Once they reached the base of the castle, Yosuke, Chie and Teddie all stopped and rested for a moment.

"Yo Ted, you think you can make any more of those glasses? It's getting pretty hard to see out here. My head's been killing me since I took them off." Came the Junes Heir's voice. Soon afterwards, Chie responded.

"I'm feeling pretty good now that I have these glasses on, now that I think about it. Maybe the Fog could be poisonous?"

"That would be BEAR-y bad!" Chimed in Teddie. Yosuke face palmed at the pun and Chie giggled lightly. "Here Yosuke, I made you another pair. I should probably start making one for the girl we were trying to rescue huh?" Without waiting for an answer, Teddie walked to the other wall and started trying to make another pair of glasses.

"Hey Yosuke…" Chie whispered once the Bear Mascot walked far enough away and Yosuke put on his glasses. "Have you noticed that Yu is acting a bit… differently?"

The Magician looked over at her. "Now that you mention it… yeah. Whenever we encounter one of those Shadows, he either freezes for a second before he fights them, or he just out right demolishes them without even looking at them. You don't think… that maybe he's fought them before? And that something happened to him? Could that be why he acts differently in here?"

Chie pondered for a moment. "What if that's actually the reason why he moved here? What if he had friends, just like us, but they all… died from the Shadows? Oh Jeez… That would be horrible!"

Teddie called over to them both. "That would explain why Sensei was particularly ruthless when he fought both Yosuke's and your own Shadow. He didn't seem like he was just fighting them off so we could get you to safety. He looked like he was trying to make sure that it wouldn't get near you Chie-chan."

Both Yosuke and Chie exchanged looks and they got up from where they were sitting on the bridge. "C'mon Teddie, we got a person to save. We can't just let him go it alone."

*LINE BREAK*

The massive doors for the top floor of the castle burst open. Yukiko, the Human one, was on the floor at the base of the steps leading to the throne, and her Shadow was in front of the throne talking down to her. "Historic inn? Manager training!? I'm sick of all these things chaining me down! I never asked to be born here! Everything's decided for me! From how I live, to where I die! I'm so sick of it! To hell with it all!"

"Y-you're not me!" And in a fit of rage, the Shadow exploded into it's bird form. Yukiko was trapped in a cage now, hanging off to the side of the room, now unconscious.

"I don't want to fight you Konohana-san! Don't make me do this!" Yu called, rushing into the room shield in front of him, hand gripping his Tarot Card just in case of a sudden attack.

"WHY DID YOU LET US DIE YU-SAN!? WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT US!? YOU JUST STOOD THERE AND WATCHED AS CHIE BLED OUT, AND AS I WAS TURNED INTO AN ICE CUBE! WERE WE NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU!? WHY COULDN'T YOU LOVE ME LIKE YOU DID RISE AND NAOTO AND CHIE!? WHY NARUKAMI, WHY!?"

Yu slid to a stop. Fuck… I guess this was Yukiko's thoughts before… He shook his head. "I didn't love them Yukiko-san! I wasn't prepared for the attack that day, I didn't know what was happening until it was too late!"

"NICE EXCUSE YOU LYING INSUFFERABLE PRICK! I WON'T LET HER GO THROUGH THAT PAIN AGAIN!"

"Neither will I!" And with that Izanagi was summoned and the fight began. The Berserk Shadow fired an Agilao directly towards the Fool, who blocked it with Goddess's Grace. "Izanagi! Zio then Cleave!" Called Yu. Once the magical fire began to fade, Yu dodge around and pulled out the Blazefire Saber crushing his card again. "Raikouzan!" and fired shot after shot into the Shadow's face, wounding it severely. As Izanagi flew towards the Shadow, it flung a ball of lightning magic into its beak before slicing it directly at it's eyes. Yu began to sway and switched his Saber into it's blade form and charged at it, commanding Izanagi to attack at the same time. While Izanagi's Naginata did manage to damage the Shadow, Yu never made it to the Shadow, getting flung back by it flapping it's wings and sending a large burst of wind towards Yu. However, instead of getting flung into the wall behind him, the impact was a lot softer than expected, and a lot noisier. A blurry face appeared in front of him.

"Par… Partner! Yo, Yu! You alive buddy?" came Yosuke's voice, as the blurry face was replaced by a blob. By reaching up to the blob, Yu found out it was a hand. All of my energy is… gone…

"Yosu… ke… Chi…. Ice… Weak…" mumbled Yu, vision fading rapidly. With his last ounce of strength, Yu crushed a card that appeared in his hand. "Per… So… Na." and with that, his vision faded with a deep blue and gold surrounding his vision.

*LINE BREAK*

Yu opened his eyes to see both Chie and Yosuke staring at him in concern. It took him a few seconds, but he eventually spoke up. "Yukiko… safe?" Man it hurts to talk. I need some water or something. A sickly voice came from behind the two people.

"Yes. Thank you Narukami-san. I would probably be hurt or worse if not for you." Oh thank Izanagi… Wait…. Shortly after she finished speaking, she coughed.

"In… T.V.?" Yu barely asked. Teddie's voice answered him before his words fully made it to his brain.

"Yes Sensei, we just got to the area where you three came in. You really weigh a lot though Sensei!" That explains the soft landing at least.

"Yukiko needs to… get out of the T.V…. Quickly." Chie nodded, obeying Yu's command. Leaving only Yu, Yosuke and Teddie behind.

"Yo Teddie, you think you can give me and Yu some time alone? I need to talk with him about something private okay?" In the old timeline, Teddie probably would have stayed anyways or at least asked Yu for his opinion, but in this time, without a word, Teddie just left the two of them be.

"Yosuke? Everything okay?" It's getting easier to talk. I guess I should really slow down on using the Gun Form of the Blazefire Saber.

"That depends. Are you okay? Whenever we fight Shadows, especially the bigger ones like Chie's or Yukiko's Shadows, you always try to end the fight as quickly as possible. And you hardly ever look at them without freezing up. What's the problem? Did something happen in the past?" Yu looked down. I can't lie. The whole year, we spent searching for the truth, and we will this time around too. But how should I say it? "You died Yosuke, you and Chie, Yukiko, and a few others you haven't met yet. All of you died and I did nothing to help." That would go over great. he thought. I should tell him something though… not necessarily a lie, but not the full truth either.

"It's… hard to explain. I should tell you, and the others the truth about what happened, why I keep freezing. But I can't tell you everything. Not yet. By the end of this year, you'll know the full truth. As of right now, I can say I was with others once. Counting me there were eight of us. 'Were' being the key word here. As of today? Only a single person of the team are currently alive." Here, he ceased talking. Man it's harder to say out loud. His eyes began to get teary, so Yu closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Have to stay calm, have to be the leader, they can't see weakness, they need to rely on me. Take a deep breath, let it out. Soon enough his mask was back on, and he was able to look back up as Yosuke.

Silver met Brown and it to everything Yu had not to let his mask fall. "Yu… Partner, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, it was just Chie and I being nosy and worried, cause I mean, you're our leader and we want you to be able to rely on us you know, not just the other way around an-"

"You're rambling, Partner." Yosuke stopped talking and before he could say anything else, Yu continued. "Thanks though. I appreciate it. You know what, I'll make you and Chie lunch for caring about me." Yu stuck out his hand, clenched in a fist and Yosuke responded by tapping his own fist with his Partners.

There was a loud crash in Yu's ears, and before he flinched time stopped around him. "Rank up! Your bond has grown in a show of trust. The Renewed Magician has remembered some experiences from the past" A loud indistinguishable voice called out. Once time resumed, Yosuke grabbed his head in pain.

"Yosuke! You alright?" Yosuke shook his head.

"I'll be fine. Must've been from being inside the fog for too long without my glasses. I'm gonna head home Yu. Hopefully these attacks will stop sooner rather than later." With that, they both exited the T.V. World. Chie and Yukiko wasn't in sight anywhere. "They must have started to walk her back to the Inn. Hopefully this will calm everyone down." The Fool agreed with the Magician.

"The less people gossip about the Midnight Channel, the less likely the Killer will go into hiding. As much as I hate to say it, but in order for us to try and find out who's behind these murders and kidnappings, they need to continue to happen. The best we can do is to find who the next victim is and do everything we can to protect them."

A solemn nod between the two was exchanged before they went their separate ways.

Perhaps tomorrow you should go see the Velvet Attendants. They may be able to explain a bit more about what has happened. You may also want to talk to someone, so you do not break under pressure. I don't think the Room would be able to assist in that way. You should speak to someone about the problems that you have besides the Investigation.

Thanks Izanagi, I'll make sure to do that. With a sigh, Yu changed his mind to different topics than his mental health. That was a pretty sweet attack that Me and Yosuke used earlier. Should we name it? I mean, all the other attacks already had names, like Zio and Garu and stuff whenever we learned them. But this ability isn't there.

Could I recommend 'Arashi'? It would make sense as it does indeed make a storm.

Good idea then Izanagi. Arashi it is. We can probably make it flashier in the future.

The rest of the walk home was filled with small talk between Wild Card and Persona.