"...Excuse me?" Yuna asked, looking quite puzzled by this situation.
Momoko seemed to have gotten even angrier as she began raising her voice.
"You're always the best out of the class and it frustrates me! It's so frustrating when I have to hear everyone always saying, "Oh Yuna is so talented!" or "She's such a wonderful dancer!" It makes me sick!" she screamed. Sobbing noises could be heard as her voice cracked at the last part of her sentence.
"Why can't I…" she murmured softly now. She clenched her fists in frustration, the emotions becoming stronger and stronger.
"Why can't I be be betther than you…why can't I at least have the spotlight, the attention…"
Yuna remained silent and her facial expression showed she was indifferent to the emotions Momoko began spilling out as tears started forming in her eyes. Ken looked up to the sky and saw a red transparent cloud attach to Momoko's body before finally merging completely into her.
Followed by that was a flock of ravens that gave shrill cries in the dull night. He looked back at Yuna whose expression had changed drastically and her eye widened as she saw the ravens coming closer.
'Wait, what's going on? Is something really…' Ken thought and held his weapon tightly in his hand, preparing to take action in case anything had gotten out of hand.
Suddenly, Momoko's eyes changed from its crimson color to a glowing yellow and instead of crying, she began to giggle which turned into a maniacal laugh.
"That's why I'm going to stop you from being better than me…I'll show you the PAIN of being humiliated!"
Yuna had taken a few steps back already, only showing signs of fear towards the oncoming flock of ravens and found herself stepping onto the now glowing silver bridge.
Her whole body was trembling as the ravens started to come closer and the now seemingly corrupted Momoko ran towards her, reaching her arms out in attempts of tackling her down.
Yuna turned around instantly and dashed off into the dark and dangerous forest with Momoko and the ravens on her tail. Ken and Ryo looked at each other with worried looks on their faces and leaped out of the bushes and chased after them.
"We have to save her!" Ryo shouted as they made their way through the eerie forest, hearing the ravens from afar.
"I know! But where did they-" Ken was instantly cut off by the sight of a large gate in front of them that was decorated purely of ivory. From behind it, they could hear the distant cries of the ravens.
Suddenly, the pendant in his pocket began to emit a bright red glow. He gave it a questionable look before looking back at the large ivory gate before them.
There is definitely something going on with this place...and we have to find out what!
Ken was about to push open the door but noticed that behind him Ryo was standing still, giving him a worried look.
"Are you coming or not?" Ken asked, turning around to face him. Ryo averted his gaze and remained silent for a moment before speaking up.
"Y-yeah…I guess…" he mumbled and slowly walked up to the gate next to him.
'Wait, is he too scared to come? Ugh, well nevertheless we have to go find those two!' Ken thought before finally giving the gate a push and they were both engulfed by a bright light and everything had turned white.
?
Ken's eyes shot open and as he expected, they were transported to somewhere else. He studied his new surroundings and strangely, he found himself in…a classroom?
Patting his pockets, he felt his evoker still with him and the disassembled broomstick Ryo gave to him on the ground. As he reached down to pick it up, he could hear a disembodied voice echo throughout the dark and twisted version of the elementary school.
"My brother is the best! He can beat anyone up if he wanted to!" A young boy's voice echoed throughout the entire area. He sounded proud and unafraid as if he were shouting to someone else that doubted him.
Ken's eyebrow rose and as he looked around again, Ryo was nowhere to be found. Sighing, he attempted to find his way through the spooky and dark elementary school. His pendant began to glow once more and Ken pulled it out, using it as a flashlight to find guide him through this place.
The hallways were dark and pitch black and everything he could see in sight seemed to be all different shades of gray. The more it started to scare Ken, the more he wanted to find Ryo and get the hell out of here.
"Big brother is always there to protect me. He always has a lot of courage, unlike me," the young boy's voice echoed once more this time, saddening now.
"No! Please, don't say that!" Ryo yelled. Ken could hear his voice from outside and attempted to make his way through the school by descending the staircases and pushed the front door open, seeing Ryo crouched on the ground in the middle of the school grounds.
"Whenever a bully comes by, I know big bro Ryo is gonna stop him! Right, brother?" the boy's voice suddenly changed into a deep and demonic voice at the end of his sentence. Suddenly, a shadow landed in front of Ryo from above and took form of a young boy who looked about eight years old. Ryo's eyes immediately widened as he saw a black aura emitting from what seemed to be his younger brother.
At first he seemed to look like a harmless and innocent child, but suddenly his peachy skin began to peel away, revealing gray underneath. His golden hair started turning into black, and his clothes grayed and ripped up. His green eyes faded into an amber color and his sclera had turned into a frighteningly pure black as he gave a large and hideous smile.
"Satoshi-kun…" Ryo whispered, horrified by the twisted and hideous creature that stood before him. Satoshi only smiled in amusement as Ryo slowly backed away from him.
"What, are you too afraid to see your little brother again, big bro?" Shadow Satoshi scoffed and took a few steps closer to him. "You are my protector, aren't you?"
After he finished his sentence, the world suddenly changed its grim and gray color to its normal colors. All three of them heard several voices far to their left, where they saw a small crowd of kids standing in front of a little boy that looked like Satoshi's normal self and another boy who was on the ground behind him.
The group of boys didn't seem to have noticed them at all as if this were a flashback. Ryo began screaming as the scene began to play, and when Ken spun his head towards him, he saw him clutching his head and looked down, attempting to look away from what was about to happen.
"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT ALL!" he shrieked. Ken couldn't understand what was really going to happen and he turned his attention back to the scene as the boys began to walk closer to Satoshi.
"Y'know, you're a real pain in the ass," one of the kids said as he stepped closer towards Satoshi whom was keeping his ground and glared at the group. Satoshi, however, was much smaller in size compared to the boys that were ganging up on him and it looked like he had no chance.
Still, he kept a brave face on and stood in front of the boy whom was lying on the ground in pain. It looked like he was defending him from them.
"Seriously kid, just buzz off and we won't hurt you. This brat deserves an ass whooping because he forgot to give us lunch money. Ain't that right, Hayate?" One of the other boys asked, turning to a boy who stood in the middle. Ken assumed he must be the leader.
"Yeah, and nobody gets away with it either," Hayate said, his voice becoming even more aggressive than his looks. The boys began to surround Satoshi and the injured boy, looking as if they were going to jump them.
Meanwhile, Ken noticed a smaller Ryo standing behind a tall bush, hiding from their sight. He looked awfully scared and each time he tried to set foot past the bush he would immediately pull away.
"I'm not scared of you ugly animals! My big bro Ryo is gonna come and beat you all up and you will regret trying to hurt me!" Satoshi cried as he prepared himself for battle. He held his fists up in the air, his legs slightly bent and glared at them all with determination. "And until he comes to rescue us, I'm gonna be this boy's hero!"
Hayate gave a disgusted look to him and balled his hands into fists. "That's it you little brat, we'll show you why you shouldn't piss off upperclassmen!" At that, he grabbed Satoshi by his head and threw him on the ground violently.
The other boys surrounded him and they all started to kick him, but Satoshi was still bringing himself up, and proceeded to punch Hayate with all the strength he could muster.
This caused Hayate to stagger back and he felt the side of his face; his eyes widened as he spat out what seemed to be a tooth in his hand.
"Oh ho ho, you're gonna get it now, you little shit!" Hayate growled as he attempted to tackle Satoshi. Satoshi managed to dodge him by sidestepping but he was met by another punch from one of the boys and was knocked down once more. Hayate slammed his hand onto his face and began slamming his head onto the concrete ground.
He showed pleasure and triumphant as he harmed the poor boy but his expression suddenly changed into surprise as Satoshi began biting his thumb.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Hayate shrieked as Satoshi bit down harder, and the horrifying sound of a bone cracking echoed throughout the empty campus as well as his screams. Hayate pulled away from Satoshi, his thumb bleeding severely and Satoshi's mouth trickling with his blood.
"You little shit!" Hayate roared in rage. Satoshi began to stand up until suddenly, Ken and Ryo watched in horror as a boy from behind pulled out a large pocket knife and impaled him from behind. Satoshi's eyes widened as pain spread throughout his body, and he collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud.
"Wh-what did you have to do that for!" Hayate lashed out at the boy who pulled out his silver knife, now dyed crimson. "W-well boss, he was starting to get annoying so-"
Hayate interrupted him and lashed out even more. "You idiot! That doesn't mean we should've gotten that far! C'mon, let's go before the cops come!" He ordered and soon the boys who were trembling in fear began to run away as fast as they could from the scene.
The boy Satoshi attempted to save sat there for a moment in silence, paralyzed with fear. He had finally come to senses and began screaming, his voice echoing throughout the whole town.
Younger Ryo only stared in horror as he stood still behind the tall bush, not even making a move through the whole fight. Satoshi was waiting for his arrival, hoping he'd come save the day. Ken looked at the present Ryo whom was sobbing and had broken down.
"Why..." Ryo said after the whole scene had disappeared and the world changed back to its grim color. "Why did you have to show me that again…" he asked, weeping in defeat. His voice trembled with every word as he turned his head towards the twisted and dark Satoshi.
Shadow Satoshi only stared at him with an indifferent expression on his face as his older brother continued crying.
"How useless you are. Only before I succumbed to death at the last minute did I find out you were a cowardly, selfish brother. After all those years, I've been lied to. I thought you would protect me brother," Satoshi said as his voice was mixed with anger and sadness. "But now, I know the truth."
Shadow Satoshi began to emit a dark and corrupted aura, laughing maniacally as a purple smoke began to emerge from the shadow and soon engulfed by it. As the purple smoke faded away, it revealed a knight, armor dyed yellow, a necklace that carried white feathers, and a short thin sword.
Crap, this isn't good! I have to do something...Ah!
"Now, face the pain you have caused me!" The Shadow roared as it lifted its sword up, preparing to swing it down. Ryo screamed in horror as he backed away, and stared at Ken whom was pulling out something out of his pocket and soon noticed it looked like a silver..GUN?
Ken knew his gut feeling was right to bring his evoker. Ryo watched in horror as Ken slowly brought the gun up to his forehead and he tilted his head down, thumbs preparing to pull on the trigger.
"What are you doing?! DON'T SHOOT!" Ryo screamed. Ken knew it wasn't normal to whip out a gun all of a sudden and shoot yourself in the head, but he had to do something. He couldn't guarantee the evoker would work in this strange world though.
Alright, I can do this. I don't know if this will work but it's worth a shot!
"Kala-Nemi!" Ken shouted and pulled the trigger, hearing the deafening sound of glass shattering in the process. Shards of blue exploded out the back side of his head, and a blue aura surrounded Ken as he looked up to see a certain figure he recognized two years ago.
A colossal orange robotic entity appeared before him, and stood still, awaiting his command. Ken smiled as he looked up to his persona. Ryo stared in disbelief as he watched the summoning of the whole thing.
"I can't believe it…" he murmured under his breath, amazement in his voice.
'It's just like old times,' Ken thought. The shadow attempted to charge forward towards Ken, leaving Ryo to watch dumbstruck.
"Zionga!" Ken commanded, pointing his finger at the incoming monster. His persona rotated its body and raised its robotic arms up as a bolt of lightning from above struck down upon the Shadow Knight. The shadow was paralyzed with electricity and collapsed onto the ground.
"Why…why must you try and save him? He's just pathetic scum that doesn't deserve to live. He…he took my life!" The knight asked in anger and confusion.
Ken knew this wasn't the end though. He sprinted towards Ryo, attempting to lift him up from the ground. Ryo however didn't give any strength to getting up and instead slumped upon Ken.
"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Ken said as he grabbed Ryo's arm and attempted to find somewhere safe to hide but Ryo resisted. He looked back at him, confused and noticed Ryo staring down at the ground and wouldn't bother to move an inch.
"He's right…," he muttered. "I am a coward, and I deserve to die. I've lied to him so many times and pretended to be a hero when I'm really not…"
Ken was about to scold him, but what distracted him from doing so was when the shadow began to bring itself up, furious now. It hovered swiftly towards them, preparing to swing its sword once more.
"If you're going to try and save this worthless being then you can join him in the afterlife!" the Knight screamed. Ken instinctively pulled Ryo away to the side, only a few inches away from being sliced in half. They both fell onto the ground and watched as the knight hover past them and turned around attempting to repeat the attack.
"Kala-nemi!" Ken yelled once more and the colossal entity stood in front of them, blocking the shadow from coming any closer to them. However, Kala-Nemi began to struggle holding the knight back as it made contact with him.
Ken gritted his teeth in frustration and spun around towards Ryo whom was still sitting in defeat. He grabbed him by his shoulders and started shaking him roughly.
"Come on, we can't stay here any longer! We have to get out!" Ken barked. Ryo would still stare at the ground, his eyes dull with sorrow and his whole body almost lifeless.
He grunted as he looked back and saw the Knight pushed his persona back into the wall of the school and was heading straight for them. He grabbed Ryo's arm and pulled him out of the way once more out of the knight's range. They tumbled across the school grounds once more and saw the knight was coming at them once more but was slammed violently into the wall by Kala-Nemi. Ken attempted to grab Ryo once more and run for it but noticed he still wouldn't budge.
Ryo pushed him away and glared at him. "Why? Why are you helping a poor coward like me? I can't move on anymore...its best I accept my death," he said with sorrow in his voice.
Ken glared at him in frustration and balled his hand into a fist, sending a punch towards his face. Ryo slid across the ground, and sat up while holding the right side of his cheek. He stared at Ken with wide eyes mixed with confusion and surprise.
"I've had enough of you crying and wishing to die now," Ken said angrily. He walked forward to Ryo and held his hand out, his scowling look changing to a sympathetic smile. "You may have been a coward in the past, but I know we can change that. You won't be alone to do it, Ryo-kun. You don't have to face your fears alone."
Ryo was silent but only stared at Ken with watering eyes of hope now. He nodded and stood in front of the golden knight that was occupied with Kala-Nemi. It stopped fighting the orange persona and turned towards Ryo, waiting to see his first move.
"You're right, Satoshi. I understand I was a coward back then and I lied to you about being your protector," Ryo began, sounding more mature than he was before.
"But I only did that because I wanted you to feel proud of me, to have a big brother who could stand up for himself and others. I know that was wrong of me to do so, but it was because I wanted you to have faith in me. It was because I loved you, Satoshi, and I still do even after that tragic day."
The Shadow Knight stood in the air for a moment before a purple smoke emerged from it once more, and as the smoke faded it revealed Shadow Satoshi standing in front of Ryo with it's glaring yellow eyes.
"The past has been haunting me every now and then, but it's time I conquer my fear," Ryo stated and turned his head back to Ken who was smiling at him and he returned the smile back. "This time, I won't be alone. I'll show you that I'll be a hero. I won't run away from my fears anymore."
Shadow Satoshi smiled, but this time instead of a wicked creepy smile it turned out to be a heartwarming one. His body began to regain its normal bright colors, and his eyes turned from black and yellow to normal emerald eyes that gave a look of admiration to his older brother.
"Someday, I wanna be as strong and fearless like big brother," Satoshi said and embraced his older brother. Ryo bent down, returning the hug and the two both shared a warm brotherly moment. Ken watched them, smiling and felt proud being able to help Ryo conquer his fear.
He then noticed Satoshi transmogrifying into a red shard piece and glowed brightly. They soon heard a voice and realized it was coming from the shard itself.
"I am the feeling of fear and uncertainty. I am scared of anything that comes my way, but thanks to you I feel...safe." The crimson shard then began to disintegrate into dust and landed into Ryo's open hands, taking the form of a red glowing shard. Ryo turned around, hoping to expect an explanation of what this might be from Ken.
Ken only gave him a look of confusion back and he walked closer, examining the shard. The amulet in his pocket began to glow even brighter than it did before and Ken pulled it out, wondering if it had to do anything with the shard. The scenery suddenly changed from a creepy school grounds to a playground and they both turned their heads, noticing two kids that resembled Ryo and Satoshi playing in the sandbox.
"Big brother, you'll always be there for me, right?" Satoshi asked innocently.
"I'll beat up anyone that tries to hurt you, Satoshi-kun!" Ryo replied and stood up, holding a wooden sword in the air. Satoshi stared at him with great admiration and began clapping for his older brother.
"I love you, big bro! I wanna be like you someday!" Satoshi cheered before the two children disappeared. Ken turned his head towards Ryo and saw him still staring at the sandbox and was smiling sadly.
"Ever since that day, my only dream was to be a savior and that comforted me through all these years. It was somewhat painful remembering him but it always gave me hope that he still relied on me."
"I'm sure you'll be a savior to someone soon, Ryo-kun," Ken said and they grinned at each other before they saw a glowing entity hover in the air before them. It was a knight clad in gold and silver armor, holding a long silver sword with a ruby embedded into it. Ares, as it called itself, disintegrated into the shard that glowed red once more and it began to float up into the air in front of the two.
Ken noticed a purple blur from far away on a building and thought he had recognized it from his nightmare. It leapt from there and in front of the two, startling the both of them. The creature from Ken's nightmare stood before them and its twin tails began to wave in the air.
"I see you have recovered a heart shard. I am very impressed," the lavender-winged creature spoke in a serious manner. Ryo jumped back slightly, staring at the odd creature that just talked.
"W-wait, you can..?" Ryo asked in confusion. Ken placed a hand onto his shoulder in attempts to settle him down and nodded. "Is that what that red shard was called?" He asked.
Iris, as he remembered she was called, nodded. "That is called a heart shard. It is one of the lost feelings of our world's god, Morpheus. It's surprising how a mortal was able to conquer one though. You are not ordinary, are you?"
Ken nervously laughed and smiled. "W-well, not really…I have the ability to summon a persona, if you know what that is." Iris nodded. "Indeed. I have heard of it in the dream world; how few mortals were able to end Nyx's Fall and to stop the whole mortal world from being covered in fog."
The Nyx part brought back the memory of when he stood on the very top of Tartarus with his comrades, how they were able to stop The Fall from happening thanks to…
Ken slightly shook his head and focused back onto the conversation. "Well, it seems another ordeal is upon us I guess."
She looked over at Ryo who still had a puzzled look on him and smiled slightly. She closed her eyes and the pearls on the end of her long ears began to glow, the scenery changing back to the dark forest they were in and saw the large ivory gate that stood before them.
"I sense there are two more humans left in the dream world. It is best you rescue them as soon as possible, for He may corrupt them in their dreams like they have for the rest of your people."
"Wait, who's he?" Ryo asked, regaining his composure. He attempted to walk over towards Iris but staggered a little bit, most likely from exhaustion.
"I will explain of him another time, if you decide to come back. All I will say now is you have the choice to rescue the two humans in our world before they will fall into a never-ending slumber. But be warned, the dream world also has its dark and dangerous sides to it," Iris stated sternly before she returned to the world by passing through the ivory gate. As she entered, the gate itself disintegrated, revealing a dead end.
Ken sighed heavily, extremely exhausted from this night's ordeal. Ryo was on the verge of passing out so Ken had let him rest upon his shoulders while they went on their way to return to the dormitory.
'So much for a normal life,' Ken thought. But he began to think again, this might not be so bad. Yeah, with the danger and risking your life to save people and all but he thought that this might just be like old times. He began reminiscing once more until Ryo snapped him out of his reverie.
"Hey," Ryo mumbled. Ken looked at him, willing to hear what he has to say.
"For some reason, I'm glad that you were the one to see me at my worst," Ryo said, exhaustion showing in his voice but with a hint of happiness in it. "I don't think I really would've been able to face my nightmare if you hadn't helped me. Thank you."
"Not a problem," Ken replied, giving a warm smile. At first this guy seemed to be really annoying and goofy but he realized that there is much more to him. After realizing that, he began to feel a faint stirring of friendship form between the two. Suddenly, time had stopped for Ken and he could hear a disembodied voice speak to him.
Thou art I… And I am though…
Thou hast established a new bond…
It brings thee closer to a new life…
Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Magician Arcana…
Time continued and soon they were back in the dormitory. Ken helped Ryo get to his room and they both said good night to each other before Ken returned to his own room. He plopped down onto the bed, allowing the comfortable pillow to take him into the dream world; at least the good part of it. All he wanted to do now was to sleep and just be ready for the day in the morning.
…
After having to have drifted off into sleep, he opened his eyes and saw he was back in the Velvet Room. Everything looked the same he saw it last, but the movement of the train felt like it was moving a bit faster.
"And so we meet again," Igor chuckled. "It looks like you have finally started your journey and you have also established your first social link; the bonds that will help you complete your journey."
Beatrice smiled as she opened the brown grimoire on her lap, showing the first page. The page had a picture of Ken and Ryo walking back to the dormitory from the forest and a picture of the Magician's tarot card.
"You've obtained an irreplaceable ally, one who will help you bring you closer to the end of this journey," Beatrice stated, showing pleasure in her smile.
"However, the curtain of this ordeal cannot fall yet," Igor said much to Ken's dismay but deep down he knew it wouldn't happen so soon. "You must go through this again."
Ken sighed heavily, realizing the situation he was in. He imagined this was what Minato had to go through before and now he's finally in his shoes, experiencing the role he had. The only thing he didn't want to happen though was to sacrifice his life.
"Alright," Ken sternly replied. Igor and Beatrice smiled, happy that he was willing to cooperate; well, it's not like he had any other choice though.
"You're next trial will be very soon. I'm sure you'll be able to know when due to the sudden events that have occurred," Igor told him, chuckling once more. "Hold onto this…"
A blue velvet key appeared in front of Ken, floating before his face. He touched it and its glowing aura disappeared, falling into his hands.
"From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room," Beatrice explained. "Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and because of that, you will need our help," she giggled.
"There is but one price for this assistance," Igor began. Ken knew this wasn't going to be for free so he listened intently. "You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."
"I understand," Ken replied firmly. He knew what he had to do and he was going to prepare himself for the inevitable journey that awaits him.
"Very well. I wonder where your awakened power of the Wild Card will take you…? I look forward to traveling the tracks of your destiny together…" he chuckled.
Ken began to hear the clock tower's bells chiming in the distance and eventually became louder. Whiteness once again began to engulf the room as Igor and Beatrice waved goodbye.
"Til we meet again…"