I relieve myself of my shoes and dive into my bed. A new apartment all to myself. What a dream. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. All though right now, I don't really feel like doing anything. I just finished moving all my stuff into my apartment complex. It took a while and I need sleep. It's almost 10:00 PM anyway so I need to sleep. On top of that, it's a school night. My first day of being a senior at Hartlin High is tomorrow. I'm hoping I can just breeze by this year considering I worked my butt off last year. I get ready to go to bed, but right before I slip in, somebody starts knocking at the door. If it wasn't the landlady I wouldn't bother with it. I reluctantly open the door.
Lei Luo: Are you enjoying your new apartment?
Ángel: Yes ma'am.
Lei Luo: No need to address me so formally.
Ángel: Yes ma'am.
Lei Luo: Okay fine, do what you want. You seem tired, trying to sleep? Sorry for bothering you.
Ángel: It's no big deal, is there something you need to tell me?
Lei Luo: I was just trying to greet my new tenant.
Ángel: Well I appreciate the gesture.
Lei Luo: You're very welcome. I'll let you go for now. Enjoy your stay!
Lei Luo is the landlady of my complex and she's definitely a nice lady from what I've seen of her. She's a friend of my parents, which is why she's letting a highschooler stay at her complex. She's pretty old, I assume in her late sixties. She doesn't seem to have a husband or any children, but I could be wrong. She just seems like a kind of lonely person. Apparently, if you're late on rent, she'll bring hell's fury down on you. I hope to God my parents don't forget to pay it. Mrs. Luo reminds me of my own grandmother, so I think we'll get along. As long as rent is paid. After our talk, I headed straight to bed.
The next day, I got ready to go to school. It sucks having to wake up so early again, but there's not much I can do about that. I don't have a car, so I just take public transit to school. I hop on the Canal Street metro and take my place. As we start moving, I decide to check out my phone as I wait to arrive at 23rd Street Station. I see there's a weird looking app on my phone. It's probably a virus, so I deleted it immediately. I do wonder how I got it though. I get off the subway and enter 23rd Street where Hartlin is. Apparently there's a shortcut through a back alley, so I take that to save on time and arrive early. I check my phone again and the virus app is back. I don't know what the hell this thing is, but I decide to just see what it's about. I click on the icon and it asks me for a name. Dosen't say to give my name, just a name. It also asks for a keyword and that could be anything. This is getting too weird for me, so I just exit out of it. Finally, I reach Hartlin. I walk inside and find my homeroom. I take a seat in the middle, near a decently cute girl. She seems so uninterested. You'd think someone who looks so bored would at least try and take out their phone or something. There's definitely something off about her. Maybe I should greet her. Might as well start things off right.
Ángel: Hey, what's up?
Uninterested Girl: Does it look like I'm up to something.
Oh, so she's that kind of person. Well whatever, maybe I just didn't use the right greeting. At least she didn't ignore me.
Ángel: That's a good point. I'm guessing you're not a fan of school.
Uninterested Girl: You'd be right. But still, you shouldn't assume things about people like that.
Ángel: Wow, you're kinda cutting into me. Do I really suck at conversation that much?
Uninterested Girl: Yeah, maybe. What's your name?
Ángel: Ángel Pomar. Yours?
Uninterested Girl: Emily Ferguson. You've got a pretty nice name ya know.
Ángel: Wow, a compliment. Did not see that coming.
Emily: Oh, shut up.
The bell rang, bringing our conversation to a complete halt. It was time for class. The teacher introduces herself as Mrs. Avila and she's pretty uninterested in anything going on in class. Other students are just messing around as she talks. Guess she hates her job. I can't blame her; having to deal with highschoolers constantly definitely sucks. After a while, the bell rings again signaling the end of class. And this repeats until Lunch. I get my food and sit down at a table by myself. I didn't really meet anyone other than Emily. Luckily, I spot her and she starts walking towards me. She sits down and immediately starts talking.
Emily: Now that I've had time to think about it, I've never seen you around here before. You're a transfer, right.
Ángel: Excellent deduction, Sherlock. Yeah, I had to switch schools because I moved to an apartment by myself.
Emily: Well that's something. You get kicked out of your house by your parents.
Ángel: They don't hate me that much. I had to move out because we were tight on space thanks to my cousins moving in to have somewhere to stay while they found a house. It's no big deal. Besides, I was gonna move out after I started college anyway.
Emily: Woah, that's a lot of info you're throwing on to me. Anything else you want to get out there.
Ángel: You're the one that asked. And also, what's up with the change in attitude?
Emily: Oh, I just really like talking to people for some reason. The reason why I was so bored earlier is because class sucks ass. You usually can't get into a good convo. I hope whoever made this damn system was thrown into hell.
Ángel: You make a good point, but that's a little harsh, cursing that guy. Don't you think?
Emily: Whatever. It's not like it matters, he's long gone. And all the teachers here are so high and mighty too. I can't stand a single one of them. I can't wait to graduate and run for the hills.
Ángel: Okay, now you're just ranting.
Emily: Come on, don't you want to do something about this damn system. It's such a pain in the ass for so many people, we'd be better off without it. If there's anything that needs reform in this country, it's education.
Ángel: Again, you have a point. But I'd just rather keep my head down and make a change later in my life. For now, I'm gonna stay out of trouble with people above me.
Emily: I never thought I'd hear another student defend the school system. You're an interesting guy, Ángel, but it just seems like you just don't have conviction and you're missing a backbone.
Ángel: So you're just gonna insult me now. Look, I have a conviction. I wanna free people from their own evil state of mind. People aren't inherently good or bad. They just may do things that are wrong and have states of mind that are the same way. If we want to change the world, we gotta think bigger. We need to just heal "evil" people from their curses. You know what I mean?
Emily looks kinda pissed, but she's not saying anything. Maybe the key to beating her is honesty. But my train of thinking is really weird and idealistic, so maybe she's just confused.
Emily: I get where you're coming from, but I think we've gotta agree to disagree. You're optimistic and undeniably positive; I'll give you that. But you're too idealistic.
Ángel: Yeah, alright I agree. Maybe I am. But so what?
Emily: It's fine, I think I'm done here.
We ate lunch in silence after that. I continued going through class after class until school finally ended. Again, I didn't meet any new people. I guess I should be more proactive like with Emily. Although she did leave a rather sour taste in my mouth. She was waiting outside the school entrance for me because of course she was.
Emily: So we meet again.
Ángel: Certainly not because of faith. What do you want with me?
Emily: You said you wanted to heal people of evil or something like that. I want to just see it gotten rid of entirely. We sort of agree that evil should just not exist, right?
Ángel: This again. Can we not do this in public at least?
Emily: Fine, let's go to your place.
Ángel: Fine, whatever. Let's head out.
Our trip would at least give time to think about our stances on evil. We took the trip I took to school, but in reverse. I let her into my apartment and she commented on how archaic it was. I couldn't argue about that. We sat down with some chips to snack on.
Emily: So you really weren't lying, huh.
Ángel: I don't really do that. In regard to your last assessment, I do think we share the idea that evil doesn't need to be.
Emily: Great! I'm glad. You talk about all this healing stuff. Do you wanna be a therapist?
Ángel: Damn, your deduction skills are crazy, Sherlock. I do want to be a therapist.
Emily: Thanks, but don't call me Sherlock. It's embarrassing. Anyway, I think I don't really know how we can talk about this more. It seems like we kinda understand each other more.
Ángel: Yeah, but I need to just say this. I think your view of what's evil is really subjective. Because school doesn't suit you well, you just hate it and curse it. That's kinda selfish don't you think.
Emily: Maybe it is, but that's just human nature. Not something I can change. Besides, it doesn't just affect me. It causes others pain too.
Ángel: Yeah, I get that. But be honest with yourself. Emily, you think of school as your own prison. Something holding you back. And you're just angry about that. So you blame the system and complain instead of trying to fight it. Am I right?
She's dead silent. Maybe I cut too deep. Before anything else can happen, I get a weird feeling inside me. Like I'm being warped. I look down and my lower body is disappearing. I'm freaking the hell out. The same thing is happening to Emily and she's equally terrified. I'm in more of a panic, but she looks mortified. Before I can say anything I find myself in a new location: a prison. Emily's here with me too. The prison is gray, kind of resembling a castle. But I see prison guards stationed at searchlight towers. However, the entrance to the prison is wide open. So much for security.
Emily: Where are we!? Did you do something?
Ángel: Like hell I know! It's definitely not reality though.
Emily: Well no shit, Ángel. Take us back right now.
Voice Coming From Phone: Navigation Complete.
I check out my phone and the weird app is open. I must have left it open by mistake. It displays Emily's first and last name, along with what I assume her keyword is: Prison. It also gives the option to "End Navigation." Clicking it does nothing unfortunately. I notice I don't have any reception. I tell Emily I don't have reception, but exclude any details relating to the app.
Emily: What do you mean you don't have reception? Wait a minute, I don't either. What are we gonna do if we can't call for help?
Ángel: Calm down. Let's go check out the prison.
Emily: Are you insane? We don't know what's in there.
Ángel: Only one way to find out what is in there. Besides, sitting around is doing nothing for us. Maybe the key to leaving is in prison.
Emily: Fine, you can go in there yourself.
Ángel: We definitely can't split up. Just come with me.
Emily reluctantly followed me into the entrance of the prison. The first room is pretty large and there are guards around, looking for an escaped prisoner from what I see. They all have rulers instead of batons which is strange. However, the most notable and out of place thing in the room is a sleeping little fox in a butler suit. It also has a mask on its head. Its head is disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body. It's placed front and center in the room. It doesn't look dangerous, so I attempt to approach it.
Emily: Be careful, please. I don't want that thing to kill us.
Ángel: It's just a cute little fox. We'll be fine.
Before I can put my hand on it, the fox springs to life. I fell back in surprise.
Cute Fox Creature: Thank you for awakening me from my slumber, master!
Ángel: What the hell are you!?
Cute Fox Creature: I am Kitsu: you're very own cuddly companion and guide.
Emily: Awwww! That is so cute.
What Emily didn't see was the minigun and saber behind the fox. That's what I was really scared of. As soon as Emily saw it, her expression went from joyful to scared shitless. I recomposed myself because I didn't want to go mad and end up doing anything stupid.
Ángel: You said you're our companion, right? So you're not gonna hurt us or kill us or anything like that. And you also said you're a guide. That means you can maybe get us out of here, right?
Kitsu: That is correct, sir. I'll aid you however I can. I am forever loyal to you from this moment onward.
Emily: Well that's nice. He really likes you, Ángel.
A warden noticed our conversation and started barreling towards us. Terrified, me and Emily started running away as fast as we could.
Warden: Halt, Trespassers!
Kitsu: Come forth, Salt!
Kitsu ripped off his mask and a monster suddenly appeared above his head. He readied his saber for combat and strapped his minigun to his back. Me and Emily were extremely taken aback. The monster looked like Kitsu's guardian or something, even if it was only twice as big as him. Me and Emily were bigger than it, but it still struck me as dangerous. It reminded me of that one anime with those extremely muscular men who were part of the same bloodline.
Kitsu: Blow them away!
The guardian obeyed and released a strong gust of wind, in turn obliterating the warden. Kitsu puts his mask back on and the guardian disappears.
Ángel: Kitsu, what the hell is that thing?
Kitsu: This is my persona, the manifestation of my personality. I can use it to fight shadows, which in this case, are the wardens you see roaming this palace.
Ángel: This place isn't a palace though, it's a prison. And aren't shadows and personas supposed to be parts of a person's mind. How can they exist physically? You know what, I have too many questions. Let's get to safety right now.
Kitsu: All those questions and more will be answered later then.
Emily: More guards are closing in on us. Let's get out of here, guys.
We make a mad dash for the exit, but it's blocked off by more guards. We're completely surrounded as well. Even Kitsu's persona can't handle all these guys. My ambitions end here. But I just feel so angry right now because I know that the dream dies now. I can never make the world a better place. Never can I heal others. I guess I waited too long to take action. It just pisses me off so badly! I don't feel sorrow for my nearing death, just anger. I feel powerless. I just need... something.
Menacing Voice: No longer will you wait.
I feel a sharp pain go through my head. It's a pain I've never experienced before. The voice continues to speak.
Menacing Voice: Your excess patience has led to your downfall. The impatience that grew inside you has reached its peak. Your heart demands initiative, but instead, you continue to only dream of your perfect world. Ideals are proven by actions, not mere words. Will you attend to the needs of your heart and seek to bring change to this world that needs saving.
The voice was right. I need to take action if I want to change this world. Words aren't enough. Time will only continue to elude me as I continue like this.
Ángel: I get it. I need to start aiding the world now instead of later.
Menacing Voice: It seems we've reached an understanding then. I am thou, thou art I. Tear away the mask and seal the contract.
A mask suddenly envelopes my face. I follow the voice's words and I shed it from my visage. I call out my persona's name.
Ángel: Ranadeeeeeeee!!!
