Fr, 4/28
Friday, April 28th/ Morning.
I'm up and early in the morning, heading downstairs before anyone else is up. I decide to make breakfast myself for a change, so get to work on it. By the time Dad and Yang come to the kitchen, I've whipped a good serving of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast on three plates. "I hope it came out alright." I tell them as we all sit on the table.
"It looks alright." Says Yang popping a piece of bacon into her mouth.
"Eat up girls. We're leaving early today." Dad says, taking egg and bacon and putting it on a piece of toast.
"Hmm? Why is that?" I ask.
"I wanna drive the two of you to school today before I head for the university. With what's happened this week, I just wanna make sure you get there okay." He says before taking a bite from his toast.
Yang and I decide not to argue this and comply with him. After a quick drive to the school where he tells us to stay out of trouble, he drop us off before heading off down the street. When we enter the courtyard, the usual subdued cacophony of tired and sleepy students is even more subdued today. Half of the people that are here normally each morning seems to be missing. Even for a Friday, when classes start earlier, the school is almost deserted.
"Well, seems like a lot of people got stuck to their bedsheets." Yang comments before adding. "Again."
"Well, classes ought to be interesting today." I say.
"Yeah. I'll see you later, Ruby." Yang says before heading to her classroom.
I head to my homeroom and peek inside. Only ten other students came to class today, including Jaune and Weiss. She seems to be upset about something, so I make a point on not bothering her today.
After Dr. Oobleck enters the room and sees that half of the classroom is missing, he decides to take the chance to cram two history lessons today instead of one. He's received with a collective groan.
Friday, April 28th/ After School.
Ms. Goodwitch was sensible enough to end classes early today, but not without handing additional readings for the weekend. Plus, she made a point to say that all absentees will have to give her a five page essay for Tuesday. I hear several people saying how they dodged that bullet.
I go to the main gate and meet up with Yang. We wait a while longer before Ren comes out and join us.
"Are you two ready?" He asks.
"Yeah." I say.
"So, how are we gonna go about this?" Yang asks, putting a hand on her hip.
"We need to use another doorway this time. Going to Adel's as many times as we've done so far is already pushing it. We're lucky no one has suspected anything." He says as he uncrosses his arms. "Luckily, there's another clothes store with full vanity mirrors down that street. It is a lot closer to Tukson's Book Trade too, so it is a better option in the end."
I nod. It makes sense to try and avoid wandering around in the Reflection for too long. We all turn to head towards the town when I notice Ren's backpack slightly open, revealing a familiar suitcase. "You're bringing the radar with you?" I ask.
"Yes. I don't expect us to find much trouble today, but it is better to be safe."
"What's the radar?" Yang asks as we make our way through the town.
"It's this device Ren uses to give me back up while I'm training. It can detect Shadows around me, and then collect data about the Shadows I defeat. I think he uses his Persona to make it work." I explain to her the best I can. "He needs to remain still to use it, though. So that's the only downside."
"Not exactly." Ran says. "Whenever I get the radar going, it takes a lot of focus to keep it functioning indefinitely. But after I finish using it, I can't make it work again nor summon Yoshitsune."
"So wait. You're saying that once you turn it on, you are stuck with it?" Yang says, incredulously staring at him. I'm also dumbfounded at learning this.
"At least until the next day, yes." Ren says, somewhat sounding apologetic. "I'm looking into getting that problem fixed. But for now, this is all we've got."
As we all fall silent, Yang lingers a bit behind us, pulling me closer to whisper "Guess I made the right choice to come with you this time."
I fight the urge to groan at this, and instead keep looking forward until we arrive to a corner where the clothes store is. Ren insists on everyone entering by turns as to avoid drawing many eyes. Yang goes in first, and after five minutes, Ren heads in too. I take five minutes to prepare myself before entering too.
Friday, April 28th/ Reflection.
"You still didn't believe it?" I hear Yang asking as soon as I'm stepping out of the mirror.
"That's not what I said. I only acknowledged that you were saying the truth."
"Of course we were!" Yang exclaims.
"Guys, can we not do this?" I interrupt before this escalates any further. "Seriously, we're all on the same side."
"But Ruby, he…"
"I'm sorry for having mistrusted you. I did have my doubts, but now you've proven me wrong." Ren says almost too quickly before turning to the store's exit. "We should get going. Drop your backpacks here, no one will take them."
Yang apparently decided not to press on this matter and simply followed him, so I fall back besides her. After a short walk, we arrive at Tukson's bookstore. It is an almost perfect copy of the real thing, except for the reversed architecture and white facade. "Well, let's get started." I say taking a step forward when Ren blocked me with a hand.
"Wait, something isn't right." He claims while looking around him. "There aren't any Shadows on the street around the bookstore."
"That can't be a bad thing, is it?" Yang asks, looking somewhat annoyed.
"There should be Shadows lingering around after what happened on Wednesday. They wander off to closed areas after a while, but the first week after a death is never this… quiet." He then kneels on the floor and sets up the radar. After a few seconds, it starts emitting a loud beep. "What?"
"What is it?"
"This doesn't make sense." Ren mutters before turning to us. "I read Shadows inside the bookstore, but I can't pinpoint their exact location. It's like there's some interference."
"Has this happened before?" Yang asks with concern.
"No. It must be because they're in an enclosed space." He shrugs before taking the earpiece and handing it to me. "You should proceed with caution."
"What about me, huh?" Yang says again, crouching to see Ren eye to eye. "Don't you have a cool headphone for me too?"
Ren sighs before speaking. I feel a knot forming in my tummy. "The situation has changed. We can't let you to go in too. It's too dangerous."
"That's exactly why I'm going in!" Yang says, standing up. "I won't let Ruby go in alone. And nothing any of you say will change my mind." She claims as she crosses her arms over her chest.
I wince a little after hearing Yang saying that. I appreciate her concern, but I'm more concerned about her acting so… defensive. Still, there's really not much I can do. "Okay. We'll both enter the bookstore." I say before addressing Yang only. "If something attacks us, I want you to stand aside, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."
Her posture loosens a bit and she sighs. "Deal."
"Okay. Ren, give her an earpiece, please."
He complies, and after we all check that communication works, Yang and I walk towards the entrance of the bookstore.
Once inside, a few of the ceiling lamps turn on on their own, lighting small blots of the store, while leaving some areas covered in darkness. Even with the poor lighting, it is easy to see the large smear of blood among in the center of the entrance. Yang and I yelp in surprise, not having expected to find this. And it isn't like we could have missed a huge red stain on the white floor.
"Ren, we found our clue." I say through the radio. "There's a lot of blood in here."
The amount is staggering.
I turn to see Yang. She looks a bit nauseated.
/Well, now we know for sure that someone died there./ I hear Ren saying. /You should look around, see what else can you find. Be careful though./
I take out my spear and assemble it before pushing forward, while making sure to not step in the blood. We find that some shelves have been tipped over, and several reverse-printed books and magazines were strewn about the place. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one of those floating tiaras hovering near the counter. It hasn't taken notice of us, so I ignore it for the moment, while still alert for…
THUD!
… Anything.
I turn around and find Yang mid-cringe. She had stumbled against a book, which made it fall to the ground. The Shadow jerked its faceless gaze to us, and three others also joined it.
"Oops." Yang says.
"Stay back!" I tell her as I step forward to meet the Shadows. I swipe a finger over my evoker and summon a Persona.
"BRUNHILDE!"
Brunhilde appears in front of me, unleashing a small blizzard to the first Shadow, which falls to the floor covered in ice. "Again!" She does the same to another one which also falls down, this time shattering upon impact. The other two shoot balls of fire at me. I dodge one, but the other one hits me right in the chest.
"Ruby!" I hear Yang screaming.
I shrug the pain off and strike one of the still floating tiaras three times with my spear. It bursts into nothingness before I turn and impale the one that is still on the floor, which also dissolves. The remaining tiara tries to throw another fireball at me, but I managed to dodge again. "PERSONA!" Brunhilde appears again, releasing a blizzard that knocks the Shadow out, where I finish it off.
I turn to Yang, who is looking at me astonished. "Wow."
"I know, right?" I say with a smirk.
/Is everything alright?/
"Yeah, just a small fight. Nothing new though." I tell Ren.
/Okay. Any new clues?/
"Only that this place is wrecked." Yang says looking over the place. "It looks like there was an earthquake or something like that."
"Yeah. I don't think we'll…" I trail off as I stare at the floor. There's a tire-track coming from the puddle of dried blood, so faint that I almost didn't noticed it in the dim light. "There's a track on the floor." I announce.
Yang joins me and follows the direction with her eyes, before looking to the side. "There's another one, just beside that one." She points out. Sure enough, there are two sets of tire marks lining the floor, sometimes concealed beneath a book or an entire bookshelf, that lead straight to the back of the store. "I think we found a lead." Yang says.
"Ren, is it safe to proceed?" I ask. There's a bit of static.
/Your transmitter is not picking any Shadows. Don't let your guard down, though./
Yang and I follow the trail, finding more shelves thrown hazardly to the ground, several of them broken and splintered. After reaching the back wall, we found a door that had been pushed down, with the frame torn apart and the wall around it made a crumble. Basically, there was no wall there anymore.
Beyond that, there was an archive room with several cabinets lining the left and right walls. The room itself seems oddly long, though, and the presence of the bloody tire marks running down its length makes the room feel foreboding. Yang and I start walking down the strange hallway.
"This is getting more and more confusing now." Yang mutters. "I mean, the tire-tracks, this wreck… it looks like somebody ran a car through the store."
"Well, the report did say that Tukson died after being hit with a large vehicle."
Yang looks down the hallway before talking again. "Do you think we'll find that vehicle?"
"To be honest, I don't know if I want to find out."
After a few more steps, we reach a dead end. Literally. Instead of a wrecked car or truck, the tracks suddenly stop right there, and on the end of the hallway there's a single table with a single newspaper article sitting on top of it. I pick up the cut-out and try to discern its contents. I managed to read the words "April 26th," "Car-Crash" and "Young girl."
"Yang, I think this from that car accident. The one Tukson was involved with." I say as I show it to her.
"But… how did this end up here? I don't think Tukson felt so guilty to keep that article all this time."
It's my fault.
The two of us jump at the sound of the new voice. "What the hell was that?!" Yang asks.
I shouldn't have done it. It is my fault.
It's a deep, masculine voice. The voice is trembling though, as if scared.
"Who is that?"
"Ren, are you hearing this?" I ask.
/I am. Can you locate the source?/ He asks.
"I think it came from… the article?!" Yang says, looking just as dumbfounded as she sounds.
We both stare at the piece of paper as the voice keeps talking.
I was being stupid. I got drunk and started driving in the night. I didn't see the car…
I panicked. I couldn't go to jail. I… I bribed the officer. He didn't protest. I should've faced it. I was too scared.
"I… I think that is Tukson." I say, never removing my eyes from the article.
Perry was always smart. That's why we picked on him in high school. He knew what had happened. God, why did it have to be him.
That doesn't matter now. Everybody knows of the accident. It's just a matter of time for people to start figuring out what really happened. That girl died because of me. Perry is in prison. I should confess.
But I can't. I don't want any of that to happen to me.
Tukson's voice stops resounding on the hallway, leaving us staring at the old piece of paper in silence.
It was Yang who spoke next. "Ruby, I think we should go now." She looks upset. "I think we've heard enough."
[changes start here]
"You're right. I don't want to keep hearing about nasty people who only care for themselves either."
What?
Yang and I turn on our heels and stare down the hallway. Walking towards us is a figure surrounded in a black aura. As it come closer, the dim light reveals the features of this person. It was a young woman, wearing a dark-red shirt with a black skirt, with an open, leather jacket. She had her hair styled in a familiar way, and is as black as the energy surrounding her.
Besides that, and the unnatural glowing, yellow eyes and a sinister smile, I could swear this woman is my own sister.
"Oh wait, I'm not one to speak, am I?"
"... Mom?"
I look to my side, where I find Yang looking wide-eyed at this other Yang. I am trying as hard as I can to wrap my head around this.
"Aww, leaving already? But I thought you wanted to come in the first place, Yang." The other shadowy woman says mockingly before letting out a jarring laugh. "What is it? Did the cat get your tongue?"
Suddenly, the transmitter burst to life once more. /Rose! I'm picking a huge reading in front of you! There's a powerful Shadow in that place!/
I look at the place in front of me. There's only that woman.
"Why… how are you here? What do you want?!" Yang suddenly shouts, eliciting another laugh from "Yang's Mom".
"That's right, I remember now. You didn't exactly want to come here, you only wanted to come to protect your little sister. How brave. That's the sweetest little bullshit I've ever heard!" She says, becoming incredibly upset.
"What?!"
"Don't play dumb with me, You. I know exactly why you came here. It had nothing to do with protecting Ruby." Yang seems to stiffen up at this. Her mom then speaks with a squeaky voice. "Little Yang here just didn't want her little sister going to have fun without her. Boo hoo hoo!" She says with a mockingly admonishing tone.
Yang suddenly jerks her head at me and starts speaking. "Don't listen to her. She doesn't knows what she's saying."
"Yes I do."
"SHUT UP!" Yang screams at her double, visibly agitated. "You don't know me. You don't know shit about me!"
The woman simply laughs sadistically at her. "Oh, you thought I am your real mother? Man, you really are dumb. No, I am not the actual Raven Branwen. But I do know you though. What you're scared of the most." 'Raven' starts explaining, the aura behind her growing thicker "That's what I am, Yang. I'm your worst fear.
"And what could scare you the most than being left behind? Discarded and forgotten like a broken toy?" The thing I'm convinced now is a Shadow smiles. "You hate it when people abandon you, don't you? I mean, you have an impressive track record:
"Your first boyfriend left you for your best friend. How brutal!"
"Shut up." Yang orders again. I see her eyes welling up. "Stop it!"
"'Stop it'? I'm just getting started. Mommy number two didn't love Daddy anymore, so she left the two of you and took your little sister with her."
"Please! Stop now!" Yang is crying at this point.
"And finally, There's me. Wanna hear me say it?." The Shadow smiled with sadistic glee before frowning at Yang. "The truth is, that I was so disgusted at you the day you popped out that I walked away the moment I could."
Yang crumbled into the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. It pained me to look at her. So instead, I glared at the Shadow. Spear at the ready. "You… you are a monster!"
The aura around the Shadow started spinning around it, the wind picking speed. "I only said the truth. How pathetic that she can't handle it." Darkness started enveloping the Shadow, now I can barely make out her face. "Now, do what everybody else does, and leave HER ALONE!"
There's an explosion where the Shadow was standing, and in its place there's something more monstrous. An enormous, stuffed bear stood before me. It's brown and white felt was stitched and sewn together in several places, some of the stitches coming apart around its shoulders, spewing black flames; A yellow patch covered half of its face, while its single eye shimmered with the same yellow glow as earlier. Several oversized pins and sewing needles were stuck on top of its back and it held on its closed maw a rag-doll with two blond pigtails and lilac buttons on where her eyes should be.
/Rose, watch out! This one is extremely dangerous!/
"I can see that!" I reply back before looking up at the Shadow.
It lunged at me, trying to maul me with one of its claws, but I block it and counter with a hit from my spear. It reels back before launching another swipe from its claw. This one connects and throws me several feet backwards. "Okay, time to knock you out." I swipe a finger over my evoker.
"FENRIR!" Fenrir appears in front of the Shadow and strikes it across its back with one of his blades. It swats him away with a claw, but I barely feel it hitting. Fenrir then howls loudly, unleashing a gust of air beneath the bear. It doesn't flinch, however, instead starting to growl furiously.
"YOU BRAT!" An immense gust of cold air emanates from the bear's mouth, hitting me with full force. I double over in pain, and don't see the Shadow charging at me at full speed.
My head hurts, and I'm sure I heard a bone breaking. I change Personas and summon Brunhilde once again, her healing light shining on me, mending my injuries. Even after I stand up, another barrage of ice-cold air hits me again. I manage to survive it, but I'm not sure if I can keep holding on like this.
"YOU GET IT NOW, DON'T YOU?" The Shadow growls at me. "THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP HER NOW. SHE CAN'T EVEN SAVE HERSELF! TOO SCARED TO RUN OFF AND SAVE HER OWN ASS!"
"I don't care!" I say to the Shadow. "I don't care about any of the things that you said! I also know Yang, and I know she's the strongest person I've ever met, even if we spent several years in different places!" I turn around to see where Yang is. She has stopped crying and is looking up at me, surprise in her expression.
"She's my big sister." I say with a smile. "And you may know Yang. But you don't know me, and I will never leave my big sister behind."
"THEN YOU'LL DIE WITH HER!" The Shadow prepares itself to unleash another blizzard. I brace myself for the hit.
"STOP!" Yang screams, suddenly stepping up in front of me. It fires the blizzard and it hits her full force.
Yang doesn't flinch at all.
The stuffed bear reels back in surprise before Yang starts speaking. "You are right. I am scared of being abandoned, and it hurts even to this day to know my real mother just walked away from me." She clenches a fist. "I wanted to help Ruby because I was afraid that she wouldn't need me to count on. But now I realize, that I can always count on her.
"I'm scared of many things. But I am not scared of you!"
A fiery ring forms around her left wrist before dissolving into a yellow evoker. Blue light starts pouring out from it as Yang raises both arms to shoulder level. She then closes both hands into fists and hits them together. "PERSONA!"
A blue afterimage of Yang leaves her body before taking a new form. It looks like a woman clad in black clothes, covering her legs, arms, body and head completely; only her hands, shoulders, feet and upper-face are visible, the latter of which bears a pair of solid lilac eyes. Her clothes have golden details shaped like stylized flames around her sleeves and chest. She also wears a golden headpiece with crest on both sides and the top of her head, with a bright red stone embedded in the middle crest. From the back of her head flows down an impressively long braid of golden hair and from her shoulders emerged a pair of exhaust pipes that each emanate a focused flame.
These flames suddenly start burning more intensely, and Yang's Persona makes a revving sound. In a flash of movement, she had planted a fist on the Shadows face, creating an expansion wave and knocking the bear backwards. The new Persona fades away, just before Yang turns to check on me.
"Are you okay?" She asks.
/I would also like to hear that answer./
I shake myself up and summon Brunhilde once again, letting her heal me once again. "I'm better now. Thanks for sticking out with me."
"Hey, what are sisters for?"
/As much as I hate interrupting this moment, you aren't done yet./
Soon enough, the Shadow is climbing back to its feet, regarding us with a spiteful glare. "It attacks with ice." I mutter to myself. "Think you could counter that?" I ask turning to Yang.
Yang is letting light cover her forearm. "Sure thing."
I nod once before closing my left fist. "PERSONA!" Brunhilde appears and crosses her swords towards the Shadow, which starts glowing a faint purple. It quakes in place as the glow breaks away from its body. "Yang, now!"
"PERSONA!" Yang's Persona appears once again, aiming a finger gun at the bear as the ruby on her forehead shines a bright red. A single stream of fire shoots out from it and hits the Shadow square in its chest.
I change back to Fenrir and summon him again. His silver eyes shine once, and Yang starts blurring around the edges, something she notices immediately. "What the…!"
"Try to hit him again with that punch." I tell her. Her smirk is all I need to see.
"PERSONA!" The black-clad woman appears again and delivers a blindingly fast punch to the bear's head. All of its stitches come apart, and black flames start escaping and consuming the entire Shadow.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It's everything it can muster before it dissolves into nothingness.
Fenrir fades away, but Yang's Persona lingers for a moment, looking down at Yang, and she looks up at her. I hear her whispering. "Sati." Her Persona nods once before fading away too. She then looks at me and gives me a nervous smile.
She then kneels down on the floor. "Yang!"
"I'm okay… just a little tired."
"Are you two okay?" I hear Ren saying from down the hall…
There's no longer a hallway, the archive room now has a normal length.
What the heck?
"Are you alright?" Ren asks again.
"Yes. I'm worn out, is all." Yang repeats.
Ren then turns to me. "Can you explain me what happened?"
I explain Ren the entire battle as best as I can. After I'm finished, he ponders for a second. "A Giant Shadow? I didn't think that's possible."
"Well, we've found many impossibles so far, so one more doesn't do us any harm." Yang jokes from her sitting position.
"She's right, y'know?" I point out.
Ren shakes his head. "Anyway. I get the feeling that we won't find out anything else. We should all go back home." He then turns to leave before Yang stands up.
"Wait! There's one thing we need to talk about."
"Can't it wait for another day?" Ren asks.
"No." Yang says, leaning over slightly while I give her support. "It's just… That thing said a lot of things that I didn't want others to hear." She sighs. "Can you all keep it secret?"
"Of course." I tell her immediately.
Ren for his parts simply shrugs before adding. "I can promise that."
"Thanks." She says before donning a sad smile. "Well, let's go back now. I have a lot to... reflect upon."
She'll be fine. I think with a smile of my own.
Friday, April 28th/ Evening.
After leaving the Reflection and getting back home, we get a call from Dad. There's a jam on the highway back home, so he'll stay the night over at the university.
I make some soup for dinner, and Yang practically chugs the entire bowl. She turns in early, so I decide to go to bed early too.
"Goodnight Mommy. Goodnight guys."
The strength of the heart to face one's fears has been made manifest. Yang Xiao Long has earned the facade to face life's hardships. The Persona Sati.
Arcana Analysis:
Sati (Strength):
Resists: Physical
Blocks: Ice
Weakness: Electricity
Agilao, Maragi, Sonic Punch, Tarukaja
Forsaken Bear (Strength):
Resistance: Wind
Blocks: Ice
Weakness: Fire
Strike Attack, Kill Rush, Indifferent Blizzard*.
*: Severe Ice Damage + 25% chance of causing FEAR