Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4 or Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

Special thanks to SaintInfernalNeos for helping me with this story and Lost Idea Alchemist who helped edit the later chapters.

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Yu Narukami opened his eyes and found himself riding in a deep-blue and velvet-themed limousine. Sitting opposite him was an elderly man with an unusually long nose and sitting next to him was an elegant lady with platinum blonde hair, pale skin and golden coloured eyes. She was dressed entirely in dark blue with matching high heel shoes and her clothing had black and golden accessories decorating it.

"What….is this place?" asked the confused boy, looking around.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." the old man said in greeting.

"The Velvet Room?" Yu parroted "What kind of place is this?"

"Some introductions are in order first. I'm Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." smiled the elderly man, introducing himself.

"Indeed. Welcome." the woman also greeted. "I will be here to accompany you on your journey. You may call me Margaret."

"Er…nice to meet you both?" dubiously said Yu, bowing slightly

"Tell me, young man, do you believe in fortune telling?" Igor suddenly asked, the smirk never leaving his face.

"I like to keep an open mind about a lot of things." calmly replied the boy.

"Good." softly chuckled the man, hands crossed under his nose. "Now, each reading is done with the same cards, yet the results are always different… Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Igor chuckled flipping over a card, from a deck of cards that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, seven cards laying facedown through the table. "Hmm… The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It seems a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

"That…doesn't sound good…" stated Yu, suddenly getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"The card indicating the future beyond that is…." the next card was flipped, revealing it to be a moon with a sad face. "The Moon, in the upright position. This card represents hesitation and mystery… very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days, you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny… If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost."

"So if I don't solve this mystery I'm doomed?" asked the boy with incredulity. "Wow… that's morbid."

Yu thought about those words for a second. His whole life had been constantly on the move due to his parent's jobs. His father worked in Public Security Intelligence Agency and his mother worked in the Special Forces Group. He had always spent a year or so at one relative or another as such he didn't know his parents all that well. Though, on the rare occasions that he did see them, he had heard his mother and father usually talking about classified things, thus forcing him to, more often than not, be kept out of the room.

"But what kind of place is this? And why is there so much fog outside?" asked the confused boy, just noticing that the shadow of the girl and her eyes were now gone from the window.

"This is a realm that exists between mind and matter…" Igor waved his hand and the tarot card's deck slowly floated into the air. He waved his hands again and the seven cards on the table flew back to the deck, which then floated back to his hand. "It separates dreams from reality. Generally speaking, only those who have forged a contract are allowed to visit this room and perhaps, in the very near future, such a Fate may be awaiting for you as well."

"So this is a dream but not a dream?" Yu tilted his head in confusion, pondering the meaning behind those words.

"If you like." Margaret simply smiled. "Now, until our paths cross again. Farewell."

As Margaret said this, Yu's vision began to blur until the Velvet Room vanished entirely.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Yu woke up to find himself still on the train. He watched the scenery go by as the vehicle exited a tunnel. It was pretty clear by now that he was nowhere near the big city, which made him sigh with relief.

He closed his eyes to try and get some more rest, but was jolted awake when the train began coming to a stop. He stood up and quickly grabbed his bags from the shelf above his seat and got off the wagon.

His eyes curiously looked around the fairly old-looking platform.

"Final stop: Yasoinaba." came the announcement over the PA. "Yasoinaba Station."

Yu walked away from the platform, deep in thought, but was once again jolted as he bumped into an old foreign man and was sent falling to the ground. Luckily none of his belongings came out of his bag.

"Sorry about that kid" the old man 'apologized', with what looked like the hint of a smile on his face. "Here let me help you up."

The elderly man extended a helping hand, which Yu took and pulled himself up with. When he got to his feet, however, he felt like his head was on fire and clutched it in pain. The boy suddenly heard a male voice speaking in his mind.

It sounded strong and dutiful, making him think of a knight of old.

I am Thou….Thou Art I…Open thine eyes…

"Hey, Kid." the old man's voice got Yu's attention away from the voice. "Are you alright?"

For some reason, the silver-haired boy could almost swear that the old man was smirking slightly, but quickly dismissed it as his imagination.

"Er…yeah. Just a little dizzy I guess…"

"Well, I gotta get going now, and I bet you have too." the old man chuckled in a very strange way and began walking away. "Oh by the way, the name's Zelretch. Pleased to meet ya."

"I'm Yu. Yu Narukami" the boy introduced himself, for what he thought was the second time in less than an hour.

"Well, see you round Narukami." Zelretch chuckled again before walking away…and vanishing when he was out of sight. Yu stared at the spot where the old man had disappeared from his vision for a few seconds before leaving the station.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually Yu had gotten outside the station and into the car park. In stark contrast to the train station, which had been slightly busy, the town was practically deserted. One could mistake it for being abandoned entirely if not for the fact that some of the windows still shone with signs of life.

"Where is everybody?" asked the boy to himself. "One would think that nobody even lives here…"

"Oh, there you are!" a middle aged man said, grabbing Yu's attention as he approached to the teenager, a shy-looking little girl attached to his arm. "You look better in person than you do in that picture. You're a whole lot bigger than the last time I saw you. You were just a little runt in diapers back then."

Yu let out an awkward laugh. Truthfully, he didn't remember that far back. Even so, he was getting a slight feeling of familiarity from this man.

"I guess I can't blame you for not remembering me." sighed the man while shaking his head. "Your mom hardly ever let you out of her sight. She was always so protective that I wonder what changed to make her able to let you out of her sight…" the man shook his head again, offering Yu an awkward smile. "Ah, well my name's Ryotaro Dojima. I'm your mother's younger brother and this here is my daughter Nanako"

Seeing that the boy's attention was on her, Nanako shyly hid behind her father.

"Go on, say Hi." Dojima encouraged his daughter, trying to get her to be polite.

"….erm…hello." Nanako mumbled before quickly retreating behind her father.

"What are you so shy for?" chuckled the man as his daughter gave him an angry kick in the leg. "OW! Well then… Let's get going. My car's over there."

Yu had just started following his uncle and cousin back to the car when he was stopped by a voice.

"…Hey." confused, the silver-haired teen turned around. There was a black-haired girl bend down, picking up a piece of paper off the ground. She stood up and held out the paper to Yu. "You dropped this."

"Oh…Thank you." nodded they boy in appreciation.

"Whatever." replied the girl, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "All I did was pick it up."

As he walked closer to the girl to receive the paper, Yu got a better look at the girl. She had grey eyes and wore a sleeveless white shirt, with a short black necktie and a checkered skirt. Along with this, she had on a black belt and a fancy, golden buckle that resembled a heart with wings. A pair of striped stockings with grey boots and choker with a lock on it completed the curious outfit.

She seemed around his age and looked rather unfriendly, but Yu had learnt long ago not to judge people by their appearance. Before he could say anything, though, the girl turned around and walked away.

Sighing, the boy followed his uncle back to his car, where he put his bags in the boot and got in the back seat while Nanako sat in the front seat with her father. They began driving into town and Yu's journey in Inaba began.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

A little while later, Dojima pulled into a gas station called Moel. The attendant, who had long, wavy gray hair, ran out to greet and assist them.

"Hi! Welcome to Moel!" the attendant greeted with an almost feminine voice, which, combined with 'his' looks, made hard to tell the worker's actual gender.

"Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" asked Dojima while turning to Nanako, who had asked for that the moment they stopped.

"Uh-huh," the little girl answered before getting out of the car. She dubiously looked around, trying to locate the restroom.

"It's in the back, to your left." the attendant piped up helpfully, still grinning. "Do you know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

"I know!" pouted Nanako with annoyed look "Geez…"

The girl looked back at her father once more before running of toward the station. Moments after, Yu opened his door and stepped out of the car.

"Are you taking a trip?" the attendant casually asked Dojima.

"No." the man shook his head and thumbed at Yu, who was silently staring at the main street. "We just went to pick him up from the train station. He just moved here from the big city."

"The city, huh…?" while saying that, the attendant looked curiously at the boy.

"Yeah…Fill up my car while you're at it." Dojima finally said. "Regular's fine."

"Right away, sir!" the attendant said cheerfully.

"Good time as any for a smoke…"

Yu watched his uncle walk off to the edge of the sidewalk. He really hadn't taken his uncle for a smoker, which was yet another reason not to judge people by their appearance.

"Are you in high school?"

Surprised, the teen turned to the gas station attendant, nodding silently in response.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?" the attendant looked curiously at Yu, almost as if examining his face. "There's so little to do, so I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs."

Yu wasn't actually paying attention to what the 'man' was saying, though. He was too busy trying to discern what the attendants' gender was.

"Hey, are you listening?" the attendant asked

"Huh?" dumbly muttered the boy, suddenly shaken out of his thoughts.

"I was just saying that we're looking for part-time help right now, here at Moel." the 'man' gently explained, raising his hand in Yu's direction. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student."

"Sure, I'll give it some thought." replied the teen with a nod, shaking the attendants extended hand.

Nanako returned from using the restroom before Yu could think any more on why he couldn't read the attendant.

"Oh, I should get back to work!" the 'man' casually said, walking away quickly.

"Are you okay?" frowned Nanako while looking at her cousin. "Did you get carsick? You don't look too good…"

Yu swallowed as he suddenly felt extremely dizzy.

"Ngh…"

"What's wrong?" Dojima asked returning from his smoke break, frowning after taking one look at. "You okay?"

"I don't feel good…" murmured the boy while putting a hand on his forehead. "Must be the stress of the journey…"

Dojima sighed.

"Let's hurry home, then…"

While getting back into the car, Yu looked back at the gas station, he was still staring at it when they drove away.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Eventually, they arrived at the Dojima residence.

The house was a traditional, two-story one that was a deep chocolate brown in color. It seemed simple enough, but Yu didn't really mind. This was the place that would be his home for the year.

He'd heard that Dojima lived alone with his daughter after his wife died in an accident years ago, so the teen kind of expected the house to be a mess. He was shocked when he found that it was not.

'It's cleaner than I thought it would be' thought Yu while looking around in surprise. 'Uncle Dojima doesn't exactly seem like the kind of guy who can clean up after himself that well…'

After they went inside and putting his things into his new room, Yu found himself sitting at the table with sushi and soda for dinner. After a quick toast, the three started eating.

"So…your mom and dad are busy as always…" commented Dojima, looking at his nephew as if for confirmation. "They're working in the military, right?"

"Dad works with the Public Security Bureau while Mom's holds the rank Major in the Japanese Special Forces." Explained Yu to his uncle while nodding, taking a sip from his soda while doing so.

"Really? Woah, so she's a Major already, uh?" the man seemed lost in thought while slowly eating his food. "You know, it's hard to believe a woman like your mom would enter the military. She wasn't exactly what you'd call….disciplined when she was younger. She was a kind of a delinquent…to put it mildly, But then again she never did like conforming to people's expectations." Dojima sighed. "I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents…its rough being a kid."

For his part, the silver-haired boy was having a difficult time picturing his mother as a delinquent. She was a strict and fair disciplinarian, sure, but she also had a soft side that showed itself every once in a while.

"Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around." said the older man with a smile. "So as long as you're here, you're part of the family. Make yourself at home."

"Thank you for your kindness." warmly smiled Yu.

At that, Dojima chuckled.

"C'mon, there's no need to be so formal. Look, you're making Nanako all tense."

Having heard her name being called, the little girl turned red at realizing the attention was all on her. She quickly glared to her father and quickly tried her best to hide her red face.

"Well, anyway…let's eat."

Before they could do that, however, they heard the sound of a phone ringing.

"Ugh…who's calling at this hour?" Dojima pulled his cell phone from his pocket and answered. "Dojima speaking…"

The man stood up and walked away from Nanako and Yu, pacing near the door as he spoke.

"Yeah? I see…So where is it?"

…

…

"All right, I'm on my way." Dojima finally sighed and ended the call, putting the phone back in his pocket "Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze…"

A confused Yu turned to Nanako, noticing that she looked depressed. It wasn't hard to tell that this was a regular thing. The girl was most likely lonely, having her Dad away on work most of the time and her mother dead.

"Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business." Yu's uncle said apologetically. "I don't know until how late I'll be, so go ahead and eat without me. Nanako, you help him out, okay?"

Nanako nodded, her shoulders slumping slightly as her father walked toward the door. The sound of rain filled the house as the door was opened.

"Nanako, it's raining out, what did you do with the laundry?" echoed Dojima's voice from the entrance.

"I brought it in!" replied the girl in a simple tone.

"…Alright. Well, I'm off."

The door closed and after a few moments, Nanako and Yu heard a car drive away. The little girl sighed and turned on the television.

"— with storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."

Nanako looked back at her plate.

"Let's eat."

Out of nowhere, Yu had found himself alone with his cousin, who was looking rather downtrodden. He decided to try and break the awkward silence with conversation.

"What does your dad do?"

"He…investigates stuff." Nanako said sounding nervous. "Like crime scenes. My dad's a detective."

"And now for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter, Mayumi Yamano. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."

"…This is boring." complained the little girl while making a face, quickly changing to another channel.

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!" happily announced a cheerful voice from the Tv. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako sung along with the advert, perking up as she did.

Yu was surprised at his cousin's sudden change of character. She became much happier quite fast.

"Aren't you going to eat?" inquired Nanako, her smile quickly vanishing.

"Yeah, sorry… I just spaced out." said the boy before beginning to eat.

Soon after he finished eating, Yu went straight up to his room. Feeling more than just tired, the boy went straight to sleep.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Fog was all Yu could see.

It obstructed his vision so much that he could barely see the ground he was standing on. Confused, the boy decided to move forward, hoping to find a way out of whatever that place was.

"Do you seek the truth?" a genderless voice asked, echoing from no particular direction in the fog.

The abrupt question caused Yu to stop in his tracks and look around, searching for the source of the voice. The fog obscured his vision and he could sense no one else's presence around or near him.

"I guess I have no choice but to move forward…" muttered the boy, cautiously continuing his trek through the thick fog.

"If it's truth what you desire, come and find me…" the voice said once again, sounding much closer.

It sounded almost like it was challenging Yu, or taunting him. He kept walking until he bumped into a black and red wall of some kind. No. It wasn't a wall. It was a strange door, made of an unknown and red material. Suddenly, he felt a weight in his hands and looked down to see that he was holding a katana in them somehow. This was definitely not one of his usual dreams.

Then as he put his hand on the door it opened.

"So…You are the one pursuing me…"

Yu could just barely see that there was someone ahead, hidden in the fog. He could see a figure, but could not make out any features that would distinguish its gender. The voice that it spoke with seemed to be gender neutral as well. His grip on the sword tightened as he took a step forward.

"Hmhmhm… Try all you like…"

Yu glared at the figure with annoyance, something inside of him stirring to life.

Before the boy knew what was happening, he was moving forward and slashing at the figure. He was rather surprised when he struck something, albeit lightly. The figure gave out a pained grunt, although it tried to conceal it. Yu took some small pleasure in the little victory.

"Hmm….It seems you can see a little, despite the fog…" the figure said with irritation at being struck.

The silver-haired teen was acting entirely on instinct when he felt something not like himself, a very different 'feeling', quickly pulling at it with all his might. When he did a blank tarot card not unlike the ones Igor possessed floated down into his hand. He crushed it and an armoured silhouette, little more than a shadow, appeared above him and slashed at the being in the fog.

It seemed prepared for an attack however, and didn't grunt in pain this time.

"I see… Indeed, you possess an interesting quality…" the figure said. "This is some very interesting information."

Growling, Yu tried again, and the silhouette rushed forward, slashing at the being again. The attack didn't even touch it.

"But… You will not catch me so easily… If what you seek is 'Truth', then your search will be even harder…"

The figure glowed and a soft, hissing sound filled the air. The fog grew thicker and soon, everything was engulfed within the fog. The shocked boy could no longer see anything…all he could see was white fog.

"What the hell?" Yu looked around, his grip on the Japanese sword tightening.

"Everyone sees what they want to… And the fog only deepens…"

With those final words, the being was gone. And slowly, the world around the teen started to vanish…

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

As Yu walked to class 2-2, which was to be his homeroom for the next school year, he could hear some conversations coming from inside the classroom and even saw a few people talking through the doors window. As it usual for any newcomer, he waited outside to be summoned by the teacher.

"Talk about bad luck… The homeroom teacher here is Morooka, isn't it?" a sitting student complained.

"Yeah, it's King Moron, alright…we get to enjoy his long-ass sermons every day for a whole year. Joy." his friend added to the complaint. A female student walked over to the two boys.

"Hey, you guys! I heard there's a transfer student from the city in this class."

"Huh? Really? A guy or a girl?" Yu decided to tune out that conversation and hone in on another one. This one involved a brown-haired girl in a green jacket and a boy with orange headphones looking worse for wear.

"…Huh? You look dead today." the green-wearing girl said almost with pity.

"Yeah, um… I don't wanna talk about it…" the headphone-wearing boy muttered, looking away from her.

"…What's with him?"

"Who knows?" another girl said.

Finally, the waiting teen saw the teacher motion for him to come in, so he opened the door and walked in, following after the man. He simply took up a piece of chalk and began writing his name in the blackboard.

"I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just because its spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons! As long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!" ranted the man with a very annoying voice, before turning his attention to Yu. "This kid here is our new transfer student. He got booted from our putrid down here to the boonies basically making him a fugitive. Come on, introduce yourself."

"Uh, hi, I'm Yu Naruka-"

"YOU WERE JUST OGLING THAT INNOCENT YOUNG GIRL BY THE WINDOW WEREN'T YOU?!" Morooka's sudden yell catching Yu off guard, almost making him jump in surprise. "YOUR NAME'S GOING DOWN ON MY ROTTEN LITTLE SHIT LIST! I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF FILTHY INSTITUTION YOU COME FROM BUT DON'T DO THAT HERE!"

"Sir!" the green wearing girl suddenly interrupted. "There's empty seat here. Can he sit next to me?"

She motioned to an empty seat to her left. Morooka looked a bit put out at the notion that he couldn't rant a bit more.

"Yeah, sure…" growled the teacher before glaring at Yu again. "TAKE YOUR SEAT ALREADY!"

Quickly, the silver-haired teen sat down next to the girl in green and to the left of a short girl with blue hair.

"We call him King Moron." the green girl whispered to him. "He's horrible with everyone, so don't wo-"

"HEY SHUT IT YOU TWO!" yelled the aforementioned teacher.

With that, King Moron began his rant about how society had gone to hell and how things were better back in his day. Eventually when he realized he wasn't going to learn anything useful at all, Yu tuned him out.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

[04/12 Tuesday, Yasogami High, Inaba]

Finally, school mercifully ended much to Yu's relief. He was surprised, though, when the blue haired girl to his left walked to his desk and walked up to him

"So you're the new student." she greeted with an expressionless tone.

"Yeah, I'm Yu Narukami." he greeted her.

"My name's Aika Nakamura." she gave quick polite bow. "It's nice to meet you"

"Ehm, yeah, likewise." replied the boy with a nod. "I-"

"Attention students! There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat…"

"Incident?!" a girl yelped.

"Something actually happened?" said girl's friend questioned her.

"C'mon! Let's go check it out!" the brown-haired girl from earlier suggested.

"Sorry I've gotta go home." Aika apologized. "I've got help out with deliveries at my family's restaurant. See you tomorrow."

"See you…" acknowledged the teen, watching her walk out of the classroom and vanish from sight.

Everyone stood up to leave the campus, Yu not being the exception. He was planning to make the trek home by himself when two girls stopped him. One of them was, once again, the green jacket-wearing girl from earlier, who stopped King Moron from ranting at him.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself?" said girl asked with a smile.

Before the boy could answer, though, she quickly kept talking.

"Would you mind walking with us? This thing sounds kinda freaky!"

"Yeah, sure." agreed Yu while taking his bag. It couldn't hurt to walk home with the two, he supposed.

"Thanks! Oh, I'm Chie Satonaka, by the way!" the girl introduced herself with a smile, before gesturing over to the girl in the red sweater. "And this is my friend Yukiko Amagi."

"Nice to meet you… I'm sorry for pestering you." Yukiko said apologetically

"Yukiko! C'mon, don't apologize like that. It makes me look like I got no upbringing." complained Chie with a loud voice. "This was just a good excuse to talk to him a bit…"

"Hey what's up Chie?" the clumsy student from before school cut in, showing a nervous and clearly fake smile. "Thanks I loved it, it was way cool!" he said before thrusting a DVD-case into Chie's hands and quickly tried to make a break for the door. "Well, see ya tomorrow!"

"Hold it right there!" suddenly yelled the girl, giving chase and kicking the student in the crotch, causing him to face-plant into the ground.

Yu was still looking at the whimpering boy with pity when Chie's voice boomed through the room.

"WHAT THE HELL?! IT'S CRACKED, YOU TOOL! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TRIAL OF THE DRAGON?!" screamed the girl, looking at the now open DVD-case and seeing the cracked disc inside.

"…I think mine's cracked too… Critical hit to the nads…"

"A-Are you alright?" Yukiko asked

"Don't be nice to this jerk. Let him suffer." Chie scoffed before walking away. "Come on we're going home!"

They both left the classroom, with Yu quickly following suit. Before that, though, he took one last look at the downed student.

"I'll just… leave him be…" he muttered to himself before closing the classroom's door.

The three exited the school's front doors and were approaching the gate when Chie decided to strike up a conversation. The fog had finally cleared up.

"So, why are you here?" she promptly asked.

This was a pretty standard question that Yu got all the time.

"My parents are too busy with work, so I'm staying here with my uncle. My mom works in the Special Forces group and my dad works for some intelligence agency." he replied nonchalantly.

"Wow, cool! Your mom's a Special Force's agent and your dad's a spy?!" Chie looked at him impressed

"Well I'm not too sure about my dad, but because my parents are always busy with work I have to stay with one relative or another." Yu continued with a resigned sigh. "I'm only here for the year."

"Even so, their jobs do sound interesting, don't you think, Chie?" Yukiko added on, attempting to join in.

"Yeah, I guess. But you're only here for a year huh?" the outgoing girl sighed with disappointment "And only because of your parent's jobs! I thought that it'd be juicier than that…."

"Chie don't be rude." the red-wearing girl admonished her friend, while Yu simply shook his head.

Yukiko didn't notice a boy from a different school staring at her from the school gate.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Elsewhere, the crime scene was very busy with police officers and an ambulance, not that the ambulance was necessary or could even help at that point. The intersection was blocked off by yellow tape and officers were running around, looking for clues about what had happened earlier during the day. A stretcher with a body bag on top ran past Dojima. He motioned to stop the stretcher and slightly unzipped the bag. He checked the contents inside and nodded his head in confirmation.

A younger man, dressed in a suit with unruly black hair, also took a look at the contents before his face turned green, quickly proceeding to sprint towards a corner and regurgitate what most likely was his lunch.

"Dammit Adachi!" Dojima roared. "How long are you gonna act like a rookie? You wanna be put back on desk work?!"

The younger man stopped vomiting and looked up at his partner and superior, with an unsure smile.

"So-sorry, boss. I'm just not used to seeing- Ugh!" Adachi cut himself off again as he began heaving again. Shaking his head, the older detective looked up at a TV antenna, which was being examined by people from the crime lab. He let out a long sigh in frustration.

"What a grim sight…" he mused.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

The Wizard Marshal Zelretch sat in his office back at the Clock Tower. He currently had a visitor who took the form of a glowing blue butterfly which was resting on his desk.

"Everything's prepared." said the Sorcerer with an enigmatic look. "I've reconnected the power of the Persona potentials as well as the Wild Card from the Sea of Souls to the Throne of Heroes, just as a planned. Everything's in place."

"I assume that you did the same for Nyarlathotep's chosen for this round?" the butterfly asked.

"Yup." grinned Zelretch while crossing his hands. "The Heroic Spirit in question who has taken the place of his regular Persona should be equal an equal and fair opposite to the Wild Cards main Heroic Spirit Persona. I've also set the Holy Grail up just like you asked. Ol' Nyarlathotep won't know what hit him by the time this is over."

"Very good. I knew I could rely on you old friend." the 'butterfly' said.

"So, when the one behind the fog and the Midnight Channel in Inaba is defeated, she'll become the sacrifice to power THIS Holy Grail instead of the Servants… Isn't that right, Philemon?" asked the master of the Second Magic, stroking his beard thoughtfully

"Yes. But I must admit that I'm curious…how will you secure the co-operation of the Heroic Spirits in this endeavour?" Philemon asked fluttering his wings for a moment

"The same way for why they co-operated for the original Grail Wars." Zelretch chuckled. "They've all been promised a wish in return for their co-operation. I'll use the Second Magic to tap into Alternate Holy Grails and everyone's happy!"

"What about those who have no wish?" Philemon asked. "I know for a fact just WHO you chose for Yu Narukami's World Arcana. Even before actually unlocking the World that Heroic Spirit's ego will overpower the boy's own, it is inevitable."

"Yeah, it's always a gamble with 'Goldie', but we're talking about fighting a God and sacrificing it to power the Grail in order to make a wish that will alter humanity." The Wizard Marshall put an unusually serious look on his face as he looked at the blue butterfly. "We need all the help we can get. Plus he's not too fond of Gods, so he might help on principle."

"For now we must hope your gamble pays off." Philemon sighed, somehow doing it even though he was in the form of a butterfly. "I will make sure Margaret points Narukami in the right direction when the time to make the wish comes…"

"Sounds like a plan." Zelretch grinned cheerfully.

"The Heroic Spirits in question are as close to the true inner selves of the potentials as possible aren't they?" Philemon asked. "After all, the Heroic Spirits will be Personas instead of Servants, and we have no Command Seals, so the possibility of some of them killing their controller is high."

"True, but unlike Servants they won't be able to linger around if they do that." Zeltrech explained "If their controller dies they immediately go back to the Throne and lose their opportunity to get their wish. No cheats or manipulation will be allowed as long as they share the soul of those kids. The modified Grail should supply them this basic information. Are all your concerns rested now?"

"For now, they are. Do try to make sure no one interferes with this venture." Philemon said seriously before taking off. ""We don't need anyone unscrupulous finding out what we're doing in Inaba. Least of all anyone interested in the Holy Grail."

"Relax, I'll take care of that." Zelretch waved the concerns aside as the butterfly began to fly away. "I'll make sure that everyone knows that Inaba it's off limits… Oh, and you are aware of what will happen if Narukami and his friends CAN'T win this right?"

"I am quite aware." Philemon muttered darkly with a heavy heart. "In order to grant the wish that 'She' believes humanity wants… The Wild Card and his friends will become the sacrifices used to power the Holy Grail, in the absence of Servants in a regular Grail War."

"Either the Wild Card and his friends will be sacrificed, or she will." The Sorcerer seemed lost in thought. "A dangerous gamble."

"I don't like it but we have no choice." the butterfly vanished in the sky, leaving only blue sparks on its trail. "This is only way."