Curse of Red [Hibiki - Aithne - S. Cyril - Kahn]

'What is it this time?', Hibiki thought, feeling almost a bit sarcastic when he suddenly woke up in a place completely immersed in a thick red fog, the visibility practically nonexistent. He wasn't even too shocked anymore, as things like these were apparently becoming a casual occurence. Although, he would have appreciated at least a warning one of these times. It would have been much more pleasant to know he was going to get dragged somewhere in advance. But, what was he to do? He figured he had no choice in the matter of the supernatural of this level, as much as he wished he could. Might as well see what was this impromtu 'meeting' about. Or whatever it was. He could vaguely see other people besides himself in the fog, but before he could identify the figures, a booming voice spoke, effectively distracting him.

Whoever it was, obviously had their own ways of viewing humanity. So they were forced here to hear that it was futile to keep trying to save Ueitawa? Sure it was nice that they were getting informed, but those words were a bit harsh. All humans were different. Grouping them all together would never work, would it? Hibiki had been walking forward a bit, trying to find the source of the voice, and stopped abruptly when he could make out a shape of a strange entity. Just what were they talking with? Well, that didn't matter at the moment. Maybe they'd introduce themselves in time.

''Are you sure you do understand us? It is true that humans may look back on things and wish to change them, and even want a perfect world, but that is all a part of living, isn't it? It appears you think that if we lived in a dream reality, with a world, we'd be happy. For a while, maybe. But what would the result of such a world be? No need to fight for anything, or face consequences of our actions, simply because in such a world it is not necessary. It might sound nice, but I doubt it would work. A dream should stay exactly what it is, a dream. In a world you propose, humanity would have no reason to puch forward, to progress, because everything would be the way they wish. We are not Gods ourselves. We weren't made to live that way. Most may not realize the situation, but I myself don't fancy the idea of living in a made up fairytale. It'll just make us two- dimensional creatures, that have no reason to move forward, and be stronger on our own. We learn from the mistakes we make, and are capable of making our own future better if we put ourselves to it. Why would I want to be a slave to an image of reality? I don't see the benefits worth it. That's why. I liked the world as it was, even with its faults, no matter what you say. You can't just push your ideas on everyone, it shows you are the one being immature, if you believe all of us will simply bow down to your will.''

Hibiki was starting to feel like he was giving speeches left and right these days. But if this being wanted to hear their reasoning, he'd say his word. That was why they were here, right? He had a feeling this was going to be a long discussion.....'Why do I always get myself into these things?...'

How does Cyril’s Shadow always get lucky somehow? Two brushes with death and he may very well still be alive after all this. He fell from a random horde of Shadows that seemed to even want to attack him. They were also much stronger than him. But whatever the case, he was more surprised than scared at all about where he seemed to wake up. Everything around him was nothing but red fog. Cyril practically felt like he was home in the red fog. He would slowly stand up, touching his face and arms. He seemed to be conscious or at least alive, if not in his own head. The red fog did not really scare him too much, as this was what he wanted right…? At least, up until now, the thought of Shadows taking the world would be absolutely wonderful. ‘But if I truly will not live through it….’ He thought to himself. What was the origin of those Shadows? Furthermore, what happened to Cyril? Was he truly dead and he was only deluding himself? It was during this pondering that he heard a sudden voice, that caused him to look in all directions, before focusing on where the voice seemed to come from. He would walk through in the direction of the voice slowly, his hands shaking slightly. He could not deny he was actually a bit afraid. The original Cyril was a fool, and did not care for his own life, but his Shadow; he had to live. He had to see the life he left behind.

He would continue to walk as the voice spoke to him. Why did the voice refer to him as a son of Man? The Voice sounded as though it knew all, the tone it seemed to give. Surely if that was the truth, then it would know this man was a Shadow. The Voice talked of this “gift” it wanted to give to humanity, the gift of their own reality. Cyril admittedly loved the sound of that. A world created by you and only you.  At the same time, this world, if the Voice is causing this, the red world taking the human world, why should he try to listen to him if all he got out of it was death? He would remain silent until he was finished, finding a dark figure that Cyril could simply not focus on. Though, he did catch the voice of another man, which caused him to turn to that direction and listen to them. Cyril was between agreeing about this “God’s” invasion of his life, and realizing something. He was not a human. Perhaps he was not referring to him. Or was Cyril not important in this situation? “What are you saying? You call it a gift and I get killed with it. If all your gift is is just to serve some select few, instead of everyone, then it sounds a bit hypocritical don’t you think? If this is intended to be a gift, why have I not seen the joys of your own reality? All I see is Shadows killing me,” he said. Cyril almost sounded selfless for a second. But it was the truth. “You aren’t gifting humanity, hell even I see that the way the Shadows were just devouring humanity. Not that I care, but surely you knew humans would take this the wrong way. Having this kind of world would be fun, but what is the point if I die before I use it? Either I get this power, or I go to the life I had before and live through that. It’s not like I have too many demands. What kind of being are you?” he said. Cyril was growing irritated with this being. Who was he to try and kill him and call it a gift to humanity? What was the point when all he could do was just live the life that the original foolish self could not. Some God…

Gabby was getting tired of being dragged into alternate dimensions via her dreams. This was the third time now, and there was never good news to be had. This first time resulted in a giant fight, the second in finding out Lori was comatose, and she could only imagine what this time would be. As the red smog filled her eyes, she sighed in annoyance. Gods would have to learn that this was an inconvenient way to get someone to listen to them eventually. She was waiting for Nyarlathotep (in whatever form he chose) to speak to her again, and was taken aback when something else happened. Whatever this thing speaking to her was, it didn’t think much of the god that gave her power.
 
He started what sounded like a rant against the human desire to keep living. Honestly, Gabby understood where he was coming from. She hadn’t given two cents about this entire world less than a year ago, but now, “Whatever it is you think you’re getting at, leave me out of it. You’re ideal world is horrendous. An ideal world sounds beautiful, but your ideal has so far included death, destruction, oh, and my comatose friend. I think that’s the worst ideal I’ve ever heard.” She had learned a lot in the short time she had been involved with the world of Persona, “I used to live in an ideal world, full of delusions and hope. I have to admit, compared to now, that world was awful. I’ll take this world any day over that mess.” At least she was alone in her opinion. Sure, not all of them agreed on the exact reason this world shouldn’t fall into this ‘ideal’, but the other two who spoke so far seemed to be on her side, “Sorry, but unless you have a better argument, count me out. In fact, I think crushing your ideal would be much more fun.” She was tired of these things called gods playing with her. At least Nyar seemed to just sit back and let her make her own mistakes most of the time. As for this thing, she just really wanted to give it a swift kick in its massive head.

Kahn found himself in a world with red fog, this was very concerning. Had his dorm been consumed by Limbo in his sleep....no....this wasn't his dorm. This place was different. He had never been to this place, and it was a bit weird to be summoned from a dream. Granted, why should he be that surprised? The supernatural and occult was becoming a common occurrence. This left the question of what exactly summoned him. One of the Gods or the Killer perhaps. Regardless, if it could do this and wanted to pick off him and his allies one by one...then he would have to survive this trial so he could help the others. He looked around the fog trying to see through it, when a booming voice spoke to him.

The owner of the voice was enormous, at least that is what he could tell from the silhouette. Well the bigger they are the harder they fall or so they would say. Granted, Kahn had figured that whoever this being was...it was otherworldly. Could it be one of the gods? What about a Persona...it was possible, but could a Persona drag him to another realm? That was certainly a possibility, but the red haired avenger was leaning toward the fact that this was more of a God. Whoever, this being was it seemed to believe it knew what humanity wanted. It even scolded them for challenging the power of a God...well that narrowed down what it was for sure. It spoke of how humans hated their current lives about how they look back to the past and wish they had done things differently. The God offered a world where all of humanity's dreams would be true, and reality would bend to their whims rather than being forced to live in the circumstances that reality placed them in. A bold and arrogant speech for sure, Kahn would have to send a memo to whoever taught this God to use rhetoric.

"You know, I'm not really sure how you can claim to understand us, when we don't even understand ourselves. Every human is different, it's what makes us human. You can't say humanity as a whole wants something, because it simply isn't true. If we did then we, the small few, would not exist. The dream world you propose sounds nice and all, but I know a lot of people that would abuse that power and do harm to others. The world you would create could be twisted for malevolent purposes. What would happen then? Is it still such an ideal world? No, it isn't! It is twisted and even worse than what we have now! At least in this world I could do something to people who would dare to harm others. Not to mention in your world, it would be a simple fairy-tale, and we wouldn't be able to be "human". We live through our lives, we make our mistakes, and we learn from them. It is what makes us human, it is how we grow into our own individual person! We do look back on our mistakes, but because we can't change it we develop from them. We accept the consequences and learn from them, that it is what it means to be human! In this ideal world you speak of we would not have to go through such trials, we would essentially stop being "human". It would take away the core trait that makes us what we are, you would be making us extinct. In the reality that humans have we have to face our demons, no matter how far we run. However, after we strike down those demons, we move on to be a better person and make the world better! We may not be happy, but that doesn't mean we can't find happiness! I've found happiness in this reality, despite the mistakes I've made. Everyone can be happy, they just have to reach for it and face the demons they fear." He wasn't done just yet, there was still one more thing he needed to address. "Also if you have something to do with Natashi and The Killer, then you have a roundabout way of showing your "gift"! One has thrown innocent people into a dangerous place where they are trapped, and slowly being drained away. The other murdered people! If this is the ideal world you had imagined, then you can keep your damn gift. Because I guarantee you that world is much worse than the reality we have today!"

Now he was done, his green eyes glaring at the being in the fog. This being wanted his two cents, well it got it and then some. If this God was behind all this, then Kahn had a whole heck of a lot more anger to deal with. Because of this God's arrogant thoughts he had lost friends, all because this being had the great idea to push its views onto humans. While he was tempted to give the being a very rude gesture, he would hold that back, picking a fight here and now was very unwise. Contrary to what this God thought, he wasn't searching the sky for a reason to live, he had found beauty and happiness in the reality he lived in. If he had to fight for it, then he most certainly would, and he wasn't about to let some snob of a God tell him what to do or how he should live his life.

''Fine, I'll admit you have some interesting points there, but I still find a bit too strange. You keep saying that you're practically trying to help humanity, but it hardly seems that way. You're annoyed that we're resisting, but be honest, the way you're going about this heavenly change does not make it look pleasant. So all of those that were lost would come back in this ideal world of yours? I still don't get why make them suffer and go through that in the first place. From what I heard, the Killer has been just murdering people left and right. I don't see why doing so would be a factor in bringing forth an amazing world. The only things that happened so far brought unhappiness with them. It just doesn't equate. You say you are not a malevolent God, yet you go about doing things this way? And as you say, if there are countless realities, then there should be countless possibilites as well, right? Which would mean, we wouldn't have to lose in every one. Besides, you've already caused a lot of death, a threat like that is no new thing. In a way, that might actually be a better choice, than watching this insanity unfold, because a 'gift' given like this does not feel right at all. You are practically forcing this on us. Even if you are a God, shouldn't we have the right to make our own decisions? Or do you mean that we're just pawns in your game?''

This, God or whoever this was, was sure going to great lenghts to persuade them, making them doubt themselves, but what was the truth really? Hibiki knew that some of them made mistakes, and almost everyone had a burden they carried, but at least they had a reason to carry on. This whole idealism just seemed like a big mess. Even if they could indeed bring people back, would they even be happy that way? Many of them actually fought for the world to stay as it was. Sure, those who didn't know better might not care, but knowing the process of this, Hibiki couldn't just accept it. It was too farfetched. It just didn't seem right, no matter which angle he looked at it from. He wasn't about to bow down that simply this time. Even if they were forced to leave someone behind, there were still people who deserved to live peacefully, and not getting dragged into something like this. A sketchy reality just wasn't it...

This God was no doubt right. That was the first thought that popped into Cyril’s head. He could just become real. He didn’t have to forever live behind the fool trapped in Limbo, he could simply erase him from existence and live his own life. It did however bother him when this God accused him of siding with the humans. Truthfully, he did not care, so long as he lived. He would either grow stronger himself, or get this power. But now that he has learned what it can truly do, it was all the Shadow of Cyril could do to not just simply shout his approval. His life could be taken back, and all he had to do was just let this God take over the world? He would even get to be his own person. The gritting of his teeth soon turned into a half smile. He chuckled lightly, itself turning into a slightly hushed, but an enjoyable laugh, interested in the idea and all it had. “You know? I am liking that idea more and more now. Being real and having my own life to control. How can I not want it? Alright, a deal is a deal. I want what’s coming to me,” he said now a grin, which would have looked happy if his golden eyes were not so full of wild enjoyment, like a beast reveling in its kill.

Though, the thought hit him that the person who spoke before him did not share that sentiment. No, the idiot disagreed with an amazing type of reality. Did he seriously hope to end it? ‘Why would you ever sacrifice this?! It’s too good to pass up!’ he thought, his teeth gritting once more. “Idiot….” He muttered out loud to the boy, with a low enough voice. If only he could see the people directly, he would have to find a way to shut this boy up. At least get him to close his mouth, as the voice was annoying him more and more. This boy was human, which meant little to him. If humans could give their lives of conflict and strife up, why wouldn’t they? ‘Pass the fun to me, I will certainly enjoy my life more,’ he thought. He looked to the God and crossed his arms slowly, calming himself for the moment. He better at least not get in over his head, especially with this chance in front of him. If he wasted it, it’d be all over for him. He had to be ready for the God’s gift, and take it with gratitude. The Ultimate Life, a fitting world from the Ultimate Reality.

Gabby went quiet as the god began to speak again. She clenched her fist at her side as he told her about the ideal world. She hadn’t been against it, per se, just angry at the way it had to be accomplished. She wasn’t too ecstatic to know that was the reason her friends kept getting hurt. But… The price for crushing that ideal world was the same person she was trying to protect. For her, the decision was easy to make, ‘I’m sorry, Lori…’ She looked up at the god in the mist. She wondered what would happen if she let the next words leave her mouth. She was actually afraid. For the first time in a very long time, she was legitimately afraid of the unseeable future. She wished she had never gotten involved with this world. No gods, no Persona, no lose-lose decisions. She would curse herself for her decision later, “You know, I’m starting to get tired of doing what I’m supposed to. I’m only human, after all. I have wants and desires just like the rest of humanity. So, let’s see this ideal world of yours.” Maybe those under Nyarlathotep where just easily persuaded, as the other one seemed willing to follow this god too. Later, she would have to apologize to Lori for siding with the people responsible for putting her in a coma.
 
She couldn’t see any of the others, but after what this god said, she knew that the one who turned down the offer was probably going to be a problem. As for the one who seemed to agree with her, she had mixed feelings. She was conflicted herself. What she was doing now, she could only justify if she really did get everything she wanted… The Ultimate Reality? What was it and how could each person get what they wanted?

Kahn clucked his tongue at the God's statement about bringing back his friends. It was true he had failed a few times, and those were his demons he would surely have to face. He would...in time, once all this was over. The God seemed to think the ends justify the means, so whatever the cost the ends would justify it. However, was that really true? Not in Kahn's book, the suffering of one of his friend's did not justify the pleasure the tormentor got. Were there times when means justified the ends....yes, but the goal this God was pushing was not one of those times. Then the God spoke of his two pawns mission, of how they were to facilitate the new world. Then it was back to how everyone lost would be brought back in the ultimate reality as they were.....

For some reason Kahn did not buy that. He couldn't explain it, but based off what he had seen and heard about those who had been placed in this ultimate reality, it simply did not fit. Anya and Scarlet were in a trance...was that really who they were? No, it wasn't it. If in this ultimate reality that is how the lost people would be, then they were not the same. They were zombies that could be used, or perhaps even false images that could be created to trick the people in the "Ultimate Reality". Far too many unknowns for Kahn's taste.

"You know for someone who is supposedly omni-potent, you are really blinded by your own views. You claim you are not a malevolent God, when one of your chosen pawns goes out and murders people! You claim not to be a malevolent God, yet you are so insistent on your beliefs that you shove them on others without asking them for their ideas. You act like you know all the answers, but I'm not sure you really do. If you did then maybe you wouldn't be forcing this reality on us. Also if the people in this ultimate reality are anything like the ones I've seen and heard, then they won't be who they really are! They won't have the characteristics that make them who they were. I've seen it with Scarlet, and I've heard about it with Anya. If your ultimate reality involves brainwashed people who are in a trance and act differently then who they really are, you can count me out! Those aren't the people I lost, just fake copies of them!"

He was standing beside whoever else stood against the God, but there were two who stood beside it. Perhaps his words would knock some sense into them, and if not...then he would have to explain it to them in another way. Then again this being may decide to just kill him and be done with him, but one thing is for certain...he won't be going down without a fight!

Cyril grinned a bit at the God’s “compliment”. Someone finally appreciated him and wanted to do something with him. The idiots who went against his idea seemed to vanish according to His proclamation. Good, he figured. He didn’t have to waste his time trying to fight them. Though he figured someone else stayed. He could not see her clearly, assuming it was a girl. Cyril would have gotten upset at the notion, but even she had a brilliant mind! ‘You can’t find that in people these days….’ He thought. Cyril may actually be able to handle decent conversation with her. “Hey, lady,” Cyril would call out to her specifically. “I’ll give you that you have a smart brain. For a human, that’s something,” he  finished, laughing a bit. Though, that wasn’t the most important thing on his agenda. He was more interested in what this God had to say. He would return his look to Him, giving a smile, his eyes gleaming with a twisted eagerness. The God seemed to talk of power, and His most willingness to offer it. How often did anyone else give Cyril this chance? Even the real Cyril didn’t take the chance when he got the offer from Nyarlathotep. What a fool…

And all he had to do was get rid of people the God did not like? Good, cause more than likely, Cyril would not like them either. This plan could very well be easier than he expected. Cyril did however hesitate slightly when he said his power from his creator, the Crawling Chaos would be replaced. But in only took a little bit to decide if he should turn back. “You know. I like you. You seem to be even more gracious than my own creator. He never assisted his own children.  I may be luckier than I thought,” he said, laughing a bit more now. The irritation was practically gone from his mind. The only dilemma was how quickly he thought he could get this power. “I got my free will with this power right? Just have to take down people that disagree? Simple. Lemme know if I am needed any more. You as well Lady,” he said, speaking to the girl. “What do you go by, God? Impolite to take this gift without that no?” He said chuckling lightly at the end of his talking. Almost immediately after finishing, he would practically run forward into the red light, ready to take in the meaning of true emancipation. Finally something to keep him alive. He could finally move on and acquire something to make himself something powerful, something interesting!

‘For those clouded by the truth? That’s a strange way to word it.’ She wasn’t in the position to question, however. She was actually expecting something more grand to happen than this god just shooing the other two away. He would offer her power, his own instead of Nyarlathotep’s. She couldn’t deny this god now. She had already made her choice. Gabby had mixed feelings about being told she was smart by someone whose face she couldn’t even see, especially since it sounded like a backhanded compliment, “And you seem decently intelligent for a shadow.” It hadn’t been hard to figure out what he was based on the way he spoke.

She would stay quiet for the rest of the conversation. She didn’t want to put any doubt in her mind about what she was doing. She already felt like she had to apologize to Lori for agreeing to follow the same god as the killer. She did have to agree with the shadow, though. Nyarlathotep rarely seemed to help any of them. He even mentioned that it was Yhoundeh that had protected Lori. It didn’t seem as though he had lifted a finger, except giving Gabby the memories. Though, the way this god spoke about Natashi didn’t make her think he would be much better. When the red light appeared in front of her, she would step inside with barely a moment’s hesitation. She couldn’t serve this god with her old god’s power. Maybe she could at least make the ideal world come true. There was no turning back now.