Author's note: Hey everyone, FireSlash here and welcome to another chapter of 'A Different Kind of Power.' First off, I'd like to thank al of you who've reviewed/favorited/followed this story. Thank you for your support. Now, before we continue, I wish to ask you guys something: which girl should I pair Ren with? I'm really open to all his shipping options, but I want to know what you guys want, so leave a review as for who you want Ren to be with. A poll will also be put up soon, so check my profile for that. Also, just a heads up, Ren will be a high level in this story than in cannon due to his training with Igor (is it the real Igor or is it Yaldabaolth? You'll have to continue reading to find out). Anyways, review and enjoy :-)
0000
"C'mon dude, don't die on me!"
"Ugh~"
"Seriously, get up. I have no idea what's going on and if you die right now, then I'm probably going to die as well, so you better not be dead! I still want to live dammit!"
"..." Opening his eyes, Ren was greeted with the sight of Ryuji's panicked face, who upon seeing him, let loose a nervous laugh.
"Whew, thank fucking God you're ok," Ryuji said before sighing in relief. Standing up, Ren glanced around in confusion, not knowing where he was right now. Doing so revealed they were in an underground jail cell. Looking at the bars in confusion, Ren tried to rationalize why he was here, his mind still dazed. Seeing this, Ryuji began to explain their current predicament. "After the armored things knocked you out, they brought us here."
Nodding, Ren began to pat himself down, hoping that he had some sort of weapon on him. If they wanted to get out of here, then they'd need to fight. He had his Personas of course, but if things get dicey, then Ryuji will need a way to defend himself. Then again, shadows had the ability to easily kill someone who lacked a Persona and there was no way the yellow haired boy would even be able to dent them. He'd need superhuman strength, something that was granted to all Persona users, though Ren was special in the fact his abilities still worked outside this world...
"Hey, mind telling me what the fuck is going on now?" Ryuji asked the boy. "You seem to know this place quite well, and your hands were doing some weird glowing thing earlier. Like, what the hell is this place? One moment it's the castle and the next moment it's our school..."
"..." Putting a hand to his chin, Ren began thinking of a way to inform Ryuji about the Shadow Realm without confusing him. "This world is known as Shadow Realm, a place which exists parallel to ours-"
"And those...things?" Ryuji interrupted, asking about the shadows.
"...Are Shadows, the only beings which inhabit this world. Shadows exist due to human corruption. In fact, this whole place exists because of the corrupted. Funny thing is, the armored dudes we ran into earlier aren't even their true forms."
Ryuji gulped in fear. "What do they look like?"
"They have different forms depending on the Shadow, and an armored unit usually carries about one to five shadows in them which they release in battle." Looking at his fellow high school student, Ren could tell the information was starting to scare him. Not wanting fear to override the boy, Ren decided to wrap up his explanation. "Basically, all you need to know is that our world influences this place and vice-versa and shadows roam this place, killing anyone who tresspasses. The reason this place is a castle is because someone views Shujin Academy as a place they rule without opposition."
"And what about you? How the hell do you even know about this place?"
"...Let's just say I'm special," Ren told him. "I can hop between this place and our world freely. But why we suddenly came to this world, I don't know."
"Maybe you accidentally opened a portal?" Ryuji asked, only for Ren to shake his head.
"That's impossible. Opening a portal to either world requires a good deal of concentration. There's no way I could of accidentally summoned a random portal while we were walking to school."
"Well, can you get us out of here?"
Nodding, Ren began to concentrate on summoning a portal, his eyes and hands turning purple as a result. However, a few seconds later, small sparks began shooting out of his hands before they stopped glowing. Judging by the questioning expression on the boy's face, Ryuji knew that was probably not supposed to happen.
"Huh, how strange…"
"Uh, why the hell are we still here?" Ryuji asked as Ren tried to summon another portal, only for it to fail again.
"I-I don't know," Ren admitted, a bit worried himself. Truth be told, he's never entered a palace before due to Igor telling him how dangerous they were, and as such, he's never tried creating portals in them. Doing so for the first time, Ren noticed that as he did so, he felt a sense of dread enter him, as if he was absorbing the castle's gloomy atmosphere. This problem never happened outside of palaces, so it was safe for Ren to assume that something in the castle was preventing him from leaving the place via magic.
"AHHHHH!" A shout of anguish snapped Ren out of his thoughts, causing him to notice Ryuji running towards the bars, desperate to see what was going on outside their cell.
"What the fuck was that?!" Ryuji asked. Whether it was directed towards himself or Ren was unclear to the black haired boy. Trying to get another peek at the action, Ryuji's eyes widened in panic. "Oh shit, they're heading right towards us!"
The sound of metal moving confirmed Ryuji's observation, for a few seconds later, four armored shadows were gathered in front of their cell. When one of opened the door, both boys stood back. Filling in the room, the shadows immediately moved to their side as another shadow began entering the room. Compared to the other shadows, this one took the form of a familiar person both boys have met before, with Ryuji getting angry after seeing the shadow. As for Ren, he tried his best to only look at the shadow in the eyes, for he was wearing only a royal cape and pink speedos. Yep, it was a horrifying sight indeed...
"Kamoshida?!" Upon shouting this, the shadow Kamoshida snapped his fingers, causing one of the other shadows to strike Ryuji in the gut with the blunt side of it's spear, causing the boy to collapse in pain. "AGH!"
"Silence you insolent fool," shadow Kamoshida commanded him. "You dare address me, the king, with such nonchalance after breaking into MY castle?"
"Your castle?!" The boy asked in disbelief, only for his shock to leave him a second later. "Actually, that makes sense. You always trotted around the school, believing that you owned the place, you fucking asshole."
"...You've just solidified the both of your deaths," the shadow declared, snapping his fingers. Immediately, two shadows began approaching the boys, only to suddenly stop a second later. "Once again, your actions are responsible for getting other people hurt…"
"The fuck are you talking about?"
"Remember the track team?" The shadow Kamoshida taunted. It seemed whatever happened to the track team was a sensitive topic for Ryuji, for he was now angry.
"That was your fault asshole!" With newfound strength, Ryuji tried to attack one of the shadows, only for it to bash the boy with its shield. A second later, another shadow bashed Ren with its shield as well, making it the second time the boy was caught off guard by a shadow.
"All you had to do was stay silent and do what I say," The shadow taunted again as he snapped his fingers, the other shadows striking him with their weapons a second later. Having recovered from being dazed, Ren tried to stand back up, only to get knocked back down. "But then again, I shouldn't expect trash like yourself to understand."
"God...dammit," Ryuji growled as he spat out blood. This only motivated the shadow to order his subjects to strike the two boys again. "I just wanna go home…"
"As for you," the Shadow said, turning to a still dazed Ren. "It's a shame you had to make friends with this guy. It's probably because of him you're here, about to die. Whatever, start the execution! Begin with the handicapped one."
Hearing this caused Ren to fight off the dizziness faster. There was no way he was going to watch someone die, not if he could do something to prevent such a thing from happening. Putting himself between the shadows and the boy, he simply shook his head as he held his ground. "Neither of us are dying."
"You dare defy me?" the shadow asked in anger. "Then again, I shouldn't have expected anything else from jailbait such as yourself. Whatever, if you're so keen on dying first, then be my guest."
As the shadows prepared to strike Ren, the boy turned to Ryuji. "Can you keep a secret?"
"*Cough,* *cough.*"
"Right. PERSONA!" Upon shouting this, a blue light began surrounding the boy as a spirit began to form behind him. When the light diminished, not only was Ren now in his Phantom Thief costume, but the form of his Persona was finally revealed. The spiritual being had dark purple angel wings, a black top hat with a red stripe, and a black tuxedo with red sleeves. It's face was not visible, being blocked out by its top hat, only a singular glowing red eye being visible. Finally, unlike the blue aura that usually surrounded Ren when he used some of his abilities, the Persona had a red aura surrounding its body.
With the Persona having been summoned, Kamoshida looked at the boy angrily, upset by the sudden development. As for Ryuji, he could only look at the scene, mouth hanging open. Of course, seeing some dude you just met summon some large spirit was enough to stun anyone, but what made this extremely special for Ryuji was he immediately recognized the costume Ren was wearing, that of Japan's very own superhero, the Phantom Thief. Like many people, the boy idolized Ren's alter ego, but Ryuji had no shame in admitting the boy was his hero. As someone who desires to fight corruption himself, there was no reason for him to dislike the Phantom Thief. It wasn't like the vigilante killed anyone…
"Tch, you four, deal with this menace," Kamoshida's shadow ordered as he began to flee. "I must inform the others to be on high alert."
"Your wish is my command," One of the knights declared before all of them exploded, revealing the shadows which made up the armored units. Analyzing them, Ren took into detail the forms they took, which were that of four floating jack-o-lanterns with blue wizard hats and blue wizard cloaks. In addition, each had a white spiritual hand floating to their lefts, a light lanturn being held in their grasps.
'So, four Jack-o-lanterns,' Ren noted in his mind, smiling. Processing a Jack-o-lantern himself, for Personas were the purified versions of shadows themselves, Ren knew they lacked any sort of power and had weaknesses to ice, wind, and some forms of physical damage. In addition, they lacked any form of agility, physical strength, and endurance. The only thing they excelled at was their magical prowess, but so did so many other Personas. This being said, with the Persona's many weaknesses, why did the boy still keep it around? Well, Jack-o-lantern had access to fire damage, being one of the few who did so that weren't above Ren's current power level. Jack-o-lantern also had something no other Persona in Ren's arsenal had, the ability to drain attacks of a certain element, which in its case was fire. This allowed Ren to heal up when hit by fire instead of taking damage, which only worked while he was actively using Jack-o-Lantern of course.
As for the Persona he currently had out, it was known as Arsene. A wielder of curse magic, Arsene was a jack of all trades, though he primarily excelled in agility. He had a rather niche resistance to the rare curse damage while being weak to bless magic, another rare form of magic which was the opposite of curse magic. Arsene used to have a weakness to ice as well, but with help from Igor, Ren found a way to overcome said weakness, the Persona now spouting a useful resistance to the type of damage instead. Not only was Arsene a powerful Persona, it was his personal one, which meant according to Igor, a shadow version did not exist.
"Arsene, let's make this quick," Ren said as he confidently smirked at the shadows. "Eiha!"
"Heh, with pleasure." With absolutely no hesitation, the Persona fired a beam of dark energy at one of the Jack-o-lanterns, killing it instantly. Witnessing their ally go down so fast, the remaining Jack-o-lanterns began to take action, two of them flying towards Arsene while the third one began shaking its lanturn, causing the flame inside to grow.
When the two Jack-o-lanterns got close enough, they began swinging their lanterns at the Persona, using them as if they were a weapon. Sadly for them, Arscene was too fast, avoiding both attacks with ease.
"You'll need to do better than tha-" Ren began to taunt, only for the third Jack-o-lantern to blast Arsene with a small fireball. As a Persona was the physical representation of their summoner's soul, any damage dealt to the Persona was also dealt to their summoners and vice-versa.
Quickly wincing in pain, Ren glared at the Jack-o-lantern who had hit him. "Arsene, cleave!"
Hearing his master's command, the Persona flew forwards and using its wings, slashed at the Jack-o-lantern's face, the damage enough to make it explode. Smiling, Ren then turned his attention to the two remaining Jack-o-lanterns, who were preparing to hit him with their lanterns. Though they were fast compared to the average human, they were quite slow compared to even a rookie Persona user, so Ren was easily able to dodge both attacks by performing a simple backflip.
Having missed their target, both shadows tried to hit him again with their lanterns, but Ren was prepared. Dodging their strikes by side stepping to the left, the boy then pointed to one of the jack-o-lanterns. Understanding what his master wanted him to do, Arsene fired an Eiha at the designated Jack-o-lantern, ending its existence.
"And then there was one," Ren silently said to himself as he began to stare down his foe. Even though it saw Ren completely trash its allies, the shadow wasn't about to give up yet. Making the flame in its lantern glow brighter, the final enemy shot another fireball at Ren, who tried to dodge it, only for the ball of fire to graze his arm, dealing him damage. Not wanting to take anymore unnecessary hits, Ren decided to finish the battle. "Let's end this. Arsene, ravage him!"
Letting loose a small maniacal laugh, Arscene did what he was told, firing one final Eiha at his opponent. The Jack-o-lantern tried its best to avoid the beam of dark energy, but alas, it wasn't quick enough, for the attack ended up nailing it in its face, killing it with ease. With the battle over, Ren began to ease up.
"Whew," Ren sighed, thankful that for whatever reason, Kamoshida's shadow chose to send weak shadows to kill them. Dismissing his Persona, the boy began to check on Ryuji. "Hey, you ok?"
"..." Ryuji continued to stare at the boy in awe, not having heard anything he said.
"Uh, Ryuji?"
"That...was...AWESOME!" Ryuji suddenly exclaimed, startling Ren. "That thing you summoned, Persona I think you called it, was wicked. What even is a Persona?"
"Simply put, it's my soul," Ren informed him.
"Fuck dude, that's cool, you're cool! Not only are you able to create portals, summon your spirit to kick ass, but on top of all that, you're the Phantom Thief!"
When Ryuji said this, Ren glanced at his clothes, having forgotten that he was wearing his Phantom Thief costume during the battle. Snapping his fingers, he dispersed his costume, returning to what he was wearing before. This only made Ryuji's eyes widen in more excitement.
"Man, I have so many questions I want to ask you…"
"Well, first we need to get out of here," Ren told him, causing the boy to remember their current predicament.
"Right. Sorry 'bout that," Ryuji sheepishly apologized.
"It's fine," Ren said before his facial expression turned serious all of a sudden. "Look, I know we just met and all, but I really need you to keep everything you've witnessed today a secret, including me being the Phantom Thief, ok?"
"Of course man," Ryuji said, extending his hand, which Ren shook. "After everything you've done, not only for me today, but for everyone you've saved through your actions as the Phantom Thief, it's the least I can do."
"Thank you." With a nod, Ren began venturing out the jail cell with Ryuji following shortly after, both boys eager to leave this place.
0000
"Damn, the door's locked," Ryuji groaned in irritation. After leaving their cell, the boys discovered they were in an underground dungeon, a small man made river dividing the room in half. Seeing a door on the side they were located, Ryuji and Ren immediately tried leaving through it, only for it to wind up being locked. It was safe to say Ryuji wasn't a happy camper right now. "Shit, how are we going to get out of here?"
Briefly taking in their surroundings, Ren noticed there was a broken bridge near them, the distance between the two pieces being short enough that he could easily jump from one side to the other.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Ryuji asked as he saw his fellow captee take a few steps back. He would soon get his answer as Ren ran forwards, jumping from one side of the underground dungeon to the other. Upon landing safely, Ren extended his hand to the boy, who knew what Ren wanted from him. "You want me to jump? You must be crazy! There's no way I'll be able to make that."
"It's fine," Ren assured him. "I got you."
Taking a deep breath in, Ryuji began to prepare for his jump. Running forwards, he then leaped towards the river, landing on the edge of the platform. Losing his balance, the boy nearly fell into the river, but Ren managed to pull him away. Looking at the river, Ryuji smiled before releasing a self assuring laugh.
"Hahahah, I made it!" The boy shouted, only for Ren to shush him. "Oh, right. Kinda forgot about the shadows. My bad."
After nodding at the boy to reassure him all was fine, Ren looked forwards. Noticing there was a door on this side as well, Ren tried to open it, relieved that it actually wasn't locked. Last thing he wanted to do was resort to blowing up the door, which would definitely end up attracting more shadows.
Unfortunately, the door didn't lead to an exit. Instead it led to another portion of the underground dungeon. Doing their best to ignore the frustration building up in them, Ryuji and Ren began exploring, only to find out this portion of the dungeon seemed to lead absolutely nowhere. However, there was another broken bridge they could use to jump over to the other side. Not having anything better to do, the two leaped to the other side and began exploring. Sadly, there was no door on this side either, making Ryuji start to worry.
"Is there really no escaping this place?" Ryuji asked, only for Ren to shake his head.
"Not from what I know. Palaces always have a way in and out, we just have to find it."
"Well, if you say so."
Exploring the other side from where they came from, the boys eventually found an open cell. Peaking in, Ren noticed a large crack in the wall.
"Find anything?" Ryuji asked as Ren peeked inside the hole. Much to his relief, the crack seemed to lead to another portion of the dungeon. Turning back to Ryuji, the boy smiled.
"I think I found a way out."
0000
Crawling through the hole, Ren and Ryuji found themselves in another part of the dungeon, this one actually seeming to lead somewhere judging by the stairs located at the end of the dungeon. With no guards currently present, the two boys began making their way to the stairs, only for Ryuji to stop upon noticing there were other people in the cells as well, all wearing what seemed to be sports uniforms. Oddly enough, they were not begging the boys to free them. Instead, they appeared to be contempt with being imprisoned.
"Wait, I think I know these people," Ryuji muttered under his breath before his eyes widened in disbelief. "These are members of our school's volleyball team! Shit, we need to help them."
"No thanks, we're fine here," one of the boys said, his face extremely gloomy. "It's just better to do what he says so we don't get punished. Leave us out of whatever you're doing."
"Y-you can't be serious…" Ryuji was about to try to talk some sense into them, only for a shadow to spawn back where they came from, causing Ryuji to panic. "Shit dude, hide."
Using his third eye to analyze the shadow's power level, something it could do along with finding hidden objects and/or enemies, he noticed it was too powerful for him to take on alone. As such, he decided to hide as well.
"Where are those prisoners?" The shadow growled to himself, revealing they managed to catch wind of their escape. Watching it from behind the box Ryuji and him were hiding behind, Ren noticed that as it patrolled the area, it occasionally turned its back towards the box.
"The only way we're going to get out of here alive is if we sneak out," Ren declared. "On my mark, we run."
Ryuji wanted to protest, not liking such a reckless idea, but he realized they had no other choice. Sighing, he ended up nodding towards the boy.
"Good…" Ren mumbled as he continued to watch the shadow. Eventually, it turned around, giving the boys an opportunity to escape. "Go."
Running as fast as they could while trying to stay silent at the same time, Ren and Ryuji managed to make it to the stairs unharmed. Wasting no time, they began making their way up the stairs.
0000
"Ren? What is that?" Ryuji asked the boy. Upon making their way upstairs, they found themselves on the upper portion of the castle's dungeon. Before they could even make a move, the voice of a seemingly young boy began calling out to them. Looking at the source of the voice, they were greeted by the sight of a cartoonish looking black cat standing on two legs.
"I have no idea…" The boy admitted. Though Ren know a lot about the Shadow Realm from Igor, the old man never mentioned anything about what he was currently witnessing. "It doesn't look like a shadow…"
"Of course I'm not," the humanoid cat growled. "I'm a human just like you."
Ryuji gave the cat a confused glance. "But you look like a cat…"
"Ugh, that's because I lost my true form," the cat stated, only confusing the two boys further. "Just help me out of here already!"
"Why should we?" Ryuji asked the cat. "Who knows, you could be an enemy."
"What? I'm not an enemy, promise." Noticing Ryuji didn't seem to be convinced, the cat continued to speak. "How about this, you let me out of here and I get you guys out of here, deal?"
"Wait, you know where the way out is?" Ryuji asked in disbelief, causing the cat to smile.
"Yep. I've been through this castle multiple times before, it's just today I managed to get caught."
Ryuji turned his head towards Ren, curious to see what the boy wanted to do next. "I dunno, should we free him?"
Looking at the cat, Ren didn't feel any hostility emitting from him. In addition, it was true they were lost. Putting his hand to his chin, Ren began to use his third eye technique, trying to find out how dangerous the cat was. According to the blue aura surrounding him, Ren concluded that he had enough firepower to stop the strange thing if it tried anything funny. As such, Ren was willing to accept his offer. "Let's do it. We're lost, so we really don't have anything to lose at this point…"
"Sweet!" The cat happily exclaimed before pointing to a pile of boxes. "Since shadows are kinda dumb, the guards left the keys up there. Think you can get them?"
Nodding, Ren began climbing the pile. Eventually grabbing the keys, Ren hopped down and unlocked the door.
"Whew, it's good to be free," The cat happily shouted before stretching his back. "So, who are you two and how did you get into this world?"
"I'm Ryuji and he's Ren," Ryuji informed him. "And how we got here, I have no fucking clue."
"Really? Eh, whatever," the cat casually stated. "Anyways, I'm Morgana. Now, let's get out of here. I really don't want to be imprisoned again."
The cat then led them towards a nearly lowered drawbridge, which Ryuji clearly didn't like. "I don't think you've realized this, but that drawbridge isn't lowered enough for us to cross."
"Ugh, amatuer," Morgana said, rolling his eyes, pissing off the yellow haired boy. However, Morgana ignored the boy and turned his attention towards Ren. "Hey, you with the frizzy hair, mind pulling that statue's mouth down for me?"
Making his way to a statue of Kamoshida, Ren did what he was told, causing the bridge to lower.
"Heh, see?" Morgana smugly questioned Ryuji. "Always pay attention to your surroundings. That's the first thing they teach you about being a phantom thief."
"Phantom Thief?" Ryuji questioned before motioning towards Ren. "So you're associated with him?"
"Uh, what?" Morgana asked, confused.
"Well, he is THE Phantom Thief and all, so…"
"You're a Phantom Thief?" Morgana asked the boy.
"I think we have different definitions for the term 'phantom thief,'" Ren stated. "Back in our world, I'm a vigilante whom the press started to call the Phantom Thief. Whatever phantom thief business you're thinking of is probably different."
"Oh," Morgana said, somewhat upset that Ren wasn't another Phantom Thief. Shrugging his disappointment away, Morgana began leading the boys across the bridge, only for a shadow to interrupt their progress.
"Halt prisoners!" The shadow shouted, making his way towards the three, spear pointed.
"Damn, looks like we're not leaving unless we deal with him," Morgana said before turning his attention towards the two boys. Eventually, he glanced only at Ren. "Hey, you look like you can fight. Mind helping me out with these guys?"
Nodding, Ren summoned his vigilante cloths as Morgana pulled out a small cutlass. Seeing the shadow explode, the two prepared for battle.
0000
When the armored shadow exploded, two shadows took its place. The first one was another Jack-o-lantern while the second one was a shadow known as incubus. Incubus were small demonic looking shadows who almost always wore a smug grin, exposing its razor sharp teeth. They also had large, bat-like wings, claws on their hands and feet, and a large spike coming from their crotch they constantly gripped. Safe to say, they were quite disturbing.
However, that did not stop Ren from wanting one. Among the three Personas the boy currently possessed, he had one weak to ice, two weak to wind, one weak to some forms of physical damage, and one weak to bless damage. Adding Incubus would mean he would have now have two Personas weak to bless damage and two Personas weak to some forms of physical damage. Thankfully, Incubus have a skill which to Ren as quite valuable, drain life. Drain Life always dealt a specific amount of damage and healed the user by the same amount. While his third Persona could heal, it wouldn't be wise of him to send it out against something with wind attacks, something Incubus didn't have as a weakness. If anything, he could fuse Incubus with another Persona in the future, passing down the drain life skill to whatever he ends up creating.
Looking at the two shadows, Ren realized his best bet at recruiting the shadow would be to kill his alley, intimidating him. That way, the shadow would be more willing to come along.
"Think you can take the one on the left?" Ren asked the cat, who smirked in response.
"Oh please, this'll be a cake walk," Morgana declared as the Jack-o-lantern began charging a ball of fire. "Oh no you don't. Zorro, Garu!"
Shouting this, a large armored spirit began to appear behind him. The spirit appeared to resemble an outlaw often seen in hispanic media, having a black cape, sharp yellow eyes, and a form which seemed to resemble that of a bullfighter. In addition, it held a rapier in its left hand. Waving it around, it summoned a small yet powerful stream of air, its power being enough to kill the Jack-o-lantern.
"It's almost crazy how good I am," Morgana confidently stated.
"Wait, the cat has a Persona?" Ryuji asked in disbelief, only to anger Mogana.
"I told you I'm not a cat," Morgana shouted in anger. Meanwhile, Ren was prepared to strike the other shadow.
"Not bad, but let me show you how it's done." Clutching his mask for a second as it began glowing, Ren decided to switch Personas, knowing full well Arsene would easily one-shot the Incubus. "Agathion, let's do this!"
Agathion was a small blue humanoid who's lower body was concealed by a golden pot. It also had large yellow eyes with red pupils. Compared to the likes of Arsene and even Jack-o-lantern, Agathion was small.
Watching the Persona come out of the boy's body, Ryuji tilted his head in confusion. "Uh dude, didn't you use another Persona before?"
"Other Persona?" Morgana asked as he stared at the black haired boy in shock. Never has he heard of someone who could wield multiple Personas. Last time he checked, that was supposed to be impossible for someone to accomplish.
Staring at the Incubus, Ren snapped his fingers. "Zio!"
"Sure mister," the Persona said in a childish voice before zapping the Incubus with a small bolt of lightning. With the shadow being weak to electricity, it was knocked prone.
"Nice job hitting it's weakness," Morgana said before he pointed his cutlass at the shadow. "Now, let's end this."
Morgana was about to summon his Persona, only for Ren to stand in between the two, causing the cat to look at him.
"What are you doing? You do know this thing will kill us once it gets up, right?"
"Yeah, but I kinda need it," Ren stated as he ran towards the shadow, leaving behind two confused individuals.
"What's he doing?" Ryuji asked the cat.
"I-I have no idea," Morgana admitted as he watched Ren hold a conversation with the Incubus. A few seconds later, the Incubus turned into a spiritual mask, which was then absorbed into the mask he was currently wearing.
"Sorry about that," Ren sheepishly said, walking back to his allies.
"Dude, what did you do to that shadow?" Ryuji asked.
"Oh, I convinced it to lend me its power," Ren casually told him, causing both Ryuji and Morgana to look at him with an awestruck expression.
"Damn, you seem to be full of tricks."
"B-but that shouldn't be possible," Morgana declared. "A person can only wield one Persona."
"Actually, some people can have more than one," Ren informed him. "It's just extremely rare. Other than me, there's only four other people who can summon multiple Personas."
"And how many do you have?" Ryuji asked curiously.
"Four. Funny thing is, I can currently wield up to ten right now and that number will change soon."
"I-I can't believe it!" Morgana stated. "I've been in this world for quite some time now and I didn't even know that was possible. Hmm, I should have him help me with my grand plan…"
"What was that?" Ryuji asked, the cat having mumbled that last part under his breath.
"Nothing," Morgana hastily replied before he began walking again. "Let's get moving. You guys still want to get out of here, right?"
"Am I the only one who feels he's hiding something from us?" Ryuji whispered to his fellow human.
"Not at all."
0000
"See? I kept my word," Morgana told the two boys upon leading them to the castle's front entrance, the same place they were at before being knocked out. "Told ya you could trust me."
Seeing the exit, Ryuji sighed in relief. "Whew, thank God. Let's get the fuck out of here already!"
"Through the front door? Man, I knew you were an amatuer," Morgana mockingly told the boy, frustrating him.
"And why the hell not?"
Morgana rolled his eyes. "All the shadows have probably been alerted about our escape by now. If we leave through that door, there's a good chance we'll run into some more shadows. We don't want that now, do you?"
"So, how do we leave?"
"Simple, I've secured an infiltration point," Morgana boasted. "Like I've said before, I've been through this castle multiple times."
"Yet you still managed to get captured…"
Morgana opened his mouth to reply, but before he could do so, the sound of feet running began echoing through the hall, an armored unit revealing itself less than a second later.
"Ah, I found the prisoners," The shadow stated before pointing its spear towards the three.
"You know, I don't even know why they have that stuff if it just disappears when you guys fight them," Ryuji whispered to the two Persona users. Ren had to admit the boy had a point, the spears and shields they carried were practically useless.
"SILENCE!" The shadow yelled. "What gives you the right to open your filthy mouths in our king's elegant castle? I'll end you for your insolence!"
"Wow, looks like we got a stiff one here," Ryuji muttered before stepping back as the armored shadow exploded. Doing so caused two shadows to form, taking the form of two small fairy girls, shadows Ren recognized immediately. Known as Pixies, these shadows lacked any sort of physical strength while having slightly below average endurance and magic. They excelled primarily at being agile. In terms of the type of magic they specialized in, they mainly used supportive magic, relying more on healing and buffing allies instead of attacking opponents, though they did have the ability to use electric attacks if necessary. Sadly, Pixies weren't even worth using as a Persona. Anything they could do, Agathon could do better. In addition, they had common weaknesses to certain forms of physical damage and ice damage while also having a weakness to curse damage. Their only resistances were to electricity, which Agathon also had, and the rare bless damage. As such, Ren never really bothered with them.
"You're so dead," One of the Pixies declared as it began charging up a zio. As it did so, Ren quickly switched his Persona to Arsene before summoning him.
"Arsene, ravage them!"
Quickly yet skillfully, Arsene fired a powerful Eiha as the Pixie fired her zio, the two attacks meeting head on. Fortunately, since Arsene was at a much higher level than his opponent, his attack was able to push hers back, resulting in the Pixie getting hit. Being weak to curse damage while also being naturally frail, the Pixie was easily destroyed.
Not wanting to be left behind, Morgana began to summon his Persona. "Come forth my other self and strike that shadow with a nice Garu!"
"You really think that'll def- AHHH!" The Pixie mocked, believing it could take the attack, only to be proven wrong when it actually hit, it being just enough to kill her.
Looking at the fallen shadows, the three boys came to the same conclusion, that battle was too easy.
"Well, with those things gone, shall we?" Morgana asked his companions. Both boys nodding in agreement, the three of them continued forwards.
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"Well, here we are," Morgana declared, having led the two boys to one of the castle's many rooms. Looking around, Ryuji couldn't find an exit.
"A dead end? Really? I knew we couldn't trust you," The boy growled, causing the cat to facepalm.
"Wow, you're sad," Morgana replied before pointing to a broken ventilation shaft, its size being enough for all of them to go through. "Use you eyes moron, that's our ticket out of here."
"Oh, I knew that."
"Sure you did. All we need to do is climb this bookcase and we're home free. Oh, and don't worry about it falling over. It's attached to the wall."
Not wasting any time, Morgana managed to skillfully scale the bookcase before hopping through the hole. Helping Ryuji do so as well, Ren then did the same, glad to finally be able to leave this hell hole.
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"Whew, we're finally free!" Ryuji stated with glee. "Now we can get back to our world."
"Yeah, it feels good," Ren said before facing Morgana. "Thanks."
"Heh, no problem. Thank you for freeing me. Now, I'll be off." With that, Morgana began re-entering the castle, much to Ryuji's surprise.
"What the hell? Why the fuck are you going back in there?"
"Let's say I've got some unfinished business," Morgana told them. "Whelp, I'm out. Again, thanks for everything."
"What a weirdo," Ryuji muttered before turning his attention towards Ren, the boy attempting to create a portal back to their world. "Any luck?"
"..." Staying silent, Ren was eventually able to successfully open a portal. "I got it."
"Sweet! Let's leave before another shadow decides to bother us."
"Agreed."
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Leaping through the portal, the two boys found themselves back in their world, in the same alleyway Ryuji was leading them down earlier. Though Ren was a bit disappointed he couldn't transport them closer to the school, Ryuji couldn't be happier to be out of that terrifying world.
"YES! WE'RE BACK!" The boy shouted with glee, causing the Persona user to cover his mouth. The last thing he wanted was to attract any unwanted attention.
"Hush, not so loud!"
"Right, sorry," Ryuji sheepishly apologized before pulling out his phone. "Hey, what time is it? Damn, looks like we've been in the Shadow Realm for four hours."
Looking at the boy's phone, Ren saw it was currently 11:00 am. "Crap, we're late for school."
"Huh, looks like we are," Ryuji casually said before giving Ren a serious look. "Hey man, thanks again for everything. Also, you don't need to worry about me spilling the beans about that world or you being the Phantom Thief."
"Thanks," Ren said with a friendly smile. "That means a lot. Now, can you show me where the school is? I'm still the new kid and all..."
"Right, it's this way." With Ryuji taking the lead, the two boys began making their way to the school, having no problems doing so much to their relief. After a few minutes, they managed to arrive, only to notice that a very angry principal was outside. Upon noticing the two boys, the man began to frown.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up," The man snarked, shaking his head. "You know, being late on your first day isn't exactly starting off strong. Perhaps we were wrong to accept you. As for you Ryuji, you do realize this is unacceptable as well, right?"
"Shit, I was really hoping we would be able to sneak inside," Ryuji muttered.
"So, why were you boys late?''
"Uh, our train was late," Ryuji hastily declared, obviously trying to hide the truth.
"What's going on out here?" A familiar voice asked. A second later, the real Kamoshida appeared, causing Ryuji to scowl.
"Kamoshida doesn't share memories with his shadow," Ren whispered as the principal told Kamoshida what was happening. "He has no idea about what happened in the Shadow Realm."
"Since this is their first offense, I think we should let them off with a warning," Kamoshida recommended, obviously trying to act like the 'cool teacher' to the principal.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Well boys, looks like you're off the hook, for now," The principal informed them. "However, next time you're late, I will be forced to take disciplinary action, are we clear?"
"Yes sir," Both boys said at the same time.
"Good. Now behave."
"Damnit I hate how we were saved by that ass," Ryuji muttered to Ren as the two adults began walking away. "Anyways, I gotta get to class. See ya around!"
Ryuji then jogged into the school, leaving Ren behind. A few seconds later, Ren began walking into the school, eager to get the day over with.
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"Class, this is Ren Amamiya," Miss Kawakami informed her class, introducing the boy to her class. After entering the school, Ren immediately went to the front office to pick up his schedule. Thankfully, he ran into Miss Kawakami while doing so who guided him to her classroom after giving him his schedule. Personally, Ren was quite uncomfortable right now, since all eyes were on him. He wasn't someone who excelled at social situations, so the most he could muster up was a small wave to the class. It didn't help his anxiety that people were already talking about him.
"That's the new kid? Doesn't seem like a criminal to me."
"Wow, late on the first day. The kid must be as hardcore as we thought."
"He looks so shy, but I bet he's the type to blow up when angry."
"Hmm, let's see," Miss Kawakami mumbled as she tried to find an empty seat, eventually managing to find one. "Ren, you can sit behind Ann."
Looking at where she was pointing, Ren was surprised to see that the person he was assigned to sit behind was actually the same girl he had encountered earlier. Everyone's eyes still on him, the boy began to make his way to his seat. Upon passing Ann, he heard her mumble something in anger
"Lies."
Though Ren wanted to ask her if that was directed at him and what she meant by that, he decided against doing so, not wanting to draw attention. Instead, he took his seat as Miss Kawakami began her lesson.
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With his first day having done without much problem, Ren prepared to leave, but as he began walking through the hallway, he was stopped by Miss Kawakami, who wanted to speak to him.
"I heard you came to school with Ryuji Sakamoto," the teacher said, causing Ren to nod. "I see. Well, for your sake, I wouldn't recommend hanging out with him. He's a troublemaker and with your reputation, the last thing you need is to be associating with people like him."
Tilting his head, Ren was about to ask what she meant about Ryuji being a troublemaker, only to be interrupted by the boy in question.
"Yo Ren, what's up?"
"Speak of the devil," Miss Kawakami said before she began walking away. "Just remember what I said."
"Man, what was that about?" Ryuji asked, earning a shrug in response. "Whatever, could you follow me to the roof for a sec?" Receiving a nod in response, Ryuji smiled. "Cool, follow me!''
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Directing Ren to the roof, Ryuji began speaking. "Thanks for meeting me up here. I just wanted to thank you for helping me leave that awful place. You were a fucking badass back there."
"Thanks," Ren said. "But you shouldn't discredit yourself. Most people would've completely shut down with fear upon witnessing all that you have."
"Heh, thanks man. Hey, mind if we hang out tomorrow?" Ryuji asked. "There's a lot of stuff I really want to ask you. I'd do today, but I'm kinda busy at the moment…"
"Sure, I'd like that," Ren answered, glad for an opportunity to make a friend.
"Sweet! Well, I'm going to head out now. See you tomorrow!"
"See ya."
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With the day over, Ren immediately went straight home, where after speaking to Sojiro, he went straight to bed. As he drifted to dreamland, he found himself in the Velvet Room.
"Greetings," Igor said once he took notice of Ren's entrance. "You are currently asleep in the real world, I have summoned you here through your dreams. So, how is your rehabilitation process going along?"
"It's going well master," Ren replied. "Even though I have no idea what's going on."
"Don't fret, that is to be expected," Igor informed his apprentice. "All you need to do is react properly to all that happens around you. Understand that and you'll surely succeed in completing the process. Things will get harder from here, but remember that there will be multiple 'right' paths you can choose."
"But how will I know what is right and wrong?" Ren asked.
"That will be up to you to figure out," Igor told him. "You are about to wake up, so I must bid you farewell. Come back soon…"
With that, the Velvet Room began to fade out of existence, leaving Ren with more questions than answers, as per usual…
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Author's note 2: After each chapter, I'll be posting Ren's level, Personas, and equipment I might do so with the other characters in the future.
Ren
Level: 10
Current Personas: Arsene (lv 10), Agathon (lv 7), Jack-o-lantern (lv 6), Incubus (lv 5)
Equipment: Prisdagger