Author's Notes:

After a whole week of getting distracted by video games I finally managed to finish writing this chapter.

Ren woke up to the sound of rattling chains. Once he started moving, he realized he wore prisoner clothes and handcuffs instead of his pajamas. While trying to comprehend the situation, Ren hears a chuckle and turns his attention to it. He sees two girls dressed in blue looking at him from behind bars.

Ren tries to walk towards them only to be stopped in his tracks, by the heavy weight shackled to his leg. He inches closer to the bars and finally realizes, that he was in a prison cell. The girls step aside to reveal a long-nosed man sitting at a desk looking at him.

"Trickster… Welcome to my Velvet Room." he said in a deep and booming voice, which made Ren uneasy.

While gripping onto the bars the girl to the right started talking.

"So, you've come to, inmate." she said.

"The you in reality is currently fast asleep. You are only experiencing this as a dream." the girl to the left explained.

"Huh?" was the only thing Ren could get out in his confusion.

"You're in the presence of our master, stand up straight!" the girl to the right commanded.

Ren looked at the man again.

"Welcome! I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those bound by a 'contract' are allowed to enter. I am Igor, the master of this place, remember it well." he explained, leaving Ren even more confused.

"I don't remember signing a contract, as a matter of fact, I have no idea as to why I'm here in the first place." Ren said as he slowly recollected himself.

"I've summoned you to speak with you of important matters. It involves your life as well." Igor replied.

"Important matters?" Ren asked cautiously.

"Still, this is a surprise…" the long-nosed man trailed off as he looked 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." he further elaborated.

"Ruin?" Ren asked. "Great, he's creating more questions before he answers any." he thought to himself while resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"I speak of the end of everything. However, there is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated', rehabilitated towards freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin." Igor explained, making Ren try his hardest to not sigh.

"That pretty much answered nothing." he complained internally.

"Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?" the long-nosed man asked while looking Ren in the eyes.

"While I do not understand what is going on right now, I'd definitely try to avoid ruin." the raven-haired boy responded in his typically calm manner.

"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation." Igor said in a satisfied tone, the girls then turned to Ren again.

"Pardon me for not introducing the others. To your right is Caroline; to your left Justine. They serve as wardens here." he explained as he gestured at each one respectively.

"Ha, try and struggle as hard as you like!" Caroline remarked in a loud tone.

"The duty of wardens is to protect inmates. We are also your collaborators… That is if you remain obedient." Justine explained in a calm yet threatening tone.

"I will explain their roles on another occasion." Igor said.

"Why not now?" Ren asked before suddenly hearing a bell ringing.

"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." Caroline demanded.

"Wait! I still have questions!" Ren yelled. Caroline struck the bars with her baton, making him flinch.

"I am certain that we will meet again." Igor said and let out a chuckle.

Before Ren could respond, everything faded to black.

LeBlanc

Ren woke up in the attic and got dressed while thinking about that weird dream he had.

"Just what was that dream about? Ruin? Rehabilitation? Was it really just a dream? It felt so real after all. Am I going insane?" Ren frowned as he kept thinking about it.

"Looks like you're up." Sojiro said, snapping Ren out of his thoughts.

"Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer." the man said, Ren giving him a nod in response.

"Enough about that dream. I should focus on making it through the year." Ren told himself.

Shujin Academy

To say Ren felt unwelcomed by the school was an understatement. The principal did nothing but threaten him about the consequences of expulsion. His assigned homeroom teacher after giving him his Student ID and PE Uniform already complained in front of him about him being her responsibility.

"They're treating you like some kinda nuisance. I guess that's what it means to have a criminal record. Turns out your past follows you wherever you go." Sojiro told Ren once they left the principal's office, there was a hint of empathy the young man could hear in his guardian's voice.

"By the way… if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?" Sojiro remarked sternly.

"I'll be careful." Ren answered, getting a huff from Sojiro in response.

On their way back, they ended up getting stuck in traffic. After a little bit of small talk in the car, Sojiro made a remark.

"What a troublesome kid I've taken in…" Sojiro thought out loud.

"If I am such a bother, then why did you take me in?" Ren asked out of curiosity.

"I was asked to do it… and I kind of happened to agree." Sojiro explain, peaking his ward's interest.

"If it's not too much, could you please elaborate on that?" Ren replied, making Sojiro sigh.

"Don't get me wrong, I wasn't doing that out of sympathy. I've already been paid to do it. Also, I… kinda owe your uncle a favor." Sojiro explain, his tone softening at the mention of Ren's uncle.

"I suppose that makes sense, thank you. That is all I wanted to know." Ren told him with a satisfied smile.

"A favor, huh? It must've been something big if he gives a criminal shelter for it. Either that or he's secretly a softie pretending to be a hardass." Ren concluded in his head while suppressing a chuckle.

The next day

After getting dressed and packing his things for school, Ren went downstairs and headed for the door, only to be stopped by his guardian.

"Oh, so you actually are going to school." Sojiro remarked, getting a nod from Ren, who resists the urge to roll his eyes.

"Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure to finish before customers start coming in." Sojiro said as he pointed at a plate he placed at the counter.

"This is my breakfast?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't complain. Just eat." Sojiro responded sternly.

"R-right, uhm thanks for the meal, sir." Ren said and sat down.

"Oh, and while you're at it drop the 'sir', just call me Boss." Sojiro told him.

Ren nods and continues to eat. To his surprise, the curry was much better than he expected it to be.

"I thought it was gonna be some generic stuff, but this is actually really good." Ren thought, once he finished his meal he stood up and grabbed his bag.

"Thank you for the meal, Boss. I will be on my way now" Ren said and left.

Once Ren got out of the Ginza Line, he was hit with some terrible luck. It started raining and that meant he was pretty much stuck taking cover underneath a shop's awning, unless he wanted to catch a cold that is.

He looked at his phone to look up directions while he was waiting for the rain to let up, only for the strange app showing up again. Ren frowned and let out a sigh. Just as he wanted to uninstall the app, he looked to his side to see a hooded girl standing next to him.

She took off her hood, revealing her platinum blond pigtails, sighing at the rain. While looking at the rain, she looked to her side, and notices Ren looking at her. She gives him a smile before looking at the rain again.

"God, this is awkward!" Ren frowned and looks at his phone again.

They continued standing underneath the awning in silence, which was then broken by a car stopping in front of them, revealing a square-chinned man.

"Good morning, you want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late." the man said.

"Um, sure. Thank you." the girl said and even though her answer was quick, Ren couldn't help but feel like something was off.

"Do you need a lift too?", the man asked Ren.

"I will be fine on my own, but thank you, I appreciate the offer." Ren answered as he shook his head.

Once the girl entered the car, Ren waved his hand at them and smiled, only to see a frown on the girl's face.

"Maybe I should have gone with them. It is getting pretty late." Ren thought and heard footsteps getting closer. He then saw a blonde boy, who seemed like he was chasing after the car.

"Dammit… Screw that pervy teacher." the boy said as he stopped in his tracks.

"Pervy teacher?" Ren repeated the boy's words, making him turn his attention to Ren.

"What do you want?" the boy asked with an expression that looked like he wanted to pick a fight.

"You plannin' to rattin' me out to Kamoshida?" he said with a threatening glare.

"Who?" Ren asked in genuine confusion.

"Huh? In that car just now, it was Kamoshida." the boy explained.

"He does whatever the hell he wants. What does he think he is- the king of a castle? Don't you agree?" the boy asked as he scoffed.

"While that is a good analogy, I don't know that Kamoshida person you are speaking of, so I cannot say whether I agree or not." Ren told the boy, who gives him a confused look.

"Wait. You don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right?" the boy asked.

"Yes, but I'm a transfer student." Ren replied.

"Then no wonder you don't know him. Anyways, the rain ain't too bad now. So we better hurry up before we're too late." the boy said as he turned around.

Suddenly Ren and the boy felt a weird headache but continued to make their way to school. For some reason, Ren couldn't help but feel tense, it was as if something were wrong with the world around him.

It was shortly after that, that Ren knew that something was definitely wrong. The place where the school was supposed to be, was replaced by a giant castle. The boy looked back at the alley, trying to confirm that they didn't take a wrong turn or something.

"I guess we should just ask." the boy said, getting a nod from Ren before entering the castle.

"That's weird, where's the school." the boy asked as he scanned the entrance hall.

"Are you sure, we didn't take a wrong turn?" Ren asked and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well it said 'Shujin' on the gate, so it must be the school." the boy told Ren.

He then looked at his phone and frowned. "Out of service? Where the hell did we end up?" he asked.

They heard some footsteps approaching them, turning their attention to it. There was a person in a knight's armor standing before.

"Geez, you scared me there. Who're you? A student?" the boy asked before walking up to the knight. "Man, you're costume's impressive. Is that armor for real?" he asked, only getting silence as an answer.

The boy told the knight to speak up, only for a second one to suddenly appear.

"H-hey, what's going on?" the blonde asked and took a step back.

"Is this some kind of prank?" Ren asked cautiously.

"D-dude, I dunno!" the blonde said, and the knights started to slowly walk up to him.

Starting to feel threatened he turned to Ren. "This shit's real. Come on man, we gotta run!" he told Ren.

Ren nodded and they began running away from the knights, only to be stopped in their tracks by two others. The boy looked around, trying to find an opening. One of the guards bashed his shield into the blonde's back and the others proceed to close in on them, knocking them out a few moments after.

?

"Hey." a familiar voice said. Ren woke up and saw the blonde boy standing next to where he was lying. He got up and saw that they were put into a cell.

"Great, that's now what? The third time?" Ren thought and let out a sigh.

"You all right?" the boy asked Ren with a concerned look on his face.

"I am fine, thank you. How about you?" Ren asked back.

"Yeah, more or less." the boy said as he rolled his shoulder.

"Looks like this isn't a dream. Ugh, what the hell is going on?" the boy groaned and continued to examine the cell.

Suddenly they heard a pained scream in the distance, making both boys.

"You gotta be shittin' me. This is bad." the boy said with a panicked expression.

"There has to be a way for us to get out." Ren said and looked at their surroundings.

"How is this guy so calm right now?" the boy thought to himself as he nodded.

They continued to examine the cell, hoping to find a way to break out, but with no avail. Knights approached their cell, telling them they have been sentenced to death for 'unlawful entry'.

"Huh? That's bullshit! We didn't mean to enter in the first place!" the boy yelled.

"What exactly gives you the right to give a verdict like that without any form of prosecution?" Ren asked, trying his best to stay calm.

"You're ask about rights in my castle?" a condescending voice said.

The knights stepped aside, revealing a man in a red cape with a heart pattern, wearing a crown on his brown-haired head.

"Huh? Is that you Kamoshida?" the blonde asked with wide eyes.

"I thought it was a petty thief, but to think it was you Sakamoto. Are you trying to disobey me again? Looks like you haven't learned your lesson at all." Kamoshida said with a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, and you brought a friend this time, cause you can't do anything on your own." he remarked and looked at Ren.

"This ain't funny you asshole!" Sakamoto snapped back.

"Is this how you speak to me- the king? Not only did you sneak into my castle, you also committed the crime of insulting me. The punishment for that is death. It's time for an execution!" Kamoshida declared.

The knights entered the cell, surrounding Sakamoto, who tried to fight back and tackled one of the knights. Another knight gut-punched the blonde, making him fall to his knees.

"Get away from him!" Ren shouted and tried to pull away one of the knights surrounding Sakamoto.

"Just go! Get outta here! These guys are serious!" Sakamoto told Ren, Kamoshida gave an amused chuckle and looked at Ren.

"Oh? Running away, are we? My, what a heartless friend you are." he said in a mocking tone.

"He ain't a friend." Sakamoto muttered.

"What's the matter? Too scared to run away?" Kamoshida asked with a smug grin.

"I don't care if he's a friend or not. I won't leave him behind." Ren said as he glared at the so-called king.

"Pathetic. Scum like you isn't worth my time. I'd rather focus on this one's execution." Kamoshida declared condescendingly.

Two knights picked up Sakamoto by his arms and held him down for Kamoshida to beat him up, while another knight pointed his sword at Ren's throat, daring him to move. The knights then threw the blond boy to the ground.

"Where'd that energy from earlier go? Beating a peasant like you isn't worth my time, I'll just have you killed right now." Kamoshida said as he looked down at the boy.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Ren yelled, gaining the king's attention.

"What?... Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am." Kamoshida said smugly as he walked up to Ren and looked him in the eyes, only to be met with a cold stare.

"That look in your eyes irritates me!" Kamoshida growled at him and kicked him to the ground.

"Hold him there! After the peasant, it's his turn to die." the king commanded his guards, turning his attention back to Sakamoto.

Ren immediately got up and ran forward, only to be grabbed by two knights, pushing him against the wall. Ren struggled to break free from their hold as he watched Kamoshida laugh at Sakamoto, who is scared for his life.

"This is truly an unjust game; you're chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you." a voice in Ren's head said as a butterfly passed him.

"What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch? Are you going to forsake him to save yourself?" another voice asked. Ren looked around, trying to find the voice's source.

"Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?" the voice asked, memories of that night flashing before his eyes.

"It wasn't!" Ren answered, gritting his teeth.

"Very well! I have heeded your resolve." the voice spoke. Ren then felt pain coursing throughout his body, screaming in pain as a result.

"Now vow to me.

I am thou, thou art I.

Thou art willing to perform sacrilegious acts for thine own justice!

Call my name and release thy rage!

Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all thine own, though thou to be chained to hell itself!" the voice chanted.

Ren let out one last scream before looking up at Kamoshida again.

"Execute him!" Kamoshida commanded.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ren shouted, glaring at Kamoshida with a raging fire in his eyes.

"What was that?" Kamoshida asked as he and his guard turned to him.

"You desire to be executed this much? Fine!" he said and looked at one of his knights, gesturing him to attack Ren. The knight punched Ren in the face, knocking off his glasses in the process.

Two knights pressed the shafts of their lances against his throat, a third one preparing to deal the final blow. Suddenly, Ren's eyes shot open, releasing a strong gust of wind in the process. He looked up again, revealing a white domino mask on his face.

Ren didn't know why, but he tried his hardest to get it off. He gripped it on its left side with both hands, ripping it off with all the strength he could muster. He lets out a bloodcurdling scream as blood splatters from his face.

He looks up again, blooding trailing down his face, looking at Kamoshida with yellow eyes and a sadistic smirk, blue flames engulfing him moments after with the sound of laughter echoing through the cell.

Kamoshida and his knights stepped away from the flaming figure, which then revealed Ren and a winged figure, dressed in a red suit and a top hat on its head, emerging behind him.

Ren gestured it to attack, causing it to release another gust of wind, this time pushing away his assailants. Kamoshida looks at the creature in fright and crawls away as Sakamoto stares at it in awe.

"I am the pillager of twilight, Arsene. I am the rebel's soul residing within you." the figure explained as Ren turned his attention to it.

"If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break this crisis." Arsene offered, making Ren smirk.

"If that's the case, then give me your power!" Ren commanded.

"Hmph, very well then!" Arsene answered.

"Who the hell are you?" Kamoshida asked as he got up.

"Me? I'm the guy who's gonna break out of this shithole!" Ren answered with a smug grin.

"Tch, Guards! Start by killing that one!" Kamoshida commanded his knights, who in turn transformed into beings representing Jack-o-lanterns wearing a wizard head with a lamp in their hands.

"You'll learn the true strength of my men!" the king declared.

"Ha, is that so? Well then, guess there's no reason to hold back!" Ren replied and a knife appeared in his hand.

"Detest the enemies before you! Change that animosity into power and unleash it!" Arsene told him.

"Alright then. Eiha!" Ren ordered, motioning him to attack one of the monsters, dealing a good amount of damage.

The other monster proceeded to run in for an attack, which Ren barely dodged.

"Swing your blade." Arsene demanded, referring to the weapon in Ren's hand.

Ren slashed at it as a counterattack, regained his footing and rushed to the weakened one to finish it off with his knife.

"This power of mine is yours! Kill them however you want, run wild to your hearts content!" Arsene encouraged Ren, a smirk forming on his face.

"Let's put an end to this. Ravage them, Arsene!" Ren commanded, destroying the other monster in a combination of spells and knife attacks.

He turned back to Sakamoto who looked at him in both awe and disbelief. Ren blinked and suddenly realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform, but a black ankle-length tailcoat and a pair of red gloves instead.

"What… What was that just now?" Sakamoto asked as Ren scanned his new attire.

Kamoshida walked up to the masked boy, who wasn't paying attention, only to be tackled to the ground by Sakamoto.

"Ha! You like that you son of a bitch?" he asked.

"Sakamoto-san, the key!" Ren said.

"Huh! You mean this?" Sakamoto asked as he picked it up from the ground.

They rushed out of the cell and locked it; the blonde then proceeds to toss the key away.

"After them! Don't let them escape!" Kamoshida called out to his knights.

"So anyways what was that just now? And what the hell's up with your clothes?" Sakamoto asked when they ran away far enough.

Ren's clothes suddenly changed back into his uniform, even his glasses returning onto his face and his bag suddenly slung over his shoulder again.

"If I'm honest with you, Sakamoto-san." he scratched the back of his head.

"I have no idea."

Author's Notes:

I was originally thinking about splitting it into 2 separate chapters, but it would have made a weirdly paced mess since the first half would have been a huge build-up to the second half which is literally just Ren's awakening.
The first half also feels kinda empty, it feels like I just copy 'n pasted game dialogue and made some add-libs from Ren.
Second half was much more fun to write, because I decided to slightly rewrite the dialogue and be a bit more creative with Ren's dialogue.
Also Ryuji is here now, except I can't call him that right now.
If some segments sound like they were weirdly written, that's probably because I usually started writing around 1-2 am when I couldn't sleep.
Anyways, like always I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I had writing :)