Disclaimer: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 belongs to Atlus and Odin Sphere, while published by Atlus, belongs to VanillaWare. I have no rights to them at all.

oOoOoOo

Soul's Nocturne

Chapter 14

oOoOoOo

"So… you have summoned Izanagi-no-Okami. Just as predicted, you are still one with the World."

Souji opened his eyes, surprised to find himself in the Velvet Room. Elizabeth was sitting on his left, Margaret on his right, and Igor remained across from him, his spindly fingers intertwined as his chin rested on them as always. His grin was, if possible, wider, "You have seen the shadow, but not all is as it seems. You walk the edge between life and death, both of which must be brought together."

Slowly, Souji nodded, but then frowned, "Igor, why could I summon Izanagi in the real world?"

"It is my contract," Elizabeth said now, "Previously, my master and I allowed a young man like yourself to summon in an alternate dimension still parallel with your world. It is not difficult to allow personas on the human's plane. It has been done before."

"Quite…" Igor said, unraveling his fingers as he chuckled.

"Have you located the crystal?" Margaret asked. Souji looked over at her and shook his head.

"I have no idea where to start," he replied honestly.

She closed her eyes, "Of course… You must find the World Tree."

"World… Tree?"

"Two potential allies know of its location, but it should be obvious where it's hidden," Elizabeth said, grinning, "Ask that bear of yours as well."

"I believe we have held you here long enough. You should awaken the others before the finale," Igor said, smiling, "Feel free to come back if you have any more questions. Until then… farewell."

…

"He's starting to come to…"

"He is?!"

"Sensei!"

"Souji-kun!"

"Big Bro!"

His face scrunched for a moment, but then his eyelids parted. He blinked several times, silver eyes darting around, taking in everything slowly. He was on the couch in the front room of the Dojima Household. Dojima, Teddie, Yukiko, and Nanako were hovering around him, all of them moving back as he sat up, holding his forehead. It was throbbing wildly, Izanagi-No-Okami unsettled in his skull. "What… how are we…?" his sentences were broken as he rubbed his head.

Yukiko's eyes fell to her hands, "Uhm… well."

"I brought you here with Amagi's guidance."

Souji blinked at the new voice and turned his head towards the low table. Golden blonde waves spilled over shoulders hidden in a red cloak. Delicate hands held a cup of steaming tea to red lips and he stared as violet eyes looked back at him. Mrs. Valentine lowered the cup and sighed, "To think you were tangled in this mess. I knew your auras were strange especially your friend. Reminds me of a bear more than a human."

Teddie turned bright red and looked down. Dojima stared at the woman for a moment, "You helped me a few weeks ago."

"Indeed…" she replied with a small sigh, "That monster is proving to be a problem."

"Do you even know what that thing is?" Souji demanded. Slowly, she nodded and he glowered, "Just who the hell are you?"

Nanako's eyes widened at Souji's tone and she stepped away, a little nervous. He wasn't paying attention though. Mrs. Valentine turned her head, closing her eyes as she refused to answer. Yukiko gasped suddenly, "Wait, I think I know who you are!"

Eyes turned on the heiress, surprised. She looked down, nodding to herself, "I just finished reading the book not too long ago. Your name… its Velvet, isn't it?"

"… I haven't been called by my first name in ages except by my husband," Mrs. Valentine – no, Velvet – answered, "And you found it out from a book?"

"Mirren-sensei said they have been in her family for ages," Yukiko replied, "Now that we're on familiar ground, could you please answer a few questions?"

"Seeing as you children appear to be its targets, I see no harm."

Souji growled under his breath. It was that easy to get this woman to talk? Whatever, as long as they could get something from her instead of having her save them all the time. "What was that monster?" he asked, calming himself down quickly.

"Nanako, go to your room," Dojima said so the discussion could be private. He was surprised when Nanako shook her head defiantly.

"No. Big bro and the others are doing what they can. I wanna help this time," the young girl said, "I promise to be careful Dad. Besides, you're going to help them too."

The older man scratched his head. Well, there was no denying that. He looked back at Velvet and nodded his head, signaling her to proceed. She nodded back once and looked around at them all, "That creature… is a human taking on a demonic form. I don't know how they received this power though; the one who bestowed it was slain many centuries ago."

"A specific number?"

Velvet shook her head, "`Tis been a cursed life for me and my husband. Keeping track of the eons passing is as difficult as keeping water in ones hand."

Nanako blinked at Velvet's manner of speech, but nobody took note. Dojima stepped forward, "Why did you save us?"

"There's a reason this person has taken a demon form and I have a feeling it has something to do with you," she answered simply, "Your auras… I can sense strange powers in the air around you. Seta, your aura is more complex almost as though it's both unstable, but thoroughly managed. Something stands out though; it's similar to that white-clad figure I saw."

Souji and Yukiko's eyes widened. Velvet rose to her feet, "Anyway, I must be going. Everything has changed and I must return home. If you wish to speak to me again, it must be after school hours. Before nightfall, I remain at home on the outskirts near the train station, but afterwords, I'm afraid I'm tracking down and stemming the murders as best as I can."

"Wait, why are you just… telling us now?" Souji asked, startled that she just said that.

Velvet didn't respond immediately. Instead, she bowed her head, her violet eyes looking elsewhere as she thought, "We each have a goal whose main enemy is the creature. Something about your auras attracts it yet can repel it. It's confusing, but you might be the solution to saving the human's soul."

She raised her head, "Anyway, we need time to plan. Excuse me."

"Uh, goodbye," Nanako said, walking Velvet to the door. Dojima, Yukiko, and Souji exchanged glances.

"What was that about?" Dojima sighed.

"She helped bring Souji-kun back to the house and she can fight off the creature without a persona," Yukiko murmured, "But how? She can't be from the book, can she?"

"What book are you talking about?"

She looked up, noticing Souji staring at her with a hard gaze. Faintly, her cheeks turned red, "O-Oh… I think Chie explained it to you. I've been going over to Mirren-sensei's house because she has this interesting book series. I'm currently on the second-to-last book, but Velvet was a character in the book previous. She was the exiled princess of the decimated Kingdom of Valentine."

"… What about the other books? Were there any before hers?" Souji pressed.

Yukiko nodded, "Of course. It wouldn't have been a series without it."

He urged her to tell more about the books. They sounded parallel to the happenings.

"Hm… well, the first one was about Gwendolyn. She was a valkyrie and Velvet was her half-sister. She got wedded to the Shadow Knight… wait a second, Shadow…?" she trailed, but then snapped out of her thoughts, "O-oh, the second was about Cornelius and he was a prince cursed into this animal form… third was Mercedes and she had to fight her cousin to be rightfully Queen of the fairies. Fourth was Oswald…"

Nanako turned her head, a small gasp going unheard as Yukiko continued, but then paused, "Could it be? Souji-kun, maybe… it's following the book."

"There's a chance, but then we're missing two characters," Souji pointed out, "We have yet to see Gwendolyn and, from your description, could that shadow creature be Oswald?"

"…! That's why I thought that shadow was familiar!" she exclaimed, "It has to be him… but, it doesn't make any sense. He isn't a cold-blooded killer; at least, he's not meant to be like this I think. The book described his form as an animalistic embodiment of Hellfire. His claws render all foes that stand before him and his black armor is never to be cleaned of bloodshed. Of course, that's just the book's description."

"So Hell has metaphorically descended on Inaba," Souji whispered with a grimace. He shot his gaze to Teddie, "Does the name ring a bell at all, Teddie?"

"Uh… which name?" Teddie asked, confused after all the talk. There were several frustrated sighs from everyone except Nanako. She walked over to Dojima and tugged his sleeve.

"Dad… could you tuck me in?"

"Hm? Sure Nanako," he said calmly, taking hold of her hand, "This must be scaring you."

"Just a little…" she murmured. She didn't like where any of this was going. Both of them walked down the hall while Souji, Yukiko, and Teddie remained in the front.

"Oswald…? I-I'm sorry, sensei. The truth is I never met Father personally so I have no idea what his name is. Also, I'm not an immediate descendant of Father's," Teddie said, shaking his head with a frown, "The first children born… I don't even know them. Teddie was born from one of them and human emotions. Maybe I could remember more at home…"

"Inside the television? We can go there tomorrow if the doctor's give Yosuke the okay," Souji said. He turned to Yukiko, "You'll be able to call Chie, right?"

"I don't see why not. I'll send her a text right now," she answered, opening her phone, "Shall I text Rise-chan too?"

"If you don't mind."

She nodded once and started sending out the word. Souji lowered his head, thinking. Despite the possible lead, they still had no idea if the shadow was this Oswald character. In fact, it still seemed far-fetched. Characters from fantasy books being real? They weren't tangled in some cosplayer game were they? No, Mrs. Valen – Velvet had been serious and she could see his personas. Not only that, but she could sense them on him and everyone else. Did that mean everyone in town or the people he bonded with? Kou, Daisuke, Yumi, Ayane, Ai, Naoki, Dojima, and Nanako… were they involved in this too? And what about this woman who had spoken to Izanagi? He called her mom…

"Nagi…"

"…!?"

His eyes widened; what was going on?

"… Sensei? Are you alright?" Teddie asked.

A pale hand stroked silver hair behind a blue feather decoration. Her black corset fell to folds of white, blue, and black again as the dress hid her legs. She sat, resting upon the massive roots of a towering tree. They crossed over each other forming a tangled mass as they burrowed into the earth. He stared for a moment longer, but then returned his eyes to the woman. He blinked. When had there been a child there? He had fair, short silver hair, but gentle red eyes that were partially open.

"Rest, Nagi… shhh…"

"I-Is father still angered?"

"No, `tis something else that worries him greatly," the woman whispered, "He loves you and the others. How a gateway to the Netherworld was opened… promise me, you'll keep the others from entering."

"I do, mother."

"Mother…"

"S-Sensei?"

Souji gasped, snapping back to reality and exclaimed, "Wha!?"

"W-We don't know. You just seemed to space out and then you said 'mother'," Yukiko explained calmly, though, her eyes bulged in shock.

He stared for a moment, but then scowled, "I-It's not… it's Izanagi. I think it was a memory of his… there was a giant tree, a woman, and a small boy she called 'Nagi'."

"Well, Nagi is a shortened name for 'Izanagi'," she answered. She frowned, "Maybe you should get some rest. Chie and Rise-chan responded. They'll meet us at Junes, 12 o' clock sharp."

"Good… uh, wait."

He looked over at Teddie, "Are you staying here tonight, too?"

"Can I sensei?" Teddie asked, "It's lonely without Yosuke snoring at his house."

Souji sweat dropped and glanced at Yukiko. How was this going to work?

oOoOoOo

Me: I leave for college soon. Updates will probably slow down. Please Review.