Persona 3: Never To Leave

Fear The End

My eyes finally grew adjusted to the darkness, and I could finally see… well, it was just reassuring to know that everything around me was covered in a thick cloak of black. Actually… I looked up at the sky, finding pin pricks of white that seemed to fluctuate a little in colour. They were akin to stars. Why?

Looking down, it just felt like there was solid ground but I couldn’t see anything except a never-ending abyss of inky ebony. It was almost frightening though. The prospect of never being able to see the bottom. You’d never know when you’d hit the bottom if you were asleep.

Don’t think about it.

Now… how do I get out? I don’t even know half of what is happening now…

“Minato! Be careful!” I heard Nyx’s voice come through the stifling blackness.

I heeded her warning and kept my guard up. Though I had to wonder about her tone of voice. There was something about her tone that sounded uncharacteristic of her. Something that sounded…

…helpless.

Why? Nyx is supposed to be one of the most powerful, if not, most powerful being in the history of the Universe. How could there be anything besides the Universe Arcana that could possibly scare her? And she has my assurance that I won’t use it until the end, so what the hell is happening?

I heard a faint, yet dark laugh lingering in the back of my mind. It reminded me of Nyarlathotep, but…

“It is futile… Do not disobey me…” I heard. That voice… it was hauntingly deep, like that little voice in the back of your head that told you to do the stupid things in life and cause many problems. I couldn’t explain it any more than that. It was almost like… my Shadow.

It sounded like my Shadow, and yet I knew that it was so much more than that.

“Nyx, you have strayed… humanity has strayed…” the voice continued. Every single syllable that was enunciated in that one sentence sent shivers down my spine, nearly making myself stop mid-step. “Depravity befalls those who stray from the determined path…” Before I might’ve felt knee-deep in a whole lot of fear before… but that line. That one line…

I knew who this thing… this being was talking about.

“Thanks to your friend I am stronger than ever… stronger than I have ever felt in millennia… no. Through cycles of billions of years…” I didn’t have anything to say. What was there to say? This thing, whatever it is… it’s been plaguing me since the beginning of two years ago. Perhaps even longer. That was only when I really started to notice.

“Well done to your friend,” the voice continued. In that sentence, I could feel a small amount of amusement. Almost as if it was laughing. “…Nyx.” The way that the voice practically purred out her name… what the hell was that!?

“Shut up!” Nyx shouted. It was clear that she sounded very distressed. Oh man… where is she? “I don’t need to deal with you now…”

“That is what you say, but are you really that eager to go off into your friend’s arms?” the voice goaded. “I can feel the turmoil within your heart… it is evident in both of yours.”

Okay, okay… I need to focus… where are they?

I could feel where Nyx’s presence was at least. I made my way over to her as best I could, wading my way through the thick black. Why does it feel so heavy?