The girl blinked her eyes open, waking up from what seemed like a deep slumber. She looked to her left and right, absorbing the bizarre sights of the room that she was currently in. She was in a… Elevator? Or, a gigantic elevator at that, being able to house a table, not to mention the empty expanse of space surrounding said table. Off to a lonely corner, a clock sat, where it ticked forward uncontrollably, and with seconds too fast than normal. The purple interior was calming, relaxing, not to mention the soft carpet below her feet. The name of the fabric eluded her mind, however, and she was confused, but decided that it was not important.
She then noticed that said elevator was moving, and it was moving upwards. But it didn't stop, and the girl was sure that she had skipped the floor that was intended for her. …But then, what was her destined floor? Maybe she didn't have one. Maybe she was destined just to keep moving upwards endlessly, not knowing what her destination is.
But not only that, there was a special feeling that seemed to inhabit the elevator. The feeling… She thought of the word. Sadness? Happiness? No, said feeling was not emotions. Hostility? Friendliness? Not really. But there was this feeling... This...
Ah, familiarity! That was it! That was the word!
But had the girl really visited such a peculiar place before? Even when she had forgotten all of her memories, it seemed so unlikely to have visited such a place.
"Welcome back, dear Minako,"
She nearly jumped in her seat. In front of her was a long-nosed man who seemed to be sitting in a velvet sofa, with his chin resting on the back of his hand. How she was even able not to notice the man was a wonder for her.
"I am shocked," though his face depicted the contrary, with his smiling expression staring right into her soul, "To see you back here, Minako,"
The man seemed to know about her as if he had known her since she was a baby, greeting her so casually even though she didn't know him, but if so, then the man would hopefully be able to tell her a few things, "W-Where am I?" she asked, "How do you know who I am?"
The man gave a sigh, "So it seems that your memories have truly vanished, such a misfortune," he then gave a shake of his head, "You were a dear guest of mine, Minako, and of the Velvet Room. My name is Igor, and I have provided you many services in the past days," he explained to the clueless girl.
Ah! That was it! The material was called velvet! Now she remembered.
"What kind of... Services?" she asked warily. Just what could a man like him give her in a place like this?
"You will see, dear Minako," Igor answered, giving a chuckle, but then turned into a soft, dark mutter, "So he's not with you…"
"Who?" Minako asked, but he ignored her.
He then reached out with both hands and a tarot deck magically appeared in front of him, slowly hovering in mid-air before it laid to a rest on the man's hand, "Perhaps we can have a quick session of fortune-telli-"
However, Igor's words were cut off by a bang on the door behind Minako's chair. She gave a quick glance behind her to see a powerful force repeatedly smashing itself into the door.
"Master Igor, they're in there, aren't they?" a shout came from the being (which was clearly heard as a girl's voice) who was smashing on the door, "They're in there, aren't they? ANSWER ME!" she screamed, with a tone of desperation from her voice.
"Ah, I'm afraid that our time is up," Igor announced with a surprisingly calm tone, "Hold on to this, if you would want to come back,"
The man then threw her a glowing, blue key, which Minako caught, although she had almost missed it, "However, be warned that not all times may be safe for you to enter," he advised her.
The person behind the door had succeeded with one last (and the most powerful from them all) smash, "Master Igor!" she shouted, and Minako looked behind her to take a peek at who the intruder was.
Said intruder didn't actually look like the type to be breaking and entering. The intruder was a silver colored hair cut short, as well as a petite body. She wore dark blue clothes, gloves, and shoes that complimented the velvet room. Her hat as well made her seem like an attendant, which she probably wasn't, considering the book that she held with her.
But there was also something about this person that was familiar, but no matter how hard she tried, Minako just couldn't remember her.
Of course, looking at the attendant girl was a bad choice. In an instant, the attendant noticed the girl look her way and she glared at Minako, "You!" she shouted at Minako, and lunged at her.
But Igor did not even attempt to subdue the attendant, and still he had his smile plastered on his face, even when Minako looked desperately at the man and pleaded for help. Instead, the calm words slipped out of Igor's lips, and time seem to have slowed only to allow the man to speak, "Until we meet again,"
Immediately after the words had been spoken, Minako felt a heavy weight on her shoulders and eyelids, as if she was extremely tired all of the sudden for no reason. She couldn't fight back the feelings of drowsiness and surrendered, letting her eyes close.
And just before sleep had completely overtaken her, the last thing that Minako saw was the silver haired girl's face filled with murderous intent.
The girl woke up with a start, sitting straight up and drenched with cold sweat, startling the nearby brunette by the sudden act.
"Minako-chan!" Yukari exclaimed as she re-adjusted herself in her seat near the bed, "You gave me a fright there!"
"Sorry, Yukari-chan, I had a nightmare," Minako replied, and gave a shudder, it was as if she had just seen her last moments of life earlier. It was then that she noticed that she wasn't in her room, but a completely different (and completely white) room, "Where are we?"
"We're in the Tatsumi Memorial Hospital, you were asleep for seven days, even though the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with you," Yukari informed, and gave a sigh, "This is just like Minato back then..." she muttered.
"How are the others?" Minako asked, "Mitsuru-senpai and... Um…" she stopped, realizing that she didn't know her senior's name.
"Akihiko-senpai," Yukari finished for her, "And they were released two days ago, fortunately with no broken bones or any major damage. Our upperclassmen are very strong," she said, complimenting them.
"Yeah..." Minako nodded, absorbed in her own thoughts, now thinking about the incident a few days ago.
"Um..." Yukari started as she tried to find the right words, "About a few nights ago… I know you have a lot of questions, but we're going to have a meeting tomorrow night about it, so you can ask them later. Mitsuru-senpai asked me to tell you that," she informed her, as if she was able to read Minako's thoughts, though it might have been obvious because of the emotions on her face.
Minako gave an understanding nod about the situation and Yukari gave a sigh of relief. But it wasn't over yet, because Minako then asked a question which she felt she might regret in a while, "Yukari, if it's okay with you, can I ask you who this Minato person is?" which she quickly added, "I know it's personal, and if you don't want to talk about it, then I understand,"
Yukari was silent for a while, and she looked down at the floor as she pondered whether or not to tell her new friend. She adjusted in her seat once more and took a deep breath as she started, "Um…" she started, "Minato… Minato is the only friend that I confide in, because… I am… sorta like him. S-So I was a bit shaken when he…"
Minako blinked, and Yukari looked away. This was something that she had told to one person and one person only, but with the possibility of Minako being Minato… It repeated in her head over and over. And there was this something that made her want to trust Minako, just like how she had trusted Minato. So she continued, "My dad… He died ten years ago in a big explosion nearby, but no one really knows what happened. And Minato's parents… He… They died ten years ago too. So I thought… I thought I finally found someone who is like me, and I thought I could confide in him…"
The red-eyed girl was quickly wrapped up in her thoughts once more, "Parents…" she muttered, and wondered. Who were her parents? Where are they now? Are they worried about her?
But somehow, there was a click in her thoughts, as she began to remember what had happened to her parents, "Ten years ago… My parents…" she whispered to herself as the words came rushing into her thoughts.
"Minako?" Yukari asked, with growing worry in her voice, which she made no attempt to hide, "Minako? What's wrong?"
The girl was confused with what Yukari was worried about until she felt the splatter of a drop of water on her hand. She realized why Yukari was worried then.
Minako was crying, and uncontrollably.
Her tears kept falling even though she had no reason to cry. She felt no sort of emotions well up inside of her because she barely knew her parents, and she only knew about the accident that took away their lives. But her tears… There was no stopping them, and she didn't know why. Is the bond of a child and a parent, even if they are strangers to each other, this strong? Yukari, in pity and pure confusion, hugged the crying girl until her eyes dried out.
Yukari gave a solemn goodbye and left when her friend had finished crying, she had school and club matters to attend to, and she unfortunately couldn't skip school that day. Minako waved goodbye to her as she laid back in her bed, since it appears that she had received a sudden headache for some reason. That was when she noticed that there was a glowing item beneath the covers of her bed.
Minako fished it out, to see that it was the key that Igor had thrown at her in her dream. So it really did happen? But she had been asleep for seven days in the hospital. Then… Wait a minute; she visited that place in a dream? Was that even possible? How did the key even materialized from a dream? So many questions, yet so little answers. She wouldn't even dare to go back there, that silver haired girl would definitely kill her if she were to return. But nonetheless, she kept it with her. Just in case.
Either way, she slept in the hospital for another day, and was shooed out the next day since the doctors found nothing wrong with her. Really, they didn't treat patients very well.
But even so, once she reached the dormitory, she huddled in her room and watched television the whole day, assuming that she had been given time off by Mitsuru because she had just woken up just yesterday. Surely, her senior wouldn't be so strict on her, right?
She was sadly mistaken.
"Where were you today, Arisato?"
An icy glare was shot at the girl, piercing into her very soul, so much that Minako couldn't even dare to make eye contact with the strict redhead, "Um…" she started reluctantly, fidgeting with her shoes that she stared at, "I was… Here,"
"Why were you not at school?" Mitsuru further interrogated. At one point, Minako swore that the air around her just became… Colder.
"Because…" Minako allowed the word to hang in the air, stalling for a reason. She knew outright that she couldn't just say that she just wanted to relax around in her room, she would be killed for sure! "Um… I… I'm sorry, please forgive me! It won't happen again!" she bowed, unable to look at her senior.
Mitsuru crossed her arms and tapped her finger, as if pondering on what action she would take, "You're forgiven, Arisato. Just this once," she said, "Only because you have waken up yesterday, if I see this behavior once more, Arisato, I will take action,"
"Y-Yes!" Minako said, "Thank you!"
Although the cold atmosphere did not fade… So much, Mitsuru immediately dropped the subject, "I do not think we have properly introduced myself, Arisato, I am Mitsuru Kirijo," she then glanced at both the boxer and the (failed) cook, "This is Akihiko Sanada and Fuuka Yamagishi. I presume you are acquainted already with Iori and Takeba, correct?"
"Yes," Minako nodded, and she gave both a smile and a wave to those who she didn't know, "Nice to meet you! I'm Minako Arisato!" to which Akihiko and Fuuka replied back with the same gestures.
"Now, if only Ikutsuki-san would arrive, we would be able to start this meeting…" Mitsuru muttered as she tapped her finger impatiently.
Right on timing, the front door of the dormitory creaked open, and a man approached the group in a friendly manner, "I'm sorry for being late, I was caught up in traffic," he apologized, and sat in one of the unoccupied sofas in the lounge, giving a nod to the briefcase sitting on the table, where everybody else was sitting for the meeting.
"… I understand, Ikutsuki-san," Mitsuru said, and then glanced to Minako, "This is Shuji Ikutsuki, he is the Chairman of the Board of Gekkoukan School,"
Minako nodded once again, "Nice to meet you, Ikutsuki-san!" she said just as enthusiastically as ever, "I'm Minako Arisato!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Ikutsuki replied, giving a smile to Minako, "I've heard many things about you," he said and laughed.
Mitsuru then cleared her throat as a signal to immediately start the meeting, as she did not want to waste any more valuable time, "Would you believe us if we were to tell you that there are more than twenty four hours in a day?"
Well, Minako did have amnesia, but she didn't have it bad enough to be able to forget the fact that there are only twenty four hours per day, so she shook her head.
"I'm not surprised, but the truth stands. There is a time period hidden in between one day and the next, and it occurs every time the clock strikes twelve," Mitsuru informed the girl, "You have experienced this first-hand, in fact, do you remember the incident with Paulownia Mall eight nights ago? Where everything became green and there was no electricity around?"
Minako gave a slow nod as began to remember the scenes of the Mall once more, and then exclaimed once she realized, "What happened to Paulownia Mall?"
Mitsuru gave a chuckle, "It is being… Renovated," she said, hiding a smile, "But back on the topic at hand, do you understand everything we have told you so far?"
Once again, Minako gave a slow nod. Now that she was informed about the Dark Hour, she began to feel that she had heard about this strange phenomenon before, but she didn't know where and when. Had she really heard about this before she had her memories erased? She wondered…
"Normal people don't realize it because they're sleeping in coffins. But that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting, creatures appear during the Dark Hour, and we have to fight them off," Akihiko explained, and then gave a mischievous smile, "Exciting, huh?"
"Akihiko! We were hurt just a couple of days ago because of them!" Mitsuru scolded, and then gave a sigh, "You never change," she muttered.
Mitsuru then glanced at Minako, continuing with her explanation, "Anyways, we call those creatures-"
"Shadows," Minako finished, and everyone turned to stare at her.
"H-How did you know?" Mitsuru stuttered, and then glared at Minako with her signature piercing eyes, "Where have you heard this before? Do you know anything else?"
"I-I don't know," Minako said sincerely, looking down at the floor as if she was guilty, "The word just… Popped up in my mind… And I don't know anything else except for that word…" she tried to explain as best as she could, but still, she was unsure if the others were to believe what she had said.
Mitsuru paused to continue glaring at the girl, before she decided to continue with her explanation, since the girl didn't look like she was able to explain any further, "These Shadows feeds on the minds of humans and their victims become a living corpse,"
"Eh?" the girl asked with shock, taken aback by how serious the situation is, "T-Then we can't just leave this situation alone! Can't we fight these Shadows so we can stop people from suffering?"
Mitsuru gave a chuckle once more, it seemed far easier to recruit Minako into SEES the way that she has been acting, "That's why SEES exists. We are members of the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, we are another school club on paper, but we are dedicated to fight Shadows. I am the leader of the club, and Ikutsuki-san is the advisor," before Minako was able to ask even more questions, Mitsuru continued, "There are a few people who are able to stay awake during the Dark Hour, and even fewer have a special power to fight Shadows. This special power is called a 'Persona', the power that you used on the night of that incident. Us Persona-users are the only people are able to fight back against these Shadows,"
"Persona…" Minako muttered, as she tried to recall what they were from the very depths of her lost memories. She was hoping that she would be able to remember something about them, but nothing much came back to her. The only thing that she was able to remember is the fact that the word held much importance to herself, but there was nothing other than that.
"So, we want you to join us," Mitsuru said, unlocking the briefcase in front of her and then showing the contents of it: a gun. Minako stared at the gun, this was what she, herself, had called an 'Evoker' earlier all of the sudden, and the this gun looked very much similar to the 'Evoker' that she used a few nights ago, "We have prepared an Evoker for you, it is used to summon your Persona like you have done last time. Don't worry, it's not a real gun, it's only a replica,"
"Evoker…" Minako muttered. She had known the name of the gun by instinct, which meant that she must have known what it was before her memories were erased. Did that mean that she was a Persona-User before? Or still is? And did she join SEES before? But then why did they act as if she had come out of nowhere? Her questions had only further confused her, and it began to hurt her head, so she shook her head to clear it of any further mysteries, "Yes, I'm joining to fight the Shadows and save the people!"
Yukari gave a relieved sigh when she heard her friend's answer, "I was afraid you would say no, welcome aboard!"
Ikutsuki chuckled, "Well, then I guess you will be staying in the dormitory then, as this is a SEES only dormitory," he told Minako, "I hope you don't mind,"
Minako shook her head vigorously, "No, no, I don't mind, I love it here!"
"That's fantastic!" Ikutsuki replied with just the same amount of enthusiasm, "Well, all of you should get back to bed! The early bird catches the bookworm!" he laughed, as the SEES members laughed awkwardly at his terrible pun.
Minako was just about to leave for her room until she heard the shatter of glass and time had seemed to stop. She was surprised, but she was even more surprised to see a card come out of nowhere, a card with what looked like a traveller and his pet dog out of all things. A mysterious voice then appeared in her mind, informing the girl with a calm and soothing voice:
"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool-"
The sound of a record scratch in her mind was heard, interrupting the calm voice. A sharp pain stabbed her in the head, and she fell to the ground. Time returned to normal. Her friends realized what had happened, and stared at her in surprise and confusion. Someone had called her name, but she was unable to discern who it was.
A mechanical voice then took over the calm and soothing voice, and was instead filled with anger and disappointment:
"Thou art not the chosen one for this Social Link,"
"W-What do yo-"
"Begone!"
Minako screamed when her pain intensified, it was as if someone was pounding her head with a hammer, and another person must have been stabbing her head multiple times simultaneously. She screamed again in pain, begging for the pain to stop. The other members of SEES, by then, were alerted, panicked, and in a confusion to what was happening, and tried to calmly ask for her to get up. But Minako was frozen, as if she had been nailed to the ground, as she held her hands to her ears in an attempt to scare away the pain, but that utterly failed.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Minako pleaded her friends, "Please! Please!"
Unable to do anything since Minako would not respond when they talked to her, and unable to watch any further, Mitsuru reluctantly ordered the two boys to bring the screaming girl to her room. Junpei and Akihiko did just that, with there girl still screaming in pain, and the others followed quietly behind.
When the girl had been laid down on her bed, Mitsuru ordered the boys to go back to their room, which they reluctantly complied to only after Mitsuru told them that the girls would take over the situation.
The three girls, Fuuka, Yukari, and Mitsuru, sat beside the bed where Minako had been laid down. The three tried to comfort Minako as best as they could, and they finally succeeded in making Minako sleep, but after a few hours of them doing so. At some point, Minako's pains had gotten to the point where tears were streaming down her face and she began to quiet down, only because she did not have any voice left, but still she had restlessly turned to her left and right and kept applying pressure on her head to try and get the pain out. But once the three knew that their job was done, they left, except for Yukari who thought it would be best to sleep in Minako's room to keep a watch on her in case she would be suffer again.
But Minako slept through the night, haunted by her nightmares. Shivers ran up and down her spine, and cold sweat swelters from her body. Unconsciously, she cried in her sleep…
Author's Notes: Usual disclaimers of Persona not being owned by me.
OK, much shorter than Chapter 1.
Yes, Elizabeth has a reason for acting that way, of course, but it's most likely going to take a long time until the revelation. You know, plot development.
Nicole: As I've said before, yes, I think I'm overdoing things… A bit. Well, we'll see.
Radiant: Thank you, and here's the update~ More to come!
Fanatical: Minako x Other characters will come soon after I get this chapter done with. I just needed to get these two scenes out of the way, then school days appear! And yes, like the above, I kinda overdid things. I'll try to keep it slow for now.
Thank you for reading and for the reviews! Again, reviews are appreciated!