A/Note: This was sorta a mess to write at first because of the craziness that ensued. It was a little fun because of the fact that I have never written torture scenes. I don't like putting characters through those sort of situations though… Not all the time. Most of the time I don't like doing torture scenes because I can't seem to write them correctly… Tell me how turns out in the end.
Disclaimer: I don't own Persona 3.
Chapter 7
Ken
"Ken, wake up you're going to be late."
Ken stirred in his sleep as he started to wake up. He looked around with blurry eyes as he realized who was calling him. He looked around his room some more realizing that he was laying in his bed where he used to live with his mother. Why am I here? I was being attacked by Shadows then… Then what? Ken thought as he was sat up underneath his covers. Ken removed his covers as he heard the voice again.
"Ken, are you awake now?"
Mom? No way.
Ken rushed out of bed and went downstairs in a hurry. He wasn't dressed for school, but that didn't matter to him in the slightest. He caught the smell of food be cooked in the kitchen. When Ken looked in the kitchen he saw the person he hasn't seen in a while. Ken's face went into shock as his heartbeats increased. He was staring at his mother alive and well in the kitchen cooking him breakfast and making his lunch before he went to school.
"Are you ready for school?"
Ken looked down at himself trying not to cry, "No, not yet. I'll be ready soon."
"Alrighty then, you should go back upstairs and get ready then before I give you your breakfast"
He nodded happily, "Okay. I'll be back down."
When Ken was upstairs and was ready to go down, he had tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. While trying to calm down as he was walking downstairs again, Ken began to go to the kitchen to get his lunch as his bag was in his hands. His mother turned around who had a smile upon her lips which made his smile even bigger. He went over to his mother and gave her a hug. She put her arms around him while she looked down at him. She let her hand go through her son's hair.
"What's wrong, Ken?"
Ken nuzzled into her a little, "Nothing. It's just that it feels like it has been a long time since I saw you."
"Honey, you just saw me last night."
Ken opened his eyes a little while his arms were still around his mother. Then why don't I remember yesterday?
"Ken, you should get going," Ken's mom suggested as she pulled away from him.
Ken nodded, "Alright. I'll see you later, Mom."
As Ken grabbed his lunch and breakfast, he started going heading to the school. His mother had to work early today and so he won't be seeing her that quickly after. Walking to the school made him have time to think about everything and piece things together. He was trying to think back to yesterday, but nothing popped up except for the fact that he was in Tartarus. Outside he was happy as well as the inside, but something wasn't right about what yesterday is.
Could this be some kind of dream because I'm in a coma? I doubt that, but it could be the only reasonable explanation. There's no other way to explain.
As he sat on the train, he heard a familiar voice and turned his head. Yukari and Minato were standing near the windows talking to one another. Yukari was doing most of the talking even though Minato was listening to his music. Ken wanted to go over to them to talk to them, but seemed they didn't realize that he was on the train. He sat silently listening to their voices chat on.
"So tomorrow the exams start."
"What about them?"
"Well we can't forget to study, even though you probably have plans with Junpei. He's such a slacker sometimes."
"…"
"Anyways do you feel like you've missed a day?"
"Not really."
"I sort of do. It feels like I missed something. Something important."
"A birthday most likely."
"Probably. I was also wondering if you wouldn't mind walking home with me today."
"I have plans to go somewhere with Junpei. He wanted me to go eat some ramen with him."
"With who else?"
"I'm inviting Kaz, Kenji, Hidetoshi, Bebe, and Akihiko."
"What about Shinjiro?"
"I don't have time to go find him."
"Akihiko would probably know where he is."
"But we have to go straight after school since we have to get back and study."
"True. None of your girlfriends are going?"
"Well, Yuko could go if she wants since she's seeing Kaz."
"It's a male thing today isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"That's what Junpei would call it."
"… Why are you bringing up Junpei a lot today?"
"Honestly, it doesn't matter."
"Uh huh. You like him don't you?"
"No way would I ever like Stupei! I've just known him for a long time and I know how he thinks because of it."
"Then you must be jealous of the fact that he has a girlfriend and you don't have a boyfriend."
"Well… Why are you turning me down then? I know you don't have a girlfriend."
"… How are you going to do at the archery tournament in a month?"
"Don't change the subject!"
"…."
They really don't realize that I'm sitting right here. And I'm really close to them. They always seemed to be the same always which is nice. Though maybe Yukari would know what had happened to me, but they don't seem to remember me. Ken thought as he sat there waiting for his stop.
When it was the stop for him and the two teenagers they walked out of the train. He walked off after the two teenagers, though Yukari was ahead of Minato. Ken watched as they went a different direction than him. He started to realize that maybe he recognized the two of them because of the fact that maybe his dream was true. When he wasn't a part of Specialized Execution Extracurricular Squad, Ken never knew who they were. He knew that much.
As he realized that he was in school, once he got there he went into his class. He sat in wonder, as he was in thought about everything. Ken's school day proceeding by faster since he was stuck in thought. His older friends that were like his new family have forgotten about him. Ken even ate his lunch quietly as his school friends ate and talked about random things. He couldn't talk to them about the realistic dream that he had. All the pain and suffering was too real for other people his age to be able to understand. Then school was over and he was heading home.
"Maybe I should go get some Takoyaki for dinner," Ken murmured to himself as he was heading to the station.
He went towards Iwatodai Station to get some of the Takoyaki at the stand. He went over to the stand when he found himself there, and ordered to Takoyakis. When he was waiting for his order to be completed he heard voices of people that he recognized. One was laughing at a joke, Minato. Same with four others that he didn't recognize; another was telling the joker something, Akihiko. The last voice belonged to Junpei Iori, the one that was joking. Ken turned his head slightly to see who the voices belonged to.
"I zink 'zis eez going to be fun," one of the voices said from a blond.
Minato looked at Bebe trying to calm down, "Yeah, I wanted you to hang out with some of my friends so can learn as much about Japan as you can before you head back to France."
"Hai, yes and if zey want to learn anyzing about France, I could tell zem," Bebe chimed with a smile.
Those must be some of Minato's friends. Ken thought as they were heading upstairs.
"Hey, Minato, thanks for inviting us. This should be way fun since we have the captain of the boxing team with us," One said with light brunette hair.
Akihiko looked at him, "What do you mean by what you said?"
"I mean that we're probably going to be able to pick up some ladies," answered the one questioned.
Junpei laughed a little, "Yeah right, Kenji. Akihiko doesn't know how to pick up the ladies. He can't say the right thing. You're better off letting me do all the talking, if we do that."
Everything else after that was hard to hear since they went upstairs to the ramen shop. Ken sighed wanting to go back home to his mother. As he was walking back to the Iwatodai Train Station, he caught a glimpse of a tall figure that had saved him. Ken's eyes were widened by the Aragaki that had walked by him without a single word. He looked back at him seeing that it was really Shinjiro. The older student was heading to Hagakure himself. Shinji didn't even notice Ken not even for a moment.
"Shinjiro," Ken whispered in a shock.
He wanted to say something, but Shinji wouldn't have been able to hear him. Shinji also wouldn't know who he was at the moment. Maybe he never knew who he was. It seems not a lot of them knew each other before SEES was even created. Ken shook his head and started to walk with his Takoyakis. His mind wandering to his memories that he was trying to hold back because he noticed that no one even knew who he was. This was probably how this fight against Nyx would happen. Ken heard a bark from a distance, but didn't turn around knowing that it wasn't Koro.
When he finally made it home, Ken went into the kitchen. He looked around for his mother in there so he could give her one of the Takoyakis. Ken walked into the dining room to find her sitting in a chair reading a book. Ken smiled and went over to her with the Takoyakis. She looked at her young son seeing that he had two boxes of food. She smiled at him as he came over to the dinner table. He sat down at the table and put the boxes down.
"How was school today?"
"It went fine. I had a test today," Ken answered as he opened his box.
"Oh, did you study for it," Ken's mother asked with interest.
Ken picked up one of the Takoyakis, "It was easy because of the fact that I had already…"
"What is it, Ken?"
I couldn't have done the test already. Come on that would be improbable…
"Forget it, Mom."
He sat quietly looking down at his Takoyaki with some dismay. He felt as if his memories were correct, but he was afraid to admit that it was true. Ms. Amada was eating peacefully while she looked at her son. Ken caught her eyes on him noticing that she was smiling while she was eating. Ken sighed quietly as he took a bite out of his food with his eyes shut slightly. In a matter of twenty minutes Ken had finished his dinner with his mother now standing from her seat.
"Ken, you should wash up and brush your teeth for bed," His mother said turning with her empty box going towards the trash can.
Ken looked at her with a small smile, "Alright. I do have school tomorrow. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
When Ken was going to leave the kitchen, his mom went over to him to give him a kiss on the head. He felt her hand on his head resting as he felt her lips touch his forehead. Ken went upstairs to his room to get ready for bed. He could tell that his mother was worried to where he had gone off to, but she didn't express it towards him since he came home safely. He was done getting ready for bed, even though it didn't take long for him. He laid down and went to sleep.
He dreamt of the memories that he seems to recall each time someone brings up something about a certain day. Today's dream was no different than yesterdays or the day before that. Ken was having trouble of shaking the feelings of what the memories were giving him. In the dream, Ken was watching Phoenix Featherman R with Koro and Minato. Koro was sitting between Minato and himself. The TV was loud enough for them to hear, low enough to where they could talk.
"Ken, I hope I didn't offend you when I didn't take you into Tartarus yesterday," Minato apologized.
Ken looked at Minato, "Not really. It was your decision."
Minato smiled a little, "That's true, but you should get as much experience against the Shadows."
"I'm guessing you didn't let me go into Tartarus for Fuuka's sake, right," Ken assumed waiting for the commercial to end.
Minato nodded, "Yeah, she asked me before we went out. You were doing your homework at the time."
"Fuuka and the others that had to stay behind kept me company," Ken explained not really too upset.
Minato's smile remained, "Okay. I just wanted to make it clear that I didn't want to leave you behind since it's only your fourth time experiencing that place."
As Ken was about to say something, but something good was taking place in the show. The real Ken was watching all of this floating in the area. The scene started to dissipate into another scene, as the two of them looked like they were enjoying each other's company as the show continued. Another memory was appearing before him, but he was confused to why his memories are doing this at this exact time. This memory was of him in Tartarus with Yukari, Minato and Aigis were just out of a battle. Ken was seriously injured and Yukari was going to heal him.
Yukari used Dia from Io, "You okay now, Ken? You had me worried there."
"I'm fine. Thanks, Yukari," Ken gratefully answered.
Aigis looked at Ken, "You seem tired. Your body probably can't take much more exploring of Tartarus for the night."
"Like I said Aigis, 'I'm fine'. Don't worry I can keep going," Ken explained acting as if he was alright.
Yukari looked worried, "Ken, you can't push yourself to the limit. If you're tired you can go back to Fuuka and the others."
"You seemed to have exerted all your energy in the last battle against the guardians," Aigis inquired noticing the exhaustion.
"I'll be fine, you guys. You don't have to worry about me," Ken explained again while getting tired of being treated like a child.
"But-" Yukari started but got interrupted by the male teenager.
"Ken, come on we have much more to explore. I'm counting on you," Minato said breaking the discussion.
Yukari was getting defensive, "Minato, we can't force a kid to keep going!"
"It was his decision to fight. We could use the help whether it's a child or even an insect," Minato said looking towards the direction of the stairs.
Yukari looked away defeated, "That's true… Alright, Ken, don't hold back against them, but don't be afraid to run away if you're too tired to fight anymore."
"Yes, we depend on each other's strength to continue," Aigis agreed with a small smile on her lips.
Ken looked at the leader, whom just nodded to continue. That was the first day at Tartarus for him and it was a difficult night as the night continued on. He did end up leaving for the ground floor after ten more battles. Minato didn't force him to stay if that was what he wanted to do. The memory disappeared into darkness as another decided to close in. A memory with the team at Wild Duck Burger; eating and enjoying each other's company.
"My goodness, this is different," Fuuka said as she swallowed a bite.
Junpei smiled as he waved a fry in his hand, "But isn't it good? This place is one of the best places to eat!"
Yukari finished eating her fries, "It's only good in moderation, Stupei."
Mitsuru laughed a little, "It's good to have these times every once in a while."
"Agreed, since we're almost done with our battle against the Shadows," Akihiko agreed as a small smile came to his lips.
Ken watched everyone eat as he was finished, "May I ask who's going to pay for the meal?"
Minato looked at Ken, "I could. I have enough from going through Tartarus."
Mitsuru looked at Minato, "You decided to treat? Well, I was going to pay for this meal."
"How about each person pitches in," Aigis proposed.
Junpei almost choked on his drink, "Eh, Aigis, some of us can't even pay."
"It would leave each of us with more left after we break the bill to six people. It would not be a settling fact to have Minato pay for everyone," Aigis explained not even eating.
Yukari made a face, "You're not even eating, Aigis. So we would have to split in fifths."
"Couldn't you spare some yen for our meal, Iori," questioned Mitsuru as she took out her wallet.
Akihiko sighed, "I doubt he even wants to help pay…"
"The last one was your treat, Akihiko-senpai," Junpei said with a smile.
Minato shook his head, "Just over some bet…"
Ken smiled as the females in the group got interested in knowing what the bet was. The boys that were a part of the bet didn't say a word, after Minato's slip of the tongue. The memory started to fade as he saw himself smile towards his older friends. His body started falling onto the ground as he was starting to realize something had to be wrong with the reality that he believed was real. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene, as everything around him turned into water. That's when he suddenly started to wake while his vision seemed like they were under water. He even realized that he couldn't breathe. He started flailing his arms about.
His mother was standing near the sink brushing her hair. He couldn't hear her properly, but he was finally able to rise out of the water. Ken coughed out the water once he finally was able to sit up. Ken started to get out of the tub as he fell on the floor in the process of it. His body was soaked with the clothes clinging to his body. He started to stand trying to catch his breath as his mother stood staring into the mirror. He was harshly inhaling as he was trying to breathe. Ken stared at his mother as the brush came went to the side of her hair.
"Did you enjoy your bath?"
Ken glared, "Stop using my mother's form!"
"What do you mean?"
"I know this isn't real! But… How dare you use her like that!"
His mother sighed, "What do you mean not real? You sound strange tonight, Ken."
"Stop it," Ken exclaimed as he kept his eyes on the form of his mother.
A hand swept through her hair, "I don't understand what you're saying, Ken."
"I bet you do know. My mother died by an accident…" Ken explained a little with some anger.
A smile came to her lips, "Ken, come on. You should go back to bed."
"Stop trying to be her," Ken said as his hands were now clenching.
His mother went up to him putting her hands on his shoulders, "Ken, settle down."
Ken started to fight against his mother's grip as she started to open her mouth. He looked straight at her seeing something it. His eyes widened in horror as a giant spider started to crawl out. The arachnid was as big as his mother. His mother was groaning in pain, while the spider continued to wretch itself out. Ken wanted to help her, but it was because it was the form of his mother. The spider was finally out, but it seemed it wasn't the only creature that was trying to get out of the body. A scorpion was coming out of the other direction, which it was getting harder for him to watch. The problem was that he couldn't run to the door, as the door had seemingly disappeared from his sight.
As the apparent pain in her body was subsiding since the scorpion and spider was finally out, she stood. Ken prepared himself in a battle stance. He wished he had his spear, but that would be impossible in the situation in which he was in. The scorpion stood beside his mother, as did the spider. His mother was standing in the middle of the two insects and flipped her hair with her hand. He looked at her face seeing a wicked smile upon it now. Amada's mother now had her hand on her hip relaxing on one foot.
"Well, you saw through my disguise at the last minute. As did some of your friends," Ken's mother said with her other hand pointing at him.
Ken was fuming with anger, "What did you do to them?"
A chuckle, "They are going through the same thing as you are right now. Only three made the right decisions to make themselves return to the right reality."
"What are you talking about? I was right then when my memories didn't correspond with my Mom's," Ken realized as he thought about it for a second.
"No more talking about that. Time for your results. You had good understanding to know that you should stay in the thought process of your memories. Yet, you, Ken Amada, had trouble not seeing through your mother even though you had plenty of time to do so. You had done nothing to figure out the situation… In the end you failed."
"What," Ken questioned as the scorpion started an attack.
Ken dodged the attack from the scorpion as the spider shot a web towards him. Ken's eyes widened as he noticed that the web was coming in his direction. Ken blocked it from hitting his eyes by putting his arms in the way. As the web stuck to him and he couldn't see the creatures, he was hit with the scorpion's tail. Ken went flying toward the wall sticking to it because of the webbing. He was trying to get out of the webbing as his mother came over to him without him noticing.
"Now, my dear boy, it's time for your punishment," his mother voiced as both insects came to her side.
Ken closed his eyes remembering that he needs his evoker to summon his Persona, but he wasn't able to get his Kala-Nemi to listen to him. As he was thinking about fighting back, his spear showed up in his hands, but he couldn't move his hands from where they were on his body. He wouldn't be able to take on the creatures and the impostor. His mother began to pull out a syringe with nothing in it. She smiled as she walked up to him mumbling something that he couldn't quite pin. Ken was still struggling against the webbing that was keeping him against the wall. His mother was now near him with the syringe still in her hand.
"Just relax, dear boy," his mother said while inserting the needle into his neck.
"No," Ken squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to hit the syringe.
"It will only take a second," Ms. Amada informed as the other side was pushed down then pulled back up.
Ken looked at the woman in front of him his eyes slightly blurred, "Why are my eyes blurry? There was nothing in the syringe."
"Because it was taking most of your blood… It is an invisible parasite that will continue to take your blood beyond any means necessary. It just so happens that it can fit in this syringe," his mother explained holding up the syringe in the light waving it slightly.
The scorpion stepped up and sank its stinger into the boy's body, letting the poison seep through. Ken squeezed his eyes shut, as he felt the poison start to run through his veins. The spider came up after the scorpion released its tail from the young boy's body. As the spider was about to attack the Persona that Ken had been trying to summon finally was calling out to him once again. Ken tried to regain control of his body as the poison was trying to still his body, as his evoker showed itself in his hand.
"I see that your evoker is back," his mother noted aloud putting her hand on his evoker.
He was going to attack her with his spear that was still in his hands unable to remove the webbing. He was going to use Kala-Nemi to help him get the webbing off, but his mother was holding his evoker away from him. She smirked then kissed his forehead looking to the side seeing that the spider was continuing to her side. She was whispering something that he couldn't pin at the moment. It sounded like a completely different language. She smirked as the spider went up to the youngest member of SEES, analyzing its target. The spider opened its mouth ready to take a bite as his mother moved slightly.
Ken screamed at the impact of the sudden bite from the spider. Some more random language from his mother, as the spider started to put some of its eggs into his body. He was in pain and hyperventilating because of the poison that was in his system, and the spider bite that left its eggs within him. His mother stood there holding his hand that was holding the gun, but he couldn't even move his arm anymore. He felt very faint. He didn't know how much longer he could stay awake. He looked at his mother seeing that she was simply smiling at his dispense. Ken started to close his eyes as he heard one thing.
"Take care of those babies," Ken's mother said before laughing hysterically.
As Ken started to regain consciousness, he heard Koromaru barking at his side. He still couldn't move feeling tired and stiff from the poison. Ken's body is still feeling the pain in which it had suffered, but could feel the eggs inside of his body where the giant spider laid them to rest. He just laid there listening to Koromaru's barking with Aigis and Fuuka. He was still in the position that he was in.
A/Note: Alright… This chapter I stopped writing a little bit. The torture scene was a little hard at times. I think each chapter had that problem except for Fuuka's, the first and the last. Well, please review. I love hearing what people have to say about it.