Nerusona

Chapter 8

Part 1: April

Chapter 8

I have to protect Yamaguchi while she’s passed out, was Tanaka’s first thought.

The large creature raised one of its oversized arms, preparing an attack.

“Persona!” Tanaka called out, summoning Ose to his side. As the arm began to strike down, Ose hastily used his blades to attack the beast’s arm.

Yamaguchi’s Shadow hissed, shouting, “How dare you hurt me, big brother!”

Tanaka started to run away from his sister’s unconscious body on the stone ground, hurrying onto the grass to move the battle elsewhere. This fight would have been a lot easier if Yamaguchi was able to battle alongside him, but unfortunately she was out cold.

The Shadow turned its body towards Tanaka. “You can’t go home, big brother,” spoke the monster, maintaining the altered voice of his sister. Suddenly, the large metal gates that allowed Tanaka and Yamaguchi to get into the twisted academy campus shut with a loud rumble. “Not until I teach you a lesson!” Shadow Yamaguchi lifted up its arm again, swinging down at Tanaka,

The male was barely able to avoid being squished by its large hand, but the impact of the strike caused the ground to shake—forcing him to fall down to the ground with a grunt. Tanaka lost the grip of his wooden sword, which fell a few feet away from him on the grass. As he got up to his feet, the Shadow was already preparing another attack.

At this rate, this was going to be a lengthy battle.

“Perso—”

Before he could finish his sentence, all the air was knocked out of Tanaka’s lungs. He was lifted off his feet as the Shadow’s massive hand smacked the side of his body and practically flung him across the front of the school campus. He was airborne for a few seconds; when Tanaka returned to the ground, he felt the side of his face scrape against the dead grass. A few of his bandages were torn off, opening up some of his wounds.

“The battle’s only just beginning,” said Shadow Yamaguchi. “I have a lot more in store for you, brother.” As the monster approached, its footsteps shook the ground nearby.

Get up, Tanaka told himself. He groggily rose off the ground and adjusted the eye patch he had to protect his black eye. When the Shadow lifted up its arm again, Tanaka took off to recover where he dropped his weapon. He evaded being attacked again, but he turned around to summon Ose again to slash at the Shadow.

“Stop being a pain in the ass and die!” hissed the creature, turning around to face the dog-eared teen.

Tanaka found the wooden blade and swiped it off the ground.

A floating metal sphere was attached to the monster’s collar by a thick chain, and it began to glow a bright yellow color. Then, manifesting out of nearly nowhere, a sudden wall of fire was sent Tanaka’s way.

He wasn’t able to avoid it and yelped out in pain as the blistering heat made contact with his body. Parts of his clothes singed, and his sensitive canine ears were affected as well. Luckily, his sword didn’t catch on fire and was safe.

“Now things are starting,” said the Shadow, the metallic ball beginning to glow again.

“Come, Ose!” shouted Tanaka, glaring as he summoned his Persona once more. There must be a way to stop the attack, thought Tanaka. Ose unsheathed his swords and slashed at the chains connecting the sphere and the collar. Even though they were metal, Tanaka hoped it would do something.

Which it did.

The glowing ceased and the Shadow took a few steps backwards, growling. Just as it swung to claw at Ose, the Persona vanished and the attack missed.

If that chain can be broken, what would be accomplished? mused Tanaka.

“Why won’t you just die already?!” cried out Shadow Yamaguchi, raising both arms and slamming them down next to the male. The impact left him in the air for a few seconds again even though he wasn’t hit, and he fell on his back. Before he could get up, the creature’s arm smacked him from his side again.

Shit, he cursed to himself, holding onto his weapon tightly as he was tossed several feet across the grass. A few more wounds reopened, and now Tanaka could feel his nose bleeding. He got back up to his feet, summoning Ose again to attack the Shadow’s chains.

Shadow Yamaguchi recoiled again. “All you do is hurt me, brother!” it called out in a whining tone. “I’ll hurt you back,” it threatened. “Believe me, I will!”The monster then turned towards where Yamaguchi’s unconscious body was laying.

“No!” yelled Tanaka, darting hastily towards the creature.

Already, it was lifting up both its arms and the metal sphere was glowing.

“I’ll make you pay for all these years once and for all!”

It started to swing down its arms, and the wall of fire began to manifest.

Tanaka summoned his Persona with fierce determination, and Ose appeared behind Shadow Yamaguchi. Just as Ose delivered his strike—

Tanaka shut his eyes and his heart felt heavy as he heard a shrill scream of pain, unable to tell if it was the real Yamaguchi or the phony. When he opened his eyes again, the Shadow was blurry and leisurely fading away. Yamaguchi was awake, sitting upright.

And staring at her Shadow self.

“Yamaguchi—”

His sister rose to her feet, ears drooping downwards. “I…I already said you’re not me,” she told her lookalike. “So—”

“Yamaguchi,” Tanaka repeated, approaching his sister and her Shadow. “You—”

“Tanaka?! Oh my god, what—”

“You need to confront yourself.”

Yamaguchi looked back and forth between her brother and her Shadow self, trying to establish what Tanaka meant. “But I—”

Tanaka shook his head. “I know it’s hard for your secrets to be spilled out,” he said, wiping his bloody nose with his singed sleeve. “And sometimes it’s harder to accept who you really are through your own eyes.”

The female stared eye-to-eye with her Shadow. “Accept who I really am…?”

Her Shadow gave a nod in response.

“I…guess this really my true self…” she mumbled.

Yamaguchi’s Shadow self vibrantly glowed for a few seconds before vanishing away; instead, hovering above Yamaguchi was a dark dragon-like creature who announced his name as Seth. When Seth faded away, the dog-eared female scurried towards Tanaka and quickly hugged him.

Tanaka squirmed away from her grasp.

“What happened to you?” she queried, voice full of worry. “You look terrible.”

“It’s like I dealt with one of your tantrums,” Tanaka said. “I’m exhausted and I don’t want to miss school tomorrow. Let’s go back home, I’ll explain everything later.”