Good evening! Here's chapter 8, for your enjoyment (or maybe not. Who knows. I certainly don't 0.0) Mostly fluff here, but the expose I've thrown in just might prove to be enticing. Another wordy one, but I hope it's worth reading. See if you can catch my Kingdom Hearts reference hidden in the story *wink wink nudge nudge*
"Welcome." Spoke a velvet-smooth voice. Souji opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the light of The Velvet Room. Yu was already sitting on the bench to his left, eyes closed in thought. "
Or maybe that's just where he appeared this time" Souji thought, mind open to possibilities. Yu opened his eyes, looking at Souji first, then to their hosts. Igor, ever the patient one, smiled, slightly unnerving but mostly kind. Margaret nodded at the twins, acknowledging their presence.
"To what do we owe the pleasure, Igor?" asked Souji, deciding to lean against the bar. The master of the room chuckled softly, eyes dancing in the soft light.
"Ever the business minded one, Mr. Seta" he stated, earning a shrug from Souji.
"Pleasantries are nice, but that's all they are. Just pleasantries." he stated shortly, viewing one of the bottles in the bar. Igor chuckled again, and then coughed to collect himself. Margaret spoke up, allowing her master a reprieve.
"This is a room that only those who, in one way or another, have entered a contract may enter. In your daily life, you two subconsciously heard the call to awaken, and you chose to follow the destiny of your inner voices." She looked approvingly at the twins. "You both possess frighteningly powerful Personas, should you manage to unlock their true potential."
Igor looked at the two boys for a moment, then waved his hand. Two keys appeared in midair in front of the boys. "Take these. From this night forth, you are our guests in The Velvet Room." he said as the boys reached out, grabbing the keys. Igor then explained how the twins would need the assistance of the Velvet room dwellers, and the price of involvement. Both boys nodded, understanding their end of the deal.
"Very good." Igor said. "It seems that the maturity that has been forced upon the pair of you serves you well." The twins winced, looking downcast. Igor chuckled again. "Do not mistake my meaning; the lack of meaningful connections in your life is truly a shame, but without such events, you would not be who you are today, and could very well have never have ended up where you are now."
The boys nodded, the man's words easing their pain. Slightly. "You have both gained powerful Personas, but the Persona Ability you have received is special in and of itself. It is known as 'The Wild Card'. It is a unique power, one rarely given to any one person, and the two of you possess this gift. Truly, you are intriguing guests." Igor eyed the twins, a devilish smile playing on his face. "Think of it like the number zero….empty, yet holding infinite potential within itself." The twins nodded, slowly wrapping their minds around that concept.
"As for the powers of other Persona's, you will need to increase their power yourself. A Personas power is strengthened by the heart, and the heart in turn is strengthened through the bonds it makes." Souji looked at the man quizzically, unsure of what he had just heard, but Yu smiled, fingering a small key on a necklace he wore, thinking back to a game he enjoyed before. Igor focused on Souji, sensing his confusion. "As you form bonds with others, your own 'Social Links' will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links will determine your Personas abilities." Souji nodded, understanding lighting in his eyes.
Margaret began to explain the Social Links in more depth, and the boys listened intently. At long last, it seemed as if the dwellers of the Velvet Room had said their share. Igor looked at the boys, or rather, at Yu. "Till we meet again." he said, and Yu's eyes closed, his presence fading from The Velvet Room. Souji expected to be next, but was surprised to find he was still standing within The Velvet Room. "I'm sorry, my boy, but I require your presence for a moment longer." Souji nodded, taking a seat.
"Your persona is very unique." Igor started, summoning an image of Morpheus on the table in front of him. "This particular Persona is connected to the dream-world, as it is his domain to rule over. However, it seems he is also deeply connected to this room." Igor eyed Souji, his gaze penetrating now.
Margaret leaned forward, opening her book as she did so. "We do not truly understand this connection, nor can we claim to understand what it does." she said, flipping through her book at a rapid speed. "What we can tell you, though, is that it is undoubtedly the most unique Persona we have encountered. As my master stated before, this room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. The fact that this…'God of Dreams' is connected to this room causes some concern for us. This power may very well prove itself to be beneficial, or it may be disastrous. The saying of 'may all your dreams come true' comes to mind."
Igor nodded. "That saying is often overlooked, as it not only means the speaker not only desires the good dreams to come true, but also the nightmares you have." he said, looking at Souji sternly. "I will not presume to instruct you as to what your decisions should be, but I shall offer this as guidance; to trust in this Persona could very well be the end of you." Souji's eyes widened a bit, struggling to comprehend this turn of events. The power he had felt from Morpheus had indeed been immense, and it had felt very strange, but he'd assumed that was normal. To think that the power he had gained could turn on him was frightening.
"The choice on what to do is always yours, my boy." Igor closed his eyes in thought. "I doubt that fate would give you a power that would not help you fulfill your contract, but the possibility exists. I advise caution in your future." He opened his eyes again, a look of concern in them as he gazed at Souji; an occurrence which he felt must have been rare. "I apologize if what we said frightens you, but as I said before, it is our duty to provide you with assistance." Souji nodded his thanks to Igor, unable to find the words to speak. "I regret ending any meeting on such a note, so allow me to say this: We look forward to your future, Souji Seta. Until we meet again." With that, Souji drifted back to unconsciousness, leaving The Velvet Room behind.
Souji and Yu stared at the T.V, dumbstruck. What they saw was beyond their realm of comprehension. Yukiko Amagi, their classmate, was on the Midnight Channel, wearing an outrageous outfit that didn't seem to fit her personality at all, spouting nonsense, revolving mostly around "scoring a hot stud".
Souji turned to Yu, who had a hard time tearing his gaze away from the screen. "Is that…Yukiko-san?" he asked; mind racing to figure out what was going on.
"If it is, she's definitely acting very different from how she seems to normally" stated Yu, turning back to the screen to see Yukiko run into a large Castle.
A sudden ringing made the two jump, and Souji pulled out his phone, seeing Yosuke was calling. Flipping it open and setting it to speaker, he sat down on their couch, Yu plopping next to him. Before even saying hello to their friend, Yosuke began babbling. "H-Hey, did you see that?! That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her…I mean, she even said her name!" Souji turned down the volume a little, wincing at the volume of Yosuke through the phone.
"Yeah, we saw. But didn't the stuff she was saying seem…weird to you?"
Yu nodded, speaking up himself. "I know I've only talked to her once or twice, but I never got the impression she was someone who acted like that." Yosuke voiced his agreement, and began wondering what they should do next.
"Someone needs to call Chie." Souji said, emphasizing the first two syllables. "And seeing as how neither of us have her number…" He trailed off, smiling slightly as Yosuke stammered on the other end.
"B-But I can't just- I mean-that would be…"
Souji shook his head, knowing that Yosuke couldn't see it, exasperated at the boy's apparent incompetence. "Dude, have you seriously not said anything to her yet? It's been like, two days! Have you seriously avoided speaking to her all this time?" Yosuke fell silent, the embarrassment palpable even through the phone. The day after facing his shadow, Yosuke had barely spoken in Chie's presence, leaving the talking mostly to the twins. He only piped up occasionally in agreement, but otherwise held his tongue. It seemed that facing his shadow had left a sore spot in his heart, for multiple reasons.
Although Souji and Yu didn't want to push their new friend too far, having received the Magician Arcana just earlier that day after cementing their friendship with him, Souji found it unreasonable for Yosuke to continue acting as he did. Yu shook his head, placing a hand on his twin brother's shoulder. "You know, Souji, as well as you read people, you can be a pretty insensitive person sometimes. I know you want to push people to face their fears, seek the truth and whatnot, but nothing happens overnight. Give Yosuke some time to figure out how he feels. This isn't easy on him."
Souji sighed, seeing the sense in his brother's words. Yu spoke to Yosuke now, returning his attention to the task at hand. "Yosuke, I know you're still embarrassed about your shadow, but someone needs to check on Chie, and you're the only one who can right now." Yosuke nodded on his end, giving a long sigh as he calmed down.
"You're right, of course. I'll give her a call; ask her to check on Yukiko. Maybe she's not in the T.V yet." Yosuke's voice started to return to its usual peppy self. "Tomorrows Sunday, so let's meet up at Junes first thing in the morning!"
Yu voiced his agreement, but Souji spoke up while he still had Yosuke on the line.
"I have someplace I need to go first thing, so I'll meet you guys there." The three finalized their plans, and then hung up. The twins settled down in their futons, ready to face whatever hardships were about to be thrown their way.
Souji sat in the waiting room of the police station alongside Chie, who looked positively furious. He couldn't blame her; what had Yosuke been thinking? He had gotten a call from his uncle as he had been leaving a certain shop stating that another officer had picked up Yu and Yosuke for "Possession of dangerous weapons and Resisting Arrest". He had headed immediately for the Inaba Police Department, running into Chie along the way.
Suddenly, Chie stood up. Souji looked up, seeing his brother and Yosuke walking sheepishly out of the detention hall. Chie stormed over to the two, beginning to yell furiously at the two, punching both in the arm to accentuate her anger. Souji simply gave the two a withering glare, causing them to become downcast. "You really should know better." Souji began. "Seriously, there's police crawling all over the place, everyone's on edge because of the recent incidents, and you thought bringing weapons to Junes was a smart idea? Not to mention the fact that you started swinging them around!"
He began to pick up some momentum now, grabbing the two and leading them out of the building where he could speak more freely. "Did you even stop to think about what that might have looked like? And then you started arguing with the police? Seriously, Yu, you live with me. How many days have I dragged you down and made you watch those crime shows with me? How many detective novels have you heard me read aloud at night? Honestly, you could probably quote Sherlock Holmes word-for-word if you put your mind to it! You know how stupid that was!" He turned to Yosuke next, leaving Yu wincing at the ground. "And you!" he began, but Chie cut him off.
"Leave this idiot to me." she said calmly, softly pushing Souji back.
She lifted Yosuke's face up, forcing him to stand straight. She then turned around, as if to walk away, before swiftly bringing her right leg up to her chest, then extended it sharply out, slamming it into Yosuke's stomach. The brunette doubled over in pain, gasping for breath. Souji nodded approvingly as Chie dusted her hands, satisfied in a job well done. Calming down a bit, Souji asked the question that had been on his mind for a while. "Why did you even have weapons in the first place?" He looked at Yosuke, who was beginning to breathe semi-normally already. He half thought about asking Chie to repeat that kick from earlier, but decided that might hamper his progress in this investigation.
"I-found them-in a closet." Yosuke gasped, steadying himself against the stations wall. "We're-gonna need weapons-if we wanna save-Yukiko-san" He looked as if he might collapse again, and Souji sighed, his nature getting the better of him. He pulled Yosuke up straight, placing the boy's hands above his head.
"Breathe deeply" he advised, and Yosuke followed the instructions, keeping his hands on his head as he steadied his breathing.
Chie spoke up, voice still carrying disapproval. "If its weapons we need, I know a store that might help." She turned to Souji, looking for his response.
He nodded. "I think I know which one you're talking about." he responded.
"Let's head over there. If you wouldn't mind leading the way, Chie."
The pale brunette beamed, pleased with herself. "All right! Let's go" She turned in the direction of the Central shopping district, Souji next to her. Yu and Yosuke followed a ways behind.
"You okay, man? That kick looked killer."
Yosuke nodded, finally able to breathe again. "Yeah, no kidding. I thought I was gonna die. Is Souji always that harsh?"
Yu shook his head. "Rarely. That only seems to surface whenever he's scared for someone he cares about a lot." Yu grinned at Yosuke. "Guess that means you can count yourself as 'being close' with him"
Yosuke shuddered, a wary grin forming. "You'll forgive me if I'm not too excited by that prospect."
Yu laughed, then looked forward. "Oh crap, we're falling behind. Come on!" he grabbed Yosuke lightly, pulling him into a jog as they tried to catch up to the others.
"Welcome to Daidara's!"
Chie smiled as she entered the shop, the twins and Yosuke following her inside. The shop was littered with all kinds of metalwork, ranging from small jewelry to large battleaxes and heavy plate armor. "How do you even know about a place like this?" Yosuke asked, eyeing Chie in a new light. "Wait, I get it. You watched one too many Kung-Fu movies…" he trailed of, grinning mischievously.
"That's not it at all! I just overheard some guys in our class talking about it!" Chie flushed; a mix of embarrassment and annoyance showing on her face. Souji smiled, shaking his head, and approached the shop's owner.
"Hello again, Daidara-sama" he said cheerfully. The old man at the counter grinned at Souji; they seemed to have met before, to Yu's eyes.
"Ah, if it isn't Souji-kun! Come to admire my art some more?" Daidara laughed boisterously, arms crossed almost perpetually in front of his chest. Souji nodded, smiling broadly.
"Not just browse; I think we're all here to purchase today."
Daidara's eyes gleamed, taking in his customers. "Well, whatever they're looking for, if it can't be found in Shiroku or the bookstore, it's here!" He turned to Souji, a determined look on his face. "Speaking of things that can't be found easily, your special order is finished. Thanks for dropping off the payment earlier." Daidara knelt down, bringing out a package from a shelf under his counter. Souji grinned broadly, nodding to the smith in thanks.
The others crowded around, looking intently at the simple package. "What is it?" asked Chie, eyes wide in anticipation. Souji smiled, and undid the wrapping around the case. The case itself shone black, made of supple leather with metal edging to protect the leather. A small metal handle was on one side, flanked by two simple clasps, and a long strap was attached to the case. It almost looked like a standard briefcase. Souji undid the clasps, opening the lid to reveal two Tonfa. From one end of each weapon protruded two razor sharp blades, about the length of a standard tantō, while the other end was thick and blunted, capped by steel. Each Tonfa had a retractable handle, but boasted two straps that attached to the users wrists and forearms to allow the users hands to remain free.
Yosuke whistled, impressed by the craftsmanship of the weapons. "How much did these cost?" Yu asked, looking at his brother.
Souji closed the case, wrapping the strap around his shoulder. "My wallet took a significant hit, but it was well worth it." He bowed to Daidara, who smiled. "Your art never ceases to amaze me, Daidara-sama."
The old man simply gave a short bark of laughter, eyes gleaming. "Glad you like them, m'boy! You ever need to replace em, or get them fixed, just bring them back here. I'll repair them, free of charge. That goes for anything you buy from me."
Souji turned to the rest of the group. "Pick out what you're comfortable with, and bring with you under your uniforms, or find a discreet way of carrying them. I'm going to go browse the armor. Make sure you have everything you need to protect yourself. I'll pay for it." Yu nodded, remembering the consultation work Souji had grown up doing, as well as the odd jobs he had found along the way. He thought he needed tips on becoming a detective, but he was close enough to one as it is.
Yu picked out a sharp katana, and some armor, bringing it to the counter. Yosuke grabbed a pair of Nata, picking out the same armor Yu had. Chie grabbed some lighter armor that allowed her to move freely, and a pair of solid boots with steel caps on the toes and heels. Souji brought his armor to the counter, and paid for the group's purchases, wincing slightly at the cost. "Guess I should ask around and see if any part-time jobs have any openings. Maybe Dojima has some work I could do on the side." he thought to himself as he walked out. They had placed their armor on, wearing it under their uniform's shirts, and they carried their weapons in nondescript cases; Yu appeared to be carrying a poster case while Yosuke had his attached to his arms, bound by some bandages. Chie just walked around in her shoes, breaking them in a bit. "Let's head to Junes" Souji said, walking towards the department store, Yu and company following closely behind.