Chapter 3: The Things we choose to Forget.
Akihiko parks his car in the lot of Gekkoukan high school, him and the two boys Mori and Alex exit. Mori accidentally slams the door and received a dangerous look from Akihiko. The Emo teen then begs the obvious question. "Why back to Gekkou high?" Akihiko ignores his question. "Jeezus, it's like he's trying so hard to be shady".
Alex simply shrugs it off, his suspicion to Akihiko from before simmers down now that he's starting to let in on the strange abduction of Maiko, maybe even those weird dreams. Akihiko opens the door and the boys follow him. They follow him until he simply stops in the middle of the hall, they were waiting to take them somewhere but instead he just stares at the lockers. Alex however notices exactly what he's looking at Locker 103.
"It's almost midnight." He looks at his watch only 15 seconds to 12. Alex is concentrating on the locker but Mori on the other hand doesn't have a clue. Then the hand strikes 12, at first it nothing happened, then the two jumped at a sound coming out of the locker.
"I will buuuurn My Dread" The sound of music pops out of the locker, nothing more than a kids mp3 player being left on. Some ghost locker this is.
But then a moment later it was as if time stopped if only a moment, and soon everyone's attention was to the locker with began to emit a red light from inside. Akihiko opens up the locker and reveals a red and black striped portal which would seem to go to another dimension!
"This is can't be real." Mori said with shock.
"There's no waking up here your looking right at it, The Shadow world." Akihiko brings up his briefcase and opens it facing it to the two.
Alex looks inside "Guns?" Inside the case were 2 pistols engraved the acronym S.E.E.S. "Hang on, S.E.E.S? Wait..."
"S.E.E.S is a group formed to fight shadows, lately a shadow cult has just resurfaced, whatever they want is gonna put a lot of human lives in danger." Akihiko then hands over one of the guns to Mori.
"Wait what's in there? Monsters?" Mori asked frightened of this Shadow world. Alex took one of the pistols, feeling the weight test pointing it then holsters it in his jacket pocket.
Alex looks to Mori, "We're going to get Maiko back, Anything you want to tell us Akihiko-san? Or are you going to just leave us in the dark all night here?"
"If there wasn't a sense of urgency here I would, and I hardly would find anything I could tell you about that place would be believable. As for other Intel I have these so I can keep track of you and keep you from getting lost." He hands Alex and Mori two earpieces with microphones. "I couldn't come up with any actually weaponry for this mission except these." He opens another double wide locker that was on the other side of 103, inside there was a duffle bag. Akihiko zips open the bag and pulls out a baseball bat and a kendo sword.
Mori grabs the baseball bat. "A bat and a pool wooden sword? Weak dude "He then takes his own pistol and puts it in his back pants pocket "Well at least we got the guns."
"That's enough chit chat, now to go in there and gut that pig" Alex said in control, Akihiko seeing something in Alex not too far from Minato.
"Yea!" Mori cheers inspired.
~The Realm of Tartarus~
"Woah" Was the only thing Mori could say to the place that portal could take him. The entrance was huge where from all sides including the ceiling, the entrance was a broken city, that may have been a mirror of Iwatodai except for the giant broken tower in the distance. The portal itself came from a coffin. "Uhh he's not in that tower? God I hope not that would take like a year to get to the top"
"No . Your target is a few blocks from where your standing, a left turn and your straight on your way."
Mori looking more at the tower" There must be like a million floors in that place, what is that, or all of this."
"What your looking at is Tartarus, let's just say a long time ago it nearly caused the end of the world."
"God, Like Oh-Em-Gee." Mori taken back by Akihiko's comment.
Alex began to walk ahead on his own, the streets were broken, the sky grim, and the moon was huge and glowing like a pale sun. He thought of that dark place many nights ago and felt the fear he has in here. Mori however had his mouth open the entire time, spinning around in circles to look at every inch of this shattered city, then turned his eyes to their destination.
Afterwards the two reached the entrance to a theatre with a bright neon sign and searchlights. "MAYONAKA STUDIOS"
Alex pointing to the sign "I've got a hunch he's in there.". The two began to tread up the stair case into the theatre.
The two boys walk forward in the dark room, forward they can make the outline of the set of that weird television broadcast. Then the room burst with light. Stage lights above illuminated the set what looked like a cheesy sitcom house. The two looked at Maiko strung up like a human marionette making motions trying to resemble cooking with the fake sitcom kitchen set. Then with a flashy entrance The Magician steps in taking off a jacket and tie. "Honey, I'm home!"
A sign hanging above the boys heads said applause and the cheered and roared. Alex turns to see who was watching this and from the bleachers were cardboard cut-out silhouettes of people.
Mori enraged, drew his baseball bat and began charging at the Magician "You sonofa!" and his swing was blocked and reflected by a force field, his base flung past Alex as he ducked under it.
"I think we'll need to take a quick commercial break paid for by our sponsors." He then disappears in a cloud of smoke with Maiko in hand. Before either of them could say anything the 'audience' began to boo and hiss angrily. The cardboard silhouettes shaking until they fell over turning into black sludge.
Mori rolls off of the floor looking at the terrifying monsters that appeared, He screams in fear, and Alex tries to run to his friends side to help him up and gripping his sword. Mori scrabbles to find his gun in his back pants pocket.
Meanwhile Alex is trying to communicate to Akihiko. "Akihiko! That Magician just summoned these monsters! Akihiko-san! Can you hear me?" Akihiko was nothing but messy static.
Mori finally pulls out his gun "Okay time to do some damage" he points the gun shakily at one of the creatures closes his eyes and pulls the trigger, *Click* *Click* *Click*, he keeps pulling in panic. "The guns they do nothing!"
Soon Alex saw true fear everything began to get quiet, then he saw flashes in his head from the Velvet room, Igor.
Thou art I.
Commands and information running through his brain a mile a minute.
I am thou,
He takes a look at the pistol, and feels as if he knows what he was doing .
From the sea of thy soul I cometh.
Mori is backing away from the shadows pointing his useless gun on them, and then looks to Alex. "Hey wait what are you doing! Stop!"
The time has come to awaken.
"Per...so...na!"
Light flashes at the pull of the gun, Alex screams as shards of glass form around him and lightning and thunder forms into an entity, one he knows well. Red metallic skin, covered in grey cloth, adorned with stripes of gold and green. The Kanji 'Thunder' and 'Lightning'.
"Thou art I, and I am thou,
from the sea of thy soul I cometh,
I am Raiden, Thunder god, Let the villains of this world fear the coming storm."
Alex had awakened his new power and he knew just what to do.
A point to the temple with his pistol and "Zio!" came a bolt of electricity from Raiden to the unsuspecting monster. "Cleave!" and Raiden's blade sliced destroying the creature into nothing. "Tarukaja!" and he summoned strength to finish the rest off. Mori only stood there amazed at what his friend could do, and as if he had been doing it his whole life!
"Jeezus man! What was that thing? Did you say Persona?" Mori picking up his jaw.
"Uh I ... yea, guess I did" Behaving as if he had no idea what he just did.
Then came in a fuzzy transmission from Akihiko "Hello? This is _-iko, I've _ a _ channel, _Copy?"
"Your starting to come in, over" Alex tuning his earpiece device
"There, I seemed to have been getting interference from police radio, these things aren't exactly made for this. I heard you were in danger before we cut off are you all right?"
"Yea, and you coulda told us what the guns do!" Mori retorted.
"Maybe your starting to get how my explanations wouldn't improve the situation, like here take these and fire them to your head, but you took care of it?"
"Yea Al just ... I don't know what he shot that thing ... out of his head?"
"It's called Persona, its the only thing that can defeat the shadows, those things that attacked, that gun the Evoker, is a summoning tool that simulates the feeling of a shot to the head, a feeling of both fear and calmness."
"Can I have one? That thing was badass!" Mori in his boyish enthusiastic voice
"I don't think your cut out for this sort of thing Mori, Awakening to your Persona requires master over your ego, I don't think your cut out for this." Mori groans.
"It's time found our way to the next level." Alex began to take more control of this situation, he had to after all only he seemed to be able to fight the "Shadows"
"Yea, I'll uh stay behind you, let you take care of those shadows." Mori says with a hint of humility.
The second level was darkened a voice came out from the room. "An now for a very special episode of the Midnight channel. Brought to you by Calorie Magic!"
"Good god do you ever shut up!" Shouting at the lunatic Magician "What the hell do you want with Maiko!"
A second voice answered Mori, a eerily familiar voice. "Life is pain, I'm all alone. No one understands."
"Who are you? What's going on here?" Mori was getting confused, and angry with this "show" the Magician put on.
"No friends, no one cares. Why am I here? I just want to stop this feeling... this life."
A dim light comes from the shadows. peaking through a person steps forward, another Mori!
"What?" Was the perfect question Mori and Alex had in mind, there was Mori and on the stage also Mori, but with glowing yellow eyes. The other Mori's face looked burdened, and depressed, much like how his Emo clothing should have matched.
"Who are you?"
"Nobody, just forget it, your good at that, aren't you? No. I can't, how can you?" The otherMori's accusations began to put the real Mori on edge.
"Just go out there and put a smile and wave and make everyone think that we're ok, It's a lie! I'm sick of hiding your shit!"
"What do you know about me? Nice trick buddy this isn't funny!"
The Other Mori now growing more angry and violent with his ranting. "You can't hide what you did, I'll show you what I have to burden while you live!" And in the darkness spotlighted a bathtub, and inside the tub was a third lifeless Mori. Then discovered the Tub and all around was covered in blood. Mori immediately broke down collapsed on his knees, covering his ears balling his eyes.
Mori rocking back and forth just keeps chanting to himself "Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up!" He just wanted to wake up about now.
"You can't wish it away! I've had to live with all the guilt and torment while you could actually live!"
"SHUT UP! You're not me!"
And after just saying those words the Shadow Mori began to morph and grow until it took up the whole room, Alex prepared his evoker and sword in a battle stance. Akihiko finally says something after being silent on the headset radio
"That Shadow's getting enraged! I can help with some information here on it's weaknesses, be careful it has attacks that can hit your weaknesses too, stay on the defensive!"
The Shadow took form of an Organ player with an Organ which pipes shot out 20 feet in the air. The Shadow looked like the phantom of the opera in a sad/happy mask. Its goofy elongated limbs tried to play the pipe organ in a thrilling battle tune.
(That sounds like a cue to play some sweet battle music www youtube com / watch?v=dWE0nlhpdq8 Don't forget to cut the spaces)
"I am a Shadow, the true self! This is why I wished I just died that day!"
Alex made the first move, one shot to his temple "Persona!" And he summoned Raiden who launched a Zio attack towards Shadow Mori. The shadow screamed and it fell backwards off it's organ bench dazed.
"Good job! You hit it's weakness, another attack can do even more damage before it recovers!"
So Alex charged at the shadow, flat on its back. Although the Shadow was maybe three times his size when laying there he still jumped an incredible 7 feet in the air and whacked it in it's stomach with the wooden blade. It groaned and then flipped itself back up and used it's long thin arms to grab Alex and begin squishing the life out of him.
Ahh! If I could just ... reach my pocket ...then! The Shadow threw the brown haired fool a long pitch. Alex rose up and was without a weapon or a persona, his gun back at the feet of the Shadow. He raced towards his pistol with superhuman speed. "Garu." And the Shadow blew a mighty gust that blew Alex right off the ground tumbling even further away from it.
"Charging isn't going to work he'll just keep hitting you when you get close!"
"But I can't fight without a Persona."
"Yes, but there may be something that you can use against him"
He then had to scan the room and watch the Shadow prepare another attack against the fool. He braced the attack. "GARU!" A terrible hit and it stood up from it's seat and laughed in victory. Alex grips the ground in pain then looks up above the shadow. The Stage lights! Yes! He gets on his feet and smirks, the Shadow laughs as he barrages the Fool with blasts of wind. ALex rolls and dodges as he encircles the room, the shadow's attacks destroy everything in their path.
Alex stops only a moment to catch his breath of all the running. Mori's shadow faces him. "YOUR DEAD!"
"I don't think so!" He rolls away from the attack and it collapses the final beam holding up the Stage lights above. Metal and electricity crush the shadow making it vulnerable.
"Now's your chance hit it with all you got!"
Alex nods at his mentor Akihiko's voice and with his evoker reclaimed he calls out Raiden as they charge in unison towards the weak shadow. The combined attack returns the shadow to its human form. There was the Shadow beaten, And Mori was completely catatonic the whole fight, Alex clutched his chest panting, he couldn't believe he could run or jump or punch that way before.
The Shadow twitched.
"It's not over, it can't be stopped you have to get Mori to face that thing or it will just attack
again"
"Your kidding" Alex could hardly stand up after that.
"Stop it" Alex turned his head, Mori got up his face red and wet with tears, seeing his worst moment of his life and relived again wasn't something anybody could recover from.
"Everything you said ... I get it." Mori then helped up his other self. He removes the leather studded wristbands to reveal the scars he hid but could not remove from his put his hands on It's shoulder and looked at It's dark yellow eyes.
"All I wanted to do was forget that thing, but how could I really? I see these scars every day I look in the mirror, see it every time I look at my parent's or my brother's faces. Everyone treated me different after that. Everyone would ask me 'how you doing Mori, you hanging in there' that was the worst part, having to live with what I did, a botched suicide. It broke my mother's heart, all because of a few stupidly bad months. We had to move after that, and my brother had to leave because of college and only made things more awkward with my parents." Mori was about to let another tear. Alex could only watch his friend face himself, nothing to make him fell better even if it was just for that he's only known him for a few days now.
Then a brighter expression of a happier memory shined in his eyes. "Then I met her, just seeing her made me feel warmth, and that was without even talking to her, sometimes she would come over and say 'hi' or something, but it felt more to me you know. That was when I decided to ditch my past every time anyone would talk about it I would just play dumb, and I'm sorry. It's not right to bottle feelings like that, you really shouldn't have to take the burden anymore I think I can carry it now." And then the shadow began to disappear into a warm light that entered Mori, from then came a Persona of white, a robot shaped satyr without arms, and a triangle for a head. A ring rotated around the chest where the arms would be. And spoke in a synthetic multi-toned voice.
Thou art I, I am thou
From the sea of thy soul I cometh
I am Pan, of the forest, this tune shall sooth the heart.
The battle against Mori's other self was won, but the fight to save Maiko wasn't over.
Author's note: Still searching for a Beta reader. All this attention to this story has gotten me in a writing frenzy ^^ I'm trying to set a goal to get a chapter of average 4000 words a day. Probably won't be like this for long but its like ideas are speeding through my brain like electricity. The final confrontation with Magician next episode :D