"The Hermit represents the individual's search for answers by looking inward, deep inside his heart."

Edogawa–sensei, Persona 3

"Welcome again, my boy. You did admirably against this new threat. We were right to put our trust in you."

Stocke didn't even have to open his eyes. He felt the velvety texture of the armrests under his fingertips; he recognized the voice of the old man who had just spoken. He was well aware of just where he happened to be.

"We are sorry that you went through such a terrible ordeal," a younger, female voice said. Lippti, then. "That boy missed a terrible fate by the width of a hair."

Stocke's gaze finally snapped open. "Back when I dealt with Rosch and Sonja's Shadows, the White Chronicle sent me back a few times too, right? Does that mean…?"

Teo nodded gravely. "Yes. The White Chronicle rewound back time because your friends' minds had been devoured by their Shadows."

"So, if it hadn't brought it with me at school back then…"

The twins exchanged a look. Stocke gripped the armrests tighter, suddenly sick to his stomach.

"You wouldn't have been able to save your friends," Lippti completed.

Stocke grabbed his head with both hands, fighting off a bout of nausea. Raynie and Marco. Rosch and Sonja. Even Eruca and Uncle Heinrich. Without the White Chronicle, they would all be gone. Without the White Chronicle, Stocke would have been unable to protect them.

After a while, Stocke swallowed painfully, finally managing to quell his queasy stomach. "It's good and all that I can go back to undo my mistakes, but I'm nowhere near a solution. I haven't found a clue about the bastard behind all of this."

"Have you now?" Igor said, grinning.

Stocke frowned. "Well, that is, unless my hunch about what happened in that school in Granorg turns out to be true."

The twins turned two pairs of unsettling gazes toward him. Stocke felt a chill; their eyes seemed to belong to beings much more ancient than their young appearances suggested.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Teo said cautiously.

"It happened before, right?" Stocke asked. "I mean, twelve years ago, some kids in Granorg were attacked by their Shadows, weren't they?"

Teo did not blink, did not look away. "It happened before, yes."

"It was in Niflheim High, right? That school where my uncle went?"

"An astute observation," Lippti commented. "But it wasn't the only Granorgite school where such a series of events occurred."

Stocke found himself unable to speak for a moment. He could only stare at Igor and the twins, a sense of growing horror choking his words before they could come out.

"It happened before, yes," Teo continued. "In fact, it happened many times before, in many different schools."

"As we said before," Lippti said, "the ability to change the past at one's guise is a potent lure. A lot of people would be willing to do terrible things to gain control of the Black Chronicle. And a lot of people… did terrible things to obtain such a power."

"How many times?" Stocke said, voice nearly failing him. "How many times did it happen?"

"We don't know," Lippti said. "Such knowledge is often lost whenever someone tampers with the timestream. And we believe that the last bearer of the Black Chronicle might have done something that corrupted, in a way, the means to awaken its powers."

"Twelve years ago," continued Teo, "we know someone should have been able to become a bearer of the Black Chronicle. We know someone should have gained an once-in-a-lifetime chance to change the past. But they didn't. Something kept them from seizing that chance."

"What was it?" Stocke asked. "Why couldn't they change the past?"

Igor smiled, showing two rows of gleaming white teeth. "Because they couldn't win Skuld's favour as you did, my boy."

Frustratingly, Stocke woke up before he could ask Igor what he meant by this mysterious proclamation. He came stomping downstairs, feeling a childish sort of sulkiness. Memories of the previous day still cluttered his mind. He could not believe that he had battled Raynie and Marco's Shadows just yesterday. It felt like an eternity ago.

"Morning, sweetums," Sophia said sleepily while Stocke searched the fridge. "Are you feeling better, now? You wouldn't tell me anything yesterday. Don't tell me your date went that badly."

Eruca raised her eyes from her book, looking at her brother with obvious curiosity. "Oh yeah, what happened? I texted Raynie last night, but she wouldn't tell me anything either."

"O-ho!" said Sophia. "The mystery thickens!"

Stocke rubbed the bridge of his nose, before heading away from the fridge. He was about to answer when he noticed just who else happened to be sitting at the table, calmly sipping a steaming beverage from a mug.

"Uncle Heinrich," Stocke said, bluntly. "What are you doing here?"

The man had the audacity to look smug. "Enjoying a cup of tea, obviously. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You can drink tea back home. Why come here?"

Heinrich took a loud slurp, in a deliberate attempt to be irritating. "Is spending time with one's family so big of a crime? And what's this about a date?"

Stocke groaned. "It wasn't a date. And that doesn't explain why you came so early on a Sunday morning."

"Early?" said Eruca. "Ernst, it ten o'clock."

"You looked so comfortable sleeping," Sophia said, smiling mischievously. "I didn't want to wake you up. Then again, you've never been an early riser."

"As if you're someone to talk," Heinrich countered. "I remember you sleeping all the time in the morning periods back in primary school. Which is why you always had to copy my notes. And sometimes the answers on my exams as well."

Sophia tried to swat his head with a rolled-up newspaper. Heinrich evaded her attack with practised ease.

"Stop it, Harry! Don't make me look bad in front of my kids! I have to set the example if I want them to grow into exemplary adults!"

"Oh," Eruca said, feigning innocence, "Sadly for you, I'm just at the right age to be rebellious and impressionable, aren't I?"

"And to think you've already suffered the brunt of my own rebellious teenager phase," Stocke added, tone perfectly dry. "What a terrible hand fate has dealt you."

Sophia gave Heinrich a mock glare. "It's all your fault. I shouldn't have let you babysit them so much when they were young. Now they're sassing me."

Uncle Heinrich shrugged, showing his teeth in a shark-like grin. This time, however, his insolence made him complacent, and Sophia's newspaper whacked him right in the face.

Not long after, Stocke was driving toward Rosch's place, where apparently all of his friends were waiting. During breakfast, Sonja had sent him a text, telling him that they needed to meet in order to discuss the events of the previous day. Stocke had done his best to evade his mother's inquiries, but he hadn't counted on his uncle's unexpected visit. Stocke's vague answers had placated Sophia, but his evasiveness had done nothing but prick at Heinrich's natural tendency toward suspicion. Stocke sighed; his uncle was only a high-school teacher, but sometimes the man acted more like the head of a spy agency. It tended to be annoying.

After parking his mom's car in front of Rosch's apartment complex, Stocke went inside to ring the doorbell. As always, Mrs. Rosch greeted him with an effusive display of affection, giving him a tight hug before directing him to her son's room. The already small space seemed even tinier with all of Stocke's friends crammed inside.

"Hey, dude!" Raynie welcomed him cheerfully. Sitting next to her on the floor was Marco; he gingerly waved his hand. Rosch was leaning on a wall, having gone the gentleman way by giving the most comfortable seating option to Sonja. The latter scooted a little on the bed to give Stocke some space to sit.

"Thank you for coming, Stocke!" were her words of greeting. "Sorry for calling you on such a short notice, by the way."

"No problem," Stocke replied. "I guess you didn't ask us to come all the way here to talk about the weather. What's up?"

"I wanted to fill in Raynie and Marco on everything that's been going on. They deserve the truth, all of it."

"Not a bad idea," Marco said. "Honestly, I'm still a bit lost. What are those Shadow things? What's a Persona? And how…" He bit down his lip, and his voice wavered a little as he added, "And how is Mimel involved in all of this? Did… did she really get attacked by one of those monsters?"

A thick silence followed Marco's words. Then, Sonja explained the whole of the situation, starting from Stocke's encounter with the lesser Shadows in the alleyway. As she reached the topic of Rosch's Shadow, she stopped, giving him a look. He shook his head, grimacing. Sonja, thankfully, understood the unsaid message and went on to describe Stocke's fight with the monstrous creature. Stocke, for his part, remained silent. He'd done enough explaining to last for a lifetime in the previous loops.

The blood drained from Raynie and Marco's faces as Sonja started to recount how her own Shadow had made her believe her dead brother was still alive. The dispassionate tone she used obviously struck a nerve in both of them; Raynie's eyes filled with water, while Marco was hugging his knees, looking suddenly much younger.

It was already late afternoon when Sonja finished her account of the events of the past two months. Throughout her tale, Stocke had been looking out the window, lost in thought. Still, he sharply turned to face her when she mentioned what he'd found about the school in Granorg.

"It's just a theory Stocke came up with, mind you," Sonja said. "We don't know if—"

"Yes, we do," Stocke interrupted her. "Something similar happened in that school. I'm not making this up."

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. Despite their intense scrutiny, Stocke managed to keep his face expressionless, carefully hiding the turmoil raging inside of him.

"How can you be so sure?" Rosch asked.

Stocke folded his arms. How could he could convince them without coming off as completely crazy? "How I know isn't important. Just trust me on this."

To his great surprise, his words prompted nods from all of them. Stocke nearly found himself smiling in relief, but he caught himself at the last second, forcing his features into a mask of indifference.

"So," Marco began softly, "Mimel being hurt wasn't an accident? Someone is setting all of these Shadows on people at school so they can get their hands on some weird time-traveling powers?"

Marco's hands were shaking. Stocke was horrified to see tears gathering in his eyes.

"M-Mimel got hurt because of something so s-stupid?" he said between sobs. "S-She might d-die because s-someone is that greedy?"

Raynie put an arm around his shoulders. "No, she won't," she said fiercely. "We're gonna find out who that bastard is and we're gonna make him fix his goddamn mess. But not before I trash his ass, the piece of shit."

Marco hiccupped several more times. A wavering smile began to show through his tears. "O-Okay. S-Sounds like a plan."

"Good to see that you're in!" Raynie said, clapping his back. "One more Persona won't hurt, I bet."

"I think Byggvir is good with support spells," Sonja said, beaming. "Hlín tells me his arcana is Temperance. And Sigrún's arcana is the Chariot."

Marco looked at her cluelessly. "Arcana? What's up with that? I mean, there's no link between tarot and old imperial mythology, is it?"

"Don't ask me," Rosch said. "Personally, I still have no idea why our Personas are named after gods and goddesses in the first place."

Sonja laughed. "Me neither. But that's what Hlín told me. I thought you guys would like knowing more about your Personas."

Something she'd said lit a flicker of recognition in Stocke's mind. "Sonja, do you know anything about a mythological figure named Skuld?"

"Skuld? Isn't she a Norn?" Marco answered. Everybody stared at him, and his cheeks reddened a little. "You know, one of the three sisters who governed fate in the imperial pantheon. She was the one who controlled the future, if I remember correctly."

"I think you're right," said Sonja. "I'm not too knowledgeable about the subject, honest."

"Well, I don't know anything about that mythology crap," Raynie said with a pout. "I'll leave the figuring-out-everything part to you brainiacs, I'm just good for bashing stuff."

"S'okay, really," Rosch added. "Else, I don't know why you guys would keep me on the team too. I'm not a fountain of endless trivia either, you know."

Sonja rolled her eyes in a good-natured manner. "Oh, Rosch. I thought we'd already spoken about those self-deprecating tendencies of yours, hmm?"

Rosch went crimson, and his response came in an incoherent stutter. Sonja smiled coyly, seemingly satisfied with his reaction.

"Still, why do you ask, Stocke?" she eventually said, turning away from Rosch for a moment. "Did you find a clue that's got something to do with that goddess?"

Stocke opened his mouth to answer, before shutting it again. He could not find a suitable reason for not telling his friends, not really, but it seemed as if his voice would just not come out. Really, how could he tell them about the Velvet Room and its inhabitants without coming across as a case fit for an asylum?

Finally, Stocke said, keeping his voice carefully neutral, "Not really. I was just curious, that's all. Considering the link between our Personas and ancient mythology, I thought that learning more about the topic would help."

It was evident from Sonja's frown how much he had failed to convince her with that explanation. "I see. I guess you're right."

"So that's it?" said Raynie. "We're kicking asses, taking names, all that jazz?"

Marco sniffed, wiping his nose with a handkerchief. "Yeah, l-let's do it! We got to find a way to save Mimel and that other guy. And we have to make sure no one else is gonna end up like them."

Marco's words were met by cheers from everyone except for Stocke. He could not share his friends' optimism, not when he was so brazenly lying to them by keeping secret the existences of Igor and the twins. Stocke's fingernails dug in the fabric of his sleeves, but mercifully his face remained still as stone. Why couldn't he tell them the truth?

Because you still feel this should be your own mess to fix, the answer came to his mind. Because they're making the mistake of looking toward you for guidance and you're afraid they'll suffer because you won't be up to the task. The realization was sobering.

Stocke forced himself to smile. "Yeah," he said half-heartedly. "Let's do this."

Returning to school the following day was a welcome foray into normalcy after all this drama.

A smaller number of Shadows seemed to prowl the school grounds today, which was a relief. The ones Stocke did see acted more passively than usual, avoiding the staff and students instead of seeking out new victims. Still, when he and the others met outside after the end of the last period, Marco and Raynie both seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Of course, Stocke realized, they had never spent a full day in the company of these creepy bastards.

"You guys went to school with those freaks hanging around for weeks?" Raynie said, hugging her frame as though she was fighting a chill. "Man, talk about nerves of steel!"

"It felt like they were always watching us," Marco said. "My math teacher nearly sent me to the nurse's office, she said I looked like I was about to faint!"

"Yeah, I get you," Rosch said. "I wasn't so much better when I first started seeing 'em. Still find them a bit spooky, actually."

"Only Stocke can keep his calm around them," Sonja said. "Then again, it's Stocke. The end of the world would come, and he would still be his cool, unflappable self."

Raynie grinned appreciatively. "Oh yeah. Definitely. One of his best features, I think."

Stocke fought the urge to hit his forehead with his palm. "Don't we have better things to talk about?" he said. "We're always caught unaware when a greater Shadow appears. It's time we find a way to act before someone is already in trouble."

"I'm not sure of how we can do that," Rosch said, "but watching the Shadows at school today gave me an idea. I kept thinking about how often we'd have practise when I was on the team back in middle school. Shouldn't we do that, but with our Personas? We'd get our asses handed to us way less often if we just had more experience fighting Shadows."

"Hey, good thinking!" said Raynie. "And seriously I'd feel better if fewer of these things were creepin' around."

"But how are we supposed to practise fighting with our Personas?" Marco asked. "It's not like we can waltz in here and start beating the crap out of some Shadows. I mean, we're the only ones who can see them, right? We would look like complete lunatics."

"We sneak in after school when no one's around," said Raynie. "Boom, problem solved!"

"Easier said than done," Rosch said with a snort.

"Actually," Sonja began, "I think I could help with that. Well, Hlín could, anyway."

Everybody turned to look at her.

"Do you remember when I was saying that the Shadows seemed to exist on another plane of existence from us? A sort of pocket dimension that's right above our reality?"

"Yeah," Stocke said. "The greater Shadows actually pull us inside that dimension when we fight them."

"I think I— well, Hlín —can help us get there too," Sonja said. "That way, we don't have to wait for a greater Shadow to actually act as a bridge between their world and ours."

"And that way we can bash a few weakass Shadows for a bit of good ol' fashioned fun!" Raynie said. "That's brilliant, Sonja!"

Sonja put a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling shyly. "That's the least I can do. I hate that my Persona has no combat abilities. I wish I could help you guys more."

"You're already helping a lot," Rosch said. "And we wouldn't want you to get hurt anyway, so it's better than you… uh, I mean…"

Sonja had given him a sharp look. Rosch coughed awkwardly, evading her gaze.

"Then, it's settled," Stocke said. "Let's patrol the school a few times a week after the end of classes. We'll establish a schedule and—"

"Sheesh!" said Raynie. "Having fun channeling your inner drill sergeant, huh?"

"I don't mind," Marco said lightly. "I guess that makes you our leader, right, Stocke?"

Stocke was about to object, but already it was too late; the others were looking at him with grins that told him his protests would be in vain.

"If that's you guys want," he said, sighing. "Don't come at me complaining later on. You've brought this on yourselves."

Raynie waggled her eyebrows. "Got it, sir."

Stocke groaned. Maybe it would have been better just to keep his mouth shut. Maybe.

And so the following week, Stocke and his friends remained at school on several occasions in an attempt to test Rosch's plan. Fortunately enough, Sonja's hunch turned out to be true. As such, each time they sneaked in after classes, Hlín managed to bring them into the twisted version of the school the Shadows happened to inhabit. There, Sonja guided the others as they tested the extent of their abilities. Rosch's Persona had strong offensive capacities, but using too much of his magic left him exhausted and open to attacks. Raynie's Sigrún was not as hard of a hitter as Tyr, but she could cast powerful wind spells. Meanwhile, Marco showed an array of healing and support spells. With a better understanding of everyone's strengths and weaknesses, Stocke could easily devise suitable strategies for every type of enemy they encountered. And so each of these nights, he went home dead tired, but glad of his friends' progress.

On Thursday, however, Stocke had been scheduled for a shift at work. He and the others had all agreed: they would have to maintain the illusion of being perfectly normal teenagers if they wanted to succeed in their endeavour. Sadly enough, that included being nice with annoying customers like a good proper employee and keeping good grades despite having less time to study. At least this time Stocke found himself accompanied by Raynie as he went to the bookstore. As they headed to work, she chatted (or rather, ranted) about a variety of topics. Stocke rarely put in a word, but he didn't mind. Listening to her was oddly comforting.

As they turned the corner, Stocke caught sight of a familiar figure sitting in front of the bookstore. Aht sprang to her feet, grinning as she bounced toward him. She started to frown, however, when she realized he wasn't alone.

"Hi, Stocke!" Aht said, all but ignoring Raynie. "I'm so happy to see you! It's been so long!"

"Nice to see you too, kid," Stocke said, managing a smile.

"The next book in my favourite series is coming out today! Isn't it great?"

"Yeah, if you say so," Stocke said, not sure of how to respond to such enthusiasm. Out the corner of his eye, he saw that Raynie was quirking an eyebrow, looking rather amused.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she said. "I mean, I'm not the one with the best manners around, but it seems like the polite thing to do, yeah?"

Stocke sighed. "Aht, this is Raynie. Raynie, this is Aht."

He felt both pairs of eyes on him. The two girls shared the same expression, a sort of fond exasperation. Stocke let out another sigh.

After a while, Aht grabbed Stocke's arm. "So, do you think you could help me find the book I want? Pretty please, Stocke!"

Stocke was certain she didn't need him to find the book she was looking for, but he nodded anyway.

"I've got fifteen minutes to spare until my shift starts," Raynie said. "I could help too, if you don't mind."

"Sure, why not?" said Stocke.

Next to him, Aht narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Raynie. Thankfully, the latter didn't seem to notice a thing.

"Great!" Raynie said. "I might find something for Marco's birthday too. What kind of nerd book would he like, you think?"

"Is it Marco's birthday soon?" replied Stocke. Aht had not let go of him, and she was tugging on his arm rather insistently.

"Nah, it's in three months. It's just that getting some ideas in advance might help, yeah?"

Aht was scowling rather hard. "Well," she said huffily, "my birthday is next Sunday."

"On Halloween? Your birthday's the same day as Halloween?" said Raynie. As Aht nodded smugly, she added, "Talk about coincidence! Mine's the day just before!"

Stocke blinked in surprise. Raynie's birthday was this Saturday?

"I bet you're gonna have a big party, huh, Aht?" asked Raynie. "Your friends at school must have planned something pretty epic!"

Aht's face darkened for a moment. Then she smiled—or, at least, forced herself to smile. "No, but everybody in my family is coming for my birthday dinner! My grandpa, my uncle Vanoss, my cousins Isla and Liese, even some people who work for my grandpa, like Elm and Mr. Gafka!"

One of Raynie's eyes twitched. "Your… your friends aren't coming over for your birthday?"

Aht kicked at the ground with one of her little hooves. "It's okay. I don't think they even remember that my birthday is coming up."

"Are they the same friends who ditched you the first time we met?" Stocke said softly.

Aht nodded, looking pointedly at her feet.

Raynie's face twisted in a scowl. Then she said, with some measure of fierceness, "If I gave you the choice to do anything or go anywhere for your birthday, what would you do?"

"Huh? Why d'you ask?"

"C'mon," Raynie prompted, "you don't hafta be shy with me. I won't laugh or anything"

Aht tilted her head to the side. "Well, there's this shopping mall that's got this huge indoor amusement park…"

"Oh yeah, I know the one!" Raynie bounced her eyebrows at Stocke. "Then it's settled! On Saturday, we're all going there to celebrate your birthday and mine!"

"What," Stocke said, while Aht cried out, eyes growing huge, "Really? You would take me there?"

"Yup!" Raynie scratched the back of her head. "Well, that is, unless you don't wanna hang around with a bunch of dumb teenagers…"

Aht appeared to ponder this for a moment. "Is Stocke coming?" she finally said.

"Of course he is!" Raynie shot Stocke an insistent glance. "Right?"

"Uh, yeah," Stocke replied. He wasn't sure he could have said anything else, not with the way Raynie was looking at him right now. Eventually, Aht nodded, and she began to hop on her feet happily.

"It's settled then!" Raynie said. "Here, Aht, I'll give you my number. Do you have a place where you want us to pick you up Saturday morning?"

Aht pointed at the bookstore with her chin. "It can be right here! Mr. Gafka will probably give me a ride if I ask him nicely."

"Mr. Gafka?" said Raynie. "Who's Mr. Gafka?"

At the same moment, a black car slowed down to a stop next to them. One of the tinted windows came down, showing a Gutral man at the wheel.

"It's my ride!" said Aht. "I really hafta be going." She then made a face. "Aw, crud! I didn't have time to buy my book…"

"I'll buy it for you," said Stocke. "Just tell me what it is. It can be a birthday present if you want."

For a moment, it seemed as if Aht could say nothing. Then, she launched herself at Stocke, crushing his midsection with a hug. Before he could react, she gave a quick, "Bye! See you next Saturday!" and went inside the car. It drove away not long afterward, leaving Stocke and Raynie together on the sidewalk.

Raynie playfully punched Stocke on the shoulder. "Never pegged you to be the popular type with kids. Then again, once a big bro, always a big bro, huh?"

Stocke shrugged. "I don't know, it just sort of… happened. I talked to her one day and next thing I know she's glued to me every time I'm working a shift."

"It's obvious she thinks you're the coolest thing ever. It's kinda cute." Raynie then looked at her phone. "I gotta go too. See ya!"

"Hmm," Stocke replied, "alright, see you." He was still a bit taken aback by how easily he'd been dragged into Raynie's scheme. Oh, well. It's not like he had something planned on Saturday anyway.

The next day at school, Stocke and his sister met up with the rest of their friends. As they headed for their lockers, Raynie shared her plan with the others. Unsurprisingly, Sonja was completely on board with the idea.

"I was so worried when you first told us about that girl," she said to Stocke. "I'm glad that we can help her, if only a little bit."

"Doesn't it feel kind of weird, though?" Marco said. "I mean, she doesn't even know us. In her shoes, I would kinda be freaking out, to be honest."

"Nah, she's cool with it," Raynie replied. "At least, as long as best-big-bro-ever Stocke is around, huh?" She gave him a nudge, and Stocke groaned.

"Best-big-bro-ever?" Eruca said, smiling slightly.

"Just drop it, please," Stocke muttered. "For the sake of my sanity."

"Well, I would have loved to come," Rosch finally spoke, "but my aunt and uncle are visiting tomorrow. My cousin Kiel's coming too, and I'd feel bad if I left him hanging. I don't think he's made any friend at his new school since they moved in two months ago."

"Why is that?" Sonja asked. "I met him just a few times, but he seems very friendly."

Rosch grimaced. "Oh, you know him. He's a bit… overeager, just sayin'. He tries too hard, and the other kids don't know what to make of him because of that, I guess."

"Is that so?" said Raynie. Something was brewing within her mind, Stocke was sure of it. "Well, there's only one thing to do!"

"Huh?" said Rosch. "What do you mean?"

She grinned at him. "He gotta come. Seems to me like he's gonna fit right in with us freaks and geeks."

Rosch rubbed his jaw contemplatively. "Yeah, that would work. He'd jump at the idea of hanging out with Stocke and Sonja, that's for sure."

Sonja laughed a little, while Stocke rolled his eyes heavenward.

"It's fine by me," said Raynie. "What about you guys? You all okay with Rosch's kid cousin spending the day with us?"

Stocke gave a wry smile. "Do we have a choice?"

"Nope," said Raynie, "It's my birthday, I get to choose."

"Oh, boy," Marco said dryly, while Eruca shook her head, looking amused.

"It's settled, then!" said Raynie. She mimicked a pair of guns with her hands, pointing her index fingers at Stocke and the others. "See you guys tomorrow!"

And so the next day a very confused Stocke found himself following a group of overly enthusiastic teenagers around the worst indoor amusement park he'd ever gone to.

The place was obviously meant for a young audience, and so Stocke and the others stuck out like sore thumbs. The carousel sported brightly coloured (but slightly beaten-up) cartoon animals, while the rollercoaster boasted a speed that would have been better suited for a grandmother's prized scooter bike. By the time they tried the Ferris wheel, embarrassment clung to Stocke like a second skin.

That was nothing, however, next to the horror Stocke had felt when Rosch had introduced Kiel to the group.

"So, uh," Rosch had said as he'd prompted Kiel to move forward, "that's my cousin Kiel. He used to live in the countryside before he moved to the capital."

Kiel was all messy red-brown hair and freckles. As always, the fourteen-year-old (or was he thirteen? Stocke honestly didn't know) acted as if he had ingested a dangerous amount of sugar and caffeine prior to meeting them.

"Hi! Nice to meet you guys!" Kiel had then flashed a grin to Sonja and Stocke. "'Cept for you two, you remember me, right?" His smile had grown bigger; a giant neon light wouldn't have been as bright. "Right?"

"Yeah," Stocke had said, trying to stifle a growing sense of discomfort. It was like staring at the bare surface of the sun. "I remember you."

Kiel had chuckled. "I was afraid you guys would have forgotten me!" There'd been a moment of uncomfortable silence before he had added, "So, uh… what are we doing here anyway?"

Aht had turned up her nose in a rather transparent attempt to appear aloof. "You're here for my birthday, of course."

"And mine," Raynie had said. "But, yeah, like the little lady said, we're mostly here for her."

"She's the boss today, so I suggest you obey all her commands," Sonja had added, mischeviously.

Kiel had responded with a cheeky salute. "Yes, ma'am!"

For a few seconds, Aht had only stared at him with squinted eyes, probably trying to tell whether or not he was making fun of her. Then, she'd given him a nod of approval, mustering a stern look that clashed horribly with her naturally cute appearance. Both Sonja and Eruca had hidden smiles behind their hands at the sight of her expression.

Still, despite that frosty beginning, Kiel and Aht soon found that they shared many points of interest. Aht was especially surprised that Kiel also happened to watch a cartoon that she liked.

"But you're a teenager!" she'd said to him. "Aren't you too old for this stuff?"

A hint of doubt had made Kiel's infallible grin falter for a moment. "Uh, you think so? It's true that everyone else in my class don't watch kids' stuff anymore…"

"Don't say things like that," Stocke had said. "You could be forty and still watch cartoons. Don't be so mindful of what people think of you. Otherwise, you'll only make yourself unhappy."

His words had only earned him stares filled with admiration from the two youngest members of their group. Stocke had fought the urge to burrow ten feet in the ground. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to introduce those two to each other…

Kiel and Aht also bonded over their enjoyment of the rides, never noticing just how cheap and rickety the place was. More often than not, they were also accompanied by Raynie, who seemed to have childish enthusiasm to spare as well. A few times, they even managed to drag Stocke along, to everyone's great amusement. One occasion nearly gave him the need to jump in front of the rollercoster cart; when Aht had asked him to sit on a cutesy yellow spider on the carrousel, Sonja had snapped a picture of him with her phone. Eruca had given her a conspiratorial smile in return, telling Sonja what a good piece of blackmail it would make. At least, Rosch had patted Stocke on the back when he'd gotten out of the infernal machine, offering his tacit support as always.

At closing time, they met outside the mall to discuss what to do next. Stocke would have expected everyone to go their separate ways, but to his surprise, Eruca had suggested that everyone followed both her and Stocke back home. When he had tried to ask why, she'd shot him a look that had promptly shut him up. She had something in mind, that was for sure. Oh, well. When Eruca showed a hint of the steel core hidden under her calm, polite ways, arguing with her was of no use. Stocke had learned that ages ago.

Before they left, Aht called the ever-mysterious Mr. Gafka, telling him where he could pick her up at the end of the day. Not long after, they arrived to Stocke and Eruca's house. When Stocke opened the door, it finally dawned on him why Eruca had been so insistent on them coming all here. The living room had been decorated with colourful streamers and balloons. Sophia was in the middle of hanging up a banner saying 'Happy Birthday!' when Stocke walked inside.

"Oh!" she said. "I didn't think you would all be back so soon!" Her gaze swept across the group now assembled in front of her, and she added, sounding strangely emotional, "I didn't think you'd bring so many people, too. For so long, you both had such trouble making friends at school…"

Stocke pinched his mouth, while Eruca wrung her hands together, her own smile fading. It was hard to meet their mother's hopeful gaze.

Thankfully, Raynie chose this moment to advance forward. Her mouth was hanging open in an unflattering way. She closed it with an audible 'pop!' before stuttering, "Is that all for us? For our birthdays?"

"Well, of course!" Sophia said. "When Eruca told me it was her friend's birthday, I knew I had to do something!" A touch of anger then slipped in her voice. "Especially since she said your own family hadn't planned anything…"

Raynie seemed unable to talk. Her eyes were shimmering as she looked over all the festive decorations brightening up the living room.

"Ernst," Sophia then ordered, "there's cake in the fridge, bring it back here. You guys must be famished!"

"Cake?" Raynie nearly choked on the word. "There's cake?!"

Next to her, Aht's face had lit up. She grabbed Raynie's arm and began to bounce from excitement, saying, "Cake! We're gonna have some cake, too?!"

Sophia waved a dismissive hand around. "Oh, I wanted to buy a really fancy-schmancy one at the bakery, but I'd forgotten that Ernst had already taken the car. I'm not so much of a cook, so I hope you kids won't mind the taste much."

This time, tears did stream down Raynie's cheeks. Sophia stood up in alarm, heading toward her with a concerned look.

"N-No," said Raynie, "I'm okay, really… it's just… it's the first time someone actually baked me a cake! Man, I must really look dumb right now…"

"Not at all," Sonja said, while Marco added, grinning, "Don't sweat it, Raynie, I would bawl my eyes out too!"

"So, what are we waiting for?" Aht said. "Stocke, bring back our cake! I'm hungry!"

"Your cake?" Sophia asked, bemused.

"It's my birthday tomorrow, so it's my cake too!"

"Oh!" said Sophia. She sent a pointed glare at Stocke. "Ernst, why didn't you tell me? I would have made another cake for your other friend."

"Mom," Stocke said, "one cake is already enough. You don't need to spoil us so much."

Sophia shook her head. "Oh, Ernst-boy. You're so wrong, it's almost cute." She crouched a bit to look at Aht, giving her a wide smile. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"I'm Aht! Nice to meet you!"

"What a lovely little miss! I just want to pinch your cheeks, you know that?" She then scowled at Stocke, hands on her hips. "Ernst, I thought I'd asked you something? What kind of disobedient son have I raised?"

Stocke gave a long, beleaguered sigh, while the others snickered. He fought the urge to glare at them. Some loyal friends they were.

Soon, they were all sitting or standing in the living room, eating cake. Not long after everybody settled, the doorbell rang, and Stocke went to see who it was. He was greeted by the tall, large figure of a Gutral man wearing a black suit and a pair of rather fashionable shades.

"Mr. Gafka!" Aht cried, rushing toward him. "Stocke's mom made us cake, see? Want some?"

For a moment, the man did not speak, did not move. Then, he removed his glasses in a slick manner worthy of a movie star. "Yes," came the low rumbled answer.

And thus the towering Mr. Gafka came to join the party. Eruca, ever the good hostess, eventually made coffee for everyone. The cup look impossibly tiny in Gafka's enormous hands. Kiel asked for some coffee as well, but thankfully Rosch stepped in, telling his cousin that they shouldn't take advantage of Sophia's hospitality so much. "Okay!" Kiel had answered brightly, none the wiser as to why Rosch had been so adamant to keep any caffeinated beverages away from him.

In the evening, they all ordered some takeout, even the ever-serious Gafka. Stocke remained silent as he ate his pizza, relishing in the occasion to just spend a normal, boring moment in good company. Someone had apparently found a deck of cards, and now everybody was playing poker, betting some Halloween candy that Sophia had bought for them. Stocke's mom, for her part, had retreated back to her room; her favourite show was on, and she would not miss it even for all the sugar in the world.

Marco, it turned out, was in the possession of surprisingly good poker face, earning himself a series of curses on Raynie's part—or, at least, their child-friendly equivalents. Aht was sitting next to her, and Gafka was looming from his shadowed spot in the corner; Raynie had probably sensed the danger that came with teaching inappropriate language to the man's ward. Rosch, as always, was the most terrible liar in the group by a wide margin, while Sonja had taken Kiel under her wing, showing him some tricks that her brother had taught her. The poor boy was almost as clueless as Aht. Still, the Satyros girl had at least the excuse of not being interested in the game in the slightest. Instead, she kept snatching candy from the others' piles when they were not looking.

Stocke smiled—the real, genuine article since he was sure no one was watching. Later on, when he slipped under his bedsheets, he still felt light and airy. It had been a long time since he'd gone to bed in such a good mood.

He closed his eyes, sensing all of his tensions easing up. Sleep came easily afterward.

His body was light, so light.

Stocke moved his arms, his legs, and found that there was no ground under his feet. He was floating amidst a world of blue. Some patches of mist drifted in the emptiness, as wispy as clouds on a sunny day. Stocke struggled to move forward, to no avail. An invisible, oppressive force seemed to push on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Soon, a humanoid figure materialized in front of him. It was silvery in colour, and it raised long, thin limbs toward him.

WHY, a voice pierced the blue void, WHY WON'T YOU HELP ME?

Stocke opened his mouth to answer, but found he could not speak. The air was thick as water. For a moment, he feared he would choke.

I GAVE YOU WANT YOU WANTED, the voice continued, hauntingly. ALWAYS I GIVE, ALWAYS I EARN NOTHING IN RETURN.

The figure came nearer. Its arms grew longer, its clawed hands reaching for Stocke's neck. He tried to flee, but again his body seemed stuck in the nothingness.

A PACT, BROKEN. A PROMISE, UNFUFILLED. ALWAYS IT IS SO WITH HUMANS.

Stocke managed to let out a gasp as cold hands wrapped around his throat. The voice now seemed to be sobbing.

WHY WON'T YOU SAVE ME? WHY MUST I GIVE MORE OF MYSELF?

Stocke fought to breathe. His eyesight was beginning to dim. Still, he could hear the voice as it pleaded, its cries rising in a crescendo of despair.

SAVE ME. OH, PLEASE, SAVE ME!