The world needs a savior, someone who can lift the curses of the land. Will you rise up or will you fall and let the messengers of this ancient evil destroy everything?
…
So be it… the destiny of many is in your hands. This is a path you will not walk alone, there will be others who will aid you in this quest but there will be others who will try to stop you.
…
Good luck… and welcome to the path of redemption…
- April 7th -
His eyes opened immediately after hearing those words. It was a strange dream, the voice of an old man narrating a grim story but everything was black, nothing to be seen.
Now that he was awake he remembered being on the bus to Kyoto and by the looks of it he was a few minutes away from getting to the destination. To his left the dark haired boy could see the Kamogawa River in the distance along with some buildings.
He sighed and tried to prepare his things before leaving the bus but something else distracted him first, his phone. His hand quickly went for the pocket in his pants and pulled an old gray smartphone, the screen was showing it was 2:47 PM and below a big green notification that was titled `Mom´. The thumb immediately went for the green icon and moved the device to his ear.
¨Tetsuya? ¨ A feminine voice was heard from the other side of the phone ¨Are you at the dorms yet? I was worried since I didn't receive a call from you¨
¨What? Oh… no no¨ Tetsuya let a small chuckle out ¨There was some traffic on the way here and the bus couldn't move for some time so I took a nap. Fortunately, I am some minutes away from the stop¨
¨That is good my son, I hope you are feeling alright¨
¨Yeah, it will take some time for me to get used to this¨
¨It is only one year until… things get fixed here, Tetsuya I hope you under-¨
¨I do…¨ He looked to the other people in the bus and noticed how they were already grabbing their bags and standing up from their seats ¨Mom, I have to leave now, the bus stopped¨
¨I understand, well… enjoy this year and don't forget to call me from time to time! ¨ The optimistic voice from Tetsuya's mom ended along with the call and the boy put the phone back in his pockets.
Just like the rest of the passengers he grabbed his backpack and another bag that had some of his personal belongings and left the transport just to find himself far away from the city center, he pulled his phone again to look at the map of the city and to find the place he had to go.
From the stop it was a ten-minute walk which he used to admire the old style of the city combined with the modern architecture however during his Sunday walk he remembered that strange dream, the Path of Redemption was the only words that interested him the most. What was that path, why was it redemption and why did the world need a savior? Those were questions that were floating on the boy's mind but felt like there was not going to be an answer any time soon.
His feet stopped the moment Tetsuya saw the big building in front of him, it was L-shaped and had four floors. It had an open space with some trees, benches and even tables as if it were a park where a lot of young kids were already there chatting or enjoying the day, probably students on their last day before classes start. He felt some eyes looking at him but tried not to pay attention to the other people as he walked towards the entrance of the building.
Inside there were some students chatting near a table and others were going up and down on the stairs. The entire place felt like a hotel in design which made the boy question the legitimacy of the place a bit.
¨Hello! How may I help you? ¨ The voice of a woman took him out of trance as he turned his head to the left and saw the source of that sound. It was a girl around his age behind a reception, she wore a white long-sleeved shirt with the school's logo to the side along with a stripped black and green skirt that also had the same logo, that's all he was able to see from his position.
¨Um… yeah I just got to Kyoto and was told to go here¨
¨Oh! You must be the student from that other town the teachers were talking about, what was the name? ¨
¨Inaba, it is a very peaceful town aside-¨
¨The town with all those mysterious murders! I remember seeing it on the news¨ Her voice and even movements radiated a lot of energy and happiness, pretty surprising for someone on their last day of vacation.
¨-from that¨ Tetsuya sighed, he remembered when he was very young his town became famous due to some murders that were happening there, after months of investigation the cops were able to find the real culprit and Inaba became a peaceful countryside town again, except for the fact that a lot of tourists would visit it for a tour ¨Yeah the town with the fog¨
¨How was it living there? Were you scared? Did the cops ask you any questions? Is it true there was a lot of fog? ¨ The excited attitude from the girl made the newcomer take a step back but fortunately for him she noticed it and cleared her throat in an attempt to not look like that again ¨I am sorry; I suppose I should introduce myself: I am Chika Taniguchi. Third-year student and Student Council president. And you may be…¨
¨Tetsuya Hayashi, I… second-year student¨ He held tighter his backpack as he looked down at the big folder that Chika opened.
¨Very well Tetsuya-kun, I need you to complete this two forms, one will remain here while the other will go to the school's archive¨ She grabbed the pen that was by the side of the folder and gave them both to the young one.
Name: Hayashi Tetsuya
Age: 17
Date of Birth: February 21st 2005
Birthplace: Inaba - Japan
School year: Second year
Dormitory:
Room:
As he copied the information on both forms and signed them he had to leave some of those with nothing because he was clueless ¨Uh… Taniguchi senpai what do I add on the dormitory and room? ¨ He asked and pointed with the pen at the two blank spaces.
¨Oh yeah, let me do that for you¨ Without even asking she took the forms and the pen from Tetsuya's hands and in just the blink of an eye she filled both spaces ¨There you go, dormitory Kyoto Blue; room 213¨ She went under the reception desk and pulled a pair of keys which were immediately on the counter, they had a tag with the number 213 on it ¨Alright, here it is¨ She grabbed the keyring and started explaining each one as if the future student was only five years old ¨This key is the one to your room and this one to the laundry one, please do not lose them as you will be penalized if you do¨
¨I won't, don't worry¨ The green-eyed student took the keys for a closer inspection before putting them in the pockets of his jacket ¨I guess I should go up and-¨
¨Oh no no! This is just the introduction, there are some more things you must know¨ Chika went under the counter again but this time she pulled a big box, putting it between him and her and thus breaking vising from each other ¨That was heavy… anyways, the principal told me to give you this box as well because it has everything you need for Sagano School: uniform, ID card, schedule of classes as well as some more things! ¨
¨I… uh… thanks¨ He said with some doubt in his voice as he tried to move the box so he could see the president again ¨Anything else I should know? ¨
She moved a finger to her chin but then she shook her head ¨Nothing that I can remember right now, in any case there will be a pamphlet with a lot of information inside of the box, if that is not enough you can find me on the school's hallways or even the Student Council on the third floor of the main building and- Oh! ¨ She quickly looked at someone that was passing by ¨Kazushige-kun, mind helping this newcomer carry the box to his room? ¨
Tetsuya turned to see a kid with shot light-brown hair, he was wearing a black shirt with a pair of jeans that had some chains hanging from the pockets; for everyone Kazushige was trying to give the `tough kid´ vibe to everyone and he seemed to enjoy it, at least by the looks of it ¨Can't someone else do it? I'm going to the arcade¨ This student started to walk towards the exit but as he grabbed the handle…
¨May I remind you that you are part of the council as well? ¨ Chika's statement stopped him in his tracks, they couldn't see the student's face but could imagine he was angry but his grunt gave it away.
Kazushige turned and had one-frowned look on his face as he picked up the box ¨Which one is your room? ¨
Tetsuya was about to speak but it was Chika's fast (and powerful) voice who came first ¨213, your room last year! ¨
¨Yeah yeah. C'mon fresh meat let's do this quickly¨ The member of the council started his march and was followed by the other student as the two of them went up the staircase and got to the second floor. There were a lot of rooms and his was almost on the far end. Without any kind of warning he dropped the box in front of the door and put his hands on the pockets of his jeans ¨Any questions you want to ask, fresh meat? ¨
¨Oh, yeah I forgot to ask about-¨
¨It's probably on the pamphlet, I'm outta here¨ Still with some annoyance in his voice the brunette left, leaving the other boy alone.
Tetsuya closed his mouth and use the newly acquired key to open the door to his room. It was small but big enough for him to walk around, it had a bed on the left corner of the room, a desk on the other one and in between these two was a window that led to the small recreation area of the dorms. Near the door was an open wardrobe that had a mirror hanging from the inside; in front of this furniture was a door that led to the personal bathroom that only had a toilet and a wall-mounted sink with a mirror on top of it.
¨The rooms looked bigger on the webpage…¨ He whispered as he checked every corner of his own personal space before bringing all his belongings inside and closing the door.
He started by taking stuff from his backpack. Some books, a music player among other electronics and an empty vase that he would fill with a plant one day. Once empty he worked on the big bag that he brought that had his clothes and placed them on the wardrobe.
It took him a bit before all his things were in order so he could work on the box that the council president gave him.
Inside of the box was on top the pamphlet that said with big letters `SAGANO SCHOOL: STUDENT GUIDE´ in which it had a small map of the school's layout as well as the number of all the classrooms. It also had some fun facts and most importantly the student's rulebook. The next thing he found was the uniform which he remembers he sent the measures two weeks ago before going to Kyoto; it was a black jacket with some dark green details that had on the right side the emblem of Sagano, the pants were equally similar albeit with more black than green. Underneath the uniform was another one but this time the green was more noticeable and unlike the first one this was closer to some gym wear rather than something formal.
After removing all the pieces of clothing he noticed the ID card that had Tetsuya's picture as well as the name and a long number underneath.
¨This is nice¨ This time he said a bit more out loud as he placed both uniforms inside of wardrobe and the ID card along with the rest of his things by the desk ¨ (My new room for one year… I'll have to get used to this… I hope) ¨ Before Tetsuya could even sit on his bed someone knocked on the door ¨I'm coming! ¨
The raven-haired opened the door but to his surprise there was no one, the floor was empty and strangely silent. He was going to close but his eyes stopped the moment they saw something on the floor: a letter with a blue seal.
The student grabbed it and found the seal was a big V with a lot of details in it, to the sides there were two roses –also in blue- but the most noticeable detail was that the letter was directly to Tetsuya himself.
¨Huh? ¨ He closed the door and sat on the bed, having another detailed look at the letter and even shook it in case it was a prank; he held the paper against the light coming from the window and saw that there was another paper inside. The curious boy gently broke the seal pulled the message that was inside, it was a fine print with very few words in it:
Hayashi Tetsuya, Fool. You are cordially invited to the club.
¨The what? ¨ He read it once again but didn't understand what it meant. When he looked up again the student noticed that the light from the window disappeared, it was as if the night suddenly arrived ¨What the-¨ Tetsuya dropped the letter and rose from the bed, when he tried to look outside of the window there was nothing, no lights or sounds, it was complete emptiness.
His heart started to increase in beats but he noticed one more thing, the door behind him opened and outside of his bedroom was not the same open space that was before, it was another room only things time bigger and with some lights on. It gave him a strange feeling but curiosity as well, his body slowly moved there despite his mind telling him not to do it.
After crossing the doorframe, the door to the bedroom closed and the lights inside of that strange room lit up. It was a bar that had blue walls everywhere, there were decorations in gold and a strange-looking chandelier hanging from the top that had blue flames rather than lightbulbs. There were some torches as well and it gave this bar a gothic feeling but at the same time slightly familiar.
By the counter there was a woman wearing a white shirt with a blue vest and an equally colored tie, her hair was silver and her eyes were yellow, almost unnerving; behind her were a lot of bottles that had things moving inside, living things. But that was not all, opposite of Tetsuya was a table with a man sitting and facing the student; he wore a black suit but his most noticeable details were the long nose and the big eyes that were looking at the newcomer along with that wicked smile.
¨Welcome… to the Velvet Room…¨
So this is a story started off as an RP I had with some friends, got the inspiration and decided to start a new type of plot. This is also the first time I've written a Persona story (and since english is not my first language there are bound to be some mistakes here and there). I come from the League of Legends stories and wanted to diversify a bit on what I write. However this is not my main story and I while I do have some chapters already done the main focus will be another story that I already have and is sort-of close to finishing.
I also have a Discord where there are a many writers and readers but we also discuss about other games and topics: discorddotgg / 7ZUptrJ (of course the dot should be replaced with a . )
With that being said I'll be posting the next chapters in a few days but until then. Hope you enjoyed this starting chapter and as always:
See you in the next chapter ;)