Fifth Ring, the Garden of Sinners

The six of them crossed into a beautiful garden. The huge tree served as a backdrop while above them a brilliant moon hung low in the sky to provide illumination. Stone paths crossed back and forth from small pools to well-tended flower beds and back, but all of it served the tree and great depression that it dominated from.

Amane knelt before it as though she were praying.

Midori broke into a run, heedless of any possible threat as she yelled, "AMANE!"

"AMANE!" She repeated as the others rushed to follow her, though none of them had the sheer need that she did. She hurdled flowers, and skidded on gravel, but quickly made her way to the priestess. "Amane?"

But the purple-haired maiden was locked in prayer, eyes shut, hands clasped such that death itself would not release them. She was frightened, and Midori knew that she would exact a terrible price on the thing that did this to her friend.

The rest arrived. "How is she?" Yu asked as he kept his weapon at the ready. "Can she leave?"

Midori knelt, getting close to Amane's face with her own. Putting on a smile, she whispered lightly. "Amane-chan? Time to go. I'm here to take you home."

But her only response was to pray harder, muttering invocations to something to protect her.

If she could summon Black Frost into the Dark Hour, Midori did not want to see what Amane could do here. It would be infinitely worse. She had to do something. "Amane?" She shook her shoulder, but still got no response. "Yu, she's not responding. Help me," she looped her arms under Amane's rigid left arm, and waited for Yu to do the same on the right.

"You sure about this?" He asked as he looked about for threats.

"Yes," she replied with no hesitation. "She needs to get out of here."

"Leaving so soon?" Amane said as she emerged from behind the tree. "You should know better than to interrupt my prayers, oh Queen."

"Jezebel," Midori snarled, knowing full well what was behind those golden eyes. She let go of the real Amane, and moved to place herself between the Demon and her. "You're dead. Frosty put his claws into your head, and ripped it off." It was a happy memory. If the others reacted to her gruesome statement, she didn't see.

"Oh, I am not her," the false-Amane said. "Oh, how I wish I could be, though."

Behind Midori, the praying Amane tightened.

"To command with absolute authority, to have all my needs and wants given with no one to watch over me!"

"Oh, shut up!" Midori snapped. "Amane never had that."

"How do you know?" It said to her as it advanced, the long strip of fabric that joined the two sleeves of her Shomankai dress draped between her legs, yet it did not seem to hinder her from moving. "You only know what I told you. And I didn't tell you so much!" She giggled. "You're just another servant, you know that right?" The real Amane froze at the accusation, her own feelings bottle up.

The image of Abel's face flashed in front of her, followed by Aigis'. "I know," she admitted. "They're better people than I am. And you're not."

"Don't listen to her!" The kneeling Amane said through thin lips. "She is a deceiver!"

"Um, Miko-sama," Yosuke said, using the awkward formality as he wasn't as familiar with her as Midori was. "You can't close your eyes to this."

"He is correct," Yukiko offered. "That shadow is yours."

"No, it's not!" Amane hissed before going back to her redoubled prayers.

The faker grinned. "Oh, such failings. To serve, to lead, to devour or be devoured? You could have ruled! You didn't, because you are weak!"

Midori turned away from it to find her COMP. It was on, so she turned her back on the Shadow, trusting in the others to guard her back, and put it down in front of Amane. "Look. It's on. It's singing that song. I was wrong," she admitted softly. "It's not her, just a shadow pretending to be real. You have to face it."

Amane shook her head. "She knows things. You haven't heard her speak. You need to run."

"I can't do that. You know me. Hero to the core. A Magical Girl of Love and Justice."

"Oh stop praying!" The fake yelled out, even as the others moved to bar her way from getting closer to Amane. "We don't believe in those gods! Any gods!"

"What's a priestess who doesn't believe?" Yukiko wondered aloud. "Now I know you're lying!"

"Yeah!" Chie chimed in. "You're stupid if you think that will work."

But it did, Midori saw it even as she tried to comfort Amane. No one who survived that week thought of anything as truly divine anymore. It was why she was still suspicious of the Fox, even after a year of peace. "She's lying, Amane." She whispered still. "She's just the part of you that you don't want to face."

"Leave me," Amane pleaded.

"Yes, leave us!" The impostor echoed. "I don't need you! I don't need anyone!"

Amane whimpered. "That's a lie! I have people who depend on me!"

"So you can use them? What a friend you are. Still just a spoiled girl, being waited upon, fattened up to be a sacrifice." The faker spat. "Why don't you just roll over and let me take over? You know you want to."

"Shut up!"

Only Midori saw the truth in the subtext, the rest were lost on the subtleties. She had to try a different track. "Amane? No matter what that Shadow says, it's all in the past. You're better. You're different. And if you think you've done me wrong? I forgive you."

There was no response, save the mutters of interrupted prayer. "You're not real," she said – but not to Midori - "you're not real."

"She's rejecting it!" Midori warned everyone.

"Get ready for a fight!" Yu commanded. He looked to Midori. "Advice?"

"Keep track of the real one," Midori said. "And if in doubt, burn the tree."

Yu seemed confused by that. "But you warned us against the fire."

"Yes, and I'll burn this place down again if I have to." Midori drew her weapon and manifested Frosty in the same breath she issued her challenge. "Come on then! Prove that you have what it takes to exist!"

The false prophet grimaced. "You reject me too? You hate ME? You're just like all the others, refusing to see me for who I am!"

"And what about Mari?" Midori said, "do you think the same of her?"

The faker had no response to that. The rest of them took advantage of that. "Yosuke, Teddie, protect the Priestess." Yu said as he flanked Midori. On her other side, Yukiko then Chie stood at the ready. "Your friend. Your call."

"Just leave!" The real Amane pleaded from behind them. "You have to!"

"Can't do that," Midori said firmly. "Never will."

"Please!"

"NO!" Midori said. "You would never hurt me, or us."

"It's not me!" Amane said again, and the Shadow grew in stature.

"Yes! Yes!" A cloud of black ichor formed around

"Oh my, it's happening again!" Teddie exclaimed as he huddled down with his arms trying to cover his head. "Fight!"

From the black mist, the new Shadow was born from the fears of Amane. Bare white legs kneeled on the ground, giving rise to a wooden torso, a stem from which vine-like protrusions emerged. At the top, where on a normal flower would be the petals themselves, five distinct and undulating extensions emerged. The central one held a black-haired head, with a mouth covered in some form of shell. Adjacent to it, the vermilion petals were graced by long, slender and elegant arms that reached out to support the heavy weight of the thing. Below the head was a fourth flower, this time a mouth was centered in it, dark lips whispering below the hearing of human ears. Above, the last petal held the ears that were missing from the central head.

Midori had seen Jezebel in all her glory before, she was unphased by it. And her COMP still sang, meaning that this was not the real thing. Just formed from Amane's memories.

The others didn't have that buffer. "What. The. Hell!" Chie shouted in shock, even as Yukiko took a step back, fan covering her face from the inhuman monstrosity before them. Even Yu seemed shaken, but found steady ground in Midori's complete resolve.

"Hello again," Midori taunted it. "Eager to die so soon?"

And it sang, a cacophonous song that tore at the ears, everyone cringed at the pain they felt. Then there was silence. Midori looked around, but saw nor felt anything out of the ordinary. But she also wasn't about to let this false demon get the upper hand. "AGI!" She commanded of her Persona, and Frosty responded with a flash of fire against the Shadow. It recoiled from the heat, a scream sounding on its lips. Midori slammed another shot into it before she had to take a moment to recover herself.

To her right, Yu was shaking his head. "Can anyone hear me?" he asked, but his voice sounded a bit off. He looked to Midori. She nodded, but refrained from trying to raise her voice to get a message across. She didn't feel the need to do one of those stupid routines on the television where they just speak louder and slower.

She looked to her left as Yu staggered, then slowly recovered. Chie and Yukiko were in the same condition. She alone had lucked out of the stunning effect put out by the creature. "Is that the best you got?", Midori taunted, hoping to take some attention away from the others while they recovered. "Because if it is, I could take you on by myself!"

It worked, and the flowery pretender turned on Midori, two vines lashing out at her. She couldn't evade, but instead took the hits on her arms. The blows stung, and she knew she would feel that in the morning, but it was enough.

Chie recovered first. "Ah! I can hear again!" She turned on the plant-Shadow. "HI-YA!" Invoking her Persona as well, Chie directed Tomoe to attack. "Take that!"

Yu was next. "Midori, are you hurt?"

"Nothing I can't handle," she stated only part of the truth. "Any plan beyond beating it down?"

Shaking his head, Yu could only reply in the negative. "Just keep it away from the real Priestess and use fire. Orobas! Agi!" The horse-like Persona emerged from Yu and lashed out with its own fire, but the damage dealt was far less than what Midori or Yukiko could put out.

Accumulating fire took its toll on the Shadow that pretended to be a Demon. Scorched white bark/skin blackened with char, and its movements became less supple as it was damaged. "I am beautiful! Worship me!" it cried out, a statement Midori ignored.

"I ain't gonna worship that!" Yosuke yelled out from a safe distance. "That's freaky and wrong! You're freaky!"

The wild plant-like Shadow thrashed with the insults, ignoring the harm brought against it. "NO! I will not be cowed! I will not be reduced! I will not serve! Not Angels, nor Demons! I will rule!"

Midori stuffed its face full of flames, Frosty echoing her desire to deliver punishment and retribution even as it took in a breath to sing again.

Once again, the riot of sound rippled across the combatants, and Midori stood her ground. It hurt, but she would not falter. As the others struggled to recover, she knew she would have to cover them just like before.

She wanted to yell at Hanamura to get into the fray, to relieve Chie, but refrained. That was Yu's job. She had given it to him, and she couldn't just take it back. But she could advise him once his hearing returned.

In the mean time, more fire for the pretender, beat it back long enough to get through to Amane. Then they could get out of here.

Yu's ears rang, his mind clawing to get out even as he fought to keep himself standing. Further back, Yosuke and Teddie were alright, but to his left Chie and Yukiko struggled to overcome.

And his cousin stood in the middle, imperious and immaculate against the Shadow that they fought. He knew intellectually that she had more experience than the rest of them with this sort of thing, but seeing it in action when faced with a Shadow like this, where her anger turned cold? He could believe it in his heart now. The evidence of his eyes payed no tricks.

There was something wrong with her. Twisted around these monsters, and refusing to let go.

Even as sound returned to his world, part of him wondered just what he had gotten himself into with his bravery and ignorance.

Knowing nothing of this, Midori focused on the battle at hand. She thought that she would be better than this, but her long convalescence had taken its toll on Frosty, and the power she knew he was capable of bringing to bear was lost, yet to be redeveloped.

But no matter the blows, there were people ready to help. Even Yosuke had figured out that he could stand behind everyone and support with Jiraya's healing skill, something which she boggled at never figuring out for herself.

There would be appropriate thanks for that later. After the battle was done.

But it wasn't her that dealt the final blow to the impostor Jezebel. It was Yukiko whose flames did the trick. The vines withered, the bark reduced to coal, and even Chie got into it with her Persona's double-edged weapon.

The Shadow fell, releasing its inhuman form as it was pushed back against the tree. "Wait!" It cried out, but Midori was not in a forgiving mood. She and Frosty stood guard even as she wanted to finish it off, but she had to give Amane a chance to put it down for good first.

Behind her, Amane accepted the help of Teddie to stand up, then stumbled on the first step only to recover her poise on the second. "Is this what you want?" she asked of it in a soft voice as got closer. "All your words, just keeping others away. I can't live like that."

The Shadow didn't say anything, but instead regained her own feet by leaning against the tree. "What do you know?"

"I know what others have told me, that you are something born of me," Amane said, gaining strength in the process. "I... do not wish to be that. But I have thought those things. How much easier life would be." She reached Midori, and put a hand on her rescuer's shoulder. "But that is not to be. I cannot stay like that, so please, let this hatred go, no matter how much it may be me. It is not the whole of me."

"You can do it!" Teddie said encouragingly. "Just accept it!"

Midori removed Frosty, returning him to his card form. Amane felt this and turned to her, only to see the encouraging smile from her junior. "Go on," Midori said. "We can settle the details later."

"I have questions," Amane stated, but saw that now was not the time or the place. Instead she focused again on her Shadow. "But you... you are me, are we not? I've heard of these things, meeting oneself on a journey of discovery, but never like this." She reached out a hand. "Will you walk with me? I am incomplete without you."

The Shadow reached out and took Amane's hand, and it was all over.

Junes Department Store
Electronics Department

With Amane resting on her back, Midori stepped carefully back into the Human world. The priestess had, as expected, lost a lot of energy when accepting her Shadow, and Midori refused to let anyone else carry her. No one objected, and the trip back was thankfully quiet.

Behind her, Yu stepped through the television. "I thanked Teddie for this help," he said as he looked at the assembled group. "And thank you all for your hard work. Rest. You've deserved it."

Midori shook her head. "I wish. I got to take Amane-chan home, then get supper ready for when Nanako and Uncle return from their trip to the pool, and tomorrow I have the Tennis Club meeting." She sighed. "But yes, Yu is right. You all did well today, and I'll be ready for your questions once we have a chance to sit down with it."

"You are welcome," Yukiko formally bowed. "Have we decided on a place and time yet?"

Midori and Yu shared a look. "Not yet," he replied. "It will either be at school – probably the library – or at someone's house."

"Yeah," Chie stifled a yawn. "That was exhausting."

At that, a certain weight settled over the group. "You need any help?" Yosuke offered Midori. "I mean, not that you need it obviously." He managed to not trip over his words when Midori let a small smile touch her lips at his awkward offer.

"No thank you. Yu and I are going in the same direction."

Yosuke took that as a dismissal, and joined Chie and Yukiko in walking away. Midori shifted a little to make her load more comfortable. "Come on", she said. "We'll take her to my place."

"Why not back to her home?" Yu asked.

"I am awake," Amane said softly. "If Mari hasn't gone looking for me, it would be because she's been working too much again, and hasn't noticed I was gone. By going to Midori's home, I can rest without worry about explaining myself."

Yu saw the logic in that. "Alright."

Dojima Household
Evening

The two high-school students heard the car come into the driveway, and Midori got ready to serve supper. Yu finished clearing off the table, his own thoughts keeping him from prying into Midori's own at this moment.

When the door opened, Midori was instantly cheerful and happy. "Welcome home!"

"We're home," Ryotaro announced. "And quiet, Nanako is napping." He entered the kitchen with his daughter clinging to him, gently snoring from her long day.

Midori took off her apron, and tossed it over a chair. "Here," she said, holding out her arms to take Nanako, "I'll put her to bed, you wash up." She took the sleeping girl into her arms and headed for the stairs before Ryotaro could really object.

"So, how was your study session?" Ryotaro asked instead as he shucked his jacket. Running a hand through still-damp hair, he sought out a towel from the kitchen drawers.

"Not bad," Yu said, reminded of the cover story Midori concocted yesterday. "Mostly us second-years getting into the new curriculum."

"I see," Ryotaro said. "Don't tell her this, but I'm going to talk to her father about what Entrance Exams she should be taking this year. If he keeps up with his business trips, I should be aware so I can help where needed."

Yu understood, then considered just how much stuff his older cousin was doing, with school, exams, and extra-curricular activities. It was no wonder she had handed leadership to him, she simply may not have time. It was also a sign of trust from her, and he would not fail his senior. "If you do too well with that, my parents may ask you to do that for me next year."

That caused his uncle to come up short. "Eh... We'll see."

Komaki Household
Night

Midori changed into her purple pyjamas, helping Amane into a spare pair. "No word on you being missing," she said as Amane pulled the shirt over her head, then pulled her hair clear of the collar. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," Amane said before she looked at Midori, seeking something in her face. "What was that? What happened?"

Midori deflated. "I will try to explain to everyone all at once, but I also suspect that you'll receive a summons from Igor pretty quickly... and you don't know who he is." Amane said nothing, just kept her gaze fixed on Midori. "Look, it's complicated. And I'm not sure how much I can tell you. Just... I know Igor. He's trustworthy, even if you don't trust him."

"Who is this Igor?" Amane asked.

"He..." Midori didn't know how to describe it. "He has a nose," she finally failed to offer an apt description. "I mean, a really big one. He's also on our side. Humanity, I mean."

"You're not telling me things," accused Amane.

Midori confessed. "You're right. I'm not. And there are things I won't tell other people that you and I know either, including the others. Once I know what you know, and if you're going to keep going, then I can fill in the blanks."

Amane considered this, but instead of pressing the issue, decided to trust the one person in the world who twice fought for her in the garden of her own mind. "Very well. Good night."

"Night," Midori replied reflexively.