Chapter Text
"I still can't believe that, out of all of us, Zen and Rei are the first to get married."
"What are you talking about?" Souji asked. "They've never exactly been subtle... honestly, I don't think anyone could be worse, even Yuki-senpai." And engagement rings were expensive. Not that he'd say that out loud. He still didn't have enough for one, and while Yukiko hadn't started dropping hints yet... it was only a matter of time.
"I know. It's just... they look younger than the rest of us."
That was true. But it wasn't anyone's fault that, aside from Souji and Yukiko, it seemed that everyone's physical ages were the reverse of what they should have been.
...Well, okay, when it came to Shinjiro, there was plenty of blame to pass around, but bringing that up didn't seem like the healthiest thing in the world.
"They're technically twelve years older than us, though," He pointed out. "And even if it took them a decade to make it official..." And, well, no better way to cement the Arcanian immigrants being granted citizenship in various nations on Earth- for however long such a thing mattered, the environment being what it was- than with a wedding. Of course, for the six of them, it was more to celebrate finally being on their home planet again, but whatever worked.
The conversation was interrupted by a frantic knocking on the door. "Guys, guys!"
Souji sighed. "What does she want?" But he still went to open it, because losing a door to a Megidolaon seemed like a great way to get kicked out of their apartment. Sure, their leader was making plans to acquire an airship, but... really, he'd rather not be blacklisted from renting in Shinjuku.
Said leader stood on the doorstep, her eyes shining with excitement. "Souji-kun, you'll never guess what I found in the lab!"
"A sense of restraint?" He ventured. Really, even going biologically, she was still nineteen years old, the least she could do was act like it.
"First, don't mention that word around me. Second, do you really think that would be possible?" Hamuko, with a sense of restraint? Thinking about it, that did seem rather impossible. Then again...
"Don't you make a habit of doing the impossible?" Yukiko asked the question before he even realized he wanted the chance to.
"I haven't done that in a truly selfless manner in years, and you know it. I found the Velvet Room!"
Immediately, Souji's hand slipped to his pocket, fingers curling around the key there. He hadn't had use for it since his visit to Inaba for Golden Week got derailed in a way that was both good and bad.
Good because he got to see some of his friends, and Hamuko's teammates, again. Bad because that was when the world decided that it was finally going to end.
"You... you mean it? This isn't a joke, right?"
"Would I joke about this kind of thing? I got to see Theo and everything! Come on, we should all go see everyone!" It would be nice to see Margaret again, if she were really there... Marie, too. He could use some poetry of debatable quality right now.
"Wait... all of us? But... only two of us have keys." And only she and Zen had full clearance for the Gladsheim Laboratories anyway, unless Irving hadn't been telling him something the last time he visited.
"It should be fine if you hold their hand and drag them in! I already tested on Zen!" He'd warn her to be concerned about Rei, but... yeah, she'd be fine. Going back to the Velvet Room was something none of them had even dared to dream about.
And, well, it wasn't like he'd had any plans for his afternoon... Though, even with this new discovery, it'd probably still be something close to a normal day.
"Okay, we're in. Lead the way, Yuki-senpai."
"Every time, Vice Leader. And stop calling me that!" Yeah. Just another day.
This was not just another day. Souji picked himself up off the ground, looking around at what appeared to be an island in the middle of the night. Appeared to be.
"Nothing seems to be moving, is there?" Yukiko asked. He just shook his head. Actually... everything was grayed out. Like everything but the two of them was frozen in time.
Pausing, he reached for Izanagi-no-Okami's power, to see if there was some sort of illusion for him to dispel. Nothing. Though it did confirm one thing.
"Yukiko?"
"What is it?"
"We seem to have found ourselves outside time again. All I have is Izanagi. Both forms, but still..." A lot of the time, he wondered how Hamuko could keep her head on straight, what with having so many true Personas. At times like this, though... he was sort of jealous. Just having things to choose from... and more than one element, at that.
"So, we should try and find Zen first, right?" He supposed that made sense. When they found themselves outside time, the best thing to do would be to find the local time god.
"Right." And it was still sort of scary that they had any sort of protocol for this, but he supposed that was just a hazard of being friends with Hamuko. Every day was a new adventure.
They'd just have to hope this one turned out as well as the others.
Zen glanced around at all of the unmoving machinery. Were he a normal human, he'd almost think that he'd never left Gladsheim. But Gladsheim had MIKE, and scientists, and was generally not inside frozen time.
Rei seemed wholly unconcerned. But then, she'd spent ten years in nearly-frozen time. If the others were here, their reactions would likely be much more severe.
If they were even active. For all he knew, he was granted an exception due to his power, and Rei from the connection he'd created between them.
"Rei. We're going to find the others."
"Got it!" Sure, without weapons, they were limited to just his magic, but... he was a god, if an inactive one, and he could always split his powers with Rei. It would be fine.
Looking at all the signs surrounding her, all Hamuko could conclude was that she and Shinji had ended up in some sort of superhero-based dystopia. "You know... I think this might actually be one of the weirder things that's ever happened to me." Never a good thing to hear from an explorer of Yggdrasil, and especially not from her, but she figured she might as well say it.
"Great." Well, at least her boyfriend's sense of sarcasm was intact. Not that she felt she'd ever have to worry about that. "Any other good news?"
"We're outside time again. And I almost can't believe I just said that."
"You sure?"
"I'm down to four Personas, and my watch- which Zen-kun has handled multiple times- isn't working. Good news is, that means we can probably find you a sub-Persona if we need the extra power for something." Not that she expected to need it, with everything she could pull out, but... it was best to be safe.
It was always best to be safe.
Reassurance, love, and a hand on her shoulder. Hamuko wasn't sure when Shinji had gone from sensing her emotions to reading her thoughts, but maybe she was just getting predictable. "I don't think we'll need it. Not unless something like the Reaper shows up." And even then, there was a chance that they'd be fine, especially after the Star Devourer.
"You never know, it was there last time, too." Admittedly, in what seemed like an effort to get Chronos to do his job, and Zen still hadn't exactly been the most professional deity in the world during his final few years of activity, but it had been there.
And odds were it would want to come for Thanatos, too, if it got the chance. Not that she planned on giving it that chance.
"Doesn't that mean we should get moving? I don't think there are any pistons around." Fair point. And it wasn't like sticking around would give them anything, anyway. It wasn't like they had any weapons.
Well, okay, Hamuko carried her Evoker out of habit, but they'd both grown beyond the need for it. At most, she could use it to intimidate some Shadows into leaving them alone... if the incredible power that she and Shinji gave off didn't scare them away to begin with.
"Okay, then... you know, I think the worst part of this is, Souji-kun won't have Kaguya, so we can't just sit around and wait for him to scan for us." Still, she supposed one last adventure before retirement wouldn't be too bad. Especially if it was in a way that felt like when she'd been with SEES.
It was a nice feeling, if somewhat bittersweet. Those memories meant little, when there was no one to share most of them with, but they'd still been important, if only to a girl with Death in her heart and the potential to be anything she so chose. "Come on, let's try and find Zen-kun. If there's anyone who can fix this mess, it's him."
They managed to keep a low profile for a grand total of two streets, at which point a cop called them over because he thought Shinji looked shady. And Hamuko ended up losing her temper and setting the street on fire.
This was probably a bad sign for the future.