Hello guys, and welcome to another chapter. Same old same old, I don't own anything and bla bla bla. Enjoy the chapter.

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"Where am I?"

Teddie woke up in the middle of... somewhere. Somewhere filled with with the thickest fog, though it was not the TV world. He was standing on a road with nothing else in sight. The place felt strange, yet somewhat familiar.

"How did I get here? Oh, that's right..." he lowered his head. Just then he noticed that he wasn't wearing his bear costume, but that didn't matter. What truly mattered was...

"Nana-chan..."

He remembered everything. He was at the hospital, praying for the little girl to come around, but she never did. He lost his conscience to the sound of the infinite and constant beep of the monitor by the side of the girl's bed.

He'd lost the one he vowed to protect and broke his promises to her.

Maybe that was why he was there: he didn't have a purpose in the human world anymore.

He started to walk forward without any real destination, his blue eyes cast down all the way, devoid of any hope.

Hm.

Hope.

Sensei once told him that his Arcana was The Star and that it meant hope. Funny. If he failed to serve as Nana-chan's hope, what was he living for?

What kind of hope was he?

For a moment he wished to die, but what if he went to the same place as Nanako? He couldn't face her. She probably hated him right now and would probably hate him forever, too.

He was still absently walking forward. He didn't know why, but he was. He looked around: the fog was pure white, while the fog in the TV world had a slight green tint. Strange. What was that fuzzy feeling in his chest?

Why was that place so familiar?

He stopped walking. A massive headache made him drop to his knees. The familiar blue fire started surrounding him, but Kintoki Douji's card was not present. Suddenly, the fire turned purple and engulfed Teddie's whole body. He felt as if his head was being split open and screamed in pain. After the huge surge of power, the fire died down.

He stood up, only to be met with the sight of...

Himself.

But something was not right. The copy's aura was not as menacing as that of a Shadow. Its eyes... instead of eyes, the copy had two orbs of a clear blue crystal which reflected his image like a mirror. It showed no expression whatsoever and its feet weren't touching the ground.

"Greetings." The copy spoke. Teddie was still a bit dazed, despite his sadness.

"Who are you? You're not my Shadow, are you?"

"Indeed I am not. I am neither Shadow or persona."

"What are you, then?" Teddie questioned. He thought about taking a defensive stance, but for some reason he felt as if there was no need to.

"I am the Mirror of the soul. I present myself to those who wander the collective unconscious in search for themselves. Deep within your soul, you claim that you do not have a reason to exist. You have also asked yourself who you really are for a long time. That is why I am here. I shall show you the answer to your questions."

He had those answers?! For how long was Teddie looking for them?

However, there was nothing to be excited about. It'd be no use for him or to anyone, since he had nowhere to go back to. The smile growing on his face quickly faded. But hey... at least he was getting his answers.

The Mirror's eyes started emitting a warm glow. "Look into my eyes, and witness the truth of your existence."

Teddie looked into the blue crystal balls. He started walking closer, as if he was being drawn to the brightness of the Mirror's eyes. As he got closer, his reflection's eyes flashed a different color. Each time shifting to a different tone, until he could get the clearest view of his own eyes. His jaw dropped as realization dawned upon him.

He saw his irises glowing a solid yellow. That only meant one thing.

"This is the truth, Teddie. You are, were, and will always be a Shadow. You had an odd potential... the power to develop an ego, so that you could interact with humans. You should also recall that this is not the first time that we met."

Teddie still couldn't believe it. But thinking about it, that shouldn't be so surprising. He lived in the TV world from the beginning... a beginning he didn't even remember. He belonged in the TV world because he was nothing but a Shadow.

Wait...

Perhaps the memory had returned to him.

Back then, he heard a voice. That voice asked him something that he didn't comprehend, yet he understood it perfectly. He just answered 'yes', then a bright light engulfed everything. After that, he found himself as the bear costume. That was his beginning. He didn't remember which form he had prior to that, however. Perhaps that was part of the transition: to forget what he was before.

"This is your true nature. To deny it, is to deny yourself. Do you acknowledge this fact?" The Mirror asked.

Teddie looked up at the Mirror again. The tears had stopped coming from his eyes.

"Yeah, I know that. All this time, I've been just a Shadow. No wonder I couldn't fulfill my purpose in the human world: I didn't belong there... What do I do now?"

"Look within yourself, and the answer will heed your call." As the Mirror said that, the noise of a car grinding to a halt was heard nearby.

Teddie sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He saw himself fighting. Against what, he wasn't sure. He was powerful and had a strong resolve. It was like he was fighting to protect something he didn't know what was. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were glowing yellow.

Teddie understood it then.

"The choice is yours to make. Though I warn you: there will be no turning back. Either you keep your ego and wander here aimlessly until you find another answer, or you give it away and go back to being a Shadow, fighting to protect your realm. You are a very special being: you are your own Shadow, thus, you have the right to make this choice."

Teddie thought hard about what the mirror said. It's true that he didn't have a purpose. He couldn't keep his only promise, after all. Maybe there wasn't another answer. He would stay there forever if he was to try and find another way. And even if he could get out, what would Sensei and the others say? He failed. He himself was a failure.

Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want his ego anymore.

Then, he wouldn't have to live with the pain of being who he was. He wouldn't have to worry about anything . He would be free. But he would most likely lose all the memories of his beloved friends. All the time they spent together would vanish. But they were probably wishing that they never met Teddie in the first place, anyway.

"Have you made your decision?"

He nodded. Tears started flowing from his eyes. That was for the best of everyone.

"Yeah. But can I do something first?" He wiped his tears, but they wouldn't stop coming.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." Teddie stood up and walked towards the parked car that stopped there a while ago. It was a huge, black limousine, its windows were dark blue. He knew what that car was, but he wasn't sure how he knew it. He simply touched the doorknob and the world turned blue.

There was no one there, but suddenly, a bright light filled the whole room and when it died down, he found none other than Sensei sat on the chair across him.

"Huh? Teddie, is that you? We were so worried about you! Where have you been? And why are you here?"

"I'm okay, now. I just discovered what I truly am. I was just a Shadow from the beginning." Teddie wiped more teas. Yu looked at him with a bit of surprise. "So, I'm going back to the other side. I couldn't keep my promise, so it's for the best."

"But... Teddie, I don't care that you're a Shadow. You can stay with us. Come on, let's go home. Everybody's waiting."

"You've always been so kind to me. I doubt the others would still want me around. I came here to say goodbye. And Sensei... when you meet Nana-chan in heaven... tell her I'm sorry."

Yu bit his bottom lip. "But, Teddie..."

"Now I've got a place to stay. A place that I shouldn't have ever left... thank you for everything." Teddie sobbed once.

Only then he noticed there was a card resting on the side of his chair. It was empty, albeit stained with one of his tears. "And goodbye." he started vanishing, only to leave Yu behind.

"... What the-?! No, you can still stay with us! Nobody wants you to leave! Teddie?! Teddie!" he screamed, but none of his pleads were enough to make the Shadow stay.

He was back outside the car. Silently, he walked back towards the Mirror.

"... I'm ready now."

"I will ask you once more: are you sure? There will be no turning back. You will deny your human soul and it will remain this way forever. Your memories will disappear and you will go back to being a normal Shadow. Is this the answer for your life?"

"Yes."

Silence

"Very well."

The Mirror joined his hands in front of his face and Teddie began to feel something strange. As he separated his hands, two butterfly wings appeared. They flew towards each other and united themselves to form a strange, yet beautiful blue butterfly. Teddie felt a sudden peace, like he was in harmony with everything around him. But that didn't last long, as the Mirror clapped his hands and the butterfly lost its warm glow, only to fall dead on the ground.

"Soon, you will walk the new path that you chose. Your soul will not be part of the collective unconscious anymore. I bid you farewell, for we will not meet again." The Mirror stared blankly at the former Teddie. He had a very kind soul, a strong will, his aura was clearer than that of many a human... but alas, he made his choice.

He saw the Shadow's eyes slowly turn yellow, his fangs turn sharp and his claws grow deadly. He was no longer the one who learned how to be liked by humans.

The world around it began to shift and warp and it found itself on a road, surrounded by rumbles of a broken city and under a black and red sky. It wandered around aimlessly, but suddenly, it heard voices in the distance.

"Teddie!" The boy with silver hair spoke loudly.

"Teddie, is that you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" The girl in green said.

"Come on, let's go home, you idiot!" Said the boy with brown hair.

So those are the ones who brave the hollow forest to kill those of its kind. Something snapped inside it. He could only think about one thing.

Attack!

Welp, that one's done. As always, leave your comments and critics as a review in the box below, I'm Raidou the 16th... and RIP Simon the Smooth.