A.N. (11/15/21) - Here's another chapter!
DNAngel (10) - Research
Once classes ended, Nagi bid farewell to the few friends he made in class before making his way off the school grounds.
After what happened yesterday, he expected something else strange to occur. But as the hours passed, it was clear that at least for the moment his life would return to normality. And since Daisuke wasn't going to bring up the fact that Nagi visited his house yesterday, Nagi was content with pretending to not know the fact that he was actually the other half of the phantom thief Dark.
Of course, a large part of that was due to Nagi's foreknowledge from his previous life. But after interacting with Daisuke most of that afternoon, it was obvious that the other boy was somewhat wary of Nagi. Or rather, he was making sure that Nagi wasn't going to say anything compromising.
Still, he kept up the pretense of not knowing anything.
Making his way to the nearest library, Nagi entered through the revolving doors of the modern building and up a staircase that led to the second floor. Up there was a large area with several computers lined up down an aisle for anyone to use.
There was something about the Second Hand of Time that he wanted to look up. Grabbing a seat, he opened up a search engine and began typing.
SECOND HAND OF TIME, ORIGIN
Several search results popped up, most relating to how an artifact under the same name was once held in a place called the Klein Church before the place was shut down. Apparently, it was moved around sometime last year after that, but there was no mention of its current location.
Sighing at learning that, Nagi clicked on a new link and brought up a page regarding the folktale involving the artwork. It was a familiar title, one that he realized he heard about quite recently.
"Ice and Snow."
It was a popular tale. Elliot, a son of a feudal lord who owned lots of land, and Freedert, an ordinary village girl, met by accident and fell in love despite their respective social statuses.
Then, an unnamed war began and the two were separated. Before he left, Elliot was given a sword by Freedert to protect himself. Freedert prayed for his safety day after day. But news returned home of his death.
Heading to church, Freedert prayed to God to give up all of her time to Elliot. In exchange for her life, Elliot was returned to life. Hearing the news, Elliot prayed to God to return said life back to Freedert. God was moved by their love and allowed their souls to meet. Their time instead was given to the village they lived in, blessing the land they loved with eternal time.
Nagi paused after reading the story.
"This is a report detailing the historical accuracy of the folktale," Nagi scrolled down and read the notes by the author. "The 'God' mentioned in this refers to the guardian of their village, an artifact known as the Second Hand of Time."
A standard Romeo and Juliet story, but with hints of mystical elements that relate to today. But with the knowledge of the fact that this world was also related to the Persona series, Nagi had a suspicion. A theory that maybe the Second Hand of Time was also linked to the phenomenon known as the Dark Hour.
He brought up a new search engine.
SECOND HAND OF TIME, DARK HOUR
The term 'Dark Hour' was too vague a search inquiry to bring about any relevant results. But by looking up the two subjects at the same time, Nagi found something.
"Ice and… Dark?"
Nagi clicked it and realized that it was a link to a webpage detailing the sale of a hardcopy version of a book called Ice and Dark. Reading through the description, Nagi realized that the book was supposedly a historical account detailing the full story behind the modern tale of Ice and Snow.
Looking at the price of the item, he winced.
"Yikes, that's definitely outside of my price range."
But if this really was a clue relating to the Dark Hour, there was no way Nagi would just give up on acquiring it. Browsing the web page again, he realized that there was a way to preview a sample of the first few pages of the book for free. Immediately, he clicked the link and a pop-up window opened showing a preview of the pages.
—
The following story is a true story, detailing the events of a cursed artifact and the tragedy it caused. Between three childhood friends that grew up in peaceful times, but fell apart as the darkness of reality approached.
Preface:
This record will detail the several cursed artworks mentioned in this story, as well as the significance of who created these works of art and their relation to the story.
And finally, this book will discuss the truth that I have discovered. The true reason behind the creation of the Guardian of Time. A seal, created to prevent the coming End. And its other purpose... to control a weapon created to combat this ordeal.
The Hour of Dark.
Above all else, the Guardian of Time must always do its duty to prevent this catastrophe. For she controls the flow of time, and the End perverts the natural flow. A wound upon this world in which the Guardian acts as a fragile plaster to cover up.
This is my penance. To keep this knowledge alive so that our world does not descend into madness.
The Guardian of the Hidden Hour.
The Wedge of Time.
The Shadows of Death.
The Tower of Demise.
And finally, the purpose of the Black Wings.
~ Kyle Endoyle
—
Nagi stared at the screen. "T-This is…"
A second pop-up window suddenly appeared in front of him, taking up the majority of the screen with several words forming a question.
ACCESS MORE DETAILS? ( Y / N )
He blinked, surprised at the question. "Um… sure?"
He clicked yes, and the screen changed again. Instead of a floating white window with text, it was now some kind of messaging system. The three ellipses indicating that someone was typing caught Nagi's attention.
A question appeared.
[Who are you?]
The question itself was innocuous enough, but the situation made it difficult for Nagi to answer. He didn't know what to say at first.
Eventually, he quickly responded.
[Somone interested in the hour of Dark]
Nagi winced as he realized that he forgot to proofread his message before sending it. Autocorrect wasn't really a thing yet, and the unprofessional-looking answer made him groan in annoyance.
Still, he got a response.
[State your Employee ID# for verification.]
He tilted his head in confusion and began typing.
[Employee number? I don't understand.]
This time, he made sure to fix it before pressing enter. It took a few seconds longer for a reply to come back.
[Are you not affiliated with Kirijo Ergo Labs?]
Kirijo.
The name was like a giant smashing down on him, as Nagi finally realized who he was dealing with. The person he was talking to was someone related to the Kirijo Group.
He was suddenly reminded of his history with them. Of how he broke into one of their facilities to rescue the children that were being experimented on. Of how they interfered with his circumstances so that his probation would force him to move to Azumano. And now, he found out that they're also somehow related to the Second Hand of Time. The same artwork that abducted him into its world.
Was this all a coincidence?
Before he could respond, the pop-up window disappeared as the other person seemed to cut off the conversation. Unable to figure out another way to reestablish contact, Nagi had no choice but to give up.
"What was that all about?"
Suddenly paranoid, Nagi quickly logged out of the public computer and made his way out of the building. His eyes subconsciously tracked where the visible cameras of the library were, and he quickly lowered his face after realizing that fact.
I'm screwed, he thought. Really, how is the Kirijo Group involved in all of this? What does the Second Hand of Time have to do with the Dark Hour? And how much does the Kirijo Group know?
Not just that, but Nagi recalled that the person who contacted him specifically asked if he was part of the Kirijo Ergo Labs. Otherwise known as the Kirijo Ergonomics Laboratory, the name for the various facilities that focused on researching Shadows.
The same place he broke into when he was arrested.
"They're involved," he realized. "The things going on in this town, and the stuff related to the Second Hand of Time. They must be involved, maybe they're trying to investigate this town to see if the magic shenanigans here are Shadow related."
He stopped.
"No, there's something else." His face began to pale. "Kurosawa. He said that the Kirijo Group forced matters so that only Commissioner Hiwatari could accept me. If the people who made me come to this town were part of Ergo Labs…"
Then there was a high chance that the elder Hiwatari was also in the know regarding the darker aspects of the Kirijo Group. With his knowledge of the supernatural, it was even possible that he knew more than most of the scientists themselves did.
"The person I talked to," Nagi muttered. "He didn't seem to realize who I was. Could it be that there are other agents from Ergo Labs here in Azumano?"
He shook his head. There was simply too much he didn't know, and all these thoughts were just speculations without any details. Even if the Kirijo Group was involved, what did that change? Nagi still had no idea why they wanted him sent here.
"Except…"
The main cause for worry was that it had something to do with the Second Hand of Time. Judging by what he read earlier, it was almost guaranteed that the artwork was related to the Dark Hour in some manner. There were simply too many keywords that hinted at the connection for it to be a coincidence.
"I need to get a copy of that book," Nagi decided. "Ice and Dark… the book might be able to tell me more about how the Second Hand of Time works. The fact that I've been dragged into its world once is enough. If I end up unlucky and I come across another powerful Shadow..."
Somehow, he was able to survive his encounter with Jacky. But he was just one Shadow. If the 'queen' he mentioned was actually the spirit of the Second Hand of Time, she probably controlled numerous other Shadows. And that wasn't taking into account the possibility that she was a lot more powerful than Jack was.
"There's no way I can scrounge enough funds to purchase the book… but maybe I don't have to."
If this was something magic-related, then it was possible that either the Niwa or the Hikari family had records on the artwork. And maybe, one of their members obtained another copy of Ice and Dark. If there was such a copy, then it was possible that one of their libraries would have them.
And since he lived in the same house as Hiwatari, it was obvious what he was going to do. He needed to snoop around and see if there was anything he could read to help him better understand his situation.
"Hopefully Hiwatari's gonna come home late today," Nagi said. "It would be a bit awkward if he chanced upon me looting through his stuff."
Nagi realized that he was being a bit extreme in his manner of thinking. After all, there was no guarantee that Hiwatari would know anything more than his father. But if forces were trying to manipulate him into doing something, then Nagi needed to learn more about what was going on if he wanted to understand his situation.
He recalled the pop-up that appeared on the library computer screen. "I just hope what I did earlier didn't bite me in the back."
Knowing his luck, it was possible that the Kirijo Group would not think too kindly to him looking into things outside his concern. No, all he could do was pray that his actions remained unnoticed.
}-{
Meanwhile, staring at a computer was a middle-aged man with a solemn expression on his face. Sitting at his desk, he was dressed in a gray suit, red tie, and black vest. Looking like a grizzled businessman, the one visual aspect that stood out was the black eyepatch covering up his right eye.
His mind was in a whirl.
"Azumano… that's where they're located."
He was busy working when his computer had notified him of someone being flagged as a person of interest for inputting certain keywords related to their operations. Opening up a chat software, he attempted to make contact with the other person only to realize something.
"This person… they're not one of my employees."
The program had unexpectedly shut down before he could inquire any further. But luckily, he was able to extract data from the other end before the connection was cut. Sorting through it, he discovered that this unknown user had actually tried to look up what the Second Hand of Time was… as well as the Dark Hour.
Which meant they knew.
That frightened him. For years, he has kept the secrets of the Shadows and the Dark Hour from spreading outside his company and into the general public. If someone unrelated to his operations was looking into matters, that spelled trouble.
But the fact that it came from Azumano of all places…
"Phantom Thief Dark," he muttered to himself. "Suspected of being a manifested Persona, due to his displays of unnatural abilities and observed Shadow readings."
Azumano was a place of interest for the Kirijo Group for many reasons, as well as the other regions of Tokyo. Shadow concentrations were always heavily centered around Tartarus, but they had discovered that there were other areas around the world where Shadows seemed to naturally spawn from.
Earlier this year, someone noticed a strange phenomenon originating from the ward. Something that caused their readings to go crazy and for several of their agents to express interest in observing the area for more data.
"I should probably send a warning to Ikutsuki about this incident," he concluded. "He'll inform our agents there to keep an eye out for anyone interested in investigating the Dark Hour."
If the person looking into the Dark Hour was related to Dark somehow, then there was a chance that their agents working with the police would discover them eventually. After all, that was why they brought Commissioner Hiwatari into the fold all those years ago.
"Pray that this is just a coincidence, and there isn't someone looking into matters. Otherwise, the fallout could be disastrous."
Because the last thing Takeharu Kirijo wanted was for things to escalate even worse than it already was.
One thing that was never explained in Persona 3 was the exact details of how Kouetsu Kirijo initially got involved with Shadows and Plumes of Dusk in the first place. Mixing DNAngels with the Persona-verse in this AU, a possibility is that he somehow learned about it from a certain historical source detailing past occurrences of the Dark Hour. One that used terms related to magic artworks detailing things related to DNAngel.
My solution to that was making Kyle Endoyle that source of information. Thus, the Second Hand of Time has a much larger role in this story now since it has some kind of unknown connection to the Dark Hour, as previously hinted in past chapters.