Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.
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[06/19 Velvet Room]
After waking up from returning home from the school camping trip Yu planned to try and get to know Nero a bit better. He knew she was loved art and so arranged to go visit the Okina City Museum with her later on. Before that, he decided to visit the Velvet Room again. Once again the voices of his Persona's went silent and strangely neither Igor nor Marie were present, only Margaret who looked to be in deep thought.
"Oh my, you're here." Margaret stated noticing Yu's presence yet remaining seemingly unsurprised. "I have pondering on the story of Sir Gawain that you told me."
'So that's what she's thinking about.' Yu thought to himself 'She spends all her time here, if I had her job I'd ponder about the outside world and what I've been told about it as well.'
"I would like to ask if all the Heroes' stories are as bitter as that and much darker than how modern humans think they are?" Margaret asked.
Yu fell silent for a moment thinking carefully about to answer. For some reason he felt compelled to speak about Cu Chulainn. He could embellish the story, omit certain truths to make it seem happier, but Yu didn't think that was what Margaret wanted. Even if the otherworldly woman accepted what was said to her, the way her golden eyes seemed to peer into his very soul told him that she would see through any lie or omission instantly. So gathering his courage Yu began to speak another tale, drawing from the Chariot Arcana and the Persona who represented it.
"This story begins when a flock of birds descended on Emain Macha and ate all the grass, the Ulstermen who lived there were furious decided to hunt them, and they set off after them in their chariots..."
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[06/19 Junes Entrance, Junes, Inaba]
After finishing up in the Velvet Room, Yu found himself wandering around town for a little while. His Persona's bantered in the back of his mind with Medusa remaining stoic as usual while Gawain and Lancelot had a surprisingly civil interaction with one another. Yu was afraid that a fight would break out when he awakened Lancelot but to his surprise neither seemed to wish to continue holding a grudge against one another, despite the animosity between them in the legend.
"What are you doing here?" Yu looked up at the familiar voice to see Adachi slacking off again in Junes.
"I arranged to take a friend out but that's not until later." Yu told Adachi vaguely "So I thought I'd kill some time by getting some groceries for dinner."
"Shopping for dinner? I'm impressed." Adachi said. "I live alone, so taking care of dinner can be pretty tedious."
"You don't eat?" Yu asked
"Sure I eat, but I just get so tired after work so I make some cup ramen or something." The cop shrugged.
"This person does not eat very well; Praetor you should invite him over to sample some of your own cooking." Nero declared appearing in Spirit Form.
For moment Yu felt a shiver go down his spine, like someone or something was angry with him, he looked around confused before shrugging it off when none of his Persona's spoke up.
"I could make dinner if you want." Yu offered seeing no problem with Nero's suggestion.
"Like... you'd come over to my house? Ha-ha, that would be interesting. But I'd prefer a girl to come over." Adachi began smiling softly. "Cute girls are the best. Though I go for the real knockouts, myself. The most important thing is that they should be good cooks. Everything else, I can take or leave…"
Adachi suddenly stopped talking and cringed as an old woman approached them.
"Tohru! Is that you?" she asked walking closer.
"Shit... She found me." Adachi mumbled causing Cu Chulainn to laugh as he appeared in spirit form.
"Are you off work?" The old woman asked "I hope you're not doing anything dangerous!"
"Oh... No, I'm still on the clock. I was just on my way back to the
station." Adachi said quickly coming up with an excuse.
"I'm so happy to see you working hard. I brag about you to my neighbours all the time!" The Old lady said proudly "I'll bring you some nimono, okay? You have to take care of yourself! By the way, I saw this detective show on TV the other day..."
"Um... I need to get back…" Adachi said clearly wishing to end the conversation with the woman quickly.
Oh, is it that time already? I hope your day goes well, then." The old lady said as she left through the doors.
"Finally..." Adachi let out a relieved sigh. "I guess her son has the same name as me. That's probably why she's been hanging around me ever since she found out my name. I don't know. She always brings huge heaps of that nimono to the station and she'll talk your ear off if you let her... It's so annoying."
"That does sound annoying." Yu stated thinking back to when he constantly moved about. Eventually he had resigned himself to just not opening up to anybody, that way he didn't have to feel the pain that came with 'friends' breaking their promises to contact him or stay friends no matter what. That part of him was still surprised that he was giving Yosuke and the others a chance for this friendship thing, then again if not for the TV World and the murders, truthfully he would have blown Yosuke off by now.
"Doesn't it? She's like that practically every day." Adachi sighed with annoyance "She's the exact opposite of my parents, so I can't relate to people like that. She's lonely, I guess. I don't think she has any relatives, then again I can't just ignore her, either cause Its part of my job. The police have been busy lately, so I'm the only one who can deal with her."
Despite his griping, Yu could see that Adachi looked happy he felt like he's seen a new side of to the police officer.
"Though I wish I shared a name with her grandson instead! I'm still only twenty-seven, after all." Adachi said "Well, I should head back, or Dojima will really chew me out, apparently the brass really wants to catch this Space Samurai guy, see ya."
"Bye." Yu waved slightly as Adachi made his way out of Junes and quickly walked down a back road with few people. "Hey did any of you feel anything 'strange' just now?"
"What do you mean?" Cu Chulainn asked.
"Did you feel something?" Semiramis asked
"No, I'm probably just imagining things." Yu denied after a few seconds.
"To be fair you haven't had time to truly relax, it's unsurprising that you would be stressed." Atlanta pointed out.
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"What the hell was that about?" Adachi asked when he was sure no one could see or overhear him. "If I hadn't shoved your presence down you could gotten us busted."
"It was a slip when I saw that heroic spirit, it won't happen again." The shaded figure stated emerging from the depths of Adachi's soul.
"I hope not; I don't feel like having suspicion thrown on me because you couldn't keep it in your pants." Adachi griped as he continued on his way back to the police station.
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[06/19 Okina Museum of Art, Okina City, Inaba]
Eventually the time for the museum trip came and Yu rode the train to Okina city with a rucksack on his bag containing his Space Samurai costume just in case. Once he was near the museum he ducked into an alley and materialised Nero.
"Praetor, I knew you would summon me it is only natural, after all who could resist my gazing upon my greatness?" Nero declared haughtily as she materialised.
"The museum here in Okina City is hosting art exhibits from around the world." Yu told her unfazed by the emperor's haughty attitude. "You seemed interested in art so I thought you might want to come and see it with me."
"Really?!" Nero's face of joy quickly changed to one of haughtiness as she caught herself and cleared her throat. "I mean…. naturally you would choose me to visit such a place with you, after all my presence is a wonder to behold, you have surely recognised that it would be a crime to keep such glory away from the adoring masses."
"The exhibition should be open now, let's go."
As the boy lead the persona out of the alley neither of them noticed a shadowy figure watching the two. The figure had watched the boy in the forest the other day, it felt jealous at seeing him so close with another but upon sensing that the other was just a part of the boy's soul the figure calmed and decided to continue following the object of its affection.
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Going through the entrance to the museum with Nero, Yu stopped at the front desk first in order to pay for admission.
"Admission is one thousand yen per person." The clerk stated with a perky tone.
"Just the two of us, here you go." Yu withdrew two one thousand yen notes from his wallet and handed them over to the clerk who pressed a button which opened the electronic gate allowing them into the museum proper.
"There are so many exhibits where should we go first?" Nero asked excitedly as they passed through the gate.
Yu personally thought she was barely restraining herself from jumping up and down like an eager child. "I would love to see the works my own country, but there's an ancient Greek exhibit, oh, oh, ancient Egypt over there!"
Nero's excited manner was attracting attention from people, causing them to look at her. Some of the men began leering when they realised they could see through her dress while women and mother's gave her glares and scandalised looks respectively before dragging their husbands, boyfriends and children away from her.
Looking over the various signs and banners which advertised different exhibits Yu and Nero eventually settled on the ancient Greek exhibit. Shrugging the rucksack into a more comfortable position Yu found Nero quick to agree with his choice. While the pair were walking down the corridor towards the exhibit none in the museum noticed the concealed presence which had easily slipped through the entrance. Security cameras and other modern devices of detection were of no concern, careful to keep its presence concealed it followed the object of its affection, make sure to stick to the shadows just in case.
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Going through the Greek exhibit was a bit challenging, Yu and Nero had to slip over the artwork depicting the gods, especially Aphrodite and Athena, mostly due to the annoyance and discomfort from Medea and Medusa due to their experiences with said deities.
The Fool honestly couldn't blame them, like so many others of legend the fates dealt to them by gods who felt it was their right to do whatever they wished to whomever they wished, were unfair.
"The Gods and their wretched era is long over. Humanity does not need gods they only need their king." The arrogant voice spoke up once more with a sneer, clearly unhappy at the subject of the gods as Yu felt the presence surge within him somehow unnoticed by his Persona's. "What are gods anyway but safety blankets for mongrels with a primitive fear of the moon?"
Feeling the presence recede again Yu focused his attention back on Nero who was currently examining a statue of Hercules. It rather different from the Heroic Spirit which was now Kanji's persona. For one the statue was smaller and its muscles were far smaller.
His flared when he saw the Persona grab her head in pain.
"You've been having those headaches sporadically for a while now." Yu pointed out, concern for the Persona in his tone. "Are you sure you're ok?"
"I am fine Praetor." Nero waved him off reassuringly. "These headaches are nothing to be concerned about."
"I understand if you don't want talk about it because it's personal." Yu told her "But I promise no matter what, I won't judge you, I don't care what other people have said about you. I want to know about the real Nero, her life from her own mouth not from the pages of a history book."
"…." The historical tyrant let out a sigh of annoyance before taking a seat upon the soft material bench that was nearby, Yu took a seat next to her. "You are a persistent one, but if it is a tale about your emperor you wish to hear then I shall indulge you, the story of my migraine's begins with my mother."
Julia Agrippina also known as Agrippina the Younger if Yu recalled his history correctly. She was twice widowed and exiled in 39 AD for taking part in a conspiracy against Gaius Caesar Germanicus also known as Emperor Caligula. Her exile was lifted by her uncle Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus better known as Emperor Claudius.
Later she married her uncle in order to make sure that Nero was the next in line for the throne. While history was unclear on the matter Nero confirmed that her mother took extreme measures and murdered Claudius by poisoning him after he started to regret marrying Agrippina and adopting Nero.
With his death Nero ascended to the throne and became ruler of the Roman Empire. She apparently had no lost love for family members who resented her illegitimate birth right. She loved the nameless citizens of her empire more than any of her famous noble relatives.
"My mother was always power hungry." Nero stated matter-of-factly "Ever since I was young she planned to install me on the throne so that she may rule the empire. Murdering relatives or anyone who stood in the way was nothing to her. Eventually in fifty-nine AD I had enough of her and the way she made various policies in self-interest. I hired an assassin to deal with her, however he failed and I was forced to cut her down publically."
Nero paused for a moment and gazed at a tapestry depicting a battle between Hercules and the Nemean lion.
"It was about that time that I became afflicted with headaches. As it turned out my mother had been poisoning me since I was a child, so as not to defy her I was given the antidote in tandem, so when the witch took the antidote with her to the grave, after that delirium set in and well…. I'm sure you know of what happened next."
He certainly did, Nero was eventually driven out of her position during a revolt in 68 AD lead by Vindex in Gallia. At first, she ignored the situation, perhaps she still trusted Vindex, the inciter of the rebellion. From what he knew it was more likely that Nero she was suffering from despair and simply wished for the situation to go away. Two years later, Vindex would incite another rebellion and by then the senate had enough with Nero. The senate was so displeased with her mishandling of the revolt that they called her a traitor and she was forced to escape from Rome.
Nero was convinced that her popular policies and her popularity with the people would protect her from being forced to abdicate the throne. However, the public was silent and did nothing to protect her. The Roman people had abandoned her, even after she had devoted so much for them. So in a villa outside of Rome Nero hesitated several times but eventually worked up the courage to commit suicide.
One would think hearing this that Nero would have hated her people, but it was quite the opposite. She loved her people with all her heart but she couldn't understand the kind of love that they embraced and thus she couldn't understand their hearts and in turn they couldn't understand her.
"W-what are doing?!" Nero demanded her face flushing red as Yu pulled her into a comforting hug.
"It's ok you know." The tyrant of Rome let out a surprised gasp. "Human beings stumble and make mistakes every day in pursuit of our dream which wait in an ever distant utopia that is always just out of reach, maybe we humans are stubborn, or perhaps we're just too stupid to know when to give up chasing it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the road does get hard and we trip up and feel like we can't go on, that's why forge bonds with others and make friends, so that with the strength they lend us and we which we lend them we can pave the path to tomorrow and keep moving forward."
Nero's face was no longer flushed red, she appeared entranced by the words Yu spoke to her. He honestly didn't know where it was coming from but kept talking.
"You did your best as an Emperor and as a human being, maybe your life wasn't perfect but not even the greatest of heroes can claim to have had a perfect life. When I look at you I don't see a cruel Tyrant or an Emperor." The Persona of the Emperor Arcana gave the Fool a confused look. "What I see before me right now is a girl, who has spent her life trying desperately not to cry despite all the pain she was made to endure throughout it. Emperor Nero, it is ok to cry; A poet once said 'tears are the heart's petals' so if you need to don't be afraid to show the petals of your heart there is no shame in letting beauty be seen by others."
Nero was silent for a few moments before her eyes began to water and she pressed her face into Yu's jacket as she let her heart's petals show.
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In a part of the exhibit adjacent to the one where Yu and Nero were situated the being that followed them had been listening through the thin museum walls. It heard the words of comfort that the one it had feelings for speak to that Persona, and although it was only a fragment of the beloved's self the jealousy felt grew several times.
Concentration broke and one of its hands began a great metallic claw which trembled as the being's feelings began to overwhelm it. Jealousy gave way to rage and with a swipe the claw dug into wall making a huge crash as it creating large gashes in the wall destroying a tapestry and a security camera before tearing the claw out with a huge crash.
All the noise quickly caused an alarm to begin blaring throughout the museum. The stalker was quickly brought back to reality by the noise, it could not be exposed, not yet. So shrinking its hand to normal size the being looking around and spotted freedom in the form of a TV screen. Quickly running at it and diving through as if it was water, the security guards came and found the damage but not perpetrator in sight.
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[06/19 Yu's bedroom, Dojima residence, Inaba]
Entering his room after returning from the daytrip Yu flopped back onto his bed and reflected back on the day. Telling the story of Cu Chulainn to the mysterious Margaret had been interesting, as had hanging out with Adachi who apparently had a penchant for slacking off.
The museum trip had been a success; he'd gotten to know Nero better as he had wanted. She enjoyed herself thoroughly and let true self shine through even if it was during a few moments of tears.
They'd both been questioned by security after the alarm had gone off along with others. Apparently a tapestry and part of a wall in the adjacent exhibit had been destroyed and there no witnesses which is what triggered the alarm. It was at that point that Yu decided to call it day and went home.
'Maybe Medea can do something about Nero's Migraines.' Yu thought to himself 'It's not a curse from a god or a spirit, so with her magecraft she should easily be able to counter a migraine caused by poison.'
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AN: And that's a wrap, yeah this was a filler chapter but one that I felt was necessary. Also I do plan on doing more Velvet Club scenes so if anyone has any ideas for those feel free to suggest them and I will gladly credit you for the idea. Also although it's not very subtle a cyber cookie to whoever got the reference in Yu's speech to Nero.
