"Look! It's the castle from yesterday! Ryuji exclaimed.
The medieval nightmare loomed before us.
"I can't believe he figured out how to get back here. Is Ryuji a secret genius or was this dumb luck? I'm leaning more towards the dumb luck spectrum." I skeptically crossed my arms and glared at the castle, willing it to disappear.
I was sure that we were wasting our time looking for the entrance and that we'd all put it out of mind by the end of the day.
After our first experience at the castle, I was scared of going back.
Akira was doubtful of the success of our endeavor, but he went with Ryuji's plan anyway. With the whole student body against us, it was crucial that we not turn away a potential ally. Those were Akira's words, more or less.
As his loyal sister, I tagged along.
"Stuff it, Homura." Ryuji countered and then ran towards the front doors.
"Why is he so hot-blooded?"
"It's the flames of youth." Akira quipped and pursued Ryuji.
"That was lame…" I caught up to the boys.
Ryuji spun around, prepared to say something, only to gasp and point at Akira and myself.
"Those clothes!"
I looked down in confusion.
My uniform was replaced with the military dress and the mask was back on my face without me noticing. Akira wore a trench coat over a dress-shirt and trousers. Ryuji looked normal compared to us in his uniform.
"That happened last time, too. What's with outfits?!"
"I think they're interesting. It feels like I'm about to go on stage." I twirled around and posed with my arms outstretched for a monologue, imagining the spotlight on myself and the crowd throwing roses at my feet.
The stage was the one place that I shined like a star. Lead roles were my specialty when I was part of the drama club. Performing for an audience was my grand calling.
"You like that?!" Ryuji bursted my bubble with his annoying expression of disbelief and horror.
"I do." I defended myself, daring him to make fun of me.
The intensity of my glower made Ryuji sweat frightfully.
Akira stepped forward and used my head as an arm rest, liberating Ryuji from my hostility. "He's just jelly, Homes. Not everyone can pull off this kind of style." He diffused the situation with a light joke.
"I-I am not." Ryuji sputtered and aggressively scratched at his head. "What's goin' on here?! This makes no effin' sense at all…"
"Hey!" An effeminate voice called out.
Our heads moved to a column where an oversized feline head was poking out. The cat snuck over.
"Stop making a commotion." It hissed.
"Ah…you." Ryuji despaired.
Morgana's ear flattened, stung by the dejected greeting.
I covered my mouth to contain the squeal that wanted to escape. Without the threat of potential death and horrors, Morgana's cuteness was much more apparent to me. I had a severe urge to play with its ears.
"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be…to think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape." Morgana rebuked us, shaking its large head exasperatedly.
"For the record, I didn't want to come here. I'm present to look after my brother." I interjected with a raised hand.
Twins were supposed to do everything together, especially suicidal missions. It was in the code book of twins.
"What is this place? Is it the school?"
"That's right." Morgana answered Ryuji.
"But it's a castle!"
"The castle IS the school." The cat reiterated. "But only to this castle's ruler."
"Castle ruler, eh?" I started.
"Must be the guy running around in a pink speedo." Akira finished.
"Man, that's weird. Quit it." Ryuji groused.
Morgana's ears twitched and it grinned, showing off sharp teeth. "I heard that some humans with strong bonds could finish each other's sentences. Do you two have some kind of mind reading powers?"
"Nope. We're not that good…but it'd be super cool if we had telepathy. Think of all the tests I could ace with Akira feeding me the answers. I'd never have to study." I held my chin my hand, nodding to the idea.
Mom and Dad would get off my case if my grades turned out stellar like Akira's instead of just average. Too bad I didn't find academics all that important.
Why would anyone need to be a jack-of-all-trades when they could become a master in one subject? I had drama down to a tee.
Akira chuckled. "That's cheating, sis."
"Only if I get caught, bro."
"Alright, alright. Back to this castle thing." Ryuji butted in.
"It's how Kamoshida's distorted heart views the school." The cat didn't understand why three blank faces were staring at it.
"Explain it in a way that makes sense!" Ryuji stomped his foot.
Morgana scoffed. "I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it."
Moron? Ryuji wasn't the only who didn't get that matter-of-fact explanation.
"What'd you say?" He towered over the cat.
"Uh…" Akira nervously approached Ryuji and Morgana.
They were glaring daggers at each other.
"Ohhh, it's a catfight!" I taunted, cackling wickedly at my pun.
"Not helping." My brother frowned disapprovingly.
I blew a raspberry.
I would own up to it, I was an instigator. I really needed to work on that and save Akira some stress…though I've only caused little disturbances, not major ones.
Those shabby, backstabbing bimbos at my old school deserved my retribution. They had zero right to slut-shame me!
A bloodcurdling scream silenced our bickering.
My hand latched onto Akira's coat. Ryuji gulped, sweat dripped down his chin.
"W-What was that?!" He asked.
"It must be the slaves captive here." Akira's face paled at Morgana's casual words.
"We heard screams like this before…" My brother recalled.
Ryuji's eyes widened. "We saw those other guys held captive here yesterday…I'm pretty sure they're from our school."
"Most likely they were tortured on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that everyday here." Morgana's nonchalance on the subject was making me ill.
People were being tortured on a daily basis and this cat didn't bat an eye to it. Either it was heartless or too accustomed to it. Both notions were awful.
Why the hell would Ryuji want to come back here?
"What's more, you three escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."
"That son of a bitch! This is bullshit!" Ryuji howled, running for the doors and ramming his arm into it. When that proved ineffective, he punched the door.
"Ryuji, don't do that! You'll alert the whole castle." I hovered behind him.
He ignored me and kept punching the door. The sound of his fists hitting the door was irksome, but more importantly I was concerned about the red droplets I was starting to see.
"Stop it! You're hurting yourself!" I grabbed his arm, putting a stop to the damage being done to his hand.
The idiot had hit the door so many times that the skin on his fist had split open and was bleeding. Ryuji brimmed with anger and snatched his hand out of my grasp.
I was hurt by the rejection and stepped back.
"Doing that isn't going to open it, you know…still it seems you have your reasons." Morgana's stoicism was tempered and it sent a perturbed look Ryuji's way.
"Hey, Monamona."
"It's Morgana!" The cat bristled.
"Do you know where those voices are comin' from?"
"You want me to take you to them?" Morgana guessed. It was on the fence about the idea and scratched its chin. "Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if the twins come with us."
"Why us?" We said at the same time.
"You two are my secret weapon, that's why." Morgana's big eyes twinkled and it beamed. "It's settled then!"
"Hold. We need to discuss this." I crossed my arms into an "X" and pulled Akira off to the side. "Bro, this is dangerous. Like Morgana said, we barely made it out the first time."
"I know. But Ryuji is going to go in with or without us. I can't in good conscience let him go in alone." Akira's eyes pleaded with mine. "Homura, we can't turn away from this, not when we can help."
I groaned and covered my face so I wouldn't have to see his eyes fill with disappointment from my indecision.
Was I bad person for wanting to keep us safe and out of trouble? I thought that was what sisters were supposed to do? Keep their brothers safe, right? Yet, every time I tried, my brother was dissatisfied with me for considering our wellbeing over someone else's.
…He was angry at me that night for wanting to ignore the woman and the drunk.
"Sis, it's not always us or them." Akira's hand landed on my head, aware of my internal struggle.
I looked up. He had that patient smile in place. The one he used when I made a mistake and he was trying to help me understand the error of my ways.
"Alright. Let's go then." I gave in.
"Thank you, Homura."
We rejoined the group and informed them of our decision.
"For real? Thanks you guys." I managed a tiny smile at Ryuji's overt relief.
His heart was in the right place. I was just afraid that we might have been in over our heads.
"All right, let's do this. Follow me!" Morgana led us to the ventilation shaft we exited from before and told us it would be our infiltration point from now on.
Ryuji and Akira pushed a barrel over for easy access to the passage. The cat went through first. Ryuji stopped us from going.
"So, uh…sorry for dragging' both you into all this…but I just can't forgive that bastard Kamoshida doin' whatever the hell he wants!" He apologized more to me since I was the one that protested the most. I blushed, embarrassed that my fear was so obvious that Ryuji felt bad for his request. "Really though, thanks for comin' along. I'll owe you both big time!"
"Dinner would be a good start." Akira bartered jokingly.
"Sure, sure. There's this great ramen place I'll show you guys."
"Sounds great. I can only suffer Homura's cooking for so long."
"Excuse me!" I jabbed Akira in the side with my elbow. "Learn how to cook yourself then, jerk. Mom isn't here so you're free to give it a try."
"Homura's a bad cook? I'd never have guessed." Ryuji scratched his head.
My blush increased and I climbed on top of the barrel to escape the humiliating conversation.
So what if I couldn't cook?! That didn't make me a sad excuse of a girl!
"Follow me and make sure you all do exactly as I say, all right?" Morgana mandated after we all were present.
Akira took the lead with Ryuji and I flanking him as Morgana guided us through the castle. Our group came to a quick stop at the grand entrance.
"What the?!" Ryuji whipped around, rubbing at his eyes.
The room flickered from the appearance of a castle to the front hallway entrance of Shujin.
"I-I think I'm gonna be sick…" I held my head and fought back the nausea.
The room kept flickering between the castle and Shujin.
"Am I seein' double or something? Was that Shujin?"
"I've told you before. This place is your school. Regardless, we don't have the time to stand around. Who knows when a Shadow might show up." Morgana waved its paw. "Come on, this way!"
The room shifted back to the castle and we continued further in towards the underground prison. Down the winding stairs we went. The air became thick with oppression and fear, making my skin crawl.
"Peace, child. Nothing can harm you as long as you stand tall."
Gloriana's voice sent a wave of confidence through me. With her by my side, I had nothing to fear.
"Stop." Akira raised his fist.
We all crowded behind the gate and peaked over his shoulder.
"Darn…I had a feeling there would be guards here…it looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward." Morgana eyed the patrolling guard with apprehension. Its feline eyes locked onto my twin and I. "I'll teach you rookies the basics of battle right now. You both had better remember all of this."
The cat explained the mechanics of ambushing an enemy by sneaking up on them and ripping off their masks. An ambush would give us the preemptive strike. Ryuji was excited to try it out, but Morgana pointed out that only Persona users could engage the Shadows.
"Let's go." Morgana stroked its chin. "I would say ladies first, but this is dangerous work so I leave the ambushing up to you, Frizzy Hair."
"My hair isn't frizzy." Akira looked so affronted that I would have laughed if I wasn't insulted as well.
"It isn't frizzy, it's curly." I added in his defense.
An attack on Akira's hair was an attack on mine since we had identical features.
"Just go!" Morgana bounced around agitatedly.
Akira looked over his shoulder at the Shadow and paused.
"I'll be right behind you." I lightly tugged Akira's curl at his moment of hesitation.
I could see through the mask of calm he put on for others because of their expectations. He was as scared as any of us. Maybe even more because he was deemed the "leader" and in charge of our actions.
He flashed me a grateful smile and leaped behind a stack of crates.
"When did he get so fast?!" I muttered, trying to keep up with his agile leaps.
One last leap and Akira was in position to ambush the guard.
He jumped onto the Shadow's shoulders and ripped off the mask. In an amazing show of acrobatics, Akira flipped off the shadow and landed with a flourish as it dissolved into red puddle of liquid. From the pool of liquid, a jack'o lantern emerged.
"That is so disgusting. What an ugly entrance!" I whined before running into position with Morgana.
"Finally. I can take the stage again."
Gloriana appeared in a barrage of flames and a large broadsword materialized in my hands.
Morgana raised its scimitar and cried. "Let's do this!"
Between three Persona users, the jack'o lantern didn't stand a chance. In no time at all, we took it down with our weapons, conserving our energy for tougher fights.
With this method of ambushing we took out the Shadows patrolling the moat and reached the prison cells. Ryuji was pissed that they were empty and ran off to inspect the other cells down the hall.
Morgana shuffled us into a room after he reported that a large group of Shadows were approaching.
"The Shadows probably won't come in here." The cat hoped onto the table.
Ryuji panted against the wall. Akira and I hovered near the door in case the Shadows broke through.
"H-How can you tell." The deliquent gasped out.
"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak."
The storage room shifted to a classroom.
"Does this count as motion sickness since the room is kinda moving?" I stumbled into a chair and pressed my face into the wood.
The shifting wasn't doing any favors for my stomach.
"Is this a classroom?" Ryuji questioned.
"Now do you understand? This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects." Morgans's feet scuffed against the table and I felt its paw poke my head.
I tentatively glanced up. The room was back to being a cramped, medieval supply room.
"This is Kamoshida's reality? Shit makes no sense at all!" Ryuji kicked a chair. He muttered an apology after I yelped in surprise.
"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized. I call such a place a 'Palace'."
"I remember you calling it that. This is Kamoshida's Palace, right?" Akira stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Morgana nodded.
"This is happening because he thinks the school is his own castle."
Ryuji's jaw dropped. "So, it became like this cause he just thought of it like that?" He broke out into a fit of defeated laughs.
"Umm, is he alright? He flip-flops so much that I can't keep up." I stood up, removing myself from the table in case Ryuji kicked another chair.
"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji yelled with absolute fury.
We all flinched at the intensity. Morgana massaged its ears.
"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy." It whimpered.
"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel." He spat, gripping his leg. "Everything is that asshole's fault!"
Ryuji Sakamoto.
I wondered what curve ball fate threw him to ignite such fire? His fury reminded me of my own, the fury that I struggled with every day since we got arrested.
"I don't know what happened between you two, but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside." Morgana warned. It jumped near my face and changed the subject. "I bet you're curious about your outfit, aren't you? It's quite regal."
I pulled at the dress's collar. The outfit was extravagant compared to my brother's more subtle ensemble.
"I am curious about it. Homura and I just appeared in these clothes. What happened to our uniforms?" Akira inquired while tugging on his coat.
"That's because of this world." Morgana replied.
"More stuff that makes no sense…" Ryuji sighed and leaned against the wall. "You're crap at this…"
The cat coughed loudly and explained further. "Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within their Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within."
"I see, I see." Akira bobbed his head sagely.
The nerd.
My eyebrows scrunched inward. "So, our idea of rebellion looks like old-fashioned nobility? That's why our clothes are like this? That's bizarre…I understand that in my case since I read so many western plays…but my brother is a different matter."
Akira fiddled with his hair. "Maybe you've rubbed off on me more than you think, Homes."
"Ugh, I'm so fed up with all this." Ryuji pushed off the wall and pointed at Morgana. "I'm more curious about you than their clothes. What the hell are you anyway?!"
"I'm a human-an honest-to-god human!" The cat insisted heatedly.
"No, you're obviously more like a cat!"
"A cute cat." I threw in when Morgana's claws came out.
In-fighting wasn't a good idea when we needed each other to get out. The comment eased some of Morgana's anger and it gestured vaguely to itself.
"This is, well…it's because I lost my true form…I think."
"You think?" Ryuji dubiously repeated.
"But I do know how to regain my true form." Morgana's tail moved excitedly back and forth. "The reason I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means…well, I ended up getting caught though…" It coughed into its paw. "Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"
Ryuji slumped forward, head hanging downward. "What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy."
"If we want to continue investigating, we should get going." Akira's eyes flared with determination.
Morgana and Ryuji's suffering hit a nerve for him.
"Alright, I'll be counting on you Rookie Twins. Got it?"
"Understood." We replied in different tones. Akira was fired up. I was weary.
Ryuji stepped in front of my brother.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you guys. I thought it might help, so…I brought this just in case." He pulled out a gun from his back pocket and held it out to Akira.
"Are you crazy?! Why are you carrying around a gun and why are you giving it to my brother?!" I shrieked, grabbing Akira's hands and preventing him from taking the weapon.
"I-I have to agree. A gun is a dangerous thing and shouldn't be used by minors." He politely declined.
Ryuji was offended by the unfavorable assumptions. "Will you two chill, it's just a model gun! It doesn't shoot, only makes sounds!"
A mortified "oh" left our lips for assuming the worst of the boy.
"It looks totally real, so it'll at least fake out the Shadows." His enthusiasm grew as he shared his brilliant plan. "I brought some medicine too. You know what they say: 'Providin' is pre…something'. Huh? Huh?" Ryuji fished for a compliment.
"Maybe he's not as dumb as I thought. He had enough sense to come prepared." I grudgingly acknowledged.
"Homura, manners." Akira chided, pinching my cheek.
"So you were planning this from the start…" Morgana murmured. "Fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration."
"Here, man." Ryuji held the model gun back out to Akira. "Your sister's got that giant ass sword to fight with, you need this more than she does."
Akira accepted the weapon, studying it before gingerly placing it in his coat pocket. "Let's hope I don't have to use this. Even though it's a model, it still makes me uncomfortable."
"Man, you're freaked out about a gun? Imagine how freaked out I am by you three calling on those thingamajigs."
"Personas, moron!" Morgana corrected Ryuji.
"Yes, do get it right, boy. I do so dislike being called a 'thingamajig'. I will accept no other address than 'Your majesty' or 'Your grace'. I am a queen after all."
Gloriana raged in my mind.
Personas. They were keeping us alive in this place.
Take your time
"It's you knaves again. To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless!" Shadow Kamoshida strutted into the room with a group of guards flanking him. Thankfully, his cape kept the speedo hidden from view.
My eyes didn't need to be burned again.
"I was so hoping we wouldn't run into this predator." I grumbled.
My body automatically moved into an offensive position.
Ryuji had accomplished his mission of investigating the athletes and committing their faces to memory for him to confront in reality. We were just about on our merry way out.
Psych! Everything major seemed to go down at the Palace's main entrance.
"The school ain't your castle! I've memorized their faces real good. You're goin' down!" Ryuji boasted with a raised fist.
Shadow Kamoshida smirked and glanced back at his guards. "It seems it's true when they say 'barking dogs seldom bite'." The guards jeered like trained animals and the predator basked in their support. "How far the star runner of the track team has fallen."
"The hell are you gettin' at?" Ryuji and Shadow Kamoshida delved into a shouting match while the rest of us looked on.
"I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams. Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your…selfish act." The fake expression of distress looked utterly out of place on the predator's face. Not with those monstrous, gold eyes laughing at all of us.
Ryuji deflated, a look of shame crossed his face.
Being the cause of others' careers ending was heavy stuff to carry. No wonder Ryuji was in a phase of lashing out.
"The 'Track Traitor'? How could one student ruin an entire team? I don't believe that!" Akira came to Ryuji's defense, returning the loyalty the boy had shown us over our records.
"What a surprise. So you're accompanying him without knowing anything about him?" Shadow Kamoshida jutted his chin out, looking down on my brother like he as garbage for daring to defend Ryuji. "He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."
"T-That's not true…" Ryuji still wouldn't look up from the floor.
"You've come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead. How unlucky for you. Unless…" The predator's glowing eyes fixed on me. A perverted blush painted his cheeks and his lewd smile stretched from ear to ear. "You hand that girl over to me…I owe her an excruciating punishment for last time."
"Hell no!" I screeched just as Akira stepped forward.
The cold look in his eyes and murderous aura emitting from him was off-putting.
"Over my dead body." He said with such calm that I felt a chill in the room.
The guards disregarded the threat and proceeded to shout and beat their shields, proclaiming how stupid I was for turning down "The Great King Kamoshida".
"Disgusting. As if the 'other me' would ever be interested in such a degenerate. Men like him aren't even fit to kiss my feet."
Gloriana's words were spot on.
I gagged. "Not in a million, trillion years would I ever go for an old, perverted, gym teacher!"
That insult was the last straw for the predator. "Go, kill them all! Don't sully my castle with garbage."
With a battle cry, the guards dissolved into puddles and revealed their true selves. Large horses neighed at us and stomped in place.
"Ryuji, move!" Morgana ordered, sprinting in front of the boy. "Rookie Twins, prepare to engage!"
Roger!" We responded.
The horses surrounded us.
I was forced to play defensive since my broadsword wasn't built for speed and the horses were lunging rapidly whenever they got a chance. Akira and Morgana hopped away from the attacks and managed to land some hits, but they weren't doing major damage.
"Ugh! I just need an opening!" I grunted as I blocked another charge and nearly got knocked over.
"One opening, coming right up!" Akira switched out his knife for the model gun and shot at one of the horse's legs, crippling it and making it crash into the one next to it.
"Good one, bro!" I summoned Gloriana and ordered her to use Hama.
"Die, die, die for your Virgin Queen!" She chanted as the spell was cast and successfully killed one of the Shadows while I finished off the other downed one.
"Good job, Frizzy Twins!" Morgana cheered. Its persona, Zorro, hit the third horse with a Garu.
Victory seemed at hand until more horses joined the fray.
"C'mon, this isn't fair." I could feel my energy dwindling and making me sloppier with my swings.
"There's no end to them!" Akira switched back to his knife after the gun cartridge ran out.
Even a model gun had its limits.
"W-We've got no choice but to keep fighting…" Morgana swayed, exhausted from repeatedly healing us. A horse rammed into it and the cat went down.
Without our healer, we were overwhelmed.
Akira fell to the ground and I collapsed against my sword. A guard kicked me away from the blade and then shoved Akira's face into the carpet with its foot.
"You piece of-" Morgana's slur went unheard as Shadow Kamoshida's foot crashed into its back.
"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?" He mocked Ryuji, who had fallen to his knees, petrified at the scene and his own helplessness.
"No…" He shook his head, denying the accusation and the scene before him.
"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly. How dare you raise your hand at me." Shadow Kamoshida stomped on Morgana, eliciting a pained cry from the cat. "Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"
"That wasn't no practice-it was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!" Ryuji choked on his words and bashed his head into the floor as his insecurities were laid bare.
From what I'd seen in the dungeons, Kamoshida truly treated the students like punching bags. How humiliated and broken those students must have felt.
A teacher treated them like trash. It infuriated me!
"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."
"What?" Ryuji lifted his head, tears dripping down his cheeks.
"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!"
"Dammit…Am I gonna lose again?" Ryuji sobbed, gripping his leg. "Not only can I not run anymore…the track team is gone too cause of this asshole."
Why? Why? Why were shitty adults running rampant in this world?!
Why were they allowed to get away with anything they wanted?!
"Once these three are dealt with, you're next." Shadow Kamoshida broke out into a mad fit of laughter, taunting Ryuji even more.
"Don't let him win! Stand up for yourself, Ryuji!" Akira cried out, pushing himself up from beneath the guard.
He was fired up like never before.
I drew courage from his spirit and shouted encouragement alongside him. "Kamoshida wrecked your life so it's only fair that you do the same ten-fold. Where's that delinquent spirit, Ryuji?!"
He stared in wonder at us, perplexed to have people believe in him.
Ryuji could do it. It only took one person's belief to give someone the courage to stand up for themselves.
"You guys are right…" He wiped his face. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him…I'll never get'em back!"
"Stay there and watch." Shadow Kamoshida commanded Ryuji. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."
The predator kicked the cat towards one of the guards and snapped his fingers. The servant raised its blade and Morgana weakly looked up at the sword.
Akira and I struggled against our oppressors to reach Morgana.
"No!" A gust of wind blew the guards and Kamoshida back, saving Morgana from a beheading. Ryuji stood up. "You're the scum! All you think about is using people."
I could feel the air getting heavier with power. Ryuji confidently walked up to Shadow Kamoshida.
"What are you doing? Silence him!" The predator wailed to his guards. The wind coming from Ryuji kept them cornered against the walls and stairs. Shadow Kamoshida smirked in spite of the disadvantage he was at, bluffing like there was no tomorrow. "You're a yipping dog, you won't do anything!"
"Stop looking down on me with that stupid smile on your face!" Ryuji proved him wrong, ramming his head into Shadow Kamoshida's large chin and sending the man to the floor.
"That was a critical hit!" I applauded.
The small victory was short-lived. Ryuji instantly collapsed, crying out in pain and convulsing. Kamoshida crawled backwards while cradling his reddening chin.
"R-Ryuji?!"
Akira stopped me from approaching him. "Don't. Can't you feel his power awakening?"
My brother was right.
The wind had stopped and the feel of tangible power in the air had escalated, revolving around Ryuji's jerking form. His cries and spasms were hard to stomach.
Was that what my awakening was like? How terrifying.
"Hmph, what can you brats do?" One of the guards had snuck up on us while we were distracted. Its sword descended for Akira's head. "Cower in fear and watch!"
"Akira!" I desperately pushed him out of the way.
Flames exploded from Ryuji as his mask came off in a shower of blood and his clothes were replaced with a leather outfit. The sword missed taking off any of my limbs from the explosion.
"Woah…" I muttered, admiring the pirate floating behind Ryuji.
"Right on…wassup, Persona? This effin' rocks!" He grinned madly, cracking his knuckles in anticipation of a beatdown. "Now that I got this power, it's time for payback."
"About time you manned up." I tossed my hair behind my shoulder and reclaimed my sword.
"I knew you wouldn't give in." Akira praised him with certainty.
"Morgana meowed in a wicked way. "Guess even amateurs can have their moments of glory."
Ryuji's awakening had rejuvenated us all. The battle was on once more.
The deliquent took his place alongside all of us. "Yo, I'm ready. Bring it!"
"Don't mock me, you brat!" The head guard dissolved, revealing a red knight on a stead.
"Blast him away, Captain Kidd!" Ryuji bellowed, pointing a pipe at the enemy.
The pirate chortled. "Let's blow them away, mate."
Captain Kidd took aim for the Red Knight and unleashed an electric attack. The knight was paralyzed from the spell.
"Now's my chance." I flew forward with my sword.
"Homura, look out!" My brother's warning came too late and I couldn't avoid an incoming horse's charge.
"Goddammit…" I groaned after landing on my back.
"Child, you must show better awareness. Do not always charge in so recklessly."
I huffed from Gloriana's reprimand.
"Arsene, Eiha on that horse!"
"No, no! Aim for the Red Knight. He'll keep calling in more reinforcements unless we take him out." Morgana shouted over the noise.
I got back up and rejoined the battle. The boys had obeyed Morgana's order and were focusing their attacks on the Red Knight.
"Shit! Our attacks ain't doing squat!" Ryuji swung his pipe and clobbered a horse.
Akira assessed the situation and issued out orders. "We need to stun it again. Ryuji paralyze it." He turned to me. "Morgana and I will cover you this time, Homura. Your attack should weaken it enough for me to finish it off."
"Understood, bro." I held my sword with both hands and geared myself up for another frontal assault.
"Captain Kidd, Zio!" Ryuji roared.
The attack managed to stun the knight again. The horses expected me to strike and lunged for me. They were put down by Zoro and Arsene.
"Here I go!" I used the horse's fallen bodies as stepping stools for me to leap in the air and land a series of critical hits on the Red Knight. It slouched on its stead, weakened.
"Take it away, Akira." I flipped backwards as he jumped forward.
We winked as we passed each other.
"Arsene!" The bird-like gentleman cackled and its heeled foot pierced the knight's armor. It fell off its stead and landed with a mighty bang.
Akira loomed over the fallen Shadow.
"I am…a loyal subject…of the glorious King Kamoshida…so why have I lost?!" The Red Knight wheezed.
"It just proves that Kamoshida ain't anything special." Ryuji snapped hatefully.
The Red Knight and all the other Shadows vanished. The group took a moment to recuperate.
Shadow Kamoshida came out from behind the banister to angrily proclaim. "I told you that this is my castle! It seems you still don't understand!"
The bluffing was getting annoying.
"Oh, shut up…" Ryuji trailed off and his eyes bulged as the skimpy princess latched on to Shadow Kamoshida's arm. "W-What, Takamaki?"
Morgana loudly meowed. "What a meow-velous and beautiful girl!"
Akira coughed bashfully from the girl's bikini. "I'm so jealous…" He whispered.
"Boys." I scoffed, mildly jealous.
No one ever reacted that strongly when I entered a room. Morgana certainly didn't go into a frenzy when it met me.
The little traitor!
"I brought the reinforcements just like you asked King Kamoshida." Princess Skimpy giggled without a care.
"Good girl." Shadow Kamoshida stroked her cheek.
"Hey! Let go of her, you perv!" Ryuji demanded with a hot face.
Shadow Kamoshida gravelly sighed.
"How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is MY castle- a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me." The predator sneered at Ryuji. "That is everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you."
More Shadows stormed into the room.
My stomach dropped. The likelihood of us withstanding another fight was low.
"Takamaki! Say somethin'!" Ryuji looked to Princess Skimpy for help.
She glared at him like he was an annoying bug she couldn't get rid of.
"Calm down, Ryuji! It seems like that girl isn't the real one. She's the same as those slaves- a being made from Kamoshida's cognition of her!" Morgana reminded.
"That's really…degrading." My annoyance with the girl shifted towards pity.
To have a grown man view you as a sexual icon was revolting. The nature of their relationship in reality couldn't be a good one.
"We're outnumbered. Let's scram before they take us out!" Morgana advised after the Shadows started closing in.
"We're not gonna do anything and just run?!" Ryuji protested, drunk on the feeling of invincibility that Personas emitted.
"We can't die here. Running is our best option." Akira touched Ryuji's shoulder.
The fight died out in the new Persona User.
"Fine." He acknowledge. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us!" Ryuji promised before running.
Shadow Kamoshida's insane laughter echoed throughout the halls as we made our escape.
Take your time
"Ow, ow, ow." I whimpered, slumping forward onto my knees after Akira finished applying the oversized band-aid on my back.
The venture in the Palace had left a myriad of bruises on both of us.
After we grabbed a bite to eat with Ryuji and chatted about our pasts, we stopped by the convince store to pick up medical supplies. The worst of my injuries was the broken skin on my hands from using the broadsword.
The gloves only provided so much protection. I'd have to break the blade in with blood, sweat, and tears like any piece of equipment.
"All done." Akira informed morosely.
I tugged my shirt down and turned around to face him.
"What's up? Why're you down?" I nudged him with my foot.
"Your back looks terrible…" The tremble in his voice didn't align with the cool look on his face.
"I don't understand why that's bothering you. You've got bruises too…"
He shook his head.
"It bothers me because my decision to help Ryuji led to you getting hurt…I'm the older brother…I'm supposed to keep you out of danger and instead I did the opposite." His glasses were pushed up as he rubbed his eyes. "I was so arrogant to think nothing bad would happen…"
The fatal flaw reared its head. Being kind had its consequences, but ultimately I wouldn't change that about him.
I scooted over on my bed so that I was shoulder to shoulder with my brother.
"I chose to go with you, knowing I was putting myself in danger cause I wanna look after you, too. Don't blame yourself for any injuries I got. Half of them are because I'm such a novice with a sword." I jumped up and mimicked holding the broadsword. "Did you see how giant it was?! The sword's as long as me. But it does devastating damage when it hits."
Akira's lips tugged up mirthfully from the deflection.
Siblings caused trouble for each other all the time and had to clean up each others' messes. That was a fact.
We had to have each other's backs. Dad instilled that lesson in us from his own experiences as the middle child.
"It is pretty intimidating…and slight funny when you almost tip over from your swings."
I pointed the imaginary blade at his nose. "It won't be funny after I learn how to use it. Give me a few more tries."
"So…you're okay with going back there?"
"More or less. I'm confident that we'll be alright with our Personas…and Ryuji's crying sealed the deal for me. That teacher really messed him up…" I waved away the errant dust that was getting in my eyes. I wasn't crying! The attic's dust always interfered in the conversations at the wrong time. "The castle still creeps me out. Every time we go in, we discover more horrors. What a disturbed man Kamoshida is."
"Ditto. What he did to Ryuji was horrible." Akira's phone beeped and he looked at the screen. "Speak of the devil."
He started rapidly texting.
"Looks like my brother managed to make a friend. Aw, I'm so proud."
He ignored my teasing and instead asked for my phone. I unlocked it and handed it over without a second thought.
"You really do have it. That makes three people who have this eyeball icon." Akira showed me the red app on my phone that matched his. "We were able to get to the palace because of it."
The eery app made me think of the cryptic old man. "D-Do you think this is what Igor meant? Ryuji was an asset to you in the Palace."
Akira looked discomforted by the notion. "Maybe…but how can he manipulate things like this? Who and what is he?"
"Let's not rack our brains over those answers."
"You're right. I'm exhausted because of the Metaverse…I'm going to bed." He handed me back my phone.
I shuffled my feet, debating on sharing a concern of mine.
It was Akira I was talking to, he wouldn't mind.
"I know I might not always get things right away, and you sometimes think I'm an alien cause of my lack of common sense…but I'm always willing to listen, Akira. You're my brother and I want to understand you." I smiled brightly and continued at his startled expression. Akira was a teenager like me, he didn't have to shoulder everything alone. "When things get crazy you can drop the cool guy act and depend on me. I won't judge you for being human."
Akira returned my smile and pulled me in for a grateful hug.
Everyone expected him to be perfect, but I expected him to be an imperfect and faulty young man. My eyes caught sight of a blue butterfly on Akira's shoulder.
It vanished in a blink.
"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast acquired a new vow. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breath thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Aeon Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power." A soft voice uttered from somewhere.
My eyes roamed around the room apprehensively.
"Umm, d-did you hear that?" I stuttered, wondering if I was losing my mind.
Akira patted my shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. Ryuji and I heard that voice earlier and nothing abnormal happened…must be another odd detail of our lives."
He still looked around the room for the source of the voice. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, we returned to our beds and carried on like everything was normal.
Too many weird things were happening…I was genuinely concerned for the state of my sanity.
Take your time
"Welcome to my Velvet Room. I thought about resuming our previous conversation tonight. That is why I have summoned the two of you." Igor greeted us from his desk, tapping away at the wood.
Chains rattled from Akira and I approaching the bars.
Caroline and Justine spared us backward glances. Their gazes were chillier than the blue mist circulating in the prison.
Talk about a warm reception. What did we do to piss off the Warden Twins?
"What are your thoughts? Are you becoming accustomed to this place?"
"Yeah, among other things." Akira answered honestly.
"And you?" Igor's eyes flickered with mirth as he addressed me.
As much as I didn't want to admit it, something about this prison felt oddly natural to me…I had a feeling that Igor in all his omnipotence, already knew how I felt and was poking fun at me…but why?
"Feels like home." Was my deviant response.
It amused the old man.
"More than you know." He chuckled deeply. "It seems both of you have nerves of steel."
Igor uncrossed his legs and adopted a more serious air. "The rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. Yet, such a feat cannot be done by you alone, Akira…but today, you entered a partnership with two people whom awoke to the same power, haven't you?"
"A partnership? Are you talking about Ryuji…and my sister?"
The voice did mention something about a vow…and the Aeon Arcana. What the hell was that?
"Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well." Igor clapped.
The apparent praise didn't sit well with the Warden Twins, they sent us another set of frosty glares.
"That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well." He finished his long monologue and waved for Justine to finish the rest.
"Personas are the strength of heart. The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain." She obediently explained.
Caroline, not wanting to be left out, added in her two-cents. "There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't. You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."
"Involve more people in this craziness? I don't think that's going to fly." I objected.
Caroline growled and struck my cell with the baton fully powered on to stun. I fell on my butt from the electric shock while she seethed. "Shut up, Inmate! No one gave you permission to speak!"
"Why you little!"
"What're you doing to my sister?!"
"Enough." Igor spoke over the noise.
Caroline flinched and retreated back to her spot. She scowled after Justine sent her an admonishing frown for causing a scene in front of their master.
One of these days I was going to beat Caroline with her own baton!
"You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition." Igor offered his services to Akira.
"I-If you say so…" He diplomatically accepted, realizing how foolish it would be to turn down any of these psychotically, mysterious beings.
Igor laughed and drummed his fingers on the desk. "We have a deal then."
His laughter took on a darker edge.
"I don't know what you're expecting from me."
I wondered, did Akira hear the voice again? Was that blue butterfly apart of this too?
Wait…did the voice come from the butterfly? I saw it and then I heard the voice…what the hell?!
"Well, you will understand it all in due time…continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation." Igor looked at me as an afterthought. "And continue assisting him to his true potential. You might even discover something exceptional yourself."
What was he talking about?!
"This conversation's over! Get lost, Inmates!" Caroline proclaimed just as the bell rung.
Goodbye to you too, Psycho Loli! May I never see you again!