AN:
To summarize the prequel to this story:
Minato Arisato, the male protagonist of Persona 3, was raised in England before moving back to Japan. That's the set-up that SamJaz and TVtropes gave it, and to plagiarize even further, because of that set-up, things go off the rails, fast.
He joins SEES, encounters protagonists from other games in the Megami Tensei series, such as the Demi-fiend, from Nocturne, featuring Dante from the Devil-May-Cry series.
That's not a joke, by the way. He signed Minato's Evoker after meeting him in the demon world, called the Warp.
There's a shit ton of references to Gurren-Lagaan, Evangelion, Warhammer 40k, and a ton of other things I didn't quite get. Chainswords and mecha-shadows were involved.
Time for the actual spoilers.
Ahem.
Two-timed Yuko and Chihiro, dated Yukari, cheated on her with Mitsuru, but before that, Akihiko got shot instead of Shinjiro, Shinjiro gets Earth skills, Ken gets a god-damn electromagnetic RAIL GUN, SEES goes on a trip to Inaba instead of Kyoto on a school trip, Minato meets Yukiko, Kanji, Chie, Yosuke's dad, and gets arrested for blowing something up. That part was actually the demi-fiend. Oh, yeah, he punched his grandfather, who's Raidou 'Motherfucking' Kuzonoha, and his sister, Natalie, turned into Naoto, who thought he was dead, and he thought they were dead.
After they get back (Also, Minato is the king of the Jakkai clan by that point), shit hits the fan, Minato brings all the previous Persona-users together, and decides he's going to kill the God of Death, Nyx.
God, I really don't know how to summarize it. Basically, if you know how Persona 3 went, FES is close to that, but a lot crazier. Anything I reference is close to what I remember as canon, but I do recommend reading it for yourself.
There was also two sequels, Face Every Shadow, by Casey W., and For Every Soul, also by Samjaz, which I will be treating as semi-canon, because neither were actually completed. Fuck you, Samjaz. I mean that with love.
Minato is a character study in and of himself. Magnificent Bastard is a great word for him. He got the Universe Arcana, chained Nyx to the moon, and unlike canon, left his shadow behind in his body. His shadow being named Minatos. The body killed itself eventually, and Minatos became the bastard that killed bigger bastards. The 'Epiclogue', the last chapter of FES, does not have a specified time of occurrence, therefore, not all of it has occurred yet, so keep that in mind.
Now, let us start the game.
?
Ren Amamiya woke up in a small police department holding cell. They hadn't reached a decision on the ruling yet. Ren had a gut feeling that it would turn out for the worse. Just as he leaned back against the wall, there was a rattle on the cell door. He glanced over. A sandy-blonde brunette in a police uniform stood just outside of the bars.
"Hey, kid. The detective is here to talk to you." The woman spoke softly, and without malice. Ren got off his cell bed, holding his hands out for the cuffs. What was the point of delaying it? She opened the door and wrapped zip ties around his wrists. They walked to a room with a steel door.
"He'll be with you in a minute." Ren walked in and sat down at the metal table. The door squeaked shut behind him. The other chair in the room was empty. He leaned back in his chair.
"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"
Ren sat up abruptly. The door had not opened. A boy that looked his age kicked back in the other chair, his feet on the table. He had deep blue hair, that obscured his eyes.
The clock on the wall stopped ticking.
"I… don't think you're the detective. How'd you get in here?"
"Doesn't matter. I've come to have a discussion with you, Ren Amamiya."
"Listen, if the guy was yakuza, I'm-"
"Not that kind of discussion, you bloody dolt. I know you're innocent. That guy knows you're innocent. But do you know you're innocent?" The other boy spun a blue playing card in his hands.
"What does that even mean?"
"Do you regret your actions? Or will you take responsibility?" Ren considered the question. He didn't mean to hurt the guy, but- you know what?
"What the hell, sure. Of course I regret it. All of my classmates probably hate me now, my school will expel me anyway, and most of my relatives don't even want to look at me." He breathed. "And you're asking me if I regret it? Of course I do."
"And for your responsibility? Will you accept that, even with your regret?"
"I- I don't know."
"So you're a coward, is that it?"
"I'm not a coward!"
"What would you call someone who can't accept responsibility?"
"..."
"Face it, Ren Amamiya. You're weak. You're nobody. You can't even protect one person!" The other boy's voice had a mocking tone.
"Shut the hell up!"
"Then what are you, Ren Amamiya?"
"..."
"..."
"...I tried."
"You failed."
"You think I don't know that?! I wish I could have helped that woman, I wish I could help everyone, but I can't! I don't have that power! I'm a total zero."
"Regular 'protector of humanity', ain't ya? Very well." The blue-haired boy smiled. "I had a friend. Years ago. He said something to me once, he said, 'the number zero may be empty, but it contains infinite possibilities."
"Metaphors won't help me get through this." The other boy shook his head, and pointed a finger gun at Ren's forehead.
"It's not a metaphor. It is potential, Ren Amamiya. It is power. And it is yours." The boy kicked back his finger.
Ren heard gunshots, glass shattering, distant cries, but it was coming from- inside his head? He fell over, clutching his head. The other boy stood above him. His chair hadn't moved an inch.
CRACK!
Ren screamed in frozen time.
Crack crack…
Crackcrack... crackcrackcrackcrackcrack... SMASH!
Hoowoooocohooohhooo0owowooowowohohoooooohooohohowowowowo
What the hell!? A playing card appeared in front of Ren, blank, not a face-card nor was it numbered. No, wait, there was a picture. A bullet hole in a glass window against a black background.
THOU ART I
AND I ART THOU
THOU HAST UNLEASHED THE POWER OF THE HOLLOW ARCANA
What the hell was an arcana? Why did it have a picture of broken glass?
THOU HAST OUR BLESSING, SHOULD THOU CHOOSEST TO SHARE OUR MADNESS.
Time continued. The police busted into an empty room to see a screaming Ren Amamiya rolling on the floor.
"Oh shit! Is this one of those mental breakdowns?"
"Get him restrained, dammit!"
Ren fell unconscious.
Ren Amamiya woke up a cell. This cell seemed... No, it was definitely different from the police cell. The walls were padded velvet and a brilliant blue, almost indigo. He heard chains swinging against each other in a stale wind. Ren moved off the prison bed, moving to the cell door. His vision was still blurry, his head aching from whatever that boy did to him. There was a weight on his ankle that prevented him from moving further. His vision began to clear. A hunched-over- man, probably. Not androgynous, just strange-looking. He couldn't imagine that much of a hunch was good for the back- sat behind a table, with crossed legs. He only then noticed the elementary schoolers in warden outfits. That… kind of made him uncomfortable. Eh, probably a good thing.
"Welcome, to the Velvet room. It appears you have arrived early." spoke the hunchback of notre-da- well, that's just mean- in an eerie voice. Ren bowed. He was japanese, even if he was in prison, respect was proper. "My name is Igor."
"Uh, my name is Ren. Pleased to meet you." Ren responded. One of the elementary schoolers swung a baton at the bars. He didn't expect for electricity to arc from them! Ren rubbed his nose, tickled by the electricity.
"Show some respect, inmate!" said the twin holding the baton.
"Now, now, Caroline, our guest was simply being proper."
"Yes sir!" Caroline shouted, then bowed. It reminded Ren of a soldier.
"Snrk." Ren coughed, trying to cover his ass, because he didn't want to piss off someone with a thunda' stick. He turned his attention back to Igor.
"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. I am the master of this room; as well as a servant of my master, Philemon." Igor gestured to the twins.
"I am Caroline." said the twin on Ren's left.
"And I am Justine." said the twin on Ren's right. They turned and bowed to Igor.
"Why did you bring me here, uh, sir?"
"Your destiny is a strange one. Your game is that of two tricksters. However, it appears that an interloper has interfered in this game." Igor held out a blue playing card. Ren could see the bullet illustration. He felt pain spike in his head, and grabbed his temple.
"It is unusual for such a bond to form so early, even more so of the Hollow Arcana." Ren could hear the capital letters.
"What do you mean, bond? What's an Arcana; Why is it Hollow?" Ren massaged his forehead.
"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed. Much can be said about a person by the Arcana they carry with them as they travel through life. Bonds you form with others give you the strength of their Arcana. However…" Igor seemed to contemplate the card. "...The Hollow Arcana is a strange one. The last holder died years ago in the waking world. I still understand little of it's intricacies. If my master was not absent, perhaps he could explain further."
"Who… who was the last holder? Am I going to die?" Ren asked, dread settling over him. Igor shook his head.
"He was a previous guest of ours. His death was not caused by the Hollow Arcana. Elizabeth was very disheartened by the loss. I would not recommend unnecessary worrying."
"Who is Elizabeth?"
"She was a previous attendant, who guided a previous guest. They were quite close. She left soon after."
"Do all attendants get, eh, buddy-buddy, with the guests? Because I don't want to go to jail for real, Igor." Ignoring the twins' outrage, Igor simply chuckled.
"I assure you, dear trickster, that you need not worry. Lavenza will be back upon your next visit. I look forward to your return." Ren had many more questions, but his eyes began feeling heavy. He felt his limbs become heavy, like his limbs were filled with lead, and he fell into the realm of sleep.
Ren awoke from hazy dreams of prison, long-nosed men, and jailbait. An odd combination to be sure, but hey, Japanese people have strange imaginations. He was restrained in a small medical room. A handcuff bit into his wrist slightly, connected to the bed frame. He sat up, his mind still foggy. A brown-haired nurse, leaned in past the door frame, saw him, and left again. He heard whispers from outside the room. A man with silver hair walked into the room.
"Did you really think faking a seizure would get you out of interrogation? I mean, seriously, with that little effort?"
"Sorry…" Ren muttered. Telling the truth about it wouldn't get him out of this, the only thing it would get him into is a psych ward.
"Well, let's get you out of there." The detective started unlocking his handcuffs. Ren heard the detective mutter, "Can't believe they'd handcuff a kid like this," under his breath.
The teenager followed the older man through the halls. They entered the recently-used interrogation room. Ren sat down in the chair he had sat in the first time.
"So, kid, let's talk about the stunt you pulled a week ago…"
April 9th, 20XX
Ren leaned back in a subway seat, thinking about the last few weeks. The detective's questioning went quick from there. Testimony was given. Ren was sentenced to probation within minutes of entering the courtroom. He had an overall clean record, they couldn't have been too harsh on him, though he wasn't certain. His school expelled him, regardless of how the staff and students felt about it. It didn't seem like a bribe to him, but there were some pretty intimidating suits at the expulsion hearing. A school in Tokyo accepted his application, and his family got in contact with some bachelor he was going to live with, and he had school starting in two days. Could be better but could have gone worse.
Another train rumbled by, going more than twice the speed of Ren's. The lights flickered, and riders were thrown into each other. He fell forwards, barely catching himself in time. When he opened his eyes, the air itself was red. Crimson fog covered the train. The other riders were nowhere to be seen, and the world outside the subway was total darkness. He heard chains clank behind him. He scampered up, looking for the source of the noise.
clink.
clink.
clink.
clink.
A menacing floating cloak approached through the fog, covered in chains. It held two strange machines in its hands. You could call them guns or pistols, but Ren felt the word 'Bolter' would be more appropriate. Ragged cloth covered it's hooded face. Ren backed away. The cloak shook its head.
"OUR GAME HAS NOT BEGUN, TRICKSTER."
The world turned back to normal. The other passengers looked at him, probably wondering why he looked so terrified. Ren massaged his face, and slapped himself a few times. Maybe he actually did need to go to an asylum. Eh, must be the stress.
Ren arrived in Yongen-Jaya later than he expected. His train had stopped soon after the hallucination. There was word of a crash down the line, but he wasn't sure what happened. His eyes were starting to droop as he walked. He pulled out a folded scrap of paper. On it, was written:
Guardian: Sojirou Sakura
Home Address: N/A
Place of Employment: Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya
Ren didn't understand why the address was crossed out, but he figured he could find the man well enough. The backstreets were sparsely populated, and relatively compact. Well, compared to back home, at least. He walked up to the general store, which looked like an indoor yard sale.
"Excuse me, sir, could you tell me where Leblanc is? I'm looking for the owner." asked Ren. The old man's eyes crinkled and smiled.
"Looking for Sakura-san?"
"Yes sir."
"It's down that alley." The old man weakly pointed behind Ren's shoulder. Ren bowed.
"Thank you, sir." He turned and walked down the alley. Sure enough, there was a large sign with 'cafe leblanc' written in simple, minimalistic letters. He stepped aside for an eldery couple leaving the cafe. He grabbed the closing door and pulled it open again. There was a middle-aged man in a pink button-up with an apron and khaki's doing a crossword at the bar. A TV in the corner blared the news.
"Ah, Sakura-san?"
"That's me," The man laid his newspaper on the table,"I'm assuming you're the kid?"
'Yes sir, Ren Amamiya."
"You're late." The man crossed his arms, leaning back. Ren gestured to the television. There was a headline about a subway crash and casuality numbers on the screen. "These mental shutdown cases are getting worse." Ren stood there awkwardly.
"Uh, seems like it, sir."
"Mhm. Follow me upstairs." Sakura walked to the back of the cafe and up some steps. Ren followed. The attic was… spacious, to say the least. It might even be generous to call it an attic, instead of a storage room. "Bed's in the corner, your belongings are in that box." Sakura pointed at a small box. "Got a few hours 'till closing time. I'd clean up if I were you."
"Yes sir, thank you for the space," said Ren, unsarcastically.
"Watch the sarcasm." Sakura responded, with a slight glare. "Kids these days..." muttered the man as he walked back down in the cafe.
Ren looked around the attic. Dirt and dust covered the floor. Furniture was covered in tarps. He could spot what looked like a bed in the corner. He grabbed a broom and dustpan and set to work. There was tons of dust on the shelves. He popped downstairs to ask Sakura for a wet rag and pine-sol.
"Under the sink. And just call me Boss. Sakura-san makes me feel old…" The older man gestured to the bathroom and looked back to his newspaper. Ren found his query under the sink. Upstairs, he wiped down all the shelves, and fluttered off the tarps, then folded them into storage. He moved all loose boxes behind the stairs, utilizing garbage bags for the smaller junk. The tables were wiped off, and Ren swept the rest of the room. He unpacked his sewing machine and placed it on the desk in the corner. He put his loose cloth and thread in a drawer. Footsteps came up the stairs. Boss whistled. "Huh, kid, I didn't think you'd actually clean up at your age."
"Mamamiya taught me some good habits, Boss."
"Whatever. There's a bath-house down the street. Cafe closes in about an hour."
"Thank you, sir."
AN:
So.
This is the same universe as SamJaz's Persona 3 Fairly English Story, as well as Casey W's Persona 4 Face Every Shadow. Or, at least, that's how I'm writing it. I am ignoring anything established in SamJaz's For Every Soul, because he didn't finish it. I may call him a glorious bastard at some point. Heavy emphasis on the bastard. I appreciate and respect the man, but he didn't finish the damn thing. I may take some elements from the sequel, but I will not count its entirety in the canon. Sorry about that.
No omake for the prologue, there will be some in later chapters when I can think of something funny.
This won't be the best thing you've ever read, and I won't try to make it that. Not yet anyway. I'm going to make the whole thing once before I go back to rewrite it. Having one fully written story with issues is better than two half-finished ones with cliffhangers, right? Other people rarely finish rewrites, because they start focusing on perfection rather than finishing the damn story. I'm probably no different. I am putting effort into finishing it first. There may be loose plot threads. There will be retcons. You can ignore stuff if you want. I can only hope to meet the epicness of Fairly English Story. I do think it's funny how SamJaz constantly aspired to meet Shinji and Warhammer 40k's level, when I actually think he surpassed it.
And no, the title does not mean that Ren will say anything about the internet's favorite flavor of mountain dew.
Ready? Ready.
Here we go.