We, 5/31

Wednesday, May 31st/ After School

I couldn't focus much during classes, so when the last bell rang I quickly put away my things and shoot directly towards the classroom door and through the main entrance, walking on a brisk pace as I head towards the costume store. Once inside, I walk down the stairs into the basement and enter the room. Ren is already sitting on the computer, checking on the coordinates and other settings on the machine. Yang still hasn't arrived. "I'm here! Is everything okay?" I ask, looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, I'm just keeping an eye for the parameters," he replies, never stopping to type commands on the keyboard. "We should be ready after your sister gets…"

"Is everyone ready?" Calls Yang, bursting through the door.

"... here." He shakes his head before turning around in the chair. "Pick up your gear. We have a few things to go through before going in."

"Like what?" Yang asks as she puts her brass-knuckles on.

"I've been looking back at the expedition to the bookstore and tried to compare the data with the current situation. What I could find is that the concentration of Shadows between the bookstore and the library is almost the same. However, because of that, I fear we'll have the same issue as last time with the radar and not be able to get a good reading of the surroundings."

"Well, that isn't so bad," I point out while leaning on my glaive.

"That's not all. Do you remember the corridor you found that other time? The one that then disappeared?" After Yang and I nod, he continues. "I believe that the large number of Shadows is what caused that distortion, as if their presence altered the area they converged in." He crosses his arms and looks down in thought. "The fact that the distortion disappeared after you killed that Giant Shadow seems to support this theory."

Ren then turns back to the computer and brings up the map. "That, and this…" He types a command and a large area of the city gets a red-highlight - the area covered by the Reflection - along with a small red square a few ways away from its border. "This building is the library," he indicates.

"Yeah, so?" I wonder out loud.

"Last week, the Library wasn't part of the Reflection," he grimly says while idly pressing a few keys. "That in itself is worrying, but the weird thing is that it didn't just reach out to cover the library, but…" Ren presses the enter key, and Yang and I watch as the Library Building is dragged from its point in the map to just the outer edge of the Reflection. "… It pulled it into itself."

"Okay… that is really a distortion," Yang deadpans, staring at the screen with a dumbfounded expression.

"Yes. Besides that, there's also the possibility that another powerful Shadow might show up." He looks up at us. "This mission could be dangerous."

"Maybe, but we can't let Jaune down!" I say with determination. "We have to save him no matter what."

"I thought you would say that," Ren says while standing from his seat. "The base is the closest entryway to the library, so we don't need to activate the machine this time," He states before picking up the radar and standing next to us in front of the mirror.

With a mutual nod, we all cross the doorway.

Wednesday, May 31st/ Reflection

After crossing, we all make our way upstairs and into the streets, taking on a quick jog towards the place where the Library should be now. After a few minutes, we arrive to it and…

"Okay! That's distorted alright," Yang quips.

The shopping district ends abruptly to give way to the large building of the library. And by abruptly, I mean that it looks like somebody placed a jigsaw piece from a different puzzle! The library appears to just have been dropped over a sidewalk (and a nearby store), yet instead of anything looking destroyed, both buildings are seamed together with a thin white line of light. Even the steps going up to the library's door seem to perfectly give way to the store it is clipping through.

"Just what is this place?" I wonder aloud.

"Does this happen often?" Yang turns to Ren, a truly concerned expression on her face. "Because I don't feel it happens often."

"I'm looking into it," Ren curtly replies before returning her gaze. "We have to focus on the current mission."

Ren makes it to the steps and we both follow him. After reaching the top step, he sets up the radar on top of a closed trash bin and starts turning dials and switches. "As I feared, there's more interference. I can't get a reading of how many Shadows there are."

"What about a different kind of reading?" I suggest. "Could you maybe find whether Jaune is actually in there?"

Ren nods and turns another knob. Immediately after, a couple of beeps start rhythmically sounding, along with a few green dots on the top half of the radar's face. "I cannot pinpoint a location, but there's definitely someone inside," he then looks up from the radar and back to us. "This might not be easy, but you have to locate Arc as fast as you can and bring him outside just as fast. There's no telling what sort of shadows you will find in there, so the less time you two stay in, the better."

"Get in. Find the dude. Get out… Yeah, probably won't be as simple as it sounds," Yang comments.

I turn to Ren. "We'll be okay. Just keep an eye for anything dangerous."

He lets out a sigh before simply saying, "I'll try as best as I can."

I turn to Yang, who gives me a firm nod before the two of us walk up to the door and open it.

Just like that time we first entered the bookstore, Yang and I are immediately surprised after seeing the inside of the building. Though no signs of a violent murder were in sight, the neatly ordered shelves of the house of knowledge are not only in disarray and almost ten times as numerous, but now are showcasing all kinds of cups and plaques and ribbons and all other kinds of prizes instead of books and encyclopedias. It had become a giant, white trophy room.

"Okay, this should be the point where I stop caring… but what the hell!" Yang mutters as she looks around the library.

/What is it?/

"Another distortion, I think. The library became a hall of fame-or-something!" I look around and start calling: "Jaune! Jaune, d'ya hear me?!" After hearing no reply, I ready my weapon and slowly push onwards with Yang quickly following behind. We round one of the trophy shelves and peek past it, only to find a shapeless Shadow lounging in the middle of the aisle, but instead of rushing to it I simply jump past the aisle and continue onward. Immediately after, we round different corner only for another Shadow to round that same corner at the same time.

"Oh boy," I mutter as the mass of shadows explodes upward and turns into a couple of lions chained to an iron ball each, with an indigo mask bolted to it, as well as a green samurai wearing the same mask on its face. I jump away from them as Yang rushes to my side, fist at the ready. "Ren, big scary kitties at twelve o'clock!" I report through the mic while the swordsman raises its weapon in the air and three columns of golden light shine on each enemy.

/I recall facing those before. Whatever you do, avoid attacking directly./

"Got it!" Yang says before punching her fists together. "SATI!"

Yang's Persona rushes in and delivers a flurry of fast punches, which manage to hit the lions a few times, though the samurai dodges every hit directed at it. Right after that, one of the lions thrashes around, sending the iron ball hurling and hitting Yang square in her abdomen, causing her to reel back.

"Ow… that really hurt," she squeezes out.

I scowl at the lion before making my move. "Wendigo!" The cloaked beast fades into the field as it lets out a bone chilling shriek. A second after, a geyser of blood-red energy bursts from beneath the lion, which makes it reel in pain but otherwise remains standing. The second lion then pounces at me and swipes a claw on my arm. My forearm stings as the claws tear my skin open, but I have no chance to register the pain as the samurai jumps between the two of us and swings its katana at the two of us, pushing us both backwards before it returns to its position.

Yang literally growls before summoning her Persona again, this time shooting three balls of fire at each enemy. The two lions fall down on their backs, but the Samurai barely flinches from the attack. Sati then winds up a fist before lunging in at sound breaking speed at the swordsman, which once again dodges the attack. After that, the first lion gets up and tries to maul Yang, but she evades the claw swipe and the lion falls back down. I summon Wendigo again and have it release another blood geyser beneath the Samurai, which hits it this time and drops it to its knees.

Yang and I take the chance now to plow through the downed enemies and make quick work of them; they dissolve into red and black smoke afterwards. After that, I suck breath through my teeth, due to the cut in my arm while Yang rubs her ribs. We don't have much time to recover before two other lions came barging from the aisle we left behind. I let out a whimper before hastily changing Personas. "Yatagarasu!"

The raven comes flying from the ceiling and shines a bright light on top of Yang, who stops rubbing her sides and stands back up. "Persona!" She summons Sati again, who then shoots a stream of fire at each lion in turn, who are both thrown over their feet in burning agony. Sati then delivers another flurry of punches that decimate the Shadows to nothingness.

"Shit, that almost came out of nowhere!" Yang exclaims while rolling her shoulders, before noticing my arm. "Aren't you gonna take care of that?"

I wince a bit after that before calling Yatagarasu again and healing my wound. /You guys did well. But you can't afford fighting each enemy you find,/ Ren says through the radio, making it clear what the implications were.

"Yeah, that might be a tad difficult," I reply back. "This place looks like a maze. We could spend hours in here!"

"Come on, there's gotta be a way…" Yang ponders aloud, looking at the shelf right next to us. After a few seconds of looking at it up and down, she speaks again. "Wait a second."

I turn to her. "What, did you find something?" I wonder, looking at the same shelf.

Yang keeps eyeing the piece of furniture as she speaks. "… I can totally topple this!" She confidently claims.

Face, meet floor. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Yang," I start saying from my new position. "Toppling one over would only hit the one after it, then another, and so on."

As I stand back up, she shrugs her arms. "Well, it was worth the try," she eyes the shelf again, this time fixing her gaze on one spot. "Hey, what would you know."

"What?" I ask cautiously.

"Look." She points at the plaque on one of the trophies. "Somebody related to Jaune won this prize."

"Huh?" I mutter as I take a closer look at the plaque and manage to read through the inverted inscription.

Best Young Musician
1st Price, Violin
Indigo Arc

"Indigo… That's one of Jaune's sisters," I explain with realization.

"First Place in gymnastics, Shani Arc…" Yang reads aloud another plaque just a few steps away from the first before looking at the next case. "Greatest Sweetheart, Olivia? Okay, that's just ridiculous."

I arch an eyebrow and look at the ribbon that Yang was looking at and sure enough, that's what it says. I scan the entire display, finding prizes for all kinds of formal competitions - like fencing, music, art and pageants - to the most trivial of accomplishments from eating vegetables, getting a nice boyfriend and… computer programming?

What all these prizes had in common though, is that all of them have been earned by someone named Arc. I scan again for the names and list them aloud. "Indigo, Shani, Olivia, Bianca, Azure and Violet… Six girls…" I muse to myself. "Maybe these were earned by Jaune's sisters."

"But what do they have to do with this?" Yang points out with a frown.

"I don't know… Maybe they're the reason he was angry the other day?" I look at the trophies, which start shining some sense in what he said last Sunday.

/We can't discard the possibility. Remember that the last location we explored also had some connection to the victim. Perhaps the distortion is somehow reflecting Arc's problems./

Yang lets out a snort, prompting me to stare at her in befuddlement. "Sorry!" She quips before we turn our attention back to Ren.

/Either way, try to advance your way in, see if you can find him and get out of there./

"Easier said than done," I mutter with a sigh, looking back to the myriad of shelves around us.

In that very second, the crystal display shatters, throwing shards of glass on the floor. Another group Shadows - a fat cop accompanied with what appears to be a silver scarab - had come bumbling from behind another shelf, growling threateningly at us as they readied their guns at us. I swipe Personas and summon Wendigo, which makes dark-red energy explode from beneath the cops, which it evades before Yang steps in, hitting the same Shadow a couple of times with her fists, knocking it down. "Do your thing, Sati!" Yang's Persona follows with her multitude of attacks.

However, each time an attack reached the beetle, it bounced off from it and directly into Yang, which she braces head on. "Oh, fuck you!" She shouts at it, even as the downed shadow gets back up and spins its cuffs, surrounding itself in a golden light. the beetle then does… something, which causes several specks of blue energy to rapidly spin around me before it all collapsed on me, compressing my body and causing me to hurt all over.

I change back to Yatagarasu. "Persona!" A large ball of fire lands on the beetle, making it back away as some flames caught on it. Yang follows suit and has Sati rain fireballs on each Shadow. The fat officer dissolves into nothingness before the beetle charges up and tries to trample Yang. She's hit once but manages to avoid the second charge. Yang and I repeat the fire assault on the scarab a second time, turning it into ash.

After that, Yang and I take a second to catch our breaths. "You good?" She promptly asks.

"Yeah, I could be better, though."

After recovering a bit, the two of us continue walking through the library/trophy room/labyrinth, carefully threading between the randomly placed shelves and avoiding the Shadows as best as we can, and the ones that gang up on us we manage to fend off as quickly as possible, but we still take a beating a few times, requiring for me to heal the two of us. After what felt like an hour though, we still haven't found any signs of Jaune; to make matters worse, I feel like we are getting lost in here.

/It does look like you're walking in circles,/ Ren says through the earpiece after Yang comments it to him. /Unfortunately, I'm not getting any clear reading other than the Shadows you face. I'm sorry about this. I can still see Arc's signal in here, so he hasn't disappeared yet./

"That's good, I…" Yang starts before we round another corner, only to stop at her tracks and seeing a glass display shattered on the floor, the same one that the Shadows broke a while ago. "… guess."

"Well, we are definitely walking in circles," I sourly comment while I scratch my head. "How the heck are we gonna find Jaune if we can't find our way through this place?!"

"I think I recall we took a right from there, but I don't remember the rest," Yang says with a grimace before she starts looking around. "Maybe we could use something as breadcrumbs or…" She trails off, looking at something on the floor. "Hey, what's this?"

I follow her gaze and find a framed piece of paper among the glass. I reach to it and pick it up, finding that it has drawings of stylized skulls and electric guitars around its margin along with a scripture:

11th Rock'n'Roll Tournament
Gladly grants the title of Rock Queen to:

Sienna Arc.

/What did you find?/ Ren asks.

"Sienna?" I repeat. "Who is that?"

"Oh… right." Yang mutters in a somber tone. I turn to look at her.

"Yang, what is it?"

"Well, it… I had honestly forgot about it," she explains before looking at the recognition. "I think Jaune actually has seven sisters, not six. Sienna is also Jaune's sister."

"What?"

"Yeah… so ten years ago, she won that tournament. Problem was, her parents didn't like it that much apparently. From what I heard, there was some fighting and the next day she was missing."

"What?!" I repeat. "Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

"I forgot about it. It was a long time ago," Yang bows her head. "And I suppose that Jaune doesn't like talking about it."

/I also didn't know. But I guess that doesn't make things better…/ Ren says sympathetically.

I look back at the recognition. "But… what happened?"

"Nobody knows, things just got hectic one day and the next… nothing, she was gone. Nobody knows exactly where she went."

I frown at this. "So you mean that Jaune's parents didn't do anything? Nothing?!"

"Ruby, I don't know! It…" she trails off, sighing dejectedly. "It didn't concern me…"

I stare at her agape, but shake off my shock and stare again at the print before looking back at the shelf, finding where it should've been in the display. I scan the entire case again, and find that there's definitely no other prize earned by Sienna, only the one. "There's nothing else with Sienna's name on it, only for the rock competition," I point out.

"Yeah, so?" Yang asks, but I don't listen to her, my brain working at full speed. I stand up and walk around the corner of the broken display and run down the length of the nearest aisle, with Yang following closely and start looking around. Soon enough I find another copy of the Rock Queen title on the shelf to my left. I then run to the right and look around, and after finding nothing on that aisle, I run back and to the end of the end of the row on the left of the previous one, where I find another copy of the prize. "Ruby, what are you doing?"

"I found our breadcrumbs!" I happily announce. "Look, I believe these mark the right path!"

"What?" Yang looks at the title and frowns. "Rubes, are you sure it'd work that way?"

/We have to work on that assumption. The Reflection is getting distorted in some way by Arc, so this could be our best lead to finding him./

Yang crosses her arms, deep in thought for a second before nodding. "… Alright then. If it's the only clue we have."

We both then trek down the multitude of aisle and rows of displays, keeping an eye for where the clues are and for any Shadows that might just be in the way, dealing with those as they come. In just a few minutes, we finally find a change in scenery in the form of a completely open area, peppered with a number of tables and chairs that, like the shelves beforehand, are also thrown in disarray.

"So… seems we're back at the library," I quip as I scan the area for anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, but that means our trail ends here," Yang is quick to observe.

I keep looking as I start calling. "Jaune! Jaune, are you in here?"

For a moment there was nothing much of a response, but after a few tense seconds I hear a shaky voice. "He-hello?"

My heart skips a beat "Jaune?! Where are you?!"

This time, the response was immediate. "Over here! Ruby is that you?" Jaune calls as his blond hair peeks up from behind an upturned table. Yang and I run up to him, and I let a sigh of relief at seeing him in one piece. "Wha- what are you guys doing here? And what's up with that blade-thingy?" He asks after noticing my weapon.

"Coming for you, buddy!" Yang gives him a playful punch the shoulder.

"Ren, we found him!" I inform while pressing on the earpiece.

/Great! Now get out as fast as you can,/ he replies.

"Right away!" I say before turning at a confused Jaune. "Come on, we're getting you out of here."

Jaune dazedly looked from me to Yang and then back to me. "Wha- how…" He starts shaking his head and backing away. "No, no! I can't leave!" He suddenly bursts out.

"Jaune, come on! We'll help you."

"Yeah, you can't stay in here any longer!" Yang adds with urgency.

"No, you don't understand. I literally can't leave. I've tried to get out of this place already, but it won't let me!"

I frown at him, a sudden chill creeping up my back. "What do you mean?"

[Changes start here]

"He's talking about me, I believe," an echoing voice calls from somewhere in the room.

Yang and I snap back at the entrance of the room and find a figure leaning on the display case, regarding us with unnatural glowing, yellow eyes fixed in a mild frown. "Gotta give it to him, the guy can be really stubborn for some things, considering he's a quitter!" it adds snidely before getting off the shelf and slowly walking towards a table before starting to round it. In the scarce light of the room, I could finally see that this is a young woman with platinum-blonde hair, done in a messy cut bowl, with the sidelocks framing her angular face and pointed bang drawing a faux-scowl over her eyes. She is dressed in a light white jacket and workout pants, with a whitish-blue scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Is… is that?" I ask, fearing I already know the answer.

"Sienna…?" Jaune half-whispers, before immediately shaking his head. "No, that thing isn't her! It has kept me in here all this time!

A quick glance at Yang and a nod and we take a step towards the Shadow. "Jaune, stay behind us, now!" I instruct him as Yang and I stand at the ready.

"Oh? Ohohoh! That is rich! You are defending him?" "Sienna" stops on its tracks and starts laughing hysterically. "And here I thought that this loser couldn't be more pathetic but now he's having two girls fighting for him!"

"Yeah, wanna say that to my face?" Yang challenges, tightening her fists.

The Shadow just smirks, before hooking a hand under one of the tables and effortlessly flipping it to the side of the room. "Maybe I want to…" It then composes itself and regards us with a completely calm smile. "But no. The only thing I want is to see My Dear Little Brother breaking down like a sad loser."

I can hear Jaune tensing up behind me, but I simply raise my glaive at it "That won't happen."

"Not-sorry to disappoint, but there's not a lot that you can do," it says as he approaches another table and flips it too, snapping it in half. "The only reason I even exist is because of you, Jaune."

"Me?" Jaune echoes, stepping away from Yang and I, though never approaching the Shadow. "I don't get it… What do you have to do with me? Or Sienna?!" He takes half a step forward. "Do you know where she is?""

"Oh Jaune… I am just what you fear the most. I'm sure you know what I mean, Mr. Freakout!" It mocks. "Nothing works out! I don't wanna have to deal with this! What is the point? Whine, whine, WHINE! None of that is what you are actually afraid of!" It then kicks the table in front of it, sending it skidding across the room and taking other tables with it.

I can't help but give Jaune a sidelong glance after hearing this. Jaune's eyes snap wide open before looking away. "You know what I mean, don't you? You're actually scared of finding out that nobody gives a damn about you," it says in a condescending tone. "Why put time and effort to get something right after many tries, if no one will care that you succeed, right?

"And I don't mean just anyone! No, no no no. All you want is for one person to tell you how proud he is. Hahaha, how cliched is that? And it isn't as if he's just too critical. Dear old dad just can't be bothered to care anymore!"

"Shut up!" Jaune snaps at it. "You know why that is!"

The Shadow starts laughing sadistically. "Right, right! That only started after he drove Me away from home! That's when he was critical!" Jaune is baring his teeth now, while Yang and I could only look back and forth at the two Jaunes. "Neither he or mom could accept what I did, so I ran away to teach them to be more appreciative. But uh-oh! That plan backfired, didn't it?!" It backhands another table, completely splintering it. "And to think that his fit of indifference is all because of me, and that it only affects poor little Jaune. Which is tragic really, since you could've stopped me from leaving that night."

"What?"

"Oops, did I say that outloud?" The Shadow says in fake surprise. "Well, I guess I said too much already. Besides." Its eyes squint in a icy glare. "Not that I would've cared of what a worth for nothing kid had tried to say back then!"

Whatever force was keeping Jaune in place breaks down as he lets out a primal scream and lunges at his double, winding up a punch directly at its face. The Shadow smirks, and catches the punch without losing its grounding. "Nice try," it says before punching Jaune in the chest and sending him skidding through the floor before starting to walk after him. "What happened to the can't-fail-if-I-don't-try-mentality, eh?" Yang and I are quick to rush up between the two of them, stopping the Shadow on its tracks. "Oh, come on! You'd really be doing him a favor if you would just go away or something!"

"We're not letting you get any closer to him," I state to it.

"Yeah! You put us big sisters to shame. That is something I can't let stand." Yang adds with a flick of her hair before going into her battle stance.

The Shadow stares menacingly at the two of us before dark energy started swirling around it. "You two are just wasting your time," it booms out as the black smoke grows thicker. "If you really think he's worth the effort…" The energy suddenly explodes outward, breaking apart all the tables in the room into pieces before getting vacuumed into the center of a black vortex.

Board by board, the tables start reassembling themselves into some sort of device, as a figure inside the black smoke grows taller and taller. After a few seconds, the smoke clears and we see the new form the Shadow has taken. A lanky creature with dry, greying skin wearing brown rags and sporting a mane of dirty blonde hair covering its face is kneeling down in front of a wooden stock, to which it is being held… or would be held by it if the holes weren't so big for its hands and head to actually be caught in them. The tiled floor cracks up as seven black iron chains shot from the ground and snared themselves around the stock before pulling it tautly to the floor, right before the free ends of the chains slither in front of it and reveal the metallic snake heads attached to them. It listlessly raised its head to regard us with dull, yellow eyes and a twisted grimace. "TheN YOU WoN'T MInd LosinG WITH hiM!"

"Oh boy, this again?" Yang listlessly says.

"What… what is that?!" Jaune yells from where he lays. "What is going on?!"

"Ren! We got a Giant Shadow!" I report through the mic, but there's no response. "Ren?" I only get a feed of static. "It's no use."

"Well, it's clear what we need to know," Yang points out while lowering her stance.

"YoU won'T SUCceED. yoU WIll faIL!" The Shadow rambles as it slips out of the stock and causes a column of golden light to shine upon it, infusing it with an orange glow before assuming back its position in the device.

"I think it strengthened itself," I inform with concern.

"Well, two can play the same game! SATI!" Yang's Persona appears over her and does a short dance, which makes a similar column of light to shine upon her. I stare at the tangle of chains snaring the stock. I switch Personas as an idea occurs to me.

"High Pixie!" The faerie materializes in the air and points a finger at the Shadow. Above it, a single storm cloud releases a bolt of lightning on its head, causing it to twitch in place, but is otherwise unaffected by it. "Huh? But that should've worked!" I complain.

The snake heads hiss in unison as one of them rams into me, knocking me onto the floor. "Ruby!" I hear Yang scream before the snakes also lunge into her, though she remains standing. The lanky giant of a Shadow slips out again from the stock and dislodges it from the ground, lifting it above its head before swatting it down on us. I hear Yang screaming from the impact while black spots start dancing in my vision. I see the Shadow sticking the wooden stock back in the ground before resting its head and hands back in the holes. "Oh, NOW I'm angry! Persona!"

Sati appears once again, rushing into the Shadow kicking and punching and hip-checking the Shadow and the chains all over. However, it doesn't even flinch or make a single grunt of pain. A snake-chain rams Yang again before the not-bound giant squanders around the wooden structure and swings a clawed hand at Yang.

I stand up with a wince as I slide my hand over my evoker. "Yatagarasu." The Raven flies over my head, raining green light around me and healing my injuries. I look over at Yang, who seems to be doing somewhat better. "I don't think punching it does a lot to it."

"I noticed," Yang mutters, rubbing her abdomen before straightening up again. "Then maybe we can burn it down, Persona!" Sati appears once again, shooting a stream of fire at the Shadow and enveloping it in flames. After a few seconds, the flames die out and reveal not a single singe or ember in the Shadow's body! "What the hell?!"

"I toLD YOU beForE! NothING yOU try is EvER goNNa be enOUGh!" The monster drones even as a snake chain rams Yang again before it raises both hands and shoots lightning at the two of us. I twist in pain as I watch Yang falling on the ground twitching. "Why try if You'Ll oNLY rEGret IT?!"

The Shadow slides again out of its bind and starts thrashing and pounding its hands on the stock, hammering it further into the ground and cracking the rest of the floor, sending a shockwave that hits both me and Yang. Even as the impact goes through me, I feel something in me getting… shaken or something.

I shake my head before looking at Yang, who is trying to get off the floor. "Yatagarasu!" I call out in order to heal Yang, only that the raven never comes. "What?"

Yang manages to stand up on her own before hitting her fists together. "Sati!" Her Persona doesn't appear either. "The fuck?!" She mutters while looking at her hands.

"What are you doing?" Comes Jaune from behind us. "Why aren't you hitting it again?"

"I don't know! We…" I look at Yang, who just shrugs at me. "We can't use our powers for some reason!"

"You sEE? THerE'S no poiNT in dOINg anytHING BeCAuse you'll only ENd up POWerlESs!" The Shadow bellows as the snakes attack me once again along with itself, swinging a hand at the two of us, and sending us sliding backwards. Yang and I are breathing heavily, and I can feel myself doubling over in pain. I turn my gaze to Yang, who is at least holding herself up, but also looks very concerned.

I try to focus on my other Personas, but I can't feel any one of them. "Yang, I think we have a problem."

"Yeah, I can tell," she looks down at her evoker and then at me. "What are we gonna do?"

"… I don't know."

"Can't you do anything?" Jaune asks from behind us. "There's gotta be… SOMETHING you can do!"

"THere's NOThing thaT CaN BE Done!"

I ignore its whining and cross my weapon in front of me. "We'll think of something… I hope," I whisper even as Yang also adopts a defensive position. Another of the chains attacks me before the Shadow lifts the stock again and hammers us both with it. The edges of my visions blur even as it once again adopts its position in the stock.

"Guys! You have to do something now!" Jaune cautiously approaches us. "It is killing you!"

I ground my teeth, trying as hard as I can to feel my Personas, but I find nothing. I look back at Jaune, who is staring at the Shadow with dread. It then starts talking again. "gIVE Up alREADY! YOU Can'T wIN! You'rE GoNNa diE!"

"Shut up already!" I scream back at it before turning to my back. "Jaune, you need to get away as fast as you can!"

"What?" He turns to look back at me. "But, what about you?"

I give Yang a look, and she catches on what I'm planning. "We'll distract it long enough for you to get to safety, and then we'll go after you," she explains.

"But, you don't know if you'll make it! You could die!"

"Jaune, we came here to save you!" I yell back. "Just go! We'll make it!"

I struggle to keep myself from trembling as I stare down at the Fear Shadow. I tighten my grip on my glaive and get ready to keep fighting, until Jaune speaks again. "NO!"

"Jaune!" I snap back.

"No! I won't run away and leave you two behind! This thing is after me, so there's no way in hell I'm letting you die because of me! I WON'T LET YOU DOWN!" He rushes past us, standing between us and the Shadow. "Do you hear that?! I might be scared of messing things up or never getting my dad to be excited about anything again. But that doesn't mean I'll be afraid of trying!"

A blue glow starts emanating from Jaune's left hand, which quickly covers the rest of his body. "And I'm definitely not scared of a Psychotic Bitch like you!" He snaps his arm upwards, pointing a finger to the ceiling.

"PERSONA!"

A loud boom shakes the entire area as blue light explodes in every direction. The smell of ozone fills the air as an after image of Jaune leaves his body and breaks apart in crystal shards before taking on a new form. At first, he has a featureless, human-shaped body, before more shards gathered around his legs and arms, creating blocky, twice-as-thick pieces of white and blue armor on each limb. Similar armor pieces form around his pelvis and abdomen while his chest and shoulders get a piece of blue, chevron-shaped armor with a triangular, golden plate just coming out of his chest and halfway up to its chin. Finally, his head is completely enveloped by an oversized knight-like helmet, fixed tightly on his shoulders and obscuring his face completely except for two glowing, deep-blue eyes.

The new Persona regards us with a stalwart gaze as green light shines on both Yang and I. Soon enough, I feel my injuries mending themselves and my strength returning to me. Beside me, Yang is also checking on herself in amazement, before Jaune walks back to us and his Persona disappears. "Are you two better?"

"Y-yeah," I mutter. "Thanks Jaune, I owe you one!"

"It's the least I can do," He says with a smirk before glaring back at the Shadow.

"No! YoU CANnot wIN! TheRE'S No POInT IN THis!"

"Man, it sure sounds annoying. How about we prove her wrong?" He offers as he lifts his left hand, where a silvery-grey evoker is now resting.

[Changes end here]

"That's the best thing I've heard all day!" Yang agrees. At the same time, her evoker and mine shine twice, and I feel all my Personas appear again inside of my mind.

"Alright, It's round two," I change Personas before closing my hand in front of me. "Brunhilde!" The horsewoman comes galloping to the field, shooting an ice pyke at the Shadow, which shatters and covers it in frost that it then shakes off of itself.

Jaune steps up and summons his Persona, which materializes a spear out of thin air and uses to shoot a bolt of lightning at the snake heads, which reel back from the impact. I immediately take note of that. "The chains also take damage. Yang! Aim for the snakes!"

"My pleasure! Persona!" Sati appears once again and shoots two balls of fire at both the Shadow and the chains snaring it. The Giant doesn't flinch, but the snakes writhe as the flames hit them before one of them retaliates at me as I step out of the way. The Shadow then slides out of the stock and goes for a long sweep of its claw, nicking all three of us.

After we all recover from the last attack, I speak up. "Those chains are just as vulnerable as the main body… Guys, let's focus on attacking those chains, then focus on the ugly asshole!" I instruct before I switch to Wendigo. "Persona!"

The shrieking beast releases another explosion of dark red energy around the chains before Jaune summons his Persona. "Setanta!" The golden plate on his chest starts glowing a violet aura that is then projected on me. A second after, I feel my bones and skin strengthening.

"Thanks!" I call back as Yang shoots another volley at the entire Shadow. The snakes whip at me again, but I barely feel the hit before the Giant conjures another salvo of lightning. Yang falls down again, I feel a twinge of pain but Jaune remains unharmed, even though he flinches at first. I summon Wendigo again and release a blizzard storm that covers both chains and Giant in ice, which of course they shake off right after.

"Persona!" Jaune steps forward again and has Setanta rain an arch of lighting directly at the chains, which hiss in pain as they start twitching in place. Yang stands up and follows it with a fire hose directed exclusively at them.

The chains then lunge at Jaune, who steps back from the impact before the Shadow takes a sweep at him, though he manages to evade that hit.

"Wow, that was close!"

"Yeah, but I don't think we're doing much better yet," Yang explains. "That thing doesn't even look winded up."

"I know. Nothing we hit it with seems to do much! It's like it has armor or something!" I theorize out loud.

"Damm it… Can't you like soak it up so that I can electrocute it?" Jaune suggests all of a sudden.

"Uh, I don't know if you noticed, but we are a little short on water guns." Yang snarkily comments.

"Yeah but, you can shoot fire," he points at Yang, before turning to me. "And you have ice… See what I mean?"

I look straight at him and then at Yang, who is now smiling from ear to ear. "It's worth a try," I say with a grin before glaring back at the Shadow. "We gotta do it at the same time!"

"Got it!" The two of them say.

"WENDIGO!"

"SATI!"

"SETANTA!"

One after the other, our Personas shoot a flurry of ice, fire and electricity that hit the snake-headed chains and the Shadow they're covering, coating them in frost, then melting that ice into water and electrifying that water, causing arcs of lightning to shoot across the Shadow's body before the chains all break down and disintegrate into rust.

"WhaAAt?! NO!" It growls, still covered in sparks before it slips out from the stock and begins pounding on it. Only this time, instead of sending a shockwave at us, the wooden structure breaks in half, sending it into a rambling fit. "No, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

"HA! Who is powerless now, bitch?!" Yang mocks as we all stand at the ready.

"Everyone, hit it with all you got!" I yell.

One after the other, we wail the gangly giant with every attack that we have, making it cry in pain with each ice spike, lightning bolt and fireball we can muster while it can't even raise its bony arms to retaliate. Finally, it is Jaune's Persona which delivers the killing blow, hitting the Shadow right between the eyes with an electrified spear. As its flesh explodes into black ichor, the Shadow bellows a last "FUCK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuu….!" And then it dissipates into black smoke, leaving nothing of the Shadow left as Setanta hovers proudly in place before finally disappearing.

"Wow… that was… heh," Jaune mutters ruefully.

"Hey, are you okay?" I place a hand on his shoulder.

"I… think I'll pass out," he says with a straight face.

I make a tsk sound with my tongue. "Okay," and he promptly falls down unconscious.

Yang and I stare for a second before reaching to pull him up and carrying him back to the entrance. The second we pick Jaune up, Ren comes skidding around the corner, completely out of breath. "Are you okay?!" He pants.

"Yeah, all three of us managed," Yang says with a toothy smile. "What happened to you though? Did your phone broke or something?"

"… Yes," he mumbles. Yang's eyes shoot wide open.

"Oh, damn."

"What happened?" I promptly ask.

"The radar just… shut down. There was some feedback after that Shadow appeared and it shut off."

I change a worried glance with Yang. "That is bad, isn't it?"

"Yeah. I could salvage the data, but I'm not holding a lot of hope on that," he shakes his head and looks at the unconscious Jaune. "Though given the alternative, this is an acceptable loss. You managed to save him, that's what's important," he states.

"Yeah," I agree before pulling Jaune's arm over my shoulder. "C'mon, let's take him out of here before anything else happens."

The trek out of the library is still a difficult one, but we luckily don't find any Shadows on the way back. Once outside, we make a beeline towards the store we came in from and all four of us walk through the exit. Once in the headquarters, Yang takes Jaune and drags him to a couch and sits him in it. She, Ren and I then slump on different chairs to wind down for a second before we start explaining to Ren what went down in the library.

"So he also awoke to his powers?" Ren echoes while leaning forward. "I have to admit that I'm surprised. He's the last person I'd imagine having a Persona."

"Do you wonder that often?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"No. But I've been open to the possibility ever since last month," he cups his head on his hands. "I feel it'd be better not to think too much into it."

"Agreed. The work already has enough drama to add math problems onto them," Yang jokes, hanging her head on the rester of a chair.

"You can say that again," Jaune mutters from his seat.

"Hey! How're you?" I ask as soon as he sits up.

"Ugh… I'll be okay, I guess," he scratches his head as he takes on the surroundings. "What happened?"

"You… were abducted into an… alternate dimension," I sheepishly explain. "You've been gone for three days."

"Wowowo-wait, what? Three days?!" Jaune all but screams.

I take turns with Yang to explain everything we know about what transpired in the wake of his disappearance, and each second his pupils become smaller and smaller. After we're done, he slumps back on the couch. "Oh man, that's not good."

"Yeah. Thing is," I start, now wearing a mild frown. "That nothing terribly huge has happened over this whole deal… I can't tell if that's good or not," I ruefully say.

"Well, Mom and Dad must at least be going up the walls. Mom especially…" Jaune says burying his face in his hands. "Man, what am I gonna tell them?"

At that moment, Ren - who had been quiet during our explanation - speaks up. "You needed some time away from your home and school, so you asked me if you could crash at my house for a few days. I convinced my parents to help keep matters secret."

Jaune turns to him. "Huh?"

"It's your alibi. In actuality, my folks know what really happened, but are willing to comply with this. You have nothing to worry about."

"Huh, re-really?" Jaune asks dumbfounded. Yang and I can't help but share his expression. "Dude, thanks! Really, I don't know what I would've done!"

"Don't thank me yet. That'll ease some of their concern, but I can't promise you won't have a talk with them," Ren says curtly before looking straight at Jaune. "Sorry I can't do much else."

Jaune lets out a sigh. "To be fair, I think I can handle that now… Thanks, really."

Ren nods once before standing up. "It is getting late, we can continue another day. We should all head home and rest. You all deserve it."

"No arguing with that," Yang quips before getting up from the chair and stretching up. All four of us walk up the stairs and out, with Yang, Jaune and I heading for the bus stop while Ren leaves for his home. Jaune is pensive the whole walk to the stop and doesn't really say a word other than "goodbye" as his bus arrives.

Yang and I get up on the next bus and head back home.

Wednesday, May 31st/ Evening

Dad has fallen asleep in the sofa, so we both walk quietly to the kitchen and grab a quick snack before heading for bed.

My brain is drained so I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

~~~(-_-)~~~

Wednesday, May 31st/ Midnight

A man sits in a dimly lit room, looking over some pieces of text on a desk when somebody else enters the room. "Hmm?" The man listens to this new person with utmost attention.

He lets out a sigh as his eyes drift back to the desk "Another one?" He echoes. He brings up a notepad and stares at it. "We need to prepare for the next time…"


The strength of the heart to face one's fears has been made manifest. Jaune Arc has earned the facade to face life's hardships. The Persona Setanta.


Arcana Analysis:

Setanta (Magician):
Resists: Ice
Blocks: Electricity
Weakness: Fire, Nuclear
Zionga, Media, Skewer, Rakukaja

SYNERGY CHAIN:
Full Shock (Ice Skill Fire Skill Electric Skill):
Increased Electric Damage on the affected enemy (enemies) + Chance of inducing PANIC

Onnem Musha (Strength):
Weak: Darkness
Gale Slash, Matarukaja, Evade Phys

Enslaved Beast (Strength):
Weak: Fire
Assault Dive, Double Fangs, Counter

Adamant Beetle (Emperor):
Reflects: Physical
Kill Rush, Frei

Laughstock (Magician):
Resists: Electricity, Fire, Ice, Wind, Darkness
Blocks: Physical
Fatal End, Herculean Strike, Mazionga, Tarukaja, Gale Slash, Soul-Crushing Regret*

Iron Snare (Magician):
Blocks: Physical
Pierce Attack

*: Strike Damage + High chances of causing all foes to PANIC.