This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.
The King And His Men Stole The Queen From Her Bed
And Bound Her In Her Bones
The Sea Be Ours, And By The Powers
Where We Will, We'll Roam
7/13 Monday
Lunch
The 'shack', at least, was blissfully quiet. Shukiji didn't normally choose such an isolated place to have lunch, but today had been... strange.
It wasn't hard for him to deduce why. Deductions were his specialty.
It had been happening ever since his talk with Noel a week ago. Somehow, everyone's words seemed just a tiny little bit louder, a little bit more annoying, as if they were tailor designed to rub him the wrong way.
It was enough to make him ponder if memory wasn't the only thing that was stronger in him than other people. Maybe his sense of hearing was also just a little bit more acute than everyone else's. Maybe that was why he'd tried going to the cafeteria before his eardrums were assaulted by a flood of raw, random, chaotic noise even louder than what he'd come to expect that only faded when he decided to leave and eat somewhere else.
Talk, talk, talk, and more talk. Talk about buying clothes, buying games, buying cosmetics, buying new smartphones... about relationships both personal and online, about how annoying their parents were, about plans for the upcoming summer break...
And sometimes, if he listened very closely, he might hear some talk about the exams. Usually negative, naturally.
The wave of endless, meaningless, imbecilic jabber had overwhelmed his faculties, and he'd found himself retreating to the shack before he realized it. Though the place was run-down, unfinished, damp, moldy, and still tainted by the memory of the last time he'd been in here, at least it was quiet. He could eat and think in peace.
This anger is not merely because of them, he reasoned calmly. It is because of Tsuruga and her friends. Because Vitienne now trusts her more than he does me, and is willing to collaborate with her lies, refusing to share the truth. They won't answer the question that burns at me.
Noel Vitienne and Ayano Furusato, the only friends he'd ever had, were both gone to him. And the person who was most responsible for him losing the former refused to share with him the truth about the latter. What really happened to Furusato? Did she truly drown herself?
True, that was the simplest explanation and thus most likely the correct one... but he wanted to believe that she, of all people, was better than that. That she might at least try to reach out to her family, or to the two boys who had been her friends for years, instead of yielding to that coward's impulse. She kissed Vitienne once. I was there to see it. Yet she wasn't willing to share this with him, or me.
That itself was another irritatingly uncrackable mystery for him. There is no knowledge in this world I shouldn't have. Furusato had been a high-strung girl, often saddened by small things, but unlike the two of them she had a stable family, no major traumas that he had learned of. His analytical eyes had determined that Ayano was perhaps a bit more vulnerable to diseases than average and thus took medication regularly, had been regularly practicing singing for at least three years, ate well, occasionally dyed her hair.
None of these things, or talking to her to confirm them, suggested anything approaching suicidal tendencies.
Pointless, another voice rose within him. Solving that mystery is an idle distraction. In the end, Furusato was just like all the girls her age. Emotional. Frail. Illogical. Useless. If she didn't respect you enough to share this with you, then she wasn't really a friend at all.
You are better off without her.
You are better off without either of those imbeciles.
He'd found that this inner voice was usually proven right. It's my curse to be the only student of my age at this school to realize this, to be driven more by logic than emotion.
For a moment he'd even entertained the idea that the new transfer student Aiko Tsuruga actually might be an exception to the rule, but he'd swiftly been proven wrong. How fortuitous that would have been, to finally meet someone who was my intellectual-
"NIYOGA!"
The barking noise drew his eyes open again, to its source. A bulky third-year student stood there, his uniform riddled with sweat and signs of ill use, black hair styled into a finely-spiked mane, cold brown eyes watching him.
Saito Hajitara, he processed. That one had been easy to read the first time he'd laid eyes on him. 'Haji' was one of Benihime Kujou's 'beauties', male students with an excess of hormonal aggression who joined the student council and were given license to bully and threaten others on her behalf.
"How very timely", Shukiji drawled, his heavy-lidded eyes flickering in a mixture of annoyance and boredom. "I was just hoping for a loud, annoying interruption to my lunch."
"So this is where you've been hiding!", the taller boy shouted, kicking aside one of the benches. "Trying to get away from me? I don't think so! It's time you pay!"
"Pay?" Finally, something he hadn't already predicted. "I make it a habit not to owe money to mentally-stunted monkeys."
"Shut up!", Haji bawled. "Kujou-san's GONE! She's off the council! Now we're stuck with that boring drip Tatsunoko!"
"Only two weeks behind on that news", he observed dryly. "Well done." It wasn't difficult to deduce what had happened. Kohru Tatsunoko had done as expected of him, and held a mandatory meeting for anyone on the SDC he'd suspected was allowed in just for their muscle and obedience. At that meeting, Tatsunoko would have no doubt made it clear in his usual velvet-gloved tone that such disgusting behavior wouldn't be allowed any more... which naturally would have made Haji and those like him very upset at the new standards.
"Ah, poor you. Having to actually perform your duties to the student body instead of being able to act like a thug for hire? Perhaps you should quit the committee now and save some time, as we all know you're not up to it."
Haji's already bloated face seemed to bulge out further with his anger, his pupils narrowing and lips thickening like a giant baby. "You did this. You leaked information to Tatsunoko!"
Such a foolish accusation didn't warrant much of a response. Instead, Shu took a moment to remember all the details he'd accumulated over Kohru Tatsunoko. A much more admirable one than most in his year, seemingly having inherited his older brother's military discipline from hundreds of miles away. He'd also been blessed with the chiseled good looks that made him the number one target for many in the female student body, which Shukiji had determined had now made him leery of such attention. The fact that he had taken so long to figure out that Kujou was doing the same with him suggested a low level of intuition bolstered by intense effort. A good match for the SDC, or at least better than his ex-girlfriend had been.
"Tatsunoko-san didn't require my services to learn that fact", he explained at last, briefly amused by the way Haji was simply standing there now, waiting for a response. "All he had to do was look around with his eyes."
"You could've stopped him", the tall boy accused. "It's your fault! You could've done what you did for those others, get them not to talk!"
He was of course referring to the scant handful of times that Benihime Kujou had offered him a trade, usually pertaining to a student she wanted silenced. All that required was a bit of information- never uncorroborated rumors, as he had too much self-respect for idle gossip mongering- about that student that Kujou could threaten to reveal.
"Yet she never requested my services", he pointed out, "furthermore, she had nothing to offer me that I was interested in. Not from her."
"It's your fault!"
Shukiji rolled his eyes. "That's the third time you've said that now. But let's be real, Hajitara. You can threaten me all you want, but we both know you'll never act on it."
That was why he didn't feel any apprehension, any fear about being towered over by this angry jilted ape nearly twice his height. "You, Hajitara, are a coward", he explained, icy calm. "You would only attack someone if you know you won't be punished for it. Hurting me will likely result in you being expelled by the principal, and your enrollment at this school is more precious to you than you own family... which is to say you don't value your family much at all. And who could blame you, considering the number of men your mother has 'entertained' over the-"
"Shut up!", the big man screamed. "Tell me! Tell me who ratted to Tatsunoko!"
Unimpressed, he shrugged. "Do you have anything of value to trade? Because I rather doubt it."
"Tell me and I won't beat you like you deserve!"
"And I believe I just explained why you won't do that. It's not in your programming. You-"
Something hot and heavy came crashing into his face out of nowhere, and suddenly he was feeling cool, dusty linoleum press against it.
Impossible. The thought popped into his head as soon as he was able to focus again. Could I have miscalculated with him? No. Impossible. I cannot be wrong. That was just a strike of desperation.
But Haji had looked desperate before. Not so much now. The act of hitting someone seemed to have rejuvenated him, and he cracked his bare knuckles threateningly, smirking.
"Well what do you know? Suddenly I feel better. What was I sayin'? Oh yeah. Tell me who ratted us out to Tatsunoko or I'll beat you some more."
Impossible. He'd estimated this perfectly. There was no possible way that Haji would endanger his enrollment at Koashimizu over something like this, especially during an exam week. It was all he had.
The arms took hold of his shoulders like miniature lifting cranes, hauling him up into the brick to choke him. Getting hazy... hard to focus... can't... talk...
But Haji didn't seem to care about that. Not really. It was enough to have an outlet for his stress.
"Kujou-san was the most beautiful, wonderful girl", he remarked. "She always said I was her favorite."
She says that to every boy on the student council, you ape-brained fool. It makes them think they have a chance to get with her, making them more easy to control.
"But now she's being forced to go, all 'cause of that bastard Tatsunoko? If you were any kind of decent, Niyoga, you'd help us take him down and get Kujou-san back where she belongs."
Finally, the man's grip relaxed. Enough for Shu to crack one eye open and gingerly speak.
"Kujou is where she belongs, Hajitara. In some high-class Tokyo academy where they have more respect for beautiful, voluptuous young airheads."
Haji snarled, tightening his grip again, but he didn't seem to have any kind of reply this time. More likely, he wasn't used to having his victims talk back this much, or this viciously. Usually they just cowered as he pounded them, not saying a word until he was done with them. Shukiji couldn't speak any more either.
The next words were from a far more familiar voice.
"Oi Hajitara, did ya get lost on the way to the cafeteria again?"
He dropped Shukiji like a sack of grain, nearly as painfully as when he'd throttled him, wheeling around to face the shack's new arrival. Jiachi Rosea stood in the brown wooden doorway,smilingly faintly, trying as usual to look as cool as possible and not quite succeeding in Shukiji's admittedly impaired opinion. A real show-off, that one was... but some time ago, his biggest blind spot- the mention of his Japanese name- had become a thing of the past, and his other worst excesses had been toned down as well.
Until now. "You guys look like you're havin' fun there", he remarked in false nonchalance as he toyed with his left ear. "Kinda loud though. Heard it from all the way over at the cliffside."
Hajitara wasn't any more impressed than Shu was, grimacing. "Butt out, Rosea. This doesn't concern a fag like you."
While Shukiji found the insult terribly predictable, he was also surprised to see a lack of visible anger from Julian, who was usually so easy to get a rise out of whenever someone took a jab at his masculinity. Instead he just shrugged lopsidedly. "Really? That the best ya got? Comin' from a guy no girl likes?"
"Kujou-san likes me."
"She said she likes you. She ever actually shown it?"
Still too dazed to move much, Shu could only observe and catalogue. Fortunately, that was what he excelled at. There wasn't much to read from Haji that he hadn't already seen, but Rosea seemed strangely eager to goad the larger boy into taking a swing at him, smirking back like he had some kind of secret weapon up his sleeve.
Or perhaps that's simply his usual habit of trying to look insufferably confident no matter what the situation, Shukiji considered.
Regardless, Haji had surprised him once but wasn't going to do it again, merely snickering back at Rosea. "Like you can talk. Everyone here knows Tsuruga's got you pussy-whipped. Least my girl's attractive, but you? You're not even a real man. So stop pretending."
A familiar blot of black rage crossed Jiachi's features, but only for a moment. "Depends on what you consider a man. Wanna test that theory?"
The jibe failed, and Haji simply stalked out of the shack past him. "Whatever, man. I can't stand being around this much pure loser. Later."
Satisfied, Rosea watched him go before doing a curious thing. He spoke, but not to Shukiji, or to anyone else that he could see. "No, leave him be. You got in enough trouble last time."
Approaching Shukiji, he didn't hesitate to take his arm over his shoulder. "Hey dude, you okay? Looks like that asshole really messed you up good. You're bleeding. I'll take ya to the nurse's office."
"What?" While he couldn't resist Rosea in this state, he wasn't quite willing to move his legs. "Why? Why are you helping me?"
Rosea made a rude noise. "Duh. You're a student of Koashimizu, same as me."
"But..."
"We're not friends, yeah", he admitted, slowly limping him towards the exit. "But I can't just ignore shit like that either."
"Yet you were goading him on? Foolish as ever, I see."
"Not really. I knew that he'd chicken out of a fair fight. Besides, I'd almost welcome the excuse. Been a while since I've been able to... well, y'know."
He didn't know. That was the frustrating part, the part which had driven a wedge between him and this group of people who called themselves Aiko Tsuruga's friends. That was nearly forgotten now though, eclipsed by the shocking realization that he'd miscalculated on Haji.
"I thought so too. I thought that the fear of expulsion would keep him at bay, now that no one will cover for him... but he attacked me anyway. I don't understand. It was... impossible. It was completely... illogical."
Rosea laughed. "Most people are illogical, Niyoga-san. I'm sure someone like you figured that much out already. When you're upset as Haji was, you do stupid stuff sometimes. Strong emotions beat logic in most people. I mean, he was blaming you even though you had like nothing to do with it."
"Or", Shu considered, "perhaps it's because he's seen me consorting with you and your friends. Yet, he never attacked any of you?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'd like to", Rosea snorted. "But y'see, that's the thing. He might not fear the school punishing him as much any more, but he still doesn't like the idea of a two on one. The school isn't so big that he can corner one of us in private and go to town on us. Not anymore. We learned that was effective back when people were still goin' after Sorano-chan and the captain. Alone, people like her can get singled out. I mean, isn't that why they don't come down as hard on Vitienne-san?"
It was an old fact, but one he was still just a bit proud of. It was easy to tell by his skin, hair and his awkward manner of speaking that Noel was a 'gaijin' from far away. But the SDC had never dared go after him as much as they had others, simply because too many of them were afraid of drawing the wrath of his only real friend, the fabled rumor king. The one who could release secret information about you to the public if you annoyed him too much.
I believe that Hajitara has now earned that punishment, he decided silently. He didn't do it often, but it could be done. Let everyone know his mother's sordid history, and perhaps his grades as well.
"See?", Rosea prompted him after seeing a slight smile on the short boy's lips. "You're human after all, protecting him like that when he had no one else. Good on you, man."
He fell silent as they entered the main hall leading to the nurse's office, steadfastly trying to ignore any words from passerby until they were at the door. Shukiji could feel the blood trickling down his nose but said nothing.
"Here's your stop", Rosea joked. "Later, I gotta get back for the next exam. I'm already late. Teacher's gonna flip."
"Rosea."
"Huh?"
He did not smile again, simply beholding his rescuer with eyes devoid of his usual perpetual analysis. "...Thank you. Thank you for your help. I... owe you some information."
Rosea merely shrugged. "Whatevs."
7/17 Friday
Evening
Staring into the spiral-marked door close to midnight, Benihime Kujou wondered for the hundredth time that day if she was making the right choice.
Too late now. Time to unmask. It was a comforting lie, something she could use to pretend there was no choice left. Aiko Tsuruga had pushed her to this extreme, and there was no going back. If by chance this resulted in her body being found stuffed in some dumpster by the cops, well... it was clear who was to blame for it.
Just the voice on the line had promised, four knocks made the door swing open without the expected creak. The stairway beyond showed clear signs of disuse, cobwebs above and below, grimy dust parting beneath her feet at every step downward into the darkness.
Back entrance, she reminded herself. Makes sense that it isn't cleaned. The normal patrons never see this part of the club, the basement. Only the ones who call, and ask for karma. Time to unmask.
But she wasn't even halfway down the stairs when she paused, hearing a voice and wondering if it was coming from before until she recognized it.
It was Tatsunoko, his square-jawed face rising from her memories. I think, if the stories are true, we owe Tsuruga-chan a favor.
Attacking her the way you have... I'm sorry, but that's just more proof that you aren't worthy to be on this council.
Continuing past him, onward down the stairs, she imagined the traitor's visage shattering into a thousand pieces, bothering her no more. You're a worthless, gullible fool, Tatsunoko. And you'll pay for it.
Ten more steps, and another voice, another memory came to her unbidden. This one was not nearly so kind, and yet its tone proved that even Shukiji Niyoga was capable of expressing concern for someone else:
One more bit of information, then; Continuing to cling to your foolish grudge against Tsuruga will only worsen your life.
She enjoyed smashing her way past the rumor king as well, imagining his smug face blasting apart and descending ten more steps.
"For years you spread false justice at Koashimizu", Reiha Hayato rasped, drawing nearly close enough to kiss. "Endlessly persecuting those whose only crime was being foreign exchange students, and gathering power to yourself."
Hayato... Hayato had been the one she'd always relied on. The one whose mere touch was enough to relax her... until Hayato had betrayed her like all the rest.
"No", Benihime snarled, refusing to stop. "My justice isn't false. It's the only real justice. Who else knows that better than me? I'm the only one who knows that justice must be served."
Reiha broke into pieces before her step. No other memories bothered her. Blessed silence. I'm free.
Beyond the door at the bottom of the stairs was a sight both encouraging and disturbing. The room's checkerboard floor and mirror walls were better-kept than the entryway, but the way the patterns were reflected off each other endlessly made her head hurt. More, it reminded her of a dream she'd once had. A bad one, that had also caused headaches.
You should run, the idea jumped into her head. Run back home and forget you ever came. Never tell dad. Never tell anyone what you almost did.
But...
What then? Leave Tosashimizu for Tokyo? No.
That would be a surrender. It would be a betrayal. A refusal to unmask.
It would mean letting Aiko Tsuruga win. For the rest of her life, she would have to live with that defeat. The look of triumph in those green eyes would haunt her forever after, waiting for her whenever sleep took her.
All of her last remaining doubts thus purged, she marched into the mirror room with her head arched high in purpose and in pride. Whatever awaited her here, it would meet the greatest, most beautiful Benihime Kujou, the queen of Koashimizu academy. Not even the noise of the fourth wall sliding shut threw off that composure.
"Interesting", the voice fluttered down to her from the ceiling. "Your emotions... Yes. I sense them. Your desire for vengeance is strong. Good."
"Good eye", Kujou remarked, giving up on trying to find the microphones. "You know why I've come. Why I called you. You promised that you would exact Karma on the one who wronged me."
"So we have", the host agreed. "Greetings, child. I am Lady Scorpio, current acting leader of the Masked-"
"Don't care."
"Excuse me?"
Trying not to laugh at the woman's indignation, Kujou folded her arms. "You heard me, old woman. I don't care who you are. All that matters is your offer. Just get on with whatever has to be done, okay?"
It was Lady Scorpio's turn to sound amused, more now than she was offended. "...As you wish, Benihime Kujou. Your test awaits."
Another wall slid aside to reveal a grand hall shrouded in darkness and dust. Up on the table, a spartan black box waited, fortified with locks that were already in the process of sliding themselves open.
Kujou smiled, drawing closer. Whatever this was, it had turned out to be much more interesting than she had imagined last night, when she'd made her decision and made the call. "I did just ace a week of exams, you know. This'll be the same. Bring out your test." Time to unmask.
With the lid open, trapped mist flowed out to cover the entire room, hitting her nostrils like an invisible hammer before they got used to the change in air, more of it pouring out of wall-mounted vents to reduce the visibility to something like a sauna.
Far more concerning was the amorphous black puddle sliding its way out of the box and onto the table, a mouthless form thrashing about wildly before focusing in on the other other being in the room.
Kujou stared at the 'test', revolted and wide-eyed, mind trying to decipher what exactly she was seeing. "I swear, if you just filled this room up with some kind of crazy hallucinogen..."
"What you see before you is very real, child. That being is called a 'Shadow'. Your test... is to kill it. Before it kills you."
Turning back to it, she considered the disgusting puddle, re-finding the resolve that had brought her here. "Gladly."
It was only after this boast that she realized that might be more difficult than she expected. She had brought no weapons with her, and punching or kicking the thing both sounded like unattractive options. Running across the room to try and grab the box revealed that it was far heavier than expected- the most she might be able to manage would be to tip it over.
She was eyeing the chairs around the table when the dark puddle moved, soggy black tendrils reaching out to grab her by the arm. "Ewww!", she screamed, instinctively shaking it free. "Get away!"
But that only seemed to encourage the creature as it came on, drawn by the noise. The shapeless black ooze spread around to prevent her escape until she brought a chair crashing down into the center of it. Even that had been heavy to lift but not impossible, not when she could practically taste the adrenaline born of fear running through her system.
Not when there were so many deserving targets she could pretend the blob was.
"There!", she claimed in triumph. "I did it. I killed the Shadow blob... whatever that thing was. Now, let's talk about what you're going to do to Tsuru-"
Mocking noblewoman's laughter from Lady Scorpio cut her celebration short. "So hasty! You're mistaken, child. You haven't killed it yet. You've merely forced it to discard its mask. Look."
She did. The puddle wasn't dead, but shaking with even more wild energy as she backed away in horror, seeing it inflate. Once she was clear, it seemed to explode outwards, surging up until some being it had held within, somehow larger than the puddle itself, stood free.
The Shadow's new form towered far above any human, a stocky, muscular build of deathly-gray flesh riddled with tiny needles jutting out, curved like a bodybuilder's yet clearly desiccated as though it had been dead for a long time. While a thick white wrap of cloth concealed the enormous man's nether regions, the rest of him lay exposed, bulging pectorals and all. His head bore an ornate tiara of cleaner pearl white, edged with spikes and serrated blades making it dangerous to even approach. She saw how some of those same blades actually dug into the man's scalp, making it impossible to remove, though he didn't seem to be in any kind of pain from the needles in his skin or the tiara's spikes. A pleated gray beard set beneath a cruel, red-eyed expression and sharp nose completed the effect.
It was completely unlike any being she had ever seen in her life, even in dreams or nightmares... but she didn't have to watch for very long to know the creature's intentions.
What do I have to lose?
How about my life? How about my sanity?
"So", it spoke in a haughty classical English drawl, "this wench is to be my sacrifice? My ticket to freedom from this wretched world? Hardly befitting a ruler of my stature, but if it must be done..."
It's just a guy, her brain shrieked madly at her, desperately trying to make sense out of what she was seeing and feeling. Just a really big, muscly sumo wrestler guy who painted his skin all gray... and is wearing a really, really painful-looking crown.
"That's, um... a really neat costume!", she remarked, backing away regardless. "How'd you manage to get all that into the box? Is there a trap door?"
And if there is, can I use it to escape from this madhouse?
The man's eyes flashed dangerously. "You mock me, peasant? Very well that you should perish in mockery! Eiha!"
The giant stretched one palm out wide, releasing something Benihime couldn't grasp, an unidentifiable stream of black and red energy that made its purpose clear as soon as it struck her, firing pain through every nerve until her throat hurt from the scream.
"Ah! What the hell are you doing?!"
The gray king snorted, the needles apparently not impairing him at all as he approached. "Foolish wench, do you not recognize death when you see it?"
The voice of Lady Scorpio was a bit more instructive, if no less alarming. "You must suspend your disbelief, Benihime Kujou. This creature is a Shadow from another world. Unlike most humans, it has no qualms about killing you where you stand."
"WHAT THE HELL IS A DAMNED SHADOW?!", she shrieked back. "And how am I supposed to kill it?! This isn't fair!"
She tried anyway, lifting and throwing another chair, but the Shadow cast it aside with one mighty arm to smash into a wall. He raised his hand for another blast of the strange black energy which she was able to see coming and dodge by jumping away, but then he was practically on top of her, burly hands reaching down to grab her in a vice of steel.
"Far too easy", he remarked in disdain. "Were you death not required, I might be willing to take you on as a handmaiden... alas, t'was not to be."
Then there was the pressure, an irresistable crushing sensation as the hand around her midsection that threatened to break every rib, more pain than she'd ever felt in her life until all sound and sensation was blotted out by it, even the sensation of her own tears.
"This... ISN'T... FAIR!", she protested. Oh my god. This is really happening. This is real. I'm actually really going to die here. "Oh God! Please, help me! It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!"
"The world is not fair, Benihime Kujou", Scorpio's voice sounded grave, disappointed. "I had thought you would at least grasp that much in your admittedly limited time on this Earth."
"SCREW YOU!", she snarled back, fighting not to black out. "You lure me here just to kill me?! You sick, psycho bi- AAAAH!"
"Hush now, wench", the Shadow chortled, his iron grip tightening. "Accept death in silent grace."
Screw silent grace was what she wanted to shout at him, but it hurt too much to speak any more, her vision narrowing into a sliver. Not fair. Not fair. This isn't what was supposed to happen. Not fair. This... This...
The giant's fist pressed down further, cutting into ribs... and stopped.
This...
I know...
This is all Tsuruga's fault.
She was sure of that. It made perfect sense, so perfect it chilled the pain out of her. By taking everything important away from her, by driving her to desperation, Tsuruga had sealed her enemy's fate. Evil. Evil, just like dad said. Unmask.
This evil, corruption-filled world... it hates me.
Tatsunoko hates me.
Hayato hates me.
Sonoka hates me.
Toriume hates me.
Niyoga hates me.
Tsuruga definitely hates me.
They all hate me. If they hadn't, then they wouldn't have done all this to me.
If she tried, and strained her ears, she could even hear their mocking laughter behind her back.
And the way she was now, in so much pain that she could no longer sense anything else, she could finally hear the answer, the voice rising up from within that she had never had cause to listen to before, save now when all else was useless.
There's only one thing that you can do when entire world hates you for being what you are.
Hate it back.
So she did.
It was easy.
She hated the world. Hated its pretensions of vastness, its unfairness, its worthless structures that pretended to be important, its masses of indolent, bleating, mindless sheep that were for some inexplicable reason given the same rights as her, a queen. Theatre. All of it, just theatre. Cheap theatre. Making us all pretend. Pretend to respect people who deserve none at all. Pretend not to hate.
Not to hate Tatsunoko.
Hate Hayato.
Hate Sonoka.
Hate Nikaido.
Hate Niyoga.
Hate... Tsuruga.
A red-stained vision of her father, Daisuke, popped into her head.
She hated him, too.
He was a liar, a trickster, a fraud. He made a living tricking idiots into giving him money. He'd made her believe that he could do anything for the one he claimed to love, yet he'd failed her completely when it really counted.
She could taste the blazing hate on her lips, a far more invigorating taste than the adrenaline born of fear. This sensation was more than simple fear of death, though it had been started by it. It burned down the image of Daisuke Kujou, leaving it nothing but smoldering ashes. Useless. He's useless. Weak. Just another actor. For all his efforts to unmask this world's cast, he's caught up in it too.
What of you, then?, the voice from within asked. What will you do? Will you die here as expected, or become what you can be?
No. I will not die. The show's over. I see beneath the actor's guises now. I was no better... until now.
No more. Let us put an end to this charade, and let all know what we should be. What we are.
Hate
Hate is our strength
"The hour... is at hand!", she cried out into the darkness, eyes welded shut with the lingering pain, the voice at first a whisper before growing into a tormented, mad scream that filled up the room, the basement and beyond. "Midnight! MIDNIGHT! Unmask! UNMASK! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH-"
Miles away, Aiko Tsuruga woke up, senses probing frantically before realizing that she was in fact, still beneath the comfy sheets of her dorm room bed. The room was completely dark of course, but she could tell without having to turn on a light, just as the Velvet room's own strange, mournful atmosphere had become so innately familiar to her.
Unmask. The word, the concept had come to her mind unbidden, without any reason as to why, yet driving into her head so hard that felt like something had smacked into it.
Without any further context, she couldn't tell what exactly it meant, or if it was just a random firing of synapses. Need to talk to Mr. Ishinagi more. Recent successes hadn't relaxed her concerns over what kind of effects long-term exposure to Faraway Lands might have on a mind that was still growing. Of course, not being able to tell him the real truth about that world probably hindered him a bit, yet he managed to come across like someone who knew exactly what she was talking about without needing details.
It made him kind of creepy, if she had to be honest.
But surely this wasn't cause for concern. Sometimes, random words just popped into your head. Didn't they?
Aiko sat up out of bed, throwing the sheets clear. Mira was still sleeping in her bed across the room. Whatever this strange disturbance was, it hadn't been enough to wake her. Even in the darkness, the dorm room felt familiar enough to be a comfort. In just four months, it had become more of a home to her than any other place. It was where she always wanted to wake up.
Gradually, the room had transformed from a simple room into an actual home. A home that bore food, television, clothes, comforting scents, structures and sights, and now this strange surge had forced its way into that home, disturbing its tranquility. Amazed at how much that fact upset her, she sniffed the air for more signs and found none.
Unmask, the word had said. It wasn't a command, at least one not directed at her. More alarming had been the way it felt, still smoking as if it had blasted straight out of an oven.
No, she remembered now. It wasn't that, not exactly. It wasn't heat.
It was hate.
There was nothing to be done about it, she decided. If this had just been caused by a random person being angry... then she would probably be hearing about it before long.
There was nothing to do for now but to go back to sleep, and hope nothing else arose to trouble her peaceful dreams on this night.
Flinching wildly, Akira Kurusu stared into the metal railing he'd nearly smacked into, leaping forward from the sudden pain. In it, the distant lights of Tosashimizu city harbor were just enough to create a mottled reflection for him to look at.
"The hell", he whispered to no one.
It was something deeper than mere pain, he recognized. That, he'd experienced more than enough of after spending weeks in the hospital recovering from a hip injury. This felt more like a temporary headache, and yet...
"Nervous?", an older man beside him asked. "Best settle down, young man. It's going to be a long night."
"I know", he acknowledged calmly, trying not to show how that brief flash had rattled him. "Sorry if I woke you."
Indeed, it looked like at least half of the passengers scattered across the ship were trying to do exactly that, napping in their chairs in lieu of separate quarters, which was surprisingly easy to do in the night air with the relaxing noise of the waves. Once they got back to the mainland, it would be a multi-hour bus ride to get all the way back to his apartment. He might have gone with the day trip tomorrow, but with Makoto's place in Tosashimizu no longer available and his hotel reservation expired he had no choice but to leave now.
"Worried?", another voice, one only he would comprehend, came to him from his pack. "Don't be. I've been watching those kids. There's no way I would have been willing to leave if I didn't think they had what it takes."
Knowing from experience how strange it looked for him to be speaking to a cat, he left his seat for the outer rail where the moonlit bay water was coasting by them. They were now in the midpoint of the trip, far enough away from Tosashimizu that its lights no longer interfered with the natural beauty around them, and not yet close enough to the receiving wharf.
"More like you didn't want to go back to the life of a stray", he teased Morgana before his face re-hardened. "Did you feel that just now?"
"You felt it too? Impressive. It was so brief that I wasn't completely sure about it myself until now."
"What was it?"
"Difficult to say. It felt kind of like an Awakening, but... I don't know. I was there for all the other's Awakenings, and while there was a lot of anger in most of them, this one... it felt different. Like a command, 'Unmask'. I think something's happened."
"Very helpful, Morgana", he pointed out. "Having second thoughts about leaving?"
"A few", his feline companion admitted. "But not enough to make me turn around now."
"You could, you know. You could just hide away somewhere on this ship until it heads back to Shikoku island."
"And live as a stray?"
He shrugged. "Didn't you do that for a few months when I was in juvie? You're not as spoiled as you try to make people think you are."
"I... that was different!"
He smiled out at the dark water. Years spent with Morgana at his side had taught him all about his idiosyncrasies, and how best to talk to him. Without Ryuji around to scorn, some of that coping mechanism had been turned to him, but it never had the same bite. They respected each other far too much for that.
"Once I'm caught up, how about we go visit Takamaki-san at her place? That always cheers you up."
"Lady Ann...", he heard Morgana quiver over his shoulder. "...Sounds good!"
"Might be a bit crowded", he teased. "I want to let everyone know what's been happening on this island. Not everyone will be able to do anything about it, but maybe some of them might..."
The cat gave an annoyed half-growl. "I know what you're doing. Trying to guilt me into staying behind. But you're wasting your time."
"Of course", he nodded in feign contrition. "I should've known better than to think that would work on you."
He'd already heard the things he needed to, the things he knew Morgana was too conceited to ever actually admit: I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything on my own. Pelagio would annoy me.
I'd miss you. I'd miss you all.
Even Ryuji.
Not that Morgana was ever one to cherish personal comfort over doing what was right. If that had ever been a habit of his, his time with the Phantom Thieves had cured him of it. More likely, he simply knew that him sticking around trying to help the Dream Voyagers would be meaningless at this point, especially in lieu of their vacation plans and their 'truce' with the Masked Circle.
"My master chose them to save the world from despair", he chirped hopefully. "I'll respect his decision, even if some of them are pretty strange."
"Yeah, 'cause we're so normal", Akira joked. Whatever that weird scream was just now, that 'Unmask'... They can handle it. I'm sure.
The world unfroze. Time resumed unhindered.
And Benihime Kujou screamed and screamed and screamed, her internal pain rapidly outpacing the external until she could contain it no longer, letting it burst forth into existence from the deepest prisons of her mind...
And she stood tall, unmasked, the red death holding sway over all that lived.
It began as a tingling in the Shadow's horrid, cracked fingertips, then quickly escalated to a numbness. As Kujou watched in fascination, the furrowed line carved its way into the flesh of the creature's wrist, collapsing inwards and becoming a complete severing of the hand that held her, falling back into a state of unformed darkness almost immediately and allowing her to step free.
The giant Shadow looked more confused than hurt, staring at its fresh bleeding stump for a moment before refocusing on its prey. "Peasant... you possess the power as well?!"
Benihime Kujou, the queen of Koashimizu, smiled back at the freak, cold as ice. She laughed and laughed without end, without knowing what was funny. It was as though everything bad that had happened over the last few months was gone, and she was back to being the rightful ruler of her realm. No...
"I'm not a peasant", she hissed, drinking in the creature's abject panic like the most soothing of tears. Teas spiked with adrenaline, driving her further on. "I'm a queen. You're a king in fantasy, but I'm a queen of reality. And a mere fantasy king... DOES NOT TOUCH A QUEEN WITHOUT PERMISSION!"
Despite her shrieking volume, the Shadow didn't seem impressed, dark fibers on the severed arm knitting themselves back together to regenerate its lost hand in mere seconds. "Pitiful lost soul... if you are a queen, then where are your servants?"
"My servants were taken from me", the smile faded momentarily, giving way to bitter rage beneath. The rage which had brought her here, and shattered her mask. "As was my realm, stolen away by an upstart pauper! But there's something that can NEVER be taken away from a true ruler. If you can't even understand that, then I'll show you!"
Finally, the titan's bluster gave way to awe, further affirmation of the other voice within. Smirking again, she felt the winds of change screaming as she cried out to them. "O ravenous Rusalka, together, we will dominate!"
The invisible forces that had protected her so far now condensed, becoming a vision floating alongside her. A faithful servant, unlike many.
Unlike any other, she realized. The only faithful sevant.
The only faithful servant was nearly the size of the Shadow it stood against. It appeared as an eerie looking, pale-skinned woman from the midsection up, the lower portions of the body gradually shifting, transmuting into lustrous blue serpent scales, jagged fins running up them like daggers. Dirty black hair unfurled down from the head in a seemingly endless curtain to completely block its eyes and nose, thrashing around like a second living being attached to the first.
Elsewhere, pale white flowers burst gruesomely through the human skin seemingly at random places, though the fist-sized blossom exactly in the center of her throat seemed deliberate. The hair hung down in messy tangles before the woman's face, but beneath the hair a pair of beautiful red lips opened to reveal something else entirely- a hideous, jagged rip of a mouth large enough to devour animals when it opened fully, ringed with a set of fifteen pointed, pattern-less teeth but curved and mottled like a lamprey eel, so that something inside could never escape.
"Rusalka!", Kujou marveled, naming her one true servant and glorying in it.
I Am Thou, the wordless voice was a perfect match for its form as it bowed before her; seemingly petite and demure, yet hiding a voracious hunger, monstrosity beneath. Thou Art I. We are one, and my power is yours to command, my queen.
And this power will be more than enough to make things right in the world, she realized in awestruck euphoria. Perfect. Perfect. As perfect as I am. This is what they meant by 'Karma'.
Of course, she did have one small pest to dispose of first...
Pain shot through her damaged ribs and she nearly fell, but she only had to deal with that for a few seconds before something else numbed it, an ice pack taken up to eleven. Opening her eyes, she found a field of sickly green energy covering her wounds, leaving behind mended flesh, even her jacket unscathed. No way. Healing power too. Awesome.
The spike-crowned Shadow seemed so pathetic to her now, almost an afterthought, but he was trying to reach out for her again, trying to crush her, still not understanding just how futile that was now.
"Dominate!", Kujou commanded, the word coming to mind easily.
Without hesitation, Rusalka shifted her scales, one of the large fin blades flying up to intercept the giant's descending fist, this time severing it at the middle finger. When the titan's second arm came crashing down, the mane of dark hair came flooding out so quickly that it actually scared Kujou for a moment, entrapping the second arm in place in a dozen tiny constricting bonds.
Meanwhile, a long arm reached backwards, pulling free the largest fin lying embedded in the middle of her spine to reveal something akin to a long wushi-style katana, the hilt and handle white as bone. It was only now, watching it with some of the mane of hair shifted, that Kujou realized that Rusalka actually had four long, slender arms with two elbows apiece. They were merely folded up like the arms of a praying mantis, and concealed deep within the hair until now.
The arm's seeming lack of muscle didn't stop it from slashing down with the fin blade, removing the Shadow's arm. As it grunted and tried to fight back with the remaining one, her lips twisted in amusement. "Aques."
Water- an endless, flashing torrent of water- fell from above to pummel the fake king like a flurry of punches until he reeled back under the assault, providing the opening for Rusalka to slice off his other arm too. The omnipresent hair strands reached out to grab both of the stumps, holding them down and preventing their regeneration. More strands flew past them, wrapping around the Shadow's main body as well with a strength that seemed impossible for their thickness.
And finally, Kujou could sense the fear in the creature's words. "This... this is unthinkable! I am a king! I am immortal!"
Benihime Kujou stared back at the Shadow, considering his words before shaking her head in something like pity, but not quite. "Let's test that theory, shall we? If you're really a king, then you have nothing to fear. If you're immortal, then I won't be able to kill you."
As they were one now, Rusalka hardly needed to be told to understand her exact commands. More of the hair flew out, further covering the Shadow's body like a living cloak, rendering it completely immobile. Still more strands curled sinuously around its neck, its torso, its waist and legs, tightening until the 'king' could not speak at all, only the abject terror in its red eyes revealing its thoughts.
Sensing that terror, Benihime raised her head, closed her eyes in unrestrained ecstasy, relishing in it. Yes. Yes. Oh fuck, yes. This is it. This is the feeling. The feeling that I've missed for so long. The feeling of control over my life.
Control over another's life.
That, she knew, was the only way to live. Alone, a single human was a mote of dust, a speck of nothing. Others might be able to survive that way, but not one who was born to rule.
Relaxing, completely content, she smiled. It was alright. Everything was alright now. She knew exactly who and what she was. "Rusalka...? Off with his head!"
Her one true servant instantly obeyed. Three other slender arms rapidly unfolded themselves from Rusalka's torso, each one reaching down to grab and pull free another fin blade. Though none of them were as long as the katana, the resulting daggers were more suitable for the work of gradually, carefully, surgically tearing up the imprisoned flesh, plucking out each needle they found before cutting in deeper to sever bone and muscle.
In less than a minute, the former titan was nothing but a severed head and a neck. Which was still alive, for the moment. The constraining hair around the Shadow's neck withdrew, leaving it free to speak again.
"Beg me for mercy, worm", she demanded, stepping over to it now that it was helpless. "Beg me for your life."
The Shadow's eyes squeezed and contorted in panic as its mouth found itself again, finally releasing a horrified plea. "A-a-alright! ALRIGHT! I beg for mercy, human!"
"No, no, no, no, NO", she interjected, raising one finger against her grinning face in protest. "You have to say it right. Say 'I yield to your authority, my queen. Never again shall I raise my hand against you. Your will is my command.'"
"I... yield to your authority... my queen. Never again shall I raise my hand against you. Your will... is my command."
Teasing him with a triumphant smirk at first, she turned it into a disappointed glower. "And you see, that's how we know that you're not really a king, don't we? Kings don't grovel. A real king wouldn't yield their power. A real king- or queen- would die for it."
The realization of its fate stripped away any pretense of dignity the Shadow once had. "No... NO! I beg of you, please don't!"
Benihime sounded almost sad. "You might have been born into a king's position, but you weren't meant for it. That's the difference between you and me. Now, we'll test your other claim..."
Rusalka licked her slick lips in anticipation. Her arms flew out again, having returned their blades to the 'sheaths' all across her body. One held the Shadow's eye socket open while its twin on the left side reached in to grab it and pull it free in a spray of black fluid. Rusalka's mouth opened wide, once again revealing the nightmare eel's maw behind the lips, which yawned open to ingest its prize like the finest of delicacies.
Rusalka chewed once, swallowed. Gulped.
The two right arms reached out and repeated the process with the giant's right eye, leaving him blinded. Blinded, and screaming.
Watching, Kujou was momentarily amused by that thought. Rusalka either had no eyes in her sockets or the flowing cloud of hair covered them so completely that it didn't matter, yet she had no trouble seeing what she was doing, perhaps using its master's own eyes for that purpose.
"Don't grow them back, slave", she whispered delicately into one ear of the shivering, eyeless head. "We'll just eat them again, and not so delicately as before."
Whether he couldn't or was merely obeying her command, she didn't know. Instead he just continued howling in fear as Rusalka's arms reached down into his throat, using a fin blade to sever the tongue within and lift it free with the other three. Bleeding, it squirmed in her grasp, too big to eat whole, but another strong cut across the midsection fixed that, and Rusalka eagerly gulped that writhing flesh down her throat too.
Finally, they were left with an eyeless, tongueless. body-less head that could only thrash about and moan incoherently as it bled out darkness from over two dozen openings. Two more pale arms reached deep down into the Shadow's spiked crown, prying the last of the flesh free before setting into it with two fin blades, dicing it into more edible chunks.
Rusalka feasted.
When that was done, the bladed crown simply folded in on itself like wet origami, vanishing into a spray of black atoms and a final whimper haunting the mist-filled room.
Benihime had no idea how long she stood there after that. The feeling of elation filling her head from to toe was just too strong, completely blocking out such trivial concerns as time, or death.
I really did it. I killed him. Ripped him apart.
Punished him for defying me, the other voice elaborated. The pervasive carnage around the test room felt obscene, almost too much for her mind to take in, but listening to the other voice- learning to view it a different way- prevented terror's grip from taking hold of her heart once more.
This is not something for me to be afraid of.
This is something for those who oppose me to fear. And for me, a mark of pride.
Only the microphone's words brought her back to reality.
"Superbly done, Benihime Kujou. You've now awakened to your Persona. Congratulations."
She wasn't looking at the microphone at first though, instead simply beholding Rusalka's glory. All four of her arms had returned their fin blades and folded themselves back up, once again concealed by the hair so it looked like she was an armless woman.
Yet even if she appeared to be both armless and eyeless, the knowing smile on the Persona's slick lips beneath the thick black was something she could stare at all day. It was a smile of power. Of knowledge.
You are the greatest, most beautiful thing I've ever seen, she thought. You are power. You are the answer to my prayers. Together, nothing can stop us.
I Am Thou, Rusalka wordlessly clarified. I am thy true self. You have merely been forced to wear a mask for all this time, to pretend not to be me. But now you are Awake, and thus, so am I.
Yes. She knew the truth of it now. A true-born ruler never begs, never surrenders her power. They do whatever is necessary to reclaim it... and to make those who defy them suffer for their transgressions.
"Come here, child", the voice drew her attention to the wall panel sliding open, a different one from what had brought her into the 'testing room'. "I will explain everything to you now."
The stairs here were better-kept, and quickly opened up into a well-lit dressing room with an entire wall devoted to mirrors. The single occupant wore a classical red kimono, though far more striking was the reflective geisha mask covering her face, a bun of black hair the only indication that she was truly human and not merely an automaton.
"Once again, congratulations", the hostess rose to greet her. "I was beginning to think I had misjudged you, or perhaps that Shadow was too strong for a mere-"
"He was a weak and pathetic coward", Benihime interrupted her, unblinking. "He pretended to be an immortal king, but it was all just theatre."
"He served his sole purpose", Lady Scorpio said. "Forcing you to either Awaken to your true self, or die. That is the goal of this test, my child."
In the space of a breath, she carefully considered how much respect was owed to this one. Certainly, some level was in order considering that she'd helped her awaken Rusalka, but this old woman clearly expected more. A true-born ruler never begs.
"That was your goal. Now, I'll pursue mine. With this power, I'll crush that bitch and make her beg for forgiveness. Not that she'll get any."
The motionless mask concealed any expression Scorpio might have had, so her voice was the only clue as to her feelings. "I would not be so hasty, child. You'll notice as soon as you depart that you cannot summon Rusalka outside of this club's basement."
She couldn't hide how deflated that left her. "Wh-whaaat?! That stinks!" She'd already been imagining the look on Tsuruga's face when Rusalka's blades came out to enact justice.
"Indeed", the masked hostess agreed amiably, as though they were sharing a private joke. "Changing that fact is yet another goal of our Salvation. However, I think you already know that Rusalka is much more than the form you saw there."
"It is", Benihime nodded in satisfaction. Rusalka was more than that. It was a revelation, a truth that she'd been reluctant to accept until now. I am born to rule. To dominate any who oppose me. Even if I can't use those powers, I have my own now.
"Furthermore", Scorpio finished, "your enemy has also Awakened to her inner power."
Benihime stared back, aghast. "What? Are you saying she has a Persona too?!"
That... actually made a lot of sense, when she stopped and thought about it some more. How else could Tsuruga have possibly endured the way she did? More than the powers she'd seen, a Persona was confidence. The absolute confidence and resolve to be your true self, and push aside any who lacked in that confidence.
"She does", the hostess nodded. "Sadly, she refused to join us in our goals. You, however... you will do well, I believe."
The white-hot hatred that had given birth to Rusalka welled back up in her as she took a step forward. "If you're really telling me that you helped that bitch gain her power, I owe all of you a good beating. Maybe I'll flay that ugly-ass mask off for starters, see what withered crone is underneath."
In response, she felt a new power gathering in the empty air above them. Greater than Rusalka. Greater than the gray-skinned Shadow times ten. Times twenty. It pressed down on her shoulders like a lump of raw iron, forcing the air out of her lungs with its unseeable weight. When it manifested into another female Persona, a slender woman in a tiara and Egyptian dress, arms covered in long bandages, it almost came as a relief.
"As you can see, child", Scorpio cautioned her, "that will not be easy. I have had Cleopatra for many years, slowly building up her strength. Likewise, Aiko Tsuruga's Personas have been trained, and would likely be more powerful than your Rusalka... and that is assuming that you were able to fight her alone."
"Her 'friends'", Benihime snapped her fingers, a disgusted expression crossing her face. "They Awakened too?" Of course. That's why they're with her. They owe her for that.
She laughed quietly at the idea.
What they have... It's not real friendship at all. Just a debt. She's been a fraud from the very start. Of course. No one is Tsuruga's friend, not really. It's all just a fake. And now, I can prove that.
"If you seek to crush your enemy", Scorpio offered gently, "then you must train as well. That is what we generously offer you, Benihime Kujou. You will train with us, and become stronger. Strong enough to destroy Aiko Tsuruga and those other misguided children as well. In exchange, all we ask is your support in our own plans. Which, as you have seen, are in your best interest anyway."
Considering this took a bit longer. It seemed too good to be true, which usually meant it was. To hell with her deals, the whisper came in her ear. Flay her to bits and devour. Dominate. Make her beg.
"We also offer you a title", Scorpio said when her guest's response was stalled. "The title once held by our peer, and now abandoned. The queen of the sea. Queen Aquarius."
Benihime smiled. It was Rusalka's smile. "I'm already the queen of the sea. But titles are helpful. You make a good offer, I'll give you that. Makes me wonder what else you're scheming. Thanks, but no thanks. Rusalka is all I need to- oh. Ohhh."
She'd stopped on seeing the new arrival in the room, a young man with messy black hair tied into colorful locks at the black, a single spiral earring dangling down.
He was the most gorgeous-looking man she had ever seen, even more than Tatsunoko.
"This is the new recruit King Leo was talking about?", he asked excitedly. "She looks nice. I suppose this means she passed the test, huh?"
"With flying colors", Scorpio added confidently. "Prince Taurus, this is Benihime Kujou. You may also call her Queen Aquarius."
"It's a pleasure to meet you", the man offered his hand, sending goosebumps down her spine. "The previous Queen Aquarius was pretty damn good at what she did. I hope that you're up to the standard."
Rusalka's strength bleeding confidence into her words and poise, she snorted. "More than, Taurus. You won't even remember the old one when I'm done here."
When I'm done here, she added silently, Aiko Tsuruga will end her own life out of despair. She will get exactly what she deserves. We will both be unmasked.
And I will rule my rightful kingdom again.
It made her want to laugh. To laugh until that sick, feverish, mad laughter had reached out to every last corner of Tosashimizu city, of Shikoku island.
But even if she were capable of such a thing, even that laughter wouldn't alert Tsuruga or anyone else to the Karma that was coming their way.
Soon. Soon.
7/19 Sunday
Afternoon
The request for a private meeting came as more of a relief for her than a surprise. In the last few weeks, they'd talked with each other rarely enough to seem distant at times, but now Aiko knew that Mirambela had just been taking the exams as seriously as she always did.
It was only after hearing her polite but firm request not to have Pelagio or anyone else attend that she realized that Mira might be taking whatever this was even more seriously, demanding that they meet in the beach cave alone.
"We really need to come up with a name for this place", she remarked on their way down. "I mean, it's our hideout now, right? Maybe... 'The Dream Cache'?"
"It's just a cave", Mira commented without looking back. Not exactly cold, but oddly rigid, leaving Aiko to make the conversation instead.
"I won't bother asking if you did well on the exams", she started. "Because I know that you did. Man, I guess that's one reason why people want to do better on these ones than the last set. With these ones, you have to spend your whole vacation waiting to get the results when you come back. If you didn't do your best, you'd be a nervous wreck by the end of it."
"And did you do your best, of course?"
"Of course", she affirmed without hesitating. "I won't get a perfect score, I know. That's something like only a handful of students can pull off. But I already know I'm gonna do better than I did last time. I even had some private study sessions with Rosea-kun, so I could learn English better."
"Well done", Mira admired. "Even I didn't think of doing that... or maybe I just didn't want to spend much time with him. Of course he'd want to help you more than me."
Aiko snorted back. "Please. It's like I always said; you can't really hate someone you've been fighting monsters with. Okay, maybe I never said that before, but I'm totally saying it now. You might not like him much here, but when there's a mission, 'Dancer' and 'Gunslinger' might as well be besties."
She seemed annoyed at the idea, but not so much as to take offense. "Rosea-kun likes to show off", she remarked. "Keep that in mind for your trip. Someone will have to keep him from getting into trouble, and I won't be there to do that."
"We'll watch out for each other", Aiko slumped. "Guess I'll have to be the guide, since I'm the only one who's been there in years."
"You'll need to keep an eye on Hayato-senpai too", Mira reminded her. "I know that she promised to stay away from anything connected to her past there, but she might just forget her promise to Dr. Spica. Make sure you don't."
"Okay, okay." She found herself getting testy as they slipped into the cave entrance, ducking beneath the overhang. Today was warm but cloudy, and only a few people were out enjoying the beach. The fishing boats were far out, clearly making up for lost time.
Mira waited until they were all the way inside the cave before turning and pulling out a small pouch. All at once, it was like she'd discarded a suit of armor composed of quiet reservation and discipline- the kind of armor that Kohru Tatsunoko was seemingly made out of- but only temporarily donned here. Two earnest brown eyes, and a warm smile devoid of anything but simple joy faced her, radiant.
"I'll be catching my flight early tomorrow morning to go and visit my family", she said. "My papa, my mama, my brothers and my sisters... but before I do, I... I wanted to add one more."
Aiko's brow shot up in interest. "One more?"
"Yes." Facing downward, she reached into the pouch, producing a red bead with a thin seam that opened along the halfway mark, revealing it to be a sealed container of dye. "I know much how you like face painting", she joked.
"Love it", Aiko echoed. "So, what's this?"
"There's a form of extended family among my people", Mira noted, carefully preparing and mixing the dye in a bowl with a circular brush. "It's called 'kraal'." Embarrassment flushed over her face for a moment, then retreated. "Not as close as blood siblings, but closer than mere friends. If it's fine with you, I would like... you know..."
Far from offended, Ai shared in the other's radiance. "And all this time, I thought maybe you were still feeling guilty about the whole Vitienne thing. No. You were worried that I'd say no to this? Do you have any idea how much I've always wanted to have a... sister? Or a brother?"
"I do. And I was", Mira admitted guardedly. "I'm sorry, Ai-chan. I really thought you were mad at me about that."
"I was", Aiko repeated. "But I got over it. Especially after him being there ended up saving me. Kind of hard to complain about something like that, you know?"
"Maybe it was 'destiny'", Mira joked, calling back Noel's favorite word before raising her eyes again to reveal the onset of tears. "Just like when we first met. I mean... really... how many girls are like you? Just what kind of luck do I have, that I get for a roommate the one person who was strong and kind enough to save me?"
"You saved yourself, Mira-chan", Aiko shook her head. "I just helped."
"No. You did so much more than that", Mira insisted. "You risked yourself for me. Both in this world and the other one. That's a thousand times more than anyone else in this country has ever done for me. The teachers didn't care. All the students were even worse."
"Mr. Takao cares", she protested, defending their cheery homeroom teacher. Still, it was getting hard not to just lose herself to the flood of memory. Good memories, mostly. Let's think positive?
"I've learned so much from you", Mira went on. "I've learned not to back down from people like Kujou and Sonoka. I've tried to get stronger, so I could help you, but..." She smiled back, eyes glistening. "No matter how I try, I think that you'll always be stronger than me, captain."
"If you think so", she acknowledged, spreading her arms. "Go ahead then. Paint away."
She had to stay completely still for it. The pattern only took up the forehead but, it was complex and required precise detail, careful strokes up and down forming various shapes. It would wash off within a day, Mira explained, but for this she wanted it to be perfect.
Able to do nothing else but sit still and wait, Aiko ended up simply going over old memories. Meeting Mira in the dorm.
Trying to understand how students could be so cruel to her.
Trying to help her through it, and facing the heartbreaking realization that her first attempt had done more harm than good.
Chasing her into her Land, the strange technological forest that blended her homeland with a hidden fear of modern technology.
Overcoming the brutal manifestation of those same doubts, and talking to her father, someone she hadn't even had to meet in person to recognize unrelenting love for his youngest and brightest daughter.
Every time they'd cooked food for each other, or watched TV together, or anything at all in the dorm she now called home.
Seeing her alter-ego, Dancer, out on the battlefield, striking down Shadows with a serene grace that she knew she could never match, yet tempered by a dislike for violence nearly equal to Noel, a man she'd risked her best friend's wrath in order to help.
Hearing her, listening to all her concerns, and knowing that it all stemmed from an unspoken fear that everything they now had might be lost one day.
Being amazed when she passed up the chance to abandon their quest for good, she who had complained about it more than anyone else.
Because she knew that wasn't the way forward.
That was why Aiko could trust Mirambela with painting her forehead without even looking at a mirror.
Because she, the Priestess, could be trusted with it.
"Done", Mira announced at last, examining her work and finding it good. "Are you ready?"
"Ready?"
Wordlessly, Mira passed her a compact mirror, letting her look at the various patterns herself. They looked like patterns of constellations, though more detailed than she'd ever thought possible.
"Why...?", she heard her voice asking. "Why haven't you become a tattoo artist? This is amazing!"
"Flattering as ever", Mira giggled. "My brother Osogo is actually much better at it than I am, and there are men and women in the village who outdo him. This is actually my first time trying it on a person."
"Take a picture", Aiko advised. "You can show it to your family."
"That was the plan, yes", she echoed, quickly using her phone to do just that. Without, Aiko noted with pride, any slip ups. The fear of technology Mira had brought to Japan was now dead. "Make sure you take lots of pictures on your vacation."
"Of course."
"And souvenirs?"
"And souvenirs."
There only remained one step in the 'ritual'. Eyes solemnly closed as Ai did the same, Mira placed her hands around her friend's face as if to frame it, tip to tip. Her flat palm felt sweaty but good, as if it was a missing piece of her. Mira began reciting a long litany of words Aiko did not know, only learning their meaning after. The only phrase she recognized was the last, the one already explained to her.
"Sisi ni familia moja. Wewe ni dada yangyu. Mimi ni dada yako. Sisi ni mmoja na chini ya Mungu."
We are one family. You are my sister. I am your sister. We are one.
The words echoed in the sandy cavern until the winds carried them off, and the two of them opened their eyes again. One raised a hand, and the other rose up to meet it, pressing their palms tightly together, staring into the other's eyes.
"Dada Yangyu", Mirambela Sorano breathed. "Kaa salama na afya."
"Dada Yangyu", Aiko Tsuruga repeated more slowly. "Kaa salama na afya."
She didn't need to know the words to understand what they meant.
In this here and now, the two understood each other perfectly.
They were one.
I am Thou, Thou Art I...
Persona Profile #15: Rusalka
Arcana: Devil
Strength: Water, Curse
Weakness: Thunder
Abilities (so far): Malaqua, Aques, Diarama, Vorpal Blades
Background: A female water-based entity in Slavic folktales, usually malicious towards mankind. A Rusalka is an unquiet, dangerous being who is no longer alive, associated with the 'unclean spirit'. According to Russian folklore, young women who either committed suicide by drowning due to an unhappy marriage or who were violently drowned against their will must live out their designated time on Earth as Rusalki. Known to lure young sailors, seduced by either her beautiful looks or her voice, into the ocean where she would entangle their feet with her long hair and submerge them. Her body would instantly become very slippery and not allow the victim to cling onto her body in order to reach the surface. She would then wait until the victim had drowned, or on some occasions tickle them to death as she laughed, before devouring the body.
Enemy Profile #17: Koschei
Arcana: Emperor
Strength: Fire, Nuclear, Psychic
Weakness: Bless, Gunshot
Abilities: Eiha, Charge, Power Fist
Background: An antiheroic figure in east-Slavic folklore known as the 'Giant Without a Heart', or 'The Immortal King', usually functioning as an antagonist or rival to the hero in the story. His immortality comes from hiding his soul inside an egg or similar object, then further nested the egg inside various animals. Depending on the tale he has different characteristics; he may ride a three or seven-legged horse; may have tusks or fangs; and may possess a variety of different magic objects that a hero is sent to obtain. Often placed parallel in tales with his female counterpart, Baba Yaga.
A/N: Yes, I deliberately made the scenes with Rusalka as nightmarish as possible, why do you ask? And did I succeed?
'Coldheartedness' is a reference to a Devil Survivor song.
As I said before, there won't be much action for a bit as the crew finally takes their well-deserved summer vacation in Tokyo, but I'm already enjoying writing those scenes. I'd also like to plug for 'Persona 6: Fanmade Redone' on Wattpad, as written by MissWritesaLot55. It uses the original ideas and imagery CrossPawGames had, which also originally inspired this story.