Inspired by the Base Persona 5 Games.
Chronos, the god of time obtains Goro’s dying body just right before Shido’s palace collapsed.Goro is at the mercy of a whimsical god that goes to great lengths to revive him. Why? Just to see if he could break taboo and revive a mortal with his soul and all. . This process takes three Earth years. Chronos finds his experiment a success and decides to take it a step further. He transports Goro back home. In doing so, the god wipes the memories of the masses that knew the brunet. Those heavily involved with the Metaverse remained unaffected. Akechi’s appearance is slightly different as he sports now much longer hair due to being asleep for so long.
In the deepest dark, where the lines between reality and dreams are blurred. The sound of a distant train echoed through his ears as he tasted blood in his mouth. Is this death? Wouldn’t his conscience cease to be? Who knew? He knew that he died, there was no doubt about that. The burning of the bullet searing into his head. The heat of the explosion within Shido’s palace and the very faint cries of the Phantom Thieves…. He remembered every pain and every sound and then…nothing. All became black.
It was like lingering between waking up and dreaming. Akechi’s consciousness felt groggy, and there was a feeling of being held in place, or what his mind could remember how it felt. There was no movement, no breathing, no feeling, just a fleeting awareness that was drifting back into a comforting slumber. He could only make the sound of a distant train and the gaze of an unknown presence.
It was a shock, a gut punch of rushing senses returning to a sentient mine. Thoughts and memories rushed through his nervous system like a slide of emotions and instincts. There was a person there in that cacophony of swirling images and memories that stood out. The black raven colored hair…the steely stoic stare….a comrade…an enemy…a friend…
It was a horse cry. The sound of his voice felt so foreign. Akechi was staring up at a blank beige ceiling with his hand outstretched as he was reaching for something or someone…A wave of achy pain hit him hard as he let his hand drop. The smell of chemicals filled the brunet’s nostrils, and the sound of machinery beeping hit his ears.
Akechi stared at that beige ceiling in a mix of awe and horror. Nothing made sense. He had died….he was very dead but yet….
The achy feeling didn’t go away as he struggled to sit up. Everything hurt, and even his head felt heavier than he recalled. Criimson colored hues began to take every detail of the roo,m and Goro deduced he was in a hospital room and in a bed. Hospital? No. This wasn’t right.
A new noise caught his attention. The sound of clanking high heels hitting the floor with multiple footfalls following behind. Soon some few members of the hospital staff entered the room in a mix of panic and amazement. They swarmed the bed like lotus, but Akechi couldn’t hear them. The thing that clogged his ears was the loud sound of his own heartbeat and the achy pain of his body intensifying.
It was overwhelming. He wanted to scream to leave him the fuck alone, but words wouldn’t leave his lips, and he fell into a panic, and soon he passed out, drifting back into the familiar darkness.
It was a dream. Akechi thought as he found himself sitting in a dark room at a bar counter. He felt no pain or ache but sat there stunned. Where was he? Was this a form of hell? Goro was still as his mind tried to comprehend the place he was in.
“Well, that could have gone better,” said a familiar voice.
Wide-eyed still, Goro glanced up and spoke. “Ren?” before he could realize who was staring back at him. Behind the bar counter was indeed Ren, but Goro wasn’t sure what exactly he was staring at. “Ren” was cleaning a glass like a bartender, dressed as a bartender but wearing all white; his hair was also that blinding white color, and the eyes….they were an icy blue that held nothing.
“Is this some fucking joke?” Akechi replied bluntly.
“Such language… and you used to be so charismatic.” It was Ren’s voice, yes, but a bad mockery. It was in a tone that he never used, a playful apathetic that only bored and sarcastic children could make.
“Cut the bullshit,” Goro grunted in annoyance. “You are not Ren. Who are you? Where am I? How am I alive?”
The imposter continued to wipe the glass in his hand, his gaze falling upon the brunet like he was some sort of plaything for his amusement. Goro didn’t like that look on Ren’s face. It pissed him off. “Don’t worry. You are no longer dead. Actually, you took well to this little reformation project my higher-ups are researching.”
That answered nothing, and Goro felt his eyebrow twitch.
“No longer implies I was dead before. What are you? Start making sense!” he stood up as he slammed his hands on the counter. “Why do you look like Ren? Don’t screwing with me!”
“Mind your temper. I’ll explain,” the imposter replied. Goro’s patience was growing thin, and the condescending attitude of this stranger was really rubbing him the wrong way. He wanted to jump over the counter and punch the man.
“You died in Shido’s palace, this is true, but my higher-ups were watching the Demiurge’s failed attempt to overcome humanity, and an idea struck them,” the bartender explained. “While studying humans, they wondered if humanity could actually find redemption and be accepted and forgiven. So a wager was formed between them.”
Goro’s eyes narrowed. His mind was racing. What did this mean? A plaything? He had become a toy for something beyond his mortal comprehension. He lowered his head as realization began to hit him.
This was the doing of various gods….and he was their little toy.
“I was in a hospital…where am I now?” Goro asked bitterly and didn’t dare lift his head just yet.
“Relax. This is your mind’s eye. A small palace of sorts just for you. Think of it as a dream. A place for your mind drift as your body rests.”
Goro wanted to throw up. He was alive…brought back from the dead to be a toy for childish gods and a wager. It was so insane. He felt his chest hum with melancholic amusement and a laugh full of bitterness, and spite left his lips.
“You've got to be kidding me….everything I did…only to be brought back for a stupid game.”
“Correct,” the bartender replied. “If it makes you feel any better. The world doesn’t remember you well..except a few who had a lasting impression or impact. The masses forgot your existence during your revival. “
Goro shot a glare. “Who are you already?”
“Call me Barkeep. Think of me as a guide to push you in the right direction during your rehabilitation. Like a little guardian angel. It’s why I have this form in your mind. Someone somewhat to your liking.”
During the whole exchange, there was a clock ticking away on the wall above Barkeep’s head. It reached midnight, and the sound of an alarm filled the space.
“Well. You are out of time. You’ll be waking up in that hospital soon. Don’t worry. Your life has been recrated. The “Goro Akechi” you were is now like he never existed. A new “Goro Akechi” has been made to aid you in your path of redemption. Just know my bosses had to piece your broken body back together…and it’s not yet healed from that process. Take care.”
Every word was laced with sarcasm and perhaps truth…
That didn’t make sense to Goro, but he didn’t have time to think about it as he was pulled away and out of the bar.
Goro awoke once again in the hospital room. That same ache he felt before was present. He felt exhausted, but more calmly, he began to attempt to push himself up. It took a large amount of effort, but he was sitting there. His chest was rising and falling and littered with scars. He didn’t have those before….but this life was different.
Instead of the myriad sounds of footsteps he heard before, it was one. The high heels clanked loudly against the hospital floor as a nurse hurried over to the bed. She must have been waiting there after he passed out, Goro pieced together.
It was a middle aged woman, a nurse from the looks of her. She looked kind of like a mother would worry about a sick child. “I can’t believe you are awake. I’m sorry we startled you before,” she spoke with a genuinely warm and honest tone. Before, it would annoy Goro, someone so unbelievably kind, but he was too tired and too overwhelmed to feel any sense of annoyance.
“Try not to move too fast, dear. Waking up from a coma is never easy. Take it slow,” the nurse replied softly.
A coma? Goro thought himself. He brought his hand up to his head to hold it in hopes it would keep him from screaming out in frustration. He felt his hair and left his finger tips feel the length. It was much longer now, but seemed well taken care of.
“I’m…” his throat felt so dry and hoarse. The words failed him.
“Oh, let me get you some water, “ she moved over to the cart beside the bed and poured some cold water into a styrofoam cup. “ It’s not surprising that you can’t speak well from just waking up. It will be alright. It’s a good sign that you are even trying, “ she helped Goro hold the cup in his hands. His fingers gripped the cup, but it felt like a brick in his hand.
His body was weak, just like a coma patient…..
The brunet did bring the cup to his lips with the nurse’s help, and the ice-cold water rushed to soothe his hurting throat. Goro would play along for now until he got his answers. After the drink, he let the nurse take the cup from his grip, and his hands fell to rest on his lap.
“What happened to me..?” Goro asked.
“It was a terrible accident.” The nurse began. “It happened about five years ago. There was a terrible train accident. The train you were on tipped over. You were one of the victims who was brought in, but you’ve been in a coma ever since.”
The brunet sat there with a stoic expression. So that was the story that was made up for him. The “Goro Akechi” he was before never existed in this world. What sort of “Goro Akechi” would he be now?
“It’s alright, dear. Memory loss is not surprising. Take your time. A generous donor has kept the surviving victims well taken care of with all expenses paid.” The nurse spoke up. “The doctor will be arriving here shortly,” she smiled kindly. She began to explain what has happened in the last five years in Japan and in the world.
Goro had stayed at the hospital for a month after his awakening. The mysterious donor had to be the being that revived him, and apparently whimsical gods came prepared for the inconveniences of mundane mortal lives. Akechi had a fund in his name from the mysterious donor, aiding in setting up a place for him to live. It was an old building, but it had everything he needed.
Akechi felt a sense of being lost on what exactly he should be doing now, but he was a pawn in a wager between gods, it seemed, or that was what his logical mind was telling him. The world really did forget him, and it almost felt unfair that he would get a second chance when he killed so many. Not that he fully felt guilt. They all had been corrupted adults…but now he was an adult back from the dead…in a god’s game with no answers.
