Akira staggered to his feet, still totally disoriented, but tried to get an understanding of where he had ended up.
It seemed like the teenager had somehow fallen into a… prison cell. A small cot sat in the corner of the cramped cell along with a toilet, the floor feeling like smooth cloth over hard cement, and the walls were made of soft material as well.
Looking through the iron bars making up the front of his cell, he could see a large circular room with an oak desk in the middle, a man sitting behind it in an office chair.
Akira walked up, grabbing the bars tightly and trying to see farther- his vision felt blurry, and a headache pounded sharply.
But as he got used to the pain and took a good look at the man, he grimaced.
The man was clearly the one who had greeted Akira, and now was simply staring at the teenager and observing him closely.
He was tall, with a balding head and few grey hairs around the back. His nose was long and thin, his skin unnaturally pale and his limbs longer and thinner than what should have been normal for humans. Although the man wasn't disturbingly unnatural, there was still a feeling of wrongness that filled Akira as he observed him.
The man's large and bloodshot eyes widened even further as he propped his sharp elbows onto the desk, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands as he stared at Akira.
Akira suddenly heard two pairs of footsteps, and two nearly identical figures walked into sight, just in front of the cell, watching him silently.
They were two girls, clearly twins of some sort, with silver hair and yellow eyes. Each one wore a royal blue uniform, their hair braided underneath shined black caps.
All in all, Akira had no idea what the hell was going on.
The girl on the left spoke first, her eyes narrowing in irritation as she looked at the teenager in the cell.
"So you've finally arrived."
Her voice was sharp and filled with a confrontational tone. Akira wasn't sure why, but she clearly disliked him greatly.
"We apologize for taking you so suddenly, but there was no other way for you to enter this place."
The girl on the right spoke after, speaking more politely than the other girl, yet he could still sense a kind of demeaning undertone as she addressed him.
"...Where am I?"
He decided to get straight to the point, asking the question that was deemed most important, although it certainly wasn't his only one.
However, in response to it, the aggressive girl only snorted in condescension and the polite one remained silent, the man sitting at the desk chuckling for a few moments before speaking.
"All will be explained shortly. First, I'll simply say I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
Akira quirked his lip at the non-answer but didn't say anything else. The long-nosed man looked like he was about to speak.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a place only accessible for one invited by my Stand, and created to warp around the personalities of those within."
The teenager bit his lip, sweating slightly. He still had no idea what was happening, and sitting in a literal prison cell wasn't exactly helping the anxiety creeping up within him.
If there was one thing Akira hated more than anything else, it was being trapped.
"I am Igor. The master of this place. Remember it well."
Akira grit his teeth, about to speak up when the now-named Igor plowed over him.
"I summoned you here to speak of important matters. Matters that involve your life as well."
He swallowed, adjusting his tight grip on the iron bars, resisting the urge to scratch at his palms.
"Important matters...? What do you mean? Why did you take me here?"
Igor chuckled again.
"I'm sure you will come to understand everything in time."
The long-nosed man smiled, looking around the room in vague curiosity.
"However, it is certainly an interesting form the room has taken. You see, the state of this place represents the state of one's own heart. To think a prison would appear as such…"
Akira grimaced at the explanation. It did make a strange amount of sense, no matter how much the teenager disliked it.
"I suppose you truly are a prisoner of fate." Igor laughed, before taking on a more serious expression.
"In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits us."
The boy blinked. What was that supposed to mean?
"I speak of an incoming disaster. However, there is a means to avoid such a fate, and I believe you are the key."
"You must become stronger. By coming into your innate abilities… by training the power of your 'Stand,' I believe the path to freedom can be realized."
Stand… Did Igor mean, by innate abilities, Arsene? Was he talking about Arsene- about training up the creature to become more powerful?
"Trickster. Do you have the will to challenge this oncoming ruin?"
"...I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
Although the angry girl on the right had been quiet during the conversation, as Akira said those words, she scowled and stomped up to the bars with a violent expression. She raised an arm, and a wave of chains suddenly blasted outwards.
They slammed into Akira and forced him backward, bloodying his nose and causing him to release a short cry of pain.
"Quiet, inmate! Do not speak to our master in that way!"
...Akira decided that he didn't like the girl. He really, really didn't like her.
But instead of becoming angry as the girl had, Igor only laughed at Akira's bland response, chuckling and speaking in a more light-hearted tone.
"Of course, of course. All will be explained in time, I promise. For now, I will simply observe your progress."
Igor's gaze fell to the two girls standing stiffly at the entrance of his cell.
"Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left, Justine. They serve as assistants of mine."
Caroline- the violent one- spoke up.
"Try not to cause any more trouble, inmate."
Justine spoke afterward.
"I apologize for my sister's temperament. Our duty is to help those within this room, which means we are your collaborators as well. -That is of course if you remain obedient."
Akira decided he didn't like either of them.
"Well, it seems like this is enough conversation for one night. We will surely meet again soon, so look forward to it, Trickster."
Igor raised his hand slightly, and he was enveloped in a royal blue aura. A figure manifested over his shoulder, and Akira started, realizing it was the same one that had brought him to this place. And seeing it right next to Igor, Akira could only notice how similar the two looked compared to him and Arsene.
The strange figure drifted up to the bars, pointing its open hand towards Akira and releasing a wave of red and black energy, enveloping the teenager completely.
He soon found himself experiencing the same disorientation and vertigo, falling onto a hardwood floor, the impact with which sent him gasping for breath.
Looking around frantically, he saw…
He was back in the attic room.
Dust floating through the air, piles of junk around the walls, an old mattress sat in the corner, under a window, a cardboard box filled with his clothes and supplies left under a shelf.
It was all the same, as if he had never left.
But Akira felt upwards, lightly touching his nose, and his fingers came away, just slightly bloody.
Whatever had just happened… Igor, Justine, Caroline… all that talk about ruin…
It was real.
"...What the fuck…"
Akira sighed and dropped himself into bed, still wincing from the bloody nose.
He really did not want to deal with all this supernatural nonsense on his very first day in Tokyo, it was just signifying even more problems to come.
Couldn't this year just be calm and peaceful?
Was that too much to ask for?!
Author's Note:
A new chapter will either come out tomorrow morning or sometime Monday. Since at this point in the story I'm just following along with the game's introduction I'm able to write a chapter basically every day, which is a lot of fun! I started this in order to practice writing more and I think it's going pretty well so far.
...Although I can't exactly say that for sure since this is literally chapter 3. I guess we still have to see if this works out or not.
In other news, here are the stand stats for Igor!
Stand Name: Black Velvet
Stand Master: Igor
Power: C
Speed: B
Range: A
Stamina: A
Precision: A
Development Potential: D