Day: ? Month: ? Year: ?
Night
"In hindsight... this might not be the best of my ideas..."
Just as I left the Velvet Room the pain from the wound in my chest returned in one fell swoop almost causing me to stumble on my way out, not only that, the world was green with several coffins, taking some knowledge out of my mind this should being the main setting for PERSONA 3, taking a few moments to check on the status of my wound, aside from the fact that I felt like it was burning like hell, it seemed like I was well enough to move around without worsening my overall condition, although the loss of blood was a slightly more worrisome matter.
On one side there was a huge building that somehow seemed to be able to stand even with the strange way it was built, that should be Tartarus, so my place should be the exit of the Velvet Room which is in Tatsumi Port Island near the school.
"Tartarus is there... if I remember the map correctly... it should be down this street... probably."
I was too calm for my situation… as much as I could afford with the fact that the lack of blood was making me dizzy, maybe the situation just did not settle in my mind? I really hope it is the lack of blood to my brain that keeps me this way and not that I am already this carefree by default.
"Let's just not think about it, focus on surviving"
Slow and steady I made my way to where the general sleeping area should be, on the other hand the dark hour generates a strange feeling of incongruity, knowing on all levels of thought that this was wrong, or seeing the coffins generating a certain amount of tightness in the chest, a feeling of rejection for not being in there.
With that and other thoughts in my mind, I finally reached a street that seemed to be the one with the school dormitories, the problem was that many of these looked too similar, I had to think carefully about my options since it seemed that the constant bleeding was reaching me. , partially numb limbs and blurred vision.
"This is bullshit…"
I realized what I was doing was totally a gamble, I knew where I was but I didn't know exactly what time I was in, for all I knew maybe the SEES hadn't formed yet, pulling a few more memories from the back of my head was sure that it was actually something that had been going on for years, that last thought made me stop in my tracks.
"Just please, whatever throws me into this place, please don't let it be too far off the mark…"
While I was lost in my thoughts I managed to see something move out of the corner of my eye, when I turned around I realized that it was some shadows, it was like a viscous slime with a mask and something similar to wandering hands, seeing it in PERSONA was very creepier than it was to see it on a screen, only my luck had to be so low to meet 3 shadows that quickly surrounded me.
"Well, fuck you too world..."
Without giving me much time to think one of the shadows jumped at me, I tried my best to try to dodge, but I still managed to get a good hit that knocked me to the sidewalk, if I was not in such a bad shape before, I was now.
Just… What should I do now…?
Run?
"My body is not in good condition, they would catch me quickly and I cannot afford to turn my back on them…"
Cry for help?
"It could attract more shadows and there is no guarantee that someone will come…"
Die…?
"Just so? Will I die before I even start?
I couldn't help but laugh, adding a new layer of pain to my chest along the way, I knew this wouldn't be easy, but that hadn't really settled in my mind at all, I could feel my limbs getting more numb from the blood loss. , and at the same time I could hear my heart pounding wildly as I used the last of my strength to get up.
"Yeah... I am probably going to die, but... that will be on my own terms..."
I could feel my heart faster and faster, looking straight into the shadows I just gave them a defiant smile, a huge headache assailed me, almost like it was going to split my skull.
"COME ON!"
I could feel my head with increased pain, until finally I felt as if a dam were going to break, time was slowing down around me, the fastest shadow was already almost on top of me, but almost in an imperceptible way I saw like a butterfly He flew by as if nothing affected him.
"I am you, you are me"
"Per..."
My blood pumped at full speed as I stretched out my hand…
"You are going to end this chapter"
"So..."
A blue fire began to surround me, and a Tarot card appeared in front of me...
"My sword will be your sword, your path will be my path, which is my promise as a knight..."
"Na…"
The fire began to swirl, time slowly began to move again, the letter in front of me shattered like glass...
"Now call out my name"
"Come on! King Arthur!"
Above me appears a large humanoid figure, wrapped in shining silver armor from head to toe, a blue cape fluttering over his shoulders while with both hands holding a sword with the bearing worthy of the king of knights, a glow came from the helmet of his armor as he charged straight at the shadows to cut them down.
The first shadow that came towards me was easily cut in 2 making it disappear as if nothing, King Arthur raised his sword ready for the fight that the other 2 shadows did not take long to jump, a shadow tried to go after me from again, but was intercepted with the sword making him return and colliding with the other shadow, after a single cut he finished with both.
I could not help but look in amazement at my PERSONA, in some strange way he reminded me of Proto Arthur from the Fate series, he looked at me before nodding his head and disappearing.
"Wow..."
With that I finally felt like a puppet whose strings were cut, barely managing to lean against a wall to slide to the cold ground staining with my blood.
"Hears!"
I could barely hear a voice not far away, but before I could see whose it was my consciousness began to slide away, I only managed to distinguish a little red hair before running out of strength, I almost died, but the feeling that it generates in my seeing my PERSONAAA just made me smile
Day: ? Month: ? Year: ?
Morning?
"Did someone write down the license plate?"
Again, I opened my eyes to be greeted by an unknown ceiling, while I brought my hands to my face, I noticed that there was no longer any pain, except for a little discomfort, so I realized that my entire back was covered in bandages, looking at me Looking around I realized I was apparently in a hospital room.
I decided to undo the bandages a little to better see the state of my wounds, to my surprise it seemed that it had almost completely healed, although it was also noticeable that it had left a huge scar behind. Just how long was I out for it to be almost completely healed? right?
"Excuse me"
Just when I was asking what I should do the door to the room opened, there was a girl with long red hair, her brown eyes shining with a hint of red, white long-sleeved blouse, black skirt and tall boots, there was no doubt that it was Mitsuru Kirijo.
"Looks like you finally woke up" she said as she crossed her arms looking at me
"Yes… this…"
"Kirijo, Mitsuru Kirijo, I know you must have a lot of questions, but before that, are you feeling better?"
"I'm alive and in one piece, I also feel much better without my chest bleeding. How long was I out?"
"Almost a month"
"Too long... by the way, I'm Tyron, Tyron Miller"
"I guess you're not from around here"
"It all depends on where it is here"
"Japan, in the city of Iwatodai"
"Oh Dorothea, I guess we're not in Kansas anymore."
For a moment I saw how her serious face broke letting out a small laugh, I was happy that she understood the reference, but a few minutes later she returned to her serious face staring at me.
"We have tried to search your records, but there is absolutely nothing, outside or inside Japan. Do you know why?"
"Shouldn't the nurse be asking those questions?"
"If it was a typical case that would be the case, even the police would be involved, it just isn't because the Kirijo group was the one who found you first… after your little display on the streets, so again why isn't there? anything about you in any record?"
Because I do not exist, that is what I wanted to say, but there was no way to say it without sounding crazy, so I looked down a bit clutching the sheet debating what was a good idea to say, Kirijo seemed to notice my hesitation, so he gently placed his hand on my shoulder to give a reassuring smile.
"I... to be honest I don't know... I suddenly realized that I was lying in a pool of my own blood not far from a giant tower."
"Giant tower? Do you mean Tartarus?
"If that's the name of the giant tower, then yes, I was pretty disoriented before those masked things attacked me."
"How did you get to where we found you?"
"I could barely tell left from right because of the lack of blood, so good luck. Anything else?"
"You really don't remember anything?"
"There's...huge brain gaps, some random stuff...a bit of general information, school knowledge, that kind of thing...but there's not much about me apart from my name and maybe my date of birth."
"You don't seem too worried"
"It's because you didn't see me for the first few minutes when I realized my lack of memory... I had enough time to calm down... plus the circumstances did not leave me much of a choice either..."
With that said, it seemed that Kirijo had started to reflect, technically everything I said was true, I was just omitting some information, I also did not know how my knowledge would be taken, "I have no memories, but I think I'm from another world where this place it's a video game", great way to be branded crazy.
If I remembered correctly there were 4 characters with the death flag on, none of them deserved those endings they had, I knew that in some way it would help the group to grow, but letting them die for that alone left a bad taste in my mouth, I was sure that they could do it just the same, he just had to push the right buttons.
"Compared to there being an hour 25 a day, amnesia seems much more believable"
"I am sorry…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure you have many things to worry about now, if you don't mind you could stay with our group, it's better than being on the street"
"Seriously?! Thank you!"
"But first I will need you to fill out some sheets, with everything you can remember so that I can have an official record for you"
"As my captain commands" (Tyron)
With a half-smile Kirijo finally said goodbye.
Day: 18/Saturday Month: April Year: 2009
Afternoon
"Well, finally goodbye to the short hospital gowns"
After Kirijo visit the day before, they proceeded to give me a check-up and apparently no longer having any discomfort, they proceeded to let me go today, a little earlier they had left me a change of clothes to replace the one that was torn and bloody, no I will bother to wonder how they knew my size.
"Clever"
Checking that everything was fine in front of the mirror, I realized that it was the first time I had seen myself, my height was around 1.65m, my skin was a light tone with a touch of brown, long black hair that was a little on edge. the tips, dark brown eyes, everything indicated Latin descent, which made it seem strange that he was speaking in Japanese, although among all that it was the least jarring, although I knew that the PERSONAA in front of the mirror was me, something was out besides the huge scar across my torso, though I do not know what could be wrong.
"Whatever, let's go with it"
With that everything was ready, I didn't have much with me to begin with other than my ruined clothes, the only thing that could be saved were a pair of brown boots and a red scarf (although I didn't remember wearing it) that I tied to my head by letting it fall Some strands on the sides, just as he finished, Kirijo entered the room.
"Looks like you're ready, let's go"
"I follow your boss"
Night
After a quiet car ride (limousine that screamed I am rich) we finally got back to the bedrooms, not far from where I collapsed, by the date today should be the same day that the protagonist also returned.
I simply dedicated myself to following Kirijo in silence, she was not a very talkative PERSONA, besides, she gave an air terribly similar to that of a strict boss, I really did not want to see her bad side, while I followed her through the residence we came to a big room on the fourth floor where two people were already waiting for us.
One was a boy of about 17 years old and wearing a red vest, he was preparing a tea that he placed on the table in front of a couple of sofas before sitting down, it must be Akihico Sanada, the team's muscle and next star boxer.
The other was an older man, long brown hair and round glasses, Shuji Ikutsuki, the PERSONA he should be more careful with, any plan he has should stay off his radar.
Kirijo came forward and sat on one of the sofas having a cup of tea, I calmly walked forward and sat on the other side of the table from Akihico, he smiled when he saw me and held out his hand to greet me.
"I'm Akihico Sanada, nice to meet you"
"Tyron Miller, I say the same"
"I am Shuji Ikutsuki, head of the school board"
"Well... what exactly are we waiting for?"
"There are 2 more people missing that we need to arrive, be patient, they should be here soon"
Said and done, the door rang and two people entered, one was a short brown-haired girl in a pink jacket, Yukari Takeba, the other was a blue haired boy, Minato Arisato, again Shuji and Akihico introduced themselves as well. Yukari introduced herself to me, then they both sat down.
"Now I hate to go straight to the point, but are you aware there aren't 24 hours in a day?" Shuji said as he looked at both Minato and me.
"Yes..." Apathy, your name is Minato Arisato
"My common sense wants to differ... but seeing that I almost died..."
"There is a moment just when the clock strikes midnight that a hidden period of time occurs, at that moment we call it the Dark Hour"
"Dark hour..."
"It is a period of time that occurs between one day and the next that appears only for those with potential"
"Normal humans are unaware of her because they're asleep in their coffins" Those things, thank you Akihico for reminding me how uncomfortable they were to watch
"That's not the problem though," Kirijo pointed out as he put down his tea and took command of the conversation.
"Have you seen them? The monsters? We call them shadows."
"The shadows only appear during the dark hour and attack those who are in their coffins, all those people go on to suffer from something we call apathy syndrome, it leaves the victim immobile once they contract it"
"We are the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad or SEES for short, officially we are a school club, but in reality, we are an elite group that is dedicated to defeating shadows"
"Defeat shadows?"
"There are very few who can function during the dark hour, those people have the potential to awaken powers with which they can defeat the shadows"
"Like what I wore the other day?"
"Yes, we call them PERSONA and only those who are gathered here can use them"
"What do they say? Sounds fun, doesn't it?
"I beg to differ with that Akihico..."
"Akihico, you just managed to get hurt the other day"
"In short, I would like both of them to join"
With that Shuji approached with two suitcases to place them on the table, in each one there was a weapon, Evoker, which was used to summon the People, next to that a holster for the gun and a bracelet with the acronym SEES.
"I want you to help us"
"It is understood"
"Are you sure? Just like that Minato?"
Minato accepts without hesitation, that took some by surprise, but for my part I simply contemplated the Evoker in front of me, taking it means that there is no turning back, that I would get involved in one way or another, people who did not deserve death, the world in danger, the stakes were very high, without many rewards, he did not know the reason why he ended up in this world, much less if there was a way to return...
"Tyron?" I looked at Kirijo who cut off my train of thought.
"I…I don't know why I ended up here…there aren't many memories I can hold on to…let alone a place I can return to…"
"If you don't feel comfortable, we can always fix something, I don't want you to feel forced to accept"
I looked her straight in the eyes, she wasn't lying, she would definitely comply with what she said, but the slight flash of disappointment appeared on her face, I closed my eyes for a moment to meditate, logic said that accepting should be a good course of action to win her favor, but the option to stand aside and let it all go by without my intervention was also there...
"Thanks for the offer... but I think I'll stay"
"Do you understand what you're getting yourself into?"
"I honestly want to believe so… but no"
"Then…"
"Let me finish, I don't know exactly what I'm getting myself into, but there are people in danger, if I just sat on the sidelines waiting for someone else to take care of it... I could not look in the mirror if something bad were to happen knowing I had the power to do it." make difference"
"…"
"I don't know who I am, I don't know where I come from, I have nowhere to go, but I feel like I'm in the right place, so I'll give everything in me to help whoever needs it..."
While saying that I stretched out my hand letting a Tarot card appear floating in front of the astonished gaze of most of those who were in the room, then without hesitation I closed my hand letting my PERSONA appear right behind me.
"That is my promise as a Knight"