~~~ Present Day ~~~

Judge Ren hummed "quite interesting a tale Santos and quite an adventure. The incident report doesn't go into that much detail."

Santos hummed as he shook his head "in the classroom we all agreed to the story that Priya accidently uncovered a ' secret passage' in the bathroom and fell into it becoming trapped. It was bought because of Professor Speyers's little demonstration, but that bathroom was closed off for remodeling for the next couple of weeks and everyone was told not to go purposely looking for anymore secret passages and that if any were 'found' to inform a staff member and not telling would result in punishment and I think they went through the ground taking out any rumored passages. Priya was punished for breaking her no mobile device rule but later we learned of her group ability. It seems by unlocking her persona we now had the ability to talk to each other and to her Persona through telepathy."

Judge Ren blinked "Telepathy?" He stated

"Yeah it was quite freaky to have someone else pick up your thoughts but we learned how to control our thoughts and we were able to communicate with each other without anyone else really knowing about it. My dark sensor had also gained a slight upgrade thanks to our endeavors. I could now project a radar scan to see if anything was within the school that could be trouble. However we also gained a big as some would call it a key item that would open the way for us to become more involved in the incidents.

"And what was that?" Ren stated

"The book Guardian gave Professor Satou was the journal of his son and in it detailed what went down eight years ago when the Fushigi Eight was doing their battles against the Shadows."

Ren blinked "you mean Arashi Satou wrote the entire thing down?"

"Most of the writing especially at the end was compiled by Guardian." Santos stated "using Arashi's memories and his own sensor logs and scans. Through the journal, we learned the complete story of what had happened to the Fushigi Eight."

Judge Ren hummed "relay to me the story as it was told to you."

Santos hummed "okay, everything started when Arashi and the others of the Fushigi Eight were called into a classroom and asked by Miss Shima about Momo Takeshi. Momo had disappeared after an incident in which her 'boyfriend' posted a nude picture Momo had sent to him per his request to social media. Turns out the jerk was just stringing her along and used this to attack her for being fat and it turned into a severe case of cyber bullying and bullying in general with people marking her locker and everything."

Ren hummed "That is rather mean of him and the other students."

Santos hummed "yeah she had disappeared near the school greenhouse where she used it to raise various plants. It was suggested that the boyfriend had something to do with the disappearance but it didn't pan out because the parents of the boy transferred him out of the school the day before to avoid a slander case and such and the school didn't seem to be able to handle the student population and their bullying of Momo."

Ren frowned "the school did nothing to pursue it?"

Santos hummed "yeah... nothing. Anyways in the classroom, Arashi recalled a weird event in which Momo called to them to see her show and directed them to the greenhouse. Now at the greenhouse a weird effect had gone on and no one but those that had been in the classroom was seeing it. Upon entering they discovered Momo being tormented by her Shadow Self. A person who wanted to expose everything of herself and show it off. Arashi commented that it was hard for him not to stare but he shut out the image only aiming to retrieve Momo and get her away but the Shadow Self would not let them leave. The group confronted the shadow self and a fight occurred when Momo rejected it and they had their first Shadow Fight against Shadow Momo."

Ren hummed "I see."

Santos hummed "they managed to win when Momo accepted her shadow self and earned her persona Kukuri and the next day she called them to a meeting and told them about what she had foreseen via Kukuri, a great disaster of destruction and death caused by these Shadows and she wanted to do something about it. What was odd however was that morning someone had posted pictures of Raija's father with another woman that wasn't Raija's mother all around the school. This picture was linked to Raija's past as her father's cheating lead to her mother's severe depression and death and her emotional abuse leading her to not being able to trust anyone of the male gender because her actions exposed her father for what he was. A cheating husband and overall evil man."

Ren hummed "interesting."

Santos hummed "meanwhile while the group was investigating this, Arashi was doing his own investigation he was looking around the Greenhouse and a sound caught his attention making him look at the camera he had been working on a few days ago the same day that Momo had disappeared. Upon investigating the camera it was revealed that someone had cut the transmission wire to the security room and Arashi realized that someone or something was causing the cameras to malfunction on purpose. Upon that weird things started happening around him. Words appearing on the greenhouse walls, noises of children laughing and other things. The words that appeared were "follow the wire dork" and upon doing so he discovered his own portal but before he could jump into it another of the group he was with stopped him saying that the others had gone into another dungeon and Arashi realized that the whole thing was a lure to get him trapped."

Ren hummed "I see... so these dungeons were traps the shadows were using to snag victims."

"Yes..." Santos stated "the group faced Shadow Raija who was a young woman bound by the chains of pain and distrust and they managed to purify her Shadow and create the Persona Tarvos and clear Raija's dungeon and went to bed however during the nighttime Arashi woke up from a nightmare that was tormenting him about his past and he decided to go put an end to his own nightmare and entered into his own dungeon disappearing for almost 12 hours when in his dungeon only like about 30 minutes passed."

Ren blinked "12 hours in reality and only 30 minutes in the shadow realm."

"Yep." Santos stated "and basically his dungeon made him relive the torment he was put through in his childhood years and he was almost consumed in a mob of tiny imp like creatures who were mocking him but the group came to his aid and he managed to get to his shadow self who had been buried and was a sobbing child. Arashi didn't reject his shadow self and gave his shadow words of encouragement which almost made him purified but a mocking voice and force caused Shadow Arashi to become his true form a rampaging mecha machine. Arashi used his knowledge to lock onto the weakness of the machine and direct the others to attack it weak spot and upon breaking the machine down Arashi grabbed his shadow self and accepted it fully which turned him into Guardian. This is where Arashi's parents came into the picture especially his father who wanted to know what the hell happened to cause his son to disappear which lead to Arashi telling him what he knew about everything.

Ren hummed as he nodded "and that is where Arashi's Father learned everything Arashi knew." He concluded

"Yep." Santos replied "then about a few days later rumors about a monstrous face in the mirror in the girls bathroom scaring those who see it started coming up and Momo realized it was another dungeon this one for Saleme Speyers."

Ren grunted "wait a moment. You mean the face in the mirror was there before Saleme Speyers became it."

"Yep. Turns out Saleme had been in a terrible accident that left him with scars that were ugly and he used make-up to hide them and was ashamed of his big secret and his fretting over his face. Anyways after clearing that dungeon it was there that Arashi told the group he had told his father about the shadows which fractured Momo that Arashi could betray them like that and with his dislike toward Koueh's royal pain in the ass. It caused the group to go against him and Arashi started turning his emotions and persona against them using his new found power as a means to get a point across that he was tired of people's bullshit especially Koueh's high and mighty attitude."

Ren hummed "I see so that was the start on where differing opinions was causing discord in the group's unity."

"Yep." Santos stated "however things weren't all on Arashi however another of their members Kite had his own doubts about himself. See he had just learned that his rich and powerful family had adopted him when he was a baby and he wasn't sure that he was worthy of their name not being born of their blood."

Ren hummed "that can generate some self-doubt."

Santos hummed "and the shadows took advantage of that but they also showed how powerful they were at an 18th birthday bash for Kite. Any student that went into the party became possessed by shadows and three friends of the group. Saleme's Brother Hikaru, Raija's Friend Reika Sohohara who was the older sister of Meika and Kimiko Ikegami a girl that Koueh was dating and had decided to take to the party all became engulfed by shadows and turned into mini bosses for the group to face. Arashi was willing to fight but the others not so much even though the shadows had no problem attacking them. They managed to win but then Shadow Kite came into the picture and revealed Kite's secret and turned into his true self form. The group went into action against a multi faced golem of Kite's family and Arashi was the one who help Kite realize it was his self-doubt that was creating the monster and that it was he who was doubting the love that the family who had raised him since he was an infant and that help Kite accept things and earn his persona.

Ren hummed "so five persona down three to go."

Santos hummed "and basically things after that thing got really difficult for the group around the time the sixth dungeon happened with Koueh."

Ren hummed "yes you mentioned this before when Professor Satou revealed to Karma that his cousin was a thief, bully and when confronted with the law a coward."

Santos hummed "but that was only half the battle the other half occurred with Momo. The whole deal was that while the group was dealing with the shadows Professor Satou was pursuing Koueh almost obsessively aiming to knock him off his high throne and into jail where he belonged. However in setting his trap he also caught Momo and Arashi. Arashi had been walking around on his school day off after the party when he found Koueh pissed off and everything. It seemed Momo had sent out a message saying that she discovered something weird with a tree near the green house and that tree just happened to be where Koueh had a stash of stolen valuables which had now been liberated. Arashi was directed by Koueh to do an investigation and Arashi realized that the whole thing was a trap for Koueh and he had been caught in it and Arashi was in danger of being caught himself. Arashi retreated to his room and through a listening device he planted overheard that the school was going for Koueh for his crimes and he sent out an alert to the group. His father came to his room and tried to causally talk and come take Arashi home for the day and Arashi and him had a serious talk about the mission and how Arashi knew his father was in the right to have Koueh pay for the crimes but it was going to destroy the group and make them fail the mission and it became really clear when Momo attempted to sacrifice herself for Koueh.

Ren blinked "Sacrifice."

Santos hummed "It was told to Arashi that she was an accomplice to his crimes and she struggled with people to give Koueh a chance to escape and they wanted to question Arashi for him being caught in the trap and Arashi took it as a chance to free Momo from the trap and used his knowledge rather cynically to break Momo from the trap and managed to convince Miss Shima that Momo was not part of Koueh's crimes and she was naively trying to disrupt the investigation. Momo took this with anger saying that Arashi was just like his father petty and bitter and Arashi just took it. She ran off and Arashi went to return to his room only for an alert to go out. Koueh in his haste to get away jumped right into a shadow trap and had gone into his dungeon.

Ren hummed "so the shadows used real events to aid in their traps."

"Yep." Santos muttered "and because Momo was upset the shadows took advantage of it and turned her into a shadow puppet shield for Koueh's Shadow Self a royal king who was controlled by pride and greed and who used anything he had for his entertainment alone."

Judge Ren made a hum of thought "sounds difficult to deal with."

"The group managed to free her and defeat Shadow Koueh and gain Koueh's persona." Santos muttered "but when they got back they came upon the finding of a murder. The Fushigi Murder was the murder of a hidden ninth member who tried to do everything on her own refusing to even approach the group. The group investigated the girls room entering into her dungeon which revealed that she had been lured into a trap and consumed because she could not trust people but then the shadows twisted the dungeon turning it into a seventh dungeon giving no real rest to the group and having them face another Shadow this one of Atoli Kiryuin and with the strain of reality combine with a few other factors including his group mates still ticked at him for hurting Momo. Arashi basically gave into his dark emotions and just went on a shadow destruction spree using a blade of darkness that had been forged in Shadow Koueh's battle and turning his persona into a sword wielding mecha that thankfully didn't harm the group but it barely allowing Atoli to get her persona. It was so bad he didn't even remember what Atoli's whole thing was but it turns out she had doubts of her own about being unable to get out of the shadow of her father and become a well-known lawyer like he was when she wasn't good at things like that at all."

Judge Ren hummed "but Arashi didn't even care about that."

"No..." Santos muttered "after his rampage he left the group saying in almost a robotic tone that he required rest. He went to his dorm room to rest only to encounter his father and his father commented on how he looked like he went through hell and that would be helping him leave. The murder of the girl was closing down the school and his father wasn't going to have Arashi do anything else and Arashi wasn't resisting. In his book he was done with the whole thing. The Shadows were just too powerful and he was in no condition to continue fighting."

Judge Ren hummed "but didn't Arashi's Father say to your group his son vanished right before his eyes?"

Santos hummed "yep and that vanishing wasn't because Arashi was a ghost but because time had stopped for the group. The ninth member's fragmented soul triggered some time magic freezing all but the group so that they could rest and then fight on."

Judge Ren blinked "then what caused Arashi to disappear."

Santos hummed "He moved from his spot where he left his father, rested restoring himself and then returned to the group. The group went into the eighth dungeon to chase after one of their members Maxie Pemberton who had decided before Arashi went off to go rest to chase a ghost of his own namely his dead mother. His Shadow was particularly deadly as it used Maxie as a puppet while it was in heaven as an angel of his mother who had died in a car accident just the previous year and Maxie's thing was that he wanted his mother and the shadows were giving it to him."

Judge Ren hummed "I see..."

Santos hummed "because of his previous outburst Arashi's dark energy had been burned off so that he was better feeling however upon defeating the angel Maxie wouldn't accept the truth that his mother was dead and rewound time so that the angel would live and restart the battle. It was a seemingly endless cycle until Arashi did another 'flip out' and a quoted line was "if you want your mother that badly Maxie then you can flippin join her in hell." He then turned his persona on Maxie and blasted him with a full power attack to wake him up as he was in a dream induced by his shadow self. Maxie woke up and came to terms with reality that his mother was dead and accepted his shadow self, earning his persona. However this action turned the group against Arashi. Arashi had just attacked Maxie aiming to kill him. Arashi pretty much told them that nothing was getting through to him so it was time to deal a taste of reality and if Maxie can't handle reality and everything that comes with it then he could just die and be done with it. Arashi was through bailing out people of their dreamlands/nightmares and done with dealing with other people's issues. He had his life to get back to and the group was holding him up. They needed to do what everyone else was doing and leave. Momo pleaded with him saying that it was the final push and that they had all their personas and they just had to do one last thing and then they could go on their ways. Arashi accepted even though there was a portal that lead back to the real world and all he had to do was walk through it to leave."

Judge Ren hummed "he chose to continue even though he could leave..."

Santos hummed "and in the journal it mentions that was his worst mistake of his life because what he was faced with on the final area basically lead him to believe that the group had been deceived. It was told they weren't there to stop the shadows they were there to free them. However Guardian noted that there was a massive amount of darkness and if the shadows were freed and crossed over into the real world that death and destruction would occur. Arashi then put two and two together and realized that the group was about to unleash the very thing that Momo had predicted."

Judge Ren blinked "doomsday?" He guessed

Santos hummed "yep..." He replied "and that is basically why he betrayed the group. He figured that at best it was a trap that Momo lead the group into or at worst it was Momo's plan all along that she wanted the real world destroyed and the shadows were going to grant that dark wish but they needed at least 7 others besides her to do it."

Judge Ren hummed in thought "so he partly assumed Momo was in on the whole deal."

Santos hummed "yes and to him it explained everything. Why they had to face the shadows. Why they had to stop them why they had to risk getting into trouble with the school and other things. However instead of confronting Momo and accusing her. He started coming up with a plan to counter her own and knew to start he had to get out of the shadow realm and seal the portal they were using to infect the school. He figured that if he could shut down the main portal the shadows wouldn't be able to do anything. He slowly withdrew from the group trying to sneak back using Guardian as cover but Momo caught him and asked him where he was going. Arashi then pretty much told them that he had enough and was going home and started walking. Momo tried to plead with him telling him that he couldn't. Arashi then stated "watch me, Guardian transport mode let get out of this hellhole and make sure to keep it real residents in it. The shadows realizing that their plan was being threatened by resistance broke out and Arashi rode within Guardian to the portal being chased by both the group and their personas and a wave of shadows. At the portal, Guardian released Arashi and told him to leave and that this was his true purpose to protect his creator from destruction and that his destruction would seal the portal. Arashi tried to plead with his creation saying that how could he sacrifice his ultimate creation just to save himself. Guardian then stated "because I am you and that is what I would do." Arashi then in a selfish or selfless act, depending on how you think about it, decided that if Guardian was going to sacrifice himself to protect Arashi then Arashi could sacrifice himself to protect those he cared about and with one final command known as Omega. They overloaded the main portal with energy causing it to collapse and the two went into a final clash that ended up destroying them. They stopped the shadows for a time but their mark in reality was known, one murder, eight disappearances and many questions on why these events occurred and even more asking why similar events were beginning again."

"yes." Judge Ren muttered "So if Arashi and Guardian did sacrifice themselves according to the journal then how did Guardian appear to the group in Priya's dungeon?"

Santos hummed "It was written that Guardian came to fully functional and that accessing data that appeared to be Arashi's memories which stated that Arashi gave what was left of his soul data to Guardian to restore him and allowed the creation to live while the creator died. Guardian was given a new purpose. Stop the shadows from ever attacking the real world and if he ever encountered Arashi's Father to give him a copy of the archives that were created, his journal that told the truth behind the shadows and to warn people that anyone who dealt with the shadows would be consumed by them and to avoid dealing with them at all costs. There was a passage at the end of the journal, a sort of final message to Arashi's Father and Mother saying that what he did was his decision and that he chose his path and that he was sorry to have left them without even saying goodbye and that he loved them."

Judge Ren hummed "quite a sad ending."

"yeah ..." Santos stated "Professor Satou held it in but I could tell he was wondering if he could have done something to help his son instead of just forcing him to give up and attempt to take him home." Santos muttered "but with that information Professor Satou thanked us for the aid and that if we needed anything to just let him know and we basically held him to his promise of group counseling and twice a week for our afternoon task we met up to talk about our issues and to more or less hang out together. We couldn't do it every day but he managed to get it for twice a week which helped me accept the others of the group as people I could talk to. People that could understand that I had an ability that gave me problems. So with the group bonding together things were a little more tolerable at the academy. We still had a few thoughts about the Shadows and what had happened but heeding Guardian's command we decided to just not involve ourselves. After our first dungeon things seemed to quiet down for about a few weeks; however the Shadows would rear their ugly heads again when someone else 'disappeared'.

Judge Ren hummed in interest "another disappearance who?"

"The one who would be stupid enough not to listen to warnings. Who still thought there was something for him in the Shadow Realm and most likely driven to find his own answers when people refused to tell him what he wanted to hear, Hikaru Speyers."