[Chapter 5]
The Past's Mistakes
I became stun at this people inside my dream and I slowly began to wonder if this is even a dream at all. I approach them as lonesome chair is near them and I took my seat before speaking to them.
"Igor, was it? What do you mean by a powerful being involvement with me?" I ask.
The old man remain silence at my question as to keep it a secret from me which didn't make sense since my life would be in danger.
"Sorry, we are here to aid your judgment and not reveal anything that may cause you to lose your way from your true judgment." Igor explain. "When the time come, we will help you in another way involving fusion, but that explanation will have to come for a later time. Until next time we meet again." Igor smile.
I felt puzzle at what he says as if he knows I would fall asleep and I felt very drowsy which cause me to fall to sleep right in the chair.
August 23
Tuesday
Early Morning
I open my eye to see myself in my room and I felt great as I took an early nap which may be the reason why I felt good today. I took a good look at my room as sit in my bed for a second to see my room more clearly. The desk in front of me seem like a good place to study if I have the extra time and a couch in the middle of the room with its on round table. To my right is a window that let me see the Time Square which is a great sight and I notice a large shelf close to the bed which I didn't see. It seems this is my whole room now as I may come here to add my own things but school is calling me so I gather my stuff before departing.
What a strange dream? I hope it isn't relate to that Hotspot or maybe a ghost is following me…
After I got ready as I discard such thoughts, I headed down to see Amy cleaning the dishes from last night work and notice a glass of brown liquid on the counter. I approach the counter to get the attention of the hard worker Amy glancing up to me.
"Good morning Luck, I knew you were going to wake up early today too, and so I prepare a hot chocolate for you." Amy spoke.
"Really? I am sorry if I made you work extra hard for me." I reply, sadden.
"Nah, its fine, I had a little extra time so enjoy the chocolate before you leave." Amy smile.
Amy resume her work as I instantly grab the chocolate to drink it quickly and give it back to Amy as I left the Midnight for School. I came out to see a long, stretch road as buildings stand tall and people constantly walk around to the Time Square nearby. I glance at the street post to find myself at 7th avenue like Amy told me and now I need to find this 57 Street Subway Station. I look to my right to see the path to the Time Square and not the place I am looking for, I turn to my left to see a suspicious place that peak my interest. I decide to head to my left for a start and I manage to find the train station and I walk down the stairs. After a while of traveling the train, I arrive to school and I walk up the stair to see the school from here. I see Luke at the School's entrance as he is waiting for me since we study in the same homeroom. I walk pass the busy street to reach Luke as he happily waves upon my arrival.
"Hey Luck, it's good to see you again." Luke smile.
"Same, but are you sure you are ready for Hotspot?" I ask, slightly worry.
Luke became silence at our plan we made from yesterday and he sight with a determination face as he looks at me.
"Yes, after school we will go there and make Jane teach us to enter that place. We need to make sure nobody will suffer that dangerous place alone and we alone can accomplish this." Luke explain.
"I see, all of this plan is to safe the student who accidentally enter Hotspot, huh?" I ask, amaze.
"Yes, I know I don't have the power like you or Jane.." Luke pause, as clench his fist. "But even so, I want to keep all of the student safe since that's my job and I don't want to see another family suffer because I was weak." Luke mutter.
I sympathy for Luke, I feel like those three years was horrible for him to endure of missing kid and the dead bodies.
He is strong, strong than anyone that I know for sure.
"Okay, you can count in me so don't worry about it. We can manage with the three of us." I spoke.
Luke smile at my respond to help him out and with that Luke nod as we walk toward our homeroom, C-5. We arrive a bit early so we spend time talking about random thing until all the students arrive. Jane appear just in time and I can probably guess where she went, and with that, we resume class as usual. After a couple of hours of listening to Mr. Robert teaching and working on assignments, I began to wander off thinking about Hotspot.
Hotspot…Why does that place exist and that ghost girl seem to be the leader if she can take command on those Shadow…I can't figure it out alone…
"Mr. Luck."
I snap out of my trance as I hear my teacher calling my name and I turn to see all my peers watching me as I did something.
"Yes?" I ask, nervous.
"I hope you were listening to our lecture and I was wondering if you can answer this question if you did." Mr. Robert smile.
I felt like I was in a lot of trouble if I didn't answer this question right and I felt pressure building up as I adjust my glasses to focus on his question.
"We were talking about this world is full of mystery relating to the paranormal and how we see it as a threat or not. So, Mr. Luck, what's the name of the ghost that say to haunt the Windsor Forest and the Great Park?" The teacher asks.
I can feel the other student's eyes piercing through my soul as I gulp at the question and I began to focus on the question. I remember hearing a name involving those two location and I felt like this answer was the only thing I have.
"Herne, the hunter?" I spoke, unsure.
"Correct Mr. Luck, Herne the Hunter is indeed the right ghost that haunt those locations. The ghost wasn't so popular until William Shakespeare's play, The merry Wives of Windsor made the ghost popular and has being told as a English folklore to this day." Mr. Robert explain.
I felt relief for getting the question right and I felt the student whispering as they seem to be impress by my knowledge. I felt like I learn something for today class and listening to his lecture. Class resume as usual without any problems, Lunchtime came and go until we manage to keep our cool as the end of the school reach its point. Mr. Robert say his farewell to all of us and we manage to catch Jane so we can speak about our plan to her.
August 23
Tuesday
After School
"Jane, we want to talk with you about something relating to Hotspot." I ask.
"Do you want to find a way to enter that place, right?" Jane spoke.
I turn to Luke as he became silence at her respond but her eyes remain unchanged and so I nod at her question. She sigh at us as she glance at the students leaving the classroom and leaving us alone.
"What do you want to accomplish by going there? That place is very dangerous and it can cost your life if you aren't prepared." Jane explain.
"We know but I want to make sure no students ever set foot in that place and if they do, we can rescue them before they are kill by the Shadow." Luke reply.
Jane turn to face Luke with a slight angry expression and in the end, she is probably worry about him the most since he lacks a Persona.
"Its fine if Luck can come in but you? Ha, you are just asking to be kill by them and I don't if you can manage to survive another trip." Jane spoke, truthfully.
"Y-You may be right, I don't have any power like you and him but still…i.." Luke stutter, as he looks down and hiding his face from us.
I understand that feeling very well, when everyone tells you it isn't possible and how powerless you are facing against that huge monster. That feeing hurt most but I overcome that feeling as I believe in myself I could of accomplish.
"I think he can do it, I will be there to protect him and you as well. So, I don't mind if he doesn't have a Persona, isn't that right Luke?" I ask, smiling.
I smile as I see Luke turn to face me and he nod as his smile and courage slowly build up from me. The both of us turn to Jane she became irritate by our curiosity but she smiles at the end as she nods at our approval which cause Luke to be excite.
"All right, but don't blame me if anything bad happen to you then. I will do my best to protect you and I expect great thing from you Luck." Jane explain, smiling.
"Right!" Luke smile.
"I will do my best as a protagonist." I nod.
"All right I will meet you at the school main entrance, where the glass statue of the Morning Start High school symbol is. I will explain the details later so let's split here and prepare ourselves until then." Jane explain.
We all split from the 3rd floor to do our things so we can explore Hotspot and I went to the 1st floor to wait for the others. As I climb from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor, I notice the same girl from yesterday being surround by three guys in the corner. I notice that most of the students are gone from this floor and the remain students here are too afraid to stand up to those guys. I notice the girl becoming very uncomfortable to their flirt and I need to do something.
"Let's trick them."
I hear that familiar voice inside me once more and I became shock hearing here in the real world. An idea occurs to me as I smile and move my glasses upward at my incredible success rate. I took some deep breath and soon I inhale the air as I turn to face the stairs.
"Mr. Robert, can you come her for a second, I have a question I need to ask you." I yell, extremely loud.
There is a silence after my yell and soon I could hear some footstep running away from me. I grin as I hide my chuckle from the students near me and I manage to regain my normal self and I became curious on who this person was talking inside of me. Every time he spoke inside my head, I get new emotion and feelings I wouldn't never thought of using.
"Hey"
My open widen at the girlish voice speaking to me from behind me and I turn to see the girl calling out to me.
"Ummm, how can I help you today?" I ask.
"I came here to thank you for what you have done for me, so thank you very much." The girl spoke, kindly.
"Oh that? So you notice the plan, huh?" I ask, embarrass.
"Yeah, it was a good plan and I am grateful for what you have done for me." She smiles.
I felt her smile being so powerful from the other girls and I didn't understand why she seem so familiar to me.
"Anyways, what your name? I have seeing you yesterday and I still haven't heard you name." I spoke.
The girl became shock at my question and I didn't understand why she react like that but she nods regardless.
"I haven't meet someone that haven't heard my name but it is nice to meet people like this once in a while." The girl chuckle, joyfully. "My name is Ayakane Koifumi, but you can call me Aya." Aya smile.
I began to think around that name as I became silent for a brief second until it hit me and my eyes widen at the shock.
"Wait! Ayakane, that famous artist that was interview in TV and magazine." I ask, surprise.
"Indeed, nice to meet you" Aya smile.
That would explain the group of student heading toward her after school.
"Same here, I would have never thought of meeting a celebrity here." I smile.
"It isn't a big deal, I prefer if people can talk me like a normal person. Oh, I didn't catch your name?" Aya ask.
"Right, my name is Luck Arclight." I reply.
"Luck, huh? Well Luck, I need to head back to art class so I will see you." Aya said.
"I understand, I'll see you tomorrow." I smile
Ayakane bow as she took her leave and I decide to head toward the main entrance of the school to find this suppose statue of the school's insignia. I found Jane and Luke waiting for me at the entrance and with all of us here, we can now resume our exploration.
"It seems we all here and so, lets head toward the statue now." Jane spoke.
"Statue? But I haven't seeing it anywhere in this past two days?" I ask, curious.
"The statue is well hidden from the new student but it is here I can assure you." Luke answer.
I felt puzzle at Luke's explanation but I remain silence as I follow those two as head behind the large bushes. We reach to a four-pointed star hiding behind those thick, large bushes and preventing the outside looking at the glass statue. The star is slowly rotating and I could see a plate fill with name on the bottom. Luke became depress as he looks away and Jane began to search around his bag for something. I became curious at the name written in the plate and I need to ask Luke about it.
"So, whose name are written here? Start student? Teacher? Stu-"
"The decease."
I pause with shock as Luke announce the answer to me and I slowly back away from the plate to pay my respect. Now I understand why Luke wasn't so thrill to see the statue since it only reminds of him of his past failures. I notice a huge amount of name written here and it made me feel sick to my stomach to see dead body day after day back in the past.
"Oh, I found them" Jane interrupt.
I turn around to see Jane pulling a handgun from her bag and later pulling a revolver from the same bag. Luke's depress face took a glance at the weapon to quickly recover to his formal self and became cautious of her.
"Wow! You can't bring lethal weapon in school property!" Luke spoke.
"I knew you would of disagree to use these weapons, but we need them to fight against the Shadow in Hotspot." Jane explain.
Jane approach me to hand me the revolver and I felt a bit of weight on this gun which made me feel uncomfortable to say.
"Hey, either you take the gun and live or don't and die, because those Shadows don't hesitate to kill you." Jane angrily spoke.
I nod at her with as I grip the weapon with more confident and it sort of feel right for me, meanwhile Luke wasn't so thrill to see student handling dangerous weapon.
"I will allow them but please don't show them to the other students, okay?" Luke sigh. "Anyways, moving on into the point subject, how we can travel from here to the Hotspot? I don't see any door or anything that can lead us there in the first place." Luke ask.
Jane look toward the rotating glass start and we look at it as well with a confuse look at it.
"The statue? What about it?" I ask.
"It isn't the statue itself that is interesting, but rather the reflection that it makes. If we can see our own reflection within it, it will be enough to warp ourselves inside the Hotspot." Jane explains.
"Is that really all the requirements? I mean, me and Luck manage to enter the Hotspot from the 3rd floor on the bathroom." Luke spoke.
Jane began to think on that little details and she became confuse as well.
"You got me there, even I don't know why you two were able to accomplish something like that. Perhaps Luck was your ticket there." Jane said.
"Me?" I ask.
"Yes, the other requirement is to have the potential to wield a Persona. You miraculously enter that place for that purpose alone." Jane nod.
"Sooooo, the other student that went missing during this past three years also have the potential to wield this Persona?" Luke ask.
Luke became very fascinating on this subject since it relates to his past and Jane sigh at Luke's eagerness to find the truth.
"I don't know…" Jane mumble.
"Huh?" Luke spoke, shock.
"What I mean is that I don't know why they were all send there and for what purpose they serve is a mystery as well. The creation of Hotspot, the ghost girl, and the missing people entering Hotspot are all a mystery to me as well." Jane explain.
Luke felt overwhelm by all of this and as I too felt the same thing but I knew she wanted to seek answer to this strange phenomenon.
"I see…" Luke mutter, holding his head.
We all became silent at the slight truth behind the missing people and Jane's eyes widen after realizing something as she checks on her bag once more. She pulls out a video camera and two flashlights.
"What are those for?" I ask.
"I forgot to mention that Hotspot can suddenly become darker than humanly possible and therefore I brought this night vision camera and two spare flashlights to walk inside of it." Jane explain.
"Darker? I hardly doubt it, since it was very dark to begin with and it made it very difficult to move there even with the moon lighting our path. I don't think it can get any darker than that" Luke spoke, scratching his head.
"Oh, trust me on this." Jane chuckle.
I felt like I need to take the camera after hearing Jane's chuckle for the first time at Luke's question. I open the small screen to see where the camera see and I could change it into night-vision mode. Luke and Jane pick up the flashlights as Jane nod at our picks.
"Okay, the preparation are set, let's go. All we need to do now is to look at our self through the mirror." Jane explains.
Me and Luke nod at Jane's instruction so we all look at the refection to see our whole area slowly consume by darkness. The darkness fill the statue and we all turn around to see nothing but pitch black than any human could possibly handle it. I couldn't see nothing but darkness as if I became blind but the light from Jane's flashlight say the differ. She points at her safe which reveal a prideful smile and Luke became silence at the darkness.
"See, good thing I came prepare for this, huh?" Jane proudly ask.
"Yeah, yeah.." Luke mutter.
Luke manage to turn the light while I open the screen to see the whole area a bit better than those flashlights. I look around the sky to see nothing of the moon or star ever appearing there which me feel far away from home. I look at the abandoned school building better now as the glasses are shatter and it seem old and forgotten by the world.
"Okay, let's move in quietly and turn on the light when necessary. Luck will be our guide and we will watch everything from his screen until trouble arise." Jane explain.
"Right! Man, this atmosphere make us like ghost hunter. huh? I mean the darkness surrounding us, we looking for the paranormal inside an abandoned building to find the truth to who know how and who know where?" Luke excitedly explain.
"Yeah, I agree. This make it like an adventure for us ghost hunter." I chuckle.
"You know what, I actually kind of see it now that you mention it." Jane smile.
We all felt happy as we spoke at each other about our team and we quietly continue walking inside of enemy territory. As we enter the familiar main hallways, I stop at my track as I spot the ghost girl looking at me from above.
"Stop." I whisper.
Both of them immediately stop without making any noise and look at my camera to become shock at the sight of the ghost girl.
"I guess once wasn't enough. You are all here for seconds…" The ghost girl spoke, holding back her anger. "People that bully sure are stupid no matter how you look at them and so.." She trails off.
I notice another horde of Shadow appearing from nowhere and surrounding us yet again. Luke and Jane turn their flashlight to see the Shadow more clearly.
"Crap! A trap!" Jane spoke, angrily.
The door behind us close as it made a loud thud and I became ready to fight since I felt confident at doing it again but the sight of that monster soon left me with despair. The sound of chain rattling in the hallways made Luke frozen in her as he points toward the monster from yesterday and fell into the floor.
"Oh no, not her." Luke spoke, scare.
Jane didn't falter as she pulls her gun and began to shoot the beast down but Jane became surprise to see not a small scratch on the Shadow.
"You will pay with your life dearly." The ghost girl finish, angrily.
The big Shadow screech very loudly as we all cover our ear and making us unable to move without hearing that unbearable scream of hers. The Shadow took this chance to take down Jane from behind me and I became trap as well. The scream finally stop and I still had hope as I gently pull the gem from my weapon. I couldn't shatter with them in my way so I pull my arm out but the big Shadow step on my arm causing me to release my gem.
No!
[Luke POV]
I watch in horror as my friend become trap by those Shadow and I became paralyze with fear as I see the monster watching me. I felt useless just like before and I haven't change ever since I became the president.
I am so powerless, even with this new responsibility I can't even protect my own friends..
"You are useless, Student council president, Luke Autumn."
I became shock as the ghost girl spoke my full name and I look up to see her grinning at my failure. She seems very familiar to me when I took a good look at her and ignoring that night gown of hers.
"You know me? Who are you!" I demand.
The ghost girl laugh at my question as my voice tone become weak and with fear lingering in my voice regardless of my anger inside.
"You don't remember her, huh? Well, it doesn't matter in the end. The death can't speak after all and you were indeed useless to us back there and even now to them."
I fell into my knees as she was telling the truth, everything I did was and is a failure to the end. I could see the big shadow approaching me and it raise his right fist into the air but It didn't matter. I accepted this fate for a while now and so I close my eye as I thoughts of my last word.
Maybe…dying isn't so bad after all…at least, I can be forgiven by them if I join them..
"You are wrong!"
I open my eyes in shock as I turn to face Luck fighting back as use his knife to drag himself out and how he manage to speak his opinion to them.
"Luke is a strong guy, he won't be beaten so easily since his judgment is very powerful to be falter by the like of you!" Luke scream.
My…judgment?
"You still have the will to fight back? Very well, I should end your life first" The ghost girl spoke.
I gasp as the big monster lost interest on me and went toward the immobilize Luck.
"You are right, I was weak and useless back then.." I spoke, sadly. "I wanted to keep everyone safe but after the corpse were found. I knew I had no chance of helping no one and yet I remain there, alone." I explain.
"Tch! You still talking, why don't you just die already!" The ghost girl scream.
I felt anger developing inside me and I kept it inside me for a very long time and this time, I will speak my judgment to anyone that dare oppose me.
"No! You shut up!" I scream angrily, as I stand up to face her. "The killing, the missing people and you are calling me the bad guy! Screw you! You are the scumbag that kill all those innocent students!" I spoke.
I felt my never-ending anger slowly coming down as I can sense power overwhelming me as I speak my last.
"My judgment has been right from the very beginning and I will protect anyone from you!" I scream.
"Indeed, this is thy judgment. Let's everyone know our cause. I can proudly announce myself to you after a very long time"
I felt pain in my head and I grab my head as the pain continue to build up inside and I began to focus on the voice. I see a pair of tonfa forming right before me and a jewel dangling from a vine, sort of an earring. I felt my clothing began to change like Luck and I felt joy at this new power.
"Don't let anyone give you false judgment, false truth, only you, with your own two eyes can see the judgment everyone is seeking. Now, scream my name and we can protect anyone you want me to."
I put the earring in my left ear cuff and I tightly grab my weapon to prepare myself to fight with my judgment. I gently raise my right hand to touch the jewel dangling from my left ear and shout his name.
"Herne, The Hunter!" I shout.
[Chapter 5 End]