Summary: Yu Narukami was not the only Wild Card. In fact, the other was held by his sister, who transferred to Inaba with him. Her name is Kokoro and this is her version of what happened.
Note: Names will be given the Japanese way (surname-given name) as that's where it takes place, and any Japanese words used in game will be used here.
Note 2: This is the rewrite and, as such, will be a bit different than the original. It'll have more scenes with just Kokoro, Kokoro and friends, and her Personas. I'm hoping to use less game dialogue, but since this follows the game closely it's a necessary evil at game plot points.
Story title is a version of one that was submitted by Shadow Ninja Koopa. Their suggestion was Whisperer of the Blessed. I liked the title, but I wanted to shorten it a bit. I apologize for doing so, but I'm still giving you the credit since I never would have thought of it on my own.
BETA WANTED
"Speech"
'Thoughts/Persona/Text message'
Chapter One
Welcome To Inaba
Narukami Kokoro was a sixteen-year-old girl with black hair and silver/gray eyes. She was shorter than those in her year and even shorter than those below her. This is partly because she was advanced a year and partly because of her early childhood. The Narukami family adopted her when she was just a child and, even though she was fed well and treated even better since then, her poor nutrition during her developmental years took its toll.
Kokoro was a rather shy individual and so most people overlooked her. Those that did notice her only saw her as Narukami Yu's little sister, the lost puppy, and nothing more. She had no friends to speak of and her brother's friends found her to be an annoyance. Despite that fact, Yu tried to involve her in his activities. She usually turned him down since his friends didn't want her there, but that just gave them the opportunity to call her weird on top of everything else. When she was younger, she followed him everywhere. She loved her brother after all and, because she loved him, she didn't want to bring him down with her.
As of tomorrow, however, the two of them would be going to live with their uncle in Inaba for a year while their parents worked overseas. Her father said something about an experimental employee swap program. Kokoro didn't understand why they both had to go, or why they were going to two different places, but that wasn't her decision. While in Inaba, they would be attending Yasogami High School, the only high school Inaba had. It was a small town, and there likely wouldn't be much to do, but at least it will be quiet. Kokoro wasn't about to argue with quiet.
Her brother said he wasn't going to make any friends. He didn't want to get attached to anyone only to have to leave them behind once their parents came back. He could say that all he wanted, but Kokoro knew he'd find himself with friends. It was just how he was. She had no such delusions about herself, however. It would be just like home for her. New people, new faces, and yet she would still just be the lost puppy. She would only ever be her brother's shadow, but she was fine with that. She didn't need friends anyway.
She stared out the train window and sighed. Maybe that wasn't entirely true. She didn't need friends, but she wanted them. Maybe she could make a few friends, or at least one. Just one person besides her family that cared enough to listen. Yes, one friend was all she needed. She felt her eyelids drooping while she listened to the click clacking of the train on its tracks. Soon enough she was slumped in her seat, oblivious to the world around her. It was then that she began to dream.
When Kokoro next opened her eyes, she found herself still slumped in her train seat, but something was off. Everything was decidedly more…blue, as if a filter was placed over top of everything. It was also more comforting. It felt more like a private train rather than a public one. All the seats were done in blue velvet and were extremely comfortable. The walls and carpet of the train were a deep indigo with a few flecks of a lighter shade of blue mixed in. A square blue table sat in front of her and across the table from her sat a rather peculiar looking man. He had bulging eyes and a long hooked nose. He had gray hair, but the crown of his head was bald. He wore, what she believed to be, a butler's uniform. In a seat across the aisle sat a beautiful blonde woman who wore a blue suit somewhat reminiscent of a bellhop's uniform. Kokoro noticed she had pretty amber eyes before the man interrupted her observations.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." The man said, "It is most strange to have two visitors at once. It is even stranger for their destinies to be linked in such a way. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
"It is very nice to meet you, but where am I?" Kokoro asked.
"I have already told you. You are in the Velvet Room, a place between dream and reality, mind and matter." He said, "It is a room that only those bound by a "contract" may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now let's take a look into that future, shall we?"
"If you'd like, I suppose." She muttered.
She wasn't too sure about this whole thing, but it was a dream, right? It had to be. She couldn't just fall asleep on one train and wake up on a completely blue one, could she? No, she couldn't. This was just a dream, so she'd just go where the dream took her. She had doubts though. After all, he did say it was between dream and reality. Not that she really knew what that meant.
While debating if this was or was not a dream, Igor had waved his hand over the table between them and a deck of cards appeared.
"Do you believe in fortune telling?" He asked.
"Sort of." She answered truthfully.
He spread seven cards out on the table in a three, one, three pattern.
"Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different. Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" He mused.
He waved his hand and a single card flipped over revealing a tower.
"Hm…The tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent. It reinforces the fact that you and the other visitor are on the same path. The card revealing the future beyond that is…"
He waved his hand once more and another card was flipped revealing a woman with a scepter and crown sitting on a throne.
"The Empress, in the upright position, this card represents "comfort" and "power"…Very interesting indeed." He stated, "It seems there are two possibilities. Either you will provide comfort and understanding to those who confide in you and have the power needed to help them, or they will provide those things to you and give you the power to do something great. Which it will be is not certain. In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny…If you cannot accept your role, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."
He waved his hand again and the cards disappeared. Where they went, she had no idea, but, since this was a dream, or so she assumed, she decided to ignore it.
"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. I seem to be forgetful today." He said, "This is Margaret. She is a resident of this place, like myself."
"My name is Margaret." The blonde finally spoke, "I am here to accompany you through your journey."
"We shall attend to the details another time." Igor commented, "Until then, farewell…"
The Velvet Room faded slowly from her view. Kokoro wasn't sure what to make of her time in the Velvet Room, but it just may be that her life was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
Kokoro woke with a start to her brother shaking her shoulder.
"C'mon, we're here. Our uncle's waiting for us." Her brother said.
She slapped his hand away and glared up at him. She cursed him for being so tall sometimes.
"Alright. I'm up." She muttered and rubbed her eyes.
Yu handed over her bag and she stood. She stretched out her stiff muscles and fell in step behind him. Together they left the train and exited the station. She glanced around and noticed that the station was nearly deserted. Inaba obviously didn't get many visitors. She found it odd that there weren't other people at the station. Surely some of the inhabitants had jobs in one of the nearby cities. Walking over to the only people around, they met their uncle, Dojima Ryotaro, and their cousin, Nanako.
On their way to their home for a year, they stopped at a gas station. While Nanako went to the bathroom and Uncle Dojima went to smoke, Yu started chatting with the attendant. Kokoro couldn't immediately determine the attendant's gender, but that wasn't what made her uneasy. Something about the attendant didn't sit quite right with Kokoro. He seemed to be giving them appraising looks, as if sizing them up for something, but she shook his hand anyway. It was only polite. A few moments later, she was hit by a massive headache.
'Thou art I.' She heard in her head, 'I am thou.'
The voice sounded like her, but it was distorted and echoed inside her skull. Weird dreams and now she was hearing voices? She must be going insane and yet…
'I don't know why, but something tells me you really are there.' She thought.
She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard a hum of approval from the voice. If there really was a voice in her head, she should probably get it checked out. At the same time, though, she didn't want to get shoved in some mental facility. She couldn't be locked up. She just couldn't. She started breathing heavily and someone took notice.
"Hey, are you ok?" Nanako tugged on her shirt.
Kokoro startled herself out of her thoughts at the contact and looked at the young girl.
"I'm fine, Nanako. Nothing to worry about. I think I'm just tired." She told her.
Everyone piled back into the vehicle and they continued on their way. Just a few moments later, they arrived at the house and once again exited the vehicle. It was a small, two story house. The building seemed to have a dreary vibe to it and Kokoro felt sad for it, odd as that feeling was.
"It's not much, but it's home." Her uncle said as he let them into the house, "Kokoro, I hope you don't mind, but you'll have to share a room with Nanako. It might be a bit cramped with the two of you. I wish I could offer you more, but.."
"It's alright. It could be fun to have a roommate. Right Nanako?" Kokoro asked.
"Yeah! Like a sleepover." She said.
"All right, let's have a toast." Dojima said after dinner that evening.
They raised their glasses, Kokoro did so a little reluctantly. Dojima looked at Yu once the glasses were lowered.
"So…Your mom and dad are busy as always…They're working overseas was it?" He asked.
"That's correct." Yu replied.
"I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents…It's rough being a kid." He commented.
"I suppose." The gray-haired sibling answered.
"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having you two around." Dojima stated, "So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourselves at home."
"Thank you for your kindness." Yu said while Kokoro nodded.
"No need to be polite." He stated, "Well, anyway…Let's eat."
Kokoro ate slowly and her brother raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged and continued eating. Dojima's phone went off and he made an offhand comment, but answered it anyway. Apparently, he was called into work. This left Nanako to show her cousins where their rooms were.
Kokoro walked into her shared room and saw that it was a decent sized room. It looked as if the entire thing was rearranged in a hurry. The side of the room nearest the door obviously belonged to Nanako, being done up in pinks and whites, while the far side of the room was plain and unpersonalized. It wasn't much, but it would do.
"How come you're so quiet?" Nanako asked from the door.
"I'm shy." She answered, "I don't mean anything by it, but strangers make me uncomfortable. I've been trying to open up and I'll do the same with you if you'd like."
"Ok." The little girl said and walked away.
Kokoro sighed. She hadn't meant to upset…worry…whatever the child. She just didn't trust people easily. She liked to think she was good at reading people, but she wasn't perfect. In seconds, she could read someone's body language, understand it, and react to it. Yu teased her that it was magic. She called it observation and practice. It was something she had to know from a very young age. Despite years of practice, she still made mistakes. It was why she was so shy. She didn't want to get hurt.
Kokoro quickly made up her futon and flopped gracelessly on top of it. She was asleep in seconds, despite her nap on the train, and she slipped into a dream.
Within her dream, Kokoro stood on a walkway surrounded by dense fog. She could barely see a few feet in front of her and could only just make out the red color of the bricks.
"My my, what have we here?" the distorted voice she'd heard at the gas station pierced through the fog, "It seems I have a curious girl to see to. If your wish is to discover then come find me. If you can, that is."
She followed the sound of laughter. She was careful of the edges of the walkway not knowing what would happen if she were to fall off and into the fog. She also didn't really want to find out either.
"Well isn't this something. You've kept up quite well. Isn't this something. Just a little farther and maybe you'll learn something."
The voice taunted her as she traversed her dreamscape. Kokoro realized she was in a dream, but it also seemed to be real. Like this was actually happening somehow. The walkway seemed to widen all at once and she stopped. She peered into the fog and noticed a figure being obscured by the vapors.
"It seems you've managed to follow me all the way here. You have a backbone after all. For what it's worth, I'm proud of you, but you're not done yet."
As if on cue, a pair of plain daggers appeared in her hands. She stared at them with wide eyes and a decent bit of fear. Blades of any kind were something she avoided if possible. She saw no need to have them, but she kept a grip on them.
"Impressive. I was expecting you to throw your weapons on the ground the minute they were in your hands. Let's see how confident you are with them. Attack me and let me see what you're made of."
Kokoro took a step back like she would refuse before taking a deep breath. This wasn't real. This was a dream and, despite it feeling very real, she needed to treat it like one. She lunged at the shrouded figure and a fight ensued. She used the daggers almost instinctually though she knew she had no formal training. She knew her fighting wasn't structured, but she didn't have time for that.
"Stop." The voice commanded, "It's time for you to go. You have my approval though you know not what that means for you. We'll meet again I think. Until then, I'll be watching and waiting. Now it's time for you to wake up and greet the day."
Kokoro shot up in bed immediately as if a switch was flipped. Her first thought was that she should be concerned, however it was only a dream. It was a very realistic dream but still a dream. Anything can happen in a dream. Some part of her felt like it meant something, though. She pushed it to the back of her mind for now. She'd ponder it more later.
She stood from her bed and got ready for the day. She took a few moments to ponder over her uniform. After all, why did the skirt always have to be so short? She was downstairs before her brother was even awake. Not that that was really all that surprising. He took his time in the morning, but he always managed to be on time. She had no idea how he did it. Nanako stood in the kitchen making breakfast and Kokoro marveled at how odd that was.
"Good morning." Said child greeted.
"Morning. Did your dad go to work already?" Kokoro asked.
"Yeah. He leaves really early." She answered, "Do you want some eggs and toast?"
"Just toast please." Was her answer, "I want to get to school early to familiarize myself with the buildings."
"Ok." The seven-year old-said and handed her cousin two slices.
"Thank you Nanako-chan." Kokoro said and left the house.
Kokoro managed to find her own way to school. It actually wasn't that hard if you followed all the signs which wasn't hard in such a small town. Once there, she picked up any and all papers she and her brother would need. She'd rather not return to the office due to her brother's tardiness. She could have left him to handle his all on his own, but it certainly wouldn't have been a good start to the day.
She glanced at the papers and saw the two of them would be in class 2-2 with Mr. Morooka as homeroom teacher. She easily located the classroom and returned to the school's entrance to await her brother. He came along five minutes later and the two trekked off towards their class and a teacher who should not be teaching. Weren't teachers supposed to be professional?
"Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage." Mr. Morooka sneered, "And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so none of you girls better get any ideas about hitting on him. Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."
Kokoro had been ignored through his entire speech, but that was normal. In this case, it was a blessing. She really didn't want to be the subject of this teacher's ire. Her brother, unfortunately, didn't like her being ignored…nor did he particularly like being called a loser. It was a toss up which he was more ticked with.
"…You calling me a loser?" He asked the teacher, death glare in place.
Kokoro sighed. She knew this was going to happen. Yu just couldn't stand when people acted like she wasn't there…or actually didn't notice her there. It got him in a bunch of trouble back home. She was only a few months younger than him, but he was extremely protective of his little sister.
"Hrnh…That's it, you're on my rotten little shit list, effective immediately." The teacher said, "Now listen up. This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them. But what do I know…it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those damn phones, checking your life-journals and you're my-places…"
He continued going on and on about how today's youth was throwing everything away and blah, blah, blah. If she wasn't so shy, she would have interrupted long ago.
"Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" A short haired girl asked.
"Huh? Yeah, sure. Hear that? Your seat's over there. So hurry up and siddown already! And who the hell are you?" He asked.
Mr. Morooka, it seems, had finally noticed Kokoro.
"The other transfer student. I'm his sister." She said.
"Well siddown behind Hanamura. He's the deadbeat behind your brother." He said rudely.
It was like it was her fault he didn't see her. She knew his kind. The kind that would assign blame but never admit to fault of their own.
Kokoro sat down and prepared for a boring day. She sat through the day daydreaming and doodling in her notebook margins to make it appear as though she'd been listening. By the end of class she'd ridden a dragon and drawn countless flowers, trees, and just random swirls.
"That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow."Mr. Morooka commented at the end of the day.
Kokoro immediately got up and left, telling her brother she'd meet him at home. She was not staying in that building a second longer than she had to. Mr. Morooka was a jerk and she didn't want to deal with his attitude anymore that day. It was bad enough she had to deal with him the rest of the year.
She was part of the way home when she got a text from her brother that they were being held at school because of an accident. She paused in her walking and contemplated the message. She hadn't really wanted to go home right away, but she had no excuse not to. Her brother expected her to be at their uncle's place but now she didn't have to be anywhere just yet. She remembered passing a river on her way to school. She'd stop there for a while.
The river was calming. To her all water was calming, but a flowing river was always the best. She was sitting on the dock with her feet in the water and her shoes and socks sitting beside her. Most girls wouldn't think of going anywhere near the river without their shoes and yet she had her bare feet in the water. Kokoro smirked to herself. Girls could be so stupid sometimes. There were far worse things in the world than wet or dirty feet.
Kokoro suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching her. Looking around she saw an old man, an elderly couple, and a boy who looked like he would pick a fight with anyone who even looked at him funny. He was the one who was watching her. It was odd.
She was feeling bold today, plus she had decided she was going to try and make friends. She looked at him, so he knew she caught him staring, and raised an eyebrow at him in question. He took it as a challenge and fixed her with a glare. She held his gaze and he came stalking over.
"What're you looking at?" He asked.
'His posture is offensive, but not necessarily aggression. Defensive as well then. Interesting.' She thought.
Unfortunately, that's all she could get. She was usually better than this, but there was something about him that made her incapable of reading him completely. Almost as though he was hiding a piece of the puzzle.
"I believe you were staring at me." She stated boldly and stood up.
Standing didn't do much, as she only reached eye level with his chest, but at least she wasn't craning her neck as much in order to look at him. Sometimes she despised her height.
Since she couldn't completely read his posture she reacted to what she could read. She shifted herself to take a passive stance. She didn't try to look intimidating and she didn't try to look like she was ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. She just stayed calm and looked indifferent to his aggressive nature.
"Well…yeah." He blinked, "I mean most girls don't go anywhere alone and I've never seen any of them sit that close to the river. Somethin' about it's too dirty or some other shit."
"You'll find I'm not like most girls." Kokoro commented, "My name is Narukami Kokoro. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I…um…I'm Tatsumi Kanji." He said, "Why exactly are you down here anyway?"
"I am not expected home just yet and I'd rather not be cooped up in a house. Especially not when there's a perfectly good river to be around." She answered.
'Hmm…this is the most I've said in one day. Probably even a whole month.' She mused to herself, 'So what is it about Tatsumi Kanji that makes me talk.'
"You like rivers?" He asked.
"I like all water. It's relaxing. My brother and I just moved here and today was my first day of school. I was feeling…stressed and wanted to calm down." She said, "Silly huh? May I ask what you're doing here?"
"Me? I'm just…uh…I guess you could say I'm avoiding my Ma. I got in trouble and she had to apologize for it."
"I see." She said, "Well I hope everything works out."
"So do I." He said.
The two talked for a while longer, but it was getting late and soon it was time for Kokoro to head home.
"I'd like to continue our chat, Tatsumi-san, but I should be getting home." She stated, "I'll see you around."
"Um…I'll be here tomorrow. You could come then…if you want to." He said.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow." She waved at him as she walked away.
'Tatsumi Kanji huh? Well this will certainly be interesting. Maybe this move wasn't so bad after all.'
Later that night, the two siblings and Nanako were eating dinner and Dojima was still working. Their uncle seemed to work late fairly often. It made her wonder what Nanako usually did.
"So, what did you do while we were trapped in school?" Her brother asked.
"I just sat by the river and relaxed." Kokoro somewhat lied.
She told the truth…she just didn't completely answer the question. Yu didn't need to know that she willing participated in human interaction…or that she sort of, kind of, initiated it. He definitely didn't need to know that the interaction was with a boy seemingly around their age.
The news came on and she found out exactly what was keeping her uncle. It seemed a woman was murdered and hung on an antenna. Kokoro had to wonder at that. Why was it so important to hang her upside down and shouldn't the antenna have broken or something?
She focused on such weird things sometimes.
She shook her head. What did it really matter? Death and destruction were pointless to report on. Death is inevitable. What someone doesn't know is how they will die. As for destruction…it's just another way for people to be cruel to one another.
Kokoro went up to her room halfway through the report. She'd rather not have bad memories brought up. She fell quickly to into a fitful sleep. Kokoro found herself back in the foggy dreamscape. She didn't know if there was less fog or if it was just her, but it was easier to see through.
"So, you're back again?" Asked the voice.
The voice was different this time though. It no longer sounded like a distorted version of her own. It was light, feminine, and had a slightly airy quality to it, like someone was stage whispering. It was…unique.
"It's wonderful to see you. I apologize about last time. I wasn't quite myself." It…she said.
"I…That's alright?" Kokoro said but sounded questioning.
"Thou art I and I am thou." The voice came, "You have passed my test. I will be here when you need me. For the greatest strength comes from within."
Kokoro trudged through another day at school. Once again, it was like she wasn't even there. Her brother was going somewhere with his newfound friends after school and asked her to come along. She declined.
She didn't want to intrude on his plans. After all, her tagging along got her labeled a puppy at their old school and she didn't want him to have to deal with that again. Plus, she sort of had plans of her own. Kanji had invited her to speak with him at the river…in a sense. She rather enjoyed her talk with him yesterday and she hoped they could actually be friends. It was that which lead her back to the river. Once again, she sat on the dock with her feet in the river. She was only there for a few moments before he showed up.
"You're weird for a girl. Aren't your feet cold or something?" Kanji's voice came from behind her.
"Hello to you too, Tatsumi-san. And, yes, I guess the water is chilly. It's only April after all, but the cold doesn't affect me as much as most people." She greeted.
"Just call me Kanji. I'm younger than you." He said.
Kokoro tilted her head to the side in question.
"I'm only a first year." He explained.
"Yet I haven't seen you around school." She commented, "First year or no, I would have noticed you. After all you're tall for a first year and I imagine you're taller than some third years as well. You could go to another school, but you've been here two days in a row."
He sat near her on the dock, but not too close.
"I…don't really go to school. It's boring. I'm not interested in what they're trying to teach and everyone acts like I'm about to punch their faces in." He said.
"People are hurtful, whether they mean to be or not. It's human nature. Children in particular can say such cruel words, but in the real world, it's the evil in the shadows you have to watch out for." She said darkly then shook herself from her thoughts, "It's best to try to ignore them. They're all idiots anyway. Yeah you're big and tough looking, but they're the morons who judge based on appearance alone."
"Isn't that the truth?" He snorted, "How come you speak all proper one minute and then not so proper the next?"
"Hmm? Oh sorry. I didn't realize I was doing that. I don't normally talk to people much. I only really have my brother and we don't really need to speak to each other all that much to get points across. My thoughts and writings take on a more proper sentence structure and sometimes that reflects in how I speak." She said.
"So you're not used to talking to…anyone?" He asked.
"Pretty much."
"Isn't it lonely?"
Kokoro stared sadly at the water.
"It can be." She said.
He scratched his neck and appeared to be arguing with himself.
"Hey, if it helps…you have me." He finally said.
She turned slowly to look at him.
"Thanks." She said with a small smile, "I appreciate it. Unfortunately, I should probably head home."
She stood and brushed the dirt off her skirt.
"I'll see you around." She said.
He stood as well.
"Hey…uh…I'll be helping my Ma most days, but I can meet you here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays." He offered.
"That would be nice."
That night she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in bed for a while before getting up. She had intended to be productive and do some studying, but instead she sat on the sofa in her room and stared at the blank TV screen. She sat just staring into space and glancing at the clock every couple of minutes. At exactly midnight, something happened. The TV came on with the sound of white noise. There was a figure on the screen, but the only thing she could tell was that it was a girl. She stood up and walked around the table to inspect the TV.
She reached out and poked the screen. Her finger went into the screen and the girl's image was replaced by a black and white swirl that reminded her of a hypnotist's wheel. She put her whole hand in the screen and was about to see how far she could get her arm in when she heard a crash from her brother's room. She yanked her hand out of the screen and jumped onto her futon.
She didn't know what happened, but she'd find out. If there was one thing she had learned as a child, it was that it was not knowing something that lead to pain.
The next day, after school, she overheard her brother and his friends taking.
"By the way, did you see… it… last night?" The short haired girl, Chie, asked.
"Huh?" His other friend, Yosuke, asked, "Uh, well… What about you?"
"I did!" She said, "I seriously saw a girl!"
She tuned out most of the conversation, but then something piqued her interest.
"…then I got stuck in the TV." Her brother said.
Her head shot up and she openly stared at him.
"It sounds like we all saw the same person." Yosuke said, "But weird voices aside, what was that about getting sucked into your TV…?"
"Maybe it was hungry." Yu said.
'Only my brother.' Kokoro thought.
"Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV." He said.
"That's be one interesting dream though." Chie said, "I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic. Well if it had been bigger the- Oh, that reminds me. Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV."
"Oh yeah? Well, flat screen TVs are definitely in these days." Yosuke commented.
While those two started a conversation, Kokoro whispered to her brother.
"I believe you, Nii-san."
Later that night, Yu told her about what happened in Junes and, more importantly, the TV.
"You went in? Completely?" Kokoro asked.
"Yes." He affirmed.
"And you met a bear thing?" She asked.
"Yes." He said.
"Can… Can I go with you next time? Or the time after?" She asked.
If she went with him, maybe she could figure out what was going on.
"If I have time to get you, yes." He said.
"Thank you." She said and hugged him.
Her brother did indeed go in a second time, but he had to rush from school. He told her all about it later though, and about this thing called a Persona that he and Yosuke now had. He said they were going to try and solve the murder case as he'd promised the bear called Teddie.
The next time her brother went into the TV world, she went along. They were going to save Yukiko, as she was taken into that world by whoever the killer was.
At one point, they encountered a big pinkish and black striped ball with nothing but a big mouth and a mask on the back.
Kokoro felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of the monstrous thing.
'I said I'd be here when you need me.' The voice in her head came, 'Well now you need me, so call upon me.'
"My true self." She mumbled, "Persona!"
She smashed the card that appeared in front of her and what seemed to be a butterfly took shape. Once it was formed, there was no mistaking it for a butterfly. It had butterfly wings and a pair of antennae, but that was where similarities stopped. It had a long, blue-violet, snake-like body and an angular head with big red eyes. The body and head also had a metallic sheen to it. Its wings were also blue-violet, but it was a lighter blue than the body. The tip of the tail was similar to its wings in that it was the same light blue but it also had wisps of smoke coming off of it. It's antennae and the main structure of the wings was silver and seemed to shine with some sort of light.
"I am thou. Thou art I. I am the protector of innocence, Faerie Dragon."
"Faerie Dragon." Kokoro mumbled.
The dragon defeated the shadow and they continued on their way. They fought through more shadows until they came upon a Chie look alike that revealed itself to be the girl's shadow. Apparently denying that the shadow was a part of yourself makes it turn into a twisted monster. After defeating the dominatrix wanna-be, they headed back to the entrance. Chie looked like she was about to pass out. Her skin was pale and clammy and she was holding her head.
"Will the two of you be helping Teddie as well?" The bear asked.
"I promise I'll help when I can." Kokoro said, "I have prior engagements on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, however I know my brother will help all that he can."
Her brother looked at her when she mentioned her plans, but he didn't need to know she was meeting a boy. He'd get all protective brother on her and overreact. It didn't matter that Kanji was only a friend. She had made a friend all on her own and she didn't want her brother to ruin that. She loved her brother, but he could act rashly sometimes. A part of her thought that he got jealous sometimes, but that didn't make sense to her.
Once they returned home she grabbed an apple from the kitchen before settling into her room. She knew she wasn't going to be productive after going into what she'd be calling the Shadow World, but it was too early to go to bed. Instead, she pulled out a blank notebook and began to detail her accounts of what happened. She also put her own thoughts onto the pages.
'I suppose this could be classified as both a journal and a creative writing project. After all, who would believe any of this actually happened.' She thought as she finished up her apple.
That night, in her dreams, she returned once more to the Velvet Room.
"Welcome." Igor said, "Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world…I have summoned you within your dreams."
"Hello again." Kokoro greeted.
She'd decided at some point that if the fog dreams were real, maybe this was real too. It had always seemed more real than the fog dreams and she couldn't recall ever seeing someone quite as odd looking as Igor.
"And so we meet again." He said.
"This is a space that only those who have, in one way or another, entered into a contract may enter." Margaret stated, "In your daily life, you subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voice…thereby enacting your glorious awakening to your power."
"Hold onto this…"Igor said, handing Kokoro a blue key, "From this night forth, you are our guest in this Velvet Room. Your destiny will require you to hone your power, and for that, you will inevitably require our help. There is but one price for this assistance…You must abide by your contract and assume responsibility for all decisions you may make."
"Understood." She said.
"The Persona you have acquired… It is a side of you that shows itself when you face the world around you. Perhaps you can think of it as… a façade of protection you wear to face various difficulties in life. Your Persona ability however, is that of the wild card…Compared to that of others, it is very special. It is like the number zero… empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself." He told her.
"Special?" She questioned.
"The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart… And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities. Ah… But it seems you've formed one bond already. It will activate the next time you have an encounter and will come up to the appropriate level." He answered.
"I see." She said.
"Do you?" Igor mused, "We shall see. Where will your awakened power of the wild card take you…? I look forward to traveling the road of your destiny together… 'Till we meet again."
The Velvet Room faded from view.
'I am a wild card.' Kokoro thought, 'Somehow that doesn't feel quite right, but he's the mystical Persona man or whatever. He should know what he's talking about.'
A/N: Ah the first chapter rewrite is completed. It's nearly 7000 words! It makes me wonder how long this story will end up being once I finish the rewrite and continue on with the rest of the story. As you can see I didn't change too much, I just got rid of the P4: Golden aspects I stupidly tried to tie in and elaborated on things to…well…explain things better. I'll be adding more foreshadowing of Kokoro's past too. For those of you who have already read the original, I'll ask you not to point those sections out. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.