This story is a work of fiction.

Similarities between characters or events to persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

~.~

Once, I dreamt I was a butterfly.

I forgot myself and knew only my happiness as a butterfly.

Soon, I awoke, and I was myself again.

Did I dream that I was a butterfly?

Or do I now dream that I am a man?

Yet there is a distinction between myself and the butterfly.

This is the transformation of the physical.

Zhuangzi, "The Butterfly Dream"

~.~

For Naoya Toudou, spending his after-school hours setting up classroom decorations wasn't exactly what he had in mind. If it were up to him, he would have been at the arcade by now. But with the upcoming cultural festival, everyone was required to chip in.

Which was not so bad in and of itself, if not for his friends' constant bickering.

"Thanks a lot, Nanjo." Mark grumbled a little too loudly. He shook a can of red spray paint that he held in his hands before spraying it on a signboard. "Because of you, Nishida-sensei gave us an extra report for homework!"

"Hmph." Kei Nanjo simply let out an indignant snort in response as he continued helping Naoya with the decorations. "All I did was voice my opinion. If Nishida took it personally, it proves that he lacks the professionalism to qualify as a teacher."

Pushing up his spectacles, he gave a shrug. "Then again, I'd doubt that an ape like a certain somebody could ever hope to understand."

"Why you—!" Mark seethed, looking ready to throw the spray can in his hand.

"That's enough, both of you!" A girl barked out. The harshness of her voice was enough to stop Mark in his tracks.

Yukino Mayuzumi had her hands on her hips, shooting the two of them a glare. "In case you haven't noticed, we've still got a lot of work to finish, and I don't want to be late for my part-time job."

The two could only grumble under their breaths as they resumed their work. Leave it to Yukino to step in whenever Mark and Nanjo had their arguments, something that had now become routine.

Meanwhile, Naoya could only sigh, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the earring – a stainless steel ring with a simple hooped design – that he wore on his right ear. It had been a habit of his; sometimes he would be fiddling with the earring without even realising it.

He remembered the time Yuka chided him during class for always fiddling with it, saying that it'll get infected. Of course, Naoya paid her no mind. He had done it for years, and his ear was still the same as always.

Speaking of Yuka, she was letting out a yawn as she set down a pair of scissors. She then stretched her arms out in relief. "Well, I'm done for today."

"Yuka, what's this?" Yukino frowned as she examined the girl's craftwork, that is if one could even call it that. It was nothing more than a bunch of deformed shapes that aren't even remotely shaped like people. Shredded paper was scattered all over the desk and floor.

Yuka pouted. "Hey, don't blame me for this. It's not my fault that cutting these things is so damn hard!"

Yukino looked unconvinced, picking up Yuka's handiwork between her finger and thumb as if picking up a dirty sock. "I already traced it out. All you need to do is to follow the lines."

"Whatever. I've done all I could." The pig-tailed girl huffed in exasperation. She got up from her seat and walked away to look at the rest of the booths. Yukino sighed as she went to clean up Yuka's mess.

Approaching Mark, Yuka looked over his shoulder to look at his work. "Hey, Mark. Your signboard's pretty good. You ever thought of doing art?" She asked.

"Thanks, Yuka-chan." Mark gave a proud smirk. His face then softened as he looked at his work. "Y'know, I've thought about doing this kind of stuff for a living. But it's not like we know what's gonna happen in the future…"

Yuka shrugged, putting her hands behind her head. "If you ask me, I'd rather be better off not knowing about my future. I mean, why stress over living a boring life as an adult when we still have plenty of time to live in the moment?"

Their conversation was quickly cut short by another student pouncing on Mark's back, causing him to let out a startled yell. The student had a messy mop of brown hair, propped up by a large pair of goggles he wore on his forehead.

"Hey! For that sort of thing, leave it to good ol' Brown!" The goggle-headed student declared with a cocky grin on his face, pulling Mark's oversized beanie over his eyes.

"Brown! get the hell off me, you bastard!" Mark squirmed, managing to wrest himself free from the goggle-headed boy.

Brown, the residential class clown, smirked. "I can't help but overhear your little conundrum, Mark. Have you by any chance heard of the Persona game?

"The Persona game?" Mark asked quizzically as he readjusted the yellow beanie he wore.

"Oh, I have heard about it." A feminine voice spoke up. "It has become a really popular game in school," Elly said. "There are rumours that if you play the Persona game, you might be able to see your future." She paused for a moment as everyone stared at her curiously. "At least…that's what I've heard."

"See, Elly vouches for me." Brown noted with a smug grin.

Mark turned back to Brown, still looking unconvinced. "Dude, if that really worked and I could see my future, I'd be on easy street. You sure your brain ain't rotting, Hidehiko?"

Brown chuckled, his chest puffing out in confidence. "Hehehe… Trust me, there's more to it than a simple rumour."

"And I'd say it's a load of crock! There ain't such thing as fortunes and whatnot."

Brown leaned forward so that he's on the same eye level as Mark. "Oh really? Yuka-chan and I have already played the game before, so I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. That is, if you are, Mark."

Mark grinned, leaning forward that the two of them were just inches apart. "All right, you're on! I'll bet you an all-you-can-eat dinner at Peace Diner! If you lose, it's your treat!"

"You're on!"

Yuka chirped. "Then I'm betting on Brown!"

"I'll wager on Brown as well." Elly raised her hand.

"Wait, seriously!?" Mark sputtered. He was already looking at Naoya, Yukino and Nanjo, a pleading look on his face.

The heir of the Nanjo Group turned away dismissively. "Hmph…This silly wager is none of my concern. You all can do as you please."

Yukino shrugged. "Same here. You're on your own, Mark."

Mark whined. "You two are so cold…! Come on, guys! Back me up here!"

Naoya chuckled and decided to throw his friend a bone. "Relax, Mark. I'll bet on you." He placed a reassuring hand on Mark's shoulder, giving him a confident grin. "After all, it would be boring to have a one-sided bet."

"Thanks, man." Mark grinned back at him.

Brown soon explained the details of the Persona Game, drawing out the steps of the game crudely on the chalkboard. Four people needed to stand in each corner of the room, while everyone else would stand in the centre of the room. They put aside the decorations and furniture, leaving an open space in the middle of the classroom.

Naoya stood at the centre alongside Yukino and Nanjo, with their backs faced one another as they stood in a triangular formation. The rest took their positions at each corner of the classroom.

"I don't know you managed to convince me into taking part in this foolishness," Nanjo grumbled.

"Shush, Nanjo." Yukino sighed, no less enthusiastic about it than he was. "The sooner we're done with this, the better."

"Oh, lighten up, you two." Naoya rolled his eyes, though he could not help but smile. He swore that these two take things too seriously sometimes.

"Alright! It's showtime!" Brown announced, rubbing his hands with glee. "Yuka-chan, let's go!"

Yuka took in a deep breath before starting the incantation. "Persona! Persona! Please come here!" She slowly walked towards Brown, who allowed Yuka to take his place.

Brown said the incantation and walked towards Mark, who grumbled a bit too loudly. "Man, why do I gotta do this?"

Brown roughly patted Mark's shoulder, giving him an annoyed huff. "Quit your bellyaching, Mark! All-you-can-eat! All-you-can-eat!" He chanted.

"Alright, just shut up already… Persona. Persona. C'mere, I guess…" Mark mumbled, shuffling his way towards Elly.

Once Elly had said the incantation and reached the other side of the classroom, Brown clapped his hands, bobbing up and down like a child waiting for dessert. "Alright, here it comes!"

Nothing.

Brown looked confused. He stared up into the ceiling, arms stretched out as if he was some shaman trying to call forth the gods. "Anytime now!"

Still nothing.

A bead of sweat trickled down Brown's forehead through his signature goggles. "Something should happen right about now…!"

There was still nothing.

"I-I don't understand…" Brown blurted out. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"

Mark hollered in triumph, pumping a fist into the air. "Hell yeah! All-you-can-eat, here I come!"

Yukino simply let out another exasperated sigh. "There, happy now? Now hurry up and get Saeko-sensei and tell her we're done."

"Uesugi!" Yuka snapped, storming up to Brown and grabbing the poor sap by his undershirt, looking ready to throttle him. "You've gone and made me look like an idiot, you jackass!"

Brown squeaked as he faced the full brunt of Yuka's wrath, futilely trying to pry himself free from Yuka's vice grip. "Hey, not fair!" he weakly protested as he pointed an accusing finger at Mark, who was still hooting in his victory. "I call a do-over! Mark probably screwed it up! C'mon, you gotta take it seriously when you do it!"

Mark let out a snort. "Oi, you little…! Don't be a sore loser!"

While the two began arguing, Naoya glanced at Nanjo, half-expecting for the Nanjo heir to interject with one of his usual pretentious remarks. But instead, he saw him just standing there, frozen on the spot with his mouth agape, his eyes looking ready to pop out of their sockets.

"Wh-What is…?" Nanjo managed to stutter out.

"Nanjo?" Naoya asked concernedly. "Are you okay?"

Hearing him, Mark broke off from his argument with Brown. "Huh? It's too late now to ask—" he said as he turned around to see what Nanjo was gaping at, only to stumble back as he let out a startled cry.

Everyone else turned to look, and there they saw a small girl dressed in a frilly white dress, standing there with her back turned away from them. Her brown hair was unkempt and reached her tiny shoulders, a red ribbon perched on top of her head.

"S-See! What did I tell you?" Brown exclaimed, though his voice was noticeably shaky.

Elly, on the other hand, looked giddy with excitement. "My goodness!" She clapped her hands. "To think that I would see a spectre with my very eyes!"

The girl in white slowly turned around to face them. Revealing her face, the girl was almost doll-like in appearance. Her skin was porcelain white, her eyes proportionately large as compared to the rest of her face. In her arms was a stuffed teddy bear, almost as large as the girl holding it.

Naoya cannot help but feel something nagging at the back of his mind. That this girl looked familiar, as if he had met her before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Then the little girl spoke. "Help me…"

Wait… Was she… crying?

The sniffles became louder. "Please, help me…" The girl spoke again, one of her delicate hands began rubbing at her eyes to wipe away the tears that were starting to trickle down her porcelain cheeks.

But before Naoya could do anything else, the lights began to flicker. Immediately afterwards, the entire classroom was rocked by a violent tremor, causing nearby objects to topple over.

"An earthquake?" Nanjo's voice cried out over the din.

The ceiling began crackling with bright blue electricity. The lights flickered even more rapidly than before, followed by a brilliant flash of light, prompting Naoya to shield his eyes. Then suddenly, they heard a terrific bang, as if a gun had just been fired.

"Eek! What the hell is this!?" Yuka shrieked in fright, ducking her head down as several bolts of lightning appeared.

"Holy shit!" Mark stumbled backwards, narrowly dodging a bolt of lightning that struck the spot where he had just stood on. But Yukino was not as lucky. One of the lightning bolts struck the back of her head, and she collapsed.

"Yukino!" Nanjo cried out. He attempted to rush to her unconscious form, but he was immediately hit by another bolt and his body helplessly tumbled to the floor.

Mark too was soon struck down seconds later. But before Naoya could even react, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, causing him to let out a cry of pain. In an instant, he felt his body lose all his strength to even stand, and he fell.

"Naoya-kun? Naoya-kun!" Naoya could hear a voice calling out to him. He wasn't sure who it was though. It sounded like one of the girls. Yuka? Elly? He wasn't sure. But it didn't matter, for the voice soon faded away and the darkness took over.

~.~

Naoya felt as if he was falling for an eternity like one of those dreams he would see on TV. The person would keep falling, flailing helplessly as they spiralled down the abyss, with no hope of reaching the bottom.

He was falling through a vortex of staircases. But what was most peculiar was a butterfly before him, as gold as the sun, shimmering in the darkness.

And suddenly, there was a flash that engulfed him, pure and bright as the light of the sun itself.

Naoya was on the ground, lying on his back a black and white tiled floor.

On instinct, he immediately stumbled back up to his feet. He expected to be nothing more than a stain on the ground given how long he had been falling.

He regained his balance and breathed, slowly taking in his surroundings. He was in a blue void, as vast and empty as the depths of space. He stood on what seemed to be a platform, with six towering pillars made of gold that encircled him.

And there he saw, right in front of him, a tall lone figure. A man. When did he…! Naoya thought. He swore the man wasn't there a split second ago.

The mysterious man was dressed in an elegant white suit, with a black shirt and tie underneath. His dark hair was tied up in a loose ponytail that was flowed freely in the air. But the most peculiar feature was the mask that completely obscured his face. As white as his suit, it had an intricate pattern of a butterfly, decorating the right side of the mask. The man had no pupils, leaving two white voids behind the mask's eyeholes.

The man gave a crisp bow before speaking. "Welcome. It is a pleasure to meet you." His voice was deep timbre, yet at the same time there was a soothing feeling to it. "I am Philemon: a dweller in the rift between consciousness and unconsciousness of all souls. And now… a simple test: can you state your name?"

"My…name?" Naoya murmured. He rubbed at his eyes, hoping that this was just a dream. But he gave his answer, nonetheless. "Naoya… Naoya Todou."

Even though Naoya couldn't see his face through the mask, the man... Philemon seemed satisfied with his answer, for he immediately nodded his head. "Splendid," he said, "there aren't many who can remember their identity when in this domain. It seems you passed that test."

Test…? For what?

But before Naoya could say a word, Philemon spoke once more, pointing at him. "But tell me this. Are you aware of the many varied souls that you harbour within you?"

What? Souls? Naoya thought. What the hell was he talking about?

"The self infused with divine love. The self capable of demonic cruelty." He then pointed to the mask that he wore. "People live by wearing different masks. Your current self may be one among those innumerable masks."

"You, though, have a very firm grip on your identity." Philemon raised a hand and with a flick of his wrist, something glowing appeared in the palm of his hand. It was a strange blue humanoid figure, huddled over like a baby in suspension.

Naoya could barely breathe and involuntarily took a step back. He could feel a resonance with the strange figure as if there was a connection between them.

"I respect your strong will. And in return, I grant you this power: Persona. It is the power to summon the selves within you. The gods and demons you harbour."

Naoya shook his head, trying his best to rearrange his thoughts to accommodate everything that Philemon had just said. Consciousness and unconsciousness, Personas, gods and demons… It was all too much.

Philemon flicked his wrist again, and the figure dissipated into golden light. "There will come a time where you will need this power. But now, you must return, to your proper time and place."

"Wait!" Naoya managed to cry out. "What are you talking about? I don't understand!"

Naoya only blinked for an instant, and saw Philemon standing up close, just a few inches away from him. But before Naoya could say anything, Philemon gave him a gentle push. And suddenly, Naoya felt himself being flung by a great force, like a kite caught in a hurricane. His body careened over the edge of the platform, and he was plummeting into endless blue void below. Naoya tried to scream out, but nothing came out from the back of his throat. He desperately flailed his arms, but there was nothing to grab on to.

As the darkness enveloped him once more, the last thing he remembered was Philemon's voice calling out to him.

"I am thou. Thou art I… I will always be watching you."

AN: I apologise for making those who have read my previous version of the Persona 1 novelisation wait for so long, only to be sidelined by a rewrite. But over the past few months, I have been busy with my school work which left me with little time, and now I am having my first internship over the summer holidays. As I looked back on my story, I felt extremely unsatisfied with what I have written and I felt it could have been a lot better. So I decided to start with a clean slate, with some major writing changes here and there. I've already rewritten the chapters that I've done so far, and I'll do some proofreading and they'll be up ASAP.

Anyways, please feel free to give your feedback and do help spread the love for Persona 1. And take care of your health, especially in these times. Social distancing in my country has been tightened to only groups of two, though it doesn't really bother someone who rarely goes out anyway. And I once again apologise for making those who have read my original story wait.