A.N. (2/24/21) - Here's another chapter, and we finally reveal one of Nagi's possible Personas!

Persona (43) - Idle Chats

After the introductions, everyone had a few minutes to prepare while Yu tried to figure out who was going to be investigating the labyrinth. Everyone had agreed to him being the leader for now, which Nagi thought was weird since Negi was here.

Maybe it was a dynamic they were used to in their timeline.

Speaking of which, Nagi was currently hanging out with his future self and discussing various things.

"Hey, whatever happened to Daisuke and Riku."

Negi's eyes lit up. "They got married!"

"What?" Nagi's face lit up with pure happiness. "No way!"

"Yeah, they even got a little one on the way. Daisuke's freaking out while Riku's getting crabbier by the day."

"Really, that's great!"

Takuto coughed from where he stood near them. "Is it really okay for you to tell us things from the future?"

"Eh," Negi gave a wave of dismissal at that. "I told you already, I'm pretty sure our memories are going to be wiped after this is over. That's what happened when we first got rid of the Dark Hour, and I bet something similar is going to happen if we go through this place too."

Nagi had forgotten that tidbit about the Dark Hour until his future self mentioned it. How did they keep their memories afterward again?

"So telling you things from the future should be fine. Mind you, I'll keep a few secrets to myself, but everything else is fair game."

"Do I get a girlfriend?" Takuto asked.

Negi nodded. "Yup, her name's Rumi."

"Rumi?" The boy gave a confused look at the name. "Who's that?"

Negi smirked at that. "You'll meet her in college."

A question has been bubbling inside Nagi ever since he met his future self. "Do you know have a Persona yet?"

A complicated look crossed Negi's face, but he nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Negi held out a hand before him, and a glowing blue tarot card slowly descended.

"HIRUKO," Negi yelled as he crushed the card. A mechanical being slowly formed in the air behind him, only to dissipate a few seconds later.

Nagi gave his future self a confused look. "Why does your Persona look like the love child between Izanagi and Orpheus?"

He groaned and covered his face at that. "Please don't say that, you have no idea how ironic those words are."

"But Hiruko, huh?" Nagi looked back at the spot that the Persona was earlier. "I don't recognize the name. Is he some kind of Japanese god?"

"Hiruko - the first child of Izanagi and Izanami, born without bones - or, in some stories, without arms and legs - due to his mother's transgression during the marriage ritual. Hiruko struggled to survive but, as he could not stand, he was cast into the sea in a boat of reeds before his third birthday," Negi rattled off. "Or at least that's what his entry says in the Compendium. He's also sometimes mixed up with the name Ebisu."

Nagi looked confused at that. "The fat fisherman?"

"Yup, the very same." Negi shrugged his shoulders. "You won't get Hiruko for a few more years, I only got him recently myself. He's not my first Persona though."

"Does that mean that I awaken to a different Persona?"

"Something like that," he muttered. "But it should happen sometimes this year, so that's something to look forward to."

And that really was something that Nagi was looking forward to. Does that mean that he's going to get a Persona during the events of Dark? Nagi really wanted to ask more questions about that, but a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Alright everyone," Yu shouted from where he was. "We're planning to move out. We'll split into two groups: the exploration team, and the investigation team. One will explore the labyrinth while the other will look around the festival."

"Now, here's who'll be going in the labyrinth…"

}-{

"I can't believe he benched me."

"Cheer up, me." Nagi patted his older self's shoulders. "It's not so bad, at least we have company."

Yu had decided to take most of his team with him, leaving behind only a few people to stay and investigate. That being Kanji, Rise, and Naoto. And Rise was technically supporting them with her own Persona.

Speaking of Rise, her arms continued to wrap themselves around Nagi. "You're right, he is a good hug pillow."

The three cousins were hanging out together while Rise worked, everyone else exploring the various stalls and booths. Nagi was sitting on Rise's lap while she continued to work with her arms around Nagi, and Negi was sitting next to the two of them.

Weird how fast he got used to the idea of Rise being his cousin though.

"You know from my perspective, we literally met just yesterday," he told her.

She blinked at that. "Really? That recent?"

"Yup," he confirmed. "I think we only exchanged a few words between us before this all happened."

"Huh?" She had a thoughtful look on her face after he said that. "That's so weird. I've known you - well, a future you - for almost half my life now."

"Do you two get along well in the future?"

She laughed at that and bonked Negi's head with her fist. "This knucklehead and I are the best of buds. We used to only meet occasionally every few months, but this last year's been the longest we've stayed together."

"We're staying in the same house together in Inaba," Negi explained to his younger self. "I offered to live on my own since I have my own source of income. But our grandmother insisted."

"In exchange, she makes him work at the Tofu Shop every weekday." Rise giggled at that. "He's basically our store mascot now."

Negi smirked. "You're just jealous that I get more sales than you do."

"Please, I work weekends only." She rolled her eyes at him. "Comparatively, I make more sales than you do if we worked equal days."

"What?! No, you don't."

Nagi slipped out of Rise's grasp and allowed the two to bicker. Seeing that they were in a world of their own, he left to explore on his own.

Going past the fortune-telling booth, which was also the Velvet Room for some reason, Nagi saw an unfamiliar face there. "Ah, greetings."

It took Nagi a moment to place the name. "You're Margaret, is that right?"

"Yes, and you're the younger Nagi." She gave him a strange look. "Although I believe he currently goes by the name Negi."

"It helps everyone differentiate us." He sat down on a chair nearby. "So, did you and Elizabeth figure out what's wrong with the Velvet Room? Speaking of which, where is she?"

She gave out an exasperated sigh. "My dear sister is currently galavanting around the school trying out all the human festivities. But we have somewhat discovered what the problem with the Velvet Room might be."

"What is it?"

She gestured towards the blue booth next to her. "The Velvet Room is always linked to similar worlds to that of the Dark Hour and the world inside the TV. This world is another example of that, a haven in the rift, which is why there are Shadows here and everyone can summon their Personas.

A bell started to ring, startling Nagi during the process.

"I heard that before," he exclaimed. "Right before Elizabeth and I appeared here."

"It seems to be coming from outside," Margaret remarked. "Could it be that clock tower is the cause of our summoning?"

"Clock tower?"

"Did you not see it yet?" She blinked at that. "There is a clock tower outside the building. Nobody has been able to enter inside yet."

Nagi reminded himself to check that out later. "So if it's ringing now, does that mean that somebody else is being summoned."

Right at that moment, he got his answer.

The sound of somebody screaming drew Nagi's attention upward. He yelped as his body was suddenly crushed underneath whoever appeared.

"Ow ow ow, that's gonna leave a mark." The person shuffled themselves on top of Nagi. "Wait, why does the ground feel— oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"Uuuuuuggggghhh."

"Marie, I do believe it would help if you got off of young Nagi."

"Oh," and Nagi finally felt the person on top of him remove themselves. "Yeah, guess that should've been obvious in hindsight."

Nagi slowly got up and winced as his body complained to him. "I thought girls falling out of the sky was only a cliché."

"Nagi?" He looked up and saw that the girl was giving him a strange look. "Why the heck are you so young?"

"I believe that an explanation is in order," Margaret interjected.

}-{

Marie still looked skeptical, but at least she finally got the situation.

"So that's why Nagi's currently a pipsqueak? And why his eyes are silver instead of gold?"

Margarett nodded. "Yes. This is a younger version of the Nagi we know, who is currently going by the name Negi Nishizawa to differentiate the two."

Nagi caught Marie giving him another look over once more. "...why does the brat feel different?"

"Pardon?" Nagi asked.

"He feels normal. Isn't that weird, since they're the same person?"

Nagi had no idea what they were talking about, but Margaret seemed to have understood. "The circumstances behind Negi Nishizawa's existence are complicated. Nagi has yet to experience everything that his future self has, including the changes to his own being."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Marie complained.

"Wait, is this something that I should know?" Nagi asked. "Because this feels like it's getting into spoiler territory."

Margaret gave a good look at him. "I do not believe that it would be wise to learn of what happened yet. If you truly wish to know though, then I will do my best to explain it to you."

"Nah," Nagi waved his hand at that. "If future me hasn't told me, then it's probably something I don't need to hear. Thanks for the offer though."

That way madness lies. Learning about inconsequential things was fine, but Nagi knew that he shouldn't hear the juicy important bits yet, even if he was going to forget all about it later.

She nodded at his answer. "If that is your choice."

"Well, I guess I'll go look for the others." He began to head out the Velvet Room. "I'll see if I can find Elizabeth and tell her what happened."

Margaret's mouth twitched. "Please remind my dear sister that she still has work to be done here."

"Got it."

Nagi's not gonna be doing any fighting, since he's not really as strong as anyone with a Persona. Even Rei and Zen are better to have as party members, with their unique non-Persona abilities.

And I finally gave a tease to what a future Persona Nagi might have! I thought it was okay to do so since I doubt I'll ever get to P4 anytime soon. So telling what Persona he's going to get isn't that bad in my opinion.

I chose Hiruko because of his connection to Izanagi and Izanami. Also because I didn't really know that many Japanese gods to choose from, and the Megami Tensei Wiki didn't give me a lot to work with.