You may notice some drastic changes of personalities from Akira (as in, different from what the games portrait him) as I wanted a new experience, not just copy&paste everything from original works. The changes also hint something in the future, I won't spoil it here of course.

After the release of Royal, I was tempted to change Arsene Prime to Raoul but eh, having a Prime alongside Orpheus Telos (Modified or Prime in JP version) is more appropriate to the setting.


~Chapter 6~

-April 9th, 2009-

Akira decided to wake up early to exercise and vent off the unusual headache in his head, which was something akin to a blockade to his thinking and rationality. Yesterday, he an Satanael had spent time discussing about the boundary between real life and Persona-fied counterparts of the Rebel himself and Yaldabaoth. Aside what he had heard from Igor, Akira deduced that he had to be Satanael's modern reincarnation since there was no way he could obtain him as a Persona, regardless the fact that he was Arsene's Evolution.

'Trickster' is a new term indicating those chosen to rebel against oppressors and fate. Akechi Goro obtained both Robin Hood and Loki, both are regarded as tricksters in their lore. I, however, am a usurper and rebel, not someone who kids around. Either you are truly my reincarnation or random chosen to wield my power, you are destined to rule the Material World, just like the mythology Satanael.

He, a ruler? Well perhaps that's true if he had a Palace though he doubted that. He had been honest to himself since the awakening so there was no way he could develop a dungeon in his heart. Put that aside, Akira now thought of the current problems. He needed a new phone to avoid unneeded attention and a new weapon dealer. Tyrant Pistol was excellent but its recoil was annoying enough to miss some shots sometimes and Akira was a perfectionist type of person so a single shot missed would be a no-no to him. He needed a more stable, easy to handle firearms and to be honest, he missed the feel of grinding, especially with how downgraded his power was.

"Good morning Kurusu." It was Mitsuru who conveniently sat on the sofa, reading a book with a hot cup of coffee. Akira greeted her and proceeded to the main point. The girl didn't expect to hear such a request from him, mainly the phone, but agreed nonetheless. She was skeptical about the gun part but he made it clear that he needed a close to perfect replica of the real deals in cheap materials so she okay'ed and promised to deliver few real M1911, P226 and one or two magnum-caliber guns, much to his surprise. He had never touched real guns so this was a first

"Man you are awesome, Mitsuru-san. Wish I could court you." Akira complimented her with a wink; she really reminded him of Haru, reliable and, well, cute. Mitsuru's reaction was predictable so he left her to her own device and headed upstairs to prepare for school. Minato was still sleeping like a log so Akira shook him few times to wake him up.


Today's lessons were boring and thought the literature teacher was your typical elitist kind of douchebag, he completely ignored Minato's quiet snores. How his roommate accomplished that was beyond Akira.

"Hey guys, wanna hit the karaoke and ramen?"

"Urgh Stupei, can you not bother someone for one day? I swear your voice is the source of my migraines." Yukari complained next to Akira, massaging her forehead while packing her stuff.

"Ouch! That hurts, Yukaricchi!" Junpei made a dramatic heart-attack before grinning at Minato and Akira. "What do you say?"

"Whatever, I'm free."

"Me too." Akira nodded. He noticed Yukari trying to get his attention from the corner of his eyes, which reminded him that he hadn't explained to her about it. He texted her 'later, in a quiet place' before leaving with his pals. Junpei was almost a Ryuji 2.0 to him with his carefree personality and love for ramen. Though thank God Ryuji wasn't much of a pervert like Junpei.

"Dude, you guys are living with Yukaricchi and THE Mitsuru Kirijo! How can you be so apathetic about that?!"

"Tell that to them, especially Mitsuru-senpai." Akira deadpanned. "There is a big difference between living with hot girls and enjoying them. Yukari is cool and all but Mitsuru is another thing. She will definitely order a firing squad if she finds out you are peeping on her."

"Duuuuude, I'm not that low!"

Minato didn't laugh and kept eating, which Akira noticed. He himself had been apathetic and indifferent but that was prior to his 'revitalization' and he was not this bad. It looked like the guy was just an empty, animated shell to blend in society. If he was THE Messiah Akira was supposed to protect, Akira needed to get the bottom of this.

There is a familiar scent in that boy. The scent of Death.

Satanael helpfully added.

Either he is the Vessel of Death, just as you are my Vessel, or he IS Death. Ironic since he is the Messiah.

Akira decided to pay another trip to the Velvet Room, wishing that its residents wouldn't be annoyed by his constant visit but he doubted Lavenza would. Saying goodbye to the goofball and Minato, he headed to the back alley and opened the blue door.

"Greetings, Trickster." Igor showed him an elderly smile and Lavenza beamed him with a bright smile. Akira took a set in front of the Velvet Master.

"Afternoon to you two. Well, let's get to the topic. Is Minato Arisato the guy you want me to look after? Also, what's the deal with 'Death scent' from him?"

"Master Minato is indeed the Messiah but not at the moment. I'm afraid that I do not have the exact answer for the second question, Trickster." Igor shook his head. "He is Death, at the same time, he is not Death. You will eventually find out the reason for that. Now, I do have this feeling that you may require the Persona Compendium. Lavenza?"

"Understood, Master. Here, my Trickster."

Inside the book, the Personas were lined up pleasant enough to look without getting dizzy. He swept his hand, allowing the book to randomly show the collection he might want. It showed the infamous 'Bone' Squad as Morgana said, consisting of Matador, the Four Riders, Daisoujou, Mother Harlot, Hell Biker and Trumpeter.

"Odd." Akira said aloud but picked one, Red Rider, and let it sink into his Sea of Souls. He was genuinely startled by a high-pitched laughter in his head. It was from the Rider.

Ehehe, what do we have here? It's my favorite Other Self! I never spoke before so here I am, the Rider of War, Blood and anything between, Reeeeeeed Riiiiiideeeeer!

"…"

It seemed that Igor and Lavenza could hear it too, judging from their strained expression as if to accuse him of having such personality. Well, he was partly at fault here with his love for theatric but hey, it's not his fault for not knowing that Personas other than his starter and ultimate could talk.

"Ehem, that aside." Igor purposely coughed. "You should take an early rest, Trickster, for tonight's grand performance."

"Grand…performance?"

"You will understand in time."


Bidding farewell to the duo, Akira exited the Velvet Room and, interestingly, he saw that girl again, sitting in the café nearby. He wanted to go home now but a little fun wouldn't hurt. He entered the café and picked a table just shy one meter away next to the girl's.

"What would you like to drink, sir?"

"Cappuccino please."

He opened his diary and began to write his experiences today, intentionally letting the girl to peek at the content. He allowed a smirk to spread on his face as her eyes widened at the jabs he wrote at her.

'Just like yesterday, today the stalker is following me again. I wonder if she is interested in me or my little boy.'

Akira admitted that was a bad joke but hey, she understood it and her reddened face told it to the world. He received the cup from waitress, winked at her and placed the tip before turning a glance at the Akechi-lookalike.

"Like what you see?"

She was expectedly flustered and unable to come up with a reply.

"Akira Kurusu, nice to meet you."

"A-Akemi Gotou! I'm a private detective b-b-but that's not important now. Pleased to meet you, A-A-A-Akira-san."

'Oh god she is just too easy to screw with.' Akira thought with a chuckle. He had to admit, her clumsy display was good but it was useless to Third Eye and his past experience with liars like her. That still needed to be clarified since she looked almost genuinely flustered by his teases, almost.

Akemi was pleasant to talk with and she apparently was hired by a dead kid's parents to investigate the cause of his death and circumstances around it. The detective thought it was a good idea to wander near the area the Lost usually seen. She claimed that Akira had nothing to do with her job but her behaviors around him past days said otherwise. Of course he wouldn't say this to her right away, intending to enjoy the cat-and-mouse game. This reminded him of Makoto and her poor attempt to tail him prior to her joining the team, although Akemi was a little more professional.

'Speaking of detective, where was Naoto?'

Said young blunette was arguing with her grandfather over his adamant decision to take her back to Inaba. She saw him, Ichiro-niisan, with her own eyes and even took multiple photos using her advanced, hidden camera and sent them to him.

"I told you many times, Naoto. Ichiro is dead along with your parents. You yourself attended the funeral after all."

"May…Maybe they got the wrong person! I swear, he has the same gentle voice as Ichirou-niisan's, and his touch is warm too! The only difference is his now fizzy and dark hair but that's it!"

"Urgh, I don't have time for this. You are to return to Inaba and continue your study at once, young lady, and that's final. Yakushiji, book the tickets immediately."

"Understood."

The older man shot an apologetic look at his young master before leaving the room. Naoto wanted to scream back at her grandfather but all the lessons about controlling emotions managed to hold her back. She was so close, just a little more and Ichirou-niisan would return to her and the others…

"!"

She jolted up from her seat and went to the windows to burgle her eyes out, trying to make out of the scene in front of her. It was Ichirou-niisan, or Akira as he went by nowadays, in the Chagall Café. Her grandfather followed his granddaughter's gaze and observed the young man. Gone was the genetic blue hair and instead, the fizzy dark hair almost made him unrecognizable by normal people. Takechirou still saw the sharp, intense stare Ichirou always had.

And of all sudden, he turned to his direction with a maniac smirk. Takechirou momentarily flinched but then the next second, Ichirou didn't look at this way anymore and was conversing with Akemi Gotou, daughter of Takechirou's colleague back in the day. He hoped she could extract more information from the boy. For now, he had to feint ignorance.


"Well, I need to get back the dormitory before six so she won't scold me for the rest of the day."

"She? Oh, I forgot you are living with Mitsuru Kirijo, who is renowned for her strictness and discipline."

"The very same one." Akira stood up and waved at Akemi. "I paid for yours earlier. Consider this as a welcoming present, Goro."

Akemi was speechless at the word. Once he was out of sight, a grim and longing look appeared on her face. She opened her wallet and took out a small picture displaying a group of students, the center was Akira and a male version of Akemi.

"So he knew already…"


-Iwatodai Dormitory-

"Welcome back, Kurusu." Mitsuru greeted. There was a big metallic box with a big Kirijo emblem on the table.

"I take that it has those?"

"Indeed. I must warn you: do not bring them with you without concealment and do not test the bullets. They are rubbers but serious injuries can happen."

Akira was too distracted to listen to her, only humming as response. He held the first gun, the Coonan with Compensator, essentially a bigger M1911 using high-caliber .357 rounds. He doubted Mitsuru mistook it for the original M1911 but he though he loved this baby more, plus the Compensator made it way cooler. The second one was a Sig Sauer P226, just as promised. It came with a rectangular suppressor, an odd decision but not unusable. The last one was a weird-looking gun that literally came out from those Star Wars films he watched with Futaba. Upon inspection, he could tell that it was single shot, breech-loading only if the slider behind was anything to say.

"That is a prototype gun specialized in hunting Shadows, based the failed Triple Action Thunder. The lead scientist needs a field-tester so I thought you might be the best candidate for that. It comes with ten special bullets so if you want to use them, make it count. They are already tested so there should be no problem."

"…God, I really wish I could kiss you now Mitsuru-san. You are really a Messenger of God."

Akira felt like the temperature in the floor was dropping and Mitsuru was having a very dangerous look on her face so he grabbed the box and made a run to the stairs.

You need to reign in your libido, Trickster. Have you forgotten that Haru Okumura almost murdered you because of it?

Satanael spoke up with a disappointed tone

"Totally. Worth. It."

To his surprise, Minato was already asleep even though the clock hadn't even hit eight yet. He must have partied like hell with Junpei so Akira wouldn't comment on that. Setting his bag down, he began to tweak around the guns and ignore his Persona's reminder of doing homework first. It would seem that Satanael had become Morgana 2.0.


As the date indicates, next chapter will be the battle with Magician Shadow and Minato's Awakening. Stay tuned guys!