Act 8: Ian de Luca
Part 1: A Turn of Events
-Night-
-Amano Residence-
Certain muscles of her body felt slightly sore, but not enough to constrict her from movement. She figured she could use some rest after a day's workout, but knew that she wouldn't be granted the luxury of doing so. After all, there was a task that was still at hand before she could do anything to ease the tension in her muscles. She just had to pray that it would hinder her in combat.
After a quick warm shower, she slipped into her casual attire. After almost breezing through dinner, which is something that Cathryn didn't tolerate, Julie was certain that she was ready to go rescue their friend. The training she endured with her friends was intense after all. While it doesn't count any experience in the art, Julie was pretty familiar with the style she was using: battojyutsu. She's been familiar with the style since youth, given her performances in the Amagi Inn, where she performed showdowns and dances using the style. Ashley proved to be capable of utilizing the Chinese blade with ease, given her experience in kung fu. As a hand-to-hand combatant, Ashley fought with prowess and grace by mixing the styles of Pigua Quan, Tai Chi Chaun, and Mizongyi. It amazed Julie to see how capable of a fighter Ashley proved herself to be. Clayton, however, was a different story. Since he didn't have a combat background or a usage in weapons, he didn't fare as better as the two girls. However, he seemed capable of using the mace he carried without difficulty, taking note of how his speed remained the same when performing certain bash attacks.
Other than that, she didn't have to worry about the two struggling in battle. As for Tara, Julie knew that the priestess was proficient in magic, but so far, her magical skills only acted for support. She was able to cast barriers, track the enemies and provide combat attire for the trio to use. However, Julie wondered if Tara was capable of performing any other magical feats besides the latter. If possible, then Tara never showed this capability, let alone perform it to their benefit. Still, Julie had to believe that the priestess was only capable for support.
JULIE: Anyway, I better get ready. Midnight is nearing.
She looked up to check the clock on the wall, noticing that the current time was 11:58 pm. This meant that they will be entering into Hofu and Julie was prepared. Dressing out of her pajamas into her casual attire, she pulled out the black umbrella from her closet and prepared herself to perform the incantation. However, as she grabbed the handle of the umbrella, she quickly glanced up by the sight of a blue light that gleamed on the umbrella to see an azure door standing on the wall of her closet.
Releasing the umbrella from her grip, she backed away slightly, her eyes refusing to leave the door before her. Where did this door come from? Why was it in her closet? For whatever reason, the British young woman knew that something mystic lied beyond that door and part of her wished to examine it. It was then that something began to glow in her dresser at her right. Curious, she walked to the dresser and opened it to find a glowing blue key emanating a pure energy from it. Taking the key out, she noticed that its glow brightened into coherence with the door's luminosity, intriguing her curiosity further.
JULIE: Maybe this key has some connection to the door.
That's what she was going to find out as she approached the door and placed the key into the keyhole.
-Velvet Room-
The familiar sound of a train's movement repeated in her ears, it's motion being recognizable within seconds. Julie looked around to see the room around her covered in azure blue, which beared great familarity. To confirm her thoughts, she turned to see the familiar faces of Igor and Matthew sitting across from her with smiles on their faces as they welcomed her back into the Velvet Room.
IGOR: Welcome to the Velvet Room. It seems twists and turns of events are to come your way, young lady. You have managed to save another soul from the realm of Hofu, but I fear this is where the task becomes more difficult than you will realize.
A question mark floated above Julie's head as he said that.
JULIE: What do you mean? What will happen?
Igor turned to Matthew.
IGOR: Matthew. Care to explain?
The male assistant turned to nod at his master and looked back at Julie.
MATTHEW: You've managed to secure a new Social Link with the Magician Arcana.
He proceeded to open the compendium, turning to a page that housed the Magician Arcana. The picture of the Arcana switched to show a video of Clayton during their practice before entering into Hofu.
MATTHEW: By securing this Social Link, you gain assess to fuse Personas of the Magician Arcana and I believe that will come tonight. The foe you face knows of your plot to find him and he's ensuring every possibility that the next person you save will die before you reach him.
This was serious and Julie knew it. She knew she had to listen to Matthew's words if she were to ever gain a grasp on the matter.
MATTHEW: As we know it, your world has undergone a slight alteration, both in time and space. When you return, you will have to fight in order to rescue your friend and this will not be easy.
JULIE: How will it not be easy?
MATTHEW: I'm afraid I cannot tell you. My master and I are only but bystanders to fate. We cannot interfere with the doings of our guests, but I must admit, you intrigue me. The colors you don are dark, but your aura is as bright as the early star. I feel as though that this journey will be an interesting one.
Matthew took a momentary pause before turning to his master. Igor nodded at him, his expression remaining the same as it did when Julie returned to the Velvet Room. Matthew nodded back and turned to Julie.
MATTHEW: But I've taken too much of your time. We shall meet again once you've rescued your friend. The task of doing so will be difficult, as you and your friends will soon learn, but I have no fear, nor worry that you will prevail once more. Till next time.
-Amano Residence-
-Black Tetris-
She found herself back in her room after leaving the Velvet Room, Matthew's words not leaving her head.
JULIE: What was he implying earlier? What will happen to make this harder than usual?
She turned over to the clock and realized that it was 12:00 am: midnight. Julie proceeded to grab her umbrella and after ensuring that the blade was sheathed into the umbrella, she proceeded to call upon her Persona to take her into Hofu.
JULIE: Thou art I... and I am thou... Izanami!
She finished the incantation and waited for the process to begin.
JULIE: ... Hm?
Something wasn't right. The times she spoke this incantation, it never took this long for it to activate. She tried again and waited this time for it to proceed.
JULIE: ... Wh-What?!
Nothing happened.
JULIE: What's going on?! Why can't I summon Izanami? It's midnight.
That's when she knew something else was wrong. When she looked up at the clock, she noticed that the time remained on 12:00 am and this confused her. She knew that a minute had passed already, but the time was stuck on 12. Taking out her phone, she tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't do so. The confusion slowly began to turn to alarm. What was going on?
She heard light taps hitting her windowsill and turned over to see pebbles flying at her window. She rushed over to the window, opening it and peering her head out to see Ashley and Clayton standing underneath her. Just like her, they bore alarmed expressions.
ASHLEY: Julie! Something's not right! It's midnight and we can't call on our Personas!
JULIE: I know! The same is happening with me!
CLAYTON: Well, what's going on?!
No one knew the answer. Julie jumped from the window and made a perfect landing on the grass. She approached her friends, who were carrying their weapons with them in preparation to enter into Hofu.
JULIE: I don't know but this isn't good. If we can't call on our Personas to take us into Hofu, then we're in trouble!
That news didn't scare anyone more than it did Clayton. Ian was trapped in Hofu and was expected to lose his life if the trio didn't reach him in time.
CLAYTON: Not us! Ian's in trouble! If we can't call upon our Personas...
Clayton began to choke on his words. He didn't want to finish the thought in regards of his friend's life and the girls didn't wish to proceed in asking him.
Then suddenly, the trio heard a low growl coming from behind them, sending them into alert. Tightening their rips on their weapons, they slowly turned their backs to where the growl came from. Suddenly, they noticed the sight of glowing red eyes and backed away as the beast emerged from the shadows to reveal itself. This was the same Fiend that Julie, Ashley and Tara encountered when they first entered into Hofu.
CLAYTON: Holy shit! That's a big Fiend!
The Fiend then suddenly lunged towards the trio! In an instance, the trio jumped in difficult directions, away from the beast. The Fiend landed a bit further away from the trio and they collected back, turning tail and running away from the beast. However, the Fiend proceeded to chase after them.
CLAYTON: Ah damn! It's chasing after us! Why aren't we fighting it?!
ASHLEY: We weren't expecting Fiends to appear outside of Hofu and still be active! Before this, the Fiends didn't react with us!
JULIE: Worse, we can't summon our Personas!
This was true. Though they trained, it wasn't enough to prepare for something like this to happen. A Fiend was able to attack them without being in Hofu, the trio couldn't summon their Personas to take them into Hofu and it was likely that they couldn't summon their Personas now. Julie turned back to see that the Fiend was still in pursuit.
Was this what Igor and Matthew meant? She couldn't help but to feel that their sayings related to this contingency. However, what was she supposed to do now? They were completely helpless as she knew now. They may be able to fight the Fiend, but how long would they last against it? The Fiend was bigger and likely stronger than them. They would be lucky to inflict a scratch on the beast. But the worse fact was if they took too long trying to take down this Fiend, they may not be able to reach Ian in time.
Suddenly, a miracle came to happen. As the Fiend chased them down, it was caught in a glowing white glyph and began to ascend to mid-air. Julie stopped when she noticed this and so did Ashley and Clayton once she did. They turned to amazement as the Fiend, the same one that chased them down with the instinct to kill them, was helplessly floating in mid-air.
ASHLEY: Wha-?! How?!
However, Julie was ready to take this opportunity. She rushed over to the Fiend, unsheathing her blade from the umbrella in almost blinding speed and delivered a direct slash on the beast. The process caused the beast's upper body to slowly slide away from its lower body. Eventually, the beast's body was slid into halves and fell to the ground, forming into black dust and withering away.
Julie sheathed her iaito blade back into its scabbard and turned to face Ashley and Clayton, who looked at her with amazement, but to also notice Tara standing behind the two.
JULIE: Tara-san!
The two turned and saw Tara standing behind them. Julie rushed over to them, already having thought that Tara knew more of the situation at hand than the three of them.
TARA: Grandmaster! You're okay! Thank the Creator!
JULIE: Tara-san! What's going on? I thought the Fiends weren't to attack during this time!
ASHLEY: Worse of all, we can't summon our Personas or call onto them to send us into Hofu!
The news seemingly confirmed Tara's suspicions as well. She turned away from the party, deep in thought and turned back to the three.
TARA: I underwent the same difficulty back in Hofu. Usually, I am able to teleport from Hofu to your world. When you three didn't appear, I grew worried and I tried to teleport here. However, I wasn't able.
ASHLEY: Do you know why?
TARA: Sadly, I'm still trying to grasp sense of this contigency. However, 'tis not be all lost.
CLAYTON: What do you mean by that?
Tara turned her back on the party and pointed to the city ahead.
TARA: 'Tis a portal that lies in the city ahead. I arrived here on this portal, so I will help in finding it. But be warned that I didn't reach you all so easily. The area around there 'tis be surrounded by Fiends.
The following reacts were met with surprise.
ASHLEY: Fiends?! How many are there?!
TARA: I'm not sure. But the numbers that surrounds the area 'tis be grand.
She turned back to the party.
TARA: I suggest that we focus on reaching the portal rather than engaging these Fiends in combat. If we allow ourselves to risk time by fighting the Fiends, then Ian will not last long enough when we reach him. His Shadow would have spawned into a monstrous form and kill him by the time we arrived. So we must make haste!
The entire statement was convincing enough. They knew that they couldn't waste anymore time in lounging around. Looking at each other, they all turned to Tara with determined looks on their faces.
ASHLEY: Agreed! But I doubt we will reach the city in time!
TARA: 'Tis not be an issue! I found a mechanism that allowed me to reach here without trouble!
She pointed to a silver car that was surprisingly still operative, despite how the world around them was operating.
CLAYTON: Wait a second! You stole a car?!
She turned to Clayton.
TARA: I understand that stealing is an unforgivable act, but I was desperate to reach you all!
JULIE: Tara-san's right, Clayton-kun! Now's not the time to worry about breaking the law! We have to reach Ian-kun before we're too late!
Taking her words to heart, Clayton changed his state of mind and turned to the car.
CLAYTON: Alright! Well, let's get in!
Julie nodded and turned to Ashley.
JULIE: Ashley-san, you seem to have more driving experience than the rest of us! You'll handle the wheel!
Ashley nods.
ASHLEY: Understood!
JULIE: Everyone, get in!
They all rushed to the car, opened the doors and closed them. Ashley found the key still in the ignition and proceeded to wear her seatbelt. Julie sat beside Ashley while Clayton occupied Tara in the back. Though the girls couldn't see his expression, Clayton wore a resolved face and his grip on the mace tighened. He knew he had to save Ian before it was too late.
Part 2: Bloodshed
Something wasn't right. One moment, he was waiting for cargo at the docks with several of his father's employees and the next, he wakes up inside some strange castle that looked anything but ordinary. He was still dressed in his uniform that Julie saw him wear the last time they met. Was this a dream? It had to be a dream for Ian to feel this nervous and unwelcome to it. He didn't have a weapon on him, so he knew if anything were to attack him, he would be helpless. Unless his kung fu could suffice, he was in trouble.
IAN: Hmm. It's best to not take risks. This may be a dream, but...
Was this truly a dream? Everything around him seemed too life-like for this to be a dream or even a thought. Plus, he was lost.
IAN: I should focus on finding an exit for now.
With that objective set, Ian proceeded to search for an exit, not knowing of the terror that would await for him as he wandered.
CLAYTON: C'mon, woman! You're not driving fast enough!
The tires screeched with great volume as countless Fiends made way over to the vehicle that the trio were in. Ashley was speeding with all her might to find the portal that Tara traveled through to reach their world, even making sharp turns and flying lunges over hills to reach the portal... and she wasn't taking Clayton's criticism of her driving too lightly.
ASHLEY: Hey! I'm driving as fast as I can! Plus, we got people in the car! We can't fight the Shadow if we're injured!
TARA: The portal shouldn't be too far from here! If Ashley continues to proceed at this pace, we might be able to reach Ian!
JULIE: Then that means we need to pick up speed! Ashley-san, go faster!
ASHLEY: On it!
Putting her entire strength on the gas pedal, she revved the engine and drove past the Fiends, making more sharp turns prompted the passengers to grab hold onto something so they wouldn't fly from the car.
As she continued driving, the sight of Blood Bats came into sight as a horde starting flying towards them. This didn't irritate anyone more than it did Clayton.
CLAYTON: Rrgh! Out of our way!
There was not an exit to be seen or a sign to give hint to where he could find one. He was truly lost and he began to believe that by going further than he was going, he may never leave this castle.
IAN: This isn't good. How am I supposed to get out of here now?
As he continued walking, however, he began to hear voices, familiar yet obscure voices ringing around the castle.
IAN: Huh?
TARA: We're nearing the portal now! I can sense its aura from here!
JULIE: Excellent!
The city was as wide during this mysterious time than the world at its regular shape and form. However, there were still the Blood Bats that chased the party all the way down the hill as they searched for the portal. Clayton looked back to see the bats staying in full pursuit and grunted in agitation.
CLAYTON: These damn bats don't know when to give up! How do we lose them?!
TARA: We just need to reach the portal! Ashley, turn left from here!
As commanded, Ashley made a sharp turn at her left to another street, almost with the certainty of scratching some material of the tire given the creasing screech. But now wasn't the time to care about anything. The main objective for now was to rescue Ian and bring him back from Hofu in one piece and Clayton would see to it that his friend would return alive and well.
Eventually, the party caught sight of a shining purple light that didn't stray too far from where they were. At notice to the light, Tara's eyes gleamed with hope.
TARA: There it is! 'Tis be the portal from where I came from!
JULIE: Thank God!
ASHLEY: Alright! I'm going to speed up! Grab something while you can!
The voices were getting louder as Ian continued to move toward the path that guided him. He figured this would lead him out of the castle, but grew cautious of the potency this path played to him. Where exactly would it lead him to? What was he to expect by following this path? He couldn't shake the hopes that this castle was a dream, but something kept ringing into his conscience that this unnatural plane of existence was not a mere dream.
He couldn't shake this as he followed the path, but hoped that maybe the path before him would take him to somewhere pleasant. Maybe he would wake up from this castle in Spain and return home to be in his bedroom with his father being the reason for awaking him. Or he might wake up and find himself being glared at the teacher for sleeping class, of course this wouldn't be the first as the errands from his father have kept him up for most of the night. Given who his father was, sleep and rest wasn't a luxury he couldn't afford. He had to be up and alert for anything that would come his way. However...
IAN: I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask Father for a day off or some rest every once in a while.
But would he be granted with such luxuries? As considerate as his father may be, Ian knew the man enough to know how his priorities work and figured that asking for rest wouldn't fit his priorities. Besides, there may come a day where...
Suddenly, Ian's blood ran cold as a thought proceeded into his mind and quickly shook it away. So lost in thought he was that he didn't pay attention to the figure standing in the dark with glowing yellow eyes that pierced a glare directly at him, which he was unaware of. The figure waited for Ian to draw closer when suddenly, a loud sound boomed into the air, far away from where Ian was. Ian noticed the sound and turned his back to the hall, trying to catch where the sound came from.
IAN: What was that?
It may have been a rhetorical question, but there was a number of possibilities as to what that sound was. He turned forward to see the path clear ahead of him. Shrugging, he continued to follow the path, unaware that the eyes that were watching him fled when the sound pierced its ears.
The car took many spins before it finally crashed against the wall at its right; the glass shattering by the impact that flew across the car. Everyone shielded themselves from the glass to ensure they wouldn't be pierced or worse if the glass happened to connect to them. Everyone groaned in pain for a while, but nothing serious happened to them.
ASHLEY: Is everyone okay?
JULIE: Yes. I'm fine.
CLAYTON: Same here.
TARA: I am unharmed.
ASHLEY: Good.
Ashley proceeded to open the door with Julie following behind her, given the crash damaging her door. Tara followed suit and opened the door to get out of the car with Clayton following behind her. They each grabbed their weapons and had already changed into their combat attire. Clayton's new combat attire consisted of a brown poncho with a white battlesuit underneath with the sleeves cut. The suit had the legs cut to the knee with ankle-length brown combat boots and long brown metallic armbands that extended from the wrist to the elbow. While the girls wanted to compliment on Clayton's attire, they knew they weren't able to pay the compliment given what was going on, especially when they caught sight of a familiar presence before them.
The figure stood with its back turned to them, dressed in a black business suit with a black fedora that had a red feather tucked into the band, hands placed firmly in their pockets with smoke coming from in front of them. Clayton eventually paid notice to the girls expressions and turned around to see the figure himself.
CLAYTON: Ian?
While he wanted to express relief at the possibility of his friend being alive, he knew at the same instance that it would be too good to be true. At recognition of the name, the figure turned around and revealed itself to the party. It was Ian, but it was his Shadow.
The curiosity on Clayton's face was replaced with anger as he gripped his mace while the Shadow teased him with a smile on his face. The Shadow appeared to be calm and collective, but didn't fail to let the party notice its maleficient aura. It took the cigar out of its mouth, threw it to the ground and stepped on it with its black shoes, eyes failing to look away from the group.
SHADOW IAN: Hmmm... Now this is interesting. Four recruits with odd attire and coming to see me? I'm honored. What brings you all here?
The taunting question didn't pass Clayton any pleasure. He knew the Shadow was mocking him and he could feel it as if the Shadow was practically stabbing him with it.
CLAYTON: Where's Ian? What did you do with him?
Julie turned to Tara.
JULIE: Tara-san. This Shadow is acting similar to the other Shadows we've faced so far. Does this mean Ian is still alive?
Tara nods.
TARA: 'Tis true. It seems likely that Ian has yet to confront his Shadow, so we made it in the knick of time. However, we must find Ian before the Shadows does.
As Tara finished her statement, the Shadow laughed with its demonic voice being settle in tone and volume. Once it stopped, it faced the party again.
SHADOW IAN: Wow! So I'm not the first one you guys have seen, have I? Well, how about I keep this one brief? There's an operation that Father wants me to do and if I'm to ever take over the gang, I need to do what he says. Besides, given certain threats made by the Falcone's, this event may get bloody.
The last statement brought chills to everyone, but it only infuriated Clayton even further.
CLAYTON: If you do anything to hurt Ian, I swear to God I will kill you!
SHADOW IAN: Really? Well, first, you have to catch me.
The Shadow then proceeded to walk off and Clayton prepared to chase after it until another horde of Blood Bats began circling around the group, giving the Shadow enough time to make its escape.
Infuriated, Clayton proceeded to summon his Persona. Bringing his hand to his head, Clayton's hand began to emit a brown light as he channeled his power; he proceeded to form a fist and pounded the ground, bringing his mace into the air with his other hand. A brown glyph formed underneath him that followed with a rushing wind.
CLAYTON: Let's do this, Harpocrates!
The Persona, Harpocrates, was summoned and stood in a stance ready for battle as Blood Bats flew towards them. Clayton pointed directly at the bats.
CLAYTON: Matera!
Harpocrates flew towards the Blood Bats, pacing its rock hammer for the attack. As it reached closer, the Persona began to swing its hammer, causing multiples rocks to form and fly at the bats, hitting each of them as they dissolve into ash. More came their way and Clayton rushed ahead his Persona. A bat began to draw towards him and Clayton delivered the bat a powerful swing with his mace, crushing the bat with ease.
As two more flew towards him, Julie rushed in, quickly unsheathing her blade to deliver a slash across the bats and performed a flurry of slashes on the other bats that flew at her. Ashley ran forward and proceeded to attack the bats using her Jian. After the threat was cleared, Harpocrates vanished from sight and the party proceeded to rush ahead to the Shadow.
ASHLEY: Tara! Do you know where that Shadow went?
TARA: Let me track it!
Tara concentrated on her powers and sought to look for the Shadow. Eventually, she found the Shadow's specific location and informed the crew on its whereabouts.
TARA: We need to only continue a straight path and move up a flight of stairs. There, we will come in contact with a door that houses the Shadow, but I believe Ian would be there before we would.
JULIE: Do you think the Shadow arranged those Blood Bats to slow us down?
TARA: Likely, yes. It knows you're all Persona-users, so it's trying to stop us from reaching Ian. However, what I'm most curious about are the Blood Bats.
JULIE: What about the Blood Bats?
TARA: Well, Fiends are created from the fears of the heart, but it seems like those bats were created from Ian specifically.
CLAYTON: Sounds likely. Ian admitted to being afraid of bats when we were little and he still is today. If anyone asked him, he would tell them.
ASHLEY: But the Shadow we saw was created from a fear that Ian doesn't want to admit that exists. So if he's willing to admit his fear of bats, then what exactly is he afraid of?
The path led him to a giant door that held a sickly, dark red color that made Ian nauseous the moment he laid eyes upon it. Somehow, just the sight of the color made him feel very uneasy, only managing to open the door by pushing it with the strength of his index finger. As he opened the door, his eyes laid upon a magnificent room that bore the resemblance to a castle's front room, usually where balls and other festivities were told to be held.
He brushed back some of his black hair, under the thought of something crawling through his hair.
IAN: What is this...?
Despite the majesty of the room, it's very presence made Ian feel gravely unwelcome. To add to his uneasiness, he began to hear voices murmur all around him, which suddenly caused him to walk further into the room. He couldn't identify the words, but recognized the sounds of the voices.
IAN: Wait. ... Is that... police chatter?
TARA: Dnepsus eht stab!
A green glyph formed underneath a horde of Blood Bats and caused them to freeze in mid-air. Ashley used the opportunity to summon Orithiyia.
ASHLEY: Mabufu!
The Persona summoned a white glyph that shot out mutiple shards of ice that killed the bats without much effort. Meanwhile, Clayton was rushing ahead of the party, using his mace to bash any of the bats that came his way with Julie right behind him. After Tara and Ashley finished dealing with their bout, they followed pursuit up the stairs, making way to a large red door at the top.
CLAYTON: He must be in there!
JULIE: Probably!
Then suddenly, more hordes came forth, but larger than before. This horde almost covered the entire castle, which was more than the group could ever face... and more than Clayton could tolerate. With a shout of aggravation being made clear, he swung his mace and stared at the bats.
CLAYTON: Are you kidding me?!
FEMALE STUDENT #1: Have you heard that Ian's father is a gangster?!
FEMALE STUDENT #2: What?! Really?
Two more voices were heard, although these were clearer than the other. Ian turned around in various areas to catch sight of where the voices were coming from. Were they all in his head?
IAN: Where are they...?
Before he could finish, other voices came into hearing.
MALE STUDENT #1: I don't know about this. You know who his father is, right?
MALE STUDENT #2: Yeah. But you got to admit, it has to be a living; being the son of a gangster!
MALE STUDENT #1: Hmm... I guess you're right. Besides, Ian is pretty nice. I guess that living the life of a gangster's son makes you into a pretty decent young man.
Did he hear that right? Were they actually commending Ian's lifestyle? What was there to like about being the son of a gangster? There were responsibilities, consequences and many other things that Ian could list from the top of his head if he was not as gobsmacked as he felt now. Then suddenly, another voice came and it brought Ian to shudder... because he recognized this voice.
MARIA: Joseph! They're coming!
It was his mother. Suddenly, an image played into his mind.
-Flashback-
Ian always had sensitive hearing. If a thunderstorm were to pass, the first sound of thunder, let it be quaint or tremendous, it would wake the boy from his slumber. This explained why he woke up from the sound of the door slamming from the main room of the mansion and was alerted by the unsettling tone of his parents' voices.
MARIA: Joseph! They're coming!
Maria Beatrice de Luca was the wife of Joseph Ricardo de Luca and was Ian's mother. She was a loving woman, though was known for wearing fancy jewelry and stylish coats everyday. She had beautiful, long dark hair, tan skin and spoke with a silk Italian accent, which complimented Joseph's heavy Italian accent. Ian always found it odd that his parents wore accents while as he never had one; Joseph could agree.
Still, the frightened tone in Maria's voice made the boy worry about his mother. He loved her dearly and couldn't shake the thought that something must have happened to make her so worried. Although Maria never permitted it, Ian removed the sheets and step off of his bed, making his way out of his room and down the hall. That was when he heard another sound that was outside of their house. It sounded like... the approach of a car. He stopped momentarily to hear the doors open and close, along with several footsteps.
JOSEPH: Shit! They're coming!
Uneasiness began to claim Ian. What was going on?
JOSEPH: Maria! Get Ian and hide in his room! Be sure to lock the door behind you!
MARIA: But what about you?!
JOSEPH: I'll go get my gun! Damn pistol I have is out of bullets! Besides, fists won't deal with Whiskey!
Whiskey. The very name of that man was enough to devoid all color on Ian's face. He was a tall and broad with muscles of a giant and held a menacing expression on his face that Ian often compared to the devil. He held shoulder-length black hair that was often worn down, a black business suit with a revolver at the waistband for action. He remembered the man glaring at the young boy, giving him such a deadly gaze that he couldn't shake away.
Ian began to back away as he heard footsteps approaching. Eventually, he was welcomed by the presence of his mother, who appeared to be frantic and frightened almost beyond reason. Her hair, which was usually seen kept and permed, was a disheveled cluster with some locks falling in front of hair. She wore her white mink coat along with a skin-tight black dress with fishnet stockings and black heels. Her jewelry consisted of big, gold hoop earrings, several diamond rings on her fingers, never below five karats, with either silver or gold plating and a luxurious pearl necklace.
She stared down at her son in shock. Normally, she would reprimand him for getting out of bed, but tonight seemed to be a grave exception. She grabbed her son by the hand and rushed him into his bedroom, closing the door and locking it behind them.
MARIA: Okay, Ian, listen. Daddy's here, but he has to go get something because...
Maria was worried about finishing the sentence. She stared down at his innocent and frightened face, turning back to the door after hearing a loud shatter from below. Whiskey was inside the house!
Backing away from the door, she grabbed Ian and brought them both into the closet, closing it and locking it. Given Joseph's lifestyle, the necessity for locks was a strong recommendation. Maria pushed Ian behind her legs to shield her still young son, her breath getting heavier and heavier with each anticipating second.
MARIA: Don't worry. Mommy's here now, Ian. As long as we stay silent, Whiskey shouldn't find us.
However, the heavy sound of footsteps caused the tension to thicken greatly. Ian recognized that the footsteps did not belong to his father and gripped his mother closer, tightening his grip on her coat. It was soft, secure and safe. He always valued the way his mother dressed and loved the mink coat that she would wear, being drawn to its pristine white color.
MARIA: ...
IAN: ...
Suddenly, the door was knocked down, alarming the two in the closet, especially when they heard Whiskey enter inside of Ian's room. That was when the thug's figure had been seen. Maria's eyes widened in fear and Ian's heartbeat grew faster... especially as Whiskey's figure approached the closet.
The mother and son backed to the wall as the man tore the doors off, catching sight of the two. Maria bent down to wrap her son in her arms, to assure him that she wouldn't allow anything to happen to him while she was standing there.
MARIA: Whiskey... please...
WHISKEY: Now, now, Maria... you knew what you were getting yourself into. You and your son should've left this lifestyle while there was even still a chance.
MARIA: But why, Whiskey? What have we ever done to you?
WHISKEY: Your husband's gang is pretty notorious and I sure can use its benefits. However, he's in the way of what I wish to recreate...
The brooding man reached into his pants, pulling out the revolver from his waistband. With a single click of rotation, he aimed the gun directly at Maria, causing the woman to tighten her son in their hug, eyes shut with warm tears falling from her eyes.
WHISKEY: And so are you.
A sharp sound, followed by an ephemeral flash was all that Ian saw to know that his fears were already beginning. Maria's grip loosened on Ian's tender flesh, her posture began to slant downwards and all pulses that Ian felt through her wrists began to decrease in speed until they finally came to a halt. Eventually, she hit the floor with her face down and back showing. The white mink coat that Ian grew to adore his mother for wearing began to stain with red, which spreaded quickly. The boy paused in fear. His breath fell heavy; his lungs building unusual tension that felt strong enough to implode. His blood ran like a cold river and all the color that embellished his face suddenly began to become depriven.
He looked at his pajamas and noticed that small stains of blood had squirted on him when Whiskey took a shot at his mother. Ian knelt beside her, gently shaking her shoulder to wake her, under hopes that she wasn't dead.
IAN: Mother? Mother!
When she wouldn't wake, his shaking grew from gentle to franctic. Her body simply moved as he shook her, refusing to awaken. Once he realized that his mother was no longer among the living, he stopped shaking her and grew frightened. His mother was dead.
IAN: Mother!
Tears fell from his face as he stared at the bloodstain on his mother's back, watching as its color drained the gloss of the coat within seconds. Eventually, Joseph entered and took a shot at Whiskey before the man could proceed with shooting Ian. Once he laid eyes upon his wife's corpse, the gangster fell to his knees and grabbed her body, holding it tightly with tears falling from his eyes, which Ian was witnessing for the first time.
JOSEPH: No! Maria! WHY?! WHY?!
Ian was only five years old when he witnessed his mother's murder by gunpoint... to witness the bloodshed... to have felt her blood stain him... to witness the murder of the man that killed her...
-End of Flashback-
Once the voice ended with the gunshot, Ian was drawn to the sight of a thick figure laying on the floor and approached it with caution. As he reached the coat, it realized that it was his mother's old mink coat and worse, it still had blood to stain it. The bloodstain was fresh, almost as if his mother's murder occurred recently and the sight of the coat brought fear into Ian's heart.
IAN: *shudders* ... That's... mother's... mink coat...
He shuddered and backed away very slowly. What was going on? Why was his mother's coat in the castle? Why did it still have that bloodstain? Suddenly, a voice was heard and Ian turned to where he heard it.
IAN'S VOICE: I suppose you remember what happened... suppose we remember. That used to be her favorite coat to wear and ours to watch.
When Ian turned to find the person, he was shocked to see that the person before him was... himself! The Shadow before him stood at a distance, its demonic tone of voice bringing unpleasant sensations through the course of his body.
The door behind him swung open and he turned his back to see his friends, Clayton, Julie, Ashley, and some girl who he never met enter into the room, all wearing shocked faces.
CLAYTON: Ian!
IAN: Clayton!
The Shadow began to chuckle, causing Ian to revert his attention to it.
SHADOW IAN: Well, your friends made it, but I wonder if you can save them. After all, you couldn't save your mother when she was killed, could you? And Father expects for you to take over the mafia one day? Ha!
IAN: Wh-Who are you?! Why do you wear my face?!
SHADOW IAN: *chuckles* I am a Shadow... of your worst nightmares... I am you and you are me. I'm nearing to take over my father's mafia one day and show him my potential.
IAN: How are we alike?!
The Shadow chuckled once more and began to approach Ian, causing the party to ready their weapons.
SHADOW IAN: We're called to a destiny that wasn't chosen for us. Don't you remember what Father always said? "I won't be around all the time to keep this business running. You'll have to take over." But is this what you really want? Everybody else wishes to live as big as you, but what do they know about being the child of a gangster?
IAN: ...
The Shadow's expression darkened suddenly.
SHADOW IAN: Apparently, I have a theatric lifestyle. Everything that is shown in The Godfather and Scarface. Everyone believes that those types of lives are worth living, but what do they know about it all? What did they witness to believe that this is a life worth living? My father has taught me everything about being a gangster, mostly a leader of a mafia, and what to expect: traitors, police, rivals...
Suddenly, the Shadow looked to the ground, taking a momentary pause before bringing itself back up. Once it did, Ian's face was devoid of all color and the party stood in horror by what they were seeing. Blood began to leak from the Shadow's head, specifically from the scalp as it fell from his hair and formed a river down the left side of his face, somehow managing to leave its eye untouched and stopped at the chin. Ian's breath grew heavy and he backed away as the Shadow moved closer with a dark expression.
SHADOW IAN: Blood.
Ian found himself trembling uncontrollably; his pupils almost constricting in fear.
IAN: ... St-Stay away.
SHADOW IAN: I was only five when my mother's blood stained her coat... when her blood stained me.
IAN: ... St-Stop.
SHADOW IAN: Why does father want me to take over the mafia? Why am I expected to carry over the bloodshed he causes?! Why was there so much blood on her?! Why was it on me? Do I really need to see more blood than I can handle? How many more lives will be acclaimed by blood? What does he make me to be, some blood prince?!
IAN: Stop it. Stop!
SHADOW IAN: I can't stand the sight of blood. It decides your fate if you lose too much and sometimes, it's non-replacable. If only I didn't get out of bed, mother would've had enough time to ensure that we would be protected by that blasted monster! But no! My curious ass just had to kill the cat! It's my fault my mother died!
IAN: No! That's not true! It wasn't my fault!
SHADOW IAN: If I had just listened and stayed in bed, she would be alive! But I had to see the bloodshed that caused my mother's life to waste away! I was sprayed with it as well! Her blood... on me... The blood of all the people I fought in tournaments... I watched as I gave them a bloody nose or a bruised lip and watching them bleed... Just bleed by my hand!
The bleeding worsened as the Shadow's fears began to grow... to show Ian's worse fear: blood.
Clayton grew worried by how the situation progressed. Julie knew that Ian would deny his Shadow eventually and prepared herself for the worst to happen.
Blood began to drench the Shadow's clothes, leaking from its sleeves, much to Ian's horror. Then suddenly, the Shadow rushed over and embraced Ian, much to his terror. The feel of fresh blood... its thickness coating his clothes... it was just like the blood he felt from his mother...
IAN: G-Get off of me! Get off!
SHADOW IAN: This is my fear, what I am afraid of and how I feel.
Ian struggled, but he managed to push the Shadow off of him, its blood coating his clothes. Ian looked down at his clothes to see how much blood was stained on him and almost panicked. He looked back at the Shadow, defiance and denial reading clear on him.
IAN: N-No! None of what you say is true! I wasn't the cause of my mother's bloodshed!
This caused the Shadow to laugh, forcing it to place a palm on its forehead, splattering small portions of blood on the floor. It looked up at him with a calm expression and a malevolent smile.
SHADOW IAN: Why are you denying me? To this day, you cannot stand the sight of blood because it reminds you of your mother. You were the cause of her death and your punishment was her bloodshed. Face it, you're afraid of blood. Do you understand it now... me?
Ian backed away, denying all that the Shadow was saying, much to Clayton's alarm.
IAN: N-No! No!
CLAYTON: Ian! Wait!
ASHLEY: Don't say it!
However, the die had been cast.
IAN: You are not me!
The Shadow's laugh grew maniacal and it stepped back from the party, arms stretched as if it was claiming for godhood. The party was prepared for what the Shadow was going to do next.
SHADOW IAN: Hahahaha! Oh! That breaks my heart! But it feels so right! Mmhmm... Hahahahahahahahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Cloisters of black gas surrounded the Shadow after the final laugh, covering its body, leaving not an inch of its image to be seen for one last moment. As the gas clustered, it expanded in width and height, growing almost momuentously, into a monstrous form. After the expansion was complete, the gas was blown off of the Shadow, revealing its deranged and monstrous form.
The Shadow carried a Count Dracula-like appearance with a blood-red cape and wings of a bat attached to its back. The Shadow covered its face with a hood, save for a smile that lingered under the shadowed-out face. Its skin had grown deadly pale with bright, red streaks of blood flowing through its arms like rivers, replacing the veins. It was bare foot with tattered feet and sharp, black nails that could slice through the sturdiest of steel if prompted. Its clothes consisted of a single skin-tight bodysuit with golden buckles around the stomach, waists, thighs, ankles, chest, forearms and wrists. Ian backed away from the Shadow in such a slow manner.
SHADOW IAN: I am a Shadow... of your worst nightmare... So I guess this fight will get ugly, hmm? Oh well. More bloodshed, the better!
Quickly, the Shadow grabbed some of its own blood and through it own the floor, right in front of Ian's feet. Before the frightened young man could react, hands suddenly reached for him and grabbed him, pulling him into the puddle.
CLAYTON: Ian!
The puddle swam over to the Shadow. Using some of its magic, the Shadow erected the puddle from its liquified state into a solidified matter, constructing it into a pillar. At the top lied Ian, who was unable to free himself from the pillar.
JULIE: The Shadow is holding him captive! We have to rescue him!
CLAYTON: Right!
The Shadow laughed by their fruitless words and stared down at them.
SHADOW IAN: Hahahaha. How delightful. Going to rescue this loser? You're welcome to try if you want to. Just keep your blood to yourself!
Clayton proceeded to summon his Persona. Once Harpocrates was summoned, Clayton gave the Persona its command.
CLAYTON: Terra! Now!
Harpocrates formed a rock of large size from its hammer and threw it at the Shadow. The Shadow simply deflected the attack, crushing the rock into pebbles. Julie went on to summon Izanami and rushed forward to prepare for the attack.
JULIE: Garu!
Izanami summoned a small cyclone of wind that did little damage to the Shadow, which in turn caused it to laugh.
SHADOW IAN: Hahahaha! This must be a joke! If it is then I have one for ya!
The Shadow proceeded to stretch its arms outwards, aiming directly at the party. Once it did, it shot out gushes of blood from its hands, which in turn transfigured into red lightning bolts that went to the party. Everybody managed to dodge the lightning bolts with ease, but one slip-up from Julie and the shock of it proved to be painfully intense.
JULIE: AAAAHHH!
ASHLEY: Julie!
TARA: Grandmaster, are you alright?!
Once the electrocution was complete, Julie was flunged towards the ground. Her grip remained on her weapon, but she felt too weak to even move a muscle.
IZANAMI: ~Just as I feared. This Shadow excels at lightning and electrical-based skills, one of which I am weak to.~
JULIE: ~You mean what "we're" weak to?~
IZANAMI: ~Precisely. Though normal attacks only affect me, whatever my weakness lies, it will affect you also, even if you haven't been struck. We must be careful.~
JULIE: ~Right. Thanks for the warning, Izanami.~
Seeing that she held a weakness, Julie knew she couldn't be careless. Looking up, she saw the worried look on Ian's face after she was struck by the lightning spell. He was actually worried about her. She nodded it off and weakly rose from the ground. Ashley proceeded to summon Orithiyia for the attack.
ASHLEY: Mabufu!
The Persona formed a white glyph that shot multiple ice shards at the Shadow, which it deflected. Ashley gritted her teeth in aggravation by the failed attempt and sought to a new solution.
ASHLEY: Frost Link!
The Persona brought its sword across its shoulders and swung it down to shoot a sword-shaped ice structure directly at the Shadow, which connected and did moderate damage.
TARA: It's weak to ice!
ASHLEY: Well, this may be easy!
SHADOW IAN: Hahaha! Don't be so sure, you little bitch!
The Shadow proceeded to summon a white wall in front of it, which disappeared as quickly as it was formed.
ASHLEY: Oh for the love of... Ice attacks won't work now!
CLAYTON: What?! But how?!
ASHLEY: Because your Shadow did the exact thing when we fought it! The only physical moves Orithiyia knows are Frost Link and Tempest Slash! What does Harpocrates know that doesn't involve magic?!
CLAYTON: Umm... I don't... Wait! Wild Hammer, Fist of Fury and... Swift Strike!
ASHLEY: Alright! Julie!
When Julie finallly got on her feet, she turned to Ashley with a not-so hopeful look on her face.
JULIE: Izanami doesn't know any physical skills! It can only use magic, light and wind!
ASHLEY: But what about Senri?
JULIE: Same! Magic and fire!
CLAYTON: Crap! There has got to be another Persona you can use!
Before she could protest, Julie began to remember the words Matthew gave her when she was last in the Velvet Room. Once she remembered this, the sight of the Magician Arcana came into her mind and a new Persona was awakened.
Turning to the Shadow, Julie prepared herself and summoned a new Persona.
JULIE: Jack Frost!
Izanami was replaced by an adorable little Snowman demon that wore a blue cap, had big black eyes and pointy teeth, which in turn made its appearance cartoonish. Ashley arch a brow when she saw the Persona, with Clayton following suit.
CLAYTON: That's one of your Personas? Which Arcana did that come from?
JULIE: Well, I only have access to the Empress and Magician Arcana, which would be you two. I have Senri, which is the Empress and Jack Frost is the Magician, which is your Arcana, Clayton.
When she finished, Clayton wasn't certain to be embarrassed or humilated and didn't think now was the time to care about it. He needed to save his friend. The Shadow laughed when it saw Jack Frost.
SHADOW IAN: Hahaha! What the hell is this?! Is this some kind of joke?!
Julie rushed over to the Shadow and could hear another voice in her mind.
JACK FROST: ~Hee ho, Julie! I am Jack Frost! I am currently in your mind!~
JULIE: ~What? This has never happened before, not even with Senri. Is Izanami still there?~
JACK FROST: ~She's fine, hee ho! Now that Shadow has used Ice Wall, so naturally, none of my ice skills would do much damage, but what would you say if I was able break down the wall?~
JULIE: ~Wait! You can do that?!~
JACK FROST: ~Of course! It's a rare skill and not many Personas are capable of it... but I'm the minority, ho! And no, I didn't call you a "ho".~
JULIE: ~Thanks.~
JACK FROST: ~Anyway, it's called Demolish. It's useful in breaking down any move that makes the opponent resistant to an elemental attack. Since this Shadow is weak to ice and built a wall to keep the ice from touching it, I can break down the wall and allow the ice to touch him! Now use it and you and your beautiful friend will be able to strike at it with whatever ice skill your little hearts desire, but don't go crazy because that will exhaust you and your Wild Card ability can only allow you to summon magical-oriented Personas! Also, since Izanami is temporarily absent, you won't be affected by electrical spells!~
JULIE: ~Good! At least now we have a fighting chance! Thank you, Jack Frost!~
JACK FROST: ~You're welcome! Now, onward, ho!~
Doing as Jack Frost commanded, Julie pointed at the Shadow and gave the Persona its order.
JULIE: Demolish!
The Persona flew straight towards the Shadow in the manner of a superhero with one hand forming a fist and stretching to the Shadow as it approached. As it drew closer, its fist began to emit a white ball with each anticipating approaching until it finally reached the Shadow and delivered it a devastating punch. While the punch was expected to deal damage to the Shadow, it instead destroyed White Wall, though it staggered the Shadow a bit.
SHADOW IAN: Ah! What the hell?!
Taking the opportunity at hand, Julie proceeded to give Jack Frost its next command.
JULIE: Bufula!
Jack Frost landed on the ground and proceeded to initate its spell. Playfully slamming its hand on the ground, it caused a geyser of ice to shoot from the floor, beneath it. Once the connection was made, the Shadow shrieked in pain as unusually large ice shards slashed and pierced its body, showing that the damage was critical.
Julie turned back to the others to witness the shock on their faces.
ASHLEY: How did you-?! But the Shadow used White Wall!
JULIE: Jack Frost knows Demolish! I'll explain the move later, for now, we need to rescue Ian! We should have an advantage now that it's White Wall has been destroyed!
ASHLEY: Roger!
CLAYTON: Alright! Let me take it!
Clayton rushed ahead towards the Shadow, much to Ashley's chagrin. Summoning Harpocrates, Clayton give the Persona a new command.
CLAYTON: Quick! Use Swift Strike!
Harpocrates then flew over to the Shadow. Once it reached a good closure of space, Harpocrates used its hammer to deliver swift and almost unseeable strikes at the Shadow, in which the final strike caused it to fall back. Harpocrates returned to Clayton and Ashley rushed over to him and Julie, facing the downed Shadow.
CLAYTON: We've managed to knock it on its ass! How about an All-Out Attack?!
Turning to Julie with Ashley following suit, the two waited for her response. She turned back at them after observing the Shadow and gave a small nod with a smile on her face. The three continued to face the Shadow, excitement growing on them as they readied their weapons.
CLAYTON: Hell yeah! ... Get ready for this!
The three rushed over to the Shadow and a dust cloud was formed as striking sounds were made on the Shadow. Of course, given the Shadow's size, trying to overthrow it with attacks of their own proved to be slightly difficult because Clayton and Ashley were pushed back a few times before resuming with the attack. After a while, they finished the attack and the Shadow managed to get back up, albeit weakly.
It glared at the trio and began bleeding more profusely than ever.
SHADOW IAN: Look at what you've done! All this blood, leaking from me! I'll make you pay for it!
The Shadow proceeded to shoot out gushes of blood that formed into dark gray clouds. Confused, the trio began to brace themselves after the first strike of lightning that proceeded to form a thunderstorm, with some lightning spells supplemented from the Shadow. Ian watched in horror as his friends dodged and evaded such lightning strike and attack set on them, with his concern forwarding to Julie. After witnessing what one strike of lightning did to her, he had to hope that another wouldn't be as damaging. However, he was worried about Clayton. While admirable that his friend came all this way to rescue him, he was worried about his safety. What if him and the others died trying to save him? They've fended against the Shadow well, but it was starting to turn the tides of the battle.
Tara rushed in to the trio and brought out some beads that she wrapped around her right wrist. She approached by Julie's side as she shielded herself from the lightning with her umbrella and reached her hand to the sky.
TARA: Releasing all limits!
Suddenly, her body began to emit a green glow as the pearl beads in her hands shined in a bright light that nearly blinded Julie. After the glow dimmed, Tara moved away from her grandmaster and proceeded to go on with the attack. As a bolt of lightning approached her, she spun around and stopped in a pose to cast a green glyph that allowed the bolt to be swallowed into it, much to Julie's amazement. After that feat was performed, Tara broke the beaded necklace, allowing the pearl beads to fall on the floor. She knelt to the ground, firmly placing her hands on the floor as she concentrated. Once she was fully concentrated, she began to speak in a language that neither of the party was familiar with but took into thought that the language was her own.
TARA: Hali mina, navarro la reissan! Tier 1: Unleash!
She quickly brought her arms in mid-air, which caused the beads to be lifted from the ground by her magical energy. Clapping her hands together, the priestess forcibly separated them, causing the beads to be pushed away by force. The trio ducked as the beads flew at them. The beads stopped suddenly and began to glow, growing bigger in size by her will. Tara formed her hands into fists, rose from the ground with the storm raging in fury, eyes closed as a wind brushed past her, causing her hood to fall from her head, allowing her trapped hair to fall free in the blow. Her was donned in the manner that the locks that stuck out of her hood were individually tied with pearl beads, while the rest were kept with a bead that was tied at the lower section of her hair.
The Shadow backed away in fear.
SHADOW IAN: What the hell?! What's this power?!
If only they knew how to describe what they were seeing. With her power in full focus, Tara snapped her eyes open and brought her hands to a sharp descent. This caused the beads to shoot out massive surges of power that dispelled the storm, causing the lightning bolts to fade in luminosity and strength. The clouds began to dissipate as the surrge fell through and began to weaken the Shadow. It also cracked the pillar that bounded Ian to crack and eventually crumble into pieces, causing him to fall and make a somewhat painful landing on the ground. Though the fall seemed to have done some damage, Ian gathered enough strength to get up from the ground with one hand pushing him from the ground and the other wrapped at his hip, which took the landing.
Clayton rushed over to Ian and grabbed him, which enraged the Shadow even further.
SHADOW IAN: Why?! Why did you all come?! Why did you all come to die?!
Everyone turned to the Shadow and listened as it ranted on and on.
SHADOW IAN: What will take you all to understand me?! I've seen enough blood to know what will happen to you all!
The shouts and cries of the Shadow forced Ian to back away, his denial showing clearly on his face. Clayton noticed this and grabbed his wrist, causing Ian to turn to him. When he did, Ian felt perplexed by the smile on his face.
IAN: Clayton...
Ian failed to finish the sentence, giving Clayton the moment he needed to speak to his friend.
CLAYTON: Ian. You are my best friend and I've always seen you as a dear friend of mines, which is why I must tell you this.
IAN: Tell me what?
The Shadow stopped its rants and turned to glance at the duo.
CLAYTON: I was jealous of you.
IAN: Clayton...
CLAYTON: No. Not just in your lifestyle, but your entire being. You make straight As in school, have a wide collection of fangirls and admirers, taller than me, stronger than me and you're respected. I'm mostly known as your "bodyguard" or "flunky" amongst some of the students at our school and that's what made me want to be around you, why I wanted to keep living.
IAN: ...
CLAYTON: But something that caught me was that you were jealous of me.
Ian was taken aback.
IAN: How did you...?
CLAYTON: I'll explain that later, but when I heard that, I was shocked. I used to think there was nothing interesting about me, but you've always envied me. You said I had a normal lifestyle, didn't need to worry about threats and had both of my parents. To be honest, I didn't know that I would be of your envy.
IAN: ...
CLAYTON: But that thing that you're seeing right now? It was born from you; from your fears! You have to face it if you ever want to live and I didn't come all the way here, almost risking my life in a car crash and fighting against a horde of Fiends just so you can die now! The last thing I would want to happen is my best friend no longer being with us!
What felt previously was fear and horror that lingered in his heart was replaced by a sudden sensation of comfort. His friend truly cared about him, having risked his life to find and rescue him. This was genuine. His friend was giving him strength by love... a love that held stronger than any bond ever given. He looked over at Julie and Ashley, who gave him a reassuring smile; one that read that he was capable of facing against all of his fears and they would be with him when he did.
Seeing that he had nothing to fear or to worry about, Ian looked at Clayton, who released him under the knowledge of what he planned to do next. However, the Shadow began to grow weak by Ian's acceptance and continued to cast lightning spells around the castle.
SHADOW IAN: NOOOOOOO!
The party turned to the Shadow as its rage restarted. Tara headed back to Julie's side.
TARA: The Shadow is growing weak! We have our chance!
ASHLEY: I'll let you two have this one!
Julie nodded and casted Jack Frost over to the Shadow. As it approached, the Shadow fired lightning bolts at the Persona. Jack cleverly dodged every last bolt, much to the Shadow's irritation.
SHADOW IAN: Dammit! Stay still and die!
As Jack got closer to the Shadow, Julie proceeded to give its final command.
JULIE: Bufula!
Jack fired an ice geyser directly at the Shadow, causing frost and ice to form on parts of its body. The Shadow began to groan in agony as the spell continued to place pressure on it.
SHADOW IAN: Ugggghhh! Gyaahhh!
JULIE: Clayton!
CLAYTON: I'm already on it! Harpocrates!
Clayton pointed at the Shadow, forcing Harpocrates to fly directly at it with its hammer readied for the assault.
CLAYTON: Wild Hammer!
Harpocrates rushed in and struck the Shadow with a powerful blow from its hammer that did more damage than most of its attacks from its hammer. As the blow placed just enough pressure, the Shadow's body began to disfigure and glow in an unusual light, meaning that it was about to be defeated.
SHADOW IAN: Gah! GYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
As its final scream was roared, its body eventually exploded into black dust that caused the environment to tremble by its velocity.
Part 3: The Emperor
The Shadow original form was welcomed back, but its blood still lingered on its face and arms. It floated back to the ground, touching the ground in a delicate manner. As a matter of fact, it didn't slant in posture or deform. It made a perfect landing. Regardless, once it landed, Ian approached it very carefully, but full of courage now that he knew how to face his Shadow.
Once he approached his Shadow, the other self looked at him with his bloody face still lingering, with the exception of its expression softening.
IAN: I've cowered from my fear of blood for as long as I can remember. When my mother died, I felt as though I should've done something differently and I will admit that I believe I was at fault. I accept you.
Hearing those words, the Shadow wavered a weak smile on its face and closed its eyes once Ian finally accepted it. Soon, it's body began to fade away into a blue light and transfigured into a different form. After its figured was changed, the light began to dim and revealed the form of a new Persona.
This Persona bore the resemblance of a man with royal blood. It carefully a masculine feature with brown skin, but was faceless. It wore a red king's robe with white fur at the edgings, black pants with black shoes. It held long and luxurious black hair with a golden crown that complimented the top of its head and carried dual longswords in its hands. Its pose was mighty and honorable, fit for the acknowledgement of a king. After accepting his fears and taking part the Shadow that was born from him, Ian's resolve awoken into the Persona, Laertes.
The Persona's body began to fade out, changing its shape into a tarot card that came floating down from where it stood. Julie, Ashley, and Tara approached Ian to see the Arcana of the card... it was the Emperor. The Arcana represented the desire to control one's surrounding and appearance, trying too hard to achieve the matter, showing that not everything can be controlled. Given all that has happened and having known Ian, Julie could claim that Ian was of the Emperor Arcana. The Card then vanished from sight, its essence forming into a black light that encircled his head. After a while, the process caused the essence to enter into his head, forcing his eyes to close shut. They reopened with a black light shining in his eyes, quickly reverting back to their natural color once the process was complete.
IAN: Laertes... This is my Persona.
As before, the party latched onto Ian with relief, especially given he could now wield a Persona.
CLAYTON: Nice! You have a Persona now!
ASHLEY: So I guess this means that you're part of the team?
JULIE: Do you feel tired?
Before he could answer, Ian fell to his knees. Clayton bended over and helped his friend back to his feet.
IAN: Y-Yeah. I feel exhausted. I would like for us to return home now.
Nodding, Julie turned to Tara.
JULIE: By the way, Ian, this is Tara. She's our support and wants to investigate behind these summonings and Fear Malady. She's a skilled priestess and mage.
TARA: 'Tis a pleasure to meet you at last.
After introductions, Julie looked over at Tara, who nodded back at her. Tara moved to an area a bit further from the party and they gathered together and waited as Tara spoke her incantation. Afterwards, the four were transported back to their homes.
A/N: That is the end of Act 8. We got to see that there's more to Tara's power than just support, but we won't see her use this type of power until later acts. She'll stay in her support role until a character with a support-type Persona comes. Anyway, here's something interesting about Julie... she can only summon Personas that our magical-based, whereas previous Wild Card users could summon Personas of magical and physical skills. This is oriented on the fact that Julie's main Persona, Izanami, doesn't know any physical skills, but excels at magic and wind abilities. I can't say if Atlus would intend on such a thing, but with this being my story, I decided "what the hell". Besides, I'm not claiming anything. So now we have our four official Persona users. More of the main cast will come and more fears will be faced. I've noticed also that I'm slightly drifting away from the main point of the story, so I'll just have to rework the plot a little. The characters won't be alerted by rain anymore, but it will hold its stance to the story. Also, the return of other element skills such as earth, nuclear and water returns to this story. However, water won't be in this story, but will make its appearance in Persona 3 Testament. Please review!
New Summary: The enemy is now aware of what they are doing and has changed the game a little to keep them off-balance. But Julie Amano is ensuring that her companions are ready for whatever will come next. Now the rain won't alert them of the next victim, but they must keep track of strange occurrences to know of the next victim... and uncover the demon with intends on ending the world. Also, who is this mysterious young man named Aaron and what role does he play in the fate of the world?