Prologue

A Blind Idiot Councillor

The stinging pain of fist meeting flesh served as the best sort of communication between the two men wailing on one another. It served to be Maruki's only choice to repent for what he had done, for what he has become.

Ren didn't hold back a single swing as he gave Maruki an upper that stumbled him back a couple of steps. Maruki gritted his teeth in rage as he recalled all his choices leading up to this moment. It all came crashing down on him, flashing in his mind over and over again like a broken record.

His goals, ambitions, and ideals, all of them were crumbling before his eyes as he weakly muttered out, "A reality...where no one suffers...!" Maruki wound up a fist as he struck Ren with a vicious backhand across his face.

The hit sent the teenager back a few steps, but he alone kept a gaze of sheer determination as he challenged Maruki's resolve once more. Maruki looked on with sorrow at the resolute will Ren held firmly toward him. One last strike came from the boy as he readied his fist to deliver a devastating blow to a man in need of a wake-up for everything.

Maruki closed his eyes and took in the full force of the punch. It left him spinning around wildly, barely able to keep himself steady as to not fall down onto the ground.

Seconds passed as Maruki stayed hunch over, reliving his life one last time as the toll on his body and mind had finally caught up to him. He straightened up only a little, staring into the pure and righteous eyes of the one person he felt a true connection with within a long time, a person whose resolve was greater than his own.

A scream of anguish and sorrow came from the man as he cried out for himself to hear the sound of a failed savior. His lungs burned as he finished his cry, choking up as he let himself breathe once more.

Maruki fell down slowly as he laid sprawled out on the cool surface of the glass-like platform he and Ren stood on for their true final battle against each other. The game where Ren had finally cemented his checkmate on Maruki.

The failed savior looked onto the small snow petals the floated down gently across the crumbling palace of his. Maruki reached out with one hand outstretched to the night sky, grasping for his fleeting resolve to keep on fighting. He soon turned his hand around to see one lone snowflake stained on his glove. He admired the pure and innocent snow, admired how beautiful it was. It soon melted and disappeared from him forever, and with was Maruki's own will to keep going.

Maruki let his arm go limp as it fell hard beside his defeated form. He then uttered his final words for the rebellious teen that stood only meters away from him.

"I'm done. I get it now...all thanks to you." There was no shame in his voice, no malice at all. Maruki's acceptance was more of an apology to the young man and his friends. What he did to them and what he would've done made were made evident to him at that moment. He was sorry. Truly sorry.

The glass-like floor beneath Maruki started to crack and break as the man laid there still. Slowly he closed his eyes as he was ready to accept the liberating feeling of falling down, which would soon grant him the sweet release of death.

The glass broke, and Maruki soon followed with it. He could hear the quick footsteps of the boy he confided so much with. The person that he wanted so badly to see the world as he did. To accept his ideal world for the betterment of all of humanity.

Maruki opened his eyes to see Ren reaching out for him, and for a moment, he almost reached back to it.

But fate seemed to dictate that his life was for forfeit, as Ren barely missed catching the man as he fell further down a seemingly bottomless pit of darkness.

Maruki admired the shine in Ren's eyes as he stared in shock at his retreating form into the abyss.

"I'm sorry, Rumi...I'm sorry...Ren..." Maruki whispered one last time to himself as his vision soon turned black.

There was nothing—just darkness that surrounded Maruki and a couple of odd voices that accompanied it.

"My...what power this man holds! I can't fathom that he was a persona user with all that potential within him." A nasal voice could be heard for Maruki, as his consciousness was flowing through what felt like a sea. He wasn't sure whether he was dead or was in the process of becoming dead. Either way, Maruki had no voice, no body, or anything tangible to the physical realm. All he was left with was his mind and consciousness, and even then, he could feel them slowly being dispersed into the sea.

"To think a human could access a being of that magnitude, let alone to have been a part of him. Quite a waste of such power." The nasal voice from before continued as Maruki paid attention to it to the best of his ability. "What say you master?" The voice paused as another voice spoke up to respond, this one much more human, one that sounded like Maruki himself.

"It is odd for him to obtain a creature like that as a persona. But to say his potential went to waste would be an understatement. He could have served his kind well and propelled them to prosperity much faster than I expected. But that is too late now." The second finished as Maruki felt two pairs of eyes on him.

It became harder and harder to pay attention to the feeling as his consciousness felt like it reached a breaking point of being completely dispersed into the sea.

"Then should we interfere then? It wouldn't be too hard now that the velvet room is under our control again." The nasal voice asked the other as a long pause came before the other voice responded.

"No, I don't believe that to be a wise idea. If he could already do as much as actualize reality to his will, who knows what he could do if he were to nurture and grow that power. No one could oppose him if he reached that level of proficiency with his persona. The fact that his soul hasn't been consumed to the sea is proof enough that his persona is still playing a part in his consciousness to prevent him from merging with the sea of souls." The voice's stare grew more intense as Maruki's mind was almost at its limit with holding himself together.

"I see. Then what shall we do?"

"Simple, we leave him be. His persona might be powerful, but he is still human. He'll eventually succumb to the sea and find peace in his true death. This man... he's suffered enough in his life. He should get the rest and truly deserves." And with that, the stares and the voices went away as Maruki clung on with his last bit of willpower to not be consumed by the sea.

Before Maruki gave in and merged with the sea, another pair of eyes laid upon him as he was soon picked up and dragged out of the sea. The presence held a mischievous and sinister aura to it. It also felt...familial.

Maruki opened his eyes to darkness as he stood in what he assumed to be another void of darkness that he was left in. Maruki looked down at his hands as he was once again in his body. His palace attire was intact, looking to be exactly as it was before he fell to his death.

"What's happening?" Maruki questioned as his mind was hazy and felt lighter than ever before. Maruki felt as if he wasn't even in a body anymore. He still felt like he was drifting aimlessly across a sea.

Maruki didn't have much time to collect his thought as a laugh came and echoed around the void.

"Me saving your ass, that's what's happening." A disembodied voice that sounded much like Maruki answered. Maruki looked around in confusion as he searched for a source for the imitator.

"Who goes there? What do you want?" Maruki asked. The voice laughed harder as a black twister spun and created a Maruki look-alike right in front of the man himself. The only difference between the two men was that the new Maruki adorned his palace attire in all black instead of the usual white the original Maruki wore.

"Not my best look, but it looks a hell of a lot better than that blinding white you're parading around in." The new Maruki had a slight distortion to his own voice as he stretched out his neck and twist and turn his body to get a feel for it.

"Pretty average for a human. Nothing spectacular, really. Well, besides one thing..." The imposter Maruki then summoned Maruki's mask of his rebellion in midair before dispersing it into blue flames to unveil Maruki's persona, Azathoth.

"Long time no see old-man." The black-clad Maruki smirked as the golden cross of a persona sent out tentacles to wrap around and start strangling the fake Maruki.

"Azathoth! What are you doing!?" The original Maruki yelled out to Azathoth. The persona didn't respond; it quickly snapped the fake Maruki's neck as it let go to let the body fall down limp onto the void's floor.

"C'mon, oldie, you shouldn't be treating your son like that." The voice laughed as the body of the fake Maruki got sucked into another twister. The twister spun and spun before calming down to reveal the fake Maruki completely recovering and standing perfectly fine from the gruesome death.

"We can do this all day, gramps, but then nothing of value would be achieved." The fake Maruki said while shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders while putting his hands up.

Azathoth however was already gearing up for another attack. That is until the original Maruki stepped in before he could do anything drastic again.

"Azathoth! Return to me at once!" The command Maruki yelled out soon took action as Azathoth turned into a bright blue and transformed back into Maruki's mask, disappearing just as fast as it appeared the first time.

The other Maruki started clapping as he nodded his head in approval. "Good job there, mortal. Grandpa was really living up to his name for a second there. He shoulda stayed asleep." The fake Maruki then grabbed his neck and started rolling his head, "Any more of that, and we would be stuck here forever."

The original Maruki stared daggers into the fake as he spoke out to the imposter, "I don't know who you are or how you're 'saving' me, but you better start explaining yourself before I resort to force again."

The fake Maruki sighed as he put a hand on his face while shaking his head. "Humans are so damn inquisitive it actually hurts. I don't see what old Philly see in you mortals." The fake then put a hand into his pocket and spoke once more, "Well, if you must know, I'm doing us all a favor and getting rid of you and grandpa from this universe." Maruki tensed up at the response as he readied himself for a battle to break out for the two.

"But I must say, the way you took control of the throne of mementos after yaldy got destroyed was seriously entertaining to watch. But the way you used the power to create your 'ideal reality' was disgusting, absolutely horrid. This is why you humans are so worthless, can't even play god right." The fake Maruki started making his way over to the real Maruki.

Maruki summoned his mask, ready to use Azathoth, but the fake interjected before he could act.

"I'd like to explain some things before you go all trigger happy with the old man." The fake started as he stopped his advances toward Maruki, "First of all, you will lose. The old man may be stronger than me, but you have nowhere near his full strength to take me on for a long period of time. Second, what exactly will you get if you fight me? Just a moment ago, you were dying before I dragged your ass out of the sea of souls where Philly left you to die. If anything, me sending you to a different universe is an act of mercy." Maruki only continued his glare at the fake as questions soon started to pour into his mind.

"Answer some of my inquiries, and we'll see just how smoothly this will work out," Maruki stated as the fake shrugged his arms and sighed with impatience.

"Get it over with then. It'll make this process hell of a lot easier on me."

"Alright then. First question, why do you want us gone so badly."

The fake Maruki gave a sinister grin as he soon answered, "because you two would jack up my plans for the future with that old bastard awake now. Let's just say Azathoth being awake doesn't spell good news for the future of this universe." Maruki hated the vague and short answer but decided to leave it at that.

"The second question, why not let me die? I'm sure with me gone, then my persona would be too."

The fake Maruki laughed a bit before answering. "That's the exact reason you can't be here. Your persona won't allow it. Azathoth isn't going to let you die, you two are way more connected with one another than you realize, and he's way more powerful than you can probably comprehend. You'll drift in the sea, but eventually, you'll come out just like you are now, and that is a wrench I don't want to be lodged in my plans. As long as he's awake, nothing is safe in this universe." Maruki was again stumped with how to feel about the answer. He felt no true progress being made here. But he had to keep prying while he still had the chance.

"You've been saying that my persona is 'awake' now. What does that specifically mean?"

"Well, it means he just woke up, and a being like him waking up leads to a particular event I'm trying to avoid happening. I'm talking about making your actualization look like a parlor trick compared to what he would do, and this time, you won't be able to have free reign over it. Sending you two to a different universe would guarantee him to fall back to sleep, which is the state he should always be in." The fake then gave a crooked smile, "You see, I'm just looking out for what's best for this universe. Think about. Don't you want to restart? A do-over in life in another world? Repent for your sins and all that jargon?" Maruki hated how good this being was in tempting him. He knew very well that the being had some ulterior motive that he couldn't piece together, no matter how many questions he asked.

Maruki took a deep breath as he asked his last question.

"Me going to that other universe, what would it entail?"

The devil horns Maruki could visualize on the fake grew as his smile grew more wicked with each passing moment, "as I said, it's a do-over. You'll keep all your memories and go on to try again. This universe will be safe from you two, so will the other, with Azathoth resting after the move. There's nothing to be afraid of." The blatant lie was irritating, but Maruki felt as if there really was no other choice.

A do-over. It was probably the best thing Maruki could ask for from the entity before him.

"If what you say is accurate...then I accept your offer." The other Maruki's smile couldn't grow any wider as he reached out his hand for a handshake.

"Then let's make it a deal then, shall we?" Maruki looked at the hand of the being and knew the deal he was about to make with what he felt was the devil himself. But this was what needed to make amends. This was Maruki's second chance to make things right for himself.

Maruki reached out and firmly grasped and shook the hand of the being.

"It's a deal then." The fake Maruki vanished as the void soon had a bright light starting to engulf him once more in the infinite darkness.

Maruki was ready to start over. Ready to help anyone he came across that needed saving.

Maruki was ready to face reality once more.