Chapter 2. New Company (edited)
I yell as the card in my hand, respresenting the Judgement arcana, shatteres like glass to form a tall white humanoid figure with blonde hair and red eyes.
The figure was skinny with a thick white cloth covering its neck and shoulders, it was wearing a metallic silver chest plate. Its stomach, arms and legs were covered in square like patterns. It's wearing white gloves and its feets where more like white hooves with no visible feet. Its right hand was placed on its chest like it was feeling its heartbeat through the chest plate, while its left hand was covered in a chain that connected to four small coffins with depictions of four winged angels covered in white robes holding medieval swords to their chests with both hands. On its back was a long triangular silver blade with two large metal wings connected at the bottom of the figures back, human hands were connected at the elbow joints of the wings, the tip of the blade pointed straight up to sky above its head while the wings folded around the figures waist with the hands holding together near its stomach like a prayer.
This figure was "Messiah", the final persona of the protagonist in Persona 3, one of the strongest personas in the Judgement arcana, the only persona in the Universe arcana and the second persona in the World arcana. It is also my personal and only persona at the moment.
"I am Messiah. From here forward, I shall exist together with you..." he says with a divine tone.
"Glad to have you partner." I answer trying not to squeel with excitement.
I was curious on how the summoning would work since I didn't wear a mask like in Persona 5 and I didn't want to shoot myself in the head like in Persona 3. I'm so glad that it was the Persona 4 mechanic were you just shatter the card that represents the Arcana of the Persona.
I was also curious over if the Persona was capable of communicating with its user, since I know that Shadows that turn into Personas are like their own personality.
Apparently the answer is "yes", you can communicate with it. Sadly since he is my other half it's basically like I'm talking to myself but worse. Messiah likes and hates the same things I do but his personality is so melancholic and judgemental, which I guess makes sense since he belongs to the Judgement arcana.
Another thing that I don't like about Messiahs personality is that his personality represents what I don't like about myself, specifically my grey world view.
However, I wont reject him and go through the trouble of facing myself, because I will accept him with open arms, just like how I accepted my journey to another world.
Speaking of that, I still can't belive that Mark was the Merchant, or at least one of the mercants since I don't know if there are more than one. If the multiverse is infinite then what's to say that there isn't more than one.
I wonder how long Mark was the merchant and if he was responsible for all the other disappearances? Their was a time, where I didn't see or hear from him for three years. Was that around the time he became a merchant? If so then how?...
Well no point trying to think about it since I can't get the answers. Right now it's Persona test run time!
I spent around an hour trying out different abilities that Messiah possessed and what weapons and other equipment Mark lent me. All I have to do is simply think about the weapon I want, then it will appear in my right hand.
For melee weapons I have: the dagger Lost Paradise, the mace Imprisoned Mjolnir, the scimitar Claíomh Solais, the Dainaraka Whip, the katana Usumidori, the knuckle dusters Gorodias, the great axe Fleurs du Mal, the long sword Hinokagutsuchi and the rapier Sword of Sinai.
For long range I have: the Tyrant Pistol, the shotgun Megido Blaster, the slingshot Sudarshana, the sub machine gun Gungnir, the machine gun Providence, the revolver Judge of Hell, the grenade launcher Yagrush, the ray gun Ancient Day and the rifle Sahasrara.
Mark gave me the best weapons from Persona 5 Royal... and I love him for it. I never understood why there was no concept art or close ups of the weapons in Persona 5. It's a shame you could only see the weapons during fights.
When I summoned Messiah to do a little test run on the platform, which I discovered can expand to my will to make more room. However I did not think of doing that until after Messiah had fired off the Almighty elemental attack Megidolaon and sent me and him flying across the flower field and face planting into the bird cage. Luckily Messiah also knew the Healing skill Oratorio and the flower field and platform could regenerate and restore itself.
I decided to look through what skills and abilities Messiah had in the Le Grimoire and what I discovered was that he was already Max Level and had the exact same build I made for him in Persona 5 Royal.
His Trait was Hallowed Spirit which doubles the amount of HP and SP restored to oneself.
For action skills he has Oratorio (fully restores ones health and restores any lowered stats) and Megidolaon (Severe Almighty Damage in a massive range).
For passive skills he has: Almighty Boost, Almighty Amp, Insta Heal, Enduring Soul, Regenerate 3 and Invigorate 3.
I look up from the book and see Messiah looking over my shoulder with a shocked expression. Apparently he recognises the build as well from our memories and he has apparently been with me for longer than I knew, it was just that I didn't have the means to summon him before I arrived here.
Not sure whether or not that it's reasuring or creepy, the fact that I had a second personality for maybe my entire life that has simply been trapped deep within my psyche is quite shocking.
Deciding that I have been in the here for more than enough, I decided to look and see what is on the otherside of that door. I walk down from the platform and down the road, I look up to the sky as I walk and see something that nearly made me stop. Apparently in the Velvet Room there's a permanent Solar Eclipse, a black circle surrounded by white flames, now that is something you don't get to see often.
I continue my walk down the road and finally make it to the door, I try to pull it opened, only for it to be locked. I continue to pull and pull and pull, until I feel something touch my shoulder. I turn around and see Messiah pointing down bellow his waist, while I give him a confused look. He then shakes his head like he was dealing with an idiot... and then it hits me that I am an idiot!
"Oh right, the key." I say with both me and my other half facepalming.
I use the key to open the door and see what's on the other side. Only to met with an infinite black void.
I look right and left, up and down and see nothing but darkness. I decide to spit into the void and listen, there is a satisfying whistle and never an indication that there is a bottom.
"Hmmm, this can't be right." Messiah says.
"I'll have to agree with you on that one," I answer myself, "where is the other side?"
We continue to look into the void and a creeping feeling of dread start to run up my spine until it is interupted by a jumpscare in the form of a hig pitched feminine "Hello!" coming from right behind us.
I jump and give the most non manly "KYAH!" I can muster and would have fallen into the void if Messiah hadn't grabbed my arm and pulled me back in.
I'm shaking from my near death experience and am currently hugging Messiah like my life depended on it. He hugs me back and is also shaking like a leaf, apparently we are connected on a emotional level so that if I'm scared and fearing for my life, he's scared and fearing for his life.
We both look up and see a tiny female humanoid hovering and giggling at us. She's wearing a blue skin tight thong back one piece swimsuit, with stockings and elbow gloves. Her hair and eyes are rose red and her ears pointy, but the most eyebrow lifting thing about her is the insect like wings she's using to fly.
"Tihihi, that was the cutest scream I've ever heard!" she continue to laugh.
Recomposing myself, I stand up to confront our little intruder with Messiah right behind me.
"May I ask who you are sweety?" me and Messiah say at the same time as we glare at her, giving out quite the authourity and divine feel to our tone.
The pixie flinches and stops laughing, "Oh eheheh, sorry about that. My name is Pixie but I can receive a new name from you if you want master."
I calm down and continue, "I never summoned a Pixie or any persona except for this guy, so how did you get here?"
"I was brought here by the Mercant to be your guide and emotional support partner as an apolegy because he messed up." she explained.
I raise an eyebrow, "What do you mean he 'Messed up'?"
"Well he might have put you in a specific part in equestrias history where the door to this room hasn't manifested yet." she explained sheepishly.
And now I'm worried. "What do mean 'hasn't manifested yet'?"
"As in, the other side of the door isn't going to be here until about five hundred or so years."
There was silence... followed by more silence... and more silence.
Pixie starts to look uncomfortable and is beginning to sweat and laugh nervously. I take a deep breath and start walking back to sit in my chair.
I sit down and look towards Pixie and then Messiah.
"*Breaths deep* Megidolaon." I say with sigh.
Messiah charges up energy into his right hand and turns towards Pixie, her eyes widens in horror and she starts to shake with fear. Messiah winds his arm back and Pixie closes her eyes expecting death, only for the blue orb to fly right past her into the night sky and what can be best described as a blue sun lights up the sky.
Pixie opens her eyes and turns around and looks to the sky, she turns back and looks at me confused, I smile and give an answer to her confusion.
"That was for scaring me and laughing at my non manly scream." I say with smug smile.
She stares at me in silence for what felt like an eternity and then her face scrunches up tears begin streaming down her face. She falls down to the ground on her knees and starts to openly crying making my heart ache from guilt.
Maybe I took it to far.
"Waaaahhh, you're so mean!" she cries, "I thought I was gonna die! Waaaahhhh!"
I stand up from my chair and begin walking towards her, I kneel down and gently pick her up, she's so small that she can sit in the palm of my hand and hang her legs down the edge. I walk back to chair with Messiah standing by my side and gently pet Pixies head with a finger as she continues to cry into my chest.
After about an hour, Pixie had finally stopped crying so that I could continue to ask questions. According to Pixie, Mark had sent her to be my company and guide since I'm about five hundred or so years before the begining MLP FIM, so I've got a lot of free time currently.
Honestly I expected worst. I mean from what I have heard some displaced where unfortunate to get turned to stone and wait for one thousand or so years, I take being stuck in a pocket dimension over that any day. One good thing about this is that this means that I have all the free time in the world to understand my powers over the Velvet Room and the powers over my personas.
She also told me that I can basically spawn whatever I want in the Velvet Room, including but not limited to Television, Gaming consoles, Books, a Kitchen and a screen showing what is currently happening outside in equestria... Well that's convenient.
But before I do any of that I need to decide a name for Pixie, I know I can technically just keep calling her Pixie but since she gave me the option of changing her name, why wouldn't I?
But what to name her? She is a fairy, so maybe a fairy name? Or maybe I should name her after a flower? Should it be after a purple flower or a red flower? No, there isn't a name that would fit her personality, she a bit of a crybaby but she is also very commited, she is also pretty and have a strong will. Beauty, strength and elegance... AHA! Of course!
"You're name will be Dahlia!" I suddenly announce.
"Dahlia?" she tilts her head.
"Since your inheritance element is Electricity, I thought that a yellow flower would fit you better," I explain, "In Victorian times, dahlia flowers were used to represent a commitment shared forever by two people, but they also symbolize beauty, elegance, and strength. Which fits you perfectly."
"Dahlia... Dahlia..." she repeats the name trying to get a feel for it.
"Dahlia... I love it!" she happily exclaims.
She flies towards me and pecks me on the cheek, both her and I then start glowing in a blue light and she began speaking her vow.
"I'm Pixie Dahlia, I'm going to be your partner from now on and have some fun!" she happily exclaim as her voice is resonating with power.
My book starts to glow in a blue light and opens up on its own, showing the card of the Lovers arcana right next to Messiahs Judgement arcana.
So that's how that works, the first page of the book seems to show the current personas I have equipped. I also notice that Dahlias stats are actuelly pretty high for being level 3, her attack, magic, endurance, agility and luck are all 30. She also has the Trait Bargain Bolts (Lowers the SP cost of Elec skills by 75%). Other than that tho, her skill slots are completely empty giving me room to customise her from scratch.
But before I do that I wanted to check and see what Dahlia was talking about before. About the fact that I can see what is currently happening in equestria.
I imagine a large TV-screen showing up on the other side of the tree. As I imagine, blue wisps starts to fall from the tree and form into a roughly around 75 inches or 190 cm size flat TV. And just like that a large television screen, similar to what one rich friend of mine had in his living room, was now attached to the trunk of the tree on the opposite side from the table and chairs.
I then thought of a big comfy couch, large enough for eight people to sit in. Just like before blue wisps starts to fall from the tree crown and I proceeded to make myself comfortable on the newly formed large blue couch. Messiah decided to stand behind the couch because the blade on his back along with his wings got in the way, while Dahlia planted herself on my lap instead of sitting next to me.
I didn't notice before but now when Dahlia is sitting in my lap, she's a lot curvier than what she appeared to be in the games. An hour glass figure with wide child bearing hips and a chest that seems to be D I guess, at least D in her size.
"GOD I hope I don't get a boner while I sit here," I thought in my head, "focus on the screen and not smol and sexy fairy."
I hold out my hand, blue wisps falls down the tree and turns into a remote for the TV. The screen turns on and I see a text saying "N.I.E" standing for News In Equestria, which has to be the least interesting and most basic name for a NEWS channel I have ever heard.
"Let's just hope that there are no commercials." I thought to myself.
The screen finally shows something and it's not what I expected. When you think about MLP FIM, you think about Ponies, Friendship, bright colours and Magic. Basically what you'd imagine a child friendly fantasy world would be, but instead I'm treated to seeing all of that on fire.
The screen show acres of land with villages and castles on fire. Anthro ponies running away panicking in the absolute chaos and destruction. Now I'm really curious as to where I am in Equestrias history, since Dahlia said that I was currently around five hundred years before the begining of the show, it can't Nightmare Moon, Discord or Tirek since they were sealed away at least five hundred or so years ago. Sombra never left the Crystal Empire since he never got the chance to begin his invasion, or at least that's how it was in the show.
Actuelly, Mark said that certain events would play out no matter what, but some might have a different ending since this is suppose to be a different universe. The question is what incident happened around five hundred years ago? Celestia is alone at this time so it can't be...
Wait, Celestia is alone and there was one event in the show that was never properly explained. Or more specifically there where several centuries worth of history that was never explained what happened during Celestias rule.
I look down and see Dahlia with a worried expression while holding both her hands to her mouth. I look to my left and see Messiah leaning over my shoulder, looking intently at the screen. I know he's frustrated because I'm frustrated that I am unable to do anything about this situation, for now I need to figure out what exactly is happening.
My gaze returns to the screen and I see something that was not from MLP attacking a poor unicorn stallion. What I saw was a "Shadow", a physical form of suppressed thoughts from the lower part of everyones psyche. When people are unable to face their darker selves, they break loose, free from all control.
The shadow was a Gigas-type shadow, a shadow that appears like a metal giant sporting wrestling speedos, its mask being worn on the upper part of the face right above the mouth.
The shadow picked the stallion up by his leg and slammed him into the ground, it looked really powerful but not enough to kill. I could see that the stallion was alive but something seemed to be oozing from his body, at first I thought it was blood but the blood started evaporating and shape into a Phantom-type shadow.
Phantom-types appears as clocked figures with cyclop like mask covering their face and has a lantern where its stomach should be.
After the shadow had finished forming they just left the stallion alone and walk away, it seems like the shadows don't actuelly kill the ponies but more just knock them unconsious. Each time a pony is down a shadow appears.
Now I really need to know what is happening, where is Celestia during all of this?
The screen changes its view to the sky and what I see leaves me confused. I see a anthro version of Princess Celestia fighting an anthro version of Daybreaker, yep this is definently different from the show.
Celestia and Daybreaker are flying across a red sky, looking like the entire world was on fire, with their bodies clashing and beams of magic induced fire flying across the sky. Occasionally their attacks would miss eachother and hit some of the shadows on the ground.
After a while Daybreaker was knocked down to the ground creating a crater around her. The shadows started swarming her but she retaliated by blasting them with fire and grab some that where close to throw at Celestia. One of the launched shadows hit Celestia knocking her to the ground. She fell and just like Daybreaker, she was also swarmed by shadows.
At this point I was really confused. I thought at first that Daybreaker was controlling the shadows to take over equestria but apparently not. Whenever one of them would fall to the ground the shadows would immediately attack them. What is happening?
Both Celestia and Daybreaker rush towards eachother and their clash creates a huge blinding explosion that incinerates any shadows nearby, obliterates buildings and sets the landscape ablaze.
The smokescreen created from the collision clears and both Celestia and Daybreaker stare at eachother panting for breath. Their clothes torn and burned, their bodies bruised and beaten, both look like they are about to pass out any second now. But before that could happen, Daybreakers mane flares and she charges towards Celestia who seems to be focusing on her magic. A bright blinding light is suddenly unleashed from Celestia and I can hear her speaking.
"YOU WILL NEVER BE IN CONTROL!" Celestia shouts with her Royal Canterlot voice, "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE IT YOU WAY AND YOU WILL NEVER HURT ANYPONY EVER AGAIN! NOW BEGONE FROM MY SIGHT!"
There is a booming sound of an explosion accompanied with the sound of glass shattering as I'm suddenly blasted off the couch by a powerful warm gust of wind and something colliding into me.
I open my eyes slightly groaning as I feel my entire body aching as I'm lying down on my back, I feel something heavy on my chest and my eyes shoot wide open as I see a buck naked white skinned lady with flaming hair, a spiral horn and large white wings lying on my chest. I sit up slightly, biting through the pain in my body and take a good look at our new guest. Except for the spiral horn, large wing, pointy pony ears and flaming tail, she look like a normal curvy yet muscular girl with milk white furred skin and flaming hair. I'm suprised that her hair was warm but it doesn't burn like fire.
I look up and see Messiah and Dahlia looking unsure, I look behind them and see that the screen and couch are completely wrecked. My gaze goes to my left and I imagine a large royal bed, the blue wisps fall and a white and gold coloured bed appears before me. I pick up the sleeping beauty and gently tuck her into the bed, she's much lighter than I expected considering that if she were to be standing, I would reach up to just bellow her chest.
"Well that was unexpected," I say as I turn around to face the other two, "I guess we'll just have to wait for her to wake up."