Chapter VII: Face Yourself.
***Evening***
Jackson's desk was piled high with junk and Alex's homework. He sighed, and brushed it aside. As he sat studying, his cell phone began to ring. He answered it. It was Sam.
"Hello." Jackson stammered.
"Jackson. Are you busy on Sunday? I know a café in the mall that you just have to see." Sam got straight to the point.
"Sounds fun."
"Then it's a date."
"Err yeah. By the way, I needed to talk to you about Alex."
"Oh yea. That fool is gonna ruin the whole operation."
"Yeah.. I think its right that he try and awaken to a persona, and you should too, but he needs to calm down and think about it."
"Yea I guess, but I don't think Alex is easily calmed down".
"I agree." Jackson chuckled, "But I think I know what his evoker might be, all we have to do is get him into a situation where he has to question his reasoning."
"You mean the forgotten frequency."
"Yes. We need to get more familiar about that place anyway, if we're really serious about doing this."
Sam sighed, "Can we talk about it tomorrow?"
"Ok fine, we'll meet at lunch."
"Ok, don't forget about Sunday!" She hung up.
Jackson put his phone away, and went to bed.
***Saturday, September 27: Early Morning***
Jackson woke to the sound of Alex's snoring two doors down. He got dressed, and packed his bag before heading to the kitchen to get some breakfast. Alex did not wake before Jackson left.
***Lunchtime***
"Where's Alex today?" Sam asked, as she met Jackson in the hallway.
"I don't know. He was asleep this morning, I didn't want to wake him up." He replied.
"That does sound like Alex." They turned the corner to the cafeteria, and began to wait in line for food. "I mean he was in a bad mood the other day."
"Yeah I guess. I just hope he doesn't get himself into trouble while he's not with us." Jackson said, as the woman behind the long counter dropped a large pile of 'food' onto his plate.
"You don't mean-" Sam leant in towards Jackson, "the forgotten frequency?" She whispered, as her plate was stained with her own batch of 'food'.
"You don't need to whisper. People will just assume that we're talking about the rumor." Jackson paid for his food. "And yes, that is what I meant."
Sam paid for hers, and sighed, "Well now you've just got me worried. That sounds entirely like the sort of thing that idiot would go off and do on his own."
"Sorry, but I think we aught to go strait to the star's satellite after school, just incase." Jackson explained, as he sat in the nearest vacant seat.
Sam took the seat opposite, "Fine, and if he's not there you can buy me coffee."
"Deal." Jackson agreed with a smile.
***Afterschool***
Jackson and Sam headed for the star's satellite as soon as school finished, as agreed. There were plenty of people there, but Alex was not among them.
"Looks like he's not here." Said Sam. "How about that coffee?"
"He's got to be around here somewhere. Let's split up." Said Jackson.
"That won't work." Said a voice from behind. It was Raymond, who walked towards them and the wooden bench where the two worlds meet, "The only way to find someone who has entered the forgotten frequency is to go there yourself."
"Ray? What are you doing here?" Jackson asked.
"Helping you find Alex. He's not at the apartment, and I was getting worried." He replied.
"Well thanks." Said Jackson, as he pulled a radio out of his bag, "But we don't need your help."
Sam took a hold of the radio and turned it on.
"Surely you'll need all the help you can get in there." Ray said.
"And what good would you be without a persona?" Jackson asked, as he quickly turned the dial on the radio in Sam's hands, and entered the other world with her. Ray froze along with everything else as the world spiralled slowly into the ghastly realm of the shadows.
"Good call." Said Sam, "There's no point putting more people in danger. Let's just find Alex and get out of here. But, how did you know he wouldn't come with us? He was easily within earshot of the radio."
"Oh, I figured this out last time. You only enter this world if you're touching the radio when its tuned in." Jackson explained.
"Oh, cool." Just as Sam said this, there was a loud bang from behind them.
They spun on their heels, and saw a large blob forming from the ground in front of them. The blob's small red eyes glared through the heavy darkness of the strange world. It was a shadow.
"Shit!" Jackson shouted, and ran in front of Sam, "Persona!" He shouted, as he clicked the button of his stopwatch. The caped, mask-wearing persona known as Odysseus rose above the shattered glass that formed a star around Jackson's feet.
The shadow looked startled. It quickly grew in size, and mutated gruesomely into its true form. Once the transformation was complete, the shadow looked like a floating octopus, with a large empty head encasing an old book. It was called 'regretful book,' and a purple mask covered its face.
Odysseus jumped into action from behind Jackson. He swung his sword down at the shadow, and thick clouds of red fire gushed out from the blade. The fire had no effect on the shadow, and the flames rippled off of its skin. The ball was now in the shadow's court, and it sprinted through the air towards Odysseus. It stuck its tentacles out, and span quickly in circles. The persona used his round wooden shield to block the attack, and struck the shadow's thick skin with his sword. The monster imploded into dark smoke as the blade cut clean through its body.
Odysseus faded away, and Jackson let out a sigh of relief. "That was close." He said. "Come on, let's find Alex."
Sam nodded, and they began searching for their friend.
They turned the corner, and were confronted by a swarm of the same shadow creatures.
"Oh shit." Said Jackson, as he pulled out his evoker again.
"Wait!" Sam shouted, "Look, it's Alex!" She pointed into the crowd of shadows, and Jackson saw Alex attempting to fight them off with a pair of kitchen knives.
"Tch." Jackson pressed down on the button of his father's old stopwatch, "Persona!"
Glass shattered from his hand, and Odysseus appeared once again.
"Help us out here buddy." Jackson said. Odysseus struggled to keep the shadows at bay. He cleared a path to Alex, who ran straight to Jackson and Sam.
"Thanks guys." He panted for a while, and stood up. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk. I was just angry at you for not believing in me."
"We do believe in you." Said Sam, angrily.
"I know you do. I was just being selfish. I always have been." Alex looked a lot more serious than usual. "As I was hiding from those shadows I realised how stupid I'd been. Its just that after my dad died, I felt like every burden was mine to carry. Its like I forgot that my friends, and people I care about even existed."
"You know we only want to help you." Jackson said.
"I know. Of course I know. When the shadows found me, I thought I was dead for sure. But you saved me and I owe you my life." Alex sighed. "But my family was torn apart after my dad died. My mum practically went insane, and is under 24-hour care. I couldn't look after her, so I moved here. But now, with the cases of amnesia, there are families being torn apart every day. If my dad dying did that to one family, then the shadows causing people to lose the memories of people they love could tear hundreds of families apart."
"So that's why you want to get a persona and fight the shadows so badly. To stop them from hurting anybody else?" Sam asked.
"Sounds stupid, huh?" Alex laughed through tears. "But its what I want. So what do you say, partner?" He turned to Jackson.
"I say catch." He took Alex's old yo-yo out of his pocket, and threw it in his friend's direction.
Alex caught it, and glass shattered from his clenched hands, forming a triangle around his feet. "Persona." He said proudly.