Chapter 5 - I Am Thou…

/_\

It was cold.

Not a normal cold winters day, but a cold chill that ran its way through your warm body no matter how hard one tried to fight it. The contrast to the space around him only emphasized the difference in temperature.

Raylan felt as though he was floating, his body was light almost as if weightless in zero gravity. He strained to open his eyes but once he did the young man found himself in a void like space. A purple hued swirling cloud like pattern spread out infinitely around him in all directions.

This place was truly empty.

It felt as though he was in a dream, but his body felt awake. Alive. It was as if his mind was the only thing that felt off, clouded like the darkness around him. It was as if this space was a representation of his mind at this moment.

"Be strong, my hero." A gentle, feminine voice called out, echoing throughout the space, startling the young man at its sudden unexplained appearance.

There was nothing inside the empty darkness that he could see, yet the voice spoke as if it was right by his ears. No way to ignore it.

"My hero," The voice spoke again, "The darkness, the shadows, will soon come for you. They will come for you, for your life, and they will take it." The voice warned, despite the gentle tone. "You must survive, you must fight, you cannot allow your journey to end here."

As if motivated by the voice's words, the darkness began to swirl more violently around Raylan. He felt his mind and body begin to stir like he was waking from a deep sleep despite how he was awake right now.

"Awaken the infinite resolve to fight that dwells within your heart, my hero." The voice said as Raylan began to lose consciousness, "And once you do, I will be there to guide you."

The darkness swirled around Raylan, almost encompassing his entire vision in inky blackness, but through the small breaks in the clouds he saw movement.

All too familiar movement.

A little glowing blue butterfly fluttered a short distance away right in front of him. Raylan reached out toward the butterfly but was consumed by the swirling clouds which dissipated in an instant revealing that Raylan had disappeared from the dark void.

All that remained was the little butterfly surrounded by dark clouds.

"Be ready, my hero, for soon you shall have the weight of the world on your shoulders."

/_\

Raylan opened his eyes with a start, his eyes blinking rapidly trying to adjust to the low light of his surroundings. His body no longer felt weightless like it had before, in fact it felt heavier than before from how tired he was.

Shifting his weight, Raylan brought his arms up and slowly pushed himself off the ground, twisting until he sat upright. He was greeted by a sight he hadn't been expecting.

He was in an alleyway reminiscent of the one he'd originally walked through as a shortcut. Except everything around him had taken a darker tint to it, reds, blacks, and grays. Nothing seemed to be its natural color. Dark red and black brickwork for the walks, the puddles of water were tinted red but still transparent enough to see through it. The shades of gray along certain edges of buildings finished the dark vibe of the city he was now in.

"Like a dark mirror." Raylan thought, with what he'd seen earlier there was at least some logical connection there. The city in the sky had been a dark mirror to the one below, with the city above having taken on a darker tone and color scheme.

But now Raylan found himself inside the dark mirrored city. Raylan looked toward the sky and, as he expected, a city in the sky stared back at him. But this time it was his own city staring back at him, the normal city Raylan had been walking through the last day.

With his narrowed view of the city above from the confines of the alleyway, he could only spot a few buildings that seemed somewhat familiar but he couldn't see Aeon, his apartment, or the hotel the welcoming party had been held at.

"Lost in another city," Raylan thought, face scrunching up in frustration. "I doubt this city is safer than the one we came from." If more of those shadow arms or worse show up then there would be serious problems.

That's when a small movement caught Raylans eye.

Raylan wasn't alone in the alleyway, just like when he'd been taken he spotted Miles off to the other end of the alley. Mirroring the position the two had been in when they had first been grabbed by those shadowy arms.

"Something to be grateful for." He thought. It was good Miles appeared alright, even if Raylan wished he'd not been caught up in this… weird shit. "Miles!" Raylan said, barely above his normal volume, "Miles, get up!" Gently shaking his unconscious companion as he spoke.

It took a few seconds before Miles began to stir. He groaned for a moment before finally waking, opening his eyes.

"Raylan?" Miles said, not so much a question but more a statement. He moved to sit up right, with Raylan helping him. "I'm not sure what the hell just happened," Without looking at Raylan he asked, "Am I losing it or were we just grabbed by some creepy shadowy arms and pulled us into a pool of literal fucking shadow?"

"You aren't losing it, that all happened." Raylan confirmed despite how ridiculous it was to do so. "Look around and see for yourself." Miles did just that, taking in his surroundings just like Raylan had. Although Miles was far more expressive with his confusion he no doubt felt just as Raylan did when he'd first woken up.

"What-" Miles stuttered in confusion, brow scrunching as he spoke, "Where are we?" His voice low, just above a whisper. He could tell it wasn't the alleyway they'd originally walked through, that was for certain.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Raylan answered as he helped pull Miles to a stand position. "Do you see what's in the sky, Miles?" He gestured upward with an incline of his head. Miles glanced up and immediately reeled back an inch in both amazement and confusion.

"Is that-" Miles began, "Is that an upside down city in the sky?!"

"So you can see it." Raylan concluded. That did raise the question as to why he had been able to see the dark mirror before they were grabbed whilst Miles couldn't. But there were more pressing issues to deal with. "I think it's the city we were taken from." Raylan explained, "That's my theory at least."

"Your theory?" Miles questioned glancing at his companion, getting over his initial shock at the city above.

Raylan hummed, "Before either of us were grabbed I saw an upside down city, exactly like the one we find ourselves in right now." He gestured around them, with Miles glancing around a moment before focusing back on his friend. "I think we're staring back at our own city." He finished.

"You think we were pulled from one to the other?" Miles asked before shaking his head in frustration, "At least you explained something using some form of logic, everything else hardly makes sense." A small smile briefly made its way across Raylans face at that last comment.

"It's the best I got for the time being," Raylan conceded, "This is as strange to me as it is to you."

"You seem to be handling it just fine though, I doubt I would have come to the same conclusions as you had about all this shit." That was fair, the majority of people would have likely freaked out, panicked or broken down in this situation, but Raylan was a bit sturdier than that. "I'm just glad I'm not alone in this fucking madness."

Raylan hummed with a small smile but that smile was quickly wiped off his face as he and Miles were startled by an unexpected voice.

"Alone, you both are not." A disembodied masculine voice spoke, the two young men turned to the end of the alleyway to find a lone figure standing there.

The mysterious figure wore a white cloak that draped around his neck and shoulder before flowing down their back to just above their ankles. The edge of the cloak was trimmed with animal fur, like that of a gray wolf. Their boots were the same, black boots with gray animal fur around the ankle. Their pants were somewhat baggy, white in color and were held up by a leather belt. Their upper body wore a white and gray jacket, like that of a nobleman from the eighteenth century, with various leather scrapes across their body, with two scrapes around both forearms near their sleeve.

The final piece of their attire was the mask they wore.

The mask was that of a classical operas, the narrow slits for eyes with the creepy smile that curves up a bit too much to mean anything but ill intentions. The white mask, contrasted by the black eyes and smile would be a sight that terrified children in the night.

Raylan and Miles were both immediately on guard at the mysterious figure's sudden appearance. But despite the defensive posture both young men had, the figure didn't seem all that concerned.

"My, my," The disembodied voice began, "What do we have here? Two young boys lost in the city?" The figure laughed at the thought which only set off more warning signs for both men. "You two should know how dangerous it is out in the city at night~"

Raylan said nothing as he watched the strange individual. It was clear to him that they weren't friendly but they hadn't been openly hostile yet either. If they were lucky then they could avoid a confrontation with whoever, or whatever, the hell this guy was.

"Knowing my luck, we ain't getting out of here so easily." Raylan thought to himself. With that thought in mind, he briefly scanned his surroundings for an escape route they could use. Better safe than sorry.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Miles yelled, clearly unimpressed by the whole situation, "Do you have anything to do with all this?" A far more direct approach, one Raylan figured wasn't going to work.

The figure softly laughed once more, "Aren't you direct? Quite a rude first impression, you could have done so much better." The man shook his head side to side in a jovial nature, "No matter, it won't change what is about to happen~"

"Talk about dramatic…" Raylan thought as he and Miles backed up in preparation and anticipation of whatever was about to happen.

But neither could have predicted what was about to happen.

Wordless, without so much as a movement, the shadows around the figure stirred to life. Entities of darkness and shadow formed into beings right before them, taking the shape of a humanoid but morphing into something not quite human either.

The shadows transformed into identical forms.

All of them wielded iron pipes, with red hoodies, dark yellow eyes stared out of the shadow within the hood. Tattered, black jeans and destroyed trainers finished their attire. But it was oddly shaped as the legs were thin and spindly whilst the upper body was buff and muscular. With the torso being as long as the creature's legs. The shadow creatures stood at seven foot easily, even with their hunched posture.

There had to be twenty of these creatures all standing between the young men and their new found foe at the alley entrance with another ten behind them, blocking their only escape route. They were surrounded on both sides.

"Enjoy yourselves boys~" Was all they said.

Not that their mysterious foe stuck around for much longer as they turned to leave, merely casting a glance at Raylan and Miles before disappearing into a plume of blue fire with their hysterical laughter echoing out into the streets for a few seconds.

Leaving behind Raylan and Miles to face their deaths at the hands of these monsters.

Raylan and Miles readied themselves for a fight, one they weren't so certain they could win.

The first wave charged both young men, wildly waving their pipes as they did. The echo of pipes bouncing off the buildings brickwork or concrete ground quickly covered the area.

As they reached the two, they swung. Both the young men evaded the swing and attempted to counter attack with Miles punching the monster of darkness in the head whilst Raylan had gone for a head kick.

Their hits were enough to knock back and stagger their foes but they were quickly replaced by the ones behind them who merely shoved past, swinging at the pair in retaliation.

Whilst Raylan avoided the second swing, Miles didn't as he took the force of the strike as it lifted him off his feet and threw him through the air, bouncing off the ground behind Raylan.

Raylan had only glanced behind him a moment to check on Miles, but wasn't quick enough to react to a back swing of the pipe that smacked him across the face, sending Raylan reeling backwards from the force of the impact.

He recovered, barely, and managed to catch himself. Landing in a crouch, down on one knee, Raylan hissed in pain, feeling the sting of the hit he'd just taken. Miles was behind him, getting onto one knee himself, preparing to get up and fight once more.

"We can't even hurt them." Raylan thought, watching as the two shadow entities they'd struck had already gotten over the hit and were approaching them once again. "These things have to have a weakness or something!"

The shadows slowly closed in on them, completely encircled by them on both sides.

"I hope you've got something planned here Raylan." Miles stated from behind him, "I'd accept anything at this point!" Raylans fists clenched. Unfortunately, Raylan was limited with what he could come up with. This was unlike anything he'd ever conceived.

He had to try something.

"Come on Ray, think! You can't, won't, let it end like this!" Raylan reaffirmed to himself. "You aren't the only one in trouble anymore!"

Raylan turned to focus on his foes again, watching as they all raised their pipes above their heads ready to bring them down on them any second now.

But that's when Raylan saw it.

A blue butterfly fluttering just beyond the mess of shadowy attackers. Its wings flapping daintily in the wind, gracefully flying in circles by the alleyway entrance.

The sight of this mysterious but all too familiar creature triggered something within Raylans heart and mind. A burst of blue flame erupted in a blaze before blasting in all directions around him. Throwing all the shadows off them, sending them tumbling over each other. Silence descended upon the area. Pain shot through his body, forcing him to clunch his head.

He could hear Miles call out his name in concern, but Raylan couldn't respond. The pain drawing all his attention, he hunched over, bracing himself on the ground with his arms and hissed as the pain pulsed inside his body and mind. His eyes turned yellow, his breath became ragged, and there was a pain that throbbed inside his mind.

"So you've finally heeded the call." An unfamiliar masculine voice spoke inside his head, momentarily surprising Raylan before it continued speaking. "Very good. You've shown me thy willingness to fight, for more than merely yourself, but do you have the resolve to see it through to the end?" Raylan clenched his fists, his knuckles going white as he looked up to face the shadows that had surrounded them. Within his mind, everything seemed to click.

Almost by instinct he knew what to say.

"Give me the strength I need to show you my resolve."

A pleased chuckle echoed through his head, "Excellent. I have heeded your conviction and I will heed thy call for the strength you seek. Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to face any foe, be it God or Man, for the sake of thy own justice. Call upon my name, prove your resolve, and strive for all you seek and the justice you embody!"

Raylan felt a pulse of power surge through his body, cracks echoed throughout the alley and streets. White lines appeared across his body, like the cracks of a mirror, before everything shattered. The image of Raylan shattered and exploded into a blaze of wild blue fire.

It burned with enough intensity that it forced the shadows to step back, however those same flames danced around Miles harmlessly. Much to the young man's surprise as he watched Raylan become engulfed in flame.

Within the flames, Raylan rose to a standing position. The flames, the blue fire, didn't burn. There was no more pain, no discomfort, merely the gentle warmth of the flame across his entire body and a wild energy rising up inside him.

The flames began to dissipate around him, starting from the ground around his legs. His lower half had changed. His shoes had changed to black mens dress shoes, his pants having changed into a navy coloured tailored suits trousers. As the flames receded up his body it revealed more of his changed attire. This upper body now adorned a tight, black, long sleeve button up shirt, underneath a black 1900 frock coat with navy blue trim along the sleeves and collar, buttoned up around his abdomen but leaving his shirt partially exposed. A cashmere scarf and leather gloves completed his upper body.

However, when the flames faded from around Raylans head it revealed a mask covering his entire face. The mask was nearly completely blank, smoothly curved and round, save for the two curves slots for the eyes to see through, and a navy blue streak that ran down the middle of its surface.

After his sudden transformation, everything went quiet for a moment as Miles and the shadows stared at Raylan and his odd new look.

"Raylan?" Miles said. The man in question turned and glanced over toward Miles, eyes hidden behind his new black and blue mask. Raylan merely smirked at him before turning back to retrain his focus on the shadows.

After getting over their initial uncertainty, the shadows once again charged. The twenty from one side all moved to swarm the pair, clambering past each other to be the first one there.

This time, however, Raylan was ready for them.

Raylan raised his arm and clenched his fist, glass shattering was heard as white cracks appeared across his fist and forearm. He quickly swung the hand which collided with air, cracking the air itself, white streaks of light began to burst through the seams as if building up to something.

It looked as though he had shattered reality itself.

"PERSONA!" Raylan yelled, a smirk still present across his face, "REVEAL THE TRUTH, SHERLOCK!"

The cracks in the air shattered and exploded into an inferno of blue fire that reached higher than the buildings that surrounded them.

From within the flames a shape, easily standing eight feet tall, emerged. Long legs, covered with dress shoes that pointed out to a blade at the tip kicked out of the flame, legs covered in a white suits trousers seamed with silver along the cuffs and linings. The tail of a white ulster coat fluttered in the wind, dancing between the flickers of blue fire. Shoulders covered by a shoulder cloak that reached down to its elbows. Long arms rested in front of its body, with its silver metal clawed hands holding a pipe in its right hand.

Its face was that of two flat angles meeting in the center, with jagged flickering blue eyes forming on either side of the face, and a pleased smirk running from one side to the other. Atop its head was a white deerstalker hat, hiding black hair underneath it.

Miles couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, completely focused on Raylan and this creature he called Sherlock. He didn't notice the shadows closing it but then again, he didn't have to.

The shadows ignored the new arrival, gunning straight for Raylan who reacted by throwing his fist in their attackers direction, the white cracks reappearing as he did. "Let us make our escape."

"Sherlock! Devastate them!" Raylan called out. "Eiha!" His persona immediately twirled at the command, forcing dark energy within the palm of its free hand before firing it toward the advancing shadows.

The dark pulse struck the closest shadow, throwing them back into the others. The shadow that had been struck began to spasm and disintegrate into a puddle of literal darkness on the ground before completely vanishing, whilst the others clattered to the floor in a messy tangle of bodies.

"Come on Miles!" Raylan shouted as he ran toward Miles, reaching out to help pull him. "Let's move!" Miles didn't say anything, merely nodding as his face mirrored Raylans determined expression.

Raylan moved first, with Miles a step behind him. Sherlock evaporated into blue flame in that same moment. As they neared the pile of shadows on the ground, one of them pulled itself free and attempted to block the pair's escape route. But neither Raylan or Miles slowed.

Raylan leapt forward to intercept the shadow, and as it raised its iron pipe to swing, blue fire formed in Raylans hand. It shifted shape in seconds, forming into a decorative metal cane with a golden hawk head as a handle.

Although it didn't appear as much, instinctively Raylan knew what to do. He pulled on the head of the cane and pulled a blade free of its sheath.

It was a cane sword.

The pipe came down, forcing Raylan to avoid the swing by side-stepping on the deadside of the shadow. The pipe sailed past him, allowing swing upwards using his sword, catching the shadow thug under the armpit before cleaving its arm off.

The shadow practically threw itself onto the group as it seized on the ground in what Raylan would assume was horrendous pain. Miles jumped over the mess of darkness on the ground, with Raylan doing the same moments later.

As the duo escaped the alleyway and into the open streets, Raylan was quick to locate that all too familiar butterfly. He found it fluttering its way down the street at a surprisingly quick pace for a butterfly.

"This way!" Raylan gestured, Miles looked in the direction his friend was pointing and although he saw everything Raylan did, including the little butterfly, how his companion knew where to go or what to do was beyond Miles for the time being.

"Lead on, Ray." Raylan smirked at the nickname, having been familiar with that little nickname from back home.

The two took off once more, with Raylan leading the chase of the glowing blue butterfly. The shadows that had been in the alleyway exploded out onto the street behind them as they ran, and they were quick to attempt to chase them. It was clear they would out run them eventually, but neither young man let up on the speed.

"I hope you'll tell me what the fuck that was back there when we get out of here." Miles said as they ran, looking his friend up and down once more trying to understand his new outfit.

"I'll let you know when I figure that one out myself." He agreed.

First things first, they needed to escape this dark mirrored city.

/_\

Raylan and Miles had ran for a solid five minutes, with Raylan leading the way as he followed the little blue butterfly, evading shadowy arms that attempted to reach out of the darkness to grab them and changing their path when they found it blocked by those creatures from earlier.

The butterfly was always just in view long enough for Raylan to see it before it would round a corner of some kind. Where it was leading them he couldn't say, but it hadn't led them astray yet.

Raylan had been quick to note how the butterfly had appeared to him on so many occasions before now. That little critter was important, he recalled the words he'd heard when he was in that unconscious void space.

"Guide me, huh?" Raylan thought as he and Miles rounded the corner it had disappeared beyond before spotting it again as it entered a large building. "It hasn't steered us wrong yet."

The duo entered the building moments later and were greeted by a large open room, like that of an international hotel. Red marble columns, with the same pulsing red vines running down them from the ceiling.

Either side of the hotel entrance were two large long corridors that seemed to stretch on endlessly, something Raylan noted wasn't how the building looked from the outside. From how the building has appeared on the outside, neither of those corridors should exist, but he had to stop that train of thought.

"Why am I trying to explain this place with logic?" Raylan shook it off as he saw the butterfly fluttering off in the distance.

"What is that?" Miles asked, nodding in the direction of their guide. Raylan had to focus for a moment to see what he meant when he saw the ceiling beyond his little glowing friend. The ceiling opened up, ascending upward. It was like a hole opened up in the sky, with a mixture of swirling white and black energy battling at the bottom, or top in this case, of the hole. The white energy of the hole reminded him of the shadows that had dragged him to this place.

It took Raylan a single second to comprehend what this hole in the sky could be, and with everything he'd seen and learned so far he was confident as to what it was.

"That's our way out." Raylan said. Miles turned to him with a strange look so he elaborated. "We were brought to this place by those shadow arms literally dragging us into shadows on the ground." He pointed toward the hole. "My theory is that by jumping… up to that hole it will bring us back to our…" He hesitated to say it because of how outlandish it sounded but decided it had to be said. "...world since we could see our own city in the sky beyond it. The white clouds being the opposite to the dark shadows that brought us here, it should bring us back to our world." Raylan paused, "Hopefully, anyway." It would be hard to explain the additional fact that he was following the guiding butterfly so he used the logic he could find in the situation.

Miles seemed to contemplate his words, scratching the back of his as he did. "It makes as much sense as everything has so far." He admitted, "You haven't steered us wrong yet."

"Let's hope that trend continues." Raylan thought to himself as they both started to move before they were forced to stop, a massive fountain of darkness erupted out of the floor with seemingly no logical way it could have appeared.

The darkness split into eleven parts, ten smaller drops of darkness and one much larger ball rained down across the room. The ten smaller drops turned into various creatures, four of which were these floating jack-o lantern creatures with black cloaks, holding a lantern. Another four were four floating jars with teal inhuman heads poking out the top of them. The final two small drops of shadow created what Raylan could only describe as little magical pixies.

The big chunk of darkness, however, dropped in the center of all the other creatures.

From the darkness, a knight in steel armor riding atop a red horse formed. A golden inscribed spear in its right hand, whilst it used its left hand to grip the reigns of the horse as it reared back on its hind legs for a few seconds.

"The condemned must not escape," The knight spoke, surprising both the young men who hadn't even considered the idea of these shadow creatures being able to speak. "I, Berith, shall strike the condemned down before they change their fate! You shall not escape the shadows that stalks this world!"

Once again, the horse reared back as if heeded the words of its rider, with the small creatures all shaking in excitement and anticipation like they were taking pleasure from the idea of hurting, or even killing him.

Berith thrust his spear toward Raylan, pointing the tip toward his head. "Now, meet your demise with honor, insect!"

"Miles, stand back!" Raylan instructed as he readied himself for a fight. His sword in one hand, and its sheath held in a reverse grip in his other hand. Miles followed his instructions despite how he hesitated for a second.

"Be careful Ray." He said as he retreated to a safer distance, leaving Raylan alone to fight. He could tell Miles struggled with the idea of just leaving it to him, but given the fact Raylan had the power to fight it simply couldn't be helped.

"Sherlock!" Raylan called out, summoning his Persona from the cracks across his arm once more as the shadows closed in around him.

The first two to reach him were two of the Jack-O' Lanterns, they initiated the attack by both summoning fireballs and blasting them toward Raylan. "Agi!"

He evaded them both easily enough, even when he was forced to dodge another elemental attack from an Agathion, "Zio!", who had fired a bolt of electricity at him.

"Cleave!" Sherlock rushed through the air past Raylan, reverse round housing kicking the Agathion, slashing the creature in half as it dissipated into puddles of darkness.

He was surprised by his own speed and power whilst he moved, "I feel more powerful, like awaken my Persona strength my body as well." Raylan blocked another Agi fireball from one of the Jack-O Lanterns by thrusting his blade into the fire which dispersed the ball of flame. Sherlock reappeared behind him in a twisting inferno of blue fire. "That goes for endurance and durability too." The flickers of the attack that grazed him did no damage, if this had been back in the real world that still would have caused a reaction of some kind.

But here it did not.

"I'd wager I could improve with practice." He thought as Raylan dashed forward to meet a Jack-O' Lantern head-on, with two quick horizontal slashes across its chest, the shadow recoiled in pain as it died.

"Come, Sherlock!" His Persona appeared beside him in an instant, "Eiha!" A dark pulse of energy burst from his personas hand, the attack struck the Jack-O Lantern beside the one he'd just slain, killing it on the spot.

"Cleave!" Raylan felt the end of a pole into his lower abdomen, throwing Raylan off balance. He was quick to recover by rolling back and up to his feet, spinning into a low defensive stance. But the damage had been done.

With Berith right in front of him, Raylan made to move. Barely dodging a blast of electricity from one of the Agathion, Raylan weaved his way past one of Pixie and the final Jack-O Lantern before leaping toward Berith, sword in hand.

"Sherlock!" Raylan thrust his blade into the neck of Beriths' horse, "Cleave!" Sherlock struck the shadow knight in the chest with enough force to stagger the rider and stead. Raylan jumped from the shadow to avoid its wild counter swing, landing gracefully a few feet away.

"Agi!" "Zio!" Unfortunately, Raylan was forced to evade a blast of fire and a bolt of electricity, and whilst he was quick enough to avoid the fire, the bolt struck him.

The electricity momentarily stunned him, his muscles locking for a single second. But that was enough time for the shadows to counterattack.

"Cleave!" Berith had recovered and pressed the attack with another devastating swipe of his spear. Raylan could have dodged it but given the momentary stun, he took the full brunt of the attack, not even blocking to minimize the damage.

The attack was enough to toss Raylan across the room, bouncing on the floor once before skidding to a halt on his stomach, face down. He could hear Miles call his name in concern but he didn't answer. He kinda had other things to worry about at the moment.

Raylan managed to push himself up into a crouched position on both knees, using one hand to support himself. He'd taken quite a few hits whilst only being able to deliver a few of his own, taking a few of the shadows out, but the damage done to Berith was quickly rendered null by the Pixie by his side. There were just too many for him to focus on alone, between taking on the main threat, to the side pieces, and the supporting pixies.

"Your struggling ends here, maggot." Berith spoke, pointing its spear toward Raylan. One of the Pixie closed in on the knight, coming alongside it.

"Dia!" The Pixie cast some kind of green, energy spell that swirled around Berith. Partially transparent green planets appeared and faded quickly around the knight before seeming to energize the shadow. The horse reared back in cheer, and Raylan saw the wound he had inflicted upon its neck was gone.

"So, these things can heal," Raylan thought, groaning slightly as he felt his own wounds sting. "I, on the other hand, can't. I need to be more careful with this especially since those Cleaves of mine seem to hurt me slightly in return for the increased damage output." The young man had taken a few hits this day, from his fight with Jack, the hits he'd taken from the shadows in the alley and not in this brawl. It was starting to add up.

Which made an already bad situation worse.

"You fought well for a cornered rat," Berith mocked, "But pests must still be exterminated no matter how much they struggle." His words motivated the other remaining shadows to move, closing in on Raylan.

Miles stood off to the side, worried and frustrated. Raylan was in some serious trouble and he was powerless to do anything about it, he could fight like Raylan could, he had no weapon or one of those persona things he could summon.

Raylan glanced over to Miles and saw he was still standing there.

"Miles! Go!" Raylan yelled as the shadows drew closer, he pointed at the theorized escape route with his cane sword, "Get out while you can!" Raylan turned his attention back to the shadows advancing on his position.

Miles looked toward the hole in the sky and saw the butterfly fluttering frantically around it. It was as if the little critter was urging him to flee, to save himself and escape this fucking place.

And for a second Miles thought he'd go for it.

But as he took a step toward the exit he turned back to see Raylan firmly rooted where he was. Chances were he wasn't gonna get past the shadows, especially not Berith there who seemed to have his entire attention solely on Raylan.

Miles clenched his fists in frustration, and for a moment his mind wandered back to an all too painful memory not too long ago. Whatever thought had crossed his mind, it reinforced his resolve.

As an Agathion and Pixie closed in on Raylan, Miles intercepted the Agathion and shoulder tackled the shadow, throwing the shadow into the Pixie who tumbled to the ground beside Raylan as the Agathion bounced closer to its fellow shadows.

Raylan looked at Miles in surprise, having not expected him to jump into the fight like this.

"Miles, what are you doing?" Raylan asked through a pained expression, pointing his sword at the downed Pixie, who gasped in surprise and put their little hands up, just in case it made a move against him.

"I'm not gonna leave ya to die, Ray." Miles affirmed him, shifting into a defensive stance. "We've both gotta make it outta here." His words rang truer to Miles himself than they did to Raylan, a hidden meaning behind them that Raylan didn't quite understand. Yet.

"Maggots are no stronger together than apart!" Berith bellowed, twirling his spear as he trotted toward them flanked by the remaining shadows on both sides. "Especially when one of the insects is powerless, unable to protect even itself!" He roared as Berith launched an attack of its own, swinging its spear and thrusting the tip of the spear in Miles' direction.

The attack was too fast for him to react but luckily for Miles the attack struck the ground in front of him, avoiding a lethal blow, but the force behind the attack along with the debris is created still pelted Miles in full.

The young man was thrown back by the shockwave, bouncing off the ground twice before rolling to a stop further behind Raylan.

"Miles!" Raylan shouted in concern, "Can you hear me?! Talk to me!" Hoping Miles might answer, but he didn't. For a second Raylan feared the worst before he saw Miles stagger as he brought himself up onto his elbows and knees. With his friend still moving, Raylan turned back to the shadows, attempting to formulate a plan on how to deal with them whilst watching over Miles behind.

And the more he thought about the more he realized that wasn't going to be an easy task.

Raylan spotted the same kind of darkness emerge from the ground around Miles, like a puddle of the substance formed out of nowhere beneath him. But like before, the darkness moved like a creature, the liquid-like darkness began to cling to Miles' form, climbing his body as if to consume him. Inching its way along his arms and legs.

"Fight it off Miles!" Raylan yelled, watching the inky blackness take a firm hold of Miles as he attempted to struggle. But once again, just like before, his struggling didn't seem to break the darkness' hold of him

"It was foolish to think you could save another when you can't even protect yourself." Berith mocked and it focused its attention back momentarily on Raylan, who held firm before the shadows that stood opposite him, sword still held toward the downed Pixie. The Berith sneered before glancing back to the struggling Miles, "You should have fled whilst your fellow maggot fought, it was the only way you would have lived past this day."

Miles said nothing as Beriths' words assaulted his mind.

But it was his next words that truly struck his heart.

"Your only chance at life was to sacrifice anothers."

Miles lurched at those words, he felt a sting of pain shoot through his heart. His words echoed inside his mind, bouncing from every corner of his head like an echo. His fingers scraped across the ground, rubbing the skin raw in the process.

"Why did it have to be like this?!" Miles thought in both anger and frustration, gritting his teeth and squeezing his eyes shut tightly. "I can't allow others to suffer for me again! I need to keep fighting even if I could still lose!"

His internal will to fight fought with the words Berith had said, and it was winning. All he needed was the strength to follow through with his resolve to fight!

"So, you finally seek the strength to match your buried courage?" A masculine voice, with animalistic vibrations and a growl to it, echoed inside Miles' head, causing him to grip his head in pain. A pulse of pain made its way through his body, his eyes shot open having changed from their brilliant green to an all too familiar yellow.

Raylan and the Shadows watched on as Miles began to howl and hiss in pain. Struggling to cope with whatever was going on with him. The darkness that had attempted to envelop him retreated from his body as if it hurt to touch him.

This seemed similar to something Raylan had witnessed before.

"It's happening to him as well…" Raylan muttered to himself as he watch his new friend, and although he wanted to help him through the pain he was no doubt going through, he knew what likely lay at the end of it. "Seems like I won't have to face this fight alone." He wouldn't admit it out loud, but that thought made him smile slightly, for more than one reason as well.

Miles hunched over, his teeth clenched so hard it could dent metal. The words of the unknown voice echoed inside his head, growing louder as if repeatedly asking that same question.

"Give me the strength to prove the dept of my courage!"

The voice laughed, the deep vibration of its tone echoed throughout Miles mind.

"Let all hear of your courage from this day forth! Strike out into the world with the courage to act, and the strength to see it through!" The voice roared inside his head, "Unleash your true self! I am thou, thou art I… Stand tall for yourself, and for all who need your strength!"

Miles' head shot up, looking toward the shadows with yellow piercing eyes. The sound of glass and mirrors cracking echoed throughout the room as white lines formed across both of Miles' hands.

Instinctively, he lifted his hand and roared as he slammed it back onto the ground. The white creaks spread across the floor, breaking the ground around his hands. The creaks swiftly shot back across Miles' body, spreading across it in its entirety before the image of Miles shattered into white light before erupting upwards. Blinding everyone present, with Raylan shielding his eyes from the intensity of the shine. The wind from the blast shook the shadows, some of with backed up slightly in surprise whilst Beriths horse reared back in anguish.

When the wind ceased, and the light died down, Miles appeared surrounded by dancing blue flames which only emphasized the changes to his appearance.

His outfit had changed drastically, differing from Raylans in nearly every way possible. He looked like a mixture of a medieval knight fused with that of a biker. He wore a bikers-style jacket made of steel chainmail, with a single piece of black steel plate armor across the front of his chest. His forearms and shins were protected by the same kind of black steel plate armor. His boots were that of bikers, made of leather. His trousers shifted into a black pair of biker pants, with golden yellow trim along the edges of pockets and hems. The final piece to his new outfit was the fingerless gloves he wore.

However, there were two final pieces to add to his new look. A mask, black and gold, it looked like the front plate of a knights helmet, but at the top of the mask it resembled that of an ornate and intricate crown like that of the royalty of old. Gripped in his right hand, a large two-handed longsword rested on his right shoulder.

But that wasn't even what drew the attention of the room the most.

It was the entity floating behind him, enveloped in the blue flame that had danced around Raylan and his Persona when he'd awoken this power.

A massive golden lion stood behind him. Every ounce of the beast looked strong, powerful, like the beast was truly the king of the jungle. The legs and body of the lion were decorated with black, jagged armor, protecting its sides, underbelly, and the fronts of its legs. Atop the lions back sat a frail, ghastly looking humanoid wielding a broken and damaged sword in his right hand. The rider was wrapped up within a cloak making it impossible to see its features hidden beneath.

Raylan smirked slightly, "Seems I'm not the only one who can wield a Persona."

Miles looked up and greeted his friend with a small, somewhat cocky smirk of his own. He swung his sword and thrust it toward Berith and the other shadows, pointing the tip of his blade at Berith himself.

"Now let's see if I have the strength to protect not only myself but those around me!" Miles roared, hyped up and ready to join the fight with Raylan and back him up however he could.

"HEED MY CALL, BLACK KNIGHT!"

C5: End

Chapter down and out. Took longer than expected as well, I always do underestimate how much work has to go into a chapter. Oh well! So, pick the OST for the battles that happened and enjoy. Looking back on the chapter I feel like I could have done better in certain areas (something I'm likely to work on and make a few edits to, at some point), especially nearing the end with the fight scenes but I did feel as though the chapter was dragging on a bit so I ended it there. A new issue every chapter it seems. Spelling mistakes being a constant.

I should get a Beta reader for this…

Anyway, thoughts?

We got to see two awakens in one chapter, did people enjoy how I did them? Are things different enough from the main games for everyone?

I will be using "Skills and Abilities" from other Mega Ten games, not just the Persona series. I won't be doing it often but just letting everyone know they might see attacks not from the Persona games.

Shadow thugs, mysterious individuals, Personas, weapons, and two heroes wondering what the fuck just happened. Prepare for an info dump soon courtesy of our Velvet room favorites in the next chapter or two, but first let's get through the nitty-gritty of the fights.

And the story will be getting more "anime/game" in the future, with the fight scenes being more dynamic and lively like the Persona anime whilst the story follows a more game-like system with sub-stories, side quests, and special events.

Note: Just for fun, when the time comes, I'm gonna be having a bit of fun with the Personas Raylan uses in the mid to late end of the story. Referring to other media, games, and such. Hope people don't mind that.

Note 2: People can either make their own awakening, the dialogue for it anyway, or allow me to do it. Be warned, I might not hit the nail on the head each time but I'll do my best to make something good for each character.

Anyway.

All good fun.

Review Responses:

MightBeTrav: Well, was it anything you saw coming?

Electriuser: Things certainly ramped up, didn't they? Already fighting Shadows and it's only chapter five. We'll have to wait and see how things go down with Jack.

Alien Force: I suppose it's not to everyone's tastes. Although I need places to end chapters before they become too long as well. Hope that doesn't bother you.

Roggi: If people found the fight acceptable then I guess I can't complain. We'll be seeing more of Raylan and Miles shortly given they're the first friend either has in this city. Did you enjoy the Persona reveal? Well, I've paid for the commission but it might be some time before it's finished. But hopefully we'll see it in the future.

Obie527: From bad to worse it seems. Hope the wait wasn't too long for you. We'll be seeing plenty of Miles in the future. First friend and all that. So let's see how people like him.

CR7: Raylan is a Wildcard, yes. I bet most people saw that coming. Igor, and the Velvet room attendant shall be here shortly.

LuxuryKiwi: Glad to see the fight was well received. I wasn't happy with it, but people thought it was quite good so I can't complain about the results. There's more to Jack's story than what appears before us. All we got was a glimpse into the "Mirror-Verse", but we'll learn more about it soon enough. Let's just say Raylan can see things others can't and leave it at that.

And that's that. Another chapter finished. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time!

Till the next chapter!

AlcatrazDGold - Peace!