BONG. BONG. BONG.
As Jezika waited for her train, she heard the clock strike midnight.
She was taking the red-eye out of the country, but lucky for her it didn't take off for another couple of hours. She'd missed her train to the airport, and so here she was, watching the world around her change.
All around her people were Transmogrifying, violently changing form into tall coffins. It looked painful. Blood oozed from the walls and signs hanging from the ceiling. She could feel it seeping from the ground at her feet. It was horrifying, but she was used to it by now. She was one of the few people across the ocean that had the "potential".
The only potential she saw for herself was the potential for a fucked up life.
It all started with her mother. Ms. Fehr worked for the Kirijo Group as an American liaison. Luckily, she had come home before the explosion. But she had been there during the height of experimentation – and she had been pregnant with Jezika at the time. Something had happened, and Jezika came out special.
Of course, Jezika was too young to really remember anything on her own. All she knew was what her mother told her when the decision was made for Jezika to return to Iwatodai and help SEES rid the world of the Dark Hour for good. Her parents weren't special like her, but that didn't mean they didn't know what happened. Her mother had told stories of the experiments that took place. It was horrifying, really.
All in the name of science, right?
When the Kirijo Group had found out about Jezika's potential, they had requested she return to Japan to have her skills monitored. Jezika's parents refused. They believed that when the time came, Jezika would come to understand what she could do – if she wanted to.
Yeah, that was a lie.
That was why she was waiting to leave the country, right? Because she actually had a choice in the matter.
What a joke.
Jezika was a senior in high school, and she had to leave her friends and family – and her boyfriend. Everything. And for what? To help people she'd never met in a country she'd only been to a handful of times.
Luckily, Jezika had picked up the language and customs from the times they had been to Japan. Otherwise, she'd be screwed.
Sighing deeply, she leaned forward on her knees and her head rested in her hands. Against her right thigh, over her tights, was her Evoker. Fingers tangled in her fiery orange and red hair, she shook her head. Once she got to Japan, she'd hide the Evoker, American laws were different and she had a permit to carry for protection purposes.
"What the hell am I getting myself into?"
Sitting back up, she crossed her legs at the ankle and waited. It would be a while before the trains were working again, and she didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. It was a sobering feeling, being the only one awake – the only one alive.
Reaching for her Evoker, she held it in her hands and looked at it. It had brought her nothing but drama and pain, yet she didn't know what she would do without it anymore. Phoenix was a part of Jezika - she could feel her in her mind. She kept her safe, and it was comforting.
Her parents knew what was best for her, she supposed. But, it wouldn't be easy. Starting a new school was never easy, especially in a new country. But Jezika was good at adapting to change. She'd get along well enough.
Something stirred behind her, and Jezika lifted her head to look over her shoulder. Her amber eyes narrowed a bit as she pulled herself to her feet. Her right hand still clutched her Evoker. "Hello?" Jezika knew better than to think anyone would be awake.
The heels of her boots clacked eerily on the ground as she looked around the platform. "Come out, come out…" She called, as she hopped down from the platform and onto the tracks. The sound was coming from the tunnel.
"Yeah, because that's not freaky at all, right?" As she shook her head, her curls fell in front of her face before she swept them away. As she stood at the edge of the darkness, the faint yellow glow of the moon pulsed at her back, but allowed for little light. Turning her head, Jezika strained her hearing to see if she could make out where the sound was.
That's when she heard the familiar sound of a moving Shadow. "Fuck... me..." Well, the positive in the situation was she'd be able to see. Not wavering in her stance, she took a deep breath and held her Evoker up to her right temple. The muzzle of the gun pressed into her curls.
And then she pulled the trigger.
"Persona!"
The sound of the shot cracked through the night sky like shattering glass. Her eyes were engulfed in amber fire as Phoenix swirled from her being. Flames surrounded her whole body as the large bird-like creature loomed over her from behind. The darkness was drowned out by the fire and she could see the creature as it bubbled and its form grew. The shadowy ooze dropped away and an enslaved beast roared at her. She could see the glint of its ball and chain and nearly smell its breath as it charged her.
"Shit." Holstering the Evoker, she reached to her left boot and pulled what looked to be a steel knife. A quick snap of her wrist and the weapon fanned out into a five-pointed glaive. Between the bladed points were metal lace-like edges.
Flying fatality, that's what she held.
Twisting her body, she threw the glaive at the beast in hopes of slowing it down. The chained lion leaped off the wall of the tunnel, which caused the glaive to veer off the chain that attached the creature to the spiked ball.
Huffing, Jezika flicked her wrist once more and the glaive shook before it came flying back to her. By that time, Phoenix had melded back inside of her, and she would have to be called again to be useful.
That was Jezika's biggest peeve with the whole situation.
Away went the glaive after she snapped it shut, and the Evoker was drawn once again. In one fluid motion, she flipped it up and pressed the barrel to her head. Without a hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
"Phoenix! Agilao!"
The bird exploded from her body and a wave of fire poured from the creature. It filled the tunnel like molten lava and washed over the chained beast. It froze in its tracks and let out a howl of pain and its form shook and exploded and was gone.
An uneasy breath was taken as Phoenix dissipated and Jezika stumbled a bit. She caught herself before falling over. Calling her Persona took a lot out of her and left her light headed. She never was able to get any sort of explanation; from what Mr. Ikutsuki told her, it was simply to be expected. She had never met the man, of course. But they had correspondence over the years, after he found out of her abilities.
Jezika had her mother to thank for that one.
Before she could gather her bearings completely, the Dark Hour was over and all she could hear was the deafening sound of train whistles as she stood between two sets of tracks. A sharp breath was taken as her whole body stilled as two of the subway cars started up and flew past her on either side. Squeezing her eyes closed, she thought for sure she was dead. But when all was said and done, the station grew silent again and the people were like they had been.
"My stars! What are you doing down there, missy? You're going to get yourself killed!" An older man came to the ledge and offered his hand down to Jezika. She blinked a few times before turning to look at him. "What are you doing down there?"
"Um. Thanks." She said with a smile and a nervous laugh. "I fell…Yeah. I was reaching for my PSP. It fell." She held it up with one of her hands and took the man's hand with her other. "Thank you again."
"You need to be more careful. Nothing is worth losing your life over, you remember that." The man nodded, and asked once more if she was okay. Upon getting a satisfactory answer, he left Jezika be. She grabbed her bag and headed onto the train.
"If you only knew, mister. If you only knew." Jezika said, half under her breath as she picked her seat and put her headphones back into her ears. Leaning her head on the window, she closed her eyes. First the train ride to the airport, and then the flight itself. Mitsuru Kirijo would be at the airport to pick her up when she arrived in Iwatodai.
It was going to be a long trip.