(A/N: I could have TOTALLY a lot of this to the previous chapter...I am sorry. I have brought dishonour to my whole family, including my cow. Sorry cow. ALSO, I am willing to rename and further refer to the female protagonist as Hamuko if that would be easier and less confusing than Minato and Minako. Also I have noted that in the Persona 3 movie the decision has been made to name the male protagonist Makoto Yuki but seeing how it's a stupid decision I've elected to ignore it. ON WITH THE SHOW!)
[4/8/09]
"Oh they're back!" Yukari said waving over the twins, who had just returned from another tour of the city.
"So these are our new guest." A tall bespectacled gentleman in a tan suit said rising from his seat. "Good evening. My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school." He said introducing himself.
"Nice to meet you I..Iku-" Minako began to introduce herself but found herself fumbling. "Ikuski...darn it."
"Ikutsuki" The man said introducing himself again. He gave a small laugh before smiling. "Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes..." Minako smiled. Glad that he had chose not to make fun of her.
"Ikutsuki." Minato said in response. A confident grin on his face.
"There! You've got it!" Ikutsuki said with a smile as he applauded Minato. Minako took the opportunity to elbow her brother in the ribs.
"Now now, play nice you two." The chairman said gesturing to the remaining seats of the dorms living room. "Please, have a seat. There are things I'd like to discuss."
Ikutsuki waited for everyone to settle themselves before moving onto the topic at hand. "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations." He spoke, a slight frown on his face. "However, it may take a while longer before you receive a proper room assignment."
"Oh it's no trouble at all." Minako said with an innocent smile.
"Yeah, we've had no problems at all." Minato reassured him.
"That's good." Ikutsuki smiled, glad that they were fitting into the atmosphere so easily. "By the way is there anything you'd like to ask?"
The twins paused for a moment and exchanged a single glance as if telepathically conversing about questions they may have.
"Sorry if this sounds a little rude..." Minato spoke first. "But why are you here?" The twins found it extremely odd that the Chairman of the Board had come all the way out to their dorm personally.
"To welcome you of course!" Ikutsuki gave a bright smile. The twins didn't buy it. "Well," here it comes. "To be honest, I do have other business here. Speaking of which...where's Mitsuru, Yukari."
Yukari's attention snapped away from her phone and to the conversation at hand. "She's upstairs." She said flatly before returning her attention to her phone.
"As diligent as always." Ikutsuki smiled before sighing. "Although, it doesn't hurt to come down and say hello... Is there anything else?"
It was now Minako's turn. "Who else lives here?"
"There are only five students in this dorm: you two, Yukari here, Mitsuru, and a senior named Akihiko Sanada."
"Akihiko..." The girl mumbled, the name lingered on her tongue as she recalled the rugged silver hair they passed on the stairs.
"I hope you all get along. Any other questions?" The chairman smiled, He seemed to be a good mood and was very willing to help them with any questions they had. So Minato took the plunge.
"The other night," He began slowly. "I saw..." Yukari shot him a glare, instantly silencing the boy.
"You saw something strange? Like what?" Ikutsuki raised a brow. But Minato remained silent, obviously he didn't want to incur Yukari's wrath. "You were probably just tired. I wouldn't worry about it." Ikutsuki adjusted his glasses and smiled again.
Something was wrong. This smile was different from the others. Maybe it was the was the light seemed to make his lenses flicker, but everything about it felt wrong. It seemed ominous. The twins both shivered as they exchanged frowns.
"Well then, I hope you two have a successful school year." He said as he pushed himself to stand. "Now if you'll excuse me..." Ikutsuki made his way toward the stairs. He paused for a moment to face the twins once more. "You must be tired from all the excitement. You should go to bed early." There was that smile again. "As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!'" Ikutsuki chuckled to himself. "...Please forgive the bad pun." And on that note, he was gone.
"...You'll get used to his lame jokes." Yukari said with a heavy sigh. Her toned made them think they never would.
/
The twins eventually made their way to their respective bedrooms, tired from the days activities. It wasn't long before they both felt themselves lulled into sleeps embrace.
Elsewhere on the highest floor of the dorm Mitsuru sat before a large control panel with a screen that depicted the twins sleeping. Yukari sat next to her, her focus just as intense.
"Working hard?" A voice called as they approached, joining the studying of the Arisato siblings. "How are they doing?"
"They went to bed a little while ago. They're asleep now." Mitsuru said detailing the current situation. It wasn't much, what exactly were they waiting for? Her expression clearly read that she had a few misgivings about the situation. Yukari as well. "Mr. Chairman, do you think they're..."
Ikutsuki shushed her. "Well, let's wait and see for now...The Dark Hour is approaching.
The clock ticked down to midnight and the world froze. All clocks stopped moving. Anything that ran on electricity halted. People were once again transmogrified into coffins. In shadier part of Port Island a man screamed clutching his head as his body was swallowed in a black, sludge-like ooze.
"They're still sleeping." Ikutsuki said, a smile creeping across his face. "The Dark Hour occurs every day at 12 midnight" Ikutsuki began explaining, his smile steadily growing wider. "You could say it's the "hidden" hour. During this time, an ordinary person transmogrifies into a coffin, and is oblivious to all that occurs."
"Then they must be..." Yukari turned her attention back to the screen, watching the dozing twins.
"As you can see, they retained their human form." Ikutsuki gestured to the screen. "They're asleep, but they're definitely experiencing the Dark Hour." Ikutsuki stroked his chin. "The only question that remains is whether or not they have the potential. Potential? "Although, they must...If they didn't, they would've preyed on them by now."
The way Ikutsuki said they had a different feel. He was no longer talking about the twins, but something else. What though?
"Scary..." Yukari shivered at whatever the thought was.
"In any case, we should continue to monitor them for a few more days." Ikutsuki shrugged. What more could they do at the moment?
"Yes, Sir." Mitsuru gave a seemingly half-hearted sigh.
"I feel kinda bad, though." Yukari sighed as she glanced up at the screen. "Spying on them like this...
/
While the twins slumbered they found themselves running for something in the distance. The sprinted down what seemed like an impossibly long corridor toward something blue in the distance. As they neared their goal the blue object gave way and they sailed through what seemed like empty space. They felt weightless, be it only for a moment, but soon their feet touched solid ground.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." An eerie voice greeted.
"The wha-" Each twin responded before looking to their side. They had not seen each other in their respective dream until this moment where they stood in this overly blue room. The only thing here that wasn't a velveteen color was the golden gate on the opposite side of the room.
However, there were more peculiarities that this room held. Like the elderly long nosed man before them. Then there was his assistants, also draped in blue, but with glowing yellow eyes.
The old mans eyes grew wide as he looked between the Arisato siblings. He gave a throaty laugh as he concealed his grin between interlocked hands. "This is peculiar indeed. Not one guest but two? My, how astounding indeed." The old man gestured to the two chairs before him. "Please have a seat."
The twins exchanged a worried glances as they reluctantly sat.
"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man known as Igor smiled as he extended a long bony hand which the two reluctantly shook as they introduced their respective selves. "This is Elizabeth..." He gestured to his female attendant before pointing to his male attendant. "and her brother Theodore. They're residents here, like myself." Where exactly was here anyway?
"Pleased to meet you." The two attendants spoke as they gave a slight bow. Their glowing eyes remained honed on the twins, their faces almost expressionless.
"This place exist between dream and reality, mind and matter. It's been years since we've had a guest." It was obvious that he was talking about this place known as the Velvet Room, but neither one of them seemed to get it.
Igor waved his hand and with a shimmer appeared a red notebook. The twins eyes grew wide as they took note of it. It was the notebook the kid made them sign...but why was it here?
"Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place...Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet room." The two attendants pulled the strings on two poppers that released streamers into the air, their faces still relatively vacant. Just what kind of shady lease agreement had these two agreed to? "You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so." Ability? "I only ask one thing in return...that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices that you make."
The twins swallowed hard and exchanged a worried glance. "W-we don't understand." Minako spoke, her voice shaky.
"That is fine. For now." Igor said with a small nod. "Hold onto this." Igor waved and twins suddenly felt something heavy in their pockets. Another wave and the twins felt themselves being pulled out of their dream. "Till we meet again..." Igor's voice echoed in the distance.
The twins sat upright in their beds and immediately both went for their phones. They sent each other the same message; a very confused "what?" If that wasn't enough to show them that the dream they had was more than a simple exhaustion haze they both now had a blue key sitting on their desk. The sun was shining and birds were chirping. A new day had come and with it many questions.
/
[4/9/09]
The remainder of the day passed uneventfully. The twins took in the sights one last time, now confident they had explored the most of Port Island Station by now. Exhausted by their excursion and with the thoughts of lasts nights dream heavy on their heads they found themselves sleeping again. Once again, we find a certain trio observing our favorite twins.
"How are they?" The chairman inquired.
"The same as last night." Mitsuru said with a shrug.
"Very interesting..." Ikutsuki stroked his chin again. "Even those who have the potential tend to be unstable at first. Memory loss, disorientation...but neither of them have exhibited any of the common symptoms." Ikutsuki remained focused on the screen, his eyes never leaving the twins.
"But..." Yukari began, her voice seemed delicate and somber. "We're treating them like guinea pigs."
"I understand your concern, but it's imperative that we recruit new members." Ikutsuki explained. The needs of the many seemed to outweigh the desire of the few here. "I heard they're your classmates. Wouldn't you be more comfortable working with someone from the same grade?"
"Yeah, I guess." Yukari looked at the sleeping pair on screen before turning her eyes toward her lap. "But still..."
She couldn't spend anymore time feeling guilty as a the control panel had begun to beep. Mitsuru pushed a single button among the numerous others. "Command room. Is that you, Akihiko?"
"You're not gonna believe this." Akihiko's voice radioed over the the machine. "This thing is huge!" He was panting, was he running? "Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk...It's chasing me." Yup, definitely running. "I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there." You could almost hear the confident smirk in his voice as the transceiver cut out.
"Does that mean..." Yukari slowly mulled over Akihiko's words. "He's bringing that thing here?!" A look of horror swallowed Yukari's face."
"Mr. Chairman! Let's suspend our observation for now. We'll prepare for battle!" Mitsuru's voice rose to one of authority, like a commander ready to issue orders to soldiers on the battlefield.
"R-right." Ikutsuki was shaking. He couldn't tell what he was more afraid of; whatever was following Akihiko or the red-haired woman in front of him. "Be careful."
The trio rushed downstairs just in time to see Akihiko slam the door behind him.
"Akihiko!" Mitsuru said rushing over to his side as he sank to the ground with a groan of pain.
"S-senpai?!" Yukari winced hoping he was okay.
"I'm alright." He smiled, even though he was clutching a clearly injured shoulder. "Get ready for a surprise...It'll be here any second." There was that smile of his, was he always this battle hungry?
"This is no time to joke around!" Mitsuru berated him, Akihiko's smile quickly faded into a frown as he saw how worried she was for him.
"It's one of them, Akihiko?" Ikutsuki's voice seemed to trembled at the mention of them.
"Yes, but not an ordinary one." Akihiko did his best to keep himself from smiling.
He didn't have to explain further as they soon felt the ground rumbling beneath their feet.
"What the?" Yukari nearly lost her balance. What could be so huge it shook the dorm like that? "You gotta be kidding me!"
Without hesitation or losing herself to the moment Mitsuru drew the gun at her waist. "Mr. Chairmen, please head up to the command room. Takeba, go upstairs and wake them up! Then, escape out back." Mitsuru did was she did best, remained calm and unwavering in the face of adversity. Mitsuru handed Takeba the sword at her hip, clearly meant for one of the two twins.
"But, what about you two?" Yukari looked worried as she looked between Mitsuru and the already injured Akihiko.
"We'll stop it here." Mitsuru said simply, a smile appearing on her lips. "You led it to us, Akihiko, so I'm afraid you'll have to fight."
"Like I had a choice!" He said as he rose to his feet, that glimmer returned to his eyes. "What are you waiting for, Yukari? GO!"
"I-I'm going!" Yukari turned on her heel and headed for the stairs as Mitsuru and Akihiko through open the doors, ready for battle.
/
Unknown to the three of them the twins had already been roused from their slumber. Granted who could sleep through all of that commotion. Yukari reached Minato's room first and loudly banged on the door. "Wake up!" Her voice was panicked. "Sorry, I'm coming in!" Without hesitation she threw open the door.
"W-what's going on?" Minato stammered, surprised by the panting girl in front of him. He got his answer in the form of another trimmer.
"I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!" Yukari said as she turned on her heels. "Wait," She turned back to him and handed him Mitsuru's sword, a simple fencing rapier. "Take this just in case."
Minato studied the sword in his hand before looking back at Yukari. Why would he need this?
"Let's go! We have to get your sister!" Yukari turned to head toward the stairs but was glad to see Minako already descending toward them. "Oh thank God..." Though they weren't exactly close, Yukari was glad to see the other girl safe and well.
"Yukari-chan, what's wrong?" Minako wore a worried expression as she looked between the flustered girl in pink and her brother, who was now wielding a sword.
Yukari simply shook her head. "No time." Yukari offered something to the auburn haired girl. It was something cold, shiny and metallic. It was a gun, the same gun that Yukari had strapped to her thigh. "Just take this okay."
Minako looked between the gun, Yukari's stern expression and her brothers worried demeanor. "O-okay." She said as she gripped the gun in hand.
"Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" She said without hesitating to lead them down the stairs. "Alright, we should be safe now-"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a message coming over the transceiver in her ear. "Takeba, do you read me!?" It was Mitsuru.
"Y-yes! I hear you!"
"Be careful! There's more than one enemy! The one we're fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"
"What!?" Yukari's pulse quickened at Mitsuru's words. Her heart nearly stopped when loud knocking came from the backdoor. "L-Let's pull back!"
Yukari was becoming more frantic as she led them back up the stairs. "What are we going to do...? They're downstairs! Do we have any choice but to go further up?" Yukari continued to talk to herself as they ascended the stairs. Her mind was racing, but it only contained one thought; keep them alive.
Something could be heard shattering beneath them. "What was that?" Minako asked as she peered over the railing and into the abyss.
"It's getting closer! K-Keep moving! Hurry!" Yukari was having a difficult time keeping it together but she had to spur them onward. They quickly found themselves on the roof of the dorm, Yukari locked the door behind them just to be safe. "I think we're okay for now." Yukari let out a sigh of relief. But it was short lived relief as the ground shook again.
From the side of the room a mask peeked over the railing and the three looked on in horror as a multi-limbed creature drew blades and began to charge them.
"Those monsters... We call them Shadows!" Yukari took a defensive position as she stood in front of the twins. She reached for the gun at her thigh, but instead of turning it on the monster she turned it on herself. Her breathing was heavy. She did her best to gather herself before she pulled the trigger. Her hesitation costed her. With a quick swing the creature knocked Yukari aside and her gun skittered to the feat of Minato.
"Yukari!" Minako shouted, worried for the fallen girl.
Minato however, stared intently at the gun. Then he felt it. His pulse quickened. But it wasn't just him. Minako could feel it too. An image of the boy they had encountered when first arrived appeared in their heads. "Go on..." They boy said quietly as he placed a finger to his head, mimicking a gun.
Minato knelt down and picked up Yukari's gun as Minako joined him at his side, tightly gripping the gun Yukari had given to her earlier in her hand. Their heartbeats were even faster. The swallowed hard as they gave each other a nod. The beast that had attacked Yukari was now coming for them.
They both placed the gun to their heads and in unison spoke a single word. "Per...so..na." The pulled the trigger and felt power explode out of them while their eyes glowed; Minato's a shocking blue and Minako's a flaming red.
The swirl of energy around them drove back the beast as two figures appeared above them.
"Thou art I, and I am thou." The being spoke in unison. "From the sea of thy soul I cometh. I am Orpheus, master of strings!" The two, although designed differently, addressed themselves as one in the same, though both carried the same lyre on their back.
The twins looked in awe as their power was given life but they soon found themselves plagued with a violent headache. They let out a shriek of pain and so did the beings they summoned. The beings known as Orpheus exploded in a shimmer of blue sparks. The simmer were caught in a whirlwind that reformed itself into something...different. Something darker. It looked like death.
The new being roared as it pounced on the the multi-limbed creature. Pinning it down it slashed wildly at it with a long and jagged blade. The creature called a shadow had bits and pieces splatted about the rooftop and the piece that the summoned entity held onto was crushed in its grip. The monsters blood lust subsided and it faded away, returning into the twin Orpheus from before. The Arisato sibling struggled to stay on their feet, whatever they had just done had taken it's toll.
"Is it over...?" Yukari said struggling to her feet. As luck would have it, no. The masses of ooze seemed to come to life and charge at the pair.
"M-Minako!" The brother called as he pushed himself to stand his ground with the sword he was given.
"Right!"
The moment a shadow drew two close it found itself slashed in twain with a single stroke of Minato. The others would face the wrath of Minako as she reconjured the being from and had it set the black monstrosities aflame. The battle was short lived as the twins unison was unmatched by the shadows careless maneuvers, an easy victory.
The twins wheezed and huffed. Battered, bruised but breathing. They tried to hold on but they found themselves sinking to the ground as their world tumbled into blackness. They could almost swear they heard Yukari scream...
TBC
(A/N: That pacing thing from before? I lied. Also as you can see I'm experimenting with format changes as FF leaves me very limited on how I separate my scenes. Though I think I like this one. UNTIL NEXT TIME!)
