It's been one... interesting year to say the least. Going to school, meeting new people, fighting against the Goddess of the Underworld. It was an unforgettable year.

"It's almost time. You better get on the train." Uncle Dojima reminded us. I responded with a nod. All good things must come to an end. Words of farewells were exchanged between everyone. I gave a nod of acknowledgement to my friends and boarded the train. The doors closed and a few seconds later, the train slowly began to move. Everyone began running to follow.

"Thank you for everything! Stay well until we meet again someday!" Same to you Yukiko. Take care.

"You'll always be my sensei forever!" And, Kuma, you'll always be my favorite, yet annoying student.

"Please don't forget about us over there!" Don't worry Naoto, I won't.

"I love you senpai!" I chuckled. I love you too, Rise.

"I'll do my best! You better not run away to senpai!" Of course Kanji, who said anything about running away?

"I'll always remember our time together!" Me too Chie, especially since you kicked my ass.

"Distance doesn't matter to us! Even if we're separated, we're still friends!" Friends to the end, Yosuke.

As the train picked up speed, I can hear their voices of "Take care!", "See you!", "We'll miss you!" and other sentences to that effect. I slowly blinked as I gave a nod. In the short span I closed my eyes, the distance became greater. Now, I can only see them waving their hands.

The train continues to move. Their figures become smaller and smaller as the distance increases, until I can no longer see them.

I placed my bag in the compartment and take my seat. My hand reaches into my pocket and pulls out a picture of all of us together. I find myself thinking; It doesn't matter how far we are. The bonds we made will remain strong. Everyone's heart is connected to the people they know and trust. We will meet again.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the journey, I returned the picture back to my pocket and closed my eyes. Sleep came easily enough.

~Scene Break~

"Next stop, Tokyo." The driver announced. My biological clock is impeccable, as always. I stood up and began stretching. One thing I learned from all that travelling before is that muscles hurt if you remain stationary for hours. True enough, my back hurts.

Crack. I heard my spine pop. That feels better. I grabbed my bag from the compartment above and waited for the train to stop.

Here again at Tokyo Station. And the first thing that happens is that there's there weird green ovaloid in front of me. I walk around it and continue on my walk. Looking back, the ovaloid was following me. Weird. I continued on walking to the men's room while the green ovaloid followed. Figured if I'm gonna do something, might as well someplace with few witnesses.

Alone in the men's room, I stretched my hand through the ovaloid. Nothing happens. Then I do the stupid thing and walk right in. Real stupid, Souji.

The moment I stepped through the ovaloid, I found myself falling. Kinda the same feeling I get when I go through a television. Only difference though is that there's no psychedelic red and black square pattern as I fall. Only thing I can see is impenetrable darkness.

In the distance, I see a familiar color; Blue. Unable to control my fall, I find myself going towards the blue light. Next thing I know, I'm in a velvet blue first-class cabin sitting beside a window. And sitting directly in front of me was a short bald man with blood-shot eyes and an impossible long nose.

"Hello Igor." I acknowledged the master of the velvet room before turning to look at the woman beside him. "Hello Margaret. It's been... a day since we last saw each other hasn't it?" She just smiled at me and I smiled back. Turning back to Igor, I waited for his explanation, which in experience is cryptic and vague but helps me think.

"It has been sometime since we last saw each other." Igor said as he assumed his patented 'Standard Posture' which involves left hand at right elbow and right hand under chin. "I must apologize for abruptly bringing you here, but there was no other alternative."

"For an unknown reason, you have been called to another world." I nodded in silence, urging Igor to continue. Better to let the man continue speaking. Learned that the hard way. "Your journey continues on. And for that reason, we of the velvet room will continue to provide our services. As usual, the only price we ask is the same that we have asked in the past."

"Abide by the contract and assume responsibility for all the decisions you make." The words immediately came to my mouth which I recited in monotone. "What is the contract? I don't remember making a promise to anyone after leaving Inaba."

Igor just gave me one of his cryptic grins. Left in the dark again until I figure it out. The usual stuff, just like the investigations.

"I guess that's everything then." I stood up from the chair and walked towards the exit, which was labeled "Emergency Exit". I gave myself a mental chuckle at that.

"'Til we meet again." Igor smiled as I jumped out the door into the abyss.

~Scene break~

"Who are you?" I heard a girl's voice, which means... I'm not sure what it means. I do know that I heard it sounds like French, but for some reason I can understand it.

I open my eyes and see a girl examining me. Short, pink-haired with reddish eyes. Flat as a cliff-side. Cute. She looks like she's wearing a uniform with cloaks. She's holding to a wooden stick.

"Me...?" Remain calm. Think rationally. Gather Information. Formulate theories and test.

Igor said something about being called to another world. If I didn't have experience with the TV world, I wouldn't have believed in other worlds.

Okay... Name. Real name or alias? "Souji Seta" Might as well tell the truth.

"Where are you from Commoner?" I'm hearing French, but my mind translates it to Japanese. Must be magic. Reminder: try written text.

Commoner? What does she mean by that? She's Nobility?

I stood up. The girl was short; I nearly stood a foot higher than her. Looking around, everyone had some sort of stick in their hand and wore the same uniform as the girl.

"Louise, what were you thinking, calling a commoner with 'Summon Servant'?" someone asked, and everyone but the girl who was looking up at my face started to laugh. Commoner again? Need to find out what it means later.

"I... I just made a little mistake!" The girl in front of me shouted in a refined voice. Well, it should but I'm perceptive. A lot of things can be revealed if one listens. Sadly, very few people do.

"What mistake are you talking about? Nothing unusual happened."

"Of course! After all, she's Louise the Zero!" someone else said, and the crowd burst into laughter again.

It appeared the girl looking into my face was named Louise. Her nickname's Zero? A failure? Or someone like me? Judging from the what the others are doing, failure seems a good bet.

"Mr. Colbert!" the girl, Louise, shouted.

The crowd parted, revealing a middle-aged man. Bald, wears glasses, carries a staff, and wears a robe. Basically screams of wizard, teacher, and professor. Compared to the teachers I had, I'll take this 'Colbert' over Noriko Kashiwagi.

"What is it that you want from me, Miss Vallière?"

The girl named Louise seemed to be in a panic, begging to redo something and gesticulating frantically. "Please! Let me try the summoning one more time!"

Summoning. A type of magic where the caster calls something or someone from another location. Sub-school of conjuration. Used primarily by Druids, Conjurers, and Malconvokers. I played dungeons and dragons before so know stuff. I wonder how much of the fantasy genre is real.

Mr. Colbert, the man wearing the black robe, shook his head. "I cannot allow that, Miss Vallière."

"Why not?"

"It is strictly forbidden. When you are promoted to a second year student, you must summon a familiar, which is what you just did."

Familiar. A creature which acts as an extension of the mage. Long process short, creature is made to be a servant and or slave of the Magus. There are many types of familiars; Standard animals such as dogs and ravens, spirits such as kitsune and inugami, and the most powerful being Ghost Liners.

Type-Moon has good stuff, only problem was all that weird ero-scenes. Nasu sucks when it comes to those.

"Your elemental specialty is decided by the familiar that you summon. It enables you to advance to the appropriate courses for that element. You cannot change the familiar once you have summoned it, because the Springtime Familiar Summoning is a sacred rite. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to take him."

"But... I've never heard of having a commoner as a familiar!"

"This is a tradition, Miss Vallière. I cannot allow any exceptions; he," the middle-aged professor pointed at me, "may be a commoner, but as long as he was summoned by you, he must be your familiar. Never in history has a human been summoned as a familiar, but the Springtime Familiar Summoning takes precedence over every rule. In other words, there is no other way around it: he must become your familiar."

Everyone around laughed. Louise scowled at them, but the laughter didn't stop.

"You have got to be joking..." Louise drooped her shoulders in disappointment.

"Well then, continue with the ceremony."

"With him?"

"Yes, with him. Hurry. The next class will begin any minute. How much more time is this summoning going to take? After mistake upon mistake, you have finally managed to summon him. Hurry and form a contract." Everyone voiced their agreement and began jeering.

'Next class' implies that this is a school. 'Contract'... If I remember correctly, something which seals the pact. Pactio comes to mind. I gave myself a small grin at that. Negi Springfield had it good.

I took a knee. Assuming it will be a kiss, prior experience says it is hard to kiss someone a foot taller than you. She gave me a troubled and hesitant look, but gave up and approached.

"You should count yourself lucky. Normally you'd go your whole life without a noble doing this to you."

She called herself a 'noble'. That meant she had a social status. I wonder what the definition of a noble is in this world. Can't be too different if I'm hearing hearing them in French.

Louise closed her eyes with an air of resignation. She waved around the wooden stick in her hand. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar."

She chanted those words over and over, like a magic spell, and touched my forehead with the stick. Her lips then slowly drew closer.

Soft lips. Lucky me, I kissed a cute girl. Rise was proactive, but she never kissed me except on the cheeks, well she tried, but I evaded. All the other girls were reserved. Then again, why do I mind? I had girlfriends back in the countries I lived in. Kissed many girls.

Louise removed her lips. "It is done."

Her face is red. Must have been her first kiss. I kinda feel guilty for taking her first kiss, if it really was her first kiss. Even then, I feel guilty for taking a kiss from her. If I took a kiss, it was mutual on both parts.

*Smash*

Time stops. This familiar feeling again. The familiar card; this time inscribed with the picture of a sun. Relationship, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere

Hello creepy internal voice from nowhere. You came at a bad time.

"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Sun Arcana…"

Bye creepy internal voice from nowhere. Time resumes.

Another thing added to the list of things to ask; do I have to go through this again? Well, let's watch what happens now.

"You have failed 'Summon Servant' many times, but you have managed to succeed with 'Contract Servant' in one try," Colbert said happily.

"It's just because he's only a commoner."

"If he was a powerful magical beast, she wouldn't have been able to make a contract."

Some of the students laughed.

Louise scowled at them. "Don't make fun of me! Even I do things right once in a while!"

"Truly 'once in a while', Louise the Zero," laughed a girl with gorgeous curly hair and freckles on her face.

"Mr. Colbert! Montmorency the Flood just insulted me!"

"Who are you calling 'the Flood'? I'm Montmorency the Fragrance!"

"I heard that you used to wet the bed like a flood, didn't you? 'The Flood' suits you better!"

"I hadn't expected better manners from Louise the Zero."

"Watch it! Nobles ought to show each other the proper respect," the middle-aged wizard interjected.

"Gah!" Sudden pain. A familiar sensation on my left hand. It's the same whenever I get hit by an Almighty spell. I took a look, and there it was. The skin on my left hand was injured, but unlike the mass damage a Megido spell would do this one is concentrated. It was making a specific injury, like a set of runes.

"Don't mind it. It'll be only for a few seconds." Colbert explained as he kneeled and took my hand. He adjusted his glasses as he examined the runes. "Interesting. I have never seen these runes before. Research will be required."

Gandalfr. Weird. I see the runes as symbols I can't comprehend, but the word Gandalfr comes to mind. What the hell is Gandalfr. The only thing I remember that sounds the same is Gandalf, and that's not helpful. Or is it?

Colbert stood back up and I did the same. "Well, let's go back to class, everyone." He announced to the group of students.

*Smash*

Time stops. The familiar card is my card; The Fool. Relationship, The Academy.

"Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana…"

Time resumes. Academy? A whole school is my social link? Damn.

The middle-aged professor turned on his heel, then rose gently into the air. The other people who looked like students also floated up.

Did they…? How did…? What the…? Uhhh…?

Occam's razor. Magic exists, and they used it to fly. Let's go with that until further notice.

"Louise, you'd better walk back!"

"She shouldn't try to fly. She can't even manage levitation."

"A commoner is perfect as your familiar!" the students jeered as they flew away. And that brought me back from my thinking, which I do often.

The only ones who remained are me and Louise. "Who are you?" She demanded of me.

"I already told you. Souji Seta, Seta being my family name." I replied in my usual tone, which was indifference.

Well, that pissed her off. "Don't you dare use that tone of voice commoner!"

"I have questions. Who are you? Where are we? And What just happened?" Simple questions which answers a lot of things.

"I don't know what backwoods you came from, but all right, I will explain it to you." Impatience and annoyance, I can see emanate from her, in a metaphorical sense. I don't have Feeling-vision. "I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. You are at the Tristain Magic Academy. And I apparently summoned an idiot familiar." I really don't mind the insult. You'll just see how intelligent I actually am later.

"…And a commoner?" I was getting impatient myself.

"Someone who can't do magic." Was the reply.

That's stupid distinction full of racism and discrimination. Well, I can't say the history of mankind is all that pure and good. Looking from an objective viewpoint, however, I can say that their society isn't that much from the middle ages.

Now… I feel stupid for returning my persona's to my soul, but at least Izanagi is still with me. I need to see Igor later, that I'm sure of. Well, time to impress Valliere-san.

"Hey Louise." I called out to her while raising my hand in front of me.

Immediately she turned to face me. "What is it commoner?"

This might be a stupid action, I'll admit that. Still, better make a good impression on, if I think I'm right, is my master. So, prepare to be amazed.

"Persona."

Author notes.

Well, this is my first fanfic that I've written. So I do expect that this will not be my best work, but regardless I'll continue on. I appreciate comments and criticisms as they are one of the ways a writer can improve. However, if you have nothing good to say, please don't bother saying anything at all.

My sources for this story will be numerous, but with regards to the plot, I'm gonna loosely follow the novels and the anime. I have something planned for this which X-overs with Persona series. However, nothing is set in stone yet.