A/N: Hello everyone this RTR. And yes this is my first fic ever...Please review and give your honest opinions of story so I can be better as I go along...But, just cause I'm new don't dare pull any punches...I need the criticism to improve and would like to see how far I can go into writing...You have my thanks for anyone who does so. Oh and as for the summary of this story...Yu Narukami is not in the story...he's replaced by my character with his own story, past, and personality...This a story I've been thinking of for a long time now so I've just now decided to type it up...Whelp...I hope you all enjoy the journey this story will embark you on...and yes...this character will cause rifts in the story to change things up...it would be a shame if this was just a rehash of the entire game now wouldn't it...(insert maniacal evil laugh) sorry had to get that outta my system anyways onwards to the story!
PS disclaimer: No I don't own persona 4 or any characters in it besides my own main character...(sad face)

Road to Redemption

? POV

...?

...The hell?...

...I open my eyes and I can feel the color of neon blue boring into my retinas as I try to close them...allas no such luck as I'm rather curious as to where the hell I am right now...

...Dammit why is my vision so blurry right now. Ah. there we go I can feel myself moving...Must still be on the tra-

...

I'm sure there's a reason why I'm sitting in a rather comftorable blue leather seat in a confined type of space with two people I don't recognize coming onto the train...A women...why are her eyes...golden? She's wearing some sort of blue fancy ass outfit with platinum blonde hair with a book resting on her lap...next to her is...Can't really tell...he's looking down so I can't really see his face...but he seems to be bald...and wearing a black suit...that much I know for sure...I look around myself and out the window and everything is like an indigo blue...it's...unsettling...

outside the window are light cosmetic like stars passing by...are we in a limo? a...spaceship? Last I checked I was in a train heading to Inaba...the fuck is going on right now?

None of my many questions are answered however even when the other passenger sitting across from raises his head greeting me with a creepy ass grin that would put the Cheshire cat's creepiness to shame and white bulging bloodshot eyes...Am I being kidnaped or something?

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The apparently long-nosed creepy man says still wearing that chilling grin on his face...I don't say anything as I'm at a bit of a loss for words of what to say right now. What the hell should I say right now? I don't even know how I got here!

"Ah...It seem we have a guest with an intriguing destiny... *chuckle*"

...well that was one of the creepiest chuckles if I've ever heard one...

"...Um...excuse me if I sound a bit blunt but, who in the hell are you and where in the hell am I?" I say a feeling a bit uneasy in the situation I find myself...I swear that guy is wearing a rape face right now proving this just has to be a kidnaping I'm sure of it!

"My name is Igor...I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter...It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter...It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then...Why don't you introduce yourself...?" He explains to me his facial expression never faltering...Wait hold on...he doesn't even know who I am? So then why the hell did he kidnap me!? Okay calm down...breathe...maybe if I play along and give him my name then maybe I can buy some time to find a way out of here...wait...do I tell this guy my real name or new name...nah telling him my real name is too risky...I'd better just stick with my alius.

"Kuro...Kuro Narukami" I say deciding to stick to my alius.

"No, no, no my friend I mean your real name." Says Igor completely shocking me by calling me out on my bullshit...maybe if I play it off...

"What are you talking about? That is my real na-

"There's no need for you to keep your facade up...We know who you really are" the women in the corner says speaking up for the first time...now I'm really worried...if they know who I am...then they know what I've done...this situation...is not good...this turning bad...still I shouldn't panic...Need to relax...don't show them any weakness...maybe if I just give them whatever the hell they want they'll back off...

"Ok...fine...I'm Rick...Rick Syx" I say mentioning my real name much to my chagrin...Damn...this is bad...Like, I said if they know who I really am then I'm in some really deep shit right now...Are they with the authorities?

"Hm...I see." Igor simply says...He sees? sees what? "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we? Do you believe in fortune telling?" He asks me suddenly...the hell is this line of questioning going?

"...not really...I tend not wanting to believe that my fate is predetermined...why?" I ask still on edge...what do these people want?

"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different...*chuckle* Life itself follows the same principles, does it not?" He says as a card suddenly appears on the table between us...I can tell what it looks like from...looks like...a tower?...what kind of fortune telling is this?

"Hm...The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Oh great. As if my luck wasn't bad enough as it is now I got fortunes telling me that it's gonna get worse...fun. "The card indicating the future beyond that is..." He says as another card appears on the table in what looks like a moon.

"The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"...Very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny...If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost." He says grinning as if he enjoys being the berror of bad news.

"That's fuckin wonderful...even more bad luck...sounds like a dream come true." I say sarcastically at my bad fortune.

"Oh! but, worry not my friend! My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen. Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself." He says to gesturing to the blonde women next to him who's only spoken a few sentences since me being here.

"My name is Margaret. I am here to accompany you through your journey." she says looking at me with golden eyes...she ain't all that bad looking either when I really look at her...though any thought of that is banished by my current predicament, and as she continues talking. "I must say though...It's not everyday we get a visitor of the Velvet room with such an...interesting past." She comments making my eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets.

"So you do fucking know!" I jumping out of my seat.

"Relax my friend for we are not your enemy." Igor said not at all fazed at my outburst As I have said before...We are hear to assist you past and past actions not withstanding as they what make you the fool." He says.

"The fool? You making fun of me now?" I say with a cocked eyebrow.

"The Fool Arcana does not mean it that can be taken lightly. The Fool is number zero. It is the void from which all other things begin. So while it may mean emptiness it also means infinite possibilities." Margaret explains. Now both of my eyebrows are raised.

"...It does?" I ask skeptical

"Ahh! You must be new to Arcanum. If you must know The Fool represents innocence, divine inspiration, madness, freedom, spontaneity, inexperience, chaos, and creativity. It is what you are..." He explains to me...This whole metaphorical crap is starting to make my head spin and I begin to wonder if this shit might just be a figment of my fucked up imagination.

"Earlier before...you said this was a dream...so this is a dream right?" I said suddenly clinging to the thought that this was all a figment of my imagination.

"But of course! As I said you dreaming as of right now...time marches on in your world as you have simply dosed off for the moment. We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell..." He says before my vision blurs.

...

The second my dream ends I snap my eyes open and take in familiar surroundings...I'm still at the station...must of dozed off from sheer boredom...My boredom is cured however as my train pulls in and the door in front of me opens...I'm all to eager to get in and move on from my past life and onto my new.

It hasn't even been that long since I left the hospital this morning and I'm still aching from my damn injuries...at least I won't have to put up with those same boring white walls in where I'm going...Jesus I'm still worn out though...eh fuck it. I'll just close my eyes for a few seconds and...

As soon as I close my eyes the vision of some...women struggling in something plagues my mind. Also the images of two familiar faces from a certain dream of mine bursts into my mind causing me to snap out of my short lived nap...I need to relax...it was just a dream after all...so much for relaxing...I can still feel a cold sweat in my back...when have dreams gotten me this worked up?...wait...where was I supposed to get off?

"Now pulling into Yasoinaba station"...I hear as I quickly fish out my phone and open it to see a text from an familiar man.

"Meet us outside Yasoinaba station at 4pm" the text says...well shit. I lunge for the door right before it can close on me and make it outside...damn I gotta stay on task. I leave the train station's front entrance and look around for the man who sent me the text.

At least I planned to.

That all went out the window when Everything to a turn for...well the strange quite frankly.

I noticed something was amiss when I...saw some sort of ripple in the air. I looked around myself and noticed that there were birds...frozen in mid air...Like their wings were apart but, they weren't moving...at all. I looked behind myself at the grand clock on the train entrance and that had stopped too...on the roads all the cars had stopped as well.

It was as if time itself had frozen and it was creepin me out big time.

Did it creep me out as much as the dream I had...No...but then again I was having a hard time telling apart dream from reality right now.

"...What in the actual fuck is happening right now...?" Kuro asked himself aloud feeling himself get uneasier by the second.

"Nothing you need to panic over...Oh by the way? Nice language there." A voice said in front of Kuro. Not too far from him was what looked like a teenager not too younger than Kuro. He had silver short bowel cut hair, and silver eyes to boot. He had a passive look on his face, as well as a Yasogami high uniform on...Isn't Yasogami High...the High school I'm going to?

Anyways he walked up to me and he was much taller than me. What with me being only around five foot seven or eight he looked near a full six feet tall. Aaaand he just stood there...looking at me with a blank expression.

"...Can I help you...actually can you help me explain as to why everything but, the two of us are frozen...?" I asked in as calm and collected manner that I could. He just chuckled a bit scratching his head a bit.

"Yeah...about that...that was my doing...sorry but, there wasn't any other way to talk to you." Talk to me?...why.

"Aaand...you wanna to talk to me because...?"

"Well..." He trailed off before speaking again. "...Your Rick Syx right?" Warning bells immediately went off in my head. First the dream I had and now this guy!? Is my secret not safe or something I mean shit! I thought I did decent job at hiding my past and these guys are absolutely refuting that shit! I start getting worried and inwardly panic, Stepping behind me if I need to run if need be.

"Whoa, Whoa relax! I'm not here to arrest you I'm not from America!" He claims putting his hands out in a non threatening gesture. I ain't buying it.

"Then who the hell are you then!? How do you know where I'm from much less what my real damn name is!?" Boy would I kill for a weapon of sorts right now. I would at least be able to threaten this guy into not telling my secret...so much for that. I doubt I could even afford ammo for a gun.

"Alright look, listen My name Is Yu Narukami alright...?" Kuro immediately dropped froze.

"...Narukami...?...But...that...that's-

"The alias your going under I know...I know more about you than you think..." I dunno what to think...Who the hell is this guy...My step parents didn't have a son...at least...none that I was aware of. 'Yu' sighed.

"Listen...I need to ask you a quick question...did you by any chance have a dream about a man with long nose and a women with beatiful blonde hair...?" ...wut?

"...How do you...What the hell...?" Was all that could really leave my mouth at the moment. There weren't many words that I could form within my brain right now...This guy...He knew my in from the past...And now he knew my dreams...?...My brain is starting to have a malfunction it hurts so much.
"..." Once again I fail to come up with a response but it seems like I don't need to.

"I'm...gonna take that as a yes..." He then sighed. "listen I don't have much time to talk to you so hear me out alright?" I only nod not knowing any other reply to give this guy. Seemingly satisfied with my answer he goes to explain.

"Alright listen Rick. I don't everything about your past or whatever problems you've had before but, that doesn't matter now. What matters is your actions from this point forward in this town will dictate the future of the world as you know it?" My eyes widened as I felt chills going up my spine. What the hell is this guy going on about?

"The thing is...Your like me...You have a power that only a select few people have the will to control...the power to control your shadow..."

"...the power...to control my shadow...?...what in the hell are you blabbering about right now?..." I ask him wanting to get straight answers. He just sighs as if frustrated. The hell is he so frustrated for I'm the one frustrated with this damn situation!

"You'll understand that in time but, look. I'm here to warn you because I was in your exact position long ago. I had the same task that your about to have, I've experienced all the events that YOU are about to experience!"

"What do you mean!? What the hell are you talking about right now! None of what you're saying is making sens-" I try to yell him off but, he only cuts me off pissing me off more.

"I know that! It will make sense in time but, you just need to hear me out! In a few days a catastrophe is going to hit the town you'll be living in...and It'll be up to you to stop it...I thought I WAS the one who stopped it...but I failed..." He said dejectedly looking down.

"...failed...?...to stop the catastrophe...?" I ask even more confused...wait...didn't that long nosed guy in my dream say something about a catastrophe?

"Rick...You need to succeed where I failed...I made a mistake...And it cost me everything...You can't make that same mistake!...In a while your going to recieve a power...the power to overcome life's harships...to stop the catastrophe from happening..." I only raised an eyebrow. The limo people also said something along those lines...power...what power...? I'm pretty ordinary if you ask me...

"...what power are you talking about?...Wh-" AND YET AGAAAAIIIN...he cuts me off. Someone is very impatient today.

"You'll get it soon enough. But to stop this catastrophe from happening there's some things you need to know..." I raise my eyebrow wanting protest but, realize how little that would accomplish at this point. So I just sigh and get ready to humor.

"Fine...I'm listening...what is it?" He smiles as if relieved by my answer.

"Okay...first off...Never be afraid of asking for help...the bonds you make with others will make you stronger...Yes I know that sound corny but, in both our cases it's absolutely true." Don't know how that's relevant but okay. "Two...if you have a gut feeling about the mystery you have to solve...that something is off...explore every nook and cranny of it...Or you'll live to regret it...like I did..." Okay...why am I having this ominous feeling from him telling me that? "Three: A person will be a part of the reason this catastrophe happens...I would like to tell you who that person is but, certain forces outside my control prevent me from doing that." The hell...?...certain forces...What is he going on about? "But, I can tell you this much...The person responsible for most of the mystery you have to solve...is a person that you'll share a 'Bond' with..." A bond with...does he mean...a friend...a lover...?...Is telling me I'm gonna be betrayed?

"And four: You can do...oh no..." I wondered what as wrong until I got a better a look at him now.

He was becoming transparent...as if he were fading away...was all yet another dream then...?...what in the fuckin hell...? He then looks at me desperately...

"RICK! You have to solve this mystery to end what is to come! And you CAN do it! Because Your m-..." And then...he...just vanished...just like that...and the second he left...the birds moved, the clock continued to rotate and life went on like nothing happened.

"...Am I on acid right now...?" I ask myself wondering if that were really the case...I'm straight edge so I do nothing to that degree...however after everything that I've seen...It's safe to say I'm having doubts about drug free cleanliness.

"Hey over here!" I here someone say... I look to the source and sure enough there's Dojima...the man I'll be living with for a whole year...My mind is hardly on him or any of that at the moment...rather than on the dreams I just had...were they dreams...?

...Sod it...I'm...Probably just...It was probably just my imagination...I don't have anything to worry about...yeah...whatever...Even that long nosed dude admitted that I was having a dream...if the limo people were a dream then he had to...what was his name...Yu...yeah...he was probably a dream too...nothing to freak over...Going to Dojima, my new guardian. Not thinking about ANY of the weird events that transpired within the confines of my imagination.

I move forward with purpose to start a new life...A life that has alluded me till now.