Nerusona

Chapter 12

Part 1: April

Chapter 12

No. Yamaguchi scurried over to Tanaka, kneeling next to his collapsed body. She took him into her arms, shaking him gently in hopes of getting a response. Her brother’s healthy eye was shut, and the female couldn’t tell whether or not he was unconscious or dead. Either way, she feared for the worst. “Tanaka!” she shouted, shaking his body again. “Wake up!” Yamaguchi felt tears forming in her eyes—anger soon followed, and she glared up at the Shadow staring down at the two.

Shadow Raku merely stood there, observing Yamaguchi as she cradled her brother. The body hanging between the scythes of the monster smirked, giving a satisfied chuckle. “He’s dead. Accept his fate.”

“Tanaka, please…” Her voice cracked into a sob, shaking the male gently as she continued to call out for him. “You can’t be dead…” Yamaguchi’s sorrow developed into more resentment; anger burned in her body, craving for revenge. “He tried to save you, and this is how you treat him… You’re unforgivable!”

The Shadow’s stance signified it was ready to continue the battle. It gave a taunting laugh, beckoning for Yamaguchi to fight. “We all die eventually, and you will be joining him soon.”

“I’ll make you suffer—believe me, I will!” Seth manifested above Yamaguchi, giving a threatening growl. Her Persona began to viciously attack the mantis-like monster, and Yamaguchi stabbed at its legs due to her inability to attack any higher than that. Both Yamaguchi and Seth endured quite a few hits, but the Persona user’s anger kept her motivated and strong.

Several times the Shadow attempted to use the black hole-like attack on Yamaguchi, but all tries failed. Even though it too endured several hits, the Shadow seemed unscathed. “This is boring,” spoke the monster, effortlessly swinging its scythe arms at Yamaguchi.

“You shut your mouth!” yelled the dog-eared female, flinging her knife at the hanging body.

The Shadow tried to defend itself by shielding the body with its scythes, but the knife managed to plunge into the hanging girl. It shrieked loudly and flailed around—it seemed Yamaguchi had pinpointed the Shadow’s weak spot. Unfortunately she no longer had a knife, and Tanaka’s wooden sword was too blunt to puncture anything. The hanging body painfully removed the knife sticking inside it and threw it back at Yamaguchi, but the female was too quick for it to hit.

The dog-eared girl retrieved her weapon, summoning Seth to attack the girl in between the scythes. Many of his assaults were blocked, so Yamaguchi had to somehow climb the monster without falling off or getting wounded. While Seth distracted the Shadow, Yamaguchi cautiously climbed on one of its legs to reach its back. She maintained her balance as the creature flailed around, and Yamaguchi moved over to its neck where the chains that hung the body were located. She took her knife, staring down at the body. The female hesitated for a few moments, but she threw the weapon down at the body and watched it sink into its head.

It made a shrill scream, trying to reach for the knife—but the Shadow’s mantis body lost its balance and collapsed to the ground with an echoing thud. Yamaguchi leapt off the body and thudded to the floor as well, grunting at the pain. She glanced backwards, watching the Shadow before her fade away. Left behind was the original Shadow Raku, staring back at the female with her golden eyes. Yamaguchi reached for her knife, mentally complaining about another fight, but the original Raku appeared and walked up to her Shadow.

“Be careful, that thing’s—”

“Dangerous.” Raku peered over at Yamaguchi, who was still on the ground. “I know.” She redirected her attention back to her Shadow. “If you don’t get a hold of your emotions, they grow out of control.”