Chapter Text
Chapter 12 – Caged
The figure vanished, and there wasn’t any noise for a second. Then, a shaking, like an earthquake beneath the castle. We spread our guard, but nothing happened, save for the snap of a metal chain.
“Yukiko!”
The cage fell, and both it and Yukiko came tumbling down the steps. A croak had broken the barred door off its hinges.
“Are you…?” Teddie asked.
We were all by her side, looking down, but she was still as a rock. Then, a small shiver ran through her limp body. She put her head down, submerging it into the carpet, almost as if to put pressure on her skull.
“…I’m okay.”
Her words were almost each their own chirps. Slowly, she stood up.
“…You sure?” asked Chie. “That was a pretty bad‑”
“Yeah.”
She staggered a bit. Chie reached to hold her, but she’d stumbled in a way such that she swerved out of the hand.
“We might want to save questioning for later,” Yu said. “We don’t know when other Shadows might appear again.”
“…So this place is still dangerous?” Yukiko asked.
“…Yeah,” replied Yosuke.
Yukiko bent down. She grasped a red-jeweled scepter at her feet, which had dropped when her Shadow disappeared.
“Well, I’m ready to fight if necessary,” she said. “I do want to get to the bottom of this, especially considering I got kidnapped myself.”
“We’ll talk more about it on the other side,” Yu said. “Teddie.”
“On it, Sensei.”
Once again, Teddie was leading us. We made our way to the massive oak door, a different etching of a flying bird on this side. The smoke smelled faint on the way down.
At least, that was how it was supposed to go.
All I could see was the fallen cage, and dents on the handle and platform criss-crossed all over. It was like looking at a leopard’s spots.
“Hey, still alive there?” Yosuke asked. “If you don’t wanna get left behind, you should follow the group.”
The others were barely a couple feet away, although their voices sounded as if they were over the horizon. Red in the room suddenly brightened.
(“They don’t know how it feels…”)
My throat thumped on all sides. Sweat steamed in the air.
(“What it means, fighting every day just to glimpse the next… To survive on the vestige of what your mind hides.”)
(“A darkness beyond any Shadow, that cloaks a demon with a soundless voice…”)
A dull pang took over my head. I saw mist in my breaths.
(“…No. No more.”)
I veered my head. Yukiko, like everyone else, was staring at me, but at the very back relative to the door. Her kimono greyed with ash.
“Yukiko.”
“…what is it, Kazuma-kun?”
“When a story starts in the middle of the plot… what’s the term for that?”
Her eyes widened in confusion.
“…’In medias res’, I’m sure.”
I nodded, “Yeah. That’s it.”
Needles were poking at every inch of my skin, from the inside. It cut in, almost to bursting, like they were ready to splatter my internal organs all over the marble. It took everything I had just to not imagine my arm covered in iron nails.
(“I am thou… Thou art I… From the sea, I shall tear open the limits of the sky.”)
Words that weren’t mine were spoken in my head. I closed my eyes.
(“The mask thee hath chosen – thou art a paradox of thine own making. Forged in warfare and split in two; until both halves reconcile, know there is only battle to be had.”)
“…I understand.”
(“Then, call upon my name! Relinquish thy shields over thy heart! Seize thy truth!”)
Then I opened them again.
A card had flown down from somewhere, shining with a peaceful light. I reached my hand out.
“Hey, what do you…!?”
“Don't fail me now…” I whispered. “Kotoshironushi!”
The paper crumpled in my fist. Every bone, every joint, seeped by an amazing rush. It penetrated its way from my chest, bubbling in my lungs all the way to my limbs. I could feel prospering energy bouncing back and forth between each individual muscle. It was euphoric. It felt like I was flying. Azure flames turned to shapes, and shapes turned to silhouettes of ribbons that unraveled at my feet.
The many eyes of my Persona glowed. A blue screen alit in my hand, a set of flying bright papers that flew about. A wall of translucence built a full circle, cutting right behind Yukiko’s and my feet.
“Sorry, Yukiko,” I said. “But you’re not getting out of here in the state you’re in right now. Not unless I’m here.”
“Kazuma, bring this the hell down!” Yosuke shouted.
They were slamming at the walls. Their Personas were summoned too, attacks in unison with their physical ones. White cracks began slithering en masse. But Yukiko didn’t falter.
“The first time we met… I wanted you to call me by my first name. Then, you added to remove the honorifics at the end.”
“…You never went with that either way,” I said.
“But you pressed on, because you figured it out, didn't you? You knew I didn’t like my last name,” she said. “And yet, after you knowing, you still chose… to do nothing.”
My lips were cracking. I tried to wet them, but they still felt like biscuits.
“Then what do you choose to do now?” I said. “…Amagi.”
Thudding had gone from behind Yukiko, to surrounding us altogether. Her head was down, and her hands were raising to it.
“…Come, Persona.”
Another burst of light boomed into the fray. Crimson flames circled Yukiko’s body, her head raised with golden irises. The flames built a titan of a figure, bleeding in with that same red. Arms spread out with fake scarlet feathers attached to the arms, the mask on it speechless. In the wind, like a butterfly within a storm, Yukiko’s kimono fluttered. The flowery patterns peeled off in the aura, fabric of pink growing hotter.
“…Let's see, then.”
The first thing I saw was inferno, then ash. I leapt out of the way, my jaw colliding with the bottom steps. From a corner of sight, she sprinted, a dagger shimmering. I rolled away, and clutched something metal. The door of the cage clanged with the knife, sparks dusting off the bars.
“Yukiko, stop!” Yu shouted.
It didn’t take much to push her out with the door. She staggered back a few feet. Even so, I’d yelled. One look at my arm, and I could tell it was halfway cooked. My breathing was hoarse, a toxic scent emanating from the searing floor enveloping my nose. Yukiko was coughing.
“You done venting air yet?”
Cracks were climbing on the shields, that had turned the same shade of red as her. Overlaid her flushed cheeks, however, were cyan streams.
“The irony isn’t lost on me, you know,” she said. “A cage I could’ve opened the entire time, like I don’t understand that. But I couldn’t…”
“So you’d take it out on everyone else!?” I yelled. “Look. You’re angry now, but when it fades… when that fire is smothered out, what will you have in the end?”
“Shut up!”
She launched forward. I heard the sound of shattering glass, and white crystals of light floating until gravity took them over. My Persona’s eyes dimmed. I readied my arm.
There was a scraping, like the sound of flint on steel. Except there were more cracking, and less of a simple slide, as the blade stopped halfway. Yukiko’s dagger had sunk into ice.
“…You need to stop this.”
Above me stood Chie, holding a staff of ice to Yukiko’s weapon. Her hands had thrned bleach white.
“…Just step back,” said Yukiko.
“You said it yourself: We’ve been friends since forever,” Chie said. “In all that history, when the hell have I ever stepped back!?”
With a shove, Yukiko was thrown off. The both of them traded blows, between staff and blade. Then, a fracture that cut the air. Yukiko bisected the staff. Chie leapt backwards, twirling both ends, and continued holding the onslaught with two batons. From afar, eddies of green swirl in Jiraiya’s arms. The wind caught inferno in its current, dispersing both into smoke that shaped into curls. Chie’s hands were turning pale blue.
“This isn’t a good match-up.”
“Quiet,” Chie said.
“Your Persona’s weak to fire, hers to ice,” I said in her head. “And if you’re not planning on fighting seriously‑!”
“Nobody is!” she shouted. “She’ll get past this… She will!”
Another clash between steel and ice, a rugged ding. Water dripped into both their arms. No one was coming in to help Chie, at least in the physical fight. The others stayed on the backlines; Yu kept a tight grip on a thrashing Teddie.
“Sandman!”
It was a dwarf of a Persona that appeared in front of Yu. A red shape that wore a silver, crescent helmet, lugging a sack on its back. Its reflective arms reached in and out, spraying sparkling sand onto Yukiko. She looked around, as if she’d forgotten where she was.
“Yukiko…” Chie said. “Snap out of it…”
Her posture straightened, head bowed. The smoke cleared for a moment. Then, her body snapped to the sky like a coiling snake, and she screamed. The cage moved on its own, the chalices on pedestals tumbling down. Jets of fire crystallized from the fake wings, a ring of red that clouded my glasses with ash.
Chie yelped, as flakes of cinder washed onto Tomoe. Brass armor and ribbons surrounded with static, like a parasite that spread, draining her Persona. She fell on the ground.
“Chie!” Yosuke shouted.
“No!” she put a fist up. “I said don’t!”
But they weren’t listening anymore. Yu and Yosuke were already running into with their weapons, leaping over the fire. Yukiko was rushing in, aiming for Chie’s batons.
Everything stopped, like a freeze frame in the middle of a scene. The eyes of my Persona lit again.
(“…fuck.”)
A translucent wall stopped the boys’ traversal. Their bodies collided. They yelled. At the same time, Chie was on her knees, below a Yukiko ready to bring her weapon down. Slams heard from fist to shield, from dagger to batons.
“I hated it! Every second of being in that god-forsaken inn! Watering those ferns every hour, cleaning from corner to corner, bearing all the inappropriate comments from men who were too drunk from saké to even walk!”
The ice sprinkled onto Chie’s face with every hit, while she winked out the frost in her eyes. She grunted with every blow, her hands now fully blue.
“And what I get… are expectations upon expectations. From everyone. From you,” she said. “I just needed someone to tell me I didn't need to be me! Was there any fault in that!?”
Chie’s defense turned to nothing but bits. The tip of the knife was inches above her nose. Yukiko’s hand shook. Her face streaked with tears, that evaporated in the heat, and left only tracks down to her chin. Her grip loosened, her knees fell. Both irises returned to a shade of ebony black.
“…of course I couldn’t tell you that…”
Chie broke the silence. My shields lowered, and as I thought, nobody would move. Tomoe vanished as well.
“I was jealous of you, you know…” she said. “Every adult looking at you with such fondness in their eyes, like you were the pride of the town. All the guys falling all over themselves for you, your general smartness and prettiness. I… I wanted every bit of that.”
Yukiko’s head raised a few centimeters. Chie’s voice was gradually breaking.
“…So, I tried to be you. Well, I pretended. And I think the whole world knows how that went.” She chuckled. “Which is when I thought: Maybe the attention would go to me if I stayed close. So I did that. And… that was why I couldn’t ever let you change. And I’m… I’m sorry for that.”
She took a deep breath, in and out. A few moments of silence went by as wind blew hair in front of Yukiko’s eyes. There was a smile.
“I know you’ve been pretty busy lately, but he’s grown up a ton, you know. And he misses you,” she said. “He’s gonna be ecstatic when you come over again.”
Yukiko’s frame started quivering. She was heaving in and out. Until eventually, she lost all energy to support herself, and her torso bent forwards. Chie caught her in both arms, as Yukiko sobbed into her sleeves.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I didn't mean to…”
“Shh, shh…” Chie said. “It’s okay. It’s all okay…”
A new sea of blue had taken over the floor. From it, like phoenix from the ashes, hovered a figure behind Yukiko. A stunning titan, in flowing white dress, feathers of red attached to both arms. It looked up to the sky with a gaze hidden in its visor, as if ready to soar without regard for cost.
(“Spread your wings, and take flight… Konohana Sakuya.”)
It went away, leaving the only noise there weeps, and consoling pats on the back. The rest of us merely watched.
About five minutes later, only then did Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie approach the two girls. Neither of them had gotten up off the floor.
“…You feeling better?” Yosuke asked.
“…Yes. I am.”
Yukiko took a deep sigh, and looked up to us.
“You all… really came to save me?”
“Of course we did,” said Yu.
“And even so, I…”
She broke off partway.
“…I couldn’t thank any of you enough. Nor apologize enough, for that matter.”
“…There’s no need to worry,” Yu said. “Besides, Yosuke and I didn’t really do any work at all.”
“Yeah,” Yosuke said. “Truly, girl on girl action saves the day once again.”
“Ha, ha,” Chie said. “If I wasn’t gonna drop dead at any moment, I’d totally kick your butt to the curb.”
Squeaks approached the group, pushing in between.
“So, uh… who put you in, then?” Teddie said.
“…I’m not sure. It’s all so… fuzzy,” Yukiko said. “And I’ve been meaning to ask, but… who are you, exactly?”
“I’m Teddie. I feel like I’ve said that about four times now.”
“He’s… from here,” Chie said.
“…So he isn’t human?”
Yukiko reached out, stroking Teddie’s fur. The latter tilted his head up and down in sync with the movements, smiling lips curled into a crescent moon.
“He’s… rather soft.”
“…I think I might’ve just gotten a special invitation to the harem too,” he said.
Chie suddenly pushed Yukiko’s hand out of its grip.
“…Can we, uh…” she said. “…Can we leave?”
“…Sure,” Yukiko said.
“H‑Hey!” Teddie shrieked. “What's with the sudden mood change!?”
“…My guy has finally grown into a real boy.” Yosuke smirked.
“Oh my god, you’re the worst!” Chie shouted. “Seriously, how the hell does he even know a word like that!?”
“Why are you asking me!? It was her Shadow!”
“He literally just met her, and he’s saying stuff like that!”
The both of them continued squabbling at the front, pushing a confused Teddie ahead of them. The candles within the chambers had fires still, not moved even by our passing currents.
“…You’ve been quiet, Kazuma-kun.”
Yukiko was next to Yu, who looked back as well.
“I don’t really have anything else to say.”
“Is that right?” she asked. “Then… I would like to say thank you. For not leaving me as I was back there.”
“…Yeah, no problem.”
Yukiko glanced at me, and wore a smirk.
“…I’ll beat you next time.”
My eyes widened. For a moment, I took it in; her skin that wasn’t sallow anymore, and finally blood flowing through.
“…We’ll see.” I smiled.
We went on walking, down floors, past chandeliers that no longer swayed. In that time, Yu was still staring at me.
“…Anything you wanna add?”
“…I’ll save it for later,” he said.
Eventually, they said their byes to Teddie, and we strolled upon the scent of fresh air conditioning once more, mutters of families and couples mostly window shopping. We said goodbyes, and though it was hidden, their sights to me seemed somewhat strained. Still, Yu volunteered to pull me aside.
“…Spill it.”
“You did good today.”
We were by a mochi stand around west of the food court. Crowds were starting to pour in for dinner.
“…That’s what the suspense was for?”
“I mean it,” Yu said. “You did a lot more than save Yukiko’s life. Yosuke and Chie know that too, they just… haven’t said it out loud.”
“Presuming you know what people are thinking is arrogance in its basest form.”
“…And none whatsoever when you yelled out their supposed motives to their faces?”
I didn’t make a response.
“Like I mentioned, I mean it,” Yu went on. “But that isn’t really my point. Yukiko is likely going to join us to find out who kidnapped her, and she has a Persona too. So by association‑”
“I get it,” I said. “I’ll help.”
He turned his head, curiously.
“…well, that went a lot smoother than I thought.”
“You’ve heard my Shadow. You know my reasons.”
“…On the contrary,” Yu said. “I don’t think I actually do.”
His expression was blank, as solid as diamond, and as immutable as such. His smile didn’t falter.
“Come to think of it, there has been something else on my mind,” I said. “It’s how you all got in in the first place.”
“About that…”
“Let me finish,” I said. “There’s also the fact that… you can use multiple Personas.”
Yu stayed silent. Still, his expression didn’t change.
“…The others aren’t stupid, they clearly had to have noticed. Which means… they just don’t mind,” I went on. “And that only happens if they have something already weird to leap off of.”
I stared him straight in the eyes, “You were the one who brought them in to begin with. You have the same ability the killer has; being able to bring things in without entering first.”
He smiled a little wider.
“Not bad,” he said. “But there’s something you missed, though.”
“…what?”
“I didn’t actually need to face my Shadow to get my Persona… or however many of them.”
I almost lurched back on instinct. I tried to keep my jaw as closed as I could manage.
“Believe me, I’m not sure why either,” Yu said. “My power to use multiple Personas… apparently that’s just something a few people are simply capable of. I think it’s the same for the TV, and I guess my Shadow, too.”
“…You ‘think’?”
He stepped up, hair on his forehead flittering in the breeze.
“Either way,” he said. “Why don’t we shake on it?”
I looked down, and saw an extended hand. Then I stared back up again, view growing hazy.
“I’m gonna get back to my room, and take a very long nap, and eat a very, very late dinner.”
“…fair.” Yu retracted his hand. “Good day then.”
I waved to him behind my back, hurrying my paces and speeding straight to the hostel. Dewy air misted into flimsy clouds at the road. For once, I wasn't gonna bother with the news; my muscles were straining with pain. My head hurt, eyes getting heavier. At the same time, I couldn't help but think to myself:
(“I guess… I guess that wasn't really so bad.”)
The ill-defined spots on the ceiling flickered like stars in the night sky. The minutes were going, slowly creeping in. Hushed draft breathed in from outside, zipping onto my cheek. I finally slept.