Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona series. Atlus owns that, lol. But maybe if I worked in Atlus...

Author notes:
1. Be advised that words that are italicized are the character POV's thoughts, or a voice in the POV's head, or music. The horizontal line denotes either a change in scenario, or a change in POV.

2. Enjoy!


"My Wish"

April ??

-??? am/pm-

A gentle breeze blew past Souji Seta's cheek, and the smells of the countryside gradually filled his nose, awakening the memories of his time in Inaba. He opened his eyes gradually, and found himself staring at a white ceiling. As he sat up, he realized that he was in white room, possibly a hospital room, and the breeze that had awakened him had come from the window that had been left open. He breathed in the air; it was clean and pure.

"This can't be the city… what happened? Why am I here? Where am I?"

As he stood up to close the window, the door suddenly opened, and the familiar faces of his friends flooded in. There was Yosuke, with his unkempt hair and goofy smile; Yukiko, with her beautiful, flowing black hair, and her elegant yet naïve grace; Chie, with her cute face and tomboyish charm; Kanji, with his bleached hair and determined eyes; Rise, with her beautiful red locks and enticing smile; and Naoto, with her small smile and delicate features.

"Hey guys… I'm back." How he had missed them so much!

The next few seconds were a blur, with all the handshakes, hair ruffling, slaps on the back, endless chatter, and smiles. After all the loneliness and longing, he finally felt content.

He smiled. "I'm finally home."

"Souji…"

Souji cocked his head, but ignored the sound. A blue door had suddenly appeared in place of the door into his room, but for now, he didn't care.. He was too much in the moment.

Rise was hugging his right arm tightly. "I'm so happy to see you awake, senpai!"

"Souji! You're finally awake! We were worried sick!" Chie said excitedly.

"Souji-kun, I'm so glad to see you up and about again! Doujima-san never told us the exact details about the accident, just that he immediately brought you back here…" Yukiko said softly.

"I told you guys not to worry at all! He's our senpai! No small accident can drop him!" Kanji said confidently.

"Yeah right, Kanji," Yosuke said sarcastically. "You were practically panicking when Doujima-san brought us the news."

"But it really is good to see you again, Souji. The few days you were gone was really hard on us. You were a really big part of our lives," Naoto explained gently.

"Souji Seta…"

The blue door had vanished. Had he just imagined it?

Yosuke took out his phone and started dialing quickly. "Just wait a bit, Souji. We gotta call Teddie, Doujima-san and Nanako. I'm sure they'll want to see you!"

"Finally… finally…"

"Finally… what, Souji? Did you not learn anything from your time in Inaba?"

Souji put his hands to his head. Something was wrong.

"Were you not a Seeker of Truth? What happened to the 'you' that sought to divide the truths from the lies? Or was that 'you' a lie as well?"

"No… no… I want this…"

"Have you become so blinded by your desires that you do not even see the lies before you?"

Souji shook his head. "That's… that's right. What's happening to me? I was… I was in the dormitory…" Why did it hurt so much to remember? "A, a video… a video of some sort…"

"I am you, and you are me. However, you have blindly walked right into traps 'they' have placed… traps that I can see clearly. Why do you not enlist my help? Is it your wish to stay here? I will not stop you if that is your decision…"

Souji stumbled across the room, towards the door. "I... I'm not supposed to be here? What? Is that you… Izanagi? I don't understand…"

As he turned around, he saw the faces of his friends. They looked so concerned, so… sad.

"Is there something wrong, Souji-kun?" That was from Yukiko, as she grabbed his left hand.

"Please sit down again, senpai. You're still not feeling well, right? You should get more rest," Rise exclaimed. She seemed to have tears in her eyes.

"I… I can't do this. I can't go and leave them again! I can't go and say good-bye again! This is where I belong! Not in the city, where I can only hope to see more petty bickering and stupid jokes, more pain and loneliness!"

"In the end, it is your decision, Souji Seta. I wonder if you really learned anything at all from your mission in Inaba…"

Souji remembered his last day in Inaba. All the tears, all the laughter… but they had all decided to move on… And that in the hope of moving on, they would one day see each other again as new, stronger individuals.

"It hurts, Izanagi. It hurts to leave them again. I never really felt it during the departure, but the days that followed were torture. For years, I've always been distant towards others as I never truly stayed in one place for long… but Inaba was where I truly had friends. Inaba was where I truly had family. I had always thought that I had finally found a place to belong. To leave them again… it's like tearing a part of who I am and casting it away."

There was only silence in his mind. He could feel Izanagi's tears, the same tears that he felt and shed.

"I know."

But it was time to move on.

The blue door once again materialized, and he stepped through, wiping the tears from his eyes.


April ???
???

-??? am/pm-

Reinhardt opened his eyes, and found himself staring at a dull green-ceilinged wall. He remembered something about a video or some such, but it seemed unimportant. As he sat up, he realized that he was on a bed, in a familiar room. Of course.

He was home.

He hadn't been home for quite some time, and he was certain that his sister would be rebuking him again for the umpteenth time for not coming to visit, at least. His memory was a bit fuzzy on the details on how he got home, but it didn't matter. He was with his sister, and he was determined to spend some time with her, at least.

A knock came from the door outside his room, and he instinctively tensed himself.

"Rei! It's me! Aren't you awake yet? It's ten in the morning!"

Reinhardt allowed himself a small smile. "It's so nice to hear your voice again, sis."

He jumped out of bed and opened the door. His sister was waiting for him with a small tray of eggs with toast, a side portion of bacon and warm milk. His favorite breakfast menu.

"You shouldn't be up and about, Rei. Apparently an accident occurred in that dorm of yours, and you were brought here. Go rest on your bed!" his sister declared sternly.

"What?"

His sister was looking at him, a concerned look on her face. "Come on, Rei. Eat up. You look so pale. I was so worried about you when they brought you back here. I asked that you be brought to a hospital for a check-up, but they thought that you were fine and just needed some rest."

As he ate, he tried to remember the events of the night. "Cleaning…? Why was I cleaning? And… a video? Why do I recall some sort of video? Was there some sort of electrical or technical failure? What type of accident was it?"

"Sorry, sis. I've been a lot of trouble to you. I know you're busy too, so me being here…"

She hugged him tightly. "Don't worry about a thing, Rei. You're home, and that's all that matters. You can stay here all you like, or until you get better! I recently got a promotion at the company I'm working for, so we can afford to live a little better!"

As her arms went around him, he felt the warmth of home from his sisters hug. It was so comfortable. So calming.

So wrong.

The hug… was not possible. Was this a dream? "No… this can't be…"

He suddenly grabbed his sister's throat and slammed her to the ground next to the bed. He tried to stop the tears streaming down his face, but he couldn't. Doing this to his own sister was too painful, even for him.

"Who the hell are you? What have you done to my sister? Where am I?"

He steeled himself as he swung his hand for a punch. He hated what he was doing, and what he had become. His fist stopped an inch from her face.

"Isn't this what you wanted? What you desired?"

The voice hissed at the back of his mind, tempting him.

"If you stay here, you could have all of this. Your sister can have all this. Isn't this what you desired? A wonderful life… a world of peace? I can give this all to you. Just stay. What could be simpler?"

Reinhardt covered his ears, attempting to stop the voice from tempting him further.

"No… this is all an illusion… stop this…"

He knew this was false. He knew that this should have been impossible from the very beginning. But the myriad of voices which sounded like his sister, telling him to stay, sounded far too promising. He pounded his fist on ground, narrowly missing his sister who was now crying.

"Get out of my head! I'll be the one to give my sister the life she deserves, not you! It's the least I can do, after everything she's sacrificed for me!"

A door suddenly appeared before him. His sister's impostor grabbed onto him, pleading for him to stay, but he shook her off. He immediately opened the door, with no care to where it led, and dashed through it, avoiding the pained and accusing look in his sister's eyes.


April ??
???

-??? am/pm-

He was king of the world.

Shin was in a hospital room at Tokyo, surrounded by letters wishing him well. A very pretty and sexy nurse came every hour to check on him and asked him if he needed anything, such as food, drinks, a tv in his own room, that sort of stuff. He even the nurses massage him at times, which was extremely awesome.

It looked like his luck was finally with him. That, or the Japanese way of electing a business' new CEO was screwed up.

It was all over the news lately. Kei Nanjou, owner of the group, was found dead at his mansion at Mikage-Cho. The board of directors then decided that it would be best if he, the Great Shin Nanjou, would succeed. After all, he was a genius that only appeared once a century; he could do anything, and he was good at everything.

He smiled. "Ahhh… this is definitely the life. Something feels off though… wonder what that could be."

He shrugged, and looked at his itinerary for today. "So today I'll be visited by my family for a few minutes, then I'll be entertained by various pop idols, including Rise Kujikawa. Damn, I'm such a lucky bastard. Good thing I'm still at the hospital. It says here that I won't need to tend to the corporation till I get my strength back." He gave a sigh of contentment. "It's great to be the Great Me."

The Great... Me?There was something wrong about that. Not that he cared of course. He was who he was. He suddenly saw a small golden butterfly float just at the reaches of his peripheral vision. Was he going insane?

"Ah, sire. How are you today?"

Shin blinked. The man before him was an old yet sturdy man, standing with a straight posture and bearing a very distinguished look. He was wearing the typical black suit and white shirt that he had seen his cousin Kei's now-deceased butler wear. "I have a butler? Just how awesome am I?"

He yawned, and gave the itinerary to his special butler. "Good… good. Maybe you can cancel the family visit and just get on with the pop idols' visit? I mean, you should never keep ladies waiting, right?"

"Very good, sire. I'll see to that at once." The butler took a bow and withdrew.

As soon as the door closed, Shin lied down on the bed once more, and looked to where he thought a butterfly had appeared. Nothing.

"Well that was weird… but anyway, I like the sound of the Great Me. I'll start calling myself that from now on. Gotta make sure that everyone, including Mr. I'm-so-Perfect Rei, calls me that…"

The world... shifted. Something was wrong. He immediately felt it. "Rei? Who's Rei? I don't know anyone called Rei… wait… maybe I should I ask Souji to..."

His head starting aching, as if he had bashed his head onto a wall one too many times. He felt dizzy and nauseous, and turned to the side of the bed to vomit, but nothing came.

"Souji? Who's Souji? Was he one of the shareholders of the Nanjou Group? Agh, why do I keep remembering something about some stupid video? What the hell?"

"I live… A PERFECT LIFE! I'm just living my dream!" he shouted.

"That's right! This is your dream!" a voice suddenly hissed into his mind. "This is your desire. Your reality. Isn't it grand?"

"No such thing… as… perfect… Shin." This voice was distant, but was from a familiar origin. It felt real. The distant voice was... Souji? "Everyone… has troubles… problems… shadows…" The voice was becoming disjointed. Everything around him seemed to be unreal now, as if it was all truly just a dream. The shifting of the world had shaken him considerably.

Fearing a nightmare, Shin held onto Souji's words desperately. "Is this some sort of twisted dream? What if I don't leave... will I never wake up? Besides… as nice as this all is… this can't be true. I know who I am better than anyone, and I now that I'm…"

The hospital door was opening, and in came the various teen idols he had been scheduled to meet, one of them being his beloved Rise. They were cosplaying as nurses, and looked so hot… and behind them was a blue door. For some reason, he felt that the door was pulling at him.

"OK, Shin… OK. Just have to get to that door. Don't want to die in a dream. Just have to get to that door. Don't want to die in a dream."

As he walked towards the door, the idols started coming on to him, and teasing him, pulling off his clothes. "NO! Just go through the door, and get out. Don't want to die in a dream." He couldn't believe he was running away from this! Running away from his dreams of power, money, authority, and girls!

But he had to do it. He didn't want to die.

He stepped through the doorway... and stared.

Shin was staring at a pitch black something. He couldn't tell what it was, because frankly, everything was too dark to see anyway.

"At least I don't feel that strange sensation I did a while ago anymore. Wherever 'here' is should be better than that place."

He started walking forwards, and was surprised to hear the sound of his footsteps and the creaking of wood underneath. Everything felt real, wherever this was.

A spotlight suddenly shone down on him, blinding him for a while.

"Welcome, my dear guests."

At the same instant the strange voice came, he heard the calming sound of a piano, playing a piece that soothed his body and his mind. The song was both strangely bewitching and haunting, calming and mournful, as if it was an Aria that touched one's very soul.

A lady's voice suddenly joined the amazing piece, and the Aria felt complete. He turned around to speak to owner of the strange voice, and found himself face-to-face with two other people. Souji and Rei.

"What are you guys doing here?" they all asked, virtually at the same time.

Shin noticed something different about Rei. His face was not as hard as it had been when he last saw him, and he could tell that Rei had just cried due to the redness in his eyes, hard as that was to imagine. Then again, he also noticed a wetness on Souji's cheeks, and wondered about that as well. He would have to ask Souji about it later.

"Ah, my dear Souji, it is a pleasure to see you again."

A multitude of other spotlights suddenly shone down on the area, and Shin realized that they were standing on what looked to be wooden stage used primarily for those musicals or maybe for opera. There was even a Velvet curtain hanging in front of them!

A little off to the side of the stage was an old, long-nosed man sitting on a huge and very comfortable-looking armchair. At his side was a tall, beautiful pale-haired woman, possibly in her mid-twenties, wearing an elegant blue dress. Behind them was the source of the music of the area, a grand piano, operated by what looked to be person wearing a blindfold and another beautiful pale-skinned lady, possibly in her thirties, wearing small ear muffs.

"Now how the hell does that dude on the piano even play? The guy looks blind! And that lady! How can she even hear the music with those ear muffs on? Am I still in a dream? Then I'd better find a way out fast!"

Souji, however, walked towards the long-nosed man, and gave a small nod towards the beautiful pale-haired woman. He smiled.

"It's been a while, Igor, Margaret. I'm afraid I'm not acquainted with the other two individuals behind you two."

"Ah, yes." Igor, presumably the one with the long-nose, interlaced his fingers. "You have never met them, as you have only entered the Velvet Room alone. But now, you have other guests with you as well."

The blindfolded man gave them a small nod. "How does he know where to look?" Shin wondered.

"I am called 'Nanashi.' Both my sight and my true name have been lost in the midst of time… but what does it matter? I am he who weaves the music that opens the closed hearts of our dear guests."

The beautiful singer also gave them a nod. "I am called Belladonna. I sing for those that challenge the monster known as oneself. My purpose is to soothe your hearts. To do this, I strain to hear nothing but the music that swells within you." She had such a melodic voice! He felt as if he could listen to her talk all day long, and never grow tired of it.

A rather large and comfy-looking sofa appeared before Igor and Margaret. "I welcome you once again, Souji Seta." Igor suddenly looked at Rei. "And you as well, Reinhardt. It has truly been a long time since you arrived here, longer than even our friend here, Souji. We almost could not reach you."

Shin glanced at Rei, and saw that the old Rei, the one with a wall-like disposition, had finally returned. He walked towards the sofa and took a seat beside a surprised-looking Souji.

"Is that number three thousand seven hundred and forty-seven? Reinhardt Svensson? It has been a while," the blind piano player added.

"Yes, it's me, Nanashi. You still play as well as you always do."

"And yet you are different now, Reinhardt. I wish these eyes of mine could have seen what you saw, to make you change so much."

Igor finally turned to Shin. "And finally, our new guest. Come and take a seat."

Shin moved forward and took a seat beside Rei. He nodded at Igor and smiled at Margaret, and both gave him the same.

"I'm sure that as returning guests, you have no need of more introductions, but please bear with me as I explain some things to our new guest…"

"Shinichi Nanjou."

Igor chuckled. "Yes, Shinichi Nanjou. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Igor. And this is my assistant, Margaret."

The beautiful lady bowed her head again, and Shin bowed back. "Pleased to meet you."

"This place exists between the realms of dreams and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a contract of fate may enter."

Shin sat up straight, and tried to make sense of what the mysterious old man was saying. "So what does this have to do with me?"

Igor continued. "It would seem that we are on the cusp of a great calamity. It has been years since we have been allowed multiple guests to come inside the Velvet Room, and yet now, a greater amount of individuals bound by a contract have started to emerge. These are mysterious times indeed."

Igor turned to Rei and Souji. "Both of you were called in the past to fulfill a destiny that was thrust upon you, whether it be by fate or by circumstance. However, in the coming days, it would seem that a heavy burden will be placed upon your shoulders once more. And so I am once again here, should you need help."

"I never enlisted your help the last time. I got by on my own," Rei exclaimed. "Why bring me into this now?"

Igor frowned. "You have the potential. That is all that matters. All three of you have the ability of the 'Wild Card', an ability that is manifest in the number zero. It is both nothing, and a base for an infinite amount of possibilities."

Margaret suddenly whispered something to Igor, and he took out a blank card. "Time grows short. Already, the chaos has begun spreading throughout your world." He turned to Rei. "It will be entirely your decision if you wish to partake of the destiny that will be thrust upon you this day. I only ask that you consider your decision well, and take full responsibility for your actions."

Igor then handed the card to Margaret, who in turn handed it to Shin. The card was plain on one side, and had a design on the back depicting a face with half a side colored in white, and the other in black.

Shin suddenly felt a sensation of being pulled, as if his abdomen had been hooked onto a fishing line and he was being reeled in. As the Velvet Room disappeared into the darkness, he decided that he'd be interrogating Souji and Rei once he woke up.

"And so we must part. To conquer the chaos, I advise that you all make use of this Velvet Room. Until we meet again... Farewell."


GLOSSARY:

Meguro City Police Personnel Data

File id: NN-L33T

Name: Nanjou, Natsuhiko

Age: 26

Height: 178 cm

Info: Eldest child of Kotaro Nanjou. Even at such a young age, was hailed as a prodigy, and was expected to gain the control of the Nanjou Group. However, the breaking of the Kirijo Group from Nanjou compounded by other financial woes forced the then CEO, Kotaro Nanjou, to resign, allowing Kotaro's brother, Takeshi, to take over.

When asked however, Natsuhiko always said that he never had plans on taking over the Nanjou Group. He says that his dreams have always led him to becoming a detective, and at the age of 16 had already graduated from high school, going under apprenticeship at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency in Sumaru City. He was assigned to Meguro City at age 20, and has completed numerous high profile cases. He says that his inspiration to becoming a detective stemmed from the well-known historic figures Kyouji and Raidou Kuzunoha.

Likes: Miso, Curry, reading books, teasing his brother

Dislikes: overly serious people, bland food