6/28 - Dark Hour - Tartarus - Ren

"Welcome to Tartarus!" Kotone said excitedly as the tower erupted from the insides of the school. Gears, balconies, and even other buildings grew and joined into a single monolith.

All of SEES were right in front of the school gate. Everyone was in their school uniforms with a red armband which had the letters SEES stitched onto it. That, apparently, was their fighting attire.

Fuuka stared in amazement, her mouth slightly agape throughout the entire sequence. On the other hand, it did not exactly surprise or amaze Ren. The different Palaces and Jails had dulled his sense of awe of most things. Still, something about seeing a gigantic tower grow from his school right in front of his eyes made him feel certain emotions. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

"Something wrong, Ren?" Yukari asked.

Ren glanced at Yukari before responding. "I was just thinking about how unnerving it is, to see Tartarus come from our school."

Junpei nodded. "You got that right. I was so surprised to see it the first time around. It's even worse when you realize all this is in the real world."

"What?" Ren asked, looking at Junpei in shock. "Does that mean we're summoning Personas in the real world?"

This time, Mitsuru nodded. "That's right. With the Evoker, anyone with the potential can summon their Persona outside the Dark Hour, albeit with difficulty. This was something the Kirijo Group learned when they trained me."

"I see," Ren murmured as he trailed off. 'Damn it, I thought the Dark Hour was like the Metaverse, completely separated from our reality. But from what Mitsuru-senpai said just now, could it be that the collective unconscious is here in the real world, just like during the Day of Reckoning? I was so used to the Metaverse that I unconsciously thought that the Dark Hour was the same, even with the extra hour. How serious of a problem is the Dark Hour? Does this mean that our deadline is near?'

Tartarus had finally fully formed, prompting everyone to enter the tower.

'Futaba would be so jealous if I'm wearing my Phantom Thief attire in reality again.'

When Ren entered the door, he erupted in blue flames, causing everyone to shield their eyes from the sudden light.

"Ren?!" Kotone cried out in surprise.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," he said, with a touch of boredom from within the fire. The flames faded quickly, and his Gekkoukan uniform transformed into a thief's outfit. His SEES armband had also disappeared with the uniform.

"Damn, I'm so jealous..." Junpei said.

"Isn't it a bit...much?" Akihiko asked with slightly furrowed eyebrows. "It looks like it'll get in the way of fighting and movement, with the coat and all. You're also missing your SEES armband."

Ren shook his head. "Not at all, actually. I've been running around Iwatodai for a couple of weeks now and it never got in the way for me." He looked at his right arm, where the armband should have been. "As for that, I'm not too sure. I guess I just change everything I'm currently wearing. Will this be a problem?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "Not while we are in Tartarus. It's only for formalities. We are the only ones here, so everyone here knows we are from SEES."

Kotone looked Ren up and down with a critical eye, nodding with a hand on her chin. "It's pretty cool, I won't lie."

"Jealous?" Ren asked with a smirk.

Kotone sent a coy smile back. "I'm appreciating, Ren. It looks good on you."

Mitsuru coughed. "May I remind you that the Dark Hour only lasts for one hour?"

Ren and Kotone blushed, and both let out a synchronized "Sorry."

The group walked in silence towards the clearing in the middle of the first floor of Tartarus. An air of tension permeated in the group as if this was their duty to fulfill.

While Ren was initially nervous about the damage his fight with Strega had done, the clearing was clear of any debris. It seemed like Tartarus fixed itself every time it spawned.

"This was where we last fought the Emperor and Empress Full Moon Shadows..." Fuuka murmured, to which Kotone nodded.

"You got that right," she said. "This is what we consider the first floor. That door at the top of the staircase is how we always start our Tartarus runs. It takes us to the highest floor we got to last time." She pointed to a corner of the floor, where a terminal hummed in green light. "And that lets us get to specific floors in Tartarus. It also acts as a way to get back to the first floor by using one-way teleporters in Tartarus."

Ren and Fuuka nodded. To Ren, it was simple enough; it worked similarly to the Rest Areas in Mementos, though instead of Rest Areas scattered throughout Tartarus, they were teleported to the first floor and had to teleport back up to resume exploration.

"Before I say anything else," Kotone turned to Fuuka, "can you move when you summon your Persona?"

Fuuka reached for the Evoker in her holster, pointed it to herself, took a breath, and pressed on the trigger. The sound of glass broke, and Lucia surrounded Fuuka.

Fuuka hummed for a moment before shaking her head. "Sorry," she said telepathically, "I'm rooted on the spot; I'd have to let Lucia go if I want to move."

Kotone nodded in understanding. "So, the same as Mitsuru-senpai was. Then we'll have to use our old set-up. Our first team for tonight will be Ren, Yukari, Mitsuru-senpai, and me."

"What?!" Junpei asked. "What about me and Akihiko-senpai?"

"Sorry, Junpei, but Yukari and Mitsuru-senpai missed the fight last time, and this is Ren's first time in Tartarus," Kotone responded. "Don't worry, though; you and Akihiko will be part of the exploration team tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ren asked. "Are you planning to explore every night?"

Kotone nodded again. "Yep. Like what Mitsuru-senpai said: the Dark Hour is only one hour. Ideally, we stop exploring around 45 to 50 minutes in, and we look for a teleporter back here. If we have to, we keep pushing into the next floor. We do not want to be stuck here when the Dark Hour finishes. Otherwise, we're stuck here for a day, like what happened to Fuuka."

"Man," Junpei sighed. "I was so hyped to show off to my SEES kouhai tonight."

Yukari sighed in frustration. "You'll fight tomorrow, anyway. You can wait for a day, can't you?"

"Don't worry, Junpei," Ren said. "We're pretty excited to see our SEES senpai fight, right, Fuuka?"

Fuuka nodded with her eyes closed. "Of course, I am quite excited to see how everyone fights."

Junpei looked at the two of them, stunned, and then rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, then I guess I'll save up my energy for tonight, then! I'll give my 110% tomorrow."

"Sounds like a good plan," Akihiko said. "It's important to know when to give ground and strike back in a fight."

"By the way, how do we know how much time passed?" Ren asked. "I thought all electronics stop working during the Dark Hour."

"I have an analog watch with me," Mitsuru responded as she presented a ticking wristwatch to the group. "Now that I'm no longer the navigator, I'd like to have Yamagishi to have it from now on." She stepped towards Lucia, and a small hole opened in her glass belly, letting Mitsuru pass the watch to Fuuka.

Fuuka opened her eyes, looking at the watch. "About five minutes have passed since we entered the Dark Hour."

"Sounds about right," Kotone said. "For today, since we used up some of our time to explain things, we'll only explore for about thirty minutes. Everyone, get ready; we'll begin in about five minutes." Kotone stepped back from the group and walked towards another corner of the room, towards a memorable blue door.

To Ren, as soon as Kotone reached the door, it opened, and she entered it.

"It's weird, right?" Junpei asked Ren, suddenly right next to him.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ren asked.

"You know, Kotone and her just standing around, staring off into space?" Junpei explained, to which Ren nodded. "Well, it's weird, but it's just a little quirk."

"It could be a form of meditation," Fuuka said.

Akihiko nodded. "I always thought of it like that: a way for her to get her head in the game." Ren could see Fuuka slightly blush to hear her crush agree with her. "It's very important to do that for a fight."

"Well, while she's doing that, I'll get to warming up and then stretching," Ren said as he began doing jumping jacks and knee raises to get his blood pumping.

"Uh... Ren? What are you doing?" Junpei asked.

Ren finally finished his knee rises and began doing hamstring stretches. "Warming up and stretching. I don't want to pull a muscle tonight."

"You can't just...you know... start doing parkour?"

This time, it was Akihiko that answered. "Actually, it's not ideal to stretch or use cold muscles right off the bat. It's why warming up for a few minutes is required."

Ren moved to the stairs, using it for calf raises. Afterwards, he moved back to the ground, finally doing the last stretch: a side split.

"Wait, how the hell...?" Junpei muttered as he kept watching Ren stretch. Ren dropped his left elbow to the ground. With his right arm, he reached over his body and head, holding on to his left toes. After a few seconds, he let go and mirrored it to his right side.

"How the hell are you doing all this?!" Junpei yelled, finally snapping after seeing Ren's flexibility.

"Lots of training, stretching, and pain, Junpei," Ren said as he let go and stood up. 'The things Sumire made me do for exercising was a hell and a half.'

"Can you do that, Akihiko-senpai?" Yukari asked, and Akihiko shook his head.

"No, not that far. We train our muscles more for power."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kotone asked, finally done with the Velvet Room.

"Hey, Kotone!" Junpei called.

"Yes, I am Kotone."

"Ren was doing some crazy stretching! He was doing a split on the ground just now!"

"Wanna see me do it again?" Ren asked with a grin.

"Uh..." Kotone repeatedly glanced between Junpei and Ren, before settling on the latter. "Yes?"

This time, Ren didn't lay down on the ground. Instead, he lifted his left knee, letting his left arm hold the corresponding foot, and lifted it above his head, perpendicular to the ground. His right arm reached above to hold his left toes. He held the position for a few seconds, eventually letting it go slowly and quietly.

"Since when were you so flexible?" Kotone said with an amused face.

Ren shrugged in response. "Always have been."

Yukari scoffed. "What a show-off. We should get going. A lot of time must have passed already."

"Actually," Fuuka piped up, "it's only been ten minutes."

"Thanks, Fuuka!" Kotone said with a wave towards her. "Let's get exploring!"

Mitsuru, Yukari, and Ren nodded and followed Kotone up the staircase, disappearing into the door.

The four landed with a soft thud on a floor, and when Ren looked back, a portal of green and black closed on itself and turned into a wall. They were effectively cut off from using the same way.

'Very similar to when Mementos closed off the people that were becoming uncontrollable,' he thought with narrowed eyes.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Kotone approach a closed set of gates, though they disappeared when she touched them. "Were those gates always there?" he asked.

Mitsuru nodded. "Yes, we always had to stop our exploration until it opened again. At this point, we assume that there are more gates like it throughout Tartarus."

"These gates are our goals whenever we come up," Kotone said. "Once we hit these, we know we're done for a while."

"And when do they open?" Ren asked.

Kotone shrugged. "No one really knows. We don't really have the manpower to check every day. We'd be too tired for the day after."

Ren placed his hands in his pockets for a moment. 'A locked door usually has a key... For Mementos, its keys were the people's cognition of the Phantom Thieves' fame. But here...'

"Another question." Ren looked at Kotone. "When do you usually explore?"

"In between full moons. We can't explore during the full moon because we have our hands full with the Shadows that appear during the full moon. Why?"

"Is there something wrong?" Yukari asked.

"A locked door or gate always has some sort of key," Ren answered. "Otherwise, it would just be a wall." 'The collective unconscious just works like that. A door is a door, no matter how different it looks like or how it moves; everyone knows what a door is, so its functions will work the same way.'

"Are you saying that something is acting as its key?" Mitsuru asked. "If the only time that we haven't been able to see the gate at all is during the full moon, then..."

Ren nodded. "Then the 'key' could either be the full moon or the Arcana Shadows that appear during the full moon."

"Seriously?!" Yukari asked in shock.

"An interesting thought, Amamiya," Mitsuru said. "I'll relay it to the Chairman in my report for our Tartarus explorations. We'll have to wait until the full moon to test it, but it's something to keep in mind. Good work."

"Damn, I didn't think about that," Kotone said before shaking her head. "Anyway, Ren, see that little terminal that looks like a mini version on the first floor?" Kotone as she pointed to a terminal that glowed in green. "That's a one-way portal to the first floor. We'll use it once in a while to get back for a breather. It's also what we use if we want to stop for the day. That said, are we all ready?" Everyone nodded and took the staircase to the next floor.

Instead of a portal that teleported everyone to the next floor, the staircase led everyone to it, though the stairs disappeared, and a wall replaced it.

Here, the area was far darker than the previous floor. Purple dominated the lighting, creating an ominous glow. The black walls didn't help either, making tall shadows all around them.

'This seems like a good place to sneak around in,' Ren thought with a mental smile. She glanced around the area, taking in what he could in the darkness with normal eyes. 'It's not nearly as bad as Mementos was, but it's got its own sense of weirdness and creepiness.' After making sure everyone was behind him, he activated his Third Eye, but saw nothing.

"Ren," Kotone called out, making him turn towards her. "The way we go around here is we move as a group. If we go down to the lower floors, the really low ones, we can split up."

"Split up? Is that okay?" Ren asked. "I thought the Shadows were dangerous." 'Very different from our modus operandi...'

Kotone nodded. "True, but we've gotten powerful enough to explore on our own. On top of that, we have Fuuka now! She'll make sure everyone knows how things are going. We'll depend on you a lot!"

"I'll do my best!" Fuuka telepathically said.

Kotone chuckled. "With that said, let's get going. Our goal per floor is to find the stairs to the next floor. We kill whatever Shadow we find on our way there."

With a nod, everyone walked closer to each other. Kotone led the group while Ren was right behind her, with Mitsuru beside him. Yukari walked behind everyone else. Ren fought the habit of walking towards the walls and blending in with the shadows, but he was ready to jump in front of Kotone whenever needed.

Ren was itching to see what the Shadows looked like here. Even when he used the main floor of Tartarus, no Shadows appeared there, so he did not know what they looked like.

"Enemy around the corner," Fuuka informed them. Kotone huddled next to the wall, with Ren next, then Mitsuru, and finally Yukari. Kotone peered over the corner, only motion everyone to run in the direction they came back.

"What?" Ren asked. "What's going on?"

"Just get over here!" Kotone whisper, everyone else already far from the corner. With no choice, Ren followed directions.

"Okay, what was that?" he asked again as he reached them.

"The Shadow was approaching us," Kotone explained. "We want to hit them from the back which will give us the advantage."

"And why couldn't we just, you know, sneak up on them?"

"They can sense us from the back," Yukari answered. "Running and going back was the best we could do."

"And honestly, it's working pretty well so far," Kotone added with a hint of pride.

'Oh, right... They couldn't hide behind things like we did.'

"Alright, you guys are the experienced ones here," Ren said.

And thus, the waiting game began. The gang waited for a while until Fuuka had told them the Shadow was going in a different direction. When they checked, it turned out the Shadow wasn't in the proper direction, so they waited even more.

To Ren's surprise, the Shadow was just a black sludge. It had no discernible solid form outside of two arms, though those also wriggly. Everything that Ren had experienced before would not help with this Shadow.

The Shadow stopped moving, but it wasn't facing away from them, so they waited even more. Finally, the Shadow was facing the opposite direction from where everyone was. Kotone did not miss a beat and immediately ran and slashed at the Shadow. Everyone else followed suit, with Ren right in front of Kotone, ready to dash in and distract.

The Shadow turned into a puddle, but then it coalesced into a gigantic beetle with a purple carapace and a golden crown.

"Beginning scan," Fuuka said.

Ren dashed out as the beetle crawled towards the group. "I'll get started with the distraction then!"

"Alright!" Kotone shouted. "Yukari, save your stamina for when Ren needs healing! Use arrows for now. Mitsuru-senpai, we'll cover long-ranged magic attacks!"

"Got it!" Yukari said as she prepared her bow and took a stance.

"Understood!" Mitsuru pointed her Evoker to herself and summoned Penthesilea. "Bufu!" A ball of ice hit the Shadow, and while it looked like it dealt damage, it wasn't enough to stagger it. "Ice does not seem to be its weakness!" Mitsuru called out.

Yukari let her arrow loose, but it bounced off with a dink. "My arrow didn't work!"

"Yukari, use Garu skills, but not too often!" Kotone commanded. "Ren, how's the knife working?"

"A scratch!" Ren shouted back as he leaped off its horn. "Definitely not using it! Arsène!" He ripped off his mask mid-air and Arsène shot a ball of black flames. "Curse skills did just about the same as Bufu!"

The Shadow opted to get rid of the closest thing to it: Ren. However, it was far too inflexible because of its size and its carapace, so Ren had free rein. He was a nuisance to it, as is his role: rolling underneath, somersaulting from one end of the Shadow to another, surprising it with a burst of speed through a Sukukaja every so often.

'This Shadow's so slow, I actually feel sort of bad.'

"I've got it." Fuuka said. "Its weakness is electricity! Please use Zio skills!"

Kotone grinned. "And I've got the right Persona for that! Yomotsu-Shikome!" A body-less spirit with long hair appeared next to Kotone and shot a ball of electricity, which stunned the beetle. Its legs gave out, leaving it laid out on the floor.

'That's a new Persona,' Ren thought. "Shall we, Kotone?" he asked as he ran back to the group.

"You bet!" Kotone said with a smile. "All-Out Attack!"

The four rushed the helpless beetle and hit the beetle with all they've got. Smoke erupted around them, but it wasn't enough. The Shadow eventually got back to its feet, and the team fell back to their earlier formation. This time, Kotone immediately fired off a Zio, letting them do the last All-Out Attack for the battle.

"Not bad," Yukari said with a smile. "No one got hurt."

Mitsuru nodded. "C'est magnifique, Shiomi. Your orders were simple to follow and your voice carried through the battlefield."

"Thanks," Kotone said with a hint of embarrassment. "Fuuka and Ren did pretty well, too! Fuuka was really quick with letting us know when we can attack it from the back and scanning its weakness."

"Correct," Mitsuru said with a nod again. "Amamiya did his role well, taking all the Shadow's attention away from everyone else. Thanks to you, no one received a scratch."

"All in a day's work; that's why I'm part of SEES," Ren said. "What next, Kotone?"

"We keep this up until we get tired!" Kotone said with gusto.

And thus, the four continued their slow exploration throughout the floor. They often backtracked and waited for Shadows to turn around so that they had the advantage.

After several floors and battles, including escorting a Lost back to the first floor, Ren internally sighed as he realized that the way SEES fought was far too different from the Phantom Thieves. They lacked the movement and agility that the future Persona users had. Sure, Mitsuru, Yukari, and Kotone moved to dodge attacks and get closer to hit with their usual weapons, but they were rooted on the spot otherwise. The movement and agility aided with battle. The Phantom Thieves' constant movement made it hard to track every member at once. Their agility and stunts helped them dodge attacks that would have otherwise hit. Each Thief provided cover fire from the most unlikely places, attacked from unseen angles, and used all the space in a battlefield. Hell, synchronizing their movements allowed them to use the Baton Pass since anyone could act when someone downed an enemy. SEES lacked all these advantages, putting them in a worse spot than the Thieves.

'I'll have to get them to change their approach,' Ren thought as he ducked under an incoming Garu from Yukari, downing the last Haughty Maya. Kotone gave the command for another All-Out Attack, ending the battle.

"Good work, everyone," Fuuka said. "The stairs to the 47th floor are just around the corner. I don't sense any Shadows either."

"That's where you sensed the Floor Guardian, right?" Yukari asked.

"Yes," Fuuka answered. "What's your plan, Kotone?"

Kotone hummed in thought as she hefted her naginata over her shoulders. "Well, let's get to the next floor first. It should be a safe floor, and it has a teleporter to go back to the main floor. If we can, let's take a peek at the enemies too."

With a nod, everyone rounded the corner and took the stairs to the next floor. The 47th floor began with a more room-like structure, held up by columns. From what Ren could tell, there were no Shadows.

"So, Ren, this is a special floor," Kotone said. "There are no Shadows anywhere on the floor, except at a certain place, so that's why I said it was safe here. The Floor Guardians, which live here on these floors, do not move at all, so we can do whatever we want before we fight them."

"And I'm guessing they're hard to beat?" Ren asked.

Kotone nodded. "A bit, yeah. They're tougher than the normal Shadows, but definitely weaker than the Full Moon Shadows. They're usually some variant of an enemy we fought before, but a lot tougher with different resistances sometimes. That's why I said we should take a peek before going back to the main floor. If it looks like any of the enemies we've fought before, we'll switch the team to help hit their weakness."

'Looks like everyone's a lot less tense than before,' Ren thought as the team explored the floor. They were less huddled up and everyone else had sheathed their weapons. 'I guess these are equal to the Rest Areas.'

As they got deeper into the floor, Kotone pointed out the teleporter that they were going to use to get back. However, instead of using it now, they pushed onwards to find the Floor Guardians. Finally, around the corner, they had found them: three beetles, similar to the Adamant Beetle, but golden.

"Fuuka, can you try scanning from this far?" Kotone asked. "The Shadows are in their actual form, so maybe we can get their weaknesses before we get any closer."

"Let me try," Fuuka said and went silent for a few seconds. "Sorry, looks like you need to be right in front of them to scan. At that point…"

Kotone shrugged. "That's okay, Fuuka, no need to worry. Let's go back for now and change teams."

The four took the teleporter and appeared back on the main floor. Akihiko had stretched, most likely in anticipation to take part in the upcoming fight.

"You gonna let us fight tonight?" Junpei asked with a grin, and his energy was palpable.

Kotone responded with a nod. "Yep. Yukari and Mitsuru-senpai will rest here on the main floor while Akihiko-senpai and Junpei will be in the team." She turned towards Ren. "Are you still good to go?"

Ren responded with a smirk of his own. "No issue with me; I'm still raring to go." SEES once mentioned that the Dark Hour made everything feel so tiring compared to the real world, but he still felt fine after everything he's done. If anything, it was just like when he was in the Metaverse, and he never felt tired at all.

Still, he could see that Yukari and Mitsuru were drained at this point. Certainly, they didn't even face a single scratch the entire time, but the amount of mental concentration they had to do to use their spells must have tired them out. Both of them had merely nodded when Kotone made the switch in members.

"Alright!" Junpei yelled out with a fist in the air. "I'll show you how it's done, Ren! Better be watching too, Fuuka-chan!"

Ren merely smiled at Junpei's words and kept quiet. 'We already saw you in action, Junpei.'

"Fuuka, how are we on time?" Kotone asked.

"We have been here for forty minutes, so we have twenty minutes left. Will that be enough?"

"The teleporter is already on the same floor, and it's not like we have to fight other Shadows to get there. Twenty minutes should be enough," Kotone concluded.

With everyone ready, Kotone led the new team right in front of the Floor Guardians. The three beetles screeched and rushed them.

"Beginning scan!" Fuuka said. "Please try what you can for now. I'll remember those while I scan."

"Ren, get to it!" Kotone commanded. "Junpei, can you buff everyone? Akihiko, can you start firing attacks?"

"Loud and clear!" Ren said, front-flipping right in front of two beetles, and took their attention. A purple glow surrounded him. Meanwhile, the last beetle continued towards the others.

Akihiko ran to the side and took his Evoker out. "Polydeuces!" His Persona appeared and fired a small ball of lightning towards the last beetle. When it hit, the beetle stopped and laid on the ground, stunned as arcs of lightning ran through its body.

Kotone grinned. "Gotcha! Incoming, Ren!" Yomotsu-Shikome appeared and shot another ball of lightning towards Ren.

He back-flipped towards the incoming attack, and the beetles continued to try to attack him. Just right before Zio hit him, he gave an oomph in his back-flip, giving him a bit more height and letting him dodge it. However, the beetles that were rushing him had no time to do anything and caught the attack head-on. The golden carapace lent itself as an excellent conductor and the attack hit both at once, causing each one to fall on the ground, just as the first beetle was.

"I've been waiting for this!" Akihiko yelled out, and with a nod from Kotone, he said, "Alright, now!"

Kotone, Akihiko, and Junpei rushed the two beetles while Ren pushed for the first Shadow. As smoke covered the first three, Arsène appeared right behind Ren. Arsène, now glowing green, grabbed the beetle's horn and spun it like it was shot put. As the cloud of smoke from Kotone's group dissipated, Arsène let go, launching the Shadow towards the others.

Now, all three stacked on top of each other.

"Kotone!" Ren yelled as he ran towards the group. "They're all together! A single Zio should get them all now!"

Realization appeared on Kotone's face, and with a face, called out, "Again, Yomotsu-Shikome!" Her Persona shot another ball of lightning, and this time, it hit all the Shadows in the area.

Ren stopped next to Kotone, and with a grin, he asked, "Want to hit them with the last surprise?"

Kotone shot back a grin of her own, and all four rushed together. This time, the Shadows disappeared into nothing, finally defeated.

"Shadows defeated!" Fuuka said.

"That was easy, huh?" Ren noted, just as how Skull used to say it.

Kotone was catching her breath, but her smile showed her elation and excitement. "It helped to have another Zio user with us! And that last idea of yours was great, too!"

"Nice job with that one," Akihiko said as he tapped Ren on his shoulder.

Junpei, with an exaggerated smile, shot a thumbs up at Ren. "Yeah, good work out there!"

"Everyone, you should all start heading down," Fuuka commented. "We only have ten minutes left today."

"Seriously?" Kotone asked in surprise. "That's basically a record for us! Anyway, let's go back."

And that was how Ren's first Tartarus exploration ended.

-.-Take Your Time-.-

6/29 - Night - Iwatodai Dorm [Command Room] - Yukari

"Sorry to bother you two..." Yukari said.

Ren and Fuuka shook their heads.

"It's okay," Fuuka assured her. "What's on your mind?"

"Anything to help," Ren added.

Yukari turned to Fuuka first. "I was hoping you could do me a favor with your skill..."

Fuuka tilted her head with a questioning look.

'Time to convince them.'

"I was doing some research on our school, and I came across something strange," she continued. "Ten years ago, a lot of students missed school for some reason. They were reported as absent, but I found some records that suggest it was something serious. Do you know anything about it, Fuuka?"

Fuuka shook her head again. "Me? Um, not really..."

"I know it was a long time ago, but... doesn't it seem suspicious to you?" Yukari urged. "From what I've heard, this isn't the first time Shadows have appeared."

"Wait, are you saying...?" Fuuka asked in shock.

Yukari's eyes softened a bit, but solidified with determination. "I don't know, but Mitsuru-senpai acts kinda weird whenever someone asks questions about Tartarus."

"So you've noticed it too," Ren said, to which Yukari nodded.

'Thank goodness I'm not the only one that noticed. It was a good idea to bring him in.'

"I'm not trying to make trouble and all, but I want to know what happened back then. If it doesn't have anything to do with the Shadows, then fine."

Fuuka looked away for a moment and thought to herself, before looking back at Yukari with a smile. "I understand, I'll see what I can do."

Yukari smiled back. "Thanks, Fuuka. As for you, Ren," she said as she turned towards him, "you were looking into the Kirijo Group, right?"

Ren waved his hand in a so-so manner. "I was looking into the Apathy Syndrome and the Kirijo Group was just a part of it. There was also a mention of an explosion, but it wasn't talked about all too much."

Fuuka glanced at Ren when he mentioned the explosion. "I remember hearing something about that. It happened ten years ago."

"You think the students missing school and the explosion are related in some way?" Yukari asked, her eyes lighting up in anticipation.

'This could be what I need to-'

Ren shrugged, causing her to frown. "It's too early to tell, especially without concrete evidence. For all we know, there could've been a bomb threat, and the school ordered the students not to come into the campus for their own safety. If we're going to look into these matters, we need to make sure that we look at this with an open mind. A biased mindset will only cloud our judgement and our evidence, leading to the wrong result."

Yukari raised an eyebrow at his words. "That's...awfully specific, Ren."

Ren slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked away from the girls, scratching his chest for a moment. "I once had...," Ren tried to say something but had difficulty, as if he couldn't decide the word to use, "...an acquaintance, I think that's the best word for it, teach me a thing or two about investigations and biased judgement over pool once. Ultimately, we see what we want to see. To see the truth, we must detach ourselves from everything and look with an objective and outside perspective," he said as his face soured.

"That's very deep, Ren," Fuuka said with amazement.

On the other hand, Yukari looked at him with a frown. "Not a good person, I'm guessing?" 'Must be a real jerk if even Ren doesn't have a good opinion of him.'

To this, Ren sighed. "No, not really, but, at the same time, it wasn't exactly simple." He shook his head. "Either way, you want us to help you, right?" Yukari nodded with steeled eyes. "Sounds fine to me," he said as his posture relaxed.

Yukari sighed with relief. "Thanks, you two. If any of us finds anything, text me and we can come over here and discuss."

'Finally, I can make some headway into the Kirijo Group.'

-.-Take Your Time-.-

6/30 - Dark Hour - Tartarus - Ren

"Back to Tartarus, we go..." Ren murmured. They had just gotten back to the 61st floor after dropping off a Lost back to the first floor.

"Well, Fuuka said that she didn't sense anything further above us," Kotone commented, "so we should be close to the end."

Ren nodded. Somehow, Fuuka could tell if there was a Floor Guardian coming up, different from Futaba. If Fuuka couldn't sense if there was a powerful force above them, it meant that there was no Floor Guardian. From everyone's experience, it meant that they were getting closer to the next gate.

"Enemy coming around the corner," Fuuka said mentally. "They seem to come in your direction. The staircase to the next floor is right behind them as well."

Kotone glanced at Ren, and he nodded. He moved towards the walls, blending himself to the Shadows, and knelt on the corner. Now, this was reminiscent of his Palace and Jail days. Compared to how SEES did it, he felt right home and didn't feel like ripping his hair out.

'Really, they spent so much time backtracking because a Shadow wouldn't turn around.'

He told the rest of the team to hang back for a bit while a Shadow was rounding around a corner. Instead of noticing him, the Shadow kept moving on, ignoring him. Ren immediately attacked from behind, putting the Shadow on the back foot.

Kotone didn't miss a beat and rushed the Shadow as it transformed. After a few battles, it had become a routine. Ren would start the fight, and since every Shadow that they had met up to this point was already scanned, Kotone memorized their weaknesses.

The Shadows that popped out were two Enslaved Beasts, weak to fire.

"Berith!" she yelled. An armored Persona riding a horse shot Agi towards the Shadow and it crumpled to the ground. She tried to hit the second Enslaved Beast, but it swung the mace on it to block the attack.

Luckily, it wasn't only her that had access to Agi skills.

"Our turn, Hermes!" Junpei summoned his Persona as he ran behind Kotone and it flew right behind the Shadow, shooting out an Agi. It hit the enemy on its side since the Shadow defended itself from Berith. "Here's our chance! Let's get 'em!"

"Let's go!" Kotone commanded.

Junpei smirked. "Get back here, you son of a-!"

A familiar cloud formed in the battlefield as Kotone, Ren, Junpei, and Yukari gave their all to kill the two Shadows. Thankfully, all of SEES had gotten stronger now, causing their All-Out Attacks to kill the regular Shadow in one attack.

Kotone sighed in relief as the clouds and the Shadows dissipated. With their increased strength, their battles had gotten shorter. Yes, Ren creating openings and singling out enemies had helped with crowd control and the battle flow, but nothing beat just being more powerful than they were a few days ago.

"Nice!" Yukari yelled. "Now we can go to the next floor."

And on they went. Whenever they found themselves in a long hallway where Ren couldn't blend to the corners, he scaled the walls and hang from the ceiling like they were monkey bars. The Shadow couldn't even look up, which allowed this maneuver to work to start with. For the entire night, it was the four second-year students that took part in the exploration.

Because of how easy the exploration had become, they had a lot of downtime. And that led to gossiping.

"You guys heard, right?" Junpei asked. Kotone, Ren, and Yukari glanced at Junpei. "You know, the rumors about how the Lost were disappearing in pairs?"

Yukari scoffed. "Of course you'd be interested."

"What?" Junpei asked incredulously. "C'mon, you've got to be curious, too. Ren, back me up here!"

Ren smiled back. "Their private business is their private business, Junpei."

"Come on! Didn't you hear?" Still, Junpei pressed on. "The pairs were in Shirakawa Boulevard."

"If I remember right, that was the Shinjuku of Tatsumi Port Island," Ren said, remembering their previous conversation back on the train. When Ren had visited that place during the Dark Hour, it was filled with love hotels, ranging from the normal hotel to the racier ones. "Or at least, the red-light district of the city."

"Oh, yea," Kotone said with a pondering look. "We did talk about that back then."

"As for other rumors," Ren interjected, hoping to move the topic away, "what about that rumor with the website stuff?"

"What website?" Yukari asked.

"Apparently, there is some revenge site going around," Ren explained. "They were making some waves around, but they hit a block recently. Apparently, one of their targets was still alive and the moderators have been quiet since."

"Jeez, how vile must someone be if they want to kill someone?" Yukari asked in disgust.

Ren shrugged. "Who knows? At the very least, they're losing traction now. I hope that it stops the site," he said as his mouth tightened into a line.

"Is something wrong, Ren?" Kotone asked, now right beside him.

He glanced at her before looking forward. "It's horrific, the idea of taking an innocent life. It-"

"Guys," Fuuka piped up, interrupting Ren, "the stairs to the 64th floor is just at the end of the hallway."

"Any enemies?" Kotone asked.

"None from what I could tell."

Kotone grinned. "Then let's get a move-on. I want to get some sleep."

After reaching the 64th floor and being barred by the gate, the team went back to the main floor and regroup with the rest.

"Great job, everyone," Mitsuru congratulated with a smile. "The exploration of Tartarus for the past few days was faster than any we had before. Fuuka's scanning abilities gave us more insight into our enemies than I have," she said with a nod towards Fuuka before looking at Ren. "Your athleticism allowed us to attack unseen from angles that were impossible for us from before. Your unique Curse attacks were also a great boon for us, giving us a far more consistent attack than Kotone's insta-kill attacks against enemies with weakness to Curse attacks, especially the Maniacal Books."

"You hate them more than the others because they absorb ice attacks," Akihiko murmured, though it wasn't exactly quiet. Everyone heard, and it caused Fuuka to giggle. However, Mitsuru's head whipped towards him, and she shot a glare at him. The air suddenly dropped a few degrees, and Akihiko looked away from Mitsuru.

"In any case," Mitsuru coughed on her fist and smiled. "Wonderful work, everyone."

-.-Take Your Time-.-

7/4 - Night - Iwatodai Dorm [Kitchen] - Ren

Ren hummed a tune as he washed the dishes for the night. It had been a few days since SEES was barred from exploring Tartarus and thus had taken a break until the next full moon, which was on 7/7. It was at this date that Ikutsuki said that the next Full Moon Shadows would appear.

Everyone in SEES was getting antsy as the date got closer. From what Ren could tell, Yukari and Fuuka were getting more and more nervous while Akihiko and Junpei were the most excited in the group. Mitsuru kept her cool, but had asked multiple times if Kotone had made plans for the upcoming fight.

Ren, on the other hand, was confident that SEES should be able to take on the next Full Moon Shadows. However, he visited Lavenza the other night and worked on getting Dormin' Rush on Arsène as an upgrade to Dream Needle. If anything more happens, he had both his support Personas, Maria for healing and Alilat for buffing. He'll have to be discreet when using them, but he'll make it work.

As for Takaya and his little gang, Ren had been investigating during the Dark Hour, but ever since his victory, they hid themselves from everyone. Their site was in pure chaos, and people were doubting the authenticity. Ironically, it's what happened with the Phantom Thieves and the Phansite after Okumura Kunikazu's death. Except, this time, Ren saved a life when Akechi murdered one. Ren scratched his chest as his face soured at that thought.

"Hey, Ren!" Kotone's voice popped right behind him, stirring him out of his mind. At this point, he finished washing the dishes.

Turning towards her, he asked, "What's up?"

"Remember that movie that I wanted to watch? Kill Bill?"

Ren hummed in thought for a moment and nodded after remembering their past conversation.

"Well, are you busy tonight?" Kotone asked.

"I..." Ren tried to say no, but then trailed off as he thought about his schedule for the night. 'Well, I can hold off the investigation for the night. They've been quiet ever since we met, and it should be fine to hold off for a night.' "I'm not busy, actually. We can go watch it now, if you want. Just let me finish here."

Kotone smiled brightly at his words. "Cool, just come by when you're done. I'll get the movie started." She rushed up the stairs with unveiled excitement.

"Wow, you got a movie night with Kotone?" Junpei asked with a raised eyebrow from behind the dinner table.

Ren cleaned up the sink as he asked, "Is that rare? I remember you and Yukari went with her to the movies on separate occasions before."

Junpei made a noncommittal grunt from behind. "It's not, but I never..." After a moment of silence, he continued, "Whatever. I'm heading to my room. See ya."

"Have a good night, Junpei," Ren said as he waved Junpei goodbye, though he didn't receive one back.

A few minutes later, he finally finished cleaning the sink. He cleaned himself up for a bit, changed into his sleepwear, and knocked on Kotone's door.

"Hey, come in!" Kotone said after opening her room.

Ren did his best not to let his eyes wander too much, just as he did with the other girls when they called for him. After all, it was pretty rude to do so. But it didn't take Ren even a second to know that Kotone's room was barren outside from the essentials.

'It's what, July? I received various gifts from my friends, like the ramen bowl from Ryuji when we hung out together. What's going on?'

"Thanks for inviting me," Ren said, hoping that Kotone didn't catch his slight pause. "Sorry for all the trouble, too."

"Oh, don't worry about it! I didn't think anyone here was as much of a movie buff as I was, so don't say sorry at all. If anything, I'm pretty happy that I can show this movie to you."

Ren grinned. "Oh, someone's excited."

Kotone rolled her eyes and said, "Well, duh. It is my favorite movie. Junpei wouldn't get it because it's got a female lead, and it's not realistic enough for Yukari."

"I could definitely hear Yukari complaining about that," Ren said with a chuckle, "but Junpei?"

Kotone nodded. "He had a bit of a problem in the beginning, but he's doing a lot better now," she commented as she led Ren towards the middle of the room, where there was a table with snacks facing the TV in the corner of her room. "Anyway, you ready?" After Ren sat next to her and nodded, she played the movie.

Kill Bill was many things. Underneath its revenge story lies wonderful filmmaking techniques. Colorful scenes that Yusuke would have loved, yet the black and white scenes reminded Ren of film noir. Stunts that reminded Ren of Sumire's favorite Chinese kung-fu films.

As the movie played, Ren glanced at Kotone, making sure not to move his head. The film fully engrossed her. Her eyes shone with excitement during the gory fight scenes. Her body twitched as The Bride cut through the onslaught of enemies.

'All in all, she's into the rough and tumble, too. Why do I get along with the scary girls?' he thought mirthfully. 'How cute.'

Soon, the movie ended, and they discussed their favorite parts of the movie. While it was obvious that Kotone loved the scene against the Crazy 88, Ren felt more partial to the fight scene against O-Ren Ishii.

"Something about the non-Japanese music in a samurai fight between a Chinese and American just hits differently," Ren summarized with a smile. "It honestly does feel like a samurai scene, but the music the director added to the scene made it feel like a Western movie."

"So a western samurai!" Kotone said.

"Sounds about right."

Suddenly, the lights shut down, and the world was tinged in green.

"Oh, I guess we lost track of time..." Kotone said as she began to lean back while using her arms to keep her from falling to the ground. "You know, the you in Tartarus was so similar to The Bride. You saw how she was hanging from the ceiling in the restaurant, right?" After Ren nodded, she continued, "You think you could teach all that?"

"I wouldn't be against it," Ren said, "but you won't learn them immediately. You won't be able to hang from the ceiling for long periods of time, but I can start with the smaller stuff, like sneaking around so that Shadows can't find you."

"You think I can learn that?" she asked.

"If you put your mind to it," Ren answered with certainty. "Wear something dark and no one will see you coming." 'That said, I'm not sure how effective what I'll teach her, especially when everything I do hinges on my cognition of a Phantom Thief.'

Kotone looked outside for a moment but stood up suddenly, slightly surprising Ren. "Can we try that now?" she asked with unmasked giddiness.

Ren stared at her for a moment before chuckling. "Sure. Just make sure to wear something dark." He got up, right before leaving the room, he asked, "Meet you outside the dorm?"

Kotone vigorously nodded, a sign for Ren to leave the room.

Ren switched into a set of dark clothes and waited for Kotone by the staircase leading to the dorm. After a few minutes, Kotone finally came out. Like him, she switched to form-fitting dark clothes, though her orange-red hair shone brightly under the Dark Hour moon.

"You look good," Ren commented.

Kotone shot him a smile. "Thanks! Where should we go?"

Ren looked around for a moment. "Well, we should just keep it close for now. I'm only teaching you how to sneak around, and we have a bunch of apartments with tall enough shadows for what we want to do."

"And the stunts? The backflips?" Kotone asked excitedly.

"Someone really wants to move like an action star," Ren said with a smile. "We'll have to do some body training for those. You can already do a flip in mid-air, but consecutive flips will need you to get used to the motion of flipping right after landing."

"Lots of training?"

"Oh yeah, lots of training," Ren answered. "So, for today, the three things I found that I needed to learn the most are: clothes with the right color, light feet, and keeping still for a very long time."

"Simple enough," Kotone said with a nod.

"Sounds simple, but they are not," Ren added. "The colors are well-known; the military basically has that with the camo stuff." Kotone nodded. "The second includes being aware of your surroundings and your body, down to how you take a step. We'll also have to strengthen your legs for that. The third also means staying still in the most awkward poses you can think of. A lot of people think that they've been seen already, but, in reality, people notice the movement. Eyes have evolved to see movement or whatever changes in what we see. If you keep still in whatever position you are in, then the chance you're found is a lot lower. Are you ready?"

Kotone only grinned in response.

"Then let's begin," Ren said, pushing his glasses up.

-.-Take Your Time-.-

Once the Dark Hour had ended and they both went to their respective rooms, Ren felt that they had gotten closer.

-.- Take Your Time-.-

7/7 - Dark Hour - Shirakawa Boulevard - Kotone

"Is everyone ready?" Kotone asked, and Ren, Junpei, and Yukari nodded with determination as they all faced the door leading to where the Arcana Hierophant hid.

Ikutsuki's theory was correct; the full moon is connected to the appearances of the Arcana Shadows. Fuuka had found the Shadow hiding in Shirakawa Boulevard, and the team rushed there immediately. Mitsuru elected Kotone as the team leader again. However, Junpei goaded Yukari into the fighting team when he called her a little kid. On the other hand, Junpei forced Kotone to add him into the team, too. If anything, Ren was the only person Kotone picked to join. This time around, Ren was in his Gekkou High uniform, just like the rest of them, complete with the SEES armband on his right and his Evoker on his left thigh. Another holster held his pistol by the right side of his chest while his knife was horizontal on his back, right above his belt, making it easy to reach with his right hand. His school jacket hid all the straps and holsters.

And so, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Fuuka waited outside the hotel in case something happened while the fighting team was neck-deep, defeating any Shadows they found inside.

Junpei cast a Rakukaja on Ren and Ren used a Sukukaja on himself as he stepped right in front of the door. Kotone, Yukari, and Junpei stepped to the side, making sure to stick to the walls and steer clear of the doors when it opened.

Ren kicked the doors forcefully and they flew open. A mid-sized lightning bolt shot forward at Ren and he quickly rolled inside and underneath the thunderbolt, missing him.

"I've got it!" Ren yelled as he took the Shadow's attention, the sounds of gunshots ringing in the enclosed room. Junpei came in next, followed by Kotone, then Yukari. Kotone quickly surveyed the room. Four pillars surrounded a circular bed in the middle. On the far end of the room was a wall with windows, and on the right was a large mirror, but the left wall was empty. Luckily, there was no one inside. They could fight with all they've got.

'This room is free real-estate!' Kotone thought with a grin.

However, there were multiple Shadows in the room. There was a feminine Shadow caressing an obese Shadow's face and two cross-shaped Shadows on either side of it.

The Arcana Hierophant, which was the obese Shadow sitting on a chair, was fully focused on Ren as he used everything in the room to dodge its electric attacks, causing the room to smell like ozone. Fortunately, because of the Shadow's extreme size, it couldn't turn around to face the rest of the team unless it waddled around slowly. The cross-shaped Shadows turned towards everyone else as the team entered the room and began intercepting them.

Junpei and Yukari began whaling on the two Shadows as Ren kept the larger ones facing the other side of the room.

"Hermes, Double Fang!"

"Io, Garu!"

"Fuuka," Kotone called, "can you begin scanning?!"

"Got it!"

"Thanks! Berith, Tarukaja!" she yelled out and a red light surrounded her. "Junpei, focus on yours while I help Yukari out! Neko Shogun, Double Fang!"

"Heh, loud and clear!"

"Their attributes are electricity-based!" Fuuka said. "Avoid using Zio skills because they nullify them!"

"Good to hear! Yukari, keep it up!"

Each of their attacks hit the cross-shaped Shadows head-on. It seemed like the further they got from the larger Shadows, the more they lost focus, often shivering while taking longer time to attack.

Finally, the two Shadows had seemingly lost energy and bowed weakly. Suddenly, the large Shadow and its partner laughed and clouds formed right below the ceiling. Fearing the worst, Kotone immediately ran to Yukari while mentally changing Personas.

"Defend yourselves!" she commanded as she used her Evoker. Lightning rained down on them. Luckily, Kotone had Oberon to protect Yukari and herself. However, both Junpei and Ren took the full brunt of the attack. Smoke rose from charred spots where the lightning hit.

Yukari immediately used Media, and a sparkling, green light healed both boys. Junpei roared as he cut one of the cross-shaped Shadows, destroying it. Kotone followed suit with a thrust, making the last Shadow disappear.

"Ren, we're done here!" Kotone shouted, turning towards the other fight in the room. It seemed like Ren had recovered, but he was definitely slower than before. "Berith!" Red light surrounded Ren as he dodged another lightning attack.

"Thanks! Let's do this!" Sounds of glass shattering came as Ren used his Evoker and Arsène flew towards the Shadow. The Shadow screamed as Arsène's bladed heels punctured its body, pushing it onto the left wall and keeping it stuck.

The room lit up again as electricity formed around the Shadow.

"Like I'd let you!" Ren bellowed in anger. Arsène raised its hands up, showing off its claws. Keeping its heels in the Shadow's body, Arsène drove its claws to its chest and dark flames erupted. The Shadow screamed again, and the lightning disappeared. A moment after, the Shadow dissolved into dark motes of light.

Ren sighed, combing his hair back as Arsène disappeared when the coast was clear and detected no more Shadow. Yukari used her Evoker again and Media healed everyone again.

"You okay, Ren?" Kotone asked as everyone approached him. "That last one was kind of...raw?"

Junpei scoffed. "You mean wild? I've never seen him like that before. What, did getting hit by lightning piss you off?"

Ren stared at the spot where the Shadow disappeared before turning to everyone else. "Sorry, it's not that. Something about that Shadow didn't sit right with me."

"Do you know why?" Yukari asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ren shook his head. "Sorry, I'd tell you if I knew."

"Well, so long as you're alright," Kotone said. "Fuuka, there are no more Shadows, right?"

"None that I can tell."

"I guess Ikutsuki-san was wrong about having to fight more than one Arcana Shadow," Junpei said.

"We did fight four Shadows today, though," Yukari countered.

"Just means that we'll be fighting more and more Shadows every full moon," Ren said.

Kotone reached for the doors, but they wouldn't budge. "Huh?"

"Wait!" Fuuka suddenly yelled. "I'm sensing a new Shadow in the room! It's different from the one you just fought! But...where is it hiding?"

The four looked back at the destroyed room. Charred spots and pieces of the destroyed mattress littered the battlefield. The broken wall on the left had pieces of rubble slowly come off.

"The only things that aren't destroyed are the bathroom and the mirror," Ren said.

Kotone hummed before ordering, "Huddle up and stay together. Keep your eyes peeled and wide open. We'll start from the mirror and check the bathroom next."

"Why the mirror? It's not like they can hide in one, right?" Junpei asked.

"Maybe," Kotone answered, "but Shadows don't follow physics all the time. It might have an ability that lets it hide in one."

"The hell...? What is this? Kamen Rider Ryuki?" Junpei muttered.

Ignoring Junpei's mutterings, Kotone cautiously walked towards the large mirror, her naginata ready to attack. However, when the team reached the mirror, there was...

"Nothing?" she asked, bewildered. "We're not showing in the mirror."

"Is it a fake mirror?" Yukari asked.

"I don't think so," Ren said. "It's clearly reflecting the broken things throughout the room. I think we just found where the Shadow is hiding."

"So, uh, how do we get to it?" Junpei asked.

Kotone stared at the mirror for a moment before shrugging. "Well, I don't have any ideas. Junpei's idea is the best I've got." She hefted the naginata, getting ready in a sweeping position. "Move back a bit; I'm going to take a crack at it."

She heard the three shuffle back, and, with a huff, she swiped at the mirror. The mirror broke and white light blinded the four, enveloping them.

-.-Take Your Time-.-

Activities:

6/27 – Night – Café Customer

6/28 – Afternoon – Magician Date

6/28 – Night – Café Customer

6/29 – Afternoon – Emperor 4

6/29 – Night – Café Work

6/30 – Afternoon – Temperance 6

6/30 – Night – Café Work

7/1 – Afternoon – Emperor 5

7/1 – Night – Café Work

7/2 – Afternoon – Magician 7

7/2 – Night – Café Customer

7/3 – Afternoon – Emperor 6

7/3 – Night – Horror House

7/4 – Afternoon – Priestess 4

7/4 – Night – Quiz Game

7/4 – Dark Hour – Fortitude 3

7/5 – Afternoon – Lovers Date

7/5 – Night – Café Customer

7/6 – Afternoon – Chariot 9

7/6 – Night – Print Club

-.-Take Your Time-.-

Social Links:

Fool – SEES – 4

Magician – Junpei Iori – 7

Priestess – Fuuka Yamagishi – 4

Emperor – Student Council – 6

Hierophant – Old Couple – 8

Lovers – Yukari Takeba – 5

Chariot – Volleyball – 9

Hermit – Health Committee – 3

Hanged Man – Girl at the Shrine – 3

Death – Mysterious Boy – 1

Temperance – Transfer Student – 6

Devil – Businessman – 5

Star – Akihiko Sanada – 4

Fortitude – Ren Amamiya – 3

-.-Take Your Time-.-

Author's Notes:

And it's finally out! Sorry for the delay and thank you for your patience.

Lots of IRL things happened. I got sick in the past two weeks and I couldn't do much since I had to rest. I'm still getting headaches right now, actually. I was only able to finish it since 80% were done before I got sick and the last 20% were done when I was feeling better in the past few days. Wisdom teeth suck.

Outside of sickness, I'm now in the job market, so that will also slow down future updates, especially when I finally get a job. At this moment, I'm thinking of posting new chapters as major updates to upcoming chapters such as massive slow downs. If you want a quick answer, I don't mind getting a comment/question in my latest chapter and I will answer as soon as I can.

That said, onto the story.

Tartarus, Fortitude 3, and the Hierophant fights are the events in this chapter that spans for more than a week. Tartarus was very boring to write, so I'm sorry for trying to get that out of the way. You can notice that SEES has a battle strategy down pat and using it again for the Hierophant fight. Buff Ren, get the biggest target to focus on him, then the rest take out what they can. Unfortunately for the Hierophant Shadow, seems like Ren's mad at it. Might be a reoccurring thing.

As for the Fortitude 3 event, I realized that writing SL events that aren't exactly story-based and are just them playing around is not my forte. The point of this event was to teach Kotone how to sneak up on Shadows, which happens, but at the cost of meaningful dialogue like with Fortitude 1 and 2. Fortitude 4 is where Ren teaches her Mindfulness, which he learned from Maruki. More than likely, a repeat of 3 will happen for 4. After that, almost all SL events are story-related. That said though, in 3, Ren shows off more of his thief skills. All of this I got from Ranger's Apprentice, if you guys notice.

As for the next chapter, the upcoming events are Finals Week (most likely skipped) and Yakushima Arc. I have one event I want to do for it, but as for if it makes sense character-wise, that'll be talked about with my betas.

Let me know what you guys think. I would be glad to hear what you think about the chapter. I tried to do the Hierophant fight without dialogue like how VampireBadger does it, but I couldn't help myself and ended up with dialogue anyways.

Also, Summer Me- I mean, Lambda and Summer Okita for the win. Viva Koyanchihuahua too.