Darksoulna 4

by Barabahad

When the Midnight Channel appears on Yu Narukami's TV once more, he rounds up the Investigation Team and they go in to save its latest victim. When inside, Rise is separated from the group, but as luck would have it, she happens to cross paths with a VERY powerful ally. Rise X OC.

1. The Crystal Caverns

Three months. Three months since Yu Narukami had left the investigation in Inaba behind. Longer still was the time since someone had last appeared on the Midnight Channel. Yet here he sat, lying on his bed with book in hand, his ears trained on the resounding silence filling the room. Waiting for the moment the sound of static would replace it.

Reading over a sentence for the fifth time, it became abundantly clear that his mind was elsewhere, as much as he tried to convince himself otherwise. It wasn't easy admitting that he missed the Midnight Channel, the very thing that had almost been getting people killed for the past year of his life. Not that Yu missed it for love of murder and kidnapping, but rather for love of the common goal it had presented. Gathering at Junes and school to discuss the case. Getting to know those who fell victim to its power and befriending them after. As much as the Midnight Channel was the cause of much woe and despair, he wouldn't have such close bonds without it.

Yu sat up, putting his back to the wall and thumping his head gently against it. Friendships born of misery was no reason to want said misery back, much less sit every rainy night in anticipation of it. Besides, the culprit behind last year's case was caught. What reason would there be for anything to appear on it?

Just wait until summer break. Everyone would be available then, at some point or another. He didn't need the Midnight Channel. Nobody did.

Yu leapt in shock as the screen flashed into life.

"What a meaningless endeavour." The young male voice echoed out of the screen. Curiously, the figure seemed to be laden with thick armour, trudging towards a large pyramid through a desolate desert. "Through what foul machination was it ordained that I walk this pointless path? Surely the gods cannot be so cruel." The figure ceased hanging their head, now looking up towards the pyramid proper. "Won't someone end it all? I cannot continue on like this. Please. Grant me death."

A sombre-looking title card appeared behind the man, written in plain letters. "A Journey of Self-Realisation: The Tale of the Elusive Wandering Spirit."

Just like that, the image disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Yu felt his entire train of thought derail as he tried to come to terms with what he'd seen. Before he could ponder the who, why and how, a familiar buzzing sounded out from his pocket. He lifted the offending item, his phone, and checked the caller ID.

Yosuke Hanamura.

"Hey, were you watching TV right now?! The Midnight Channel's come back on!" Yosuke blared down the line. He paused as he heard a light laugh come from Yu's end. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Yosuke. Just glad I wasn't the only one keeping an eye on things. I was starting to think I was being paranoid." Yu ran a hand through his hair, a genuine smile on his face. "But yeah, I saw. What do you make of it?"

"I have no idea… Didn't even get a look at the guy's face. Hell, it didn't even give us his name! How're we supposed to find anyone like that?"

If the situation was off to a bad start to begin with, it wasn't getting any better. "Not to mention everyone's all split up. By the time we tell everyone what's wrong and arrange to meet up, me might be out of time altogether." Yu bit his lip, his eyes drawn to the floor in thought. He and Rise were by far the furthest outliers, and given one was in the middle of kickstarting a dormant idol career, time off didn't sound too plentiful. "We need a plan. I'll tell Rise what's up in the morning, you get everyone else up to speed."

"Hey, why do you only have to call one person?! You should be be the one ringing Yukiko in the first place, she's your girlfriend, after all!"

Somehow, after the amount of correspondence Yu'd had with Yukiko since leaving, he imagined one day couldn't hurt. "You'll see them all at school, won't you? If you catch up with them in the afternoon, I can contact Rise in the morning. That way everyone will be up to speed before the day's even half over."

He heard Yosuke pause on the other end of the line, making a thoughtful sort of noise. "...Eh, I guess. Dunno if anyone else was watching, but I don't wanna wake anyone up if they weren't."

"Especially Chie?"

"Especially Chie."

The two shared a laugh, said their goodbyes and parted. Yu tossed his phone onto his desk, placing his hands behind his head as he took everything in.

And with that, the investigation resumed.

---

Yu hadn't been awake for all of 5 minutes before he had his phone in his hand, finger over Rise's number. Hoping she wasn't too busy, he bit the bullet and tapped, holding the phone at arm's length from his ear.

"SENPAI!" Rise bellowed, loud enough to strain the phone's speakers. She hadn't even let the phone ring once, quick on the draw as she was. "It's been soooooo long since we last spoke! How are you? What's your hometown like? Have you been back to Inaba at all?"

As much as he enjoyed Rise's usual brand of bubbly enthusiasm, it wasn't why he'd called. "Rise, calm down. Someone's appeared on the Midnight Channel." That quieted her down a notch. Obviously being as far away from everyone would get her to freak out as she did, but that could wait until someone wasn't about to be murdered.

Rise's voice receded into a worried whisper. "Seriously? But how…?" She trailed off. "I thought we were done with all this, y'know? What are we going to do, Senpai?"

Unlike the night before, sleeping on the matter had given Yu an answer to that very question.

...Well, an answer of a sort. "I think I have an idea. It's risky, and I'm not even sure if it'll work, but it's the best option we've got on such short notice. You and I will enter our respective TVs, while the rest of the guys head to Junes and try to get Teddie to sniff us out from there. If they can't find you, you can use Kouzeon to find them." It was asking a lot of her, especially since she was the only one on the team that didn't fight. Going on her own would be dangerous.

"What about you, Senpai? How're you going to find everyone without me?" And yet it was him she was most concerned about, insistence clear in her voice.

Yu snorted for having expected anything less. "Never you worry about me, I can take care of myself. Just focus on finding everyone else, alright? Meeting up will be all the easier if you're with them."

Rise hummed to herself. Yu could practically see her tilting her head from side to side like she was there. "...Okay, I'll trust you Senpai. You'd better come find me quick though! I want to see you all as soon as possible, okay?!"

She and him both. "You bet, Rise. Just make sure you're ready, we'll head in around 6pm tonight. Be careful, alright?" No sooner had Yu hung up, his cell began buzzing in his hand once again, this time with Yosuke's number showing on the screen.

Though he knew Rise'd blow his ears out the moment she answered, he hadn't expected the same of Yosuke. "Everyone already knew! They were all watching last night too!" What a relief, now he definitely wasn't paranoid. "Still… who was that last night? Who wears thick armour like that anymore? Looked like he was late for a play or something."

"Guess we'll just have to ask him when we find him, won't we? Tell everyone to get ready for tonight. At 6pm we go in." He concluded, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

Everyone had known. Everyone had been watching along with him for anything suspicious.

Except Rise. She was the only one who didn't know who they were looking for. The one person who might have had a glimmer of a chance at finding their target and she didn't even know what he looked like. "Guess I'll need to tell her when we meet up. She wouldn't go off looking for them on her own, right?" Right, Yu affirmed to himself. Keeping an eye on the clock, he picked up his bag and set off for school, his heartbeat quickening at the thought of getting to see everyone later that night.

---

Rise paced around her room restlessly. As much as she tried to calm herself, the thought of going into the TV World alone wasn't any more comforting than it had been ten minutes ago. No Senpai. No anybody. The more she thought about it, the lonelier she began to feel.

No, no. Lonely thoughts wouldn't do. She was going to see everyone again! Tonight! Even Senpai! "He'd better be ready when he sees me," Rise thought to herself, "I'm going to give him a hug so tight it'll snap him in two!"

The thought ended quickly. That would've been nice. Would've been if Yu and Yukiko hadn't been as intimate as they were. "Right. Guess I can't really do stuff like that anymore, huh…?" Rise plopped down on the bed behind her, hands together as they rested lazily on her knees. She was persistent, and as Yukiko had put it, 'dangerous,' but she wasn't stupid, nor was she selfish. At least not so selfish as to try and pry away her Senpai from his girlfriend, who he'd known way before meeting her.

He'd been cool about it to begin with. Never let on that they were dating, likely out of respect for her privacy. But the signs were there. Flitting off together to the shrine, heading over to the Inn, heading back to Senpai's house together, it all added up. Even still, there'd been a glimmer of hope, slight though it was. Not even that he'd reciprocate her feelings, even just entertaining the idea would have done.

But he never did. For sure, there were more aggressive ways to be rejected. Some of which, Rise thought to herself, she might even have deserved. But he'd been respectful and kind about it. Just like he'd always been.

Rise shook her head, slapping her cheeks after. "Nuh-uh, no way. Not dwelling on it, not before I go and see everyone. I'll just have to be happy for him and Yukiko-senpai, that's it! If Senpai's happy about it, then I'm happy about it!" She chanted, riling herself up. There was no use in trying to save someone from shadows while in a bad mood, so there was no way she was getting into one! She was stronger than that!

So far, the convincing was working. For how long was anyone's guess.

6pm struck, the alarm on Rise's phone sounding off as it vibrated across the table. Instantly, the butterflies began to take flight in her chest. There was no backing out of it now. Going in alone was the only way to be sure she'd see everyone. Plus that person stuck in the TV wasn't going to rescue themselves, she thought to herself.

Taking a deep breath and hoping she wouldn't be too far from her friends, Rise took the plunge and leapt into the LCD screen, leaving only a fleeting ripple on the surface to show she'd ever been there.

The familiar feeling of descending into the foggy domain engulfed Rise's entire body, shortly before being interrupted by the less-than-familiar place she'd landed in. Upon opening her eyes, it was much to Rise's relief to see her landing zone was completely devoid of shadows. What made her less happy was the landing zone itself. She pulled herself to her feet, her shoes clicking against the thick mass of crystal she stood on. Crystal platforms surrounded by more and more crystal, above, below and everywhere in between. It brought to mind images of a lake frozen in the middle of a storm.

She circled around on the spot, feeling like she was trapped in some kind of tall, cylindrical tower. Peeping carefully over the edge of her platform, Rise gulped as it seemed to split off into various smaller paths, spidering down the tower for what seemed like forever.

"That… looks a little slippy." She lied to herself. Saying it looked slippy was like saying Kanji looked short. The scenery may have looked pretty, but it by no means looked safe. "Kouzeon, let's see where everyone is!" Rise said, hoping the act would keep her head right as her persona's visor fitted over her eyes.

The presence was faint, but it was still there. Unfortunately, it seemed everyone was more than a brisk walk away. Even more unfortunately, "They're all the way down there…?" Rise asked herself, once again peering down the endless crystal cobweb below her. "Well… I guess it'll be easier for me to go down than for everyone else to come up." She decided.

Summoning as much courage as she could, Rise took a single step onto one of the descending walkways. Easy now, easy. No sudden moves, don't get too worked up. Tiny little baby steps, that's what she needed. Just take it easy and-

Rise's heart nearly stopped as her footing slipped.

Her screams echoed around the cavern as she fell to her backside and slid down the walkway, feet scrambling wildly and uselessly in an attempt to slow herself down. She reckoned it must have done something as she stopped mere inches from the end of the platform she slid onto, inky black oblivion waiting below her.

The platform was so small that standing up would've been a challenge. It stood to reason, then, that sliding was the only acceptable way forward. "Call me crazy, but I get the feeling this is going to take a while." Rise said to herself. Nevertheless, she swung her slender legs around to the next path down, positioning herself in such a way that she felt she could slow herself down if need be. A feeling that disappeared with her next squeal on the way down.

Rise slid to a stop, finding the platform large enough to finally stand up on. While footing would no longer be an issue, a far graver one arose from the ground. Shadows.

Fear set in quick as the three shadows rose up, large crystalline mouths with tongues like spiked flails. "O-Okay Kouzeon, we've got this, right?" Yet try as she might, the sense of doom inside Rise failed to be rid of. A frantic glance at the drop behind her proved that jumping to safety wasn't an option either.

She knew nobody was here. Kouzeon had told her as much. "Senpai?! Kanji-kun?! ANYONE?!" Yet still she called out, knowing there would be no answer. The urge to cry welled up in her eyes as she realised she was in no fit state to fight without her friends. Of course she wasn't. As if she could-

"PERISH, UNEARTHLY CRETINS!" Someone roared from behind the shadows. The thick blade of a sword tore through the backmost two, outright destroying one and knocking the other off the edge of the platform. A male voice grunted and shouted from underneath a black hood, dodging and swiping at the lone shadow that remained. The deafening sound of metal clashing with crystal rang out like a mighty bell tower, signifying the departure of the final foe.

Rise stood in shock. The guy was wearing thick, pointed silver armour and swinging around a sword that looked way too big to be held with one hand. A sword which, upon closer inspection, looked to be distorting the air around it, almost as though it were on fire. As she distanced herself from the edge and narrowed her analytical eyes, the fellow seemed to take notice of her.

The armour-clad person's face was obscured by their hood, which seemed to contain an impenetrable veil of sheer black within. "Gracious, that looked a tad dangerous. Are you alright, Miss?" Despite his lack of a face, he at least sounded friendly enough.

Rise let out a sigh, letting the tension leave her. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! I didn't know what I was going to do back there!" She finally managed a smile, the tears long since too stunned to fall.

"Think nothing of it. I did only what any Warrior of Sunlight worth their salt would have done, Miss…?" The man- no, boy's voice sounded strange, somehow. Muffled? Distorted? Something was definitely off, but it was hard to tell what. Then again, now was hardly the time for more analysis. The fellow had asked for her name, after all.

"Oh! I'm Rise Kujikawa. What's your name?" She asked cheerily.

The (presumably) young man thumped a fist to his armoured breast. "I am Knight Astaire, an adherent of the Lord of Sunlight."

Warrior of Sunlight? Lord of Sunlight? What was this iron-plated weirdo on about? Rise chose to ignore it and focus on the part she had understood. "Knight Astaire? Don't you have a first name?"

The knight shrugged. "Just Astaire."

Rise blinked, almost taken aback. "Wait, really?"

"I know. Hardly the ideal first name, but it wasn't mine to choose."

...Wait a minute. His name wasn't just Astaire, his first name was Just. Somewhere off in the distance, Rise swore she heard a rimshot. Mulling over it more, she found the ends of her mouth curling up as she tried stifling a giggle. Astaire rubbed the back of his head in what could have been embarassment, but it was hard to tell under the hood.

"So, Astaire-kun-" Something about using the honorific on such a foreign-sounding name seemed a bit odd, but habit permitted it all the same. She doubted he'd get what "Senpai" meant anyway. "-What are you doing here? Are you looking for the missing person too?"

Had Yu, Yosuke, or anybody else been there, they might have balked at Rise for even asking the question. All the same, as far as she saw it, nobody who'd fallen into the TV World before getting a Persona had ever been able to fend off shadows on their own. Surely this guy, whoever he was, had to be some kind of persona-aware person like them, right?

Didn't explain the armour, though. Maybe he was just really into role playing.

The knight cocked his hooded head in thought. "Hmm. I was originally forced down here because those damnable monsters chased me. I happened to notice a number of treasure chests down here and felt obliged to investigate further." Astaire explained. "After which I heard your cries for help and naturally came to assist you. But as for missing persons? I'm afraid I've heard nothing to that effect."

Rise tilted her own head in confusion. He clearly wasn't here to rescue anybody, so he couldn't have seen the Midnight Channel. What exactly did that make him, then? Was he some weird being that had just come from nowhere, like Teddie? Looking at him, it was hard to think anyone had simply thrown him in. He was a full head above Rise and was evidently built like a brick wall, what kind of bulldozer would someone need to shift him inside a TV in the first place?

"Well then, shall we be off?" Astaire inquired, knocking Rise's thoughts clean out of her head. "If this person you're looking for resides in this cavern, chances are they're even further down than we are. We'd best get a move on!" He hoisted his sword over his shoulder and began making for the next walkway.

Rise blinked at how gung-ho he was, considering they'd only just met. "Are you sure? I mean, I do need to get down there one way or the other, and you are the only other fighter here, but won't protecting me and fighting stuff off be a bit... " Rise paused and rubbed her chin. How would Senpai describe it? "...cumbersome?" Yeah, that'd do it.

The knight turned, already beginning his descent. "In my experience, there are two sorts of people in the world." He held up a finger. "Those who sally forth headlong into battle," And a second. "And those who excel at supporting them. Looking at you, I get the sense that you are one of the latter." He pumped an armoured fist into the air. "So I implore you! Lend me your supportive strength that we might show these foul demons the power of jolly co-operation!"

Now that sounded like an arrangement she could deal with. "You got it! Jolly co-operation, here we come!" She nodded intensely Fighting may have been outside her repertoire, but Kouzeon was second to none when it came to providing support. Pumped up at the knight's words, the two new companions set off and began their crystalline descent.

---

"I'm telling you guys, she's above us! I don't know how, but she is!" A flustered Teddie exclaimed, looking up at the sky in a very bearwildered manner. His nose twitched and sniffed as he hunted for Rise's scent, but the only place he was being led to was directly above them.

"Don't make no friggin' sense. Yu-senpai was stupidly close by, the hell could be so different about Rise?" Kanji asked, fanning his face in an attempt to beat the heat of the desert.

"While I'm sure the composition of the sky isn't the same as the one in the real world, I too find it hard to believe that Rise-san is up there." Naoto commented, mirroring Kanji's attempts to keep cool by using her hat.

Yosuke shaded his eyes from the blaring sun, tapping a foot against the sand. "Crap, this isn't looking good. What're we going to do if something happens to Rise and we're not there?"

"She'll be fine." Yukiko snapped. "...Won't she?" She'd sounded confident at first, but the way she turned to Yu and gave his hand a tight, worried squeeze said otherwise.

Yu nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's managing. Rise's stronger than most people think." With superb timing, a quake was felt underfoot the moment Yu closed his mouth. "Though that might be stretching it a little."

"What's she doin' up there? Sounds like she's taking on an army of shadows all by herself with all that damn noise!" Kanji shouted over the din of the quake. Indeed, the same question was echoed in the minds of everyone present. What on earth was Rise getting up to without them?

---

"Come, Kouzeon!" Rise called as Astaire cut through the swathes of shadows slinking towards them, his massive sword parting them like they weren't even there. A bright light enveloped him as Rise charged his next attack, directed at one of the walkways adjacent to the crystal platform they stood on. Filled with newfound might, Astaire's sword crashed into the path so violently that the entire thing shattered, the shadows on it toppling to their doom below.

Astaire turned slowly to Rise.

Rise's eyes were wide as she gazed into his hood in return. "That was…"

"Incredible, truly! I had no idea you'd be as competent a partner as you are, Ms. Kujikawa!" In the short space of time since they'd met each other, Astaire had already picked up a habit. Time and time again, Rise told him to call her "Rise-chan" at the very least, but he was having none of it. Not that Rise minded or was terribly surprised. Anyone who wore thick armour, referred to themselves as a knight and fought exclusively with a greatsword was bound to be antiquated, even down to the way they talked. "Never in all my time in Lordran have I had a partner so useful! Absolutely magnificent!"

Rise could feel a trace of heat slightly warm her face, until a certain word caught her ear. "Lordran? What's Lordran?" She asked, head cocked and eyebrow raised. "Is that the name of the place you came from?"

The knight ceased walking in front of her, turning his fabric-wrapped to look over his shoulder. "Came from? Are you quite well, Ms. Kujikawa? We're still in Lordran, aren't we?" He asked, sounding puzzled.

Well, that about confirmed it. This was clearly not a normal case of people being thrown into the TV world, if such a thing could be considered normal in the first place. Given how telling this new information was, Rise bit her tongue before she could correct him. Perhaps getting his to elaborate might shed some light on this whole affair.

A thoughtful hum escaped Astaire's hood as he shouldered his sword again, leading their way down one of the paths that hadn't been shattered. "You truly know nothing of Lordran? I assumed a combat-savvy maiden such as yourself might have at least partial knowledge in that regard."

Combat-savvy? Her? After he'd needed to rescue her from three ordinary shadows? Evidently Kouzeon had made more of an impression on him than Rise had thought.

The knight continued. "...Though if you do indeed know nothing of Lordran, I shall tell you. It was once the Land of Ancient Lords, though it now remains a destitute facsimile of its former self. An accursed land plagued by the Undead, one where the flow of time and space is a little queer. Warriors and legends from the world over congregate, phasing in and out of existence on a whim."

"Well that sounds cheery." Rise added midway.

"Indeed. I myself went there at the behest of a fellow from Astora, who freed me from captivity at the cost of his own life. I could think of few better ways to repay him. I'd guess at how long ago that was, but I'm honestly not sure. It could have been today, yesterday or even a thousand years ago. Such is the way of things in Lordran." He continued explaining. "Nonetheless, I am still here. I feel as though some part of me has gone astray somewhere along the course of my journey, and thus it is that part I now search for. Once I find it, I shall continue about my duty."

Wait. He didn't mean his shadow, did he? If so, how had he gotten into the TV World? More to the point, how had he gotten inside while being completely oblivious to it? Thinking back on it, it'd have made sense for Astaire not to have found any missing persons earlier, since he himself was the missing person.

Rise made a mental note to slap Yu later for not telling her what the victim on the Midnight Channel had looked like beforehand.

Noticing her silence, the knight peered over his shoulder again. "Oh, I do apologise Ms. Kujikawa, I didn't mean to ramble."

"No, no, it's fine! Just thinking about some stuff, is all!" She assured him, shaking her head.

The answer seemed to suffice, as the knight set his eyes on the path again. "By the way, Ms. Kujikawa. If you don't mind my asking, what brought you to this ravaged land of Undeath? You look and sound far too grounded for some meagre apparition from a world beyond."

Hopping inside a TV to save someone from another world, who still believed they were in their own world and had seemingly wandered into this one completely unawares, and whose shadow was wandering around somewhere without them as opposed to giving them a verbal beatdown.

You know, the usual. Everyday stuff.

Explaining it to someone from their world was odd enough. In fact, explaining it to people who knew about the TV World would have been odd in and of itself. "Sorry, that's a secret~!" Rise said with a wink aimed at the knight's back.

"Yes, yes, of course. We all have our secrets to keep, I suppose." Astaire nodded contentedly. "That said, if we end up finding these friends of yours, I'd be more than willing to assist in their endeavours as well, whatever they may be. If they'd have me, that is." He added.

"Don't worry, I think they would. You'd be surprised how often we wind up making friends that way!" That said, Rise had never heard of the team fighting off a shadow with help from the person who'd created it. Was that even an option? As fearless as the knight seemed, one's shadow could bring even the most stone-hearted person to their knees.

Actually, on the topic of shadows- "Hey, Astaire-kun." She paused midway, suddenly aware of how her voice echoed around the cavern. "It's been kind of a long time since we last saw a shadow, hasn't it? I wonder what gives."

Now that she brought it up, both partners became keenly aware of how desolate their surroundings had become. Astaire stopped on the stop, the once-rhythmic clinking together of his armour plunging the rest of the cavern into absolute silence. A very unnerved Rise could feel a resurgence of butterflies in the pit of her stomach, the atmosphere feeling as heavy as the equipment Astaire was carrying.

"I don't like this, Astaire-kun…" Rise said through increasingly tight-throated breaths.

"Nor do I, Ms. Kujikawa." The knight said, quickly moving off again, filling the air with the sound of his movements. "Still, there would be little accomplished by turning back now. To waste a journey such as ours would prove a greater tragedy than whatever awaits us in these monsters' stead, I imagine."

As spooky as the sudden silence seemed, Rise had to agree. Downwards was the only way of getting closer to her friends, and they had come this far, after all.

The rest of the journey into the inky depths was filled with a similar brand of silence. Silence filled only with the footsteps and ambient sounds given off by the sole two people willing to break it. The crystal walls and walkways that had once been so numerous as to be blinding were no more. What had once been one of many paths was now the only one left, surrounded on all sides by walls of foreboding black gravel.

All the while, Rise found herself subconsciously getting closer to her armoured acquaintance. While she sat like a frightened puppy, glancing from side to side of the off chance something should appear, Astaire forged onwards, determined to keep moving. Rise interpreted his stalwart manner in one of two possible ways. Either he simply wasn't scared - and with a sword as big as his, who would be? - or he had some idea as to why the shadows had fled in the first place.

"Hey, hold on a second. I wanna see if we're any closer to my friends." The walk had gone on long enough as it was. If they weren't all that much closer to her friends, Rise wasn't keen on figuring out how to get out safely. Thankfully, Astaire came to a stop, nodding at her to go ahead. Kouzeon's visor over her eyes, she quickly began scanning for signs of life.

Rise's blood ran cold as she gasped harshly, stepping back in shock.

"Whatever is the matter, Ms. Kujikawa? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Astaire asked, leaning in intently.

Not a ghost, no. True enough, upon running the scan, it seemed that the signals for the rest of the Investigation Team were close, tantalisingly so.

What concerned Rise wasn't their signals.

It was the signal between them and her.

Fear latched on to Rise like a bear trap. So tight was its hold that it was all she could do to fearfully peer over the edge, down towards the all-consuming dark below them. Astaire followed her gaze, glancing down in unison.

The cavern was rocked as a bone-shattering roar shook the two of them right through, a pair of massive blue eyes emerging from beneath them. Rise's heart skipped several beats as a giant skeletal hand loomed up and pressed against the side of the cavern for support. Whatever this thing was, it was going to pull itself up to its full height.

"Ms. Kujikawa. Charge me, if you please." Rise snapped out of her fearful daze as she quickly applied every buff and bonus Kouzeon could give, leaving the knight awash with green light as the monster gave another roar, sending shards of crystal raining down from above. "Now, hold onto my back."

This request took a little longer to register. "Eh? What?"

"Please, Ms. Kujikawa. We haven't much time." Astaire insisted, holding his sword's blade in front of him. Though his request had come out of nowhere, Rise wasn't feeling in a very contrarian mood all of a sudden. She quickly leapt onto Astaire's back and clasped her hands around his shoulders. "Excellent. It'd be a crying shame to leave you behind after all we've been through!"

"Huh? What do you- HEY, HOLD ON A SECOND-!" Rise protested all too late. Astaire took a single step back, kicking off and charging forward with a sudden burst of momentum. Before Rise knew it, he'd leapt off the pathway entirely, into the air above the monster.

Astaire took a deep breath as he raised his sword above his head mid-fall. "Praise the…"

---

"SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!"

A massive fissure seared across the sky, expanding and grasping out towards the far edges of the desert, the accompanying quakes forcing the Investigation Team to fight for their footing.

"W-Woah! The hell's goin' on?!" Shouted a very frantic Kanji as the sand beneath their feet weaved and undulated, like the waves of an ocean amidst a storm. Pieces of the "sky" began hurtling towards the ground, quickly swallowed up by the raging tides of the desert.

All at once, everyone looked towards the fissure and met the cause of their misfortune. From the sky came a plethora of bones and tar, coated in skulls and shadow masks of varying sizes, a pair of bony arms extending upwards as the body fell. The biggest mask of them all was seen shattering into innumerable shards, the source appearing to be a tiny speck on the surface of the monster's body, something resembling a man with a massive sword embedding his weapon into the monster's forehead, a strangely-shaped cloak clinging to his neck.

"Dunno about the rest of you, but I feel like running." Yu said flatly, quickly turning tail and taking off in the opposite direction, everyone else hot on his heels. The amalgamation of bones and masks hit the ground with force and sound rivaling that of an atomic bomb, massive tidal waves of sand threatening to crash down on the valiant team mid-escape.

However fast they scarpered, it quickly became clear that the foreboding hulk of rock and minerals was far too large for anyone to outrun. Everyone could do little else but brace and hoped they made it out alive.

That was, until a green flash of light cascaded over the lot of them, a series of impenetrable barriers shying away the unfathomable weight of the desert that crashed down on top of everyone.

After the biggest crash had subsided, it didn't take long for the sand to calm down, allowing everyone to claw themselves out of the claustrophobic hell they'd had tossed on top of them.

Chie's head popped up first, shaking the sand out of her hair. "Ugh, this stuff's everywhere, I can feel it in my socks and everything!" She complained before noticing she had only herself to complain to. "Uh… guys? Hello?"

"Mmphm, mmpgmh mmm!" Yosuke tried to say through a mouthful of sand as he slowly wriggled his way topside.

Somewhat more impressively, Kanji's chair was the next to surface, the man himself easily freeing the top half of his body. "Hoo, that was somethin'. Never seen a shadow that big before."

"You can say that again!" Teddie added, popping up from below Kanji and tossing his out of the hole entirely.

Somehow, despite being a fraction of his size, Naoto and Yukiko were up just as quickly as he was, one tapping the sand out of her hat and the other impatiently trying to fix her hair. "I don't suppose we'd be lucky enough for that to have been the shadow we came here to fight, would we?" Yukiko asked, ruffling her sweater.

Finally, Yu's head popped up alongside Chie's. "That'd be way too easy. But hey, at least it brought Rise with it."

Everyone's heads shot around simultaneously, catching the sight of two very different figures running towards them in the distance. The slender one on the right wearing familiar-looking pigtails and the figure on its left, big sword, big armour and big strides.

"Yoohoo, Senpai~!" Rise cooed as she waved. "You guys saw that, right?! Wasn't that, like, the coolest thing you've ever seen?! Bet you never thought this was how we'd meet up, huh?"

The duo stopped short of the group, both of them out of breath and barely withholding their laughter, the massive truckload of adrenaline having nowhere else to go. "Good gods above…" Astaire said between pants. Though his face remained hidden, the wide smile was evident in his voice alone. "...What a rush! Thrilling beyond words! Even I can barely believe we did it!" He half-spoke, half-laughed.

"I know, right?!" Rise added between fits of giddy giggling. "C'mon, high five for a job well done!"

"RIght you are!"

The rest of the team watched completely blank-faced as the two talked back and forth, each as giddy as the other. Yu's cough was the first sound to catch their attention. "Feel like introducing us, Rise?"

Both idol and knight felt their cheeks redden a tinge as they pulled themselves together. Rise cleared her throat, holding a hand towards Astaire as he put his hands on his hips and struck a heroic pose. "Da da daaa~! Fighter of shadows big and small, Just Astaire!" She finished with a little clap.

Yosuke just about pulled himself out of the hole he was in, spitting out sand from sections of his mouth he didn't even know were there. "Wait, just Astaire? Doesn't he have a full-?"

"I'd really rather we didn't go down that path again, thank you very much." Astaire added quickly as he bent down to offer Yu his free hand, slowly prying him free from the sandy grasp that held him.

Rise continued, unperturbed. "Astaire-kun helped me fight my way down here! There were so many shadows up there it wasn't even funny." She looked up at the mess they'd made of the "sky," the breathtaking crystal web now but a mere speck amongst overwhelming granite-laden darkness.

"Rise-chan fighting? Unheard of!" Teddie proclaimed, drawing a far-from-pleased reaction from Astaire as he lurched forward.

"I'll have you know, rotund penguin creature, that without Ms. Kujikawa at my side I'd likely have been pushing up daisies. One fellow with a Zweihander can only do so much, after all." He planted his mighty weapon in the ground for emphasis, resting his hands on the pommel.

"P-P-Penguin?!" Teddie fumed, stamping the ground in frustration. "How rude! I'll have you know that I'm…!"

Everyone quickly tuned out as Teddie rattled on, being thoroughly unhelpful in freeing everyone else from the ground as he explained the intricacies of being a bear.

He shut up as Yu clapped together his newly-freed hands, drawing everyone's attention. "Alright, back to business. Astaire-san, was it? I don't know how much Rise has told you regarding why we're here, but we're looking for someone." He addressed the knight directly, pointing his sword at him. "Specifically, someone who looks like you. Your shadow."

Astaire leapt a little on the spot, squaring his shoulders and splaying the fingers of his free hand. "My very own doppelganger? Gracious, that's a bit worrisome." Given the human Astaire had the power - with Rise's help - to punt a shadow bigger than Junes through the sky, that was putting it lightly. "It must be of some import if you're chasing after it without having known me up until now, however that came about."

"Yeah, we're a little puzzled about that too." Chie piped up. "This kind of thing has happened before, but the way it happened with you is kind of mind-boggling. Unless somebody did throw you in a TV, that is."

Astaire pitched his head to one side at the mention of a TV. "Chie, I don't think a guy who dresses like that is going to know what a TV looks like." Yosuke said, massaging the temples on his shaking head.

"What about fog, then? Anything like that?" Yukiko quickly took over, correctly predicting Yosuke and Chie's inevitably argument in the background.

Rise looked up as Astaire tapped his foot on the sand, scratching a chin she couldn't see. "I'm loathe to say it doesn't ring a bell, sadly. I was exploring the inner reaches of the Grand Archives and found myself being chased by monsters into that surreal cavern of crystal up above us." He pointed up towards the sky-fissure. "Eventually I walked for so long I couldn't see where I'd come from. It was around then I heard Ms. Kujikawa's cries for help and came running."

An explanation it may have been, but it was no closer to providing a proper answer. No TV, no attempted killer to toss him in, no nothing. Even Rise - more knowledgeable than her friends in what Lordran was at this point - hadn't the faintest idea. Even with all the pieces out on the table, making the puzzle whole wasn't becoming much easier.

One thing was for certain, however. "In any case, we need to take care of Astaire-san's shadow. We can sort out the rest once we're through." He hoisted his sword over his shoulder, much like Astaire was doing, and pointed off towards the pyramid. "If the Midnight Channel is to be believed, it was heading in there. We should get a move on."

"May I accompany you in your efforts?" Astaire called after Yu as he began walking off, turning at the sound of his voice. "If this doppelganger of mine is the reason you're journeying in this godforsaken place, I'd feel remiss not to lend a hand. Given it wears my face, I feel somewhat responsible. I would be more than willing to lend you my sword, if it suits you."

Yu opened his mouth to reply, only to quickly clamp it shut again. In any other case, fighting without a Persona would've been suicide. Then again, he and Rise had just floored something that could block out the sun. "I don't see why not. I'd be careful, though. Don't do anything that might get you killed."

Astaire's hood angled back as he laughed. "Haha! Never you fret, it surely wouldn't be the first time. I look forward to fighting alongside you all!" He enthused, clenching his fist dramatically in front of him.

Something about his choice of words sounded a little… off. Even still, worrying about technicalities wasn't going to kill shadows, and so Yu turned and resumed kicking up sand as he walked.

Everyone quickly followed after was the only exception, casting a sideways glance at Astaire as he walked off. The knight shifted in his armour as he caught his eye. "That brown-haired young man worries me. Have I done something wrong?" He asked out of earshot.

"What, Yosuke-senpai? Don't worry, he can be a little difficult sometimes, but he's a pretty okay guy once you get to know him." Rise assured him, reaching up to pat him on his armoured shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get along great with everyone!" She said, beaming that unfathomably bright smile at him once again.

Somewhere under his hood, Astaire felt a grin curl up his lips. The young girl bounced forward and began running after her friends, her new armoured companion bringing up the rear.

---

"Well, at least nobody's getting lost any time soon." Yosuke commented, hands in his pockets.

The sound of shoes and clinking armour on limestone filled the void as everyone walked single-file along the path, surrounded on all sides by an inky blackness. "This is weird." Rise astutely noted. "It's just like the cavern Astaire-kun and I just came down from. Only it's made of rock instead of crystal." She gazed around at all the nothingness, hands clasped behind her back as she walked.

"An empty cavern, an empty desert and an empty pyramid." Yu said, staring dead at the path ahead, for lack of anything else to look at. "And not a shadow to be seen, either. Odd." Or Dire, as Yu thought internally. Whatever these overwhelming dioramas of emptiness foretold, it had to be linked to Astaire's deepest thoughts, somehow. Only thing was, there wasn't much to go off.

Maybe that was the point. But what would it mean if it was?

"It wasn't entirely empty. That towering shadow was lurking at the bottom of the cavern." Astaire pointed out, leaning over and peeking at the darkness below them. "Who knows? Maybe there's a similar beast lying in wait down below us."

Every hair on Chie's body stood on end as she froze on the spot. "What?! Y-You're joking right? There isn't seriously anything down there, is there?" She turned and clutched at the front of Astaire's armour, bringing his head closer to hers, eyes manic. "Please tell me you're joking."

The final shimmers of light that were once Kouzeon drifted off behind Rise. "Calm down Chie-senpai, there's nothing down there." Astaire relaxed as he was released from the sighing dragon's grasp. "Doesn't mean there isn't anything, though. It didn't look like the darkness in the caverns led anywhere either, and we were right on top of you guys!"

Yosuke turned on a heel, continuing to walk backwards as he faced Rise. "Just because it worked once doesn't mean it'll work again. Besides, if you think me or anyone else is jumping down there, you're nuts." He said, pointing a knife at his temple and circling it for effect.

"Hey, Sensei?" Teddie piped up.

"If you're going to start sayin' you're bored, you're the first one gettin' tossed down there." Kanji interrupted.

"No, no! Doesn't it feel like we're getting a little lighter on our feet?"

Actually, he was right. Now that Teddie pointed it out, something felt different from when they'd first stepped foot inside. Every step felt a little easier than the last. Almost as if-

Click. "I got it!" Teddie clicked his fingers triumphantly. "The path is slowly getting steeper! We're walking down a hill!"

The sound of Astaire's armour stopped as he froze in place at Teddie's realisation. Kneeling down, he ran a gauntlet over the limestone path, switching between examining it and stealing glances behind himself. Given he sounded like a one man band when he walked, it didn't take long for Rise to twig on and turn around. "What's up? Something wrong?"

"The ground is no longer even. It's caving in towards the centre, see?" He laid his sword on the path, pointing at the gap between the blade and the centre of the path. The sides were ever so slightly higher than the middle.

Yukiko turned as well, suddenly interested. "So what? Is that bad?"

Astaire hoisted the sword back up to his shoulder. "Well, see, I once was unlucky enough to have to venture through a location known as 'Sen's Fortress…' "

BOOM.

The shock ran through the path and up the legs of everyone present. Under his hood, Astaire's eyes bulged as the familiar sound made his skin crawl on reflex. "Oh Gods." He turned apprehensively. "That'll be the boulder."

It took but a second for everyone to break into a simultaneous sprint.

Hearts pounded, limbs swung, the sound of the boulder encroaching on them putting a spring in everyone's steps. By now the path wasn't bothering to conceal its gradually increasingly angle, only serving to increase the rumbling tenfold as the threat of being crushed to death loomed ever closer.

Risking a glance backwards, Teddie's stubby legs fell out from underneath him as he ground to a halt with his face as the brakes. "Sensei, help me!" Was the last thing anybody heard as the boulder rammed into him from behind, launching the poor bear off into the distance.

Naoto yelled over the rumbling. "We can't keep going on like this! The boulder's going to catch up to us eventually! We're going to have to jump!"

"Are you outta your friggin' mind?! I'm with Yosuke-senpai, you'd have to be- HEY!" Kanji's voice broke towards the end as Naoto roughly took hold of the back of his collar and leapt over the edge of the path.

"Naoto-kun!" Rise squealed as Kanji's screams echoed on the way down. "What're we going to do?! We don't know what's down there!"

"Well it's either get killed by a rogue boulder or risk getting killed by whatever's down there! At least one of them has a chance, however faint!" Feeling the boulder begin to lick at the backs of his sabatons, Astaire brusquely latched onto Rise's hand and took a leap of faith.

Unable to see if anyone else had jumped, the two could only brace for impact as Astaire quickly cradled Rise in his arms, closing his eyes and waiting for the impact.

Whatever the two wound up landing on, it wasn't solid ground. It did little to lessen the shock of it all, however. Astaire and Rise both tensed up as they made contact, one pulling the other closer solely out of every muscle in his body contracting and the other squaring her shoulders as she let out a short squeak, eyes covered.

As her hands fell away, the only thing she could make out was Astaire's hood. Everything else was so dark that seeing beyond right in front of her was hopeless. Immediately, she was transfixed with curiosity. He'd kept his face hidden all this time, it was only natural to want to look underneath. She leaned in closer, swearing she could make out something underneath the layers of cloth.

"Ms. Kujikawa?"

His voice broke her transfixation as she realised the position they were in. Her held in his arms and leaning into his face. Notably, he wasn't leaning in return. "Sorry, sorry! Gosh, I just… I don't know what came over me!" She insisted, quickly planting her own two feet on the… whatever the heck they had landed on.

Heaves and grunts came from below her as she stood to her full height. Whatever they'd landed in, Astaire was knee-deep in it. "I'm sorry, but as much as I'd like to take this off, I'd rather not." He finally freed a leg and pulled himself up, struggling to maintain balance on uneven footing. "You have your secrets, I have mine. For now, let's focus on finding your friends."

Sitting on in silence, Rise's eyes widened as the green-crested shield Astaire had been carrying disappeared without a trace. Even if it was merely a trick of the eyes because it was so dark, where the heck could he have put it? The question scarpered as Astaire brought out something to replace it. A skull, suspended by a scant few strands of hair.

"What the hell?! Why do you have something like that?!" Rise's hands flew to her mouth as she spoke, unable to take her eyes off the literal freaking skull Astaire pulled out of his pockets and had been carrying around this entire time. Holy crap it was creepy.

Opting for a demonstration instead of an explanation, the knight held his macabre artifact aloft, a soft orange glow enveloping he and his charge as several blue orbs appeared from the ether above them.

"Don't be alarmed, it's only a Skull Lantern. I know it's a bit gruesome looking, but it's the best we've got to work with. Now, how best to go about finding everyone else?" Right on cue, the sound of crunching and a stifled yell from behind gave the two a heading. Yet as Astaire took the lead to light their way, Rise was unfortunate enough to catch sight of what they were walking on.

Hysteria. Rise reeled back, screaming as loud as she unconsciously could, everywhere she looked only serving to worsen the situation. Her arms cradled her head as her screams grew louder, as though trying to block out the effects of everything around her and failing.

They were corpses.

Masses upon masses upon masses of corpses. Enough corpses for there to be hills and declines to walk over. All of them with sunken black sockets in place of eyes and stretched, horribly reddened skin, numerous wounds punctuating what brought them to their end.

Every attempted step away from the horror gave a sickening sinking feeling as Rise's weight sunk whatever body part she'd stepped on, turning her stomach and only lengthening her mania. She didn't even stop as Astaire relinquished his equipment to grasp her by the shoulders. "Ms. Kujikawa, please calm down!" He said, lightly shaking her. "I know it's a horrifying sight, believe me, I do! But if we don't keep our wits about us, we're liable to wind up lying amongst these sorry souls ourselves! Please, do try to settle yourself!"

His iron grip on her shoulders ran through the fear which gripped her. Hyperventilating after she ran out of screams, focusing on the knight's grip was the most Rise could manage in order to calm herself. This was screwed beyond belief. It was like something out of a nightmare. But if nothing else, it was a nightmare she need not traverse alone. She'd come this far to meet her friends, and damn it all if Inaba wasn't worth it.

Finally, Rise let out a long, sustained sigh, as though exhaling any screams she might have left. "Alright, alright. I think I can do this. Thank you, Astaire-kun." The knight nodded at her contentedly, retrieving his equipment and holding up the lante-

"Oh, there you-"

Corpses and corpse piles? Easy peasy. No problem.

Something standing up in the middle of said corpse pile?

"GOOD GODS ABOVE!" Astaire leapt back in fright as the lantern lit up a face mere inches from his own, landing him flat on his back and narrowly avoiding Rise.

The figure he'd been faced with scratched the back of its head. "Ah, shit. Thought you'd heard me walkin' up here, sorry 'bout that." It said with Kanji's voice.

"Kanji-kun!" Rise rushed up to the larger figure, eyes lighting up as a smaller one joined him. "And Naoto-kun! Thank goodness you two are okay!"

Naoto nodded, hand on her hip. "We are indeed. Though I'm not sure if the same can be said for our senpai…" She said, biting her thumbnail.

Finally having righted himself from the biggest shock since the Tomb of the Giants, Astaire lit the Skull Lantern yet again. "Then we shall sally forth, post-haste. Proceeding further without everyone present would be unwise."

At the cry of "Persona!" from Yukiko in the distance, everyone took off in the one direction, huddling around Astaire's light like moths to a flame.

"Gah, this is frickin' disgusting!" Kanji moaned as the sickening sound of flesh being stepped on followed in their wake. "Wonder how these poor bastards wound up like this in the first place?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. They don't look New Londo's mass graves, they were all drowned." Naturally, nobody had a clue what 'New Londo' was, but they understood the implications of mass drowning. "These lot were done in using a sword, from the looks of it. I daresay they even match the wounds my Zweihander would inflict." Astaire noted, taking in the corpses with deep gashes in their backs and those which were split from shoulder to chest.

Running beside Kanji, Naoto's face seemed a shade paler than usual, but collected all the same. "These bodies… do you think they belong to people you've killed before, then?"

Rise looked about ready to stick up for Astaire, a look of disgust crossing her face. Thankfully, he stuck up for himself. "Not people. Hollows." The chorus of confused noises that followed told him to continue. "Hollows were formerly Undead, who themselves were once human. This is the bottommost run on the ladder of humanity. It is the inevitable fate of all Undead to become Hollows, at which point they lose what little of their mind remains and become mindless killing machines."

Needless to say everybody was even more uncomfortable than they had been previously. Not only were they walking on the bodies of dead people, but they were also walking on a sea of undead zombie-like monsters. Lovely.

Their unease made them all the more relieved to finally meet up with the rest of the group, bar Teddie, who seemed to have been tossed off elsewhere. Yu and Yukiko were gathered around an injured Chie and Yosuke, who had apparently had a less-than-pleasant landing.

Yosuke groaned as Yukiko tended to his wounds. "Why the hell did you drag me along?! I could've outrun that boulder, no sweat!"

"Yeah, for about 10 seconds maybe! You should be thankful I pulled you out of that thing's way when I did!" Chie retorted as Yu bandaged her head.

"You broke my freaking arm!"

"And I'll break the other one too if you don't give it a rest!" Not even the most severe of injuries could keep the two from arguing, it seemed. The only thing to stop the sparks of fury flying was the orange glow Chie found in front of her face. Astaire had knelt in front of her, handing her what looked like a glowing bottle. "Eh? What's this thing?"

"It's an Estus Flask. Take a sip and you'll feel right as rain." Chie stared at the glowing concoction briefly before taking a swig. No sooner had the first few drops run down her throat, she shot up straight, doubled over in a coughing fit. She looked at Astaire with murderous fury burning in her eyes. Were it not for the horrific feeling still lingering in her throat, she felt like she could have punted him right back to the Crystal Caverns. "Alright then, your turn." Astaire turned, handing the flask to Yosuke.

As much as he tried backing away, his broken arm was having other ideas. "Are you insane?! There's no way in this lifetime or the next that I'm swallowing something that does… that!" He pointed accusingly at Chie, who was still coughing up a storm.

"Oh right, your arm. Never worry, I'll manage it myself." Astaire assured as he knelt down next to his newest victim and had the flask in his mouth before he could protest further.

Fire. It was liquid fire. Yosuke had never drunk burning gasoline before, but it had to be awfully similar. The rancid, rotting taste rolling down his throat, as though it were melting his flesh on the way down. The heartburn that made him want to claw it clean out of his chest. He kicked and splayed his legs out in protest right up until the flask left his lips, leaving him heaving. His arms desperately grasped out at the darkness, looking for-

Wait, both arms?

Yosuke peered at his right arm in awe. It looked good as could be. Brand new, like it'd never been broken in the first place. All pain was gone.

"Why you… I'll choke you out of that armour you… you…!" Chie started as she reached for Astaire, only to realise that the leg she had broken was the one she was putting her weight on. "Oh! Oh wow, that's amazing!" She said, a complete 180 from how she'd been not a second ago.

The change of mood from both Yosuke and Chie left the group feeling somewhat lighter in the chest, considering they had gone from pained to bloodthirsty to flabbergasted in the space of two minutes.

"Well, now that that's sorted, don't you think we should start looking for Teddie?" Yu asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Easier said than done, Partner. I mean…" Yosuke looked around, taking in the sheer amount of corpses around them. "...look at the size of this place! It just goes on forever and ever! How are we supposed to find anyone in here?"

On cue, Astaire held the Skull Lantern aloft, bringing back the blue orbs above them. "Good thing I've got this, then. Those blues lights should show us where to go." Everyone turned to him at once, looks ranging from questioning to disbelief. "I mean, that's what they did the last time."

"It might be a trap." Yosuke butted in. "A trap these things are leading us to on purpose."

Astaire waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, nonsense. It just shows you where to go." He shrugged. "And if there should just happen to be traps on the way there, well…"

"Either way, they seem to be the only things giving us a clear heading. I say we follow them." Yu added, looking between everyone.

Before Yosuke could issue a protest, Naoto stepped forward, thoughtfully massaging her chin. "There'd be little gained from putting traps in place beyond the immediate path forward. I too think it might be beneficial to follow the lights."

"Oh, oh! This happened in a movie once, where the protagonist was investigating a tomb and the exit was right there, but then they fell down into a pit as they ran for it!" Chie suggested, getting odd glances from everyone else. Her face turned bright red as she turned away. "S-So, we just gotta avoid the traps and we're golden, right? Right?"

Kanji's eyes lit up at Chie's words, a fire in him newly kindled. He pumped his fists excitedly. "Oh, I'm hyped now! There's no way we can lose to this stupid tomb or whatever it is!"

Kanji held his hand out to the group, who began placing theirs on top one by one. Rise and Astaire were the last to do so, the young girl looking up at where Astaire's face was under his hood. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I don't like the feeling I get from this place… It's like something's waiting for us at the end of those lights, and I'm not sure we can—"

"We can." Yu stopped her, giving her a self-assured nod as a smile crept across her face. "We all can, if we work together." Rise's hand joined the group, leaving the wandering knight as the sole outsider.

Astaire paused momentarily. He wasn't sure why, but as his hand extended towards the group's, something spoke from within him. A quiet, fleeting voice which came and went so quickly he wasn't sure he'd heard anything at all.

"Don't do it."

"Just, don't do it, they're evil."

"Why? Won't you listen to me?"

"Not even to your best friend?"

The quick series of whispers flew through his head and left without a trace. He'd been in this situation before. He could feel it inside. But when? Certainly not in Lordran, but where else could it have been?

"Astaire-kun?" Rise's voice cleared Astaire's head as he saw the group looking at him expectantly. Despite the voice's protests, Astaire's armoured hand rested atop Rise's. He felt the warm sensation even through his gauntlets, bring a smile to his shrouded face.

"Alright, now somebody say something inspiring!" Chie announced excitedly.

"PRAISE THE SUN!" Everyone leapt as Astaire bellowed his battle cry, his hand the only one that flew upwards.

Well, that didn't work.

Kanji raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's "Praise the Sun" mean?" His words seemed to echo everyone else's thoughts. Astaire scratched the back of his head and gave an uncomfortable laugh. Nevertheless, with another almighty cry of "Praise the Sun!" The group split apart and mobilised, a renewed spring in everyone's step.

---

Following the lights cast by Astaire's lantern, it became evident that the unfathomable mound of corpses was coming to an end. Where once was flesh was now replaced with an earthy, moss-covered floor. As they walked, a blue fog seemed to roll in from the group's peripheral vision, unlike any fog in any other part of the TV World.

Further on, trees began to spring up. Dead trees, but trees all the same. What was now a foggy forest seemed to go on endlessly, the fog obscuring any end which might otherwise have been in sight. "Still getting a reading, Ms. Kujikawa?" Astaire had taken up a frontal position beside Yu, who kept rubbing at his glasses frustratedly.

"Yeah, but Teddie's in a different place again! Ugh, this stupid fog is the worst!" She said, stamping a foot, fists balled. "I think we're just walking in circles at this point!"

All of a sudden, the fog thickened tenfold. A strangely familiar voice seemed to resonate from every direction at once, speaking to everyone while the source concealed itself. "Around in circles? Well doesn't that sound familiar?" Astaire's breath seemed to catch in his throat. "Yes, that's right. You know who I am, don't you?"

The fog lifted like a thick white curtain, revealing the surroundings to have changed again. To everyone else, it was a mass gathering of ruined stone structures and the remains of buildings.

To Astaire, it was Firelink Shrine.

The area sloped down into one central section on the edge of a cliff, where an armour-clad figure sat on its hands and knees, its hooded head hung low.

"Th-That's-!" Yu started, cut off as Astaire approached the knight himself. Part of Yu wanted to stop him, but another part knew there was no point. This was how it had to be.

Contrary to the voice which had taunted them in the fog, the knight could be heard sobbing quietly to himself. "Please. I beg of thee. End my suffering. Free me from this nightmare I've had thrust upon me." He began, tears falling to the ground from under his hood.

The fellow looked exactly like him, Astaire noted. This must have been the doppelganger he'd been told about. Still, it didn't seem too harmful. It felt only right to stay his blade for the time being. "What troubles you, Sir Knight? What has driven you to the state you now sit in?"

"This world is without an end, as am I. My efforts are for naught. An endless task is mine, yet I can do naught about it." The doppelganger clenched its fists on the ground. "Damn them. Damn them all. The Lords, the fire, the dark, all of it!" He pounded his fists off the ground, now in a full-on tantrum. "It's pointless, damn them! I don't want to suffer at their hands any longer!"

Somewhere under his hood, Astaire scoffed, now laying another hand on his sword. Though they couldn't see his face, it sounded like he was baring his teeth. "How dare you! Speaking against Lord Gwyn and his ilk is heathenry of the highest order! Without them there would be no world in the first place, and yet you sit here bawling like a coward!"

It was the first time anyone had heard him get so riled up. Apparently this 'Lord Gwyn' was a big deal.

"And yet you think it all the same." The doppelganger spoke. Much slower. Much more calm. It rose to its feet, turning to face Astaire proper.

The response wasn't what Astaire had anticipated. "I- What?"

"Feign fealty to them all you like. I know the truth. Walking in circles for all eternity. Tasked with an impossible mission, all in favour of your Lord of Sunlight. Were you to take your final breath now, it would curse the old Lords until your end."

"That's a lie. You know nothing of me." The knight spat.

"And yet you continue." The doppelganger ignored its counterpart. "And for what? You could sit and go hollow right here and make as much of a difference. So why carry on? Why not just rot and perish? Then at least you'd be free."

"The world is counting on me to link the fire. I must-"

"Death." Astaire was cut off. "To partake in the blood of others. To fight, die, and fight again. To see those you face fall to your blade over and over and over without end. There is nothing else here for you." The doppelganger pointed an accusatory finger at him. "What better way to rebel against the Lords than by killing every last one of them? To kill everyone in Lordran and then some!? To slay everyone that the fire might bring salvation to nobody, should it be linked or otherwise?!"

"ENOUGH!" Everyone leapt as Astaire roared, now holding the doppelganger at swordpoint. "Your knowledge is astoundingly weak. How could you possibly think any of that… bile applies to me?!"

The doppelganger seemed to spawn two glowing yellow orbs underneath the darkness of the hood, which locked with Astaire's under his own. "Because I AM you."

It was the answer everyone had seen coming a mile away. This was indeed Astaire's shadow. "Lies! You sound nothing like me! Your attempts to besmirch my name are pathetic at best!" Though the real Astaire was having none of it, swiping an arm as he hissed at his shadow.

"What's the worry? It's not like you couldn't fix everything, right? You've done it so many times before, after all."

The shadow began marching towards its owner who, to Rise's surprise, began backing off in lockstep. "What do you mean?! What are you saying?!" Any semblance of composure Astaire had been keeping down was now far gone, the end of his sword visibly shaking.

"You have bested your Lord of Sunlight in combat eighteen times. Nine times you chose to succeed him, and nine times you walked away. What difference did it make? None." The shadow raised its arms and gazed toward the sky. "You have beaten countless gods time and time again, and despite being one of the most powerful beings in the land, nothing has changed." Before he could stop him, Astaire felt a set of armoured fingers wrap about his hood. "Well, almost nothing."

The shadow sneered as it swiftly tugged upward. Of all those observing the act, none failed to skip a beat. None more so than Naoto and Rise.

On top of Astaire's shoulders stood a head with stretched, unhealthy skin, barely clinging to the skull underneath. It was stretched so far it looked on the verge of splitting. Where there should have been eyes under his dark, matted hair, only sunken, dark sockets remained. His mouth gaped, lipless and muscular.

Astaire was an Undead.

Realisation sunk in as he turned to face everyone, the likes of Chie, Kanji and Yosuke recoiling at the sight, with everyone else blank with shock. Rise included. "No… No!" Astaire's sword dropped, as did he, as he backed off and clipped a stray brick embedded in the ground. He hung his head, trying his very best to hide behind his arms. "Don't look at me… DON'T LOOK AT ME!" He cried hysterically, sounding on the verge of tears himself.

"You can feel it drawing closer, can't you?" The shadow continued, uncaring of the state its creator was in. "The curse of the Darksign rotting you inside and out, your mind sifting away like sand through your fingers. Your wanton bloodlust reaching a fever pitch." Again, the shadow sneered as it squatted down to face Astaire. "I'm surprised you haven't turned on these people and killed them all already."

Astaire scrambled to his feet, clumsily bringing his Zweihander back to his side as his rotten, undead face screwed into an expression of fervent anger. "Shut up! Cease your incessant bickering, damn you!" He roared, all semblance of self control lost.

"What a tragic tale!" The shadow gestured dramatically, dancing around in circles. "Doomed to eternal lordly service with no return in sight, doomed to trying to save a world beyond salvation and doomed to give in to your insatiable, burning urge to kill as a result, hiding behind your Warriors of Sunlight as an excuse."

The contrast between Astaire and his shadow was like night and day. Not that anyone had expected anything different, such was the way with all shadows, but this one? This was the shadow of someone they had no clue about. A situation where they couldn't even begin to guess what plagued them. Rise felt her stomach twist at the thought of the person they'd come here to save being one of the monsters he himself had described, a being doomed to mindlessness.

A similar thought clawed at Naoto. Imagining how it must have felt to end the lives of so many, enough to create a mass grave large enough to walk on, that was bad enough. Doing it with the knowledge that he was doomed to one day turn into one and be no better off?

How could anyone relate? What could anyone say?

Astaire swung his sword uselessly as the shadow crept up on him once again, forcing him back with every step. "You unscrupulous letch! My service to Lord Gwyn is anything but an excuse! No true Warrior of Sunlight would ever say, nay, even think such rancid thoughts! You're nothing like me!"

Before anyone could open their mouths to stop him, it was too late.

"YOU'RE NOT ME!"

Silence fell as Astaire's shout echoed around the ruins, his maddened panting the only other noise to be heard.

Then his shadow began to laugh. A twisted, unsound laugh that quickly escalated into absolute mania. A laugh that ended only when it tore off its own hood, revealing the same undead face as Astaire's underneath, a pair of glowing yellow orbs of light in its sockets. "Not anymore, I'm not."

Everyone readied their weapons. Yu, Naoto, Kanji and Yukiko shot off to surround the shadow as it began drawing in dark energy in the familiar manner, everyone bracing for when it would transform.

Suddenly, the gathering stopped. The shadow remained unchanged. "Actually, I think this form will do just fine." The shadow sneered cockily, leaning on its own Zweihander and beckoning towards Yu. "As if I need to be any stronger than I am." Its newfound cocky attitude annoyed Yu, but all the same he held firm. Getting riled up was no doubt what it wanted.

His only wish was that someone had told Astaire that.

"You bastard! I'll see you quartered!" Astaire said through clenched, rotten teeth. He was already mid-swing, aiming for the shoulder of his yellow-eyed imposter as he bellowed in fury.

Without even looking, the shadow whipped around on the spot and swatted away the sword with its own, knocking Astaire off balance. "I am a shadow. The true self." It said, clutching what looked like a scrap of canvas in its hand. "I shall lay waste to you and this world both."

Astaire could do nothing but watch in shock as Wrath of the Gods hit him, the unimaginable force launching him back like a tossed ragdoll. He didn't even have time to yell as he disappeared over the edge of the cliff.

"ASTAIRE-KUN!" Rise screamed in shock. But it was too late.

A collective gasp was drawn from everyone present. They'd failed. For the first time, they'd come in to protect someone and watched them be sent to their death right in front of their eyes. It was a possibility they'd never even considered.

Yu gripped his sword ever tighter. They'd failed to protect the shadow's owner, but that didn't meant they couldn't beat the hell out of the shadow itself.

The shadow moved first, a feverish flame sprouting from the hand it dropped to the floor. Immediately the area was ablaze, massive pillars of fire rising from the ground, mounds of lava left in their wake. Yu leapt out of the way at the last second, wiping the fresh layer of sweat off his brow.

"Senpai, watch out!" Naoto yelled just in time for Yu to catch sight of the shadow, Zweihander primed to strike as it leapt through the wall of flame. Yu put his sword between the two, only for the superior weight of the opposition to completely blow him away, landing him on his back.

It felt like his body was on fire. Whatever power inhabited that sword, it wasn't only heavy, but hot. As hot at the pillars of fire and then some. The shadow loomed over him, sword over its head and ready to crush him flat. "It ain't gonna be that easy, asshole! Takeji-Zaiten!" Kanij's voice drew the shadow's attention long enough to see Takeji-Zaiten's sword looming towards him. The grey-haired one could wait. A well-timed dodge roll sent the Persona's blade flying uselessly over his head.

The dodge roll sent Kanji's foot usefully into his face. "Let's see you keep up that fire magic with my foot up your ass!" With the shadow stunned, Kanji aimed for its sword hand and brought his chair down, freeing the fiery blade from its grasp. Grinning confidently, he let the chair lie and rounded up a punch, aiming straight for the undead son of a bitch's nose.

He only got so far before he realised her error. The shadow lashed out a parry with its shield, throwing off Kanji's punch and leaving him wide open. Now swordless, it returned with one of its own, right to the gut. Kanji felt the wind knock out of him as he fell to his knees, floored by the punch to his jaw after.

The shadow grinned, cracking its armoured knuckles. "I've faced gods more times than I can count. What makes you think you're anything special?"

"Sumeo-Okami!"" The fiery explosion that sent it flying back gave him an answer. Recovering from the hit, the shadow scooped up its sword before Kanji could stop him, sending a fireball in Yukiko's direction as cover.

Of course, Yukiko being Yukiko, the flames dissipated uselessly around her. "What?! An immunity to fire?!" The shadow seethed. "Nobody in Lordran could have such a power!" An immunity to fire meant his sword would be useless too. Damnit. Damnit, damnit!

If she wasn't going to be easy killed, the other one would be. The shadow locked eyes with the Detective Prince, shooting her a wicked grin. The young detective saw his attempt to rile her up and denied him the pleasure, but at the same time her concern for Kanji was slowly beginning to overpower her strong sense of logic. She rose her pistol and steadied her aim. "Your methods are medieval at best. If I were you I'd surrender while I could." Naoto said softly, running a coarse finger over the hammer.

"Oh, give over." The shadow inhaled deeply, lurching forward and spewing forth a poisonous cloud from its mouth. Naoto's aimed wavered. Not only because she hadn't expected him to breath poison, but because the cloud was so thick that aiming was impossible.

The rancid cloud threatened to swallow her whole. Seeing no other option, she kicked off from her offensive position while covering her mouth with her sleeve and controlling her breaths. The moment she felt the weight of the shadow slam into her, she knew it'd been a mistake. No match for someone as tall as Kanji wearing armour, Naoto slammed against a stone wall at full force.

The few shots she managed through her trauma-inflicted haziness tore through the shadow's armour, yet still it stood. "That feels dangerous, that does. I think I'll be rid of you first." It growled, drawing the Zweihander back as though to run her through.

"Like hell you will!" Kanji's arm wrapped around the shadow's neck, unable to be pried off thanks to the massive sword taking up his hands. "Try dodging this, you creepy-lookin' freak! Ziodyne!" With strength fueled by a mix of rage and adrenaline, Kanji wrenched the shadow around and outright threw him towards the bonfire, right into the full might of Takeji-Zaiten's Ziodyne.

The massive bolt of electricity sent a tingle around the bodies of everyone present, such was its power. The brilliant, blinding flash of light subsided quickly, the shadow spasming on the ground from the shock. It was down, but it was definitely still alive.

Naoto accepted the hand Kanji offered her, quickly taking aim again as the shadow weakly got back on its feet. "Such power… Is but a fraction of what I've been through! The Lord of Sunlight would scoff at your efforts!" Though its words were scathing and confident, its mannerisms were anything but. Bent over, one arm limp and the other wrapped around its chest. "But it seems I underestimated what you could do in a group. Looks like I'll have to cheat a little."

A black fog began drawing in and wrapping around the shadow, the additional power the TV World offered mixing with its own. Yu looked on wide-eyed as Yukiko's Diarahan got rid of the intense burning within him. This was it. This would be its massive, True Shadow form. If it was anything like the normal one, it'd be no easy fight.

"Tremble before the true might of the Chosen Undead, Vanquisher of Lords and-"

"Oh, shut up already! You're giving me a headache!" Came a familiar voice from somewhere. Whoever had spoken, Yu just about caught a glimpse of their figure leaping into the black fog. As the sound of a struggle between shadow and intruder took over, it caught Yu's eye that the fog, once swirling and chaotic, had ceased moving.

This was their chance. "Izanagi-no-Okami!" The golden figure emerged from the air behind Yu, its very presence weighting the atmosphere. It struck as pose as a massive gale of wind tore at the dark fog, striking the shadow in turn.

"Yowch! Sensei! Watch where you're casting that kind of stuff!"

Yu's eyes widened as Teddie's voice shouted over the gale, the newly cleared view revealing him to be locking arms with Astaire's shadow. One was pressing against the other, trying to get the other to move and failing each time. Seeing his moment to strike, Yu swept up behind the shadow just as its glowing eyes met his. Feeling as though his body was moving on its own, Yu plunged his sword into its back, sending it to the ground as he withdrew it. Blood soaked his blade and the ground as the supposed Lordslayer lay flat on its back.

The shadow was done. It lay silent, opting instead of lock eyes with its assailants as they gathered around.

"Well? Not so frickin' mouthy now, are ya?" Kanji mocked.

"That thing…" The shadow weakly turned to face Teddie, who had returned to Chie and Yosuke's sides. "What in Gwyn's name is it?"

"I'm everybody's favourite Junes-brand heartthrob, Teddie!" Teddie announced proudly, striking a pose as he jabbed a thumb at his chest.

"I see." The shadow set its head on the ground, looking close to passing out. "You never did introduce yourselves, you know. Ms. Kujikawa notwithstanding." As everybody prepared to object, they realised it was right. "Alone in this damnable world of the Undead, and only one of you even gave him a name to call you by. Any wonder he felt so pathetically alone."

"Alone?" Rise inquired, kneeling down to meet the unsightly undead warrior face-to-face. "You never mentioned anything about that when you were taunting Astaire-kun earlier."

"Just because I never brought it up doesn't mean it's untrue. No form of companionship is permanent in this world. Not one." The shadow closed its eyes, looking somewhat content. "Luckily, you only find that out at the end. Looks like he'll never have to make it that far though, huh?" It cackled weakly.

The group looked amongst each other. They'd been so caught up in finding the shadow that they forgot to show concern for its owner. Even without his odd-sounding past, it'd have been enough to make any of them feel terrible.

"GOT YOU NOW, MOTHERFUCKER!" There was a deafening explosion of sound as a massive blade ripped apart the defenceless shadow on the ground, shattering it into innumerable tiny pieces. The ground shook as several stone structures toppled from the sheer might of the impact.

A very satisfied, albeit partially deranged looking, Knight Astaire stood with his undead hands on the hilt, panting heavily. "Hah! The real Knight Astaire would never have been so careless! I knew you were an imposter!"

A pregnant silence followed, in which everyone's eyes slowly turned towards Astaire. He'd just taken out his own shadow.

He'd also just said 'motherfucker,' which hardly seemed very knightly. But that was beside the point.

As the euphoric rush of adrenaline and victorious pride seeped away, the sunken-eyed knight began taking notice of the attention. He glanced between Yu, Rise, Teddie, then back to Rise again, biting down on where his lower lip should have been.

"Was I… not supposed to do that?"