'Ello friends! Got another chapter of this out! Dunno how I did with this, if I did good or bad, but stuff happens... read on to see!

Chapter 10: Exploring Around

Date: Sunday, August 27th

[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Signs Of Love]

Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz!

"Ugh..." Alex groaned as he opened his eyes. He heard his cell phone vibrate on his nightstand and picked it up. "Who's texting me this early?" He saw he had a group text from Ember to both him and Jax.

Hey. Rayna texted me and asked if we can go into the Dream World tonight. -Ember

Why? There's no one trapped in there. Can she wait until next time it rains? -Alex

Rayna is pretty impatient, she probably wants to go in and see what she can do with her Persona. -Jax

That's what she told me, so you're right Jax. -Ember

Alex shook his head with a chuckle and texted back. So does that mean we're going in tonight? -Alex

Well you are our leader, Alex. You want to go in tonight, just to give Rayna a taste of what we can do? -Ember

"Wait, what? I'm not the leader." Alex said to himself as he replied. I'm no leader, but if she really wants to go, then sure. -Alex

You kidding?! You're the one who can use more than one Persona, you're the leader of our rescue team! -Jax

Also we need to get Rayna a weapon and it's time we upgrade our weapons, they're getting pretty beat up already. I may also change my weapon… I don't think the naginata will work for me. -Ember

Those are the only weapons I have! How are we going to get new ones without anyone getting suspicious? -Jax

Oh don't worry, I know just the person we can talk to. Get your weapons and meet me with Rayna at the park. I'll show you where we can go from there. Make sure to keep the weapons in the bag! -Ember

Okay, we'll meet you there. -Alex

Alex wrote that last text and got out of bed. "This early on a weekend? Why would-" Alex then looked at his alarm clock and saw… that it was 1:30 in the afternoon. "...Oops..."

After inwardly calling himself an idiot, he got dressed, put his sword in a large bag, and was able to sneak out of the house with it without his parents noticing.

"Goingoutwithfriendsbye!" Alex said really fast as he dashed out of the house.

[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: When The Moon's Reaching Out Stars]

Once the four met up at the park, Ember led them into an older part of town. Most of the area looked like run down buildings, but there was one that had a sign on the top that read "Castagnoli Metalworks". They walked inside of the building and their jaws dropped at what they saw. There were weapons of every kind in there as well as armor and shields and a lot of other stuff.

"What… is this?" Alex asked.

"I didn't know a store like this existed and I lived here forever!" Rayna said.

"This is a metalworks shop." Ember explained. "A friend of my dad's owns this place and he can make all sorts of weapons. Give him any scrap of metal and he'll make something."

"...Maybe this is where Mom and Dad got the weapons." Jax thought.

"Ember! Didn't expect to see you here!" A man's voice was heard. Walking behind the counter was a bald man with slight facial hair and he wore a plain white dress shirt and gray dress pants. He also had what sounded like a Swiss accent.

"Hello Mr. Castagnoli!" Ember greeted.

"Ember, how many times do I need to tell you that you don't need to be so formal? Just call me Claudio." Claudio laughed.

"Sorry, just used to being polite." Ember chuckled.

"What can I get you today? Or are you just here to talk with your friends?" Claudio asked.

"Actually… Please don't tell our parents this because this is for something serious, but Alex and Jax want improved weapons while I want something else and Rayna should get something." Ember said.

Claudio blinked, he was surprised they wanted weapons. "...You kids better not get into any trouble with these weapons. What exactly are you going to do with them?"

"We have a feeling there's something going on in town, so we want them just to be safe." Ember said. "But again, don't tell our parents."

Claudio thought about it for a while, then sighed a bit. "Okay, I can supply you for what you want. But if you do anything wrong with these, I will tell your parents."

"It won't be any trouble, sir." Alex said politely.

"Ah, you must be the new friend Ember told me about." Claudio said.

"She told you about me?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I know about Jax, Rayna, and her other friends, but she recently told me about a new friend she met and she said you were a good kid so far." Claudio smiled.

"Well… thanks." Alex scratched his head. "Surprised I'm already getting known around here."

"Silvercrest is a small town, it'll happen to newcomers." Claudio laughed. "Anyway, what do you four need?"

Alex and Jax put their sword and knuckles on the counter while Ember put her naginata on the counter and explained that she wanted something lighter. Rayna just suggested him to surprise her. After taking a look at the sword and knuckles, Claudio said he'd be back in a few minutes and went to the back of the store.

It took a while and the four sat on a bench in the store as they began to get bored. But after a few sounds of metal hitting against each other, Claudio came back out with his arms full of weapons.

"Alrighty, I was able to set both Alex and Jaxson up with stronger versions of their weapons." Claudio picked up a shiny iron sword. "This is yours, Alex. It's steadier than the bronze one you had and a little sharper."

"Oh this will work perfect!" Alex stared at his new sword in awe.

"Careful not to cut yourself." Claudio warned. He then picked up two knuckles. They weren't brass anymore, but iron and they had spikes on them. "There's Jax's."

"Oh ho ho! Sweet!" Jax had a wide smile, looking at his new weapons.

"And Ember, you said you wanted something that can still hit good but was lighter. I think this will work for you." Claudio then picked up a white staff with one spike on the top and two on the sides.

"A staff? I'll take it!" Ember said grabbing her new weapon.

"What do I get?" Rayna asked.

"And for Rayna..." Claudio picked up two black folding fans and handed them to Rayna.

"...Fans? These are my weapons you chose for me?" Rayna sounded disappointed.

"Unfold them and look, they're not just plain old fans." Claudio said.

Rayna raised an eyebrow before unfolding the fans. When she did, she saw between the folds on the fans, there were small blades on the top. "Whoa! ...You are right about that. ...Maybe these will work."

"Thank you very much, Claudio." Ember smiled.

"No problem. Now remember, be careful with those." Claudio said. He saw Ember put some money on the counter and he pushed it back to her. "These ones are on the house, other ones you get from now on though you'll need to pay for."

"These will work for a while. Thank you very much!" Alex thanked. Everyone put their weapons in their bags and walked out of the store. "Rayna, you still sure you want to go into the Dream World tonight? You do know there may be little to nothing there since it hasn't rained."

"I want to see, there has to be something else there!" Rayna said. "Besides, I want to see what my Persona can do."

"Okay, remember to go to sleep at midnight tonight. We should all meet up at the Dream World entrance if done right." Ember said.

"Gotcha, I'll see you guys tonight!" Rayna said before the four went their separate ways.

[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Who's There?]

Midnight struck and Alex was the first one to arrive at the entrance of the Dream World. Ember wasn't too far after him and Jax right after her. Rayna was the last one in and she looked at the entrance.

"...Yep, I don't remember starting out in here." Rayna said.

"And look, the gold door is there!" Ember said pointing to do the door.

"Does that mean someone is in here?" Alex asked walking to the door. He opened it up… and it was what Rayna's dream looked like.

"...My dream is still here? I thought we beat my shadow." Rayna said.

"Maybe someone is in there. Let's go in and see!" Jax said as he began to run inside, but Alex held him back.

"Hang on, before we go, we have to get suited up." Alex said as he closed his eyes and his mask floated down. Jax and Ember did the same and they put on their masks and got into their battle gear.

"Ohhh… so that's how you do it." Rayna said seeing her friends get into their gear. She closed her eyes as well as her green winged mask lowered down. She grabbed it and put it on her face. When she opened her eyes, she was in her battle gear which was a dark green colored leotard with wing-like ends on the shoulders, a black design that looked like a chestplate in the middle, long black fingerless gloves on her arms, a green feathery skirt, black leggings, and green high heels. (The design looks similar to the outfits the Sailor Scouts in Sailor Moon wear.)

"That looks awesome, Rayna!" Ember commented with a smile. "You look ready to fight. What do you think, guys." Ember did not get a response. "...Guys?"

She turned around to see Alex's face blushing red and Jax… well, Jax's mouth was agape and he was having an anime-style nosebleed as blood poured out of his nostrils.

"Figures..." Ember sighed.

"Don't worry Em, I got this." Rayna grinned. She took out one of her fans, and without opening it up since it had blades inside, she slapped both Alex and Jax across the face with it.

"YIPE!" Alex shouted as he got slapped.

"WHO WHAT WHERE WHY HOW?!" Jax shouted after he got slapped, frantically moving his head around. He received another fan slap to the face to snap out of it.

"Stop drooling! We have a dream to investigate!" Rayna said before heading to the door.

"Why are guys such perverts?" Ember asked shaking her head.

"Wow… Rayna looks so hot in that outfit..." Jax whispered to Alex. "It makes me… feel weird down there." He moved his eyes downward, implying what he means.

"TMI Jax! TMI!" Alex said as he pushed Jax towards the door. They all then got their weapons ready. "Let's see what we can find in here."

[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Castle]

The four ran into Rayna's dream looking to see if they could find anything. They didn't even get down the first hall as three Monopolizing Cupids appeared in front of them.

"Shadows!" Jax shouted.

"I'll take one down! Fuu-Ki!" Alex put his hand on his mask and his Star Persona Fuu-Ki appeared. "Torrent Shot!" With the order, Fuu-Ki threw his double ended weapon at one of the Cupids and it disappeared.

"My turn!" Jax said before he touched his mask and Balor appeared above him. "Sonic Punch, Balor!" Balor lunged forward and punched another Cupid away. "Two down! Your turn, Em."

"Why are we using our Personas for these weak shadows?" Ember asked.

"To show Rayna how these work. Now send out Brigid because this last one is coming after you!" Alex said as the last Cupid was making its way to Ember.

"Alright… Brigid, Skewer!" Ember put her hand on her mask and Brigid appeared. At her host's order, she used her staff to take out the last Cupid. With the three Cupids gone, the Personas went back inside of their hosts.

"And that's how you do it." Alex grinned.

"Gotcha, now I know what to do." Rayna said. "Let's continue!"

They continued on through the dream and they kept coming across small shadows and it was easy for them to take down. As they were getting close to the room Rayna and her shadow self was in previously however, a group of Cowardly Mayas blocked the way.

"Shit! These freakin' shadows are blocking us! Ember, have Brigid use that light attack." Jax said.

Ember was about to summon Brigid again, but Rayna stopped her. "Hang on, maybe I can do something." Rayna put her hand on her mask, "Persona!" With that call, her Persona Eris appeared above her. "Attack with Twin Slash on those shadows!" The order was made and Eris nodded and went to the shadows. Before she attacked however, the feathers on her arms suddenly turned sharp and she attacked the Mayas one by one until they were gone.

"...Damn!" Alex said in surprise.

"Wow… Good moves, Eris!" Rayna commented. Eris just responded with another nod before going back into Rayna's mind.

"Onto that room! If this dream is still here, there may be something in that room." Ember said as the four went up the stairs and made it to the room Rayna was in last time.

"Here it is, let's see if something is in there." Alex whispered, he opened the door and the team went in.

When they walked in, they did not see a person in there, but they did see what looked like a red and black clothed table with a blue mask on it and some fiery objects floating above it. This was known as a Crying Table.

"...A table? That's what's in here?" Jax asked disappointed. "See what you got us to come here for, Rayna?"

"I didn't know it was going to be a table here!" Rayna shouted.

"…I don't think that's a plain old table, guys..." Alex said… as at that moment, the Crying Table turned at the team and blasted a multi-target Maragi fire attack and them.

"INCOMING!" Jax shouted as the four were able to dodge the fire.

"Guys, looks like we came here for a good reason after all." Alex said standing up. "Let's fight this table!"

"Right!" The other three nodded.

[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reach Out To The Truth]

"Persona!" All four shouted at the same time and Balor, Brigid, and Eris appeared above their hosts while Alex sent out his Hermit Persona Ippon-Datara.

"Sledgehammer!" Alex called out as Ippon-Datara hit the Crying Table, but it looked like it barely took any damage. "Didn't work I don't think!"

"I got this! Agi, Balor!" Jax ordered and Balor shot an Agi fire attack at the Crying Table… and the Agi did no damage whatsoever. "What?! It didn't do anything-"

"Jax watch out!" Ember called out.

"Watch out for- AH!" Jax was hit by one of the Crying Table's floating weapons.

"I got it!" Ember ordered Brigid for an attack and she ran towards the enemy with her staff in her hands and went for a hit. But the Crying Table moved out of the way and Ember too got a hit with a floating weapon.

"You guys are doing it wrong! Eris, use Garu!" Rayna called out and Eris released a wind attack on the enemy. It looked like it did some damage. "Got it!" She then took out her fans and threw them both, they hit but once again looked like they hardly did damage.

"...I don't think physical attacks will hurt it!" Ember said getting up.

"No duh!" Jax said getting up as well. "Looks like my attacks are useless and so are Em's!"

"Then Rayna and I will take care of it! Ember, stand by if we need healing!" Alex called out.

"I'll be here." Ember said.

"Eris, another Garu!" Rayna ordered and Eris was about to do another Garu… when the Crying Table suddenly attacked Rayna with a Torrent Shot with one of the weapons. "Ah!"

"Rayna!" Alex called out. He was about to call out another Persona, but the Crying Table launched an Agi at Alex, and it was very effective! "Ugh!"

"Brigid, Dia on Alex!" Ember ordered as Brigid pointed her staff at Alex and a green glow appeared around him, healing him.

"Oh sure, heal him!" Rayna said sarcastically.

"Brigid's Dia can only heal one person." Ember said.

Alex stood up, and seeing what the Crying Table's element was, he had an idea on what it could be weak against. "Change!" He touched his mask and Ippon-Datara retreated into the mask and the Magician Arcana card appeared. "Jack Frost!" The little white Magician Persona appeared with its huge smile.

"Aww! It's cute." Rayna commented.

"Jack Frost, use Mabufu!" Alex ordered and Jack Frost released an ice attack on the Crying Table… and it looked effective as the Table lowered.

"That's the weakness! Ice is the Table's weakness!" Ember shouted.

"Only Alex has ice moves though!" Jax said.

"Then let's take it down… Jack Frost, do another!" Alex ordered.

"Hee ho!" Jack Frost let out a noise before he released another Mabufu, the Crying Table looked even more weak.

"We got it!" Rayna cheered. "Let me finish it!"

"All yours, Rayna." Alex backed up.

"Alright, table! Meet your maker!" Rayna called out. "Eris, Garu!" Eris released a Garu once again hurting the Crying Table. Although it may have been hurt, it did release another Agi right at Rayna. "Not this time!" Rayna jumped over the Agi to dodge it and as she was in the air, she swung her fans at the Crying Table and they hit! And it seemed those were the last hits as the Crying Table disappeared. It was defeated.

[Level Ups:

Ippon-Datara learned Mudo

Eris learned Magaru]

[Background Music: None]

"We did it!" Rayna cheered as everyone returned their Personas. "Looks like it was worth it to come here tonight after all."

"Nah, the battle was too easy." Jax said.

"But we haven't seen anything else here, guess we are done here and we wait for the next rainy night." Ember said.

"Looks like it, but at least Ember knows how to use her Perso-" Alex stopped his sentence when he thought he saw something near the doorway of the room.

"...Something wrong, Alex?" Rayna asked.

Alex pointed to the door and they saw what looked like a person standing there! The person was all in black so they didn't see any features.

"Hey!" Alex called out. And when he did…

[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Fall of Anger]

...Whoever it was took off running down the stairs!

"After that person!" Alex ordered and the four ran down the stairs chasing after what they saw. As they ran however they lost track of where it went and they eventually made it out of the dream and back to the entrance. Whoever it was was now gone. "...I wasn't the only one that saw that right?!"

"No… we saw it too!" Rayna said.

"So… someone really was in here!" Ember said wide-eyed.

"But how do we know it wasn't someone stuck here?" Jax asked.

"It didn't ask for help or ask us why we were here. It ran!" Alex said.

"Maybe they thought we were enemies?" Rayna suggested.

"No Rayna, if it was someone trapped they'd probably be in danger or ask for help… this person ran." Ember said. "Someone is able to get in here like us…"

"So does that mean my hunch is right?!" Jax asked.

"Still can't confirm it, but let's talk more about it tomorrow." Ember said.

"Agreed… getting tired." Alex said with a yawn. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

The team took off their masks and made their way out of the Dream World.

Date: Monday, August 28th

[Background Music: Persona 4 OST: Reasoning]

After school, the team went to the ice cream parlor and sat at a table where they could talk.

"According to the forecast, it's supposed to rain on the first day of September." Ember informed, checking the weather on her phone.

"Looks like we know when to watch our computer screens." Alex said.

"Well the forecast isn't always right, so should we really trust that?" Rayna asked.

"Rayna, the forecast has been right for a whole month, don't think it's going to suddenly be wrong." Jax said.

"Anyway, we should probably talk about what we saw last night." Ember said. "What do you guys think? Think there really is a killer going in there and pushing people in dreams?"

"I don't think this person is pushing people in the dreams, I think if he has a Persona like us, he may have a power to grab people as they sleep and put them into the Dream World." Jax suggested.

"...Okay Jax, we may have proven a bit of your first hunch since we saw someone in there last night, but this one sounds really ridiculous." Rayna said.

"What? I mean come on! We saw a possible killer in the Dream World last night! There has to be a way he's bringing people in!" Jax shouted.

"That part will be hard to figure out, but all we do know is someone was in there and it was not anyone trapped." Alex said. "Maybe it is indeed a killer."

Ember thought and came up with something, "Mr. and Mrs. Kellser mentioned Samantha was dating someone and that person threatened to harm her after he found out she was once married and had kids. Maybe after the argument he had anger and that's why he sent her there? Or what if it was a mistake?"

"How can it be a mistake?" Alex asked. "After she died, Jace and Cade died shortly after in the same way. No doubt they were taken to the Dream World and trapped in there as well."

"Here's what confuses me… We don't have anything that connects Hastings and O'Brian to the Smithes." Rayna said. "Samantha and the boys are connected because they're family, but what about Hastings and O'Brian?"

"The Kellsers said they knew their daughter was seeing someone but they did not know his name or what he looked like, that's a big roadblock right there." Alex sighed.

The palor door opened and the team heard, "Hey, they updated the flavors!"

"Lucky for us Good is paying."

"Only because it's my turn to buy you guys crap this week."

The four turned and saw Jon with Sebei and Lopez walk in, with Jon not looking too thrilled with having to buy his detective partners ice cream.

"Hey Dad!" Rayna waved to her dad.

"Oh hi Rayna!" Jon waved back while the other two were ordering their ice cream. After they were done ordering they saw the kids while they waited.

"Wow, we keep running into you kids!" Sebei said. "You all behaving?"

"We are, sir." Ember nodded.

"Seems like it's a slow day at the office today." Alex chuckled.

"Yeah it kinda is." Lopez said. "We were originally going to get coffee but I wanted to see how the ice cream was here. I never tried it."

"The ice cream is the best here!" Jax grinned. "You should've tried it sooner!"

Lopez chuckled, "Hope it does relax us a bit. Jon has been driving us crazy as he keeps thinking the coma deaths aren't what they seem."

"Sorry to butt in here, but is there even a slight possibility that the deaths could've been from murder?" Alex asked.

"That is a strange idea..." Sebei said.

"Well there may be a possibility, it is very rare a death like that can be caused by murder." Lopez said. "I mean it can happen, like poisoning or strangulation, but from the autopsies we saw there were no signs of those. ...That is what Jon is thinking though."

"Um… just theoretically speaking, but if these deaths were actually murder, is there a way Hastings and O'Brian could've been connected?" Ember asked.

"If you're speaking theoretically, then maybe the culprit could've had an altercation with both Hastings and O'Brian and wanted to take them both out. Other than that… no that may be it." Lopez said.

"We still think these deaths were comas though, I don't know how it can be murder when there was nothing lethal either in or done with their bodies." Sebei said.

"...Although we could double check, maybe there was something that was missed." Lopez said.

"Hey dumbbells! Your ice cream is ready!" Jon called out.

"Oh! Yeah!" Both Lopez and Sebei walked to the counter and got their bowls of ice cream. "Thank you very much."

"Lopez! Watch where you're wal-"

"WHOA!" Lopez shouted as he suddenly tripped over a garbage can. Luckily the ice cream stayed in the bowl, but that clumsy fall caused everyone in the parlor to face palm. "Hehe… guess I wasn't watching where I was going…"

With those words, the three detectives walked out. As they left, Alex rolled his eyes, "Yep, I don't think the police will get anything done there."

"Check please!" Jax held up his arm.

"We didn't even order anything, idiot." Rayna said.

[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Station]

"Mom! I'm home!" Alex called out walking into his house.

"Welcome home!" Sarah said. She was in the kitchen stirring up food on the stove. "Dinner's almost ready and your dad should be home from work in a few minutes."

"How's Dad doing with his new job? He hasn't told me how he's been doing." Alex said sitting down at the table.

"He said teaching college history classes is tough, but he's glad he's finally able to do so." Sarah smiled. She then sighed. "Alex… promise me you won't get into any trouble here, okay?"

"I won't, Mom. I promise." Alex said, noticing his mom's change in behavior. "Something wrong?"

"I'll… I'll tell you about it later. I just want to make sure you're okay." Sarah said. That's when she suddenly walked her to her son and gave him a hug. And being the son, Alex instantly hugged her back. "Don't do anything stupid..."

"I won't… I won't." Alex said as the hug was broken. That's when the glass shattering sound was heard and time stopped.

[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: The Power of the Heart]

This Arcana card was mostly blue with two key symbols on the top corners and two silhouettes of people in the bottom corners staring at a symbol in the middle of the card.

"Thou art I… And I am thou…

Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to the truth…

Thou shalt be blessed with a Persona of the Hierophant Arcana…"

"You have established a new bond, the bond of the Hierophant..." Margaret's voice was heard. "As your Rank 1 Hierophant Persona, you shall receive… Anzu."

The Arcana card turned to a blue bird-like creature that had a lion head. Anzu gave a roar at Alex before going inside of him and time resuming.

[Background Music: Persona 3 OST: Iwatodai Station]

"You can go ahead and go to your room for a bit, I'll call you when dinner is done." Sarah said.

Alex nodded and went to his room. He put down his backpack and took off his boots and sat on his bed.

"I got a Social Link with Mom? Why did I get one with her?" Alex thought. "Well, she does seem worried about me since we got here… She is being a good mom, I guess."

Alex stood up and went to close the curtains on his window, but when he looked out, he saw something.

[Background Music: Persona 5 OST: Suspicious Person]

Standing out on the sidewalk near his house staring straight ahead, Alex saw a man. He couldn't see all of the man since it was dark and he was wearing all black, but he did notice that this man was holding an umbrella over his head despite it not raining. The man slowly turned his head to the window, in which Alex could not see the face due to the dark. Alex got a bit startled by the man seeing him, but it didn't last when the man walked away across the sidewalk.

"What… was that? Could that…?" Alex asked himself. That man did seem suspicious just there.

"I'm home!" Frankie's voice was heard from the kitchen and the front door closed.

"Dad!" Alex ran out of his room as his dad arrived home, forgetting about what he just saw at the moment.

Social Link Progress:

Fool (Dream World Rescue Team):Rank 3
Chariot (Jaxson Devitt):Rank 2
Lovers (Ember Farrelly): Rank 2
Magician (Damien Richards & Edgar Edwards): Rank 2
Hermit (Kayley Jones): Rank 1
Star (Rayna Sullivan-Good): Rank 1
Hierophant (Sarah Gerdelman): Rank 1

Thanks to Rayna wanting to go into the Dream World, they spotted someone in there with them! Could it be the same person that was outside of Alex's house? Only time will tell.

Next few chapters will probably be just Alex ranking up Social Links. See ya!