Author's Notes
This isn't a pitifully short chapter, no sir. Something important does happen, though.
Chapter 11 might be updated either tomorrow or Friday/Saturday, depending on my writing progress. Daily updates begone!
On another note, I've been toying around with the idea of writing an Aigis-centric fanfic, as a retelling from her manufacturing to the end of the Answer/Episode Aegis. Any thoughts on this?
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Chapter 10
Awakening
Shinako seemed to gradually be backing away from the spectre, as if in deathly fear. A few small rocks tumbled from the edge of the cliff, freefalling.
I charged the spectre, with my sword in hand. I hadn't expected to do any damage, but I hoped at least to be able to draw its attention.
Yet I wouldn't get even that.
There was some sort of aura around it. I charged, but found my feet, and whole self slowing down, to a crawl. In slow motion, I attempted a slash—except the spectre wasn't there any more. Rather, it was a foot or three further ahead, completely out of my reach. Did it move, or did I?
My thinking was cut short, as its head slowly spun to me. Like my own shadow, it was pure black, and had two piercing blood red eyes, which looked straight into mine. I felt my heart sink with fear. Almost faster than I could see, it gave a kind of a feeble wave, almost like a backhand slap to the air.
I felt a massive surge of force push me back. I felt myself hurtling through the air—before crashing into the wooden wall of the manor. Almost like a sack of gelatine, I weakly dropped to the floor, unable to move even a finger. All I could do was watch.
The spectre slowly took more steps towards Shinako, who looked bewildered and utterly afraid, looking as if she was expecting to wake up any moment.
I'm sorry.
The final few feet were being closed down upon by the shadow. Desperately, realizing she wasn't going to wake up, she threw a punch at the spectre, who simply rippled slightly, if that's the right term, like a pebble into a pond of water.
Slowly, the shadow's arm raised. I heard a low moan, like a plank of wood being slowly bent and snapped into two pieces. "Open your eyes."
Its hand was at Shinako's face. Closing, clamping onto her head like a horrible mask. Slowly, it raised, as her feet left the ground, arm beginning to extend, dangling over the cliff.
* perspective shift *
My feet left the ground, and I could no longer see. Was I about to die?
I heard my own heartbeat, growing louder as if to defy the shadow. I had never appreciated that before. There was a gentle whispering to my right ear, of what sounded to me like an angel. "Open your eyes…"
My vision blurred, and brightened again. I wasn't in the manor any more (or outside at the edge of a cliff.) I was in the middle of town, walking with Hajime-kun. I still felt the shadow's grasp, like a hydraulic clamp. It felt like my skull would burst at any second.
I heard my heartbeat again. At the next beat, I had an epiphany.
"Open your eyes… awaken…"
I felt myself about to say something, as if to give a final insult to the shadow. My eyes began to lighten.
"PERSONA!"
I flailed my right arm, and grabbed the shadow's arm, tearing it off, releasing its vicegrip, as I tumbled at the very edge of the cliff, perhaps an inch or two from tumbling down. There was a light falling down upon me, seeming to be streaming out of my forehead. It formed above me.
I heard the voice of the angel again. "Thou art I… and I am thou… Awaken, now, it is time for your eyes to behold visions that have been kept at bay for so long. Embrace what is, and what can be—for what you see is no longer what you are bound by. I am Bernadette, and those are my words."
Above me, a woman seemed to form out of the light, in a stance that seemed to emanate holy grace. She was clad in black robes, reminiscent of a nun's clothing, though there was a very slight dusty red tint to some parts, reminding me of a medieval wizard. Her eyes were pure white—they seemed to be looking straight above her. In her hands, she held scrolls and tomes.
The shadow seemed to have been repelled by Bernadette's sudden appearance, but that reprieve was soon gone, as it ran at me, as if realizing it could no longer take this lightly.
I outstretched my arm, and held my palm forward. Light seemed to emanate above me. The spectre's charge was stopped immediately, as it seemed to simply be stopped and shredded at some point in front of my palm. Its ichor splashed against some sort of invisible wall in front of me, pooling along it, then simply falling limp, before reforming again.
"Bernadette, please help me!"
Bernadette's eyes seemed to emit a pale light. In front of me, I could see many balls of light emerging from the ground around the shadow, rising and illuminating the area with a bright white light.
There was a sudden flash. The shadow simply burst into black slime, as if it were no longer held together.
Bewilderment.
"What... happened?"
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Well, I'm sure a lot of you saw that one coming.
Since copy and pasting is great...
And as with before, please do review. Not to beg or anything.