(Spoilers for the 7/7 Full Moon Operation.)
With one final swing of his blade, Minato Arisato cleaved the Heirophant Shadow in twain. The monster of the Dark Hour gurgled its last before dissipating into black motes and foul-smelling air. With the Shadow defeated, Minato, Junpei, Yukari and Akihiko lowered their weapons.
"Good job," Fuuka congratulated the group over the radio. "You succeeded once again. I'll be waiting outside for you."
Akihiko breathed a sigh of relief, rolling his shoulders. "Nice work, everyone."
"Oh yeah, we showed that creep who da man is!" Junpei exclaimed, pointing triumphantly to himself. 'Da man' was the one clearly covered in the most scrapes and bruises from the prior battle.
Yukari let out a tut as she recounted her arrows, ensuring that she didn't misplace any. "It's thanks to me and Io that you're still standing, Stupei."
Junpei brushed off the criticism with a characteristic chuckle. "Heh heh... If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're falling for me, Yuka-tan."
The pink-clad archer could only roll her eyes, turning to Minato. "So, should we-"
Minato had begun examining the furniture around the 'love chamber' the Heirophant Shadow had called its lair. Yukari could only stare as he tapped a potted plant, as if to affirm that it was actually real. Whether he was trying to gather clues or simply being his unusual self was hard to tell - Yukari could never get a read of their elusive leader.
"Come on," Akihiko said, taking charge in Minato's relative absence. "Let's meet back up with Fuuka."
"Good idea," Yukari added, rubbing one of her arms apprehensively as she looked over the chambers. "I can't wait to get out of this place already..."
Akihiko gave a firm tug of the door handle.. only to find the door locked tight.
"The hell..?" Another strong pull. Nothing.
"Lost your strength, huh, Akihiko-san?" Junpei mused, stepping in front of the red-clad boxer. "Here, lemme show you..."
Junpei tried the same, and as expected, the result was the same. "Ugh, come on, ya stupid..." Junpei furiously twisted the handle to and fro, but to no avail. Losing his patience, Junpei unsheathed his sword and brought it down on the door, but all he achieved was sending a few sparks dancing into the air as the metal couldn't leave so much as a dent. "G-Geez, what kinda wood did they make this thing out of..?!"
"Huh?!" Fuuka's voice echoed on the radio. "I still sense a Shadow in that room! It's not the same one you defeated!"
Everyone in the SEES forward team felt the hair on their neck stand on edge. Yukari, Junpei and Akihiko spun around, glancing at the seemingly empty room, expecting some sinister Shadow to slither its way through the floorboards or burst from the bed like some demented prankster. Instead, the only thing in view was Minato silently examining a full-body mirror.
"But... Where is it hiding?" Fuuka said aloud, clearly as perturbed as the others.
Yukari, Junpei and Akihiko kept their weapons drawn, anticipating an ambush at any moment. "Where the hell is it..?" Akihiko growled, his eyes flickering to the corners of the room.
"Check this out," Minato said, his quiet voice cutting through the tense silence.
"D-Dude, no time to start admiring your own reflection!" Junpei retorted.
"I don't have one."
"What?" Yukari said, storming over as if in a rush to prove him wrong. Instead, the color drained from her face as she saw many things in the mirror - from the queen-sized bed to the garish paintings - but the reflections of herself and Minato were not among them. "I-Is it just me or is there something strange about this mirror?"
If Junpei or Akihiko had an answer for her question, Minato never heard it, as all of a sudden, his vision twisted and distorted. Grunting in pain, he felt an alien sensation, as if the mirror was somehow staring into him. Right beside him, yet a million miles away, Yukari's distant sigh resonated in his mind, as she seemed to be affected by the mirror in much the same way. A ringing sensation filled his ears until they were fit to burst, and then mercifully, Minato felt his vision turn white as he faded from consciousness.
*
My head feels foggy...
Minato blinked as he regained his senses, clearing the lingering pale light from his eyes. The first thing he was aware of was that he was laying on the ground for some reason. He moaned with discomfort as he pulled himself up to a seated position and examined his surroundings.
If the 'love palace' had been creepy enough when they first entered, they were now outright frightening at an entirely alien scale.
What looked like one of its simple bedrooms had been transformed into a massive landscape - the ceiling was so distant as to be the sky, while the door to the room verged on the horizon. The springy surface he had awoken on was a circular bed, now stretching outwards like an enormous plateau of velvet. Far away in the distance, he could hear the rushing of water, which sounded more akin to a rainstorm. By his best estimate, Minato was now merely the size of an insect - small enough that anyone could pinch him between their finger and thumb with zero effort.
The morbid mental imagery gave Minato pause for thought - was there anyone else here? As a matter of fact, why was he here?
I feel like I had something important to do...
As if on cue, the 'rain' stopped. Any further attempts to gather his disjointed memories ceased when Minato felt a lightning-hot pain in his synapses, causing him to reel back in pain. A voice cut through the pain in his head with perfect clarity.
Embrace your desires...
I am the voice of your inner self...
Enjoy the moment...
The dreadful sensation subsided, allowing Minato a brief moment of relief, only for it to be snatched away as the bathroom door in the distance opened. He felt his heart skip a beat as Yukari stepped out, titanic in stature and clad in nothing but a pink towel wrapped around her torso. At such a statuesque size, she was more alike to a goddess. Minato could only watch as the lumbering giantess approached the bed, her eyes looking side to side, as if looking for something...
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