Kanji and Chie's jaws hung low, the implications of their friend's statement sinking in. "You remember?" The brunette ventured. "Remember what?"

"It's not definite," Labrys replied somewhat listlessly, casting her gaze over the ocean. "It's more like a feeling, like, it's just there, y'know?"

Chie still wasn't particularly convinced. "That's not really a memory…"

"'Scuse the amnesiac for not knowing how long term memory works!" The maid hotly replied with a frown.

"Labrys, we ain't sayin' your crazy," Kanji soothed, "But what you're sayin' is literally impossible."

"Persona," she repeated, "A giant monster/demon thing you summon to do your bidding? Usually hitting stuff?" She raised an eyebrow into an arc. "That's mostly right, isn't it?"

Her companion's incredulous mouths, more agape than ever, told her the answer. They turned to each other. "How the hell…" Chie muttered.

"But no one else-" Her partner started.

"But nothing!" Labrys cut in loudly. "This can't be coincidence! I meet you two, an' ya talk about this persona business that makes no sense, but I still understand what you're on about?" Her eyes hardened. "You guys need to tell me what you know."

They knew what she was saying was perfectly true, but were still quite apprehensive about actually revealing the truth about that year in Inaba for the first time. Kanji looked for some approval. "Do we…?"

Labrys' expression, serious for the first time she'd ever seen, gave Chie her answer. "I guess. Um," she pinched her bottom lip, "Where do we start?"

"The murders I guess..." Kanji replied. "Alright, so, once upon a time-"

Chie hit his shoulder. "This isn't some kind of fairy tale! Basically, just after school started, an announcer from the news died in our town. She was found hanging off of a TV antenna."

Labrys nodded, but slowly. "That's creepy… Not sure what it has to do with this persona stuff though."

"We're getting there," Chie grunted. She started walking to the path that led back to the mansion.

"Hey," Labrys called, "Is that it?!"

The brunette stopped, and beckoned her forward. "C'mon. We gotta go back so we can prove it."

"Prove what?"

A nudge from Kanji got her moving, while he began to explain. "So there was a rumour going round school yeah, about something called the midnight channel."

"If you stared at a TV screen on at midnight when it was raining, even if it wasn't plugged in, it was supposed to show you your true love." It was odd, looking back, how innocently it all started.

Labrys snorted. "Man, I wish I remembered high school," she giggled, "The stuff you kids came up with sounds like gold!"

"Of course, that turned out to be a load of bull," Kanji agreed.

"Yeah," Chie shrugged in nonchalance, "Turned out the channel was actually showing who was gonna be killed next."

The maid's furrowed frown was the only motion in her frozen face. "…You're serious?"

"Mhmm," Chie confirmed. "Anyway, while this was happening, Yu just moved into town." It still didn't feel great to say his name out loud, but she tried to relish in that feeling not stopping her from doing so. "Me, him and that Yosuke guy were messing around in Junes and he…" She went quiet, trying to think of a way of putting it that didn't sound stupid, but failed miserably. "He stuck his hand inside the TV."

Labrys' brow sank further still. "Like he punched it?"

Kanji, hands deep in his pockets, chuckled. "I thought the same thing…"

"No, he didn't punch it." The security guard exhaled. "Okay. So it turns out there's a world inside the TV-"

"What." Labrys rubbed her eyes. "Now you're just playing with me. That's just..." She snapped her fingers. "That's it! You played some sort of tape when I weren't awake durin' our sleepover, with subliminal messages and whatnot. Got this 'persona' bullshit in my head so you can play this prank on me. So good job fellas, you had me goin' for a second there..."

Their grave expressions made her laugh grow nervous, and Kanji removed all doubt. "Ya really think Chie could come up with somethin' that devious?" She, rather diplomatically, didn't answer. "Thought not."

"For the record I am slightly offended," she said to her partner, before returning to her story. "So this TV world was a scary place. After a while, we worked out that was because it represented humanities subconscious… Or something…"

Kanji scratched his neck. "Yeah, don't ask us to get too technical on the weird mumbo jumbo; that was never really our thing…"

"Aw man…" Labrys sighed, before wagging her finger dangerously. "Assuming you're not actually playing a trick on me that is!"

Chie glanced at her sideways. "Are you still on that?" She jabbed in the keycode to open the gate to the mansion's garden, and continued their tale. "So, because of the subconscious thingy, if you actually jump in there, things can get a little freaky. You get to face your shadow."

"Shadow," The maid repeated. "I know you mentioned it, but what is it exactly?"

"It means two things," Chie explained, "There are regular shadows. I think they were people's bad thoughts, but made into these mean little monsters."

Kanji stepped in. "If they're mean, true shadows are nasty."

"Those things were specific to you. When you enter the TV world, every little thing you ever hate or doubt about yourself is made into a really powerful shadow. It talks to you, tells you the truth about how you feel, trying to get you to deny what its saying."

"You do that, an' it gets stronger and stronger. The bad news- people need to beat the ever lovin' crap out of it before its vulnerable enough for you to take in."

"That's what caused the murders," Chie filled in. "Someone threw people into the TV world, and before we were there to stop the true shadows, the shadows became strong enough to swarm and consume the person. Then they were found the day after."

The maid stared at her shoes. "Brr…"

"The good news-," Kanji said, "-if you can actually accept all the crap it's throwing at you, you get your persona, which is like the true shadow I guess, but you control it?"

"I think Naoto called it 'a mask you use to face hardship'." Chie added. "You call on them in the TV world to pull off all sorts of badass moves! We used them to fight the shadows and save everyone who was thrown in the TV, until we caught the killer."

"There was somethin' about a goddess actually being behind it all who was broken into three or some shit. Almost destroyed the world I think?" He looked to Chie for confirmation but she looked just as unsure as he did. "But I really wasn't paying attention during those parts… "

Labrys' pupils dashed between her two friends jerking erratically. "…You're telling me you two mooks are the saviours of the goddamn world?"

"Yeah," Chie said breezily, brushing her hair back, "We should really be getting paid more, there're aren't any other security guards on earth with our credentials!"

"I'm gonna need to see a certificate or something," Labrys muttered. As they crossed the building's threshold, she found herself being led into the meeting room, and her eyes drifted immediately to the black mirror on the wall. "So I guess you're gonna show me?"

"Yup!" With that, the martial artist took a place at the side of the TV, raised a hand dramatically, slowly pushing her hand through the screen. It hadn't been too long since she last tried her party trick- she did it every so often when she was alone just to check that whole year wasn't just a dream- but the feeling, of pushing through something to get to nothing, still held an electric thrill.

Not lost upon Labrys. Slack jawed, she scampered up to the TV to confirm her friend's hand was, in fact, inside. Then she looked around the side of the TV, which was pretty useless since it was attached the wall, and finally, with trepidation, grazed a finger against the rippling screen, hopping back with a squeak when she pushed through the resistance. "Oh my god…" She slowly stepped forward again, and pressed her whole palm through the screen, and stared with awe. "…Cool."

Kanji and Chie both smiled at each other, enjoying their companion's nostalgic sense of wonder. "This help you remember anythin'?" The boy asked hopefully.

Labrys stared at her submerged hand for a few moments before the question registered, and still transfixed, she shook her head. "You mean the TV stuff? Not yet, no…" She turned to the pair, tilting her head towards the screen and nodding towards it. "Maybe if we go inside?" She said mischievously.

Chie suddenly felt uncomfortable, and removed her hand from the screen. "I don't think so Labby-chan, it's way too dangerous."

Labrys slipped her arm out of the screen, and placed her hands on her hips. "Aren't you two supposed to be strong enough to have saved the world? You can watch my back in there."

"It's not that," Kanji said, understanding the girl's eagerness, "We just don't really know our way around there."

"Whaddya mean?"

"It was a couple of our friend's jobs that year during the murders to navigate us around the TV world. It's like a maze, and it's constantly changing."

Chie saw the hurt in their friend's eyes, and tried strengthening her argument. "Plus, we haven't been inside for like, more than two years now. Who knows what it's like there anymore?"

"But…" The maid hung her head. "This was the frist time I ever felt like I was getting somewhere. The shrink they sent me to said there was no way to recover my memory, so I thought here…"

"Didn't you say the TV didn't jog your memory at all?"

"Well yeah, but then you talked about your true shadow and…" She ran a hand through her hair. "I dunno. They tell you the truth, right? I figure if I could talk to her, maybe she knows something I don't. Then I'd have a persona, and that might help as well…" She half smiled. "Worst thing, I'm still an amnesiac, but one with better attitude and supernatural powers!"

Once again, the pair were humbled by their friend's profound optimism, but couldn't entertain following her crazy idea. "I think you might be acting a bit naïve," Chie said gently, "We almost died, far too many times. We have no idea how strong your shadow would be, and we have no one to give us support if things go wrong. We want to help you Labrys," she said encouragingly, rubbing her friend's shoulder, "but we can't like this."

She took Chie's hand, and gripped it tight. "This is all I have," she insisted. "And you can't expect me to not jump in now I know about it!"

Kanji's eyes expanded. "No you can't! It's too dangerous, 'specially if you don't have a persona!"

"You can't stop me…" She said quietly, looking back up at them apologetically. "I'm sorry, I don't want to guilt trip you are anything, but the fact is, I've been stuck here for two years. This is my chance to change that, to find out what really happened, to find out who I am. I'm not saying I'd jump in tonight, or tomorrow, but I know at some point I'll just snap, and do something stupid." She took Kanji's hand with her free one. "Please. I need you for this."

They held back their answer for a short while, before Kanji sighed and made his choice. "Alright, we'll do it." While Labrys beamed brightly enough to make star seem dull, Chie shot him a glare that could melt pure steel. "What? We use our Persona's to help people right? Haven't been doing that recently…"

It was completely irresponsible, and most certainly not going to be worth the hassle, but yet… "You're our friend," Chie acquiesced, "And we help our friends." Smiling even wider, and perhaps with a glistening in her eyes, Labrys wrapped her arms around their necks and pulled them tight, the hug lasting as long as it took for Chie to wriggle away. "Okay. First things first, where are we gonna find a navigator?"

Chie had only been shocked once a persona stumbling out from a TV, and that was more from relief that Yu and Yosuke's second excursion into the TV world hadn't gotten them killed. This was stranger; one second she had been forcing a smile for her friend, next, a blue and red blob flew across her eyes, taking Kanji down with them, and with the moment being so instantaneous, it was only a few moments after before she processed what was happening, and stopped the yelling Labrys from throwing a chair at the brightly coloured mass. "Labby-chan, it's okay!"

"The hell it ain't," she cried, "Is this one of those shadow thingys?"

"Yes and no," she admitted, while Kanji found the strength the push his old friend off of him, who had been clinging on for dear life, and asking all sorts of questions.

The creature's look puzzled Labrys. It was kind of like a person yes, but much rounder, with some adorable ears on top. "Um," she said, lowering the chair, "If that's supposed to be a shadow, why is it so… Cute?"

Then the bear blushed, and the maid started to think the title of shadow was a real misnomer. "Oh, my bear lady," he cooed, "I'm not like those other nasty shadows, if you'd let me demonstrate-"

The blue haired girl turned back to Chie. "It talks?" She looked back, and was surprised to see the things head had gotten much smaller. No, it wasn't smaller, just entirely different.

"I'm Teddie!" He declared, attempting a bow, but in his suit, only succeeded in once again meeting the floor. "Oh woe is me," he moaned, face down on the marble, "I meet another beautiful maiden and she makes me lose all my grace…"

Kanji unceremoniously knelt down and yanked the collar of his friend's shirt, pulling him standing, before putting an arm around his shoulder. "It's good to see ya man."

"Yeah, but…" Chie trailed off. "Why?"

"Oh Chie-chan, you should know by now that Teddies are all about why-nots in this world!" He brushed his hair across his forehead, and sparkled with a dazzling intensity. "For example, you know this pretty girl and you never introduced us! Why not?"

"Why not indeed," the martial artist muttered, hoping Labrys wasn't the kind of sap to fall for his petty charms.

She wasn't inspiring much confidence. The girl was still trying to take in the blond, which for strange individual, would take a while. "Teddie, right? I'm Labrys," she introduced herself, holding out her hand, which was taken a little too eagerly for her liking. She took a step back. "So, you're a shadow?"

"Uh-huh," he confirmed chirpily. "The first bona-fide human-shadow!"

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm the first shadow to transcend our bestial instincts and have a real personality! Don't worry," he wriggled his eyebrows, "I'm still an animal in all the ways that count!"

This was a little too far for Kanji's liking, cuffing the shorter boy on the back of his head. "Quit that ya dumb bear!"

"Ow!"

"What he means is," the tailor filled in, "He has a persona, like us. He helped out durin' the murders." His eyes widened. "Actually, he was one of the people we mentioned, who helped us work out how to move around the TV world. Teddie," he turned to him, "Do you wanna help us out here?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, a Teddie always helps out those in need!"

Instinctively, Chie looked to the door. "Let's go to my room, we've got a lot to talk about and I don't want Takenowa walking in on us…"

"Oh my, Chie-chan's room!" the bear said excitedly, "What sort of wonders with we find within- Ow!"


Meanwhile, Fuuka was once again bored at her desk. Reports on shadow activity were few and far between, and considering their unpredictable nature, it wasn't as if she could be working on technology that would reliably assist in combatting the next threat. Instead, she was trying to perfect what Kanji had taught her, the clicking of the needles in her hands keeping the laboratory from a deathly silence.

All of a sudden, she felt a pulse. Most people would make nothing of it, but Juno ensured she only was only ever made aware of such energy when it was important. She looked up to the ceiling. I feel something, she thought, letting her wider influence feel throughout the mansion. At first when she touched upon a dark aura, she reached immediately to her drawer, putting a hand around her evoker in the blink of an eye. Probing further however, she saw it was intertwined with a light, much brighter than she could have ever expected to be locked with such an oppressive twin. "A persona…" she murmured. "Yet I still feel a shadow…" One thing was certain- Mitsuru had to be updated. Rousing her computer from its sleep, she immediately set up a video call. "Mitsuru-san, sorry to-"

The webcam showed her wearing attire slightly more formal than usual, in addition to a sterner expression. "Yamagishi, I am currently in conference with the prime minister," her boss said sharply. "Please be succinct."

She shrugged off her friend's rudeness. "Can't you feel it? There's something here, in the mansion…"

The redhead was silent for a time, before nodding. "I'll be downstairs ASAP."

Satisfied, Fuuka closed the window, before taking the next step, opening up the estate's camera feeds. If I'm feeling this right, the energy is coming from… she scrolled through the streams, There, the meeting room!

As she might have expected, the two new security guards were in the meeting room, worryingly with Labrys, and more worryingly still, with a newcomer, a boy, quite young by her estimates. A crumpled mess on the ground was impossible to make out in the black and white feed. She felt the room again, and confirmed the odd signature was coming from the boy. It didn't look like he could hurt a fly, but then again, Ryoji had turned out to be the harbinger of destruction. She gripped her evoker tightly.

Firstly, who was the boy? He seemed quite familiar with Kanji and Satonaka at least, but how did they let him in? The doorman would have shown him away no matter what they had said, but the back gate was much less secure. She brought up a window for a security camera there and wound it back a few minutes, then again, and again, but curiously, only saw the three current residents using it as an entrance. She switched back to the live feed in the meeting room, and rewound it, figuring she could backtrace the stranger from the minute he walked in the room. But he never walked in the room at all.

She played it back, and forward, in slow motion, and eventually frame by frame, in an effort to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. He… He flew out of the TV. What is this?

She heard a call. "Yamagishi!" Mitsuru was there, walking briskly to her desk. The scientist notice the evoker in its holster and the rapier on her waist- she was ready for anything. "I've put the operatives on alert. What do you know about this threat?"

"I…" She slumped in her seat. "Nothing. This doesn't make any sense."

"What does-" It was to her boss's credit that her features were still relatively cool at the sight of s creature falling out of a TV. "Is that a bear- I mean, is that a shadow?"

"I'm not sure," Fuuka admitted, "It has the energy of a shadow, but at the same time, that of a persona…"

Mitsuru raised her eyebrows. "And you're sure that's not interference from the others in the room?"

"Positive."

"Rewind the tape," she ordered, "and turn on the audio. The security code is 231-925."

She saved her objection at the use of recording equipment in a supposedly private environment for later. The pair their younger counterparts conversation, staying silent throughout. When they left the room, away from prying ears, the more experienced persona users needed a discussion. "A TV world," Fuuka mused, amazed.

"A shadow with a persona, how intriguing…" Mitsuru turned to her friend, with her hands noticeably away from her evoker or her weapon. "Do you think precautions are necessary?"

She turned back the tape to the bear-person-shadow's pratfall. "I have trouble seeing them as a potential threat."

"Perhaps, but that's what makes them dangerous. Turn the recording back to when they entered the room."

Watching the two friend's hands pass through the TV, and hearing their discussion afterwards, the CEO rubbed her eyes. "So they've told Labrys about personas… I thought the memory wipe was permanent?"

"It should have been." Fuuka shrugged. "Her plume of dusk gives her a personality, that's something we can never supress…"

"These true shadows seem dangerous. Yet Labrys is more than willing to face it to regain her memories…" Her right arm held her left shyly while she looked to the floor. "Once again the group's prior mistakes are coming back to haunt us. We can only hope her gambit fails…"

For her sake or ours? Fuuka asked herself. Still, the researcher was sort of relieved to see the guilt plastered over her bosses posture; sometimes even she forgot how human Mitsuru Kirijo could be. "Should we step in?

She shook her head slowly. "If what they say is true, I fear if we enter that room we would have to face our own selves. It's too much of a risk"

"But we already have our personas," Fuuka pointed out, "Maybe that means there's no 'true shadow' for us to face."

"Even so, we have no data or fathoming into the true nature of this world. Remember how lost you were your first few journeys into Tartarus?" The younger girl shivered at the memory, of corridor after corridor, all looking exactly the same, while she was supposed to steer the group towards the next floor. "Even with our persona abilities, this may be more than we can handle at this point in time."

Fuuka was still inclined to think they were making things far more difficult than they had to be. "Why don't we just ask them? If we explain about the incident in Port Island, show them our personas, then maybe we can help each other."

Mitsuru considered this for a moment, which is far better response than Fuuka expected, but shook her head nonetheless. "If we divulge everything, they'll immediately turn to us to shed light on how Labrys was stirred by the word persona. There's still a chance for her to walk away from all the pain we caused her…" She bridged her fingers together, and made a decision. "From now on, keep tabs on them at all times. The minute they take an excursion into this TV world, contact me, and we can wait outside to see their results."

"Wait outside?" She had no real picture of what lay within the TV world, but her fretting brain filled it with all sorts of shadows. "But what if they're in danger?"

"There's no use putting ourselves at risk in a situation we can't handle. I'm sure they're well equipped to deal with threats familiar to-"

"What about Labrys?

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Fuuka… We can't-" She sighed. "I can't. I have to know that I tried my hardest to keep that girl from knowing the truth."

Fuuka placed her hand over her friend's. "Okay…" She acquiesced, before locking on to her friend's pupils with her own. "But then we tell them everything, and if Labrys really does find her past, then we have to let her know anything she wants to know."

With a degree of apprehension, Mitsuru nodded.


"That's so tragic Labby-chan!" the boy sobbed, burying his head into her shoulder and wrapping his arms around her waist. It was a routine that Chie and Kanji had seen a thousand times before, but it was working wonders on the new blood.

"Don't cry Teddie," she reassured him cheerfully, "once we go inside the TV and face my shadow, everything will fall into place!"

Kanji scratched his chin. "I wonder what you forgot…"

"Oh, maybe I was a spy who fell into the ocean! Or I'm some kind of sleeper agent, oh!" Her eyes lit up. "Maybe I'm a princess and Mitsuru lied about my parents to keep me safe." She squinted. "Or off the throne…"

Teddie looked up to her, still locked around her frame. "And I can be your prince!" For some godawful reason he tried leaning in closer, leaving Labrys no choice but to push his face away with the palm of her hand, sending him to the floor, sprawled out. "Owie…"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up Labby-chan," Chie sniggered, "It'll probably turn out you just walked into a lamppost."

"Spoilsport," the maid said, sticking out her tongue.

"Anyway, I've got a question we can get answers to right now." She pointed at Teddie. "How did you even come to find us? Come to think of it, why are you here, I thought you were still globetrotting?"

"Technically I still am," He clarified, dusting himself off. "This mansion is fan-say, my followers will love it! Say cheese!" In a flash, he whipped out his phone, stretching his arm away from the group and taking a snap.

"Your followers?" Chie asked, hoping the bear at least got her good side.

"Of course! My picto-jam is world famous," he boasted. "I've sent you the link a thousand times Chie-chan, you should really join in!"

Chie's social media presence died the day Yu's seven (Eight? Nine?) timing was revealed. Too many old photos, too many new ones; too many memories. "I'll be okay, thanks…"

"It's pretty good actually," Kanji said, "Ted's gone to a lotta places." His brow slackened. "Though I don't think there's a pic on there where ya don't have your arms around a chick."

"A Teddie does what a Teddie does," he winked. "As for finding you guys, I was making my monthly visit back home to see Nana-chan, and she said you two had moved away! Dojima-san didn't tell me where to, and there was nowhere in town to ask, so I used my bear-y sensitive nose to find you. It wasn't easy, but I eventually picked you guys up!"

"When we stuck our hands inside the TV…" Chie nodded.

"Uh-huh! Chie's smell is very distinctive as is, but you Labby-chan," he glowed, "You're the cleanest person I've ever smelled!"

"Then how did you smell her?" Kanji muttered, rolling his eyes at Labrys' blush. I'll hand it to the bastard, he thought, he knows what he's doing. "Wait," he wondered aloud, "If you were in Inaba, how did you get all the way over here? And how could you smell them from so far away?"

"I'm the master of the TV world now Kanji," he declared proudly, "It bends to my will, most of the time, hehe…" he lay back on Chie's bed and sighed dreamily. "And it's so clean now I can sense pretty much any disturbance. Oh, it's so beautiful in there Labby-chan, you have to see it!"

The invitation was a little forthcoming, but she was itching to get some answers. "So, um," Labrys coughed, "When are we going in?"

The girl's enthusiasm worried Chie greatly, and she tried to think smartly. "Hmm… Even with the TV world being clean now, we still don't know if shadows will form in there, even your true shadow, and if it does, we need to be prepared. We need to get gear."

"Like what," Labrys asked curiously.

"Medical supplies, some tougher clothes, boots for me, a chair for this doofus," she gestured to Kanji, "And… You still have your claws, right?" Teddie nodded. "Am I missing anything?"

"Probably," Kanji shrugged, "But I really can't remember what the weirder stuff did, so it's probably not worth it."

"What do you mean?" Labrys asked.

"Like, in the TV world, a can of Dr. Salt gives you a real boost, yeah? Then stuff like mouthwash and cough syrup does some other useful stuff…" Labrys didn't look as if she was following at all, so Kanji wound things down. "Anyway, so we just need some weapons, armour, and medical supplies."

Chie nodded. "Me and you can go out to the resort town tomorrow, they'll have stuff we can use then we can go into the TV the day after. Is that okay Labrys?"

While she smiled, Teddie pouted. "Why not me, you know I love shopping!"

"You," she replied sternly, "Have to keep a low profile. You're technically trespassing on the property of one of the most powerful women on the planet right now."

"Oh she sounds wonderful!" He exclaimed, sitting right back up. "When can I meet her?"

"Hopefully never," Kanji deadpanned, "we'd like to keep this job y'know."

Before Teddie could start whining, placed a fist into her palm. "Alright. So, while we're getting stuff, Labrys, you gotta keep an eye on Teddie. It's a trickier job than you'd think, so stay on your toes."

"Got it!" She was so excited, this would be the first real adventure in her life, and then afterwards, she might remember all the other ones! Even now, she had yet another new friend to talk to. "So Teddie, what did Chie mean by you going globetrotting?"

"Exactly as it sounds Labby-chan! When people were feeling bad, it made the TV world bad, therefore if I spread the wonders of Teddie across the planet, my world will stay clean!"

"Wow!" The isolation and trappings of the mansion had understandably cultured a desire for travel in the young maid. "You must have a lotta cash to afford that."

"Not at all, I'm broke!" he said happily. "I can go anywhere using the TV world, and people are usually bear-y nice to me wherever I am, so that's all I need!"

"That sounds great! Where have you been so far?"

"All over, lemme think…" He scoured his memory for a particular tale of which to regale the new babe in his life. "One time, I was in a place they call Amer-ree-ka, and…"


'This is strange,' she thought. She wasn't used to being able to think at this time. Enough about the time, the place she was in was stranger still. Looking around, she was outside, and there was a rock, and it was dark, but while everything was there, it was all so fuzzy. Her attention was taken from her surroundings and to the person she was talking to however. She must have been speaking and listening for those last few minutes as well, but the words were lost from her the minute they left her mouth, and wasn't particularly sure how the person was responding either. The person, girl, that's all she could tell really. They were smiling at least, and she thought she was too. At some point she swore she could hear a dog bark. The one thing she knew however, that permeated the haze, was that she was happy.

Then everything morphed. The dark of night shifted, switched, changed to the harshness of a thousand fluorescent tubes, all focused on her. Something moved in the darkness beyond the light. She hefted something, she didn't know what, and automatically, stepped towards the blackness, white light following, and stung with all her might. The movement stopped, and the results were illuminated. Everything began to pulse red. The girl she had been talking to earlier, lay on the ground. Cut in half, a smile still on her face. Something oozed from the cut, pulsing out with the rhythm of the light, faster and faster, redder and redder.

The girl dropped what she was holding and fell to her knees. The light rose and she could see the entire scene. Her friend wasn't the only body. They lay scattered across the room, on their own, in piles, on the walls, hanging from the ceiling, all dripping, all dead. The girl covered her eyes with her hands and wished for it to end, feeling a hot humid breath, running down from her neck to the foot of her spine.

And for the first time she could remember, Labrys awoke with a scream.