March 19, 2001

Maya Amano had finally, after days of going in and out of debate with herself, gathered up the courage to talk to her best friend's host, Tatsuya Suou. 

The one from This Side, of course. 

She had thought about all of the adversaries and dangers she and Tatsuya had faced together nearly every day since she'd seen his doppelganger at the crosswalk a few months ago. She'd consulted with Katsuya Suou, Tatsuya from This Side's brother, taking out to a local bar, but all he could do was sigh in exasperation. 

"Maya, he's not That Tatsuya anymore. I know. This one, my biological brother, won't even look at, much less respond to me half of the time. I even checked his wrist. The tattoo is gone. There's no more connection. It's impossible to even bother to try."

Maya had sighed and gone back to her drink. Everyone except this Tatsuya knew about what went down. What had made their connecion as a group grow stronger while it also lost a major part of itself. What happened in the past.

But, no matter how little she could do, she just wanted to talk to him, no matter if he cared or not. She just wanted to have it feel like old times. But alas, it never would.

She knew this deep down in her heart, where this knowledge was stored right next to her hatred for what happened at the shrine so long ago....

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After the rather uneventful talk with Katsuya, she headed back to her apartment complex in the outskirts of Sumaru City with a hung over daze. She walked up the stairs leading up to her apartment when a man passed her. He had sleek but unruly black hair, brown eyes that somehow appeared violet in the moonlight, and a gold earring on his left ear. 

When she looked at him, her hair stood on end, and immediately she knew why. She sensed that this man was a persona user like her.

She turned around to stop him, only to find that he had already stopped. She looked at him curiously. How'd he get a persona, and why? Their gaze lingered, neither one of them daring to take their eyes off of the other. They stood in silence for several beats before Maya finally broke the silence.

"Um? Excuse me, but do you mind if I ask you a kinda weird question?"

The man snapped out of his trance with the shake of his head and nodded. "Sure."

Maya took in a deep breath. "Okay then. Do you perchance know someone called Philemon? Or a thing called a Persona?"

The man raised a eyebrow at her. "I haven't heard that term in a few years. People used to talk about the Velvet Room and Personas all the time when I was growing up, but one day it all stopped, like the terms were erased from their minds or something. But yeah, I know what you're talking about. Are you a Persona user too?"

It was now Maya's turn to act surprised. The man was now casually leaning against the wall, smiling softly. The air was quite chilly, and their breath formed as they sat there, Maya cleared her throat and gestured to her room's direction. 

"Yes. I am. Would you...uh...like to come and have a cup of tea at my apartment so we can chat this over? Its just that I've never met anyone else that was a Persona user, y'know?"

The man's smile widened as he looked up from his watch. "Sure. I've got plenty of time. Want me to call over some other Persona user friends of mine?"

Maya shook her head. "No. Not right now. Besides, I barely know you. I'd rather I get to know you first before I meet your friends, is that okay?"

The man nodded. "No problem. How about I take you up on that tea offer now?"

Maya smiled and led him up to her apartment. There they talked until the sun rose, their conversations ranging from the Shrine Incident to the man himself(She later learned that his name was Naoya), and when they had finally finished, it was 3 AM. Naoya chuckled akwardly as he looked at the digital clock sitting near the television. 

"Wow. It's that late, huh? Guess I should get going, huh, fellow Persona user?"

Maya stifled a laugh, but a smile slipped out. "Absolutely! I'll talk to you later!"

Naoya gathered his things and left with a wave. Maya quickly cleaned up before resting for the last few hours before dawn. All was peaceful and serene. 

Like everything in a Persona user's life, that was all about to change.

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November 28, 2001

"Maya? Maya?! Are you there?" A voice crackled through the speaker end of her phone. It was Naoya's and by the sound of his voice, Maya could tell he was terrified. 

"I'm here Naoya. What's wrong?"

"Shadow attack. East side of town. Near the Italian place on 24th. Bring your strongest weapons. It doesn't look easy."

"What about the crew? Can you contact them?" Maya asked.

"No. None of them will pick up. Eriko said they were going on a hike in the countryside today. There is no reception out there. Can you get ahold of any of your fr-ah!" There was the sound of and explosion and crashing from Naoya's side. 

"Naoya?! Naoya, are you okay?!" Maya was concerned. It didn't sound very good wherever Naoya was.

"I'm good. Hurry quick!" The phone started to beep, indicating he had hung up. Maya ran to her closet and grabbed her pistols from the safe inside. She ran out of the apartment, jumping down the stairs and grabbing a nearby bike. 

"I'm sorry!" She yelled as she pedaled off on the stolen bike towards Naoya.

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June 3, 2003

"Hey Naoya, have you ever met Persona users other than us?" Maya asked, sipping a beer.They were in a bar, talking to each other in their weekly meetups. Maya had her hair tied up in a bun, and her face was caked in heavy makeup. She was a anchorwoman for a national Japanese TV news station. 

"I've fought a few, but no. It seems after the Ripple, all knowledge of Personas, the Velvet Room, even Igor has vanished. If we found a new persona user, I'd be amazed. Kids these days just don't know the danger that we know." He popped a few mini pretzels in his mouth. He still had the same hair and face as before, the same smile that had a deep sadness and regret inside of it, and the same color-changing eyes. But his body was much more muscular than before. It was a lean muscular, but it was still muscular nonetheless. He was a bookstore owner, weirdly enough, but in his free time he trained people in the park in mixed martial arts. 

"It's strange, huh. How we see all of the shadows and no one else does. It's like we're in a book or video game or something." She laughed. "Besides, I don't really mind being one of the few people around with personas. It makes me feel like a superheroine."

"Except for the fact that no one knows what you're doing for them." He finished her sentence. "Hey Maya, next week is Masao's wedding. In New York. Are you going?"

"Hell yeah. I convinced my boss to let me fly out there to interview some hot shot out in NYC. After that interview, I get a full 3 days in NYC with all expenses paid."

"That sounds nice. I had to click the reload button on the computer at the library for 5 hours straight before I got a Economy Class seat for 5970 Yen. Still not cheap, but much cheaper than it would be if I bought now. I still can't believe how successful you've become. Like honestly first time I met you, it was on the stairs of our old crappy apartment. You looked exhausted and overworked and I mirrored you. Look at you now."

"Hey, be positive. I'm sure you'll hit success one day." She patted him on the back. "Plus, friend, if you ever need a loan then I'm your gal."

"Pft. If I ever need a loan I'm going to Kei. Thanks though. You're a good friend Maya."

She hugged him. "Thanks. You too Naoya."

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Date Unknown

"Maya! Catch!" A pink gun flew through the smoky air, only two bullets inside the chambers. Maya, covered in soot and ash, clothing torn, and her hair burned in patches, reached for the firearm. She was lying chest first on the ground and blood dripped from her scalp into her right eye, forcing her to only see with her indominant eye. 

She winced and tried to take aim at her enemy. Her allies lie around her, their bodies strewn about amongst the fiery pieces of rubble and dead bodies. Maya felt like screaming as she tried to move her arm to shoot. Her limbs felt like they were on fire. But she still moved them. 

"One...Two...THREE!" She shot for the shadow's head and missed. "Damn it!" She cried. "Once more!"

She pulled herself into a kneeling position and took aim yet again. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" She shot, and it hit the shadow in the sweet spot. It dissipated with a screeching wail, leaving behind only the destruction it had made. Maya dropped to the ground, near tears. 

Naoya was a few meters away, lying on the ground. "Did you get it?" He wheezed. His voice was raspy and dry. 

"Yeah. We're safe for now." Maya's tears finally came. They flowed down her face and dripped onto the ground. She didn't even try to roll over towards the sky. The coolness of the pavement below her was much nicer than the scorching heat of the flaming rubble surrounding her. 

"Good." He coughed. "Maya, thanks for everything." He voice was quiet.

"No biggie." She tried to laugh, but into turned into a coughing fit. She closed her eyes. "Naoya, close your eyes."

"Wh-why?" 

"I just have a feeling."

"Okay. I," He coughed again, "trust you." He closed his eyes, and the air became unbearably warm. Then it all cooled, and Maya found herself only able to see nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing.

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Hi guys! I know I haven't actually moved the plot any more forward (Sorry!) but its because I just hadn't really planned where I was going with this. I bit off waaay more than I could chew, so I literally have had to rewrite over 20000 words worth of story that I hadn't published yet. I'm so sorry. I am in desperate need of a beta reader who can prove to me that they're good at beta reading. I'll just give you a paragraph and ask you to edit it. I know all of the errors. Get 90% or more and you're hired! Thanks for bearing with me.

Anna Leviant, Msperfectsheep