Chapter 3

Another day, another chapter! I wasn't going to upload another of this until the end of the week, but people have enjoyed this story way more than I thought, and I just felt like it. So, here it is.

Tuesday – September 2 – early morning

"Mornin'." Philip said as he walked into the kitchen.

"Philip, look at this." Patricia said, standing behind Stephanie looking down on her phone. Philip went over and saw the local news playing on the smartphone.

"Yesterday, our colleague Cassandra Milano succumbed to a mysterious illness. She died at the hospital. She was 24 years old, the youngest anchorwoman in the history of Channel 11 News. She had joined the news team only four months ago." The anchorman said.

"It's a tragic to lose someone so young and beautiful." Patricia said somberly. The report ended and Stephanie turned off her phone. "It must have been horrifying to watch that. I hope you two are okay." She said.

"You weren't here last night. Were you working?" Philip asked.

"Were you worried about me?" Patricia said giggling.

"What do you do?" He inquired.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that." She completely dodged his question. "Now you two go on to school. After you finish your breakfast."

They went on to school after finishing their breakfast.

Philip arrived at the front of the school to see Vinnie standing by the gate.

"What's up, man?" Vinnie said.

"Nothing much." Philip replied back.

"Dude, did you see the news last night? That anchorwoman just died on live TV. That was pretty fucked up."

"Yeah, it was."

"People are already talkin' about it. They said she died from some weird illness." Vinnie said. "Anyways, we still checkin' that place out?"

"You know it." They fist bumped each other.

They then proceeded to the building

September 2 – morning – Birch High – Room 10

Today Philip was in history class. He and Vinnie were in that class and sat beside each other. Natalie and that depressed girl were also there.

"Alright, quiet, class." The history teacher was a man in his fourties. He had balding brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a plad sweater vest over a white dress shirt, grey slacks, and black loafers. "I'm Mr. Stone. My job is to teach you hooligans history. You should be happy I'm wasting my time reforming punks like you. I bet you're not even paying attention to me right now. Probably day dreaming because that's what worthless trash like you is good at. "Hey, Pacino! Answer this question. What is a methuslah?"

"H-Huh…? Uhhh…" Vinnie stammered.

"The oldest man in the Bible." Philip whispered.

"Uh…The oldest man in the Bible?" Vinnie answered.

"So you knew it. Well, you're correct. But I bet someone was helping you, probably that foreigner sitting beside you." Mr. Stone said.

This guy is a total asshole. Philip thought to himself.

September 2 – lunchtime

"Come on, today's taco Tuesday!" Vinnie said.

"Alright, let's go." Philip replied. He was about to walk out of the classroom until he saw Natalie standing over the depressed girl's desk. "Hey, are you going to cheerleader practice today, Mary?" Natalie asked the girl.

"I'm sorry, I'm still not feeling well today." The girl named Mary said.

"Maybe getting something to eat will make you feel better." The blonde said.

"I'm not hungry." Mary replied.

She's acting similarly to that anchorwoman that died on live TV. Is it a coincidence or…

"Hurry up, man!" Vinnie's voice rang out.

September 2 – after school

Vinnie led Philip to the abandoned hospital. It was a small building. It was in decrepit condition.

"This is the place." Vinnie said.

"It looks like it hasn't been used in years." Philip said.

"Yeah, it was abandoned when the big hospital down the road was built thirty years ago." Vinnie said.

"I'm not too sure about this…" Philip said.

"It'll be fine! There's no such thing as ghosts anyway! Now come on."

The two opened the door. The entrance was a waiting room. It was dusty and full of cobwebs.

"Wow, what a dump." Vinnie mused.

"I hope I don't get some kind of disease here." Philip said.

"It'll be fine. Come on, let's see what's in here." Vinnie went to open the doors to the hallway, but was having a hard time. Philip tried to help him. With all their strength, they managed to force them open, but were sucked in a reddish blackish portal.

"Whoooah!" The two screamed.

Philip woke up to find himself on the ground. "Where am I? Is this still the hospital?" Philip asked himself. He saw to look he was in some strange huge looking place. (If you try to imagine what it looks like, it looks like the Tartarus Arqa floor)

"Hey, Vinnie? Vinnie!?" He called out to him, but got no answer. "Did we get separated? I need to find him."

The dungeon like area was pretty big. He went through hallway after hallway. It looked almost endless. He found a lot of dead ends. Strangely, in one of them, there was a small chest that had $100 in it.

While he was walking, a strange black creature appeared in front of him.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Philip panicked, falling on his butt.

He got up and tried to run away until another creature appeared in front of him. He was surrounded.

"What do I do!?" Am I going to die here?

"So you just plan on giving up and letting these abominations kill you?" A mysterious voice called out in his head.

He started clutching his head. What the fuck's going on? "Answer my question? Do you want them to kill you? Or will you fight? You want to find your friend, correct, then call upon me! Am I Thou, Thou art I…If you wish to get through this crisis, call my name !"

"No, I'm not going to die here. Come, Asclepius!" Blue energy surrounded him and something appeared behind him. A robed man with a black mask and glowing yellow eyes. He had Philip's red hair and a beard of the same color and green skin. He held a staff in his hand with live snakes wrapped on the top of it.

The black blobs then turned into pumpkins holding lanterns. "Garu!" Philip commanded. Asclepius raised his staff. The snakes hissed a small tornado hit one of the pumpkins, knocking it down. Philip then curb stomped its head, killing it and it dissipated.

The pumpkins behind him blasted him with fire, severly burning him. "Heal my wounds, Dia!" The snakes bit into his arms, overflowing him with green energy. His burns healed and his pain stopped. The pumpkin tried to blast fire again, but Philip rolled out of the way. "Blow him away!" He casted Garu and knocked it down. Philip punted the pumpkin, sending it flying several feet and hitting the wall, dissipating on impact.

"Huh, huh huh…" Philip's Persona faded, and he was trying to catch his breath.

"I gotta find Vinnie." Philip didn't know what those creatures were, but with this new power, he could fight them. He just hoped those things didn't get to his friend.

He kept moving until he heard a voice. "Will you jerks give it a rest!?" It didn't sound like Vinnie's voice, but if there was someone else in here, he had to help them. He followed the voice until he found a bunch of those creatures surrounding someone. It was a girl. She looked about his age. She had long white hair and green eyes. She had on a Japanese sailor school uniform and a long black skirt. It was strange to see a girl wearing a Japanese school uniform in America. But that wasn't the weird thing. She had rabbit ears. But regardless of how weird she looked, she was in trouble and had to help her.

"Hey you! Get out of here! The Shadows will kill you!" The creatures turned around. "I'm not gonna leave you to die. Persona!" Asclepius appeared behind him.

"What!? He has a Persona!?" The bunny girl exclaimed.

The creatures turned into mandrakes. "Garu!" He commanded. The tornado hit them, but it didn'g do anything.

"Looks like I'm going to be the one to help." She said, jumping over the Shadows and landing beside him. "Set them on fire, Mad Hatter!" She commanded. A man appeared behind her. He had on a black top hat, a red trenchcoat over a black suit, a black mask with glowing red eyes and holding playing cards in each hand.

"She's got one, too!?"

The Mad Hatter threw a card at the mandrakes. The card burst into flames, burning the mandrakes and knocking them down.

"Come on, let's get em!" She exclaimed. They both rushed at the creatures and a cartoonist smoke appeared. When it cleared, the creatures dissipated.

"So you have a Persona, huh?" The girl asked.

Philip nodded. "Who are you?" He asked him.

"Aren't you supposed to introduce yourself before asking a lady?" The chastised him.

"I'm Philip Wheeler."

"I'm Alice."

"So what were those things?" He asked.

"Those creatures are called Shadows. They attack anyone who comes in here." Alice explained.

"Shadows?"

"They're the suppressed sides of you humans." Alice said. "So why did you come here?" She asked.

"Me and my friend heard rumors about this place and we came to investigate. When we opened the door to the hallway, we ended up separated.

"Oh, no wonder I sensed two people in here." She said.

"Can you take me to him?" Philip pleaded.

"Fine. Follow me." She said.

Philip continued to follow Alice. Shadows attacked them here and there, but they were able to get through them with no problems.

Alice brought him to a large square. Vinnie was there.

"Vinnie!" He was standing there. But something was wrong. There was another Vinnie. And this one had ominous yellow eyes.

"Look! It's your so-called friend." The other Vinnie said tauntingly. "You can't do anything by yourself. You're just the bastard son of a mobster that left you in this shithole of a town. Everyone avoids because of that fact. You came here because there was nothing to do in this fucking pathetic dump."

"That ain't true!" The real Vinnie exclaimed.

"Are we in denial here? Did I hit a soft spot? You can't do anything by yourself. Your friend had to come and rescue you." The Shadow taunted.

"Shuddup! You ain't…!"

"Don't say it!" Alice warned.

"You ain't me!"

The Shadow started laughing maniacally. A red aura surrounded it and it transformed into something disgusting. It had grey skin, it had the head of a pig and the body of a man. It had a giant gold ring around it and it had drums attached to it.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Philip exclaimed.

"This is what happens when a human denies their Shadow. It goes berserk and turns into a monster!" Alice explained.

"Get out to the way, Vinnie!" Philip yelled.

Vinnie quickly crawled away from the monster.

"We have to beat in order to calm it down!" Alice said.

"I am a Shadow! The true self! I've been really bored lately. Killing you two would relieve that boredom!"

Shadow Vinnie grabbed the gold ring and put it around his waist like a hoola hoop. The Shadow started banging on the drums lightning struck the two, knocking Philip down.

"Come on, get up!" Alice said, helping Philip up.

'How do ya like that!?" The Shadow taunted. "Time to charge up!" The Shadow surrounded itself with blue energy.

"W-What's it doing!?" Philip asked.

"This is bad! It's charging up! It's next attack will be twice as strong! It'll kill us if we don't defend!" Alice exclaimed.

Philip did as told and blocked, as well as Alice.

"Take this!" Shadow Vinnie started banging on his drums again and lightning hit them. They reduced the damage, but were gravely wounded.

"A-Asclepius, Dia!" Philip commanded. The medicine god's snakes bit into Alice's arm, healings her.

"Why didn't you heal yourself?" Alice said perplexed.

"I-I didn't want you to die. Besides, it's just the gentlemanly thing to do." Philip replied.

She started blushing. "T-Thank you. Here, take this." Alice, took out a bottle of strange liquid.

"It'll heal your wounds."

He drank it and he suddenly felt better.

"Seems you can't take lightning. Time to buff you up. Mad Hatter, Rakukaja!" Her Persona appeared, it dropped a card near Philip's feet and a purple energy surrounded him.

"There, I increased your defense." Alice said.

"Thanks. You're going to play for that you bastard!" Philip exclaimed. "Asclepius, Garu!" His Person's staff hissed and a small tornado appeared at hit it, knocking the Shadow down.

"All right! It's weak to wind! Let's get it!" Alice exclaimed. They rushed at it with cartoon smoke appearing.

It cleared, and the Shadow was still standing, but it was hurt.

"Y-You think you can beat me!? I'm not going to lose against you punk asses!" The Shadow said, getting up. "Sukukaja!" A green energy surrounded it.

"Agi!" Alice commanded, her Persona threw a flaming card at the Shadow, but he dodged it.

"Dammit! It dodged!" Alice exclaimed.

"You ain't gonna be able to hit me!"

"Garu!" Philip casted Garu, but the Shadow jumped over the tornado.

"Sonic Punch!" Shadow Vinnie exclaimed, hitting Philip in the gut. Philip keeled over, coughing up blood.

"Philly!" Alice yelled.

The Shadow then casted lightning on Alice, wounding her.

I have to do somethin'! I can't let them die because of me! Vinnie thought to himself. He got up on his feet. "Hey, me!" Vinnie called out to the Shadow.

"W-What's that idiot doing!?" Alice exclaimed.

"You want to kill me, right!? Then come and get me!" The real Vinnie taunted.

"You want to die that badly, huh? Alright, then I'll take you out!" The Shadow had its sights on the real one and had its back turned.

"Come on, let's get while it's distracted!" Alice exclaimed."

"Y-Yeah… Let's do it." Philip said, getting up.

They both summoned their Personas.

"Asclepius!"

"Mad Hatter!"

Asclepius summoned a tornado and Mad Hatter threw a card in the tornado, setting it on fire. It became a large flaming tornado.

"What are you-" The Shadow turned around but was too late. The Shadow screamed in agony as it was not only hit with its weakness, but it was also being burnt. The Shadow collapsed to the ground and turned back into its human form.

Philip used the last of his energy to heal both their wounds.

"Is it over?" Philip asked.

"As long as he accepts it." Alice said.

"What you said was the truth. I'm the son of a mobster and that pieces of shit left me in this town. And because of that, everyone ignores me. I was desperate for anyone who would acknowledge my existence. So yeah, you are me, and the other way around.

The Shadow transformed again, but this time it was different. He had the same pompadour that Vinnie had, but its hair was also in a bun. It still had grey skin, it was wearing a yellow kimono with lightning patterns on it, wearing a brown breastplate. It was holding rods its hands, and a taiko drum attached to its back. It faded into a card and disappeared in Vinnie's hands. "Raijin…" He muttered.

"You all right?" Philip asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Vinnie replied. "So what was thing you did?"

"Those were our Personas." Philip said.

"A Persona is another side of your self. Your own Shadow that you accepted." Alice explained.

"Uh, yeah. Who's this girl, Phil?" Vinnie asked.

"This is Alice." Philip said.

"What the hell are you wearing? And what's with those rabbit ears?" Vinnie asked, tugging her ears.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" Alice screamed, slapping his hands away. "Anyways, it's not safe here. I'll show you guys the exit."

A few minutes later, the three arrived back at the waiting room.

"Thank fuck we're back!" Vinnie said.

"So what exactly are you?" Philip asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember anything about me, all I remember is that I've been here for a long time." Alice said downtrodden.

"What the hell is this place anyway?" Vinnie asked.

"This is where the Shadows live. It doesn't really have a name." Alice said.

"You say that Shadows come from humans?" Philip asked.

She nodded. "But when humans come here, Shadows will attack. So why did you two come here?"

"We heard rumors that people come down with a mysterious illness when they come here because a ghost of a patient possesses you." Philip said.

"It's not a rumor. People's spirits end up here. When their Shadows kill them, the person in the real world will die." Alice explained.

"Uh, hey. Did you sense any of those spirits here?" Philip asked.

"I did, but this place has multiple floors. They were deep within and I couldn't get there in time." Alice said.

"Them?" Vinnie asked.

"One disappeared yesterday, and the other disappeared right before I met you."

"Is there any way to know if they're about to die?" Philip asked.

"They'll lose the will to live and die within two weeks."

"Then that anchorwoman, and that other person…!" Philip exclaimed.

"Philly?" Alice asked, concern. "We gotta prevent more deaths from happening." Philip said.

"I'm with ya, man! We gotta save people's spirits." Vinnie agreed.

"If you guys are getting to keep coming back here, I might as well be your guide." Alice said.

The three's feelings become one. Time suddenly froze.

Am I thou

Thou art I

Thou hast established a new bond

Thou shall be blessed when creating Personas on The Fool arcana

Time went back to normal.

"But you guys better get out of here. The Shadows are more restless than usual." Alice said.

"We better get home then. I'm pooped." Philip said.

"But what about you?" Vinnie asked.

"I'm gonna stay here just in case any spirits get lost in here." Alice said.

The three decided to break for the day

September 2 – Hoffman residence – evening

Phone greeted Stephanie watching TV in the living room. Stephanie waved her hand. Patricia wasn't there. He assumed she was at her night job.

He plopped down on his bed as soon as he was done changing. One of those people was the anchorwoman, but who was the other one? Philip asked himself. He was too tired to think about it, so he fell asleep.

He ended waking up in the velvet room. "This place again…" Philip mused.

"I am delighted to see you again." Igor said. "It seems you have awakened to your Persona. It is a mask you wear that protects you from hardships. But your power is quite special. It is like the number 0. It's empty, but contains infinite possibilities."

"What are you talking about?" Philip questioned.

"You, my boy have the power to hold multiple Personas and use them accordingly." Igor explained.

"What do you mean?"

"I will explain my role to you at another time. You must be tired. I won't keep you here longer. Until then, farewell."

"Hey wait-" Was all he said until he lost consiousness.