Chapter 1: Dark Premonition
When two clashing ideals meet, a conflict is always born. What happens when everyone begins to forcibly act on those ideals? The world would be thrown into chaos. I chose you because you seemed different. I wanted to see if you, who isolated yourself from your fellow man, could stand up with the strength of your friends and challenge that which terrified you. It seems, however, that I was wrong. You were weak-willed to the very end. And now, this world shall see itself in flames.
Rain pattered the shingled roof of the Koizumi household. Thunder boomed in the distance as lightning flashed through the midwinter evening sky.
In a dark room on the far end of the house, young Maki sat in solitude. With next to no lighting, she sat on her bed and stared at a corner. There was a knock at her door as her mother poked her head in.
"Maki?" She spoke softly as she called out to her daughter. "Minami just called to let you know that she can't make it tomorrow." With that, Maki's mother slowly closed the door.
Maki cast her eyes downward. She had been really looking forward to getting out to see Minami. She hasn't seen either of her friends since winter break started. Akio, a childhood friend of Maki's, had gone out of town for the break. Minami remained in town, but she was kept constantly busy by her parents and other friends that tugged at her from every direction. Maki never said anything on the subject. She understood that Minami had other friends. This time, however, the two had been planning to meet since before winter break.
Thinking about it, Maki came to the conclusion that something came up with her parents and left the subject alone, keeping her faith in her friend. With that, she laid down and pulled the covers over her shoulders. With a final good night wish to herself, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
That night, as she slept, Maki found herself dreaming again. Then, dreaming isn't necessarily the right word.
She found herself on burning plain, smoke and embers rising up all around her. A few feet in front of her, a silhouette that was made near invisible by the smoke stood still. Just over the roar of the flames, Maki heard an eerily kind voice speaking to her.
"It's almost time, Maki," the voice said. "Are you ready?"
Maki shook her head. This dream had occurred multiple times over the past two months, ever since she met one person. Every time it occurred, the voice said something different, but always spoke of an event that would happen in the near future. Now, it seemed, that event was close. She opened her mouth to yell back at the voice, fearing that this dream was not just a nightmare that refused to go away, but no sound came. The voice chuckled as the flames that surrounded her inched closer and closer until the tongues started to lick at her. Finally, she screamed and sat up in bed.
It was morning now, and the sun shone weakly through the closed blinds that hid the single window in her room. The soft light that flooded in suggested early morning, but when Maki saw that her clock read 11:07, she felt compelled to check the window.
She quietly pulled the covers from over herself and shuffled over to the window. She spread some of the blinds and peeked through to find that a gentle snow floated to the already blanketed street below.
Maki's eyes sparkled like the small, weightless crystals before her, and she hurried to get ready to go out for the day.
Despite her inward personality, snow always brought out the best in Maki. Even as a child, every time it snowed, she found herself brought out of her thick shell.
As she stared outside, however, a feeling of loneliness washed over her. She would be spending a day as amazing as this one by herself. If anything, she wanted desperately to call up Minami and beg her to come hang out, but Maki didn't want to disturb anything that she might be doing and went to get ready.
Soon enough, that feeling of loneliness faded, and Maki's excitement returned. As she showered, she couldn't help but hum a little tune as she washed.
Once Maki had washed, dressed and eaten, she hurried out the door as her mother smiled into a cup of coffee, happy to see her daughter smiling again, even if for a day.
As Maki emerged onto the white street, she took note of the children and parents playing in the street. She pulled the scarf over her nose to hide her face as much as possible, but she still maintained the small smile.
She shuffled down the street with a hand constantly holding her scarf in place. As she walked, she failed to noticed the man that started following her. It wasn't until she started to round a corner that she finally noticed him.
His presence made her jump, but she quickly calmed, as his was a familiar one. She stopped and let him come to stand beside her. He was a rather handsome fellow, with a tall, semi-muscular build to him, so normally, he would stand out. However, it seemed like no one but Maki could see or hear him. When she talked to him, be it on the phone or in person, people seemed to think that Maki was talking to herself.
The young man laughed and caught up. He stopped next to her and turned to her with a smile. "Sorry to startle you like that."
She shook her head. "It's fine," she quietly assured him. She turned to start walking again, but the young man stopped her and pointed to the other sidewalk.
"Isn't that one of your friends?" He inquired this with a curious tone as a group of high school girls rounded the corner on the other side of the road. Maki looked closely at the group to see her close friend Minami at the front. Minami was easy to pick out with her excessively short stature and black hair that seemed longer than she was short.
Maki's heart sank. She never expected that Minami, one of the kindest people Maki had ever met, would back out on her for her other friends.
Maki cast her eyes downwards. Feelings of panic and betrayal began to take hold, and tears filled her eyes. The man's mouth turned to a skeptical frown. He wondered what had made Maki start crying, though he could guess that it had something to do with the friend.
With a brief glance forward, Minami noticed Maki. She stopped as her own heart sank. She never expected Maki to come out alone, even on a snowy day. She started think about how to explain this to her already incredibly sensitive friend, but she noticed the man standing next to Maki. Minami frowned and looked at the group that had walked quite a bit before noticing her absence. Deciding that Maki was more important, she hurried across the snowy pavement.
Minami ignored the man as she desperately began to attempt to explain her actions to the already teary-eyed Maki.
"Maki, I swear to you that I have a good reason for this," Minami futilely assured her. She looked at her puffy-eyed friend, and her usually cheerful demeanor fell, heartrending guilt taking hold. "My friends had planned this for tomorrow, but one of them couldn't make it then so we had to move to today. I was going to call you when I got home and let you know we were going to hang tomorrow, but..."
Maki wiped her eyes with her sleeve and buried more of her face in her scarf. "... You promise...?"
Minami nodded. "Why would I lie to you? Have I ever done so before?"
Maki looked to the side for a moment before her eyes gave a content sparkle. "... Okay. I trust you."
The man that stood next to Maki cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've met, Ms...?" He held out his hand.
Minami turned to him with a reluctant stare. She looked him up and down with a hesitant frown. After a moment of awkward silence that made Maki shrink further into her scarf, she smiled and shook his hand. "Saito. Minami Saito. It's nice to meet you, mister...?"
The man smiled. "Ebihara. Hiraku Ebihara. It's a pleasure to finally meet one of Maki's friends. I was actually just leaving, so if you'll excuse me..." He turned and walked away in the other direction. His eyebrows furrowed as he wondered how she noticed him, but he shrugged it off and continuer walking.
Once he disappeared around a corner, Minami turned to Maki.
"I'm really really sorry Maki," she pleaded. "We'll spend the rest of the day together and do whatever you want."
Maki seemed visibly happier with that offer. "... Are you sure? We can always go tomorrow..."
Minami shook her head. "It might not snow tomorrow. The time is now."
Maki smiled undee her scarf, but it soon faded when she heard fighting.
Out of nowhere, two of Minami's friends started arguing over a topic as simple as what was the better literature genre. It was something so trivial, and yet the girls seemed to be on the verge of violence. Minami rushed across the street to hurry and try to break it up. Maki reluctantly followed, really hoping that this would be over quickly. She stayed back a few feet as Minami squeezed through the gap and forced the two apart despite her hilariously short statue compared to the other two. Immediately, the attention of the fighting girls turned to Minami. They started to reach for her as if to attack her for interrupting, but at that moment, time seemed to freeze for Maki.
The scene before her warped into the fiery plain from her dreams, though she was certain that she was still awake. The silhouette that always accompanied the dream was there yet again.
"The time has come, Maki," the voice rang out. "It's beginning. Don't cower away again."
The flames swept up and engulfed her vision of the plains. She covered her eyes with her arm and closed them.
When she opened her eyes, she was on the sidewalk again, but only the two girls that had been fighting stood there. Not only that, but the world had taken on a grey tone with an eerie glow to it.
The girls stood there silently, staring unblinkingly at Maki. Maki looked back at them uncomfortably, terrified at this sudden change. She was certain that she hadn't passed out, for this felt very real to her. She found herself speechless and started to turn away from the girls to find Minami.
As she turned, however, a goopy sound rang out in the silent world from behind her.
Maki slowly turned around to see that the girls had disappeared, and two black puddles of goo rested where they once stood. She took a step back, tears filling her eyes as she stared at the puddles in terror.
As Maki stared, one of the puddles shifted. It started to rise and take the form of something. As the first did, so did the other. When both stopped moving, they had settled into two human figures with no distinct features, with one being primarily black with white spots where the eyes would be and the other primarily white with black spots where the eyes would be. The silhouettes stared at Maki for a moment, seemingly curious. After a moment of terrifying silence for Maki, the head of the black one shot forward, a "mouth" opening and a distorted scream emitting from it. It charged Maki while screaming.
Maki shrieked and stepped back, but she stumbled and fell to the ground. The silhouette continued its charge, and as it neared Maki, she closed her eyes and hoped it would go away.
There was a bright flash of blue light, and Maki opened her eyes. When she did, she was surprised to see a giant white cobra-like serpent sitting between her and the silhouette creature. The serpent's tail had coiled around the area where Maki sat, and two angelic wings that protruded from its back near the base of its hood. Its tongue flicked out briefly as it hissed.
Maki stared at it in terror at first, but the gentle light that its body gave off made her feel protected, so that terror soon turned to amazement. As she stared, a name suddenly came to mind.
"Persona..." she muttered. Another name soon came to mind as well as a determination to survive.
"Kebechet!" She shouted. The serpent just hissed in response. Maki thought for a moment, not sure what to order it to do. Yet again, the knowledge seemed to flow into her mind.
"Hama!" She ordered. The serpent hissed and flicked its tongue out, a flutter of paper flying off of its tongue. The paper covered the silhouette and flashed.
The silhouette exploded in a burst of black goo that faded. Its white companion screamed now and charged the serpent. Maki stood, unfazed by the charge, and smiled. "Now, Assault Dive!" The serpent's mouth opened as it hissed, and it slammed its head into the silhouette, biting down on its torso. The white silhouette exploded as well, and the serpent faded away in a brief flash of blue light.
Soon after, the world returned to normal, with the girls that had been fighting unconscious. Minami and her group looked at Maki, who was staring off into space. Minami called out to her, but the words sounded muffled to Maki. Minami called out again, and Maki's eyes closed as she fell to the ground unconscious.