In this chapter, Akiko and Ryuji are going to end up in Kamoshida's Palace. As they'll find out he's been a very naughty man. They'll have to escape from his dungeon and find a way back to the real world.

Chapter 2: Palace Of Lust

Akiko and Ryuji began to examine their surroundings. For some strange reason, the moon was in the sky, even though theoretically it was still daytime.

Also, there was a castle standing just a few feet away from them.

"Where are we? It looks like a castle of some kind..." noted Akiko.

There was a drawbridge leading them directly to the front door.

"What's a castle doing in the middle of town?" inquired Ryuji. It seemed pretty out of place.

"I don't know. Maybe we can go inside and ask around..." questioned the girl. Surely someone was living inside a palace as large as that one.

Ryuji nodded. For some strange reason it reminded them of their school. But since when was their school a palace? They weren't learning at Hogwarts Academy. Although, Akiko did look like a female version of Harry Potter...

Now that he thought of it, didn't Kamoshida seem to think of the school as his palace? Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Or maybe not. As soon as they entered the castle, they noticed a portrait of Kamoshida. But for some strange reason he was wearing a crown and was wearing regal garb.

"I didn't know that Kamoshida was royalty..." questioned Akiko.

"That would explain why he's so full of himself..." answered Ryuji. He always seemed to think that he was king of the school. Personally he wished that someone would dethrone him already. He was sick of him always boasting about his many sports accomplishments.

Suddenly, they began to hear footsteps.

"Someone's coming!" shouted the bespectacled girl.

"It sounds like someone wearing a suit of armor..." said the teenage boy. Was it some sort of knight?

As it turned out, it was one of the many guards inside Kamoshida's Palace. He was carrying a spear.

"Excuse me, could you tell us where we are?" asked Akiko.

"Halt!" exclaimed the guard.

"Huh?" questioned the teenage girl.

"You're trespassing in King Kamoshida's castle! That is strictly forbidden according to his code of law! We're sending you to the dungeon so that he can pass judgment upon you!" shouted the palace sentry.

"What?!" exclaimed Akiko.

"Wait, if you didn't want people coming into your castle, couldn't you have raised the bridge?" inquired Ryuji.

The guard sighed.

"Darn it! I told Gerrant he was supposed to raise the bridge! He is such a slacker...anyways, to the dungeon with you!" exclaimed the guard.

The next thing they knew, they were in some sort of castle dungeon.

"I guess my criminal record has caught up to me..." noted Akiko.

"I guess he's mad at me for assaulting him at volleyball practice..." remarked Ryuji.

"Yeah...he really has no respect for you, does he?" inquired Akiko.

"You bet he doesn't! He was insulting my mother of all people." answered the boy. People may consider him to be a bad boy but that didn't mean that he didn't love his mother.

"I see..." nodded Akiko. She wasn't looking forward to gym class. Why exactly was Kamoshida their gym teacher? Perhaps their school principal needed to pick his teachers a bit better.

At that very moment, King Kamoshida entered the cell.

"So, you're the ones that decided to trespass in my castle...I assure you that unless you're a hot babe or an able-bodied male, you are not welcome here!" exclaimed the evil king.

His outfit attracted their attention.

"Kamoshida? Why are you in your underpants?" asked Ryuji. For some strange reason he was wearing barely any clothing other than his cape.

"It's my castle! I can dress however I like! Even in my boxer shorts!" exclaimed Kamoshida.

Akiko began to laugh. He found the very idea of Kamoshida to be wearing nothing but his underwear hilarious.

"You think that's funny? Let's see how you like it!" shouted the evil king.

Kamoshida proceeded to rip off Akiko's shirt.

Akiko gasped in shock. Now everyone could see her strapless bra.

Ryuji's face turned red. He had only known Akiko for a day at the most, and already he was seeing her without her shirt on.

Although, she did have a nice body...

Wait, was he thinking? He was starting to think like Kamoshida for a moment there.

He quickly went back to his senses.

"Normally I don't approve of people trespassing in my palace...but since you're an attractive female I think I'll let it slide...but as for you, I seem to recall you throwing a volleyball in my face..." stated King Kamoshida.

"I'm sorry! I was mad!" apologized Ryuji. If he had known that he was royalty, he probably would have reconsidered.

"It's too late for apologies. Why don't we give you a taste of your own medicine?" inquired King Kamoshida.

Two guards grabbed Ryuji's arms and chained him to the wall.

"Hey! Let me go!" demanded Ryuji.

"This can't be good..." noted Akiko. What were they going to do to him?

She was about to find out.

After securing Ryuji's wrists, the guards then proceeded to throw volleyballs at him.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" exclaimed Ryuji. Those guards really knew how to throw their volleyballs.

Not a big surprise, considering that their king also happened to be a gym coach.

Akiko gasped in shock. What was she going to do? She couldn't just let him be assaulted like that.

Of course, the last time she had tried to help someone, she ended up receiving a criminal record for her trouble. Seems that the cops decided to take bribes for some extra cash.

Still, it would be wrong to leave Ryuji to his fate.

Fortunately, at that very moment, she received a message on her phone.

"Huh?" asked Akiko.

As it turned out, it was Igor, or as she liked to call him, "Banananose."

"This is Igor speaking. Since you're ill-equipped for purifying people's hearts, I'm going to be bestowing you a Persona." stated Igor.

"Thank you, Banananose...wait, what the heck is a Persona?" inquired Akiko.

Shortly afterwards, blood began to leak from her eyes.

"Ugh...what's going on?" inquired the girl. She didn't get cut in the face, did she?

At that very moment, a mask appeared on her face.

"What?" asked the teenage girl.

Shortly afterwards, her Persona appeared.

"Igor sent me to assist you. Says here he requested that you purify hearts for him...I'm not sure why he wants you to purify hearts but he seems like an affable kind of guy so I'll help." explained Arsene.

Immediately, Arsene vanished into her mask.

Suddenly, Akiko noticed that she was now dressed in a different outfit.

"Why am I dressed like a burglar?" asked Akiko.

Well, at least she wasn't shirtless anymore. She wanted to protect her modesty.

Also, she was now wielding a sword.

King Kamoshida noticed what was going on.

"Stop what you're doing! Did you search the prisoner before taking her to her cell?" asked King Kamoshida.

"She was unarmed when she came in..." answered the guard.

"Sure she was. No doubt she's here to assassinate me...well, I'd like to see her try. Attack!" exclaimed the king.

Sure enough, Akiko found herself being attacked by two Pyro Jacks.

"We're going to beat the crap out of you, ho!" exclaimed one of the Pyro Jacks.

Akiko quickly slashed one of the Pyro Jacks, causing it to burst into darkness.

The other Pyro Jack retaliated by casting Agi.

Akiko found herself being scorched by fire.

"Ouch! Hot hot hot!" exclaimed Akiko.

"You certainly are hot, alright..." answered King Kamoshida. He was so happy that an attractive female had wandered into his castle, even if she had brought a boy with her that had assaulted him in the past.

Akiko rolled her eyes as she slashed the other Pyro Jack, killing it as well.

She then proceeded to cut the chains around Ryuji's wrists.

"Thanks...I was starting to get a head concussion..." stated Ryuji.

Akiko then grabbed the keys and locked the jail cell behind them...with King Kamoshida still inside.

King Kamoshida shook the bars of his cell.

"Locking me inside my own dungeon? Well, this is ironic...but I'm going to get out of here! And when that happens I'm going to make you run laps until you collapse from exhaustion!" exclaimed the king.

"That sounds like the Kamoshida I know..." noted Ryuji.

"What's gotten into him?" asked Akiko.

"I don't know but we need to get out of here...there are probably guards everywhere..." noted Ryuji.

"Psst! Over here!" exclaimed a voice.

Akiko and Ryuji looked around.

For some strange reason, there was a cat inside one of the jail cells.

Also, he could talk.

"Can you help me out of this cell? You seem interested in finding a way out of here so I'll tell you how to escape in return..." spoke the cat.

"Aah! A talking cat!" exclaimed Akiko.

"What is with this place?" inquired Ryuji.

"I'll explain it if you let me out of here..." explained the cat.

Akiko nodded and let him out of the cell.

"Thanks...my name is Morgana. Pleased to meet you." stated Morgana.

"Isn't that a girl's name?" inquired Akiko.

"I've asked the game developers about that so many times..." noted the cat.

"Right...anyways, can you explain where we are?" inquired Akiko.

"Yeah! Why the heck is Kamoshida running around in his underpants? I don't think that's even legal...not like I don't have a criminal record or anything..." noted Ryuji.

"Right now, you happen to be inside his mind." explained Morgana.

"We're inside Kamoshida's head?" inquired Akiko.

"That would explain why he's king..." stated Ryuji.

"Specifically, we're inside the Metaverse, where people's desires are made manifest." continued Morgana.

"We stumbled into an alternate dimension?" questioned the girl.

"What a day..." noted Ryuji.

"Anyways, you want to find a way out, correct?" asked Morgana.

"Yes! I don't want any more volleyballs to the face!" exclaimed the blonde.

"I want to keep my shirt on..." noted Akiko.

"Follow me!" exclaimed Morgana.

Akiko and Ryuji followed Morgana, but ran into more guards.

"Trying to leave the dungeon? We insist that you stay..." said one of the guards.

The guards transformed into Mandrakes.

"First pumpkins, and now plants?" asked Akiko.

"I have a Persona too, so I'll lend a paw!" exclaimed Morgana.

"I wish I had a Persona..." noted Ryuji.

The Mandrakes lunged towards Morgana.

Morgana activated his persona Zorro.

He then cast Garu to blow the Mandrakes away.

"Let's get going!" exclaimed Morgana.

As it turned out, there was a ventilation shaft that they could use to escape the palace.

"In here!" exclaimed Morgana.

Ryuji and Akiko nodded and crawled through the ventilation shaft.

The next thing they knew, they were back in the real world. The two of them wondered about what had happened just a while ago. How exactly did Kamoshida become a king?

"That was a really messed up dream..." noted Ryuji. Just like he imagined, Kamoshida had crowned himself king and was ruling a castle that apparently represented his school.

"Wait, if you were dreaming, why do you have bruises on your face?" asked Akiko.

"What?" asked the blonde teenager.

He then remembered all the times that he had been hit with a volleyball.

"Oh wait, that's right. King Kamoshida threw volleyballs at me...maybe it wasn't a dream. Either that, or it was like Nightmare On Elm Street." stated Ryuji.

"Yeah, maybe...wait, don't we need to get to school?" asked Akiko.

"You're right! The principal will kill us if he finds out we've been cutting classes!" exclaimed the teenage boy.

"Not if Kamoshida kills us first..." noted Akiko. Didn't they basically delve into his mind?

Akiko and Ryuji raced to school. Hopefully their teacher wouldn't be too mad.

Sure enough, a police officer was waiting for them. He seemed rather angry.

"There you are! I received a report that you were missing from class!" exclaimed the police officer.

He then noticed the bruises on Ryuji's face.

"Wait a minute...you're that girl who's on probation! Did you beat this boy up?" asked the cop.

"No, she didn't!" exclaimed Ryuji.

"Then how did you get bruises on your face? Be honest!" exclaimed the police officer. Perhaps he had gotten in an abusive relationship with Akiko and didn't want to tell people about it.

"I had...volleyball practice with gym teacher Kamoshida?" asked Ryuji.

"Well, that makes sense...I wonder how those students keep getting bruises?" asked the cop.

He considered investigating Kamoshida, but since he had won so many medals he decided not to dwell on it. Surely everyone st his school admired him for his sports skills, right?

Speaking of Kamoshida, he was approaching them right now.

"Cutting classes? I can't say I'm surprised considering you two are both juvenile delinquents..." noted Kamoshida. He wondered why the school even allowed them to remain students. If It was his choice they would be out the door pronto. Well, maybe not the girl. She was attractive.

He in fact had a daydream a while ago where he was surrounded by attractive females, but it turned sour ultimately. Two kids had locked him inside his own dungeon as some sort of prank.

How did his daydream go downhill like that?

"We should get to class..." noted Akiko.

"Good. Go inside the school please and make your way to the classroom..." said the police officer.

Akiko and Ryuji nodded and went to Ms. Kawakami's classroom.

"There you are! I was wondering where you two had wandered off to." said Ms. Kawakami.

"It's a long story..." noted Akiko.

"Well, at least you're here now. But I expect you to be in time for your classes in the future." stated the lady.

"Sure..." nodded Ryuji.

The two of them sat down. Their two seats were the only ones not already taken.

"By the way, these will be your permanent seats." explained Ms. Kawakami.

Akiko noted that she and Ryuji would be sitting next to each other from now on.

Well, that suited her just fine. They were friends after all.

Still, she wondered what would happen if she tried entering the Metaverse again. That mysterious app on her phone intrigued her.

Maybe she would use it again sometime.

Akiko and Ryuji have successfully escaped from Kamoshida's Palace, but inevitably their curiousity will drive them to explore the Metaverse once more. Hopefully their curiousity won't kill Morgana. We like Morgana. Personally I like Teddie too.