AN: Hi everyone, thanks for reading this! It's been a while since I uploaded anything here, and I do apologise for that. I'm still going to continue with Gnosis: Supreme Sophistry, but with the Persona 3 Remake, a thought occurred to me - a remake of Duality, my first Persona story.

But rather than just retell the exact same story, I'm going to change things up somewhat, and thus several characters are going to be different. Some characters will have new names, as you can see in this new first chapter later, and others will be reworked. I'm not going to remove the original Duality, of course, that will remain on here and AO3.

If you haven't read the original Duality, then you certainly can do so, but it's not required for this new version. Please read and review!

Persona Duality: Reflection

Arc I: The Beginning of a New Motion

Chapter 1: The Strange Fortune Teller

|Unknown|

This was an expanse that had existed for a long time. A simple circular platform of intricate design, surrounded by an endless celestial sky of stars. It was a land beyond the physical plane, that in normal times would exist in complete silence. Yet now, one person had been summoned here. In the blink of an eye, she had appeared, slowly descending to the ground.

"W-What? What's going on?"

As her feet touched the ground, she looked around. The ground was rather shiny, enough to see her own face reflected. Sure enough, she could make out her own features – her black short messy ponytail, her dark skin, her blue eyes, and the purple and black vest she wore most days. Curious, she looked up, and suddenly saw a blue butterfly in front of her. It did not seem to be an 'organic' creature, however. When it fluttered its radiant wings, blue sparkles flew all over, scattering into the air.

"Welcome. The time has finally come to bring you here. Please do not be alarmed. You will be in your normal world soon enough."

The voice that spoke sounded both masculine and feminine. It seemed to be echoing all around her, from every angle.

"What is this weird place? It looks really abstract...this isn't some kind of elaborate art installation, is it? Wait, are you the one who brought me here?"

"Yes. I am Philemon. This 'abstract' world does not exist within the Earth you live in. It is born from the collective unconsciousness. Only those with a certain potential are able to come here. Those who will unlock the power of their true self. You will soon be forced to use that power, as will others like you."

"I don't understand. What kind of power are you talking about? Who are these other people like me?"

"There are no doubt many questions that are going through your mind right now. You will meet these people I speak of very soon. That power that you speak of reflects the inner you, whether that has the divine love of a goddess or the demonic cruelty of the devil. It shall be your only weapon against the shadows born from mankind's collective psyche."

"H-Hold on a moment, Philemon! What shadows are you talking about? I don't have time for any of this, I have a big job tomorrow -"

"This is all I can say for now. Before I return you to your normal world, please answer me – what is your name?"

This question took her by surprise. Why would this butterfly ask this? If they had beckoned her here within her own dreams, would they not already know? However, she did not intend to bombard this Philemon with more questions. Eager to escape, she answered:

"Amara Furaha."

"Very good. You must always be aware of your true nature if you wish to prevail. Now, you will awake. Once you are finally ready to awaken your power, you will hear my guidance once again."

With those final words, everything faded...

|June 7th 2012|New Motus City – Farawell District – Falcon View Apartments|7:00 am|

Waking up, her heart was racing. While she had odd dreams before, Amara had never had one quite as confusing as that. Breathing deeply, she looked up at the wooden ceiling. The alarm clock went off, but she was in too much of a daze to turn it off like normal.

What the hell was that about? Why now, when my big chance is finally coming?

Finally, she turned off the alarm clock and got out of bed. Nothing about the dream was making any sense to her. It felt rather real, more than the lucid dreams she had heard her friends from college about. And Philemon's words had a lot of gravity to them. Yet there was no sense in staying here and dwelling on a bizarre dream like this.

For today, Amara would finally be the lead artist on a new comic being produced by Motion Publishing, a prestigious studio. She had only been able to assist with other projects in the past, which she was grateful for, but she had little to no creative control over any of them. Not a writer by nature, she had been praying that she'd get to work with someone truly gifted to produce something incredible, and today, that opportunity had finally come.

I wonder who it is that chose me, out of everyone else? Ah, I don't care, this is so exciting! I have to get ready. Forget Philemon, this is gonna be the greatest day of my career!

Art had been her greatest passion, ever since before she moved to this city as a young girl. And moving here had only further ignited that passion, fuelling her into graduating from college with an arts degree. Up until Motus Publishing hired her, she had been freelance, having helped several companies design new logos, or taking commissions online. Now, however, her art could be seen by thousands of people worldwide.

After putting on her favourite black and purple sleeveless shirt, her blue jeans and her smartest sleek black shoes, she went to look at herself in the bathroom mirror. Quickly, she pulled her black hair into a short ponytail and washed her skin. Being from Egypt originally, she had a darker complexion, yet she also had blue eyes. Her face reminded her of her mother's – and it was the mere thought of her that made her remember something.

"The ankh! No way in hell I'd forget you..."

Amara quickly grabbed the necklace from the bedside cabinet and put it around her neck. She had worn it almost every day since her mother gave it to her. For it was that same day her mother had passed away. As such, it was her own way of keeping her mother alive. The ankh symbol represented eternal life in Ancient Egypt, and was in the shape of a cross, with a tear-shaped loop instead of the upper bar. She was now ready to greet New Motus City, her beloved home, with a smile. The odd dream would be forgotten in no time, she told herself.

|Scarlet Street|7:15 am|

New Motus City was a large metropolis situated on the Motus Island in the Atlantic Ocean, somewhere halfway between the United States and Europe. It was a rather small player on the world stage, yet it had a decent amount of tourism, and generally was a peaceful place to live. With several successful businesses over the generations, there was a good economy as well. Farawell was one of six districts of the city, and was largely a residential area, with many apartment blocks like Amara's. On Scarlet Street, there were many quaint houses with redbrick exteriors, which had led to the street's name. The Falcon View tower was a relatively new build and had a somewhat mundane exterior.

Opposite the road was an old warehouse, that had been locked for nearly ten years. The company that owned it had no use for it, but couldn't decide what to do with it, and thus it was left empty. While graffiti artists certainly enjoyed using the exterior as a canvas, that was a style of art Amara had never quite devoted herself to, although she did appreciate it – when done well. Something about the abandoned building did unsettle her at times, though. There were always rumours that someone, or something, was hiding in there.

She got on the bus, politely thanking the rather sleepy-looking driver as she walked to her seat. He didn't seem as cheerful as the usual drivers, but it was still quite early in the morning, so she put it down to just his work schedule. She got on a window seat near the back of the bus and watched as she passed through the familiar Scarlet Street.

Before long, the bus was passing over the long Sylvana Bridge, an architectural marvel. Or at least, that's how Amara had heard it described on television often. It was a light blue in colour and seemed to be one of the city's most popular landmarks, especially considering how much of the city could be viewed from here. There was also a beautiful view of the city's only river, that cut through the rather commercial Legarte district. Full of restaurants, shops, and other establishments, this was where Amara's workplace was.

The bus stopped, and two teenagers got on. One was a blonde girl with a white shirt and blue skirt, the other was a black-haired boy in a wheelchair. For a brief moment, she thought the girl was staring at her, but they soon were busy talking among themselves. Amara did notice the rather unusual necklace the girl was wearing, a blue and silver bell-shaped one. Had she seen it before? She couldn't quite recall.

After a moment, her eyes caught a glimpse of the back page of the free newspaper that was on the seat next to her. It was a feature about the New Motus football team in a recent game overseas, and the goals scored by a 'Karl Davenport'. There was his picture of him punching his fists into the air, with several of his teammates running up in euphoria. His slicked-back ginger hair and his jawline beard had become etched into her memory, ever since she first met him.

Damn. Him again? I thought I was done thinking about this guy. Well, if he's in another country, I guess I don't have to worry about running into him for a while. Maybe he's thinking the same thing over in Germany.

Throughout her time in the city, she met many people. While some she had stayed good friends with, some she had lost touch with. And Karl, a promising footballer, had been one of the latter. It had started wonderfully enough, but then ended on a rather sour note. That had been six months ago, and since then, she had been careful to avoid him and his family. Karl, likewise, had not called her even once. Perhaps he knew he couldn't take back some of the awful things he had said.

She started to stare back out of the window, as more of Legarte's busy streets came into view. Soon, it would be time to get off and finally get to meet the writer she was to be partnered with. Excitement was building up inside of her more than ever before.

|Ocean Obelisk – Motion Publishing|8:00 am|

The diamond-shaped glass tower before her was breathtaking, even after seeing it many times. Each pane of glass was bright blue, almost matching the ocean waves that one could see from here. Nearly twenty stories in height, many businesses had their offices here, and Motion Publishing was on the fourteenth. Quickly, she made her way onto the elevator, as did several others.

Among them was a brunette woman in a red coat about Amara's age, speaking on her phone. Although she did her best to be quiet, it was hard to avoid hearing her getting more and more frustrated. What the other person on the line was saying was inaudible, but clearly vexing.

"Are you serious? But we planned your interview about your time at Aeternus months ago – what? No...no, you're right...I guess we don't need….fine, I understand, thank you for your – dammit!" She put her phone back in her pocket and sighed. Quickly, she got off at the tenth floor. Judging from the logo on the wall outside, it belonged to a newspaper called The Moving World.

The name Aeternus sent a shiver down Amara's spine. Up until ten years ago, they had been a relatively successful telecommunications company, with highly regarded products involving internet technologies. And it had been because of them hiring her father Rudo that she moved to this city to begin with, leaving behind all her friends back in Egypt. Everything had been going well for the business until the time came to demonstrate their latest technology. It was kept under much secrecy, but it was supposedly 'world-changing'.

I wasn't supposed to be there, but Dad forgot his lunch, so I grabbed it and ran over there. But then everything went dark, and the next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. And a lot of other people got hurt, too. Some of them even died.

No one knew the truth behind the incident. All investigative efforts proved fruitless. Whatever innovative technology Aeternus had created had gone awry, and exploded – Amara was lucky to have only been knocked unconscious. Her father had managed to escape any serious injuries as well, but others had not been so lucky. The creative team behind the project were utterly consumed by the explosion, leaving no bodies behind. And it had destroyed the equipment they had spent developing.

Aeternus' management was completely unable to answer any questions on what their six deceased employees were working on, try as they might. The company did not last much longer, being bought out by the Albion company. Ever since then, the company's name had been surrounded with much mystery and controversy. Today was the ten-year anniversary, Amara realised – no doubt the tabloids were still trying to get answers.

Putting these dark memories aside, she got off at the fourteenth floor. She soon saw her familiar workplace, with a bright blue carpet and sky-blue walls. There were posters and drawings everywhere, and countless photographs of the very talented artists that had worked her over the decades. This place valued its legacy, and Amara had already met some talented artists and writers. Such as -

"Hey, Amara! This is your big day, huh?"

A young woman with bouncy blonde pigtails walked up to her, dressed from head to toe in pink clothes. There was a long skirt, a very smart-looking blazer and shirt, and high heels. Amara had become accustomed to greeting this pink fanatic every morning. While she did like purple herself, she was careful not to make every item of clothing the same exact colour, in both her wardrobe and the characters she had drawn.

"Big day? You make it sound like I was getting married or something!" Amara said, laughing. "Have you seen the new writer yet?"

"Yeah, they look really weird. Like...Halloween costume weird. You'll see what I mean, but I better get to work. Juan and I have a lot to do on Pretty Pink Princess. Have fun!" Colette quickly began making her way to her own desk. She had been writing a short series lately, one about a child princess who had 'pink' powers. It was rather silly fare, but seemed popular with younger readers.

Almost immediately afterwards, another woman marched up to her, looking rather stoic as she usually did. This was the office manager, Karin Turner. Not one to dress casually, today she was clad in a black shirt and skirt, with her brunette hair in a very neat bun. Behind her silver glasses were her blue eyes, the ones that had struck fear in several employees throughout her time here.

"Good morning, Amara. As of today, you will be working with Stella Cleone. She's waiting for you."

"Stella Cleone?" This name was not familiar to Amara. She had met a fair number of writers throughout her time here, but not this woman. "I don't think I've met her before. She new?"

"Correct, this is her first day here, and her first foray into the comics business. So far, she's been known for writing short stories, some of which have won awards. She's quite an...eccentric author, shall we say. But we're expecting big things from her. And for her to have asked for you, rather than someone more experienced," Karin said, with a sharp gaze at that last word, "is quite the opportunity. Don't ever take it for granted. Follow me."

Walking briskly, Karin took Amara to the northern end of the offices, where a woman was already sitting in her desk, gazing out of the window in front of her. Quickly, she swivelled her chair around, displaying the eccentric outfit she had become known for. There was a purple silky turban on her head, and beneath that was turquoise hair – rather short. On her face was a black masquerade mask, from which piercing violet eyes gazed through. She also bore a purple and black tank top with a high collar, sparkling blue crystal earrings, purple shoes with a skull design, and black trousers.

"Fantastic. Amara Furaha, at long last. The master artist who shall breathe life into my greatest project yet. No one else can possibly bring my story to fruition. It is a pleasure to finally see you face-to-face, rather than browse your portfolio. As you may already know, I am Stella Cleone."

Blushing, Amara shook hands with the young woman. Stella's was firm, but gentle at the same time. There had been a brief moment where she worried that she wouldn't get along with whoever was writing this story, but that panic had been replaced with curiosity now.

"I wish I'd read your stories before, I heard you won some awards. That's amazing. I'll have to look those up later. But I'm really glad you chose me. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can make together!"

Karin smiled faintly but checked her watch, and her smile disappeared in a flash. "My apologies, you two, but I have a morning meeting. I'm sure you both have much to do. Have a good day." She sped down towards one of the meeting rooms in the far back, leaving the two girls alone.

Amara chuckled. "She always seems to be in meetings. Still, keeps her from breathing down my neck all day."

"There is a lot of turmoil within her, I can sense it. Yet the same can be said about many in this building." Stella said, ominously. "There are countless matters people keep deep inside themselves. That is what this story is about. The dual nature of humanity. I have seen it many times."

Silent, Amara stared at her new colleague. This woman was definitely not like anyone she had met before. A strange thought occurred to her, that this bizarrely-dressed person had some sort of ESP.

Come on, as if. That dream about 'Philemon' is just having me think all sorts of crazy stuff.

"The story I wish to write...is called Duality. It is about a young man who has both demonic and angelic ancestry, in a city that exists long after the end of Earth, in an expanse far beyond the terrestrial plane. At the onset, he is an ordinary human. He has graduated as a member of a military that can control powerful creatures with a smartphone app, and recruit them to his cause. Yet shortly after he celebrates his first successful mission, ancient demons and angels break the truce between them. And he becomes aware of his true lineage. His mother was the child of a human and an angel, and his father, a devil-human hybrid. Both parts of him conflict with each other, and he is constantly seeking the true answer to who he is, and who he must fight for: humans, angels, or demons."

Stella's voice seemed rather theatrical as she said this. Had she been rehearsing this pitch? Perhaps it was the same pitch that convinced the bosses at Motion Publishing to hire her. Amara could feel her pure confidence in this supernatural story, and was already starting to envision this protagonist, with the blood of a human, angel and demon in him.

"Now this is sounding awesome already. Do you write about demons or angels much?"

Stella shrugged, smiling. "My previous stories have been somewhat more mundane, in comparison. More about the human psyche. For the longest time, I've felt there is another 'me' somewhere else. I'll understand if that sounds rather odd to you. Yet our minds are not simple things. There are so many different sides we display to others, after all."

"...And so, our hero, he has three different sides?"

"Something like that, yes. The pursuit of one's true self is something I think all of us are searching for. That is the crux of this story. A journey through the shadows. Now, let's get started. I have a clear idea of my characters in my head already, and the city that was built in the demonic expanse beyond Earth. And I already know how you will depict them..."

"You do? What, are you a mind reader or something?" Amara asked, jokingly. Stella did not respond, however, averting her eyes from the artist's gaze.

Dammit, I didn't mean to offend her. Still, this all feels so strange.

And so, the two continued for most of the day nailing down all the concepts. With each character Stella introduced, Amara began sketching. The gigantic city stuck in another dimension, that seemed to constantly be growing, she was already beginning to visualise in her head. And the demons seemed to be from all sorts of mythology, each wildly different from the other.

Finally, the working day came to an end. Amara had gotten quite a lot of early design work done and would be working on finalising the characters and their colouring tomorrow. Stella seemed able to recite all of her story's lore from memory, without any notes on her desk, or even looking at her computer. As she narrated her tale, she grew more and more animated, as if she was narrating it to a captive audience.

"Okay! That was amazing. I'm getting really excited for when this first issue is ready! I won't let you down, I promise. I'll see you tomorrow -"

"Wait!" Stella said, now looking desperate. "Miss Amara, please don't leave just yet. There is something I must say. You see, it was not because of Duality that I chose to work here. It was all so I could finally realise the vision I saw ten years ago."

Amara blinked, confused. "What do you mean? Are you actually some kind of psychic?!"

After a long pause, Stella nodded. It felt like everything had frozen around them. The air around her had changed.

"It's true. You were right before. For whatever reason, I have been gifted to see the future for ten years. Outside of my writing career as Stella Cleone, I perform readings under a different name – Seraphina. It is another facade I display to the world. It is not a precise art, but I can genuinely sense events in the future. That, and read people's thoughts and feelings."

Seraphina, huh? I heard about them. To think she was just another alias. But can her powers be real? Would she make up something like this?

"As a child, I saw a vision of this very building. It was hazy, but I knew that for whatever reason, I would be here, and so would you. And that I must give you a reading of your own future, for your own sake. No, not just yours. If I didn't give you that reading, then I would regret it deeply."

"What are you saying? Why would you regret not reading my future so much?"

Now rather anxious, Stella's face went pale. After a deep breath, she continued.

"I don't know. Something happened ten years ago, that made me gain such power. It must be related to what happened with Aeternus, and the disastrous event your father attended. You were only there to bring the lunch he had forgotten, but then you were caught in the blast and were in the hospital for a while afterwards. That's the same day I started being able to sense the future..."

Amara gasped. This was not something she had spoken about to anyone since it happened. Her body had been in so much pain afterwards. She had been terrified she would never walk again. Thankfully, she made a full recovery, but she and her father had never spoken about the event since. Nor had she made any public posts about her brush with death. For Stella to know about it, confirmed it in her mind.

"...I will read your future right now. Please, stand still. I've found tarot cards very helpful with my gift." Carefully, she took out her deck of the Major Arcana and shuffled them. Closing her eyes, she drew four cards – The Sun, The Moon, Strength, and Magician. All of them were upright.

Those cards surely can't have any power on their own, right? But Stella does. I have to hear what she says.

"The Sun card here, that represents you. Your boundless optimism, like when you were drawing the characters of my story. However, that same positivity will be put to the test very soon. For on the seventh night of the sixth month, you will pass through a gateway into a shadowed world. Others will find themselves thrust into this world too, via the same door. These three cards besides yours represent these souls. As individuals, you will be very different from each other, yet have the same potential. A sealed building in a road of red...that is where the door lies."

Amara was stunned. Tonight, this would happen? When? How?

"This is that old warehouse in Scarlet Street, right? The one that hasn't been used in...ten years?"

Stella nodded. "The very same. Aeternus owned it for a time, but after they were bought out, Albion Incorporated left it abandoned. Tonight, you will finally be able to see what is within. But please, whatever happens, be careful. I have only some idea of the future, not the whole story. Now, go home. I will see you tomorrow."

Quickly, Stella grabbed her purple satchel and went down the staircase, rushing past a confused Colette. She and the others watched with great curiosity, as she made her exit from the building.

"What kind of strange fortune teller is she…?" Amara wondered aloud. This was not quite the first major project she had envisioned. Cautiously, she began to make her own way out of work, planning to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happened. She would have something to eat, watch a movie on TV, finish up some drawings at home, and go to bed.

Yet, tonight was not going to be a normal night, and not just for her.