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Summary- Chapter 8: Romi Dalian and Kyo Itama

A/N: Okay first I will address some reviews

Arcananox- I am really glad you like it and hope you continue to enjoy this as I continue.

Natzo- For your concerns about Naoto, I am going more for character growth than ooc-ness, but if it continues to get out of hand, and I get more people raising issue with it I will revise and bring her back to more like she is in the game. Also if you could pm me with the parts that were weird for you I can see what I can do to clear them up. Just copy and paste the specific paragraphs or lines into the message.

kurosukurenai-You reviewed for chapter 5, I am glad you like this so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy it. It was my goal from the beginning to take these characters to the next level in all aspects of their lives. We will continue to see the characters grow and learn more about themselves throughout the entire story. Also I want to thank you for your condolences; it has been a difficult time for my family and me. However I feel that it is time to move forward, I think that is what my father would have wanted.

Now that those are taken care of I want to let all of you that I hope you are enjoying my work and want to thank you for taking your time to read it. Soon I will be introducing some oc's, and I really want your opinions on them. Also there will be something special about one of their names, whoever can figure it out will get a special shout out in the next chapter. Now without further ado your feature presentation.

We walked for quite a while, longer I think than it ever took to get there before. After about a half hour we began hearing something. We realized that it was music, a lone flute. It was really faint at first, but as we got closer it gradually got louder. When we finally were at the site we hid before the person could see us. We needed a plan in case this person wasn't friendly. I peered out from where we were hiding and noticed that there were two people, a guy and a girl, instead of the one we were expecting.

I looked at Rise questioningly; she must have understood what it meant because she whispered to me, "I don't understand, I can sense the girl, she's the one with the weird aura, but I'm getting nothing from the boy. It's like he's not really there."

"Hmm," I said, "this could be serious. If there are people that Rise can't sense then we could definitely be in trouble. However I don't want to just assume that these people mean us any harm." Just then we heard the flute stop and the people began to speak.

"Kyo," said the girl "is something wrong? You seem upset, are you not enjoying my playing?" Her voice was soft and rather feminine, but her words carried an authority with them.

Then the man began to speak, "No Miss Romi, your playing was wonderful as ever, but I felt something. Please allow me to take a look around." By the way he spoke we could tell that he was subservient to her. His voice was rather masculine.

"Don't be silly Kyo, I'll send one of them to look around. Or you could summon Gama and be done with it. Honestly Kyo why do you have to insist on doing everything the hard way? Besides what if it's the person we are looking for and you scare him off? That won't do very well. Oh well," then her voice changed a little, "Go my little love take a look around for me please."

"My apologies Miss Romi."

We looked around at each other, wondering who it was that they were looking for. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was one of us. And if so then which one and what did they want with that person? Also I wondered who Gama was. Could he be a persona, they way they were talking about it sounded like he was like Rise. They didn't seem evil, but then neither did Adachi, so I decided to play it safe.

I motioned for the others to move back before they caught us, but before any of us could move something zipped past us. As if noticing us it came back and looked at each of us carefully. It seemed to be looking for something, perhaps the person that 'Romi" girl was looking for. When it got to be I noticed that it looked very much like my pixie, but dressed in green instead of blue. After taking a long look at me she sped off back to where the two were. There was a moment of silence before the girl started speaking again.

"Oh, good news Kyo, she says that we've found him. He should be right over there. In fact they can probably hear us right now." She sounded happy.

"They, miss Romi? I thought we were only looking for one person." There was a worry in his voice.

"Of, yes we are only looking for him specifically, but he seems to have found a whole team. She says there are seven more of them. He must be very good to draw out so many others. Now Kyo don't give me that look. We knew when we were given this assignment that there would probably be others. Now let's go ever and introduce ourselves, before they get the wrong idea."

We heard a sigh and then "Yes Miss Romi."

Unsure of what to do I motioned everyone to stand up. We could hear them coming towards us. I had everyone get their cards ready, just in case. Then finally we were able to see each other. They walked slowly as if trying not to scare us away.

The girl was about an average height, with long black hair pulled back in a braid, she had green eyes and was wearing what looked like a Chinese battle kimono. The guy with her towered over her, almost as tall as Kanji, he wore simple clothes, not baggy but loose enough to move around with no problem. His hair was also black, but his eyes were brown. From the way he walked it was easy to tell that he was protective of her. Upon closer inspection I could see that they were both carrying weapons. At his hip there was a whip and on his back there was a dual broad sword. She was carrying a large staff scythe almost twice her height. The sight was rather intimidating, especially considering that we didn't bring our own weapons. Upon that realization I almost kicked myself. When they got close enough the girl began to speak.

"Hello, are you by any chance Souji Seta?" I wasn't sure how to respond, but decided that it was best to stay with the truth.

"Yes. Now who are you?" I said stepping forward a bit. I could feel my friend's unease as I did.

"Oh, good I was hoping you would be. You look exactly as the elders described you. And as to whom we are, I am Romi Dalian, and this is my partner, bodyguard and analyzer Kyo Itama. Here Kyo, take my Zamana." She then handed the scythe to her partner and walked over to me. She then bowed respectfully. I bowed back to be polite. "I am impressed at how many others you managed to find. It seems to be true that people like us tend to attract others to us."

"People like us, others, what do you mean?" I asked

"By others I mean persona users, and by people like us, I mean Wild Cards." She giggled as she spoke, as if it were obvious. I was shocked. I knew that there were other Wild Cards, but I never imagined I would ever meet one of them.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say. "So that means that you can use multiple personas too?"

"Yes, I have the potential to summon 53 different personas. In fact you already met one. How many can you summon?" I thought for a moment, so that little pixie thing was a persona.

"I can summon up to 187, well 177 one of them is locked right now."

"178! Wow, see Kyo, I told you we needed him. That's amazing, they didn't tell us that." She seemed to be truly amazed by the number. As she was going on about it Naoto spoke up.

"Excuse me, what do you mean we already met one? Was that the little thing that stared at Senpai so long?"

"Huh, oh yes. That was my Neo-pixie. Now who are you?" It didn't appear that she was trying to be rude, but that was certainly how that came out. I could see the insult in Naoto's face.

"I am..." she started but I interrupted her.

"She is a member of my team, and should be treated with respect. That is how I expect all of my teammates to be treated." I gave Romi a stern look.

"Oh, I didn't mean to come off as rude. I do apologize. Sometimes I forget that I am not among my clansmen. Again I offer my sincerest my apologies." She seemed sincere. So I let it slide for now. "Not let me rephrase, who might you be? I have been given no information about any of Seta's companions."

"Better." I said. "Now let me introduce my team. This here is Naoto Shirogane, she's a detective. Over there with the headphones and red hair is Yosuke Hanamura. Next to him are Chie Satonaka, with the track jacket, and Yukiko Amagi, her family runs the local inn. To my right is Kanji Tatsumi, and beside him is Rise Kujikawa, you might know her from TV. And last is Teddie over there."

After I finished Kyo spoke, but only to Romi. "Miss Romi, that one there gives off a strange aura." Under her breath I heard Rise comment, "Funny coming from somebody who gives off no aura." They didn't seem to hear her so I let it go.

"Oh, how so Kyo?" Romi looked at Teddie with new interest.

"He feels like a shadow." Was all he said, venom dripping off his words.

"Well that is interesting. Mind telling me why that is?"

Before I could say anything Teddie Chimed in, "That's because I use to be a shadow." He said this with a large smile on his face, like it's the best news anyone will ever hear. I ran my fingers through my hair. As if sensing my frustration Naoto discreetly put a hand on my elbow. In the time we had been together she had become more comfortable showing her affections around our friends, but was still shy around others. This morning, I believe, was a fluke; she was probably just overexcited about seeing me again after so long. I smiled at her then moved to intervene.

Kyo had moved in between Romi and the rest of us and asked, 'What are you doing associated with some of them?" He said it with so much disgust that it was almost tangible. "Don't you know how dangerous they are? How can you be so foolish? It'll probably revert to its former self any second to destroy us all!"

It was the most he had spoken then whole time and every word he said burned at my heart. I had not felt so angry in a long time, and Naoto seemed to sense it because she slowly backed away. I looked back at Teddie who looked like he was about to cry. Rise was there trying to comfort him, as was Kanji. Chie and Yosuke looked like they were about to punch Kyo, and Yukiko just looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

I turned back to where Kyo and Romi were standing and striated myself up to my full height. My eyes were burning with anger and I spoke in as calm a voice as I could manage.

"Listen here Kyo Itama; you do not talk about any member of my team like that. As he stated he use to be a shadow. He hasn't been one for over a year. He even has a persona. And if I ever hear you speak about him like that again you will personally see just how many personas I have. Like I said I expect every member of my team to be treated with respect. Do not judge him based on what he once was, but as he is now." I then looked directly at Romi, "You said you need my help, well I can guarantee that insulting one of my friends is not the way to elicit it. If you were to get to know him you would realize that he is little more than a child in a teenager's body. He is one of the sweetest, most caring, and goofy people I know. Now if you can put your prejudice aside I will hear you out. If you don't think you can manage that then leave now." The others sounded their agreement and Naoto was once again by my side.

Romi looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "Alright Souji Seta, I will give your Shadow Boy a chance. However if he shows any indication that he might hurt somebody I will eliminate him immediately."

I looked at her closely, "If you so much as try to hurt him I will stop you. He would never hurt anyone."

"Understood, Kyo stand down." Her voice softening slightly but still holding authority.

"But…" he began to protest.

KYO, you forget your place. I said stand down." The authority in her voice could not be denied.

"Yes Miss Romi." He backed away reluctantly.

"Now," Romi began, this time speaking to me, "back to business. As you know we need your help. What you do not know however is that the fate of the world rests in our defeating this new evil."

"So what is it that we are up against?" She had caught my interest.

She looked directly at me as she spoke. "It is not so much of a what as a whom. This person goes by many names, but we know this person as the Shadow Summoner."

A/N: Yay, now the title makes sense. SO what do you guys think about my attempt at a cliff hanger. Also I tried to make a border, but I don't know if it will work, but at least I tried. What do you think about Romi and Kyo? I know I made them kinda jerky right now, but trust me they will get better, I think. Anyway, review and let me know. Also, check it out I hit over 2000 words, that's a record for me as far as single chapters/oneshots, and I only have one oneshot that hits this many. So another yay. Later.