Hello, Welcome to Chapter 4 of Persona Academy! In this chapter, the seemingly normal world around Keita shows its true colors. Read on to see what I mean. Don't forget to review if you are reading. I'd really appreciate it :)
Persona Academy
Chapter 4: Disturbance
"…What a day" Keita thought upon walking on his own into the dorm. He didn't expect to wake up this morning to meet people like Mr. Kuroki and Ryoko; a bitter asshole of a teacher and an honor student who holds some sort of grudge against him. Keita was astonished that he was able to keep himself from going ballistic after the day he had.
Keita walked up the stairs and opened the door to his room. He found Kaz inside, watching something on TV. He looked away from it and looked at Keita as the door opened.
"Oh, hey…" Kaz began to speak, feeling regret sink in.
"Hey Kaz" Keita said as he climbed into his alcove. A part of him didn't want anything to do with him for a while. But another part told him to at least hear him out. He watched TV through the bars of the small guardrail as he laid flat on his stomach.
"Hey Keita…I'm sorry about earlier" Kaz apologized.
"Ah, it's no big deal" Keita brushed it off, not wanting to think about it.
"You understand, right?"
"Yeah, you were under pressure. It's alright, really" Keita reassured him, having mildly calmed down since earlier.
"Alright…" Kaz breathed a sigh of relief.
"I mean, best we get along if we're roommates, right?" Keita asked.
"I suppose so…" Kaz answered.
"Besides, it wasn't really you I was mad at."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it's that Ryoko girl that really got on my nerves" Keita clarified.
"I see…" Kaz nodded.
"I can't stand people like…ngh" Suddenly, Keita felt a sharp pain pierce through his head. The pain was so sudden and intense that it caused his hands to shake and his knees to buckle.
"Is something wrong?" Kaz asked, wondering why Keita suddenly stopped talking.
"Ngh, it's j-just a headache, Kaz. I think I just need some sleep" Keita threw his blanket over his body and lied down.
"Alright, night" Kaz said.
Shortly after saying that, Keita dozed off, breathing heavily and tossing in bed.
"He must've caught a bug" Kaz though. He looked out the window, seeing that there was still an hour or two of daylight. "I might as well leave him be" He murmured to himself, turning off the TV and quietly stepping out.
Kaz walked down the hall of the dorm, thinking about earlier in the day. He thought about what Ryoko said to him when they left the classroom.
-A few hours earlier-
Kaz followed Ryoko down the halls of the school, whom seemed very irritated at that moment. Shiki struggled to follow the two down the halls as they changed shoes, following her outside. After a while of walking, the three stopped around the side of the school building, where no one usually went.
Ryoko stood in front of Kaz and glared him straight in the eye. "Kaz, why are you associating yourself with someone like him?" She asked harshly.
"He's a new student and Marina-senpai asked me to show him around. He's not a bad guy Ryo-…"
"I couldn't care less what he's like! He's pathetic! He hasn't even awakened his power yet!" She yelled furiously, interrupting him mid-sentence.
"He'll awaken it soon" Kaz pointed out.
"What good is he if he can't fight now?"
"We're not under attack yet…"
"Yet is the key word! Any day now and our school could be surrounded"
"Listen to me. He's new. Give him some time, he can learn" Kaz tried desperately to reason with her.
"R-Ryoko…?" Shiki mumbled concerned about what was going on.
"We can't wait that long…" Ryoko said coldly.
"Hey come on. Everyone starts somewhe-…" Kaz began to say
"Don't make excuses for that imbecile!" Ryoko ordered as she walked away. "Until he's of any use in battle, he's nothing more than a liability" She walked off.
"R-Ryoko! Wait up!" Shiki called.
"Leave me alone Shiki. I need to blow off some pent up aggression" Ryoko said, continuing her stride. Her posture and voice made it seem like she was on a warpath.
"Kaz…? You alright…?" Shiki asked, his eyes reflecting concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm gonna head out too Shiki. Bye" Kaz walked off in a hurry towards his dorm, wanting to forget the whole issue that Ryoko raised.
Shiki tried to object to both of his friends leaving angrily, but before he could say anything, they were both gone. His head slumped sadly as he walked away.
-Present time-
Kaz raised a cold glass of soda to his lips and took a long swig from it, letting out a refreshed sigh. He managed to get some peace and quiet downstairs in the lounge. Everybody seemed to have headed to bed thankfully. It was already night time, though he didn't know exactly what time it was. He had hardly even noticed how much time he had spent downstairs to begin with.
He heard the door to the lounge opening from behind him. "Huh? Who's there?" He asked, turning around.
"Hey Kaz, it's just me" A familiar voice answered.
"Oh Marina-senpai, what're you doing here?" Kaz asked, calming down.
"Just taking a break" She said casually.
"Really…? Why are you up at this time of night…?" He asked her.
"I could ask you the same thing" She teased.
"I came down here to relax since Keita isn't feeling well" He said, his voice reducing in volume.
"Saeki-kun…?" She asked, her eyes widening. She sighed, scratching her head in dismay as she spoke. "Ryoko really did him in, huh?"
"That's not it. He just seems ill" He explained, trying to not to sound too grim in front of Marina, who already seemed worried.
"Really…? I'll head to the pharmacy right now" She offered, alerted by the unnerving news.
"It's okay. It just seems like he's got a bad headache. He's sleeping it off right now" He said.
"I see…" She replied back. She walked around the lounge, pacing back and forth. "So what did Ryoko say to you earlier?"
"She was picking at something about him" He replied.
"Oh?"
"You've noticed it right?"
"Noticed what?"
"Keita…his power" He said, worry rising in his voice.
"Oh…yeah, I noticed" Marina confirmed to him.
"That's essentially what she wasn't too fond of him for" Kaz explained, finishing the last of his drink.
"Jeez, when is that girl gonna get it through her thick skull?" Marina groaned. "Not everyone's a pro."
"I don't know" Kaz groaned in defeat. "He just needs time…right?"
"Yeah, of course" She said cheerfully.
Kaz got up and walked towards the window, looking out at the night sky; seeing the stars shining so brightly, with the moon casting its radiance upon all those beneath it. As Kaz looked around, he couldn't shake a strange feeling that hit him as he looked outside.
"You feel it too, huh?" Marina asked.
"How did you…?"
"You look really tense" She explained.
"Yes, I feel it. Something about tonight doesn't sit right with me" Kaz looked away from the window. "Maybe we should tell Principal Izumi?"
"I was thinking the same thing" Marina nodded. She wanted to get to the bottom of what this feeling was and be sure that nothing strange was going to happen.
The pair raced out of the dorm and headed towards the main faculty building, where Principal Izumi's office was.
Back inside the dorm, Keita desperately tried to sleep peacefully. However, his headache made it nearly impossible for him to do so; he felt like an axe had been plunged straight into his skull
"Ugh, forget it. I'll just take a walk" Keita groaned. He put on his shoes and jacket, jumping down to ground level rather than climbing down the stairs. "Maybe some fresh air will do me some good" He thought to himself.
Keita walked out of his door and walked through the dimly lit halls of the dorm. It was eerily quiet, though the faint sounds of breathing could be heard if one focused enough. He headed downstairs cautiously and found no one there either. The lounge door was wide open, as though someone had walked through.
"Jeez this is spooky" Keita thought. He looked in the lounge and like everywhere else, no one was there. He looked to the side of the door and found a wooden kendo sword, tucked in behind a chair. He picked up the weapon, feeling its weight. "W-well, better safe than sorry. They won't mind if I borrow it" He chuckled nervously.
Keita exited the dorm and began to walk a short route. He planned on walking to the class building and then back to the dorm. It was a fair distance and he easily knew how to get there. He walked along the path, gripping the kendo sword in case of an emergency. He looked up and saw the moon, hovering over the world he was on; though something was odd about it. The moonlight seemed to be a darker blue than usual. The clouds were also darker and seemed to move unnaturally quickly.
As Keita walked, he seemed to lose track of the path and headed down another one. The night time air was brisk and chilled Keita's body to the bone. It did little for his headache.
"I-I should p-p-probably head back" Keita mumbled, his teeth chattering. He turned around and walked down where he thought came from, but wherever he went, he didn't recognize the area. The campus was beginning to look like a maze. "D-damn it, I'm lost" Keita groaned.
He rubbed his head. "Okay, focus Saeki. Just remember the way you came from" Keita tried to recollect anything that would distinguish the area where the dorms were. He remembered the fact that it was 4 buildings all in a square surrounding a tree-filled grassy square. That seemed to be a good enough mental image for him to follow.
Keita suddenly heard an odd noise, coming from somewhere around him; though the noise was to faint to distinguish what it was. "H-Huh? Wh-wh-who's there?" He asked, holding the kendo sword up. The noise began to intensify, but Keita couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from exactly. "I-I'm not playing around! I have a weapon! I'm not afraid to use it either!" Keita yelled desperately to try and gain the upper hand and push away the source of the noise.
A huge "SNAP" noise came from behind Keita. He spun around and focused on the sight. What he saw froze him to the core.
In the distance, Keita saw what could only be described as a flood of darkness coming right towards him. Many small, indistinguishable shapes seemed to crawl their way towards him, making a wet and nauseating squishing sound as they moved forward. Blue blank faced masks loosely clung onto the black blobs.
"H-Huh? Wh-What the…?" Keita stammered. His breath came out as a snowy white mist.
"SNAP" Sparks flew towards Keita as something toppled over. "GAH!" He yelped, covering his face. The snap was the sound of a lamppost being torn from its foundation and being slammed into the ground, causing a shower of sparks from the broken bulb. The creature that caused the destruction was visible now.
Leading the pack, a large black creature took point for them. It was much larger than Keita, with a canine body that leaked black slime as it ran on four large, clawed legs. Its torso was swollen and a fiery red energy glowed through rips in its sides. Where eyes would normally be, the same blue masks from before replaced them, with yellow light spilling from all four of the eyeholes.
The creature let out a soul-piercing screech through its fang filled maw, which caused Keita to buckle over in pain, covering his ears to desperately try to mute the noise. He regained his senses and looked up as the creatures came closer. Abruptly, the remaining lamppost lights changed color from gold to bright red and began to flash as a siren screamed throughout the campus.
"Attention students! Attention students!" A voice yelled over the intercom.
"M-Marina-senpai…?" Keita mumbled, thinking he recognized the voice
"We are experiencing an attack by hostile Shadows! Remain calm and stay indoors while we handle the problem! Activate lockdown procedures on your dorms immediately! This is not a drill! Lockdown your dorms immediately and stay inside!"
"LOCKDOWN?" Keita shrieked. "Damn it, I gotta get out of here fast!"
Over the sirens, Keita could hear a collective of inhuman voices coming from the creatures, which at first sounded like gibberish. But upon a closer listen, he realized they were chanting a single word over and over.
"Consume…Consume…Consume…CONSUME!"
Keita screamed as loud as he could, running for his life. "This has to be a dream, this has to be a dream, this has to be a dream!" But it wasn't…and now Keita was running for his life from a pack of creatures that seemed to be born from the darkness that surrounded him.
