Chidori POV
"Hey.", we all turned to hear a familiar voice.
It was Morgana!
"Morgana, what're you doing here?", Chiyo asks.
He runs up to us and looks at Ryuji. "Stop making a commotion."
"Agh...you?!", Ryuhi says in annoyance.
Morgana looks down. "The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be...To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."
"What is this place anyways? Is it the school?", Ryuji asks.
Morgana looks up at him. "That's right."
"But it's a castle!", Ryuji exclaims.
"This castle is the school. But only to this castle's ruler."
"The castle's ruler...?", Ryuji asks.
"I think you called him Kamoshida?", Morgana asks.
We nod.
"It's how his distorted heart views the school." Morgana says.
Distorted heart...?
"Kamoshida... distorted...?", Ryuji muttered. He stomped at Morgana. "Explain it in a way it makes sense!"
Morgana frowns. "I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it."
"What'd you say!?", Ryuji raged.
I interject and calm him down.
"Kamoshida sees the school as his castle. We're seeing that this-", I getsure to the castle. "Is the way that he sees the school."
"You got it." Morgana says.
Ryuji frowns deeper.
All of a sudden we just hear a scream.
"What was that?!", Ryuji asks.
"It must be the slaves captive here.", Morgana says stretching.
"For real?", Ryuji whispers. We hear another scream. "Oh, shit...it's for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday...in pretty sure they're from our school."
"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary. It's like that everyday here. What's more, you all escaped yesterday. So he must've lost his temper quite a bit.", Morgana says.
This goes on everyday...?
"Quite a bit?? There's no way.", Chiyo says.
"That son of a bitch!", Ryuji yells.
"Ryuji...?", Morgana looks up at him.
I look at him in confusion.
Just what has Kamoshida done to him...?
"This is bullshit!!", he runs up to the front door and rams his arm against it. "You hear me, Kamoshida!?!"
"Doing that isn't going to open it,you know.", Morgana says. "Still, it seems you have your reasons."
Ryuji walks back to us. "Hey, MonaMona!"
Morgana narrows his eyes at Ryuji. "It's Morgana!", he warns.
"Do you know where those voices are coming from?", he asks.
"You want me to take you to them?", Morgana asks. "... well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if they come with us. Especially, Frizzy Hair."
"His name is Akira.", Chiyo said.
I shook my head.
"Let's go.", Akira says.
"It's settles then!", Morgana says smiling.
"For real...!?", Ryuji asks excitedly. "Thanks, man. All of you."
"Alright, let's do this. Follow me!", Morgana says and leads us inside.
We get inside to the entrance and see the scenery change from the main entrance to the school lobby.
"What the...!?", Ryuji exclaims.
"What was that?", I ask.
"I was seeing double or something just now...! Was that Shujin!?", Ryuji asks.
"I told you before. This is your school. Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. Who knows when a Shadow might show up. Come on, this way!", Morgana says.
He leads us to another door that has so many flights of stairs all the way down.
"We're probably in a basement.", I say.
"Probably. Who knows?", Chiyo says.
We run down the stairs quickly and around the rushing water and through a door that led to a guard.
"Darn...I had a feeling there would be guards here...", Morgana says. "It looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward."
"F-for real...?", Ryuji asks.
"Oh well. You better remember my basics of battle.", Morgana says and tells him all the types of strategies, sneaking, all-out attack, etc.
They snuck up on the guard and took it down in seconds.
We moved forward and found a bridge to run across.
"Why ain't anyone here?", Ryuji asks. "Dammit, they were here before! Where'd they go!?"
"Quiet down!", Morgana whispers.
"Oh yeah, there were more of 'em further in too...!", Ryuji says then runs off.
"R-ryuji!!", I yell after him and run to him.
He's not gonna make it in here. He's the only one that doesn't have powers.
He turns around on me and grabs my hand. "Crap, I hear footsteps comin'! Lots of 'em!", he says pulling on me and runs.
"It would be a problem if they discovered us now...", Morgana ran to a door. "Hey, let's head into that room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave."
"We don't have time for explainations then!", I say pushing everyone into the room and closes the door softly.
"The Shadows probably won't come in here.", Morgana says.
"How can you tell...?", Ryuji asks panting and gasping for air still.
"The lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak.", Morgana says nonchalant.
The scenery briefly changes into a classroom then back to how it was.
"Is this a classroom...!?", Ryuji asks.
"Now do you understand?" Morgana asks. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."
Ryuji frowns. "This is Kamoshida's reality...? Shit makes no sense at all!"
"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place, a "Palace".", Morgana says.
"A Palace...?", Ryuji says.
"This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle.", Morgana explains.
"So...it became like this 'cause he just thought of it like that!?", Ryuji asks. He laughs in conflict of emotions. "That son of a bitch!", he screams again.
"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy.", Morgana says.
"I already don't like him. Just 'cause of the way he acted here. If this is the way he acts here, there's no way he wouldn't act that way at school.", I say.
"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole's fault!", Ryuji says.
"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside.", Morgana warns. He looks at Akira. "You're curious about your outfit, aren't you?"
Akira nods. "Yeah, I'm curious as hell about it too.", Ryuji says crossing his arms.
"I think it's fine.", Chiyo whispers.
"That's also because of this world.", Morgana says.
Ryuji frowns deeper. "More stuff that makes no sense..."
"Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within.", Morgana explains.
Ryuji groans. "I'm so fed up with all this!"
"You wanted to come here, now deal with it!", I say.
He frowns and drags a hand down his face.
"I'm more curious about you than his clothes! What the hell are you anyways!?"
"I'm a human. An honest to God human!", Morgana says.
"No, you're obviously more like a cat!", Ryuji says.
"This is, well...it's because I lost my true form...I think.", Morgana says.
"You think?", we all ask.
"But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation if those means. Well, I ended up getting caught though...", he says.
"Yeah, we saw that.", I said.
"Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too!", he says. "I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"
"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy...", Ryuji says losing his mind.
"If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along.", Morgana says. "I'll be counting on your skills this time too, rookie. Got it?", he asks Akira.
Akira nods.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so...", Ryuji says and pulls out a gun.
"Whoa!", Akira exclaims in shock and moves out the way.
"I brought this just in case! It's only a model gun though, so it only makes sounds.", he says smiling.
"Ryuji...what if that was an actual gun? I bet you never held or fired a real one in your life!", I yelled in disbelief.
"Now, what made you think I was gonna bring a real one!?", he asked.
"Why would you think to bring it at all, if it's just a model!?", I asked.
"Enough! That's a toy!", Morgana yells.
"But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake 'em out.", Ryuji says confidently. "Oh, and I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: providin' is pre... something.", Huh? Huh?"
I shake my head and take the gun from him. "You idiot..."
"So you were planning this from the start...well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration.", Morgana says.
