Note: Thanks for the review! To clarify, Abel is actually sixteen years old. His position is close to that of Sousuke Sagara of Full Metal Panic! fame. And regarding the one-sided thing for Cain, well, he didn't get enough screen time for me to develop just how one-sided it's going to be. Next chapter may take a bit of time, school is getting onto me again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or whatever is found here that I made reference to.

Chapter 4: The Velvet Room

April 10, 2019

5:30 PM

Akira woke up with a start. To his shock, he could only see with one eye, his right eye. His left eye was dark, and when he reached up to touch what was covering it, he felt a rough texture on it. He was wearing a medical eyepatch, one that has two bands so that the patch itself can slide between the eyes, making it easy to adjust the position of the patch itself. Looking around, he appeared to be sitting in a large ballroom, but with a single round table. And he was sitting in right in front of that very table.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

Akira looked up, and to his chagrin, found Igor with that rather annoying smile on his face. Next to him was Margaret, who just gave that stoic expression of hers, and nodded silently at Akira's direction. Looking out of his good eye, Akira gave Igor a glare, and opened his mouth to speak harsh words meant to reprimand the old man in front of him, before Igor cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I did tell you that I was going to offer my services to you in any way possible."

It was then Akira understood. This power, Persona, was exactly what Igor had in mind. Why Igor needed Akira, he had no idea, but Akira knew that he was going to get his anger. His anger being taken over by a magnificent curiosity, Akira watched Igor take a deep breath.

"Your power, Persona, is a manifestation of your soul. If the soul was a fortress, the Persona is the guardian who guards the door to enter the gate. The Persona is a necessary part of the soul, so if one wished to live, they cannot let their Persona be destroyed. In most cases, it's impossible to destroy a Persona. However, this is where you come in."

As Igor drew out a deck of cards and began to place them on the table, Akira recognized the twenty-cards placed on the table as the Major Arcana. Looking down on them, Akira watched as Igor began to slide several cards towards Akira's side of the table, then slide the rest towards Igor.

"The reason I hired you was because of your Persona's special ability. You see, your Persona is quite unlike any other Personas in existence, although I could recognize the potential of you being owner to such a Persona. Lleu Llaw Gyffes is a Persona that is known to be skilled in all, when in reality, it is skilled in the areas other Personas are incapable of performing. In essence, Lleu Llaw Gyffes has no combat ability."

No combat ability. How was that possible? Akira took his eyes off the cards to look at Igor with a stare of absolute shock. If his Persona was one with no combat ability, how was it able to fight off Jack and his Persona? It didn't seem possible. With a click of his tongue, Igor corrected himself.

"When I mean no combat ability, what I mean is that Lleu Llaw Gyffes would be unable to cast spells like Agi. This handicap is not terribly bad, nor will it affect the overall outcome of your battles, since you are capable of casting your own spells as a magus. However, Lleu Llaw Gyffes is interesting in three ways."

Holding up his right hand, Igor lifted three fingers, and began to count down the abilities of Akira's Persona.

"The first ability is its ability of seeing what cannot be seen. The ability manifested itself in your left eye, which is why we placed an eyepatch with sealing properties, as viewing the world in two perspectives like that at the same time will automatically kill your brain, as no human brain is capable of perceiving information like that. Move your eyepatch over to cover your right eye."

Taking Igor's words to heart, Akira moved his eyepatch somewhat tentatively, keeping his left eye closed. After making sure his right eye was completely covered, he opened it, and found that the Velvet Room was no longer velvet in color, but more light-blue. Looking at both Igor and Margaret, Akira could see the energy flowing through their bodies, and a bright light in different parts of their body. Viewing the light, Akira could see glimpses of a figure fading away in Igor, and splotches of red in Margaret. Moving the eyepatch back, he asked suspiciously.

"What was that?"

"That, Akira, was the Brionac. It is a cognitive ability, which allows you to scan and view the life and death of an enemy. You can find their weaknesses and hindrances, and will be able to deal as such. Striking in the right place may also result in instant death, although it is difficult to strike such a spot. Most of your future battles will have you relying on this ability quite a bit."

One finger was placed down as Igor continued his explanation.

"The second ability is that your Persona is useful in one form of combat. Against other Personas. Earlier, you saw that Lleu Llaw Gyffes was cutting into The Ripper. That is the second ability, and the pure reason why I chose to hire you. Your Persona is a killer, and it is capable of destroying other Personas, an ability most Personas do not have."

The second finger went down to touch Igor's palm, leaving one last finger.

"Lastly, as long as your Persona is in use, whenever you deal with other Persona users, you will never die. All fatal wounds will heal themselves, and if you are killed, your Persona reverses all damages and revives your body. You also saw this effect. I believe Jack killed you maybe fifteen times before you managed to force him onto the ground."

Now that was a shock. Akira could barely take in the meanings of the words, but he understood. In essence, he was immortal and invincible. A confidence built up in him, and he was about to speak once more before Igor cut him off once more.

"Ah, yes, one last thing. Even if you're invincible, like every other hero who was once invincible, there is a way to kill those heroes. I can tell that your potential does not escape this fact. There is a way for you to die, so I would exercise caution when using such a Persona. Also, most of your battles will not be against Persona users. In retrospect, your Persona is absolutely useless minus the scan ability."

Well, that was a blow to Akira's pride. He didn't even try to talk. Who was he going to have to fight that would make such a potentially powerful Persona useless save its initial ability?

"Which is why you happen to have another skill, and my service comes in. Of course, I will explain more in due time, as explaining it now will not be able to help you, and may in fact hinder you. It must be discovered by yourself in the journey, not through giving of knowledge through speech. Now, look at these cards right here."

Akira was a little miffed, as Igor just took away all the excitement of the situation. Looking at the cards, he saw that the Fool, the Magician, the Priestess, the Empress, the Emperor, the Lovers, the Justice, and the Fortune were all on his side of the table. The rest of the Arcanas were on Igor's side of the table.

"This is how the battles will play out. I hired you to kill a group of dangerous Persona users, since they plan to upset the human world as we know it, in the most devastating of ways. I seek to avoid this, even at the price of many deaths. However, in the future, you will meet others who will strengthen your powers through friendship, and it is up to you to keep those friendships strong, as your power will grow as well. Even better, some of these companions will join you in your battle. Powerful as they may be, you are still outnumbered, so be warned."

Akira could only nod. He was somewhat confused, but given Igor's method of giving information, he would only be able to go along with the plan and deal with any complications. Maybe this is the only way it can be done. Akira had definitely been in situations like that before. Smiling, Igor finished his speech with a rather surprising statement.

"The power you hold within the depths of your soul is quite unlike that found in others. I have met few who had powers like yours, and only two of them, previous guests of the Velvet Room, could match up to you in power. I still remember a long time ago when I first met young Alexander. He later became one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen, due to the nature of his Persona's ability. Francis was very much the same, and he defeated all of the Spanish Armada. You will have a power quite unlike that of others. Be wary."

Nodding, Akira stood up. He knew that his visit to this room was over, at least for today. Standing up with him, Margaret reached into her pocket and placed something into Akira's hand. Looking at it, Akira found a dagger with a wide blade, with a blue color theme and a hilt of strange proportions, as most of it consisted of a steel orb.

"This weapon is called Fragarach. It is a weapon usable only by Lleu Llaw Gyffes, so you can only use that Persona if you hope to use the weapon. Your Persona will know how to use it when the time comes."

Why do they make Personas seem like they come in more than one form? Or as if a person could use more than one Persona? Akira wanted to ask them those very questions, but decided against it, and pocketed the Fragarach, adjusting his jacket as to avoid the shape being seen from the outside. Igor then exited him from the room.

"You will be back here again, of your own accord. Until then, farewell."

Walking towards the door at the end of the velvet ballroom, Akira waved behind him, not looking back as he opened the door back to the real world.