Chapter 4: When Wild Card Meets Aeon

April 12

Octavia could barely sleep that night, and if it wasn't for Loona making coffee in the morning the owlet was sure she would be a zombie at school that day. Rain poured down outside, making Octavia think of the strange pink splashes that their steps made in that other world. 'That's all that my mind will think about today, isn't it?' she thought. 'I just need to talk to Ren about all of this. After all, he's the reason this ordeal is happening…'

Octavia continued to be lost in their thoughts throughout the school day, only being taken out of it by the rough voice of her social studies teacher. "Hey, new girl," Mr. Ushimaru said, jolting Octavia from her thoughts. "Tell me what the Devil's Dictionary defined as the chief factor in the progress of the human race."

'Hey, something I do know from the books in Hell,' Octavia smirked. "Villains," she answered confidently.

"Correct. "Malefactors," to be specific," Mr. Ushimaru said with a nod. "You actually knew that, huh? Sure, villains can affect the course of history. But remember that the definition is sardonic witticism, nothing more. Here in the real world, villains don't push humanity forward. All they do is spread chaos and strife."

"Good job," Ren whispered to her over the classes murmurs.

"Not an issue for me," Octavia replied.

"I know you've all heard reports of these agitators stirring up trouble. We don't have any room for criminals here. Not in school, and not in society. Am I clear?" Mr. Ushimaru said, giving a stern glare to Ren.

'Asshole,' Octavia thought. The class period soon ended, with Octavia following Ren to see if she could talk to him before the next class. Just like the other day, however, Kamoshida interrupted her attempt when he approached Takamaki.

"Hey there, Takamaki," the gym teacher greeted with a smile. "Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

Takamaki looked away nervously. "Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it…"

'So she's a model, and clearly uncomfortable around that teacher,' Octavia thought. 'Loona was right. What a creep.'

"Hey, now… Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone," Kamoshida chided. "You mentioned you weren't feeling well. Something about appendicitis?"

"Yes. I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy… Sorry to worry you," Takamaki said, Octavia catching on now that the blonde girl was lying.

"You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often," Kamoshida said. "Oh, and… be careful around that transfer student."

"Collin-kun? He's a nice boy, and he's getting along fine with Shiho actually," Takamaki said.

Kamoshida shook his head. "No, the one with the glasses that's in your class. Amamiya, was it? He's a got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you…"

"Thank you," Takamaki said, clearly wanting to not be in this conversation anymore. She excused herself and walked off quickly, with Kamoshida giving any annoyed grunt before walking off.

'Yeah, whatever that was, wasn't good,' Octavia thought. She tapped Ren on the shoulder as soon as Kamoshida was out of sight. "Can we talk now?"

Ren nodded. "Sure, but let's do it outside of school."

The two left together, Octavia ignoring some odd glances she got from the other students. As soon as they got to the main gates, Loona was waiting for them, with Sakamoto on the other side. "Yo," Sakamoto said.

"What's up?" Ren asked.

"I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday," Sakamoto said.

Octavia took this chance to chime in. "Like what I saw in the hall the other day?"

Sakamoto looked at her in surprise, then turned to Ren. "You told this girl about it?"

"Nah, we went there ourselves," Loona said, coming to stand next to Octavia. 'This guy looks like a punk alright,' she thought. "Some freaky other dimension. Crazy shit."

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" Ren asked Octavia.

The girl shrugged. "Partially. If you two were at that Palace as well, perhaps we should collaborate in this investigation. I want to know that that other world is about as well."

"Dude, do you think we can trust them?" Sakamoto asked.

Ren nodded. "Octavia has been nice to me, despite my… reputation here." He looked to Loona and hummed. "And if she is a friend of Octavia's, then we can trust her as well."

"The name's Loona, don't forget it," Loona said.

"Oh, you're American. I recognize the accent. Weird how many transfer students we got this year," Sakamoto shook his head. "Either way, I tried telling myself that it was all just a dream… but I couldn't do it. I can't act like nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all."

The gym teacher is in charge of the castle?" Loona questioned.

"When we went to that other world yesterday, Ryuji and I were thrown in the dungeon," Ren explained. "We met Kamoshida who tried to kill us, and he would have if I didn't unlock a strange power."

"Your Persona," Octavia said, catching Ren by surprise. "I did the same as well when I had to fight a Shadow version of Loona. Of course, we had some help from Morgana as well."

"That freaky cat guy? He showed us the way out as well," Ryuji said. "Alright I trust you two now, 'cause there's no way you could make up meeting that guy from the top of your head." He gave a nod of affirmation. "I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what. So, you in?"

"Sure. What's next?" Ren replied.

"Whatever," Loona shrugged.

"We'll solve the mystery of that place together," Octavia nodded.

Ryuji cheered. "Nice! I think we should just try to retrace our steps from yesterday. In the meantime, you're walking to the station, right? Let's go together. Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way." Now a group, the four of them walked towards the train station, looking around for a way back to the Palace. "If a huge castle like that really exists, I'm sure we'll find it in no time. When'd they build something like that though…"

"It's not in this world, but a different plane of existence connected to this one," Octavia said. She pulled out her phone and opened up the weird navigation app. "This app appeared on my phone before we were sent to the Palace. I'm sure that these two things are connected in some way."

"I have that app as well," Ren said, pulling out his phone. "I can't seem to get rid of it either, no matter how many times I delete it."

"Oh yeah, there was totally a weird voice coming from your phone the other day," Ryuji said. "Didn't it say stuff like "returned to the real world" or something like that? What a weird app…" He took Ren's phone and messed around with the app. "Hey look, it's your search history, dude! Oh man, I'm such a genius! Let's try using it."

"But we don't know how, dipshit," Loona said, smacking Ryuji on the head.

"Ow! What's your problem, dude?" Ryuji winced.

"She's like that with everyone, unfortunately," Octavia sighed.

"Chill out princess. I'm just making sure this guy doesn't get us into any more trouble than we need to," Loona said. She took the phone from Ryuji, looking it over, then tossed it back to Ren. "You do it."

Ren nodded, pressing the search inquiry from the other day. "Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle…" the app said. "Beginning Navigation."

"Here we go!" Ryuji said. "Then we went in a certain direction and…" Octavia winced as the world around them gained an ominous red hue. "Hey, what are you-" Ryuji seemed to notice the world rapidly distorting around them as well. "What they hell!?"

[***]

Location: Just outside the castle

When the distortion faded, the quartet were standing in front of the castle drawbridge. "Welp, this is the castle, alright," Loona said.

The group walked across the bridge to the front door of the castle. "We made it back… That means that what happened yesterday was for real too…" Ryuji said. He then gave a shocked cry when he saw Octavia and Loona's altered appearances. "Holy shit, what happened to you guys!?"

"This what we really look like, blondie," Loona said with a smirk. She growled in her throat and got up close to him. "We're not actually humans, but demons."

"D-demons?" Ryuji said in a small voice.

"Loona, cut if off," Octavia said, idly noticing her clothes had changed to the strange garments from yesterday. "But it's true, neither Loona nor I are humans, but demons. And not like the monsters in this Palace, but from H-E-double-hockey-sticks Hell."

"Hope that makes you think twice about your actions on Earth now, knowing there is a "bad place" you can be sent to when you die," Loona grinned.

We aren't going to hurt you, however," Octavia quickly added. "In fact, Ren is the reason we're at your school in the first place."

"Me?" Ren said. Octavia took note of his change in clothes: A black trench coat open over a grey vest, with black heeled boots and pants, blood red gloves, and a white mask with black markings under the eyes.

"Ren, I'm here to help you through an ordeal relating to this Palace," Octavia explained. "Your father sent me…"

"My father?" Ren questioned. He winced as a sudden pain came to his head, Octavia reaching out to take his hand. As she did, the boy gasped, his eyes turning yellow, with both of their Personas appearing behind them. Ren's Persona took the form of a man in a red suit with a black top hat with horns and wings, his face a jagged red smile.

"So, the Aeon finally reveals herself," the Persona said.

"Arsène," Ren said in surprise.

"Trickster, it is with great honor that we can fight by your side," Hua said. "Octavia will aid you on your quest to free yourself of the chains of society. Despite her heritage, she is a good soul and will stand by your side."

"You may trust these demons, Trickster, and in turn they will make your bonds stronger," Arsène stated before fading away.

"You okay there?" Octavia asked.

Ren nodded, feeling his headache subside as he looked at his hand. "I think I believe you now. So, you know my father? I've only ever seen him in pictures that Mom has around the house."

"He's my uncle, Duke Raoul of the Ars Goetia," Octavia said.

Ryuji snorted. "Did you just say arse?"

"Ars Goetia, as in the royal families of Hell," Octavia rolled her eyes. "My father is Prince Stolas Goetia, and Raoul is connected through their father, King Paimon."

"Woah, so you're a demon princess, and my best friend is a demon prince? That is sick!" Ryuji grinned.

"Ren is a Duke's son, actually, which means he ranks higher than me," Octavia corrected. "Either way, now that you know the truth about your heritage, is there anything else you want to ask?"

Ren shook his head. "Whether my father is a demon or not, it doesn't matter to me. All I care about right now is figuring out this Palace stuff and getting through the school year without being expel, or worse."

"I can respect that," Loona said. "If you start getting any weird powers, though, let us know. We don't want you suddenly growing feathers or some shit in the middle of class, right?"

"Got it," Ren nodded. "So, cousin, how about we see what this place is all about?"

"Gladly," Octavia replied. 'That went a lot smoother than I was expecting. I guess Ren is just that accepting of a guy…'

"Heh, all this demon stuff made me forget that you two changed clothes," Ryuji said, pointing at Octavia and Ren. "That happened to Ren last time too. What's with those outfits?"

Ren smirked. "You jelly?"

Ryuji looked away. "I ain't jealous."

Loona laughed. "Sure you aren't…"

Suddenly, Morgana peeked around the corner. "Hey! Stop making a commotion."

"There you are, Morgana," Octavia greeted.

"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be," Morgana explained. "I didn't expect all of you to come back at the same time."

"What is this place?" Ryuji asked. "Is it the school?"

Morgana nodded. "That's right."

"But it's a castle in this world or something like that, right?" Loona questioned.

"Yep! They're one in the same," Morgana said. "But only to this castle's ruler."

"The castle's ruler?" Ryuji questioned.

"I think you called him Kamoshida?" Morgana said. "It's how his distorted heart views the school."

"Kamoshida… Distorted… Explain it in a way that makes sense!" Ryuji shouted.

"I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it," Morgana shook his head.

"What'd you day?" Ryuji seethed. They were cut off by a cry of pain from within the castle. "What was that!?"

"It must be the slaves captive here," Morgana explained.

Ryuji gasped. "For real?" More screams came from within.

"Yep, that sounds like the screams of tortured souls alright," Loona nodded.

"We saw other guys captive here yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school," Ryuji said.

"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders," Morgana replied. "It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here." He pointed at Ren and Ryuji. "What's more, these two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji cursed.

"Ryuji?" Morgana said in a small voice.

"This is bullshit!" the blondie said, ramming into the doorway. "You hear me, Kamoshida!?"

"Doing that isn't going to open the door, idiot," Loona shook her head.

"Hey, Monamona!" Ryuji said, turning to the not-cat.

"It's Morgana!" he corrected.

"Do you know where those voices are coming from?" Ryuji asked.

"I think he wants you to take us to them," Octavia said.

"Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if they come with us," Morgana replied, gesturing to Ren and Octavia.

"Let's go," Ren said, Octavia nodding in agreement.

"It's settled then!" Morgana said with a smile.

"For real?" Ryuji said, also smiling. "Thanks guys."

"All right, let's do this! Follow me!" Morgana commanded, leading the group to the side of the castle. "This is our infiltration point," he said, pointing to the vent Loona had pulled the not-cat out of yesterday.

"Ain't that where we escaped out of last time?" Ryuji asked.

"That's right. Not barging in through the entrance is a one of the basics of phantom thievery," Morgana explained.

"You're really into this Phantom Thief business…" Octavia said.

"I'll make sure to teach you as we go!" Morgana said, jump up to the vent. "Come on, follow me!"

Loona and Octavia went in after the not-cat, with Ren and Ryuji not far behind. "Thanks for coming along, all of you," Ryuji said. "I can't forgive that bastard Kamoshida doing whatever the hell he wants. I owe you all big time."

"Don't think about too much," Octavia said. "After all, we were sent to help you out anyways."

[***]

Location: Underground Prison

After heading inside the castle, Morgana led the gang down a flight of spiral staircases, the stone changing as they entered the dungeon beneath the castle. A river flowed through the area, cutting the room in half. Octavia noticed a weird creature in knight's armor patrolling just ahead of them. "Shoot… I had a feeling there would be guards here," Morgana cursed. "It looks like we're going to have to start fighting our way forward."

"F-For real?" Ryuji said nervously.

Loona gave a savage grin. "Alright, I've been waiting to tear shit up."

"I'll make sure you know the basics of battle for now, so don't forget any of this," Morgana said. "Ladies, I'm sure you can handle yourselves. Remember, Always try to ambush your enemies instead of rushing everywhere headlong. Attack from behind whenever you can. You'll need to rip their masks off to momentarily break the control that the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed, the opponent will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a preemptive attack."

"So we wanna get the jump on 'em and make the first strike… Okay, got it!" Ryuji affirmed.

"Dude, you aren't doing shit here," Loona said, pushing Ryuji back. "You don't have that Persona stuff these three have."

"Hey, you don't have one either!" Ryuji said.

"True, but I do have this gun," Loona said, pulling out her weapon. "I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Ren led the way, sneaking up on the enemy and jumping on their back. "I'll reveal your true form!" he cried, ripping off the mask of the Shadow. It burst into goo, revealing a Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac. The battle went quickly, as with three Persona users and Loona's Hell-made gun, the Shadow stood as no obstacle for the team. As they continued further into the dungeon, Octavia noticed a distinct lack of prisoners.

"Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud.

"Damnit! They were here before! Where'd they go?" Ryuji shouted.

"Quiet down!" Morgana chided.

"Oh yeah, there were more of them further in too," Ryuji remembered, running off.

"They might have been transferred already," Morgana said.

Loona's ears flickered. "I can hear footsteps coming this way," she said.

Morgana looked around, then pointed to a mirage-like door nearby. "Hey, let's head into that room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave." The group went inside, closing the door tight behind them. "The Shadows probably won't come in here."

"How can you know for certain?" Octavia asked.

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak," Morgana explained, the room shifting briefly.

"Was that classroom?" Loona questioned.

"Now do you understand?" Morgana asked. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality?" Ryuji shook his head. "Shit makes no sense at all."

"Once could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a "Palace,"" Morgana explained. "This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle."

"Kamoshida thinks of the school as his Palace, and thus it was made so…" Ren pondered.

"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji cursed.

"You must really hate that perv of a teacher, dude," Loona scoffed.

"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel," Ryuji scowled. "Everything is that asshole's fault."

"I dunno what happened between you two, but don't let your emotions get the better of you," Morgana warned. "His lackeys are everywhere inside." He then turned to Ren and Octavia. "You're curious about your outfits, aren't you?"

"You could say that," Ren said.

"That's also because of this world," Morgana explained.

"And that's supposed to make sense how?" Loona questioned.

"Well, if this is the world inside Kamoshida's mind, it makes sense that anything inside the Palace becomes distorted, even us," Octavia speculated. "That might be part of the reason Loona and I can't use our illusion magic to keep out human disguises. The power of this other world overrides such spells. At least, that's what I think."

"In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion," Morgana continued. "Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within."

"So Ren's will of rebellion is a magician, and mine is a plague doctor?" Octavia questioned. 'I have to wonder what that says about myself…' she thought.

Ryuji groaned in frustration. "I'm so fed up with all this! I'm more curious about you than his clothes anyway! Are you a demon too!?"

"No, I'm a human! An honest-to-god human!" Morgana said.

"Morgana doesn't smell like a demon, that's for sure," Loona confirmed. "If he's a cursed human is still up for debate, though. Smells more like a cat to me."

"That's because I lost my true form, I think," Morgana said, looking down. "But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means." He looked away, a bit sheepish. "Well, I ended up getting caught though… Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy," Ryuji said.

"Sounds more like an odd fan fiction to me," Ren said.

"I think we should get going instead of standing around here all day," Octavia suggested.

"Agreed," Morgana nodded. "I'll be relying on you rookies this time as well."

"Hey, I brought something that can help you, Ren," Ryuji said, pulling out a pistol.

"Well, well, well, blondie is packing heat as well," Loona said, a bit impressed. She frowned. "Wait, you could have helped us out back there, asshole! Why'd you hold back on us?"

"Better question: you had this on you all day?" Ren questioned.

"It's just a model gun, though, so it only makes sounds," Ryuji explained.

"That's a toy!" Morgana cried, Loona shaking her head in disappointment at that revelation.

"But it looks totally real, so it'll at least fake 'em out," Ryuji defended. "I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: "Providing is pre… something.""

"I can't with this guy," Loona sighed.

"So you were planning this from the start," Morgana sighed. "Well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume or infiltration." Ren took the model gun and medicine from Ryuji before heading back out.

As they left the room and went to investigate the dungeon further, a guard jumped them from behind by surprise, grabbing Loona and holding their sword to her neck. "Don't move or the bitch gets it!" the Shadow warned.

On instinct Ren pointed the model gun at the Shadow. "I don't think that'll work," Octavia whispered.

"Trust me," Ren replied. He looked at the Shadow and narrowed his gaze. "Let her go and we can all walk away."

"No, I don't think I will," the Shadow said, pressing their sword closer to Loona's throat to the point of almost drawing blood. "You're all going to get into a cell and I'm going to call the King to deal with you all. You made a big mistake coming back here, intruders!"

'Damnit, I can't do anything!' Loona cursed internally. 'I hate that I'm the one being a damsel in distress. If only there was some way to even the odds…'

"Is that all you want to do?" said a voice in her mind, making Loona gasp as her eyes turned yellow.

"Wait, is that…?" Morgana said.

"I think it is," Octavia said, a grin coming to her face.

"You are the lowest of the low, always having people walk all over you," the voice said to Loona. "You rage to no avail, only having yourself to rely on. But tell me: do you really want to be a lone wolf, or is that just a façade you put on to get through the day?"

"I want to be loved, but every time I try, it never works out," Loona whispered.

"Then instead of waiting to get what you want, rise up and take it for yourself!" the voice demanded, Loona shouting out in pain as a force pushed the Shadow away from her body. Turning to face the monster, Loona now had a mask on her face, taking the form of a deep blue bandit mask. "I am thou, thou art I… If you call on my name, I will show you how to rig the game in your favor, and push back against those that want to hold you down."

As a trickle of blood came from the cut on Loona's throat, she reached hand to her face, tugging at the mask. "Okay then, let's show these fuckers that I'm not a hellhound to be messed with," Loona said. "If we're doing this, then I'm doing it on my own terms and no one else's!" She ripped off her mask, blood flying out as blue fire consumed her. "Let's raise some Hell, Madame Queen!"


Author's Note

Ren and Ryuji got to learn about Octavia and Loona's demonic nature, and they took it pretty well. I think being sent to an alternate dimension would be a bit more alarming to them than the fact that demons are real, at least in my opinion. Ren and Octavia are already on the same wavelength, but Loona and Ryuji are going to be more stand-offish at first. After all, Loona isn't one that makes friends easily, so she's going to have to warm up to the blondie first.

For those wondering, Ren does have a demonic ability, but I'll get into that at a later date when it becomes relevant to the story. For the most part this chapter is just banter between the group as they go through the first part of the infiltration, at least until the end when Loona gets captured. Her full Persona and Phantom Thief outfit will be revealed next chapter, and I'm super happy with which legendary outlaw I chose to represent our favorite hellhound.

Next Time: The party continues through the Palace as Loona awakens to Madame Queen!