Hello readers of , welcome to Chapter 6 of "Persona Academy"! :D With a title like this, I think you know where we're getting with this chapter. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. Don't forget to review :)

Persona Academy

Chapter 6: Persona

"Ah, it appears we have a new guest…" An unknown voice said gently.

"H-huh…? Wh-wha…?" Keita's eyes fluttered open slowly as he looked around. His vision was blurry at first, but after a while it began to clear. Keita realized he was sitting in a deep blue chair with a golden frame. Everywhere he looked, a regal hue of azure surrounded him. The entire room was colored this way, its furniture, its walls and even the large table that was in front of him was radiating this relaxing velvet hue. The walls converged and rose skyward into a ceiling that seemed to vanish into oblivion.

"I'm glad to see that you are awake" The voice from earlier said.

"Huh…?" Keita turned his head forward and saw the owner of the voice.

In front of him, across the velvet draped table in an almost throne-like chair sat a balding old man wearing a black suit with white gloves. A black cane was propped in front of him, his hands lying on its tip. The old man looked upwards, revealing a most…unsettling feature. The old man had an abnormally long nose, nearly the length of his entire head.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room" He said.

Keita's eyes sprang open in shock. "D-d-d-d-dude…y-y-your nose…!" Keita stuttered, trying to form a coherent sentence.

The old man chuckled lightly. "Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. You are my honorary guest after all" He said, trying to ease him.

"U-um…who are you, s-sir?" Keita asked nervously.

A smile spread across his wrinkly complexion as he began to speak. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

Behind Igor, Keita noticed a blue grand piano that glowed with the same aura as the rest of the room. In front of its keys, a young woman had her hands placed up to them. She had platinum blonde hair that was tied into a bun and wore an odd, long sleeved dress and boots that were the same color as the room, with white gloves being the only thing standing out. She turned to Keita and looked at him with golden colored eyes, gracing him with a smile.

"This is Beatrice, my assistant" Igor said, gesturing his glove covered hand towards her.

She bowed courteously. "It is a pleasure to meet you" She said kindly.

"Th-the pleasure's all mine" Keita said, feeling a light blush on his cheeks.

Beatrice nodded before turning around towards the piano. She began to play a somber aria which echoed throughout the room. As the song played, the young woman tilted her head and began to sing in a voice that sounded like the golden note of a royal choir. The fusion of piano and vocals combined to form an enchanting serenade that lavishly drowned the room in a euphoric blanket of music.

Keita brought his attention back to Igor, who was still looking at him with the same wide, almost scary grin on his face. "Please, introduce yourself" He requested.

"M-my name is Keita Saeki" He answered, frightened. "Where is this?"

"This is a place that neither exists in dream or reality. This is a place between these planes of existence, a place between mind and matter" He said cryptically.

Keita's heart sunk at that moment. "Am I…dead?" He asked.

Igor shook his head. "No, your mind is simply away from your body at the moment" Igor explained. He got up from his chair and walked towards a door at the end of the room. "Follow me" He requested.

Igor gripped the golden handle and opened the door in the Velvet Room. As the door swung open, a soft light came through and the two walked out. As Keita stepped out, he looked down and saw what appeared to be white sand. It seemed that this was an island of sorts.

He looked up and saw a marvelous sight. All around this small pocket of land, a glistening sea stretched as far as the eye could see. Though it was different from what its real world equivalent would be. The water was a light color of cyan and glistened with lights of multiple colors that swirled and mixed together into each other, creating a marvelous display which was made more visible by the night sky.

Keita looked up and saw what appeared to be large floating cards gently gliding across the sky. Some were as high as clouds while others were low enough that they could be touched by a wary hand. These blue and white cards held a symbol similar to the mask on the emblem of St. Lucia's. One of the sides was a white blank in the center and a circle at the bottom.

"What is this place…?" Keita asked as he walked to the shore where Igor had stopped.

"This, my boy, is the Sea of Unconsciousness" Igor announced, his hand moving in the direction of the

"Sea of…Unconsciousness…? I don't get it" Keita scratched his head, dumbfounded by what all of this meant.

"The details of its existence will become clear to you another day. This is the place where all thoughts and feelings from your world gather."

Keita rubbed his chin, trying to put everything together in his head.

"If you listen closely, you may be able to hear these feelings" Igor advised, his smile becoming gentle.

Keita closed his eyes and allowed himself to open up to the world around him, if only for a moment. In an instant, a rush of emotion filled his body and the sounds of many people's thoughts filled his ears. They were faint, but Keita could hear them. He knew they were there. Then just as quickly, he stopped, returning to his senses.

"You hear them, no?" Igor asked him.

"Y-yeah…Igor, this is incredible!" Keita cheered, blown away by what he had just experienced.

"I am glad you find some intrigue in this" Igor submerged his gloved hand in the water and gently swayed it back and forth. "But, you must return to your world. You have business to attend to."

"Wait! How long have I been out?" Keita asked in a panic.

"When you awaken, it will be as though only a moment has passed. Do not worry" Igor explained, his eyes still fixed on the water. "You hold a very special gift, something that you and your classmates all possess. A power that few can truly awaken."

"R-Really…?"

Igor nodded and whisked his hand from the water. A baseball sized orb of water from the Sea of Unconsciousness floated above his hand.

"The ability to overcome life's hardships through a façade…a mask" Igor continued.

"A…mask…?" Keita scratched his head.

"A power of which you will need a contract with myself to fulfill" Igor said. The orb of water began to spin rapidly, glowing with a volatile light. "I will help you in your journey in the best way I know how."

The orb span faster and faster above Igor's hand until finally a bright light erupted from it. Keita covered his eyes quickly to avoid being blinded. When the light dissipated, he uncovered his eyes. Above Igor's hand, the orb of water from the Sea of Unconsciousness had frozen over, forming an icy crystalline shell around its core, which still glowed with the multicolored light.

"Do you accept?" Igor asked seriously.

"I accept your contract" Keita reached his hand towards the orb and in an instant, it came to his beckon. Keita gripped the crystal and instantly, the light within it changed color. The once multicolored light had now changed to an emerald green that glowed in response to him.

"Now then, I mustn't keep you here any longer" Igor said. He clasped his hands over his cane and in an instant everything around Keita began to turn white.

"Until then, farewell" Igor said as he bid his newest guest farewell.

"No wait! Igor…!" Keita yelled desperately. The world around him began to fade, until Keita only saw darkness. He could feel his bodily senses returning to him.

"Thou art I…" The voice echoed in his head. His headache was gone, his mind was clear.

"I understand now" He thought to himself, knowing what he had to do.

In an otherworldly rush, Keita's eyes shot open. He could hear Marina and Kaz both yelling for him as they fought through the creatures he had not so easily forgotten. He also heard the roaring and shrieking of the pack's alpha male.

Keita regained control, feeling the stress his body was under. However, it seemed like this stress became less and less of an obstacle. He pushed as hard as he could, until finally he was on his feet.

"Saeki-kun! You're alive!" Marina cried out, relieved that he wasn't dead.

"Keita, you need to get out of here!" Kaz ordered, trying to handle the mob that blocked him off. He slammed his fist straight through one of the creatures as it gave off a short shriek before fading into smoke. It was no use though, there were too many for him to handle.

Keita stood up straight, though his head was slumped down. His eyes were shadowed by his hair.

"Saeki-kun, come on! You need to get out of here before they really kill you!" Marina yelled.

Keita didn't seem to hear her. He was still in his seemingly dazed state.

"Keita, hurry up! Move!" Kaz pleaded.

The alpha male monster let out a soul shattering shriek right in Keita's direction with him facing it. However, it did little to nothing to his concentration.

"Saeki-kun, please!" Marina begged him.

"KEITA!" Kaz cried out.

Keita reached his left hand in front of him with his palm open.

"What is he…?" Marina murmured.

Suddenly, a blue ring of energy began to form under Keita's feet as a gust of wind began to blow his uniform and hair all about. In a flash of light, the green crystal that he had received from Igor floated in front of his hand and guided itself to him.

He took a hold of the crystal, causing his shadow to change and twist. Wisps of darkness shed itself from his shadow as it twisted forms on the ground. Keita squeezed the crystal in his hand, forming large cracks in its surface that radiated the green energy within.

"N-no way…! Is he…?" Marina stammered, stunned by what she was witnessing.

"He is…!" Kaz gasped in surprise.

As the crystal was at its breaking point, wisps of darkness began to shed from Keita's body, originating from his own natural shadow, which had left the ground. His hair and clothes fluttered violently from the energy.

A single word worked its way into Keita's mind. It repeated itself over and over in his mind, begging to be called upon. Keita's eyes dilated as he spoke the three syllables that made up this word.

"Per…"

The alpha male monster began to conjure a fireball in its mouth.

"…so…"

Marina and Kaz looked on in awe at the sight that was unfolding right before their very eyes.

"…na!"

Keita shattered the crystal in his hand, causing what looked like shards of blue glass to shed where blood would have normally sprayed. The energy from the crystal shot into him, causing a massive surge of energy to occur in his soul. His shadow completely left his body and began to change. The wind howled fiercely as the power surged more and more around him.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Keita threw his head back and let out a mighty scream as the power within him awakened at last.

Behind him, his shadow had changed and taken on a form of its own. Behind Keita floated a large humanoid being, clad in bronze and silver armor. Its bird-like helmet hid a shadowed face with glowing yellow eyes. On its back, the being had a pair of large avian wings that were made of semi-transparent green energy.

"Thou art I…And I am thou…From the sea of thy soul I come forth…I am Icarus, Champion of the Skies!" The being declared, speaking in a voice similar to Keita's.

"He did it! He awakened his Persona!" Marina cheered giddily.

Icarus reached to his waist and unsheathed a black bladed sword. With a swing of the blade, Icarus conjured a wide wave of charged green wind energy and sent it screaming at his opponents. The attack sliced through a majority of the smaller creatures like a hot knife through butter, causing them to explode into a cloud of black and red smoke. The alpha male was knocked off its feet, causing the fireball in its mouth to shoot up into the sky and safely explode in the air as its enormous frame slammed to the ground. It shrieked and tried desperately to get back up, its dog-like legs scrambling all around for support.

Icarus crossed his arms across his chest, causing a white and blue light to surround Keita. The pain that had racked his body faded, his leg wound sealed itself up safely and the black goo on his leg was burned off. He walked towards the kendo sword he was carrying before, which had been long forgotten and slung it over his shoulder, prepared to fight.

The alpha male finally gained, its claws scraping against the ground. Keita cracked his neck as the monster roared in anger.

"You've been giving me trouble all night, damn it! But now, you've got no one to hide behind!" He raised his blade, pointing it at the monster as Icarus brandished his blade as well.

"Bring it on, freak show!"