Persona Series 1. Chapter 1

Through the busy streets of the city, thousands of commuters rush on their daily errands. The buzz from all the electrical equipment throughout the streets is like a storm brewing in the shadows, everyone talking on their cell phones, chatting and texting, drivers talking with their families and companions in life as the busy streets echo louder and louder.

A man stumbles out of the street into an ally with a throbbing pain in the back of his head, his brain feels like on the verge of exploding as he stumbles farther into the silent darkness. As he falls to his knees the pain begins to burst out as he could feel a stabbing sensation in the back of his head. With a scream he lets out the final words.

"The screams …"

Before falling to the ground lifeless, soon after the body was found by several passerby's and the police gathered to the crime scene. The corpse had no visible marks of injury so the body was quickly transported to the morgue where the autopsy was to show more conclusive evidence. In the crowd watching the incident there were journalists and several camera men asking for the investigators statement. No further information was shared, and they soon were forced to scatter. Among the crowd was a small hooded figure watching the crime scene as the police loaded the body on a metal table and carried it away. The belongings were gathered and placed in a small yellow box after the photos were taken of the crime scene. The small figure quickly left before anyone could notice it. Within its hands the hooded figure held a phone showing a dark curled up bird with a needle in its beak.

On the far edge of the city there was an airport as a young brown haired man with an earring shaped in a eagle landed. He watched the busy streets from above as he held a picture of his relatives he was supposed to meet. He had traveled from Europe to spend a while with his family abroad while his parents were off in America on a business trip, the large house at home was too big and lonely to spend the time alone and moving to America for a few years seemed like too much of a hassle in their eyes. So he was sent off to spend the Year and a half at his Aunts place where he would enroll in a school in the neighborhood. The boy hadn't seen his Aunt for the past 8 years, he could only remember her from time she was still living near them and back then he was far too young to remember much. The picture of his Aunt and cousin were the only things to give him a helping hand in finding them. That aside, on his way to the airport there was a bit of an issue and his smart phone ended up under a baggage carts wheels, the incident was resolved and the air port promised to cover the damage, but at the mean time he only had what remained of his phone and the memory cards that he could salvage from the broken phone.

As he got off the plane the terminal was rammed with commuters heading to their flights pushing and showing to get by, it was a horror. The boy got through to the conveyer where he got his bags and left the terminal searching for a small goods store nearby, he bought a cheap phone to at least be able to call and text messages at the time being. Once finally outside he caught a cab and drove away to the neighborhood where his relatives were living at. Still having a few more funds from the money his parents gave him for the trip, he paid for the cab and followed the path to the address that was written on the back of the picture. Once in front of the apartment complex he entered through the front and was almost knocked over by a guy who was rushing out.

"Out of the way!" He yelled as he ran passed him.

The traveler avoided the collision by pure luck but as he turned back there was a woman chasing him with a purse in her hands waving.

"Get back here Joe!" She yelled as she slammed into the arriving boy. The woman was young and gorgeous, she stood up apologies and ran after him. The boy walked into the building and looking back at them pondered, what was going on. He left his bags near the couch while he looked through the mailboxes trying to figure out witch one belonged to his Aunt, he never did ask for a name, and now he kind of regretted his oversight. As he looked through the mailboxes there was one blank that apparently meant the apartment was vacant. Lost in the fovea he turned to the man at the counter near the doorway and asked where the people in the picture lived.

"Why do you ask?"

He explained that they were relatives he was staying with, but due to a slight oversight he forgot the family name and apartment number.

"I see, but as you see. I can't let just anyone in, I'll need some evidence that you are related to them before I can let you in to the complex."

The boy searched through his pocket and pulled out the phone, The card inside had a few numbers saved to its memory, among them was the number of his Aunt that was given to him by his mother. As her younger sister she was eager and more then happy to help in providing a home for the time being. Dialing up the number he held the phone up to his ear and waited for it to ring, as the phone rang he soon heard a voice from a woman picking it up.

"Yes ,hello?"

The boy explained to her the situation and asked for her to speak to the manager of the building and ask him to let the boy into the complex.

"Sure, just a sec…"

The boy handed the phone to the old man on the other side of the counter and waited, as he spoke into the phone.

"Why hello miss Yanagi, I see so this is your nephew, very well then I'll lead him to your apartment myself. By the way, the package you were waiting for arrived I'll simply leave it to the boy then."

After the conversation the old man handed back the phone and searched through the desk for the keys to the apartment. Once found he locked the desk and placed the box on the table before walking around. The young boy placed the phone back to his ear and listened as his aunt still spoke to him.

"Well then that should be it, I'll see you when I get back Taku, I'm a bit busy at work so you'll have to stay with your cousin for a bit ok."

After those words she hung up and the phone beeped. The old man had finished locking the door to his side of the counter, he turned to the boy and asked him to carry the package as well while since his old body was much weaker then the old day's. Takuso Picked up the box under his arm and went to get his luggage that he had left in the middle of the entrance. Once everything was at hand he followed the old man to the elevator that lead to the floors above.

"To be honest I never knew that Miss Yanagi had a nephew, but her daughter was always a bit gloomy child all alone in this big building. I'm rather glad that you'll be there for her."

As the elevator stopped and the doors opened the manager lead him to the apartment around the corner it was located on the west wing of the building, in the 7th floor, from the outer corridor one could see the park over the few other neighborhood buildings, it lead to the side entrance of the complex, the door was locked by a mechanical pad that opened to a signal scan. As was seen by a small child sliding his phone across the lock and opening the door as he ran in. They soon arrived to the apartment as the old man took the key and unlocked the door, allowing him in to the apartment. As Taku entered and placed his baggage on the floor near the entrance, placing the package on the counter nearby, he looked in at the large room at the end of the hallway. Taking off his shoes he stepped in and looked around. The small kitchen was near the hall, and there were four doors leading to a closet, bathroom near the hall and two rooms nearby. There were stairs leading up to a second floor, above there were three other rooms.

"Will you be ok here then?"

The manager asked as he watched him, to Taku it all felt almost like the big house back at home, empty and silent as when his parents were out. He looked at the man and nodded as he left. The old man smiled as he walked away closing the door. Taku looked through the living rooms window and noticed a balcony on the other side, as he opened the sliding door and stepped out there was a large courtyard down bellow, the complex was only 12 floors, but it extended like a giant there was a large pillar component of the building in the middle with the west and east wings both housing courtyards. Walking back inside he noticed a figure down bellow in the courtyard it was among the trees and hard to make out, but it looked like a person. Once back inside Taku picked up the suitcase and brought it into the middle of the room, opening it, he pulled out a small towel and placed the luggage near the balcony, checking the door to be locked he went to the bathroom to wash up, since it was a long flight from his home to his relatives. Leaving his jacket on the side of the shower he turned the facet and drenched his hands before washing his face, There was a sound from outside of the door, he quickly turned off the facet and walked out whipping his face. There stood a young girl about two or three years younger then him, she was wearing a school uniform and had bright almost fire red curly hair that hung like rolls from her head. She was looking at the luggage across the room as she turned to him screaming.

"Burglar!"

She swung the bag at him almost slamming him in the head. Taku avoided the attack as he stepped back and slipped on the floor, he fell head first and slammed into the side of the tub covered with his jacket, The hit actually cracked the skin opening a wound that began to bleed out over his eyes, as he could feel something falling to the ground, he quickly grabbed his face and started searching along the floor with his finger tips. The girl stepped on his hand as he could hear the cracking of a lens beneath her feet. He got whacked over the head and blacked out.

In the darkness he could see a figure in a room a gorgeous room with some strange cards on the table behind witch sat a small man with a long nose upon a chair fit for a king. On his side there was a person in a blue suit, He hand a white mask on his face, his figure was that of a charming young man, and adult like atmosphere resonated from him. On the opposite side of the small person from the masked man was a beautiful fetching figure of a woman in a similar dress in blue she had a dark mask on her face and both spoke in rhymes.

"Welcome to the room, the room of witch you never knew the likes. "

"Welcome young sole" The small man spoke. "Welcome to the velvet room, your future is currently a miss but you're heart has a power much greater then just one can describe in mere words, you will soon come to learn this power as well as the mysteries of this city you are in. We will meet again but as for now you must awaken and choose your first path. Will you remain ignorant or choose knowledge."

The dream soon faded like a candle in the wind. As Taku began to open his eyes, he heard two voices bickering. One voice belonged to his Aunt and the other to the girl that beat him up. He leaned forth rising from the couch. He held his hand over his one eye and looked at the two.

"Well how was I supposed to know it was him, wasn't he supposed to be here tomorrow?"

"Shouldn't you have gotten the hint from the luggage case in the room, and I asked the manager to let him in myself!"

The girl turned away from here and puffed with anger. The aunt noticed Taku back up and asked if he was ok. There was a bandage on his forehead and it appeared that they folded up the jacket for a pillow while he slept. Taku simply explained that there was no harm, it was his fault for startling her. As he let go of his eye he felt a bit dazed. His hand revealed a green eye, which was completely different from the blue eye on the other side. The contact must have fallen out when he hit his head. Making his way to the bags he got the contact casing and replaced it with another one.

"Well as long as everything's ok, and even though you've already met, this is Rika she's a middle school freshman at the Yunogichi High where I teach, you'll be studying there from tomorrow as I've already filled the papers. As an upper classman I hope you take care of her and I look forward to a good year while you stay here with us." Taku's aunt explained as she introduced the rowdy child. "Well I think you should still get some rest since we're not sure if your really ok, you hit your head quit badly, so how about we get you to your room. You'll be staying on the second floor if that's ok with you."

Taku picked up the bag and followed his aunt to the room where he was supposed to stay in. The small room had a table with a couch and a desk with some books for school and some study tools, like pencils rollers and pens. The bed was the couch as it folded out as the aunt showed it. There was also a closet a small furniture that opened up inside was the school uniform he was supposed to wear to class.

"School starts tomorrow as you've already missed the school assembly today your just gonna have to enter like a transfer student, like in all those manga. Well I'll have a talk with Rika you get some rest, the trip was long as is."

Taku agreed and simply left his bag near the closet for later as he pulled out the uniform and had a better look at it, the outfit looked quit plain and simplistically designed. Ignoring the rest he pulled out the bend and went to sleep.

The next morning Taku awoke to the sound of the birds on the other side of the window tapping on the metal plating bellow. He yawned as he looked around for his phone to check the time, but sadly remembered that that he was stuck with a replacement for the time being. After a quick stretch he got up and changed into the new school uniform after witch he cleaned up the room and got his shoulder bag that he threw over his side and got out of his room, leaving the bag near the entrance he quickly got a cup of coffee before leaving. His aunt had already left leaving breakfast on the table. Rika was already finishing up with her share. Taku left first since Rika was the one with the key's. He walked out the complex watching others with the same school uniform go to school, following them he quickly found himself. Near the school gates, where he overheard, a few girls gossiping about a new hair salon opening up in the west side of town not too far from school. They mentioned a girl from school going there a few days ago, the style seemed fantastic and cute. Ignoring such trivial things he made his way to the teacher lounge where he was supposed to meet the homeroom teacher Mister Yakuda he was buff man with forearms that could crack watermelons, he was in charge of history and by the looks he took it way too seriously. With a helm on the table next to him and a Greek style shield near his side he explained the circumstances of the transfer and told Taku the class number and location. The teacher left the helm and shield behind as he took Taku to the class to introduce him.

Upon opening the classroom there was some loud noise from the students joking around, the teacher quickly silenced them all after bashing the desk, that almost broke under his fist. Then mister Yakuda invited Taku inside and introduced him to the class.

"Everyone, this is the transfer student that was absent during the opening ceremony, Takuso is staying here for a year and a half due to private matters, everyone welcome him and everyone take care of each other. Now then there's a free desk near the window over there, so how bout you take a seat and we get started." The teacher pointed at desk second from the end of the row, it was near the window and stood empty, so Taku made his way to it as the teacher began to explain the lesson plan that was arranged for them.

After the class ended there was a break during witch a tall dark haired boy came up to him and introduced himself. He was wearing a red headband with black stripes on it and interwoven white lines.

"Yo, how ya doing, the names Saijiro but everyone just calls me Sai. I'm sitting right behind ya so I hope we get along and you could cover me when I take a little nap while the teachers aren't looking."

"Like every class in the morning!?" A girl with a pair of headphones on her shoulders said from the side of the room, she sat nearby Taku, and seemed quit nice compared to his cousin. With short and spiky hair she had a red vinyl line at the rim on her front hair.

"It aint my fault that the teachers are boring as heck…"

"Yeah right, if you wouldn't be running around at night you might actually wake up for once. By the way the names Kamira, just call me Mira kay." After the introduction the two continued to bicker for a while longer before the bell rang.

After school Taku used the time to get acquainted with the building and take a look at what clubs were looking for members. Most art clubs were still out of secession since there were a few contests that they were participating. There were a few after school clubs that involved some free time activities like movies manga, books and anything else he could think up, one club was dedicated to anime development, another for robots. Some sports clubs were looking for members, the school had an indoor pool so there was naturally some water sports but also competitive swimming, and diving, aside those there were some other clubs like track and baseball as well as soccer and basketball, even kendo and archery.

While Taku was examining the clubs A voice called out to him from down the halls. As he turned to look there was Saijiro walking up to him. He was just leaving with a bag tossed over his shoulder.

"Yo, say your new in town right, how about I show ya around and besides I wanna show ya a place that just opened nearby, its an arcade with some retro games from the 80s its really amazing that they still have those and besides you can catch in some sights on the same note. "

It felt a bit forced but as long as someone showed him around town it was worth the time. So Taku followed Sai around. As they were leaving the transfer student noticed his cousin in a ceremonial dress with a bow at her side, she was most likely in the archery club so he didn't want to bother her as she was talking to some other students. Among them was the girl from his class she was an upperclassmen and was talking to her friend who was on her way to the pool with a bag over her shoulder. There was a small keychain on the bag that looked like a cute bird with some stitches around its eye. It was a bit creepy. Though that reminded him of the pictures drawn on Miras headphones they were in the likeness of a cat with similar stitching. Not thinking too much the two left the school grounds and Taku followed Sai as he showed him the arcade where the retro games were, among them were some old cabinets that were vaguely unmarked. There were a bunch of new games as well even a few cranes cabinets for grabbing the toys from inside. On the second floor was an internet café shop where most manga and anime fans gathered. The place seemed to follow a different theme every few weeks.

"Yeah, a few months ago it was a cat theme, seemed kinda nice back then but the wrong kinda crowed gathered, looks like their now themed after that online game Project Savior or something. Wonder whats next." Saijiro spoke as he watched the posters in the windows.

After that stop he showed Taku to a district that was based around different shops, book stores medical shops and even a few sports good stores there was a kendo store nearby that seemed to hold a few posters from the last tournament. It seems like the schools girls kendo club performed much better then the guys. Some clothing shops that had different designs to them. One seemed a lot more avonguar compared to the rest. The street also had a few restaurants, one fast food shop at the edge and the rest were scattered about. The next place Sai took him too was near the metro line where a cinema was and some night clubs were. Among them there was one called the Red Rose. After that stop they both reached the park where they soon parted as Sai left for home.

The apartment complex where Takuso was staying at his relatives was visible from there and he made his way through it as he neared the building. He noticed a little kid playing in the sand box he was crying and tears were covering his little car and the sand. Taku went closer to help him, it turned out that he came to play with a friend that never showed up and so he was sad and lonely, Taku offered to take the little boy to his home since it was already getting late. After the boy calmed down the two of them walked back to the apartment building where the boy brushed the phone along the keypad and opened the door. Since it was the same building where he lived in Taku followed inside till he reached the childs apartment and left him alone to calm down after a goodbye, the student walked through the unfamiliar corridors till he exited into the courtyard and made his way to the center building. Inside using the elevator he quickly arrived in the familiar path to the apartment. Once home he had launch with his relatives before heading out for a bit of a walk to think. Outside he stayed on the 7th floor looking out at the city. There was a creek beyond the school he could go there to catch some fish if he wanted to. Though he wondered if he could fit in to the new environment. After some fresh air he went back in and made his way up to his room to take a long nap.

The next morning Taku made his way to class where he saw a few girls talking about some strange website online that is rambling about some great shadow over the city. Upon entering the classroom Taku was greeted by Sai who was going through the net on his phone searching for that strange site, he had found it last night as he explained but he couldn't find it the next morning. The internet connection was a tad restricted at school so Taku suggested that it could be blocked by the school wifi parameters.

"Nah, couldn't be. There are some guys from the other classes that spend their time looking at some disgusting sites during the brakes." Mira explained as she removed her headphones and looked at the two of them. "So what the heck are you two trying to look at."

"I was just trying to find that Shadow site again, last night I found it there was a picture of a small hooded figure in the park watching a child play. It was kind of freaky, I wanted to show it him cause that's where we parted ways yesterday. I wondered if he saw something weird."

Taku then remembered that he did see that kid playing in the park and asked what he looked like.

"Well I think the photo was of a little boy with a blue cap on he was wearing a striped red and white shit and the hooded figure had a sort of dark cloak to it. I think it was the sandbox in the direction you walked off to."

Takuso didn't remember the kid wearing that sort of attire and said he couldn't see anything like that though he did tell them about the boy who was crying. The boy was alone and sad though different from the description. Sai then suggested checking the Café later since they dint have much prohibition, on the second floor above the arcade. Mira heard them and got a bit jumpy, she tried talking them out of it but after no success she walked off to her seat where she rapidly began texting on her phone. Soon the bell rang and class started during witch Sai quickly disappeared from view falling asleep on his desk behind the book. During that time the teacher turned around and began questioning the students. When his name came up he didn't answer so the teacher called again at then Taku slammed the corner of his desk shaking him awake.

"Ye-Yeah!"

"Nice of you to join us Saijiro so if your not too busy sleeping maybe you know during witch era did the first man appear?"the teacher asked.

"Crap , man help me out…" he whispered as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Cenozoic Era…" Taku whispered back at him as Sai quickly repeated the answer.

The teacher gasped as he looked at the standing boy and said.

"Well maybe you really are listening, but still I'll just note it as a lucky shot." Then the teacher got back to the board and continued the lesson. Sai exhaled deeply as he tapped Taku on the shoulder and said thanks. The entire class seemed to notice this.

Later after school the two guys made their way to the gate before being abruptly stopped by Mira who once again tried to talk them out of going to the internet café.

"Listen unless your seriously going to bother us till the last moment, just get over it. We're going to that place and its final. "

"Then I'll go with you."

"What for?"

"Shut it, you should be happy a girl like me is going with you two!" Mira yelled as she followed them.

As they reached the place the two guys got a booth while Mira seemed to disappear. She was gone from their side, and the two of them didn't mind as they were there for only a few minuets. Using the net they began retracing Sais steps looking for the shadow page on the net with the picture he saw. After a while they found a ling on a message board it connected them to a page that had a grey figure on a black background it was like a shadow of a man, it had several shadowy figures of birds around it.

"Yeah, I think this is the one!"

Sai screamed with joy, during then Taku went to get a few drinks before they would leave since they hadn't had lunch that day since they had p.e. class and the boys were forced to change in the classroom witch was on the other side of the school from the gym. After ordering the drinks, the two of them tried entering the site, but it seemed as though there was no way to enter. The page was black and without text, the shapes were missing only leaving the human outline. After trying several time by refreshing the page didn't change. Then there was some noise from outside as some girls were talking.

"Wait, they might recognize you…"

"Sorry but I have to do this, it is a job after all."

"But what if those idiots see you at school?"

The argument continued for a bit till a girl cosplaying one of the characters from the online game stepped in on them and placed the two cups on the table near them. The two guys were a bit too absorbed into the screen thinking what was going on, but Sai was easily distracted as he turned to get the drink and saw a charming girl with short black hair to her shoulders. She thanked the two of them for their patronage and soon left. Sai wanted to chase after her, but then Taku stopped him, he had an idea. Pushing the red banded guy out of the seat he opened a window for the browsers configuration sequence and began altering the code. After a while he forced the color pallets to switch places, soon the shadowy shape of a person was black and the rest of the screen was grey. Once done they could finally see the button for entering the site.

"Wow, man you some kind of hacker?"

"Just something I learnt at home." Taku explained as they opened the site and could finally see the page. There was a long Blog about the darkness of human hearts affecting the city, and the addiction to technology ruining humanity. In the text they found a few hidden links to some pictures, and finally reached the photo of the hooded figure in the park. The boy didn't look like the one that was playing when Taku walked by there but the day light was different it had to be about an hour earlier. As they got a better look around the figures hand was visible it had a slim long fingered hand. The nails were well groomed and the face was abstracted by a mask, it was a bit strange. While looking there was a talk from the voices, it appeared that the two girls were talking again.

"Did they recognize you?"

"I don't think so."

Taku leaned back on his chair almost tripping over as he looked outside the booth. He could see The girl that was just there a few moments ago and she was talking to someone else, as he tried looking farther he tripped and fell with the whole chair. Slamming his head on the ground. He could then see that the second girl was in fact Mira from school. The two girls screamed when they saw him on the floor. The two guys were forced to apologies, as Taku explained that he thought the voice to be familiar, he dint mean any harm, just that he let curiosity get the better of him as he fell and slammed his head on the ground. The manager forgave them but said if something like this was to happen again they would be reported to the police. After apologiesing the two guys went back to their booth to finish up the research they were doing on that site.

"Soory about that, but you could have just told us you worked here, its not like we care, besides we could have gotten a discount on the drinks at least."

"Yeah, well its just that it's a part time job and having someone from our school here is a bit weird. I thought you were gonna report us with Taku living with his aunt who's a teacher." Mira explained.

"Well anyways, maybe you can help us get a better understanding on this," Sai pointed at the screen "The shadow site everyone's been talking about. Taku already reversed the colors so we could get in but now there seems to be much more photos then before."

Looking through the linked pictures they found several photos of the busy streets but then they stumbled on a few pictures from the strange crime scenes where the people were found dead with almost no sign of physical injury. Then there was a second picture of the park in it there was the boy that Taku met crying alone, and even in the photo there he was walking by before noticing the boy. Taku was actually in this picture walking by, and the small hooded figure was there as well standing behind a tree taking the picture. Scrolling up there was another link to a photo of a crime scene where the first boy was killed with the cap the friend that never came to play.

"The hell? Taku your actually in this one and that ones the boy from before?"

"Then this had to be taken last night when you two were walking around town." Mira added as she watched the pictures. Slightly above the last linked picture that day was a photo of Takuso standing on the balcony stretching through the apartment complex. It was taken from the park and had a max zoom. The picture was of poor quality but it was clearly Taku.

"The hell? Is this guy stalking you man?"

Looking through the page they quickly found the newest link, it was a picture taken just a few hours ago it was the district where they all were, it was near the ramen shop at the farther end from the arcade. After refreshing the page in hopes of some new information they found the newest post had changed with it there was a picture attached, it was the picture of the arcade and the time stamped to just a few minuets ago. Bellow the picture was a small note, "Get a haircut".

"The heck is this, some sick joke?" Miras friend said as she stepped back.

The guys quickly turned off the browser and rushed out, hopping to catch this weirdo whos been following them around. Outside there was a crowed of people heading to the district they had to force their way through. Taku noticed a bridge crossing over the road and decided to get a better look from above. Once he reached the stairs he could finally run as he rushed up to the top looking for that weird hooded figure. Far in the crowed he noticed someone with a similar appearance. Turning to Sai he yelled and pointed in the direction of the hooded shape before climbing down the stairs and making his way in the same direction. Running after the figure they soon found themselves in the middle of the district near an ally, when they realized they lost it. The two tried to look over the crowed and find the figure but it was nowhere to be found. Giving up they both went back through the ally to avoid the crowds.

As they walked farther in, it got darker and darker, till they became lost underneath a single light above an entrance. Hoping to ask for directions they knocked twice, and the door swayed open. Sai stepped in first asking.

"Is anyone there? We're kinda got lost trying to get around the crowds in the district. Is anyone there?"

When Taku followed him in the door behind them slammed, they both found themselves in the darkness stumbling as they made their way out to the only source of light. They were in a small room, some kind of store. Its shelf's were empty and almost broken. Saijiro couldn't remember such a place in the district, or in the city for that fact. As they left through the door looking around the two hoped to find themselves in a street near the district, but they honestly stood in the shopping district itself. It was strangely dark and gloomy, and as they looked around they couldn't see a single person around, the crowed was gone. There was a strange disfigurement in the street it was empty and dark. The only light came from above, as they looked up there was no sun but a square shape like a screen in the dark sky. It had a strange picture of a smiling patched up animal on it, stitched together it shined down on them. As the two searched for anyone around there was a cracking noise from behind them it was coming down the street. There was a large black mass like some sort of slime crawling towards them. It had a white mask with half a face frowning and another half smiling the eyes were creepy and jumping all over the place as a scream sounded from it. The figure was coming straight for them.

The two boys began to run in the opposite direction, avoiding the stands and signs in the streets they rushed to the end of the road.

"What the hell is that thing!?"

Saijiro screamed as he ran straight for the end of the street in a panic, but as they ran to the end there was a sudden realization, the end of the street was a giant wall. As they stopped they were cornered by the giant blob, the brick wall didn't budge and the two began looking for other doors they could quickly open and use to get away, but every door was hiding a brick wall. Trapped in the street, the two of them searched for anything that would work as a weapon. Taku pulled out the pole of a flag and tossed it over to Sai as he himself grabbed a steel pipe from the side of the store. Prepared for the thing the two of them were overcome with fear. The beast was before them screaming. Sai swung the pole through the thing and tried to stab it but the attack had little effect. Then as the beast jumped forth Taku slammed the mask away and it seemed to work a bit but soon the creature was back as though nothing happened.

"We're dead man, this is madness, what the hell are we gonna do!"

Taku tried to calm him down but the panic was setting in. As the beast laughed more of them began to gather, leaking up from the sewers, the blob was overjoyed and the eyes seemed to be rapidly jumping all over. That's when from nowhere Taku heard a voice in his head.

"You are me, and I am you. Release the seal and I will save you." Taku looked around searching for the source of the voice. "Look not before you but within you, I am your shield and your sword, I vanquish all who oppose you now release me. Repeat after me."

Taku opened his lips and the words came out on their own.

"I am you and you are me, from the depts of my heart I call the, PERSONA." Upon the end of that phrase a light shined in his pocket, the phone that he had with him, the temporary replacement shined like a star, it lifted itself from the pocket and floated up to his chest, as he gripped the phone, a light began to unfurl before him as a figure appeared from the light, the dark shapes pulled away as they were blinded. The shape began to spread wings as it pulled out a blade from its side covered in thorns the blade wielder held no shield and hand no second arm as it seemed to be severed away. It was protected by an armor of crimson red and held an emblem of a bird the figure appeared to be human and held many similarity's to one. As it pulled back its wings and pressed the blade to its shoulder preparing to attack the guardian charged forth slicing the masks to bits as the pursuers dissipated from the street. At witch point the figure turned around, it was a strong man with a great scar on his shoulder. As the light disappeared the figure vanished and the phone broke to pieces.

"What the hell was that? What did you do?"

Taku picked up the remains of his phone and looked at Sai simply nudging his shoulders, he had no idea. As the two returned back to the place they entered through there was a loud scream. It was a person this time. As they made their way in the direction of where it came from the guys could see a woman trapped under a broken sign, her ankle was pressed beneath it. On the roof of a building stood a bird like shape nudging forth to its prey. They got the sign off the woman leg and tried to get away.

"Do that thing again, the same thing you did last time."

"I can't the phones broken!" Taku replied.

Sai pulled out his smart phone and handed him.

"I don't care, use mine, I don't wanna die here." The bird charged forth as Taku jumped back pushing Sai aside to get him out of the way, Taku pulled the woman away from the beast, but as the bird flew by it cut Saijiro on the side, quit deep. "huh… looks like in the end, I was still rather pathetic, unable to do anything on my own. I roped you in and even after you saved me once, I can't do a single thing. I wish I could be more like you, at least for once, I'd like to stand up for others not just for my own desires."

As Saijiro spoke his phone began to light up, it sparkled with light as Takus did before. A phone as bright as the night stars. It began to envelop the street in a glow, as a figure with a long spear stood before them, a figure with dark black hair and a feathery headband, It stood there waiting for the bird, to swoop back down, as it did attack once more, the spear slid along its back separating the wings from the body and killing the beast. The light enveloped Saijiro as the shining warrior disappeared. The wounds were gone and as Sai looked at the phone there was a word inscribed in the edge of the screen "Naktu-Won". The woman fell unconscious and as the two of them brought her back to the store that they came there through. The world they were in could only be exited through the door they came through but as they stepped through carrying the woman she vanished and the two of them were back in the ally just behind the corner from the district. Taku and Sai both made their way back to the park where they talked a bit about what was going on. Takuso looked at his phone and decided to get a proper replacement for it since it seemed whatever it was had a massive stress upon the device and could be brought back out if the phone would be replaced with a new one. After parting ways Taku went home, he didn't see the child then, and with caution working its way through he could not see any signs of the small hooded figure.

Back in the shady world a figure with a large mascot like cat mask watched the door of the store the two came in through. Wondering and pondering it spoke.

"Those were some interesting humans, wouldn't you say so Chirp-nee."

"Indeed, Nyan-chi, do hope they come back, tis an interesting tale unfolding before us." Spoke a figure with a similar mascot like head. The two stood there watching the empty street, the masks had a similar stitching motive upon them.

Back in the real world Taku took his time to clean up since the strange experience left him a bit shocked. After dinner and a rough questioning from his aunt on where he was Taku retired to his room where he soon fell asleep as though on command. He found himself once more in the velvet room. The small man was laughing as he showed the cards on the table. One was removed and the card of the journey man was unveiled. Together with the card of the fool arcane.

"Tis truly an interesting scene, I for one would have guessed that you would choose the coward and not face up to the threat, but now you are involved in this entire game till thee end child, so don't run and see it through. The more friends you make the stronger the bonds get the stronger the forms your subjects shall gain, so come forth and choose to continue the journey, you can't run for ever."

As Taku awoke from the dream the room was pitch black and silent, everyone else was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Taku awoke with the sunrise glistening through his window, the broken phones were spread out on the desk in his room, the broken parts all meshed up as he had left them. Getting out of bed he noticed that some parts were actually burnt on the temporary replacement he bought. The processor was burnt to bits and even the conductors were broken as though shattered. The phones were worthless the only salvageable parts were the cards from it. He stored the little components in a casing for his lenses for the time being. After clearing up the room Taku went down to wash up. His Aunt was there making breakfast.

"Your up early?"

Taku explained that he wasn't as tired as before, then asked her about the phone apps used for the locks in the complex.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell ya, The apartment buildings quit high-tech, there are door locks that are sequenced with the mobile ID data, I guess we should register your phone with it too, cause you probably had to use the front entrance every time. You can just give your phone to the manager to scan it and you'll be set."

After breakfast everyone left separately, Takus Aunt finally handed him a set of keys for the apartment, they had a weird keychain that had a rabbit like animals head, though it was a bit tarnished. After leaving for school, Taku saw a few kids talking about the murder in the Shopping district yesterday, apparently the sign broke and broke a woman's leg, yet the cause wasn't clear. The students were just spreading rumors, but they said that there was a strange figure in the crowed where the incident happened. After that little ear sore he reached school where classes passed unevently till launch break. Sai tapped on Takuso's shoulder from behind and asked him to the side for a while. When the two were away from everyone else in class he asked.

"Hey man, listen this might sound weird, but yesterday did we run through the district and get lost in an ally or something? Probably not since its most likely to be a weird dream."

"Nah, I'm pretty sure it happened, my phones as broken as it was in that dream."

Taku answered and it seemed to give Saijiro even more reason to worry. He was strangely paranoid as he pulled out his phone and showed it to Taku. There was a small emblem of a feather at the corner of the screen where the battery and reception symbols were, it was in the same line. It was glowing blue as they watched it, Mira jumped them from behind.

"Watch ya doing?"

"Ehh… nothing theres nothing going on…" Sai tried to explain to her as he pulled his phone back and hid it in his pocket.

"What!? Are you trying to pull something again, I swear if its something weird I'll shoot ya down myself." Mira yelled at him with suspicion. She pulled his hand out of his pocket gripping for the phone. Stealing it from Sai Mira looked through all the files inside and after several minuets gave it back. "For a moment there I thought you had some weird pictures on there or something. With the way your hiding it and all."

"No its just that… well, help me out here." Sai whispered trying to explain something he had no clue about.

"He was just showing his smart phones model, mine broke a few day's ago so I was thinking about getting a new one. So I asked for some suggestions, and whether his was easy to use and how well it performed."

"Yeah, that's right." Sai calmed down a bit, "Its not the best model, but it's quit good and manages to run the basic programs like browsing and all but I don't think it's the best."

"It's a piece of crap." Mira bluntly blurted out "Its functional parameters are low, the battery life is way too short and the iOS system is outdated and not really well supported, issues came up where during updates half the programs can cease functioning and you'd lose all your data. The music files it can run are very limited and the reception quality is low, also the screen can break easily so it might explain the crack at the bottom but I don't think you should buy even the newest model of these." She rambled on.

"What?" Sai asked with an astonished shock on his face.

"My parents run an electronics store, I had to help out some times when I was little so I learnt a lot about these things, besides where do you think I got this head set, its not cheap."

"So what would be a good model?" Taku asked her.

"After school I'll take ya to the store I'll make sure you get a discount on the one you choose. I'm sure we have a few good ones still in stock." Mira offered to help as she handed the phone back to Sai.

"Maybe I can get a replacement too then?" Saijiro naively asked.

"Dream on, why should I work to get you a discount, he doesn't even have a phone, so he needs one in this city, with all the applications for almost everything in town." Mira began to argue with Sai who wanted to get a better phone too. As the clas started the two were separated from eachother till the end of the day.

Upon leaving the three headed down to the shopping district, where they found the electronics store owned by Mira's parents at the South end of the district. As they came in she showed them the section where all the phones were held and explained the differences between each model and maker. While they were talking there was a massive racket at the other side of the store. A guy around their age was looking through the graphic cards and CPU's demanding to show him the special ware's.

"Listen we don't have any special products, what you see is what we have." The clerk explained to him.

"Bullshit, don't screw with me! I know you keep the good stuff in the back. I don't need this cheap trash I need the best you got and I am willing to pay for them!"

"Listen, there are no special wares in the back!" Mira yelled at him as she barged through.

"Like hell there aren't , I know you sneak away the best for yourselves!"

"Like we would do that, this is a fair store we don't cheat the customers and if you don't like it you can leave any time." Mira didn't let down arguing with the customer.

"Perhaps I will, who needs this place. There's a ton of better stores out there." The man stormed off as he walked away knocking down the stand outside.

"What a jerk." The girl complained as she watched him leave. Taku and Sai walked up closer to her and asked.

"What the hell's wrong with that guy? Do you get those kinda people often?" Saijiro asked.

"No, but in the past few day's there were a lot of people like him, showing up and screaming, demanding for the special stuff in the back. But we don't have anything like that here. The only things behind the store are the shipments of reserved and special orders by others and usual customers." The clerk explained as he began cleaning up after the enraged buyers ranting, there were several prices knocked down.

Mira explained what was happening and took the two of them out back, behind the store. Where she showed them the warehouse stocked with all the products. There were barely any stuff there that wasn't showed in the store. Most of the different stuff was piled on shelf's with name tags and dates attached to them, a few even had phone numbers written on the box's. As they looked around Mira picked up a few phone casings and laid them out in front of Taku.

"Basically these are the ones I'd suggest. The first ones an older model of the regional brand of the developer, but they seem to have done an amazing job with it. The other ones are brand new models but their from companies that are not based in the country. So its your pick regional or one of the new trendy models."

"Is there a difference witch one he should pick and all?" Sai asked as he stared at them.

"Of course there's a difference. The regional is best suited for all the programs we use in the city, maps, buss, lock systems. Their basicly built for this phone. While the others hold their strength in separate fields, One has a longer battery life, it can last up to a month if your not calling or anything, otherwise it will at least last a week. And the third one has the most universal iOS, it can adapt to most programs in our city and even use many of the app's built for other devices, android or windows they can all pretty much run on it, yet not all programs in the city work for it. I heard some complain that the lock systems don't function with this one, so I don't really know much about the ones that don't work."

Taku looked through the boxes and decided to take the regional brand. Since if he would stay here for over a year, there wouldn't be any sense complaining about computability issues.

"Are you serious man? I would have taken the battery one, with all the games I could download on it I'd have a better time then recharging it daily." Saijiro complained about the choice.

"Okey then, I'll just check the price and you'll be set. Now where's that scanner." Mira asked as a hand extended from the side handing her the barcode scanner.

"And what are we doing here?" A rusty dry voice asked. The group turned to see a big man with a hat that said Manager.

"Hey dad," Mira responded with a slight smile on her face. "I was just helping out."

"And how would that be?" He questioned her intentions.

"Well he needed a new phone so I offered him one for a discount since almost everything in the city is now run through the wireless server."

"I see, well then I guess I should applaud you for one, The phone you bought was actually the last one we had, they were out of stock for a long time. These were some of the best ever made in that brand, yet now their going under bit by bit. It's like a pillar of pride that we had left here. To be honest I didn't even know we had one left."

"Yeah I found it yesterday while cleaning up." Mira added as she scanned the box.

The total was over 66,000 Yen but after the promised discount was added the sum fell to 52,000 Yen. Luckily that sum was in Takus budget and so he could pay for it, but now he was low on cash and was contemplating getting a job to cover the expenses. After buying they left the store as Takuso placed the cards inside and power up the phone. Once active there was a slightly different symbol near his battery and connection bars. It was a card that seemed to be tilted.

Once back in the fresh air the group walked around the district chatting a bit before heading back, While walking they explained all the different app's used through the city to Taku, there were apps that searched for specific stores or some that mapped the entire city showing every single store and a description about it. Some apps allowed to see the menus and even order before entering, some allowed to get news about missing people or pets, even apps for rumors. Named Gossip Bird it was a small application that was like a chat, and you would catch each rumor as you passed by people.

"That's probably how the stupid rumor about the special goods spread." Sai said as he looked over Takus shoulder.

On their way back there was a scream from the electronics store, it seems that some boxes fell and hit Miras father over the head. The medical team quickly arrived to get him to the hospital, believing that he suffered a severe blunt force trauma. The kids were told to go home and as they were about to leave a message popped on Takus phone. It said, "Game in progress".

"What the? Did you download some game?" Sai asked as he noticed it but soon his phone rang as well, it rang with the same message. He was shocked to see it, but as they searched where the message came from the origin was from the application Gossip Bird, it was also connected to the strange new symbols on the phones the ones that were not supposed to be there. As they opened the application there was a message, "Do you wish to enter the round". Confused the two of them looked at each other and nodded.

"What are you doing?" Mira asked as she grabbed Takus phone when he pressed the screen. They were instantly surrounded by a strange darkness that turned the entire district dark and light the sky with a phone screen holding the strange disfigured animal as before. "What is this?" She asked as Mira stepped away from them.

The group was in a twisted representation of the electronics store, the walls were endless shelf's filled to the brim with merchandise and there stood pillars wrapped in posters and notices about a discount offers. The halls seemed to extend farther in like a giant labyrinth, the halls were enter winding, as it seemed that the building extended farther above. The two guys found a few broken pipes and a flagpole with a sales announcement flag on it. Sai took the pole while Taku armed himself with a pipe. Heading deeper into the hallway they could hear something moving through the halls. As they stepped around the corner there were a few dark blobs similar to the ones they were attacked last day, but these were much smaller and they seemed to be vulnerable to strikes as the guys broke the masks with little effort, after the shattered faces the dark masses seemed to disappear as though called back to the shadows they faded.

"Its just like last time, but these guys seem weaker then the other ones." Sai said as he picked up a shared of the broken mask examining it.

Taku took a look at his phone and there was a new message about victory, the text read, "Dropped 100 yen and chance card". It seemed as though this was almost like a normal game, yet there was a sense of dread in the air around them.

"Perhaps if we don't encounter the bigger ones we'll be fine." Taku said as he pushed the message aside, there was a choice of two facedown cards presented for him.

"What are you doing there?" Sai asked, Mira was following them from behind she was still in shock and didn't want to fall behind.

"It seems they drop loot, like in a game." Takuso explained to him as Saijiro pulled out his phone.

"Your right, weird though, we didn't have anything like this happen last time. But its more like just money. Wonder if it will be transferred as we get out of here?"

"Could be, but theres some chance card here too."

"What card? I aint got anything like that. Is it maybe different for everyone?" Sai said as he tossed the broken mask aside.

"Maybe…"

"What are you guy's talking about where are we anyway!?" Mira began yelling at them, astonished that they weren't shocked by all of this.

"Hell if we know, we ended up in a similar place yesterday when we chased that hooded guy, but then we were attacked by something similar to these. It seems to be connected somehow." Saijiro explained as they continued on. Before walking off Taku chose one of the cards and they flipped revealing a small frail looking figure with wings, there was a name for it, Pixy. There was a second message, the other card vanished showing a picture of a gold pile. The other message read "Pixy was added to the summoning book", Taku didn't know what to make of it at this time.

The group continued through the labyrinth ascending floor by floor. They avoided as many fights as they could, climbing up they found a few boxes witch contained a bow, a spear and a leather armor. Since there were three of them they shared the things equally amongst each other. Saijiro took the spear instead of the pole he was using while Taku put the armor on himself, Mira held on to the bow. After reaching the top floor there was a strong sensation in the air, like electricity it crawled through the giant hall before the door.

"This looks like the top, are you sure u want to do this?"

"What other choice have we? Crawl back down and hope there's a door leading out of here and back into the street with all those things out there?"

"Good point." Sai agreed as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it open.

Inside was a giant storage room in that room was a guy rummaging through the merchandise, he tossed it left and right searching for something.

"Trash, trash, trash, all of it is worthless. Wheres the good stuff wheres the stuff they hide from the consumers and where did you put that card."

He rambled on as he searched on, as he heard the door creaking to a halt, he turned to see the group behind him.

"You again!"

The man yelled as he truned around, there seemed to be something different about him, like he was attached to strings he moved almost like a puppet. Controlled from above, he stepped forth, his eyes glanced bright with a strong red glow, he was different. It was the same guy that was at the store but something was wrong. He wasn't acting normal, as though driven mad.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" Mira screamed at him as he stopped at the sound of her voice.

"Me, I should ask the same. How did you get in here, this place is supposed to be mine alone, I can do here whatever I want, I was promised this. I was chosen for this." The man rambled on about some power given to him.

The man laughed as he pointed to the roof of the room, there was a large light, to it strapped was a man who was surrounded by the strong light. The figure seemed familiar to them, till Mira finally realized.

"Dad!"

"What the hell? Is this even possible?" Sai asked as he looked to Taku.

"This is my power, locking him away in this realm I will sever his soul from the body and feed him to the great one, once his soul is ours he will die and I'll have my payback." The man screamed as he laughed.

"Hell man that's messed up, there are boundaries, who do you think you are!?" Saijiro screamed at the insane man before them.

"Who? I'm god here and once I pay the price I'll be all powerful, I'll drag in whoever I want and no one will be able to do anything!"

"Let him go now!" Mira screamed as she drew the arrow into her bow aiming for his head.

"In your dreams, I'm alive here, I'm god and you are just ants. You think a little bow is gonna stop me?" He grabbed his own face pulling the skin tighter as he ripped it away. The figure of a man began to change it spread wings taking form of a bird with a mans face, the wings were stitched back to the body as he looked at the two boys before him. "You managed to scar us before but now, not even you can touch us now!" The monster screamed as it called out to the beasts within the labyrinth.

The creatures began to gather in the shape of small birds as the group prepared to defend themselves. The small birds flew at them swiping through between them separating the group.

"What the hell, how can we fight this thing?" Sai complained as he tried to his one of the birds. It flew away avoiding the attack, Saijiro gripped his phone and looked at the screen, there was an application running. In hopes he pressed on to it, the phone began to burn away the misty shadows as the room light up the figure from before stepped forth from the light it was ready to fight and with his new found courage Saijiro charged forth, slicing through the small birds protecting the large monster. With them downed with severed wings he tried to charge at the beast that quickly knocked him back. Falling to the ground the shape that was called forth from the phone vanished. Taku willingly gripped the device that he held in his pocket, activating the strange program on his phone there was a light summoning a small being with wings. It healed everyone in the room upon arrival and joined Takuso's side. The little pixy sparked lightning as Taku charged forth at the bird. The beast jumped back avoiding the attack and knocked Taku aside forcing the small fairy to disappear.

"So it doesn't like lightning?" Sai said as he got back up to his feet. "Mira cover me, I'll light it up."

"How are you gonna do that you idiot, theres no way we can do anything against that!"

"If we don't try, your dad will be dead so do you wanna just stand by and watch!?" Takuso yelled at the shocked girl.

Mira could only watch as the two guys were running at the large bird getting smacked around like pests. They couldn't do a thing. Sai slammed into a wall when the beast knocked him back after pinning Taku down with its claw. The pressure upon his chest forced him to cough up blood as he tried to get loss. The young girl could only clench her fists and hide trembling, till there was a loud scream from above, her father was in pain chained to the ceiling as she saw this something began to stir in her. A Fire rushing like a cold sweat it began to overtake her as Mira picked up the bow and aimed at the giant bird.

"Let them go!" As the arrow flew her headphones illuminated as the light traveled along the wire to the pocket with the phone, it covered the room as the light revealed a figure frail and strong at the same time spark like lines traveling upon its curves the body appearing as though a females it held a bow with no string or arrow. As the figure aimed at the monster before it there was a strange sense of electricity sparking through the air. The light guardian drew its fingers along the hand holding the bow before plucking them aside, with a loud blast there was a light shooting from the bow, it flew at the beast with a great speed, like lightning it pierced it leaving no trace. Placing the pinky on the bow again it repeated once more with all four fingers at t5he same time before releasing them and shooting off a rapid barrage of the light arrows at the giant bird pushing it back to the giant pile of items behind it as it fell. The light figure placed its hand on its hip and a giant chain of lightning erupted from the arrow wounds. Shattered from the attack the beast began to break away into a smoke fading to the shadows. Soon there was only the human form of the person left as he crawled up from the ground screaming.

"How, How could this happen!? Who are you people!?"

The chains broken the father fell from above as he began to vanish from the world they were in. Once it was over the group left the tower and rushed to the hospital hopping that everything was ok. Upon arrival Mira ran off to the doctor.

"You think everything's normal?" Sai asked as he watched her run off.

"With all that's happen, you think anything would ever be normal?" Taku asked him.

"Guess not, but at least we managed to get those things out again, but I thought yours was a bit different not a fairy?"

"Your one to talk, What about her, you think everything's alright?"

Soon after Mira returned with a calm expression on her face.

"The doctor say's he's gonna be fine, though he'll need to stay here over night."

"Well thank god he's alive, we could have ended up dead back there too if it wasn't for you." Saijiro complemented her as he scratched the back of his head, there were still some broken wall pieces in his hair.

"Yeah, it seems if you die there its for good, but what was that place?" She asked.

"Hell if we know, but yesterday we were almost killed as well and the woman that died recently. I think that's the one we saved from that bird before. At least its gone now, right?" Saijiro explained with a concerned look on his face.

"I don't think its over, we don't even know what's causing it, and what's killing all those people, for all we know those strange death's could be connected with that place." Takuso explained.

After a lengthy conversation the group left on their separate way's Mira returned home, and Sai left Taku at the park again. On his way through the park, he noticed a shadow to his side. As he turned, Takuso saw the small hooded figure, it was watching him from the middle of the road. After a few short moments it ran off, to the street through the woods. Taku gave chase, but as he jumped out into the street, he couldn't see the figure it had disappeared. Gone without a trace, the stalker was gone again.

Takuso returned home where he was greeted by his Aunt, who was a little concerned that he was out for so long. After a few words he explained that he was with a friend and then went to get a new phone since the first one broke in the airport before he arrived. She understood so there was no fuss, though his cousin Rika remained somewhat distant and did not wish to speak to him at all.


End file.
