Chapter 1 - The Yellow Sign

Josephine took off as soon as she saw those piercing golden eyes staring at her. She ran through the sidewalk, leaving other people confused as to why she was so frightened. They couldn't see the shadowy phantoms that crept toward her. They were still locked onto her, oozing through the buildings and road in a ruthless pursuit. She stopped in her tracks as one cut her off. It rose in front of her, heaving its body out of the ground. Josephine stood there, her eyes wide as it staggered toward her and reached its hand for her.

Once its fingers touched her, coldness instantly permeated her body, causing her to collapse on the ground and scream. She curled up with her back against the wall, her eyes wide with terror. Her mind lingered on that awful sensation which froze and burned her simultaneously.

"Jo!"

Someone called out to her, but Josephine was still afraid of the umbral creatures that haunted her. Her eyes were clenched shut. She hated looking at their maddening visages.

"Jo, are you okay?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder and recoiled away from the touch, momentarily letting her eyes open. She calmed down once she saw her sister's face which was full of worry.

"Vi, I..."

Josephine fell silent for a moment.

"You saw them again, didn't you?" Viola said.

"Yeah, I-I did."

Viola helped Josephine, who still shivered from the phantom's touch, up to her feet. Josephine saw no other phantoms as the two of them walked home.

"Just relax, Jo," Viola began, "those things you keep seeing aren't really there."

"They are real!" Josephine shouted, "I felt one of them touch me! It was not a dream!"

"I said relax!"

The two sisters stared at each other in a tense silence, not saying a word. Viola was right: this was the third time she'd seen the phantoms recently. Her running out of school in a panic would surely have caused a scene, she thought. Viola had to have chased after her.

Josephine shuddered at what the other students might say about her as the two of them continued to walk home.

On all accounts, the two were as close as siblings could be: they loved each other's company and there was practically nothing that they wouldn't do together, whether it be drawing (which Josephine enjoyed), homework, or anything in between. Josephine was the younger of the two and stood at 5' 2", whilst Viola stood a foot taller and two years older. Both had black hair, which Viola preferred to have longer than her sister's. Viola preferred to wear orange, which contrasted with Josephine's blue wardrobe. Where Josephine kept to herself, Viola made numerous friends, including a brunette named Maisie who sometimes came over to her house. However, Josephine hadn't seen Maisie as of late due to the fact that she was experiencing mental problems.

"I should ask Vi about Maisie soon," Josephine thought to herself.

As soon as they got home, Josephine sat on the living room couch and stared at the floor. She took a deep breath.

"Vi... I'm sorry, but... I just... I don't know how to explain it..."

"I get it, Jo," Viola said, sitting next to her. "I understand you're having a hard time with those hallucinations. But just remember that nothing bad can come from them." Viola paused for a second. "Oh, and... I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier. I didn't expect you to just dash out of the front doors like that."

"I-it's fine. Thanks, Vi."

Viola nodded and left Josephine alone to calm herself down while she began to take care of her chores. Josephine couldn't help but ponder the appearance of the phantoms. Tall, lanky, and yet having a boundary not unlike that of a cloud of fog. The worst part about them were their eyes: their color, a maddening shade of yellow, drove her crazy. Josephine couldn't afford to ruminate on that color any longer, and thus she began doing her homework as well.

She ended up doing her homework together with Viola, which thankfully made her forget about the phantoms. Hearing Viola laugh as Josephine struggled with her English assignment was the most relieving thing that she heard all day.

Just as they finished, the sound of a car parking next to the house was heard.

"She's home already?" Josephine asked.

Viola peered out of her bedroom window. Sure enough, their mother Claire's car had arrived.

"So early..." Viola said.

The two of them greeted their mom once she came home. As she opened the door, they saw that despite returning home early, she was twice as tired as usual. Claire struggled to keep her eyes open as she returned their greeting.

"Why do you look so tired?" Josephine asked.

A look of revulsion instantly formed on Claire's face.

"Work," she bluntly stated. "I somehow got so much to do there today."

Claire stumbled over to the couch and plopped on top of it. She yawned, her body tempted to lie down and fall asleep.

Due to their mother's exhaustion, the two sisters made dinner for all of them. The table was in complete silence, which Josephine found unusual. Her mother was tired from work, but Viola was extremely lively when it came to conversation. She always found something interesting that happened at school to tell them, but it seemed that Viola wasn't in the mood to gossip, especially after what happened during dismissal. Josephine idly gazed at the dining room window, which showed a nighttime view of the street.

Her eyes caught view of something strange on one of the neighbors' trees. A glowing sigil, angular in design and shining with a pale yellow hue. As soon as she blinked, it was gone.

"I must be seeing things..." Josephine thought as she continued eating in silence. However, it was soon broken by Claire.

"Viola, did anything interesting happen today?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Viola began, her face pensive. "Josephine ran out of the school today."

"Dammit, Vi!" Josephine thought to herself. "You didn't have to mention that!"

"Really?" Claire said. Her and Josephine's eyes locked together. "You didn't happen to see the phantoms today, right?"

"I did," Josephine replied after a moment of silence.

Claire frowned at her daughter's answer. "You've been taking your medicine, though, haven't you?"

"Every morning and every night."

Claire sighed. "If it gets worse, just let me know."

Josephine nodded, her heart sinking as she continued eating.

After some thankfully light-hearted conversation, the three of them retreated to their bedrooms for the night. For Josephine, that meant finally being able to draw something to unwind. Her sketchbook was laid out on her table, showing a blank page that was waiting to be made into her next project.

Josephine browsed on her phone to search for reference images. She opened several tabs of images of coelacanths; it was a long time since she'd drawn one. She eagerly picked up one of her pencils and began to sketch the fish. The speed at which the drawing progressed amazed her. Everything came out beautifully, from the scales to the fins and even the background, which she used blue colored pencils for. Admittedly, she used her artistic license to add vibrant coral to the middle and foregrounds, but that only added to the piece in her eyes. The Yellow Sign encasing the coelacanth was by far the most crowning-

"What the?!"

Josephine stumbled back in horror as she scrutinized her drawing. Sure enough, the sigil she saw during dinner was displayed proudly behind the coelacanth.

"How did..." Josephine muttered to herself. "How did this get so much detail... and why is it here? And... how do I know that symbol's name?"

"Jo, you okay?" Viola said from behind her door, interrupting her train of thought.

"Yeah, I'm just drawing!" She replied.

Before she could say anything else, Viola entered with a curious "Can I see it?" as she approached her sketchbook.

Viola admired her sister's work, smiling to her and asking: "What is that?"

"Oh, that?" Josephine replied. "That's a coelacanth!"

"No, the yellow thing behind it!"

"Oh... that... just came to me..."

"Really? It looks so intricate, though."

Josephine stood in silence as Viola looked at the Yellow Sign. Something about it made Viola stand on edge. What appeared to be a flash of realization hit her before Josephine impulsively closed the sketchbook before her eyes.

"Hey, what's up?" Viola asked, sounding a bit frustrated that she couldn't look at the drawing anymore. "Are you still anxious after... you know?"

"No," Josephine asserted, standing defensively next to her sketchbook.

"Well, if you say so. That symbol was pretty weird, but that drawing is still nice!"

Viola exited the room with a smile as Josephine was left to ponder how the drawing turned out as it did. She couldn't help but ponder the symbol in her mind, trying to dig out a meaning that eluded her.

"That yellow..." Josephine whispered to herself. "It's the same yellow that I saw on those phantoms."

She shuddered at what she said. It couldn't have been possible, but it was. She opened up her sketchbook to the page she'd just drawn on. She saw that the yellow she used was identical to that of the phantoms' eyes.

Josephine closed the book in a panic. She steadied her breathing as she sat down on her bed. She looked around nervously, seeing if anything strange was in her room. There was nothing.

She let out a sigh of relief, then changed into her pyjamas. After getting ready for bed, she took one violet pill from a bottle she kept on her nightstand. She made a mental note not to forget to take one tomorrow morning.

"Good luck for me tomorrow," Josephine thought as she peacefully drifted off to sleep.

---

As soon as she had fallen asleep, Josephine found herself in an odd place. She stood under a gazebo which had light shining through prismatic glass above. A mass of yellow butterflies swirled around her, shimmering in the light.

"That awful color..." Josephine thought.

She took a few steps around its perimeter, admiring the beauty of whatever this place was. The warmth, the lavender scent, everything felt as real as the waking world.

The butterflies soon spiraled inward, coalescing in a central mass that shimmered and morphed into a man. He wore all black, save for a butterfly-themed mask which was white as marble. He took a short bow, then spoke to her.

"Welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Philemon, a dweller between dream and reality. Have you forgotten me?" "Forgotten?!" Josephine exclaimed.

Philemon's question bewildered her. Although his voice was soothing, she couldn't help but feel off about Philemon. "Forgotten me..." The words repeated in her head a thousand times.

"I see..." Philemon said. "Can you state your name?"

After a moment's hesitation, she replied: "Josephine Seabrook."

Philemon nodded. "Splendid. You still possess the strength of will needed to hold true to your self in this domain. You must remember the power you hold within you, the power to summon both the gods and demons you harbor: the power of Persona."

That last word rang a bell in Josephine's mind, but she couldn't quite place her finger on when she heard it. The memory of that word felt distant.

"Your city has already begun its descent into madness," Philemon continued. "I have summoned you here because you have seen the sign that will bring about misfortune."

An image of the Yellow Sign flashed in Josephine's mind.

"It is now time for you to return to your time and place. Go, and with your Personas, prevent your home from becoming a pallid shell of itself."

---

"Jo!"

Josephine shot out of bed with a start. Viola stood in front of her.

"Whoops! Sorry for scaring you!" Viola said. "School is gonna start in half an hour, though, so you should get ready!"

"What?!"

Josephine didn't have time to process the dream she had last night in the rush to get ready for school. After hastily sorting herself out for the day ahead, the two sisters left home, waving goodbye to their mother and wishing her a better day than yesterday.

"Jo, your hair is still messy."

"I know! I'll sort it out!"

Josephine groomed her hair as she looked at the road ahead. A few other students were making their way to the building ahead: Bridgepoint High, a granite edifice that proudly stood for the past fifty years. Josephine still felt a bit uncomfortable despite having started school there two weeks ago. The fact was that she still felt out of place, especially with the atmosphere that had brewed there.

That was when she remembered Maisie. She'd meant to ask about her yesterday, but now was a good time.

"Vi... uh... is Maisie doing okay?" she asked.

Viola let out a sigh, a melancholic expression forming on her face.

"Nope," Viola said. "She's as mad as ever. I've been visiting her as much as I can, but... but..."

Viola hesitated to speak further.

"What's wrong?" Josephine asked.

"She's been taken in to a mental health facility. The docs there are gonna try to get her back to normal, but I'm not sure how long it'll take." Josephine was shocked at the news.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I'm still trying to process it all. Her parents told me when I came to visit the day before yesterday. She'd apparently had an outburst some time prior, so they had her taken in involuntarily."

Viola paused for another moment, letting the news sink in for Josephine.

"I just... can't handle the fact that she changed like that, and so suddenly, too."

She let out a plaintive sigh.

"Vi, don't worry. I'm sure everything will turn out okay in the end," Josephine said, trying to comfort her sister.

"I want to think that, Jo, I really do! But when all Maisie would ever talk about is yellow this, yellow that, yellow everything... it got depressing."

"Yellow?" Josephine said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Viola said. "It was so repetitive. 'Did you see the Yellow Sign yet? Did you see the Yellow Sign yet?' She'd ask me that so many times, and I always said..."

Viola paused, her face growing paler. Her grip on Josephine's hand tightened.

"Jo..." Viola said. "That thing you drew yesterday... why is it..."

The two walked together in silence as they approached the school's front door. Students entered, no doubt rushing to their first period classes.

"I need to take my mind off of that thing," Viola said. "I'll see you after class."

Josephine's heart sank as they went off their separate ways, with her heading to English class. She overheard conversations as she walked through the locker-lined hallways. Rumors about people wandering the streets at night and going mad before being brought into custody were still circulating through the student body, just as they were on the first day of school. In this brief moment before classes started, Philemon's message came to mind.

"This couldn't be the madness that he warned me about, could it?" she thought. "And what about the Yellow Sign?"

She pondered about those questions as she reached her classroom.

Instantly, a blonde girl sitting at the front of the class jumped up and ran over to Josephine.

"Jo! You're here!" she said.

"Elly, you don't need to freak out over me."

"You were being late!"

"I just slept a lot!"

"Okay, and why do you look so pale?"

"Pale?" Josephine asked.

Josephine didn't want to speak about what happened with her sister, so she instead deflected.

"I might not have gone outside in a bit, maybe," she said.

"Okay, then..." Elly said. "You look like you just saw a ghost or something."

"Nothing's worrying me, Elly. Anyways, how were things yesterday?"

The two friends talked for the remaining minutes before classes started, with Josephine steering the conversation away from the rumors at every turn. She thanked the stars for her English teacher entering just as Elly was about to ask another question.

As the teacher lectured on and on about The Catcher in the Rye, Josephine couldn't help but be distracted by thoughts about the dream she had last night.

---

Josephine was relieved that school was finally over. The news about Maisie's institutionalization had spread like the plague across the school, and as Viola's younger sister, she was asked many questions about her. The volume of questions she recieved left her exhausted. She didn't dare mention anything about what she said, and especially not the Yellow Sign. She had already come to the conclusion that the abominable sigil was never meant to be seen by any person, so she spared them the misfortune of hearing about it.

What was less relieving was the frenzied look on Viola's face which Josephine saw as she was about to leave.

"Jo," Viola yelled, exasperated, "I can't stop!"

"Can't stop what?"

"Thinking about the Yellow Sign! It completely occupied my brain today, and I wasn't able to take notes in class! How did you know about that thing?"

"Like I said, it just came to me."

"How?!"

Every student within earshot stared at the pair.

"Vi, let's go," Josephine said, dragging Viola with her.

Viola was even paler than when she talked with her that morning, which made Josephine distraught. Once they left the school grounds, Viola began ranting about the symbol, about its radiance, splendor, and awesome form. The repetitive and incoherent rant slowly gave way to gibberish, with Viola carrying the same distorted smile all the way home.

"Okay, this has to be the madness Philemon was talking about in that dream," Josephine thought to herself as dread poured into her from Viola's speech. "But how can I stop Viola from going crazy when she is already?"

As soon as Josephine brought Viola home, she made sure to brew her some Earl Grey tea, something that never failed to soothe her sister. She gave a cup of it to Viola, who then took a sip. Her pallid complexion gave way to her normal lively self. She looked around, bewildered at where she was. "Jo... what happened? I remember walking to school this morning but..."

She checked the time on her phone, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Classes are over? But... how?"

"Yeah," Josephine replied. "I just brought you home."

"Y-you did? It all feels so hazy. Like I did go to class today but don't remember anything."

Josephine's heart sank.

"Just make sure to drink that tea often, please?"

"Alright..." Viola said, betraying a hint of concern.

Josephine ran upstairs and sat on her bed, having slammed the door shut.

"It's my fault..." she told herself. "It's my fault that she saw that damn sign..."

Her hands trembled.

"And now she's going crazy, just like her friend..."

In a split second, she decided that she had to fix this, somehow. There was no way that she'd have Viola suffer the same fate as Maisie. Not if there was something she could do about it.

Her mind wandered back to Philemon's message.

"Remember the power I have within me, huh..." she whispered to herself.

She looked out of her bedroom window, staring at the city skyline ahead. In the center was the gray monolith owned by a subsidiary of some Japanese conglomerate she hadn't bothered to look into. A large K-shaped logo sat atop the building. Josephine looked at it for some time; it was where her mother worked, after all. What was done in there was outside the scope of her knowledge due to the fact that Claire was strict in terms of not telling outsiders anything.

"No, mom definitely can't solve this..." Josephine reasoned.

She pondered what to do as she stared at the skyline for a few more moments.

"Remember... remember..." she whispered, repeating the words from her dream.

A sudden burst of light interrupted her meditation. She looked down and saw an ornate circular pattern glowing on the floor of her bedroom. A dotted path emanated from it which beckoned Josephine downstairs.

Without any other leads, she began to follow it.

The path ended up leading outside her house. Josephine made an excuse to Viola about wanting to take a walk alone. She made sure to text her mother that too, and with her approval (albeit with the caveat that she had to return by nightfall), she ventured outside.

The path followed the sidewalk leading to school until it took a left turn past some three-story buildings. Another left turn led her to a secluded alley between two of them, with the path stopping in front of a peculiar piece of graffiti.

Josephine stepped closer to it. Otherworldly symbols coated the brick wall, with them forming the shape of a grand set of double doors. Her hand moved towards one of the "handles" by what felt like a magnetic pull. Once it made contact with the wall, her hand sunk into it. The wall rippled around her hand.

"What is this?" she muttered.

Before she had the time to think further, a force sucked her into the wall, and she disappeared from the real world without a trace.

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Chapter 2 - A Lost and Dim World

Josephine stood up, wiping off the black sand which found itself all over her sunfish-themed shirt. The sky of wherever she was immediately transfixed her. It was a sickly shade of yellow, with black stars dotting it. Twin suns as dark as the rest of the stars hung over the horizon. In the distance, a tower rose up past the clouds. The moon passed in front of it.

"What the heck..."

Captivated by the scenery, Josephine wandered towards the tower and the city surrounding it. She passed by fragmentary ruins with graffiti written in an incomprehensible script, petrified faces sticking out of the sand, and lakes whose waters resembled an opaque mist.

Her trance was interrupted by a collision with an onyx wall, before which stood two guards. Josephine let out a scream as she laid eyes on their faces: black, with a singular golden eye radiating a glow of the same color. The phantoms which haunted Josephine so much guarded the iron gate behind them. Their misty forms lumbered toward the terrified girl as the iron sculpture of a dragon watched from the top of the gate.

In an instant, she pushed through the guards and flung the gates open before the phantoms had a chance to react. She rushed past the three-decker houses which lined the street, the phantoms relentlessly pursuing her. After taking a sharp right turn, Josephine plowed into a large hotel, falling on the carpeted floor with a thud. Shadowy figures looked at her with perplexed expressions as she stood up, their yellow eyes bearing the same awful hue as that of the phantoms'.

"Welcome to the Midnight Sanctum," the receptionist said. "May I help you?"

Josephine staggered to the receptionist's table, frantically glancing to each side in case the phantoms were catching up to her. Just like the other "people" in the lobby, she was made out of obsidian which shone under the fluorescent lights and possessed those same yellow eyes. When the receptionist looked closely at Josephine's face, she remembered something:

"Ah, it seems there was already a reservation for you," she said. "Go to room 307. You have someone waiting for you."

She handed the confused teenager a key to the room before she walked through the floral wallpaper of the hotel, disappearing into nowhere.

"What the hell is this place?" she whispered to herself as she climbed the stairs to the third floor. An entire city located on the other side of a back alley wall would be an unbelievable sight to anyone, let alone one where the stars were as black as night.

The third-floor hallway itself spiraled, defying the laws of architecture as it curved like a helix. Josephine walked on the path until she reached a door with a placard reading:

307

Her hand trembled as she inserted the key into the lock and turned it.

The sight that greeted her as she entered the room was that of Maisie sitting on the bed. Her face, framed by her long brown hair, was a pasty white and bore a maniacal smile which reminded Josephine of the one Viola had when she ranted about the Yellow Sign. Her uncanny yellow eyes fixated on Josephine's as she stood up, revealing a black mist which cascaded down her body.

"Maisie?" Josephine gasped. "But I thought you were..."

"Welcome!" 'Maisie' exclaimed as she approached Josephine. "I take it that you were invited here, too?"

"No, I wasn't..."

"Why are you here then? Only those who've seen the Yellow Sign can come here, and you definitely fit the bill."

'Maisie' produced a copy of Josephine's drawing of the coelacanth and the Yellow Sign from her jacket pocket and showed it to her. Josephine took a step back as she saw the impossible object.

"How did you get that?" she shouted.

"It's a secret," 'Maisie' playfully replied, continuing to approach her. "Maybe you should take a nap. You look like you're freaked out."

'Maisie' gestured towards the bed, and a frigid chill spread through Josephine's body as two people dragged her towards the bed.

As soon as Josephine saw the phantoms on both sides, she screamed and thrashed against them futily as they shoved her on the bed.

"What the hell is this?! Let me out! Let me go!"

"Josephine. Take a nap," 'Maisie' demanded. "You wouldn't want your sister seeing you so worried, right?"

"Don't say another word about her!" Josephine shouted, her mouth trembling at the sight of her and the phantoms she continued to struggle against.

"That's right. Just go to sleep. The beds here make it quite refreshing, you know?"

Josephine continued to thrash against the phantoms, but their grasp proved to be too strong for her to overcome. That familiar coldness seeped through her body, causing her motions to gradually become subdued. All she could do was look into the phantoms' singular eyes with an expression made from pure terror.

"Is this it?" Josephine thought to herself. "Is this how it all ends..?"

She stared at 'Maisie' and the two phantoms as they tucked her under the cold blanket and restrained her.

"Vi... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

"You don't have to be."

Josephine's own voice speaking back to her startled her. Her eyes moved in a frenetic motion as she searched for the one who spoke like her.

"You've already taken a step closer to freeing her," the other self said. "You just have to remember your resolve."

"Remember..."

The word echoed inside her head. A similar message had been said by Philemon in that dream, and her other self reminded her of it.

She felt an inner force spring from the font of her heart, a warm feeling which pushed against the frigidity of the phantoms' grasp. She fought against their iron grip to push herself off of the bed, smiling at 'Maisie' with a radiant confidence. There was one word she had to invoke.

"Per... so... na!"

As soon as she uttered the last syllable, a pillar of blue light shot out of her chest and its force knocked the phantoms and 'Maisie' against the walls. She lifted herself off of the table as the light condensed into a feminine figure dressed in black which floated behind her. It brandished one of many long paintbrushes it had on its belt.

"Artemisia... let's do this!" Josephine uttered on instinct.

As Josephine fought off her attackers, uttering incantations resulting in torrents of water battering the phantoms and 'Maisie,' she felt the warm feeling of her other self - her Persona - running through her. She channeled the energy into it, commanding it to slash the phantoms with blades extending from the various paintbrushes and foamy waves dissolving their black foggy forms into nothing.

When she was finally relieved of the frenzy that consumed her, Josephine loomed over 'Maisie,' who now lied prostrate and had her normal green eyes. She felt a heaviness in her hands: she held a rapier that appeared in her grasp.

"No! D-don't hurt me! Please!" 'Maisie' said as Josephine staggered over to her.

"Maisie... I don't want to do that. I just want you to go back to your normal self."

"Normal? This is normal!"

"No! Look around you! Look at the black stars in the sky, the yellow fog, the misty lake! Is that normal?"

'Maisie' stood up and looked in the mirror. She let out a gasp and covered her mouth as her body slowly sank into the ground, leaving a black residue that evaporated shortly after.

A sudden fatigue dropped onto Josephine as she looked in the mirror and observed her Baroque outfit. Despite its tightness, she was free, and glad that her face was no longer pale.

---

Maisie awoke and jumped off of the firm mattress she laid on. She trembled as she struggled to remember what had happened over the past two weeks.

"What the heck is this place? This isn't my room!" Maisie exclaimed as she walked to one of the plain white walls.

She noticed the white jumpsuit she had on. Her eyes widened.

"And this isn't my outfit either!" she shouted.

Just then, the memories of that eternally long dream washed over her like a tsunami. The Yellow Sign, the black stars of Carcosa and the idyllic shores of Lake Hali were etched into her memories. As soon as she realized that the world which seamlessly blended into her waking life was distinct from that, she grew worried. But most concerning of all was the sight of Viola's younger sister commanding her to 'return to her normal self' after a stay in the luxurious Midnight Sanctum.

"Was... was that not a dream?" Maisie asked herself. "Was Carcosa not real?"

A sudden realization caused her to run up to the door and pound on it repeatedly.

"Let me out!" she screamed to the outside! Her cries repeated endlessly, echoing through the hallway. "I'm not mad anymore! I did something terrible! Just let me out!"

---

"Ms. Seabrook?"

Claire was surprised to see Mr. Carl Sherman at this hour, especially with the cases of hysteria trending up these past two months.

"Aren't you supposed to be sorting out the latest batch of patients?" she asked.

"Yes, but one of them..."

"One of them what?"

"One of them is now lucid."

Lucid. The word hung in the air for a tense moment.

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, ma'am. I've got the report for you."

Sherman slid a docket on Claire's desk. As soon as it touched the mahogany, Claire opened it.

"Maisie Bishop..."

"That's your older daughter's friend, isn't it?"

"I-it is!"

Claire read the report, holding the paper close to her face.

"Just as we suspected. The meme got to her," she mused. "But if her testimony is to be believed..."

Claire's face took on a grave expression.

---

Josephine ran through the streets of the mysterious city in search of an exit. More phantoms pursued her as she took every conceivable turn to no avail, until she laid sight upon a glowing blue door. Once she saw it she opened it and dove into the room, the door closing as the phantoms sunk back into the walls.

Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat Major played as Josephine looked around the modest studio, which was coated from ceiling to floor in a vibrant blue velvet. A blindfolded pianist sat at the far corner accompanied by a tall woman who could pass as an opera singer. She was silent.

The person who caught her eyes, however, was a bizarre old man with an unusually long nose. His lanky arms shifted slightly as his unflinching smile made itself known to Josephine.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, my dear young lady," he said. "I am Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." Josephine cautiously approached the old man as he looked at her.

"I have been expecting you for a long time; Master Philemon has told me about you."

"You know him?"

"I do indeed. I have been assigned to guide you along your journey and nurture this power you have rediscovered."

Igor adjusted his posture.

"Hm... I see that Artemisia is how your psyche chose to show itself... a different Artemisia, too. Very interesting."

Before Josephine could ask what he meant by 'different,' Igor continued.

"You likely wonder why this other world exists and why insanity has begun to enter your town. You are unfortunately unable to answer those questions at this moment, but you will uncover the mystery in time."

A blonde woman with long hair and a dress colored in the same shade of blue as the Velvet Room opened a door from behind Igor and entered. Her eyes lit up and she smiled as soon as she laid eyes on Josephine.

"This is Genevieve, an attendant of this Velvet Room."

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Genevieve said with a cheerful tone.

"We will help you nuture your power in the future. But that shall wait for until we meet again!" Igor stated.

---

The next thing Josephine knew, she stood on the outskirts of the city just outside the gate with the iron dragon overlooking it.

"Argh... I had so many questions for that guy!" Josephine muttered as she went back from where she came.

The black desert was filled with peculiar structures. Josephine found her eyes drifting to a golden gyroscope-shaped one in the distance, with bands of metal spinning around its center at an impossible speed. The lakes and ponds that dotted the landscape were full of a yellow fog which washed on the shore just like water.

After a short moment, Josephine found a door-shaped graffiti similar to the one she found on her walk. She put her hand on it, and it sunk into the obsidian wall, pulling her in.

Luckily, she popped back out in the alleyway she had found herself in before entering that other world. She stood there for a moment, processing what she had witnessed there. Her clothes had also somehow returned to that which she wore before uncovering her Persona.

"I've had enough weirdness for today," she thought as she walked back home.

However, thoughts about what happened continued to swirl in her head for the rest of the night.

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Chapter 3 - The Return

"Jo! I'm so happy!" Viola said, standing in front of a mirror that was magnetically attached to her locker. "Maisie's back!"

"She is?"

"Yeah! Apparently the docs said she snapped out of whatever it was that she suffered from."

"It's odd, though. None of the other people who've suffered the malaise have even showed signs of a recovery yet," Josephine pointed out.

"Oh, don't get started on that BS."

Viola brushed her hair, focusing on one particular strand that refused to go straight along with the rest of it.

"You might want to get to class now. If you spend one more minute adjusting your hair, you might be late."

"Oh, shut up! I need my hair to look perfect!"

Josephine responded by shoving a bottle of Viola's tea in her face. Without hesitation, Viola took the bottle from her hand and took a swig out of it, her face restoring itself to its proper hue.

"Augh... I feel like I have a migraine or something. What period is it again?" Viola asked, placing her hand on her forehead.

"About a couple minutes until first period," Josephine answered.

"What?! Already! But I swore I was looking at the mirror in my room..."

"Just remember to drink some of that if you're feeling strange, Vi," Josephine said, gesturing to the bottle of tea she had smuggled from home for her.

"Right, right. No need to remind me."

The two of them went to their respective classes. In the two days since Josephine's excursion in the other world, Viola was steadily growing obsessed with her appearance. It wasn't unusual for her to browse for the most stylish outfits she could find; Josephine had gotten a pink and white striped sweater as a birthday gift for her this past summer. That shirt happened to be the one Viola was wearing today. While the good news of Maisie's recovery was welcome, anxiety was still ubiquitous in Bridgepoint. The malaise, as it had been dubbed, showed no signs of slowing down. Stories of individuals becoming fixated on one singular aspect of their life turning into shambling pale shells of their former selves was regular front-page news in the city's newspaper. What perplexed Josephine however, was the complete absence of interviews or any other flavor to them: the stories could always be summarized as: 'Person gets ill with the malaise, sent to the mental hospital.'

The first four periods of the day flew by while Josephine found herself thinking about the city behind the wall and the events leading up to her discovering it. She exited her history class of the day deep in thought.

"The Yellow Sign... could it be behind all this?"

"That is a valid assumption," she heard her other self say.

"Artemisia?"

"Yes, that is me. Think of me as your inner voice."

Great. Now she had another her to deal with.

Before she could ponder more, Josephine bumped into another student, causing her to drop a box full of books which scattered all over the floor.

"Ah! I'm sorry," Josephine said, scrambling to grab all the books.

"No, it's fine!" the other girl said. When Josephine saw her, the spitting image of Maisie became visible.

"Wh-Maisie?"

"Yeah, it's me."

Maisie and Josephine eventually put back the books back into their box, and the two of them began walking to the cafeteria together. Josephine noted the large proportion of tarot and occult-themed books that Maisie had on her.

"I was waiting to speak to you, actually," Maisie said.

"Really? What about?"

Maisie leaned close to Josephine's ear and whispered to her:

"The Yellow Sign."

Josephine's blood ran cold as soon as that name was uttered.

"Maisie, do not speak of that thing here."

"I know. That's why I whispered it to you. You remember what happened to me, right?"

"Yeah, you were in that psych ward."

"Well, I think I know how the malaise works, and also that I got it somehow. It's all to do with the symbol that shall not be named. If you hear about it and see it, chances are that you'll be consumed by some activity or thing. In my case..."

Maisie looked down at her box of books.

"My room was full of weird occult stuff. Not that I hate it; I am in the Occult Research Club, but I grew attached to those books after seeing the symbol that shall not be named. I can't remember much after that, but I think my room was a total mess after a while. Books were scattered everywhere and that symbol was all over my walls. Thank goodness that they cleaned that up. As for these, I'm gonna donate them to the school library or some other place."

"Anyways, the reason that I brought the symbol that shall not be named up is because..."

Maisie hesitated.

"It's because I told your sister about it."

"No. It's my fault for showing it to her. I drew something with that thing in it."

"You what?!"

"I saw it outside the window one night while I was eating. When I decided to draw something, the thing just... appeared! I don't know how it happened, but..."

The two girls' faces were pale as they entered the cafeteria. Both looked serious. They sat together in a table in silence. Only the conversations of other students were heard between the two.

"I..."

Before Josephine could speak any more, she put her head in her elbows and started breathing heavily.

"It's... it's my fault! It's my fault that Vi's going crazy I swear! It's... It's... It's..."

"Josephine, it's not-"

"Shut up! It's my fault that she's going to go insane, and I have to fix it!"

Her index finger, which was pointed at Maisie, trembled as she glared at her.

Both of the girls felt helpless as they returned back to eating lunch.

---

After excusing herself outside, Josephine found her way back to the alleyway that held the graffiti of the double doors. She stared at them.

"If I'm gonna save Vi, I'll have to do it now," she whispered to herself.

Before she could enter, an interloper appeared.

"Josephine? What are you doing here?" Maisie asked.

"Maisie!?"

Her appearance caught her completely off guard. She fell on the floor and Maisie ran over and helped her stand up.

"Sorry for scaring you," Maisie said. "But why are you here?"

"I don't know," Josephine lied. "I just needed some time outside."

"Yeah, I get that."

The two of them leaned on the wall opposite the double doors.

Maisie fidgeted with her keychain as she and Josephine looked at each other warily. Josephine hid the fact that a whole other world was on the other side of the double doors, not wanting to bring Maisie into this mess.

"You know, I dreamt about this place while I was obsessed with those books," Maisie said.

"You were?"

"Yeah. I had a lot of strange dreams. I was near a lake, in a hotel..."

Maisie's voice trailed off. She was hesitant to speak further or do anything else.

However, the two were soon holding hands, their legs autonomously guiding them to the double doors. They soon plunged into the wall, vanishing from Bridgepoint.

---

"Maisie, I can expla-"

"No, you don't! I dreamt about this place too! Look, you can see Lake Hali in the distance."

Maisie pointed to a large lake brimming with yellow mist.

"Hali?" Josephine asked.

"Yeah! We're in Carcosa right now. And... those clothes... that sword..."

Maisie took a couple steps closer to Josephine, inspecting her ensemble.

"You look like you stepped out of the 1600s or something. But there's one thing about this outfit that's vexing me."

"What?"

"When I was dreaming about the hotel, you were holding that sword and wearing this exact outfit. That was the last strange dream I had. It was scary, though. You telling me to return to normal freaked me out when I regained my senses."

Josephine recalled seeing the distorted version of Maisie during her first time in this strange world, or 'Carcosa,' as Maisie called it. Her summary of that dream matched up with her visit to the hotel perfectly.

"Is something wrong? Why do you look so anxious?"

"Yeah... it's because this isn't my first time here. I went to some hotel and saw you... or rather, some weird version of you or something? I told that you that it should return to normal."

"No way..."

The two girls walked to the city in the distance as the gears in their brains turned.

"I can't believe an entrance to this place exists in the real world..."

Maisie looked up in wonder at the yellow sky.

"Maisie, you might want to be careful. There are dangerous monsters here."

"Oh... I think I know what you mean. I dreamt that some weird ghosts or something restrained you to a bed in the room I was staying. You managed to kick their butts, though. It was incredible."

"That... that's because of my Persona."

"Persona?"

"It's like a part of myself I can use to push my way through ordeals like that. That's how I beat those monsters."

"I see..."

Maisie paused for a moment.

"Josephine, you don't think that Viola is in this world, right?"

"That's exactly what I think. I've come here to save her. Based on what you've told me, I think her dream-self or whatever is here."

Josephine and Maisie walked through the iron gates and into the city. The Midnight Sanctum was in the same place as last time, though it was closed for the day. What caught Josephine's eye was a glowing skyscraper that stretched out to the sulfur-colored clouds hanging above. It looked decadent compared to the coal-colored buildings surrounding it; pink, purple and green lights constantly shone out of it. A neon sign plastered on the side of the building proudly stated:

"That's..."

"Yeah... I think Viola's here. Definitely," Josephine asserted.

They entered the salon and were immediately bombarded by the pastel-colored interior and rows upon rows of chairs and mirrors.

"Welcome to the Seabrook Beauty Salon," a receptionist chimed in a sing-song voice, "can I help you?"

Josephine looked around at the salon in disgust.

"God, to think that my sister would ever think of something so gaudy..." Josephine blurted out.

Maisie, meanwhile, was stunned at the colors on display.

"This was definitely not here while I was dreaming," she said. "What 's the meaning of this, anyway?"

"My sister's been splitting hairs over her looks lately. Maybe this is a manifestation of that?" Josephine conjectured.

"That's totally right!" A haughty yet familiar voice stated.

From a flight of stairs descended a girl dressed in one of the most stylish yet abhorrent outfits Josephine ever saw. She possessed maddening yellow eyes and a straight haircut which was trimmed and combed to perfection. It was Viola.

"You think that this place is so ugly, is that right?!" 'Viola' said to Josephine. "You're sorely mistaken! I've made this place the most beautiful in all of Carcosa!"

The distorted Viola looked into a mirror and admired her face before leaving it, causing the mirror to explode into a million pieces. The shrapnel gracefully floated behind her like glitter.

"Maisie, get back," Josephine commanded, readying her sword as the distorted Viola drifted closer.

"Holy shit... she looks like some supervillain that went to a fashion show or something..."

"Maisie! How dare you!" Viola shouted. "If I recall correctly, you and my sister were the ones who introduced me to this beautiful brand of cosmetics!"

The distorted Viola produced a compact from her purse which was made from a black rock. It bore the Yellow Sign. A group of followers emerged from the rest of the mirrors, drooping down and leaving a slimy black ooze. From that ooze came balls coated in yellow spirals with a singular pair of lips which licked themselves in anticipation.

"I'm the most beautiful I've ever been, and this is how you repay me!? Treating me like some abomination?!"

"Viola! Stop!" Josephine shouted. "This isn't you! This isn't you!"

Her rapier trembled in her hands.

"Au contraire, ma sœur. This is the most me I've ever felt in my life!"

The shadows surrounded Josephine and Maisie as they closed in on them.

"Holy shit..." Maisie gasped. "This looks bad!"

"It is bad... for you!" the distorted Viola explained. "If you two are going to be such naysayers, you might as well not exist in this salon! Dispose of them, my fans!"

The shadows licked their lips again, preparing to feast on the two girls. Viola walked up the stairs as Josephine invoked her Persona.

"Artemisia! Aqua!"

A pillar of water exploded from the ground and skewered one of the shadows, turning it into a black mist. Josephine lunged and thrust her rapier at another, piercing it over and over again until its black blood cascaded from its body, causing it to deflate and fall to the ground.

"Holy shit! This is amazing!" Maisie thought as she was dazzled by the scene unfolding before her. But a shadow approaching her was something she was oblivious to until it was nearly too late.

A gigantic tongue licked the air in front of her as Maisie crawled away from one of the floating mouths.

"Josephine! Help!"

Josephine twirled around and ran over to Maisie's aid. If it weren't for one of the shadows spitting a fireball at her and sending Josephine flying, she would have made it.

Maisie stared at the floating mouth in horror as it floated toward her. Josephine tried to scramble to her feet, but another fireball made her fall to the ground face-first.

"Josephine! Are you okay?!"

No response. Her limbs quivered as she tried to lift herself from the floor to no avail. The floating mouth-balls were salivating at Maisie, hovering towards her like a pack of wolves.

"S-stay back..." Maisie pleaded. "Don't eat me!"

She scooted herself into a corner.

"Shit... there's nowhere to run now... shitshitshitshitshit..."

"But you can't just have your story end here. Isn't that right, darling?"

Maisie looked around in confusion. Who was it that spoke in her own voice?

"I am you," it answered. "The part of you who stays true to yourself. You won't let your friend die... right, darling?"

"Hell no."

"Then call upon me, and we shall write our legend today."

Maisie looked at Josephine with determination.

"Yes... Sappho!"

A column of blue light shot out from Maisie's chest, causing the shadows surrounding her to be buffeted by the expulsion of energy. It coalesced into a woman holding a lyre who was colored similarly to the pottery of ancient Greece.

"Dia!"

Maisie's Persona strummed its lyre, sending green musical notes to Josephine.

As soon as she felt the revitalizing force, Josephine sprang into action and thrust her rapier at the shadow closest to Maisie, with Maisie following that up with icy winds that cut into the others.

Although they were outnumbered, the shadows were slowly picked off by the duo's Personas. When the final shadow dissolved into nothingness, Maisie collapsed against the wall of the salon, which had become a total wreck.

"Maisie!"

Josephine ran over to her aid, bending down to the exhausted Maisie's level.

"Oh my god..." Maisie yawned. "That was... that was something."

"Could it be because of your Persona?"

"My Persona? I don- oh, right, yeah... I was in such a frenzy when she awoke. I feel like I could nod off any minute now."

"Let's go home. I don't want anything else trying to eat you."

"Yeah..." Maisie yawned again. "That'd be great."

Josephine carried Maisie out of the black city and all the way to her house. Even if she was unable to save Viola today, she now had a friend who had the same power that she possessed.

---

The moment Josephine fell asleep was the moment she found herself back in the Velvet Room. She was sat opposite Igor and Genevieve.

"And so, we meet again," Igor said, brimming with pride as the Sonata Pathétique played in the background.

"H-how did I get here?" Josephine asked.

"The Velvet Room is a place between dream and reality, mind and matter; you are fast asleep in the real world."

"So this is a dream... got it. Why did you bring me here?"

"We are pleased to see that you have begun to foster the bonds between yourself and the many others that will soon enter your life," Genevieve stated.

"Your power will be enriched by these bonds," Igor added. "As you involve yourself with others, they will gradually develop and amplify your power. You may even see different aspects of yourself in them. Think of it as a mirror."

"Please remember this. The next time we meet, it shall be of your own accord."

Igor handed her a glowing key which had an ornate V engraved into it.

But before Josephine could ask another question, the Velvet Room faded away.

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Chapter 4

WIP