Waking from his deep sleep, Lucas realized just how late he was pushing it for his new day at school. Quickly dressing in his school uniform, the young man charged down the stairs, not bothering to greet his mother.
"Sorry, Ma! Don't have the time!" Lucas shouted as he ran out the front door.
Making it to the station just in time to catch his train, Lucas boarded the tram, his next line to catch about five minutes away. While trying to fit in the tightly packed train, Lucas found the time he needed to pull out his phone to check his timing.
It was upon the inspection of his phone that he saw something peculiar. A mysterious app had found itself on Lucas's phone. It was a strange, blood red icon with an ominous image of an eye that almost looked like it was peering into his soul.
Seeing the curious looking app, Lucas thought of it as a potential virus. After deleting the app and starting the reset process on his cell, Lucas realized that his stop was coming up shortly.
Getting off the train and transferring to the Ginza Line, Lucas hoped aboard yet another train.
"This is gonna be my life from now on, huh?" Lucas said depressed, looking around him as the bodies of business men practically crushed him inside the tightly packed car.
After arriving at his station, Aoyama-itchome, Lucas departed from the train, making his way directly to school. It was at this point, however, that the teenager realized he was lost.
"I guess I'll pull up gps then." Lucas said, not realizing his phone opened up on the mysterious app again.
"Maybe I might have an idea where it is on my student ID." Lucas thought to himself, pulling out his student badge.
Being a transfer student from America made it so that his ID was made differently than other students. Instead of the usual format, his badge included his residence so teachers could easily make contact with his home address.
"Lucas Venturi, Venturi Family Residence..." Lucas began reading aloud to himself, trying to see if a location for the school was printed on the badge.
Just then, reading his home address, Lucas remembered his bedroom, the one place he felt truly at home.
"What I would give to return to my private little mansion in this horrible place." Lucas sighed. "I hate it here."
Just after he spoke his words, the phone spoke up, reacting to the holder.
"Beginning navigation." The robotic voice stated.
"Huh?" Lucas wondered. "I never put an address in yet."
Before he knew it however, Lucas felt a strange feeling in his head come over him.
"Ah, damnit! Now I got a headache?!" The teenage boy said. "This... what the..?"
Looking up from his temporary wincing, Lucas noticed the scenery around him changing, the buildings became stone and the ground around him became hot sand.
"Ow! Hot!!" Lucas said, jumping in his shoes. "What is this?!"
Looking around his surroundings in a panic, Lucas noticed something faintly resembling safety in the bleak wasteland he was brought to. Running in the scorching sands, Lucas ran and ran until his eyes came across true beauty.
In the middle of this bleak desert he was transported to lie a true oasis. What Lucas saw was a village, with ponds of cool, clear water flowing through it. Amongst the buildings lay soft wheat fields, all ready for a harvest. In the middle of all this lay a giant palace, gleaning in gold and silver trim.
Upon stepping into the oasis, a feeling of cool air enveloped Lucas, his skin no longer feeling baked by a hot sun.
"What is this place?" Lucas said in wonder.
"What, you don't recognize it?" Asked a voice much similar to Lucas' own, its source unknown.
"Who's there?!" Lucas asked out loud. "Show yourself!"
"Shouldn't it be obvious?" A familiar figure entered Lucas' vision out of nowhere. "I'm you."
The visage of a Kingly teenager stepped before Lucas, his silk robe decorating his body. He looked exactly identical to Lucas, and yet he seemed different. In his eyes, an ominous yellow glow poured from his sockets, its eyes peering into Lucas' soul.
"You're me?" Lucas asked.
"Yes, I'm you." The figure responded. "Or rather, I'm the shadow of your true self. I'm a part of you you haven't recognized yet."
"What do you mean by that?" Lucas asked the mirror of himself.
"I'm the part of you who longs for companionship in this desolate wasteland of a city you now call home." Shadow Lucas explained. "Even before we moved to Japan, you've longed for the desire of company. We have always felt lonely. That girl we saw yesterday reminded me of that. Her beauty was truly divine."
"What are you saying we should do?" Lucas asked.
"I'm glad your quite accepting of my existence being your own. It makes things so much easier." Shadow Lucas thanked his other self. "If we are to see eye to eye, I must join my power to your body. Your spirit to rebel against the situation you've been placed in must take root."
"How do you mean?" Lucas asked his counterpart.
"Through my contract, I shall give half of my being to you. You shall awaken to your persona dwelling within." The Shadow explained. "But it would be a waste for me to go fully to your hand, for our pretty Oasis here would crumble as well."
"I shall give you half of my power while the rest of my being exists to keep this Palace of our's a safe and usable home for what we will accomplish together." The Shadow continued.
With those words, a headache once again came to Lucas's brain. As the shadow disappeared, Lucas' eyes grew yellow to match his Shadow's.
"I'm am thou. Thou art I." The Shadow began speaking a mantra. "Through our powers over the mind, we shall take hold of our fate and enjoy life as we wish!"
"I hear you, Johnathan!" Lucas said, a black mask with the imagery of a snake coating his face and hair.
Peeling away the mask and shedding blood at the same time, Lucas screamed in pain as the manifestation of his true self appeared beside him.
The Persona gifted to him had the appearance of a well dressed, but faceless man, his eyes hidden away from sight. In its hand, it held a swinging pendulum. Realizing his clothes had changed, Lucas looked down to see the attire of a high society type man.
Wearing what looked to be a black tuxedo, Lucas began wondering how he was wearing such a thing. Before more questions could be asked however, shadowy figures surrounded him.
Lucas however didn't seem worried, instead he expected them. Before him was a group of masked guard type looking fellows, dressed in royal guard looking attire. The group of guards then took a kneel to the teenager.
"Our Lord has gained his true power!" A guard said in delight.
"My Lord, we are shadows of lesser worth." Another shadow informed Lucas. "We live in your realm in order to ensure its protection. Your decree is our every command. We live and die by your orders!"
His quick wits allowing him to assess hit frequently progressing situation as he went, Lucas smiled at the possibilities of this new power of his. After realizing that he was here for quite a while, Lucas looked at his phone, the mysterious app showing its presence once more.
Realizing that it surely played a part in these circumstances, Lucas let it be, instead allow himself the time to find a way for it to send him back to where he was before.
Back safely in the real world, Lucas looked at his phone in delight.
"So that's what that weird dream was about, huh?" Lucas chuckled. "Well, it looks like my time spent here might now be so bad after all!"
After finding the actual address online, Lucas navigated his way through the narrow alleys of the surrounding buildings. Upon reaching a clearing in the concrete jungle, Lucas found himself standing at the gates leading into his new school, Shujin Academy.
Seeing he made it just on time, despite his diversion, Lucas was greeted by a female teacher.
"Ah, you must be Lucas." The woman said to him. "Hello, I am Miss Kawakami. I shall be your home room teacher for this school year. If you would please come with me, I can get you situated."
"Good to meet you, Miss." Lucas said humbly, though his eyes were focused entirely on the woman's sultry body.
While the teacher began leading Lucas into the building, Lucas had all the time he needed to study her features. She had a modest C Sized pair of breasts and despite his view being obscured by the woman's long jean skirt, Lucas could only imagine what kind of tantalizing ass she had underneath.
Fully accepting his perverted side almost got him in trouble though, for Kawakami turned around to look at her new student. Turning his head to meet her eyes, the teacher scowled sternly at the young student.
"What, see something you like?" She asked him sarcastically. "Well, I'm afraid your gonna have to put some breaks on that there idea you got cooking up."
"Sorry, I'm just tired." Lucas lied through his teeth.
"Whatever, just be sure not to gawk at the other students as much as you did me." Kawakami suggested. "They'll get creeped out. We just had a teacher fired a few months ago for getting involved romantically with students, and I don't want to catch the same heat, understood?"
"Wait, what happened?" Lucas asked.
"Forget I said anything." The teacher spoke up quickly. "Long story short, our school is in a rough spot as of late due to an incident involving a horribly unprofessional teacher."
As the two walked in silence to the home room, Kawakami opened the sliding door to the class, a group of students already sitting in their desks.
"Hello class." Kawakami said. "Allow me to introduce you to your new classmate. This is Lucas Venturi. He's a transfer student from America, so please be kind to him and help him with getting acquainted to his new home."
"Name's Lucas." The teenager said with a bow. "It's nice to meet you."
As he looked around the room at the staring students, Lucas looked over to a set of desks by the windows. In front of an oddly silent male student with glasses sat the very girl Lucas saw the day before.
She looked just as beautiful as he remembered her, he blonde pigtails, her ample bosom stuffed into a tight school uniform. And her face was like as if it were chiseled by a God. Lucas knew at that point that he had to have her.
"Your desk will be right there." Kawakami said, pointing to the empty desk in the back corner of the room.
Making his way over to his seat, he caught a glimpse of that girl again in his eye, smiling at him pleasantly as he made his way over.
As classes started, thoughts of the girl two seats in front of him drove him wild. His daydreaming was cut short by a bell ringing. Before Lucas knew it, classes were already done for the day, the young man somehow zoning out every single class he took.
As students got to making their way out of the class, Lucas noticed the pigtailed girl waving goodbye to the teenager with glasses that sat between the two of them.
"Excuse me!" Lucas said, following the girl out into the hallway. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stop you. It's just that, I'm a transfer student here who moved from America, and I thought you'd be a perfect person to ask for help.
"You're from the states too?" The girl said excitedly, turning to fully face Lucas in conversation. "I use to live there too! My name's Ann Takamaki!"
"Nice to meet you, Ann." Lucas said welcoming. "I already said my name in home room, but in case you forgot, my name's Lucas."
"I doubt will forget you." Ann giggled. "It's not like the two of us blend in all to well anyways. You up for some after school studying? There's a great diner in Shibuya that has the best sweet cakes! I'm sure you'll love it!"
"Are you sure I won't be a bother?" Lucas asked.
"Oh, it's fine!" Ann reassured him. "You seem like a nice guy, and you kinda remind me of myself, feeling all lost in a new world without a leg to stand on."
"Thank you!" Lucas said bashfully. "That's very kind of you, Ann. I'll gladly take you up on that offer!"
As Ann beckoned the teenager to join him, Lucas smiled to himself, glad there was at least someone who had something in common with him. As the two made their way to Shibuya, Lucas began his plot to make her his friend in more ways than one.