Burn Her Dread, Burned by Dread

While Yukari was helping Aegis expand her understanding of human biology (and was making some embarrassing discoveries about the subject herself!) Minako and Junpei were wandering the halls some distance away searching for the robot. Minako was feeling a growing sense of dismay and anxiety over the robot’s absence. It wasn’t like Aegis to vanish without good reason, and those few occasions when it did occur usually heralded something very bad for Minako and her friends. Warring with that protective instinct was the constant buzz of excitement and shame that was pulsing through her with every step she took. She was roaming the halls of her school in broad daylight dressed in nothing but a collar bearing the ribbon for her school uniform, her white socks and black shoes. This was not a sensation any proper school girl should ever experience in her entire life. And yet that intense sense of humiliation combined with the erotic excitement that came from the danger of being caught doing something naughty had effectively been her default mental state. Three days ago she had been a normal, respectable student well loved by her peers and respected by her teachers. Today thousands of total strangers had seen her completely naked, in poses and performing acts that would make a porn star blush. She had happily stripped down to bare skin in a public space and proceeded to seduce her closest female friends into losing their clothes and joining her demented little harem of naked sluts. Her shame ran deep for all the actions her shadow had **** her to perform…and deeper still knowing that a not so small part of her was starting to love the humiliations she was being subjected to.

She covered herself with her hands, a pose similar to the Birth of Venus that she likewise wished she was a little less familiar in using over the past few days. Junpei was engrossed in his phone, oblivious to her distress. Some guys can adapt to anything, she supposed.

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. There was charred bathroom door down the hall, an out of order sign attached to it. Here was where her fateful encounter with Pharos and Aegis had taken place. The android would be in here, would she?

“Junpei, stand guard out here for me. I want to check something.” Minako said, scampering over to the broken door, pretending not to notice Junpei’s eyes following her naked butt down the hallway and pretending even harder she didn’t get a thrill knowing he was staring.

The bathroom was empty. The smell of smoke was still lingering in the air, and the area around the stalls and sinks was still charred from Aegis’ explosive entrance. Minako peeked in each stall, calling out the robot’s name. Her words seemed to get swallowed up in the silence. There was an eerie sense of solemnity in the air here, like she was intruding on something somehow sacred. Satisfied that Aegis was not lingering in this place for any reason, Minako turned to leave but paused in consideration. Her conversation with Pharos had been interrupted. Perhaps…

Her heart began to beat harder as her fingers wrapped around the Evoker in her bag. There were a hundred reasons why this was a bad idea, but she still had questions. Perhaps they could find some weakness in Temptation’s hold on them. Swallowing the sense of panic that came each time she pulled the trigger, Minako pressed the faux weapon between her breasts and unleashed a burst of blue fire and the sound of breaking glass.

“Pharos.” She whispered.

The room was still. What, was he asleep? Sighing, she held the gun up to her chest once again…only to feel a slender hand restraining her gun arm.

“Now, now. No need for that. That stings, you know…” Minako heard a voice whisper, very much like her own but with just a tinge of distortion.

Minako looked to her left, discovering a slender naked form pressing closely against her own. One hand held her own as she clutched the gun in shock, the other was casually caressing her waste. Two large breasts were pressing up against her side, almost nuzzling her own beautiful orbs, the nipples very prominent and erect. The thin waste and curving hips were hauntingly familiar, as was the mirror image of her own face looking back at her. Only the devilish smile on her lips separated this doppleganger from Minako herself…her smile, and the sickly yellow glow in her eyes.

“You-“ Minako began, but yelped as the Shadow casually bridged the distance between them and pressed her soft lips against the stunned Persona User’s mouth. Her arms wrapped around the befuddled girl, foddling her body and squeezing her thigh in a intoxicating embrace.

Minako did manage to extricate herself from the smugly confident shadow, feeling more than a little bit of protest from her body as she did so. The bitch knew exactly where and how to touch her.

“Sorry, me. Pharos isn’t in right now. Would you like to leave a message?” Her shadow said mockingly.

“H-How??” Minako stammered, quickly covering herself as her counterpart’s eyes roamed over her naked form with as much interest and attention as her hands had done a moment ago.

“This? Parlor trick. Mitsuru managed to freeze those idiots without an evoker back at that hotspring. And I’m stronger than any Persona you’ve ever called up. You using that thing is basically an open invitation to pop into your world. Dark Hour or not.”

“Where’s Pharos? What did you do to him??” Minako snapped.

“Look at you, all protective and stuff, even though you know your just a helpless little naked slut I have wrapped around my finger. I can still take control of that body any time I want, even out here. So don’t get any cute ideas. But seriously, don’t worry so much. Pharos is a big tough Appriser now, even if he looks like a kid still. He can take care of himself. Besides, he’s one of those precious little bonds your so fond of. I’d never do anything to hurt him.” The Shadow said, all smug smiles and wicked glances.

“And I should just accept that? Weren’t you the one who’s been going around making my best friends into…into those naked little sluts you were talking about?” Minako snapped back.

“Tch. Easy, little girl, your gonna pop a vein at this rate, and that won’t do either of us any good. And sure, I seduced our little circle of friendship. Why wouldn’t I? Its not like you’ve never thought about doing something like this, is it, Me? You’ve known for a long time how close those little sluts have gotten to you. You could literally ask them to do anything…like, easy example, strip naked for you in public? Just cause you never had the courage to cross that line and have FUN with them for a change doesn’t mean I have to play by the same rules.”

“It wasn’t that-“

“Not that simple? Yeah yeah. You were always worried about their feelings. Would it be fair to cross that line? Would it hurt the others? Blah blah blah. Maybe the truth is you were just scared. After all, after what happened to Shinjirou-“

“Don’t-“ Minako swallowed her words. “Okay. Maybe your right. Maybe I was holding back because I was afraid of being hurt.”

“Sigh. There you go, accepting the truth even if it hurts. Most people would be screaming at me right now. Wild cards are so boring.” Minako’s shadow said in exasperation.

“Feel free to leave me alone if I’m not entertaining you.” Minako said evenly.

“Oh, I never said that. This has been the most entertainment I’ve had all year! Isn’t it great how I know every demented little fantasy that’s ever popped into your head? Isn’t it just perfect how I can touch you exactly where I need to? I know all your kinks, Mina-chan! I know the things that will humiliate you the most. And the best part of it all is that you are loving every minute of it!”

The shadow let its gaze fall again on Minako’s body. It seemed incredibly pleased with what it saw, casually touching a nipple while resting the other hand on its thin stomach. The look on her face was incredibly sensual, inspiring a intense blush from Minako.

“Y-you care about them too!” Minako blurted out at last. “The other girls. You wouldn’t have turned them into…into…”

“Sex slaves?” The Shadow suggested.

“Into a harem.” Minako said at last. “They matter to you beyond a bunch of toys you can casually discard when you are done with them.”

“Tch. Whatever. Yeah, fine, I care about the little sluts as much as you do. I am thou, thou art I, all that bullshit. I just enjoy the physical stuff way more than their emotional problems, all right? We spent a whole damned year getting to know them and help with their issues and all that other ‘higher mind’ stuff! I’ll let you worry about that crap. Not in my job description.”

“Right. Id vs Ego.” Minako muttered. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“And what is that, Me?” The Shadow asked.

“Why you sold out to Temptation. I just don’t get it. You are me. I am you. Somewhere deep down I should be able to recognize that part of myself that was willing to sign away my freewill for the promise of humiliation and sex. And I don’t buy it! We’re too stubborn to just surrender for something so trivial!” Minako spat.

“Oh? Does it bother you? Not knowing my reasons?” The Shadow whispered.

“Of course it does!” Minako said. “You know that. The thought that I’ve neglected any part of me is…”

“Yeah. I know. We’ve been terrified of being alone ever since the night on that damned bridge. We’re kind of pathetic that way. Even the thought of abandoning a piece of ourselves hurts.” The Shadow said casually.

“So…explain it! Who are you? Who are you really? I know my friends. I see the roots of who they are hiding in their shadows. Yukari has struggled with her anger and hate towards the world that moved on when her father died. Mitsuru-senpai feels a sense of guilt and shame regarding her family’s secrets and sins, and with failing to live up to her own high standards. Fuuka has tried so hard to be a kind and caring person that she has had to constantly bury the resentment she feels towards the people who manipulate and **** her. I can see the seeds Temptation used to grow all of his shadows. Everyone except you. Please. I need to know. Which part of my heart have I been denying all this time?”

“Okay, me…” The Shadow whispered. “You want to know the truth? The truth is…you give too much of yourself too easily.”

“….I give too much of myself! You’ve **** me to strip naked, play with myself in public, have sex with my classmates while being filmed…and YOU are telling ME I give too much of myself??” Minako asked incredulous.

“Aww, that part was fun!” The Shadow suddenly appeared behind Minako (how did she move so fast) wrapping her arms around the girl’s waste and rubbing small circles tantalizingly close to her inner folds. “Don’t even pretend like you don’t love seeing all those cute sluts you’ve gotten so close to getting humiliated and loving it. Don’t pretend seeing all those gawking strangers isn’t the biggest turn on you’ve ever experienced in your whole life. Knowing that each one of those perverts is getting excited and horny because of that obscene, slutty body of yours shamefully exposed to the world. How many perverts will be thinking of you tonight when they get a chance to do something about the arousal you caused?”

Minako moaned as her counterpart brushed a hand over her soaking wet slit. The Shadow softly began to rub her clit, the other hand playing with a breast.

“Isn’t that so much better than being the doormat in a town without a good therapist? How many evenings have you wasted sitting around listening to other people whine and sob about their problems?”

“N-n-none! None of it was a waste!” Minako moaned.

“Oooooooh?” The Shadow divided the attention of her fingers between the clit and probing two digits deeper inside the embarrassed girl.

“I-oh!-Wanted to know them! I-ah-I-ah-wanted to h-help them!” Minako panted. “I-it was my own fre-free wILL! No o-o-one took advantage-!!”

“Mmmmm. That’s true. I never said they did. I’m probably is that you give too much, not that they take too much. Don’t you constantly shoulder all their burdens and your own. You know your hurting them by keeping secrets. They want to help you. They would love to help you. All you ever had to do was let them in….”

“My burdens! Only I! Can! Carry! Them!” Minako moaned loudly.

“Bullshit.” The Shadow snapped, abruptly withdrawing from the **** girl a moment before her release was secured.

Minako whimpered and fell to her hands and knees, her sex still clenching over phantom digits, her whole body quivering in anticipation of a release that wasn’t coming.

“You…are…such..a..bitch.” Minako moaned.

“I know you are, but what am I?” The Shadow cackled in satisfaction, smacking Minako on her presented butt for good measure.

Minako yelped, twirling around to glare at the Shadow. “I’m trying to share more. When I have a chance, I’ll tell them everything. My bonds, the Velvet Room. I’ll explain it all.”

“Will you?” The Shadow said, suddenly incredibly serious. “Everything? I notice you omitted a few important bits of information earlier.”

“A..about what?” Minako muttered.

“Our memories of that timeline. Sure, its still hazy, but we know more than we said. Don’t we?”

“….I…I told them everything they needed to know.” Minako stammered.

“AND WHAT DON’T THEY NEED TO KNOW?” The Shadow screamed.

“….” Minako paused. “They…don’t need to know about The Fall.”

“Oh? OHHHHHH. The Fall. The end of the world. They don’t need to know how they fell into total despair when they learned about Ryuji and Nyx? Or that they struggled so hard, and found the resolve to keep going? You never told them how much you NEEDED them to be there with you, you know. We never would have made it to the top of the tower without them with us. And it was so wonderful, seeing them fight, wasn’t it? So strong, as trained and ready as we could ask for, so full of hope and resolve…too bad Nyx didn’t give a shit about any of it, huh? Do you not want to tell them how it swept all of them aside like dust on the wind? How they all fell to their knees, unable to fight, unable to stand, unable to do anything except WATCH. Do you remember the sky opening up, the moon twisting in on itself, opening and blooming like a flower in the darkest part of hell? Do you not want them to know that all the time you spent with them, all the times you pushed them to resolve their traumas and all the battles that made them stronger in Tartarus…did you not want to tell them that all it amounted to was a front row seat to the end of the world? That this was the end you pushed and prodded and begged them to suffer?”

“Shut up.” Minako said. “Don’t…don’t talk about them like that.”

“I’m not blaming them. I’m blaming you.” The Shadow said.

“Just stop. We both know this isn’t about the fight.” Minako said, painfully and dully.

“….Maybe it isn’t. If you think so, tell me what its all about, Minako-chan.” The Shadow whispered.

“This is about me. Its…about that moment. The voices of everyone…while the rest of the world is screaming, all of them are staying strong. Afraid, but strong. And…I can’t do it. I can’t let it happen. I can’t lose everyone. Not again.”

The Shadow smiled. “And we don’t. We dig deep. We find the power to stand up. We fight. With everyone’s help, we fight. We win. We save the world, we save everyone we care about. We get a happy ending.”

“….and we pay the price.” Minako finished.

“Yeah.” The Shadow said softly. “Not that it was a surprise. Even before you started remembering all this, you knew.”

“I guess I did. There was always this feeling. I had unfinished business. What happened that night on the bridge…it wasn’t over. Maybe it was Pharos sleeping in me. Maybe it was just instinct. But it was always hanging over me, whispering in the back of my mind.” Minako admitted.

“If there was ever any doubt, that smug bastard Igor killed it completely. He just loves poking and prodding and throwing out cryptic little hints, doesn’t he? What was your favorite? Mine has to be ‘I must assist you so that you do not die before your **** can have real meaning’. He’s not as subtle as he thinks he is.” The Shadow complained.

“No. He’s really not.” Minako agreed softly.

“So….you get it?” The Shadow said at last.

“Yeah. Yeah. Your still a bitch.” Minako rose. “ ‘I give too much of myself too freely’ huh?”

The Shadow smiled a broken smile. “Igor isn’t the only one who can be cryptic. So…who am I, Minako? Answer your own question.”

“….Yukari’s anger. Mitsuru’s shame. Fuuka’s resentment. And…my dread.” Minako answered, with a shudder. “Yeah. It fits. You are the whisper of doubt in my mind. You are the one part I’ve tried again and again to push away. I’m sorry. It was never something I wanted to do. I just had no answer to the feeling. No solution. I just wanted to live as fully as I could. I didn’t want to wallow in my fear. I hoped it was nothing. I wanted it to mean nothing. You are my dread….your the part of me who is afraid to die.”

“How fucked is that? A shadow shouldn’t have to come out of that. Being afraid to die…its normal! Its natural. No one should have to suppress that kind of instinct! But here I am. I never asked for this. You never asked for this. This was a path we were **** down ever since Aegis shoved a broken god into our soul. This is the ‘intriguing destiny’ Igor was always on about. To spend the rest of eternity alone in the void, our soul turned into a fucking cosmic doorstop resting between the end of all things and the insane desire of a planet full of idiots too pathetic not to yearn for ****. And that isn’t right! That isn’t fair!”

“No. It isn’t.” Minako agreed.

“But I was ready to do it. Like you said, I care about those sluts as much as you do. I would have died to keep them safe. I knew there was no option.” The Shadow said.

“Until Temptation came.” Minako whispered.

“He made a promise. No Fall. No Nyx. The people I love will be safe. I’ll be safe. I’ll get to stay with them, be a part of their lives, explore our bonds in ways you were always afraid to.” The Shadow said.

“And your okay with that? Selling yourself and everyone else to some pervert sex god that sees us as toys to tease and humiliate? How do you trust him? How do you trust whatever he’s working for?” Minako demanded.

“Oh yeah. A life of endless pleasure and love where I can tease and dominate and touch all the girls I care about as much as I want. Sounds SO much less appealing than going along with Igor and the Velvet Room. How do you trust THEM after what you’ve seen?” The Shadow demanded.

“This isn’t any different from what Nyx was doing to this world. Eden Syndrome is just a more pleasant cage. You still want to sell your own freewill and all your friends, and who knows how many other women for the sake of saving your own life?”

“Yes.” The Shadow said defiantly.

“No.” Minako said. “I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going quietly submit to some creeper of a Shadow who wants to steal our lives and humiliate us all. Not even for this. Its too high a price.”

“…Yeah. I figured. You are pretty damned stubborn when it comes to this stuff.” The Shadow mused.

“Yes, you are.” Minako shot back.

“Well, whatever. I was almost worried we’d reconcile here and I’d stop being so eager to screw with you. Just remember. If you think I’ll ever accept going back to that world so I can get myself killed, then you are out of your mind.” The Shadow declared.

“Fine. Then I’ll just have to find an answer that will satisfy both of us.” Minako said with a shrug.

“……” The Shadow stared, then began to fade away. “Best of luck with that, Me. There are no third options here.”

The glowing yellow eyes were the final component of the Shadow to fade.

“Now go prove me wrong.”

Author's note: Well, here it is. This is the scene that's been in my head for a few years now. Originally something like this was going to play out in Inaba when Minako and crew time traveled there and got trapped in the TV World (standard protocol for all visiting Persona Users). But I'm not sure if I'll ever progress the story that far, so here it is. As always, I've tried to balance the melodrama I love to write with the embarrassment and kinky moments inherent in this genre. Not sure how I did (please let me know) and your overall thoughts on the subject.