Chapter 01: The Beginning?
Tatsumi Port Island is no stranger to Megumi Nanase. She'd been there numerous times because of her father's work. Only now, she was in high school and would be attending Gekkoukan High since her father passed away. Luckily her mother was willing to welcome her with open arms, despite ten years apart after the divorce. Tragic backstory… until you discover that she spent three of those years in a rehabilitation facility for the murder of her father. It took a lot of legal paperwork and legal agreements on her mother's part for her to even attend school let alone get parole from the facility. Mitsuru Kirijo herself even evaluated Megumi before allowing it.
On the train into town, a young man with long black hair wearing a suit was standing by her. She could tell he was staring at her, and gave him a cold glance. He grinned despite her gaze.
"Sorry if I'm bothering you. I couldn't help noticing your uniform. Gekkoukan… that's a pretty nice school… hard to believe a murderer got in." he chuckled.
"What transpired between my father and I is none of your concern." Megumi scolded him.
"Sure it is… after all… no one on this train can see or hear us right now." he chuckled.
"Now why do I think that's a load of shit?" Megumi asked.
"Same way I now have your ribbon letting down that beautiful brown hair." he replied presenting a ribbon to her making her feel her now let-down hair.
"What do you want…?" Megumi demanded to know while putting her hair back into a ponytail.
"All I want… is a friend…" he replied.
"A friend? You're joking…" Megumi scoffed.
"No, no. I am in desperate need of a friend… someone who understands what it's like when no one understands why you did what you did." the man chuckled.
"So what'd you do…?" Megumi asked.
"I left my best friend to become a seal on the moon. He could have killed me… I begged him to… but he didn't." he sighed.
"Why don't I believe you…?" Megumi growled.
"Don't believe, or do… I have no control of what you do. Just keep my story in mind when things start to happen in this town once again." the man laughed as they went through a tunnel and when the train exited he was gone.
"Who was that creep…?" Megumi asked herself.
The train arrived at the station and she got off. Waiting for her was a skinny woman with brown hair longer than Megumi's wearing sandals, blue jeans, and a red blouse. Megumi approached her with a smile and the two hugged tightly.
"It's so good to see you, honey." the woman spoke.
"It's good to see you too, mom." Megumi smiled.
Megumi enjoyed the walk home thoroughly. After learning the truth behind their divorce, and everything else that was in the closet, she was happy to see her again. Her mother now lived in a nice three-room house, which works out for her work as owner of Kojiro Flowers as she can dedicate a single room to growing fertilizer and seed storage. Megumi's room would be two doors down from her mother's room. She didn't mind, and liked having a room she wouldn't be restricted from leaving again. The room had a bed big enough to fit two, and a dresser more than large enough to house her clothes.
The evening was spent playing games with her mother and more or less just catching up. Megumi froze up when her dad came up, so her mother didn't bother bringing it up more than the one time. Her mother was trying everything to help her cope without actually saying so, and she really appreciated it. When morning came, it was time for her tour of the campus. Her guide would be Aigis, Mitsuru's close bodyguard.
Megumi felt the other students staring at her in shock as she walked behind Aigis. The story had already spread like wildfire, "murderer to attend Gekkoukan". Even so, she didn't let it deter her from enjoying the tour. At the end of it they were approached by Akihiko Kirijo, Mitsuru's husband. He seemed to have a concerned look on his face.
"She cause any trouble?" he asked Aigis.
"No. She was very well behaved. In fact, I believe there is more to her crime than meets the eye. I sensed no hostility in her at all." Aigis replied with a smile.
"You think so? Well… I might try to put some faith in her then. She never did release her side of the story." Akihiko sighed relieved.
That night, something odd happened. While Megumi read the latest installment in her favorite online book, the light of the moon suddenly became red. Confused by it, she opened her window and looked up to see the moon with a red skull on it as if it were wearing a mask. She heard howling and immediately closed her window dropping the blinds. She went to bed immediately and hoped it was just a bad dream.
In class the next day when she was introduced to her classmates she had possibly the most silent ovation ever. She sat down in the front row and noticed the seat next to her was empty, despite a bag being on the hook. The tag read "Miku Hoshida". If she happened across her in the day she'd try to introduce herself.
When lunch rolled around, she'd noticed that she hadn't shown up. So she decided to try and show she's a normal student by showing concern for a fellow student. She asked the teacher if the student was sick.
"Huh? Oh, Hoshida? She's got a weak immune system, so she sometimes gets really sick. She made the effort to try and come to school today, but just minutes before the bell she had a coughing fit and had to go to the nurse's office. I bet she asked the nurse for some antibiotics before lying down. Could you do me a favor and go see how she's doing?" the teacher asked.
With mission in hand, she made her way to the first floor. She told the nurse who sent her, and was shown right to Miku's bed. She had shoulder-length bobbed pink hair and pale skin. She seemed to be doing okay, but now and then she groaned a bit.
"Poor girl overexerted herself by coming today. Her effort was commendable, but she knows how easy it is for her to get sick." the nurse sighed.
At that moment… Megumi felt groping in the back of her mind… and two voices began to speak… both fighting intensely…
[SHAKE HER AWAKE]
[LET HER BE]
Not long after her head began to ache. It was as if her brain would tear itself apart if she didn't make a decision. Someone's hand touched her silencing the voices. Miku had woken up and was confused.
"Um… did Mr. Irahara send you? How long was I asleep?" Miku asked.
"It's lunch break…" Megumi replied.
"I was out longer than I intended. Guess I was really tired." Miku giggled sitting up.
"I'm Megumi… Megumi Nanase." she introduced herself.
"Oh, you're the new student. It's nice to meet you. I guess you saw my bag in the classroom, huh?" Miku chuckled.
"I'm told you have a weak immune system." Megumi mentioned.
"Yeah. I've been like this since I was seven." Miku smiled.
Megumi walked Miku back to class having a normal conversation. To her surprise, she didn't bring up her past once. No questions over why she did it, no how, nothing. She didn't feel like she was being interrogated for once. In fact, after classes they exchanged contact information. Megumi was relieved to have at least made one friend. Everyone else seemed far too afraid to approach her.
That night Megumi was eager to get some sleep. She didn't even check if a new chapter to her favorite online novel was up. She drifted off fast, having pleasant dreams. During the night though… she suddenly found herself in a velvet chair, inside of a velvet room. Behind the desk was a young woman with long white hair wearing a velvet outfit, and behind her was a massive statue of a woman holding a scale. The woman was grinning and had yellow eyes.
"Welcome, to the Velvet Room." she greeted Megumi.
"What…?" Megumi asked blinking twice.
"Do not be alarmed… you are fast asleep in the real world. We don't get many guests here nowadays… so this must mean you have quite a burden to carry." she chuckled resting her chin on the backs of her hands.
"What burden?" Megumi asked.
"You had a close encounter with Death… one not many can say they've shared. So now the wheels have halted on your future…" she chuckled.
"What does that mean? Who are you anyway?" Megumi demanded to know.
"Ah, where are my manners? My name is Pinocchio. I am the master of this place. My assistant is out at the moment, so you will have to meet him another time. For now, we must part." Pinocchio introduced herself, and then everything went black.
Megumi sprang awake in bed when her alarm began going off. She decided to brush it off as a fever dream and got ready for school. She got a text from Miku while brushing her teeth telling her that she was too sick to go to school that day. She texted back that she'd let the teacher know and copy down notes for her. The day was a bit sluggish with her friend being sick, but she still found a way to bear it. Megumi then saw some girls kicking another girl who was just trying to pick up her notes. The sight enraged her and without thinking she slugged the jaw of one of the bullying girls knocking her out flat.
"T-The hell's your problem?!" the other bully cried stepping back shaking as the voices returned to Megumi's head.
[FOLLOW THROUGH]
[THREATEN HER]
Megumi panicked and raised her fist threateningly making the bully flee screaming in terror. With a sigh of relief she helped the girl gather her notes and stand. Her glasses were cracked, but they could still be used thankfully.
"T-Thank you…" the girl sighed.
"Why were they kicking you?" Megumi asked.
"They're just sour at me for getting them booted off the girl's swim team. As manager, I have to report students with failing grades to the instructor. If the students fail to improve their grades, they get the boot regardless of how good they are. It says it right in the form you sign when you agree to join the team." she explained.
"Oh, so they're complaining because they can't follow a contract." Megumi laughed.
"My thoughts exactly… although my mom isn't going to be happy that she has to replace another pair of glasses…" she sighed.
At that same moment the other bully returned with a teacher. Luckily, the teacher quickly saw why Megumi laid out the other girl and gave both bullies detention and a warning about violence to solve violence to Megumi. After that ordeal a girl with long blue hair rushed to Megumi taking her hands.
"Please join my club!" she begged.
"Uh… who are you…?" Megumi asked confused.
"Oh, right, right, introductions… ahem, I am Yoshino Mura, second year. I saw you deck that snooty ex-swimmer, and it was amaaaaaaaaaaaaay-zing. Please join my club!" she pleaded after introducing herself.
"What club would that be?" Megumi asked.
"The 'Girls Who Love Wrestling' Club. Currently it's just me and a few friends, but we've been looking for new members." Yoshino replied.
"Wrestling, huh…? What does the club do?" Megumi asked.
"We watch wrestling flicks, shows, anime, and all pitch in to go see live events in the local area every few months. Oh! We also sometimes get permission from the boxing team to use their ring to wrestle." Yoshino explained.
"Aren't those moves dangerous?" Megumi asked.
"They sure are, but that's why we all pitched in to get trained by professionals back in middle school! So trust me, we know what we're doing!" Yoshino smiled confidently.
"I'll think about it…" Megumi nervously told her.
"She didn't say no!" she exclaimed sprinting down the hall where four other girls were watching the entire time.
On Megumi's way home she stopped by Miku's house, which was surprisingly only a few blocks from her house, and dropped off the notes with her father. She panicked a little when her father bowed thanking her for being friends with Miku despite her condition. When she got home she got a thank you text from Miku, with an added PS whining that she wanted to say hi but was too sick to even leave bed. Megumi was slowly beginning to go back to being a normal girl, despite her rash actions earlier.
When night rolled around, the moonlight turned red again. Megumi was hesitant to look, but somehow found the courage to look out at the moon. Instead of a skull, it was a red silhouette of a girl. She thought she must have really been tired and went right to bed. She woke up in the Velvet Room once again… where Pinocchio was grinning wide at her.
"Welcome, to the Velvet Room. You made a virtuous decision today, defending that girl while deciding to refrain from being excessively violent." Pinocchio greeted her as the scale began tipping a small bit.
"What is this burden you mentioned?" Megumi asked.
"A burden can have many meanings. A wounded heart, an injury, or maybe a workload. It is all a matter of prospective." Pinocchio giggled.
"That isn't an answer." Megumi growled standing up.
"Now, now… there's no need to be so hasty. Your burden will become clear in the coming nights." Pinocchio assured her raising a hand gesturing for her to retake her seat.
When she did, she heard a jangle. She looked at her feet and found both of her feet were chained to the chair. She then looked back at Pinocchio with fear in her eyes.
"Worry not… these chains are merely here to keep you from drifting off in this dreamscape. You will soon awake in the real world…" Pinocchio giggled, and soon Megumi's vision began going black again… and she woke up.
At school it was discovered that a girl was found missing in her room causing a missing person alarm to be in effect. While it didn't effect classes, it certainly made those who were close to the third-year student worried. When Megumi saw a picture of the missing girl, she immediately flashed back to the moon's silhouette. It looked exactly like this girl. To her surprise, Akihiko was at the school that day asking the girls' apparent friends questions. Akihiko noticed her staring and approached her.
"Do you see the moon at night?" Akihiko asked.
"Uh… d-doesn't everybody…?" Megumi asked shakily… as if she knew exactly what he was referring to but didn't want to think about it.
"Hmm… come by the ramen shop at Iwatodai after your classes. I want to talk in private." Akihiko ordered before leaving the campus.
Nervously, after classes she made her way to Iwatodai's ramen shop. Akihiko had apparently been waiting, because a staff member led her to where he was sitting. Nine bowls of ramen were stacked to his left with his chopsticks set neatly on top of them.
"I want you to tell me exactly what you see on the moon on certain nights." Akihiko ordered.
"The other night… I saw a skull… last night I saw a silhouette…" Megumi confessed nervously.
"So you see them too. Why you though? You break the pattern…" Akihiko sighed.
"Pattern?" she asked.
"Of people that can see the moon when it does that. The ongoing trend has been that the people who can see the moon were once critically injured, died from it, but were resuscitated by medical professionals during a full moon. In other words, those who've met Death but returned to the world of the living." Akihiko explained.
"So… you've been like that…?" Megumi asked nervously.
"I've been injured pretty bad before, but never to the point I've had to be resuscitated. It's a little difficult to explain, but some friends of mine including myself can see the moon when it does that. We also observes that everyone who doesn't experience it simply turns invisible to those who do. They don't even exist in the same space anymore either, because I tried touching someone where they were a second before vanishing and my hand went through. They go about their nights blissfully unaware of what's happening." Akihiko sighed.
"I haven't technically died before is what you're saying." Megumi reasoned.
"Yeah, which is what brings me to my new theory… it isn't just those who've died and been resuscitated, but those who've committed murder as well. Manslaughter in particular, because otherwise everyone would see it because everyone kills bugs and the like." Akihiko told her.
"Do you… hear two voices fighting in your head sometimes?" Megumi asked.
"Two voices? Yeah, you fit the pattern in that regard." Akihiko reasoned.
"What?" Megumi asked confused.
"Everyone that can see the Blood Moon, as we call it, except for those of us who could already experience something we called the Dark Hour occasionally experience a very agitating battle of voices in their head. If you don't make a choice between the two the pain can escalate to a migraine, according to another student we found that can see the Blood Moon." Akihiko explained.
"Dark Hour?" Megumi asked.
"Long story. The next time you see the Blood Moon, I want you to come to the Iwatodai Dormitory. Aigis will be waiting to let you in there." Akihiko ordered before paying his bill and leaving.
Megumi was wary as time passed while working on homework. What did the Blood Moon mean? Was it the past haunting those who could see it? The more she thought about it, the more tired she got. She wound up falling asleep… and saw herself in the Velvet Room for a third time. This time Pinocchio had a slender young man with black hair wearing a crimson police uniform standing beside her.
"Welcome, to the Velvet Room. Do not be alarmed, you are fast asleep in the real world." Pinocchio greeted her once again.
"Now what?" Megumi asked.
"The night of your awakening is upon you… will you have the will to do what is right? Or will you choose to snuff out a light out of fear and confusion?" Pinocchio taunted.
"The hell does that mean?!" Megumi asked, and Pinocchio's cop friend snapped his fingers making her chair slide up to Pinocchio's desk when a contract was facing her.
"This contract will be of great service to you in the coming year… but if you sign it, you will be held to its terms and conditions." Pinocchio warned as Megumi read over the contract.
"It'll make the voices stop?" Megumi asked looking up from it.
"It will only make them pose their decisions one time, and only repeat if you desire them to. You will also have the option of carving your own path, if you have the will for it." Pinocchio answered grinning.
"Do you have a pen…?" Megumi asked.
"Silly… we sign contracts in blood here." Pinocchio giggled handing her a sharp feather quill.
Megumi took the quill and looked at her finger for a second. She took a deep breath and jabbed it into her finger coating the tip in blood. She then quickly wrote her name on the line so she could attend to her wounded finger. Her assistant them rolled up the contract and walked to Megumi's side of the table. Out of nowhere he handcuffed her and lifts her over his shoulder carrying her off.
"W-What's he doing?!" Megumi asked.
"Do not be alarmed. You can't afford to pass this night by, honored guest. So he is waking you up by force." Pinocchio explained laughing, and then Megumi sprung awake with the Blood Moon shining down on her.
She hurried to get dressed in blue jeans and a red T-shirt, put her shoes on, and hurried out. The silhouette on the moon was the same girl, but it seemed distorted somehow… as if something was happening. She made her way to the Iwatodai Dormitory on an awkward train ride where the trains seemed to be operated by ghosts. Once there, just as Akihiko had said, Aigis was waiting without any fancy clothes on and had her gun hands at the ready.
"We've been expecting you, Nanase-chan." Aigis greeted her before letting her inside.
Inside were Akihiko, Mitsuru, and a male student with short black hair and glasses she'd never seen before. She walked to them and sat in the open chair. She felt the intense gaze of the boy, as if analyzing every inch of her.
"We're all gathered. Good. Akihiko, explain the mission." Mitsuru spoke.
"Suzu Kagaya of the second year has been swallowed by her Shadow. Our goal is to rescue her from it and then dispatch the Shadow. Sounds simple right?" Akihiko told them.
"Shadow…?" Megumi asked confused.
"It'd take too long to explain right now. All you need to know is that they're monsters that only appear during the Blood Moon's presence." Mitsuru replied to her.
"Her Shadow was last spotted in the shadiest part of town. Try not to flip your shit when you see it… I still remember the time I saw my first Shadow and it wasn't pretty and boy was it rough." Akihiko pep talked them.
"With that in mind, we don't have support tonight so watch your backs." Mitsuru warned.
"We're actually going out looking for that thing?" the male student asked.
"Yes. Kururugi-kun, you'll be coming with me. Nanase-chan is going with Akihiko. That way you each have a veteran combatant with you." Aigis smiled.
"Before we go out, you'll be wanting these." Akihiko spoke handing both an Evoker, a one-handed sword to the male student, and a spear to Megumi.
The two groups then went out into the Blood Moon night. Akihiko had Megumi search the nearby mall with him, as they couldn't rule out the possibility of it prowling the same place each night. Aigis and the male student were covering the other half of town. At 10:38pm they met up in a playground to report their findings.
"I didn't sense anything there." Aigis spoke.
"We didn't find hide or tail of it on our end either. If Fuuka were here we'd have found it by now…" Akihiko sighed.
"It is apparent how reliant we became on Fuuka now that we have to look for our target the old fashioned way." Aigis giggled.
"I've been meaning to bring this up since we left the street with the love hotels… but have you ever gotten that feeling when the hunter becomes the hunted…?" the male student asked.
"Now that you say it…" Akihiko nervously replied looking around, and then noticed something on higher ground.
Holding onto the side of a building was a massive black feature. It had white bone-like pierces on the outside of its horridly elongated limbs and torso. Its face was a mask of the Emperor Arcana. Its long silver mane was flowing in the wind as it leapt through the air to the playground crushing the jungle gym under its palm alone.
"Shadow Detected! Engaging!" Aigis cried charging it opening fire as it moves fast attacking her and Akihiko as he charged in.
Megumi and the male student had frozen in fear of it. This was a Shadow? It was the stuff of nightmares. How were they supposed to defeat it? What were those supernatural beings they were summoning forth to aid them in battle? Megumi couldn't move, and neither could the male student. Then they heard sounds behind them and small Shadows bearing the Fool Arcana were rising from the ground.
"Damn it, Mitsuru we need backup!" Akihiko shouted into a walkie-talkie causing him to get knocked through a tree by the main Shadow.
Megumi stared at the Shadows quaking with fear. She could scarcely breathe. She hadn't felt terror like this since her father… her father… and her trail of thought faded into hysteria. She slowly began reaching for her Evoker.
"I Am Thou… Thou Art I… The Sins on Your Back are Your Strength… Let Us Fight as One, and Cleave The Path to Redemption…" a voice echoed in her head as she aimed the Evoker to her head.
"Per… SONA!" Megumi exclaimed breathing heavily firing the Evoker.
From a bright blue light a woman in a skin-tight white bodysuit that becomes loose on the forearms appeared. She also wore knee-length golden boots with thick heels that had the legs of the bodysuit tucked inside them, had on black gloves, and on her face was a metal mask letting out extremely long silver hair as red light shined out of the eye slit. She wielded a demonic spear and an angelic shield. The male student fell over in shock and the Shadows stopped to gawk at her.
"Izanami…" Megumi growled, and at insane speed her Persona began to gruesomely rip into the lesser Shadows drawing the interest of the main Shadow.
The main Shadow charged her and Izanami stabbed its chest knocking it back. Megumi began to laugh as Izanami continued to beat on it with her spear. The Shadow looked obviously wounded as Megumi grinned sadistically at it.
"Izanami… Garu!" Megumi commanded, and Izanami thrust her spear with wind spiraling on it.
Once her spear hit its chest the blast of wind made the Shadow turn completely black. It faded away dropping two of the missing girl to the ground. One had an unearthly red aura around her, the other looked deathly pale and seemed to have lost an unhealthy amount of weight. Aigis retrieved her as her healthier version stood growling showing her yellow eyes.
"G-Give her back…" she demanded.
"Just like we thought… it's similar to the Inaba Incident. Only these Shadows seem to take longer to kill the person they came from." Akihiko groaned standing up holding his arm.
"If she doesn't accept it as her it'll go berserk again from what Teddy-san said." Aigis stated stepping back from the Shadow.
At that moment, two voices began to speak in Megumi's head once again. Just like the contract stated, they only spoke once.
[GET RID OF IT]
[ALLOW HER TO SPEAK TO IT]
Megumi thought of the consequences to both. If she got rid of it, what ramifications would that impose? If she let them speak, would it round back to square one? She couldn't decide which one was bad or which one was good, but she had to decide and fast as the Shadow's patience began to wane. Megumi decided… to get rid of it!
"Izanami… Mudo!" Megumi commanded, and Izanami snapped her fingers making the dark seal appear around the Shadow startling it.
When the attack hit, the Shadow let out an agonized high-pitched scream as she blew up into black and red particles. The Blood Moon then suddenly ended letting the moon shine normally. Izanami and the other Personas vanished… and Megumi passed out. In her dreams, she found herself not in the Velvet Room… but sitting on a chair in a room where the floor was like a mirror. Sitting across from her was her Persona… Izanami.
"So you are who I am bound to…" Izanami sighed.
"You… are you my… Persona?" Megumi asked.
"Yes. We're very alike, you and I. We both did terrible things, believing whole-heartedly that what we did was the right thing to do. Granted, what I tried to do was on a far larger scale than killing your father. We both seek redemption for what we did. For that exact reason is why we have been paired, or at least I theorize that is why." Izanami replied.
"What did you do?" Megumi asked.
"I tried to make everyone the same pitiful mindless creature, so that man would no longer have reason to fight among themselves like animals for trivial things such as land or resources." Izanami replied bluntly.
"That's 1,000 times worse than me…" Megumi thought to herself.
"So I look forward to working with you… me." Izanami chuckled as everything went white.
Megumi woke up in a hospital bed, to her shock. In the bed next to her was the missing girl, being treated for extreme exhaustion. Aigis was sitting by her with a smile on her face.
"Glad you're awake." Aigis spoke.
"What happened?" Megumi asked.
"The mission was a success thanks to you. Your Persona was magnificent. We weren't expecting either of you to awaken, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise." Aigis replied.
"So… is she okay?" Megumi asked.
"Yes. Quite so. Other than exhaustion and weight loss, she's perfectly fine. Her Shadow must have tried to starve her to death at an accelerated rate. Her body began eating her fat to keep itself alive, resulting in the weight she lost. With a healthy diet and plenty of rest, she should recover a healthy figure nicely." Aigis smiled.
Megumi was discharged from the hospital that same day. Luckily, Mitsuru had already covered her mother's worries with the excuse that she had forgotten to turn in an assignment and went to deliver it early. Megumi went straight to school knowing she'd be scolded for failing to be in uniform in order to keep her alibi rock solid. Her teachers didn't give her too much crap for it after coming up with a good enough lie, much to her relief. Miku was in school that day to keep her morale up as well. Megumi knew one thing though… this meant that on nights of the Blood Moon, someone from school would go missing… and she'd have to defeat their Shadow with Akihiko and Aigis's help.
End Chapter 1