Dear Persona User,

You have been cordially invited to the first ever Grand Arcana fighting tournament, exclusive to those who have made contact with the Other Side. Participants range from Demon to Demon Summoner, and only the most powerful individuals have been selected. The prize is access to the most powerful Persona in existence, which will be granted to the victor. Below is the location of the tournament, and a detailed description of the rules. Should you choose to attend, arrive at the assigned location at midnight one week from today.

Sincerely, Elizabeth of the Velvet Room

"This is a trap."

Seto Kirijo nervously adjusted his glasses as he paced back and forth behind his wife's seat at her desk.

"Yes, Seto." Mitsuru responded, in the annoyed tone of someone being told the obvious. She continued reading Elizabeth's letter, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her red hair.

"I mean, nobody would give away something like that if they actually had control of it. The ultimate persona? It's just bait!"

"Yes, Seto." Mitsuru had already considered this fact. The letter promised access to the ultimate Persona, not control of it. It was clear to her that whoever this Elizabeth was did not have the strength to obtain it herself, though why she would offer others the opportunity was still a mystery.

"So you can't go. I mean you'd be walking right into a trap!"

"Yes, Seto! Listen. You don't know what you're talking about. And I'm not angry, but you do need to shut up right now."

Her husband's mouth snapped shut. He looked down at his shoes and began fiddling with the buttons on his blue dress shirt, just as he always did when dismissed so casually by his wife. After a moment's pause, he left the room. Mitsuru did not even notice. She was busy studying the rules of the tournament. Combatants were to fight using whatever means available to them until their opponents were eliminated, whether they surrendered or were no longer capable of utilizing their supernatural abilities. Each was allowed to form a team of up to two additional combatants of their choice, though fights would still only take place between single combatants.

She sat back and took a long breath, reclining into deep thought. Although five years had passed since she had fought Shadows as a member of SEES, she had never stopped honing her skills or training the abilities of her Persona. She wanted to always be prepared in case there was once again a supernatural threat to mankind. And she had never become fully convinced that the Shadows were completely gone, even though there'd been no sign of them in ten years. Regardless of the dubious nature of the invitation, there was no way she could pass up an opportunity to obtain the ultimate Persona, the ultimate protection. In a way, she felt as though she had been preparing for just this occasion for all of that time.

But where would she find one person, much less two people, as prepared as herself?

"Yuka-chan! Someone's coming!"

Yukari stopped mid-punch, her fist inches from landing on the training dummy set up in the center of the clearing. Panting, she instructed her friend to conceal herself while she turned to face the path leading back out of the forest. She wondered who would come out this far into the woods; she knew it must be someone looking for her, but had no idea who that could be. To her surprise, Mitsuru emerged from behind the branches hiding the clearing from the main path.

"S-Senpai!"

"Aha, I think we can do away with that formality now. It's good to see you again, Yukari."

"I…yes of course. I can't believe it's you!"

Mitsuru looked her up and down. The pink tank-top and bike shorts she was wearing displayed the muscled arms and legs of a trained athlete, considerably different from how she had looked ten years ago, when they'd last seen each other. And Mitsuru detected a spark inside her old friend unlike anything she'd ever displayed before. She smiled to herself; clearly she was right in assuming Yukari wouldn't simply return to a normal life.

"So…My roommate must've told you that I train up here behind the old shrine. I'm guessing you didn't come all the way out into the woods just for a friendly chat. It's something important, right?"

"Yes, Yukari. It appears as though our strength is needed once again." Mitsuru handed Yukari the letter. "Someone is claiming to have access to the ultimate Persona. They're inviting Persona Users from all over to fight for it."

Yukari's eyes danced over the letter. "And we're going to go after it too?" She frowned. "I don't know, Mitsuru. This seems pretty suspicious. What is the ultimate Persona, and why would this Elizabeth know about it? And what the heck is the 'Velvet Room'?"

"All questions I intend to obtain the answers to. And I could certainly use your help, particularly if those answers are going to have to be gathered the hard way."

The two young women met eyes, and exchanged looks filled with fire. Yukari cracked her knuckles.

"Well, if it's a fight we're looking for…"

She spun around, aiming a kick in the direction of the training dummy. Though she was standing several meters away from it, a sudden windstorm burst forward from her kick and sent it flying apart. She grinned at the shocked Mitsuru.

"After Minato…left, I made a promise to myself. I was going to become strong enough that nobody I cared about would ever have to sacrifice themselves for me again." She aimed a punch at another training dummy, and a miniature gale swept it up into the air. "So I started training. As soon as I got to college. I signed up for martial arts training. Practiced every day. And when I got good enough…" A backhand chop send a wave of wind slicing through the branches above them, bringing down a rain of leaves. "I started combining it with my powers. I made my own fighting style, party physical and part magical." Yukari flexed her arms, clearly pleased with Mitsuru's stunned silence. "So just point me in the direction of whoever needs their face smashed in. I've been looking forward to an opportunity to fight something other than dummies."

Mitsuru's mouth hung open in stunned disbelief. "Well, Yukari, you certainly have changed." She chuckled. "I'm glad to have you on my side. But we still need a third team member."

Yukari smiled. "I may have an idea about that. Felicity! It's okay to come out!"

At Yukari's call, some nearby bushes began rustling and a girl in what looked to be her twenties with white cat ears and bluish-white hair over most of her body emerged from behind them. She was completely naked, and sharp claws on her hands and feet were clearly visible. The cat-girl swished its three tails and smiled at Mitsuru, showing off a pair of sharp fangs.

"Hiya! I'm Felicity, pleased ta meetcha'!"

"Felicity's a Bakeneko, a demon from the Other World." Yukari explained, throwing an arm around the catgirl. "She sensed my Persona one day while I was training and was curious. She's curious about a lot of things, actually. Sometimes it gets her into trouble. So..."

Yukari suddenly gripped the catgirl and flung her around, summoning a strong wind to throw her into the nearest tree. The catgirl flipped in the air and planted both her feet on the trunk, pushed off it and jumped back over Yukari's head, grabbing her as she landed and placing her claws across her throat. "So I've learned tah take care of myself". She grinned, releasing Yukari, who continued as though nothing had happened.

"Felicity came to our world some years ago, and has been living in the shrine at the start of the trail. She originally just wanted to learn more about humans, but discovered that not all demons are quite so, uh, cordial. So she started fighting them whenever they posed a threat to innocent people."

"I see…" Mitsuru was having trouble keeping her composure. "I had suspected the existence of some world parallel to our own, where the beings that became Personas originated from, but I had never thought it might be home to sentient beings. Or that they would have such interest in us".

"Your race is so funny!" The demon laughed, brushing her hair back. "I wasn't about tah let any meanies start pickin' on ya for no reason. So I been watchin' over you guys, yah know, whenever I could."

"Watching over, right. The day we met she helped me save two school kids from an Oni. Literally kicked its teeth in." Yukari patted her on the back. "I know she doesn't look it, but Felicity is one of the toughest fighters I've ever met. We could use her on our team."

Mitsuru was uneasy about teaming up with a demon, but the light in Yukari's eyes was inspiring. "If she has your recommendation, then that's all I need to hear." She extended her hand to Felicity, who shook it enthusiastically with her paw-like hand. "Welcome to ATTA, Felicity."

"Um, ATTA?"

"Arcana Tournament Termination Alliance. I thought I'd make us a new team in the same spirit as SEES." Mitsuru looked questioningly at the girls. "Um, the name is alright, isn't it?"

"Oh! Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure. It's great! Right Felicity?" Yukari nudged her friend.

"Um, yah, most definitely." The catgirl grinned sheepishly.

"Alright then. We only have a few days before the tournament, so we'll need to leave soon. I've already arranged travel plans; a fist-class flight on the Kirijo group's private jet is ready whenever we are."

Felicity jumped into the air. "Woohoo! I'm finally gonna get tah leave these woods! Keeping out of sight is too hard to travel too far. I can't believe I'm gonna even get to ride on an airplane!"

"Eheh, hey, don't get too excited. The whole reason we're leaving is for a fighting tournament, remember? It'll be dangerous!"

"Oh that's right, the tournament! Hey, Demons are going tah be in it too right? D'yah think there'll be any cute boys there? Oh man, I'll bet there'll be some like, super ripped badass hotties! Y'know, the type that's all rough on the outside but totally a teddy bear on the inside?"

"I can't believe that's seriously what you're thinking about..." Yukari threw up her hands, sighing.

Mitsuru smiled, and was suddenly reminded of the days when her and her friends were in SEES, laughing and joking together even as the fate of the world rested on their shoulders. But now they were fighting for even more than that; if Demons were entering the tournament as well, then that meant that the power of this ultimate Persona could fall into malicious from the Other Side. This time the fate of two worlds, not one, rested on their shoulders.

Her hand fell on the handle of her rapier and gently caressed it. She wouldn't have it any other way.