Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Journey

Date: Saturday 9/4/20XX

Time: Afternoon

Location: Shibuya Station Transit

POV: Evan Arisato

"Gah!" I jumped up, opening my eyes to the rest of the world around me.

Still startled, I accidentally tripped, my body making a slam against the cold metal floor.

"Hey, kid! You okay?" A guy said as he helped me up.

"Yeah, I'm good thanks," I muttered, sitting down in a seat. Placing a hand against my forehead, I waited until my vision cleared to take a good look around me. I appeared to be sitting on a seat within a subway train, containing so many people that I couldn't be bothered to count them all.

An electronic voice filled the cabin, coming from a loudspeaker just at the end of it. "The next stop is Shibuya Station. This is Shibuya."

"Shibuya..." I quickly glanced around, realising that I was sitting next to a window. Outside, tall skyscrapers towered over the rest of the city, with large signs passing by as the train continued moving.

I slumped against the seat, wondering what the heck had just happened. What were those voices? I felt like I had recognised it before, but yet...

"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?" I turned my head towards the voice, which was coming from two girls. They were having a conversation. "It's the truth!" "To a person, though?" The other girl replied. "That's gotta be a joke. You really love all that occult stuff, don't you?"

Mental shutdowns? I wondered. Since when did that happen? Then again, I never really paid attention to the news back home...Oh, shoot!

Suddenly, before it could take hold again, I pushed them down, fast. I sighed in relief for a few seconds. I don't need to know what happened back there, I thought, whatever happened in Iwatodai stays in Iwatodai. I have to stop focusing on the past and look to the future. Besides...my station's here.

Slowly, the train doors opened as I walked out with the rest of the crowd. I dragged the rest of my luggage behind me, which was just a simple black backpack and a large blue roller bag. Speaking of which...

I then stopped next to the stairs that would lead out into the crossing. Reaching into my backpack, I pulled out a small, battered yet perfectly functional silver MP3 player, with the earphones still plugged in. It had belonged to my deceased father. My mum had gifted it to me before I left, along with a small box that she had requested for me to give to my aunt. That box was still in my roller bag, unopened. I definitely wasn't going to break their trust by taking a peek inside.

Anyway, I turned it on, opening up my dad's old playlist. I'd actually found out over the years that between me and my father, we had a lot in common. Other than the fact that we looked exactly the same, except for me having my mum's eyes, we both had pretty good taste in music.

It was just too bad that I had never known him.

Sighing, I placed the earphones in my ears. Dealer's choice today, I guess. I thought, hitting the random button.

A song then began to play. Burn My Dread. Not bad.

As the lyrics started, I headed up the stairs, exiting out into Shibuya Crossing.

Dreamless dorm, ticking clock

I walk away from the soundless room

I pulled out my phone from my pocket so that I could locate where I was supposed to stay for the rest of the year.

Windless night moonlight melts

My ghostly shadow to the lukewarm gloom

"Huh?" I whispered. There was another app on my phone. I never remembered downloading it before. It was red, with a black, creepy-looking eyeball symbol on it.

Nightly dance of bleeding swords

Reminds me that I still live

Deciding to delete it later, I opened the navigation app, only to find that the same symbol had shown up on the map, expanding to fit the screen. "What is this?"

I will burn my dread

I once ran away from the god of fear

And he chained me to despair

Tapping on the icon, I tried closing the app and reopening it to get rid of it. It was still there.

Burn my dread

I will break the chain

And run till I see the sunlight again

I tapped it one more time.

I'll lift my face and run to the sunli-

Wait, what? Why did the music stop? And why did everyone stop talking?

I looked up to find that it wasn't only the song. Everyone else that I could see had stopped in their tracks, almost as if they were frozen in time.

I was the only one who was still moving. "How?" I said out aloud.

That's when I spotted someone. A flash of movement originating from my left. It was a guy about the same height as me, although he appeared to be a year older. He was wearing a black and red school uniform, with unkempt raven-black hair, grey eyes, and a pair of glasses on his face. He looked confused.

I was about to walk over to him and ask what was going on when he burst into blue flames. I was about to yell for help when the flames took the shape of a top-hatted humanoid with wings. It smiled at me before vanishing and took the guy with it. I then noticed something else from the corner of my eye.

Turning to face the front again, I recoiled in shock when I realised that the sky had turned green. The moon was full. Every single person in the vicinity had turned into a coffin. And there were puddles of what seemed to be blood. Did I mention the blood?

"What the heck is going on?" I yelled aloud as I looked around frantically. I quickly checked my phone. The strange app was still on my screen, only that it had turned green instead of red, and it seemed to be glitching a lot. The guy I spotted earlier was nowhere to be seen.

"So, we finally meet again. I've been waiting for a while." I turned slowly on the spot, to find behind me what appeared to be a young boy. He had black hair and blue eyes and wore black and white pajamas that reminded me of prison uniforms.

"Who are you?" I asked cautiously. "And are you the one causing all of this?" I gestured towards the green sky, the coffins, and the puddles of blood.

"Oh don't worry. What you are seeing now is merely a vision of the past. This hour of time no longer exists within the world. The Fall has already been postponed. However..." He paused. "This could all return if he continues to rule over humanity's hope and the distortion of the masses continue to remain. I think we do not have as much time as we thought."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still paralysed over the fact of this being only a vision. It seemed so real. And horrifying. But I kept my cool.

"You must continue this game, my friend. Even though he has rigged the game in his favour, I am sure that you will still be able to triumph with the rest of your friends. It has only just begun."

"Friends?" I scowled, putting my hands in my pockets. "I don't even have any. What are you even talking about? Who are you?"

"Of course not. However, I do know that you will be able to make some along the way. We all believe in you and the Trickster. We believe that you can prevent this tragedy from unfolding again." The boy then pulled out a clipboard from what appeared to be thin air. "Please, sign this?"

Gingerly, I took it from him, finding it on the clipboard to be a piece of paper. From the look of it, it was a contract. I was just about to read the text when the boy said, "Oh, there's no need to look over it. All you need to know is that you have to accept full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff."

"O...kay...But I don't have a pen."

"No problem." He responded. Waving his hand, a feather quill appeared in his hand, already dripping with ink.

He handed it to me, and I took it nervously. Taking a deep breath, I signed my full name on the dotted line.

I gave it back to the boy, who smiled when he took it back. "No one can escape time," he then began to say creepily. "It all leads to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes. And so..." The entire world started to fade around me, as well as him. "It begins."

A flash of light then obscured my sight. When I opened my eyes again...he was gone. The world had returned to normal. Everyone had started moving again, and my music was playing.

"Huh...well that was weird." Going back to the home screen on my phone, I located the weird app. "I better delete this." Moving the app to the bin, it disappeared without a trace.

Once again, I opened the navigation app, typing in the address of my uncle and aunt's apartment. The location then popped up, revealing that they were living somewhere near Central Street.

Taking a hold of my luggage, I ran into the Crossing, hoping that my life wasn't going to be too crazy.

Date: Saturday 9/4/20XX

Time: Afternoon

Location: Yongen-Jaya

POV: Akira Kurusu

Despite what had happened, I made it to the residential district with no problems.

Although it wasn't every day you got a weird eyeball-symbolled app that made the world freeze and makes you see a giant blue flame in the shape of a top-hatted humanoid with wings, that also turns out to have your face with glowing, yellow eyes.

And there was that other kid...the one with the blue hair. Unlike everyone else, he was still moving like I was. His eyes were also glowing yellow, and there was a humongous, winged shadow looming over him.

Why did he look like that?

Well, now wasn't the time for that. I strolled through the streets, trying to find my new caretaker's house.

"Sojiro Sakura...Sakura, Sakura," I muttered as I checked the houses.

Eventually, I found the right house. It was moderately sized, not too big, but not too small either. Pressing the doorbell, I waited for a few seconds.

No one responded.

I guess no one's home. "Looks like no one's home."

I turned to find a delivery man checking a list on a clipboard. "Oh, yeah...Sakura-san's usually at his cafe around this time. Well, Leblanc's in the back alley, so I should make my other deliveries first..."

A cafe called Leblanc, huh? I thought. Interesting. I better go check it out.

I quickly backtracked, coming across a back alley that I had spotted earlier. Walking down the alley, I then found a sign above a door with red lights. The red and white sign read, Coffee & Curry: Leblanc.

Yep, this was the place, all right.

I slowly opened the door, walking in as the scent of freshly ground coffee hit my nostrils. It smelled alright, really. The cafe was a small, yet moderately-sized room, with a few booths with tables built into the left wall. To the right was a wooden counter/bar in front of a large shelf filled with different types of ingredients. A coffee siphon, cash register, and a stack of books had been placed on the counter, currently unused. The smell appeared to be coming from a second, smaller room that I assumed to be the kitchen. An old couple was also sitting in one of the booths. A middle-aged man with glasses and a goatee, wearing an apron, pink shirt, beige trousers, and white shoes was doing a crossword while sitting on one of the seats at the counter.

A TV was blaring nearby, giving a news bulletin. "A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in it! The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up."

"How frightening." The elderly man remarked. "What could be going on?" His wife asked. "Didn't something similar happen the other day?"

"And down is...the name of a shellfish used in pearl farming..." the man muttered. He looked up, noticing that I was there, standing up to face me. "Oh, right...they did say that was today."

The old couple then got up to leave. "We'll be going now. The payment's on the table." "Thanks for coming." The man responded, who I now guessed was the cafe owner. "This place is in the back alley," The old man said, "so there's no worries of a car crashing in here."

"A what now?"

"There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope that none happens around here."

"It's none of my concern."

"Haha, we'll see you next time." The couple left the cafe, leaving only me and the owner.

Sighing, he muttered, "...Four hours just for a single cup of joe. So, you're Akira?"

"Yes, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you." It's a new place, so I might as well start being polite.

"...Uh-huh. I'm Sojiro Sakura. You'll be in my custody over the next year. I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you're the one, huh? Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other and, well, not that that matters. Follow me."

Walking up a small stairwell from the very back of the cafe, we emerged into a dusty, spacious attic, cluttered with various items such as coffee bean bags, ladders, books, cardboard boxes, and a tall potted plant in the corner. Looks like this is a storage room, I thought.

"This is your room," he said. "I'll at least give you sheets for your bed. You look like you wanna say something."

"It's...uh," I muttered. "How should I put this...cluttered?"

"It's on you to clean up the rest."

I sighed. "Alright."

"I'll be leaving after I lock up each day," he explained. "You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble. Now then...I got the gist of your situation. You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't just walk on by. She needed my help."

"That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?" he asked.

"Not that I meant to. He did it to himself." I said almost angrily, catching myself.

"...And now you got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."

I'd never really liked my parents, to be honest. They didn't care for me that often, so they mostly ignored me, forcing me to look out for myself.

"It's best you don't talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know. Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted."

"A whole year..."

"Anyway, we'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."

"Shujin? Is that my new school?"

"Correct. Shujin Academy, to be precise. We'll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know. What a waste of my Sunday..." He glanced towards the large cardboard box in the center of the room. "Your "luggage" arrived a little while ago. I brought it up here for you."

Before I could say anything else, he went back downstairs.

Approaching the box, I got changed into a more comfortable outfit; a black jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans. Then I grabbed the nearest cleaning materials from the bathroom downstairs and got to work.

It took a while, eventually becoming nighttime by the time I finished, but I had at least made the room liveable. I'd cleaned up all the dust and spider webs, rearranged the shelves, placed all the junk elsewhere (somehow finding a magazine in the process), and even gave a bit of water to the pot plant.

The room looked quite nice, actually. There was a desk which I had cleaned off, two shelves (one of which now had my cardboard box in it), a small sofa, a small table, a large table and a bed that I now saw was made of milk crates and a bunch of blankets.

Sojiro then chose that moment to come up. "What the heck?" he said as he scanned the room. "I heard you making all sorts of noise up here but I didn't think you were cleaning. Actually, the place doesn't look half bad. Though it's only natural you'd want to keep your room tidy. I'm going to close up shop for now. Don't stay up too late." "Okay," I said. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"Eh, alright." He left the room again.

I decided to go to bed early. I was really tired after all the cleaning, so I quickly changed and crashed onto the bed. Resolving to read the magazine I found some other time, I left it on one of the shelves as I pulled out my phone from my pocket.

Arrest... Trial... Criminal Record... I wondered as I thought back to the "crime" that had landed me in this mess.

"Damn brat! I'll sue!"The man's words reverberated through my head, the emotion of shock still coursing through me as I saw myself being hauled into the cop car.

Still, I couldn't just let that go...

Flashback

Time: Night

Location: Akira's Hometown

That day...I ended up going home late.

I had just finished up work at the local department store. Life was ordinary at the moment. Little did I know, this was the night where I would soon lose everything.

I was running down the street, hoping to make it back to the house in time, when I heard a voice.

"Just get in the car!" A gruff, cruel voice snarled. I stopped in my tracks. What was that? Turning to the left, I could hear a man and a woman arguing in the distance.

I think they're up ahead, I had thought. Making a detour, I ran over to the source of the noise, which was coming from a nearby street. A bald man in a business suit was trying to force a black-haired woman into his car.

"No!" the woman cried out, desperately struggling against his grip. "Don't give me that s**t." the man growled. By the sound of it, he was definitely drunk and clearly bothering her.

"Ow! P-Please, stop!" she stuttered. She's in danger. I thought. I can't ignore this. I have to help her! "Tch...what a waste of time. You think you're worth causing me trouble? Huh?" he muttered as I approached.

"I-I'll call the police!"

"Heh, call them if you want! The police are my b***hes. They're not gonna take you seriously."

"No...Stop!"

Disgusting, I thought as police sirens began to echo in the distance. "Someone called the cops, huh? Get in the car!" He shouted, the woman still trying to break away from him. "Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country!"

"Hey, that's enough! Let her go!" I yelled as I rushed onto the scene.

"...What're you looking at?" he said as he noticed me. "Get out of my face! This ain't a show. Get lost, kid."

Turning to face me, he yelled back at the woman, "See? This is because you're so damn slow! Get in the car!"

Flashback end

I didn't have the energy to remember the rest.

"Did I really make the right choice?" I questioned aloud.

My phone started vibrating. Pulling it out, I found that the strange app was back.

Hm, it's that weird app that somehow ended up on my phone...I thought I deleted it, I wondered. I put it back in the bin, once again disappearing from my sight.

Closing my eyes, I began to wonder what had happened today. What was that being? What was that app? And who was that guy? Would I see them all again?

All these questions began to plague me as I lost myself in sleep.

Time: Night

Location: Sanada Apartment

POV: Evan Arisato

Well, this is the place. I thought as I paced outside the door to my uncle and aunt's apartment anxiously. It's nearly time for us to meet up.

Since we weren't going to meet until later in the evening, I had some time to kill in the afternoon. I got some lunch at Big Bang Burger (they had this eating challenge that I decided to try some other time), browsed the music stores (I got a cool-looking pair of headphones), and played DDR in an arcade against this blond guy (he seemed to be an okay person, although everyone was whispering about him being a delinquent). It was actually fun. A much more entertaining place than my hometown. Sure, Iwatodai was big, but it never had that much stuff to do, and it got boring eventually.

Anyway, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" I heard a feminine voice yell. Suddenly, I heard barks from the inside, complete with scratching noises on the door.

The door then swung open, and a giant, warm, grey, and white blur collided with me. "Whoa!" I exclaimed as we fell to the floor. "Ow..." Yipping with delight, the large albino Shiba Inu started licking my face.

"Hahahaha! Come on, Koromaru, stop it! Alright, alright, I missed you too, boy." I laughed as I patted his back.

The owner of the feminine voice snickered as she helped me to my feet. "Looks like Koromaru missed you a lot! It's been so long since you saw each other, after all!" she proclaimed.

"Aunt Minako, it's so good to see you again," I said as she tackled me in a hug. My dad's sister, Minako Sanada-Arisato, is a very positive and upbeat person. She could just make everyone feel happy just by walking into the room. She always looked out for others whenever she could and was also very emotional. She had auburn hair in a high ponytail, and striking red eyes. In fact, her personality and looks were almost the complete opposite of my father's. She was now currently wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans, as well as brown shoes.

"Look at you! You're taller than me now! Ah, you've grown so much!" she exclaimed as I returned the hug. "Come inside, we'll show you where you're staying!"

"Arf!" Koromaru barked as he followed us inside. I took a moment to scan the interior of the room. The main room of the apartment was large and spacious, with a small kitchen on the left wall, a living room on the right side, and a hall leading towards a tall window that overlooked the city. The corridor had doors within its walls that connected to the rooms. The apartment had an almost jazz club/retro diner/library look to it.

My eyes then landed on the coffee table in front of the TV was littered with paperwork. Right next to all the paperwork were several empty mugs, all with the strong scent of coffee. I glanced at my aunt, realising now that there were small shadows under her eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked, concerned. "Never been better!" she replied, cheerfully. "I'm just a little tired because I'm actually about to start my new job tomorrow. I only just completed the registration today. Anyway, how's your mum doing?"

"She's doing okay. Oh! Before I forget..." I reached into my backpack and pulled out the box. "She wanted me to give this to you."

"Aw, thank you. I'll be sure to call her later to say thanks. Wait...is this?" She murmured, curiously. Before she could open the box, the door opened again. "I'm back!"

Koromaru ran to the door, sitting in front of the man who had just entered the apartment, a tall, muscular silver-haired guy with grey eyes, wearing a black uniform from the Tokyo Police Department. "Evan! So glad to see you're finally here!" He said warmly as he gave me a fistbump. "Right back at ya, Uncle Akihiko."

Her husband, Akihiko Sanada, was also a very kind and determined person. He always looked out for everyone and was basically a father figure whenever someone needed one. It's honestly no wonder my aunt took a liking to him.

"Welcome back!" she said happily as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "How did work go today?" "Eh, nothing too interesting happened," he replied. "It's just that they assigned me on the mental shutdown cases."

"The mental shutdowns?" I muttered. "Oh yeah, I heard some people talk about it today. What's actually happening around here?"

"Hey, don't worry. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. You hungry?"

"Nah, I'm good."

The two of them lead me to a door. "This is your room," Minako explained. "I hope you like it! If you need anything, just come see us."

"Here's the keys." Akihiko tossed me a set, which I swiped out of the air. "There's no particular curfew for you, but we do expect you to be home in the evenings eventually and to call us if there's anything wrong. As for school, your aunt and I will be taking you to Shujin Academy early tomorrow to get you registered for the first semester and onwards. Any more questions?"

"Nothing comes to mind," I said. "Cool. We'll leave you to unpack." He smiled at me warmly before both of them left me at the door to my new room.

The room itself was large, but not too big. I liked it a lot. Unpacking my things took a bit of time, but I was able to put everything in the right place.

After I finished, I felt a bit too tired to do anything else, so I changed quickly and flopped onto the bed. My gaze then fell on one of my prized possessions, which was now sitting on my desk: A Jack Frost doll. Sure, people might say that I was too old to have these kinds of things, but I found that this little guy had a certain charm to him. There was also the fact that it used to belong to my mother, which before that, belonged to my father.

I stared up at the ceiling, sighing as I thought back to my father.

He was about 16 when he passed away. I never found out the truth about his death, even when I bombarded my mum, his sister, and the rest of his friends with as many questions as possible. They always said, "we'll tell you when you're older." Now I was 15 years old, nearing the age when he had disappeared, and I still had no information. I felt bad about asking though. It must have been painful for them, seeing their beloved friend die before them and then being interrogated about his entire life by his ten-year-old clone. But like the troopers they were, they answered them to the best of their ability.

His full name was Minato Arisato. His own parents had died in a car crash. He had impacted the lives of many people within the vicinity of Iwatodai, my hometown, all of who had come to call themselves his friends. He was a kind, friendly and honourable person who always put the safety of his friends before his own, despite appearing to be cold and distant when they all first met him. We both also had very big appetites. I kinda doubted that fact, to be honest.

I closed my eyes, allowing the darkness to envelop me.

Time: ?

Location: ?

Huh?

Where am I?

I found myself standing on the roof of a tall building.

Frantically, I glanced around. The world was in the same state as I had seen in my vision. Green sky, full moon, blood puddles. And as I looked below, coffins were dotted everywhere among the streets.

I couldn't believe my eyes. What was going on? Hold on...I recognised the layout of this city.

"Oh, no. No no no!" I was back in Iwatodai. Why was I here? Of all the locations for my dream to take place!

Now that I thought about it, this wasn't a dream. It was more like a nightmare.

Luckily, I wasn't alone. There were two girls with me on the roof. One of them seemed like a younger version of aunt Minako. She looked about my age, in a school uniform that I identified as the girl version of the Gekkoukan High uniform, which was a white collared shirt with a red ribbon, black blazer, black skirt, and brown shoes, as well as white stockings.

As for the other girl, who was hyperventilating, she wore the same uniform, but with a few changes. Her blazer had been replaced with a pink sweater jacket, and her stockings were black. There was also a white heart-shaped choker around her neck, and her hair was light brown. She then looked up at me, and what I saw took my breath away. Her eyes...they were a soft brown. Just like mine. There was no doubt about it. She may look younger, but there was no mistake. That girl was my-

"What?" She exclaimed, her head turning towards the edge of the rooftop.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a black hand latched onto the side of the roof. Then another. And another. Many of the same hands followed, all of them taking hold of the rooftop. Before one more hand surfaced. This one, however, was holding a blue face-covering mask. The hand maneuvered the mask around until it appeared to spot us. More hands then shot up, each of them holding gigantic needles as the rest of them hauled the body up onto the roof.

"Oh my." I heard Minako gasp. The creature was comprised of only hands and arms. And nothing else. It charged towards us, its needles glinting silver in the moonlight.

"Those monsters..." the other girl said, "We call them Shadows!"

The Shadow began to get closer and closer...

"No!"

I sat up in bed, panting as I realised I was back in the apartment.

It was just a nightmare.

"A very realistic nightmare, though," I murmured as I collapsed back in bed. "Wonder what that was all about..."

Time: ?

Location: ?

POV: Akira Kurusu

I awoke to the sound of rattling chains and piano music.

Gasping, my eyes flew open as I sat up.

"What the...where am I?" I whispered under my breath as I looked around.

I was currently in a locked jail cell, containing nothing but a prison bed and a toilet in the corners. Looking down, I found myself wearing a black and white prison uniform, as well as chains covering my wrists and ankles, which were attached to the wall. I could still move around, but I couldn't exit the cell. Strangely enough, the walls were a dark velvet blue.

Standing up, I walked to the cell door. In fact, practically everything outside was coloured velvet blue! From the walls to the ceiling to the other jail cells to the wardens' uniforms-wait a minute.

I examined the room further. It was circular, with other jail cells taking up the spaces within the walls. The brick floor and the jail doors were the only things that were not coloured velvet blue. In the center of the room was a dark blue circular mat with a gold symbol. On the mat, was a wooden table, and sitting behind the table was a man in a black suit. He had grey hair at the back of his head, big eyes, pointed ears, a creepy smile, and the longest nose I had ever seen. Beside him on either side of the table, were two small identical twin blonde-haired girls, each wearing the same velvet blue warden uniform and a black and gold eyepatch on one eye. The one on the left was holding a clipboard, while the other had a baton.

"Trickster..." The long-nosed man spoke, in a deep voice, "Welcome to my Velvet Room."

"So you've come to, Inmate!" The girl on the right stated. "The you in reality is currently fast asleep." The girl on the left said softly. "You are only experiencing this as a dream."

"You're in the presence of our master. Stand up straight!" The girl on the right demanded.

"Welcome." The long-nosed man continued. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter.

I stared at my chains in horrific disbelief. "Who are you?" I asked, curious about the situation I had been placed in. "And why am I here?"

"I am Igor," he responded, tapping his fingers on the tabletop. "the master of this place. Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."

"Important matters? What do you mean?"

"Still, this is a surprise," he said as he gazed around the room. "The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such. You truly are a "prisoner" of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."

My grip on the jail bars tightened. "Ruin? Are you kidding me? What can I do to stop this?"

"Haha, worry not." he chuckled. "There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be "rehabilitated." Rehabilitated towards freedom...that is your only means to avoid ruin."

"What must I do?"

"Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

I thought carefully, considering the answers in my head. "I'd rather avoid ruin, thank you very much."

"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation." The two girls walked towards my cell, stopping just outside my door. "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left; Justine. They serve as wardens here."

"Hmph," Caroline said, overconfidently. "Try and struggle as hard as you like."

"The duty of wardens to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators...that is, if you remain obedient." Justine murmured, which was just loud enough for me to hear.

"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion." Igor continued. "Now then, it seems the night is waning...It is almost time. Take your time to slowly understand this place. We will surely meet again...eventually. Wait...ah, of course...I almost forgot."

He glanced towards the cell next to mine. Following his gaze, I found that inside the cell, it was glowing blue.

"It appears that another inmate is soon to join us, or perhaps not. His status within this world is constantly fluctuating. This may prevent me from bringing him here."

"Another inmate?" I asked. "He is a powerful entity, a progeny of one of my most remarkable guests. In fact, his power may even be equal to yours. Do not fret, Trickster," Igor assured me, "for it is up to you to determine whether he shall become an ally...or an adversary."

I then heard a siren echo through my cell. Caroline said, "Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep."

"No! Wait! Answer me! Time for what? Who's the other inmate? Tell me!"

Date: Sunday 10/4/20XX

Time: Morning

Location: Yongen-Jaya

"Wait!" I gasped as my eyes snapped open.

The first few rays of sunlight were beginning to shine through the window. It was morning.

Groggily, I rubbed my eyes as my phone's alarm began beeping.

"It was all a dream?"

Hi guys.

As I mentioned before, I don't currently have an update schedule, so just please keep checking in now and then.

The story is getting off to an okay start. Most of the story is going to be viewed from the perspectives of both Akira and my OC, with occasionally some from other characters and/or in the third person.

I hope you enjoyed this new chapter.

Also: Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, and all of its characters are owned by Atlus and Sega. They are not owned by me.