Hello again everyone, ShadowyBlade here. Welcome to Chapter 2 of the fic, I'm fairly pleased with how the story is going so far, at least what i have done besides this. For those of you who left reviews and read chapter one I greatly appreciate the feedback you have given me. I'm still working on the whole blocky text issue, I tried inserting more spaces between paragraphs but the doc manager is being stubborn. I'll try and work with it more and go back and edit the text design as i write more. Thats all from me for now, hope you enjoy chapter 2. Also for this story, I myself am not particularly well versed with P4AU and the other 3 and 4 spin-offs so i will make due how I can when it comes to the story gained from those games

As always I do not own Persona in anyway.

Chapter 2: The Velvet Room

April 2nd 2022, Evening

Ken was making his way to the apartment as best he could this late in the evening. The sun had just gone down about fifteen minutes ago and darkness was setting in on the town, the streetlights illuminating the road as best they could, he made his way towards the eastern side of town. His apartment was in a complex that had recently been built near the eastern edge of town, past an older residential area. The walk was relaxing and peaceful, much more so than the walks he had taken during his time in Tatsumi Port Island. There were few people out at night in this town, where as the port was always busy any time of the day. Ken preferred the quiet atmosphere that was present in the town, as he had always been more of an introverted person, except when around his friends, preferring the company of books or music to the company of other people that he didn't know as well.

The air of the night was cool against his body, seemingly inviting him to explore more of the town, however Ken knew that he had to get to his apartment so he could finally get settled down after a long trip. After about half an hour Ken had finally made it to the residential area that he was told about that preceded his apartment. He took time looking at all the houses as he passed them, noticing that some were newer style and some were older, much like many other areas of Japan, a blend of the old and new.

It was approaching 9:30 pm and he was just about past the residential area when he stopped and took notice of one house. The house seemed to be of modern design, albeit less modern than any of the houses that were being constructed back in Iwatodai. It had a brown roof and it looked to be about either two to one and a half stories. It had a red mailbox built into the wall around the house's yard and appeared to have a gate that could close off the side of the house where a silver suv was parked, an outdoor garage as it were. He could also slightly make out what appeared to be a vegetable garden in the yard, how quaint and homy it was.

As Ken was looking on at the house and about to walk past it he suddenly felt a wave of nausea and light headedness come over him. In an instant, his whole world was spinning as he began to see spots in his vision, he felt his body wanting to fall to the ground, the sense of nausea overpowering his entire. He tried to push himself towards the door of the house, seeking assistance in any way from those who could possibly be inside before he completely passed out. Instead of knocking on the door, he fell against it on his shoulder, a resounding thud echoing on the door, sure to alert anyone who was inside and close to the door. He slid down the door as he felt his world going black, a feeling he had rarely experienced, as all sense of consciousness left his body. He could tell that he had impacted the ground a little too hard as a slight sense of pain shot through him, he was probably bleeding in some way. He could almost make out someone yelling what sounded like "Dad! Get out here! He needs our help!" as he felt his eyes close and his sense of hearing vanish.

Just as soon as he felt his eyes close he felt them open and his sense of consciousness returned to his body. As his eyes, fluttered open, and color returned to his vision, he noticed one color was overwhelming his senses, a dark velvet blue. The room was familiar to him, though he couldn't remember exactly why. He looked down and found that he was sitting in what appeared to be a desk from a school, the wooden part of the desk being the same blue as the rest of the room and the metal parts colored black. He looked up from his desk and in front of him, where he saw a familiar figure in front of him sitting at a large ornate wooden desk that was the same colored blue, loose papers and a quill pen sitting on top of the desk. He was a short older man with large bug eyes, a long pointed nose. He was wearing a black suit jacket, a white shirt with a thin styled tie, and thick white gloves over his hands. His elbows were resting on the desk and his hands were folded together, a wicked smile gracing his face. Then it all came back to Ken, the memories from that day, March 31st 2010 the day he entered the…

"Welcome to the Velvet Room… it is good to see you again Amada-san." The man said with a chuckle to his speech. Igor, that was his name, and he was master of the Velvet Room. The man with the seemingly limitless knowledge of Persona and an even greater air of mystery. Hundreds of questions began racing through his mind, something that must have been visible on his face as Igor chuckled again under his breath and addressed him once more.

"I'm sure you have plenty of questions for me young master, but we have only so much time so I will answer this one questions. Why are you here?" He said the grin on his face still affixed. "You are here, because you have been called to be here. The world has need of one with your talents once again, and this time you will not be able to rely on those whom you helped in the past." Igor said, Ken listening to every word and trying to process what he was saying to him.

"What do you mean I won't be able to rely on the others? Has something happened to them?" Ken asked with worry in his voice, as he had only just seen some of them before he left for this place. Once again Igor chuckled, though this time he said nothing to the man before him and pulled out a deck of blue colored cards.

"I will let the cards explain it to you Amada-san" Igor replied as he pulled three cards from the deck face down and they levitated over to Ken's desk and landed in a horizontal line in front of him. Igor motion with his left hand to Ken "Pick up the first card." Ken did as he was instructed and picked up the left most card and turned it over. The picture on the card was split in half, the left side being filled with red and the right side being filled with the color white. Splitting the colors was a sword hanging from a chain blade pointing downwards with two scales hanging from the swords hilt.

"Ah the Justice Arcana in the upright position, a representation of the man you have become in every way, from the moment you awakened your Persona you have sought justice in all things, though justice has a habit of not always being a morally good thing in every situation if I recall correctly, no?" Igor said, the smile vanishing from his face.

Ken's mind was assaulted by the images of that day, October 4th, 2009. The day that he sought justice and got Shinjiro Aragaki killed. Since that day he had always done what Shinjiro had told him to do, he had lived. He had lived for the last wish of his friend, and he had lived with the regret of that night. Ken felt the fresh tears forming in his eyes as he recalled that fateful night, the regret taking hold of him as it had so many times before.

"Always hold to those values Amada-san, as they will be important in the journey to come. Now please pick up the second card." Igor said, the smile still gone as his expression was mellowed. Ken again did as was asked of him and turned the card over. The card has a man seemingly walking or skipping in the picture with a knapsack on a stick over his back, his head covered by an angular hat, and what appeared to be a dog following behind him. Ken once again heard Igor's voice.

"The Fool, in the upright position, a representation of new beginnings, both literally and figuratively. As I mentioned before this task of yours will be a new beginning, none of your old team will be able to help you with what is about to happen, their time with the power of Persona has long since passed due to one reason or another, where yours has just begun once again. This is also a new beginning for you as you are new to this place, as such you must find people you can trust and depend on to help you, or you will never succeed in your mission. Do you understand so far?" Igor said, the smile slowly beginning to return to his face. Ken nodded his head in reply, finding his voice difficult to use at the moments as his mind was racing with the information he was receiving.

"Now if you would, the last card please." Igor said gesturing to the final unrevealed card. Ken reached out hesitantly and turned it over slowly. The card however instead of finding any drawing on it was blank, Ken looked up quizzically at Igor.

"This card represents the infinite possibilities before you, there are many ways for this whole ordeal to go, however, how this all turns out is entirely in your hands and the choices you make. Everything will become clear in the next few days as to what exactly you will need to do. For now though, our time runs short and we have one more matter to discuss." Igor said in a voice as low as a whisper, his manner becoming more serious as he drew a piece of paper, or perhaps it was parchment, from the drawer of his desk and handed it to Ken. Ken looked at the piece of paper, it only had a line for a signature and a date on it.

"What you see before you is…. A contract, of sorts. When you sign your name on this paper you would ordinarily be able to wield the power of any persona that you manage to unlock by varied means, it would give you all the powers the Wild Card, you remember what that is correct? The power that your friend Minato and then Aigis once wielded?" Igor asked, intending to test Ken's memory.

"Of course I remember their power, it was overwhelming in battle and in their everyday life, it changed them completely from what I understand, especially Minato. I was told he was a completely different person from when he came to S.E.E.S originally. He was always so calm and collected, and he knew just what to say to everyone to cheer them up when they were down." He said, fondly remembering his time with Minato, however short it had been to get to know him. "You said normally, that implies that there is something abnormal about this situation, doesn't it?" Igor let out a little cackle in response.

"Perceptive, I'll have to give your more credit than I have been. Yes, you are correct there is something abnormal about this contract. You are not the typical person that usually inherits the power of the Wild Card, the main factor being you already have a Persona and one that is intricately more tied to you than others before you, even if he has not been summoned in a long time. Because of this you will not be given the power of the Wild Card, at least not in full. You will not be able to summon and use multiple Personas, however should you sign the contract you will unlock a hidden power of Kala-Nemi, a power that you will learn to master in time. This power should be suitable for the moment. I am regretful that I am not able to offer your much more than that at the current moment, however our time grows short here. What is your decision Amada-san?" Igor said, eyeing Ken, awaiting a response.

Ken looked at the contract, he was scared to say the least. His mind turned to Minato, what had happened to Minato because of the power of the Wild Card, in the end he sacrificed his power and his life to become The Great Seal, would something like that be required of him as well to deal with this unknown enemy. Could he bring himself to possibly sacrifice himself for the betterment of the world? It was then that he heard a voice in his mind that he had not heard as clearly for about thirteen years.

"It's alright... Give yourself time, make your anger your strength... Come on, Ken, you're just a kid. You've got your whole life ahead of you, so don't waste it. Make it your own, okay?" Shinjiro Aragaki, his last words to him before he died, he had made up his mind, he would do it because others deserved the same chance he was given all those years ago.

"I'll do it. I have to, for Shinjiro, for everyone." Ken said as he signed his name on the contract.

"Well then, it's all settled now, our time here draws to a close. Good luck Amada-san, we will be seeing each other again soon, my assistant for this matter should have returned by then as well. Until we meet again." Igor said with a smile. Suddenly, the feeling of nausea and lightheadedness returned and his world went black once more as his consciousness faded from his body again.

For but a minute her floated in the ethereal space and then he felt the feeling of nausea leave and consciousness return to him once more as he slowly opened his eyes. He found that he was staring up at a ceiling laying on a couch in a room that was unfamiliar to him, though he certainly didn't remember getting to his own apartment. "The people in the house must have heard me fall against the door." He thought to himself. He then noticed that his forehead felt wet and warm, and Ken noticed that he had a cloth placed over his forehead and went to remove it from his person when he heard a small gasp from his left. He turned his head slowly, so as to not induce the wave of nausea once more.

He saw sitting in a chair a girl with long brown hair that was reaching about halfway down her back, with her bangs trimmed and hanging slightly above her eyebrows. Her eyes were a light gentle brown and showed a look of concern in them. Her skin was rather fair and she was wearing what appeared to be a high school uniform of some sort as she wore a long sleeved black shirt with a black and yellow color that had a yellow scarf tied a little below the collar area, and a black skirt that came to rest a little above her knee and a pair of black leggings covering the rest of her legs, her feet covered by white socks.

"Thank Goodness you're awake, Dad and I were so worried when we found you outside, stay still for a minute, you don't want to pass out again. I need to change the towel, you've been out for about an hour now." She said as she approached him with a new towel in hand and gently took the one from his head and replaced it, the new washcloth warming his forehead. She sat next to the couch on the floor eyeing him to make sure he was still okay for the moment. "Well I suppose I should introduce myself, my name is Dojima Nanako, what is yours?" She said smiling at him.

"Amada, Amada Ken." He replied, his voice still slightly weak from earlier but the baritone of it returning as his strength returned.

"It's nice to meet you Amada-san" Nanako said as she smiled once again. Ken couldn't help but admire the shine of her eyes.

And there we have it Chapter 2 is a wrap, I wonder what power Ken has had unlocked inside Kala-Nemi, and how will things go with finding a new generation of Persona Users. I suppose you will have to stay tuned to find out, in Chapter 3 as the story continues.