Disclaimer: The author does not claim ownership of either the Percy Jackson or Persona series. They belong to Rick Riordan and Atlus respectively.

Chapter 1: The Game Begins

This story is a work of fiction

Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead in your world are purely coincidental.

Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of partaking in this game.

I agree

I do not agree

...The contract has been sealed.

The world is not as it should be. It's filled with distortion, and "ruin" can no longer be avoided.

Those who oppose fate and desire change... From time to time, they were referred to as Tricksters.

The two Tricksters have been chosen. Now is the time to rise against the abyss of distortion.

4/9

Afternoon

Saturday

"We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly."

"Must be our stop," Percy mumbled to himself as he heard the announcement. He was wearing a black shirt with red buttons and a shield emblem on his chest, a white turtle neck underneath it, red, white, and black plaid pants, and black shoes. He and his mom were riding the train to the place where they will be staying for the next year, according to the Japanese courts. A few weeks ago, his mom had planned a trip to Japan for a book signing convention. His mom was Sally Jackson, a world famous author whose novels made millions, which had allowed her and Percy to live a comfortable life for the past four years.

Well, as comfortable as they could be, considering that Sally was a single mother (they don't talk about dad that much, she gets sad when they do), and they were always traveling across the world, one place to another. His mom had them learn how to speak the languages of some of the countries they visit with a language learning program, and became fairly fluent in some, so that they wouldn't disrespect or offend anyone.

'Well, look how well that turned out,' he thought bitterly, remembering the night that got him in this mess in the first place. It was the day after the book signing was over. A drunkard was trying to force himself on his mom while she was struggling from his grip, threatening to call the police, while Percy was unsuccessfully trying to get him off of her. Someone else was there too, also trying to get the man to stop. He helped him get the drunkard off of his mom, but the man lost his footing and hit his head on the pavement. He could still hear that man's voice echo in his head.

"Damn brats, I'll sue!"

Turned out the drunkard was some big shot politician, and sued them in court. His mom had tried to defend them, but they ultimately lost, and now they have to stay in Japan for a year with Percy on probation because of a false assault charge added to his record, his mother's reputation was damaged, and he got someone else wrapped up in his mess.

'I still can't believe this happened to us,' Percy thought, turning to his mom, who was wearing a white shirt, blue pants, and black shoes, before looking down, 'Mom did everything she could for us and we still lost. And that guy... If we meet each other again, I'll have to apologize to him for getting him mixed up in all of this.'

"Seriously? Another mental shutdown?"

"I'm telling you man, I'm not making this up!"

Japanese was one of the languages Percy was fairly fluent in, so he turned his head to where he heard that conversation and saw two guys talking with each other. The mental shutdowns are one of the biggest topics being discussed in Japan right now, along with the psychotic breakdowns, as people were suddenly dying or going berserk left and right since two years ago.

'A mental shutdown,' he thought to himself. 'People suddenly breaking down... it just seems so unbelievable, and yet it's happening right now.'

"Is something wrong, Percy?"

He turned his attention away from the conversation and to his mother. She seemed worried for him, and he realized that he must have seemed upset.

"It's nothing," Percy reassures his mom. "I was just thinking about our... problem."

Sally placed a comforting hand on her son's shoulders. "I've been thinking about our situation, too, Percy." She sighed. "I'm sorry we lost. I did the best I could, but it wasn't enough."

"Mom," Percy replied, "don't blame yourself. If anything, it's that jerk's fault."

"Percy, that's in the past now. What's done is done, and all we can do now is wait this out."

"B-but this isn't fair!"

"I know Percy, I know."

The train slowed to a stop as it reached the station, and the doors opened to let the passengers out. A short while later, Percy and Sally were walking toward the station square to go to the address where Sally was able to rent an apartment in Yongen-Jaya, and Percy saw hundreds of people walking across the station.

"Wow," he mumbled.

(Persona 5 OST-Recall~Hint)

He heard a ping somewhere in his pocket, and dug out his phone. He saw a creepy red app with what looks like an eye with a star-shaped pupil and jagged lines jutting out from the background. It grew in size and covered most of his phone screen. Surprised, Percy tapped it multiple times, but nothing seemed to happen.

'Great, now my phone's infected,' he mentally groaned. 'Just my luck.'

"Hey mom, I think we should stop by the..." his words died on his lips when he sees everything slowing down until everyone, including his mom, was completely frozen.

He stared, dumbfounded, at the scene before him, unsure what is happening.

'What the...?'

He looked toward the center of the square and saw blue fire blazing amidst the bizarre scene. It shifted into a vaguely human form, the flames constantly flickering before it seemed to sprout wings. Percy stared at it, feeling something from it. Something strange, yet familiar. In the flames where it seemed to form the head, orange fire appeared, giving it slitted eyes and a smiling mouth with sharp teeth. Then the fire revealed an exact copy of him, except with a sinister grin, and glowing yellow eyes.

(Music End)

Suddenly, it all disappeared in a flash of light, and everyone was moving again. It was a short time before he snapped out of his trance and heard his mom calling for him up ahead.

He quickly deleted the weird app, thankful that he could do something about it now, and ran to meet up with his mom.

"Are you ok, sweetie?" his mom asked worriedly. "You stopped for a moment."

Percy wanted to tell her what he saw, the fire and his doppelganger, but he didn't think she would believe him.

"Just surprised at how many people are here." It wasn't a lie and he was surprised at how big the crowd was, so it should be an okay answer. Didn't mean he liked lying to her though.

His mom pursed her lips. He knows it means that she knows he's holding something back, but she didn't pressure him.

They made a stop at the nearest grocery store to buy some food before continuing to their apartment.

Evening

(Persona 5 OST-Beneath the Mask Instrumental)

They made it to their new apartment, which seemed pretty empty, despite the fact that there is furniture here. The windows on the front helped let the two see the apartment they will be staying in better. The interior was colored a dull gray with the wooden floors and ceiling being brown. The main room was a combination of a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. The gray wooden table and chairs sat in the space to their left that was the dining area, with the kitchen being separated from it by a counter. The kitchen had a sink, a dishwasher, cabinets, a fridge, and a stove that was also an oven. There was a fair amount of dishes, cups, bowls, and other tableware, and the cabinets and fridge were empty, which will store the food Percy and his mom had bought.

The space to their right was where the living room part was. The gray futon was by the windows, and a small table was in front of the futon. There was a flat screen tv placed on a shelf in front of the futon and the table.

"So, this is where we'll be staying." It came out as more of a statement than a question from Percy's mouth.

The two went to work making themselves at home. Thanks to Sally's success, they had the money to buy food to fill up the fridge and cabinets. Percy carried the box with his clothes in it to one of the two bedrooms, seeing a bathroom door in the hallway. The bedroom was somewhat spacious and had a curtained window that showed the outside. On his right at the entrance, he sees a bathroom door. On his left where the bedroom is, there was a bed with a white blanket on top of it, as well as several pillows, a black drawer, and an empty closet. Percy placed the box on the floor, and proceeded to place his clothes in his closet, taking the time to trade his current outfit for blue pajamas.

Percy came back to the living room after he finished when Sally had called him over to discuss their arrangement.

"Percy, make sure you go to bed early," his mother told him. "We'll be going to Shujin Academy tomorrow."

"The school I'll be attending, right?"

Percy doesn't really have a good track record when it comes to school. He was expelled from six different schools in six years prior to his mom's success. One time in fourth grade, when his class took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, he hit the wrong lever and the whole class took an unplanned swim. In fifth grade, he accidentally fired a Revolutionary War cannon at the school bus when the class was visiting the Saratoga battlefield.

He swears he's a good kid.

He then remembered the last school he went to before his mom had become famous: Yancy Academy. While he had some bad experiences at that school, he also had some good ones. It was where he met his first and best friend Grover Underwood. They were the targets of bullies at Yancy, and so they became fast friends. He missed Grover a lot and he wished he could see him again, ask him how he's doing. Hopefully, he's survived Yancy and its bullies. He remembered Grover's face when he told him about his mom's success and how he'll have to leave Yancy soon. He seemed so scared and nervous when he heard the news, and Percy didn't know what to do, so when school was over, he told him how he is the greatest friend he ever had, and hugged him. It seemed to make him feel better, because he hugged him back. Percy reassured him saying they might meet up again, and he remembered Grover's smile.

There was also Mr. Brunner, the kindly Latin teacher in a wheelchair, who always encouraged him to be as good as anyone else, no, better than anyone else, in spite of his dyslexia and ADHD. He had always pushed him harder when everyone else just gave him the stink eye. When he heard the news, he seemed conflicted at first, like he didn't know how to feel, which was pretty understandable. Ultimately, he gave him a gentle smile, wishing him good luck and saying he knows he will do great things in his life, and he seemed so sure about it. Percy still doesn't understand that, since he has never made a grade above a C- in his life and had been expelled from six schools. Well, he could say that he hasn't gotten into any trouble in school since then, so it was an improvement.

Since they were travelling all over the world often, thanks to his mom's career, he didn't get into as much trouble as he had been, since he would only stay at the local school for a week or two until they have to leave. But now he has to stay in school for whole year.

This year, he was determined to be good.

"Yes," Sally replied. "I'm thankful that the school had decided to accept you. There's rarely a school that would accept someone with..." she didn't finish that sentence.

'With a record like mine.' But Percy did.

"I promise I'll be good this year, mom," He says. And he means it.

Sally smiled. "I know you will, Percy," she encouraged. "Now get some sleep for tomorrow. We have to look our best when we meet the staff, and make sure you wear the uniform when we go."

(Music End)

After saying goodnight to each other, they brushed their teeth in their bathrooms to get ready to sleep before they went into their bedrooms. Percy had laid down on his bed but he was still awake, still thinking about how they had gotten themselves in this mess.

Meanwhile, in the attic of a café, someone else was also thinking about their situation.

Both of their minds went back to that fateful night.

Ren had to go home since it was late at night. He was hanging out with a friend and time flew by faster than they thought, so he was taking a shortcut to get home quicker, and that was when he heard voices.

(Persona 5 OST- Desire)

"Just get in the car!"

"No, stop it!"

"Hey! Get off of her!"

Ren had turned around the corner to see three people. One was a bald man trying to get a grip on a woman, while a kid his age was unsuccessfully trying to get the man off of him, getting pushed back onto the ground whenever he tried.

"How dare you cross me!"

"Stop it! Let me go! No!"

As Ren took in the scene before him as he came closer to it, he saw the teen slowly getting up off the ground.

'I have to do something before it gets too violent.'

He ran closer to stop the struggle from escalating any further.

"Don't give me that shit!"

As he came closer he got a good look at them and saw that the woman and the kid were foreigners and speaking Japanese. The woman had brown hair, and was wearing a dark-colored cardigan, a white shirt, red pants and black heels. The kid was wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, and red sneakers. The man was wearing a business suit with a white dress shirt underneath, orange tinted glasses, and black shoes. The man's face was slightly pink and he could smell the strong scent of alcohol.

'Crap, he's drunk!' Now he needs to be careful, he knows that nothing good came out of situations like this if it went wrong. But either way, he can't just ignore this!

"Tch, what a waste of time," The man slurred angrily. "You think you're worth wasting my time? Huh?"

"That's my mom! Get off!" The kid yelled angrily, as he was once again shoved off when he tried to pull him away.

"Get out of here, kid! Don't involve yourself in adult matters!"

"I-I'll call the police," the women that was the kid's mom shouted.

This only made the man scoff and sneer. "Call them if you want! The police are my bitches. They're not going to take any of you seriously."

Ren had just made it when he started to hear sirens, and the drunk man grimaced.

"Someone called the cops, huh?" He then went back to forcefully grabbing the woman. "Get in the car!"

Again, she tried to struggle out of his grip as her son got back up. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he yelled.

The drunkard merely scowled. "Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country!"

Ren loudly yelled, "Hey!" to grab the man's attention. The woman and her son were surprised someone had heard them, but the drunk man gave him a dirty look that was full of rage.

"...What're you looking at? Get outta my face!" Seeing as Ren was not leaving, he continued. "This ain't a show. Get lost, kid."

"How about you let go of her and get lost yourself." Ren angrily retorted.

The man turned his head toward the mother, "See? This is all because you're so damn slow! Get in the car!"

The woman's son seemed to snap out of his surprise and turned to Ren.

"What are you doing?" he whisper-yelled. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"I can't ignore when someone is in trouble." Ren replied.

The woman again tried to escape, but the drunkard had caught her by her wrist. The kid tried again to pry him off, but this time, he wasn't alone.

"I said let go of her!" Ren stomped toward the man and pulled him off the same time the kid did, succeeding this time, which angered the man even further, but he was stumbling and soon fell onto the pavement, hitting his head on the curb, much to the shock of the three. For a while, the man was unresponsive, and Ren looked down at his hands in horror, fearing he killed him. However, the man got up, his glasses gone, and bleeding from his forehead. He looked at the three of them and they saw that he was pissed. Then he focused his eyes on the two teens.

"Damn brats, I'll sue!"

(Music End)

Percy stared at the ceiling as he remembered. He couldn't believe that the man got away with what he did, and he and his mom are the ones that were punished when they were the victims.

His phone's pinging brought his mind back to the real world, and he took it out. He saw that the creepy red app was on his phone again.

'The hell? Didn't I delete this?'

With that thought in mind, he dragged the app into the trash bin and deleted it. Seeing his phone was low on power, he plugged the charger he packed into an outlet, and plugged his phone to charge it. His eyelids were getting heavy, so he pulled the covers over himself, and soon, sleep overtook him.

?

The jangling of chains woke up Percy as his eyes shot open, and all he saw was blue.

Deep sapphire blue.

He knew this was not his room. The ceiling, the walls, and the floor were all blue. There was a toilet, and looking around, he saw chains and shackles on his wrists. He then saw that he was wearing a black and white striped uniform. A prisoner's uniform.

He pushed himself up from the bench that he turned around to see. The walls were padded, but looked comfortable and elegant. He looked to his right and saw a cell door with chains dangling in front of it.

He was in a prison cell.

He only got more confused when he saw a little girl walk in front of the cell door in a blue prison guard outfit, with a black tie, black shorts, and the letters X.M.R.N. written on her blue cap in gold lettering. She had platinum blonde hair that was tied in two buns, a golden eye, and an eyepatch with a fancy golden V placed over her right eye. She seemed to be smirking a bit.

Not sure what to do, he took a step forward, but felt something weighing him down. Looking back, he saw a ball and chain attached to his leg.

Yet, he continued walking forward, pulling the chain along with him as he did so, reaching the cell doors as he held onto the bars. The little girl moved aside as Percy looked around outside of his cell. A couple cells over on his left, he saw someone who looked almost like his mirror image, only his eyes were gray. He was also wearing the same prisoner outfit Percy was wearing, and was guarded by a similar looking girl, except hers was in a braid, and when she turned around, she had the letters O.Y.O.O. in gold lettering on her cap, and her eyepatch was over her left eye. She seemed less expressive than the other girl.

When both prisoners made eye contact, recognition flashed in each other's eyes.

'Is that... him?' They both thought.

They soon looked towards the center of the room, which had a table with a lamp, a quill pen, and a microphone, most likely for the speakers that were hanging from the ceiling. The table was sitting on a circular carpet with the same fancy V that was on the girls' eyepatches. However, it was who was sitting on the chair behind the table facing both of them that grabbed their attention.

An old skinny man was sitting behind the table. He was wearing a black suit with a white handkerchief in his breast pocket, black pants and shoes, and white gloves. However, the most distinguishable feature was his ridiculously long nose. He had wide eyes with huge eyebrows and an even wider grin that threatened to split his face. He seemed to be balding, and the gray hair he had left was combed neatly behind his pointed ears. He was hunched over, his chin resting on his hands, and his legs were crossed. He then reached a hand out to the both of them and greeted them, his deep voice like a warden delivering a death sentence.

"Tricksters. Welcome to my Velvet Room."

A/N: And so begins the tale of two Tricksters.

This is the first story I've written, so some constructive criticism is appreciated.

You may have noticed that there are some key differences when it comes to Percy's side. In this story, his mom had earned enough money to pay for tuition at NYU and divorced with Gabe when the first book she published became a success. She travels the world with her son for book conventions to keep monsters off of Percy's trail. Percy is 16 here, which would make him a second-year at Shujin. Of course, with such a divergence from canon, there are bound to be changes from the PJO side of the story. I have lots of plans for this crossover, mainly for Percy. What they are, you'll just have to wait and see.

Farewell for now.