Hermione finished her stretches before stepping into the portal that led into the Enchanted Forest. Joker was right behind her, immediately scanning the area for threats. "What's on the agenda for today, Joker?" She asked, slipping into her Aether role.

His calm voice behind her was steady, as it always seemed to be. "We're looking for another Shuffle Time chance to happen. We aren't leaving until we get you a Persona that can heal."

Aether nodded, willing her Halberd into her hands. Hypatia's presence stirred in her mind, seemingly awakening from her nap. "Let us hope we can find something with which we can test our mettle." The Persona's words seemed to stir something in Aether, and she felt more ready to face her enemies today.

The first Shadow they saw was unlike the previous mouths. It seemed to be a humanoid figure with a lantern in its hands. "I haven't seen this one before," Joker called after she ripped the mask off. "Be on your guard!"

The Shadow reeled its arm back and threw it towards Joker, who deftly jumped away from the fire it sent his way. It seems to be able to use Agi, so naturally, I should counter it with Bufu. However, I don't have that ability yet, so that means- "Glacius!" Aether called out, throwing her Halberd to her left hand and casting the spell with her wand in her right. To her surprise, the magic did very little to the Shadow.

"Looks like it resists ice; try something else!" Joker called out from behind her. The Shadow swiped its arm at her, and Aether was barely able to dodge. She furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance before putting away her wand. Gripping her Halberd with both hands, she swung hard into the monster, slicing it in two. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as she'd like after that close call she almost had.

There was a crack in her ears, and suddenly three scrolls in front of her. One Rune, One had a coin, and the last held a sword. Not feeling too adventurous, she grabbed the scroll with the single coin on it. When reality resumed, the scrolls were gone, and in her hand were two sickles.

Joker stepped next to her, "Looks like that one is weak to physical; that should make it easy to get shuffles to happen. What'd you get?" Aether picked up her hand and showed Joker the silver pieces. "Ah, money, the oh-so-practical but oh-so-scarce material we all need to continue through life. I'd recommend you have a stockpile up somewhere cause once the Velvet Room gets here, they'll bleed you dry." And so the excursion continued.

After the third battle, another shuffle time happened, this one with four scrolls. There were two swords, a wand, and a coin this time. With Glacius not doing much to the Shadows and Aether desperately not wanting to use Slime, she hoped that sword she grabbed would be helpful. Joker was right, as it seemed to transform into a card with what appeared to be emerald green waves on it. She took off her mask and summoned Hypatia.

The Persona delicately laid her hand out, waiting for the Wildcard's command. Aether gently pushed the card into Hypatia's hand, and the card faded into it. As it did, a word popped into the newest thieve's mind. Garu. It was one of the things she was looking for most, other than a new Persona. Joker nodded in approval from a few steps behind her when a twig snapped. Both Persona users snapped to the sound and readied their weapons as ten Shadow's walked out of the Enchanted Forest around them. They all shuddered and transformed into their original forms.

"Ambush!" Joker cursed. "I'll get these, get the ones' behind me!" He ordered as he pulled out his handgun, firing it at the crowd ahead of him.

Aether responded by summoning Hypatia. "Bash! Then Garu!" She called out as she chopped one's legs. The Persona carried out its orders as Aether attacked her own target. She used the momentum of her previous attack to spin the weapon above her head, slamming the blunt edge of the blade into the Shadow's upper body, knocking it to the ground. Aether fixed her grip on the Halberd and drove it into the Shadow's mask. As her initial target faded away, Aether felt her Perona's presence in her head again. The Wild card quickly summoned Hypatia again, shouting " Psy!". Aether winced as she started to feel the toll from all the abilities she's been using. Pulling out her wand, she turned to her last target, only to get punched twice in the stomach.

The newest thief coughed and held a hand to her stomach as she was knocked back by the Shadow. It cackled, seemingly enjoying her pain. "Oh yeah? Think that's funny, do you?!" She glared at the monster. "I was going to save this for something more substantial. But you have gone and upset me!" Aether pointed her wand up in the sky. " Ascendio!" The spell flung her into the sky, and the Witch flipped her Halberd around in the air. With all of Aether's might and the pull of gravity upon the thief, she plunged down the twenty meters she shot up, piercing the Shadow all the way through.

She felt a sigh of relief as another shuffle time appeared before her. Ignoring all the others, she picked the single summoning one. The light faded from around her, and a soft, high-pitched voice sounded.

" I am thou, Thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I come. My name's Pixie; let's be friends, okay? "

As the world resumed around her, she turned around and saw Joker leaning against a tree, his smoking gun twirling in his hand. "Anything good?" The Original Phantom Thief asked, voice calm and completely not exerted. Aether felt her eye twitch in annoyance. She sighed before swiping a hand over her mask and sensing her new Persona waiting to be used.

"Come to me, Pixie!" As her mask disappeared and the Persona came forth, Joker took out a thin-looking box and pointed it at them. She heard a sound that seemed familiar but was unable to place it. Whatever it was, he was smiling.

Ren sat down with Hermione in the Crimson Room after their excursion. She seemed more joyous and relaxed with Pixie equipped. "All right, Hermione, it's time we changed up your training schedule. You are doing okay on the physical aspect of training, but now you need to work on your spiritual strength."

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"So far, you've only been able to use ten, maybe eleven, Persona Spells before you can't anymore," Ren explained. "We need to get you able to use more, maybe around thirty or forty before the next year starts."

"How many skills can you use?" Hermione asked. Ren put a hand to his head in thought.

"That's a difficult question. You see, Satanael, my quote-unquote primary Persona, has a passive ability called Victory Cry. Victory Cry means that after every fight, I'm refreshed both physically and spiritually. So I could theoretically cast infinite spells. However, should I not swap to Satanael before the battle is over? It depends on which skills I use. Should I use Satan, Lucifer, Unicorn, or Uriel, maybe twenty-five if I'm pushing it. Beelzebub, on the other hand? Maybe three. Four if I want to risk passing out." He paused at his student's confused face. "If I were to use Pixie, though? Probably around two hundred fifty."

Hermione looked shocked."That's crazy!"

Ren simply nodded. "The skills are vastly different in strength—Zio costs around four SP. Demonic Decree costs Forty-eight. Megidolaon costs around thirty-eight. Counting other passive skills, those costs can go up or down. A concentrated curse-amped Demonic Decree costs two-hundred thirty-nine SP. A Mudo Boosted Die for me costs nothing cause of Alice's unique trait Just Die."

Ren noticed that Hermione was jotting all of this down. "You don't have to write this all down, Hermione; here, I can make you..." The Wild Card closed his eyes and focused on a book that held all his knowledge about Persona Skills that only Persona users could read. A second later, he felt a *thunk* on his head, as a thick Crimson book fell on his head. "Ow. One of these. This should be charmed to appear blank unless you have a Persona. You can read it wherever you want, outside this room."

The look on his student's face almost made it seem like Christmas came early.

"Now before I lose you to the book, let's try some meditation.

All of Hogwarts were having a conundrum. The day started like any other, when suddenly at Breakfast, their Groundskeeper violently stood up and left the Great hall without eating anything. One nearby student noticed that the second the food appeared on the table, his whole demeanor changed. Several students had asked the other professors what happened, but no one knew exactly.

By lunch, with no sign of the man, the infamous Hogwarts rumor mill was running rampant with wild theories, some tamer than others. One was that he sensed something in the castle that wasn't right or that one of the wards he placed must have tripped. A few older students thought that maybe someone laced his food with potion again. Some students in the mid-range thought that perhaps something happened with Sirius Black, and that's why he left in such a hurry.

A few of the younger ones innocently thought that maybe he just had to go to the bathroom or that he just really didn't like pancakes. One of the second-year Ravenclaws even suggested that he might have a nargle infestation while reading today's December 16th edition Quibbler.

So, of course, all this meant that Hermione took it upon herself to try and find her mentor. And while she didn't see him in the Crimson Room, she did poke her head into the Enchanted Forest, just to see if he went there.

"WHY CAN'T I GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD!?" Ren sobbed as his Persona Uriel blew up a whole section of trees, only for them to instantly grow back. "DAMN YOU! YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUS BASTARD!" The Phantom Thief threw his hand out again, and Uriel followed his command, blasting away again. It was hard to tell if Ren's arm was shaking because of the strain of using the spells or from his own sadness. "WHY WOULDN'T YOU LET ME SAVE YOU!?" Another explosion, this one nearly covering up a mighty sob. "DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU! GORO AKECHI!" Her heart felt as though it was torn in two as she winced at the loudness of the scream. "WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TEAMMATES! FRIENDS!" Ren had stopped attacking and slowly sunk to his knees. Uriel looked back at Hermione, and the Persona shook its head. The new thief struggled to decide if she wanted to leave or not. Ren clearly needed a hug, but maybe not at this exact moment. As she removed her head from the portal, time stopped, and glass shattered in her ears. The unfamiliar soft masculine voice rang through her soul.

I am thou... Thou art I...

It brings thee closer to the end...

Thou shalt be blessed when obtaining the Personas of the Judgement Arcana…

In her mind's eye, the Tarot Card vanished from sight. Hermione winced. It would be an awkward conversation to tell her mentor that she started his Social Link during his time of mourning. Maybe I'll just keep this to myself. She thought as she turned to leave the Crimson Room. However, her curiosity was peaked again by the open journal on the desk.

Joker's Journal.

It's December 16th.

The Anniversary of Goro Akechi's death.

With no one in this reality except me, I must mourn on my own. It hurts so bad because of how uncertain it was. We never found his body. Oracle had trouble locating him before when Haru's father was killed. And again before our fight in the Engine Room. So some small stupid part of me still hopes that maybe he got away and went into hiding.

But then that whole ordeal with Maruki happened, and he was alive again, but he wasn't? Akechi. Goro, he was always more intelligent than me on my own, so maybe he knew he had to hide? The conspiracy would be after him immediately, once we turned Shido's heart. And once we fought with Maruki and reality returned to normal, I was immediately in Juvenile Hall. So maybe Goro didn't actually turn himself in on Christmas Eve, and he remained in hiding.

But that's just my wishful thinking. Goro... I can't write it. Knowing what I do about cognition and the whole universe from these Gods using us like chess pieces is that the tiniest amount of hope can mean everything. I don't want it to be final.

I hope you're out there somewhere, Goro.

Futaba and Haru still haven't forgiven you yet. You have to repay them. And Ryuji always wanted to challenge you to a race. Yusuke had a clever idea of a piece that would be perfect for livening up your living area. Ann wanted your opinions on several crepe shops since you had a taste for pancakes. Sumi too. Makoto got into the College you both were cramming for. Morgana was probably hurt the most out of everyone. I think he hoped you'd return with a plate of sushi, and if you did he'd probably forgive you on the spot. And you still promised me a rematch.

Didn't you, Crow?

You'd probably be appalled that I'm a mentor to another Wild Card now. You'd probably try and take over, show them how a Persona's really supposed to be used or something equally dumb.

Damn it, Goro.

Please be out there.

Hermione left the Crimson Room, desperately trying not to think about the tear-stained journal or implications of the other Social Link she just gained from reading it.