper gliding at me with inhuman speeds. I redouble me efforts willing me legs to move faster towards the exit. A gunshot erupts and I feel the bullet graze my leg. I stagger from the force of the shot but I continue forward, adrenaline dulling the pain. Time slows as I approach my destination. 25 steps left but the reaper is drawing close. 16 steps left and another gunshot rings out. 10 steps left but I am out of time. I feel the impact on my back and I scream as the pain courses through me. Bile rises in my throat and I struggle not to vomit. The shot in my back is leaking blood staining my school uniform. Mitsuru will have my head, if I survive that is. My body works against me, my accelerated heartbeat empties what little vital fluids I have left onto the floor. The reaper floats before me in his terrifying glory. I would fight back but my strength has left me, and I am unable to lift my gun to my head. A gun is pointed at my chest. I gazed up into a red eye and I find the strength to mutter.

"Do your worst." My world goes black as pain blooms in my chest.

I wake up drenched in sweat, the scream from my nightmare dying on my lips. Ayumi rushes in second later worry etched into her features. I tell her I am fine, but the look on her face tells me she thinks otherwise. She leaves only to return with a glass of water to calm my nerves which I drink down quickly. Ayumi asks a few questions but I refuse to explain. How can she possibly understand? A world that is a lifetime away and yet closer to me than reality. A dual personality of student by day and hero by night frays a person's mind, even the most stable ones. Some things people won't understand. Ayumi considers my silence for a while but then catches my attention.

"Would you like to learn a spell my mother taught me?" I give her a questioning look. To my knowledge Ayumi did not know any spells as she was not a magician. I briefly wondered what type she was willing to teach me. Oscilllation? Converge? She must have read my thoughts because she laughs.

"It is not a spell for a CAD but a spell for the heart. It is called the 'sweet dreams' spell so you won't have nightmares." The look on my face must be priceless because she laughs again.

"Repeat after me. Viscounti asugan yagadancei." I attempt to repeat and the foreign words roll jumbled off my lips. Ayumi urges me to try again and soon I can repeat the words correctly. Ayumi gives me a smile, telling me to say it before I sleep. Ayumi is like a second big sister to me. Always there when I need her and always giving advice for my troubles. Not everything can be solved with magic and sometimes the best solutions are usually the easiest. She taught me that. Eventually she leaves telling me to talk to her if I need to. I get up feeling better with Ayumi's encouragement. I glance at the clock. 5:30 am, on any other day I would be late for training but it is Sunday. Retsu will pick me up around 8 am so I have time to relax. I quickly begin my morning ritual and get into the shower. The warmth of the water feels good on my skin and I allow my mind to wander. The year is 2090, 5 years since my arrival. Dreams of my old life were rare but now, they are becoming more frequent. I do not know the meaning of it, but I am losing more sleep than I would have like over the matter. Another matter of importance is that of my persona. Although my training has steadily becoming more difficult no more Personas have become accessible to me. I have hit a metaphorical wall, and nothing I do seems to work. I desperately want to speak to Igor or Elizabeth, but I have no way to access them and it seems they will not try to contact me. Without my stronger persona my skills are limited to my weaker spells. The best I have are single target second tier skills. The inability to use Thanatos only compounds my frustration. The only positive of this barrier is I am forced to utilize my weaker Persona to the fullest. They are all steadily gaining strength. A knock on the bathroom door alerts me that I have taken too long in the shower. I quickly finish and leave.

Breakfast is a quiet but pleasant affair. Ayumi does not ask about the dream for which I am grateful. At 7 am the phone rings and Ayumi quickly answers.

"Minato, it's for you." I quickly take the receiver and answer. The voice of Retsu filters though.

"I understand this is last minute but I have decided to take you to the nine schools competition. Minoru is unable to come because of sickness but I would like you to attend. I will be arriving at the mansion at 9." Before I can speak the line dies and I am forced to hang up the phone. Time flies by and soon the time comes and I am opening the door to Retsu.

"Come Minato, we have to get to the arena as quickly as possible." I climb into the waiting car and wave to Ayumi as it drives away. I then turn to face Retsu who is watching me with a stoic face.

"Do you know all the events for the competition?" I simply nod and recite the names Kyouko has told me.

"Battle board, Monolith Code, Mirage Bat, Speed shooting, Icicle Destruction, and Crowd Ball." I turn to Retsu to see if I have missed any of them.

"You named them all, I want you to watch each of the competitions and learn from the competitors. Each contestant is the best of the best in their school." The rest of the drive is silent. The competitions are being held twenty miles away and we arrive shortly. The arena is huge and people are running back and forth preparing for events. Retsu cuts through the crowd like a knife leading me to a private viewing area to watch the competitions. The speed shooting competition is about to start and I watch with muted interest. The sirens sound and the targets are released. The girl on the platform begins to aim and fire with her CAD and one by the one the targets shatter. Retsu keeps watching but speaks to me.

"The girl before you is the favorite to win in the competition. What do you think of her style?" I am given a pause to continue watching as the girl continues to blast away the targets. I watch as two of the three targets explode as the last leaves the scoring area. Another wave in sent up, this time all three are destroyed one after another. Finally I decide to share my thoughts.

"The technique she is using in inefficient." Retsu glances my way but remains silent urging me to explain. "In a combat situation targeting one opponent at a time is likely you get you injured or killed. An area of effect spell or a multiple target spell would be more useful."

"I would agree with your ideas Minato, but we have no multiple target spells that are completely effective and any area spell takes excessive magic to fuel. It would take a genius to make any of those methods efficient."

"You can't fault the boy for his creativity though, who knows he may be the one to solve those problems." A new voice broke into our conversation. I turn seeing an imposing man before me, a young boy my age standing next to him. Retsu answers my foremost question.

"Ichijou Gouki, I was not aware you would be visiting." Gouki gives a short gruff laugh, and holds out his hand which Retsu takes. Gouki eyes turn to me.

"Is this the boy that you have been so secretive about?" He examines me like some sort of sample, then grins turning to the boy beside him. "Think you can beat him Masaki?" Retsu give a huff of annoyance but the young boy beside Gouki steps forward and appraises me seeming to judge my skill. Eventually, he too smiles and gives a short bow.

"My name is Ichijou Masaki. Pleased to make your acquaintance." I return the gesture.

"Minato Kudou, the honor is mine." The adults have already left the two of us and have seated themselves watching the next contestant obliterate targets. My attention is drawn to a contestant who is having difficulty scoring points. Their method is sloppy at best and the contestant seems to be unable to keep their cool thus is starting to lose composure. Masaki's voice draws my attention.

"I wish I could participate. I want to see where I stand compared to those people out there." He looks to me seeing if I agree with his sentiment.

"There is no way we could stand up to people of that skill." While not particularly true in my case, it was probably true that I would be unable to compete at the skill level of most of the participants.

Masaki's smile simply grew at my statement. "Even so, the challenge would make up for it. What's life without a challenge?" Masaki's eyes gleamed with childish excitement and I couldn't help but laugh slightly. Personally I had experienced more than enough excitement in my life, but… maybe a bit more wouldn't be so bad. I returned my attention to the contest playing before me allowing my mind to wander through the possibilities of entering the nine schools tournament.

Before I realized, the day had passed and Retsu beckoned to me to leave. Gouki called to us as we prepared to depart.

"Will you be present for the rest of the competition?"

"I had planned to be." Retsu's answer was short and concise. Gouki grinned.

"Then I will see you tomorrow." With that he and Masaki disappeared into the crowd, most likely to the rooms they were staying in. Retsu and I left shortly after. Once we were seated in the limo, Retsu asks me about my thoughts on the competition.

"The competition was not as exciting as Kyouko described but they were entertaining." I answer with a shrug.

"What about the son of Gouki? Masaki, was it? What do you think of him?" Retsu asks. His question seems innocent enough, so I decide to answer honestly.

"An energetic kid for his age, he has high goals. Has a fairly optimistic view on life I guess. Why do you ask?"

Retsu pauses for a while before answering. "Do you know what the Ichijou are famous for?" I simply nod in response. Rupture, an extremely powerful spell. "I was wondering if Masaki had the mental fortitude to use the spell." At my questioning look he elaborates. "Killing a human can easily shake the human psyche. Causing them to explode in a mass of blood and gore almost will certainly make anyone vomit. From what little I know about Gouki's son he may not hold the stability to use the spell effectively although I cannot be certain." I nod in understanding and we fall into a deep silence for the rest of the ride home.

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The week follows into a sort of pattern. Retsu arrives at nine every morning to pick me up to take me to the competitions. Upon arrival, Retsu and Gouki leave Masaki and I to talk and discuss the competitions and combatants at out leisure. Once the day is over I am driven back home at eight and after a quick dinner I go to bed only to repeat the process again. While repetitive I can hardly complain. Masaki, while young, acts mature for his age. Although he still wants to challenge the current combatants he has a much more logical side to him. He gave excellent tactical deductions during a game of monolith code and we spent the day talking about potential strategies. I gave him too little credit when we first met. All good things must come to an end though and the week whittled away until there was only a few hours left. Masaki and I stood in the empty viewing are talking about the final standing for the schools and the tournament in general.

"Minato, it is time to go." Retsu calls breaking up the conversation. I glance at my watch. 7:25, I need to leave soon to avoid being late. I stand and to bid Masaki farewell but he stands as well.

"Wait…I have a proposal." A proposal? Retsu and I share a questioning glance before directing our attention back to the Ichijou heir. "Was thinking that- Minato and I- we could-" His speech is broken and his nervousness is palpable. Fortunately for Masaki, his father choses to step in and help explain.

"What Masaki wants to say is he proposes a contest between Minato and himself." I raise a questioning eyebrow, but Retsu is the first to speak.

"I am sorry but we cannot spare the time to-" He is cut short as Gouki clears his throat.

"I know as well as you that we both want to see who is stronger. Come on Retsu, it is only a friendly competition and no one will use a complex spell and no one will get hurt. Just a simple game." The viewing area is silent; the only sound is the distant party of the competitors.

"Fine, but we will hold this away from people's attention." Retsu surprising answer comes out softly.

"Of course," Gouki replies a large grin on his face, "We will need a sizable area to play but I know just the place. Retsu nods and our group leaves the viewing area and goes through the maze of corridors that is the arena. Eventually we come to the area where the Ice Pillar Break was held. We stop and Gouki explains his reasoning. "This area is off limits to both contestants and the public. No one will see us here if we keep the arena's lights off. Now for the game." He gestures to Masaki who steps forward.

"The game is basic, I call it 'attack and defend'." He gestures to his side where two rifle shaped CAD and a white orb are lying. "Minato and I will each have one rifle and will be aiming at the sphere." To demonstrate he picked up each rifle. He handed one to me. "The objective of the game is to keep the orb your color as long as possible." He then aimed and pulled the trigger. A burst of psion shot out and hit the orb causing it to glow the color to red. He gestures to me and I took aim. I pull the trigger and the burst of psion makes contact changing it to blue. Masaki steps forward and taps a button causing it to revert to white. "These CAD have only two functions. Movement and shooting a burst of psion. This orb will be floating between us. The orb will take on the color of whoever hits it. Once the orb takes on a color, the person who is not in possession of the orb will 'attack' the orb by shooting psion bursts. The person who is in possession will be using the movement sequences on their CAD to 'defend' the orb and guide it away from the opponent's attacks. For every five seconds the orb is a certain color the corresponding person will gain 1 point. The sphere must remain in the scoring area which is fifteen feet in any direction from the center of the field. If it leaves the area the sphere will change color and return to the center. Any questions?" Personally the game seems rather straight forward. Keep the orb your color for as long as possible. The problem was that any spell cast, whether movement or psion burst would take energy.

"How long will the competition last?" It was either a test of skill or endurance.

"1 hour." Masaki response was quick. I looked to Retsu for confirmation and he simply nods.

"Alright let's do this." Retsu and Gouki leave for the stands while Masaki and I retreat to our own area. Soon we face each other across the battle field. From the stand Gouki tosses the orb and it slowly glides out to the center or the field.

"Ready" Gouki's voice is soft but loud enough to be heard by the two of us. No need to attract unwanted attention. "Set" We raise our CAD ready to pull the trigger. "Begin!"

Immediately both the CAD fire a psion burst. Masaki's straight ahead towards the orb, mine off to the right side. Too naïve, is my first thought as I activate the movement sequence. The orb quickly moves to the right avoiding Masaki's burst and taking my own. The orb glows blue in color. Masaki's surprise is evident, but my face remains stoic. The battle is far from over, no need to get overconfident. Another shot erupts from my opponent's gun and I cast another sequence sending the sphere skyward avoiding the shot. Masaki releases another round but follows with two more sending three burst at the orb. I punch in a sequence quickly and avoid two shots but the third clips the orb and the color changes. I have gained only a single point and already lost possession of the orb. Regardless, I do not hesitate and immediately fire, but Masaki is too quick and avoids my shot, sending the sphere to the right. I continue to fire my rifle, but I am again met with failure. Masaki is constantly using movement and the sphere does not stay still. I wait, refusing to fire. Four minutes pass and I still refuse to shoot. Masaki has begun to grow confident but refuses to left the ball stop its motion. I calmly breathe in and then fire three shots. My first shot misses but my second shot finds its mark. I have studied Masaki's movements for a minute and I can tell he favors the right more than left. Just like fight or flight instinct, when surprised the human body will react in what it feels is the safest method. To Masaki, who favors the right, my sudden attack causing a knee-jerk reaction of sorts and I easily utilize this sending my second to shot to the right of the sphere.

Five minutes, ten minutes, thirty minutes pass as we trade off from attacking and defending. I am breathing calmly, deeper than usual but nothing erratic. I guess I have my training to thank for it. Masaki is worse for wear though. His breath is already coming in pants and has already messed up twice sending the sphere outside the fifteen foot radius. Even though our score is nearly tied it is clear I am at an advantage. I have been steadily regaining my ground from the four minutes of points he gathered in the beginning of the game. Still, it is testament to his ability to hold me off for this long. Even though his mind and body are less experienced than mine he is making me work for my points, refusing me time to rest. And then only a single minute remains. Masaki is in possession of the sphere and he is down by ten points. He will need fifty- five of the remaining sixty second to win. His eyes harden with resolve and begins to move the orb through the air erratically. I raise my CAD but I too am reaching my limit. Hour long strain of constant magic use is taking its toll and my young twelve year old body is being pressed hard regardless of persona. I begin to fire but my shots have little accuracy as the fly through the air. Its seems Masaki may have the contest in the bag. I cannot follow his movement and he is probably being as random as possible to avoid any sense of pattern. Still, I keep my CAD raised. My chance comes at 23 seconds remaining. His random pattern has gotten him too close to the upper limit of the scoring area and I fire a barrage of psion. Masaki sees this and is powerless to stop me. Up is failure but my shots cover most if not all possible escapes. My shot hits and I immediately move the orb back with a magic sequence but Masaki raises his hands in surrender.

"I forfeit, I don't have anything else to give," He pants as a smile breaks out on his face, "that was fun, we should do it again some time." I glance towards the stands where Gouki is looking on with a proud smile and Retsu has a ghost of a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, sounds good," I say generally happy at the outcome. We walk back to the waiting area where the adults wait and I return the equipment. We bid each other farewell, hoping to meet in the future and finally we leave the arena.

"Because of the contest I will need to send you home alone. I have other work to attend to." Retsu speaks as we approach the entrance where two limos wait. I glance at my watch informing me it is 10pm. "Nevertheless I am proud of you." I look at Retsu, confusion on my face. While not the first time I have gotten a compliment from the man, his praise is something of a rarity. "Masaki, has played that game since he was a mere boy and has had years of experience with it. He has beat people 10 years older than him and ended without a sweat. He is a prodigy among prodigies. However you pushed him to his limit and he even admitted he had no energy left to continue. This is certainly something to be proud of. Now go home and rest, the contest must have pushed you to your limit as well." With those words he departs and I climb into my limo. I consider the weight of my accomplishment but finally my exhaustion catches up to me and my mind stays blank for the duration of the ride. The limo driver pulls up and I jump out. The limo quickly leaves and I am left outside, gazing at the stars. I sigh, no need to delay. I climb the steps to my home and open the front doors. The house is dark and as the doors close behind me I feel a chill run down my spine.

Something is wrong, my battle instincts immediately warn me and my body is on full alert. My eyes are already scanning the darkness before I realize what the problem is. Ayumi's greeting is missing. While my arrival later than usual, she would still be awake at this time. I wait for a few seconds longer but I fail to hear to her voice or any footsteps alerting me of her arrival. I walk forward trying to seem unperturbed, but paranoia is welling up in me. My mind runs through a flurry of thoughts. Sick? Unlikely, she was fine this morning. Tired? She hasn't done anything more than ordinary so she wouldn't have broken her current sleeping habits. Injured? There were no calls to Retsu nor I during the day. I slowly walk till I reach the main gathering area in the house. I open the doors and I see a shadowed figure on the floor. I walk forward carefully until I can make it out clearly. Ayumi is on the floor covered in blood. My hand immediately smashes onto my CAD sending an emergency distress signal to all available bodies in the Kudo clan. My feet quickly take me to Ayumi and I am kneeling before her checking her pulse. He pulse is weak and I try to stand to find any available first aid materials but a hand stops me. Ayumi is looking at me with half lidded eyes, tears spilling from them.

"Minato, run…"

The lights flicker on and I am surrounded by 12 cloaked men all with guns trained on me. My hand immediately goes to my CAD but psion waves stop me. One of the men has antinite. One speaks his voice heavily modulated.

"Give up quietly and you will not be killed." My choices are limited. My magic is minimal thanks to the hour long endurance game and none of my weaker persona know strong enough spells. I only have one shot.

"Thanatos," I whisper the name, hoping beyond a prayer that I will be able to control him. The effect was immediate. I was on my knees screaming as my head felt like it was going to explode. Pain erupted through my body as it tried to shoulder the load of the harbinger of death. My conciseness is wavering but I am faintly aware of the firing of guns and shouts. The last thought I remember as my mind slips away is to kill them all.

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Name: Agent 724 (Obsidian)

Location: Fujibayashi Kyouko household

Time 10:30pm

The mission was simple enough. Kidnap a child. He was a magician and part of Kudou family at that. We had acquired antinite for this reason. Fortunately the boy's house had minimal security and his guardian was away more often than not. We were hired to take him on the final day of the Nine school's tournament which Kudo Retsu is known to attend. Our employers would contact Retsu for a meeting around 10pm and he would be held up for an hour at most. In this time we would kill the assistant and steal away the boy. So simple and yet…

The first notable difference was the arrival time of the boy. He arrived at 10:30pm, 2 and half hours after his normal arrival, but nothing too worrisome. My colleague set up a jammer that would scramble all distress signals leaving the area for 30 minutes. As soon as the doors closed behind the boy his fate was sealed. He wandered to the room where we had left the bleeding maid. As soon as he was distracted we entered the room and surrounded him telling him to come with us. We activated the antinite for further measures of safety.

That's when the metaphorical flip was switched. The boy grabs his head and his screams echo throughout the room. This is not what gathered out attention though. Blue, glowing glass spills out of the boy's ears. The glass starts collect above him and we watch cautiously. I glance at my colleague who still had the antinite active. Whatever it is it cannot be magic. A terrifying shape appears above the boy and many of my men falter. The thing looks like the personification of death. I scream the order to fire on the monstrosity and all 12 rifles start to unload. None of the shots make contact and soon we are out of ammunition. I begin the order to reload but I choke as the air grows inexplicably thick. Before I can gather myself, my body crumples and I empty the contents of my stomach onto the floor. I look beside me to see another member shaking uncontrollable. His pants have grown notably darker and the air smells of urine. I look around at my squad who are all showing similar actions. Many are on the floor gasping for air while others are sobbing. It is as if fear itself has permeated the room and we are its sorry victims. I look back at our target crumpled on the floor and back to the monster above him. What the hell is this boy? The beast turns midair to face me and then with a breath give out a ghastly wail that no mortal man should hear. The effect is instant as my whole squadron falls to the ground lifeless. I give one last look ahead until my heart too gives out.

Red and blue. The police lights flashing colors are embedded into my mind. I stare ahead at the world slipping past me. I feel cold although I have a blanket draped across my shoulders. I know what happened but I refuse to accept it. Ayumi is dead, killed for some arbitrary reason. What am I supposed to feel? I have been questioned several times but no words come out. In honesty, I have no idea what has happened, though I can guess. Kyouko has finally gotten the investigators to leave me alone. I am sitting on the staircase while medics and clan members are running about. Others are talking to police who are writing down notes. The whole situation seems so surreal. Just earlier I was having the time of my life but now I am feel nothing. Sadness for Ayumi, hatred for her killers, fear of what happened, it is if Thanatos has eaten all my emotions. What seems like seconds is hours and eventually everyone is gone. I look at my watch blankly and see the time reads 4:30am. The first thought in my numbed mind is I have training in 30 minutes and I better prepare. I attempt to stand by my legs are numb and I stumble. Kyouko is beside me instantaneously steadying me.

"Let's get you to bed." Her voice is calm and I follow her directions without question. My feet go to my room but my mind is blank and I only realize we have reached my bedroom when I lay down.

"Can you tell me what happened?" I shake my head. "You sure? I won't tell anyone I promise." I repeat my motion and Kyouko sighs but accepts my answer. She leans forward runs a gentle hand through my hair telling me to sleep. I nod robotically, but I see her eye shimmer with guilt. It is not her fault, she took me in as a child and took me in blind faith. So I make a split second decision, and as she turns to leave, I reach out and grab her hand.

"Can we talk?"

She looks at me confused, but nods quickly.

"You won't tell anyone right?"

"Yeah, I won't." So I tell her. Not just what happened that night but what happened all those years ago, all those nights ago. Filled with shadows and personas, with hopes and fears. She listens and as she does a single tear falls down her face. As I finish she draws me into a tight hug. She says no words of comfort because what can she say? She eventually tucks me beneath the covers and switches off the lights, telling me if I need to talk more to come and find her. I lay in bed weariness slowly taking over me.

"Viscounti asugan yagadancei." I whisper and then sleep claims me.

In the end, I guess that even if my reality is a nightmare, I can fall into sweets dreams just to escape for a while.

As always, here is the link.
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/4325312/Death276