A/N: How's it going readers? Time for the next one of the Lost Stories. This is one I've actually been really looking forward to doing. I hope most of you have played the game that this one will be focused around Also, before I forget, this is an AU story. Enjoy.

I am Thou, Thou Art I: Chapter 1

Alicia let out a yawn as she stretched out her arms. It was spring break and that meant a lot of time to herself to spend with her family, friends, and most importantly her boyfriend. The only question was what she would do today specifically. But that was a question to be answered after breakfast.

The black haired teen walked downstairs. College was a tiring experience for her at times, so breaks like this were ones she treasured. As she entered the kitchen, she saw her father sitting at the table talking on the phone.

"Uh huh… Yes, I'm sure they'd love that. I'll check with them." her father turned to his daughter when she saw Alicia enter the room. "Alicia, perfect timing. I'm on the phone with your Uncle Kaito. He says he has an offer for you."

"An offer?" Alicia accepted the phone from her father and brought it to her ear. "Hello Uncle Kaito."

"Ah Alicia, it's so good to hear from you. How's college going?"

"It's going well. I'm almost done with my first year." Alicia told him.

"That's great to hear." he said. "Now then, down to business. I'm sure you remember the company I work for."

"Of course." Alicia said. She had still remembered when her uncle had invited her and her friends to help test some of the companies VR games. Games that weren't MMOs, but instead ones based on older games, giving them a new feel.

"Well there's a recent game we developed and we're looking for people to help us test them. I was wondering if you and your friends would be interested."

"It's not a horror game, is it?" Alicia asked nervously.

Her uncle let out a laugh on the other end. "Don't worry, no horror stuff. Your parents already told me what that Five Nights at Freddy's game I sent you was like for you. No, this is based on a popular RPG style game from past years."

"I doubt I've heard of it, but what's it called?" Alicia asked.

"Persona."

"Persona?" Alicia thought to herself. "That sounds familiar… but I can't remember where I heard it from."

"It was a very popular game series back in the day." Kaito explained. "Anyway, what do you think? Would you and your friends be interested?"

"I don't see why not." Alicia told him. "I'll call them and check to see if they're available."

"Excellent. If they are, you can all come over tomorrow. I'll arrange a hotel for you all to stay at like last time."

"Got it. Thanks Uncle Kaito."

"Oh no, I should be the one thanking you. It's always nice to see my two darling nieces."

Alicia hung up the phone. The name "Persona" kept nagging at her for some reason. She knew she had heard that game name somewhere. But where? Perhaps Dan had mentioned it in the past.

After she texted her friends, it didn't take long for her to remember where she had really heard it from.

"PERSONA?!" Hyde exclaimed. "Alicia, you better not be pulling my leg! Your uncle seriously wants us to test a VR game for PERSONA?!"

"Yes! You don't need to blow out my eardrums, damnit!" Alicia rubbed her ears in a soothing motion after the barrage against her eardrums. "What the hell's got you so excited."

"Have you forgotten who I am!? Persona was my childhood, the very games that defined RPGs for a generation of people!" Everyone wasn't sure but they could've sworn that Hyde started tearing up a little. "To be able to test a VR game for one of my favorite games…"

Wanting the silliness to end, Lilina yanked her boyfriend back down to his seat at the table and knocked him one in the head. "My fiance's overwhelming love for games aside, it'll be nice to hang out like this over Spring Break. It feels like we haven't been together IRL in so long."

"So why did your uncle want us to test this game anyways?"

Emi shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno, maybe because we tested games last time that ended up being pretty successful? He kind of has free reign to do whatever when it comes to his projects."

The words 'free reign' gave Dan an interesting idea as he pulled out his phone. "If that's the case, why don't we call in Kazuto and the others to join in? They should be off for Spring Break too."

"That's a great idea!" Alicia thought. "They didn't come to test games with us last time, so I bet they'd love to come this time around."

"Ugh, do we have to bring the blacksmith and sniper along too?" Hyde groaned.

"Well if we're low on people we could always just leave you behind Hyde." Dan teased.

At that statement, Hyde did what no one ever thought they would see him do. He actually shed a tear and looked and his friends with a pitiful pleading expression.

"Alright, alright, geez. I was just kidding." Dan said. "But if Rika and Sinon can come too, you have to behave."

After calling their friends, they were able to get a fairly large roster for helping test the game. Kazuto and Asuna were both free, as well as Suguha. Rika and Sinon had both agreed to come along too, much to Hyde's dismay.

After checking to make sure with her uncle, Alicia said it was ok for everyone to come along. She gave everyone a time to meet up at the train station before they each split up for the day, excited for tomorrow.

The group exited the train, arriving in Tatsumi Port Island, the location of where Alicia and Emi's uncle worked.

"I've never been here before." Asuna said as she and Kazuto walked off the train. "You said you all came here once right?"

Lilina nodded her head. "Yeah. We tested out a few games for this company during summer break once."

"Sounds like fun." Kazuto said. "I focussed more on MMO's when I was younger, but old classic games really have a nice appeal."

"So what's Persona about?" Asuna asked.

Emi shot the chestnut haired girl a look of disbelief. "Why would you ask that with Hyde here?!"

"Ah let me explain the glory of the wonderful series known as Persona." Hyde started, causing multiple of his friends to groan.

As Hyde went on with his explanation, the group of friends walked out of the train station. Alicia spotted her uncle waiting for them as the man waved to them.

"Hey, glad you all could make it." Kaito greeted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." Asuna said with a polite bow.

"The pleasure's all mine." Kaito told them. "Put your bags in the trunk kids and I'll drive you to the office."

The group did as they were told and got into the large car. As they rode down to the main building for Generation Revival Industries, they all admired the sights of the city. Kazuto and Asuna were especially entranced by the sights with it being their first time.

Once they arrived at the building, Kaito brought them inside and gave them all their guest passes before bringing them into the elevator to ride down to the underground levels.

"So how many of you are familiar with Persona?" Kaito asked.

"I've actually been meaning to ask something about that." Hyde said. "Which persona game is this one based off of?"

"Ah, a good question." Kaito said. "The game actually allows players to select which world they start in. There's different account files so you can play through each of the games. We even have an online mode in the works to allow players to battle each other."

Everyone looked oddly at Hyde, who started bowing to Alicia and Emi's uncle. "You sir are a true genius. Tell me when this game comes out. I want a copy."

"So what's the real difference about each game?" Sinon asked.

"Two things mostly." Dan explained. "First is where the game is based. Second is the way in which you summon your Persona. For example, Persona 5 had you rip off a mask you were wearing. In Persona 4, you summoned a tarot card in your hand and destroyed it."

"That is pretty different." Emi noted. "What about Persona 3?"

"Shoot yourself." Hyde said.

"What the hell?!" Emi exclaimed. "It's a fair question! I've never played Persona before!"

"Shoot! Your! Self!" Hyde told her.

"Geez Hyde, what's gotten into you?" Alicia asked. "There's no need to be that much of an ass just because Emi's never played it."

"No you idiot! You literally have to shoot yourself to summon your Persona in the third game!" Hyde told them. "You take a gun-shaped item called an Evoker, point it at your head and pull the trigger."

Everyone but Dan widened their eyes at this. Emi was the first to break the silence. "That's really freaking dark!"

"Well what do you expect?! Persona 3 was based around death! It was a dark game!"

"Well if you kids don't like the idea, feel free to pick a different Persona game." Kaito told them. "You'll all have the choice of which one to do when you log in."

"Sounds good. I'm gonna go with Persona 5." Dan said.

"I'll go with the tarot card one. It sounds like the most mild." Asuna said.

"Alright then how about this? Wyvern's Inferno does 5 and the others do 4?" Alicia suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Liz said.

"Me too." Sinon nodded.

"Bet you we'll clear it first." Lilina grinned.

"You wish." Suguha said.

Kaito let out a small chuckle. "Seems like there'll be some fierce competition going on. Actually, we'll be linking the worlds in this one. When I say "choose" I really just mean how you summon your Persona. You kids will be testing the PvP online mode I mentioned earlier, after you've all awakened your Personas and practiced for a bit."

"Oh that reminds me!" Alicia said. "What about that favor I asked, Uncle Kaito?"

Kaito nodded his head. "Don't worry, I'll have it all set up for you while you're playing. I actually found the perfect way for it to work too. I'm sure you'll all be surprised."

"Thank you." Alicia said. "I know she'll be excited."

"Who'll be excited?" Asuna asked.

In response, Alicia leaned towards Asuna and whispered something in her ear. Asuna's eyes widened as she heard this. "Oh my gosh really?! That's great!"

"What is it?" Kazuto asked with narrowed eyes.

"It's a secret. No telling." Alicia said with a grin.

Many of the group narrowed their eyes in confusion, but shrugged it off. Kaito led them through the halls of the underground floor, bringing them to a room with several beds lined up with Amu Spheres at the side.

"We'll be monitoring you guys as you play. This game can actually be a bit hard for some people to play, so we need to see the effect it can have on a person's psyche."

"That sounds dangerous. Are you sure we'll be ok?" Suguha asked.

"Don't worry. The Amu Sphere's safety measures will log you off automatically if your heart rate increases too much. Plus we can log you off ourselves if we feel it gets serious." Kaito assured them.

Deciding to trust the man since he was Alicia's uncle after all, they each laid down on the beds and fit the Amu Sphere's over their heads.

"When you log on, you'll have a selection menu on which version of Persona you want to play in." Kaito explained. "But remember, you're not playing through the story. It'll only be the way you summon your Persona. After some practice, you'll all be sent to the PvP arena to test how it works."

With nothing else to say, Kaito walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Everyone looked at each other with excited grins.

"Better try and get all the practice you can get. We're gonna cream you in the PvP." Hyde smirked.

"We're gonna make you eat those words." Kazuto smirked.

Lying on their beds, the teens all logged in together. "Link Start!"

A/N: Well there you go everybody. Wyvern's Inferno and company will be venturing into the game series of Persona. Those of you that haven't seen or played Persona might get a little confused at some points so I would suggest checking it out before reading the rest of this one. For any of you that haven't played any of the Persona games, I highly recommend it. It's a great game series, and one of my all time favorites.

Now for those of you that have played Persona. As you can see, there's a lot of characters in this story. So as a result, coming up with which Persona fits everybody has also been tricky. I already have ones picked out for Kirito, Asuna, and Ren. But if any of you have ideas for Persona's for the others, please feel free to give me your suggestions via review or PM.