Wild Cards [AkiraxAkechi P5]

Chapter Eleven

    Makoto, Haru, and Futaba came to Leblanc in time to find Yusuke comforting Akira as he vomited blood into the toilet. Naturally, this got everybody to panic and worry.

   "Should we call the hospital?!" Haru was saying. "I think we should call the hospital!"

   "Did you guys see that stuff going in his face?! It might've been a ghost!!" Ryuji cried.

   "What about the Palace he mentioned?! His Palace!?" Ann exclaimed.

    Futaba hurried to Akira's side as he finished his little fit. Akira laid against Yusuke now, panting heavily and sobbing.

   "I-Is he ok? Will he be alright?" the young girl stuttered.

   "Don't worry. We'll figure this out," Yusuke raised his voice a little, "maybe without yelling like mindless animals!!"

Everyone silenced themselves then. Makoto took a breath and spoke up.

"Yusuke's right. This is no way to figure things out. Is Akira ok to talk...?"

Yusuke rubbed the poor boy's shoulder a little to get his attention. With another shaky breath, Akira rubbed his eyes and pushed himself to sit up.

"I... I'm ok, I'm just... really lightheaded..." he said, in a raspy voice.

"I'll get you some water," Futaba got up and went in the kitchen part of Leblanc. Everyone else went to sit at a table, Yusuke and Ann assisted Akira in standing.

"Now that we're settled," Morgana started, "Akira, has anything like this ever happened before?"

"Ah... not that I remember..."

"Did you see something in your sleep?" Ann asked.

Akira frowned for a moment. Futaba brought him his water and he took a second to drink from it before answering.

"It was the same as every night... I was playing around with Arsene... then some weird thing appeared in the sky and started fucking with my head... and I woke up."

   Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

   "Back up... Arsene as in your Persona?" Ryuji said.

   "Yeah...?" Akira nodded.

   "And you see him every night in your sleep?" Makoto asked.

   "Yeah, on my island Palace." Akira took another sip from his water, "What, is that not normal?"

   "... No!" Morgana cried.

   "Wait, I'm so confused... I thought you can't have a Palace when you've got a Persona?" Ann frowned.

   "That's how it's supposed to be! I-I think at least..."

   "But Akira's got a bunch of Personas so maybe it's different?" Futaba guessed.

   "No, no! It's not possible! It's probably just weird dreams or something, a Persona user can't have a Palace." Morgana said, firmly.

   Akira raised an eyebrow.

   "Uhh, no...? Arsene said it's normal. Look, see. How else would he leave me all these dumb poems?"

He rolled up his right sleeve to show the lines of poems Arsene left on his arms. Haru took his arm to read them while Morgana started to have an existential crisis.

"Ok... maybe this is true..." Yusuke said quietly to himself.

"But, when you woke up you said they were destroying your Palace. Who's they?" Ann said.