Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.

Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.

Warning 2: With the ongoing status of RWBY, it's to be expected that many of my ideas will, at some point, go against what is canon, such as when more of each character's respective pasts are revealed. I will do my best to incorporate what I can, but expect that many will be blended with my own ideas or perhaps even ignored completely if incorporating it will be detrimental to my existing story plans.

NEW CHAPTER!

And it only took me five months this time. XD

Anyway, I'm sure you've all heard enough about Covid so no point in me sharing my tale there. Just know that I'm safe and healthy despite still having to go to work.

Also, at the suggestion and urging of a friend, I finally relented and made a Kofi account. Now, I told myself years ago I would never setup a P-treon account or anything similar but… well… that little promise didn't age well and neither did the economy for that matter.

Anyway, I chose Kofi since it's more akin to a tip jar. Nobody is obligated to do anything. I don't put myself on a tight schedule to update nor do I hold my stories 'hostage'. And readers don't have to pay anything if they don't want to.

All in all, it's just there as a little extra for me if there are people who feel my stories are worth a tip.

kofi (dotcom) (slash) leiciel

Again, this is entirely optional. I will continue to write and update even if I never get a single cent.

Now, I'm sure you've all had enough of my yammering so… HERE WE GO!

Chapter 21 – Fragile Truths

January 29, XXXX

After seeing that there was no immediate danger, Mitsuru gently urged them all to return inside the dormitory. But as steady as her voice was, it was clear to anyone and everyone that she was deeply shaken by the sight of the city that lay before them as they stood on the rooftop. Gwen had to applaud her inner strength for being able to recover as well as she did just then.

Once they were all inside, the expected outbursts began.

Cries of "It's impossible," were, as expected, the most common, as nearly the entire group began denying the possibility of what they had seen, throwing out one argument after another.

It didn't take long before someone gave in.

Yukari's soft whisper of "What if it's real?" had quieted them all for a brief moment before the denials returned. Softly at first, then growing in intensity once more. Only this time, Gwen could hear the shakiness and uncertainty in some of their voices.

What followed was a shouting match as Yukari rose from her seat, slamming her hands on the coffee table and all but urging everyone else to consider the possibility that the city outside was real, that perhaps they had someone been given a second chance of sorts.

Junpei followed, a fire burning in his eyes as he shot down Yukari harshly, an ugly, rage-filled expression on his face. "You think I don't want it to be real? Dude, if this was real I'd be throwing a party already but there's just no way! If it's real then where's Minato? Why ain't he back with us?"

"Maybe he's somewhere out there waiting for us!" Yukari shot back sharply. "We never knew if he actually died, remember? For all we know he's been here all this time, getting all this ready, and then sent Elizabeth to bring us back here for this!"

Gwen could see something shift in the eyes of the other members of SEES, but speculation alone clearly wouldn't be enough because Junpei just retorted harder.

The others, however…

It came as no surprise to Gwen that she was having difficulty reading the other six teens. Asides from Junpei, she had yet to spend any extended amount of time with the others. What little she could read was based on her understanding of people in general.

They were conflicted, that much was certain. Whether their feelings on the matter leaned towards Junpei or Yukari's side of things, however, was something beyond her limited understanding of them.

She could see that they all, save for Chidori, wanted to believe in Yukari's words. Minato, their former field leader, was clearly dear to them all in some way and they all wanted to believe that he was somehow alive.

Yet, logically, they knew that Junpei was likely right about things. A city could not just spring up out of nowhere overnight. And if Minato were alive, why stay hidden for a year? It made no sense at all.

Seeing that the two teens had begun to just argue back and forth, Gwen shifted her weight, pushing herself off the wall she was leaning against to address the group, but stopped when someone else beat her to the punch.

"I know it's a shock," began Mitsuru, speaking clearly and firmly. Even though the ones she was addressing did not turn to face her, she knew that she had their attention. She turned to face Yukari. "And I can understand how you feel. We all do. No matter how much we may have accepted the circumstances a year ago, I sure that, deep down, all of us were hoping that he was still out there somewhere. And now, I'm sure there is at least that small seed in our hearts, hoping that perhaps he truly is responsible for Iwatodai's return."

The determined expression on her face remained unchanged, but Yukari's hands, which had been laid flat on the table after she had slammed them down, were now tightly curled into fists.

"But I also understand your concerns," she continued to say as she turned to Junpei next. "Indeed, it would be much less painful to continue believing that Minato is dead, rather than dreaming of a miraculous survival only to awaken to a heartbreaking reality."

Junpei turned away from the brunette he had been arguing with just then, his expression only a hint softer, but Gwen had caught the wetness in his eyes.

Undeterred, Mitsuru continued to address the two. Or, perhaps, she had been speaking to all of SEES from the beginning. "I know it will be hard for many of us, but we need to remain focused on why we're here in the first place. We also don't know whether or not Elizabeth-san was aware this would happen, so we'll have to tread carefully. And…"

Mitsuru paused, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. "… And if he is somehow responsible for this, then we will deal with it then."

Both Yukari and Junpei had calmed down after that, though neither one were willing to so much as look in the other's direction. The rest of SEES remained silent, their expressions solemn as they took that moment to collect themselves.

Gwen, however, found herself resisting the urge to glance at the red-haired leader, lest she give away her thoughts.

That was twice now that the young woman had said something that made it clear that she knew more than she was letting on. Her use of the word 'Shadow' prior to stepping out onto the rooftop, and her reference to someone who could be responsible for their current situation.

The fact that she had not said a name made Gwen suspect that the 'he' that Mitsuru had referred to just now was not the young man named Minato. If it was, then she would not have needed to obscure his name in such a manner. She doubted many of the other non-SEES trainees had caught it, but it was clear enough to her and her instincts were telling her that it was important.

They sat in silence for at least a quarter of an hour before Yang broke the silence with the question that was no doubt at the forefront of everyone's minds.

"So… what now?"

That, she thought, was a very good question. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone knew exactly they needed to do next. Even Gwen, for all her experience, could only come up with the basic foundations of one due to the lack of information.

At the very least, the eight people who were likely to have better answers had calmed down from the earlier outbursts. That it had only lasted a relatively short while, and that they had managed to function at all after the shock they received, was a pleasant surprise for her.

In response, Mitsuru rose from her seat. "For now, we prepare for the day as usual. Then once we're ready, we'll split up into groups and explore different parts of the city. It's no different than what we were supposed to do had the city not reappeared."

"What are we on the lookout for?" Gwen took the initiative to ask once she saw that the others were simply nodding along. "Unless what we're looking for is obvious enough, I doubt half of us know what to look for."

"I'll be informing each team of where they'll be searching and what things to look out for, all of which should be relatively simple for the moment, especially for those of us who have lived here. I don't know what we'll find, so feel free to explore and search as diligently and thoroughly as you wish. Just be back by sundown. We'll collate all the information we've gathered once we've all returned and then decide whether searching at night will be necessary."

The bespectacled blonde nodded, satisfied by the answer. Mitsuru was proving to be deserving of her position as leader of SEES. At least for now. Whether that would stay the same remained to be seen. At the very least, she could say for certain that she would not need to step in and take charge just yet.

"Noooooooo! I'm not leaving her behind!"

She expected her teammate and friend's reaction. Just… not to this extent.

"Come on Rubes, it's just for the day."

"But… but I…"

"Ruby…" Fuuka approached the younger girl, keeping her eyes locked with Ruby's silver. "I can't say that I understand how you feel, but you have to realize that bringing Crescent Rose with you is more likely to cause trouble than otherwise."

Mitsuru, who had overheard as she came down the stairs, approached as well. "It may sound silly from a certain perspective, but the law that prohibits carrying weapons applies even to members of SEES. At least, during the day. Even if we could get away with it if it were an emergency, the rest of you might end up getting arrested. Without proper identification and paperwork that any law enforcement officer here will recognize or accept, being caught carrying a weapon would mean imprisonment."

"But what if there's a Grimm attack?" asked Jaune. "Wouldn't it be easier if you guys were ready to fight at all times?"

"You're forgetting that we're still students first and volunteers second," answered Akihiko. "If anything happens then we leave it to the pros unless we get called in. And it's rare for us to get called in for anything major unless it's an emergency. Most of the time we're patrolling and clearing out any groups before they get big. And those groups are usually scouted out ahead of time and are just marked as low priority, so it gets sent to us to take care of."

Off to the side, Gwen just sent a glance in Mitsuru's direction, remembering the redhead's words from the night before about how the Persona-users were actually stretched thin. She suspected that they were called in more often that Akihiko was leading them to believe, but still not enough to actually warrant bringing their weapons along every moment.

"Let's go along with it for now," she said, cutting ahead of anyone else who might want to debate the issue. "We'll do as they do and let the local forces handle any issues. Worst comes to worst, you'll have your Semblances to fall back on to either fight or retreat as needed."

She could see that at least half the Aura-users weren't happy with going unarmed, but they weren't willing to argue with both Mitsuru and herself.

"One last thing," Mitsuru began, causing more than a few looks of discontent to deepen, or a pout in Ruby and Nora's cases, as they wondered just what else they would have to do. "While here, you'll need to listen to what we tell you very closely. There are many things here that are very different from what you are used to. Whatever the situation regarding the city's reappearance, we should try to avoid drawing undue attention to ourselves until we know more about what is going on."

Not everyone was happy to hear that, but they all accepted Mitsuru's terms. Even Gwen knew she would have to follow their lead and she was more than willing to do so given their situation, even if only to an extent.

Legally speaking, they did not exist and, thus, had no power here. Unless it was necessary, she was of the mind that they needed to keep their heads down to avoid attracting undue attention. Not to mention the fact that, worst comes to worst, the entire city may be their enemy.

Soon enough, despite Ruby's continued protests, they were ready. And after some final instructions from Mitsuru, they split into five groups and began their investigation.

"So this is where you grew up?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Iwatodai City. Not a big place like Tokyo but it's got just about everything we'd need. I'd probably go crazy if it was one of the smaller towns out in the countryside with barely anything to do or anything new happening now and then."

Not too long ago, their situations had been reversed. Jaune had been the guide while Junpei and Chidori played tourist. This time, Junpei took the lead alongside his girlfriend, leading his two teammates down the sidewalk towards their destination.

Paulownia Mall. Not a place a student would normally go to during school hours, for a multitude of reasons, but for this occasion Junpei was more than prepared to deal with any trouble they might come across.

And in this case, 'trouble' came in the form of a man in uniform.

"Hey, what're you kids doing out of school?"

The voice, familiar, stern, and one that reflected a no-nonsense attitude, nearly made Junpei smile. It was only Mitsuru's instructions prior to leaving the dorm that kept him from doing so, though it was with some difficulty.

'No matter who you encounter, even if it's someone you know, do not approach them as you normally would. Pay close attention to how they treat you and act accordingly.'

Officer Kurosawa. Once an ally to SEES who supplied them with a relatively vast array of weaponry to help combat the Shadows, now possibly a stranger given that he didn't seem to recognize Junpei despite approaching from the front.

Here and now, not too far from the mall entrance, it wasn't completely unexpected that they would run into him. Akihiko had even made certain to remind Junpei of this very possibility before they parted ways. It was only because of that reminder that he wasn't as surprised to see the man.

Still, remembering all the help he had given them still made it difficult to put up a façade.

"Mornin' officer," Junpei greeted as casually as he could, reminding himself that they had prepared for this eventuality. It was also fortunate that he remembered not to use Officer Kurosawa's name, given that he was a familiar face. "I got permission from the school to show these guys around. Some kinda exchange program or somethin'."

Officer Kurosawa's eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion. "I assume you've got a pass from the school?" the stern-faced man asked, neither outright denying Junpei's claim nor accepting it without proper proof.

"Not exactly a pass but I got somethin' here. Give me a sec." Opening his school bag, Junpei rifled through its contents before pulling out a brown envelope and handing it to Kurosawa. "Kirijo-senpai sprung it up on us at the last minute back in the dorm," he began to explain as the older man pulled out the documents within. "I think I heard her tell the school on the phone that she only found out about it last night too."

All things considered, Mitsuru had probably been correct that it was better for them to make it seem as though the arrangements came at the last minute. If they had gone to the school to get everything squared up, they not only wasted time doing so but the Principal might have questioned things and made things more troublesome as well.

They still would have gotten it all approved, that much was never in doubt, but there were far too many unknowns, far too many things that could go wrong at a moment's notice. With the situation as it was, it was decided that they would be better off expediting things and cutting a few corners. If anything comes of it then they, or rather Mitsuru, would deal with it then.

It was no surprise to any of the Japanese teens that they turned to the Kirijo name for their needs. Not only did the name carry a lot of weight but, as the owners of Gekkoukan High, any matter related to them was less likely to be delayed. The papers that Junpei and the others were carrying were 'copies' of the 'official' document that were sent to Mitsuru by the Kirijo Group. They weren't as good as an actual pass from the school, but it came with a personal letter from Mitsuru explaining the situation. It also mentioned that the school had already been informed, had agreed to allow the students in question to be outside of school for the day, and were prepared to confirm as such if any inquiries were made.

It did, however, still carry a level of risk that could not be avoided. None of them knew whether this truly was Iwatodai of the past, or if it was some sort of simulacrum. None of them could even say for certain that the people they knew still knew them in turn, or what their respective relationships were.

Were their friends still their friends here? Were their familial relations still in the same circumstances they had left behind? Did the school even have records of them attending as students? Did they even exist in the minds of the people now inhabiting this city? For that matter, would they be treated as complete strangers even if they were to come face to face with members of their respective families?

Far, far too many questions were thrown around but no definite answers could be discovered.

All they knew for certain, via phone call and subtle questions, was that the Kirijo Group still existed and that Mitsuru's father had perished the 'previous' year, leaving her as the new head of the Group. That, however, was more than enough. At the very least, they had the Kirijo's backing for all that it was worth at the moment.

A sharp, annoyed sigh made Junpei jolt a bit, his anxiety making him wary and far too alert. "It looks like it's all in order, but I'll have to ask you four to come to the station with me just so I can call the school and make sure you aren't pulling my leg with some elaborate hoax. If it isn't then this shouldn't take long."

Left unsaid was that they'd be in huge trouble if things went the other way, but Akihiko had warned him that this was a definite possibility. Even so, it still made Junpei's anxiety jump up a notch. "S-sure. That's fine."

Officer Kurosawa's eyes narrowed once more at his stuttering, no doubt thinking that it was a hoax and that the papers were forgeries of some sort. Well-made and very convincing, but forgeries nonetheless. Still, he didn't say anything and just led them towards the small police station located inside the mall.

It didn't take long before Team JACN were walking out the doors, barely five minutes in fact. Even so, it had been some of the longest five minutes of Junpei's life. He had spent the whole time worrying over how he'd get them out of trouble if it came down to it.

The first two minutes were especially nerve-wracking for him, since the school wasn't picking up for some reason. Thankfully, that hadn't been enough for the police officer to consider it an answer in itself. When the school finally picked up, his mind tortured him with the possibility that Yukari, who had been tasked with delivering the 'original' documents to the school, might not have been able to do so, or that the Principal somehow decided not to grant them permission due to it coming up at the last minute.

The last minute was spent listening to Officer Kurosawa warning them that he wouldn't be as lenient next time. That, if anything similar should occur another time, they should still head to the school to secure a proper pass to avoid wasting everyone's time verifying things.

"Damn, that was rough," came the comment from Jaune. Despite not understanding a word of what the man was saying, he could imagine that Junpei had gotten quite the stern talking-to simply judging by the tone of voice and facial expressions.

"He did seem quite strict," agreed Pyrrha.

"He's a police officer. It's his job to be," Chidori added, the tiny upturn of her lips showing that she had enjoyed Junpei's misery. Somehow or another, likely due to her clothing and hair color, Officer Kurosawa had assumed that she was with Jaune and Pyrrha as an exchange student rather than a local. He'd barely given her a second glance before all but ripping into Junpei with his lecture.

"Doesn't make sense though," was Junpei's response, having calmed down a great deal now that he was outside the police station. "Kurosawa-san worked with SEES a couple of times so he shoulda recognized me. Gonna have to remember to let senpai know when we get back." It hadn't been something his team had been asked to check, but it was still something that should help figure out a good starting point for any further investigations. "Well, let's get cracking."

Team JACN's checklist was quite simple. There were assigned the northern half of Port Island, partly because Junpei was familiar with that area and partly because it was the location of the hospital where Chidori was once confined to following her capture and, much later on, her miraculous recovery.

After crossing the Moonlight Bridge, and checking the areas along the way, the mall was Junpei's first stop as it was the area he was most familiar with. And yet, so far, nothing seemed out of place beyond not being recognized by Officer Kurosawa.

As they explored, Junpei took the roads he was most familiar with, taking time to stop by all his old stomping grounds in the area and checking for anything that did not coincide with his memories. Now and then he had to face inquiries from shopkeepers, store clerks, and the like, but things went much smoother than with Kurosawa earlier seeing as they had no real authority to hold him up and question him beyond that of responsible adults. Simply explaining the situation, and sometimes showing the papers, was enough for them.

From the mall, which was near the eastern end of the island, the team of four moved west towards the hospital. Junpei and Chidori made inquiries at the nurse's station, asking if a 'Chidori Yoshino' had been admitted at the hospital, claiming to be friends of the girl and that they heard she had gotten into an accident the other day. 'Chidori', they claimed, lived by herself so they didn't know whether the hospital managed to contact her family, so they decided to pay her a visit but didn't know which hospital she was in.

After their run-in with Kurosawa, it was almost no surprise that there was no one named Chidori Yoshino currently, or even previously, admitted at that particular hospital.

Mistaking Junpei's downward shift in mood for something else, the nurse on duty gave him a sympathetic smile and gave them the addresses of the other hospitals in Iwatodai plus a handful of clinics in the surrounding area, wishing them luck finding where the girl they were searching for might have been admitted to. It wouldn't really have helped, but Junpei gave his best smile and thanked the nurse anyway.

From there, they continued to search their half of the island with no real destination in mind. Once they felt there wasn't anything left to find, they traveled towards Port Island Station to take the monorail back rather than travel across the Moonlight Bridge once more. They might have only found one thing worth mentioning, but Junpei hoped that someone smarter than him could make something out of the lack of evidence.

"Hard to believe it's only been a year. I feel like it's been much longer."

Glancing down at Ken out of the corner of his eyes, Akihiko grunted in agreement. "No surprise there. A lot's happened since that day."

The younger teen chuckled sheepishly. "I think even 'a lot' is an understatement," he said, to which the older teen could only laugh and agree.

"Soooooo… not to break up your walk through memory lane or anything but… Why are we here?" Turning around, Akihiko and Ken found Nora with her arms spread dramatically wide to gesture to their general location. Next to her, Ren was palming his face in exasperation while a few passersby stared at the 'weird foreigner girl' as they walked past. "I mean, I know what kind of place this is but why did we come here?"

'Here', as Nora referred to it, was the sidewalk right in front of the torii gates leading up to a familiar shrine not too far from the dorm.

Team ANKR had been assigned the mainland itself as their investigation venue. While it seemed like a significant amount of ground to cover, it was actually much smaller in practice. There was little need to visit the industrial sector as none of them were intimately familiar with that area, and exploring the outskirts were unnecessary for similar reasons. The commercial and residential sectors were all that they needed to cover, something that wouldn't take them a lot of time.

Barring any unexpected occurrences, Akihiko expected their team to be the first one back at the dorm.

In fact, they had already covered a lot of ground in less than two hours and were already on their return trip, which would take less than half that time to cover because of the more direct route they were taking back. Though they owed their quick return to the fact they did not need to enter a lot of buildings to search for clues as they were in a mostly residential area of the city.

The shrine was simply on their way back, something that he had accounted for.

"We've spent a lot of time here so it's definitely worth checking out," Akihiko explained, well aware that Nora knew what sort of place they were visiting. For all her lack of enthusiasm when it came to academics, Nora was still knowledgeable about some things even if lacking in detail. One of those things just so happened to be knowing that the vermillion torii gates led to shrines and similarly religious or spiritual locations.

As Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Aigis had found out not too long ago, the continent of Anima contained remnants of Asian culture. And having been born on said continent, Ren and Nora had a passing familiarity with such things.

"Also," he paused and looked up towards the other end of the staircase before them, a smile playing on his lips. "Koromaru's previous owner was a priest at this shrine, if you remember me telling that story. I thought he might want to pay this place a visit."

As though to agree, Koromaru barked loudly from the steps, not too far from the top, his tail wagging furiously. He barked a few more times before running up the rest of the way and disappearing from their view. No doubt he was urging them to hurry and join him at the shrine rather than standing around at the base of the steps.

Ken couldn't hold back his laugh, smiling brightly at Koromaru's antics. "We should follow him before he comes back to drag us up there."

"Or tears your pants off trying it."

"… Nora, we aren't in a cartoon."

"That's what you think."

The Naganaki Shrine, as far as Akihiko and Ken could tell, was the same as ever.

The towering vermillion torii gates leading up to the shrine, the traditional Japanese-style buildings, the small playground, all of it were exactly as they remembered it down to the smaller details they could remember, such as the sound of a broom brushing against the ground coming from the side of the shrine, the stiff but gentle sound bringing a bout of nostalgia to their ears.

There were some people ahead of them, likely there to avail of the shrine's services before going about their day. Some were in the midst of making an offering while others were waiting their turn or had just finished. A few students and office workers were to the side to draw a fortune for the coming day.

With a soft voice, Ken, at the behest of Nora, explained what the people were doing to the best of his ability. Ren did his best to keep Nora's exuberance under control, though she was well aware that such places tended to not look well upon loud noises and the like. Still, more than once, he had to gently stop her as her voice began to rise in volume.

All the while, Akihiko stood amongst the other locals, eyes carefully looking over the minor details for anything that did not match his memories. After offering a prayer and drawing a fortune of his own, he rejoined his team, having failed to see anything that would lead him to believe that this was all a fabrication of sorts.

Even so, he couldn't rid himself of the feeling that there was something out of place. Something he had already seen but had yet to connect.

Not willing to give up just yet, he and his team moved to the playground area where he took a seat on the bench to the side to collect his thoughts.

Seeing this, Nora was quick to act. Ken, on the other hand, was too slow to avoid getting his hand taken by the older girl's and, thus, was pulled in the direction of the jungle gym followed by an exuberant Koromaru. Meanwhile, Ren took a seat beside Akihiko, finding no issue with letting Nora enjoy herself for the time being.

"Is… something wrong?" he asked, holding himself back from asking the question that was really on his mind.

"That's the big question, isn't it?" Akihiko responded with a sigh, still deep in thought. "I feel like I should already know the answer, that it's staring me right in the face and I'm just not seeing it. Hell, I've been getting this feeling since we left the dorm."

"You're sure it's not the city itself?" he asked, half-jokingly.

Another, heavier, sigh slipped past the boxer's lips as he leaned back against the bench, letting his head hang over the back. "If only."

Clear blue skies with but a few wispy tufts of white clouds drifting by greeted his weary eyes. It was no different from the skies in Vale, yet just knowing that he was back in Iwatodai, or a convincing facsimile of it, somehow made it a much more welcome sight than he expected.

Idly, he wondered what would happen if he just slowly shut his eyes. Would he open them only to find that everything that had happened over the past year had just been a nightmare? Or, perhaps, more than just the past year had been but a dream and he'd suddenly find Shinji kicking his leg to wake him up?

The thought alone was ridiculous, but he shut his eyes all the same. Five seconds. Ten. Fifteen… He wasn't sure how long he kept them shut. Perhaps he had even drifted off to sleep without realizing it and had only just begun to wake. Berating himself half-heartedly for such wishful thoughts, he sighed once more and opened his eyes.

Only this time, it wasn't the blue sky that greeted him.

"Hee~eeey, why are you frowning?"

Caught completely flatfooted by the face that suddenly obscured his view of the sky, Akihiko shot forward with a short shout of surprise, his face narrowly missing Nora's own only because she pulled away at the last second.

When he turned around in his seat, he found Nora right where he thought she would be. Just… not how he had expected. Which, come to think of it, he should have expected.

Rather than standing behind the bench, a space which wasn't that large or accommodating by any means, Nora was on the wall behind the bench. Upside down.

Her hands were firmly situated on the top of the stone wall, while her feet were hanging from the top of the wooden fence that was situated atop that wall. Though her body was facing the wall itself, she had arched her back so as to be able to greet him face-to-face with a wide grin.

In response, Akihiko just groaned, palmed his face, and shook his head. He wasn't going to bother asking, or even wondering, why she thought that was a good idea, let alone how her skirt hadn't fallen prey to gravity and exposed her undergarments in the endeavor.

"Come on," she urged cheerfully, with a bright smile. "You guys are home right? Shouldn't you be happier? I mean, sure it might not actually be real," she continued, just a tad more sober but with that tone that let him know she was starting to go on a tangent. "And this might actually be because of some bizarre new Grimm no one's ever heard of because everyone who knows about it all got trapped and never got out sotheyalldiedbeforetheycouldwarnanyoneandnowwe'retrappedtoosounlesswegetoutofthiswe'llendupjustlikealltheothersandI'llhavesomanyregretslikeneverbeingabletoseearealslothorfeeditpancakesoreatpancakeswithaslothorevemmmmmhmhhnnnhmmmhmnmmmnhnnnnmmnmmmnnmmnhhnmmnh… hmm?"

Seeing that his longtime friend and companion had finally realized what he had done, Ren pulled his hand away from her mouth just as her tongue darted out, much to her visible disappointment. "Let's try to keep it down Nora," he rebuked gently. "We're at a shrine after all. I'm sure the visitors would prefer if we didn't make a ruckus."

The ginger-haired girl pouted a bit but relented with a dramatic sigh. "Fiii~iiine…" Pushing down on the wall with her hands, she rose to a proper handstand, her feet rising off the top of the wooden fence. Then, without any warning, her body tilted forward, or backwards depending on one's perspective, and began to fall. Akihiko and Ren just barely managed to hop aside in their seats just as Nora's feet landed squarely right in front of the bench followed by the girl herself flopping down on the bench immediately afterwards, a smug look on her face as though proclaiming her greatness at performing such an act. "So, why the frown?"

Shaking his head at both her antics and persistence, Akihiko leaned back and got comfortable. Just like earlier, he was stretched out on the bench, his head laying back and facing upwards. "You're right that I don't think this is all real. There's just no way it could be real."

"You sound like you aren't so sure of that."

For a very, very brief moment, Akihiko was tempted to pinch himself as hard as he could. Not because he thought their current situation was a dream he could wake from, but because he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Not just the words, which truly did surprise him, but the fact that the one who had spoken was Nora.

He sat up, just enough so he could properly face her. What greeted him was neither the ever cheerful smile on her face, nor the overly dramatic pout she sometimes wore. Instead, her expression was… sad. Sadness mixed with understanding.

And when she spoke, her voice was calm and soft. He almost began to wonder if she was somehow a part of whatever had brought back Iwatodai, but some deeper instinct told him that she was neither possessed nor a pretender. "I get it. I mean, I never suddenly woke up to find Kuroyuri suddenly just there like it was never gone, and it's not like that place had the happiest memories for me, but… Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if it never happened, you know?"

There was something familiar about the look on her face. It was one he knew very intimately, he realized. He had seen it on his friend's face. He saw it throughout the years despite his rough manner and unwelcoming countenance.

More importantly, he had seen it looking back at him whenever he gazed into a mirror. He had seen it on his own face every single day throughout the years.

Even after they had both moved on from that day, neither he nor Shinji had ever truly forgotten. Even when another tragedy occurred, one that dug and settled into a deep pit of regret in their hearts, they still could not, would not, forget. And even after making peace with their regrets, their mistakes, there was no doubt in his heart that it was that one incident, that one excruciating moment of absolute helplessness, that he would carry for the rest of his life.

"It might not have held the happiest memories," he found himself saying. "But it still meant something to you."

"Yeah." Nora turned to face him. A beaming smile on her face that seemed more… honest. "Exactly."

It all felt so… surreal.

It was as though she had stepped back in time, back to before everything went to hell. Everything she saw, everything she heard, they were all so familiar.

The sound of the monorail as it glided over the tracks, people glancing down at their phones or reading the morning newspaper, the quiet and not-so-quiet voices of the morning commuters, the vast and sparkling sea beyond the windows…

It was all so familiar. So heartbreakingly familiar.

"So you guys used to ride this train every day you went to school?"

"Yeah," Yukari answered, her voice soft and distracted as her eyes focused on her surroundings, taking in every single detail as though afraid it would all disappear once more the next time she blinked. "Gekkoukan was built on an artificial island, the one we told you about yesterday."

"That sounds pretty cool," Yang responded, seemingly not noticing her friend's current state of mind. "Seems like a hassle but with the other stuff you guys do I guess it makes sense for your dorm to be on the mainland."

"Gotta say," chimed in Gwen, who was leaning next to the door. "That definitely makes for a pretty nice sight."

Following the blonde woman's line of sight, Blake and Yang looked out the window as the monorail followed the curve of the tracks, the sight of their destination slowly sliding into view as though it were gliding across the sea. It was far from the most wondrous sight they had ever seen, but they couldn't deny that it was visually appealing in its own way.

The natural beauty of the sea and the man-made marvel that was Tatsumi Port Island. The sea that dominated their view over the course of the past few minutes now seemed like it was being pushed out of view by the emerging sight of the island as the monorail they were on traversed the wide curve of the tracks. Whether by design or happenstance, it was certainly a view to behold.

When Yang turned to face Yukari, ready to ask her more about the island they were headed to, she instead found a hand gently landing on her shoulder, its owner's head gently shaking from side to side. "Give her time," Gwen told her gently. "I know you're just trying to distract her, but considering that everything around us is the cause, it won't do any good."

"But…" The grin on her face faded as she glanced at Yukari, the brunette staring out the window with sorrow and longing. Then she sighed, resigned, knowing that the veteran Huntress was right. Yukari had been the same back when she and SEES were mourning the loss of their friends and family, their home. "I just… I just wish they'd rely on us a bit more, you know? We've been a team for a few months now but it feels like I still don't really know them."

"Yang, not everyone's as outgoing as you." The response came from Blake. While there was a tiny hint of sharpness in her tone, she knew from experience that it was one that her partner used when she was close to stepping over a certain line once again. "Like Gwen said, just give her time," she said, softer and more understanding. "Give them time."

The buxom brawler sighed once more, conceding the matter completely. "I know, I know. Still, we really could have used Mitsuru with us now. She'd probably know what to say to get Yukari to focus."

"Yeah, it's strange, but there's not much we can do about it now," replied her partner. "I don't know why Mitsuru took Aigis with her to check on something on their own, but if she says it's important then we'll just have to trust that she knows what she's doing."

This time, it was Gwen who sighed. "Honestly, it would have been better if she hadn't split off like that. Asides from there being just two of them, she didn't even say what she was going to check out. If something happens to them we won't know where to look."

Lilac and amber eyes met in amusement as they held back their laughter. "Yeah," Yang drawled out with a smile, much to the older blonde's bemusement. "I don't think we need to worry about her with Aigis there."

After disembarking from the monorail, it didn't take the four very long to reach their first stop for the day.

"Welcome to Gekkoukan High." Yukari's voice was tired and weary, yet oddly nostalgic, as she and the others stood at the school's front gates, very much unlike how it was when she had welcomed Minato on his first day.

'You're gonna love it here.'

Did he?

Minato had always been so reserved, almost apathetic at times, that she had to wonder if he had enjoyed his time at Gekkoukan. On the other hand, he hadn't exactly been passively coasting by either. He achieved top marks on every exam, was an active participant in both extracurricular clubs he was in, three if one counted his part-time status amongst the Student Council, and, from what she had gathered over the year, had a close relationship with a wide variety of people in and out of school.

It was clear he wasn't someone who chose to be alone, nor was he someone who closed himself off when approached. What sort of person he was, however, still wasn't very clear at times. She, and many others, knew him yet didn't. At best, they knew parts of him, the parts of him he showed to them, but she doubted any of them had ever seen all of him.

At one point, she wondered if he had ever shown anyone his true self. The more she thought about it, the more she worried that they knew nothing about him, that everything he had ever shown was nothing more than a façade.

It was as though he owned a multitude of masks and changed which one he wore depending on whom he was speaking with, each one specially tailored for the person he interacted with. After all, how did someone who could understand and get along with Kenji Tomochika, whose crush on their teacher wasn't as subtle as he liked to think, do the same with Hidetoshi Odagiri, the no-nonsense head of the Disciplinary Committee, or Chihiro Fushimi, the shy Student Council Treasurer who seemed almost allergic to guys?

Still, she thought with a bit more resolve than before, there was one thing she was certain of. Minato was never one to shy away from speaking his thoughts if he had something to say. He either spoke his mind or would not say anything at all. Never had she known him to outright lie even if it benefited him. Regardless of how well she knew him, or how much she didn't, there was no doubt in her mind that he was sincere and honest.

"Takeba-kun?"

Startled out of her thoughts, Yukari nearly jumped as her name was called, just barely holding it back into nothing more than a brief jolt of her shoulders. Standing in front of her was a face she had not seen in a year. And, despite knowing it was a possibility, she had expected that she wouldn't be seeing any familiar faces.

Or, perhaps, she wished she wouldn't be seeing any familiar faces.

"Oh, Toriumi-sensei. Good morning." Her body acted on instinct, approaching and greeting her teacher, then giving a proper bow. Idly, she noted that she had transitioned back to speaking Japanese without any conscious doing on her part. Perhaps it was because of how she had been addressed but, then again, Fuuka referred to her as 'Yukari-chan' all the time just as Junpei called her Yukaricchi or Yuka-tan, or whatever other childish form of address he decided to come up with.

"Is something the matter?" the teacher asked, looking over Yukari with concern. As she did, Yukari gave the teacher a brief examination of her own. Brown hair just a hint lighter than her own, light brown work jacket and pants, that ever-present record book in her hands, everything she saw was just as she remembered. "You were staring at the school for quite a while. Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's… It's just some personal things that came up last night," she replied with a shake of her head. "It's nothing urgent so I can deal with it this weekend."

Isako Toriumi gave her student a searching look, as though trying to determine whether she was lying about something in particular. After a moment, she gave a nod, seemingly satisfied by what she found, or what she didn't find. "If you're certain," she concluded, to which Yukari nodded in return. "Now then, are those people friends of yours?" she asked softly but with a hint of suspicion, discreetly glancing over Yukari's shoulder to the trio who were standing a short distance away, one watching their interaction while the other two looked around with interest.

So immersed in her thoughts and memories was she, compounded by the nostalgia and familiarity of the current setting, that she had almost forgotten about the three people behind her. "Oh, right. Sorry, I almost forgot." Yukari gave a half-hearted smile of apology as she reached into her school bag to pull out a brown envelope that Mitsuru had given her earlier.

Passing it to her homeroom teacher, she began to weave the tale she had been told earlier as the older brunette pulled out the documents within and began to read. "Kirijo-senpai asked me to deliver these to the principal for her since she needed to deal with some other details. She said something about her father's overseas business partners wanting their children to experience things in a different country and there had been talks before about having them transfer here at the start of the next term to finish their final year of high school in Japan."

Throughout Yukari's brief explanation, the teacher's eyes read through the documents with an attention to detail that was expected of someone who taught Composition. Once she was through, she replaced the documents into the envelope and made sure they were properly secured before returning the envelope to Yukari. "Well, it's certainly inconvenient that we're only being informed of this at the last minute but, given Kirijo-san's circumstances, I suppose it's understandable."

"Kirijo-senpai did say she was going to give the Principal a call to let him know," Yukari added. "Don't know if she already did though. She looked really busy this morning right before she left."

"Well, in that case, I won't keep you any longer," began the older brunette, "Since it's related to the Kirijo, I'm certain there won't be too much difficulty getting the request approved. I don't have a class for first period so I'll be in the faculty room if you need anything. Come by and give me the passes from the principal and I can give them to the others' homeroom teachers for you after first period so you won't have to go looking for them."

That was more than Yukari was expecting, if she were being honest. It wasn't much, but it saved her the time of looking for the homeroom teachers of all the SEES members. Not to mention she wouldn't have to deal with Fuuka's Homeroom teacher.

"Thank you, Toriumi-sensei. I'm sorry for the trouble," she responded with a bow, surprised by how old habits and such still came naturally to her.

Just then, a familiar melody rang out from the school, causing them, as well as the few students in the area, to turn to the school building. "Already?" Glancing down at the watch on her wrist, the teacher frowned, muttering softly about it running slow before returning her attention to her student. "Well, I'll see you later then. Let me know if there's anything you need."

Along with the loitering students, Ms. Toriumi made her way into the school, leaving Yukari and her three guests at the gate.

"Who was that?" Gwen asked once no other students were within earshot. "One of the teachers?"

Yukari nodded as she motioned for them to follow her. "Yeah. That was Toriumi-sensei, my homeroom teacher. She's pretty much in charge of our class just like the other teachers have their own."

"Wait, so a teacher here only teaches a single class?" asked the younger blonde, her face showing her confusion.

"Uh… that's not what I meant," she corrected, realizing how her words caused the misunderstanding.

The brief walk to the Principal's office was spent explaining parts of how their educational system worked while studiously ignore the curious gazes of some students who were still on their way to their classrooms.

It was no surprise that they garnered a lot of attention.

Yang and Gwen possessed blonde hair. That single detail alone was enough to draw attention by itself. The fact that both of them were quite tall, not to mention muscular in Gwen's case, only added to it. It certainly didn't help that Yang, after noticing the attention, went along and gave a few playful winks here and there. And if she wasn't mistaken, the blonde had also adjusted her posture just a little bit more to help.

Blake, despite not being as eye-catching, was still distinctly non-Japanese enough that Yukari had overheard the words 'exotic' and 'beautiful' from more than a few students along the way. She supposed it was a good thing Blake couldn't understand Japanese otherwise she might have been blushing up a storm at the attention she was receiving, especially since her faunus ears, once more hidden beneath her bow, would no doubt catch every word that was being said in the vicinity.

She was doubly thankful that none of them understood Japanese after hearing certain comments along the way. While their clothing wasn't as bad as some she had seen, they still bared quite a lot of skin. And not all the comments were flattering. Some were no doubt due to jealousy, all three of them were beautiful in their own way after all, but some were due to more conservative beliefs.

It was with some relief that their short trek ended and they found themselves in front of the Principal's assistant. As it so happened, the man himself had yet to arrive, but he had called not too long ago and left instructions after having received a call of his own from Mitsuru. After confirming that the instructions she had been given matched the written word on the documents, the four of them returned to the hallway, two sets of six passes now resting inside Yukari's bag. And, after a quick stop at the faculty office to drop off one set, they began to wander through the school's empty hallways, the voices of teachers delivering their lectures occasionally drifting out through the doors.

"That seemed a little too easy," commented Gwen as Yukari gave them a 'tour' of the school. "Are things really that lax here or was it strange?" Not having understood a single word of the conversation beyond any names she already knew, it was no surprise she thought that way.

"I think it has more to do with Mitsuru's family owning the school." The answer came from Blake, who remembered what Yukari had once told them. "And, if I remember it right, I think she was the President of the school?"

"Student Council President," corrected the archer, leading them out the door towards where the various clubrooms were. "And yeah, senpai's family name helps a lot, but she's also trusted by the staff and the students so it adds up."

With that part cleared up, Gwen decided to get back to the matter at hand. "So what exactly are we keeping an eye out for?" she asked as softly as she could. They might not be able to understand the local language, barring Yukari obviously, but she dared not forget that there were people around who would understand theirs. Of note was the teacher who actually taught the language.

"According to the list senpai gave me, she just wants us to look around the school and this half of Port Island to see if anything is out of place," came the equally soft response. "Sorry if it's not something you three can help out with too much since you don't know the place that well, but-"

"It's fine," interrupted the Huntress. "All things considered, this was probably the best way to give you a chance to look around the school undisturbed. Still, best to keep up appearances and all that just in case someone who understands us comes to check up on us."

Distracted as she was by the situation as a whole, Yukari still managed to play her part as a tour guide, giving her two teammates and their chaperone as proper a tour as she could manage. The smile on her face could barely even be called half-hearted, but a few of Yang's attempts at lightening the mood helped somewhat as a genuine smile or two shone through now and again.

Touring the school didn't take very long, but carefully inspecting everything she was familiar with increased the amount of time they spent in any given area. Doubly so for areas she wasn't familiar with.

Nearly three hours later, the quartet stood outside the faculty office once more, waiting for the lunch bell to ring and for the teachers to return. Under the pretense of making sure that they, or rather she, would be allowed to leave the campus for the day, Yukari would check in on the teachers themselves since she had only seen Ms. Toriumi so far while others had only passed them by in the hallways between periods.

And each time, Yukari was endlessly grateful to not have encountered Mr. Ekoda.

"Hey Yukari, what's this?"

Gaze shifting over to where Yang's attention was currently focused on, Yukari held back a groan when she saw what it was. "Remember when Junpei made that comment to Ruby about how lucky she was that exam results at Beacon aren't posted in public?"

As expected, it didn't take long for the blonde to understand just what it was she was looking at, eyes wide with interest, playfulness, and a hint of mischievousness. "So," she drawled out with a grin, "Where's your name on here?"

Predictable. And although Yukari didn't voice that out loud, the rolling of her eyes conveyed the message all too clearly. Blake was already by her partner's side, and Gwen was looking at the previous exam's results with a bit of interest. Though her interest was more likely centered on the fact that such a thing was posted in public rather than Yukari's scores.

Closing the distance, she thought back to the last exam she had taken. Unless she was mistaken, she hadn't scored as well as she usually did due to the situation at that time. She had placed above the class average but slightly lower than she usually did. Still, she thought with a barely concealed grin, it wasn't like they could read the Japanese names on the paper, right?

Pointing to one sheet of paper in particular, she said, "Here, this one's my class." Then, slowly dragging her finger up towards the top of the page, she couldn't resist playing a little joke and her finger slid past where her name was towards one closer to the top of the page. "And here's my… name…?"

The way her voice trailed off and ended with a hint of shock was enough for the trio with her to turn to her in concern, one of them suspecting that they might have found their first clue.

"Yukari?"

"What's wrong?"

"Did you find something?"

Shakily, the brunette nodded, eyes still staring at the test results before her. She never imagined that she would find a clue to their situation there of all places, not to mention a highly significant one.

In hindsight, she, they, should have realized it sooner. Or rather, they should have checked up on it sooner. It would have been easy enough too. They could have found the evidence without even having to set foot outside the dorm.

Without another word, Yukari bolted down the hallway just as the bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes and the beginning of lunch.

She ignored the calls she received from her teammates as she dashed out the front doors, uncaring of anything else. Nothing registered anymore beyond whatever input she needed from her senses to accomplish her goal. And right now, that goal was to return to the dormitory to confirm her current findings, the sight that prompted her reaction seared into her mind's eye.

"I have to admit. This is certainly a strange experience."

"At least you're enjoying yourself."

"If you broadened your reading list to something other than comics maybe you'd be enjoying yourself too."

Fuuka giggled at the by-play between her teammates, making sure to take note of their volume in case they escalated. "Are you having any trouble Weiss?" she asked, interrupting them.

"Not really," came the response from across the table. "It takes some getting used to but I have to admit, there's a certain… charm to having a physical input device like these. The… mouse… is certainly interesting as well."

"Why can't we just touch the things directly on the screen?" whined Ruby, poking the monitor with her finger but receiving no response but the soft sound of tapping. "Better yet, why can't I just use my Scroll? I can probably connect to the same network, right?"

"Honestly, I doubt it," answered Weiss. "Just one look will tell you that the systems our Scrolls operate on are far too different. The difference in technology wouldn't allow for cross-compatibility unless it was intended for it in the first place."

Watching the heiress, Fuuka found it amusing that she already seemed to be working at about the same pace as her. Her typing speed was no surprise, but that she had adapted so quickly to using the mouse was definitely a surprise. If she didn't know any better, she might have said that Weiss had used one before.

A frustrated whine left Ruby's mouth as she slumped down in her seat. "I give up. This is just way too weird for me."

"It's alright Ruby, I understand." She did her best to comfort the poor girl. Had they been seated next to each other she might have been able to do more. "Don't worry. This shouldn't take much longer."

"Ugh… Why'd it have to be a library?"

As Weiss went on another rant, though thankfully she kept her voice down, Fuuka refocused on their shared task. Mitsuru had assigned their team to visit the local library for some research work. Given her capabilities, Fuuka was the best person for the job.

But when her two teammates saw the computers, larger and bulkier compared to what they were used to, she couldn't help but wonder what they thought about it. And so, she offered to teach them how to use it rather than just having them accompany her.

Normally it would have been impossible due to the language barrier, but it was easy enough to write down a copy of which characters to search for and to pay attention to, as well as how to type them.

Ruby, unfortunately, was far too used to being able to tap on whatever she needed, found the mouse too bothersome. Let alone the different actions she needed to perform in order to make it work. Apparently, even two buttons were two too many for her. Not to mention the special keyboard commands she needed to use in order to copy the articles they needed.

Weiss, on the other hand, was a quick study. It took her a while to familiarize herself with the less technologically advanced computer, but she was soon searching and copying down old newspaper articles that they needed for their research. She had even gotten to the point where she was typing Japanese characters by memory even if she didn't know what they meant.

Even if it was just Weiss who was able to render aid, it was still a significant difference as it cut down the time they needed by at least half.

So while Weiss was looking into old newspaper articles, Fuuka was working on the other half of their task. Namely accessing the Kirijo database.

The last time she had done that, she had used Mitsuru's ID in order to gain access. As the Kirijo heiress, she naturally had access to practically their database, not that she needed to go through all of it.

And here she was, doing it all over again. Only this time, she was using a public computer for it. She wasn't completely sure why Mitsuru had asked her to do it from here rather than the dorm, but it was what she was asked to do and she found no reason to decline or argue.

If she had to guess, Mitsuru wanted to test whether or not accessing the database from outside the dorm would change anything. Perhaps later she would compare what they found with what little was stored in the servers in the dorm.

Not even five minutes later, Fuuka's expression had turned into one of shock, her movements almost a frenzy as her search through the database grew more and more frantic.

There was no way that what she was seeing was true. But…

But if it was… then…

"This changes everything…"

"Any luck?"

Ken shook his head in response, which, if he were being honest, Junpei had mostly expected anyway. Their own search hadn't gone much better even if they did discover a few minor things.

As he all but collapsed on the sofa, Junpei's stomach let out a soft grumble in response to the scent coming from the kitchen area. He wasn't entirely sure why Mitsuru had instructed them not to eat anything that they didn't bring themselves. He suspected of course, but he knew better than to try and get into her head. He knew his limits and they were far below Mitsuru's. Best to just let her do the heavy thinking that he couldn't do.

Besides, if he was right, then he was right.

At least the supplies they brought weren't entirely bad. According to Gwen anyway. Apparently, the actual field rations Huntsmen typically bought were tens to hundreds of times worse when compared to the supplies they received from the school, especially as they were first years. Upper years had different supplies as well.

Supposedly, this was to slowly acclimate them to field rations rather than forcing them to switch from a standard diet in an instant. That alone, in his mind, told him how bad those rations were.

"Well, let's hope they others ha-"

The sound of the door slamming open caused the two teens to jump in their seats in shock. They turned to the door just as he heard voices from the kitchen area loudly wondering what had made that sound.

There, standing at the door, was a frantic-looking Yukari, sweat pouring down her face and breathing heavily as though she had just sprinted a marathon.

"Yukari? What happened?!" Junpei and Ken were quick to close the distance, their worried shouts bringing the others out from the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

"I… I just… It's…"

Whatever her reason for running back to the dorm, it had tired her out too much as she was barely able to string together two words before having to breathe again. Then she'd try to speak again when she'd taken just a quick breath.

"Hey, hey, calm down. Take a deep breath Yukari." Then Akihiko was there, his voice firm but calm. Seeing that she was more focused on trying to relay whatever she wanted to share, he placed a firm hand on her shoulder and gave her a quick shake. "Calm down. You're not going to be much help if you can't even talk. So take a few deep breaths, calm down, then talk."

Seeing that their senior had that covered, Junpei turned to the three who had accompanied Yukari, noting that they were in far better condition. "What happened?"

All three just shook their heads. "Dunno," answered Yang, scratching the back of her head while watching her teammate try to catch her breath. "We were just finishing up at the school when she saw something and just freaked. Wouldn't even tell us what was wrong."

"Maybe it had something to do with the test scores?" offered Blake.

"Test scores?"

"Oh yeah. I saw the ones posted there, not that I knew what they were, and asked Yukari," came the explanation. "She told us about it and was about to show us where hers was when she just… froze. She freaked out right after that and just ran out. Didn't even talk to us on the train back and just kept muttering to herself. Then she ran the whole way back."

"Did something happen?"

Before they could turn their attention back to the archer, the trio of Fuuka, Ruby, and Weiss stepped through the still open doors, looks of concern on their faces as they saw everyone's serious expressions and the slightly hunched over Yukari just past them.

"I found something." The response to Fuuka's question came from Yukari herself. Though she was still trying to get her breathing back into proper order, she had recovered enough to speak properly. "Something big."

Seeing the way everyone's eyes lit up, Akihiko raised a hand. "Let's put it on hold for just a bit. Unless it's something extremely urgent, we should wait for Mitsuru and Aigis to come back from wherever they went."

"But senpai-"

"I agree." Fuuka's unexpected assent caught some of them by surprise. Not to mention the firmness in her tone. "I found something as well but I'll need to verify it first. It's probably better if we all report our findings all at once to save time."

It was clear that Yukari, and even Yang and Junpei, wanted to argue, wanted to learn just what it was that had flustered the brunette so much, but Akihiko and Fuuka's words were hard to deny. And also…

"Hey, come on. Lunch is ready!"

Nora skipped across the room, delivering the news. Far behind her, Ren carried out a pot from the kitchen, setting it down on a cloth mat on the dining table.

With that excuse in hand, Akihiko urged them to eat first before they began sharing their findings. It would also give Mitsuru and Aigis time to return before they did.

With his, Gwen's, and a few stomach's urgings, nobody complained.

Everyone filed towards the kitchen, serving themselves a bowl of the stew made from their school-granted supplies. It was far from a quality meal, but Gwen repeated what she told Junpei previously. More than one wondered just how bad standard field rations were if she was praising their current meal.

As they ate, Fuuka took her bowl and went to the computer near the entrance to begin verifying the information she found in the Kirijo Group's database. A few people kept an eye on her, noting that she looked increasingly concerned as time passed.

Gwen in particular, had to wonder just what it was she and Yukari had found. The teal-haired girl may not have been as openly flustered, but the worry in her eyes was just as deep. Her discovery was clearly not less important or major.

Midway through their meal, the front door opened once more, granting access to Mitsuru and Aigis. Several voices rang out in greeting, both the two were deep in thought and barely paid them any mind until they had come closer to the table.

"That bad?" asked Akihiko, rising from his seat and offering it to Mitsuru, taking his bowl from the table. Muttering a soft 'thank you', the redhead sat down but remained deep in thought without giving any other response. "Well, Fuuka and Yukari seem to have found some things too so we can have a meeting once everyone's done eating."

The leader of SEES agreed, and proceeded to serve herself some of the stew. She had frozen briefly when she took her first spoonful but, asides from a small twitch under her eye, nothing else came of it as she consumed her portion.

Soon, everyone was finished. And possibly due to anxiety, quite a few had been unable to finish their meals or had only taken a smaller portion. Once they put away the leftovers and cleaned up everything they used, they gathered in the command room once more.

"So…" Junpei began with a small, nervous grin, trying to break the ice. "Who wants to sha-"

"Minato's not here."

"-re fir… Uh… what?"

"Minato's not here," Yukari repeated. But despite her words, her tone wasn't despondent. Rather, she seemed resolved. "The exam results posted at school. Minato's name wasn't on it."

"The finals of our second semester you mean? From December?" asked Mitsuru, eyes sharp and focused as she listened to her partner and friend's words.

Said partner nodded, matching the redhead's gaze. "He scored at the top of every exam since he transferred. And I remember seeing his name on there too. Whatever this place is, it's like he never existed. And looking back, it should have been obvious. The dates on everything say that it's the twenty-ninth of January of two thousand and ten. That's two days before we fought Nyx. He should have been here."

Immediately, half the room let out loud exclamations of surprise. But it wasn't the Persona-users. Rather, it was the other half of their respective teams

Nyx.

That name was one that was somewhat familiar to them.

When SEES first explained their circumstances in the Headmaster's office, no name had been given. But a select few had suspected that the 'Death' that Mitsuru had mentioned had been the name of the Grimm responsible for the destruction of their homeland.

Not too long ago, some of them had grown more curious and were even bold enough to ask about that night.

January 23, XX14

"You want to know about the Grimm that destroyed Japan?"

Weiss, who had been the one to ask despite there being others who were just as curious, looked a little more nervous now that she was the center of attention. Steeling herself with a deep breath, she nodded. "I do. I think that, as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, we should know more about something that dangerous."

Left unsaid was that she was also curious about SEES's past. Much like the others, she wanted to know more about the people who she was slowly coming to accept as more than just close acquaintances. People whom she, dare she say it, wanted to befriend.

"Well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you." Mitsuru's response, or rather how quickly she had given it, surprised many of them, though none gave voice to it. "Hm… Where to start…"

"How about what kind of Grimm it was? What did it look like? What could it do?"

"Believe it or not, nobody truly knows." She didn't need to look to know that half the group on the rooftop were staring at her in surprise. "What we fought that night was just a part of her that had split off from the rest. An… avatar, I suppose you could call it."

"Her?"

The redhead nodded. "We call her Nyx, the Mother of Shadows."

What followed was a brief description of their fight that night. As well as a short explanation of just what they knew Nyx was capable of.

As it turns out, the Grimm they had been fighting off for the better part of the year were actually smaller fragments of a whole. Parts of Nyx herself. Yet, even when she had come to destroy everything, none of them ever saw her true form. At most, they had only fought just another part of her. One that was far stronger than anything they faced before that night. And although they had defeated it, their victory was for naught.

Of the few speculations that had come up with, one was the possibility that they had somehow gone back in time. If that was true, then they only had two days before Nyx showed herself. Only this time, they would be missing one key person.

Would the addition of eight Huntsman Trainees and one Huntress be enough if it came down to a fight?

"Minato-kun isn't the only one though."

Everyone's eyes quickly turned to Fuuka, whose declaration made them wonder just what other major changes they had failed to notice.

Reaching for the thick, brown envelope she had placed on the table, she pushed it across the coffee table towards their leader. Taking the hint, the redhead opened it and pulled out the stack of papers inside it.

"We compiled and printed out the local news articles from the past year," Fuuka explained, but more for the benefit of everyone else who was unaware of her task. "I've double-checked everything and it's all accurate. Wherever we are, Apathy Syndrome has never appeared."

This time, the shock and surprise came from the SEES half of the group, most of them letting out one exclamation of surprise or another.

But Fuuka wasn't finished yet.

"And when I accessed the Kirijo database using your credentials, I found other things missing. Personas, Shadows, Tartarus, the Dark Hour… none of those things, as well as any and all related files and incidents, exist in the Kirijo Group's database."

"What?!"

"No way!"

"Are you serious? What the hell?"

The outburst grew from those who knew the importance of those words, and all of them turned to Mitsuru, whose own frown deepened as she delved into the compiled news reports as well as copies of the files that were present in the Kirijo database. Files regarding the past year of operation, none of which had even the slightest mention of Shadows or Personas, or even any ongoing research. Not even the hidden keywords and phrases that were used as a façade in case the documents or files fell into the wrong hands were present in any of them.

Some of the printouts were images of the files found in the Kirijo's servers. And as Fuuka has already mentioned, there were many sections and files that were missing when compared to what her memories were telling her.

There were also the files regarding her father's death, which listed a long-term illness that they had been unable to cure. An illness that was not present in the history she remembered. Here, however, his illness had apparently left him mostly bedridden for over a year prior to his death, something that was known by the public after he collapsed during a fundraiser.

Even if he did have some sort of illness and had simply hidden it from her, there would have been mention of it somewhere. Nothing should have been hidden from her once she became Head of the Kirijo Group. As it was, she had no recollection of reading any such documents that even hinted at it.

Suddenly, Junpei gasped as he came to a realization of his own. "So that's why Kurosawa-san didn't recognize me. He only knows me 'cuz of SEES. If Shadows and Personas ain't a thing here then he's got no reason to know me."

"And there'd be no reason for me to have had my Persona awakened either, or to have been admitted to Tatsumi Memorial last year as a result."

Chidori's words, spoken with such a dark undertone, caused a few people to stare at her in surprise. A few others looked at her with sad eyes, understanding what it possibly meant for a Chidori who had never been taken in by the Kirijo.

"Now I get it. That's what been bothering me this whole time." Once more, all eyes turned to the speaker, the youngest among them. "If there are no Shadows then that means no Nyx. And without Nyx, there'd be no reason for the cult to form."

And once more, realization set in for the members of SEES. "Everything was clean," continued Ken. "The marks of the cult painted on the walls and sidewalk, their flyers scattered practically everywhere, people with Apathy Syndrome lying on the streets… I didn't see any of that today. I've gotten so used to Beacon and Vale that I didn't even realized how… how clean everything was when we stepped outside this morning."

And as the rest of SEES thought back, they realized that Ken, Fuuka, and Yukari were right.

Whether or not they had traveled back to the past, Minato Arisato was missing. Not only was he physically absent, but Yukari's trip to the school proved that he was not even a student there as he was supposed to be.

Fuuka's discovery meant that there were no Shadows where they were. No Shadows meant no Dark Hour. No Personas. No Apathy Syndrome. No Nyx.

And, consequently, no Shadows meant that the doomsday cult dedicated to Nyx would have no reason to exist.

"Is this… a dream?"

It took Junpei a moment to realize that those words had come from his mouth.

"It's hard to say." Mitsuru set the computer back on the table, a deep look of contemplation on her face. "But whatever this is, we can rule out time travel or anything along those lines."

"What makes you say that?" asked Gwen, curious as to how she had eliminated that possibility, as outlandish as it sounded.

"If it were, then we would be back in time, as the name implies. Everything should have been as it used to be. But, as everyone discovered, there are many things that do not match what we know. Moreover, Aigis and I investigated the perimeter of the city. Upon reaching a certain point close to the city's outer boundary, I would find myself facing the city once more." All other concerns were forgotten in that moment, their focus now solely on the redhead. "Even if Aigis or I were to watch the other from behind, it would seem as though the other had decided to turn around, but we were unresponsive while doing so and were unaware that we had been turned around."

"So in other words, we're trapped in the city," concluded the blonde Huntress amidst the soft mutterings around her. "So if this isn't a case of traveling through time, this means that someone or something is responsible for this. Could it be Elizabeth's doing?"

"It's a possibility but no, I don't believe she's responsible for this. Whether or not she's aware this would happen is another matter entirely."

"So what's our next step then? We can't leave the city and Elizabeth's not here to take us out, if she even can." The last part was spoken softly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

That thought was, if some of them were to be honest, a horrifying one. They were effectively trapped in a city by an unknown yet possibly hostile entity with no way out, or any way to communicate with the world beyond the city. A city that may or may not even be real.

"For now, we wait." All but a handful of the people in the room turned to stare incredulously at Mitsuru, unable to believe what they had just head. "Even knowing what we know now, I doubt we'll find anything that we haven't already. We'll take the rest of the day to process what we've learned."

"So we just hang around here at the dorm?" asked Yang.

And much to the blonde's surprise, her team leader shook her head. "I see no reason to keep everyone here. Anyone who wants to explore the city can do so as long as at least one of us is accompanying you due to the language barrier, and everyone goes out in groups of three at the minimum."

There had been that very brief glance in her direction, one that told Gwen that Mitsuru was waiting to see if she had anything she wanted to add. It certainly wasn't on that invited her to argue against it.

Still, even if she wanted to, she had no grounds by which she could argue against exploring the city.

She couldn't argued that it was dangerous. Not only had they already done so earlier today, but danger was expected on such missions as a Huntsman. It may be several months earlier than they usually did, but they were still Huntsman Trainees. She could urge them to be cautious, but not to avoid danger entirely. Such was an impossibility in their line of work.

The two requirements for leaving the dorm were reasonable as well. Safety in numbers, especially in an unknown situation, was expected. Their cover story, now properly backed with permits from the school, also gave them a reason to be out an about despite their age. And having one of the Japanese teens accompany anyone who went out did eliminate the language and cultural issue.

No, she definitely had no suitable argument against independent exploration of the city.

Mitsuru's declaration brought at least a measure of relief to everyone. No doubt most of them would take her up on her offer, even if only to unwind from the startling revelations. A few might try to learn more about their situation, but Gwen felt they would be the minority.

Unable to argue, she just listened as some of the teens made plans to explore, taking note of who was leaving for what reason, then deciding for herself to accompany one of the groups depending on who made up the group and what they intended to do.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Or, at least, it did for Blake.

She could imagine that some, like Yukari, were all too eager to learn more about their situation, given how she reacted earlier. Others, like Junpei, likely just wanted to clear their heads. Then there were Yang and Nora, who seemed to want to explore just for the sake of doing so, especially in a new city with a culture that was clearly vastly different from what they were used to. Others still, like Akihiko, were a mix, knowing there was little he could do but was unable to simply sit still.

In the end, everyone had decided to step out of the dorm for one reason or another. Mitsuru had been one of the few to remain indoors, leaving her in the dorm with Blake, who had volunteered to remain behind just in case.

Though they passed the time in silence, absorbed in books they had picked out from Mitsuru's collection in her room, neither would say it was uncomfortable.

Blake, at least, found herself interested in the few books Mitsuru had that were not in her native tongue. Said books were 'world-renowned classics', according to Mitsuru. She found it amusing given that, based on the redhead's own words long ago, Japan hadn't even known there was a world beyond the seas surrounding them.

Still, the books she picked did hold up to their reputation. She had all but blitzed through two of the four she had picked in the several hours since the meeting ended. Only when she was called for dinner did she realize that she had been so engrossed in her reading that she had not even noticed that everyone had already returned.

Afterwards, she found herself settle on the couch in Mitsuru's room, once again with a book in hand. Not entirely by choice, but because Yang wanted to hang out with Yukari more, and the brunette had chosen to immediately head for the room she currently shared with Mitsuru.

Glancing at the brunette out of the corner of an amber eye, she found it amusing at how childish Yukari looked as she sulked and complained about finding nothing else that afternoon. Meanwhile, the blonde brawler was trying to get her to relax and maybe just try to enjoy being able to see her home again, even if it wasn't exactly the same.

Yukari didn't like that idea, but at least she hadn't blown up even though Blake could see how the idea upset her.

More importantly, however, was Mitsuru's behavior.

She was calm as she always was. But Blake could see there was a strange tension around her, as though she were expecting trouble to come up at any moment. She had already seen it earlier, back when they were reading in the lounge that afternoon, but she wrote it off as the earlier news having gotten to her. But looking back, she hadn't been as tense then as she was now.

She supposed she could understand it, to some extent. If some hidden enemy, Grimm or otherwise, were smart enough to trap them like this, it could possibly be smart enough to wait and ambush them when they let down their guard. What better time to do so than at night when everyone was tired from the day and were ready to sleep or, worse, already asleep.

It was why she made the decision she did just then.

And so, she set an alarm on her scroll, one that rang a little over an hour after she and Yang had gone to bed. The alarm was soft, but loud enough to wake her due to her enhanced hearing. Moving slowly and silently, she slipped out of the sleeping bag, got dressed, picked up Gambol Shroud, and quietly exited Yukari's bedroom.

Glancing around the dark hallway, she noted that no lights were creeping out from the cracks beneath the doors, indicating that everyone else was already asleep.

She was about to make her way to the stairs when the sound of footsteps reached her ears. Two feet with a steady but forcefully gentle gait. Not a Grimm then, but another person. Someone who was trying to be quiet. The sound came from the same direction she was heading in, meaning it was someone coming up from downstairs, or down from the upper floor.

She steadied herself, an excuse on her lips ready for whoever she met even as she continued to move towards the stairs.

Once there, however, she was met by the inquisitive and surprised expression on the face of Jaune's older sister, the muscular, glasses-wearing blonde caught off guard at seeing someone else awake.

"Expecting trouble?" she asked, glancing at the armored gauntlets covering Gwen's fists and forearms.

"I could ask you the same thing," the older woman shot back with a grin and a glance at the hilt visible over Blake's shoulder.

"Just wanna make sure nothing happens tonight," Blake answered with a shrug even as a tacit understanding formed between them.

Together, the two of them quietly made their way upstairs. But once they reached the fourth floor, they were both greeted by a surprising sight. Though the lights were switched off, there was, instead, a sliver of light shining through the door leading to the command room.

And shortly after, Blake's sharp hearing caught the sound of two voices within.

"It's Akihiko and Mitsuru," she told her companion, brows furrowing in confusion. The two inside must have been speaking quietly as well as she could only make out less than half of what they were saying. "Sounds like they were worried something was going to happen tonight too."

Gwen sighed in what seemed like relief. "Well, at least they're not being complacent. Might as well join them since we're gonna be doing the same thing anyway."

Just as they began to approach the door, something strange happened. There was a strange… pulse that seemed to come from somewhere. It was just one, but it unnerved her greatly.

All of a sudden, there was a feeling of oppression in the air, a weak but persistent pressure bearing down on her from all directions. Then there was the smell and taste of blood that suddenly permeated the air.

It reminded her of the first time she had taken a life, that of a rapist who feigned kindness to draw in poor and unfortunate Faunus girls on the streets. Not women, but girls. Not children, at least, but young enough that they had little to no idea of the dangers they were in.

But this… this was hundreds of times worse. The smell was so thick that she could taste it. Both hands had shot up to cover the lower half of her face, the smell and taste overwhelming her.

Next to her, Gwen fared much better but she was suddenly on guard, her head whipping around searching for the unseen threat.

Barely a second later, the same alarm that woke most of them that morning blared throughout the dorm as the two teens inside the command room triggered it. The sudden feeling forgotten for the moment, both of them crossed the short distance to the doors and made their way inside, catching the look of surprise that Akihiko gave them.

"How'd you-"

"We thought something might happen tonight," Gwen explained for the both of them, Blake still holding back the bile in her throat that threatened to rise up with every breath she took. "I'm guessing you did too."

Whether they were expecting it or not, the others arrived in short order. And while none of them were really dressed for combat much like that morning, they were at least armed this time.

"Where is it?" were the first words out of Yang's mouth, her expressions showing great displeasure at having been woken up so suddenly. "I'm gonna pummel that stupid Grimm int-"

"There's no Grimm," Mitsuru announced calmly. Far too calmly in Blake's opinion. "At least, if there is one, we don't know where it is just yet. Something did happen, however."

"Senpai." The firm tone in Yukari voice stopped whatever else anyone wanted to say, her face set into a scowl. "I saw the moonlight. It's back, isn't it? And you knew, or suspected, that it would be."

Mitsuru didn't answer, but she looked down with a bit of shame on her face.

However, it wasn't Mitsuru's response, or lack thereof, that caught Blake's attention. It started with Yukari's words, which then drew her attention to something behind Mitsuru and Akihiko. Something that, in hindsight, she and everyone else should have noticed sooner.

"Why is the light green?"

Blake hadn't realized she had spoken out loud until others around her began to comment on the same thing, their eyes draw to the light shining through the windows in the back of the room.

That light… there was something about it that unnerved her. That pale, sickly tinge of green was most definitely not natural.

It was then, just as they were turning to Mitsuru for answers, that the entire building shook. It was strong but brief, almost as though something large and heavy had struck the building.

Akihiko was the first to move, running over to the console even before the shaking had stopped. His fingers flew over the console, the monitors springing to life and displaying various images. One caught his eyes, steel gray orbs widening in surprise at what he saw in that brief moment before the feed cut off as the camera was struck and destroyed.

"What the hell…?" He gasped in response, frozen in place by what he had seen. Then, regaining his composure, he turned to face them with a steely gaze. "It's just outside the dorm," he announced even as the building shook once more. "We need to hurry."

Nobody needed any more prompting as they turned and exited, steeling themselves for the coming fight. Despite most of them being dressed for bed, they all knew that there was no time to get dressed. Even if they did, it wouldn't help very much. They had their weapons and they had their Aura. That was all they needed.

It was SEES that Blake was worried about. For all their power, they were facing an unknown foe. One that seemed capable of manipulating the environment, if the city's sudden reappearance was any indication. Or perhaps they really were in a dream, one that would lead to an actual death if they died inside it.

Regardless, SEES were the most vulnerable among them all due to their lack of Aura. Rakukaja, as they had revealed, was only a temporary measure. If they were unlucky, they could be struck down before it was applied, or even between applications. She would need to be aware of their surroundings to ensure nothing happened to them.

Her hand, resting on the hilt of Gambol Shroud, tightened as she made that promise to herself. But the moment they stepped out of the dorm, her grip slackened along with her jaw.

"What the…"

"Why is everything green?"

"Why's there blood everyone?"

"Are those… coffins…?"

"… Did we just walk into a horror movie…?"

"That's… What kind of Grimm is that…?"

The danger they were in was seemingly forgotten in that moment, their eyes taking in their new surroundings, which were vastly different to how it had been earlier.

It was as though she had stepped into a different, otherworldly realm altogether.

The buildings and surroundings were still the same, if only technically in that their design and placement were unchanged. But that was where the similarities ended.

Just as Nora had pointed out, everything looked as though it were the set of a horror movie. The streetlights had all gone out. The streets had countless puddles of blood while the walls of the buildings looked to be weeping with even more blood. High above them, the moon had turned an ominous, sickly green, dying the world around them in the same greenish light that they had seen coming through the windows earlier.

Not far down the street, Blake saw the things that had disturbed Weiss. Three, maybe four, coffins stood along the sidewalk. Two next to each other, one further down, and one across the street. Tall and black, with an evil-looking red light shining out from the bottom.

And to their left was the cause of the commotion.

It looked nothing like any Grimm Blake had ever seen. And going by the words she had just uttered, not even Gwen had seen anything like it before.

Its body, if it could be called that, was nothing more than a large mass of writhing limbs. Impossibly long arms that twitched endlessly, bending at impossible angles but resembling the way a human's elbows would move. At the end of those limbs were hands, much like any other human's. It stood on those same limbs even as countless more waved and moved in an incomprehensible manner that made her dizzy just watching.

At least half its limbs, those not acting as its legs, were holding what seemed like blades. Simple in appearance with a double-edge and a hole in the blade just above the hilt, and several smaller holes along the hilt itself. Its body looked weak, having no substantial mass to it, but the large dents and cracks on the building told a different tale. Moreover, Blake knew better than to judge a Grimm by its appearance.

No, that was wrong.

Somehow, she just knew that calling it a Grimm was a mistake.

The Grimm, for all their monstrous appearance, often resembled something they knew. Many took on the appearances of animals, a few like Geists resembled supernatural beings. But this…

It was a monster. Plain and simple. There was no rhyme or reason to its appearance. No comprehensible logic dictating why it would appear the way it did. The only thing she was certain of was that the blue mask-like object held in one of its hands depicting a human face with large, round eye sockets and an open mouth was quite possibly its weak point.

Why it was displayed so obviously was beyond her understanding. It could be a trap, luring them to attack the perceived weakness to better predict their movements, but could such an obvious thing truly be a trap?

She didn't know, and she didn't care. Right now, what mattered was fighting it and killing it, one way or another.

Around her, everyone else was slowly pulling themselves together.

Everyone, that is, except for SEES.

Strangely, however, it was because they didn't need to. Just then, she realized that, while they were busy staring and coming to terms with their surroundings, SEES had already moved into position. Fuuka at the back, Aigis at the front, and all the rest arrayed in a line with their Evokers at the ready. Even Koromaru had fallen into position, growling at the monster before them and ready to pounce.

"Let's do this."

The first to engage was Akihiko, whose Evoker had already been fired before he had even finished speaking. Fuuka followed soon after, Juno forming around her even as Aigis moved to intercept the monster, dashing forward with her knives and her pale blue nightgown fluttering in her wake.

"Are those… prosthetics?"

Belatedly, she realized that nobody had ever told Gwen about Aigis. Now wasn't the time for explanations, however. She, alongside everyone else, drew their weapons and prepared to fight.

An outstretched arm gave them pause.

"No, let us handle this for now."

A deep, displeased growl game from the elder Arc's throat. "Mitsuru, I get that this mission was set for your group alone and that the rest of us are practically just tag-alongs, but this is hardly the time to let your pride get in the way. I have never seen a Grimm like this before. Engaging an unknown Grimm carelessly is foolhardy at best and suicidal at worse."

Blake held back a wince at the implication that Mitsuru, of all people, was sending her friends out to die. Yet part of her couldn't help but want to side with Gwen.

They weren't weak, but they lacked the protection of Aura. Even Aigis, for all her martial prowess, would be destroyed if she made even a single mistake. Instead, they should have let those with Aura take the brunt of the attack whilst they stayed in the back and provided cover with their Personas' powerful attacks.

But SEES had different ideas on how to fight, it would seem.

"Good thing we know what it is then, huh?" Yukari declared frostily with a scowl on her face, though her icy demeanor seemed directed at the monster before them and not as Gwen. Her Evoker went off at that moment, Isis forming above her even as Junpei's Trismegistus flew towards the Grimm to assist Aigis.

A vortex of wind formed right under it courtesy of Isis, lifting up its right side and causing it to stumble right into Trismegistus's path. The blade-winged Persona tore through several limbs, black ichor splattering about even as the severed limbs fell to the ground yet continued to writhe and twitch.

"We call it the 'Magician', the first of the Arcana Shadows," Mitsuru explained calmly, seemingly unaffected by Gwen's accusations. "I don't know how or why it's alive once again, but at this point it doesn't matter. Minato killed it single-handedly on the same night his Persona was awakened. And as we are now, we are stronger than he was at that point in time. This fight will not last long."

And just as she predicted, the fight did indeed end not long after.

Aigis, swift and agile, drew its attention. Her prodigious skill allowed her to effortlessly weave between its attacks seemingly without any difficulty whatsoever.

Isis's blasts of wind kept the monster off balance, knocking it off its feet, figuratively speaking, and preventing it from gaining any forward momentum.

Trismegistus charged in and out, severing its limbs repeatedly even as they grew back at a steady rate.

Caesar blasted it from afar, summoning bolts of lightning and blasting off large chunks of its spindly frame.

And all the while, the monster seemed to be struggling to keep the blue mask in its hands from being destroyed, sacrificing one or more of its other limbs in order to keep it safe.

If Blake were being honest, she would say that the four of them were already too much for the monster they called the Magician. As they were, two probably would have been enough, never mind four or all eight of them, nine if she counted Koromaru.

The fight ended in but a few minutes. Whatever power it had that allowed it to regrow its lost limbs seemed to have been used up. One final torrent of lightning from Caesar destroyed the few limbs it had left, leaving a squirming mass to fall to the ground even as wisps of green formed around it, circling around its fallen form like a cyclone. When all the gathered air suddenly pulled inwards, its final limb was crushed by the sheer pressure, sending black fluid splattering everywhere and even cracking the mask. The final blow came as Trismegistus flew past the mask as it tumbled through the air, cutting through it with one swing of its wing-blades.

As soon as it did, the severed limbs on the ground finally grew still and the remains of its body followed. And then, similar but different from the Grimm once slain, the Magician's body parts suddenly seemed to burst apart like an overfilled balloon only to disperse and disappear soon after.

And just like that, it was gone.

Blake could hardly believe how quickly that fight had gone. She had once watched a group of former Huntsmen and Huntresses among the White Fang take down a Goliath, and it had taken them much longer to eliminate it.

Was it the difference in raw power? They'd all but established that the Personas' abilities far outclassed most of what they could do in terms of sheer power. But was that really all it was? Were these summoned constructs just that powerful?

"That was cool and all but… I was kinda hoping I'd get to beat something up, you know?"

Ren was already turning to chastise Nora when Mitsuru's voice, sharp and stern, cut in first. "You may just get your wish." Wondering what she meant, everyone turned to her, even the rest of SEES, even as she turned to face Fuuka, whose face seemed to be scrunched up with worry. "Fuuka, can you confirm what you told me just now?"

"I can," came the response, Fuuka's voice resounding and echoing inside her head even though her ears heard nothing. Next to them, Gwen seemed shocked as she took a half step back in surprise. "The Magician has been eliminated, but I'm sensing eleven other Shadows spread across Iwatodai."

"There's more?"

"What are we waiting for then?"

"Eleven… but that means…"

"No way. It can't be… right?"

All of them froze, but somehow she felt that SEES seemed to be concerned about something other than just what was said. Something likely had to do with what other secrets they had yet to reveal.

"I'm sorry, but... Including the Magician, all twelve Arcana Shadows have reappeared tonight."

And finally, FINALLY, we are at the point of the story that I have been wanting to write the most since I started this. It took far longer than I wanted to get to this point due to IRL obligations, but we have finally arrived at the climax of this arc.

When I first came up with the idea for this story, it simply came from the similarities I noticed between Persona and RWBY. It took several weeks to hash out a proper story from it that would span all the way from the RWBY series' start, to the very end, which will definitely change from where canon is leading to.

Seeing as we haven't even actually reached Volume 3 yet, though I do plan to fast forward a bit after this arc, this story is definitely going to take a long time to finish. But I'm nothing if not persistent and this story will be finished. I may go on breaks if necessary, but I will always return.

If you enjoyed the chapter, and the story as a whole, then please leave a review and tell me what you think. I'm open to discussing the story, even future chapters depending on the question, and especially any criticism of the story. Of course, let's keep things civil with the latter. No need for torches and pitchforks here.

And if you feel like it, feel free to visit my kofi page and leave a tip. Again, as I mentioned in the A/N before the chapter, this is entirely optional and voluntary. It will neither speed up my writing nor put a stop to it regardless of how it goes. My stories are not being held hostage until a ransom is paid.

kofi (dotcom) (slash) leiciel

So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all in the next one.