"Speaking"
'Thought'
Flashback
"Persona Speaking"
Skill
Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona series.
Chapter 2:
Awaken... Persona!
"What Igor said... Could it be that... Our times have merged together... And that... the memories of our friends... are non-existen at us...?" said Minato.
Hearing this, Souji just stood here, completely shock at what Minato said. "... Do you mean that... We're in... another time? A non-existing year? Could this mean that... What Igor was telling us before... That...?" said Souji.
"... It seems likely..." Minato began to thought up about the whole situation. "I finally understand what this is all about... The Clock of Four Arrows... represented a merge from our time. The two times have merged together to form a single time. Our year have merged together to form a non-existing year... This world that we're in... it was created when our time have merged together..."
Souji began to thought about it as well. "... That's understandable... And the Friendship Memory... It represented the memories we shared with the people we shared Social Links with... The memories we gave to them... But... It's in the reverse effect... It now represented something that is the opposite of it... Yosuke and Akihiko didn't remember us, because they never met us... The memories we shared with them... are not presented in their memory..."
"So... If we mix all that up... That means we're in a parallel universe. An universe where different times and different places took place... An universe where our friends... do not know of us..."
"Of course... It all makes sense now... But..." Souji began to think about something else. "... But what about the Life of Creatures? It's in a reverse effect, but we don't know what it means, exactly. We know what the Clock of Four Arrows and the Friendship Memory in the reverse effect do... But it doesn't explain something about the reverse effect of the Life of Creatures..."
"We don't know, Souji... We don't know..." The two teenagers all stood there, thinking about what the whole thing is about. But with no luck, Minato broke the silence between them. "Standing here won't help us know about what it is all about. Let's just... Let's just go, Souji." he said.
Souji nodded. "Right." He was about to walk away, until he remembered something. "Oh yeah... What about your Evoker? You need it to summon your Persona, right?"
"Oh yeah... We should go to the confiscation room and get my Evoker back. I think I have enough money to pay it back..." Minato placed his hand in one of his back pockets. But upon digging in there... He felt no items. "What...?" He decided to go dig his hand in the other back pocket. But received the same result. "What the...? Where's my wallet...?" He then went into his other pockets, but still, his wallet was not in either of them. "What the...? My wallet is gone... But how?"
"Hm? What's wrong?" asked Souji.
"My wallet is gone... I thought for sure it's inside of one of my pockets. How could I lose it?"
"That's strange... Usual, wallets are gone from the owner because some robbers swiped it without being caught. But so far, we don't have any robbers or suspicious people near us..." wondered Souji. "Here, let me get my own wallet. I'm pretty sure I got it before I went to the train..." So, Souji went inside of one of his back pockets with his hand. But, like Minato, he felt nothing inside. "Huh...?" He went to the other one. But no results. He went to the front pockets, but neither of them had something inside. "No way... My wallet is gone. What in the world...?"
"How is it even possible? How can our wallets just come and go like that?"
"I... I'm not sure..."
With a failed attempt to find their wallets, they decided to let it go. "Souji... I think it's best to leave my Evoker there. After all, there's no Shadows or anything. I'm sure of it." said Minato.
Souji nodded. "Yeah... There is no danger in this town... No Shadows are here to attack the town. So it's best to just leave things the way they are."
"Right. Anyways, let's get out of the police department. We've been thinking quite enough."
"You're right. Let's go." Minato and Souji walked away from the consultation place, to go out of the police department and onto the outside.
Upon leaving the room, they went into the main room of the department. But just as they are about to leave the place, Minato overheard something. "In local news, we have some reports about a strange incident that happened last night, in Sakura Hospital." It sounded like it was coming from a TV or something. He turned his back from the front door and looked at the counter.
Souji noticed Minato's action and looked at him. "What's wrong, Minato?" Souji turned away from the front door and walked toward Minato.
"There's something that got me curious. I wonder what is it..." Minato began to walk toward the counter.
"Hm..." It got Souji curious as well, as he joined Minato on walking toward the counter.
Behind the counter, they saw three policemen watching a small TV, which showed a news forecast. There are two reporters in that channel. "Sakura Hospital is one of Kuchiki Town's best visiting places in town. It was ranked fourth place as Japan's best." said the male reporter.
"The nurses and doctors treated the injured and the ill quite well. Needless to say, if they want to be treated well, they must go to Sakura Hospital." said the female one.
"And now, on with the local news. There has been a strange incident that happened in the hospital. It is said that an ill person was held in the hospital, with an illness that is not exactly explained. We have no clues on what the illness might be."
"However, the strange incident happened last night, as the ill person mysteriously disappeared from his bed. No one exactly know how, but the police have found three items that are left on the floor of the ill person's room. A pair of eye balls... And lips."
Hearing it, Minato and Souji both widened their eyes in shock. A pair of eye balls... and lips? "What...?" said Minato quietly.
"We are not sure if those items belonged to the ill person's body parts. If they are, we assumed that a killer was responsible for that. However, they found no trace of blood on the floor or on the sheet. This is a strange mystery indeed." continued the female reporter.
"The police found one nurse who had seen what happened to the ill person. However, as they were trying to speak her out of the incident, she did not say a thing. A fear was inflicted in her, they assumed. The mystery is still yet to be solved." said the male.
One of the police turned off the TV. "Man... What the hell is up with that? What kind of person who left eye balls and lips inside of a hospital? Seriously, that is not normal." he said.
"We all know that it is not a killer who did this. We don't know for sure what made this kind of incident." said another one of the policemen.
"Damn, that sure got me the creeps... A sick guy who disappeared and two eye balls and lips were lying on the floor... What the hell, man." said the last one.
After the whole conversation is over, Minato and Souji looked at each other. "... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Minato.
Souji nodded. "We're going to Sakura Hospital, right?" he said.
"Right. That incident got me curious. I wanna see what the whole situation is all about."
"Yeah, me too. Let's get going." Minato and Souji went outside of the police department.
After reaching outside, they stopped for a minute. "So... Where's the hospital, by the way?" asked Minato.
"I heard from one of the policemen when we were taken to the police car that the hospital is located a mile away from here. We go to the left from here, go to the right in the roadway and continue straight ahead. That's where we'll find the hospital." explained Souji.
"Wow, you sure are as informatic as me. We're a lot alike, you and I, Souji." Minato smiled.
"Heh... I got my ways..." Souji said, before he began to walk away from the police department, with Minato following him.
Seeing that it is a parallel universe and this was a town that is created from the unification of the two times, the two teenagers have no idea where they should go, as the routes they found were not familiar to them. They followed the directions that Souji explained and with a hint of intelligence, they went to the right way they are supposed to go. As it is a rural town, they went through a lot of houses and a few shops. Then, after they got through all of that, they found the hospital.
"Well... There it is. Sakura Hospital. This is where the strange incident happened last night." reminded Minato.
"They said that one of the nurses saw what happened and was too afraid to tell. I wonder if she's still there." said Souji.
"Well, whatever the case, let's get inside." Minato and Souji went inside of the hospital, in hopes of finding out what caused the strange incident.
As they entered the hospital, they found themselves in a room with three ways. One to the left, one to the right and one straight up ahead. There are two counters standing between the two ways. It is most likely that one of them had a list of all the doctors and nurses presented in the hospital. So, they went to that counter. A nurse was behind it and noticed the two teenagers standing in front of the counter. "Oh! Hello! Are you the two students who decided to do part-time jobs here?" she asked.
Minato and Souji looked at each other. Then, at the nurse once again. "Actually, no. We're here to ask you something." said Minato.
"Oh. And what might it be? Can you hurry it up? My shift is about to be done with and I need to meet up with my boyfriend soon."
"Well..." said Souji. "... We heard from the news that there is a strange incident happened in this very hospital."
The nurse took notice of that. "... I see. You two are curious of what caused of that incident, yes? To be honest, I don't know what happened."
"There is one nurse who saw what happened, right? Do you know where she is?" asked Minato.
"Oh. You mean Ayane Kujisaki. Are you two here to see her?"
"Yes. We need to ask her about what she saw in that incident."
"Hm... Well..." The nurse hesitated for a moment. "... I'm not sure if she'll talk about it to you two. In fact, she doesn't want to tell anyone what she saw last night. It kinda freaked her out. I mean, sure everyone are dying to know what she saw, but seriously, she's too scared right now."
"Hm... That's understandable." said Souji, who understood what Ayane felt. "I guess we'll have to leave it here. I'm sure she'll make it through. Let's go, Minato."
"Right." said Minato. But before they decided to leave, the nurse called them out.
"Wait!" she said. The two teenagers looked back at her. "If you wanna try and help her out, then go for it. She's in the fifth floor. You can take the elevator that is on the corridor to my right." The nurse pointed at her right, the corridor that is on the right side of her view.
Souji nodded to the nurse. "Alright. Thank you for the information. We'll go check up on her and see what's wrong." he said. Minato nodded at that. However, again, just before they were about to go, they saw two people entering from the entrance. Each of those people are familiar to Minato and Souji.
To Minato, it was a girl with a mid-long, brown hair and a pair of black-brown eyes. It looked like she wore a school uniform, mainly a pink shirt, with a white one under it. The white shirt also had a red ribbon on the collar. She also wore black skirt, long, black socks and a pair of brown shoes.
To Souji, it was also a girl with short, brown hair and a pair of pale-brown eyes. She wore a green jacket with yellow stripes on the fore sides of the sleeves and around the zipper. The jacket also had three badges. She also wore a black skirt, a pair of white socks and black shoes.
"Yukari...?" said Minato.
"Chie...?" said Souji.
The two of them were, in fact, Yukari and Chie. They're here for one purpose. They went in front the counter, where Souji and Minato was, and introduced themselves to the nurse. "Hi. I'm Yukari Takeba." introduced Yukari.
"And the name is Chie Satonaka." introduced Chie.
"And we're here because we took a part-time job here at the hospital."
"Oh yeah! You two are the ones who took the job, right? Hah hah! I mistakened those two as the ones who took that job. Sorry." The nurse said, as she mentioned Minato and Souji just behind Chie and Yukari.
The two girls looked back and saw the two boys, who were staring at them from the time where they entered the hospital. "Oh! Hey, I haven't seen you two when we entered! What's up?" said Chie.
"It's nice to see you two. Actually, I haven't seen the two of you in the Zaraki-Matsu High. Are you two new in town?" asked Yukari.
Minato and Souji looked at each other once again, beofre looking back at Chie and Yukari. "Yeah... Sure, we're new." said Minato. Souji nodded in agreement.
"Oh! Then it's nice to meet you two! The name is Chie Satonaka!" said Chie.
"And I am Yukari Takeba. And you are?" asked Yukari.
"My name... is Minato Arisato." introduced Minato.
"And I am... Souji Seta. It is a pleasure to have met you two." introduced Souji.
"Well, welcome to Kuchiki Town. A nice and peaceful town for us teenagers. Seriously, you'll like it in here." Chie smiled at the two guys.
"If you guys are having trouble with learning all about the town, then don't hesitate on asking us. We'll show you all there is in Kuchiki." Yukari also smiled.
"Thank you. We will thought of that for you two." said Minato.
"It'll be a pleasure for you to take care of us around." said Souji.
"Aw, don't get all formal on us! It's really embarrassing! Heh heh!" Giggled Chie, as she blushed a little.
"So... What are you two doing here for? A friend or relative is sick in the hospital?" asked Yukari.
"Actually..." started Souji. He looked at Minato, who shrugged in response. "... We're here to ask that nurse over there about the incident that occured in this very hospital. We were curious to find out what caused this incident."
"Strange incident?" said Chie. "Wait, isn't that what the other students are talking about? The weird stuff that happened in Sakura Hospital?" asked Chie to Yukari.
"Now that you mentioned it... There were rumors spreading all about it. So, the rumors were true, after all?" said Yukari.
"It was on the news as well. They said that there was an ill person held in the hospital. Last night, something strange is going on, when that same person disappeared. There's nothing on his bed, except for a pair of eyeballs and lips that were on the floor." explained Minato.
"W... Wait...! Did you say... a pair of eyeballs and lips?!" exclamed Chie, a little creeped out upon hearing that.
"What in the world? That is not right. Who left eyeballs and lips on the floor?" wondered Yukari.
"That's what we're about to find out. There is this one nurse who saw what happened last night. Her name is Ayane Kujisaki. And we need to consult her about what she saw that night." said Souji.
"You two don't have to know about it any further. If it creeps you out, then it's ok. Just do what you are going to do. Souji and I are going to consult Ayane." said Minato.
"Um... O... Ok... Uh... Don't mind us. We'll be fine. Heh heh..." said Chie nervously.
"Excuse us, if we're making you waste time. We'll be on our way." said Yukari. She turned back to the counter, as well as Chie. "Sorry about that." she apologized to the nurse.
"No, no. It's alright. I still have time." said the nurse, who smiled gently.
After the conversation has ended, Minato and Souji looked at each other. With a nod from each, they went to go to the elevator. Before they left the room to go to the elevator, Chie looked back at the two of them, with a worrying face.
-------
By using the elevator, the two teenagers went up to the fifth floor. Upon reaching it, the elevator door opened and they exited out of it. "Well, we're here. The fifth floor." said Minato.
"Now, all we need is to find Ayane Kujisaki. We need to consult her a little until we know any information she saw last night. That way, we'll know for sure what really happened." said Souji.
"Right. Let's go search for her." Minato and Souji began to search for Ayane somewhere around the floor. They searched for her in the corridor, in rooms one by one. There are at least six rooms in the floor. And they went to five of them, until they reached the sixth one. But upon it, they found a lone nurse, standing beside the door way of the sixth room. Strangely, this room is closed, unlike the rest of them.
The nurse has long, beach-blond hair and a pair of emerald eyes. Like any other nurses, she wore a nurse outfit. Curious to see if that nurse is Ayane, they went to her. "Hi there." said Minato to the nurse.
"Huh? Oh... Hi..." she said. She sounded... kinda stressful.
That got the two teenagers curious. "Are you... Ayane Kujisaki?" asked Souji.
"... Are you two looking for me?" asked the nurse, named Ayane.
"Yes. We heard that you were the one who saw what happened last night."
Hearing it, she made a horrified gasp. "... Wha... What do you want from me...? Leave me alone... I don't want to talk about it..."
"Ayane-san, I know that you're afraid of what happened last night. But if we're able to calm you a little, we'll be able to know wha-" explained Minato, until he was cut off.
"No! I don't want to hear about it! I don't want to think about that nightmare again! Just... Just make it stop!!" screamed Ayane.
"Ayane-san, stop being afraid!" yelled Souji, as he grabbed a hold on both of Ayane's shoulders.
Ayane gasped. "I... I..."
"Ayane-san, I know that the scene you saw last night was terrifying, but trust us. We'll think of a way to get it off of your chest. If you just tell us what happened and what you saw back there." said Minato calmly.
"I... I..." Ayane stuttered. After a while, she sighed. "... Alright... I'll... I'll tell you what exactly happened last night..."
"That's good."
"Last night..." Ayane began to explain what happened last night.
Flashback/Ayane's Point of View
It was my night shift at the hospital. I checked up on all of the patients from the tenth to fifth floor. When I'm done with it, my night shift will end and I'll go back home for some sleep. But... When I got in the fifth floor and went to the room where the ill person is, he was... he was reacting strangely.
In my view, it looks like he was arching his back in pain, making weird pained moans. I had to go for him to see what's going on. As I went to his bed, I asked him, "What's wrong, mister? Are you not feeling better?"
He answered, "This is it... When the entire year has passed... It'll be the end of the world. The end of mankind." I didn't understand what he was talking about, even now.
"What are you talking about? You must have a serious illness. Don't worry, the doctor will cure you in no time tomorrow." I said.
But, he answered, "It's too late... The end is coming... It's coming...! It's coming! IT'S COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!" After that, he arched his back entirely, making terrifying gurgling sound. The next thing I know... His entire body poured out black fluids all over. The gurgling sound just kept on being terrifying. And then... He.. He suddenly turned into black slime... and his eyeballs and lips were all what is left of him...
It was terrifying... What I saw... And with that, I screamed of fear so loud, that the people form a couple of floors below and above heard it.
End flashback/Third Person Point of View
"That was what happened... I'm... I'm too afraid of it, even now... I just can't get my mind off of it..." said Ayane.
"People... turning into black slime... and left their eyeballs and lips there...?" wondered Minato. "... That sounded familiar..."
Souji noticed Minato saying something. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"No, nothing. Just... something that I've been thinking about." Minato said with a smile. "Anyways... Ayane, may I ask to let us go in the room?"
"Why...? That room is where the ill person died... Do you really want to go in there?" said Ayane.
"It got me curious of what's in there. I need to investigate this." Minato turned to Souji. "Are you in this, Souji?"
"Hm... Yeah, I guess. After all, I'm a little curious to know what made that guy to turn into slime and died like that." said Souji.
"... A... Alright... I guess... I can give let you in... But you need a key to unlock the door. But it's a good thing I have a spare key that unlocks all doors." Ayane said as she pulled out a key. "But... Just... Just hurry up with your investigation. If someone finds you in the room, you will be arrested for it. This room is restricted for anyone to enter."
"Is that so?" said Souji, as he looked to the door to the room, which was blocked by yellow, police tapes. "I see... We'll investigate quick and not leave any item of ours in there."
"Alright..." She gave the key to Souji. "Be careful..."
"We will, Ayane-san." said Minato.
Ayane nodded, as she began to walk away from the two teenagers. Before that, Souji called out to her. "Ayane-san! If you need to think this through, ask your boss for a vacation, until you're completely relaxed. How does that sound to you?"
She looked back at Souji and smiled. "I'll... I'll try and see if I can." she said, before walking away.
After she left the two teenagers, Souji then looked at the key in his hand. "... With this, we'll be able to enter the restricted room." he said.
Minato nodded. "I wonder what we'll learn from it."
"I wonder too... Let's find out." With a nod from Minato, Souji was about to use the key to unlock the door, until...
"Minato-san! Souji-san!" They heard someone calling out to them. They turned their heads and saw Chie and Yukari running up to them. "There you two are!" Chie yelled.
"Chie? Yukari-san?" said Souji, wondering why the two girls are looking for them.
The two girls stopped dead-tracked, upon reaching the two boys. Chie gasped for air. "Man...! It took us five floors to look for you...! How is finding people can be so... tiring...?!"
"You know, Chie-san... We should have... take the elevator instead..." said Yukari, also gasping for air.
"No way, Yukari-chan! I'm a tough girl! There's no way I'll take on a weak challenge like taking the elevator." Chie smiled.
"Um... May I ask why are you two looking for us?" asked Minato.
"Minato-san, Souji-san... We were curious about the incident that happened last night. And seeing that you two are investigating for it, we decided to join you guys. But Chie-san, being a tough girl, decided to take the stairs and dragged me into it." said Yukari, who sweatdropped at the fact that she was drag into the stairs.
"Oh, come on, Yukari-chan. You gotta be stronger and more quick. And that's what I'm going to do about it!" said Chie, using her smile of confidence.
Yukari eyed her. "Did I mentioned that you're afraid of-" However, before Yukari had to say more, Chie blocked her mouth with her hand.
"Sssshhhh....!!! That's a secret...!!! Remember...?!" whispered Chie.
Souji chuckled a little at the scene he was watching. "Heh heh... That's nice, you two."
Chie let go of Yukari's mouth and cleared her throat a little. "Anyways... Are you guys going inside of the room where the ill guy disappeared?" she asked.
"Yeah. We need to investigate what caused the disappearance of that guy." said Minato.
"But..." stated Yukari, as she saw the door blocked by the yellow, police tapes. "... But that room is restricted! No one is allowed to enter here! You'll get arrested if someone finds you in there."
"Don't worry, Yukari. We won't get caught. It'll be a quick investigation. It won't take long."
"Well... If that's what you guys wanted..." Yukari is still worried about what will happen if someone finds them in the room.
"Um..." said Chie suddenly. Everyone looked at her, waiting for her to say something that she wanted to say. "... Can... Can I join you guys on the investigation?" she asked.
"Wh... Chie-san?!" exclaimed Yukari.
"Chie, we appreciate the offer, but it's too dangerous to join us in this. If they find us, you'll get caught as well." said Souji, caring for Chie's safety.
"I know, I know... But... I wanna found out what caused the disappearance too. I'll be a huge help for you guys. I'll make sure of it!" said Chie proudly.
Souji smiled. "Well... If that's your choice, then go ahead. We appreciate the extra help."
Minato looked at Yukari. "Yukari, if you don't want to get in trouble, you can just leave us here and do what you wanna do. You don't have to join us. It'll be safer." he said, giving Yukari a smile.
"Um... I... I..." Yukari stuttered. She thought about it for a couple of seconds. And with that, she shook her head. "... I... I'm going with you guys!"
"Yukari... Are you sure?"
"Yeah... If you guys need more help, I'll be willing to help out. I need to know what caused that disappearance too... And if you're going to risk it all, I'll risk it as well. For you guys." Yukari smiled.
"Hmph... Alright then. Welcome aboard, Yukari." Minato smiled.
"Alright, that's enough chit-chat. I'm going to unlock the door. Everyone, be careful not to rip off the tapes." said Souji to everyone. They all nodded in response. With their response, Souji then inserted the key into the keyhole of the knob. By turning it, a click sound was heard. Carefully, Souji grabbed the knob and turned it, opening the door. The two girls gulped, readying to go inside of the door. Once the door is opened wide, Souji went over the tapes, as with Minato, Chie and Yukari. "Well... Here we are."
"Ok. First, let's start by investigating the bed that the ill person was lying on." said Minato. They nodded and went over to the bed where the ill person once lied.
Upon reaching the bed, they could barely see the black stain on the sheet. The pillow was also covered in black stain. The two girls wondered why there are black stain on the bed. "Um... Can anyone tell us... why is there a black stain?" asked Chie.
"Well... It'll be terrifying for you girls to hear, but.." said Souji. "We were able to make Ayane-san tell us what she saw last night. This is where the ill person was. And what she explained to us, the guy was arching his back in pain, saying stuff like... It's the end of the world and stuff... And after that, the guy suddenly turned into black slime, which was why there were eyeballs and lips lying around after his disappearance."
"Wh... What...?! Did you say that he turned into a black slime?!" exclaimed Yukari.
"Afraid so." said Minato. "It's not normal, but it's all true. The guy really did turned into black slime."
"No... Damn... Way! That's... That's just not...!" stammered Chie.
"Hm... The stain must be dryed out. The police will check up on it a little later, though." said Souji, as he identified the dryness of the stain. "But it still doesn't explain how the ill person disintegrated into slime and died..."
Chie chuckled a little nervously. "Heh heh... Heh... Well... Uh... It's... It's really nice, investigating things... But... Uh... I think I gotta go, before something bad happens. Heh heh..." she said.
Yukari, who was also in the brink of fear, thought of the same thing. "I think... I should get going too... This thing really creeped me out... I'm sorry, you guys..." she said.
Minato smirked a little. "I told you two that it'll creep you out."
"Yeah, well... You two didn't told us what happened to that guy before we enter that room! I'm out of here! Come on, Yukari-chan!" Chie angrily said, as she grabbed Yukari's arm and dragged her into the exit of the room.
"Hey! You don't have to drag me like that! I can do it myself!" exclaimed Yukari. Minato and Souji could only sigh of that.
However, before Chie and Yukari were able to exit the room, a loud, distorting sound was heard, hurting everyone's ears. "Aaaahhh!!!! What the...?! What's going on?!" yelled out Chie, as she blocked her ears with her hands.
"What... What is that sound?! It's hurting my ears!" said Yukari, doing the same thing as Chie.
Minato and Souji could only grunt, as they both did the same thing as Chie and Yukari. So far, the sound didn't penetrate much inside of their ears. However, in their view, they can see that the entire room splitted in double, triple, any other vision. After a few seconds, everything went bright in their eyes.
-------
The bright light only lasted for a few seconds. Everyone closed their eyes, afraid that they will go blind. Then, they can see inside of their eyelids that the light was slowly fading. And they can hear no sound anymore. Upon pulling their hands off their ears, they slowly opened their eyes.
However, upon opening them up, they widened it after they saw something horrible in their view.
The entire room has changed from a bright and relaxing room to a black, broken and disturbing room.
"Wha.. What is... What is happening...?" wondered Chie.
In their view, the walls, the floor and even the ceiling were mostly coated in black, with a few short and longue cracks in some part. Outside the window, they could see no view. Only darkness. And to be more disturbing enough, there are few puddles of blood on the floor and wall.
"This... This is... We're still in the hospital, right...?" asked the scared Yukari.
"But this is... This is impossible... Everything is different... And scary at the same time...!" said the scared Chie.
Minato remembered that kind of view of the room. "That vision... It's the same as the inside of Tartarus..." he said.
Souji noticed what Minato said. But he decided to ignore it because of the change in the room. "... How can this be...? We're still in the hospital, but... It changed into something... disturbing and... horrible..." said Souji.
"Ah... Aah... This is too scary...! I gotta get outta here!" Chie let go of Yukari's arm and ran straight to the door way.
"Chie-san, wait!" yelled out Yukari.
Before Chie could exit, she heard a fatal moan from outside. She gasped. Even though the walls are coated black, she could see the shadows of someone... or... someTHING. Unable to exit because of that, she walked away backwards. "What... in hell's name... IS that?!"
Seeing the shadows of something as well, Souji, Minato and Yukari are alerted to that. As Chie joined the others just in time, the shadows of something were closer. And so, something entered the room.
Minato gasped. "... That's...!" What he saw was a slime-like creature with a blue mask on. He remembered that creature well. "... No way... It can't be..." Another one entered the room as well. An exact same creature as the first one appeared.
They are not alone, however. There was also a giant ball-like creature who entered the room as well. That creature has several of black stripes and pink ones. It also had giant lips, with its tongue hanging from it. Another creature like that came in the room.
Souji remembered the last two. "That's... That's impossible...!"
Chie and Yukari are frightened to see those creatures coming in the room. "What... What the hell are those things?!" exclaimed Chie.
"That doesn't look! I think they're predators and we're the prey!" exclaimed Yukari.
"Those creatures..." started Minato.
"... They are..." Souji followed suite.
"... Shadows!" they both said it at the same time.
"Sh... Shadows...?! You guys know about them...?!" stuttered Chie.
"But how...? This is the first time I... I ever saw those creatures!" said Yukari.
"It's a long story." said Minato.
"But we don't have time for that! They're going to attack us!" exclaimed Souji, signaling everyone to get out of the Shadows' attack range.
All four Shadows attacked the four teenagers. Two of them each jumped off to the sides, avoiding the attack. Souji and Chie are on the right side, while Minato and Yukari are on the other. In Minato's side, however, when the two of them landed, he accidently tripped and fell on Yukari, causing them to fall on the ground.
In an embarrassing position, Yukari on the bottom and Minato on top, they realized what they were doing and got off of each other and stoop up, blushing a little. "Um... I... Uh..." said the blushing Minato.
"I... Well, I.. It's just..." said the blushing Yukari.
Before the embarrassing moment continued, two Shadows attacked Minato and Yukari. The two of them jumped off to the side once again. This time, they are standing behind the exit. At the same time, the two other Shadows attacked Souji and Chie. They both jumped off as well, to join the other two. Now, the four Shadows all faced against the four teenagers.
"This isn't good...! We're not strong enough against them!" exclaimed Chie.
"What should we do?! It'll be a miracle if there's god standing before us, protecting us!" exclaimed Yukari.
"Damn it... We're not strong enough... We don't have any weapons or anything... We're powerless against the Shadows...!" said Minato.
"No... This can't end like that... I... I need to protect my friends from them... But how... How am I supposed to go up against the Shadows without any strenght within me?!" said Souji.
"What should I do?!" said both Minato and Souji all together.
Upon saying it, a miracle came. Something glowed in the hand of Souji and Minato. Chie and Yukari are the first to notice it. "Wh... What...?" said Chie.
"... Minato-san...? Souji-san...?" said Yukari.
Minato and Souji noticed something glowing in their hand. To Minato, his hand held a revolver, something that shoots bullet. But this was not a revolver. It's something that Minato needed to battle Shadows. "... My... Evoker..." he said.
To Souji, his hand held a card. Like a playing card or something like that. But this card contained something in it. A figure quite familiar to Souji. "... Is that... my...?"
Upon seeing it, Minato and Souji both smiled, as they looked at the Shadows again. Souji held his hand close to the height of his chest, with the card he held. Minato held his Evoker up and pointed it at his head.
Seeing that action from Minato, Chie and Yukari both widened in fear. "Minato-san, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Chie.
"Are you trying to...?! Are you really trying to...?!" exclaimed Yukari.
Before the Shadows had a chance to attack, Minato and Souji both said one thing.
"... Per..." said Minato.
"... So..." said Souji.
"... Na..." they both said it at the same time.
At the same time, Minato pulled the trigger of his Evoker, as Souji crushed the card. And then, they both felt power surging out of themselves. Two creatures stood upon the two humans. (And I don't wanna say the description of the Personas, since... some of them got... too much to describe.)
"Our Persona..." said both Minato and Souji at the same time.
"Orpheus!" cried out Minato.
"Izanagi!" cried out Souji.
The two creatures, named Orpheus and Izanagi, both flew above their owner. "Thou art I..." said Orpheus.
"And I am thou..." said Izanagi.
"To protect... It is the strenght of the people thou loved..."
"And thy strenght will come from the same people thou trust..."
"Slay against any enemy that prevents thou from accomplishing thy goal..."
"Destroy any false memories... to continue thy search for thy courage..."
"And we will guide guide thou... into the bright future of light..." said both Orpheus and Izanagi at the same time.
"... Souji..." said Minato.
"... Minato..." said Souji.
"... Let's do it!!" They both said it at the same time, as a sword appeared in their hand each. They both charged at the slme-masked Shadow and sliced it horizontally, destroying it into dark aura. Three enemies are left.
The ball-like Shadow attacked Minato with its tongue and teeth. But Minato managed to block it with his sword. Pushing it off of him, he casted a skill. "Agi!" he yelled out, as fire burns onto the Shadow. But it doesn't seemed to be causing any massive damage. "Fire won't work against it..." he said.
"Minato, let me handle this!" said Souji, as, he too, casted a skill. "Zio!" Lightning struck down on the ball-like Shadow, giving it massive damage. It disappeared into dark aura. Two are left.
Minato and Souji decided to take on an enemy each. Minato faced the ball-like Shadow, while Minato faced the slime shadow. Seeing it to be an advantage, the two of them casted a skill, before the Shadows were able to attack them. "Bash!" yelled Minato. "Cleave!" yelled Souji. Both Orpheus and Izanagi went to an enemy each. Grabbing his small harp, Orpheus slammed it on the ball-like enemy, as it disappeared. Izanagi used his sword to slay the slime Shadow, as it disappeared as well. The battle was over. And Minato and Souji are victorious.
Chie and Yukari, both have watched the battle, were in awe. They saw no other people can believe. "No way... That was... Are they really Minato-san and Souji-san?" Chie asked.
"I don't know... But... Whatever they really are... They're kinda strong... Really strong... That's amazing..." said Yukari.
And so, the two heroes of the world, the two Persona users of the Wild Card, have returned.
End of chapter
Hey, everyone. It's me again. Sorry that I haven't made an author's note in the intro. DIdn't feel like it. Anyways, Personas are in this chapter! And so, Minato and Souji will explore the dark version of the hospital. Stay tune for the next chapter real soon.
Anyways, Till we meet again. And review, please.