Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan-made story. The Persona Series and characters are property of Atlus.
The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed...
This is the tale of the man that dispelled the fog of deceit and a man that created a new destiny for himself.
May 6th, 2012
Unknown location.
"TRISMEGISTUS!" The shout resonated in the air as the Persona destroyed a dozen Shadows with a single blow. But where those Shadows had been, now twice as many stood.
Taking the initiative they launched their attack towards the cap wearing Persona wielder, who managed to defeat a bunch of them; but now severely wounded, he could do nothing as the Shadows prepared to finish him…
"CAESAR!" But the red cloak wearing Persona user managed to defeat those Shadows, only to see that even more were making their way towards the group.
"ISIS!" The pink obsessed Persona user shouted, her Persona healing the wounds of the wielder of Trismegistus. "How many are more there!?"
"Daring Gigas', Fierce Cyclops, Minotaurs…" The redhead Ice magic user said. "This powerful Shadows…" She was saying as another Persona user came up behind them.
He was wearing a long, navy blue trench coat without any type of shirt underneath, showing his torso. On his neck there was a necklace with a ring and a bullet…
"Finally! Some worthy opponents!" He said as he looked at the army of Shadows.
"Strategy?" Another Persona user said, with a slightly robotic tone.
"We kick their ass!" The trench coat wearing boy said.
"Some brilliant strategy you have…" Isis' user said.
"Trismegistus, Pallas Athena and Caesar on frontal attack! Isis and Artemisia, stay behind them for healing and support! I'll stay in the back to protect Juno! If you need support just say the word!" He announced as he went next to the user of the group's support Persona.
"You heard the Leader!" Artemisia's owner said as the group charged into battle, surprising the Shadows.
"If you thought we were gonna retreat…" The leader began saying, smile creeping on his face.
…
"YOU'VE GOT NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH!
TSUKUYOMI-NO-OKAMI!"
Persona: Out of the Shadows
Chapter 1: You've got no idea who you're dealing with.
June 5th, 2011
Yasoinaba station.
1st person POV
"Yasoinaba…Yasoinaba…Yaso…"
The train station announcer had just let the passengers know that we had finally arrived at our destination. I left the train (the third one I had to take) and made my way to the town. At least I think it was the town, I could barely see anything with the fog.
"…Am I in a horror movie?…when's the fog monster going to appear from nowhere and tear me to shreds!? "
I had just been transferred here from the city of Iwatodai, so the change from that crowded city to a small rural town was definitely noticeable, but while some of my old friends would be disappointed with the apparent lack of crowd in the area, I was more upset with the fact that I would have to be extra careful when on the job, as there would be easier to look for culprits.
…I think I should probably introduce myself now, right?
My name is Takuya Akiyama.
TAKUYA "CRINGEWORTHY PUN MACHINE" AKIYAMA
-Age: 15
-Height: 1, 73 cm tall ( 5' 7'')
-Weight: 56 kg (123.5 lbs)
-Zodiac: Cancer.
-Favourite colour: Red.
-Least favourite colour: Green.
-Favourite food: Cherry.
-Least favourite food: Weird Takoyaki.
-Favourite Music: J-Rock.
-Least favourite Music: Electronic.
-Favourite Movie Genre: Supernatural/ Drama/Sci-fi. Also secretly Romance.
-Least Favourite Fictional Genre: Shonen.
-Signature moves/traits:
-Charm mode.
-Convoluted, pointless and useless planning.
-Runs on pure hotbloodedness.
-Major weakness to cute, red haired teenage idols and girls in maid outfits.
I'm a soon to be first year student from Yasogami I said before, I just transferred from Iwatodai. I was supposed to enter Gekkoukan High this year but my foster parents decided to send me to another high school because of a certain incident last year…an incident involving a deceased sister. The people I lived with thought it would be better to have me study in any place other than the school were my sister died…stupid, in my opinion, but still, I thought a small town would be a good place to relax and lay low for a while.
If you are asking yourself what I mean by "laying low"…let's just say I had a certain hobby that involved relieving people of their valuables. I spent most of my childhood in an orphanage with my sister, and in that place," the strong prey on the weak", as they say, so I came up with a way of getting rid of any inconveniences. Whenever someone tried to act tough around Hamu-chan, valuable possessions of our teachers would appear in that person's locker. The potential bullies ended up thinking twice before trying something…but that didn't stop me. There was something addictive about the theft, and as I grew older, things just escalated from there. I even started to record every TV special about my thefts…not the smartest thing to do, but my ego didn't mind.
So part of me was glad when I heard I was transferring to small, quiet Inaba…but another part of me made a list of potential targets(that inn certainly look worth the time)
"Man I'm so beat…three train rides sure take out your energy fast"
I walked to my new home, quickly unpacked my things and went to bed.
"So Mitsuru-senpai has problems with me going to the high school of my dead sister, but she doesn't have problems with me living ALONE here…isn't there any kind of law against this?...Man,I could sleep for an entire day right now…It's so great that I have school tomorrow!"
The next day….
June 6th, 2011
Takuya's house
"CRAP! I'M LATE!" I shouted as I quickly got dressed, ate breakfast and started to go towards the school, all at the same time.
So preoccupied I was with my things that I accidentally bumped into someone, making both of us fall.
"Watch where you're going, you clumsy son of a-!"
Son of a bitch, I have in front of me the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life!
She was wearing the female uniform of Yasogami High (yes!), her hair was dark red and tied into twin ponytails, and all in all…she was drop dead GORGEOUS.
"Sorry about that!" She said, her voice pouring into my ears like honey." Oh, hey! We have the uniform from the same school!"
"Y-Yeah! I just transferred here, actually!" I answered her as we stood up. I tried to give her a cool guy smirk as I said it.
"Oh, me too!" She said as she stretched her hand to me. "It's nice to meet you!"
"The pleasure is all mine, Miss!" I answered as I took her hand. At that moment, a student shouting "I'm late!" raced past us, pushing her towards me. I took her in my arms. When she realised it, she looked deep into my eyes, her cheeks now red.
Our faces slowly began to gravitate towards each other, until…
"CRAP, IT WAS A DREAM!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I woke up.
"CURSE YOU ALARM CLOCK!" It was probably my fault for not turning the damn thing on, but I was too busy trying to eat breakfast, get dressed and get out of house in record time to think rationally.
I exited the house to find two teenagers (more or less my age) running across the street.
"Oh man, I'm late I'm late I'm late…" The brown haired boy wearing headphones was saying as he ran through the street. "This is all your fault, Chie!"
"How is it my fault!?" The brown haired girl with the green jacket said, closely behind him.
"Maybe we wouldn't be so late if you hadn't stopped at Souzai Daigaku to buy steak!"
"But I had to eat something for breakfast!"
"Then why didn't you eat breakfast before leaving home!?"
"There wasn't any meat at home." The girl with the green jacket said as it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"HOW MUCH OF A CARNIVORE ARE YOU!?"
"I have to agree with Headphones." I said as I approached them. "You eating steak while running to school breaks the long tradition of eating a slice of bread while shouting 'I'm late' " I explained as I continued to eat the noodles I was having for breakfast.
"SOME GREAT EXAMPLE YOU AR-wait, who are you!?" Headphones said.
"Oh man, you're right…" Green Jacket said as she ignored Headphones. "I should have brought some bread…"
"Well, if you are lucky you might crash into hello with a handsome transfer student from your opposite gender." I told her.
"I doubt it." She answered me with a sigh. "Yu-kun always arrives early at school."
"CAN WE HURRY UP INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOU-wait…". Headphones' expression changed from an angry one to a teasing one. "What was that about Yu?"
"CAN WE HURRY UP INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT THIS!". Green jacket said as she quickened her pace, leaving us behind.
After a few minutes of running, we finally arrived at school; we quickly started to go to our respective classroom without even saying goodbye.
Kanji's perspective
Yasogami High school;
Classroom 1-2
Kashiwagi quickly got into class a bit after I arrived. She seemed enthusiastic for some reason.
"Well class, I hope you can behave quietly for once. The new transfer student from the city will be arriving today (He should be here already, hopefully he's cute)"
"Another transfer student from the city? I hope we get a cute girl, that would be a nice chance of pace." Some guy behind me whispered way too loudly for my liking.
"I think you mean a cute boy would be the change of pace… but he's going to have a hard time competing with Narukami-senpai!" The chick next to the guy said; again, WAY to loud for my liking, and with an annoying giggle.
"Man, Senpai sure has a lot of stalkers."
As I looked around the class, I noticed how everyone was busy talking about the new conversations could be summarized with "I hope he/she is cute".
It's times like this that I'm glad the seat next to me is empty. No one there to annoy me.
And then the door of the classroom opened.
"Oh, there you are (Well, what do we have here) This is the new transfer student, please introduce yourself." Kashiwagi said, while containing a grin.
"With pleasure…" The guy muttered before facing us."[BGM:SexyBack]I'm Takuya Akiyama, nice to meet you all." …so that was the new guy, huh?
He certainly had the whole "city boy" thing Senpai had. He was wearing the regular Yasogami uniform, with a chain on his belt and with his jacket tied to his waist with its sleeves, and instead of the normally white shirt he wore a black one with its sleeves rolled up and the collar up as well. You could easily tell he could not care the slightless about school uniforms, but then again the same could be said about me. He was pale as snow, was a bit shorter than Yosuke-senpai, had really freaky looking red eyes, and his slightly long dark blue hair covered his ears, but I could faintly see what appeared to be headphones trough it. Hiding headphones with his hair…yep, he wasn't very interested in class as well.
"Well, Akiyama-kun, let me be the first one to welcome you to Yasogami High. You're gonna love it here". Kashiwagi said ( putting to much emphasis on the"love it" part) just before a familiar muffled voice came from the classroom upstairs.
"EVERYONE IN THIS ROOM IS A WHORE!"
The class stayed silent for a few seconds, after which the new guy whistled.
"Ignore that, Akiyama-kun. Probably some random student." Kashiwagi said, making the new guy scratch the back of his head.
"That sounded like and adult tough"
"PLEASE TAKE SEAT IMMEDIATELY" Kashiwagi said in a commanding, yet not to loud voice.
"Fine…jeez" The new guy muttered before making his way towards the students, looking for a seat.
"Wow, he's up there with Narukami-senpai…" The annoying chick behind me muttered now that the new guy was more visible.
"Great, more competition…." Her annoying friend answered.
Is everyone just thinking about the same thing?
I was so distracted by those annoying idiots that I didn't notice the new guy standing next to me.
"Is this seat taken?" He asked me with a bored expression.
"No…it's not."I answered bluntly. This was probably the first guy that doesn't try to seat as far away from me as possible…
He raised his eyebrow before sitting next to me. "Cool; thanks…um"
"Kanji. Kanji Tatsumi"
KANJI "ASS RENOVATOR" TATSUMI
-Age: 15
-Height: 1, 83 cm tall ( 6' 0'')
-Weight: 65 kg (143 lbs)
-Zodiac: Capricorn.
-Favourite colour: Black.
-Least Favourite Colour: Orange.
-Favourite food: Strawberry.
-Least Favourite Food: Sweets.
-Favourite Music: J-Pop and J-Rock.
-Least favourite music: Electronic.
-Favourite Fiction Genre: Romance/ Shoujo.
-Least Favourite Fiction Genre: Sci-fi.
Signature moves/traits:
-Very VERY short temper.
-Sewing master.
-Tendency to renovate asses.
-Major weakness to cute, fluffy things and to blue haired detectives.
Sigh…I was already hearing whispers behind me.
"Why is he sitting next to Kanji? The guy is scary!" A female whisper said.
"If he hangs out with Kanji, maybe the girls will try to stay away from him…" A male whisper said, right next to the female whisper. Those two idiots again…
"You really only think about girls, don't you?" Those little pri-
"Alright everyone, class is starting!"
Never thought I would be happy to hear that.
Everyone stopped talking as Kashiwagi started to explain literature. I was ready to fall asleep when the new guy talked to me.
"Not the most popular guy around, I see." He said. I was about to break his face for being a smart ass when I saw the expression in his face. It didn't look like he was making fun of that. Weird…
"What makes you think that?" I answered.
"Didn't you hear them whispering?" He answered back while signalling the two idiots behind us. They both looked uncomfortable after he did it.
"I'm surprised you heard anything with those things on." I told him with a smirk.
He chuckled at that.
"They are turned off for now." He said while tapping the headphones.
"People always talk shit about me like that, because of how I look I guess". I told him. Shit, when did I start talking about myself so much!?
"What's wrong with how you look?" He said with an annoyed look on his face.
"Bleached hair, ear rings, shirt with skull...you get the idea."
"What!? The T-shirt looks cool!" He answered while signalling it.
I crossed my arms and nodded. "Of course it is! These idiots just don't have good tast—Wait…why did you only mention the T-shirt!?"
I didn't notice that the whole class was talking with each other and doing anything except listening to Kashiwagi, wich obviously upset her.
"I'm going to turn around now, and if I see anyone talking, they will have to stay here during luchbreak, got it?!" She said the later part of the phrase with a rather intimidating tone, and a vein in her head was getting more prominent.
"Warn me when class is over, I'm gonna doze off for now." I told the new guy before catching up some sleep. Those TV World training sessions where brutal…and we were going in again today.
"Sure thing." He put his hand on his left pocket, where his MP3 was. I guess that's his way of not dying of boredom in class.
Dreamless dorm, ticking clock
I walk away from the soundless room
Windless night, moonlight melts
My ghostly shadow to the lukewarm gloom
Nightly dance of bleeding swords
Reminds me that I still live
I will burn my dread
I once ran away from the god of fear
And he chained me to despair
Burn my dread
I'll break the chain
And run till I see the sunlight again
Yasogami High school, Entrance
Takuya's perspective
"Mission First Day Survival: Accomplished!"
Class went pretty well, but then again the only thing I did was either listening to music or talking to Kanji.
"That Kanji guy is pretty cool."
We got along pretty easily. After all, I knew were the guy was coming from. The pale skin and red eyes thing made kids hesitant to get close to me. My only real friend was Hamuko-chan, and after we came back to Iwatodai, I got along with Yukari-chan, Stup—I mean Junpei, Misturu-senpai, …pretty much all of their friends, except Minato; he wasn't a friend to me…he was like the old, jerkass brother I never had; that is, until Hamuko's death turned him into a walking corpse.
I was reminiscing about my old friends when I heard someone calling me.
"Hey, Takuya-kun!"
I looked at the school gates to see Kanji hanging out with a few students. I decided to walk over there.
"Sup, Kanji-kun!" I said back.
"Who's this Kanji-kun? " A black haired student said. She was pale as snow as well; we could pass for brothers…well, my blue hair aside…meh, semantics.
"Wha- IT'S YOU". Oh, hey! Headphones and Green Jacket where here!
"A transfer student from some city. He just arrived here today." Was what Kanji told that girl.
"Another transfer student from the city? Huh…just like Yu-kun." Green Jacket said. Green jacket… I guess the school doesn't take the uniform thing too seriously, thankfully.
"Hey I'm from the city too, you know!" Headphones said.
"I'm Yu Narukami, nice to meet you." The silver haired student said in a calm manner.
YU "STEEL KINGPING OF SWAG" NARKAMI
-Age: 16
-Height: 1, 80 cm tall ( 5' 11'')
-Weight: 62 kg (136 lbs)
-Zodiac: Capricorn.
-Favourite colour: Yellow.
-Least Favourite Colour: Purple.
-Favourite food: Ayias Beef Bowl Challenge.
-Least Favourite Food: Fish.
-Favourite Music: J-Rock and Jazz.
-Least favourite music: J-Pop.
-Favourite Fiction Genre: Mystery/Adventure.
-Least Favourite Fiction Genre: Shonen.
Signature moves/traits:
-Perfect poker face.
-Hard to tell if he's joking or being deadly serious.
-Has a magnetic field that attracts nearby females.
-Major weakness to Nanako Dojima's adorableness and tomboys.
"Yosuke Hanamura." Headphones said while giving a thumbs up.
YOSUKE "MAJOR OF RESSENTIMENT LAND" HANAMURA
-Age: 16
-Height: 1, 75 cm tall ( 5' 9'')
-Weight: 58 kg (128 lbs)
-Zodiac: Cancer.
-Favourite colour: Orange.
-Least Favourite Colour: Green.
-Favourite food: Ramen.
-Least Favourite Food: Vegetables.
-Favourite Music: J-Rock.
-Least favourite music: Classical.
-Favourite Fiction Genre: Shonen/Mecha.
-Least Favourite Fiction Genre: Shoujo.
Signature moves/traits:
-Can dissipate gloomy atmospheres with his butt-monkeyness.
-Second in command of the Junes Inaba mafia.
-Possesses a sixth sense when it comes to locating/ogling attractive women.
-Major weakness to crotch hits, nurses and attractive inn keepers.
" Chie Satonaka." Green Jacket said as she waved her hand to me.
CHIE "CARNIVORE QUEEN" SATONAKA
-Age: 16
-Height: 1, 58 cm tall ( 5' 2'')
-Weight: Unknown.
-Zodiac: Leo.
-Favourite colour: Green.
-Least Favourite Colour: Grey.
-Favourite food: Meat.
-Least Favourite Food: Not meat.
-Favourite Music: J-Rock.
-Least favourite music: J-Pop.
-Favourite Fiction Genre: Action/Adventure.
-Least Favourite Fiction Genre: Crime.
Signature moves/traits:
-Galactic punt.
-Stupid-Yosuke critical genital hit.
-Meat dimension invulnerability.
-Lethal chef.
-Major weakness to meat and strong and stoic transfer students.
" Yukiko Amagi." The black haired girl slightly bowed after introducing herself.
YUKIKO "LAUGH FIT QUEEN" AMAGI
-Age: 16
-Height: 1, 64 cm tall ( 5' 6'')
-Weight: Unknown.
-Zodiac: Sagittarius.
-Favourite colour: Red.
-Least Favourite Colour: White.
-Favourite food: Salad, tofu.
-Least Favourite Food: Ayias Beef Bowl Challenge.
-Favourite Music: Classical and J-Rock.
-Least favourite music: J-Pop.
-Favourite Fiction Genre: Action/Adventure/Horror.
-Least Favourite Fiction Genre: Drama/Shoujo.
Signature moves/traits:
-Indifference glare.
-Snicker storm.
-Lethal chef.
-Tendency to fall for bluffs.
-Major weakness to horror stories and sensitive transfer students.
"I'm Takuya Akiyama, nice to meet you all." I smirked as I introduced myself.
"Amagi…from the Amagi Inn?" I thought as I looked at her.
"Are you settling in alright?" Yu asked.
"So far, yeah…" I answered here.
"You managed to survive Kashiwagi's literature lessons pretty well. Hope you're ready for math tomorrow." Kanji said while sighing at the thought of maths.
"Ugh…maths. I hate them…" Chie said with a frown.
"Yeah, I used to hate them as well, but then I realized maths…have a point!" I said with a smile.
…
After ten seconds, Kanji decided to break the silence.
"That wasn't funny."
"You have a bad sense of humour, that's what it is…Well, I have some things to do at home, I should get going." I told them as I got ready to go back home.
"Right, we're busy as well; gotta go train in the TV-"
I could have sworn Kanji said something about "training" and "TVs", but he stopped when Chie punched him in the ribs
"The TV… Featherman R special…we were gonna watch it…Yeah, that was it!" Kanji said with a weird expression on his face.
"Well, hope you have fun. Later!" I waved at them while heading back home.
3rd person perspective
"That was close. Nice one Chie." Yu said as Takuya exited the scene.
"No problem!" Chie said enthusiastically, pumping her fist in the air.
"Don't encourage her, Senpai!" Kanji complained, holding the rib he thinks Chie might have just broken.
"Maybe you should think a bit before saying anything Kanji! You almost told him about the TV world!" Yosuke answered him, thinking rationally about the situation…which surprised the rest of the group.
"Speaking of which, we're not training today." Yu announced.
"Huh? Why?" Yosuke asked, curious as to what made their leader cancel the training session he announced just yesterday, of which he seemed to be excited.
"It's raining latter today. Ayia special." Yu said with all the calm in the world.
"…You're still trying to beat the challenge?" Yosuke said, aware that Yu had tried and failed the challenge…about four times.
"I WILL BEAT THE CHALLENGE!" Yu shouted, earning him looks from students that were walking by and sweat drops from his friends, who didn't know how to react to the enthusiasm their leader showed over a beef bowl.
Everyone except Chie, who looked at him with glistening eyes.
"You'll beat it eventually! I'm sure you will!"
Evening
Takuya's house.
"Thank you Shinjiro-senpai, for teaching me how to cook despite my complaints..." Takuya muttered to himself.
He quickly devoured the dinner he had made. After all, the only food he had taken was a quick breakfast before rushing to school. While devouring the food, a TV news special was on…
"In this special report, we will be looking at the series of thefts that took place in the city of Iwatodai a few days ago."
Takuya quickly grabbed the remote and pressed the record button.
"Another one for the collection!" He said with enthusiasm.
After finishing cleaning the dishes, he looked at the clock.
"Man, I'm still tired…Well, I should try to get some sleep; the Amagi Inn will get a visit tomorrow night after all."
Later that night, after Takuya had fallen asleep, the TV in the house turned on by itself…
To be continued on the next chapter:
"Logic doesn't work here"
So, here's my first FanFic ever; I came up with the idea for this fic after my first two playthroughs of P4G. Reviews are appreciated and always welcome, just
like constructive criticism, but this fic has been fully written since 3 months ago (though minor changes could be applied depending on criticism). The reason
I'm only uploading it now is because: a) It gave me extra time to re-read the whole thing to check for
typos and add foreshadowing. And b):I was afraid I would end up getting tired of writing and leave this fic unfinished.
P.S: Let's see how many of you can spot the references to other games/anime in this chapter!