The world melted away in a haze of blue. One moment, I was in the dim light of my dorm room, the faint, ever-present pulse of Tartarus a dull throb in the back of my mind.
Without recognizing it, I was standing in a place that felt both nowhere and everywhere.
The air was thick with the scent of old leather and brewing coffee. The room was long and narrow, dominated by bars of a deep, royal blue. It felt like a prison, but an elegant, timeless one. Plush, velvety seats lined the walls, and a strange, ethereal music seemed to emanate from the very air itself.
This room was the Velvet Room. I knew it with a certainty that went beyond knowledge.
Behind a large, ornate desk sat a man of impossible appearance. His nose was long and curved, his smile wide and fixed, and his eyes closed in perpetual contemplation. To his side stood a young woman with silver hair and a bell-like voice, dressed in a blue maid's uniform, her posture perfectly poised.
"Welcome," the man's voice was deep and resonant, filling the room without effort. "To the Velvet Room."
My heart hammered against my ribs; I cannot help but ask, "Where am I? Who are you?"
"My name is Igor," he said, his smile unwavering. "This is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that reflects the state of your soul." He gestured with a gloved hand to the surrounding bars.
He looks at me with those scary eyes. "And it seems your soul is one that perceives itself as a prison, a place of confinement for a great and mysterious power."
The entity within me stirred, not with alarm, but with a faint sense of recognition, like a guard acknowledging a warden from a neighboring cell.
"The young man who bears the '???' Arcana," Igor continued, his head tilting. "A most intriguing development. An unregistered variable in the grand game."
"Game? What game?" I asked, my voice tight. "What is this '???'? What is inside of me?"
Igor's chuckle was a dry rustle of leaves. "To name a thing is to limit it. Your Persona exists outside the conventional boundaries. It is a keeper of seals, a warden of endings and beginnings. Its purpose is… unique."
The silver-haired woman, Elizabeth, stepped forward, her eyes sparkling with bright curiosity.
"It's always so fascinating! It's like a new rule has been written into the universe, and we get to watch how it plays out! Will you be the lock that holds back the tide? Or the key that opens the final door?" She leaned in, peering at me. "The suspense is delightful!"
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the room's temperature. "I don't want to be a key or a lock. I just want to understand."
"And you must understand," Igor continued, his tone becoming somber and serious. "However, understanding brings responsibility. The power you possess is not for use in battle. It is a force that maintains cosmic balance. Unmaking Shadows does not destroy them, but instead resets them." They are returned to the primordial sea of the collective unconscious from which they emerged.
He steepled his fingers. "This is a formidable ability. But be warned: there are those in the cognitive world, and beyond, who have a vested interest in the continued existence of certain 'shadows.' To impose your will upon reality is to draw the attention of those who believe reality is theirs to command."
"Who?" I demanded, my fists clenching. "The Kirijo Group?"
Igor's smile seemed to widen a fraction. "Their ambition is but a ripple in a much larger ocean. You have felt a gaze upon you, have you not? It is a gaze that does not belong to your friends or the ordinary shadows you encounter."
My mind flashed with the memory of the knight's focused hatred and the cold feeling of watching after Tartarus. "Yes."
"The game has many players," was all Igor would say. "Your role is now to hone this power. Bonds will be your anchor. Your friends, their wills, their hearts… they are the stability your soul requires to wield this burden without being consumed by it. Foster them."
Elizabeth clapped her hands together softly. "Oh, yes! Social Links! These are the ties that bind a heart and give it strength! I wonder what form yours will take? So exciting!"
"The path ahead is shrouded in mist," Igor concluded. "But remember this: a lock cannot exist without a key. And every key must eventually be turned."
The blue haze began to swirl around me, the room dissolving.
"Wait!" I called out. "That's not enough! Tell me more!"
"All in due time, guest," Igor's voice echoed as the world faded. "The curtain has only just risen."
I gasped, jolting upright in my bed. The familiar confines of my room greeted me. The digital clock read 4:17 AM. It felt like a dream, but the scent of coffee and the weight of Igor's words were etched into my memory as clearly as any waking moment.
The next day, the conversation with Igor haunted me. I moved through school like a ghost, the words "cosmic balance" and "players" circling in my mind.
At the dorm that evening, Mitsuru cornered me in the command room. Her expression was all business, but there was a keen light in her eyes.
"Tanaka. Your performance in Tartarus has improved markedly. Your control is increasing." She gestured to the data on her screen. "The energy readings are still anomalous, but the patterns are becoming more refined. Less chaotic."
"I… had a talk with myself," I said, evading the truth of the Velvet Room. "I decided to stop fighting it and start listening."
Mitsuru considered this a faint, approving nod. "A sound strategy. Understanding your weapon is the first step to mastering it." She paused, tapping a finger on the desk. "There is another matter. The next full moon is in four days. The pattern suggests a powerful Shadow will manifest. We will need every advantage."
She looked at me directly, her gaze intense. "Your ability to neutralize a Shadow's core attributes could be the difference between victory and a catastrophic loss of life. I need to know you are ready. I need to know you are ready, not only in terms of control but also in terms of resolve.
The weight of expectation settled on my shoulders. "I understand."
"Good." She turned back to her screens. "Dismissed."
As I left, I saw Makoto in the common room, idly flipping through a magazine. He looked up as I passed.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," he remarked, his voice flat.
"Something like that," I muttered, sinking into the couch opposite him. "I had a weird dream. A room. Blue. A long-nosed man."
Makoto's flipping stopped. He looked at me, his grey eyes utterly focused. "Igor."
My blood ran cold. "You know him?"
"He's there to help," Makoto said simply. "He tells you what you need to hear. Not what you want to hear."
He claimed I was a "unregistered variable." "I am the warden."
For a considerable amount of time, Makoto remained silent, his gaze turning inward. "There are a lot of mine." In his hand, he was holding a deck of played cards. "I can alter them.""
He turned his gaze back to me. "It is one of yours. The same thing. That is a more significant burden."
"You have no idea," I breathed out, the confession a relief.
"I have some," he answered. He did not elaborate. He did not need to. The understanding was present in the quiet space between us.
Later, Akihiko saw me in the gym, where I was hitting a punching bag without any energy.
He leaned against the doorframe and said, "Your form is still bad."
"I've been thinking a lot."
"Stop thinking, start doing." He walked over and held the bag steady. "The full moon is coming."
"We don't have time to think about our lives. You need to get your thoughts out of your head. Make it focused. Or people will get hurt."
"I already know that!" I snapped, the anger from the last 24 hours boiling over. "People keep saying that to me! You, Mitsuru, and Igor! I understand! I could break at any moment because the world is on my shoulders. You don't need to keep reminding me!"
I was surprised that Akihiko didn't get angry. He just made a noise. "Okay."
I frown hearing his response, "Okay?"
"Anger is better than fear."
"Fear stops you from moving. Anger..." He hit the bag with his fist, which made it shake on its chain. "You can use anger."
"Stop yelling now and show me you can hit something other than the air."
The next few days were a blur of getting ready. The full moon that was coming up soon cast a shadow over everything. But now I knew what my own power was and how it fit into the world.
The Velvet Room.
I was a piece of a puzzle, a lock in a big plan. As the moon in the sky got bigger, I could feel the gaze Igor had warned me about: a cold, watchful pressure from the shadows of the world, waiting to see what the new variable would do.
The game was indeed underway. And I was only just learning the rules.