Sure enough, Devon returned on Monday, as healthy as ever. Healthier, in fact. The day didn’t seem to wear him down like it usually did. After spending three days in a row without his company, Alec wanted to cling to him for the whole day, but quickly found he wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. There was a spring in his step; the type gained from a whole weekend of good, well needed sleep.
Though the day didn’t seem to have an effect on him, the other students certainly did. In class, they stared at him, muttering about what happened on Friday. Devon shrank into his seat with every new voice talking about him, trying to hide in his hoodie, but to no avail. The halls were easier on him, most not knowing him to be the boy who collapsed, or recognising him as the one who stood in Sunset’s path. As far as any of them were concerned, the one responsible was still at home, sick from the Sunset Curse.
But of course, the first lesson of the day had to be in the class he had collapsed in. With him back so quickly, everyone wondered what had happened those few mornings ago, though they were all content to ask themselves rather than asking Devon himself. Knowing him, Alec knew he would have preferred it that way anyway, but that didn’t make it better.
Alec had his own questions to be sure, but despite his efforts, Devon wouldn’t answer them. “Not until after school,” he would say. Alec’s patience wavered; at first he felt like he could wait until the next day, if needed, but by the last hour he was annoyed by how slowly the clock ticked. Tick tock, the hands crawled their way to the next minute, the next hour, the next class. Every look made the end of the day seem so much further away than the last.
Even when school ended, Devon insisted on finding somewhere where they could be alone. Alec suggested their usual hideout, but annoyingly and confusingly, Devon said it had to be just outside of school.
Alec brought him to behind the school. “Will this place do?” Alec asked, trying to hide his annoyance.
Devon looked around. Alec could hear the other students in front of the school, but behind it, there was no-one in sight. “I think so. Yes, this should do.”
Alec let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, and his frustrations left with it. “Thank you. So, what happened on Friday?”
Devon brought his phone out, showing it to Alec. “Do you see this?”
Alec was about to answer sarcastically, but then saw something odd. “It’s an app,” he said. It was a weird looking app – a red and black eye that exploded onto the screen – but, “what does that have to do with anything?”
Devon paused for a moment before answering. “Yesterday, something unbelievable happened. Something that couldn’t have happened. Everything I know about the world tells me it can’t have been real, but everything in my head and heart tells me it was. All I know is that this app is the one clue I have.”
Alec didn’t know what to say in response. “You said it involved Sunset.”
Devon winced at the mention of her name. “Yeah, she was a big part of it.”
Alec felt a bit guilty for bringing her up. “What happened? What did she do?”
“If this doesn’t work, I’ll explain everything I dreamt,” Devon said. “But give me a chance to try to show you first.”
Alec sighed. He couldn’t find it in himself to say no. “Sure. Go ahead.”
Devon smiled. He held his phone out, took a deep breath, and said clearly, “Sunset Shimmer.”
“Candidate found,” the phone responded.
The two jumped, and Devon’s breathing quickened. He continued. “Canterlot.”
“Candidate found.”
“Kingdom.”
“Beginning navigation.”
Alec suddenly felt lightheaded, having to shake his head and rub his eyes to get rid of the feeling. As he opened his eyes and blinked away the blur, he heard Devon say, “It worked. Do you see that, Alec?” as he pointed to the school.
“See what?” he asked, turning his head to the school, or where the school should have been. Instead of his school’s purple walls, he faced a castle painted white and gold. Yet despite the bright colours, it seemed dim, tinted violet. He looked for the cause and saw the entire sky was filled with dark purple clouds, some almost pink with light while others a deep, dark violet. They reminded him of how small and frail he was.
“What the hell,” was all he could say under his breath.
“It’s real,” he heard Devon say. “It’s real!” he shouted to the heavens. “It’s real,” he said one more time, breathless.
Alec turned to face him, and his words were caught in his throat at the sight of his new costume. “What’s up with you?” he asked. “When did you change clothes? And what are you even wearing?”
Devon looked over himself. “So I did keep it,” he mumbled. But before he could say more, he was interrupted by a voice that came out of nowhere.
“So, this is your friend?” A cat jumped down in front of the two and stood on two legs. It looked Alec up and down. “Do you have any others?” it asked. Alec had no idea what it was talking about, but for some reason felt offended.
“Even if there were others, he’s the only one I’d care to bring,” Devon answered.
“Ah well. We’ll see how he does,” the cat said. Once again, Alec couldn’t help but feel offended, but looking at the talking cat, there was a much more pressing feeling in his mind.
“Who… what… who… wha… wh-who or what is this?” he somehow managed to get out.
“Ah, sorry. This is…” Devon paused. “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”
“‘Finally he asks,” the cat said. “I’m Fahran.”
Alec heard the name, but couldn’t help but concentrate on something else. “How are you talking to him like that? It took two years for you to be comfortable enough to speak like that with me, and you only met him once three days ago.”
Devon blinked. “I don’t know. A lot happened that day, and he was the first thing not trying to break me. And I guess I don’t really see him like a person, given, well, you know.”
“That’s right. I’m not a person; I’m a cat!” Fahran said. “Everyone can talk to a cat.”
Alec had no choice but to accept his answer. “Okay, second question: what is this place?”
Devon and Fahran explained what the place was, how Sunset was involved and what had happened on that day. Though Fahran did more of the explaining while Devon added anecdotes of his experience learning about the world the hard way.
Alec felt a shiver run down his spine. “This is Sunset’s heart?”
“That’s the simple way of putting it,” Fahran said. “Technically called it’s the Metaverse; an alternate world to yours that’s affected by people’s hearts, desires and worldview. This Palace is just one branch made by Sunset, because her heart’s become so distorted.” Alec didn’t know what he was saying, so he just went with “Sunset’s heart.”
They then explained Devon’s outfit, and what a “Persona” was. Devon explained how he got them, and Fahran explained what they were. “The power of rebellion,” he described it as; one that could only be taken by those willing to stand up to the powerful.
“It’s in my mask,” Devon said. “I can feel it in there, waiting to wake up.”
Alec turned to Fahran. “And what about you? Do you have one?”
“Of course I do!” he said. He spread his legs, threw his arm out and yelled, “come, Uriel!” His scarf disappeared, and a figure appeared next to him in a blaze of bright blue flame. It was a blue angel in crimson armour, wearing a white tabard with gold trim and holding a longsword, with red metal running down the middle.
“It takes a lot to use them, though,” he continued. Uriel disappeared, blown out in the wind, and Fahran’s scarf returned around his neck. “It’s far better to sneak around than to crush everything in your way, or you’ll end up like Devon was in no time at all.”
Alec nodded. He thought he understood, and what he didn’t he likely wouldn’t much more easily. Devon then spoke up. “So here’s my question: how can we use this place to take down Sunset?” Alec looked at him wide-eyed. “How do we destroy this place?”
Fahran grinned. “It’s simple: we steal her desires. They’re the root cause of all this, so if we remove them, the whole place will fall in on itself.” He looked up at Devon and Alec, his eyes wide and sparkling.
Devon turned to look Alec face to face, a pleading expression in his eyes. “Do you want to help?” It was obvious what he meant, and it wasn’t a question. Alec wasn’t sure what to think. He liked the idea of taking down Sunset, and in the past he thought he’d be all for it, but he remembered how he described the Palace, and the state he had left in a few days ago. Sure, he ended up returning to the real world, but managing to escape once doesn’t mean you’ll manage again.
In particular, he wasn’t sure if he could achieve this power, the power of “Persona.” And the situation Devon had described before getting it, he didn’t particularly want to go through himself. He was about to express his doubts, but Devon kept looking at him. His eyes usually spoke louder – they always did – and they always quieted Alec when he wouldn’t say yes. In the end, he had no choice but to agree.
Devon almost squealed, and Fahran grinned. “Thank you,” he said. “Shall we head in, then?” Alec and Devon nodded, Alec more reluctantly than Devon, and the two started to walk towards the castle doors, but they were interrupted by Fahran. “What are you two doing? We’re Phantom Thieves now! We don’t simply walk through the front door!”
“Well, how do we get in, then?” Devon asked.
Fahran pointed to a conveniently open window; the opening was large enough to squeeze through if you really meant to. Fahran hopped through first, then Devon waited for Alec to follow.
Before he went in, Alec took one last look at the castle from the outside. “I never thought Sunset’s heart could look so beautiful,” he said.
“It gets ugly when you’re inside, don’t worry,” Devon reassured. “It’s just like her in a way: beautiful until you see the true demon inside.” Alec almost felt like teasing him for the comment, but knew better.