Persona - Mask of Origins

Zain stared at the ground as Orphan hissed in his ear, "Why can't you jussst tell her the truth."

"I'd rather you had not seen that thing. It's been following me ever since I started to leave the orphanage at night."

 

"Why was it following you?"

 

He touched his earring, "Because...they think I'm one of them." he touched his purple hair, "Lady Shiv isn't your ordinary orphanage house woman. She...injected me with a series of dark fluids. Before I knew it my hair and eyes had turned purple. You're better off not being near me." Orphan licked his wounds and they closed.

 

"I've lived my life in danger ever since I got my persona. You think something like this is gonna scare me?"

 

He looked up at her and snarled, "You should be afraid of me!" He lowered his voice and closed his eyes, "Look at me, Yuki. I'm not even human anymore. Orphan isn't your normal persona. He doesn't even like me." Orphan hissed, "Don't sssspread liesssss boy."

 

"So? I don't care if you're not human. You're too kind to be a monster."

 

Zain laughed, "You shouldn't...just because I don't look like a monster doesn't mean I can't. He remembered the day he destroyed the orphanage and dropped to his knees, "I can't go back there. Toya, everone that lives there. I couldn't lead those things to them. Please Yuki, just let me stay here where I belong."

 

"If you're not going back, then I'm not going either. Besides, I have a harder time sleeping there than I do at home."

 

Zain stood, "N-no, I mean let me stay outside. If only for a little longer." His unnatural hearing listened and picked up the other shadows. "Please, go inside Yuki. And don't come back out. Let me come in, but don't you dare open that door."

 

Yuki sighed.

"Fine, but don't do anything stupid. You come back to me in one piece." She said before going inside.

 

Zain waited until he heard the door shut to lift his head and grinned into the darkness, "You all willing to fight me fairly or is this gonna become a cheaters blood bath?" The shadows lumbered out of the darkness, their horribly mutated forms reaching for him and he sighed, "Alright then. At least you're cooperating better this time." They threw themselves at him and his lance cut through them. His laughter at the fight woke neighbors.

 

Yuki turned the tv on and turned it up loudly to cover the noise.

 

Zain's fight grew silent. Zain crouched on the ground panting. "That was fun, huh Orphan?" Orphan hissed/sighed and curled within him. "You think we should go inside like this?" He looked down at his clothes, they were ripped and bloodied. "Hmm, might as well." He stood and felt something in his back, turning quickly he saw a shadow stab a spine of sorts into his back. The spine drained of color into him and he felt a burning sensation start within him. Falling onto the ground, face first the shadow licked Zain's blood and ran away.

 

Yuki muted the tv and peeked out the door to see what was going on. She dragged Zane inside.

 

Zain's sightless eyes stared at nothing and Orphan slithered away from him speaking to Lucifer, "I suggessst removing that sssspine as carefully as you can. It lookssssss to me that they injected him again with their daily dossse of shadow."

 

Yuki summoned Lucifer and he began to extract the spine.

 

Zain jerked and screamed bloody murder.

Orphan covered his tiny ears with his body and hissed, "I ssssaid carefully!"

 

Lucifer worked more carefully.

 

Zain's breath came in short pants and the spine slid out of him. It was extremely long compared to how small the shadow was that had stabbed him.

Orphan licked the other wounds on him, staying clear of the spine's wound. It oozed black fluid like blood. "Let him bleed it out. It will be necessssary for the healing processsss, Lucifer, if you would do the honorssss of incinerating that sssspine. I'm ssssure Zain hassss had enough trauma for one night."

 

Lucifer nodded and burned the spine.