Prelude and awakening

A strange wasteland stretched as far as my eyes could see. A horde of soldiers in black armor marched towards my position, all clutching their weapons. From behind me, a knight dressed from head to toe in red armor leaped towards them.

"You are dead, bastards!"

The knight's battle cry echoed throughout the field, as he landed on the enemies wielding a giant axe. The first blow crushed one of the black soldiers, and as the rest jumped to attack, he spun to describe a circle with his axe, splitting them all in half. Behind him walked a thin woman in a white dress with a veil covering her face. She carried a blue ornate staff, which shone slightly as several pillars of ice formed around the knight, striking the few who still dared approach him. Seeing that even exchanging glances with him would be suicide, a group of soldiers attempted an attack on a different woman, this time dressed completely in black with a hood obscuring her face. They didn't manage to get even at a hundred meters, though, when the woman hurled one of her two daggers at them, hitting one right in the throat. The others tried to pull back, but the woman disappeared in a gust of wind and slashed them with her remaining dagger, killing them.

The remaining soldiers retreated, but did not get far because another man, this time donning green armor, fell upon them with his spear and began to impale all who approached him. The other few who remained were struck down in place by lightning, cast by another woman, dressed in light clothing and a demon mask. With this last attack, there were no enemies left in the desolate land. The axe warrior turned to me and laughed.

"Slacking off already? We still have a long way ahead! Let us continue!"

I nodded and walked to him. With each step I took, the field around me seemed to vanish, becoming little more than a white void when I was two meters away from the warrior. I stopped and looked around: only the six victorious warriors were left. Not even the corpses of our enemies remained there. I wanted to approach the red warrior, but when I was just one step away from him, everything in front of me vanished.

I glanced at my alarm clock: I still had twenty minutes before I had to get up. I went down the stairs to the dining room, where I was greeted by my sister.

"What's with the face? You look like you just had a nightmare" my sister smiled at me as she always did.

"Don't know if nightmare, but it sure was a strange dream. Maybe I should stop staying up so late."

"I agree with you there, it's not good for your health."

"And you're going to tell me that's another reason why I'm the same height that I was when I was twelve?" I understood her concerns, but she kept on saying the same thing.

"No, I was gonna say that's why you look like a zombie. That keeps the potential friends away, you know?"

I groaned: she was right. I chose not to answer and prepared my breakfast. As I ate, I began to think about the dream, about those people I had never seen in my life, but with whom I felt a great familiarity. I finished my breakfast and went upstairs to get ready for school, for it was the first day of my senior year in high school.

"See you later, Mari!" I said goodbye to my sister as I went out.

"Good luck today, Ori!" she waved.

I breathed in the autumn air as I put a blue cloth cuff on my right arm. I wanted to change my looks a little, and that cuff was not only fashionable, but it also hid the scars on my wrist. I didn't like how they looked, but honestly, they were my fault. I'm not going into details about it now, since it's not really relevant.

When I got to school, I was a little nervous, because that school was somewhat different from the others: Despite being an American school, it employed an educational system very similar to the Japanese one. My biggest concern were the class changes. I didn't really have any friends, but I had some people I wasn't on good terms with, and they would have severely hindered my attempts at making new friendships had I ended in the same class as them again. Well, let's say that's another thing I earned, so I couldn't really complain. But I digress.

I entered the establishment and searched my name on the board, to verify what class I was in. As I had expected (and hoped), I ended in a different class than in the previous year. Just under three-quarters of the class were unknown to me. Victory. I sat in a random place near the middle but a little behind, and waited. Most seats were already being taken, but the place next to me was empty. And all the effort I had put into looking pretty that day ... I was about to curse my luck when a red-haired boy put his hand on the chair.

"Is this taken?" he said calmly; something I was grateful for given that a louder tone would've made me jump out of my chair.

"A-ah?" I tried to answer, but nothing came out.

"I'm asking if the seat is taken. Some people were saving seats for their friends, so I was wondering if you were doing the same."

"N-no, this one is free."

I didn't know why I was so nervous. Perhaps it was because he looked really menacing, with his serious expression and huge body. Or perhaps because he was attractive and he wanted to sit with me. Whatever it was, I guess it didn't really change anything. I tried to gain a little composure and talk to him, since I had to start changing my no-friends-needed attitude or I would remain alone for the whole year. The boy sat down and stared at the board, his chin resting on his hands.

"Um, I…" the redhead wasn't paying attention to me. "My name is Orianna, it's nice to meet you!" I tried to put a nice smile and a good girl tone, but judging by the face he made, it seems it did nothing but bother him.

"I'm Trevor" he answered, and went back to looking at the board.

Trevor didn't speak to me again for the rest of the day.

On the other hand, at lunch a girl came over to chat with me. She seemed very friendly, a Japanese girl named Hana. She was beautiful: long blue hair and green eyes. She was thin and had a nice figure, which made me feel jealous. I had absolutely nothing. I was a plank with no curves. I am a plank with no curves. But hey, enough of that, I get depressed.

I talked for a long time with Hana, we even continued talking as we entered the classroom. Only then I noticed that she was in my same class.

"Your hair is also very nice, Orianna!"

"You think so...? But yours is better, I wish I had that color!"

I smiled more in that conversation than I had in two months. My cheeks ached, but I had to continue for the sake of my reputation. Hana sat on the left side of the room, by the window. While the teacher entered the room, Hana waved at me again. I felt incredibly happy to finally have a friend, even if we had only chatted for twenty minutes. But to my surprise, Hana asked me to walk home with her, and I happily accepted. We walked for about ten minutes, talking about our tastes. I did my best not to bring up my weirder interests, so I just told her I liked movies and music. She told me she was very fond of flowers, and even had a flower-shaped hair ornament, but had forgotten to wear it because of how nervous she was. I gave her a sincere laugh and said goodbye to her, since we had to go separate ways on that street. I returned home almost jumping and got Marissa sick of hearing how my day had been over and over again. That day I was too tired to stay up late, so I enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Or I would have, were it not because of another strange dream.

It was in the same white void as the previous night, but none with no allies beside me. Standing just a couple of meters away, a man with a gas mask was looking in my direction. He walked slowly towards me, his footsteps echoing in my head as if he was stepping on a wooden floor. When he was close enough, he spoke.

"Will you gather the strength to go on? Or will you, like the others, succumb to the Adversity?"

I didn't know what to say. I had no idea what was happening, I couldn't think straight. The man took my silence as a denial.

"Hm... Too bad. I was hoping to find another survivor... But it was not the case."

The masked man turned and walked away in the same way he had come. I stepped forward and shouted at him.

"No! I won't give in to the Adversity!" I blurted out without thinking.

But the man didn't seem to hear, and continued his quiet march until he disappeared.

I woke up like the previous morning, confused and with twenty minutes to spare. I repeated my previous actions, too: have breakfast, get cute, go to school. What changed, though, was meeting Hana halfway to school.

"Morning, Hana!" I greeted her with the brightest smile my face allowed.

"Oh, good morning, Orianna!" when she turned, she seemed a bit sad, but her face brightened when she saw it was me.

"Did something happen?" my mouth went ahead of my brain.

"No, it's nothing, I just…" she sighed. "I just had a nightmare, that's all."

"Ah, I see… yeah, I had a bad dream too" of course she wouldn't want to talk about it, we had met the day before, for God's sake.

"Haha, at least I'm not alone in this" seems like sharing the misery helped her a little. "I didn't want to be seen as a baby who gets scared because a nightmare."

I laughed at her comment. You are never too old to be frightened by a nightmare. I mean it.

We arrived at school without any more events. I said hello to Trevor upon arrival, but he didn't exactly give me a cheerful reply, something totally expected. It was surprising that he greeted me back; it showed that, blunt as he was, he still had some manners. The first class, History, was boring, since I already knew most of that. During lunchtime, though, things got a tad more interesting.

A group of students rushed into the cafeteria, agitated and terrified. A crowd had formed around them, so Hana and I went to see what was happening.

"A monster! I swear, he was a monster!"

One of the students yelled about seeing a monster outside the building, a man with raven wings and a beak. As expected, many didn't believe him or thought he was just trying to make a joke. And I did too, until a voice echoed in my head.

"...Will you stand against the Adversity…?"

Was that the "Adversity" the masked man was talking about? Had he not been just a bad dream? I cursed my luck again. I ran out of the building, and Hana followed me without saying anything. I saw, standing on a lamppost, a man just like the other student had described. The raven man jumped to the roof of the school, and as he did so, a murder of crows appeared on the horizon, flying towards the school. One landed face first on the sidewalk out front, destroying the concrete. That crow was the size of a dog! Surely the whole school would panic when they saw those things, so I had to act fast. I couldn't give in to the Adversity.

"Hana, I want you to take the back door and get out of here. Run as fast as you can and don't look back, understand?"

Hana nodded, terrified, and started running. I went back inside the school, screaming as loud as I could.

"Everyone, get out of here! This place is dangerous!"

They ignored me. Of course they would, dammit. A crow had to break in before everyone started running. Everyone panicked, and only the most sensible escaped through the back door. I looked at the raven and realized that I was not going to beat him like that: I needed a weapon. I picked up a chair and threw it at the raven, to attract its attention. It worked, as it rushed to attack barely giving me time to dodge. I sprinted toward the food counters, jumped into the kitchen and took the biggest knife I found. The crow was charging against me again, and in that small window between the crow jumping and almost burying its peak in my chest, I realized I didn't have the slightest idea how to fight. Luckily, it crashed against the wall when I evaded, and that gave me time to stab it again and again until I was sure it didn't move anymore. No blood flowed from its body, just a black liquid that turned to smoke when it touched the floor. I ignored that crow and went, God knows why, to fight the rest.

Across the hall, I saw Trevor kick the fire cabinet to break the glass and take the fire extinguisher, with which he crushed one of the two ravens who tried to attack. Rather than avoiding the other's lunge, he just stopped it with his hands, clutching the raven's beak and throwing him against the wall. That done, he took the fire ax and gave a precise blow to its head, destroying it. I ran to him, glad to have an ally.

"So this is the so-called 'Adversity'...? Pathetic."

I heard him clearly, and stopped. Trevor looked at me, perplexed, as if wondering why I hadn't left yet. A question he put into words a second later.

"Adversity… that's why. You have to face it too?"

Trevor was surprised for a second, then smiled for an instant and went back to his usual expression.

"Is this all? Just these crows?"

"No, there's the big one in the rooftop… A man with wings and a beak."

"Wings and… a beak?"

"You just murdered some dog-sized crows and you think that's weird?"

"Fair point. Come on, to the rooftop."

We rushed to the roof, trying to evacuate all the people left in the building. Well, I was trying. Trevor was more focused on crushing every raven we found. Finally, we reached the top, where the crowman was waiting for us, holding a spear.

"I am… Tengu" his voice sounded as if it came from all sides.

"Whoever you are, you are dying today" Trevor readied his ax, but didn't attack.

"Do you really think that you will beat me, without awakening to your potential?"

"Potential?" what was he talking about?

"Those who do not understand this world do not deserve to be a part of it!"

Tengu charged against us with his spear, and we both evaded by jumping to the side. But his recovery was faster than ours: he jumped towards me again, and I couldn't dodge in time. He struck me on a side and threw me to the ground. And again, he prepared to attack, but he was interrupted by Trevor burying his ax on his back.

"Come on, Tengu! I'm your opponent!"

Unfortunately, that attack costed him his ax. Tengu raised his spear, this time not to charge but to directly strike Trevor with it. Trevor was not just strong, but agile; as he dodged Tengu's attacks without letting himself be cornered. Compared to him, I felt useless. I wasn't skillful like him. What could I do, apart from feeling sorry for myself? I looked at Trevor, how he strove to live, not letting the Adversity defeat him.

I looked at my hand, and I saw that in some point in the fight with the crows, I had lost my wristband. The scars on my wrist were exposed once more, and they sickened me. They were just so disgusting... I couldn't bear to see them. They were proof of my weakness. However, Trevor was still clinging to life. Why couldn't I do the same? Why couldn't I face the Adversity?

But I could. I only lacked the strength to do it. I could fight against the Adversity, I could fight Tengu and emerge victorious, because I had not yet lost all hope of living! I focused on the hope and managed to get up. I no longer felt pain, just that burning desire to fight and survive the Adversity.

"PERSONA!"

A burst of energy emerged from my body and shot towards Tengu, hitting him squarely.

"I am thou, and thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I cometh…"

From the depths of my being, a black-haired woman dressed in a white robe hit Tengu with her halberd, moving him away from Trevor. That woman, so angelic yet so demonic, had feathers like a peacock on her back, and her words echoed in my mind. I stretched my arm towards Tengu and she charged against him again, piercing him with the tip of her halberd and slamming him against the ground. But apparently, my attack had been effective only for the element of surprise. Tengu counterattacked, locking spears against my angel. At one point, he managed to break my angel's defense and attack directly, and I felt the blow as if I had received it myself. But the woman would not give up so easy. As soon as she got up, she attacked Tengu again, scoring another surprise blow against him. But they were almost evenly matched, and at this rate, I would end up losing.

"Trevor!" I yelled. "You can fight too, can't you!? So fight!"

The redhead stood up firmly and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and lifted his left arm in the air, gathering the same energy I had.

"PERSONA!"

From Trevor's soul came a swordsman in red armour and a white cape, who lunged towards Tengu to keep him away from my angel. The two engaged in fierce combat, mercilessly exchanging blows. However, it was obvious that the red warrior was superior, and proved it when he completely disarmed Tengu. Trevor moved his arm again to give an attack order, and I noticed that, on his now exposed shoulder, the Roman number eleven had been drawn on his skin. Our enemy struck again, hitting the knight with his bare hands in a desperate attack in order to weaken Trevor.

"Orianna, hit him now!"

I didn't need more than that. I held out my hand towards Tengu, which allowed me to appreciate the number seventeen on my right wrist, in the same style as Trevor's eleven, covering my scars. I understood then. My weaknesses would no longer turn me into a burden, not with this power.

"Kartikeya!"

My angel raised her halberd in the sky and spread her colorful feathers, calling a bolt of lightning on Tengu to destroy him. Our enemy disappeared, not in the same way as previous crows, but slowly vanishing. The knight put his sword away and disappeared as well. Trevor picked his ax from the floor and turned to me. Kartikeya slowly faded, and with her, it seemed like the world around me was fading as well. Without realizing it, I fell unconscious. The last thing I heard was a worried Trevor yelling my name.

Yes I am aware it looks like a bad shoujo at first. Yes I do know Kartikeya is male.