a/n: Hello again! This chapter is still just introducing things, but I hope you like it~ Most of this story is word for word from the game, but when I go off script the characters will not be terribly OOC, I want it to be as if it were something that could still have happened in the P3P game. Anyway I hope you enjoy this episode!
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Persona 3 Portable
Date 2: The Persona
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If the word "Persona" had meant anything to Ezi, which of course, it did not, the dream the next night may have made more sense. The blue room, the old man telling her about Personas… None of it made sense, of course, because none of it really had anything to with her.
The next day, school was as rambunctious and lively as the former day, and Ezi embraced the social atmosphere of the classrooms, between classes, and lunchtime as best as she could, talking regularly to Junpei and Yukari when she could.
Her homeroom teacher liked to ramble about literature, she realized.
"…I'll just bring the book tomorrow." Ms. Toriumi decided during a lecture. She stopped her thoughts to look upon Junpei, who had his head slanted downwards.
"Iori!" Her voice shook him awake in a startle. "Were you listening at all? Who is my favorite author I just mentioned?"
The other students were snickering, but Ezi felt bad for him.
"Uh, uh…"
"Utsubo Kubota." Ezi whispered to the back of his head.
"Huh? Oh…U-Utsubo, Kubota?"
"That's right! So you were listening to me after all!" She declared, and continued her lecture.
He turned his head for a second to whisper to her. "Man, you saved my bacon, Ezi!"
"Don't mention it. I take favors in food."
"Huh?"
By the time it was after school, Ezi's mind was in a spin from all of the new things she was adapting to, but she concluded the curriculum couldn't be that much harder than her former school.
Outside of the school building, Yukari approached her.
"Yukari-san! What is up, girl?"
She chuckled. "Just call me Yukari… you know san makes me sound really old."
"Ah, my bad."
"So… how was your day?"
"Well, it started off with this weird dream I had, then the math teacher tried to give us all pop quizzes!"
"Yeah, I was there for there for that part…"
"Oh yeah! We're in the same class! How did you do?"
"I'd rather we discussed something else…"
At that moment, it was hard not to ignore the dramatic sighs and squeals from the crowd of girls emerging from inside the school behind them. The crowd of petite woman were following out a boy in a red sweater and slacks, his hair was so bleached it almost looked white in the afternoon sun, and his grey eyes were cast down as he attempted to walk ahead of the flock of girls trying to get his attention.
"Ah, lucky bastard." Junpei mumbled, appearing beside Ezi and Yukari abruptly.
"Who's that?" Ezi asked profoundly.
"Oh no, don't tell me you're falling for him too?" Junpei whined.
"That's Akihiko Senada. He's in the same dorm as us." Yukari explained.
"Oh, he is? Well, he must be very popular." Ezi laughed. "He doesn't seem to like the attention though, poor guy."
"Poor guy?" Junpei sounded offended. "Don't you mean, lucky guy? He's the captain of the boxing team, and he could get any girl he wanted! Man, if I had talent like his, I'd definitely use it."
"Don't be so modest, Junpei." Ezi snickered. "Besides, you're a lady killer already. I mean, just look at that goatee."
He grinned back. "So you're not interested in him?" He pressed.
"Why would I be? I know nothing about him."
"Ah-ha! We got a girl here who's not a complete airhead." Junpei tipped his hat. "Well, I gotta go, but I'll see you lovely ladies around!"
"Whatever." Yukari replied rolling her eyes.
"Nice seeing you, Junpei!" She waved to him as they parted. "He's not so bad once you get passed the flirtation. Full of positive energy!"
"Kind of like you, it seems." Yukari teased. "Come on, let's grab a bite to eat then head home."
The girls returned to the dorm later to see Mitsuru sitting on the lounge couch with someone.
"Oh good, you're back." The authoritative Mitsuru greeted them as she stood up. "I'd like you to meet someone," It was an older man, with a thin body, wavy brown hair, glasses, and he was wearing a copper suit.
"It's very nice to meet you. I am Ikutsuki-san, one of the Chairman's at the school; you could say I'm the mother of this dorm too." He laughed at his own joke, "I'll just be checking in with you all from time to time!"
"You'll get used to his bad puns and jokes." Yukari explained.
"If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me." said Ikutsuki-san.
"Okay! Thank you."
They turned to Yukari and began to speak of other affairs, so Ezi took her leave up to her room.
"Are you sure she was awake at that time?" Ikutsuki-san asked Mitsuru in a low voice.
"Positive."
"Then, let's observe her tonight and see what happens."
The streets were green, and Ezi was sound asleep in her bed after finishing her homework. Probably dreaming about blue rooms and handsome strangers.
"Hm, she's still sleeping." Ikutsuki-san was observing the girl from their camera room on the top floor.
"Then, she could have the potential, right?" Mitsuru and Yukari were in the room with him.
"For one hour after midnight, there is the Dark Hour. Any regular human transmogrifies into a coffin at this time and is unaware of what is happening for this hour. But, she is still snug in her bed, retaining human form."
"Then, she must have noticed it when she came here the first night." Mitsuru pondered.
"Is she capable, like we are?" Yukari asked.
"It's possible, otherwise they would have preyed upon her by now." Ikutsuki scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"Scary…" Replied Yukari.
"Well, we should continue observing her for a few more days. I'll just say the transfer to the other dorm has been postponed until we can make a decision."
"Right." Mitsuru agreed.
"Still," Yukari sighed, "I feel bad spying on her like this…"
As they observed, Ezi dreamed. She was about to open a door the night before, and now she could recall performing this action as she was being swept across a blue checkered tile into sweet slumber…
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….Master…..
It was like running and gliding across it all at once.
Master Ezi Leon…
She grabbed the handle on the door, and they slammed behind her as she was elevated upwards.
The room was blurry, but there was an old man sitting at the end of the room. The carpet was blue, like before.
"Welcome to the Velvet room!" He said in a rusty voice. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
"You… Where is this room?"
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter…"
"Dream? Ah, I get it, I'm dreaming!"
"Only those who have signed a contract may enter here."
"Contract?"
The boy in the pajamas; the first night at the dorm. Did this have something to do with that?
"Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so."
"My unique what? Your help?"
"I only ask one thing in return…"
"Aw no, I didn't sign up for… whatever this is! I'm not doing no deeds for you, buddy!"
Igor cackled. "It is a simple request. I only ask that you assume responsibility for the choices you make."
"Oh, well, that's logical, isn't it?"
"There is another resident in this room, but he could not be here tonight for your arrival. I will make sure you two meet another time."
"Another time?" She roared. "What makes you think I'm coming back to this weird place… weirdo?"
"Until we meet again…" Igor hunched over and bowed. The room was like an elevator, and the speed grew and grew until Ezi's eyes became blinded by a capacity of light.
She was awake, and she could barely remember the dream, but she hurried to school. Junpei greeted her, and she was taking a liking to his nonchalant ways, but chided him for not paying attention in class. As another day went by, Ezi realized she was more tired than she had calculated, and wanted to return to the dorm to rest. However, after school, Yukari insisted on going to the Paulownia Mall with her to show her some more social sights on the island.
"…There's a karaoke box, and a music shop, and they have a cute café too, one of the best!" Yukari seemed excited, showing her around.
It was like being in school, there were so many students in the mall. The students seemed to be looking at them an awful lot too; probably whispering about the new girl again. They ate pastries and drank tea at the Chagall Cafe, and then they reached the dorm just as the night sky was out and the moon was full.
"Girls, glad you're back." Mitsuru was sitting on the couch with a book. "It's a nice night, but I'm afraid rules are rules. You can't be out alone at night."
"Yeah, we got it." Yukari smiled. "I'm gonna study some before I rest. Ezi?"
"Ah, no thanks. I'm headed off to bed. Good night."
They both said goodnight in unison to her, and she couldn't help but feel their stares on her back as she toddled up the stairs. Seeing her bed reminded her of the dream from the night before, and despite being tired, she couldn't just sleep, so she listened to her music in bed for a while until she drifted.
The group observed her again on the surveillance cameras.
An emergency call came in.
Their plans spiraled out of control by a sinister threat that emerged from the streets into their dwelling.
KNOCK-KNOCK!
It was about midnight. Ezi, confused and annoyed as to the disruption of her sleep, rolled out of her bed in a flurry to answer it.
"Sorry! I-I'm coming in!" It was Yukari. "Come on, there's been an emergency, we gotta get out of here!"
"W-what's going on?"
"I'll explain later, we have to go, now!"
Yukari dashed out and Ezi followed.
"Girl, you can't be waking people up in a tizzy like this!"
"Here, take this, just in case." Yukari handed out to Ezi what appeared to be a long staff called a Naginata, with a long blade at the end.
Ezi lifted the weapon up and down, adjusting to the weight in her hands.
"What in the-?"
"Let's hurry!" They flew down the stairs in an unexplainable rush. This was either two things: The first was that there was a prominent danger in the dorm, and the other was that this was a prank, and Yukari was leading her to some sort of hazing ceremony.
She really hoped it was the first one.
Yukari had a walkie on, and Mitsuru's voice began to come through.
"The Shadow is on the first floor! The one Akihiko fought isn't here fighting us! Don't go that way!" She yelled.
"Ah, you gotta be kidding me!" Yukari griped. "Come on, Ezi-san, this way!"
"Yukari-"
There was a loud BANG at the front door, like something large was breaking in.
"Come on!" She gripped Ezi's hand and they hurried up the stairs towards the roof. They rushed out to the open air, standing around brick and a large empty space. The thumping Ezi could hear earlier seemed to cease.
"W-we should be safe here…" Yukari panted.
"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Ezi yelled. Then she gasped. They could both hear stomping against the dorm's wall, and it grew louder and louder until it was on the roof with them.
Both girls eyes were as wide as could be. Ezi had never seen anything so mortifying before… or had she?
A large black hand held up a sea green mask, and it poked out from the side of the dorm. It used the mask like eyes, and scanned the roof until its empty eyes were on them. Then, more hands raised up, each holding a long, silver rapier in their grip, intending to use the weapons on them. It crawled up and over the roof: a black creature made of hands and one mask for a face it held, and it clinked and walked with its many limbs and swords towards them.
"That thing… we call them Shadows!" Yukari exclaimed.
Ezi's eyes were focused on the giant creature; it was crawling at them like an insect, until she noticed Yukari pull out the gun strapped to her right leg. Instead of aiming at the Shadow, though, she pointed it to her forehead.
"Yukari! What the hell are you doing?" Ezi wanted to reach for the gun, to keep her from ending her own life.
"It's not what you think!" Yukari snapped. "Alright, I can do it…"
"Do 'it'?" Ezi thought aloud. Her heart was pounding. Her new friend was going to shoot herself, and this shadow monster was coming to dice them up…
The Shadow had gotten too close, and swatted Yukari with one of its lengthy arms before she could fire her weapon. She screamed and slid into the concrete wall away from Ezi, and the Shadow continued after Yukari.
The gun and slid in front of Ezi.
Heartless? No, Shadows…
She picked up the gun.
I have to help Yukari, but I don't know how! I don't…
She pictured Yukari putting the gun to her head.
Yes! It all connects! The Shadows, this weapon…
She wasn't trying to kill herself, she was trying to unleash something.
It was—
Ezi had never held a gun before, let alone fire one, but she knew where the trigger was when she placed it to the side of her head.
"Per-so-na."
The shot went through her head, her mind; her memories. It flew out the other side of her head as an incredible energy that transformed into a being behind her.
"THOU ART I," the energy said, "AND I AM THOU,"
Ezi turned to see a creature floating above her, a rounded figure with a golden body, flowing hair, and grey face.
"I AM ORPHEUS, THE AVENGER PERSONA, GUIDE ME TO DO YOUR BIDDING IN THIS TIME OF PARRELL—"
She was by no means frightened of this monster, but then Orpheus vanished and become something black.
It was a memory of pain, of anguish perhaps, that Ezi could not reach, and the golden form was morphed into a far darker thing. Her vision was heavy with exhaustion, and she screamed out, but she could see the monster had coffins floating around it, and a black cape. It howled into the verdant night, and flew towards the Shadow.
Ezi, exhausted, watched the giant form smash and rip apart the Shadow limb from limb. It bashed into the mushy black body until it was just a puddle on the ground. It gripped one more remaining arm in its hand, and observed it wiggle about for a moment before crushing it, and the last of the Shadow vanished.
It roared at the moon again, then swelled back into a smaller power, the Orpheus character Ezi had originally summoned. Her eyes were red, and her body pure, and her long golden hair waved through the dark. She vanished into small sparkles of light in front of Ezi's frozen body.
"…What the hell was that?"
Yukari screamed.
The small bits of the Shadow were coming to life and crawling towards her.
"No, get away from me!" Yukari scrambled up, keeping her focus on the trudging Shadow as her back was pinned against the wall.
"Yukari!" Ezi cried. She had to do it again. She summoned Orpheus by pulling the trigger to her head. The body of light swept through and smashed both of the creatures with her heavy, harp-like weapon. Ezi's vision was spinning, but she looked around to see if there were anymore Shadows present.
There was one left. She ran towards it. There was a sensation in her march that felt incredibly familiar, and she twirled and slashed the monster with the naginata like it was nothing.
"Ezi…" Yukari was speechless. The others seemed to be making it up to the roof; she could hear their footsteps. There was no more imminent danger. Ezi began to lose consciousness and fell forward into the dark, her heavy body making a painful scratching impact with the concrete.
Are you okay? Hey, answer me! Can you hear me? Ezi!
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She was in the blue room again, but this time, it was so much more vivid. The small room was actually a giant elevator, moving upwards. There was the old man, Igor from before, wearing a black suit, sitting in a blue, cushioned chair behind a round table. On either side of him were four doors on each side, draped in cloths like old furniture, that weren't attached to the cushion, blue diamond patterned shape walls on the sides of them. The wall behind Igor was a solid, elaborate gate with a huge white and gold patterned vintage clock above his head.
The wide-eyed, pointy-nosed elder spoke.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," he said to her. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind over matter… It would seem as though your power has finally awakened."
"My…power?"
"Yes, the power to unleash your Persona,"
"My Persona…" She whispered, "so that's what that creature was that came out of me."
"Allow me to explain: I am Igor, and any assistance you need involving your Personas will be handled here in the future; that is what I do for our guests.
"I'm a… guest?"
"Yes. Many people can use Personas, but not many are as willing to sign the contract."
Ezi immediately recalled the contract she signed at the dorm's front desk again, with the boy in stripped pajamas present.
"A Persona is your true self, brought forth into the Dark Hour, which is an appropriate time for no time, and a space between this world and an inner dream world, if you will. The Dark Hour is where you will be able to unleash your Personas. The stronger you are in the real world, the stronger your personas will become as you venture through many hardships."
"I think… I understand, actually." Ezi smiled. "I can't explain it, but somehow, this all seems familiar to me…"
"Good." Igor nodded. "In time, you will understand the powers of your Personas even more as well." He waved his hand to the servant in blue beside his couch. The man had grey skin, yellow eyes, and slicked back white hair under his blue servant hat.
"I'm sure then, that you could see the other entity in this room as well now." Igor explained. She had not seen him until that moment.
"This is Theodore, and he will help with any of your Persona needs in the Velvet Room."
"It is an honor to meet you, guest. Please call me Theo. I will assist you in any way that I can while you're here."
He did not look like an awkward bell hop, more like a sexy model dressed in a bellhop suit-
She cleared her throat. "Theo, was it? Awesome! I like that as a nickname, it's more original than most nicknames, like, I hate it when people call me Liz, or Lizzy, for my name—"
She stopped herself, seeing the perplexed glare of the two surreal figures.
"—Um, sorry. It's just, there are a lot of information I'm processing, but I think I get it."
Igor grinned. "Do you? Well then, I think that is enough explaining for tonight. We look forward to seeing you later on in your journey. Goodbye for now, the exit is behind you. The next time we meet, it will be on your own accord to enter the blue door."
Ezi could see the blue door. It was the only solid thing standing against the floor behind her. When she opened it, her sight went completely blank, and suddenly, she felt exhausted.
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"Oh good, you're awake." Yukari sighed in relief.
Yukari hovering over her was the only familiar thing in the white space; there were machines connected to the IVs in Ezi's arm, and there was a window beside her bed.
"You're at the Memorial Hospital. We told the doctors you hit your head and collapsed last week."
"Its been a whole week?" Ezi pondered this. "Oh, you mean you told them that when I had actually fought that monster?"
"Huh, oh, yeah… the Shadow. Listen, can you keep a secret?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going to go around telling people there are monsters out at midnight; it's hard enough to make friends as it is."
"Oh… good." Yukari shrugged. "You don't seem at all surprised by this…"
"Well, I am shocked, I'll admit, but I'm just glad we're both still alive! Huh? Up top."
Yukari stared at Ezi's raised hand for a moment before slapping it.
"Oh. Yeah. The doctors are going to run some tests on you to make sure you're concussion free, then you can go home this afternoon… after school, we'll explain everything to you at the dorm, I promise!"
Ezi smiled. "Okay, Yukari. Thank you."
Personas, Shadows, the Dark Hour… it had only been a few days, but Ezi was starting to think this place just might have the answers she was looking for.
Did her excitement from last night have anything to do with her lost memories? The thought of fighting darkness with unimaginable power in another place in time… it did feel familiar. She felt like she was on the right track to the truth…
She was released from the hospital, and she immediately went to the dorm. She was excited, confused, and calm all at once; if that were even possible. She was the first to arrive at the dorm, so she drank a melon soda from the vending machine, and attempted to draw a picture of Orpheus in her itinerary. If she had lost memories in the past, having some sort of journal about her events now could be useful if she were to forget them again.
She waited in her room until Yukari text her to come to the Command Room on the fourth floor, the only room on the highest floor of the dorm. She inhaled and took a deep breath out when she opened the pine double doors into the large room.
Yukari, Mitsuru, the Chairman and an unfamiliar student were on the pink sofa in the middle of the carpet room, as if they had been waiting impatiently. The vintage striped wall paper stopped halfway from the roof to the wood strip, the sofa was pink and more exquisite than the cushions in the lounges, and there was a nice wood boxes with shapes and vases beside the drawers that held up the large flat screen television next to the doorway, and Doric type pillars in every corner of the room with many windows.
"Please, have a seat…" Ikutsuki insisted. She sat on the small chair couch by herself, looking out at the coffee table with a silver case on it, and everyone else who was looking at her sitting around the table.
"I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you." Continued Ikutsuki.
"Probably, plan my funeral?"
He chuckled lightly. "The reason I asked you here, is because I needed to talk to you."
"Well, yes. I would hope you guys explained a little of what's going on…"
"Oh, before we begin, I believe I mentioned earlier, but this is Akihiko." Ikutsuki nodded towards the boy across from him. He had on the red vest Ezi had seen him in before; he was lanky with grey eyes and short white hair.
"How ya doin'?" He asked coolly. The last time she saw him, a pallet of girls had been trailing him at school.
"Well, I've probably had other days I was this confused, otherwise I'm good."
Ikutsuki cleared his throat. "Okay, let me start by asking you this: Would you believe me if I told you a day consists of more than 24 hours?"
"…You're just confusing me even more." She wondered dully if this was just a dumb question.
Mitsuru chuckled. "I'm not surprised by your reaction. However, you've already experienced this truth firsthand."
"Pardon?"
"Do you recall the first night you came here? You would had to have noticed the signs. The streetlights went out, nothing was working," Mitsuru paused, "and, there were coffins everywhere. Didn't you feel like you were in a different time?"
"Now that you mentioned it, I did. The sky even seemed to have a different atmosphere."
She continued. "That's the Dark Hour— a time period hidden between one day and the next."
"Hidden? How?"
Ikutsuki explained further. "I guess it's more like something people aren't aware of. But, the Dark Hour does exist. It occurs each night at midnight." He pushed his glasses in. "It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."
Akihiko folded his arms and sat back in the couch. "Normal people don't realize it, since they're sleeping inside their coffins. But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting." He smirked. "You saw those creatures. We call them "Shadows". They only appear during the Dark Hour, and they attack anyone not in a coffin. It's our job to defeat them; sounds exciting, huh?"
Ezi opened her mouth, but Mitsuru beat her to it.
"Akihiko! Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!"
Ikutsuki raised his hand in the air. "Now, now, Akihiko does his work well. Anyway, long story short, we're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad- SEES for short."
"Hm, reminds me of candy." She mumbled, but no one seemed to hear her pathetic joke.
"On paper, I have us classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru Kirijo is the senior of the group, since she has been here the longest, and I am its advisor."
"A Shadow, if it doesn't attack you physically, can feed off the mind of its prey. The victims become like living corpses. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not most of them."
"What do you mean? Like, the people who have been suicidal? My train got in late because someone died on the tracks."
"That's exactly right."
Ezi realized she had cupped her hands this whole time, and they were wet with sweat. "So, these monsters are real trouble for the world, huh?" She thought about the one the other night, with the cold blue mask and knives shifting around its many dark hands. "How do we fight them?"
"There are those who have the potential to stay awake during the Dark Hour. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's Persona, the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, its all up to you guys."
Mitsuru opened the case on the table. A silver gun gleamed uncannily from inside. "What he's trying to say is, we want you to join us. We've prepared an Evoker for you here, and we'd like you to lend us your strength."
"This gun—Evoker, its what I use to summon my power?"
"That's correct."
"And all of you want me to help you fight those Shadows during the Dark Hour?" To this, no one responded. Probably to respect her time, and give her a moment to think. However, was time necessary? The choice was obvious.
"Alright."
Yukari seemed to breathe at last, taking a large sigh. "I was afraid you would say no. Welcome aboard!"
Ikutsuki stood up and raised his arm to her. "Thank you so much. I'm really glad."
"Yeah, me too." She shook it.
"Oh! About your room assignment—why don't you just stay here, in your current room? I don't know what the hold up is, but it all worked out in the end."
Everyone seemed to stand up now.
"Hold up? But wasn't that-? Never mind." Yukari scratched her head.
"Good luck with everything." Akihiko said. "We won't start tonight, but tomorrow we can begin fresh with operations."
"Sounds good." She nodded.
Ezi had just decided to join SEES and fight the Shadows. It was too much of a coincidence, like fate had opened a door to the truth. But then again, only a Fool would have joined SEES. The team's new bond was set, but was their new teammate a blessing or a curse?
TO BE CONTINUED!
Oh yes! The arcana relationships will be announced in bold when a new bond is made... thou art I... I am thou. Anyway please R&R, and have a good day!
Farewell, my dearest~
