Chapter 10

Me: I'M NOT PERVERTED! YOU'RE NOT...YOU'RE NOT ME!

Shadow Self: AHAHAHAAA!!! You're right...I'm NOT you! Not anymore at least! I'm my own self! I am a Shadow, of your TRUE inner self!

Yu: ! Kanji! You ready?

Kanji: Let's kick some ass!

My shadow's form starts to flicker, and I shudder in fear. The monster that claimed she was me starts to cackle, and he form turns to a despicable, mangled being. Her body is mixed with the bodies of what look like...Yu...

Shadow Self: You're such a foolish girl...Thinking you could ever gain love from this stupid, stupid boy. All he cares about is solving cases, and that's it. He doesn't have time for love...

She looks at me with a mangled smile on her face. My mouth gapes up at her, mystified and also horrified. The screens flicker spastically behind her, and they show the inner thoughts in my head. Yu is on top of me, and they flicker to a different scene. I blush with rage. I ball my fists.

Me: You BITCH! Why the hell would you choose to do this now!? In front of him...?

I start to break down. My dignity is absolutely ruined.

Old Friend On Screen: So, I was thinking. What if that anime character you liked was real?

Me On Screen: I'd find him and rape him probably.

I can hear Yu yelling various insults at the monster. Kanji stands behind him, his eyebrows furrowed, teeth grit. I look at Yu in embarrassment. He's busy summoning various Personas. He's obviously trying to ignore what she's saying on the screen. SHE is ME, and I can't deny what she says. I can't bring myself to say so. 

Shadow Self: Oh, come on! Admit it to him! Do it! You know what you want, and you want HIM. We know this, don't we...?

Me: No...That's not me...

I plant my head into my hands, and curl into a ball. I start to cry. The fact of reality is that what she says is the truth. I'm gasping for air. I can hear Yu moving closer, and I don't look up. I hear something large fall over. I clench my eyes closed.

Yu: Sasha.

Me: Leave me alone...

Yu: No.

Me: Go away, Yu!

Shadow Self: Yes, go away, Yu. I'm only playing hard to get just to get inside your head. I only taunt you like I do to tell you how much I want you.

I look up at her in fear. The screen flickers to us at Aiya. I hear myself talking to Yu.

Me on Screen: Thank you, Yu. For helping me get over them...Being gone. I think...You're pretty amazing.

Shadow Self: Aww, such a heartfelt moment. Too bad you can't hear how much he's been thinking about what you said.

Yu blushes tomato red. I feel my face go hot. The truth is, I WANT to hear how much he thinks of me.

Shadow Self: Ah...So you do...Eh? Well then, here you are...Darling...

The monster creeps closer to me, and I try squirm away. I cry out when she grabs me with her massive hands. She speaks some kind of foreign language, and squeezes me. She cackles a laugh that sounds like sandpaper. I scream. It feels like my skull is splitting open. I frantically try to escape her grasp, but she only squeezes me harder. I clench my eyes closed, preparing myself for the pain and release of suffocation. Then, I hear a sickening, shank! I open my eyes. I'm out of the monster's grasp. 

I fall down to my knees. I clench at my throat. My breath has been sucked out of me. Yu stands over me. He has a rock-hard expression on his face, near impossible to read. But, I can tell, he's scared. I don't know how I know, I can just tell he thought I was going to die.

The monster howls in pain, it's whole hand has been sliced from it's appendage. As it clenches the massive wound, Yu runs at it. I don't see Kanji anywhere. Yu runs at the monster with his long sword drawn at it's full length, and stabs it directly in the heart. The monster howls in defeat.

Shadow Self: It's...Not...Over Yet. I won't...Die...Yet. 

She gasps for air. She rips out one of the limp bodies that look like Yu from her skin, and howls in pain. She devours it. Immediately, she gets up from the ground, onto her knees.

Shadow Self: The girl...She will die before me...

Yu: Not while I'm alive.

Shadow Self: That's sweet...Too bad...you won't live another day...Either.

She rips another limp body from her mangled side, and sticks it in her mouth. It breaks into shards. She get's up slowly to her full height.

Shadow Self: I am the ultimate. I am The End. I am The Beginning. SHE is nothing. She can never gain love. She's an obsessed otaku, who craves your touch. She's a pathetic lifeless human who DESERVES to be without your love.

Me: No...that's not true...It's...Not...

Yu: Sasha. It's okay.

He manages a smile. I wipe my eyes and stand up. I look at the monster. It's form is flickering, and I can tell that whatever powers helped it get up are fading. It's strength is wavering. It's swaying. One direct blow will put it down for good.

Me: What...Was I afraid of...? I'm not the kind of girl to EVER be afraid...I'm more than that. You're right Yu. It's alright. It never wasn't alright. 

I smile. My courage and strength are returning. I can tell.

Shadow Self: NO! I WON'T BE BEATEN BY TWO CHILDREN!

Me: We are NOT children. No matter what you say, I can't change facts. 

I walk slowly towards the monster. It tumbles to the ground. It howls.

Shadow Self: NO!

It's form is like simple pixels, and the pixels are flickering in and out of place. I give Yu a look that tells him, Go. Yu slashes his sword directly through the monster, and the pixels break away. What's remains is the body of my Shadow. I look her directly in the eye.

Me: You're absolutely right. I may be obsessed. He can take it any way he wants. After everything, yes. It is something like love. But I don't need to explain it to you. After all, you can tell what I'm about to say, correct? 

She nods weakly.

Me: You are me...And I am you. You're the part of me that I felt needed to be hidden. The truth is, it never was! Thank you.

She closes her eyes. She starts to glow. Her form slowly rises, and she becomes a Persona...Tears fill my eyes. The card slowly falls into my hand. She is my Persona. I am the Aeon. I fall to my knees. A tear drips to the ground.

Me: My...Persona...

The doors open, and Kanji reappears alongside the rest of the gang. I stand up and wipe my eyes. 

Me: Guys, I want...To help you. This...This means that what happened with you guys the first time is happening again...

The gang gives me a confused look, and Yu looks at me with a grave expression.  It's also mixed with embarrassment of the worst kind. He knows my secret now. I can't believe it, but it's true. My paradise turned into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.