A/N: Hi and welcome to Shards of Dreams, my first Persona fanfic! The main character here is obviously Ken Amada two years after the events of P3. I hope you will enjoy the story I have put here c: This chapter has been slightly revised while the rest have been /completely/ revised.


Velvet Room

Ken's eyes opened slowly, only to find himself in an unfamiliar area. He remembered he was on a train sleeping and was completely bewildered by the fact that he had suddenly ended up somewhere else. He began scanning his surroundings. He felt like he had been here before but briefly, when Aigis and the other S.E.E.S members were summoned to learn the truth of their deceased leader and the origins of Metis.

There was an abundant amount of velvet everywhere; the sofas, the walls, floor, and tables; were all different shades of blue velvet. He noticed that he was sitting on a blue velvet chair in front of a large table in the vast room, and the whole place was illuminated by candles since the outside of the windows were pitch black.

He felt a vibrating movement and the sounds of wheels screeching on what seemed to be rail road tracks, to which he assumed he was on some sort of train.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

Ken looked up and almost jumped at the sight he had seen. He couldn't take his eyes off of what seemed to be a man. The man stared at Ken with bulging wide eyes that looked like they were about to pop out of his head and a creepy large grin. He had an impish figure to him, a receding hairline that was bordering on baldness, an abnormally long nose that could possibly reach the heavens and was clad with a black tuxedo and white gloves. He blinked for a moment before prying his attention towards the person next to him.

Next to him was a young girl who seemed just a few years older than him. She had platinum blonde hair that was tied up into two pigtails with large blue bows that were a lighter shade than the room. She wore a dress that was also the same shade as her bows and had beautiful amber eyes along with a pale complexion. She stared with the same intensifying look the man gave to him while holding a large brown tome on her lap.

"Ah, it seems we have another guest with a very intriguing destiny. One who has stepped foot here before," the old man chuckled. His voice had a mysterious gentleman-like quality to it and with a Transylvanian accent. "My name is Igor… It is a delight to have you as our new guest." He gestured his hand to the young girl.

"This is Beatrice. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"H-hello," Beatrice murmured and averted her gaze shyly.

Ken nodded his head slowly, still utterly confused as to why and how he ended up here. He should've been on the train ride to his new town, not on this strange train ride to wherever.

"This room is a place that exists in between dream and reality, mind and matter," Igor explained. "Only those who are bound by a "contract" may be allowed in the Velvet Room. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Contract?

At that, Ken regained his composure and kept a calm and recollected face. He looked at Igor straight in the eye and attempted to hide the fear dwelling inside of him.

"I'm Ken Amada," he stated sternly.

"Hm…I see. Now, let us take a look into your future, shall we?" Suddenly, a deck of cards were summoned onto the table and emitted a blue glow.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor asked, waving his hand over the deck and instantly the cards separated into a hexagon shape. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different." He began to chuckle, "Life itself follows the same principals, doesn't it?"

Igor waved his hand and a card flipped over in the middle of the hexagon shape. It revealed what seemed to be a tarot card; it had a black silhouette of a man with one foot over what looked like an edge of a cliff and a dog following him.

"Hm… The Fool in the upright position represents your beginning, the start of a brand new journey you will embark on very soon. The card indicating the future beyond that is…" Igor said as he waved his hand over the table once more and another card was flipped over, revealing a faced crescent moon above a stream, with a crab in it, two towers and two dogs howling towards it.

"The Moon in the upright position," Igor began. "This card represents "hesitation" and "mystery"…very interesting indeed. It seems a great mystery will be imposed upon you during your journey. In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that the future will not be forever lost."

"Forever lost?" Ken asked, slightly panicked. "But we just defeated Nyx two years ago! How can our world be at risk of being lost?" He was confused and had no idea what was going on now. S.E.E.S had stopped "The Fall" from occurring thus humanity could continue on living. What else could try and end all life?

"Calm down, child," Igor reassured. "You will find that out soon at your destination."

Ken was about to ask more but was interrupted by the sudden voice arising from outside. It sounded faint but became more audible more and more.

"We will attend to details another time. Until then, farewell," he said to Ken before the room had been engulfed by a bright light.


As he opened his eyes, he found himself back on the train he was riding to; Yumewa, a town that was rumored to give its residents their happiest and best dreams. Mitsuru had suddenly decided to enroll him here for some reason this year, and claimed that it was because of how outstanding his grades were that she thought it would be best for him to attend a school that was different than Gekkoukan.

It sounded strange to him though, because everything seemed fine until now. He stayed in a new dormitory and while he remained distant, he was able to live with his dorm mates.

Oh well, I guess it's okay. I still feel like she's hiding something from me though...

The voice he heard in his dream happened to be the woman whom was announcing their approaching arrival to the small town.

Rubbing his eyes from the sleepiness, he turned his head towards the window and saw the sun was still up but was already dipping slowly; its orange light shining upon the green grass and streams outside. There was also a forest and beyond the slits of them he could see the glistening ocean.

Ken was amazed at how beautiful the landscape looked and was anxious to see what the town would look like. He had heard that they had many different clubs and departments in Yumewa Academy and decided to join the soccer team there once he settled in. How excited he was, to see new surroundings that contrast the city-like Iwatodai.

"This is the station for Yumewa. Please make sure to take your entire luggage with you when exiting," the woman announced from the loudspeakers.

"Looks like I'm here," Ken said to himself as he grabbed his backpack and stepped out of the doorway of the train. Departing the station and making his way through the crowd, his eyes widened at the small town before him.

Apparently it was supposedly small from what the brochure had said but it looked much larger in person. It didn't have as modern buildings as Iwatodai did but instead had a rich, prestigious look to it. In the middle, he could see a tall clock tower that towered over all the buildings in the town and had begun to chime.

Two lavender doors would open when it had rung, and out from the tower were figurines of two dragon-like creatures; one white and the other black and a dream catcher hanging between them in their claws. It played a cheerful musical tune as the figurines danced before returning inside the dark interior of the tower.

"This place…is different," Ken thought before finally heading into the town. While walking around, he saw that the town was still modern-like; it had a small mall and a couple of businesses here and there but there were some country side aspects to it too. There was an open plain where many people would gather around to play or have picnics and relax, along with a river flowing next to it.

Ken felt the new change rather refreshing. Though it wasn't like Iwatodai, he thought that maybe he could stand living here after all. He would miss the members of S.E.E.S though, and the thought of being away from them pained him a little. Especially the new friends he made in Gekkoukan Junior High.

No, I'm most likely here temporarily. I'm sure I'll be able to see them again soon.

Looking at his pamphlet again to focus on where he had to go, he looked at a mini map of Yumewa and searched for the dormitory. Finally pin pointing the location, he began heading towards his new dorm.

Yumewa Dormitory

Reaching the dormitory, there were two large buildings facing each other that had yet another fountain between the large distances of them. There were two arches to each building; one with pink roses and the other had blue roses. He assumed the arch with blue roses was the boy's dormitory and walked onto that path where bushes lined up amongst the cemented pathway. Opening the large door before him, he peeked into the interior of his new dorm.

The lobby was big; a couple of sofas and chairs on one side of the room with a large T.V. and to the right of it was the entrance to the cafeteria. To his left by the entrance was a desk and sitting behind it was a man whom was busy typing on the computer. He had apparently heard the door opening and his head shot up to see the young boy standing by the entrance.

"Ah, you must be Ken Amada. Welcome to Yumewa Academy," the middle aged man greeted politely and stood up, walking by the desk to stand in front of Ken. His dark black hair was neatly combed and he wore a navy blue formal suit with a white jabot and black pants. Ken looked up at the man who looked at him with gentle gray eyes.

Ken instantly got the impression that this school was mostly for rich first class children and felt that he may not fit in because he was not used to this kind of environment. However to show a good first impression to this high class man, he bowed and greeted him back. "It is a pleasure to meet you sir," he stated firmly.

"My, a young polite gentleman you are," the man smiled. "I am Yasushi Nakashima. I hope you will have a splendid time in Yumewa Academy. If you have any problems, feel free to come to me or to the other staff." After introducing himself, he turned around and with a wave of his hand, he said, "Please, follow me to your room," walking up the spiral staircase at the end of the room.

Ken began following him up the staircase while admiring the exquisite interior of this place. There were vases placed on every floor apparently and they all had different designs and shapes to them which were quite unique.

There were a few boys that left their rooms on the second floor and ran outside of the dormitory. Mr. Nakashima shouted at them, telling them to walk slower but did not pause from leading Ken up to the third floor where his room was located. Finally down a long corridor of doors on each side, they reached to the end of the hallway and stopped in front of the last door on the right.

"Here we are," Mr. Nakashima said, pulling out a silver key that glistened in the sunlight from the window. "You'll need to carry this key with you at all times when you leave the dormitory or you won't be able to get into your room," he told him but with a light tone in his voice. He dropped the key into Ken's small palms and told him that if he needed anything then he could come to him down at the receptionist's office.

'This reminds me of where our leader's room was," Ken thought as he inserted the key into the keyhole and unlocked the door to his new room. Opening it, he saw a single white bed at the end of the room in the middle and his belongings already put out. There was a glass door that lead to a small balcony outside and a body mirror on the right of his dresser.

Lucky me, huh?

At least he didn't have to do any unpacking except for his clothes which was a relief to him because of how much more time he could relax now. Closing the door behind him, he dropped his backpack and slumped onto the bed.

It was really comfortable; one of the softest beds he had ever laid on. The feeling of lying on a mound of feathers was much more relaxing than having to sleep on a hard train seat for several hours and it made him feel like going back to sleep. He turned over and stared at the white ceiling above him, his eyes still fighting the urge to close completely.

"So, this is the place I'll be staying," he murmured and closed his eyes. Everything was completely silent except for the faint cries of the birds outside. Turning over, he stared at his reflection sleepily on the mirror. But something seemed...off.

A dream catcher hung off the post of his bed, a small red shard in the middle of its white hoop. Before he could react, he felt as if his eyelids were forced shut and had fallen into slumber.