Chapter Text
Three years before Ren Amamiya was sent on probation...
The boy was running, he didn't know where he was going, all he knew was that he had to run. Run as far away as he can. He was holding his older brother's wrist as he led the way, he ran into the subway and the crowd, never letting go of his brother. They stopped to catch their breath. "Bro, we need to go back, what about mom!?" The older brother looked at the messy head of hair that his younger brother owned, the twelve-year-old looked at him, "I don't think we can man, you heard those gunshots, I-I don't she got out of there." "B-But-" The sixteen-year-old couldn't continue as they both heard, "There they are!" The youngest grabbed his brother's wrist again and started running, as he got out of the subway, the men in the suits continued following them. He didn't know how much longer he could last, neither of the brothers was the fittest they can be but they were still able to run a fair distance. But if this kept up, they'd be done for. They turned the corner and quickly hid, they stayed quiet as the men ran past them in the alleyway. The youngest pulled out his phone, he had to call the police or something! When he opened up his phone, he noticed something next to his call app. A new application appeared on his phone that he didn't remember downloading, it looked like a red eye with a black star in the middle of it. He opened it out of curiosity, it had a search bar on it, with three spaces available, but it also had a separate button labeled, 'Enter Mementos'. "What is that?" His older brother asked, taking a peek at his brother's phone. "You should stop peeping in on other people's business bro, but I don't know it just showed up." The boy looked at the button, 'Mementos? What is that?' He thought. He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard, "Nowhere to run now!" The men in suits had found them, and the brothers were cornered with nowhere to go, they kept backing up until they hit the wall, "Your momma made our boss pretty mad, now he wants us to get rid of yous twos." The man on the right had said with his accent that the youngest couldn't place. The brothers couldn't say anything, they were too scared of what would happen next. What no one realized was that the youngest brother had accidentally tapped the button labeled with 'Mementos' on his phone. Before the two men realized it, the boys were gone having vanished out of thin air, "Huh, where'd they go!?" "We gotta call boss, with those two runnings around who knows what'll happen."
"WHAT!?!?!? HOW CAN TWO GROWN MEN, LOSE TWO CHILDREN!!! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!!!" Shido slammed the phone down after receiving the call. He simply couldn't let two brats run around knowing what he had planned for their mother. He then got an idea, he picked up his phone and dialed in a number, "Akechi, I have a job for you."
The brothers wandered around the deformed subway, not knowing what to do other than avoid those, whatever they were. "What is this place, weren't we just in an alley!?" The youngest questioned to himself, "Beats me." The older answered. "So these are the two I was sent to kill, how pathetic." The brothers turned around to see a guy in a black suit and helmet with a serrated sword, the brothers felt their hair stand on end again. "W-Who are you, where are we?" The younger brother questioned this man with the black mask, he seemed to be slightly younger than his brother, maybe by a year or two. "Oh, you're not shadows are you? Well, that will make this easier." Before either of the brothers could question him, he called out, "LOKI!!!" The brothers watched as the other teen ripped off his black mask, they couldn't see his face through the blue flames that surrounded him, but even if they could they were focused on the 'ghost' that appeared behind him. It looked like a person but they were massive and floating, Loki was striped in black and white, with big ponytails of hair, he wielded a massive sword, with two horns and hooved feet. "What the heck!?" The older brother said, "RUN!!!" The brothers turned and sprinted. Black Mask chuckled, "That's cute that you think you can run, EIHA!!!" Loki aimed his cursed attack at the youngest, which ended up hitting just behind him, but did trip him onto his knees. The oldest looked back, "Keep running!" The youngest told his brother who stayed there, paralyzed in fear. "You're willing to sacrifice yourself so he can try to live longer, how selfless, I almost let out a tear, too bad he's too stupid to run!" Black Mask walked up to the boy, mere feet away from him. This was it, this is where he would die, the young boy always thought that it would be in a hospital bed somewhere, but he just assumed that's what everyone wanted, too bad it can't always be that way. "Say goodbye child." Black Mask said as he raised his blade.
Are you really just going to give up here?
The young boy heard a voice, it seemed to sound like his own, but more feral, almost like an animal. "No, not here." Black Mask smirked, "No one gets to choose where they die, not even you."
I see, then if you are willing to live, there must be a reason.
"Of course there is, he can't live on his own." The young boy told the voice, the 'he' that he was talking about was his brother, he had a few mental disabilities that hindered him from understanding everything, leading to the younger brother being more mature than him. Black Mask's smirk evaporated, "Who are you talking to!? Wait... You can't be..."
So, you are willing to stay if you have a pack to protect, then let's form a bond, a contract.
As the voice stopped talking, the youngling felt an intense pain in his head, he shouted as he grasped his head. Black Mask knew what this meant. "He's awakening, if you want your plan for vengeance on Shido to succeed, you must take him out now!" Loki told Black Mask exactly what he was thinking, he raised his arms, ready to slash down, when a gust of wind blew him back.
The expectations of society have bound you down for too long, for they were too scared of the strength you held, forcing you to put on a facade of formality, we shall break that today!
The boy stood up, it took him a second to realize there was a mask on his face, the pain he felt was originating from this mask, he could tell. The mask covered his entire face, leaving a slot for his mouth which was in between a lower jaw, which resembled a wolf with teeth pointing upwards and fur that went up to the rest of the mask. The rest of the mask was black and solid, where the boy's eyes were sat two glass circles that were colored red, with three more underneath each eye. The mask continued to cover the top of his head, leaving only the back of his head visible, as well as half of the sides of his head, cut diagonally across, barely leaving his ears visible. Coming out from the mask was four straps coming together at the back of his head, and held together by a lock pad, making an 'x'.
Break the chains of normality and unleash the animal you've locked away from even yourself, and let your insanity take over!
The boy grabbed the mask and started to pull, he wanted the pain to stop, he just had to get it off. He started at the lower jaw and started to pull, he felt his skin come off with the mask, but that short tinge of pain let that area of his face feel relief, if he had to go through so little pain to be free of the torment he was feeling, then so be it.
The pain you feel isn't what ails you, the pain that is inflicted upon your pack is your drive, and you shall have vengeance on those who hurt them!
Awakening to a Persona was painful, Black Mask knew this, but seeing it from a third-person perspective was just unsettling, especially for this child, who had started to pull from the top of his mask, which started to rip out his hair, the mask was gone from his face, but the straps and padlock wouldn't break.
Through all of this you are still hesitating, why?
"Y'know what, you're right! I'm tired of people being goddamn rude to me! LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT I CAN DO!!!"
Yes, YES!!! LET US WRECK HAVOC UPON THOSE WHO OPPOSE THE PACK, FOR I AM THOU, THOU! ART!! I!!!
When the straps and padlock finally broke, the boy slumped over, "hahahahaHaHaHaHaHAHAHAHA!!!" As the boy started to laugh flames erupted from the blood on his face and scalp. The blue fire surrounded his body as he laid down on all fours, his laugh soon turned into a howl as his head was wrapped in flame, and took shape of a wolf's head, the flames went down the rest of his body wrapping him in comforting warmth. The boy felt the fire shifting his clothes into something that felt truly perfect for him. the fire left his head, having cured his blood ridden face and returning his hair to where it was ripped, it followed down his body, releasing him and taking a form of something next to him.
The flames grew into a wolf, a slight bit taller than the boy, it had grey fur, on the top, and bottom of its snout was a bloody line as if it had been stabbed through the mouth. Bits and pieces of the wolf had rotten away, leaving maggots and spiders to crawl among the flesh and bone. Finally, it had golden strands that were tied to the wolf's neck and legs, and on the ends of them were pieces of rock as if they were forcefully removed from the land itself.
The boy stood up, in his time wrapped in flame, the fire had grabbed pieces of the railroad track, and shifted them into chains, those chains latched themselves onto the boy, leaving chains on his ankles, shoulders, and across his torso, they floated and rattled in the air as the flames crackled, seeming to even let the chains float. "HAHAHAHAHA, OH, this feels good! I'M FINALLY FREE TO BE MYSELF!!!" The older brother, who had been watching the entire time as well, looked at his brother and the wolf, "Bro!?" "Don't worry man, it's still me."
"Now onto YOU!!!" The boy pointed to Black Mask, who had rose to his feet once more ready to fight. "You wanted to kill me and my brother? WELL, THAT A'INT HAPPENING!!! Are we ready to show him what CHAOS WE CAN BRING!?!?!?" The boy looked to the wolf, who answered, "Of course my dear puppy, I hunger for a test of strength!" "Well then, FROM NOW ON, WE BRING INSANITY WHEREVER WE GO!!! AND FOR OUR ENEMIES, LET'S SHOW THEM THE TRUE MEANING OF RAGNAROK!!!"
"FENRIR!!!"