...04/10/2009 Sunday; Dark Hour...
...FULL MOON OPERATION...
The impact against the wall still echoes when Yukari tries to pull in air.
A heavy pain tightens her chest. Each breath comes short, uneven. Something is pressing against her abdomen — dead weight, warm, unmoving.
"Ah… my head…"
Her voice drags out. She brings a hand to her forehead and massages slowly, trying to organize the thoughts still tangled in her mind.
The world is still spinning.
Hurried footsteps approach.
"Yuka-chan!"
Junpei crouches beside her, breathless. Koromaru appears right after, his paws scraping the asphalt as he stops next to them.
"Are you okay?"
Yukari blinks a few times and forces a small nod.
"Yeah… I think so."
She wipes her dirty hand on her jacket.
Then she looks down.
The air disappears from her lungs.
Lying across her legs is Akihiko.
Motionless.
"Sanada-senpai!" She grabs his shoulders and shakes him. "Wake up!"
A rough groan escapes his lips.
His fingers tremble against the ground as he forces his body to move. Every muscle feels twice as heavy.
Koromaru barks loudly, insistent, as if pushing Akihiko back into consciousness.
With visible effort, he manages to get himself upright onto his knees.
Junpei and Yukari finally see the shallow cut on his forehead, the blood mixed with asphalt dust and bits of concrete stuck to his face.
"Sanada-senpai… can you hear me?"
Akihiko wipes his face with his arm, clearing dirt and blood.
"That bitch…" He inhales deeply, still dizzy. "She caught me off guard…"
Mitsuru arrives running and stops next to them, rapier still firmly in hand.
"Are you all alright?"
"I'll live…" Akihiko answers, teeth clenched. "But what do we do about the Arcana of Fortune? It hasn't shown up again."
As if answering his question—
A metallic scream cuts through the Dark Hour sky.
Everyone looks up.
The Arcana of Fortune materializes in the air, golden, slowly spinning. The blue mask reflects the green glow of the full moon.
Then the sky lights up.
A beam of light descends, spreading like an invisible wave that hits everyone at once.
It doesn't hurt.
But it's heavy.
Suddenly, it's as if tons of water crash down on their bodies. Knees buckle. Shoulders sink. The air thickens.
The ground seems to pull them downward.
Minato and Hiro feel their feet sticking to the asphalt. Junpei grits his teeth trying to remain upright. Mitsuru drives her rapier into the ground to avoid collapsing.
Fuuka is the first to fall completely, her knees slamming into the asphalt.
"What's happening?!"
Her voice comes out confused, almost crushed under the weight.
Aigis is one of the few still standing. Her internal mechanisms strain at full force. The ground cracks beneath her metal feet.
"It's a spell from the Arcana of Fortune!"
The Arcana of Fortune descends lightly from the air.
She touches the ground and begins to hop.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
As if the crushing pressure didn't exist.
As if she were… having fun.
Her golden body twirls on its axis as a sound echoes from her — a high-pitched metallic noise, rhythmic, almost childish.
A celebration.
As if she had been waiting for exactly this moment.
Behind her, the air begins to distort.
A bright glow explodes outward, swelling like a yellow-green sun rising in the middle of the station street. The light is so strong it forces everyone to squint.
A massive silhouette begins to form inside the radiance.
"What is that…?"
Hiro manages to force his body upward, muscles trembling under the absurd pressure. He is one of the few still partially standing.
The glow dims.
And what appears behind Fortune makes the silence even heavier.
Two enormous roulettes.
Symbols carved into the first: a raindrop, a green cross, a white eye, a bluish flame, a cloud with three "Z"s.
On the second, numbers.
Zero through nine.
But one slot is empty.
The number two is missing.
The Arcana of Fortune hops again and strikes the roulettes with her metallic body.
Both begin to spin.
Slow at first.
Then faster and faster.
The symbols blur. The numbers vanish into a continuous ring.
No one can move.
The weight still pins them to the ground as if under an invisible waterfall.
The roulettes begin to slow.
The spinning sound grows deeper.
Heavier.
The first roulette decelerates.
The white eye symbol almost stops aligned at the center mark.
For a whole second.
The air freezes.
But at the last moment—
It clicks forward one more step.
And stops.
A cloud with three "Z"s.
The symbol glows.
A shiver runs through the group.
The second roulette begins to slow down.
The sound of each "tick" echoes through the street like a hammer striking metal.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The tension tightens everyone's chest.
Because now they understand.
It's choosing someone.
Tick… 6.
Tick… 7.
Tick…
The roulette slows even more.
Hiro feels something strange in his arm.
He looks down at his armband.
The number 8 begins to glow.
The final click echoes.
The roulette stops on the number 8.
The Arcana of Fortune lets out another metallic sound — excited — and turns toward Hiro.
The magical pressure crushing everyone disappears instantly, as if a giant hand had released them.
Air fills with broken breaths, weapons return to hands, bodies push themselves upright with difficulty.
Mitsuru rises in a jolt, her eyes going straight to Hiro, who is standing — but with a vacant, unfocused gaze.
Hiro blinks a few times, confused, feeling the weight vanish… but something is wrong.
Terribly wrong.
The armband on his left arm glows.
It isn't a normal glow — it's a deep, sinister purple, pulsing like a warning.
And then, the sky splits open.
A beam of purple light drops from above like a lightning strike, hitting the top of Hiro's head with cruel precision.
There is no explosion.
No scream.
Just a sharp sound and silence.
Everyone's eyes widen.
Yukari covers her mouth.
Junpei stumbles a step.
Koromaru growls low.
Hiro remains standing… for an instant.
His eyes roll back, showing only white.
His legs give out.
And then, as if the world's power had been cut, he collapses — his body falling forward, his face slamming into the asphalt with a dull thud.
"W-wait… what…?" Minato murmurs, his voice cracking.
Mitsuru feels the air leave her lungs.
A slicing cold spreads through her, just as fast as the rage and fear.
"Hiroooo!" her scream echoes between the station walls.
The Arcana of Fortune keeps hopping.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The metallic sound echoes like mocking applause.
Then, with one final jump, its body begins to distort — like a reflection on water being stirred.
And it disappears.
Only the two roulettes remain, spinning slowly in the air.
Minato is already running.
He slides to Hiro's side, his sword slipping from his hand and clattering against the asphalt. He grabs Hiro by the shoulders and carefully turns him over.
"Hiro! Hey!"
Mitsuru and Fuuka arrive right behind him and kneel beside them.
"What happened?" Fuuka looks toward the empty space where Fortune vanished. "He just fainted…"
Mitsuru helps Minato roll Hiro fully onto his back.
His nose is bleeding from the fall. A thin red line runs down his face, staining the asphalt.
But other than that…
He looks peaceful.
Minato shakes his shoulder gently.
"Hey, Hiro. Wake up. What happened?"
Mitsuru brings two fingers to his neck.
And she feels his pulse — steady.
She exhales slowly, relieved that Hiro is okay.
With her glove, she wipes the blood from his nose. "He's okay… he's just asleep."
"Asleep?!" Junpei shouts from the other side. "How the hell does someone sleep at a time like this?!"
Fuuka presses her hands to her chest, eyes drifting back to the roulettes.
"It looks like each symbol on the roulette is some kind of effect… something that can affect us."
A shrill scream cuts through the air.
The Arcana of Strength floats above her twisted bars, her shoulder still dripping black fluid. She moves the rose like a conductor leading an invisible orchestra.
The bars respond.
Minato gets up.
He picks his sword off the ground. With his other hand, he pulls the Evoker and looks at Mitsuru and Fuuka.
"Try waking Hiro up. Junpei, Aigis, and I will hold off the Arcana of Strength until Yukari heals Akihiko."
Fuuka nods, still anxious. "Okay… just be careful."
Minato gives a small nod.
And darts forward.
Junpei runs right behind him, gripping his sword with both hands.
Aigis advances with heavy steps, the ground cracking beneath her metal feet.
MEANWHILE… SOMEWHERE ELSE…
Footsteps echo.
Slow. Steady.
The streets are empty.
Coffins line sidewalks and plazas, arranged under the greenish light. There are dark patches of dried blood on the asphalt.
But none of that holds his attention.
Shinjiro walks alone.
His head low. His thoughts heavy.
The letter. He knew.
So he really knew everything that happened?
He remembers?
The questions won't stop.
A purple flash cuts across the distant sky…
Followed by echoes of screams.
Shinjiro stops for a moment and turns his head.
Far away, the light descends from the sky.
He recognizes it.
S.E.E.S.
The Arcana Shadows.
They're fighting.
His fingers curl slowly into a fist.
He knows they're struggling.
He knows.
But he also knows the team is strong.
They can handle this without him.
Shinjiro turns his gaze forward again.
"I'm sorry… Hiro. Akihiko…" His voice comes low. Heavy. "But I have to take care of this."
He resumes walking.
Without looking back.
Heading toward the station near Gekkoukan High School.
Where it all began.
TO BE CONTINUED...