Persona 5: Shadow Over America
By:CleruSonofShintetsu
[Chapter 2: Welcome to Philly]
{Current Date: August 22, 2020}
{Current Weather: Mildly Warm}
{Current Time: Early Morning}
"...Honovi, hey, Honovi! Amiga, compadre, madame, lady of the house of Proctor, are you in there?" said a rather enthusiastic young man as Honovi was shaken awake.
She gasped and panted, before looking out the window and then back at her friend.
"Oh, right...sorry Tony, had a very odd dream. Eheh..." she giggled, scratching the back of her head, brushing a hand through the back of her mid-length black curly hair.
Tony chuckled with a big grin. "No problem! You sorta conked out on the train, so I just wanted to make sure you were awake. We arrive in like a few minutes, dude." he said, leaning back with his hands behind his head as he looks out the window.
Tony was a full-blooded Italian-American. He had mid-length and sleek black hair tied into a man bun. He wore a black leather jacket and matching jeans, and he had fingerless gloves and a tattoo of a rose on his right shoulder that was presently covered up by his outfit. He also had a light stubbly mustache, and was 17 years old, Honovi's age.
"Right, hey I think we're approaching the city now." Honovi stated. "...The city of brotherly love."
Tony nodded. "...And the place where we start the next part of our lives."
The two gently fist bumped as the train finally stopped at the nearby station. The two got up, grabbed their luggage, and hopped off, looking around the subway.
"I'll go get us maps and snacks. You can wait by the stairs. Sound good?" Tony offered.
Honovi nodded. "Yep, see you in a bit!" she said as the two parted ways for a moment. She took deep breaths to relax herself, for she felt excitement at the fact that she was finally in Philadelphia.
As Honovi leaned against a nearby wall, she put in her bluetooth earbuds and listened to a local news station on her phone. Pulling up the video, the news reporter began to speak.
"Good morning Philadelphians! This is your local news station with some exciting news! I'm Lenny!" said the first news anchor.
"And I'm Miley!" said the second news anchor.
"And we are your friendly neighborhood news anchors!" said the duo with a wave and a wink.
They were both rather sprightly despite being well into their 50's, and Honovi smiled at that, appreciating that magic in middle-aged and elderly folks alike.
"Today marks the last weekend of the break before school officially starts again!" Lenny began. "Now's the time to relish the last of your summer break in a bombastic or relaxing finale before school works you raw again! Especially in our beloved Star Spangled Academy, which has received it's biggest enrollment numbers in decades this year!"
"Indeed indeed, Lenny! Not since the school's fifth ever school year back in 1950 has it been so populated and lively! This could be due to how wild this country has gotten lately, but that's not my business to say." she said with a giggle. "I think it fits, considering that we're nearing the school's 75th anniversary soon!
"Hah! Yeah, but if you wanna be real, it's because of a bunch of reasons, not least of which being the former president's education campaign to revitalize the old school and others across the country!" he said excitedly.
Honovi tilted her head, her mind racing with even more excitement than before. Her imagination ran wild about the kind of school life she'd have in SSA, the clean and modern look of the old school, and how graduating from here could offer her an ocean of opportunities seldom achieved even by the graduates of other prestigious learning centers. In truth...she liked the prospect of having an adventure here.
The news anchors then went on to describe the school's storied history in a brief manner, but before Honovi could hear much of it, she saw a man approaching her.
The man stood out as a very refined, old Welsh-American gentleman, wearing a classic black suit and fedora, and holding a beautiful black and red cane in one hand. He had a fine mustache and slicked-back hair, gray from age yet good looking all the same.
The 6'0ft tall gentleman looked down at the 5'8ft Honovi with a smile. "Good morning."
Honovi smiled back, "Good morning! How can I help you sir?"
"I am an administrator and budget planner of Star Spangled Academy, Lloyd Rook Sr., at your service madame." he said with a tip of his hat.
"I'm Honovi, Honovi Proctor, I'm actually attending the academy myself!" she said eagerly.
Lloyd's eyes widened slightly in amusement. "Oh! I'm aware of you, actually this is perfect!" he said before settling down. "Your grandfather on one side of the family, has he contacted you yet? One Carl Proctor?" he asked, leaning down a little.
"Oh, grandpa? Yeah he called me before I got on the train, I'm supposed to meet him at his place in the city. I'll be living there day to day actually." she explained. "How do you know about that?"
"Why," the gentleman began, standing straight up again, "I am a friend of his, though regrettably not a close one. We drink together and discuss matters of shared interest, like the supernatural. Are you a fan of the supernatural?" he asked, checking his fingernails for a moment...despite the face that he had white gloves on.
Honovi nodded, "I mean...I mostly find interest in my Navajo religion, but that's not really your usual supernatural subject, is it? I actually like some supernatural stuff like ghosts and monsters." she explained with a twirl of her wrist.
"Yes, quite, ghosts are a very peculiar lot, not always so grounded and consistent. It's part of what makes them all so dangerous in concept. Of course, being a christian man myself I...never really believed in many of the various ghost types." Lloyd said, looking up at the ceiling. "Demons, however...that's something to fear." he mused dryly.
"Well," he began once more, fixing his fedora, "I'll be off then. Do behave yourself now, and tell your grandfather he owes me a whiskey." he said with a chuckle. "Farewell, young lady!"
With a wave goodbye, the man walked off with a cool strut, and Honovi waved back with a grin.
Soon enough, Tony returned with a shopping bag full of snacks and other essentials.
"I'm back bella, I got everything we need! I also have like $300 for monthly meals!" he said with a grin.
Honovi's grin softened to a smile when he returned, and upon hearing him call her bella, she rolled her eyes. "Okay, bello, before you let your Italian turn you into a walking trope, let's just slow the gears. My grandpa can take us both in, for free." she explained.
"Well yeah, but my folks still want me to enjoy myself on nice meals." Tony retorted.
Honovi shrugged, "Fair enough, now come on, let's go! Grandpa should be here soon, he knows we're here around this time."
And with that, the two exited the subway and stepped into the city proper, the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia presenting itself to the duo just as the sun shows it's brilliance in the wee hours of the morning.
Honovi whistled once, impressed by the sight. "So this is where grandpa's been living all this time? What a city!" she said.
Tony shrugged, "Eh, I've been here before, it's pretty but I prefer New York. Got folks up there and they showed me ALL that city had to offer." he said.
The two look to their right as a car beeps at them, driving up to them as the driver seat window rolls down slowly. Inside the car sat a chubby old African American man with short, balding curly hair that's dyed black, and a Carlos Santana-style mustache. He wore a newsboy cap and a vintage blue wool shirt with gray pants.
"Howdy kids, Grandpa Carl's here to give you a lift." he said with a warm smile.
Honovi beamed as she went to the car and hugged her grandpa through the window. "Glad to see you grandpa!"
Carl chuckled and hugged her back, unlocking the car doors and motioning for the two to get in the back seats. "Come along now, children."
The two friends got into the back of the car and buckled their seatbelts, closing the doors behind them.
The kind old man started to drive off, the city sights cruising by the trio in the windows of the fine old car.
"So..." Carl began, "...was the train uncomfortable at all?" he asked, looking out the window for a moment as he pulled into the correct lane on the road.
Honovi shook her head. "Not at all!" She said as she started to look around the car. It was certainly vintage, and it had several unique details to it.
The seats were somewhat ripped and a few cigarette burns dotted the seat and there. The seats were a nice but faded maroon color, and the majority of the old car was the color black, both inside and out. Lastly, she noticed a few scraps of trash laying around, mostly straw wrappers that were left over. Lastly, there was an air freshener in one of the cup holders in the front of the car, but it had clearly long outlived it's use, and gave off no scent.
Tony shook his head, "Nah, a few kooks provided entertainment though." he said. "I was a bit disappointed that they never did have that fist fight."
Honovi lightly punched his arm. "If you wanna watch a fight, I promise to invite you to the first MMA match I book, alright?" she said with a giggle.
Carl's eyes widened as he smiled. "Oh, right! I forgot you did that! I have good news for you kiddo." he said, glancing back at the two youngsters.
Honovi and Tony looked at him as he continued. "That school opened up an MMA club just over 5 years ago now, although I hear rumors that those clubs are bitter rivals...not sure why though." he said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He then put his other hand back on the wheel as he made a turn on the road.
Honovi grinned widely, clapping her hands together. "Oh my goodness that's great! I am SO signing up for that!" she said excitedly.
Tony raised a fist. "Hell yeah! I get to watch you drop some a-holes causing trouble." he said confidently.
"I...think I'll do that in sanctioned fights or practice bouts, not as your lap dog." Honovi said with an amused snort.
"Fiiiiine, but if any bullies are in there you better whack em across the head for me and their victims." Tony said with a grin.
"Alright alright, but I'm not gonna be a sadist about it." Honovi replied before leaning back in her seat and looking out the window again.
The rest of the ride to Carl's place was fairly quiet afterward, barring some smalltalk about whatever subject the group fancied. Eventually, they arrived at Carl's house in a place called Fishtown, a bustling neighborhood in it's own right and perhaps one of the most vibrant looking places in the entirety of the city.
They parked outside a cozy looking house and got out, Carl remotely locking the car before following the two up the steps to the house door.
The trio enter the house and are met with a place that defined the word vintage. Barring exceptions like a mostly up-to-date TV (it was a wide-screen TV from at least 2014 if not slightly later) and other necessities of a modern home, mostly everything inside was from the 60's or 70's. The carpet, the furniture, the wallpaper, and so on. There was also a radio sitting on a night stand nearby, kept in a glass box, and in good condition, despite being the oldest device in the house if it's model was anything to go by.
There were a few paintings on the wall, and photographs to boot, one of which was of a long deceased Italian mastiff, which Carl happened to approach as Honovi and Tony were scanning the room.
"This girl, right here?" Carl said, tapping the picture as he took his hat off. "She was a lover and a fighter, she'd just as easily shower you with affection and be clingy, as she would snarl and snap at you, and follow you around to assert dominance if you kept upsetting her or her favorite people. She was a good dog." he noted, sighing fondly at the memories.
"Wow, she sounds like my two German shepherds. I got a younger one that the first one gave birth to, and both of them are pretty loyal pups." Tony said with his own warm smile.
Honovi nodded in agreement. "I havent had a dog in years, we never had the money to bother raising another after the one we had passed away. Apparently it died only a day before I was born." she mused.
Carl then changed the subject for pragmatism's sake. "Well, now that I know you two have hearts," he said jokingly, "let's get you two settled into your room. I trust you won't do anything..." he leaned in with a squint, "...inappropriate up there?" he asked in a questioning tone of voice.
Tony and Honovi leaned back in unison as he leaned in, shaking their heads slowly with wide eyes.
Carl nodded slowly in response, before lightening up again and motioning them to follow.
As they went upstairs to the second floor, Honovi noticed one more detail. Besides seeing three doors in the upstairs hall, one for the bathroom and two for the bedrooms, she saw a string attached to a pull-down door, leading to the attic.
Carl then opened the door on the leftmost side of the hall and showed the two inside. It was a nice, if barely used bedroom. It had a decently large closet with folding doors, and study desk with several drawers, a shutter that was currently open, a desk lamp, and a laptop that was currently sitting in a see-through container, likely for protection from dust and bugs.
There were two one-person beds with their own respective night stands and matching lamps next to them, and there was a large dresser with a mirror on it. Lastly there was a smaller wide-screen TV in the room than the one downstairs, and one that looked to be from around 2016-2017.
"Get used to this room, and try not to make a mess of it. If any messes happen to pile up, you clean it. Got it?" he said seriously.
The two nodded, Honovi saying "Thank you for the room!" in response.
"No problem, now, before I let you two settle into your room, I want you to leave your luggage inside the room by the door and follow me to my bedroom real quick." he instructed calmly.
They follow as instructed and they enter a somewhat larger bedroom that held tons of memorabilia in it. Various pictures on the wall, mostly vintage paintings but a few photographs as well. One of them was the classic dogs playing poker painting with a gold painted picture frame, and hung right above the wide-screen TV right across from the queen sized bed.
Carl chuckled to himself, "That one is a masterpiece and everyone knows it." he said before turning around and sitting down on his bed to rest his legs. "Now...I just have a few more rules and details to go over, both about this house and this city of ours, so listen up! I don't have any particularly serious breathing problems but an old timer can't be forced to repeat themselves too much!" he said wagging his finger at them.
"We'll listen well, grandpa." Honovi assured him, with Tony giving a wink and a finger gun in Carl's direction.
"Very well...first off," he said, pointing to a gun cabinet with a lever-action rifle in the main glass door, and a locked bottom drawer beneath it, "while that thing is locked up tight, there will be hell to pay if any of you try to touch that cabinet without my permission. I don't like being mean, but you can probably tell why I take this one seriously." he said firmly.
"Next," he continued, "on the topic of permission, I will be needing your help sometimes. I might be downstairs doing something, so if I ask one of you to grab something and save me the run-around, only then will I allow you to touch anything in this room. Otherwise, it's all off-limits." he said, coughing into his arm in a brief fit.
Tony raised an eyebrow, "You alright sir?"
Carl nodded, "I'm fine boy, I'm fine. Even youngsters get the coughs once in a while." he said, hitting his own chest once and clearing his throat. "Next, there is a curfew in this house, and I want you two to be here by no later than 8:00 PM. If you know you'll be late, then you call me and be home within the next hour. I'm not gonna be a crotchety mean old fart over a couple of minutes, as long as you alert me and try to avoid being late too often." he explained more gently this time.
"Thanks for being cool about it, then, sir." Tony said with a smile, putting his hands in his jacket pockets.
"Heh, you better be thankful, I remember my old man being VERY strict about that. We're talking a belt to my ass, numerous times over my youth, over 1-3 minutes of late-time, not a pretty sight." he said, chuckling at the memory. "But...it beat being clobbered by cops I suppose." he said, now shuddering at the thought.
Carl then spoke about the last rule. "Lastly, and this is important, while I will let you two go out and have your fun, I want y'all to avoid going to that art museum, even if you can afford to get in."
Honovi tilted her head in confusion. "Why? We'll avoid it but..."
Carl shook his head, "Bad trouble...that place has been a den of tragedy over the past 20 years. People going missing, winding up dead, it might not be some spooky ghost or whatever, but for some reason that place has been attracting all sorts of despair in recent years." he warned solemnly.
"We understand. Thanks for the warning, grandpa." Honovi said, hugging him again.
Carl hugged her back, pat her back, and chuckled. "You're strong, kid. Do you train THAT much?" he said, noting her firm hug.
Honovi nodded, slipping her white coat off and revealing the sleeveless black shirt underneath, revealing her genuinely muscular arms flexing one with a proud smile.
Carl's eyes widened as he wheezed in shock and joyous surprise. "That's amazing! Now I know you can help me with heavy lifting for sure!" he said.
Tony smirked. "Alright alright, don't forget my own biceps, bestie." he said, taking off his own jacket and flexing his own toned arms, which were certainly strong in their own right.
Carl chuckled in amusement. "I got two of the strongest and most strapping youngsters around to help me! I think this is beyond a win-win am I right?" he said, the group laughing among each other as he said this.
"Welp, I say that about wraps up the introductions. Go put your luggage and clothes away and...well...relax actually. The day is still relatively young, it's only the early morning." Carl advised.
The two then nodded and went to their designated room together, where they began to unpack and prepare for their first day in the city, a pleasant introduction to their new home now comfortably behind them.