hello, everyone, i seem to be back. and with a multi-chapter story this time? eh idk either but yeah i hope you enjoy and go ahead and review if you feel like it uwu i'd be much obliged

I'm leaning down to tie my goddamn shoe when it happens. There's a sudden jolt, a loud noise, the lights flicker off, and then screeching. Everyone in the subway car lurches to side as we halt to a stop and when the emergency lights turn on, the beginning of panicked murmurs start to rise. I quickly snap back up and hold my backpack tightly to me, keeping an eye out for any crazy people who might come running through on fire, or something.

The intercom crackles and we hear a sheepish, "Please hold on, ladies and gentlemen, the train seems to have lost power. Nothing is damaged, but for your own safety please remain where you are. We have technicians coming now."

Alright, well, great.

The old man on the left of me is unperturbed but the little kid on the right is starting to hyperventilate. I look over at him and grimace. Oh, god, little kids. Okay, he's not that young, but he's still totally under twelve, and that's where my knowledge stops. But if he faints, I swear to god.

I lean over to him, which makes him pause for a second. "Yo, you alright?"

He bites his lips, looking nervous and ashamed. "Y-yeah, I'm okay, I just…" He looks down into his lap and waits. "I'm just scared of the dark."

I nod my head wisely, open up my backpack, and start digging around while still talking to him. Where the fuck is this kid's mom? "No need to be scared. I've got just the thing."

He looks at me warily until I pull out my secret weapon—a PSP. His face lights up like a goddamn Christmas tree and I smile in success.

"Woah, a PSP?" He practically falls into my lap with probably a mixture of excitement and wanting to forget the scariness of what's happening right now. "What games do you have?"

I pause for a moment, having to actually remember, then almost facepalm at my forgetfulness. "Persona 3. You heard of it?"

His blank face answers my question, and I chuckle as I turn on the console. "It's a really cool game," I tell him, watching the start-up screen flash. "It's like a fighting game and an RPG in one."

As I click the UMD and listen to the disk whirr, my mind starts wandering. Persona 3, yeahhh. That was one hell of a cool game. I used to play the :FES version in high school (I actually met some good friends because they were cosplaying some characters), and I just kinda stopped until I saw that there was a portable version that you could—gasp—play as a girl in! I dunno, I kinda just bought it instantly and played it a lot and nonstop. Until, y'know the very end. For some reason, every time it got to Ryoji and having to agree to letting the world be destroyed unless I could grind up 30 levels in a month, I just lost my nerve and stopped playing. Every now and again, I would replay it, but I could just never finish.

I click the new game button, and then I hear the clanging of the train moving again. I look up and around, suddenly nauseous, wondering why the lights haven't turned on if the train is moving, but…

No one was in the car anymore.

I jerked my head to the side, looking for the kid, but he wasn't there anymore, and neither was the old guy on the other side of me. But that train noise… It was getting louder?

I dropped my PSP and my head hit the window with a loud thud, unable to move anymore because of the ache in my stomach. Wow, oh my god, this fucking hurt, wow, wow, wow. My vision blurred and I closed my eyes, trying to make the room stop spinning.

Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

Okay, who the fuck is this. I opened my mouth to say something, but a sharp stabbing pain hit me in the ribs and I fall over, hitting the seat beside me, whimpering and cringing.

You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be…

You will be given one year.

Oh god, oh god, this sounds…

Familiar.

Go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide…

Oh god, what is happening.

There's the sound of an intercom crackling again, and I hear the conductor's voice ringing out, surprisingly clear for all the pain in my head and body.

"Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai..."

I feel something soft on my cheek and my head is spinning. What… is happening? Did they just say 'Iwatodai'? Okay, I could be wrong, but that's…

That's the station in Persona 3, right. Right.

I finally yank my eyes open and the subway train is filled with light, but empty. The train is indeed moving, and I push myself up off the bench, looking around really carefully. My bag is still here, and I'm wearing the same clothes, and I'm still whole? That sharp, sudden pain was nothing?

While I'm patting down on my body to check for any knife wounds, there's an announcement, and I freeze again.

"Iwatodai. This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please take care to board before our departure."

Okay, fuck this.

I grab my bag and stomp out into the station. My watch is off, I know it, because if I was really in the game, it'd be midnight, and my watch is still reading the 6:43 PM that I was living in before that weird shit happened. I angrily walk around the station for a little while and then pause. I have no idea where I'm going.

I embarrassingly sit down at a bench and open up my backpack, looking to see if maybe whatever made me enter the game was kind enough to give me a map to the dorms that I apparently have to go to. Lo and behold, there is, folded up neatly in the front pocket, and I flip it open, wondering if everything is actually in English, or if my head got rewired for Japanese.

All of a sudden, the air gets thick, and I feel a sudden weight press down on me. It felt kinda like when you hold your breath for a really long time and your chest starts to feel like it's caving in. But I wasn't holding my breath, which made it even scarier. Looking around did nothing, but the atmosphere is so creepy that I quickly walk out of the station, on the verge of sprinting.

Looking at the moon takes my breath away.

It's huge… Like, much, much larger than it should be. Like, scary big. I don't even know how to describe it. It looks like the size of a truck, taking up most of the sky, and my head is wondering wildly why the oceans aren't freaking out because of the gravitational pull, or whatever. I wheeze for a little while, scared to see if there are any coffins anywhere, scared to confirm my theory.

I rush down the path highlighted on my map, aching to get to the dorms quick. If I really am in the game, I want out now. Maybe I could bargain with Pharos to escape.

When I arrive, I'm sadly disappointed. Not in the building—it's actually nice-sized. I'm just so fucking disappointed and angry because DAMMIT, COFFINS. There were six on the way, and there's actually one leaning against the brick wall of the dorm. I guess I really don't have a choice. I guess I'm in the game.

I look up at the dorm, towering over me, all four stories, and I read the oddly legible sign next to the door, proudly proclaiming the words Gekkoukan High School, Iwatodai dorm. This game is set in Japan, so why is everything in English? I decide that's probably the least of my worries, so I walk into the dorm.

Pharos is there, smiling at me all mysteriously in the darkness, and he simply says, "Welcome."

I'm stuck between wanting to start crying and begging him for a way back home, and wanting to play dumb and watch it all play out. This translates to me staying as motionless as possible.

"You're late. I've been waiting a long time."

His pale hand holds out a piece of paper, that damn contract. It's not even imposing. It's just kind of a blank sheet of paper, with some words typed out onto it. I dunno, I thought it would be a scroll or something a little bit more cool? I just keep staring at him, pursing my lips.

"If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract. There's no need to be scared," he grins. Yeah, that doesn't sound scary. His wide eyes are unmoving, and his lips barely move as he says, "It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions."

I finally find my tongue, and blurt out, "I know, but—"

Pharos shuts me up by lifting his hand to push the contract into my face. "Won't you read it?"

I already know the words, but I read them anyway, that nauseous feelings creeping back in again.

I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.

I push the contract down gently and look back at him, wary. "If I sign this…?"

"You will be able to proceed."

"What does that mean?"

He gives me a smile as a response.

Lost, I give in and rip the contract out of his hand. There's a space for me to sign my name, so I do so, my messy and shaky handwriting scratching in Celia for the first name spot, and then pausing for the last name. Okay, if I put my actual last name people might look at me funny because I'm in what I'm assuming is Japan with a western last name, so I, on a hunch, scribble in the commonly accepted last name for the main character in Persona 3, Arisato.

Pharos takes back the contract, still smiling like the enigma he is, and nods. "Well done."

We stand awkwardly for a moment—well, I'm the only awkward one, I dunno if Pharos even knows what awkward is—and he waits a long moment before speaking again, startling me.

"Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing," he starts to sound a little sad, something I never noticed playing the game, "won't make it go away.

"And so it begins…"

He steps back, quiet, and disappears into the darkness when I blink. Damn, that's creepy! In the video game, his sprite just kinda faded away, but seeing it done in real life is really unnerving.

Before I can gather my thoughts, I hear a shrill voice yell out from the darkness, "Who's there?!"

'Sup, Yukari.

I sigh, knowing my fate is currently irreversible and making really heavy eye contact with Yukari as she scans me, holding a gun in her shaky hands. But, yeah, it's not a gun, it's really an Evoker, but I'm not supposed to know that yet. I'm not supposed to know a lot of things yet. Oops. If I'm gonna be stuck here for a while, it'll probably be better for me if I learn to hold things in. Can't accidently be spoiling characters for major plot points, huh. The idea of doing so makes me a little queasy—along with the knowledge that I could if I wanted to. Damn, that's freaky. Imagine someone coming up and telling you that you were gonna die in eight minutes and you just blew them off and then YOU DID. I would shit my pants.

Yukari's still talking, but she seems more aghast than anything. "How can you be… But, it's…!"

She drops her gun arm, as if she just realized she was pointing it at me, and she just squints. "Don't tell me…"

And then Mitsuru, in all her beauty, barges in, and she hastily touches Yukari's shoulders, making her jump. She says nothing, but instead watches me as the lights flicker back on and the air suddenly feels lighter.

I stay still, wondering if I should take a seat and demand explanations and drinks, but Mitsuru speaks first, her voice calming and apologetic. Hearing it in person is so very different from hearing it out of the shitty PSP speakers.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students who lives in this dorm," She smiles a little bit, the motion not touching her eyes, which, by the way, have not left my face. I'm starting to feel self-conscious with all this attention.

Yukari eyes me, but she speaks to Mitsuru. "Who is she?"

I feel like waving and being all, hello, I'm right here, hello, nice to meet you, but Mitsuru finally tears her eyes away from me (I know, I'm so gorgeous) and addresses Yukari. "She's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign her here. She'll eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorms, don't worry."

As an afterthought, she looks at me and, with a little laugh, "Sorry, what was your name again?"

Oh, am I finally getting asked something? I open my mouth, and nothing comes out, and it's only the second try when my voice actually starts working. "Celia Arisato," I say, remembering my new last name. "Pleased to meet you."

Yukari ignores me and stares at Mitsuru, pleading with her eyes. Mitsuru sighs.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be fine… Anyway," she says, smiling again. Oh, you are ever the fabulous businesswoman, Mitsuru. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

The teenage girl in mention does a little awkward bow with a little awkward smile.

I rub the back of my neck, feeling awkward again. "So… Where's my room? I-I mean, no rush, but I'm kind of exhausted, and, uh…" I trail off, pointing to Yukari's Evoker, still in her hand. She flushes a bright red and hides it behind her back, as if she were trying to hide the fact it ever existed at all. Don't worry Yukari, I'm sure I just made it all up, there never was a gun, yeah, sure.

Mitsuru plays damage control. "It's for self-defence purposes. Don't worry, it's not a real gun... Anyway, it is getting rather late. You'll find your room on the third floor, and your things should already be up there." She smiles again, and I start to get unnerved. It's not like I thought Mitsuru was always going to be a frigid bitch and brush off everything I say and just be curt and to the point, but she's smiling way too much for a situation like this. I tried to smile back, but my cheeks failed, and I think I just ended up showing her my teeth. "I suggest you tuck in for the night."

"I'll—I'll show you the way," Yukari offers, keeping her gun-Evoker behind her back. "Follow me."

I nod and do just that, chuckling quietly to myself when she rapidly switches hands so that her Evoker-gun would stay hidden from me. Yukari, you're not fooling anyone, alright? Well, maybe if I was dumb or a coffin, you may have been able to get away with it, but most people would be able to notice when someone was holding a gun up to them, and they would also keep an eye on it the entire time. I don't think it even shoots bullets, or if it even works during not-Dark-Hour-time, but still, man. That's a hard piece of metal right there, and if I piss Yukari off enough, she might just beat me with it. Speaking of which, she hears my snicker and shoots me a death glare, which I promptly sulk to.

As we climb up the stairs (damn this place needs an elevator), I look around, studying all the little details. I can barely remember what the dorm looks like in the PS2 game, where it was all rendered and not just kinda flat, but it certainly wasn't as rich and full as it is now. I take a deep breath and can smell the wood of this place, which is both nostalgic of forgotten childhood places and a little bit scary. Old, wooden buildings in a time where giant angry shadows attack the land? I cringe, thinking of the battle that will soon happen on the roof.

We reach the last door at the end of the hall, and Yukari turns around, switching her guvoker hand again. "This is it! Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's at the end of the hall."

She shifts from foot to foot and asks, "So, any questions?"

Yeah, HOW THE FUCK DID I GET HERE. But I doubt she'd know the answer, so I just shrug. "Nah, not really."

Yukari bites her lower lip, a really cute thing her sprites never showed, wow, and looks away from me for a moment. I inch towards the door, wanting to go inside and just plomp down on the bed, but she looks back up and really quietly says, "Can I ask you something?"

I nod dumbly, and she continues. "On your way here from the station… Was everything okay?"

No, I was transported into a handheld game console, and the moon was weirdly big, and people were coffins, and I met a devil child, and you pointed a gun at me? But, no, yeah, everything was cool. I decide to play dumb. "Yeah? Should something have been off?'

Yukari shakes her head a little bit too fast, and says a little bit too loud, "No! I-It's nothing. Never mind," She looks at my door before she continues speaking, as if making eye contact or face contact or any contact with me was too awkward. Gosh, sorry, Yukari, gosh. Alright, yeah, I know, it must be weird for her, but it's weird for me, too? I still kinda just want to run downstairs and tell Mitsuru the jig is up and she better find a way for me to return home, but for some reason my body just feels really fucking heavy, and I'd much rather collapse on a bed.

"Uh, I'm sure you still have other questions, Celia, but… Let's save them for later, alright?" She finally turns to look at me and I somehow manage a weak smile. "Good night."

She walks down the hall, and I expect her to stop a few doors down, but she just keeps walking and heads down the stairs. I'm still way too tired to even remotely care, so I open the door with the key still in it, throw my bag onto the desk, and collapse into the bed before I can even inspect my so-called bags. I wasn't expecting to be here, so how did my bags get here? I don't even… know…

Everything goes black and as my breathing slows, I find myself remembering the little kid who was sitting next to me. I hope he isn't scared.