I do not own Persona, only my OC.
Chapter 1: Prologues
Moonlight Bridge 1999
Slowly crawling out of a burning car, a six year old Ben Strega looks back to see his parents, still trapped inside their car. Looking around for help, Ben is drawn to the sound of fighting, of two figures who he is unable to keep up with.
He turns to his right and notices a Blue haired boy about his age, standing protectively over a Red hair girl, who he believes is the sister of the boy.
"Ben." He turns towards the voice of his mother, just before the car explodes, with the shockwave knocking him to the ground. As he begins to lose consciousness, the last thing he sees is a hand covering his face, before giving in to the darkness.
10 Years Later
"Now approaching, Iwatodai.." The announcer repeated on the intercom
Sitting alone on a train, is a young 16 year old boy know to most as Ben Strega (Story Profile for how he looks). He wasn't doing anything, rather, he was just sitting quietly while listening to his earphones that were connected to the mp3 player he wore around his neck. His music is interrupted by a call from his phone, which causes him to sign before answering.
"Good evening Master Ben. I hope your journey has not been uneventful?" Alfred, the Strega family Butler and caretaker of Ben asked in a thick British accent (yes he is based of DC's Alfred cos I like the character. He's probably the only person in the Bat Family I like)
"I haven't even left the train station yet." Ben replied in an unimpressed tune
"My, is that boredom I here?" Alfred teased
"This is literally how I sound."
"Well in that case, might I send your piano to your dorm later this week to kill your boredom?" Alfred asked
"I'm already with my Violin." Ben said tapping said instrument in his bag. "But you can still send it."
"Excellent. And Ben, please try to make friends there, your parents wouldn't like dying a loner, or a virg-"
"Okay, okay, don't finish that sentence." Ben said quickly causing some passengers in the train to stare at him. "Be safe Alfred." He said with a weak smile, already missing his father figure
"You too Ben." Alfred said before ending their call
Signing, Ben went back to listening to his music, drowning away any form of disturbance. As the train came to a stop, Ben kept silent as he exited the train while looking at his watch as it kept ticking.
"Almost time." he whispered to himself
All of a sudden, all electronics ceased to function and the entire world gain a dark greenish tint.
Everyone around Ben ceased to move before they completely changed from their human form into a red coffin.
From seemingly nowhere, red blood-like liquid began to seep from the floor, pour from the walls, and replace most sources of water in the general area.
Finally, above in the sky, the moon's color changed from white to a twisted form of green.
"I really need to figure out a way to make my MP and Phone work during this time." Ben said dryly before walking to the direction of his dorm
Iwatodai Dorm
Just like everywhere else, the entirety of Iwatodai was dead-silent. None of the streetlights worked, the only source of illumination was the green light emanating from the moon.
Gently swinging one of the doors of his dorm open, he paused just inside, took off his headphones, and glanced around. The dorm's lobby seemed normal enough; a reception desk off to his left, a common area to his right, and a dining area straight ahead. Entirely normal, about what he'd been expecting.
The strange thing was that, unlike everything he'd seen since leaving the train, the lights were on here. His MP3 player was still silent, his watch still dead, but somehow this place was still functioning.
"You're late."
The youth twitched, as he turned to the reception desk. Behind the desk, there now stood a young boy, watching him; the first person he'd seen since the world turned strange. More confusingly, the boy was suddenly right in front of him, with no apparent transition, holding what the youth presumed to be the dorm's register.
"I've been waiting for a long while," the boy went on, gesturing with the paper. "Please sign here."
"So the weirdness finally got to me." Ben taking the paper
"Don't worry, it's just a contract." the boy said. "All it says is that you take full responsibility for your actions. You know… the usual stuff."
"Riiight, nothing ominous about this at all." Ben thought dryly setting down his Violin bag, he pulled a pen from his pocket, and bent to the task.
'Ben, Strega.' he wrote neatly, and handed the sheet back to the boy.
"Thank you," the boy said… and promptly added to Ben's sense of unreality by making the paper disappear into thin air. "I'll trust you to remember this… and one more thing: no one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." He smiled. "And so it begins…"
Eerily, the boy seemed to fade even as he spoke, darkness enveloping him. When his last sentence finished, so did his disappearing act.
And with his disappearance, the dorm was suddenly shrouded in the same eerie green light as everywhere else.
"I really should sleep more." Ben thought
"Who's there?!"
Ben's gaze snapped away from where the boy had disappeared. Near the stairs leading to the upper floors of the dorm stood a girl, looking about his age, wearing a school uniform. He took only peripheral note of her brown hair and eyes; he was more concerned with the frightened look on her face.
And the fact that her hand was hovering near what looked very much like a holstered pistol.
"Don't tell me." The girl instantly went for her pistol, starting to draw it from its holster-
"Takeba, wait!"
The girl, now known as Takeba stopped. Ben's eyes focused over her shoulder. Standing there now was a redhead, wearing a uniform different from the first girl's but similar enough to be from the same school; and like the brunette, she wore a holstered pistol at her waist, and a red armband reading "SEES". Unlike the brunette, she looked quite calm.
The brunette, though visibly calmed by the other's arrival, remained tense a moment longer… and then the strange green light passed away. Normal lighting returned, Minato's MP3 player came back to life, and the tension drained out of the room.
"What happened, I heard scream." A new girl with Sakura hair came running down before noticing Ben. "Oh, let me guess, Yukari tired to mog you?"
"That's not what happened Kotone!" Yukari yelled, only for the girl to laugh
"Forgive my Dorm mates." The redhead told him, smiling faintly. "We just didn't expect you to arrive so late, that's all. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students who live in this dorm."
"…Who's he?" Yukari asked, face toward Mitsuru.
Mitsuru nodded in confirmation. "Right. It was a last minute decision to assign him here; he'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm."
Yukari's eyes turned to her upperclassman. "…It is really okay from him to be here?"
"I guess we'll see," Mitsuru murmured, thoughtful. "This is Yukari Takeba," she explained, gesturing at the brunette. "She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."
"…Hey," Yukari offered, still looking a little off-balance but far more relaxed than just a few moments before.
"Why does she have a gun?" Ben asked
"Well, uh…you see-" Yukari stammered but Kotone manage to save her
"It's for self defense."
"Makes sense I guess. Ben Strega" he said, as a Blue haired boy walked down with a bored expression
"And these are-" Mitsuru didn't get to finish as Kotone jumped down
"I'm Kotone Yuki, nice to meet you." She said stretching her hand as Ben hesitantly took it
"She's probably had way too many coffee's." Ben thought before looking at the boy who just signed
"Makoto Yuki." He monotoned
"Twins, makes sense, is she always like this." Ben said referring to Kotone
"Ignore her, she just had way too many coffee." Makoto said
"Understandable." Ben dryly said
"Oh my gosh, there's two of them!" Kotone gasped
Smiling at her junior's reaction, Mitsuru gestured toward the stairway. "It's getting late," she said. "You should get some rest. Your room's on the second floor, at the end of the hall. Your things should already be there."
"I'll show you the way," Yukari offered, smile much more natural now. "Follow me."
"I'm coming too." Kotone said
"I'll be in my room." Makoto said as well
"Thanks." Ben said as he followed the other students up the stairs to the first floor of actual dorm rooms.
"Here we are," Yukari announced, stopping beside the last room on the right side of the hall. "Pretty easy to remember, right? Right at the end of the hall, and all." She winced. "Oh, and by the way… Don't lose your key. You'll never hear the end of it."
From the look on her face, Ben suspected she knew that from experience.
"So, any questions?" Kotone asked
Ben could think of several, given how utterly bizarre the evening had been, but decided on only one of them. "I was wondering if that kid lived here, too," he said casually.
Yukari blinked. "…What kid? Don't freak me out."
"Did I just sell my soul? Never mind," Ben said, shaking his head. "Just my imagination… Was there anything else?"
She hesitated. "Actually… On your way from the station, was everything all right? You didn't run into problems?"
Aside from all electronics shutting off, the moon turning green, people turning into coffins, and, oh yeah, water transmuting into blood? "Everything was just fine," he told her. It was even the truth, after a fashion; weird as that hour had been, he'd still made it to the dorm without a hitch.
Pursing her lips, obviously unconvinced, Yukari nonetheless seemed to accept it. "That's good, then. Um… I should get going; we both need our sleep for tomorrow, I think. First day of school and everything… Good night!"
"Good night," he returned, and stepped into his new room while she headed down the hall, presumably to her own room.
"See you later." Kotone waved before whispering to Yukari. "He's cute."
"Kotone, not now." Yukari groaned
Closing the door behind him, Minato set his Violin bag down near the boxes containing his other possessions. Deciding to unpack after school the next day, he walked over to the bed and gratefully sat down, suddenly exhausted as he layed down to sleep.