I do not own the Persona games. I am just a fan who is excited about the P3 remake. I hope you all enjoy it! R !

1

"You signed the contract, you agreed to its terms. Now, you must follow it through."

A silver flip phone shut, and a sigh left a figure in a navy blue dress shirt and black school blazer. The figure tilted their head back to look up at the green night sky above them. A bright moon, the slim shape of it informed them of its current phase, a waning crescent. It was on its path to becoming a full one. They looked back down at the phone in their white-gloved hands.

"I accepted the contract of my own volition?" They murmured to themselves, shaking their head a little and making their white hair move in response. "How stupid."

"You did, and you must accept that." A voice stated, this one male.

They quickly got to their feet and shifted away from the source. A man stood where he hadn't before, bathed in the lime green light. His long dark hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, his face obscured by a mask in the shape of a butterfly; a single brown eye peered at them. They glared at him from mismatched eyes, one covered by a longer fringe.

"You who failed to protect your world yet agreed to be sent here to assist one of my precious guests," he stated, and they looked down at the blood-covered ground with a grimace, "failure is part of being human. Your bonds were strong. Your opponent was stronger."

"What have you turned me into?" They asked, and the man tilted his head in thought.

"Your persona is still intact. Your ability of the wild card still holds as well," he observed, and they cringed. "Themis still stirs within your soul, looking for the truth you crave."

"Stop it," they quietly said, and he moved his head back a bit to stare them dead in the eye.

"You cannot run away from your destiny," he coldly informed them and their eyes widened in surprise, "you saw what happened the first time you did that."

"I get the feeling that you're threatening me," they muttered and the man gained a humorous expression.

"Reminding you of consequences is not threatening you," he pointed out and they frowned, "Grace Holmes, one that shares a last name with such an interesting character. You must move on, and regain your truth."

"My truth?" Grace asked, looking down. "What truth can I possibly see after you've taken my eye and replaced it?"

"That remains to be seen," the man stated and Grace glared at him, "let the show begin."

"Show?" She asked, her voice raising an octave in annoyance.

He disappeared before she could say anything else to him. She was stuck in the strange area she found herself in. She brought a hand up and removed her hat, using her free hand to put her phone into her slack pockets before scratching her head in frustration. It was impossible to ignore the insanity that had happened to her. First, she awakens to a persona because one of her old elementary school friends had been hurt by the shadow of one of their teachers, and the next she was fighting a god that wanted to destroy the world. Her hand paused, and she gave the ground a forlorn look. Her reflection peered back at her, reflecting off the blood on the ground. She had white hair, which had been natural and was normal. But one of her eyes was a bright blue, natural, and the other was a pale gold, unnatural. It reminded her of the attendant who helped her on her journey. Mary. Grace doubted she'd ever see the strange woman again. She reached into her pocket and retrieved the letter that had been in it when she woke up.

"Gekkoukan, huh?" She thoughtfully muttered. "Never thought I'd end up at such a high-class school."

It wasn't that she was dumb, far from it, but she'd never put in any effort when it came to classes. She looked to the side, perhaps that was why she failed. The god had said that her world was a trial run, one for the bored gods to watch. She shuffled through the letter until she found what she needed. A map of the area and the dorm she would be staying at. Her hands twitched a little when she felt something approaching. Her navigator for the collective consciousness in Okinawa had said she had a strange talent for knowing what Shadows were nearing and what their weaknesses were. Perhaps in another life, she would've been a navigator herself, and not the wildcard. She could hear the personas she had gathered rile up within the sea of her soul. It was so cramped in there sometimes, that it made it difficult to hear her true persona's voice. She put her hat back on her head and brought that one hand down to place it over her heart. Themis let her know it was still there with a gentle feeling of belonging. She had forgotten what it was like to feel that. She closed her eyes for a few seconds to sense deeper into her soul.

Her bonds were gone.

She already guessed they would be. She put her hand down and opened her eyes. She needed to find the dorm she would be spending the next year in. It was going to be difficult. She looked at the area around her, noting the coffins standing around. If those were people, they wouldn't be much help. She breathed in deeply and brought her hands above her head, stretching a little. She could go for some sleep. She wondered if her dreams would be full of nightmares from her encounters. She quickly spun on her heel when she heard the sound of someone approaching her. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the taller teen. How he was hunched over with his hands in his pockets. His silver eyes were narrowed a little at her before widening just the slightest. She kept that defensive look on her face when he looked her over.

"What the hell?" He muttered to himself.

"Never seen a pretty girl before?" She groused at him, placing a hand on her hip.

"Tch, don't give yourself too much credit," he stated, glaring at her.

Oh, he was trying to hurt her feelings. The joke was on him, she didn't think she was that pretty to begin with. Grace had wanted to mess with him, and she succeeded. He clicked his tongue again and studied her blazer. He seemed annoyed at the sight of it. She mirrored that annoyance. Great, the only person aware of the world was a grouchy teenager. Well, it was a little better than a misleading adult. She's dealt with too many of those to count.

"Do you know where the co-ed dorms for Gekkoukan are?" She reluctantly asked.

He began to walk away and she felt the incredulous expression slip onto her face, past the carefully crafted mask of a polite high school student. He looked over his shoulder and she saw the amused glint in his eyes at her expression before he glared. She regained her composure and started to trail behind him. If he noticed that she was out of arm's reach, then he didn't say anything. She guessed he preferred that she be that far. He reminded her of her navigator, someone who kept others at length out of fear of hurting them. It was ridiculous, her navigator had to be one of the sweetest people she knew. She didn't doubt that this gruff giant of a teenager in front of her wasn't the same. Maybe the way she made friends with them would work.

"So…come here often?" She asked, putting her high charm to use.

"How cliche can you get?" He questioned, sending her a strange look.

"Very, but does this happen to the world often?" She shrugged, looking around the green world with an apprehensive look.

"Every night," he dryly answered, and she was a little surprised that he gave her an honest answer.

"It seems peaceful, if not lonely," she muttered to herself in thought.

"It's shit," he said, catching her words, "sound travels far in the silence of the dark hour."

Dark Hour? That sounded familiar, didn't Mary once say something about that when she was fusing personas? It was different from the collective consciousness she had been running around in, yet connected to it. She felt a shiver go down her spine and called forth Jack Frost from her sea of souls. He would keep the chill away. Even if the constant urge to say "he-ho" got annoying after a while.

"I see," she murmured.

He hadn't wanted an answer, but he got one. He glanced at the teenager trailing behind him. He couldn't tell if she trusted him, or was that desperate for directions. She looked at one of the coffins as they passed and made a face, but there was an underlying sympathy for it under the disgust. It wasn't hard to guess that the coffins were people, if she hadn't made that connection he would've easily labelled her an idiot without a second thought.

"Where are you from?" He found himself asking, and she glanced at him in slight surprise.

"Okinawa, from the Kadena air base," she answered.

It was odd, but she got the feeling that if she lied he would know. He came to a stop and she did so as well. His surprise was evident as he stared at her. Ah, so he hadn't been expecting her to be American. Well, she was only half. Half Japanese and half American. She looked more like her mother, the Japanese office worker from the mainland who ended up with a man from the American army. She stayed in Japan, and her father had been lucky enough to be in Okinawa his entire career.

"Why are you here?" He asked, incredibly confused.

"I was closer to my mother, I have more roots here in Japan than I do in America," she admitted, tilting her head to the side.

She was hiding something. He shouldn't, but he wanted to know what it was. She was interesting, and without even trying. One of her hands was holding a letter, one that he was very familiar with, the other was in the pockets of her slacks. She hadn't looked away from him, not once during the conversation. He was waiting for her to blink and was starting to get unnerved when she didn't. She brought her free hand out of the pocket to hold onto her hat when a slight breeze went through the area. The weather was a rare occurrence in the dark hour. If it was raining before it started, then it would continue into the dark hour, and create an unnatural fog that left those that could walk around during it a little disoriented. He typically stayed in one place when it was raining.

"I'm sorry," he awkwardly apologised.

"For what? I'm fairly certain you'd never met her," she dryly commented, "you weren't the one that killed her."

No, that had been the god that wanted to end the world. Using the mind of a broken police officer, he had pushed her mother into oncoming traffic. It was the fact that she had been forced to watch that made her awaken to her persona. Her true self. She had wanted answers as to why it had to happen, and she had gotten them. The taller teenager was staring at her outright, his body completely tensed. It was as though she had said something that had upset him.

"Did I say something wrong?" She asked. "I will be the first to admit that my Japanese isn't the best and I tend to put my foot in my mouth."

"No, it wasn't you," he said, resuming their walk.

He wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible. Grace trailed behind him in confusion before her eyes widened. Ah, so he had hurt someone, possibly killed someone. He didn't seem the type. Can't judge a book by its cover, as her dad used to say. She adjusted her hat on her head and stared at the taller teen in thought. His shoulders were more hunched now, as though he was closing himself off. Nothing she could say would make the situation better. Ayame was right, she did have a bad habit of saying the wrong thing as someone charming. It didn't make much sense. She made a sound that got his attention and noted the surprise on her face.

"I never caught your name," she stated, "I'm Holmes Grace, but others call me Megumi because it's easier."

"…Aragaki Shinjiro," He said, sending her a glare, "I ain't calling you Megumi."

That got a light laugh out of her, a genuine one at that. One that made her eyes crinkle and her nose scrunch up. He wasn't sure what to think of that kind of reaction. Usually, most people were uncomfortable around him. This girl was too relaxed. She seemed to grow more relaxed around him after learning his name. He didn't know it was because she now had confirmation that he wasn't just a part of someone's consciousness. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had created a person by pure will alone. Loneliness was one of the worst things that could happen to a person, and she saw what it did to their cognition of the world.

"Thank you," she stated, surprising her.

Megumi was an excuse for people who couldn't pronounce her name. It had been given to her by a teacher back when she was a child, and she had hated it for a long time. For someone to say they wouldn't call her that, that there was an underlying promise to use her actual name, meant a lot to her. Shinjiro glared at her and she smiled. Nonplussed by his reaction to her words. He was a softy, one that had taken a life but still a softy. She folded up the letter and put it away so she could fix the strap to her duffle bag. It had started to slide and was becoming uncomfortable.

"Thou art I…and I am thou

Thou hast established a new bond…

One that will help thy search for thy own truth

Thou shalt be blessed when creating

Personas of the Moon Arcana…"

So, she could still create bonds? She felt the one moon arcana persona she had, Succubus, shift in her sea of souls and grow a little stronger from the bond's creation. It was how it usually felt, as though she had grown a little stronger. The key to the velvet room, which was on a keychain attached to her bag, glowed a little in the green light. Shinjiro thought he had seen something, but brushed it off as the unnatural nature of the dark hour. Grace knew that she would have to find an entrance to the velvet room to talk with its inhabitants. So, her journey was never over. She doubted it ever would be. She looked up when they came close to a multistory building. It was the dorm she would be living in. A part of her didn't want to leave the one bond she had. She felt her cell phone in her pocket and wondered if he had one.

"Don't go wandering around during this hour," Shinjiro warned, starting to turn so he could leave.

"Can I get your number?" She blurted out without thinking, and he slowly looked at her. "Or…not…sorry."

He sighed and held out his hand. She brought out her phone and handed it over. The bright-eyed look being sent his way was impossible to say no to. Grace was starting to see him as a little bit of a pushover if you came at him with enough positivity. She could easily grow their bond. She would focus on those, and her knowledge this time around. She would grow as a person, and not stagnate. She refused to allow the world to end for a second time. She felt her resolution hit her sea of souls and Themis grew stronger. She wouldn't be surprised if Themis had physically changed to reflect her resolution. Her phone being held out to her brought her out of her thoughts and she looked at the new number in her empty contacts. He even put his name. She blinked when he quickly walked away, the back of his neck a little pink.

"Stay safe, Shinjiro-kun!" She called out and she heard his sound of disbelief.

He spun on his heel and noted the large grin on her face. He clicked his tongue and quickly turned back. He wasn't going to say anything. Damn that stupid grin. He pulled his beanie down a little more over his ears to hide them. They were burning, and he knew he was embarrassed by the honorific she'd given him. He had to be older than her, dammit! Grace watched as he disappeared into the dark hour and her grin softened to something fond. It was always fun to mess with someone so gruff on the outside. Her fond smile turned into a serious expression. One bond has been created, and she got his number. The people here were too trusting. It must be nice to have that luxury. She let out a soft sigh and turned to the building. She started up the small stairs that led up to it and reached for the heavy doors. She easily pushed them open, using one of her strength personas valkyrie.

It was warm inside the dorms, and overly decorated. Someone was compensating for something, she wasn't too sure what it was, but it was obvious that whoever did so, had quite a bit of money. It made her remember the struggle and countless hours spent inside the collective consciousness farming for money. She was furious, and it was such a stupid reason to be as well. She slammed the door closed behind her, and inwardly grimaced at the sound it made. Granted, there was no one around. She removed her hat, something ingrained in her from her time spent with her father, and looked around to see if there was anyone to check in with that wasn't a coffin. A man was sitting on the couch and had been a little startled by her slamming the door shut. He put on a kind smile and fixed his rectangle-shaped glasses. She studied him a bit more. His hair was well kept, long and dark, with eyes a shade of brown just a bit darker than his hair. Even his goatee was well taken care of. He held the image of a sophisticated gentleman, but Grace saw it as a poorly constructed facade.

"Oh, good evening," he greeted, his voice pleasant sounding, "how may I help you?"

"I'm a new student, I've been assigned to this dorm," Grace stated, her pleasant tone part of the constructed mask.

"You must be Holmes-san," he stated, a sunny smile appeared on his face and she gained an identical one, "I am Ikutsuki Shuji, I know it's a bit of a mouthful."

"Not really," Grace said, tilting her head to the side, "I think you're one of the few people I've spoken to who've been able to say my name correctly."

He gave her a bright smile at that and she felt a shiver go down her spine. There was something off about him, she just couldn't place it. What was it that rang so falsely about him? She needed to move past it and focus on the present. He got up from the couch he was sitting on as a warm light flooded the foyer. The dark hour had finished and the oppressive nature of it vanished completely. Themis echoed her relief.

"Chairman, what is it?" A feminine voice asked.

Grace looked up towards the source to see a girl her age standing at the top of the staircase. She had long red hair that covered one of her eyes of the same shade. She was serious and belonged to one obvious arcana if Grace was being honest. The empress and it fit the other girl. Ikutsuki moved around the couch to stand between the two teens, and he seemed to notice something that amused him. Could it be that the other teen was a bit taller? It wasn't Grace's fault that she was short because of her mother. She could blame genetics for that.

"This is Holmes Grace, our newest foreign student," Ikutsuki introduced and Grace gave a small, polite bow to keep up appearances.

"Nice to meet you," Grace stated, straightening up and staring at the slightly taller teen.

"I'm Kirijo Mitsuru, it's a pleasure," the teen said, returning the bow and pleasantries.

"Wonderful," Ikutsuki stated, smiling at them, "I'm sure there will be an opening within the normal girl's dorms soon, so don't worry too much Grace-kun."

"I'll attempt not to," Grace stated, and Kirijo sent her a strange look, "I think I would like some sleep."

"I will show you to your room," Kirijo said, and Grace nodded before turning to Ikutsuki.

"Have a nice night, Ikutsuki-san," Grace said.

"You as well," Ikutsuki smiled.

Grace trailed behind Kirijo and followed her up the stairs with ease. It became far less gaudy the further up they went, and for that she was grateful. She didn't doubt that students who came from less fortunate backgrounds felt a little uncomfortable amongst such grandiose items. She put her free hand onto the stair railing and tapped her hat against her thigh. She wasn't on the second floor, no they went all the way to the third floor.

"The girl's rooms are up on this floor, yours is the furthest room," Kirijo informed her, "if you need anything, please feel free to ask."

"Is there a maritime museum around here?" Grace asked.

"Yes, it's close to the monorail station," Kirijo answered and Grace smiled a bit.

"I might have to go there with someone one of these days," she stated before shaking her head, "have a nice night, Kirijo-San."

"You as well, Holmes," Kirijo stated, she handed the key over to Grace's room before gracefully walking away.

"Where can I learn to do that?" Grace wryly stated as soon as the redhead was out of hearing range.

She sighed to herself before moving to unlock the door to her room. The door knob was stainless steel, and brand new seeing as there were no scratches or scuff marks on it. The door, a heavy mahogany that would keep an intruder out and her inside during a fire. She could almost hear her father complaining about it, and she would be the first to join him. She opened the door and quickly walked into the room. It was pretty bare, as though no one had lived in it at all. Which, she didn't doubt was the case. She reached up and flicked the light on, blinking a little before closing the door behind her, and locking it. Her hat went onto her desk and was promptly followed by the single duffle bag she had. She wanted to find some pajamas. A shower and some clean clothes sounded great after walking around the dark hour. She could even sleep in seeing as the next day was Sunday! She loved it when things turned out alright.

She found a nightgown of all things. She made a face and tried to remember when she got an ankle-length nightgown. It was a navy blue with sky blue butterflies crowding the hem and slowly making their way up the dress. There was another one just like it, she reached into the bag and found two more but shorter and with spaghetti straps. Most of her clothing had changed to navy blues and blacks, with butterflies patterned everywhere. Her hat had been hit with the butterflies and she hadn't even noticed it. A bright blue butterfly pin sat on the hat's small belt, a VR embalmed on its wings in gold. The velvet room, huh? Did that make her a technical resident there? She would have to ask Igor. If he was still in charge of the room. A knock on her door caused her to blink in confusion and put her nightgowns down. She pushed her fringe over her gold eye and reluctantly reached for the doorknob. She slowly opened the door and peeked from behind it.

"Yes?" She asked the teenager standing before her door.

He had silver hair that was cropped short and seemed to spring out in every direction, and silver eyes an identical hue. His breathing was a little on the heavier side, showing he had been running around. She simply waited for him to say something. Just what did he want that he had to bother her at one in the morning? He gained a light pink dusting to his cheeks, as though embarrassed, and stood up a little straighter.

"I'm Sanada Akihiko, I'm in the year above you," he introduced before doing a quick bow.

"Did Kirijo-san make you come up here to introduce yourself at one in the morning?" Grace dryly asked, showing her dislike at the fact that she had been disturbed.

"It was the polite thing to do," he stated, and he watched as she gave a small bow as well.

"Then I'm Holmes Grace, if the name is too hard for you some people call me Megumi," she informed him, feeling the mask slip a little as exhaustion hit her.

"It'll be fine, Grace," Akihiko said and she blanched a bit more.

Why? Why was it that after so many years of walking around with that stupid nickname, she found so many people who could say her name with ease? Akihiko watched as she gave a quiet nod of her head before closing her door. She looked exhausted like she'd been through a lot in a short amount of time. Grace stood at her door and waited until she heard his footsteps fading before heading back to her bag to pick up her phone and send one very important text.

Do you know an Akihiko, Shinjiro-kun?

Grace flipped her phone shut and searched for the charger before grabbing the nightgown. She still wanted that shower before bed. She quickly took her shower and stood before the small mirror in her room. Her hands covered a medium star-shaped scar on her hip. She had shoved one of her previous teammates out of the way of a falling pipe. She felt bitterness rise in her at the memory. She quickly pulled the nightgown on and fixed the sleeves before grabbing a toothbrush and brushing her teeth. Her mind started to focus on everything that had happened to her. Nothing good ever happened to a wild card, or if it did it didn't last long. Her phone let out a soft beep and she paused in brushing her teeth to pick it up and see what message she had received.

Yeah, he's a good guy. He won't bother you unless you bother him…and don't call me Kun damnit.

Grace hadn't been expecting an answer from Shinjiro and she smiled a little. She flipped her phone shut before yawning a little. She crawled into the bed and felt how hard the mattress was. They had splurged more on decorations than the student's comfort. She pulled the covers up and laid back, feeling her back twinge in protest. Well, it wasn't like it was going to get worse. Her eyes slowly closed and she was welcomed to the darkness surrounding her. Slowly followed by the achingly beautiful tune she had become so accustomed to.

"Welcome to the velvet room."

She opened her eyes and saw that she sat across from Igor, the long-nosed master of the room. His never-ending grin was wider than usual, and she caught sight of a white-haired male attendant behind him. Gold eyes were focused on her. It was unnerving. She sat up a little straighter on the couch and Igor chuckled.

"It has never happened that a guest would return once again," Igor commented, "quite an interesting path your destiny has taken you."

"I suppose it would seem that way, Mr. Igor," Grace said, using the name she liked to call him.

"Your path will be filled with strife, or perhaps it will be filled with joy," Igor informed her with a chuckle, "your cards are ever-changing, as is the nature of destiny."

"Of course," Grace agreed without any hesitation.

She trusted Igor more than the man who had done this to her. The one that decided she needed to go through this a second time in a row. The attendant behind Igor stood up straighter and she glanced at him in thought. He wasn't Mary, her empress, but he would have to do. Igor chuckled at a thought he had, and she looked his way. He had his fingers steepled and was staring at the cards on the mahogany office desk he sat behind.

Her velvet room was a navy blue version of her dad's office. She was going to miss him. Her chest hurt with the longing pang for her family. She pushed it away as Succubus made herself known in her sea of souls. Right, she couldn't forget her bonds. They would keep her somewhat sane during her "destiny". She sat up a little straighter on the velvet couch. Her clothes ruffled and she noted that it was the male Gekkoukan uniform, but with the velvet room colouring. At least the blazer and slacks were still black.

"I will be here for your needs," Igor stated before motioning towards the man with his hand, "this is Theodore, he will be your attendant for your journey. You are aware of how we fuse and collect personae for you."

"Of course, Mr. Igor," Grace confirmed.

His smile widened and the man, Theodore, bowed in greeting. Those gold eyes softened a little. Ah, so he was just as clueless about the world as Mary had been. It must be a trait held by all the velvet room attendants. She nodded her head a little in greeting. Her world slowly turned black again and she was relieved. Igor was sending her back.

"Don't forget your bonds or your personal growth," Igor warned her as the room blurred a bit as Grace fought against the darkness, "don't let your failure repeat."