Chapter 5: Control

"I am a shadow, the true self. Come, submit to me!"

Shadow Alyssa raised her sword and emitted a wave of black energy. The energy swirled in front of her and began to take form, manifesting a group of figures wrapped bound and gagged in spiked leather.

"Go my slaves, make them submit!"

The "slaves" began charging towards Krono and I. I looked at him and we nodded in agreement; thus we spread out to two sides. Half of the minions followed me while the other half chased after Krono. I drew my kusarigama and pivoted back towards the slaves. My mind imagined hooking myself onto the first one's neck and swing around it, thus flinging it towards the others. My hands began the motion of it, and halfway through the swing, I couldn't move my arm. It was heavier than I anticipated! So I let go and flew behind the great big shadow towering over us.

"What the hell!" I screamed towards Krono, "I thought I can do whatever I thought of!"

Krono was dancing through the monsters with his sword. "You have to know what you want before you do it!" he answered as he cut down an enemy.

I thought to myself that I did. But a surprise swing from the shadow's sword stopped my train of thought. I put my blade out and thought about blocking it. The sword's impact sent waves of pain throughout my body, and sent me flying.

"Dammit!" I yelled out, "I didn't think it had that much force!"

It hit me. I wasn't taking into account the other factors such as the force and weight because I didn't know it! I got up and saw a couple of slaves running towards me. My hand geared itself to attempt the stunt I tried earlier. My legs began charging and I hooked my blade on the neck of the lead one. As I swung around, my arms began moving to throw; my mind remembered how heavy it was earlier. Suddenly the monster felt weightless, allowing me to complete my swing and chuck it towards the group.

Shadow Alyssa laughed and pointed her sword up. More minions began to be summoned and attacked us. The endless waves began pushing Krono and I towards each other, eventually having us surrounded.

"Guess we have to use power on these guys too," Krono cringed.

"I agree."

Krono cupped his hand on his headphones, while I pulled out my pocket watch.

"Persona!"

A blue swirl of energy formed around us, and blasted the slaves away. Pwyll and Dante appeared, with their weapons drawn. Krono swung his sword, commanding Pwyll to cast a wave of ice from the swing of his sword, freezing the monsters! Dante swing his scythe, and with one sweep of the blade, the monsters were completely sliced in half.

"Oh?" said the intrigued shadow, "You little ones are putting up quite a fight. I love it when they struggle against me. She waved her sword enough for a gust of wind to blow some flower petals towards us. A snap resonated from her fingers, and we were hit with a burst of electrical energy! The smell of burning cloth filled the air as smoke slowly came from our bodies.

"This isn't gonna work, there's too many of them" I panted.

Krono clenched his sword tighter and started charging towards Shadow Alyssa. His path became blocked by a horde of minions that pushed him away back towards me.

"New plan," he groaned, "Miles, I'll take care of the minions. You handle the Shadow." He begun his charge again.

Confirming the plan, I dashed past the grotesque horde towards the queen. She swung her sword from above in an effort kill me. That stopped me in the my tracks in order to juke to the left, but force of the swing missing pushed me flat on my face. I tried to get up, but a great weight suddenly landed on top of me and crushed my legs!

"You know, a lot of boys would kill to have me do this to them!" she cackled as her boot grinded by entire lower body. My scream expressed my agony.

I couldn't feel my body, and my consciousness was starting to slip. In my blurry vision, I knew Krono couldn't help because of the massive horde he was taking on. How can he keep going like that? What's driving him to push his mind so far? That train of thought was interrupted by another slam onto my legs.

"Oh my, I love that look on you!" the shadow chirped, "Bloodred is one of my favorite colors!" I heard the sound of something metal moving above me. "I think you would look good with a sword in you!"

*Ping*

A large sword was in the way of her blade. The young knight, Pwyll, crossed the shadow's path. Krono stood amongst collapsed slaves scattered amongst the floor.

"Sorry that took so long," Krono grinned. He jumped over to me and reached out his hand. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I think I can," I was surprised I could.

"Here," Krono tossed something to me. A small white pill. "Pain killer."

I took the pill and immediately felt a difference. I gained a surge of energy and my legs felt a bit better. I guess it was a psychological thing. Krono and I split and pincered the shadow on two sides. Pwyll jumped to Krono's side and readied his saber.

"Ready?" called Krono.

"Following your lead!"

"I'll make mincemeat out of you!" cried the shadow.

She thrust her saber into the ground. Electricity started sparking from it, and began conducting into the floor! I commanded Dante to swing his scythe into a nearby wall so I could throw my weapon and hook onto it. Within that split second, I pulled myself up into the air to avoid being hit by the attack. I looked down and saw Krono still standing on the floor!

"Krono!" I cried.

He realized the situation, and responded by pulling out...a cellphone? From my perspective, Krono swiped his finger across his device, and Pwyll disappeared as a hexagram flashed in front of Krono.

"Change, Pixie! Persona!"

A small, short-haired girl with dragonfly wings appeared and started absorbing the electricity! I lowered myself back to the ground and tried to get a closer look. Honestly, there was no time to question that now. Alyssa's shadow made very quick slice with her sword. In a blink of an eye, Krono and his new Persona were sent flying into a wall!

"Dammit, Krono!"

His body lay in the rubble. I couldn't see his chest moving; was he not breathing anymore? I hung from this giant scythe, processing what could be my classmate's demise. That was enough to distract me from the attack that was coming towards me! The tip of Shadow Alyssa's sword was inching ever closer to my body. My train of thought crashed, causing my body to freeze up.

"This is it," I muttered as I closed my eyes. A ping resonated through the room. Strange, I should be dead by now. What greeted me when I opened my eyes was a sight to behold: Pwyll with his sword held up, but a sword stabbed through his abdomen!

My head turned immediately to the pile of rubble earlier. Krono was still standing. Though his breath was short, and body battered, he was clearly still kicking. I felt relief, nay...it was joy that he was alive. But it was cut short as a look of anguish swept across his face as he coughed up blood and fell backwards.

"No!" I screamed, but my voice was cut short. Literally, Dante was skewered by the blade wielded in the hands of the shadowy mistress before us.

"Look, marvel!" the shadow laughed. I could barely keep my eyes open. She continued, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

There was only silence. Krono and I lied there while our maker, I presume, was looking down us. That silence was broken by a small whimper. That whimper turned into crying, and sobbing. "MAKE IT STOP!" was the wail coming from Alyssa.

"But, they're so low, groveling for their life. Look at them! It's everything you desire!"

"No no no no, this isn't what I want!"

A loud surge of energy momentarily omitted from the middle of the room. "Yes, keep rejecting me! Once I'm done with them, I'll put you out of your misery! That's what you get for denying my existence!"

My eyes closed. My consciousness was fading. I was starting to feel Krono slipping as well. The last thing I could hear was the cackling of the shadow…

"You know, I quite enjoy a person that knows they want to strive higher. To become better than what they currently are!" The voice sounded familiar. "There's a difference between wanting to be dominant, and being in control of your life." A familiar sound emanated from above me. "Virgil! Do your thing!"

My body started getting a surge of energy. This breath of fresh air gave me the strength to stand up! Krono and I managed to stand up, and face our foe. I looked around, but the mysterious fourth person was nowhere to be seen. I recognize it! It was the voice I heard during the encounter with my shadow! Something was in my hand, the nickel pocket watch!

"You know, he's right!" yelled Krono. "Whoever that guy was, he's 100% accurate. What you seek is the ability to not have people push you around, to be able to say no for once in your life. That desire is so strong, that it manifested into this!"

"Yeah!" I yelled that? "Doesn't that say something? That you should take matters into your own hands? You do so much for others Alyssa, but no one's done anything for you. Well….it's time that changed. For once, someone else is here for you!"

The look on her face started scrunching up into a sob. Tears started streaming from her eyes as her heart began pouring out of her. A decade of feelings that were repressed finally coming out.

"What, no!" the shadow screamed. Her form was starting to distort.

"You're right!" she literally cried out. "You're right…."

I took out the nickel pocket watch and flipped it open with gusto. Somehow the words just came to me.

"Persona! Come forth, Virgil!"

The mythical bard manifested himself, and slammed a heavy chord. A gust of wind started billowing out from beneath the shadow. She screamed as her form started to break apart and collapse into the ground. Krono started running towards her.

"Now's our chance for an all-out attack!"

I immediately responded. What followed was a flurry of spells and attacks from us and our personas that chipped away at her form. To deal the finishing blow, Pwyll encased her in a tomb of ice, which reached to the ceiling and broke Alyssa's prison. She gently floated down and kneeled in front of her shadow. The tears finally stopped. She was able to look herself in the eye.

"I….I'm sorry. All you were doing was looking out for me," she said to her shadow."And, I denied it, I rejected it. All this time, I was constantly made to do this and that. Sometimes, against my own will." She teared up a little at that line. "I want control in my life, but I also wanna be in command, in charge…..dominant. This whole time, i kept helping others, but the one really needing help was myself."

The shadow smiled at her. She smiled at us.

"You are me...and I am you…"

Satisfied, the shadow started glowing a soft light. Her form dissolved and wrapped around Alyssa's wrist. It took form in a pink and green homemade rope bracelet. Alyssa smiled as she held her wrist. In front of her formed a beautiful brunette woman in a red dress clutching a sword in her arms

"I am thou, thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I will protect you by your side. I am the Queen of Legend, Guinevere."

"Guinevere…" she smiled and collapsed.

Author's note: Sorry this took so long, and if the quality dropped. I've been busy for a while and this chapter has been in limbo all that time. Since P5 came out this year, I'll get ideas and slowly work on this series. If you're interested in Love Live, I am also working on a series for that as well :) Thank you!