Thursday, 9th of April 2009. DH:23
He was once again surrounded by darkness, with the feeling of being pulled towards the velvet door once more. As expected, once he passed through the door and regained his senses, he was sitting in a chair facing an old man with a cane and a long nose.
He had returned to the Velvet Room.
"It's so nice to see you again," Igor greeted the returning guest. "You became unconscious after awakening to your 'power'. ...It's nothing to worry about, though. So, just relax. By the way... I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called a Persona... It is a manifestation of your psyche," the old man explained.
"Basically it's a materialisation of my soul," the white haired teen replied.
"That's one way to look at things," the old man agreed before going into a full explanation. "However it may take some time for you to fully comprehend. A Persona is a facet of your Personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli... You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships. That being said, your power is still weak..."
If that was weak he'd hate to see the effects of a strong Persona user. "You'd better explain."
"When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your Social Links—your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that," the old man emphasised.
The white haired man nodded in reply. He wasn't sure why, but that sounded like a cheap plot device from a third rate video game designed in a way that was meant to enforce the message that friendships were a good thing. If he was going to create friendships here in Iwatodai, it would be because there was something he would want to form with that person. He wouldn't force himself to make friends because an old man that comes to him in his dreams tells him it's important.
"Now, then... Time marches on in your world." Hold on. If time marches on then how long has he been here? The last time he was here for a single night and that had left him tired. What would it be this time? "I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord," the old man foretold. "Until then... Farewell."
With that, once again, the room faded to darkness and Haruto slept.
Thursday, 16th of April 2009. DH:37
The white-haired teenager woke up to find himself in an unfamiliar bed, facing an unfamiliar ceiling... Not that the room in the dorm had been that familiar to begin with, but the roof wasn't off-white and the mattress had more give. He pushed himself upright and shook his head to clear the fog in his mind. The last thing he remembered was collapsing after the battle on the roof of the dorm, then speaking to the old man in the Velvet Room. As his senses cleared the haze, he finally started to take stock of the situation. It was obvious now that he was in a private hospital room and the green tint that bathed everything told him it was the Dark Hour.
He got to his feet, bare feet making contact with the cold floor as he made a move over to the wardrobe. He quickly opened it up to see that it included one set of his school uniform, a set of
casual clothes and what could only be described as a "loud" shirt that he'd never seen before. He then changed his focus to the chest of drawers, hoping to find the item he was looking for in there. The first drawer contained his mp3 player, wallet, keys, the tie for his school uniform, his belt and some loose change. These were pretty much the items he carried around with him every day, all except the one item he was looking for now. He could only hope that it was still in the top draw of his desk back at the dorm. The second drawer down contained a few sets of undergarments, obviously his own, although he didn't like the idea of any of his dorm mates going through his underwear.
"If you're looking to check the time, you have about 9 minutes left before it's over." A voice called out from behind him, causing the teen to spin to face its origin. He was met by a silly grin from the person standing in the doorway. "Hello Nii-san."
Haruto suppressed a groan, before replying to the greeting with a customary "What are you doing here?"
It wasn't that he didn't want to see his visitor; far from it in fact, but the presence of this man usually had trouble, accompanied by a four piece band, dancing on in behind it.
A pout was the expected response as the figure moved towards the chair by the side of his bed. "Aw, is that all I get after all these years?"
Well he had a point, he did deserve better. The crimson eyed Persona user walked up to the person who was effectively his younger brother and delivered a light, yeah right, clip to the idiot's head.
"Oww," Haruto smirked as he watched the idiot rub this head for a second, with a thoroughly put out look on his face, before finally giving in and wrapping his right arm around the visitor, tapping his back a couple of times in a "manly" hug before backing away to sit on the bed.
"You never answered my question," the patient replied as he got himself comfortable.
"To check on you of course," the heir replied as his face turned serious. "Evoking your Persona for the first time is very draining, the fact you did so during a battle with a Shadow would only expedite the effects."
There was silence for a few moments before Haruto finally asked the question that the heir was expecting, "You remember, don't you?"
That statement removed the normally over cheery look from the white-haired teen. It took him a few moments before he reluctantly nodded his head. "I can't tell you."
"That bad, huh?" the patient asked with a weary smile on his face.
"It's worse than I expected," the heir admitted. "However, because we know what is meant to happen and what has already changed, we reckon, once we're done, fate can go swing."
"We?" So the idiot wasn't doing... who knows what on his own, he guessed that was some small comfort.
"I can't tell you," Ryoji stated again. "Let's just say that once we're done, we can meet up and have a little victory party. I would tell you but there are forces that will try and stop us if they were to find out. Sadly one of these is too close to you for it to be worth the risk."
"You'll at least tell me who's going to stab me in the back, though?"
"I can't tell you," the visitor once again replied with a chuckle and a big grin.
"What can you tell me?" Haruto responded as he started to get more annoyed.
"Well getting involved with S.E.E.S. is probably the way to go," he advised. "Although each member has their own reasons for fighting, they all want this to end. Plus if you take that path you'll start to explore Tartarus, and the key to how this all started is there."
"Tartarus?"
"Well I could tell you... But to be honest you have to see it to truly understand." An enigmatic smile lit up the heir's face.
"Don't try to be mysterious Ryoji. You can't do it." A smirk danced on Haruto's face as he climbed back into the bed.
It widened after seeing the pout on the idiot's face. "Aw Nii-san, that's mean."
Haruto suddenly felt a surge of power.
Thou shalt have our blessing when thou chooseth to create a Persona of the Death Arcana...
A bond had been formed.
But in a way it had already been there for all this time.
"Any who," the idiot started as a cheerful edge returned to his voice. "I've been watching you while you've been out and I noticed that two girls keep coming to visit you. A hot redhead and a cute brunette."
"That'll be Mitsuru-senpai and Yukari-san," he deduced. "They're my dorm mates."
"Ah, is that so," the black-haired teen replied with a huge grin on his face. "I must say the brunette was quite charming. You reckon I should call her out for a date?"
"So you've moved from pranking to womanizing?" The patient chuckled at the huge grin on his brother's face. "Well good luck. With Yukari you'll need it."
"Hum, well, if she might not be receptive, I'll try my luck with the beautiful redhead. Mitsuru, was it?"
The question was met with silence and a hard glare.
"Oh. Interested in her yourself, are you?" If the idiot grinned wider his face would split, and that was only if the white-haired Persona user didn't beat him to the punch and finish him off first. However, the heir had his answer; his Nii-san was actually interested in a girl. "And here I thought you might be gay!"
Okay the idiot was going down. "Mitsuru-senpai isn't stupid Ryoji... Well not stupid enough to go out with you." She wasn't stupid at all as far as he could gather. She was intelligent, witty, a fast thinker, had initiative, was beautiful... And completely beyond the scope of someone like him.
"Well," the heir stated as he got out of the seat next to the bed. "I guess I'll find out in two weeks once my transfer is completed."
A feeling of dread filled his bones. "Transfer?"
"Oh didn't I say?" The look of innocence just didn't work. "I'll be a junior at Gekkoukan High as soon as my tutors have passed over all the paperwork."
"Ryoji." A steel edge appeared in the lone crimson eye that could lock onto the idiot.
"Anyway I'd best be off," the heir started as he moved to the door. "I have about two minutes to get out of here before I'll have to contend with the staff wondering what I'm doing here."
"Ryoji!" Called Haruto as his black-haired brother opened the door.
"See you Nii-san!" And with that the stupid idiot had gone.
Deciding that if he went back to sleep, he may wake up to find out this had been a nightmare. The teen rested his head back on the pillow.
He was asleep before the clock started ticking again.