Author's Notes
Persona: Lucidity is based off of the Persona games more conceptually than directly—while the concepts of Persona still exist, and the social links from 3 & 4 exist, I would say that the rest is not at all similar.
While in Persona 3, for example, Tartarus was its own area, and could considered to be simply a dungeon, I would like to believe that the dream world here is considered more as its own world. Additionally, I've tried to avoid using shadows as common-place enemies (which I always found silly, between glove demons and table demons), leaving the dream world more akin to something from Dungeons & Dragons than anything.
The chapter length of Lucidity is notably shorter than most other fictions here--a good or a bad thing, depending on how you take it.
Past that note, I would like to note that while the story is set in Japan, I do not have extensive experience with the country. If you find any glaring errors, then please do tell me about it, via message or some other mode of communication.
Beyond that, however, after getting past the initial changes, I would hope that you enjoy the story.
--------------------------
Prologue
A Walk At Night
A waning half moon hung in the dark sky. I was walking at a leisurely pace, reading a few papers regarding accommodations, directions to school, and et cetera.
It's probably best to introduce myself now. I'm Sakamoto Hajime, I'm 16, and I've transferred recently to North Hirokawa High. It was late at night—or so I thought, when I was walking to my new dormitory. For the most part, it was uneventful, but, the night didn't feel quite right. Firstly, it was unseasonably hot; it felt like a humid June evening, as opposed to the usual early April weather. Secondly, I felt drowsy, despite having gotten plenty of sleep. Thirdly, there were almost no lights on, nor were there cars driving, or people out for late-night strolls.
As you could imagine, reading in the light was difficult, and required a lot of concentration, something I couldn't do well when I wanted to have a nice lazy sleep.
Despite all that though, it all seemed fine. However, while I was getting near the dormitory, something very strange happened. After I had decided I was going the right way, and turned to look forward, it didn't look like I was in a city any more. Rather, it seemed like I was walking through the city from perhaps a millennium ago. There were no buildings, no roads, nothing, simply grass and forest for a long distance. Additionally, it seemed like it was noon.
Of course, this didn't last long, right when I thought "what in the world?", the city was back, and it was night again. I didn't like to believe I was the kind of person to doze off while walking, but it was either that or admit that I had hallucinated.
I think I'd rather be insane.
--------------------------
Apologies; the prologue and first two or three chapters start out unbearably slow.
Things do happen, though, and thankfully, it's short. At least trudge through to Chapter 4 if you're thinking of giving this a read in earnest.