Death's Gambling

by Martin Länger

  “Calm down, tin-daddy. I'm not interested in you.” A giggling came from his mask as the raging battle behind them brought the roof to oscillate. “Hey, hey, hey,” he clapped into his hands. “What is going on with you guys? Can you not be happy, at least a little bit, when you see all of this? That's the chance we humans have always waited for,” with extended arms he tried to make his point.

  “Finally, we have enough power to tell everyone that wants to fuck with us, to suck it. No one can tell us what is wrong or right. No matter who we were, this kind of freedom just isn't possible in our world. This is the empowerment that we have waited our whole miserable life for!”

  His whole body was refreshed and happy, as if was only waiting for Leandro to fall into his arms, agreeing with his opinion.

  Though he eventually realized that wasn't happening, as nothing but bewilderment gazed upon him, turning his mood foul.

  “Tz, as you wish. I bet ya are one of those that think that we're all born equally. Everyone has the same chance, being free if they so desire it. That is nothing but COMPLETE AND UTTER SHITE! None of us are equal when we are born into our shitty world. But here… here we can obtain might beyond our wildest imaginations. Choosing where to go, though I admit this may not be the case for everyone. But goddamnit if it isn't a hundred times better to use that chance to be my own judge.” He ended his rant as he got bored of Leandro's non-existing reaction. Without giving them any more of his attention, he walked back to the fight, past the squashed corpses, without a second thought.

  “You're telling me this is the right way?” answered Leandro out of nowhere, as he was about to regain his consciousness. “Trying to force your worldview onto others, doing whatever you please?”

  The man overheard his comments and replied, “it seems like you haven't seen much since you've arrived. That would explain quite a lot, but let me tell you one thing. None of these cities are as harmless or as innocent as they pretend to be. All of them have their dark secrets that they don't want anyone to find out. If you survive, by whatever miracle, then you will come to realize that your own power is the only way to bring an end to all of it.” He averted his eyes, realizing they were filled with sorrow, finishing his last words with a whisper to himself.

  “At least that's the only thing I can still believe in. I wonder what you are doing right now, old pal.”

  “Enough of this foolery. Lord Despair awaits,” a voice they had almost forgotten, resounded from the back and right at that moment, the strange aspect was thrown at their feet.

  “Agneytta, are you hurt?!” the man worried about his aspect.

  “Just a lucky strike,” it panted.

  “Good. Then let us continue. Oh, and by the way,” he addressed Leandro one last time. “If you wimps truly think that playing the 'good guy' is worth it, then be my guest. After all this time we have the opportunity to do something with your worthless lives, and you want to throw it all away because of your fears or morals, or whatever holds you back. This is our chance!”

  With a hate-filled expression, he locked eyes with Leandro, as if the young man was the embodiment of a worldview that he could never accept, directing all of his anger towards him. He and his partner were storming away onto the nearly unstoppable enemy, while Peritus awaited them with his tail whipping holes into the ground.

  It became silent around Leandro once more, but inside of him, a storm was brewing. Thoughts afterthoughts were rushing through his head, and he forgot everything around him.

  “Empowerment of humanity, huh?” he grinned suddenly. “He's not wrong, Destare.”

  “Hm?! What do you mean?” the deep voice asked out of curiosity.

  “Ever since I've arrived here, I hoped that someone else or something would get me out of here. All of it must've been a bad dream, where I wanted to wake out off as soon as possible. To a fake world where I'm not disappointing anyone, because I'm trying to follow my own path.”

  For a second he paused and calmed himself down, as a tear rolled over his right cheek.

  “But how pathetic is that? My thoughts haven't changed since I've arrived here, and if I cannot even stand up for myself in this world, then I will never be able to. I have to stop giving others control over my life, deciding on my own. Even if it's scary as hell.”

  Destare nodded. “Stand up for you and your potential. You are the one who has to do it.”

  Leandro reciprocated his nod. “I would've never thought that I could forget that the one who's looking out for me the most should be myself.”

  He started to laugh, but it wasn't purely out of sadness, for Destare it felt like Leandro was slowly freeing himself of everything he had been shouldering.

  “One more request, Destare. After all you have done for me, please allow me to continue to use your strength until I have finally freed myself.”

  The giant, armored aspect began to embrace Leandro.

  “This shall be my first step,” he continued, looking around with open eyes at every gruesome detail. The wounded Personas, the corpses, the blood, the room that laid in ruins – and his opponents before him. With a spark, he began to run forward and opened his mouth.

  “Destare! Our attack starts now!”

  Without hesitation, the old duo joined the fray as if they were already used to it. Destare jumped right into the battle with his massive body, whereas Leandro was taking care of the wounded guests, bringing them to safety one by one.

  “What's the meaning of this horrific sight?” Peritus remained unimpressed and tossed two new fireballs in the direction of the two.

  Thanks to Agneytta on the defending side, they were able to counter attack making use of Destare’s destructive force. Whereas the team managed to escape from the burning boulders, Peritus evaded the oncoming assault with ease as well. Feeling safe, the entity was ready to strike once more until he realized a gigantic iron fist came right his way.

  Though it went down as another failed attempt, it wasn't without its success, as even Peritus was about to break a sweat from the unexpected turn of events.

  Like clockwork he dodged the onslaught of Destare, relying on his reflexes as his mind was seemingly absent.

  “I hate aspects. No, I mean it. Every one of these human maggots gets one and automatically thinks he can change something about their pitiful situation,” Peritus thought, while even a carefully aimed strike with the combined strength of the aspects didn't help them to get the upper hand. It was as if Peritus was always a tad too agile for both of them, slipping through their fingers.

  “And of course, each of them has his own useless abilities. As if figuring that out in every single combat situation would be fun. If only all of them knew why their aspects are with them, then I'm sure they would only be half as annoying,” the general finished his train of thought.

  “Ha, would you kindly tell me where you found your balls, kiddo?” the man, who was being called Charles by his aspect, tried to chat up Leandro who gave his best to ignore him.

  At the same time, Agneytta prepared three goo bullets in his mouth, before shooting them at Peritus, with Destare hunted after the general. Together the two aspects managed to corner him. Peritus had already been made aware of the fact that letting himself get caught in the ooze once more would mean a direct hit of Destare’s fist, which he wasn't going to test out. Yet, no matter how many times they tried, it wasn't enough.

  Like an acrobat, Pertius danced from one pile of rubble to the next and Destare was left with hitting into thin air. The hall had already been completely destroyed, looking nothing like its former glorious state. Leandro had escorted almost everyone who couldn't walk by themselves and was prepared to face Peritus.

  It was an uncomfortable feeling seeing them fight together, as Leandro knew how painful it was. It was too wasteful and uncoordinated compared to fight with Malice.

  “Are you done jacking off to your moral high ground, kiddo?” Charles obnoxiously teased him as Leandro joined his side.


  “Can you shut up only this one time? Not everybody can be an asshole like you. I couldn't help with the fight either way.”

  “Ha, so your defiance was able to let you grow some balls, well whaddya' know?” Charles giggled to himself.

  It had been the first time since the assault of the aspects started, that Peritus focused his view on the two humans. While they were preoccupied with their conversation, the cold eyes of the adnate face were staring at them.

  Destare noticed his change in behavior and anticipated what was about to happen, but before he could act, Peritus already flung him by his shoulders and smashed him into the floor with his lizard tail.

  “The only good thing about them is their inexperience. Otherwise, this could've been a problem. An aspect that has formed an alliance with his human is the most irritating of them all,” Peritus thought to himself while preparing another projectile of destruction.

  Agneytta eventually caught on as to what was happening, but it was already too late. With all of his might, the fearsome general threw his fireball at the two humans. Agneytta gave everything to reach them in time, and by some miracle, it seemed to work out.

  At the last second he materialized back from his liquid form and jumped before his partner and Leandro, trying to create a web of ooze in front of them, but it was all for naught. Before it was able to generate the wall, the aspect had already been crushed by the immense speed of the shot, barely deflecting it away from the two humans. It was a direct, destructive hit onto the aspect.

  “AGNEYTTA!” the man screamed as he ran towards the remaining half of his aspect's body.

  “Forgive me, Charles. I wanted to see you grow until you met your end. But it seems as if I'm the one who has to say goodbye,” it spoke to both of the two men, its voice trembling under the pressure of its impending death.

  “NO! IT'S NOT OVER YET! I DON'T ALLOW YOU TO DIE,” Charles yelled full of emotion, but to no avail.

  Another shot from Peritus hit the ground a few feet from them, blasting them away from Agneytta’s corpse. Though, the man did not falter. Charles stood up as many times as he could in order to get back to his aspect, whereas Leandro watched him from the ground.

  “It can't be over… we wanted to show the world what happens when they dare give us a chance as to not be worthless anymore. That we are strong and independent.”

  Leandro could see how the tears were flowing from underneath his mask, dropping to the ground. Making even such a crude man such as himself look like a poor victim of this harsh world.

  “How pitiful,” two sinister and familiar voices could be heard next to Charles

  “Your infantile games are over,” said Peritus and without further ado and cautious precision, the general pierced Charles’s torso with his tail.

  Unable to scream in his last moments, his body fell to the ground as Peritus removed his tail. Charles now looked just like all the other Leandro saw dying. His blood sprayed over the floor. Finally, the last nail had hit Leandro.

  “There is no room for doubts. This is no nightmare. This is his new reality. If I ever want to feel happy again with those close to me, I can never stop believing in myself,” he thought as he saw Peritus stepping towards him.

  “Hmpf. Looks like this one has given up as well,” the voices spoke to themselves, gloating about their victory. “How useless their little rebellion was. At least we are fulfilling our task.”

  “Maybe we should return to Lord Despair. I think taking on Pride is way more stressful than those little human runts could ever become.”

  The general continued to discuss with himself while preparing his last strike to decapitate Leandro. Before Leandro could even accept what was about to happen something came up from behind Peritus, drenched in blood and covered in spikes.

  Just as Despair’s servant was about to react, a gigantic Destare stormed into him with all of his might. He was like a raging bull that tried to pierce its predator. An enormous impact followed. Leandro could hear Peritus stomach twist and was immediately sent flying through the entire hall until he smashed into a wall on the other side.

  “Destare!” were the only words Leandro was able to muster up in this situation.

  “Forgive me as well, Leandro. I don't know for how long I can keep going,” the aspect answered while coughing up quite a lot of blood, going down on his right knee, breathing heavily.

  Destare's armor was painted red, and the gigantic aspect has never been bigger, with each spike coming out of his armor double the length of Leandro’s body. Out of every hole they erected themselves, seemingly hurting him while increasing his size and power.

  “Heh… You w-were ri-right, D-Daylan.” Spitting blood as well and gasping for air was Charles, who wasn't dead yet, desperately trying to say his last words. It felt like no matter how much pain he felt trying to do it, it was worth it.

  “O-one day s-someone will c-come... w-who doesn't accept my att-attiude and… ughlrhgl... w-will show me the way.” His voice was shaking as his throat cramped up, hopelessly trying to get rid of the blood in his lungs.

  “W-who would've thought th-that day came s-so soon... m-maybe I c-could've l-learned it on my own…”

  Originally Leandro didn't intend to listen since it seemed as if he was talking entirely to himself, but inside his heart, he felt that someone should listen to his last thoughts, even though he didn't deserve to hear them.

  On the other side of the room Peritus slowly acclimated himself from the collision and stepped out of the rubble. While on the other side Leandro was supporting himself with the help of Destare’s foot. His hand became drenched in the blood of his aspect, and his eyes were blurry. His fear and doubt weren't completely gone because of one little pep-talk, but he was determined to trust himself and his aspect, even if that meant their certain death.

  Chapter 28 – The Void

  As if the cruel wheel of fate hadn't finished turning, Emily and Olivia were looking at their own hopeless situation. After they fled with Balthasar and their aspects, they were separated from their old companion. Desperately had they fought their way through the halls and rooms, defeating every last one of Despairs henchmen, but there was no end in sight. It was a fight without a winner because no matter how many they struck down, more awaited them. When the opportunity arose for them to flee the worst imaginable thing happened.

  Just as the last thug of Despair fell to the ground and the room was quiet once more, they came across an ominous, dark presence, looming in the shadows. The two friends held each other in their arms, as their aspects were catching their breath, staring in the dark with intense focus.

  Out of the dark that was created by the broken lights and thrown over candles, something was thriving on the corpses of the fallen. Something irredeemable that had found its way to them, ready to reveal itself.

  Black, smooth wings were spanning themselves out in the open, as a grotesque gestalt made its appearance. With black hooves and claws, it came from the dark and clawed itself into the stone floor. In the same contrast a lean, long tail wrapped itself around its hairy legs, that were leading up to his slim torso. Visible bones and muscles were covered by a thin skin, where veins and its bloodstream could be seen, pulsating on the outside. Instead of a heart, there was a gaping hole in its chest, which didn't let any light through. Its entire head was coated in the same black skin as the rest of his body, making it look like a mask made out of skin, wrapping itself around its skull. It was so tightly put on and pressed together, that they could see the grotesque expression of its gaping jaw. Even the sharp teeth within, the non-existent nose and its empty eye sockets were completely discernible.

  Like a newborn, it crawled out of the dark side of the room and straightened itself up in front of them in all of its glory. It cracked the bones on his neck. Steam came through the skin that was pressed over his mouth as it was about to march towards Emily and the rest of the group.

  Out of the blue one of the wounded thugs grabbed the creatu
re by his hoof and spoek.

  “I beg of you... I don't want to die here,” he sobbed. “Help us. We were overwhelmed.”

  “Hmpf,” it groaned, letting out stream through a skin-wrapped jaw. A deep and grim voice came from the beast. “Overwhelmed, you say? Then let me help you.”

  The eyes of the warriors were widening out of joy but soon transformed themselves into an image of terror. The creature, which was at least three heads taller than everyone, immediately extended its giant paw after the man.

  “W-what are you doing?”

  “I'm helping you,” it spoke again in a serious tonality, as his claws slowly wrapped themselves around the man's head.

  “I-i thought you were rescuing us .. please .. no... You are one of our generals ..”, he whimpered while trying to free himself with his weak hands. But no matter how much he struggled, it didn't change anything.

  “Which is why I'm sure that you will welcome my generosity, isn't that right?”, even though nothing more than the smoothed out imprints on the general’s skin were lifelessly looking at the man, all of them could feel the unimaginably strong aura coming from him.

  The color in the eyes of the man began to fade, as he eventually came to realize that there was no escape. Right before it looked like he was about to lose his mind, he managed to mumble cold words of thanks to the general.

  “STOP IT AT ONCE!” Emily screamed after she had digested what was happening and bounced back to her usual self. With an unconcerned turn of his head, the creature looked at Emily and her friends.

  “Yes, I'm talking to you. You disgusting monster. Let him go right no-”

  Before she could even finish speaking, the beast crushed the head of the Persona between its claws. As if he had been nothing but an overly ripe fruit. The blood sprayed over his whole body, and the remaining pieces of his squished skull were sloshing on the floor.

  Emily was shocked, whereas Olivia couldn't hold on anymore and went on her knees to vomit.

  “The only overwhelming thing is the eternity of the void that awaits all of us,” he spoke to them.