Hello! Sorry for the long wait but I just had spring break and family coming over and all but oh well. This was a hard chapter to write because of that, but I though it came out decent at least. Keep them reviews coming, remember any constructive critisicim welcome!
Chapter 7 – Effects
December 21, 2010 [Somewhere Deep in a Forest, Late Night]
Ryo held onto Aimi tightly. The wind was blowing fiercely and the twins were knee-deep in snow. As they trekked onwards, the snow began to fall again, covering their faces. The two had never been this cold before. All they could do was pray. Eventually, Ryo collapsed in exhaustion causing Aimi, who had been long unconscious, to fall down with him.
What seemed like a normal day became terrible. Eight year-old Ryo and Aimi were playing in the woods in the afternoon and got lost. Aimi wailed wanting to get back home, but neither of them could find their way back. Hours and hours had passed, but they only wandered farther away from the orphanage. Aimi lost consciousness when the twins fell into a river which was completely covered in snow. Since then, Ryo had been carrying her back home, promising that she would be safe. What seemed like an eternity had passed before the sun went down. Everything was pitch black in the cold, dark woods.
Somehow, Ryo got up. He had the will to live and carried on with his sister on his back. After another two hours, he eventually saw the flickering lights of the orphanage. He began to run. When he got to the locked door, he slammed his fists. A young maid who worked there opened up and was surprised to find the twins. Apparently, no one had noticed that they were missing, and simply forgot about them. Ryo walked down the hallway into the orphanage still carrying Aimi; they continued to walk and walk, but the hallway only grew darker until no light was left. Ryo stopped, exhausted, he heard a low growl come from behind him. When he turned around, the doorway they entered from was nowhere to be found and all that was left was darkness. There was another low growl and the alien-looking creature rose from the shadows. It struck fear into Ryo. As the creature raised its hand, Ryo was plunged into the frozen, white abyss that he came from. He collapsed again, feeling as cold as before…
February 16, 2018 - Sunday [Chojuinochi Hospital, Afternoon]
Ryo woke with a start. He suddenly realized he was immensely sore, and was extremely tired as he sat up. His vision was blurry but he decided to look around anyways. Ryo saw two familiar shapes sitting by the hospital bed he was lying on. One was muscular and large while the other was thin and relatively small. It took him a second, but Ryo recognized the two people as Takeo and Michio. He shook his head and tried to speak, but all that came out rough clearing of his throat.
Michio and Takeo had been sleeping but awoke to Ryo coughing. "Oh thank God you are okay!" Michio exclaimed with relief. "You have been out for a while, and the doctors said you were in critical condition for a little bit!"
"They fixed you up real good!" Takeo said and smiled.
Ryo looked down at the palm of his hand which was bandaged. He coughed again but this time spat out a word, "…Aimi…"
"Oh, she is in shock after what happened. The doctors do not know when she will be better." Michio replied. Ryo looked down and thought about what had happened last night. It was all too clear. The burned and destroyed city, the moon falling out of the sky, everyone gathering at the crater, the alien-looking creature, Hikari's death, and Ryo summoning that thing. "Um… After you fainted, Katsumi called the hospital. Takeo, Viper, Katsumi, and I were taken to the police station and went through interrogation… They tried Aimi at first, but they deemed her in an unfit mental condition."
"They asked us all these questions about Hikari and what happened. I t-told them, but they didn't believe me!" Takeo almost started crying as he said that.
Michio patted Takeo on his back and the glasses-wearing teen continued, "I think we all told them what really happened, but of course who would believe that everyone was placed in a destroyed version of Chichibu and aliens killed Hikari?" When Michio finished that his eyes darkened when thinking of Hikari's death. "T-They said it was mass hysteria and we had to take drug tests and such, of course all negative. But actually, Mr. Itou was called up and he defended us, because of the club we formed. So they let us off for now, but they still have to question you and Aimi."
Ryo lied his head back down. He had to take this all in so suddenly. He reached for his baseball cap that was on the table next to him and tried to get up. When he almost fell, Michio helped him back up and lied him back down. "You should not try to leave yet. The doctor said you made an amazing recovery. Just stay here, tonight they will let you out." Michio said as an alarm went off from his watch. "… Oh no! Come on Takeo-kun, we have got to do your lessons."
"Okay," Takeo replied, "Goodbye, Ryo! See you at school!"
"Take care of yourself, we will see you tomorrow." Michio said. With that, the two teens walked out of the room.
Ryo was now left alone and he slowly began thinking about last night. "I brought about that… Monster… It said I was it… What was it called? Charon I think…" Ryo thought. As if on cue, Ryo heard a loud snort come from the back of his mind. "W-What? Are you there! Y-You can hear me?" Ryo only heard Charon's bark in response. "So you can't talk now?... What cat got your tongue?" Ryo asked; Charon roared at this remark causing him to flinch. "Okay fine. Answer me this then! What are you?" Charon fell silent. A few seconds later, Ryo began to feel tired and drifted into sleep.
February 16, 2018 – Sunday [The Velvet Room, Afternoon]
Ryo found himself in that blue room with monitors scattered everywhere. In front of him was a desk with the long-nosed man, Igor, sitting at it. He unfolded his arms and extended them. The three screens behind him changed their picture from a dark city with a heavy downpour to Igor's face as he smiled manically.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room!" Igor announced; when he refolded his arms, the pictures changed into their usual appearance. "Ah… It seems as if our latest guest has awakened the power of 'Persona'! A great asset in"
"What's going on here?" Ryo demanded, trying to get up from his seat but failing to move at all.
"Persona is an incredibly strong power that emerges from the deepest crevices of your mind." Igor waved his hand and a card descended down from the ceiling and into Ryo's hand. The backside was blue with a face on it; half of it was darkened while the other half seemed transparent. On the front side though was the creature Ryo summoned from the night before, Charon, surrounded by a gold border. "You and your Persona are like two sides on the same coin. Some awaken with a traumatic event in order to quell the pain. As with my other guests you contain the Wild Card ability that differentiates you from other Persona-users."
"What is the 'Wild Card'?" Ryo asked hesitantly.
"You have a wondrous ability to change your Persona at will, like the changing of a mask! With every new Persona, your personality changes and you gain an… Alter ego, if you will." Igor explained, "With this power you are also able to strengthen your heart with Social Links, or bonds with those around you. Social Links bring forth great power to your Persona. Not only that but there are side benefits from strengthening your Social Links including fulfilling your contract." Igor stared straight at Ryo who was sitting in his seat uncomfortably.
"Remember that Social Link you formed the other day? That is a very special one that tends directly to your heart!" Igor continued. "Now, let's see what the future has in store for you…" Igor began waving his hand materializing his deck of tarot cards which then shuffled and spread themselves out leaving two behind. The first was a card with the Roman numeral for ten and it was up-side down. It showed a wheel-like structure with various animals circling it. "The Wheel of Fortune… In the downward position… It represents the changing of times, from bad to worse…" The second card was one that had the Roman numeral for one. It had a pair of eyes gazing out of the card, a pair of hands holding a large flame, and an infinity symbol at the top. "The Magician… In the upright position! It represents self-confidence and the ability to harness one's inner power. This could mean that there is power to be found with dark times! *Giggles fiendishly* What doesn't kill us makes us stronger!"
Igor waved his hand again and the cards disappeared. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff… H-How?" asked Ryo.
Igor giggled again, "I've seen many things, you see, and from those, I've learned much of your world." He twisted his hand and a blue key descended down from the ceiling like Charon's card. Igor grabbed it and sent it to Ryo. Ryo caught it; it seemed to have a magical aura around it. "Keep it, that key will allow you to visit hear anytime you please. Remember, at any time I can also speak to you in the realm of your dreams as you sleep. Next time you come though, it will be on your own accord." Ryo held the key close to his heart.
"This guy seems to know a lot about what's going on, maybe it won't be so bad if I come back and ask him some more questions." Ryo figured in his mind.
"Well farewell, our time together is growing short. Just remember to work on growing your bonds. I will have my assistants constantly check on and remind you of that." With that, Ryo felt tired and closed his eyes, leaving the Velvet Room behind.
February 16, 2018 – Sunday [Chojuinochi Hospital, Night]
Ryo awoke in his hospital bed once again. This time he felt healthy and strong. When he looked around the dark hospital room he saw no one else there. Although, he did hear doctors shuffling in the hallway; one walked in and stopped when he saw Ryo sitting up. "Oh, great! You're awake! Okay then well I am just telling you that you're ready to leave whenever you would like!" The doctor said, "When you are ready, I'll have a family member called and you can go! Do you have anyone to take you right now?"
Ryo hesitated, "Just my sister… But I heard she is under some mental therapy… I'd like to go though." Ryo said looking at the doctor. "I can walk myself home; I've been in worse situations."
The doctor began to get tense, "I might get fired, but you look fine so I'm gonna let you go alone…"Ryo got dressed and after snealing out, made his way back to his apartment.
[Chojuinochi Hospital – Fujihara Apartment]
When Ryo got home, he found a shivering Aimi on the couch. She was sweating profusely and had a blank expression on her face. She didn't notice Ryo until he walked right next to her. When she did, all the brown-haired girl could do was look up and make a small sound. Her brother bent down and hugged her. "It's okay…" Ryo whispered in her ear, "It's gonna be okay… I'm safe… You're safe… That's all that matters, right?" He couldn't help but think of Hikari. Her death tipped him over the edge, and caused him to summon his Persona. It was still eating away at him, but lying to his sister was all he could do to help her.
Aimi made another small noise and laid down on the couch she was on. Hearing her brother again made her feel a lot better. She drifted to sleep and Ryo got up yawning. He had a long night that was for sure. He walked into his room and lied down on his futon. They still haven't gotten any real furniture other than a couch, TV, and dining room table. He finally began to feel the bulge that was in his coat pocket. He grabbed the mysterious item inside and found the blue key he obtained in his dream with Igor. "This can't be real!" Ryo thought to himself. Grabbing the key with both hands, he inspected it once more. It was a simple metal key with the letters 'V R' inscribed on it. Ryo put it by his bed next to his PSV and turned around. "Too tired to think; I'll figure it out in the morning…" He soon drifted off to sleep like his sister, but not as sound. The rest of the night he was thrashing in his sheets having terrible nightmares of the alien-creature and Hikari's death over and over again.
Chojuinochi Hospital - Wave Ocean (Sonic the Hedgehog 2006)
TwinkleAce: I'm sorry but all I could think when you said that is "Oh my god you killed Kenny!". Thanks too.
Hitoriga127: I think that explained that. but essentially everyone was too scared to move, except Ryo of course. Thanks too, I worked realy hard last chapter.
