& The Battle For Everyone's Souls: The Awakening
The Battle For Everyone's Souls: The Awakening
Anonymous, Riverside, CA
Image Credit:
Kelly K., Fort Collins, CO
The cities below, with their lights on, look like stars from the night sky. It is as if the cities and the night sky switched places. The lights come in different sizes, from big to small, and how bright they were, from bright to dull. A female flight attendant appears out of the smooth blue curtains. She reaches out her arm to grab the microphone.
&Excuse me for the interruption passengers, we will be landing soon at the Ontario International Airport. Please remain seated until further notice. Good night everyone.&
She gives a cheerful smile.
A tall, light-skinned teen with smooth, wavy black hair and ocean-blue eyes wearing a grey hooded flannel shirt with tan pants and Converse shoes gets up from his chair to get his bag and his big luggage. The expensive, grey bag looks like it was just bought yesterday. He sits back down with a tired look on his face. He looks out the window where he was sitting.
&What the...?& he said surprised in his deep, tired voice.
A blue glowing butterfly flies slowly next to the window. The teen felt lightheaded. He forces himself to stay awake so he doesn&t get off late.
&It wouldn&t hurt to close them for a little while,& he said softly as he began to yawn.
He decides to close his eyes. When he opens them, he finds himself in a blue room with machines on the wall beeping, a scanner hanging like a monkey on the wall across from him, and a long white table with a giant blue V in the center. The table looks like the ones typically seen at superhero headquarters in movies. On closer inspection, the whole room seems to be designed as a superhero headquarters.
&Ah,& an old voice said calmly, &what an intriguing guest we have here with us today.&
The teen almost jumps off his chair when the voice came out of nowhere. He looks at the end of the long white table, seeing an old man sitting, staring at him. He has a big grin on his face. Sitting next to him from the right side of the table from the teen&s perspective is a well dressed young man, waiting patiently for his chance to speak.
&Do not be alarmed,& said the old man trying to soothe the teen, &you are asleep in your world. We have been expecting you. Indeed we have.&
The teen looks closely to see the old man.
The teen was astonished by the old man&s appearance. He was a bizarre-looking man. He has dark black wrinkles around his bulging eyes as if he is wearing black makeup, a long nose (as long as two index fingers back-to-back), and a bald head with long grey hair hanging from the sides and back of his head. He was hunchback like Igor characters from horror movies. Although he looks like an Igor, he sure wasn&t dressed like one. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white button shirt underneath and wore a black pair of pants with black shoes that you wear to a fancy party.
&Welcome to the Velvet Room,& the bizarre old man said calmly in those exact words.
&My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance.&
The teen breaks a small smile from his terrified face when he realises that the old man&s name was in fact Igor.
&This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter,& explained Igor, &only those who have fulfilled a contract in some manner may enter here. It has been quite a while since we last welcomed a guest.&
I wonder how long it&s been since Igor had his guest?
&You remind me of a young man who had entered this place as a guest. He had an interesting fate. You seem to be destined for the same fate, but I assure you that IT WILL CHANGE.&
Same fate? What kind of fate did that young man have?
&By the look on your face it appears you are wondering the fate my guest was destined for,& said Igor, interested by the teen&s curiosity.
&That young man has found his meaning to life,& explained Igor, &but I&ll just leave it at that.&
What is he hiding from me?
&Ah! I have neglected introducing my assistant to you,& realized Igor.
Igor lifts his left palm, wearing his white gloves, towards his assistant to introduce him.
&This is Snowy. Like me, he is a resident of this place.&
The young man stares at the teen happily as if he met him before in reality.
&Hello,& said the young man cheerfully, &O ai dekite yorokonde. Encantado. They both mean delighted to meet you in Japanese and Spanish.&
The teen looks closely at Snowy like he did with Igor.
Snowy was dressed in a tuxedo like Igor, but mostly in blue. He wore white gloves as white as the snow and the same black pants and shoes like Igor. He has the same colored eyes as the teen. He has a messy hairstyle with realistic cat ears poking out of his hair.
Those cat ears& they look real.
&Please take this,& Igor said politely.
The space directly in front of the teen started to shine like the sun. A gold key drops slowly like a feather in front of him. The teen notices that the key has black and white markings that look like the shape of a human face surrounded by spike like designs. The teen, confused, reaches for the key.
&Allow me to explain,& said Snowy, &this is the Contractor&s Key. It signifies that you are a guest. Please take good care of it.&
&It seems time has passed by in your world,& Igor interrupted, &Until we meet again...&
&Adios or Say?nara,& said Snowy, giving his goodbyes.
The room then slowly fades away, leaving the teen alone in a pitch black room. There was nothing there in the room. Nothing but the sound of falling droplets. Drip. Drip.
Where& am I? This place& seems familiar.
&You&re late,& a kid&s voice mysteriously called out from the left.
The teen looks from his left, frightened. No one was there.
&Over here,& the voice said from the right.
He looks from his right. Again, no one was there.
&Just kidding,& the voice joked, & I&m right in front of you.&
The teen looks in front of him. In front of him was a small mysterious boy in white and black striped clothing like the ones for crooks. The boy has short black hair and grey colored eyes. He wasn&t wearing any shoes at all.
&Hi,& the boy said cheerfully.
&Hello,& the teen said confused, &where am I?&
The boy looks around the darkness surrounding them.
&This is your conscious I believe,& the boy answered, &it feels like home.&
The teen with a confused look on his face looks at the boy, thinking about what he just told him.
My conscious? When was there a boy in my conscious? What did he mean by &it feels like home&?&
&So you&re on your way to Riverside, huh?& the boy questioned curiously.
&Yeah,& the teen answered.
&So you are the one from that day,& said the boy, &I&ve been waiting for you.&
&Waiting for me&? Did we crossed paths before?
&No one can escape time itself you know,& the boy said with a smile.
What does he mean by that?
&No one can plug their ears and cover their eyes from it.&
The boy lifts his left arm up towards him. Then the darkness clouds around the boy.
&W-wait,& yelled the teen.
&So it begins,& the boy whispered.
The teen got up from his chair and yawns. He faints as he tries to reach out for the boy&s hand, falling down into the darkness below. It&s pitch black.
Chapter 2: A New Life
&Excused me sir?& a faint voice called out.
The teen opens his eyes from his slumber. He looks around himself, finding himself in the plane. His eyes widen. He jumps off his seat.
&Oh! I&m sorry,& the teen apologized.
&It&s alright,& the flight attendant said calmly, &everyone does that from time to time. We have arrived to the Ontario International Airport just so you know.&
The teen grabs his belongings and walks down the aisle. He stops at the exit and turns around.
&Excuse me sir?& the teen called out.
&Yes sir?& the flight attendant responded.
&What time is it?& the teen asked.
&It is midnight, August 9th,& answered the attendant.
Oh shoot! I&ve slept too long.
&Thank you,& thanked the teen.
The teen runs out the exit. Once he exits the plane, he enters the lobby. Everywhere he look, there was different people of different races. There wasn&t that many people around though since it&s late.
&Jun!& a feminine voice yelled out from the left.
The teen turns to the name. From the left, there stood a female adult dressed in a grey detective suit with a white button shirt underneath, black pants, and black shoes. She has long brown hair and her eyes was as green as the grass. The woman walks up to him.
&What took you so long?& the lady asked.
&I dozed off a bit,& Jun replied remorsefully.
&Well I&m glad you&re alright,& the lady said with relief, &we should get going then.&
She helps Jun with the luggage and both of them walks down the lobby.
&You probably don&t remember me,& said the lady, &but I&m your father&s sister. The name&s Katie Li. I&ll be taking care of you.&
&Alright,& Jun said with a long face.
&Oh, my bad,& Aunt Katie realized, &you still have that memory on what happened to your parents when you last visit me. I&m sorry that happen to them. That must&ve dramatise you.&
&Yeah&,& Jun agreed with despair.
That was the worst thing that happened to me. The day my parents risked their lives saving the orphans from the burning building. I don&t blame them, but I wished that never happened to them. The building exploded when they went back in to see if there was any more orphans still trapped in the building. I wasn&t the same after that event. I didn&t socialized with anyone. I became an orphan. If only I was able to save them, bring them back to my life.
They walk out the lobby without saying another word to each other and continue that way to a grey Nissan car. Aunt Katie puts Jun&s luggage in the trunk and goes up to the driver&s seat. Jun sits down in the front passenger seat. The seats was made of leather and was smooth. Aunt Katie drives out the parking lot and takes the freeway. Both of them was quiet on the way to the house. The radio was playing The Rain by Joe Hisaishi.
&So you&re going to be in high school now right?& Aunt Katie questioned.
&Yes I am,& Jun answered politely.
&You don&t need to be polite,& Aunt Katie told him, &we&re family.&
&Alright,& Jun said surprised.
&Tomorrow morning we&re going to the high school near us,& she said.
&Alright,& Jun said calmly.
&I&ll be working most of the time so you&ll need to walk to school and back home,& Aunt Katie instructed, &try to make friends to so you don&t walk home alone.&
&Why is that?& Jun asked her.
&Lately there has been a lot of crime so I don&t want anything to happen to you,& she worried.
&I&ll be careful,& Jun promised.
&You&re different from the other teens,& she smiled.
&That makes me special then,& Jun joked.
&Yeah, that makes special then,& she chuckled.
&Most of the teens here has been quite the troublemakers,& Aunt Katie told Jun, &so I&m glad you&re different from them. Just don&t start acting like them.&
&Don&t worry, I won&t,& he promised again.
&Well, we&re here,& Aunt Katie said cheerfully.
They both got out the car. Jun looks at the house. The house was painted brown with a red rooftop. The windows was crystal clear, the door was freshly carved, and the fences was redone with a new paint smell. In fact, the whole house was redone.
&This is where we&ll be staying,& Aunt Katie told him, grabbing his luggage out of the trunk.
&This is a nice house,& Jun complimented.
&Thanks,& she thanked him handing Jun his luggage, &why don&t you go unpack your stuff in your room. Your room is on the right side, down the left of that hall when you walk up the stairs.&
&Alright,& Jun said walking towards the house.
&Here&s the key,& she told him tossing the key to him.
Jun stops to catch the key. Jun catches the key and continues walking towards the house. He unlocks the door and opens it.
&What happened in here?& Jun questioned in surprise.
&Oh yeah,& Aunt Katie realized, &the house is a mess only at the living room. I&ll clean it up. Just go to your room. You don&t need to help me.&
&You sure?& Jun said offering the help.
&Yeah I&m sure,& she said.
&Alright then,& Jun said.
Jun enters the house. The living room was covered in fast food wrappers and grocery bags. They were all over the floor, the couch, and the coffee table. Jun picks up a few trash on the way in and throws them in the trash in the kitchen. He walks back to the living room to walk up the stairs. He walks up the stairs, turns right and then left. He opens his door, finding himself in an empty room. The walls was painted white. The carpet felt soft. There was a bed on the top right side of the room that was next to a crystal clear window. Jun unpacks his belongings, hangs some of his clothings in the closet, walks up to the bed, and lays down on it.
&So you&re finally here,& a familiar voice said.
Jun gets up from his bed frighten.
&There&s no need to be frighten,& the voice told Jun, &it&s just me.&
The same boy from the dark room was standing in the middle of the room.
&Don&t scare me like that,& Jun told him trying to calm himself down.
&I&m sorry about that,& the boy apologized.
&Wait a minute,& Jun realized, &I thought you disappeared from the darkness.&
&I only left you so you could wake up,& the boy admitted.
&How come the room didn&t turn black?& he asked the boy.
&I&ve entered the reality you called home,& the boy answered, &don&t worry about me. Only you can see me. In a day, a miracle is going to happen.&
A miracle? What kind of miracle is he talking about? Where is this going to occur?
&I&m just curious,& Jun wondered, &where is this miracle going to happen?&
&That is for you to find out,& the boy answered looking away from him, &well I must be going then.&
&Wait,& Jun yelled, &can you tell me your name before you go?&
The boy turns around to look back at him. He smiles at him.
&My name is Erebus,& the boy answered, &it&s nice to meet Jun.&
&It&s nice to meet you too, Erebus,& Jun replied.
The boy slowly fades from the room. Jun lays back down on his bed. Jun gives a concern look.
Erebus, huh. He couldn&t be the same primordial deity who fathered Thanatos with Nyx from Greek mythology? He doesn&t look like he could do any harm.
He yawns and closes his eyes.
Chapter 3: A New Beginning
August 9th, 11:58am. The birds are singing a wonderful tone. The children in the neighborhood are playing together. The sun shines into Jun&s room.
&Morning already,& Jun yawned.
He gets up from his bed and changes into a multicolor flannel shirt in blue, dark blue, white, and grey, blue jeans, and his Converse shoes. He walks out of his room and down the stairs.
&Morning,& said Aunt Katie, &I need to go to work. You know how detectives are, right?&
&Yeah,& Jun answered.
&I was planning to take you to the school near us but I guess I&ll take you tomorrow,& she said.
&I&ll just walk over there to check out the school,& Jun told Aunt Katie.
&If you are then please be careful,& she told him.
&I will,& Jun promised.
&Well breakfast is on the table,& Aunt Katie told him, &I&m off to work then.&
She walks out the house and gets into her car. She drives out the driveway and left the house. Jun goes to the table and sits down at the table. On the table, there was a plate with pancakes, a sausage, and eggs. Next to it was a glass of milk.
&Looks good,& said Jun.
He eats the food and walks toward the door. He grabs the keys for the door and exits the house, locking the door behind him.
&Hey,& a feminine voice called out from the right.
Jun turns around to the call. There was a girl standing down the street waving her hand in the air. She was dressed in a white shirt with a blood red heart stitched, crimson pants, and black boots. Her hair was smooth, soft, wavy, and long in a blonde color. She walks up to Jun.
&You new around here right?& she asked him.
&Yeah,& Jun answered.
&Well, my name is Rei,& said the girl.
&My name is Jun,& said Jun, &it&s nice to meet.&
&Same here,& Rei smiled, &so where are you off to?&
&I&m actually going to check out the school I&m going to,& Jun answered.
&Really?& said Rei convinced, &why don&t I come with? I&m going to the school near us this year.&
&Sure,& said Jun accepting Rei&s offer.
&Come on, I&ll show you the way,& she instructed.
Rei walks down the the neighborhood going towards the street. Jun follows.
&We turn left and continue straight down this street,& she instructed.
Rei continues down the street.
&Here&s the school,& said Rei.
The school was painted red, white, and a tan color. There was multiple buildings of different sizes, from big to small, wide to short. One of the buildings has a warrior painted next to words that say &Patriot High School, Home of the Warriors&. There is a big parking lot for the students who have already learn to drive and teachers. The grass field was also huge, but is bigger than two of the parking lots. One of the grass fields has white paint on the ground with yellow posts on both ends of the field. The other has dirt making the shape of the Wifi symbol with white bases covered in dirt. There was also a track field.
&This is awfully big,& Jun said with excitement.
&I know right,& Rei agreed with a smile, &I can&t wait to go back to school tomorrow. This is going to be my first year here.&
&That&s funny,& Jun smiled, &it&s going to be my first year here too.&
&Great,& she smiled back, &I guess I&ll be seeing you in some of my classes then.&
&Right, same here,& Jun said cheerfully.
&Do you have your schedule?& she asked Jun.
&No, I don&t,& Jun answered calmly.
&Well I&ll take you to the office to get you registered then,& Rei smiled.
&Thanks,& thanked Jun.
&We&ll need to walk this way to the school office,& she told him, pointing down the street.
Rei walks down the same street, leading Jun to the school office. Rei takes a turn to the right and continues walking. Jun follows her. They take another turn to the right. They come upon a building in white paint with glass doors. Jun opens the door for Rei.
&After you,& Jun insisted.
&Why you&re quite the gentlemen aren&t you,& she smiled, &normally the guys here are rude slobs.&
Rei walks into the building with Jun entering behind her. The inside of the office was a small area for visitors, a bigger space from the right with people working on the computers, a hall that leads to another room of the office, and stairs that lead to the upper part of the office as well.
&Hi,& a lady greeted them, &can I help you two?&
&Yes,& Rei respond, &this is a new student and he wasn&t here to register for this school. Can we get him register?&
&Certainly,& said the lady.
She walks to the bigger room. She opens the office drawers, taking out a packet from the inside. She walks back with the packet in her hand.
&Here you go,& said the lady giving the packet to Jun, &make sure you get the classes necessary for your school year. Can you show him around the school?&
&Sure I will,& Rei told the lady.
Rei opens the door and exits. Jun follows her. Rei walks towards the gate and enters. Jun enters to see a big empty space in the center of the class buildings scattered from each other. There was patches of grass that surrounds the sweet scented, pink cherry blossom trees.
&I&ll show which class buildings are which,& Rei told him.
She explains what which building was which and shows him where something was at. Jun writes down on his packet to get himself register for school on the way. Time flows on. Rei walks back to the gate with Jun.
&Well that&s everything,& said Rei.
&Thanks for showing me around,& thanked Jun.
&No problem,& said Rei, &I guess I&ll be seeing you tomorrow. I have to go back to my house.&
&Alright,& said Jun, &I&ll see you tomorrow.&
Rei exits out the school gate. She&s out of Jun&s sight. Jun walks back to the school office. He opens the glass door and enters.
&Hello again,& the lady greeted, &you&re here to drop off your packet, right?&
&Yes I am,& Jun answered, &here you go.&
Jun hands over the packet. The lady grabs the packet and looks through it thoroughly. She goes to the big part of the office and opens a drawer.
&What size are you?& she asked him.
&Large for tops and thirty by thirty-two,& Jun respond, confused with the question.
The lady closes the open drawer and looks for the drawer with those sizes. She opens another drawer and grabs a set of red, grey, and black PE clothes and black uniform clothes. She walks back to him and hands over the clothing.
&Alright,& said the lady, &you&ll get your schedule tomorrow in the morning when school starts.&
&Thank you,& thanked Jun.
Jun exits out the glass door. It&s night out.
I better head back now. I don&t want to break Aunt Katie&s rule on walking by myself.
Jun runs off of the school grounds, heading back to his house. He takes the turns where Rei showed him to get to school. Jun continues to run back to his house. He reaches to the front of the house, walks up the front lawn, and unlocks the door. Jun enters the house, locks the door behind him, and walks straight up the stairs to his room.
&I made it,& Jun said relieved.
With a tired look on his face, he lays down on his bed and yawns. He closes his eyes. Jun opens his eyes, finding himself in the same blue room. He was sitting in the same seat when he last entered the room.
&Welcome back,& Snowy greeted.
Jun looks forward to see Igor, still grinning, and Snowy in the same seats.
&We&ve called you here to warn you of the near future,& warned Igor.
Are they warning me of the same thing that Erebus called a miracle?
&Snowy will tell you where exactly where this event will happen,& Igor told him.
&This event will happen to a place where you go to every day of the week,& Snowy hinted.
A place where I go to every day of the week? They couldn&t mean the school or where I live& would they? Is this a joke or are they serious? I can&t take Igor seriously with his big grin on his face.
&This is all we can tell you,& said Snowy.
&It seems that time has past by in the reality you call home,& Igor told Jun, &until we meet again.&
Chapter 4: First Day of School
August 10th, 6:45am. Jun wakes up from his slumber, terrified, and looks out the window. It&s dawn out. The sky was covered in grey cottons. Jun goes over to his closet and opens it. Inside was his daily uniform clothing hanging on a white pole attached to the walls. He unhangs them and changes into them, adding a white button, hooded flannel shirt to go with the uniform of his taste. He grabs his same bag that he brought from the plane trip as his backpack and walks out of his room. He closes the door behind him, walks down the stairs, and enters the kitchen.
&Morning Jun,& greeted Aunt Katie, &there&s a plate of toasts for you on the table. We better get going then. There&s been a murder somewhere in the neighborhood near your school so I&ll drive you to your school.&
&Oh alright,& Jun said scared.
Jun grabs his toasts and eats them on the way out the house. Aunt Katie locks the door behind them.
&Morning Jun,& a familiar voice called out.
Jun looks in the direction where the voice called out. Rei was waving her hand. She was wearing the school uniform, crimson tights, and the same black boots. She has a red bag hanging on to her from her right shoulder. She walks down the sidewalk towards Jun.
&Ready for school I see,& she said.
&Same with you,& Jun replied back.
&Hello,& Aunt Katie greeted Rei, &Jun who&s your friend?&
&Hello,& Rei greeted, &I&m Rei.&
&It&s nice to meet you Rei,& replied Aunt Katie.
&Jun do you want to walk to school together?& asked Rei.
&Well he has to go with me to school,& Aunt Katie spoke up for Jun, &there was a murder in the neighborhood. The body was found last night in their house.&
&Oh, ok, I understand,& Rei said sadly walking away from them.
&Rei,& yelled Jun.
Rei turns around to look at Jun with a sad face.
&We can go to school together in the car if you want to come,& Jun offered Rei.
Rei&s sad face changes to a cheerful smile. She skips happily towards Jun.
&Thanks for the ride Jun,& she smiled.
&No problem,& said Jun.
Rei and Jun gets into the Nissan from the back and puts on their seat belts. Aunt Katie opens the driver seat and enters the vehicle. She does the same with the seat belt. Aunt Katie starts the engine, backs out the driveway, and drives to the school.
&So Jun, where are you from,& asked Rei.
Jun looks at her sadly. He turns to look out the window. Rei looks at him confused.
&Is there something wrong with what I said,& Rei asked Aunt Katie.
&There&s nothing wrong,& Aunt Katie told Rei with a sad expression, &you didn&t know this so it wasn&t your fault. Jun lives in Kyoto, Japan. When he was just a kid, his parents died risking their lives saving orphans from the building that was burning to the ground. The building exploded randomly when his parents went back in to see if there was any more left trapped in the building. He was there to witness it as well. He&s been through a lot.&
&Oh Jun,& Rei said remorseful, &I didn&t know this happened. You looked so happy when I met you.&
&It&s alright,& Jun told Rei, &I just have this feeling& that something else really happened that day.&
The car stops at the side of a red building near the basketball courts. Aunt Katie switches to the parking setting.
&Well we here,& Aunt Katie said changing the subject, &have a great day in school you two.&
&Alright,& Jun smiled a little bit.
&Thanks for the ride ma&am,& Rei thanked politely.
Aunt Katie switches to the drive setting and drives off to the nearby neighborhood for work. Jun walks towards the school. Rei tries to catch up to him.
&So where are you going,& she asked him.
&I&m going to the office to get my schedule,& he answered.
&I&ll go with you then,& said Rei.
&Thanks for the company,& Jun thanked Rei.
They both walk over to the school office side by side. On the way there, there was many different uniformed students of different races talking to each. Some of them was sitting next to each other, some on their chromebooks, some at the top floor of the class buildings, and etc. Jun opens the glass door, letting Rei go in first.
&Thank you Jun,& thanked Rei walking into the school office.
Jun follows behind her. The office was quiet. On the counter, there was a big white box full of sheets of paper. A door swings open. Someone walks out the door.
&Hello again,& greeted the lady.
It was the same lady from yesterday.
&Hello,& Rei greeted back.
&Good morning,& Jun greeted as well.
&You must be here for your schedule right?& asked the lady.
&Yes,& Jun answered.
The lady walks to the counter where the big box was. She looks through the box looking for Jun&s schedule.
&Ah,& said the lady, &here&s your schedule.&
She takes out a sheet of paper from the box and hands it over to Jun.
&These will be your classes for this year,& the lady told him, &hope you have a great year here.&
&Thank you,& thanked Jun, &bye.&
&Bye,& said Rei giving her farewells.
Jun opens the glass door again for Rei. Rei smiles at him and exits the office. Jun follows. They walk back to the inside of the school.
&So what classes did you get?& asked Rei curiously.
Jun looks over his schedule.
&Period 1: PE with Mr. McGee, Period 2: Intro. to Multimedia with Ms. Yamagishi, Period 3: Honors Geometry Mrs. Ziva, Period 4: Honors Biology with Mrs. Pickett, Period 5: Spanish 1 with Mr. Sandoval, and Period 6: English 9 with Mr. Williams,& Jun told her.
&Hey you have first, third, and fourth period with me,& Rei said with excitement.
&Well I guess I&ll be seeing you in third and fourth then later today,& Jun smiled.
Drrr& Drrr& Rei puts her hand in her tights. She grabs out her phone.
&Oh,& said Rei surprised, &it&s time to get to class then.&
Jun nods. Brrring. Brrring. The school bell rings to let the students know that school is about to start. Jun and Rei walks towards the PE area for school to start. The PE area was filled with students talking to each other.
&Hey look it&s Rei,& yelled one girl in one group of students with a funny tone in her voice.
Rei looks away from the group. Jun notices that she looked away.
&What&s the matter &recluse&,& yelled one guy from the group mocking Rei.
&Hey guys,& greeted Rei trying to act like her cheerful self.
&Hey new kid,& another guy from the group yelled to Jun.
&Me?& Jun looked scared.
&Yeah you,& the guy yelled, &kid, you shouldn&t be hanging out with Rei here.&
Jun looks at Rei. She has a worried look on her face. She looks at Jun scared, as if something is going to happen, like it happened before.
&Why not?& said Jun acting tuff.
&I like your moxie kid,& complimented the guy, &but you see here, Rei here is just another of those annoying smart brats at this school. Nobody likes her, not even the nerds and geeks like her. So why don&t you come join our gang and leave this bi-&
&Jun let&s go over to our class,& Rei interrupted him.
She grabs Jun&s hand and drags him over towards one section of the basketball court of the PE area. Jun looks back at the guy. The guy gives a sorry look at Jun. He moves his mouth to say something quietly. It looks like as if he was saying, &That poor sucker.&
&Hey Rei,& said Jun.
Rei stops and turns around to look at Jun.
&Yes Jun?& Rei said, acting cheerfully.
&Do you know those guys?& Jun asked.
&Yeah,& Rei said sadly, &those were some kids that I knew last year.&
&What did they mean by you being annoying?& Jun asked her.
&Nothing,& said Rei trying to hide something.
&You sure?& Jun questioned Rei.
&Yup,& Rei lied.
There is definitely something that she&s hiding from me. Why doesn&t she tell me? She seems so nice.
&Oh shoot,& one student said surprised, &it&s Mr. McGee.&
Jun and Rei looks at the student. He was facing someone. Jun and Rei looks in the direction the student was looking at. There was a tall, muscular man in a grey shirt and red exercise shorts walking in their direction.
&Good morning,& Mr. McGee said to Jun and Rei.
&Good morning,& they both said at the same time.
&You two must be freshmen right?& he asked them.
&Yes sir,& they both said simultaneously.
&Just follow me then,& he instructed them.
He walks down to the top right part of the basketball court. It seems he&s heading towards a certain part of the court. Jun and Rei follows him. They walk up to a set of numbers painted yellow on the black court.
&This is where my class will be waiting for me from the boys locker room,& Mr.McGee told them, &we won&t be doing anything for today since it&s the beginning of the school year.&
&Alright,& said Jun.
Mr. McGee turns around to the class.
&Alright,& yelled Mr. McGee, &get on any number so I can make sure my students are here.&
All of the students that are in Mr. McGee&s class walks over to the numbers. Jun walks over to number seven and stands on that number. Rei walks over to number two and also stands on that number. The group of kids from earlier walks over to the class and stands on the numbers near them.
This can&t be good. They&re in this class as well.
Mr. McGee starts calling the names of his students. One by one, the students call out &here& to let him know that they&re here.
&Jun,& yelled Mr. McGee.
&Here,& answered Jun.
&Rei,& Mr. McGee yelled again.
&Here,& Rei answered.
&Augh,& whispered the group of kids.
&Hey,& shouted Mr. McGee.
The group jumps. Mr. McGee looks at them with a mean look giving them a warning. He continues calling the names from his list. When he finish, he looks back at the class.
&That will be all for today.&
Chapter 5: A Battle to the Death at School?!
Mr. McGee walks away from the class and walks towards to the other PE teachers. All of the students continues to talk to each other.
&Listen kid,& said one of the guys from the group.
Jun turns around to look at him. Rei looks at Jun with a worried look. The guy was giving Jun a second chance for him to change his mind. Jun looks behind the guy. He sees that the group was waiting for Jun&s response.
&Now kid, you better change your mind about being around this brat,& told the guy, & or I&ll have to change your stupid brain of yours for you.&
Jun looks back at Rei again. This time, she has a terrified look. A twinkle falls from her left side of her cheek.
&Hey look,& yelled one girl from the group, &the little brat is crying. What are you gonna do now baby?&
&Shut up!& Jun yelled back.
The group looks at him surprised. The guy looks at Jun with a sinister look. He raises his arms and pushes him. Jun falls to the ground.
&Jun!& shouted Rei.
&Oh it&s gonna get real now,& shouted one guy from the group loudly.
The other students hears him and walks over to them to see what was going on. Jun, Rei, and the group was surrounded by students.
&Look kid,& the guy said angrily, &no one does the opposite of what I, Blaine, has to say to them. So why don&t you make things easier for us and get this over with.&
Jun gets up slowly from the ground. Rei walks over to him and helps him up from the ground.
&Jun,& she said sadly.
&Don&t worry,& Jun told her.
Rei looks at him surprised. She notices that Jun was smiling. Jun walks over to the guy. Blaine raises his hand, wanting a truce. Jun raises his hand towards the guy&s hand. Rei looks at them petrified. Jun moves Blaine&s hand out of his face.
&I&m not doing it,& Jun told him with a serious look, &you guys are just wimps who fear about their popularity.&
Blaine looks at Jun with a more sinister look. He grabs Jun by his shirt and raises his hand. He turns his hand into an iron fist and swings it towards Jun.
&Jun!& screamed Rei.
Jun raises his palm to catch the flying fist. The guy looks surprised. He pushes Jun back away from him. He swings another couple of rounds of fists towards Jun. Jun blocks all of them successfully. Jun grabs one of the guy&s arm and twists it behind the guys back. The guy was astonished by the results.
&Hey!& yelled one of the guys from the group.
He takes out a pocket knife from his back pocket.
&He&s got a knife!& one girl from the crowd screamed.
The crowd of students screamed in terror and flee from the fight.
&Jun lookout!& screamed Rei.
The guy runs towards Jun, swinging the knife at him. Jun grabs his arm and pushes him away from him.
&That&s it!& yelled another from the group.
Now all the guys from the group grabs their own knives. All of them runs towards Jun like a stampede. Jun notices that one of them wasn&t looking up to it.
&Get &im!& yelled the girls from the group.
&Jun!& screamed Rei again.
The guys comes up to him, swinging their knives with all their might. Jun dodges them as best as he could.
&Take this!& yelled one guy.
He swings his knife at Jun.
&Nghh!& Jun said in pain.
All of them move away from Jun tirely. Jun raises his hand to touch his right cheek. He looks at his hand, noticing a rich red liquid from his palm. Jun looks at it terrified. His pupils grows bigger. Jun visions a flashback of the explosion of the building containing his parents. Blood was flying through the air everywhere. Some flew onto Jun&s face. Jun closes his eyes and sees one of the guys come towards him, swinging his knife at him. Jun swings his arm to knock out the knife out of his hand. The guy loses grip of his knife. The knife flies through the air towards the PE teachers. The knife lands on the ground and slides towards them. One of them looks at the ground and picks up the knife. It was Mr. McGee.
Chapter 6: The Creature
&Hey!& he yelled.
&Oh crap,& shouted one of the guys, &let&s get out of here.&
&Hey, what&s that black spot on the ground?& questioned one of the girls.
She points at a black spot on the ground near them. The black spot was shrouded in a black fog.
&Hey,& Mr. McGee yelled again, &what is this?&
Mr. McGee walks towards the group. The black spot starts to move. It paces itself towards Blaine. The creature jumps.
&Augh!& Blaine yells.
The black figure covers Blaine&s body and starts to bubble. Blaine&s face appears from the figure.
&B-boss!& yelled one of the guys.
The guys runs towards Blaine. They surround him, trying to find his hand in the black goo.
&Get me out of this thing!& Blaine commanded.
The black figure covers Blaine little by little. Jun runs towards Blaine.
&Jun!& yelled Rei.
Jun helps them find his hand. One of the guys notices that he was helping them.
&Why are you helping us?& the guy questioned nicely.
Jun looks at him with a calm look. Jun notices that it was the same guy that was regretting attacking him.
&We can&t lose anyone,& Jun told him, &even if they did something bad.&
The guy notices that Jun was serious about his answer. They continue to look for his arm.
&Augh,& Blaine yelled.
The black figure covers him entirely. Mr. McGee notices what the situation was and runs towards it. The black figures shrinks.
&N-no,& said one guy.
The black figure goes back to its original shape. It starts to bubble more. The black figure changes its form into something that looks like a mask.
&Oh crap let&s get out of here!& yelled one guy running for his life.
The rest of the guys runs after him. Jun and the other guy stay behind.
&Jun!& Rei yelled.
She runs towards him. Mr. McGee grabs both of them and drags them away from the figure. The figure forms a blue mask on top of the black goo with a nose like feature, two circular eyes, and a mouth that looks like that it was neither happy nor sad. There was an i on the center of the mask.
&Roman number one?& Mr. McGee said confused.
The creature raises a claw like hand from its skinny arm and swings Mr. McGee out of the way. The creature&s body grows bigger to the size of a car. Rei stops running and sees the creature. Jun looks at it terrified. The guy gets up and starts running away from the creature. The creature senses his fear and crawls towards him.
&Watch out!& Jun yelled at him.
Jun gets up and chases after him. The black creature raises its hand again ready for a swing at the guy. Jun catches up and jumps towards him, pushing him out of the way. The creature swings and misses them. Rei runs towards them.
&Jun!& screamed Rei.
Jun looks up and sees Rei running towards them. The creature prepares another swing.
&Get down!& Jun yelled.
The creature swings at Rei, but misses. She continues running towards them. She helps them up to their feet. The creature lets out a screech.
&Come on let&s go!& the guy told them.
&Right,& Jun agreed.
&Wait,& Rei told them, &we can&t leave Mr.McGee.&
Rei runs towards Mr. McGee. The creature prepares another attack.
&Rei!& Jun yelled.
Jun runs after her.
I can&t lose anyone& not like it was for my parents. I just can&t let that happen.
Rei reaches Mr. McGee and tries to help him get up. The creature swings at its fullest.
&No!& screamed Jun.
Rei turns around and sees the hand swinging at her. Jun jumps in front of the attack. The attack was so brutal that it sent Jun and Rei to the wall of the locker rooms from where the fence was. Jun hits his head on the wall from the attack, causing him to bleed from his head and passes out. Rei tries to recover from the attack to help Jun.
&Jun!& screamed Rei.
The creature slowly crawls towards them. The guy watches terrified. Mr. McGee was still on the ground injured.
&The time has come,& said a familiar voice.
Jun wakes up. His vision was blurry. He tries to get on his feet. He was too hurt to get up. The blood continues to drip out from his head.
&Jun!& echoed Rei.
Jun looks at Rei. She tries to reach over for him. The creature crawls closer to them. Jun looks& at the creature, terrified, visioning the same flashback of his parents.
Jun looks to his right. There was an Egyptian Mau cat staring at him. Jun looks at it confused.
&Go on,& the familiar voice whispered.
Erebus appears in a vision calling out to Jun. Jun gets up with all of his strength. He forces himself not to fall back onto his knees. Badum. Badum. Badum. Jun feels his veins pumping through him. He walks towards the creature. The creature seems confused.
&Jun! No!& Rei yelled to him.
Jun looks back to see Rei, scared. He smiles. Rei looks at him confused with a worried look. Jun notices that the cat followed him. Jun didn&t seem to mind.
&I&m here with you,& said the cat.
Jun looks at the cat surprised that it can talk but was happy that someone, even if they&re the enemy or an animal, was watching his back. He looks at the creature with a smile on his face. The creature lunges at him.
Chapter 7: The Warrior Awakens
&Jun!& screamed Rei.
The creature pauses in front of Jun. Jun stares at it as if he was staring death in the face. A blue circle glows around Jun, the cat, and the creature. Rei looks at them, happy that Jun was safe and spooked. The blood from Jun&s face starts to burn on his face. Jun smiles.
&Per&,& whispered Jun.
A blue flame lights up at the bottom of Jun&s feet and grows slowly.
&so&,& Jun whispered again.
The flames grows more up to Jun&s shoulders. The blood starts to go up in flames as well. The circle starts to glow slightly brighter.
&na.& Jun whispered one last time.
The flames start to cover Jun, changing his appearance to a suit of white armor and a blue cape. On the left side of him was a sheath and on his arm was a shield. The circle glows brighter than before with the force of the wind, blowing the creature back and the cape behind Jun to wave up in the air like a superhero. The glow starts to form blue crystal butterflies. The butterflies gathers behind Jun, forming a human like monster.
&I am thou,& the monster echoed.
The butterflies forms two legs in grey pants. The shoes was made of wood and the monster was wearing black samurai socks. The butterflies starts to form the body and arms in a black cloak with buttons that almost goes down to the feet. The cloak waves in the air from the forces of the wind.
&Thou art I,& the monster echoed again.
The butterflies forms the hands of the monsters. The hands was pure black and the fingers was grey. The tip of them was a nail like feature that was yellow. The body was completed with a grey button shirt. On one arm was a white bandage with holes on it wrapped around on the outside of the cloak. It was waving in the air with the black cloak.
&I come from the seas of thy soul,& echoed the monster.
The face of the monster was a metallic humanoid face with a white mask on. It didn&t have a neck. The mask has a yellow line surfacing the outside of the mask, a North Star shape on the left side, and an eye hole on the right side of the mask. A yellow eye appears from the eye socket. The hair of the monster was long and blond. The monster has a ponytail on the back, also waving in the air.
&I am the warrior of light&,& echoed the monster.
The gush of wind pushes away from the monster.
&... Hikari!& the monster echoed one last time.
Rei and the other guy looks at Jun terrified that a monster like this was summoned by him.
&What& is that?& Rei questioned.
The creature crawls quickly towards the monster. The monster puts its fists together to form a ball and swings it down to the creature. The monster then swings its left leg to kick it back towards the exit of the PE area from where Jun and Rei entered. The head of the monster moves with the body, as if it does have a neck. The creature takes out its hands to stop from going any further back. Hikari screeches a metallic sound and explosions of flames and ice explode on the creature. The creature took the attacks. Not a single scratch was made onto it. It shakes off the flames and frozen bits off and crawls quickly to its right. Hikari screeches again with a gush of wind forming a mini tornado on the ground and lightning. The creature avoids the attacks. The creature and Hikari stare at each. Jun breathes heavily with flames burning brutally around him and Rei.
&Nghh!& said Jun in pain.
He puts his hands on his head. His vision of Erebus starts to go statically of him smiling. Hikari lets out a loud screech with its hands on its head as well and moves his head back in the air. It drops its hands to its side. Its yellow eye disappears into the darkness underneath its mask. Hikari falls to the ground lifeless. The fall causes the ground to crack.
&Aughhh!& Jun screamed in more pain.
Jun looks up in the air with his pupils turning to a bright yellow. The darkness from inside of Hikari&s mask flows out and gathers into a big black sphere of darkness. The sphere shrinks, forming a body all cloaked in black. The dark figure was dressed in a hooded cloak, a shirt, pants, and agent shoes. Its hair was white. The face was unseeable, but only the blood red glowing eyes and its sinister pointed smile was showing. It stretches out its body and lets out and evil screech. Its left hand starts to flicker hot red electricity, forming a red blade. It grabs the end and lets out another screech to intimidate the creature. Rei and the guy looks at it astonished. Mr. McGee wakes up and looks around him, seeing the black cloaked figure ready to battle the creature. He gets up and stands by. The creature creates multiple hands out of its body, launching them towards the figure. The cloaked figure lunges towards the creature, cutting through its hands. It swings its blade at the creature, also causing the ground to rise up. The cloaked figure screeches again and grabs the lifeless face of the creature, swinging its blade at the mask. The mask flies in the air in half, dissolving into black liquid, in the sound of ripping flesh. Jun continues to breath heavily. The cloaked figure and Hikari glows blue and dissolves into the blue crystal butterflies, flying away. Jun&s armor dissolves in small flames and falls to the ground, passing out. The guy and Mr. Mcgee runs towards Jun. Rei regains her strength and gets up. She slowly wakes up to Jun.
&Jun&& she said.
Jun, still passed out, lays on the ground. Jun awakens in the Velvet Room. Igor and Snowy was there as usual.
&Ah, we meet again,& said Igor with his big grin, &oh, you&re awakened power is Hikari and Yami. I see, how interesting&&
Jun looks down in front of him.
Wait& was this always here?
Jun notices that a card with an image of man is walking with his dog and a stick with a bag hanging at the end of it. The edges of the card was blue and at the bottom was the number zero surrounded by the blue color.
&They are a power that is known as a Persona,& told Igor, &They are your alter ego, another side of yourself. A Persona is the personality that you present to the world outside yourself. You may think of it as an armored disguise that you put on to confront hardships.&
&The card in front of you is the Fool Arcana,& told Snowy, &this is the arcana that your Personas are categorized. But it seems that you have awaken a new form of the Fool Arcana.&
Igor raises his right palm and moves it to his left. The Fool Arcana flips disappearing, revealing two new different sets of cards. On the left was an image of a faceless angel in a white robe, white wings, and a yellow halo ring above it surrounded by a heart, a star, a face that is happy, and the North Star. On the right was an image of small man surrounded in darkness with a giant sinister face smiling with its hands coming out from the darkness.
&These arcanas are now known as the Peace and Fear Arcanas,& Snowy told Jun.
&With that said,& Igor interrupted, &your power is still weak at the moment.&
&Since you&ve awaken to the Fool Arcana, you appear to have the ability to gain new Personas,& told Snowy, &every time you emerge victorious in these hardships, you will gain new Personas.&
&Although you&ve awaken your power, my guests never awaken to two Personas at once,& Igor said fascinated, &could this be how you will change your fate, I wonder?&
Jun looks back at the cards.
What is the reason that I&ve awaken to this power? What was that creature that attacked us at school? Personas? Arcanas? What is going on around here?
&Well, some time has passed in the reality you call home,& told Igor, &I mustn&t keep you any longer.&
&We eagerly await your next visit,& told Snowy.
&Until then, farewell,& Igor said goodbye.
Characters used and inspired: Igor from the Persona series, Fuuka Yamagishi from Persona 3, E a boy inspired by Pharos in Persona 3 (All versions), Shadows from the Persona series, and Jun, Rei, Aunt Katie, teachers, and more coming soon inspired by Atlus for Makoto Yuki (Persona 3), Yu Narukami and Dojima (Persona 4), teammates of the game (In Persona series), and more from the series.
Setting used and inspired by: Atlus, creating the Velvet Room and a school the protagonist goes to (An alternate version of Patriot High School from real life in my story) (Patriot High School is a great school)
Story inspired by: Atlus of the Persona series.
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