Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.
The room was silent as Hakuno held Morgana, the cat looking surprised.
"Are you a sort of Homunculus? A familiar?" Hakuno remembered that Magi used several different ways to communicate and spy on 'rivals'. She can't feel any magecraft in the room…
'Were those weird events in the past related to Magi?'
"Who is your maker? " Hakuno continued, She has to keep her family safe.
"Familiar?" Ryuji muttered, confusion across his face
"Homunculus?" Akira asked.
"That's the only way I can see a cat talk. And due to everyone's lack of reaction you aren't surprised he talks."
Hakuno took a quick glance at their hands, nothing out of normal… None of them seem to be hiding a Command Seal… So no Holy Grail War unless they are hiding it? The two of them don't seem to be hiding anything… just.. Confused and scared?
"I'm a human!" Morgana the cat? Human? Thing. Yelled.
"Transmogrification magecraft?" Hakuno asked, it would make sense. But why would they be surprised if she could hear him then? Then again she doesn't know too much about Magecraft… Code Casts made sense to her when she had the item but actual real life magecraft she never really encountered only ever been told from Rin and Rani.
"Hakuno your kind of freaking me out, what are you even talking about?" Ann asked.
Hakuno looked at the three, who just looked absolutely confused. If the previous incidents weren't caused by magecraft… then what was it?
"You're not a Magus? Or a Wizard?"
"I don't even know what any of that stuff is!?" Morgana said as Hakuno let him go.
"What have you guys been doing?"
"Tell me how you can understand me, only those who have been in the metaverse can understand me." Morgana said, eyes narrowing as he stood on the table in front of the now sitting party.
Hakuno noticed that now the three of them were sitting on the other side of her. She frowned as they all looked at her with various levels of disbelief and hesitation.
"Hakuno, let me see your phone." Ann asked.
Her phone? What does her phone have anything to do with this? Hakuno debated for a second before handing it over.
"There isn't a Metaverse Navigator…"
'Metaverse Navigator? Why would something like that be on my phone?'
"So you're a human, that takes the form of a cat? Is it possible you were cursed? Do you know who cursed you?" Hakuno looked directly at the catman.
Morgana shook his head, "No… I have amnesia, have you seen people like me before!?"
Hakuno breathed out a small sigh of relief. "You four, do you know how much danger you're in?"
"What about it! You keep saying shit that makes no damn sense!?"
"Ryuji!"
Hakuno was stressing out. Magi or… Wizards might be in the area, she hasn't seen any but if what she barely remembers from Rin and Rani is that before Spiritron Hacking, Magecraft was hidden from the general public.
She put her head in her hands.
"Do you know what could have caused Morgana to be a cat?" Akira asked, his voice low.
"It doesn't make sense…" Hakuno took a breath, finding some sort of resolve at the least she should give them some information... "I have memories… of a different time."
"Like time travel?" Ryuji sounded confused?
"What is said in this room can not be repeated. Turn off your phones.. Just in case." Hakuno watched them begrudgingly nod and turn off their cell phones.
"In… in my previous life I was a Spiritron Hacker. A Wizard that was able to cast Magecraft through computer code."
"Reincarnation then."
"Uh huh. Ann, I think your cousin is going crazy."
"She can hear Morgana, let's at least hear her out, Ryuji."
"I… I know of digital magecraft, but I can't cast it, not sense I left the digital sea, I was taught by two friends on how Earth magi acted." Hakuno fiddled with her hands "I can't even generate any substantial amount of Od," Seeing their look of confusion Hakuno sighed, "Od is magical energy stored in the Body… think of it like MP in a video game."
Hakuno watched Ryuji nod at that, understanding.
"But can you turn me back to a human?" Morgana asked…
"...I don't know. I don't know any real Magecraft," Morgana looked defeated at her response.
"Why do you keep calling magecraft and not magic?" Akira asked, which to Hakuno was a good question.
"I don't really get the difference… Something about Magic being something that is impossible. While Magecraft is something that can be done."
"But from what little I understand of Magecraft… the current world is unable to support it other than a few small times…"
"Whoever transmogrified you into a cat must have been really powerful." Hakuno looked directly at Morgana. "And they most likely are keeping an eye on you, in some way."
"Wait… Magecraft… isn't that what Uncle Ritsuka wrote about in his stories as a kid?" Ann asked as Hakuno nodded, it was weird he knew as much as he did but Hakuno was pretty sure that her dad didn't know actual magecraft… perhaps he was able to see into her world somehow? Maybe dreams?
"It is similar… and I know he doesn't truly understand what it is… though the fact he never published any works is a blessing."
"The thing is…" Hakuno was nervous, she had heard horror stories from Rin from before The Great Collapse, "If any Magi finds out about you four… you are most likely dead."
"What!?"
"Magi are incredibly secretive. They will do anything to keep knowledge about them hidden. They will be even more after you if you prove to be… interesting to them…"
"Interesting how?" Ann asked, looking a bit squeamish.
"Like special constitutions or abilities. You four don't have anything like that…Right?" Hakuno frowned when she saw horror fill their faces.
"Persona, the mask of your true self." Morgana muttered, Persona?
"I… I might be overly worried, Morgana, you're only the third evidence of magecraft I have seen since my birth."
"Wait third?"
"There was an extra hour from 2008 to 2010, and the televisions were weird at the end of 2011."
"Guys.. I think Hakuno here has been in the metaverse before," Morgana began but she had to know.
"What is the metaverse?" Hakuno asked. She knew some stuff of magecraft but she never heard of a 'metaverse'.
"The Metaverse is the Cognitive World where we are able to summon our other self." Hakuno frowned, that made no sense. But then again a super computer inside the moon also didn't make much sense unless you directly knew about it.
"Are you sure your cousin ain't crazy Ann." Ryuji… attempted to whisper, leading Hakuno to sigh and shake her head.
"I don't know… I think, the Future I came from might not be on this timeline. There are many parallel worlds afterall…" Rin mentioned something like that.
"Oo I know that one, I read some manga about that!" Hakuno smiled softly, she knew it was a common story idea in light novels. She had thought that the two worlds were closer linked.. But it seems she was wrong.
"If we truly are in a completely different parallel world then everything I know wouldn't matter." Hakuno sighed… if only she had a Formal Wear she would be able to see if she could cast any codecast and show them proof.
"So let's get it straight, you're from the future of another Earth. And because of that you can hear Morgana, on that other Earth you fought Wizards on a computer." Hakuno knew how ridiculous it sounded but they did have a talking cat…
"I believe you." Morgana said licking his paw, "You can hear me and understand me."
"Do Uncle and Aunty know about this Hakuno?"
Hakuno shook her head, "I don't want them to either, I don't want them to treat me differently."
"You brought up a 'digital sea'" Akira began, "What was that about?"
Hakuno didn't know how to explain that she wasn't human in her past life or the murders she committed to survive…
"The digital sea… is…" Hakuno struggled, her cousin hid a part of her life and her three friends could she trust them? Perhaps…
"The digital sea is the Moon Cell… it's a super computer on the moon. I was forc- participated in something called… a Holy Grail war. This." Hakuno pointed at her birthmark "Is a sign that you are one of the 'Masters' who controlled a heroic spirit to fight… I was the victor…"
"A Heroic Spirit is… someone from History either Past, Present or Future that left a mark on history… Like King Arthur or Oda Nobunaga."
"It sounds like it's similar to a Persona." Morgana spoke, "A Persona is your other self, it is your Personality coming to life, in the form of myths and legends. Like mine is Zorro, the legendary outlaw from California. From what I think Persona's come from a place called Sea of Souls."
Hakuno nodded, perhaps the so-called Sea of Souls is a similar thing to the Throne of Heroes from where Heroic Spirits originate from.
"... Maybe we should let her check out the metaverse." Morgana said.
"I am not bringing her into Kamoshida's Palace! It's too dangerous!"
"Not the Palace. I know of a place, right here in Shibuya.. We just gotta go to the subway, I wasn't planning on showing you guys this until later. She might be able to figure out how to cure me."
Hakuno saw Ann about to reject, "I think I should get the chance to see. I am not confident in curing Morgana… But I am curious to see 'another world.'"
Ann looked furious but begrudgingly, "You sure it's safe?"
"As long as we don't go down, Lady Ann."
"Well… let's head to Mementos."
What Hakuno was expecting was a version of either the Chimeric Sea or the weird Green Extra Hour.
But what she saw was a lot more disturbing.
Disgusting red growths covered the walls of the subway tunnel alongside thousands upon thousands of chains dangling from the ceiling. And the pure amount of Mana the area was giving off made her feel nauseous.
Hakuno could feel her magic circuits come to life, her codecasts on the tip of her finger, a digital keyboard ready to spawn at the drop of a hat. The world felt closer to the Moon Cell while being the exact opposite.
"This is Mementos, the Palace for everyone's hearts." Morgana was somehow a chibi cat being? Way too large of a head to be able to move easy but he seemed to be doing it just fine.
"Hakuno your hand…" Ann said wearing the most scandalous outfit she has seen her cousin wear, a red bodysuit with numerous zippers, it vaguely reminded her of that one movie… the one with cat lady thief? She couldn't think of the name.
Hakuno saw the other three had changed outfits as well, Akira was wearing a weird black ankle-length tailcoat like he is a street magician of sorts, while Ryuji wore a black jacket with a strange skeleton motif.
"Dude your hand!" Hakuno looked at her hand. Her birthmark,her command seal, glowed an eerie red. Hakuon didn't like that sign.
Hakuno held her hand, hiding the glow. She could feel a set of hands reach out to her attempting to comfort her, a blaze in her chest lit up as she clutched her hand. She could almost hear her words.
"Now where is your 'Persona'?" Hakuno asked, pushing that aside for later, they didn't seem to be anyone else around, perhaps they were in their digi- spirit form?
'I am really not used to Magical stuff in a non-digital world…'
"Uh… They only show up if we call them, we can feel them, but they don't like, exist without us fighting." Ryuji said she could feel some sort of magic perhaps that is akin to a 'persona's' command seal?
"Mine are very vocal about this whole situation…" Akira muttered.
Hakuno frowned at that, "I'll show you. Come Carmen!"
A fuchsia colored woman rose from behind Ann as she fired a ball of flame against a nearby trash can melting it to the ground, the woman wore a long flowing red ball gown, black gloves… standing on some weird men with heart heads?
"Ann… that does explain the whip you left on the sofa..."
Ann flushed as she took a quick glance at the three boys, "I didn't choose either outfit!"
The two guys laughed at the situation, easing a bit of the tension.
"Inside the metaverse we are Phantom Thieves, and go by codenames; I'm Mona, she is Panther, he is," He said while pointing at Akira, "Joker while the numberskull is Skull."
"What was that cat!?"
Hakuno rubbed the back of her head, this was a lot to take in… "I think we should compare notes… when we get the chance.I think we should go home… I have a lot to think about now." Hakuno said ignoring the two arguing.
Ann didn't expect the day to go like that. She was glad the four of them were close to the end of the Palace according to Morgana, only one more push, and hearing Hakuno wanting to meet her friends didn't surprise her too much, the last few days have been pretty nonstop going through the palace leaving the girl by herself.
Finding out her cousin can hear Morgana honestly didn't surprise her too much. Hakuno seemed a bit different ever since Carmen awakened. But that the whole Metaverse thing has happened before kind of scared her, does that mean it's not just here in Tokyo?
And it happened two other times!?
She could feel Carmen's flames reassuring her or at least attempting to.
But Hakuno didn't have that.
Her coming from a different world was weird as well but that would explain how Hakuno has always been unnaturally observant. Ann knew Hakuno wasn't telling them the whole truth, she has gotten good at figuring out the few tells the stoic girl had.
And seeing her panic made Ann's heart feel crushed. The surprise from seeing Carmen was… slightly less than what she was fully expecting though…
When she first saw a Persona she was incredibly shocked. But to Hakuno it looked like… she saw a ghost.
Though Personas do look a bit like ghosts…
Her world, God that's weird to think about, had something different… Maybe they were closer to people? She did say she was a Master, whatever that meant.'
…
Ann had an idea… something that she was extremely hesitant to do but felt like she needed to as it would answer her questions. She slowly unlocked her phone and pulled up the sinister red app.
"Hakuno Kishinami."
Candidate Found.
Author's Note: Yep. The current day is April 24th in the game. I'm not too keen on tracking the day to day activities but I figured I should give one due to what happened. Only thing left for the Thieves is the later half of the central tower.
Think about it, Hakuno Kishinami the gal who killed seven people, (including herself) to stop humanity from obtaining the Holy Grail and possibly dooming her world. She has to be severely fucked up from that.
And I will randomly update this story whenever I get a few chapters written. Sometimes faster, I will try and at least do it once a week.