Date: 4/12
Location: Shujin Castle
A sense of vertigo briefly washes over me, as a strange red and black ripple transforms the once prison-like school into the tall, ugly castle that looks more like a set for a TV show than anything else. I looked over at Sun to see him hunched over and panting.
"Few… thought I was gonna throw up." I heard Sun say as he stands up straight and looks at me. "Woah… your clothes!"
"What about my clothes?" I said as I look down and notice that I am wearing the outfit from yesterday.
"What's with that outfit anyway?" He asked me with crossed arms and a shocked expression on his face.
"Sweet." I said with probably too much enthusiasm as I continue to inspect my new clothes.
"What? You LIKE it?" Sun said a bit too loud for my liking with the same shocked look.
I nod my head. "Of course! It's not every day I get to look awesome!"
"What's goin' on here? This makes no effin' sense at all." Sun said as he kicks the ground with a downtrodden look.
"Honesty, I don't know. Hell, I still don't really understand how we got here." I said in a solemn tone and then it dawns on me that Sun still has my phone. I hold my right gloved hand out. "My phone, please."
Sun looked at me with a bewildered look. "What?"
With a sigh, I repeat myself and point to my phone in his hands. "My phone back, please."
A look of realization crosses his face as he hands my phone back with a sorry. As I put my phone away, I start to walk at a quick pace across the drawbridge, completely ignoring Sun's protests to wait for him.
Stopping in front of the main doors, I hear Sun speak up. "Geez… what's gotten into you?"
Ignoring Sun further, I try opening the door, only to find it locked and with a quick look, I find the keyhole. "Hey, do you still have those keys on you Sun?" I asked whilst running a hand over the door.
"If you're talkin' about the ones from yesterday?" Sun asked and I nod in response, then I start to hear a rustling noise as Sun spoke again. "I couldn't find them when I got home so… wait, what?" I hear the sound of keys hitting each other as Sun pulls them from his bag and hands them to me. "This place is weird."
Taking the set of keys into my hands, I pick one at random and try it on the door and hearing the click of the lock unlocking, I push it open slightly. 'I can't believe that worked.' "There's something that I want to check out back in the holding cells." I call back to Sun as I enter.
Hearing the pained wailing noise again sends chills down my spine as I lean up against a corner and peek around to see if any of those "Knights" were about. "Who could be making those sounds?" I said to myself as I step out around the corner and head in the direction of the noise.
As we moved through this "dungeon," the pained noises kept getting louder and louder. "I think it's through this door, Sun." I turn to look at him as I pushed open the door.
"Taurus's… Training Hall… of Love? What kinda bullshit is this?" I heard Sun say as I turn to see the banner saying just that.
"Judging by those noises, I highly doubt that there is any real "love" involved." I said as I move to open the door under the banner. Looking back into the small room, I notice that Sun is nowhere to be seen. "Goddammit Sun!" Leaving the door open, I run down the stairs and further into the "Training Hall."
Making it around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I saw Sun pressed up against a set of bars looking into the cell. "You move fast for a monkey, Sun."
"…" My comment goes unnoticed as Sun continues to look on into the cell.
"What's got you so distracted?" I trail off as I walk up next to him and see what has him speechless.
It was like watching a bad slasher film, similar-looking knights from before where holding whips, whilst (what looked like) Shujin students were tied to a volleyball net and where continually getting whipped by the knights. There where pools of blood at the feet of the students and more blood covering the knights and the walls.
Moving to the next larger cell, I found more students, but this time they were running for their lives as the track like treadmill moving at an insanely fast speed, with a very large spiked roller at one end with what looked like more blood and the remains of Shujin's P.E. uniform attached to the ends of the spikes. Looking to the other side of the treadmill to see a large cast-iron looking cauldron hanging there with some form of liquid dripping from it and onto the ground beneath it and a cry for water from the students.
Moving over to the last cell, only to find something less horrifying, but just as brutal. Hanging there by his feet, was another student that was being relentlessly beaten black and blue by volleyballs out of a hand-shaped cannon, each one hitting him right at his head every time with pinpoint accuracy.
"What the fuck is goin' on here?" I heard Sun say as he grips the cell bars tight enough for his knuckles to turn white.
"I… I don't know Sun." I said as I turn away from the cells and notice more, smaller jail cells lining more walls of this crazy place. 'How big is this bloody castle?'
"Hey! I think I recognize some of these guys." Sun all but nearly shouts in anger. "There from the volleyball team." I heard some rustling sounds coming from behind me. "Hold on. Let me take a pic. I heard of Taurus's usin' physical punishment. They're just rumours, but… Huh? It's not workin'?"
"Hey Frizzy hair! Quieten down. The Shadows have probably been alerted to our location." I heard a boyish voice come from one of the many cells down here.
I turn around to see Sun looking at me. "Wow, when did your voice change?" He asked.
"What are you talking about Sun? That wasn't me just now." I replied.
"Finally! I've managed to get your attention." The boyish voice speaks again.
I look around to see what looked like a white paw waving and the side of a black bulbous head sticking out through the bars of one of the cells.
"What the…?" I walked off towards the creature in the cell and ignoring Sun's questions.
When I get to the bars in question, I look down at the creature standing there. It was the large black dog-like ears that I notice first, sitting there on top of its large head. Then it was the fact that its body was way out of proportion to its head, it stood about shin height, and the other most noticeable thing was the red bandana that had a bone symbol on it that was tied around its neck.
"So, you two where the ones that caused the commotion the other day?" The creature asks, blinking its dark grey eyes at me and before I could reply, I hear Sun stopping next to me.
"What is that thing?" He shouts and a groan leaves the creature.
"Geez, you're an idiot. The shadows probably know where you two are now." The creature speaks in an annoyed tone.
"Hey, I'm not an idiot you monster!" Sun shouts as he places a foot forward towards the cell.
Before the creature can open its mouth again, I step in between them both and raise my hands at both. "Enough!" I say with a raised voice and then I turn to look at the dog? "If what you said is true, then we should get out of here before we get caught, right?"
A twinkle comes to the creature's eyes as it nods. "It doesn't look like he could protect himself, but you might be able to."
I hear Sun grumble something to himself before I spoke again. "I have this dagger and a persona, but if there's a lot of these "Shadows", then I don't think I could last long."
"I knew you had something in you." The creature said. "Hey, if you let me out, I'll be able to show you the quickest way out of here."
"Wait! How do you know the quickest way out of here? You're in a cell." Sun spoke up from behind me.
"How do you think I got here in the first you idiot." The creature shouts with anger at Sun.
Looking between the two of them, I think. 'We are going to die here if we don't move soon.' "Fine!" I say in a raised voice which gets them both looking at me. "We'll let you out, as long as you don't try and kill us, will be fine." I reach into the left pocket of my coat and pull out the set of keys from earlier and open the cell door.
As soon as the door is open the creature stretches and then walks up to me and start to rubs up against my leg. 'What the fuck…?' I look over to Sun to see him with an open mouth and wide eyes. I mouth 'Help' but he just stands there in shock.
I cough to get the creature's attention and I watch as it jumps back. "Any… anyway, I think it's best if we get going. Just stay behind me and follow my lead." It says as it makes it way away from the direction that me and Sun came.
We ended up in a "Safe Room" according to the creature as the way the creature was taking us had a lot of shadows. The three of us where standing around near a table, with the dog-creature standing on the table, as me and Sun were listening to him as he was telling us how these Safe Rooms and Palaces worked.
"So, you're saying that there are more of these Rooms in this Palace?" I asked and I get a nod from the dog in return.
"Are you sure that we're really safe in here?" Sun asked with a slightly fearfully tone.
"YES!" The dog exclaims in an annoyed tone. "How many times do I have to say that WE. ARE. SAFE in here!"
"I believe him." I exclaimed as I pat the dog on its head and I get my hand swatted away by the dog. "So… how come you know so much about all this?" I asked as I pulled on my red gloves a bit.
"I've been searching for something. I just don't know what it is." The dog said as it tries to rub the back of its head.
"So you have amnesia then." I said as I get a hand on its head and start to scratch behind its ear. "How can someone as adorable as you suffer from amnesia." I couldn't help but say in a cuties voice as the dog falls back onto the table as I continue to scratch behind its ear.
"You're a strange person you know that, right?" I heard Sun speak up from next to me.
"I know." I respond as I stop scratching him, pick him up and place him back on his little white paws.
I watched as the dog slowly come back to his senses, he swayed left to right briefly before he shook his head several times before he spoke again. "Argh… I hate you so much right now Long Hair!"
"Long hair?" I murmured to myself before it dawns on me. "Oh right! My name is Ruby Rose."
Sun must have caught on after I introduced myself. "I'm Sun Wukong."
The dog just looks at Sun for a few moments, just blinking at him, till he finally spoke. "Hmm… Interesting name you've got."
I raised an eyebrow at that comment but I refrain from asking why. "So what do we call you then?"
"The name is Zwei." He proudly tells us. "And like you Ruby, I too have a Persona."
"Oooh! Another persona, I wanna see it… I wanna taste it!" My eyes go wide before I close them as I feel a hand run up and down my spine as I hear the voice that I'd hope to never hear again against my ear. 'What are you and what do you want with me?'
"I'm you silly, your other self, the one that wants power… and I want your power!" The girlier voice spoke in a demanding tone and the hand comes to rest on my ass squeezing it lightly. "But I want your power to grow first before I take it from your cute body."
As the voice disappears, I call for Arsene. 'Arsene? What was that?'
"I sense great power from her Trickster; a great battle will likely ensue in the near future."
'Thanks… just try and keep an eye on her.'
As I open my eyes, I was greeted with Zwei and Sun looking at me with slight concern as they are standing next to the door.
"Is everything okay Ruby?" I heard Sun say as I shake my head slightly.
"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine Sun." I said with little energy. 'There's already too much going on here for me to tell them about that creepy voice.' "Let's get going then." I said with more energy as I walk past them and open the door.
"We came this you stupid mutt!" I heard Sun say with anger in his voice to Zwei as I open the door that leads to the foyer of this castle.
"How should I know where've been." Zwei retorts and before either of them could go at it again, I interrupt them.
"The coast looks clear guys." I said as I pushed the door open with Sun and Zwei in tow. "So you're saying that we need to cross here Zwei?"
"Yep." I heard Zwei say as he bounds ahead of me. "This is the way I use to come before I got caught."
As we crossed the foyer, I couldn't help but think. 'This has all been too easy; our luck has to be running out.' My chain of thought was interrupted as black and red piles of bile rise from the ground around us as three Knights spawn out of it, one of them was gold, from behind the Golden Knight in front of us, Shadow Taurus appears with a scowl on in his face. "You knaves again? To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!"
"The school ain't your castle! I know what doing here and you're goin' down" I heard Sun say with anger as he takes a step forward.
A smirk appears on Shadow Taurus's face as he speaks. "It seems it's true when they 'barking dog seldom bite.' Oh, how your mother must be proud of you!"
"You leave her out of this. It was your fault to begin with you asshole!" Sun retorts as he took more steps closer to him.
Those gold eyes of his look directly at me as he ignores Sun comment. "You've come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead. How unlucky for you." He turns and walks over to the Golden Knight. "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage."
The two other Knights move forwards and bust back into the black and red bile from before and two black goat-like-horses appear. Without thinking, I move in front Sun to find that Zwei standing next to me. "Sun, stay back!" Me and Zwei say in unison.
The goat-horse in front of me rears up and begins to speak in a raspy voice as it lands its front hoofs back on the ground. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you 'cause King Taurus told us! I'll kill 'cuase that's what he wants!"
I watch as Zwei pulls a curved sword out of nowhere and launches himself at the goat creature but before Zwei could make contact with the best, it rams Zwei out of the air and I watch him fly by me and into a shield knight and then pinned to the floor. 'When did they get here?'
If I weren't so distracted, I would of hear Sun shout "Watch out!" I turned in time to see the horns of the goat creature hit me. I felt the sensation of flying briefly before I felt the feeling of metal against me again before the same fate that happens to Zwei, happens to me.
With a metal boot pressed against my back, I try and look up as much as I can to see Shadow Taurus standing above Zwei with a foot on his small back and Sun kneeling in front of us, uninjured. 'I'm glad you've ok my friend.' It's then that Shadow Taurus begins to speak.
"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?" He asked in a cocky tone. I watch as Sun mouth something and shake his head slightly.
"What a worthless piece of shit, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me! Though it only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?" Anger ever laced within his speech.
I see Sun fall forwards onto his arms. "That wasn't no practice… It was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!" Anger and sadness were present as Sun spoke.
"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is ME!" He jabs his thumb at himself. "That coach who got fired was hopeless too… had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg." I'm sure that there was a cocky grin on his face.
"What?" Sun said as he lifts his head slightly.
"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defence again anyway!" Shadow Taurus said.
"Dammit… Am I gonna lose again?" Sun curls up slightly as he spoke "Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone to 'cause of this asshole!" Sadness was present as Sun talked.
"So that's why." I look over to Zwei after he said that and I tried to push up only to be forced back down.
"Once these two are dealt with, you're next." The laughter that follows sends a chill down my spine.
"You can't let this shit win Sun, fight for what is yours!" I said with a pained groan. 'I'm gonna be sore in the morning.'
"You're right." Sun looked up slightly. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I'll never get 'em back!"
"Just stay there and watch as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you." The snarl the bull faunus lets out makes me feels uncomfortable.
There's silence as we watch Sun stand up. "I've had enough of your bullshit Taurus, all you think about is using people… You're the real scumbag!" The pressure on my back lightens up slightly and as Sun moves towards us, no one moves. "I'm going to wipe that fucking stupid smile off of your face!" A smile forms on my face as I notice that Suns' eyes had turned yellow.
As a black ghostly figure appears behind Sun, the screams of agony leave his lips as he clutches the side of his head and falls to his knees. As he starts to roll around on the ground, I can't help but be thankful that I was held up during my awakening.
When the screaming stops, his head snaps up and we are greeted with yellow eyes and a jawless mask of a skull and as he stands, just like I did, he reaches up and grabs the edges of his mask and starts to pull. The screaming starts again as blood pours from around the edges till he pulls the skull mask off and blue flames coat Sun and the black ghostly figure.
When a bolt of lightning strikes Sun's position, the blue flames burst with enough power that pushes the Knight off of me. I feel Zwei place a paw on me and say "Dia!" The feeling of healing magic is one I don't think I will get used to and as I stand, I say thanks to Zwei and look at Sun.
To say that Sun looked different would be an understatement considering that he was no longer wearing his school uniform but was instead wearing an open white leather jacket showing off his glorious washboard abs, a pair of black pants with knee pads, a set of red wrist bracers over a pair of yellow fingerless gloves and a pair of combat boots.
Looking behind him at his Persona and seeing the skull and crossbones adorned on a tricorne that sat on the head of a pirate, two pistols looking swords sat strapped just under his head and had a barrel of a cannon attached to his right hand with a very nice looking red cape billowing out behind him, all the while standing on top of a pirate ship.
As Sun looks down at his new clothes, he speaks something other than screaming. "Right on… Wassup Persona…" He turns to look at the Persona behind him. "This fucking rocks! Now that I got this power, it's time for some payback!"
As me and Zwei walk up to Sun as he turns around and points a finger at the Golden Knight as it turns into the black/red bile and into a Red Knight riding a horse Sun speaks up. "Blast them away, Captain Kidd!" A bolt of lightning shoots out from Captain Kidd's cannon arm and towards the Knight, shocking it to the spot. "If Taurus's cognition ain't changin', then I'll act like the troublemaker I am!"
As Sun raises his hand again to call forth Captain Kidd, Zwei leaps up onto it and into the air calling forth his Persona Zorro. Standing next to the Captain, was a large chested man dressed in black leather with a large sliver 'Z' around its waist and with a swish of his rapier a tornado hits just in front of the Knight and horse and then moves though the two of them. With another call from Sun, lightning strikes them again with enough power to kill them both.
As the horse and Knight melt into the black and red bile, the Knight speaks. "I am… a loyal subject to the… the glorious King Taurus. So why… why have I lost?"
"It just proves that Taurus ain't anything special." Sun says as his skull mask forms back on his face.
When the dust settles and all that remains is the black and red bile, I look over at Sun to see him kneeling. "So… How 'bout that?" A pained and tired groan leaves him.
"So you had the potential too…" Zwei says as he sits down next to Sun.
"It seems that you still don't understand that this is MY castle!" The Bull King speaks and with a click of his fingers from below his red heart printed cape and form behind one of the pillars near him, walks Belladonna-san, with a far off look on her face and wearing a bright purple bikini with a pair of lighter purple heels on. 'Dam, she's hot.' When she gets to Shadow Taurus, she leans up against him with an arm around his neck and the other on his chest.
"What the… Belladonna!? Get away from her you asshole!" Sun shouts as I give him a hand up and put one of his arms around my neck for support.
Stars appear in Zwei's eyes as he speaks. "Oh! What a meow-velous and bear-utiful girl!"
"Wait! Something not right here." I said as I take stock in this situation. 'This has to be his shadow of her. I get a funny feeling that she would be very vocal about seeing us.'
Zwei shakes his head and the stars disappear. "You're very astute for someone who knows very little about Palaces."
We watch as Shadow Taurus moves slight and cups Belladonnas' face and looks at us. "You still don't understand. This is MY castle, a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me." He spoke in a sleazy and cocky tone again and I felt like I was going to be sick.
I feel Sun go slightly limp in my arms and I look towards Zwei. "I think it's best if we scram, like now!" I said in a rushed tone as I go to pick Sun up in a bridle carry. 'I thought you were going to be heavier.' Zwei nods and runs off towards the door that we were heading too and with Sun in my arms, I run after Zwei.
After losing sight of Shadow Taurus, we arrived into a small empty mess hall and with plenty of spare seats; I put Sun down on one. "You ok Sun?"
Weary blue eyes look on to me. "Yeah… yeah, thanks again, Ruby." I smile at his response.
"We're here now Zwei, so now wh…" I turn around to our new companion to find him nowhere. "Where the hell did he go?"
"I'm up here." I look up to see Zwei standing on top of the bookcases near a large air vent. "I'm surprised that they never found this. Come on, this way." He said and then disappeared through the vent.
"Well… it looks like he helped us after all." I turned to Sun. "You think you can get up there?" I said with concern.
A smile forms on Suns' face as he stands. "It's what I do best." He said as he staggered over to the bookcase and for someone who had just gone through what he had; he climbs up to the vent with ease. After climbing up and going through the vent after them, I was greeted by the sight of the weird red and black sky and the entrance of the castle.
Seeing Sun and Zwei not too far away, I jog up to them and I catch the end of Suns' statement. "… changin' into this!"
"Honesty, it looks great on you and I love your abs by the way." I said in a flirtatious tone.
Sun looks at me with wide eyes and then rubs the back of his neck. "Uhh… Should I be happy about that?" I shrug and wink at him. "Then again, it ain't as bad as yours."
"I just wis…" Before I could finish what I was saying, we got interrupted by the sound of Knights entering the room we just left.
"Did you find them?" "No. Search that way!" We waited a couple of minutes before we move away to continue talking.
We stopped near the drawbridge when Sun speaks up. "So what's goin' on? I'm completely lost."
"I told you before, when a Persona –user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It's to prevent you from being affected by distortions as well." Zwei said it like it was the most common knowledge ever.
"I take it all of that is meant to be common knowledge?" I asked in a sarcastic tone and Zwei nods.
"Is this… a skull?" Sun asked as he brings a hand up and feels his new mask.
"Your appearance reflects your inner self. It's the rebel that slumbers within… not that you'll get it." Zwei said as he jumps onto a small outcropping of the wall.
I watch as Sun scratches the back of his head. "Nope."
"Then stop asking questions and accept what you see for what it is." Zweis' tiny paws wave about anger.
"Fuck, we're in deep shit!" Suns' eyes go wide. "We might've gotten away here, but we're still screwed with Taurus at the real school."
"For an idiot, you're quite sharp." Zwei speaks up from his outcropping. "But relax. The Taurus in reality, can't possibly know about what happens here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed, a side of one's personality they don't want to see."
'So, she could be a side of me that I don't want to see.'
"So we're ok then?" Sun asked starching the side of his and I feel like facepalming.
"Well, he didn't react when we saw him yesterday, so we have to be good." I think out loud with a finger to my chin. 'I could do with some food soon… I wonder if Sun knows anywhere good and cheap.'
"Right, I got you ou…" I cut Zwei off as I feel my stomach rumble. "You wouldn't know any good places to eat Sun?"
A fire lights itself behind Suns' eyes as a smirk appears on his face. "Oh yeah, I know a great ramen place near the school and now that you mentioned it, I'm starving. Let's go." I nod and follow him across the drawbridge and back to the real world.
Author Notes
So I know this chapter is kinda late, but I found that I was not too happy with a couple of scenes and frankly I'm still not that happy them, but if I kept working on them, then this chapter would probably never get finished, try and guess them if you want.
Have a beary good day friends.