Returning to the labyrinth, we warped back to that shining gear thing and went toward the only door that looked like one of those gates that should be in a medieval dungeon.
"Senpai! Hold on!" Rise stopped us as Yu went to open it. "I'm sensing something really bad past that door! I think it's even stronger than an FOE...If you're gonna go in there, make sure you're ready first!"
Yu took a moment to ask if everyone was ready, we all nodded, and then he opened the door and we entered what looked like a boss room. There was what I assumed to be a Shadow that looked like it was supposed to be the Queen of Hearts hugging a treasure chest that was locked and wrapped with a chain. She then noticed us and stood up, turning to face us and unfurling a fan in front of her as she did. Her face looked to be a mask, but it kinda reminded me of how some geisha did their makeup.
"Be careful! That one's stronger than anything you've faced so far!" Rise warned. "I'm pretty sure it's the boss of this labyrinth!"
"Yeah, we can kinda tell by looking at it!" Yosuke responded.
"Danger...! I sense danger! Oh no you don't...! I won't let you have this!" The Queen said.
"It talks like a queen, too...?" I muttered in surprise.
"Won't let you have this...? What does it mean?" Yukiko asked.
"You're going to stay here forever! I'll never let you out of this world!" It said.
"What!? I'm gonna go back and eat ice cream! You don't have any say in this!" Teddie argued.
"That's right, we will leave this place. That's what we've decided." Zen added.
"Ha...Haha...Hmhm...Hmhmhm...Ahahahahahaha, heeheeeahahaha! Ahhh, how hilarious, how very interesting...! You're going to let us out, is it? Oh, how kind of you!" The Queen replied haughtily.
"Is this Shadow the one keepin' us trapped here?" Kanji asked.
"I don't know...we can only try and defeat it to find out." Naoto replied and readied her gun. "Are you ready, Senpai?"
"Everyone, let's go!" Yu readied his sword.
"Alright!" Yosuke grinned as he held his daggers ready.
"It's kinda acting weird, but...You're the Leader..." I shrugged, shifting my naginata to point at the Shadow readily.
"I won't let you have it!" The Queen hissed and raised her fan up in the air. "Attend to me, my minions! Deploy the royal straight flush!" It summoned a lot of card soldiers.
"How the hell are we gonna do this!? There's like, at least fifty of 'em!" I whined, dodging the spear of a two of clubs card soldier.
"How are we supposed to get to the Queen!?" Chie asked as she fought next to me.
Yu was fighting with Yukiko, Naoto, Zen and Rei, and Kanji, so that left Chie, Yosuke, Teddie, and I fighting together in a second team against the ridiculous number of enemies. Though, it was considerably easier to deal with them when we figured out they were weak to magic attacks. I swear we took out at least twenty total, but it didn't seem to be ending anytime soon.
"Enemy reinforcements! And it looks like more are coming!" Rise warned us as our two teams stood back-to-back and surrounded by card soldiers.
"This isn't looking good...We'll never reach the Queen this way." Yosuke said.
"My stamina's running low..." Yukiko panted out.
"Waaah, I need meat...!" Chie whined tiredly.
"I'm totally pooped, too..." Teddie said.
"Everyone, retreat. I'll do this." Zen said, but none of us moved.
"Don't be dumb! You're as worn out as we are!" Kanji argued with him.
"Senpai, if we don't retreat for now and pull ourselves together, we'll be done for..." Naoto told Yu.
"You should rest. We'll take these on!" An unfamiliar female voice spoke up suddenly and surprised us all.
"Huh? Wh-Who's there!?" Chie asked as I took out the last card soldier standing between us and the entrance to the room.
We turned and saw their silhouettes first, I'm guessing ten or so people and...Some kind of small animal...?
"Huh? Who in the world are you guys!?" Yosuke asked, and the guy standing in the middle of the line stepped forward into the light.
It was a dark blue haired guy with one visible blue eye wearing a vaguely familiar uniform. He smirked at us and said, "Don't worry. Leave the rest to us."
"Now! Everyone, charge!" The girl who had spoke up before ordered and they all cried an affirmative as they rushed in to fight the card soldiers alongside us. Well, mostly alongside Yu, since the rest of us just stood dumbfounded and watching them for a moment.
"Wh-What's going on here...?" Yosuke asked when we recovered a bit from the shock.
"Those uniforms...They're from Gekkoukan High." Naoto noticed and I realized why they were sort of familiar.
"Are they...on our side?" Yukiko wondered.
"I-I don't really get what's going on, but they're helping us out, right?" Chie asked. "Then we can't just sit around! Let's beat the Queen before those card soldiers come out again!"
I ended up fighting in a group with a guy wearing a baseball hat, another guy wearing a beanie with a long red coat and brown hair, Yosuke, and a white Shiba Inu dog with red eyes and wearing some kind of vest thing with wings on it and a strange collar. It was kinda chaotic, so we didn't have much in the way of time for introductions or anything and had talking limited to strategy and shouting at someone to dodge. Well, I didn't do any talking, considering I was in Shadow form to use magic attacks, but I could see that they were pretty damn strong. They also summoned their Personas by pointing and firing things that looked like guns at their temples rather than breaking cards like I was used to my teammates doing. Though, with this many people, we began to just tear through the enemy card soldiers mercilessly.
"Such annoying pests! Very well...I will crush you all myself!" The Queen seemed angry. "I won't let you have this! Not even if our king demands it!"
"Your king...?" Naoto repeated.
Yu's new teammates switched out to the previous team before they showed up. So, he took on the Queen with Yukiko, Zen and Rei, Kanji, and Naoto.
"What loathsome peasants!" The Queen of Hearts said in disgust when they went to confront her. "I will not hand over my treasure! I refuuuuuse!"
The rest of us helped the newcomers fight the seemingly endless stream of soldiers, keeping them away from the battle with the Queen.
"How dare you attack me! The Queen herself! What insolence! Such impudence! It's all so very vulgar of youuuu! Unforgivable!" The Queen was upset, so they must've been doing damage to her, but I couldn't look to check, being occupied with my own fight, I could only listen. "Eeeeee! Who are you!? Who do you think you are!? I am the Queen! The QUEEN! My reign is absoluuuuute!" She said, then a little later tiredly and desperately said, "I...I will not hand it overrrr...The treasure...It is miiiiiiine...This treasure is...It's..." A little after that, the Queen must've been defeated, since the card soldiers stopped coming.
"Wow...You're strong." The blue haired boy with earphones said to Yu when we all were able to regroup after the fights ended.
"U-Um...Who are you...?" Yukiko asked.
"As you saw, we're Persona-users...just like all of you." The well-dressed and serious looking redheaded girl said.
"Th-That's what I thought...What I meant was, why'd you guys show up all of a sudden?" Yosuke clarified.
"You don't look like much, but you're all pretty good. What do you say? Up for a match later...?" An aggressive grey-haired boy in a red vest snapped his fingers.
"You sure about that? Mitsuru's gonna bust your ass for it." The boy with the beanie and the long maroon jacket said to him.
"Please excuse me for interrupting your conversation." A woman in blue that had light hair and yellow eyes like Margaret spoke up.
"Hm...? She's wearing the same kind of clothes as Margaret..." Yukiko noted.
"Indeed. I assist my guest as a resident of the Velvet Room, just like my older sister. I am Elizabeth, and this here is my foolish younger brother, Theodore." The woman replied, then motioned to a man with a similar appearance standing next to her.
"I'm pleased to meet you all..." Theodore smiled politely and had the mannerisms of someone like a butler.
"When I asked my sister about your situation, I found that something quite fu-troublesome is going on." Elizabeth continued, seeming more excited before correcting herself.
"Hey, you were about to say "fun"!" Yosuke accused.
"We can talk about it more once we get outta here." The boy with earphones said.
"Yeah. We gotta get out of this nest of Shadows first." The boy with a baseball cap agreed.
"Before we do...there's something over there." Zen pointed out the treasure chest the Queen had been so fond of, so we went over to it.
"Is that a treasure chest...?" Chie asked.
"It must be what the Queen meant when it said, "I won't let you have it"." Naoto replied and Zen went to open the box.
"You're opening it?" Rei asked from slightly behind him, seeming worried.
"...Yes." Zen answered and opened the box. It had this weird white inside that moved, reminding me of clouds, and Zen pulled a stuffed white rabbit out that was wearing a vest and turned around to show us. A nametag on its leg had the letters "NIKO" written on it.
"Niko? What's that mean...?" Chie asked.
"Hmm...It must be saying to smile!" Rei guessed.
"Oh, you mean like the sound effect for someone smiling? Yeah, maybe."
"Could this rabbit be the same one that kept showin' up?" Kanji asked.
"It's not the same colour as the one we saw in the labyrinth, though." Naoto pointed out. "...Now that I think about it, it did seem as though that rabbit was guiding us here."
"Rei-chan, Zen-kun, have you seen this before?" Chie asked.
"Nope." Rei answered simply.
"Huh. I guess we've got nothing to go on, then."
"I feel like...I've seen this somewhere..." Zen put a hand to his head and closed his eyes.
"...Zen?" Rei looked at him with concern.
"Four...There are four labyrinths here...Something is hidden in each one...and "guardians" are protecting them. There was something I had to do here...A task...I had a task to accomplish...But...I lost my memory..."
"Do you remember now!?" Yukiko asked.
"...It's no use. That's all I can remember..." Zen shook his head and looked down.
"Don't strain yourself. It's amazing that you remember even that. When you say "guardians", do you mean Shadows like the Queen we just fought?"
"Yes, that's right...Powerful Shadows like it are protecting something..."
"Could that stuffed animal have triggered your memories, Zen-kun?" Naoto asked.
"I think so...When I touched it...the memory surfaced, like a crack formed in something..."
"His memories were...sealed in a stuffed animal?"
"What about you, Rei? Do you remember anything?" Zen turned to the blonde.
"I said I don't know..." Rei looked stressed.
"I see...Then I will hold onto this stuffed animal." Zen put the rabbit in his bag.
"That Shadow said that it would never let us out of this world. It was also protecting this stuffed animal." Naoto said. "When we obtained the stuffed animal, Zen-kun regained a bit of his memories...Assuming that wasn't merely a coincidence, we can draw certain conclusions. First, someone that Shadow was acting on behalf of intentionally trapped us here..."
"...That means they're evil!" Chie responded.
"And Zen-kun regaining his memories is problematic for this "someone"..." Naoto continued. "Taking it a step further, it's very likely that this "someone" stole Zen-kun's memories."
"So you think if we get what the other three guardians have, Zen will get his memories back? Is that right?" Yosuke asked.
"Three? Where'd you get that from?" Kanji asked and I couldn't help rolling my eyes.
"Zen said himself that there are four labyrinths here. This must've been one of them." Yosuke explained.
"Three more, huh...?" Yukiko looked thoughtful.
"That "someone" must've hidden my memories within the labyrinths...But Rei's memories aren't returning. Where are her memories hidden...?" Zen said, looking a bit concerned, then we heard the bell chiming.
"The bell...?" Naoto looked up as the sound echoed.
"We heard that bell from our world, too." The blue haired boy told us.
"Could there be a meaning behind it?"
"...Sounds like it stopped..." Yosuke said after we listened to it for a moment, then it quieted.
"Everyone, listen up! One of the locks on the doors in the Velvet Room is about to come off!" Rise spoke up suddenly through the communication skill.
"Wait, what!?" Chie asked.
"Remember the two doors in the Velvet Room with four locks on them? One of them suddenly started rattling like it's about to come off...! Margaret said the doors are used to connect different spaces..." Rise told us.
"Could this be our exit!?" The unfamiliar redheaded girl asked.
"I don't know...In any case, you should come back here!" Rise replied.
"Four labyrinths and four locks..." Naoto said thoughtfully.
"It's not a coincidence, is it?" Yukiko asked.
"No, I think not. We must traverse the labyrinths, defeat the guardians, and retrieve what they hold to unlock these...Putting the doors here in plain sight was a cruel taunt by whoever set this up."
"It's like they slapped us in the face with a glove." Chie said and I huffed a bit, incapable of actually laughing in this form.
"Wha...Chie-senpai, how're you keeping up with this?" Kanji seemed confused, though.
"We don't know if the lock came off because we took the "key", or if it's due to Zen-kun's memories returning. But that's an academic point for now." Naoto said.
"Yeah, sounds like going through the other labyrinths and getting that stuff back is the important part." Yosuke agreed. "Maybe this "someone" will show themselves along the way."
"Stop saying scary things." Yu said with no indication that he was actually scared.
"C'mon, it's definitely possible. You better brace yourself."
"Then, shall we head back? Staying here for too long could be dangerous." Naoto said to Yu, who nodded.
"Well, you heard 'em, Kyoka. Stop messing around and change back." Chie looked to me expectantly, and I stared back at her silently as I tilted my head.
"Uh, I've been keeping my mouth shut for a while, but...Why do you guys have a Shadow with you!?" The boy with the baseball cap asked while pointing at me.
"That's...A long story..." Yosuke muttered, rubbing the back of his head and then looking to me. "C'mon, Kyoka, show them you're not actually a Shadow already."
I reluctantly transformed back into my human form and most of the newcomers looked completely freaked out and shocked, but Elizabeth's eyes were practically shining.
"Wow...! A human capable of becoming a Shadow at will! I've never seen something so absolutely unbelievable!" She began circling around me, lifting my arms and patting my cheeks, as if checking that I were actually real as I stood uncomfortably and she stopped in front of me, looking into my face with an intense interest. "Can you speak too?"
"Y-Yes...?" I answered her nervously, taking a step back.
"Oh, I have so many questions! Are you originally a human? Or a Shadow? Do you know how this happened to you? Can it happen to someone else? Do you know any other Shadow-Humans?"
"Please excuse my sister." Theodore stepped in, pulling Elizabeth back from me and smiling apologetically. "Your situation is certainly unique, so I'm afraid she just can't contain herself. Please, take your time in answering our questions."
I nodded to him and smiled with relief. "Thank you..."
"Wh-What...? Am I crazy, or did a Shadow just turn into a human girl!?" A brunette girl wearing a pink cardigan asked while staring at me in shock.
"No, that is what happened." A blonde girl with short hair and kind of odd features answered plainly.
"...Well, that aside, let's just go back first." The blue haired boy seemed only slightly fazed and began leading his group away as ours trailed behind them a ways.
"That went over surprisingly well..." Naoto commented, smiling just slightly as I walked next to her.
"Did it...?" I responded a bit anxiously, seeing as a few of them kept glancing back toward us.
We headed back to the hallway outside the labyrinth with the shiny gear teleporter thing. It seemed really crowded now as we faced the three Velvet Room assistants, Rise, and a girl with short green hair in a Gekkoukan uniform. Yu and the blue haired boy that appeared to be the leader of the new group stood together in front of the rest of us.
"Oh...Great work out there! Thank goodness...You all came back safe." The green haired girl smiled with relief and bowed to us.
"Oh myyyyy! Yet another kind of lovely, beauuuutiful lady...!" Teddie exclaimed.
"I see that you've all met one another." Margaret said. "I met them only a moment ago. My sister Elizabeth, brother Theodore, their guest and his friends. It would seem that they were called to this world as well. Although they are from a different place and time than us..."
"Wh-Whoa, way too much information at once!" Chie cried.
"Allow me to take over." The serious redheaded girl went to stand in front and face us. "I am Mitsuru Kirijo. We are students at Gekkoukan High. Our "S.E.E.S." club is composed of Persona-users. It's short for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. We work to exterminate Shadows."
"Exterminating Shadows...?" Rise repeated.
"I didn't know there were other Persona-users besides us." Kanji said.
"To be honest, we were similarly confused when Margaret told us about you a moment ago." Kirijo replied. "Am I correct that you don't know of the Dark Hour?"
"Dark...Hour?" Chie repeated as I tilted my head in confusion.
"So it's true...We'll explain eventually. We appear to have a lot of time on our hands, after all. There's much we don't know, but for the time being, we are trapped here just like you."
"Trapped like us...?" Naoto repeated. "Could there be a reason behind this gathering of Persona-users...?"
"This one, Minato Arisato, is our field leader. He's a second-year." Kirijo indicated the blue haired boy with earphones. "He has the power of the wild card, which allows him to freely summon and wield multiple Personas."
"The wild card!? That's just like my partner!" Yosuke realized.
"So there's more than just Yu-kun..." I muttered thoughtfully.
"Two with the same power...This must be the reason for the "favour"..." Margaret said quietly.
"It's nice to meet you." Arisato said to Yu.
"The pleasure's mine." Yu replied, the two sharing a small smile.
"Let's keep this going and introduce ourselves, too." Kirijo said. "Let's see...The third-years will start. There are two others besides myself."
"My name's Akihiko Sanada. I'm the captain of the boxing club." The grey haired boy spoke up.
"Hrgh...I'm the only hottie we need around these parts..." Teddie apparently didn't like him right off the bat.
"Akihiko-senpai, you should say a little more about yourself..." The brunette girl in the pink cardigan said.
"Oh, really? Well then..." Sanada looked thoughtful. "What I really like is protein!"
"Uhh..." Yosuke looked unsure how to respond.
"I don't believe there is any here." Naoto told him.
"I'm Shinjiro Aragaki. I guess I'm a third-year...if you wanna get technical." The boy with the beanie said. "I'm taking time off school now, but I'm helpin' S.E.E.S. out for reasons. Nice to meet you."
"What kinds of reasons?" Rise asked.
"...Did it seem like I wanted to share?" He responded blandly.
"D-Damn, he's cool...!" Kanji looked taken back.
"Yeah, he really is." I agreed, nodding.
"Well then, I guess the second-years are up next. I'm Yukari Takeba. Umm, I'm in the archery club." The girl in the pink sweater said. "Hmm...What else is there to say...?"
""I'm the popular one!"" The boy in the baseball cap said a bit mockingly.
"Hey, stop it! What kind of idiot are you?" She got mad at him.
"Oh no, you're definitely popular in this bear's book. Heehee!" Teddie said.
"So, you're supposed to be a bear..." Takeba responded to his costume.
"Yep. I'm Teddie! And lo and behold! When I gracefully shed my cute bearskin..." Teddie popped off his head to show his human self. "An elegant and lovely boy is born! This is what you call two bears with one stone!"
"Uh, sure...Thanks..." Takeba didn't seem sure how to respond.
"Welp, my turn next. I'm Junpei Iori, a peace-loving hero!" The boy with the baseball cap said.
"...You don't live at Junes, do you? Or maybe some other department store?" Chie asked.
"That's me, dammit!" Yosuke shot her a glare.
"Um, I guess...I'm next? Um, I-I'm Fuuka Yamagishi." The green haired girl spoke up. "I'm, uh, different from everyone else. I have backup abilities, and...Uh...It's nice to meet you!"
"Backup!? That's just like me! We have a lot to talk about!" Rise looked excited.
"Huh? Oh, y-yes, please!" Yamagishi seemed a bit shier than Rise, though.
"I am considered a second-year at Gekkoukan High School as well. I am Aigis." The blonde haired, blue eyed girl that I thought looked a little off said in an almost robotic way. "Minato is special to me. Being by his side is extremely important."
"S-So are you two dating!?" Chie asked in surprise.
"You're allowed to be open about that stuff in your group!? Doesn't it make things awkward!?" Rise gasped.
"Isn't there something else about her we should be asking about first...?" Naoto shook her head at the other two.
"I believe I'm next. My name is Ken Amada. Unlike everyone else, I'm not a high school student. I'm a fifth-grader at Gekkoukan Elementary." The brown haired, brown eyed somber-looking kid spoke up.
"Fifth grader...? Wait, then you're...ten years old!" Chie said.
"N-No! I'm eleven!" Amada corrected her adamantly.
"Practically the same thing, dude." Kanji replied.
"C'mon, don't give him a hard time already." I told the punk with exasperation.
"A year makes a lot of difference. Right?" Yukiko added, looking to Amada with a smile.
"Yeah..." He rubbed the back of his head and seemed to blush a little as he looked away.
"Arf!" The white dog barked suddenly.
"This is Koromaru-san. He seems to be very excited to introduce himself at last." Aigis told us.
"Koromaru-kun, eh? C'mere!" Chie crouched and held out her hands to call the dog.
"Aww, he's so fluffy!" Rise gushed as the girls pet the dog.
"Hey...Lemme pet him." Kanji said.
"Rarf!" Koromaru growled at Kanji and he backed off. Then, the dog came over to me and I knelt down to greet him.
"Hey there, Koromaru-san. You're cute." I smiled as I pet the dog, who looked happy to have my attention.
"Wait, hold on. Does this mean this dog's...?" Yosuke asked.
"A Persona-user, yeah. His owner passed away, so he lives with us now." Sanada answered.
"Awww...There, there. You're doing your best, huh, boy?" Chie pet him soothingly.
"Arf." Koromaru seemed happy and able to understand us.
"That's our whole team. Won't you tell us about yourselves now?" Kirijo asked.
"Yu Narukami. I'm a second-year at Yasogami High." Yu started.
"You're our age? Wow, you seem so mature." Takeba seemed impressed.
"Yasogami...You mean, this school?" Yamagishi asked.
"Well, in a way. This place seems to be Yasogami High...or something like it."
"Wh-What do you mean?"
"It looks like the Yasogami High we know, but we think it's a different place...probably."
"Probably?" Takeba repeated.
"Most likely."
"I wasn't asking you to rephrase it..." She muttered, then changed topics. "The power of the wild card, though? Does that make you the same as our leader?"
"The arrival of two with the power of the wild card...So this was the reason behind the boon..." Elizabeth looked thoughtful.
"It's nice to meet you." Yu repeated the same thing he said earlier.
"I sense destiny brought us together." Arisato seemed as straight-faced and difficult to read as our own leader.
"I was thinking the same thing. Here's hoping we get along."
"And I'm Yosuke Hanamura. I'm a second-year, too. Me and this guy are partners!" Yosuke introduced.
"Partners...huh. Like Shinji and me!" Sanada nodded.
"...Say what?" Aragaki didn't seem to be on the same page, though.
"Uhh, I'm Chie Satonaka, and I'm a second-year too, and..." Chie said nervously. "Th-This is kind of nerve-wracking..."
"My favourite food is pudding!" Yosuke mocked her answer in the beauty pageant.
"Wha-!? You want bootmarks all over your face!?"
Yamagishi giggled. "They kind of remind me of Junpei-kun and Yukari-chan."
"My name's Kyoka Kagayami. I'm a second-year too." I introduced myself a bit nervously. "Uh...I can transform into a Shadow inside places that the others can summon their Personas..."
"How can you do that, anyway?" Arisato asked me, seeming curious.
"I don't really know myself...Something went wrong when I should've gotten a Persona, I guess." I shrugged and smiled apologetically at their confusion. "Sorry, we don't know anything more specific about it than that I can do it since I faced my Shadow."
"Hold on a moment. Your Shadow...?" Kirijo questioned suspiciously.
"We'll have time to explain that later, too." Yu interrupted before anyone could say anything else about it.
"Okay, I guess I'm next? I'm Yukiko Amagi, a second-year. I'm in the same class as Chie and the others." Yukiko introduced herself at Yu's urging look.
"I just realized something..." Iori murmured to Takeba. "...She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"What about your Chidorita?" Takeba replied somewhat teasingly.
"Now it's the first-years' turn! I'm Rise Kujikawa." Rise spoke up with a smile.
"Rise...? Huh. That sounds familiar..." Iori mumbled.
"I can't fight, but I'm great at providing backup. Nice to meet you!"
"It seems they have someone with a similar ability to Fuuka-san's." Aigis noted.
"Mm-hm, that's right. I was surprised too when I met her earlier." Yamagishi replied.
"Uhh, I'm...Kanji Tatsumi. Yeah." Kanji introduced himself bluntly.
"Aww, that's it, Kanji?" Rise asked.
"Tell 'em about your hobbies!" Yosuke grinned.
"Sh-Sh-Shuddup!" Kanji snapped while I sighed and shook my head.
"Hobbies? At first glance, he looks, you know..." Takeba whispered to Iori.
"Yeah, I hear ya..." Iori agreed with her.
"My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm pleased to meet you all." Naoto spoke up in her usual serious and quiet manner.
"...You have really thick soles." Amada said to her.
"Huh? Oh, um..." Naoto looked embarrassed.
"That's so cool! It's like a magic device that makes you instantly taller!"
"P-Please leave it at that..."
"Aww, c'mon, Naoto-kun, it's not a bad thing..." I patted her shoulder in poor attempt to comfort her. Though, I was short too.
"I'm the last one up! I'm Teddie, the beloved and adorable mascot of the "Junes" department store, famed here in Inaba! And lo and behold! When I gracefully shed my cute bearskin..." Teddie popped his head off again. "An elegant and lovely boy is born! This is what you call two bears with one stone!"
"It's not impressive even if you do it a second time!" I shouted, shoving him back down into his bearskin with annoyance.
"Actually, how come his costume is his "normal" form...?" Iori asked, but went ignored as we moved on to Zen and Rei's introductions.
Then Zen and Rei told them about how they had been here first with no memories of the past.
"I-It's nice to meet you all..." Rei said a bit timidly.
"We should pool our information while we're at it." Naoto suggested. "For unclear reasons, both your team and ours are trapped here. Zen-kun and Rei-san, whom we met in the labyrinth, are also trapped...and they've lost their memories."
"Yes, that's right." Zen nodded.
"Huh? Whoa...You think that might happen to us too if we can't find a way out?" Iori asked, then laughed nervously. "I mean, like that'll happen! Haha! ...Right?"
"We can't rule it out, that's for sure. Looks like somebody stole these two's memories." Yosuke answered and turned to Yu. "Anyway, why don't we all go together? We're all after the same thing, right, partner?"
"Let's do that." Yu nodded.
"I have much to ask their group as well...It's all right with me. What say you, Arisato?" Kirijo looked to the blue haired boy.
"Of course." Arisato nodded.
"So it's decided!" Yosuke looked happy.
"Dang, we've got new companions all of a sudden! Our group's twice as big now!" Chie looked excited too.
"It's fun to have people with us who aren't high schoolers, like Ken-kun and Koro-chan." Yukiko smiled.
"Aw, c'mon! You have me!" Teddie protested.
"Oh, you're here." Yukiko replied like she just noticed.
"How cruel!"
"You should expect it by now. Geez..." I sighed at him.
"Are we really...companions?" Takeba mumbled doubtfully.
"Th-This makes me nervous." Yamagishi responded.
"Are you all quite finished?" Margaret interrupted. "...I have been waiting, you know. All this time. Quite a while."
"Is that how you guys' blue lady always is?" Iori whispered to Yosuke.
"Yeah, she tends to be pretty frosty." Yosuke whispered back.
"Ours is kinda...dangerous." Iori replied.
"Dangerous?"
"You'll find out."
"Yosuke..." I inched closer to him nervously as I glanced at Elizabeth.
"Ah, crap...Kyoka heard..." Yosuke sighed, then gave a not-so-reassuring smile. "I'm sure she's fine, Kyoka. Don't worry."
"Nah, you should worry. She was preeetty interested in you." Iori looked at me with pity.
"Man, you're not helping!" Yosuke hissed at him.
"There seemed to be no exit in this labyrinth, no?" Margaret asked Elizabeth.
"Yes. Not a trace could be found of any..." Elizabeth replied.
"Then I believe those doors in the Velvet Room are the exit after all."
"You mean the doors with the four locks on them..." Yukiko realized.
"Indeed. Just as you were told earlier, one of them is about to come off at any moment."
"Then, three more remain..." Yamagishi said.
"Zen-kun's recovered memories also suggested that there would be three more labyrinths...I believe we should assume there's some correlation, and search for the next labyrinth." Naoto suggested.
"Three's quite a lot..." Takeba looked down.
"Only three!? Weak..." Sanada seemed to have the opposite reason for being down.
"If the journey ahead will be long, more assistance may be necessary. Perfect timing for my siblings to arrive." Margaret said. "Everyone, please follow me to the Velvet Room.
We went there.
"More of you...? This is way too many." Marie commented, looking unimpressed with the amount of people that entered the room where she was waiting.
"Ooh, yet another type of girl..." Iori said, seemingly to himself.
"These must be the two doors that you mentioned." Elizabeth said, looking at the doors. "My guest and my sister's guest...Two doors that connect to two different places...Is that what it means?"
"...She's ignoring me. I hate her!" Marie seemed offended.
"Theo, keep her company." Elizabeth ordered.
"O-Of course." Theodore turned to Marie. "How do you do? My name is Theodore. Won't you tell me yours, my lady?"
"Marie...for now. Margaret gave me that name." Marie answered.
"You shouldn't address me without any honourifics. I keep telling you this." Margaret interjected.
"But...you just call me plain ol' Marie..."
"Well then, Marie-san. Why don't we have a nice chat and..." Theodore started, but Marie cut him off.
"I want a shaved ice. The red stuff. Go buy me one, Theo."
"Wha...?" He seemed surprised by her sudden snappishness.
"...Go get her some later, Theo." Margaret told him.
"Very well..." He hung his head. I got the impression he was one of those "doormat" people...
"Now then, allow me to move onto the main subject." Margaret turned to Yu. "I will see that you have access to the "Triangle Spread"...Fusions which use three Personas. This will allow you to fuse even more powerful Personas. I will continue to be the one to perform these fusions. Theo..." She turned to her brother.
"Yes, sister?"
"I leave the handling of equipment and supplies in your care. Make sure that you assist everyone well."
"I understand. Well then, everyone, it's nice to make your acquaintance."
"And Elizabeth...I ask that you treat everyone's fatigue at the Nurse's Office." Margaret turned to her sister.
"Understood. By the by, Sister...There's been something bothering me a bit ever since coming to this world." Elizabeth said. "If it's all right with you, I wish to conduct certain research from this Nurse's Office..."
"Research...? Well, do as you wish."
"Excellent. As part of this research, I will make requests of you all. Of course, I will prepare a reward commensurate with your effort, so please, tackle them with gusto."
"This is just part of your hobby..." Theodore mumbled.
"She truly is going to do whatever she wishes..." Margaret shook her head.
"Well then, I will await you in the Nurse's Office. I have some business to attend to, so I will go on ahead." Elizabeth went to leave.
"...One moment. Elizabeth...I have a long list of things to discuss with you." Margaret stopped her.
"Such as what?"
"Chiefly about you and your guest. After this, you are going to..." Margaret stopped short, looking conflicted. "No, it can wait for later. I need to learn more about this world now..."
"...Very well, then. Perhaps another time." Elizabeth didn't seem to know what she was talking about and left the room.
"Should we go to the Nurse's Office? If there's gonna be rewards, we might as well see what she has to say." Aragaki said.
"...I'll go with you. Something about this makes me uneasy..." Theodore spoke up and we all left together to go.
When we got there, it was easy to see she had made some changes. Particularly, she had Jack Frost dolls around the place and it looked like it should be Halloween for it to be decorated like this...
"Welcome to Elizabeth's Room..." Elizabeth had even changed to a pink outfit similar to her blue one, but with a nurse's hat. "Would you like medicine, a shot, or perhaps...?"
"What are you playing at?" Theodore asked her with some exasperation.
"I borrowed that line from a book I found on your shelf." Elizabeth replied.
"D-Don't be absurd!" He protested.
"I took into consideration the Seven Horrors bandied about at this school and set up a request notebook." Elizabeth explained, mostly to Yu and Arisato. "As they say, "If you write your wish in the logbook at the Nurse's Office, it'll come true..." I've already written one down, so now it's your turn to grant it."
"That's not how these Seven Horrors work, though..." Yosuke pointed out.
"The rewards I have prepared are quite fine. Why not take on requests and earn an extra boost in your efforts? But please be warned. Some of these requests will have a deadline attached to them."
"But we have to go through three more labyrinths, right? Do we even have time to take these requests?" Chie asked.
"I think we should make time for that very reason. Nothing good will come of rushing things." Yukiko replied.
"Hmm, you're right..." Chie conceded.
"Ooh, me! Me! There might be stuff we could use in this school, so I wanna look around...or something!" Teddie seemed excited.
"You just want to fool around in the Culture Festival!" Yosuke accused.
"Well, of course I do! I'm here at a carnival with these beautiful ladies, after all! You know what they say, "A gentleman never refuses an offer from a lady!""
"Don't think you can justify it with that garbage."
"Well...why not?" Naoto said.
"Whoa, you too, Naoto!?" Yosuke looked surprised.
"If the journey ahead is long, then Yukiko-senpai is right. Taking breathers will be important. The "students" here mean us no harm, so we may as well enjoy the Culture Festival outside the labyrinths."
"Hm...I guess you're right. We've got tons of people now, so let's go enjoy it!" Rise agreed.
"Yeah, ours was kinda lame when I walked around, but this one looks fun." I nodded too.
"Might as well make the most of it! You know our Culture Festival got canned! Time for a rematch!" Iori seemed happy.
"C-Can we really?" Amada asked with a smile.
"Then I wanna have some takoyaki!" Chie exclaimed. "They were sold out at the real Yasogami High one and I didn't get any! Man, what a lucky break!"
"Honestly, now is not the time for such things..." Kirijo put a hand to her head as she shook it.
"If that's the case, then I challenge you to a match, Shinji!" Sanada said to Aragaki.
"Hell no, moron." Aragaki denied him almost instantly.
"Takoyaki..." Elizabeth said. "I, Elizabeth, will join you!"
So, we ended up exploring the Culture Festival, playing games and eating. I ended up sitting with Marie and Teddie as we ate donuts
"Hey, get me cinnamon, raspberry, and jelly." Marie said with her mouth full when Yosuke came back with a tray.
"I want...Ten chocolates!" Teddie said.
"Will you guys show some restraint!?" Yosuke yelled at them, annoyed. "Kanji, will you say something-" Yosuke cut himself off upon seeing Kanji was occupied holding and petting a less-then-enthused Koromaru. Yosuke sighed at him.
"Hey, Yosuke," I called after finishing my third donut.
"What now!?" He whined, turning back toward our table and then blinking in surprise as I was holding out the last two on my tray toward him.
"I'm full. You can have these."
"O-Oh, thanks..." He took it from me slowly, then I got up.
"Okay...Marie-san wanted cinnamon, raspberry, and jelly, right?" I asked, and she nodded at me. "And Teddie wanted ten chocolates?"
"Oh, you can just let Yosuke get them, Kyo-chan." Teddie told me, but I waved him off as I began walking away.
"I'm already going. Be right back."
After I got the donuts and returned to set the trays down in front of Teddie and Marie, Yosuke was slowly eating the last of my donuts.
"Thanks, Kyo-chan!" Teddie grinned at me as he was stuffing his face.
"Took you long enough!" Marie muttered, picking up the cinnamon donut to start eating as well.
"Sorry, they were apparently making fresh ones." I replied with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of my neck.
"Hey, Kyoka, let's go." Yosuke stood up suddenly, shoving the rest of his donut in his mouth and grabbing my arm to start pulling me away.
"Hey! Who's gonna get me more donuts!?" Marie called after us with annoyance.
"Yosuke's stealing Kyo-chan away!? For a secret Festival date...!? I must go-"
"Hey! You're not going anywhere!" Marie apparently stopped Teddie from following us as Yosuke dragged me down the hall, then up some stairs.
"Uh...Where're we going?" I asked in confusion.
"Away from them." Yosuke mumbled, apparently still chewing.
"Okay...Then, can we go see the cover band that the NPCs were advertising?"
"NPCs...? Oh, you mean the "students" here." Yosuke turned toward me and looked a bit doubtful. "But a cover band...Was there something like that here?"
"I think it was supposed to be somewhere in the practice building." I motioned vaguely in the direction we had to go. "Oh, but can we stop for drinks on the way?"
"Yeah. Okay."
We went and found a vending machine before heading over to the practice building and finding the room where the show had already started. We walked in and stood at the back, out of the crowd of soulless students that were cheering and dancing like it was a real great concert.
"Huh...They aren't bad. I don't know what I was expecting, but they sound like a proper band..." Yosuke sounded impressed by the four students playing on stage. "Even if they are just doing covers..."
"Oh, I know this song...!" I realized when they moved on to another song and I recognized the opening.
"You do...?"
I nodded. "It's one of the songs Tanabachi-sensei plays sometimes for improvising. It has a complex drum solo in the middle that's good for-Uh, never mind. Anyway, I like it." I smiled a bit sheepishly at him before turning my attention back to the stage and resisting the urge to dance to it. I could already imagine a new way I could move to the rhythm, but it was way too embarrassing to actually test it out in front of someone that wasn't my teacher.
We stayed for the entire thing, oddly enough, and ended up talking about music we liked and about the band playing being surprisingly good at impersonating the original versions of the songs that we knew.