As soon as he stepped off the train, the world turned green.
The sudden change caught him Devyn off guard, but it didn't really surprise him. He just quickly dodged around the mass of coffins that had sprouted up in front of him and continued on his way. "Man, clock was off again," he said as he began rummaging through his bag, "At least I managed to fix something to do in this bitch." He grabbed a music player out of his bag and unhooked his headphones from the one on his belt. He hooked up to the duct tape covered mess and had moonlight sonata playing through the second movement. "Damn, must have kicked on while on the train." He punched a few buttons and had it restarting while he continued on his way.
As he walked down the road, sidestepping coffins everywhere, he wondered at how many people where out at midnight here in Port Island, Japan. Back home in Louisiana, everyone would have been at home either asleep or partying in the front yard, but he guessed there was always some differences when you traveled halfway across the world. He grabbed a Dr. Pepper can from the pocket of his trench coat and popped the top.
Finally, halfway through his soda, he made it to the dorm where he was told he'd be staying. It was on what seemed to be a relatively quiet road, so he'd at least be able to get a little sleep tonight when everybody turned back into humans. He quickly let himself in and froze, there in the middle of the floor, was a little kid in old prisoner clothes. "You're late," he said. "Yeah, took a little walk around. Didn't figure anyone would still be human." Devyn looked at the boy. He couldn't have been more than twelve, but he seemed way too calm for what was going on. The boy chuckled, "I don't really think that applies to me. Now, if you want to proceed, you'll have to sign the contract." He gestured to the counter, where a plain contract sat with a quill and pot of ink next to it, "Don't worry, all it says is that you will take responsibility for your actions." Devyn walked over and picked up the contract, "Nevertheless, I don't sign anything without reading it first." As Devyn scanned the page, he looked over at the boy again. He stood there patiently waiting, his eyes never leaving Devyn. It was a little disconcerting, to say the least.
"I chooseth this fate of mine own will, huh...? Fancy wording, but it doesn't look like it'll come back to haunt me." He turned and grabbed the quill and quickly scribbled 'Devyn Sullivan' on the dotted line. Of course the ink, like any liquid when the sky turns green, had been changed to blood.
And Devyn still had his Dr. Pepper in hand.
Try not to think about it.
Prison Boy grabbed the contract when he was done and looked at the signature, "No one can escape time, it delivers us all to the same end," He flicked his wrist and the contract disappears, "you can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." That started to creep Devyn out, so his smart-ass kicked on. He flicked his wrist and a pair of sunglasses appeared in his hand, "The truth shines even through closed eyelids." He placed the glasses on his face and watched the child's mouth widen from a creepy smirk to a smile, "Glad to see you understand. And so it begins." He moved backwards and disappeared into the shadows. Devyn leaned against the counter to finish his soda when a voice called out, "Who's there!"
He looked over to see a girl about his age, with brown hair and a pink cardigan. She had a leg holster just below her short skirt. Devyn pushed off the counter to face her and remove his glasses, he flashed her a grin and said, "Devyn Sullivan, nice to meet you,ma cherie." She seemed a little thrown off by this, which was what he had been going for. Too many crazy women had pointed weapons at him for him to be a jackass now. "I was told I would be staying here while I finished my schoolin'." Another girl had come down the stairs while Devyn spoke and he turned to greet her, but stopped when he saw her. "Takeba," she said, "calm yourself." She turned to Devyn. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students in this dorm."
He took a second to look at her long red hair and perfectly arranged uniform, then stepped forward and bowed, "Le plaisir de vous rencontrer, ma dame. Mon nom est Devyn Sullivan" Her voice was surprised as she replied, "Vous parlez le francais?" Devyn nodded,"Oui, mon amour." Her face flamed red and miss Takeba butted in, "Who's he?" Devyn could tell he wasn't going to like her very much, but stepped back as Mitsuru composed herself and replied "He's a transfer student here. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a dorm in the boys' dorm." Devyn looked back at Mitsuru, "This is a girl's only dorm?" She shook her head, "Actually, it's coed."
"Then I'd like to request I not be transferred." He said. The girls looked at him, "I already know where this place is." That seemed to satisfy Mitsuru, but Takeba leaned close to her and said, "Is it gonna be okay for him to be here?" Devyn laughed, startling the girls, "I'm Cajun, honey. I may flirt, but I promise I'm harmless." Mitsuru smirked and said to the other girl and said, "There you have it. About the rest we'll have to see. Mr. Sullivan, this is Yukari Takeba, she'll be a junior this spring, like you." He smiled at her, "We've met. I hope I didn't scare you, ma cherie." She shook her head, "N-not at all."
Mitsuru then said, "It's getting late. Your things should already be in your room. It's at the end of the hall on the second floor." Yukari stepped forward, "I'll show you the way." "No need, you should be getting your rest as well. If you'll give me the key, I can bid you both bonne nuit." Yukari passed him the key and headed up the stairs, looking anxious. Mitsuru turned to follow her and Devyn called out, "Reves doux, ma beaute." She blushed again and answered, "Merci, bonne nuit." She went up the stairs and Devyn waited a while in the common room, getting a feel for the place. It was comfortably, if sparsely, furnished. It had a TV in the corner and a kitchen area separate from the dining room. To Devyn it seemed like the kind of place where rich kids were sent by their parents to get them away. But it didn't have that empty, snooty feel that he would have imagined. Instead, it felt more like the whole place was waiting for something. Finally, Devyn began to feel tired and made his way up to his room. There was a bed, an armoire, and a desk already in the room, and two boxes in the middle of the floor. He pushed the box marked "Clothes" to the armoire and the one marked "Other" to the desk. Next, he grabbed his pillow out of his backpack, crashed hard on the bed, and was out.
The next morning, he found out that he would most likely be waking up before the whole dorm this year. He had basically stayed up twenty-five hours, woke up before everyone, and still felt like he had overslept. So, being as quiet as he could, he went to shower and get dressed in the new uniform. He left the tie out and the top button undone, but then saw that the top of a scar could be seen over the shirt. He debated covering it, then decided it wasn't worth it. He went back to his room and grabbed his wallet, watch, and chain with the cross of Saint James and went down to cook breakfast. Before long, Mitsuru came down the stairs and saw him cooking, "Ah, Mr. Sullivan. I didn't think you'd be up so early." Devyn turned and smiled at her, "I've never been one to sleep in. And please don't be so formal with me, mon coeur. I'm Devyn. Sit, I'll fix you a plate." Mitsuru seemed shocked at his familiarity, but quickly composed herself and gave a small smile, "Very well." As she took a seat at the small kitchen table, Devyn said over his shoulder, "I don't know what y'all eat for breakfast over here, so forgive me if this seems strange, but I promise if you try it, you'll love it." As he said that, he placed a plate down in front of her.
"What is this?" She asked, but Devyn shook his head, "Nuh-uh. You try it, then I'll tell you." She gave him a doubtful look, but he handed her a fork and she took a small bite. She chewed for a second, then her face lit up, "C'est magnifique!" He grinned, "You flatter me, madmoiselle. It's nowhere near as good as my Maw-maw makes it, but I'm glad you like it." She took another bite as he made his own plate, "Now can you tell me what this is?" He looked at her and nodded, "It's called eggs sardou. It's poached eggs with creamed spinach and artichoke tops with hollandaise sauce."
"It's wonderful."
"Well, thank you. We Cajun like to hear people like our food." They finished their breakfast and he washed their plates in the sink. "Now, I think I should be heading to school." Mitsuru said. He grabbed his uniform jacket off his chair and went to open the door for her, "If you don't mind, could I walk with you? I don't really know where the building is." She nodded, "Of course." They set off for the train station and made it in time to catch the next out. The place was crowded, so Devyn automatically took Mitsuru's hand so they wouldn't get separated and led her to an open seat. He turned and saw her blushing and looking at their hands, and he quickly let go, "I'm sorry if I've embarrassed you, ma chere. Here, I've found you a seat." She nodded and sat without a word. The ride to the school was silent and after a while Devyn was staring out the window. A noise caught his attention and he looked over to see a girl in a school uniform over by the door. She looked like she was about to cry and it took him a minute to see it was because someone was reaching out from the crowd to grope her chest.
Devyn started forward and slid through the group until he was behind the fat man that was assaulting the girl. The man was breathing heavily and was clearly getting off in the middle of the train. Devyn grabbed the man by the man by the back of the neck and slammed him into the door. Before the man could yell, Devyn had the arm he was using to grope the girl pinned behind his back where it was about to snap. "Now, that is very ungentlemanly, sir. I suggest you apologize to the young lady." He looked behind him where the girl in question was staring at him with wide eyes behind her glasses. "Ma'am, this man has something he wants to say to you." The girl stepped forward hesitantly, and Devyn turned the guy to face her. At first the man tried to be tough, and said, "I ain't got nothing to apologize for." Then Devyn yanked his arm out of the socket. When the man finished screaming, Devyn said, "If you want your arm back, you will apologize." The man finally whimpered out an apology and they both looked at the girl who was trying to hide behind her straight brown hair. When she felt their gaze on her she looked up, then quickly nodded and went back to trying to hide. Devyn then snapped the man's arm back in place and said, "Friend, I think it'd be best if you found another way around in the mornings from now on. Understand?" The man quickly agreed and ran through the now opening doors.
Devyn finally noticed all the people in the train who had turned to look at him, including Mitsuru. "What, the hell, y'all lookin' at?" he asked in his loud voice. Everyone quickly went back to their conversations except for Mitsuru and the girl. Devyn walked up to her first and asked, "Are you all right, ma'am?" She nodded without looking up. "Do you go to Gekkoukan High?" She nodded again, "I'm Devyn Sullivan, I'll be starting at Gekkoukan today, nice to meet you." The girl looked up and quietly said, "Chihiro F-F-Fushimi," Devyn smiled at her and continued, "Listen, Fushimi-Chan, I know stuff like what happened can be scary, and you may not want to talk about that with me, but you need to talk to somebody about it. It'll help, I promise." She looked at him and said, "Okay..." He nodded and said, "Good, now I want you to come stand over here with me so I can watch for any more guys like that." He started back toward Mitsuru and looked back to make sure Chihiro was following him. When they made their way back to Mitsuru's seat, she said, "Sullivan, do you mind telling me just what you were doing over there?" Devyn rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess you would have just seen me hurting the guy not what happened before,.." He glanced over at Chihiro and said, "I don't think this is the best place to bring it up, actually." Mitsuru glared at him and said, "Fine, but don't think I'm going to forget about this." Devyn wasn't liking the way this was looking for his future when Chihiro spoke up, "Please don't be mad at him, Kirijo-sempai. He was defending me. That man, he..." Chihiro then lost her nerve and went back to trying to be invisible.
Devyn watched Mitsuru's face as she went through confusion at what Chihiro was trying to say, understanding, rage, relief, then finally sympathy. She couldn't say much besides, "Oh." They went back to everyone being quiet until the school came into view and the train barreled on to the station. The doors opened and everyone began filing out and Devyn made sure to be right behind Chihiro so nobody could get a quick squeeze in while he wasn't there. Finally the crowd began to thin out and the three began to head towards the school. "Here we are, Gekkoukan High." Mitsuru announced. Chihiro ran forward and Mitsuru was about to go after her when Devyn stopped her, "She needs a little time by herself. I don't know how many times that's happened to her before I saw it, and she needs to vent those feelings before she'll be ready to talk to anybody. But if she comes to you to talk, I hope you'll listen to her." Mitsuru looked at him for a while before she nodded, "You're right. You seem pretty familiar with this, Sullivan."
"Please, Mitsuru-chan. I told you there's no need to be formal with me. But to answer your unspoken question, I'm no stranger to trauma, either mental or physical." That last statement seemed to confuse her but before she could say anything else, he headed in to the building. When she caught up he was looking around in confusion, she walked up behind him and asked, " You don't know where you're going, do you?" He turned, "I just figured I'd ask somebody when I got in here, but apparently there's some issues with me not being Japanese." Devyn instantly regretted that statement as he watched her face darken, "Oh, really? Would you recognize any of these people if you saw them again?" He looked her in the eye and said, "I most certainly would not. I can handle that part myself, Mitsuru-Chan. Once people get to know me the prejudice will go away. For right now I'm more worried about where the faculty office is so I can find out what class I'm in." And with that Mitsuru calmed down, although she still looked less than pleased to hear her fellow students were being discriminatory, "It's over this way."
Mitsuru showed him the door to the faculty office then excused herself to take care of her own business. He entered and scanned the room to find someone who could help him. As his eyes fell on a woman, she turned and noticed him, "Oh, are you the new student?" Devyn smiled, "Oui, c'est moi." The lady looked confused until he nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am." She looked down to one of her papers, "Devyn Sullivan, eleventh grade, correct?" he nodded, "Wow, you've lived in a lot of places. Let's see, ten years ago, your mother...!" She gasped. Here it comes, "I'm sorry. I've been so busy I haven't had time to read this beforehand. I'm Miss Toriumi. I teach composition. Welcome to our school." I bowed to her, "Please don't feel sorry for me. I thank you for your gracious welcome and hope to be worthy of your teaching talents." She smiled, "My, aren't you the charmer." I smiled. "Have you seen the classroom assignments?" Miss Toriumi asked. He nodded, "I'm class F."
"That's my class. But first we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting soon." He walked with her to the auditorium. Once there, she pointed to an area where her class was sitting and he nodded and sat down. He tried to listen to the Principal's speech but the man was so boring and unorganized that he fell asleep. He woke up when he heard people moving around and followed them to the classroom.
-
After classes, Devyn decided to head to the shopping district to pick up some groceries when some dude just walked up into his personal space and said, "Sup, dude? How's it going?" Devyn backed up a step and asked, "Who are you?" The guy straightened up and said, "Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." I offered him a hand and he shook it vigorously, "I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid. So I wanted to say, 'hey'. See what a nice guy I am?" Yukari chose this time to walk up and said, "At it again? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" Devyn laughed, "Now, now, Takeba-Chan, no harm done. He was just trying to be friendly." Junpei smiled, "Yeah!"
Yukari wasn't convinced, "If you say so." She turned to me, "It looks like we're in the same room, huh?" He grinned, "It must be fate." Yukari laughed, "Fate? Yeah, right." Junpei butts in, "Hello, did you forget I'm in this class too?" But Yukari ignored him, "Actually, Devyn-kun, I meant to ask you. You didn't say anything about last night, did you?" Devyn said, "Of course not, ma chere. But you may want to choose your words better next time." He pointed to Junpei, who was staring slack-jawed at Yukari, "L-Last night...?" She panicked, "W-Wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us!" Devyn feigned offense, "Nothing! Aww, ma chere, you wound me!" She turned to him, "Shut up! Jeez... I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But, you better not start any rumors!" And with that she stormed off.
Junpei chuckles, "Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid... Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it! Hey, if you're not doing anything, you wanna hang out before we head home?" Devyn said, "Actually, I was gonna cook a big meal for all the folks in the dorm, so I need to get moving to pick up the stuff before too late, I want it to be done when everyone gets back. If you want you can come eat with us." Junpei looked at Devyn, "I don't know, can you even cook." Devyn looked at him, "Boy, now you gotta come, you done insulted my honor as a Cajun. You comin' wit' me, and you gonna eat the best thing you ever tasted since you sucked yo' mamma's titty." Devyn grabbed him and headed out to grab the groceries.
-
Later, Mitsuru walked in and saw Devyn wearing an apron standing over a big pot. He looked over and said, "Bonjour, mamselle. Hungry?" She smiled and said, "Famished, what are you making now?" He wagged a finger at her, "You know how this goes. You try it before I tell you. Oh, before I forget, I invited a friend from school to eat with us tonight, so I want you to go finish your homework and get back down here in time to eat, alright?" She seemed amused by his tone and headed toward the stairs, "As you wish, Devyn-kun." After a while everyone was down in the dining room where they found the table set and Devyn standing with his big pot. He noticed a silver haired youth in the back of the group and nodded, "How ya doin', Devyn Sullivan." He returned the nod and said, "Akihiko Sanada." Everyone sat down and Devyn began pouring a large helping into everyone's bowl. Then, Junpei came down from Devyn's room where he'd decided to snoop around instead of doing his homework. Yukari noticed and said, "Junpei, what are you doing here?"
Devyn eyed her with his best angry Maw-maw impression and she sat back down, "Everyone, this is Junpei Iori and I invited him over to eat. The boy be too skinny anyway, y'all Japanese don't eat right. Be polite, now Iori-San, sit." He sat down and took his hat off. Everyone tasted their food while Devyn poured a bowl for Junpei and went to get his own helping. "Wow, this is awesome." He heard Akihiko say, "Amazing!" Yukari spouted. Mitsuru chuckled, "I had the same reaction when he made me breakfast this morning. He is a magnificent cook. Though I've never tasted this kind of food. What is this?" This time the boy went for a heavy Cajun accent and said, "That be scrimp, sausage, and rice gumbo, chile. Best on the bayou, I tell ya." They laughed at his accent and continued to dig in as Devyn said his prayer over his food. When he began to eat, Yukari looked up, "Hey, Devyn-kun." He set his spoon down, "Yes, Takeba-Chan?" "What is that accent? I've never heard an American sound like that." He smiled at her honesty and at Mitsuru's scolding, "Takeba!" "No, it's alrigh', I understand. Not many people where I'm from get the chance to travel, so she probably never would have heard a Cajun accent if I hadn't shown up. I'm from the southern United States, a place called Louisiana. It was originally owned by the French before the U.S. bought it. We tried to keep a hold of our heritage while embracing the American way of life, and ended with the strange mix that most call creole. But the rich folks was creole, I'm of the swamp running, poor folk variety. We's called Cajun's." Everyone but Mitsuru nodded, they had never heard any of that before. "And that's why you speak that weird language that Mitsuru-sempai knows. You said it was French?" Both Mitsuru and Devyn said, "Oui." Then Devyn turned toward Akihiko, "So, Sanada-San. You go to Gekkoukan, too?" He nodded, "Third year, same as Mitsuru." He nodded, "So, you don't turn into a coffin at night either, huh?" Akihiko, Yukari, and Misturu choked on their gumbo at the same time and Junpei looked confused, "I don't know what you're talking about," Akihiko said quickly, looking away. Devyn knew he was lying, but he wasn't going to push, so he said, "My mistake." He looked over at Mitsuru, who was still choking on her gumbo, and lightly patted her on the back, "You all right, chere?"
She finally swallowed her food and took a deep breath. He continued to rub her back until her breathing came down to normal and she looked at him, "You good now?" She nodded and he went back to his food. The rest of the meal went by with just normal small talk until Junpei stood and announced that he needed to get back home. Devyn said goodbye and he left out the door. Devyn began collecting the dishes to wash when Mitsuru said, "Devyn-kun, please sit back down," He looked back to see all three still in their chairs. "Is something the matter?" She shook her head, "It's about that comment you made earlier." Devyn seemed relieved, "Oh, that? I was just wondering, is all. I mean, if I don't, Takeba-chan doesn't, and I assume you don't since you didn't seem surprised that Takeba-Chan had a gun last night, I figured that maybe Sanada-san didn't either." That's when Akihiko stood up and said, "You were right, I don't."
Devyn just nodded and continued toward the kitchen to wash the dishes, "That's what I figured. You might try not to look away when you lie." Akihiko dropped his gaze to the floor. "So, if all of you don't change at night, and Takeba-Chan's gun doesn't freak you out, then that means you've run into those monsters, yeah?" They nodded, "Thought so." He put the dishes in the sink and ran water, "So what did you guys want to talk about?" They were all coming into the kitchen to talk while Devyn washed dishes and Yukari even came over to help rinse, "Devyn-kun, have you heard of Apathy Syndrome?" He thought before he answered, "No, can't say I have. I assume it's relevant to the conversation?" Akihiko nodded, "Those monsters you saw are called Shadows, and they're the cause of Apathy Syndrome. They devour the minds of normal people while they're in that coffin form. We decided to fight them." Devyn listened, face stoic, navy blue eyes deep in thought. "You see, the Shadow's nest is here in Port Island," Devyn looked over at Mitsuru, "We are looking for people with the ability to experience the Dark Hour," Devyn looked confused, "that time when everyone else is a coffin," His eyes flashed in understanding, "So they could help us explore the Shadow's nest and find the source of the Shadow's."
Devyn was silent as he digested this new information. Finally, the dishes were done and he wiped his hands on a dish towel. "I've killed quite a few of these Shadows myself, mostly when they came into my Maw-maw's house." I've been caught outside and ambushed by a group of the things. I've had friends who experienced your Dark Hour, too." This caused all of them surprise. But not as much as what he said next, "But those friends had the same thoughts as you. They wanted to know why we saw everyone we cared about turned into coffins. Why all the water turned to blood. Why we got attacked by monsters that nobody else saw. They decided to find the source too, and they convinced me to help. Then one night, when we were out exploring, we came across a monster calling itself Reaper. I was the only one left alive." He lifted his shirt to show them his burned and scarred torso, and the stylized demon scar over his heart. "Though just barely."
They all gasped when they saw the cuts, holes, and burn scars all over him, but Mitsuru was looking at the one over his heart. "That one doesn't seem like it happened in battle." He gave a sad smile, "That's because I did that myself." That broke them away from his scars to look at his face. "W-What?" Yukari asked. Devyn pulled out a chair and sat down, "My mother died in childbirth. That caused no little amount of concern to my family, mostly in my father. He was a firm believer in the voodoo practices of the swamp. Then ten years ago I started experiencing your Dark Hour. I started seeing monsters my father was sure were the Loa spirits. He told my Maw-maw, who was a voodoo queen, and I began learning to be a bokor. I was taught to call the Loa, guide them to people to possess, serve them, then send them on their way."
He stopped and grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge, "Once, I even offered to serve as a host body to a Ghede Loa. They are spirits that have lived before, and have a tendency to damage their hosts by eating glass and other such things." He sat back down and saw the looks of disbelief and interested horror on their faces. "I got a spirit that drank a jug of chicken blood. That's why it doesn't bother me to drink something during your Dark Hour. But as I got older I realized these monsters weren't the Loa, but the monsters you call shadows. I told my father, and he thought I was disrespectful to the spirits and beat me. Then he saw that every night at midnight, I would be slashed open. He said someone put the Gris-Gris on me, but when they couldn't remove it, they decided it was Li Grand Zombi punishing me for some evil. My father decided to kill me in service to Li Grand Zombi, and I killed him instead. I carved the demon on my chest and began walking." He took a sip of his soda, "And now here I am." They sat in silence for a good five minutes before anyone spoke. "How can a father throw away a son's life so easily?" Yukari asked him. "Oh, it wasn't easy for him, he cried the whole time. Well, up until I put the knife in his eye."
That really threw them off. Devyn sat in silence and waited, let each of them digest what he had said before they asked him what he knew they were going to. Mitsuru finally said, "Every one of us has had an experience with the Shadows. None of them are good. We started our team to destroy the Shadows before anyone else could live a story like that. But we just didn't have enough people to survive the nest. I know you have to hate the Shadows for what they did, so I ask you: will you help us to destroy them?" And there it was, the question he was asked years ago when his demon was just setting. After so long just surviving that hell, now he was asked to face it head on. But Mitsuru was right, he wasn't the only one with problems. And if the Shadows weren't destroyed, someone else would suffer for it. He looked at her and she met his eyes. Looking into them, he saw a life where he didn't have to either fight or cower every night. Where he could get close to someone like her and wonder if they would be killed by those monsters. Devyn smiled, "You just had to ask, mon amour. I'm in." She smiled and said, "Thank you. By the way, have you summoned your Persona?" He looked confused, "What's a Persona?" Yukari spoke up, "It's like a big monster that comes out of your head."
"That's never happened to me." Devyn said. Akihiko's turn to speak, "How have you managed to survive for so long without a Persona?" He looked over to the silver haired boy, "Knives and explosives, mostly. Though I could sometimes drop walls and stuff on them or drown them in the swamp." He whistled, "Man, you're tough." Devyn laughed, "You kinda have to be, where I'm from. The Shadows weren't the only things trying to kill me." Mitsuru looked up, "Oh?" He smiled, "Back when I was learning to be a bokor, I got it into my head that I was God's gift to women. There were a lot of angry brothers after me. But don't worry, I know better now," He reached over to a scar on his neck, "I know a lot better." Devyn suddenly stands up, "Well, did you guys need anything else?" They shook their heads, "Then I'm gonna hit the sack, it's almost midnight already."
-
The next day at school, Devyn was reading the Book of Five Rings and listening to Miss Toriumi's lecture when she called on Junpei to answer a question, "Who did I say was my favorite author?" He began to sputter and stall, then whispered to Devyn, "Hey man, help me out?" Devyn let him sweat for a second, then whispered back, "Utsubo Kubota, next time pay attention." Junpei gave the answer then slipped right back into looking out the window.
-
As Devyn came into the dorm with another sack of food, he noticed a man with long hair in a tan suit sitting in the chair talking to Yukari. She looked up, "Oh, he's back." The man looked over and Devyn tipped an imaginary hat in greeting. "So this is our new guest," They stood as Devyn came over and shook the man's hand, "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutski. I'm the chairman of the board for school." He chuckles, "Ikutski...hard to say isn't it? Even I get tongue tied trying to say it." Devyn took his hand back, "Not at all, it's a good name." He smiled, "Please, have a seat." Devyn set his sack on the table and sat in the other chair. "I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a little while before you receive the proper assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?" He shook his head, "No, sir. I'm fine, and don't worry about my accommodations, I like it here. Will you be staying for dinner, Mr. Ikutski?"
"I'm afraid not, though Yukari-Chan told me you are a fantastic cook. I have business to attend to that can't wait. I hope you have a successful school year. Good night."
-
After dinner, Devyn goes to his room for the night and quickly falls asleep, but instead of his usual dreams, he's being whisked along a checkered floor to a large blue door. When the door opened, a bright light temporarily blinded him then faded to reveal a large elevator car with a table and a couch. Sitting on the couch was a scary little man with bulging eyes and a nose that could snort a cat. Standing beside the man was a young woman with yellow eyes and an unnerving smile. She wore an outfit in the same eye straining blue as the elevator. The man said, "Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young man. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," he gestured to the young lady, "This is Elizabeth. She is a resident here, like myself." She quietly said, "Pleased to meet you."
Devyn bowed, "And I to meet you Elizabeth, Igor." Igor smiled wider, "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest." He waved his hand and Devyn's contract appeared on the table, "Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return." Devyn nodded, "Of course," Igor continued,"You must abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices you make." Devyn said, "I don't sign anything if I don't intend to follow it. Don't worry about that." Igor nodded, "Keep this, 'til we meet again."
A blue key appeared in front of Devyn and when he grabbed it, the room faded to black.
-
Later on the way to school, Junpei caught up to Devyn and stopped him at the gates, "What's up, buddy? Today is the perfect day!" Devyn decided to humor him, "How so?" "The sky is blue, we're young...what more could you ask for?" Devyn drooped, "My sunglasses back, for one thing." He'd lost them ever since that night with the Prison Child. "I got something that'll cheer you up!" Junpei said, "Wait, I'm not supposed to say anything."
-
That night, Devyn had finally gotten around to unpacking his stuff and had just about finished when he found his knife harnesses in the 'other' box. He decided to take them out for a sharpening and was halfway through when the Dark Hour hit. He finally finished and strapped the harness on over a muscle shirt to practice his quick draws when a loud racket started up. He threw on a flannel shirt and left it hanging open to go check out the noise, but just as he opened the door Yukari comes running by with her gun strapped to her leg again. "No time to explain!" she said, "We gotta move!"
He nods and takes off after her downstairs and stop in the lobby, "Alright, we should be safe now." Devyn scoffed, "If were under attack this is the worst place to be." He reached into his shirt to grab two large knives as Yukari's phone goes off, "Takeba, do you read me?" Mitsuru's voice comes through even though Yukari hadn't answered the phone. "Y-yes! I hear you!" "Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!" As she said that, the back door starts getting beaten on hard, nearly knocking it down.
"Devyn-kun, pull back!" Yukari yells as she runs for the stairs. "Dammit, child!' Devyn growls as he follows her. She tries to stop at the second floor, but Devyn grabs her arm and yanks her up the stairs, "Don't stop moving, If they're coming through the door they'll come up here! We need a choke point!" At that point they hear the door being busted open and something big moving up the stairs. Devyn manages to get Yukari up to the roof door and pushes her toward it while turning to face the stairs, "Open it!" She got it open and called to him and he ran through it backwards, slamming the door when he got out. Devyn used his knife to point at her gun, "You any good with that thing?" he asked. She hesitated, "It's not actually a ..."
She was interrupted by a large black mass of arms climbing over the lip of the roof. One of the hands was holding a wide eyed mask and the others reached into it's back and grabbed a bunch of large blades. Yukari reaches for her gun and points it at her head. Devyn reaches over but before he can slap it out of her hand, a pillar of blue energy shot from the ground at Yukari's feet and knocks her over. Her gun clatters over to Devyn. He looked at the weapon but had no time to grab as the pillar of energy blasted at him. Devyn sidestepped and rushed the monster, locking blades with it.
The two began slashing at each other with increasingly quick strikes, rebounding their weapons off of each other. This says a lot for Devyn's arm speed considering he's got two and his opponent has six. But eventually, Devyn began to slow and he just barely managed to block one strike that knocked his weapon out of his hand and the next swing forced him back. He quickly grabbed Yukari's gun and tried to fire at the Shadow, only to have it click uselessly, "Yukari! There are no bullets in this gun!" Suddenly, Prison Boy flashes in Devyn's mind and mimes putting a gun to his own head, "Can you do it?"
Just then, everything seemed to slow down as Devyn raised the gun to his head, in his mind, he saw the boy mouth a word. It seemed appropriate, so Devyn said it himself.
"Persona."
He pulled the trigger and the sound of breaking glass echoes through the air. Blue shards flew out of the other side of Devyn's head and crumbled to light particles and swirled over his head, reforming into a new shape.
I AM THOU
THOU ART I
FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL I COME FORTH
The particles formed into a large man in a hunting jacket and red pants. He holds a machete in his left hand and a jug in the other with a hammer on his back. His face is impossible to see because his head is on fire.
I AM OGOUN, THE WARRIOR LOA
Devyn looked up at the figure floating in the air with awe, until his head started trying to split itself open. He grabbed his head and fell to his knees. Without looking, he knew that something horrible was happening to Ogoun up in the air. He heard a ripping sound and looked up to see a scary looking guy dressed in leather with a Dino skull on his head and a coffin cape tear his way out of Ogoun. Dino skull then flew straight toward the Shadow and slashed into the creature with a long sword that came from who knows where. After that initial cut though, Dino Skull dropped the blade and proceeded to crush the life from this creature.
After the rampage, Dino Skull stands there breathing heavily for a minute, then floats back into the air and becomes Ogoun again, and disappears. That would have been a great time to take a break in Devyn's opinion, but some of the muck from the Shadow broke off and grew masks. Devyn stuffed the gun into the waistband of his jeans, grabbed his knives off the ground, and with one quick move, cut both masks in half. The monsters finally dissolved, and Devyn sank back against the wall to pass out.
-
Back in the Velvet Room, Devyn sank into a chair and sat there quietly for a moment before saying, "Good evening, Igor, Elizabeth." Igor nodded and said, "It's so nice to see you again, you've become unconscious after awakening to your...power. It's nothing to worry about though, so relax." Devyn took his advice and slouched into the comfy chair. "I see that it was Ogoun who heeded your calling. That power is called persona. It is a manifestation of your psyche." Devyn straightened, "So that wasn't really Ogoun who appeared?" Igor shook his head, "I'm afraid not, that was merely what you perceive Ogoun to be, although I admit, it isn't too far off. A persona can be thought of as a mask you wear as it protects you against coming hardships. It is a facet of your personality that reacts to your need of it."
That caused Devyn to think, "My need of it, so I didn't need that gun to summon my persona?" Igor nodded, "Precisely. In fact, this generation of persona users are the first to need any help summoning their persona. But getting back to my original point, your power is still weak. When you use your persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links-your emotional ties with others. The stronger your social links, the stronger your ability. Please, remember that." Devyn thought about that, "So these social links only appear with people I become emotionally involved with, they're not going to just randomly pop up." Igor smiled wider, "Nothing is random, dear guest. Your social links not only strengthen your power, but enrich your soul and the soul of the other person. Now, time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord."
Devyn stood, "Until then, be well." And the world darkened again.
-
Devyn awoke to the antiseptic smell of a hospital. "Damn," he muttered. "Oh! You're awake!" He turned to see Yukari, "How d'ya feel?" He smiled, "Nothing a good meal and a night's sleep won't fix. You seen my clothes?" She pointed to a pile on the chair next to her and continued as he got up to dress, "How much sleep do you need. It's been a whole week! Uh, what are you doing?" Devyn had started untying the neck of the hospital gown. "Oh right," he said, "you'd probably be embarrassed to see me like this. Feel free to watch or turn around, whichever." And he continued changing. Yukari quickly turned and said, "U-uh, right! This is Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It's just a short walk from the station. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you. He said you were just exhausted. But you kept sleeping and sleeping." Devyn slipped on his jeans and belt, then began trying to crawl into his shirt, "So how come you're here, Takeba-Chan?" She tossed a look over her shoulder and said, "You saved my life, you know. I couldn't just leave you here." She looked down, "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything, even though I was supposed to protect you, I ended up getting protected. But your power, that was amazing."
Devyn was finished dressing and turned her to face him, "You don't need to worry about that. No matter what happens, I will be here to protect you. Never apologize for being human enough to not want death. People aren't supposed to be able to kill without remorse." She smiled up at him and said, "Thanks." Suddenly, a warmth spread through Devyn's body and he heard a voice in his head. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE LOVERS ARCANA. He was unsettled by this new development, but didn't let it show on his face. Then, Yukari seemed to remember something, "I actually stayed here to tell you something." "Yes?" She fidgeted, "Well I just felt so bad that you told us your past and know nothing about us, then that stuff with the Shadow happened, I just decided that as soon as you woke up, I'd tell you a little of my past." He sat her back in the chair and took a seat on the bed, leaning forward, "I'm all ears."
She sighed, "My dad died in an accident when I was little. And my mom and I aren't exactly on good terms. Back in '99 there was a big explosion in the area. Supposedly, my dad died in the blast, but nobody really know what happened. He was working in a lab run by the Kirijo Group. So, I'm hoping if I stick around long enough, I'll find out something." She chuckled, "And here I am telling you all this the minute you wake up. I've just been wanting to share that story with someone for a long time. Thanks." Devyn seemed thoughtful, "Kirijo, that's Mitsuru-Chan's name, isn't it? Have you asked her?" She nodded, "She says she doesn't know anything about it. Oh, that reminds me. Mitsuru sempai said you didn't have any medical records besides your birth certificate, is that right?" Devyn nodded.
"But what about all those scars and burns?" He jumped off the bed, "Doctors ask questions about wounds that severe, and I didn't have the time or inclination to answer them. So I holed up in an old house and stitched myself up with a sewing kit. The burns I scrubbed with a pumice stone to clear off the dead skin. Now it's my turn for a question, what happened to my knives?" Yukari sat there staring at him for a minute in shock before she said, "Akihiko sempai took it before we brought you to the hospital." Devyn nodded, "Good. Now let's get out of here." "Hey, wait!" He turned to look at her, "Shouldn't you wait until the doctor says you can leave?" He sighed, "Even when they're scars, they'll ask about the wounds, and I still don't want to tell them. Let's. Go." And he walked out of the room.
-
When they returned to the dorm, everyone was surprised to see Devyn walk in, Mitsuru especially, "The doctors didn't tell me you'd be released today." He smirked, "Those quacks probably don't even realize I've left yet. Besides, I'm fine, I was a little sleepy and I slept it off. Trust me, ma chere, I'd never lie to you." Mitsuru didn't seem convinced, but Ikutski, who was still in the chair, laughed, "Oh, let the boy be, Mitsuru. He's obviously in good health if he can stand up to you." She backed down with her look of disapproval still in place and Devyn sat on the couch. "It's actually good timing that you're here, I've got a little surprise for you." He reached beside his chair and grabbed a silver briefcase, "Mitsuru had informed me of your decision to join our little group and I've had these prepared for you. Your own evoker." He opened the case to reveal a red armband and a gun much like Yukari's. "Welcome to S.E.E.S, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad."
Devyn snorted, "It sounds like a bunch of kids using big words came up with the name." His laughter died, though, when he noticed Mitsuru and Akihiko glaring at him. Then Akihiko laughed, "That's actually exactly what it was. Mitsuru, another friend, and I came up with the name when we joined. We were trying to be grown up about it." Devyn smiled and grabbed the gun and holster, "I'll take the 'evoker', you called it? But I'm not wearing the armband." Ikutski grinned, "Take it anyway. We're listed as an after school club and so everyone's required to have one." He shrugged and grabbed the armband and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. Then the voice from earlier started again, THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE FOOL ARCANA. "Well, it's late. And everyone besides Mr. Sullivan has had a long day, so let's get some rest." Everyone stood and made their way back to their rooms, but Mitsuru hung back for a minute and said, "It's good to have you back, Devyn-kun."
Devyn smiled and said, "I'll always come back to you, mon amour." She was surprised by the remark, then blushed and smiled before turning to go to her room. THOU SHALT HAVE OUR BLESSING WHEN THOU CHOOSEST TO CREATE PERSONAS OF THE EMPRESS ARCANA.
-
The next day at school Junpei was called again to answer a question when he wasn't paying attention. And again he turned to Devyn for the answer. He gave Junpei the correct answer, but confronted him after class. "Junpei, I need to talk to you man." Junpei turned to him and said, "What's up?" Devyn looked him in the eye, "In the short time I've been here you've had to ask someone else for the answer multiple times. I'm not going to do it anymore. If it's a problem with studying I'll be glad to help you, but I'm not just giving you answers again. I'm not going to help someone who doesn't care enough to help themselves. Alright?" Junpei looked surprised, "Alright, man. Sure. It's not that I don't care, I just have a hard time paying attention and retaining information. I really am trying." Devyn looked hard at him and decided he was telling the truth. He wasn't a slacker he was just an idiot.
"I can help you study. We can figure out how to help you keep the information. It may just be your brains wired a certain way so that you can't just read something and remember." Junpei smiled, "Thanks man, you have no idea how much I appreciate this." Devyn nodded, "Alright, we'll start tomorrow."
-
That night when the Dark Hour hit, Prison Boy reappeared. "Hi, how are you?" This caused Devyn, who was sitting at his desk oiling his knife harness, to grab one of the knives off the desk and whirl around. When he saw who it was, he relaxed, "Whoo, you scared me, little man. How'd you get in here without me hearing you?" The boy smiled, "I'm always with you. Soon the end will come. I remembered, so I thought I should tell you." Devyn set the knife back down, "The end? Of what?"
"Of everything. But to be honest, I don't really know what it is." Devyn shrugged, "Well, nobody really knows what brings their end or what's after it. You just keep going until your end finds you." The boy looked up, "I hadn't really thought of it that way. Oh, it looks like you;ve awakened to your power... and an unusual power it is. A power that takes many forms, yet is bound by none... It may prove to be your salvation, depending on where you end up." Devyn leaned closer to the boy, "Honestly, I'm hoping to end up in Mitsuru's room. But don't tell her." He smiled, "But wait, I don't even know your name, do I?" The boy seemed confused, "Name? Oh, I see, I need a name. My name is... Pharos, you may call me that if you wish." Pharos suddenly fades out and back in by the door, "Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honor your commitment. I'll be watching you, even if you forget about me... Okay then, see you later." And he vanishes.
-
The next day after school, Devyn is sitting in the common room reading when Yukari comes down, "Oh good, you're here. Akihiko-San just called and said he had something to show us." Just then, Akihiko walks in with his jacket slung over his shoulder, "Good you're both already here. There's someone I want to introduce. Hey, hurry up." From outside the door Junpei's voice calls out, "Hold your horses, this is freakin' heavy." Devyn smirked and called, "Don't be such a wuss, Iori!" Yukari looked at him in shock, "No, what is He doing here? Don't tell me." Junpei chose this time to walk in with some suitcases, "Hey, if you're so strong, let's see you carry all this." Devyn walked over and grabbed Junpei's bags, handled them all until they were in one hand, and started lifting and dropping the luggage, "Anything else you wanna say?" Akihiko grins at the exchange and says, "This is Junpei Iori from class 2-F. He'll be staying here as of today." Yukari bursts, "He's staying HERE! You've gotta be kidding me!"
Devyn used his strict voice again, "Takeba-Chan!" She flinched and looked at him, "That's very rude, he's done nothing to you. And anyways he obviously has the potential, otherwise Sanada-San wouldn't have bothered to bring him here." Akihiko interrupted, "Hit the nail on the head again, Devyn. Junpei just awakened to the potential recently. I told him about us, and he agreed to help." Yukari eyed Junpei, "You have the potential! For real!" Junpei nodded, "He found me cryin' like a baby at the convenience store, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but man, that's embarrassing! He said that's, ya know, completely normal...in the beginning. Like, bein' confused and not remembering anything. Did ya guys know that?"
Devyn shook his head, "Actually, the first time I experienced the Dark Hour, I ended up killing a Shadow that I thought was just a big snake that had gotten into the house. Never been disoriented." Junpei looked indignant, "Big deal. It happens to everyone else. But man, I was shocked to find out about you guys. I had no idea. I'm glad I'm not the only one. It could get kinda lonely, ya know. I bet you're stoked too, right! Havin' me join." Yukari had been out of it since Devyn's statement, but she snapped back in, "Huh? Y-yeah.." Akihiko jumped back in, "Enough with the introductions. I think we've finally got enough people to start exploring that place." Yukari looked spooked, "You mean...Tartarus?" Junpei looked at one, then the other, "Tartarus? Sounds like toothpaste." Devyn sighed, "Tartarus was the Greek underworld where souls went after death. I assume this is the nest you told me about?" Akihiko nodded, "Yeah. The Chairman will give us the details tomorrow night, so be ready."
-
At lunchtime, Devyn was trying to read while Yukari and Junpei were talking when Mitsuru came through the door. Devyn smelled an unexpectedly pleasant floral scent and looked up to see every male eye trained on Mitsuru. "Ah, Mitsuru-Chan. I knew I couldn't be the only man to have fallen under your charms." Mitsuru gave him a small smile, then turned serious and said, "Come to the lounge when you get back to the dorm. I have something to tell everyone. I'll save the details for later. See you there." Devyn beamed at her, "I can hardly wait." She gave a little laugh as she walked out the door. Junpei looked at Devyn in slack jawed wonder, "Damn, dude. Did you just get Mitsuru sempai to laugh?" Devyn glared at all the boys who were trying to set him on fire with their minds, then answered, "It's not that hard, you just have to be smart enough to say something funny." Yukari giggled at that, "See, I can get Takeba-Chan to do it, too."
Then Yukari turned to him, "Hey, how come you call me Takeba, but when you talk to HER, you say Mitsuru?" Devyn heard the hostility in her voice and noted it, "Just didn't want to get too familiar. Though, if you prefer I can call you Yukari-chan." Yukari waved her hands, "T-that's not,...I-I didn't mean,...do what you want." Devyn smiled at her and she blushed, "I'll remember that."
-
Later they assembled in the lounge and Devyn made a point to sit next to Mitsuru. Ikutski started when they were all settled, "Okay, everybody's here. I'd like your undivided attention. For a long time, Mitsuru and Akihiko were the only Persona-users we had. But that number recently jumped to five. Therefore...starting tonight at 12:00AM, I'd like to commence the exploration of Tartarus." Junpei raised his hand, "Sorry... I asked this yesterday, but what's this Tartarus thing again?" Yukari looked at him, "You haven't seen it Junpei?" "Hm?" Ikutski said, "It's no surprise, since it only appears during the Dark Hour." Akihiko stood, "Just like the Shadows, interesting, huh? And it's the perfect place for us to train. You can think of it as a Shadow nest." At this Devyn interjected, "Tartarus may be many things, Sanada-san, but I definitely wouldn't call it interesting. Nor am I thrilled at the thought of facing the Shadows. And to top it off, I don't think you should go with us until your injury heals." Yukari nodded, "I agree." Mitsuru said, "Since Akihiko hasn't fully recovered yet, he'll only come as far as the entrance." Akihiko was getting annoyed, "Yeah, I know."
Ikutski motioned for him to sit back down, "Well, I'm sure he won't complain, as long as you don't go too far in. Since we're dealing with Shadows, Tartarus isn't something we can avoid." Now it was Junpei's turn to jump up, "Relax, I've got your backs." Devyn shook his head, "You say that, but have you ever been in a real fight in your life?" He looked over at Devyn, "What do you mean?" Devyn got up and towered over him even though they were the same height, "I mean have you ever looked down the barrel of a loaded gun and known the guy on the other end has no problem pulling the trigger? Have you ever been in a fight where your future was on the line? Have you even been in a situation where you wondered if broken bones or stab wounds would hurt less?" Junpei shrank back. "I know I agreed to help you guys in the nest, but I'm not surrounding myself with Shadows before I know what the people watching my back are capable of. We're not going tonight." That surprised all of them more than his speech had. "We're taking tomorrow off of school, and I'm going to see just how well you guys handle yourselves in dangerous situations. Get some rest, ladies and gents, tomorrow's gonna hurt." Mitsuru stood, "You can't just skip school, Devyn. There's an assembly tomorrow!" He turned to her and spoke gently, "Mitsuru, I don't want to skip school either, but even the weakest Shadow can kill them if they're not prepared. This is important, and if you let me have my way on this, I can promise that Iori will pass his midterm exams, deal?" She raised her eyebrow, "I believe you can turn Iori into a warrior, but a scholar. I think that might be a little beyond you." He gave her a smile, "Have a little faith, sempai." They stared at each other for a moment, then Mitsuru sighed, "Fine, I'll call the school and tell them an emergency has come up. But I want Iori in the top ten on the midterms." Devyn beamed, "Deal!"
Junpei looked pale, "What the hell did I get sucked into?"
-
The day after their discussion, Akihiko took Devyn and Junpei to the police station while the girls got some food together for lunch out of town. When they walked in, an officer came up to the counter and looked at them, "Shouldn't you three be in school?" Akihiko stepped forward, "Officer Kurosawa, certain circumstances have made it necessary for us to train our new recruits quickly, so we took a day off." He gestured to Devyn and Junpei, "These two need to be outfitted so we can begin." He turned, "Guys, this is Officer Kurosawa. He keeps our squad well equipped. If need weapons he's the guy to talk to. Just remember he's the only one selling weapons here, okay? And everything here has a price." Devyn stepped forward, "Nice to meet you sir. We need to let this guy take a look at what you got so he can decide what he likes. As for me, do you have a couple of Kukri knives around here?" Officer Kurosawa nodded, opened the counter to let Junpei into the back, then went to grab Devyn's requested items. "That was oddly specific," Akihiko observed. "I had a pair before I moved here and they were my primary weapons in the set. But I left them with a friend." Akihiko was about to ask who when Officer Kurosawa came back with the knives. Devyn grabbed them and tapped them together, then gave them a couple test swings. He flipped the right one so the handle was pointing back to the police officer, "There's a weakness in the blade just over the handle, you got one to replace it?"
The man seemed offended that someone would find a flaw with his wares, but took it to the back and brought out another one. This one passed Devy's inspection and he nodded, "How much?" The man looked at them and thought before saying, "8,000 yen." Devyn tucked the knives into the back of his jeans and covered them with his trench coat before taking out his wallet. After paying, they waited for a few minutes and Devyn even pulled out his music player before Junpei came back with a katana. "Alright, I pick this one." Devyn peered closely at the sword in Junpei's hand, "Junpei, let me see that sword." The boy looked confused as he passed it over and Devyn inspected the weapon. After a minute, he relaxed and said, "Alright, here you go." Junpei walked over to buy the sword as Akihiko asked, "What were you looking at?" Devyn looked over and smiled, "I thought for a second that Junpei had found a Muramasa, but it was just an imitation." Akihiko thought for a second, "Why would it matter if it was real or not?"
Devyn was surprised, "We've got mythic creatures in our heads and you're asking me why it's important that Junpei doesn't buy a sword that legends describe as pure evil?" Akihiko backed off, "Point taken, but how did you know it was a fake?" Devyn leaned against the wall, "I spent a lot of time as a swordsman before I switched to knives. I still remember a few things." Junpei returned to them and handed the sword off to Devyn to hide in his coat until they got back to the dorm. Once there Devyn passed off the sword and went upstairs to change into his battle gear. He hung up his coat, changed into baggy jeans, steel toed boots, and an Under Armor shirt. Strapped on his knife harness, slid his new kukris into the sheaths on the back, and put two more into his boots. He tied a bandana over his head and threw his coat back on. He checked to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything, then stepped back downstairs.
Everyone else were in their school uniforms for some reason. "You guys are going in those?" They looked at each other, "What's wrong with our uniforms?" Yukari asked. Devyn sighed, "Every other Gekkoukan student is in school right now, don't you think you'll stand out wearing that in the middle of the day?" They finally understood and went back up to change. "I'll meet you guys at the train station, I gotta go pick something up." Then he took off into town. Later, when they met at the train station in their civvies, and with Junpei holding a big box, Devyn came walking up in his new sunglasses. "Everyone ready?" They nodded, "Then let's go."
They left town and got off at the next stop. They walked the roads until they couldn't see a town in either direction then Devyn led them off the road to a field way out of sight of anything. "Perfect," Devyn said, and turned to see everyone but Akihiko breathing heavily from the walk, "You've got to be kidding me. You city people." He pointed to a tree a few feet away and said, "take a break, then we'll start." They stumbled over to the tree and sat in the shade while Devyn watched the clouds and Akihiko did some one armed shadowboxing. "Hey, Devyn," Junpei called, "This is starting to look like you had this planned the whole time, what made you come up with it?" The pale knife fighter looked to the group, "Well actually Junpei, this wasn't really my idea." He walked over to the rest of them and sat down next to the trunk, "I told the others before, that about six years ago I knew a bunch of people back in America who had the potential." His eyebrows raised as Yukari and Mitsuru looked at the ground. "When I first met them, they had already been fighting Shadows for a few years together. Back then, I was a little guy carrying a sword a lot like the one you got in that box. At the time I was using the Dark Hour to break into places to steal food. When they caught me, I tried to fight them off. I almost did it too, till their leader showed up."
He grinned, "I thought I was hot stuff because of that sword. It was a true Murasame. A sword with a legend for bloodthirstiness. She came at me with a switchblade knife and knocked me on my ass. Well, when my fighting didn't work, I decided to try charming her into letting me go. I don't think I could have picked a worse woman to try that on. Not only was her husband holding my arm at a dangerous angle, she got so upset with me that she slashed me." Devyn traced the scar that ran from his neck to just in front of his ear. "Told me a man's true worth isn't what he says to a woman, but what he means when he talks. They threw me in a trash pile and took my sword." He was silent for a second, "I never did see that blade again. Anyway, a few days later, I tracked down the group who whipped my ass and demanded their leader teach me to fight like her. She wasn't so inclined. For eight days I followed them around until she finally asked me why I was so determined to learn from her." He looked over to Mitsuru, "I looked her straight in the eye and said, 'You've already taught me truth'."
Junpei busted out laughing, and Yukari punched him in the gut. "Stupei!" But Devyn smiled, "No, she laughed at me, too. It was the cheesiest thing I could have possibly said. But after that she took me in and taught me how to use these," he patted his harness, "This was actually hers. Took me days to get her blood off of it." Why did everyone look at him with pity when he told them stories? Was his past so pathetic? He was still there. Fed, not dead, right? "But she would always take me to a place like this to fight when we used real blades, and that's why we're here." Devyn stood, "Now let's get to work." Junpei opened the box and grabbed a rapier and bow. He passed them off to Mitsuru and Yukari. Then drew his own weapon. Devyn grabbed his kukri and twirled them, "This is a live weapons exercise, you must draw blood to finish the match, and I will be trying to cut you, so don't get complacent."
Junpei laughed, "Man what are you talking about, I'd cut you in half." Devyn charged Iori and placed a light scratch on his neck, making him yelp, "If you talk on the battlefield you will die. Even a rookie can cut down a trained fighter." He kicked Junpei's feet out from under him and ran for Yukari, who was still drawing when he smacked her in the hand with the back of his blade, "Speed wins most fights, your opponent can't kill you if he can't hit you, always be moving." He left her to collect herself and sidestepped Junpei's swipe, throwing him off balance, "Stay grounded, if you don't have a good stance, don't swing. Sure footing is more important than a killing blow." He saw Mitsuru closing on him and she thrusts at his gut, he slaps it away with the flat of one blade and stabs at her eye, stopping it an inch from her face. "Combat is not a match, war is not a game, never assume your opponent is playing by the rules." Devyn trips Junpei as he launches at his back, causing him to go flying into Mitsuru.
"Your sword is not a baseball bat, Iori. It has an edge, it cuts. Stop trying to bash me with it." Devyn ducks an arrow fired at his head, and has to roll as Yukari fires another in quick succession. She reaches into her quiver for another pair of arrows and runs toward her, but she sees and retreats, so Devyn moves back as she lines up a shot and fires. Devyn moves to the side and grabs the arrow as it nearly pierces Junpei's heart. The boy freezes as his attempt at a sneak attack is foiled, "Always be mindful of your allies more than your enemy. A team out of sync is worse than one man against an army." He threw down the arrow and punched Junpei in the jaw, knocking him over, "I said don't stop moving." Mitsuru chose this moment to strike, scoring a long cut across his back. His coat stopped the attack, but if he hadn't been wearing it she would've cut down to his spine. He turned and nicked her knuckle, "Good strike, but don't drop your guard just because you got a hit in. Get in, cut, get out."
This continued for three hours, with him spouting mini-lectures every time he hit them, and congratulating them when they managed to avoid him. They finally stopped for lunch and he asked them to repeat the lectures he gave them. Everyone was pleasantly surprised when Junpei could recite every one of his. After they had rested, they continued for three more hours, then packed up to go back to Port Island. "Very good, I think everyone made some improvements today." Junpei was sulking behind his bruised head, "Easy for you to say, you didn't get hit but that one time." Devyn looked at the three of them. Junpei was by far the worst of the bunch, but none of them left without marks. For the girls he had tried to limit it to little nicks and cuts on the clothes. But Yukari had a small cut on her ear and Mitsuru had the back of her hand sliced. "You weren't supposed to hit me at all, today." He told them, "Today was to show you how far you had to go before you could take on monsters like the Shadows. They won't pull punches like I did, and a few of them are faster. Most of them are stronger."
"Yeah, but that's where Persona comes in." Yukari was holding a handkerchief to her ear. He looked at her, "Persona can only get you so far. You need skills of your own if your going to survive in the nest." Devyn reached into his pocket and grabbed a bandage for Mitsuru's hand. He knelt down in front of her and began wrapping her hand up, "I did this because I care about you guys too much to see you hurt in a place where I may not be able to help you." He looked up into Mitsuru's eyes, "Where I may not be able to help myself." He finally managed to get her to look at him without pity in her eyes. Now she was starting to see him instead of his past or his power. Maybe in time she would see the same thing in him that he saw when he looked at her. It was unlikely to be soon, but he was willing to wait. He finished bandaging her hand and tossed some medicinal cream to Junpei for his bruises. When he sat back down he saw that she was looking at the bandage he had tied.
