Chapter Text
Kawakami had long ago learnt how to manage her expression. Both of her professions required the ability to school any outbursts she had, from the charisma needed as a maid to keep getting hired, to being able to keep a straight face as high schoolers decided to act as the hormonal mob they were deep inside.
It was perhaps the only reason why she didn’t immediately scream upon realizing that she was not in her apartment after waking up. She wasn’t sure where she was, which was incredibly concerning, and even her memories of the previous night were distant and hard to distinguish. There were flashes of velvet blue behind a soothing smoke screen, dark wood inlaid with gold, a feeling of the fantastical in every memory. But… that couldn’t be right, could it? It wasn’t the type of place she could regularly afford, more like Jazz Jin, the club that Akira would invite her to.
She remembered visiting last week, Akira wanting to have them meet a politician that he had met at some point. He had just come out of jail, and was about to run as a candidate. It had been a year since he had been in the city last, the moment of his return calling for a triumphant celebration. Many of the people he had met that first year appeared, and he had rented out the club so they could all meet. It was enjoyable, but she doubted it had to do with the fact that she was now here.
She stood up and looked around. It seemed to be a hotel room, rather expensive if she were to judge it based on anything. Plush beds, with deep blue sheets. Generic black curtains on milky white walls. Nothing she could afford on a teacher’s salary…but maybe it would have a bathroom, a window or something.
She blinked, as she saw her own face. Her face…it was ten years younger. It-
Akira Kurusu. This had to be related to him. She didn’t have time for this, she had to get to class. The reality of responsibility quickly replaced any befuddlement, as she opened the door, hoping to find some exit, but the hallway was just as mind-numbingly pleasant, even as she began to have some sense of time lost. She-She needed to leave. She needed to figure out where she was, what this place was.
It felt easy, finding the lobby. Even if she felt like she wasn’t quite firmly in reality, she could easily navigate the halls, as if she had always been there, raised within the creamy walls of the hotel.
The person at the front desk smiled, but Kawakami was unable to find the actual door. She turned to ask the person, but they held a finger up to their lips.
“The cards are talking.”
It was odd, that he turned to look at her. Considering the blindfold covering his eyes.
Kawakami, finding it hard to keep her patience, approached them.
Their face was perfectly placid as they began to mechanically shuffle the cards in their hand, the motion so fast it began to blur.
Then, with as much suddenness as they had started with, the cards went perfectly still in his hands. For a second, the world was frozen in place. Then, as smoothly as he shuffled, he laid out 3 cards.
Time ticked on,
“The Subject. Temperance. You have found balance in your life, and dedicated your life to the pursuit of the goal. The Trickster has aided you, and even in the storm of consciousness, you will never be unsteady.”
It was a bright red card, the angel standing in water. She remembered, Chihaya had at some point said that she had been ascribed by a Major Arcana. Chihaya had asked Kawakami to draw five cards from the tarot deck, and upon flipping over the cards, Chihaya revealed they were all that same bright red lady.
“The Event. The Wheel of Fortune, Reversed. Fate is inescapable, and you shall repeat the same script that we once played before. The wheel turns yet again, from the beginning arrives the end. And now, from the end arrives the beginning.”
The person continued to stare at Kawakami through his blindfold, letting their face betray no emotions even as he flipped over the second card. Then, as he flipped the third, the card seemed to transform seamlessly in midair, thickening in the person’s hand before it was a box in the middle.
Kawakami couldn’t move, frozen in the dreamlike trance that the entire hotel seemed to be trapped in. Even as she began looking down from the face, it didn’t feel like she was moving her body. Unable to respond to the man, they continued to speak.
“The Present. Here is the key to your room, Sadayo Kawakami. You are still able to return to the world you knew. May your stay be a pleasant one.”
Kawakami felt chills fall down her spine as the man said her name, perfect monotony making her name seem alien, somehow more than what she is. As if seeing her freeze, the man’s demeanor shifts to one more familiar. The stone softens to the calm serenity she recognizes from her professional experience.
The person slid off the lid to the wooden box, revealing a blue ornate key, and as Kawakami looked down at it, she blinked. The person was gone, leaving only the box. She took the key in her hand, and sighed. She had a sense of how the dream would continue, and she turned around. She looked up, confused as she remembered the blank walls that surrounded her.
Where once was only the faded paleness of the wall, there was now a deep Velvet Blue door. The Door glowed, pulsing and drawing her eyes to the keyhole.
She didn’t quite realize when she had approached the front of the door.
The key went in smoothly. With barely a thought spared, she stepped forward.
Sadayo Kawakami woke up in the morning of November, 2007, and went to work like normal. There was a blue key in her hand, but she woke up too late to really worry about that, instead putting it away as she rushed to get to school on time. She actually woke up feeling great, which was something new, like she was ten years younger. It felt liberating.
In class, she struggled to figure out the computer, feeling as if she should remember how it worked. Eventually, she gave up, deciding to do the class without it. It was simple enough, she was primarily meant to teach…it was some book, right? She looked at her notes, before turning to her students. They had been giving her weird looks, but it was probably just her imagination.
There was a troublemaker student in the back, whose name was on the tip of her tongue, but seemed content to remain there. Yesterday, she remembered writing him off, thinking he wouldn’t finish the book. (Did she assign it yesterday? She doesn’t know why it seems so distant.) But he seemed to light up when she mentioned the book, more than any of the other students. She asked him, and he seemed to want to fight her. Teenagers, and their silly ideas of appearances.
She glared at him, years of exhaustion and experience combining into one unspoken message that seemed to settle the outburst. She asked him again, and was happy to hear a genuinely unique take on the text. It was a good class, with all the students genuinely paying attention, which, at the end of the day, what else could she ask for?
The students were dismissed sooner than she expected, the discussion livening up quickly as the so called troublemaker began to speak up more in the discussion, even if it was just for today. She was looking at a vending machine, having neglected to make herself a meal before leaving in the morning. The entire day, it was hard to quite focus on anything specific, but she figured a meal ought to clear her head. A fellow teacher (and why couldn’t Kawakami remember her name? Kawakami had met her at some point yesterday, didn’t she?) walked up to Kawakami, smiling with all the bluster of someone who thought they were better at their job than they actually were.
“I can’t believe you managed to control that troublemaker,” Kawakami couldn’t help but suppress a twitch as the teacher continued to speak, audacious and loud when Kawakami barely had the peace of mind to deal with her normal annoyances. “I had him last year and every class with him just led to being insulted. You should probably just give up anyways, it’s not worth keeping it up.”
Kawakami paused, considering what to do. She could just give her a strange look, dismiss the whole premise without responding, looking back at the day. He didn’t feel particularly troublesome, did he? She was sure she had worse students, but she couldn’t quite remember when. Kawakami shrugged, not turning to look at the woman. “He had something interesting to say. If I want other students to feel free to speak, I can't shush any specific student. He isn’t really that bad, honestly.”
The teacher looked at her with a confused expression, but Kawakami quickly moved on, not really having any desire to stick around. It was a confusing day, and talking with teachers that couldn’t even have faith in their students wasn’t worth it.
It was that very fogginess that led her to attempt to open the door to her classroom with the wrong key, blue metal cold against her hand as she turned the key, not noticing the fact that the key was not the one that should open the door as it turned smoothly.
The room that awaited her was clad in blues and smoke, indigo velvet decorating the room. As she paused, Sadayo Kawakami, the 34 year old teacher, suddenly woke up.
She walked into the room, being aware enough that the solution to the bizarre problems that plagued Kurusu-kun’s life was even more bizarre situations. She just hoped that it wasn’t some evil god to deal with.
The room was heavily clad in smoke and curtains, velvet couches arranged about as if to facilitate a meeting. There were other people in the room, looking around with the selfsame confusion that Kawakami had, each with a mask on their face. She could feel a cold flame touch her face, and realized that she herself had a mask as well.
They were all in varying states of harried stress, from one with a metallic white face mask covering her full face sitting with her legs crossed on the couch, to one with a light blue mask who seemed unable to relax. In the middle of the room were the sole exceptions, an old man with an exceptionally long nose and a woman dressed in all blue.
She looked at the people in masks, and quickly realized that they all seemed familiar. The same people who Akira had introduced her to, recognizable in small parts. The gecko tattoo on the neck, the way that the doctor crossed her legs, the blonde hair of the fortune teller, Sojiro Sakura’s tell tale charisma. They all seemed to also recognize each other, leaving only the man in the middle and the little girl beside him as strangers.
“Master, I believe it would be prudent to start talking. I am unsure when, or even if, the other Arcana shall be able to come to the room. There are enough here to begin analyzing the situation.” The little girl spoke in clear tones, professional in a way that contradicted her appearance, and yet matched her uniform.
The man spoke with a high pitched, kindly voice, closing his eyes in contemplation. “Yes, Lavenza, I believe you are right. I did not expect this version of the velvet room to come into use so soon, and yet fate has brought all of you here.”
“Welcome to the Velvet Room, dear guests. My name is Igor, and I must say, I was not expecting any of you for quite some time. This is a place between dream and reality, mind and matter. I do not believe you were even scheduled to be guests, and yet.”
He began to look at each of the people in masks, before motioning. “It may be wise to remove those masks, assuming you don’t wish to become aspects of the collective unconscious. It should be no trouble, even if their appearance itself is.”
The man with the gecko tattoo was the first to move, quickly taking off the mask and showing the much younger face. The others followed quickly, unsure of what the man meant by troubling.
“Hmm, I see. My, something quite unusual occurred to all of you, for you to become a part of a deck. Beyond that, it seems you have also traveled in time, to long before the cards were dealt. If I may ask, do any of you happen to be the trickster?”
They all looked at each other, shaking their heads in confusion. The fortune teller seemed to have a revelation, however. “I believe we may all have been bonded to one. The Trickster means that it has to do with the fool arcana, correct?”
At the little girl’s- Lavenza’s, Kawakami’s mind supplied- nod, the lady went on. “I made a deal with Akira Kurusu, and I imagine the rest of us all did as well. And, while I may not have my cards, I get the sense that it was that deal that brought us here.”
Igor processed the information for a second, before asking. “If you have made contracts with the Trickster, then that likely is what grants you access to the Velvet Room at this time. And I am glad that you have come, for the presence of those masks are rather concerning.”
As none of the audience spoke up, Igor continued. “They are the mark of the Arcana, a fragment of the truths that create the foundation of the human experience, and in fact, include the most dangerous of the masks: The 13th. If left on, I believe you would collapse to a state of being a shadow in due time, a fragment of a consciousness.”
It was the doctor who talked this time, leaning forward. “Forgive me for interrupting, but if I’m not mistaken, isn’t the mask meant to be the manifestation of a persona? I may have never been in the metaverse, but I do have it on good authority that masks are not quite so negative.”
Lavenza moved forward to respond. “While it is true that in your cycle of consciousness, the mask ought to act as an extension of your own power. However, due to the interference in your arcana, it is not quite so simple.”
She opened the book she was holding, and an image was projected into the air. “When someone usually forms a persona, the arcana acts as a nucleation point, where the attributes shared between arcana and the individual is only the base of the persona. One can then develop the connection to the arcana, and those positive attributes and revelations strengthen the persona in turn.”
The projection showed a snowflake, with the center being a golden sphere labeled arcana and the surrounding spokes being shown as the persona. “However, you have all awakened to the full truth of your arcana. Typically, we have it so that the bonds of the Wildcard will only reveal the truths to the wildcard, rather than to themselves. The ability to engage in the metaphysical world without a Persona to help deal with the backlash destabilizes that identity.” The snowflake began cracking as more of the golden arcana spheres appeared, disrupting the image. “You all have been awakened to the full truth of the Arcana, and yet you also have not even awakened your personas yet. And so, the masks you wear are not your own, but those of the Arcana drawn from the collective unconscious. Perhaps in this room we could refine the Arcana-“
“Lavenza, my dear. We ought not promise that which we are unaware of our ability to complete. It may not even be within the duties of the Velvet Room to assist them. Our capabilities are limited as the Velvet Room is yet to take shape, and without our master’s guidance, we shall not be attendants to their power. However, there is a choice to be made. I expect that disparate as you are, you may wish to be able to return. As thus, the Velvet Room shall remain open to you for some time, and Lavenza will attend to all of you. I do hope I will return soon.”
Something about his movements as he stood up, bowing to depart in a way almost reminiscent of marionette shows, with the stiff limbs and freely bending joints. Igor walked backwards into the smoke, leaving Lavenza and all the adults in the room.
Sojiro decided to be the first to speak up. “...What the fuck?”
The Velvet Room was surprisingly comfortable for a room so monochrome. It was easy to relax into the seats, especially once Nameless and Belladonna went to the stage, singing in delicate tones that made the room feel almost homey.
Lavenza had created coffee and the tools of the trade for Sojiro when asked, claiming that he wasn’t about to deal with ‘that kid’s bullshit’ without a cup of coffee. Kawakami could only appreciate the energy as her mind whirled with the consequences of genuine, bona fide time travel. Even when she couldn’t remember the last 10 years, the memories of the recent past felt so distant. Now, she would be surprised if she could actually remember the names of any of her students.
Out of all of them, Chihaya and Lavenza were the only ones who were talking openly. Considering the fact she ‘sensed’ something related to the room, it felt natural to assume she may have just shaken off the weirdness of the room quicker than the rest of them.
“I hope I’m not imposing, Lavenza, but may I ask a few questions relating to the ‘manifestation of the arcana’? I noticed the difference in fortune telling this morning, so I think perhaps I should have some idea of what the difference in my main form of income could be.” The accent had begun to shift as Chihaya talked, the country accent coming as she began fidgeting with her hair. She had approached the strange girl (? Kawakami wasn’t entirely sure if she was a girl, but she presented herself akin to one. Would it be rude to ask?) named Lavenza.
Lavenza, unlike her master, seemed happy to talk about it. “Of course! I had not expected to be allowed to meet humans so soon, so forgive me if I am unable to answer something. Oh, how exciting it is, to meet the deck I shall deal!”
“Well, alright then. Now, I do card readings for a living, and I’ve always been more accurate than any other schmuck on the street, but I remember my future readings had started to change with Kurusu’s insights. Is this what your master meant when he said we had been touched by our arcana?” Chihaya asked with a certain severity. Lavenza frowned, but nodded for Chihaya to continue. “Then I have to ask: is it only the truths of our Arcana which have been revealed to us? Or is there some other aspect that has been embedded within us?”
Lavenza bit her lip, seeming to consider her words. “This is…highly abnormal. Ever since the Demon Painter’s guests, magic outside of the purview of my Master should be tightly regulated. For you to carry the power of the Wheel of Fortune, even before you met the trickster…I…” she stopped to think over her words. “Perhaps I am speaking out of turn, but I am sure my master will forgive me. You are correct, that the masks are not just the abstract symbolism of your Arcana. Whatever happened in your time must have affected the Velvet Room, I think. We wouldn’t have allowed for you to be able to manifest the Arcana in the real world. And yet, it is unmistakably cut from the cloth of this room.”
Lavenza shuffled, before continuing. “If you had the powers of Fortune, then it means that you had been imprinted with the Arcana since the beginning. Any changes you had gotten from the truths revealed in your interactions with the trickster would remain in your psyche as well, meaning you would also have that power. But it is also likely contained within that mask…”
Dr. Takemi leaned forward, curious. “Didn’t your master say those masks would reduce us to shadows? And yet, now you say that Chihaya here has a unique ability of hers locked away in that. What are these masks, then? There are many more confidants beyond us 5, and I assume if we are a deck as you say, we wouldn’t be the only ones to come.”
Lavenza took a deep breath, before taking a focused look. “The masks are, as my master said, aspects of the collective unconscious. Upon the birth of the collective unconscious, the sea was divided into 22 distinct archetypes, known as the Arcana. As humans began to actualize into individuals, crawling out from the sea, they had to create bulwarks to protect them from the crashing waves.” Lavenza began to mime some sort of motion, the nuances of which evaded Kawakami’s grasp as she dived even deeper into esotericism, giving her a headache in the meantime. “These became Shadows, and from there grew the Ego and the Super-Ego. Then, as they interacted with each other, they began to shape the sea in turn, drawing specific archetypes and symbols. These started to become Personas, the stories we tell of ourselves in the presence of others. Whether it be rebellion, death, the truth, sin and innocence, the Persona would be how we define ourselves in relation to them. It had been a long time since any human had even touched the abstract symbols that now form the shore of the sea.”
Sojiro interrupted as he gave Lavenza a cup of coffee, seemingly knowing something. “Had, past tense. I assume this has something to do with the Kirijo group and their experiments?”
Lavenza paused, staring at Sojiro intensely. “How do you know that name? It isn’t a part of my guest’s quest at all, why-”
Sojiro chuckled as she spluttered. “I was involved with studying the cognitive world, that being Aki-wait, you don’t know his name, do you? What were you calling him…your Trickster? Manifestation of the unconscious. I may not know as much as that cat Morgana, but I dabbled.”
Lavenza seemed stunned, absently taking a sip as she processed his awareness, before stopping. “This coffee…you also have awakened powers of the hierophant? The ability to grant Sanctuary…”
Iwai was the one to speak up. “You were talking about how no one had touched the shores, ma’am?”
Lavenza shook her head, slapping her cheeks to focus. “Right! Forgive me for the tangent. Anyways, as Sojiro said, people had recently begun interacting with the shore of the beach, but never attempted to reach the actual sea. The actual fundamental truths and power of those archetypes presented themselves in stories, rather than as a truth of the universe. These masks are akin to drops of that water. You wearing them is a mark that you have engaged directly with the sea, without an awakened Persona to act as a focus for your identity.” She grabbed one of the masks, a green one where the designs on it were not actually much like a mask, instead 2 spirals separated by a vertical curve. “But the sea is subtle and persistent, and would attempt to wear you out if you continued to wear it. If you had only a shard, like the Wheel of Fortune’s ability to predict the future, or the ability of the Tower to cast even the most prideful of people into self doubt, you would likely be able to incorporate that into your Ego.”
Iwai considered this, before asking. “So, if we leave those masks here, we would lose certain abilities that we may have had since before this Trickster business started, as well as any abilities we gained in our dealings. Personally, it isn’t the worst thing for me, the guns never gained any power in reality. But, and forgive me for overhearing, but you mentioned that Sojiro’s coffee is in part tied to his Arcana. And losing the ability to make coffee seems pretty impactful to a man who makes coffee.”
Lavenza seemed uncomfortable. “I was sure that these were just the aspects the velvet room of the future foisted upon you, and yet. You all are tied to the current too deeply for it to be normal. It seems against this room’s purpose to remove it from you then. And yet, to return it would be dangerous…”
Kawakami, who had stayed silent so far, spoke up. “Forgive me for asking, but you mentioned those masks include ‘truth’ as well. Would that include our memories from the future?”
Lavenza paused for a second. “I…I suppose it would. Whatever method you traveled back in time would be contained within the masks, and without your memories, it would be like living that same old life like before. But wouldn’t that be more convenient? It would also help make sure you don’t interfere with the next 2 guests. I don’t think you would accept- oh I ought not say.”
The energy between the adults changed, as they realized that Lavenza was not some completely trustworthy source that would simply tell them anything. The smoke in the room began to feel more insidious as they realized how truly out of their depth they were, even as the smell of coffee made the room feel more familiar.
Chihaya narrowed her eyes, looking at the attendant. “What ought you not say, Lavenza?”
Lavenza did not back down, looking at Chihaya. “It is not my prerogative to tell, Fortune.”
Chihaya sighed, before gathering her cards. Lavenza seemed unconcerned, dismissing the cards. “Matters of the Velvet Room are beyond your divinations, there is no wa-“
Chihaya flipped over the last card, and suddenly the room itself shifted, flashing in brilliance for but a second. Chihaya stood up, in shock. “You-you would let that kid die? I thought this room was to help rebel against fate, not blithely accept it!”
Lavenza sighed, “This room exists to help people learn and grow, to fulfill their own paths. But it also exists to save humanity from its own curses. It is much too late for Nyx to be beaten without such drastic measures. Even…” And here, Lavenza’s face betrayed her own doubt. “Even if I would rather it not occur.”
Some flashes of memory began to appear in Kawakami’s mind, hearing of the death of someone - that's why she came here - who is he? Words tumbled out before she could stop herself. “Lavenza, what are our contracts?”
zz
Lavenza looked uncomfortable. “Are you sure you wish to hear this? I…as you are now, I am un-“
Kawakami looked at her. “Please.”
Lavenza nodded, steeling herself. As she began to speak, suddenly the world began to blur in pain, all of the adults clutching their heads. Takemi, who had stood up when Chihaya mentioned the death of someone, fell over, unable to bear the pain.
The words were not quite a language, barely comprehensible by the adults, and yet they could tell the meaning. The words became larger than life, every utterance becoming so loud that it became their entire reality. The words came from deep within themselves, as much as from Lavenza, each word being a scream from their very soul.
As Lavenza finished, Iwai looked at her. “There you have it. We can’t back down now.”
A promise to fix the errors of humanity, to save the twins who wished to live, to heal the sickness of the Night Queen, to change.
Lavenza pondered over the words that she had not heard before being asked to recite. “This…I can’t deny the binding contract of this room. I…”
There was a pause, and suddenly Lavenza remembered. “I…please. I shall help you all in this quest, but you must go. Tatsumi Port Island. That is the location of the next quest. I see it now.”
The calm and naive demeanor melted away, showing determination and wisdom and a fervor that wasn’t there before. It wasn’t until Sojiro told her to calm down that she seemed to remember they were there.
“Your masks, yes. You will need their powers. Oh dear, Shinya! He will need the mask removed promptly, his memories likely won’t assimilate for a while. You all are at least adults, even without personas, you have stamina.”
She moved to the table, where the masks had been laid out by Igor, before snapping her fingers. The masks shattered under a dazzling show of lights, fragments spinning. Five items appeared on the table, sitting amidst the rubble of the masks. A book with a symbol, a scythe, a cup of water, a deck of cards and a branch of a tree.
“Take these with you, they ought to transform into some accessory that you can wear easily. These are the skills you already unlocked, as well as some extra power. They ought to protect you in that time, that cursed time. Igor will remember soon, and we will be able to facilitate that transfer, but you must begin now. You will find the other Confidants there in time. Oh! And wear some Toshiro Kasukabe pin, or sticker or something. I’ll explain it once I have talked with my master.”
The room itself had begun to shudder, something in the room shifting. Kawakami grabbed the cup, feeling it transform in her hand until all she had was a small ribbon, pocketing it as she went back to the school. The blue door, lacking the grace it had when she first entered, trembled and disappeared.
Kawakami wasn’t entirely sure what to do, but the grading was quick, and she managed to leave early. She had to begin searching for a new job the next year.