Child's Play [Hao]

[Deleted]

The park was absolutely beautiful at this time of day. The flowers were the same as before. It was a good day today to take a little stroll here too. The aroma was just pleasant to take in and she could see little kids playing tag with one another. It reminded her of her own childhood which was full of good and bad memories. Even so, she did not wish to remember the bad times that came from the past. The park was a good way to relax and let off steam while she admired the flowers. She had been to the park before and met a few people. They were quite interesting as they had different personalities to reflect how they felt about life. Nonetheless, she sat down at a bench and began reading one of her novels from home. Something about that novel just made her interested about the grand splendor of life.

[Su Hao]

The park was absolutely beautiful at this time of day. Hao enjoyed enticing his senses with the smell (and emotions) of nearby children and parents, walking and playing together like parents usually do. The flowers were particularly wonderful this time of year, and the grass was perfect for setting up a blanket and laying on. Maybe there were a few picnics here and there, as the Shadow could tell from the slight scent of food. Lucky ducks, eating good-tasting food for more than pleasure.

He wasn't here to enjoy the scenery, he was here to practice his 'good boy' persona. Sleeping in a white tent for a few weeks with nothing but the emotions of pedestrians to feast upon was, while sustainable, very very dull. The boy didn't come to this city to sit idly while people suffer and hurt without him around. He wanted to... what did he want to do again? Just have fun? Good enough reason for him~!

But, to do this, he had to act as if he wasn't having fun. That kind of thing has the potential to attract others, who are naturally inclined to, at the very least, attempt to make happy the unhappy. It was a mysterious part of the human unconscious that prompted goodness. Was it, perhaps, the id? Impossible. Or not? Did they give pleasure to other human beings, expecting pleasure in return? Wow. What a brilliant thought.

Behind Isolde's bench, Hao bit his tongue hard and forced a few tears out. In his pain, he began to sob. He rocked back and forth and buried his head into his legs. He had failed to take into account the woman who had seated herself behind him, but the result may as well be the same. Hopefully.

What was to be done after? Hao'll keep up the frontage. How long? He didn't know. So long as someone is hurt in the end.

[Su Hao]

Swish. Clutch. Insert another slang word meaning 'success' here. Though somewhat startled by how immediate of an effect his sobbing had (ow, his tongue), success is still success. He didn't lift his head from his knees yet, not until he was able to hear a voice from whoever had approached him. Hao wondered what this person could look like. Maybe one of the mothers attending their children in the park? Maybe another child (how fun that would be)? Perhaps the craziest of the possibilities was a woman from a royal lineage of some kind. With curiosity nagging at him to look up, he looked up.



It might not be a woman from royal lineage, as far as he knew. But, it was still a woman. Not old enough to be his mother. Old enough to be his sister, perhaps. He focused his moist eyes upon her pretty face, and he re-buried his face on her shoulder this time. Nothing but sobbing was audible from his voice, for he needed to time the moment right. The child had already come up with a story.



A few seconds later, and he finally lifted his face up from the shoulder. Hao cleared his throat and wiped his face with his arm. Then, he spoke: "My mom... my dad.... they're both gone. They went away... and never came back!" He increased the speed of his breathing, teetering towards hyperventilation. The tears were still flowing down his cheeks, but slower now. He tried his best to appear fragile, like he could shrivel up or start bawling harder with the slightest of pressure.

[Deleted]

"Oh my... Well, in that case, I can stay with you if you want. No more tears, honey. It'll be okay." she responded gently as she stroked the boy's hair softly. What kind of parents would do such a thing? It was saddening that those parents of his would even abandon a little boy and leave him alone like this. Although, it was hard to imagine a life where the parents would just disown someone because of something they did. Come to think of it, maybe the boy had some living relatives that he might've had. Or not since he didn't mention anything about his aunts or other members of his family. It seemed that he was more like an orphan, but she figured that he never went to an orphanage before. Even so, she could tell that the boy was scared and lost without his parents. Wherever they were, it was meaningless to try to find them unless they cared about their child at all.

[Su Hao]

Everything seemed to be lining up as intended. He seemed to have the woman's undivided attention, so what was the next step in this plot? Hao had to solidify a few facts: there was no one around that could take care of him, and his 'parents' had to be dead. By doing this, not only would it prompt her not to help him look for them, but it would also bring him nowhere else to go... but an orphanage. Oh, that's the next step. An orphanage, as sustaining as that would be to his hunger for 'pain' and other negative emotion, would restrict his ability to go out and about.

The only other variable would be the woman herself. It would be up to her for the next steps in his plan to appear. While he hated not having absolute control over his own schemings, there were very little logical options that could be selected from this scene of the RPG of life. Limitations, just like an RPG. There are only a few choices in the bubble to select from, but the possibilities ranging from 'illogical' to 'perfectly logical' that weren't in the bubble are infinitesimally larger in number.

"No one to turn to... I don't want to be alone...!"

When you really want something, then that narrows many of those bubble choices down to just a few that would make sense in your situation. Each of them would have a way of advancing you to the next scene with, hopefully, the desired results.

"They left the city limits... I don't know what they were doing..." His voice became a little less unstable now, and his tears were going away. Hao wiped his face with his arm again, and took deep breaths. "It's been a week. Could they be alive?" Carefully, his head eased itself up so his sad eyes could meet her's. There was utter hopelessness radiating from within them. They tried to tell her that it wasn't possible; his parents were dead.

[Deleted]

"Well, I don't know. I think they might have died. If you don't have nowhere to call home, I can take you to an orphanage. If not, you can stay with me." she responded with a smile. It was certain that the boy was making her not look for his parents and to just take him to some orphanage or another place. If he was taken to an orphanage of some sort, his movements would be restricted due to his rather young age. On the other hand, she wasn't sure if she could take care of a child herself. Would that be the best course of action to leave him at the care of the orphanage instead? Well, that was a question that would be answered straight away if she decided to take that path. Otherwise, she would have to care for the boy herself. Most people would think that she would be a little too young to take care of a child, but she knew that she was a young adult. She could make those choices herself without the reminders of her parents since they had died too.

[Su Hao]

"I think... I'd want to stay with you, miss. With the lockdown, I don't think it'd be... uh..."

Wow, she was blunt. "I think they might have died." She reeked with inexperience with kids or social conventions. But, this was very admirable. Hao admired this quality of hers. It'd be very interesting to stay with her, however he could detect the unease within. The best way to approach this would be to offer an incentive. Since he didn't look like he was starving after a week, this particular inducement would work out perfectly. 

"You don't... have to worry much about me, miss.  I've been told that I'm independent. From my mom's side... I guess." If you counted living in a white tent with water and bags of potato chips as being independent, then he's perfect enough to be pictured in the dictionary. "All that I'd need is a place to stay. Other than that, I'll be fine..." He still sounded tremendously sad, but at least there were signs that he was going to be alright. Hao offered the nice lady a short, sweet, and kind smile before he stood up.

"I'm Hao."

[Deleted]

"Nice to meet you, Hao. I'm Isolde. If you're looking for a place to stay, I can take you to my dormitory." she responded with a smile. There was no use in trying to comfort him now that he had felt a little better, so she stood up. She could tell that Hao was such a brave little boy to even live independently without the care of any living relative in his family if he ever had one. She could probably relate to him a little as her parents had died, but she was lucky to have an older brother caring for her and her sister. It had its bad luck as she was sort of stuck with her Social Darwinist grandfather, but she didn't tell Hao that as she wanted to keep it secret for a little while. Independence was an admirable trait of his which would've helped many orphans or children who were abandoned at will. She realized that people would think that it would be a bit strange for a young woman to have a child living at the dorm, but she was prepared for that. There were a lot of strange things in life than a little boy living by himself with no caretakers to care for him.

[Su Hao]

"Isolde..."

Dormitory... she was a student! Why was this woman so... perfect? Students and teens were an amazing source for emotions, and staying in a dorm would ensure that there was a constant food supply. The others were only walls, ceilings, and floors away. It was possible to just sit by a wall and listen in on the strife and stresses of high school life within closed borders. Meanwhile, the main feast, which shall come in time, has already been packaged carefully as of this moment. Soon, he'll possess the power to level this city that he was now trapped in.

...Where was the fun in that though? There were more people to screw with, so maybe he'll do that after her. There was no rush. Besides, it may take a few weeks to truly get to her. Until then, maybe he'll have some fun. Hao'll simply ease everything in so as to not force it. The process of manipulation is like baking: take it out to early, and you'll end up with doughy bread. Putting it back in would make the wait longer than it would have been if you didn't.

Mustering up all the will he could, Hao gave her a brighter smile than before. "I would love that. Thank you! Thank you!" He moved in for another hug, tears of joy dripping down his face this time.

[Deleted]

"You're welcome, Hao. Although some of the students here will give me strange looks, I don't mind in the slightest. I do hope the orphanage doesn't mind. They would deem it inappropriate for a mere eighteen-year-old student to take care of a child, but I'm not too worried about it." she responded as she joyously returned the hug. It was final as he would be living with her. She had a strange feeling though as if something had told her that he was not what it actually appeared to be. Nonetheless, she ignored it in favor of taking care of an orphaned child. Since the white, messy-haired young man would also be moving in with her, she wondered how he would react to the boy. It was certain that the other Persona-users might suspect Hao to be something evil, but she refused to believe it. He was just a child and he acted quite normally like one would expect from a young boy. She hoped that his parents wouldn't mind that she was taking care of their child. They were most likely dead, so they wouldn't mind at all. The prospect of living with a orphaned child in a dorm was a bit strange, but she was willing to go with it to help him cope with the loss of his parents.

[Su Hao]

He continued to embrace her, until he felt disgust with himself for allowing his body to touch a human's. It was justified, yet he was bothered. Hao felt like... killing something. His impulses were acting up again. He had never been this close to a human being in this form since snapping that pathetic boy's neck. The Shadow could feel her blood, running through her veins like streams of heat. 

Blood needed to be spilt.

The perfect excuse came into mind when another idle thought about potato chips cut into his bloodlust: he needed to bring in his tent full of potato chips and water. Hao would attempt to release himself from her, and scratch his head as if he felt true embarrassment. "Um... I kind of have a tent set up somewhere with all of my things. Maybe I'll meet you in front of the dormitories? I'll be right back!"

Hao felt like running, but then he stopped. It was too sudden of him to want to just rush out to the outskirts and attract things to mercilessly slaughter. A little more time spent would be nicer and significantly more realistic. He was just allowed to stay with someone that he did not know until mere minutes ago. The least that he could do for her is to ask if he could go. "...If that's alright with you, of course."

[Su Hao]

He was prepared to leave, his back now turned on Isolde. One step, two step, three step, halt. A little more time to converse would be nice for him, allowing for a much more realistic sending himself off. One question? No... one command as the boy she is now responsible for. Actually, why not both? Two or so lines would help even more. Hao flipped himself around so that he could see Isolde again. His adorable 9 year-old eyes would attempt to gaze into the beautiful violet color of her own. If romance wasn't so boring (he's still prepubescent)  then he would have fallen in love right there.

"...Have you ever gone into the outskirts yourself?" Their radiating innocence and curiosity matched what he truly felt about the question. Despite how insane it is, he has seen people enter the outskirts either to come back with the gravest of wounds or to not come back at all. Maybe it was impossible for her, but there was... something about her that made her... more than the average human. He didn't know what.

"If you have... then... please, don't go out there. You... might die." His voice died out a little, holding back fake tears. Her pain would be no use to him if he weren't there to inflict it. The sweetest pain is one that lasts the longest and one that doesn't kill the person going through it. He could just taste the things that would happen to Isolde. It would be...

...the Ultimate Despair.

[Su Hao]

Defense? How could a human defend oneself against the Shadows that lurked the Outskirts? The smaller, minor ones with little sapience were still deadly to these fragile beings. He was sure that something with the destructive force of a rocket launcher could be sustained by a lowly Maya. Was she simply lying for the sake of his comfort? Yet, there was still no reason for her to head out. Something possessed her. She's simply insane. How? How? How?!

Hao wanted to squeeze the answer out of her right now, break her and leave her broken with her life still wriggling inside of her. Impulse control, now. He has no power in the safe zone.  Angra Mainyu's... no, his claws bloodied up and carrying guts and corpses would be too good of a feeling to possess on a whim. It had to be made difficult. 

"...Expect me to be a little while. I think I'll have to use some of my money to buy a few things. Sorry!" The boy scratched the back of his head before turning back and running off towards the direction of the Esquaria complexes. "I'll be right back!" However, when he was out of range of Isolde, he would make a few turns that would later lead him to the Outskirts. He needed release, and he would ensure that he would get it. There was always some unlucky sap who would wander the abandoned buildings and streets carelessly.

[Deleted]

"Be careful out there, Hao..." she responded as she saw Hao leave out of the park to take care of a little shopping he needed to do. She was a bit concerned about how he reacted, but there was no reaction at all. Maybe it was wrong to tell that to a young child that was incapable of understanding how a mere human could survive in the outskirts. She didn't tell him that she was a Persona User, but it was for a good reason as the enemy would've gotten intel for the other antagonistic Shadows. Were there any Shadows that were willing to kill humans for revenge or simply for fun? She knew one Shadow who pretty much avoided one conflict as long as she was not provoked at all. It made her think that not all Shadows are the antagonists, they were simply misunderstood or just wanted someone to talk to. The idea of having humans and Shadows get along would be insane, but it would be for the greater good if some of the other Persona Users understood her ideals. No, there will be no time for book reading right now. She'll just wait for Hao to buy a few things before he would move in with her. Besides, what was the harm with living in a dorm with a little boy? It was certain that he might know about the outer circle too since he brought up the subject about the Outskirts.

[Su Hao]

Now that he was out in the outskirts, Hao had the freedom to shift. But, just in case, he walked into an empty house. This particular house was too small for him to fit inside. Naturally, he'll just have to break through it. Reaching the dining room, he closed his eyes and clutched at his face. With a sickening smile, the boy roared. He roared with such an inhuman tone that it would be hard to tell that he was a young boy.

His height grew to be three times the size of the average human male, but his wingspan doubled this length. A bird-like creature that also looked to be dragonic and skeletal in shape as well burst from the house's roof. Its wings were outstretched, some of its large black feathers falling off it their long shapes. Due to his utter lack of knowledge about Persona-users, he never felt the need of conserving himself until when it was necessary.

Angra Mainyu flew up and over the outskirts, his eyes scanning the area of someone who was unlucky enough to be in his sights. It took a minute of flying to see a young man running for his life. The Shadow was seen. But, there was nothing that he could do about it. He took the innocent with his talons, holding a half of him in each. 

Hao descended back to the house that he had just destroyed, ripping the man in half and dropping him through the open roof. The creature changed into his original form once he landed. The boy looked down on the bloodied body, scoffing at the weakness of humans like him. He was a coward for running away, weak for being unable to resist, and ultimately a fool for going around the Outskirts when it was obvious that they were too dangerous to explore.

Realizing that he still needed to get his stuff, he flipped up his hood and ran back the way he came. Touching the body would have been bad for the condition of his clothing. Suspicion must not be aroused. Hao took an alternate path to his tent via the alleyways. Finally, he caught sight of his little white tent. There would be no dilly-dallying. Hao removed the water and the potato chips into a bag before he collapsed the tent itself. He'd be at this for a while as it's been... many, many months since he had initially packed it up.