*Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series belongs to Atlus, recomended viewing 3/4. This is a first fic so please forgive any typos or grammar mistakes*
Prologue: Child of Inspiration
"All flights for Iwatodai Japan Proceed to Gate 3" The pre-recorded airline announcement speaks out over the density of people from over 400 nations.
A teenage boy standing at Gate 3 receives a hug and a kiss from his Mother, she won't be going with him. The young man blushing with embarrassment of the affection around these people tries to withdraw any tears, A few manage to slip away from his eye and drip on his jacket.
"Yea Mom, I'll call you soon as I get off the plane." The two then wave to each other, and the Boy begins to have the feeling sink in that he's going on a plane to Japan for a year without his parents or anyone in his former life with him. He takes slow hesitant steps but puts on a facade of bravery, but beneath this mentally he's a child again. So he takes the seat by the window to get a view of the city as it shrinks into a single light of the horizon. No one sits next to him so he tries and rests his legs on the empty seats until the stewardess tells him not to. The flight becomes too long too quickly and after 2 hours the in-flight movie repeats. He can't sleep just yet so he pulls out his note book and flips through the pages he has already filled.
Sketches and doodles of surreal places, Castles, dungeons, towers, and monsters. The Creatures were the most detailed. One in particular he drew over and over again in different poses, styles, a few were even coloured. A dark red over its metallic body covered in black and grey cloth with pieces of green and gold stripes and signs in Japanese kanji.
He flipped to the last page a close up of his head now, the different variations had more human characteristics of the face, but this latest version he began sketching kept the upper half of the face much more robotic and alien. He gave it six red bright eyes three on each side of the human shaped head. They were then covered by a visor of its headwear which was something of the mix of a rice hat and a space helmet. While he was pleased with the drawing he still felt there was something missing.
So he stared at his notebook whacking his pencil on his page stuck on a thought. Tapping over and over he lost grip and flung the pencil into the air which struck the head of an unsuspecting passenger. This man stood up and the teenage artist sunk into his chair afraid.
"Is this yours?" he asked and the Teenager was going to deny it but his head nodded yes instinctively. He then offered the pencil not angry about his rude awakening but rather curious. He took the empty seat next to him.
The stranger turns his head to his notebook and his eyebrow raises inquisitively.
"Can I see?" He asked, and since his nature seemed rather kind and interesting he agreed handing it over.
He flips through the pages slowly looking at all the detail and creativity each page had and had a look of intrigue. He then turned to the last page the uncompleted head-shot and his face changed to a look of thought. "These are remarkable, It's a wonderful feeling seeing true inspiration and talent." He returned the notebook to it's owner.
I never really thought about what I drew, I just kinda picked up the pen and did whatever was in my head. He looks up to his mysterious appraiser again but he was gone. He was going to get up and look for him but the signal to put on the seatbelts for landing light up and had to remain seated. He opened up the notebook again to his last page and saw on the corner there was something new.
A Blue butterfly was left and underneath was a message left for him.
"Everyone has the potential for greatness, and your's will be awakened soon"
The words sank in deep, and he grabbed his pencil again inspired and filled in the blank space of the page with the kanji -rai- and -den-
Thunder & Lightning ? he thought. Yet the space was filled and he was satisfied with his piece finally with a push of inspiration. The mysterious message saved in his mind he pondered the phrase, why did he say 'awaken'? Greatness is something earned not just inside dormant.
Tatsumi Port Island Airlines.
He was expecting a bigger welcome from the airport, but after picking up his luggage, but instead it was just a man, who he noticed to be very overdressed compared to all the other taxi drivers he knew in the city he grew up in. The sign with his name he held up shown a lack of any expression at all, like a robot on autopilot, but he could hardly criticize the stranger, being that he was rather alien to this country.
Slightly nervous about his manners he tried to shake the man's hand but was rejected, the culture shock was getting to him. Caught in some very heavy traffic the teenager tried to start a conversation every few minutes with the driver with no response but instead a glance through the rear view mirror. No doubt surprised of his Japanese, mistaking him as a tourist.
Finally the driver put the cab in park and said "The Bridge is off now, you can get there in five minutes if you take the subway."
And the young man thanked the driver and took some Dollar bills out of his pocket he hadn't exchanged yet, "Forget the change" and the driver bowed his head and drove away
He walks down the steps to the subway station, he might be catching the very last train of the night as it is getting close to midnight and there is barely a soul in sight of the long corridor. Taking a seat at the bench and shrugging off his bags to stretch his limbs. He brushes off dirt from his jean pants legs and straightens his leather jacket. He then grabs a comb and mirror from his duffel bag and begins fixing his unmanageable hair into a 'less' bushy style.
He looks at all the bags he brought with him and begins feeling homesick, that childlike feeling from when he stepped on that plane again pushed away from his mother brought out another tear.
Pulling out the certificate from his jacket pocket a scholarship program from Gekkoukan high, One year overseas to Japan for his second year in high school and they would pay all expenses to nearly any University on the globe. It was an offer that you just couldn't pass up.
It can't be that bad here, just all the travelling, I haven't even seen the school.
He slouches into his seat and leans his head back looking into the artificial light shining on him. His eyes begin to flutter as he almost falls asleep.
"Iwatodai, Iwatodai, now boarding for Iwatodai." the voice came from the intercom.
The young man gets up and suddenly blackout. Everything dark. He extends his hands to his face but cannot even see them. It's ... so dark... am I blind? And then there is light, and the train runs into the station and the very last car, the one right in front of him looks different, it is blue and looks like an old fashioned caboose. He can't help but move his feet to the door, and open.
A flash of light blinds him for a moment as he steps inside, it clears and he analyzes the room. This room was covered with the colour of blue velvet, from the curtains to the carpet. and he was not alone either. Two people sit at the table in front of him, one a woman who looks like an attendant and the other, a grotesque man with large bulging eyes, hunched over with a very long nose.
Looking back at the two who were expecting him the young man should have felt afraid but there was a calmness. An aura of safety filled within.
The odd looking one introduces himself "Welcome to the Velvet room, my name is Igor and this is my assistant Beatrice."
"Where are we?" the young man asks looking around the room, at first avoiding eye contact with the man and his big eyes, and long nose, noticing that the windows of the train were pitch black, like what it was moments ago.
"This is a place between mind and matter, a place for those who are bound by a contract and it seems that you are now being given one of these agreements right now" the man named Igor says.
Beatrice takes out the contract and places it in front of the young man; the young man takes the sheet of paper "What? A contract? What is this supposed to mean" questioning if this was the devil trying to buy his soul or something out of a urban legend.
"It is an agreement that you will take responsibility for your actions" The other named Beatrice answered.
Though hesitant the young man takes out the pencil he had in his jacket pocket and signs in his name.
"Alexander Wade" written on the dotted line, then as he set it down the page floated up to the long nosed man's hands and stowed it away.
"Excellent" Igor grinned "It's time for you to wake up now, you should be at your destination, but the path before you is still not at end, you may not see what is coming, just remember to keep resolute at the journey. Move forward without doubt. We will meet each other again".
The young man Alex did not feel comfortable hearing that, as a matter of fact he began to feel very heavy.
Iwatodai. Now exiting at Iwatodai.
He opened his eyes and heard the announcement and grabbed his things before the train left for its next destination, not sure if all of that had just happened.