Hey everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the story so far! And thank you for bearing with non-indicative chapter titles...because this one's supposed to be about Fuuka and Rise and it derailed into something else...not sure how I feel about this one...

The third Persona 3 movie's out and available as an import now, and the fourth movie's out in Japanese theaters...well, if you're fans of the films (I'm not), hope you enjoy them, because there's no telling whether or not Atlus will give us something new again from our friends in Iwatodai...*grumble*FeMC*grumble*...

Near the end of this chapter, I had the latter half of the overture to Georges Bizet's opera Carmen in mind. The latter half of it is drastically different from the first two or so minutes of it, in that it's nothing but strings with timpani. Listen to it while you read!

Stroll 3: Navigational Differences

Third Floor, "Sweets Inferno" food stand

"Ah-Peru-Peru-Pe-ru-so-naaa…a-nata-mo-wa-tashi-mo-Pe-ru-sona-tsu-ke-teeee….ah-cha-chacha-cha-cha!"

A big smile was permanently etched onto Rise's face. As she put her hands under her chin, she bobbed her head in time with Ame-no-Uzume's comically sensual dance. Normally, one would scold someone, supernatural deity or otherwise, for doing a little striptease and dancing while waving one's clothes around out in the open, but Rise had grown to accept the fact that she was a bit of a sexual person – in moderation, of course. According to legend, in order to have Amaterasu, the sun goddess, bring her light back to Earth, Ame-no-Uzume made a ruckus by doing a comical dance in the nude outside of her hiding spot. Naturally, the other gods got a kick out of it, and Amaterasu wanted to see it for herself.

"I don't see what's so bad about being like this," Rise thought, as the nude Uzume did a little twirl as she sang the next verse.

"Hooo~~a-Peru-Peru-Pe-ru-so-naaa….hooo~~a-Peru-Peru-Pe-ru-so-naaa…."

Beautiful, curvaceous, porcelain-skinned (quite literally), ebon-haired, sensual, jiggling breasts…she is mirthful and sensual and proud – so proud she was that Amaterasu, according to Margaret, was mesmerized by Uzume's everything, naked for the world to see.

Rise recanted those words. "Naked for the world to see, huh? That's been a theme for me for a few months now, hasn't it?"

An image of Yu Narukami popped in her head. Her face grew warm at that mere sight.

"...Has he really affected me that much? Senpai..."

She thought back to their days fighting in the Midnight Channel, and lo and behold, the first thing that came to her was when Yu, for reasons that only God or whomever watched over them knew, decided that it was necessary for he and the other boys to fight wearing nothing but towels.

"Ooooh, Senpai, why do you have to be weird like that!?" Rise rapidly shook her head, trying (and failing) to get the image out of it.

Ame-no-Uzume giggled, bringing her dance to a halt. "I see no reason to judge you for your occasional perversions, Master. You did just mention to yourself that there is beauty in bearing even the smallest bits of sensuality."

Rise yelped. She, Kanji, and Naoto could now "speak" to their Personas, thanks to that odd game Yu made them play. It was still a peculiar sensation, even though she'd spend hours on end navigating with Himiko. When she navigated for the team in You in Wonderland, she could now hear Himiko's voice.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it…"

"Oh, but surely you must know?" Uzume mused, putting her white and purple kimono back on. "The shaman queen and I are parts of you. You are more readily aware of this now, and that is why we can speak to you. Was the lady in blue not clear?"

Rise's eyes widened with surprise. "N-No, she was clear! It's easy to see why, actually..."

She smiled. If she were asked, the first thing she'd compare her Personas to was a rainbow. The life of a Japanese idol singer was two-toned, black and white. If one dove deeper, the presence of many colors was obvious. It was the same with music. Even the most banal pop music had a sum to their parts.

"You see? With that mindset, you shall discover more of the gods and demons that lie inside of you…*chuckle.* Who knows? Maybe the sun-mother herself, Amaterasu, is an aspect of you…"

As she said this Ame-no-Uzume seemed to…blush? Rise gawked a little.

"…Try not to think too hard about what I just said, okay?"

With a loud 'hmph", Ame-no-Uzume disappeared, waving goodbye to her master with a flustered smile.

"…Huh. She's kinda like…"

Rise cut herself off. She was about to say "Kanji," but that would make her no better than Yosuke in that regard. After all, he was in the same boat she was.

*png*

"Oh!"

At her behest, Himiko came to her side. The elegant shamaness lent her visor to Rise, pointing her down toward the second floor. Within Rise's line of sight was a pink-hued map of that floor, with the radar emitting waves from the second classroom.

"Shadows detected in room number two on the second level of this building, master," said Himiko. The shamaness' voice was in the contralto range, yet velvety and tender. "The structure of this area bears many similarities to the labyrinth you have recently completed."

"I see…is it possible to draw out the labyrinth's layout, Himiko?"

The silence had been filled with the beeps and pings of Himiko's satellite dish of a head. Showing up on Rise's HUD was a vast, blocky space, but little else.

"…..No."

"Looks like we'll have to make our own map again…shoot."

"I apologize, master. It is difficult to map out this place. It is not quite the same as your 'Midnight Channel'."

"Hm, what was it that Margaret said? We're near the 'Collective Unconsciousness,' or something?" Having been lost in thought, Rise tilted her head into her right hand. "Unconsciousness…so it's all tied to people's minds, like she said. No matter how she says it, it makes my head spin…"

It all made her head spin. This place was heaps upon heaps of questions, with too few answers obtained. At least she could take to heart that this labyrinth mystery had absolutely, positively nothing to do with the murders in Inaba. Still, there was so much to keep track of! Zen and Rei were the catalysts – at least that's what Maya Amano told them – the labyrinths were connected to them, this place would vanish…overwhelming, all of it. Sensory overload. Too many sights, too many new feelings, too many people –

"…Hmm…"

Speaking of people, Rise gasped when she saw Fuuka Yamagishi emerge at long last. She was two seconds away from giving her a well-deserved hug. Fuuka's drained appearance restrained her from doing so.

"Fuuka-chan…?"

Going by that damnable reminder that all of them were from different periods of time, Rise remembered that Fuuka was technically a year her senior, at least during the time that she had been whisked away from. Rise did some math, and, yes, it would be a bit silly to name Fuuka on such an informal level, for in 2011, Fuuka would be eighteen years old at least. It was in Rise's nature to be as welcoming to others as humanly possible, though, and Fuuka was the epitome of a shrinking violet.

Margaret said that those who bore the Wild Card had vast power because they empathized with others on an unprecedented level. Fuuka was Rise as a little girl; the comparisons she could make were all too real. Simply being nice to her wouldn't be enough, though. No one got through life by playing it safe, and for Rise, becoming an idol singer was just one risk she took.

"Fuuka-chan!"

Fuuka recoiled.

Before, she was joyous with Rise, joyous to be beside a fellow non-combatant – at least initially. Lucia could not speak or see, only touch, listen and taste. The faint echoes of two rippling voices were enough for Fuuka to deduce that Rise carried two Personas, with one clearly being far more suited for combat that either her navigational one, Himiko, or Lucia herself. Girl talk and some much-needed bonding turned from a fun, cathartic experience into one that spiraled into self-doubt and self-pity, and Rise's sunny disposition and clear-cut confidence only made it worse.

The shadow of doubt didn't stop there.

Fuuka caught a mere glimpse of Sakuya's getting sick and him and Shinjiro pursuing the shadow of a girl that seemed to be standing outside. What an irrational thing to get worked up about, she thought. There are more important things to worry about, and no, Aragaki-senpai shouldn't be one of them, because why the hell would he think highly of her? The fact that she was the most inept cook on Tatsumi Port Island made her undesirable, right?

Being the navigator, serving as mapmaker, passively guiding "soldiers" (or so Kirijo-senpai thought) day after day; this was Fuuka's role. That was all.

"Fuuka-chan, are you feeling okay?" Rise asked with concern. "You don't look too good."

She was one who easily burdened others. That can't happen anymore. Fuuka believed in that wholeheartedly, because to her, her role as navigator was one degree of separation from "dead weight." Overwrought with embarrassment, she shook her head. "I feel better, Rise-chan. That nap really helped."

"We all needed one. I've had a little too much to drink before, and...ehehe, I ought to know better by now…" Rise frowned, mentally kicking herself.

"Too much…oh!" Fuuka gasped. "I keep forgetting that you're an idol…" She suddenly became self-conscious, her posture bending inward. "Goodness, an idol singer in the flesh…"

"Hey now, what did I tell you?" said Rise, grabbing Fuuka's hand with a smile. "There will be none of that! In this place, I'm an ordinary girl – uh, sort of…and, uh, we're both navigators! Supporters!" Rise's face scrunched. "No, that's too vague…uh…mapmakers? Back-up? Erm…video game mage thingy people? Uh…"

Fuuka couldn't help herself and giggled. "I think 'navigator' will do, Rise-chan. They'd be completely lost without us, right?"

"Hm, that's true!" Rise frowned again. "Although getting a proper layout of You In Wonderland was nearly impossible when we first went in. Yu-senpai had to draw out a map of the place and mark down everything. It was only after we got to the third floor when I was able to get my bearings, and it wasn't much." She sighed. "The others grow as they fight…I hope the same happens to us as we find more places to explore."

"You had a hard time mapping the labyrinth, Rise-chan?" Fuuka asked, surprised. "So did I. Sakuya-kun had to make a map too. He borrowed a notebook from Zen-kun and used that." Her confidence began to spring anew. "As time went on, I was able to better detect things: treasures, Shadows, even some of those strange demons. We tried to avoid those, though. I can only have Lucia heal for so long; it really takes its toll on me."

"Demons…?"

Rise winced. Demons were what forced her to fight for the first time. Demons had drawn out the new potential that sprang within her, Kanji, and Naoto. Demons, corralled by the strangest-looking old man she had ever seen…

"Rise-chan? Are you okay?"

The younger girl broke out of her reverie, forcing the memory out of her head. "It's nothing."

"Oh…"

The idol smiled awkwardly as reassurance, but Fuuka wasn't convinced. Ame-no-Uzume seemed to linger over Rise's shoulder. Ame-no-Uzume's presence appeared in Lucia's blinded visage once more, pulsating like a ripple in the water. The blinded saint could almost touch the lively lady from the orient. From that strange sensation, Fuuka could get an analysis of her powers. As if something were thrown into the water, the stats warped and wobbled before materializing into more coherent shapes:

Ame-no-Uzume: Level 10

Aeon Arcana (Great Affinity)

Null: Light/Reflect: Force/Weak: Lightning

Attack Moves: Hama/Zan

Support Moves: Hunting Prayer/Renewal Ray

Next: Orb of Haste (Support Move; raises evasion and aim/all allies): Level 15

"…'Zan?' What's 'Zan?'" Fuuka couldn't really see what this "force" element was; only that it was what the Japanese goddess of dawn repelled. On top of that, she was decked out with attack and support spells that could fix any kink that Rise's team could get entangled in.

"I wonder if she's actually faced battle if this Ame-no-Uzume can attack…"

It made Fuuka uneasy. They were two peas in a pod, yet the tide – whatever that tide was – was tipped in Rise's favor. It wasn't just because of Uzume either; the most obvious area that Rise one-upped Fuuka was her figure. Second to that was the fact that she could talk to damn near anybody without stuttering, and she didn't doubt that Rise-chan was a better cook either. She was the epitome of girlishness, so why would that be any different.

"Rise-chan seems amazing…I hope her friends know that…"

Because if there were any positive things SEES had to say about her outside of her abilities, Fuuka certainly hadn't heard them…

Thankfully for the two of them (or not so much, in Fuuka's opinion), Yu and Naoya came marching down the hall, arms around each other's shoulders, sharing a laugh. Team Hermelin and Team Yaso all eventually filed in behind them, some taking off, and some sticking around. Snaking in from behind was a more somber-looking Tatsuya, who had a basin in his hand that appeared to be freshly scrubbed. At the sight of the two girls, Yu dragged Naoya over. Tatsuya shrugged, and opted to lend an ear for the time being.

"Rise! Yamagishi-san! How are you guys?" Yu asked with a smile.

"Hey there, Senpai!" Rise grinned. The energy that radiated within her seemed to seep into the hallway. "And hello to you too, Toudou-san. What were you guys doing just now?"

"We were getting to know one another," said Naoya. "Narukami called it an icebreaker…sort of…" He felt awkward, remembering Yu's wonky attitude when he introduced himself. "…But yeah, introductions. Some of us even showed off their powers, kind of like an exhibition." He shot a nasty glare toward Yukiko and Yuka; both ladies nonchalantly whistled in response.

"Oh, wow…" Rise's eyes went wide. "Is that why it sounded like the roof was going to cave in earlier?"

"Oooooh yah." Yu sharply nodded his head. "It was pretty fun. Especially when Teddie got set on fire."

"WHAT!?"

"Yukiko and Ayase-san set Teddie on fire. It was awesome."

Fuuka appeared worried. "Don't you think that's pushing it a little too far…?"

"Finally, somebody agrees with me!" Yosuke exclaimed, shaking his head. "And you were the one Teddie made that comment to earlier! I'm a little surprised, but hey."

"W-Well, I don't think he meant anything by –"

"Hey now, Fuuka-chan," Rise frowned, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "I'm not too keen on hearing that he's burning to death either, but Teddie can be pretty gross. Hanamura-senpai's got all kinds of horror stories about Teddie screwing up on the job." She faced the Senpai in question, who in turn sighed. "Wasn't there an ad he made that drove all your regulars away, Senpai?"

"You betcha, Rise," said Yosuke, shaking his head. "I don't know dick about art, but I swear, that ad of his was an insult to those people who throw junk on the floor and say how profound it is or some shit like that. And hentai artists."

"Ouch!"

"Yep, I am so going there."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Ted did rip off that ad from some stupid hentai comic," Kanji added, his face contorting in disgust. "Fuck, half of his ideas on romance come from one!"

Kei Nanjo tilted his head, a sick sense of curiosity reigning over him. "Hentai…those perverse comics…" He turned to Yu, serious. "There are totally millions more of those in the future, aren't there?"

"Yep." Yu audibly popped the "p."

"All over your far more vast Internet, no doubt?"

"Yeeeeep."

"Catering to fetishes that I certainly do not want to learn about?"

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeep."

Fuuka remained silent. She had nothing to say on the topic at hand, save for some stuttering in embarrassment at the mere hearing of the word hentai. She had nothing to say to the leaders, or Rise, Yosuke, and Kanji, or at Yukiko and Yuka, who were chatting together, with Kei joining them.

The two navigators, despite being worlds away mentally, were still sitting together, and Tatsuya couldn't help but notice. En route to fetching some water, he gestured at them.

"Yamagishi. Kujikawa."

The two girls came right to his attention – his voice seemed to have that kind of power.

"I know this is rather abrupt, but I couldn't help but notice. You two are together all the time, although I guess it can't be helped – you two have unusual abilities." He gently smiled at them, staving off whatever intimidation he emitted.

"Oh, are you talking about Lucia and Himiko?" Rise inquired with a smile. "You mean you don't have a navigator on your team, Suou-san?"

"My friends and I have owned many Personas, yet absolutely none of them have worked like yours or Yamagishi's," said Tatsuya, shaking his head. "All of them were for combat. We had to rely on our senses and on things like tarot cards in order to know about demons' weaknesses."

"My friends and I are in the same boat as Suou," said Naoya.

"Huh!" Rise was surprised. "You've had to make do without one, huh? That's amazing!"

"We've only been with you two for a short time, but already I feel like I've taken Yamagishi for granted." Tatsuya chuckled. "I sure wish I had a Persona that could navigate. It would've made everything back home a lot easier. I bet your team feels the same, right Yamagishi?"

Fuuka spaced out, too wrapped in her own thoughts.

"Yamagishi…?"

"Hmm…"

"Hey, Yamagishi!"

"Ah!?"

Tatsuya frowned as a startled Fuuka looked at him. "I'd appreciate it if you at least acknowledge the person who's talking to you."

He sounded harsh enough to the point that Yu and Naoya glared at him, disapproving of how blunt he was. As for Fuuka, she was left in a puddle of her own sad stutters.

"Hey, Suou-san! That's not very nice, you know! You're being way too harsh on Fuuka-chan," Rise huffed. "You've made her upset and everything."

"I can speak for myself, Rise-chan."

Oh, how she wanted to say those words. But they remained welded in place, forever stuck and unspoken. They stewed like oden in her head, hot like magma, melding and brewing into something dark.

"…Sorry, Yamagishi," said Tatsuya, looking a tad embarrassed. "Good grief. I guess everybody finds me peculiar, don't they?"

He looked a little bit endearing for a moment, in Rise's mind. Yu and Naoya decided not to press him for the time being, for that would be as rude as his shouting at Fuuka. Excess bluntness was a terrible way to stand out, after all, yet this trait was what added to the mysterious allure of one Tatsuya Suou.

"…Getting back to the topic at hand," Tatsuya coughed, regaining composure, "I wanted to ask about your Himiko, Kujikawa. I only know of Lucia's ability to navigate." He turned to Fuuka, taking on a gentler tone. "You, Yamagishi, mentioned that your Lucia could now do more aside from navigation. Please, tell me everything. I'd love to let the others know for the future."

Fuuka sighed. The older boy scared her, sort of, but at least he was gonna let her speak!

"Lucia could only navigate before," she began, finding the spine to look at everyone present. "But during the battle with the Queen of Hearts, she developed a new ability…the ability to heal others."

"She couldn't do this before, you said? Hmm…"

"A-Anyways, I had her heal the others during that time, and…I can say, I'm glad she can do it. The healing works over a period of time, even if it is a bit exhausting." She cracked a tiny smile. "I can't say why she can do that now. It might be because we're in a different dimension, but I sure hope she learns more moves like that."

Tatsuya put down the basin and began to think. "I see…you think it's because of the nature of this place…that could be very well true, but don't shut out the possibility that perhaps the change came entirely from you, Yamagishi. An intense desire in the wake of a crisis can cause Personas to have great changes, you know." The older boy shut his eyes and softly inhaled.

A soft flurry of embers blossomed from him, and from the blossom was the faint visage of Vulcanus. "It was because of my own resolve that Vulcanus was granted to me as a Persona. In fact, the Persona you see here reverted from an even stronger one. And for the reason?" He mirthfully chuckled. "Well…all I'll tell you for now is that I learned how to cry for the first time in a long time. Heh."

"R-Really?" Fuuka lightly stuttered. "Then I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, huh? All that talk on Shadows…it makes me wonder…"

"…Why didn't I get this ability to heal sooner…?"

"Fuuka-chan?" Rise worriedly egged her new friend, who in turn smiled at her softly.

"I'm just thinking to myself, Rise-chan. Why not tell the others about your powers? I'm sure you have new ones too."

The idol smiled. "I do! Not long after my friends and I got here, Himiko gained a new ability! It's a little tough to explain, but basically, she shines her radar down on someone, and the light coming from it, and the light, it, uh…" She tilted her head, conjuring the image of a rapidly moving Kanji in her head. It was pretty damn amusing, given that Kanji attacked and hulked around in battle like a sluggish glacier. "…It makes someone move faster. I'd probably have to show you in a real battle for you guys to understand it."

"Ooooh no, Rise, I think I can explain it quite well," Kanji exclaimed, thoroughly annoyed. "You used your 'Spotlight' thing on me a shitload of times 'cuz you thought I was the best choice for a goddamn meat shield!" To prove a point, he yanked up one of his pant legs to the thigh, revealing an ugly purple bruise that spread all over and tapered off into little dots. "Do you know how many more bruises I have like this? Are you a sadist or something!?"

"…Wow, Kanji. A sadist?" Rise giggled. "You're using big boy words now, aren't you? Is it because of the little poet who sits in your head?"

"S-S-Shaddup! You are a fuckin' sadist!"

Looming over his head and equally as annoyed was Sappho, his second Persona – a lyricist and poet from the island of Lesbos, whose body was made from colorful, tattered rainbow patchwork. A rose quartz-colored shawl made her outfit, shredded pages made her lengthy hair, and a pair of eternally upturned eyes and lips constituted her face. She waved around her oddly out-of-place electronic harp madly, equally as at a loss as her other self was.

"You are a sadist! A sadist! A sexy little sadist, but a sadist nevertheless! Captivating in your motions and your composure, but a sadist all the same!"

Kanji's face reddened. He could hear this poet – a poet thought to have been one of those lesbians, those female homosexuals, that something that Hanamura-senpai just loved to rail him on – and squawked. He furiously turned to the patchwork poet and struck his finger at her.

"You shut the fuck up!"

Naoya and Yu fell into a fit of giggles, seeing Kanji get so riled up at the proverbial voice in his head. "Gee, even I've never had a Persona that temperamental before," said Naoya. "I think the nuttiest I've had was when I had Jack Frost get in a heated argument with a Pyro Jack demon."

"A Pyro Jack demon?" Yu exclaimed.

"Yeah. They were screaming and cussing and everything. The demon scared off my Persona by threatening to throw jelly doughnuts at it. Had one hell of a headache that day, I tell ya."

"…Is that even possible!?"

"It is. Demons and Shadows aren't that different, after all," said Naoya with a shrug.

"…Not even gonna ask," Kanji interjected after a futile attempt at conceiving this "Pyro Jack demon" scenario. "I can already tell that my brain's gonna implode just thinkin' about it."

Naoya's face lit up in realization. "Ah, that's right. You guys and Team Gekkou haven't really encountered demons before, right?"

"N-No, not really," said Kanji. "Well, Naoto and Rise and I fought some of 'em once in the labyrinth, but we nearly got fucked over…"

They fought demons that Tatsuya and Maya had come to know as Hellhounds; they were ferocious canines, manes matted and colored like blood, golden tiaras covering their faces, the sharpest sets of teeth imaginable. They showed up like bats out of hell indeed, and therein triggered the event in which Team Yaso's precocious first-years awakened to their newfound power.

Thinking about it made Kanji shiver, and even he could tell that Rise and Naoto still felt that same level of fear. Not once – not battling any Shadow, not battling their own Shadows, not staring at an alleged killer in the eye (even if he turned out to be innocent regarding the serial murders, Kubo still killed Yu's homeroom teacher) – did Kanji see as much blood as he did when the Hellhounds attacked. Fuck, his little scuffles (in comparison) with all those damned motorheads and lowlifes were as violent as a Saturday morning cartoon compared to the event Naoto had titled "the Awakening."

"You okay, Tatsumi?" Tatsuya asked with concern. "I can tell that your first encounter with demons was a terrible one."

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just fine."

He remained mum, and Rise looked equally as uncomfortable. Yosuke's face shifted to that of confusion, for he and the rest of his lot were unaware of Kanji, Naoto, and Rise's new powers.

"They get all quiet like that when that incident gets mentioned…geez, was it really that bad?"

"It's okay if you're feeling scared, you know," said Tatsuya with a smile. "There's no shame in being afraid when death potentially lurks nearby you." He saddened. "Nearly dying was how I awakened to my Persona."

That was a half-truth. On the Other Side, getting stabbed was how Vulcanus awakened…

Rise softly gasped. "Suou-san, that's…I…"

He shook his head, motioning his hand in front. "That's enough of that. I think I've depressed you all enough for the moment."

"You can say that again," Kei sighed, with sad memories of his own coming to surface. "But going back to what Suou said: if you and Team Gekkou haven't dealt with demons before, then you'll be in quite a bit of trouble down the road."

The moment Kei uttered those words, Naoya snapped his fingers and grinned. "Say no more, Nanjo! I've concocted just the solution for that problem!"

"Oh?" Kei raised a brow. "And just what is it?"

"When we were all partying at the festival, I overheard Elizabeth talking to herself. There was a lot of weird shit she uttered, but one that I managed to catch was that she was setting up a logbook for personal requests in the nurse's office. So before I played the shooting game with Narukami and Amano-san and their friends, I wrote one down for her." He winked. "And guess what it was?"

"…I dunno dude, what?" Kanji asked, which earned an exasperated sigh from Kei.

"Ehe…er, I wrote in a request where I, Naoya Toudou and friends, teach you, Yu Narukami, and the students of Team Gekkou, to negotiate with demons! Won't that be fun!?"

Silence. Kei in particular was unnerved by Naoya's wide smile – not once had he seen a smile off of him that radiant. He probably hadn't seen him this happy….well, ever.

Yu nodded his head and smiled back, his posture exuding confidence. "An all-too logical idea, Toudou-san," he said. "Although I am curious about where the next labyrinth could be…"

Before he could continue, Rise hopped in place and grabbed his hand. "Senpai, Senpai! I know where it is! No need to worry!"

"Ah…where is it, Rise?"

"The second labyrinth is on the second floor, classroom two – " She gasped in realization. How could it have taken so long for her to realize. "Hey Senpai, aren't you and the others in 2-2 back home?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Ehe…" She nervously chuckled. "You don't think…this labyrinth's a Group Date Café, do you?"

"Huh? Why do you think that?"

"I dunno Senpai. Maybe I'm crazy." She tilted her head, looking a little worried. "But when Himiko pinpointed its location…you know how you guys lit up some incense in your café back home? I could smell some here. And not only that…"

A Lovers card came into her line of vision. She clapped her hands over it, forcing it to shatter, and at her beck and call was Himiko. Once again, the shamaness placed her visor over Rise's eyes, commanding the presence coming from class 2-2 that she had only recently discovered. Like before, the map of the floor was covered in an odd pink hue, and what little Rise could see from inside were cutesy pink bubbles and flowers and popping hearts. It reminded her of a cheesy old music video.

"…Oh wow, I feel like I'm in a visual novel. There are bubbles and hearts and all these kitschy-looking pictures of couples showing up on my HUD. The entrance is all pink and there are tables and stuffed bears sitting at them, and there are fake cherry trees fluttering – oh for crying out loud, it is a Group Date Café!"

"It is?"

"There's a sign for it popping up on my screen, Senpai," Rise said with a sigh. "Says it plain as day."

Yosuke sighed, shuddering in fear. "Great. War flashbacks. Fuck group date cafes, and fuck group dates. Never doing one again, dammit…"

"But our Group Date Café was fun, Yosuke," Yu prodded. "Why so glum?"

"…I still hate you, Yu."

Kei uttered a noise of confusion. "So you still do group dates in the future? Is it any different from group dating in our era?"

Yu shook his head. "Can't say. I guess we text about each other during dates, but that's probably it. A group date's as fun or as awkward as you make of it."

Kei nodded his head seriously. "I see...I wonder if that applies to business-related group dates too."

"What do you mean? Have you participated in one, Nanjo-san?"

The boy in question sighed. "I have only participated in group dates held by businessmen, and those are more like a get-together after work. There's alcohol involved, so they're probably nothing like a group date held by high schoolers." He suddenly took on a dark look. "I actually wouldn't mind trying some hokey high school romp after seeing the juvenile, disgusting things that businessmen do on adult group dates..."

Yu and his present teammates gasped slightly. "Are they really that bad?" asked Rise.

"These managers and CEOs, they're like apes. All of them." Nanjo shook his head in disapproval. "Give them a single mug of beer and they become the embodiment of depravity. I have had the dishonor of seeing these men do some of the most disgusting and crass acts that a man could possibly do. There is an internal IT division at the Nanjo Conglomerate's main office - brand new, might I add - and one of our female employees quit after a senior manager from another IT company assaulted her in a bathroom during a group date." He snorted. "I sincerely hope this little Group Date Cafe shows some restraint, but given that there are Shadows and demons lurking inside, I have my doubts..."

Kanji gawked. "Holy shit, dude."

"I guess we should be grateful, then," Yosuke sighed. "Doesn't mean it didn't suck, but...oh, dammit, this is gonna be awful!" He tugged on his hair, on the verge of tears.

Rise sent Himiko away and gave Kei a reassuring smile. "A regular group date is nothing like what you just said, Nanjo-san! If all goes well, it can be fun and romantic."

"Romantic?" Kei was darn near flabbergasted. "Is that even possible!?"

"Heh! We'll see!" Rise exclaimed. "But what few Shadows I can sense in there are pretty powerful. If we're gonna do Toudou-san's request, I think we should go back to You In Wonderland."

Naoya sighed in relief, happy to be back on the topic of the request. "The demons that lurk in the Wonderland labyrinth aren't that strong, and my friends and I have seen them before. Most of them are pretty amicable, so teaching you guys shouldn't be a problem." He held up his index finger. "I do have a piece of advice, though."

"What is it?" asked Kanji.

"If a negotiation goes sour, a bribe is optimal as a last resort, especially if the demon becomes hostile." Naoya nodded his head, and with a flourish, he took a small box out of his pocket. He flipped the green velvet lid open, revealing a small set of identical gold hoop earrings that were similar to the one he wore. "I have had a disproportionate amount of those slimy little bastards demand for the earring I wear, so I bribe them with one of these. Demons will take absolutely anything and not give a shit, so grab some personal things to bribe them with. I'll spread the word to Theodore so he can make stuff like that at the workshop."

The few from Team Yaso took all of it in, and though there was a grain of salt to be had, they had no choice. "Can they really be bribed that easily?" Yu asked. "For example, if I bribe them with the ten-inch dildo my mother mailed me last week, they'll take it?"

"WHAT THE FUCK, PARTNER?" Yosuke found himself shouting, his face as red as humanly possible. Rise and Kanji followed suit, both with equally loud, disbelief-laced squeals of "SENPAI!?" launching out of their mouths.

"Ehhh...yeah, they'd probably take it..." Naoya was speechless.

Yu pumped his fist and grinned. "Awesome!"

"Have you been spoon-fed lead paint chips as a child!?" Kei shouted, jaw on the floor.

Yu shifted his eyes. "...Maybe."

"MAYBE!?"

"Maybe I have!"

"Ah...I don't even..."

A balking Tatsuya found himself slowly meandering toward Fuuka. Rise had joined Kanji, furiously discussing the implications of the unholy dildo. Fuuka had virtually melted into the wall - her presence had vanished so inexplicably and without notice to the point that it made Tatsuya think of Marie Laurencin's poem: worse than dead/forgotten. Fuuka did, indeed, look lost, and forgotten not just by them, but by her companions as well...

"Are you all right? You're awfully quiet."

Fuuka squeaked and went rigid. She had turtled up, kept to herself, afraid to derail that colorful tirade that the others went on. She shook her head and forced a small smile on her face.

"I had nothing to really contribute to the conversation, Suou-san, so...um..."

He gave her a hard look. She turtled up more.

"Well, if you're wondering why I have this basin..." He began - anything to keep this poor girl talking. "...It's because Zen got sick."

"Huh!? Zen-kun's sick!?"

"He got a fever out of nowhere. He was muttering in his sleep. It's probably not a regular fever, but I suppose we'll see..."

"Oh!" Fuuka gasped in concern. "If it's not a regular fever, then, then...hmm..." She scrambled to think: Rise-chan was gonna do this request thing, she found the second labyrinth first, she has more Personas, she's perky and has actual friends - Fuuka had to be useful somehow!

A spark of inspiration struck her. "Maybe some force's affecting him, Suou-san...it's a stretch, it's really silly, I know, but I'll use Lucia to see if there's anything off. I mean, it's worth a try, right...?"

Tatsuya smiled. To Fuuka's great shock - and embarrassment, for she felt her face heat up a little - he grabbed her hand. "It most certainly is worth a try, Yamagishi. Remember, we don't have a clue as to what Zen's origins really are. Perhaps he is being affected by some demon." He gently released her hand and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Do you think it's in your power to find out, Yamagishi?"

The proverbial bud of courage was faint and frail, but that fierce look in Tatsuya's eyes gave Fuuka that bud. His tough love was what she needed after all, it seemed. She'd have to nurse the bud into blossoming herself. She'd also have to build her courage on her own, her self-worth, her power. It seemed hopeless, what with her jealousy, but perhaps it wasn't.

Perhaps she was also deluded with the makings of a small crush.

"Y...Yes! I can do it!" She said with a little too much enthusiasm. "T-Take me to where Zen-kun is, and I'll do my best to help him!"

He gave her an affirming nod and gestured her toward the nurse's office. He turned back to Naoya, Yu, and the others there. "I'll spread the word about the request to whoever's still resting, okay? Just let us know when you guys want to head out and we'll catch up."

Yu and Naoya nodded in return, and both began to caucus and walk to the Craft Workshop for the equipment check they had initially planned. Kanji and Yosuke opted to follow them, neither having anything better to do. Only Rise and Kei remained.

"Gee, Fuuka-chan got all flustered there...I hope she's okay."

"That girl is a wallflower," Kei stated bluntly. "I hope, for all our sake, that she is far less of an introvert when it comes to navigation. That in itself is a very valuable power to have."

"Sheesh, Nanjo-san," Rise grimaced, shooting a small glare at him. "You too?"

"It is the truth, Kujikawa," Kei said shortly, crossing his arms as they began to walk. "You wouldn't want, say, a navigator on a submarine asleep at the wheel, right? Or a navigator who haplessly stutters every other word, overwhelmed by their own lack of mettle? What if there were an ambush and she could not speak?"

*BONK*

"Ow!"

Rise hiked up her left foot and sharply stubbed the older boy's toe. She huffed, annoyed at his insults. "You apparently weren't listening when we were all outside. Team Gekkou had their own battle to fight, and it seemed like she had been navigating for them for a while. If you hate the fact that she's shy so much, why don't you try navigating, Nanjo-san?" She turned her head away with a pout. "We may not fight, but maintaining a Persona for that long, laying out a map, spotting enemies, assisting, it really takes its toll on you! And it isn't just wimpy little migraines either!"

The boy sighed. He had been defeated in one aspect, yes. He and his friends couldn't have even fathomed the concept of a Persona that was the supernatural equivalent of a mapmaker.

But he could swipe a victory another way.

"That is the truth...I do not, and cannot, understand the burden of being a navigator." He removed his glasses and wiped them off, turning whatever line of vision he had remaining to the younger girl. "But Kujikawa..."

"What?"

He sighed, carefully arranging his feelings in his head, trying to spell them out properly. If they were not worded well, then she'd completely miss his intent - an intent that he knew all too well from his adventures in Mikage-cho.

"You seem to be terribly protective of Yamagishi. Did you not realize you interrupted her a number of times, or those looks on her face as you did?"

"Huh...?"

Rise realized he was right - and yes, of course she would protect Fuuka-chan! She was shy and sorely lacked confidence, after all, just like -

"...Yamagishi's sore lack of confidence will be her undoing. But she must overcome it in due time, and she must do so on her own accord. Your desire to protect her is admirable, and yet I question your sincerity all the same."

Rise's face heated up. "What do you mean by that!?"

"Perhaps I am wrong...I almost hope that I'm wrong. But Kujikawa, back there you seemed terribly overprotective of the girl. Yes, I saw the way you looked at her...I, I think that there's a reason you're defending her so much. Your eyes, your gestures, they seemed so longing and, hm, how do I say this?" He raised a hand to his chin, putting the visual in his head: Rise's arms grazing ever-so-closely to Fuuka's, with the latter bent down, too ashamed to speak. Rise's eyes, in contrast, blazed with anger.

"...You saw something in Yamagishi that made you want to defend her. It's not really pity, I think...some self-projection, perhaps? Hmm..."

Rise fumed.

"Maybe I just want to look out for her because I'm a nice person, asshole!" She shouted, taking a cue from Kanji. "Wh, Who are you to say I'm, I'm projecting myself on her!? You don't know a damn thing about me!"

Kei sighed - judging by her tone, he was partially right. "You are correct in that I know nothing about either of you. But it's easy to see how little Yamagishi regards herself. She will have to learn how to overcome that in due time." He shook his head. "As for you...I don't doubt your kindness. But still, it's the way you look at her...I can't help but assume - "

She swiftly slapped him in the cheek, hard. Kei found himself reeling with a stinging cheek, feeling flustered as Rise stomped off. He sighed hard, through the nose. Normally, he'd feel angry, with a sensation of superiority lingering on the side. Being forced to see certain things changed that. He felt annoyed at the change at most - worrying, and completely unlike him.

"I went too far, didn't I? But..."

He frowned, feeling his face heat up a little. Yep, he was different now all right. Kei Nanjo had grown to become a little bit more sensitive, and he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Master..."

He gasped, feeling his mind wrap itself in a slew of mantras and an overwhelmingly low, droning hum - the reckoning of Aizen Myouou.

The Persona lurched behind him, wrapping Kei in his own personal mandala. His Aizen Myouou was a peculiar sight to behold, what with his chalky skin and his purple skintight apparel that flared at the shoulders, covered his face, and ended at the legs. His eyes were concealed by a metal mask, his hands equipped with metal talons, his legs clothed in black spandex, with a set of spiked cuffs at the thigh. He outstretched his arms and assumed the lotus position behind Kei, letting the massive wall of densely woven iron chains that hung off of his mask envelop him. A strong sense of calm and serenity overwhelmed Kei's body as his hands entwined with that of his Persona's.

"Master...you are giving in to your passions and falling down the path of hubris. You have made wonderful strides to avoid these treacherous paths thus far. Do not be tempted to fall toward the charnel grounds, for you have not reached a state of mind to traverse them without succumbing to darkness."

Aizen Myouou released Kei's left hand. Ominously, he pointed a bladed finger toward the outer ring of his personal mandala. Surrounded by black vajras was a clouded ring of what appeared to be dark, foreboding burial grounds. Seemingly literal in its appearance, Kei knew all too well that these grounds were hotbeds of fear - representations of extremes and sins that threatened to cloud the mind and lead to personal downfall.

"Your admitting your wrongness when faced with the potential to slaughter an innocent has averted you from being corrupted by two of the poisons that plagues humans, the poisons of pride and anger. Do you wish to be poisoned by such terrible things again, Master?"

Kei shook his head quickly - he forced the memory out, preventing it from ripping into the mandala. This memory was one of great shame, considered to be a weakness, seemingly laced with strength at the time. Despite the sheer wrongness of putting that person out of their misery while on their deathbed, the action itself - the contemplation of it - the position of where he stood among his so-called friends...

"Why do you not cast this memory aside and learn from it, Master?"

Kei could not muster up an answer.

"Why do you act as if you are above others, Master? Why did you feel the need to overexpose the shaman queen's weakness, Master?"

He snorted - his Persona was agitating him.

"Why must you choose to stand out in such an overbearing fashion, Master? Why - "

"Will you stop!?"

The mandala burst into glass. Aizen Myouou faded, splintering into a faint, purple-tinted mist.

"Forgive me, Master..."

The Persona resettled inside Kei's psyche - but he winced at the sharp pain that lingered in his head. It wasn't a smooth landing for poor Aizen Myouou, for in that instant, breaking in shapes through the haze, Kei felt the Wisdom King rip at the seam, allowing something darker to tear through.

"No..."

He forced the feeling out of him, willing his body to calm down - the darkness he saw reminded him of Aki, that devilish child, the embodiment of the darkness and the id of the girl who slept in the DEVA System. She wasn't a Shadow, not quite the Shadow that the others had come to know, but the similarities were damning.

"Is that what a person's Shadow is like...was that my...?"

He shook his head, angry. "I know better than that...I know better than to snap like that. Besides, that Kujikawa...she really is using Yamagishi..."

As he sauntered off, grabbing a bite to eat before the departure, the aforementioned Kujikawa sat by You In Wonderland, still upset at Kei's accusations. She grumbled and mumbled, seemingly on the verge of tears to the point that Himiko and Uzume seemingly escaped from her head. Uzume vanished without her liveliness and Himiko without her regal aura, leaving behind a shattered, tessellation-like barrier. On the fragments were words - they resembled lyrics on sheets - that all screamed that, no, Rise wasn't seeing her pre-idol self in Fuuka-chan, Kei was being absurd, Fuuka-chan could probably put up a fight even though that was probably a lie, Rise wasn't taking pity on her for the most part. Remnants of what Rise rejected lied beneath the barrier, and it was plain for her to see that, yes, Kei was right on many counts, but damn her if she admitted it out loud.

The Velvet Room

The pianist's melody and the singer's operatic aria permeated the Velvet Room as usual, but pessimism and tension rippled through the power-soaked air, springing at the source from the three siblings and their new "co-worker," the painter. It was business as always for Belladonna and the pianist, but they could only take the occasional glance at the trio and the painter, as they were not allowed to shirk their duties. As for Marie, she had absolutely no say in whatever damned matter they were speaking of; it wasn't as if they had told her anything beforehand, and they likely wouldn't in the future. Instead, she softly whistled at the revamped room: it was homier, despite being a suspended platform in an abyss. A curtain was set up behind the doors on two sides, with the pianist's quartz-shaded grand piano placed to the right of the yellow-lit door. Belladonna was performing on the opposite side near the white-lit door, and an easel was placed further in the front, adjacent to Margaret's fortune-telling table. She would've enjoyed the room - anything was ten times better than that cramped limo - but those damnable locks put her in an extreme state of unease. Three of them were enormous, and the remaining eleven were snaked together tightly like endless vines of poison ivy.

The three siblings and the painter were locked in a stalemate of words and gestures, with none giving an inch.

Marie was fiddling with her pom-pom topped pen, scribbling down words and phrases. If for nothing else, the damnable doors, the room, and the anticipating spats between the siblings made for some juicy inspiration for her pathos. She wrote whatever came to mind: "siblings," "rivalry," "inferiority," locked," "haunting," "vevleteen," "violet," "platinum," "darkness," "intensity," "abyss," "clockwork..."

"Clockwork...clockwork...time...?"

"Uh, guys? I have a question."

Margaret decided to be the one to humor and acknowledge her, albeit displeased that she addressed them casually again.

"Didn't you say that everybody came here from different periods of time? I mean, that's why there's four of those doors, right?"

Margaret sternly nodded her head.

"Well...if you read, like, the pulp stories and stuff - " Yu, an avid reader, liked "pulp fiction," hence where she discovered the term. " - Time travel never ends well for people who do it. I mean, who cares if this is a school festival? Yeah, it's here for a reason, I know, but it's fun. Don't you think that the fact that you have some major time travel hijinks going on is far weirder?"

Margaret gasped, placing a hand on her head. A bead of sweat visibly rolled down her face. "How foolish of me. And to think that I scolded them all for not realizing that fact sooner...the fact that they are all here from different points in time alone is..."

"Is...?"

"...It is troublesome. If this place perpetuates its existence for a long time, and they all stay here for just as long, then a rip in the fabric of reality will come about, without a doubt. Reality would be distorted, and it would warp and twist until nothing remains." Margaret shuddered, albeit very slightly.

"See? Nothing good ever happens," Marie recanted, feeling proud.

"I cannot hamper my curiosity as to why this spot of the Collective Unconsciousness has taken the form of a culture festival. This, I still wish to research. But now that you, Marie, have pointed the intricacies of this time travel issue out, we cannot fully ignore it."

Marie smirked. "You're darn welcome!"

The Demon Painter gathered his thoughts, deciding to speak next when neither Elizabeth nor Theodore budged. "Our guests have gathered quite a cache of observations and a hypothesis as to why this place is the way it is. I think we can partially solve this little experiment - a theoretical one, if you will - but there is a massive kink in it now, as Elizabeth had just recently found out."

"I can't believe I actually gave that thing my medical treatment!" Elizabeth mewled, scowling. "I even did it pro bono! It truly took me that long to realize that she did not belong here. And yet that bitch, our torrid kink that the painter has mentioned of, is our only other clue as to what this marginw orld is."

"Sister..." Theodore hissed, clenching his fists as his arms crossed. "...I will not stand for you referring to that girl as a thing. She is a human being, the same as all of our other guests."

Elizabeth's smile became wicked and acidic - the same face she always gave him when he had the audacity to act out of line.

"Developing the balls to speak against your sister again, I see?" She said, hatred lacing her voice. "I dislike speaking out against our master, but I think that he honestly made a mistake when he gave you approval to begin assisting him. It doesn't take a scientist to deduct that you are clearly unsuited to assist, Theo, for you have fallen completely head-over-heels for your very first guest." She emphasized "very" and "first" with a sharp bite.

This place was strange, indeed, for Theodore was supposed to be cowering like a gazelle, his voice raised several octaves, his body all scrunched up in fear, and it would be oh, so funny because Theodore was male. Elizabeth was beginning to find this place terrible, lacking in amusement, because her stupid brother was glaring at her, clearly intent on going on an offense if she kept talking. It irritated her, for he had one guest to his name, from another portion of space-time - that she seemingly crossed, no less - and he was worshiping the ground she stood on!

"Insult me all you want, sister," Theodore spat. "You are in no position to criticize my feelings for Kotone-sama."

"Of course I am!" Genuine anger found its way onto Elizabeth's features - quite a shock for those who were seeing it. "You would go so far to shirk your duty and protect someone who flagrantly defied both fate and the natural order of things! Her existence is an insult to us, it is an insult to our master, and it is an insult to all other guests who have come before! Why - " She let out a gasp, pointing an accusatory (and not so funny) finger at the Demon Painter, who raised a brow. " - What that girl has done exceeds even the crime of his guest, and that damned Tatsuya Suou gallivanted across the fabric of reality as if he were taking a stroll in the park!" Elizabeth violently jerked her arms in all directions as anger shot about her, rendering her into a robotic toy on auto-pilot. "That cunt should be dead and Tatsuya left alone to rot with her!" She furiously nodded her head, with her audience too shocked to respond. "Yes, yes, she truly is - "

*BZZZT*

"Oh!"

A small crater bolted and emerged from below, with Elizabeth's jerking put to a jittery stand-still - At Theodore's beck and call was a great angel clad in gold armor and a white cloth at the waist, skin redder than blood, eyes with naught but clear green scleroses and an iron will that seemed to stab through the soul of those who looked into them. The great Archangel Michael, with the authority of a battle general, struck Elizabeth with a violent bolt of lightning, with the flow of power creating a small gale that forced Theodore's Compendium pages to wildly flicker, and his own hair and clothing to sway.

The aria came to a grinding halt.

"Sister..."

Margaret gasped. The painter had tensed, anticipating a brawl. Marie "meeped." She, along wit the others, was afraid. Theodore's voice was no longer mirthful and soothing, but chillier than ice, with the force of a hammer smashing a prone skull to spatter and bits. The power that was rippling off of his body - on top of being some of the most damn poignant wellspring for poems she had ever known - screamed with wrath, but not a chaotic frenzy; no, it was a wrath of righteousness, a brutality that was well-concealed. Her crimes be damned, for this girl, to him, was sacrosanct (which she then wrote down on a scrap of paper, for that mental statement was too good to pass up).

"...I believe it is you who deserves the title of 'cunt.'"

His expression did not change as he flourished something in his hand - it glistened in the dim blue light, appearing with a swing, clacking together as it fell into his hand. The object was a pair of headphones. They belonged to Sakuya - indeed, the Audio Technica headphones that sat on his neck might as well have been welded onto his body permanently. These were the same model as the current pair he had, but this pair was colored a midnight blue instead. The wear and tear on them was obvious, but the boy had kept them out of sentimentality.

Elizabeth gasped.

"These earphones are completely useless, yet he allowed you, Sister, to keep them as a gift, for it was you who showed interest in them..." A shadow of a smirk appeared on his lips. "...and don't you dare lecture me about this being evidence to study from the outside world, for I, too, am guilty of that. We are inhuman, that much is certain, but our sense of curiosity and attachment takes a startling amount of cues from humans, don't you think? I'd go so far as to say that you kept these broken earphones, because..."

The bob-haired sister let out a short scream. "Damn you, Theo!"

"...you have developed a longing desire for your guest, Sakuya-sama...I can already tell that you have fallen in love with him, as I had fallen in love with my own. This trinket is a reminder of him. This is the concept of eros, the concept of infinite, appreciative affection for another, aspiration, possession, sublime...this is something that we residents were thought to never be able to experience, and yet here we are..."

"Shut up!"

"Sister...do not insult or belittle me, or Kotone-sama like that, for we are in a similar position. Our desires are one and the same. Now..."

With a snap of his fingers, the headphones were whisked away to the subspace that Elizabeth had put them in. He returned to his polished, welcoming stance, putting on a soft smile as he helped the Demon Painter arrange the little diagram he made from his own set of tarot cards.

"I believe," he said sweetly, "that Painter-san wants to explain our situation thus far?"

The painter nodded his head in agreement. Theodore probably overreacted a bit - just a bit - but Elizabeth deserved some degree of retribution. Her and Margaret's abuse of the man disgusted him greatly. He crossed his arms and glared at the two women - Elizabeth appeared as though she were a machine that was about to explode in a flurry of sparks; Margaret's stern face and rigid stance reminded the painter of some official on a power trip. He snorted. Damn them and their pride.

"Get over here. Now."

His rumbling voice seemed to vibrate in the ears of the now-shivering Elizabeth and Margaret, to the point that it compelled them to go to him. He gestured them to sit as he began arranging the cards. There was no real pretense to his arrangement - he took the twenty-two major Arcana and some of the minor Arcana cards and picked them at random to show off whatever research was done so far.

"I'll use five cards to represent our fair Persona-users," said the painter. "Group them by the inherent traits of each group's leader, and I think you can figure it out from there." He did as such: the Emperor served as the "emblem" of Team Hermelin, the Sun was the emblem of Tatsuya Suou's group, the Moon was Maya's group (both the halves of Team Sumaru), the Fool was Team Gekkou, and the World was Team Yaso.

"Here we have the five groups, our Persona-users. Why these five? Who knows? But here they are, tasked with a battle that they seemingly have nothing to do with...or do they? This is a mystery in and of itself, but this question will likely not be answered until the journey is nearly done, don't you think?"

The others nodded their heads sagely. Marie sighed, on the verge of falling asleep. Elizabeth, on the other hand grimaced - Sakuya said something that tipped her off.

"A man named Philemon came to me in my sleep...he even alluded to us coming here, now that I think about it."

Bitterness was a hell of an emotion, for she bit her tongue as the painter went on.

"Now, we have our hypothesized catalyst...the amnesiac duo, Zen and Rei."

The painter, after some deliberation, decided to pick a major tarot, even if the duo did not quite represent any Arcana well enough (he considered picking the Lovers, but it was a.) cliche, and b.) neither of them seemed to embody or be aware of the sheer magnitude of choices and thought that embodied the Arcana; Zen was eerily passive, and Rei clinging to him like a toy). The card that came to him was the Tower - for a nanosecond, his eyes went wide. Theodore found this peculiar, but he remained silent.

"Sakuya-san and his friends were the ones who discovered and contacted Zen and Rei first. They know nothing but life in this margin world. Rei has claimed that her and Zen's memories were stolen away by someone - 'stolen' being the key word here. This in itself is suspicious, but neither claim to know the one responsible." The painter did find this suspicious indeed, which validated his next statement: "Both are drawn to the labyrinths, but have chosen not to traverse them until meeting with our guests. Our guests are the very first people they have had concrete conversations with. This, too, is suspicious."

"It isn't suspicious when you consider that the students in the school are not really students...they are more like ghosts," said Theodore. "Kotone-sama once showed me the most amusing thing...it was this toy kitten that could do several commands and would say up to ten phrases. Sad to say, these students are much like that toy: the boy at the takoyaki stand, for example, says only five different phrases, often at random, and create takoyaki ad nauseum. You cannot hold a normal conversation with him, and he cannot do anything else." Theodore nodded his head solemnly. "Painter-san, this fact validates the hypothesis that Maya-sama came up with earlier."

The painted nodded his head in turn. "You're absolutely right." He then took out the number one card from each of the minor Arcana: Sword, Cup, Coin, and Wand. He chose the One of Wands as the representative of the first labyrinth and turned it over, signaling its "completion." "As Zen found out at the end of the labyrinth, he learned that three more lied in wait. He discovered this as he regained a portion of his memory. The memory was regained by discovering the treasure that lied in the depths of You In Wonderland, which was being guarded by a massive Shadow. You In Wonderland has been mapped out in full and its treasure plundered. We can assume that Zen will regain all of his memories after defeating the guardians and obtaining the other treasures from the remaining three labyrinths."

"And what of Rei?" Margaret inquired. "There was no indication that she regained any memories of her own."

"Hmm...according to what Tatsuya-san reported, Rei indeed did not regain any memories, but when she was prodded about it, she became highly defensive. Indeed, when we were all caucusing at the clock tower, she remained placid and ate with reckless abandon. Mhm, suspicious suspicious..."

Margaret looked at the display, with a feeling of satisfaction settling in her gut. "So if we consider what we have seen so far, then we can conclude the following: this finite space, which is an island near the Collective Unconsciousness, was born from either Zen or Rei. All evidence points to Zen, but this is inconclusive. Clearing the remaining labyrinths will give answer whatever questions remain." She began to contemplate. "There is no knowing what Zen's 'task' is, or what the true reason is for the gathering of all these Persona-users, but we will likely find that out when all the labyrinths are traversed."

"The mastermind will likely show itself at the end as well," said Theodore. "However, we still know not the meaning of why this is a school festival, or why even the labyrinths are the way they are...but as we've all said, these, too, will come to us."

"Correct. And on top of all of these problems, there is a time limit of sorts. As our Persona-users are all from different periods of time, this world will tear into the fabric of reality...but not any time soon, thankfully," sighed the painter. He raised his head and sighed - next would be the thing that was compounding their terribly complicated conundrum. He picked a minor Arcana card this time for the 'kink' in question.

"This journey, for all of its unanswered questions, is actually straightforward if you think about it. All answers await by clearing through the labyrinths. Of course, now we have a kink, so this may no longer be the case..."

He drew the card - the Ten of Swords. He gawked. It had to be coincidental, dammit!

"Herein lies our representation of the kink - a girl named Kotone Shiomi." He slid the card on the table a ways off from the rest of the scene. "She was discovered in a state of near-death by two of the Persona-users from 2009 A.D: Shinjiro Aragaki and Akihiko Sanada. Now, if those two little dolts could just tell someone how they found her, then maybe we can find out more about this mess." The painter grunted. He then turned to Theodore, giving him a hard stare.

"Theodore...you know this girl?"

The time had come. There was no otherworldly door for Theodore to escape into now. In his mind, he could see a pair of grudging fists floating above him, threatening to smother him into puddles of blood. The silence that followed was deafening and wretched - silence that Belladonna's rich soprano could not combat. Theodore found himself hunched forward, his chin planted on top of his hands. His fingers intertwined with one another. Instead of sorrow, as one would have assumed, the man became wistful. His golden eyes glimmered like flickering gold leaf, his lips pursed in a thoughtful smile. He wasn't looking at his fellow attendants, but at something else - a phantasm, a memory. He looked at that ghost - a corner of the room - as if it were the only thing in the world.

"She was my first guest. It was my very first time assisting Master Igor. I was an overseer to her journey."

Elizabeth glowered at her brother, while Margaret grimaced. The latter was as inexperienced as her brother at assistance, but as the eldest among them, the responsibility to remain loyal to their Master and to their duties as overseers of the powers that be was respected by her the most. She held that duty to heart. As for why she did, she couldn't say, but no matter.

The painter was more sympathetic to his plight, but he himself had little attachment to the outside world. He could remember that time of his life, though. Whether or not that was a blessing or a curse was another matter entirely.

"We went through everything with her: the binding of the contract, the Compendium, the nature of bonds, my requests to make her journey just a bit easier..." He was aglow with nostalgia, his voice lithe and fluttering like a butterfly. "The city of her birth, a place that she had not been to since childhood, had been plagued by Shadows and a wrinkle in time. She was chosen to solve the mystery of the wrinkle and to slay the Shadows. At the crux of it was a massive labyrinth that would appear at midnight, every night. With companion and Persona at her beck and call, she tackled the labyrinth, tacked the burdens of others, tackled her own burdens..."

What an oddly familiar story that was. Elizabeth raised her head, and Margaret's eyes amass with confusion.

"...All of this, done within the span of a single year."

The term that Sakuya-sama gave this was "raising a red flag." Elizabeth sensed that red flag, all right. Perhaps she ought to have done her sisterly duties better by monitoring the idiot, space-time hijinks be damned, but it was too late for that.

Theodore's eyes seemed to glow in the eyes of the painter. This was likely him reflecting on times he had with the girl, no doubt. They flickered like fireflies, the gold seemingly amber, enriched with bliss.

"I gave her a number of requests. Many involved the creation of specific Personas - hundreds of them were a part of her! Her potential was massive, gods, demons, so many beautiful aspects of her that..." He sighed, falling into a dreamlike state. "...And after exploring the world outside of the Velvet Room with her, I knew why. Having her fetch trinkets and human oddities weren't enough to sate my curiosity. She showed me around her home, and always agreed to when I asked..."

The red flags in Elizabeth's head turned into blaring alarms.

"Those days were truly..." He sighed happily. "...I cannot properly put it in words. One place she could access the Velvet Room was this place called a shopping mall, a place of frivolousness and passions and, oh, good grief, it's so beautiful to look at! She never did take me to Club Escapade though. I'm kind of sad..."

The alarms made Elizabeth's eardrums explode. Escapade was -

"I wouldn't know the inherent beauty of Earth's cuisine if it weren't for Kotone-sama. She fed me takoyaki. She fed me melon bread. She made me a beautiful truffle made of the darkest cacao and topped with a mocha coulis...she made it with her own two hands...she toiled for me..." He shook to the core at the memory of the girl, taking a thumb and wiping his lip free of excess chocolate. It was as if a reservoir of water had sprung to life within him, triggered by that touch.

Theodore blushed. He felt his body flush with heat, and the other residents began to feel it themselves - even Marie. His passions lingered into hers and the painter's minds, stirring their respective pots of inspiration. Margaret blushed too, flustered as all hell. Elizabeth wanted to scream.

"Theo," Margaret panted, taking in a sharp breath. "Your story is...well...goodness, I'm getting embarrassed. I can say that not even Yu-sama has performed that feat...heh heh..."

"I do apologize, Sister, but I cannot help but feel as strongly - as passionately as I do." He took a breath, steadying himself. "She lived on an island that had a bridge connecting to the mainland. I'm surprised she managed to take me to so many places." His face lit up as he realized: "Why, she even took the time to show me her school! It was a beautiful institution too, and massive. She partook in a number of its recreational groups - she called them 'clubs' - but the one she spent the most time in, I think it was the 'art club.'" He eagerly turned his gaze to the painter. "Oh, Painter-san! She's an artist, just like you! She wanted to become an illustrator when she graduated! I bet you'd love to see her work! It's true what they say: music and the arts are arguably mankind's finest achievements."

The painter couldn't help himself. He chuckled.

"Y'know, Theo," said Marie at last. "You've been pretty vague about where this chick lives. Like, what's the name of her home town? I guess the name's 'Jap-an-eeze' like the rest of 'em, but I don't know. Does she live in 'Jah-paan' like the rest of the idiots?"

"Oh, yes! How silly of me to forget. Kotone-sama is half-Japanese!"

Marie's brow twitched. "Uhhh...I guess all roads lead back to 'Jah-paan' then."

"Marie brings up a point, Theo," said Elizabeth darkly. "What's the name of the school she attended...?"

"Gekkoukan High. Why?"

It looked like something right out of a high school comedy. Elizabeth squatted, jumped up onto the table with a massive stomp, sending all of the tarot cards flying as she did, and found her finger violently poking her brother's nose. An accusatory glare flared in her eyes. Margaret, Theodore, and the painter could sense Nebiros flaring up within her; the marquis of hell threatened to consume Theodore within his dark embrace - a beautiful, rune-loaded circle of darkness, gestured with an amiable hand, but a life-consuming darkness nonetheless. From behind him was an angry Jack Frost, threatening to plunge him into a cavern of absolute zero, and for a moment, Theodore realized just how absurd Elizabeth's preferable choices from the Compendium were.

"Damnation!" Elizabeth hissed, her saliva landing on Theodore's face. "If what you are saying is true, then not only is this girl from another dimension entirely, but she lead the same life - an identical life - to my guest! What is this tomfoolery you speak of, brother!?" She willed herself to calm down, for Margaret's glare of sisterly disapproval began to bore into her skull. She did not move, but let her inner fury settle; Nebiros' presence was gone.

When Theodore did not respond, save for barely audible chokes and gasps, she took a breath.

"Theo...what you have just described now...this girl - some nobody that ought to be cast aside - is living a life that precariously aligns with that of Sakuya-sama." She finally relented and dropped her arm. "Answer me this, dear brother: was the name of the island she resided in 'Iwatodai?'"

"...Y-Yes?"

"And she goes to this 'Gekkoukan High' for her 'higher education.'"

"Yes."

"The mall you went to had a club dubbed 'Escapade.' I take it that the mall was named after the paulownia tree, and also had facilities including the bounty-hunting quarter called a 'police station' and a den of entertainment called an 'arcade?'"

"...Yes."

"And Theo..." Elizabeth took a sharp breath.

Off in the distance, even though the pianist played the same calming melody that he always played, he could feel something change within the Sea of Souls: as if the souls swimming within it were responding to the scene before him, they began to swirl, a squall mixed with a whirlpool, and an overwhelming blare of cellos and string basses began to play. The strings were tense - rapid bow movements playing the same scale of low notes, prickling his senses with a stray pluck from a bass. The cellos began to play a melody that seemed to sway, in tandem with a sudden thumping of timpanis.

"...This is...how fascinating. This music...Georges Bizet? It certainly sounds like one of his compositions. Probably a coincidence, but - "

"Answer me honestly, Theo. Did this thi...Kotone...go into a labyrinth called Tartarus?"

"...Yes..."

"...And did Tartarus appear during a period of time that was spurred by manmade experiments?"

"...Yes..."

"And does Gekkoukan High turn into Tartarus during this period of time?"

"...Yes."

Elizabeth pondered. She grimaced. She glowered. She became fretful.

"Theodore...my one and only brother..." Her voice lowered. "Did Kotone...finish her journey...?"

He remained mum, his eyes darted silently. He put up a defense that made his sisters terribly anxious. The music kept its steady flow, with the cellos growing louder and louder and the timpanis thumping more quickly.

After what felt like an eternity, he answered: "Yes."

Elizabeth nearly fell over. All pretense of her sunny disposition had vanished, with only a body awash with fear remaining.

Margaret turned pale. The world around her turned gray, her throat paralyzed.

The cellos grew louder. A small entourage of trumpets joined them.

Belladonna could not sing, and the pianist could not play. They found themselves as entrenched in Theodore's tale as the rest. The sea of souls churned, transforming into a tsunami.

"Theodore..." Elizabeth sighed, her breath hitching. "Please...we are bystanders of fate, yes...but this is...to come from another plane to a place like this...tell me...is this Kotone the same as Tatsuya Suou...? What could she have done to make it here...? It must have been terrible indeed..."

Theodore said nothing, his face contorted in a mixture of sadness and anguish.

"Her eyes were like those of a fugitive. She looks weary and afraid, as she ought to be. And this makes me wonder..."

"Elizabeth...!" Margaret's voice came out in a faint, futile rasp. Her sister did not hear her.

"...What will fate have in store for my guest...!? If, if her tale is truly one in the same as Sakuya-sama's, then...then - !"

*BZZZZZZSSSSSHHHHHPPP*

The music climaxed. A quake powerful enough to uproot the world from its core. It shook the Velvet Room itself, rolling and ripping its way out of reality. The souls that were wildly dancing in the ocean began to scream.

The residents of the Velvet Room were thrown about as the platform bucked and tore, threatening to throw them into the abyss below. In their line of vision was nothing but blurred swirls, swishing and rocking and blazing and blazing away as something unbearably loud began to drill and drill and drill from somewhere, and it ripped and destroyed like a volcano that lost all of its top from an eruption and, and, and -

The gateway that lead to nothing but emptiness had been shred for that moment. There was no telling where the intruder appeared. It was a thing to fear and shun, for it lied beyond the Sea of Souls, leading to a firmament of absolute Chaos, the vast, primordial network whose powers and workings were arcane and too unknown for the overseers of power.

The quake came to an end, the room buzzing and shivering before coming to a complete stop. As the Velvet Room residents recovered from the shock, Elizabeth herself could not help but ponder, for her beloved guest had mentioned the presence - the involvement - of the true overseer.

Philemon.

"...Is he planning...does he...does he know something...!? Philemon...!"

Notes

- The song at the beginning is the "Persona Ondo." An ondo (音頭) can refer to many aspects of music, mainly older genres of Japanese music, but more often than not, it refers to a song with a swinging rhythm in 2/2 time. Persona 2 has its own "ondo" song, and the Errors of Their Youth CD drama has a track where Tatsuya's VA, Takehito Koyasu, sings it.

- Balls!Theo is ballsy because Elizabeth and Margaret's abuse of him in the game is extremely unfunny.

From the next chapter onward, I'll start responding to your reviews, so review away!