Chapter Text
Sep. 25, 2009
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Yuki Hamuko nodded at the speaker.
"Hey, Igor. Is there any chance I could talk to Theo alone here? I need his help with something- and lots of time."
"Very well. I shall be in the back if you need me. Try not to take too long- the Room tends to get unstable." Igor turned and left, and Hamuko let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she didn't think he could help her, it was just a feeling she had.
"Hamuko-sama, what is it you wish to ask of me?" Her faithful attendant asked.
She sighed. "You recall what my Social Links looked like a week ago. I was sick during the typhoon, and when I woke up..." She waved her hand at the table, causing the bonds in question to appear. "I'm fairly certain, amongst other things, that my Moon Link had yet to max. And I think I'd remember something like that happening."
"You would, wouldn't you?" Theodore agreed. "At least, in most cases. You may not recall, but this is not the first time that we have spoken alone in this room."
That... that couldn't be right, but... a flash ran through her mind, and she saw a face, recalled a name. Seta Souji, also of the Fool Arcana.
"Could you remind me?"
Sep. 20, 2009
"It's too bad it got canceled in the end. It would've really been something to look back on," Iori Junpei commented, leaning back against one of the pillars of Tartarus.
"It's not that bad... there's always next year," Takeba Yukari replied.
"And it's not like there was any other choice," Yamagishi Fuuka pointed out. "What if someone had gotten hurt?"
"That's why we had to cancel," Kirijo Mitsuru agreed. "I feel bad about it, but..."
"Nobody's blaming you, Mitsuru," Sanada Akihiko cut her off. "It just shows that even we can't fight Mother Nature." The topic ended there, thanks to a single observation from Aragaki Shinjiro, sitting next to him.
"Huh...? Where'd she go? I don't see her anywhere..."
"If you mean our leader, she is standing in the corner like always. She mentioned something about a new Persona," Aigis informed the rest of them.
Amada Ken glanced at her. "It's that place only she sees, right? The... Velvet Room, was it?"
"I think that's it," Junpei nodded. "Hamu-tan's lucky, getting to change her Persona like that. I wish I had that kind of power..."
"So we're aware..." Yukari sighed.
"What do you think her Persona will be like this time?" Ken asked. Next to him, Koromaru glanced up.
"Arf!"
"Koromaru says 'I want it to have big bazongas!' Ow!"
"Please... I didn't hit you that hard," Yukari told him. "Are you stupid or something?" Junpei decided to back away from Yukari.
"Koromaru-san seems to be concerned for our leader," Aigis stated. "She was confined to her bed for two days, after all."
"She's probably fine. Can you imagine-?" Junpei cut off as they all remembered the times Hamuko had insisted on coming to Tartarus despite being sick. "...Never mind. But it's not like we can go anywhere, anyway."
"We came because she said something was bothering her," Yukari stated. "But there's nothing really here, so... What's that!?" They all glanced around, looking for the source of the ominous-sounding bells. Eventually, however, they faded away.
"...It stopped."
"What was that...? Whatever it was, stay alert, just in case!" Mitsuru ordered. Fuuka pulled out her Evoker.
"I'll have Lucia take a look around... Aah!"
"What's wrong!?"
"There was a spider by my feet... Where'd it go?"
"A spider...? In Tartarus?" Akihiko asked.
"It must have been my imagination..." She muttered, shaking her head. "I'll just have Lucia check-"
Hamuko glanced around the Velvet Room. She'd never been there without Igor around before. Theodore stood in the normal spot, however, so at least she wasn't totally alone.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room... this place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... How unexpected for you to visit while my master is away." That was one way to put it. She wasn't even sure that Igor could leave the room to begin with.
"Yeah, about that... where is Igor, anyway? I wanted to fuse something..."
"Unfortunately, he has... business to take care of with his own master. However, I have basic knowledge of the fusion process, which should hopefully be sufficient for your needs... you don't require anything more than a triangle spread, I hope?"
"That should be fine," Hamuko agreed, already sorting through her mind for the cards she wanted. "So long as I get to put them in the Compendium first- never know when I'll need them again, after all!"
A door in the back of the Velvet Room opened. "Theo, do you really think that you can serve her properly? Step aside."
"E-Elizabeth!" The young woman turned to face Hamuko.
"I am Theodore's older sister, Elizabeth. I trust he has been serving you well up until now? I apologize for any incompetence due to his inexperience."
"But I have just as much experience as you..." He sighed. "I'm sorry about her. She's... a bit much, at times. She is currently staying beside me as a precaution."
"A precaution? Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, really. The Room just tends to destabilize when its master is not here. Besides which, there is currently a storm raging in the outside world..." Well, that much she did know about.
"The typhoon, right? Is there a connection?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Storms shake things up. Not just the body, but the heart, as well. One's resolve, one's inner strife, one's hidden thoughts... Everyone closes their eyes during a storm, for that is when the world within begins to encroach..."
"Poetic, isn't she?" Hamuko muttered to Theo, earning a small smile in return. Elizabeth continued as if she had not noticed.
"One will have no choice but to face what has gone hidden while their eyes were averted... There are storms that can shake up fate, and even time itself."
"In any case," Theo stated, returning to the main topic. "If you will bring out the Personas you wish to fuse..." Red lights began flashing throughout the Velvet Room. "...An alarm?" The lights flickered off, and when they came back on, there were far more than three people in the room.
"Wh-what the-!? What's going on!?" Yukari asked. Mitsuru glanced around.
"Is this... an elevator?" Hamuko carefully counted the new arrivals.
"Mitsuru-senpai, Akihiko-senpai, Shinjiro-senpai, Yukari, Junpei, Fuuka-chan, Koro-chan, Aigis, Ken-kun... everyone!?"
"What could this mean...?" Theodore mused. Elizabeth, meanwhile, gained a mischievous grin.
"Uninvited guest in a private chamber... That can only mean that the culprit is among us!"
"C-culprit!?"
"Ignore her," Hamuko told everyone. "Please. She's joking. At least, I hope she is." The glare and aura of death were enough for the elder sibling to back away.
"My sister's sense of humor aside, this is a facet of fate as well... and perhaps a beginning. After all, nothing in this Room happens without reason. I am Theodore, and this is my older sister Elizabeth. We are residents of this Velvet Room."
"So, this is the place you go for Personas?" Yukari checked. Hamuko nodded.
"Yep! Igor's- that's the guy who runs this place- not here at the moment, though, but Theo's always been helpful to me. Elizabeth's new, though."
"So why are the rest of us here?" Akihiko asked. Theo sighed.
"As to that... even we don't know. People aren't supposed to be able to enter here without forming some sort of contract, or..." And that was when the elevator that was the Velvet Room stopped rising.
"I don't think this is supposed to happen..." Hamuko stated, glancing up. "Not for a long time, anyway... I'm still missing a few Arcana for that."
"Have I ever told you your mind's a scary place?" Yukari asked her.
"Only every time I've summoned a Devil or Death Persona, Mara, or Legion," She replied.
"This feels like one of those rides at the amusement park," Junpei commented. "You know, the ones where-"
She turned on him. "Iori Junpei, don't you dare finish that sentence!" It was too late, however, and thus they all began falling.
Hamuko glanced back at the fortuneteller's tent that they had all emerged from. "Well, at least I won't have to worry about losing the Room!" She commented, running the blue velvet between her fingers. "But... this is a school culture festival, isn't it?"
"A Culture Festival... The charged ceremony of excitement which students hold once every year...! Charmingly amateur delicacies, attractions bursting with that handmade warmth...! And for a finale, I've heard that students dance like madmen around an infernal flame...!"
"Again, I would like to reiterate that I literally just met her," Hamuko stated. "I have had no part in this."
"So... it's not true?" Theo asked. She shook her head.
"Not that last part, anyway. The rest should still be pretty fun, though."
"You really want to sign up for this obviously weird Culture Festival, Hamu-tan?" Junpei asked. She shrugged.
"Why not? Do you have any better ideas? ...What is it, Theo?"
"Hamuko-sama, if you could explain to me the process behind this 'cotton candy'..."
"...No, it's not actually cotton. I swear, between you and Aigis..."
"Anyway!" Elizabeth declared. "I would just like to inform you that it was not by our will, but the Velvet Room's that you were all invited here." Hamuko could believe it. With everything that went on in that room, she was honestly surprised that nothing like this had happened already. "The Velvet Room is inseparable from the fates of its guests. Nothing meaningless happens there."
"...Are you saying that our arrival here was inevitable?" Mitsuru asked.
"One could even say that it was destiny..."
"Destiny, huh...? What could we need to be here for?" Ken asked.
"I suggest that we go scouting." Koromaru barked in agreement with Aigis' statement. Mitsuru nodded.
"All right, let's all split up and search the area."
"We should inspect the Velvet Room," Theodore stated. "Hamuko-sama?" She glanced at the festival around her, before shrugging. There'd be time for that later.
"Yeah, good idea. Try not to have too much fun without me, guys!"
Hamuko glanced around the interior of the Velvet Room. Where it used to be an elevator, now it was simply a normal room, with two large, locked doors. Lights close to the ceiling continually rotated, causing the Major Arcana to drift across the floor.
"The Velvet Room appears to now be stationary," Theodore observed. "And those doors... well, this is certainly without precedent."
"Four locks... someone must really want these doors to stay shut, huh?" She commented, stepping forward and flicking the heart-shaped one, which glowed with electricity. "Ow! This was not a good idea!"
"Step aside." She did so, not particularly liking the look that was in her friend's eyes. A few moments later, the interior of the Velvet Room was engulfed in a white explosion, yet everything remained intact. "...Well, so much for that."
"...Theo, remind me never to get on your bad side..." Hamuko muttered, having suddenly come face-to-face with her own mortality. "And please never do that again."
"I apologize. I did not mean to startle you."
"It's fine. Come on, the others should probably be back by now." The two of them exited the tent again, to see everyone else returning.
"There's something weird about this place," Junpei started. "Nobody listens to me, or answers any of my questions. It's like I'm not even there!"
"I ask them where this place is, and they just say 'Yasogami High'," Yukari agreed. "I ask them where that is, and they just go off on a tangent about the festival..."
"I encountered no students who acknowledged Koromaru-san's presence, or the fact that I was not human," Aigis reported.
"Weird... normally, you'd expect someone to speak up about that."
"Has anyone checked outside the school?" Mitsuru asked.
Shinjiro nodded. "Yeah... looks like we can't get out."
"Can't get out?"
"There's a school gate, but you take one step past it and you're back inside."
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said. As soon as I thought I'd gotten out, I found myself back inside. Aki tried hopping the fence... same result. We can't leave."
"What if we tried going back the way we came?" Fuuka suggested.
Hamuko shook her head. "That won't work. For some reason, the Velvet Room isn't an elevator anymore. There's doors, but the locks are electrified. Theo tried using Megidolaon on them, but nothing happened, so we can't even throw Ken-kun or Akihiko-senpai at them. Elizabeth, don't you dare try it yourself." Elizabeth sighed in defeat.
"Wait, are you saying...?"
"...Yeah. We're trapped here."
"But- but I need to see Chidorita in the hospital!"
"Junpei, not now."
"Hey, what about our cell phones?" Yukari suggested. Immediately, everyone took out their phones... "Wait, we all brought our phones out during Dark Hour?"
Hamuko shrugged. "It was in my bag. I'm not sure about everyone else, though... well, besides Aigis, but she's pretty much her own phone, so... and no service. Figures."
"No GPS, either," Ken noted.
"G...P... I-I see. That's a problem."
"Is it possible... that we might never be able to leave here...?" And when Mitsuru got like that, you knew it was bad.
"The Velvet Room is a place where nothing meaningless happens," Elizabeth stated. "And it was the Velvet Room which brought you all here... This indicates that there is something that must be done here."
"Something that must be done...?"
"Until you accomplish whatever it is, you'll most likely be trapped here... as for what that might be, I suggest you ascertain it for yourselves."
"They're not going to give us any more advice," Hamuko told everyone. "They're cryptic like that. Hey, can I still-" She cut herself off, casting deep into her mind. Orpheus, Thanatos... Orpheus, Thanatos... and nothing else.
That... that would make things difficult.
"Can you what?" Theo asked.
"It- it's nothing. Never mind." She'd bring it up if it ever became important.
"I got it! The Culture Festival at our school was canceled, so we're meant to enjoy this one! Right!?" It was clear from his tone, however, that Junpei wasn't even fooling himself.
"But how would we enjoy it? It may be my imagination, but I'm sensing Shadows somewhere..."
"That seems natural, I believe."
"Huh...?"
"This is not reality. Time and space are not fixed... or, rather, they hold no meaning. It likely exists someplace much 'deeper' than the Velvet Room."
"It's something like Tartarus," Elizabeth clarified.
"So we're in a place like that, and you said that we have something to accomplish here," Akihiko started, looking thoughtful. Hamuko groaned. Her job would be so much easier, if it weren't for the fact that she swore all of her male teammates save Koromaru were trying to get themselves killed. "That can mean only one thing...!"
"Akihiko, it's a bad habit of yours to be so excited by the prospect of fighting." At least she had Mitsuru. Mitsuru could be sensible.
"Well, is there some other way? We can't leave the school, we can't use our phones, and we can't call for help. On top of that, there are Shadows around somewhere. Is there any other way to handle the situation?"
Mitsuru just sighed. "You're right... For now, that is all we can do."
"That's all we can do!"
"Don't get excited. This wouldn't normally be the time for us to stick our necks out." Hamuko considered pointing out the fact that it had been Dark Hour last time she'd checked, but decided against it. Mitsuru was scary.
Akihiko turned to Shinjiro. "You think there'll be some good enemies here?"
"Who knows..."
"Yamagishi, where did you sense the Shadow reading from?" Mitsuru asked. "Actually, if you could lead us there..." And that was just what Fuuka did.
"'You in Wonderland, huh...?"
"The flier says, 'Now you can walk in Alice's shoes!' It must be an interactive display."
"That's okay," Junpei shrugged. "I never wanted to walk in Alice's shoes."
"Huh? But it's every girl's dream!"
"Guess I wasn't a girl..." Yukari sighed. Hamuko shook her head.
"I mean, maybe when I was, like... six? Back when I still had parents, at least."
"We should try to avoid needless combat, but this may be our only clue to a way out," Mitsuru stated. "Proceed with caution, Yuki."
"Don't I always? ...Don't answer that," She muttered, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Well, either way-"
"Wait. It's dangerous in there." They all turned around, to see a boy and a girl wearing modified versions of the Yasogami High uniforms.
"Don't go inside," The girl told them. "There are monsters in there."
"Who are you?" Mitsuru asked. It was the boy who spoke this time.
"I am Zen, and this is Rei. That is what we call each other. And who are you? Where did you come from?"
"They're actually talking to us!" Junpei cheered.
"Where...? Um... do you know Iwatodai?"
"Iwato...?" The girl paused, and then shook her head.
"Where is this place, anyway?" Yukari asked.
"It is what it is."
"So... Yasogami High?"
"Yasogami... High..." Hamuko decided that there was definitely something wrong with Rei, and that helping her would probably be a good idea. "...Yes."
"You're students here, right? You're wearing the uniforms."
"...Yes. We're... students at this school."
"And where is it? And what's with this place? There's Shadows here, have you ever been attacked by any?"
"Sh-Shadows?" Hamuko decided to answer that one.
"Masked monsters that like to snack on people's brains. My friends and I are a group meant to fight them."
"Hamuko-san... I sense something from Rei-san..." Aigis spoke up. "I want to learn more about Rei-san... But... why?"
"Do you at least know where the exit is?" Yukari kept questioning the new people. "We want to go home."
"Go... home?"
"It is important that we return," Mitsuru stated. Rei glanced down.
"I want to go back too. Zen, I want to go back, too!"
"Go back where, though?"
"You don't know?" Fuuka asked. And that was when Hamuko realized it was going to be a long adventure.