Chapter 8; New questions

...29/07/2009 Wednesday; Night...

The image began to suffer interference, the screen flickering, and Eiichiro’s voice breaking, as if the recording itself were falling apart.

“Yu...ka...ri... I lo...ve... you... my...” His voice faded into static, and the video froze, the screen becoming distorted.

Hiro watched, his hand covering his mouth as he tried to process what he had just seen.

“Holy shit…” he whispered, his voice low and trembling. “These Arcana Shadows could wipe out humanity…”

Yukari, despite having seen this video before with the others, couldn’t hold back her tears.

The sight of her father, even in that old recording, was still too painful to bear.

Junpei placed a gentle hand on Yukari’s shoulder. “I know… just take it easy,” he said, trying to comfort her.

President Shuji cleared his throat before speaking, his voice solemn. “We’ve already defeated six of the twelve Arcana Shadows. The thirteenth Arcana will only appear if the others merge. By eliminating all of them, the Dark Hour and Tartarus will be destroyed.”

Hiro, still processing everything, stood up, but was interrupted by a sound coming from the laptop.

“The… devil's herald… you… must…” Eiichiro’s faint, broken voice sounded again, almost inaudible.

Hiro frowned, confused. “Did you guys hear that? ‘devil's herald’?”

Minato looked at him with concern. “Hiro, the video stopped there.”

Akihiko leaned toward the laptop. “Or rather, it’s still playing, but only static is showing on the screen. And there’s no sound.”

Suddenly, Fuuka gasped in shock. “Hiro, your nose!”

Hiro touched his nose, realizing it was bleeding.

As he looked at his own blood, his vision blurred, and a blinding flash struck him.

He saw himself pinned against a wall by an imposing figure, a demonic being with eyes hungry for blood.

It was Lucifer, with a cruel and menacing smile.

Hiro’s eyes widened, the color draining from his face, leaving him pale as paper.

Within seconds, he lost strength and began to collapse to the floor, but Akihiko and Mitsuru rushed to catch him before he fell.

“Hiro!?” Mitsuru shouted, her voice filled with worry and confusion.

Akihiko, tense, checked Hiro’s vital signs. “What happened? He just fainted.”

Everyone gathered around Hiro, trying to understand what had just occurred.

President Shuji, however, stayed a little further back, observing the situation.

His eyes, which had shown concern moments ago, narrowed with a sinister gleam.

“The devil's herald…” he muttered to himself in a dark tone. “I swore I’d never hear that name again.”

His ominous expression quickly shifted back to one of concern, and he knelt beside Hiro, gently holding his face.

“Aigis, what can you detect?” President Shuji asked urgently.

Aigis, activating her scanners, responded promptly. “His blood pressure is dropping. He’ll need a dose of adrenaline.”

Mitsuru immediately stood up, a clear decision in her mind. “I have one in the medical kit. I’ll go get it.”

She rushed up the stairs, heading to the second floor where the rooms were.

Running down the hall, she entered her room, where a medical kit sat on her desk.

“Where is it?” Mitsuru murmured, quickly searching through the items until she found what she was looking for. “Got it!”

In another place, Hiro was lost in a dark void, where darkness stretched endlessly in all directions.

He looked around, confused, trying to understand where he was.

“What? Fuuka? Mitsuru? Guys?” His voice echoed, but there was no response.

He began to walk aimlessly, the silence heavy and oppressive around him.

Suddenly, distant voices reached his ears, indistinct at first, but they soon became clearer.

“Mr. Kirijo, I can't stay with him. He’s a monster!”

Hiro stopped, his eyes catching something floating in the air in front of him.

An axe, imposing and gleaming, with the S.E.E.S. crest engraved on the blade.

In the center of the blade, the Gekkoukan High School symbol was inscribed, surrounded by the S.E.E.S. insignia.

It was a weapon of war, a promise.

“This axe... why does it feel like it belongs to me?” Hiro murmured, reaching out to touch it. But before he could, a soft, childish voice appeared behind him.

“What are you doing?”

Hiro turned sharply but saw no one. Then, looking down, he saw a little girl.

His eyes widened as he realized he was looking at a much younger version of Mitsuru, maybe six or seven years old.

“Mitsuru?” he asked, clear surprise in his voice.

The girl blinked, confused, before replying. “I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve met.”

Hiro tried to hide his confusion. “Oh, I guess so. What are you doing here?”

The young Mitsuru pointed to the side. “I’m waiting for the herald to wake up.”

“The herald?” Hiro repeated, following the girl's gaze.

What he saw left him speechless.

A tree, with blood-red leaves, stood imposingly before him.

The ground around it was covered with what seemed like pools of blood, reflecting the dim, reddish light.

Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced Hiro's chest.

The world around him began to dissolve, the images disappearing into a whirlpool of darkness.

In reality, Hiro’s eyes began to open slowly.

He felt a pain in his chest as he noticed Mitsuru finishing an injection of adrenaline on him.

She set the empty syringe aside, holding Hiro’s face.

“Hiro, are you okay?” Mitsuru's voice was filled with concern.

Akihiko, next to her, tried to reassure him. “Easy, your blood pressure dropped.”

Hiro’s vision was still blurry, but he let out a startled sigh and reflexively tried to sit up quickly, hitting his head hard against Mitsuru’s.

“Ouch, my head…” Hiro groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Sorry, Mitsuru, it was a reflex.”

Mitsuru, holding her own head, tried to brush it off. “It’s okay. Are you feeling better?”

Fuuka, who was beside them, extended a glass of water to him, relieved. “Thank god you seem better. Here, drink this.”

Hiro took the glass and drank in long gulps, feeling calmer.

When he finished, Junpei and Akihiko helped him stand.

“Hiro, why did you faint out of nowhere?” Junpei asked, concerned.

Hiro placed the glass on the table, wiping the blood from his nose. “I… I don’t know. I heard something about this herald, and suddenly, that happened.”

Yukari, her face still marked by concern, insisted. “But, Hiro, we didn’t hear anything. Are you sure you heard something?”

Confused, Hiro looked back at the laptop.

He replayed Eiichiro Takeba’s video, going back to the point where he’d heard the voice, but now, there was no sound other than static.

“I swear I heard it.” Hiro murmured, frowning, trying to understand what had happened.

At that moment, Minato’s watch began to beep.

He looked at his wrist, realizing that midnight was near.

“So, are we going to Tartarus tonight?” Minato asked, turning to the others.

Aigis was quick to respond. “It’s not a good idea. Hiro-san might still be going through something, although my systems indicate that his blood pressure has returned to normal.”

Hiro let out a weak laugh. “What? Oh, right, sometimes I forget you’re an android.”

As the clock struck midnight, the lights began to flicker, and the sky outside turned a sinister green.

The Dark Hour was beginning once again.

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