Before you get started, just wanted to let you all know that this is a series of short stories, because I could not make a very long complex original plot for the life of me. The chronological order of the chapters vary (the ideas gradually come up as I write this story), but I will let you know what's going on and give some of the lore of the story at the end of each chapter at the author's notes.

I was inspired by the story structure of "The Many Quirks of Phantom Thievery" by PsychicBeagle because, from what I remember, it initially started as a series of one-shots before it turned into a big series.

There will be lots of characters from different anime/manga/games/light novels that will appear here, most of them being my favorite characters. Some of them will also either have a main, major or supporting role in this story. Lots of elements and locations from different media will also be referenced here.

Also, sorry if the dialogue seems kinda off, I haven't written in a while thanks to school.

Chapter 1: The Return Of The Sun

Summary:

It was supposed to be the end of the world if all five of them regained their memories, and yet, Tatsuya and Jun recovered their memories of the Other Side without any repercussions. Did that mean that the Other Side no longer exists? But how?

It had been 8 years since then.

Memories of fire, Personas, Demons, rumors, often surfaced in his mind whenever Tatsuya is reminded of the events that occurred in 1999 because of his refusal to forget the bonds he forged in the Other Side.

That was the thing.

He shouldn't have been able to remember.

It was supposed to be the end of the world if all five of them regained their memories, and yet, Tatsuya and Jun recovered their memories of the Other Side without any repercussions.

Not a single one of the Persona-users had any idea why this happened, this completely contradicted what Philemon and Nyarlathotep told them. Though, the moment he regained his memories, he was too glad and weepy alongside his Other Side friends that their bonds remained, not severed despite all the shit the higher beings made them go through.

After finally letting the joy and sadness out of their systems, they (along with the adult group) tried to get some answers from the place where it would most likely have it.

The Velvet Room.

They honestly expected Igor to give another cryptic and philosophical advice, but instead, he simply chuckled and give a single and short answer.

"An unexpected intervention had occurred, one that even Master Philemon and the Crawling Chaos could not have predicted, which resulted in the original world to cease to exist."

After that, Igor did not elaborate further and went back to his usual cryptic self. When they asked Nameless, Belladonna and the Demon Painter (who seemed amused as he glanced at Tatsuya), they all said the same thing, that there was some sort of outside interference that not even Philemon and Nyarlathotep expected.

For a short while, they continue to wonder possible theories of what may have happened but having no other leads besides the cryptic Velvet Room Residents, they decided to let go of the case, not wanting to dwell much on everything that has happened now that it's all over. Maya and Katsuya (whom Tatsuya continued to spend time with to make up for their previously distant relationship) started a relationship and continued working at their jobs, Baofu started a search agency for missing people with Ulala as his partner, and his (Other Side) friends continued their schools lives as normally as they could manage.

Before he knew it, years had already passed by.

=May, 2007=

"Marina City? Isn't that in Fukushima?"

The Commissioner, Fuji Hiroto, silently nodded at Tatsuya's inquiry.

Marina City is a sovereign city-state in Fukushima that was constructed shortly after WWII and boasts the largest collection of primary, secondary, tertiary educational facilities in a single city. Because of that, at least 70% of the 3.5 million population are students. However, why would Tatsuya be called in regards to the place that's basically a different country?

His confusion must have been shown on his face, as Fuji seemed to read his mind, "I'm sure you're well aware of the events that transpired in this city 8 years ago, considering you were at the center of it all."

This caused Tatsuya to immediately tense up. The memories of that year will never, ever be forgotten. He was also surprised by Fuji's knowledge about it until he quickly remembered that he was one of the few higher-ups that Katsuya trusted with most of the details of what truly occurred back then, so the Commissioner was more aware of the supernatural.

Tatsuya had been a police detective for at least 4 years along with his experience as a Persona-user, so he was able to quickly guess what Fuji may want from him.

"You think something may be happening there." It wasn't a question, because Tatsuya knew that's what his superior is thinking.

Fuji nodded slowly, "Remember my cousin, Hisa?" At Tatsuya's affirmative hum, he continued, "She said she started to hear voices sometimes, even when she's all alone. At first, I told her that this is probably just anxiety kicking in. But when she said that she... started to see things is what made me call you in."

"What does she see?" Due to the many times he had encounter as well as his own observation skills, Tatsuya already knew what kind of character Hisa is. Eccentric and childish, but a kind person overall. This made him worried as she's almost as energetic as Lisa.

It took a few seconds for the Commissioner to answer, as he tried to remember the exact description what his cousin told him, "...Apparently, she said she started seeing a bunch of... monsters on the street, most of which she met seemed friendly and capable of holding proper conversations. However, she believes that she may be just hallucinating since no one else sees them. But then, she called me again and told me that those monsters were probably real and she made a new friend..."

Stopping for a moment, Fuji deeply sighed, "...Who is apparently a Persona."

Tatsuya's widened drastically, but stayed calm, "Has she played the Persona game?"

Fuji shook his head, "I already asked, she didn't even know that game existed."

The room was silent for a moment for the two men to ponder.

Tatsuya wondered what could have occurred in that city. Could it be another Nyarlathotep situation? Damn, even just thinking of his name already sent a shiver down his spine even after all these years. But no matter, he needed to look into this.

"We must investigate this matter." The deep voice of Apollo (or himself) echoed in his head, sharing his urgency.

"I'll go, I don't want another world-ending situation on our hands." Especially when the scars were still somewhat fresh in their minds. Tatsuya then hesitated, realizing something, "...Although, it would be suspicious of me to go there as an active police officer, considering the tight security of that city when it comes to outsiders."

Nearly 20 years ago, there was an incident in the city that made public headlines (which is rare since they don't really get much news of the whatever is happening in that city outside of their famous public events). A leakage from a gas tanker truck caused an explosion that lead a fire, hundreds were injured while some didn't make it. The truck is came from outside the city and the company it belonged to was then sued for their improper maintenance and endangerment. This resulted in heightened security considering majority of the population were students.

Fuji hummed, "Then I'll give you some time off, so you can go there for a 'vacation'." He then suddenly looked amused, "You work almost as much as your brother before he got married, honestly, I think you need an actual vacation after this. I'm sure Kashihara and Silverman would love that."

Oof. The Commissioner may not look it, but he is quite supportive of their three-way relationship, often encouraging Tatsuya to not work as hard as Katsuya did when he first became an officer and spend more time with his loved ones. Tatsuya thinks that this is because Fuji witnessed the brothers' formerly strained relationship caused by Katsuya's workaholic tendencies and he didn't want Tatsuya to make the same mistake. Because of this, Tatsuya somewhat viewed him as close as family.

"Sure." Tatsuya gave away a small smile, "Once this is over."

Fuji nodded, "With what you all have been through, I think you all deserve long one."

Sorry if the ending was rushed, I was busy with school. I did this work in AO3 so I had to post this story before AO3 deletes the drafts (which the website deletes if a draft is not posted within a month).

*Tatsuya is going to be part of this story's main cast along with the Fool Wild Cards.

*Mari City is the main setting, a sovereign city-state located in the Fukushima Prefecture. Mostly based on Academy City from Toaru and Fuyuki City from Fate, having a mix of ultramodern, traditional Japanese and Western culture. It is a sovereign city-state. The background of the city is based on Academy City.

*Mari is a name with different meanings from many languages, including Japanese.
Meanings: "sea of bitterness", "drop of the sea", "star of the sea", "rebelliousness", "exalted one" and "wished for child" (from Marie or Maria) and in Japanese it means "truth".
It's also an eponym (Is that the correct term?) of "Mariposa", which means "Butterfly" in Spanish. It's meant to represent how much the Persona series is symbolized by a butterfly.

=Update=
I decided to change Mari to Marina City, because it kind of felt weird to say it. However, the Mari name meanings that are shown above still applies, so I think it can be considered an eponym. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Marina is a female given name, the feminine form of the Latin Marinus, from marinus "of the sea", occurring in many European languages as well as Japanese.

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