Chapter 5: Ember of Bonds
"It actually worked?!" The girl screamed, her mouth wide open. When she gazed at the lunar figure above her, her eyes went wide, no longer full of fear. "Amazing! I didn't know I could do something like this!"
Amara was still reeling from the frigid assault. Even so, she was still worried about this girl. Only in school, and she was trapped here. Could she cope with fighting?
"Excuse me, um..."
"What? Oh, it's Serena. I'm alright, honestly!" The teenager's face was full of confidence. "This power is called a 'Persona', right? It's so strong and bright, like the moon."
"Intriguing. I've never seen the power of the moon before. Would you please demonstrate for us?" Nathan said, excitedly.
"It would be my pleasure!" Serena said. She looked up at Artemis, who raised her arms. Immediately, a bright white light surged into Amara and Nathan's bodies. It was a soothing sensation, filling their bodies with energy. Their injuries seemed to fade away, and they were full of vitality once again.
"Whoa..." Amara said, standing up. "Thanks a lot! If you can keep doing that, we'll get through this just fine - whoa! Nathan, look out!"
The monster, irritated, skated over to Nathan and started bashing him repeatedly with its hands. Nathan tried fending it off with his weapon, but he couldn't avoid every single attack.
"Hold on!" Serena shouted. "I think I know what else I can do! Aqua!"
Artemis raised her arms again, and a sphere of water crashed onto the clown, causing it more pain.
"That was great, Serena! With a little luck, we'll kill this thing in no time!" Amara said.
With Nathan and Serena by her side, she felt a sudden surge of confidence. Before the clown could cast another spell, she charged at him, slashing him repeatedly with her weapon. Nathan did the same, each swing becoming more and more brutal.
The clown's screams were horrifying to behold. It sounded neither human nor beastlike. There was bizarre black blood dripping from his face, staining his mask and his clothes. The harlequin started to dance even more erratically, and soon a great burst of purple energy hit all three Persona users.
"Ugh!" Nathan screamed, falling to the floor. Amara and Serena were also gravely hurt by this spell, yet remained standing. "What outstanding power..." He grabbed his staff, stood up, and glared at the clown. It simply laughed in its inhuman voice. "You despicable bastard! I don't know what you are, but you won't live past this night!"
"Calm down, man. I got an idea! Let's try something different!" Amara said.
"What...do you have in mind?" Serena asked, uncertainly.
Smirking, Amara pointed her sword at the monster before them. From the look on Nathan and Serena's faces, she had a hunch they knew what her plan was.
"We attack at the same time! Now!"
Hathor, Setanta and Artemis were all summoned at once. The fiery goddess immediately brought down a powerful jet of flame at the clown. Not wanting to be outdone, the Celtic hero conjured up great gusts of wind as well, harming the clown considerably. Next, the goddess of the hunt's great waves of water crashed into the monster during those assaults, and the energies of all three moves started to combine.
"Yes! I knew this would work!" Amara said. The energy built up, and formed an explosion even greater than the one the clown used. This was the Power Triad. She didn't know how exactly, but she knew that was the name of what they had accomplished. A trinity of power formed by those working together to bring down evil. Perhaps there were other abilities like this, she wondered.
Thoroughly defeated, the clown became even more incoherent and staggered in random directions. Parts of his 'body' were breaking off, and dissolving as they hit the ground. Serena seemed perturbed at the sight of this and tried to look away. The clown, in its final moments, backed into the generator. But instead of merely bumping into it, it's massively weakened body phased right through.
"What is it doing?" Amara shouted. "It's not going to get even stronger, is it?"
Suddenly, the generator's lights blinked, and each part of it began rotating at full speed. A great number of the basic masked monsters appeared within the cylinder, just as the clown finally disappeared. The computers in the room began roaring with energy, and from the sounds outside, the building seemed to be fully powered once more.
"Ghastly," Nathan said, shaken. "I never expected those creatures to be a source of power. Nothing I could have ever imagined would be like this. So that is what these creatures are called. 'Shadows'. This Shadow Power Generator...what a twisted technology."
"No denying that but look over there, mister. I think this generator's connected to something else. There's a lot of pipes coming out of the ground connecting to it." Serena said, pointing. "Hey, let's go back to the door. I think we can get home now!"
"It's about time. I wanna go to bed. I'm exhausted..." Amara said, yawning. "This place freaks me out."
"I know, it's like something out of an 80's anime. Except my skirt's too long for panty shots." Serena said. Amara and Nathan blinked. "Uh...forget I said that. I think you guys get the picture. It feels like a virtual reality game. Why us, though? I never signed up for anything like this!"
"Ladies, we shouldn't spend too much time talking in this room. I don't want the 'Shadows' in that thing to break free." Nathan said. "Quite frankly, just one wandering around is bad enough. I just hope the circus isn't coming to Nova Albion anytime soon..."
|Teleportation Room|
"Yes!" Amara shouted ecstatically.
To everyone's relief, the door was active again, and now they could return home. "We're out of here! Thank god! It's finally over..."
"Priscilla...I never did get her handbag back." Nathan said, glum.
"Why are you worried about that? Come on, we almost got killed by monsters!" Serena exclaimed, in disbelief. "Whoever Priscilla is, she'd probably be glad you're not dead!"
"You're quite direct, Serena, but correct. I have to get home and tell her I'ms safe. Hold on..." Nathan noticed something in the back corner of the room. A black leather handbag, a rather expensive one, the kind that were typically sold in Nova Albion's boutiques. "What on Earth - why is this here?" He questioned. Then, he gasped.
"What is it? A treasure chest with good spoils?" Serena asked.
"No, silly! Behind the door!" Nathan said.
Amara and Serena looked around it, and saw the man in the black cloak. As before, his face was entirely hidden, and his body was completely covered in a black cloak - even his hands and feet.
"You're that freaky guy..." Serena said, backing away with fright. Amara glared at him, her rage burning within her heart. He might not have been able to see her through his cloak, but she didn't care. It was because of this man that she had been forced to fight monsters of pure malice.
"You have done rather well." The man said after a moment of silence. "The way to your homes has been opened again. Yet, this world remains in peril."
"What does that mean?" Amara said, perplexed. "Who are you, anyway?"
"I cannot tell you that for now, Amara." The man said, stretching his arms outward. His voice sounded weary and almost faint. "It would be so simple to continue your everyday lives and forget everything that transpired here. However, I implore you to return. Your world and this one are linked, thanks to these doors. If you do not return, the worlds may collide, and all shall be lost."
"What utter rubbish!" Nathan shouted. "This desolated world has nothing to do with us. You stranded us in here without even asking us to do this! We almost got killed by those Shadows! Now you expect us to risk our lives for this place? That's ridiculous!"
"Would you have believed me if I had just asked? I had to get your attention by any means necessary. Nathan, recall the monitor downstairs. It has your company's logo on it. Not only that, do you not recognise the emblem throughout this building?" The man said.
It didn't look like Albion's logo. Then does another company own this building? Who?
"Relax, guys. This is some sort of MMORPG, right? They just couldn't release it to the public because of copyrights!" Serena said, with somewhat false bravado. "Do we get to decide our classes now? I wanna be the white mage!" Nathan and Amara just stared blankly, and the cloaked man did not respond. "Fine, Nathan can be the Dragoon if he wants. Amara, you feel like being a Bard?"
"What is she talking about?" Amara asked.
"I have no idea. I was never into gaming. Yet this feels real, not simulated..." Nathan said.
"Exactly. This is far from a game, Serena. These are battles to the death, ones you cannot repeat if they don't go your way." the man said. Then, he faded away.
"The hell - Where did he go?" Serena looked all over, but it was only the three of them in the room.
"Get back here! No one pushes me into a place like this and gets away with it!" Amara screamed, shaking her fists.
Do you wish for more answers? Your only choice is to come back here. If you want your world to survive, this one must too. Return, as much as you can.
The voice faded away into a quiet echo. Nathan, Serena and Amara just stood there, struggling to comprehend the situation.
"Damn, I don't understand this! How does he know our names? What is this building? How can we go between worlds?" Amara shouted, stomping on the ground. "I'm pissed off with this crap!"
"Calm down," Nathan said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Right now, we should go through. With any luck, we should be back in our world if we do. We'll be fine once we're out of here."
"Sorry...let's go."
The three of them held hands, wary of what the door device had in store for them, and ran through.
|Abandoned Warehouse|
"Whoa!" Amara said. Unlike before, she went through in a flash. She didn't feel going through the endless abyss, and neither did Serena or Nathan, from the looks of things. "Never thought I'd be so glad to be here again. You guys okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm a little tired though." Serena said. "At least I recognise this place. This is that creepy warehouse the hooded guy ran into!"
"Wait, how did he lead you in here?" Amara asked, grimacing at the thought of the cloaked man.
"Oh yeah, that. I was about to head to my friend Kyle's house to help him with homework when all of a sudden this guy walks in front of me, flings a card at me and runs off. I really shouldn't have followed him, but I did!" Serena said, as we walked downstairs. "When you guys turned up, I was so relieved. I wasn't all alone anymore. Good thing we found each other! It must be fate."
"Fate, huh? Perhaps. We're lucky you could summon a Persona as well. I'd rather not repeat that experience, though." Nathan said. "I thought that the time I got lost in the parking garage was bad enough." He put his staff down on the ground, then motioned for Amara to do the same with her sword.
"Oh yeah, we shouldn't take our weapons outside of here," Amara said, leaving her sword down - then she noticed a chain whip further away. "I didn't see that earlier. Was it meant for Serena?"
"Yeah, I think so. It looks kind of cool. But why give us all these weapons and get us to summon Personas?" Serena asked, disgusted. "We could have died because of that creep!"
"I'm as confused as you two. With our Personas, we can survive that harsh place, but I'm worried. There was Albion equipment inside that place. Not only that, there was indeed something familiar about the other logo." Nathan said, deep in thought. "This doesn't feel like some kind of game, like we keep hoping..."
"If this is real, then I can actually use magic!" Serena said, a little excited. "It doesn't seem as cool as it should, though."
Amara nodded. "Yeah. Water, Wind, and Fire. Wonder what other powers our Personas have."
If there's fire, there must be ice. Perhaps electricity to go against water. Earth to counter wind. And that magic the Shadow used, that didn't seem to be like any of those. What was it?
"Damn, I'm going to have to tell Kyle I'm too tired to go round. I need some sleep..."
"So do I. Also, I really think we should meet again. I have a feeling this isn't quite over. Since I'm the son of the CEO of Albion, I can easily access their files. I'll be able to determine whether they have any hand in this. I don't suspect my father, but someone else could be involved out of his sight." Nathan said, looking angry. "Meet me at Solar Ray Mall at 6 pm. I might as well treat you all to dinner."
"Great! I haven't been there for a few weeks!" Serena said, with a glimmer in her eyes. "We're keeping this secret, right?"
"Of course. I'd rather not have Priscilla know I'm having dinner with younger women. It would be rather...awkward." Nathan said, his face red. Serena chuckled, whilst Amara sighed.
"I just realised, we still haven't properly introduced ourselves to Serena. I'm Amara Furaha."
"And my name is Nathan Albion."
Serena shook hands with everyone, and smiled.
"Hmm..." She appeared deep in thought. "You guys seem cool. If we're gonna be on full name basis, then it's Serena Agnethe. I'm in high school. What are you guys, college students?"
"I was one until this year. Now I'm working at a magazine." Amara said. "I'm an artist."
Nathan looked proud. "I completed my first class degree in business studies in 2007, actually. These days, I'm working under my father at Albion Incorporated. So you could say I've done well for myself."
Serena pouted. "Aww, come on! How am I supposed to compete with that?! Rich guys have all the luck!"
Nathan laughed. "Sorry, Serena. I'm sure when you're my age, you'll be proud of what you've done as well. But that aside, I have to find Priscilla. She must be worried sick by now. You two should get home too. Take care!" Nathan quickly ran out of the warehouse.
"Hey..." Serena said, as she and Amara left themselves. "I'm glad you two came along. If it wasn't for you, I'd be Shadow food by now!" She held out her hand.
"Well, maybe. But you saved our behinds too, y'know?" Amara shook hands with Serena. "Your Persona's healing ability rocks!"
"Thanks. Personas are really amazing. Mine, yours, and Nathan's." Serena giggled, but both girls were quickly startled by a motorcycle that quickly drove past. The driver dropped a lit cigarette on the ground, and the younger of the women frowned. "Eew. So...are we gonna go back in there?" She asked.
Amara nodded, unhappily.
"Yes, looks like it. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this. And with our Personas, we can crush all of those Shadows in no time!"
Serena nodded. "I hope we do! I hope this is all some sort of game. If it's real, then more people might have to go through this. And I don't want anyone else involved...not even Kyle. So, can I have your phone number? Just so we can meet up with each other if we need to?" Amara and Serena exchanged numbers, and said goodbye.
Watching Serena walk off into the distance, Amara stared at the sky. Stella's fortune came true - she did indeed meet others who went through the same ordeal. Darkness, another world, it was all real. How could she tell Stella all of this? Not only that, could she keep all of this secret? This was insane, but Amara had to try to deal with the trials of both worlds.