Chapter 7

Yu's fingers drummed on the top of his desk while staring down at the screen in his hands. The red eye app in the center mocked his ignorance with its pulsating red waves washing over his phone. He had another 'dream' with that self-proclaimed Igor. Just as expected, the strange man remained enigmatic but insists on giving off an air of omniscience. It made him look as if he were the mastermind behind everything. Even Yu's own unusual disappearance.

In spite of that, the 'Igor' did allude to one thing that proved useful at least. He asked if 'Ren' had found the Metaverse Navigator app useful. At first Yu thought the guy was mumbling nonsense, but in hindsight there was nothing that fit those words more than this red, evil eye looking thing. So, this is how he got into the other world, the 'Metaverse.' That term was more suitable than 'the other world' as his friends and he came to call it.

Now that he knows what caused him to go into the Metaverse it was about time he took this navigator for a spin. No sense running around blindly after all, he needed to figure things out before they inevitably went insane. However, he didn't want to go tapping it in the middle of class. He might accidently open up some portal to the castle. He doesn't know if that means he'll suddenly disappear or take everyone in class on a dark field trip. There was no way he was not going to be expelled by the end of the day if either happened.

He was going to have to take it elsewhere, somewhere remote where no eyes could watch. Where that would be? China sounds nice this time of year. Realistically though, Leblanc seemed to be the best bet, but getting in trouble with Sojiro was about as bad as getting in trouble with the principle. He doubted his caretaker would give him much leniency, especially after the scolding he got from him last night about 'missing half a day of school.'

The conundrum of the day. The best place, in all honesty, was the school alleyway where he first jumped in. He'd just have to wait till most of the students were gone by the school bell.

"Ren Amamiya! Pay attention in class!"

Yu jumped at the stern bellowing, looking up toward the teacher. A streak of white thwacked into his forehead, stinging like an angry hornet on a killing spree. Yu patted his temple, eyeing the front of the class where the social studies teacher lowered his throwing arm. The teen looked down to the floor to spot the chalk bullet rolling around on the floor. Interesting choice of weapon.

The rest of the class was giggling at his expense, taking more pleasure at his pain than the act.

The teacher spoke over the bustling noise. "Since you feel so entitled to daydream, why don't you tell all of us. The Greek philosopher Plato divided the human soul into three parts. A soul is composed of appetite, spirit, and what else?"

Without skipping a beat Yu shrugged. "Logic."

The teacher paused, "Correct. So, you knew that, huh? Plato's teacher, Socrates, said that evil is born from ignorance. People who've been babied, taught that evil is due to individuality, can only become society's scum."

The class began to whisper and murmur, each student surprised by the 'delinquent's' unexpected knowledge. Yu could even hear some of the students wondering if he really was a delinquent.

That question did seem oddly themed toward Ren though. Yu dropped his hand from nursing the wound and sighed. This might have been an attempt to subtly imply he was scum for being 'too ignorant to answer the question.' Luckily the class curriculum wasn't deviating from what he studied in Inaba. Looks like he could skate by this year so long he played his cards right.

Stepping out onto the street, Yu trekked toward the alley, but a voice stopped him. "Yo."

He nearly tripped over his fumbling feet. Already is plans were foiled. He turned to spot Ryuji who strolled up to him. Yu blinked, "Ambushing me?"

"C'mon, don't say that. I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday."

Yu silently cursed under his breath, why couldn't the guy continue dismissing it as a dream? But he did seem like the stubborn type.

"I tried tellin' myself it was all just a dream… but I couldn't do it. I can't act like nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna know what's up with that place, no matter what. And y'know, you're the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?"

Yu bit his lip. "I'm not sure."

"C'mon. It'll be quick, I promise. If we can retrace our steps from yesterday, we'd be bound to find that castle. Somethin' that huge can't just hide from everyone. You're walkin' to the station, right? Let's go together."

Yu sighed. Scratching the side of his head. He already knew how this was going to end, but... it would be a good experiment. There was no harm in accepting the offer and he would develop some bond with the guy. There really wasn't a solid reason to say no.

"Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way."

Apparently, the guy wasn't going to take a no anyway.

The blond boy began marching off toward the station and Yu stepped on after him. Least this was going to be interesting.

They stopped at the street where they first met, Ryuji nodding to himself as he faced Yu. "If a huge castle like that really exists, I'm sure we'll find it in no time."

"Uh-huh."

"Why do you gotta be like that? I'm sure we'll find it."

"Alright. I'm right behind you. Let me know if you spot it."

"We're both looking, smartass." Ryuji looked back and forth on the busy sidewalk. "We walked that way from here, right?"

"…Maybe." Actually, Yu wasn't too sure. The events IN the castle kind of outweighed the events prior.

"When you put it that way, I'm not so sure anymore… Alright, this way." He didn't seem deterred. "Lemme know if you notice something."

It's alright if he just pretends, right? They weren't magically getting in by walking down the street. Yu does feel a little bad keeping the navigator from Ryuji, but he didn't want to needlessly endanger him. Not to mention, Yu would be at a critical disadvantage if he had to protect himself and a second member, and he still didn't know the extent his persona has deteriorated.

Regardless, Yu followed his new friend diligently down the alley toward the school.

In no time, they were in front of Shujin. Yu just looked at the building with mild indifference, but Ryuji was more perturbed, "Huh? We're at school. There wasn't anything out of place along the way, right? I didn't see no castle either."

Yu shook his head. Still, he found himself looking around anyway. There was nothing better to do.

"Gah. We must've made a wrong turn somewhere. Let's try again."

Man this guy was persistent. Odd enough, this was a god send. If this lasted long enough, he could use the app and get in without being suspicious. Otherwise, he would just be standing in the alley creeping out everyone as he watched them from the shadows.

A few minutes latter they were back in front of the school, again. No castle, again. Yu stepped up to the gate and leaned back against the gate wall, looking at the confused Ryuji as he dropped his head, "For real? Is it smaller than we think it is?" He stepped up and leaned next to Yu.

Yu scooted further away, shrugging at the question. "Maybe. But it looked pretty big the other day."

"Yeah, right?!" Ryuji shook his head. "I even looked it up, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Hey, that reminds me-." He almost dove at Yu. "Didn't you have a navigation app thingy on, back then?"

Damn it.

Ryuji stepped away from the gate kicking the ground. "I dunno if it was or not, but I heard stuff that sounded like one comin' from your phone. Y'know, didn't it say stuff like 'returned to the real world' or something like that? Lemme see your phone for a bit."

Heaving a sigh, Yu pulled out his smart phone and handed it over. Whelp, looks like they were both going into the Metaverse, and him without his boxed lunch for two. But, he didn't have the heart to tell this guy no. Or to admit he was trying to keep him away from the castle. He would be too much of a hypercritic if he outright did.

Ryuji tapped the phone's screen. "What's this eyeball-lookin' thing?"

"Cute, right?"

"That's not how I'd describe it." He played with the phone some more. "What a weird app."

There was a bit of envy tingling in Yu's gut. He wanted to be the first to open the app in all honesty. Ligitly. The whole castle thing didn't count.

"Oh wait, this is it!" Ryuji bobbed on his toes, revealing the screen to Yu. "I knew it- it IS a navigation app! There's even your search history!"

"You went through my phone's search history?"

"Knock it off! You know what I meant!" Despite that outburst, Ryuji looked all the more excited. "Let's try usin' it."

Ren grabbed the back of his neck and twisted his head side to side. He wasn't sure what to expect or how this would feel. Probably less painful than crashing onto the floor from a TV, but that's premature speculation. Who knows. Maybe he'll appear over the moat and fall in. His luck was headed that way these days.

A female voice spoke over Yu's phone. "Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Castle… Beginning navigation."

"There we go!" Ryuji pumped his fist in victory.

"You ready?"

"Huh? For what? …Huh!?" The world around them began to twist and turn, distorting before the very eyes. "What the hell!?"

The school before them began morphing and growing. The once smooth and straight surface bulged. Rounding out, with towers poking out from its top. The castle manifesting before them.

"The castle from yesterday!" Ryuji stared up at it in awe. Then he spun around. "Wait a minute! You knew this was gonna hap- whoa your clothes!"

Yu looked down at himself, then quickly searched over the costume that had immediately fastened itself to him. Looks like he was right, he costume was linked to his persona. He tugged on the coat's collar, smiling at Ryuji. "Jealous?"

"I-I ain't jealous." The blond teen rigorously shook his head. "That's not the point! You knew this app would take us here!"

Yu massaged his neck. He did kinda give that away. He only wanted to prepare Ryuji in case of negative side effects. It wasn't thrilling the first time he was in the Metaverse. Not even the second time. The fog may not be here, but the effects may still arise. Hell, he still doesn't know what affliction almost killed Nanko when she was stuck in here. It was like some plague hit her, the hospital doctors were helpless to save her.
The only saving grace was somehow Teddie did 'something' that brought the young girl from death.

"Why didn't you tell me, man!" Ryuji stomped his foot.

Yu raised his hands. "I know. I'm sorry, it's just… remember yesterday? Those shadows."

"The what?!"

"Those monsters I fought. I was going to come back here, but I didn't want you to just go running into danger. I don't know if I can protect you. My power isn't… really that strong. One on one I may be fine, but with you I have to consider what they might do to you. I don't want you getting hurt."

Ryuji stepped back, the anger in his eyes abating. "I get it. But man, C'mon. I wanna help those guys just as much as you. Who knows what that bastard is doin' to them. I ain't standing around waitin'. I have to do somethin'."

Chie.

Yu's eyes fell. His old friend would have said the same thing. She would do anything to save someone in danger. She even talked about becoming a police officer, all because she wanted to protect everyone. She wanted to protect Yu. How did she feel, hearing that he had disappeared? She must have felt awful, even blamed herself for it somehow. Thinking that she should have done better to protect her friend. If only he could console her now. None of this was her fault.

Shaking off the thoughts, Yu nodded. "I can't blame you. When we reach them, let me ask the questions. We need to know how Kamoshida gets them here without anyone noticing. It'll be easier to shut down his operation if we can figure out how it works."

Ryuji grinned, casting Yu a thumbs up. "Got it, partner."

Yosuke… He used to call Yu partner.

Yu shook it off again and massaged the back of his neck. He didn't have time for the nostalgic uproar. The two teens nodded to each other and rushed up the draw bridge. Reaching the open courtyard, they both looked up at the towering palace.

Ryuji casted a sideways glance to Yu. "Hey, uh… do you know what's with that outfit. It's still buggin' me."

Yu looked down at it, tugging on his gloves for a tighter fit. "Not really sure… I think it's related to my persona. It only ever comes out when I'm wearing this."

"That doesn't really answer my question."

"I think the cat would know better than me."

"Not! A cat!" The two jumped and faced the side of the castle, Morgana was peering behind the pillar at them. "Now stop making a commotion."

"You?" Ryuji relaxed slightly.

"The shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be… To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."

"What is this place?... Is it the school?"

"That's right."

"But it's a castle!"

"This castle IS the school… But only to this castle's ruler."

Yu scrunched up his face, trying to wrap his head around the explanation. Was the Metaverse here acting differently from the way he remembered it? Piecing everything together, when someone got thrown into the television their desires would manifest some sort of world around them. It all centered on what they perceived their world to be like or what they wanted it to be. Based on that, Morgana was saying… Kamoshida views Shujin Academy as his castle and he the king. That made sense. Thankfully it still followed the rules he was aware of. Now he just needed to figure out how the shadow existed in this world when the real person was in the real world. That was the only contradiction he could see.

"The castle's ruler?" Ryuji didn't seem to make sense of it. He had no means to, no one could blame him.

Morgana planted his hands on his hips "I think you called him Kamoshida? It's how his distorted heart views the school."

Yes, Yu's still in the game.

"Kamoshida…" Ryuji's face looked like it was trying to solve a math equation. "Distorted?... Explain it in a way that makes sense!"

"Kamoshida feels that he is the king of Shujin. That means the school is a castle to him. Think of this place like we're inside his mind and this is how he sees the school." Yu translated.

Ryuji turned to Yu, eyes filled with revelation. "Oh… so we're inside his head? This is totally messed up!"

Morgana smiled toward Yu. "At least you get it. I shouldn't have expected a moron to."

Ryuji stomped his foot. "What'd you say?!"

Screaming echoed in their ears, bellowing from within the depths of the stronghold to curdle their blood.

Ryuji looked around, "What was that?!"

Morgana shook his head. "It must be the slaves captive here."

"For real?" More screaming continued and Ryuji gritted his teeth. "Oh, shit… It's for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school."

Morgana crossed his arms, nodding. "Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here."

Jeez, how long has he been here? Yu looked the 'non-cat' over with a new sense of respect.

Morgana continued, "What's more, you two escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"That son of a bitch!"

"Ryuji?" Morgana blinked up at the teen.

"This is bullshit!" The blond teen rushed the door and rammed his shoulder against the frame, quivering its sturdy form. "You hear me, Kamoshida!?"

If nothing else proved it, this right here went to show how similar Ryuji was to Chie. It felt… nice having someone like that around again. Even if the circumstances were not ideal.

Morgana seemed less appreciative. "Doing that isn't going to open it, you know. Still, it seems you have your reasons."

Turning around Ryuji looked to Morgana. "Hey, Monamona!"

The cat narrowed his eyes. "It's Morgana!"

"Do you know where those voices are comin' from?"

"You want me to take you to them?... Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if he comes with us."

Yu blinked, the cat was looking at him. "Uh, sure. I was heading in."

Morgana jump up, waving his arms with a smile. "It's settled then!"

"For real?" Ryuji turned to Yu. "Thanks, man."

Yu shrugged. Was everyone assuming he was just going to watch? Did he give off that sort of air now?

Rushing back from where he came, Morgana waved them over. "All right, let's do this. Follow me!"

The shadow exploded, screaming before it vanished from sight. Yu took a close look at the toy gun in his hand, a face of disbelief written over his face. "This seriously worked?"

"Told you." Morgana puffed out his chest. "We're in a cognitive world. As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic-looking."

Ryuji tilted his head, "… I don't get it. I gave him a toy."

"I wasn't expecting someone with your brains to understand. How about you, Frizzy Hair? Did you get what I said?"

"Can't believe I wasted so much time getting real swords and guns."

"What?" Morgana's face dropped.

"Nothing."

"Hey." Ryuji walked up to a door. A banner was strung over it. "Kamoshida's Training Hall… of Love…? What kinda bullshit is this?!"

Grunting, Yu shoved the gun into his coat, strolling over to the door and shoving it open. "At least it's not a bathhouse."

"Dude! Don't go pushin' images in my head!... Dammit, now I can't get it outta my head!"

"Sorry." He should have known better. He'd never want to scar his worst enemy with that traumatizing sight. He would know. Oh! He would know.

As the two strolled in, their little tour guide hissed, "Will you two be quite! We don't know what's beyond here."

They all found themselves before some bars, staring down at the… volleyball court. It looked normal, except the volleyball players were leaning against the net with shadows thrusting spears into their butts. Yu looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think we know now."

Ryuji stomped his foot, eyes a complete inferno. "Dammit! This is bullshit!"

Morgana sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?"

"But this is beyond messed up! How do I open this…?" The teen walked to the gate and began fiddling with it.

A panicked, pained voice cut them off. "Stop it!" One of the boys limped up to them, covered in bandages like an Egyptian mummy. "Leave us alone… It's useless…"

"Huh?" Ryuji stepped back.

Another volleyball boy walked up to the bars. "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys!"

Grabbing the bars, Ryuji pulled himself closer. "You're tellin' me you wanna stay in a place like this?!"

"Ryuji!" Yu stepped up.

"Right, sorry." The blond boy stepped back.

Morgana's looked between the two he brought in here, eyes narrowing. "Wait a minute… were you guys planning on taking these guys out of here?"

Tingling prickled the back of Yu's neck. He didn't like the way Morgana said that. "I didn't think we could. Rather, I was going to ask how they got in here."

The cat planted a paw on his head. "I thought you had this place figured out. These are only humans in Kamoshida's cognition. You know… like how his 'mind' sees them. He probably has one of you two, as well."

Yu blinked, looked back at the two boys, then back at Morgana… then back at the boys. "Oh. That… makes more sense." He couldn't hide the blush burning up his face.

"How would this Kamoshida even get these guys in here? It's not like the real one comes to visit."

"I mean… he could've used a TV."

Ryuji gawked at his partner. "That doesn't even make any sense!" Growling, Ryuji turned to Morgana. "So, does this mean we're not savin' them?!"

"There would be no point. The real ones aren't here. Just… consider them like extremely similar-looking dolls."

"The hell!? Why's it gotta be so complicated!?"

This was throwing Yu for a loop, too. Back in Inaba, he's never seen anything like the 'extremely similar-looking dolls.' It's only ever been shadows or humans. The closest thing he came across were the voices echoing throughout the… palace as Morgana insists on calling them. So, maybe this was all a step above those voices… but that would imply the Metavverse built this up. How long has this been active? The Investigation Team shut down what was causing the Metaverse to go haywire in the first place. Has something taken its place?

"So, the school's a castle, and the students are slaves… It's so on point it makes me laugh." Ryuji's bitter voice rumbled through his teeth. "This really is the inside of that asshole's head!"

Morgana flinched at the sight bellow them. "Still, this is horrible. It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too."

"In the real world too?" Ryuji repeated, eyes lighting up as he slowly studied the room. "Wait, I know these guys! They're members of the volleyball team- the one Kamoshida coaches for!"

"They must be physically abused every day… There's no way they'd be so beat up normally."

"Don't tell me… They're going through similar shit in reality!?"

Yu swallowed. In all honesty, he just wanted to leave now. He's seen dark things: a twisted murderer bragging about how fun killing people was, one shadow trying to tie down its real counterpart to gender swap them, and another shadow who tried burning their real live person alive. Despite all that, he's never seen abuse. The insinuations were all he needed to know. One would expect that solving a murder case would strengthen one's guts, but it seems there were deplorable things beyond corpses. How does his uncle handle it… how does Naoto? She was more sensitive than she would like anyone to know, something like this would have to scar her. Made him want to check on her.

He turned away from the scene, looking toward the door. "M-maybe we should go. We shouldn't get caught."

"Hold on. There's been rumors about Kamoshida usin' physical punishment. If they're true, wouldn't this be somethin' to report to the police?"

Yu scratched his head. "Only if we can prove it. I doubt they'd want to talk about it. Their desire for things to change would need to outweigh their fears."

"Well, we gotta try!" Ryuji pulled out his phone, aiming it toward the scene. "Huh… It's not workin'? We can use the navigation app, but a camera is a no go?"

Yu pulled out his phone, opening up the camera… or trying to. It was more like tapping the screen like playing flappy bird. Strange. He never tried taking pictures in this world before. This is actually curious. What if he brought an actual camera?

Morgana looked puzzled. "A navigation app?"

"That's what we used to come here. What about your's?" Ryuji turned to Yu.

Yu shook his head, not bothering to look up from his screen. He was trying to pull up the internet. What would work here?

"What happened to 'we should go?'"

Yu lifted a finger, scrolling through the list of apps. "What about music?"

With a huff, the 'non-cat' waved his arms at the two. "If we just stand around like this, we're gonna get caught! We need to head back!"

Groaning like a child being dragged from the toy store. Fine, experimentation later. Escape now. Yu pocketed his phone and spun on his heels to the door.

"Hang on a sec." The blond teen walked up to the bars, peering into the room again. "There's no other way… I'll just memorize their faces before goin' home!"

Not a bad idea. Yu stepped up beside him and began memorizing the faces alongside him. He was already in this, might as well go all the way.

Post note: For those wondering about the weapons in Persona 4. I understand Yosuke showed fake weapons to Yu before they were taken away by police, but it doesn't make sense for the team to go to a professional blacksmith for fake weapons. Nor why the protagonist brings rare materials for said blacksmith to use for fake weapons. The game doesn't even mention the whole cognitive trick regarding Naoto's guns on the shadows, so it stands to reason it was real. So, I'm falling on the logic they used real swords and weaponry to fight. Their blacksmith was just far too lax for his position and profession.