Persona 5: Definition of Outcast [On Hold]

Entry 7: Ryuji's Awakening

"Why ain't anyone here...?"

Akira and Morgana stood behind Ryuji, his eyes wide as sweat trickled down his face. The trio had made their way down to the cells, where Akira and Ryuji were kept yesterday; quietly taking out Shadows that they came across. The trip barely took five minutes.

So why... Why is there no one here?! Ryuji gritted his teeth, fists rolling up in anger. The cell he stood in front of was empty... And so were all the others.

He spun around and glared at Morgana, barking, "They were here before! Where'd they go?!"

"Quiet down!" Morgana barked back.

Ryuji clicked his tongue and looked around, shortly gasping in realization. "Oh, yeah, there were more of 'em further in!"

Without even a second though, he dashed down the hall, leaving Morgana and Akira. Akira sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked over to Morgana, who was facing the cell they were in front of once again.

Thinking aloud, he muttered, "They might have been transferred already..."

Akira hummed, a cold sweat rolling down his back. He had a feeling that being 'transferred' wasn't exactly a good thing.

"Guys!" Ryuji huffed, running towards his friends. His expression said it all: danger. "I can hear footsteps comin'! Lots of 'em!

Morgana clicking his tongue as he whispered, "It would be a problem if they discovered us now...!"

Akira walked over to the nearest door and pressed his ear against it. Nothing. Looking over to Morgana, he asked, "Can we hide in here? I don't hear anything inside."

Morgana ran up to the door and sniffed it, shortly nodding in approval. Akira nodded back and pulled Ryuji to him, the trio quickly entering the room. Inside looked nothing special—a table with benches connected to it, an overhead hanging lamp with a purple flame above it, and some minor decorative interior was all that was inside. It honestly looked like a medieval break room.

Morgana ran up to the table and stood on top of it, making him chest height to the boys. "The Shadows probably won't come in here."

Ryuji was holding himself up by holding his knees, slowly hobbling over to the bench in front of him. He placed both school bags down on the table with a huff. Since Akira was fighting alongside Morgana, Ryuji was assigned as the bag guy. Despite the name, Akira made sure that Ryuji knew how important the job was, and if he messed up; there would be some displeasure.

Having just ran, Ryuji's breathing was uneven and heavy. "How can... you tell?"

"There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak."

Akira leaned against the wall beside the door, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It's probably a classroom then—one that's out of Kamoshida's field."

"A classroom...?" Ryuji repeated, his eyes widening. He had slowly been trying to wrap his mind around the idea of the castle being an illusion of Kamoshida's heart. While he had a better understanding now in comparison to when they stood at the castle gate, he was still struggling to get a good grip on it. The classroom guess that Akira made, however, seemed to have really made a few dots click.

"Now do you understand?" Morgana asked, noticing Ryuji's expression. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is... Kamoshida's reality?" Ryuji ruffled his hair in annoyance and groaned. "Shit makes no sense at all!"

Akira couldn't help but snort with a grin, quickly hiding it as he avoided Morgana's gaze. For some reason, Ryuji seemed to only understand the situation they were in when Akira tried to explain it. Whenever Morgana tries, it only made him confuses him and all the progress he makes disappears. When the duo first noticed it, Akira made a careless joke of how he seemed to be a better phantom thief teacher than Morgana. Not only was Morgana a bit upset at that remark, Akira was as well. After all, he didn't want any of this.