"What the hell was that? Akihiko, what the hell was that?" Junpei shouted while Akihiko scowled in response.
"Quiet, Junpei! I don't know what the hell that was either, but you shouting isn't helping. Kotone, did you perhaps see anything when you used the Evoker?" See anything? Kotone had experienced a lot more than just a brief sighting. Yet, as she opened her mouth to tell them, she felt as though someone set a hand on her shoulder. They weren't forcing her to not tell them, but that was enough to let her know that she was to keep quiet for now.
"No, I didn't. One moment I pressed the trigger, the next, that had happened." While Kotone didn't feel good about lying, she had a feeling that this was the best choice for now. Akihiko seemed to pause for a moment, clearly just as confused as everyone else was.
"Akihiko, Junpei, you saw what I saw, right?" Yukari asked, earning a grim nod from both of them. Kotone still couldn't understand what was going on. Why did they all look so angry, yet so scared at the same time?
"Kotone, I don't know how this is possible, but that Persona you summoned. Her name is Nyx, and she was the ultimate force that we had to fight against several months ago."
"Not only that, but she's the reason Makoto is gone now. He trapped her inside his soul, before dying himself. But, how the hell is she back? Does that mean he failed?" Junpei asked, his voice beginning to tremble slightly as he spoke.
"No!" Kotone exclaimed, the word leaving her mouth before she had a chance to catch herself. Realizing she had shouted, for the first time in a while, she managed to clear her throat before continuing. "I don't know much, but I can guarantee that he didn't fail."
Kotone's words usually wouldn't have been taken seriously, considering how much of a stranger she was, yet there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief coming from the three.
"Yeah, you're right. How silly of me for believing otherwise," Junpei said, managing an awkward laugh. The atmosphere seemed to lighten up slightly after that, but not by much.
"Anyways, you all should rest up for now. There's no telling when the Dark Hour will end, but when it does, life outside will resume normally. Also, Shouko and Kotone? It might be best for you two to consider moving in here for the time being. It'll be easier for us to all stay together, especially if the Dark Hour occurs randomly. I don't want to force you into it, but it may be in your best interests." Move into here? No matter how Kotone looked at it, it only seemed advantageous to move in with the rest of SEES. However, she wanted to know how Shouko felt about the entire thing.
"I'll choose whatever Kotone chooses," Shouko stated, while Kotone couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face. Well, that was settled rather quickly.
"Well, in that case, I guess we'll be moving in," Kotone stated.
"Sounds good! Looks like we'll have to prepare a welcome dinner for you two soon. But in the meantime, welcome to Iwatodai Dorm," Yukari said, a friendly smile on her face. As Kotone thanked them for the welcome, she found herself growing attached to the atmosphere being shared between all of them. How nice this would have been, had the circumstances behind their meeting not been so grave and dark. That being said, Kotone couldn't help but worry about Nyx, Elizabeth, and all the other unknown factors.
Everything almost seemed a little bit too easy. A little too good to be true.
Feeling the air shift slightly, it had grown noticeably warmer, and she could now hear faint sounds of traffic coming from outside. While the transition had been quick, Kotone was still able to notice it, and everyone else seemed to as well.
"Well, would you look at that, the Dark Hour is over, for now at least. I'd say we have a few hours at least before the next one comes through, so we should make the best of it. Shouko and Kotone, want to head back to school so we can file your dorm transfer forms?" Yukari asked, earning a nod from the two girls.
"Junpei and I will stay here in case the Dark Hour starts again. Here, take these, you two." Kotone watched as Akihiko handed Shouko a watch, before giving Kotone an identical one, along with an Evoker.
"The watch tells ya where the nearest safe house is. We discovered them in the past and set up beacons so we could find them easily. Cool, right?" Junpei asked before Akihiko stepped in front of him to continue speaking.
"Kotone, I'm only giving you that Evoker as a last resort. Since we still don't know the specifications or limitations of your power, it is best that you not summon your Persona for now." Nodding in response, Kotone put on the Evoker belt, before tugging her school jacket over it. Once she put the watch on her wrist, it was time for her, Shouko, and Yukari to head to school.
"This must be quite unusual for you two. Practically everyone around us has no recollection of what just happened, and are living their lives peacefully and unaware." As Yukari spoke, her gaze seemed to drop slightly, clearly longing for something. "I envy them."
The rest of the walk to school was rather silent, all the way until they entered the faculty office. As Kotone followed Yukari and Shouko inside, they made their way over to one of the teacher's desks.
"Hello Mr. Ono, I have two dorm transfer forms that I'd like to give to you," Yukari stated, before handing the two papers over to the man sitting at the desk.
"Is that so? Let's see where they're going to be relocated. Hmm, Iwatodai." His voice seemed to slowly trail off before his gaze shifted over to the empty desk that resided near the entrance to the faculty office.
"Is Ms. Toriumi still out?" Yukari asked, her tone noticeably gentler than before.
"Yeah, she has been gone for quite some time now. I couldn't even imagine how it felt to lose a student like that so suddenly. Then again, we're all suddenly starting to deal with losses like that," Mr. Ono said, briefly falling silent before clearing his throat. Taking out a stamp before placing a seal on the two papers, he then handed it back over to Yukari.
"Here you are, Yukari. Hopefully, we'll find a new chairman soon enough. An unqualified man like me shouldn't have this responsibility."
"Thank you, Mr. Ono. That's what you may think, but I'd say you're doing a pretty fine job. We'll all get through this together, alright?" Mr. Ono managed a small smile and nod in response. With that, the three of them stepped out of the office, before heading back towards the entrance. Despite all the time that had passed, it was still only a few minutes after Shouko and Kotone had left school to head to the mall. No matter how hard she tried, it was still going to take some time for her to be able to get used to this. It almost didn't feel real whatsoever.
Over the next few hours, Kotone and Shouko had packed up their things, before having them brought over to their new dorm. Now that it wasn't the Dark Hour, Kotone was able to explore the entire building, though she was quick to take note of the various vacant rooms on the second and third floor. However, some of the doors were blocked, but Kotone didn't need to ask anyone to know why.
"You two will be staying here, make yourselves at home, alright?" Coming to a stop in front of two doors right next to each other, Kotone gave Yukari a thankful smile before stepping inside with her luggage. Looking around the room, the plain interior was just like the one she previously stayed in, though the layout was a little bit different. Walking over to the bed, Kotone sat down on the side before letting out a slow sigh. For the first time in what felt like hours, she was able to actually catch her breath.
"What a crazy day. I wouldn't be surprised if this was all one crazy dream," Kotone murmured to herself. Feeling exhaustion slowly beginning to wash over her, the tired girl let out a slow yawn, before closing her eyes. Unable to stay awake any longer, she allowed sleep to carry her away into the blissful darkness.
Opening her eyes, Kotone slowly sat up before finding herself in the same white space as before. Looking around, she spotted the same table from her first visit, though there was no one there. Where had Nyx and Makoto gone? Looking around, she wasn't able to spot them, though she did take note of a floating door with blue light emitting behind it. Were they perhaps behind this? Slowly walking over, Kotone opened the door before stepping inside.
Stepping inside the room, Kotone found the entirety of the inside being colored a dark velvet. Soft piano music could be heard playing in the background; while the tune was nice, it only succeeded in heightening her suspicion and anxiety of the unknown environment.
"Welcome, lost traveler." If Kotone wasn't on guard before, she most definitely was now. The man that sat in front of her bore similar if not identical features to Elizabeth, the woman who had been trying to kill them for quite some time. Kotone instinctively reached for her Evoker, though it wasn't there, which wasn't something she should have been surprised by.
"Do not worry, I have no intention of harming you. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I would like to offer you my assistance," The man spoke, maintaining his calm and level voice. While the man didn't appear to be nearly as hostile as Elizabeth, Kotone knew better than to judge somebody based on appearance.
"Who are you? Where am I? What do you want?" Kotone asked, backing up as far as she could, ready to turn around and run away at a moment's notice. Then again, even if she did leave the room, how would she be able to return to a conscious state? The last time she did, it was through summoning Nyx. Were the circumstances different since she didn't use an Evoker this time around?
"My name is Theodore, and I welcome you to the Velvet Room. My master is currently away, so I will be filling in for him. I simply wish to provide you assistance where it is necessary, nothing more and nothing less." His words seemed genuine. Kotone found herself beginning to relax slightly, though she didn't move closer to him whatsoever.
"Do you by chance happen to know Elizabeth?" Kotone asked, seeing Theodore's expression shift slightly. After a moment, he managed a small smile, though he almost seemed to be in pain.
"I do, in fact. Elizabeth is my older sister. She too used to assist our master in this room with people just like you. However, an unfortunate string of events has caused her to abandon her duty and go down a darker path." As he spoke, Kotone was unsure of how to read Theodore's expression. It was like he wanted to be sad, yet didn't know how. Seeing that alone caused a slight pain to form in her chest.
"May I ask what caused Elizabeth to turn out the way she is now?" Kotone asked.
"I don't know what happened in particular, but it seems that she had grown close to the person she was attending to before he had passed away." It didn't take long for Kotone to realize that the person in question was no doubt Makoto. It never failed to surprise her with just how much he seemed to have influenced those around him. For his passing to have caused so much grief and despair, he truly must have been loved by those around him.
And yet out of everyone in the world, she was chosen to carry on his mantle.
"So, why exactly am I here?" Kotone asked, looking around the room, searching for a source to the mysterious music that never seemed to end.
"While I wish we could have met under better circumstances, I wanted to give you a proper warning of the many dangers that you will come to face. While I can't protect you against all of these threats, I will do my best to provide as much assistance as possible. That being said, you probably know of the biggest danger to you and your friends, I suppose." Kotone nodded in response, Elizabeth's burning yellow eyes forever seared into her memory.
"Starting from now, the decisions that you make will forever have an impact on the future of you and those around you. While you are free to choose to do whatever you want, you will have to take responsibility for making those choices. Do you understand?" Everything Kotone did would have an impact on her future as well as everyone else's? The thought of it alone left her rather unsettled, as she found herself unsure of how to respond.
"May I ask, why me?" Kotone asked, managing to procure a headache despite being in a dream.
"I wish I could give you the answer you wanted to hear, but that wouldn't be right of me. All I can say is that it has to be you, Kotone. If anyone else tried to take your place, there would be no way to stop the world you know from ending." Kotone had a feeling that was the answer she was going to receive. There was no way she could run away from this all, now that she knew that. The only option she had was to face whatever else was to come.
As Theodore finished speaking, Kotone opened her mouth to ask another question, only to find that her vision was slowly starting to go dark. Why now, when she still had so many questions she still needed to ask?
"Kotone?" Hearing Shouko's faint voice, Kotone slowly opened her eyes, finding herself staring up at the ceiling of her room. So, she was back. Letting out a groan as she sat up, she rubbed her temples, feeling the last of her headache beginning to fade away.
"Yeah, Shouko? Sorry, I was taking a nap," Kotone said with an apologetic smile once she had opened the door.
"Ah, sorry if I woke you up, then. But, I found out something important that I thought you might want to know. Akihiko let me take a look at the page that he had taken from Elizabeth's book, and it turns out I can read some of it." Kotone's eyes widened in slight disbelief. If Shouko was able to read what was on the page, then this would be a large advantage over Elizabeth, right?
"Wait, you can? What's on it?" Kotone asked her headache from before gone completely.
"Well, the handwriting is rather messy, so some portions are hard to read. But, from what I've seen so far, it's definitely one of Elizabeth's personas. If she can't use the personas that we take, and we find someone who can, then we'll have a fighting chance, right?"