Following Aigis's lead , the team entered the new block once again . Dread was filling their hearts , and for once Minato wasn't the only one scared by the darkness , as at any moment , the F.O.E of this block could come out of nowhere and separate them again . For a while , though , they traversed the first few floors without encountering the F.O.E . Shadows would appear and try to trap or separate them , but that was nothing they couldn't handle . The tension was starting to be relieved when they climbed to a new floor .
" there's a little girl on this floor ! " Fuuka called them
" a little girl ?! " Yukari exclaimed " we have to save her ! "
" wait ! " Fuuka stopped them " something is wrong ! This floor ... there is nothing in it , besides that girl ! "
" what ?! " Minako cried " you mean there are no shadows here ?! "
" that only happened once before ... " Minato said with a grim tone " and at that time , we were ambushed by a Reaper ! "
" but you annihilated it , right ? " Ken asked " back when Strega tried to use it to wipe us out , you defeated them and the Reaper , right ? "
" I ... I can sense it ! " Fuuka anxiously said " the Reaper is getting closer ! "
" maybe there is more than one Reaper " Mitsuru suggested " just like how sometimes there is more than one F.O.E of a kind "
" I don't even want to think about fighting more than one Reaper " Yukari shook her head in dismay
" we have no time for that ! We have to rescue that little girl , as she could join the lost at any moment ! "
Fighting off the Reaper was incredibly difficult for SEES , as the only Personas capable of fighting it back were Orpheus Telos and Orpheus Picaro , both of which were already used once . However , not a single person among them could leave this floor , knowing that a little girl was lost in it , especially with the Reaper in here , so they steeled their resolve , and decided to walk into the jaws of death .
The members of SEES hurried through the corridors of Tartarus , with the sound of chains being dragged on the ground haunting them with every step they took . What made the situation even worse for them was the intricate contraptions and traps that block had for them , which slowed them down and helped the Reaper catch up to them even faster .
" this is bad ! " Yukari exclaimed anxiously " at this rate , we could get trapped in one place with the Reaper ! "
" honestly , I'm just thankful there are no shadows in this floor " Junpei sighed " imagine them ganging up on us and trapping us , or maybe separating us , as if the Reaper wasn't threatening as it is ! "
" wait , that's it ! " Minato yelled " we might be able to slow down the Reaper , or get it off of our tail entirely if we can trap it in one room "
" Fuuka , do you think it's possible to do that ? " Mitsuru asked
" it is possible , senpai ! " Minato impatiently interrupted " I have a plan ! "
Following Minato's words , the team first counted the time the gate would remain open by the switch , then they awaited the Reaper to catch up to them . By activating the switch at a specific moment , they managed to get past the gate just as it was closing , leaving the Reaper behind the closed gate . They were about to rejoice their successful escape , when they Reaper began furiously bashing and striking at the gate . Even though they gate remained sturdily closed , they realized that won't last for too long , so they decided to hasten their rescue mission
At the end of a long corridor , the members of SEES could see a little girl crouching on the ground and crying . She seemed to be at least a handful of years younger than Ken , which made them sympathize with her and feel eager to rescue her even more . However , just as they were about to reach her , the Reaper came blasting through the wall , and now it was standing between them and the poor girl .
" wh—what ?! He came out of nowhere ! " Fuuka gasped
The Reaper was a shadow , and just like other shadows , it was drawn to the little girl . It turned toward her and began approaching her . They realized the situation was really bad , as the Reaper could harm the girl .
" no ! Orpheus Telos ! "
Minako hurriedly called her strongest Persona , but to her shock and terror , Orpheus Telos remained stationary in one place . The Reaper realized the presence of a powerful opponent , and it turned back toward them , striking Orpheus Telos with volley of shots that knocked it back and had it disappear away instantly .
" I ... I don't understand ! " Ken was shocked to see Orpheus Telos be beaten so effortlessly by the Reaper
" it's the fog ! " Akihiko realized " the fog is weakening our Personas ! "
" watch out ! Persona ! " Mitsuru saw the Reaper preparing to attack Minako again , so she quickly pulled out her evoker and called Artemisia , and by that she managed to bind the Reaper's arms .
" Paladion ! "
" let's go , Trismagestus ! "
Despite their overwhelming assault on the shadow , they couldn't cause a sufficiently significant damage to it , and it quickly broke free of Mitsuru's bind , before blasting away the members of SEES and their Personas . As they struggled to recover from their failed attack , they saw the Reaper approaching Minako .
" Artemisia ! " Mitsuru called her Persona and tried to inflict it with panic , but her Persona was weakened by the fog and didn't move
" Odin ! " Minato had a better plan to thwart the Reaper , as he blasted it with a destructive pillar of lightning , before anxiously turning to Aigis and Junpei " unload on it ! "
While Minato's lightning helped making Aigis and Junpei's attacks more effective , that wasn't nearly enough to defeat the Reaper or even stun it . Nevertheless , Minato used the chance he got from that attack , and ran away with Minako .
" Minato-san ! Minako-san ! " Aigis was distraught to see the Reaper chase the twins
" rescue the girl , we'll meet you at the entrance ! " Minato quickly yelled at them as he ran away with Minako , with the Reaper hot on their tails " I have a plan , trust me ! "
By then , the twins were out of sight . Aigis was ready to follow them , but the other members stopped her , and told her to trust him . They returned to the entrance with the scared little girl , and there they awaited Minato and Minako's returned with baited breaths . However , after some time , Aigis couldn't wait anymore and decided to go and help them . The others wanted to follow her , but Mitsuru said that they would get in the way , so they decided to trust Aigis and let her go in there alone .
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The twins reached a branching point in the path , and they could see the Reaper approaching them from a distance . Minato could only hope that the others had made back to the entrance safely . He had wanted to get enough distance with his sister from the Reaper so it would be safe for Fuuka to teleport them back , but the Reaper was much closer to them than they could do that .
" alright , you go left and I'll go right ! " Minato sternly demanded
" what exactly are you plotting ?! " Minako anxiously asked
" The Reaper is after the strongest opponent ! For now it seems to have forgotten our last battle , and it believes the strongest one is you , so I want to use its ignorance of me to bait it into a trap and attack it with Orpheus Picaro ! "
" oh ! I see—aahh !!! " Minako just barely dodged a huge piercing ice shard that nearly impaled her .
" get moving ! "
" right ! "
Minako ran away , and the Reaper chased her , while Minato secretly followed them . Minato saw his sister turn around a corridor , and he realized that it was his chance , so he quickly called Orpheus Picaro . The furious crimson Persona let out a bloody scream which stunned the Reaper momentarily , as she lunged toward it and slashed at it with her harp before slamming it at the wall . Minako ran past the shadow and the Persona toward her brother . The Reaper began fighting back , and Minato wanted to trap it below the wreckage of the roof as he did last time , now that his sister had managed to escape . However , the fog weakened Orpheus Picaro long enough for the Reaper to blast her away with its two guns . The twins began running away again , while Minato internally lamented how his plan failed , and the only thing he achieved was holding it back long enough for his other teammates .
The Reaper was catching up to them , but as they turned around the corridor , they saw Aigis charging toward them while riding over her Persona , and she pushed back the Reaper to the wall . Apparently , she had activated Orgia Mode , which helped her knock the Reaper more easily . However , Minato could see that Aigis was struggling against her quickly rising temperature , and he had to do something .
" Ai ! Get back ! " he quickly called her , and as she did so , and just before the Reaper could recover , he pulled his evoker " Mithra ! Metatron ! " causing the roof to collapse onto the Reaper
" Siegfried ! Ares ! " Minako followed along , causing even more of the roof to collapse onto the Reaper
" alright , Ai ! Let us ride your Persona away from here ! "
" under—stood ... " Aigis stuttered
Thanks to Aigis's Orgia Mode , they were much faster in their escape and managed to cover more distance from the Reaper in a shorter amount of time . However , she overheated halfway through the floor , and the twins could hear the sound of the chains against the floor , which meant that the Reaper managed to stand up after everything they threw at it . Thankfully , by then , they were far enough from it , and Fuuka easily managed to teleport them back to the entrance .
The twins arrived at the entrance along with an overheated Aigis , and at the entrance they got to see the little girl they had managed to rescue . She had fallen unconscious some time after the others had arrived to the entrance , and by the time the twins returned , she seemed to be waking up . The twins felt terrible about how a little girl was lost in Tartarus , and they wondered if anyone is safe from the Dark Hour anymore . Nevertheless , the thought that they at least succeed in saving her life was comforting enough . The twins approached the little girl , as she woke up . When she did wake up , she didn't seem to be aware of those around her , and she began sobbing quietly .
" she must've been scared " Yukari said sympathetically
" don't worry , pumpkin " Minako crouched by her side and comforted while pointing at Minato " shadow the hedgehog over her saved your life , your safe now "
" don't call me that " Minato glared at his sister
" mom ... dad ... don't leave me alone ... " the girl sobbed weakly , before she lost consciousness again
" she must be tired " Akihiko thought
" we'll have her rest in a safe place " Mitsuru decided " the rest of you , return to the dorm "
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The strategy that Minato used to hold back the Reaper is the same strategy that I used to defeat it in Persona 3 Portable . See , when you use Odin's strongest lightning spell , Thunder Reign , you inflict the Reaper with shock ( or was it paralysis ? I don't know , that's status effect you get with a powerful lighting attack ) , and at that point any physical attack can cause a critical hit that would knock down the Reaper . This strategy is more effective in Persona 3 FES since the knocked player/enemy wastes a turn to recover from it , so you can actually continue to knock it down infinitely . Though you probably already know that .
Also , that little girl is ... kind of important . She's a character in Persona 3 , not an original character like Kai Ren . Do you think you recognize her ?
Anyway , if you enjoyed this part , please consider voting for it , and remember to comment your opinion regarding the changes I plan to make in Persona 4 , and I'll see you in the next part . Stay safe .