?- Date: ?/?/?

Consuming darkness

Or is it blinding light?

Impossible to tell the difference, when there is absolutely nothing.

To perceive forms and color with the eye, light must reflect on an object. If there is nothing at all, how can you tell?

This is nothing, The Void.

Nothing, except from him.

It is, and has been, and will always be like this, desolate, endless, empty. This was his realm, from where he came and the only existing being in The Void, the nothing, the everything. The realm of "Infinity" and "Zero", where everything was possible, but it was impossible to be. Impossible, except from him.

He was in deep thought, designing, imagining. He always did that. It was gifted to him, the ability to think and imagine, so why shouldn't he? Being in the nothing he didn't have something to share his musings, his thoughts, his ideas, and so he kept them to himself.

What could he be thinking?

Something?

Someone?

Somewhere?

Those things didn't exist in the void.

Things, people, places.

Still, he knew what those words meant, and he could relate them to images because he has seen them before. Not now, of course. He existed in The Void at the moment, so he couldn't see those things now outside of his mind.

What was he thinking?

He moved his index finger, slowly, rhythmically. Tick Tock Tick Tock. Like a grandfather clock he once glimpsed on someone else's dream.

His eyes were closed, even though it made no difference to him.

Eyes open: Nothing.

Eyes closed: Everything.

Tick Tock Tick

It was all the same.

He counted, Tick Tock Tick Tock.

His finger stopped. It was his time, determined by him on a non-place, because The Void isn't a place, where there isn't space, so there can't betime. He had to wait until this moment he stopped counting, but he had to decide how much he had to wait and he had to measure that only with himself with his count, and now it was over.

The Now, and The Before and the After, and by extensión, Time in this place, was his.

Now it was his time, his moment of choosing.

He focused his thoughts and raised his fist. It came down and Everything broke like glass. He smashed through and left the Nothing behind. He felt the oppressive shift, like his body expanded and compressed equally all around his body at the same time. He warped, elongated, and twisted inside out. His lungs burned as matter replace the emptiness and every nerve in his skin screamed to go back, to escape the pain and return, but he endured the shift and finally left The Void.

He hacked as his lungs filled with something, whether his stomach screamed for something more . He, now fully material and feeling excruciating pain, opened his eyes. Now, he was in The Space , more specifically, a very special realm where Space grazes Void, so close that they could touch in a sense. Where idea touched action, where concept touched reality.

Even then, this realm still belonged to Space, where time and space actually had meaning defined by itself. It was disorienting for him, but he was getting used to it. Here, in this realm in special, almost everything was possible. Keyword almost, because if everything was possible, then nothingwould be possible as well.

Nothing and Everything, curious concepts indeed; incapables of coexistence, yet none can't be achieved without the other.

And if he was successful, none of that will matter. He floated forward, and dizziness took over him again. The colors were too bright and the movements too fast. He made himself stop and closed his eyes.

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

He opened his eyes again, and now the stars weren't so bright. He moved forward again, and the universe didn't move so fast this time. He grabbed the brown cloak that appeared beside him and covered his naked body with it. Cursed may be The Apple, and its forbidden knowlodged. He would deal with it, later, in his own Time. For now, he advanced through Space.

Below, a sea of stars shone. Above, constellations and nebulae whirled. And like a beacon of light, his objective shone in the distance. He closed his eyes, and the weight of his will made the space between him and his objective bend and shorten. In a few seconds, he traversed a distance that would take him hours, maybe days, hadn't him studied before how the inner fabrics and stitches of space worked.

The great golden door, The Great Seal, loomed above him. It's many eyes were focused only on him, observing every twitch he made and all the wrinkles of his cloak. Behind him, a beast growled. Erebus, the two-headed monster loomed and roared. He, however, didn't have time, not even seconds- oh so small yet long seconds- to waste. So he raised his hand again and smashed the space like a piece of glass. Through the hole in Space, the Void seeped out and sparked when it made contact with its opposite. He inserted his hand through the tear and used his mind to imagine spears. Through him, the concept became an idea in the Void, and with his will he made the idea become reality as innumerable, infinitely long spears shoot out of the hole, piercing the abomination of mankind's wishes . He drew out his hand and the breach in space mended itself. The spears stopped growing large and in number, and all what's left of Erebus was a slowly decomposing body.

Returning to more important matters, he kneeled gently and retrieved a very special thing from his cloak. His very own creation, the perfect realization of his objective. A living being, made by himself and only by himself. A creature he gave form and life when he made the travel from Void to Space. One, was the name he gave to his creation. Lovingly, he warped One in his cloak and laid it in front of the golden door. Even though it saddened him, he didn't have time to linger anymore. Him must be high on his trail after all the ruckus he caused.

He gave One a final glance, and his fist came down on Space once more, possibly for the last time. He bid his farewell, and disappeared through the breach.

However, in the Void, He awaited for him like a candlelight in an abysm. Both beings, matterless and made of pure energy stood in front of each other.

"You ! What do you think you're doing here?" He was as enraged as he was surprised. What gave him any permission to enter here?

He looked at the being from The Void from behind a white mask with a purple butterfly wing painted in the right. In fact, the mask was the only visible aspect of The Man shrouded in light, making a contrast like it was overlapping it. And his light was a blinding one, contrasting with the emptiness of the void. He kept silence as he pierced him with his gaze.

"This place is out of your keeping. Leave at once!" He yelled again.

"Funny." The man finally spoke with an undescriptable voice and his mask shifted slightly, just enough so he could look his face. What he saw scared and enraged him further. "Just a moment before you were out of your keeping" His mask readjusted by itselfs over the image.

"I said leave, now!" His hands were shaking in barely contained anger.

"I will not allow this insanity, this abomination, to continue any longer" He said coldly, his voice masking his own contained rage. Had he own a real face at the moment and not just an inmatterial reflection, well, he would say it exuded murderous intent.

However, when the thing started laughing, his hypothetical expression would have changed to something between hatred and confusion. It started small giggle that broke down in a full maniacal bark. "Too late, the damage is done! And there is nothing you can do about it."

"How foolish for you to think you were going to get away with playing God in My realm. I will erase you and your… abomination" the masked manended with repugnancy "And you just gave Me the perfect reason to do it. You were never meant to exist, and I humoured your existence long enough already. Rest peacefully with the certainty that you won't face the true Afterlife, were you would be judged more for sins of your father than your own, for I will give you and your disaster a swift and quiet ending." A blue fire coated Him and millions of billions of purple orbs of energy appeared around him .

"I just told you , you're too late. But if you insist in abusing my hospitality, I'll just make sure you are comfortable here, FOR ETERNITY! " He yelled as he raised his open hand and scratched both Space and Void and a metallic net suddenly appeared in his hand. He didn't even had the chance to register what happened when everything became the net the other had created, immobilizing Him completely. For a moment, all He could see was metallic fibers that crushed His mask, the container for his body in the Void. Suddenly, the net disappeared, but He still felt the bindings that oppressed Him .

"Impressive, isn't it? What happens when you mix matter with nothing. The Void is everything AND nothing, and it will always search to remain in that state. So, if you insert matter, if you insert something in it, it stops being nothing because nothing is absolute. What is really curious is that, to return to its original state, it creates even more matter so there is infinite matter, thus leaving no empty spots. That is, now everything is a transparent net" He amusedly explained to his captive. If he was foolish enough to come here, he was foolish enough to not understand what was going on "Of course, I made it result like this. Otherwise, well, who knows what would had happened."

He lightly tapped His mask. Unlike the other , He was born from Space, so he couldn't become completely immaterial. He would try to re-summon His magic of course, again and again and many times in feeble attempts to escape, but nothing will happen. After all, there was so little He could do in the Void, his realm. He was the ruler, The Lord of the Void.

He began to feel something in his chest, a burning bubbling that filled every inch of his body. He was laughing! He just… he just couldn't believe he did it, He just defeated Him! He felt overjoyed, powerful, almighty! These emotions were another signal that he was close to complete his purpose. He kept laughing as he phased through the transparent net that defeated his biggest obstacle. But as the emotions calmed, he started thinking again. This was the one outcome he didn't want. This would certainly attract unwanted attention, meaning he would have to accelerate certain things.

But, he told himself, not all steps can be done at the same time. After all,

He was only human.

Shibuya, Japan - Date: 15/10/2012

After School

Ding Dang Ding Dong

The bell ringed the familiar tune, signaling the end of the school day. Students hurried to go to their shoe lockers or to their extracurricular activities but were ignored by one silver haired boy, or a young man more precisely. Yu Narukami was deep in thought, one that had come to him suddenly, but he couldn't fully understand what it meant, like a foreign feeling. He, however, was used to such thoughts or feelings having shared his mind with twelve other entities for year. In fact, the only one remaining spoke to him with a voice not too dissimilar to his own, but not quite the same.

"The bell rang a minute ago, we should leave now". It said from the back of his mind.

The foreign thought, interrupted by the voice in his head, was lost forever. Nothing of value was lost he supposed, and he rose from his desk. The silver haired young man drifted along the river of students and teachers that hurried to go to their destinations, the former having a more varied choice of destinations than the later.

His cell phone started ringing in his pocket. He had three unread messages, and the fourth was entering just now.

The first one came from his mother; she was coming home earlier today. The second was from his father; sadly he informed he wasn't coming home today and he was arriving in the morning of the next day. The third one came from Teddie, he had heard Yosuke saying a word which was unfamiliar to the Shadow and wanted to know what it meant. Yu bluntly answered the meaning.

The fourth one called his attention. The message icon, instead of being yellow like the other icons, was a deep tone of blue and had butterfly motif on it. It read:

"Be prepared?" The silver headed teenager read out loud.

The voice in his mind spoke again "Could it be…?" He looked the icon again 'Maybe… let's take a quick trip to the mall before returning home' he thought.

Evening

As soon he entered the small apartment a delicious smell entered through his nose. In the kitchen, her mother cooked the dinner. She wore plain white shirt and skirt, and her hair was tied in a neat bun.

"I'm home," Yu said out loud.

"Welcome home, Yu." Her mother said without turning. "Go wash your hands so you can help me prepare dinner." He left his backpack in his room on the way.

While they were cooking the boy felt this was good chance to speak idly with her mother. They talked about her work, his dad, his classes, one funny anecdote from a coworker, an intriguing show on the TV he saw the other day. However, just when they were sitting down on the dining table, the doorbell rang.

"Huh? Who could it be at this hour?" His mother whispered to herself while Yu walked to the front door. He checked first through the door hole. The woman, dressed in a delivery uniform, had black hair with brunette bangs and had tired blue eyes. She seemed a bit drowsy, which was understandable due to the hour, and carried a small package. She didn't raise any immediate flags so he opened the door, although not without hesitation.

"Delivery for Yu Narukami." She said immediately as she handed him the package "Here is your copy of Frankenstein."

The silver haired teen regarded the enveloped book with suspicion "Wasn't this supposed to arrive in two days?"

She signed tiredly. People this days simply didn't look things at face value huh? "There was an issue with our databases and the queue was lost, so now we have to work overtime to deliver as most packages we can so they don't start accumulating." She explained with monotone, robotic voice. She probably had to repeat this same lines a lot of times today. "So just take your package, please?" The hint of desperation was not missed, so he grabbed the book and smiled to her with sympathy.

"I hope your hard work is rewarded"

She eyed him with slight suspicion, before she also smiled and shook her head. "Thanks, I hope so too. Please, sign here and here." She said as she handed him her clipboard and showed him where to sign. He signed without paying much attention to the paper. He looked down to book. He needed it as part of an english assignment, but his luck must have run dry for the past few weeks, because no matter where he looked, it wasalways sold out. Finally, he gave up and resorted to buy a copy from outside the city.

After cleaning the dining table and the dishes, he returned to his room and placed the book a top of a shelf filled to the brim with other various books.

He checked his cell phone again. 13 unread messages, each one came from a different friend asking how his day went, telling jokes, recounting short anecdotes and at the end of each one a good night. Each came from one of his social links, the ones with his cellphone information at least. It was like this every week, he wasn't sure if they had coordinated themselves to do it on this specific day of the week, or if this was the result of an extreme coincidence, but he had stopped thinking about it after sometime after the trend started, so he wasn't surprised at all. As such, he responded each one in a similar way before looking back to the mysterious blue message.

He kept staring at it for some time, not sure if he was waiting for another message or for something else to happen

"There is no use of pondering about it now. They will reveal themselves in time I'm sure. Let's sleep"

"Yeah, let's." Said the boy out loud.

Yu closed his eyes, and soon enough sleep came to him.

?-?-?-?

Stars. Millions upon billions of them.

That was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. In the infinite space before him, little pinpricks of light that shone like gems in the ocean. The silence was absolute, but not deafening. Staring like this to the starry ocean, he felt peace.

That is until he heard someone coughing behind him. Suddenly, he could hear again and a familiar song played out. "Now, Seeker,it is inadvisable to keep staring like that. Sages and hermits before you have lost themselves while staring at the Sea of Soul and never returned." A voice, smooth like silk, called out behind him

A woman dressed in a blue secretary attire stood behind him, a big and brown book rested under her arm. Her golden eyes shone with light amusement. Besides her, a man of disproportionate limbs and features spoke.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. It is a pleasure to meet you again."

Igor and Margaret, the residents of the Velvet Room. He was sleeping, and he had been summoned by them to the realm between mind and matter. However, this wasn't the limousine where he first met the curious beings which reside in the room. The small, furbished car with the mini bar at his left and the table between him and Igor had been replaced by a large floor made of deep blue wood planks which lightly swayed from left to right. At his sides were two watermill wheels spinning slowly, but neither of them dragged water up. Behind Igor was a majestic wood rudder.

"The Room" Margaret spoke "changes its form and appearance in accordance with the heart and the fate of the guest. Or guests,as it appears." She looked over his shoulder. Before he could turn around, Igor addressed him again.

"I must say, it is not by joyous reasons we have summoned you today, dear Seeker. While you fulfilled your contract, it has not expired. You are still our guest, but we found ourselves in a situation we cannot resolve by our own means. Let's wake up your confidants, shall we" Igor said as he snapped his fingers "Welcome to the velvet room." He started again but his eyes aimed somewhere behind Yu. "This place exists between dream and reality mind and matter, my name is Igor. I believe you already met my assistance Margaret. I'm delighted to make your acquaintance"

Yu looked back. There standing was his friends and teammates who fought alongside him in the last year murder case, all dressed in their school uniforms. A brown haired teenager was the first one to speak "I… uh… where am I?"

A girl with cobalt blue hair, who was beside him, took notice of his presence "Yosuke-senpai?"

"Naoto-kun? What are you doing here?"

"What the… Yosuke?"

"Chie!?"

The members of the investigation team double-checked their surroundings. They were standing close to the railings at the back side of the ferry. Kanji, who was the one in the front, spotted Yu first

"Senpai!? What is going on here?"

Suddenly seven pairs of eyes were looking straight at him. No one dared to talk anymore, well almost no one.

"SENSEIIIIIII!"

A colorful ball shot away from the group and tackled the gray-hair teenager

"Sensei I missed you bear-y muuuuuuch!" cried the talking bear suit that went by the name Teddie.

"Teddie wait, hold on" Yu's word fell deaf on the ears of the overly dramatic bear.

Igor coughed "May I borrow your attention?"

Igor's interruption stopped Teddie and the investigation team advance to greet their leader

"I know you must be excited to reunite with your friend, but for now there are others matters that require of your attention"

"State your name, please." Igor said facing no one in specific.

Yu turned and saw the confusion and hesitation on his friends' faces. He gave them a reassuring look in exchange.

Again, Yosuke was the first one to speak "Y-Yosuke Hanamura."

A teen, with short brown hair similar to Yosuke's, spoke after him "Chie Satonaka."

Another teen with long black hair spoke "Yukiko A-Amagi." she bowed slightly.

A tall man with short black hair and glasses was next "the name is Kanji Tatsumi."

A girl with brown hair tied in two ponytails spoke with major confidence "Rise Kujikawa, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Naoto spoke observing with great detail the scenario around her "Naoto Shirogane, at your service."

"Ted 'Teddie' Hanamura." Saluted the bear.

"Excellent." said Igor "You have all been summoned here by request of mine to present you a request."

"Some time ago, a few hours of your time, my Master's presence suddenly vanished." A bell sounded inside Yu's mind "He's been a silent observer since the dawn of man, yet his presence has always been present in this realm; to suddenly disappear is an uttermost alarming occurrence"

"Master?" Yu said

"Yes, He is an almighty being who resides in the Collective Unconsciousness. He comes and goes, always watching over groups of individuals that have piqued his attention, individuals who have the strength of heart to surpass hardships, such as yourselves. Do not mistake this as mere arrogance or indifference, his actions are born out of an unbreakable trust to mankind. He believes firmly that humans will strive by their own power alone, as such he observes their growth. This turns of events are quite worrisome."

Margaret spoke next "Shortly after his disappearance, a singularity occurred. In the depths of the Sea of Soul which we currently sail a... whirlpool of sorts formed. This entity is dragging the souls of humans towards itself and corrupting them in ways we have yet to understand. It's very own nature is… complex, apparently non-sentient but clearly more than a simple machination. We believe our Master's disappearance and the sudden appearance of the whirlpool are related"

Silence fell over the group, as they tried to grasp just what exactly the bizarre beings had told them. Even after their hard-fought year against the Shadows and deeper parts of the human heart, what they were presented now was simple in the theory, but in the practice...

Kanji spoke out the concern in everybody's mind "So… what exactly are you expecting us to do?

"We are expecting for you to jump in the whirlpool, of course," A new female voice said from somewhere behind the velvet residents.

A woman came from behind Margaret. She had a great resemblance with Margaret but only differenced by her short hair, stature and her attire resembled that of an elevator attendant.

"Hold on, jump to where!?" Yosuke yelled.

"Bluntly said, yes." Margaret answered with a frown directed at the newcomer.

"Greetings. It's quite a big surprise to have this amount of guests today. My name it's Elizabeth, is wonderful to meet new Persona-users. Although I already know some of you." Elizabeth bowed swiftly before turning back to her Persona users in question, turned to each other, wondering who could know someone like Elizabeth and from where, but none could figure out an answer. To them, it was their first meeting.

"Have you come with the information requested?" Margaret said to Elizabeth

"But of course, why wouldn't I come here without it? You make the silliest questions, dear sister." Giggled the shorter woman.

Before Margaret could retort Elizabeth continued "I have confirmed the physical location of the singularity. I also dipped inside, but it's sure not a pleasant experience. It rejected me before I could get too far inside. Even still, a warm air carried the soft whispers of death to me. I'm certain of where it leads."

"Thank you, Elizabeth." The long nosed-pondered out loud, mostly for himself. "The whirlpool is truly a complex entity, as it rejects anything without a human soul, but leads to a physical plane different from our own."

Igor turned his gaze to the persona-users. "Before I explain to you the real nature of this Mission that I've presented to you, I must clarify that this is a decision that all of you must choose on your own free will. Your contract with us has already been fulfilled, thus, this Mission will be anException. Choosing to decline this new journey will not affect you directly nor it would bring ruin to you, not directly at least. In that case, we will put together a new team of persona users to complete this mission and you will not have any recollection of what we are discussing. Please, use this time to make your choice." With a wave of his hand, she instructed Elizabeth to take the rudder. The ship turned and sailed through the Sea of Souls.

Taking this as his signal, Yu turned towards the Investigation Team. He noticed the look that Naoto was giving him and sighed internally.

"Yu-senpai, I believe an explanation is in order"

"It is." He said, and recounted the missing pieces and events from last year involving the Room and those who resided in it. Slowly the frowns of confusions on his teammates' faces started to fade.

"Whoa Partner, I can't believe you manage to hold this up all those times!" Yosuke spoke, "But I can't blame you for it, I guess even that is difficult to explain after all we went through."

"So like, they were the ones who gave you all those Personas?"

"Not exactly, Chie, but yes, in a way... I guess."

"So, what is our answer, then?" intervened Rise and all of them fell silent. Unlike the events of last year, were the mysterious string of murders had pushed them together, now they were presented with a choice. Some of them already knew their answers, but some still had their reservations. The last year had been grueling, both physically and mentally, and even when the end had brought an unending feeling of awe and satisfaction, they had finally lowered their weapons to rest. Now, they could choose to not raise them again and continue living. Let others pick up the slack…

Yeah right, as if. They hadn't come this far by sitting on their asses waiting for someone to save them. Their resolves steeled, they stood straighter.

"I'll join." Yukiko's eyes lighted with a fiery glint. "I wish to take this matter into my own hands."

"There is no way I could push this matter on someone else!" Rise exclaimed as she took a step forward.

"I mean, come on, it would be pretty out of character of me not to jump at the first sight of adventure." Yosuke said as he scratched his cheek. Everybody could see what he really meant, but no one commented on it.

"I would never feel satisfied with myself if I chose otherwise." Naoto also took a step forward.

"Besides, they already asked us, right? If this is anything like last year, then there is no way I could miss this." Chie pumped her arm.

"Damn straight. Sides, It wouldn't be right to give them the cold shoulder" as if to emphasize, Kanji shrugged his shoulder as he spoke.

"I'll follow Sensei to everywhere he goes!" exclaimed Teddie as he raised his hands in excitement.

"To hell and back." said Yosuke as he placed his hand in front of him, the rest of team following behind.

"To hell n' back"

"To the end of the earth"

"Whenever and Wherever"

"Forever."

"You don't even have to ask"

Yu looked at each one of his friends, his teammates and the people he would accompany to the end and beyond. And by the look of things, so would they for him. He placed his hand atop of the pile.

"Wait, this again?" seven pairs of eyes zeroed on Chie, who turned slightly red under the attention. "We already tried this hand thingy, remember?"

"Just roll with it." Yosuke rolled his eyes.

"What do we say?"

"Wait, how did we do this again?"

"We count to three and yell 'Let's do it! ok?"

"Let's do it!"

"AFTER THE COUNT, YOU STUPID BEAR!"

"Snrk, hahahahahahaha!"

"Oh no."

"Snrk…"

"Not you too, Yu!"

The gray haired teen lightly shook his head and smiled at his friends.

"Let's do it!" Said Elizabeth as she suddenly appeared between Kanji and Chie, who yelped in surprise, and placed her hand atop of Yu's. "My, now this is quite team bonding experience. Sister, we should do this more often with our siblings!"

The rest of the Investigation Team observed wide eyed as the beautiful woman once again walked to her place beside her master. They recovered quickly enough, and Yu counted.

"3... 2... 1..."

"Let's do it!" The Investigation Team yelled as one.

"Very well," Igor intervened, his Chesire small seemingly wider "If that is your answer, then we can proceed. Our request is for you to mainly and above all to rescue our Master. His presence holds a vital weight in the balance of the universe, not only because of his power, but because heused that power to... pacify another one like him. His power is ginormous, just as much as his distrust. My Master and his Opposite are two sides of the same coin, much like a Persona is to a Shadow. If our Master is gone for too long, He will awake and he will unleash his hatred upon mankind. Time is of essence, first and foremost you must find our Master."

The members of the Investigation Team looked somber, but they nodded with determination. A silence followed, but before long an idea suddenly sprang inside Yosuke's mind.

"Uh, Igor-san? Are we going to get different personas, like Yu?" The question was something out of the blue, but it was something that had stuck down with him during Yu's retelling.

Margaret spoke in the place of his master, however. "The power of the Wild Card is one born of our guests' soul. It is an innate talent that only a select few can use to the full extent of its power. However still, certain conditions can be met in order to bound several souls under the power of the Fool Arcana. But know that to tamper with great power comes with great costs."

"So, no dice?"

The long-nosed man chuckled "No, I'm afraid not."

Yosuke sulked a little to the humor of his friends. "No way man." Then he noticed something "Now that I think about it, I can't hear Susano-o at all!"

The surprise traveled through the group of persona users, once they noticed they couldn't hear their other selves and constant companions.

"At the moment, he is part of who you are, just the way it was before you called him out from your soul for the first time. This realm is only accessible by those with strong, complete egos" She smiled towards the colorful bear suit, and even though it was an enticing smile, Teddie couldn't help but sweat cold under her gaze.

The Persona users walked towards the railing, admiring the beautiful realm that very few had the chance to even glimpse in their dreams. The boat traversed the Sea of Souls quickly but swiftly, not moved by waves or water currents. The stars floated still below and above, but not at the sides. Making a perspective cut, one would notice that the boat was moving through a clear line between the dots of lights.

"Huh? Didn't you warn them!? What do you think will happen if one of them falls over, you stupid mosquito!" said a new voice, completely and utterly annihilating the peace and quiet. The Persona User's turned back, discovering a newcomer they, and the rest of Inaba, were quite familiar with.

"Marie-chan! W-what are you doing here!?" Teddie screamed as he cartoonishly flailed his arms.

Marie, the famous weather reporter of Inaba, had appeared out of the blue and her glowing red eyes were glaring at Igor and Margaret. However, as she addressed the teenagers, the furious rubies turned back to the familiar jade green. "What are you all doing there with those dope faces? I live here, unfortunately. Didn't I tell you that?"

"NO, YOU DIDN'T!" Both Chie and Yosuke yelled at the same time.

"Kidding, I know I didn't. You all are so dumb you wouldn't see the door until you slammed head first into it." She snarked as she pointed behind her.

"Door…?" Indeed, a blue ominous door was floating behind her. Even from a glance, one could tell it was beautifully crafted, adorned with smooth golden cravings and glowing a deeper blue. Beside it was a man, dressed in an elevator attendant suit, just like Elizabeth.

"I did the thing, and I grabbed Theo along the way." She addressed the long nosed man once again.

"Marie-san, please address me as Theodore… please?" Said the man with a soft, velvet voice.

"Nope" She said popping the 'p' sound.

The man sigh, resigning himself to his fate. He regained his composure immediately and bowed to his new guests. "Welcome, my name is Theodore, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Rise was starting to see a pattern here. Lords above, the residents of the Velvet Room were dazzling!

...Minus their master.

"But what exactly are you doing here, Marie-san?" Inquired Naoto before the conversation took another tangent.

"I'll probably make an overly-complicated foil to mess with you, you know, the usual. Besides that, I have to keep an eye in our planet. It'll be pretty bad if it suddenly disappeared or the gates of Yomi opened while I wasn't looking."

…

"I think you fit quite nicely here, Marie" Yu broke the stunned silence that had fallen among his friends.

"Huh!? What do you mean?"

"That answer was not helpful at all" His stone face was impeccable as usual.

"Whu…!? WHY YOU! IDIOT! MORON! GO DIE!" She looked ready to throw something towards him, but Margaret timely interrupted her, announcing;

"Attention to all passengers, we are arriving at our destination."

Marie stopped from her warpath, and everyone turned towards the prow. Far in the distance, the starry sky swirled towards a red-tinted deformation in space. As they approached, a cold seeped in the bones of the Persona-users, one they were familiar with, even if it wasn't exactly as they remembered. An evil entity that shrouded everything in madness and malice. Yet, it also felt like they were staring at a natural disaster; heartless, but not hateful, as if it was something meant to happen. The stars slowly cascade inside, like breadcrumbs in molasses, Chie thought; attracted by an invisible force. They shone brightly and moved erratically in place, like they were resisting the darkness with all their mighty, but were still failing to escape.

"...You are going to do it, right? You will fix this?" Marie asked the group. The wishes of mankind where her wishes, but her dream was their happiness. Staring at them like this…

"Heck yeah we will! This ain't nothin' compared to what we dealt before!" Kanji boisterously answered, trying to prime up her and his friends.

"Thanks," She smiled warmly "I would accompany you if I could, but I have to protect our Earth. My power is slowing down the whirlpool, but it won't last forever. Even goddesses have limits, you know? Even if look in my prime, I'm still thousands of years old. My soul could use a century or two of rest." Despite her words, she looked full of life and determination. A joy for living that her new friends had reignited in her chest.

Igor chuckled lowly, like a whisper in the summer; joyous and calmed. "My, my." He said simply.

"What is that supposed to mean!?" Marie yelled.

Ignoring her, he turned to Investigation Team. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" The question stunned most of them because of how out-of-the-blue it was.

"Knowing the future can be a token of hope, or a warning of ruin. Sometimes, a bizarre mixture of both." He twisted his hands, and four cards appeared out of thin air over the table, floating statically. "Each card may hold multiple meanings depending on how the combine with other, like a phrase in a sentence. People, when interacting with their mutuals, act in a similar way, wouldn't you agree?"

He pointed a card with a twist of his wrist, and the card flipped by the side. "The first card is The Moon, in the downright position. This means trickery, illusions and… madness. We're familiar with this one, isn't that right, Seeker?" The last part was directed towards Yu. The rest of the team, already knowing the story, knew the meaning of the card, but the name he had used for their leader was unfamiliar. Maybe it was something new?

He flipped another "The Devil, in the downright position, meaning selfishness, being chained by temptation. Followed by it… The World, in the upright position. Hand in hand, you will find someone with an unfathomable desire to achieve their goals, to the point they are blinded by it."

"And finally… Death, in the upright position. Ominous and ever-present, Death follows you every second of your life, but it's not always so literal. And followed by Death, comes Rebirth. The un-numbered arcana is not the end of everything, but the constant cycle of endings and beginnings. What is today, will begin anew tomorrow." The cards disappeared with a swipe of his hand. "The future always seems uncertain because it's the future. Carry this words in the present and you'll recognize when the future has arrived."

"I-uh… what?" Yosuke was sure he could hear the gears grinding against one another inside Kanji's head. Not that he understood anything the long-nosed man had just told them.

"Now then, our time here is over. Go with haste, but do not forget to watch where you step."

"Huh?" They asked unanimously.

"The exit is right behind you, just take a leap" Margaret pointed behind them, and they noticed the railing had lowered down while a wide plank had sprung out in place.

"Huh!?"

"Come on, you really don't have time to waste! I'm starting to break a sweat here." Marie told them.

"Please, allow me." Elizabeth intervened and walked in front of the group.

She opened the book she that she always carried under her arm and that The Seekers of Truth just now noticed she had.

"Magarudyne!"

"HUH!?"

Suddenly, a powerful gale knocked them all off the side of the boat, even Yosuke who had tried in vain to hold on to the edge.

They fell to the dark red whirlpool, and all became black..