Akira opened his eyes groggily, his room a complete blur until it refocused seconds later with a bit of eye-rubbing. He turned his head to the side and saw Sumire looking at the books on the shelf, skimming through the spines and reading the titles almost longingly. He looked at her before pulling away the blankets and got up, the shuffling of the sheets alerting her that he was awake. She smiled at him.
"Morning sleepyhead."
Akira chuckled at the joke, his voice still husky and groggy. Sumire was clearly trying to boost their moods after their discussion yesterday. Akira's feet creaked against the floorboards as he stood up from his mattress and started to lean towards his box of clothing.
"I'm not the one who wakes up early."
Sumire huffed and circled around Akira as he dug for his uniform. "Well, I slept in the middle of Tokyo for two weeks. Don't blame me for having a weird sleep schedule after all of that!"
Akira got dressed, Sumire stretching a bit as she turned around before Akira passed her in his Shujin uniform. The pair went downstairs, greeted by the smell of freshly-brewed coffee and Leblanc's signature curry. Sojiro was behind the counter, filling out a crossword in the local newspaper.
"At least now I can call somewhere home. Hopefully my sleep cycle evens out soon…" She sighed out and watched as Akira began eating his curry with vigor, not wanting to reach school late. He began sipping his coffee while Sojiro picked up the plate. Finishing his breakfast, he slung his bag over his shoulder before walking out the door, flipping the sign to "Open" before heading to the station. Sumire began speaking to him.
"Ready for your first day of school?"
"Ready as I'll ever be. Just don't bother me during lessons; I'd rather not get sent to a psychiatric hospital for trying to explain you to my teacher if I end up looking your way too much."
"Sure." She chuckled.
While the two headed to the station, Akira noticed that Sumire was walking next to him instead of floating nearby. While they stood around waiting for the train, Akira thought about their conversation yesterday and came to a realization.
"You know, if the girl in the accident was you, maybe someone close to you left your name anonymous for some reason."
"It's possible." Sumire shrugged before the two saw the train pull into the station. The two shuffled in, a space available for Sumire to stand by Akira despite being intangible. The subway TVs blared with the latest news, one about the recent subway accidents. Sumire stared at the screens and frowned before realizing she was being left behind. She quickly chased after Akira and thought to herself.
"There are so many accidents… How come I can't find any info on mine?"
The amount of space she had eventually shrunk, and she was forced to float above everyone's heads to avoid feeling too cramped.
"Jeez, there's so many people in that small space…"
After a transfer and another train ride, the two reached Aoyama-Itchome Station. Looking up at the clouds, Sumire remembered something she needed to ask Akira. She put her face in front of Akira and threw a question at him. "Did you remember to bring an umbrella? It looks like it's going to rain."
Akira mentally facepalmed and sighed. "I knew I forgot something…"
He was running for a while, trying to cover himself with his bag before he spotted an awning. After hiding from the rain, he started to dry himself off before someone ran up next to him, wearing the standard girls' uniform under a white hoodie with a pattern of a green four-leaf clover on it. The girl took off her hoodie, revealing platinum blonde pigtails, light blue eyes, and pink lips.
"A foreigner, huh?" Akira mused to himself, staring at the girl in front of him and analyzing her features.
She squeezed some water out of her hair, mumbling to herself, annoyed at the sudden downpour.
"I hate the rain…" She gazed out towards the street, cherry blossom petals fluttering with the water before flowing down the sidewalk like boats on a stream. She noticed Akira's gaze and her eyes met his before looking upwards slightly. She extended her arm over to the top of his head and picked off a cherry blossom petal.
"Sorry about that. You had something stuck to your head."
Akira just nodded with wide eyes and quickly turned his face away from her. Sumire giggled lightly, seeing Akira unsure of how to respond. "Are you staring at her? Do you have your eyes on somebody already?"
Akira was about to respond, stopping when he remembered the girl next to him. He pulled out his phone and held it up to his cheek, acting like he was taking a call. Unknowingly, his ear tapped on the red eyeball app which had once again reinstalled itself on his phone. "What? Of course not..."
Soon after, a white sedan pulled up and the window rolled down. A tall man sat in the driver's seat and leaned over, calling out, "Hey, Takamaki! Need a ride? The rain doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon."
"O-oh, okay…" The girl named Takamaki put her hoodie back on and dashed to the car, opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat.
The man turned to Akira next. "How about you? Need a ride?"
He was about to accept before Sumire dashed in front of him, shaking her head. "Let's not."
"No thanks. I think I'll be fine." He waved off the offer, trying to be polite about it.
"Suit yourself. Hopefully you don't end up late to school!" He rolled up the window and drove off. Before it closed, however, Akira noticed that Takamaki had a sad or tense look on her face before it was obscured by his reflection on the car's window and the two drove off.
"Y'know, I'd be an excellent wingman since no one can see me—" Sumire was interrupted by someone running through her.
"Damn, screw that pervy teacher…" Akira lowered his phone to look at the source of the new voice, a boy with clearly dyed blonde hair panting as he stood in front of Sumire. His clothing was drenched in water and he wrapped his hands around the cloth and squeezed it out, a waterfall of rain water sloshing onto the floor.
"Pervy?" Sumire tilted her head. "I got a menacing feeling from him when he offered you a ride, but I thought I was just being paranoid."
"…Pervy teacher?"
"Tch, yeah. Asshole thinks he can do whatever he wants. No one gives a damn even when he does shit for no reason— hey… you ain't gonna rat me out to Kamoshida, are ya?"
"Kamoshida? Who's that?" Akira's phone vibrated. Candidate found.
"Eh, see if I— Wait, you don't know who Kamoshida is? You're a Shujin student, right?" The blonde boy looked at Akira's collar. "A second-year, huh… same as me. Never seen you around though. 'Sup with that?"
Sumire spoke up, staying behind the boy for now, "He's a bit vulgar, but I think we can trust him."
Akira nodded. "I transferred to Shujin a few days ago. It's my first day." Location found. Input Distortion.
The boy visibly relaxed with that bit of information. "Oh, makes sense why you don't know. Bastard acts like he's the king of a castle or some—"
Distortion found. Beginning Navigation.
"Rgh—!"
--
Akira followed the blonde boy through the alleyway, massaging his temples. Sumire clutched her forehead, staggering behind him. They all had a cloud of exhaustion hanging over their heads. Sumire muttered to Akira, "Hey… do you feel lightheaded too?"
Akira could only nod before he bumped into the boy in front of him, who abruptly stopped.
"The eff?! The hell happened to our school?!" The blonde yelled out wide-eyed, taken aback at the building that stood where he claimed Shujin Academy was. In front of them, standing proudly as if it was always there, was a medieval-style castle with pink clouds circling the spire that rose up to the sky.
Sumire thought it looked good, but she didn't remember the school looking like this during some of her occasional floats around the city. She and Akira shared a look. He blinked as a realization came to his mind.
"Hold on. If this app is related to this castle and probably Sumire, does that mean…"
"Hey, man. What're you lookin' at there?" The other Shujin student called out. Akira's gaze shot to him and back to where Sumire was.
"Do… you see anyone there? Or is it just me?"
He squinted and shrugged. "I dunno what you're talkin' about, dude. C'mon, I'll try to see what the eff is goin' on here."
Akira and Sumire looked at each other before following him into the castle. An ominous atmosphere settled over them as the castle momentarily distorted to reveal the more normal school building before reverting back to the castle.
He blinked before chasing after the boy, who seemed to be stopped in front of a figure wearing a suit of armor and a turquoise full-face mask.
"The heck!?" The boy shouted at, the suit of armor towering over them.
Sumire chuckled when she looked at the armored being in front of her and threw Akira a look. "Are you sure you put on the right uniform this morning?" She jabbed at him. Akira spared her a glance before turning back to the guard. It was confusing and odd.
At first they thought it was just some weird school tradition Shujin had, but judging from this rowdy guy's reaction, since he had been here the year before, that clearly wasn't the case.
"Geez, you freaked me out… Who're you? A student?" The boy questioned. He walked up closer to inspect the large metal body. "Man, your costume's impressive… Is that armor real?"
"C'mon, don't just stand there. Say somethin'."
Another guard waltzed into the hall to the vulgar boy's left. Sumire stittered to Akira. "U-uh… I-I think it's time we leave…"
"We have to go…" Akira said, urging him to go and run out the door.
"Y-yeah, this shit's real." The boy responded to him. They both kicked up their legs and started running for the exit only for another guard to pop out of seemingly nowhere.
"Ugh, what's with these guys?!" The blonde boy growled out. Akira clenched his fist in his hand as Sumire panicked. The soldiers encased them in a circle.
She could only watch in horror as the two were knocked out and dragged into a cell. But for some reason, she felt pain course through her translucent body as Akira was beaten up, almost as if she was the one getting beaten up herself. She followed the guards to make sure he'd be okay.
--
"…Hey. Hey! Wake up!"
Akira's eyes fluttered open, the back of his head aching as he pushed himself off of the dingy prison bed with his scuffed hands. "Sumire…?" He muttered out.
"Huh? Who?"
Akira looked up to see the blonde boy in front of him and quickly swatted away what he had said.
"I meant— I meant that something's wrong. Very, very wrong…" Akira muttered. They were in a jail cell. A dirty and gross one at that.
"You all right?" The boy asked him.
"I'm all right as I'll ever be… The back of my head hurts…"
"That makes two of us. I guess this ain't no dream… Ugh, what's goin' on?!" The student said, stomping his foot on the ground and running his fingers through his short hair. He walked to the bars of the cell and started yelling, banging on the bars as hard as he can. "Hey, let us outta here! I know there's someone out there!"
While the boy was yelling, Sumire popped in through from another cell, her head leaping out of the wall. Akira startled for a bit before settling. "Akira! Are you alright? They took you two to some kind of basement dungeon…"
"I'm okay, but wherever we are, I don't think it's the school anymore… Or even remotely close to one," he whispered out, his hands clenched onto the rotten wood of the bed he was sat on. The cell was damp and heavy, the sound of running water rushing outside of their cell.
Sumire sputtered and fumbled with her words while Akira tried searching the cell. "I don't even remember what school was like and I agree with you!"
They froze when they heard a heart-wrenching scream. Akira could feel his heart pound in his chest, threatening to burst out. The other boy looked back over with sweat covering his face and an anxious expression. "Th-the hell was that just now?"
Sumire dove into the wall and bolted to see where the sound came from. Akira and the vulgar student clenched onto the bars, hearing the continuous please and screams scarily close to them.
"Whoa…" The boy's hands gripped so tight onto the bars that his forearms started to shake. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…! You shittin' me, right?"
Sumire flew in front of the two and spoke to them, her face pale and sickly. "I— I think you a-already know what's happening."
"Oh god…" Akira said underneath his breath. What was going to happen? Sumire flipped her head to the right of her and flinched away into the cell.
"Someone's coming…!" She whispered out. Akira bit his lip and the other kid backed away from the cell door.
"This is real bad! C'mon, help me look around or somethin'!"
While Akira and the blonde teen looked inside the cell, Sumire tried to scan the general area outside for any sign of a key or anything that could free them. The figures got closer and closer to the cell.
It was no doubt the same guy she had seen offer Akira a ride earlier that day, but now in a rather… strange outfit to say the least. He was wearing a crown on top of his head with a pink speedo. A red cape was wrapped around his shoulders, but other than that, he was wearing virtually nothing. He was surrounded by the large soldiers with a stern yet cocky expression painting his face.
"Wow, he really is a pervert isn't he…?" She scoffed, stepping back over to the cell. The man (Kamoshida, was it?) and the guards made it outside of the cell, but a soldier approached first.
"Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is 'unlawful entry.' Thus, you will be sentenced to death."
"What?!" The boy exclaimed.
"Here he comes…" Sumire whispered to Akira. Akira kept his eyes on the spaces between the bars.
"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle."
"Huh? Wait… Is that you, Kamoshida?" The boy asked, his hands shaking against the bars. Bright yellow eyes looked down at his figure and scoffed.
"I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it'd be you, Sakamoto… Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all, huh?" Kamoshida grinned. "And you brought a friend this time… because you can't do anything for yourself."
"This ain't funny, you asshole!" The person who they now knew as Sakamoto hissed. Kamoshida boomed at him, pressing his face closer to the cell.
"Is that how you speak to a king?! It seems you don't understand the position you're in at all. Not only did you sneak into my castle, you committed the crime of insulting me— the king. The punishment for that is death."
"Are you crazy? Death? For what?" Akira yelled at the man. Kamoshida snarled at him.
"Shut up, you damn kid! It's time for an execution! Take the blonde one out!" Kamoshida raised his arm and the guards stormed in.
"Hey! Stop it!" Akira screamed as the guards pushed him back. Sakamoto was surrounded by the guards, and what happened next wasn't a pretty sight. Sakamoto quickly butted into a guard and tried to escape with Akira, but they didn't make it out.
Sumire screamed when Sakamoto was jabbed straight in the stomach, his knees locking and slamming straight to the floor.
Sumire winced at the scene in front of her, nervously tugging on her sleeves. It wasn't pretty after that either. The boy in front of Sumire and Akira was helplessly beaten right in front of their eyes.
She wished she could do something about this, but she knew that there was nothing she could do. She felt even more hopeless than the ones actually being attacked by the residents of the castle.
"Hmph. Where'd all your energy from earlier go?" Kamoshida snarled at the blonde-haired boy after spitting on his face. The boy was bruised and battered, trying to use his legs to push himself away. It didn't do much as one of the guards picked him up by his collar and tossed him onto the hard stone flooring.
He let out a pained gasp and grit his teeth. He didn't even have enough strength to curl in on himself from the pain. Kamoshida stepped close to Sakamoto's body and hissed out to him. "A peasant like you isn't worth beating. I'll have you killed right now."
Akira grit his teeth, trying to push by the wall of guards. He shouted at the man with fury, "What are you doing?!"
Kamoshida turned his face over to Akira and grinned at him, getting closer and closer to his face as he taunted him. "Hm? What? Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am."
Akira kept a stern expression in front of the man. Kamoshida looked more pissed off than ever. "That look in your eye irritates me…!"
Akira grunted as his back hit the wall from Kamoshida's feet digging into his stomach and sending him flying. Sumire gasped out, feeling a slight tinge on her belly. Before Akira could regain his composure, Kamoshida shouted out an order, "Hold him there! After the peasant, it's his turn to die."
Sumire looked in fear and anxiety as Akira tried running out, gasping out when large and cold hands slammed him back onto the wall. He thrashed and grunted, but nothing worked. Sumire… She couldn't do anything but watch.
As Kamoshida laughed and the boy begged for his life, Akira grit his teeth. A voice, voices. They were telling him that this was unjust and unfair…
"What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch?" Akira's eyes widened and looked over at Sumire. She wasn't speaking. Of course she wasn't; this was a masculine voice! But he still didn't know where it was coming from.
"D-did you hear something?" Sumire asked him. Akira realized that she was hearing it also. It made him feel even more confused. This voice, this voice filled with confidence was speaking to them. "Are you forsaking them to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing, as well as loneliness to the other."
"Were your previous decisions a mistake then?"
"No… No it wasn't…" He gritted out, staring over at the scene in front of him. He didn't want to feel helpless, he didn't want to see that terrified and startled expression on Sumire's face—!
"Very well, I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me!" The voice commanded him. Akira started shaking and twisting his body to get out of the guard's grasp. Escape. Save them. That was the only thing he was thinking of.
"I am thou, thou art I…"
Pain stabbed him straight through the head, and Sumire felt the effects of it also. Her hands went up to her head and she dug her fingers into her hair, hissing out in pain. It wasn't as bad as Akira's, but it still felt like needles were piercing into every pore in her body.
"Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for the sake of thine own justice!"
"Call upon my name, and release thy rage!"
Akira screams out in agony, feeling nothing but piercing heat spread through his body. Hot and cold— He didn't know what this feeling was. Sumire cried out, wrapping her arms around her body, her legs dropping onto the floor.
"Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!"
Akira brought his head up, and glared at Shadow Kamoshida. Drool dribbled down his lip and chin, pinpointed straight onto the man. Kamoshida grinned as he pointed his finger with all of his might, commanding his guards.
"Execute him!"
"That's enough!"
Kamoshida slowly turned his head back to look at the burning glare of Akira. "What was that…?" The man questioned. The guard holding Sakamoto up by the neck let go of him. Sakamoto cried out when his body flopped onto the floor like a ragdoll.
"You desire to be killed that much…? Fine!"
Akira saw Kamoshida gesture to a guard and before he could even react, he felt something smash against his face. Akira's glasses shattered, falling onto the floor in a crooked mess. Sumire covered her mouth with her hands and gasped. "Akira!"
He's forced up onto the wall, two spears crossing against his neck. His eyes are clamped shut, and air of dread surrounding Sumire. No… this couldn't be it…!
And it wasn't.
Sumire looked to Akira, who had a mysterious mask on his face. She had a feeling she wouldn't be the only one of the two with supernatural abilities soon, but most importantly, she was glad he was safe.
She didn't know how, but despite it not being hers, she felt that surge of power flow through her veins. She clenched her fists as she watched Akira reach up to his face and tear it off. Blood splattered against the ground and painted his face. When he opened his eyes, they were scarily yellow, just like Kamoshida's.
He was engulfed in blue flames, a menacing red grin replacing his face as it seeped off of him, revealing a new outfit. Sumire whistled at the look, a grey tailcoat flowing behind him. Golden buttons decorated his waistcoat underneath, gleaming from the fire surrounding him. Akira was petrifying, freezing Kamoshida as he whimpered. Chains wrapped around his body and quick swish of his hands sent everyone clattering.
Behind Akira was a tall figure clad in a black and red suit, golden chains and buttons falling from his outfit. Horns protruded from his "face" and his claws flexed in front of him. A large top hat was set on top his head and it didn't match with his evil grin. Sakamoto looked up with wide eyes, setting his eyes on the creature behind Akira.
"Wha… What the…?"
The mysterious demon laughed. "I am the pillager of twilight— 'Arsène'!"
Arsène flexed their wings out and hovered over all of them. Sumire could only look at the demon with sparkling eyes.
"I am the rebel's soul that resides within you. If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."
Akira immediately requested his power. He watched as the guards Kamoshida sent after him turned from a suit of armor to a few pumpkins with lanterns in their hand.
Akira didn't know what he was doing, basing everything off of instinct. He raised a hand to his face and called out a random word that came to mind.
"Eiha!" Akira cried out, trying to make use of his limited space in this cell. Something was boiling underneath one of the creatures before it reached out and engulfed it in a mixture of red and black. It screamed out in agony and was dusted away. The other creature was not happy.
It jumped in close, flashing in front of Akira's eyes. Akira quickly kicked up his left leg and slammed it straight into the wall. A huge cracked dent formed in the place the creature slammed into. It yelped out on impact before slumping and fading away. Akira was breathing heavily. This surge of power felt invigorating and refreshing… He felt like a new person.
Kamoshida disliked this, but Sakamoto took his revenge by butting his shoulder into the man as they made their escape outside of the cell.
"What… What was that?" Sumire asked him when Akira's clothing shifted back to normal, glasses propped up neatly on his face.
"I have no idea…!"
"You bastards!" Kamoshida boomed. Sakamoto yelped in shock. They immediately started fleeing from the cell in fear of getting caught by more guards. As they started running, Sakamoto questioned him, "No idea about what? Anyways, let's just scram—!"
Akira cleared his throat and began running at a faster pace. He heard a loud plop into the water and it was most likely they were keys that Sakamoto had picked up. He panted and kept up with Akira's pace easily.
"Forget it, you didn't see any of that," Akira muttered out, his fists clenched as his feet tapped against the damp and wet flooring. Sakamoto followed behind and kept talking to him about it.
"Oh I saw that all right! That was awesome! What in the world was that?!"
Sumire hummed, easily following alongside them as they were met with a dead end. The only way to cross was by jumping over the raging stream of water. "So he saw that— what did he call it? 'Arsène'? So he saw this 'Arsène' thing but not me? This just keeps getting stranger…"
She didn't have to worry about the jumps across the moat since she could float, but she was a little worried when the boy named Sakamoto almost fell off of a crate one time.
They kept hidden from the hordes of guards looking for them, their breathing stilling behind wooden crates. They peered out and got a look of them.
"There's two of them over there. You need to leave as soon as you can!" Sumire instructed him. Akira nodded and bolted for the stairs next to them with Sakamoto in tow only to realize that this wasn't the exit. But they did find something more amazing than an exit.
"…Hey, you there. Blondie! Frizzy Hair! Look over here!"
They turned their head over to the cell next to them and spotted a… feline? It was bipedal and it had a belt wrapped around its waist. It also had a yellow handkerchief around its neck.
"What is this thing?!" Sakamoto exclaimed. Sumire phased into the cell and peered around the cat creature before heading back to Akira's side.
"I… This is so odd…!" She whispered out. The strange creature whimpered to them, its paws wrapping around the cell bars.
"You're not soldiers of this castle, right?! Get me out of here! Look, they key's right there!" The creature pointed to the left of himself, and the thieves looked to their right to see a rusted key.
"We're trying to get the hell out of here! I mean, you obviously look like an enemy too!"
"I'm locked up here, so how can I be your enemy?! Help me out! If you aren't going to do that, then at least block that torch, Frizzy Hair!" The cat complained to him, rubbing his eyes and turning his face away from the place Sumire was standing. "My eyes hurt…!"
"…There's no torch here…?" Akira was confused. Torch? What torch?
"There isn't a torch? Huh, I guess there isn't… Wait, but then where's the photobleaching coming from?" The cat asked. Sakamoto pursed his lips and looked at him with confusion and alarm.
"Photowhating? Is this a lie so we can get you outta here?!"
"It's called photobleaching. It's like a light effect that stays in your eyes for a bit if you stare at something bright," Akira explained to him.
"Well— that makes about as much sense as this cat thing!"
"I am NOT a cat!" The creature hissed through the bars. Sakamoto leaned his face closer down to its level.
"Sure does look like a cat to me…" Sakamoto growled. Sakamoto's anger came to a halt when they heard stomping behind them. He quickly pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his apps to see if any of them worked.
"Shit, there's still no service. Ain't there any way to contact someone outside?!" Akira looked at his own phone, holding the same results as Sakamoto.
"We better hurry, Akira…! I think they're catching up!" Sumire uttered nervously.
"I'm not a cat, my name is Morgana! Look! I know where the exit is! If you let me out, I'll take you there! You don't want to get caught and executed, right?" Morgana tried to persuade them. Akira huffed out and trailed his eye across the key.
"Can you really help us? You better not be lying…"
"I'm not lying. I never go back on my word, just please let me out!" It pleaded with Akira. He heard the footsteps getting closer and Sumire urged him on. "Just get him out!"
Akira groaned and it slowly progressed into a yell as he quickly snatched it into his hands and unlocked the door. Morgana walked out of the caged listlessly and stretched its body parts.
Sakamoto quickly yelled at it to hurry it up or it'd be shoved back in the cage. The creature's fur bristled and he quickly showed them how to put down the drawbridge. Akira put his hand inside the mouth of Kamoshida's statue and pushed it down, and the wooden bridge came toppling down.
"How were we supposed to know to do that?!" Sakamoto complained to the creature. Morgana crossed his arms and quickly jumped onto the bridge.
"Hmph, amateur. Come on, let's keep going!"
"This Morgana is pretty interesting, don't you think?" Sumire questioned. Akira whispered out an answer to her as they crossed, "They're a lot more than interesting at this point…"
They ran to the other side, but Sakamoto tripped on himself and cussed in fear, scooting himself backwards. "AAAH! Shit… Shit, it's them!"
Akira's clothes disappeared in a blue flicker and what reappeared were the clothes that surrounded him from when they escaped Kamoshida.
"Tch… You amateur!"
Morgana jumped off of Sakamoto's shoulder and stood up to the guard with a slightly annoyed face. "Stay still!" He turned his head to Akira, who had just realized his clothes had turned. "Hey, you! You could fight, right? Let's go!"
Morgana flicked his ears and puffed his chest out as he screamed out.
"Come, Zorro!"
Sakamoto screeched in the background as a buff and tall figure appeared with a sword in its hand. It had a belt wrapped around it's waist with the letter Z on it, a cape flying behind its masculine body. Morgana stamped his feet in the ground and gave a toothy grin when Sakamoto stammered out.
"Y-you got one of those things too?!"
Sumire was confused too. "Then why can't he see me? This just keeps getting weirder."
Akira rushed next to Morgana and instinctively put a hand up to his mask. Sumire swallowed her saliva as she watched the guard split into weird mush.
"Hmph, we will promptly shut them up!"
Akira clenched his teeth and threw off his mask and stared at the two demons floating in front of him. It was one of those pumpkin things from earlier and a demon with a concerning form.
"Come, Arsène!"
Sumire frowned when she saw both of them with their magical demons behind them. "So Morgana has one also, but they can't see me? What do those things have that I don't?"
Akira launches a blast of swirling chaos over to the demon, torching it up in injuries. Morgana smirked at him.
"Hmph, I knew you were an amateur." Morgana smiled, pulling out an obscenely large sword compared to its height. "This is how you fight!"
"Zorro!" Morgana calls out. Zorro(?) appears behind Morgana and zips his sword out, swinging it back and forth to form a Z. Sending a burst of wind flying at the pumpkin creature, knocking it straight onto the ground. It tumbled against the flooring as Morgana smirked.
"Strike an enemy's weakness to knock them down! Use that opening to strike again!" Morgana yelled to Akira. Morgana quickly started running over to his next target with his blade. "That's the basic of basics! Remember it well!"
Morgana sliced straight through the pumpkin and watched as the demon flew straight towards Morgana, its foot extended. They kicked right past Morgana and buried their foot into the concrete next to him, missing their attack. The demon grunted out in surprise and Morgana lifted his eyebrows up, his eyes widening in shock before concentrating again.
"Your turn, Frizzy Hair!" Morgana called out. Akira outstretched his knife and bolted towards the demon. It dodged the first swipe of his knife and retaliated with a swing of his foot, spinning it's entire body around to gain momentum.
"Agh—!" Akira quickly held the blade of his knife out and parried the long claws coming straight for his throat. He felt his knees shake from how strong the demon pushed his shoes against the ground; his heels had scraped backwards against the concrete.
He grit his teeth and grunted, tensing his arms to boost the demon away from him. His grip strengthened on his knife and he was blindingly fast, diving his knife straight into the Shadow. He breathed heavily when it faded into black dust and floated away into the air.
"Well, I guess that's one thing. I can't exactly shoot out gusts of wind or… whatever Arsène seems to be doing." Sumire hummed. "I don't understand it…"
"That was weird," Morgana spoke to them, "they're usually a lot more focused when they attack. They were slacking that time. Huh… Anyways, your Persona is pretty powerful."
"Persona? Y'mean that thing that comes outta you guys all dramatic-like?" Sakamoto asked after pulling himself off of the floor.
"Yes. You saw how Frizzy Hair here ripped off his mask when he summoned it, right? Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that…"
Akira gasped and shuddered at the warm feeling trailing down his back, seeing the flash of blue before it disappeared in the blink of an eye. His school uniform replaced the costume he just had on.
"Huh? He turned back to normal…" Sakamoto uttered.
"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet. The transformation shouldn't normally dissolve like that. After all—"
"Rrgh, that's enough!" Sakamoto scratched the back of his neck with a snarl on his face. "This crap doesn't make any sense!"
"Can't you just sit still and listen for once, Blondie?!" Morgana yelled at him. Sakamoto grit his teeth and spat back at him. Sumire laughed nervously at the interaction in front of her.
"Don't call me Blondie! My name's Ryuji…"
"Actually, there's no time for me to lecture you!" Morgana shook his head and groaned. "You wanna escape this place in one piece, right? Let's go! Oh, but before that— take these. Use them carefully, okay?"
"…Medicine? I guess it'll help you out." Sumire told him.
"Thanks, Morgana…" Akira said, taking the packets and shoving it into his bag. Morgana smirked. "Come on, we should hurry. It's not much farther to the exit."
Akira didn't know much he ran through the castle, but he did. Sumire was glad she didn't get exhausted from walking around, and the sound of rushing water got further and further from them.
"Hold on a sec!" Ryuji called out right before they crossed the bridge. Akira skidded to a stop and turned to look behind him. Ryuji was staring at a cell with a male inside, wearing a white and red shirt with matching pants.
"Huh, what is it?" Akira asked. Ryuji bit his lip and walked closer to the cage. The boy was sprawled out on the floor, completely unconscious. "I feel like I've seen what this dude's wearin' before… Agghhh, dammit! I'm too flustered! I can't remember anything right now!"
"Come on, let's go!" Morgana urged them on. Ryuji turned over to Morgana and yelled at him, "Hold on, dammit!"
"What is it? We need to go, fast!"
"But, egh, who are these guys?"
"Do you really think you have time to worry about other people right now?! Besides, they're—"
"There!" Morgana was interrupted, the bridge in front of them pouring down. A guard hobbled onto it and stood there menacingly.
"You should've listened to me…!" Morgana hissed to Ryuji impatiently.
"Let's hurry up and deal with it." Akira said, his clothes fluttering into his costume again. He hated the feeling of goosebumps trailing up his arms.
"I'm glad you stick to your guns." Morgana smiled at him; they both tensed when the guard split into an enemy. "Looks like it's raring to go too!"
Akira held a hand to his mask and let Arsène fly above him. Akira snapped his fingers and a ball came crashing down at the feet of one of the girls. They gasped in surprise, the look of utter fear painting their face before it consumed them, knocking them straight onto the floor. Akira quickly followed it up with another Eiha to the other girl, but she was expecting it.
The girl flew up high to avoid it and Akira grimaced when he missed it. Morgana chuckled at him and summoned his own Persona, his sword flying behind him. Show off… "Hahh! Amateur!"
Morgana let out a burst of wind at his feet, propelling him closer to the girl that avoided Akira's attack. She was about to scream, but Morgana cut it off quickly, summoning another gust of wind to do his bidding. It shot the girl straight down to the ground, breaking the floor underneath. Morgana quickly took the upper hand and stabbed it straight through the girl, their form disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"Go on, Frizzy Hair!"
"Give her a sucker punch! A left hook!" Sumire cheered him on. Akira whisper-yelled to her with gritted teeth, "Sumire…!"
Akira was already charging in and slammed the last creature with his foot straight into the floor. It turned into dust and was washed away by the wind.
"What, you don't like the moral support?" Sumire asked him. Akira turned his head away from Sumire's direction and she gasped in fake offense. "Rude! I'm the best cheerleader!"
Akira snorted as his outfit turned back to normal as soon as the fight was over. He was thankful nobody noticed it. "All right! Let's get away before more show up!" Morgana told the two of them.
"Go, go, go! I hear more coming through!" Sumire yelled at Akira.
"Hold on, we can't just leave these guys here!" Ryuji fought back, still set on saving the people trapped in cages. Morgana shook his head, "You really don't get it, do you? Hrrughh… There's no time to explain. Look, I'm going. If you don't want to follow, be my guest!"
Ryuji followed reluctantly.
They arrived at the main area with checkered flooring. It looked to be the same place that they had originally entered in from before guards
"We're here!" Morgana told them. Ryuji panted and brushed away his sweat with his hand. "Finally! we're saved!"
Ryuji tried opening one of the doors, but it didn't budge. Ryuji's eyes widened and he tried again, twisting the doorknob and pushing his shoulder against it.
"…It's not openin'! D'you trick us, you jerk?!"
"Don't jump to conclusions! Over here!" Morgana jumped and waved his arms. He ran through a door and Ryuji stuttered.
"H-hey, wait up!"
Sumire breathed out and went through the wall, following the three inside of the room. "We're really close to the outside. There's this vent here!"
"Where are we supposed to get out from here?! There aren't even any windows!"
"Ugh, amateur…" Morgana rolled his eyes. "This is the most basic of basics."
"A ventilation shaft, I'm assuming?" Akira pointed over to the ventilation, reiterating the same information that Sumire had given him.
"That's right! As I thought, you're a natural at this. It leads all the way outside." Morgana praised him. Akira laughed nervously and Sumire puffed her cheeks in envy from taking his credit.
"Haha… yeah…" Akira coughed, looking away from Sumire's prying gaze.
Ryuji rolled his arm back, stretching the muscle out. "I see… Then we just gotta get that metallic mesh off!"
Ryuji backed to the edge of the door and started running. "And a one, and a—"
He jumped up, his finger latching onto the frame. He felt it pull down, but he yelped and fell down. "Whoa—!"
"Owww…. Aw crap! The enemy didn't hear us, did they?" Ryuji groaned out while pushing himself off of the ground and rubbing his lower back. Sumire quickly phased through the wall and came back in with a thumbs up. "Seriously, we're finally gettin' outta here!"
"You should wait on celebrating until you actually get out. Now get going!" Morgana told them.
"But… what about you?"
"There's something that I still have to do," Morgana explained to Ryuji. "We're going our separate ways."
"Don't get caught again." Akira chided to Morgana. Morgana hissed at him.
"I'm not an amateur, unlike you guys. Be careful on your way out."
Akira smiled and watched as Ryuji made the first leap. Akira used the shelves like steps and crawled into the vent. Sumire was thankful that she didn't have to go through the vent because it looked extremely uncomfortable.
Sumire stayed behind to make sure Morgana went along okay, but she overheard Morgana's words. A grin was on his face as the two of them were climbing through.
"Those two seem useful… Especially the frizzy-haired one, if my judgment's right…"
Sumire frowned and thought to herself. "What are you thinking, kitty?" Before going through the wall to meet with Akira and Ryuji.
"Hhaah… Hahhh… Did we make it?" Ryuji grunted. Akira looked around him and wiped the sweat off of his brow. It seemed… normal. It was sunny, with people walking along the stone brick flooring. They were the only odd ones out right now.
They looked up to the sky and sighed, a human-like yet mechanical voice ringing in their ears.
"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."
