Howdy, folks! How ya been doing? Things are getting trickier at college so I can't promise when the new chapters will be up, but i'll get to work on them as I can. Well, on with the show. =3

A few warnings: (Yes, I put those before every chapter to avoid issues)

-There will be spoilers for all games! You've been warned.
-The Main characters from each game in this fanfic are called Minato Arisato (P3:FES), Minako Arisato (P3P) and Souji Seta (P4)
-There'll be some cursing. (Anyone that played any persona games knows that some characters on it curse quite a bit.) as well as some heavy subjects.
-Main Pairings in this fanfic: MinatoxYukari, ShinjiroxMinako, SoujixYukiko, KanjixNaoto, AkihikoxMitsuru, YosukexChie.
-Hinted Pairings(in later chapters): JunpeixChidori. (Hinted because Chidori doesn't appear much on this story) KenxNanako (Ya know those little girl's crushes on older boys? It'll be along those lines) FuukaxKeisuke (Other than Minato and Junpei, Fuuka only displayed some sort of close relationship with Keisuke the club president. I found it kinda cute.) TeddiexRise (Just for giggles. They are afterall the two hyperactive cuties of the team X3)

Have fun ya guys. Don't forget to Read and Review.

Chapter 3: Meeting of Persona-users.

While Minato, Shinjiro, Metis and Souji were still in Tatsumi Port Island gathering information about the former members of SEES' whereabouts, a train just arrived at Yasoinaba Station.

A group of young adults gathered around the train door as the announcement came on. "We have arrived at Yasoinaba…Yasoinaba Station…"

"We finally arrived. What a charming little place this is." A red-head young woman named Mitsuru Kirijo looked around the station as she boarded the platform from the train, followed by a small yet peculiar group. One by one, they disembarked the train – a young woman with disheveled light blue hair named Fuuka Yamagishi, a taller woman with blonde hair wearing a large hair band known as Aigis; a brown haired pre-teen called Ken Amada; a young man with silver hair and a devilishly handsome face named Akihiko Sanada, a young woman with short brown hair and bright, intelligent eyes, Yukari Takeba. Lastly, a young man easily depicted as a jokester, wearing a baseball cap and goatee, a mischievous grin on his face going by the name of Junpei Iori. "Yasoinaba Station. It's smaller than I thought..."

"May be small, but some weird stuff happened around here," Junpei said, grinning widely.

"I swear, Junpei, if you hadn't showed us that website, I'd say it was just some silly paranormal rumor," Yukari scolded.

"Hey, I know ya don't like ghost stories, Yuka-tan, but even you gotta agree that this whole stuff sounds way too similar to what WE experienced back in high school."

"Got a point there…" Akihiko stated, looking around. "So, what's the plan now, Mitsuru?"

The red-head flicked her hair. "After we leave our belongings at the Amagi Inn, let's take a look around town. I've made arrangements with the Inn's manager and her daughter agreed to be our guide."

"That's convenient. Hopefully we'll find some useful information," Fuuka agreed. Suddenly she remembered something. "Oh, shouldn't we release Koro-chan now?"

" I'll get him," Ken volunteered. He ran up to a dog carrier on a pile of their luggage and swung open the door. "Here, Koro, come on out!"

Out bounded a white dog. He wore a white sleeveless dog tunic with two small wings sewn onto the back. His deep, red eyes looked around curiously, nose sniffing everywhere.

"I'm sorry you had to travel in that thing, Koromaru. Forgive me?" Mitsuru implored, bending down slightly and extending her palm.

Koromaru nuzzled her hand, barking excitedly, tail wagging. "Koromaru-san is saying: 'I understand. Don't worry about it,'" Aigis translated.

"If we're all set here, let's get going!" Junpei cheered enthusiastically.

The group headed out to catch the bus headed for the Inn. Aigis stared at the sky with a distant look in her eyes.

"Hey Aigis," Yukari called. "You okay?"

"Oh, yes… I'm fine, Yukari-san…" Aigis sighed melancholically. "For some reason, I've been thinking a lot about them lately… Him and… Her…"

Yukari was silent at first. Aigis had become one of her closest friends after the whole Abyss of Time thing, so she knew that every now and then Aigis missed not only Minato, but Metis too, as she was the closest thing to a family she will ever have, despite the fact she was "born" from Aigis' very own emotions. "I know. I miss them too. But don't forget…you're not alone, okay?"

"Thank you, Yukari-san."

"Don't mention it." Yukari smiled gently. "Now, c'mon, the others are waiting."

The tagged along behind the rest of their friends, never leaving each other's side.

Yukiko walked slowly towards the bus stop, lost in her thoughts. According to her mother, she was supposed to meet with a group of college students from Tatsumi Port Island, who will be staying at her family's inn, and tour them around Inaba. She didn't mind such a task. They weren't much older than her so a conversation wouldn't be hard to do. She asked Chie and the others for help, and they had agreed, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

'They're from Port Island…the same place Souji-kun is now. I wonder how he's doing?' Yukiko thought, a bit worried. 'It's not like him not to answer my e-mails or anyone else's… Of course, he might just be busy because of school. Well, my situation isn't any different so…'

"Yo, Senpai!" A rough yet friendly voice snapped Yukiko out of her thoughts.

She turned around, smiling as Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane walked up to her. "Good day, Yukiko-senpai," Naoto greeted.

"Oh, Kanji-kun…Naoto-kun. Hello." She bowed slightly, returning the greeting. "Thank you for coming."

"S'no big deal," Kanji shrugged. "So, where are Chie-senpai and the others?"

"Chie went to get Rise-chan, since she said she had to help her grandmother over at the tofu shop first. Yosuke-kun said he and Teddie will catch up with us as soon as their work at Junes is over." The raven haired girl looked at her watch. "Kirijo-san's group should be arriving soon. Shall we go ahead?"

"Yes, let's," the Detective Prince replied. Kanji nodded.

The three teens headed for the bus stop. Ten minutes of waiting later, the bus with Mitsuru and her friends arrived.

There was some commotion as the group from the city unloaded their luggage. Finally, an elegent woman with red hair approached them. "Excuse me, are you Amagi-san?" Mitsuru asked as she looked at Yukiko. She was easy to spot since she was the only one wearing a pink kimono.

Yukiko nodded with a confident smile. "I am Yukiko Amagi. Please, just call me Yukiko. You must be Kirijo-san." She motioned to Kanji and Naoto who bowed to greet the group. "These are my friends, Kanji Tatsumi and Naoto Shirogane. I hope you and your friends don't mind, but I asked them to help me with the tour. The others should be arriving soon."

"The more the merrier!" Junpei grinned. Koromaru barked happily.

Kanji couldn't help but smile when he saw the Shiba Inu and his fluffy, white fur. "H-hey that's a cute dog… C-Can I pat him?"

"Sure. Koro-chan, go say hi to Kanji-kun," Fuuka said.

Koromaru trotted up to Kanji, who dropped down to one knee to pet him. He nuzzled Kanji's hand, showing acceptance. "Wow, nice fur, so soft and fuzzy..." Kanji praised, scratching the canine behind the ears, a spot he loved to be scratched. "And his doggie shirt is pretty well made too. I mean, the wings are neatly sewn and it's pretty comfy for him to run and play around in. The design–"

Yukari was amazed at the details Kanji was describing. "Wow, Kanji-kun, how do you know so much about clothes?"

"W-well, my Ma runs a textile shop and I k-kinda help out there..."

"Kanji-kun is really good at sewing, having grown up in that kind of environment. He also teaches others how to make the stuff he does, like dolls," Naoto continued for him, much to his surprise. "He's quite good at it, actually."

"N-Naoto!"

"That's pretty cool, Kanji-san," Ken said, a bit in awe. "You can make stuff that no one else can."

Kanji turned a little red at the praise, but glad nonetheless. "Thanks, kid. You guys are welcome to drop by our store later. I can show you some of my stuff there."

"That would be very pleasant, Kanji-san." Aigis said.

"Starting with the tour, where would you like to –" Yukiko was cut off by a familiar shout.

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted as she and Rise ran up to them. "Whoa, they're here already?!"

"Wow, talk about a cool group," Rise said excitedly. "Hi there, guys! I'm Rise Kujikawa!"

"Rise Kujik… No way! I must be dreaming…you're Risette?!" Junpei exclaimed. "Sweet! You're even cuter in person!"

Rise giggled. "Thank you!"

"You can always count on Rise-chan to get all the attention," Chie said amusedly. "Oh, I'm Chie Satonaka by the way. Nice to meet you guys." She looked around. "Hey, where are Yosuke and Teddie? I thought they'd be here already…."

"TED, GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY FACE! I CAN'T SEE WHERE I'M GOING!"

"STOP!" Another voice yelled. "YOSUKE, STOP THIS THING!"

They turned around and saw two teens riding a bike heading towards them, and it seems to be out of control. Mitsuru was confused. "What in the world…?"

"It's coming straight at us! Look out!" Akihiko shouted, grabbing Mitsuru's arm to pull her out of harm's way.

Everybody quickly got out of the rogue bike's way as it zipped past them, only to crash into some trash cans.

Chie sweatdropped. "Ugh… I had to ask…"

Yukari looked at her. "You know them?"

"That was Yosuke and Teddie." The martial artist rolled her eyes. "I don't know why he keeps using that bicycle…he always ends up crashing it."

"H-Hey!" Yosuke shouted, rolling around while stuck inside a trash can. "Help! Someone!"

"Please, someone save meeeeeeee!" Teddie whined, also in the same predicament.

"Um… Maybe we should help them?" Fuuka wondered.

With Akihiko and Kanji's help, Yosuke and Teddie were saved. "Phew…that was some crash. Thanks for the help, everyone," Yosuke said. "Oh, you guys must be the ones Yukiko told me about. I'm Yosuke Hanamura, and this little troublemaker is Teddie."

"Are you ok, Yosuke-senpai? Teddie?" Naoto asked. "Why were you riding in tandem? You know that's illegal."

"I'm fine, Nao-chan. Thanks for caring about me," Teddie answered, ignoring her last question with a dazzling smile and added sparkles. "Can't say the same about Yosuke though…"

"Shut it!" Yosuke growled. "It's your fault we even crashed in the first place! No thanks to you busting up my scooter, now you gotta ruin my bicycle too?!"

Teddie whimpered in fear. "But Yosuke, my roller skates were missing a wheel. How was I supposed to get here in time without transport?"

"You're lucky we weren't arrested, you little–"

"Hey, take it easy on the little guy," Yukari said. "It was an accident. And he said he was sorry."

Teddie's face lit up as he stared at her. "My, my, what a nice and pretty girl you are. You're bear-y nice to Teddie..."

"Bear-y?" She raised an eyebrow. "Geez…and I thought Junpei's jokes were lame."

"Right… HEY!" Junpei shouted in protest.

Everybody laughed at that except for Aigis, who was glaring at the blonde boy for some reason.

"Hm? Aigis, is something wrong?" Mitsuru asked, noticing her strange behavior.

"Him…" The blonde girl pointed at Teddie. "He…he is not human…"

Everybody immediately stopped laughing. Aigis continued. "He's not a human, but he is not dangerous either… He is a Shadow... with a Persona…"

The Investigation Team was at a loss of words, and so were the rest of SEES. "W-Wha?! H-how did she find out…?! I mean, what do you know about Shadows and Personas?!" Naoto demanded. She wondered how their well-kept secret was discovered so easily.

Junpei grinned like an idiot. "Like I mentioned before, this place is perfect for our vacation."

"Wait, so you guys are Persona-users?" Rise asked, surprised yet very curious.

"That's right," Akihiko replied. "Look, this is not the best place talk about that. You guys know where we can discuss this?"

"How about our special headquarters?" Chie suggested. "It's the only place I can think of."

"That will work just perfectly," Mitsuru declared. "Please lead the way."

Junes' Food Court…

"So, this is your 'special headquarters'?" Junpei asked as they gathered around a few tables.

"Well, what did ya expect?" Chie retorted. "Some sort of high tech, top-secret facility?"

"Meh… sort of…"

After they introduced themselves to each other, the atmosphere was no longer awkward.

"Alright, let's get this started." Yosuke turned to Mitsuru. "You guys are also Persona-users, right?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "That's partially accurate. We can no longer summon ours."

Yukari nodded. "Yeah, when the Shadows disappeared from this world two years ago, we lost the ability to summon our Personas."

Yukiko perked up. "Wait, did you say 'this world'? You guys could summon your Personas in this world?"

"We used our Personas in an altered dimension parallel to this one. Well, kind of. It's…hard to explain," Fuuka said.

"Our school was, for one reason or another, 'cursed' several years ago, and transformed into a gigantic tower, Tartarus, whose sole purpose was to usher in the bringer of death, Nyx," Mitsuru continued. "Our Personas could be summoned in our world because we never left our world. "

"A giant tower…" Kanji whistled. "Damn…that must have been something to see."

"Shadows in this world?!" Teddie demanded. "That's not possible. Shadows can't exist in this world!"

"They didn't exist long, mind you," Mitsuru replied. "They could only leave the tower every full moon, and occasionally a few strays would wonder the streets."

Teddie shook his head. "But how? They shouldn't…"

"Their situation was different, Teddie," Naoto interjected. "The Shadows manifested in our world during their time, whereas we enter the Shadows' world." She looked at Mitsuru. "How long was this tower around?"

"The school would only transform into the tower for one hour every midnight."

"I get it." Naoto held her chin pensively. "If Shadows really can't stay in our world for long, that explains why Tartarus would go away after the Dark Hour ended."

"Guys, this is all really interesting. But let's hear them out first, yeah?" Rise suggested. "Speculations can wait."

"For one hour every night, the world would shut down. We called this the Dark Hour. Only those with the potential to host a Persona could function during this time, and electronic equipment would cease functioning. I was the first person in the area to successfully control a Persona in order to fight a Shadow," Mitsuru began.

Akihiko leaned forward. "Mitsuru and I were the first two people to decide to explore Tartarus. Along with a friend named Shinjiro, we started an investigation team called SEES – the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. We were devoted to discovering why Tartarus appeared, and seeing if we could put a stop to the Dark Hour."

Yukari spoke up next. "Eventually, every full moon brought out a monstrously powerful Shadow that would leave Tartarus and wreak havoc on the outside world. We took it upon ourselves to destroy these Shadows before people were hurt. Unfortunately, some people had already fallen ill to the Shadows. They developed what we call 'Apathy Syndrome', a condition where the victims were awake but couldn't feel or think for themselves…remaining alive, but lifeless at the same time. Many rumors started out because of this condition, but only we knew the truth. Every time we defeated a large Shadow, the number of victims would dwindle, but they would increase again as the next full moon approached. "

Fuuka's hands started moving as she spoke. "Unfortunately, we didn't realize that by destroying the 12 large Shadows, we were actually rejoining them into one entity. Eventually, we defeated all the large Shadows, but another problem presented itself – because of our actions, mankind was going to die."

Aigis stepped forward. "I was originally created to battle Shadows, specifically one large Shadow represented by Death, the 13th Arcana. I was defeated and reconstructed, years ago. After we defeated the last of the large shadows, Death reappeared before us in a false image. We discovered this fallacy and faced him on, but he disappeared before we could defeat him. He claimed that he would return on New Year's Eve with a decision for us; either we could have our memories erased and die with the rest of the world peacefully, or continue to retain our memories and suffer the fear of knowing that the end was coming in thirty days. Either way, the world would end on January 31st."

Junpei's voice was rather sudden, as he didn't make any movements to let anyone know he was speaking. "Problem was, we didn't like those choices. So we fought our way to the top of Tartarus, and on January 31st, we fought the representation of Nyx, the entity formed of mankind's desire to end all suffering through death…or something like that. In any case, we kicked his ass, but he had one last trick up his sleeve. He summoned, like…the moon or something, and the world was really almost over. But…"

The entire table went silent.

"But what…?" Chie demanded, leaning on the edge of her seat.

Everyone who had spoken turned to look at Aigis. She smiled sadly. "But our squad leader sacrificed his life to seal away Nyx and block out the desires for destruction of mankind. He single-handedly stopped Nyx and saved the world. All he needed was our thoughts of him and our unstoppable wills."

The Inaba group was quiet now. Yukiko couldn't believe her ears. Everything they had just said seem to line up somehow with their own incident.

"But that wasn't the end of it," Ken voiced, breaking the silence. "We were about to go our separate ways, when the day started repeating itself. Because of our involvement in Nyx's defeat, we've been tied to the Desert of Time. For some reason, Aigis was granted the same special powers as our first squad leader, and we had to dive into the desert to defeat the actual embodiment of mankind's desire to die. You see, when our leader sacrificed himself, he established a physical barrier that our desires were constantly beating against. It was strong and solid, but it was already beginning to crack, just two months later. We saw a lot about each other in that desert, and when everything was said and done, it was us versus the will of mankind to die, that became a huge monster called Erebus."

"I assume that you guys won, right?" Kanji asked. Ken nodded.

"So then, what's your story?" Akihiko asked.

Naoto stepped forward. "I can retell the story."

Yukiko nodded. "That'd probably be the best. We can fill in the parts you missed."

Naoto delved into their story of the Inaba murders, the world inside the television, and the eventual confrontation with mankind's desires to hide the unwanted truth in a dense fog. The embarrassing stories were left out, but the failure in capturing the correct criminal was included, which led to the worsening fog leaking into their world, threatening to change every living being into Shadows. Even Teddie's origin was recollected, which shocked the others.

Finally, Naoto told the story of Izanami, and how their own team leader squared off against the original goddess of Japan one-on-one, with only the thoughts of those who knew him to support him. When she spoke of this, everyone in the room became very somber. The connection between the two people was undeniable. Both had been exceptions to the Persona rule, and both had faced off against the will of man and won.

"So what happened to your leader?" Yukari asked.

"He moved back with his parents," Chie said. "He's living at Port Island now."

Yukari looked at the ground. Her face seemed to be…bitter.

"It's been three years, and yet we still wish he'd come back to us," Aigis explained. "When I inherited his power of multiple Personas, we worried that I would die as well. While I didn't, from that day on, I promised myself to do whatever I could to ease his burden…"

Yosuke scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, I hate to say it, but what's done is done. We can't live in the past, right?"

"You're exactly right," Mitsuru admitted. "However… It's just very difficult to let go the death of two of your best friends."

"T-Two?" Yukiko asked.

"Remember Shinjiro, who helped us start SEES?" Akihiko looked away. "Yeah…he…"

The table became silent again.

"Well!" Rise smacked the table and stood up quickly, a grin on her face. "Enough of this mopey stuff! Collectively, we've saved the world how many times? We should go do something happy for a change!"

"What about the TV World?" Chie suggested. "Their reason for using Personas is gone, but ours still exists. Maybe we could show them? And maybe they'll be able to summon theirs again."

"And now, since it's so beautiful there, it'll be a real treat for everybody!" Yukiko added.

"Sounds like a plan!" Yosuke said. He was interrupted when his cell phone rang and picked it up. "One minute please. Hanamura speaking. Oh, hi Dojima-san… What? Sure, of course we can! That'd be no trouble at all! Okay, we'll be there tomorrow. No problem. See ya." He hung up and looked at the others. "That was Dojima-san, our leader's uncle. He asked us to look after his daughter, Nanako-chan, for him tomorrow. He said he had some business to take care of out of town."

"In that case, let's bring Nana-chan with us tomorrow!" Teddie suggested. "I promised her I'd show her that place, now that it's not dangerous for her anymore, and play with her lots!"

The SEES members felt a tingle of excitement at the idea. "Very well, then. We agree," Mitsuru said. "We'll meet up tomorrow and proceed to this place together."

"Okay then. It's a date!" Teddie exclaimed, making everybody laugh.

"Wow, time flies…" Rise said, looking at the sunset. "I gotta go home. I promised Grandma I'd help her close the tofu shop."

"I must be leaving as well. My grandpa is expecting me for dinner," Naoto said, standing up.

"Hey, Naoto… I-If ya don't mind… I'll go with ya…" Kanji offered, a faint blush on his face.

She was surprised, but agreed to it with a smile. "Thank you, Kanji-kun."

"I'll take Mitsuru-san and the others back to the inn," Yukiko said. "Where we should meet up tomorrow?"

"In front of Daidara's at the Shopping District," Yosuke said. "We probably won't be needing it, but ya know what they say, better safe than sorry."

As they said their farewells, Yukiko escorted SEES back to the Amagi Inn. That had been quite the gathering of people. Each one had a story, and each one had a reason that they fought. In the morning, they would enter the TV World once again, not as people searching for answers, but as people who know the answers, and are merely seeking a good time.

'I wish Souji-kun was here to see this… I'm sure he would've liked to meet Mitsuru-san and the others…' Yukiko thought to herself. 'As soon as possible I'll tell him everything…'

The next day, everybody, save for Yosuke and Teddie, stood in front of Daidara's Metal Works.

"Where are Yosuke-kun and Teddie-kun?" Fuuka asked.

"They went pick up Nanako-chan," Yukiko replied. "They should be arriving soon."

"Yo!" They heard Yosuke calling. The headphone wearing teen walked up to them alongside a little girl.

"Um… Are you sure it's a good idea bring her with us?" Ken asked, a bit uneasy.

"Don't worry. If anything comes up, I'll protect Nana-chan!" Teddie exclaimed from behind Yosuke.

As they got a good look at Teddie, everybody laughed a little, surprised to see him suited in his infamous blue bear costume. Adorned in red and white pajamas, the bear was still a sight to behold.

"Nice outfit!" Junpei cracked a grin. "Dude, you were right. He looks so fluffy! Hey, Teddie, can I pet you?"

Teddie's glass eyes narrowed dangerously, proving that his 'costume' was more than just a costume. "No."

"Aw," Yukari whined. "What about me?" she asked, striking an innocent pose, placing a hand on her hair.

A faint red flooded the cheeks of Teddie's bear face. "I-If I say yes, will you let me score with you?"

Her eyes flashed immediately, the innocence gone from her face and voice. "What? 'Score'? Oh man, that was terrible."

"That's Teddie alright," Yosuke shrugged rolling his eyes. "Dude, watch what you're saying. Nanako-chan's right here!"

"He's funny," the girl giggled, bowing politely. "Oh hi. I'm Nanako Dojima. You guys are Teddie's new friends?"

"Yeah…sort of..." Akihiko said. There was something about the little elementary school girl that reminded him of his late sister Miki. He turned to Kanji and Naoto, concern in his eyes. "Hey, you guys sure about bringing a kid along?"

"Plenty sure. That's why we came here first," Kanji said, pointing his thumb to the shop.

"Uh…what's this place again?" Junpei asked.

"A metal shop. The owner here crafts armors and weapons from all different sorts of materials," Naoto explained. "While we don't think it'll be necessary, it's definitely safer if everybody is properly equipped before we head out for the other world."

"A metalworks huh? Well, we did bring our Evokers with us, but of course they might not be enough in case we run into something."

"What's an Evoker? Some kind of gun?" Kanji asked spontaneously.

SEES looked at each other uneasily. "Well, yeah..." Ken started.

"We point these Evokers to our heads to summon our Personas," Akihiko said, and with that, he pulled out his own Evoker to show their new friends what he meant.

Rise was the first to speak up. "It just seems so..."

"Emo, crazy, demented? Yeah we all figured that, but–" Junpei was cut off by a smack from Yukari. "OW!"

"Junpei, don't be such an idiot! Don't mind him. He just likes to say whatever's on his mind."

"It is a wise idea to equip ourselves before our exploration, though," Aigis said.

"Agreed. Let's get inside and see if we can find any suitable weapons." Mitsuru said.

After some browsing and shopping, some of them came out the shop with their new weapons.

"So, you guys used to hide your armors and weapons underneath your school uniforms too?" Chie asked as they made their way back to Junes.

"It was the best way not to draw too much attention," Fuuka replied. "Now that we graduated, it feels strange if we were to walk around wearing our school uniforms though."

"You guys aren't from this town, so I would recommend wearing normal clothes over your armor," Rise pointed out. "That way, people won't be too suspicious."

"True, that's not such a bad idea," Ken said.

"Right, now that we're set, next stop…Junes!" Yosuke said.

"So how exactly does this work?" Yukari asked Rise as the party of sixteen moved through Junes' electronics department.

"It's a hugely involved process. Everyone has to go through it," Rise enlightened them with an air of dignity about her. "Each person stands directly in front of the television, and then we step right through."

The older Lover raised an eyebrow, amused. "You're not very funny, you know."

The pop idol gave them a signature Risette wink. "Yeah…but hey, gotta make do with what you got."

Yosuke and Teddie were the first to reach the large screen television set up as the main display in the electronics department. This television was almost a relic to the Inaba Investigation Team; it was their gateway to saving those who had been thrown into the world up until last March.

"Up until some months ago, we would follow our leader into this specific TV," Chie told Junpei. "He moved back home just a few months ago. We all miss him, though."

"Hey, Teddie, did you bring them?" Yosuke asked. The bear nodded with a grin and revealed a plastic bag from behind his back.

The group was a chaotic mess of conversation as it gathered around the single television screen.

"Okay, then. Everyone should pay attention over here," Yosuke announced. The group quieted down and their eyes all fell on Yosuke, who was standing directly in front of the screen. Teddie stood directly to his left, with a goofy grin on his face. "Teddie, if you would be so kind."

Teddie moved to Nanako, reaching into the plastic bag and pulling out an object – a pair of pink child glasses, which he then handed to her. While he was busy passing the rest of the glasses out, Yosuke began speaking.

"Well, uh, we don't really think the glasses will be necessary, but we wanted to cover all our bases. Kind of a 'just-in-case' situation. The atmosphere on the other side is harsh for humans caused by the fog, so you might feel sick or tired if you're not used to it. Take a pair from Teddie before we proceed."

"That's kinda like exploring Tartarus during the Dark Hour," Fuuka stated, studying her oval, half-rimmed glasses. "The atmosphere made it easy for one to feel sick or fatigued until they become adapted to it."

"So we'll probably have no problem there," Akihiko pointed out, confident of his stamina.

Yosuke nodded in approval. "That's cool, then. Alright, everyone, gather 'round. Time to show you guys how we do things around here." Their attention was returned to him and the large screen behind him. The third-year student swiveled around and reached out a hand to hover over the smooth screen of the television. "Those of us who have a Persona can still access this world, but I don't know about any of you guys, so go ahead and pair up as best you can. Now, check it out." He used his index finger and touched the screen. A series of ripples traveled out from the tip of his finger, as if he'd dropped a pebble into a lake's surface. When he pulled his finger away, the ripples stopped.

Gasps of excitement and awe spread throughout the group. Nanako, already donned on her kiddie pink glasses, clapped and laughed.

"Our TV sure doesn't do that," Junpei remarked.

"May I test something?" Mitsuru asked. "You say that it's your potential to wield Personas which allows you to traverse the two worlds. Perhaps we can also do so, because we have the potential to carry them as well."

"A logical conclusion," Naoto observed. "Senpai, let her touch the screen."

Yosuke stepped away as Mitsuru sidled her way next to it. She reached out and gingerly touched the television screen. From the point of contact, a ripple traversed the screen's surface, exactly as it had done under Yosuke's touch. There was a second wave of awe and excitement throughout the crowd.

"Sweet!" Junpei cried. "So we can do it too, because we used to have Personas?"

"It appears that way, anyway," Mitsuru replied. "I'm satisfied. Everyone, please stay together. We don't know what's going to happen."

Nanako moved forward. "Let's go! Let's go!" she cried with squeals of laughter.

"Nana-chan, Ken and Koromaru can go with me first," Teddie suggested.

Yosuke motioned to them to go ahead, and the four youngsters moved up to stand abreast in front of the television. Koromaru leapt up into Ken's arms as he stood next to Nanako, who cheered as she held hands with both. "One," Teddie started, "two, three!" They leapt forward, pulling Ken and Koromaru along with them. Both of them let out shouts of excitement as their bodies contacted the screen, swallowing them as if they were sinking through a vertical wall of water. Ripples crashed out from the screen, never leaving the two-dimensional plane, but traversing the screen violently as such a disturbance interrupted its peace. In an instance, Teddie, Nanako, Ken, and Koromaru were gone, much to the amazement of the college students.

"Next up," Yosuke called.

Rise stepped up and next to her was Yukari. The scanner grinned and leapt forward with an excited cry, followed quickly by Yukari, who shouted in surprise as they plummeted through the screen's surface.

Shortly after that, Kanji and Junpei stood next to each other, supporting cocky grins. They simply leapt forward, both without a word, and entered the screen simultaneously, leaving the group smaller than before.

"I'll go next," Yukiko proclaimed. Mitsuru decided to go with her, standing confidently next to her with arms crossed. The two of them looked almost regal in their reflections in the screen, before letting out girlish yells of excitement – not screams, of course, but mere exclamations of adrenaline – as they leapt into the screen as well.

Chie and Fuuka were next, standing quietly in front of the screen. The martial artist wannabe smiled widely and let out a whoop of excitement. She grabbed the other scanner's hand and leapt forward, Chie yelling in excitement and Fuuka screaming in protest. Soon, they were both gone.

Naoto nodded to Yosuke and moved to face the screen next. Aigis stood beside her. The two of them, silent as the grave, calmly stepped forward, allowing the rippling screen to envelope them much more delicately than the previous pairs. In just so many seconds, they, too, were gone, leaving only Yosuke and Akihiko.

"This is quite the way to travel," Akihiko remarked as he and Yosuke moved up next to each other.

"It's great. Only thing is, every television is connected to a different location. And there's no way out once you're in. Only Teddie can make an exit," Yosuke said. He saw Akihiko's worried expression and laughed. "Remember, Teddie's on our side. We've gone into this world so many times it'd be impossible to count! Now let's go join the others."

Akihiko nodded and faced the screen as confidently as he knew how. With a push of fear and anticipation, the boxer leapt forward alongside his high school chaperone, slipping through the dark screen into a world of white.

Moments later, Yosuke held out his hand, which Akihiko graciously took. Pulling him to his feet, Yosuke had to laugh a little. "Sorry 'bout that first step, man. It's a bit of a dozy."

"No kidding," Akihiko chuckle to himself. "I'm afraid my pride will remember that one for a while." He looked around. "What is this place? A studio?"

"Think of it as an entrance hall." Yosuke took in his surroundings, remembering his bearings. "Okay, guys, follow me."

They followed him through the parallel world, taking their time to soak in the view before them. The world inside the television was nothing less than picturesque. Beautiful mountain ranges and waterfalls cascaded across the horizon; clear lakes reflecting the perfect blue sky; gigantic fields of gorgeous wildflowers bloomed unnaturally close together, forming a sheer carpet of various colors.

This world no longer even remotely resembled the dreary, fog-filled world that the Investigation Team knew so well. Under their leader's guidance, they had finally rid both worlds of the terrible fog that was threatening to meld all realities together. Now, this world truly reflected that which it was supposed to – the human heart. The heart was a strong entity, shared by all, yet unique to each individual. This world represented that unity, and that individuality, in its absolute splendor.

Teddie beamed. "There's no fog around. Guess we won't need the glasses!"

"Anyway, now that we're here, what do you guys want to do?" Chie asked casually, looking around.

"You say that like it's not the most beautiful landscape ever," Ken replied, his eyes wide and brimming with excitement. He was looking every which way, trying to take in as much of the scene around him as possible and committing it into memory.

"Oh, it's beautiful, but it's not something we haven't seen before," Yukiko told him. "Ever been to the mountains in your dreams? Or gone deep lake diving? Or maybe you went frolicking through a field of flowers with a crush? Where do you think those images came from, Ken-kun?"

Junpei looked around in astonishment, then back at Yukiko. "Wait, are you kidding me? This place is where our dreams come from?"

"That's not entirely true," Naoto answered with a shake of her head. "More accurately, this place is formed from our dreams. This world reflects the human heart in the majority."

"It's so pretty," Nanako said in awe. "Even if I don't remember, it wasn't like this at all."

Yosuke felt a slight sting in heart. Despite Nanako having forgotten the memory of getting kidnapped, the same couldn't be said about her emotional experience. "Well Nanako-chan, this is just what your big brother helped make this place like it is now."

A tiny gasp escaped the girl. "Big Bro made this place so pretty?"

"Yup. And all of us helped. Even you!" Chie added

"Even me?" Nanako was in sheer ecstasy now, her eyes alight with wonder.

"Yep, Nana-chan! Thanks to you and everybody's hard work, Sensei did this!" Teddie said.

Junpei raised an eyebrow. "Sensei?"

"That's how Teddie calls our leader, Souji-senpai," Naoto explained. "He really admires and looks up to him."

"Your leader sounds like a great person," Aigis said. Her thoughts drifted back to Minato as she placed a hand on her chest and closed her eyes. Without realizing, an eerie blue-black smoke started lifting from the ground around her.

"Aigis?!" Yukari shouted startled, drawing everybody's attention. The group turned at the android and was surprised at the scene.

"She… She's summoning her Persona!" Fuuka gasped.

A sound similar to shattering glass was heard. A silhouette formed above Aigis, who looked up and stared, rather surprised at first. Floating above her was a humanoid male with a mechanical body, holding something that resembled a harp. But then the outer layers became mosaics, its shape beginning to change. A metallic circumference surrounded what appears to be a female in a white robe. When the transformation completed, the figure was now wearing a Roman battle helm, holding a lance and shield.

"Athena…"

The goddess of strategic warfare looked down at her, smiling gently before vanishing into thin air. Aigis smiled too, and sank to her knees, panting.

"Aigis!" Yukari cried, kneeling by her side. "You okay?!"

"Yes… I'm okay, Yukari-san… Just…a little fatigued…" She got up with Yukari's help. "But, my Persona…"

"It changed…" Fuuka concluded for her. "Not only has Aigis' original Persona returned, but she doesn't seem to be able to use multiple Personas anymore. I mean… I don't sense them within her..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kanji asked, confused.

"Remember when we said that Aigis-san obtained the same power as our former leader? When that happened, her Persona, Athena, transformed into the initial Persona of our leader," Ken explained. "But, if her persona changed back to its original self, then that means she no longer has that power. I wonder what that means, though."

"Maybe that power is no longer needed," Aigis said, wistfully looking at the sky. "Things change, for better or for worse. It's part of life."

"Perhaps…At any rate, it looks like we're able to summon our Personas in this world," Akihiko stated, clenching his fists in excitement.

"Since you guys did something similar a few years back, seems like this place lets you do it again." Yosuke reached into his pocket and pulled out a card containing the image of Susano-O, his Persona. "We're used to having these things appear with us when we enter here."

"Appear? Then, they don't travel with you to the real world when you leave?" Mitsuru inquired.

Naoto shook her head. "No, I'm afraid they do not. We are unable to summon ours in the real world."

Rise sighed. "Which is a bummer, 'cause that'd totally be useful. It'll be so awesome if I could sense people's locations just like I could in here, and telepathically communicate with them."

Fuuka gasped, surprised. "What? You can sense people too, Rise-chan?"

"Yep! I'm like Teddie, but more accurate. His Persona is more battle-oriented than mine though, which is fine since I'm not the fighting type anyway. He helps fight off Shadows with the others and I give analytical support from a distance."

Akihiko laughed. "Wow, Mitsuru, this is sounding really familiar."

"I agree," the red-head beauty said. "There are too many correlations between our groups to be mere coincidence. In my experience, such gatherings are formed in the ways that they were for a reason."

"It's nice to think about it that way, that's for sure," Chie agreed. "Without that thought, we might not have been able to save Naoto-kun, Kubo, or Nanako-chan, since Rise-chan was the one who pin-pointed their locations."

"By the way, I remember you guys saying something about using cards to summon your Personas," Yukari said. "But how do you summon them?"

"Hey, Yukiko, you have your fan on you, right?"

Yukiko drew an ougi from her waistband. "Are you asking for a demonstration?"

Chie nodded. Yukiko elegantly opened her fan. A glowing blue card materialized in front of her face, floating and spinning around. "Amaterasu!" As she twirled, Yukiko extended the arm holding her fan, spreading it out horizontally. The razor edge of the fan sliced cleanly through her card, which immediately cut into two pieces, then disappeared in a puff of light and smoke. The air above the raven-haired girl shimmered, and a physical body appeared – a female silhouette with wing-like protrusions resembling sakura petals. Tied to her wrists were shield-like accessories in the shape of sakura blossoms, her right hand holding a katana while the other held its sheath, glowing brightly. The sun goddess bowed its head at the group, then disappeared in a flash of light as quickly as it had appeared. The card reappeared in Yukiko's hand, completely mended.

"Wow!" Nanako squealed. "So pretty!"

Mitsuru was in awe. "Did you say 'Amaterasu' when you summoned it?"

"Yes. Our Personas are named after gods and entities of various myth and legends, fables, and stories. We don't know why, though; they just presented themselves to us as such."

Mitsuru sighed and shook her head, placing a hand against her temple as if she had suddenly become very tired. "Another quality we seem to share. Will the correlations ever cease?"

"So, are you guys gonna try summoning your Personas or what?" Kanji asked.

Junpei was ecstatic. "Hell, yeah! I haven't seen Trismegistus in ages. He probably forgot about me by now!"

"It'll be nice to try it out." Akihiko pulled out his Evoker. "Do you think it will work?"

"Not if you question if it will or not," Teddie replied simply. "It's your Persona, after all; it's part of you. If you don't believe it will appear, then it unmistakably will fail. That's how it works, after all."

Akihiko lips set in a firm line as the grip on his Evoker tightened. "Alright, then. Let's do this. Caesar, show yourself, for old time's sake!" He pointed the muzzle of the gun-shaped object to his head, closing his eyes as he pulled the trigger, creating a noise similar to shattering glass. He grunted as his face contorted in discomfort, forehead slightly sweating as an eerie blue-black smoke lifted from the ground around him. A large, silver Roman warrior appeared overhead, a grand sword in one hand and a globe in the other. He lifted his sword high into the air in triumph before disappearing in a flash of light. Akihiko fell to one knee, panting.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru gasped, rushing over to help him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…I'm fine…" he answered between gasps.

"That was definitely Caesar," Yukari observed. "Akihiko-senpai summoned his Persona!"

"It feels just like the first time I used my Evoker," Akihiko finished as he got up with Mitsuru's help. "I'm tired just from that tiny summoning."

"That's understandable. It's been 2 years since we've last summoned them," Fuuka noted. "I think it would be only natural that we'd feel a bit of fatigue."

"The same happened with Ai-chan so it kind of makes sense, huh?" Junpei added.

"Don't forget, we also haven't experienced a suppressing atmosphere like the Dark Hour in a long time," Ken said. "We'll just need to get used to it again."

"That was so cool!" Nanako said ecstatically, cuddling Koromaru.

There was a wave of shock as everyone finally remembered that Nanako was still present. The little girl then yawned and rubbed one eye. Koromaru whimpered slightly and rubbed his head against her chest. Nanako smiled at him, softly patting his head.

"Nanako-chan's getting tired. It's getting late," Yukiko said in a worried tone. "We should leave now. We can come back tomorrow."

"I say we call it a day, too. We'll return tomorrow, and be more prepared to enjoy this place," Mitsuru declared. "How does a picnic sound?"

Nanako immediately started bouncing up and down, still latched onto Koromaru. "A picnic! A picnic! Yay! We can bring boxed lunches!"

"That's a great idea, Nanako-chan! I'll make a whole bunch of them for everyone," Chie said with a confident grin.

Yosuke's stomach did a somersault. "Uhhh…Chie? That may not be the best idea."

"Hey, I've been practicing! I'll have you know, Yukiko and I have been studying under the Inn's head chef for weeks! I'll show you!" She raised a fist in defiant vigor.

"Fine, fine, but only make it for yourself. I might just take a bite if it's that important to you."

"Hmph!" Chie turned her back to Yosuke, her cheeks turning pink.

Rise giggled. "Yukiko-senpai, Naoto-kun, let's make another cake!"

"What about our group, Mitsuru-senpai?" Yukari asked. "Mind ordering in some sushi?"

Junpei's ears perked up immediately. "Did I hear someone say 'sushi'? Because I think I heard someone say sushi!"

Koromaru barked and wagged his tail in happiness, licking Nanako on the face repeatedly. She giggled because it tickled.

Chie stood up tall as an air of invigoration appeared about her. "All right! Once we get home, we'll be prepared for a grand picnic feast!"

Everybody cheered as they headed back to the Entrance Hall.

Junpei looked around. "Uh…so how do we get out, exactly?"

Teddie grinned and waved his arm. A large, triple-stacked set of televisions appeared in a comedic puff of smoke. "Just go through these! Don't worry, they automatically take you back to where you entered. Oh, and when you get back to the inn, don't go through the televisions, or any other TV screen for that matter. I dunno where they lead, and I won't be here to let anyone back out."

Taking the warning to heart, the SEES team nodded in understanding.

One by one, they left the blissful environment behind in order to properly prepare for the next day's banquet. Being last as always, Teddie looked around and sighed happily at the beautiful scenery that had become his world, before leaping through the televisions. Whether it was his own excitement over the idea of a picnic with such a huge group of people, or just absentmindedness, the stack of televisions remained.

Scrtch… scrtch…

The coast was clear, now. It was safe to come out.

Out from behind rocks, trees, and even from inside the lake, dark masses appeared. They oozed and slithered along, their strange, goo-like matter pulling themselves along. There were only a large handful of them, and they were highly cautious towards the strange stack of televisions standing in their utopia. They knew who the people who had appeared here had been. They were, after all, Shadows – embodiments of the hearts of man. The connection between the hearts of mankind allowed the Shadows to understand the identities of every single human who had just been there. The Shadows weren't crazy enough to confront such powerful humans.

…But this new structure, this triple-stacked television set… It was just as they've been told…

Now that was an open invitation.

The plot thickens. :D Don't forget to Read, Review and Enjoy!