Author's Note: I apologize for being a little late (again). After writing seven 6-10+ page papers I couldn't even look at a computer screen without getting a headache. Two weeks of the semester left to go!

Chapter Thirty-Five

Blissful Ignorance

Izanagi spun out of the way of Shadow Teddie's claws, slashing at the monster's wrist. Shadow Teddie slapped him away with ease, but Izanagi recovered quickly. Yuna, however, could feel the strain on her body. Shadow Reese had nearly blasted her unconscious. It was a miracle it itself that Izanagi had responded to her call. She didn't know how much longer she could fight. The others looked as tired as she felt. Chao was holding Yasuko up, and both looked ready to pass out at any moment. Their personas were close by, but hadn't been able to engage the shadow aside from a few weak wind and ice spells. Even Kana, despite the fire in her eyes, was only holding on by a thin line of energy. Only Yuuki looked alert, guiding his persona to heal the others and throw the occasional fire spell to keep Shadow Teddie away from him.

"Reese?" Yuna said. Her head felt heavy. Her lungs were barely expanding, like cement slowly hardening inside of her. Izanagi continued to fight. Blow after blow. Tomoe and Take-Mikazuchu jumped in to help him as often as possible, but their attacks were only minor annoyances to the beefy shadow.

"Nothing yet!" He looked sicker than the rest of the group, and Yuna worried he might pass out at any moment. His new persona stood over him, channeling whatever energy it could. "Hold on!"

There wasn't much time left, but Yuna didn't dare say it.

"You fools." Shadow Teddie said swiping at Izanagi. The person barely dodged it, jumping back to stand in front of Yuna. "You cling to a false hope. Even if you manage to defeat me, what awaits you? You fight in vain." A blast of ice struck Yuuki's persona. He went down in an instant. The persona collapsed beside him. Shadow Teddie readied another attack.

"Izanagi!" Yuna's persona moved to intercept it. He too, went down. Yuna cried out as pain shot through her. A cold chill settled over her body, as if her skin was slowly freezing. She tried to pull Izanagi back, but she didn't even have the strength for that.

"I'm sorry Sensei." Yuna looked up at Teddie. The bear was curled in the corner, rocking back and forth with her paws on her head. "I'm so sorry. So… so sorry…" She sobbed and rocked faster.

"Hold on Teddie." She said, pushing herself up. Her body ached but she forced it forward. "We're going to save you." She took a deep breath and stood up as straight as she possibly could, despite the pain. She lifted her hand and winced. She wanted to look strong. Wanted to be strong. For her friends. For Teddie. She could force a little more of her power, but if Shadow Teddie survived it was all over. She needed Reese to find the weak point.

"Yuna!"

She had never been happier to hear another person's voice in her life. "I hope this is good news!" She called back to Reese.

"His weak point is directly in that hole in his head."

Yuna looked back to Shadow Teddie. The hole in his head was massive, but nothing but a floating eye and darkness at behind it. If Izanagi tried to get close he would be blasted away. She glanced back at the rest of her team. Yuuki was back on his feet, but his persona was focused more on keeping everyone else alive then fighting. Chao and Yasuko had fallen to their knees by now. Yasuko's persona wasn't even on the field anymore. Tomoe was fighting, albeit defensively. Kana was on the complete other side, but her persona would barely be able to get closer than Izanagi could. Yuna's only option was to summon someone else.

"I have to try." She held her hand out, searching for the energy she needed for something new. She thought back to all her other personas, but many of them did not respond. Shadow Teddie swung at her. Izanagi reacted before she could, yanking her out of the way of what would have been the final blow.

"Try as you might," Shadow Teddie said. "You have already lost." Lifting her enormous body out of the pit, she raids her arm. A large blue ball began to channel in her paw.

"Look out!" Reese screamed. Teddie swung her hand down. The energy pulsed outward along the ground, striking the entire party and knocking them back into a heap. Izanagi held firm to Yuna, leaping out of the way as they barely avoided the attack. The rest of the team's persona's disappeared. Only Izanagi was left. Yuna could feel her heartbeat slowing down. She was losing energy, fast. They had nothing left. She had nothing left. Izanagi set her down and she crumbled immediately.

The shadow rose up again. An even greater sphere of energy began to form. She heard her friends groan behind her. Yuna struggled to get up again. "Die you fools!" Shadow Teddie screamed. "Die surrounded by blissful ignorance."

They're all going to die.

"If that hits…"

"Yuna!"

The Shadow swung her hand down.

"No!"

I am thou. And Thou art I.

A flash of white light exploded around them. The attacked hit a barrier of sorta, deflecting back into the monster. "What?" Shadow Teddie said. Yuna could only stare as a familiar white light surrounded Izanagi. Her persona shattered. A roar vibrated through the room. "What have you done?" The shadow shrieked. Yuna shielded her eyes as the light flooded the room. "No. No. No!" Yuna could hear the shadow desperately claw that the ground. Pounding away as she tried to escape. "This isn't right! Your existence has always been a lie!"

Another roar. Another scream. And then everything went silent. Yuna looked up. Izanagi had returned, with no trace that he had ever left. It happened again. She thought. You transformed, just like you did when Yasuko was in danger. Izanagi stared back at her. She wondered if he understood what had happened, or if his persona nature kept him from having any thoughts of his own. Regardless, she was grateful for that the mysterious force- whatever it was- had come to the rescue.

Izanagi nodded at her slowly, as if he really did understand. He disappeared into a shower of blue life. Yuna clutched her hand to her chest. Her knees felt weak, but she was alive. Her and all of her friends. That was all that mattered. She took a deep breath and looked up. Shadow Teddie was back to its previous form, black smoke rising off of its body as it stared back at her. "You are… interesting." She said. "For a human."

"What do you mean?"

"You know about Sensei?" Teddie ran up just in front of Yuna.

The shadow glanced at her. "Very little. I spoke with the great one, back when you and I were one."

"The great one?" Yuna echoed.

"I do not know what she calls herself in your world." The shadow said. "But yes. The great one told me a tale of peculiar. Ones she wished to use to test humanity's desires. One human in particular, she felt would go to great lengths to seek the truth, never knowing that the human herself, was a lie."

"A lie?"

"How is Sensei a lie?" Teddie said. The bear stamped her foot angrily. "You're using big words to confuse me. Stop it. Stop it!"

"I am merely telling the truth." Shadow Teddie said calmly. "One you yourself used to know, long before this world descended into the fog."

"That I used to know?" Teddie echoed staring at the ground.

"You rejected your past." Shadow Teddie said. "You tried to bury me away. To forget everything you didn't want to believe. Now here you are. Searching in vain for a truth you locked away, with a human that may never understand herself, and others that follow her blindly into battle."

"I will find the truth." Teddie said. Her shadow looked surprised. "I don't care what it is, or why I locked it away!" Teddie was shaking now. "I will embrace who I am, just like Sensai and the others!" Teddie pointed at her shadow. "And you're coming with me, got it?"

The shadow sighed. Blue light began to rise off of her body. "You will not like what you find."

"I will search for it anyway."

Her shadow nodded with a small smile, before disappearing. For a brief moment, a large, ball shaped shadow appeared in the air with a long light blue cape and holding a pink, flower covered missile over its head. Then she disappeared as a card descended into Teddie's paw. "I have a persona too?" Teddie whispered.

"You can help us now." Yuna said with a smile.

Teddie's eyes lit up as she spun to Yuna. "I can fight with Sensei?"

Yuna laughed. "If you feel up to it."

Teddie danced around like she had just won the lottery. "I'm going to train hard every single day!" She said jumping to a stop as she held a paw out. Yuna could imagine if she had human hands that she'd be making a peace sign. "Then I'll never let Sensei down."

Yuna smiled and took a step forward. Her legs collapsed under hear. She heard Teddie calling her name, but the darkness overtook her before she could stop it.

The soft notes of a familiar tune pulled Yuna from the depths of unconsciousness. She opened her eyes to a room of blue and she smiled. Margaret continued to play the piano, glancing at her with a welcoming smile. "Hello Yuna. I was trying out the changes you made to the piece. You have a remarkable gift."

Yuna didn't bother to ask where Margaret gotten the changes from. "I can summon giant monsters from little blue cards and you call playing the piano a gift."

Margaret shrugged. "Very few who visit have a talent like you."

Yuna laid her head back and stared at the ceiling. She didn't feel as tired as she had before, though the Velvet room always seemed to remove whatever ailments she had in the real world. Even so, the soothing aura of the music and blue interior was begging her to sleep, as if it knew she needed it.

"You have made many social links since you have been here last." Margaret said. Yuna looked up. The piano was gone. Margaret was sitting back on a couch, a brown book open in her hands. Half a dozen blue cards danced around her. The music, while softer, was still present. "Be careful to not let them overwhelm you."

Yuna laughed. "Too late for that."

"One link in particular interests me." Margaret said. Most of the cards vanished, leaving one, lone arcana spinning above the pages of the book. It spun slowly, and Yuna could see four colorful squares on the front, each one with a unique picture inside.
"The Temperance Arcana." Margaret continued. "A symbol of synthesis, harmony, and a merging of opposites."

"Who does that belong to?" Yuna said.

"Not one person," Margaret said. "But a group. A group whose true nature you have let to learn." She closed the book before Yuna could peer inside. "You have made great progress in your journey, but the destination of this room is unknown, even to me."

"Is that unusual."

"Yes." The book disappeared and Margaret rested her hands in her lap. "Even though I am not allowed to interfere, I have always been able to see the various paths our guests decisions will take them, good and bad. You however, are different. You have so many paths, so much unknown, that it would be impossible for even I to navigate them." She smiled. "I am most curious to see how your story continues to unfold."

A new card appeared before Yuna. She closed her fist around it and it shattered. An elegant, crimson bird appeared before her. It's tail feathers looked like those of a peacock, with 5 longer feathers of various colors falling off the back. She raised her wings and stared down at Yuna before vanishing. "Suzaku." Yuna said as the new persona entered her mind.

Margaret nodded. "Your power is growing. Use it well, honored guest."