Tu, 4/4

Tuesday, April 4th/ ?.

"Good evening" Said a melodious voice.

I open my eyes to find myself inside a train cart, covered completely in blue velvet. The only seats are the one I'm sitting on and the one across from me, where a portly man with a black suit, bulged eyes and a long nose was sitting; there is a table in between the two of us. Standing next to the strange looking man is another man that looked young but older at the same time; he was tall, fairly built and looked quite normal when compared to the older man, save for his messy, semi-long silver hair, pale skin and yellow eyes. He was wearing a deep blue conductor uniform with golden buttons, and a matching hat covering the top of his head. Out through the windows, I can see a pair of lights at each side of the car approaching from the far end that quickly shoot past the car's length and to my back, before another pair approached in the same fashion.

"What…?" I begin to ask.

"My apologies, it seems I've forgotten my manners." Said the long-nosed man with a melodious and girthy voice, although his mouth barely seemed to move from his wide smile. "Welcome, to the Velvet Room. This is a place that exists between the Real World and the Sleeping World, between Mind and Matter.

"Don't be alarmed, you run no danger while in this place. You are merely fast asleep in the real world, so there is no need to worry. The purpose of this room, is to bring assistance to our guest.

"Before we begin, however, I would like you to sign this contract." The old man made a gesture to the younger man, who then handed me a board-clip with a single piece of paper. On it, there's only one sentence, one that makes me even more confused:

I chooseth this Fate on my own free will:

"It simply states that you will take full responsibility on the consequences from your actions. Nothing too taxing, I hope." The long nosed man said, though his demeanor didn't suggest seriousness on this matter. I didn't really understand what was going on, but I figured that if it is all a dream, there is no harm done by signing.

Ruby Rose.

I handed the contract to the conductor, who then retreats to one side of the cart to file it on a fancy looking, wooden cabinet. Huh, it isn't blue.

"My my, manners seem to be eluding me today," The round man spoke again at the same time the tall boy returned to his side, "I haven't introduced myself yet." He let out a chuckle before continuing.

"My name is Igor, I am delighted to to make your acquaintance." Igor then motioned to the other man. "This young man right here is Victor; he's my assistant."

Victor spoke for the first time during that moment. His voice was stoic, but gentle. "I am Victor. I am glad to be of assistance."

Igor laughed once again and motioned to the table, where he made appear a deck of cards. "Now that we are done with introductions, let me ask: Do you believe in fortune telling?" Before I could answer, the cards spreaded over the table on their own. "Please, pick a card."

I still don't understand what's going on, but I repeat to myself that it's just a dream. But the whole situation is just so bizarre that I begin to question myself. These people don't seem to have hidden intentions, so I don't really have any reason to mistrust them, yet. I reach out and pick one card: It shows the image of a man holding a stick that is walking towards a cliff while a dog bites at his ankles; it was labeled only by a number: "0". The card floats away from my hand and into Igor's.

"Hmm, very interesting… This card is the Fool Arcana. It represents the beginning of a journey, and the possibilities it might hold in the future." Igor chuckles again as he looks at me with his bloodshot eyes. "This cards represents you well, I believe. Very interesting indeed.

"It seems that in the coming year, in wherever your destination might be, you'll find yourself in quite a journey, filled with infinite possibilities! I'm excited to see where your adventure may lead.

"For now, it is time for you to return to the real world. You'll return here again after this new journey begins. With that said, farewell." Said Igor with a wave from his hand.

"Until we meet again." Says Victor.

Tuesday, April 4th/ Afternoon.

I open my eyes to see the dashboard of the van I fell asleep a few hours ago. I clearly remember how I got in back in Patch: I waited until my father arrived to the house and he helped me getting my luggage in there. After we hit the road, we spoke a little before I started to feel sleepy. I gather myself and pop off the hood of my red hoodie.

"Hey. Did you sleep well?"

I turned to look at father, driving the van while he gave me a sympathetic smile through sleepy eyes too. His name is Taiyang Xiao Long. I know he's my dad, but I really haven't seen him that often. He and mom got divorced when I was little, so I really haven't got to know him as most girls my age know their father. It doesn't bother me, mind you, but I'd have prefered to really meet him because any other reason… than this one.

"Yeah." I say to him.

"Good." He says gently. He makes a turn to the left and we enter a nice neighborhood, with many small and medium-sized houses on each side of the street. "We are getting closer now. Welcome to Vale. And..." He announces as he takes another turn and pulls back in front of one of the lots. "Welcome to our home."

I look at the house settled on the lot. It was a two story building, painted all white in the front, with a blue roof top and a matching porch. the front yard had a nice little garden, and though the grass needed some mowing, it looked really pretty. Dad pulled the van in front of the garage on the left side of the house and killed the engine. I get off from the car to take a better look at it. Back in Patch, Mom and I lived in a fairly decent condo, with one living room, a kitchen room, bedroom and bathroom. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was a home; so looking at this house, the prospect of living there was just…

"Wow."

Have I mentioned how eloquent I am?

"You are liking it, huh?" Says dad from behind the van, unloading some of my luggage out of the truck. "That's good. Here, help me with some of this."

"Oh, right!" I quickly go to the where he has dropped some of my baggage and start carrying them toward the entrance along with him. Once inside, I almost drop everything I was holding. The inside of the house was amazing: the walls were painted in hues of cream and light-green, the floor of the first room was carpeted in a lush, brown carpet, and beyond that I could see an open door that lead to a room with black and white checkered floor. The first room connected to the living room, which had a two-seater sofa, a pair of couches, a coffee table and a flat-screen across from the couches. So far, this new house is exceeding my expectations.

"We're home!" Dad shouts to the ceiling.

"Coming!" Came a voice from upstairs. Soon, I see another girl two years older than I coming down the stairs: she was wearing workout shorts and an orange t-shirt that was slightly loose for her. She has a long, golden hair that looks like it's set on fire, and lavender eyes. She turned towards us and smiled warmly. "Welcome back, Dad! Oh, you must be Ruby." She walked towards me and extended a hand, which I accepted. "I'm Yang. I'm your… half-sister. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Likewise." I say as retrieve my bags from the floor. Yang takes the bags Dad is carrying and we both make our way upstairs while he plops on one of the couches. Soon, I can hear him snoring, something that makes me giggle a little.

"Your room is just across from mine. It used to be a mess, since we had a lot of crap stored there, but I'm sure you'll love it now." Yang says as we walk down the hallway. She turns to the last door on the left and opens it. To say that the room was okay was a big understatement; though a little empty save for a bed, a wooden desk and a wardrobe, the small room had a light red carpet covering the floor, and the walls were covered in reddish-white wallpaper. The bed had a brand new mattress, pink covers and a bunch of puffy white pillows. This was more than what I could ask right now. "Sooooooo? What do you think?"

"Yang, this is… I really love it," I say to her as I leave my bags over the bed and remove my red hoodie, "but~"

"It's the wallpaper, isn't it?" Yang interjects with a deflated tone. "I told pops that it was too much pink. We can change it tomorrow if you~"

"No no no! The color is fine, really!" I interrupt her back. "It's just… I appreciate what you guys are doing, but…" I sigh. "You guys don't need to pamper me this much."

"Ruby…"

"Hey, it's okay. I am not dying or anything, I just lost my mom." I wince a little, not because the memory is still painful, which it is, but because of how Yang reacted. I admit, being this casual about this situation was really odd. I decide to explain myself better. "I did my crying, and now there's only one thing I can do: get better. Thanks for everything so far, but please, don't over-do it."

Yang remains staring at me for five seconds, before smiling knowingly and nodding. "Well, can't argue with that. But if you need anything…"

"I will ask. Deal?" I offer a hand to her…

But she gives me a hug a hug instead. "Promise."

I return the hug kindly, which is easier said than done, since I'm pretty sure I'm being constricted. "Uncle, uncle!" She lets me go and we both share a laugh before chatting a little. After a while, Yang stands up to head for the kitchen, tonight we're having omelettes. I offer help with cutting some veggies, and we both get busy with the cooking.

I have to admit it, I'm enjoying my new home.

Tuesday, April 4th/ Evening.

Dad woke up with the smell of the food, only a while before we sat at the table and had our dinner. The omelettes turned out great, the crunchiness of the celery in contrast with the fluffiness of the omelette was a nice touch. We talked about my room over dinner and Yang helped me explain Dad what I told her up there. That turned out better than expected.

"So Ruby, you start classes tomorrow, right?" Yang asks.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous though."

"Don't worry, that's just normal. We can make the trip together, the Junior High is just in the way to my School."

"Actually," Gosh, this is gonna suck. I knew it was coming, but it will suck, "I'm on the first year class on the Montgomery Omen High School."

Yang chokes on her food before downing a glass of water. "No way! Aren't you too young to be in high school?"

Dad clears his throat and explains to Yang. "Well, your sister had the highest academic index of her previous group, and has a higher performance level than other kids her age. Not to mention the IQ tests. So, the school system saw fit that she was moved to first year."

"Dad, thank you, but really, it's not a big deal."

"'Not a big deal'?" Yang says. "That's awesome! My baby sister is a genius!" She exclaims with the biggest smile I've ever seen. "Man, you'll be pretty popular over there."

I groan in discomfort.

"And who knows? There are plenty of guys at MOS, there sure is one who digs smart chicks."

At that, Dad started choking on his food, before downing his glass empty. I'm a little mad at Yang too, but we both laugh at father's reaction.

After cleaning up and watching TV a little, I say my goodnights head back to my room to get things ready for tomorrow. I unpack my school bag, get my books and pen-pouch in there and set it besides the door. I hang the school uniform and my hoodie on the wardrobe and change to my pijamas. Before getting on the bed though, I unpack another item and set it besides an alarm clock on the bedside table: it is a black framed picture of me when I was five and my Mom. I smiled fondly at the picture before laying down on the bed. I reach out to the portrait and poke my Mom's nose before turning off the light. "Goodnight mommy."

Tomorrow, I start my first day of school.

A/N: Here's the first chapter. I hope people can enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. There's still a lot more to come, so be patient. Thanks for reading

I originally wanted to have some hyperlinks to soundtracks on YouTube, but isn't very fond of that, so I dropped that altogether. And there might be a few missing words, so if you catch any, please don't hesitate to PM it to me and I'll fix it immediately.

ALSO! This story might look like a crossover to you, but it is not actually. Other than Igor and Personas, nothing else from the main games is crossing-over to this story. If anything, I'm gonna coin the term "Persona-verse", for any fics that take the concept of the games and uses it with another source material. We're good? We're good.

Now, without further ado, please enjoy the story.