Pre-Chapter Review Answer Corner, GO!

Astrih Konnash - Hey, nice to hear from you again! Glad you liked it.

KazuSaki - As I said, 'Switch It Up!' Chapters are gonna be a recurring thing, and you'll just have to wait and see. There's a total of seven planned, counting Junpei's. The last one will be a real surprise for everyone. Also, you're a very perceptive reviewer! I have Chekhov's Stuff hidden in a few chapters already and some planned for later ones. As with the Switch It Up Chapters, you'll just have to wait and see what I've got in store.

ALSO A BONUS ALERT: There's a TV Tropes page for AFNF! Link on my profile, add to it if you feel like it(I'll stop putting this in the pre-chapter bit after Chapter 10). Also, I'd like to thank P.T. Piranha for Beta Editing this chapter for me! And now, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!


"Okay guys, keep these things busy for like... twenty seconds!" I said as everyone else was fighting off a Tartarus Guardian Shadow. "I have a cunning plan!"

"Well make it quick!" Shouted Hamuko as she dodged a wind blast from the Guardian. "This thing is really nasty!"

"Don't worry, I just have to make myself angry and all with be well!" I said, touching both sides of my head with my index fingers. "Just have to think of mean things! Like milk! No, wait, Red Bull!"

"What the hell are you doing?" barked Shinjiro. "Help us damn it!"

"I will! But first... brain must be a mountain of hatred..." I stammered. "Now I'm thinking about kittens... kittens... covered in spikes... that... makes... me angry...!"

I let out a feral shout as the rage started actually taking over.

"MY NAME. IS ROY. L. FORTUNE." I bellowed. "AND I. HATE. BABIES!"


I sorta lost track of what the hell was going on at that point, I just know there was a lot of shouting, a lot of anger, and a lot of something getting the shit beat out of it. I snapped out of it... I think maybe seven minutes later because of someone slapping me.

"Okay... that was totally worth it..." I said as I rubbed my face. "I hurt basically everywhere but it was worth it."

"What the hell was that?" asked Shinjiro.

"Berserker!" I replied cheerfully. "A Persona of mine who basically revolves around me getting into unstoppable rage and killing the hell out of everything not friendly. That was me using him. I'm probably not gonna do it again because I have no idea what the hell just happened."

Yukari looked at me like I was actually crazy. "You tore that Shadow apart with your bare hands!"

"Really? Damn... Guess using a Persona ability to make myself angry while it also had an ability that makes me physically stronger while angry will do that." I said as I focused on a different Persona. "Sure as hell not using that guy ever again. Get angry at the wrong time and I could take out a wall or ten."

"Yeah... that would be bad..." agreed Hamuko. "But what's your middle name?"

-...What.- "Why the sudden interest?"

"Well you were shouting in English for one thing," she said, speaking perfect English herself. "And you said your middle name started with an 'L'. So what is it?"

-...Fuck.- "...I'll tell you later. For now let's just move along..."

"Okay!"


We got a few more floors up and got absolutely swarmed by Shadows. It wasn't anything we couldn't handle of course, especially not with Shinjiro basically disintegrating them by the dozen.

"Tch." he grunted after we finished off the last of them. "Some things never change..." He turned towards everyone, then looked around like he was confused. "Wait, where's that other one who came with us? Ari... sato?"

"I'm right here, Senpai~!"

He sighed. "I know I told you-"

Both him and me stopped and had our jaws drop when we got a load of Hamuko. Mainly, that she was now suddenly wearing very, very little. It was like a silver-colored swimsuit with matching thigh-high boots, bicep-length gloves, a headband thing, and some vaguely armored pieces. And high heels.

"...Hamuko-san, what the hell are you wearing?" I asked. "And where did you find it?"

She shrugged. "I dunno what it's called, but I found it in a room with a few gold boxes in it back there!" She pointed back the way she'd come from. "And don't let the look fool you, it's really sturdy stuff!" She struck a sort of victory pose. "I hardly got a scratch~!"

"We can see that..." said Yukari blankly. "But why are you wearing that?"

"It looks cute." Hamuko replied simply, then she dug around in a satchel she had over her shoulder. "I found a red one too if you want one, Yukari-chan!"

"NO WAY!" said the brunette archer instantly. "There is no way I'm going to wear that!"

"Awww..."

"How the fuck can you even wear that?" sputtered Shinjiro.

"Easily?" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It's just a set of clothes..."

"Barely!" shouted Yukari. "You need to put something else on over that!"

Hamuko tilted her head. "Why?"

"Because it's indecent!"

"So?"

Yukari and Hamuko continued on like that while Shinjiro walked over to me.

"I gotta ask..." he began. "What kind of people is Kirijo recruiting for SEES these days? And where is she finding them?"

I shrugged. "No clue, but technically I'm imported from America."

He sighed. "Great..."

Yukari wouldn't stop hassling Hamuko about the 'Battle Panties' as she called the outfit, so just to get her to stop I asked Hamuko to wear my coat at least till we were back at the dorm so she could actually get changed. Of course the trek through the Greek Tower of Doom that is oddly in Japan came to a halt when we found another wall blocking our path.


It wasn't until the next morning I even remembered to get my jacket back, so I headed up to the third floor after I had breakfast and all that morning routine stuff. Lucky for me it was Sunday.

I knocked on the door a few times once I was up there. "Hey, Hamuko-san! It's Roy."

No answer, so I knocked again. Harder this time.

"Hamuko-san!"

I heard some shuffling, then the door opened.

"Ah, sorry Roy-kun!" she apologized, holding my coat out to me. "I didn't hear you!"

"It's fine." I said as I took my coat. "Listening to music with your headphones on, I assume?"

She shook her head. "No, I was watching Digimon."

I blinked. "...Which season?"

"The first." She replied. "I'm gonna marathon through all of the ones I have on DVD every Sunday for the next few weeks."

"Mind if I join you?"

Her eyes lit up in surprise. "You're a fan?"

"Well yeah, it's freaking Digimon! Digimon is glorious!"

She opened the door and pointed at the chair by her desk. "Sit. Now."


I think we went through about... eh, half of the first season before we called it a good enough place to stop.

"Ahh, that was pretty great, wasn't it? It's kinda weird how the quality in episode twenty-one is a lot better than the rest of the season." She commented idly, as she hugged her pillow. "Mm, it's kind of nice. I haven't watched this with anyone since I was little."

"You watched it when it first aired?"

"Of course I did! With my older brother, duh." she answered, before casting her gaze away. "... Back then when my family felt more like a real family."

Hoo boy. "Parents argue?"

Hamuko shook her head. "No, they're just always busy."

"What about your brother?"

"He's overseas studying." she sighed. "He still talks to me a lot, though. He's such a hermit I wouldn't be surprised if he stays up just to talk to me. I almost never saw him leave the house, let alone his room, when we were kids!"

"Ha! What's he like?"

"A little taller then me, his hair's more like our mom's, and almost lazier then a brick wall sometimes." she giggled. "He's really nice at heart, though. And seems to attract women like bees to honey."

"Like Akihiko-san?"

"Worse."

I whistled. "Damn. That's gotta be inconvenient."

"He doesn't care." said Hamuko. "His typical response to everything is basically 'Whatever'."

"Sounds like a riot at parties."

"Now you're just quoting me!" Pharos joked.

-Hush please, Pharos.-

"He was." she said, smiling sadly. "I miss him, though..."

"I kinda know the feeling." I said. "I miss a few friends of mine from back in Seattle."

She gave me a curious look. "What about your parents?"

I twitched. "...They passed away ten years ago."

"Oh..." She hugged her pillow tighter. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. Can't blame you if you didn't know, now can I?"

"True..."

I patted her on the shoulder. "So don't sweat it. I've got thick skin for that sort of thing anyways. Only thing that bugs me is people like those thugs calling me 'gaijin'."

"Oh so that's why you looked so mad then..." she said. "Can't say I blame you either. If it'd been me I would've hit them as well."

"I could see that." I said in unison with Pharos.

"Well I'm sure you could." Hamuko stated matter-of-factly. "It's just how I am."

I laughed. "Well if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that you have no shame. Especially not after that whole thing last night with that armor you found."

"What is this 'shame' you speak of?" she asked. "Clearly it's not something I have."

CRASH

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to make a Persona of the Fortune Arcana...

-Weird ass timing you've got there, spooky voices...-

"By the way, what's your middle name?"

-...Crap.- "I was hoping you forgot about that..."

"Nope!" She said with a huge smile. "So what is it?"

"I'm curious too..." added Pharos.

-Oh you just stay out of this ya little twerp.-

"Can't make me."

-Damn it... Fine.- "It's Lawrence."

Hamuko looked at me oddly. "Lawrence?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Roy Lawrence Fortune. Happy now?"

She giggled. "That's awesome!"

"How is it awesome?!" I asked. "I mean sure, it was my grandfather's name, but still!"

"It's awesome because it is, okay?"

I sighed. "At least you're not going on and on about the pun..."

"Royal Fortune?"

-Pharos you do not know how glad I am she can't-

"Pun...? Roy L..." Her eyes lit up. "Royal Fortune?"

"Oh god damn it..."

Hamuko started giggling again.

-Sigh.- "Just don't go spreading it around, okay?"

She gave me a mock pouting look. "Fiiiiiine..."

"I mean it, Hamuko-san."

She laughed. "I know! And just Hamuko is fine."

"Alrighty then."


Nothing much else happened for the rest of the day, but I met up with Yukari at the station on the way to school on Monday.

"Mornin'... Ya know, in about a week, there'll be another mission..."

"Gonna be weird one, that's for sure."

Yukari looked at me funny. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how the Lost have been turning up in pairs?"

"Yeah..."

"That's not what Heirophant is about, upright or reversed. Lovers deals with pairs, and is right after Heirophant."

"Wait, so there's gonna be two of them again?"

"Seems likely." I said. "Probably wanna be careful..."

Yukari nodded. "Mmhm..."

"Something up?" I asked, noting the odd look on her face.

"...Well, I'm kinda wondering what we're gonna do after we defeat the last eight Shadows..." she said. "I've been thinking about this for a while. I still wonder if Mitsuru-senpai is hiding something from us..."

I hummed quietly. "Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there. She seems kinda guarded about a lot of things..."

"Well so are you, Roy." commented Pharos.

-That is an entirely different matter.-

"If you say so..."

"What do you think we should do, Roy-kun?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Ask somebody else for help? I mean, Fuuka-san is always on a laptop so maybe she knows some stuff about computers?"

"Huh... yeah, I'll see about that! Thanks!"

"Anytime."


The day proceeded as normal till about... eh, I think a half hour after I got back to the dorm? That's when somethin' unexpected happened. It started with a knock at the door...

"A visitor...?" Fuuka seemed to ask nobody in particular.

"Who is that guy?" asked Junpei as he tried to peek out the window. "Never seen him before..."

Eh? "What's he look like?"

"Uh... kinda tall, brown hair, looks like he just rolled out of bed..."

-...Oh there is no way he is actually here.- "I'll get the door then."

So I got up and opened the door, and low and behold a familiar face staring at me with a big grin plastered on his mug. About my height, a mop of shaggy brown hair on his head, blue-lensed sunglasses on his face and almost obscuring his green eyes, a loose fitting blue shirt under an icy gray button-up shirt that was naturally unbuttoned, a sweatshirt tied around his waist, jeans on his legs, and black shoes.

My jaw hung open for a second before I actually managed to say anything. "Tracey?"

"Roy!" He practically bellowed in English as he slammed his hand down on my shoulder. "Good ta' see ya!"

I laughed and lightly punched him in the ribs. "Dude! Zoe said you were outta town, but what're you doin' in Japan?"

"Ah, you know how it goes." He said. "Gotta keep an eye on Nathan because of all those reasons and such on my contract."

"Oh yeah, he came by the other day or somethin' and he was lookin' for me. Something happen?"

Tracey laughed. "What, he's gotta have a reason to check on the son of one of his best friends?"

I gave him a look.

"Oh don't give me that, he just wanted to check on ya. Why do you think I'm here?"

"He gave you the day off?"

"PFFT as if! We're talking about the same Nathan Zahama, right?"

"Ano, Roy-san...?"

Oh right whoops "Oh, uh, sorry guys." I turned towards everyone gathered in the dorm lounge staring at me and Tracey. "This is Tracey Carlson, a good friend of mine. His Japanese isn't the best so cut him a little slack."

"Pleased to meet you." He said, actually managing to not mangle the words despite his thick accent. "I apologize for speaking incorrectly."

"You said 'speaking incorrectly' instead of 'saying anything wrong'."

Tracey sighed. "God damn it..."

"Well hey, nice ta' meet ya, Tracey-san!" said Junpei, a big grin on his face as he walked over and held out a hand. "A pal of Roy's is a pal of mine!"

Tracey shook Junpei's hand and looked at me. "He said I'm a friend of his cos I'm your friend, right?"

"Yep. Nathan's been drilling Rosetta Stone into your head, hasn't he?"

"Almost religiously."

I winced. "Ouch."

"At least it works..."

"Anyways, introductions!" I said as Junpei stepped back. "Tall, dark, and awesome here is Junpei Iori."

The man himself grinned.

"Over there with the laptop is Fuuka Yamagishi..."

"Nice to meet you, Carlson-san." She said politely, though she seemed nervous.

"Mr. Social there in the back is Shinjiro Aragaki."

A grunt was all the reply we got from him as he sort of loomed over by the emergency exit.

"The two over at the table eating everything are, from left to right, Hamuko Arisato and Akihiko Sanada."

The two of them sort of waved over at Tracey and me before resuming their snacking.

"Cripes, how much does that girl eat?"

"Lots." She said in English. "My favorite things are cooking, eating, and stuffed animals."

Tracey laughed. "She sounds like Zoe and Rick's little sister."

"Eh, Alison is more devious than she is." I said with a shrug, then I looked around. "Hey, is Mitsuru-senpai back yet?"

"Is something wrong, Fortune?"

I turned my head and Mitsuru was walking down the stairs towards us.

"Speak of the Devil and he shall appear..." Pharos commented with a chuckle from his perch on the sign-in counter.

"A visitor?" she asked.

"Yeah. This is my friend Tracey Carlson." I said. "Tracey, this is Mitsuru Kirijo."

"Kirijo?" he asked. "As in the Kirijo Group? Dang Roy, you sure know how to make friends... Then again-"

-Oh lord...- "Don't start."

Mitsuru seemed both on edge and confused. "What is he talking about, Fortune?"

-Sigh.- "Nothing. It's no-"

"Oh, right, you don't like to brag." Tracey said, slapping his palm over his face. "Sorry man..."

"Roy-kun?" asked Hamuko with a rather intently focus expression. "What's going on?"

-Well fuck, Hamuko's interested so I'm gonna have to blurt this out eventually!- "I'm kinda sorta filthy stinking rich."

That dropped a few jaws. Or at least the ones belonging to Junpei, Hamuko, Fuuka, and surprisingly Akihiko. Shinjiro looked vaguely more interested in things now from his little corner in the back, too.

"What?" I asked. "Is it bad I don't like gloating about my family being wealthy?"

"DUDE!" Junpei shouted, practically hopping over the couch to grab both my shoulders. "You're rich?"

"No you cannot borrow a few thousand Yen."

He scoffed. "Dude, I was gonna ask for a Playstation Three."

"Still no."

"Darn..."

"But yeah." I said, backing away from Junpei. "Dad started up a big research company back home and managed to hit it big. Like, almost Kirijo Group big."

Akihiko looked at Mitsuru, then at me. "You don't act like you're from a rich family..."

"Well that's because due to one unfortunate accident about ten years ago, I was raised by my Uncle." I said. "I went to normal schools, not the special upper-crust sort of stuff. Then again, it was what my parents had planned before the accident. I mean, sure, fancy education would be nice and all, but my dad damn near crawled out of the gutter to get to where he was. Mom less so, but she was from a rural town here in Japan."

"Actually, that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you." said Yukari. "What kind of last name is 'Fortune' anyways?"

I laughed. "Oh, that. Well, apparently one of my ancestors was one of those 'No last name' kind of prospector guys from the California Gold Rush in America. He just sorta settled on using 'Fortune' after he managed to, y'know, find some gold and settle down with a family. I'm not entirely sure how it's managed to stick over the years."

"What the hell kind of moron names themself 'Fortune'?" asked Shinjiro, the first word he'd uttered since Tracey had shown up.

"The kind I'm descended from? And dude, when you wrestle a grizzly bear and live to tell the tale you earn the right to call yourself whatever the hell you want."

Akihiko almost choked on what he was eating. "A grizzly bear?"

I nodded. "Yep. Killed it with his bare hands, got his picture taken, and made a hat out of it. I've seen the picture and worn the hat. It was comfy as hell... Stop staring at me like that, you all know I'm completely out of my mind at this point. It HAD to come from somewhere, after all!"

Akihiko stared at me quietly for a moment, then he got this crazy sort of look in his eye. "His bare hands, huh...?"

"Aki, that is without a doubt the dumbest damn thing I've ever heard you consider." said Shinjiro.

"I'm willing to second him on that." I added. "Great Granddad Sam only beat that bear because he was simply too stubborn to let some punk grizzly ambush and eat him."

"I'd ask how stubborn he was, but you just described it..." commented Junpei. "Sure explains where you get that from, too."

I nodded. "Mmhm. Stubborn as an ox and damn near as strong. But I think that's enough Fortune Family History for now." I swiveled around to look at Tracey again. "So, checking on me aside, what brings you and Nathan here to Japan?"

He shrugged. "Business stuff, as usual. Davis figured striking up a partnership with a company on this side of the Pacific wouldn't be too bad of an idea, so he's got me and Nate scouting around for potential business partners."

"Wouldn't it be faster just to look up the companies online?" asked Fuuka.

-...Considering we have an English class at Gekkoukan, I'm only mildly surprised Fuuka can understand the conversation.-

"Roy, I've got the mental image of a guy who looks like you with a beard wrestling a bear stuck in my head." said Pharos. "Nothing surprises me about this conversation now."

"Uh, what'd she say?"

-Right, translation.- "Fuuka-san asked if it would've been faster to just dig up info on potential partners online."

Tracey laughed. "Oh trust me, I suggested the same damn thing but Nathan managed to logic out we'd have to come here to meet with the guys in charge anyways so we're doing research while we're here."

"A sound strategy." Mitsuru commented, a pointed look on her face. "Though you had best do well to make a good impression on potential partners."

He laughed again. "Well this is technically my off day so I'm not dressed to impress, ma'am. That said, if we ever do come knocking at your family's door, we'll be sure not to embarrass anybody." He paused, then checked the watch on his wrist. "Speaking of doors, I need to book it out that one back there. Got an appointment..."

He bowed before he moved towards the door, waving over his shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you all!" He said in Japanese, again managing to not mangle every word despite his accent. "And hey, Roy?"

-Hrm?- "Yeah?"

"Only a week till a full moon, broski!" Tracey said with a grin. "You know what that means!"

-Oh this again- "Yeah yeah, calm down ya bloody werewolf..."

He howled like a wolf, laughing to himself as he walked out the door. I had to chuckle a little myself, I missed having guys like him around on a slightly regular basis. Or at least I did till I noticed the atmosphere in the dorm had turned slightly more serious.

"...Only a week till the next Operation, huh...?" said Akihiko, a surprisingly contemplative expression on his face. "That'd mean it's on the Seventh... Guess that makes it a Star Festival special bout..."

"We gotta fight Shadows on Tanabata?" asked Junpei. "Geez, is it too much to ask for them to pick regular, not-holiday times to show up to ruin everything?"

"Would you rather fight them in broad daylight?"

Junpei actually paused to consider that before answering. "...Eh, you got a point there. Guess I'll just have to deal with it."

"Mmhm."


I found myself with a lot of time to kill for the rest of the afternoon once all that was settled, so I just headed to my room to work on my homework and maybe surf the internet. I looked at the icon for Innocent Sin Online on my desktop and figured it couldn't hurt to play. Working on composition stuff from Toriumi's class anyhow. Surprisingly Maya logged on at the same time I did.

[Maya: woah, did u just get here? We signed on the same tiem!]

[Tatsuya: Guess so. Surprised you're online, I check around here every day or so and you only seem to turn up on the weekends.]

Her avatar did a troubled emote. [Maya: eh heh... I had a bad day so I wanted to mayb talk wit u...]

My character shrugged. [Tatsuya: Seems legit to me.]

[Maya: the weathers nice today huh? Let's go outside!] her character readied a spell. [ingame, duh. Traesto!]

And just like that, our characters were teleported outside. I gotta wonder why people stopped playing this game, the graphics are freakin' amazing. Gameplay is fun, too.

[Maya: The air is nice, even tho the world has ended ;P pshyeah right... it's just a game... we should go lvl or sumthing]

[Tatsuya: 'Or something' works. You said you wanted to talk, right?]

[Maya: yea... ugh...]

Her character stamped her feet and rustled her own hair.

[Maya: AAARGH!11;alksjf;alskdjfa;slkf i'm so pissed off rite now! Mr. E is such a stupid eh so bee! t(-_-t)]

[Tatsuya: First, you mean 'S.O.B.' right? Second, if he's anything like the classic lit teacher at my school I really don't blame you. I've cleaned gunk off my shoes with more human decency than that guy.]

[Maya: hahahhaaha!1! U get it! Wooo! Tatsuya and maya ftw! XD]

Her character sat down.

[Maya: guess it's a good thing there arnt that many players ne more cos most of em left for the new mmo, CoW. Cos this way we cn talk about personal things rite? XP but I didnt kno u were in high school tatsu!]

[Tatsuya: Well to be fair you never asked.]

[Maya: touche, tatsu. Its funny you said your classic lit teacher is a jerk, Mr. E teaches that and he's got seniority over me...]

-Wait a sec...- [Tatsuya: Wait, if you're a teacher, and Mr. E is a classic lit teacher... do you teach at Gekkoukan High? Cos the classic lit teach I'm talking about is Ekoda...]

Maya didn't respond for about two minutes.

[Maya: omg yur from my school tatsu!1 what class r u in?]

-Well how about that? One of my teachers is a gamer... -[Tatsuya: 2-F. Middle of the room, hard to miss because my hair is visible from space.]

Maya again took a little while to respond.

[Maya: omg ur the new kid in my class omg omg omg omg]

-...Wait what- [Tatsuya: ...Ms. T is that you? If it is I am doing my homework right now I swear I was just checking to see if you were online!]

[Maya: OMG IT IS YOU! OMG u better not tell ne 1 about this!]

[Tatsuya: ...Sensei, who would even believe me? To be honest you never struck me as the gamer type of person until, y'know, just now.]

[Maya: ...rly?]

[Tatsuya: Half of the people in class I actually know are scared of you anyways. Iori especially because he's convinced if he so much as sneezes the wrong way he'll get in trouble.]

[Maya: hey I am not that mean!]

[Tatsuya: Well I've heard a rumor you once slapped Ekoda and that he brings you entire cakes when he has bad news for you.]

[Maya: LOL srsly? That's awesum! Its tru, too. xD]

[Tatsuya: HA! Okay, but don't tell me what happened. It's funnier if I try to imagine what happened then to actually know what it was for real.]

[Maya: lol kk. Omg class is gun b rly awkward tomorrow...]

[Tatsuya: Eh, not really.]

[Maya: ...I told u all kinds of personal stuff tho...]

[Tatsuya: No harm as long as it stays between friends, right? And last I checked there's no rule teachers can't be on good terms with their students.]

[Maya: lol tru... guess it's k then... still feel bad for bitching about stuff to a student, tho...]

[Tatsuya: Better to let it out then keep it bottled up, though. And it is said that to attain greater wisdom of the world you are apart of, you must first look within yourself and see what answers are already within your grasp.]

[Maya: ...u sound like a fortune cookie]

[Tatsuya: More like fortune cake if you have a say in the matter.]

[Maya: omg that is the best idea evur! U get extra credit on tonights assignment for that.]

-Fuck yeah!-

[Maya: but srsly were did that fortune cookie stuff even come from? it was like srsly out of nowhere.]

[Tatsuya: …That is actually a good question. I blame the nurse.]

[Maya: lmao, k. ne way, thx for putting up with me b4 you found out who I was tatsu.]

[Tatsuya: Haha, anytime Maya. Should probably pay more attention to my homework now though XD]

[Maya: lol yea. You had better get that done or I'll be very disappointed.]

-Oh shit she typed properly that probably means I'm legitimately doomed if I don't-

CRASH

"JESUS FUCK!"

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Hermit Arcana...

-Goddamn fucking spooky voices scaring the shit out of me-

[Maya: i'll see u at class tomorrow tatsu, I got stuff I need 2 do. And don't mention that 'SOB' stuff, k?]

[Tatsuya: I won't, Ms. T. See ya later.]

[System: Player Maya has logged off.]

No sooner had I logged out of ISO did Skype pop up telling me someone was talking to me. My cousin Alex it be exact.

[Aldosk: So what's this I hear from Zoe about you being bullshit magical all of a sudden?]

[ArcanaGambler: Oh geez, she actually told people about that shit?]

[Aldosk: Is it true or not?]

[ArcanaGambler: Well yeah. Since when did you believe me anyways?]

[Aldosk: Since I heard you apparently shoot yourself in the head with a magic pistol.]

-Oh. Shit. This can of worms again...- [ArcanaGambler: I'm not gonna die or anything if that's what you're worried about.]

[Aldosk: How is magically blowing your brains out not something to worry about?]

[ArcanaGambler: Well there's not actual brain damage involved for one because it's technically to summon psychic demons from my soul...]

[Aldosk: What about damage to your soul, then? What if you try to summon one of those soul demons and you just keel over because your spirit looks like swiss cheese?]

"He does make a good point, Roy." noted Pharos. "Do you even know how evokers work?"

"No, I don't... hrm..." [ArcanaGambler: ...Alright, will it make you feel better if I ask Mitsuru-senpai how the pistols work?]

[Aldosk: Who's that?]

[ArcanaGambler: The one who recruited me into the demon slayers club. Her company made the pistols so she's gotta know something about the damn things.]

[Aldosk: Alright. Seems fair. Just be careful with whatever the hell it is you're doing...]

[ArcanaGambler: Avenging your aunt and uncle.]

[Aldosk: The hell are you talking about?]

[ArcanaGambler: Zoe mentioned the Dark Hour, right?]

[Aldosk: Yeah...]

[ArcanaGambler: That's why they died. The night of the accident, they were pulled into the Dark Hour along with me. They bled out for potentially thirty or more minutes before paramedics even knew there was an accident. From what I've heard from the people here in the time I've known them, a few have had Dark Hour-related troubles of their own.]

[Aldosk: I'd ask what kinds, but it doesn't seem like my place to know.]

[ArcanaGambler: Or my place to tell them anyways. But finding out second hand about the cluster fuck my life's spiraled into aside, what've you been up to?]

[Aldosk: Same as always. Mom and Dad still make me gag sometimes.]

[ArcanaGambler: They're still going all lubby dubby? STILL?]

[Aldosk: Oh, like you wouldn't believe. It's aggravating as hell...]

[ArcanaGambler: Better than before, though.]

[Aldosk: ...Yeah. Very true.]

[ArcanaGambler: ...Sorry.]

[Aldosk: It's fine... I need to get going anyways. Later Roy.]

I sighed to myself as he logged off, then looked at my homework.

-...Ain't gonna finish itself, I guess...-

"Roy?"

"Yeah Pharos?"

"You okay?"

"...Not really."

"...Wanna talk about it?"

"...Sure. Why not. Gives me somethin' to do while I'm working on this..."


Spent the next few hours telling Pharos a story about Alex's little brother, Cody. Won't bore whoever's actually reading this journal with the details, but suffice to say it's not a happy story. The next day wasn't anything special, though Toriumi-sensei seemed to be judging me the entire time she was teaching. Had another surprise waiting for me after class, though.

"Hey! Roy-kun!"

I stopped in my tracks, swiveling around on my heels to face Hamuko. "Yes, Hamuko?"

"Hey, are you doing anything today?" she asked. "I need a little help..."

Eyebrow. "Help with what?"

"Ah! Hamuko-san!"

The two of us turned towards Fuuka, who was walking over to us from her classroom.

"Are you coming to club today?" she asked curiously.

Eyebrow the second. "What club?"

"Cooking club!"

Pharos cringed. "Oh god..."

-That is not even remotely nice, bro.-

"Roy, your face almost turned blue after you tried that bento Fuuka made!"

-That was then and this is now so hush.- "Cooking club, huh? Well, I get the munchies after class so would you be opposed to me joining you two?"

Hamuko looked at me. "That's actually what I was gonna ask, Roy-kun."

Fuuka's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas, though. "Really? You'll join the club?"

"Sure, why not?" I said. "I'm not exactly the best, but then again that's all it took to keep my uncle from setting the kitchen on fire. But ignore that, which way to the club room?"


"...Fuuka-san?"

"Huh? Yes Roy-san?"

"You do realize that's rice vinegar, right?"

"Huh? O-Oh... you're right..."

"Here, gimme that for a second. Lemme show you something."

"A-Ah, n-no, it's alright..."

"There's no shame in asking for help, y'know."

"Yes, but... isn't it better to learn by doing it yourself...?"

"Not always. Besides, what're friends for?"

"Right, Roy!"

"Cool, now can someone hand me a whisk so I can mix th- Ah, thank you Fuuka-san."

"You're welcome!"

CRASH

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to make a Persona of the Priestess Arcana...


Nothing much of anything happened the next day, but then I found something neat when we went to Tartarus that night.

"Shinjiro. Hold onto this."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "...A flower?"

"It's magical."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Oh for cripes sake, one of my personas spat this thing out! It's gotta be magic or some shit."

"Well if it is, then what does it do?" asked Junpei. "I mean, it just looks like a pink flower to me..."

I looked at it. It did seem kinda plain, but I could tell there was SOMETHING going on with it... wait... "Hey, Fuuka-san, can your scanning ability tell what this flower does?"

"I-I don't know..." She said. "I'll try..."

I held up the flower as she summoned Lucia, which reminded me of something I needed to ask about later. It took a few minutes before Fuuka actually said anything.

{That flower... it wards off Charming effects...}

"Really?" I asked. "You're sure?"

{Yes, definitely... if we had more, nobody would have to worry about attacking each other!}

"I have a cunning plan."

Hamuko gave me a skeptical look. "Cunning?"

"Yeah." I said. "I know which Persona gave me this, and I can get him back to how he was when I got here. Which means I can, y'know, just get a bunch more. Might me faster if I stay down here while you guys go up the higher parts of Tartarus..."

"Do you know how long it will take, Fortune?" asked Mitsuru.

I shrugged. "No clue. But you said there's always an access point on the first floor, so as long as I just kill a Shadow or two, get another flower, bail, reset the Persona, and then go back in, it shouldn't take too long. If it does, then you guys should just go up without me."

Mitsuru stared at me seriously, then nodded. "Alright. Get to work, Fortune. We'll have to test these flowers directly, as well..."

"Then here." I held the flower out to Mitsuru. "Hold onto this one while I go get more."

I span on my heels and started towards the Velvet Room once Mitsuru took the flower.

-This might actually take a little while...-


Fortunately, it actually didn't and I ended up with a small stockpile of the Narcissus Flowers. It still burnt a big chunk out of the Dark Hour, but these things should help in the long run so it'll be worth it. Training aside, I finally set about keeping my word to Alex.

"Hey, Senpai, I got a question..."

She looked at me as our merry band marched on home. "What is it, Fortune?"

"The evokers... are they even safe?" I asked. "I mean, we're kind of shooting ourselves in the head to summon part of our soul to fight monsters. There gonna be any side-effects from using them?"

Mitsuru actually laughed a little at that. First time I'd ever heard her laugh about anything. "Aragaki asked the same thing when he first joined. You needn't worry, the evokers are completely safe and cause no negative effects. They were tested extensively to ensure that."

Eyebrow. "Really?"

She nodded. "Of course. The head researcher insisted on it."

"Huh. Smart guy..."

"Indeed."


The next couple of days passed by with minimal things happening beyond the norm, though I don't think I've still fully realized just how much Junpei likes Doritos. He did a flying, diving save on a bag he brought with him to lunch that he almost dropped when he tripped on the stairs and landed without a scratch. Pharos is convinced Doritos are the source of his power. Honestly I'm inclined to agree. A day or two before the Full Moon, though, is when somethin' worth talking about happened.

"Senpai~!"

Shinjiro slowly turned his head towards Hamuko. "I told you not to call me that."

"Well, too bad." She replied. "I wanted to know if you'd like to come hang out with me!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You want to hang out... with me?"

"Mmhm!" Hamuko smiled. "I've hung out with almost everyone else at least once, so why not you?"

Shinjiro scoffed. "By that logic, cards for brains over there will start bothering me, too..."

I grinned from my seat on the couch. "Thought you'd never ask."

Shinjiro actually facepalmed. "God damn it..."

"Oh come on man, hanging out with people will not kill you." I said as I stood up. "Besides, if we're gonna be fighting Shadows together it wouldn't hurt to get to know us a little."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So where did you two have in mind?"

I looked at Hamuko. Hamuko looked at me. We both looked back at Shinjiro.

"Hagakure?"

Cue the three of us, plus Pharos, heading over to Hagakure, though the entire time Shinjiro looked like he was dreading it all. Once we got there, we stat down and ordered before Shinjiro actually said anything.

"Any particular reason you wanted to tag along for this?" he asked, looking at me. "Beyond that crap you were talking about at the dorm?"

I looked at him like he'd asked if I liked kicking puppies. "I like ramen?"

He glared at me, then sighed and shook his head as our food was delivered. "Whatever, let's eat. Watch the soup, it's hot."

"I'm crazy, not dumb." I muttered, blowing on the ramen a little.

"Ow..."

"What's wrong?" asked Hamuko.

Shinjiro was rubbing the side of his face. "...Forgot I had a cut in my mouth 'cause Aki punched me. Sheesh, that guy's gotta learn how frickin' heavy a boxing champ punches..."

"Were you two training?"

He actually laughed at that. "Haha, hell no. I gave him a little 'lecture' on how his fighting style's too reckless after that whole thing with him getting Charmed, and this is what I got in return."

"You two get into fights often?" I asked.

"Yeah. You're gonna have to get used to it."

"Well I've gotten into fights with friends before." I said. "Doesn't seem that unusual to me."

Hamuko puffed out her cheeks slightly. "You shouldn't fight your friend, though!"

"Personalities clash sometimes, Hamuko." I said to her. "Besides, I'm assuming they don't, y'know, go out of there way to beat each other into bloody pulps."

She pouted a little. "Fiiiine..."

Shinjiro looked at me again. "You sure you're not a third year?"

I laughed. "No, I'm just stupidly tall. My seventeenth birthday isn't till January."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "And they put you in charge? Shit, guess we lucked out you're good at it."

I shrugged. "Sometimes ya gotta go through a trial by fire to see what you're good at."

"Guess so."

CRASH

-Wait huh?-

I am thou... thou art I...

Thou hast established a new bond...

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Moon Arcana...

-Huh. Interesting...-

"Oww..." He groaned, rubbing his face slightly. "Damn it... this just ain't gonna work... I'll have to wait until it cools down..."

Shinjiro sighed while Hamuko giggled, then looked at him curiously.

"Y'know... I had this happen before..." he said absently. "First time he punched me, I got a cut in my mouth... Couldn't eat for a while because of that."

"When did that happen?" I asked in unison with Hamuko.

He shrugged. "We were kids, I forget why."

"Fair enough, dude."


Once the Full Moon proper came along, Sketchtsuki turned up at the dorm while we all waited for the Dark Hour. Once it kicked in, Fuuka summoned her Persona and started scanning while the rest of us sat in the command room watching her.

"Any luck, Fuuka?"

{...Just a moment... I found it! I sense a strong presence!}

"Hey, we were right!" Junpei cheered.

"Or so it would seem." noted the Chairman.

{It's located in Iwatodai... inside a building on Shirakawa Boulevard.}

"Hmm, Shirakawa Boulevard..." repeated Ikutsuki. "They've been finding the Lost in pairs lately... now I understand why."

"In pairs..." Mitsuru's face actually turned red slightly. "Oh, I get it..."

Those reactions told me pretty much everything about this place that I needed to know as Fuuka's Persona vanished.

"Why, what's on Shirakawa Boulevard?" she asked. "I'm not familiar with that area..."

Yukari and Hamuko fidgeted slightly, looking at each other before facing Fuuka again.

"I've heard about it, but..."

"My parents told me to avoid that place because, well..."

I decided to speak up. "It's the red light district, isn't it?"

Everyone instantly turned to look at me.

Eyebrow. "What? You all were dancing around the subject so I wanted to be sure we're all on the same page."

"Well they do got all of those hotels there." said Junpei. "Y'know, the ones where people go to-"

"Nonsense!" Sketchtsuki exclaimed. "They're no different from ordinary hotels. The rooms are a bit fancier, that's all."

There was a very long, very awkward pause after he finished that sentence.

"There was a mistake once while I was booking a trip!" He exclaimed. "Honestly!"

"Suuuuuuure it was..." Pharos commented, shuddering slightly.

"Anywho..." I said. "Anything special about this operation on the part of 'who is fighting the monsters' we all should know about?"

"None that I can think of." replied Mitsuru. "I see no reason to change leaders now, and I want Yamagishi to handle support during the operation."

"Okay, then-"

"Hold on!" said Yukari. "After what happened last time, I want in on the action!"

I blinked. "Oh...kay... I see no problem with that, so let's roll. I'll pick who else'll be tagging along once we get there..."


Then we got there.

-No way in hell I'll ever hang around this part of town for no good reason. Or ever at all unless someone else brings me here... but whatever!-

"Alrighty then," I span on my heels to look at Fuuka. "Where's this ugly bugger hiding?"

Fuuka pointed at the top of the building we were standing in front of. "It's on the third floor of this building."

I looked up at it, my hand on my chin. "Alright then. Senpai and Akihiko-san! You're coming with us if it's not a problem."

"What about the rest of us?" asked Junpei.

"You guys are plan B." I said. "There's a chance there's two Shadows in there, and if the second one gets the drop on us it's better we have someone who can get the drop on it.

Hamuko nodded slowly. "Okay, but what if there's not another Shadow?"

"Simple!" I grinned. "If the first group to go in isn't enough, then we throw Shinjiro at it so we can be sure it dies."

The man himself raised an eyebrow. "So me being able to kill this thing by myself is your backup plan?"

"Well, not by yourself, since Junpei and Hamuko would be there too..." I said. "But pretty much, yeah. Basically if shit goes wrong, we're counting on you three to be Big Goddamn Heroes."

"I like this plan." said Junpei with a grin.

-Figured you would, bro.- "Okay, with that all settled, in we go!"


Three floors up, and we found the room. It's a very big room. With a huge mechanical chair in the middle. With a fatass of a Shadow sitting on it. With some weird-ass chick rubbing his shoulders with a crazy headdress on her head.

"Why here, of all places...?" Yukari wondered aloud as she drew back an arrow. "Ugh, let's just get this over with!"

"No argument here!" I agreed, my Evoker at the ready. "Let's rumble!"

BANG

Pale Rider appeared and let loose a concussive blast of wind from his scythe, causing the Shadow's chair to stagger before Akihiko's lightning attack bounced right back at him.

"Akihiko!"

"Ngh, I'm fine, Mitsuru!" he shouted. "Just don't try to use Electricity on it!"

"Obey my command!" BANG

Ice spikes jutted out of the ground, stabbing through the legs of the Shadow's Mecha-chair. Finally got a good look at the mask on its face, too. It's the Heirophant, just like we thought it was. Something seemed off about the chick clinging to its back, but I didn't get much time to think on it before lightning bolts started flying everywhere. I focused on Take-Mikazuchi to keep him at the front of my head and kept myself between the electrical strikes and Yukari, seeing as lightning really messes her up.

"Thanks...!"

"No worries." I said as a lightning bolt hit me dead in the face and didn't do anything besides blind me for a few seconds. "Feel free to shoot at it while using me as cover."

BANG

No sooner had I said that did she do exactly that, summoning Io to launch more tornadoes at the Shadow. The fight kept up like that for a while, me occasionally summoning Take-Mikazuchi to hack at the Shadow's kneecaps while everyone else did the real damage and before long the stupid thing keeled over.

{Good job. You succeeded once again.} said Fuuka over her Persona's Psychic Link thing. {I'll be waiting outside for you.}

"Alright, I'll get the-" Akihiko cut himself off when the door refused to budge. "The hell? It's stuck!"

"Move over!" I said, slamming my shoulder into the door once Akihiko was out of the way. "Shit, it is stuck! Fuuka, send in some backup!"

{Shinjiro-senpai and Hamuko-san already went in to help, but the door suddenly sealed behind them and now Junpei-kun is trapped outside with me! I can't contact them either-} Her voice stopped suddenly. {Wait... I still sense a Shadow in that room! It's not the same one you defeated!}

"Wait what?"

"Hey, guys...?"

Mitsuru, Akihiko, and I all turned towards Yukari.

"Is it just me..." She began, placing her hand on the mirror she was looking at. The mirror wasn't reflecting her. "Or is there something strange about this mirror?"

"You can't escape~"

The four of us whirled around as the room started to fill with a bright pink haze. That woman that'd been rubbing the Heirophant's shoulders was floating there and pulling off her headdress, laughing maniacally as everything got really hazy before I just... blacked out.


"Ugh... my head..." I groaned, sitting up on a bed... somewhere. The fuck kind of place is this...?

"Embrace your desire..."

I grunted in pain and grabbed my head with both hands. "What the...?"

"I am the voice of your inner self... Enjoy the moment... That which cannot be felt is merely a dream... The present is all we have."

...Wait, no... that's just... "Bullshit..."

"The future is but a fantasy, memory a fabrication... Let your desire free from your shackles... Such is my wish..."

"Way to slip up, lady."

"What? Interloper! Begone from heAAAAAAAA!"

I shook my head and -WOW I feel a lot better now! The hell just happened?-

"I just happened."

I looked up to see Pharos leaning against the closed door to the room. He was grinning.

"Kinda hard to be your inner voice when it sounds like a girl and goes on about 'my wish', isn't it?" he said smugly.

"The hell did you do?"

"I kicked that Shadow out of your head." He told me. "You're lucky you've got someone watching your back."

"Bitchin'. Thanks, Pharos..." I flopped back on the bed. "Ugh, my body still hurts... And you might wanna get outta here in case the Shadow wants to kick your teeth in... and you can tell me how you did that later..."

"Alright, but don't take to long. I think Yukari's in this room, too."

-Wait what?-

No sooner did I look up did I realize someone was in the shower, and that said shower just stopped.

-...Shit.-

And then the door to the bathroom started opening, prompting me to quickly lay my head back down and fake being asleep. I heard her moving through the room, her movements steadily getting closer.

"Hey..." she said in a sultry voice. "You awake? We can't have any fun if you're-OW!"

I mentally smirked as I heard her step back. Little lightning jolt from Take-Mikazuchi when she tried to touch me. Nothing serious.

"Ow, what was... wait..."

I heard her gasp, then scream before running back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I sat up on the bed and grinned slightly.

-Well, at least I'm not gonna die from Yukari shooting me in the head with arrows now!-

{Oh, I can finally reach you now! Can you two hear me?}

-Hey, it's Fuuka! Nice timing.- "Yeah, I hear you. What happened?"

{The Shadow was interfering with your thoughts and you all got separated.} she reported. {The enemy is still in the same room, so you should all regroup and hurry there... did you hear that, Yukari?}

"Huh? Oh, sorry! Y-Yeah, I heard you...!"

{Um... did something-}

"Nah, it's fine. Nothing happened." I lied with a straight face. "Where'd the others end up?"

{Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai are on the second floor, but I'm still having trouble getting through to Shinjiro-senpai and Hamuko-chan! I think they're on the same floor as the Shadow...}

"Alright, you should probably come in with Junpei if you can, then."

{Alright, I will!}

Yukari stepped out of the bathroom, her face bright red.

"Before you say anything, I saw exactly nothing!" I said. "I saw the bathroom door opening and faked being asleep, then kinda zapped you when you tried to poke my arm."

"...Alright, but you better not tell anyone about this!"

Eyebrow. "Yukari, what're the odds this didn't happen to anyone else? Fuuka just said our Senpai were on the same floor, while Shinjiro and Hamuko are on another." I paused. "Wait shit, we should probably move faster then!"

I charged past her and out the door, running up the stairs to the second floor where Akihiko and Mitsuru were waiting.

"So, you guys were on the first floor, huh?" said Akihiko. "I'm surprised there was another Shadow..."

"Hold that thought Senpai," I said, pointing at his shirt. "Why are there holes in your vest?"

"W-We're fine!" Mitsuru snapped. "Nothing happened!"

-...Kinky.- "Alright, but we need to find Shinjiro and Hamuko. You all check this floor and I'll check the third!"

"Alright!"

I darted off up the stairs to the next floor as everyone else went about searching the rooms for our other two friends. As luck would have it, I ended up being the one to find them on the third floor. But, well...

"Uh, should I come back later?" I asked, staring at Shinjiro and Hamuko about three seconds away from making out.

The two of them looked at me. They then looked at each other. They then looked down at the fact that Shinjiro's shirt was gone and Hamuko's was almost completely unbuttoned.

The brunette let out a shriek, shoved Shinjiro back, then disappeared into the bathroom with whatever clothes had been removed before I showed up. I had to fight the urge to laugh extremely hard, because Shinjiro looked very disgruntled.

"Goddamn piece of shit Shadow..." he snarled, pulling his shirt back on and looking for his coat. "I'm gonna rip its head off..."

"Your axe is by the bed."

"Huh?" he looked at me, then over at the bed. "Oh. Thanks."

"No problem." I replied. "But hey, Fuuka, is there anything else we should know before we go kick more ass?"

{Yes, the Shadow sealed the door so you can't get in! You'll have to find a way to weaken the seal.}

I sighed, then looked over at then room's mirror. Shinjiro was standing right infront of it and it wasn't reflecting him. "...Fuuka, is there something up with the mirrors?"

{Mirrors?}

"Yeah, the one in here isn't reflecting Shinjiro and he's right next to it..."

{Wait... That's it! Those mirrors are giving off the same reading as the Shadow! If you break them, the seal should break as well!}

CRASH

"That's one." said Shinjiro, withdrawing his axe from the now-destroyed mirror. "Where's the rest?"

{There's another one on the second floor. Akihiko-senpai found and broke it already, so proceed to the room where the Heirophant was!}

"Gladly." He snarled, marching past me. I looked over at the bathroom door as it slowly poked open, Hamuko sticking her head out slightly.

"I-Is Shinjiro-senpai gone...?" she asked, her face bright red.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Oh..." She looked disappointed. "I wanted to apologize..."

"For screaming?"

"No, for possibly bruising his abs..." She said dreamily, stepping out of the bathroom. "I had no idea he worked out..."

-Well he did have a very MANLY CHEST from what I saw, but goddamn I've only seen a girl swoon like that in anime!- "Easy tiger, we've got a Shadow to murder."

Hamuko sighed despondently. "Yeah, yeah..."

I strolled out of the room with Hamuko behind me, meeting up with everyone outside the room the Shadow had been in.

"Everyone ready?" I asked. Nods and some angry grumbling were the response. "Alrighty then!" I kicked open the door. "Rock 'n roll, people!"

"Must you do that, Fortune?"

"Yep!" I said, walking into the room and-

"FOOLS!"

-The fuck?-

"You all would spurn me?" asked the Shadow, now revealing itself as a Succubus-looking creature floating over the large bed in the middle of the room. Its Arcana mask was, naturally, positioned right above the bust line. Because, y'know. Skimpy Villains, Sensible Heroes, and all that jazz."Me, who only wished to love? To share my love with you all? To release your desires from pointless, self-imposed shackles?"

At that point, I tuned out the Shadow and rolled my eyes.

-Hey, Fuuka?-

{H-Huh? What is it, Roy-kun?}

-Does that Shadow have any resistances to worry about?-

{Um... It's immune to Light and Darkness, and has no other affinities. Why?}

-Just wondering.- BANG

Shade burst forward and slugged the skimpy Shadow in the gut, cutting off its monologue, and following up with a ice-infused punch to the jaw to disorient it.

"YOU DARE INTERUPT ME? I WILL MAKE YOU PAY!" It bellowed, only for Castor to be the next thing to crash into it.

"News flash, nobody cares." Shinjiro spat, stalking towards the Shadow as it staggered back to its feet.

"I sure as hell don't!" shouted Yukari, firing an arrow into the Shadow's Shoulder. "I had to come to this disgusting place because of you, and now you're gonna pay!"

Whatever else the Shadow might've said was cut off by Hermes kicking it in the face, sending it sprawling into an ice spike Mitsuru had summoned. Said spike was now going through its torso. The Shadow screeched in pain, louder still once Akihiko decided to electrify it with Polydeuces and Thalia's knives we embedded in its legs. It somehow managed to free itself and suddenly got bigger... and angrier...

"IMPUTENT MORTALS!" It roared. "NOW YOU SHALL DESTROY EACH OTHER!"

On that last word, a barrage of pink-colored spikes was launched at us. There wasn't any real way to avoid it, so everybody got hit at least twice. It hurt, but that wasn't the most noteworthy thing that happened. It was the fact the pink energy on the spikes flowed into one spot on each of us. Said spot being where everyone kept their Narcissus Flower.

"What? What is happening?" the Shadow asked, sounding shaken as everyone got back up. "You should be killing each other!"

"How 'bout no, ya crazy brain-eating bitch?" I asked, summoning Pixie to heal everyone. "So step off!"

Before the Shadow could do anything else, both Hermes and Castor hit it like a ton of bricks, the two physical Personae dealing a lot of damage. Hell, Castor took off one of the Lovers' arms. It screamed in agony, only to be silenced by two spires of ice suddenly jutting up and impaling it, one through the chest and the other through the neck. It sputtered and coughed, then dissolved into black mist.

{You did it! I don't sense the Shadow anymore.} Fuuka cheered. {I'm glad you're all safe.}

"It seems those flowers Fortune discovered helped a great deal as well..."

I shrugged. "Guess so. I'll be sure to let you guys know if any more of my Personas cough up stuff like that."

"Please do." said Mitsuru as Fuuka entered the room to join us. "And thank you, Yamagishi. The enemy was sly, but you did well."

She smiled nervously. "I did what I could."

"And you too, for withstanding the enemy's mental assault."

I sorta laughed uneasily. "Yeah... I'm not even sure how I did that." -You still got 'splainin' to do, Pharos.-

"I know..." he sighed.

"Well, let's call it a night." said Akihiko, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm beat and don't really wanna be sticking around here when the Dark Hour ends."

"My thoughts exactly..." commented Shinjiro as everyone started filing out the door.


Once we got outside, I patted Junpei on the shoulder.

"Good work back there, bro." I said. "Guess the Big Damn Hero job suits ya, doesn't it?"

He grinned. "Haha, damn straight it does!"

"That's why you're the Lancer, bro." I smirked, putting my hands in my coat pockets. "But damn, I'm sore all over..."

"Yeah, same here..." Junpei griped. "Those spike thing sit shot at us hurt..."

CRASH

-SHIT FUCKING SON OF A BITCH I hate it when these things do that!-

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana...

-Fool? Goddamn, I haven't heard from that Social Link in a while...-

"Oh, Yukari. About that thing you mentioned the other day..."

I looked over my shoulder at Yukari and Fuuka.

"You found out something?" she asked, getting a nod in response. "Cool, tell me later."

"What's this all about?" I asked while Junpei started talking to Hamuko about something. "Anything I should know?"

Yukari and Fuuka looked at me.

"Um..." Yukari hesitated, then shook her head. "I guess there's no harm telling you. I asked Fuuka for some help."

"With what?"

"She asked me to help find out some information about an accident at our school ten years ago." said Fuuka. "I was going to share what I found out with her tomorrow..."

I put my hand on my chin. "Is it related to that thing you were talking to me about the other day? About Tartarus and stuff?"

Yukari nodded. "I think so, but I'm gonna check everything before I jump to any conclusions."

"Good plan. And would you be opposed to filling me in on this?" I asked. "I'm wondering a few things myself, honestly."

"I don't really see a problem with it, so sure." she said. "But c'mon, let's get going..."

"Alright, cool." I said, looking up as we picked up the pace a little. When I did, though, I spotted something standing on top of a building nearby. When I stopped to try and get a better look, whatever was up there moved away.

-...Pharos, did you see that?-

"See what?"

-There was something on that building...-

"Oh, you spotted them too? I saw them when I came out earlier. I was gonna tell you about 'em in the morning..."

"Hey, Roy! Let's go man!"

I hurriedly caught back up to the group, hanging around the back once Junpei called out to me. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

-But what'd you mean by 'them'?-

"It was a group of people, I think. Three at most."

-People? In the Dark Hour?-

"I think so. If not, it's an odd group of Shadows."

-Hrm... better be careful then, lil' buddy.-

"Yeah, we should."


Author Notes - Sorry this took so long, but I had a very hard time motivating myself for this chapter and I'm not entirely sure why. It might be because the July full moon is my least favorite, BUT OH WELL! We're almost to Yakushima again! YOU ALL KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS~! And for those of you who don't or just didn't read the original, I have a question for you:

Why is the rum gone?