Chapter 3: Revelation
Darkness…
Can't see anything, Shinn desperately fight for air, or perhaps a source of light.
Darkness… is pulling down on me. It pulls down on my legs, my arms, and even my face…
All he can feel is his body grows heavier and heavier.
Darkness, just like it devours father, mother and sister, now it's coming at me…
Is he going to die like this? It is such a ridiculously short life. He still doesn't know what took away his family, and he still hasn't met the blue angel again.
Anger… angry at this damn life… hatred… hates this damn life. Will it all end here?
I don't want to die… Not like this…Will there be someone…
Accept me… Shinn could almost hear a voice in his head. Accept who? The anger he harbors, or perhaps the hatred? He has been trying to hide away his anger and hatred, at least from Yu because he doesn't want his brother too sees how twisted his mind has become after his family's death.
Yu was the only thing he has left, but now…
I… embrace the truth… I accept it… Shinn reach his hands, towards the only source of light he sees, "Per… so… na…"
His mouth opens, as if chanting a gentle murmur.
Very well…
-
There is a loud noise heard by everyone on the beach, as if a strong gust of wind blowing through a narrow valley. Then, something jumps out of the dark, calm water. Everyone turn their head up and look.
Another D Class Shadow still wrapping its tentacle hands on Shinn is pulled out of the water. Behind Shinn, a figure soars in the sky like a raging hawk. It wears a sleeveless black jacket with a skull head sew on the back and a pair of blue leather jeans and a biker helmet. Two red skinned arms with bulging muscles so huge they looks like tree trunk are holding a wooden sword. A long scarf, so red it looks like dried, old blood stain flung behind its neck like a pair of wings.
"Thou art I, and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I come forth. I am Susanoo, the berserk storm."
"What the… Impossible! How could that damn civilian call out his persona without an evoker?" Yzak stares at sky with eyes wide.
"Well… I'll be damned… Another natural type persona user, just like that guy huh?" Dearka walks beside Yzak and give him a pat on the shoulder, "At least this one's on our side, one scar on your face is enough."
"Don't remind me of that incident again." Yzak hissed at his best friend.
Shinn, who is still wrapped by the shadow start to stretch his arms, as if let out a painful moan, the shadow makes a noise similar to pressing a chalk against blackboard. Its arms torn apart by Shinn and fall on the ground so fast as if they are meteoroid. Shinn hold his right hand toward the shadow, and his persona does so as well. A hurricane forms around the shadows body, torn it apart and then slowly dissolve into nothingness.
"He… took a Dreadnought class shadow out with one shot…" Yzak feels he had too much surprise for one day.
Shinn turns around to look at the D Class shadow on the beach. Although he was very far from the others on the beach, Yu feels he could clearly see his brother's face. Maybe it is the twin's connected feeling or something like that. And for the first time, he see his brother has a cold, emotionless expression in his eyes, as if he is looking down on all of them from sky.
Just like the blue angel was on that day.
Shinn, and his persona Susanoo makes a dive at the shadow, it desperately fling a small number of its arms at the other personas who are still in a deadlock with him, and send most of its arms at Shinn. A gust of wind appears, wrapping around both Shinn and Susanoo as if a protective cocoon and torn apart any tentacle arms the shadow charge at him. Susanoo holds its wooden sword with both arms, and impales the shadow's mask with it. The shadow makes a shriek as it shakes violently for a brief few seconds, before turns into a huge puddle of black ooze.
"Nii-san!" Yu runs towards his brother. Shinn with his cloudy red eyes turn towards Yu, as if trying to recognize who he is before collapsing in his brothers arm, "Nii-san, are you ok? Nii-san!"
"Don't worry, he just exhausted himself. The more powerful a persona is, the more it takes out of its user." Karin runs to Shinn and Yu's side as she lay Shinn down on the ground. Her persona Medea gently places its hand on Shinn's forehead, "My persona has the ability to heal, so he should be alright. But he still need some rest to regain his strength."
"Change of plan, you damn kids." Yzak walks towards the boys and girls who did not run away during the confusion and remained on the beach. Before, Yzak was just a senpai who's in basket ball team and like to bad mouth, but this definitely changed now, "All those of you who got the guts to stay and witness the whole thing… well, we need to return you back to school again. And yeah, the little something you guys called 'normal life'? It just ended five minuets ago for all of you.
-
Shinn who slowly regains his senses feels as if someone cracked his skull open with a hammer.
If this is what a hangover feels, then I'll stick with my strawberry milkshake for the rest of my life… He thinks to himself before turning to see Yu's face. Then he realize something embarrassing, he was resting his head on his brother's legs. He wants to quickly get up, but the headache almost made him fell of the couch he and his brother is on.
"Nii-san, you should not move, you are still too weak from the fight." Yu gently run his finger through Shinn's hair, massaging his head to make him feel better.
Shinn slowly turns around to get a better sense of where he is. It looks like they are in a very comfortable waiting room. His cousin Kazuki and his new 'best friend' Ryou is sitting across on another long couch. Besides them the wheelchair girl Shouko and Maya both look at him with a concerned look on their face.
Well, at least I saved somebody for this headache… totally worth it… Shinn thinks to himself sarcastically.
Besides those two, there are two more girls in the room, Sakura who has a stern look on her face.
Behind the couch, Kenji and Kouyou both walk in circles anxiously.
"Calm down." He hears a rather cold voice and turns his head towards it and sees Rey who still looks rather indifferent at their situation. He is sitting besides Mamoru, who is staring down on his enclosed hands nervously, "We'll be summoned soon enough."
Well, he looks too calm for a guy who has no idea what's going on. It's not like he knows about shadow like cousin Kazuki and Ryou… or is it? Shinn thinks to himself.
"Come on Kazuki! Say something!" Kouyou suddenly calls out to Kazuki, "Just what the heck is going on? What's this base under our school, and those black monsters doing?"
We are under our school?
But before Kazuki, or Ryou can answer his question, the door opens and Soushi appears behind it. "You have all been summoned by the board."
-
The kids look at the metallic corridor and all the machineries from left to right with amazement. They are definitely not expecting to see something like this under their school, "No way… we are still in A.D. 2000 right?"
"You can say that again, it looks like we just jumped to… C.E. 75 or something." Kenji looks at a huge layer of high density glass. Outside, a fish swim towards him and looks at him curiously.
"This is the command room of S.E.E.S. The directors in here will answer any questions you guys may have." Soushi shows the kids a metallic door, with red 'S.E.E.S' painted. The door opens, and the kids walk in. They found themselves in a circular room with long tables all around and in front of them set three men.
In the middle set Kouzou, the middle aged school president and head of school board, who wears a pair of glasses and has a beard. Another man with long black hair and a welcoming smile on his face is Gilbert Durandal, the school's head of education and psychological counselor. And… Asuka brothers' uncle Fumihiko?
"Well, do you want to explain to the kids, or would you allow me the honor, Makabe?" Gilbert turns to face Fumihiko.
"Be my guest."
"Thank you." Gilbert give a gracious nod as he turns towards the kids, "First, I want to welcome everyone to S.E.E.S, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. We are a privately armed organization which studies the use of special ability named 'persona' to fight against the threat of Shadows."
"Mr. Durandal, if I may interrupt…" While the other students are still dumbfounded, Yu raises his left arm while still holding his brother with right, "Just what is this Shadow, and Persona you mentioned." Sure, he understands the literal meaning of both words, but it doesn't take a genius like Yu to figure out Gilbert did not take their direct literary meaning.
"Before I answer your question Yu, I would like to ask you. In the past, how many natural disaster, war, or terrorism act has happened around the world."
"12 natural disasters, 1 major warfare in Europe, 3 other small skirmishes around the world, and 26 noticeable acts of terrorism around the world." Take a short time to think, Yu comes up with the perfect answer.
"That's a good answer, but I regret to say it is incorrect. The truth is zero natural disaster, war, and terrorism occurred since the last ten years." If anyone was not surprised when they come in, Gilbert's answer certainly knocked the wind out of him or her, with the exception of Kazuki, Ryou… and Rey, "They are all part of a cover up against humanity's real threat, the invasion of a being we call the 'shadow'. I trust you all see it first hand today?"
He posed for a few second, as if to let the kids to digest what he just said, "Despite studying them for ten years now, we still don't know what this being we call 'shadow' is. Some believe they are alien invaders, others think it is the defensive mechanism of earth to exterminate human beings. All we know is they come from another dimension we named 'Shadow world'."
He posed for a few second more, "And the persona, it is a special ability which some of human has. After our study, we believe it is a hidden personality of the human manifested in the form of mythical beings, like a mask which protect you from the harsh world. After training, those people with the ability can summon their persona with a special equipment we developed named 'evoker'." He takes a pistol out of the holster and point it at his head, "Come forth, Odin."
A loud Bam followed by the white fragments flying out of Gilbert's head, they forms a white being elegantly holding a spear in its hand.
"And for some reason… some people can summon their persona without the aid of Evoker. We still don't know what caused this natural type of persona user to appear, but their persona seems to be stronger then the artificial persona user." Everyone turns towards Shinn.
"Was… was the 'Orb Gas Explosion' incident also caused by those shadows?" Shinn's head still aches, but it is clear enough for him to absorb what Gilbert just said.
"Yes."
"Then count me in, I would like to get back at those shadow bastards." Shinn says with a sinister smile, almost can be counted as a smirk on his face.
Join a private squad to hunt shadows seems to be a good way to take some of his stored anger out, and it's against those creatures that killed his family.
The life here on Tatsumiya turns out to be good indeed…
