"Mysterious Boy? Does this have something to do with the child from last chapter?"
(Just watch and see.)
Persona 3 belongs to Atlus, not the author. The author only owns the original ideas and characters.
Chapter 3: The Mysterious Boy
Minato
"It's strange though. Shadows usually don't appear like this," the mysterious boy said, kicking his feet.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The boy stopped kicking and looked at him curiously.
"Who am I?" he repeated.
He nodded, and the boy tilted his head.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" he repeated.
The boy shook his head, and he was suddenly prodded by Natsuno.
"Uh, Minato? Who are you talking to?"
He blinked and looked at her.
"You can't see him?" he asked, pointing at the boy.
She shook her head and looked at him strangely. He looked at the boy, who had a small smile, and was about to ask why Natsuno couldn't see him, only for the house to shudder. He and Natsuno looked around wildly.
"It looks like the Shadows have found the front door," the mysterious boy said calmly.
He immediately ran to the door, Natsuno following him. On opening the door, they saw a large raven looking thing flapping its wings. He froze as Natsuno hid behind him. The mysterious boy appeared next to him, looking at the raven calmly.
"Oops. You shouldn't have opened the door."
The raven gave a loud squawk and rushed towards them, and he quickly pushed Natsuno back. The raven was a few feet away-before colliding against a glowing barrier. He blinked and Natsuno peaked over his shoulder as the raven continued to ram itself against the barrier. The mysterious boy tilted his head.
"Oh? It looks like someone's left you some protection."
"What is that?" Natsuno asked, still unable to see the boy.
"It's a barrier of some kind," he stated.
Natsuno frowned.
"Will it hold?"
He watched as the barrier continued to shudder.
"I-I don't know."
Just as the raven was about to ram itself against the barrier again, a large earthen claw suddenly erupted from the earth, and crushed it. Both he and Natsuno stared at the claw in shock, while the boy looked on curiously.
"Wow. A lot of protection," the boy remarked.
The claw stood there for a moment, the goo of the raven dripping down it, before sinking back into the ground. There was a moment of silence, before Natsuno tugged on his sleeve.
"I-I think we should go back inside" she stated.
He nodded slowly, before walking backwards. The mysterious boy remained outside. Or, at least he though he had. On entering the house, he saw the boy sitting on the TV, whistling, or at least attempting to whistle, cheerfully. He was so distracted by the sight that he didn't notice Natsuno yawning and curling up on the floor.
"I...think I'm gonna...Take a quick nap. Wake me up...When Smith gets back..."
With those final words, Natsuno closed her eyes and started snoring. He watched her for a minute, before taking a blanket and laying it over her.
"She looks peaceful."
He jumped in surprise as the mysterious boy suddenly appeared at his side without any sound. The boy tilted his head, staring at Natsuno.
"Really peaceful," he said.
The boy turned to face him.
"Almost deathly peaceful," he whispered.
The boy stared into his eyes for a while, before smiling and breaking their staring contest. He glanced at Natsuno, who did indeed look very peaceful, and almost dead, her skin pale in the moonlight. He crouched down, and held her hand, just to make sure it was warm and she was indeed alive. When he stood back up, the boy was now in the hallway, standing in front of the broom closet. The boy beckoned towards him, and after a moments hesitation, he walked up to him slowly. The boy turned towards the closet.
"Can you hear it?" He looked at the closet, before looking back at the boy. The boy mimicked putting his ear on the door. He followed the action, and heard a low humming sound. He stumbled forward as the door opened suddenly, and he looked up to see the boy smiling at him cheekily, holding the door open. He was too preoccupied by the fact that the broom closet was no longer a broom closet. He stood up as blue light flooded over him, mechanical pipes and parts growing out of the walls. All the pipes and wires led to one thing-A huge futuristic capsule. He couldn't see inside of it, but various lights beeped and booped. The mysterious boy looked at the capsule curiously.
"What do you think it is?"
"It...It looks like an escape capsule from a sci-fi movie."
The boy looked at him questioningly.
"Sci-fi movie?"
"You know, like Star Wars."
"I do not know," The boy looked back at the capsule.
"Still, don't you think it's strange? To find something like this in a broom closet?"
He remained silent, before walking up to the capsule. He jerked back as the entire room suddenly lit up, a holographic panel appearing in front of him.
GENESIS UNIT READY TO ACTIVATE. INPUT AGE.
He and the boy glanced at each other, before he hesitantly reached out to the panel, pressing the eight. There was some whirring, and a happy face appeared on the screen, along with a picture of a stork.
AGE INPUTED. PROCEEDING MANUFACTURING. WILL BE DONE IN 240 HOURS...HAVE A NICE DAY.
The machine quieted down as the lights dimmed, and the room was filled with gentle humming again. He turned to look at the boy, only to find himself alone. Uncertain, he walked out of the closet, and saw the boy looking out the window at the moon above. He walked up to him slowly, looking up at the humongous, alien looking moon above.
"What is it...?" he whispered.
"It the end," the boy said calmly.
He turned to look at the boy questioningly.
"The end? The end of what?"
The boy turned to look at him with glowing blue eyes, and smiled.
"The End...Of the World." With that, the boy faded away, and he stared up at the moon numbly.
"Hey, Minato, wake up."
He opened his eyes blearily to see Smith. He sat up and looked around. The world was no longer a shade of sickly green, and the moon was normal.
"I can understand the floor being a comfortable place to sleep, but the wall?"
He looked at Smith, who was grinning.
"I fell asleep." "I can tell," Smith looked at Natsuno, who was still fast asleep.
Smith looked back at him.
"So, do you want to continue sleeping on the wall, or would you like to go to bed?"
He considered it for a moment, before trudging towards the couch, and laying down on it, curling up. He saw Smith shaking his head, chuckling quietly, before snapping his finger. A warm, fluffy blanket appeared over him, and the last thing he saw before falling asleep was Smith standing up and walking towards the broom closet.
'Smith'
He knew something was wrong as soon as he opened the closet door. Specifically, the Genesis Machine was active. He quickly walked over to the control panel and turned it on.
"Details."
HERE ARE THE DETAILS.
He scanned over the synopsis, before stopping at age.
AGE CHOSEN: 8.
He looked at the age uncomprehendingly for a moment, before sighing. Well, this wasn't good. But it wasn't necessarily bad. It would just make his job a bit...more difficult. At least the machine was working at full power. At this rate, it would be ready in ten days. He left the Genesis Machine to it's job, before remembering the forms he would have to fill for school. He left the room-but not before placing a red ribbon on the panel of the machine.