Part 1: April
Chapter 14
Everyone’s gazes nervously shifted upwards towards the ceiling. Hanging by one of the thick strings was a young boy dressed in a tattered black garb with spots of reddish-pink patches sloppily sewed on. The string was wrapped around his body several times, hanging as if he was belly-first on a swing set. He turned his head towards another figure hanging next to him.
“Teddy!” cried out Raku again.
Teddy was in his school uniform, hanging upside down with one of the strings wrapped around his ankle. His face was blank, and he gave a dead gaze—disinterested in the whole situation.
“Raku-nee, come on and play with us,” called the mysterious child, extending his hand out to Raku. “Oh? You brought Tanaka-nii and Yamaguchi-nee too?”
“You’re so annoying,” mumbled Teddy to the boy next to him.
“You’re so annoying,” repeated the boy, smirking at Teddy.
“I’ll kill you.” Teddy opened his eyes up.
“I’ll kill you.”
“That boy…” Yamaguchi nudged Tanaka. “He has yellow eyes. Could he be…?”
“Oi, what’s with all this ruckus?” A feminine voice interrupted the chatter between the two children, and swinging on one of the red strings was…
…Idola. Or at least it looked like her, for she was crudely wearing no clothes and had golden eyes like the young boy. She hopped onto another string and made her way over to Teddy and the other suspended boy.
“Nee-chan should put on some clothes,” said the messily dressed child.
Teddy closed his eyes again.
“You’re an annoying piece of shit, you know?” The girl grinned widely, mentally controlling the string to lower so she could observe Teddy. “Is he still asleep?”
“Don’t you dare touch him!” another female voice called out. Trapped between multiple strings—thick and thin—was the real Idola, fully dressed in her school uniform. “Leave him alone!”
“What the hell is going on?” whispered Raku to Tanaka and Yamaguchi as the trio hid in an elusive manner behind a large, torn teddy bear.
“No, he’s awake.”
“Good.” The fake Idola swung away to where the original Idola was trapped. “Isn’t this fun?”
“Get away from me,” Idola hissed, turning her head away from her lookalike. “You’re a disgrace.”
The fake only leaned towards the original. “Disgrace? This is amazing!” She held part of Idola’s face in her palm and gently brushed her cheek with her thumb. “I feel so free! Everyone can see who we really are! Come on, join me!”
“Like hell I’m joining you,” interjected Idola, trying to kick the fake. “Let Teddy and I go.”
“Tanaka, let’s go help them out,” suggested Raku, but the dog-eared male only shook his head.
“Hey, Idola-nee,” said the child next to Teddy. “Do you love me?”
The fake Idola swung over to the two males. “Love is a dangerous term to throw around, Teddy.”
“But I’m…Teddy…” muttered the true Teddy, opening his eyes again.
“I’m Teddy.” The boy glanced at the other male next to him.
“No, I’m Teddy…”
“No, I’m Teddy.”
“Shut up, I’m tired of you… You’re full of lies.”
“Then you shouldn’t lie to yourself.” The child smirked again.
The fake Idola returned to the real Idola again, getting uncomfortably close to her. “Isn’t Teddy so annoying? No wonder Mom and Dad don’t like him.”
“Please, let us go,” repeated Idola, struggling to free herself from the strings trapping her. “I don’t know what we did to deserve this.”
The real Teddy flailed around as he dangled from the ceiling. If he managed to untie the string around his ankle, he would end up collapsing to the floor; there was no way out of this situation as far as he knew.
“Nobody loves us,” the Teddy lookalike stated to the original Teddy. “Not Mom, not Dad, not nee-chan, not nii-san.”
“Teddy, don’t listen to him!” shouted Raku, standing up from her hiding spot. “You know your family loves you!”
Both the fake Teddy and fake Idola snapped their heads in Raku’s direction. Their golden-yellow eyes stared at her for several moments until the Idola impostor smirked.
“So this is the ugly bitch you hang out with.”
“She’s more of a sister to me than you are,” the fake Teddy told the Idola doppelganger.
Raku stood between the two bickering fakes, staring up at them both and watching as they engaged in a heated argument. “Teddy, Idola, you need to accept everything they’re saying! Accept your true emotions before they get worse!”
Yamaguchi turned towards Tanaka, her face written with worry. “Why haven’t you taken any action?”
Her brother only remained nonchalant.
“These aren’t my true emotions,” Idola said to Raku. “That person isn’t me—they’re nothing like me—”
“And he’s nothing like me!” Teddy yelled, squirming around.
“Please listen to what I have to say!” Raku trembled in her spot, aware that the tension was quickly escalating. “As crazy as this sounds, those things are you! They’re like personifications of all the emotions you’ve hidden and rejected!”
“Raku-nee’s been possessed,” mumbled the fake Teddy. “This isn’t the Raku-nee we know…”
“Yeah, go back to dying.” The Idola lookalike smiled brightly. “It’ll do everyone a favor. Right, Teddy?”
“Shut up!! Shut up, shut up, shut up!” While hanging upside down, Teddy covered his ears. “You’re all so annoying! These things—”
“These things aren’t us…” Idola’s face expressed her perplexity. “This is…!”
Raku screamed at the top of her lungs. “No! Stop!”
Unfortunately, it was already too late. Both of the fakes altered their shapes and morphed into large monsters, letting out various types of hisses and shrieks. An ominous haze made it obscure and difficult to watch the transformations, but by the time they were complete two enormous creatures stood juxtapose to each other.
On the left was where the fake Teddy was; in its place was a quadruped creature that had scissor blades for both its fore and hind legs. Covering its face was the same steel plate that previous monsters had—except this one covered a face that seemed to resemble a bear’s. It was covered with cream-colored fur, and stood next to where an unconscious Teddy was still hanging.
On the right was a half-human, half-spider monster. It had long dark hair, and everything below its torso was the abdomen of a black arachnid. It had tall, thin legs and had human arms covering its naked body—or more specifically its cleavage. Just like the other beast, it had a metal plate covering its face.
“We are Shadows, the true selves,” they simultaneously chanted.
“I’ll rip all your bodies apart and rearrange them,” the creature on the left uttered.
The monster on the right added, “I’ll spin you in a web so thick that you’ll never see daylight ever again!”
Raku dropped her gun out of fear; this was her first time witnessing someone’s Shadow growing out of control, and the fact that she had to observe two of them overwhelmed her.
“There’s no way we can win this…” said Yamaguchi, staring up at the two Shadows while quivering in fear as well. “There are two of them, and…”
Without warning, Tanaka slapped Yamaguchi across the face, causing his sister to flinch. “You can’t give up as soon as the fight starts. Go team up with Raku and take down Idola’s Shadow. I’ll take care of Teddy’s.” Tanaka took off and dashed after the bear-like monster, leaving his sister behind.
Yamaguchi scurried over to where Raku was, picking up the other’s gun for her. “Raku, stay focused!” she said, handing the weapon to the dark-haired female. “Tanaka’s going after one Shadow, and we’re in charge of this one.”
“I couldn’t save them…” whispered Raku, taking her handgun.
“No, there’s still hope. If we defeat these monsters, we can rescue them!” Yamaguchi gave the other an encouraging grin and gestured for Raku to follow her. “Stay strong!”
Raku followed Yamaguchi and readied her gun, tensing up as the two females approached the arachnid monster.
Tanaka, on the other hand, was already in combat. Teddy’s Shadow tried many times to stab the dog-eared male, and Tanaka used Ose to carry out most of his attacks. There was no weakness that Tanaka could pinpoint, so he attacked wherever possible.
“I’ve always hated spiders,” Raku muttered as she and Yamaguchi avoided Shadow Idola’s attacks. Several times a sticky string was shot their way from the monster, and if it hit the duo the two females’ speed significantly slowed down.
“Here, brother,” spoke the spider-like Shadow, casting a bright light and healing all of Shadow Teddy’s wounds.
Tanaka stared back at his team members; he exhaled a sigh, feeling as if his progress was all for nothing. He started all over again, attacking the Shadow with both his sword and his Persona—but once he was sure he was close to defeating it, Idola’s Shadow healed the other yet again. “Damn it!” Tanaka cursed.
Yamaguchi and Raku struggled to attack Shadow Idola, for the creature moved swiftly and always slowed them down using spider webs. If they couldn’t defeat it, then the Shadow would continue to heal Teddy’s Shadow and the trio wouldn’t be able to win the fight.
“We need to think of a new tactic,” Yamaguchi told Raku, brushing off some of the sticky strings attached to her clothing. “This isn’t working out.”
“All of my Persona’s attacks are missing,” Raku replied, panting.
“Duck!” shouted Tanaka to the two girls.
Yamaguchi and Raku instantly did as he ordered and ducked to the ground, watching Shadow Idola shoot a silky string past them. It flung across the battlefield, hitting Shadow Teddy instead.
The bear-like Shadow turned towards the arachnid monster, scraping its scissor arms on the ground in anger. “Nee-chan…?!”
“Piss off, that wasn’t for you!” hissed Shadow Idola, turning around to face the other Shadow.
The two females seized the opportunity to attack. Raku continuously fired bullets at the Shadow while Yamaguchi used Seth to attack repeatedly.
When the arachnid Shadow turned back towards the pair of females, it attempted to heal itself—except Shadow Teddy swung one of its scissor blades at the other Shadow. This caught Shadow Idola off guard, enraging it. The two then locked into a fight, mercilessly beating each other up; the trio only watched as the brawl ensued.
Tanaka had a rendezvous with his sister and Raku, leading them to take shelter behind one of the large stuffed animals lying around. “I don’t think they’re fond of each other,” he said, crouching.
“I know some siblings don’t like each other, but this is insane…”
Raku added, “They’re Shadows, so they’re not actually hurting each other, right?”
“No, but I think this sums up their relationship on a much bigger scale.” Tanaka removed the eye patch that he still had equipped; his eye was already healed, so there was no more use for it. “We’ll have to land a finishing blow.”
“Huh?” Both Yamaguchi and Raku didn’t understand.
“Help me attack them so we can end this once and for all.” He rose from his spot and charged at the two fighting Shadows. The two girls followed after him, holding their weapons next to them.
Shadow Teddy and Shadow Idola paused their quarreling and faced the oncoming trio, but before they could defend or properly react, Tanaka, Yamaguchi, and Raku simultaneously attacked with as much strength as possible. The two Shadows stumbled to the floor, shrieking as they gradually faded away. Left behind were their original Shadow selves.
Raku nearly passed out from exhaustion, so she had to lean on Yamaguchi for support. “It’s over…”
The red strings that were scattered across the ceiling lowered, releasing Teddy and Idola. Both were fully conscious, and stared at each other as if they had just learned something very important.
“Teddy,” Idola started, running up to her younger brother and embracing him. “I didn’t know that you felt like that. I’m really sorry…”
Teddy blinked. “I didn’t know you felt like that…”
Idola’s face turned bright red, and she stepped away from the male. “…I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Yeah, about that,” Yamaguchi interrupted. “Can you please explain what the hell that was all about?”
A few minutes passed, and all five students—plus Idola and Teddy’s Shadows—sat down next to each other in a circle. Everyone maintained a calm behavior, but the three Persona users kept their weapons nearby just in case violence broke out.
“I want you two to admit all feelings you’ve kept privately to yourself,” said Tanaka. He sat between Idola and Teddy.
“But it’s embarrassing,” replied Idola, her face getting hot again.
Her Shadow sat next to her, and it gave a devious smirk.
“If you don’t, your Shadow won’t disappear.”
“Teddy should go first, then.” Idola glanced away from everyone.
“Can we make this quick? I’m getting tired.” Yamaguchi let out a yawn. Raku was leaning against her as the group sat down, most likely resting or already asleep.
“But Idola-nee…”
Teddy’s Shadow glared at Idola’s Shadow.
“Please,” persisted Tanaka, “someone get this over with.”
“Fine.” Teddy gave a sigh, staring down at his lap. “I…don’t feel like anyone loves me.”
“I love you,” Idola replied.
“No, not just because I’m your step-brother.”
“Step-brother?” Yamaguchi’s interest piqued.
Idola nodded. “My mother married Teddy’s father. We’re not biological siblings.”
“Mom doesn’t like me. I know that.” Teddy pouted.
“I don’t think Dad likes me, so we’re in the same boat,” said Idola.
“I guess this would be easier if we had your parents here.” Tanaka sighed. “I’d hate to see their Shadows, though.”
“I just…want to be loved for who I am…” Teddy covered his face with his hands. “I’m tired of being ignored and treated like a child… I want to be treated like a teenager like everyone else. Just because I’m not as popular as Idola-nee or not as smart as Mamoru-nii, Mom and Dad don’t care about me.” He looked up at Tanaka and Yamaguchi. “Everyone blamed me for your absences at drama club. Even my own friends don’t care about me… I wanted to run away and die.”
“Teddy…”
“When I woke up here, I thought my wish was granted.” He turned towards his Shadow. “I thought my own self was mocking me, and this was my punishment for being a selfish person. But…Idola-nee came here shortly. She was here to rescue me—someone did care about me. Or so I thought.”
Shadow Teddy glared at Shadow Idola again.
“I’m not important to you at all, am I, nee-chan?” Teddy crossed his arms.
Idola quickly replied, “Of course you’re important to me! Why else do you think I came to this stupid place? That other me was telling you only lies…”
Idola’s Shadow gave a smirk.
“Just because I’m not really your brother, you always ignore me! You’re always out of the house, hanging out with your friends over me!”
Idola looked down. “Teddy, I do love you. But…”
Tears formed in Teddy’s eyes, waiting for an answer from his step-sister.
“I don’t know how to explain it…”
“You love your friends more than me.”
Idola sighed. “I’m a prostitute.”
Every single person fell dead silent, giving judgmental stares at what Idola admitted. Even Shadow Teddy looked surprised.
“What…what…?” Teddy could hardly grasp what the female stated.
“I sleep with people for money. Is it that hard to explain?” She turned away from everyone, ashamed of herself.
“Nee-chan…”
“I don’t know if you’ve already noticed, but Mom and Dad don’t make a lot of money. I just wanted to help them out.” Idola refused to make eye contact with anyone. “That’s why I hang out with my ‘friends’ often. That’s why I come home late. That’s why I ignore you sometimes—I’m ashamed of who I am.”
A long period of silence passed until Teddy rose from where he was sitting, giving a hug to Idola. “No matter what kind of a person you are—step-sibling or not—you’re still my sister,” he told her.
Idola paused before returning Teddy’s hug. “And I’ve said this a million times already: I love you. I’m sorry for all of the miscommunications. I…don’t know how to explain this to Mamoru…”
“Well,” interrupted Tanaka, rising off the ground, “at least this sibling conflict has been resolved.” He pointed at the remaining Shadow selves. “But the problem’s not quite over.”
The half-siblings both nodded.
Teddy faced his Shadow, saying, “I accept you. I was wrong; I am loved by someone. In a way, I guess you were good for trying to make me realize this.”
The Shadow nodded too, disappearing into nothingness. Soon hovering over Teddy was a long azure dragon with a green mane and a red underbelly. He stated that his name was Seiryu, and soon vanished when he was done.
Idola faced her Shadow, embarrassed that it was still wearing no clothing. “And I accept you. I may make wrong decisions, but…they’ve shaped me into the current person I am. I can’t pout or throw a fit about it. I can always strive to become a better person, after all.”
Shadow Idola nodded as well, fading away. Floating above Idola was yet another naked woman, except a large snake was coiled around part of her body. She said her name was Lilith, and she soon disappeared just as Seiryu did.
“More Persona users…” Yamaguchi looked amazed as she carried Raku in her arms. “Our team keeps on expanding.”
“That is if they join our team,” said Tanaka, holding both his sword and Raku’s handgun. “We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. I’m sure everyone’s tired.”
“On the roof, right?” Yamaguchi began to walk towards the staircase that lead downstairs.
“Yeah.”
“Wait, what?” Idola looked confused. “Slow down. Teddy and I are lost with what you’re saying.”
Teddy stood close to Idola as they followed Tanaka and Yamaguchi out of the labyrinth. “I knew there was something odd about you,” he said, “but I couldn’t exactly tell what.”
“You guys have to promise to not tell a single soul about the events that just happened.” Tanaka looked back at the half-siblings. “Alright? We don’t want any other people wandering into this place.”
April 18th. Friday.
“So,” Teddy said with his mouth full of food, “this whole time you’ve been running around in some alternate dimension that just so happens to look like our school?”
“It started on the first day of school, to be precise. Rescuing people has been like a domino effect since then.” Tanaka took a bite of his lunch.
“I hope no one else ends up in the Distortion…” muttered Yamaguchi, sitting next to Raku.
“Which is why I’ll patrol it every once in awhile. I might drag one or two of you along with me,” said Tanaka. “Teddy, may you please exchange phone numbers with all of us?”
The elementary student nodded, getting out his cellphone. “This is really cool. It’s like we’re a secret team of superheroes…”
“It’s kind of strange. How did we get Personas? How did Teddy and I end up in the Distortion?” Raku looked down at the ground. “What are Shadows?”
“Your questions will be answered someday,” replied Tanaka, munching on his food. “Let’s just focus on rescuing others for now.”
“Speaking of rescuing,” Teddy interjected, “thank you for saving Idola-nee and I. I’m sorry for being mean and rude to you in the past; to make it up, I want to dedicate my powers as a Persona user to help rescue others too… Please invite me on any missions you go on!” He gave a fierce, determined stare.
Tanaka could sense Teddy’s seriousness, and could feel a bond forming between he and the younger student…
“Missions?” Yamaguchi chuckled. “Now that makes us sound like we’re a secret organization.”
“We’d be so dead if the school knew what we were doing,” Raku said, grinning a bit. “Who knows what the government would do.”
“We would end up becoming super soldiers…” Teddy’s imagination went wild. “Using our Personas to destroy ×××, being revered as heroes…!”
Idola lightly shoved her step-sibling. “We can only use our Personas in the Distortion, idiot.” Her slight smile showed that she meant no harm towards the other.
Everyone enjoyed themselves during lunch, and soon enough the bell rang and everyone had to rush back to class.
April 19th. Saturday.
The entire drama club enveloped Teddy in hugs as soon as he set foot into the room. Shido was the most excited about the member’s return, because now no one was missing or skipping out on the meetings. The team was complete again.
“On behalf of everybody here,” said Shido, giving a quick bow to Teddy, “I’d like to apologize for our unfair behavior towards you. From now on, we will avoid playing the blame game.”
“I accept your apology,” Teddy said, grinning in satisfaction. “I’m sorry for making anyone worry while I was gone.”
“You’re strangely peppy today,” noted Leo. “Eh, not that I’m complaining.”
“I agree,” said Ruki.
“It’s a long story,” Teddy said, brushing off the topic.
Roku was grading papers again, but he glanced up in curiosity.
“Is this drama club?” A familiar voice—or unfamiliar to some—diverted everyone’s attention. Standing underneath the doorway was Idola. “I was wondering if it was too late for me to join. I wanted to switch from art club to this one.”
“Of course you can join!” Shido beamed enthusiastically. “We’re always accepting new members. What’s your name?”
“Oh? I’m Idola.”
“Alright, added you to the roster,” spoke Roku. “Did you tell your previous club teacher that you wanted to switch?”
“Yeah.” Idola strolled over to Teddy and patted him on the head. “Art was too boring for me.”
“Let’s start off this meeting with quick introductions,” suggested Shido. “Then I’ll go over the history of acting again.”
…
“Hey, Tanaka.”
Everybody was dispersing from the club room when Idola requested for Tanaka to wait for her.
“Since I’m holding a secret of yours, I’m excepting you to keep mine safe too.” Idola placed a hand on her waist.
Tanaka furrowed his brow. “You know I’d never tell anyone your secret.”
“Also,” she got up close to Tanaka, standing in his personal space, “you have my phone number.” The green-eyed girl leaned close to him to whisper in his ear, “If I’m ever in trouble, I will be calling you for help.”
Tanaka could only assume what kind of trouble she’d get herself into. He gave a nod and mumbled “Understood,” beneath his breath.
Idola stepped away from the dog-eared male and gave him some space. “The same goes for you. If you’re ever in trouble, you can rely on me.” She smiled and slightly tilted her head. “You know, you have a really beautiful eye color.”
Tanaka had no clue where she was going with this. “Thanks.”
The two stared at each other for awhile, and Tanaka could feel himself forming a bond with Idola…
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Tanaka,” Idola said, giving a single wave to the male before making her way out of the classroom.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Yamaguchi said we’re all going to meet up tomorrow.” She hustled out of the club room, probably late for something…or someone. Tanaka didn’t really want to know.
The teenager made his way out of the room as well, wondering if Yamaguchi was growing impatient—
“Secrets, huh?”
Roku’s abrupt voice made Tanaka shudder, almost giving the youth a heart attack. Tanaka only stared at the teacher, unsure what to say or do.
“What a traditional compromise. An eye for an eye.”
“Were you…spying on us?” Tanaka grew uncomfortable.
“Spying? I’d say more like eavesdropping.”
“That’s still just as bad…” Tanaka shook his head.
He shrugged. “It’s my duty as the club’s supervisor to wait for all members to leave the room before I can go home.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to eavesdrop on my conversations.” Tanaka started to walk away, and Roku only watched the student until he disappeared at the end of the hall.