Chapter IX: What's The Plan?
***Monday, September 29th: After School***
Jackson waited outside the gate for Sam, and they walked to the tram stop together. The sun was shining again. Just like yesterday. Just like the days before it. The golden beams fell through the cracks between the buildings. It darted between the noise of cars and people and the city, and landed softly on Jackson's skin, disguising the cold metal and glass of the world around him.
"Remind me why we have to pick Alex up again." Sam groaned.
"Haha. Well I was thinking we go and talk to Ray in a bit." Jackson explained.
The tram glided gracefully to a halt in front of them. It shimmered and hummed for a few moments as the passengers all boarded, and then slowly began to climb along the rails that carved the road ahead of it. Jackson and Sam found two adjacent seats perched against one of the great windows that reached from the machine's floor to its roof.
"Talk to him about what?" Sam asked.
"About the 'archangel'. Among other things." Jackson leant back against the glass pane.
"Hmm. We'll go later, yeah?"
"That's the plan."
***Evening***
After collecting Alex, the party headed back to the flats, where Ray sat eating chips in front of the TV.
"Oh, hey guys." He waved, and switched the set of.
"Ray." Jackson said, as he threw his keys down on the table. "Glad you're here."
"Oh yeah?" He said, whilst eating. "What's up?"
Sam, Jackson, and Alex each took a seat in the living room.
"I need to talk to you about this 'archangel.'" Jackson said, not wasting any time.
"Oh." Ray smiled his trademark smile, "What d'you wanna know?"
"Well. You said we had to fight it. But how? And when?"
"Aha. Ok." He paused to think. "For the most part, the archangel will just sit back and leave the shadows to feast on the people that enter that world. But he's not just their guardian, and he has needs and plans of his own. Recently, he's been building up his power. With each human he and his shadows prey on, his strength grows. That's why its crucial we act now, because if he manages to reach the level he's shooting for, then I have no idea what he'll be capable of."
"But, what does he want?" Jackson asked.
"I don't know." Ray replied, "At the moment, things travel from this world to that one using the forgotten frequency and anything from here can return exactly the same way. But for the moment nothing from that world can transfer into this world, so the shadows and the archangel are stuck there. The only 'food' they get is the occasional human who tests out the rumour. So you can see why the archangel would want to change that. If I were him, I'd want to take as many humans as I could and bring them into that world."
"But we wont let that happen!" Alex said defiantly.
"No. As you can imagine, a job like that would take an enormous amount of power. Something a mere mortal could never achieve." Ray went on, "Which means, we have a good amount of time before he's anything like that powerful."
"So we just finish him off before then?" Sam asked
"That's the idea. But it wont be easy." Ray said, "And you can bet that the archangel will notice you're trying to stop him after a while, and if he finds out before you reach your full strength then he'll wipe the floor with you."
"How long do we have?" Jackson asked.
"Well. If you train there regularly, which you'll need to in order for you and your personas to be powerful enough to take this on.." He thought for a moment, "Then I'd give you maybe a month tops before he notices you. After that it'll just depend on what he chooses to do with you. He probably won't attack you himself first. If I were in his position, I'd send my pawns out first. Some of the more powerful shadows. Once you defeat them you'll leave him no choice but to face you alone."
"And we'll kill him!" Alex butted in.
"Hopefully." Ray added, as he ate the last of his chips.
"Alright." Jackson said. There was a pause, but he broke it, "Both me and Alex have awoken to a persona, and can therefore fight the shadows. I think we need all the strength we can get, and that means we need Sam to try and awaken to hers."
Sam swallowed slowly.
"Right, I'm sure she can do that." Ray smiled, "However, if you are serious about wanting all the help you can get, I think you guys will need me."
"Yeah, but you can't use a persona anymore, what can you do to help?" Jackson asked.
"Haha, well you have got a point. But I've been doing this for a long time, and I know more about the shadows and the forgotten frequency then you three do, and although my persona is gone, I still remember how to use its special ability."
"Special ability?" Alex was intrigued.
"My persona could read a shadow's weaknesses. And as I fought with him, I learnt how he did it. Judging by a shadow's movement and appearance, I can work out how strong it is, how it fights, and what its weak points are. That's a vital skill for defeating these creatures."
"Wow, that's so cool!" Alex said in apparent awe.
"It would be useful to know what we're up against." Sam told Jackson, who looked thoughtful.
"Plus, I can get you some proper weapons, rather then what ever it is you've been using so far." Ray added.
"Hmmm.." Jackson paused, "How would you get them?"
Ray answered smugly, "I've been in the shadow slaying industry a while, you learn a few things."
"…" Jackson thought carefully about it. "…Alright. You can help us, but only if you agree to get us some good equipment, and stay behind us in all fights. You don't have a persona so you can't be getting involved."
"Of course." Ray smiled.
Jackson questioned his decision for a second or two. There was a pause as he looked to Sam, and then to Alex, who both looked thoughtfully back as if to say 'its your call' "..Welcome to the team." He said.
"Whooo!" Alex shouted. "This is gonna be awesome!"
Alex was talking loudly about how 'fun' it would be now that Ray was part of the team. Ray was laughing along, while Jackson and Sam each sat deep in thought opposite.
"Alright." Jackson said. "Alex, shut up for a second, would ya?"
"Sorry." Alex said, before settling down again.
"If we want Sam to be able to fight, we're going to need to be in that world a lot more often. We'll start by meeting at the star's satellite after school tomorrow. Think you can make it, Ray?"
"Oh, umm I think so." He replied, slightly alarmed.
"Good, then bring the weapons with you. We'll go in and exploreproperly, that way we'll begin to get prepared for when we fight the 'archangel'."
"Good idea." Alex said.
"It pays to be prepared." Sam smiled.
"Yeah." Jackson said, "Now Sam, can you think of anything that could be your evoker? Anything that has a great deal of sentimental value to you?"
"Ummm…" She paused, and looked a little embarrassed. "I don't think so, not really."
"Are you sure?" Jackson asked. "Nothing at all? A family heirloom, maybe?"
"No." She said. She had gone slightly blushed. "I'm not like you guys. My family is happy. I have good friends. My whole life has never been anything but normal until I met you."
"There's nothing you hold dear to you?" Ray asked.
"I don't get too attached to anything." She said, "I don't want to sound like a snob, but it's not like my family has ever had anything we can't just replace. Other then ourselves of course." She laughed awkwardly.
"..Well keep thinking. You'll find something. I'd all but forgotten about my evoker, but the feeling it gave me was always there in the back of my mind." Jackson smiled softly. "In the meantime, we'll keep doing what we are doing. I'm gonna go get something to eat." He said, as he went to the kitchen.
"I'll join you." Sam said, and followed.