Chapter Text
The first thing Makoto Yuki saw upon opening her eyes was red. The next was yellow-the bright shade of a young boy's golden eyes.
"What are you doing lying on the ground like that?" With hair as smooth as an egg and shiny as metal, Makoto likened him to an android-which was a strange thought, she supposed.
Makoto blinked dully up at him, slowly gaining awareness of her own body. She felt stiff, as though she had been stuck still for a long time. Clenching her fingers into fists felt... odd. Not bad, just unnatural. "I don't know." She told him after some time had passed in which he had waited, unperturbed and expectant. "I think I was tired."
In a fashion that mimicked Makoto's own, the boy blinked those gold eyes of his. I know those eyes. "Who are you?"
The way the boy just accepted these elongated pauses she created was abnormal. Or was it? Makoto tried calling up memories for evidence but drew a blank. All she could recall was her name and... "Is this... Mementos?" Still on the ground, she eyes the boy in askance.
"Yes," he confirmed. "Did you mean to come here?"
Makoto's eyes drifted past the boy to the swirling reds and black. This place she found herself in was... familiar in a way. She could sense other beings around- Shadows, her mind helpfully supplied. There was something else as well-a dark presence not far. The Reaper. "I think so." Not an answer. Makoto's eyes flashed back to the boy's. They reminded her of someone. "I need to... find the bottom?" There was a pounding in her head as she attempted to reach for more information within herself but the effort was annoyingly immense. With a sigh, she closed her eyes in defeat.
"That might be hard," the boy told her. "The depths are blocked. Even I can't pass."
"That's a pain." Eyes still closed, Makoto breathed deeply. The air tasted ashen.
Some time passed. Then, the boy asked once more: "Who are you?"
"Makoto Yuki." Was her answer. Not that she would have given any more information but she also genuinely could not. Cracking an eye open, she surveyed the kid once more. Comically short, he was made shorter still by how he crouched at her side.
He smiled slightly. "Okay," was all he said.
Makoto sighed. "What about you?"
"Huh? Me?"
"Yes. You."
His head tilted further to the side in curiosity. "Does a human usually introduce itself first before asking another for its name?"
This kid was weird. Even without memories to support this argument, Makoto was confident she was right. "I guess."
"My name is Jose. I'm looking for flowers."
Makoto twisted her head to look around. She appeared to be lying between to rails of a train track, the walls around vibrant yet resembling stones. This was not exactly the place one would expect to find avid florists. "Here?"
"Yup! I'm using them to study humans."
"Okay," Slowly, Makoto sat up. There was a shadow nearby but it did not seem interested in them.
"Say... you feel familiar. Are you here 'cause of that person?"
How vaguely put. Makoto frowned at the boy. "I don't know. I can't remember anything."
"That doesn't sound good." Finger on his chin, Jose stood. Standing, he was still about an inch shorter than Makoto who was sitting with her back hunched. "Hey! If you're willing to help me search for flowers, you can stay with me!"
"Where's that?"
"Where's what?"
Makoto sighed once more, the act a comfortingly familiar one. "Where you stay."
"Oh. Here: in Mementos."
"Uh-huh..." She nodded uncertainly.
Jose pointed behind him to a buggy, the vehicle laden with random odds and ends. "I just drive around and stay where there aren't any shadows."
"Okay," Makoto had no other options, not really. "Can you take me to where the path down is blocked?" Descending this place took an irritatingly urgent place in her mind. It nagged at her. Even when all she wanted to do was lie back down and sleep, she knew she could not.
Best to get it over with.
"Sure! I'll look for flowers on the way, show you what to look for yourself."
---------
The ride was a disgustingly boring one, Jose not one to break the silence unprompted and Makoto was loath to try herself. It was with that motivation that Makoto aimlessly searched her own person. She wore a pair of dark blue jeans, tan sneakers, a white shirt with blue accents, and a plain, black blazer. Around her neck were blue headphones, the earpieces connected by a length of wire, and a cyndrical MP3 player. The heft of it when she took it in her hand was so familiar, her brows furrowed at her frustrating inability to recall anything noteworthy.
The drive went by far swifter when she put on the headphones. The music brought back memories... like something on the tip of her tongue that she was so close to knowing yet not quite there. She tapped along with the beats and mouthed the lyrics, the words coming to her just as she heard them.
"We're here!" Jose's chirp was loud enough to interrupt the flow of music.
She turned off the MP3 player reluctantly. The music was so devastatingly familiar yet it did nothing to jog her memories.
Smiling, Jose hopped out of the car. Makoto followed at a far more leisurely pace. "Y'know, the shadows didn't bother us at all! Not that they're a problem; just strange is all."
Makoto shrugged and ambled past the kid. With tired eyes, she took in the wall blocking their progression.
"It was like they were scared of something. Was it you?"
Laying a hand on the pulsing, red barrier, Makoto could instinctively tell that the only way to open it came from outside Mementos. How she came by that knowledge, she could not say. "Maybe," She answered, dropping her hand. There was a thrumming in the back of her head, like words mumbled too quietly to understand. It was part of her however and it told her any of those shadows would be no danger to her. "Any way outside Mementos?"
"I'm sure there is! But why would you want to leave? You're supposed to be here, aren't you?"
When she shoved her hands into her pockets, she wrapped one around a small, plush doll that she found there. "I need to find a way to open the door." Turning back around, she saw Jose shifting his weight from the balls of his feet to his heels and back again, bobbing back and forth contentedly.
"It'll open eventually. Probably." Was his oh-so helpful response. "But I can take you to the start of Mementos!"
"Yeah, okay." Makoto shrugged. Something told her that leaving Mementos was not an option just yet but it could not hurt to explore what she could. "Thanks, Jose."
"You're welcome!" He spun around and loped back to his vehicle, Makoto following at a less enthusiastic rate. "Didja see those flowers floating in those funny bubbles? They're what I'm looking for! You can help me collect them."
That sounded like work but how could she refuse when he was being so helpful? "Sure."
Instead of listening to music, Makoto spent her time idly pointing out floating flowers to Jose. Partway into the drive and a decent stack of popped flora later, Jose hummed thoughtfully. "Do you feel that?" When Makoto failed to answer, he supplied: "Feels strange."
Makoto tried searching for that "strange feeling" but came back blank. There was something different in the air but she would not describe it as "strange."
Like before, their drive was unimpeded by any of Mementos' shadows. The top of the labyrinth came quickly and, with it, a rather unsettling discovery.
Jose parked his car and got out to fiddle with his flowers-turning them into drinks, according to him-and while Makoto saw what appeared to be the exit, she also caught sight of something blue.
A door, faded and ghostly see-through stood in the corner of the room. Before it stood two young girls, both pale blondes with the same gold eyes as Jose--who did not acknowledge either girl. One had dual buns, the other elaborate braiding, but both wore blue uniforms and hats reminiscent of those a prison guard might wear.
Makoto climbed out of the car and walked over to them. At first, they ignored her, but their recognition came soon and abruptly.
"What's this!" More of a shout than a question, the girl with the buns glared--or, tried. Wearing an eye-patch over her right eye lessened it's ferocity. "Justine, she's looking at us!"
"It appears so," The girl with the braid gasped. "Caroline, this must mean--"
"You have the same power as our inmate!" With a fierce stomp, Caroline interrupted the girl who was clearly her twin.
Justine's right eye (the other covered in the same manner as Caroline's own right one) roamed Makoto's person. "But it's... different. More."
"You must have already completed your rehabilitation!" Caroline surmised to Makoto's silent perplexity. "You must meet our inmate. He's hopeless! He needs all the help he can get."
"...Right." Makoto nodded to the door they stood before. "What's through there?"
"The Velvet Room, of course!" Caroline tapped her foot with the extended baton she carried. "Where our master is!"
"Unfortunately, it's form is subjective of the current guest--"
"Inmate!" Caroline corrected her sister with a huff.
"Yes," agreed Justine with a small nod. "However, this means it is not for you. We cannot allow you through without our Master's permission."
"And he won't give it!" The energetic twin informed Makoto. "He was very clear. Only the inmate is allowed through!"
"Okay," Makoto actually felt mildly repulsed when looking at the door--like staring at something slightly off but unable to put a finger on why. She had no desire to enter.
"Ah," Justine's eye slipped past Makoto. "Speaking of our inmate..."
Turning, Makoto spotted Jose finishing the transformation of a flower into a refreshing glass of... juice? "Maybe it's this one..." He mused before taking a deep sip and remarking on it's flavor.
Four figures stepped into view. All wore masks--not that the amnesiac Makoto was like to recognize them anyway. Two were blonde, one of them a girl, one had curly, dark hair, and the fourth, shorter even than Jose, had a cat tail and ears. All wore strange costume-like clothes. The girl with pigtails sported skin-tight, red leather, a feline mask, and boots that rose above her knees. The blonde boy had a skull mask and rugged clothes that seemed to match. The boy with the dark hair who stood in the middle of them all, had a long trench coat, a masquerade mask, and bright, red gloves that he promptly shoved into his pockets.
The boy with the skull theme spoke first. "Hey, what's he drinkin'?"
"Oh," Jose slipped what remained of his drink into his coat (how?) and eyed the newcomers inquisitively. "Hmmm. I thought I felt something for a second. So who're you guys?"
The cat-like creature groaned irritably. "We should be asking you that!"
"Good point." Nodding, Jose smiled. "Sorry about that. It's customary for a human to introduce itself before asking another human for its name." Eyes on the cat, Jose continued with: "Thanks for reminding me, mister... um, Tanuki? No, um... maybe, cat?"
Growing more and more irate as Jose considered, the cat practically vibrated with it. "What took so long to come up with 'cat'? And I'm not either of those!"
"Oh, hey!" The girl in red was the first to notice Makoto, blue eyes going wide behind her mask. "There's someone else!"
All eyes shifted to Makoto. She gave a small, lazy wave.
___________________________________________________
The girl was walking to them from where Justine and Caroline stood. With blue hair tied back in a loose tail that looked in danger of falling out, her right eye was covered by bangs brushed to the side in seeming laziness. Dressed plainly in a t-shirt, blazer, and jeans, she did not look all that remarkable and her most defining accessories were headphones and an old-fashioned MP3 player dangling from her neck.
"What?" Morgana let out a yowl. "How'd I miss that?"
"So much for bein' the expert." Snickered Ryuji.
"Well, of course Lady Ann noticed her. " shooting Ryuji a furious look, Morgana stressed the words, clearly implying that Ryuji was not on Ann's level.
Akira wanted to sigh. Why could they never get along?
"My name is Jose." Drawing attention back to him, the strange, small boy smiled blandly. "I'm looking for flowers. That's Makoto Yuki. She wants to get to the bottom of Mementos." Eyes still on Akira's group, Jose added: "I'm pretty surprised to see some normal humans running around. I didn't know people could just come here."
"Well, we are pretty special-Wait!" Morgana flailed his arms toward the girl called Makoto (wasn't the student council president called Makoto as well? Akira had seen her around a lot more lately.). "What about her?"
Not understanding, Jose cocked his head to the side. "I already told you; she wants to get to the bottom of Mementos."
"I think he means that she's obviously human." Ann clarified.
"Oh," Jose seemed to have genuinely not come to that conclusion himself. Akira thought it was pretty strange that he called him and his friends human while wearing such ridiculous clothes but the girl who was wearing casual attire did not immediately strike Jose as such. "I suppose she looks it."
"Wait, she's not human?" Reeling back, Ryuji's eyes darted to the girl who was still standing there silently, a bored expression on her face.
"Skull, she's right there!" Chastised Ann. Switching to her kindly persona, Ann was the first to address Makoto Yuki. "Sorry about that; he's a bit of a numb-skull-"
"Hey!" Ryuji objected.
Ann ignored him. "But I think we're all curious. I mean, you look like an ordinary teenager to me!"
"Thanks," Makoto Yuki answered noncommittally. Her voice was low and had a drawling effect. She offered nothing more than that single word.
"Uh-huh." Ann hesitated, not sure how to proceed. "Yeah." She turned her face to him, expression obviously pleading even with the mask on.
With Ann floundering and both Ryuji and Morgana far too tactless, Akira sighed internally and resigned himself to fishing for information. "So what are you?"
Makoto's lips twitched. "I think it's customary for humans to introduce themselves first." A faint glimmer of amusement filled her one, visible blue eye.
"That is correct!" Jose nodded. "Boy, to think we'd be correcting actual humans."
"Themselves," Makoto had said. Undeniably different from Jose's choice of phrasing. "You can call me Joker."
"I'm Mona!" Morgana jumped enthusiastically, eyes bright. His caution when it came to Jose was still there but decidedly lessened in regards to Makoto. Why was that? "The idiot's Skull-"
Another indignant "Hey!" from Ryuji.
"And this," Pausing for effect, Morgana thrust his arms out to dramatically indicate Ann. "Is Panther." Not that he had not already used Ann's actual name earlier...
"Makoto Yuki," Introducing herself, Makoto bobbed her head in a lazy greeting. "And I don't know."
"Don't know...?" Ryuji repeated.
Makoto shrugged. "What I am. All I know is my name."
"I found Makoto Yuki a few floors down." Jose explained. "She's lost her memories."
"You too...?" Breathed Morgana. That answered it: he felt a kinship with her. "And you want to reach the bottom too?"
"It's not that I want to." There was a grumbling edge to Makoto's voice. "It's more like... something I can't get out of my head."
Jose was quick to steer the conversation back to the topic of his flowers, Makoto fading to the background once she settled in Jose's car and put her headphones in. According to Jose, he wanted to learn more about humans and requested their help in collecting the flowers scattered throughout Mementos. In return, he offered to help them out.
Akira decided he would seek them out, if only to speak more with Makoto. Morgana was not the only one to feel a weird kinship with the girl.
"Weird kids," Ryuji said once they were gone.
Ann elbowed him. "Rude!"
"Ow, ow!" Rubbing his side, Ryuji bounced back and out of Ann's reach. "I mean, did you see what the girl had? That MP3 player is so old, it's practically ancient! My mom has one. They're from, like, 2005 or something."
"Really?" Intrigued, Ann lost her angry expression for one of more timid reflection. "Hey, Mona, do you think she has a persona?"
"I don't know." Admitting when he was ignorant was hard for Morgana. He refused to meet their eyes. "She didn't feel like anything but human to me! So... she could?"
"Another persona user?" Ryuji whistled. "Joker, do you think that's possible?"
Akira honestly had no clue. Even after defeating Kamoshida, he still did not feel like they had a firm grasp of this whole situation. "I don't know. I guess."
"It makes sense," Ann added. "It's pretty selfish to think we're the only ones to figure all this out."
"Well you are the only ones who had me to guide you!" Morgana puffed out his chest proudly.
Akira could understand that. Without Morgana helping them along, he and Ryuji probably would never have escaped Kamoshida's palace the very first time they accidentally found themselves there. "Hey, I'll just be a minute." By now, his friends were used to him walking off on his own. They had rightly connected his little forays to the corner of the room with his multiple persona usage. What they did not know was that there were two people none of them could see standing there alongside a ephemeral door.
If his hunch was right, Caroline and Justine would know more.