I have written a summary of what a fix-it fic for the secret ending of SMT V would be like for me. The sketches above illustrate what I imagine V-kun and his godly counterpart to look like after they have been split in two for ten years.
Summary of my fix-it fic idea under the cut!
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V-kun, twenty-eight years of age, is living a normal, albeit boring life. He works an office job and lives in a small studio apartment in Tokyo. While not antisocial, the only relationships he managed to hold onto as his adult working life put him into a headlock are the two friends he made at Jouin High School, Yuzuru Atsuta and Tao Isonokami. He has no memories of Da’at, Aogami nor his journey to godhood, and instead is blissfully unaware of everything that has happened during the events of the game.
The story starts with V-kun coming home to find a letter addressed to him, but also seemingly addressed to a person who shares his name. In the letter, the writer apologizes for trying to get into contact with Him through him, but also presses on the importance of their message getting across to this person.
The letter speaks of how the intended recipient of the letter is dying and that it is having an effect on Da’at, formerly known as Earth, as well as the fabricated world the humans have called their home, free from demons and angels, for the last 10 years.
The writer describes how grateful they are that instead of being wiped from existence, demons and angels were allowed to stay in Da’at and even expend Da’at to the entire World of Old. With humans removed from the equation and the path to the Throne being unattainable, the war between demons and angels has come to an end and while some conflict still persists, some demons and angels did not change their ways after all, most demons and angels are living peacefully side by side. That was, however, until the person, or god, the letter seems addressed to started dying.
The writer muses to themselves about His reason for casting his soul and Knowledge aside and allowing that part of him to live a life unbothered by His godly duties. While they seem sympathetic to the sacrifices He has made, they voice that He has undoubtedly made the wrong choice. They urge Him to reconcile with His soul and Knowledge before Da’at and the world of humans are connected once more. Most demons and angels seem to have noticed that His power is dwindling, and they fear that some of these demons and angels have already passed the veil separating their worlds. Their letter reaching Him through his human existence should be proof enough that He is getting less powerful by the day.
V-kun is unaware that this letter was written by Sophia, though he does take notice of its otherworldliness. Feeling both shaken and very confused by the contents of the letter, V-kun holds onto it for a while before getting into contact with his friend Yuzuru.
Yuzuru together with Tao had been mentioned in the letter, if only briefly, at the start, in which Sophia wrote that she hoped they had been doing well despite the roles they used to have in the World of Old. V-kun invites Yuzuru over for coffee at a local coffee shop during their lunch break in the hopes of uncovering some truth from the letter, as Yuzuru being mentioned in it might point to his involvement in the odd events described in it.
Yuzuru, always cool and calculated, reads the letter without his expression changing to reveal any of his feelings on the contents of it. After studying the letter for a good while he finally breaks the silence, and he confides in V-kun that for the last ten years, he has been plagued by visions, or perhaps memories, from a place called Da’at. He describes seeing Tokyo tower stranded in a desert, a great battle between demons and angels taking place and, perhaps worst of all, his dearest friend and brother, he thinks, ending his life to destroy his life’s work. Yuzuru can’t explain it very well but admits to never having looked quite the same at V-kun after he started having these nightmares.
To V-kun’s dismay, or perhaps relief, he cannot relate to Yuzuru’s predicament. He shares no memories of Da’at and is shocked to hear Yuzuru has been treating him differently without his knowledge. It pains him to hear Yuzuru has struggled with his feelings regarding him for the last decade, but being unsure of how to apologize for something as strange and gut-wrenchingly wrong as supposedly having killed his best friend in another life, V-kun thanks Yuzuru for his time, takes the letter from him and leaves him alone with his thoughts.
V-kun’s next lead should have been Tao as she was also mentioned in the letter, but after learning about Yuzuru’s nightmares, V-kun is scared to face Tao and decides against getting into contact with her. Not wanting to think about the letter anymore, he leaves it in his desk drawer at his studio. He refuses to acknowledge the existence of the letter, until the day he arrives home to find an unexpected guest.
In his studio, reading the letter with glowing yellow eyes stands a younger version of himself. The unexpected visitor looks to be 18 and is wearing the uniform V-kun used to wear when he was still attending Jouin High School. The boy looks up from the letter to face him, his long black hair flowing with the movement. Those glowing yellow eyes seem to pierce through V-kun, who feels the colour drain from his face.
When the boy speaks, his voice has an unworldly ring to it. He apologizes for the intrusion and explains that he will be leaving now that he has read the letter. The letter dissolves into paper-thin white squares which fizzle out of existence with a flick of his wrist. Before V-kun can ask any questions, he blinks and the boy is gone.
In the months that follow, V-kun gets told off by his supervisor, who had noticed he is no longer staying at the office longer to work overtime. V-kun’s overall productivity drops too, as he is plagued by the contents of the destroyed letter, Yuzuru’s confession and the encounter he has had with his other self.
Unbeknownst to V-kun, the thing Sophie feared has already begun happening, and more demons and angels cross over to the world of humans every day. Those demons and angels haven’t forgotten him, or rather, how powerful he was as a Nahobino and specifically seek him as a stand-in for their Knowledge. Nobody knows what a fusion between a demon or angel and someone else’s Knowledge will bring forth, but with the path to the Throne seemingly being obtainable again, enough of the demons and angels are willing to try it and see it through to the end.
On one particularly bad day, after being pressured by his supervisor to work overtime, V-kun misses the last train and is forced to walk back home through the deserted alleyway streets of Tokyo. He keeps his bag close to his chest as he tries to ignore the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that is telling him that he is being watched. Once whatever is following him has gotten too close for comfort, he breaks into a sprint and quickly realizes from all the noise that erupts behind him that it wasn’t just a single being that had its eyes on him.
He turns one wrong corner and suddenly steps through a hole in the fabric of the world he thought he knew. There he is free-falling for a moment before he hits sand and tumbles down for a long time. Once he has finally come to a stop, and he takes in his surroundings, he has found himself surrounded by a desert and taking in a red sky. From the hole he fell, flying demons come forth, all seeming in a hurry and pushing each other aside to get to him first.
He knows he should run, but is frozen to the spot until suddenly another figure emerges. "Young man, if you wish to live, take my hand." a voice calls out to him. There is a familiarity to the man with blue hair that suddenly stands before him, so without much hesitation, V-kun reaches out and takes his hand. Just like during their last first meeting, Aogami and V-kun fuse into a Nahobino and this new form, at least to V-kun, they are able to fight off the demons.
After the battle, Aogami takes control of their Nahobino form and leads them to a safe place before unfusing and pulling V-kun in a very strong hug. Not having the first clue on what is going on, V-kun doesn’t return the embrace, but allows Aogami to do as he pleases for a moment. When Aogami pulls back, he holds V-kun by his shoulders and tells him that he has turned into a fine young man since their last meeting. V-kun, being unsure of how to reply to the compliment, simply states he has some questions. Aogami nods and promises to answer any questions he has to the best of his ability.
Aogami introduces himself, and he tells V-kun about the events that transpired during the game. He summarizes the events for him and presses on the fact that as much as it hurts him to say it, their last meeting really should have been their last. V-kun in turn tells Aogami about the letter and the strange encounter he has had with a younger form of himself.
Aogami draws a conclusion Sophia had drawn before; the fact that V-kun is here as a human with his soul and Knowledge means that the Recreator who has been sitting on the Throne for the last decade is attending to His godly duties while only being a shadow of His former self. He speculates that the Recreator is surviving on the essence of the God of Law and Lucifer, who He fused with after their final battle.
This would explain why He can exist separate from his soul and Knowledge at all, while also explaining why His power has been dwindling. While it is very plausible that Lucifer had also become a Nahobino after defeating the God of Law and gaining his Knowledge, the lingering power of two dead Gods could only sustain the soulless Recreator for so long.
V-kun’s head is spinning after gaining so much information in such a short time. He asks Aogami if there is any place they could be even saver while he rests. Aogami takes his hand and leads him to a blue glowing light, a Leyline Fount, and they teleport into the Fairy Village.
Perhaps if Aogami had known better, he would have picked a different safe location to teleport to. It takes the demons of the Fairy Village no time at all to surround them and welcome them home. The amount of demons wishing to speak with V-kun is overwhelming. Despite his efforts to just push through the discomfort while smiling and waving, V-kun ultimately loses consciousness as he faints from exhaustion in Aogami’s arms.
The next time V-kun wakes up he is laying in a mostly destroyed building out of the blazing sun and in the shadows with his head resting on a bundled up fabric of sorts. He is relieved to see only a few figures standing over him instead of the whole village. The first figure his eyes manage to focus on is a small flying demon with blue hair and comically large tears in her yellow eyes. Through gritted teeth, she is continuously repeating the word ‘Stupid’ until finally, something snaps, and she throws herself at V-kuns face, bawling her eyes out in the process.
“I thought I would never get to see you again, stupid! You didn’t even say goodbye, stupid!” she yells, thoroughly soaking the front of his business suit in tears. Aogami gently picks her off V-kun and brings her with him to a corner of the mostly empty room to speak with her in hushed tones.
The next person to appear more clearly into his vision is a demon who wears his long blond hair in a braid. He asks him if he thinks he can stand and offers V-kun his hand, which he accepts. The man pulls him up with ease, but doesn’t let go of his hand. He smiles as he takes a knee before V-kun and presses the back of his hand against his lips. “My king,” he says softly against his skin.
Embarrassed, V-kun takes his hand back and rubs the back of his hand. His cheeks are burning as he asks the demon for his name. The warrior smiles, stands back up and introduces himself as Fionn mac Cumhail. Fionn takes the ball of fabric V-kun’s head had been resting on before and dusts his cape off before attaching it to his outfit again.
Once the smaller demon seems to have calmed down enough, she joins them and introduces herself as Amanozako, emphasizing that: “That’s the name of your soulmate, you know? You better not forget it again!”
V-kun spends some time in the fairy village, this time taking all the attention of the demons much better. Most have a story about how he helped them out when he was a Nahobino, always listening to their requests without question. V-kun gets the impression his other self genuinely cared for these creatures, which makes it all the more strange that He chose to distance Himself from them.
Aogami allows V-kun to spend time with forgotten friends, but ultimately has to cut his reunions short. Word of V-kun’s arrival to Da’at has already travelled far, and the Fairy Village won’t remain safe for much longer if they linger here.
Understanding the situation much better now, V-kun agrees that they should make for the Throne and face the Recreator. He needs to be reunited with His soul and Knowledge before His end. They will not be going alone, however, as both Fionn and Amanozako refuse to stay behind and want to remain at his side. (As well as any other demons YOU liked, kind reader.)
There is but one problem, however. The three keys to open the path to the Empyrean have remained in place since the Recreator’s ascension to the Throne, but the Leyline Founts in and near the Empyrean have closed up and there are two armies, one of demons and one of angels, standing in their way. As soon as the possibility of getting into contact with humans again arose, most demons and angels could not help but return to their old ways.
While becoming a Nahobino is still seen as blasphemy to the angels, they seem to be of the opinion that one angel might fall to become a Nahobino and uphold the God of Law’s original vision. They seek to have the humans return to the World of Old, to face off against the horrors of the demons as retribution for the decade outside of the God of Law’s will, and hope to strengthen their faith because of these hardships.
The demons, on the other hand, also want to put a Nahobino on the Throne and have the humans return to the World of Old, but for a different reason. The demons have suffered under the rule of the God of Law and hope to see those he created in his image destroyed, as they think Lucifer would have wanted. They can’t seem to agree if this means humans should be hunted for sport, succumb to becoming demons themselves or become fused with demons regardless of whether or not their Knowledge matches with the demon in question.
As for the myriad gods, since the defeat of their most prominent leaders, they have not had any ambition left to try and make for the Throne again. Having heard the news of V-kun’s return and reunion with Aogami, they have chosen to stay out of this fight entirely.
V-kun might not remember the challenges his past self had overcome as a Nahobino, but his body remembers. He fights his way to the Throne together with his friends (it’s very cool, just imagine it), but begrudgingly needs to let Fionn and Amanozako stay behind in the Temple of Eternity. Something changed after the ascension of the Recreator and only Nahobino, of which there have been none until now, have been permitted to pass through the portal to the Empyrean ever since.
Fionn and Amanozako tell V-kun and Aogami to go and that they will hold off all the demons and angels until their return. They will not allow for V-kun to be left behind this time, so they better make it quick and finish their business in the Empyrean as fast as they can. (It’s very dramatic. You know how these “Go! We’ll hold them off!” moments go lol.)
V-kun and Aogami reach the Throne in their Nahobino form and find the Recreator. He looks the same as before when they met in V-kun’s studio, safe from the three pairs of white wings keeping Him afloat on His back. He does not look pleased with their presence and asks them to return from whence they came.
First it’s Aogami who calls out to Him through their Nahobino form, warning Him that His power is dwindling and the new world he fabricated for the humans is falling apart as they speak. Soon they will be cast into Da’at, which spans the entirety of the World of Old now, without a way to fight back the demons and angels that await their return. The Recreator seems unfazed by this, and sorrowfully notes: “I would have expected you at the very least to be happy to see me.”
He dismisses the notion that his power could be growing weaker. After all, doesn’t he possess the power of the God of Law, who has ruled over the universe since its creation? Aogami tries to get through to Him and explain to Him that the fact that the God of Law and Lucifer have ruled over the universe and had power over humans for so long is the only reason He has been able to survive of their essence for as long as He has, but it won’t be much longer until His existence fizzles out. Only His human soul and Knowledge will remain without access to the Throne and thus the events from before will play out again, this time on an even bigger scale as not just Tokyo but the entire human world is nothing but a fabrication.
The Recreator simply stares at them in disbelief and asks them to leave once again, warning them that He will not ask a third time. It’s then that V-kun speaks up through their Nahobino form. He asks Him why He chose to cast His soul and Knowledge away. The Recreator simply shakes His head at that question.
Before V-kun and Aogami are able to react, the Recreator falls backwards and disappears behind the Throne. Not a moment later, gigantic hands grab onto the platform that holds the Throne and a super-sized version of the Recreator pulls himself up. The features of His face have been entirely covered up by some black liquid that behaves as if it were melting. From the void like substance that once was the Recreator’s face, a dozen glowing yellow eyes look at them and pierce through their being.
“I warned you I wouldn’t ask a third time,” the Recreator, now turned Nahobino by the God of Law’s and Lucifer’s essence, speaks in their mind. They fight. It’s pretty cool. Ultimately the Recreator seems to be on the losing end of the fight, barely being able to hold His shape together as the fight continues on.
Not wanting the fight to end in the Recreator’s death, V-kun tries to reach out to him one more time. “What was the future you wanted for me? Did you think that by casting your soul and Knowledge away, you would get a second chance at a better life? That fabricated world for humans you created was never for us. Even without your memories, I felt in the core of my being that I no longer belonged there and that there was a hole in me that I couldn’t fix. Why won’t you actually face me? Accept me as part of you again?”
Knowing and accepting his defeat, the Recreator looks at the Nahobino before him with (many) saddened eyes. The black liquid falls from His face like tears, what remains of His form shaking as He reaches out for His other self.
“You’re wrong. What I did wasn’t for your sake, but for my own. If we were to be one, if I were to still have a soul, our separation from Aogami would have destroyed us.”
This gives pause to the Nahobino. V-kun can feel Aogami’s despair before the two unfuse. The proto-fiend looks pained at the wavering form of the Recreator, searching for the right words to say but failing to get them out. “Young man…”
Observing what is happening, V-kun steps forward. Suddenly, the anger and all the other negative emotions that have been building up inside him for the last decade come out, and he shouts so loudly at the Recreator that he even scares himself.
“I hate my desk job! I am standing before you here, fighting a battle that could result in the end of all things, and I would still rather be here than return to my desk job! Your godly duties pale in comparison. I promise you that I, your soul, would have had a better time eternally morning the loss of our severed connection to Aogami than I have had at that desk job for the last decade.”
Both the Recreator and Aogami remain speechless at this. In a fit of rage, V-kun takes off his, by this point tattered, blazer and throws it to the ground. “I’ve said it before, I don’t belong in the world you created for the humans. You can push me away all you want, but even without your memories I have changed, and we cannot return to how things were before. I would gladly give up my humanity if it meant we could become one again and stay with Aogami in Da’at.”
Aogami takes V-kun by the hand and pulls him closer, his face contorted in an even more pained expression than before. He asks him if he is certain because giving up his humanity would not just mean he would no longer be able to return to the world of humans. It could potentially mean he could lose track of himself and become disconnected from everything and everyone. With that, V-kun looks up at the Recreator and smiles, assuring Aogami that the Recreator should be proof enough that he won’t fall into nothingness, and he will always remember what is truly important.
The Recreator slowly nods, closes his eyes and turns into a glowing ball of white light. The light fuses with V-kun through his chest. The waves of energy being released during the fusing process are so strong that Aogami has to let go of V-kun’s hand and shield his eyes. Once the light has dimmed down, Aoagmi sees just one young man standing before him. He is tall and wearing his business suit, safe from the blazer on the ground, with his long black hair reaching to his lower back. Aogami just catches a glance of his glowing yellow eyes before the young man’s knees buckle, and suddenly he is on the ground, unable to stop tears from falling down his face.
V-kun sobs and trembles as he rides out the wave of emotions that hit him now that his soul has regained access to the Recreator’s memories. All the battles they have fought as a Nahobino, all the friendships that blossomed and all the sacrifices that were made come back to him all at once. He swallows hard and closes his eyes for a moment when he feels Aogami’s warm hand on his back. Once he feels he has calmed down enough he lets out a deep sigh and weakly smiles at Aogami.
“I hate my desk job, I really do, but in my fit of rage, I was unable to see his- no, my love for you. If my soul had remained, and you would have been outside my reach forever, it truly would have destroyed me.” V-kun slowly stands up and lovingly places a hand on Aogami’s cheek. “But that’s passed us now. We don’t have to be apart. I will give up my humanity if it means I can stay with you.”
They kiss. : ) Imagine it to be as sweet or as passionate as you want, dear reader. Could just have been a kiss on the forehead or a make-out session, depending on through which lens your few their relationship, but either way they can’t keep standing around here with Fionn and Amanozako still fighting two armies outside!
With V-kun and the Recreator reunited, they don’t need to ascent the Throne again, since the world doesn’t need to be changed once more. The world is still under its old rule, but this time the god that put that rule in place is no longer dying. Knowing this, they quickly leave the Empyrean and join Fionn and Amanozako once more to fight off any remaining demons and angels. Their Nahobino form is more powerful than ever, as it now also borrows from the God of Law’s and Lucifer’s essence.
The final fighting scene is very cool and once it is over, Fionn points his sword at the sky and celebrates the return of his king. V-kun, now remembering the friendships he had made along the way, pulls both Fionn and Amanozako into an embrace and tells them he is finally home.
The Nahobino’s work, however, is not done yet, as he still has some loose ends to tie up. First, he visits Sophia in the World of Shadows. She claims to have expected his arrival, but fails to hide how incredibly relieved she is to see him having regained his soul and Knowledge. She keeps things formal by saying that she simply did what had to be done to steer the future of Da’at and the human world in the right direction. V-kun thanks her for reaching out to him when she did.
Having gained the Knowledge of the God of Law, V-kun knows even more about Sophia now than he knew about her prior. While she had revealed herself to him as the Achamoth, the original matriarch and spirit of Knowledge before, he didn’t truly understand the full scope of her role in shaping the universe until gaining the Knowledge of the God of Law.
V-kun shares with her how good it feels to finally have a way back home, and asks her if she doesn’t desire the same thing. Being suspicious, Sophia asks V-kun to elaborate. Getting straight to the point, he asks her if she would be willing to go to the Empyrean, the highest place in heaven which used to be her home, and watch over the Throne for him the same as she has watched over the material world since she created it.
Never having seen Sophia express her feelings before, V-kun is pleasantly surprised to see her be moved by his proposal. Sophia takes his hands in hers and tells him that if he would entrust that responsibility to her, she would gladly continue watching over her creations from above. She does ask him, however, if he will not come to visit her from time to time, as that would bring her great joy. Relieved to have Sophia as his stand-in, V-kun agrees to those conditions.
With that one loose end tied up, V-kun hurries to the human world before the holes that had appeared in the separate world fully close up. He unfuses from their Nahobino form but keeps Aogami close by as he goes to say goodbye to Yuzuru Atsuta and Tao Isonokami. Perhaps it’s because neither of them fully lost their memories of their time in Da’at, but both of them take the news that V-kun has ascended to godhood once again fairly well. It does come as a shock to them, however, that he has given up on his humanity indefinitely and will not be returning to the world of humans once the holes from that fabricated world to Da’at have closed up.
After speaking with them about how he has changed since ten years ago and how his place is no longer here but with the demons and angels, they seem to understand why he can’t stay, but neither of them can accept it that easily. Tao proposes to have one last karaoke night to make their last memory together a good one. They agree to this and go on to sing hours into the night, not actually wanting to stop and needing to say their final goodbyes, but once the time has come for all of them to return home, they share an emotional embrace.
We end with V-kun and Aogami returning to the Fairy Village and once again all the demons, who had been waiting for them to return, gather around them. V-kun now recognizes everyone’s faces, smiles, and thanks them for welcoming him home.