Hello my readers, the 7th chapter of the fiction, so without further words, let's get to it.

Chapter 7: answers

It's been 2 weeks since the investigation group saved Ed in the TV world, and on Monday morning Ed came to school, this surprised the group because they all took a lot long to come back to school to regain their strength, they went over to him and started to ask questions.

"Hey, your back, we thought you'd wait a while longer before coming back," Yu said.

"Yeah, I was considering it, but I'm not one to just sit around and do nothing," Ed said with a small chuckle.

The others chuckled too and continued to have their conversation.

"Anyway, after school, we should talk about what happened in the TV world after school, there are a lot of questions that we all need to answer each other," Naoto said.

"Yeah, your right, we could talk back at my apartment," Ed said.

"You have an apartment?" Yukiko asked.

"Of course, what do you expect me to be sleeping under some tree in the park, that'd be stupid," Ed said while laughing.

"well then I guess we'll meet up at the train station after school," Yu said.

They nodded and went to their own classes, the teachers were concerned that Ed wasn't taking care of himself, but he just pushed them off and said" it could be worse," the rest of the school questioned him about what happened and where he's been, Ed just brushed them all off and hung out with the investigation team, when school finally ended, they went straight for the bus stop, after an hour long ride they were a few hours away from the edge of town, they saw a small and cheap looking condominium, neighborhood across the street and a store next to the condominium, when they entered the living room, it was small and dimly lit with only a little light escaping the closed blinds, when they looked around the room, they saw that the only things in the room was a couch, a lamp and a desk in the corner next to a kitchen, but something they noticed about Ed was that he wasn't that neat a person, for one thing there was crumbled up pieces of paper everywhere, the desk was taken over by books, and there were a lot of Takeout, bento boxes and instant ramen cups either on the kitchen table, the coffee table or in an overflowing garbage can.

"This place is… nice," Rise said awkwardly trying to be nice.

"You don't have to lie, I know I need to clean up, but I've been really busy trying to find a way back home," Ed said.

"Well with that said we should get down to the reason we came here," Yu said.

They nodded and went to take a seat on either a chair or on the couch, it was a tight fit but the managed to make it work, and with that they started asking each other the questions that needed to be answered.

"So, Ed, from what we saw in your dungeon, you seem to have some pretty confusing things in there," Chie said.

"Really, like what?" Ed asked.

"A lot of books, pages ripped from books, destroyed photos and markings on walls," Naoto said.

"The dungeon is supposed to be a representation of the true self, and with yours we can't figure out what yours is," Yu said

"From what your shadow said, you deep down feel like life isn't worth living," Naoto said, there was a moment of silence before she continued.

"So, what's the connection from what we saw in there?"

"Well, it's a lot that happened in my past, things that I want to forget but at the same time I don't want to forget, I know it's confusing but that's just how I feel," Ed said.

"So, then what happened in your past that makes you feel this way," Yosuke asked.

"Well my past is a long and complicated answer," Ed said.

"We got time," Teddie said.

"Alright, but if I tell you my backstory then you guys need to tell me yours, I know that you guys are keeping huge secrets too, so if I tell you my story, you tell me yours, equivalent exchange."

"That's fair, so if that's the case who should go first?" Yu asked.

"I guess I should go first, cause my stories a pretty long one, it all started the night my father left…"

He told them everything, he told them about his mom, his brother, the military, the homunculi, Nina and the gate, and when he finished, they were all shocked to say the least, all their questions had answers and it was both a satisfying and disappointing feeling, knowing how all the dots were connected was a good thing, but knowing how they were connected in a dark, depressing and over all scary way left them wondering if they knew what they were in for made them wondering if they really wanted the answers at all.

"Wow… you've been through a lot in your life," Chie said.

"So… you're from the other side of this… gate?" Yosuke asked.

"I said that didn't I, but I don't want you guys to just look at me and see a sad person that wallows in their self-pity!" Ed said.

"Don't worry, we won't, it's just your life's been so dark, you told us you were 16, so knowing how you're not even a legal adult yet and you already went through what could only be called hell is just sad and shocking," Yu said

"I understand, this side of the gate seems to be a lot more boring than there, but at least you don't have to worry about the dangers of homunculi or people using alchemy just for their own selfish needs, so I guess it's a good thing alchemy doesn't exist here."

"Yeah but that doesn't change that there are somethings here that we need to worry," Rise said.

"But theres something I think we all noticed, the way you described alchemy sounds exactly the same as the powers your shadow used," Naoto said, as the others nodded.

"He did? maybe it has to do with the fact that I'm from another world," Ed said.

"Maybe, but its still weird, usually a shadows abilities are the same as a persona's, things like lightning or wind are common, but you'res abilities are unique," Yu said.

"If that's the case than why am i so special?"

"Your alchemy is apart of who you are, so if you can use it then your shadow can too I guess," Yukiko said.

"If that's the case, then maybe your persona can use it too," Yosuke said.

"That does seem like a possibility, but lets talk about that later, Edward do you have any questions for us now?" Naoto said.

"Yeah,whats your story?" Ed said.

"Well, it all started when I came to town..." Yu went on to tell their story.

By the end Ed was surprised by what they told him, normally he would've laughed at them and say they were making it up, but he remembers seeing his own shadow when he woke up there, so he believed them.

"Man, that's crazy, about as crazy as my life so far, only your story was condensed into the span of a year, I'm almost jealous," Ed said.

"Well it seems like that craziness is starting back up, because someone threw you in there, Ed, do you remember anything before you woke up in the dungeon?" Yu asked.

"Not much, all I remember is doing some research on alchemy before bed and then everything went blank."

"So, the kidnapper somehow got into your apartment without you noticing?" Naoto asked

"You don't remember possibly letting anyone in before you blacked out, do you?" Kanji asked.

"Not really, and like I said I was I was doing research, why would I do that if I had a guest over?" Ed asked.

"Maybe they were helping you," Teddie said.

They all sweat dropped at this and continued to talk.

"Well that's something to go by, the kidnapper is able to get into people's house without them noticing." Naoto said.

"Yeah so, we should all keep an eye out for anything suspicious, and make sure you're with someone in your family at all times," Yu said.

They all nodded in agreement and decided to ask Ed a question.

"So, Ed since you now have a persona now, why don't you join us?" Yu asked.

"Well I got nothing else to lose, so why not? But if I help you, you guys should help me find a way home, sound like a deal?" as Ed said this he held his hand out to Yu, Yu just smiled and shook his hand.

They all seem to be happy with a new team mate and they were excepting of Ed's terms, Teddie handed Ed a pair of glasses that were the same color as his eyes, he was upset that they weren't red but Yukiko said, "Sorry, that colors taken," they all laughed at this and Ed just smirked, accepted them and thanked Teddie anyway. With that out of the way they decided that they should go into Ed's dungeon again tomorrow to let Ed get a feel of his powers and to do a bit of training when needed in the future, after a few hours one by one they all got calls from their parents asking for them to come home, the last one there by around 7:00 was Yu.

"Hey, thanks for letting me join you guys, its honestly been boring without some big action like what you guys go through," Ed said.

"Well it's always nice to have a new teammate when we can," Yu said.

"Yeah, but this is a little weird for me, I've never really been on a big team like this, it's only ever been just me and Al, I mean we had a few tag-alongs every now and then, but it's never really been like this."

"That's alright, if you need help or have any questions don't hesitate to ask."

"You just made a big mistake asking that, cause I'm going to have a LOT of questions."

Yu sweat dropped but understood, but when this moment passed Ed put his head down and had serious look on his face.

"Look, Yu, I don't care about what my shadow, you know about how when it said I don't want to go home? while I've accepted that, but I'm still going to find a way, because even though I don't know how many angry people I'll go back to, I still want to go back no matter what it takes me."

"I understand, and I'll make sure to do what I can to help, but let's not take this into extreme measures like murder, alright?"

"Yeah, I may have a lot on my shoulders already, but knowing an innocent person's blood would be on my hands is too much to bare."

Yu and Ed smiled at each other and fist bumped.

"So, tomorrow I finally get to try this persona thing, right?"

"Yeah, by the way, the first few times you summon it, it might feel kind of tingly, like you got butterflies and goosebumps at the same time when you summon the card, but you get so used to it you won't even feel it."

"Noted."

"Hey, I got to go, my cousin Nanako must be pretty worried, see yah tomorrow."

Ed threw a" see yah," back before Yu opened the door to leave, when he got back, Nanako was watching TV, but when she heard Yu come in, she immediately got up to hug his waist.

"Your back! Where were you!? you had me and daddy worried!" Nanako said seeming both relieved and angry.

"Sorry I worried you guys, I was at a friend's house and I lost track of time," Yu said to her, trying to calm her down.

Nanako lost her anger and looked down with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry big bro, I was just worried that something could've happened to you, your usually home earlier than this." Nanako said, Yu just smiled and said.

"Its alright, hey by the way, where is Dojima?"

"He's at work, he told me that if he works late tonight, he's be able to spend time with me when schools out!" Nanako said excited.

"That's great! so with that out of the way, is there any leftovers?"

"Yeah, in the fridge, it's all set up for you."

Yu gave his thanks and went to get the leftover sesame chicken and noodles and he sat down with Nanako and said.

"Oh, and Nanako."

"Yeah?"

"Try not to scold or talk to me like a mom please?"

Nanako just giggled and nodded yes before they turned their attention to the TV, enjoying what time was left in the night together before they needed to go to sleep.

Well that's it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it and was pleased with it, so please, follow fav and review, and I'll see yah later, and happy halloween!