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Once upon a time, five children - Tatsuya, Lisa, Eikichi, Maya and Jun - were close friends and playmates. But ten years later, they don't even recognize each other's faces. Why? Because a horrific incident ten years ago tore apart the five friends...
Now...a strange story unfolds in Sumaru City, where rumors become reality, and false memories block pursuit of the truth. But violence and lies must give way to truth, and the recovery of the five's true memories of an unknown sin will lead them to a greater purpose...
"Here it goes: Deliver Tatsuya to 'the man' of Kasu High!"
It all started when Tatsuya Suou, a student at Seven Sisters Academy, received a mysterious challenge delivered by his fellow student Lisa Silverman. It was sent by Eikichi Mishina, the Captain of Kasugayama High School. Eikichi revealed that he was holding a female student from Seven Sisters hostage and told Tatsuya to come to Sumaru Prison if he wanted to guarantee her safety. So Tatsuya and Lisa rushed towards Sumaru Prison.
Once there, they found Hanaji, the kidnapped student. But talking to Eikichi and his flunkies, they learned that to fulfill the challenge Tatsuya had to participate in the band's musical performance. Lisa quickly tired of the flunkies' spiteful comments and insulted Eikichi. Her words enraged Eikichi so much that his Persona emerged.
After the emergence of all three's Personae, they passed out. In a shared dream, they met an enigmatic man named Philemon. Philemon expressed concern that the current of reality in Sumaru City was flowing oddly, and told the three that a battle lay ahead, one on which the very existence of the future would be gambled.
"Ahahaha! Shall I make your dreams come true?!"
Upon awakening, the three half-trusted, half-doubted Philemon's words. To find out if the warning was true, the trio agreed to perform "Lord Joker," a popular teen ritual. The rumor was that if someone dialed himself on his cell phone, the Joker would appear and his wish would come true. "If rumors can become reality, then our dreams can come true too," Lisa said. They performed the ritual, and the mysterious Joker appeared. He faced down the three teens and attacked them verbally. Then Joker summoned his own Persona to fight them. "You really don't remember!?" Joker wondered. Before vanishing, Joker warned them - to remember the past and to know their enemies.
At Kuzunoha Detective Agency, the three were finally able to confirm that rumors were becoming reality, and decided to return to Seven Sisters Academy. There they met Maya Amano and Yukino Mayuzumi, who were seeking information about the Joker. They joined the teens' cause when they found they were pursuing rumors as well.
"You can't run from the fate he's chosen for you! Hyahahaha!"
The newest rumor was that "Seven Sisters' school badge is cursed." They found at Club Zodiac that the rumor had been spread by Yasuo Inoue, the student president of Kasugayama High. To ask his reasons for spreading such a rumor, Tatsuya's group infiltrated Kasugayama High. They discovered Inoue on the rooftop, using a crystal skull to steal the energy of the people inside. Why would he do such a thing? As they asked this of him, suddenly two masked people appeared. The newcomers introduced themselves as King Leo and Lady Scorpio, members of the Masked Gang. They took the crystal skull from Inoue and set him ablaze, killing him. Then they vanished, leaving behind only King Leo's laughing voice. He promised that when they next met, he would send the heroes to purgatory.
Back at Kuzunoha, Tatsuya and company checked for new information about the Masked Gang, and heard a strange new rumor - that Lisa was part of a new idol group, the Muses. Lisa immediately decided to join the Muses to possibly obtain information about the Masked Gang's plans.
"To raise the four Pillars of Fire..."
With Lisa, the Muses were now a trio. They planned to perform a mini-concert in the Outdoor Concert Hall in Aoba. The group went to watch over Lisa, but partway through the concert Eikichi made an odd discovery - a bomb.
The panicked audience was fleeing when King Leo appeared onstage. Leo explained his reasons for setting the explosives: the Masked Gang believed it was a necessary cost to realize their ideal future. The explosion was simply the "fiery ransom" required to raise one of the four Pillars of Fire in various locations throughout Sumaru City. Confidently, he told the group about the oracle that had foretold the rise of the Pillars of Fire at chosen places - one of which was the Concert Hall. Then he vanished.
Tatsuya's group discovered someone - Eriko - who was able to decode the oracle. They learned that the next two sites were Smile Hirasaka and GOLD. The party went to Smile Hirasaka and found another bomb there. Then at GOLD, they discovered both a bomb and a message from King Leo: "Wait for me at the Aviation Museum." So the party went towards the science museum.
"We are the new humanity, nearing even the gods!"
As they entered the museum, King Leo set it ablaze. Pursuing him through the fire, Tatsuya's group ran to the rooftop. On the roof, King Leo was waiting to face them. After boasting that the group's death was imminent, he detonated the explosives (as well as those at Smile Hirasaka and GOLD). He also relayed a message from the Joker, bewildering Tatsuya and the others.
"'Remember that summer day ten years ago'...that is his message!" Suddenly a crack appeared in the floor and swallowed up King Leo. As Tatsuya's group looked for an escape route, the blimp-shaped View Restaurant on the rooftop began to move. The rumor among the children was that "the rooftop restaurant is actually a real airship," and now it had become reality. The party was able to board the airship and they escaped the disaster.
Finally safe on Ebisu Beach, the party discussed the meaning of Joker's words, "that summer day ten years ago." They came up with no answers. But once again Philemon appeared there, and delivered a message: that the key to the answers was at Mount Iwato.
"I'm sorry...forgetting everybody...I'm so sorry..."
In Mount Iwato's Spring of Mirrors, Tatsuya and the others were able to view their memories of the past. Ten years before at a summer festival, five children had met each other: Tatsuya, Eikichi, Lisa, Maya and a boy named Jun. They were close friends and playmates, but one day a life-altering event tore them apart. Maya told them she had to move to another town. Eikichi and Lisa, to keep Maya from leaving, shut her inside Araya Shrine. That night the shrine was set on fire by an arsonist. Practical and capable Maya managed to escape, but Tatsuya and the others thought they had killed her, and each of them repressed the memory. Now the party finally realized the Joker's true identity: Jun. He, like the others, must have suffered from horrible guilt over Maya's "death." Going through life with this guilt had brought out the Joker. Now that Tatsuya's group knew the whole story, they hurried to Caracol to save Jun from his suffering.
"Oh...was I having a bad dream...?"
Deep inside Caracol, the Last Battalion suddenly appeared and attacked the party. Finally, they discovered the Joker in the Wheel of Time room. There, they stood face-to-face with him and the leader of the Last Battalion, Hitler. Within the Circle were gathered five crystal skulls, which the Joker was using to operate special equipment. The skulls raised a gigantic spaceship, the Xibalba, that was buried under Sumaru City. The Joker's aim was to send the Xibalba - and Sumaru City with it - high into the sky. Calmly looking on, Hitler left to use the Crystal Skull of Heaven to steal the final energy needed to raise the Xibalba. The Joker slowly advanced on the party, with a voice inside his head echoing "Kill!" They were able to repel his attacks, and Jun finally regained his sanity. Realizing his actions, he apologized to the party. The one-time friends and playmates were finally reunited.
But as the Xibalba appeared, so did strange palaces in the wards of Rengedai, Hirasaka, Aoba and Yumesaki. A crystal skull lay in each palace. Jun explained that finding each skull and freeing its stored energy might be enough to reverse the Xibalba's rise. So Tatsuya's party visited each palace to find the skulls.
"Aren't I your friend?"
In the Palaces of Leo (in Rengedai Ward), Scorpio (Hirasaka Ward), and Taurus (Yumesaki Ward), shadows of Tatsuya, Eikichi and Lisa awaited. These shadows each preyed on the deepest insecurities and weaknesses of their counterpart. But each of the teens faced their trials and used their Personae to defeat the shadows, collecting each skull in turn. Then in the Palace of Aquarius, they had to fight the Longinus 13. After defeating the Longinus robots, the party had finally gathered four of the five skulls. There was only one left - the Skull of Heaven.
The party learned that under Seven Sisters Academy flowed the Milky Way, which led directly into Xibalba. Visiting the school courtyard, they found that the Narurato Stone installed there emitted a mysterious light which warped them directly to the Milky Way. They descended through the Milky Way into the Xibalba.
"Everyone...hurry up and forget about me..."
In the heart of the Xibalba, Tatsuya's party faced the enemy. As they watched the Last Battalion's leader, Hitler, his appearance suddenly changed. He revealed himself to be Nyarlathotep, the ringleader behind all the events in Sumaru City. He had pretended to appear as Jun's father, and had given him the power to become the Joker. The angry heroes faced him and succeeded in defeating him.
But immediately after his defeat, Nyarlathotep had Maya stabbed with a spear. The other four were unable to stop Maya's blood flow, and they could only watch as she stopped breathing. And with this, the world below collapsed. As the four stood there in despair, Philemon appeared. He informed them that to save the world and Maya, time had to revert to that summer festival day ten years before.
"I...won't...forget it..."
The four survivors consented to let Philemon regress time to ten years before to bring back Maya. And so he extinguished that time stream. But even though their past has vanished, they won't forget it all. Surely they'll meet again in a different time stream, and when they see their friends, they'll remember...
Now...a strange story unfolds in Sumaru City, where rumors become reality, and false memories block pursuit of the truth. But violence and lies must give way to truth, and the recovery of the five's true memories of an unknown sin will lead them to a greater purpose...
"Here it goes: Deliver Tatsuya to 'the man' of Kasu High!"
It all started when Tatsuya Suou, a student at Seven Sisters Academy, received a mysterious challenge delivered by his fellow student Lisa Silverman. It was sent by Eikichi Mishina, the Captain of Kasugayama High School. Eikichi revealed that he was holding a female student from Seven Sisters hostage and told Tatsuya to come to Sumaru Prison if he wanted to guarantee her safety. So Tatsuya and Lisa rushed towards Sumaru Prison.
Once there, they found Hanaji, the kidnapped student. But talking to Eikichi and his flunkies, they learned that to fulfill the challenge Tatsuya had to participate in the band's musical performance. Lisa quickly tired of the flunkies' spiteful comments and insulted Eikichi. Her words enraged Eikichi so much that his Persona emerged.
After the emergence of all three's Personae, they passed out. In a shared dream, they met an enigmatic man named Philemon. Philemon expressed concern that the current of reality in Sumaru City was flowing oddly, and told the three that a battle lay ahead, one on which the very existence of the future would be gambled.
"Ahahaha! Shall I make your dreams come true?!"
Upon awakening, the three half-trusted, half-doubted Philemon's words. To find out if the warning was true, the trio agreed to perform "Lord Joker," a popular teen ritual. The rumor was that if someone dialed himself on his cell phone, the Joker would appear and his wish would come true. "If rumors can become reality, then our dreams can come true too," Lisa said. They performed the ritual, and the mysterious Joker appeared. He faced down the three teens and attacked them verbally. Then Joker summoned his own Persona to fight them. "You really don't remember!?" Joker wondered. Before vanishing, Joker warned them - to remember the past and to know their enemies.
At Kuzunoha Detective Agency, the three were finally able to confirm that rumors were becoming reality, and decided to return to Seven Sisters Academy. There they met Maya Amano and Yukino Mayuzumi, who were seeking information about the Joker. They joined the teens' cause when they found they were pursuing rumors as well.
"You can't run from the fate he's chosen for you! Hyahahaha!"
The newest rumor was that "Seven Sisters' school badge is cursed." They found at Club Zodiac that the rumor had been spread by Yasuo Inoue, the student president of Kasugayama High. To ask his reasons for spreading such a rumor, Tatsuya's group infiltrated Kasugayama High. They discovered Inoue on the rooftop, using a crystal skull to steal the energy of the people inside. Why would he do such a thing? As they asked this of him, suddenly two masked people appeared. The newcomers introduced themselves as King Leo and Lady Scorpio, members of the Masked Gang. They took the crystal skull from Inoue and set him ablaze, killing him. Then they vanished, leaving behind only King Leo's laughing voice. He promised that when they next met, he would send the heroes to purgatory.
Back at Kuzunoha, Tatsuya and company checked for new information about the Masked Gang, and heard a strange new rumor - that Lisa was part of a new idol group, the Muses. Lisa immediately decided to join the Muses to possibly obtain information about the Masked Gang's plans.
"To raise the four Pillars of Fire..."
With Lisa, the Muses were now a trio. They planned to perform a mini-concert in the Outdoor Concert Hall in Aoba. The group went to watch over Lisa, but partway through the concert Eikichi made an odd discovery - a bomb.
The panicked audience was fleeing when King Leo appeared onstage. Leo explained his reasons for setting the explosives: the Masked Gang believed it was a necessary cost to realize their ideal future. The explosion was simply the "fiery ransom" required to raise one of the four Pillars of Fire in various locations throughout Sumaru City. Confidently, he told the group about the oracle that had foretold the rise of the Pillars of Fire at chosen places - one of which was the Concert Hall. Then he vanished.
Tatsuya's group discovered someone - Eriko - who was able to decode the oracle. They learned that the next two sites were Smile Hirasaka and GOLD. The party went to Smile Hirasaka and found another bomb there. Then at GOLD, they discovered both a bomb and a message from King Leo: "Wait for me at the Aviation Museum." So the party went towards the science museum.
"We are the new humanity, nearing even the gods!"
As they entered the museum, King Leo set it ablaze. Pursuing him through the fire, Tatsuya's group ran to the rooftop. On the roof, King Leo was waiting to face them. After boasting that the group's death was imminent, he detonated the explosives (as well as those at Smile Hirasaka and GOLD). He also relayed a message from the Joker, bewildering Tatsuya and the others.
"'Remember that summer day ten years ago'...that is his message!" Suddenly a crack appeared in the floor and swallowed up King Leo. As Tatsuya's group looked for an escape route, the blimp-shaped View Restaurant on the rooftop began to move. The rumor among the children was that "the rooftop restaurant is actually a real airship," and now it had become reality. The party was able to board the airship and they escaped the disaster.
Finally safe on Ebisu Beach, the party discussed the meaning of Joker's words, "that summer day ten years ago." They came up with no answers. But once again Philemon appeared there, and delivered a message: that the key to the answers was at Mount Iwato.
"I'm sorry...forgetting everybody...I'm so sorry..."
In Mount Iwato's Spring of Mirrors, Tatsuya and the others were able to view their memories of the past. Ten years before at a summer festival, five children had met each other: Tatsuya, Eikichi, Lisa, Maya and a boy named Jun. They were close friends and playmates, but one day a life-altering event tore them apart. Maya told them she had to move to another town. Eikichi and Lisa, to keep Maya from leaving, shut her inside Araya Shrine. That night the shrine was set on fire by an arsonist. Practical and capable Maya managed to escape, but Tatsuya and the others thought they had killed her, and each of them repressed the memory. Now the party finally realized the Joker's true identity: Jun. He, like the others, must have suffered from horrible guilt over Maya's "death." Going through life with this guilt had brought out the Joker. Now that Tatsuya's group knew the whole story, they hurried to Caracol to save Jun from his suffering.
"Oh...was I having a bad dream...?"
Deep inside Caracol, the Last Battalion suddenly appeared and attacked the party. Finally, they discovered the Joker in the Wheel of Time room. There, they stood face-to-face with him and the leader of the Last Battalion, Hitler. Within the Circle were gathered five crystal skulls, which the Joker was using to operate special equipment. The skulls raised a gigantic spaceship, the Xibalba, that was buried under Sumaru City. The Joker's aim was to send the Xibalba - and Sumaru City with it - high into the sky. Calmly looking on, Hitler left to use the Crystal Skull of Heaven to steal the final energy needed to raise the Xibalba. The Joker slowly advanced on the party, with a voice inside his head echoing "Kill!" They were able to repel his attacks, and Jun finally regained his sanity. Realizing his actions, he apologized to the party. The one-time friends and playmates were finally reunited.
But as the Xibalba appeared, so did strange palaces in the wards of Rengedai, Hirasaka, Aoba and Yumesaki. A crystal skull lay in each palace. Jun explained that finding each skull and freeing its stored energy might be enough to reverse the Xibalba's rise. So Tatsuya's party visited each palace to find the skulls.
"Aren't I your friend?"
In the Palaces of Leo (in Rengedai Ward), Scorpio (Hirasaka Ward), and Taurus (Yumesaki Ward), shadows of Tatsuya, Eikichi and Lisa awaited. These shadows each preyed on the deepest insecurities and weaknesses of their counterpart. But each of the teens faced their trials and used their Personae to defeat the shadows, collecting each skull in turn. Then in the Palace of Aquarius, they had to fight the Longinus 13. After defeating the Longinus robots, the party had finally gathered four of the five skulls. There was only one left - the Skull of Heaven.
The party learned that under Seven Sisters Academy flowed the Milky Way, which led directly into Xibalba. Visiting the school courtyard, they found that the Narurato Stone installed there emitted a mysterious light which warped them directly to the Milky Way. They descended through the Milky Way into the Xibalba.
"Everyone...hurry up and forget about me..."
In the heart of the Xibalba, Tatsuya's party faced the enemy. As they watched the Last Battalion's leader, Hitler, his appearance suddenly changed. He revealed himself to be Nyarlathotep, the ringleader behind all the events in Sumaru City. He had pretended to appear as Jun's father, and had given him the power to become the Joker. The angry heroes faced him and succeeded in defeating him.
But immediately after his defeat, Nyarlathotep had Maya stabbed with a spear. The other four were unable to stop Maya's blood flow, and they could only watch as she stopped breathing. And with this, the world below collapsed. As the four stood there in despair, Philemon appeared. He informed them that to save the world and Maya, time had to revert to that summer festival day ten years before.
"I...won't...forget it..."
The four survivors consented to let Philemon regress time to ten years before to bring back Maya. And so he extinguished that time stream. But even though their past has vanished, they won't forget it all. Surely they'll meet again in a different time stream, and when they see their friends, they'll remember...