Testament: Persona

"I dreamt I was a butterfly. I couldn't tell I was dreaming. But when I woke, I was I and not a butterfly. Was I dreaming that I was the butterfly, or was the butterfly dreaming that it was me?"

Chapter 0: Pilot

Okinawa
25th December 20XX
8:35 P.M.

Another frigid night, I thought as I swiped the skip button on the music player. I watched through the window of the cool blue moonlight shining through the cloud covers, illuminating the streets. These kinds of nights would be perfect for night walks with the light music playing through the cheap earphones. I turned away from the window, closing the curtains, tired of waiting for the bass-sounding honk from my father's car. My father hasn't been home for a while now because he was on duty for the last 3 months. He works at the American military base, so he's rarely home, but he should be getting his leave permit today because it's Christmas. Me and mom are waiting with a hot meal for him. My father is an American, but he prefers the Japanese food that mom makes. The smell of sukiyaki pulled me from my thoughts as I stepped towards the dining room. My mouth opened to call my mom, but my voice was stopped by a sound I had learned to be very anxious about.

The phone that I was holding rang, accompanied by the ringtone that I was taught to dread, the telltale sound of three synthesized beeps, and a pause that looped. The J-Alert tone looped again, even as my mom came in, her brow furrowed and her face a cocktail of anxiety and fear. My thoughts raced, 'Tsunami? Earthquake?' I barely had the time to collect my thoughts as my mom grabbed whatever she had on the nearby table and subsequently my hand as we got out of the house. The frigid night that I thought was peaceful earlier were filled with people looking around, some of them looking at their phones with surprise and some with fear. The quiet from the shock of the emergency alert system became almost deafening. And then, in an instant, the ground fell.

The people on the small street in front of me panicked as the cars rumbled, the lights flickered, illuminating the scene as people got down, covering their heads with what they have. The buildings around us groaned, the concrete in them cracking as they bent from the earthquake. But as soon as it comes, it goes away. I picked myself up, checking on my mom, noting the people were looking up in horror. What could even be worse than an earthquake, I thought as I looked up, finding a crimson moon staring back at me. I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked back at my mom, about to ask if she was seeing this as well, but only the sight of her wide-eyed expression of terror was enough to tell me that she saw this and she was scared as I am. My feet froze in terror at the sight of the eerie blood-red moon. I tried to avert my gaze from it, but despite my effort, I couldn't. It's as if the round satellite has a life on its own staring down at me, emitting its rather terrorizing yet entrancing charisma. As mom dragged me down the streets, we ran past several of our neighbors, also panicking but only concerned about their own wellbeing.

"Did the government said anything?"
"No, anything but telling us to evacuate the island!"
Those are the several words I could make out from the bystanders shouting around me.

The sounds of panic and stampede of the evacuating citizens took my attention as I saw quite a few people fell under the legs of the running crowd, the fear and panic finally settling in as the second, more minor earthquake arrived again. My mom pulled me towards the direction of the shelter, clearly not caring for some of the people who tried to call for help beneath the din of the crowd. Sometimes, I dreamt that some of the people were reaching out to me.

All that happened in the span of a few minutes, and just when things could not get any worse, a bright flash rose from the East. The suddenness of it all captivated the escaping crowd, as we all gazed at the bright flash as it stood over the horizon as if it were the sun itself.

With a loud bang, the shockwave came just after, followed by a huge windblast that blew away the already unstable concrete to rubble. Until this day, I still could not remember how long I had passed out. By the time I had woken up, the entire sky was bathed in a crimson red, as if Enma himself had descended upon Earth. Dark snow fell on the ground, covering it with a thin layer of black dust. The incessant dull ringing deafened me as I took in the situation. Looking to my right in a daze, I found bloodstains leading to my mom calling out for me. The panic set in as I realized that she was pinned beneath the debris. I rushed towards her, trying futilely to lift the concrete with all I can and in my desperate attempt to help her, I did not register the occasional twitch she had while I was trying to help.

She grabbed my hand with all the strength she can muster. A weak smile graced her lips. A metallic object, the silver pendant that my mom always had on her, was laid on my hand as she spoke for me to get out of there before she winced again in pain. I looked around, keeping my hands on the broken mass of concrete and rebar, trying to find any people to help me in my plight. The ringing had finally stopped when my mom grabbed me on my wrist again, then telling me to get out and save myself.

"Jou, listen to me! Go find your father!"

The tears on my eyes were already flowing, staining the rubble, blurring my sight as I refused to leave her there and decided to just pull her away. I heaved as I kept pulling, not registering her escalating coughing and broken exclamations. With one last pull, I screamed and heaved for one last time as I felt the weight of her got loose from the debris.

I had thought at that moment, maybe there was a chance that we could get out. That somewhere in this new hell, there was a glimmer of hope. But it was not so. The broken remains of my mom's upper torso laid broken on my lap. A trail of black entrails was all that remained, still connected with the lower torso. The shock of it was enough to freeze me stiff, even as I heard numerous voices and steps coming to me from behind. My eyes were glued on the broken remains of my mom as a hand grabbed me away from the corpse. "We need to move!" the person carrying me yelled out for his friends, who were sifting through the rubble. But I never moved away from the sight of my mom, who was then suddenly started to twitch against the rubble. One of the people there started shouting as I could see numerous people rising from the rubble, their silhouettes framed against the red sky. The last one to rise then was my mom herself, using her arms as supports for her torso, dark entrails sloppily following the disembodied torso.

Suddenly I heard gunfire from behind me. The bullet pierced through mom's skull and threw her a few meters back. I saw a platoon of soldiers wearing gas masks complete with combat equipment.

"Civilian! Prioritize rescue!" one of the soldiers gave the command to the other soldiers. At that instant, they moved in forward and picked me off the ground. "We're getting you to safety, kid!"

The people that I managed to deduce were JSDF, were carrying me and the other survivors of the explosion to behind a line of soldiers. They shouted for the others to take aim, and with an order to fire, muzzle flashes lit up the scene as the bullets impacted the shambling figures. I raised my mouth in protest, hitting the back of the man carrying me as he brought me closer towards the shining lights behind us. I kept screaming, "Mom! MOM!"

"That's no longer your mom, kid!" I remembered those words from the soldier shoving me into the military Jeep said before shutting the door behind me.

"Open fire! Don't let them off this island!"

"Get back to the port now! Send in the next convoy!"

I heard those exclamations from the soldiers outside the Jeep as I looked through the small semi-transparent window.

I saw a flash of fire and burned the entire squad out of nowhere. It was just an instant, but I saw a winged figure within the flames. I thought it was from the shock, but I am sure I saw it. Feeling the danger closing in, the driver hit the gas, and the Jeep lurched forward. I looked back towards the scene, then marred with muzzle flashes, and the shines following the convoy. With shock still settling in, I sat back down on the slightly musty seat. I could've sworn I saw stains of fresh blood covering the floor and the walls of the Jeep's interior.

"Okinawa is done for…" a man in his 20s whispered while watching the news on his phone. I peeked in to look at it. I saw Okinawa engulfed in flames through the footage. According to the news, it's not just Okinawa, but Tatsumi Port Island and other 6 major cities worldwide.

"I saw it. The black mist turns people into monsters! The government is hiding something from us. It could be a bioweapon or some sort."
"No, it must be the work of god! The end is nigh!" The survivors around me argued among themselves with their theories which I couldn't give a damn about at that time.

The man next to me in the Jeep, a ragged salaryman who is bleeding profusely from cuts on his body, was just mumbling with his eyes wide open, staring at the corner of the seats.

"Eyes in the dark."

"Eyes in the dark."

It was at this time my knuckles were starting to hurt. I relaxed my hand, and inside was a small silver pendant that my mom always had on her.

I cried all the way to the port.

The way to the port was not uneventful either. The traffic was jammed all the way to the entrance of the toll gate, and with the flames all over Okinawa, the citizens were hard-pressed to get out of their vehicles. The throng of panicked evacuation still applied there, as shouting and curses were thrown among the evacuees. I was encouraged by the driver to get out of the car before he tried to persuade the shocked salaryman. But if only it was that easy. Even getting out of the car was a challenge by itself. The amount of people crowding the highways make it hard as the same crush that happened during the early panic. I got on above the car, clambering my way to the hood of the Jeep. I was halfway through the port when a high-pitched whine resounded across the city. Just after landing on another car close enough to the port, I looked back to the source of the whine echoing across the city, finding a giant pillar of light with dark clouds swirling across the pillar. My stomach turned as I looked away, continuing to run towards the soldiers helping people to the boats.

Once I reached the port, I was escorted with a group of people to a large carrier ship, the ship's insides not looking any better. We were brought past an emergency medical ward, which was just the bay floors being filled with stretchers. Nurses, doctors, medics, and anyone with even a slight experience in first aid ran around, helping whoever they could. Our group passed through the gangway to the inside of the carrier when another shockwave reached us, followed by a cacophony of roars coming from the ruined city.

Some of the evacuees were moving to the railways to look at the so-called other explosion, muttering and gasping in disbelief. I admittedly got curious as well, pushing my way to look at the bright white sun climbing out. However, instead of an explosion, my eyes landed on something entirely different than an explosion. Amidst the large pillar of light, a bright white giant hunched over the ruin of the city. A sickly burst of light burst over its back, spreading three pairs of large wings shadowing the city. The thing was so large that one of the wings even spread its shadow over the ship as it started lurching forward to leave the port.

The monster bellowed again to the sky amidst the gaze of the Okinawan survivors. In an instant, it flashed away, leaving lights across the sky. However, our attention was not there but towards the large spikes of Earth jutting out from the thing's departure. A sound that is reminiscent of the cracking of the ground echoed across the horizons as the soldiers nearby yelled for the others to brace themselves.

The ship was knocked out of balance as a torrent of waves came crashing against the ship, the screech of the Earth being split open reverberate across the lands. I fell off the railway, sliding towards the wall, but another soldier there had managed to shield me, making his body cushion the impact. I muttered a small thanks, and after the shockwaves had stopped, he helped me get up. My vision swept to the broken remains of the Okinawa landmass, then a pile of rocks jutting up from the ground marred with orange glows from the fires in the ruined city.

After the initial panic of the situation had turned to grief and confusion, the soldiers started organizing for the newcomers to register in any of the rooms, promising relief, and shelter. I glimpsed across the people of my city either crying their hearts out, phoning for their lost relatives, friend or anyone they can think to contact, and some just sat shocked out of their heads. One of the soldiers ushered me in to a room, where an American soldier waved me in.

"Alright, I am going to need your name." She said in stiff Japanese as she continued to write on the clipboard.

"Tadano Jou. And uh, I can speak English." I replied.

"Tadano? Any relations to William Waters?" She asked, as her attention turned to me. I nodded, and with a sigh, she smiled, "We have your father here."

My father was unconscious. His wounds were grievous enough that he was receiving intensive care. The doctors had managed to stabilize him, and I was welcome to stay here. "Brave lad he is. Wounded and still helping people out. Hell of a father you have there." The doctor said before he left to leave my father and me. I smiled sadly, still affected by the death of my mother, as I laid my head down on the bed.

A quick sleep will deal with the exhaustion.

"There goes my memory of that day. These chains of accidents involving destruction of major cities followed by a beam of light shooting to the sky are officially called the 'Christmas Meltdown' accident. My name is Tadano Jou, 7 years old, and I am a survivor of the 'Christmas Meltdown', Okinawa."

The young brown-haired boy turned the video recorder off as he drifted off to sleep while holding his late mother's silver pendant memento.

Next chapter: "Fear What You Can't See"

This is a darker and realistic take on the Persona series. Everything depicted in this story is an alternate reality of the main timeline. I'll try to update as soon as possible. Thank you for reading, and please look forward to the next chapter.