Author's Note

This chapter took me notably longer to write than the others, not only because of the longer length, but because it was hard to decide how Hajime'd get his Persona, and who or what it'd be.

And I assure you it's not Mara.

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Chapter 6

Persona

Perhaps it was my studying before the exam that paid off, or perhaps the teachers were being more lenient, but school seemed to be much more relaxed, and homework seemed to be much less abundant. As a result, I found myself in a rare moment of relaxation, where I simply had enough spare time to pursue whatever hobbies I pleased. My choice was of course staying up late and watching television, or playing games. It was a strange habit of mine to always make sure the mini-fridge in my room was filled up decently with drinks and to keep the cabinet below the television stocked with snacks, and as a result, I was always well prepared for movie nights on a whim.

On Friday night, I decided to celebrate with one of my usual late-night in-night movie nights.

A made-for-TV film was finishing, the credits rolling. I flicked through the channels in my bed (the TV is in front of the foot of my bed), and discovered to my dismay that there was nothing left. I would be awake for another hour or two from the sugary pop. This simply wouldn't do.

I glanced over at my clock, which said it was 11:31 P.M., then at a shelf in the corner of my room, stocked with DVDs, game cases, and the odd book. It wouldn't kill me to at the very least try to get some sleep tonight, I suppose.

*

I woke up, quite tired. The clock said it was 12:04.

Strangely though, what seemed like sunlight was pouring through the window. Oh crap.

I hastily donned my school uniform, grabbed a bag of chips, and darted out of my room and down the stairs. Then again, if I was already a few hours late, what was another half hour?

As I was about to open the door, I noticed something strange. Why the hell was there a sword by the sink? Regardless, I dashed down the stairs and into the lounge. I heard yelling outside—it seemed to be Tadashi's voice. There were four other voices, definitely not Tadashi's. When I opened the front doors, I realized something was definitely not right.

Let me just make a small list of what I noticed was wrong.

Firstly, it seemed like it was noon.

Secondly, Tadashi was not in his school uniform on a Saturday—more on that later.

Thirdly, there didn't seem to be much construction; the roads were more like cobblestone, and the sidewalks were just dirt, though a lot of buildings were still there.

Fourthly, there was nobody else besides the four men, Tadashi, and myself.

Fifthly, Tadashi was in that hide armor and with a katana again, like in my dream.

If it wasn't obvious before, it sure was now. I pinched myself. I wasn't about to wake up any time soon.

"Well boys, it seems like we're going to get two for the price of one today!"

One of the non-Tadashi men were yelling. All four of them were in what seemed to be studded hides, with random pieces of plated armor. One was using a halberd, two were using large axes, and one was using a claymore. One axeman noticed me—and pointed at me, and yelled the sentence before stated. Before I knew it, the man with the claymore was after me.

I was at a complete loss. This was a dream, yet I couldn't wake up. I didn't have a sword, not like before—which is when I remembered I did.

Tadashi must've thought I was a coward, as I scarpered back into the dormitory. The sword was lying by my sink, like it was before. I joined Tadashi in the fight soon after.

The man with the claymore was waiting for me at the lounge. He moved over, taking care to block the exit. I didn't have a choice, did I?

I backed away slowly, while he held his ground, thinking it was a ploy on my end. I must have gathered perhaps 100 feet or so when I started a sprint—as hard and as fast as I could, a skill honed from baseball. He, meanwhile, prepared himself to intercept me. I never even came close to his sword however, as I did something he definitely didn't expect.

With the arm of an outfielder, I hurled my blade at him, and I do literally mean hurled. The shortsword went airborne, slicing the air and flying at an insane speed. For a moment, he had the "what the hell" expression written all over his face. In the next moment, the hilt of my blade smashed him in the face. At the same time, I sprinted at him, and did a running tackle, bringing him down. Grabbing my sword, I delivered the finishing slash.

How did I kill him?

Outside, Tadashi wasn't doing nearly as well as me, as I soon discovered. He was managing to survive, but not much better. He constantly moved with an agility I had never expected of him, attempting to evade the attacks that were made against him. Never once did he have a window of timing to launch a counter-attack.

The halberdier alone could handle Tadashi, and thus, the two axemen turned to me. I was not going to survive this one.

The two ran towards me, bumping off each other, making it clear that they both wanted to see me dead, and they both wanted to see it happen by their hands. I didn't have a response to it, not at all. I couldn't believe my next move, not then, or now.

I ran straight towards them.

The two swung in unison, and like two blades of a scissor, the axe blades closed in on me. I desperately tried to put on more speed, and miraculously, I was not between the blades when they closed in on one another. I did a strange lunge somewhere between the throat and heart of one of them, having missed the heart. He let out a terrible scream, having had his lung punctured. However, my blade did not leave him easily, a problem indeed thanks to his comrade, who seemed to simply toss a punch at me.

The wind was knocked out of me as he managed to hit somewhere below my ribs. My vision blurred as I staggered back a few steps. He was winding up another punch, and I was about to bet it was going to be the knockout blow. I tried desperately to regain my balance—succeeding just in time to evade and prolong the fight just a while longer. My vision started to clear, revealing that my blade was too far to be able to rely on getting. That option was out. I knew I couldn't defeat the axeman unarmed. That option was out too. Was I stuck in a no-win situation?

I felt another blow strike me, this time in the ribs, sending me staggering back, but only slightly. As quickly as I could, I stepped to the side, to evade another attempt at the knockout blow. A gust of wind blew by me. The speed of the fist was incredible, whizzing by me in a split second. The body followed through perfectly—and that was my chance.

Overextended from his follow-through, I had to seize the moment. My arm winded back almost out of instinct, but this time, I wasn't going for a punch. I took a step as my arm swung—from behind, over my shoulder, straightening, then finally to his neck. He soon folded as the strength of my karate chop on the back of his neck knocked him out cold.

I retrieved my blade, and flicked it, trying to get some of the blood off. I had to admit, Tadashi was skilled at evasion, having been able to occupy the halberdier. His backsteps were light leaps, his feet hardly leaving the ground, though it still carried him quite far—far enough to evade the halberdier's swipes quite cleanly.

The halberdier seemed was readying a powerful horizontal sweep, seemingly oblivious to my presence. I tried to close the distance as quickly as possible, and end it equally fast with a lunge and a stab.

I never got to.

The halberdier did his sweep at Tadashi, who easily evaded it, however, did not stop, but rather spun around, and continued his sweep—right at me. I couldn't stop, for my sprint was simply too fast. The blade dug into me, though only in the back; my speed had been enough that I wouldn't be hit by the whole blade. The wood of the shaft pushed me, and I flew a short distance, and toppled.

Tadashi finally had the chance. He let loose a near perfect sweep of his blade, cutting cleanly through him.

But no blood spilled.

The skin around the cut flew open, like a balloon being popped, seemingly driven by some force from inside him radiating out. Without warning, he seemed to quite literally explode, his body popping like a balloon, pieces of armor expelled by the sheer force, and his halberd going flying from the force of his sweep.

What emerged was something I could only describe as a nightmare.

It seemed to be black, as dark as darkness, in the shape of a tall and strong man, hunched over ever so slightly. It dripped a strange black substance, with the consistency of tapioca and the appearance of crude oil—hell, it was made of it. There were no real features of it, simply darkness—except two red eyes placed on what would be its face—rather cliché, actually.

This was no laughing matter, however.

The spectre ran towards Tadashi with a lightness on its step and the speed of a motorcycle, and delivered a sweeping backhand to his chest. Tadashi flew several feet, and fell like a sack of potatoes. It stopped, and walked slowly towards Tadashi, whose eyes were fearful, realizing that his time had come—and judging by his expression, much too early for his liking.

There was fear in my heart as well, however, I had to do something, or else I would be next. I dashed with my sword, and closed the distance rather quickly. I did a sweep across its body, from hip to shoulder, slicing easily and cleanly through, except that the monster reformed as I slashed. You couldn't even tell that I had attacked at all.

The spectre spun around instantly to face me. I felt a massive force—what could be described as a 18-wheeler crashing into you at full speed—hit my chest, the very same backhand that it used on Tadashi. I felt myself fly several feet—no, several yards, and crumbled. The pain in my chest was excruciating. My vision blurred as the spectre ran towards me, ready to deliver the coup de grace. I couldn't muster up the might to even lift a finger. It was over. There's nothing you can do now but hope it's not painful, Hajime. Game over. My eyes shut firmly.

I felt my neck being clenched, and being hoisted upwards, carrying my body with it. My feet left the ground easily. My eyes snapped open, to see the spectre lifting me with its left hand, and readying the final blow with its right.

This was a strange feeling, unlike any other. I had the strangest feeling of satisfaction, and gave a small grin. My lips began to whisper.

"Per..."

The spectre was finished winding up.

"so..."

Its fist was flying at me.

"na."

The spectre was blown back, its fist never reaching me. A blue light filled my eyes, as I fell back, landing on my knees. I felt a pain in my forehead, a stabbing pain like a sword being dug into it, and being forced further and further. I clenched my forehead, and faced the sky, and simply screamed in pain. And in an instant, it was gone.

A voice boomed from in front—no, inside of me.

"I am thou, and thou art I... I art Hotherus—reflection of thine soul. Now is the time for your eyes to open—and to behold the world—everything—and nothing."

Above me, I saw white sparkles swirling in a violent tornado, at the center of which stood what seemed like a man. He seemed as strong as Hercules, and carried a quiver on his back, holding one green arrow. He dressed in brown rags, dirty and flayed. Broken and unremarkable rusted chains hung from his wrists. By his short, yet wild white hair, there was a perfectly white blindfold over his eyes, with red staining it in some spots.

Instantly, I felt a second wind. Hotherus disappeared, yet I still felt his presence—inside of myself, giving me strength. I ran at the spectre, still staggering, and my mind simply went blank—nothing existed in my mind except the destruction of the spectre. In the distance, Tadashi stared in awe. I slashed again, however, the spectre's body simply refused to reform. The oily substance that made up the shadow split in two, however, both halves seemed to be still alive, the upper half crawling, and the bottom half ran at me.

I screwed closed my eyes, then opened them again in an instant. From my forehead, Hotherus emerged. He held his bow, and simply extended his arm almost lazily. The two halves of the spectre burst, exploding and expelling the ichor that made it up. I felt a massive gust of wind from the epicentre of the explosion of sorts. Hotherus was gone once again.

Exhaustion set in. I fell to my knees and collapsed, my eyes closing, and my vision fading to black quickly. In the distance, perhaps miles away, I heard Tadashi's voice, alarmed and yelling. Yet, I was too tired, and my mouth would not move. As quickly as one would snap their fingers, I fell unconscious, oblivious to the world around me.

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The little summoning speech took me a while to write, and got a few revisions. Hopefully, it didn't end up too poorly.

Also, meet your first shadow, a spectre. The cliched enemies only start to pile up (though it did seem like the best enemy at the time.)